#also he's older than gav

[negrowhat]

Happy Belated 23rd Birthday to Cairo Lazaro! His birthday is June 26th! And he was born in 2000! HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO GAV'S BABY!

[ahonice]

not my boyfriend

luke hughes x fem reader

word count: 9.6k (the google doc was forty pages long idk what happened i got carried away)

warnings: jokes about dying/being killed, drinking, mentions of harassment (none actually happens though, just a topic discussed.) cursing, party games, lots of fighting that could’ve been avoided, VERY unrealistic scenarios and timelines lol, reader is stubborn for no reason and pisses me off (sorry)

note: this takes place during luke’s first full season as a devil. also idk how season tickets work with the devils so... hope y’all enjoy, leave feedback and lmk what you think, love y’all babes <3!!!

+++

growing up in newark meant you were a devils fan by default. which wasn’t a bad thing, your father was a season ticket holder and often took you to games with him as you were the only one of your siblings who was still living at home.

you were the youngest of five, all others being boys, and the university you attended was only a five minute drive from your house so instead of moving into the dorms you continued to live at home. 

at each game you always wore unmarked jerseys, shirts, and hoodies. no number or last names on any of them, you weren’t a big enough fan to have a jersey that branded you so you stayed content with your blank ones. 

+++

it was the home opener for the devils and your father dragged you, along with all your brothers, out to attend the game with him. he managed to get tickets right behind the devils bench this year, you didn’t even want to know how much money he had to spend to get them. 

“dad isn’t this a bit much? the game is going to be the exact same if we were sitting in our normal seats, two levels above.” you asked him once everyone was situated and comfortable in their seats.

“oh shut up y/n, these seats are great and who knows maybe you’ll catch the eye of a cute hockey player and you can live out your trophy wife fantasies.” your brother, who was sitting two seats down from you, teased.

“shut up david.” you said reaching over your other brothers to hit him, which you did…three times.

“would you two cut it out, you’re attracting a crowd.” your father scolded.

he was right, not only were a few people sitting behind you watching, but so were a couple people on the bench in front of you.

you groaned in embarrassment and hid your face in your brother gavin’s shoulder. 

“kill me gav, kill me.” your voice was muffled.

“number forty three is staring pretty hard right now y/n.” gavin wiggled his eyebrows at you.

you shot your head up and made, brief, eye contact with a boy who looked around your age before he quickly looked away. another player, who looked just a little older than you, laughed at him before giving you a wink.

“i’m serious gavin, shoot me right here.” you said, pointing between your eyes. “like i’m a horse that just broke it’s leg.”

+++

after the game you went to dinner with your family before you parted ways. you had picked up your coworkers shift because he had a family emergency and wasn’t able to come in. during the summer between your senior year of high school and your freshman year of college you attended bartending school. you thought that working in the night life industry, especially as a young attractive woman, that you would be getting a lot of money in tips.

and you were correct.

your grandparents were covering your tuition, and since you were living at home there were no room and board charges, but you did have a car to pay for, books and school supplies, as well as an addiction to shopping that you had to support. so the job really was great.

it was a nice cocktail, lounge, styled bar. lots of business meetings took place, and overall upper class patrons were the ones who would visit. it wasn’t rare that local celebrities would stop by, or new yorkers wanting a lower tax on their tequila sunrise. so when a few people on the new jersey devils roster walked in, nobody was surprised. 

“y/n i’ll take bottle service for them tonight if you cover my side of the bar while i’m out? we can split their tip 70/30.” your coworker brian suggested after seeing them all make their way towards the private section, meaning they would not be ordering drinks themselves like all the other people in the establishment. 

“60/40, it’s a saturday night brian.” he rolled his eyes before agreeing, making his way over to the group as you began writing down tickets.

with brian gone you were now the only one behind the bar, it being a busy saturday night you didn’t really have any time to yourself. constantly getting new orders, or people confused why you needed their card to open a tab, you weren’t really planning on taking a break anytime soon. 

“what can i get you?” you asked whoever sat in the seat across from where you were currently fulfilling orders. you didn’t look up to properly acknowledge the customer, but you know they heard you because your question was quickly followed by a long “uhhhhh” before you placed the drinks you had been working on infront of their respective owners.

“while you uhhhh on that, i’m gonna go help customers that know what they want.” you didn’t really mean to be so rude, but you didn’t have time to provide good customer service.

“wait!” you had barely turned around before the customer stopped you. “i’m sorry, it’s just that i am not twenty one, so i don’t know what i can order here.”

“you’re not old enough to drink? how the hell did you get in? because if you used a fake i’m sorry but i’m gonna have to cut it.” you finally looked up from the glasses in front of you to see who exactly you were speaking with. he looked familiar, you couldn’t figure out where you knew him from. probably just a student you’ve seen around campus.

“no it’s nothing like that. i’m here with some of my teammates.” he nodded his head towards the private section where you could see brian making them drinks.

you looked back at his face again before the realization hit you.

“you were the player staring at me earlier.”

“you were the girl that slapped her brother in front of everyone earlier.”

you blushed at his recollection of you, he blushed at yours as well. 

“guilty.” you both said at the same time, causing some laughs to let out before the moment was interrupted by some people on the other side of the bar yelling that they wanted their drinks.

“i’ll be back in a little bit, sorry.” you apologized to the boy before turning to start making the drinks that the customers had ordered nearly five minutes ago, audibly groaning at the line that was forming all around the bar and the amount of people now entering.

+++

it ended up being nearly thirty minutes before the rush of orders you had gotten was cleared and you had time to go back to where that boy was sitting. you weren’t surprised that he was no longer there, but you were disappointed. 

you decided to take the rare break to your advantage and poured yourself a glass of apple juice, savoring the taste before you brought your attention towards the group in the back. brian must’ve really been working for those tips because you had never seen a group so entertained in your life. 

making eye contact with the boy, you smiled as he stood up from his seat, excusing himself from the group being met with a smirk from the guy he was sitting next to, who you recognized as the one who winked at you earlier.

“you know you guys are paying for bottle service, you don’t have to come up to the bar to order drinks. it’s kinda what it was made for.” you said once the boy had sat down in the seat he was in just an hour before.

“i know, but i don’t want the guys to make fun of me for ordering orange juice.”

“are you assuming that i wouldn’t make fun of you? because i would, and i will. i’m team apple juice.” you said, raising your glass filled with apple juice, into the air. 

“can’t drink on the job?” 

you laughed at how stupid of a question that was, just because you worked as a bartender doesn’t mean you have no decorum. “ couldn’t even if i wanted to, i’m nineteen.” 

“oh so you’re my age, well a year younger.” he smiled to himself. “i’m twenty.”

you nodded at his words, too busy closing out a tab to respond.

“how can you work here though? if you’re nineteen. don’t you have to be twenty one?” he asked.

“no, you need to be eighteen to serve alcohol in the states.” you responded, not even looking up.

“got it.” he trailed off, it quickly became awkward as you were too busy to give him the attention he was obviously looking for. “i’m luke by the way, don’t think i told you my name yet.”

“i’m y/n, but i’m pretty busy right now so maybe you could go back to your table. i don’t mean to be rude, but i can’t spend my whole shift talking to you and not working.” you told him, noticing the long line that was beginning to form again.

“oh yea of course, sorry. umm i’ll see you around.” luke said, getting up.

you didn’t respond and just walked over to the other side of the bar where the people who had been waiting the longest were.

luke sighed before walking back over to his group.

“what’s the matter lukey? couldn’t impress the hot girl by ordering an orange juice.”

“shut up jack.”

+++

it was only five days later that your father was bringing you along to another devils game and once again you got dressed in your unnamed jersey and a pair of leggings. you had work right after, having taken the closing shift tonight so you would be able to enjoy the game for at least an hour and a half before you would have to go.

“dad please tell me we aren’t in those seats again. you don’t need to be wasting your money like that, our usual seats are just fine.” you spoke as you followed your dad through the arena.

“sweetie, it is my money to spend and i wanted this. i never miss a home game, all of the money spent is being spent for good use.” you father responded, making his way down towards the glass. 

you had arrived after warm ups were finished so now you were just waiting for the game to actually start. playing a game on your phone, you were easily pulled into a trance and didn’t even realize that the players had made their way onto the ice until your father nudged you.

“y/n would you pay attention? the boy is looking at you again.” your head shot up at his words and you quickly made eye contact with the boy from last week, luke. 

he waved at you before turning around before you even had the chance to wave back.

“that was weird.” you said, not to anyone in particular, but you weren’t aware of your volume because that same guy that winked at you began laughing and pushed luke who was visibly blushing.

+++

“can i get an orange juice? on the rocks.” 

you turned around to see number forty three smiling at you, his hand behind his neck in an awkward stance.

“luke.”

“y/n.”

“is your group here today? we didn’t get any mentions of bottle service being needed tonight.”

“yeah, it was a last minute thing. i asked if we could come to this bar instead of the one we had planned on going to.”

“why? because the orange juice is that good?”

“without a doubt.” 

you laughed at his words before looking over at your coworker. 

“do you wanna do bottle service tonight? or should i?”

“i’ll do it. the general manager is here tonight and you know how she gets when it’s a group of men getting bottle service.” 

“got it, thank you brian.”

you looked back to see luke staring at you confused.

“why doesn’t she like men getting bottle service?”

“it’s not that, there have just been a few too many cases of us having to kick people out because of their behavior towards female bartenders.” 

“has that ever happened to you?” his voice suddenly angry, causing you to look at him funny.

“cool it casanova.” you laughed, ignoring his question because you have. that’s just what comes with a job in the night life industry though. “i have to get back to work, but i’ll see you around luke.” 

dejected, luke made his way to where his teammates were sitting.

“did you fuck up again?” 

“yes…? i honestly don’t know.”

+++

it had been two weeks since that night.

you hadn’t been able to make it to any of the devils games due to coming down with a bug, also causing you to miss school and work. it definitely wasn’t ideal considering it was nearly thanksgiving break, which meant it was nearly finals week. but you couldn’t complain, it was always nice to do nothing but binge watch investigation discovery and drink yellow gatorade all day.

“dad can i come with you to the game tonight? my fever is gone and i haven’t been sick in three days. i need to get out of the house badly.” you asked your father once he made it home from work.

“sure sweetie. i’m planning on leaving in half an hour, i want to make it to warm ups tonight.”  he replied, shuffling through the mail.

“got it dad, i’ll go get ready.”

+++

you quickly got ready for the game. deciding that you wouldn’t wear any makeup tonight, your eyelash extensions were enough to carry the rest of the face. tying your hair into a braid, you got dressed in an unmarked devils hoodie and leggings before throwing your shoes on.

“dad i’m ready if you wanna leave a little earlier.” you called out from upstairs, spraying your perfume on.

“sounds good hun, i’ll meet you in the car.” 

you were really excited for tonight's game, mainly because this was your first outing in civilization in nearly fourteen days, but a little part of you was excited to see luke again. 

a little part of you was afraid he had forgotten who you were, as you had only interacted a handful of times. 

a loud honk ripped you from your thoughts as you could hear your father yelling from outside.

“i’m about to leave without you y/n.”

+++

you sat in your seat playing on your phone as you anxiously waited for the game to start

“what’s got you so jittery?” your father asks, noticing your legs bouncing. “does it have anything to do with number forty three?”

your eyes widened at the second question that came from your father’s mouth.

“i have no idea what you’re talking about.” you spoke defensively.

“well i thought i might ask because he has been staring at you since he got onto the ice.”

you had been so caught up in your thoughts that you missed warmups beginning, and looking up you met luke’s eyes.

you gave him a smile and a small wave, which he returned before number eighty six rammed into his shoulders and luke went back to what he was supposed to be doing.

+++

after the game you decided to tackle the large load of school work that had been piling up from your sick days.

you managed to spend a good three hours uninterrupted before your phone began ringing. you picked it up to see your general manager's contact shown on the screen. groaning you answered the call, hoping she wasn’t going to call you in because there is nothing worse than a friday night shift.

“hey y/n, i’m sorry to bother you but this boy is currently asking about you at the bar and i need to know if you know him or if i need to ban him from the property.” she spoke.

your eyes widened, a little scared because this wouldn’t be the first time that you’ve had creepy men asking about you on your nights off.

“what is his name?” you ask, you doubted it but there was a chance you did know him.

“luke hughes.” you heard him yell in the background.

“yes darlene, i know him. he is harmless, please let him leave the jail cell.” you joked, knowing for a fact she had him held captive in the office. 

“he wants your number.” she whispered.

“just give it to him, and seriously let him go. him and his teammates tip a lot.”

+++

from: *** *** ****

y/n?

from: *** *** ****

this is luke. 

from: *** *** ****

i’m a little nervous that your boss gave me a fake number just so i would leave her alone, so if you could respond that would be greatly appreciated.

to: *** *** ****

i’m sorry, but you’ve reached the rejection hotline. the person who gave you this number is not interested.

from: *** *** ****

lovely.

to: *** *** ****

i’m totally kidding.

to: *** *** ****

this is y/n lmao.

from: luke hughes

that is not funny.

+++

over the course of the weekend you and luke texted a lot. 

mainly just basic information. favorite food, tv shows, some random questions.

from: luke hughes

why do you wear blank jerseys?

from: luke hughes

and blank everything else? you never have a name or number on you at games.

to: luke hughes

that’s just not something i’m into.

to: luke hughes

there isn’t a hockey player i like enough to wear their name or number.

that wasn’t entirely true. 

while you were a devils fan by default, you were a hurricanes fan and sebastian aho enthusiast by choice. 

you had multiple jerseys and shirts with his name and number all over them, but the devils only played the hurricanes on home ice a limited time each season so you weren’t able to break out your collection all that often. 

luckily for you, the hurricanes were playing the devils at the prudential center in five weeks and that was one of the only things you were truly looking forward to these days, as sad as that sounds.

+++

“the boy who keeps asking for you is here.” brian said to you as he entered the office. 

“what do you mean keeps? darlene just told me about the one time.” you responded, turning your attention off of the roblox game you were playing and towards your coworker.

“because i’ve only ever gotten darlene involved once. he kept asking for your schedule that night and i nearly called the cops.do you know how scared i was? not for you of course, just of the amount of paperwork and witness reports i’d have to deal with. did i ever tell you about the time that one psycho came in here with a butter knife and threatened–” 

“brian focus.” 

“right sorry. he has come in asking for you at least ten times now. if you want me to kick him out i will, i’ve been working out.” brian finished his rant by flexing his muscles, that weren’t even there.

“you’re 5’7 brian. no amount of muscle will make up for that.” you started, picking your phone up. “i’ve got it don’t worry, but thanks.”

to: luke hughes

are you stalking me?

to: luke hughes

because i will get a restraining order against you.

to: luke hughes

i don’t care how attractive you are.

from: luke hughes

so you think i’m attractive?

to: luke hughes

is that seriously all you got from that??

to: luke hughes

STOP BOTHERING MY COWORKERS !!!

from: luke hughes

will do.

from: luke hughes

as long as you agree to go out with me this week.

to: luke hughes

fine.

to: luke hughes

but only because i would like to go one night without my coworkers asking if they need to place your image on the blacklisted board.

from: luke hughes

yeah totally “only because”…

+++

“so you expect me to believe that after the game tonight you are going out with luke hughes. the rookie player for the new jersey devils?” your father asks.

“yes dad.” you deadpanned.

you had told him of your plans for after the game tonight forty minutes ago and he does not believe you in the slightest.

“what did you take for your migraine earlier?” he asks, chuckling. “oh no, did you get into my medicine cabinet? i’m pretty sure i bought those painkillers back in ‘eighty-nine.” 

“you’re hilarious. now can we leave please? warm ups are already almost over.” you said, unamused, while your father was bent over laughing at his stupid joke. “i’m going without you.”

“like hell you are.” he said, snapping up right and marching over to the front door. “if you are telling me the truth i have to meet this boy and talk to him…to ask him if you’re blackmailing him into this.”

he added that last part once he was already outside, you groaned as you heard him laughing from inside the car.

+++

to: luke hughes

i will be waiting in the car park after the game whenever you get out.

to: luke hughes

also my dad wants to meet you.

to: luke hughes

he says it’s because he needs to make sure i’m safe, but really he just thinks i’m lying to him about your existence in my life.

+++

“sweetie when is he coming? it is late and i’ve got work in the morning.” your father asks, for what feels like the hundredth time.

“dad, i’ve already told you that you can leave. i don’t need you here.” you replied, for what felt like the hundredth time.

“what if he kidnaps you? or kills you? he’s got money, he could cover it up in an instant.” he snaps his fingers when he said instant to emphasize his point.

“i would never do that sir.” a different voice cut in.

both you and your fathers heads whip around and you’re met with the sight of luke, looking very good in his suit.

“holy shit y/n you weren’t lying to me.” your dad says, walking up to where luke was standing to shake his hand. “let me tell you kid, i thought my daughter had lost her mind.” 

“dad. please stop.” you stated, annoyed at his behavior, finding a spot to stand next to luke. 

“right. sorry sweetie.” he said before turning his attention back towards luke. “have her home no later than midnight.” 

“yes sir.” luke stated, before your dad turned around and walked towards his car.

“so where are we going?” you ask. “you’re dressed like we’re going to a five star restaurant and i’m dressed like we’re going to a drive thru.” you explained, pointing to the major differences in your attire.

“i’ll meet you halfway.”

+++

“is it too late to tell you that i prefer qdoba?” you told luke as he pulled into the parking lot of a chipotle.

“i think i should take you home.” luke joked, before running around the car to open your door for you, slightly tripping in the process. 

“i should warn you though, i get queso and guac on my burritos.” you told him, knowing that he would be paying.

“what? that’s like an extra seven dollars.” he complains, holding the front door open for you to walk in.

“should’ve taken me to qdoba, it’s free there.” 

+++

the night went very well.

you and luke talked about anything and everything. 

it was fifteen minutes to midnight when luke pulled up in front of your house to say goodbye.

noticing that the lights were on, luke asked if your father really stayed up to see if he had brought you home on time.

“i can guarantee he is currently in his recliner and snoring.” you told luke before you both started walking up the porch steps.

“well i had lots of fun tonight. you should really send me a text whenever you’re bored at work, i can always use my celebrity status to get in while being underage.” luke said once you had made it to the front door.

“your C-list celebrity status?” you started.

“-oh come on, i’m a b-list at least.” he cut in.

“don’t you have better things to do than sit at a bar and drink orange juice?” you finished your thought.

“honestly no. i don’t have any friends in jersey that aren’t my teammates.”

“well if you ever want to go to a party or hang out with me and my friends you always can, just text me if you’re ever bored at home.” 

you said your proper goodbyes and once you stepped into your house you saw your father asleep in his recliner.

to: luke hughes

*image*

i told you he would be asleep. he would never know if we actually stayed out past curfew.

from: luke hughes

did you catch him mid snore in that photo? that’s honestly a violation.

