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peachyteez · 3 years

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angel nurse ≫ EPILOGUE.

this fox hybrid was brought into the recovery facility covered in scratches, whip marks, blood, and every other injury you could imagine. due to this, yeosang has trouble trusting humans, as he was afraid they could just hurt him all over again. until he meets jiyu, his “angel nurse”.

PART OF THE HEAVEN SERIES.

✧ taglist: @defsoul15, @jaeminpeachy, @joongiebug, @sunsethw4, @t-tbinnie, @chanyeolol, @danibookmarks, @hello-its-ya-boi, @murralyn, @alienmashup, @panini, @moon8894, @koasworld, @taetae123094, @luv3rxcha, @treasure-hwa, @etherealbyeol, @hwaseongzzz, @lovely-sanie, @orbitiiny, @pirate-of-the-dark-seas, @babydolljo, @ms-starlight, @everrrlasting, @bls-luv-me, @atzgiggle, @arohabyeol, @rainbowmagicpixecorn, @soverystupid, @ayetothezee, @kingalls00, @sanstreasure0305, @sparklingmallow, @kpopnightingale, @peachseok

back。

“did yeosang order chicken again?” seonghwa asked, coming back to the living room carrying not one, but two takeout bags from a chicken restaurant.

jiyu sheepishly chuckled as she shuffled over to the wolf hybrid and took the bags from him. “actually, it was me and yeosang,” she admitted. “but fear not! we bought enough for everyone.”

“only because jiyu insisted on it,” yeosang sarcastically retorted, earning him a playful smack on the arm from her.

to say that yeosang turned out very different from the shy, closed off fox hybrid they were used to seeing was an understatement. when he warmed up to you, it was like he was a different person. he was someone full of sarcastic remarks, full of mischief, and full of love for hehetmon (and the other five).

“are you sure you’re the same yeosang we knew from a few weeks ago?” hongjoong teased from the couch. “he used to be so quiet and kind of tense around us.”

the first week was full of yeosang trying to adjust to his new environment, and following jiyu around wherever she went. he would talk to the others, but with caution and hesitance. it wasn’t until one night when they all had fried chicken for dinner did yeosang finally start to relax and slowly open up to them. and that’s also where they discovered the fox’s love for chicken.

they even started finding various drawings of hehetmon plastered on the fridge and around the penthouse after. which they all found too adorable to remove, so they kept them around.

“yay, chicken!” yunho cheered, disregarding yeosang’s little jab. he ran over to jiyu and sniffed the bags, his eyes sparkling at the delicious smell. the smell piqued mingi’s interest and he came shuffling after yunho.

jiyu chuckled. “okay, lets’s set this up on the dining table then, yes?” she coaxed the puppy and bunny hybrid to the dining table. it was an amusing sight; five hybrids following after jiyu at the scent of the food. they were like chicks following their mother for food.

once they set the table and laid out the chicken boxes (it took a while longer than expected since they all kept trying to secretly eat some beforehand), they all took their seats, prepared to eat. the table was filled with sounds of laughter, sounds of someone groaning since their chicken piece was already taken from the box, but most importantly, everyone sounded happy.

eating with other people was a foreign concept to all of them. jiyu always ate alone from what she remembered, only the maids standing by the door at her beck and call to be considered “company”. for the others...it was quite obvious that their backgrounds didn’t involve something as warm as dinners together.

but for yeosang, it was moments where they were together that he cherished the most. after all, it was this certain group of hybrids (and human) that allowed him to trust in himself and humans again. jiyu had pried the bars around his mind and heart apart enough to let her words sink through. to spend moments like this; laughing, talking, and eating with others was a scene that he would’ve scoffed at a while back. but who knew it was such a warm and fuzzy experience?

“yeosang, hurry and eat before there’s nothing left,” jiyu chuckled, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“i saved a drumstick for him,” mingi said, slightly puffing his chest out proudly. while he and yeosang were the two most awkward people together, they still did nice deeds for each other here and there.

jiyu reached over and ruffled the bunny’s hair. “what a nice bunny you are,” she cooed, making mingi giggle. taking the drumstick mingi pointed to, she placed it in front of yeosang. “go on, eat it before one of them steal it,” she teased.

"psh, as if i’d let them,” yeosang playfully retorted before starting to eat.

jiyu looked around with amusement. the little hybrid family was slowly growing, and she wasn’t complaining. maybe she would’ve had doubts a few months ago, but she learned to live in the present; enjoy life day-by-day rather than worrying about her future. she knew she’d have to tell them everything eventually, but there was never a right time for her to. how would they react? would they still treat her the same? would they be mad?

“ah, that’s right...tomorrow,” jiyu mumbled to herself as she remembered something important yuta had informed her earlier in the day.

“what you you mean it’s tomorrow?” jiyu deadpanned.

“exactly what it means,” yuta responded. “your father scheduled a meet up between you and sunwoo for tomorrow. he was probably going to let you know tonight or tomorrow since he knows you won’t be able to back out by then.”

jiyu sighed, feeling a headache coming on. by “meet up”, she knew her father meant for them to go on a date to get to know the other better since they were considered fiances by that point, whether they liked it or not.

“do you want me to tail you both to mess it up?” yuta teasingly asked, trying to lift her mood. it worked since he heard her chuckle on the other end of the phone.

“it’s fine, thanks yuta. i can handle him myself if he tries something funny.”

“ah, yes. you took taekwondo as a child,” yuta remembered, sweat-dropping when he remembered the one time jiyu had mistook him for a robber and had kicked him into the next week.

“but,” she said, catching yuta’s attention again, “thanks for looking out for me, yuta,” she sincerely said. if she didn’t have yuta to warn her of her father’s activities, she didn’t know how she’d manage to prepare for them, considering how her father loved to either tell her things at the very last minute, or just not tell her at all.

“of course, ji. i need to go now before your father wonders where i’m at. let me know if you reconsider my offer about tomorrow!” he teased before hanging up.

“jiyu? earth to jiyu!” coming back to reality, she noticed everyone looking at her.

“you mentioned tomorrow, but then stared out into space like an idiot,” yeosang explained, causing the others to sweat-drop at his choice of words.

“so what’s happening tomorrow?” mingi asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

“ah...i meant to tell you guys that i might be out tomorrow. i’m meeting a friend i haven’t seen in a while,” she said, slightly twisting the story. she’ll tell them another time.

“the whole day?” seonghwa asked.

“hm...maybe just half the day. i’ll definitely be back by dinner,” she reassured. “i’ll leave some money if you guys order takeout tomorrow. which you might be since we’re almost out of food in the fridge,” she made a mental note to go grocery shopping after her meet up with sunwoo.

“can we go out?” yunho hesitantly asked. hybrids going out and about without their owners wasn’t an uncommon sight, but for them, it was an iffy option since some of them were afraid of running into their old owners.

“you can if you want,” jiyu said. “but remember your collars. i hate them as much as you guys do, but there’s nothing we can do about that...”

they all nodded.

“well, don’t worry about us!” yunho reassured, “just have fun with your friend tomorrow!”

seeing everyone agree with yunho, she softly smiled. “alright, i will,” she said, feeling a small bud of guilt grow in her heart. if only they knew...

deciding to push those feelings aside, she continued eating and talking with her five fluff balls. they spent the rest of the night talking, laughing, and enjoying each others’ presence.

but unbeknownst to them, a certain cat hybrid was perched on the roof by the balcony, listening to their sounds of laughter, feeling his heart ache at the sound.

✧ note: and that wraps up for yeosang! hehe sunwoo made his way into this series, too. and i’m sure y’all can guess who’s next on the list :))

also can you believe the series is now halfway completed? 🥺

#9th member of ateez #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez fluff #ateez angst #kang yeosang #kang yeosang imagines #yeosang imagines #yeosang scenarios #ateez yeosang #hybrid au #kpop hybrid au #ateez hybrid #hybrid!ateez #ateez au

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bitters-enthusiast · 3 years

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birthday fic but belated

@timmys-and-scribbles i love you and i am sorry in advance if this is long and cheesy but

1. that’s julian and

2. that’s just showbiz babey

happy belated birthday bestie i hope you enjoy

“No, you don’t understand! Please, I’ll-- I’ll beg on my knees if I have to!”

Julian could be seen, and probably heard, from a block away pleading a poor man operating a gondola on the canal, and it didn’t look much like the man was giving in to him either.

The man shook his head, planting his hands on his hips. “You-- you don’t have to get on your knees. But I still can’t do it, I’m sorry. It’s too short notice.”

The sob that came from the redhead next was anything but subtle, and he shoved his face in his hands. “Please. Please, sir, everyone else has cancelled on me. Don’t you want to be the minority?? Wouldn’t that be a more interesting story for you?? Please, I’ll pay double, I just need this ride tonight. It doesn’t have to be all night, even just an hour if I could--”

The gondola rower rolled his eyes. The dramatics were a bit much, but Julian had good selling points. “Fine! Fine, if it means you’ll leave me alone and I can get back to work, I’ll do it for double.”

Julian almost screamed in excitement, and grabbed the man by his shoulders. He gave him a little shake, beaming a smile from ear to ear. “Thank you! Thank you, you’ve saved me. Thank you. I’ll see you in a few hours!”

After having shaken this man nearly to death, Julian decided it was time to start grocery shopping. If he was going to plan the perfect dinner for his perfect partner in crime, he wanted to have the perfect ingredients. After all, a pirate couldn’t ask someone to court him if he didn’t at least offer food and drink. . . right?

He didn’t want to stress about it. This day was already a long time coming, but every time he thought he’d worked up the courage, he found it all lost again when Julianne teased him, or plotted with him another sneaky escapade. This woman definitely, without realizing, always kept him on his toes. And he wanted to return the favor, at least for tonight. Besides, a fun date never hurt anybody, even if he didn’t wind up asking her to be his girlfriend.

The doctor spent about an hour or so shopping around for a dinner worth remembering. It took some time thinking of recipes he knew from the top of his head, but he settled on something fond from his childhood. Something Mazelinka almost always made, and almost everyone always liked it: soup. You couldn’t go wrong with a perfect soup dish paired with bread. Plus, looking for fresh ingredients and bartering with the merchants kept his mind off of the pent up anxiety he was feeling about everything. At least a dinner he was making by himself couldn’t be cancelled last minute.

He’d finally settled on everything he needed, and was beginning to head back to the ship. He was carelessly swinging his bags back and forth, whistling a merry little tune to keep him in high spirits.

The high spirits lasted all of five minutes to keep his mind off his worries.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Julianne, speaking to a familiar baker about eating some lunch. She was ordering some food when she caught him out of the corner of her eye, and excitedly called him over.

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

She wouldn’t notice the bags, right? Of course she’d notice the bags. But he could just pass it off as stuff for the crew! Or maybe he could just pretend as if he didn’t see her--

Of course he couldn’t do that.

Awkwardly, he put his arms behind his back, the bags hanging over them. He gave a strange smile and headed toward Juli, giving a head nod of acknowledgement.

“Heyyyyyyyy... how are, uh-- whatcha up to?”

The woman raised a brow, a smile on her lips as she had just finished joking with the baker. “I’m........ ordering food. Why are you being weird?”

Uh oh.

Julian gave a dismissive ‘psh”, his face turning into an expression of confusion. “I’m not being weird. You’re weird for asking that, Juli. Anyway, what’s on the menu? What’s, uh, what’s for lunch?”

Julianne immediately knew something was up, but she wouldn’t press him about it until later. For now, she’d give him a bit of a hard time about it to see if he’d spill. “Food. Looks like,” she leaned over a bit, just a small part of his groceries in view, “you also have food on the menu.”

He leaned the opposite way, trying to make the bags less noticeable from her angle. “Oh. Oh! These, right. Yeah, Cap sent me out for errands today. You know those men, uh, always hungry! Yeah, can’t go forever without snacking, even if there’s only four of them on ship!”

A small laugh came from Juli. Yeah, she’d have to find out later. “Right. Well, I have to go eat before I go back to my own errands. Would you like to join?”

Why’d she have to be so sweet?? It made him all the more nervous, and he wasn’t being a very convincing actor at the moment. “Oh, I wish I could, darling! But Cap has been on my ass this morning about staying on task! We all know how, um, fleeting time is! I’ve gotta go, don’t worry about me, I’ll see you later on board, right?”

Her eyebrow still raised, she adjusted her own bag and nodded. “Ri--”

“Okay! Perfect! Amazing, and even perfect, you could say. Oh. Wait, I said perfect twice. Anyway, farewell! See you tonight.”

Juli watched as Julian walked away backward, still trying to hide his groceries. As he finally got further away, he tried turning away quickly to take off running, but accidentally bumped into a busy woman passing by. He apologized promptly and profusely, making sure she was at least okay before taking off again.

Yeah, he was up to something.

It finally had gotten darker outside, the sun setting as Julian strode back toward the boat. After a few hours, he had prepared dinner, finalized the gondola plans, and had even set up an nice surprise afterward to make sure everything was picture perfect. As if he hadn’t used the word ‘perfect’ to describe what he was going for all day. With his hands in his pockets, he’d finally settled down on his way back toward the ship, fairly confident in how the night would go.. at least for now.

As he got closer to his familiar home of sorts, excited to meet Julianne and to get the night started after all this planning he’d done, Julian stops aboard the ramp of the ship, watching as Juli was mid-conversation with his crewmate and co-captain, Gerard.

Damn it. Here we go.

Forcing a smile, he stepped closer to hear their conversation.

A hearty laugh came from the crewmate, one that sounded incredibly devious to Julian’s desperate ears. “He really lied to your face like that, Miss Juli? Ah, you know I’d never treat you that way~”

Shut up. Shut up, Gerry. Not tonight.

