#I'll do the other version tomorrow I caught another cold

[itsbenedict]

I just finished hosting a 15-person game of Mafia for some friends. One tradition we have for these games is that every death is accompanied by some themed narration, so for my game I opted to spice it up with some art on top. Had to draw it real quick since I didn't know for sure who was going to die next until it happened.

The game's theme was "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure", with the hidden subtheme that all the roles (stands) were named after They Might Be Giants (@tmbgareok) songs! A list of their powers, links to songs, and a recap of the game under the cut.

01) Mogis - 「Flo Wheeler」

02) TD260 - 「Working Undercover For The Man」

03) JGH27 - 「Good To Be Alive」

04) Raya - 「Stone Cold Coup D'Etat」

05) KK / Sahrimnir - 「Thinking Machine」

06) Spontaneous Combustion - 「The Statue Got Me High」

07) Leviwulf - 「Push Back The Hands」

08) DarkFalco - 「I Am Alone」

09) Deli064 - 「Doctor Worm」

10) Fedaykin - 「Letterbox」

11) Surge - 「I Am Alone」

12) Wikxen - 「Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head」

13) Minby - 「Where Your Eyes Don't Go」

14) Bel - 「(She Was A) Hotel Detective」

15) SnakeInABox - 「By The Time You Get This」

Bold roles were Jotunheim (Mafia), normal roles were Johnsburg (Town), and italicized roles were third parties. (Jotunheim is the realm of giants from Norse mythology! The mafia were, in fact, giants! And the town's job was to figure out who might be giants! And the two sides were Jo and Jo! JOKES!)

「Flo Wheeler」 was a town role with a power that was pretty dangerous to the user- if anyone happened to be watching or tracking when a kill took place at night, Mogis would look like they'd visited the target that night in addition to whoever actually did. It could potentially be used to catch a mafioso in a lie, but otherwise it was more of an obstacle for the town to overcome- a miller-type role.

♪ You can't do the time, therefore you didn't do the crime ♪

「Working Undercover For The Man」 was a third-party role working for the Speedwagon Foundation to perform a threat assessment. TD could win with the town, but could win and leave early if he could guess all the names or powers of every other stand in the game. He could scan a name every night, to help that along.

♪ Planning midnight raids / On our unsuspecting fans / While the roadies rig / The video surveillance van ♪

「Good To Be Alive」 was a spin on the usual town doctor role- normally, a doctor can target a player and prevent their death if they would die that night. But... JGH couldn't actually prevent deaths- just fake it. The dead would become ghosts, who couldn't vote and couldn't be killed but were still allowed to talk as if they were alive.

♪ Hello leg / such a shaky leg / Just barely more than decoration ♪

「Stone Cold Coup D'Etat」 was a third party with an unusual win condition. They had to recruit a certain number of people to a private side-chat- and then make sure all those people got killed. Plus, she could redirect anything that happened to her at night to her recruits. If the recruits figured out what she was doing and got rid of her, they'd get a boost to their power.

♪ The bark now commands the trees / The queen is overruled by the bees ♪

「Thinking Machine」 was a town role with a mysterious purpose that didn't seem to make much sense at first. Sah would get, every morning, a strange series of numbers and letters of uncertain origin. It was information, somehow, but how to use it?

♪ Tape has brightening arm connect (Wait, that didn't make sense.) / Self-paint lever itching does! (That made even less sense!) ♪

「The Statue Got Me High」 was a mafia power. As the song describes, the victim is enthralled by the monolith and forced to obey its commands, until their eventual death. That is, Spont could recruit a player to the mafia, but they'd die one night later- and if he wasn't careful, he could die and his recruit would flip back.

♪ And now it is your turn (your turn to hear the stone and then your turn to burn) / The stone, it calls to you (you can't refuse to do the things it tells you to) ♪

「Push Back The Hands」 was a passive ability that caused anything that would happen to Levi- a nightkill, an execution, some other power- to be delayed by one day, giving him some time to react. He'd be told who it was that targeted him, so going after him as mafia was risky.

♪ Screeching tires but never a collision / Endless day without a sunset provision ♪

「I Am Alone」 was a weird one. See, DarkFalco, who was mafia, didn't have a stand as such. She was the stand- and she was the stand of Surge, who was town. They were linked together in everything, meaning the mafia had to work to keep Surge alive on top of their own people. She could send messages to Surge at night to mess with him, though.

♪ Before you fire I should inform you / One of us is a double ♪

「Doctor Worm」 had no real special abilities. His ability was to be pretty good at playing the drums, a power that had absolutely no relevance in a game of Mafia.

♪ I'm not a real doctor, but I am a real worm I am an actual worm ♪

「Letterbox」 was a mafia ability that let Fedaykin pick another player, and offer that player a chance to deliver a private message to one other player of their choice. He could see the "secret" communications, though, and once per game he could edit the message before delivering it.

♪ I'll never know what you'll find when you open up your letter box tomorrow ♪

「Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head」 is a classically mafia ability, but in the hands of a town player: the ability to force another player to vote for another. Normally the manipulated person isn't allowed to say what happened, but there was no such restriction here- confusion's no good for the town.

♪ Memo to myself: do the dumb things i gotta do: Touch the puppet head ♪

「Where Your Eyes Don't Go」 let Minby pick someone else to watch him at night. If anyone visited him to target him with an ability, the person he designated would be told the names of those people. A nasty trap for the mafia, as long as Minby doesn't pick a mafioso to share the information with.

♪ Where your eyes don't go, a part of you is hovering / It's a nightmare that you'll never be discovering / You're free to come and go / Or talk like Kurtis Blow / But there's a pair of eyes in back of your head ♪

「(She Was A) Hotel Detective」 was a very powerful town role- Bel was the cop, and could scan another player's alignment at night, plus track or watch them. Except... not directly. She couldn't scan players- she could scan hotel rooms, and if other players didn't check into the hotel at night or give up their room numbers, her information was useless.

Here are the room numbers, in order: Levi (1) Snake (2) JGH (3) TD (4) Spont (5) Sah (6) Deli (7) Fed (8) Minby (9) Falco/Surge (10) Raya (11) Wikxen (12) Mogis (13).

(Oh, and Thinking Machine's codes were actually encoded versions of her results, and Sah would get a weaker version of her power if she ever died.)

♪ She's got her ear to the walls / And she's tappin' the calls / If you've got a secret, boy / Forget about it! ♪

「By The Time You Get This」 imbued its wielder with the incredible powers of... an estate lawyer! Which meant Snake could leave a will behind when he died, naming another player and casting a vote on them from beyond the grave the next day.

♪ By the time you get this note / We'll no longer be alive / But our skulls are smiling still / At the thought of things to come ♪

So! Here's how it all shook out.

Day 1: The first day is always kind of a tossup, since no one has any information yet, and everyone's just trying to verbally stir the pot. Levi soft-claims his role right out the gate, warning town not to try targeting him or else. Mogis is executed, casting a vote on himself to save the town the trouble of dealing with Flo Wheeler.

Night 1: Spont uses the statue to recruit Wikxen, at the same time that Wikxen forces Snake to vote for Levi. So, now the usually-scum power in the hands of town is in the hands of scum for real. Bel scans room 3, and learns that its occupant is innocent. Raya recruits DarkFalco, and accidentally recruits Surge alongside her, to her surprise. JGH tries protecting Levi, to test if his claim was a bluff.

Day 2: Levi tries to push JGH on the basis of having targeted him last night, but everyone agrees to wait and see if Levi actually dies first. Votes circle around Wikxen and Raya for suspicious-seeming defensiveness on Day 1, and ultimately, when it seems like Wikxen's about to be executed, a small group of players flip their votes at the last minute and vote Raya out while she's asleep and can't defend herself. Rude! She was poised to win the game for herself and the town, since she'd convinced Falco that the mafia would benefit somehow if they were all recruited.

Night 2: The mafia kills Minby- and Minby opts to tell have Fed watch him, wasting his power. Lucky for town, though, Bel happens to scan room 8, confirming Fed is mafia since he volunteered his room number. Wikxen's coat contains a furnace where there used to be a guy.

Day 3: Wikxen forced Snake to vote for J, making him look bad- but Sah begins sharing his bizarre results from Thinking Machine, and Bel confirms that they're a log of her detective power. Then she points out that Fed is mafia, and the town falls in line behind the accusation with Sah to confirm.

Night 3: Spont uses the statue to recruit Bel, to keep any more problematic scans from ruining them. Bel, before being recruited, scans room 10, though- and now the town knows there's something funky with Falco and Surge, because Sah gets the results and knows what they mean. Due to their mismatched alignments, though, the encoded version is still misleading, so there's wiggle room. TD scans Spont and learns his role name.

Day 4: Spont concocts a daring scheme. He has Bel lie and claim to have received an incriminating result on him- so that Bel will be caught in said lie when Sah produces his own results. The plan is to frame Bel, who's a dead girl walking anyway, and clear Spont's name going forward. But the town talks themselves into explaining away the contradiction- even when TD reveals Spont's stand name, and Spont denies it outright and claims 「Combustible Head」, a fake vigilante (town nightkiller) role instead, the town explains away that, too. After a few more people claim, TD260 has completed his mission- his correct guess wins him the game and he leaves. Spont cleverly excuses himself by claiming that TD lied about his role to get him to claim his "real" one. Afterwards, the town ends up executing Deli064 instead, for some reason- poor Doctor Worm!

Night 4: The evidence vanishes from Bel's charred and smoking chair- because JGH tries to protect her at the same time the mafia are killing him! Bel is a ghost now, and the town never finds out her alignment.

Day 5: Bel not dying poses a problem for the mafia, because Spont was supposed to prove his own innocence by pretending to kill her! The mafia tries to misdirect by having Bel lie again, claiming to scan room 10 when she actually scanned room 6, Sah. Ultimately, though, the town is able to coordinate behind killing Surge and Falco, which- because they're linked- is a compromise option that both parties are happy with (when perhaps they shouldn't be).