+++

from: luke hughes

i’m bored.

to: luke hughes

what am i supposed to do about that?

from: luke hughes

😑😑😑

to: luke hughes

I’M KIDDING

to: luke hughes

do you not have a game tonight? because i’m planning on attending a frat party tonight if you would like to tag along.

to: luke hughes

unless you are now above frat parties after finishing school.

from: luke hughes

i’d love to join you.

to: luke hughes

great! i was planning on getting there at 10:30. do you just want to drive to my house? my friends are taking me btw and we could always just double buckle.

from: luke hughes

yea sure. what should i wear?

to: luke hughes

oh nothing too fancy just a tuxedo.

to: luke hughes

bowtie included.

from: luke hughes

i hate you.

+++

“will you all please promise to be nice to him and be on your best behavior? i think i actually like this one and i don’t him to be scared away.” you warned your friends who were currently in your room pregaming.

“hey don’t look at me, i’ll be nice as hell to your new boy toy.” your best friend, trinity, spoke. you rolled your eyes at her before looking at the boys who crowded on your floor.

“cal, bass, and tyler.” you spoke firmly, attempting to intimidate them. “i swear to god if any of you make him uncomfortable, all of my images and videos from syllabus week are getting posted on the main.”

“sir yes sir!” the three shouted in unison, only causing your eyes to roll back further into your head.

“just please be welcoming. talk to him, get to know him, do not force him to play rage cage if he does not want to.” you emphasized that last point at kade.

“if he doesn’t willingly play rage cage he isn’t the one for you y/n.”

you were about to make a snarky comment but were cut off by your phone going off.

from: luke hughes

hey i’m outside. should i knock or wait out here?

to: luke hughes

just come inside, front door is unlocked. 

to: luke hughes

we’re upstairs in my room, just follow the sound of shitty music. my friend bass has aux tonight.

you could feel the nerves bubbling up in your stomach. you hadn’t informed the group that your luke was luke hughes, they were all devils fans and were in the know about things so they definitely know who he is.

“he is coming upstairs right now, y’all i’m serious, best behavior.”

the sound of a knock made all five heads turn towards the door.

“no fucking way-”

“shut it!” you cut cal off. “hey luke, come in. there are shooters on my desk if you want something to pregame with. trinity is sober tonight so you don’t have to worry about driving.”

luke makes his way over to your dresser and grabs three shooters before making his way towards the spot next to you.

“everybody this is luke, luke this is everybody.” you motioned your hands back and forth. “tyler, cal, trinity, and bass.” 

you pointed to your friends, who were looking at the two of you with shock and disbelief on their faces, as you named them.

“let’s go to the party, i wanna play rage cage.” 

+++

“is bass your real name or is it just a nickname?” 

after arriving at the party you and your group established where trinity would be all night everyone started asking luke questions, the majority of them were about hockey and the nhl before you texted the groupchat and told them to shut their fucking mouths about his career.

“nickname. my name is sebastian, but this one-” bass grabs onto your shoulders and pulls you in front of him. “-says there is only one sebastian in her life and i am, unfortunately, not him so she started calling me bass and everybody else just latched onto it.”

you glared at him before speaking. “i was being sarcastic when i told you that, and you came up with the fucking nickname.”

“yeah, it’s not y/n’s fault you share a name with the love of her life and future husband.” tyler said, giggling after you hit his stomach.

“okay let’s go play rage cage, y’all need to shut up.” you said making your way outside, trinity informed everyone that she would stay in her spot and to text her if it is urgent. “luke do you play rage cage?”

it was an important question. 

sure most people favor cup pong or even flip up as a party game, but rage cage was what you and your friends dominated at every function.

“i have never played it before. haven’t even heard of it.” luke shrugged. 

everyone’s movements paused for a second before hell froze over.

“WHAT?”

“you’ve never heard of it?”

“what fucking school did you go to?”

“y/n get him out of my face.”

you weren’t even sure who said what, but luke had a slightly scared look on his face. 

“they’re joking luke, let me teach you how to play.”

+++

“so your future husband's name is sebastian? should i even continue pursuing you?” luke asked, jokingly, once you two were left alone in the backyard, tyler had drank one too many bitch cups and needed to be nursed back to health.

“i am most definitely not marrying him. he is six years older than me, lives hundreds of miles away, and also knows nothing of my existence.” you informed luke before finishing your drink. “you should definitely continue to pursue me.”

+++

from: luke hughes

are you coming to the game tonight?

from: luke hughes

i have a proposition for you, if you are.

to: luke hughes

i’m listening

from: luke hughes

you wear my jersey tonight, and in return i win the game.

from: luke hughes

it’s a win-win situation

to: luke hughes

yea for you. i get nothing out of it.

to: luke hughes

also i do not own a jersey with anyone’s name on it, let alone yours.

to: luke hughes

and you are NOT buying me one. if i want a jersey i will pay for it myself…or my father will.

from: luke hughes

fine.

from: luke hughes

but when you become my girlfriend you have to wear my jersey, no matter what.

to: luke hughes

okay, if i become your girlfriend i will wear your jersey.

from: luke hughes

not if, when.

to: luke hughes

i’ll see you tonight weirdo.

+++

“your boyfriend is waving at you.” 

“david shut up he isn’t my boyfriend.” you responded to your brother, shoving him.

you waved back at luke before his smile dropped and he pointed towards the jersey david was wearing. how you didn’t see the name and number on the back before? you didn’t know.

“are you seriously wearing luke’s jersey right now?” you placed your head in your hands knowing the conversation that would come of this. “he asks me to wear it before every home game and i never do, and now my own brother is wearing his jersey and not me.”

“why won’t you wear his jersey?” your brother asks, finishing off his beer. “-and don’t give me that bullshit answer of you never wear anyone’s jersey. you wear aho’s.”

“that’s because sebastian aho is sebastian aho.” you deadpanned. “there has never been a player, besides aho, that i have liked enough to wear their number. i’m not a fan of anyone…besides aho.”

“yeah, but luke’s your boyfriend.”

“oh my god he isn’t my boyfriend, do you ever listen to me? idiot.”

+++

“so your brother wears my jersey, but you don’t?” 

the sound of luke’s voice drew your attention away from the tab you were closing out at work. “i knew you were gonna show up tonight. remind me again why i decided to give you my schedule?”

“because i’m awesome.” luke answered, taking a seat in front of you. “-but of course not awesome enough for you to wear my jersey.”

“are we still on that?” you asked, handing luke a pop. 

“yes we are.” he stated blankly. “seriously i don’t understand why you won’t just wear my jersey. you said you didn’t want to pay for one, and that i couldn’t pay for one. but now that i know your brother has one i would very much appreciate it if you would wear it, to at least one game.”

“i’ll think about it.”

+++

your answer was no. that was three weeks ago and you still had yet to wear a jersey with the number forty three on the back.

tonight you were excited. 

the carolina hurricanes were playing the devils at the prudential center tonight and you and your friends all got seats behind the canes bench. none of them were canes fans, but this one the one game a year that you had the opportunity to sit near sebastian aho and you would be damned if you missed out on that opportunity. 

from: luke hughes

you coming tonight?

to: luke hughes

yeah.

to: luke hughes

so are trinity, bass, tyler, and cal.

from: luke hughes

oh great, i haven’t seen them in a bit.

from: luke hughes

are you guys going out after the game? it’s a friday night.

to: luke hughes

yes we are. cal’s frat is hosting this sport night thing if you wanna come with.

to: luke hughes

just bring a jersey to change into after the game.

from: luke hughes

oh crap i don’t own any jerseys.

to: luke hughes

you’re hilarious bud.

to: luke hughes

but just so you know i’m not sitting in my usual spot tonight. my brothers are sitting with my dad tonight.

+++

“no fucking way.”

that was the first thing you heard as you got in bass’ car.

“what?” you asked, everyone looked at you in disbelief.

“you are wearing aho’s jersey.” tyler replied, speaking for everyone in the car. “and you’re dating luke hughes.”

“i am not dating luke, you guys know that.” you deadpanned, you were getting sick and tired of people mistaking you for luke’s girlfriend. almost as much as you were sick and tired of not being luke’s girlfriend. “-and you also know that i am a loyal sebastian aho supporter before anything else.” you added the end in a lighter tone of voice. 

“alright, but when luke gets upset with you tonight you cannot be angry when we tell you we told you so.”

the rest of the car ride only one thing, a question, was on your mind, would he really get upset with you?

+++

“oh my god!”

“how many times are you gonna say oh my god tonight y/n?” trinity asked.

she had a point. it was like the only thing that was coming out of your mouth.

“never.” you deadpanned. “sebastian aho is right in front of me. my future husband is right in front of me.” you got more giddy by the end of your statement.

“oh wow y/n, you’re blushing.” cal poked your side. “that’s pathetic.”

“lover boy, two o’clock. does not look happy.”

you looked over to your right and saw luke looking at you with an expression you couldn’t quite read, but bass was right, he did not look happy.

+++

“GOAL!” you screamed, shooting up from your seat. “SUCK IT DEVILS!”

“alright calm down y/n.” tyler said, laughing at you.

“NO! sebastian aho just scored his second goal of the night, if he gets one more i’m gonna lose it.” you replied, sitting back down.

“oh god you haven’t lost it yet?”

+++

to: luke hughes

hey! sorry about the game, you played great :)

to: luke hughes

if you do want to come to the party we’ll be at this is the address.

to: luke hughes

12345 house street

to: luke hughes

i hope to see you there.

“so is your boyfriend coming tonight?” cal asked. 

“not my boyfriend.” you started. “and i don’t know. i just texted him the address for him to meet us there if he wants.”

“ok. real talk,” trinity started. “do you want him to be your boyfriend?” 

“i do-”

you were cut off by the screaming of your four friends.

“shut it.” you snapped, effectively shutting them up. “i do want him to be my boyfriend, but i have no idea if he wants me to be his girlfriend. i mean we’ve known each other for three months and he has talked about us dating in the past but he hasn’t asked me out yet and i don’t know if he ever will.” 

“y/n don’t be like that. i can tell by the way he looks at you and acts around you that he likes you, a lot, and also he looked jealous as hell when he saw whose jersey you were wearing tonight.” bass said, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. 

“okay enough with the pity party, lets go to the party. i need a drink.” 

+++

from: luke hughes

not really in the mood for a party tonight. 

to: luke hughes

oh ok. 

to: luke hughes

well i’ll see you soon, yeah?

“luke isn’t coming tonight.” you told the group, an upset look rested on your face.

“oh…well it’s probably nothing. i wouldn’t want to go out and celebrate a loss.” trinity said, giving you a reassuring smile. 

“ok i seriously need a drink now.” 

+++

it has been over a week since the game and luke hasn’t spoken to you once. 

all texts have been left unanswered, he hasn’t come to visit you at work, and when you were at the game two days ago he didn’t look at you once.

you were working the closing shift tonight, and it was a monday so it was not very busy. in the past you would text luke and he would arrive as soon as he could, but you stopped attempting to communicate with luke two days ago, after the game. he made it clear he no longer wanted anything to do with you.

“y/n, someone is at the bar asking for you.” you looked up from the wall you were staring at in the office to see brian. “not the usual one though. did you and your boyfriend break up?” 

you had a little bit of hope that it was luke for just a moment, before brian told you it wasn’t him. “he’s not my boyfriend. never was.”

you stepped out of the back room to see the other hughes brother sitting at your bar.

“hello jack. what do i owe the pleasure?” you ask, planting yourself across from him.

“we need to talk about you and luke.” he replied curtly.

“there is no me and luke, he has made it very clear that he is no longer interested in being my friend anymore.” you said, pouring a drink for no one, you just needed something to do.

“that’s the thing. he does want to be your friend, more than that. this past week he has not shut up about you and how you guys weren’t talking anymore. what happened?” jack asked, grabbing the now finished drink and bringing it to his lips.

“i don’t even know. we were planning on going to this party at my friends frat together and then after your guys’ game against the hurricanes he flaked out and hasn’t spoken to me since. i’ve reached out and haven’t gotten anything back, i was at the game on saturday and he didn’t even look at me, so if he is upset that we aren’t talking then he is just upset with himself.” you took a moment to catch your breath before looking at jack.

“whose jersey did you wear to our game against the hurricanes?” 

“sebastian aho’s. why?”

jack let out a chuckle and shook his head. “makes sense. he was muttering stupid sebastian aho and fucking homewrecker the whole way home and bunkered himself in his room for days.” 

“i always refused to wear his jersey to games, or his anything, and now i’m realizing i probably pissed him off by wearing someone else’s name and number when i’ve been telling him the whole time i’ve known him that the reason i won’t wear his stuff is because i don’t wear anyones.” you told jack, pouring another drink.

“i wouldn’t say he is pissed off. he is definitely upset though.” jack starts, standing up. “i think you should come to our game this thursday-”

“i always go to your games.” you cut him off. “well come to our game this thursday wearing his jersey. i think that is all he wants…well that and you being his girlfriend.” jack finished, not giving you a chance to respond before walking out the front doors.

+++

“david please, just let me borrow your jersey for one night.” you begged your brother over the phone.

“no can do little sis. just go buy your own, i mean it might be beneficial to own your own luke hughes jersey when luke hughes is your boyfriend.”

“david i’m not even gonna say it, but seriously? where am i gonna find a jersey on such short notice?” “at literally any store in newark. walk down mainstreet and you’ll probably find five in the front window of shops.” david answers, the sarcastic tone in his voice pissing you off further.

“goodbye. i’m gonna go walk around looking for a jersey in the freezing cold now.”

+++

to: luke hughes

hey. i know we haven’t talked in a little bit but i spoke with your brother the other day. 

to: luke hughes

i’m going to the game tonight, if you would be willing to let me see you after i would really appreciate it.

to: luke hughes

i would like to talk to you.

+++

you weren’t able to find a jersey with luke’s number on it so you wore a blank jersey tonight, which kind of crushed your original plan for the evening, but you still had to try.

“are you sure sweetie? because i have no issue waiting until he shows up.” 

“yes dad, i’m sure. i’ll be fine, please go.” you assured your dad, pushing him towards his car.

it wasn’t until forty minutes later that you heard footsteps approaching you. you turned your head around and frowned at the sight of jack hughes walking your way.

“sorry i’m not the brother you wanted to see, but luke left as soon as he could and ubered back to our apartment.” 

you nodded in defeat. “thank you for telling me. i’ll just order myself an uber home then…tell luke i said good game and if he ever wants to talk he can message me.”

“why don’t you tell him yourself.”

+++

trinity would literally die if you told her whose car you were currently sitting shotgun in. 

“luke made it pretty clear he doesn’t want to talk to me, or even see me. i don’t think this is a good idea jack.”

jack had convinced you that the best thing to do in this situation was to confront luke directly. not as much convinced you, but rather offered you a ride home and said he had to make a stop on the way, that stop being his and luke’s place. 

“y/n luke is miserable not talking to you, and that is making me miserable.”

“well he wouldn’t be so miserable if he would just text me back, he is the one choosing to not speak to me. can we just get this over with? drive faster.”

+++

“luke’s room is down that hall, second door to the right.” jack informed you, you thanked him quietly before making your way to luke’s room. 

you knocked gently and got no response so you knocked again, a little harder.

“jack i’m not in the mood right now. go away.” 

you tried to speak up but nothing came out, so you just knocked again.

“jack i’m serious. this whole y/n situation is messing with my head, i played awful tonight and i just want to go to sleep.”

“well if it’s messing with you so much and making you as upset as jack says it is then maybe you should just text me back and we can figure out how to fix this.” you spoke, frustration clear in your tone. 

you didn’t give him the chance to respond before you made your way out of their apartment and towards the stairwell, ordering an uber as you ran down the steps.

once outside you saw that your uber was about five minutes away so you were forced to just stand there and wait. from: luke hughes

i’m sorry.

from: luke hughes

please come back up. 

to: luke hughes

no.

from: luke hughes

please. let's talk about this.

to: luke hughes

i’ve given you many chances in the past week for us to talk and you’ve ignored me each time.

to: luke hughes

it’s my turn to be upset now.

+++

that was two weeks ago and you haven’t seen or spoken to luke since.

you went to your mothers house is oregon for christmas and came back to new jersey today. 

the second you ended your gift exchange with your father you went up to your room and opened your texts with luke.

from: luke hughes

y/n i’m sorry.

from: luke hughes

please talk to me.

from: luke hughes

merry christmas, i got you a gift. i asked your coworker brian where you’ve been, he said it that you were spending christmas at your moms this year so i’ll give it to you when you get back.

from: luke hughes

please text me when you get back.

from: luke hughes

i need to see you.

you spent a few moments contemplating whether to send a text or to continue ignoring him, even if the later was driving you crazy.

before you could stop yourself you sent a message, and got one back immediately.

to: luke hughes

i’m back in newark.

from: luke hughes

on my way

you slightly panicked when you realized that after nearly a month of silence between the two of you, luke was now going to be in front of you and in your presence again. you didn’t know what you were going to say, worry filled you thinking about the many outcomes that could happen.

“sweetie, luke is at the door for you.”

you timidly stood up and took a deep breath or two before making your way downstairs. 

“hey luke, let’s go up to my room to talk.” 

luke nodded before stepping inside, giving your father a proper greeting before heading up the stairs.

“ok, so can you start off by telling me why you ghosted me for a full week?” you asked him once he had sat down on your hammock chair, you across from him on your bed.

“you wore someone else’s jersey.” luke started, letting out a deep breath afterwards. “after you told me for months that you never wear anyone’s jersey, so you wouldn’t wear mine.”

the sound of your friends yelling “i told you so” played in your head, but you pushed it aside to focus on what was happening in front of you.

luke was now in your closet, where he would find your many, many, aho items.

“luke please get out of my closet.” you were angry, he had no reason to be searching your things.

“how many things do you own of him. jesus.” luke said once he finally walked back into your bedroom. 

“luke i’m sorry that i lied to you about never wearing anyone else’s jersey, but is that seriously why you ignored me?” you were a little skeptical of his reasoning.

“why did you ignore me for multiple weeks?” luke ignored your question.

“because you were the one leaving me on read and skipping out on our plans, but then you went around telling people you were miserable not talking to me as if i was the one who failed to reach out and that made me angry. i gave you so many opportunities luke…and you didn’t take up any of them. so i got mad and i knew i was about to leave town for two weeks and i didn’t really wanna communicate with you during my vacation.”

“why did you lie to me?” luke asked, now taking a seat next to you on your bed.

“i honestly don’t know. i’ve only ever worn aho’s number, just feels weird wearing someone else’s. and i was being honest, other than aho, there has never been a player i like enough to wear their jersey until now.” you sat up from your spot and walked over to one of the gift boxes sitting on your floor, during your gift exchange with your dad you received a devils jersey with the number forty-three and hughes on the back as well as some shirts and hoodies with the same thing. “these were all gifted to me for christmas. i asked for them. i wanted to wear your jersey, i have for a while now, but i was just unsure of what it would mean. can you tell me why you got so angry?” you asked the question that had been on your mind for weeks.

“y/n i like you and i want you to be my girlfriend, i never asked you though because you wouldn’t even wear my fucking jersey no matter how much i begged you to so why would you say yes to being my girlfriend.”

“god luke again with the fucking jersey, i don’t get the big deal it’s just a piece of fabric.” you yelled, getting frustrated. 

“it means something! ok y/n, it means something.” he starts. “there is a difference between wearing a jersey as a fan and wearing a jersey as a girlfriend, something personal and intimate, and you won��t even wear my jersey as a fucking fan.”

it felt like you were talking in circles and it was driving you crazy. 