Julianne would have been seen to smirk, rolling her eyes. “It’s not that he lied maliciously. I’ll still get him back for lying. But I know he’s doing something behind my back. I’m just confused as to what it is.”

Gerard leaned back against the rail of the ship, giving a nonchalant shrug. “Still. You know, it’s taken him far too long to commit to you. Maybe it’s time you give the ol’ captain a try. I,” a puff of his chest, and he placed his hand upon his heart, “wouldn’t have made you wait this long for me to meet up after lying to you, maiden.”

It was taking everything in Julian to not barge into their conversation immediately. The confidence he’d built on the way back was slowly diminishing, but he’d wait a few more seconds to see where this conversation went.

“Co-captain, Gerard.” Julianne shook her head in amusement, also taking a seat on a nearby barrel. Might as well make herself comfortable as she waited. “How would Zora feel if she heard you giving yourself all the credit?”

“Hopefully very, very awfully.” Gerard chuckled as he ran his fingers through his hair. “But my point remains. See how he still isn’t here? That just proves my--”

If Julian wasn’t known for dramatic entrances, then the sky wasn’t known to be blue. As if on cue, interrupting Gerard as he tried to make his “point” was easy as pie for Julian, and he climbed aboard with the biggest, most confident grin he could muster to save face. “Julianne, my love!” He greeted as if she were the biggest and most important guest he could ever serve, stepping between the two to swoop her into a hug. “I’m terribly sorry it took me so long to get back! I got caught in a scuffle between two men arguing, and you know I can’t resist a good fight.” The last lines were said between almost-gritted teeth, and Julianne pulled away from his hug reluctantly.

Like her expression was before at the marketplace, she had her eyebrow raised in suspicion. “Is that so? They didn’t happen to also be the ones to eat your snacks, were they?”

Gerard chuckled from behind, making himself comfortable both physically and in conversation. “I’d say Ilyushka has a bit of a hole to dig himself out of here, hmm?”

Begrudgingly, Julian turned to look at Gerard with the same forced smile.

“Don’t you have a hole to dig yourself into, co-captain? Go find some buried treasure.”

A laugh from the man, as well as a clever reply, “Ah, but why would I go search for one when there’s one perfectly right before my eyes?” He flashed a smile in Julianne’s direction, and then gave an innocent, seemingly curious head tilt to Julian. “Oh, unless you couldn’t see that for yourself. It seems that eyepatch gets in the way of you looking past yourself and seeing what’s in front of you.”

The smirk began to fall from the redhead’s face, and he tried not to ball up a fist onto his friend right about now. In the end, he knew Gerry was teasing, but it didn’t make the blow less hard on his ego.

Julianne wasn’t naive to the tension; she started to make off-topic conversation. “I think Gerard is talking about the wine that Zora brought back after making a deal with the bartender down the street. Something about bringing back some of that Salty Bitters stuff from Vesuvia that you like so much. He wanted to advertise something new.”

“Right. The wine is the treasure I was talking about.” A final chuckle from Gerard and he stood, clapping a hand against Julian’s shoulder. “Save me some dessert, Ilya. You know where my room is. Send her my way.”

“Bye, Gerry. Have a good night.” Julian pulled away slightly, looking his friend up and down.

Gerard gave a hum of triumph, and pulled his hand away. On his way toward the steps downstairs, he gave a final “You know I will.” in reply.

Once he was finally out of view, Julian deemed it safe to turn back to Juli for conversation. “I am.... so, so sorry, Juli. I know you’ve been waiting for a while.”

“I know you heard the conversation with Gerard.” She replied, placing her hands upon his shoulders. “I’ve been here for a whole of ten minutes. You know how he is. Dramatic.”

He gave a soft scoff in return, rolling his eyes. “More than I am sometimes.”

With a laugh, Julianne pulled her hands away, but not before giving him a gentle pat to the face. “Not quite.” Getting up from the seat she’d made herself, she patted down the dirt that’d gotten on her dress from doing so. “Anyway, are you finally done acting weird, or are you going to keep me on my toes.”

“Well.......” Julian gave a shrug, “Hopefully the latter. But not in a bad way, I swear. I do.”

The woman only gave him a pointed glare in response. In defense, he gently took hold of her hand, and began to lead her off the ship.

“Here. Just follow me.”

The doctor had finally gotten Juli all to himself. After all the shenanigans of the day, he could finally wind down and listen to her talk about her day. Her errands, odd customers, the odds and ends of magic that he enjoyed listening to her go on and on about. It was what gave him some sense of normalcy among the absurdity that he endured on the regular. The gondola ride had gone smoothly, and he had definitely given the rower far more than he was worth. If not just for the theatrics and the experience, he hoped that Juli enjoyed it. Maybe she’d grown suspicious of him throughout the day, but he wanted to make it up to her.

They talked about a woman who’d called Julianne in to help cleanse her home, not knowing the “cleanse” wasn’t anything spiritual -- it was because the woman had attempted far too many cleaning spells and caused an overgrowth in weeds in her garden and magic cobwebs in her corners. Julianne had to explain that “cleansing” a house didn’t actually mean to clean it.

How cute. How cute, how cute.

An hour or so had gone by, and after their ride, they both thanked the rower tremendously. They’d even gotten a complimentary bottle of wine and a basket of fruit -- or maybe the rower was being kind since Julian had paid him so handsomely.

Then, he took Julianne back toward the shore.

He had taken hold of her hand and not let go, leading her down the beach close to the docks their ship had stopped on. He was sure she probably thought something odd was going to happen by the end of the night, but he wanted to make sure she enjoyed her time nonetheless.

As they walked, he made soft conversation.

“You know, the ocean is a view I could never get sick of. It’s so beautiful. And when the moonlight hits it just right--” he gave a chef’s kiss of sorts with his free hand.

“I guess that’s a good thing, considering you’re on a ship the majority of your time.” Juli teased, giving him a gentle nudge. “But I think so too. It’s very captivating. Calming, even.”

“Like you, hmm?” Turning his gaze from the ocean to Juli, he gave a wink.

With a fond roll of her eyes, she laughed a little. “You’re still being weird.”

“What? No. This is just regular ol’ Ilya.”

“Yeah. Weird.”

He grinned in turn, a grin full of absolute adoration. It was getting easier to rebuild that confidence from earlier.

They continued their playful banter, all the way up until hey reached a hidden little cove, a tucked away cave of sorts, with a light shining from within. They were far away enough now that the lamps in town seemed like blur now, and Julian preferred it that way for what he had been planning.

Julianne stopped, looking up at her partner with a confused expression. “What’s this?”

He let go of her hand, make sure he didn’t seem as if he were coming off maliciously. They had met, after all, under the guise that he was a murderer on the run. Julian offered one of his grins, the sweet kind, the kind that made you want to follow him into the unknown on an adventure you wouldn’t want to return from.

“Just dinner. You trust me, right? You don’t still think I’m a weirdo?”

“Well. I definitely do.”

A laugh came from Julian, and he just shook his head. He continued forward into the cave, giving her a nod to follow.

She did, and as they entered, a small table Julian had stolen off the ship was sitting in the middle of the cave, lit candles surrounding it in the sand below to keep light inside. On the table sat dinner: two bowls covered to stay warm, bread on either side of them, a great big glass of wine in the center of the table, and two glasses for one each.

With a great big swoop of his arm, he gestured toward the set up with a smile.

“Well, here’s the thing I was acting strange about. I just wanted... to set up something nice for the both of us.”

After her jaw had dropped at the initial shock, Juli turned to the man with a growing smile, and she genuinely looked impressed. “I’m surprised you could keep a secret this long.” Although she teased, she found his dinner setup rather charming. Nothing short of the extravagance he made for himself since the day she met him.

He continued forward once more, pulling one of the chairs out for her to sit. Once she was seated, he also took a seat, and began to pour them each a glass of wine to drink.

“Also, I stole this wine. This is the one Zora brought back, and Gerard is probably looking for now. Serves him right trying to steal my thunder.”

The woman laughs, reaching for her glass once it’s filled. “They’re going to kill you.”

He shrugged yet again, his signature smirk puling at his lips. “Worth it, if not just for the thrill of the escape.”

As Julian reached to uncover the bowls, a warm, earthy and flavorful aroma takes over the cave, and he explains his escapade to gather ingredients. Making the food proved to be a pain, having to bribe the ship’s cook to let him take over the kitchen to prepare their food, and to help him set everything up while he was out on the gondola ride with Julianne. He talked about how he now owed the cook kitchen duty for a week, and had to scrub the inside of the old hearth to make up for it. But it was worth it for him, to see how much she enjoyed his childhood favorite food. All the more memories to create, even if it was just soup.

Throughout dinner, it seemed as though Julian had about finished off the bottle of wine by himself. He was getting a little tipsy, and a bit more nervous toward the end of them eating. If only he had more liquid courage to help him out.

Julianne noticed how awkward he’d begun to get as dinner went on. When they finally cleared their bowls, he started going on about the importance of the correct shoes in acting. Something was up.

She reached for his hands, which were getting ready to pour the last few drops of alcohol into his glass.

“Ilya, tell me what’s the matter.” Her voice was soft compared to his big, velvety tone. He couldn’t help himself, not in this state of mind.

“I- no, nothing’s the matter! I’m just saying, how can you frolic about in a tunic and boots? Sure they look great for the aesthetic and for the costume, but you need the smaller and more rounded shoes to move around the stage more fleetly.”

“You’re talking about shoes, Julian, after we just had a nice dinner in a fancy set up in a remote cave.” She laughed a little at the situation, and gave his hands a little squeeze. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

She was right. And he knew that she was. He hadn’t spent all day preparing for this moment to talk about how quick your movements need to be on stage. He had put all of this off long enough. Hell, for months. He was surprised she’d even stuck around that long, unless she thought this was all totally platonic.

“Yeah. Yes. Yes, there-- there is something I have on my mind.” He let out a slow sigh, mentally preparing himself for his little speech. He knew that she would listen to every word, even if he slurred and stuttered his way through it. Her touch gave him a bit of sobering up, and in turn, he moved his hands to grab hers instead, leaning in closer to her presence.

“I.. hm. I’ve known you for quite a while now. And, for some reason, it feels like I’ve known you far longer than the several months we’ve been adventuring together. I don’t even know if that’s what you’d call it-- never mind. Regardless, darling, it feels like I’ve known you longer than a lifetime. Like I’ve known you since a life too distant to remember. And you... Julianne, you just seem so familiar. You met me thinking that I was a murderer. A fugitive. And even then, even after you thought I was using you, you stuck. You stuck with me. Up until then, I struggled so hard to find something like home. You gave me a chance, and I can tell you haven’t regretted it thus far. I just... don’t ever want to have to just remember you again. I want you to stick around. You’re perfect to be around. My perfect adventuring find. My... my perfect partner. We’ve never made any official call for what this is, and... I know this is all so ridiculous and grandiose and seems like some sort of proposal. In... in a way, it is. I just--” he lets his head fall, and he takes a pause, before he looked back up into Julianne’s face. “Please, little dove, would you give a pirate a chance and just call yourself mine already?”

...

Julianne, flustered, and unsure of how to respond in the immediate moment, searched Julian’s eyes for his genuine feelings. It was a long search -- after all, he’d just poured his onto the table, practically. This wasn’t at all a surprise, they had in fact been in some rut of infatuation without ever having admitted it to one another. It was always just implied. But here they were now, Julian basking in all of his monologuing glory...

Before she could respond, he was quick to make a joke, giving her hands a squeeze as she did his before he had come clean. “Plus, now I’m less likely to get in trouble for starting a fight with Gerard, seeing as how we’d be an official couple rather than just flirting, fleeting friends.”

Julianne shook her head, letting it fall as she let out a laugh. “You... are quite simply the most unbearable person I’ve ever met. In the best way possible.” Looking back up, he simply gave a friendly and teasing shrug in response, and she leaned in to seal the space between them with a kiss.

It wasn’t long before it grew passionate, one full of longing and hope from both of them. It would be hard for Julian to pull away, had he not been wait for a response. Before he let the kiss get carried away, he pulled back, a hand pressed to Juli’s face.

“So?”

She looked him in the eyes, lifted a hand toward his face, and promptly gave him a flick to the nose.

“Ow!?” His brow furrowed, “What was that for??”

“For lying to my face earlier. I just needed you to know I didn’t forget.”

A huffy laugh came from the redhead as he reached to rub at his nose, now stinging slightly in pain. “Alright. Noted.”

She offered a final, soft smile, reaching to gently swipe her thumb over his nose in comfort. The woman then reached in for a soft peck. “I’ll be your girlfriend, Ilya. Or rather, your co-captain.”

Julian beamed taking her face into both of his hands. “Oh, I’m so glad. As co-captain, can your first duty be to teach me an adjective other than ‘perfect’? I’m a doctor, not a novelist.”

“Sure. But only if you teach me one rather than ‘weird’,” Juli offered in reply.

“Good, good. But uh, can we wait until after dessert?”

“Didn’t Gerard ask you to save him some?”

“Oh, no. Gerry can starve. I’m sneaking dessert back into my room.”

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ss-prose-poetry · 3 years

Text

Psh Yeah

If I could explain to the great abyss within me, maybe my actions could make sense. So very often, I do not care and I am easy to placate because I am empty and trying to fill it. I don’t really care if I am filled or not, but from everything I see and hear, I should care. People reach into each other and expect pieces of each other’s hearts. Everyone expects to get and give. I am somewhat afraid that if people keep taking from me and eventually find nothing real there, they will eat me alive. I am filled with the expected trophies of surviving this long so that I can hand them over. I fill myself with emotions and outbursts so I can exercise my adrenaline glands. I’m not very sure I was supposed to have a conscious. I’d rather be an abstract idea. I’d rather be what people want of me. I’d rather be unmade and forgotten, like a stray pencil mark.