Night 5: Since Bel is technically dead, Spont recruits again, grabbing Sah and removing the threat of scans entirely. If he'd recruited Snake instead, they'd have won on the spot, since only his will-vote prevented them from winning instantly due to outnumbering the town. We move on to a somewhat redundant...

Day 6: It's now down to five players- Spont, Sah, and Bel vs Levi and Snake. The mafia technically outnumber the town, but Bel's vote doesn't count, and Sah's going to burn the next night- so the town can still win by forcing a tie and then using Snake's By The Time You Get This power to place a vote on Spont. But that's if they can figure it out and get on the same page, and... they don't. There's no way there could be three mafia still alive, so the mafia are able to sow total confusion and ultimately get the town all voting for Bel... who's a ghost, and can't vote or be executed, which the town doesn't know because JGH died before he could fully explain. The execution defaults to Snake, and the mafia win the game.

[doyelikehaggis]

Rowing the Rarepair Rowboat: Luke Patterson x Willie (Julie and the Phantoms)

Requested by @phoenixfidelity

Luke can't help but be distracted every so often. He can tell that it's starting to get on the rest of the bands nerves every time he misses a chord or he accidentally glances away from the lyrics so he misses a word and then the whole thing is forced to an abrupt halt. He's really trying to stay focused.

Usually it's a piece of cake! He loves the band and he loves playing, because he gets so lost in the music that he forgets the rest of the world exists half the time.

He catches sight of Willie out of the corner of his eye again as they're building up to the chorus of the new song they've been working on. Luke resists the urge to look away from the notebook in front of him.

His fingers keep moving determinedly... while his eyes dart off to the side. It's just a split second, then they're right back on the page, and he hasn't missed anything!

But his mind is quickly taken over by the brief glimpse of Willie that he got. He's just sitting cross-legged on the studio floor, hair tied up in a messy bun, nodding along to their music while he paints. While wearing one of Luke's hoodies. He found it lying on the back of the couch when they came in and he said he was cold, and so he asked if he could borrow it, and Luke wasn't going to say no, was he? That would be rude!

Besides, the orange actually really suits him. It matches the streaks of yellow paint on his cheeks--

Luke quickly glances back over. Sure enough, there is actually paint smeared across Willie's face. And a paintbrush in his mouth while he carefully paints with a different one. He's so focused, his eyebrows scrunched, his foot tapping to the beat on his knee--

Luke catches the mess up in his chords but not before he can stop it. He abruptly stops playing, the rest of the band once again halting along with him.

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to--" He takes a deep breath and looks determinedly down at his guitar. "Let's just go again, yeah? I'll get it this time, I promise."

"Yeah, I don't think you will," Julie says, and Luke's surprised to find her smiling rather than being mad about it. She and the rest of the band share a look.

"Probably better if we take a break for now," Reggie agrees, clearly trying to suppress a smile of his own and failing miserably as he lifts his bass strap over his head.

"I'm... getting kinda hungry anyway," Alex lies, nodding way too eagerly.

Willie looks up for the first time since their last brief pause. "Are you guys done?"

Another look is shared. Luke shakes his head vigorously, staring at them all in disbelief.

"No! No, we're not! Come on, we still have to practice this song or else we're not gonna have it ready for tomorrow!"

"You'll be fine!" Flynn assures him, hooking an arm around Julie's shoulders. "You guys sounded great! Well... most of the time."

"Yeah, you were really good," Willie agrees, beaming at them with such sincerity that Luke's heart melts under the rays of sunshine he radiates when he turns it on him.

He barely notices Reggie muttering, "And that's our cue..." and the four of them scattering around the studio, and practically leaving the two of them alone.

Luke doesn't know why they're acting like this. So, yeah, he keeps getting distracted from the music. But he's trying to stay focused! It's not exactly going to help if the rest of them just decide to give up!

He sighs and decides he may as well put his own guitar aside for the moment.

"You okay?" Willie asks with a slight laugh, but his eyes are concerned when Luke glances up at him.

His stomach flips over like a pancake. It's weird but it's been doing that a lot lately and he can't seem to figure out why. Maybe he's coming down with something? That would be super inconvenient timing considering they have a gig tomorrow!

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Luke says, but even he feels like he's somehow lying even as he tries for a grin.

Willie isn't buying it either. He takes a moment to think, his eyebrows only creasing the tiniest bit this time as his thumb rubs a circle into the crease of his elbow. Luke finds the movement strangely calming to watch.

Then it stops, and Willie lights up. "Well, since you guys are... taking a break for the time being, do you wanna help me with this?"

Luke finally tries to take a proper look at what he has actually been doing this entire time as Willie moves over to sit beside him on the couch.

There's a poster -- multiple, actually, as well as what Luke swears is a pile of what were once his guitar picks. He doesn't really play his acoustic too much anymore because it never sounds right with any of their songs, and his fingers just got used to the feel of the strings on his electric, so there wasn't ever really a use for them anymore.

Willie notices him picking up one of the plectrums and turns sheepish. "I found them lying about in here and thought they could use a little... sprucing up." He shrugs. "I didn't think anyone would really mind."

Luke shakes his head and grins as he picks up another in amazement. Each one is painted, and not just a solid colour, but a whole piece of art is painted onto each one. Scenes of bridges with the sunset behind them, fields full of vibrant plants, a starry night sky, a gh--

Luke raises his eyebrows at him. "Is this meant to be me?"

Willie peers at the one he's holding up which features a ghost silhouette wearing an orange beanie with a guitar strapped around its translucent little body.

"Yep," Willie confirms, then breaks out into another sheepish laugh. "I got a little bored of the fancy designs, and I thought that it would be funny, seeing as how you're, you know, Julie and the Phantoms."

"So," Luke glances at the pile of plectrums, "did you do one for all of us?"

"I haven't gotten around to it yet. I wanted to start with you 'cause I figured you'd make the cutest ghost. With the beanie and all."

Luke's stomach does the thing again. And he swears his face is burning up. He better not be getting a fever, because the thought of getting sick right before a gig is giving him a little too much deja vu.

"Does that mean you don't think I'm a cute ghost when I'm not wearing the beanie?" Luke teases, mock serious.

Willie laughs, caught in surprise by the question. But he shakes his head, gazing at Luke with creases around his eyes and a soft smile.

"No way. It's, like, totally impossible for you to not be cute."

Luke laughs as well now and gives him a gentle push, his hand lingering on Willie's arm. "Shut up."

"I got you smiling, at least," Willie points out.

"Yeah, well." Luke doesn't really have anything else to say because he's right.

He looks at him for a second as Willie shifts his attention back down to the posters and plectrums. Luke doesn't mean to stare, but there's something about watching his fingers move that feels... comforting, even when they're just moving a stray bit of hair behind his ear.

"Have you ever played guitar?" Luke blurts out without thinking.

Willie looks back up in surprise but shakes his head. "No. I like listening to music and sometimes performing with Caleb was fun but that was only ever singing. I've never really gotten the hang of an instrument. Takes too long to figure it all out."

"What if I helped?" Luke asks, not fully sure why he's offering. "I'm not saying perform with us. I'm just saying it could be a fun hobby, if you had someone helping you figure it all out."

Willie considers it then shrugs, beaming at him again. Luke's beginning to think he needs sunglasses just to be around him because he finds himself grinning back before Willie's even answered.

"Yeah, okay. Let's do it! But I will warn you, I'm not the most patient person."

"Good thing I am then," Luke says.

"No he's not!" Reggie shouts over to them from the other couch in the corner.

Luke glares at him but Reggie just raises his hands with a confused expression as if to say, what did I do?!

Rolling his eyes as Willie laughs, Luke says, "Don't listen to him. We can practice later and use my old acoustic, that way it'll be a bit easier and you can use one of your awesome designer picks."

He gestures to the pile and Willie scans over them, looking for one to use. Then he picks up the one with the ghost version of Luke on it.

"A great choice, if I do say so myself," Luke says, grinning. "Now, what are we painting?"

Willie hands him a paintbrush and one of the posters. He explains the design and they both start working on them. At some point in between Luke finishing one and Willie just adding a few last touches to his own, Luke tries experimenting on one of the blank picks himself.

When he shows it to Willie, his eyebrows raise and he almost doesn't seem to know what to say for a second. Then his face splits into a smile of pure joy and Luke doesn't think he's ever felt so pleased with himself as he does watching Willie gush over the little ghost hovering over a skateboard like it's the best thing he's seen.

[failing-to-write-again]

Germany x Ireland!Reader: Snow Storms and Confessions

Ok so the plan was to post another scenario and write two more yesterday. But Tumblr did an oopsie and deleted everything.

Every cloud has a silver lining however, my friend sent me this gem of a find and all I could think about afterwards was this story. I was going to write them as scenarios but I found it difficult to imagine situations for the other characters.

So here's a different story. A one shot...goody.

---------------------------------------------------

*Ireland's POV*

I sat there cold and alone in the Russian airport terminal. My flight cancelled due to the violent snow storm outside and no hotel room to go to. All the other countries had already left, the usual flights to Ireland weren't available. Just one at 10pm when a blizzard was due. Russia didn't exactly give a direct response when I brought it up...

*flash back*

"Little Ireland! You are feisty small one, you're lack of fear is amusing."

"I'm not being feisty I just want to know why there's none of the usual planes to my country. I don't want to end up caught in the blizzard"

"Она умнее, чем выглядит...I don't involve myself petty plane issues. Perhaps this is fate, you believe in a lot of those magical fairy tales no?"

she's smarter then she looks

"Она также говорит по-русски. Что ты прячешь?"

she also speaks Russian. What are you hiding?

*flash forward to present*

Just before I could pry, Germany got the meeting started and I was left to get to my seat and ponder over Russia's behaviour. He's a strange study for sure.

Germany was as well. We became properly acquainted in the early 1900s only labelling ourselves as friends around the 70s when I joined the early version of the EU (then EEC). He definitely is a layered character, and even though he is sweet once I became closer with him, he seems to still be hiding aspects of his personality. But enough about that I'm cold and have to figure out where I'll sleep tonight.

