#THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SENDING THIS IN ARIEL I LOVE THESE GALS SO MUCH. ;__; <3 <3

[ofhope]

He was still convinced that his idea was better, but he supposed he saw the benefit of something more permanent as opposed to a short, fleeting life. Shinobu and her big, beautiful brain — it was because of her that Yoimiya was pulled aside during her birthday festivities and handed over a box the size of her head rather than a wire bug cage.

“Look, I'm — I'm not great at giving gifts 'cause I usually dunno what people like. I mean, aside from my boys. I've been makin' loads of friends lately, but. . . none of 'em have been like you. Every day I'm learnin' something new about you, and it's making me like you more and more.”

Awkwardly, Itto stood a little straighter and scratched at the wild mane of hair on his head. “I told myself I wasn't going to get all ramble-y. Ahh, just open it already! C'mon, it's good! No, it's amazing! I promise!”

The box was only marginally bigger than the gift itself, but that was because the gift was wider than it was tall. Sitting at the bottom was a gorgeously painted and polished onikabuto carved from various woods across not only Inazuma, but all of Teyvat.

“Isn't it the sickest thing you've ever seen?!” He was getting excited just looking at it. His boyish glee got the better of him, and he pulled the onikabuto from its box. He was careful as he set it in his large palm, the wood warm under the light of a slowly dozing sun. “Look, the wings can open! You can set the legs how you want too, so it can sit wherever you want, however you want.”

He pried the wings open, the thicker and ordinary shell portion giving away to allow brightly colored, vibrantly painted thinner pieces to fan out. “I didn't carve all of this 'cause it would have taken me for-ever, but I painted this part. It's supposed to look like the sky when your fireworks are going off, but I'm not the best at painting.”

It wasn't terrible. If she squinted, she might see that there was meant to be a black sky behind the slathered on mess of yellows, oranges red and whites.

“I wanted to get you a real beetle, but Shinobu said this will last longer.” He huffed proudly through his nose and held the elaborate piece for her to take. “Happy Birthday, babe!! I hope you're ready to par-tay!!”

It wasn't of her own volition that her birthday was known -- whilst never turning down attention, it was kind of hard to dispute that whenever you worked in the firework business, one of the loudest, brightest things imaginable! -- it wasn't something Yoimiya made a note of, usually. Projects needed finishing, festivals were being planned, and she had kids to hang out with! They, most often, were the ones that remembered the day, greeting her with a smile, a confection, and a you didn't remember it was your birthday?!

Likewise... it was the first time she and the Oni had been close enough to celebrate one another's birthday. One or the other was usually off, skipping 'round someplace, their own methods of trouble catching up with them before their candles could be blown out, and it was only whenever a shout (likely heard across the entirety of Inazuma, no, Teyvat!) rang out that Yoimiya had turned, met by a head of hair she knew only one had, met by a smile that only he had. With how bright he shined, how could Yoimiya have noticed, quite possibly, the world's biggest gift?!

(She did notice, of course... after Itto called attention to it. Can't blame a girl for being in awe, can you?)

“Oooooh! -- but, Itto, I thought you were saving your Mora?” tick, tick, tick... “Whaaat?! You were saving it for this?! I thought you'd lost a bet or something! Or, well, probably three bets, going by the size of this—” clank, Yoimiya shifted the box around in her hands, just so: not enough to damage any delicates, but enough to gauge what could be lurking inside. “Woahhh, it sounds heavy! And-and feels heavy!”

Pop! went the lid, and brought into Itto's careful hands...

“Whoaaa...” jaw slack, Yoimiya watched attentively, spying every colorful twinkle, watching how the sun danced off of every swipe of beautifully blended paint. “Itto, you didn't - you - you would - AAH!”

Shaking with excitement, she took a leap, making up for their distance and swinging her arms 'round his neck! Careful of potentially knocking free her gift (how was that hers?! she thought of one, five, ten different places she could place it, all for visitors, the world to see!), she breathed in the scent of a soft, woodsy fragrance, the smell of freshly trimmed grass, and hot concrete; all compiled to create the smell of home. Nudging her legs to lock 'round his waist - while she had no doubt Itto could carry ten Yoimiyas', the weight being off-balance would proobably make it hard? - she peppered loud, loving smooches 'cross his jawline, his cheeks, kissing along every red streak, happiness washing over her in waves.

“Itto, seriously, you didn't have to do all of this - and I knoww, I knoww, 'you're my girl! I'd do it anyway!' but, but - I just,” eye-level, she placed one more kiss, right at his lips. “Thank you. Seriously! This is so, so, so cool, I dunno' how the whole world hasn't heard about it yet! Guess we'll have to start at telling everyone at this party, huh?”