“that is what i’m saying luke. i didn’t ever wear your jersey because i didn’t know what it would mean. i didn’t know if we were friends or something more, and wearing your jersey could’ve given us both the wrong ideas.”

“what idea would it have given you?” luke asked, taking a step towards you.

“that i’m something more to you than a friend, and i didn’t want to think that because it isn’t true” you admitted the truth, it wasn’t that you didn’t want him getting the wrong idea, but rather yourself. “-and i don’t like to get my hopes up.” 

luke didn’t respond, he just sat there in silence for what felt like an hour, but was probably closer to three minutes.

“luke if you want to leave, just go. i’m sorry i ruined our friendship, i wish you the best in the rest of your career and life-” 

your words were cut off by lips touching yours, luke’s lips.

after a few moments you broke the kiss, not liking how fast it was progressing.

“luke what was that-”

“i like you, y/n. as more than a friend, that is why i wanted you to wear my jersey so badly. i wanted to feel special, because you have this rule about never wearing anybody’s jersey, but you wore mine and you wore mine because i mean something to you whether that be a friend or something more, i just wanted to feel like i meant something to you.” luke practically yelled, interrupting you.

“i feel like we are both making the same points, but just phrasing them differently each time.” you spoke, trying to choose your next words carefully. “what do we do now? how do we move past this?” 

“well, you could agree to go on a date with me and wear my jersey to the next home game. that would be a start.” luke offered, grabbing both of your hands. “-you could also let me kiss you again, i’d really like that.”

“deal.”

+++

“sweetie are you almost ready? we’re gonna miss warmups.”

“coming dad.” 

you quickly made your way downstairs, checking your appearance in the multiple mirrors you passed by on the way towards the car.

“wearing your boyfriend's jersey i see?” your father quipped once you got into the driver’s seat, he demanded you drive because you had just gotten a new car.

“not my boyfriend.” was all you said in response.

“still? that boy needs to grow a pair.”

from: luke hughes

are we still on for after the game? 

to: luke hughes

yup! meet me in the car park when you’re done?

from: luke hughes

👍

+++

after the game you parted ways with your father, him taking an uber home and leaving you with your car to drive you and luke around tonight. which isn’t traditional, especially for a first date, but you loved betty, your new car, and you wanted to drive her.

“wow the new car is dope y/n.” 

you turned around and saw jack and luke walking towards you, the older hughes speaking.

“-and nice jersey, next time wear an eighty six for me, yeah?” 

“never gonna happen jack.” luke started, before turning his attention to you. “you ready to go?” 

“yes i am, you can put your bag in the trunk.” i opened up the trunk with my keys before getting in the driver's seat. “where are we going?” 

“i’ll give you directions as you drive.” luke said, plugging his phone into the aux.

+++

a few minutes later you pulled into a qdoba. 

“wow you know me so well hughes.”

“i just didn’t feel like paying extra for your queso and guac.” luke deadpanned.

“yeah right, i know i’m turning you into a qdoba enjoyer.” you teased as you entered the restaurant.

after getting our food luke gave me an address of where to drive for our late night picnic. it was a lookout place that luke had found when he first moved here, you had been here multiple times as well and knew of a good place to sit.

“follow me” you hopped over the barbed wire fence and waited until luke made it over to start walking again.

“are you sure this is allowed?” luke whispered.

“i know for a fact that it is not, but it’s fine no one is here right now it’s after dark.” you said back at full volume, earning a loud shhhh from luke in the process.

you walked a little bit more before you made it to your favorite ledge, you could see all of newark from here and a little bit of new york, but when you looked up there was a perfect view of the stars.

“how did you find this place?” luke asked, digging into his food.

“i was hiding from the cops one night and me and tyler ended up here.” luke’s eyes widened at your story. “i’ll tell you more about that later, but ever since i’ve been coming here.” 

we continued to eat and talk about random things until it was time to go.

“we should probably go, it’s nearly midnight.” 

+++

once you finished the drive back to luke’s apartment you got out of the car to say your goodbyes.

“well i had a lot of fun tonight, we should do it-” luke cut you off by kissing you. “you have to stop doing that.” you teased.

“sorry, it’s just that you look really good in my jersey, like really good. i was struggling not to jump over the glass when i saw you during warmups.” luke admitted, going in for another kiss. “look y/n, i was wondering if you maybe wanted to be my girlfriend?” a blush crept up luke’s neck as he spoke.

“i would love that.” you replied, a blush spread across your cheeks.

we said our goodbyes and you drove home, not expecting your father to be awake on the couch.

“oh you’re awake?” you asked, taking your shoes off.

“yeah just wanted to make sure you were safe.” your dad replied. “how is your boyfriend?”

“he is great.” you replied smiling, not correcting him for once because now he really was your boyfriend.

+++

note: BOOOO HAPPINESS no but this literally took me a month to finish because i had absolutely no energy and no inspo to write anything. idk if i like this yet…but ANYWAYS hope y’all enjoyed, leave feedback, have a great day, love y’all babes. 

[elisacaleisa]

I wrote this in my discord server and then posted on twitter. Time to annoy here as well, HEEHOO!

Jax's Personality Swap AU!

DAMN PIPELINE: Kody > Huxley > Gavin > Damien > Lasko > Kody

NOTE: Since this is a personality swap, these characters are gonna be out of character, but Huxley will still remained as a supporting character, while Kody is still not (only personality change, not roles)! Typing this just to avoid confusion!

Damien > Lasko:

Tired Air Elemental:

- he is tired

- looks older than he actually is, its the wrinkles and white hair

- bro doesnt sleep

- not really mean, he just sounds really monotone and had the same expression

- "you all are idiots, why do i hang out with you"

- "you have 99/100. you can do it next time"

- he has trust issues and has hard time opening up

- he means well when you get to know him

- "i try to push you to your limits, because i believe you can surpass them... i'm sorry, i didnt mean to break your boundaries"

- still a dnd nerd but more of a dungeon master with ton of research for his homebrew campaign

——————

Gavin > Damien:

Daring Fire Elemental:

- more of a risk taker in a rebellious bad boy way? Outside of the academy

- night walks

- "are you lost, precious?"

- smiles all the time in a warm way

- "well, look at you, what a snack. are you cold? i can warm you up."

- very smart but doubts himself

- awkward with physical contact

- tries to be seen as overly attractive and an attention seeker to hide his emotional vulnerability

- he and his mom kinda argue so he left,,, whoops

- "arent you a doll, freelancer. heh... alright, we will hug. maybe even kiss?"

——————

Kody > Huxley:

Distant Earth Elemental:

- is not very friendly in the beginning

- trust issues! My favorite /j

- he can be a meanie :(

- "why do we keep bumping into each other?"

- freelancer does not give up

- "i can take care of myself, i am not that stupid" he sounded hurt...

- he misses his moms,,,

- he wants to fit in, but since people think he is stupid because he is an earth elemental, he decided to do the opposite and be alone by himself

- the only friend he had was Lasko but they fought they last time they saw each other

- "you actually like me, didnt you? what am i doing, why do i wanna hurt you so bad? im supposed to be your friend" - spinel from steven universe the movie

——————

Huxley > Gavin:

Oblivious Incubus:

- he is so lonely

- his only friend was Caelum, who is kinda a spoiled brat but nice only to Gav (slowly to FL)

- FL comes up

- "youre so pretty..."

- shit he said that out loud

- PANIC

- "ISAIDWELCOMEMYNAMEISGAVIN-"

- very friendly

- poor orientation skills. he has to walk with freelancer to get them to the academy

- loves physical touch

- gives fl a keychain for free!

- the keychain says big gulp. FL giggles

- "huh? Whats so funny?" ... "oh... Ohhh haha! Haha, i didnt even realize! Youre so smart"

——————

Lasko > Kody

Bashful Water Elemental:

- he is so innocent!

- he is trying to be helpful

- "a-are you okay?"

- freelancer says its okay

- "i struggle with my powers, i-im so sorry"

- kody is following them.... ok?

- kody, personal space pls

- he is trying to also help freelancer, since he knows the struggle of being useless

- kody is being very pushy...

- "well, in this book, it says that we should bridge if we want to maximize our potential in our elemental. w-what do you say?"

- kody is a creep again GOD DAMMIT!

[phantomphangphucker]

Phic Phight - Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome

@atropos_aeneas @Anguished-Lurker @higgidigs @princessfanonanona @Ghostfox_fuyu @armed-with-knitting-needles

No one had ever died, a fact Phantom and all of Amity was frankly proud of, that couldn’t last though… could it? Or was everyone just too changed by everything for them to be undone by death? Either way, Lancer has class to teach and a school to more or less run.

Lancer was well aware of the simple fact that Amity Park was a very dangerous and strange town to live in, and he was also well aware that the reason for that was not just the ghosts; only mostly them. The teens in town had all long since lost any semblance of risk avoidance and had taken to doing incredibly dangerous hobbies; frequent drag races, parkour, rooftop hockey, and actively playing with the smaller ghosts. It worried him some honestly, more so in the early days than now, now it was just simply normal.

Everyone being slightly ecto-contaminated, and thusly much more durable with minor healing factors, gave him some peace of mind at least.

Further, if he’s being honest, Jack Fenton’s driving was far more dangerous than any ghost, known and unknown, to man. He, like everyone else in Amity, firmly believed that who ever approved Jack Fenton’s license, if anyone actually had, should be fired and investigated posthaste. One of the downsides to being aware of the road threat that was Jack Fenton was being too relaxed when there wasn’t a GAV road warning out. Another was not being worried about any other driver's, because surely one insane driver would cancel out the requirement for any other forms of bad driving; everyone would drive like angels to avoid being compared to Jack, drag races notwithstanding. And the last downside was having something of a god complex behind the wheel, if one could survive Jack Fenton’s driving on the weekly then surely they were immune to road-related injuries.

All three of these downsides were exactly why Lancer was currently in this situation. Him get t-boned by a semi -an out of town delivery semi, Lancer notes very pointedly- and was thrown front end first into a fire hydrant… and unfortunately all of Amity’s fire hydrants -and telephone poles for that matter- had to be reinforced both because of ghosts and Jack Fenton.

Now all of that would have been acceptable, more or less, he would have gotten badly injured for sure but Lancer had always had a love for older vehicles; meaning he drove an older vehicle, one without a seatbelt or airbags. In retrospect that was rather foolish to do in Amity, but sue him, he was allowed to take some risks himself too. So instead of smashing his face into an airbag and having a seatbelt to hold him in, Lancer went out the windshield, which thankfully seemed to just pop out since he never really felt it shatter.

So now here Lancer is, groaning and pushing himself up out of a bush, a bush that he is thanking everything that he got thrown into since it must have cushioned the impact. And giving himself a once over, maybe not wearing seatbelts or having airbags in this town was actually a good idea, seeing as there doesn’t appear to be a single scratch on him. His clothing isn’t even torn, at least he doesn’t have to try and replace one of his favourite shirts; it was important to appreciate the little mercies. His car on the other hand…

Pushing his way out of the bush and staring at the wreck, his car is a pancake. Unrecognizable even.

If he hadn’t been thrown out he would certainly be dead.

Explicitly dead.

Vaguely he wonders if he would have become a ghost himself, in this town and with this contamination, it was mostly likely a certainty. Instead, his potentially poor road safety decisions and ecto-contamination had just saved him. Saved him from not just medical bills but potentially death itself. Breathing out slowly, quoting Isaac Asimov, “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome”, breathing again, “much the same, I was well before and I shall be well again. Any shock, replacing my car, and suddenly facing my mortality; is only a troublesome transitional period”; and breaths again.

He’s aright.

Well. Okay.

Yes he’ll need to check his meager bank account -even these days teachers were still woefully underpaid- to see if he had the funds for a new used vehicle. Then there was all the time researching and searching for something he could both drive and would enjoy driving. But he was o-kay, and that was enough.

He, however, did not have the time for shock or to got to the hospital; he had a class to teach tomorrow and paper work to be done. Daniel was still settling in as a teacher and Lancer will not let that boy-now-man down now after everything Lancer’s done to get him to enjoy schooling again. Especially when his parents still seemed to not truly care about the man, and frankly the odd man was only able to get a job by being too good to refuse to hire… and it helped Daniel actually cared about all the teens. Wanted them to not go through all the troubles he seemingly did; the stories Lancer got often made him feel like he both failed and succeeded with the man at the same time.

Was Lancer distracting himself with his usual worry ex-student? Maybe. But it gets him moving to check on the driver enough to see that the older man’s alright but shaken and calling the emergency line. Lancer would stick around but again, he has school to prepare for.

So instead he walks home. Nothing more nothing less. Doesn’t stop for food. Doesn’t go to peruse the Bookworm’s shelves for new reads, as he had been planing to do. Doesn’t even stop to say high to the nearest gas station clerk. He goes home, makes tea, wraps himself in a blanket, allows himself to watch three episodes of his most recent favourite soap opera, and then finishes winding down with paper work. Grading seniors papers was usually genuinely enjoyable rather than purely tedious or worrying, since seniors took things more seriously.

It’s… a good way to end what could have been a truly horrific day even if he definitely felt a fair bit off kilter.

When he gets up in the morning he doesn’t really think much about still feeling a bit off or the bout of insomnia he had; he had been through a rather traumatic experience after all. He only hopes the lack of sleep doesn’t catch up with him in the middle of the day, he didn’t like being off his game. However, having a tired teacher and vice principle, was better than not having one at all. He’ll take what he can get in this case, he was lucky he was fine at all as it was.

So regardless of the potential looming exhaustion, Lancer hails a cab to work. The cabbie gives Lancer a bit of a strange look but quickly shrugs and takes him to Casper-high without comment; perhaps Lancer should have actually checked his face for any bruising, he did have make up he could have covered any busing with after all…

The ride was blissfully normal, thankfully, at least. Yes Lancer will admit he was a bit nervous about another accident, even if the chance of that happen twice in one week to him was statistically speaking incredibly unlikely. The sun hasn’t risen above the horizon yet, the sky is clear, there’s no ghosts, and Casper-high looks fully intact.

Good. Normal.

However, as he approaches the building, something explicitly not normal and concerningly not good happens. The faintly sparkling ghost shield, the one that mostly protected the school from most of at least the weaker ghosts, the one FentonWorks product that had never caused any kind of issues or damages, the one anti-ghost method of protecting the students that didn’t involve guns, and the one that Lancer had felt the mild tingle of passing through near daily for the past year. The tingle was strange but an easy adjustment, especially for the safety it provided, being ecto-contaminated was well known to be why the tingle happened especially as those who frequented Casper-high had more ecto-contamination than most. The Highschool was, unfortunately, a ghost hot spot after all and frequent decontamination of the grounds and equipment was a must as a result.

Apparently today was the day that the shield decided to be a problem, perhaps the ecto-contamination in him -and likely all the other more senior staff- had simply gotten to too high a level… which would of course mean he’d have to have a conversation with the Fenton’s immediately. Or rather, he should call Daniel, let him know of this issue and to arrive slightly early to check it out, that was a far less painful idea and would involve far less monologuing from the Fenton patriarch… or the man accusing Lancer of being a ghost and covering him in goop for the hundredth time.

So Lancer pulls out his phone with a sigh, eyeing the shield as it rings and he holds it up to his ear.

“Lance? What’s up? It’s still, like, ass-o-clock in the morning there’s no way I’m late. Oh Ancients am I late or something? Fuck”.

Lancer sighs to himself, he never did manage to get Daniel’s language under control. At least he never swore at students… well, he did just not in English, which was good enough apparently. “Language. No, you’re not late. However there seems to be an, issue, of some kind with the ghost shield and I was inquiring if you’d be willing to check it out before I have to deal with Maddie or, forbid, Jack”, then quoting Eat That Frog!, “One of the very worst uses of time is to do something very well that need not to be done at all”.

Daniel laughs, loudly, “okay, okay, that makes sense. I’ll be there sooner than you’d expect me to be, ‘cause Amity is ‘like that” and all. If it’s really jacked up then I’ll have to get them to take it down though”, grumbling, “since I’m not allowed to have the codes or blueprints anymore”.

Lancer frowns faintly, those parents of his had absolutely no trust in him anymore, yes Daniel was ‘pro ghost’ unlike them and yes Daniel was also a prankster known for messing with things, but that didn’t really matter. Daniel was a genius in his own right, about ghosts and tech and space, he just didn’t agree with them, which made him a fool and a risk in their eyes. Lancer shakes his head, “unfortunate. I’ll see you soon then”. The phone clicks off and Lancer settles in to wait.

Daniel shows up not even three minutes later, weirdly quick, almost concerning actually, but that was normal for him. It was something to do with his and the towns contamination making it so that he nearly teleported unintentionally around when he wanted to go somewhere specific, the towns ecto-energy snagging onto his and pulling him along… or at least that’s the explanation Daniel was going with at least.

Daniel is waving at him with furrowed brows and a possibly pinched -it was hard to tell with Daniel- smile, the man does eye the shield some as he gets over fully. Daniel humming, “well it’s not on fire”.

Lancer grimaces, that would be much more concerning, “is that possible?”.

Daniel shrugs, “I mean maybe, their base substrate before filtering and whatnot is super flammable. I’m not allowed near it for reasons”, and smirks to himself in that way that tells Lancer the man intentionally set something on fire with it. Daniel looks back to him, and yes his smile is definitely pinched, “let’s, uh, walk over to the control box”, gestures over Lancer’s shoulder and starts walking without waiting for a response.

Lancer just watches him go for a beat, a little thrown off, something was up and something being up with Daniel was never good. Having to catch up a little, even if Daniel wasn’t exactly going fast since he knew that Lancer wasn’t what anyone would call a fast walker, “alright, what’s wrong? I can tell something is bothering you”.

Daniel glances at him before running a hand through his hair, his other stuffed into his pants pocket, “Lance… there ain’t a great to say this-”.

Oh. On Shakespeare’s grave, that is an incredibly bad thing to hear Daniel say. No one, especially Daniel, says that there isn’t a great way to say something unless the something is either very bad, very annoying, or very upsetting. Lancer’s silently hoping for the ‘very annoying’ option.

Daniel’s hand moves down to rub his neck, making Lancer feel more worried; hair fiddling plus neck rubbing plus Daniel was extremely ominous. Daniel continues speaking, “-see the thing is, right, it’s, ah- well there is problem, and the problem does involve the shield”.

Lancer is going to start sweating at this point, “Chicken Soup For The Soul, just tell me, Daniel. You’re going to give me a heart attack with all this beating around the bush. That is terrifying from you”. The last time Daniel had skirted around an issue and problem like this was when a, swear on his Anne Rice collection, full blown ghost invasion happened.

Daniel’s laugh is awkward and nervous, once again an ominous sign, how bad was this going to be? “Okay that’s fair, ha”, rubbing his neck some more before halting his steps and eyeing Lancer as he too stops, “look, it’s not the portal, Lance, it’s, uh, it’s you”.

Lancer blinks in a way he knows is a bit owlish, “I’m not sure I follow?”, how was it himself? He’s fairly certain he hadn’t had any recent run ins with ghosts or general ectoplasm? And thanks to his insomnia he knows there was no ghosts being thrown through his bedroom walls without his awareness. So his ecto-contamination shouldn’t be noticeably any worse than it was on Friday?