"Ireland? Vhat are jou doing here?"

Speak of the devil and he shall arrive...

"Hey Germy, my flight got cancelled and it was the only one available, my hotel booking also ran out so I'm just sorta stuck here haha."

A rather enjoyable shade of red spread across his face at the mention of the nickname. I'd do anything to see those little cracks in his tightly woven character. Anything to see the little smiles or chuckles, the crush I'd developed over years of friendship pushing me to.

"V...Vell mein flight vas cancelled as vell...vould you like to share a hotel room vith me? I still have an extra day."

Panic.

"I wouldn't be against it, but you probably would like to not share a room so I understand if you don't want to and everything. Thanks for the offer though"

"Nein it's fine I don't mind ve're friends ja? It's ok!"

The air is so fucking uncomfortable. Big brother France is looking on in disappointed from Paris. I just know it. After a few more rounds of pitiful back and forth we agreed we both were ok with sharing a room and set off, chittering throughout the walk.

*[insert timeskip joke] Germany's POV*

Ireland was in the bathroom getting ready for bed as I sat mentally preparing to sleep beside her.

At some point my feelings of friendship began to be replaced with... love as Italy put it. I thought I was ill whenever my heart would flutter like a manly butterfly near her. After voicing my concerns to my brother and Italy, bruder proceeded to have a laughing fit. Italy took the time to gush about love long enough for me to come to the conclusion I was in it.

Ireland. She's not perfect by any means and we've had our fair share of arguments and disagreements. Though we always manage to work then out. Would it be the same if we were dating? I would be living in a dream if that was true...

The door opened and in she came. In the shorts she wore for sleep her false leg was on full display. I remember helping her make it, replacing the standard wooden one for a metal one with upgrades bring added whenever we visited eachother or were together in our free time from longer summits. The leg, essentially fully functional due to her use of spells and my use of metal. Light blue swirls, famous for their use in her history giving off a slight hum in the dark room, dancing up and down the metal limb. Gott she was an angel.

"That meeting left me a wreck." She stifled a yawn, lowering herself slowly to the bed beside me. The blue began to fade slowly as she stopped using magic, bleeding up her leg until disappearing once it reached the end of the metal at her upper thigh. "How does it vork?" I lowly hummed.

"The magic I use to move the leg? It's a weird mix of electricity and telekinesis. I use the electricity to stimulate the metal wires and pistons you put into it and use the telekinesis to make it move in a more natural way. I just wish it didn't glow, it makes it impossible to hide"

Hide? Why hide it? It's beautiful...is it inappropriate to say that out loud? I settle on a less invasive response.

"Why hide it? The blue looks like the tattoo you always joke about getting?"

She went quiet did I go to far? No she always said when I went too far same as I always did if our discussions on my...past got too vivid...She continued.

"When I lost my leg, I lost a part of myself. The image of the country who would fight anyone to be free, that had the confidence of countries ten times her size, it was gone. I kept up the act in letters and statements acting like the leg didn't phase me...Then I got to finally see my siblings again. None of them were allowed near me after one of my attempts for freeedom out of fear I'd help them escape or convince England to go rogue against his boss. They watched me struggle to do anything, they watched me have to ask for help to move, they watched me weak. It's been hard adjusting...then..."

She took a deep breath and looked up. Something she often did when trying not to cry. I gently lay a hand on her back and put on the calmest voice I could.

"Then vhat? Take jour time, I know it's difficult, but please tell me vhat happened?"

"I met someone. They helped me without even realising it. They slowly built up my confidence in myself, taught me how to laugh and smile like I used to. Obviously my family helped but the help from this person stuck with me more I suppose. He built me up, tried to help when he didn't have to."

He. My world slowly shattered and fell around me. So she has somebody else. Someone better. Someone who can show her all the love they probably expect being raised by someone like France and England.

"Oh...vill jou tell me more about him?"

She let a slow smile spread across her face.

"He's kind and sweet but covers it over with a stiff outer shell. He has many talents...so many talents. He's amazing really, but one thing in particular is what I think made me fall for him."

"Vhat vas it? That he did"

I was probing. I was pushing too far into her private life. If she never spoke about him in all our years of friendship, she had a reason not to. She's a damn ex-spy and rebel leader she knows how much to trust people. But...I didn't care. I wanted to know. Needed to. I had loved her for years only for her to slip away the moment I had started working to con-

"He built me a new leg. Then he called it pretty and sleek and said he liked the blue the magic made on it."

Oh...this was...not what I expected. I was the one who built the leg...she knows that...she...she...

"Ireland I..."

I slowly pulled her gently, she was straddling me so I could look into her eyes.

"Do jou really. But vhat I've done. How could jou?"

"Fall for a lovable human being? It's rather simple. I'm just hoping you'll give this amputee a chance."

She looked at me hopefully through her eye lashes. At that moment I realised why us Germans aren't seen as great romantics. We're better at doing, not speaking. So do I did.

I kissed her. Pouring every piece of emotion I felt for her, because of her into it. Desperately trying to show her how much I cared regardless of how bad I'd be at saying it. And it was bliss. My pulse was racing faster then any of my, no Germany's, F1 cars.

She was with me, not my country, not my people, ME. And I'm going to be selfish.

Her soft warm lips, pushing against my colder ones. Tasting like that brand of chocolate she loves mixed with the minty taste of toothpaste. Her arms, laying around me neck, playing with the hairs on the back of my head. My arms, pulling her closer filling every gap between us I could find. I was in heaven, kissing an angel, and I wasn't going to give it up for anything. The entire world could be damned so long as she was in my arms. Everything Italy, France, Spain, Bruder, and all the other countries preached about love suddenly clicked. I loved her. I never wanted to leave her side. I wanted to be her hero, her Ritter (knight), her lover.

And by the way she was kissing back she wanted to be mine.

*POV switch*

HOLY FUCKING SHIT HE'S KISSING ME!

HOLY FUCKING SHIT I'M KISSING HIM!

AAAHHHHHHHH!!!

I barely thought of anything else, all I could focus on was getting drunk off his kisses. He was kissing me like the world was ending and I loved it.

At some point it went from me in his lap to beneath him on the bed, staring into icy blue eyes.

"vell..." He drawled "ve have a hotel room, a snow storm. no ozher countries on zhis floor, or anyvone for that matter until tomorrow. and a very horny country. vhat do jou suppose ve do Ms.Ireland?"

I spoke before my mind could think. "Well Mr.Germany. A second, equally as horny country is beneath you so the real question is...Was wirst du dagegen tun?

What are you going to do about it?

Snap.

"Ich heiße nicht deutschland Ich heiße ludvig" he growls out. Responds very well to German if the kisses are any proof.

My name isn't Germany. My name is Ludwig

I leant up to whisper in his ear..."Es ist gut zu wissen, was ich später schreien werde. Ich bin (Y/N)."

It's good to know what I'll be screaming later. I'm (Y/N).

I hear a growl before my hands are held above my head with kisses attacking my neck...If this was Russia's plan for only having only one flight home then he's getting cookies next meeting.

*both POV*

Thank God/Gott for snow storms.

[dyker-farmer]

More bro fic.... angst fodder kind content.

Take that can away if you can

I never see Shane works that don't go all in for romance nor explore the more realistic ugly parts of recovery, and I kind of crave That TM. So let me have at it too with the self-insert whump mumbo jumbo; no romo version.

Set post-8 hearts event- not 10, jesus-, Farmer Uidelsib is two years or so in, full house built and married to Emily. They/them pronouns, same as me.

Diverges from then on, Shane-centric from an outside POV for the most part.

I also put it on Ao3.

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A bitch bastard man and a bitch walk into a room... Chapter 1/2/3/4

"I think we should talk about this."

If the room was stifled before, this just causes the pin to drop, and the relative lull to shatter with it. I don't want a storm, but we can't pretend the sea's a slightly oversized pond if we want him not drowning in it- again, my mind supplies, unhelpful.

He's zoning out again, blurry eyes pointedly off me, preferring the turned-off TV.

Let's start easy. "Why did you come here, Shane?"

"I-I-" It sounds like an excuse building up and it bubbles out like a shaken can, "I don't- I shouldn't have-" he goes to up and leave, and we just can't have that.

I scrape my chair closer and grab his shoulder, same as before. Hopefully it's more placating than caging. "No, you should have. You did good. Seeking out, remember?"

He doesn't answer but stills.

"Like Dr.Campbell and Harvey said." I try again.

"Yeah… Yeah." Deep breathing. "I. Don't know." He searches for my face, not quite past the nose. I nod, ushering him on. "It's. Stupid." I frown and my eyebrow goes higher than before and he immediately doubles down. "I know- positiv' reinforchment and all that shit! But… It's hard." A tired hand wipes the most of moisture off his face, before it goes back to wriggle with the other on his lap. "It's so fuckin' hard. Didn't even last two seasons!-"

I cut him off. "Two seasons is a lot! One and a half too. Last time, you'd tried to go cold turkey on the spot. We know what that got us." Sea foam in the mouth and a shared cold in the early spring, on top of a Joja lawsuit. "Shit's hard, like you said. You lasted one and a half this time. Next time-"

"Why the fuck do you always think there's gonna be a next time."

This time, I still. My laidback demeanor mirror his, but so does the cold anger creeping in and tensing both our backs.

"Because. There is going to be a next time. And another after that. And another. Same way there's been next times before this one now."

What's left unsaid we don't touch.

All irritation floods from him like it's just pointless to keep it in anymore, and his forehead goes to thunk softly against the wooden surface he leaned on before. The table muffles his next words a little.

"I can't… keep doing that." I don't peep. "I can't keep rolling back down and then up and down, and up, and down. I- I just can't, Garcia- Uidel-"

"I'll drag you there." I shrug.

"But you shouldn't have to!" His voice raises and make the boards vibrate where his skin's still pressed. "You shouldn't have to-to fuckin'-" he sniffles, the following words drowned out in held-back sobs. "Fuck damn it, you- I said I- I wouldn't be a burden anymore!"

