#I wanted to make this post yesterday already but ended up being so tired that I forgot

[inkblackorchid]

*cradles his face in my hands, kissing his forehead softly* You absolute IDIOT MY GOD YOU'RE A DISASTER

YOU UTTER BUFFOON YOUR FRIENDS CARE ABOUT YOU DAMN IT

Surprised Pikachu Face

This guy, I swear.

[coquettebratzdoll]

ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

Stop scrolling. Just stop.

(A little tough love. Im going to be much more rude and blunt than i normally am. If you arent in the right headspace for that rn, skip this post)

How long have you been on tumblr today ? Yesterday ? This week ? Hell, even this month ? And, more importantly, why don't you have your desires already ?

"But, Athenaaaa. I still don't know how to manifest/shift 🥺" Decide what you want and persist in the assumption that it's yours. Mindblowing 🤯

In all seriousness, you should really check why you feel the need to know everything there is to know about shifting/manifesting. It's okay to want to know more, only if it doesn't come at the expense of ACTUALLY applying that knowledge. I've always held the belief that knowledge is useless if you do nothing with it. And as far as I see, it holds true. It's sooooo easy to get everything that you want, SO 💥 WHY 💥 TF 💥 ARENT 💥 YOU 💥 DOING 💥 IT !?!?

OMLLLLL, all of us bloggers are saying the exact same shit in different fonts (i chose pink tehe 🤭). Honestly, nobody can force you to apply. If you are content with the life you live, then that's ayt 🤷‍♀️. Like idk if you expect us to manifest for you or smth. We are already sharing our knowledge and experience on how we got what we got, for FREE. Yet you can't hold up your end of the bargain 🤦‍♀️.

Must feel nice, huh ? Getting that dopamine rush everytime you like a post. Making mental reminders to affirm this or do that or listen to that sub of whatever tf. Maybe you actually go through with it for a couple days 🎊. Yet you're still here. You're STILL liking all those posts. You're STILL doing all those challenges. You're STILL living in the old story. It's laughable actually.

For all of those who are actually SERIOUS about getting what you want, then stop scrolling and fucking APPLY. If your tired of being beaten down by your reality and circumstances - decide that you have everything that you want and NEVER take 'no' for an answer.

[oliviablancmom]

"Pedriiii"

Pairing: Pedri Gonzalez x Singlemom!OC

Theme: Fluff, a little bit of angst.

N/A: To my dear Pedri's Girls who voted, it's finally here. I'm sorry for not posting it yesterday, but I ended up getting very tired and with some doubts. First about being a "reader" or OC, and I ended up choosing OC because I couldn't write without visualizing someone, and because while I was writing, the image of Hande Erçel came to my mind. Anyway, this is just an introduction, there will be three chapters and a bonus. I hope you like it, and that you fall in love with them as I did.

"I can't believe it, Fer. I can't believe it happened again. When I think everything is going to be fine, something like this happens," Pedri lamented. His brother was already upset with the situation.

"I know, brother, we will get through this, as we always do." Pedri ran his hands over his face. "I need to call mom, she's is worried." Pedri just agreed while his brother walked outside the box. At the same time he left, a little boy entered the private space. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed Pedri.

"You are crying?" The boy cautiously approached Pedri and then kneeled on the floor beside the player, his elbows resting on the sofa where Pedri was sitting. "My father says that men shouldn't cry, but my mother says that only real men cry."

Pedri laughs.

"Your mother is right. Are you alone here?" Pedri looked around looking for any adults, but it was just them. The little boy just nodded and then started looking for something in the pocket of the jacket he was wearing, and soon he was taking off his coat. Pedri noticed the name and number on it. "I liked the choice of shirt." The little boy looked at him, embarrassed.

"here" he finally takes out a handful of M&Ms from his pocket. "Mom and I always eat them when we are sad, and now that you are sad, you will feel better after eating them."

Pedri smiled at how adorable the little boy was and readily accepted the candy; he was too sad to think about his diet.

"Bye I have to go." He watched the little boy put on his jacket again, ready to leave.

"Hey, don't you want me to sign your shirt?"

The little boy looked at him cautiously and uncertainly, and Pedri could see that he was in an internal battle.

"My mother says I shouldn't bother the players"

"It's not a bother; you shared your sweets with me; we're friends now. The little boy's eyes opened so wide that Pedri was afraid they would jump out.

"Serious?" he asked uncertainly. Pedri just nodded and saw the boy's face light up.

"PEDRIIIIIII!!!" He gave an excited scream and ran to the player, hugging him. He was definitely controlling himself before, Pedro thought.

**********************************************

"Hey, do you plan on going to that nightclub again?" Pedri asked, trying to seem as uninterested as possible while continuing to do the exercise that the physical trainer gave him.

"What? Are you asking this? I thought these things weren't for you. Ferran mocked.

"It's because he's trying to find the woman he spent the night with," Gavi says, receiving a deadly look from Pedri.

"What, am I lying? You looked at every photo that marked the club's location on social media."

"Seriously Gavira, if you don't shut up..."

Pedri threatens, making the others laugh.

"It seems that only you were affected by the night since you woke up alone in the hotel room" said Ter Stegen, the goalkeeper who had been listening to the entire conversation in silence until now. Pedri looked directly at Gavi, knowing he was responsible for telling the details.

"Seriously, man, I'll never tell you anything again."

"What? I was just trying to help. Knowing if one of them saw the woman you were with that night. If I hadn't seen her, I would have thought it was a hallucination in your head."

Pedri rolled his eyes at the younger man's mockery.

"I know you were upset that you woke up there alone. 

"I wasn't," Pedri said defensively. "It was not a big deal." He said with a shrug, preferring to remain silent while focusing on the strengthening exercises, that it was better to forget the subject, either because Gavi was irritating him or because he had a grain of truth.

Nightclubs were not a place he normally frequented; he always preferred to stay at home watching a series or movie, but he had made an exception that night as he was upset because of the injury and the nasty comments he received, like it was his fault. It ended up that he didn't regret going at all; after all, it led to the best night of his life with the woman he would meet at the bar, and thanks to not consuming alcohol, he had recorded in his mind every detail of that night and the woman.

He remembered the exact moment she entered the place; his eyes immediately stayed on her; her presence attracted him like a magnet; and her long hair fell all over her back and down to her waist. The red lipstick and the huge, sweet smile she had. He remembered her scent and the woman's sharp tongue as he approached, not giving a damn about who he was. He had etched the dimple in her cheek every time she laughed at something he said, and God, her laughter was like music to his ears. He remembered how she pressed her body against his while they were on the dance floor and how all that tension took them both to a hotel room that night. What a night!

"Dude, stop thinking about her while you are with us." Ferran's voice takes Pedri out of his thoughts. Pedri looked at him confused.

"Your cheeks give you away, man," said Gavi, who had a small smile on the corner of his face. Pedri turned to the mirror, noticing the color that appeared on his face.

"Shit", he mumbled, shaking his head in an attempt to clear his mind.

"Although you met her in a nightclub, maybe you should look in other places, like churches or registry offices." He looked even more confused at Ferran, who had an ironic smile on his face. "You know, considering your history with women who end up being married and everything."

"Seriously, I'm done with you guys." Pedri stood up, moving away from his companions, who were laughing at the situation.

**********************************************"" Fans like to feel close to players, so we can continue investing in content with them in pairs or in groups. We can record some kind of challenge with the boys who have the most friendships about how much they know each other. Fans love knowing these details." The woman said to the social media girl as they walked down the corridor to the meeting room, where the rest of the communication team would be.

"Mom, mom, mom!" She turned, looking at the little boy who was running towards her.

"Hey, honey, what's wrong? Everything is fine?" She bent down to the child's height, who seemed to be in a hurry to be somewhere. "I'll be at the gym with my friend," he said impatiently, about to run again.

"What a friend? There is no place for children there" she said worriedly, placing her hand on her son's head.

"Mom, pleeeaaaase," he said while pulling the woman's bag, looking for something.

"Axel, breathe. What are you looking for?" She asked when her child threw all the things inside her bag on the floor.

"The cards that Grandpa gave me to show my friend, I FOUND." he said excitedly, shaking the cards in his hand.

"Bye mom, I love you." She watched as the boy disappeared down the corridor without even looking back, which made her curious to know who this friend was, and she made a mental checklist to ask when they were leaving. She also added to talking with her son about running around Ciutat Esportiva, she had the opportunity to bring him to work, but she knew it was best not to abuse the luck, even though he was normally a quiet child, these days, he always had to be somewhere.

**********************************************

The sound of Xavi's whistle signaled the end of training. He thanked all of the players, greeting each as they dispersed across the field. Some were already returning to the dressing room, and I remained there along with a few other guys.

"3, 2, 1...." Gavi says. Pedri raise his eyebrows in confusion, looking at him.

"PEDRIIIIIIIIIIII" Rafinha and Ferran say in a thin voice, clearly imitating the little boy who ran onto the field in our direction.

"He took so long to come this time," Gavi says, laughing at the scene. The little boy opens his arms and throws himself at Pedri, who holds him carefully.

"Hey little guy." He put him on the floor, and held out his hand for him to hit.

"Are you ready to play yet?" he asks, raising his eyebrows hopefully and looking the player up and down. It was the question he asked every day since he started showing up at the end of training to visit him, showing all his anxiety about seeing his favorite player return to the field.

"I'm almost there; I'm back to training now, but I'll be ready soon." The child makes a pout.

"My God, he have the same habit of arching the eyebrows and the things you do with your lips. It's too much Pedri for me." Rafinha says, laughing as he walks away. He ruffles the child's hair, and only then does the little one seem to realize the presence of the others. And his cheeks turn red, and then he hides behind Pedri's leg, who bends down and hugs him.

"the red cheeks and all." Are you sure you haven't been messing around?" Gavi continues. Pedri rolls his eyes at his friend, throwing the bottle he was holding at the youngest.

"Hey little guy, there's no need to be ashamed of us; we're cooler than him." Ferran says as he is trying to get the child's attention, making him hides his face in Pedri neck. The number eight smiles mockingly at Ferran, proud of the child's far-from-discreet preference.

"Don't flatter yourself; you didn't see the number he's wearing." Fermin scoffs.

"It's very good taste," Gavi says. Pedri turns the little boy in front of him.

" Axel!!! This is treason," Pedri says indignantly, as he sees the little boy wearing Gavi's number.

"My grandfather chose today. Gavi it's his favorite" he says with a shrug.

" But I like him a lot too." Gavi smiles, convinced, at his friend.

"Of course you like; you're the same size, of course you'll feel affinity." Gavi's smile dies immediately, and he raises the middle finger to Pedri.

"haha, Look who's talking, Pedri."

"Don't you think it's strange that he's here every day? " Pedri asks curiously.

"He must be some employee kid," Fermin concludes. "At most, the brother of one of the teenagers who are outside waiting for photos, he is small, manages to pass the security guards with no problem" They laughed again.

The little boy moves away from the player and looks for something in his pocket, and Pedri already knew what it was; after all, that had become their routine since they started meeting more often, whether in the CE or in the boxes on match days. Axel takes a handful of M&Ms from his pocket to share with the player.

"Just a little this time. My mother is suspicious." His eyes widen at the boy.

"You said your mother gave it to you, Axel," Pedri asks worriedly.

"Well, sometimes she gives it to me. But she says I can't eat all the time."

The boys were trying not to laugh, especially now that the boy was more welcome with them, casually kicking the ball for them.

"Great example, Pedriiiiiii." Ferran scoffs; Pedri rolls his eyes; it wasn't his fault; well, in part yes, it was him who said to the child, "Your mother won't mind if it's just a little."

**********************************************Pedri was sitting with the other players in the press room of the arena where the Barcelona basketball team was playing. They were waiting for the club president to take a photo; after all, it was important for them to see the first-team players supporting the others. While he waited, Pedri looked at the candy store's website on his cell phone, looking for what Axel had told him so much about during the week, about a new type of M&Ms with different flavors that he was dying to try, but it was still out of stock. Occasionally he would look up from his cell phone to respond to something the other players were saying. Gavi was by his side, chatting about something that Pedri could no longer follow due to the rapid changes in subject that the youngest started.

"Hey, guys," Laporta says, entering the conference room. He greeted each of the players who were there, and the staff organized them for the photo. As always, the president would hold the ball, and everyone would be on hand to touch it, in the form of support. After the photo, they start a conversation with the president until the door is opened wide.

"Oh, sorry." I thought they were already finished. Pedri, who had his back to the door in a conversation with Araujo and João Félix, freezes; he would recognize that voice anywhere, and above all, he would recognize the perfume, which hits him like a punch in the stomach. He immediately caught Gavi's eyes, who seemed as surprised as he was.

" The game is about to start, and we need to take some photos of the boys for promotion."

"Of course, we're done here" the president says, laughing. Apart from Gavi, the other boys didn't seem to notice Pedri's reaction, as he finally found the courage to turn around to look at the woman, and God, he felt his breath catch in his lungs.

"Oh, do you already know the boys personally?" Laporta asked the woman who looked up from her cell phone, looking at the other people in the room, and as soon as her eyes fell on him, they tripled in size, but she was quick to hide her surprise.

"No, not yet" she said simply.

"Boys, this is Isa Harver; she is the club's new communications assistant." Laporta introduced them, and she extended her hand to greet each of them. When her hand stopped in front of Pedri, he immediately noticed the ring on the girl's finger.

"Fuck" He heard Gavi saying behind him with a certain humor in his voice. Pedri simply couldn't believe his luck.

******************************************

N/A: SOOOO, I hope you guys enjoyed it!! I revised this chapter a million times, but English is not my first language, so something must have slipped through. Let me know what you think. And for my Gavi's girls, I'm also preparing something for you."

[ironstrange1991]

You Are My Home

Pairing: Stephen!Strange x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: Stephen is happy to get home and have you there waiting for him.

Word Count: 1,5k

Warnings: Very lovely p n v sex, basically just fluff.

A/N: Wrote this yesterday afternoon and decided to post it while the sex pollen fic isn't ready yet. Hope you like it.

Stephen used to be a man of exquisite tastes, who wanted to own the best car, impress as many women as possible, draw the most attention to himself at all times. This was Stephen before the accident, then there was Stephen after the accident, the one who lost everything he owned, who stopped looking after himself because he just couldn't make his hands obey him, the one who found purpose in the mystical arts and which ended up being dragged into the infinity war and blipped for five years.

Today Stephen was a third type of man. Less arrogant, more wise, he liked to think. Neither rich nor poor, but a comfortable thing between those two, somewhat eccentric in style for his old self's eyes, but most important of all: Stephen had you now. The woman he met after returning from the blip, with whom he had been together for three years and who had now agreed to live with him permanently in the Sanctum. Stephen was for all intents and purposes married now, although the papers still hadn't been signed and he still hadn't slipped a ring on your finger.

He never thought it could make him so happy. Of course, you made him happy enough just by loving him, but there was something special about knowing that every time he came home you were there to welcome him. It made him feel that everything he fought for, sometimes such abstract concepts as reality, the universe, now had a form and a name. You.

That night when Stephen opened a portal to the Sanctum after returning from an extremely long mission, he felt lots of feelings welling up in his chest. Satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment for having succeeded in yet another mission, relief for finally being home and knowing that he could take a shower and give his tired body the much-deserved rest, and a much stronger feeling, one that dominated all the others: gratitude for you being the first thing he saw when he got home.

You laid lazily under a blanket in the sofa of the living room, distracted by whatever it was you were watching. Your face lit only by the brightness that came from the tv once all the lights were off and just for being there, Stephen thought, you made the Sanctum Sanctorum really feel like home.

The loud sound of the tv and the horrendous screams and a horrifying music were enough reasons for you not to notice his presence, which made Stephen smirk to himself and close the portal behind him. He walked slowly towards you, his boots making the floor under his feet squeak and finally you looked up at him with a beautiful smile and promptly sat down crisscrossed on the couch.

"Hey, you're here. I had already given up hope that you would come back today." You said stretching out your hand for him to hold and pulling him closer.

"I confess it took me longer than I expected this time, but in the end you know I always come back to you." He said snapping his fingers and turning on the living room lamps, which made you squint behind the lenses of your glasses. You examined him closely, running your hands down his arms and chest and then letting out a small sigh of relief.

"No injuries this time, a real miracle."

"Sometimes it happens." Stephen chuckled, reaching his hands up to the sides of your glasses and carefully taking them off. He placed them on top of the coffee table. "Now I want a welcome kiss."

With those words, Cloaky let go of his shoulders and flew up the stairs as if it knew the two of you deserved a few moments alone after everything Stephen had been through the last few days.

"Hm, I think I want to give you more than just a kiss." You replied letting yourself be pulled to his lips. Stephen wrapped his arms around your waist and lifted you off the couch like you weighed nothing. He sat up and helped you straddle him and as soon as you settled into his lap you pulled him to your lips again, your hand holding him around the back of his neck, the other running aimlessly down his chest, your hips gridding on him until you managed to get a moan from his lips. Moan that you smothered with your kisses full of saliva, teeth, and desire.

Now this feels like home. Stephen thought.

"I missed you, Stephen." You breathed right under his ear, making his skin tingle and an electrical current run down his spine towards his cock, making him throb beneath you.

"I missed you too, Sweetheart."

Unable to contain the desire he felt for you, Stephen grabbed your hips and forced you down, grinding you on his cock and closing his eyes, lolling his head back and letting you continue with your kisses and nibbles on his lips, chin and neck. It all felt too good to be true. He had won one more mission, he was home and you were there in his lap.

He exhaled deeply cupping your face between his hands. "Let's go upstairs, I need a shower first, I'm all sweaty and dirty."

But you were eager to deny his suggestion, grabbing a handful of his hair in the back of his head and placing your other hand flat on his chest to hold him in place.

You buried your face in the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply, "I like it. It's very masculine."

Stephen couldn't help but giggle, but shortly after he let out a loud moan when you rolled your hips on top of his cock in such a way that he saw stars. After 12 days away from home, he was climbing the walls, begging for some relief and you were more than willing to torture him with all that tease.

"You smell good actually. Makes me horny." You confessed. Stephen loved that about you. You were always so open about everything with him, especially in bed.

"May I?" You asked taking your hands to his belts and glancing at him through your lashes.

He nodded and you were quick to unbuckle all the belts. After years of doing that you could tell you were used to dealing with Stephen's robes, and an instant later you had his cock out of his pants. You pumped him slowly and then stopped for a second just to spit in your hand and bring the saliva to the tip of his cock. You lifted yourself up enough to pull the pajama shorts you were wearing to the side and direct him inside you.

"Fuck" Stephen groaned when you let yourself sink on his length. His head tilting back, eyes closing.

You kissed him passionately, but instead of starting to move you just stood there, still, feeling him pulsing inside you. That was like heaven for you.

When you finally moved, you did it slowly, not necessarily searching for a release, but taking your time, enjoying the feeling of having the man you loved between your legs.

He didn't thrust up, instead he pulled you to his mouth, placing kisses on your lips, on your chin, down to your neck, rubbing his goatee there and smirking at the prickling of your skin. He loved that.

You kept that slow motion pace for what seemed like a long time, neither of you willing to change a thing about it, reveling in that intimacy of making love instead of fucking that you knew was so rare.

When your release came it wasn't like an explosion, but like a flowing river, strong but calm, long but silent. You buried your face in his neck, moaning softly and breathing hard, your body trembling on top of his.

He tightened his grip on your hips, moving you back and forth on his cock, prolonging your climax and you felt his cock pulsing harder inside you, his breathing getting harder. You cupped his face in your hands and rested your forehead against his, your eyes locked, but neither of you said anything, not with words at least.

When his release came, he kissed you passionately and your bodies movements stopped completely, you could feel his cock pulsing and spurting his warm cum inside you. It felt right, it felt like home.

Stephen doubted he would ever get used to coming inside you. Not because of the act itself, but because of the sensation, the consummation of a love so great that it went far beyond sex, but that somehow was enshrined in that gesture. He was sure there was something sacred about the way you made him feel when he came on you.

You stayed a few minutes without exchanging a word. You dropped your body weight on top of his and he wrapped his arms around you keeping the two of you connected and the silence never felt more comfortable. Just your soft breath against his chest and his on the top of your head. Outside Stephen could hear the sound of cars passing in the street, but inside the Sanctum the complicit silence prevailed.

Reblog please! Leave a comment if you liked it. Interact! I will love to read all of your comments and opinions. It inspires me to keep writing!

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[femdomlieeh]

Pink Blush (m)

First time Sub!Haechan ✧ Secretly Dom!Reader

WC—1.8 k

THEMES—new relationship ✧ nsfw fluff (?) ✧ borderline smut

WARNING—punishment ✧ teasing (m!g) ✧ masturbation (m) ✧ use of handcuffs & strap on ✧ praise ✧ light degradation ✧ pet names "mommy", "channie", "bad boy"✧ mentions of gender stereotypes (ew), safe words & (future) pegging

NOW PLAYING—Tattoo ✧ Loreen

[A/N.] old xiumin (exo) version

When this post gets 100 votes I’ll publish a stray kids group reaction chapter👍

M.LISTS—nct 127 ✧ dream ✧ latest updates ✧ wp version

All rights reserved © femdomlieeh

✧ ੈ ✧ ‧₊˚ * ੈ ✧‧₊˚＊* ੈ ✧ ‧₊˚ * ੈ ✧‧₊˚＊* ✧ ੈ ✧

"Come on~! Show me~!" Haechan whined in your ear for the umpteenth time today.

Like all the previous times, you answered no.

Yesterday your boyfriend had found out that you had a mommy kink and liked being dominant in the bed (You had left a wattpad tab open on our shared laptop because you were apparently too tired to click on the cross), and, although that should've been something positive, you didn't want him to know.

On a daily basis, he already got critique for being younger (looking younger) than his partner, and being too 'feminine' and 'cutesy' – so, to want him to submit to you and make him match other people's perception of him was selfish and thus something you refused to do.

The theory of genders having specific power roles was something you'd always been opposed to, as you do not believe a gender determines a level of power. Truthfully, you couldn't care less if your boyfriend wanted to break gender stereotypes or not — damn, he could wear 'girly' clothes and/or put make up on if he wanted to — but you did care about what he thought of himself.

He didn't like it when people commented on how much younger he looked than he was. He didn't like it when people described him as feminine instead of masculine. He didn't like it when people [excluding you and some of his friends] called him cute. He didn't think that having any of those characteristics was wrong; he just didn't want people to call him those things.

"Please?" He attempted to lure you in with his gleaming puppy eyes – which usually worked – but that method didn't work this time around, because the great amount of vexation he had brought to you today had made you fully resistant to his cuteness.

"No, I don't want to hurt you," you answered with a blank face, trying your best to find a seemingly interesting movie on Netflix, that you hadn't already seen, so your boyfriend could give up his dumb quest. It was a little confusing why he wanted to try these types of thing with you, knowing how he felt about being belittled by others.

"I thought you said that we should always be honest with each other and always be ourselves," he argued, making a valid point since you had said those words from the start of your relationship.

"But I also said I never wanted us to hurt each other," you retorted in defense, feeling more and more irritated by the second.

Leaning and sinking down a little bit on the sofa, Haechan wanted to be more comfortable as he knew this conversation would be long. Chewing on the strings of his pink hoodie, he looked at and studied you; frown, annoyed sighs, hard grip on the remote, darker lips from biting on them – everything pointed at you being mad, and thus rather sensitive.

Then a bulb lit above his head.

"But what if I like it when you hurt me?"

You turned your head to his side. There it was. Exactly what he wanted to see. An expression on your face that told him that if he continued this route, he would get fucked. Whether it was literally or metaphorically, he wanted to find out.

"I'm leaving," you announced and stood up as quickly as the short sentence ended. You had to leave, because Haechan was pushing your buttons and you knew that if you stayed for longer you could end up doing what you had been trying to avoid since he had found out about the femdom part of you.

His face changed from calm puppy to clingy puppy with separation anxiety, scared of its owner leaving. This was not the reaction he had tried to get from you. He stood up and followed your fast steps to the bedroom. As soon as he saw you throw one of your biggest bags onto the floor, followed up by some clothing pieces, he felt his blood freeze. Were you leaving as in leaving the relationship?

"Why are you packing?" he asked, scared of your answer.

"I'm going to Irene's. I can't stay with you when you're making me crazy like this." What you said was true; you were sure he'd crack your patience and make you go full sadist on him if you stayed in the same room as him for another minute – or even worse: another hour or whole night.

He felt relieved that you weren't breaking up with him over a silly argument, but he still didn't want you to stay over at your friend's when you both knew that it would be smarter to solve the tension instead.

"Stay with me," he pleaded lowly, sensing he didn't have many other options than pleading and hoping it'd be persuasive enough for you to stay with him.

"We need a night without each to calm down and have an adult discussion, alright?" you tried to explain, grabbing your now-fully-packed bag, and heading to the door to continue your journey to your awesome best friend.

When Haechan didn't talk back, you turned away from the doorway and to the bed to see why he was being quiet and not protesting some more like he usually would. He was looking you in the eyes as he pulled the hoodie off his torso and threw it your way. You caught it in your hand. Proceeding, he pulled down his pants, making sure he did it slowly enough to send you signals that he wasn't planning on putting on his PJs.

As he stood in only his boxers in front of you, a new bulb lit up above his head – and this one was even brighter than the last one – maybe he did have more options than to plead and strip.

With a smirk he sat down on the foot of the bed, maintaining eye contact, and pulled down his boxers to reveal his hard cock. You were speechless when he had stripped down to almost full nudity, but what shocked you the most was that just speaking to him disrespectfully had turned him on.

The moment he started touching his cock and moaning like a bitch, you realized that he had purposely been naughty so you could punish him. He had whined in you ear all day, stripped and masturbated when you wanted to leave because he wanted this; he wanted to be punished.

So, you decided to do it.

You dropped the bag and went to your wardrobe, taking out a box you'd kept secret from Haechan. He looked your way curiously, analyzing your reaction while still stroking his cock rudely. Damn, he hoped you were doing something femdom related.

"Safeword?" you asked, examining the nostalgic box of memory-making apparatuses, trying to decide which ones you wanted to use to make memories tonight.