Daniel makes a range of faces, confusion, sadness, worry, amusement, and absolute bafflement, “have you just, not looked in a mirror today? Have, Lance man, how have you not noticed? I-what”, turning away and almost wheeze laughing at the air, “what am I supposed to do with this?”.

Oh maybe near death experiences could have a more ghostly side effect in an ecto-contaminated town perhaps? And maybe he definitely should have thought about using some make-up, he must be bruised then. He puts a hand to his chest and sighs, “is my face just bruised up? I did get into a bit of an-”, and cuts himself off due to a bit of spastic full body twitch. It’s… he’s never felt anything like that before and he absolutely does not want to actually talk about the accident. Maybe he did have some shock? More trauma than he expected? Frowning, now he’s worrying himself.

Daniel looks back to him and winces, not in a confused or worried way but rather in a knowing way, “yeah um, don’t try talking about it, I don’t need to know the how. That’d be rude of me”, and sighs, looking up at the sky. Lancer is now more worried because Daniel did not care about ‘being rude’, Catcher In The Rye, the man made a point to be rude sometimes. Daniel doesn’t give him a chance to interrupt, “okay, so, you do not have bruising, yay?”, Daniel looks awkward even if he’s still looking up at the sky, “it’s more that, well, you’re, you know or not I suppose, glowing”.

What.

Lancer blinks harshly, shaking himself off a little from that spasm earlier before responding, “I’m… glowing?”. Lifting a hand and inspecting it, his hand looked normal to him?

Daniel laughs at the action and Lancers confusion almost fondly, then shaking his head and pulling out his phone, holding the turned off screen up to Lancer’s face.

In his reflection Lancer… is, in fact, glowing.

He’s actually glowing.

His eyes are a light baby blue.

Glowing baby blue.

…

Is… is that why the cabbie was staring?

…

…

What.

Daniel pockets his phone, grabs Lancer by the arm, and basically drags Lancer over to a bench to sit down. Lancer’s a little too confused and concerned to do anything, the reminder of Daniel’s odd strength is a bit of a distraction at least.

What does this mean?

Why is he glowing of all things?

How is he glowing?

…

He feels fine.

He does feel fine right?

His clothes fit him like normal.

The ground under his feet feels the same… or maybe does? Is he… lighter perhaps?

…

Oh.

Oh.

He’s… not breathing is he?

He’s not breathing.

He’s. Not. Breathing.

He is not breathing and Daniel’s just… sitting next to him… waiting?

Waiting… for him? To figure that out?

To figure out that he’s not breathing? That something is very wrong?

Why isn’t he-?

The accident.

The car crash.

Him getting thrown through a windshield.

Fahrenheit 451, he didn’t feel the windshield shatter because it didn’t.

The windshield didn’t pop out or shatter, but he still went through it.

He…

He died.

He died, didn’t he?

Death.

…

He only realizes absently that he’s shaking, that’s… understandable. He… Swallowing and moving to rest his elbows on his knees, folding his hands over his mouth and chin, “I’m… dead?”.

Daniel nods, Lancer doesn’t see it but he knows the man nodded anyways, “yeah. Yeah you are”.

The confirmation is a bit awful, actually. “That’s bad, isn’t it?”, and actually looks at Daniel.

Daniel shrugs, eyeing Lancer some back, “I guess that depends on what you’re gonna do about it? You’re here, not in the gz. You remember yourself, you life, teaching, all that”, Daniel gestures out to the town loosely, “and Amity does have enough free floating ecto to support the standard ghost”. Lancer swallows while Daniel gestures at him, “you’re human passing”, smiling in a way that’s definitely supposed to be reassuring, “technically, no one has to know, or no one else has to at least. De-glow spray is a real thing FentonWorks makes and it does actually work as intended. And you’re old enough you can just start wearing glasses all the time without people really questioning it; just with ecto-lenses in them”.

Lancer blinks, he- does he want that? He wants to teach, of course, teaching the young to appreciate the written world has always been his passion. “I… don’t know”.

Daniel nods like he expected that response, “well, you don’t have to make a choice really. Not immediately anyways. You could just pretend you’re not, you know, and just push the existential crisis off till later. I can easily get you de-glow and glasses before school actually starts. Maybe say I did something stupid again and blew up a few more microscopes, so I’m your assistant for the next while as punishment”.

Lancer’s not so mild freak out is being steamroll somewhat by the reminder that Daniel was disturbingly good at and quick on his feet about making excuses and spinning stories into believable lies. It’s a… skill, just a concerning one to have. “That’s- alright. Okay”.

Daniel nods readily, “well if you want my opinion, moving to the gz is a fucking stupid idea. You know that ghost are not inherently dangerous, or violent, or bad; like my folks claim. So I don’t need to tell you that me playing assistant is not me making sure you behave”, rolling a wrist, “more… actual assistance I guess. Guidance. Advice”, shrugging, “weird that that’s for another teacher instead of the kids this time, but eh”.

… Lancer stares at him a little, this was… way too normal of a reaction. Yes Lancer himself wasn’t having a… complete melt down, but that was supposed to be… normal… for ghosts. Ghosts liked being ghosts.

Shakespeare’s grave he’s a ghost now.

…

Which is, possibly, alright. Okay. A ‘he’ll get used to it’ situation rather than a genuine soul crushing tragedy.

He definitely can’t be leaving Amity to retire now though…

That was unfortunate.

…

Shaking his head, back to the point, Daniel was being too calm about this. Way too calm. Yes the man was familiar with this… this subject but still. “Daniel, you’re, awfully calm about this. All of it”. With helping. With having advice at the drop of a hat. With his favourite teacher being… dead.

Has this…

Has this happened before?

Daniel’s face actually manages to pale a little, giving Lancer an answer to a question he didn’t have to ask. This has happened before.

To who?

How’d they handle it?

Were they handling it at all? Or just ignoring it?

If literally anyone dies in Amity do they simply… become a ghost instantly?

Daniel sighs, shoulders straightening some. Lancer has a feeling he’s going to find out something that he’d rather not. He wants to know if this has happened to anyone else, but he doesn’t really want to know who. Daniel’s voice is calm, even, neutral. Speaking as he’s looking out at the town, “I suppose you’ll find out one way or another, ghosts are gossips”, Daniel eyes him, blue becoming green, “I’m not ecto-contaminated”.

Oh.

…

Daniel was… dead? That’s…

There’s no other world for it other than awful. Even if he doesn’t even have to ask if the man’s okay with it, Lancer knows he’d have to be with how he talks about ghosts and death, but that doesn’t make it less awful. Lancer stares at those green eyes for a beat before looking to the ground, rubbing his hands over his face tiredly, “how long?”. Even if it was okay to ask how he wouldn’t want to and not just because it would be unpleasant to know, it also feels… wrong somehow.

That’s probably a ghost feeling, isn’t it?

Daniel’s voice remains even, the question seemingly not bothering him, “my how and when is easy to figure out, so I mind being asked… less. Still mind it but I’m not going to assault someone over it. My, accident, was the talk of the whole school after all”.

Lancer grimaces, right, The Accident, with a capital A, if he wasn’t a bit… out of it then he would have put that together himself. “Apologies, you’re right, that… should have been obvious”.

Daniel shrugs, “that’s fine, you’re not exactly okay right now and just had some seriously fucking mind blowing news dropped on you”, then, of all things, he laughs, “though if you had just used a damn mirror this conversation would have happened a lot earlier”.

Lancer can respect the attempt to lighten the mood, even if it feels a little… insulting. “And I suppose I wouldn’t have confused the cabbie”.

“A cabbie actually drove you here? What the Zone is wrong with that cabbie?”, and barks out a laugh, “this town is crazy. Granted that’s kinda my fault but oh well”.

Lancer gave up trying to convince the man that it really wasn’t a long time ago, and looking Daniel over… he had milked that ‘ecto-contamination’ lie for all it was worth. Because, now that Lancer knew that was a lie, Daniel being… a ghost was obvious, wasn’t it? The pointed ears hidden barely by wild hair that’s a little too black. The fangs that were practically shown off when he laughed or smiled; which he did a lot. How pale his skin was, nearly seeming translucent under the right light. The sharp pointed nails that have caused an unfortunate amount of damages; his beaker dropping problem made a lot more sense now as well. Quoting Flannery O’Conner at the teen, “It does not take much to make us realize what fools we are, but the little it takes is long in coming”.

Daniel grins at him, “you and your book related quotes, man”.

Wait, was Lancer going to start dropping things to?

Shaking his head and taking a breath… or pretending to he supposes. He should try and figure all this out, he’s not sure he could actually handle it if he started… floating suddenly.

Being told he is and looks like a ghost is one thing. Suddenly floating or shooting out ecto-beams was another matter entirely, one he’s positive will give him a complete break down.

… He could see how this would be easier to deal with as a teen. Teens were adaptable, might find some aspects cool; Amity teens adjusted to ghosts far quicker than the adults after all.

Daniel’s starting to look a little concerned again, so Lancer pipes up, “am I going to have your beaker dropping problem?”.

Daniel scrunches up his entire face, “you will never let me live that down, will you”, grumbling incoherently to himself before addressing Lancer again, “no. Probably not”, squinting, “you feel like a normal ghost, so the abilities ghosts have shouldn’t act up out of your control on you”, running his neck, “I mean sure, you’re definitely going to doing things without noticing. That’s unavoidable. Things just come too naturally to ghost, you know?”, shrugs, “but, for me, my accident was aggressively unique and resulted in me very much so not being a normal ghost”, pouting a little, “hence all the poor poor beakers that no one will let me forget about”, pouting more, “and all the problems keeping my pants up, and most of the burnt homework, and my little bathroom problem-”

“This is why you go to the bathroom constantly?”. One of his biggest mysteries, solved. Lancer actually would rather not have that one solved, if being dead was the why.

Daniel rubs his neck while standing up, “yeah? Surprise I guess? You really don’t have worry about a similar issue though”, shrugging, “and I guess there’s some benefits, part of the reason all the ghost attacks don’t cause more damages, or Ancients forbid, deaths, is because I’m officially classified as an endangered species. Meaning genuinely endangering my existence is a crime”.

Lancer sighs into his hands before pushing himself to stand up as well, definitely noticing how much easier doing that was now. No knees aching, to spine cracking… no heavy drag from gravity. He does not like that he has to make a point to reassure himself that he is not floating. Eyeing Daniel , “that’s, a little concerning, Daniel, but I suppose I should be happy about you having specific protections”.

Daniel rolls his eyes, “yeah yeah yeah, doesn’t stop them from trying to ‘socialize’ with me by picking fights”, pointing at Lancer, “which, word to the wise, if some ghost tries to pick a fight just tell them no. Do not fight them, they take that as an invitation to keep doing it. No hitting them with fire extinguishers, or chairs, or tires, or baking trays, or that one time you somehow hit Skulker with The Box Ghost. At least off of school grounds anyways”.

Lancer frowns, “why is it okay on school grounds?”.

Daniel gestures for Lancer to follow him, resulting in them walking in the direction of the shields control panel, Daniel probably had a way to deal with it considering everything. Daniel talking as they go, “well you’re the vice principle, and as far as I’m aware the principle is not a ghost. Meaning you’re the senior one here, so here’s your territory. You’ll worry all the ghosts if you don’t smash Technus’s ass with a candle jar or something, when he inevitably starts crawling out of the speakers for world domination again. And then they’ll start babying you and you don’t want that, it is very annoying”.

Lancer feels a little confused, but well ghost behaviour often didn’t make sense… which was unfortunately ominous now. He does not want to lose the ability to relate to the staff and students… but… there’s nothing he can actually do about that.

Wait, if he remembers correctly, which he usually did remember his conversations with Daniel well since it encourage the boy-now-man so much, then ghosts only really ‘baby’, well, child ghosts. “Am I a child now”. What?

Daniel stops walking, bending over and puttimg his hands on his knees, wheeze laughing, “oh man! Ha! Yeah, yeah Lance you are”, standing up straight and snickering a little, “since you are, or were really, an adult before you won’t be a child ghost for long, so don’t beat yourself up about it too much”. Daniel is very clearly mocking him, Lancer’s willing to let it slide like usual.

At least once they get to the control panel all Daniel has to do to short it out long enough for both of them to get through, by shoving his hand intangibly through it. The man does it like it’s nothing, like it’s normal and not tied to an… untimely death. Which is oddly comforting, though Lancer seriously doubts he’ll ever be that okay with any part of his body going through something.

Daniel seems to agree with Lancer’s thoughts, “I guess I’ll be showing up at ass-o-clock all the time now, to let you in and everything”, shrugging, “eh sleeps for the weak and the living”.

Right.

The insomnia… which was not actually insomnia. He just… doesn’t need sleep anymore. That was going to take some time to get used to, but at least he’d have more time for grading and paperwork. Which might be quite nice actually. “You don’t mind?”.

Danny shakes his head as Lancer unlocks the school, “naw. Intangibility is stupidly unsettling in the beginning, not gonna expect anyone who actually remembers being alive to just up and start using it willy nilly. Plus you don’t know what wires to intangibly disconnect without even looking at, unlike me”.

Lancer gives him a bit of a glare for the blatant bragging, even if he does agree that he does not want to be using that ability himself, ever maybe.

Once they get to Daniel’s staff locker, which Lancer is guessing has stuff to help him not obviously be… a ghost, the man shoves his hand through the door instead of opening it; and pulls out a can, a box of lozenges labeled ‘echo soothers’, and, yes, some glasses. Daniel offering them over, “the de-glow works just like bug spray, smells like cotton candy for some reason though. And glasses are glasses, I don’t need to explain that. The cough drop looking mother fuckers will get rid of that whole echoing voice issue, even if yours is barely noticeable at all”.

Lancer eyes the items a bit before taking them, “I guess it makes sense you’d have this on school grounds”.

Daniel blinks before smacking his forehead, “oh no, I don’t have to use this stuff normally, it’s more in case my typical bad luck strikes and I need it suddenly”, rubbing his neck, “one of my unique species abilities is the ability to look human via shapeshifting. I’d need a lot more than just that to look human passing otherwise”, gesturing to his ears with his pointed nails and grinning enough to show fang, “obviously it’s not perfect but eh. At least my skins not teal this way, that would be a pain”.

Lancer’s a bit jealous honestly, however strange or not using a ghost ability like that would be he’d still be using that one. Lancer sprays the can on his hand a little experimentally, oh okay he hadn’t realized his skin was tingling until it stopped tingling. Odd. Well… at least the tingle wasn’t noticeable enough to wind up being distracting.

Daniel eyes Lancer’s hand and nods with a smile, “it’s working”, looking to Lancer’s face, “the tingle that you absolutely hadn’t noticed earlier gone now?”.

Daniel was so used to this that Lancer’s honestly a bit in awe. His former student was effectively becoming his teacher now. Strange but something of a nice comfort actually. Lancer nods and at Daniel’s ‘well go on’ gesture sprays himself entirely and puts on the glasses.

Daniel nods more so to himself, “yup, works. Figured. Congrats on being human-passing”, and gives Lancer a silly little thumbs up.

Lancer nods back, he would definitely be upset if he had to skip teaching because of this. So maybe Daniel’s suggestion to just go about his, well, ‘life’ as it were, as if nothings really changed was what he actually should do. Though, “my appearance is still going to change though, correct? Over time?”.

Daniel grins wide and points at his teeth, “oh definitely, I’d say sorry but that won’t change shit. All adults have fangs and claws; most have the ear points too. You might get lucky and that’ll be it and it’ll all be small, or your skin could change colours or you could develop something unique to you. Like Ember and The Lunch Lady have their fire hair, and Technus doesn’t have legs at all-”.

That would be extremely unfortunate. Lancer’s not sure he could even deal with that, part of his body being on fire or not having legs or growing another limb perhaps.

Daniel puts his hands together and gestures with them, “-but I highly doubt that, unique looks are usually tied to, well, the how of death. Like, my upper left side, arm included, is more electricity than physical matter. The permanent bed head’s also a unique trait, not just me being lazy”.

“Do you at least still brush it”. Lancer’s a little… disturbed by part of his former students body being electricity…

Daniel rolls his eyes before flopping down on the lounge room couch, “of course not, why the fuck would I do that? It wouldn’t do me anything”.

“Language”.

That just makes Daniel smirk, “glad to hear you’re doing better”, blinking and going a little wide-eyed before digging into his pockets, “oh! Right!”, pulling out two pods of death wish coffee, “I brought coffee, want one?”, and gets back up to turn on the coffee machine.

Lancer sighs, “regardless of the fact that the school, and principal, is too cheap to supply us with free coffee pods, no. I know you and I know that is far too caffeinated”.

Daniel laughs as the old machine sputters to life, “what’s the worst that’s gonna do? Kill us?”.

Oh F.Scott Fitzgerald, the morbid jokes make an unfortunate amount of sense now. Lancer also is slightly disturbed that Daniel actually has a point with that comment/joke.

Daniel waves Lancer off without looking at him, “besides, ghosts are made out of and need energy, caffeine is energy. There’s no such thing as too much. Ancients, the more the better really”.

Again, Lancer doesn’t like that Daniel has a very good point. “I think I’ll still have to decline, Daniel”.

“Eh, your loss”. The man taking a sip of the extremely hot liquid that closer resembles molasses than coffee, “delicious”, turning to Lancer, “so, I’m assume we’re are actually going with the ‘I’m your assistant as punishment’ thing? Because frankly if you do start doing something explicitly ghostly I’ll probably notice before you will. And since I am very firmly stronger than you and you are baby, I can easily just exert my own pressure enough on you to make your body cut it out”.

Lancer’s… not too sure how to feel about that statement. Part of him seems to actively dislike the entire notion, but it’s… better than him suddenly floating in class. Gravity nullification was the most basic feature of ectoplasm and thusly ghosts, so there’s no way he can’t do that… as unpleasant as that thought was. “And you can… do that easily?”. Okay, yes, that is indeed disturbing.

Daniel’s chuckle is mean. Intentionally mean, “one thing about my species is we’re abnormally powerful and don’t have to expend our ecto on sustaining our form, so yes. Yes I can”.

Considering the fact that part of why ghosts were very specifically Amity’s problem was because ghosts couldn’t be in the living world outside of Amity for too long, as they would run out of ecto-energy to maintain their form. If Daniel’s… species didn’t have that problem then that would make them incredibly dangerous. “It’s… probably for the best you’re rare, then”.

“No shit. Oh and since you’ll find out via gossip any way, and since he really can’t give me shit these days, the mayor? Yeah dead as a doornail too”.

Lancer sighs into his hand, “Wuthering Heights, that… that explains a lot actually”. Lancer always thought the mayor looked and acted rather strange, and not in a positive way. Also explained why such a rich man became the mayor of a random small town… and how.

“I know right? He’s the same as me though, so don’t go comparing yourself to him at all. Also he is stronger than you so don’t be stupid please”, glancing to the clock, “well it looks like everyone else is probably gonna be here soon”.

Lancer glancing to the clock too, “right. How long does the, de-glow, last?”. The mayor being stronger than him is needlessly unsettling, more than it should be he thinks? Or not?

…

Right. Ghosts normally get unsettled by stronger… ones.