I am so shaken in the moments I am plastered to reality and forced to acknowledge that I feel things. Once those moments pass, I am again left with the blank slate of my heart. Is it true I only ever act and make decisions out of boredom? I would like to think I could be average enough to care - really care - about anything. Surely I am not just some masks and gestures. I have to be more than this pit in my chest, right? Everything has to mean something more than the hunger, right?

It’s not numbness I feel, when I honestly face myself, alone and tethered to no one: when no expectations are placed upon me and I may react freely. Who am I when I lay in bed, alone, in the dark, with no pressure to be or act or go somewhere else? The answer to that question is so plain to me, and dreadfully boring to say. I am skin and bone and no one. I feel nothing important happening here. I don’t feel anything I don’t think I should feel. I don’t go through my paces and practice scenarios in my head. It seems like all I do is reflect on what I have said and done and wonder if I meant any of it. I guess I hope I did. I don’t have much energy for anything, especially lying. So I hope it’s real, or at least a decoy enjoyable enough that no one tries to reach into my dark and stupid interiors. There’s no mysteries or treasures there.

Just me and my starving apathy.

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millennial-star-gazer · 4 years

Text

The Draconic Demon Within: Chapter 4: A Demon’s All-Consuming Rage

The Draconic Demon Within

Genres: Romance, Friendship/Family, Drama/Angst, Hurt/ Comfort, & New Adult Fanfiction

Vera's April 2018 Prompts: Soul, Empyrean, Savage, Memory, Trust, Fear, Unstoppable , Resilient, Supernatural (Implied) Lost (Implied) and Loathing.

Nalu Lovefest 2017 Prompts: Dreams

Nalu Week 2019 Prompts (Implied:) Lost, Curse, Trial, Treasure, Chance and possibly Bare.

Pairing: Nalu/EndLu,( Natsu x Lucy/ E.N.D. x Lucy)

Rating: M for language, steamy and mature adult sexual content (all consensual) in these and future chapters. Reader Direction is advised.(You have been warned!)

Summary: Now faced with the reality of who he is truly is, the son of Igneel must contend with the new darker instincts of his new demonic identity- all while navigating through his ever-growing, intense feelings for a particular celestial wizard. Originally a Submission (semi -au) for Nalu lovefest 2017 (on my previous celestialgeekmage account and now an entry for nalu week 2019 with chapter 3. (Also was on my earliest previous accounts of teamedwardjace/Twishadowhunter in the past. Also part of Vera's April 2018 prompt challenge from fic-writers appreciation on cosmicdragonwizard).

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Chapter 4: A Demon's All- Consuming Rage

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A/N: Hey guys, it's your girl back again with another installment of TTDW! Fun fact: Being temporarily off work for a few weeks due to pandemic has provided some extra free time to edit and posta new chapter for this fic ( which is on account of the temporary closures of public institutions, and public spaces along with non-essential businesses/services in Ontario-the Canadian province I'm from). This isn't to suggest I'm not without fear or concern about the pandemic or potential effects on global infrastructure but at least I'm mostly coping as best as anyone can at this time. Hope you guys are all too. ( A bit more on this in the A/N at the end of this chapter .) Anyway, hope that this chapter and my other fanfics along with those from amazing writers can help you all while stuck at home. All right, that's pretty much my whole spiel for now. Without further ado, here's Chapter 4 of TTDW-Enjoy!

(Note: Scroll down past the read more button/cut for the designated legend menu and actual story content).

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Disclaimer: Fairytail does not belong to me, but to the most honourable Hiro-sensei instead, for whom without this work of love wouldn't be possible.

Read Previous Chapters of TDDW and on platforms here:

(Copy and paste the links into another window if need be)

A. Tumblr

Previous (Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/185917542578/the-draconic-demon-within-chapter-3)

Next (Coming Soon:)

B. Fanfiction (Click Here:) (or here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13113898/1/The-Draconic-Demon-Within-Reupload-from-cosmicdragonwizardaccounts)

C. A03 (Click Here:) (or here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17365061/chapters/40861307)

2. Ongoing Master Post Of All My Writing (Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179665258923/master-fic-rec-post)

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Legend:

Italic: Song Lyrics/Quotes (or flashback dialogue)

Bold: First Person Thoughts

Bolded Italics: Empathized, stylized Word(s) or bloodthirsty fantasies

Bolded Italics (Within and Outside Bracket) including for author's side notes also known as (A/N:) within brackets (though none for side-notes in this chapter ).

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"Your body is full of rage.

Every sinew. It is easy to read.

You speak volumes with a clenched fist."

( Paolo Bacigalupi: The Drowned Cities)

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"Seriously? Luce's alive?

That…. I can't...

A wave of overjoyed relief was washing over Natsu from the spectacular news about his best friend still breathing.

"Hear that Luce?!" He sobbed, not bothering to wipe the moisture from his eyes." You're alive and gonna be okay— Thank God! Really... don't ... know what I'd do without ya…," Scarlet-red eyes remained focused/trained on the face on the motionless angel in his arms.

"Pretty sure the guild and the rest of the people we know would be just as devastated if they lost such an incredible person and wizard . Glad you're okay either way though." Natsu's hands were stroking sweat-plastered strands of Lucy's hair back from her eyes with delicate care .

Really glad she's still in fact alive and kicking…

In that very moment , it was as if the world had fallen away; leaving just the two of them. Nothing else seemed to matter then . Not cold-blooded enemies in the room, or the recent battle just moments before; Not even E.n.d's unnerving metamorphosis. Just a dragon-demon and his most precious star with those subtle breaths, the visible rise and fall of her chest that somehow escaped any kind of major notice before.

Words can't even describe how relieved I am . Digits combed through Lucy's blonde tresses from crown to tip in a physical display of tender affection.

Hmm... Lucy's hair feels really nice. Natsu couldn't help but marvel at texture of her beneath his fingertips .Don't think I've ever stopped to fully appreciate it before .

"Gotta say that your hair feels really nice, Luce." Natsu voiced this innermost thoughts aloud; though his words were coming in soft. ."Smells real amazin' too."

Damn was the appealing fragrance of jasmine with a hint of cyclamen flooding his senses beyond intoxicating."like jasmine and that other flower we saw once— cyclamen, I think. . You've been using a new scented shampoo again, I see. Not that I'm complainin'."

"Psh—Listen to me" Natsu tacked on with a rueful chuckle that was still a bit thick from all that weeping before. " Gettin' all sentimental and crap. Hell... stripper would never even let me live it down if he heard . Still be damn proud of you though just like I am for how well you handled yourself in battle. Why don't we tell him all about it once you're awake and we're out of here?. Bet he'd like that . Till then, the two of us just need to sit tight and figure out our next move, okay?"

Wait ...

The fire demon's hands continued their fond movements- only for blood to freeze in his veins when noticing an unsightly contusion on Lucy's forehead; accented by a small gash just above her brow.

When did this happen? I swear those injuries hadn't there been seconds before .. .

Crimson eyes scanned his best friend's battered frame for further damage in alarm . My God... Natsu's breath caught in his throat at the sight of that line of discolorations on her legs . Not to mention all those scratches along with the small gash peeking out through the tattered remains of Lucy's Star dress .

"Oh Luce..." He sighed, remorseful voice breaking on her name. "Can see that you're in pretty rough shape right now. I'm so sorry. Honestly don't know how or why you had a delayed reaction to all the damage. But this wouldn't have happened if I only had grabbed you and run or got your spirits to transport you to their world, Hell— Maybe we could've both escaped and I could've helped kept you safe while figuring out this new demon form means for us together. Anyways, time to put pressure on your wound."

A hand tore a loose piece of fabric to apply pressure on the hemorrhaging wound. "See? You'll be okay . Gonnal get ya' all fixed up and good as new in no time ."

Damn Luce stills looks like an angel to me, Natsu mused in reverent admiration . Even with those injuries...

"Ooh- how cute!" Jackal's dervisie voice cut through the other demon’s reverie; whose arms automatically protectively tightened around Lucy's frame out of fierce instinct-automatic without a second though. Not to mention those two pair of eyes he could sense that set him on edge."

"Aw Damn." Jackal broke in again with a gleeful taunt that bordered on sadistic."That poor,pretty girl of you is covered in ugly bruises and scratches, Dragneel."

That little ...

Natsu's head automatically snapped around to meet Jackal with a baleful snarl. Damn was that all that black rage roaring in his veins all too consuming.

"There's that growling again" Jackal cackled, clearly unfazed at by the alpha demon's bared canines ." Bared fangs and what not. Such a shame what happened to Blondie here , or is it? You really did a number on her, huh Tempester?"

"Huh," Tempester mused, bland disinterest colouring his tone."it seems I did . Kind of forgot that my curses can sometimes have o delayed side effects on people . Who knows? That pathetic wrench might even have internal bleeding.

"You goddamned bastard!" The flame- eater raged, fury boiling over. "Lucy ain't pathetic or some kind of toy to play with ... God.. All those injuries… are you fault and . I swear that You're both gonna pay for what you did to her!"

"Oh-You think so?" Jackal scoffed with let out another infantilizing laugh —beyond infuriating .

"Someone's rattled." Tempster pointed out, listless eyes trained on the stone-brick wall ahead. "Unfortunate."

"You don't say," Jackal deadpanned, with a disdainful roll of the eyes ."But Seriously Though , E.N.D, do you even hear yourself? .I mean getting all riled up over a human girl in that way —talk about pathetic. Sure said girl is extremely beautiful with a killer bod and feisty personality to boot—I'll give you that. But is she worth losing your cool over or fraternizing with? I don't think so and neither should you . God knows all that pent up rage and aggression would be far more suited for another cause. Not to mention, you'd better off without her life tainting your judgement and hindering your full potential as the most powerful of all etherious. So let's resolve this, shall we? Hand over the celestial wizard and I'll gladly dispose of her for you . Sound good?"

" 'Sound good?'Sound Good?!’ Are you kidding me?"!

Good God did those last words only serve to incense the snarling dragon further.

" There's no way in hell I'm gonna give Lucy up or let either of you touch her!"

"Come on Dragneel-be reasonable."

"No-rot in hell!"

"Oh honestly E.N.D.-"

"My name is Natsu!"

"Well okay then, Natsu— Just calm down ." Jackal's couldn't seem to resist reprimanding the fire demon; as if he were some errant child pitching a fit ."You're being ridiculous. Anyways, tell you what. I promise to make her death as qui-"

"Shut up!"

" Quick and mostly painless..."

"I said shut up!" En.d's voice rose to an ear-splitting roar that could've struck terror into the hearts of the gods themselves. "Try anything on her and I swear I'll kill you!"

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To Be Continued

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A/N: Well that's Chapter 4 folks- hope you enjoyed! Now a bit more about the pandemic situation in Ontario . Like many other provinces and countries around the world,, the government of Ontario has opted to shut down/ temporarily close non-essential services, businesses, public spaces and institutions to help curb the spread of the virus for a few weeks (or more) before spring break. Such institutions include all schools and childcare centres/ services in those settings which applies to the childcare company I'm currently employed with. You know on account of most of their centres and programs being based in public schools. (Independently-run Daycares also remain closed. And yes i'm a ECE by trade for any who were wondering or didn't already). Schools and child cares were tentatively scheduled to reopen after April 5th; though the closures have been extended for another month (according to Doug Ford (the premier/leader of Ontario). Not ideal but at least it gives me some extra time for me to work on things alongside my writing(i.e editing upcoming chapters for fics and WIPS). All right folks, that's all I have to say on that subject.

As usual, please feel free to let me know what you think by leaving a comment/review , through a reblog or by any other means. Be sure to check out the rest of my writing while staying tuned for future updates of my fics and new projects along the way! (Links above, in the navigation and in bio If on tumblr . Also on fanfiction.) Anyway, take care and stay safe! Ta ta for now!

#fairytail #ft fanfics #nalu #endlu #natsu x lucy #natsu dragneel #etherious natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #future lucy dragneel #the draconic demon within #my writing #millennial stargazer writes #millennial star gazer #please reblog

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lloydskywalkers · 5 years

Text

n stands for neutral

So the trend is to just kill everyone with angst today, huh? Huh? It’s not like I need love and happiness in my life anyways-

“I can’t believe this.”

“You really should’ve seen it coming.”

“From everyone else, maybe, but from you? I trusted you, Kai.”

“Lloyd—“

“You were supposed to be my brother!”

(Haha psYCH this isn’t even angst, somebody’s gotta bring balance to the force so here is!! totally self-indulgent bros being idiots, aka Kai tries to teach Lloyd how to drive, as inspired by treasured classic Disney Channel show The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.)

“I can’t believe this.”

“You really should’ve seen it coming.”

“From everyone else, maybe, but from you? I trusted you, Kai.”

“Lloyd—“

“You were supposed to be my brother!”

“For the love of—“ Kai turns around in the driver’s seat, staring at Lloyd where he’s (very much against his will) sitting in the passenger’s seat with his knees pulled up to his chest. “Are you seriously quoting Star Wars at me right now?”

“You tell me, Anakin Mc-Scarface, you traitor.”

Kai rubs a hand across his face, counting to three under his breath. “You are the worst drama queen, you know that, right.”

Lloyd folds his arms across his chest, looking grumpier than the wet cat Kai had rescued from a drainage flood the other day. “Takes one to know one,” Lloyd mutters.