He's crying out loud now, open sorrow and no walls left. Out of all the things you could stick on the not-so amiable man sulking straight from bed to Jojamart to Stardrop Saloon to bed, you probably wouldn't think of "extreme scare of bothering anyone". Yet it's all here in how he collapses silently in the mattress, wake without a sound, keep his head down the whole time he crosses town, tries to merge himself in the fake-nice blue of the shelves at work, then corners himself right between the chimney and the bar on Emily's side, stuck in-between two sources of warmth that can never touch him unless he swings one way or the other. And he doesn't a lot, still keeping to himself strictly. You probably wouldn't think either of how dreamy he gets, hidden in his alcove but seeing everything from there.

When Harvey nerds out about classical, jazz and electro swing music down the bar to me, trying to catch me up on my fuzzy memories of arts history and the implications of breaking codes in the tempo and the leisure of each instruments; of how each note gets a specific response from the brain if done right, and can make up for caffeine deprivation in miraculous ways, when there are no more chances to push back the dread of midterms season at doctor school.

When Elliott, boisterous and drunk, arm-on-arm with an equally inebriated Leah, calls out to the whole place to hear out his latest soliloquy, and drags on the words too much, but with a voice that carries it well, all flamboyance and no limits, as his hair floats around him in a crown and he reigns over the room like a kind lion- Description all intoxicated words from your chicken man truly, not mine. I always get too caught up in the pendulum of Leah's braid and her crooked smile to quite appreciate his theatrics. But the recital rings clear, and everyone applauds the performance- because hey, you applaud a drunk guy showing off the prowess of not tripping a single word in a ten minutes tirade, but also because it really is that good! Everyone, even Shane, whose hands zipped to under his armpits the moment our eyes crossed and I met his pink cheeks with a clairvoyant smile.

Hey, what can I say. Dude's a sapiosexual. Hence why we'll never and cannot bang. That, and, uh, the being lesbian thing.

But all this is closed off and not for anyone to see behind see-through fogged windows, like those kitchen cabinets, when you can make out the piled plates all resting against the cold surface precariously, bound to crash and shatter the moment you open them.

It took a good wrecking ball of a fake-oblivious polite faced stranger and my incessant, hot pepper poppers-powered pestering, to even just crackles the glass.

The rest was all done out of his own volition. He can't see that because alcohol is a depressant, and guzzling it down leads to blurry concepts made softer always and pretty much lush in brain, and when he's off the thing, and that's rare, he instantly goes from not there to thinking he's everywhere, soiling everything and giving nothing.

His sobbing doesn't relent, and he whimpers issues of "trustworthy sack of shit", "not being worth the fucking shrink's money", "not being worth his aunt's troubles", "not being worth Jas". At some point he goes to grapple with his hair, and tugs brusquely once, then twice, then I have to reach for his wrist to make him stop, which he snatches back as soon as I make contact. But he doesn't grab anything to pull or pinch or punch again, so that's good. I stay on standby beside him, but don't touch him. He rasps more condemnations, struggles to breathe enough through the phlegm spreading in his respiratory system, and I start reenacting the steps to stop a hyperventilation in my head, and the first aid for choking, when he begins to cough violently, his entire frame upset with the movement.

He takes the tissue box i nudge with insistence toward him, and ends up spitting mouthfuls of mucus mixed with some bile in the basin under his feet. Most of it is clear and smells of fruits, not beer, so I'm not too worried. When I go to stabilize him by taking his shoulders, he grasps at my wrists to stop me- but let them stay here, while he clings. The tremors get to me now, and I remind myself that this is good, this is before the cliffs and him finding refuge to burst open, not glassily stare at the weeping clouds as he blabbers on the meaninglessness of his life.

This is… very alive.

I ought to be glad.

I let him come down at his rhythm, counting the pulses of his wrists as I feel mine numb with the blood circulation slowed down under his hold.

When he's back with a mind, I count to three, then let go. His arms flop back down, on his lap and hands dangling between his tighs. He blows his nose again.

"I'm so pathetic…"

"Yeah sure, and I'm a serial prom queen."

Instead of jabbing back and forth, we get interrupted by a soft mewling. Both of us turn to the door, that's opened slightly to let in Eryza, the pitter-patter of her paws on the stone flooring the only sound for a moment…

As we both stare in revulsion at her jaw, a single line of vomit dripping of it.

Shane puts his head down in shame, not even having the strenght to hide further.

"Sorry."

"Nah, 's okay. She's already trash, anyway."

Eryza edges closer and rapidly tour around our legs- going back to Shane's feet twice, her whiskers tickling his exposed ankles. Purring loudly, she completely ignore my chastizing as I threaten to make her diet periwinkle-based to counter-act her literal potty mouth, and she scampers to do who-knows-what in the rooms.

"Your vibes are rancid, do you hear me?? Rancid, girl!" I call after her. "I swear to Yoba, Shane, your aunt might as well have brought me a raccoon."

Turning back to him, I can see the short-lived humor of the situation was, well, short-lived. I sigh.

It's late. We're both tired. Tomorrow is sunday. It's cool. We've got time.

I don't sit back down right away. First, I put a hand down on the nape of his neck, that slides to the top of his scalp, right where he'd tug. My quota, remember?

He sniffles some, a few teardrops make their way to the planks, unheard. We stay like this for a moment.

He doesn't shake me off, but in the slow tandem his body takes, rocking lightly from back to forth, I can tell it's enough, for now.

I sit back down on my chair.

I lean on the hand I'd put in his dark purple strands before, smelling cedar wood and pine trees. I don't assume. My farm has plenty of those to stumble through. And even if he went back to the cliff, another time again. I do that too. With my own cliffs back at not-home, but close. There's a sense, in staring down what couldn't take you.

Like visiting a scene crime that you've narrowly escaped from. And pride too. And the thrill of asking- "what if again? What if this time?"- and okay, I can see why it'd be worrying to have him go there a thrice time on his own late in the evening.

But last time was fine, the one before was made fine, and he might need a bitch for a friend right now, but not a watchdog.

His forehead is back against the table.

Three fingers massage my temple. I don't know how much he'll even remember tomorrow, but it's worth the try, always.

"Shane, dude, look at me." He doesn't.

"Dude."

Still doesn't budge. I knock the wood lightly.

"Yo, punk, my eyes are up here." I joke.

He snorts, or maybe he sniffles, and his chin's now resting on the table, peering through the forgotten drinks to watch me. His hands are hidden, probably still clutching his midsection. If I went on a rollercoaster toasted, I'd probably look the exact same.

"I told you before that you literally couldn't be a burden."

He snorts for sure this time, derisive. I knock wood again. "Don't look away from me when I talk, young man. Rude ass punk."

"Bitch." He throws.

"Bitch bastard man." I send back. "Anyways, as I was saying. If I choose you're my dumb of ass to keep around, that's me, that's my decision. You can't burden me if I choose the hard mode package and roll with it. So stop it. I literally told you before, it's not about you not making efforts or burdening people, it's about people who want to deal with you, out of free will."

"Freaky."

"Oh shut up, you dramatic himbo wannabe."

"A what now?"

"Internet slang. Gotta admit you're closer to a dad bod type, but the energy's here, according to many."

He shuffles, self-conscious. "Y'don't need to remind me…"

"Oh hush you, you're perfectly fine. And Elliott would eat his dumb little lobster and pomegranate toasts off that belly if you'd grow out of your own shell and let him."

He sputters unintelligibly, red as a fecking pepper. Good. Flustered is better than self-depreciating.

But now he's pulled on his hood and the strings all the way out, and resumes to chanting me to fuck off, so that might be a good call for a break.

"I'm gonna change and clean up, you need anything? Do you think you'll go back to the ranch, or stay here for the night?" It's happened before, but you can count them on the fingers of one hand.

A long silence follows and I allow myself a quick look in the mirror. Yeah, we're skipping a shower tonight, but the simple hairbrush will not do. I look like a bird's nest that the birds fought in to know who'd keep the children when bird 2 takes off and bird 1 is left to mourn the empty space that'll never fill up the same again and the good times that won't be- wow, trauma lane much, not now, cowpal. First we buckle up our current rodeo. I walk back to the main room, now pajama-clad.

"I've got the beds for the possible kids up there, don't ask me why Robin put so many there, we're two people in a house, and I can lend you a Tee if you want."

He's anxious, chewing his thumb. "Emily won't mind?"

"She's out, sleeping at Haley's tonight. Girls' night and sisters catching up. It's important for her energy flow and karmic balance. Plus, you know she wouldn't mind, she likes you."

That makes him blush more, covering up the alcohol damage enough. I take note, but don't comment. Things for later. They pile up tonight.

"I- I can't go back to the ranch like this."

"You could. Marnie knows better than act as if you're doing this for fun, now. She'd have to understand. But you don't have to." I reassure him when agitated pupils jump up to me. Let's keep that ongoing panic attack at bay. "Either way, I won't mind."

I sit back. Stretch my arms between us. Catch his worrying hands into mine. Give him a squeeze. Tense appendages don't squeeze back, but don't pull back either. That's half a win. He stops torturing the poor things, and unfold with visible effort, like a crumpled up paper flower put on water. His head shakes, and I can't tell if it's conscious, him speaking with himself or trying to shake off a thought, or just a reflex. He visibly forces his shoulders to relax.

"I'm… not bothering you?" Righteous. Seeking vocal positive reinforcement, like a pro.

"Nope." I pop out the 'p'.

"... I think I'll, uh, stay for tonight."

My hands shoot into the air. "Woo! Sleepover, baby!"

I don't catch his hands curling back on themselves, trying to capture that leftover warmth in the late summer night.

--- to be continued.

[echoes-of-realities]

be my fire in the cold (and I'll be waiting by the mistletoe) - 20/25

* * *

[From the Start] // [Fanfiction] // [ao3]

[Previous Chapter] // [Next Chapter]

Chapter Summary: Brittany knows that something’s going on but no one will tell her anything; Santana’s really good at unpinning hair.