Especially because Mayor Masters is definitely the type to causally beat a teacher up…

… Alright okay, he’s going to be avoiding the mayor to the best of his capabilities in the future. He already disliked the man so he’s not bothered by staying away from him.

“Twelve fucking hours, great longevity, I know. So what we doing first? Because I absolutely do not have your schedule memorised”, downing some of his ‘drink’ and pointing at Lancer, “don’t even try to claim that surprises you”, putting the hand down onto his hip, “also, if Mayor Bastard decides to bother you, just tell me and I’ll tell him to fuck off. Regardless of us being antagonistic and constantly threatening and messing with each other, we are actually vaguely friends. Frienemies, with a mild familial relationship perhaps. He’ll listen, or I’ll just make him if he doesn’t”.

Lancer sighs at the man, “I’d tell you not to be so hostile to the mayor, like I always do, and that you’re encouraging his behaviour in return. But if you’re both, ghosts, then I suppose it’s only natural”. Those two tended to behave like it was physically impossible for them to be genuinely nice or kind to each other. Every word, look, or action was either snide, insulting, or down right murderous; also strangely fond most of the time. He often chose not to question it, outside of finding it concerning that he never heard that same undertone of fondness towards Daniel’s own parents. “And I’ll be substituting for Joshep’s chemistry class first, then I’ve got simple desk work, then I suppose I’ll be ‘sitting in’ on your ecto-ology class, then lunch of course. Everything after that is just more office paper work till my English class”.

Danny nods and follows after Lancer as they leave the lounge, “cool, cool. I will not remember any of that”.

Lancer sighs, unsurprised but still, turning and waving at Penelope as she comes in through the doors, “morning, Penelope”.

She nods respectfully, “morning, William, Danny”.

Daniel flips her off.

Very professional.

At least he knows she won’t complain but Lancer still glares at Danny, “language”.

Daniel pouts at him, “boo. Let me have my fun”.

Though in truth he’s happy Penelope doesn’t have any… abnormal reactions to him. This whole situation, him being a ghost, was going to be rather nerve wracking for a while. Making him fret and worry over others possibly noticing he’s changed, or over his body doing things he’d rather it not do at all, or over himself changing especially without him realizing it, or even over ghosts treating him different.

“Don’t worry too much about people noticing now, you’d be surprised how little people notice. Heck, I walk through trash cans in public and telekinetically untie people’s shoes, no one notices shit”.

Lancer jerks, startled, “you’re still going to manage to startle me all the time, aren’t you?”. Weren’t ghosts supposed to be able to pick up on each other and tell when others were going to do things? “Also please refrain from doing that stuff, at least on school property”. Though yes, he was worrying about that and yes, he’s aware that people can be rather oblivious. Even he himself, apparently; since he never noticed Daniel’s apparent death.

Daniel laughs, “no. It makes the kids laugh and makes the bullies think they’re all cursed, as they should feel they are”, shrugging as they get to Joshep’s classroom, “and yes, I will keep startling you. I am actively more unnerving and startling to ghosts, since I can hide my ecto-signature as easily as I can disguise myself. Which makes me all that more of a threat, since ghosts instinctively rely on that sense so a spooky that can sidestep it is inherently unsettling”.

Lancer actively frowns at that as he rearranges Joshep’s desk enough to be personally usable, that man never kept things tidy enough. Joshep was better than Daniel though, regardless of how little that actually meant. Daniel’s classroom was a bio-ecto-hazard.

Which might not be a problem for Lancer now… meaning he can forcibly clean the man’s space without Daniel having a reasonable excuse as to why Lancer could not do so due to all the excessive ecto-contamination.

A little positive, he supposes.

Watching as Daniel flops down lazily in the designated assistants chair, yawning tiredly. The yawn doesn’t seem faked, leaving Lancer wondering just how good at faking human Daniel was. Raising an eyebrow, “are you actually tired or keeping up an act?”. Lancer certainly didn’t feel tired, even if he should… if he wasn’t…dead.

Daniel rubs his neck awkwardly, “ah yeah, it’s another species thing. I get energy from sleep, so I still need it. Same with food and water”.

Lancer’s brow furrows, it was almost like he was actually still human, or rather still an alive human. That entire notion fills him with a mix of both jealousy and pity. That would be terribly confusing but… still being alive would be…

Hmm.

Alright, it seems that this is the whole ‘okay with being a ghost’ feeling. Strange. He’s not sure if it’s a good or bad… feeling.

Susan sticking her head in stops him from questioning Daniel further, “there you are, I only have thirty-two spare pencils instead of thirty-six”, her noticing Daniel and smiling in that insulting way she often does, “oh someone’s on assistant duty again, so how about you get me some pencils?”.

It takes more effort than normal not to frown or sigh at the woman. Right, ghosts responded emotionally more so than humans did. Another adjustment he’ll have to deal with.

Daniel rolls his eyes, “oh eat my socks, Susan”, he does get up anyways though, eyeing Lancer who waves him off; surely Daniel can grab pencils before any students began to show up.

So Daniel leaves, downing the rest of his ‘coffee’ in one go and tossing the cup,

…

Now he’s alone with his own thoughts for the first time since finding out that he died yesterday.

…

It’s a good thing he didn’t stop to actually talk to that truck driver, the poor old man would have had an actual heart attack. As it is the driver would have to live with killing someone.

…

Did-

Did he leave a… body behind?

Interview With A Vampire, he’s going to have to check for that, isn’t he?

He really does not want to do that, or see that.

What if… that needs to be buried? A… funeral? Grave?

Leaning his head down and massaging his temples, this is all a little much. He can’t even tell if he actually does or doesn’t want those things. The… funeral and grave. Laid to rest.

For Shakespeare’s shake he was still here! And all of… that would eliminate any possibility of keeping this to mostly himself.

What did Daniel do? That’s certainly unkind to ask.

But the thought of not having that, of the idea of his… body being left out in some compacted heap, is deeply disturbing. He’s sure Phantom has gone on record saying something about ghosts and burials, of being respected, of not being… physically disturbed. So this disturbed feeling is likely natural, and understandable he supposes.

He’d be disturbed even without this odd instinct towards disturbia.

…

Lesia comes in before Daniel gets back, “oh, subbing for Mr. CampBell, Mr. Lancer?”, and sits in her assigned seat.

He makes a point to look up and smile at her, regardless of his current unsettlement, “indeed, Ms. Lute, he had an, unfortunate, interact with a sentient ghost plant”.

She cringes, whispering, “get wrecked, I guess”, before actually responding in proper to Lancer, “sorry to hear that”.

Lancer’s hearing has definitely improved, he can’t honestly see a negative to that. “And I’m sure he’d appreciate your sympathies”.

Thankfully Daniel comes back in, looking at Lesia and pouting, “oh how dare you get here before I got back, my luck belong’s in P̸͇̓a̶͉̕r̴̹̐i̴͚̅a̷̭̽h̸̙͘’̴͚̏s̵̼͛ ̷͈̉a̸̜̒s̵̩̚s̷̥̔”.

While Lancer’s a little stunned by being able to understand that from the inside? of himself? Lesia purses her lips together and is clearly trying not to laugh, “in trouble again”.

Daniel shrugs, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he meanders over to the assistants chair, “eh, you set one too many things on fire, and those things just happen to be thousand dollar microscopes, and suddenly everyone’s out to beat the s̴͚̿h̸̗̾i̶̹̇t̵̖͗ outta you”.

Lancer makes a point to sigh tiredly at the man, who winks smugly back. But regardless Lancer has to push his worries and crises to the back as more students begin filing in, school has begun.

At lunch Daniel had made a point to tell Lancer, in ghost speak -which was still rather strange to understand so easily now. Instantaneous language retention was a wonder-, that Daniel could apparently duplicate -which solved a few odd stories he’s heard- and had one such duplicate go and check the… morgue and around town for any signs of.. of Lancer’s remains.

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Lancer’s not sure if that was… good or bad. If he was relieved or not.

Daniel’s theory, which was slightly disturbing but probably for the best to be true, was that the ecto-contamination in him consumed or broke down his… body in an instant so as to have the needed energy to instantly create his ‘new’ ghostly one.

On one hand this meant he didn’t need to fret about someone finding or touch his body. On the other hand any sort of funereal or burial could never happen, whether it was wanted or not; it somewhat rather was, if he was being honest with himself.

Daniel’s response had been to just consider his body having been effectively buried within the ether of the Zone, ‘like mine!’ he’d said, with cheer.

Apparently the man’s young body had been completely disintegrated in his own ‘accident’. Which was extremely disturbing and saddening.

Daniel said not to let himself be bothered by that, as if that would make it so that Lancer wouldn’t mourn the fact.

Lancer hadn’t even had time to mourn himself.

Should he… make a shrine perhaps? Or just have his favourite diner regardless of not ‘needing’ it now? Should it be a big deal or just causal?

He really didn’t know.

Before Lancer had gone home for the day Daniel had made sure he knew he could call whenever, and while Daniel might sleep it was a lot less and he didn’t mind interruptions.

Lancer… did somewhat want to take him up on the offer. To call and ask how he was actually supposed to deal with this. Beyond whether he wanted to ‘play human’ and keep his ‘life’ how it was, or not.

There was neither research to find nor books to read on the subject, on how ghosts mourned themselves and dealt with death, at least there were none that weren’t extremely biased and ecto-phobic.

How did Daniel put up with hearing this sort of cruelty from his parents all the time? He’d wondered that before he knew of Daniel’s ghost status and he only wonders about that more after.

At least the only report on ‘his accident’ he could find was about the ‘mysteriously vacant car’ and how it ‘being empty’ was ‘strange but welcome luck’.

That… made him want to cry, or be sick, a little bit.

No one noticed

No one noticed his death.

That was… awful. Sad. Painful.

But it was also rather the point, wasn’t it?

No one noticed Daniel’s either, not in any real way.

He wheezes breathlessly a little and massages the… strange spot of feeling in his chest.

…

Alright. Okay.

He should call Daniel.

Moving enough to pick up the phone, making sure not to knock over his tea.

Daniel responds instantly… he must have been waiting for a call. “Was wondering when you’d call. You good? Not too much existential horror?”.

Dr. Seuss, the understanding in that tone hurt and comforted more than he’d like. “I’m not sure, but I definitely need to talk about anything”.

Daniel laughs a little, but it’s not a happy thing in the slightest, “yeah I get that. Dying’s easy, but deaths a bit of a bitch. I saw the news report, by the way, and I know you looked for it even if you really shouldn’t have. Focusing on reactions or what happened is a really bad thing to do. People will let you down and you will spiral about the how and when and why. So don’t. Let the shit you enjoy distract you to your cores content, that’s kinda the whole point of being dead anyways. Obsessions and all that. Find all those things you love and the thing yourself screams and cries for, and do ‘em. Go from one to another and circle back again, keep the circling going and you’ll be cool; you won’t spiral. And there’s absolutely a difference between the two”.

“Have… you? Spiralled?”.

“… of course, I never had help or guidance. Another spook to turn to, until it was kinda too late. But hey, things got undone and made alright, so it is what it is. I’m alright, I’m good enough to keep on keeping on”.

“That’s, not as pacifying as I think you mean it to be”.

“Course not, you should know by now that there really isn’t any sugarcoating me and my everything. Life, and death, gave me a right shit hand. But this call ain’t really supposed to be about my dumbass, Lance”.

Lancer smiles ruefully a little at that, “well talking about you, my favourite problem ex-student, is as good as any distraction from everything, from no one really… noticing”.

Daniel laughs again, “you’re not wrong. But you should focus on yourself some, we’re egocentric things. And I’m not going to say something like ‘but I thought that’s what you wanted’ because I know that’s both true and painfully not. I’ve broken a lot of shit over that same train of thought, especially since Sam and Tuck… never really mourned any part of this. But if you want Jazz’s opinion? Write. Write shit down. Which with you being all book-loving might work out better. Make a poem or something. I tried the journaling thing once and wound up just taking a bite out of it and setting it on fire”.

That… wasn’t a horrible idea. “I’d say that’s concerning but I know that you have some trouble with your anger”.

“I’m well aware and doing precisely nothing about it…”.

They spend more than half an hour half-heartedly bickering about Daniel’s poor anger-management issues, neither have anything in the argument but it was still grounding.

And if maybe Lancer started floating a bit and didn’t notice, then maybe that’s okay. He… was less bothered than he’d thought he’d be when he realised what he was doing.

Daniel congratulated him in earnest and then word vomited -as the man would say- about the stars and that time he went to space.

It was good.

It was nice.

Daniel, like always, was too kind. Even the students saw that.

It made him sad but it made him better too.

Like being reminded how it feels to be warm by someone or something too cold to feel it at all.

Death ain’t no big deal in comparison.

End.

prompts:

Above all else, Danny became a high school teacher to help students: he wants to help the victims of bullying, the near-dropouts, the kids who need to use school as an escape from home. He sees himself in all of them, and tries to be the adult he needed at their age. He also became a teacher because, as it turns out, teachers have a WAY easier time getting away with sudden bathroom breaks (which may or may not coincide with ghost attacks and subsequent Phantom sightings) than students do. "Ah yes, because going in circles and spiraling are very different directions." More of Danny's ghost side starts to show in his human form making it harder to hide the truth "What do you mean this isn't safe, I'm already dead" Becoming more ghostly Fangs On Sunday, Lancer was thrown through his windshield in a nasty car accident. Miraculously he walked away without a scratch. On Monday, he had a hard time getting through the school ghost shield on his way to class.

[microtyalm13]

Give...... Gavriil lore........ Please, I'm so hungry..........lore

there's no lore i made him two years ago in the middle of the night while being insanely horny with my bestie 💋

alright there's SOME info about the setting he's in.... but im still figuring it out. so a whole llot of rambling under the cut. if you want basic info you can go to this post .!

this is vivian and gavriil! they have a weird relationship, but what do you expect from a mortal x deity dynamic? vivian my darling my beloved old man works at the HELLEGTUM VUN DEAPAIX sanctuary, a place that trains future hunters. it looks like a pagan church from the outside. a weird one, sure, but their goddess is very much real! the hunters are mostly women, there are very few men that work in the institution. vivian manages the hiring process of other workers such as janitors, cooks, and laundresses. he can even mentor rookie hunters if they want him and not other mentors, but that's rare.

who are they fighting? everything from tiny evil spirits that feed on human energy to the corrupted lower deities who are going rampant in the city <]. termination squad 💪

deapaix, the goddess of peace and serenity, known and worshipped mostly by women. she's a member of a council consisting of other goddesses (i'm working on them... i have like... TWO designs gjkjhkej... also need to come up with a recognizable symbol for deapaix's religion... ehggheugh). they make sure that other, lesser deities do not overstep and control their influence on humans. that's why veniamin was punished after killing and eating his followers, and gavriil was, umm... deprived of the privilege of reproducing and creating new life. taisya is one of his last creations btw. that's why they are similar in some ways :] but ough gav is a BAD father so no wonder he's not fertile anymore. he and deapaix have a very very "older sister x younger adopted brother" energy idk.....

even though gav has a family he's not very close with them... visits them only if it benefits him. his mother is like a huge powerful goddess who's in charge of people's dreams and their subconscious desires. not in the council bc she's an overworked woman leave her aloneee

ven and taisya are lurking somewhere in the world. gav doesn't care about taisya anymore and barely remembers he exists and his relationship with veniamin...................... 👁👁 homoerotic, visceral hatred that goes both ways. they have equal powers but still think that one of them is stronger than another..... smh ANNOYING and iNSUFFERABLE both of them .

something like that. in not very good at world building i just like to draw silly characters ......

[aydaptic]

I came across one of your older posts pertaining to Gavin’s personality and you tagged it with #stupid people only validate on-screen redemption #they’re unable to think for themselves and I can’t tell you how much I agree with this statement. Just yes, so much yes.

Fandom is literally a place that encourages creativity and diverse thinking and yet there’s some people out there who can’t grasp that “hey, maybe this asshole character has more to them than meets the eye”. I mean there’s so many villain characters in media who get redeemed who have done way worse than Gavin.

I’m new to the fandom but I’m honestly happy that I came this late because I can’t imagine how much arguing and fighting there would have been over Gavin’s character in the early days. Yeah, he’s not the nicest guy but there are way worse characters that are beloved parts of their own respective media.

I don’t care what anyone says. Gavin is not as evil as some people make him out to be and if they got off their moral high horses and just thought a tiny bit, they would see that.

If people don’t like Gavin or find him uninteresting, fine but tbh, if they hate Gavin just cause “oh, antagonistic character did antagonistic things” then to me they are dumb and are not critical thinkers.

Also thank you for being a Gavin lover. The dbh fandom honestly needs more of them 💕

Glad I'm not alone in that!

Hank also treated Con way worse than Gav ever did, so it's very hypocritical of them to forgive the former and not the latter just bc Hank's (possible) redemption happens on-screen.

Not only that, but Gav is only mildly unpleasant until Con escalates these situations. A lot of the hostility that Gav shows towards Con is the players' fault. Ppl refuse to take accountability when they -- the players -- are literally the ones choosing hostile dialogue options when interacting with Gav instead of being mature adults.

As I've stated before, I didn't even know that Gav and Con could fight in the archive room for the longest time bc I treated Gav as an equal. I was mature. Thus that fight never triggered for me.

Every single person with a working brain can see that there are valid layers to Gav whether they like him or not.

[sevi007]

(We're still firmly in spoiler territory for Ff16 guys)

"Your our brother, Gav. My brother."

Gah. No seriously play the sidequests in this game, there is so much added to the relationships and emotions through them (I assume since there is little space / time in the main quest, since the story is very "tight")

So, Gav is now officially a part of the family. Always was of course, but I think he needed to hear it. Also:

"You know what this means? Should anything happen to me..."

"I get your sword and your room"

He got the brother mindset down pat already XD

I think it's very sweet how much Gav is looking forward to Edda's child. And, yes - I already saw the discourse because apparently Edda is only 17 and Gav is 26. But. First of, different world, different culture, and second off, Gav (and I) is now only talking about the baby and taking care of it. No talk about romance or somesuch

(I'm more perplexed by Gav being younger than Clive tbh. In the time where Cid brought Clive in, I assumed Gav is older and would act as a guide and big bro to Clive. To hear he is seven years younger was a little confusing)

[iliektehhaxs]

whilst cid is a confirmed girl dad what type of dad do we think the other lads are, i have some ideas and i’m curious to how others think:

-clive: born to also be a girl dad but he has one son then 2 daughters with said son somehow inheriting even more protective big brother genes. his daughters probably think he’s super cool as a shield and try to become some of rosaria’s first female shields. the son probably ends up being more the scholar type by chance, the “i told you so” older brother.

-joshua: truly versatile but i think the universe would end up giving him a single boy that has all of his Bratty Younger Brother genes but More. it’s payback tenfold for the years jote and clive had to endure of him refusing to stay in bed whilst sick and having to attempt to father an even more stubborn version of himself. i also think he should have a kid that LOVES carrots like they eat it by the shovel-full

-dion: boy dad through and through. raises like 3 completely chivalrous fairy tail prince sons and has one 4th son who is such a rogue and trouble maker than he balances out his 3 brother’s personalities by himself. they’re also his biggest supporters, think he’s the coolest dragon to ever exist. probably would end up with one of them succeeding harpocrates and another being very artistic.