“Look, I’m still serious about picking up that cookie cake, promise,” Kai says, wincing a bit at the reminder that he has, technically, stabbed Lloyd in the back, just a tiny bit. “Driving practice is just a stop on the way.”

Lloyd shoots him one of those I’m-Gonna-Flaunt-My-Overlord-Heritage looks, the one that could strip paint from a wall.

“I don’t need a stupid driver’s license.”

“Yes, you do!” Kai exclaims, throwing his hand up in the air. “What are you gonna do if you need to get somewhere? What are you gonna do if you get pulled over?”

Lloyd’s lip juts out stubbornly. “I’m gonna light the car on fire and fly away on a dregon.”

Kai wonders briefly if this is how Nya feels. “You’re the worst gremlin of a brother I’ve ever had.”

“And you’re a stir-fried ice cream head.”

“I should’ve let you burn in the fire temple,” Kai mutters, as he pulls the car into a mostly-empty parking lot.

“But you didn’t,” Lloyd says, a bit more cheerfully.

“A tragic mistake, really,” Kai sighs.

“Yeah,” Lloyd says, propping his elbows up on the armrest of Kai’s seat and grinning at him. “Just think — then you could’ve been the green ninja right now. Blew your chance.”

“It might not be too late,” Kai says, side-eyeing him. “I could still off you and steal the green gi, you know.”

Lloyd snorts. “Yeah, then you could give the motivational team speeches—“

“You haven’t set a super high bar—“

“—and you get to fend off whatever rabid ex-student of Sensei Wu comes by next week—“

“On second thought—“

“—and you’d get Garmadon for a dad—“

“No I wouldn’t!”

“Well you’d have to see him all the time, at least—“

“Well that’s the nail in the coffin, there.”

Lloyd giggles, falling back in his seat. “As if you could defeat me anyways,” he says, smugly.

“Oh yeah?” Kai says, pulling the car into one of the vacant parking spots (not that it matters, the entire lot is empty save for one car in the corner, but you know, lessons). “How about this: I’ll trade you five cookie cakes for the green gi—“

“Done.”

Kai blinks, his hand pausing on the gear shift as he shifts it into park. “Seriously? That’s it?”

“I’d probably trade it for one,” Lloyd says, messing absently with the string on his hoodie. “Cookies are a way better trade off.”

Kai has words for that, but he desists. The Preeminent was only a few months ago, after all, and not that long ago Lloyd had a greasy emo jerk possess him because he was salty that he wasn’t the chosen one.

Kai suppresses a snort. After meeting the guy, he honestly wonders why anyone was even surprised—

Anyways. Rant aside, Kai is on a mission here, and he’d promised Nya and the guys he’d have Lloyd driving like a pro when he came back. In hindsight, this was probably too big a promise on Kai’s part.

“Do I have to?” Lloyd complains, as Kai unbuckles his seatbelt and gestures for them to switch places. “We drive mechs, Kai, why do I even need to know how to drive a car?”

“Because,” Kai says, insistently. “This is a normal person check box. If you ever want to have a life outside of obsessive ninja training and world-saving, you gotta at least know how to parallel park.”

“You don’t even know how to parallel park,” Lloyd accuses.

Kai bristles. “Just because I hit another car once—“

“Twice.”

“—twice, doesn’t mean I haven’t parallel parked right before!”

“Sure,” Lloyd says, in a voice that sounds way too much like Kai’s own snarky skepticism, oh geez, has he created a monster when he wasn’t looking—

No, Kai decides, calming himself. He’s been nothing but a stellar role model, of course.

“Anyways, it’s an important part of growing up,” Kai says sagely, like the absolutely amazing older brother he is. “You’ve only got a certain number of important life events, and you already steamrolled past becoming a teen. We gotta treasure the rest. Getting your license, being old enough to vote, having alcohol for the first time—“

“Actually, I already had alcohol for the first time,” Lloyd corrects him.

“…what.”

“Yeah,” Lloyd says, wrinkling his nose. “When Morro possessed me he took this shot or something, it was super gross — wait, Kai, where are you going? Kai, get back in the car!”

“—find a way to the Departed Realm myself, and then I’ll show him where he can stick his shot glass—“

“Kai, please—“

“—shove his ugly emo head in a blender—“

“Kai, people are watching us!”

******

After a good ten minutes of Lloyd coaching Kai through calming exercises, and a bad five minutes of Lloyd dragging Kai by the hair back into the car before he tries his hand at necromancy, Kai finally convinces Lloyd to get into the driver’s seat.

This is, unfortunately, the easy part.

“Okay,” Kai says, pointing to the gear shift. “These here are super important, ‘cause if you put it in the wrong one, you’ll shoot backwards on accident.”

Lloyd snorts. “Speaking from experience?”

Kai shoots him a look. “Just listen, okay?”

Lloyd shrugs, but he doesn’t say anything else. Kai shakes his head. “Anyways, like I was saying — this is an automatic car, so it’s easier than stick shift, but you still gotta pay attention to the gear shift. It’s in park right now, which is the P, see?” Kai taps the transmission. “That means it won’t move, even if you hit the gas. If you want to move, you shift it into drive, which is D, right here. The R is for reverse, which is if you wanna go backwards. N is for neutral, which is pretty pointless I guess. And the L is for low, which means, uh….low,” Kai finishes awkwardly. Huh, maybe Nya should have taken this one…

He shakes that off and directs his attention back to Lloyd. “You got all that?”

Lloyd, who has been tuning him out for the last five minutes in favor of watching the little bee that’s outside their window buzz around the antenna, quickly yanks his attention back to Kai, trying to seem like he’s been listening like a diligent little brother the whole time.

“Yes. Totally got it. The PRDNL. Good to go.”

Kai narrows his eyes at him. “Then what’s the P stand for?”

Lloyd rolls his eyes. “Park, duh.”

“And the N?” Kai says, shrewdly.

“Uh…” Lloyd tries not to sweat. “Never hit…another car?”

Kai thunks his head against the glove compartment. “You’re not even gonna make into the car for the test,” he groans.

“It’s not my fault it’s so boring!” Lloyd defends. “All this stuff about the park and reverse and braking is stupid—“

“Really, the brakes are stupid?”

“You know what I mean!” Lloyd huffs, slouching down in the seat. “I don’t even want to be here.”

“Look,” Kai says, trying his very best not to make a crack about the five year-old that Lloyd is. “If you stop whining about it, I’ll make cookies with you when we get home.”

Lloyd eyes him, looking slightly more receptive. “Chocolate chip?”

“I was actually thinking oatmeal raisin this time, change it up a bit—“

Lloyd gags. “Oatmeal raisin?” he repeats, scandalized. “You’d rather have oatmeal raisin cookies than chocolate chip? Who are you, satan?”

“Yes,” Kai says, flatly. “I’m the devil incarnate.”

“The driving devil—“

“You know what, just go ahead and start driving,” Kai says, grinding his palms in his eyes. “You know which is brakes and which is the gas, right?”

“Obviously,” Lloyd rolls his eyes. “Get ready for the ultimate driving master, heh.”

“I can’t believe I helped raise you.”

“Psh, you were lucky to,” Lloyd says. Kai shakes his head, grinning against his better will. Lloyd falls quiet, and Kai watches him expectantly.

Then watches him expectantly for another minute.

“You can drive now.”

“…”

“…Lloyd.”

“…”

“Lloyd, you can drive.”

Lloyd remains frozen at the steering wheel, gripping it hard enough to creak. “Um.”

Kai stares at him. “Lloyd?”

“I’m going,” Lloyd says, tightly. “Just. Gimme a sec.”

Kai blinks, staring at him another minute. Lloyd makes no move, and the car doesn’t either, quietly puttering away in park.

Kai gestures to the gear shift. “Just start with changing the gear—“

“I know,” Lloyd grits out. “Stop putting so much pressure on me.”

“Pressure, I’m not even—“ Kai cuts off, trying not to face-palm. Okay, new tactic. “Just…imagine the road is Morro’s face,” Kai suggests.

Lloyd blinks. “What?”

“Imagine the road is Morro,” Kai repeats. “And you’re, uh, running him over if you drive.”

Lloyd turns this over in his head, the epiphany dawning on his face. “You’re right,” he says, his voice hushed. “If I knew how to drive, I could run him over.”

“Well yeah, I mean, if he wasn’t already dead, and that’s not quite the point I was going for there, but—“

“I changed my mind,” Lloyd says, a look of hellish glee in his eyes. “I like driving.”

Uh-oh.

“Don’t get carried away,” Kai says, sweating. “Here, just take it slow—“

Lloyd throws the car into drive, and— oof, there’s the gas, he was paying attention after all, apparently.

“Okay, that was a little rough, but so far, so — um, Lloyd?” Kai says, weakly. “Lloyd, you might wanna — you might wanna slow down a bit—“

“That would defeat the purpose,” Lloyd says, resolutely turning the steering wheel as they pick up speed.

Kai looks at him in alarm. “The purpose?”

A grin spreads across Lloyd’s face that looks way too much like it belongs on Garmadon’s face. “Of running Morro over.”

“Morro is hypothetical, Lloyd—!”

“I know, but—“ Lloyd pauses, a slight look of panic crossing his face. Kai follows his line of vision, and realizes that they’re now headed in the direction of the lone car in the lot with them.

“Uh, which one was the brakes again?”

Kai stares at him in disbelief. “The left.”

“The left what?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“The left what, Kai?!”

“The left pedal, Lloyd, hit it, hit it — no, with your foot, you idiot—“

As it turns out, they’re both idiots, as no one thinks to turn the wheel in time.

******

“Can I say a bad word.”

“No.”

“Rats.”

“I can’t believe this,” Kai moans. “There is literally one. One single car in this parking lot, and you still managed to hit it.”

“I’m going to prison,” Lloyd says sadly, surveying the two wrecked cars, Sensei’s old rented car neatly smashed into the considerably more expensive sports car, crushing the side in.

At least neither of them got hurt, Kai thinks, dully. Property damage was only kept to a few couple thousand dollars this time, that’s…probably a record for him and Lloyd, actually.

It’s still not good, but Kai is nothing if not a loyal brother, and if Lloyd goes down to his own inability to touch a car without wrecking it, he’ll go down with him. But preferably neither of them are going down, Kai likes living life outside prison.

“No, you aren’t,” Kai says, shaking his head and rising in determination. “You’re too young to go to prison.”

“Yeah, I haven’t even voted yet.”

“Cut the sass or I’ll make prison look like a playground next time I’m on training with you,” Kai says, tightly. “Look, we’re just gonna—“

There’s a slam from the door of the building near them, and Kai hears voices sound from around the corner. Lloyd takes a careful step behind him, going pale.

“Ah,” Kai says. “Okay!” he claps his hands together. “Lloyd, this next lesson is called hit and run, which is terrible and bad and you should never do, ever, however—“ Heavy footsteps round the corner. “Desperate times!” Kai yelps, grabbing Lloyd by the arm and hauling them both into a sprint. “Run for it!”

******

“Weren’t Kai and Lloyd supposed to be back by now?”

Nya looks up from her book, meeting Zane’s concerned expression. “They’re probably just taking their time,” she says. “Lloyd didn’t look super enthusiastic about driving.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Zane says, not looking entirely reassured. Nya can’t blame him — they’re trusting their only normal car into the hands of Kai and Lloyd, the odds aren’t exactly great.

Zane shifts, making to stand. “Perhaps I should check on—“

The heavy sound of a dragon landing on the deck echoes from the ceiling, and Nya gives a tiny sigh of relief as twin footsteps echo across the deck, heading down for the cabin. Both her and Zane glance at the door as it swings open — and blink. Kai and Lloyd look fairly cheerful, which probably has something to do with the three large boxes from the Great Ninjago Cookie Factory Lloyd’s balancing in his arms, and the half-eaten slice he’s got stuffed in his mouth.

“How’d driving go?” Nya asks, eyeing the boxes shrewdly. She’s already debating how difficult it’s going to be to wrestle those from Lloyd before he makes himself sick, chances slim to none.

“It went okay,” Kai shrugs, hanging up his jacket. “Lloyd knows the gear shifts now.”

“Yeah,” Lloyd says, through a mouthful of cookie. “The PRDNL.”

“Oh,” Zane says, staring at them. “That’s good. Did you bring the keys back?”

“Yup,” Kai says, tossing Zane the key ring. Nya relaxes, exchanging relieved glances with Zane. Ah well, she sighs to herself. Its not that she’s unhappy to be wrong about her brothers’ capability, but she’d really thought they might end up—

“By the way, the car’s in downtown Ninjago,” Kai says quickly, placing his hands on Lloyd’s back and shoving. “It mightbealittlewrecked too but we gotta go, training awaits, go Lloyd go—“

Before Nya can blink, Kai’s shoved Lloyd down the hall, the two sprinting away as Lloyd cackles. Zane gives a tiny, quiet sigh of utter despair.

Horrible as she feels, because poor Zane and his dejected expression, he doesn’t deserve this…but Nya can’t help the tiny smile of satisfaction that spreads across her face. Ha. Cole’s losing twenty bucks to her after all.

#lego ninjago #ninjago #lloyd garmadon #kai smith #dont kill me for the whiplash here i couldnt help it #my fic

260 notes · View notes

psh-yeah · 5 years

Text

Concept

Everybody knows the classic Treasure Chest Mimic (TCM). Hungry chesty boi that idiot adventurers stick their hands into because they can't resist the lure of treasure.

BUT

what if the Mimic was actually the thing inside of the chest? The chest is actually just there because this necklace has fangs and totally vored the last person who put it on, and their wise friend decided to put it in a box so that terrible fate wouldn't happen upon someone else.