Notes: Tomorrow’s chapter might be a little late again too, but by Saturday I should be back to fairly consistent morning updates until the end of this fic!

Chapter 20: laughter with loved ones we hadn’t seen in a while

///

Santana leads their rehearsals this afternoon, her reflection stretching back infinitely as Brittany admires her from where she’s sprawled on the floor. Santana’s herding party girls around, trying to hold their attention despite the fact that there’s only five days until Christmas at boring rehearsal in street clothes is the last thing on their minds. Freddie sticks close to Santana, never farther than an arm length away, and Santana is mindful of her, smiling down and answering her questions with patience between ushering the other girls around.

It’s adorable, and even though Santana said that Freddie had a crush on the Sugar Plum Fairy, Brittany’s pretty sure she has one on the production stage manager as well.

They’re running the party scene, all of the party boys already herded into the other corner, to improvise some choreography and fill in a couple of kids who came down with the flu overnight, and while Brittany doesn’t technically need to be here yet because her rehearsal with Jake, Her Cavalier, isn’t for another half hour, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch Santana in her element.

She’s patient but firm, ordering children around with no hint of irritation or exasperation despite how much of a nightmare it must be to try and organize just under sixty children; but what Brittany’s really here to see is Santana’s mind in action. While she denies having any sense of artistry, and insists on stage production is more mechanical and repetitive than anything, it’s hard to hide that Santana has a rare sense of foresight and vision about how everything’s going to come together. It’s like she can sense the flow of the music in her bones, position each dancer in her mind before they even step on stage, spot all the problem areas and streamline the choreography, all within a split second.

Brittany loves watching Santana do what she loves, because it’s its own dance in of itself. Santana stands at the front of the room and counts out beats for the rehearsal pianist, Brad, and they’re completely in tune with each other as he takes over beat counting while Santana weaves gracefully among the dancers and quickly repositions them. She rearranges the blocking for dance with all of the party girls and boys to fill the empty spaces from the kids out sick, telling them to try and remember their new positions but promising that they won’t get in trouble if they forget.

It’s nice to watch Santana relaxed and not get caught up inside her head. She had been acting weird at breakfast, now that Brittany thinks about it. Not bad weird, like she was before she told Brittany about her mom’s death, just jittery weird, like someone had filled her shoes with ants. The really telling thing was how often she fidgeted with her fingers, so often that Brittany had reached across the table and teased Santana’s right hand away to hold it herself, causing that adorable breathless look Brittany so adores to flash across her face.

Santana’s jittery like she was on Tuesday as they were walking to her Christmas tree surprise. Brittany can’t imagine how she could have a better surprise than that hidden up her sleeve, but she definitely plans on plying her with pouts later today. She loves surprises, but she also loves knowing what the surprise is basically as soon as possible.

Santana continues to lead the rehearsal, and the only hint that she realizes Brittany is watching her is the soft smile she occasionally gives the mirror in front of her, a hundred versions of Santana reflecting back at Brittany behind her and making it pretty hard for Brittany to stop smiling at all while she watches the rehearsal.

Jake arrives shortly thereafter, and he plops down beside her to start stretching out, chatting comfortably as they wait for Santana to finish ushering the children out before she turns her attention to them. Her eyes are sparkling and she gives Brittany a quick smile before she crosses the room to reach the piano. She quickly gulps down some water from the bottle Brittany brought her, leaning down to talk to Brad and pointing out something on his sheet music. Her ponytail is a little bushy today, evidence that she let her hair air dry instead of blow drying it like usual, and it falls over her shoulder and obstructs Brittany’s view of her face, so she trails her gaze over the clever strength in her arms, the flex of her shoulders, the curve of her back—

“Brittany?”

Brittany jumps and gasps as she glances back at Jake, who’s studying her curiously. “Sorry, what?”

Jake smirks a little, his eyes drifting to Santana before settling back on hers with a look a little too knowing for Brittany’s taste. “I was just asking if you knew what part we were rehearsing.”

“Oh,” Brittany says easily, “Santana wants us to work on the Coda. We’ve been a little out of sync from our first grand-battement to our grand jeté on the last couple shows.”

Jake hums and bends to stretch out his back, crawling his fingers along the floor between his legs. “When’d she tell you?”

“At breakfast this morning,” Brittany answers automatically, only realizing what she’s admitted when Jake’s smirk deepens and burning heat prickles her cheeks. “Not like— Not like that,” she quickly corrects, but Jake just hums smugly, “We just went to a café and— Not because we—”

She groans and drops her head into her hands. She’s never been this inarticulate about this particular subject before. She’s never been shy about sex, not that she’d tell anyone or anything that would listen about her sex life, she’s just always been quietly open but still private about it, and especially with people she’s known for years, like Jake, who’s her dance bro. But even just the slightest teasing from him that just implies her and Santana slept together makes her blush like she’s a teenager listening to her friends gossip about sex at a sleepover for the first time.

A warm hand lands on her shoulder and she peaks out from behind her fingers to find Jake grinning at her. “I was just teasing you,” he says in amusement, “But I knew something was going on with you and Lopez.”

“Well—” Brittany hesitates because yes, but also not fully, “Kinda?”

Jake’s grin widens. “Kinda?” he asks incredulously, “I think you mean definitely, I’ve seen the way you two melt around each other like a bunch of lovestruck fools.”

“I mean,” Brittany says and then trails off because he’s not really wrong. And Santana just proves his point when she chooses that moment to stand up from where she’s been leaning beside Brad and turn to her next two dancers for rehearsal with that wide, uninhibited, dimpled smile directed straight at Brittany.

Brittany’s heart thuds heavily against her chest and she feels a little bit like a cartoon character with hearts in their eyes.

Judging by Jake’s smirk, she has a feeling she probably looks a little bit like one too.

///

At supper Brittany continues to try and force Santana to tell her what’s got her so antsy and jittery, but Santana is so smugly coy about the entire thing—even if Brittany can see the hint of nerves in her eyes—and it’s too adorable for Brittany try and get her to spill too much. If she’s this excited even before Brittany’s seen the surprise, she can’t imagine how adorable she will be once the time comes for her to reveal it.

She continues to teasingly pout and prod though because it’s the principle of the thing, but Santana just smiles and shoves fries in Brittany’s mouth to hush her, ducking her head down to smile shyly at her lap before smirking up at Brittany.

Santana has to run off before her supper break is done to deal with something that comes up and causes her to groan as she takes the phone call before apologizing and starting to stand up. Brittany pouts at her for abandoning her, but Santana leans forward and presses a quick kiss to Brittany’s cheek, jumpstarting Brittany’s heart before she flees out the door.

Brittany stares blankly at her doorway, her skin tingling where Santana’s lips had just been, aching for more even as Brittany giggles a little at Santana’s tactics of fleeing as soon as possible so she doesn’t break and admit to the surprise; she could see it in Santana’s eyes, the way she was almost bursting to tell her whatever it is that she’s hiding, and Brittany grins all through getting ready for thee show

She may be impatient to know, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to ruin whatever the surprise is for Santana since she’s so excited about it.

It also doesn’t mean that she’s ever going to stop thinking that Santana is the most adorable person ever.

Mercedes comes to help her get dressed, and it only takes one look at her smirk for Brittany to realize that Mercedes knows what’s going on too. She stares blankly at Mercedes while she holds open her costume to step into, long enough that Mercedes gives her a weird look and a confused “What?”

“You know,” Brittany says in awe.

“Huh? Know what?”

“About Santana’s— About Santana’s whatever she’s planning.”

“No?” Mercedes tries, and even if Brittany hasn’t lived with her for years and been her best friend for even longer, there’s no way she would have ever believed Mercedes’ obvious lie.

“You’re lying,” Brittany accuses, her stomach fluttering and something giddy filling her up, “You know about Santana’s surprise.”

“Not at all,” Mercedes continues to lie through her teeth.

Brittany stares at Mercedes for a long moment when the five minute call for intermission sounds and urges her to finally step into her costume, steadying herself on Mercedes’ shoulder. “You totally do,” Brittany says.

“Um, nope. Not at all.”

Brittany shakes her head and turns to let Mercedes zip up the back of her costume, her hands ice cold as they brush her back, causing Brittany to squirm. “Am I going to like it?”

Mercedes is silent as she finishes up, smoothing out wrinkles and pinning a loose curl of blonde hair back to Brittany’s head. “Not that I know anything—”

“Course,” Brittany interrupts impatiently, “But if you did?”

Mercedes walks around to face Brittany and quickly touches up her makeup, inspecting their combined work for a long minute before deciding that she’s satisfied. “You’ll love it,” she finally says.

Brittany bounces in place a little, clasping her hands together and trying to beat back the burst of happiness that surges through her. “Score,” is all she manages to say without spontaneously combusting from loving Santana so much.

Mercedes just laughs and shakes her head before ushering Brittany out of the dressing room.

///

Mercedes isn’t in her dressing room when the show’s done, so she just shrugs and struggles to unzip the back of her costume herself. It’s not the first time she’s had to wiggle her way out of her costume without Mercedes, but she still hasn’t quite figured out the best way to find the hidden zipper and tug it down without almost dislocating her shoulder.

Someone knocks at her door just as she’s almost picked the zipper away from its little hidden pocket and it startles her out of her concentration. She sighs and calls for whoever it is to come in, hoping that they’ll be able to help her.

“Hey, Britt,” Santana greets, and somehow she’s even more antsy and jittery than she was earlier.

Brittany grins, because Santana is so, so, so adorable. “Okay seriously,” Brittany chides teasingly, “Did you walk through an anthill this morning?”

Brittany can see as Santana struggles to reign in her excitement, but it only reveals the hint of nerves underneath. “No I’m just— I have a surprise for you.”

Brittany bounces up on her toes with a grin. “I knew it,” she cheers, “I knew you had a surprise. What is it?”

“I can’t—” Santana bites away her smile, playing with her fingers as she steps further into the room, “I mean, I have to take you to it.”

