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paledoptera · 2 months

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SHADOWFELL SAGA CONTENT ARCHIVE (POST 2/2)

welcome back to the shadowfell content archive!

this is going to be the second (and hopefully last) post! keep in mind the "parts" are going to be a lot more brief than the first post, the early game was pretty fleshed out but the rest was pretty much just vague ideas.

in addition to content that would have eventually come out, i'm also gonna be showing off a couple of early drafts and ideas that got cut!!!

SO:

INTERMISSION: BATTLE TIME!!!

so this was the original draft shiiv sent me for "smackdown". for the two tracks they contributed to the game (smackdown & pasta la vista, which you can hear in the last content archive post) they basically made a full song with temporary instrumentation, then i went back and remade the song with more toby fox-y instrumentation. they are FANTASTIC at music writing and i actually kinda love this original version of smackdown, it has some unique charm in how bitcrushed it is

i don't really have much to comment about the battle system, but i'll quickly run through how it would've worked:

basically, it'd be the mario & luigi battle system but with a few small changes.

solo attacks would be weak attacks that cost little BP (bone power)

bros attacks would be strong attacks that cost lots of BP

you can skip your turn and regain BP by using a "pass" action command. this would be the main way to recover BP

i think one flaw in mario & luigi is that BP being a somewhat limited resource kind of force you to use solo (jump/hammer) moves rather than your COOL and hard to master bros moves. i feel like BP being an UNlimited resource would kind of remedy that

here are some ideas we had for bros attacks

(in bone blast, papyrus' gaster blaster would have been FRANK from papyrus belief <3)

yaboinando made this amazing concept for an attack based off of an old "dark darker yet darker" fan animation

last thing i have to say about the battle system: we actually had another form of "bros move" planned out. the whole game is food themed, so i figured it was only natural that a cooking move would be in the game!

PART 4: MOUNT CERAMIA

this area's name actually hovered between "mount ceramic" and "mount ceramia" for a while. i ended up choosing ceramia cuz i thought it sounded more mountain-y the theme is pretty unfinished, but i really like how it sounds anyways. i wanted to establish "our maiden voyage" as the overarching "area theme" for the whole game, but i thought a more percussive and tribal-sounding version of it would be cool for the mountain area

mount ceramia is a giant mountain made of plates and mugs. who would've thought!! i wanted to make a joke about "tectonic plates" here. i liked the section in superstar saga where you climb a giant mountain, which is prob the biggest inspiration of this area.

early on in the area, you meet IMPACT, a skeleton oc with a giant bone club

he was mostly a joke character, but i liked him. he was kinda like a big dumb caveman-y guy. funnily enough, i never envisioned him as a boss or villain. he was always going to be an ally.

(i didn't make it very far in the writing process of his theme song!!)

i can't be bothered to make a whole google doc for his short introduction script, so i'll just copy-paste it to here. (his text was going to be comedically large)

Impact: IMPACT!!! Impact: I AM IMPACT Impact: THE ONE WHO BONKS Papyrus: HELLO IMPACT! IT'S NICE TO- Impact: IMPACT PLAGUED BY Impact: TERRIBLE EGGPLANTS Impact: THEY HARD LIKE ROCKS Impact: AND RUIN MY GARDEN Papyrus: AH, A SKELETON IN DISTRESS! Papyrus: NO MATTER, THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE TO HELP! (papyrus materializes a bone in his hand) Papyrus: I'LL SMASH THESE EGGPLANTS VALIANTLY LIKE- (papyrus swings his bone at the eggplant, it bounces off. he keeps trying) Papyrus: …LIKE SO!! Papyrus: LIKE SO!!! (the bone he's holding cracks) sans: you're cracking me up. Papyrus: SHUT IT SANS! Impact: YOU ARE BABBY BONES. Impact: WEAK LIKE TWIG! Impact: NEED MORE CALCIUM Impact: VITAMINS ARE GOOD. (impact tosses a heavy bone club at papyrus) Impact: THESE ARE REAL BONES. Impact: BONE CLUBS. Impact: IMPACT MADE THEM MYSELF. Impact: THESE ARE REAL BONKABLE. Impact: HELP ME BONK THE EGGPLANTS Impact: AND THEY ARE YOURS. the bone clubs would have basically been this game's replacement for the hammers in m&l. i liked the idea of papyrus and sans just hitting shit with comedically large bones like cavemen

this area was very egg-centric for some reason. i think it's because i got the whole "smashing-plates" thing into my head and wanted to smash other stuff.

PART 5: CARRION ISLES

in earlier versions of the game, the brightwater floats were actually called the carrion isles. i thought that name was too grim for such a brightly colored area though, so i pushed it forward!!!

i don't have any concept art for carrion, but i'd picture it as a collection of super stormy scary piers with constant thunder and scary intense music. it'd have that core-thing going where it'd have really intense area music that keeps playing in the battles.

(enemy designs by the fantastic yaboinando!)

this area was very fuzzy in my head. i wasn't really sure what to do with it, but i wanted some kind of semi sheriff minigame or battle at the end of this. the basic idea i had was that there'd be a "pirate king" and that semi would ally with them, maybe there'd be some kind of silly cannon battle between you on ferryperson's (now repaired) ship and them. another idea i had was that the "pirate king" could have been undyne, who fell into the dark world way after sans and papyrus did. they'd initially be allied with semi, but as soon as she sees her "enemies" are sans and papyrus she jumps ship and joins you on your adventure. i'm not sure how that would work with the rest of the game though!!!

one thing for certain is that after the silly battle, there'd be a big intense betrayal scene where ferryperson fights you. i SWEAR i had some concept art of this but i can't find this. it'd have ferryperson on a giant wave while papyrus and sans are floating on the collapsed remains of their boat though. kinda like this.

this theme was somewhat inspired by alphys takes action, funnily enough. i like how it sounds, though it is very unfinished

(edit) FOUND IT!!!!

this is VERY very early concept art, back when the game had more of an undertale-y UI. originally sans was actually going to be the only one in this battle since papyrus was held hostage, it'd be the thing to push him into finally fighting properly

PART 6: STEEL CALDERA & ZARELLA RESORT

quick warning!!! everything beyond this point is very fuzzy. we had NONE of this solidly planned out

this is the closest thing we have to a theme for steel caldera. it would've been a magma-y volcano area! originally this area was actually called "steamworks" and was a purple-pinkish retro-futuristic city, but undertale yellow came out and i thought it'd look like a ripoff so i trashed that idea lol

in the original script, caldera was also called "mt zarella" but i thought that sounded lame

i had a brief idea for a skeleton in undyne's knight armor called "ROMAN OF STEEL" who was gonna be the main villain for this arc, sort of a big egotistical tough-guy character.

zarella resort was gonna be the part-2 to this area, a fancy italian resort next to the volcano with heavy mafia connections.

r.v pine made some fantastic designs for the cheese mafia that i still LOVE

there was gonna be a meta joke in the resort where papyrus & sans expect to get firehand and thunderhand, but the ancient sites that those powers come from were knocked down and turned into a tourist attraction. some mafia employee goes "I'm sorry, but hand powers have been privatized."

the arc ends with papyrus getting a neverending bottle of hot sauce that he just kind of carries around and uses as a "fire" attack

INTERMISSION: MID-GAME SEMI FIGHT

early on i envisioned some kind of semi-emotional moment where sans and papyrus meet another skeleton with this big western wagon, then they sit by a campfire and talk, then go to sleep. when they wake up, semi sheriff is chasing them with his own wagon, and there'd be this massive battle. i swear i have concept art of this too but i ACTUALLY can't find it this time

PART 7: CAPRESE JUNGLE

this was a very weird area. it was gonna be a jungle based on salad i swear everything i came up with for this area came from some schizo hallucination because i don't remember coming up with any of this.

here are some iterations this strange area went through:

the area was ruled by a fancy skeleton with a fancy feathered hat called "Arial Noire". she spoke french and was a necromancer

the area was ruled by dinosaurs, like papyrus' dino egg oatmeal. there would be a part where semi tries to ambush you, but accidentally shoots a baby dino in its egg and then the baby dino gets pissed and fights papyrus and sans

the area was ruled by a flowey knockoff called "Peppermint".

PART 8: QUICK ROUNDUP OF OTHER AREAS

here are some other area ideas i had for the late-game:

sugarspice peaks, an area with cliffs and moths and stuff. i didn't actually put much thought into this area, i just wanted moths in the game. in the light world this would have been a cupboard

the badlands. this area would have started as a return to flavortown, that ends in a giant journey to catch the IMPASTA, the bandit who framed papyrus & sans and caused semi sheriff to hunt you down throughout the entire game. after you catch impasta, semi sheriff joins your party.

steampunk glacier, basically just the fridge in the light world. this would have been a heavy parallel to "joke's end" in superstar saga. i think paps & sans would have been seperated from semi sheriff (and possibly undyne) for the first half of this section, then they all meet back up near the end. sans also gets a shitty hand power, being a few cubes of dry ice that he just throws at people's eyes

PART 9: WATERFALL PALACE & FINAL BOSS

so, this is something that's oddly personal to me because the stupid, STUPID idea i had for the final boss was my entire motivation to create this game.

the waterfall palace area would be a standard area-before-final-boss-area. in the light world it would be the comedically tall kitchen sink.

at the top of the tower, there'd be a giant faucet with running water and the "dark lord", the overarching villain for this whole thing. you find the "dark lord" and fight him. a theme similar to "in the final" from bowser's inside story would play, but then the boss would be incredibly underwhelming. he'd die in like 3 hits... at which point he reveals he's not the ACTUAL dark lord, and he was just pretending to do so for status. he'd turn off the faucet... and then a giant door would reveal itself behind the great waterfall.

papyrus, sans and semi sheriff would walk through the door... and see a japanese temple.

and then, the ground rumbles.

the FINAL BOSS of this entire adventure would have been a GIGANTIC ANNOYING DOG WITH THREE HEADS. an ANNOYING CERBERUS if you will

you don't understand. the idea of this is so fucking hilarious to me. imagine going on this entire adventure just for the final boss to be an annoying dog joke. this is the first ever idea i thought of for this fucking fangame and i worked backwards from there and thought up EVERYTHING ELSE. JUST to fit the puzzle pieces together for this finale. i thought it would be so fucking funny to troll the players like this.

to bring the joke even further, in most mario & luigi games, you have to collect 8 pieces of some kind of ancient-mythical-powerful-artifact. in this game i decided on "ingredients for the legendary linguine", a bunch of seemingly magical ingredients that come together to make this uber powerful relic of a meal. there was gonna be this dramatic scene halfway through the cerberus fight where papyrus assembles the linguine, throws it at the boss and then NOTHING HAPPENS. a big point of the boss would also be that it'd think papyrus, sans & semi's attacks are just play-fighting, but once they deal enough damage then it'd get angry and just curbstomp them both and they'd seemingly be pretty much dead.

there would be this big power-of-friendship scene where sans, papyrus and semi revive, and then a giant three-headed gaster blaster dragon would be assembled from the bones of their attacks, and there'd be a bowsers-inside-story style giant battle where the megalo dragon finally defeats the annoying dog

and that, my friends, would be the ending of my half-shitpost game, because i think that would have been amazing and hilarious, but unfortunately that reality will never come to fruition.

thank you all for the support. since i posted the first half of this archive i saw a twitter thread posted about the game's cancellation. it's pretty humbling, and dare i say almost inspiring seeing how many people liked the concept so much and were saddened by its cancellation. i have a big problem with announcing projects too soon and then having to cancel them when i inevitably loose motivation, so to avoid this i'll probably be dead quiet on any future big projects until i can release SOMETHING to do with them, whether that's a demo or trailer or anything else. i hope to see you all in whatever project i start next!

SHADOWFELL SAGA ARCHIVE: PART 1 - PART 2

#mario & luigi #superstar saga #mario & luigi rpg #fangame #fan game #undertale #deltarune #undertale fangame #papyrus #sans #papyrus fangame #shadowfell saga #papyrus & sans #papyrus & sans rpg #papyrus & sans shadowfell saga #papyrus au

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neesieiumz · 4 years

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Hi there, I noticed your requests are open! May I please request some smut for laxus with a fem reader, headcanons or scenario I don't mind (I hope this isn't too vague and I hope you do smut, if not some fluff would be nice) thanks!

Surprise {Laxus Dreyar x F!Reader}

Summary: You had news, important news to tell Laxus. You wanted to make it special, so while preparing the surprise, something happens. Will you be able to tell Laxus the news?

A/N: I AM SO SORRY!!! I was working on this ever since you made the request and I had that long bout of writers block and hated touching my WIPs! But now I can finally do this request! I wrote like six prompts for this request and this was the one that I could flesh out the most. I know you asked for smut, so I may do a part two of this, have it take place after the one year time skip. I just wanted have something for you, instead of leaving this in the drafts.

Word count: 5k

---

You’ve been in the guild since you were young, and have stayed with them through thick and thin. You found solace in the Thunder Legion and in the arms of the Master’s grandson Laxus. The two of you clicked in ways you’ve never expected. You started as going close friends and went through it all together. From the Battle Royale, which did drift you to his sudden appearance at Tenrou Island. It was the two of you, along with the Thunder Legion, against the world. Ever since Tenrou Island, the two of you have been dating, and it was the best decision of your life.

Now it was after the Grand Magic Games and for a while, things were peaceful in Magnolia. There were a lot of jobs being taken, wizards of Fairy Tail were thriving. It was all good.

You were out shopping, a soft smile on your face as you picked up things for the dinner tonight. You were planning a dinner with your boyfriend and his friends tonight. A special one you told them. You were wearing a black, spaghetti strap, corset top, with ripped, black jeans and a pair of strappy boot heels. You were in one of the best moods of your life, so excited for tonight.

You picked up some dry pasta and placed it alongside your other items in your basket. You went over the list of everything you needed before heading to an empty checkout line. Once you began to place the different food you bought in the lane, your mind drifted back to before you arrived here. When you had to tell them why you couldn’t come with them for their restaurant job at 8-Island.

“A special dinner? For what?” Bickslow questioned, crossing his arms.

You just smiled smugly, placing your finger on top of your plump, glossy lips, “that, my dear friend, is for me to know and for you guys to find out! Now I don’t want to keep old man Yajima waiting! Go!” You shoved the long-tongued man, along with the rest of them, towards the large guild door.

Laxus, being Laxus of course, barely budged from your efforts to push them out, instead choosing to turn around and grab you by the wrists. You tried to squirm out his hold but he held your wrists tighter and pulled you even closer, looking into your eyes. You squirmed at his intense stare, trying to look away from his blue-gray eyes.

“You sure it’s nothing bad?” He questioned softly, one of his hands moving from your wrist to your waist.

You relaxed a bit before smiling, exhaling through your nose. You raised an arm to caress his cheek softly, running your thumb over his lips.

“I promise it’s a good thing.” Still holding his cheek, you leaned up and gave him a peck on his cheek, leaving a glossy print.

He muttered “angrily” at your actions but his cheeks gave him away as they turned red which made him glance everywhere but at you. You smiled at his actions and gave them one final push out of the guild so they can make it on time for their restaurant job at 8-Island.

“See you guys tonight! And don’t eat too much there, I’m making a big dinner!” You waved them off.

The Thunder Legion turned around and waved at you back, Evergreen yelled at you to make your famous butter rolls. You smiled at her and yelled back that you already planned to make them. She smiled at you and turned back around and caught up with the rest of them.

Laxus glanced back at you and winked at you, making you roll your eyes and smile at him and waved your fingers at him before entering the guild to talk to Mira about her recipe books.

You smiled before hearing the cashier calling out to you. Your cheeks immediately burned in embarrassment, before pulling out your wallet to pay for your things. She handed you your receipt, which you thanked her for before summoning a cloud to help you carry all of your things home. It was already getting close to the time they were supposed to be returning from 8-Island anyways. You wanted to get dinner started for them so they wouldn’t be waiting long.

You walked towards your home, clouds carrying your bags and your hands on your abdomen.

Not realizing the horror that was happening to your loved ones right now.

----

Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild hall…

“How are we supposed to tell her?”

The entire guild was in the infirmary, moments after Freed carried all his team and Yajima back to the guild. They were currently unconscious, their bodies writhing in pain from the Bane particles in their system. Porlyusica was still trying to ease their pain.

“Huh? Tell who?!” Natsu asked, looking around the guild.

“You idiot!” Lucy yelled, hitting him in the back of the head before pointing all around the guild.

“Who else?!? Y/n Of course! She’s not here! She doesn’t know what happened to them!”

Natsu looked at Lucy incredulously before looking around before realizing she was right, you weren’t here. No one has seen you since Laxus and the Thunder Legion left for their job. Mira, however, looked away and down as she started to recall the conversation you had with her. It was right before you left the guild, heading towards the stores in town today.

“She went out in the town today,” Mira started, tears filling her waterline, “she said she had a surprise for Laxus and the Thunder Legion and wanted to make a special dinner for the four of them,” Mira told the whole guild, looking down at her hands, tears filling her eyes.

“I have to make an amazing dinner for them tonight, cause of the news I have to tell them!” You were so excited, taking the book in Mira’s hands and putting it in your bag.

Mira giggled and clasped her hands together in joy, “may I ask what this special surprise is supposed to be?”

You looked at Mira, eyeing her carefully. After Ever, you did think of Mira as your best friend. The two of you hit it off when you joined the guild with Evergreen. Plus she knew how to keep a secret. When she wanted to anyways. You took a deep breath and smiled before placing your hands on your abdomen.

She looked down at your hands before looking back at you. You tapped your finger pads gently against your abdomen, making her look back down. She was still confused for a moment before her eyes widened in shock and she gasped loudly.

“You- You’re preg-”

Frantically, you quickly reached up to her face and covered her mouth with your hands. You looked around to make sure that no one heard her. Luckily no one is paying attention to you guys. All you did was nod your head at what she was asking you before slowly removing your hand from your mouth.

“I’m so happy for you!” Her eyes filled with tears as she carefully wrapped her arms around you.

You smiled at her happiness and wrapped your arms around her, relishing in her warm hug. You both stayed like that for a moment before letting go. You told her that you hadn’t told Laxus or the Thunder Legion yet and that you wanted to make a special dinner for the five of you. To do that, you have to head out to the store to get the things you needed for dinner tonight.

Mira smiled in happiness for you as she waved you off, seeing you walk out the guild doors, with a skip in your walk.

“See you later Mira!”

Mira began to sob in her hands, taking a seat beside Laxus’ bed. Lisanna immediately began to comfort her, wrapping her arms around her older sister’s trembling shoulders. The entire guild could only look in sadness as the white-haired S-Class wizard cried for her friends.

“T-this is going to kill her,” Mira sobbed, taking the tissue Juvia offered her.

Gray opened his mouth, was about to say something when loud creaking, which usually came from the guild front doors, started filling the quiet air. They could hear footsteps slowly entering before hearing,

“Hello!!? Where are you guys? Where is everyone?”

It was you. It was way past the time that Laxus said he and the others would be home. After waiting for over an hour, you decided to come to the guild. You had planned to go to the 8-Island restaurant but city officials had closed off the area due to a gas leak. At least, that’s what they were telling people who asked. They would have told you something different, however, your guild Mark was on your shoulder blade, and you were wearing a jacket.

Mira began to cry harder, her body shaking.

“I-I can’t-,” she choked, coughing into her hands.

Master Makarov sighed, stroking his beard, his eyes closed. He stood there for a moment before turning around and headed towards the infirmary door.

“Don’t worry child, I’ll tell her.”

——

You were getting worried. First Laxus and the Thunder Legion don’t show up and now the guildhall is empty. You changed out of your outfit, wearing a long-sleeved, black, ruched dress with ruffles all over the dress. Your coils, usually in a wash-and-go style, are now slicked up into an afro puff and decorated with a butterfly clip that Laxus had gotten you one time. You looked around at the empty guildhall, wondering where everyone was.

“Guys, this is getting really weird… where are you?!” You called out one more time.

You then heard movements behind you, making you quickly turn around and get in a battle stance. Only to find Master Makarov coming down the stairs. You let out a breath of relief before walking up to him.

“I’m so glad to see you,” you smiled at your future grandfather-in-law, “where’s the rest of the guild? Have they all taken jobs again? And do you know where Laxus is? It’s getting late.”

Gramps sighed before taking your hand and leading you to the closest table to the stairs. He made you sit down as he looked down in anguish.

“Gramps… is there something wrong?” You asked him tentatively, leaning over to try and look him in the face.

You could see tears in his waterline which made you even worried. What could have happened for him to feel like crying?

“My dear Y/n… something has happened…”

——

The doors of the infirmary slammed open, causing everyone to gasp and turn around as they saw you running inside like a madwoman. You pushed them all away from you, basically having no regard for any of them. You soon reached the closest bed.

Which just so happens to be Laxus’ bed.

Your body began to shake as your eyes glanced over on his sickly body. He was pale, oh so very pale, you could almost see the poison moving through his veins. His eyes were closed but you could hear him grunt from the pain of the and writhe in pain. There was sweat glistening on his body. The tears were already falling from your eyes.

“N-no, not L-Laxus,” you stuttered, slowly falling to your knees.

You couldn't breathe. You could see dark spots started to cloud your vision, you could feel your eyes beginning to flutter open and closed. You took a couple of steps back before you lost your footing, stumbling on yourself.

“Y-Y/n?” You heard someone question but you couldn’t place who it was as your vision blackened, falling to the ground unconscious.

“Y/N!”

Gray, being the closest male to you, immediately picked you up and placed you on the next empty bed, the one beside Freed’s. Porlyusica immediately came over to check on you, placing a stethoscope on your body and placing it at different vital areas. She removed the tool and placed her hands on your abdomen, her hands giving off a blue glow. A few seconds after her hands immediately turned pink.

She slowly nodded her head, before removing her hands, the pink glow slowly fading away. The entire guild watched as Porlyusica slowly rose from her kneeling position before turning to face the rest of the guild, looking on at their collapsed guildmate with immense worry.

“Well?!” Natsu questioned, “what’s wrong with her?”

Porlyusica just sighed and smiled sadly, shaking her head.

“She’s pregnant.”

The entire guild gasped loudly at the news and the reveal only seemed to make Mira cry even harder. Some looked over at you, seeing your tears drying on your face as you rest. Some looked onto Master, waiting for his reaction. Others looked onto Porlyusica as she explained the reason for your fainting.

“She just needs to rest, I guess she stressed herself out a little too much today and this just topped everything,” Porlyusica said, reaching over to pull up the blanket to right under your chin.

Porlyusica made sure that you were as comfortable as possible, before turning to the rest of the Fairy Tail Guild, “This is a crucial time for her, she needs to be resting… which means you all need to find the person who did this Laxus and the rest of the Thunder Legion and find them quickly!”

The guild’s all-around sullen faces became hardened with resolve, with these new developments, a new enemy was upon them. Master Makarov already started to make plans to find the other council members and protect them while making plans to find Tartarus. The entire guild soon cleared out of the infirmary, on Prolyusica’s orders, of course, saying that the large group was making her and her patients stuffy. After everyone left, Erza already yelled at them to start the search for the former council members. However, Mira and Lisanna stayed, looking on to your resting body before turning their eyes towards the Thunder Legion and Old Man Yajima.

“Don’t worry Mira,” Lisanna said, giving her sister a reassuring one-sided hug, “Laxus and the others are gonna make it out of this alive and he and Y/n are gonna have their baby.”

Mira took a deep breath, wiping her tears away with a clean tissue. She looked down at her hands before forming a small smile on her face.

“Yeah, you’re right Lisanna.”

——

You were awake.

It had been two days since you found out about Laxus and the Thunder Legion’s demise. You were now awake and you barely spoke to anyone, using mostly nods and head shakes to communicate to people. Mira was the only one who would hear you speak real words. But the most she would get to hear you say is “no’s” and “yes”. The only time people would hear you speak full words and sentences is when you would talk to Laxus. He obviously couldn’t respond but you couldn’t help it. You knew he was mostly listening. At least you hoped.

You refused to leave Laxus’s side, Mira had to bring you clothes from your home and you ate and slept in the guild. In the empty infirmary beds. No matter what, you refused to leave his side, no matter what people tried to tell you. A plus to this was that Porlyusica could do checkups on you. She made sure that the baby was growing and nothing was hindering their development. However she, and the other have been trying to convince you to take a break from the guild. Although you couldn’t go out and help people with the search, they wanted you to at least take a walk outside of the guild.

“You can’t keep staying here Y/n, it’s not good for the baby,” Mira tried to convince you to take a walk but you wouldn’t budge.

You were sitting by Laxus’ side, as you’ve always been, holding his hand and just looking at him. You were wearing a pair of comfy sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt. Your hair was dry and crunchy to the touch. You had not moisturized it for days, still pulled up in the same puff you had a couple of days ago.

“How about you take a small walk, I can convince Levy to take over for me and I walk with you?”

Nothing. Not a word from you. You were still silent, sitting by Laxus’ side and holding his hand, slowly stroking it. Your eyes were lifeless, eyes heavy with bags.

“Y/n, I know you're worried, but please think about what Laxus would want. He would want you to take care of yourself, take care of your baby. And staying like this isn’t good, you need a breath of fresh air. Please if not for me, for the baby then?”

You took a deep breath and leaned back, still holding his hand.

“Mira is right, your baby comes before you now. Take some time outside, before you come back to this dreary place,” Porlyusica then said, looking at some herbs and oils in glass beakers.

Mira came up and grabbed you by the shoulders, “please just for five minutes, and then you can come back inside, okay?”

You sighed, glanced at her before looking at your lover, who was currently fighting for his life right now. You looked at him with longing, to see him wake up, to see his reaction when he learns of your state. You caressed his face, thumbing over his cheek before slowly sliding your hand off of his face. You looked back at Mira and nodded your head, sliding your chair back. You got up and followed Mira outside, ignoring the members who were running around, currently on the mission to find the former council members, hopeful to find the ones connected to FACE.

Mira kept you updated about the guild at times.

The two of you stepped outside and took in the cool air slightly blowing in your faces. You took a deep breath as you began to rock back and forth. You crossed your arms together and rubbed them up your biceps to gain some warmth in your palms.

“See, don’t you at least feel a bit better, more air in your lungs at least?”

You said nothing, just continued to look out into the Magnolia distance. Squinting your eyes, you could see the old Island-8 restaurant, and the construction workers beginning the new building. You felt a lump in your throat as you looked on, before taking a deep breath and rolling your shoulders back, feeling the joints in your backbones crack.

“Y/n?”

You felt a force slightly push you at your shoulders, pulling you out of your headspace. You jumped a little before turning around looking at your friend, who looked at you with even more worry. You gave her a small smile as she grabbed your shoulder, joining you in looking at your home city.

“You know he’s gonna pull through, so please don’t stress yourself out,” Mira said, laying her head on top of your shoulder.

You let out a small breath throughout your nose before reaching out to place one hand on her head and the other one in your slightly protruding abdomen. The two of you just stood there for a while, taking in all the fresh air you could before someone called out to the both of you.

The two of you glanced at each other before looking at Warren, who was sweating and panting like a dog in need of water.

“Mira! We need you!”

Mira let go of you but looked back at you, eyes swimming with unspoken unconcern. You smiled and gestured for her to go.

“Go,” you whispered, nodding your head towards Warren, “go find the council members.”

She smiled before following Warren into the guildhall. Yous sighed before turning back, staring at the horizon once more. The cool breeze You smiled to yourself, the first real smile you’ve felt in days.

“Laxus would love how this day looks…”

----

You were disoriented, the confusion caused your stomach to start to flip on itself. The baby definitely didn’t like the ride, no matter how smooth Carla tried to make it. You groaned as you tried to push yourself up from… the rock? You glanced around, only to find yourself in an unfamiliar place. You looked down to find yourself, surrounded by the Thunder Legion and Old Man Yajima, who was also laying on the ground, still unconscious. You gasped and stood up as quick as you could without upsetting your stomach and your baby anymore. The wind around you was blowing all around you, as in the distance, you could see a large building in the distance. You took a couple of small steps, squinting your eyes as you got a better look at the emblem sitting front and center of the castle.

Tartarus.

You gasped as you looked around to find your guildmates appearing all around you, coming from Cana’s cards. That’s when the final moments came back to you, you were sitting inside Laxus, holding his hand as Porlyusica administered something to help ease his pain. That’s when the door slammed open and you turned to find Cana running inside. Before she could explain herself, she had already placed all of you in the cards. She then handed them to the three exceeds, putting herself in a card as well, right before the whole guild hall blew up. Cana saved the entire guild’s lives just in time.

“CHAAAAARGE!!!”

You quickly looked up, seeing an army of Tartarus soldiers, headed straight for you and your entire guild

“Y/n!”

You turned around to see Cana looking back at you, holding her cards as she began to fight off the soldiers.

“You and the wounded get a safer place, you can’t fight in your condition!” She said, glancing down at your slightly protruding abdomen.

You looked down at yourself before looking back at Cana, who was waiting for you to move. You just shook your head at her concern before cracking your neck. As you did that, the clouds above began to move as your eyes began to glow white. Your fingers twitched with bright, blue-white lightning, the most powerful type that you can control. The guild and even the soldiers glanced up at the changes in the weather, The wind began to blow all around, centering around you. You raised your hands high as thunder sounded off in the sky.

“Thunder Clap!” You yelled, bringing your hands together in front of you in a swift motion.

The loud clap echoed into a large soundwave which knocked down all the incoming soldiers that were closing in. You turned your head and smirked at Cana, who just smirked back at you. You could feel Prolysica’s disappointment glaring right at your back but you couldn't sit back. Not when your entire guild was giving everything to save the kingdom and magic in this world.

“I think we’ll be just fine Cana, worry about getting into their guildhall!” You yelled, before summoning a bout of lightning from the skies to take on some more soldiers.

She nodded at you before charging ahead, taking down more soldiers as she went. You took a deep breath before looking at the oncoming soldiers. Your eyes went white once more before as you took a crouching stance, lighting appearing at your fingers.

“Let’s do this,” you whispered to yourself.

You knew you couldn’t go all out, so you needed to take out as many as you can and save enough energy in case you needed to move the Thunder Legion and Old Man Yajima.

---

You collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. You could hear Porlyusica exclaim, running over to you. Your magic power was greatly reduced since you have another lifeform feeding off of you. So you couldn't hold your own in a battle as long as you could anymore. After Tartarus activated Alegria, and someone somehow found a way to let you guys go. You immediately found yourselves surrounded by soldiers, and you were the only functioning wizard for miles, everyone getting separated in the rubble. So you had to fight them off, and you were already tired from the previous fight.

“You pushed yourself too hard! Now, look at you!” She turned you to your back, using her stethoscope and using her hand to feel around your abdomen.

You could the ground rumble under you, the tiny stones jumping up and down. You turn your head to find even more soldiers headed your way. You tried to push Prolyuisca away from you, you had to keep fighting. But as soon as you did that, you could feel something cramp up painfully in your lower abdomen. The grip there, caused you to gasp painfully and lay back down, curling yourself into a fetal position. You pushed your coils out of your face as you glanced at the incoming soldiers, they were getting closer and closer.

You took another deep breath and tried to sit up but this time, Porlyusica pushed you back down.

“Lay back down! You pushed yourself too hard and now you baby could be in danger!”

“They’re coming, and we don’t have an offensive wizard anywhere around us! I have to fight through it!”

The pain only intensified every time you tried to move, your efforts going for naught. You could feel tears fall down your eyes, God was this it? You had no idea where your guild was, the entire Tartaros castle laid to rubble, and you couldn't get up anymore without endangering you and your unborn baby.

That’s when you heard it.