Nose-to-nose, Yoimiya hoped her smile was felt, as well as seen. For Itto to know how truly, truly happy he had made her, gift or no gift.

“I love you, you big, stubborn oni. Aaand ~ I love this! A whole, whole, super lot! We have to show the kids first, they're going to go crazy!!”

@xamassed, for Yoimiya's birthday (6/21). ♥

[the-canary]

Sunburst - S.R (7/10)

Summary: After years of solitude, you sought out the color of life – you just didn’t think it would end up like this. (Enhanced!Reader/Steve Rogers). 

Prompt: “I think I just asked you out on a date.”

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Masterlist

A/N: This is for @captain-ariel-barnes writing challenge. We are getting closed to the end and the revelations of the MC’s background, please enjoy Tony’s chapter! As always, I am sorry if it sucks. 

Feedback is always appreciated.

It starts before you even plan on going, the thought so many people around  you send shivers down your spine like spider webs. You don’t paint for anything, just sit in the silence of your painting room for days. The dreams made of color are coming back stronger than before, which only causes your headaches to come back stronger than ever before. You knew this was a possibility when you took up the Avengers project, but you didn’t expect it to hurt this much.

You hate your powers and though you had accepted the hurt, you still disliked being around people.  

My diamond. My dear girl, you’ll change everything for us.

You groan at the memory, ready to scream as pink darkens to nearly a solid red, but before anything else can happen a voice echoes loudly--

“Mr. Stark has agreed to be shadowed for the following week,” F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice rings out in the little room, as you groan in acceptance.

You let out a choked sob, as you can hear someone knocking at the door but you can’t find the will to get up or say anything at the moment. You were going to into the city for the first time in a long time, and you knew deep down this wouldn’t turn out well.

 If you need anything, just holler. We’re not that far away.

It’s only been a couple of hours since you had been picked up by the driver you have meet before --Happy?-- but you are already trying to find a million different ways to ground yourself at the onslaught of color that begins to blur as you enter the city. Streaks of colors and flashes of all kinds of emotions make you feel nauseous, as you lean against the window and groan.

You try to think of Wanda’s cooking and her subtle smile with Vision. You hope that the sound of Sam’s laughter drowns out everything else. You try to take yourself to the grassy area and the smell of wood and flowers that you were so used to, but also a smell of aftershave and cologne that you were sure belonged to Captain Rogers.

You let out a steady sigh, as the car stops and Happy declares with a cautious green light: “Welcome to the Avengers Tower!”

You get out the back of the car, starting at the dark monochrome glory in front of you with a frown, as you try your hardest to ignore that glittering colored lights moving on the sidewalks. You pull your canvas bag closer to you than before, in a means to protect yourself.  

“How are you enjoying New York?” Pepper can’t help but ask, as the three of you share a quick breakfast in their shared floor level in the Avengers Tower. You were supposed to follow Mr. Stark for the whole week, the first two were full with board meetings and time with Pepper Potts -- not that it bothered you.

“Not much,” you remark as her red flounders for a bit in worry, “I’m really more of a country gal.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be back in no time,” Tony grins, as you can’t help but be for a confused for a moment, “I am sure a certain Captain is missing you right now.”

You raise a curious eyebrow at this statement, as Pepper glares at her fiance. Outside of that, breakfast moves forward without a hitch, as you come to realize the sight of the couple, as their colors pop and mingle in response to each other is extremely relaxing. It lulls you into a false sense of security for those business meetings you are suppose to be shadowing.

Men with darker colors that send chills up your spine, though there are those that shine like the sun as they talk about finance and the new philanthropy that Stark Industries is looking towards creating for the city and beyond that. Everyone sparkles in their own way, especially Mr. Stark, even when he isn’t talking but one bright, determined light outshines everyone else.

It isn’t until close to end of the second day when you realize that all you had been sketching or designing had been related to Pepper Potts in some way, but Tony had and honestly he couldn’t blame you. So, at the end of the last meeting, when you are ready to head back to the Tower and they are going to grab a late dinner, he stops you.    

“You know,” Tony starts off with a smile, “I am sure Pepper would be thrilled if you ever decided to create something personally for her.”

You smile just how his shade of red changes to match her own -- love really was a beautiful thing.

“I’m already thinking about it, Mr. Stark,” you declare softly, as you had already been thinking about seashells and autumn leaves back from upstate New York.

“Ah, good job, kid.”