"Sun," he answered, smiling at the victory; he was going to get fucked literally.

"I hope you understand that I'm going to have to punish you for being such a naughty boy."

"Yes, Mommy," he said oh so naturally.

You looked back at him after he said the last word, watching him lay down on the bed, boxers in a random corner of the room. He seemed experienced or like he'd had a fantasy about calling you that word for a while, no stutter, and thankfully that made it easier for you decide on which toys to use on him.

"Naughty boys don't deserve to touch Mommy," you turned to him with a pair of pink, fluffy handcuffs. He blushed a little, not expecting the object you chose to punish him with to be so adorable. Did he seriously think that was all you were going to use as punishment when he'd riled you up like this?

How cute.

Walking slowly to him, you threw the cuffs onto the bed beside his legs and startled him a bit at the suddenness of the action. He had teased you, and you wanted to make sure he'd feel teased as well – and what better way to do that than to use one of his biggest weaknesses against him? Smirking, you pulled off your shirt, leaving your upper body in only a bra – a pink one. He had always liked that color – though he denied it since it wasn't manly to like pink.

You climbed on top of his body and took the cuffs in your hands again, getting ready to restrain him. He was breathing heavily, getting aroused by your body above his, and especially by your boobs that were clad in such a lovely color. Although he liked the bra, he would've loved to see your boobs without anything covering them.

"Hold your arms up for me, Channie," you ordered, to which he listened to instantly. He held them up against the bed frame, assuming you were going to cuff him to it. But he was wrong. You didn't want him to predict his punishment; you wanted everything to be a surprise that not even his fantasy could come close to.

Instead of cuffing his wrists to the frame of the bed, you cuffed them to nothing. Yes, nothing. It may sound boring to restrain your partner to nothing, but it was the opposite; restraining him to air meant that he still could choose to disobey you further by bringing his arms down. "You're going to keep your arms here, and if you at any point put them down and touch me it'll add to your punishment, understood?"

"Yes, Mommy."

"Oh, don't act like a good boy all of a sudden. You're getting punished for a reason, Haechannie," you scoffed lightly, feeling soft from the sweetness that seemed to ooze naturally whether he tried to or not.

"But I am a good boy," he pouted, adding to the cuteness you adored so much.

"Only if you can manage this punishment, but until then you're a bad boy," you explained and turned back to the box to grab the last part of the punishment. He continued pouting, until he saw the object you took out: a strap on. After removing your pants, you put the fake dick on and adjusted it to your hips.

The strap wasn't bigger than the average dick as you didn't know how used he was to having dildos shoved up his ass – and even though you wanted to hurt him, you were still cautious over how harsh you were with him. He was your squishy Haechannie after all.

"You ready, Channie?" you asked as you crawled back to him, searching his face for any uncertainty. His big eyes and toothy smile hinted at him anticipating what you were about to do, but you still wanted a verbal answer as you wanted to make sure he was OK with being pegged.

He nodded quickly, "Yes, Mommy, I'm always ready for you."

✧ ੈ ✧ ‧₊˚ * ੈ ✧‧₊˚＊* ੈ ✧ ‧₊˚ * ੈ ✧‧₊˚＊* ✧ ੈ ✧

❝ Violins playin' and the angels cryin'

When the stars align, then I'll be there

No, I don't care about them all

'Cause all I want is to be loved

And all I care about is you

You're stuck on me like a tattoo

No, I don't care about the pain

I'll walk through fire and through rain

Just to get closer to you

You're stuck on me like a tattoo ❞

—lorine zineb noka talhaoui; 2023

[istudyjapaneseorsmth]

Language Learning With Chronic Fatigue

[gif id: an animation of a cherry blossom branch swaying in the wind]

So! You're someone who's interested in learning a language, or you're already learning one but have trouble staying consistent because of your symptoms. I get it, I've been there.

For those who don't know, I have chronic fatigue and pain due to long covid. I've been struggling with it since early 2022, and I'm still learning how to cope, but I have enough knowledge at this point to put together a post about how to study whatever language you want to study and, y'know, not run out of spoons within a day.

Do keep in mind that I am one person with chronic fatigue! These tips may not help everyone.

P.S., I'll probably make another post like this in the future because I have terrible memory (thanks brain fog) and I probably forgot some stuff.

Take advantage of good days

[plain text: Take advantage of good days]

If you ever have days where you have more energy than usual, take advantage of those! For example, yesterday I had a ton of energy so I ended up studying for 3 and a half hours total.

That being said, keep in mind anything else you may need a lot of energy for in the day. I had to do laundry and shower yesterday, but I was exhausted after doing laundry, so I didn't get to shower. (In this regard: do not be like me.)

Keep track of what tasks drain you more than others

[plain text: Keep track of what tasks drain you more than others]

This can either be written down or just a mental note, but everyone is gonna have a certain type of studying or a certain area of study that drains them way faster. That could be something that just takes more brain power, or something you just don't like doing.

Reserve these things for the days you don't have to do anything else high energy, or just for your good days. I personally try to do more grammar practice on my good days, and more vocabulary on my worse days. And on my really low energy days? Listening.

Reserve at least one break day a week, more if needed

[plain text: reserve at least one break day a week, more if needed]

This one really depends on how fast you drain. I have Saturday specifically reserved as my break day; I don't let myself do any language practice on that day. That being said, this past week I had to take another break day just because I was tired from other commitments.

This one is super variable, but I do recommend at least one.

You don't have to study for several hours a day

[plain text: you don't have to study for several hours a day]

I think there's this weird misconception on studyblr and langblr that if you don't study your target language for the same amount of time you'd work a full-time job (or more!), then you'll never reach your goals.

That's not true! At all!

Depending on what your goals are, the only penalty for studying less per day/week is that you'll reach it slower. There's nothing wrong with that! It's your language journey, you can go at your own pace.

I hope this is useful for anyone who needs it, I know I would've liked something like this a long time ago.

[plain text: I hope this is useful for anyone who needs it, I know I would've liked something like this a long time ago.]

[femme4ngel]

can you pleaseee do a story about haaland being insecure about something while looking at himself in the mirror and y/n enters the room and comforts him then they end up making out

i hv an exam tomorrow but this inspired me hope u like it <3

erling haaland x fem reader

it wasn’t like him to feel down at all. usually he felt full of power and confidence, he believed in himself and couldn’t care less about what others said about him. he was the strong, norwegian viking after all.

but today was different and you noticed it. he did poorly in the match and although city still won, he’s rating was low and his failed shots were posted all over the internet. you felt his sadness and disappointment, the way he walked out of the changing room, the way his usual bright smile faded away. he could take all the criticism about the way he played, he could take it when it was about his talent or the lack of it, but he couldn’t deal with criticism about his looks. you told him not to go on instagram, to not open comments but he couldn’t stop himself. he sat in the changing room for a good 30 minutes scrolling nonstop, every rude comment, every mean word about his face seeping into his mind. he suddenly felt small and uncomfortable in his own skin, and all he craved was your touch and kind words. you noticed immediately as he walked besides you on your way to the car, his fingers holding tightly onto yours, his golden hair laying on his shoulders, his eyes fixated on the floor. he needed soft touches and sweet words whispered into his ears, a hug and kisses all over his cheeks.

and you knew exactly how to make him feel better, how to make the sad pout disappear from his face.

- hey baby what about a bath when we get home? i got a new bathbomb yesterday, its strawberry and vanilla scented. - you look over at him in the car, his eyes are sad and his fingers viciously gripping the wheel but he seems to like your idea a lot, his face lighting up, his cheeks blushing.

you took baths together whenever either of you was feeling down, the bubbles, the relaxation of the warm water and the closeness of your bodies cheering you up instantly. so as soon as you get home you tell him to go and get out of his clothes and wait for a little in the bedroom while you start the bath and collect all the stuff you want to put into it. you eventually gather all of your things, and with the bathbombs and gels in your hand return to the bedroom. you find your boyfriend staring at himself in the mirror, theres a frustrated look spreading across his beautiful features, his eyebrows are furrowed. he looks like he might start crying and you feel your heart breaking by the sight. you walk up to him, hugging him from behind, your smaller frame disappearing into his. your fingers are running up and down on his torso, caressing his skin, drawing circles on his waist. your cheek is resting against his back, hes warm and he smells like him. like erling, like soap and grass and his lingering parfume. you want him to know how beautiful he is, how his touch lights your skin up, how his eyes mesmerize you, how it feels to call him yours.

- can we take the bath and then watch a dumb movie? im so tired, im sorry..- he asks, theres some shame in his voice as he stares at his reflection.

- of course baby, lets go, i think the water is already perfect.- you grab his hand as you guide him to the bathroom, holding him close and tight, wanting to show him how beautiful he truly is.

[collegeishardbutwritingisharder]

Male Yuu! Reader (Platonic Yandere) Part 1

@asillylitteseabunnyay More ideas! Warning: Really OOC characters (Even for yandere standards. This is a major reason as to why I write headcanons before writing a separate piece for them), I really did try to make this into one post but I really wanted to post something. Sorry for taking so long to post something.

For those who want a word count: 14,203 words. Once again, sorry for being really slow.

"(Y/N)! Wait up!"

I turned around to see Ace running up to me with Deuce trailing after him. A grin broke on my face at the sight of them. Those two always bring trouble with them and while it can be tiring, I could never imagine a different life that I could lead. Or at least, my life in Twisted Wonderland.

"Heya, guys! What's going on? Riddle chasing after you for breaking another rule or Azul wanting to capture you in a contract again?"

"Do you really think that whenever we want to see you we're in trouble? I'm kind of wounded."

Ace put on a fake pout before pulling a mock hurt pose.

"Because whenever you ARE in trouble, you come find me to get you out of it."

"Fair."

Deuce walked around Ace before greeting me.

"Good morning, (Y/N)!"

"Good morning, Deucey! How's your morning been so far?"

"It was quite uneventful which is a nice change of pace from how mornings normally are for us."

Deuce was pushed by Ace, who started laughing at Deuce who lost his footing.

Ace and Deuce started a stare off before I just lightly tapped both of their foreheads to snap them out of it.

"Yo, troublemakers! If you keep fighting like this, we're gonna have trouble coming our way. Let's move!"

Ace and Deuce nodded at me before we all started to sprint to get to P.E. Vargas was no joke when it came to being late. I would prefer not having to do twenty extra laps around the field, thank you very much.

Thankfully, we made it with only a minute left to spare. Jack and Epel were there ahead of us and claimed brooms for Ace and Deuce.

"If you three keep sleeping in, you're going to end up missing class."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's get this class done and over with."

Jack tossed the brooms to Ace and Deuce who caught them before turning towards me.

"(Y/N), do you want to ride with me on my broom today?"

I thought about the offer before another student butted into the conversation.

"I already offered the Human a ride on my broom last class!"

Sebek appeared out of nowhere, being loud like always. Although his words did remind me of yesterday. I was riding on Floyd's broom for class (Mainly because he wouldn't let me ride on anyone else's broom) and I nearly fell off many times. Sebek came to me after class and offered his broom instead. This did surprise me considering that Sebek has been a recent friend that I've made but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Anything to not ride with Floyd again.

"Yep, he's right, Jack. I promised Sebek that I would join him for this flight class. Although if you're offering for tomorrow, I wouldn't be opposed to that."

Jack gave me a nod before getting himself ready for flight. Looks like I have my flight partner for tomorrow! I walked with Sebek to the spot that he picked which was quite a bit away from the other first years but I didn't care that much about it. This class is a mix between all of the years so I wouldn't be surprised if Lilia or Silver was in this class as well.

"Child of Man."

Or I should have guessed that Malleus would be in this class.

"Hello, Hornton. I hope that this morning is treating you nicely."

I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that my night friend is really the Malleus Draconia. It's still something that I must get used to.

"Young Master!"

Sebek's face lit up with the biggest smile that I think I've ever seen which made a smile appear on my face. Even thought the half fae carries a huge amount of aggression towards humans, whenever he's happy, it's near impossible to not be happy along with him.

"ALRIGHT! Let's start working out those muscles!"

Coach Vargas appeared out of nowhere like he normally does and got everybody into line. Sebek positioned his broom safely between his legs while I tried to position myself carefully as well. The take off is always the hardest for whoever I'm flying with considering that we have to time the launch perfectly with each other.

Sebek was staring at me to make sure that I was ready and I gave him a quick nod to signal that I was ready for take off. We did a short run before jumping and taking off. I held onto Sebek for dear life when we started to get some serious altitude. I've learned that if I grab the broom while in flight, that I accidently cause some mild steering interference.

"Khee hee hee. Careful, (Y/N). You might end up causing a tear into Sebek's uniform."

I turned my head to my right to see Lilia flying there. Him being there made me recount all of the people in this class. Everyone was in this class today! I'm particularly amazed that Azul was able to get his broom up this high and the fact that Idia was riding the broom correctly. That might be because we're actually going for a flight around the island for class today.

"I'll loosen my grip in a bit. I'm still not a big fan of heights."

A shudder went up my spine when I looked down. I don't understand how people are able to fly this high up without being terrified.

"WOOOOO!"

I tilted my head up to see Cater riding his broom like a skateboard and doing tricks on it. I wish that I had a fraction of his courage to do something like that.

"Don't worry, Human! I will not be doing ridiculous stunts like that with you on the broom with me."

"Thanks, Sebek. I greatly appreciate it."

The class continued like normal. Many people were flying by Sebek and I to have a pleasant conversation. Riddle and the rest of Heartslabyul were checking in with me to make sure I didn't need a quick emergency landing. Sebek took mild offense to that saying 'If the Human needed to go down, I would be more than capable to take him down myself!'

"Are you sure that you would be taking the utmost of care that he is protected when flying down?"

"Of course, I would!"

"I don't know, Sebek. You don't always seem to be the perfect fit for protecting (Y/N)."

"Why you-!"

Ace and Sebek started a screaming match mid air, making me roll my eyes. Those two are like oil and water. Never to be mixed.

"Good morning, Prefect."

"Good morning, Dorm Leader Rosehearts!"

"(Y/N)..."

I let out a laugh at Riddle's warning tone. I love to tease him about his proper title.

"Sorry, sorry. Has your morning been calm?"

"Not in the slightest! There were nearly five rule breakers this morning! I don't know what they were thinking about having strawberry tea on a Thursday!"

"The lunacy!"

"I know!"

"Hehe, it did make for a magicamable morning though!"

Cater flew next to us, still in skateboard position.

"I bet it did!"

"I'll send you all of the pics after class! Kay-kay?"

"Kay-Kay!"

I like indulging in his vocabulary from time to time. It's interesting and different from my own!

"Ace. Stop fighting with Sebek before Riddle decides that it's off with your head."

Trey was ahead of all of us, flying backwards which was pretty impressive, mediating the fight between Sebek and Ace.

"But-!"

"YOU HEARD THE OTHER HUMAN, ACE! ADMIT YOUR DEFEAT!"

Don't fight Sebek, it isn't pretty.

Ace let out a scoff before flying towards Deuce. Riddle and Trey followed quickly after them to make sure that those two would stay out of trouble for the morning while Cater saw Idia and wanted a picture of him before he hid away for the rest of the day.

"*Yawn* Doesn't it get exhausting with all of those other noisy herbivores chatting your ear off?"

Leona and Ruggie came on the left and the right of us.

"I don't see it as tiring. In fact, it's actually quite fun to talk with your friends in the morning!"

Leona gave a smirk at me with a glint in his eyes. Oh no.

"That's just like you, Herbivore. Taking pity on other herbivores, especially those who follow that Lizard."

I felt Sebek tense at Leona's words. He turned his head to glare at Leona.

"How dare you insult the YOUNG MASTER?! YOU LAZY LION!"

Leona and Sebek started to have a shouting match over my head. Why does Sebek feel the need to fight with so many people this morning? Where does this energy come from?

"Psst, (Y/N)!"

I turned my head to see Ruggie. He gave me a slight wave before holding out an apple for me.

"Here! I decided to be kind today and got you an apple!"

"Thank you, Ruggie! Now. What do you want?"

Ruggie's kind smile turned into a slight smirk.

"Glad you asked! I have to do laundry later today and considering I did something nice for you, you could do something nice for me?"

"Sure, I'll come by noon to help you out."

"Thank you, (Y/N)! Shye hee hee!"

"Alright, leave (Y/N) and Sebek alone you guys."

Jack and Epel came out of nowhere and separated Leona and Ruggie from our broom.

"Hmph, self righteous fresh babies."

Leona flew off and motioned for Ruggie to follow him. Ruggie gave me a nod before flying after Leona. Sebek looked at Jack with anger.

"HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT US, JACK!"

"Your yelling was giving (Y/N) a headache. Besides, you should be paying attention to flying and not crashing."

Epel then flew closer to me and took the apple from me.

"Hey!"

"Ya don't wanna ta eat this one. There's mealworms in it. Make yer stomach upset."

I looked at the apple with disgust. I can't believe that Ruggie would try to feed me something that like.

"Thanks, Epel. It looked like such a good apple too."

"It takes a trained eye ta tell. Seems like Ruggie needs a better eye."

Jack and Epel flew away after making sure that Sebek and I would be safe with flying.

"These useless creatures. Thinking that I'm incapable of taking care of a singular magicless human."

"Calm down, Sebek. I'm certain that they are just worried about me being up this high. It's not everyday that a magicless human goes off the ground. If it makes you feel better, I feel completely safe with you flying the broom."

Sebek gave a proud smirk before straightening his back and picking up the pace to continue flying with the group. I started to scan the sky for other people that I knew.

Azul didn't really come near us or anybody for that matter. I think that he was a tad scared of accidentally crashing into anybody which I think is a valid fear. I quickly shouted some encouragement to him. Jade and Floyd on the other hand had no problem with coming up to us. Jade mostly left us alone, saying that he was there to keep an eye on his brother. Floyd though...

"Awwww, Shrimpyyyy. Why are you flying with Crocodile instead of me todayyyy? Are you trying to get squeeeezed?"

"No Floyd. I'm riding Sebek because he offered."

"Hmph. That's no fun. Come here on my broom."

Floyd grabbed my arm and started trying to pull me onto his broom. Because of my near death grip on Sebek, it started to also mess with Sebek's flying as well.

"ARGH! STOP THIS INSTANT, YOU INSOLENT CREATURE!"

"Floyd! Stop that! This isn't funny!"

"Hehehehe~ I think that it's pretty funny. Come on, Shrimpy. It'll be safe."

"FLOYD!"

"Floyd. That's enough. You're causing (Y/N) to be uncomfortable."

Jade intervened by prying Floyd's hand off of my arm. Sebek was able to stabilize the broom and we were flying smoothly again.

"Booooo, you're no fun, Jade."

Jade let out a chuckle.

"Sorry, Floyd. Normally, I'd let you have your fun but there is a tad too much risk here."

My breathing normalized just in time for Kalim and Jamil to visit us on the left side.

"Hiya, (Y/N)! Good morning, Sebek!"

"Morning, Kalim! How's today treating you so far?"

"Today has been the best so far! Jamil made a delicious breakfast for the whole dorm! We also discussed planning a party for later this evening! Would you two like to join us?"

I noticed Jamil tense a bit at the mention of more people coming to the party. That man was under so much pressure that it's not even funny.

"Sorry! But I must keep watch over the Young Master at all times! I don't have time to partake in silly human activities!"

"Yeah, I have to decline as well, Kalim. Ramshackle has been in need of a clean up and I'll most likely have a bunch of homework to do tonight anyway. I hope that you have a pleasant party though!"

Kalim had a slight pout on his face before his normal smile reappeared.

"That's quite fine! Although the party won't be the same without you, (Y/N)!"

Kalim then flew ahead of us. Jamil looked at me and I gave him a wink and a smile. I wasn't really too busy tonight but I decided to do him a solid. Jamil gave a small quirk of his lips before flying after Kalim.

"First Potato."

I turned my head to the right to stare at Vil. Boy, was he as intimidating as ever?

"Sit up straight. If you keep curling into Cucumber here, your posture will be horrendous."

I nodded at Vil before trying to sit up straight. The wind decided to pick up then and there, wobbling the broom. I immediately curled back into Sebek.

"Thanks for the advice Vil but I think that I'm going to stay curled until the end of the flight."

Vil narrowed his eyes slightly before directing his attention to the front.

"Oh, le pauvre escroc! Although, I must admit that the sight of your fear brings out a completely new side of your beauty to light!"

I saw Rook upside down which made me jolt a bit. Sebek let out a grunt.

"Human! Be careful!"

"Sorry, Sebek!"

Rook only let out a laugh before going to Vil to fawn over him. The duo flew off which made me let out a sigh of relief. I'm glad that I was able to befriend those two at VDC but I won't lie that I'm terrified of what those two can do together.

"(Y/N)-San!"

Ortho's voice traveled into my ears which made me look behind myself to see him there.

"Ortho! It's nice to see you and your brother this morning!"

"Yes! Niisan prefers to skip this class but he was more than willing to go when he heard about it being a mixed class. I'm still not too certain as to why though."

"Maybe he misheard. I have no idea either though."

"Oh yeah! Niisan wanted me to ask you if you were down for playing with him tonight over voice chat! He has recently been really involved with a new MMORPG that he wants to play with you."

I thought about it before realizing that Kalim was still nearby. I couldn't just brush off one friend and not the other. Sorry, Idia.

"Sorry, Ortho but I have to clean up Ramshackle tonight. With Grim being trapped inside all day, he's sure to make a mess. Or more of a mess."

I wasn't lying about Grim being stuck inside all day. Two days ago, a freak accident happened in the cafeteria which ended up with Grim's tail being broken. I prescribed him bed rest and plenty of bandages for healing. He made a mild fit about it before realizing that I wasn't about to forfeit my ground.

"Oh."

Ortho looked a bit disheartened but I had to stay strong. It doesn't help that I see Ortho as a brother. I want the robo kid happy!

"Yeah, really sorry, Ortho. Maybe tomorrow, I can play games with Idia."

Ortho seemed to perk up at that before zooming past us to talk with Idia. Sebek was quick to fix his course with the new air ripples.

"CAREFUL OF WHERE YOU'RE FLYING!!"

"Calm down, Sebek, he's just a kid."

"Ah, youth. I hope that you young ones won't mind me joining your flight?"

Lilia made his reappearance and started to fly with us.

"Master Lilia!"

"Welcome back, Lilia! Where did you come from?"

"Khee hee hee. I was just trying to arrange something. Don't worry too much about it."

Two more people came up to fly next to us. It was Malleus and Silver! I gave both of them a wave which they returned.

"See! I thought that it would be nice for our dorm to fly together! Even if you're not part of our dorm, you're still quite a treasured friend to us all!"

"I'm honored that you won't kick me out of your dorm flying session."

We all just flew in peace for a bit but that peace didn't last for long.

"Freak wind!"

A huge gust of wind came out of nowhere causing me to lose my grip on Sebek and fall off the broom.

"(Y/N)!"

Sebek tried to grab me but sadly, he was much too slow. I kept falling before I finally hit the ground. It was so painful. A huge pain seared through my leg, back, head and arm. Oh, the times when you wish that you had magic to make all of your problems go away. Sadly, my wishes won't be answered anytime soon.

I heard a bunch of calls of my name. I tried to keep my eyes open but the pain in my head was making it insanely hard.

"(Y/N)! I found him!"

Deuce came into my line of sight and I tried to give him a smile but the look on his face made me think that my smile wasn't exactly a smile.

"Don't worry, (Y/N). You'll be fine. I know that you'll be fine. You have to be fine!"

I tried to get some words of comfort out for Deuce but the pain got too much for my brain to handle. I let out a groan and passed out. My dreams were really weird. There were a bunch of different clouds who were talking over each other. It was near impossible to make out what they were trying to say. It started to hurt my head mildly.

I was thankful when I started to wake from the dream. The voices of the clouds went quiet, giving my head the needed break from noise that it wanted. I started to open my eyes but they were really sensitive to light and there was plenty of it in the room.

"Urrrr, that's really bright."

"He's up!"

"Now that was loud."

My eyes adjusted to the light and I saw Sebek kneeling next to me. I started to look around the room more and everybody was there watching me, concern and relief were reflective in their eyes.

"Ugh, what's going on, guys?"

I tried to sit up from my lying down position but I let out a scream. It was much too painful to even sit up. Next thing that I knew everybody was surrounding me and trying to make sure that I was okay.

"(Y/N)!"

"Don't strain yourself."

"Stay down, Shrimpy!"

Everyone's face held such amounts of concern. Even Leona! I didn't even really think that he even tolerated me in the slightest! The more that the situation processed in my brain, the more funny that I found it. I even started laughing which shocked everyone around me.

"This is no laughing matter, (Y/N)! You were severely injured!"

"Sorry, Riddle, but you must admit the way that you all are acting is quite bizarre!"

Everyone looked at each other confused before returning their gazes back to me as if they wanted a further explanation.

"I mean, c'mon guys! You're treating me as if I'm a fragile glass doll that will break if someone so much as breathed on me! You've seen me fight at least five different overblots! I think that I'm strong enough to handle a bad crash."

Everyone stayed silent at what I said. Apparently, they have forgotten how much that I've been through ever since I arrived at Twisted Wonderland.

My stomach interrupted the silence with a warning that I was hungry. Leona was actually the first to react.

"Ruggie, take this and go get (Y/N) something good to eat. Don't skimp out."

"You got it."

Ruggie rushed out of the room, most likely going to the cafeteria. He really doesn't have to get me food, more importantly expensive food. I would just be happy with a bag of chips and a bottle of water to tide me over for now.

"You really didn't have to send Ruggie out to do that. I think that I could have just gotten a ghost from Ramshackle to get me the leftovers from last night."

Vil snapped his head towards me when I mentioned leftovers.

"Do you mean those unhealthy, instant foods that I've heard from Epel that you order from Sam so much?"

A mild blush appeared on my face. It's true that I haven't really gotten the chance to really have a decent meal in a few months but hey! Life on a budget was never easy!

"Yes, those foods. I didn't finish the oven pizza that I got yesterday. There should be more than enough food unless Grim ate most of it today."

Vil then turned his head to Leona.