Lightning.

The both of you glanced up, to where the soldiers were coming to only find them all taken down in one fell swoop, struck by yellow lighting. Once the smoke cleared, only one man was standing.

Your man.

You gasped, feeling tears of happiness come to your waterline. He was shirtless, and you could see his body sweating even more than usual. He then turned his body halfway, looking down at you and Porlyusica. He just gave you his signature smirk before facing forward once more.

“Take care of her. She stressed her and the little one too much.”

And with that, and a stroke of lightning from the sky, Laxus was gone.

“LAXUS!!”

And that was the last thing you said before fainting from all the fighting and stress.

---

You took a deep breath, smelling antiseptic and disinfectant. A hospital? Being your first thoughts, shifting about slightly. You could feel a thin blanket on top of you as you slowly opened your eyes, before squinting due to the bright lights above you.

Yep, definitely a hospital. You thought.

You took another deep breath before pushing yourself up, still feeling some soreness from the battle. Once you were setting up, you tensed up slightly as you heard a noise right beside you. A snore. You glanced to your left, before melting at the sight before you.

Laxus was sitting right beside you, looking so much healthier than the last time you saw him. The color in his skin was back., which means that while you were asleep, Porlyusica must have gotten the blood to make the antidote. Currently, he was sitting in a hospital chair, which was tiny by the way so his very large body was stuck cramped in it. The sight was almost comical to you but the thought and gesture caused you to smile sweetly. You reached over to him, before taking his hand, stroking over his knuckles with your thumb. As you did that, you could hear him jump in his sleep, his snores going a higher octave for a moment before his own eyes began to open slowly.

You smiled at him, “Morning sleepyhead,” you teased.

His eyes widened. Your voice pulled him out of his sleepiness as he realized you were awake. He jumped out of his seat and wrapped his large arms around you, placing his head in your neck. You giggled at his actions before hugging him back, laying your head on his shoulder, taking a long whiff of his cologne. The two of you stayed like that for a long time, just staying there hugging each other. You could feel tears falling from your eyes, starting to make a damp spot on his shirt. You sniffled a couple of times, you had him back. You had your Laxus back and he was okay.

“God I was so worried about you,” you choked on the lump in your throat, tightening the grip around his neck.

You could hear him chuckle, “funny, I was gonna say the same thing about you, well the both of you.”

You could feel his arms slide down your back before going around your waist, his hand landing on your abdomen. You smiled at his actions, before moving your hand on top of his. With his other hand, he scooped you under your legs. He picked youtube and placed you on top of his lap, still holding you close to his body. You then leaned against his chest, feeling his heartbeat out of his chest. Both of your hands are still on top of your abdomen.

“I’m pregnant.”

“I know. I heard everything you said.”

You smiled sadly, “I had a better way to tell you.”

You played around with the buttons on his shirt absentmindedly, more focused on the way he took a deep breath once you said that.

“Is that so? Tell me about it.”

“Well, first I was gonna cook this big ass dinner…”

And the two of you stayed like that, relishing in each other’s touch until the Thunder Legion came to visit you. From there, the five of you made plans for your next move. Where to go, what you would do next.

[Taglist]

@perzawa

#Laxus Dreyar #laxus x reader #fairy tail #fanfiction #fanfic #laxus fairy tail #black reader #fairy tail x reader #fairy tail x black reader #laxus x black reader #fairy tail laxus #fairy tail smut #lightning dragon slayer x reader #fairy tail x you #laxus x you #laxus x y/n

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myonepiece · 4 years

Note

on the picture of sticky little fem! S / O what a frightened cat, could you write to Katakuri and Shanks, separately please.

Katakuri, Shanks with a clingy scaredy cat fem!s/o

*Shanks after the cut

-he’s kind of divided on his opinion of your clinginess; 2/3 of him loves it. the only reason he might not like it is because he has an image and reputation to uphold and he can’t have his girlfriend clinging tohim like she’s a koala and he’s a tree

-when he’s not in a situation that calls for his utmost intimidation and scary persona, he’s totally fine if you cling onto him. it’ssofucking adorable he just melts- especially when you just cling onto his arm like wrap yourself around it and even when he lifts it you won’t let go, heart eyes

-in private when it’s just the two of you he’s actually quite clingy too but a silent clingy

-he find your cowardness somewhatannoying occasionally just because he can’t and doesn’t want to always be watching you- he’s a busy man.

-if you’re not a devil fruit user though then he’s more accepting because he knows the danger you’re putting yourself in and he gets worried about you constantly either way so having you stickto him is often reassuring

-when you’re scared and run to him and cling onto him he couldn’t care less because at least now you’re safe, he’s more focused on obliterating whatever is terrorizing you

+ oneshot

it was the early evening and you were walking the deck of Big Mom’s ship, watching the dolphins and fish swim in the water- Katakuri was in a meeting. the retreating light was already casting shadows in the crevices of the ship and you made sure to steer clear of the unsettling dark spaces.

as you kept walking you heard a noise behind you, turning and seeing nothing you kept walking- your normal cowardice appeared and you were already paranoid.

the more you walked the farther the sun sank on the horizon and the shadows crept closer. the noises kept coming but you didn’t see anything.

eventually you decided to stop at the bow of the ship and watch the waves part before it. taking a deep. breath you let the salty ocean air fill your nose, when a hand suddenly grabbed your shoulder.

you jolted and whipped your head around to look behind you, meeting a terrifying face of a goblin-devil mix. utterly gruesome and scary, you screamed and yanked yourself away from the thing’s grip before dashing off and sprinting down the deck towards the location of your boyfriend.

you burst through the door and Katakuri, Daifuku, Oven, and Smoothie all stared at you. you ran across the room and jumped onto your boyfriend who had instinctively (and seeing it with his Haki) opened his arms and tried to hold you- but you kept climbing until you were clinging to his bicep like a scared kitten.

normally he would find this somewhat endearing and amusing but he could tell from your body language as well as your action and position that something had scared you. you were watching the door and Katakuri followed your line of sight, the devilish figure walked through as if it was nothing. Katakuri and his siblings frowned disapprovingly.

“Cracker what are you doing?”

you furrowed your brows in confusion right as the figure took off the mask and Cracker erupted into a fit of laughter. Katakuri’s eyes were piercing and enraged, angry at his brother for doing such a childish and disrespectful thing.

“apologize to _____.”

Cracker stopped laughing and glared at his older brother as if challenging the commander. unfortunately for Cracker and fortunately for you, Katakuri’s anger could be bested by no one and could make anyone crumble.

the younger brother huffed and muttered an apology before leaving with Oven trailing behind him making fun of his failed prank, the two soon followed by Daifuku and Smoothie.

Katakuri brought his arm up and pried you off his arm, holding you in his arms instead.

“are you okay?”

you nodded and thanked the man, moving his scarf down slightly and gently pressing a kiss to his scarred mouth, eliciting a blush and small smile.

-he’s super clingy himself so he had absolutely no problem with your constant affection and need of it. always meeting you with tenfold affections

-he always has a slight worry that you clinging to him in battle or in a dangerous situation will get you hurt but it’s almost always defeated by the known fact that you’re the most safe in his arms

-he finds your cowardice endearing and amusing, sometimes scaring you on purpose or laughing when one of his crew scares you- of course you always end up in Shanks’ arms so that’s a plus

-when it’s not you or one of his crew/friends that scared you then it’s a different scenario. he’s majorly protective of his friends but where as he has patience until he makes a move against the person(s) antagonizing his friends, he has none when someone is doing the same to you

-his constant buried fear of you getting hurt increases and reaches the front of his mind whenever he sees you scared by something other than him, his crew, or his friends. he’ll waist no time having at least 3 of his men ready to attack and his eyes are immediately trained on wherever you came running from or whatever/whoever is the cause of your terror

+ oneshot

the red haired crew sat outside at a small restaurant in the town, relaxing and eating dinner. you had gone off to look at some shops, kissing Shanks on the cheek before your departure and leaving him with a lovesick grin.

you weren’t able to find anything you liked until you spotted a little shop that had a bunch of toys. in the window there was a red lion plush displayed and you knew you had to buy it. you happily dashed into the store and purchased the plush, thanking the owner of thee store before skipping out and heading back down the street to find the resturaunt.

as you were walking back, the people littering the street began to part a far way ahead and a large amount ran past you. intrigued by the peoples’ action you turned around and walked slowly backwards while you tried to catch a glimpse of where they were heading.

you saw that their destination was most likely the docks as the sea was that way and you could see the sails of some ships against the setting sun- right when you came to that conclusion you bumped into something behind you and you dropped the red lion.

you squeaked in surprise and quickly scooped the lion up, dusting him off giving the top of his head a quick apology smooch. you turned around still looking down at the lion and a hand roughly grabbed your shoulder. you froze and your heartbeat spiked, fear overtaking your body as you realized you hadn’t bumped into a wall, but you had in fact bumped into a navy commander.

“oi, isn’t she on a wanted poster?”

the commander looked back at his men and one of them took a paper from his coat, your wanted poster. the commander holding you laughed, joyed by the high bounty you had on your head.

before anyone could comprehend what was happening, you stomped on the commander’s foot and ran away down the street.

you rounded the corner holding desperately to the lion plush and breathing rapidly, spotting Shanks and the crew at the resturaunt a mile away. you called out his name a few times until he heard you, his head snapping towards you smiling. his happiness dwindled and disappeared when he noticed the terrified look on your face.

he got up from his seat as did Benn along with a few other crewmates who had seen you sprinting towards them. Shanks met you a third of the way and you crashed into his body clutching the fabric of his shirt while he wrapped his arms protectively around you.

his eyes moved to the direction you had come from and one of the crewmembers raised his gun at the corner. Shanks’eyes narrowed and he glared at the crowd blocking his view of what might have scared you, his every sense alert and his haki already weakly radiating off him. you looked over your shoulder right as the group of marines appeared through the crowd and walked towards the pirate crew.

the enemy group stopped in their tracks when they realized just who they had been planning to arrest. it only takes a simple look exchanged between the two men to send the commander into a stream of apologies, ushering his crew back and scolding them for not telling him who exactly you are.

Shanks rubbed your back soothingly and kissed your forehead, leading the both of you back to a table while the atmosphere quickly lightened. Shanks sat you on his lap and watched you with love filled eyes as you showed him the red lion plush and explained how it represents him and the red haired crew.

#one piece #one piece imagine #one piece x reader #katakuri x reader #katakuri imagine #katakuri #shanks x reader #shanks imagine #shanks headcanons #katakuri headcanons #shanks

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aknosde · 3 years

Text

Omnes Una Manet Nox

The chronologically first installment of my Reyna Swap AU, Alea Iacta Est // Reyna Avilla Ramírez-Arellano // Fluff & Angst, but minor on the angst // the night before Reyna disappears // tw: mentions past minor character death // light swearing // 4.4k

ao3

—————

“That went well, didn’t it?” Jason asks with that familiar, absently intense energy. They’ve just descended the steps of the Senate after their monthly meeting with the consuls.

The two consuls, in their late thirties, oversee all of Camp Jupiter. Of course, the legion manages their own grounds and budget, under Jason and Reyna’s command, but the little oversight they do get is from the consuls.

Johnson was one of New Rome’s praetors, a few years back. He doesn’t care much about the legion, being from a legacy family and largely skirting his training and service, and he never ceases to make that known. Malhill is the one that always gets under Jason’s defenses. He’s good on policy, good on veterans, good on kids, everything that they could want. But he was the legion’s champion only ten years ago. A direct son of Apollo, a talented archer but an even better bender of light, a legion praetor, and he’s had his eyes on Jason’s career since day one. Reyna’s seen the way he eyes Jason whenever she and Jason are in New Rome, already pegging him for a consul position once Jason’s old enough.

“It went well, Jace,” she says. “Your mission plan is flawless, the only thing that could make them happier is if you’d go on it.” She regrets the words as soon as they’re out of her mouth.

Her remorse is tangible, visible in the line of his spine, the way he taps the place in his pocket where Ivlivs would sit if they were not inside the Pomerian Line, the subtle flick of his wrist.

Not for the first time, she thinks about Mount Othrys. Everything it took from her. Sometimes when she sleeps–not often, but enough–it plays over in her head. But something is always wrong.

She’s leading the charge, but suddenly it’s Jason next to her instead of Michelle. Or Jason and Michelle run into the throne room, but when she closes the door behind them it locks. She makes it into the throne room, slaying all of the Dracaena, but when she enters Atlas is holding Jason over his head, instead of fighting him hand to hand. On the good nights, Michelle isn’t dead when she bursts through the door, on the bad, she watches Michelle die. The one constant is Jason, gold ichor dripping down his face in a horrific mask. When she and Jason land the killing blow, together, she can always see it.

He doesn’t talk about it, of course. Not about Michelle, not about his election, not about the mountain. But she can see it weighing on him through the big things, like how he hasn’t been out of camp borders since the battle, and the small things, like how he glances up at the stars, as if one will come down and crush him any moment.

She rolls her right shoulder, feeling the ligaments shift, as if it will rid her of the thoughts, prepare her for a topic of conversation that often hits a little too close to home.

“Did you hear how Johnson pronounced my name? He’s even worse than you.” Maybe the small huff of a laugh Jason expels is worth it. “‘Miss Ramírez-Arellano,’” she continues, in a nasally imitation of the consul.

“I don’t say it that badly.”

“You say it like a white boy who didn’t know Spanish was a language until two seconds ago.”

“Ramírez-Arellano,” he says, better than consul Johnson, but she still hates hearing it. That girl is long gone, the only thing connecting her to Reyna is Hylla, and although Reyna loves her sister, she’s grateful for the distance that keeps Hylla from being a constant reminder.

“‘We were– were very, erm, dazzled, by your most recent proposition.’” She continues the impression until they are walking through the Praetorian Gate, Jason half hanging off her shoulder and giggling like they’re thirteen again.

He has a nice laugh. A friendly one. It seems to feed off of her volume, her effort, fluctuating the longer he goes. He shouts at her to stop several times, but he’s doubled over in armor, snorting, and all she wants to do is make him laugh like this forever.

It only gets worse on the steps of the Principa, when he decides a good revenge plan is to trip her. The building is dark like the rest of the legion. Two lamps, invisible under the light of day, flank the double doors, but the light is faint and barely makes its way to the stairs, washing everything in a pale yellow. She side steps his foot–his sneakers have reflective decals on them for the sake of the gods, he’s an idiot–but he’s shifted his weight so much that he ends up tripping himself.

They stumble through the doors, still chuckling, and make their way across the great hall as quickly as possible. They must have gotten a new tender for the Principa, because the lights are off like they forgot that people actually live here. Only two people, but still. The darkness makes the place unsettling, and now she’s counting on Jason to keep her occupied. A job he seems all too willing to fulfill as he runs through the next set of doors, still in full armor, clashing against the wood.

Upstairs is worse, she decides. The abandoned lounge reminds her of her childhood living room. Any moment her father could rise from one of the low couches, ready to scoop her up and throw her in her room, that crazed look in his eye.

Something clangs and she jumps.

“What the heck is this?” Jason’s whisper-shouting when she catches up with him in the hallway outside their rooms. He’s partially on the floor–hands keeping him from being face flat–and something is crinkling under his knee.

For some reason all Reyna can say is: “Did you just say ‘heck?’”

“Shut up,” he whines, and she wishes the lights were on just so she could see his ears turning red.

“Of course, farm-boy.”

He’s sitting back on his heels now, she can see the object’s dark outline as he holds it up, rustling in his hands.

“Seriously, what is this thing?” he asks, looking up at her.

“A bag with my old clothes,” she says, squinting. “I was going to see if any legionnaires need some.”

“And you have it by your door so you don’t forget,” he says, explaining for her. In the stress of running for office, of war, she forgot the ways in which they are attuned to each other. She forgot that she doesn’t have to explain and defend her every little action to him. It’s sad that it’s taken her almost two months to remember.

He sets the bag back down, nudging it into almost its exact spot, and hefts himself to his feet with a sigh. His brow furrows once he’s standing, looking out into the middle distance, but he sees the quirk of her brow and quickly explains himself, “We have that meeting with the centurions tomorrow after breakfast.”

Jason is a social person. A true extrovert. He hates being alone, working alone, and the quiet that comes with both. So what he’s really saying is that he has work left to do and wants some company. And who is she to deny him that? “Do you want to work in the main hall, office, or my room?”

He grins, clapping his hands and then raises his palms to the sky. “Bedroom, praise Fortuna.”

“Five minutes, Sparkplug,” she says, bumping her shoulder into his own as she sidesteps him into her room. His eyes follow her as she goes, like she’s his North Star, and damn him for making her heart skip a beat, because in the empty space Venus’ words always echo. She stomps them down, before her face can fall, before the hollow silence can fill the hallway, and in their place she jams a smirk. “If you’re lucky I’ll even edit your speech.”

As her door clicks behind her she can hear him groan, “I just prayed to Fortuna.”

She stands with her hands on her hips, briefly surveying her room to decide what to do first.

Being praetor has its perks, like private bath and bedrooms across the hall from her best friend and king sized beds, but it also means she is no longer in the practice of keeping her space ready for inspections. Her comforter is pulled up, but her bed isn’t made, files are scattered across her desk and on her dresser, and her wardrobe is wide open.

She decides on doing everything at once, which involves a crooked path across her room as she shucks off armor, not bothering with her armor stand, and changes out of the nice clothes she wore to meet the consuls. All the while she turns on lights, puts on sweats, makes her bed, and tucks away files.

Jason knocks on her door five minutes later, that ever punctual bastard, just as she’s zipping her hoodie over her tank top.

“Help me, Reyna,” he says, holding a typed copy of his speech out to her in both hands like some sort of trophy. “You’re my only hope.”

She snorts, snatching the pages out of his hands. “Nice reference.”

He cocks his head to the side, brow furrowed, and she bets if he were actually a wolf one of his ears would be turned as well.

“You just made a Star Wars reference,” she says, but he looks just as confused.

“What’s Star Wars?” He asks warily.

She swears to herself in Spanish, because otherwise he’ll tease her about the legion’s anti-swearing policies, collapsing dramatically back on her bed, and sighs. “It’s a movie trilogy, wolf boy.”

“Ah.”

Another thing she forgot, apparently, is how little Jason knows about basically anything outside of camp. He says he arrived when he was three, and wasn’t even allowed into the city until he was eight, which apparently means he’s never been to a movie theater.

By now he seems used to her telling him about the more innocent aspects of the mortal world, and at the very least takes his lack of knowledge in stride. If only he would watch the movies and shows she’s downloaded on his laptop for him.

When she looks up after reading his introduction he is sitting at her desk, picking at some invisible blemish while subtly putting highlighters away, and looking around her room.

“If you start cleaning I’m throwing you out.”

He grumbles to himself, but she makes out a yes ma’am somewhere in the mix, so she decides to throw him a bone.

“If you want to occupy yourself I have a speech about legion veterans you can fact check,” she says, faux casual, not that he can tell. He needs to do something before he starts picking at his nails instead of the wood.

“Sure.”

“It’s in one of the red folders.”

“Would that be the one on the floor under your desk or the one on your dresser,” he says, sounding far too cheeky.

“The one on my dresser, and stop pretending you’re better than me, asshole.”

He clutches his chest dramatically, walking to her dresser. “Better than the best? How could I be?”

“Mmmhmm,” she responds, half ignoring him in favor of his speech, aware of the ticking clock.

It’s truly impossible for him to stay awake past ten, a fact that is only proven the next time she looks up and he’s asleep at her desk, pen still in hand and a research paper opened on her laptop. No matter how often she reminds him that the regimented lights out of the legion no longer applies to them, he just can’t seem to break the habit.

“Jason.” She nudges his shoulder, extracting the pen at the same moment so he can’t smudge her speech.

His head jerks, eyes alert, but voice groggy when he says, “What’s going on?” All legionnaires wake up in a similar manner, but for some reason it only strikes her as amusing when he does it.

She hadn’t thought of what she was waking him up for, besides a need to do it, and her mind wanders to the Forum, wondering if her favorite café would still be open at this hour. She’s starving, she realizes. Their meeting with the consuls had been pushed back and they had had to skip dinner to make it.

She grins. “Are you hungry?”

“Uh, yeah. How did you know?”

“Roof s’mores?”

“Reyna,” he drags out the last syllable, fading it into a sigh. “That takes energy.”

“Okay, but–” She holds her hands out, weighing them. “Would you rather spend the energy to just walk across the hall and go to sleep, or climb up to the roof with me and roast us a couple marshmallows?”

Jason looks at her like is that a real question? which had been her intention. She folds her hands into a pleading gesture and pouts emphatically–he’s always more flexible when she acts a little silly. “Please, Jace. I got that cheap chocolate you like. I’ll even get the stuff myself, you can go straight up.”

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes and she smiles, satisfied, and already on her way out the door.

The praetorian kitchen reminds her of office break rooms on television, besides the fact that it looks perpetually unnatural, mostly due to the fact that only three people go inside–her, Jason, and the Principa tender–and it’s always pristine. The only things actually kept in there are coffee, tea, and of course: her and Jason’s secret stash of s’more supplies, buried in the back of the cabinet with the untouched bowls.

By the time she’s through the roof access door, conveniently placed to hide it from the view of anyone on the ground, Jason is already sitting by the dark spot of ash that signifies their pastime. Because, yes, they started coming up here long before either of them were elected Praetor.

He’s a dark outline against the night sky, sitting criss-crossed and looking down at the façades of the other legion buildings, and briefly she has the thought that somebody could make a painting out of this. She slides her old Camp Jupiter ID back between the lock and door jamb, willing the thought to disappear with the potential of the fire alarm going off.

She shivers as she sits next to him, nose wrinkling with the cold now that she’s fully vulnerable to the elements. Without a word Jason removes his sweatshirt and passes it to her.

“I’m already wearing one.”

“Mine is thicker, trade me.”

And because he’s Jason, she does.

It’s slightly big on her, his shoulders just a few inches broader than her own, and a forest green. On the back is a printed vine of purple flowers and a date. She recognizes it as one of the prizes of the Ludi Florae, or Games of Flora, from Floralia last year. The festival sits right between April and May, and last year’s was the grandest of all. Or so Jason says. Everyone had been anxious about Mount Othrys, and apparently all of that energy had been funnelled into the events.

Reyna herself had been busy running for praetor. All she remembers from the festival is campaigning. And Jason, running up to her looking flushed, this sweatshirt thrown over one shoulder.

“Remember when I told you that you were the best, Jace,” she says sweetly once she is safely swaddled in his hoodie. He’s right–it is thicker.

Jason grins up at her, wrapping his hands around two marshmallows. “I may recall something along those lines having been said a long, long time ago.”

“Well, I just want to inform you that I retract that statement, because this sweatshirt is ugly and the cuffs are burnt.”

The electricity that had been slowly coursing over the ridges of his fingers flares for a second, and his hands fly open as if he was handed metal straight from the forges. “Oops.” Both of the marshmallows are burnt, but his lips are turned up in a poorly concealed smirk.

“I forget you’re a heathen,” she says primly, sticking her nose in the air instead of saying any of the less wholesome options at the back of her throat.

“Does liking burnt marshmallows make me a heathen?”

She pretends to mull it over for a second, extracting the rest of their supplies. “Yes. You have to buy the next bag because you’re mean and I say so.”

She takes the burnt marshmallow regardless, sandwiching it between her own chocolate and graham crackers. Jason takes three squares of the Hershey bar he likes for absolutely no good reason, and does the same. She shakes her head. He’s the fucking all American boy who sticks with the classics even when he doesn’t know they’re the classics. She has no idea how he does it.

They don’t talk while they eat, regrettably the silence reminding her of her childhood, no matter how hard she pushes against it. She looks up at the stars, trying to forget the cold kitchen, cold house, even in hundred degree heat. It’s times like this when the ring, and the chain she wears it on, weigh heavy on her neck.

It feels like a noose right now, just as much as it feels like freedom, like power, every other second of her life. Like a sentence, compelling her to pay for her crimes, to confess to them, to wreck her world so terribly that she would lose up from down and die. A fair punishment.

“What are you thinking about,” Jason asks a while after they’ve finished. She looks at him, sitting back on his hands, looking at her, not the sky. It’s dark on the roof, but the light from the street lamps seems to center around him. It glints off his hair, visibly blond even in the night, and pours into his eyes. They’re always so blue. So blue it looks fake. But they never cease to pull Reyna in. Sometimes she swears she can see lightning arc across his irises.

He’s always asking her questions like this. Innocent and curious, no ulterior motives, no goals. He genuinely wants to know. And if she doesn’t answer, he’ll drop it, because he always does. It’s not something she’s used to, even after all these years; this place she has in his mind, if not his heart. A place of utter respect. He doesn’t question her because he knows what she is thinking, and when he doesn’t, he accepts her. Would he still, if he knew what she did to her father?

She breaks his gaze with that thought. It’s too much. “My sister,” she says instead, and it doesn’t feel right to look back. Under oath, Reyna would say that Jason is the most important person in her life. Her best friend; the person she sees every day, talks to every day, eats with and works with. He is the closest thing she has to a family here. And she– And she loves him. Maybe as a little more than a friend. But talking about her sister while looking him in the eye feels too intimate, too intense. “She would like you.”

It is something to say, simply to say something, but maybe she isn’t wrong. There is something in Jason that reminds her of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and not in the way that haunts her nightmares and twists her sheets around her until they become bonds she can’t quite break free of. Being on Blackbeard’s crew, that’s how Reyna learned hard work, in a way she never had before. It had instilled a drive in her, to change everything, to rewrite systems, to make something so beautiful it was unrecognizable. And perhaps Jason doesn’t have that same drive, but he knows the work. He goes out of his way to do it dirty and hard and long. He refuses to take the thousands of shortcuts he’s offered. And Hylla would admire that, she thinks.

“I had a sister,” he whispers.

For a second–just a second–she’s stuck. “What?”

“I had a sister.” He picks at a loose thread on his jeans for a moment, and that’s how she knows he’s serious, because he hates ripping his jeans more than almost anything else. He’s refusing to meet her gaze. “Thalia Grace.”

He says her name soft and tender. She can imagine him, standing over a hearth, cradling the name between his palms and looking at it the same way he first looked when he was gifted Ivlivs. Big, round eyes.

“That’s really nice, Jace,” she says, because he rarely surprises her, and for once she doesn’t know what to say.

He looks up at her, smiling tightly. His eyes are sad. Is that how she looks when she thinks about Hylla?

“You can tell me about her, if you want,” Reyna says when the moment becomes two, and then three, because Jason doesn’t bring up things he doesn’t want to talk about. But Jason also has his own ideas about debt, about worthiness, and it is clear to her that he told her about his sister in exchange for Reyna talking about her own.

He smiles at her. A real smile, if small. She feels warm, and it’s not from his extra thick sweatshirt.

“I don’t remember a lot about her, but… She had black hair. So dark, like the night. And her eyes, they were amazing. Bright blue, like a perfect sky. Sometimes I can see them, in this half-memory half-dream, and they’re so strong they look like how an electric shock feels.”

“Like yours,” she whispers, and Jason hums in a way that makes it frustratingly unclear if he heard her or not. She hopes not.

“When I was little,” he continues, after another moment of staring wistfully over the Twelfth Legion, “I used to imagine she was looking for me. That one day she would find me, here, be proud of me for– I don’t know what. Love me, or something. All that stupid shit.” He trails off again, picking at his nails, but she can’t bring herself to chide him.

There are things that she knows about Jason, true as the sun rising in the east and the pull of the moon on the tides and the sound of imperial gold on whetstone. She knows that he works hard, works with the public, flushes under the compliments of people older than him because he has never had a concrete parental figure. Not even one to hate, to fear, to mourn. She knows that he never trusts praise from these people because he knows his parentage, knows they know, knows that he is connected to his father in the eyes of these people in a way he doesn’t feel himself, and never will.

Truths of Jason that are pillars in her understanding of him, that were pivotal in their relationship. But like so many supports, they were never acknowledged. Truth has no need to be stated, and she has no compellence to state that which is unnecessary. He talks of Thalia, telling Reyna that he wants his sister to want him, to find him, and to love him not because he is a son of Jupiter, but because he’s him.

She doesn’t say, I don’t care about you because you’re the son of Jupiter, I care about you because you are my best friend. And she doesn’t say, I care about you because you listen to people, because you care about them and what happens to them so instinctively that I cannot understand it. She doesn’t say, I’m proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself.

She doesn’t say those things because he knows them, because they are truths, and truths do not need to be said.

But still, something must be done.

She– She’s always been bad at the physical things. She can do a handshake, a fist bump, but she has never been a hugger, no matter that Jason is. She’s never managed a hip-check, or a shoulder pat, or ruffled his hair in any way that wasn’t rough and meant to hurt.

But that doesn’t mean she can’t try.

She goes slow, leaning over slightly, feels the cool breeze breaking on her knuckles. Gently, perhaps more gently than she has done anything in her life, she takes his hands, detangles them, presses her finger pads against the bleeding bits where he’s torn his skin away. She closes her hands around his own, cups them in her palms.

He looks up at her, tears welled on his water line but nothing has spilled, and she feels his hands move in her own, feels him latch on, like when they were young and late for assignments, running across the grounds and refusing to leave each other behind. She looks into his eyes, wide. Electrifying. Just like she knew they were.

She waits for the moment to stretch and break, like moments oft do. Her last move is to give his hands a squeeze, hopefully reassuring, and he gives her another small smile and moves to wipe his eyes with the sleeves of her sweatshirt, the one he’s still wearing.

“We should probably be going to bed,” she says, because she doesn’t have anything else to say. He laughs, wetly, but in that way everybody laughs when they’re told something they already know. It makes her smile; it’s special when he does it.

Everybody isn’t wrong, she thinks as she and Jason part ways outside their rooms, Jason Grace is special. But not because he is the son of Jupiter. He’s special because Reyna had never wanted friends, and here he is, her best. He’s special because he does things, normal things, and they make her smile. He’s special because he does everything in his power to ensure he deserves the love he receives. And gods, she thinks, does he deserve it.

She slips off her necklace and gets under her duvet cover, curling up and fiddling with the cuffs of his sweatshirt. Chunks of the polyester-wool fabric are hard and melted from undoubtedly unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. She finds one, right where his thumb would rest, and rubs it between her own thumb and index finger as she falls asleep.

When she wakes up, she’s on a school bus.

—————

Others in this series: Amicus Certus in re Incerta Cernitur

#there's more info and clarifications in the end notes of ao3 so check those out #but i'm always happy to answer any questions about any of my writing #especially this series #chart writes #fic: Omnes una manet nox #jason grace #reyna avila ramirez arellano #Reyna!Swap au #alea iacta est #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #heroes of olympus #pjo fic #hoo fanfic #hoo #pjo #pjo fanfic #tw death mention #reyna ramirez arellano #riordanverse

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doctorthreephds · 4 years

Text

Synapses: Part 1

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

WC: 3.9k

TW: Nothing, just a boat load of information about toxicology.

Summary: After landing a job at the Bureau, you tell your dad and in turn end up meeting all of his coworkers. In celebration, your dad invites all of them to a pasta night at his house. There, you find a burning interest in the youngest of his team.

Masterlist

“Well, if you have no further questions for us then I would like to personally welcome you to the Scientific Response and Analysis Unit,” you watch as Director Chase stands and sticks his hand out to shake, one that you take eagerly at the news of your new job.

“Thank you, sir. I look forward to working with you,” a smile stretches across your face as you bid the director goodbye and quickly make your way through the sterile hallways, inhaling the smell of cleanliness that was now your new workplace. For some, the sterile smell is foreign and dangerous--usually an indicator of a hospital where only bad news lurks--but for you, it was a safe haven of information waiting to be uncovered.