 You spend the next couple of days shadowing Mr. Stark on his own -- watching him do a number of philanthropist events, giving speeches here and there, hanging out with Dr. Banner in the lab (much to your confusion), and endless tinkering with his suits as if he preparing for a mission, even though he --like Captain Rogers-- were in limited capacity to what they could thanks to the Accords.

You think in reds and different shades of gold with bright flashes of circuitry on what you could create in regards to Tony Stark. You didn’t think everyday gray would be important until Friday afternoon when he has you sitting in some rehabilitation building. You look around for a moment, as Mr. Stark tells you to wait.

That’s when you see it -- gray with a red core are burns intensely.  You try stop yourself from gaping at the sight of Colonel James Rhodes, as he walks up to you with a warm and familiar smile with Tony simply introduces him as Rhodey.

“Ah, you’re the artist Pepper and S--” Rhodey starts off, only to have Tony give him a look, “I mean, Pepper and Tony are so fond off. Finally good to put a name to the face.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Colonel Rhodes,” you admit, as he pulls out his hand for you to shake it. You return it only to feel something you had never felt before.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Something akin to rocky candy pops on your skin, as you shake hands with the man. He gives you a questioning look, gray moving in a way you had never seen before, but you simply smile and try to stay come at whatever might be happening. You say nothing and neither does Rhodey, as Tony moves forward with telling you stories of their youth together. However, you keep your body more reigned in than before.

You feel that your aversion to seeing people’ colors has calmed down during the week, but you have grown scared of touching anything since the incident with Colonel Rhodes. You haven’t slept well since you have been trying to figure out exactly what was going on with you, though now you were trying to figure out why the shy Stark intern had such a strange pattern of light red -- in thin strips and entangled together, like a spider’s web. However, before you can do anything else, he’s out the door with a nervous chuckle and a wave.

Peter Parker was a strange, though endearing kid.

“Are you going tonight’s party?” Mr. Stark’s voice takes you out of your thoughts, as he smile for a bit at the sight of spiders drawn on the corners of your sketchpad.

“I don’t think that’s good idea, Mr. Stark,” you complain lightly, as Tony just shakes his head. “Especially if you want to make me some type of special guest, I really don’t like that type of stuff.”

“ Just like, ” Tony sighs out, as you stare at him in confusion,”Look, I won’t out you, especially before the project is over. But, wouldn’t it be nice to take a break?”

You frown for a moment, knowing that he has a point and he is paying you but you know something bad will come out of this -- it always does.

You agree nonetheless to see Mr. Stark give you a cheeky grin and a pop of flashy red for a job well done.

An hour, you last one whole hour between the twirling lights and endless darkness of the party before someone tries to grab you.

It burns, as you let out a silent scream and proceed to leave the room, running towards where you had been staying in the Avengers Tower, unaware that someone was watching the whole time.

 Steve arrives to the Towers towards the weekend after a short mission and while he is tired, he is also excited to be back home and if he was being truthful -- to have a certain someone near the city as well. Steve knew that you were more accustomed to the New York countryside, but he was still that kid from Brooklyn and was hopeful to maybe show you around the city -- to show you the some new things and what he had learned since coming out of the ice. But, it seemed like Tony had other plans for you.

Steve begins to settle in for the night after the debrief when he hears it. The rush of a familiar set of footsteps as a certain someone runs to where one of the many bathrooms is located. Mother hen mode kicking in, Steve grabs a water bottle and a towel before running to where  you are-- his sensitive hearing picking up the retching sounds and he can’t help but wonder what had happened.

He picks up his pace, only to see the bathroom door is open and you are sitting on the floor next to the opening of the shower. Steve wishes there was better time to tell you how pretty you look in that navy blue dress, but your safety overrides everything else at the moment. You are letting out heavy breathes and there are tears running down your face, as you let out a small moan of pain.

“Hey, hey,” Steve walks into the bathroom and kneels at your side,”What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Too much feeling, c-color, ” you manage to say, but it doesn’t make much sense to him.

You grasp his hand and groan at the worry and mixed bag of emotions that you suddenly feel, as his blue wanes from dark to light blue like an ocean might. You sigh at the familiarity of it all, but you’re still too hypersensitivity from the party to do anything more, as Steve starts to question.

“Did you eat or drink something?” Steve asks cautiously, as you shake your head.

“Is it because of your powers?” he asks again, as you place his cool hand on your cheek. Steve can’t help but double over for a moment at the sudden wave of nauseous he’s feeling, as you give him a soft smile -- almost in relief that some of the feeling has left you.

You only nod meekly, before blacking out completely.  

Part 8