"Tell Ruggie to order two of whatever he is getting for the prefect. He obviously needs better food choices than what he is supplying himself with."

Leona only nodded his head before pulling out his phone to text Ruggie his new order.

"At least, I'm keeping Sam in business."

Crowley then entered the nurse's office, making me slightly jump and hurt myself more.

"GOODNESS GRACIOUS! Broken bones are no joke!"

"(Y/N)! I've heard about your condition!"

Crowley also looked around at all of the students who were already there.

"Appears that the rest of our student body has enough concern for our dear magicless student."

Crowley then made his way to the bedside and looked down at me.

"Now then, we must figure out a way to make sure that you can heal quickly and safely! I am not able to handle all of your needs everyday.

Hmmmm, I'm wondering if you would be fine if a ghost just brought you meals and Grim could give you your homework that you've missed."

"Grim is out of school on injury as well, Headmage."

"Hmmm, maybe your professors would be kind enough to bring your homework to you."

"Headmage."

Crowley and I turned our heads to look at Riddle. He had a straight face but I could tell that he had a plan.

"We Heartslabyul students will be more than willing to take care of (Y/N). He has helped us out more than times than we can count, either with overblots or if someone was going to break one of our rules."

"Yeah! Besides, (Y/N) and I are like, best friends! I'd be more than happy to try and teach him the lessons that he missed! Also I'd be cursed if I didn't help him out when he really needs it."

"Since I'm also one of (Y/N)'s close friends, I can help keep him company between classes! So that he isn't too lonely during the day!"

"I can help him during meal times and create a small dessert for him everyday. It wouldn't be too much a hassle."

"And I can keep him updated on current events! #KeepingThePrefectInTheLoop!"

Ace, Deuce, Trey and Cater all seemed super excited to help me with my recovery. Although a scoff from Leona and Vil resounded in the room.

Riddle was immediately on the defense and sent one of his strongest glares their way.

"Do you two have a problem with our plan?"

Leona gave an eye roll before saying his part.

"You're really going to entrust that idiotic herbivore to catch the prefect up on the lessons that he missed? Even if you taught that herbivore by himself, I'm still certain that he still would fail his classes."

Ace got visibly angry at Leona words but was held back by Deuce. Probably because the Headmage was still in the room.

Vil put in his thoughts next.

"None of you will actually take care of the prefect in the way that he deserves. I doubt anybody would be willing to make sure the prefect stays presentable even in casts."

Trey and Cater looked between themselves before returning Vil's glare. But soon enough, something else caused an uproar amongst the group.

"But I want to help (Y/N) to get better as well!"

Kalim looked very determined to be useful to me before looking over to Jamil with pleading eyes.

"Right, Jamil? We want to make sure that (Y/N) gets the utmost of care!"

"Kalim's right. I doubt that any of you had to take care of someone who was sick. I've been in the caretaker role so I think that we are most likely the best to assure (Y/N)'s quick recovery. Kalim has also had experience with taking care of his younger siblings as well."

A loud thud was heard from behind Jamil which got everyone's attention drawn to Sebek.

"NONE OF YOU SHALL HELP THE HUMAN! IT WAS MY OWN SHORTCOMINGS THAT CAUSED THE HUMAN TO BE INJURED IN THE FIRST PLACE! THUS I SHALL TAKE UP EACH AND EVERY DUTY MYSELF!"

Soon enough, there was a whole yelling match between all of the dorms on who would be able to take care of me. Soon enough, Crowley had enough of the fighting and silenced them all.

"ALRIGHT!

While I'm moved to tears by seeing all of my students work together for a common goal, we still must come up with a schedule to make sure that Mr. (Y/N) gets the care that he needs.

Thankfully, my quick thinking has come up with the perfect solution!

Mr. (Y/N) will stay here in the nurse's office and each day a different dorm will take care of him. Heartslabyul on Monday, Savanaclaw on Tuesday, etc, etc."

Everyone reluctantly nodded to the plan. It sounded like a good plan considering that everybody would get what they want in the end. There was some mild awkward silence before Ruggie kicked open the doors with his hands full of food.

"Okay, so I bought twenty meals because that was all that I could have afforded with Leona's money plus haggling."

Leona facepalmed before letting out a groan.

"You useless hyena, I wanted you to get at least fifty meals with that money."

Thus started the crazy recovery scheme between all of the dorms.

Heartslabyul's day was probably one of the most relaxing days that a person like me could have. At the start of every day, Trey would come in and bring me a homemade breakfast. It always was some sort of pastry like pancakes, waffles or croissants. For the first two weeks, mainly because of the pain that I would acquire if I moved too much, Trey spoon fed me my breakfasts. I promised him that I would pay him back for meals but he always told me that it wouldn't be necessary.

"There's no reason to repay me, (Y/N). I'm used to taking care of my younger siblings."

Then throughout the day, Cater and Deuce would visit at random times. I'm ninety percent certain that Cater skipped a good portion of his classes and clubs to hang out with me. He would stay late into the night as well, taking pictures or showing me random memes that he found funny. Though per my demand, he would put his phone away and ignore it while we played a board game that he 'borrowed' from the board game club.

"Time for a new pic for the cam! I'm going to title this one 'Brothers Night In!'"

Deuce would come during the breaks between our classes to either lightly talk about what happened during class or tell me how much that he missed me during classes.

"I've never truly realized how boring classes are without you there."

Lunch is always spent with Riddle. He brings personally brewed tea for both of us to enjoy! He also makes sure that I'm properly taken care of and that none of his dorm members were slacking on their jobs.

"You're happy with how my dorm members are doing? Good. I'm glad that they are upholding your expectations. If they ever let you down, let me know. I'll make sure that they know better than to disappoint my family."

Finally, Ace is probably the person that I see the least of but considering what I know about him, it's quite believable that he wouldn't be there as often as the others. He does get me my homework and brings me dinner though.

"Yo, little bro! Sorry for being late with your stuff today! Basketball club started straight after school today. Let's eat before we start getting work done!"

Savanaclaw is next. To be honest, with only three of them throughout the day, it is quite hectic. Especially with Leona as one of the caretakers. Since Leona normally skips classes, he now sleeps in the nurse's office with me all day. Sometimes, if he doesn't fall asleep, we end up having a pleasant talk. He also makes sure that I'm comfortable with extra blankets if I'm cold or more pillows if the bed isn't soft enough. He does get mad if I try to situate the blankets myself.

"Stop squirming. Let your pride watch over you for a while."

Ruggie was the most hardworking out of the three. He had to get meals for me and Leona. Not to mention that a good majority of time he was trying to convince Leona to go at least to one of his classes on Tuesday. I told him that if he was too busy with Leona, he doesn't have to take care of me.

"Don't worry about me, (Y/N)! I always take care of the younger ones at home, you're no different!"

Jack was quite useful with teaching me all that I missed. He takes everything slowly which I appreciate! Alchemy has been really hard for me ever since I've arrived in Twisted Wonderland. It's like chemistry and I nearly failed when I took that.

"Did you understand that? Good. The last time that I had to teach like this was with my younger siblings when they wanted to learn how to snowboard."

Wednesday is one of those days that I can't wait for it to end. Floyd doesn't care what hurts me exactly. He sometimes just picks me up from my bed and carries me around campus.

"Why are you crying, Shrimpy? Elvers like you need all of the fresh air that they can get~!"

Normally after many tears and a majority of my day, Jade arrives and relieves Floyd of his job. Floyd always puts up a fight telling Jade that he isn't done playing with me but Jade reminds him of whatever Azul needed him to do now. Floyd becomes quiet before trudging off, a scowl on his face. Jade then normally takes me back to the nurse's office with an apology.

"I must apologize for my brother. He doesn't understand that you need your rest, (Y/N). He called you an 'elver'? Well, I won't disagree with him but don't worry. It's not an insult."

All of the meals on Wednesday are supplied by the Mostro Lounge per demand of Azul. Floyd packed breakfast and lunch for us to prevent me having to be stuck in the office all day. Dinner is the only meal that I can enjoy in a comfortable position. Azul personally delivers it to me and provides a small bit of entertainment for me.

"I do hope that the food is to your liking! I would hate for a fry to go hungry during the time that they need to heal!"

When it comes to Scarabia's turn, it's probably the most organized day. That might be because Jamil is in charge of most of the things when it comes to taking care of me. He always comes with handmade meals, extra pillows in case the ones that I've been laying on have lost their fluff, etc, etc. He always seems to know what I want.

"Here you go. A light novel for you to read to make sure that you aren't bored in bed all day. How did I know that you wanted something to read? Call it 'Caretaker's intuition'."

Kalim didn't really have anything to help me get better but his charismatic personality always made my day! After school, we would just talk about the most random things to pass the time. Kalim's most favorite subject to talk about though is his home. He talks as if I've been there before though.

"And then we all went swimming! Where did we go swimming? (Y/N)! You know that we have a pool back at home!"

Pomefiore's day is quite restless for me. Before the sun is even up, Vil is there, doing a two hour long skincare routine for me. There have been times where I've almost fallen back asleep while he was taking care of my skin. Normally, if that does happen, he flicks my forehead which wakes me up immediately.

"The others may have let you become lazy but I won't let that continue on any longer. I'll make sure that you're properly taken care of. I refuse to let my junior deteriorate anymore."

Rook likes to randomly surprise me during the day and give me plenty of compliments about my strength. His weirdness was fully on display but to be honest, I always loved when Rook was true to himself. It was also fun to look at his Neige scrapbook!

"Magnifique! I'm so overjoyed that my Jeune Chercheur de Beauté is being inspired by my collection! Don't worry mon protégé, Je ferai un album à votre beauté bien assez tôt!"

Epel comes to visit to give me my homework before setting up his own work to do with me. Surprisingly, we don't talk that much during the time that we do hang out, preferring to enjoy each other's presence in silence. When we do decide to talk, it's always short but I enjoy having them.

"Rook and Vil did what? Ah can never understand those two. But I'm glad ya can put up with them."

Saturday is when the Shroud brothers come to visit, it's the only time that Idia will actually leave his room to visit me or maybe another reason gets him out and about. I'm not too certain anymore mainly because I don't know how Idia functions half the time.

"u-u-um! hiya, (Y/N)-San! ugh, this is so embarrassing. i-i-i-i brought my portable gaming set up so that we can beat all of the other normies online! if there were people in classes today, i would totally have dreaded this more."

To balance Idia's nerves, Ortho was nearly sparking with excitement! He was in his alchemy outfit and running constant tests on me. Although he would make sure to cheer Idia and I on whenever we were either having a hard time or won a hard match!

"Niisan and Ani are so awesome! Everyone else will see how cool the two of you are together!"

Then comes Sunday. The second most hectic day of any week. I at least don't get hurt. All that I get is mild deafness in one of my ears. Sebek doesn't leave my side while begging for my forgiveness for letting this happen.

"PLEASE FORGIVE ME, (Y/N)! I'M SORRY THAT I FAILED YOU AS YOUR OLDER! I WILL NEVER LET SOMETHING HAPPEN LIKE THIS AGAIN TO YOU! I PROMISE THAT I WILL PROTECT YOU WITH EVERYTHING THAT I CAN!"

Silver was thankfully calmer than most of the others. Although he did have his own overprotective tendencies but was amazingly more organized than anybody else's! Especially for a sleepy guy.

"Sebek, you should think about getting (Y/N) some food if you want him to forgive you."

Lilia would actually prevent Silver's plan from working by bringing in his own food for me to eat. Fun fact: I can amazingly stomach his food. Considering that I'm ninety five percent certain that I should have food poisoning, his food doesn't even taste all that bad.

"Here you go, my little bat! A nice, warm meal that will fill you up! Don't be shy about engorging yourself! There's more than enough."

Malleus is probably the person who was the most affected by my injuries. He wouldn't really talk with me but just look over my casts with what could best be described as melancholy.

"I'm so sorry, my dear Child of Man. I should have never let this happen to you in the first place. I've failed you as a friend. Trust me, I promise you this as the Prince of Briar Valley, I will never let anything hurt you again."

This cycle continued on for a little over ten weeks. What was supposed to be a seven week recovery was heavily deterred by a reckless Floyd Leech. But I was so excited to be able to move on my own for the first time in a little over two months! When the nurse gave me the okay to move, I tried to stand on my feet right away. I didn't even wait for anybody to appear. I am so relieved that I can take care of myself again and no longer be a burden to everybody.

"Okay, I've got this! One, two, and up we go!"

I got up onto my feet and while I did wobble for a bit, I was pretty sturdy for someone who hasn't used their legs in a while. I didn't try anything risky like jumping or running but I was walking little laps around the nurse's office. The nurse gave me plenty of encouragement to try bigger strides or other things to improve my movement.

It was all fun and games until it was time for my guests to come in. Since it was a Wednesday, Floyd was the person who came in first to see me walking around on my feet.

"SHRIMPY! You're supposed to stay in bed!"

"I don't have to stay in bed anymore, Floyd! The nurse gave me the okay this morning! Besides, even if I was in bed, you would have just picked me up and carried me halfway across campus."

"That's not the point, Shrimpy! Elvers can't really take care of themselves without their swarm protecting them!"

"Floyd, this is a good thing! Besides, what is an elver anyway? You've been calling me one ever since I was injured. And I don't have a swarm!"

"Yes, you do! Jade and I are your swarm! We can't be having our little brother putting himself at risk!"

I went silent at what Floyd said. Little brother? I'm not their little brother. Floyd is known for going off in his own world from time to time but... I'm actually starting to worry that something happened to him.

"Floyd? Are you feeling alright?"

"Of course I am, Shrimpy! Although, you walking around as if you're some stingray, did give me a bit of a fright~"

"I wanted to make sure, Floyd, you do realize that I'm not your little brother right?"

"What are you talking about, Shrimpy? You've always been our little brother! Shrimpy can be soooooo forgetful sometimes~"

"No, Floyd. I'm not your brother."

Floyd's lazed/relaxed facial expression turned into a scowl when I tried to press the fact that we're not related. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a light, warning squeeze.

"Shrimpy, I'm not in the mood to hear lies from you. You ARE my little brother, an elver, and you are not ready to walk around the school by yourself."

If Floyd squeezes me now, there's a good chance that something will break again and I will have to be bed ridden again. I can deal with Floyd acting as if I was a baby eel for a little while. He'll get bored after a short while with this.

"Okay, okay, sorry Floyd. I think hitting my head from my fall must have caused me to forget some things."

"It's okay, Shrimpy~ You can be stupid from time to time but that's because you're still growing~ Soon enough, you're going to be as long as Jade and I! Now back to bed you go!"

Floyd picked me up and plopped me back down on the bed. The nurse tried to explain to Floyd that I was fine to walk on my own. He didn't take it kindly.

"Are you trying to tell me how to take care of my younger brother? Sounds like a nurse shark wants to be squeezed today~"

The nurse backed down after that. I don't blame him though. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Floyd's aggressions. Floyd didn't look away from the nurse and looked like he was going to attack the nurse anyway. I had to do something before Floyd acted on his impulses.

"So, Floyd, what do you have planned for us today? I really want to bond with my big brother some more!"

I've never seen Floyd's head turn so fast or his expression change more than it did right then. For a second there, Floyd's smile could actually challenge Kalim's smile for the brightest smile in the world.

"Oh, I'm so glad that you asked, Shrimpy~! I originally planned on taking us to the Mostro Lounge so that we can swim for a bit, then we could go find Goldfishie and bother him for a bit and finally, end the day with some basketball! Buuuutttttt I think that we should just take it easy today and just talk. You've already had enough action today with that scary walking stunt that you had this morning. Right, Shrimpy?"

Floyd's expression changed once again. His eyes held a dangerous glint that threatened me to agree with him. I only nodded my head because I don't trust my voice to stay strong.

"Gooooooddd~"

Floyd and I talked and ate together in the nurse's office for a majority of the day. I was quite shocked by the fact that Floyd fought his mood swings away. He mentioned multiple times how bored he was and how he wanted to go bother someone or go do something but what he said afterwards is the reason why I really need to talk with Jade.

"But... I need to protect Shrimpy~ So many predators here would love to sink their teeth into a yummy elver~"

I don't think I've ever been more happy to see Jade walk into the nurse's office. Nor do I think I've ever seen Jade so shocked before.

"Oh, you were actually telling the truth."

"What~? Why would I lie to you?"

"Apologies but I truly thought that you would have ran off by now."

"Yeeeeeessshhh. Nice to know how much you trust me, Jade. But we need to have a talk."

I raised an eyebrow at Floyd. What did they need to talk about? Probably some Mostro Lounge business that I can't know about.

"Shrimpy here was walking around on his own two legs this morning!"

Jade looked even more shocked at Floyd's words. He was quick to rush to my bedside and pulled out his pen. It started glowing but I was just confused as to what he was doing exactly.

"There's no life threatening damage but that doesn't mean that there is no damage at all. What were you thinking, (Y/N)? You shouldn't be putting your body under strain."

"The nurse said that I was okay to move around again. I'm no longer in pain whenever I move, Jade!"

"Oi, Shrimpy, watch your tone. There's no reason to talk to your older brother like that."

Floyd grabbed my hand and started to squeeze it. It got so harsh that I started to writhe from the pain.

"Easy on him, Floyd. Remember what we've learned about children. When they act up, it's because they don't think that they're getting enough attention. (Y/N) here probably just feels very neglected."

"What?!"

"Riigghhtt! Shrimpy must be acting up because I didn't take him on adventures like I normally do! Shrimpy, if you were feeling suffocated in this room, you could have just told me! I wouldn't be mad~!"

Floyd then let go of my hand and pressed a light kiss to my palm. As if that would take away the pain. Jade only nodded his head before picking me up bridal style.

"Jade?! Put me down now!"

"Now, now, I know that elvers like you want to move on their own but Floyd and I cannot have you risk your health and safety anymore. Come along, Floyd. Let's go see Azul."

"Yippee! Let's go on an adventure!"

Floyd busted the doors down to the ground and made sure that Jade had a clear path of walking. Jade took his time walking with me in his arms. Eventually, we made it to the main area of the school where there were many more students. I swallowed very harshly. One misstep and I was going to be hurt once again. Thankfully, it turns out that the tweels had a plan before I did.

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY! SHRIMPY COMING THROUGH!"

Floyd ran throughout the hallway full force, either scaring or pushing students out of the way, giving Jade a safe pathway to walk and carry me through. I still had a bunch of bandages on me and when Floyd would drag me around normally, students would be in classes. Now, it was passing time for certain classes. Everybody was staring at me and I felt my face burn with embarrassment. I buried my face into Jade's blazer and heard him chuckle.

"Don't laugh at me."

"Sorry, (Y/N). I just wished that I knew how cute my younger brother could be."

"I'm not your younger brother."

"Don't be silly, (Y/N). Of course, you are! If you weren't, why would Floyd and I be taking care of you?"

"Because we're friends?"

"Nonsense. If Azul was in your situation, I assure you..."

Jade shifted my head so that I could see his very sharp teeth.

"He would not be getting the same treatment that you are."

I shut up after that. It's times like these when I question which Leech twin is worse to deal with. Floyd is loud and destructive but Jade is always unassuming which results in me forgetting why I should be wary of him as well. As soon as either Floyd, Jade or Azul is done and bring me back to the nurse's office, I'm heading straight for Ramshackle. Don't care if I have to sit on my butt to go down the stairs, I'm sleeping in Ramshackle tonight.

"Phew! I think I cleared the way enough. See, Shrimpy! Now you're getting plenty of fresh air and we're having a fun adventure like a family! Ahhh~ I can't wait for the day that we can terrify all of these boring guppies together!"

I looked at Floyd and gave him a meek smile. I already tried both of the tweels to get out of this situation to no avail. Last thing that I needed was to upset both of them.

"Good job, Floyd. Would you like to hold our younger elver for a while?"

"Yes!"

I was passed to Floyd's arms. He gave me a light squeeze before starting to skip through the hallways. I've never felt so much like a doll before.

"Mr. (Y/N)!"

Professor Trein! My savior!

"Why were you not in class today? The nurse told all of the staff that you were healed enough to go to class this morning!"

"Ehh~ Red Squid sensei, Shrimpy her-"

"I do not care for what you have to say, Mr. Leech. Mr. (Y/N) now must get to class. Put him down and run off to your own classes."

Floyd glared at Trein before, reluctantly putting me down on my feet. I was slightly wobbly but thankfully, Trein let me lean on him. Jade and Floyd just continued to glare at Trein until we both were out of their line of sight.

"Thank you, Professor Trein. I really appreciate you helping me out there."

Trein gave me a perplexed look before pulling me off to the side.

"What do you mean 'helping', Mr. (Y/N)?"

I gave Trein the quick rundown of what happened this morning. He knew that I was injured but he didn't know about the tweels' behavior.

"That about sums it all up."

Trein had a look on his face as if I were a ghost. Or some rare creature considering we see ghosts all of the time.

"This is far more concerning than their normal behaviors. Mr. (Y/N), I recommend staying away from the Leech twins. It would be the best for your own safety."

My heart filled up with unease at Professor Trein's words. I hated the idea of just ghosting Floyd and Jade but I do think that some time away from them would do me some good and vice versa.

I nodded my head before following Trein to Alchemy class. Our entrance was really loud mainly because we had a test in class today. My normal first year crew was there but also a good portion of third years was also there. Turns out it was another mix class. I turned my attention to Professor Crewel, who was writing furiously at his desk.

"Ah. The mutt has finally arrived. Did you already give him detention, Trein?"

"No."

Professor Crewel's pen stops mid-motion before Crewel lifted his head, looking at Trein with disbelief.

"How come?"

"He wasn't ditching class on purpose. Floyd and Jade were preventing him from coming to class."

All of the writing pens went still and the room reached new levels of silent. Everybody was now looking at me with concern. All of them knew that if the Leech twins have any interest in you, you are in trouble.

Crewel and Trein seem to have a silent conversation before Crewel stands up.

"All of you puppies, continue your tests! Mutt, take your seat and don't cause a mess. Professor Trein and I have some things to discuss."

I only gave Crewel a quick bow when he was leaving the room with Trein before taking the only seat left in the class. Between a first year that I don't know very well and Trey.

Trey looked over at me. I gave him a quick smile to show that I was alright. He tapped the bandages on my arm, before putting a dramatic frown. I waved my hand before putting my fingers to the corner of my lips and lifted them into a smile.

Crewel walked back in and Trey and I stopped miming to each other. I just sat there staring at my blank desk while waiting for everyone to finish with their tests.

"Mutt."

I raised my gaze to meet Crewel's stare. I couldn't stop myself from flinching. It felt like he was staring into my soul slightly.

"Y-yes, Professor?"

"I want to talk with you after class. Don't try to escape with the crowd."

"Yes, Professor."

My voice could barely count as a whisper. I felt the pity radiating off of all the other students for me. First, I was stuck with Floyd and Jade and now, I'm going to be stuck with Professor Crewel. Oh why, oh why did the nurse have to give an okay to leave?! Why couldn't he have waited for tomorrow when Kalim and Jamil were going to visit?!

After about ten more minutes, people started to turn in their tests before leaving the classroom. I watched as Ace and Deuce left. I waved at them while they left. Ace sent me a heart symbol while Deuce gave two thumbs up. Malleus and Lilia were the next of my friends to leave. Lilia put a small bag on my desk while Malleus only stared at me. Soon enough, the only people in the classroom left were Trey, Crewel and myself. Trey already turned in his test but was just standing in front of my seat to talk with me.

"Are you sure that you'll be okay? I can stay behind if you're scared."

"I'll be okay, Trey. I do owe Professor Crewel anyway. I've been only a mutt to him for a while now. Maybe I can make it up to him."

Trey looked displeased when I said mutt but I pushed him slightly in the shoulder.

"Head on out. If you're so worried about me, you're allowed to wait for me outside. I wouldn't mind company for the trip back to Ramshackle."

Trey casted me one more sad look before leaving. After he left, Crewel stood up and took his place at my seat.

"Alright, mutt. Trein explained to me about your... situation with the Leech twins. Floyd and Jade acted highly inappropriate for it to just be written off as a casual misunderstanding. If you wish, as much as I despise taking care of the mutts of the litter, I am willing to make sure that you're safe from being torn apart by the purebreds."

I only shook my head at Crewel's offer. If Crewel did try to intervene like how Trein did, it would just cause more chaos for me. Last thing that anybody needs are angry human eels. Crewel gave me a disgusted look when I started to shake my head.

"I'm a bit offended that a mutt like you refused my services. But! I'm relieved that I don't have to protect filthy, impure mutts like you."

Crewel's words stung me a bit but in all honesty, I was used to them by now. He has always had a weird grudge against me since I first arrived at Twisted Wonderland.

"T-thank you for the offer, Sir. I'll be on my way now."

I got out of my seat and rushed out of the alchemy room with Lilia's tiny bag. Last thing that I need to do is upset Crewel even more and actually get detention for skipping. I let out a sigh of relief.

"(Y/N)!"

Deuce's voice flooded my ears before I felt him. He wrapped me in a tight hug. It caused a bit of discomfort but not as bad as Floyd's squeezes could be.

"Ouch. Hiya, Deucey!"

"Ouch? Am I hurting you?!"

"Only a tad but I know that you're doing it by accident."

"I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

"Calm down, Deuce. It's not a problem! What are you doing here exactly?"

"I asked them the same thing when I left the classroom."

Trey spoke up with Ace by his side.

"We're here because of the fact that you're our friend! Crewel can be so harsh to you sometimes! Really? MUTT?! At least Deuce and I get called puppies but you just get called a mutt!"

Ace continued to rant in his own world while we all just listened. Trey and Deuce agreed a lot with what Ace was saying, even as it went into dragging others.

"And who do those twins think they are?! The nurse said that you were okay to go back to classes and they prevented you from doing so?! They should be expelled for doing something like that!"

"You should really watch your mouth, Trappola."

"Yeah, Crabby. You never know who might be around to hear it."

Ace's face became paler even more than it normally is when he heard Floyd and Jade's voice come from around the corner. I totally thought that Ace was going to be a goner but amazingly, the tweels let it slide. Unfortunately, it was because their attention was laser focused on me.