-barnabas: either no kids or a single child but he doesn’t act different based on the kids sex/gender. possibly adopted? most likely to adopt, i think he values an innate sense of discipline for the kid’s self benefit. but he seems like the type of king that raises a queen so well that waloed is also historically called a queendom during her reign. as long as he can teach them swordsmanship he’s chill

-hugo: bald and childless <3 he would only have kids with benne but she’s not fucking doing that, she knows medieval childbirth statistics.

gav: like 9 kids. like so many. he probably also adopts half the hideaway’s kids. they all develop his accent even if they’re adopted and it’s like hearing a warbling nest of birds. probably the most chill dad ever like they all say their secrets with such security he’s like in on all the gossip of their generation. he just comes back to the hideaway with a new kid calling him dad

Oh my god anon you’re so right for most of these, you basically did my job so lemme just add a couple ideas to compliment yours

Clive- absolutely a girl dad, and his one son becomes extremely protective of them just like he was to Joshua. He’s also the voice of reason between the three because his girls also inherited his sense of bravery, and they tend to get into antics a lot. Very active and energetic while big bro is more calm and collected (except when his sisters are in trouble, and it’s there we see that famous rosfield anger)

Joshua- a singular boy that makes his father’s life much more difficult than it needs to be (I wonder where he inherited that from.) He’s also very energetic, and is more than likely the mastermind of whatever scheme he and his two cousins get into. Too curious for his own good, just like his father, and absorbs knowledge like a sponge even if the methods used to obtain that knowledge are a bit orthodox. Keep an eye on him at all times, and if you hear silence from him, he’s definitely doing something.

Dion- literal Disney princes, the pinnacle of chivalry and honor, it’s as if you plucked them from a fairytale. He saw the man his father grew up to be and wanted them to be better, and have a better childhood than he did. Even when his fourth turns out to be a bit of a rebel you can still see that Lesage honor shining through and through, albeit in his own special way. While his first three sons might stop a bully by talking him down the fourth would sooner shut him up by breaking his jaw, for example. (He was harassing a poor student, he couldn’t just stand by!)

Surprisingly enough his fourth son is incredibly smart, top marks in all his classes effortlessly, if only he could get a rein on that temper.

Barnabas- he’s most likely to adopt, but he would love that child no less than his own flesh and blood. Firm but fair, he’d raise them to be strong, and to never take anything from anyone, ever. At the same time he enjoys that his child does not have that same bloodlust in their eyes that he did when he was their age. He doesn’t say his emotions outwardly, but rather expresses them with quality time, such as training or bringing them to royal meetings.

Hugo- childless lmao, even if he wasn’t obsessed with benedikta his ego wouldn’t allow him to take just one woman as his bride, and I highly doubt he’d be a good father. If he did have a child they’d be more likely to run away once they’re a teenager

Gav- oh sweet Gav, his nickname is the daycare with how many children he raises on a daily basis. Half of them aren’t even his, and does it really matter? He loves having a big family, it’s more entertaining that way.

[schmooplesboop]

Of course these two would be the ones to get me writing again after a bazillion years lol

Pairing: Clive/Gav

Rating: 14+

---

Gav tossed one way then turned the other. Rolling onto his back he looked over at Clive, sleeping soundly beside him. He sighed.

(So much for being older and wiser.)

When Clive had asked if he'd like a drink Gav thought he'd meant in the little mess/pub the Hideaway had, but the man had instead led him to his chambers and handed him a goblet of wine so expensive a vintage it would've made nobility spit to know the likes of him was enjoying it.

"Gav..." Clive seemed nervous, toying with his wine rather than drinking it. "I've... wanted to thank you for your help in Rosaria. You saved Jill..."

He moved closer. Clive wasn't that much taller than him, an inch or maybe two, but he was so much broader, always made Gav feel like he was being towered over. Clive set his wine aside and his hands gripped Gav's shoulders.

"You got me out of that dungeon. You saved me."

"Oh, I- " Gav swallowed hard, his throat clicking. Clive was very close. He quickly set his drink aside before he spilled it. His usually quick and clever fingers felt numb and stupid.

Gav wasn't sure which of them moved first, maybe they'd moved together. All he knew was their lips met in the sweetest kiss he'd had in a long while. Then his hands were running through Clive's thick dark hair and then Clive's hands were on his ass and it was all he could do to tumble into bed, yanking and pulling at the lacings on the other man's top.

And now here he was hours later, feeling like a fool. He'd been in this position once before many years ago: an extra piece in a set of two. It had ended ugly, with many tears and a literal backstab, he had the scar on his shoulder blade to prove it. And although he very much doubted Jill was the back stabbing type, he didn't want anymore broken hearts on his conscience.

He tossed some more, rolling away from Clive. What was he going to do now? Should he just sneak out?

"Mmmn... Gav..." The man nearly jumped from his skin when Clive's voice, fuzzy with sleep, broke into his thoughts. Before he could answer he found himself gently rolled onto his stomach, Clive's lips planting kisses down his back, stubble scratching at the skin.

"Clive-" The word came out a single strangled note as Clive's tongue oh-so-gently touched the base of his spine.

Clive must've heard the distress beneath the desire because he stopped immediately. The mattress jounced slightly as the man sat up, hair rumpled, blanket puddling in his lap.

"Gav? Are you all right?"

Gav pushed himself up so he was kneeling opposite. The moonlight highlighted the plains of Clive's body in a muted blue light. He was beautiful. The blond man's resolve wavered and he cursed himself.

(Do it, you fucking coward. Just rip the bandage off.)

"I've just... I've been wondering where I fit in here, what with you and--" He couldn't finish, but he saw that Clive understood immediately.

Clive sighed, running one hand through his tangled black hair, "I'm sorry, Gav."

Gav's heart sank with his stomach, he waited for the words that would make him a bloody fool all over again. Instead, Clive's next words veered off in a completely unexpected direction.

"I first saw my mother's true colors when she realized that her eldest son saying he felt different from most other boys wasn't because the Phoenix had chosen him." The man's mouth twisted in a grimace of a smile. "She grabbed my chin, her fingers left marks, and told me I was being ridiculous and to never speak of such things again."

Clive stood from the bed, the blanket sliding off his naked form. "My father was much more sympathetic, but he was also honest with me: he'd been fighting against these laws and traditions long before I was born and had made so little headway. He told me the nobility, by which he meant my mother, could have me disavowed and disowned. I would not be Joshua's Shield... or even his brother if I was... myself."

Gav knew he must've looked like a gormless fish, sitting there with his mouth agape, but he'd been completely caught off guard. A rare occurrence that seemed to have become more common in the last few hours.

"It was also my father who told me to find someone who would understand, so grudges wouldn't fester. He would betroth us... to protect me." Clive's face softened as he smiled. "I spoke with Jill, she was very understanding of course. We vowed to put on whatever mummer's show the 'nobility' required. I was preparing to live my life in the shadows when it ended instead."

Clive laughed. It was bitter and brittle and it broke Gav's heart.

He turned away from the bed, staring out at the small balcony off his chambers. "So long as it didn't interfere with your duties and the person you were with also had a brand, the Imperials didn't much care who you laid with. But I, like many, didn't dare to get too close. We were cannon fodder. Too many of us died each day. We took our comfort or lust from each other, but no more."

Clive's voice softened, barely above a whisper. "And then I met you... Gav."

He returned to the bed, sitting beside Gav, one hand reaching out to squeeze his thigh. "And it was like a piece I had been missing my entire life fell into place."

Gav gently clasped Clive's wrist, heart pounding, hardly believing what he was hearing.

"I wanted-- I should have told you all this before." Clive continued, his cheeks suddenly flushing with color. "But when we kissed, my thoughts all but fled."

Gav laughed and fell back onto the bed, pulling Clive on top of him, hooking his legs about the man's hips.

"Now that, you don't have to be sorry for. I was very much in the same boat." He ran his thumb along Clive's jawline, expression softening. "And I feel the same. You've been a right ray of sunshine in my gloomy little life, Clive Rosfield."

He tugged and Clive came willingly, pressing their mouths together, kissing him breathless.

"Dunno about you... but my thoughts are fleeing again." Gav panted into the small space between their lips.

Clive chuckled, "Mine too."

[diamandodusto]

A Feast To The Gods [Final Fantasy XVI]

A Feast to the Gods 

Genre : Tragedy, Fantasy, Angst, Hurt-Comfort, Romance

Rating : +18

Warnings : Violence, sexual content, death, nudity, pregnancy, miscarriage, strong language 

Characters : Clive Rosfield, Jill Warrick, Joshua Rosfield, Elwin Rosfield, Anabella Rosfield, Cid Telamon, Hugo Kupka, Dion Lesage, Beneditka Harman, Dyanne Hidgins… 

Pairings : Warfield (Clive / Jill), Harmon (Cid / Beneditka), Dionrrence (Dion / Terrance), Benekupka (Benedikta / Hugo), Hidfield (Dyanne / Clive), Barnadikta (Barnabas / Benedikta), Bardyanne (Dyanne / Barnabas) 

Synopsis : Ever since the Eikons walked over Valisthea, seen as either Gods amongst humans or monstrosities, the world has been held in a chokehold. Therefore, the end of the world seems to slowly draw itself, but instead of watching the world burn, some try to stop the irredeemable fate and assemble broken memories of what their life used to be. 

Note : Follows Final Fantasy 16’s General Story with a couple deviations. 

CHARACTERS

Clive Rosfield : Eldest son of Anabella and Elwin Rosfield. House Rosfield. Dominant of Ifrit. 

Joshua Rosfield : Second son of Elwin and Anabella Rosfield. House Rosfield. Dominant of Phoenix. 

Jill Warrick : A ward of Rosaria and the Rosfield’. Dominant of Shiva. House Rosfield by alliance. 

Cid Telamon : Ex Lord Commander of Waloed, and leader of the Hideaway. Dominant of Ramuh. 

Dyanne Hidgins : Second daughter of Beatrix and Josiah. House Hidgins. Dominant of Leviathan. 

Dion Lesage : Prince of Sanbreque and eldest son. House Lesage, Dominant of Bahamut. 

Barnabas Tharmr : King of Waloed and Ash. House Tharmr. Dominant of Odin.

Sir Terence : Lord Commander of Dion and his lover. 

Sleipnir Harbard : Lord Commander of Barnabas and physical incarnation of his steed as Odin. 

Benedikta Harman : Ally of Barnabas and Chief of the Intelligencers. Dominant of Garuda. 

Hugo Kupka : Economic adviser of Dhalmekian Republic and lover of Benedikta. Dominant of Titan. House Kupka. 

Gav : Cid’s sidekick and scooter. 

Darius Hidgins : Eldest son of the Hidgins. Dyanne’s Shield. House Hidgins. 

Jacob Aryn : Colonel of Waloed's Army. House Aryn.

Bastin Aryn : First heir of the Aryn’. House Aryn. 

Ornela Aryn : Second heir of the Aryn’. House Aryn. 

Anael Aryn : Third heir of the Aryn’. House Aryn. 

Beatrix Hidgins : Darius and Dyanne’s mother. House Hidgins. 

Josiah Hidgins : Darius and Dyanne’s father. House Hidgins. 

Anabella Rosfield : Clive and Joshua’s mother. House Rosfield then Lesage. 

Elwin Rosfield : Archduke of Rosaria. Father of Clive and Joshua. House Rosfield. 

THE HOUSES 

House Rosfield : The Phoenix. Lords and governs Rosaria. Faith of the Eikons. Current head : Clive Rosfield. 

House Lesage : The Dragon. From the Holy Empire of Sanbreque. Governs the same region. Faith of Greagor. Current head : Sylvestre Lesage.

House Hidgins : The Sea Snake. Allies of the Rosfield and has lands in the same regions. Later alleged to Sanbreque. Faith of Leviathan, Eikons. Current head : Josiah Hidgins. 

House Tharmr : The Knight. Possesses Ash and Waloed. Faith of Ultima. Current head : Barnabas Tharmr. 

House Kupka : The Titan. From the Dhalmekian Empire. Current head : Hugo Kupka

House Aryn : The Stag. From Waloed. Faith of Eikons. Military house of Waloed and allies of House Tharmr. 

You can also read this on AO3 by clicking on this link : HERE.

A big thanks to : @damatheirin​ and @aria-lesage​ and my friend Ludrick for their help ! 

Prelude

31 years prior 

The great assembly of people that day warmed Archduke Elwin’s heart, whilst his closest friend remained at his side. Young Clive Rosfield, only two years old, hardly remained steady next to the bigger stature of his father. On the other hand, Josiah Hidgins held a babe that was calm and quiet in his arms. A newborn nothing less, a tangible proof of his love for his wife and the fact he had an heir. Darius Hidgins, older than the babe by six years and therefore four by Clive, was trampling as he almost growled due to the bigger amount of noise that surrounded the court at this moment. Small, great folks, nobles, peasants, came to assist at the ceremony that occurred on the sunny summer day the skies blessed them with. 

“Welcome, people of Rosaria. Thou have been invited by House Rosfield to assist at the betrothal of my son, Clive, to the youngest of my dear friend, Dyanne. Our alliance shall strengthen the close bond between our families and soldiers. They shall marry at age, and then conceive an heir to assure their lineage when we will be old and senile.” 

The crowd cheered as Elwin picked up his son to put him on the up-lifted platform, so everyone could see, while Josiah, walked slowly to lay the babe before the very faces of those who stared at the infant’s traits… 

“May the Little Lord and Lady live long and healthy !” chanted the crowd. 

13 YEARS LATER

Dyanne stood as she watched her older brother and Clive swung the swords in sounds that’d made any tooth quiver as so disagreeable it was. Ever since her betrothal, the two children had blossomed into magnificent people whose beauties were deeply looked up to, admired even. Yet, Clive was despised by his own mother due to his lack of an Eikon. Whilst, Dyanne, showed signs early on of her being a Dominant. Of water. Leviathan. At first, Anabella attempted to break their arrangement to marry her to Joshua when he was to be of age. However, Elwin strictly refused it. 

Clive had a few friends to begin with. Darius, Jill, Dyanne, but that was it. Would he ever consider Joshua as a friend more than a brother ? Probably never, but all of this day was leading to the moment he’d be given the title of the Phoenix’s Shield. To make amends to his mother, but moreover, to his father who, even if he was proud of his son, endured his wife’s behaviour for his sake. “C’mon, brother!” shouted Darius, ten and nine of age, “show me off your so-said skills that give you so much admiration already!” 

Clive smiled smugly, cracking his joints and replacing his gloves, he dashed until Darius and attempted to peak his side with his wooden sword, which the latter dodged easily. Dyanne clapped in her hands, shouting both for her brother and her fiancé. However, Clive took the occasion, at his answer, to peak to his belly without any harm. 

“Oh, brother ! Are you really deserving of being my Shield if good Clive can beat you without all the training you’ve got from your fellows ?” she joked happily, making Clive laugh heartily, whilst Darius only let an unamused chuckle get out from his lips. 

Young Joshua and Jill came afterwards, sitting calmly next to Dyanne who continued to stare at both young people and her new neighbours. Jill hugged her tightly as Joshua began to cheer for his big brother as well. Making Dyanne’s heart flutter at the mere sound of this. The day was calm and quiet, yet full of excitement for the young people who lived in the castle. 

“Ladies and gentlemen! Shall you two stop this play ? Today is a big day for our new pretender, isn’t, Lord Rosfield ?” asked a man, taller than Clive, but with gentle traits and demeanour. Clive Suddenly stood straight, shoulders backwards, whilst Darius was way more relaxed. Leaning even on his sword’s hold. 

“Very much, yes, I’m in anticipation of our final trial, Lord Commander!” Rodney smiled, before drawing his own wooden blade and jumping above the fence to provoke Clive in his way to his new responsibility. The combat went smoothly, before the steps of chocobos went heard over the court, signaling the arrival of their Lord. 

“Father!” cried Joshua as he ran towards the latter, who picked him up quickly. Elwin walked proudly towards his firstborn, still holding the second. “Thus, Rodney, how has my son done so far ?” 

Rodney kneeled, keeping his face low despite his friendship with the Duke, Out of respect and to show the example to his comrades and lower graded soldiers. Yet, Elwin kindly asked him to get up on his legs, chuckling at the sight. “Unnecessary, truly.” Rodney smiled before answering the Archduke’s question. “This lad goes on very well, my Lord. He proved himself worthy of the Shields.” 

Elwin smiled gently at Clive before grabbing his shoulder proudly, the latter stepping backwards for a bit at the sudden gesture of his father, but nonetheless appreciating every second of it. “Then he shall find me in the throne room. Clive ?” the mere man nodded before agreeing and holding Torgal against him. “Yes, your Grace.”

The Archduke then walked towards his youngest, and his two guests. His future daughter-in-law kindly smiling to him. “How are you three ?” Jill answered she felt great, whilst Joshua jogged around to great his father and make it known he was fine as well. The cough didn’t get the best of him. “Fine, dear stepfather,” she called him. Elwin chuckled at the nickname, making Clive slightly blush when he turned back to hide his disturbance. 

“I shall appreciate this show of affection, Lady Dyanne. It is true, you will become my stepdaughter after Clive reaches his sixteenth spring. About duty, son, I will be waiting for your presence in the throne room, make haste.” Clive shook his head. “Yes, I will go as soon as I may.” 

Elwin departed, whilst Clive quickly followed after a quick talk with Joshua, Jill, and Dyanne. 

CLIVE 

The boy ran almost nervously where his father waited for him. He didn’t want to see his mother, nor did he want to disappoint the only parent that ever looked up to him, at times his mother dismissed every effort he made. Yet, Clive Rosfield was also impatient and grew excited by the events planned on the morrow. He would go to Phoenix’s Gate to assure Joshua ascension, and watch his brother go through the gigantic doors. Bigger than those he was pushing at the moment, walking fast towards him, he then kneeled, which his father laughed about. 

“And you will lick my boots after ? Get on your legs, my boy, your poisonous mother isn’t there.” Clive let a slight sense of relief leave his lips before smiling to his father. Sure, both his sons weren’t troublesome in any ways, but Anabelle appreciated pushing a false fault on her eldest’s back just for the sake of it. “Father, I-… Is Joshua capable of going ? I worry about his health, as a shield but also as a brother, therefore I can’t imagine if anything sorts of as…” 

Elwin stopped him with a hand gesture. “You shall not worry, son, your brother is the Phoenix. None will ever come for him if not salvation as we know it. Just as my dear brother did, Clive. I understand your thoughts, but in these troubled times, worry isn’t required.” 

Clive blinked his eyes twice, trying to understand his father’s words for the better. Although, Elwin noticed his misunderstanding of the matter. “The nations. The Ironblood seems to become… agitated, whilst Waloed remains in conflict with Sanbreque, there’s no sign of us remaining untouched by all of these conflicts for our Mothercrystal. And your brother. I already asked Josiah to prepare his fleet in case of an attack, to limit the passage to our borders. But I know he can’t be everywhere at the same time.” 

Clive looked down to the ground, waiting on his father to pursue, but the latter remained silent. He knew;, Clive didn’t know war personally, but he knew better than his father did. But anxiety rose in his chest as he strengthened his grip to his sword's hold. “Will we have to flee from home in case of an attack?” Elwin shook his head. “No, son. But this something bad occurs, we will move to Hydrean Hill for a while. They can take Rosalith, but Hydrean Hill is surrounded by fleets plus our troops if we do move.” 