The daughter of a diplomat and a criminal profiler, you were certain in your passion to help people and make the world a better place. Of course, a big government job was a bonus in your quest but proved to be the right path as you found your love of science and forensics. You had attended school in both France and D.C. where your mother frequented and often lived with your dad when in D.C. to spend time with him. Of course, David Rossi was almost always busy so your relationship was nothing like the one you had with your mother. Unfortunately, during your second year of college, tragedy struck. Your mother passed after an extensive battle with breast cancer and so you did the only thing you could do, cling to your father as your only lifeline.

After many years of rebuilding what was once a lost relationship, your father was everything to you and wanted to see you succeed. Which is exactly why you chose not to tell him about the interview until after you got the job.

The heels of your shoes gently clack against the tile flooring as you step out of the elevator and onto the floor where the BAU stands. It’s bustling, as always, but you make your way through the glass doors and to his office. You can feel eyes on you, the eyes of your father’s coworkers who had no knowledge of your existence. It was easy to be a well-kept secret, you had your mother’s maiden name, and you knew that your father was a pretty private person.

Gently knocking on his door, you stick your head into the room to see your dad sifting through stacks of paperwork and manila folders.

“Hi, Dad,” you walk into the room, watching as he stands and stretches his arms out for a hug.

“Hi, sweetheart. What are you doing here?” he asks and pulls you into a tight hug, the smell of his expensive Italian cologne engulfing your senses.

“I’ve come to tell you some news,” a bright smile sits on your face as waves of confusion ripple over your father’s face. You try not to laugh as fear furrows on his brow.

“Please don’t tell me you’re pregnant,” he mutters and you shake your head.

“You’re not a grandfather just yet,” reaching back, you pull out the newly printed badge that displays your picture on it. “I have a new job.”

His frown lifts from his face as the joy overtakes it and you are once again trapped in his warm embrace. Your body melts into his this time, the overwhelming feeling of joy staking claim in your body. It was almost foreign after the last couple years that you had.

“Oh, I’m so proud of you,” your arms wrap around his torso, deeply inhaling as you feel at home. “But I can’t believe you kept this from me. You should have told me, you would have been hired last week.”

“That is exactly why I didn’t tell you,” your laugh rings out as movement in the corner of your eye catches your attention. You turn to look out the glass window and see a few of his coworkers watching the two of you talking. They try not to look so suspicious, turning away to look at their computers and case files.

“I think you have some explaining to do,” you gesture to the small crown that has amassed.

“Huh. Well, they had to find out some day,” he walks out of the room and you follow, a cold sweat overtaking your body. It’s not like he was ashamed of you, he loved you very much, you simply craved the validation of the work-family that he cared deeply about.

Your eyes scan over the four people, attempting to make some connections in your brain to names that your father has mentioned in passing. As you look, your eyes are drawn to a tall lanky man with a lovely maroon sweater vest. His hair is a mess on top of his head, full of unruly curls, and you attempt to restrain your heart as it seems to skip a beat. Usually, you weren’t this easy, but there was something about him that made all your thoughts vanish for a moment.

“She looks a little young to be your fourth wife, Rossi,” a man, whom you assume is Derek Morgan from the brashness of his comment, states.

“This is my daughter,” your father turns to look at you, a look of pride in his eyes that warms your heart and reassures you. You turn to the crowd and tell them your name, watching the look of bewilderment melt away.

“How come you never turned up on the database?” a blond woman asks. She’s easily identified as Penelope Garcia, by the boldness of her clothing and her affinity for computers. It makes you smile to see another woman in a male-dominated area.

“That’s because I have my mom’s maiden name, Montgomery.”

“Let me introduce you all,” Rossi starts and turns to the group. “This is Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss, and Spencer Reid.”

“Wait a second,” Emily starts. “Montgomery? Like the diplomat?”

You nod as you feel your chest tighten at the memory of your mother.

“I think I remember you in passing, our mothers worked together.” she adds.

“Probably. Although I couldn’t tell you if we met in D.C. or Paris, my memories of the two are severely mixed up,” you respond, watching the dark-haired woman’s eyes light up in recognition.

“She’s here because she just informed me of her new job at the Bureau. A hell of a secret to keep from your old man,” your dad speaks and you roll your eyes at his insinuation.

“Of course I couldn’t tell you. I wanted this job on my own merit, not because my father pulled some strings.”

“I know how that feels,” Emily perks up and the two of you laugh in the shared feeling of what is both the blessing and curse of networking. You didn’t want to find out what kind of impression getting a job because your father would leave on your peers and coworkers.

“What do you do?” Derek asks and for a second you watch Spencer perk up behind his friends.

“I’m a toxicologist, I was just hired at the Scientific Response and Analysis Unit,” a brief moment of confusion passes over everyone’s faces except Spencer’s which makes you smile. “I’m basically a glorified chemist with a Ph.D. in toxicology. I’ll probably end up helping you guys out on anything related to biological or chemical that is threatening in nature.”

“Ph.D.? Don’t you have a Ph.D. in chemistry, too, Reid?” Derek pipes up.

“In chemistry, mathematics, and engineering,” he states like muscle memory. Your eyes brighten up at the presence of a fellow scholar and smile at him.

“That’s incredible. And how old are you?” you ask in astonishment.

“Twenty-six. I’ll be twenty-seven in October.”

“Huh,” you turn to your dad. “I didn’t know you had coworkers that were so cool, dad. You’ve been holding out on me.”

You turn back to Spencer.

“You’ll have to send me over your research, I would love something new to read.”

A look of astonishment washes over his face at the thought of sharing his research with someone. You assume that no one has ever asked to read it before, it’s not often in this line of work that research--especially scientific in nature--is brought up. Your father clears his throat beside you to draw your attention away from Spencer.

“Why don’t we have dinner at my house tonight to celebrate your new job?” he asks. “Everyone is invited, gives me an excuse to bring out the good wine.”

“You have a wine cellar, you can bring out the good wine whenever you want,” you quip and roll your eyes. He just wanted an excuse to show off.

“But I save it, for special occasions like this,” he gently hugs you from the side as everyone seems to agree on a pasta celebration in your father’s large house. “Good, I’ll go tell Hotch.”

You watch your father walk back up the steps and stand for a moment in awe as he leaves you behind with four of his coworkers that you barely know. The social anxiety sets in for a moment and leaves you slightly short of breath but years of practice help you plaster on a smile.

“I’ll leave you four to work, I’m sure you’re busy. It was nice meeting all of you.”

“I’ll walk you to the elevator,” Penelope responds as the rest of them bid you goodbye and return to the hefty workloads sitting on their desks. As you turn to leave, you barely miss the gentle punch laid on Spencer’s arm by Derek as he watches you leave.

“I’m so happy to meet you,” she starts as the two of you walk past the glass doors. “I can’t wait to get to know you better. You know us girls in the sciences have to stick together, so just know that you always have a friend in my little office full of screens.”

She gives you a warm hug as your heart fills with the validation you had been craving for so long. Walking into the elevator, your eyes flick to the doors behind her that let you see into the office, hoping for a glimpse of the nerdy doctor before the silver doors close in front of you. With a bit of luck, you see the familiar maroon sweater vest pass by just as the mechanical doors shut.

After going back to your apartment and changing into something a little more fit for a party, you find yourself dropping by a bakery to pick up a few pastries for everyone. Standing in line and staring at the glass case full of desserts you can barely pronounce, the thought of Spencer drifts into your mind. What kind of desserts does he like? Would he want something more tart like an apple strudel or something sweeter like an eclair? Once you reach the counter, you settle on a fancy pre-made cake so that you don’t spend the rest of the night pondering the doctor’s taste in dessert.

Driving to your dad’s house with a careful hand on the cake, you make sure to arrive at least a good 20 minutes before everyone to help cook. It was the least you could do and you wanted to make a good impression, especially because it meant time spent with your father.

“Hey, dad, I brought cake,” you call out as you let yourself in, finding your way to the kitchen to see your father hard at work. “Anything I can help you with?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head,” he mutters and leans down to place a kiss on your head as the two of you watch the spaghetti boil in the pot.

“Carbonara?” you ask as a sly smile forms on his face.

“Of course. Who do you think I am?” he reaches over and stirs the noodles. You glance over to the counter to see a very neat mise en place set out.

“Shall I pick out the wine for tonight then?” you push yourself gently off the side of the marble countertops as you giddily look to the doorway leading down to the cellar.

“Only if you pick the right one. The Pinot Grigio on the third rack is from France, I’ve been saving it for a special occasion and this is the perfect time for it.” he pauses briefly. “Your mother gave it to me. She would have been so proud of you.”

You inhale deeply and wrap your arms around your father, tears welling in your eyes. While your parents had not been married for long, you know they were great friends and companions for one another, always dedicated to their jobs. Your mother raised you well.

“We’ll toast to her tonight then,” you mutter and smile up at your father, your vision blurred from the tears as the doorbell rings. “I’ll get it.”

Walking over to the door, you pull it open to see Spencer and Derek standing there.

“Did you carpool here?” you ask and let them in, helping grab their coats to place on the hanger.

“Yep, because Spencer here can’t drive,” Derek says.

“It’s not that I can’t drive, it’s that I prefer not to. On average, there are 3,287 deaths related to car crashes globally,” he states and you let out a nervous laugh.

“That’s a lovely statistic to keep in mind. Perhaps I’ll sleep here tonight,” you close the door behind them and walk over to the kitchen. “You can head into the kitchen, my dad’s just finishing up. I’m gonna go grab the wine.”

“Hey, Reid, why don’t you go with her?” Derek suggests.

“Oh, that’s okay--”

“Sure! I’d enjoy the company. C’mon,” you blurt out and wave him over, making your way over to the door and down the stairs. You silently contemplate things to say, something interesting to make you look smart or anything that will make this small trip a little less awkward. Glancing over, you can tell he’s on the same boat from the hesitancy of his steps so you resort to something a little less high stakes.

“I hope you like sweets because I brought cake,” you state as you sift through the wine, glancing over to Spencer to see him awkwardly standing near you.

“I think I’d much prefer the cake over the wine,” he says and you smile, turning to look at him curiously.

“Not a wine guy?”

“Not a fan of alcohol. It’s both addictive and a depressant. I think I’ll take my chances on sugar. It, while much more addictive, is less likely to kill you in high doses,” the words rush out of his mouth quickly, almost as if the information is overflowing and held back by a broken dam. A small laugh bubbles out from your chest.

“You're marvel, you know that?” you ask as the bottle of wine is held by the neck in your hands. “I wish I had a fraction of the knowledge you store up there. You’re like a walking computer! Would have made writing and researching my dissertation much easier.”

Spencer only stares in shock for a moment as the two of you begin walking up the stairs.

“What did you write your dissertation on?” he asks curiously.

“The Toxicological Aspects of Drug Incorporation into Human Hair. Unfortunately we don’t see a lot of interesting poisons out there, drugs are the biggest poison right now so it was fun to take human hair and analyze it to help predict how long addicts are abusing drugs,” you explain, watching Spencer go a little pale before the two of you reach the kitchen. Looking up at the gathered group, you plaster a smile at the small family that your father has amassed.

“You’ve brought the wine, you’re a goddess,” Penelope walks over and grabs the wine from you as she wraps her arm around in a side hug. You laugh and hug her back, allowing her to take the wine over to your father who opens the bottle and begins to pour out portions.

As you all gather around the table, you sit in between your father and Spencer who was obviously forced into his seat by Derek after a bit of teasing. You didn’t mind, it just meant you could continue your conversation. Next to Spencer was Derek and then Penelope, Hotch, JJ, and Emily.

After you all settle, your father stands and brings his glass up in a toast.

“I would like to make a toast to my wonderful daughter who has finally joined us at the Bureau in a job that will hopefully make our lives easier. And to her mother who raised an amazing woman,” everyone at the table, sans Spencer, raises their glass and takes a small sip. “Now, let’s dig in.”

You twist your fork in the large plate of carbonara and smile as you take a bite, humming with satisfaction as you quickly eat the pasta. It’s familiar, the comfort food you often had in college whenever you came over to your dad’s house to tell him about school. The pasta was a symbol of family and what was once only a meal for two was now a meal for a whole group of people as intended.

“So, you spent time in France? Does that mean you’re bilingual?” Emily asks as she takes a pause to sip from her wine glass.

“Trilingual, actually. I took it upon myself to learn Italian for my dad, even though he doesn’t know it. Just helped me connect with him a little better when I was away for so long. It’s a bit rusty though, I’m out of practice because I’ve spent so much time in D.C. for school.”

“What school did you go to?” Derek asks.

“I got my bachelors at Georgetown in chemistry and my Ph.D. in Forensic Toxicology at NYU. I’m a bit of a science history buff so when I found out that the first forensic medicine department was created in NYU by Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler, I thought it would be the perfect place to get my degree,” when you finish talking, you look up to see most of the table staring in a sort of awe and confusion. The only person that does not look remotely confused is Spencer who even perks up.

“I did a little bit of reading about Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler, but nothing too extensive. There’s not a lot of concise information about them, but Gettler’s research and data on the different effects of poisons is really fascinating. Did you know that he was one of the first people who helped develop a scale for different levels of intoxication by alcohol?” he states, almost forgetting about the food in front of him.

“Oh yeah, it’s the coolest. Especially during the prohibition when different people were dying left and right from alcohol poisoning. Deborah Blum talks all about it in her book The Poisoner’s Handbook, I’ll have to lend it to you some time,” the two of you turn to face each other as you continue talking. “I thought it was so astounding when people drank even more during the prohibition and the government didn’t think it was a bad idea.”

“Well, yeah, the basis of reverse psychology,” Spencer remarks and you laugh. As the two of you pause for a moment, your cheeks redden as you feel the eyes of the whole room settle on the two of you who were lost in passionate conversation.

“Nerds,” your dad mutters as he takes another bite of his pasta.

“Hey, you made me this way,” you roll your eyes and shake your head, turning to return to your meal.

“I believe it was your mother who had custody over you for most of the time, so technically this is her fault,” he states and regular conversation begins once again between the rest of the group, but you feel Spencer gently nudge you and whisper.

“I would love to get some book recommendations from you. Perhaps you can point me toward some of the better toxicology books,” he suggests in a low voice as you finish up your pasta.

“The key is looking in the true crime sections, they hide there sometimes,” you turn and smile up at him, enjoying the way that his curly hair falls and frames his face or the way that his eyes crinkle when he smiles. It doesn’t look like he smiles nearly as often as he should.

You attempt to hide the overwhelming feeling of joy that bubbles up in your chest as everyone finishes their meals. Getting up, you walk to the fridge and bring the cake over with smaller plates.

“Just a little dessert that I picked up on my way here. I hope everyone likes cake,” you smile up at them and begin cutting into the chocolate tower.

“Who doesn’t like cake?” Penelope asks.

“Actually, studies have shown that 46% of people prefer pie over cake,” Spencer states and you laugh as you hand him the first slice.

“I think it’s safe to assume you prefer cake, though,” you tell him and try not to think about your heart beating out of your chest when your hands touch. It feels stupid, acting like such a teenager at the slightest touch and you try not to let your cheeks show how much you enjoyed it.

Conversation continues as the cake is passed out and everyone attempts to wean off the alcohol they have consumed tonight. For a moment, you sit back and look at everyone gathered as they talk about life outside of work and how everyone is doing. Henry, JJ’s son is getting bigger now that he’s a couple months old and Penelope’s still doing well with her boyfriend. Emily is thinking about adopting a cat and Hotch misses Jack but is doing the best he can. You take a moment to look at your dad who stares at his coworkers the same way that he looks at you, like they’re his family.

After a while, JJ informs everyone that she has to go home to see Henry off to bed and Hotch is close behind with it being a work day tomorrow. Slowly, people funnel out and you see all of them out, including Spencer, who doesn’t stop talking to you about breadcrumbs of science history and the modern day use of toxicology. After getting his phone number for book recommendations, you wave at him as he leaves with Derek. You find your way back to the kitchen and see your dad cleaning up.

“You look very comfortable with Spencer,” your father looks up at you as he washes the dishes. You shake your head as you pick up a dish towel.

“It’s just nice to have someone to talk to about science, you know? No one else really understands it,” you say as you wipe down the dishes he hands to you.

“I know, sweetheart,” he places a kiss atop your head and you smile, silently planning out a secret future with Spencer. It would be nice to have someone new after losing your mother.

After all the dishes are put away, you take your phone out and find Spencer’s contact.

‘Want to go to the bookstore this weekend?’

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #aaron hotchner #david rossi #derek morgan #penelope garcia #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau

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pokeexehasstoppedworking · 3 years

Text

Love Doesn’t Do Encores Ch9 Travels To Hulbury

(This chapter will contain a small time skip of events as well as a past fight between y/n and her mother in the story.)

You swore you needed both a doctor and a nice bed to sleep away the pains of soreness racking your body.

Ever since you four left Turffield it had been like the time you left Motostoke except a bit longer. Walking, camping at night, taking time out for resting between walks and gathering food. Mostly from berry trees or snacking from whatever nonperishable foods Leon had given you. Some night Victor managed to make one form of curry or another. Mostly bean or apple curry which you didn't mind too much but the apples tasted a bit strange in the curry sauce, so you fed them to your sobble which you noticed had now taken a habit of laying in your lap any chance you were sitting and expected to be fed whenever you held any kind of food. Oops. You might have ended up spoiling it a bit. Oh well. You didn't mind too much. It's smiles and noises were pretty cute, and at least Gloria was able to add a few more curry entries to her book. After what had happened at the pokemon Nursery back in Truffield you decided to fill in Gloria and Hop about the mysterious band of rock star wannabes, but they seemed to be as confused as you were about who they might've been working for and who they were. Hop even suggested that maybe the eccentric costumes were disguises to they're real identities, which seemed a bit farfetched but hey. You were transported into the video game world of pokemon, traveling along with a few of the characters, and for all you knew could still wake up at any moment to your mother scolding you for being late for college. It wasn't really too out there to rule out yet. While you four traveled every so often you'd rest and Hop and Gloria would scamper off to have a battle or more likely try to catch some new pokemon from where you were at. So you weren't all too surprised to find out Gloria caught herself a wild Dottler and Hop's Grookey evolving from the....seventh or eighth day now as you four traveled. You lost count or couldn't remember how many days had past after seven or eight. You were mostly tired now a days with a heaping dab of soreness in your back and neck from your uneasy sleeping scheduale and the rocky ground poking you from the floor of the test. Or the fact the only thing you had for a pillow was your backpack, but you never complained. If it meant getting to Hulbury faster then you could deal with it. It was like when your mother insisted you stay up a few extra hours to study or when you had to work late at the radio station after that. You yawned more, movements slowing a bit, and you had gotten noticable bags under your eyes. Buuut the three teens must've noticed because on what was the ninth day Gloria decided to point it out to you.

"Hey, Y/n. I really didn't want to say anything but are you feeling ok?" She pointed at your face. "You've been yawnin' ever since we left Turffield like a week ago. And you've gotten bags under your eyes big enough to carry luggage for a full week's vacation. "

In response you yawned again before looking to her. "M' fine. Jus a bit tired I guess." You stretched out your back as you walked making it pop. "Haven't really gotten much sleep just laying on the ground like a rock."

"Hey. I have good news." Victor all of a sudden held up his phone. When did he pull that out? And held it up to all of you. "There's a small town up ahead about another day's walk. It has a convenience store, hotel, and a few other things." He looked at you. "I think we should stop by. We can restock up on supplies and rest for the night at the hotel. That might help out Y/n's situation and prevent her from dropping from exhaustion anytime soon."

"Hey. I-I'm not that tired," you lied stiffling another yawn....But the promise of a bed tho- "But you're right about needing some more supplies. I don't know how much food and necessities we have left, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to stop by and restock."

The food Leon lent would only last so long anyways. It was best for all parties involved. So it was decided the four of you would stop by the upcoming small town. It took another day and night of walking and resting (giving you another night of uncomfortable sleep) and then shoving off he next morning for the town. It took half the day but the four of you managed to happen upon the small town. And you do mean small. It couldn't have been much bigger than Postwick actually. There was around maybe twenty buildings and most of them were homes or doubled as homes as well as stores. As the four of you walked through the small town a few people walked by or waved, and you could hear a few children laughing. It certainly was very peaceful wasn't it? The peace made you even more tired- You were shaken awake when your sobble chirped loudly and smacked you with it's tail, making you stumble as you walk and if it weren't for the two boys catching you you would've faceplanted the road again. Which ended up in the three kids making up a decision for you.

"Let's go find the Inn first."

The inn turns out was one of the first buildings you came across when you took the small side road off of Route 5 here and the only building in the town that had three stories. It was more like a tall house than an Inn when the three of you entered, Gloria helping to steady your sleepy self. The inside looked very similar to Professor Magnolia's house. Very homey and welcoming. The elderly lady looked lightly surprised when the four of you came in with you fighting to keep awake for a little longer. Ok. So maybe the little sleep over nine or ten days was starting to get to you a little bit you haven't been this tired since studying for college entry exams in highschool.

"Oh my. Are you children alright?," she ended up asking lightly standing from her seat seeing you lightly sway a bit.

You waved her off. "I'm fine. Just really tired."

"We'd like to book two rooms please with double beds," Victor explained to the lady throwing you a worried look. "Do you have any available?"

"Oh. Yes, we do. Come. I'll show you to your rooms. By the looks of your friend there, she's in dire need of a good rest." Whelp. No arguement there. Luckily the rooms she had the four of you follow her towards a long hallway a little aways from the front desk before stopping and opening one door. "Here's the young mens. Bathroom's through the door on the left. And as for the two young ladies." She turned to a door right across from Hop and Victor's room and opened it. The room was pretty much as you suspected. A simple large room with two beds on each side of it, a shelf, window looking out onto a field, Tv, and a white door that you supposed led to a closet. "This'll be yours." She pointed at the door. "The bathroom is through there. We also have a laundry mat attatchment in the adjacent building to the left if you youngsters need it. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask."

"Uh yes actually. Do you happen to know where your town's convenience store is?,'' you heard Victor ask but you were too busy to deduce what else was said.

You managed to stay awake enough to take a quick shower and change before walking to the closest bed to you and just flopping face first on it. The soft cushions hugging your tired and sore body, and it was natural for you to fall asleep almost as soon as you hit the mattress. So it was no wonder that by the next time you woke up it was night time. Confused and dazed you managed to sit up blinking confused at the darkness around you, the only source of light coming from the moon shining through the window outside. Vaugely in the dark you could just barely make out Gloria's sleeping form on the other bed on the other side of the room. Her baby toxel at the foot of her bed. Your body was still tired with it being night so it was easy for you to fall back into slumber when you slowly laid your tired self back down, barely registering your sobble squirming next to you as you fell back asleep. And came to a strange sight. A sight you witnessed before in your life. One you were all too familiar with too. ....You...You were back in your room. Well a younger you at least. You were about sixteen then just minding your own business sitting there and playing games. Couldn't remember which one just that you were enjoying yourself playing and sitting on your bed playing the day away. Until younger you looked up at footsteps approuched your room, the next thing your younger self knew your door flew open with a bang and it started the younger you so much you ended up dropping your old switch on your bed jumping from the sound. And there she was. Your mother standing there with an angry scowl on her face.

"You're playing those stupid games again!?," she snapped at younger you, stomping over and quickly wretching the switch from your bed.

In an instant your hand was reaching out for it. "HEY! Give that back."

But instead of that, your mother only held it up higher with her angry face. "Is THIS what I work to provide for you!?"

You had stopped. Frozen in surprise at the words foaming at your mother's mouth and the game she waved at your face.

"Is THIS what you think is fair to me!? I work day and night to provide a roof over your head, food in your stomach, and clean running water for all you do is to sit on your behind and play these mind rotting things!? To make the electricity bill higher than Mount Everest with you staying up all night playing this day in and out!?"

"M-Mom! C'mon! I'm sorry," younger you backpeddled.

"You should be! I'm not raising you to be lazy and unresponsible!" The game was tossed back onto the bed with a small thump before she pointed at you. "Work and studies should be your number one priority right now! I don't want to catch you slacking off wasting time again! Do I make myself clear?"

Younger you looked at your mother's angry face for a long moment before looking away and nodding. "Yes, Mom."

"That's good. Make sure it doesn't happen again. Alright, Y/n?"

.....

...........

"Hey, Y/n!," a distant girl's voice called, "Are you awake?"

"I dunno. Maybe we should just let her sleep? She was really tired when we got here yesterday," a young boy's voice said worried.

"Hop's gotta point, Glory. Let her sleep in. She'll need all the rest she can get for traveling."

"Ah. You guys are no fun."

Silently the world of younger days faded away to black and the voices became murmers in the dark abyss that was sleep until you finally woke up from your now dreamless slumber. Which wasn't too long. You slowly woke from your sleep and was greeted with the sunlight making your tired eyes blink as you rubbed them and blinked at the surroundings around yourself at the simple room that wasn't your younger self's from the dream. What the-....Where were you? Did you finally wake up from the pokemon world dreamland you formed up? Were you back home? Did you move into the college dorms and forgot you did? Is that why this room looked strange to you? That hope was all but dashed in a moment when movement under the blanket next to you caught your attention and you looked. A small lump under the blanket the size of a small cat moved around until it moved towards the end of it near your arm and your sobble poked it's head out blinking tiredly and gave out a yawn crawling the rest of the way out. You gave a sigh, shaking your head before smiling and holding out your arm and letting the sobble crawl into your hands. You were still tired but rather than go back to sleep, you opted to tossing the blanket off yourself and got up with your sobble in your hands holding him up to your face.

"Well, I guess it's time to start the day huh?"

You managed to get a few things done. Morning shower, got dressed, and made your first stop the laundry mat across from the hotel after asking the elderly woman at the front desk for directions. Just something to do to help take your mind off the strange dream that had happened. You had started to wonder where the three children had run off to now but it was only after you were coming back with your now cleaned clothes and your sobble curled upon your shoulders did you run into them. Or Hop at least. He was just walking past the door when you opened it and almost ran into him. Thankfully stopping at just the right moment as he paused and blinked.

"Oh. Hey, Y/n!," he greeted with a smiling and shifting the box in his hands, "Glad to see you're awake now."

"Hi," you greeted back before raising a brow at the box he held. "What's that you're carrying?"

"Oh this?," he asked holding up the box and you nodded. "The old lady needed help clearing out her old storage room. She offered to pay me to help out so Im taking this to the broom closet down the hall here. Glory and Vick are doing some Pokejobs too." The confusion must've doubled on your face because he seemed to take notice. pokejobs?? What the heck are pokejobs?! "OH! Right. There's no possible way you could've known what those are. I keep forgetting you're not native to Galar. Pokejobs are jobs people upload into the rotomis."

".....Say what?," you asked still totally confused to what Hop was even saying.

He sighed. "Pokejobs. How do I describe them?....It's kinda like how newspapers have ads. If someone has a job they need help with they send a post to their rotomi profile, then if someone wants to make some money they can look on the Pokejobs Rotomi Forum for a job in their specific area. There was a few listed in the Rotomi at the town's covience store." He held up the box again. "Like this one. We figured it wouldn't hurt to make a little bit of money in case of emergencies too."

"That...sounds like a great idea. But where are the other two now?"

He shrugged. "Glory took a job that involved babysitting and I think Victor's helping someone here with a garden."

Well that sounded like a good way to earn a bit of money while you were waiting. As to pass the time you decided to help Hop once you had finished returning your clothes to your bag. The elderly woman seemed rather grateful for the help provided. In the manner of speaking it wasn't too difficult work. Most of the boxes were pretty light mostly filled with cleaning supplies or old blankets. That explains why she was having Hop move them to the big supply closet down the hall. When you asked about it she explained she had wanted to turn it into another bedroom for the busier traveling seasons, makes sense. One extra room to rent means one extra way to make some money. You helped rehome the boxes and cleaned it out by dusting and sweeping to pass the time away. When it came to paying you declined the money offered and made sure Hop received it instead. After all it was originally his job, you just helped to pass time, and it'd be wrong to piggyback on his hard earned money after all. But you did however accept the free room service for later when she offered instead. Free food was a reward you had no trouble accepting, especially considering you hadn't eaten anything since you woke up and all the exercise you had done in helping to clean out the room. Hop though was thankful for your help and expressed so as much. It was when the two of you were heading out did you finally bump into said twins. Gloria was carrying two large paper bags but you had to do a double take when you noticed Victor looked....well remember how dirty you were after being bowled over by Milo's wooloo? Victor looked like he got ran over by ten wooloo during a sand storm.

"Whoa. What happened to you?"

He grabbed his hat and shook the grey beanie out letting dirt fall to the ground. "Well. As it turns out the ad for 'helping to remove unwanted weeds and debry from the garden' also happened to include a wild munchlax who didn't want to leave. I had to half wrestle half chase the thing out."

"Oh wow. Glad to see you got paid tho."

He huffed but Gloria smiled holding up the bags in her hands. "But on the bright side we managed to stock up enough for the rest of our trip to Hulbury! Glad to see you're up and feeling better too, Y/n!"

You nodded. "Yeah. Feeling better thanks-"

"OH! That reminds me!" You were cut off when Gloria suddenly shoved one of the bags into your arms as you blinked. The inside held food and other things you'd have to use in order to get to Hulbury. She went digging through the other bag, eventually pulling out a rolled up, sleeping bag looking thing that must've made up half that bag's weight. "Here! I noticed you probably weren't sleeping well cuz you didn't have one of these here. Turns out the convience store is also a supply store, so I was able to get you one of these."

You slowly took the rolled up sleeping bag from Gloria and gave it a look over before looking back to her. "I-...Thank you. But you didn't have to get me this. I would've been fine without it."

"I know but you would've just kept getting bad sleep if I didn't, and it won't hurt me from what I earned from winning against Milo's anyways. Besides, I can now call it even from when you saved our hides back in Postwick."

You smiled and decided to accept this gift with a nod. "Alright. We're even. But have you decided when you wanted to leave yet?"

"First thing tomorrow morning. After seeing you stumble 'round like a zombie with a headache, we decided to let ya sleep in since you were so tired. But since it's getting later anyways, we figured we'd spend one more night here and leave early in the morning."

"Oh that's a great plan cuz Y/n got us some free room service from helpin' out around here."

Gloria's eyes widened at her friend's words. "Wait. REALLY!?"

"How about we let Victor get cleaned up first before we do anything?"

The four of you did just that for the night. Packed away all the goods they brought back with them. Hopefully it'll last enough for the rest of the very long walk to Hulbury. And after everyone was done packing their share and Victor was cleaned up, you ate. No surprise it was more curry but you chose to accept that at this point that curry was a very important part of Galar's culture and hey. Free food was free food. Nothing to complain about here. And if Gloria could fill in more of her Curry Dex book then it was good enough for you too. Luckily it seemed with the new sleeping bag things might get easier for you when you all start traveling again. Which is exactly what happened. The very next morning the four of you set off as soon as Victor paid for the two day stay at the front desk, and it was back onto Route 5 the four of you went walking. And walking and walking. It was basically the same as before until night came and the four of you set up camp in a small clearing, giving you the chance to use the new sleeping bag Gloria had gotten you. And it worked like a charm. You still had to use your arms as a pillow but otherwise it was much more comfortable to sleep now. And then the next day the four of you were at it again. This time listening to Victor's adventures traveling around since he had started his own journey at least a year before Gloria's. Mentioning of all the different places and events around Galar he had been so far and you were impressed at his tales of capturing so many wild shiny pokemon in his photos, going so far to show you all a few places he took photos of. One being the giant clock tower back in Motostoke.