"Shrimpy~~~! Let's go to the Mostro Lounge now! Elvers like you need all of the yummy food that they can get! I'm pretty certain that Crabby couldn't feed you the food that you need!"

Floyd grabbed my wrist and started pulling it, trying to drag me away from the Heartslabyul students. I started to put up some resistance against Floyd which surprisingly got his attention.

"Shrimpy, don't fight me! I only want what's best for you~"

"OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"

"URK!"

A collar appeared around Floyd's neck and a wind spell sent him flying backwards into Jade. Riddle, basically coming out of nowhere and in his dorm uniform, looked really, really mad. His head was reaching new shades of dark red that I don't think that the art majors of my world would be able to identify.

"FLOYD! You're not allowed to bother any of my dorm members for your own entertainment! Trey, Deuce, Ace. Grab (Y/N) and come along. We have important plans to take care of!"

"Yes, Dorm Leader Rosehearts!"

Ace and Deuce linked their arms with one of my own on each side while Trey went behind all of us to prevent either Floyd or Jade grabbing me from behind.

"YOU CAN'T JUST STEAL OUR ELVER! BRING HIM BACK!"

Floyd was screaming and throwing a fit while Jade was silent. I tried to turn my head to see if I could get a glance at either of them but Trey only put his hand on the back of my neck.

"Don't look back at them. I don't want you to be influenced by their terrible behavior."

I gulped when I heard the disdain in Trey's voice. It's so weird to hear such a negative tone from a person who is normally so chill. Ace and Deuce appeared to have agreed with what Trey said.

"It's bad enough that you had to spend every Wednesday with those three. Who knows what damage they did to you?"

"Yeah! We're going to make sure that you're far away from bad influences!"

I thought about what Ace said before I started laughing.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Ace. You are the king of bad influences. Before my fall, you wanted me to join you in putting five bath bombs into each toilet that is in the main building. I had to restrain you from doing that."

"Shhhhhh, we don't need to talk about that."

"Ace, I'll be having a talk with you later."

Riddle turned his head to glare at Ace. Deuce and Trey started snickering at the interaction between Ace and Riddle. They started to bicker about whether or not Ace deserves to be punished.

"I DIDN'T DO IT!"

"Your thoughts will soon become your actions! If (Y/N) wasn't there, you would have done it!"

"okay, that might have some truth BUT I STILL DIDN'T DO IT!"

After about five minutes of walking, we reached the Pop Music Club room. Cater, Kalim and Lilia were rocking out and they appeared to be having a blast. Ace and Deuce let go of my arms and I got closer to their makeshift stage. Sometimes I wish that I was better at playing an instrument so that I could join them but... I think that I would only bring down their performances.

After about two minutes of them not realizing that we were there, Cater took notice and appeared to have gone through a mental pause. Because he stopped singing and playing, Lilia and Kalim stopped playing their instruments as well.

"(Y/N)!!!"

Kalim lunged at me from behind his drums to enwrap me in a hug. I was mildly prepared but it still ended up hurting me.

"Ow, hiya, Kalim!"

Kalim didn't react to me saying ow like how Deuce did before.

"You're walking! Oh, that's amazing news! I'll get Jamil to host a huge celebration for the fact that you can move around again! I'm thinking fifty purple peacocks and plenty of golden camels will be a good start for your parade!"

Kalim went off into a planning scheme. I tried to get him to stop for Jamil's sake. There's no telling what Jamil might do if Kalim does something like this.

"I don't need all of that. Promise."

"Dorm leader Rosehearts, what brings you here? Did Ace-chan and Deuce-chan mess things up again?"

Cater's teasing tone triggered Ace and Deuce's need to defend themselves from the teasing.

"Kidding, kidding~!"

"I was tasked by the Headmage to deliver these papers to you. He made it very clear that you need to have these papers filled out by tomorrow morning."

Cater took the papers before turning his attention to me.

"Yo, (Y/N)-chan's out of bed! I need a photo of this!"

Cater was quick to get to my side and put his arm around my shoulders. Kalim and Lilia were quick to get in the picture as well before Cater took many photos.

"Perfect!"

"Ah, my little bat! Did you like what I made for you~?"

Oh, right! I forgot about the bag that Lilia gave me. I quickly grabbed it from my pocket and opened it. Inside were little black things that I think were supposed to be cookies.

"Cookies?"

"Correct! I was trying out a healthier recipe that would be able to heal you faster! But it seems that my hard work wasn't needed after all. Makes me a bit sad."

"Don't feel bad! I'm not a hundred percent better yet. Just good enough to walk around by myself."

Lilia's face fell while I grabbed one of the 'cookies'. I popped one into my mouth. The taste exploded in my mouth and I had to shake my head to try and get used to the taste. Lilia's cooking can send your soul into the next five dimensions sometimes.

"He let you walk without a complete bill of health?!"

"No, he did. The fact that he said that I was good enough to walk is a clean bill of health."

"Is that true? Humans have such a lazy way of taking care of the injured."

I only nodded, mainly because trying to convince Lilia that this was the better way for humans to recover would be near impossible. Although I had to admit, even though Lilia's cooking blasted my taste buds to new dimensions, Kalim's tight hug around my waist stopped aching.

"(Y/N). We must be on our way."

Riddle came up to me with Ace, Deuce, Trey and Cater behind him. I guess that Pop Music Club was done for the evening. I start to move forward but Kalim's grip tightened. I couldn't move an inch away.

"Why does he have to go with you? Jamil and I are going to be watching him tomorrow!"

"W-w-wait a-"

"Because he needs someone who can actually watch over him during the last stages of his recovery."

"Jamil and I are plenty responsible!"

Kalim was showing a completely different side of him. He seemed really possessive.

"Are you denying an order from me, Kalim?"

"Maybe I am!"

"Kalim."

Everybody then turned their heads to Jamil, who I believe was there to pick up Kalim.

"Yeah, Jamil?"

"We need to get going."

"Got it!"

Jamil started to walk, leaving Kalim still in the club room. Kalim seemed conflicted on whether or not to let go of me before settling on picking me up by my waist before running after Jamil.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"Wait a minute!!"

Kalim was much too fast for the other guys and caught up to Jamil with no problem.

"Jamil! (Y/N)'s feeling better! He can walk now!"

"I heard."

"He's also spending the night in the dorm!"

Jamil stopped before turning around to see me in Kalim's arms.

"H-hi... Jamil..."

Jamil had a mild wide eyed look while he was staring at me. I saw him take a deep inhale before closing his eyes and exhaling. He schooled his expression before continuing on with walking.

"Hello, (Y/N). Kalim. You know that I don't appreciate it when you bring in random guests without notifying me."

"Huh? But I thought you were the one who wanted (Y/N) to visit once he was feeling better?"

Jamil made a choked noise. That piece of news was interesting to hear from Kalim. I always thought that I was a further burden on Jamil's shoulders, not to mention the fact that I prevented his coup. Why would he want me to visit?

"Kalim. What have I told you about sharing private conversations?"

"It wasn't private! We had it in the kitchen. Many of the other Scarabia students agreed with having him over when you proposed the idea."

Jamil seemed to be getting more and more flustered at what he said. I felt bad.

"Kalim, maybe you shouldn't tease Jamil."

"I'm not teasing him!"

"You... kind of are."

"Oh. Sorry, Jamil!"

Jamil just decided to hide his face in his hoodie. I kept my eye on him. I made the mental note to try and apologize to Jamil later. I knew how Kalim got on his nerves very easily. We eventually made it to Scarabia and I was allowed to use my feet again.

"(Y/N)!"

I was surrounded by all different Scarabia students. They all had things in their hands. Apparently, back when I first got hurt, Kalim was very upset and told everybody about the news. I didn't realize how much the Scarabia students liked me because they ended up either making or buying things for me!

"Here! A stuffed parrot! Don't worry! It's only cloth and stuffing!"

"I know that you're almost fully healed but here. This is a cream that I use on injuries to soothe them."

"(Y/N)! As a thanks, I made you one of my mom's recipes! I messed up a lot of times in the kitchen but I think that you'll enjoy the outcome!"

I was mildly overloaded with all of the gifts.

"Thank you so much but you really didn't need to do all of this for me!"

"Nonsense, (Y/N)! You deserve all of this and so much more! Come along! Let's sit down while you continue to get gifts!"

Kalim pulled me along and sat me down on a cushion. I nearly melted in it. Compared to the cushions at Ramshackle or the nurse bed, it felt as if I was sitting on a cloud. I set the few gifts that I was holding down and that's where the other gifts were being put down.

"Kalim."

Kalim turned towards me with a shining look in his eyes. I felt so bad.

"I don't feel right accepting all of these. I haven't done anything to deserve all of this! All that I did was get hurt!"

"Shhhhh, (Y/N)! You shouldn't worry about it! You're Scarabia's little brother! We just want to spoil you!"

"WHAT?!"

LITTLE BROTHER?! What is wrong with everyone today?!

"Awww, (Y/N), don't get fussy! I know! Jamil!"

Kalim grabbed me in a hug. My back was against his chest and we were so close that I could feel his heartbeat. I tried to get out of his grip but Lilia's cookies were starting to wear off. The aches and pains were starting to come back. Jamil came from the kitchen, no longer having his hoodie covering his face.

"Yes, Kalim?"

"(Y/N) here is working himself up! Do you think that you can get him to relax?"

"Of course, (Y/N). Just look into my eyes and your worries will melt away."

I closed my eyes so fast. Jamil's unique magic was something that I never wanted to experience again.

"No! Jamil, you promised that you wouldn't do this to me again!"

"Shhhh, I won't hurt you. Just open your eyes. You'll be just fine."

I felt hands on my face and they pried my eyelids open. I was forced to stare straight into Jamil's eyes. I felt my resolve melt in a few seconds.

"There we go. Just relax. You're the little brother of Scarabia and you love being here with us. Scarabia students are the only ones with your safety in mind. The other dorms will hurt you without hesitation."

I felt my head nod. I don't understand why I was trying to fight Kalim. He only wanted to protect me.

"If another dorm member tries to interact with you, run and try to find a Scarabia student. They'll keep you safe."

I nodded my head again. A smile broke out on my face. A feeling of security enveloped me. I was so happy that my big brothers were around me. They just want to keep me safe.

"Are you done, Jamil?"

Kalim spoke in a whisper. I didn't completely understand why.

"Yes. He'll no longer give us trouble."

"Yay! Now! (Y/N)! How about after everyone finishes giving you their presents, we can throw a huge celebration for your return home!"

A giggle left my mouth.

"I love that idea, Big Brother Kalim."

About five days passed by while I was in Scarabia. I raised my concerns about my classes but Kalim or Jamil told me that everything was fine. That I didn't need to go to classes anymore. For some reason, that caused a part of my mind to grow uncomfortable with that thought. Why was I so determined to go to class? The other dorms would be in those classes! They'll hurt me!

"Are you sure that you guys have to go? Won't the other dorms hurt you guys as well?!"

Fear coiled around my heart like a snake for my big brothers. They were all so brave for going out into the school.

"Don't worry about us, (Y/N)! We can handle ourselves!"

"Besides, don't you remember?"

I looked at Jamil straight in the eyes.

"You're too weak to defend yourself."

My mind got muddled but I nodded my head yes.

"Yeah, you're right. I keep forgetting for some reason."

"Hehehehe! Don't worry, (Y/N)! I forget important things too! I wouldn't worry too much about it! Just rest in Scarabia and you'll be just fine!"

"If you say so, big brother!"

I waved everyone off before taking my seat in the lounge room. I took deep breaths to calm my heart before closing my eyes. I don't know why I always feel so worried about them leaving. They're strong unlike me.

I dozed off for a while. My dreams felt so life-like. I could have sworn that I was lifted off the ground by a million butterflies and was flown around the outside of Scarabia to enjoy the sun and scenery. Although I was given the biggest heart attack when I awoke.

I opened my eyes to see, well, nothing! There was just darkness. I haven't seen such darkness in a while. Ramshackle used to be very dark when I pulled the blinds shut but... Wait a minute, what's Ramshackle?

I heard footsteps echoing outside of the room that I was in. Maybe it was Jamil or Kalim? But why would my brothers pull such an awful prank on me? I soon got my answer. It was neither Kalim or Jamil.

The man who looked at me was wearing a deep purple outfit. It was like a dress without it being a dress. His hair was done really fancy and there appeared to be a crown on his head. I was terrified. It wasn't a Scarabia uniform which meant that this was probably someone from a different dorm! He's going to hurt me!

I let out whimpers. If I actually had a shot of taking the guy down, I would have screamed but I'm not strong enough to defend myself from him. The blonde man glared down at me.

"First Potato. Don't whimper. It isn't a good look on you."

The nickname rang bells in my head but I don't recognize him at all.

"Wh-who are you?"

The man appeared shocked by my question.

"What do you mean 'Who are you'? You know me quite well, First Potato!"

I shrunk when he raised his voice. He quickly noticed and tried to remedy his mistake.

"I apologize for scaring you, (Y/N). But I just can't believe that you forgot about me."

I stared at him and my mind was itching. It was most uncomfortable. Why did I feel like I knew him?

"Are you going to hurt me?"

The man looked appalled at the words that I said.

"Hurt you? Why would I hurt you? (Y/N). Nobody here wants to hurt you. It was bad enough that that Cucumber let you fall but I assure you that I will not cause you any harm. I owe you much better."

"Are you sure, Vil?"

"Hm? It appears that you do know me after all. I didn't tell you who I was."

I realized what I said. I do know this man! Vil Schoenheit! The famous model and actor! I helped him during VDC! My memories quickly came back! I had friends in other dorms! They wouldn't hurt me!

"Vil! It's a relief to see you again!"

I grabbed him in a hug and had the biggest smile on my face. A smile broke out on Vil's face as well. I felt his arms wrap around my body.

"It's a joy to see you as well, First Potato."

"But wait. Why am I in Pomefiore in the first place? I was in Scarabia for so long. I didn't think that anybody was searching for me."

"You're in Pomefiore, First Potato, because I heard from Epel that you weren't in class. I instructed Rook to go looking for you. The nurse told me and a few of the other dorm leaders that you should be back in classes last Thursday. It took Rook close to six days. Scarabia had you hidden well but thankfully, Rook overheard something from the potatoes from Heartslabyul. I can't believe what those spuds from Scarabia kept you captive!"

"Yeah, they all were acting really weird! Floyd and Jade were acting in a similar way."

Vil tilted his head slightly.

"How exactly were they acting?"

A sigh escaped my lips.

"They keep acting as if I'm their younger brother and that I can't do a single thing for myself! For crying out loud! I took care of overblots, I fought ghosts and students who decided to pick a fight, I took care of Ramshackle nearly by myself! I'm not a little boy!"

I clenched my hands into fists. What has been happening really has taken a huge toll on my mental state. Tears of frustration started to pool in the corners of my eyes.

"Calm down, First Potato. You're working yourself into dismay. You wouldn't want your eyes puffy, now do you? Follow my actions."

Vil coached me through a breathing exercise. I felt my panic ebb away and the tears no longer forming.

"Thank you again, Vil. I'm just really tired right now."

Vil gave me a pat on my head, which made me smile.

"It's not a problem for me, First Potato. But you shouldn't sleep any more. Naps can be useful in case of a bad night's sleep but I'm certain that you got plenty of sleep in Scarabia."

I nodded my head. Last night was the only night that there wasn't a huge party if my memory is correct. Although, I really wouldn't trust it for the fact that I was under a lot of mind control during that time.

"So, instead of taking a nap, we're going to do some other relaxing activity. You're lacking a certain glow that you normally have."

Vil grabbed one of my hands before pulling me out of the room. He led me through the hallways of Pomefiore before stopping in front of a different room. He knocked on the door pretty loudly.

"Rook! Come out please!"

The door opened swiftly and there was Rook in all of his glory.

"Roi du Poison! Oh, and my Jeune Chercheur de Beauté! It's wonderful to see you awake from your slumber although..."

Rook's smile turned into a scary smirk.

"Your sleeping face gave me the most euphoria that I've ever experienced! There was nothing more that I wanted than to split your head open and crawl inside to see what made you so calm and happy in your dreams."

Rook went on a tangent and I was starting to get uncomfortable. Rook can really go into the smallest details that even a person who spends a whole day in front of a mirror wouldn't notice.

"Rook."

Rook stopped mid sentence before clasping his hands together.

"Right! Forgive me, Roi du Poison! I got lost in my Trickster's beauty. Now, what may I do for you, my Lovely Queen?"

"I want you to take (Y/N) and get him some proper clothing. Those rags that Kalim and Jamil made him wear are quite insulting."

I looked down at my clothes. I didn't even realize that I was wearing a Scarabia uniform! When did I get changed?!

"Oui, oui, Beautiful Vil! I'll make sure that he is put into clothing that compliments your and his beauty perfectly! Now, come with me, Jeune Chercheur de Beauté. Let's get your beauty to shine above all others."

Rook left his room and started to guide me from behind. He kept a tight grip on my shoulders and started to push me towards somewhere else in Pomefiore.

"This way, this way, Trickster."

"Where are we going, Rook?"

"You'll see!"

I let out a light laugh. To be honest, this is probably the most fun that I've had ever since I was released from bed rest. Although Grim is probably freaking out by now.

"Here we are!"

I was jostled out of my thoughts when Rook opened a very large room. I was in awe of all of the clothes there. There were so many beautiful clothes. They all appeared to be of high quality as well.

"Now! Let's find the perfect outfit to compliment your beauty!"

I lost count of how many outfits that I had tried on. Rook complimented all of them but he would always end his compliments with the same ending statement.

"While your beauty is shining bright, I know that you could be shining brighter."

We finally chose a really beautiful outfit. I remember seeing it in a catalogue that Vil had a few months ago. I did want the outfit but there was no way that I could afford it. It compliments my skin and hair perfectly.

"TRÉS BIEN!! OH, MON JEUNE CHERCHEUR DE BEAUTÉ! Je n'ai jamais vu quelqu'un briller autant que toi en ce moment! Pomefiore a tellement de chance que tu fasses partie de notre dortoir comme tous les nôtres juniors! Bien que, je dois l'admettre, si vous êtes toujours proche de moi, j'aurai toute la beauté dont j'ai besoin dans ma vie pour durer éternellement!"

"Thank you?"

"Non, non, thank YOU, Trickster! For blessing me with a wonderful sight!"

I heard a vibration and Rook pulled out his phone. A smile broke out on his face.

"Perfect timing! Come along, Mon Jeune Chercheur! Roi du Poison requires your presence."

Rook grabbed my wrist and started to lead me somewhere else in Pomefiore. I saw Epel during the trip and gave him a wave. He looked shocked before rushing to catch up with Rook and me.

"(Y/N)! Where have you been?! Ace, Deuce, and Jack have been searching for you all over school! Sebek and I have been taking care of Grim and Ramshackle for ya! Even though Grim has been really upset without you recently."

"I was... mildly kidnapped by Scarabia for the past few days."

Epel's eyebrows went up before his face contorted into a scowl.

"Those gluttonous hogs... I'll make sure that they pay!"

"We're here, Roi du Poison!"

Rook opened some other doors and inside was what I would call a full photography studio. Cameras, lights, backdrops, makeup on the side, everything! Vil was there, wearing a beautiful outfit himself and had a full face of makeup on.

"Ah, it's about time, First Potato. Ah, Epel, you've come along as well."

"Well, I really wanted to see (Y/N) again."

I was mildly surprised at how quiet Epel was being. He actually appeared to be bashful.

"Well, if you're quick enough and actually listen to instructions, you can join the photo shoot."

Epel looked shocked before a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Really?!"

"Yes, but you have to clean up and get your makeup done!"

"Right!"

Epel ran off into one of the side rooms to most likely get ready. I've never seen him listen to Vil so enthusiastically before.

"Now, come here First Potato."

I returned my attention to Vil who had his arms open to me. I walked up to him, a bit confused on what he wanted me to do. He gestured to the camera and I got the hint. I moved to in front of the camera and stood there.

"Why am I doing this?"

"We're doing this to capture your natural beauty while putting you in a low stress environment. You mentioned how you were tired and creating beautiful works of art is a relaxing activity that we can do together."

"W-w-wait, these photos won't be p-posted anywhere? Right?"

"Of course not, First Potato. I know how much you get nervous about photos of you."

I felt the tension leaving my body. Knowing that I could just have fun pictures that don't need to be one hundred percent perfect was a joy to hear. Vil kept talking to the camera man when Epel came back with an outfit of his own. It was a bit cutesy but he didn't seem too annoyed by it.

"There! I even wore the outfit you picked, Vil!"

There's his annoyance.

"Hmmmm, you rushed your makeup, hair and the outfit looks thrown on. Ugh, maybe I'm feeling more lenient because of my junior being here or I must be going crazy, but go on."

Epel jumped slightly before running to me. He even captured me in a hug.

"(Y/N)! It's a wonder to see ya again! To be honest, the school is kind of falling apart with you out of action for so long."

"Oh! That's... really not good."

NRC falling apart is the nearly last thing that I want. I mean, sure. When I first got it here, I was highly uncomfortable but now. This place is like a second home to me.

"Alright! Roi Du Poison has placed me in charge of making sure everyone is in their correct positions! Alright, Mon Jeune Chercheur! Over here!"

Rook grabbed my hands and led me over to a plain white cube. He first sat on it before positioning me on top of him.

"Um, Rook?"

"It will be fine, Trickster! Now, Epel, please come over here!"

Epel rushed over, put his hands in a crisscross position, lay them in my lap before settling his head on top of them. His head facing the camera while he was kneeling. I stayed as still as possible before Vil came over and stood behind me and Rook. He put his hand on my shoulder. It kind of felt like a family portrait.

"We need at least one formal photo before we can do more. Now, everyone, give the camera your best smile."

I looked at the camera and gave it my best smile. I hope that it's enough to make the picture look well. The photographer took many pictures of us in the position and at different angles. My eyes were mildly blotchy after that.

"There we go. Now, time for other poses."

I don't know how many hours we spent there but I must admit. It was so much fun to just have a photo shoot with my Pomefiore friends. Some of the photos were just me and Epel or me and Rook or me and Vil. Each one had a different feel. Vil's photos were more serious while Epel's photos had a more fun vibe. Rook's photos were light hearted but at the same time, my heart raced because of the look in his eyes.

"Wow, I think that I really needed this. Thanks Vil for coming up with this."

"No problem, First Potato. Although you should probably rest now. It's gotten quite dark."

"Has it?!"

I moved to leave the room and took a look outside. Sure enough, the moon was in the sky at Pomefiore.

"Oh no! I need to get to Ramshackle. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with me but I really do need to leave!"

"Wait!"

"Non!"

"Hold on-!"

I didn't wait to hear their protests before running down the hallways.

"I'll return the outfit tomorrow! I promise!"

I didn't have the time to change. I had to get back to Ramshackle. Grim will never forgive me for taking this long to recover and see him again. It took me around six minutes to reach Ramshackle and I bursted through the doors. The ghosts there looked shocked before they became overjoyed.

"(Y/N)!"

"Welcome back!"

"We've missed you!"

"Thanks for the warm welcome guys! But where's Grim?"

"Upstairs in bed!"

"Thank you!"

I ran up the stairs and quietly opened the door to see Grim curled up in a ball on the bed. I shut the door before walking to him and gently started to pet his back. He leaned into my touch before opening his eyes.

"(Y/N)!"

Grim jumped onto me to smother my face.

"Hello, Grimmy! It's wonderful to see you as well!"

Grim had a big grin on his face before his expression turned into a dark one.

"You need to leave."

Saying that I was confused would have been an understatement.

"Wh-what do you mean? Grim, aren't you glad that I'm back?"

"I am! But all of those other guys are insane! They've been talking about kidnapping you to 'keep you safe'!"

"WHAT?!"

[angywritesstuff]

The one with “We were on a break”

I have had this one shot ready for a week, but I didn’t post it because is not festive, but today I said fuck it 😂

Pairing: Henry Cavill x reader

Summery: After a fight you and Henry decide to take a break… you spend all your night deciding if maybe you didn’t make a mistake, Henry spends his night differently Warnings: angst, cheating (is it cheating? is it not? if you have seen the episode of Friends this is inspired of, you know what I mean), child abandonment. Poorly written English, English is not my first language so I’m sorry if there are any mistakes

The last year had been difficult for you and Henry, the constant arguing, the couple therapy, the costant nagging every time he traveled for more than a week without you, the fear every time he went out with his friends.

It all had started 12 months ago: you had just been promoted at your job and you couldn't have been happier, after years and years of given your all to your job your boss was finally recognizing your effort, you were engaged to the love of your life, you had a beautiful house and a super cute and fluffy pup. But the promotion hadn't only come with the gratification of your effort being recognized, it was also followed by a lot more responsibilities and hours in the office.

Henry had been happy and supportive of you, of course he had been, he had always wanted for you to be fulfilled in every aspect of your life and he knew that, even if you didn't need to work because he could provide with anything you could need and want, you had always wanted to be indipendent, you didn't want him to think you cared about his money, not even for a second. You always joked that when he got tired of it he could just "hang up the cape” and you would give him an allowance.

Even though he couldn't have been happier for you and your accomplishments, the longer hours in the office had started to weigh on both of you and your relationship.

Your relationship had always needed a lot of work: Henry traveled a lot for his job but you had always managed because you used to have stable hours, but being now the head of your own team you couldn't always go back home at 5 p.m. like you used to, beside you had just been promoted you couldn't ask for time off already.

All of that had reduced the time you could spent with Henry when he was home and it had started a chain of reaction that had ended with the biggest fight you and your fiancè had ever had in four years of your relationship.

You could still remember that day, and the days after, like it was yesterday, you could still remembered the emptiness you had felt as soon as Henry had slammed the door of your house, you could still feel the dread of losing the love of your life for a mistake you weren't sure you could forgive.

-10 months before-

You were in your office with your boss Daniel, trying to fix the mess that was the last shipment, you could see your cell lighting up with Henry's calls, but you could also feel your boss eyes burning the back of your head so you couldn't really answer, beside you were almost done. You didn't know what time it was, you didn't know how long it had taken but you had done it: you had fixed the problem and you had impressed your boss.