Clive sighted, relieved. Though he didn’t want to be elsewhere than home, he admitted openly it had been a time he visited Hydrean Hill and Josiah and Beatrix. “… Will my marriage be delayed in case of war?” Elwin seemed to think for a while, minutes even. But he crossed his fingers between one another and laid it on his chest. “No, it’ll even be turned into a haste. Joshua’s too young to marry and give an heir, and the agreement was the following : you marry Josiah’s sweet daughter and will give a son or a daughter. Therefore, your tender mother shall hope for a Dominant, on the opposite, this time she can’t dismiss the child. Beatrix wouldn’t let her do so.”

Clive smiled. He was nervous. Definitely. Of course, he knew he would have to marry just as he was told since he was an infant, but still. The day came closer and closer, and yet, he felt like a child again. Anxious and agitated. The girl was beautiful, sure, her face was harmonious, and they were excellent friends. Close even. Clive took his time to imagine himself a father for a bit, but, this moment was of short time. His own calling to him. “Dyanne’s on your thoughts, I guess ? Far away from me the idea of being indelicate and… grazing, but none can deny the girl is beautiful, Clive. She grew with you, knows you since you two can walk and talk. She took care of Joshua, a Dominant of none other than Leviathan. Likewise, she’s sweet, caring, daring. This marriage only makes further sense as I explain it, so what’s on your mind that bothers you, son ?” 

Clive twirled his fingers, a shiver running down his spine as his father pronounced his words. He was right, yes. But, was he worthy of her ? Of this woman ? She wouldn’t let him down in any case, and she’d be a wonderful mother… She was a sword wielder, and knew how to take care of herself. But, could he achieve what his father did ? Could he do so well ? “I wonder if I’ll make a good father, the day I become one… Considering how far away I might be because of duty…” 

Elwin laughed again, reassuring his son of his loud and dominant voice. “Be rested, my boy. There’s no babe yet, and you’ll see when the time comes by itself. As far as I know, you haven’t bedded the girl yet, have you? Therefore, no need to accuse further worry. Now, go find a bit of rest before your mother comes back. Say your goodbyes to Jill and Dyanne, wouldn’t you? I’ll stay here if you need me. My boy.” 

Clive became redder again slightly at the thought of bedding sweet Dyanne, but remained collected. “I will, Father. Thank you.” 

He then left. 

DYANNE 

Night fell on Rosalith as she quickly made her way out of her chambers to get on the balcony. She wore her simple gossamer gown, her hair untied and freshly brushed by her ladies. Dyanne walked proudly towards the exterior, catching sight of Clive nearby, she opened her double-windowed doors before stepping outside and letting the cold hair invade her being. Clive turned around, just to see her face, and quickly brushed it off as his gaze remained on her uncovered shoulders. 

Of course, she was about to become his wife, his beloved as planned, but did it mean to become perverse ? No, absolutely not. He could not bear shame and disrespect to his childhood friend. His eyes had already caught the slight forms of her curves drawn through the fabric, and that was already enough to him. “I’m sorry, I was passing by, and I didn’t think I would wake you up, my Lady.” Dyanne gently shook her head, walking closer to Clive. She found it cute how he changed his sight to the pillar instead of her. To not look. 

“You did nothing, dearest Clive. I was awake, more precisely about to go to bed. You’re no bother. Mostly if we’re about to share a bed someday.” Clive smiled gently, before removing his jacket from his shoulders to place it smoothly on Dyanne’s shoulder. The brunette held it strong, humming the fragrance that escaped from it. “I wouldn’t want the Lady I’ll share a bed with to catch a cold. Have you been well ? We haven’t seen each other since my meeting with my father.” 

“It is true, how did it go?” Clive seemed to reflect on the question for a bit, finding his answers as Dyanne’s bright red eyes struck onto his. He liked the shades of red, but what captivated his blue orbs was the glow that was in it. Hypnotizing. “Fine, we talked about tomorrow. Yet, the shapes of war drawing nearer and nearer to our borders and what awaits us if something triggers it. I just wish the best for our safety to all. Father said our marriage would be in a haste if such occurs. Does that bother you, my Lady ?” she shook her head immediately. 

So fast, she thought she’d almost make it seem weird. Dyanne always held good feelings for Clive. Well, tender feelings even. But, she didn’t know if that was reciprocated even for one bit. Therefore, she never let a word slip. But the simple thought of marrying him, made her heart flutter furthermore. “No, no, dear, no. I am beyond happy we’ll become the pillars of our family bond. Though I… wondered many times how you felt about being wedded to me.” 

Clive opened his mouth in a perfect “o” shape. He never thought she’d think about this question. Even further, that he’d come to question this. How he felt ? That was a good question. Evidently, he held her in high regard and would not put their union in perspective. If not, he would've talked to his father about the matter a while ago already. But Clive being Clive, sure he wouldn’t question it. But this, made him. 

There was no negative about this. “I don’t feel any resentment or else, if you’d wonder. My Lady. I don’t feel forced. I hope I’ll just make a good spouse and Father to…” she chuckled. “The heir ? Don’t be so bothered by it, Dear Clive. It is only a part of a marriage. My mother always told me women’s battlefields were in the chambers and not on soils sinned by blood.” 

Clive smiled kindly, before feeling the arms of Dyanne wrapping around his torso. He stepped back, yet not removing the girl from his chest. That was agreeable, he couldn’t deny. Yet, embarrassment filled him up. She smelled like vanilla with hits of strawberry. He hummed her smooth curly hair, before she raised her face to his. “Don’t straighten yourself, you’ll get hurt. If you are so shy hugging me, how we’ll do when the time comes to conceive that heir we talk about so much ?” 

He blushed furiously, before pouting a bit in his cheeks. “It’s not the same thing…! My duty as a man, and my own actions, aren’t to be mixed up…” he continued to become redder and redder, making Dyanne laugh at the same occasion. “In case, my dear, you should get used to having hands on me to prepare yourself.” Clive furrowed, not sure whether he understood. “This is perverse to me, to touch you without being wed.” 

She shook her head negatively. “Have I talked about perversion ? An embrace would not hurt anybody, even less cause an illegitimate child whatsoever. Before any duties, you are my friend. And knowing my friend will go to Phoenix’s Gate for days long, I will linger from your presence for as long you’re gone. There’s no perversion in this gesture, or please, do not see it as such, it is only a loving embrace I give you.” 

Clive was stunned, before feeling his lips curling upwards and shyly putting his hands on her shoulders to return the movement she did. He held her close at first, but then she made a step back before waving him goodbye and getting back into her room. 

“Sweet dreams, my Lady.” 

Next Chapter : HERE. 

[breoasis]

hii i love your ocs they look amazing could you tell us more about them?

hihi if this is about the new sketches i just made then there's so much i could tell you about them and at the same time so little things to talk about..... but let's go you're in here for a ride this is gonna be long

So those ocs are from left to right: Eli, Gala, Gavriel and Loreto, all belonging to the same universe, but i've had them for so long that their stories and world building and everything has changed so many times that nothing about them makes sense really (and i'm considering changing everything again to be less fantasy,, maybe, idk). Let me tell you about each one of those in order now under the cut:

> Eli: full name Elijah but i'm considering changing it to Elías because i don't want any of my ocs to have an english name anymore. This one is my favorite of favorites, he is my babygirl and my wet piece of gargabe of a son <3 He's the main character of my oc world and any other oc i have revolves around him somehow. The thing about this guy is that he transforms into a dragon and this only makes sense because i made him when i was 13 (and i am 24 now), so please bear with me... i was an early teen and that was the coolest thing to me at the time... anyway everything about him, from his story to his appearance, has changed multiple times but i kept that trait (the dragon thing) because i think it's funny but it also makes me cringe every time i have to say it. Also he's my pfp. Sadly the only thing i can tell you rn about this guy's story is that he's been travelling and surviving on his own for -reasons- and meeting new people through his travels, nothing specific because, again, i might change everything

> Gala: probably the most recent one out of these four, still from 2017-ish so she's been around the block for quite a while already. She's one of the only who's story probably stayed the same through all these years. She's the daughter of a duchess who rules/controls over a region and its people, so high class, rich and likes to show it. She has an older brother who was one of my favorite ocs for a while. In relation to the oc stories, Eli had to work for her family for some time and they grew close together, even though he was there to just do chores around the house. Gala doesn't have any friends due to her position and appreciates the company of someone her age even if it's a house worker and lower class. She's just a plain human tho, nothing fantasy or magical about her.

> Gavriel: or Gav/Gavi for short. I made this guy around 2016 for a roleplay group thingy and eventually, when that thing ended, i threw him into the pit that is this oc universe because i liked his design. He and Loreto (girl on his right) are both orphans and grew together as siblings. He had some weird "powers" i don't know how to describe without a doodle for you to get an image of it, but the origin of those has changed so many times already i don't even remember most of it. In older iterations of his story he had been experimented on and that's kind of how he got it i think?? his sister thought the experiment was gonna be good for him but it just fucked him up (i know this makes no sense i'm very sorry)

> Loreto: the older out of ALL of my current ocs, the first drawing i made of her was in 2011/2012 i believe, she belonged to another oc universe, looked far different and had another name, but i rescued her for this one because, again, i liked her design. She's around 15 years older than Gav and used to be like the mayor? of a town? She was more of a villain without meaning it really, that's the only backstory thing i remember about her right now, sorry. Also, she's missing half an arm and sometimes uses a mechanical arm as a substitute but it obviously doesn't work the same as a real arm. Gav braids her hair every morning since she can't do it by herself.

[starlitangels]

Happy Birthday, Star!

Did I start writing this three weeks ago, finish two weeks ago, and schedule it to post during morning in my timezone on my own birthday as a wildly self-indulgent present to myself? Yes! Do I regret it? Nope! 2.5k words I was gonna do this with Avior but I figured I’d go for the D.A.M.N. fam because they and especially Freelancer hold a very special place in my heart

—

A rift tore open. At the same moment, I felt pajamas appear on my bare skin. “Surprise!” a high-pitched voice exclaimed. I peeled my eyes open to see Caelum standing in my bedroom, a vibrant orange party hat nestled in his soft, baby pink curls, the strap carefully tucked behind his horns.

Gavin’s arm tightened around me. “What’s the occasion, little guy?” he asked.

“It’s Star’s birthday!” Caelum exclaimed.

“Is it now?” Gavin rested his chin on my shoulder, looking down at me. His untameable loosely-waved hair shading his eyes against the tiny bit of sun trying to peek through the curtains. He looked so handsome, his eyes grey in the weak light. His magic had put him in pajamas too—his being a magenta tank top. “Why didn’t you tell me your birthday last year, deviant?” he asked.

“With the run up to the Games going on… there just wasn’t time for a birthday celebration,” I replied.

Gavin let me go, pushing me toward an antsy Caelum. “Well, you go give our little friend a hug, Star, while I send an SOS to the group chat.”

“Gavin—” I started to protest.

Only to get cut off by Caelum slamming into me. I held onto him tightly, burying my face in his hair behind his horns, giving him a small kiss to the side of his head. I loved Caelum so much. Growing up, I’d only had one sister—older than me and a bully—and Caelum was the little brother I’d always wanted. He’d become my family the moment my parents kicked me out for my powers and I’d left home to move to Dahlia on Caelum’s suggestion.

“Morning, buddy,” I said.

“Happy Birthday, Star!” he replied brightly, squeezing me. His baby pink sweater was soft under my arms. Gavin had put me in an oversized version of my purple school T-shirt. Which, based on the scent clinging to it, made me realize it was actually his academy shirt.

Gavin nudged me, passing me my phone.

There was a notification for the group chat of our friend group. On my phone it was labelled My Boys. On his phone it was Deviant and Her B(r)others.

Gavin’s text read, SOS: it’s Star’s birthday today. We didn’t celebrate last year OR the year before and we need to make up for that.

As I read Gavin’s text, three more flooded in.

Lasko: WHAT?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAR! I CAN’T BELIEVE WE MISSED THE OTHER ONES. WE HAVE TO CELEBRATE!

Dami: Happy birthday, Star! I also think a party is in order.

Hux: Dude! Happy birthday, Starry! It’s party time!

I rolled my eyes at Gavin. “You don’t know what you’ve started,” I said. “You know these guys. Next thing you know they’re gonna—”

My phone started ringing.

Incoming call… Dami

I slid the Answer option. “Hi Damien,” I said.

I heard a deep intake of breath—two of them, actually. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Staaaaarrrrr! Happy birthday to you!” Damien and Huxley sang. Huxley put a lot more enthusiasm into it while Damien sounded like he’d rather be doing anything but singing.

Caelum put a hand over his mouth and stifled his giggle with his too-long sweater sleeve.

“Awww! Thanks boys!” I said.

“So. Gav mentioned we need to celebrate?” Huxley said, voice a bit distant from the phone. Damien grunted.

“We really don’t have to. I mean. I’m fine if we don’t. I don’t want anyone to miss out on study time or whatever else you guys have to do. I know you’re busy and—”

“Star,” Damien interrupted. “You’re our friend—”

“Our best friend!” Huxley added.

“And we want to celebrate with you,” Damien finished.

Caelum nodded enthusiastically into where he was tucked under my chin.

I rolled my eyes affectionately. “Alright. We can party later. My place, five-thirty?”

“No way!” Huxley said. “No way do you need to host all of us on your own birthday. My place! I’ve got more space. We can get your favorite pizza and go out and get some ice cream from that place you love where they freeze it with liquid nitrogen—maybe let you actually win a round of Smash—”

Gavin started laughing from behind me, where he’d taken up a position lounging back against the headboard with his phone in hand. “You still beat me, deviant,” he said with a wink.

“Because you let me to make me feel better,” I grumbled.

My phone beeped. “Hang on, Damien and Hux. Lasko's calling.”

“We’ll let you go,” Damien said.

“My house! Five o’clock!” Huxley called.

“Sounds good, big guy,” I said. “Bye.”

“Bye!” Damien and Huxley chorused.

I switched to Lasko’s call. “Hey Lasko. What’s up?”

“Happy birthday, Star! I-I-I’d sing but… but no one wants to hear that.”

“Ohhh, Lasko. You know I don’t mind either way. But whatever you’re most comfortable with. You can sing with everyone else over pizza at Huxley’s tonight. Five o’clock?”

“O-oh! Yeah! Yeah I can definitely make time for that! It’s… God, it’s been ages since I went to a birthday party.”

“Well, I’ll see you there. Prepare to let me win one Smash game tonight.”

Lasko laughed. “You got it, Freelancer,” he said.

I laughed and snuggled Caelum closer to me. He seemed perfectly content to hold onto my side and listen to my phone calls.

“See you tonight, Lasko.”

“See you tonight, Star.”

I hung up and Caelum immediately snuggled closer to me. “Gavin, can we sing to Star?” he asked.

Gavin chuckled. “If you want, I’ll join in.”

Caelum perked up so fast he bonked his head against my chin. I hissed and bit back a swear as my teeth clacked over the end of my tongue. “Oh no! Sorry! I’m so sorry!” Caelum exclaimed, eyes wide and already filling with tears.

“No, no. It's fine buddy. I’m fine,” I said. “No harm done.”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” I replied, smiling. The ache in my tongue was already fading. I stuck it out at him. “Thee?” Trying to say see with my tongue out meant lisping on the s, but it made Caelum giggle. Smiling wide enough to squeeze his eyes shut.

“You’re silly,” he said.

“I know.”

He leaned past me to look at Gavin. “Can we sing now?”

“If you want,” Gavin replied.

I smiled through the song as Caelum’s hug around me rocked me back and forth as he swayed enthusiastically with the slow rhythm of the song.

When he and Gavin got to the end, he dissolved into a fit of giggles. I hope you never change, I thought. The world needed more people like Caelum—it would be a much sweeter place.

Gavin chuckled lightly and leaned forward to press a kiss to the hair covering the back of my neck. “Happy birthday, deviant,” he whispered. I shuddered just a bit. Gavin’s amused chuckle was all I needed to know that he’d picked up on it. Of course he had.

Caelum looked up at me with wide eyes. “Can we do chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast for your birthday?”

I smiled and pinched the tip of his round little nose gently. “Only if I have a hand from my best little helper.”

Without hesitation he jumped off me and scampered off, shouting, “Race ya to the kitchen!” over his shoulder. Gavin and I exchanged a look of amusement before getting out of bed and following after him.

—

“Oh, God... you guys didn’t have to get me anything,” I protested when I saw a few small packages on Huxley’s coffee table with my name on them.

Huxley grabbed me around the shoulders and gave me an affectionate noogie while I squirmed to get away. Just laughing. “Of course we did, dude! You’re our best friend!” he protested.

“For the record,” Damien said, “Huxley technically didn’t get you anything.”

“Ah. He conscripted you into shopping for me?” I joked.

Huxley looked offended as he scooped me up and slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “What kind of terrible friend do you think I am?” he demanded. “I made my present for you!”

I laughed. “I don’t think you’re a terrible friend, Hux,” I said. “None of you are. You’re all very good friends.” I wiggled a little. “Can you put me down now?”

Huxley unceremoniously—but gently—dropped me onto his couch. I laughed as Gavin lounged on the arm of it next to me, as relaxed as always. He draped his arm across my shoulders. “So. What's the plan? Pizza then dessert then gifts or…?” He raised his other hand in a vague shrug.

“Well, obviously all of you have to sing to me together first so you don’t have to do it at the ice cream place. Because we all know Lasko wouldn’t sing if we did it that way,” I replied, smirking impishly. “All four of my boys.” I met Gavin’s eyes so he knew I meant five, including Caelum, who was in the corner of the room, Veiled from the Elementals, but not me or Gavin. I met Caelum’s eyes too. He grinned and put a finger to his lips, shoulders shaking in a small giggle.

Damien opened his mouth in protest. “I know we’re planning on ice cream but did you honestly think you wouldn’t get a cake for your birthday too?” he snapped. “I have half a mind to drag your ass into the kitchen to see what I made today.”

Huxley laughed—throaty and deep. “Took him a couple hours.”

“Because the cake had to cool before I could put the toppings on,” Damien retorted.

I leaned my head back on Gavin’s arm dramatically. “You didn’t have to make me a cake, Damien.”

“When was the last time you had a homemade cake for your birthday, Freelancer, hmm?”

I blinked. “Before my parents kicked me out…” I admitted.

“Yeah. So. Two birthdays without a homemade cake. If you honestly thought I’d allow that to continue for one more year now that I know when your birthday is, you are sorely mistaken, missy.”

I snorted. “Well. Thank you, Damien.” I smirked. “Now are y’all gonna sing to me and get that part over with?”

“No!” Lasko protested. “We have to do it with the cake and candles after dinner!”

“Alright, alright. Then let’s get pizza ordered.”

“It’s already on its way,” Huxley said.

I perked up. “Ooh. Max’s?”

“Where else?” Huxley laughed.

“Seriously, though, where else?” Damien put in, sounding a bit grumpy. “We literally never order pizza from anywhere else.”