"So does that mean you've been to Halbury before?," you asked curiously glancing at the pictures in his hands.

He nodded. "I've been there once, but not for long. I did see the Hulbury Water-Type Aquarium and Research Center. They have every water type pokemon you could imagine, some of them are from different regions as well. That's where I got most of the photo's of water type pokemon I gave to Glory. Nessa was a huge sponsor for it's development. It's also a research department to study water-types as well as their environments and biology." He hummed and looked up. "I think it's also where most Professors get their sobbles for starting trainers."

You gave a look to your sobble. "You hear that? Looks like we're heading to your home town." In response it smiled and gave a small chirp. "Does that mean you've seen Nessa before?"

He shook his with a sigh as you all walked. "Sadly no. But I've heard she's so busy between her modeling and gym leader duties she'll only do one gym battle a day due to her busy schedules, and that's considering if there's nothing important going on for her."

"So depending on the time and amount of trainers heading for Hulbury right now, we could end up waiting longer than we did for Milo's gym battle."

"Ah man!" Hop leaned back putting both arms behind his head. A habit you learnt he did whenever he was annoyed or thinking about something. "That could take forever then....but considering Nessa's Gym would've been one of the farthest from the Turffield Stadium, I'd like to bet not a lot of people would go for hers first and instead went back to Motostoke to challenge Kabu or someone else who was closer....Hm. I wonder if that's why Mr. Milo suggested we go see Nessa after our battle with him. We haven't run into any other Gym Challengers yet. Route 5 is less trafficked."

"Or those rockstar blokes," you thought as you gave another look around at the half field half forested areas you four were traveling past. But that was probably a good thing you hadn't seen them. You wouldn't want them causing you more trouble.

"There Hop goes all smart again!"

"H-Hey! Im just makin' an observation!"

"Well make an observation on that map. How much longer until we get there?"

Hop answered that after pulling out his phone and turning it on, pressing a few buttons. "...About two and a half weeks left."

This...Was going to be a long trip.

And you weren't wrong. Most of the trip was the same day in and day out. Eat, sleep, make camp, walk lots, stop for breaks, maybe a battle would happen every once and a while between Hop and Gloria or maybe they'd try to catch a pokemon every now and then. And you watched her start to carry around that baby Toxel more, usually in her arms like a cat but sometimes in her bag too with his little head poking out looking around. Victor making the comment that now the both of you would be pokemon taxis. It took quite a while of this old routine before you four even got to another town, with a train station. Breaking out of a small wooded area there was clearings now of flat land and Route 5 lead you all to a crossing across the railroad tracks and lead into a small town...Well you weren't sure if you could call it a town persay. It was more like a few homes a little bit a ways from the obvious train station the four of you took refuge in for a break. In the mean time Victor took out his phone once more and decided to flip through the rotom phone he had on your four's location.

"......Hey!," he shouted making you all look at him as he held up the phone all towards you. You leaned closer to get a better look at the screen he pointed to. "According to the map we're a four day walk away from Hulbury. Nearly there!"

"Oh thank Arceus!," Gloria sighed, "I was getting so tired of just walking around like a migrating murkrow."

"And you wonder why I was worried about you rushing into your journey."

"Hey!"

The next few days weren't very eventful or memorable. Just the same rinse and repeat scenarios your small group had been experiencing for the past month or so, until you FINALLY saw it. Well smelt it first would be more accurate. You all were walking up a steep hill that the path was connected too and that's when you smelt something like salt air. You had only been to a beach a few times but there was no mistaking it. Saltwater. And then you heard a very loud horn. It was loud enough to startle your Sobble into ducking behind your head and you perk up. If one had to guess, you would've said it sounded either like a train's whistle or a boat horn. Blinking as shadows flew overheard, you realized they were wild wingulls. ...Wait. Weren't those bird pokemon always like close to water?? You blinked. Shaking your head and hurrying your pace up the hill until the four of you finally made it. From the high point the view was high enough to let the four of you look a good ways ahead and still far but much closer now, maybe a day's travel. What was unmistakenly the glistening blue of the ocean as far on the horizon as you could see, that lead to the coast that clashed with the beginnings of it. The horn you heard was most likely one of the many boats you could faintly make out on the glistening blue and the unmistakable town that was nestled up against it all. It wasn't too big by the looks of it. Definately not Motostoke size, but it was definately bigger than Turffield and Postwick and you could make out the unmistakable structure of a stadium way over there.

Victor pointed with a smile towards the faint town. "There's Hulbury! We're nearly there!"

"Good. Let's get stepping before it gets too dark. If we hurry we'll be there by tomorrow."

And indeed you all were. Traveling until it was sundown, and you decided to set up camp for the night, only to pack up quickly and leave at the first sign of light the very next morning. It was somewhere around ten in the morning when you all finally made it. Seeing the town and beautiful ocean coming into view and getting closer, and closer the more and more you walked. Until you all finally arrived. First walking under a bridge connecting between two large hills, on top of one hill leading to a train station, the familiar pink building of the pokemon center greeted you next as the dirt path of Route 5 changed into concrete streets. Another loud horn shot off to the right of you and as you all looked over there was a giant port with as you suspected lots of ships and boats. Bigger than in game you imagined too. You inhaled a long sigh, the taste of salt on your tongue. If it wasn't for the many boats near the port and other people, you wouldn't have minded just standing there for a moment in the road. But since you didn't want to waste anymore time you sighed and turned to Gloria.

"So." She looked at you and blinked. "What's the plan here?"

"We go to the gym-"

"We head to the hotel-"

Both twins looked at each other for a moment, before Victor cleared his throat.

"I think we should head to the Hulbury's residential hotel first. Just in case one of you have to wait for a gym battle to open we'd have somewhere to stay tonight."

"Well I think we should head to the gym before anyone else gets here," she countered back one arm holding her Toxel and the other placed onto her hip. "It's still pretty early in the morning. If there's a chance no one got there yet one of us could get a spot! Right Hop?"

"Actually, personally I'm kinda hungry and wanted to check out that famous resturaunt Hulbury's supposed to have." he mumbled but got ignored by the scowling twins.

You sighed again shaking your head. Teenagers. "How about this?" You held up a hand catching the three's attention. "We'll split up." You suggested. "If we do that we can get things done faster. You two can check out the gym and your brother can get us situated for the night because personally I'd like to take a break from camping. Then we can meet back up and get some breakfast..." You looked up towards the sky. "Or lunch depending when we're done."

Victor hummed. "...That doesn't sound like a bad idea actually and it could actually save us time. Now that I think about it, we're probably low on supplies anyways. While we're doing that Y/N can take a list of what we need and get it from the local super market here."

"I like that plan! We can meet up at the Light house."

And so it was agreed. After going through your invintory, and having Victor quickly scribble down a list of things you all needed, the four of you split off. Victor heading in the same direction as the other two with his phone's map out (you guessed the hotel and the stadium must've been down the same road) and you towards the docks list and borrowed money in hand. In all honestly you were just as hungry as the others but that could wait. It didn't take you too long to find Hulbury's local convenience store, it didn't take you all long as well to fill up the considerably large bags of travel foods and start carrying them off back off towards the direction of the light house. ....Only...there was one problem. You had absolutely no idea which direction the lighthouse was in, and with the giant bags of supplies to be split between the four of you obstructing your view, it made it harder to see by all accounts as you tried peeking around and over the large bags. Stumbling a bit and almost bumping into a few people walking past you, they gave you an odd look before carrying on. Certainly didn't help when your sobble gave a small chirp before literally climbing into one of the bags to which you panicked a little. The last thing you needed was him eating the food you just bought especially since it wasn't bought with your money!

"Hey! Bad pokemon!," you shouted jiggling the bags a bit, "You get out of there right now! You're not supposed to be in there!" The sobble peeked itself out over the edge of one of the bag's hearing it's master's voice as you frowned, and you didn't see where you were walking as you walked. "I'm serious! You can't just crawl in there! Out no- Oof!?"

"HEY!?," shouted a woman's voice.

You rammed into something or someone solid and you stumbled back, by some miracle not dropping the bags, and up righted yourself for a moment. Blinking you turned sideways to look at who you bumped into and were met with another woman who was looking at you with a bewildered look like everyone else who saw you walking around like this. The woman had a dark skin complextion with dark black hair with pretty blue streaks and eyes that were bluer than the ocean. What looked like a sports uniform adorned her bodyShe blinked at you as you stared before you seemed to blink and shake your head.

"Oh. Sorry about that, Miss," You apologised shifting two off the four bags in your arms. "I didn't see you there."

"Uh..Yes, I could tell." She ran an eye over the two bags in your arms and the other two hanging off your elbows. "That's a lot of groceries you're carrying there." Her eyes stopped at the little blue pokemon poking out of the top of one of the bags as it shoved a blue berry into it's mouth.

"Oh. It's not just for me actually. I'm traveling with some others and we needed this stuff." You followed her gaze and you gained a frown when you saw the sobble shove another berry into it's mouth. "HEY!" It fell back into the bag startled with a chirp....but slowly peeked the top of it's head and eyes back over to look at your scowl. "I said NO. Now you get out of there right now! If you're hungry I'll get you something else."

"Oh. Is this little one yours?," both of you looked over as the woman attempted to reach out and pet the sobble. Which resulted in your sobble giving off a sound of fright and immediately scuttle out from the bag in a hurry.

"HEY-" You leaned your head back as it jumped on your head and clung to your hair giving the other woman wide eyes of worry. You grumbled...but sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Sorry 'bout that. He's not used to strangers I guess."

With a smile, the woman placed a hand on her hip and studied the two of you. "Most sobble are, but it seems this one has become very attatched to you."

You blew the sobble's tail from your face. "Believe me you don't know the half of it. Say. Could you tell me where I can find the lighthouse? I'm supposed to meet my friends there."

"Sure. I was actually heading towards the stadium actually. The light house is right next to it," she gestured to your bags. "I could even help you if you'd like."

You gave a relieved sigh. "Really?! Yes, thank you. That'd be a huge help."

You happily let the woman take two of the bags you were carrying and you followed her as she motioned for you to follow her. Gloria and Hop were most likely already waiting for you as they had first gone to the stadium and possibly Victor if he hadn't gotten side tracked or anything. As the two of you walked you took the chance to look around at the town. Seemed like the beach down you had gone to before the few times you went to the beach. As you glanced at the woman helping you out you couldn't help but...notice something. Did she seem familiar to you somehow?....You shook your head. Nah. Must've just been your imagination. She must've just looked like someone you've seen before. That's all. The both of you walked from the docks, past what looked like a resturaunt of some sort, back towards the Pokemon Center before taking a right and heading down the same path the teens took when the four of you parted ways. From that point the two of you walked down a road with houses on one side and a fence overseeing the ocean on the other. There was a LOT more houses than you remembered in game so it took a good twenty minutes before you even saw the stadium as both of you passed a flight of concrete stairs leading up the hill towards the train station. You looked up and at the stadium as it's shadow loomed over you as you both walked past it. Unlike Milo's stadium this one seemed rather quiet right now even if it was as HUGE as his was. The gym leader mustn't be battling anyone right now where ever she was. As you two continued to walk past it, you blinked seeing a tall structure up ahead which was unmistakably a light house, letting you sigh in relief. FINALLY!! You sighed in relief at seeing the structure and sped up your pacing a bit as the two of you rounding the corner the path lead towards the lighthouse and that's when you noticed the figures standing there. One or two strangers were there taking a picture next to the statues or the ocean view, but there was three you recognized easily as the twins and Hop. They all seemed happy to see you at first. But soon those happy faces turned into suprised and shocked ones the closer you walked. Victor even shaking his head and blinking as you approuched.

"Uh...Hey, Y/n. Whatcha got there?"

"Our supplies," you replied arms all sore and tired from the long walk over. Victor blinked as you shoved the two bags you were holding into his arms. "Here. Take these. Im beat." They continued to stare at you even as you turned to the woman and take the other two heavy bags from her. Your brow rising as you turned and saw their wide eyed looks. "....Are you three alright? You all look like you've seen a ghost."

"...Y/n. Do you even know WHO that is?!," Gloria asked pointed towards the woman and you turned to look at her again..before shrugging.

"She helped me out. Thanks by the way."

She nodded. "It was my pleasure."

"Don't you even know who that is!?" Gloria groaned at your utterly confused face as you blankly stared and as a result pointed right at the smiling woman next to you. "You literally don't know!? THAT'S NESSA!! Like the Gym Leader Nessa! The person we traveled all the way here to see!"

You blinked before looking back to Nessa as she glanced at you. "...Oh. Thanks for the help again. It was very nice of you."

She nodded again. "Your welcome. And you." She glanced over to Gloria who still stared in disbelief at her. "You must be a gym challenger right? You're one of the ones endorsed by Leon right?"

Gloria stared at her a little longer before Hop nudged her making her flinch. "HUH!? I mean- Y-Yeah! O-One of them." She gestured to Hop next to her. "And he's the other one."

"Hello, Ma'am." Hop smiled and waved. "I'm Hop and this is Gloria. You uh...Weren't at the stadium when we went there."

"My apologies," Nessa apoligized as you turned back to her. OH! Now you could recognize her easily. She was on the cover of that magazine Gloria showed you and you vaugely rememebered seeing her back at the entrance ceremony. "But I just got back from a boating shoot and I've already promised someone else a battle for later today. But I must say, you've become something of a hot topic among the gym leaders."

"Wait. We are?"

She chuckled. "Are you kidding me? Leon never stops talking about how awesome his little brother is and how he's just the smartest kid ever to come out of Postwick."

Hop coughed and scratched at his head in embarrassment. "Well...I wouldn't say that."

"I mean. He's not wrong. You're pretty smart."

"Glory! Don't embarrass me like Mum please!," he begged red faced.

You decided to help give him a break. "I had no idea he spoke so highly of Hop." You spoke to Nessa. Although you wouldn't be surprised considering how hyped up Hop got about Leon, and how loving Leon was to them.

She chuckled again before reaching behind her and pulling something out of her pocket. Well two somethings. "Here you go, Ms. Famous. I already heard about you, so you should learn more about me too." She held out what you made out as cards to Hop and Gloria as the two wide eyed teens took them in disbelief.

"OMG! Another League Card!! Thank you so much, Ms. Nessa! Does this mean you'll be able to battle one of us tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Sure. Just speak to one of my staff at the stadium and we can schedule a battle in the next two days for you guys." She then pointed behind her. "But I had better head to the stadium. I can't delay my sheduled battle anymore than I've already had."

You nodded in understanding. "We understanding completely, Miss. Thanks again for the help."

She nodded towards you. "I love fishing, but I love pokemon battles even more and I'm itching for a battle with you. Hopefully we'll get to battle real soon." With a wave towards Hop and Gloria Nessa turned on her heel and began to walk away.

You waved back before turning back to the three teens staring back at you. ".....What?"

"HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW WHO THAT WAS WITH YOU!?,'' Gloria shouted gesturing to where Nessa walked off to which you shrugged again.

"Sorry? I was a little busy with something more important at the moment and I guess I wasn't paying too much attention to her. But she seemed very nice. But how did your guys' lil trip go?"

"I managed to book us a hotel here for a couple nights," Victor answered before gesturing his head over towards the other two. "And they're all set up to fight, but someone already beat 'em for a spot today."

"Oh. Who?"

"The Mareep Head!," Gloria huffed one hand one her hip and the other waving the small League Card in the air. Mareep Head- OH! She must've been referring to Bede. He must've been the one Nessa was rushing off to battle then. "We just waltzed on in and there he was acting all smug like he jus' won the whole challenge already. He even asked if I "Got Hatenna's good side' on camera. Psh! He's such a stuck up mudbray!"

You could only nod juggling the groceries in your arms. "I...see. Well since there's nothing we can do right now for the moment, why don't we just go back to the hotel Victor mentioned and take care of these?"

Victor nodded in agreement tugging his own bags along as you both turned with Gloria mumbling behind you all the way to the hotel.

#pokemon swsh #pokemon shield #pokemon sword #pokemon piers #pokemon sword and shield #piers x reader #pokemon piers x reader #reader x piers #Reader

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focsle · 3 years

Text

Vendryth Bio

HELLO here I am with one of my Gigantic Character Bios.

Basics

Name: Vendryth

Nickname: Ven to friends. He also has a number of tacky nicknames in the various small localities he helped out over the years: The Golden Traveler, The Dragon, Trollslayer, Midwinter Hero, ET CETERA ET CETERA. To Neris he is ‘Grandpa’.

Age: Died at age 326. Born 1E 2594, died in 1E 2920. Is Neris’s resident ghost as of 2E 582.

Gender: Man

Race: Dunmer

Class: Battlemage and restoration master

Physical Traits

Height: 6ft

Weight: 210 lbs

Hair: Auburn, pulled back in a long braid.

Eyes: Red

Skin: Dark blueish grey

Distinctive features: Full Van Dyke-style beard. A lot of assorted scars from 300+ years of Fighting Things. Really big gaudy dragon tattoo on his chest.

Mannerisms: He has a confident ease moving and existing in the world, and he definitely takes up space in a lounging sort of way. He also tends to relate to people physically—SHOULDER SLAPPER sort of guy.

Voice: Friendly and booming. Bit gravelly but refined.

Fashion: He likes ornate armors and likes to keep ‘em shiny. In the day to day however, he dresses very simply...keeps his shirt collar as open as possible...

Emotional Traits

Personality: He’s very personable and very willing to help people, to the degree that he is prone to butting into situations that initially don’t involve him. He almost never turns down requests for help and can quickly shift to adapt to situations that call for his attention. He tries to behave honorably, though he hasn’t always done so in his interpersonal relationships in the past and is awkward in coming to terms with that.

Likes a good time. Is boisterous and rollicking and sometimes has an air about him that he doesn’t take things seriously, even though as said above, he can rapidly switch gears to handle grave situations. He’s chummy with everyone. A bit flirtatious & slutty. A pro at entertaining swaths of children. Good at calming horses.

He’s very vain, though not arrogant. He’s surprised if someone isn’t impressed by him, but not upset or offended. He does Heroics partly because he has the ability to and thinks it's the right thing to do, but also because he likes the attention. Likes being fawned over. Doesn’t wanna wear a helmet to cover his pretty face.

Religion / Belief system: He more-or-less adheres to the Tribunal (much to the chagrin of Grandson Neris). He doesn’t believe them to be Actual Gods and thus doesn’t ‘worship’ them, but does recognize and respect them as powerful leaders and has no problem serving their will when it comes to the defense of Morrowind. He later became one of Vivec's Buoyant Armigers, and was quite reverent to both Vivec and Almalexia.

He’s wary of all Daedra. Just expects them to be troublesome and either doesn’t involve himself or actively works against them. He’s pretty straight-laced about all that.

Lifestyle

Background: He was born into a minor family in House Telvanni. Despite his lack of Notable Lineage, he proved to be very magically adept, especially in matters of restoration magic. In his early 20s he married a woman named Tendreni Ilyiil. Their marriage was a strategic one centered more on solidifying future power than anything else—his skills, and her more powerful family connections. It didn’t work out, particularly as Vendryth’s interests turned more towards being a healer rather than the acquisition of knowledge or power. He wasn’t good at communicating that it wasn’t working out however. He decided instead to simply abandon Tendreni and their infant child and forgo any connections to his house. While he would come to regret that action as he got older, he never made amends, feeling too much time had passed for it to mean anything.

Over the decades he worked with both the Mages and Fighters guild, intensely studying Restoration but also battle techniques and becoming quite powerful through the ranks as a result. Initially he took contracts through the Fighter’s Guild to assist people. Then he became a bit of a Freelance Hero around Tamriel, chasing the high of Minor Glories in numerous regions. His mastery of Restoration magic enabled him to slow his aging considerably.

His work took on a more concentrated effort when he was a little over 100 years old, in defense efforts against the first Akaviri invasion that earned him recognition among his peers. He would continue to serve in Morrowind's military for a time, and then more specifically for Vivec as a Buoyant Armiger. Through this work he had the flexibility to continue his Pro Bono Heroics around Tamriel, but would respond to calls back home when needed.

By 2840 he was back to his military engagements, operating as a high-ranking healer during the Four Score War. While certainly not always on the front, he was involved for the entire 80 engagement and managed to live through it as a decorated veteran. Unfortunately when Mournhold was sacked shortly after, Vendryth lost his head to one of Mehrunes Dagon’s army while trying to heal someone.

He had an honorable burial in Necrom, though not in the Ilyiil tomb. However, simmering generational anger over his initial abandonment of his first family led to his ghost being tracked down by Ilyiil ancestor spirits who then bound him to protect the family tomb. He was there for 600 years, and lost considerable parts of his memory and identity as the notion of being stuck there for eternity became intolerable and his emotional and mental state deteriorated. He was forgotten by everyone, beyond a few obscure scholars of specific military history, as the people who remembered him died. He became a very angry and violent spirit until he ran into Neris who was reconciling with his own feelings about his family and sense of abandonment. Neris ended up helping to free Vendryth and established a shrine for him in his own house. Kindred spirits in many ways, Neris’s companionship helped Vendryth get a lot of himself back, and Vendryth also helps Neris take his final steps away from House Telvanni.

Place of residence: In life he lived in a fancy Hall just outside Mournhold. As a ghost he hangs out in a dedicated corner of Neris’s library in Middle Of Nowhere Vvardenfell.

Occupation: Local Hero™, Buoyant Armiger, battlefield healer

Habits: He’s very particular about his appearance...a Preener. Will absolutely fuss over his reflection in a breastplate he’s shining. Winds down with smoking assorted combos of psychoactive herbs in the evenings. Tends to touch people’s arms or has a hand on their shoulder or something when he’s talking to them.

Hobbies: Adventuring (and long walks through impressive landscapes), gathering up all the local rumors, fishing, musical inclinations, reading a small always-rotating collection of books he finds in his travels and then leaves at the last inn he stayed at once he finishes them.

Likes: Campfire stories or collective songs i.e. activities that include a lot of people, theater, retelling his adventures, being recognized, quaint little towns with warm rooms.

Dislikes: Having to be sneaky or anonymous in any way (he’ll DO subtlety and anonymity if it is required of him but UGHHHH!), having to constantly confront the mortality/death of people around him, feeling ‘kept’ by anyone, losing sleep for any reason, having to skip meals.

Goals: His interests move from ‘I want people to know who I am and I want stories to be told about me’ notions of fame, and as he gets older it turns more into ‘I want to do what I feel is right and will help people’. He always appreciates public admiration and relishes in it, but ends up feeling a greater responsibility over where he stands in life and how he can contribute.

Relationships

Orientation: Straight, ish. He’s attracted to women, but he’d be flattered and wouldn’t necessarily say no if propositioned by another gender. But the actual attraction wouldn’t be there.

Relationship status: Had a long string of romances and families across the continent, as well as one dedicated long-term partnership with a General in the Four Score War that was his last relationship. As a ghost…..he’s a ghost…

Notable Relationships:

He fathered 37 children (that he knows of) over his first couple centuries. While he was never completely absent, he definitely wasn’t involved in parenting. He’d write everyone, he’d make sure everyone was materially supported, he’d show up and stay for a few weeks at a time with gifts and stories, but wasn’t much of an Active Partner. He very much considered everyone family and had no personal sense of relationship decay over time; this was met with varying degrees of agreement, acceptance, indifference, sorrow, anger, and resentment across all the different parties.

He grew to be a more somber man once he realized he was outliving them all. Not just partners, but a number of his children too.

Tendreni Ilyiil: His first wife. Their relationship was one of circumstance, duty, and politics. They were quite formal with each other, and had differing senses of ambition. When Vendryth left Tendreni was furious about it, largely because of the principle of the thing rather than because she experienced much hardship without him (though raising an infant more on her own was something she was very angry about, though there was family help for her there). She didn’t feel a loss with him gone. She thought he was a childish coward and wrote him off almost immediately for it. She moved on, but her parents harbored a more significant grudge, as did her child to an even greater degree, especially as Vendryth’s name became more widely known and celebrated. These ancestor spirits, rather than Tendreni, were the ones who ended up binding his ghost to the tomb.

Neris Ilyiil: His great great great great grandson, of Tendreni’s line, who ended up saving him from his spectral imprisonment. Vendryth is very fond of Neris and sees quite a bit of himself in the boy. He loves exchanging adventure stories with him, even though Neris’s tend to be a bit different. He’s grateful for Neris’s help and is also more than willing to provide a sense of encouragement, family, and guidance to him. 600 years in a tomb means he lost the threads of all the rest of his family members and doesn’t know where any other descendants are. As a result he’s really close to Neris because Neris is the only thing that makes him feel like he still...Existed at one time.

Lady General whom we are still working on a name for: A General who Vendryth served under in the Four Score War. She initially thought he was underwhelming which he found…completely baffling and intriguing and his conclusion was ‘she is underwhelmed by me not because I’m NOT great, but because clearly she has done something greater and now I need to find out about it’. Was deeply curious about her from the beginning. Rather than his earlier relationships that were built on initial physical attraction and his usual ‘I am going to charm her with my Gallant Hero Energy’, he grew close to her out of circumstance first and then utter respect and admiration for her as they worked together. She was his sense of grounding through the whole war and was the first person he was actually In Love with. He hoped the relationship would continue beyond the war—that he kept thinking would end the next year, and then the next year, etc. It was unrelenting and he likely wouldn’t have stayed if not for this partnership. He felt it was worth all the enduring hardship. She saw to his burial after the destruction of Mournhold.

#vendryth ilyiil #galen was like ‘u made a paladin never thought i’d see it’#i made a slutty paladin

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crownjimin · 3 years

Text

✰ 099 | no takesies backsies

la vie en rose ━ in which lee aera, a girl who has been crushing on choi soobin for a long, long time, is starting her junior year and her friends decide that its time for her to make her move.

( masterlist | prev | next )

A/N: whoop! one more update + the epilogue and we’re donezo!!

“I can’t believe it’s really red—,” He flipped and shuffled his hands through her hair as he said this.

“So bright, so pretty,” Soobin muttered to himself, going as far as to bend down and push his nose into her scalp, taking a long, dramatic sniff. “Oh, it doesn’t smell like strawberries.”

Aera laughed at this, shoving her not-boyfriend away from her softly. “Of course not. That’s like me saying your hair should smell like chocolates.”

Soobin had recently dyed his hair back to brown--well, dark brown, and as much as it made Aera sad to see the purple gone from his hair, it was well past due. His roots had grown out terribly, meaning that he was either going to have to redo his roots or retreat back to his natural brown. Also, the purple was less purple and more of a faded ash gray, from all the washing Soobin did to his hair.

For a while, he was set on just letting his hair grow out, then cutting it at the brown once the ash gray was to the tips of his hair but Aera told him he would look crazy. They debated about it for a few days, but one day Aera showed up at his house with a kit with brown hair dye and a few hours later his chocolate brown locks were back.

“Well, if you used strawberry shampoo it would smell like strawberries.”

“I will when you use chocolate shampoo.”

Soobin pouted. “I bet Ariel’s hair smells like strawberries.”

“Go sniff her head then,” the red-head quipped. “And I actually highly doubt that is true. She lives in the ocean, you know. The place where fish pee--that ocean.”

“Is there another ocean that I should be thinking of?”

“Yeah,” There was a teasing lilt in Aera’s voice. “The one I’m going to toss you in if you keep sassing me.”

The two were currently sitting in Soobin’s living room on Saturday morning, Soobin having asked Aera on Friday night if she wanted to spend the next day with him. Of course, without hesitation, Aera agreed, telling him that she would be there by ten, and now they were there.

Soobin had suggested watching YouTube in his living room until his mom got home from the gym, and Aera found no issue with the idea. During the past hour and a half, they had watched way too many Girls’ Generation music videos, and even attempted to learn the choreography to Catch Me If You Can. After forty minutes of them attempting to get past the first verse, they called it quits. Soobin claimed that he was too talented in girl group choreography to continue and further embarrass Aera with her lackluster movements.

But if you asked Aera, Soobin just didn’t want to have a dance battle, because he knew he was going to lose.

At noon, Ruha walked through the front door, her arms loaded with three market bags, filled to the brim with groceries.

“Soobin-ah,” Ruha yelled, a little too loud since she hadn’t realized he was right there in the living room. “Come help me with my bags!”

Both Soobin and Aera rushed to help Ruha, the older woman being slightly startled by Aera being there but she quickly perked up and said, “Oh good, Ae Ae is here. More hands to help!”

Everything felt so natural with Soobin and his family. Aera had spent a lot of time at his house since the picnic, and his parents seemed to love her. Soobin’s dad was obsessed when he saw how small Aera was, often leaning his elbow on her head whenever he stood beside her as a way to ridicule and tease her about her height. Then when she turned up with red hair, he almost had a better reaction than Soobin, dubbing her Strawberry Shortcake and hasn’t stopped calling her that since.

Aera had also gotten Soobin’s parents’ phone numbers, Ruha often texting Aera at random times throughout the day whenever Soobin talked about her.

ruha-ssi

he said you brought him lunch to school today. says that he loves how much you care about him

i’m sure he cares about me way more than i do him

ruha-ssi

does he show it well?

that he cares for you.

wouldnt ask for him to treat me any better than he already

does ruha-ssi.

Or the time Ruha told her that Soobin was sleep talking and had muttered her name.

ruha-ssi

he’s napping.

[picture attached]

ruha-ssi

he just grumbled your name and had the biggest smile

aw that’s so cute

ruha-ssi

i know :)))

Soobin was aware that Aera had his mother’s number, but he didn’t know that his mother was revealing just how lovestruck he was. Aera didn’t plan on mentioning it to him either, thinking that Ruha is godsent for giving her so much dirt and content to tease Soobin with whenever he decided to get too sassy with her.

Plus, Soobin has had Dongmin’s phone number much longer than Aera has had Ruha’s, and she is one-thousand percent positive that her mother lived to embarrass her, so Soobin for sure had some dirt on her.

It’s a win-win situation, all is fair in love and war.

“So, Soobin-ah,” Ruha spoke as she walked into the kitchen. “What time do you want to head out?”

Aera was busy placing things where they belonged from the market bags (yes, she knows where their groceries belonged—she’s been over there that much), but she raised an eyebrow at Ruha’s question.

“Head out where?” she asked.

“Soobin wanted to take you to an early dinner today,” Ruha paused, with a nervous expression on her face. “I-I don’t know if it was supposed to be a surprise or not-”

“No, mom, it’s fine,” Soobin waved it off. “It wasn’t really a surprise, I was gonna mention it to you later, Pouts.”

Aera walked out of the pantry, an excited glint in her eyes. “Will there be steak at this dinner?”

“Do you want there to be steak?”

“Yes.”

“Then there will be steak.”

━━━━━━━

The restaurant Soobin had chosen was very dark, Aera noted. The only light that was supplied was from a single candle lit in the center of the table, which left everything as shadows and tinted orange.

It seemed super expensive, and once Aera picked up the menu, her suspicions were confirmed.

“Soobi,” her voice seemed hesitant. “How are you affording any of this?”

She should’ve realized that the meal was going to be an expensive one when Ruha had offered Aera one of her old dresses, seeing as Aera had came over to their house in a pair of ripped jeans and a tattered t-shirt. The dress Ruha lent her was a dark blue, high-necked dress, where the waist tapered in and then flowed out to mid-thigh. Luckily, Aera had worn black flats that day, those being the shoes closest to her front door when she left for Soobin’s house.

Soobin was dressed in a simple button up and black slacks. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and the top button of his shirt was undone—if Aera hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought Soobin was a young adult that worked a nine-to-five office job and not a sixteen year old boy taking his not-girlfriend out for an early dinner.