"Good job today, I was sure you were the right person for the promotion but i'm happy I wasn't wrong"- Daniel, your boss had smiled at you… and he never smiled, so you took it as a win.

"Thank you"- you had said while putting your coat on

"Why don't you take the next couple of days off? I know the last couple of months, after your promotion, have been tough and don't think I haven't noticed that you have been the last one leaving the office almost everyday since getting promoted. The project is bascially done, we have fixed the shipment problem, I'm sure your team can manage the last details without you"- you wanted to jump for the happiness but had tried to stay professional.

"Are you sure?"- you double checked

"Of course, you deserve it. I don't want to see you until next week"- Daniel said while leaving the office.

You were on cloud nine, you were tired of course but you couldn't wait to be home: all you wanted was to get home, drink a glass of wine and tell Henry the good news. You couldn't wait to spend some time with Henry: maybe you could take a long weekend trip, it was going to be amazing.

You arrived home and the first thing you noticed was that Kal didn't come as soon as he heard your car and that could mean only two things: he and Henry weren't home or Kal was too busy taking care of Henry to come to the door and that worried you...

"Babe? Kal? I'm home"- you said while hanging your coat. Henry didn't answer you but you could now hear Kal wining and the tv on so that meant he was home.

You went to the living room, sure that Henry was there by now, even if he hadn't answered when you had said hi, maybe he had just fell asleep while watching a film.

Only when you entered the living room you were able to noticed that the table was set, a simple candle as center piece, and a bouquet of red roses was resting on what was supposed to be your side of the table. Henry was on the couch and it was clear he was very much awake

"Babe. I'm so sorry, I-" you tried but he didn't let you finish

"it's 11 p.m. Y/n, you told me you were going to be home at 6 at most... at 6 and it's 11 pm"- you could see it was upset and the last thing you wanted was to have a fight. You were so tired, you just wanted to hug your boyfriend and go to sleep preferably with your bear of a man and your baby-bear of a pup keeping you warm.

"I know I'm sorry, I really tried but the shipment department made a mistake and it took a while to fix it but listen-" he stopped you again and now you were getting annoyed. He knew there were really few things that got on your nerves and people not letting you speak was one of them. But you took a deep breath trying to stay calm as long as you could because you could see Henry was mad and one of you needed to keep a clear head if you wanted to avoid a fight

"You tried, yeah that's what you keep saying, that's the only thing I have been hearing from you in the last two months, well that and the message on your voicemail since you seem to have decided to stop answering my phone calls. Do you even remember what today is?”-he asked and even before he had finished to speak you wanted to curse. Fuck the roses, the home cooked dinner, he was wearing your favorite suit...

"It's our anniversary"- you whispered, it's not like you had completly forgotten, you had rembered this morning but you hadn't seen Henry before going to work since you had gotten out while he was still on his morning run, just to be sure not to get late. You had asked your boss to go out a little bit early but then the mess had happened and you had forgotten about the anniversary, about the dinner Henry had planned weeks ago without telling you anything about it, wanting it to be a surprise. He had only aked you to be there and well... you hadn’t been .

"Yeah it's our anniversary and I just spent it without even seeing my fiancè since she was busy working all day"- he wasn't screaming, Henry never did, especially not at you, but it didn't mean he was any less angry

"I tried, I swear I had asked Daniel yesterday to finish early but-"

"Daniel of course"- he interrupted you again and now you had had enough

"What's that supposed to mean?"- now you were getting angry... ok you were sorry you forgot about dinner, you were sorry you got home late, but calm-Y/n had run out of patience and you didn't like the tone your fiancè was using with you

"There is something I should know? about you and Daniel?"- Henry asked and in that moment you could have strangled him

"Please tell me you are not serious right now"- you tried one last time to reasoned with your fiancé

"Do you think I didn't noticed how he looked at you at your promotion dinner? How he always tried to get his hands on you?"

"OH MY GOD! Not this again, there is nothing between us, he is fucking married and even if he wasn't do you really think I would cheat on you? is that the consideration you have of me? Do you really think that low of me?"- you didn't know if you wanted to cry or scream, maybe a bit of both. You were sure your relationship was solid but now it almost seems like it was falling to pieces in front of you

"No of course not. I dont know"- Henry said sounding deffeated

"You don't know... after four years together you dont know"- you could feel tears starting to fall but you didn't give them any mind -"Maybe we should take a break"- you added after a while you and Henry had spent waiting for the other to say something

"Yeah... let's just take a breath, I'm gonna take a walk, do you want me to get you something while I'm out?"- Henry was looking at you and even though you wanted to stop your mouth before it could spell the next words, you couldn’t, it almost seemed like you had lost control

"I meant a break from us"- you muttered

"You want to break up?"- Henry asked and you could see he was shocked and mad all over again

"I..."- you wanted to tell no but you couldn't speak, you wanted to stop him while he was getting his coat, you wanted to tell him you loved him when he was almost at the door, but you didn't. All you did was watch the love of you life slamming the door of your house while crying, Kal spent the whole time whining

-Now-

You had spent that night crying, trying to reach Henry on his phone to tell him you didn't really mean it, you were just tired and a little bit mad, you wanted him to get back home so you could rest and have that conversation when you weren't running high on emotion.

You had wanted to tell him you didn't mean it, there was no way you had meant it.

You heard the door opening and Henry getting in the house, you took a deep breath and tried to stop thinking about the past: you and Henry had moved past that fight and what it lead to. You had needed months of couple therapy but you were finally in a good place again.

"Hey baby"- you said while hugging Henry, the memory of that night had left you needing a little bit of affection

"You ok?"- Henry asked, he could probably see a lingering pain in your eyes, the pain form remembering but you didn't want to bring up that fight again, you had talk it through in therapy and you were over it, but sometime you still thought about that night, about what you could have said differently, you still wished no mistake had been made at work so that you could have been home on time... nothing would have happened then, or maybe it would have anyway, who knew. Your therapist had told you there was no good that could come from the 'what if' but you couldn't help yourself and, even if he didn't tell you, you knew it was the same for Henry, you knew he still thought about it, he still wished things had gone differently.

"Yeah of couse, I can't stop thinking about our trip for our anniversary in two months. Paris here we come"- you laughed trying not to think that your anniversary would always coincide with the worst memory of your relationship with Henry. But you had both decided you didn't want to lose the pleasure to celebrate your anniversary.

Henry smiled at you while tenderly kissing your temple

"I love you"- he said and your heart warmed as it did every time you heard those words from him. You two were ok... yeah you were

"I love you too"

You were about to kiss Henry when you heard Kal barking and the ring of the doorbell soon after.

"Are you waiting for someone?"- you asked

Henry shook his head before going to the door, you decided to stay in the kitchen so you could start cooking dinner, whoever was at the door Henry could handle it. But when 5 minutes had passed and Henry hadn't yet come back and hand't invited whoever was at the door in, you started to worry

"Henry who was it?"- you asked while reaching Henry at the door, but once you were there you almost stopped breathing: she was in your house with a stroller at her feet.

-10 months before- the day after the fight-

You had spent the previous night trying to reach your boyfriend on the phone to ask him to come back home, to let him know there was no way you wanted to break up, not even take a small break. That wasn't true, you had just been a little bit mad and very tired. But your calls hadn't been asnwered. You had then decided to leave him a message

"Hey baby I'm sorry about our fight, I didn't mean it, of course I don't want us to take a break. I'm gonna wait for you in our bed ok? Please come home. I love you"- your message had said

You were sure that as soon as Henry would have listened to your message, he would have come back home and you would have made up. There was no doubt in your mind.

You had fallen asleep while waiting.

The next day you had woken up expecting to find the warm presence of your fiance next to you, his big arms hugging you like he always did but you were alone, Henry's side of the bed was made.

You started to worry: there was no way that Henry after listening to your message hadn't come home, something must have happened.

You were ready to call every member of the Cavill family, every hospital in town to make sure he was ok, when you heard the door closing.

"Henry?"- you knew you were almost screaming but you were scared, you had been sure your fiance was nearly dead until a minute ago, otherwise why hadn't he answered your calls, why hadn't he come home.

"Oh my god Henry"- you flew in his arms as soon as you saw him, he squeezed you in between his arms, almost like he was sure you were going to leave. - "I'm so sorry about yesterday, I was just tired, you were right I need to balance my work and my personal life better, but you need to know I would never cheat on you, not with Danel, not with anyone. Beside Daniel gave me the next couple of days off, we could take the car and go on a road trip, we always wanted to do that. Henry are you ok? Did you get hurt?"- you asked in the end when you finally noticed you had been talking for minutes without Henry saying anything back.

"I'm sorry"- he only said

"I know I'm sorry too, we just had a fight, nothing that a calm conversation with a hot chocolate can't fix"- you gently kissed him on the nose.

Now that you weren't scare to death for your boyfriend safety, now that you could finally breathe and think clearly you noticed that your phone hadn't stopped beeping since you had woken up

"Oh my god, what is happening? I swear to god if something happened at work again I'm quitting"- you went to pick up your phone to understand what was happening that had people blowing up your phone.

"i'm sorry"- you heard Henry's saying once again while you looked at the thousand messages people had sent you, every one of them had photos of Henry with his arms around someone else, of Henry entering an hotel with another woman, photos of Henry kissing a woman that wasn’t you.

You looked at Henry and when he once again said sorry you were sure you were gonna be sick

-Now-

And now that woman was on your door step, with a straller on the floor at her feet.

"what is she doing here?"- you asked Henry and you knew you sounded harsh.

You could see the hurt in Henry's eyes, the fear of losing you, the same fear you had worked on together on therapy, you could see it, of course you could, but at the same time you could also see the woman your fiancé had cheated you with in your home, with a baby in toe.

“I don’t know”- Henry said unsure, it was clear he didn’t know who to look at, his eyes kept going from you to the women at your door to the baby no one had talked about yet.

You wanted to run, you really did, the woman that had almost broke your relationship forever was in front of your fiancé and even though you didn’t think Henry would hurt you like that again you weren’t going to risk it. You didn’t want to hate her: it was Henry who was in a relationship back then, he was the one who had made the mistake, but still you didn’t want to see her.

“I don’t want it”- the woman said bringing back you on earth

“What?”- Henry said

“I don’t want it, the baby, it’s yours. You can do whatever with it, you can keep it or give him up for adoption, I don’t care”- she sounded like she was talking about a thing and you really wanted to punch her

“You can’t just leave your baby with me, you don’t even know me”- Henry said while you stood there looking at the scene like it was a movie you were watching, like it wasn’t really happening in real life, like it wasn’t happening in YOUR LIFE.

“It’s not my baby”- she said before turning her back to you and leaving, the baby was still asleep in the stroller on the floor.

Henry picked the stroller up, and started to go in the living room, probably trying to understand what to do now

“Y/n”- Henry called you once he noticed you stood still at the door but you couldn’t move. You wanted to look at your fiancé but you knew once you did everything was going to become real or well real for you at least.

“Y/n, baby”- Henry said coming back to you once he was sure the baby was safe and asleep. He gently shook you, trying to get you to look at him and not at the now closed door

“You have a baby”- you just said

“I-“

“You have a baby with another woman… you had a baby with the woman you cheated me with”- you knew you sounded like a broken record but you were still processing

“We-“- Henry tried but you stopped him before he could even really begin

“Don’t even try saying that we were on a break, because I swear to God Henry… Fuck, you have a baby, and it’s not mine, fuck”- the tears were coming, you knew it, but you couldn’t help it, what do you do when your fiancé have a baby with the woman he has cheated you with?

“I think I need a moment”- you said

“Ok”- Henry said thinking you were going to go to the bedroom, but soon it was clear he had been mistaken -“where are you going?”- he asked when he saw you putting shoes and coat on and opening the door

“I need a moment”- you left without even looking at you.

You knew you should have stayed, you didn’t want to hurt him, you really didn’t but at the same time you were feeling all the hurt you had tried to leave behind and you didn’t know what to do.

-10 Months ago, the day after the fight-

“Y/n, talk to me please”- you had been staring at your phone for what it seems like hours without saying a word and Henry was starting to get worried. He tried to gently take your arm but you took a step back

“Don’t touch me”-

“I’m sorry, Y/n I made a mistake, an horrible one but I’m sorry”- Henry tried again

“A mistake?! You slept with another woman Henry”

“She didn’t mean anything”

“And yet she was worth jeopardizing our relationship”

“I didn’t think there was a relationship to jeopardize, I thought we were broken up”

“I asked for a break, a break I was ready to call off as soon as you got out of the house, I tried to call you so many times last night but you were too busy screwing someone else to answer me. You were busy sleeping with another woman after you had just accused me of cheating”-

“I’m sorry, I thought we were broken up, it doesn’t justify what I did I know, I fucked up but please, please, tell me we can fix it, tell me how to fix it”- Henry asked with glossy eyes

And you just stood there looking at the man you loved asking yourself if you would ever be able to forgive him

-Now-

You weren’t even sure where you were gonna go, you weren’t even sure what to do, you just got in the car and stood there.

You just stayed in the car, in front of your house where your fiancé was alone with a month-old baby, a baby that you didn’t give him.

You looked at your phone, you didn’t even know how but you had spent an hour in your car without doing nothing, you took a deep breath and looked at the house: there was no doubt anymore, you knew what you were going to do.

You exited the car and got in the house; you could hear the baby’s screams, so you let them lead you where your man and the baby were.

“You’re back”- Henry took a deep breath as soon as he saw you: you didn’t know if it was because he didn’t know if you were actually going to come back tonight or at all, or if he was hoping you could help him with a baby that apparently had been crying for a while, almost for as long as you had been gone.

“Why is the baby crying? Did you check the diaper? Did you feed him?”- you asked getting closer to Henry and gently caressing the baby’s feet

“You’re back” Henry said again

“Henry focus, yes I’m back”- you looked at your fiancé’s eyes for the first time since you had been back and you could see he was just as scared as you, you were both scared you weren’t going to survive another tsunami

“You left”- he just said

“I know, I’m sorry, I needed a moment or an hour apparently”- you shrugged

“Where did you go?”- he asked

“Nowhere actually, I just got in the car and stayed there, I needed a moment but we are gonna be alright, ok?”- you caressed Henry’s curls before pooping the baby nose softly watching the baby stopping screaming for a second before starting again -“we’re gonna be ok, we are probably gonna need to schedule a couple appointments with the therapist, but we are gonna get past this, but we need to focus on the baby right now.”

“Ok”- he just said waiting at you for direction… oh your man

“I think she left some formula and some diapers so I’m gonna take care of the baby and you are gonna make some calls”

“Calls?”

“Yes Henry calls. You need to call one of your brothers to get some stuff for the baby, the last thing we need is paps seeing me or worst you buying baby stuff, we need to be careful, at least until we have a better understanding of the situation. You also have to call your lawyer we need to know what to do, how we can be sure the baby is safe, how we can be sure no one can take him from us”- you were on a roll

“Us?”- Henry asked still shocked about the whole affair

“Yes us, if this baby is yours we’re gonna take care of him, love him like he deserves, like I know you have wanted to do as soon as she said it was your baby even if you haven’t said anything because you think I’m gonna leave you, I’m not. If you are the father, this baby is mine too, that’s it! But Henry tomorrow you need to make one more call, we need to have a paternity test made and probably have a doctor take a good look at him, just to be on the safe side”- you could see Henry’s heart breaking a little.

The little man has been in his life for just an hour and he was already attached, he was heart broken at the simple idea of giving him up.

“Henry I really hope she told the true, I know you want to be his father, but if you’re not, don’t you think his father deserves to know?”- you gently smiled at him

“You’re right”

“Of course I am, I always am right”- you smiled at him knowing that you were going to be alright. The baby, who had calmed down a little as soon as you had taken him in your arms and had started bouncing around, gave a little scream of unhappiness

“Yeah someone is hungry, aren’t you baby boy?”- you softly said to the baby.

You looked up, knowing that Henry was looking at you two and seeing his eyes filled with love you knew you were gonna make a beautiful family

“We’re gonna need a name”- you and Henry smiled

Ps: Feedback is always welcome and appreciated ❤️

Henry Cavill taglist: @xxxkatxo @mansaaay @thorins-queen-of-erebor @maan24 @grounded-in-light @omgkatinka @xprettyqueenx @marytudorbrandon @kebabgirl67 @narnianaos

(If you’re name is crossed it’s because I wasn’t able to tag you. If I forgot to tag someone please forgive me and tell me again 😅)

[doki-doki-imagines]

We all need Reo and Nagi in the form of animals-

Seishiro Nagi - Blue chow chow -You didn't expect to be woken up at 7 a.m. by a loud knocking at your door, so still grumpy you walk towards the sound to understand who dared to wake you up so early on your free day. -It is Reo, mask and gloves on and with a ball of blue fluff in his hands with his equally blue tongue sticking out. "Long story, this is Nagi, I'd take care of him but I'm allergic to dogs. Tomorrow everything should be fine-" the purple hair boy pushes the dog in your arms "take good care of him, we have a match soon" The door slammed at your face, stuck at your place with a ball of fluff in your hands. -Luckily Seishiro habits didn't change in his dog form, he slept, eat, sat on your lap, half of the morning was spent like that; rinse and repeat. -"Ohh look there is a new event! Can't wait to get the new characters." You smile at your phone. -What you didn't see was Seishiro raising his head from your lap, ears alert. -"Ehi ouch! Don't bite me- not even my hoodie, Seishiro!" He starts to pull on your clothes, your hoodie or your pants to make him follow towards…his phone in your bedroom? Did Seishiro forget it when he visited you yesterday? -"I have enough of my events I don't wanna-" He closes the door. You look down at him. "For once I'm way taller than you, you can't scare-" He barks. He dares to bark at you. He is more fur than voice and still dared to look dangerous to you. Your falls on your knees, a pain where your heart is placed; he is too cute for this world. -You end up doing his games till you pass out on the couch, being able to move just for snack and bathroom breaks was exhausting. -"(Y/n) is morning wake up, c'mon I can't reach my phone" It wasn't Seishiro's voice to wake you up, but his weight on your body, but you were too tired to pull him off even if your lungs screamed for a break. "Take your damn phone and let me sleep Seishiro" He doesn't reply, phone in his hand already checking his online ranking. "You made me lose an event" Your eyes open wide "What? I didn't even pee for your damn game-" You can't finish the phrase, his index finger pressed on your lips. "No excuses, time to be punished for your misdeeds." Your eyes would have come out in a typical cartoonish style. This egoist, always getting what he wanted, was a real villain even with fluffy blue ears on top of his cloud-white hair.

Mikage Reo - Red fox -It's Ba-ya that wakes you up, your phone loudly ringing, sun just rising. "(Y/n)-san, sorry to bother you early in the morning, but we have a problem." "A problem? Is Reo fine?" "More or less, but it's easier to explain if we came to your house, is it fine?" "No problem, see you here." -That's how you find yourself sitting on your couch with a red fox with some purple stripe resting on your lap -"Mikage corporation developed a new system so you'll understand what he is saying to you. I wouldn't have bothered, but the young master asked for your company." "Strange since yesterday he shouted at me something along the 'you are insufferable fuck off' lines" Ba-ya looks down, thinking the exact words to tell you next to sugar the pill. You scoff interrupting her train of thoughts "Don't worry, I'll take care of him". -He isn't as extrovert as usual, still knowing what happened the previous day was exaggerated, but after petting his thick fur for a while you got tired. "Wanna monetize this situation Reo?" His ears twitch, looking at you straight in the eyes. "What's your idea?" The voice is robotic and way too high, but you suppose that even Mikage corporation couldn't make a perfectly working translator. -The amount of photos you posted was disgusting but he was too cute to let this occasion go, keeping some of them for the months to come. -Reo obviously loved the idea, posing like a model, searching for the best angles that would make people scream "Cute~" all over the world. "Reo you are the cutest." "Like always, isn't it?" He says, pulling his head up, nose up in the air, you could imagine Reo would have even brushed off his hair in typical film style if he still had his hands.

-"Reo you are already a star, 16k likes in 3 hours better than when you are human." "Are you saying I'm cuter a fox?" "…" "Hey!" -Your mood improve drastically, who would have thought that your boyfriend turning into a fox was going to be this good? -You fall asleep next to each other on the sofa, his big tails tickling your chin. -"Hey, sleepy head I'm back to normal~" Your boyfriend, finally back to normal is laying on your chest, purple eyes sparkling, fox ears and tail still present, thick tail swinging back and forth. "Don't I look the best? Let's shoot some photos 'till I'm like this." He says phone already in his hand. "But later it is your turn to model for me, wanna grasp all your cuteness darling~"

[mioyeo]

Watch your back: chapter 6

Once you don’t value what you have someone else learns how to take care of what used to be yours

Synopsis : 8 men supposed to give her all the love they promised end up leaving her behind without a valid reason

Pairing : girlfriend Reader x PolyAteez !

Warnings : this chapter contains mentions of, arguing with San , yelling , San blaming reader , lots of crying , Rin being exposed , assault , miscarriage , panic attacks , fake tears , etc Please reminding me if I forgot something

Tag list : @legbouk , @scarfac3 , @m4rsluv , @hcyaa , @jackinmyarea , @layzfeelit , @loverlele, @mulletjoonsupremacy , @veneziamadness , @belle643 , @gugggu6gvai , @atinytinaa , @voidcupidz , @atinyreads , @baguette-atiny , @parkthothwa8 , @hwadump , @owjohny , @miaatiny , @honeyymon

This series is going to be posted together with the Psychiatric series, which means one chapter after another

I decided that this series will be posted every Wednesdays from now on but I may also post chapters again even if it’s not on these days

Word count: 2,2k

" No , She's sleeping peacefully "

The boy looked at the girl that rested her cheek on his chest while clutching onto his shirt

' is she sleeping fine , did they give her the sleeping meds like yesterday ? '

" Yeah they had her take the pills before putting her to sleep so I've been laying down with her for a while now "

San brushed her hair back and he caressed her face softly while Seonghwa talked on the phone with him

' When are you coming home Rin has been impatiently waiting for you to return'

" You know that whenever we leave she's going to cry again and have these panic attacks "

He sighed and shook his head

' She just went trough so much San you need to understand that '

" At first I always felt bad but now it's getting too overwhelming , I can't barely leave without her starting to wail my name like a kid "

' Maybe she feels lonely that's all '

" I know , but this constant crying is tiring me out , I don't always want to hear cry whenever I walk in "

She stirred and clung tightly onto his shirt making him sigh

' I don't know why she does that, but try not to make her feel bad'

" Seonghwa, I'm literally the only one she's always shedding tears with at this point I don't think it's normal anymore "

He heard Seonghwa sigh on the other line, he himself couldn't understand what was bothering Y/n so much lately, the first week of her being at the hospital were calm since she pretty much just didn't talk or just slept in their embrace

" I need to leave in a minute anyways so I can take a bath and relax at home, look this bed is uncomfortable and I'm tired of being here you know how much I despise hospitals "

' Just stay a little more '

" No Seonghwa, I'm tired I have a life too I can't just stay the whole day here and doing nothing other than cuddle her "

Y/n opened her eyes slowly and her lips already started wobbling

" I need to hang up she woke up and it started again , yes you know what I mean bye "

He ended the call and looked at her as she sobbed quietly

" A-Am I holding you back from living your life right now San ? am I that much of a bother?"

She looked up to him with her teary eyes as he wiped the tears away and kissed her nose

" No baby listen-"

" I-I don't want you to always complain whenever you're here "

" What do you even mean "

He looked up at her with his brows furrowed as he detached himself off her so he could put on his shoes and jacket

" I hear how you always complain to the others about me whenever you stay here for some hours , I never asked you to do this other than stay with me especially because it was our child that I lost recently "

She wiped her face and sniffed as he looked at her with a scowl

" And you're only telling me that now ?! "

He yelled in disbelief making her flinch

" I didn't tell you that I missed my period because you didn't care and just brushed it off the last time we had a pregnancy scare "

The boy groaned and approached her

" Do you know what you just did ?! You prevented me from protecting my first child , my first joy and happiness as a father don't you feel ashamed of keeping something like this away from me ? all of us "

" This is not my fault that I got assaulted having it cost my child's life! "

" If you had told me we'd make sure you were doing fine always! "

He raised his voice as she sat there with tears unable to make them stop

" Do you know how much it hurts to know I lost my first child and everything a first time dad could do because you were so stupid to not close the door properly ? "

" I never left the damn door open! I don't know what they told you but it's not true "

" You're trying to deny it now ? , if it weren't for Rin that cared so much about you even though you're always mean to her and call ambulance you'd be dead from how beaten up you were "

She chuckled and starred at him in disbelief

" So it was her that fabricated all this madness of stories so she could look good "

" Don't try to blame her when she literally saved your ungrateful ass ! "

San approached Y/n and grabbed her shoulders forcefully as he shook her

" Why should I be grateful for someone who did this in the first place! She's the one you should blame for our child not making it "

She cried out pushing his hands away from her

" Your princess and her friends did this to me , you should be glad that I didn't sue her for attempted murder and tort ! "

" Stop blaming others for your own actions , you left the door open that's why someone came in and hurt you "

" Are you acting dumb or are you genuinely dumb Choi San ? , why would someone assault me for leaving my own house door open if that where the case ? This is the most unrealistic thing someone could ever tell "

" You know what's strange ?, the way you always despised her since day one now it makes sense you're just trying to get us to break up with her "

He chuckled and brushed his hair back as he looked at her in disappointment

" Why would I get along with someone that has been doing nothing but hurt me this whole time? , I've endured so much already I just can't hurt my discomfort anymore "

" It's not our fault we fell in love with her and you know that , that's just how humans are "

" I've been through thick and thin already and I think it's time for a change , I've had so many people willing to give me their love but I've always been so blindly stupid to realize that how you guys treat me is just not how someone should be treated in a relationship "

She slowly stood up and clutched her hospital gown while walking towards San who looked at her speechless

" I won't tell myself anymore that I am the issue every single day I wake up , I'm tired of shedding tears and feeling insecure about myself even though I shouldn't "

With tears she tried pushing him out towards the door but he grabbed her arms and made her look at him

" Do you think I'll just let you leave?"