Now scale that up a bit, and you're back to your traditional TCM. Your adventurers are hiking through godforsaken cave #47, and what do they find, but a treasure chest locked inside a big metal cage. All the more tempting, right?

But that's not the point here. The point is, even after subjecting them to the Hungry Necklace one week, and the caged TCM the next, I bet my hat that you could lead your players to a whole Stephen King's Under the Dome type situation over the next hill, and they will GLADLY break in, only to find themselves trapped in an enclosure full of House Sized fucking Mimics.

This has been an open-source TPK brought to you by psh-yeah studios; do with it what you will 😘

#dnd #tpk #mimic #enjoy

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tastes-like-ciel · 5 years

Note

i would like to request Zinniashipping with 117 please :D

Soft girlfriends? Soft girlfriends! ouo

The line isn’t actually used in this, btw, but it’s the whole purpose of the fic so I hope that’s okay.

117. “Can I do your hair?”

The sky outside the city is a quiet, tranquil ocean painted in baby blues and voluminous whites. The sun is a beacon of fresh paint and shines rays of golden warmth down on the grassy field beneath her, warming her bare legs and making messy tresses of rosy taupe glow like an angel’s wings. It’s almost too perfect to be real and Aoi wonders, briefly, if perhaps it isn’t. She’s used to digital overlays, tall buildings scraping against the sky, and D-Boarders swimming in the digital current. In the city, it’s easy to miss the way the sky shifts and changes with the movement of the sun, but out here, in the countryside, the sky goes on and on, forever and ever. It’s like a living painting, shifting and moving with the thrum of life and breathing the scent of freedom into her lungs. She doesn’t quite know what else to do but stare up through the tree branches in quiet awe, shoulders relaxed against the tree bark as all her worries are carried away into the breeze.

“Told you skipping was a good idea~” comes a sleepy voice below her and Aoi’s lips slip into a tiny smile.

Aside from the sleepy voice, the only other sounds that touch her ears is the gentle rustling of the canopy of leaves above her as the wind brushes past, carefully, like nature itself fears breaking their serenity to be an unforgivable sin. It’s peaceful out here in a way an artificial landscape could never be and Aoi is glad for it, happy the chance to run away together for a day was presented to her. There’s no machinery, no duelists, no Link VRAINS, no school. Just her and the warm weight settled into her lap as Miyu sighs dreamily, melting like gooey taffy as Aoi runs fingers through her soft hair.

“My brother will have a fit if he finds out.” she points out but doesn’t particularly feel worried about it. Her eyes leave the sky and turn down to the head in her lap. “And when he finds out you’re to blame…”

He’ll probably huff, shake his head, and state his disappointment for her skipping classes, but ultimately would find amusement in it. It’s not like this is the first time Aoi’s ever skipped class and while Akira was always unhappy about it, somehow, she thinks he’d be happy she’s skipping for normal teenager reasons rather than to help fight a war.

Plus, he does actually like Miyu. Miyu is very likable, after all.

“Psh. He likes me.” Miyu says with an air of sleepy confidence and snuggles further into Aoi’s lap, arms loosely winding around Aoi’s hips in a greedy hug. “‘Sides, we can always just live together if it’s such a problem. Get an apartment together and a cat and a plant and, you know…uh.”

Miyu takes a moment to hum in uncertainty and scrunches up her nose in thought. It’s a cute expression and Aoi can feel her smile growing the longer she watches Miyu think. She’s beautiful like this, she can’t help but muse to herself, all sprawled across the grass and Aoi’s legs like a great dragon protecting its treasure horde. It makes a feeling spread throughout her body and it’s something good and warm and sweet like fresh honey.

Happiness, she decides. This warmth in her chest and flutter in her heart must be what true happiness feels like. Miyu is happiness and happiness is Miyu. It makes sense and she wishes, for just a moment, that time would stand still and they could stay like this, under this tree with the sun high in the sky, forever and ever.

“Nn…what’s the word? Starts with an e…”

Miyu’s thinking out loud now and Aoi takes a moment to ponder over it herself. Eventually, a word Miyu has said before comes to mind. So she voices it, a bit hesitant.

“Elope?”

Miyu’s eyes brighten with a glossy shimmer of joy. “That’s the word!”

Miyu grins and Aoi can’t help the small titter that leaves her at it.

“We’ll elope!” Miyu continues. “There’s plenty of cities we could go to… I heard Maiami City is a pretty great place to live and there’s this place called Heartland that’s super nice. And there’s always Tokyo!”

“I think we can just live together normally without eloping.” Aoi says, amused. “You said it yourself, my brother likes you and he’s fine with us being together.”

Miyu pouts just a little. “True, true…but eloping is more fun~ So let’s just go buy a plant and elope. To Tokyo.”

“We can’t elope and Tokyo is too far away.”

“Maiami City then.”

“Miyu.”

Miyu gives a dramatic sigh before sluggishly untangling herself from around Aoi and sitting up, cheeks puffing as she pouts. She takes a moment to stretch herself out before letting out a low whine.

“Nnn, fiiiine.” she concedes but then turns suddenly with a cheeky grin. “That just means I’ll have to do things properly and buy you a ring for real this time~”

Aoi’s cheeks flush as Miyu leans in and presses a kiss to her cheek, cat-like expression smug.

“Then we can go to Tokyo~”

“We’re not going to Tokyo.”

“Aw…”

#ask prompts #Zinniashipping #YuGiOh VRAINS #VRAINS #Sery writes a thing #fic #Anonymous #I went through a lot of trouble just to find a color description for Miyu's hair haha #basically I color picked and did an extensive search of the HEX color code and lo and behold #i found rosy taupe

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janetbrown711 · 6 years

Note

“Can I stay the night?” selena and hazel

“Can I stay the night?” Hazel gave her father puppy dog eyes as he was about to pick her up from hanging out with her favorite cousin Selena. Huey glanced at Louie in the doorway behind Selena.“We handle one more,” Louie shrugged. Huey chuckled and shook his head."Alright then,“ Huey said as Hazel gave him a big hug.“Thank you thank you thank you!” she smiled. Huey chuckled and hugged back before she broke the hug and ran back into the house.“She better be in bed by seven Louie,” Huey pointed at his little brother, who rolled his eyes."Still such a stick in the mud. Who are you? Uncle Donald?” Louie joked. Huey couldn’t help but laugh a little too.“I am serious though. She has Junior Woodchuck stuff tomorrow,” Huey said. Louie nodded."Yeah yeah, we’ll give her food and sunlight and all that jazz. See you later,” Louie said.“Right. See you,” Huey walked away.“Alright then… I’ll be in my room if you two need me,” Louie said to the girls. Hazel and Selena nodded.“We’ll be good,” Selena said, “as long as Miles stays out. No boys aloud,” she crossed her arms. Louie chuckled and shook his head."Oh boy. I’ll be sure to tell him,” Louie ruffled her hair and walked away. Hazel watched him go.“Isn’t that a little mean?” Hazel asked.“Maybe, but this is speciallllll,” Selena grabbed her cousins hand and dragged her into her room, “you don’t ever spend the night.”"Yeah,” Hazel smiled and sat down on her large bed.“So what do you wanna do,” Selena plopped down next to her and asked.“O-oh well I uh…” she looked around at all of the dolls and things left over from when they had played together earlier. Hazel shrugged, “I dunno. Maybe just talk?”“I guesssss…. But can we do it over tea?” Selena smirked.“Sure,” Hazel chuckled. Quickly, Selena got out a Grey tub full of tiaras, feathered boas, a tea set, and tutus of all kinds. Hazel grabbed a purple skirt, pink tiara, and a white tea cup with red roses while Selena grabbed a blue boa and skirt, a silver tiara, and a pink tea cup. She also grabbed a blanket off her bed and set it on the ground to be used as a mat for their ‘tea party’. Hazel then grabbed the rest of the tea set and set it all up on the ground next to them.“So… I have a question,” Selena ‘poured’ herself a cup of tea."Okayyyy,” Hazel said and waited for her to be done. “Does Uncle Huey only wear red? Or is that just a coinc… Co- coincidian… Whatever the word is,” Selena didn’t know the word.“Coinicidance? I uh…” Hazel thought for a moment, “wait… You might be right. I think he always has at least a little bit of red. I have never- how could I never have noticed that,” Hazel paused what she was doing.“Huh…” Selena slowly nodded.“Well does Louie only wear green?” Hazel asked.“Psh, don’t be-… Wait…” Selena silently realized that it also applied to her dad, and most likely Uncle Dewey as well.Why did they always wear the same colors? Was that just… A thing that happens? Why did it take so long to notice???“Well, at least I know for a fact Aunt Lena doesn’t have a specific color,” Selena said.“I guess that’s true, if you don’t count heft hair dye. Its always been blue,” Hazel pointed out.“Yeah, but that’s like… Solid fact. I doubt she’d ever change it. Its the same color as her magic. That’s what makes it cool,” she said. Hazel nodded in agreement.“I guess,” Hazel silently ‘drank’ from her tea cup, honestly still confused at their revelation. She’d have to ask Uncle Donald or someone for clarification.“Well anyway, back to being queens,” Selena lifted her cup, pinky extended of course, “Let us now clink in hopes of… I dunno… What to do you want to happen right now?” Selena asked.“I um… I guess for more nights like these,” the girls laughed.“Alright then, let us now clink in hopes for more sleepovers,” The girls clinked their cups together and made the loudest, most obnoxious slurping sounds they could, which made each other laugh, when suddenly, two ducks dressed as pirates burst through the door and started shooting darts.“yar har har har! Tis I! Captain- er… Not-Miles! I’ve come for ye treasure!” Miles said with a fake pirate voice. Louie was behind and was still firing darts.“Miles-”“You’ll never take us alive Captain!” Hazel interrupted her cousin and dove under the bed.“It’d be best if ye went there too princess,” Miles said. “That’s queen, thank you very much,” Selena huffed and glanced at her father, who motioned for her to. She silently groaned and dove under the bed as well. “pst,” Hazel whispered, “Where do you keep your dart guns? We could use it and fight back."“Why? Just let him take whatever so they can leave us alone,” Selena huffed again. “Because… it’s… fun?” Hazel shrugged, “Isn’t that what siblings are for? To play games with?” “Maybe? Ugh, I don’t know,” Selena groaned and put her head down. Hazel stayed quiet as Miles continued shouting orders to Louie on how to steal the loot. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” she said. “Okay, so where do you keep em?” Hazel asked. “Over in that box over there,” Selena pointed to the box. Hazel nodded and the pair army crawled over.“Yar har har! Me and me partner are successful in stealin all yeer loot! Har dee har har!” Miles laughed, “Now we be off!” he shouted. He looked up at his dad and elbowed him. “Make a pirate sound,” he said.“Yar,” Louie chuckled. “Not so fast!” Selena popped up while Hazel busted open the box’s lid.“What de ye want now?” Miles spun to face his sister.“Our tea back!” Hazel shouted and armed her cousin with a loaded dart gun. Miles’ face dropped.“Retreat!” Miles commanded. Louie grabbed the sack full of the stuff they ‘stole’ and the pirates ran out of the room. Hazel grabbed her own dart gun and the girls chased after. “Give us our tea set back!” Selena shouted and fired one on Miles’ hat. “Nevarrrrrrr!” He shouted and ran even faster. Hazel stayed quiet and just kept firing. “Hold up. You keep chasing, I got myself a plan B,” Selena gestured up the wall. Hazel nodded, really confused. “Just… keep going. I’ll catch up,” Selena said. Hazel nodded again and caught up with Miles, who had ended up cornering himself against a wall. Goodness knows where Louie had went. “Give it up Captain,” she pointed the dart gun at him.“I don’t have it yeer highness,” Miles bowed dramatically.“Don’t lie,” she stepped forward.“I don’t!” he put his hands in the air. Hazel lowered her gun and observed the area. The sack was nowhere to be found."Well where is it then?” She asked. “My parrrrtnarrrr has it yar har har!” Miles smirked. “dang it!” Hazel spun around and ran the other direction, where she ended up seeing Selena pinning her father down to the ground. “What- how the- what the????” Hazel observed the scene with confusion. “Crawled through the air vents,” Selena shrugged, “The sack is in the corner. You should secure it before you know who gets it.“rrrright…. but… how’d you do that????” Hazel gestured to her uncle. “Mom has taught me one or two things when she’s not gone,” Selena shrugged. Hazel slowly nodded and grabbed the sack.“Now… are you ready to surrender?” Selena pointed the dart gun at his face. "No!” Miles shouted as he ran down the hall. Selena aimed her dart gun and shot him in the chest. “Boom. I win,” she smirked and got off her dad. Louie chuckled and dusted himself off. “You know, you are a lot like your mom,” He ruffled Selena’s hair.“heh,” she said when all of the sudden the garage rumbled.“Mommy!” Miles ran to the garage as the door swung open. “Speak of the devil,” Louie chuckled.“What the heck happened in here?” Webby slowly walked into the room, seeing darts everywhere. “I’m a pirate mommy!” Miles tugged on her sleeve. “Oh are you now? Land or sea?” She asked. Miles paused."There’s more than just sea?” Miles asked.“Oh yes,” Louie and Webby exchanged a look. “A-aunt Webby… h-hi,” Hazel gave a small wave."Oh hey Hazel. What are you doing here?” Webby asked.“I-i uh…” Hazel fumbled.“She’s staying the night!” Miles grinned. "Ah, well isn't that nice? Its a pleasure to have you," Webby smiled at Hazel, which made her look at the ground. Hazel want quite used to seeing her aunt all too often, so she was still a bit shy. "And everything is alright?" Webby asked her husband in a hushed tone."Yes yes, everything is fine. She just wanted to stay over. No biggie," Louie brushed it off. "Well, I guess... Well you four have fun. I got just a little more work to do. I'll be in my office if you need me," Webby patted Miles and Selena's before she walked away. "And off she goes," Selena commented. Hazel glanced at her cousin, but said nothing. Louie sighed. "Maybe we should clean up and call it s night," he said. The girls nodded, but Miles strongly protested. "I don't wanna stop! I wanna playyyyyy," he huffed. "Miles, it is past your bedtime. Youre tired," Louie took his pirate hat, "we can continue tomorrow.""Ugh, fiiiiiine," Miles huffed and walked away in defeat. "Now as for you two, you can stay up as long as youre quiet," Louie said. Selena grinned."Thanks dad," she hugged him. Louie smiled tiredly and hugged back while Hazel kicked the ground. "C'mon," Selena grabbed her cousins hand and they went back to her room. Selena flopped onto the bed. "So now what do you wanna do?""Sleep actually sounds kinda nice," Hazel shrugged. "Sleep? Its barely eight," Selena pointed out. "That's past my bed time," Hazel realized. "What? Your bed time is seven? That's wayyyy early," Selena said. "Well Dad always said that 'good girls don't complain about bedtimes' and I do always feel better when I go to sleep early and the JWG says that 'early to bed and early to rise makes a man stronger and wise' or something like that," Hazel said. "Man, you are such a rule follower," Selena shook her head. "Y-yeah..." Hazel itched her arm. "I guess we can sleep though," Selena scooted over and Hazel turned off the lights before she lied down next to her, and it was a matter of seconds before both girls had passed out completely into a good nights rest.