Brittany grins wider as she crosses the room to Santana. “Okay,” she says, “let’s go.” Santana’s giggles stop her and she belatedly realizes she’s still in costume. “Oh yeah,” she grins.

“Come on,” Santana says with a wide smile, “We gotta get out of your costume quickly.”

Brittany couldn’t bite back the smile and suggestive quirk to her brows even if she wanted to, especially not with the way Santana instantly flushes and flusters so much that, as rare as it is, Brittany can actually see the blush pink her cheeks.

“Not like— Not like that— I mean— I just, you— And they’re—” Santana stutters, sounding about the same way Brittany did earlier under Jake’s teasing. “Oh shut up,” she finally finishes lamely.

Brittany holds up her hands innocently, her smirk anything but, “I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t have to,” Santana mumbles. When Brittany makes no move to get changed she rolls her eyes and shoves at Brittany’s arm. “You’re the worst,” she whines.

Brittany lets herself sway dramatically from Santana’s gentle shove before they both burst into giggles. “Fine, fine, fine,” she teases, turning and nodding at Santana over her shoulder, “Can you unzip me though? I dunno where Mercedes ran off to.”

Santana doesn’t answer, but her breath hitches audibly, which is answer enough. The backs of Santana’s fingers graze her bare back and familiar warmth curls low in her stomach as she concentrates on remembering how to breath, the seconds stretching longer and longer as Santana fumbles to pick the zipper away from the fabric it’s hidden behind, her knuckles continuing to bump against Brittany’s back with every movement. She finally manages to get a grip on the zipper and carefully tugs it down to the base of Brittany’s spine, her warm touch dampened by Brittany’s low-cut bodysuit but no less electric. Santana’s hand splays against the small of her back for a moment, separated from her bare skin only by the almost nylon-thin bodysuit, and Brittany holds her breath in the charged air around them before Santana jerks back, blushing and stuttering fiercely.

Brittany takes long moments to collect her thoughts and steady her breathing before she glances at Santana over her shoulder, whatever excuses or apologies that were on Santana’s lips dying instantly. “Thanks,” she whispers. Santana’s jaw snaps closed and she nods dumbly. “I still gotta ice my feet no matter how urgent your surprise is,” Brittany manages, “Do you think you could unpin my hair while I do that? After I change? It’ll go faster if you do it ‘cause I can’t see all the bobby pins.” Santana nods wordlessly and stares after Brittany as she heads to the corner of her dressing room where her costume usually hangs, jolting and spinning on her heel as soon as Brittany starts to slide her arms out of the sleeves.

Brittany changes quicker than she ever has before; the tension in the air is something she is kind of already addicted to, but this isn’t the time or the place so she beats back her arousal and slips into a loose hoodie and sweats. “Okay,” she calls to Santana, a little surprised at how raspy her voice is when it comes out. She clears her throat and tries again. “Okay, I’m decent.”

Santana’s shoulders rise as she takes a deep breath before she turns back around, and Brittany tries to control the heat buzzing throughout her body at the look in Santana’s eyes. Mercedes was in her room at some point before the end of the show, because the bucket of ice is already there and waiting as Brittany sinks down on the couch and draws her feet up to peel the tape off her toes. The couch dips beside her as Santana kneels down on the cushions, her knees pressing to Brittany’s thigh and hip as she sits back on her heels. Brittany shoots her a quick grin as she tosses the tape onto the coffee table and sinks her feet into the bucket of ice.

Santana giggles at the hiss Brittany lets out, the cold still a complete shock to her system no matter how many time’s she’s done this. Brittany pouts in mock hurt and Santana just grins at her, urging Brittany to duck forward a bit so she can reach her head easier.

Despite the cold coursing through her body, her insides warm and buzz at how nice Santana’s fingers feel probing gently at her scalp, easing bobby pins out of her hair with all the care in the world. Brittany sighs and softens under Santana’s ministrations, humming and shaking her head when Santana whispers to ask if she’s hurting her. She’s pretty sure Santana’s fingers couldn’t ever feel better than they do right now, but then then soften even more as strands of Brittany’s hair start to fall around her shoulders, curly from being pinned up so long, and Santana gets distracted from tugging out bobby pins by running her fingers through the freed strands and gently untangling knots as she comes across them.

“That feels so nice,” Brittany hums.

Santana giggles and it bumps the inside of her bicep against Brittany’s nose. Brittany purses her lips into a soft kiss against Santana’s skin, causing her hands to still in blonde hair for a moment before she seemingly regains her ability to function. Brittany grins smugly as Santana shakes her head, and Brittany doesn’t need to see her face to know Santana’s rolling her eyes, that lopsided smile that tries to be annoyed but is really just fond playing on her lips.

Once Brittany’s teeth start chattering she finally pulls her feet out and dries them off with the towel on the coffee table, tugging thick socks on as Santana runs her fingers through Brittany’s hair a couple more times to ensure all the bobby pins are out; probably a couple more times than necessary, but Brittany’s definitely not complaining.

As soon as Brittany stands up Santana seems to snap back into the jittery-antsy-nervous place she’s been all day as she quickly ushers Brittany into her sneakers and out the door. Brittany chuckles and tucks her phone and wallet and keys into the front pocket of her hoodie as she’s pushed down the hallway, only just realizing that she’s kind of missing something important, especially for this time of year.

“Wait, my jacket.”

“Mercedes has it,” Santana answers automatically, and Brittany frowns a little because that seems weird, but Santana just tugs on her arm from where their fingers are tangled. It all seems part of some greater thing Santana has planned, so Brittany just shrugs and lets herself be pulled along for the ride.

They wind their way through the theatre, dodging company and crew members alike, until Santana pulls her back to where all the offices and conference rooms are located. Brittany scans the hallway looking for some indication of what’s about to happen, but finds none other than Santana getting even more fidgety as they pass closed doors and dark windows.

“Hey,” Brittany calls softly as they slow outside of one of the rooms, “Don’t worry so much. I’m going to love whatever it is because it’s from you, and you’ve obviously put so much thought into this.”

Santana relaxes but the jittery energy doesn’t leave her. “I’m not really nervous,” she explains with a small smile, “Just really excited.” She takes a deep breath and steps across the hallway to a door, the only room with its lights on, peaking out through the window where the blinds don’t quite reach, Brittany’s fingers falling away from hers. She rests her hand on the doorknob and gives Brittany one more smile before opening the door. “Go on,” she urges softly, stepping back to allow Brittany into the room.

The first thing Brittany sees is the bouquet of flowers, a dozen roses in a bright shade of yellow, filling the room with their sweet scent

The second thing Brittany sees is that it’s her dad is holding the bouquet of flowers.

Brittany blinks and just stares at him for a long moment, everything around her turning hazy and surreal at the edges, like the best dream in the world. But then her dad is setting the flowers on his chair as he stands up and before she realizes it she’s across the room and in her family’s arms, sobbing as she buries herself in an embrace she hasn’t felt in far more years than she ever wants to count. Her sister catches her, and then her dad and mom fold around them. She can’t believe that they’re actually here because it seems so impossible and miraculous, so she just clutches them tighter. Her mom’s face is wet against the side of her neck and her dad is reaching up to stroke her hair back from her face and her sister’s arms are wound tight around her waist and she still feels like she’s dreaming, like all this might go away if she opens her eyes so she just tightens her arms around her family in case she wakes up in her bed all alone.

Her mom’s murmuring something against her temple and her dad is mumbling something against her shoulder and her sister is teasing them all for being so sappy even while she cries too and it’s too much and not enough all at once.

“How did you get here?” Brittany finally manages to mumble into her mom’s shoulder, once her sobbing has subsided into tiny whimpers.

She can feel her mom smile against her temple, the familiar quirk of lips shifting against her hair as her mom looks over her shoulder. “Well, your friend Santana had an idea yesterday,” her mom says softly, “To give our family the greatest gift of all.”

Brittany’s tears start up again as she raises her head from her mom’s comforting warmth and glances behind her to find Santana hovering awkward in the doorway. When she meets Brittany’s gaze her fidgeting stills and she waves her hand in a dorky wave, and Brittany didn’t even know it was possible to love one person so much. She glances at her family, but they nod and urge her to go on before the question can even form in her mind. She slowly untangles herself from their embrace—a gloup hug, her sister used to say back when she was about three feet shorter and still had a bit of an adorable toddler lisp—and crosses the room to Santana, who stills her fidgeting with every step Brittany takes.

As soon as Brittany reaches her, she wraps her arms around Santana and tugs them so close together that there’s barely room to breath, no space separating them even a fraction, Santana’s arms around her neck and her own arms tugging Santana into her body by the small of her back; Santana nuzzles into her neck and Brittany takes a deep breathe and whatever words were on her tongue fade away as their ribs lock together like the last piece of a puzzle clicking into place.

Every thought fades except for the simplest words, and the most true, as she turns her head to find Santana’s ear, her nose bending it forwards for a moment before it flops back. “Thank you,” she breathes, her breath tickling Santana’s hair against their cheeks.

Santana turns her head a little until her chin tucks itself into the hinge between Brittany’s shoulder and neck, where it settles into the space as if Brittany’s body was sculpted for her to fit right there. “You’re welcome,” she whispers, her lips brushing Brittany’s neck.

Brittany sighs into her embrace and feels so wonderfully full of love and happiness that she can’t imagine ever feeling better than she does right now, with her family behind her and her future right in front of her.

[theworldofyaltra-blog]

The World of Yaltra Parts 1-10

Yaltra, a world filled with magic gods and special abilities, a world of kingdoms and Queendoms. Light fills the world, but where light resides darkness is sure to appear.