" Stop trying to gaslight me with your sweet talk San , you know how much I don't like that now go just like how you wanted to a few minutes ago since I wail to much like a baby "

" You can't just drop these bomb news on me and expect me to leave "

" I don't care I'm to fed up right now to even make you believe me "

" How will I believe something without proof ? What do you want me to do ?! Go and beat up Rin until she tells something she didn't do ? "

The girl teared up and pushed him away from her once again

" I just told you that in despair for you just to believe me once in a life time maybe watch out because of how fake she is San ! "

" Stop talking about her like that , she's the most sweetest person I have ever seen and the most fragile one too she'd never be capable of beating someone like this "

He sighed loudly and looked around trying to calm himself, since he didn't want to yell again

" She had her two friends beat me up as she laughed and filme-"

" Enough ! Y/n stop making up things you don't even sound like you know what you're talking about at this point you're doing to much ,j-just stop ok ? I get it you don't like her the tiniest bit but just don't blame her for your mistakes , you're just saying anything at this point, I wish I could believe you baby I do but I can't seem to wrap my head around this "

" Fuck San what do you mean my mistakes?! Is me losing our baby my mistake? "

" I can't stand looking at you right now, I'll tell Seonghwa to come and stay with you "

San stared at her apologetic and left the room letting her cry to yourself

The girl sighed as the violent sharp pain rushed through her chest as she cried making her feel nauseous and hold on onto the bed rails

She was so tired of the whole situation , it made her question if she was really the one at fault , because if she didn't smash Rin's face into that damn  cake she'd be at home now

Watching first time mom vlogs and secretly buying neutral baby clothes while building up the courage to tell San that she was expecting

But now everything was gone  because she was stupid enough to let them provoke her

———

" How about we have dinner outside today "

Rin back hugged Jongho who was currently washing the dishes because Seonghwa went out to stay with Y/n

" We'll have to wait for San to come back home , and speaking of him it's been like three hours since  he had to be home already "

" Maybe he needs sometime for himself? I mean he's been having it hard because of what happened to Y/n lately "

He sighed and nodded before drying his hands and smiling at her

" I'm thankful that you arrived home and called the ambulance on time "

The girl smiled nervously gulping

" I-I'm glad I found her , I was so scared  "

" Everything is ok now don't worry "

She felt him hug and rub her back , it was to much she honestly cursed herself for even telling Yeongja and Iseul to deal with her

What would happen if the boys found out ? She be definitely done for

Her whole dream of being a model would literally shatter if Y/n decides to sue her , the boys could break up with her or kick her out

“ Ay is everything alright ? Ive been talking to you for about five minutes ”

Jongho looked at her concerned

“ A-Ah I’m sorry I’ve been thinking about Y/n and how much pain she must be in no- ”

The front door suddenly opened revealing a distressed San

“ Rin ! ”

He removed his shoes and stormed towards the kitchen to look inside

“ W-Why would you do that to her ? ”

“ What are you talking about San ”

Jongho asked confused as San approached them shaking

“ Rin and her friends assaulted Y/n making her loose our child that day ”

The younger immediately let go of her and frowned

“ San do you know how big this accusation is ?”

“ I just met Iseul outside her workplace and she told me , I just don’t understand why you would do that ”

Rin bit her inner cheek as the other guys started crowding the kitchen looking just as confused as Jongho was when San walked in

“ What is going on here , why is he yelling? ”

Mingi went closer and looked at San that was shedding tears of disappointment

“ Rin and her friends where the ones that did that to Y/n , because of whatever happened between them that day I lost my first child and even blamed it on her for allegedly leaving the door open even though she didn’t ! ”

“ Rin is what San is saying the truth? ”

They all stared at her waiting for an answer

“ I just got mad because she said that you will never love me like you love her , a-and I didn’t hit her it was Yeongja and Iseul who said they where going to deal with her for being rude , I never wanted them to do it ! I never wanted this to happen”

She stuttered and teared up

“ Still you should’ve told us and not lie ”

San hissed and left towards his room and slammed the door shut

“ What you did was really dangerous , what if she died that day from how intense you guys beat her to the point she also had a miscarriage? I’m so disappointed in you Rin ”

“ Yeosang I’m sorry ”

Wooyoung and Yunho left the room without saying anything further other than saying how disappointed they were

“ You’re glad Hongjoong and Seonghwa are not here because they would be so mad at you ”

Everyone else left leaving Mingi with the crying girl that didn’t even look at him

“ Look , it will take a while for San to even look at you but I’ll talk to the boys so they won’t tell Hwa and Joong about this , promise you will apologize to Y/n as soon as she’s discharged ”

“ I-I promise , do they hate me ? ”

“ No don’t worry about it I got this ”

He sighed and left , making Rin stop crying and muffle her screaming

“ Wait until I see you tomorrow Iseul "

Rin scoffed and stormed into her room angrily

Now that San was mad at her imagine how Seonghwa would react she didn’t even want to think about Hongjoong’s reaction

They would fry her alive if they found out

She frustratedly searched for her pack of cigarettes and opened her window after locking her door

“ I’ll just need to make Y/n shut up I can’t afford the agency bawling out on me ”

Blowing off the smoke in the air she tapped her feet angrily

One thing she was sure was that she never expected it to come to light this fast or how fast her friend would rat her out

[themaladaptivewriter12]

Title: (They'll be calling me) Royalty

Part 4 of my “The Lion's Den” series! Part 1, 2, and 3 here!

Parings: Implied Leona x Mirai but not really. They're getting there tho

Summary:

“Because what?!” Mirai yelled. “Because I was tired,” Leona yelled. “Be-Because I'm tired of always being second! No matter what I do, I’ll always be second best! I was born second, my dorm is second, even in the sport I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember I’m second! I’m always second!”

cw: Overblot Leona, canon injuries, Mirai get's injured, nothing severe, hurt comfort,

a/n: I also might have listened to Jonathan Young's cover of "Be Prepared" on loop while writing this lololol. Also, title inspired by Royalty by Egzod, Meastro Chives, Neoni!

a/n: This is not a "Bullies to lovers". Just putting that out there. I wanna show Mirai's and Leona's process of trust and eventual love.

Reblogs are appreciated, just use my custom tag, #TheMaladaptiveWriter12, if you do!  (─‿‿─)♡

Cross posted from my Ao3: TheMaladaptiveWriter12

It's kinda long, sorry. I might break this one up, but who knows ┐(´∀｀)┌

Classes for the day were uneventful. Ace, Deuce, and Grim bickered like they normally did, Coach Vargas was loud as always, and lunch was as it always was. But the school seemed to have a certain buzz about it, and Mirai couldn’t figure out what it was, so he thought to ask Ace and Deuce about it.

“The annual fall Spelldrive Tournament is coming up,” Ace said excitedly, “How did you not know?!” 

“Gee,” Mirai said sarcastically, “I wonder why I wouldn't know about such a huge NRC event?”

Sometimes it irked Mirai with how much everyone here forgot that one, he didn’t know magic, and two, that he wasn’t from their world. I mean, how could they forget when they were around him every single day?!

“Sevens! What crawled up your butt today?!”

“Did you forget that I’m not from here? How am I supposed to know what’s the norm around here?”

“That’s all you had to say,” Ace sneered, “Why you gotta take it out on me?!”

“Maybe because I expect my best friend to remember something so important about me,” Mirai growled out.

“Alright,” Jack soothed, “calm down. It’s alright.”

Mirai and Ace both grumbled to themselves, their arms crossed petulantly. 

“The Spelldrive Tournament is between the dorms or the school,” Epel supplied.

“Each dorm fights for the bragging rights of having the best Spelldrive team, and Diasomnia has held the spot for the past three years! No thanks to Lord Malleus, of course,” Sebek boasted.

Ace groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Every dorm will appoint their best players and train until the end of the month,” Jack said. “Housewarden Leona has already made his team.”

“So it’s an enchanted version of football, got it,” Mirai muttered. 

Maybe that was why Leona had been so distant lately? If this was as important to the school, then maybe Leona just had his head in the game is all?

“What’s football?” Jack asked.

“Okay, so, you have two teams,” Mirai began.

The next day was as eventful as any school day goes. In Professor Trein’s class, they were doing a unit test. Mirai was pretty sure as always, he was gonna score just over passing, keeping his grades at a constant C. The test wasn’t hard, but that was what Mirai was afraid of. He was pretty sure he butchered that last half on magic in the Briar Valley, and at lunch, Ace, Deuce and Grim had their complaints about it.

“If I don’t pass this test, Ima be benched again,” Ace sighed, head in his hands. 

“I told you guys to study,” Jack chided. “Epel and I had a study session last weekend.”

“Who wants to spend their weekend studying?” Grim grumbled.

“If you wanna pass, you do,” Sebek shouted.

“I think I did pretty good,” Deuce said.

“Oh?” Ace taunted, “What makes Juice so sure?”

“It’s Deuce! Not Juice,” Deuce grumbled angrily. “And I got some help from Trey yesterday. I’m not saying the whole thing was easy, but I feel I did a good job for the majority of it.”

“That’s good,” Epel nodded with a smile, “I hope it all goes well for you.”

“Thanks,” Deuce smiled. 

Ace scoffed, annoyed. 

“What about you, Mirai?” Jack asked. “Mirai?”

Mirai was sitting with his chin resting in his hand, eyes staring off and out the window.

“Mirai?” Grim asked, paw tapping Mirai on the shoulder.

“Ah,” Mirai jumped, “Yeah? What is it?”

“You okay, Human?” Sebek asked.

“He’s probably bummed out because he failed that test,” Ace teased.

“I did not,” Mirai shot back. “The only part I had trouble with was the Briar Valley.”

“How was that even hard?!” Sebek shouted.

“Dude,” Deuce sighed, “You live in the Briar Valley.” 

“And cut Mirai some slack,” Epel pouted, “he’s not from here, remember?”

Sebek grumbled, turning his head away from Epel. 

“Then how do you think you did?” Ace asked, smirking slyly.

“I bet I just passed,” Mirai said, as if just passing was something to be proud of.

Ace, Deuce, and Grim busted out laughing.

“Oh yeah,” Ace laughed, “because “just passing” is anything to be proud of.”

“At least I won’t be benched.” 

The rest of the group had to stop Ace from lunging over the table at Mirai. 

Mirai didn’t see Leona or Ruggie that day either.

Wednesday was another bummer day. In gym class they were playing dodgeball in the indoor gym and it was pure torture. A couple of students on the opposing team decided to make it their goal to get Mirai and Grim out first. That promptly resulted in a trip to the infirmary for Mirai after he got a ball to the face, a scolding from Coach Vargas after Ace and Deuce both chucked a ball at the perpetrator's face, and yet another scolding, but this one was for Grim because he tried to set the guy on fire. Well, at least Sam had gotten a new shipment of cheesecake, and was saving a slice just for Mirai.

And when Thursday afternoon came around, Mirai wanted to do nothing but go buy some junk food from Sam and go binge watch a show that Cater had recommended. Grim, Ace, Deuce and the dodgeball guy were all punished for the rest of the week, the four of them stuck cleaning the gym, and as for Mirai, his face still hurt. His nose wasn’t broken, just a tad bruised, and to top it all off, his head also hurt, but it was nothing a couple of painkillers couldn't fix. 

As the days went by, things surrounding the Spelldrive Tournament started to go sour, but, then again, when did things go smoothly in a place like Night Raven College? Soon after the teams were picked, and the students from all dorms were getting pumped for the competition, multiple students from multiple dorms started to get injured. First it was a couple of students from Heartslabyul, even Trey, and then it spread like wildfire across the campus. 

Students were falling down the stairs, burning themselves, cutting themselves, and even the Vice of Scarabia had been affected. At that point, it started to look like sabotage more than an accident. But the weird thing is, all of the students affected had the same story, it felt as if they had no control of their bodies. Well they were just gonna have to get to the bottom of it, even Mirai really didn’t want to.

Mirai walked the empty halls of the main building. It was always so peaceful, when there were no classes in session, no students walking the halls, no one to bother him. The golden afternoon always looked best on campus, covering everything in its warm glow. With all that’s been going on, the Spelldrive Tournament, and playing detective by order of the Headmage, Mirai was tired.

They went to almost every dorm to try and find the culprit, which didn’t go well at all. The twins from Octavinelle chased them, and then when they entered Savanaclaw, the dorm tried to fight them, and Leona, who was more territorial than usual, challenged them to an unfair spelldrive match. All of this was honestly getting out of hand. Mirai could care less about Spelldrive, Mirai didn't get the big whoop about it, and he honestly didn’t get why Grim wanted to play so much. But then again, maybe that was Grim’s way of trying to fit in. Mirai could understand, he wanted to fit in as well, he was tired of being the outcast.

Mirai made his way to an empty classroom, and looked out the window. From here, he could see the street where the vendor's stalls were being set up for game day. Game day. The day of the tournament, the day they would take action. Mirai sighed once more. What should have been a day of fun and togetherness, not that Mirai would think these guys would come together for anything, is now a day of uncertainty that was leaving a knot in his stomach. And it was all because of Savanaclaw.

It didn’t take long to finally trace it all back to Savanaclaw, to trace it back to Leona, and honestly, Mirai didn’t know what he was feeling. Why? Why would Savanaclaw, Ruggie, Leona, hurt all those people? They hurt Trey, they hurt Jamil, and everyone else. They lied to them, sent them on this wild goose chase, they stole from them, and what about their plan?

Why would they plan to put all those people in danger? What about the innocent students, the innocent supporters? The children who might be there? And for what? Because Savanaclaw didn’t have the guts to play fairly? Because Leona didn’t have the guts to play fairly? And for what?!

Mirai’s phone buzzed in his pocket, shaking him from his thoughts. “What’s up?” Mirai answered.

“Where are you, man?” Ace asked from the other end. “Where meeting up to go over the plan one last time.”

“Where are you?” Mirai asked, leaving the classroom.

“Courtyard.”

“I’m coming,” Mirai said, hanging up.

Yelp, Mirai guessed he’d get his answer tomorrow.

It was the day of the tournament and their plan had worked. The remaining teams were saved, the lay people were safe, and they had backed Ruggie and Leona into a corner. Mirai didn’t know what to feel. He knew who was behind all of this, he knew, and yet, seeing it up close, hearing it with his own ears, it was like a slap in the face. He thought his friends were better than that, but to put innocent people in harm's way, Mirai couldn’t ease the betrayal he felt.

Mirai didn’t know what to make of the cold, sadistic smile Leona held as he turned Ruggie into sand. He didn’t know what to make of bitterness that seeped off of the Beastman in waves as his plans were foiled right before his eyes. 

Leona laughed bitterly, “Yeah, you're probably right. No, you're exactly right! I will never become king. No matter how hard I try!”

He should be angry like Jack was, he should feel betrayed like Ruggie did, he should rub this in Leona’s face like Lilia just did, he should be smug like Ace and Deuce were about being one step ahead of the Beastman, but he couldn’t. 

“I've been loathed since the day I was born. I've never had a place, never had a future,” Leona grit out, a dark dreadful atmosphere seeping around the group. “None of my hard work is ever rewarded! How could any of you possibly understand? My disappointment?! My pain?!”

Leona roared, the sound was so loud, Mirai felt as if the entire stadium was falling apart with it. Leona screamed in agony as he held his head in his hands, the ground cracked and fissured beneath him, a dark black mist emitting off of his body. The group watched in horror as Leona’s screams turned into morbid laughter, and when he looked up at them, his hands were covered in the jet black ink, just like the ink-like tears that were dripping from his eyes. 

Mirai wanted to reach out to him, tell him that it was okay, that he was there for him, but he couldn’t, because that would be a lie. He was never there for him, and things were far from okay. Those words, compared to Leona's feelings, were null. He couldn't move his feet from that spot, he couldn’t get any words out, they were stuck in his throat. Just like Riddle, he was Overblotting.

The winds began to pick up, carrying sand around with them. They began to vortex around the Savanaclaw Housewarden, and suddenly, the atmosphere changed. It washed over them as quick as an exhale. It felt like a thunderstorm, it felt charged, yet so calm, like the moment right before a lightning strike. Not a second later, the winds caved, then exploded, with dark magic, sand, and debris, the gust sent everyone flying, as the group tried to shield themselves from the blow. 

“You guys okay?” Riddled coughed, brushing himself off.

“A-okay here,” Cater muttered, picking himself up.

“I thought I was a goner,” Grim whined, rubbing his furry face into Mirai’s shirt.

“Guys?” Deuce called wearily, “look.”

Standing in the middle of the clearing as the smoke and dust cleared was no longer Leona, certainly not the one Mirai had come to know. Dark magic and blot oozed off of him in waves. It swirled and spiraled with sand, dying everything around him black. He was different, even his clothes were different.

“I dunno what's going on, but if we hit Leona hard enough, maybe we can snap him outta it?” Jack more like stated, readying himself. 

Ruggie staggered forward, coughing as he tried to steady himself, “I-I'll help too. N-No way I'm t-taking what he said lying down!”

“Take it easy, yeah?” Mirai asked.

Ruggie waved the Prefect off, pulling out his magic pen.

“So even the lowly hyena turns against me?” Leona laughed snarkily with a scoff, “What an absolute joke!”

“Ya think Ima just, just bow my head after that s-stunt you just pulled?!” Ruggie rasped. “Notta chance!”

Leona growled as lunged at them, his first attack coming in fast.

“Guys,” Mirai yelled, “He’s coming for us!”

Leona pounced on the group, and they all scattered. Mirai tried to dodge the attack the best he could, but he wasn’t quick enough, the shockwave sending Mirai flying as he rolled to a stop a few feet away.

“You okay, Human?!” Grim called, running to Mirai’s side.

“Yeah,” Mirai smiled, petting the little monster’s head, “I’m fine.”

“Hate to break up the precious moment guys, but we got trouble,” Ace shouted as Leona came at them again.

The group sent a flurry of attacks at Leona, and yeah he was taking quite the beating, but that didn’t stop Leona from standing his ground and dishing out some attacks of his own, every single one of them more powerful than the last.

“H-He, he just won’t go down,” Ruggie heaved.

“Take it easy, Ruggie,” Jack said, placing a hand on Ruggies shoulder. 

“I’ll take it easy when things are back to the way they should be.”

“You okay, Ruggie?” Mirai called from where he was hiding behind one of the bleachers.

“A-Okay,” Ruggie said, flashing Mirai a smile.

As the fight waned on, the group was beginning to falter. Between spells being casted wrong, missing their target, and more than a few close calls, they all needed a plan, and fast.

“You idiots think you can beat me?!” Leona roared, sending a powerful wind attack into Ruggie, sending the poor Hyena tumbling. 

“Ruggie,” Jack called, running to his side.

Leona leapt to Ruggie and Jack, but suddenly he was blocked by a wall of fire. He turned his green eyes to Riddle, who was standing a few ways away to his right.

Leona sneered down at Riddle, voice sarcastic, “Oh, I quiver with fear!”

The Beastman turned his attention to Riddle, sending his Blot Incarnate to attack, the mangled lion beast slashing at Riddle. The Heartslabyul Housewarden dodged the attacks, fending them off with his own.

“You don’t deserve the throne, and to be quite frank, I hope you never get to sit down on it,” Ace sneered, moving to guard his Housewarden.

“I will be king,” Leona yelled, stomping his foot down, and suddenly a barrage of green lightning struck the ground from the dark skies, the sandy Earth shaking with every hit.

“Look out,” Riddle yelled.

The group jumped in every direction, dodging the powerful strikes, the ground singed and burnt in its wake. They were split up, Cater with Riddle to the far left, Ace, Deuce, and Grim to the far right, Jack still was guarding Ruggie’s injured form ways behind the Group, and Mirai was left alone, smack dab in the middle. 

“Guys,” Mirai called from his hiding spot, “Take it easy! We can’t fall here!”

Leona locked eyes with Mirai and began to advance on him. 

“Mirai,” Deuce yelled. “Get away from him!”

Mirai scrambled to his feet as he tried to dodge all the attacks sent his way. A ball of wind magic exploded on his left, then a ball of lightning on his right, both sending the Ramshackle Prefect across the sandy field. 

“Mirai,” Cater yelled. 

“I-I’m, I’m alright,” Mirai coughed, stumbling away from the Overblotting Housewarden.

“Where are you going, Herbivore?” Leona sneered, stalking after him.

Mirai didn’t know what was scarier, the Housewarden himself, or the fact that he was walking instead of running behind him. Pulling himself up the bleachers, Mirai sprinted up the stairs, tripping over his own feet as the ground shook from Leona’s Blot Incarnate’s attacks.

“Over here you oversized house cat,” Ace yelled, shooting a ball of fire at Leona.

Leona growled, getting down on all fours, dodging the attack. He jumped up onto the poll to his left, and using the balls of his feet, Leona pushed himself off it, landing on the bleachers next to the Ramshackle Prefect. Mirai’s head snapped beside him with a gasp, not waiting a second more to scurry up the stairs and inside. 

“Mirai,” Cater shouted.

The guys tried to go up and stop them but Leona sent his Blot Incarnate after them, the beast blocking the path.

“Mirai,” Deuce yelled, trying to round the monster, but got pushed back.

“We have no choice,” Riddle huffed, readying himself.

“Bu-”

“There’s no time,” Cater gruffed, eyes steely and narrowed. “If we split up now, we’ll fail.”

“The Prefect will be fine,” Ruggie huffed, voice hoarse.

“He better be,” Grim grumbled.

 Mirai ran down the hall, the only light being the open archway behind him. It was unsettling with how quiet it was in there, even with all the chaos outside, the only sound Mirai could hear was his own breathing and footsteps. The sandstorm outside made its way in here as well, sandy grains coating the floors, the dust filling the air, making it hard to breath and the floors slippery.

The ground shook and a dark shadow loomed over the hall, Mirai didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. “Why do you run from me, Herbivore?” Leona called, “Scared?”

Mirai didn’t answer, picking up his pace as he veered right and down another hall. The lights flickered eerily, casting deep shadows along the walls. Leona walked along behind him, the lights began to flicker out, not coming back on at all, the hallways behind them a pitch black. 

“Come on, Herbivore, join me,” Leona chuckled, “I know it sounds sordid, but just think of how you’ll be rewarded, when at last I am given my dues.”

Mirai twisted every knob, pushing every door he passed to get away from the lion. He was getting tired and the blows he had indirectly taken earlier were taking a toll on his back. Mirai’s breathing was haggard and the dusty air was burning his eyes and his chest. 

“You can have anything you want,” Leona persuaded, “gold, respect, it’s all yours. You’ll never go hungry again!”

Mirai pulled open a door, and ran inside, it was a locker room. Mirai sprinted through the rows of benches and lockers, hiding around the corner. Mirai tried to quiet his breathing but the burning in his chest was unbearable. He could hear the door open, swinging shut, and Leona’s maniacal laughter echoed through the room.  

“I can see it now, I’ll be all time adored,” Leona rambled, the distortion in his voice sending chills down Mirai’s spine. “And you will be right beside me since that little scavenger lost his chance. What do you say?”

Mirai scooted down the aisle, moving away from the direction his voice was coming from. Mirai was scared, and he was pretty sure Leona knew that as well, and for the first time, Mirai was wondering if he was gonna make it out alive.

“Answer me,” Leona roared, a loud banging sound rattling the lockers. 

The room suddenly lit up with green and by the time he figured out what it was, Mirai’s entire being was electrified. Mirai cried out, falling forward, his hand clutching his chest. He couldn’t describe the feeling, but Mirai knew for sure that he never wanted to feel it again. It was worse in his prosthetic, and Mirai wanted it off. As best as he could, Mirai ripped the metal limb off, his body collapsing onto the floor. 

Mirai could still feel the magic coursing through his veins, his body spasming with every beat of his heart. He couldn’t catch his breath, as he heaved through the pain. He couldn’t see through the tears in his eyes, and his blood burned, the magic feeling like liquid fire in his veins. 

Loud footsteps echoed off the walls, and Mirai didn’t have the strength to look up at their owner. “Why do you struggle?” Leona growled, his clawed hand clamping around the back of Mirai’s neck.

The grip was strong, it was cold, void of the normal warmth it had, and wet with ink. It ran down Leona’s arms and coated his hands, black droplets dripping from the points of his nails. Mirai didn’t struggle as Leona lifted him, forcing him to look up at him. Mirai could feel the dark power emitting off of him, he could feel the wet of the ink, running down his neck, staining his shirt in little rivulets.

“Submit to me,” Leona muttered, pulling Mirai close, “Stop fighting me.”

“N-No,” Mirai git out.

“Why not? Why do you resist me? I can give you the world! Just you and me above all.”

“I don’t want that.”

Leona dropped to his knees, holding Mirai by his arms, “Then what do you want? Tell me.”

“I want Leona back,” Mirai pleaded. “Please stop this.”

“You have me,” Leona growled, his grip getting tighter, “I’m ten times the man he ever was!”

Mirai flinched at Leona’s tone of voice, his eyes closing in fear. Ink dripped down Mirai’s arms, it was hot, it was nearly burning his skin. Mirai didn’t like the look in Leona’s eyes, he didn’t like the way he was treating him, he was scared.

“Y-You’re hurting me,” Mirai gasped, Leona’s claws suddenly prickling his skin.

“Then behave, and I won’t have to hurt you,” Leona smirked, running the back of his finger along Mirai’s cheeks, leaving black streaks in its wake.

“I thought I understood you,” Mirai grit out, “I even saw you a-as a friend! B-But this?! All of this is not what I expected from the guy I respected.”

Leona seemed taken aback, and Mirai used that lapse in his attention to reach behind him and grab a handful of sand. The chances of this working were slim to none, but he had to try, he had to get out of the room. As quick as he could, Mirai threw the sand into Leona’s face, and much to Mirai’s luck, Leona immediately let him go with a shout, his hands flying to his eyes. Mirai felt bad as he shot up, grabbing his arm, rushing out the room and down the hall, but Leona deserved it. He wasn’t gonna talk to him like that, he wasn’t gonna treat him like that.

Mirai didn’t get far when the locker room before the door flew from the hinges, slamming against the opposite wall. Leona was fuming, a vortex of sand and lightning swirling around him.

“I was gonna let you go, Herbivore,” Leona sneered, “but now, you’re first.”