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ashenpages · 6 years

Text

Not Interested

“Wait, FOR REAL?!” Ryuji’s mouth hung open as he traded looking between Futaba and Yusuke. Futaba kept typing on her laptop, and Yusuke’s pencil didn’t leave the paper of his sketchbook.

It’s like neither of them thought anything of dropping the mind blowing, world altering information that Ann and Makoto were dating.

“Hm?” Yusuke blinked up from his sketchbook, as if surprised that Ryuji needed further explanation. “Oh...yes. Apologies, I thought you were aware of the situation.”

“It’s not like it’s been hard to pick up on.” Futaba rolled her eyes. “They’re being all gooey and romantic.”

Yusuke laughed softly and turned to face her. “Is it causing problems for you, Futaba?”

“God, no, it’s adorable. They’re adorable. I just won’t ever get it, you know?”

Yusuke nodded solemnly and Ryuji’s eyebrows crushed together. What the heck were these two talking about? “Wait...” He aimed a look at Futaba. “Why not?”

“I’m aromantic, Ryuji.”

Ryuji’s eyebrows furrowed even more in confusion. “A romantic? Wouldn’t that mean you’d get it more than normal people?”

Yusuke shook his head gently and chuckled as if laughing to himself. “No, Ryuji, not a romantic. Aromantic. It means that she doesn’t experience romantic attraction the way that you might.”

“Might?” Ryuji squeaked.

“In any case,” Futaba said over the clicking of the keys on her keyboard. “It means the intricacies of Ann and Makoto’s lovey-dovey routine can get a little...complex for me.”

“I thought...” Ryuji swallowed, trying to process this new information. “I thought you had a crush on Akira?”

Futaba scoffed in a succession of five different sounds. “As if. He’s my brother, you meat-head.”

“To be fair,” Yusuke said. “Ryuji originally thought that my reluctance to give up on having Ann model for me had something to do with sexual attraction.”

Futaba burst out laughing. Ryuji bit his lip and swallowed, afraid to ask his next question but knowing he had to if he ever wanted closure. “Why’s this funny?”

Futaba threw her hand over the top of her laptop, gesturing to Yusuke. “He’s asexual!”

Ryuji threw his arms up and out. “You’re asexual?”

Yusuke blinked slowly, clearly surprised by Ryuji’s reaction. “You didn’t know?”

Futaba cackled from her corner of the hideout, holding her stomach. She fell over on the couch and continued laughing while Ryuji gaped, blinked, and tried to process everything he had just learned.

“Ann and Makoto are dating...” He pointed to Futaba. “You don’t experience romantic attraction.” He moved his finger to Yusuke. “And you...don’t...want to have sex?” His pitch went up at the end of his question. He knew a little about asexuality, but not a lot. He’d never known someone that was that way before. Or, he did – but he hadn’t known they were that way! How much of Yusuke was just Yusuke being Yusuke, and how much of it was asexuality?

Yusuke grimaced. “It’s a bit more nuanced than that. I don’t experience sexual attraction, yes, but I am not sex-repulsed.”

“So, you...do want to have sex then?”

Futaba’s laughing took on a new wind, and Yusuke sighed. “I could be interested in having sexual relations with a partner that I was very much in love with and wanted to be close to, yes. I may even enjoy it. The few times I’ve explored masturbation it has been pleasureable, so – ”

Ryuji threw his hands up. “Okay, okay! Cool!” He sighed and rubbed his neck. “Man, I had no idea...”

Yusuke made a face. “Truly?”

Futaba laughed so hard she snorted. “Hahaha! Wow, Ryuji! You really haven’t been paying attention.”

“Guess it’s just me and Akira left, huh?”

“Akira...” Futaba said through her laughter. “Akira’s gay.”

Ryuji froze. “What?”

Yusuke gave Ryuji a companionable smile. “And you’ve exhibited a lot of pan and demisexual tendencies yourself, Ryuji.”

Ryuji’s brain got stuck on that thought. What did that mean? He could...he could like anyone? And would only like them if...if... “What does demisexual mean?”

“It means,” Yusuke said patiently while Futaba reached a new level of guffawing, “that you’re only interested in pursuing people that you have become close to emotionally.”

“Psh.” Ryuji waved Yusuke away. “What are you talking about, I’m nothing like that.”

Yusuke shrugged. “Perhaps not when masquerading as the typical hot-blooded Japanese male you’ve been told to be, perhaps.” Yusuke turned his sketchbook around, showing Ryuji a portrait of himself in his Phantom Thief attire, leaning on Akira’s shoulder as the other boy pulled loot from a treasure chest. “But in your more candid moments, I think it may be worth examining in your spare moments.” Yusuke flipped his sketchbook back around and went back to drawing – a small, smug smile set firmly on his lips.

Ryuji opened his mouth, then closed, then opened it again. Futaba’s laughing had subsided to gleeful chuckles, but the sound still made him flush.

Quickly, he went for his bag, and stammered “I have to go.” If Futaba and Yusuke made any acknowledgement, he didn’t stay to see them, choosing to book it down the stairs of the hide out and into the Leblanc alleyway instead.

His face was still hot and red. He put his hand over the lower half, moving towards the station and thinking.

He’d looked so happy in Yusuke’s drawing.

Maybe the queer kids did move in packs after all.

#Persona 5 #Ryuji Sakamoto #yusuke kitagawa #futaba sakura #lgbtq #asexual #aromantic #drabble #ficlet #ash writes #my adorable spouse asked for this even though it didn't win a few weeks back #so here we are!

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animationnut · 6 years

Text

The Ornament

Rating: K+ Characters: Louie Duck, Webby Vanderquack, Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck Note: My secret Santa gift for @missette128. Merry Christmas!

A towering pine tree dominated the foyer, the top branches looming just above second-floor balcony. Cardboard boxes of decorations were stacked near the foot of the tree and Huey held the ladder so Dewey could hang glittery silver baubles on the tips of the branches. After Dewey hung five ornaments, they would switch places. Webby, wearing a Santa hat and covered with tinsel, eagerly ran around the tree and tossed the silver decoration wherever she could reach.

“Even distribution, Webby, even distribution!” called Huey. Turning to Dewey, he then said, “Separate the ornaments! Don’t keep them close together!”

Dewey rolled his eyes and complied with Huey’s instruction, knowing it did no good to argue with him when it came to decorating the Christmas tree, which Huey was very particular about. Hanging a sparkly glass icicle, Dewey turned to glance below. “Louie, are you going help us or not?”

Their sibling was currently rifling through the boxes, pulling out tissue-wrapped ornaments and inspecting them. Critically eyeing a gold bauble with green gemstones, Louie eventually deemed it of no value and tossed it back in the box. “In a sec,” he replied. “I’m looking for my ornament.”

“Your ornament?” asked Webby curiously, peeking around the tree.

“Yeah, you know. Everyone has that one ornament that they like more than the rest, and it’s their ornament.”

“No, she wouldn’t know, considering this the first Christmas tree she’s decorated,” pointed out Huey. “Your decoration is already here. It’s in that box.”

Webby went over to the box Huey indicated. It was smaller than the rest, and in better condition than the ones Beakley found stashed in the attic. She pried open the top and found a collection of hand-crafted decorations and special occasion ornaments.

“Aw!” she squealed, lifting out a tiny brown bear wearing a green scarf that read Baby’s First Christmas. “That’s so cute! Is this your ornament?”

“No,” scoffed Louie.

“It’s the snowflake,” added Dewey. “It’s the shiniest ornament he has and you know how he likes shiny things.”

“It reminds me of treasure,” said Louie happily.

Webby carefully removed a silver snowflake, which was covered in jewels in varying shades of blue. When she twirled it, it caught the light, reflecting it across the floor in a shimmering wave. She placed it neatly back into the box and looked at the remaining ornaments nestled inside.

“How come you haven’t put these ones on the tree?” she asked. “Aren’t they your childhood ornaments?”

“Yeah, but we’ll put them on when Uncle Scrooge is finished with his work and can help us,” replied Huey. “And we like doing ours with Uncle Donald.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s, uh, probably somewhere thinking,” muttered Dewey, the cheerful glint disappearing from his eyes for a moment. “He usually does that whenever the tree goes up.”

“Oh,” said Webby, folding her wings in front of her. “Duh. Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Dewey flashed her a smile. “He’ll be fine when he starts getting into the Christmas decorating.”

“Louie, be careful!” cried Huey, noticing his brother toss aside a plain silver bauble. “Why do you need another ornament anyway?”

“Come on, Uncle Scrooge has to have something valuable in all this stuff,” exclaimed Louie.

“I don’t think so,” piped up Webby. “This is the first time in my whole life Mr. McDuck has ever decorated for Christmas. If he had something valuable in that box, he wouldn’t leave it in the attic. The garage, sure, but not the attic.”

Louie made a face, knowing that Webby had a point. “Darn.”

Dewey made his way down the ladder and Huey collected some ornaments. “Now that there’s nothing of value you can pilfer, are you going to help us now?” asked Huey.

“I guess,” sighed Louie. He reached into the box he had been rummaging through and grabbed a handful of ornaments. He turned to the tree and frowned when he noticed that only the bottom half was decorated. “Don’t you have a taller ladder?”

“Uncle Donald doesn’t want us going any higher until he’s with us,” said Dewey.

“Psh, it’s not that high,” dismissed Louie.

Huey’s eyes widened when Louie started to climb the tree, causing the ornaments to jingle when the branches shook. “Louie, knock it off!”

“Relax,” said Louie, pausing when he made it three-quarters of the way up and started to hang his ornaments. “I got this.”

“Seriously, just wait until Uncle Donald and Uncle Scrooge are here,” said Dewey, eyeing the trembling tree nervously. “You’re going to break something!”

Louie rolled his eyes, attaching a silver-and-blue snowman to the tip of a branch. “I’m not going to—”

His words ended with a startled gasp when he suddenly slipped, sending him to a rough landing with the cold, unforgiving floor. His shoulder throbbed with pain and his head spun, and he barely processed the panicked cries of his siblings and Webby.

“Dude!” shouted Dewey, hurrying to his side. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” said Louie dazedly, sitting up. He glanced down, smiling triumphantly when he noticed the ornament still intact. “See? Didn’t break—”

The silver star, made out of entwined wire and gemstones, crumbled apart the second he lifted it up. “…anything,” finished Louie.

“Oh no, Mr. McDuck is going to be mad,” whispered Webby with wide eyes.

“Way to go,” said Huey with a scowl, ire coursing through him now that he knew Louie was all right. “It took forever for us to convince Uncle Scrooge to decorate for Christmas. Now he’s probably going to get Beakley to toss the tree right out the front door.”

Louie started to gather the pieces together. “I’ll just hide it. He’ll never—”

“What in blazes is goin’ on in here?”

Scrooge appeared in the entrance of the foyer just as Donald stood at the top of the stairs. Louie let out a huff. “Geez, my timing is off today.”

Donald’s eyes zeroed in on Louie sitting on the floor, the broken ornament in his hand. “Louie!” He rushed down and lifted Louie to his feet, inspecting him anxiously. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine,” said Louie with a sigh, letting the threads of wire and gemstones to fall back to the hardwood. “Just slipped.”

“Yeah, right out of the tree,” muttered Huey.

Eyes narrowing, Donald demanded, “Were you climbing hazardously high places again?”

“Depends on your definition of hazard.” When Donald glared warningly at him, Louie crossed his wings and muttered, “Yes, I was.”

“What have I told you about doing that?” snapped Donald. “You could’ve broken your neck!”

“I was just trying to decorate the tree.”

“Didn’t your brothers tell you I’d be down to help you shortly?”

“Yes,” chorused Huey and Dewey.

“I’m fine,” said Louie irritably.

“Barely,” said Donald with a scowl. “You broke an ornament this time and there’s not going to be a next time for you to try and break a bone. You’re grounded. Now what do you say?”