In the queendom of Ceark, a warrior legend resides, a man named Dae Vol he was 14 and a tall boy standing at 6'3" with light brown hair and steel gray eyes, he prefers to wear red and gray robes. Dae had moved to Ceark when he was young. He went straight to the castle that day and demanded to be Chief of the Order of Knights. He was put through a test to see his power, they made a wager that if he was able to beat the top ten of the Order of Knights he would be given the title he wished. Dae was skilled, being born of a warrior and trained since he was a young boy. Dae got through nine of the ten, but when he reached the leader of the knights he was defeated. The leader of the Order of Knights recognized the boys potential and took him under his wing. Dae trained with the leader for 3 years when one day he was instructed by his mentor that to become physically stronger he had to become mentally strong. Dae was sent to Vertul School of Magic. At first Dae hated school, he disliked most people at the school, being an orphan back in his birth town only knowing his father was a warrior, and growing up in the slums. He disliked their aristocratic aura, he could tell that most looked down upon him. But one day after class he was approached by two people. He was approached by Phay Meloa a girl around 16 years old and her best friend Zould Akia a 17 year old half elf boy. Other than the staff of the school these were the first people to be nice to him at this school, they looked at him like a peer, like a friend. For a long time they were inseparable, and eventually they graduated the school. Zould left to his homeland, Phay was headed home too, but coincidentally Phay's home country is Ceark. Dae and Phay decided to travel home together. Phay asked what Dae was going to do. He tells her of his mentor and discovers that Phay is the daughter of his mentor.So Dae keeps training with Phay's father. Dae and Phay spend much more time together, growing closer and closer. Speed forward a bit and Dae confesses his love for Phay she feels the same. Dae and Phay get married 5 years later. A year after Dae is successful in fighting his now father in law becoming the leader of the Order of Knights. Zould then moves to Ceark and works as the High Wizard in place of his late uncle. Phay gets pregnant and gives birth to a boy, he is named Ty. A year later a war breaks out between Ceark and the kingdom of Anot. This war lasts for 4 years, and Phay's father passes on the battlefield. During the 3rd year of the war Phay gets pregnant again but dies in child birth. The child is a girl which Dae names Saia. Now it is 12 years after the war, this is where the story will truly begin.

"Hey you! Stop right there!" The guard commanded.

"Make me!" I replied confidently. But my confidence quickly faded as more guards appeared from the ally ways.

"You won't get away from us again Bo Asden!" This is not the first time I was in this type of pickle, especially with that particular guard. I never learned his name though, all I know is that he's getting faster.

Finally I found my favorite mode of escape, one of the many ally ways in this dump of a country. Ever since the last queen died and her bitch of a sister took the throne things have been hard on us poor folk. But enough history we have a problem at hand, that being-

"It's a dead end."

"And the end of the line for you thief!" Exclaimed the guard."You'll finally get your comeuppance."

"Hey there pal. Can't we work something out here?" I doubt this will work but I gotta try.

"No."

"Damn." Well I guess prison won't be that bad, I could work on my people skills. Plus free housing and food, but then again they would be alone.

"Seize him!" Exclaimed another guard. I guess I'll go out in a blaze of glory. As the first one came at me I swept gracefully past him and punched him in the back of the head, he was out cold.

"Gary!" So that's his name, good to know. They stopped playing fairly at this point and rushed me. I got overwhelmed and was thrown to the ground, it seemed they wanted to repay me for Gary.

"Stand down soldiers!" Boomed a large man behind the pile of people on top of me. He was a large man around 6'3" with graying brown hair and steel gray eyes. But it seems he is something to the guards because they got off me with fear in their eyes.

"I will take care of the thief, take Heads to the infirmary." This made me loose any feeling of safety. After the guards left with Gary he came closer and began to speak. "So tell me boy, why are you stealing from people, what is your motive?"

"I doubt YOU would understand"

"Try me kid, you'd be surprised"

"Believe it or not, some kids don't have parents to take care of them. All those kids have is me, so I get them food this way."

"How old are you son?"

"Sixteen, why?"

"Well, since you're sixteen you can work for their food, plus even if you're too old the orphanage will take the children your looking after."

"But I can't just-"

"You can, it's safer for them."

I'm sick of this asshole preaching about something he doesn't understand. I'm going to teach this old guy a lesson then he'll think twice about ordering people around. I ran towards him fists ready, then I was on they ground.

"What just happened?"

"Your predictable, but I plan on fixing that."

"What?"

"Get up and follow me, I'm gonna make you stronger."

"Yes sir." As we left I saw something. It was a man in red and gold robes, just silently watching me, as if he were waiting for something.

"Something wrong boy?"

"No and I have a name, I'm Bo."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dae."

After the whole 'come with me' thing, Dae lead me past the slums to the more suburban part of the kingdom. It was sorta weird though because he didn't talk the whole way, just odd silence between us. Finally he stopped at a medium sized Dutch style house. He walked in the house prompting me to follow him. I had guessed at this point that it was his house. When I walked in I was greeted by a warm, loving atmosphere, just like I thought a home would feel, maybe it was just my imagination though.

"Father who is this boy?" Said a boy that seemed to be around 17, and looked like a slim young version on Dae. Not so far behind him a girl lingered, unsure if she should trust me.

"Tsun this is Bo, he will be trained here from today on." Dae said with his seemingly endless confidence. There was one thing wrong with this though, not once was I told that I would be staying here and being trained, I guess that's what he meant by 'make me stronger' but I had things to do, people to feed.

"What!? Why?" Said Tsun with rage. Never mind, I need to find someone to take care of the kids, because now my sole purpose in life is to antagonize this boy.

"I did not say it was a matter of discussion. He will be here so deal with it." I think it's time for me to step in.

"Well I'm lookin-"

"Be quiet boy, you need to prove yourself if I am to accept this!"

"Someone's cranky."

"Well if you're so apposed just fight him, he took on Gary." Hmm Gary's more popular than I previously thought. But also fight him? Why not? It'll be fun, he can't be too good if Gary is their frame of reference.

"Fine, if I win he shall leave, and if he wins he can stay." Dae didn't respond. "Follow me boy." He led me to a door in the back of the house with Dae and the girl trailing behind. Then the door led out to a grassy field.

"Might I ask how?" I said.

"To simply put it, magic." Dae replied. What a convenient excuse for an otherwise impossible situation.

"Come at be boy."

"It's Bo son."

"You know it's Tsun."

"And you know it's Bo." I wonder how stupid he'll look when he looses. Dae and the girl were whispering, catching my curiosity I tried listening to them and caught 'He isn't too bright though, huh' from the girl. What made her think that? That is what I found out. I turned back and we officially 'started' the fight. At first we just walked in circles, but then in a second he was in front of me, trying to connect his fist to my face. Lucky I dodged the attack and backed up.

"You're fast." I prepared a punch.

"Thanks." With that once again he jumped right to me, just as planned. He might be fast, but he seems to think with his head, not his mind. Wait, that doesn't make sense. Or does it? Fuck it, I'll go with it. What I was trying to say though was, i had expected another jump so I had prepared that punch and that plus his speed.

"HMF"

"That's a strange noise, I didn't expect that." I replied snidely.

"I take that back." Whispered the girl to Dae.

"Damn right!"

"Language!" Responded Dae. Also it seemed the girl was embarrassed to have been heard.

"Alright he can stay." Tsun groaned from the ground.

After the short battle with Tsun, I returned inside to explore a bit. I came across a shelf filled with pictures of times long ago. One depicted a younger Dae along with an elf and some girl that resembled the whisper girl, but this seemed too old for that to be her.

"Hey Dae!"

"What?"

"Who are these people with you in this picture?"

"The girl was my wife before we married, and the elf is my friend Zould."

"Where is your wife anyways?"

"Sadly she passed years ago, and Zould vanished during the Few year war."

"I've always hated the name of that war."

"Yes, it isn't very imaginative, like it was thought of on the spot. Anyway, we have to find a place to put the children you care for, and tomorrow morning we start your training!"

"Alright." I said. Something still felt off though, like a storm was coming.

"M'lord, the time has come. We may never have a chance such as great as this to invade Ceark."

"Prepare the fleet, we leave next week."

"Yes lord Ziao Tae."

I'm in a scorched field, one day the grass will grow but for now it's burnt dirt, burnt by battle mage fires. Dad is on the ground, but not the same dad i know. He was younger with full brown hair lacking the bits of gray without his short beard. In front of him stood an elf, one I've seen only in pictures. Dad once told me his name was Zould and his best friend, someone he trusted with his life and secrets. Zould was speaking, that's when I noticed the dark smoke cloud in front of him, i could feel the dark magic in the cloud. This cloud could only hurt.

"If I do this you will let him live, is that right?" Zould said looking to my father.

"Yes young elf, if you do this I will spare this boy and he will not fall like the rest." Uttered the evil thing. I realized the bodies scattered everywhere, some parts were removed from the bodies, it was sickening. "Just wound yourself and don't resist me." With that Zould cut his palm and the cloud seeped into it. He screamed from the painful experience.

"Take care Dae." He said. Then he started to change. He looked different now but his back was turned to me and as he started to turn I was surrounded in darkness. I was fearful at first, but then a calming voice told me.

"Find the book, save the elf, save the world." Then I awoke. I was in my room again. I was still just Victoria Vol, the 16 year old daughter of the "Great" Dae Vol.I've been having this dream for a month, but the calming voice was new. I was filled with questions from his words. What book was I to find? How do I save the elf? Is the cloud a danger to the world? But I couldn't find these answers on my own, but maybe dad could help me. It was around seven thirty so dad should be worshipping the "Forgotten God", the first god but also least know to the point that he is majorly unknown to most. Usually people will pray to more popular gods like Nekatio the god of cats, personally I like to worship the goddess of light Samantha. Dad likes to say that Samantha and the goddess of darkness Wendy are in a romantic relationship, but that's just ridiculous. Why would a girl go out with another girl? Dad also tells me it's not a big deal, I'm sure I just don't understand. I entered my fathers room but he wasn't there, something important must have come up. I decided to go down stairs to make some breakfast. Down in the kitchen I saw the boy dad brought back home a week ago as a student. He had hair that was a sandy yellow color and dark blue eyes, he was around 5'8 which I liked seeing as though I'm 5'4 and live with two giants standing at 6'3 and 6'2. He's kinda cute. "Do you know where my father is?" I asked Bo hopeful that he knew.