Everything was fancy, and the two of them were tucked into a corner booth where once they sat down the hostess had wished ‘Mister and Missus Choi’ a nice evening.

“Months of allowance that I’ve saved up,” Soobin lifted his gaze from the menu and once he saw how worried Aera was, he rushed to reassure her. “Plus, I work a summer job! Don’t worry, Pouts, I promise it’s not too much.”

“You don’t have to spend your allowance on me, Soobi,” she spoke softly. “You should spend it on something you really want-something to make you happy.”

“Seeing you happy makes me happy.”

Aera blushed. “Don’t try to flatter me into running your pockets dry.”

“Ae Ae, seriously,” Soobin put down his menu and reached his hands across the table to touch her hands, which laid on the table. He tugged her index fingers once, attempting to soothe her and get her to not worry. “It’s fine. If it makes you feel better we can just split something, so that way I won’t have to spend much.”

The crease in her eyebrows gradually faded and she nodded in agreement. “Are you okay with splitting a steak?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded. “Just order whatever, I’ll eat anything.”

Aera looked over the menu, her eyes skipping over the more expensive items but honestly the cheapest things were the hor d'oeuvres and even those weren’t cheaper than 74,000 won.

“How about I choose one, you choose one, then we pick something together?” she suggested. “That way we can both enjoy something.”

By the time the waiter came to the table, they had decided on their personal picks and their combined choice, and once the food came to the table, Aera knew it was more than enough. The steak she had chosen ended up being as big as her face and had the both of them gasping in surprise once it was set on the table. Soobin decided on a rose pasta, in a dish large enough that it could feed a family of five. And their combined choice was a large platter of American-style french fries, but the way the menu phrased it made it seem like they were ordering a fancy potato.

Soobin offered to have the kitchen take it back, but Aera refused to give back french fries--she’d be crazy to ever turn down french fries (plus it came with a gravy boat filled with a white sauce that Aera could literally guzzle down in one go, so she was more than happy to keep it).

The moment the waiter told them to enjoy, Aera was shoving her fork into the steak, which was thankfully pre-cut, and the second she bit into it, juice ran down her chin and she had to squeeze every muscle in her throat to not let out a moan.

Soobin noticed her expression, the way her eyes fell close and she paused mid-bite. “Is it good, Pouts?”

“Tho goof,” she attempted to speak around her bite but she just gave up and nodded enthusiastically.

“It’s so juicy,” she said once she swallowed.

When they were ordering, she wanted to get the steak cooked well-done, but Soobin had told her to get it medium preaching something about it being more tender and juicer as if he knew everything and anything about steak. Aera argued and said she didn’t want to cut into her steak and hear it mooing back at her, and Soobin chuckled but promised if it was too raw for her when it came out, they could just send it back and she obliged.

She most definitely was not sending back this beautiful piece of heaven, and shoved another piece into her mouth. The scene from Ratatouille when the rat fused together strawberry and cheese and had color swirling around his head played inside Aera’s head the second she took another bite of the steak. Her eyes were closed, her head lolled from side to side as she swayed euphorically to the warmth of the steak and the flavor on her tongue.

Once she noticed what she was doing, she sat up stark straight and opened her eyes, watching as Soobin recorded her and laughed silently at her actions.

“You seemed to be enjoying yourself alot there,” Soobin ended the recording and set his phone on the table.

“Delete that.”

“I won’t. Here,” Soobin held out his fork where some of his pasta was twirled on the end. “Try it.”

Aera opened her mouth, letting him guide the fork inside and once she closed her mouth around the fork, the Ratatouille scene played again. She pulled away from the fork, her hand shooting over her mouth as she chewed and her eyes shot wide.

“Good?” Soobin asked, stabbing his fork in a piece of steak and eating it, much less dramatically than Aera had.

“Is amayshin,” Aera muttered. “Why ish ev-wee-shing hwere sho amayshin?”

Soobin swallowed and laughed. “It better be with these ridiculous prices.”

“Oh, yeah,” she nodded and swallowed her bite. “It’s so worth it.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I’m glad I like you,” Aera giggled, shoving some fries into her mouth. “You buy me expensive steak.”

“Only because of the steak?”

She nonchalantly shrugged. “Pretty much.”

Soobin faked a scoff, halfway knowing she was joking, but once he watched her pick up another piece of steak, and then kiss it before she ate it, he wasn’t so sure if she was joking anymore.

━━━━━━━━━

Thirty-five minutes and an entire steak later, Aera and Soobin were slouched over, bellies full, with their plates cleared.

“I am going to sleep so well tonight,” Aera grumbled as she rubbed her stomach. “This was so amazing.”

The waiter came to give the receipt and return Soobin’s card, wishing ‘Mister and Missus Choi’ a good night, and left them to their vices. Aera chuckled at being called Missus Choi, because did she look old enough to be married?

Did married people dye their hair red? She didn’t know but did she look married? Did her and Soobin resemble a married couple? Oh god, that just fueled her fantasy of marrying Soobin and she knew that she would never let this go.

“Alright,” Soobin groaned, shoving the receipt and card into his pocket as he stood and rounded the table, reaching his hand out to help Aera up from her chair. “You okay?”

Aera blew out a breath. “I’m stuffed.”

They both stood in place, Aera swaying a bit from standing up too quickly and Soobin attempted to stabilize her by setting a hand on her waist. “Careful.”

“I’m fine,” she tapped his hand on her waist. “I’m okay, just stood up a little too fast. Let’s go.”

They walked out of the restaurant hand-in-hand, Soobin somewhat leading Aera as she momentarily closed her eyes as a way to wheeze out air around her full belly. This was the best meal she has had in entire life, one that she never imagined having unless she was filthy rich and drank gold for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but here Soobin was taking her on a date just because he wanted to see her happy.

When they made it outside, Aera tugged his hand, causing him to stop and turn to her. She eased her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder as she softly hugged him. He returned the gesture immediately, cuddling his head on top of hers and they just existed in the moment, in each other’s arms.

“Thank you for this, Soobin,” Aera squeezed him tightly, nuzzling her head further into his shoulder. “You made me really happy by doing this—you make me happy always.”

“I’m happy to make you happy,” Soobin chuckled, pulling away from the hug. “But the night isn’t over, we have one more stop!”

“Is it far?”

Soobin nodded. “My mom is going to take us there. She’s on her way here now.”

“Where is it?”

“The beach.”

“The beach?”

Soobin nodded again. “The beach.”

“The beach,” Aera said flatly. “I like the beach.”

“That’s why we’re going.”

“Hm,” Aera sighed happily. “The beach.”

━━━━━━━━━━

Upon their arrival, Aera realized that when Soobin said the beach, he actually meant the boat dock by the beach. Well more like the yacht dock by the beach, because as they made their way to the end of the dock, they passed massive yachts, the type that only rich people could afford. Ones with balconies and two-stories that have some corny name etched onto the side that were either named after an important woman in their life or something like Old Betsy.

“What are we doing on a dock,” Aera giggled, swinging her and Soobin’s hands where they were connected. “I’m almost positive we aren’t supposed to be here.”

Soobin laughed as they came to stop in front of one of the smaller yachts, which wasn’t exactly small (but in comparison to the other yachts it was more compact), where a man was waiting for them.

“Choi Soobin?”

“Yes sir,” Soobin nodded, then gestured behind him. “And this is my mother, Ruha.”

The man extended his hand to Ruha, giving it a firm shake. “Yes, we spoke on the phone. Everything is set, if you guys want to climb on in, we’ll head out in about ten minutes.”

“Thank you,” Ruha said as the man helped her onto the yacht by her hand.

The man then lent his hand to Aera, but instead of grabbing it, she took a step back, a conflicted look on her face.

“Wait,” Soobin placed his free hand on Aera’s wasit, causing her to look up at him. “You aren’t afraid of water, right? Boats or anything? Because I was just trying to surprise you, that’s why I didn’t as-”

“No, no,” Aera shook her head. “That’s not it, but Soobin how much was this?”

Soobin raised an eyebrow at the question, confused as to why she was asking this. “What?”

“It’s just—” she sighed. “You’re spending a lot of money today, and I don’t want you to think you have to blow a bunch of money just to make me happy. You could’ve just given me a bottle of water and I’d be happy that it came from you, so I don’t get why you are taking me to all these expensive places and things.”

“I just want to spoil you,” he softly replied. “Even if it’s just for a day. I want you to have some of the best experiences with me, so I don’t mind spending a lot of money on you.”

“But, Soob-”

“And plus,” Soobin smiled wide. “My friends chipped in to help, they wanted to make us both happy so they offered to help. You don’t have to pay them back, I don’t have to pay them back, they were just doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. Me as well.”

Aera stood there frozen.

“I just want you to be happy.”

“But I’m already happy with you.”

Soobin leaned down to rest his forehead on Aera’s. “Yes, but you’d be even more happy on the boat, so let’s go!”

Aera laughed as she reached out for the man’s hand, him having stood there and watched that whole sappy ordeal, and he pulled her into the boat. Soobin followed and guided Aera to the very front of the yacht, where Ruha sat with a blanket over her legs.

“Choi Soobin, this will be the last time you spend a shit ton of money on me, do you understand?” Aera scolded, her finger pointed at Soobin but a smile was on her face.

“Yes, ma’am, never again,” Soobin spoke jokingly, totally not meaning a word of what he just said.

“You’re not going to listen to me are you?”

“Nope.”

The yacht got moving a few moments later, things feeling a bit shaky for a few minutes, but Aera acclimated to it quite fast. She and Soobin had taken to roleplaying the scene from Titanic that nearly everyone does when they are at the frontmost point on a boat.

Soobin held her waist as Aera held her arms out to her side, feeling the wind whip on her face and the smell of salt infiltrate her nose.

“The ocean is kind of stinky,” her nose scrunched up as she said this. “Smells like raw fish and high cholesterol.”

Soobin cackled, tightly wrapping his arms around Aera’s waist as he pulled her into his chest, her back to her front. “You ruined such a good moment.”

She giggled, placing her hands over his arms and squeezed. “I was just telling the truth.”

“Kids!” Ruha called out. “Come sit down for a few minutes, you’re making me nervous by the ledge.”

They obliged, walking to sit across from Ruha and they talked amongst themselves for a few minutes, playing a few rounds of rock paper scissors to pass the time.

“So are we just going to cruise around the ocean for a few hours or what?” Aera asked, peering over the side of the boat to look down into the water. “Because no offense to the ocean or anything, but this is a bit boring.”

Soobin pulled out his phone, checking the time before he answered, “Actually, no. Just seven minutes until what we came here for happens.”

Aera looked intrigued now, “Oh, is it fireworks? Are we looking at fireworks?”

“I don’t think lighting explosives on a yacht would be smart.”

“A yacht,” Aera chuckled. “Never thought I’d see one of these in my entire lifetime.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”

“I’m glad my first time was with you,” she softly spoke, her voice almost a whisper.

“Me too,” Soobin smiled. “We’ll have many firsts together, hopefully.”

“Hopefully.”

At the moment, they were sitting side-by-side with their waist turned to face one another, but Soobin pointed behind Aera as he muttered, “Look.”

Aera turned her body around, to face the ocean, a gasp leaving her mouth as she absorbed the breathtaking scene in front of her. She watched as the sun burned a hypnotizing orange and pink hue, reflecting on the ocean’s surface. Slowly, the orb lowered to meet the horizon line, kissing it softly as the glares glittered across the rippling water.

She had seen nothing like this, ever. Mother nature and the Earth’s natural occurrences never appealed to Aera, they were never something she found interesting or attention-catching, but this—this was so worth it.

Her awestruck trance was broken when Soobin rested his chin on her shoulder, whispering, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It’s-I-” Aera searched for the right words but there were none that could accurately describe exactly what she was witnessing. It made her speechless, her jaw going slack as she once again watched the sun move lower and lower.

They sat in silence, taking in the scenic view before them. Ruha sat opposite of them, snapping pictures of the sunset as she oh’ed and aw’ed at the scene.

“Pouts,” Soobin muttered into her ear, keeping his voice low so as to not ruin the moment. “I, uh-”

“Hm, Soobi?”

“Please, be my girlfriend.”

All of Aera’s breath left her body, all of her blood seemed to run cold. Was she hallucinating? Was she hearing things?

“Huh-” Oh god, she sounded so stupid. Who responds to the boy of their dreams asking them to be their girlfriend with ‘huh’.

“I-” Soobin sat up straighter, Aera being able to feel so behind her. “I really like you-no, love you, and I want to be with you. Officially. For a very long time.”

Aera eased her way around, turning to face Soobin who looked like he was going to pass out any second if she didn’t give him an answer within the next millisecond. So she carefully raised her hands to his cheeks, cupping his face softly.

“I’d love to be your girlfriend, Choi Soobin,” she breathed. “I’d kind of be an asshole if I said no after all of this, am I right?”

Soobin held onto her wrists. “I hope that isn’t the sole reason you are saying yes.”

“Lucky for you, it is not. It’s probably one of the lower list reasons.”

“There’s a list?”

She giggled. “There has always been a list.”

The sound of her giggle seemed to have him smitten, his eyes zoning in on her lips which caused her heart to skip a beat. She wasn’t dumb, she knew what he was thinking of, what his eyes were asking for, and for some reason, she had no qualms about complying.

Her first kiss was always something Aera fretted about, thinking about how awful it was going to be, how she was going to mess everything up. But for some reason, right here, right now, with Soobin, she knew for a fact it was going to be amazing. This is maybe the first and only decision Aera didn’t hesitate to make, and so she leaned in.

The touch of their lips was soft. Simple. A measly, quick peck.

When they pulled back, both of their cheeks were colored rose, a look of fondness between the two of them and Aera leaned in to kiss the the corner of Soobin’s mouth before pulling away and dropping her hands from his face.

“No takesies backsies, Choi Soobin.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Lee Aera.”

#choi beomgyu #choi soobin #choi yeonjun #hueningkai #kang taehyun #kpop #choi soobin x female oc #social media au #txt #txt social media au

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maree-ff · 3 years

Text

Interlude: Remission

CAMILA

Excited, joyful, in lust, anxious, nervous, and overwhelmed. These are all of the emotions I was hit with at three o’clock this morning when I woke up to begin my day. Today officially marks five weeks, seventy-two hours and sixteen minutes since I ruined our relationship. Today also marks the same amount of time that Jorden has completely flipped his switch. His behavior is nothing like Andre or I have ever dealt with. I know I’m to blame for calling off our engagement but it’s almost as if Jorden feels like I took his father away. That was never my intention by any means. I only wanted for Andre and I to take some time out to explore every crevice of our relationship. The energy in our union has been off and I want to know what the root of the issue is.

Papi’s been coming by everyday to bring the kids home from school. He’s even stayed to tuck them in, help me clean up from the aftermath of dinner and then he leaves. He’s been distant, rightfully so, but I miss him! I’ve been yearning for attention and I haven’t craved male companionship in ages! Tonight, I’m going to try and do things differently. I’ve been spying on him to get his schedule for today so I can scheme and coordinate in peace. Andre didn’t pick up the kids today because I asked for his mother to do it herself. The girls are helping me choose what to wear for my weekend away while their baby brother is napping.

Sliding my boots on I tiptoed around the mess I created, rushing to get their opinion. I spun around, danced a little, showing off another outfit I pieced together.

“Okay, nenas...what about this?” I’m frantic. I am supposed to be meeting Dre at a resort in Palm Springs. He has an assignment there for the weekend so I figured this is the perfect time for us to fix what’s broken.

“Shoes..perfect. Outfit..even better.” Zoe smiles assuringly.

Kenja tilted her head left and right before responding to my question. “Perfecto..”

“Perfecto? La verdad o es esa actitud que estoy escuchando?” I sassed her.

“Si..la verdad. Mom, mira la hora por favor.” She pointed out. Glancing at my watch I cursed under my breath, rushing to get out of here. I tossed what I need for the weekend in my bag, smothering my girls in affection. I looped my bag over my shoulder and quietly raced up the steps to check on my youngest baby.

Cautiously I entered his bedroom, blushing at the mere sight of him. “Mommy’s going to fix this nino. I promise. For you and tu hermanas.” Shuffling to his bed I pulled his blanket up over his stomach to keep him warm. “Mommy loves you baby. I’ll see you when I get back and I’ll make sure to kiss Papi for you, if he’ll let me.” I kissed his forehead and backed away before he had the chance to wake up.

I left his room, spoke to Divya briefly and headed straight for Palm Springs.

———— ————

Pushing the bottle further down into the ice bucket I turned around to check out the room. I managed to get an extra key to his hotel suite since he’s still out. I got a phone call from Meah saying that he should be arriving shortly.

“Mommy,” I exhaled. Clutching the Bible to my chest I looked out at the sun setting over the horizon. “Necesito su orientación.” My spirit feels alive again. I can feel her. “I need you to walk me through this. I ruined my relationship and I need to get it back. Please watch over me and don’t let me screw this up.” Marking my body in favor of the cross I set the Bible down and put some final touches on his room.

About fifteen minutes later I heard a key unlatch the lock to the room.

“Alright, look I’ll tell you what. Let me look over the proposal, run the account and find the bug.” The door shut and the automatic lock clicking made me jump out of my skin. These goddamn nerves! Quickly I downed one of the shots I poured, needing to calm myself before he saw me. I stood tall by the window, looking out at the montañas and hills. “No man, I will personally take care of the firewall and the hiccup in your account. Why don’t you sen-”

Our eyes met the second his speech paused. With the phone to his ear, he silently set his bag down, looking me up and down. “I will have my assistant contact you so you can get me that file personally. Once I get to the bottom of this I will call you..” he motioned to the glass signaling for me to pour him a drink.

I did as he asked, going ahead to fill two glasses.

“Of course. I’ll get back to you in a few days.” His phone touched the desk as did his jacket. “I’m surprised.” He simply stated.

Closing our distance I handed him the glass, holding my own with two hands. “I know.” I agreed. “Necesitamos hablar.” I sipped on my champagne, reading his energy from the body language he’s showing.

“About?” He too sipped from his glass, going to remove his tie.

“Let me..” I offered. I set my glass down to complete the task I offered to take off his hands. A mass of nothing but fears from my subconscious lodged my airways, making it difficult to look at him. “Habla sobre nosotros, nuestra familia y el futuro de nuestra relación.” The slow movement and slithering sound of his tie falling across his shoulder made my heart skip a beat.

“So let’s talk then. Where should we start? You breaking up our family or completely blind siding me at dinner that night?” I knew this surprise visit from me would be a battle but I wasn’t expecting fire this quickly.

I draped his tie over the back of the chair, not wanting the fabric to catch wrinkles. “Don’t do that. I don’t want to fight with you tonight. For you and for us but not with you.” I created space between us, giving him room to breathe again.

“Why not? There’s enough issues to go around that we can argue about right? Isn’t that what you were saying five weeks ago when you tore our family apart?” He’s agitating me and he knows it. He’s pressing my buttons on purpose but I sympathize with his anger and hurt.

“Everything. Papi, we can fix this. I want to fix this. I broke us apart and for good reason but I want to make it right. I never wanted to hurt you or our family.” The sun has vanished leaving the sky lit up in the most beautiful orange and yellow blend.

“Mm..that’s the memo I got and if I’m correct you did hurt me. You hurt our bond, our love and our kids.” He calmly explained his point, fully raising my nerves.

Snapping my head in his direction I warned him not to steer us down a path we may not recuperate from. He clapped back at me as if I’m not in this fight with him.

“Ay, basta ahora! No me hables así! I hurt myself too, okay? You’re not the only one who got hurt that night alright? Stop trying to make me feel like crap and help me fix the problem!” Waving my hand for him to cut the nonsense out, I paced the floor waiting for him to react.

“What problem, Camila? Tell me what are these problems you speak of? I never saw any facet of our relationship that was broken and needed to be fixed. Were you imagining things that aren't real? What is it?”

“Our chemistry must have been off, Dre. It didn’t feel like old times. Y me estás llaman loco? That’s not fair of you to say! I meant what I said and how I feel is valid. You cannot deny the way I feel! Those are my feelings and I am entitled to them!” I yelled.

He approached me silently, picking up the shot from the tray. He threw it back, poured another two rounds, encouraging me to take second. “Our chemistry? What about our chemistry? Break it down for me. We have all weekend right? That’s why your bag is partially unpacked and you got a second key to the room? Well let’s get to the bottom of this shall we?”

He doesn’t know this but that was my fifth shot since I checked in. The scent of his cologne sent my desire for lust, love, affection, attention, you name it..into overdrive. I rolled my eyes swiftly as he walked past me into the living room of the suite. I followed him thinking of how to recite my feelings.

“Well..I feel like you’re still holding back. You never opened up about what happened to you while you were away. You’ve changed, baby. I recognized the signs when you came home. I didn’t pester you about my concerns because I had enough to deal with already. But you have changed and I just want you to feel comfortable enough to be open with me about what you went through.” Removing my earrings I placed them on the coffee table. Andre was mute. He drew an invisible figure eight with the champagne flute in his hand. “Coming here was intentional my love but stressing you out wasn’t.” I reminded him. I inched over to the large windows, taking in the views with him.

Throwing back the remaining champagne, Andre set the glass down by his feet. “Yeah I changed. I’m ashamed of a lot of events that have taken place over the course of my life. You know that. Being away is at the very top of that list. You know that too. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to share at all with anyone but God himself. I can’t.” He disagreed.

Cupping the nape of his neck I fingered the smooth hair, getting excited. He hasn’t touched me in weeks and I’m still breastfeeding so my hormones are driving me batshit crazy. I have been forced to stick out this drought between us, calculating how long until I get him back. Allow me to be frank and say that I have ventured down the road of self pleasure but it takes too long. I’m capable of satisfying myself on a small scale but I need him for that soul snatching, big time release.

“I’m not shaming you, papi. I would never do that. Though I strongly urge you to reconsider. God is an excellent choice mi amor pero I-” his hand claimed my throat as he backed me into the glass. The liquor in my bloodstream and on his breath made me want more. “Por favor..” I am prepared to beg, plead or use any other extreme measures I have up my sleeve if this will bring us closer. I cupped his cheek, yet again finding our son in him. Their eyes hold a familiar sense of depth and comfort. “I want to fix this, really. Again I’m sorry love, you must believe me.”

The teaser of his increase in pressure to my neck turned me on. I’m sure that was his intention and I have no objections. He’s never harmed me which is good because I love when he uses force. A little pain feels ten times better when sex and intimacy are around the corner.

“I know.” He huffed. I’m already wet with anticipation. He only added fuel to my fire. He overpowered me, giving off anger and animosity. I’ll take what I can for the time being, wanting what I’ve been deprived of. I can’t decide if I want this first time back into our fold to go by quickly because I’m so hungry or if I want to take my time.

“I want both.” I thought aloud.

Andre ripped through my clothes without any regard for common sense to treat my belongings with respect. “Of?” He uttered quietly.

We disrobed one another not caring that anyone could possibly walk by the room. We’re completely exposed and normally I’d be willing to keep watch for bystanders but tonight I don’t care much. Let them have a show to enjoy.

Tossing the belt he had on somewhere off to the side I rid him of his trousers, dominating the scene. “I want this to last but I’m desperate after five weeks.” I whined. I did not allow him to choose what pace he would rather stick with. “Give me what I want. Answers and attention.” Moving in for the kill I felt the ground lighten up from underneath my feet. I wrapped my legs around his midsection and locked my ankles to keep myself steady. He stumbled still teasing the clasp of my bra.

My body was freed from the confines of my brassiere, leaving me open for the taking. Andre granted my wish. He fucked the soul out of me up against the glass but tenderly and lovingly. We traded off with the power of getting the beauty of both worlds. What feels like angry, make-up sex carried on out to the hot tub that’s acquainted with the room. I gasped for new air, gripping his hip and palming his lower back to force him into me.

I needed a resting place for my head so I sought out the rim of the tub. My brief moment of desiring to speak ceased to exist as he touched two of my favorite spots. My outcry made me tearful and oh so sad. Sex only places a bandaid over our issues but a lovely bandaid it is. We carried on in the hot water and later transported our affairs back inside the room.

The time has come for us to use our words again. Tying my robe closed I lifted my hair up and out. With a heavy heart I studied Andre from several feet away.

“When did you begin to feel the shift?” He asked me, barely looking over his shoulder.

Clearing my throat I swiped my glass from the desk, taking a sip. “Sometime after Jo’s fifth or so doctor appointment. I think..”

Dre’s insincere snicker ruffled my feathers. He took a long drag of the blunt he’s been working for half an hour. Putting it out he sucked in a fresh wave of oxygen only to take his time blowing it back out. “So Ali is the root of your issues with me?”

“Let’s be adults about this. You know damn well that’s not what I’m getting at nor is that what I’m saying. Maybe it was the stress of waiting for all of the test results to come back..” my sentence ran off as did my feet. I walked myself across the room to look out onto the night sky. Finishing off my champagne I built up the courage to explain a selfish mistake I made so long ago. “I still feel guilty for my comment. I didn’t mean it then and I didn’t mean it now. The waiting and re-testing was backing me into such a dark place that I traded in hope for fear. That is no excuse and I have to live with my idiocy at that moment for the rest of my life.” Turning on my heels I zeroed out the space between us. I placed my hands upon his shoulders, molding to his shape wanting to ease the tension in his upper body. “But you were there. You didn’t give up on our son even while I had doubts and bombarded you with my sadness over the matter.”

Inching closer I captured his lips, entangling us to each other for round three. Speaking about our kids brings me back to consciousness. All of the wild sex that we’ve had since Jorden was born has surprisingly not created another child. This troubling and confusing separation has not hindered an inkling of romance. All that’s different is the lack of title.

“We’re supposed..to be talking..” he hummed. I fondled my way into his lap, going head first.

“Not right now we aren’t.” I denied. I’m in the mindset for a specialty cocktail I can’t put a price on. My skin began to heat up from under the robe. It’s my throat, mouth and hands that are the hottest points of me currently. I used my hands, feverishly wanting to bring him all the way up so I could stop and get him angry. His fingers ran through my hair finding the right coordinates to hold my head still. His body shuddered underneath mine as I ramped up my speed so he can feel like he’s in control of the moment. He’s never been allowed to dominate my pace when I’m pleasing him. I was very transparent in the beginning stages of our romantic relationship about why he can’t force me down or hold me still. In exchange we have worked out an arrangement to where he feels like he’s in control but he’s really not.

The overflow of saliva and the tiny bubbles running down over my fingers and wrists turned up my pride. It’s also the sweet melodic manner in which my name and God’s fills the air. I always honor him with his few moments of fame in thinking that I can’t handle his measurements. There are times when I doubt myself. Like the generous man that Andre is, he never comes short with complimenting how charming my tongue is. The hyper speed of his shaft and juevos sliding in and out my mouth brought on the most beautiful feeling. My scalp is tingling from the massage he’s giving me while I’m finishing the one I’m offering him.

His call out to the heavens is making me greedy. I’ll admit to it and I want him to know. Halting, I knelt before him and pushed him down, ultimately mounting him. Our mouths reunited in sync, no exceeding dominance displayed. My back touched down against the plush comforter, he removed my robe, and I used my hands and feet to disrobe him of his pants.

“Cuidarme, yo soy tuyo.” I begged. Our bodies meshed together resembling a fly getting caught in a Venus fly trap. My internal organs accommodated his endowment warmly. I saw darkness as he set himself up with the right momentum. “Ay Dios!” I called on our Heavenly Father several times over in the most disrespectful way. Tightening the grip I have on him I forced eye contact needing to face him head on.

His affirmation of how I’m making him feel calmed my nerves. “Making love to you always feels a step above incredible..” he told me once again.

Blissfully grinning from ear to ear I matched his strides, watching him react just the way I wanted him to. “Mm,” I hummed. “..te sientes mucho mejor.” I moaned heavily. The darkness took over again, shutting down any verbal conversation for the rest of this fight to the top of the mountain.

———— ��———

Staring at the moon aligned with the stairs I rolled my eyes listening to Andre ramble. He’s been on a hot streak for what seems to be pushing eternity. In reality only a few minutes have lapsed.

“Can you please sit down? Your pacing is unsettling.” I advised him.

“I can’t believe you would even stoop so low to bring Jorden into our problems. I know the testing was hard on you but you can’t place the blame of our downfall on him.”

“I never said Jo was the source of our problems! All I said was that the outcome and the process itself brought me down to a place I had never been before. I have no reason to blame our children for the reason our relationship was severed and I never will. You’re taking my words and running with them trying to make me look like a shit mother and I’m not. I always put our kids first. The reason we’re apart is because of tu y yo! There are no other parties to blame except for us so don’t ever drag anyone into our shit. We made this mess together so we are responsible for cleaning it up!” Standing up to walk around I meddled in my hair only wanting to reflect.

There’s the fight about Gerrard’s initial arrival. That was the first time that Andre accused me of being unfaithful. He hurt me down to the core. I was already battling how to deal with the slander brought to my name and in my place of work. The pain from Gerrard’s doing and the assumption was double what I was expecting.

Exhaling through my nose I picked up my hair, rubbing my scalp. “Dígame, was Gerrard’s first appearance something that stuck around for you? Did you think about that day anytime afterward?” I asked him.

“Sometimes, yeah.” He confessed.

“Why did you do it? I have never understood why you felt the need to question me after our history. I don’t think I’ll ever understand. I’ve never once accused you of anything even at my lowest point so I’m just trying to put the puzzle pieces together here.” As I met his eye I put in a strong effort not to look angry.

Andre’s shoulders fell as he ran his hands over his head. “I just got scared. I had a moment of weakness and took it out on you. I was sorry then for the way I behaved and I’m sorry now. I will forever be sorry.”

“I know. That’s number one. Numbers two, three and so on. Gerrard coming around the second time, the psychos you once called family, Chris… There’s so much heavy shit in your past and in ours as a unit that keeps me up some nights.” Letting my arms fall I crossed them over my chest.

“Are you a-”

Stopping him short I held up my hand swiftly. “I am not angry. I am not sad. I don’t know what I am.”

My shoulders gained weight. I dropped my head to one side feeling my muscles loosen up.

“I have a feeling that I-my mistakes are a part of our downfall. Amongst other things now that I’m diving deep into our past.” He says.

“Que otras cosas? Dígame por favor.”

He claims that all of what I mentioned are the strongest points that broke the very foundation we’ve built. I deny it all. There’s got to be something else that we are missing.

“I owe you my life babe and I know that you hate hearing about my suicide attempt but it’s relevant. That moment in my life will forever be pertinent to many conversations that we share. That memory, despite how painful it is to both of us, plays a key role in why I am the way that I am today. I still don’t see what you see but I do know that I don’t want to lose you.” He resumed the massage on my shoulders, making me feel warm again.

“A little to the right please.” I suggested. He followed orders eliminating all tension in my upper back. “Mira, I don’t take pleasure in giving you the ring back. Deep down I just didn’t feel right wearing such a statement with the way I was feeling. The way that I’m still feeling. I’m not sure how long it will take us to get back to our old ways but I don’t want to lose you either.” I faced him sliding my hands up his chest. “I did not come here to argue and go back and forth. I want to get to the root of the problem hoping that we can find some middle ground and work our way back to normal.” I used him as a place to lay my head.

“Agreed.” He solemnly voiced.