Louie followed Donald’s pointed look to where Scrooge was staring down at the broken pieces of the ornament. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I’ll…uh…buy you a new one,” he added, silently hoping that its appearance meant it was as cheap as it seemed.

“Ye cannae just buy me a new one,” said Scrooge abruptly. “There is nae another one like this in the whole world.”

“Wait, was it priceless or something?” asked Louie in bewilderment. “It looks kinda lousy.”

Scrooge spun around and reached out, grabbing Louie by the front of his hoodie as he growled, “How dare ye? It was nae lousy tae me.”

Too stunned by the rage in Scrooge’s voice to answer, Donald reacted for him. He wrenched his nephew free of Scrooge’s grip and said angrily, “He didn’t know. It was an accident.”

“Of course he did nae know,” said Scrooge spitefully. “How could he? Ye do nae tell them anything.”

Despite his words being deliberately vague, Donald knew exactly what he meant by it. “Don’t start,” he hissed. “You don’t have the right when it’s your fault.”

Scrooge straightened and he sent Donald a hard look. “Ye were as clueless as I was. I will not shoulder the blame alone.”

“What the heck are you talking about?” cried Louie.

“Shut up,” snapped Dewey, exchanging a quick look with Webby.

But Louie’s exclamation broke through the simmering, red haze of the two feuding ducks. “Never ye mind,” said Scrooge tensely. “But the matter remains that ye have no respect for my personal property.”

“I do,” insisted Louie.

“It took ye long enough to offer an apology.”

“Leave him alone,” snapped Donald. “He didn’t do it on purpose. It’s not him you’re really angry at, anyway. Don’t take it out on him.”

“With such little discipline it’s a wonder they do nae tear up more of my possessions for fun.”

Shoulders hunching forwards, Donald’s face flushed puce. “Don’t you ever criticize how I raise them.”

Scrooge swung his cane up to point accusingly at Donald. “He breaks something of mine, something very important, and tae top it off he calls it lousy. And all ye do is defend him. But why should it matter? It’s only me. I’m the cause of all your problems, are I nae? Hard tae teach respect when ye have none yerself.”

“What do you know about respect?”

Scrooge stilled for a moment, his eyes narrowing. As they stared at each other Louie finally understood what the phrase ‘silence is deafening’ meant. He glanced between them, beak opening and closing helplessly. He wished he had some magic power that would allow him to fix the stupid ornament and make his uncles stop fighting. Huey and Dewey had unconsciously clustered closer together, nervously awaiting what furious outburst would come next. Webby clung the tinsel to her chest and darted her eyes between the occupants of the room.

“I never liked Christmas and nao I’m remembering why,” Scrooge finally said quietly. “It’s all just a bunch of bother.”

The kids flinched when he slammed his cane into a box, crunching glass sounding like gunshots in the tense atmosphere. Donald’s wings trembled slightly by his side. “These kids are getting Christmas. If you refuse that, we’re leaving.”

Scrooge turned, avoiding the desperate gazes of the kids, for if he met their eyes his heart would only shatter into a thousand pieces. “Then go.”

He disappeared through the entryway without a backwards glance. Donald felt his mind whirl, old emotions conflicting with new and he wasn’t sure if he should be enraged or heartbroken. Knowing the latter would happen if he looked at his kids, he said softly, “Pack your bags, boys,” and moved upstairs as quickly as he could without sprinting.

“I…I…” Louie fumbled his speech, a hundred thoughts rushing through his head and unable to focus on any of them. “I didn’t mean…”

He reached down and lifted the top part of the ornament, the wire pieces jagged and gemstones hanging by thin strings of aged glue. He noticed for the first time a tag attached to the string and he flipped it over, reading the clumsy, cursive handwriting.

‘Merry Christmas, Uncle Scrooge! Love your favourite niece, Della.’

Louie’s blood turned to ice. He didn’t have time to truly react, though he probably wouldn’t have moved of his own accord for several minutes if Dewey hadn’t shoved him hard from behind, sending him sprawling out across the floor.

“Louie!” Webby exclaimed, hurrying to help him up. “Dewey, what was that for?”

“It was from Mom!” Dewey cried, his small body shaking with rage and shock and grief. “The ornament he broke was from Mom to Uncle Scrooge, and you called it lousy!”

“I didn’t know!” retorted Louie.

“That’s all you ever say! You didn’t know, it was an accident, it’s not your fault. You knew something might break if you climbed that tree. You knew and you still took the chance anyway, and look what happened! Uncle Scrooge kicked us out and it’s all your fault!”

“I’ll talk to him, okay?” insisted Louie.

“You’re not going to be able to talk your way out of this one.” Huey levelled Louie with a disappointed look, his eyes shimmering with tears. “We were finally going to have a nice Christmas. Uncle Donald wasn’t going to be overworked and stressed. It was going to be our first one with Uncle Scrooge, Webby and Beakley. But you had to go and pull a Louie.”

“I didn’t…” Louie started, but his brothers stormed off, disappearing up the stairs.

He looked after them, helplessness crashing down on him. He wanted to talk to Scrooge, to insist he didn’t mean any disrespect, that it really was an accident. But his great-uncle’s rage was a crystal-clear image in his mind and he feared going against it alone. He wanted to speak with Donald, to be comforted and advised on what to do, but he was ashamed. He had broken a trinket that his mother, that Donald’s twin sister, had made, and called it lousy and thought it was stupid.

And what caused a searing, white-hot guilt to cut through his chest was that they were right, and Donald’s defense of him was undeserved.

Webby lingered in the foyer, suddenly feeling ridiculous draped with tinsel given the seriousness of the situation. She hastily shook it off and hesitantly approached Louie. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure something out.”

“There’s nothing to figure out,” said Louie hotly. “We’re leaving in the morning and we’re probably never coming back and it’s because I’m an idiot.”

“That’s not—”

Louie turned and bolted out of the foyer before Webby finish. He blindly shoved his webbed feet into his boots before swinging open the front door. He slammed it shut on Webby’s frantic call of his name and started to run, tearing down the salted pathway and bursting through the iron gates. He ran as hard and fast as he could, lungs heaving with every step and tears streaming down his face. The bitter wind slapped at his exposed feathers and he jerked up his hoodie to guard his ears. He didn’t register the sting of the cold, ignoring it as he pressed on. He just wanted to get away, to avoid the consequences of his actions.

Avoidance seemed to be one of the few things he was good at.

Wings shoved into his pockets, Louie hunched his shoulders against the wind as he moved briskly down the sidewalk. It was thankfully quiet that afternoon, which meant he didn’t have to worry too much about plastering on a smile and hiding his tears.

Eventually he made it to the park and he collapsed onto a bench, shivering as the frigid steel met his uncovered legs. He couldn’t handle the cold as well as his siblings, which was why he wore a whole snowsuit as opposed to just a winter coat. He shook violently, arms curling around himself to try and keep some parts of his body warm.

A short, humourless smile crossed his beak. Running off without his winter gear—yet another example of pulling a Louie. Acting without thinking. Making impulse decisions. Not listening and disobeying orders, only to cause trouble by doing exactly what he had been told not to do.

He wasn’t sure how long he spent in the cold, curled in on himself and crying into his arms. A shout alerted him to another presence in the park, and when he listened more closely he realized his name was being called.

“Louie! Louie, where are you?”

“Webby?”

The girl appeared at the end of the path, decked out in her pink and purple jacket, mittens and hat. Her concern evaporated from her expression when she spotted him, but it remained in her voice when she cried, “Louie! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

She handed him his snowsuit, which he gratefully wrestled into, the warmth immediately engulfing him. “Thanks. You didn’t have to.”

“Don’t be silly. Of course I did.” She gave him a pointed look. “You can’t run out into the snow with just your hoodie. You’re going to get pneumonia.”

“Sorry. I just had to get out of there. How did you find me?”

“Your boot tracks.” When he sent her a quizzical glance, she cheerfully explained, “You’re a size six and a half and the tread is unique to the brand of shoe that you have. It was easy to follow.”

Louie chuckled. “You never cease to amaze me, Webbs.”

“Aw, thanks.” Webby took a seat beside him and said, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I messed up big time.” Louie kicked at the snow miserably. “I don’t even know if I can fix this one.”

“Sure you can! There’s always a solution to a problem.”

“Not this one. I know Uncle Donald and Uncle Scrooge don’t really get along and this just made it worse. I don’t really get what they were talking about, but I guess it was about Mom.”

“Seemed like it,” agreed Webby carefully. “But you didn’t know. You just have to explain that to Mr. McDuck.”

“It won’t matter. Because it shouldn’t matter if it was an ornament from Mom or not. I broke something of his and I honestly didn’t really care. He has a ton of stuff. Me breaking a few things accidentally didn’t seem all that important. I only cared when I saw how much it meant to Uncle Scrooge and why.” Louie let out a quiet scoff. “I really am disrespectful.”

“You are not,” insisted Webby.

Louie looked at her in disbelief. “How can you say that?”

“Because I live with you! I hang out with you. You don’t disrespect me. You might not listen all the time, but you always acknowledge when I was right and you were wrong. You apologize and you mean it. You have so much respect for Donald, I can see it in your eyes whenever you look at him.”

“Some respect,” muttered Louie. “After everything he’s done for us I still get on his case for being boring and unlucky.”

“You used to,” corrected Webby. “You stopped after we left the House of the Lucky Gander. You realized the effect your words had and that Donald took them more seriously than as jokes. If you didn’t care or respect him, you would have kept doing it.”

“Maybe,” said Louie, though he was doubtful. “But I’m always pulling a Louie. I never learn enough to stop doing that.”

Webby flinched and averted her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said guiltily. “I really shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t anything against you. It’s just…you have a certain behaviour…and I just sort of called it that. It’s not a bad thing! Not always. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

Louie bumped shoulders with her gently, getting her eyes to met his again. “You didn’t. You were right. Pulling a Louie sometimes works in my favour, sometimes it doesn’t. Today it didn’t. I just did what I wanted to do and didn’t bother to think about the consequences. I do that a lot.”

“It’s something you have to work on. Not everyone is perfect. Just because you have flaws doesn’t mean you’re a terrible person. Today was an honest mistake, Louie. I know you feel bad, but you shouldn’t feel bad about yourself. You’re pretty great.”

Her bright, earnest smile caused Louie’s spirits to lift. Rubbing away a few last tears, he said, “Thanks Webby. I still don’t know how I’m going to fix this. We’re supposed to be gone in the morning.”

“We’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said Webby determinedly. She reached into her pocket and carefully removed a paper bag. When Louie peeked inside, he discovered it contained the pieces of Della’s ornament. “We can put it back together and then we’ll give it to Mr. McDuck! Maybe then we can get him to talk to Donald.”

“It’s worth a try,” agreed Louie.

He would do whatever it took. He had just found Uncle Scrooge—he didn’t want to lose him now.

…

The suitcase had been sitting on Donald’s bed for almost two hours. He alternated between staring at it, pacing the tiny length of his houseboat and bustling about, tidying shelves and dusting furniture. He hadn’t even begun to pack. He didn’t want to.

Della’s disappearance (he refused to say death—no one ever found out what truly happened to her) was a soul crushing blow he never recovered from. He pinned the blame on his uncle, who should have known better than to speak to Della about potentially powerful, dangerous artifacts. It was like luring a moth to an open flame.

Della loved mystery. She loved superstitions. She loved myths and legends. The idea that there were things in the world that were undiscovered, forces that could not be explained, thrilled her. He had always been cautious. Wary. Suspicious. He supposed that’s why Scrooge always clicked better with Della.

He was against the Spear of Selene from the start. Very little was known about it, other than it held power that was not known to man, harnessed from the cosmos, most of it theorized to come from the moon. Scrooge wanted it. Of course he did. But Della…she had wanted it more. Her curiosity had always gotten the best of her. This time it was too much.

One day she was there and the next she gone, leaving nothing but the note behind. Scrooge and Donald had searched weeks for her, exhausting Scrooge’s list of contacts. They couldn’t find her. They couldn’t find the spear. She was gone. And both of them knew she would never have left behind the triplets—she thought she was coming back, from wherever she had gone.

Donald was suddenly the caretaker of three babies. He was stressed, grieving and destroyed. And from early on, he swore that if it weren’t for Scrooge and his insistence to pursue this mythical weapon, Della would still be here. Their relationship was never the same after that.

Anger was still there. Resentment. Bitterness. But above all else, guilt and shame. And perhaps neither of them were able to accept they were both at fault. They had to blame one another, because Donald knew if he dared to acknowledge it was his fault, he would not be able to bear it. He was her twin. He should have known something was off. That her attention, while always distracted, was particularly flighty. That her note-taking was more rapid, frantic, almost desperate. She grew quieter. He attributed it to one of her moods. He didn’t bother to inquire if anything was wrong.

Maybe she wouldn’t have told him regardless. But the fact he never asked ate at him. The only thing that kept him sane was that Scrooge hadn’t paid attention either and it was easier to blame him, the one who dragged them all into the mess in the first place.

Yet, with all of these thoughts broiling in his mind, he couldn’t bring himself to pack his loose items and prepare to take his houseboat to another harbour. He had gone so long without Scrooge he thought he was better off without him. But being back in the mansion, back with the duck who taught him so much, brought forth a rush of memories and emotions that were happy and pleasant. No, he and Scrooge hadn’t always gotten along. But they did love each other. And as much as he tried, that didn’t change.

Raking a wing down his face, Donald let out a sharp sigh. He was always the overthinker. Always the overreactor. He supposed he should have been stricter with Louie, who had a tendency to forget to be careful with another’s belongings. But Louie’s apology was sincere and Scrooge honestly hadn’t really minded all that much when his items had been broken before. It just happened to be Della’s ornament, and it just happened to open wounds that had never fully healed.