Mirai yelped, jumping down to the ground as the door was kicked into his direction, flying over his head, and into the far wall at the end of the hall. Stumbling to his feet, Mirai turned the corner, the archway he had entered coming into view. The lights flickered on and off, and when Leona turned the corner, Mirai’s stomach dropped.

“Get over here,” Leona yelled, sending a gust of wind down the narrow hallway. 

Mirai braced for impact as the magic slammed into him, sending him flying out the door and into the air, over the bleachers. 

“There,” Ruggie yelled. 

“Ace, Cater,” Riddle commanded, “Catch him!”

“Yes, Housewarden Riddle,” the two card soldiers nodded.

With a gust of wind, Ace and Cater sent themselves flying, Cater catching the Prefect and Ace lessening their fall. 

“You okay?!” Deuce asked.

“Y-Yeah,” Mirai stuttered, clearly shaken.

“After decades of denial, this is simply why I'll be king,” Leona laughed, the sandstorm getting stronger, “undisputed, respected, saluted, and seen for the wonder I am! Long live the king!” 

The group dodged more and more strong attacks, it didn’t seem like Leona was getting any weaker, in fact, it seemed as if he was stronger, which was concerning. If they couldn’t stop him, it meant that all the innocent people would be in trouble, it meant the entire school would be in trouble, and far worse, it meant Leona would die.  

They needed a plan, and fast, and Mirai thought of one. Leona’s attention was on the rest of the group, and that meant Leona didn’t care where Mirai was. One of the bleachers gave way and sitting next to him was a very large metal pipe. That would do. Mirai crept his way up and around the bleachers, making his way behind Leona and his Blot Incarnate. Mirai would have to make sure it didn’t see him before he got to Leona. 

Riddle, Deuce, Cater, and he had been shouting at each other, trying to figure out their next move, when Ace had seen him. Ace didn’t know whether Mirai was plain stupid or had a death wish. Why was Mirai, Magicless Prefect of Ramshackle Dorm, making his way to Leona with a pipe?!

Ace nudged Deuce and and subtly pointed, and when Deuce caught wind of the situation, his face went pale. The others noticed the change in mood and Riddle went red in seconds.

“Fynya?!” Grim screeched, “Stupid human! What are you doing?!”

The others began to shout at Grim, and Leona snapped his head around, his and Mirai’s eyes meeting. Mirai’s heart stopped, his breath catching in his chest. Mirai couldn’t even catch his breath before he was snatched up and lifted off his feet, the pipe clattering to the ground.

The guys shouted and screamed out for Mirai as they threw a barrage of attacks at Leona, only for his Blot Incarnate to block them all and send the group flying with its charged attack. 

Leona chuckled darkly, a sadistic smirk on his face. “I don’t know what's more insulting, you nobodies thinking you can defeat me, or you, Prefect, thinking you could stop me.”

Mirai struggled in Leona’s grasp, his battle for air more important than the harsh words Leona was spitting at him. 

“It’s pathetic, really. Did you forget your place? You can’t beat me. If I can’t have the world, then I’ll just have to turn everything to sand. And I’ll start with you.”

Mirai skin started to burn, it felt as if it was being rubbed with sand paper. Mirai gasped, his hands clawing at Leona’s. 

“L-Le-Leona,” Mirai gasped. “L-Let g-go, le-let me go.”

“Why should I?” Leona growled out. “You're just like them. Look down on me like I'll never be enough, you pity me.”

“N-No, I don’t. I don’t, I don’t p-pity you.”

“Lies,” Leona roared.

Mirai winced at the noise, coughing as the grip got tighter. “Y-You’re better than th-this. The Leona I-I know wouldn’t stoop this low to get what h-he wants. You’re smarter than th-this.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“But I want t-to, I want to, so bad. I-I want to know yo-your favorite foods, your favorite c-color. Your p-past times, your goals, your, your wants, your needs. I-I want the Leona I fell f-for in, in the Bo-Botanical Gardens.”

“You think your honeyed words are gonna sway me? I hate people like you the most. Always sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, always saying the right things to get what they want,” Leona growled out, his voice wavering. “You think I haven’t heard that before, that I haven’t dealt with people like you before? You’re no different. I will never have what I want, I’ll always be second best.”

“You will never b-be second best to m-me,” Mirai smiled, voice faint and breathy, “Y-you will always be my number one.”

Leona faltered, his eyes going wide at the words.

“Don’t hate me after t-this, y-yeah?”

Before Leona could comprehend what happened, Mirai was swinging his leg back and kicking the Beastman in the face. Leona growled out with a shout, dropping Mirai as he held his face. Mirai dropped to the floor, coughing as he caught his breath. Leona stumbled back pulling his hand away from his face, the black blot ink mixing with red.

Leona roared, “Why you-”

Mirai picked up the pipe and swung at Leona, the metal making contact with his midsection, knocking the wind out of him. Leona stumbled backwards, doubled over as he held his abused stomach. Mirai pulled back and whacked the downed lion upside the head, and Leona was down for the count.

And like that, the sandstorm stopped, the skies slowly becoming blue once more. The blot monster screeched as it eroded away, the blot that bubbled and boiled fizzled into nothingness, and so did Leona’s blot, and in its wake was Leona, their Leona, lying on the ground.

“Leona,” Mirai rasped, rushing over to Leona’s unconscious form. 

“Mirai,” Deuce yelled, rushing over to his friend, “Stay away from him!”

The group rushed over to the two, where Mirai was frantically looking over the Savanaclaw Housewarden.

“Mirai,” Ruggie called, “You okay?”

“Me?” Mirai rasped out, coughing when it hurt. “I’m not the one who just Overblotted.”

“You’re hurt,” Jack said lightly.

“I’m fine,” Mirai warbled. 

“Leona,” Mirai called out, shaking Leona slightly, “Wake up. Please wake up.”

Leona would move, he didn’t stir, and his breathing was shallow.

“Leona, please wake up.”

“Oh, Mirai,” Cater called, realizing that his magicless freshie was crying.

“I killed him,” Mirai sobbed. “I killed him!”

“You didn’t ki-”

Leona stirred, and slowly opened his eyes, squinting at the blazing midday sun. “Whatsit, what is it?” Leona muttered.

“He’s awake,” Jack gasped.

Leona looked up at the group looking down at him, and his eyes immediately found Mirai’s tear filled ones. “Herbivore?” Leona called, ears flattening atop his head as he reached up to thumb away the tears on Mirai’s cheek. “Why are you crying?”

“Y-You Overblotted,” Mirai rasped out, “and you wouldn’t w-wake up. I though, I though-”

Leona sat up, vision going blurry with the dizzying headache that hit him so suddenly. “I-I-I Overblotted?” Leona muttered to himself, “Me? Ain’t no way I-”

“Mr. Kingscholar, your negative energies accelerated your blot accumulation, inducing an overblot episode.” Headmage Crowley said, seeming to appear out of nowhere, cutting to the chase. “Were you responsible for the series of injuries sustained by competing players?”

Leona stood up slowly, wobbling as his knees threatened to give out. “Yeah, that was me,” Leona admitted quietly. “All of it.”

“Very well. Then to begin with, Savanaclaw House will be disqualified from this year's tournament. The rest of your punishment will be decided after I discuss it with the victims. Are we clear?” Headmage Crowley asked.

“Understood.”

“Headmage,” Riddle called, “W-Wait. A word, if I may?”

In the end, Riddle ended up persuading the Headmage to let Leona and the rest of his team play, and as punishment, he was to play as he was. Of course that didn’t end well due to his overworked state. But in the end, Grim got to play like he wanted, but sadly, Mirai couldn’t witness the rest of the games. One second Grim was hollering about a special move and the next, Mirai was waking up in the infirmary. 

“Wh-Where, where am I?” Mirai croaked.

“Hey,” Grim called, “Mirai’s up!”

Ace and Deuce rushed to Mirai’s side, Deuce expressing their relief.

“I’m so glad you’re awake,” Deuce sighed. “You were out for so long, we were beginning to think there was some long lasting damage.”

“What happened?” Mirai asked, confused.

“You don’t remember?” Ace asked.

Mirai shook his head.

“Grim threw the disk straight at your head and knocked you out at the beginning of the second half.”

“I was tryna steal our victory,” Grim said nonchalantly. 

“More like steal his life.”

“Hey!”

“You amateurs gotta work on your disk control,” Jack gruffed.

Ace rolled his eyes, “Yeah, you missed the whole thing. They are cleaning up now.”

“How did Savanaclaw do?” Mirai asked. “No, wait, where’s Leona?!”

“Calm down, Herbivore,” Leona gruffed from the other side of the room. “‘M fine.”

Mirai looked over to the other side of the room and spotted Leona in one bed and Ruggie in the one next to him. The Hyena looked far worse than Leona, but that was expected after the days earlier events, but all in all, Mirai was glad everyone was okay.

“But as for the game, everyone we went up against didn’t care for the game, they just threw magic at us,” Leona scoffed.

“We were dead on our feet by the time we went up against Diasomnia,” Ruggie chimed in, “They ended up taking first place.”

“That sucks,” Mirai muttered. But it was kinda deserved for what the two of them had done.

Leona scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“How are you doing, Ruggie?” Mirai asked the Hyena.

“I’m fine, quit ya worrying,” Ruggie dismissed.

Jack began fussing over his Housewarden and Ruggie, while Ace, Deuce and Grim, started talking out the game. Apparently Diasonmia’s team was a force to be reckoned with, their dorm head being the strongest one there. 

“Unca! Unca,” a shrill child-like voice yelled, “There you are! I finally found you!”

Mirai turned to the door where his eyes caught sight of an orange and yellow blob as it launched itself across the room and into Leona’s lap.

Leona groaned, “The little screech box found me.”

“Who’s the kid?” Grim asked.

“Unca Leona?” Jack muttered.

“That little furball is my Brother’s son, Cheka, my nephew,” Leona gruffed.

Mirai was surprised. He didn’t know Leona was an Uncle.

“I saw you play, Unca! You were so cool! Next time I visit, teach me how to play,” Check yelled. 

“Okay, okay,” Leona sighed, “I get it, and how didja get in here?! Where are your attendants? They gotta be pulling their hair out looking for ya.”

Cheka giggled, “I left them behind so I could find you.”

“Of course you did.”

Mirai chuckled, “He’s cute.”

“So when are you coming home to see us, Unca? Today? Tomorrow? Next week? And when's the next time after that? Did you read all the letters I sent you? What about the toys? Do you play with those?” Cheka rambled, bouncing on top of Leona.

“Look, I toldja, I'll be back for the holidays—Ow! Get offa my stomach, that hurts,” Leona shouted, eyebrows knitted together.

The room erupted in laughter at Leona’s demise.

“Ooh! Ooh! Unca! Who are they?! Are you guys Unca’s friends?!” Cheka squealed.

Ace laughed, “Yeah, sure we are! We're your Unca's besties! Ain't that right, Unca Leona?”

“That’s cool,” Cheka chirped, “Unca has so many friends!”

The group’s laughter got even louder.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Leona gruffed. “Just y’all wait, Ima be on ya like a buzzard to a carcass.”

“Yeah, whatever you say, Unca,” Ruggie teased, face red with laughter.

Mirai and the others fell into another fit of laughter, and Ruggie ended up doubled over in pain as it hurt to laugh.

Well, even if the day started out like a nightmare, its ending was so bad. Even if Mirai did have a headache. 

It was late when Mirai woke up again. It was still dark outside, and the room was dark. Mirai blindly reached for his phone and powered it on. It was three in the morning. Mirai sighed as he lied back down. He wondered when he’d be able to go back home. 

Mirai had been in and out of sleep since visiting hours ended, and at some point, the Nurse let Ruggie go, and the last thing Mirai remembers was Ruggie saying his farewells. But he and Leona were a different story. Mirai still needed to be monitored for his head injury and Leona needed to be monitored for his blot accumulation. 

Mirai peered over at the other side of the room, trying to make out Leona’s form. He couldn’t. Mirai sighed, his throat still raw and scratchy. Mirai coughed, his throat burning. He tried to clear the prickly feeling, but it kept coming back, then he fell back into a coughing fit once more.

“You okay?”

Mirai jumped, eyes darting to the other side of the room, where a pair of glowing green eyes were looking back at him. 

“Y-Yeah,” Mirai croaked, his voice sounding raw and abused.

“You’re not,” Leona muttered. 

“And you aren’t either.”

Leona sighed and didn’t say anything else.

Mirai sat back in his bed and stared off into the darkness. He really didn’t know what to do now. He was awake, his throat was killing him, and now it was awkward knowing that Leona was right there in front of him. 

“Drink.”

Mirai jumped with a gasp at the sound of Leona’s voice being so close to him. 

“Le-Leona,” Mirai stuttered, “Y-You, you shouldn’t be up. Go lie down.”

“I’m fine. Drink,” Leona said.

Mirai twitched when he felt a cold glass of water being pressed into his hand.

“Careful,” Leona murmured, “Don’t drop it.”

“Thank you,” Mirai muttered, taking a sip, and boy did it feel glorious. 

Mirai tried to gulp down as much as he could handle, but it wasn’t much since his stomach filled in seconds. Mirai reached out for the table beside him once he couldn’t drink anymore, but was met with Leona’s stiff form.

“You done?” Leona asked, taking the glass.

“Yeah,” Mirai nodded.

There was silence again and Mirai wondered if Leona was still there. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Mirai hoped that he was.

“Those bandages,” Leona started, his voice coming from the other side of the room. “on your neck. It was me, wasn’t it? And the same with Ruggie’s arm?”

Mirai wanted to lie, and tell Leona, no, they weren’t, but they weren't there the day before, and lying about it wouldn’t make the situation any better. 

“Yeah,” Mirai admitted quietly.

There was silence yet again, and Mirai felt as if his heart was in his stomach. Bandaged fingers came up to fiddle with the bandages that were wrapped around his neck. Mirai didn’t know when those were put there, most likely when he was out cold, and Mirai was wondering how he didn’t notice until now. He ran a finger down the length of his throat, and Mirai wondered how it looked, wondering if it looked as bad as it felt. Mirai just hoped it didn’t scar, he didn’t need any more of those, and he definitely didn’t want a sore reminder for Leona to see every time he looked at the Prefect.

“I never thought I’d hurt you, I never intended to,” Leona started, “You, you were supposed to stay in the stands, you were supposed to just let all this happen. You-”

“Whoa, whoa, y-your not gonna pin this mess on me,” Mirai rasped, voice rough. “It wasn't me who cheated.” 

“If you, if you just minded your fricking business-”

It became my business when my friends started getting hurt! It became m-my business when t-the Headmage held this whole fiasco over my head like he always does when things go sour in this stupid school!”

Leona went silent from his side of the room. Mirai sighed, coughing once more, his throat burning.

“Why?” Mirai muttered.

Leona stayed silent.

“I know you can hear me, you bastard. Why?”

“Why what?” Leona gruffed.

“Why'd ya do it?”

Leona growled lowly in warning.

“I ain't scared of you,” Mirai rasped angrily, “and growling still doesn’t answer my question. Why?”

“Because,” Leona said petulantly.

“Because what?!” Mirai yelled.

“Because I was tired,” Leona yelled. “Be-Because I'm tired of always being second! No matter what I do, I’ll always be second best! I was born second, my dorm is second, even in the sport I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember I’m second! I’m always second!”

“All you had to do was try!”

“And you think I haven’t?! You think I haven’t busted my butt for the things I want?! I’ve tried, and tried and tried, over and over, and over again! And for what?! I’ll never beat the bastard Malleus at anything, I’ll never sit on that throne, I'll always be second best! So I stopped trying!”

“I’m sorry,” Mirai muttered.

Leona sucked his teeth in annoyance, “Quit apologizing. Ain't nothing you can do to change anything, and feelin’ sorry for me ain’t gonna make me feel any better,” Leona gruffed, sighing.

“You know, you’re right,” Mirai said snarkily, “It’s you who should be apologizing, and I know a whole bunch of people who you can start with.”

“Bastard.”

“Thanks I try.”

Leona growled lowly, “You’re lucky, you’re lucky I’m already on thin ice.” Leona sighed, laying back against the pillows on his bed. “Look, ‘M sorry, alright. This whole thing was stupid. I was stupid. I’m sorry.”

Mirai sighed, “You know, I shouldn’t forgive you-”

“You shouldn’t.”

“But I do, forgive you, Leona.”

“And that’s the stupidest thing you’ve done yet.”

“That ain’t-”

“You could’ve died, Mirai,” Leona shouted. “You understand that right?! I could’ve killed you! They all told me what happened when you were out, that I choked you, that I tried to turn you into sand!” 

“I know that,” Mirai scoffed, clearing his throat, “but who hasn’t tried to hurt or kill me since I was dropped in this nightmare of a world?”

“You’re a blithering idiot!” Leona’s voice broke, as he looked down at his hands. “I-I did what everyone said I’d do. I’ve become what they said I was, a-a monster.”

“You're not a monster,” Mirai rasped.

“You don’t get it, you never have! I’ve always hated my Signature Spell, it’s a curse. I am the very thing that the Sunset Savanna fears, that the Sunset Savanna hates, a drought. They’ve always told me I was a monster, they feared me. They always said it would be a matter of time before I’d hurt those around me!” Leona grit his teeth, his fangs bared, “If I were born first, I’d be praised. If I were born first, I’d be called a prodigy. I would be loved, not feared.”

Mirai huffed angrily as he slowly slid off his bed and onto the floor.

“D-Don’t-What are you doing? Sit down,” Leona scolded. 

Mirai ignored him as he teetered his way over to Leona’s side of the room, stopping after a dizzy spell hit him. Once he made his way to Leona’s bed, he crawled on top.

“Herbivore,” Leona growled, “Get away from me! I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I already have!”

For once, Leona looked small. He never looked small in Mirai’s eyes, he was always so big. He was always so sure of himself, so prideful, so confident, but now, he looked like a mouse, like a kid who was being scolded by his parents. Unsure and scared, Mirai didn’t like it, it didn’t suit him, Leona Kingscolar, Hoausewarden of Savanaclaw, Second Prince of the Sunset Savanna.

“And I haven’t?” Mirai scoffed.

“What are you-”

“Look, you were right when you said that I didn’t get it, what it was like to be you,” Mirai said hoarsely, “but it doesn’t mean that I need to be you to know what it’s like to feel worthless. I will never know what it’s like to walk in your shoes, to be a Prince, to be second in line, those are your experiences alone. But I know how you feel.”

Leona scoffed, “Enough the flowery words. Don’t need ‘em.”

“I know what it's like to have everything, and nothing at all. I know what it’s like to want to be wanted.” Mirai out the window behind Leona. “That, that thing, that wasn’t you back there. The things you said, the things you did, the you I know, would never do those things, would never say those things.”

“But it was me,” Leona corrected. 

“Then say it.”

Leona looked taken aback.

“Say it, look me in the eyes and say it,” Mirai badgered, “Say you hate me, say you want me dead, say that you never once cared for any of this. Say it. Say you hate Ruggie and the others, say you’d rather turn everything to sand, prove me wrong.”

Leona looked down in defeat, his ears falling.

“It’s hard to say such hurtful things to the people you care about that you actually don’t mean, isn’t it?”

“But I did all of that,” Leona muttered, “I’m the one who tried to cheat my way to the top, I’m the one who hurt everyone around me.”

“And it was stupid. I don’t like what you did to your schoolmates, but there, in that stadium, was beyond your control.”

Leona balked at Mirai frank words. 

“When I told you that you were better than that, I meant it. That’s why I forgive you.”

“You shouldn’t, I don’t deserve it.”

“I don’t think that’s for you to decide, is it?”

Leona growled at Mirai. “Well if everything’s fine now, you can leave me be.”

“What about here?” Mirai asked, poking the Beastman in the chest. “Is everything fine?”

Leona went silent.

Mirai was familiar with signs of depression. The withdrawal, the lack of motivation, the masking, they were symptoms Mirai knew all too well. And Mirai couldn’t act like he didn’t notice, that he didn’t care, because he did, and he wasn’t going to allow Leona to continue to suffer alone.

Mirai reached forward and slowly pulled Leona into a hug. 

“Wh-What are you doing?” Leona stuttered, going rigid in Mirai’s hold.

“Push me away if you hate it,” Mirai muttered, holding the Beastman tighter.

Leona didn’t say anything, but he didn’t return the hug either.

“And even after all of that, it still hurts, doesn’t it?” Mirai whispered.

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” Leona gruffed.

“I know one hug doesn’t fix the thousands you’ve needed, and I know I may not be worth anything, that I may not be what you want,” Mirai sighed. “I know I can’t give you what you truly want, but I’m here for you, Leona. I care.”

Leona choked back a sob.

“It’s okay to cry, it always feels better when you do. You’ve been strong, holding on for so long, but that’s okay. It means you’ve overcome something, that means you can pick yourself up and keep going.”

Leona sobbed into Mirai’s chest, and Mirai held him through it. Leona clawed at the back of Mirai’s shirt as his tears soaked through the fabric, and Mirai stayed there, holding Leona even tighter.

“You may not have been born first, and you may never be king, and I will never have the answers to your questions, but I believe you’re so much more than you think,” Mirai whispered, “You are smart, you are strong, you are resilient, you are beautiful. You are Leona Kingscholar, and don’t let anyone take that from you.”

“I-I hurt you,” Leona sobbed.

“I know,” Mirai muttered into Leona’s hair.

“I’m sorry,” Leona whimpered, pressing his nose up into Mirai's neck.

“And I forgive you,” Mirai croaked.

[rubber-ducky143]

𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕊𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕞𝕚𝕟

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A/N: Again, sorry for not posting yesterday!! I was yapping to my gf on a 3+ hour call and then a few hours after, I went to Rutland! I had fun though and omw home, I thought of this and since it’s Easter, it only makes sense to post it today instead of postponing it to next week! Plus, I have a lot energy (I got a Monster this morning) so I feel like writing :3

Word count: 1586

Pairing: Kim Seungmin x gn! Reader (they paint their nails if that means anything!!)

Warnings: Fluff, “Easter Bunny”, light swearing, lmk if I missed anything :3

You woke up, any ordinary day. You were sleepy and honestly just wanted to get back to sleep but when the thought crossed your mind that your cousins and parents along with your aunt were coming over for Easter, you immediately wanted to get up and get ready for the day. 

You tried to get up but Seungmin wouldn’t let you. For someone who doesn't like physical touch, he was oddly clingy. Especially today. 

“Seungmin, I gotta get up and get the baskets, breakfast and the egg hunt ready,, I only have like an hour.. And on top of all that, I have to get myself ready..” “Why do you only have an hour..? Aren’t they coming over around 10..?”

You sigh and roll your eyes.

“Yeah but it’s 8:52, almost 9..”

“Really..?”

‘Yeah. Really.”

Seungmin sighs and rolls over, still as tired as ever. He gets up, nonetheless. 

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You both get out of bed after 8 or 9 minutes of stretching, almost falling asleep, and cuddling.

“Do you want my sweatshirt?”

You hear Seungmin ask. He was still sitting on your shared bed while you were in the bathroom, trying to fix your hair.

“The 1987 one?” “Yeah, what else?” “I’d say yes if you hadn’t slept in it.” “You sleep in the same clothes and wear them all the time! What’s wrong with wearing clothes I’ve slept in?” “It’s sweaty.” “You wear this sweatshirt even if I’m sweating after practice. What’s the difference between sweating during practice and sweating while unconscious?”

You sigh and roll your eyes once more. You didn’t really understand the difference yourself. You could’ve just said you didn’t want to wear it but he would’ve asked why because that sweatshirt of his was your favorite on him and to “borrow”.

You don’t end up wearing the gray 1987 sweatshirt. You end up wearing your own clothes. A Harley Quinn shirt with some distressed jeans/shorts/skirt. You didn’t bother putting socks on. 1, you were in your own house and weren’t going anywhere and 2, you didn’t paint your toenails just to hide them. Not that anyone would look at your feet anyway. If they did, I suggest being slightly concerned unless you like it. No judgment :)

🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕

Once you and Seungmin are both done getting ready, you make your way to the kitchen.

“Hey, Seung? Can you help me set up?”

“I was planning to anyway. We only have about an hour, right?” You nod and kiss Seungmin on the cheek before walking to the kitchen and gathering the bags of the eggs, candy, stuffies, baskets and other easter things.

“What can I do to help?”

Seungmin asks, standing patiently (somehow) in the doorway of the living room. “Can you put the eggs around? They should be all filled already.. If not,” You place a green-basket looking bowl on the table. It has candy of all kinds. Chocolate eggs, Reese's eggs, Marshmallow bunnies, Peeps, and much more.

Seungmin nods as a grin spreads across his plush lips. He was hoping you’d ask him to do that. He just wished you wouldn’t know what he was planning.

“No putting them in unreachable places, Kim Seungmin.” “Yeah, yeah. No promises.” Seungmin takes the box of eggs and starts placing them around the house. Most of them are in reachable places. Most of them. 

🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕

While Seungmin is placing the eggs for your little cousins, you set up their baskets. Each one with similar items. A blue basket with a blue bunny plush. This was for your youngest cousin, Myla. Even though she was barely 3, you knew she still loved bunnies. The next basket was themed yellow. It had extra peeps in it because you knew your second youngest cousin, Cosmo. Cosmo was 5, almost 6 and loved peeps with his whole little heart. He was always so happy when he found them in the store. And for your last, oldest cousin. (Oldest but still years younger than you). Constance. Her basket was purple themed. When she told you she wanted a purple themed basket from the Easter Bunny, you immediately noted that. Constance was 11. Her favorite color was purple and she liked playing Animal Crossing. Also noting that she loves Animal Crossing, you got her a plush of her favorite character, Blaire.

After you finished setting up the baskets and Seungmin was (almost) done with setting the eggs up, you called your mom to see if they were on their way.

“Hello?”

You hear through the speaker of your phone.

“Hey, mama, are you about to leave?”

“Yes, why?”

“Just wondering, do you want me to make some food? Besides lunch, of course. Snacks or drinks?”