"Not specifically but he said it was important." Drat I wanted to ask him about the dream. But a voice cut through my thoughts. "Why is Gary your standard for strength?"

"Well Gary is a werewolf, plus he is considerably strong as just a human too."

"Did you say werewolf?"

"Yes and if anyone ever killed him it would mean big trouble."

"Who did this." I said to Dr.Sandra Bouls.

"Who ever did this used black magic to kill him, its potent even now though Mr. Gary Heads was killed around 48 hours ago."

"This is a problem, only one person could kill Gary with such powerful dark magic."

"Do you mean-"

"Zaio Tae."

It was a quarter past eight now and Victoria was leaving once again, she left at this time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Where was she going though? I don't know much of Victoria except basic knowledge like age and gender.

"Where do you go on these days?" I decided to ask.

"Nothing to worry yourself about." Oh wow that really helps me. I guess it was supposed to be like that. So since she won't tell me I'll have to find out for myself. And by that I mean while I have free time let's follow Victoria. After a few seconds after her departure I left the house and followed the small black haired girl from a safe distance of two or three yards. We went a mile or two when she stopped and went to enter a small house on the outskirts of the city, I had closed the distance and decided now was a good time to reveal myself.

"Who lives here?" I said, startling Victoria. She saw it was me and calmed just long enough for her surprise to become anger. She slapped me.

"Why did you follow me, douche!"

"Language Vic. Also, ow."

"One, you deserved it. Two, I don't want you here. And three, who said you could call me 'Vic'."

"Well I'm not leaving now Vic, I want to know who this person is."

"I don't care! Just go back ho-"

"Oh, Victoria you brought your boyfriend to lessons today!" Said a friendly looking old lady cutting off Vic's sentence.

"He is not my boyfriend, he is a boneheaded fool."

"Such harsh words Vic." I feel that I'm starting to bother her, I'm glad I came.

"Well come on in, both of you." Said the old lady gesturing us to come inside.

"I'm looking forward to this."

"I hate you."

"Ha."

Inside the house was a room with a table to the left, a sitting area to the right and two doors. The old lady had us sit down and Vic explained my current situation.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Matilda, a witch and Victoria's grandmother."

"Nice to meet you Matilda, why does Vic come here so often?"

"I can't just visit my grandmother?" Vic said with a cold tone.

"She comes to learn, just like my daughter learned."

"Learn what? Witchcraft?"

"No carpentry, of course it's witchcraft." Then a knock came from the door. "Well aren't I popular today." With that Matilda went and answered the door, and at the door was Dae.

"Matilda we have a big problem." Dae said sounding genuinely concerned.

"Nice to see you too, come in son."

"Oh I guess Bo joined you today, but you may stay it concerns all of us." What is going on that has him so worried? Nothing much ever really happens in Ceark, the only thing we really ever have to worry about is the magic haters of Takacia.

"Matilda, Victoria you've been having a certain dream lately right?"

"Yes I was hoping I was just going senile but he has returned hasn't he."

"What? Who's back? What does this have to do with my dreams?" Victoria looked scared, what in the fire realms is going on?

"I will tell you in due time but for now head home, and Matilda its time for you to abandon ship. I have to do something now, Victoria and Bo, go home for now."

"But what is all thi-" but before I could finish that sentence he was gone.

"Queen Aldraea, I have come as asked."

"Ah yes Knight Dae Vol, I have been informed of the dangers that loom and I have a task of utmost importance for you." Man she sucks, I'm just waiting for an assassin to come along. "I need you too look after my daughter, I'm having her go undercover as one of you plebeians so she may stay out of deaths grasp. And what's worse is she takes after her late father, such a weak man." This is music to my ears, her daughter takes after Borjor the kind. This is the best possible outcome, Borjor died a martyr. He was said to save any person, he would go to battlefields and save both friend and foe. Sadly he was 'mysteriously' poisoned. "Cassidy! Come here girl." A young teen girl then entered the room, she had long golden locks and jade green eyes although I could barely see them since she stared at the floor in submission.

"Y-yes mother."

"This is Knight Vol you shall live with his family while danger is high. I expect no problems with this."

"Yes mother."

"Now leave me, both of you."

"Yes my queen." With that I left with the shy princess.

It was eight in the evening when Dae opened the door and behind him was a girl around 19 and timid looking.

"Hey Tsun, I know I'm new myself but is this something he just does? Bring people home?"

"No actually, you two are the firsts. Also may I ask your name?" Tsun asked. A good question too but I doubt she will answer herself, she looks too uncomfortable for questions.

"This is Cassidy and she will be staying with us for a while." He told us nothing more of girl and lead her to the fifth and last bedroom of the house. He then went to Vic and lead her to the room, she entered, he left.

"Well that sure was 'enlightening', I really learn a lot about her." I said sarcastically.

Father had come to my room and filled me in on the princess and her situation, then lead me to her hopeful that I could calm the nervous girl. She sat on her bed and stroked her long golden hair, which is kinda weird because neither her mother or father have/had black hair.

"The queen isn't your real mother is she." I said bluntly, and now that I think about it that was rude of me.

"No, my real mother was a maid. She died in child birth." She replied unexpectedly. "My father didn't like 'mother' though and she didn't like him, which is why he had the affair. We would bond over our hatred of her, but then she." Cassidy stopped at that point realizing that she was saying very personal things to a stranger. "I-I'm sorry, I'd like to sleep now if that's ok."

"Of course, you can come to me if you need to talk again." Then I left. She seemed sad now, but she seemed a lot more comfortable. Maybe one day she will finish her talk with me.

It's been two months since Dae took me in. My days have been mostly routine; wake up, pray, eat breakfast, train, eat lunch, study, eat dinner, pray, sleep. The only diversions from said routine are my off days. For training we mostly just workout, sometimes Dae will teach me things like sword techniques. He's brought up magic infusion before, a skill in which something can be infused with magic, it's usually just for swords and armor though. I can't infuse anything because of my weak magic though, that's what studying is for. I've been practicing out of a thick spell book for beginners and have some basic magic down like 'Ignis Creare' a simple spell for making fire. Then there's 'Pruinae Creare' which is just the opposite of Ignis Creare. But enough of that, I'm currently at dinner and Dae has bequeathed some information upon us.

"I'm sending you all to Virtul Magic Academy." Dae stated.

"Excuse me? Why might I ask are we being sent to a school." I asked.

"Reasons."

"Do you have to be so vague?"

"Nope."

"I don't want to go. I'd rather stay here." Vic and Tsun agreed.

"It's not up for debate, I'm not answering any questions either. You four are going and that's it, you might want to pack your luggage because you leave in the morning."

"This is bullshit." Tsun claimed. Huh usually he's not one to argue, maybe I'm rubbing off on him, I felt happy from this thought.

"Just accept it, it's not like he's going to change his mind." Vic cut in. Tsun seemed rather peeved because his next course of action was to head to his room, drama queen. I was about to complain again but Dae sent me a glare, and the next thing I new I was headed to my room to pack. I'm not sure entirely what made me back off but I know it wasn't magic, that made it all the more terrifying.

It was evening when we arrived at the school, but it looked more like a fortress than a school. The whole campus was enclosed by a 12' stone wall in the shape of an octagon. At each point of the octagon was a tower, 4 were class buildings and the other 4 were dormitories, 2 for boys and 2 for girls. In the center was a larger tower which held the cafeteria, a ballroom, teacher housing, and at the top was the headmasters office. When we arrived we were shown to our respective rooms and someone was to pick us up and show us the around campus. A portly guy a year or two older than I showed me around, he seemed nice I should have listened to him. I didn't see the others till morning classes the next day. First class was Magic History with Ms.Uerosa she looked around in her mid to late twenties and... tried. She is too nice for her own good, the other students walked all over her, the ones who didn't and listened were few and seemed respectable, like they earned their right to learn here. The ones who couldn't be bothered to listen to poor Ms.Uerosa were, obviously, the children of 'important' nobles. Sadly a lot of the people here were those types. I did meet some good people, like Bruce, he has copper hair and glasses and schemes, which is always a plus in my book. I found him the most likable of the people here, luckily he's also my roommate. In my next class I finally got back together with Vic and Tsun, the other girl was in a different class. This class was Magical Practice with Mr.Dawnbreak, first task was summoning a familiar.

"Ok class, a familiar is the most important part of a magician, they can symbolize your magical strength and will be your companions till the end of your days." Mr.Dawnbreak boomed. He then mumbled some chant and a dwarf troll appeared next to him. "You can summon familiars at will with a simple chant, you can have multiple familiars depending on your magical strength. Now who's ready!" He's a very interesting teacher, very eager. Vic had summoned a black cat she named Simon, which was a sign of her strong affinity to potion magic. Tsun summoned a dog, to show his physical strength. Bruce summoned a Phoenix and everybody was too awed to ask what that meant. Now it was my turn. "Alright Bo, give it a try!"

"hoc est maximus ut custodiant lectione nunc." I chanted. And a figure started to appear. Now I'm not sure exactly what was going on, or why but when the summoning smoke cleared all that was there was, a girl. She was, different though, that meaning she had wings hand sharp teeth. She opened her mouth and spoke.

"Hilsener mester." She said. We looked upon her in both confusion and awe. "Min heter er Drakaina, har jeg kommet til å tjene deg." She spoke this time, but still we just gazed upon her. "Du kan ikke forstå meg he. Is this better, master?" Holy crap she spoke something comprehensive. "I am Drakaina." Drakaina said.

"Hey Mr.Dawnbreak, has this happened before?"

"No Bo, I can say it has not."

"Drakaina? What are you?"

"I am a drage, dragon, my master."

"I'd perfer if you called me Bo."

"Yes mas-, Bo."

"I'm going to fetch the headmaster, you students stay here, bond with your familiars." And with that Mr.Dawnbreak was gone. What would happen now? Only the gods know. This is going to be interesting though, that I knew for sure.