#maree-ff #mareeff #short story #fiction #short reads

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spacesnaill · 4 years

Note

Holds you at gunpoint. Every question for Jupiter. (you can skip some if you want-)

i love you, you motherfucker 🔫

1. what is your character's relationship to the traveler?

jupiter is aether’s and lumine’s big sibling, so they all get along very well. i like to think aether and lumine are way more brash and “act before you think” kind of people, while jupiter usually is the one who takes lead (both because of the big sib energy and because they are way more analytical). that being said, jupiter is aware that the twins are very much capable of surviving on their own and fighting if there is any need for that, which is why even after losing touch with them in tevyat they know that the twins will manage somehow, they just need to find them

2. is your character proud of, ashamed of, or indifferent to their feelings towards members of a certain gender?

i’d like to think that the species/society the trio comes from doesnt give a fuck about gender and sexuality so jupiter would never feel ashamed or upset about their feelings towards specific genders. i dont think they would rlly label themself but they are definitely not straight. as to having feelings towards others: they are usually straight forward in their approach

3. what is your character's relationship with themselves?

jupiter knows their purpose and objective very well, but that often clouds their true desires. i like to think that they havent really been thinking for themself up until they were stranded in tevyat and had to rely on themself. they came to realize their own opinions and perspectives that they carry with themself everywhere they go. tho, their views are rather flexible, because they are very much willing to learn if an oppoturnity arises. that being said, they dont quite know themself well just yet, they are still learning after all

4. what is their favorite region? why?

with how much of the game is available rn, liyue is definitely their favorite so far. it’s culture is incredibly rich and full of fascinating stories and legends. i personally am looking forward to the release of sumeru, but what will come out of it is yet to be seen

5. what is their relationship with Zhongli? do they have one at all?

oh they very much do. while his charm and politeness are qualities that they very much enjoy, what originally drew them closer to him was his vast knowledge over liyue’s traditions and customs. at first during their stay at liyue harbor they would wait to catch him during his afternoon and evening strolls around the city to ask him things and carefully listen to everything he has to say. id like to think that zhongli appreciated having such an active listener and even a conversation partner at some point. eventually their little friendship grew into fondness for each other and they would seek each other’s company, until jupiter straight up confessed. id like to think their relationship is fairly innocent and very much founded on mutual respect and admiration. they both value honesty and communicate with each other rather well. and even though, zhongli hesitated before agreeing to travel with them, leaving liyue behind, he doesnt regret doing it

6. who is their love interest? If they do not have one, who is their closest friend?

while zhongli is both their love interest and their dear friend, venti is their first close friend. during the events of chapter I they both bonded. venti seemed like someone containing a vast amount of knowledge that jupiter was eager to discover. it quickly became apparent to them that the bard doesnt particularly like to talk about the past in detail, but venti still would surprise them with how much he knew about art and the culture surrounding it. they are both pretty light spirited so they always enjoyed each other’s company and their bond only grew stronger during their travels.

7. what do they think of Mona?

they are curious about and intrigued by her methods. they can also very much relate to her pursuit of lost/forgotten knowledge. they like to ask her about astrology and theorize with her, asking her to teach them little things for an exchange of a hot, homemade meal

8. what do they think of The Knights of Favonius?

their opinion on the knights is mixed. they can very much see that most of the people working for them are underqualified and not cut for the job or only doing it for the renown. while the idea of a city without a ruler is appealing, in practice the knights are the ones ruling over it and jupiter was left feeling sceptical when thinking about their methods and the possible future. they dont have anything against the individual people in the organization, but they do think their approach is highly flawed

9. wine is Mondstadt's most popular drink. do they drink wine?

while they do indulge in alcohol from time to time, they dont seem to be able to get drunk or even tipsy. they’ve concluded that since their body is built differently than a person of this world’s, its very probable that they dont react to certain foods and products the same way. alcohol is like any kind of a drink for them and many people are terrified when they see them consume it in large quantities

10. what do they think of Kaeya?

they like his playful nature and think he is a highly intelligent person, who doesnt show anyone what he is truly capable of. his methods, while very cunning, seem rather brash, which somehow reminds them of their siblings. while they are very much curious about his motives and history, they dare not to pray if it isnt welcomed. during their stay in mondstadt they would often times catch kaeya lurking in the tavern and spending time with the local gangs and bandits in order to extort information from them while drunk. in the rarer occasions where he would be alone, they would sometimes keep him company, filling the night with talks about nothing in particular

11. if they were forced to make the choice between killing their love interest/friend or killing themselves, what would they choose? why?

that very much depends on when that would happen. pre-separation with their siblings, they would very much operate on the hard logic of “whoever has more information/more important information should survive”. however after spending time in tevyat and meeting its people, jupiter learns to greatly value life and their inicial stance would change to a more selfless one. the more they get to know about the world the more they are willing to put their life on the line to preserve life in it, especially if its the life of someone they hold dear

12. what do they think of Childe? 16. is there a canon character your character hates? why?

at first they were open to the idea of being childe’s friend, however with time they started noticing that something was wrong with his overt friendliness. when he revealed his true intentions, jupiter was not surprised, but learning what he had chose to do made them absolutely despise him. staying in liyue has taught them a lot and made them care about the people living in this world. however childe seemed to have no disregard to them. they will not hesitate to fight him if their paths do cross again

13. do they carry a lot of Mora?

having a large amount of mora is basically a requirement when travelling with zhongli and venti. jupiter does take on a lot of jobs and comissions, though mora is mostly a secondary issue for them. they do find themself owning quite a lot of it at times until they overspend with their companions and are forced to rely on their survival skills in order to save up enough to get a roof over their heads

14. does your character side with Kaeya, Diluc or neither?

when it comes to the family feud: neither. jupiter doesnt like to pry into family matters and they understand both kaeya and diluc never talking about their issues with one another. while they cant imagine siblings behaving like that, due to their own experience, they dont feel like its their place to judge.

when it comes to the knights of the favonius: jupiter slightly leans more on diluc’s side, recognizing the many weaknesses of the organization as it is, however they both come from different places when critiquing it.

15. what do they think of Venti?

venti has become their best friend and they value him deeply. they worry about him sometimes, aware of the origin of his appearance and the history behind it. they like how venti seems to perceive life in a very poetic way and are fascinated by it. they get along very well and venti often fill their time during their travels by his songs, both known and not yet named

17. how did they acquire their vision?

they seem to be blessed with the same ability as their siblings when it comes to being granted powers without aquiring a vision themself

18. what is your character's weakness?

their curiosity and hunger for knowledge

19. what is their strength?

they utilize the knowledge they have gathered into things they can use to their advantage be it in battle or daily life

20. what is your character's theme song?

pure gold by half·alive

21. what weather do they love the most? why?

they love when its sunny. jupiter very much enjoys the feeling of sunlight on their skin

22. what do they think of Paimon?

jupiter would be Ecstatic to get to meet paimon. her vast knowledge in all matters would make her a valuable companion. in the current story they have no idea who she is as of now though

23. what do they think of the Fatui?

while they do not approve of the fatui’s methods, they cant help but think that something much deeper must be going on. jupiter wants to believe that the tsaritsa cant be simply evil and that perhaps she has some other, hidden motivation for her actions. having spent time with and got to know the fatui in liyue, they also know that not all of them are cartoonish bad guys

24. what do they think of the archons?

overall the concept of archons seems very new and intriguing to them. they do try to get as much information about their godhood out of venti and zhongli. they wonder whether this world really needs the archons as much as it claims to

25. what is the worst thing that could happen to your oc?

either losing their siblings or losing their memory (its a great fear of theirs)

26. what does your oc want the most?

their long term dream is to write down all the knowledge they’ve gathered so far and make it accessible and understandable to anyone willing to read it

#genshin impact #gi #genshin impact oc #gi oc #original character #oc #the third star au #ask #friends #jupiter

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abloomntime · 3 years

Text

A Bloom In Time Ch28 Welcome To Mafia Town P2

(I headcannon the place the Twilight Bell takes you is the Horizon Moonjumper lives in.)

Poppy had stared in front of her when the man yelled and slammed the door behind him. Stopping and staring for a while confused, but she just shrugged it off and started off again. She hadn't taken more than three and a half steps when the door flew back open with an even louder BANG and with more force enough to vibrate the glass of the door and windows of the building and the three stopped and stared at the next wild sight that graced their vision. One- Two-......NO! Around ten men in blue suits marched right out of the door and like some military, marched in a rythume and rows of two fives. Before all turning on their heels and effectively blocking their way to the other side of the docks with all of them staring, but they weren't the only ones. The men working on the docks and one or two that were just casually walking past them just stopped and stared at what was going on. Hattie immediately scowled and brandished her trusty umbrella out of nowhere ready to battle, and Bow shrunk back behind Poppy's legs as a man different from all the others stepped out of the doorway. Instantly Poppy got the feeling this guy had a bad attitude by the way he walked around like he owned the place and the fact. This man had a giant black mustache and goatee, and was a good foot shorter in height compared to every other man there as he walked in front of them. He wore an apron like the rest of the men around here, but with a giant red coat with gold trim, and like Cookie a chef's hat that wobbled with his every step. He marched until he was right in the middle of the dock blocking their way and stood in a stance with his hands on his hips.

"So. We meet again Kid With The Hat!," he shouted in a deep male voice also different compared to the other men she's heard, "And this time you brought along more people from your strange world! You dare show your face here again after what you and your friend did!?"

"Who's that?," Poppy asked glancing down at Hattie's stiff form.

"That's the Mafia Boss," Hattie warned pointing her umbrella right at him, "He used to be stuck in a jar, but after Snatcher made a deal with him for those death wish contracts, he's gone back to being a big bully!!"

".....I'm sorry. He used to be a what and turned back into what after Snatcher did what??"

She didn't get an answer from anyone as the man marched right up to the small group of girls and Poppy watched with a scowl as he made a big scene of 'manly' stomping his footsteps all the way towards them until he was just shy of a foot or two. Hattie still in that 'make one more move and I'll end you' stance but not doing anything as he just stood there in front of them and Bow now clutching her with like an iron trap and pressing her forehead to Poppy's leg. The man wasn't even that tall. Not including his hat, his head came to just barely above her shoulders as he continued to stand in that stance-.....And Poppy couldn't help but get a strange feeling of deja vu at seeing this man. He looked somewhat familiar. A good few tense moments went pass as nether spoke until he made the first sentence.

"Red haired lady! Are you the one who stopped my men from doing jobs?," he asked staring directly at Poppy.

"If by jobs ya mean I asked them nicely to stop harrassin' a poor defenseless ol' man and then defended mahself when one your goons started the fight, then I sure did buckaroo!," she snapped back with that country sass that once made Snatcher's living heart skip a beat. "And what if I did or not? Sounds ta me they'd be better off not doing any jobs if all they do is harass poor people all day for money like they got nothin' else to do!!"

"HA!! Is orders from me!!", he challenged back.

"Well. Then I guess you're one insecure power hungry spoiled rich boy if I had ever seen one!! Did yer mama not teach ya any manners!?"

The entirety of the mafia men watching either gasped or looked on with shocked faces that someone let alone a woman, would dare talk to Mafia Boss that way, and the boss didn't seem to take a liken to that either.

"How rude! You must be very lost lady with the red hair. You're in the heart of our town! STANDING BEFORE THE MOST POWERFUL MAN YOU WILL EVER WITNESS!!" He smirked when some of men cheered their boss on proudly. "In Mafia Town Mafia Boss makes the rules!"

"Well then." Poppy gave a look that one would give if someone had something dum like fish were secretly birds that flew underwater. "I guess ya'll can consider me a rule breaker because anyone wo gives those orders aren't a man or very powerful if ya'll need to hassle money from an old man to keep stable income!!"

The silence was astounding as the Mafia Boss just stared at her flabbergasted and paused. Poppy still staring at him so done with this entire man baby's show off attitude, if he wanted to cause trouble then she could and WOULD dish some of it back into his face well cooked with a side of sass. He still stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before he chuckled and that smile returned to his face.

"You know. I have not seen a woman like you since we left original mafia island with Women Mafia. You dare speak back to Mafia? You have guts, Red Hair Lady.....Mafia like that in a woman.~"

".....What?," Poppy asked. It was the only thing she could force out at that moment.

"What?," Hattie asked just as confused.

"WWWHHHHHAAAAATTTTT?!," SNATCHER roared from the shadow he was stuck in. Yellow eyes narrowing and mouth suddenly becoming more jagged with fangs. "OOP!!" Poppy had taken a step back in shock and stepped in the middle of his face.

If anyone had heard Snatcher's loud yell, and most likely did, they ignored it in favor of watching the awkward interaction between the two adults. And the Mafia Boss leaned closer to her. "Mafia likes strong fight in women. Pretty Red Haired Lady has much fighting spirit!"

Poppy was stunned as she stood there staring at this smaller man with a jaw slightly dropped. Was this guy SERIOUSLY FLIRTING with HER?! After she smashed one of his guys to the ground and slapped another's hand?? Was he SERIOUSLY doing this?? Apparently so because Bow had lift her head enough to look at what was going on and her and Hattie exchanged a look as if they were telepathically asking each other what the world was happening. But no one could've seen what was coming from the furious ghost who moved his face and was GLARING dangerously at the Mafia Boss. He hadn't done anything yet finding amusement in Poppy throwing back her own stubborness into this situation with always made things amusing enough for him wanting to watch, especially since he missed her last dish out of sass back. But now he had quickly turned from amused to FURIOUS with that famous temper he was known for. But it turned from valcanic to NUCLEAR when the mafia boss grabbed Poppy's free hand even making her flinch and blink at the sudden action looking at him with a scowl.....Then realization flashed in her eyes.

"Wait a gosh darn moment.....I know you! I saw your paintin' in the art gallery." And she saw his face spray painted all over everything around town too! That's where she had seen him before!

"So you are familiar with Mafia's greatness? Mafia is greatly flattered.~" Pulling her hand up to his face with that smile like he was about to kiss her hand-

An animalistic like snarl pierced the air and something dark blocked out the son over the three girls and some presence hovered over them that made the Mafia Boss's and Mafia Mens' eyes widen as pure terror poured over them in waves like the ocean as the very large ghosts hunched over the ladies, his face a twisted one of pure rage as he stared the tiny man dead in the eyes. Poppy just stared at the ghost jumping when his enlarged claws gripped her shoulders as he pointed those fangs at the man. ....Her arm slipping away from the man.

"YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH BUDDY!!," he absolutely ROARED out the loudest Poppy had heard him thus far, "YOU WANT TO DIE A SECOND TIME!? OR MAYBE I SHOULD EAT YOUR SOUL!!!" The Mafia Boss yelled and stumbled back away from the shadow monster threatening to eat him and yells came from all sides from the men who either ran down the paths leading from the docks or back into the open resturaunt to escape the shadow monster that had suddenly just appeared. Only annoying Snatcher more that these pathetic fools would even try to act like they had a chance with her. "That's it! WE'RE LEAVING!! NOW!!"

The teleporting worked as quickly as any other time he did it. Purple energy completely took over the world around them like the many times he's done this before and swallowed them all whole. Poppy closed her eyes when purple invaded her vision and the air suddenly shifted again much more aggressive and quickly than any other time she's experienced this kind of thing. A second later she landed onto her side and shoulder with a thud and 'OOF!!' onto soft carpet and a moment after the purple dissappeared leaving the familiar sight of a little alien's space ship and the windows of space. Next to her was the basket tossed over on it's side and half it's contents spilt out onto the floor, mostly the apples that just bounced out of the sack and rolled out onto the carpeted floors. She groaned and forced herself onto her back and sat up, looking up to the figure of the deeply scowling ghost staring back out the window and down at the planet. Hattie was sat on the floor next to him pushing the hat off her face and Bow sitting up next to her.

"Ow. Quick exit much?," she asked Snatcher who looked at her.

"Hey! I just saved your sorry behind from unwanted advances from a total fool! Your welcome!!"

She smiled. "Yeah. To be honest I was 'bout ta deck that mustached peckneck myself. Glad I didn't have to waste any energy of that." She slowly stood up and brushed herself off smiling. "Great timin' purple onion."

"Hmph.....Thanks." He crossed his arms and began to calm down a bit. The raised fluff and extended claws slowly smoothing back to their normal look. Watching silently as she turned and started to pick up the basket and all the things that tumbled out of it. "What are you planning on doing with those anyways?"

"Uh. Put them in that fancy fridge of yours," she said not looking up from her lil clean up. Making sure not of the food got damaged. It'd be a waste if she spent so much on them only for them to be ruined. Thankfully on closer inspection it didn't seem anything was wrong. Fish still wrapped up. Bacon still in package. And the milk bottle wasn't cracked or spilt. Thank goodness. Standing back up with the basket of food she turned to the kitchen.

"Now do you see what I meant about their being danger at every corner around here?," Snatcher asked following behind her as she walked. "It's dangerous and trouble!"

"I appreciate the heads up, but you don't have to watch me over." He opened his mouth- "I SAID I appreciate it." She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. "And what happened just proved your point a lil bit, but I am NOT a kid or need a babysitter. Sooner or later I gotta make a livin' on mah own after I pay off mah debts while you're helping me. And I mean it when I say thank ya but don't feel like you have to take time out of your day worryin' about me. I can take care of myself."

"And what if you need help-"

"You'll be the very first one I'll trust to help me." With one last smile she turned back and walked the rest of the way up the ramp and into the kitchen to put away the fruits of their adventure. Leaving Snatcher there floating and staring after her, Hattie suddenly running past him into the kitchen to presumably help and still sat there. "What do you have in yer hat?," Poppy said from beyond the kitchen doors. "Coconuts? Where'd ya get those?"

"On the palm trees on the beach," Hattie proudly stated.

He didn't even notice Bow standing next to him until he spoke. "Are you ok?"

".....Yeah. I'll be fine." He turned and started floating off towards the windows in the control room. "Tell Poppy I'm heading back. And if she decides to go somewhere let me KNOW." He floated towards the window as she watched and he disappeared into a cloud of purple.

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

The minions walking around doing their normal routes barely paid attention to their own boss who was currently sitting back in his giant arm chair reading the book in his hands. How Black Holes Are Made And How To Avoid Them. The same one he started in the attic. Once he started reading a book he always made sure to finish it, no matter what opinion he had on it. To him why start it if you won't finish it. 'Sides, the kid wouldn't miss a book she never read from her dark attic. A deep frown On his face and irritation seeping from him as he read a 3 step process about how stars specifically were affected by the darkness of a black hole. ....When footsteps approuched he didn't look up and just kept the scowl on his face.

"So you finally showed up huh?," he asked in an annoyed tone.

"Oh relax. You knew I was coming."

He finally looked up to the smiling pink witch in front of her. "Yes. ....BUT I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D MENTION MOONBOY RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!!!" He yelled out in anger. "WHAT THE PECK DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?! I THOUGHT WE AGREED YOU WOULDN'T TELL HER OR THAT CORPSE ANYTHING!!!"

"And I didn't tell ANYONE anything," she argued back waving a hand. "All I did was mention his name ONCE. It's not like I went 'Here! Let me spill all the secrets of these ghosts to you and tell Moonjumper all about you'. She probably already forgotten what I said by now." Hazelle walked over until she was right in front of him and sat down on the footstool he always kept in front of his armchair, and looked up to meet his eyes with a blank look. "And I thought YOU were going to talk to HER about him."

"What!? I did talk to her!"

She blinked in surprise. ".....Wait. You did what now? Really?"

"YES!!"

"........" Her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed as she gazed at him suspiciously. "Ok. What exactly did you tell her?"

Snatcher paused for a moment that scowl paving away for a slightly worried look. "I mean-.....Nothing she didn't ask me-"

"Uh huh. And WHAT did she ask you?," she pressed further with that face backing him into a corner he couldn't escape.

"The usual questions you asked when we first met along with everyone ELSE I let live. Where do ghosts come from? How did I die? Things like that."

"And how did you answer?" He remained silent staring down at her and that deadpanned stare turned into a glare and he flinched when Hazelle pointed at her. "You tell me what you told her, Snatcher! I swear! I know this is a sensitive topic but it concerns someone else BESIDES you too and Im not talking about Moonjumper!!"

"Alright! Alright!!".....He sighed and made an almost guilty look that people made when they REALLY did not want to do something. "She asked about how ghosts are formed and I said I don't know which isn't a lie. I don't have any idea. She also asked me if I really ate souls-" Hazelle snorted and he frowned again. "Hey! I couldn't eat other ghosts! That's ridiculous!"

"Is that all she asked?," Hazelle questioned a slight amused from that last sentence.

"I- Uh- W-Well- I mean I don't know if I would consider those actually questions persay- OW!!" His tail pulled itself away when she lightly kicked his tail and gave him a death glare that gave him the impression to just get on with it. "Alright. FINE!! She asked me why I helped her, and how I died.....A-And...If her old prince friend was a ghost too."

Silence rang out as Hazelle blinked eyes going wide and Snatcher looking back down to the book in his lap even though he wasn't reading it anymore. The two old friends still stayed like that for the lonest time and sat there in silence so deathening you could've heard Vanessa yelling 'PRINCE!!' from the few miles away she was in that frozen prison.

"What did you say?"

"What?" he looked up with a dumbfounded look blinking.

Hazelle have him a serious look again but it was a lil softer. "I said WHAT did you tell her? You must've told her something, otherwise you wouldn't have been with her at the meathead's market if it could even be called that. Did you tell her the truth? I sure pecking hope so."

"OF COURSE I DID!! I WOULDN'T LIE TO HER!!"

"Even when you tricked her into that contract?"

"HEY! That was for safety purposes! So it was for a good cause. She's still a free spirit."

"WHAT DID YOU TELL HER YOU PECKING NOODLE!?"

"ALRIGHT!! I TOLD I FROZE TO DEATH BUT NOTHING BEYOND THAT EVEN IF I DID EXPLAIN THE CAUSE OF IT!! AND I TOLD HER MOST GHOSTS DIDN'T HAVE MEMORIES!! SO NO!! I DIDN'T LIE TO HER!! HAPPY?!" He glared at her like he would anything that irritated him.

Hazelle still stared at him with that scowl quietly eyeing him up and down deducting if he was telling the truth or not. "....So....She knows how you died?

"Yes," he growled out.

"So, she knows who you were?"

His face went back to that almost guilty look. "Uh-.....Well not exactly-"

"Not exactly!?" Hazelle face palmed with a groan. "I thought you said you told her how you died."

"I did!"

"And she knows about you freezing to death in the basement?"

"Yes!"

"Then HOW does she NOT know you if you told her?," she demanded peeking at him. "You're confusing me worse than a rubix cude!"

"She asked how the prince friend died and I told her just like her. Locked in a room until the cold kicked in. I just told her I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, which also wasn't a lie, so I never lied."

"........Wait a minute." She looked up fully to him. "Let me get this straight. You told her how YOU died and how her friend which is ALSO YOU died, but told her in a way that didn't let her know YOU ARE YOU?!....That's not helping your situation at all!!!"

"HEY!! What was I supposed to do?! It was sprung on me out of no where!, "he argued back.

"I don't know! Tell her the truth!?"

"I did!"

"SNATCHER!!" Hazelle suddenly stood up and jabbed a poke into his chest with an all too serious look. "Not telling her the WHOLE truth is just as bad! She's gonna think you're two different people!....Well technically you are- But the point is, she's going to see you and her friend as two different individuals which is just gonna bite you in the butt later!"

"Give me some time! I'm still trying to get used to this. If you haven't forgotten there's two people who'll be affected by this."

"........" She sighed and shook her head, backing off and crossing her arms. "Well....You did talk and that's something in of itself considering how pecking stubborn your butt can be. That's a step in the right direction at least." Hazelle gave him a pleading look. "Look. I'm proud you're feeling more open around her, but PLEASE take my advice and don't burn your bridges when the fire can be avoided."

".....Fine. Just....Not now."

Knowing it was no use to press it any further for now. Arguing forever with this stubborn spirit was like trying to drain a dried out an already empty bathtub. Impossible. "Fine. But was there anything else she told you?"

He rolled his eyes with a small smile. "Oh yes. She got into some kind of trouble with that old windbag of a bird and broke something. Now she has to pay it off by being in another fool's play."

".......Seriously!?," she smiled now raising an eyebrow. "I have to stick around you lot more often. I'm missing all the juicy details.~.....In fact that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Don't push your luck." Those yellow eyes narrowed.

''I won't. In fact I've been quite helpful with this whole 'My Lover Came Back From The Dead' cliche skit. I haven't said a word."

"And make sure you KEEP it that way!" Snatcher growled and his grip on his book became tighter. If that corpse found out who KNOWS what he'll try to pull. Especially if he spilt all the details to her before he could explain. He didn't see any good outcome from that!

Hazelle waved a hand. "I promise. Witch's honor. Timmy can vouch for that."

He suddenly blanked out.....Timmy...That BOY!! Moonjumper's little oh so polite princey!! He narrowed his eyes again. "And tell that kid not to flap his gums either!"

"Who? Timmy? What would he even talk about? He barely even knows her and only met her for like, two minutes. There's absolutely nothing to worry about with him," She assured him.

Snatcher still didn't look convinced as he looked out the opening of his home out into the woods. "Where is he anyways?"

"We finished our magic training for today so I dropped him off home." snatcher huffed and Hazelle rolled her eyes. "Look. Even if he did say something about her, how much could he say? Your girls have a babysitter? You got a new helper? A woman beat up the mafia? Nothing that really translates to 'Hey! This is the girl you two used to be in love with'."

He hummed. Well....She had a point. When you put it that way, there really was nothing too much to worry about if Moonboy found out about him having a 'helper' or 'babysitter'. He'd never in another thousand years guess it was Poppy of all people. As long as he kept away everything would be fine.

"Besides. What's the worse that could happen?"

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

The beautiful silence of the horizon was a rather lonely one when he was all here by himself...Well that's not true. He wasn't always by himself. There was a few of Snatcher's minions forever lost he swiped back in the day, and a few ancient Alpine Goat spirits that occupied the place way longer than he's ever been there, but none of them spoke much, and he always enjoyed the polite company of strangers. Unfortunately those couldn't be forced as he found out rather quickly, but after a long time he didn't need to force those when he finally found a small little family of his own. Timmy was such a polite and good boy. The child he's always wanted if it weren't for HER!! He even had his hair color he used to have when he was a living being like his darling son. Of course he would provide him with all he needs forever as no one else would, and besides his wonderful boy, their was those delightful girls and Snatcher. Snatcher was.....Ok. Being an inferior half of him but nevermind that. He would never know what those dears saw in him. And Hazelle was a nice lady, wonderful. Always knew her way around magic and was a good teacher for his timmy.

The fingers worked like magic knitting the red threads he could summon at will together in the beginnings of a scarf for..someone. He didn't know yet, it was just a nice hobby to pass the time in this vast plain of being while waiting for Timmy to return from his daily lessons with Hazelle. Especially since as of lately he wasn't really feeling up to going out much since that little incident with the tramatizing time piece and Snatcher's oh so splendid idea. He was SO glad to have been transported back here straight away after that, he couldn't BARE to even face Vanessa at any given moment or time. Let's just say he was more than happy to stay here far, FAR away from that crazy peckneck and listen to silence for a good long while. He was more than happy to spend his time knitting away and taking his time to go back out there again.

Click, click, click.

The spirit's red eyes and knitting fingers focused on the small scarf on hand, the only sounds being the clicking of those knitting needles and the chains permanantly clamped on his wrists....And the approuching small footsteps coming right for him. A smile gracing his pale features and those red eyes looking up without stopping those knitting hand.

"Welcome home, Timmy. Were you good while you were out?," the ghost asked the child as he casually walked up to him.

Timmy smiled and nodded. "You betcha! Had a real laugh today actually!"

A clawed, chained hand patted his head before the spirit turned back to his peaceful work. "Good boy. I'm so happy."

"Ran into Bow and Hattie too." He said watching as his ghostly guardian worked along. "They had this new lady with 'em. Never seen her before tho. She threw a Mafia right over her shoulder and dunked him like a ball in a basket, she did when he tried to punch her!"

"Oh really? Hm. That doesn't sound very lady like. " But he still smiled hearing one of those meatheaded brutes had gotten a taste of his own medicine. "But trying to punch a lady isn't very good either, so I guess he had it coming."

"Yeah! It was a real good show! Hattie said something about her being their new nanny or somethin'."

Click, click,click.

"...Oh?" He paused and looked down at him now catching his attention. Snatcher..got those little darlings a nanny? Snatcher? Well, well, well. It seems that shadow finally had a smart idea for once in his existance. Those girls could use someone to look after them when he was off calling everyone fools or doing some other ridiculous thing like that. The edgylord noodle. "Well it seems he had one good brainstorm out of all that hair."

"Mmhm." Timmy was still curiously watching as he went back to summoning threads outta no where and knitting them into something. The next thing he said was just a casual comment thrown into the conversation. "She seemed like a nice person. I think she said her name was Poppy. Like those pretty flowers growing in the Alpine Alps, yeah."

Click, click, cli-

Any limited sounds coming from the moving of the knitting needles and chains came to sudden abrupt halt at that one word. Timmy noticing the sudden stopping of motion from the ghost blinked and looked up at his face. His pale face was frozen staring blankly at his unmoving hands and those red eyes wide. After staring a few seconds into the abyss, Timmy was just about to ask him if he was ok, but the ghost slowly looked at him stopping that.

"Pardon me for asking, but.....Who did you say she was?"

"Uh...Poppy..I think." Timmy reached up to scratch his head. "I'm not sure. Wasn't paying much attention to be honest."

"Tell me, what did she look like?," he said rather quickly giving the boy his fool attention.

"Um..." Timmy crunched his face in thought. "..I don't remember much. Didn't spend much time there, but she was pale with long, red hair."

Moonjumper just stared at him wide eyed for a long silent moment. No......NO! It couldn't be!....Could it? There wasn't any possible way she-...Not after all these years. No. No it must've been some kind of weird strange coincidence. Some other long red haired pale lady sharing the same name. It was quite possible. There was a lot of Philips on his father's side of the family. There was a great chance of a woman with her characteristics having the same name. It couldn't be even remotely slightly possible......Could it?

"Hey. Are you alright there?"

He blinked. "Uh...Y-Yes. Thank you.....But...Please, tell me all you can about this lady?"

#the snatcher #snatcher x florist #Snatcher x the florist #A hat in time snatcher x florist #a hat in time snatcher x the florist #The Florist #florist #florist x snatcher #a hat in time florist #A hat in time the florist #A hat in time the florist x snatcher #A hat in time florist x snatcher #a hat in time snatcher #flowercrown #a bloom in time

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travllingbunny · 4 years

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The 100: 7x10 A Little Sacrifice

After The Flock - the show’s weakest episode in a long time - and an unfortunate hiatus after that episode, A Little Sacrifice helped get season 7 back on track. It’s one of the best episodes of the season: it was exciting, things finally happened - a lot, we got a big revelation about what the endgame is likely to be all about, there were fights, an attempted mass murder/genocide (what would a season of The 100 be without those?), some really good character work, and the first major death of the season.

Yes, Charmaine Diyoza was not a main character. but after being introduced as a villain in season 5, she has grown into one of the most memorable and interesting characters on the show - in large part due to Ivana Miličević’s charismatic performance - with a complex and morally ambiguous characterization and backstory (which I really hope to maybe learn more about one day in the prequel flashbacks? Please?). She has been one of my favorite characters since season 5, and I loved her development and her relationship with Octavia, her mother/daughter relationship between her and Hope, her past fights to protect “expendable” prisoners and her S7 attempts to find peace and renounce violence, and hope (!) that at least her daughter will get to have a different and better life where she wouldn’t need to resort to it. She became a (not so little) sacrifice for the better future we saw her dreaming of in season 5 in that conversation with Kane - maybe that dream is something we will see the new generations live in the series finale?