Your mom thinks for a moment with a “hmm” sound coming from the other side of the line. You hear her ask your dad, aunt, and cousins if they wanted anything. You almost immediately hear a scream for Shirley Temples and Lay’s Salt and Vinegar chips. You laugh and make note of those 2 things.

“Anything else?” You ask. You felt like you were asking if someone at Subway wanted anything else with their order. 

You hear your mom chuckle before responding.

“Fruits, preferably Mangos, Peaches and Strawberries. You can add other things to your liking, I just know everyone here will love those 3 things.”

“Alright. Thanks mama. I’mma go now, bye.” “Bye kiddo, we’ll see you in about 30, 40 minutes.”

You hum and hang up.

“What do they want?”

Seungmin asks from behind you. It scared you but you turn around, nonetheless.

“Fruits, Lay’s and Shirly Temples.”

“Oh, okay. We do have Sprites, Ginger Ales and that Grenadine stuff. I don’t know about fruits though. Do they want specific fruits or?”

“They want Mangos, Peaches and Strawberries. I know we have mangos and strawberries but I don’t think we have peaches. I’d also like some Watermelon and Pineapple..”

Seungmin nods and walks to the door.

“Where are you going?”

You ask, slightly surprised.

“Going to get fruits. Do we need anything else? Anything for lunch? Any drink preferences?”

“Uhm.. We could use some more coffee powder. Some milk too. I think that’s it.”

You get up and check the fridge along with your pantry to confirm your request.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

Seungmin nods and kisses you goodbye before heading out to the grocery store.

🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕

While Seungmin is shopping for your list of groceries, you make some coffee with the last of the espresso mix you have. Luckily, it was just barely enough to make 1 last serving. 

You enjoy your coffee while leaning against the counter. 

After about 20 minutes, Seungmin comes back along with your family arriving. 

When you see them enter the door, you’re quick to grab the groceries from Seungmin and place them on the kitchen island, peck Seungmin on the lips, and then hug all three of your cousins at once.

Once you get your cousins occupied with their baskets, you chat with your mom, dad and aunt, Seungmin prepping 4 Shirley Temples (3 for each of your cousins, 1 for you) and the snacks.

After chatting for almost an hour and your cousins complaining they’re bored and hungry, you prepare lunch while Seungmin entertains your cousins with whatever he finds funny. 

🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇��💐🪺🐇🥕💐🪺🐇🥕

Once everyone is full with food, drinks and candy, you ask your cousins if they want to start the egg hunt. They all exclaim a loud yes and run over to Seungmin who was holding color-coded baskets for each of them. Purple, Blue and Yellow, just like the ones their things came in.

You, Seungmin, your mom, dad, and aunt all enjoy watching your 3 little cousins run around to gather as many eggs as they can. Some, Seungmin or your dad had to get for them because someone decided to put them in unreachable areas even though you specifically remember telling that someone not to.

You all share laughs and make new memories with each other. As much as they wish they could stay, your cousins hug you and Seungmin goodbye before you hug your parents and your aunt.

You make sure your cousins have everything and finally wave to them as they all walk out of the front door to go back home.

Once everyone leaves, you and Seungmin (half-ass) clean the house and end up cuddling each other on the couch, enjoying the silence after hours of 3 little kids running around and screaming.

“You’re cousins are little shits, you know that right?”

Seungmin teases.

You nod your head and laugh. You knew that. They were annoying to deal with but you love them anyway. You know Seungmin does too. He just refuses to show it.

“Happy Easter, Seung..”

You say quietly. Almost falling asleep even though it was around 5pm (17:00).

“Happy Easter, Y/N..”

[decks-writing-blog]

Whatever the Fuck Benrey Is: Chapter Ten: I Hate That You're Right

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

~

‘We’re heading back now. See you in a few hours,’ Gordon’s text read when Benrey returned to his phone post indulging in a hot shower. It was dated twenty minutes ago so that ‘few hours’ still stood as a long time. But at least when he did finally get here, Benrey would have someone to play games with again.

‘k’ Benrey sent back. He’d behaved, despite largely being bored for this long, he could last a little longer. With nothing else to do for now though, he settled in for more solo gaming.

Over the next hour or so, he exchanged a couple more texts with Gordon, nothing substantial, just idle chit-chat. Not too long after that conversation petered out, Tommy texted him with, ‘Mr. Freeman fell asleep in backseat. I’m a bit worried after yesterday. This morning he said he slept the whole night through after falling asleep at the table so he shouldn’t be tired anymore, right? Dr. Coomer says its probably fine but IDK. Humans don’t normally sleep this much, do they?’

Gordon had lied; he’d been on the phone with Benrey most of last night again, claiming his nap had been enough sleep so he wanted Benrey to play the rest of Wind Waker ‘with’ him. The call had ended because he needed to head to breakfast before heading out. If he was lying about having slept to Tommy though then perhaps he’d been lying to Benrey too. Staying up all night wasn’t a non-issue. Maybe the napping made up for it but then why was he lying about it to Tommy? Benrey had no way of knowing so… ‘idk’

‘Yeah. I guess you wouldn’t know either. Maybe it’s the car making him sleepy because he fell asleep during our 1st ride too.’ After staying up most of the prior night too. Something was up for sure.

How important could sleep be even for fragile humans though? Gordon was an idiot sometimes, sure, but he wouldn’t willingly do something dangerous. The sleeping all night thing was probably just because humans liked the sun and didn’t want to fall asleep randomly in the middle of the day like Gordon kept doing. The sun was nice after all so Benrey understood. ‘prbly its fine’

From there their conversation drifted to other things before also petering out. Having a good conversation over text message was a bit hard and Benrey quickly grew too antsy to sit still for it. This was the longest he’d been away from Black Mesa ever and the call to wander the town more couldn’t be ignored now that it was really starting to sink in that this might be a permanent life change. Being in a similar boat, Bubby might want to go on a walk with him. They could bond over being lab experiments seeing the world for the first time. And so, leaving his phone on charge, he grabbed his camera and headed off to find Bubby.

***

The first thing Gordon did upon returning to the hotel was take a long shower. During which, he did his best not to worry about where Benrey had got off to. A text from Bubby had revealed that the two of them had gone off on a walk that had taken them further than they’d intended and were on their way back. Nothing to worry about, it made sense in fact, but… what were they doing on that walk?

Such thoughts were just Gordon being anxious though. Less than good sleep the past few nights made his anxiety spike. As far as he knew Benrey had behaved since it had been made clear to him what he had to gain for doing so, there was no reason for him to stop now.

Despite having mostly soothed his worries, he was hit with a rush of relief upon stepping out of the bathroom and finding Benrey sitting in one of the chairs, waiting for him. He’d shifted back to a less human look; his skin a light gray-purple, his hair dark purple, and his eyes an even more piercing yellow than last Gordon had seen them as such.

“Yo, play with me, you said you would.” He gestured with the Game Cube controller in his hand to the TV screen which already had the Melee character select menu open. His voice sounded odd in person after how long they’d talked on the phone for, almost as if it belonged to a different person. His phone friend that had kept him sane the past few nights couldn’t possibly be the same Benrey that had once tormented him.

Shaking off that odd feeling, Gordon walked over to sit in the chair next to him, picking up the other controller laid down on its armrest. “Good to see you again too.” That was entirely true because somehow his ‘phone friend’ and Benrey were indeed the same person. Probably for Benrey it had all been just more games and him being bored; he didn’t care about keeping Gordon sane, he just wanted something to do as well as the PS3 promised for good behavior. But that was fine, Gordon had never had much in the way of friends so he’d take whatever he could get because he’d really needed it the few few nights and still needed it now.

~

They played Melee and then Mario Kart for longer than was probably wise. In Gordon’s defense, Benrey insisted on playing just a little be longer each time he brought up that they should probably quit soon and Gordon hadn’t had the willpower to deny him when he wanted to keep playing too. Eventually though, partly due to his need to get something to eat, he did break away to go out for food.

By unspoken, unquestioned agreement that only hit Gordon as odd once in the car, Benrey went with him. Sitting down for a late lunch with him should’ve felt odd too but instead it felt completely normal even though he didn’t eat anything despite Gordon’s offer to get him something. Instead he sat across from Gordon, making idle conversation even as he played more on the Game Boy.

Afterwards came finding a storage facility with enough room for all the Black Mesa stuff they currently had packed into all the cars they’d brought over plus whatever else might be salvaged before they found a good temporary lab. Dr. Coomer and Tommy were still off with the rest of the scientists who’d returned to Tuefort. A quick text conversation with them ensured they’d continued to be kept busy for a while longer, allowing Gordon to not have to worry about dropping Benrey off back at the hotel before starting the search.

Tuefort being a small town made it easy to find a decent looking place that sold storage units. Because it wasn’t his money and in case the lab took a while to find and set up, Gordon went ahead and rented the biggest storage shed available. With Benrey’s help – who surprisingly didn’t complain too much upon being asked for assistance – he unloaded everything in the car he’d borrowed. It then took another trip to grab the rest of it from the other vehicles and store that too.

Once that was done, he was basically free for the rest of the day. Not that there was a whole lot of the day left. But it wasn’t so late that the library would be closed for another hour or two probably. So, still trying not to let his exhaustion show too much, he headed that way next. If he was lucky, he could do some good research today and then in the next couple days settle on a suitable place to live, allowing them to move out of the hotel rather quickly. Probably it wasn’t going to be that fast or easy but the sooner he started looking, presumably the sooner they’d be out too.

Speaking of moving into a more permanent place though, the assumption was that Benrey would be moving in with him. At the time of making that assumption it had felt like a somewhat unfortunate necessity, now it didn’t seem so bad. In fact, it would be rather enjoyable; constant company and someone to play games with. But well with his opinion of Benrey going up… “Do you want to live with me?” he asked as he pulled the car to a stop in the library’s mostly barren parking lot. It was rude not to ask him what he wanted, right? They were friends now and thus his thoughts on where he wanted to live mattered.

Benrey looked up from his game. “Uh… I don’t really got anywhere else to go.”

“Yeah but… well, I was talking about it with the others the morning Bubby left to head back here. I floated the idea that we find a place big enough for us all to live together, share the rent and all that. Tommy declined though ‘cause he prefers living alone with just Sunkist and Bubby said he wants to try living alone too. So we all kinda decided to just get our own places but uh… you weren’t there of course and it was already kinda assumed you’d stay roommates with me but… do you want that?”

“The other option is Coomer, right? Uh… nah, he’s not as much of a gamer as you.”

“The other, other option is you get your own place too.” Gordon still didn’t like the idea of Benrey going off into the world on his own without anyone nearby to even attempt to keep a leash on him but… it felt wrong to not bring it up as an option. He’d lived in the lab his whole life, not having his own space except for the gamer pad but presumably that was just a single room. He deserved a chance at more. “You can’t right now ‘cause you don’t have a job but you could start looking for one. And then once you find one and are able to, you could move out on your own.” That would hopefully delay it long enough for Benrey to be more set in being good and thus it would be less of an issue.

Benrey was silent for a few seconds as he stared out the front window. “So I could uh… have my own like, house? All mine, no one else’s?”

“Yes. Obviously getting you a job is easier said than done since you don’t have like a social security number or whatever. But we could figure something, I’m sure.” People forged those kinds of things all the time, didn’t they? “Just something to start thinking about and maybe working towards if you want it. For now though, you are stuck with me so c’mon, let’s go do some research and stuff.” He opened his door, allowing him to slide out.

After pocketing the Game Boy, Benrey followed suit, falling in step with him as they started for the library entrance. “How’s the library gonna help us find a place to live?”

“They got computers we can borrow to do research on.”

“We could’ve just used the hotel manager’s again. They leave pretty early, I think.”

“Nope. I can’t walk through walls so I’m not risking setting off an alarm by breaking in. But uh, you ever been in a library before?”

“In games, yeah. They seemed boring in real life.” Figures he’d both think that and that that would be the case.

“Nah, they’re cool. I’ll get you a library card while we’re here so you can use a computer and maybe check stuff out if you want to.”

“Hmm… okay.”

***

True to Gordon’s word, the library was cooler than it had seemed in theory. The books were indeed boring but there were so many of them, more than Benrey had ever seen in a single room before, they wrapped back around to be interesting to look at and run his fingers over as he walked along the aisles. In addition to them there were also movies and music CD’s available to check out. No video games but according to Gordon that might happen one day. The computers didn’t have any games installed on it but it was free to use with nothing but a library card which was pretty cool.

In all, it was enough to keep Benrey entertained while Gordon did his research. Occasionally he quietly called Benrey over or just texted him to get him to look at and give his thoughts on this or that apartment or house listing. Benrey didn’t have much of an opinion on most of it but Gordon considering his input to be important was novel enough he tried his best to provide some anyway.

Despite the newness of his environment and Gordon’s occasional desire for his opinion, his thoughts kept circling back around to having his own place. Never had he considered the idea before Gordon offered it. Not just a small room in an out of the way part of Black Mesa but a whole living set up, multiple rooms, possibly even a whole building, that was his and only his to do with as he pleased. He could set the temperature as high as he wanted, decorate in whatever way was fun, leave things as much a mess or as clean as he felt like at any given time. On the other hand though… living alone sounded like it might get lonely with the whole ‘alone’ part of that phrase. It was certainly an idea to chew on.

Eventually, around the time the novelty had mostly worn off, it was time to leave because the library was closing. “We can drive around and look at places tomorrow if you like,” Gordon said as they walked out back towards the car.

“Uh, sure.” And perhaps while doing so Benrey would pay attention and try to figure out what kinds of things one was supposed to watch for when looking to buy or rent their own place.

It was starting to get dark by the time they returned to the hotel. Despite that they hung out for a bit with the rest of the Science Team in the dining area for dinner and then a few hours more just to hang out. Upon returning to their room, Benrey had expected Gordon to go to sleep; he’d been yawning a lot, acting rather tired and he’d told the others he was off to bed. As soon as they were alone in their room though… “Wanna play some more Melee?”

Benrey didn’t bother with a verbal response. Instead he went over to pop the game into the console before turning it and the TV on while Gordon pulled the chairs back over. Why they’d even bothered to put the chairs back by the window was beyond Benrey. Who would want to sit idly by the window when there was a TV with a console connected to it?

As they played though, it became more and more obvious that perhaps Gordon should’ve gone to bed after all. Benrey was of course playing one handed, making it fair enough that he could rightfully tease Gordon for losing but also so he’d be challenged still. The latter wasn’t happening anymore. Gordon had been openly frustrated by the losses and the teasing which was fun but that emotional energy started petering out after a couple hours, leaving him boring to play with. Beating him was too easy and he didn’t seem to care, not even when Benrey called him a noob.

So as nice as it was to finally have someone willing to play games with him for a long stretch of time again… “Should probably give up and go to sleep now, huh?”

“Nah, nah, I’m… good for another round or two. Or maybe we could switch to Mario Kart or uh… Mario Party might be fun.”

Benrey, having nabbed Player 1 this time, backed out to the main menu. “You’re tired, it’s making you more stupid than normal.”

Proof of that was Gordon’s failure to look annoyed at being called stupid. “I’m fine. It’s only… uh…” he turned to check on the clock on the nightstand, “it’s not even midnight yet. I can stay up a bit longer.” … He was planning on staying up all night again? Really? Well, time to call him out on his lie then, huh?

Benrey stood and turned off the console and TV. He then walked over to stand in front of Gordon, letting him be the one looking down at him for once. He extended a hand for the controller still in Gordon’s hand. “You had a nightmare one night and then uh… the next night you asked me to help keep you up all night and then you did the same last night too, right?” Basically anyway, he’d called like halfway through it but had ended up staying awake for the rest of it.

Gordon looked at him in silence for a few second before sighing and handing over the controller. “Yeah, sounds about right.”

“Mm-hmm.” Benrey unplugged the controller from the console as he started loosely wrapping its cord around its middle. “And now you wanna stay up a third night in a row.”

“Uh… not the whole night maybe, just a few more hours.”

“But you said on the first night that missing one night wasn’t a problem but otherwise you need to sleep every night.” Benrey had paid attention because Gordon was his pet and he wanted to be a good pet owner.

“Yeah… I guess I did say that. But um… I’ve been napping and that makes up for it?” His voice rose a the end of it, making it a question, not a statement. Benrey wasn’t always good at picking up on those kinds of nuances but Gordon was often bad at not showing his emotions in some form on his face, in his words, or in his body language, making him easier to read than most people. It’s part of why Benrey liked him.

Benrey put the now neatly wrapped controller in its spot next to the Game Cube and unplugged the other one to start wrapping that one too. Wrapping the cord too tightly would be bad for it so he was careful to make it loose. “You lied to Tommy too. Said that uh… you slept all night last night when you didn’t. If napping made up for it, you wouldn’t’ve lied, right?” There wouldn’t have been a need to.

Gordon seemed to shrink under Benrey’s gaze. “Tommy told you I said that, huh?”

“Yep. Said he was worried ‘cause you fell asleep in the car after supposedly sleeping all afternoon and night.” Done wrapping the second controller now too. Which left him nothing to do with his hands as he turned back to Gordon so he just crossed them over his chest instead. “You’re a dirty lil’ liar, huh? Naughty boi.”

With a grimace, Gordon stood. “Look, I know I should sleep. It’s bad not to, I know that.But… well… I know I’m less likely to have a nightmare now that I’m finally out of that hellhole again. But I can almost guarantee I don’t have one, or at least don’t have a particularly vivid one,if I just stay up until I’m so exhausted I pass out. I promise that’s it’s… well, actually that is really fucking bad now that I’ve said it out loud but I just…” He trialed off with a groan as he rubbed his hand over his face. “I hate that you’re right.”

“Ha ha. I’m always right.”

“No, no you’re not. But you are right about this. So I guess I gotta go to bed. Do you think that we could…” He stopped as he looked away. Benrey waited for him to continue but after more than a minute of him just staring off into space, it became clear he wasn’t going to.

“We could what?”

Gordon flinched before he finally looked back up at Benrey. “Sorry I’m… real fucking tired. I’ll get ready for bed now. Thanks for… thanks.” He shambled over to the closet to pull out his pajamas before heading into the bathroom.

Benrey stared after him for a couple seconds before pulling out his phone. His first instinct was to text Tommy because Tommy knew lots of things about all sorts of stuff. But Tommy wasn’t human and didn’t need to sleep – though he did so every night anyway because he liked to, he was weird like that. Bubby also wouldn’t be a good person to ask when it came to matters related to humans sleeping because even though he was human, he was genetically engineered and thus likely his needs in that area probably weren’t the same as the average human’s. Leaving Coomer as the best person to ask. Presumably he’d once been a normal human before all the cybernetic upgrades, cloning, and whatever else they’d done to him had made him whatever he is now.

‘can humans die if they dont sleep enuf?’ Surely not, that was ridiculous, but Gordon had just implied that it was bad for him to skip sleep and ‘really fucking bad’ if he did so long enough to pass out. The question was how bad? He’d already proven himself not to be trusted when asked about such things though so Benrey had to go elsewhere.

Before Benrey could even finish lowering his phone, it pinged; Coomer’s reply. ‘Yes. Prolonged periods of sleep deprivation can lead to death in most animals, including humans.’

‘really?????’ Coomer had to be messing him, right? How could humans possibly be that weak?

‘Yes, really. Getting a proper night’s rest is essential for one’s health and well being. Most commonly sleep deprivation related deaths are the cause of impaired brain function leading to an accident. Such as a car, or other motorized vehicle, crash. In extreme cases, lack of sleep can lead to organ damage that eventually results in death.’

How was Benrey supposed to keep Gordon alive when something as dumb as not sleeping could kill him? Especially when his dumbass was over here trying to not sleep for multiple nights in a row. What the fuck was wrong with him? … His nightmares must be real bad, huh? Could the nightmares kill him too?

Before he could finish typing out that question to Coomer, Gordon returned. “Do you think you could uh… If you’re planning on hanging out here, if I start acting like I’m having a nightmare, could you wake me up? If you wanna go off and… I don’t know, play on the hotel manager’s computer some more instead, that’s fine too and stuff just…” He trailed off again.

Benrey put his phone away. He’d ask Coomer for more info later. “I’ll wake you.” Even though apparently if he did so too often Gordon could die. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to.

“Thanks. Good night.”

“’Night.”

Gordon shambled over and flopped onto the bed. This time he did remember to take his glasses off beforehand. He forgot to turn off the light though so Benrey did it for him, casting the room into darkness.

With a sigh he turned one of the chairs to face the bed before gathering up the Game Boy bag and sitting down in it. With a little bit of fucking around with the way his eyes worked he should be able to make himself see well enough in the dark to make the Game Boy’s lack of a properly lit screen a non-issue. So between that and texting Coomer for more information about humans’ required sleeping habits, he should have plenty to do to keep himself occupied while he watched over Gordon as he slept.

~

Next Chapter

[arbitrarystrawberry]

So yesterday my brother and I got to go to New York and see Hadestown on Broadway, and it was absolutely wonderful, I cried several times. My brother convinced me to spring for good seats (just a few rows back on the right side) and I'm /so/ glad. Here are a few highlights:

one of the Fates made eye contact and grinned at me in the opening song when she and the others were dancing near the front of the stage

when Persephone first asked "Anybody want a drink?" she asked the audience on our side of the stage and my hand shot up

and in Our Lady of the Underground when Persephone sang "C'mere, brother; let me guess: it's the little things you miss" she looked at and sang straight to my brother

I really liked the female Hermes; at one point near the end she called Orpheus "baby" in a very affectionate, grandmotherly way and I thought it was so sweet

when Orpheus first made it to the underworld he came through the audience and he stopped /right by my chair/ before jumping on stage to go to Eurydice

when Hades first looks at Eurydice in Way Down Hadestown, instead of very obviously jumping in front of her with his arms out to block his view like Reeve's Orpheus did, Jordan Fisher kind of edged in between them and took her hand without looking directly at Hades, which was much more subtle, and I liked that acting choice

in I think the Chant reprise Eurydice and Persephone were standing back to back in the center while everything else was going on around them and Persephone laced her fingers through Eurydice's, and I thought it was a really cool sign of solidarity (instead of Persephone being jealous or upset with Eurydice for what her husband did)

the swinging lights in Wait For Me!! GAH!!!!!

it was interesting being close to the ground and not being able to actually see the spinning stage, so it looked like they were just gliding or walking in place

They Danced always makes me cry 😭

still so impressed with how quickly they manage to smear makeup on Orpheus's face while he's being beat up /on stage/ so when he comes back to the front it looks like he has a scraped cheek and a bloody nose

Jordan Fisher's acting was so good, there were a couple times when I could /see/ the shine of tears in his eyes

they changed some of the lines in Epic III, the bit before "where is the treasure inside of your chest?"-- I was going to say I can't remember what the changes were now, but I just found them in a reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/hadestown/comments/1biusui/epic_iii_lyric_change_on_broadway/ "I know how it is because he is like me / I know how it is to be left all alone / There’s a hole in his arms where the world used to be / When Persephone’s gone / His work never done, his war never won / Will go on forever, whatever the cost / Cause the thing that he’s building his wall around / Is already lost"

I was dead tired by the end of the day (on the train home I was so exhausted I started to feel a little nauseous), but I'm so glad we got to see the show, it was such an incredible experience

[fuck-customers]

kitchen swingman anon once again here to bitch about J2. J1 thankfully seems to be leaving soon and doesn’t otherwise play into this story so i will simply refer to him as J here.

in the sort of venue hub where i work there’s a couple places outside of the restaurant i work for that have concessions stands, but don’t have their own onsite kitchen. pretty much since i started working here i’ve been handling one of them by preparing hot foods on their time rather than my site’s, which just amounts to two pots of soup and some assorted hand pies and delivery from kitchen to concessions. not difficult to do. i have a system and a set of specific tools i’m supposed to use to keep it consistent. i’ve gotten it down to a science.

i’ve been trying to get my tools re-separated from the general kitchen tools because the line has been using the nice bain-marie pans for the concessions to cook in/hold sauce for dinner service, and what used to be nice and shiny and polished and clean-looking has gotten kind of charred because they put it right on the burner and crank up the flame and let it boil dry or don’t stir it enough. it’s not unfixable but it is annoying. i finally got a couple of them separated out and put aside with the rest of my concessions supplies, and explained to the chef that i’d be doing so, which he approved. so the soup supplies are already put aside and ready to grab for use in the section of the kitchen where i always do this specific prep.

chef sends me on a long break today (nearly two hours) because i’ve done all the other prep i need and i don’t need to do much of anything else until i’m on the other clock for concessions, says he’ll make sure the soups are ready and to just come back to bake off the pies. so i’m like, cool, can do, and go get a nice lunch.

i get back to the kitchen and J has apparently been tending the soups. so i thank him, and i start to arrange the bain-marie pans that i already have set aside, which are clean, and ready to use, and simply need to have the finished soup poured into them. i specify this because this man turns to me and says “bruh, i’ve got some getting washed”

and i start to say my piece and he cuts me off to protest that i “don’t need to do all that” and start arguing with me like i don’t know how to do my fucking job so i just snap at him that “I’m supposed to use these for the concessions, that’s why i set them over here this morning, so i don’t have to hunt for them or wait for them to be washed.” and instead of apologizing because he didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about he acts like he wants to drop the topic because i’m the one being unreasonable for wanting to do things correctly, i guess.

on top of that he didn’t even cook the soups right. it’s a frozen concentrate that gets diluted in water. when i went to transfer from the cook pots to the bain-marie pans there was still a solid chunk of soup concentrate in both, meaning that it hadn’t been allowed to cook hot enough for long enough or hadn’t been stirred to allow the heat and liquid to work away at the ice a little more effectively. it was barely even to temp and had already been lowered to a simmer by the time i got back. fantastic!

i didn’t have the time or patience to say anything about it, because i needed to get everything transferred before concessions opened and we started dinner service, so i just ladled out what liquid i was able to and packed up the leftover because they made too fucking much of both. it takes two blocks to fill one bain-marie pot and if J was the one to prep it he almost certainly did that on top of whatever might have been saved to reuse from yesterday.

this is all on top of him blasting his music so loudly over bluetooth speaker that nobody can communicate even through shouting and i’m left with a migraine by the end of the night. i’m so fucking tired of this guy.

Posted by admin Rodney.