It was two weeks before Christmas. He couldn’t drag the boys out now. Not when he had no money for a tree or presents or a meal. The boys would claim they didn’t care, but he knew they did. They deserved a Christmas. And Scrooge deserved to have a reason to celebrate again. So did he.

Closing his eyes and knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy, Donald left the houseboat and crossed through the yard. He entered the sliding glass door, dutifully brushed off the snow to the mat under Beakley’s watchful gaze as she mopped the kitchen nook floor.

“You’re not gearing up for another explosion, are you?”

Donald sent her an unimpressed look. “No. It’s not just my fault, you know.”

“I do,” she replied sincerely. “I only wish you could put aside your differences, especially for the holidays. I’m afraid Webby’s never really had a true Christmas, as much I tried to make them special.”

“You never once got angry with Uncle Scrooge for refusing to celebrate, even when Webby was here?” asked Donald, slightly bewildered.

Beakley lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Not really. Webby is an easy to please child and she was happy enough. Christmas isn’t about the sparkle and material items, after all. It’s about family. I don’t think I’d want to celebrate either if I lost my family.”

“Yeah,” muttered Donald, a pulse of guilt going through him, as it so often did. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He started through the mansion but before he went to Scrooge’s office he decided to check on his boys. He went to their room and swung open the door, where he found Huey reading and Dewey playing a hand-held video game.

“You guys okay?”

“Us?” Immediately attentive, Dewey set his game aside. “We’re fine. What about you?”

“I’m good. Not the first time I’ve gotten into it with your uncle.”

“Are we really going to leave?” asked Huey hesitantly.

“No. I’ll talk to him, let him know we’re staying.” He couldn’t help but smile when Dewey and Huey cheered and high-fived. The smile slipped and he asked, “Where’s Louie?”

“Oh—we haven’t seen him for a while.” Dewey averted his gaze and tugged on the hem of his shirt. “We kind of got into a fight and we stormed up here. Louie didn’t follow.”

Donald’s brow furrowed. “What happened?”

“We blamed him for you wanting us to leave and for getting Uncle Scrooge mad,” he replied, growing shame-faced. “It was wrong, I know. But it was going to be an awesome Christmas. You would finally get to relax and be happy instead of worrying.”

Donald went over and rubbed Dewey’s head, a warm smile on his beak. “It’s not your job to worry about me, but I appreciate it. I’ve always been stressed, probably since the day I was hatched. But I’ve never not been happy at Christmas. I have you boys. So long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Huey scrambled over and helped Dewey seize Donald in a tight hug. “We are. Very happy.”

“You shouldn’t blame Louie for this. Go talk to your brother. Fighting isn’t worth it. I love you.”

“Love you too!” they chorused.

Huey bolted out of the room first, but Dewey lingered. He had a million questions, most of them about his mother and what happened. But he didn’t ask, knowing very well it was topic neither Donald or Scrooge wanted to talk about. Instead he ventured hesitantly, “Do you love Uncle Scrooge, Uncle Donald?”

“Yes.”

Brightening at this, Dewey grinned and went after Huey. Donald paused for a moment, realizing that he didn’t have to think about the answer, and wondered how love could still exist amongst all the grief and angst that existed between them. He supposed it really was the strongest force on earth.

Donald finally entered Scrooge’s office. The elderly duck was at his desk, reviewing a file, and didn’t look up when he came in. Donald struggled with his words for a moment before finally saying, “We’re not leaving.”

“Fine. Whatever ye wish.”

But Donald did not miss the way his shoulders sagged with relief. Rubbing the back of his neck, he said quietly, “She wouldn’t have cared, that it broke.”

Scrooge lifted his head, suddenly looking every year of his age and Donald hated it, hated thinking of his uncle as old. “I know. I do nae know what came over me. Is Louie all right?”

“Huey and Dewey are looking for him now. They got into a fight of their own and separated for some cool down time.”

“Nae much of a holiday this is turnin’ out tae be,” muttered Scrooge.

“It’s not really a holiday without some family fights,” said Donald with a shrug.

“I should nae have said the things I did, nor did I mean them. Ye did a fine job raising those boys, Donald. Ye did it by yerself. Ye did it far better than I ever could have.”

Donald could only nod, not trusting that his words would be coherent if he spoke. Before he could collect himself, Huey and Dewey burst in, both of them clearly distressed. “Louie’s gone!” cried Huey. “We kept calling his name but we couldn’t find him. We checked the closet and his coat is gone!”

“So is Webby’s,” added Dewey. “She must have gone after him!”

“Curse me kilts, if he has nae been with ye, that means he and Webbigail have been gone for over two hours!”

Everyone turned to stare out the office window, at the steady snowfall and frozen landscape. Heart in his throat, Donald ordered, “Go upstairs!”

“We’re coming with you,” insisted Dewey. “This is our fault too. We shouldn’t have yelled at him.”

“It’s freezing out there and it’s going to be dark soon. You’re not coming.”

When Huey and Dewey remained defiant, Scrooge set a wing on Donald’s shoulder. “I’m afraid you’re nae going tae change their minds. Family should be together during Christmas, after all.”

When Donald relented, Huey rushed to get Beakley, who had already contacted Launchpad and was preparing the limousine for departure. In less than ten minutes they were off, with both Donald and Scrooge vowing that they would never forgive themselves if something happened to the kids.

…

“Where does this piece go?”

“In that curved part.”

“Webby, it’s a star. There are a lot of curved parts.”

“You’re not looking at me! I’m pointing at it!”

Louie and Webby were seated at a table in a corner of a café, using a portable glue gun to reassemble the ornament. They put the gemstones back into place and reattached the wires so that they once again formed a perfect five-point star.

“We did it,” said Louie with a grin, cradling the repaired decoration in his wings. “Thanks, Webby. I couldn’t have done it without you. Mostly because I don’t own a glue gun.”

Webby shot him a playful glare. “Very funny.”

Louie folded the ornament into several brown paper napkins and slipped it in his pocket. “Let’s go home.”

Webby accepted the wing he extended towards her. Linked together, they started out of the café and down the sidewalk. They had barely made it down the block when a familiar vehicle pulled up beside them, the horn giving a short, sharp blast.

“Granny!” cheered Webby and rushed at Beakley the second she stepped out of the limo.

“You know very well you cannot leave the mansion without speaking with me first,” said Beakley sternly as she embraced Webby.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “I was just worried about Louie and didn’t really think of anything else.”

Louie charged into Donald’s waiting wings. “I’m leaving the mansion, I’ll be back in a few hours?” he offered with an innocent smile.

“A little late, dontcha think?” Donald asked, trying to scowl and failing. “Children who climb Christmas trees and run off without telling me aren’t on track to get presents from Santa.”

“That’s okay,” said Louie honestly. “I probably don’t deserve any.”

“Don’t be silly, of course you do.” Expression softening, he ran his wing down Louie’s back. “You kids are going to be the death of me one of these days.”

“I’m sorry,” said Dewey miserably, coming up next to Donald. “I didn’t mean anything I said.”

“Yeah,” agreed Huey, shame-faced. “You didn’t ruin anything. We’re sorry we made you feel that way.”

Louie stepped over to embrace them, grinning when Dewey gave him an affectionate noogie. “Nah, you were right. I was being a jerk and I caused Uncle Donald and Uncle Scrooge to fight.”

“Ye did nae cause anything, lad.”

Perking up at Scrooge’s voice, Louie looked up as his great-uncle finally approached them. “Uncle Scrooge?”

“I’m afraid I tend tae be in a horrid mood during this time of year,” Scrooge said with a sigh. “I took it out on ye and that was wrong. I’m sorry, Louie.”

“But I did break your ornament. I should have cared, whether I knew it was Mom’s or not. I’m sorry for being disrespectful. I’ll be more careful with your stuff from now on.” Louie reached into his pocket and removed the star. Scrooge’s eyes widened in surprise as Louie handed it to him. “Webby helped me fix it.”

Touched, Scrooge smiled and opened his wings for a hug. Louie eagerly accepted, embracing Scrooge tightly. “Thank ye, Louie. And ye’re not disrespectful. Ye’re a good lad. I’m glad tae have ye kids with me.” He extended a wing towards Webby and she happily joined the hug. “Though I could do without ye running off with nae a word.”

“We’ll try to be better about that,” said Webby sheepishly.

“Key word being try,” added Louie cheekily. After a pause he then asked more hesitantly, “Can we stay for Christmas?”

“Of course ye can,” said Scrooge immediately, feeling a surge of guilt for implying he did not want them there. “I really did nae want ye tae leave.”

Louie peeked over at Donald uncertainly, who flinched and rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t want to leave either. I said it in the heat of the moment and I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for making you think we weren’t going to spend Christmas with Uncle Scrooge.”

Beakley cast a glance at the horizon, where the sun was rapidly setting and it was getting darker by the second. “If all apologies have been said and accepted, I do believe we should be getting back. We have a Christmas tree to finish decorating, do we not?”

“Yes!” whooped Webby. “Race ya!” She started to charge towards the limo, but her foot struck a patch of ice and she found herself landing hard on the cold cement. Hardly dazed, she sat up and grinned sheepishly as the boys laughed while the adults eyed her in concern, Beakley hoisting her back up. “Never mind.”

Chuckling, Louie turned to Donald. “Can I make a quick stop before we head back to the mansion?”

Donald eyed him suspiciously. “Where to?”

“The little antique store on the corner. I saw something in the window when I walked by and I just realized it’s the perfect present for someone.”

Though a little puzzled, Donald nodded. “You got ten minutes.”

“Got it.” Louie leaned forwards to give him another hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” returned Donald, tickling Louie’s cheek. “More than anything in this world.”

…

Christmas music played in the background, a soft melody against cheerful chatter. Beakley manned the ladder, critically watching each child as they scaled the steps to hang ornaments on the top branches. Louie adamantly refused to take his turn, but coaxing from his brothers and Webby eventually caused him to cave. Launchpad was given charge of the tinsel and the wooden ornaments, as Scrooge preferred not to have any more of his decorations broken.

“Ooh, candy canes!” said Webby gleefully, eagerly tearing off the plastic. “Can we hang them now?”

“How about you hang this one first?” offered Louie. He reached into his pocket and removed a small wooden box. Curious, Webby accepted it when he handed it to her. At her confused expression, Louie explained, “You never really got to have your own ornament. When I said I had to grab something at the antique store, it was this.”

Webby pried back the lid, a soft gasp escaping her at the sight of the angel ornament nestled in bubble wrap. It was ceramic, with a gold halo and glittery wings and a sweet, painted face. “Louie…this is amazing!”

“I’m glad you like it,” said Louie with relief. “I didn’t pay much attention to it at first, but when you came after me this afternoon…well, you were my angel today.”

Webby’s eyes welled with tears and she engulfed Louie in a bear hug. “Thank you,” she whispered, hesitating for a brief second before giving him a light peck on the cheek.

Turning red, Louie muttered, “Don’t mention it.”

“I know exactly where I’m putting it!” Approaching the tree, Webby hung her new ornament right beside Louie’s snowflake. “There! Wanna help me with the candy canes?”

“For sure. But before we start hanging them, we have to eat one first.”

As the pair began to deck the tree with candy canes, Donald watched Huey hang his last childhood ornament before moving on to Scrooge’s collection. Rummaging through a box, he stilled upon spotting a familiar ornament. He slowly lifted it out, a gold star with silver beads glued on.

“Ah, there it is,” mused Scrooge, appearing beside his nephew. “I wondered where it had gone. I thought I had put it with Della’s.”

“I didn’t think you kept mine,” said Donald at last.

Scrooge glanced at him. “Would nae make much sense tae keep Della’s and nae yers. Ye made it for me, did ye nae?”

“Well, yes, but…” Donald trailed off, knowing what he wanted to say but fearing what the answer might be.

But Scrooge was no fool, never had been. “We may have gotten along better, but I appreciated ye as well. When Della found out I had no homemade ornaments of me own, I did nae expect both of ye tae actually make me some.”

“Every tree needs homemade ornaments,” said Donald honestly. “And it was fun.” The last word came out strangled as his sister’s smiling face flashed through his mind and her bubbling laugh echoed through his ears. He let out a cough to try and get past the lump in his throat and he managed a half-smile. “We probably could have avoided the fuss if Louie had just broken mine.”

Scrooge shifted his gaze to glance at Louie, who was currently lifting Webby up by the waist so she could hang some candy canes on the middle branches of the Christmas tree. Huey was trying to rearrange the baubles so that the colours were separated instead of clustered together, while Dewey snuck up behind him and reversed his methodical work.

For so many years, Scrooge had spent Christmas alone and in isolation. But now the mansion was filled with warmth, laughter and cheer, and for the first time in a long time, it finally felt like he was home for the holidays.

“I suppose,” he replied. “Ye are here tae make me a new one, after all.” Taking the ornament from Donald, he hung it gently on the branch right beside Della’s star. He took a step back and put a wing on Donald’s shoulder. “Merry Christmas, nephew.”

“Merry Christmas, Uncle Scrooge.”

#ducktales 2017 #ducktalessecretsanta #ducktales fanfiction #louie duck #webby vanderquack #scrooge mcduck #Donald duck #byanimationnut

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starrygrays · 6 years

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The Ornament (Secret Santa gift)

Title: The Ornament Rating: K+ Characters: Louie Duck, Webby Vanderquack, Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck Note: Hi! I’m your DuckTales Secret Santa. Merry Christmas, missette128! I hope you have an enjoyable holiday and a bright new year!