The one thing I wasn’t too happy about (I was OK with the lack of Bellamy cliffhanger since we got him in the promo for 7x11 right afterwards) was that Clarke did not have any more screentime than in the other recent episodes. But, especially on rewatch, she had some great subtle little moments.

You know what is not subtle? Sheidheda. He’s finding new ways to be completely OTT. This time he can finally stop pretending to be Russell, so he gets a makeover, more in tune with the...interesting Grounder fashion styles, chews the scenery even more, and then - thanks to Madi - he loses an eye (just as he did during his original lifetime), getting closer to his season 6 Emperor-like look, though he’s missing a cloak this time. He also doesn’t have enough facial hair to twirl his moustache, but he actually hisses at one point. This part of the episode was, this time, really fun and intense, including a really good fight scene and some really emotional and important moments for Indra, Madi and Murphy, but doesn’t need much analysis and doesn’t require attention on rewatch.

I’m still not sure how/if these two storylines will connect. But I can see a thematic connection of sorts: Sheidheda is the embodiment of the worst parts of the Grounder culture, with the worship of violence and power and killing all those who oppose you; and not just that - he’s all egotism taken to the extreme, the kind of “wild beast” as Anders would despise, but in this case, he would actually have good reasons to. On the other hand, we have the Disciples with their sterile white rooms, order and the propaganda of the abnegation of self in the favor of the collective, and dreaming of “transcendence” instead of trying to get back to the “old ways”. But they really come off as two sides of the same coin: both ideologies are about worship of and subjugation to a leader, both believe violence is the solution, and both are against love and see it as a danger.

Brand new opening titles - these opens start with a shot of Sanctum and end with the Bardo Stone Room with the Anomaly Stone - and guess what makes a cameo near the end of the credits? That’s right, Earth. I was starting to think that any return to Earth won’t happen, but now I’m not so sure.

Sanctum

The episode opens with the immediate aftermath of Shady’s massacre of the Faithful. We see Madi’s friend Rex (that’s his name according to the credits) - the Sanctum boy who offered Madi’s other friend, the null boy, to play soccer - mourning someone, probably his mother. This scene had to be there so we’d feel some sympathy and sadness over the deaths of the Faithful rather than just be relieved they’re (mostly) gone. One of the wounded ones is Jeremiah, the same guy who developed deep gratitude for Murphy for saving his son. Although the Faithful have been very annoying, I do feel a tinge of sympathy for this guy, who’s so clueless that he never understood he had any agency in what happened to his son and seemed really convinced it was all about the will of the “gods”. He now asks Murphy to take care of his son when he dies, but Murphy insists he will not let Jeremiah die. (Trey, the annoying a-hole who was brainwashing Jordan, and used to act as the leader of the Faithful, is credited in the episode but I didn’t see him anywhere - so I have no idea if he’s among the dead, or he survived and was in a deleted scene.)

Madi has a really nice mini arc in this episode. She already had PTSD from her experience and possession by Sheidheda in season 6, so she is absolutely terrified when she learns he is back, and when he threatens her in a really creepy way. Excellent acting by Lola. Later, after being comforted by Murphy and joining the survivors,she shows strength in comforting Rex for his loss; and in the end, overcomes her fears and risks her life to save Indra.

Not that it matters, but Sheidheda’s real name is Malachi. (I’m still gonna keep calling him Shady.) We learn that when he recites the lineage - the names and clans of all the previous Commanders, which we know from S3 is a Grounder custom for a new Commander to do. Of course, we only get to hear some of the names in the middle (a couple of random Commanders called Maffei kom Boudalankru - the Rock Line and Kemji kom Trishanakru) and the end, when he mentions Lexa and Madi. The show wasn’t going to spoil the prequel by revealing the names of early Commanders,

The fight itself was really intense and maybe the best Grounder-style duel in the show (yes, I prefer it to the 3x04 one, which involved too much showmanship to look as a real death match). Shady is obviously going to be there for a while and things aren’t going to get so easily resolved, so he wins and is about to kill Indra - who refuses to kneel to save her own life - but just as he’s about to kill her, Madi finds the courage to come as the Big Damn Hero at the crucial moment, pluck out Shady’s eye and save Indra’s life. But then as he is about to kill Madi, Indra decides to (metaphorically, since she’s lying and about to pass out) kneel in order to save Madi’s life. Indra’s arc with Shady has come full circle: this may finally make her understand her mother’s choice and realize she was unfair to her. She grew up blaming her mother for agreeing to kneel to Sheidheda and considering her “weak”. The battle had been lost, her father was already dead, and her mother made the best possible decision and wasn’t just saving herself but her daughter, too. Otherwise, as we see in this episode, Shady would have ordered the daughter to be killed, too, after the mother - as he thinks children of the people he killed should also be eliminated so they couldn’t pose a threat and seek revenge.

That last order even shocked Knight, who may be having some second thoughts about the awesomeness of “Sangedakru’s greatest champion” (but this doesn’t mean he won’t keep obeying him). Penn and the other Trikru guy we know, who are loyal to Indra, reluctantly knelt when Indra asked them to.

Madi, Rex and the other Faithful (including Jeremiah, who has indeed survived) have gone into hiding with Murphy and Emori - and hiding at the abandoned reactor. We didn’t see Jackson, but i’m sure he’s there. (Sachin is a guest star and must skip some episodes he’s not really needed in.) So now we’re finally reached the part of this storyline where Shady is in power and our heroes are the resistance. And Murphy is now, with Emori, a part of a power couple protecting these people and taking care of them (who would’ve expected that back in season 1?) - much like we’ve seen Clarke and Bellamy do over the seasons - even though most of the same people resented them for being fake Primes just a few hours earlier. Maybe they’re finally starting to get a clue and feel respect and gratitude to people who are trying to save them just because it’s a decent humane thing to do, rather than for being self-proclaimed “gods” who participated in their murder, oppression and exploitation.

Bardo

After 4 episodes, Clarke, Raven and Miller finally left the Stone Room! Yay! Jordan and Niylah stayed in it, and as it turns out, Jordan has a much more important and interesting role to play by reading the Anomaly Stone, while Niylah’s role in S7 has been to be exposition machine for Grounder history and have bad one-liners while Miller has the good ones. I’m glad there was no prolonged “OMG are they really brainwashed and on their side?” misunderstanding, as Clarke and the rest of the group, after learning about MCap from Gabriel, quickly realized that Octavia, Echo and Diyoza are only pretending, since they haven’t blown the secret that Clarke doesn’t have the Flame.

Speaking of one-liners, Miller’s “Get the flock out of here” really made me laugh out loud.

Callie is known as the Pramfleimkepa - the First Flamekeeper - which should mean she was never a Commander (I imagine that would supersede the position of the Flamekeeper or at least be as worthy of mention). I was afraid for a moment that Niylah had given the game away when she told Cadogan that - but fortunately, he didn’t understand what it meant, as he never knew that Becca called ALIE 2.0 “the Flame”.

Gabriel and Cadogan have a long conversation over dinner (or breakfast or lunch of whatever) about Earth before the bombs and Cadogan’s beliefs. The two of them are one of the few remaining humans who knew life before the apocalypse. (After Diyoza’s death in this episode, the only other people left from that time are the Eligius prisoners in Sanctum.) But while Cadogan is chronologically ‘older’ than Gabriel, as he was a Millennial, while Gabriel was born a couple of decades later, and because Cadogan has technically been alive for thousands of years on Bardo - Cadogan spent most of that time in cryo (same as Diyoza and the other prisoners). Gabriel is the real Old Man - at least 260 years old, having lived and experienced all those years. We learn a bit more about Gabriel’s background - that his family were from Colombia and his grandmother was poor, making him a “self-made man” - another contrast between him and the love of his life Josephine (which makes their season 6 parallel to Clarke/Bellamy even more perfect). Gabriel is the go-to-guy this season for having conversations about the worship of false gods and trying to challenge the Disciples’ beliefs. Cadogan, again, denies that he’s a cult leader (sure), reveals he doesn’t believe in God, and claims he doesn’t consider himself one (he sure doesn’t mind being treated like one, though). Instead, he claims his purpose is for everyone to “transcend” and become like gods - though he doesn’t really explain what that would consist of, and he also doesn’t offer any explanations as to why there is supposed to be a “Last War” and who the enemy in that was is supposed to be. Seven episodes have gone by with the characters talking to the Disciples, and no one has ever asked that question: who is the enemy? I guess they don’t even know that, they just think that, when they type in the code, they will learn who the enemy is and the war will begin, for... reasons? He also adds some BS about “this life” being unimportant compared to afterlife. (Now, to be clear - I actually do believe in the afterlife in general (though I don’t know in which form), but I really, really hate it when religions make the afterlife the focus and treat the life we actually know and are sure we have as less important, use it as an excuse to teach people to accept any sort of crap in their lives and not ask for more instead of living their lives to the fullest and trying to build something worthwhile in this life.) Gabriel is less than impressed with Cadogan, and challenges him by pointing out that “You can’t fight a war for the soul of the human race with an inhuman army” and that a life without love, individuality or freedom is pretty worthless, but Cadogan has the afterlife as a ready excuse, even though that doesn’t really answer the question.

The most important revelation that we finally get in this episode is that Cadogan has most likely mistranslated and completely misunderstood the ancient Bardoan text that he’s based his entire belief system on. And his mistake was in large part due to confirmation bias - he saw what he wanted to see, even though the idea of ending wars and violence by starting and fighting a war is absurd. (Niylah, for once, has a good line, when she points out that every major war is supposed to be the “last” but it never is.) Jordan’s interpretation - that it is really about a test that the species needs to pass - makes a lot more sense. Not a literal test - I really can’t imagine the show introducing some kind of godlike “higher beings” - but, I think, something that will require the characters to use all their strength and moral sense and all the experience they’ve had and wisdom they may have gained, to find the best solution to save the human race and rebuild the civilization, hopefully into something better (and it’s really not too hard being better than the mess of tribalism and constant wars and conflicts we’ve seen on the show). I don’t know what this will be, but the words “the orb becomes like a star” make me thing of a natural phenomenon.

It’s also cool that it was knowledge of the Korean language that helped Jordan decipher the text - proving how helpful it is to be familiar with multiple languages and cultures and how much it expands one’s way of thinking. Do Disciples speak any languages other than English? They seem to foster cultural uniformity, so probably not. (it’s also confirmed now that Monty was half-Korean on his father’s side - Chris Larkin is Korean, but the actress who played his mother, Donna Yamamoto, is Japanese, so I assume Monty is half-Japanese.)

If you doubted that 7x09 flashbacks were a waste of screentime, we get a confirmation early on that Echo has just been pretending to be loyal to the Disciples, while plotting revenge all the time, when she kills a Disciple and saves Hope from being sent to Skyring. This plot could have continued straight from 7x07, when Echo’s Azgeda ritual was strongly hinting that she’s out for revenge. (And yes, the writing in 7x09 was just that clunky as I feared - of course that Chekhov’s WMD that Levitt mentioned for no reason would be used in the very next episode for someone to try to kill all the Disciples in another Mount Weather parallel.)

A tiny bit of info about the Disciples - a Disciple addressed Hope as “Seeker Diyoza”. I don’t know if that’s a title for those trying to reach Level 1 or something else.

Hope, with her usual anger and impulsiveness, reminiscent of how Octavia used to be once, and her naive black and white views, is all for revenge-genocide, too, in spite of Octavia’s and Diyoza’s disagreement. Her mother tries to, again, teach her the lesson she tried to in 7x07, that she should turn to love instead of violence and killing (which carries a lot more weight when it comes from someone like Charmaine Diyoza rather than a hippy): “I know what it's like to kill innocent people for a cause, and I promise you, it's not gonna fill that hole in your heart. Only we can do that.” But Hope retorts that “There are no innocent people here”, echoing Nikki’s words to Nelson that “There are no innocent people at the end of the world”. It’s not that Hope doesn’t have a point that everyone in Bardo is a part of the society that’s been kidnapping and torturing her family and that stole her childhood, but collective responsibility is a concept that only works in terms of moral responsibility, not as an excuse to commit genocide because you’ve decided that everyone in the other group is evil and the “enemy” and deserves death. Some people have compared it to Maya saying “None of us is innocent”, but I don’t think this comparison works, because that line changes the meaning entirely depending on whether you are holding yourself and your society morally accountable for its failings and complicity in crimes against humanity, or if you’re using it against others, in order to justify hate and commit crimes against humanity.

Even though neither Clarke nor Octavia had huge screentime in this episode and may not have done anything big (like Diyoza sacrificing herself and saving everyone, or Jordan figuring everything out), they had some wonderful, subtle little moments that spoke volumes:

I loved the hug between Clarke and Octavia - where Clarke said her condolences to Octavia and then Octavia said them back, letting Clarke know she knew what Bellamy meant to her and that she is grieving just as much. (”I’m sorry, Octavia” - “So am I”)

Raven and Miller exchanged a wordless look - probably because of how awkward it was for Miller to see Octavia again. Although these 4 people all go back to season 1 (and it was the first time in a while they were in the same room), for Miller it’s been just a few weeks since she was Blodreina and he was her follower, and the last time they saw each other (in season 6), he yelled at her that he’s not following her orders anymore - which was about him struggling with his guilt and seeing her as an embodiment of it. But for Octavia, it’s been over 10 years and a huge character development, which Miller doesn’t know about. But they had no time to go over it - instead, she just hugged him and asked him to hug her back, and he did.

When the group went to find Levitt - still tied up and bloody after Echo had tortured him and killed two Disciples in front of him to force him to tell her about Gem9, the WMD that can destroy everyone on Bardo (he must be really traumatized one - Clarke obviously immediately realized what was going on when she saw Octavia come to check on Levitt, going by the look on her face, and her look when she turned to go and the others went after her, while Octavia was still there -as if saying "I realize you need a moment with this guy, but don't wait too long". Although Levitt looked disappointed and shocked that Octavia didn’t untie him, she was really doing what was the most reasonable way to try to protect everyone - the priority was to stop Echo from killing all the Disciples, which would include Levitt, but also to stop Levitt from alerting Anders, which he would’ve done, because Octavia also wanted to save Echo and her people. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t care for Levitt, but she’s not the 17 year old girl who’d go: “I just met you but you’re immediately the most important person to me and I’m going to prioritize you over everyone I know”.

And then we get to the final and most dramatic scene of the episode... Echo’s attempt to commit genocide out of revenge, while Octavia, Clarke and Raven tried to talk her down.

Octavia tried to reach Echo by, again, talking about their shared grief over Bellamy, as she did in 7x07, but again, it did not work - because Octavia and Echo, and Clarke and Echo, are different people, who grieve in different ways and think and act in different ways. It doesn’t mean that any of them are grieving more or less than another one - but their responses are very different. Octavia - this mature Octavia who is more able to empathize with others and doesn’t react with impulsive violence as she used to - responded by trying to reach out to others who were also grieving for Bellamy, Echo and Clarke, and validating their grief, too. Clarke reacted - after the initial shock and grief - by sucking it up, as she does, in order to take care of the others, and focusing on saving the people Bellamy loved, telling Raven “We do this for him” and focusing on saving Octavia and Echo. Echo, on the other hand, reacted destructively and violently and by killing people for revenge and then plotting genocide as revenge for 3 months. This is the only way she knows how to process grief - she’s never known a different way, as I’m sure Azgeda weren’t known for compassion and sharing feelings. When Bellamy was grieving Clarke in season 6, she asked him “When do we attack?”, because that’s what she expected him to do, too. She’s also lost because she hasn’t lost just a boyfriend, but a leader and anchor in her new post-Praimfaya life, and because she had made saving Bellamy her mission she was waiting to fulfill during the 5 years on Skyring. If she had carried out her plan, I’m not sure she’d know what to do with herself. (I don’t know what it says about the mindset of us, humans of 2020, that so many fans have decided that Echo’s way of grieving is the superior one and the one that shows that she loves Bellamy the best. It certainly doesn’t show anything good.)

Octavia’s next argument - that there are many good people on Bardo she’d be killing - was even less successful, as Echo threw her relationship with Levitt back in her face, pointing out that he stole her memories, talking of him as one of their enemies, and then even saying: "Way to honor your brother's memory!" Echo came off as very judgmental here, and more than bit hypocritical - after all , she personally almost killed Octavia twice, and Bellamy started trusting her and dating her on the Ring, after she had given them both far less reason to trust her than Levitt did. Levitt actually took a risk and was helping her against Anders just out of his feelings for Octavia, while Echo only helped Bellamy and others after she was exiled and had to in order to survive. She seems to value forgiveness only when it’s others forgiving her (”Who knows more about forgiveness than us?”), even though she never expected them to and was a bit shocked that they did.

Clarke then tried to use her standard “This is not who you are” plea, but it didn’t work with Echo, since Clarke doesn’t really know Echo, and the words felt empty. There really is very little reason for Clarke to think this is not who Echo is, except for her tendency to assume Echo must have changed for the better because she’s Bellamy’s girlfriend and Bellamy loves her (see their conversation in 5x12). Clarke also tried to use her own experience - as she did with Raven earlier in the season - telling Echo that “a choice like this” would haunt her forever (of course Clarke would bring up MW, it always goes back to MW for her), but Echo rejected that comparison and, for a moment, channeled me by pointing out that Clarke’s motivations were to save her people, while Echo’s are purely revenge. Which was, however, a strange argument in context - pointing out that Clarke’s reasons were much better and she had no choice but to kill all of the Mountain Men or let them kill all of her friends and family, while Echo wasn’t achieving anything good and could just save all her people and not take revenge on the Disciples. But Echo seemed to be telling Clarke that they different, and she cannot assume that Echo will feel the same way about mass murder Clarke does.

Then Clarke finally brought up Bellamy, pointing out that he would not want a genocide to be committed in his memory. I don’t know how anyone who’s watched the show for 6 seasons could disagree with Clarke. But Echo did. What’s more, she yelled "You have no idea what Bellamy wanted!" in a really angry, resentful way. It felt personal. I don’t know if Echo has felt romantic jealousy of Clarke over Bellamy - she has sure kept it close to her chest - but it certainly felt like some kind of possessiveness, like resenting the idea that Clarke was as close or closer to Bellamy and knew him better. In any case, this was a moment of extreme dramatic irony - because we know (and really, Echo should know as well) that Echo is the one who doesn’t seem to know, or is simply ignoring, what Bellamy would have wanted and who he was. And she should know. She was there when he talked down Riley from killing Roan, telling him “War made me a murderer, don’t let it do it to you too”, she was there when Bellamy refused to kill 283 prisoners in cryo sleep and said “Clarke didn’t die for us to go back and make the same mistakes”. And she was there when Bellamy was grieving Clarke but decided not to take revenge for her death - not even by killing the man who murdered her, Russell - but to try to honor her memory by doing what she would want and surviving and keeping their people alive. Which directly contradicts Echo’s statement that Bellamy would be doing the same she is if one of them (Clarke, Octavia or her) were killed. Does she really not know him? Most of the time they spent together were in a time of peace and boredom with just 7 people on the Ring. She seems to be projecting her own ideas and views and character into him.

Then Raven went on to agree with Clarke (but Echo did not resent her for saying it), pointing out how Bellamy has grown and changed and that the post-season 3 Bellamy certainly would never do that. I was slightly annoyed when she said that Bellamy of season 3 may do that - but to be fair, she did say, “maybe”. Now, season 1 or season 3 Bellamy was certainly angrier and more prone to black and white thinking when it came to enemies, and he may very well have agreed to kill all of the adult Disciples if he thought they were likely to be a threat to his people (which is what he did when he agreed to help Pike kill Lexa’s army), but he sure wouldn’t agree to kill any of them just for revenge, or to kill children and non-combatants (the one time he did it was MW, when he and Clarke knew there was no other way to protect their people from being horrifically killed, and he hated it and was haunted by it then). Nevertheless, that’s a minor thing as the point of Raven’s speech was the way Bellamy has grown and developed. Echo hasn’t really changed, certainly not as much as Bellamy wanted to think in S5. Is there still time for her to change?

In the end, love did save the day - but it wasn’t Echo’s love for Bellamy, it was her non-romantic love for Raven and Raven’s for her. Raven calling her a sister only helped pave the way - but she had to actually threaten to stay there and force Echo to choose between killing Raven and giving up her revenge, for Echo to finally stand down. The fact she did shows that maybe there’s still hope for her to change and give up revenge and violence for things like friendship.

But then Anders had to appear and ruin everything, He could have just tried to arrest the group, rather than threatening them and giving them speeches about how he despises them for being “beasts raised in the wild”. (I’ve wondered many times since 7x05 is Anders is supposed to be smart or a complete dumbass. He was definitely a dumbass.)

Diyoza took charge, as the most experienced and tactical one, and almost. And then Hope was again being her impulsive, angry, out of control self - Anders is always the person most likely to set her off - killing Anders (which I wouldn’t mind) but then also making her own attempt to commit genocide. (It’s funny that the four Disciples just froze and did nothing while all of that was happening.)

What happened then was both a heroic sacrifice and one of the best and most heroic death scenes on the show, a fitting ending for Charmaine Diyoza (even a visually beautiful death in a creepy way, as Diyoza turned into a crystal statue), with her final message to her daughter to be “better” than her in the future - and a heartbreaking loss for Hope, who has just been punished by the narrative/fate for her devotion to violence and hate and attempt at genocide, by causing her own mother’s death. She was obsessed with revenge for her lost childhood and the fact her mother was taken from her - instead of focusing on the future and what she still had. I’m sure that Hope will survive to the end of the series, and will have to question herself and change. She still has Aunty O to help her and be her family.

As we’re approaching the endgame, the show here made an obvious point about violence, hatred and revenge and having to give up those things - not for Anders’ unemotional duty to the collective, but for love and compassion/

Rating: 8.5/10

#the 100 #the 100 7x10 #a little sacrifice #the 100 season 7 #charmaine diyoza #clarke griffin #octavia blake #gabriel santiago #jordan green #indra kom trikru #indra #john murphy #madi griffin #sheidheda #emori #bill cadogan #hope diyoza

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letswritebangtan · 4 years

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Brave Tender Heart 02 | What it Means to be Human...

pairing: princess!reader x knight!jungkook

A warm evening held out its hands for y/n to take. She had been planning on this visit for weeks and there was nothing that could stop her from going. At the orphanage, y/n felt most like herself. People often tended to forget that the term ‘Princess’ was merely a title. y/n was still a girl and she found joy in being one. The little smiles and loud cries of joy that she witnessed at the home made her heart swell. In the past, she never could fathom how children who had almost nothing rejoice every single day. She had so much admiration for them and felt that she could learn a thing or two on how to be happy from them. With the children, she never felt alone. Children did not discriminate, and they were more than happy to accept y/n as part of their social group.

“Princess, please could you tell us a fairy tale?” asked Jeongsan.

Jeongsan was seven and he had a wild imagination. He loved listening to stories as much as he loved telling them, and y/n was in awe at how his little brain could come up with such fantastic stories.

“Fairy tales are boring, ~san! Princess, tell us again about the time you fought in battle!” Jisoo exclaimed.

y/n laughed, “Now, now, let’s decide on a story we all like. That sounds fair, does it not?”

The children nodded in agreement, and y/n cleared her throat preparing to tell them a story she knew they all loved.

“Father, look! I painted all of us, there’s you and ma on the big chairs. I’m over here holding Tae because he can’t walk yet.” y/n talked in her father’s lap.

“This is beautiful, y/n. Go and show it to your mother, I’m sure she would be delighted to see it.” the king smiled fondly at his daughter.

With no hesitation, y/n jumped out of her father’s lap and her little feet moved so fast as she ran to the garden where her mother sat, having her evening herbal tea. Just the scent of it was so nostalgic.

“Ma, I painted a picture.” y/n said as she skipped towards her.

“y/n, no stepping on the grass. I have reminded you endlessly to use the stone path, dear.” said the queen.

y/n ignored her words and held the painting up to her mother for examination. The queen smiled, finding her daughter’s creative imagination adorable. y/n was talented in arts ever since she was little. Her mother made it a point to frame and hang up all of her paintings.

“Well you have certainly captured your brother’s chubby cheeks.” she said smiling.

y/n giggled and placed her hand on her mother’s big, and perfectly round belly.

“I drew the new baby too.” said y/n, as she used her tiny finger to point out a small human next to her.

The queen laughed in awe, “And you have done an amazing job at that too, considering you have not seen him or her yet.”

y/n grinned and left the picture with her mother. She skipped to the pond and sat at its edge, dipping her hands into the water. Underneath, there were silhouettes of fish and frogs. Small insects roamed the top, and y/n having the curious little mind she has she dipped her hands further and further into the water until her entire body fell in with a loud splash. Her feet could not feel the ground, and her head was beneath the surface. Struggling to push herself up she inhaled a big gulp of pond water and it filled her lungs till she could not breathe. The sounds above her were muffled but she could hear the loud, worried cries of her mother and soon a blur chatter of many voices lurking above her. It was not much time before her eyes began to close and her body went rigid.

Everything else was a blur, when she woke she was sputtering large amounts of water from her mouth and she was gasping for air. They sat her up and her head felt extremely light. She felt herself being lifted and as her head hung over the arm of her helper she noticed the figure of a young boy with doe eyes and black hair. He stood alarmed and worried at the sight of the princess almost losing her life in the sacred garden. Slowly, he lifted his hand and signaled her a small thumbs up and y/n remembered his smile. The same smile she had seen not a while ago from the present, the smile that told her that she was going to be okay.

“I really thought you were going to die, princess!” one of them said.

“I knew princess y/n would survive, she’s so strong!”

y/n laughed and made them quiet down. “The moral of this story, my dear children, is that you should never be afraid to be inquisitive. Explore, search, delve and find whatever you want only because you can find it. There is so much for you to learn, and you will not be able to do it if you just sit here. Test the waters, ignite fires, go against the wind or even dig yourselves to the bottom of this Earth, and do not be afraid.” y/n whispered the last part.

The children grinned at her feeling passionate about this new adventure princess y/n had drawn up for them. It was time to call it a day and y/n bid goodbye to her friends and walked along the path to the palace. As she walked her mind drifted to that day she nearly lost her life. Had it been any different, she wondered if she would have survived. The queen was terribly paranoid that y/n would try something again and called upon the family’s most trusted servant, Sir Kim, and made him teach y/n how to swim. Surprisingly, after that terrible incident in the water y/n was not afraid to enter a large water body such as the ocean. She jumped in headfirst and her mother nearly fainted at the sight but y/n learned quickly enough that her mother never had to worry about any more drowning incidences in the future.

“Princess!” she heard from behind her.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to her side, and there emerged Sir Jeon sat on top of his horse.

She smiled brightly at him, “Sir Jeon, delighted to see you.”

“The pleasure’s mine, princess.” he grunted as he hopped off of his trusty steed.

He performed just as he did the last time, lifting her hand and placing a soft kiss on the back of it.

“Do you charm every woman you meet just like this, Sir Jeon?” y/n teased.

Sir Jeon smiled sheepishly and laughed feeling embarrassed. “Are you saying that you feel charmed as well, my princess?”

“Never answer a query with a query, defeats its purpose.” y/n said being didactic.

Sir Jeon pursed his lips and nodded in agreement, “Very well said.”

“What business did you have here?” y/n asked.

“I was merely delivering a message that the prince wanted to get to a family at town. They are in terrible need of financial support and the prince is determined to remove that burden.”

“Good to know that my brother is being helpful.”

“The prince is very kind to offer his support, he needn’t have to yet he makes it a point.” Sir Jeon said impressed.

“Well, our father always told us that humans corrupt balance at most times. Just because we were born into the throne does not mean we are deserving of it. He made us understand what it is like for the less fortunate, and whatever that we can provide, we do.” y/n said as she reminisced of that moment with her father.

“The king was a good man.” Sir Jeon agreed.

There was an inkling of sadness in y/n’s eyes, and Sir Jeon noticed it.

“What happened was certainly not your fault.” he confirmed, looking her in the eye.

She nodded, “Some people think otherwise.”

Sir Jeon did not know what to say next, and y/n sensed his awkward nature.

“I should be heading back, thank you for stopping to see me.” she said.

“Actually, princess, I was hoping to give you a ride back to the palace.” Sir Jeon said motioning to his horse.

“Oh, how very kind of you but I enjoy my walks back home. They give me peace of mind.”

“It would be no trouble at all to transport you back, princess. Are you certain?” he said concerned.

“Very much certain, Sir Jeon. You need not worry about me.” she said with a small laugh. She found it endearing how he always seemed to be concerned with her.

“Well, would you prefer an escort on your walk?” he suggested.

y/n thought for a moment, “No, I would not. However, I would love a companion.”

She held her arm out hoping that Sir Jeon would link it to hers, and when he caught her drift, he slowly interlocked one arm with y/n’s and his other hand guided his horse. Sir Jeon looked carefree, easy and happy to be there. y/n could not think of the last time she had been accompanied on her walk back to the palace.

“May I ask where you have been spending your time today, princess? You had seemed excited to leave this morning.”

You smiled as you thought back to your young friends. “I had made a trip to the orphanage. I make it a point to visit every week, however I failed to visit them last month due to certain responsibilities. It has been a while since I saw them, hence my excitement.”

Sir Jeon observed as y/n’s face lit up like a star as she talked about the children. She talked about their stories and their role-playing activities. There was an incident where her foot had landed painfully on a small, sharp rock. As she groaned in pain, the children failed to hold back their laughter, and soon y/n found herself laughing with them.

“When I am with them, it is as if all my troubles fade and I finally feel like myself.” y/n sighed.

“I understand what you mean. I have not felt like myself in what seems like ages.” Sir Jeon wondered. “It is very kind, and thoughtful of you to spend your time with them, princess. I can tell from your stories that they very much enjoy your company.”

“I can most definitely say the same for them.”

Sir Jeon admired y/n’s personality, as soon as he found out that she had one. She pursued art and was amazingly comfortable with children. There was more he wanted to know about the princess, his conscience was telling him that her traits did not end there.

“You mentioned that you do not feel like yourself, Sir Jeon? What is it that prevents you?” y/n asks.

Sir Jeon felt like he had so much to say, his entire heart to pour out to her. Yet when he tried to explain it, the words that he had rehearsed in his head to himself over years and years, suddenly found itself twisted and stuck.

“Well...it is rather difficult to explain.” Sir Jeon said confusedly.

y/n nodded, “It is not something you can quite put your finger on, isn’t it? It took me a while to figure mine out as well. My problem, Sir Jeon, is that all my life people have seen me as a princess. A girl with royal blood, a girl with power, a girl who confident and strong no matter what. Despite all that, they failed to see me as just, a girl. That is what I am, Sir Jeon, a girl, and so I try to live my life as just a girl from time to time because no matter what, I cannot throw away my title as princess. Hence, I spend my time at the orphanage with my little friends, I ride my horse on windy evenings, I pour the emotions of a girl into my art, I stare at the pond in my garden hoping to see life underneath the water, I read books because of my inquisitive nature, and I try to do what a girl would do. These things make me feel human. Most of the time, I find myself doing activities alone so that there is no space for an individual to say ‘Good morning, princess.’, ‘May I help you, princess?’, ‘Whatever you need, princess.’, none of that. The space is for me, myself, for y/n to be before anything else, an ordinary girl.”

Sir Jeon listened attentively and not only understood the words that came out of y/n’s mouth, but he understood her feelings. At such a young age, he was picked out to serve. He had scarce memories of his childhood, and what it was like to be a boy. He loved catching beetles in the garden, he enjoyed the feeling of carbon on his fingers as he sketched on paper, he relished in the warm and hearty feeling of a good lunch prepared by his mother, he missed dancing to music, singing his mother’s favourite songs, he missed laying his head in her lap and hearing her voice send him to sleep. He missed his father who told him he could achieve anything, he missed the nights he had playful sword fights with his friends and when he could dip his feet into the water and just relax. He missed being a boy.

“I must admit it is in my nature to be loyal and to guard you, princess. However, to me, you are heaps and bounds more than just a princess. I see a girl, taking her time to blossom into a beautiful woman. I see a girl with refined taste, with hobbies and interests, a girl with an enormous, brave, tender heart. No one can take that part of you away from yourself, my princess, and you must not let them. The part that makes you human is the most precious part of us all.”

Their conversation was long enough to sustain on the entire walk home. Sir Jeon felt comfort and familiarity in y/n’s feelings, and y/n felt that there was no one in this world that understood her better than Sir Jeon. As soon as y/n stepped into the palace, her handmaids were plucking her bags and items off of her and as she made eye contact with Sir Jeon, he sent her a knowing look and the two of them smiled at each other widely. They ascended the staircase together, continuing to talk about each others’ lives and their experiences.

“It is extremely questionable that we have not had many conversations before.” y/n said to him.

“I was told to stay out of your way, princess, even in the short time that I remain here. That does not mean I have not paid attention to you.”

y/n felt something warm rise up to her cheeks and she pressed the back of her hand against her skin. She realised that she was flushed in pink. Sir Jeon happened to take notice and a small, proud smirk forced its way onto his face.

“I have taken notice to you as well, mostly as a boy. I hear you were and currently are very talented in your field.” y/n said quickly trying to change the subject.

“I did the best I could for this family, and I always will.”

“And we have have always appreciated that.” y/n looked at him with a sense of gratefulness.

Sir Jeon stood staring at y/n for a few moments before she saw his eyes sparkle with admiration.

“You have gorgeous eyes princess, I remember it to be exactly like your mother’s.” Sir Jeon said softly.

y/n felt her heart melting, she looked at Sir Jeon as if she needed help because she knew not what to respond to him. She was touched, and utterly smitten. A gush of wind suddenly entered the palace blowing onto y/n’s soft face and she squinted, blinking multiple times when she realised there was something that had entered her eye. Sir Jeon looked worried and stood there not sure of how to help. A knight’s training does not prepare them for situations as such.

“Princess, may I help?” Sir Jeon asked.

“N-no need, do not fret about it.” y/n hesitated as she stood trying to rub that darned particle out of her eye.

Soon she felt her hands being removed from her face with a firm, yet gentle tug. She struggled to see with one eye, and she saw Sir Jeon in close proximity to her.

“Just try opening your eye, and when you do I am going to blow.”

“Blow?” y/n sounded confused. “Sir Jeon, really I-”

“Please listen, princess. Just do as I say.”

“I have it under control-”

“Open your eye, princess.” Sir Jeon said with a more demanding tone.

y/n faltered, and did as she was told. In a second, Sir Jeon blew quickly into her eye and the particle was carried away by his breath. y/n blinked a few times feeling a lot more comfortable. There was a tear sliding down her cheek and Sir Jeon quickly caught it with his thumb.

“You’re okay.” he mumbled as he smiled at her.

y/n looked at him for a while trying to process the events that had just occurred. In the next moment, they were giggling at each other like idiots, still maintaining the close proximity.

“Now that was something I had never experienced.” y/n said surprised.

“My mother would do it for me when I had something in my eye. It always worked.” Sir Jeon said smiling.

“Thank you, for saving my eye.” y/n laughed and Sir Jeon laughed with her.

“It was not much time, princess, but I absolutely enjoyed spending it with you.” Sir Jeon said as he took hold of her hand for the second time that day, and left a second kiss.

y/n bit her lip to control the colour on her cheeks and looked away.

“We could do this more often if you wanted to, Sir Jeon.” y/n said shamelessly.

He raised an eyebrow, amused with her proposal. y/n rolled her eyes and stomped her right foot on the ground.

“Stop making it seem like I am the only one who wants this, Sir Jeon.” y/n complained.

Sir Jeon’s eyebrows raised even higher at that and it elicited a grin from him.

“No need to get upset, princess. You know very well I would love to spend more time with you, therefore, will you join me on my morning walk at dawn tomorrow?” he said with a hopeful tone.

y/n pulled a rehearsed, contemplative expression on her face for longer than Sir Jeon desired. He felt her teasing behaviour and proceeded to mimic her actions. He stomped his right foot on the ground and crossed his arms.

“Stop making it seem like I am the only one who-alright, princess! I shall stop.” Sir Jeon laughed out loud as you playfully hit his arm. Briefly, you felt how sturdy and firm his muscles were, must have been a result from all the knight training.

“Say you’d love to join me.” Sir Jeon insisted as he took her hands in hers.

“You are definitely quite bold to be taking on such a tone with the princess.” y/n said teasingly, although she did quite like it when he was firm with her.

“I am known to be the bravest knight in town.” he playfully bragged and y/n could not hold herself back from laughing at his endearing and fun behaviour.

“What is this obstruction?” another voice questioned.

y/n and Sir Jeon tilted their heads upward seeing the prince on the top of the stairs.

“Brother.” y/n greeted.

“Your majesty.” Sir Jeon bowed.

“Have your conversation above or below, not in between. The stairs are not built as platforms for conversation.” Taehyung complained.

“My apologies, your majesty. I will be leaving soon.” Sir Jeon responded.

“Do not worry, Sir Jeon, there is no need to apologise. My brother has just woken from his short slumber and is unsurprisingly moody.” y/n spoke.

Taehyung sent her a small glare of disapproval and started ascending from the stairs.

“Sir Jeon, there is work to be done. Follow me into the main room, will you?”

“Right away, prince. My dear princess, I shall take my leave.” Sir Jeon bowed and y/n tried hard to repress her smile but it shone right through, making Sir Jeon smile back as well.

y/n mouthed a small ‘yes’ and Sir Jeon beamed at her before taking her hand for the third time that day, planting a soft kiss, and then returning to his duties. y/n was giddy and smiling to herself as she walked to her dressing room. She had known Sir Jeon for years but just within a week of speaking to one another, she realised she had grown to like him. Was he generally this polite, fun, and easy to talk to? In that case, he must have a long line of women knocking on his door. y/n did not care about them though, what mattered was that after many years, she was not alone. At the entrance of her dressing room she ran into Sir Park, he bowed in her presence and she put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Please, Sir Park, you know I would always prefer to skip the formalities.”

Sir Park nodded in understanding and sighed, “I know you very well indeed, princess. I also know that you have recently acquainted with Sir Jeon?”

y/n was slightly surprised, “Ah yes, he is wonderful. It is nice to have him back, I’m sure.”

“Indeed, princess, he is liked by many here. He deserves good rest back at the palace, he serves us an awful lot out there, even if it kills him. I feel sympathy for what happened to him.” Sir Park said sadly.

“Sympathy? My god, did something terrible happen to him?”

Sir Park looked at y/n with surprise, “did Sir Kim not inform you? There was a fire in the village and Sir Jeon’s family home was subject to it. Their home burned to ashes and his family lost all their possessions, including his father’s memorabilia. It is deeply saddening. The prince has offered to help since Sir Jeon has been loyal and brave for our kingdom.”

y/n frowned upon hearing the news, and then it had occurred to her that Sir Jeon had visited town today, and he had mentioned the prince giving him some money to lessen some burden...

y/n gasped and looked at Sir Park, “But he seemed so fine-”

“A knight is supposed to be brave and strong, y/n. They should not show any sign of weakness.” Sir Park reminded her.

“But he has a tender heart, Sir Park. He does not deserve this.” y/n said sadly.

“There is only so much we can do, princess.”

“Do you think we can restore his father’s medals? I can talk to the prince.”

“That is a thoughtful idea, princess, but it won’t contain its sentimental value.”

y/n was thinking, she was determined to make Sir Jeon feel better. She knew not where this feeling came from and it was foreign to her, but it felt right.

“We could make a plaque, something to commemorate his father’s service over the years, don’t you think that holds sentimental value?” y/n suggested.

“I am sure he will be delighted. If you convince the prince, he can get it done by tomorrow.”

“Will you stand by me, Sir Park?” y/n asked hopefully.

“Always, dear princess.”

y/n knocked on the door of the main room with Sir Park next to her. Taehyung was sitting at the table, and Sir Jeon must have left since he was nowhere to be seen. Taehyung turned around and spotted his sister with her sidekick. He sighed and returned to his original position.

“Can I help you two?”

“Your majesty, the princess would like to have a word.” Sir Park bowed.

“Brother,” y/n started out slowly as she sat on the chair opposite him. “I have been informed about a recent fire in the village.”

The prince nodded, “Sir Jeon and his family have been affected. Not to worry, I have provided him with the funds to rebuild his home.”

“Yes, that is wonderful, Taehyung, however, the more pressing issue is that Sir Jeon lost his father’s medals and awards in the fire. Those were of sentimental value to him, Sir Park has confirmed it to be so. I would like to request a special plaque to be made in honour of the previous Sir Jeon and his contributions to the kingdom. I need your help to do that.”

Taehyung sighed, “y/n your idea is thoughtful however it is not really necessary.”

“If we only did things that were necessary the world would not be half as good as it is now, brother. I plead to you, I would like to get this done for their family to show my gratitude for their loyal service. It would not take much effort on our part, would it?” y/n persuaded.

The prince looked at her and then at Sir Park. He contemplated the idea for a while and then huffed.

“I can request for one, it can be done by tomorrow. But know this y/n,” Taehyung said seriously.

“I am doing this for Sir Jeon and his entire bloodline of men who have sacrificed their lives to serve us. Not at all for you.” he finished.

y/n nodded and looked down, feeling the familiar ache in her chest she stood up quickly and regained her composure. “That is more than enough, brother. Thank you.” and with that she retreated to her bedroom hoping for an even better tomorrow.

#bts x you #jungkook fics #bts fanfiction #jungkook fanfiction #bts au #bts x reader #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #jungkook angst #romance #kim taehyung #knight!jungkook #princess!reader #short story #bts imagines #jungkook imagines #jungkook fluff

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littlebitoffanfic · 4 years

Text

Be Safe

Fandom: The Hobbit Characters: Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Bilbo Relationship: Bifur/reader Request: Hiya! I love your writings. By any chance could you write some Bifur (the hobbit) x reader? Honestly I think he doesn’t get enough love. My idea is maybe Bifur has a crush on the reader, who’s in the company, possibly because she listens attentively to him, even though she doesn’t understand kuzdul. (Is that how you spell it?) all the dwarves in the company notice especially Bofur. And can bofur be like a bff of the reader? Thank AN: with this author, everyone lives.

The company had stopped for the night, settling in a large cave on the front of a mountain. It had been a long day, with a rain that soaked you all right through. but the evening was filled with a warm fire and pleasant conversation. Most of your time was spent with Bifur, Bofur and Bombur. Ever since they rolled into the front door and Bilbo’s, you had been close with them. They didn’t intimidate you like the others did. Well, Bifur had at the start, but Bofur had quickly shown you there was nothing to fear even if the dwarf did have an axe lodged in his head. Bofur had taken you under his wing. Your brother, Bilbo, was useless when it came to anything outdoors, so Bofur had acted like a mentor for you both. Which worked out well considering Bilbos fondness for Bofur and his friendship with Bombur – shared over a love for food. Bifur scared Bilbo slightly, but he couldn’t deny that he felt a little safer knowing that Bifur would protect you if needed. He proved it countless times already on the journey. Bombur and Bilbo was cooking dinner for the company, but they spoke of other meals beside the meat in the pot. Bofur was sitting with Nori, smoking a pipe that had not long dried out. Which left you with Bifur. you sat in a comfortable silence as you mended a shirt of his that had been torn. “Hows this?” You ask, holding up your handiwork for him to inspect. He mumbled words in Khuzdul, nodding and smiling as he took the item from your hand, apparently happy with it. Bofur appeared, dumping himself inelegantly at your feet. “When are you going to fix my gloves. I have more holes than fingers.” He held up his hands with the gloves on, wiggling his fingers at you. “You don’t ask nicely.” You shoot back with a raise eyebrow. “Neither does Bifur!” Bofur acted shocked and hurt by your comment. “And how would you understand him even if he had?” “Well, he seems like he asked nicely.” You reason, smiling a Bifur who shot one back, mumbling something under his breathe. “Hey! We’re family.” Bofur points a finger at him, his face pulled into one of mock shock. Apparently, whatever Bifur said, it was an insult. You giggled, pulling the gloves off Bofurs hands before setting to work. Bofur chatted to Bifur, the conversation seeming to flow despite it being in two languages. You watched them speak, wishing that you could fully join in. You wished you could understand what he was saying. He was very animated when he spoke, and you loved it. His eyes danced as he recanted tales in his native tongue, but you just couldn’t understand. You tried a few times to speak Khuzdul, and butchered it every time, much to the amusement of most of the company. In fairness, they tried to help, and you had started to pick up a little here and there. But Bifur spoke as quick as lightning, and your brain just couldn’t keep up with translating him. In truth, you could spent the whole night listening to him speak, even though you didn’t have the foggiest clue what he was saying. When Bilbo asked why you would sit by Bifur every night, you lied and said ti was because you were fascinated with the language. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. You were fascinated with the dwarf who spoke it.

---------------time skip --------------

Sitting beside Bifur, you felt the dread building in your stomach. This time tomorrow, you might still be fighting. This time tomorrow, you might be dead. There was no joyous meal tonight. There hadn’t been since you got to the mountain. You were all set to work, trying to find this stone. And Thorin never let any of you spend more than a passing moment with any of them. Bofur and Bombur tried their bests. Bombur snuck you extra food, in an attempt to show he was still there for you. And Bofur would smile at you no matter what. Bifur was never far away from you. He was always just around a corner or in the next room from you. You didn’t know that when Bilbo had escaped, he had asked Bifur to keep you safe no matter what. But how safe could Bifur keep you on the battle field? Sitting on a bench in one of the many corridors, you tried to concentrate on mending the small hole in your sleeve. But your hands were shaking too bad. Cursing, you were about to throw down the needed when someone took your hand. Looking up, you saw Bifur. Immediately, you smiled. Despite the tears in your eyes, or your shaking hands, you smiled at him. Bifur returned the smile, but you could see there was worry in his eyes as he sat next to you. He took your arm to see where the needle was connected too, which was a hole in your forearm. It wasn’t too big. He grumbled something before picking up the needle and, much to your surprise, started to sew the hole closed. “I didn’t think you could sow.” You speak aloud, more out of curiosity. Bifur chuckled, shaking his head before looking up at you. He spoke in Khuzdul, which you didn’t understand. But he gestured to you, then to his eyes then the hole. “You learned from me?” You smile, your cheeks burning as he nodded and continued. He must have spent a lot of time watching you considering what a good job he was doing on the stitching. When he finished, you smiled at his word as you inspected it. “Not bad at all. Im very impressed.” You grinned, stretching out your arm and admiring his work. Noise drew both your attentions to the end of the corridor, and you saw Dwalin walk past. In full armour. even after he past, the weight of what that meant stayed on you both. But, for the briefest of moment, you had forgotten about everything. Bifur had a way of doing that with you. He could distract you, making you smile and laugh even when you didn’t think you could. And if something happened to you tomorrow, you wanted him to know that. You wanted him to know everything. Glancing to Bifur, you knew it was now or never. “I love you.” You whispered it as though it were a secret and your cheeks burned. You didn’t dare look at Bifur as his head snapped to you, instead finding interest in the floor. “I just needed you to know that. In case anything happens tomorrow.” you rose to your feet, ready to leave, when a hand grabbed your wrist and you were stopped. Bifur stood in a hurry, words in Khuzdul falling from his lips like he was spitting fire. You smiled, looking at him sadly. “I cant understand you.” You giggled, despite the pain in your chest. You desperately wanted to think he was confessing and undying love for you, but you were a realist. It was far more likely that he was trying to explain how things could never happened, or how he cared for you in other ways. Bifur fell silent, the frustration in his eyes apparent as he seemed to grind his teeth. then, the frustration faded from his face, as if a realization had dawned on him. You were curious and despite the part of you that wanted to run away, you wanted to know what he was thinking. Like you always did. “Bifur?” You asked, drawing his attention back to you. He suddenly leaned down, pressing his lips to your own. You froze, out of sheer panic and surprise. Never, in a thousand years, would you think he would kiss you. You felt him pause, about to pull back when you realised you had been still as a statue. You allowed yourself to dive into the fantasy you had dreamt about for so long, and kissed him back. His bread made your skin itch a little, but you didn’t care as you reached up, your hands finding his chest. A large hand covered your left one while his other hand touched your hip, slipping around to your lower back and pulling you closer. You mewled into the kiss, enjoying the affection and attention, the war that was on the doorstep long forgotten. A voice called through the large hallways. Thorin. It made you jump and step back, panting slightly. Thorin scared you now because he was unpredictable now. The dwarf you had followed seemed long gone, and the stranger who now lead was a far cry from the original. You had hoped that you were wrong and the others who had known him longer would deny your fears. But they didn’t. Thorin called for Bifur to go to the armoury. He didn’t bother coming to search for the dwarf, instead just calling his orders and expecting the echoes to carry them. Bifur looked to you, his eyes silently asking if you were okay. You smiled, giving a small nod. Reaching out, you took his hand for a moment. “Be safe tomorrow.” You said, not posing it as a question but as a statement. He smiled, giving a small nod before mumbling something in his own words. You suspected it was similar to your own statement. and then the two of you parted, and the dread returned to your stomach.

--------------------- time skip – after battle --------------

Racing through the battle field, you couldn’t hear anything as you searched for the dwarfs you had grown so close to. The moment you spotted the floppy hat, you barrelled across the land, throwing yourself at the unexpecting dwarf before he laughed and hugged you back. “Good to see you’re alive too, lass.” Bofur chuckled as you pulled back, his eyes twinkling with relief, happiness and a bit of mischief. “You too. And the others?” You held your breathe for a moment, but Bofur smiled. “Yeah, they made it too. This way.” Bofur grabbed your forearm and pulled you towards the mountain. You saw Bombur resting on a large boulder, a little bit away from all the commotion at the entrance to Erebon. Bifur was standing not far, looking around anxiously with his back to you. But you’d recognised that mass of black hair anywhere. Bombur was the first to spot you, pushing himself off the boulder and engulfing you in a hug. “Thorins sending for family soon. You’ll meet my wife soon.” Bombur pulled back with a smile, and you could see the excitement in his eyes at reuniting with his dear wife. “I cant wait.” You grinned. Movement behind Bombur caught your eyes as you saw Bifur. You ducked under Bomburs arm, you raced to Bifur, throwing your arms around him before you could get a good look at him to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Before you could apologies, his arms locked around you, not allowing you even think about pulling away. “Come, brothers. Lets see if Bilbo is around.” Bofurs voice wasn’t enough to pull you away from the embrace but you saw him and Bombur leaving towards the entrance. Something seemed a little odd about it, and you thought back to the twinkle of mischief in Bofurs eyes, but didn’t want to ruin the moment. “I was so worried about you.” You spoke just above a whisper, blinking back tears of relief. “You cant get rid of me that easily, lass.” The words that met your ears were strange when paired with the voice you were so use to hearing speak Khuzdul. You pulled back, wide- eyed, earning a chuckle from Bifur. “You- you…” you trailed off, but something looked off. Dropping your arms, you frown as you stare at him, trying to figure out what was different. Bifur waited, a smirk on his lips as he held back laughter at your reaction. Then you noticed the dent in his head. “The axe!” You raised your hands over your mouth to cover your surprise. Bifur nearly keeled over as he laughed at your reaction. Proper laughter. Infectious laugher. You smiled fondly, then giggled, then started to laugh with him. In dirty clothes, covered in blood and dirt, with small cuts and nicks and a hell of a lot of bruising, you laughed wholeheartedly for the first time in what felt like a long time. The world fell still around you as you lived in the moment. As the laugher died, you found your feet closing the distant to hug him again. He pulled you tightly against himself, tighter than before. “I love you too.” He breathed in your ear, speaking with adoration and fondness. As if he had said them a million times to you. “really?” You smiled hopefully as you pulled back. “Aye. I tried to tell you before, and again last night, but-“ He pulled one hand off your waist to gesture to the indent that use to have the axe. You ducked your head slightly, smiling like an idiot as your cheeks burned red. He had tried to confess before now? You thought of all the times he had mumbled something to you, looked to you expectantly but always seemed disappointed. Bifur leaned forward, drawing your attention back to him before kissing you again. Neither of you noticed his cousins cheering from the distance.

#bifur x reader #bifur #the hobbit

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dawnwave16 · 4 years

Text

Gamer Girl pt 2!

part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4

AO3 link

Part 2 and 3 were meant to be one chapter and it wasn’t supposed to get this long but here we are!

Story:

When Marinette walked into the Bakery so soon after having left for school, Sabine knew something was wrong. For one thing, Marinette tried not to miss school if she didn't have to, the last time she had gone to school only to come back home was a particularly bad day when Marinette was nine. For another, Marinette didn't even bother to greet her simply walking past her and up the stairs without a word.

“Marinette?” Sabine called tentatively after her daughter. “Maman, with all due respect I need to calm down right now before I speak to anyone.” Came the terse reply from her daughter's retreating form. “I'm going to see if I can go into full dive and join Kirito and the others for a while. When I'm calm I'll tell you what happened.” Sabine exchanged a look with Nadja, who had just walked in and shrugged. If Marinette asked for time to calm down first, it had to be something bad but both women knew there was nothing they could do until Marinette was ready to talk. * * * * * * * Marinette waited for Tikki to climb out of her bag before she tossed it onto the chaise with her backpack joining it shortly after. She had just taken her jacket off when a voice echoed in her mind. “Lady Morning, I am-” “Yeah, I know who you are Hawkmoth and the answer is no. I am in no mood to deal with you or anyone else except those who truly would understand how I'm feeling right now. If you try to akumatize anyone else since I'm saying no, then I will track you down and I will make you feel all the pain I'm feeling right now.” Marinette growled at the villain. “Just for future reference, Ladybug will be told who you are because I've recognised your voice Gabriel Agreste! So leave me alone or it won't be Ladybug you have to worry about!” Tikki watched from her vantage point as Marinette fought off the Akuma that had flown into her jacket and listened in growing horrified pride as Marinette stood up not to Hawkmoth but to the person she had once looked up to. She hadn't known about the connection between Hawkmoth and Gabriel and under normal circumstances, Marinette wouldn't have been recognised his voice either. It seemed her anger was so potent at that moment that it burned away the magic that normally hid that sort of detail. Tikki watched as the dark purple butterfly escaped from the jacket Marinette was holding and quickly swooped down and purified it. She looked at Marinette's face but seeing the tears making their way down Marinette's cheeks, she decided to simply eat the offered cookie and return to her nest to watch over her chosen. Marinette, now free to feel, let herself cry for a bit before checking with Yui to see if her group was online and quickly joining them. * * * * * * * * * * * * When Marinette had stormed out of the classroom, the class had taken a moment to process what had just happened before turning to Max and Markov for clarification about what Marinette had said. It took him a moment to find the information but when he did his face paled and he ran for the rubbish bin and threw up. “Max?” Mlle Bustier asked softly. Max was quiet as he processed what he had just read further then he turned and faced the class. “We messed up. Big time. When Marinette said that people died from the game, she wasn't lying. That 'game' was called Sword Art Online or SAO to most people. Anyway, on the day it launched 10 000 people logged on only to find they couldn't log out. To people not logged on it looked like the people who were, were simply in a coma. It wasn't until after everyone had logged on that a message was released saying that if the people that had logged on wanted to survive, they had to clear the game. If they died in-game, they died for real because the headset, or NerveGear as it was called, they used would fry their brains.” Max closed his eyes and fought the urge to vomit again, his face was still ashen when he opened his eyes and looked at the class. “If the family members of someone who had logged in tried to remove the NerveGear, it would kill the person in full dive anyway. 3,853. That's how many people died in the game or through people trying to remove the players NerveGear. Over half of that was in the first month!” Max sank to the floor as his legs gave out from shock. “I can't believe Marinette was one of the ones that survived. From the video, we can guess that she was really strong but the other players we saw must have been strong too...” His voice trailed off as he thought about what his classmate must have gone through. Several members of the class nodded in agreement with his words. Suddenly Chloe spoke up. “Wait how long were they stuck in the game?” “I don't see how that's relevant Chloe but to answer your question two years two days one hour and fifty-five minutes. The extra day comes from the fact that 2024 was a leap year.” Max said softly. Chloe closed her eyes as though she was in pain. “Fuck! How did she not lose her temper with me?! I've bullied her for how long now about being clumsy but after that long in a coma, of course, she is going to be clumsy!” The class stared at Chloe in shock and even Mlle Bustier didn't say anything. Alya had her eyes on her phone and her hand was flying over a page she had next to her as she went over all the information she could find about SAO, presumably for a new story for her blog so she missed Chloe's statement completely. “She's stronger than the rest of us that's for sure,” Adrien's voice was soft but seemed to echo around the silent room. “What do you mean Adrian?” Chloe asked for once using his name instead of one of her twisted nicknames for him. “Think about it. Not only did she survive SAO but she is one of the few people who has never been Akumatised. Even with everything Lila and this class has done to her she has avoided Hawkmoth's notice. As we are yet to get an alarm saying there is an Akuma on the loose now, I think it's safe to say that she hasn't been Akumatised today either. Any of us would have been a prime target in Marinette's state but there's nothing so far.” Adrien's voice was still soft as he explained his logic and he was surprised when he saw a number of his classmates' nod in agreement with what he was saying. He was about to say more when there was a knock on the door and a smartly dressed man walked into the room. “Pardon the intrusion so early in the morning, I am Jean-François Thévenet. I'm one of the members of the school board. We were in the principal's office for our annual meeting when we all received a rather interesting email. Due to the nature of the contents of this email, we have decided that a formal investigation has to be launched.” The man paused as he took in the various looks of surprise and disbelief on each of the class members faces. His brown eyes cataloguing everything he was seeing with an impassive expression. “The results of this investigation will be determined by the findings. Now, each of your parents have been call and as such we have obtained permission to interview you all. Some parents have requested that an adult other than ourselves be in the room and we have agreed so long as they don't interfere with the investigation. To be clear, we have a very good record of what has been happening in this class for the past six months, all we want is the clarification of why it has happened and why it wasn't brought to our attention before now. Interviews will be done in a random order, so will Rose Lavillant follow me.” He didn't give anyone a chance to react, turning on his heel and walking out of the room with Rose scrambling to catch up to him. Whispers broke out as soon as the two were out of the classes eyesight as Caline Bustier stood in shock. An investigation? Six months? What was going on? As far as she knew, that morning was the first time anything untoward had happened in her classroom. Eventually, she managed to shake her thought clear and start the much-delayed lesson on the french revolution. * * * * * * * * * * * * When Yui had sent him a message to let him know that Suiren (Waterlily aka Marinette) would be joining him online shortly, Kirito had been confused. She was in Paris which meant that if he had the time conversion correct, she should be in school at that moment. His confusion Vanished the moment he saw her. “Suiren! Are you alright? Silly question, never mind.” Without giving her a chance to reply he pulled her into his arms. “I'm here, let it out,” he murmured to which the only reaction was her burying her face into his avatars chest and bursting into tears. They stayed like that even as the rest of the group arrived thanks to Yui calling them. Kirito slowly ran his hand up and down her back in comfort even as he looked at his friends in confusion. It was at the moment that Suiren murmured something that had Yui nodding. “Sui-chan said I could show you what has her so upset and why she isn't at school. I'm just glad that I copied myself to her phone!” Without further ado, a large screen appeared hovering in mid-air that showed Suiren as he everyday self walking into her class. It showed her teachers actions and Marinette's reactions. It skipped over playing the video of that fateful battle though, for which Suiren was grateful. She didn't think any of the people present needed to see that video. Instead, it skipped to Marinette telling her teacher off and carried on from there giving those present a view of what was carrying on in her class at that moment. Suiren turned to Yui. “How are you doing that?” “I tapped into the camera's you had the school install in every classroom after that Lila girl almost got you expelled.” Yui chirped happily. Suiren was quiet for a moment. “What are you thinking, Suiren?” Kirito asked her quietly. “That I'm honestly sick of Paris. I understand that it is where my parents are but I am the only person

at my school that went through SAO and I'm beginning to feel completely alone. I was never one to enjoy being the centre of attention and I feel like if the people I thought were my friends were truly my friends, they wouldn't have been swayed by Lila.” Suiren's voice was soft as she spoke, almost as though she was trying to work through an idea as she spoke. “I think I'm going to talk to my parents about the possibility of me moving to Japan and joining the school they set up for SAO survivors in order to make sure I'm at the right level educationally. I can always attend the Tokyo branch of ESMOD and most of the people I design for live in Japan anyway. Those that don't live in Japan, travel to it now and then for work much as they do to Paris so it's not like that's an issue.” “Want me to talk to Kikuoka to see if he can pull some strings? He owes me a couple of favours anyway...” Kirito offered, and after a pause, Suiren nodded. “I think that might be best. This is the last week of the current school term so I'll stay in Paris for another month and get everything sorted out that needs to be sorted out. I'll also need to talk to my parents. Yui if you could send what you've found to my home computer that would be a great help in convincing them to let me go!” With that plan settled the group moved to an area where they could do some mat collection for both Liz and Suiren as they had been talking about upgrading their gear for them. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The investigation that was going on at Collège Françoise Dupont had been slightly brutal in Marinette's opinion, even if it had had to be that way in order to get the full truth to be revealed. M. Damocles had tried to protest against the investigation and the board had eventually had to threaten to suspend him before he had reluctantly stepped aside and let them have access to everything that they needed. The interviews with her class as well as some of the other classes had gone about as well as the board had expected though and they hadn't been impressed by their findings. They were, even more, displeased when they had finally managed to contact Lila's mother. When the board had first tried to contact Mrs Signora Rossi they had been puzzled as to why her phone kept going to voice mail. As Alya was Lila's friend they asked if she had Signora Rossi's number on the off chance. She didn't but she willing handed Lila's number over to the board and when they compared it to the number they had for Signora Rossi they found that the two numbers were the same. So the board did the next best thing since Lila had said her mother was a diplomat for the Italian Embassy, they phoned them and asked to speak to her. Once again that failed to bring the desired result as there was no Signora Rossi registered as working for the Italian Embassy as a diplomat or otherwise. It took them two days but they eventually found her working long hours as a waitress in an out of the way restaurant. She had been shocked when she had been asked about everything that Lila had said or done as well as Lila's frequent 'trips' and 'illnesses'. It was only through sheer luck that Mr Pigeon had struck at that moment instead of her being akumatised. She had been absolutely devastated to find out that while she was working two jobs to give her daughter a better life than her own, that same daughter was lying through her teeth as though she was ashamed of her. Once that had been discovered, the board had taken a closer look at all the documents that Lila had given the school. These ranged from various doctors notes to letters that had supposedly come from her mother regarding her trips abroad. Once they had been check thoroughly they had set to work on trying to get hold of Lila who had proved to be most slippery. In the end, the board had simply handed her file over to the truancy office and made sure that she would be held back a grade due to all her absences and the sheer amount of work that Lila had had her classmates do for her. In the end, Lila's mother opted to move Lila to a different school where she gave the teacher very strict instructions on what to look out for with her daughter. As for the rest of Marinette's class? Well, they had found that life wasn't as easy as they remembered it being before Marinette had finally decided she had had enough. It seemed like all the little things were missing and for the first time, they started to realise how much her smile had brightened the day for many of them.

#saltinette #salt #mlb #sao #kirito x marinette #gamer marinette #class get's a wake up call #guilty chloe

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