“Hey!” Lasko protested. “Better to support locally-owned businesses than big corporate chains! And Max’s is still affordable!”

“I know. Just figured I’d mention it.”

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Huxley hopped to go answer it.

“Hey, how’s it going?” the familiar voice of the usual delivery driver greeted.

“Hey Guy!” I called from the couch.

“Oh! Hi Star!” Guy replied. His eyes flicked—none-too-subtly and with a note of concern—to Gavin beside me. Who, thankfully, left his shirt on this time. Guy passed the three boxes of pizza to Huxley. “You guys having a party?” His tone was casual and conversational.

“Sort of,” I said.

“It’s her birthday!” Gavin informed him matter-of-factly, planting a kiss in the mess of my hair on the back of my neck.

“Gav!” I hissed in protest.

“Oh! Well, happy birthday,” Guy said.

“Thank you.” I smiled at him. “Have a good night, Guy. Say hello to your partner for me.”

“Will do, Star. Happy birthday again.” He waved and headed off.

Hux shut the door behind him.

“Star, only you would make good enough friends with the pizza delivery person to remember to send salutations to his partner. Whom you’ve never met,” Damien said.

“What? It’s nice to be polite. Now let’s eat, I’m starving!”

—

“You made the cake I told you about!” I exclaimed as Damien pulled the cake from the fridge. “I… I only mentioned how it was made once. You listened?”

“Surprising as this may sound, Star, we do listen when you talk. Even if some of it is just babble to fill the silence,” Damien retorted. “And it wasn’t hard. Your description was thorough. I just made the chocolate cake my way instead of from a box mix—you heathen.”

My jaw dropped open. “There is nothing wrong with using a box mix!” I protested.

“Girls,” Gavin said blithely. “How about we save the arguing about the finer details of baking for after cake? I believe we have some singing to do?”

Damien shot Gavin a heated glower as the temperature in the room spiked. Which I wasn’t complaining about. Huxley generated heat almost as much as Damien so he tended to keep his house cooler than I’d prefer—given I didn’t generate much body heat. Thankfully, Gavin also ran hot so when I was feeling particularly cold I could just snuggle to his side.

Damien set the cake on the kitchen island and pulled the cling film off the top while Huxley reached into his cupboards to pull out a pair of candles, each in the form of a number. I buried my face in my hands. “Do you have to remind me that I’m old?” I complained. Albeit teasingly. I wasn’t that old. Yet.

“Would you rather we stick over two dozen candles into the top, ruining the decorating?” Damien retorted as he set the candles into the Cool Whip spread across the top. He snapped his fingers lazily and fire sprung up on the wicks.

“No,” I admitted.

“Great. Now let’s get the singing over with.”

Caelum was beaming like mad in the corner, mouthing along, while Gavin and my friends sang to me. I caught Gavin winking at him with amusement. I couldn’t help but smile at my new little family all around me on my birthday.

Once my boys ended with a final note—Gavin and Huxley hamming it up to be silly while Lasko smiled and Damien rolled his eyes—I blew out the candles. Then promptly got crushed in a group hug. Which felt like it was mostly Huxley doing his best to crack a rib. But I didn’t mind too much.

I looked around at all of them as they released me. I’d found a new family among my quirky group of Elementals and daemons. The love in Huxley’s house right now was enough to overwhelm me—but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“Let’s cut this up and then presents!” Huxley exclaimed.

Gavin chuckled as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Happy birthday, my love,” he whispered, kissing my hair just behind my ear.

“Thanks, Gav,” I replied quietly as Damien went to get a knife.

Yeah. I was okay with celebrating my birthday again. As long as it was with my new family.

[fifteenleads]

Alliance in Pink

Based on the FF16 German VAs' Barbie skit.

-

Clive knew he had much better things to do than this.

No, really, he did. It’s just that his brother rarely told him anything about himself these days that Clive had to take it upon himself to find out if he should have anything to worry about. Because the last time Joshua came home to visit, he brought a girlfriend.  

Or at least, that’s what their mother assumed. Wouldn’t let the poor boy get a word in as she lectured him endlessly about not whiling away his college days because life was already hard enough as it was, and his transcript needed to be perfect if he wanted to land a lucrative career. Never mind that her older son already failed her on that aspect—not that she ever had any high expectations of Clive to begin with, but Joshua was different.

Jote was just a friend, Joshua had insisted. Someone he had shared some classes at college with. Nothing more than that. The insistent way he had made his point, however, made Clive all the more suspicious.

Which led to today—Joshua and his “friend” going out early to catch an afternoon movie, and Clive discreetly tailing them. Well, as discreetly as he could, of course, because his figure didn’t exactly scream discreet, what with his imposing figure and his “prominent pecs,” as Gav called them. He even shaved and bought a new polo shirt for the occasion.

Even Jill thought this was a bad idea, and she was usually supportive of him and his dumb antics. Well, too late for that now.

Clive hid behind one of the electronic displays as he watched Joshua and Jote buy their tickets, following the two with his gaze until they entered their designated theater. “Cinema 1,” he took note as he came out of hiding and lined up at the counter. All he had to do now was get a seat with a good vantage point of the two, and his job was (mostly) done. Joshua said he’d be home by five, after all, which would be around the time the movie ended.

He finally reached the front of the ticket booth. “Let’s see, Cinema 1… Miss, I’d like one ticket to whatever’s playing there, please.”

The girl took one look at him and continued chewing her gum. “You sure, Mister? Wouldn’t expect a hunk like you to watch Barbee, but okay.”

“Barbee?! Wait, I didn’t—”

“Are you buying or not? I don’t got all day, Mister.”

“I—” If this was Clive’s punishment for committing the sin of stalking his own brother (for pure purposes, he swore), then he… had no choice but to accept it willingly. He was already too far in the game to back out, after all. A small part of him wished he had listened to Jill, but there’s no point in regretting that anymore.

But the more important mission of finding out about Joshua and Jote was way more important than his silly pride! Clive’s conscience couldn’t let him watch his brother fall from grace before their mother. (He was overreacting, of course.) A certain manga he had read had the older brother main character do all sorts of shady things just to protect his twin sister, and he was called a siscon for it. Hell if he didn’t understand how that felt now.

To hell with it. Swallow his pride it is, then. “Yes. One ticket to—”

“—Barbee, please. And make that two.”

Clive yelped at the unexpected interruption, instantly turning to the source of the voice. Dion Lesage nodded at him amusedly, then smoothly handed over his card to the ticket girl, who immediately swooned as she swiped it and printed their tickets. “T-Thank you, sirs. Enjoy your show.”

He was still dumbstruck when Dion gently pulled him along away from the booth. What in the Founder’s name was Joshua’s other friend doing here? (He’d also denied any romantic attraction towards Dion exactly the way he did towards Jote now, so maybe Clive was right to be suspicious, after all.) “I’ve been watching the three of you since half an hour ago, and I must say your tailing skills still leave a lot to be desired,” Dion remarked dryly, handing Clive a pair of thick glasses. “Non-prescription. They’re Terence’s. Don’t break them.”

Clive looked around him, and spied Dion’s boyfriend seated on one of the benches. He looked up from whatever he was reading and waved. Clive sighed. “So I was too conspicuous, huh.”

“Very much so, I’m afraid. Now let’s get popcorn before they close the doors on us. You also owe me dinner after this.”

“I didn’t ask—” Clive started, but was silenced at once by Dion’s withering glare. “Fine. Two buckets of salted caramel popcorn, plus dinner. Sound good?”

“Yes,” Dion finally smirked, satisfied with his win. “In exchange, I’ll teach you how to tail people without getting spotted. You’ll be getting your money’s worth, I assure you.”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Clive huffed to himself, shaking his head at the unexpected turn of events. Perhaps this was for the best, though. This… alliance, if he could call it that, certainly had its merits, and he felt he was going to come out of it a better man. Probably, if Jill and Gav didn’t find out about today, of course.

[setoangel01-fanfiction]

Things Fall Apart

Rising From the Ashes - Chapter 2

 (Previous Chapter)

Rated: T

Fandom: Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy XVI, FF16

Pairing: Clive Rosfield x Jill Warrick

Story Summary: Clive returned from the final battle victorious, and more importantly, alive. According to Jill, it still felt as if she'd been thrust into a lofty dream by having her love safely back in her life yet saving the world from certain doom didn't mean all their troubles ended there. Now with rumors of Joshua's survival spreading across the land, it seemed there was more work to be done than ever before.

Chapter Summary: Clive was finally awake. A cause for celebration to be sure but just because he'd come back to her in more or less one piece did not make Clive's new handicap, as well as his insurmountable grief, any easier to deal with.

<<<<>>>>>

As wonderful as it was to have Clive finally awake, the following days were anything but.

It hurt Jill's heart to admit, but it was apparent that the fight with Ultima left Clive painfully weak and rather volatile like a cornered injured animal.

Muscles and movements stiff, his entire body aching horribly even if he did his damnedest to not show it outwardly. Covered with bloody gauze and plasters over bruises and healing cuts littering his flesh from the fight did little to deter her from noticing the pale parlor of his face. The skin under his eyes bruised an alarming dark violet in pure exhaustion yet he forced himself to climb out of bed soon after he awoke from a nine day coma. A mask of stoicism allowing him to act as if he wasn't the main participant in a battle to the death in order to save the entire realm from utter destruction a little more than a week prior.

Not to mention, Clive was also in a horrid mood.

And at first, Jill said nothing. Allowing himself to work through his own difficulties without pushing or hovering over him too much to get him on the defensive. Clive had always been a stubborn arse at the best of times so hoping to deter him from getting back any sort of independence was not going to help anyone. Least of all, Clive, so Jill allowed it for now.

Byron was so happy at Clive's improvement. His older uncle eager to have his nephew up, awake and seemingly back to normal. Yet as the days progressed, there was a fatherly concern lacing those eyes as Clive jumped right back into the role of fearless leader as if he never left his post.

Gav was over the moon to have Clive awake. Remaining eye swelling with emotion as he hugged Clive tightly when he'd joined the mess to partake in the morning meal with the rest of the Hideaway's residents. Yet Gav pulled back quickly upon feeling the man's barely hidden flinch of pain from that action alone. Happiness soured into worry in Gav's green eye even with Clive's assurances of merely being sore. The way Clive acted as if absolutely nothing was amiss only made Gav all the more concerned.

Mid was super cheerful once Clive was back to his feet. Cid's daughter merrily began ordering Clive around to do her bidding just like old times. The relief in her eyes at having her item-fetcher back to her aid began waning though when even the energetic girl began to recognize how quickly Clive grew tired from even the smallest task. Her thin blonde brows furrowing in anxiety at how the man took to leaning on her drafting table when she'd talk an isle-a-minute about her new airship project.

Tarja, on the other hand, didn't bother hiding her disappointment at Clive's blatant refusal to obey her strict order of bedrest. Infuriated when Clive had even managed to tear open a few stitches doing menial tasks around the Hideaway. Even as she bandaged him closed again, threatening to hogtie his arse to the bloody bed until he was fully healed, Clive had disappeared from the infirmary a mere hour later.

From Jill's perspective, it was obvious Clive was dealing with equal parts exhaustion and grief weighing heavily on his over-burdened shoulders.

Yet Clive never let the mask of fearless leader falter.

Clive, not wanting to appear weak, never gave himself time to adjust to his lack of Eikons he relied on so heavily over the years. Not to mention the loss of one hand, which upset his very balance; she could only fathom how it was affecting his battle stance and use of the sword even if it wasn't his dominant hand he'd lost. But of course, being the stubborn arse of a man he tended to be, Clive began almost immediately pushing himself past the brink. Over-exerting himself by taking on jobs he wasn't near well enough to perform yet. Small tasks like fetching rare items on the cliffs of Sanbreque soon became monster hunting in the war torn fields of Rosaria. Fights that wouldn't even have him breaking a sweat before his fight with Ultima were now bringing him home with horrid wounds and Clive dragging his feet, nearly on the brink of collapse.

It went on a week like this.

Jill merely bit her lip as she'd fall asleep nestled by his side yet wake up to ice cold sheets when he'd always been the one who tended to sleep in past sunrise. At first, she assumed it was because he'd slept for over a week straight upon his return, but Clive's lack of sleep now became plainly apparent by his so few hours of actual rest. The man running on artificial energy supplied by him ingesting more potions and elixirs as the days trudged on, taking them merely to keep himself on his feet and moving.

Sluggish and exhausted but doing his damnedest to hide it behind his stoic facade, Clive pushed himself to the brink of fatigue. It was only a matter of time before it was easy for anyone to see that it all was becoming too much for Clive to handle yet no one in the Hideaway had the heart to tell him to stop.

Other than Jill that is, and after yet another close call on the battlefield, she'd had quite enough of his ridiculous behavior…

<<<<>>>>>

"This isn't healthy, Clive. You need to stop." Jill stated with all the pomp of a duchess.

Arms crossed tightly over her chest as she glared down at him where he sat alongside Gav pouring over maps marked with lines and circles of charcoal showcasing new monster hunts and hoards needing to be dealt with. Dressed in all his regal red and black armors with his faithful sword Invictus sheathed upon his back used to be such a welcomed sight, but the fact he was knocking on death's door only a dozen moons ago made it anything but.

The fresh blood stained plaster attached to his swollen, reddened cheek from a close call with a King Goblin wasn't helping his image either.

Gav went utterly silent at her sudden interruption. The utter relief that flooded his worried face at her intervention thankfully didn't garner Clive's attention.

Clive instead glanced up from the map to look at her with a wrinkle between his furrowed brows, "What are you going on about? Stop what?"

The genuine confusion in his eyes would have been adorable and made her back down a week ago, but now it only infuriated her at his pigheadedness. "You need to stop participating in the monster hunts," she stated firmly.

"What?" Clive looked at her incredulously, "Are you serious? Why would I not? These monsters need to be dealt with immediately, Jill! They're already pushing past the barriers in the Imperial Markets. It's only a matter of time until they break through the soldier's stronghold and destroy the entire town."

"Let the Cursebreakers and the Guardians of the Flame deal with it. You yourself stated they were more than willing to fight for the cause."

"...So what am I supposed to do? Just stay here and do nothing to help?"

"Yes," she stated with all the seriousness of a heart attack.

Clive let out a bark of laughter of pure bewilderment, "You want all these people to die? The monsters that are attacking can't be trifled with and most of the Cursebreakers are not ready to deal with their overwhelming numbers."

"Then have Wade and the remaining Shields start training them."

"With what time? They could be invading the town as soon as two sunrises from now based on the latest report Gav received."

"Well, that's plenty time to gather more reinforcements. I could help send out more missives and Lord Byron's connections are more than willing to send a few of their own men. They could make it in time before they even closed in on the town." Jill offered.

Clive let out a sigh, his face showcasing his pure bafflement yet Jill didn't back down even when he outright glared at her, "Jill. Seriously. What the bloody hell brought all this on? You can't keep me from helping my men. Who do you think you are, my mother?"

A layer of Shiva's diamond dust felt warmer than the chill that suddenly scattered over the silent room.

Instead of lashing out, Jill let out a long breath to try and taper down the anger and hurt knowing in her heart Clive would never say such a thing before all this shite went down with Ultima, "Gav, will you please give me a moment alone with Clive?"

Gav nearly tripped upon his own two feet from getting up too fast. "Of course! Ya know, I think Tarja needed assistance with a new poultice she'd been working on! I-I'll be back later to help you finish this up, Clive! See ya 'round, Jill!" he said with a sloppy salute before he took off out the doors like the fire of Hell was nipping at his heels.

The door made a loud thunk as it slammed behind Gav's retreating form.

It was the first time she could ever recall Clive looking upset at her, the purple bags that looked like fresh bruising under his shadowed eyes was even darker than it was yesterday. Eyes bloodshot and hand shaking as he placed the quill back in its inkpot. Shoulders hunched and tense as if expecting a fight even if he was safely in their chambers at the Hideaway.

Jill's anger waned. Clive looked awful…

The man in question lowered his head in shame, biting his lip before opening his mouth, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that last part, I swear it." he apologized in a soft wavering voice after Gav's retreating steps faded.

Jill didn't reply, merely crossed her arms tighter across her chest where it felt like her heart just shattered in its confines. He sounded so broken.

Gathering his bearings, Clive let out a quick breath before his displeasure returned to his expression in the midst of her silence, "My apologies, but Jill, I would never…" he tapered off for a moment before looking at her with a determined visage, "I'm sorry but you don't understand. We need to get this done immediately! It cannot wait or the entire town could be turned to akashic if this problem isn't resolved! The world isn't going to save itself."

Jill's arms fell. Fists clenching at the stubborn lit of his voice and, using the most dirty trick of all, weaponizing Cid's words against her. She couldn't help her voice from rising in her ire, "And what about you?"

Clive looked bewildered and that merely pissed her off, "What about me? This is my duty, it needs to get done."

"But you're hurt! You are in no condition to be dealing with such matters!" Jill's voice nearly turned shrill, heart hammering and she wanted nothing more than to physically throttle this stubborn arse of a man in hopes it would push some damn sense into him.

"It doesn't matter about my condition! I'm still breathing so I might as well make myself useful, right? I will get this done regardless of what you may think otherwise." Clive looked away from her before speaking the last part.

Standing to his full height, Jill instantly noticed how he swayed a bit to the left before correcting himself by placing his only functional hand firmly on the desk. The other stoned appendage at his side, the gray parlor of his hardened skin hidden away in a newly fitted leather glove Blackthorne had crafted for him to hide his affliction.

Jill's hands shook, "Oh really? You want to fight hoards of akashic when you can barely stand up without assistance? Even if me and Gav and all the others are there to help you, all it takes is one moment of distraction to end a life. Why risk it?"

Clive sighed and the exhaustion and even worse, acceptance, laced his dark blue eyes, "Jill… Please. I'll be ready to fight. I've been doing this most of my life, should you forget. I'll be fine. I'm merely tired is all."

"That's not it and you know it!" Jill hands furiously tightened, nails digging half moons in her palms as she tried to damnedest to fight back the burning of tears growing in the backs of her eyes. Looking up at him, she stared into his exhausted face before continuing, "I swear, Clive, if you keep this up, I fear you'll do irreversible damage not even Tarja can fix! You can't keep pushing your body this way!"

Clive bit his lip before putting back on his mask of stoic leader and stating firmly, "I'm fine, Jill."

"No, you're not!" she screamed in frustration, fists trembling at her sides as her eyes sparkled with tears.

Clive's expression pinched at seeing her tears but he still replied, "Yes, I am. Now, this discussion is over. I need to get prepared to leave before the hoards gain more ground. Gav and the Cursebreakers need my instructions and get their weapons saw to by Blackthorne before we depart for Dhalmekia. So, if you'll please excuse me…" Clive tried to brush past her but Jill refused to let him go.

Shiva's Dominant jumped back in front of him. Her hands grabbing the cloth covering his chest as she completely fell apart, "Clive. Don't. Please." Jill's screaming turned into a pitiful sob, hating the burn of tears finally slipping down her cheeks as she pulled angrily at his leather armor as if her physical touch could make him simply understand.

"Come on, Jill…" Clive's voice sounded so resigned.

"Please, let me send out missives right now to ask for help. I'll go in your place while you stay here," Jill begged, staring up at his face as Clive continued his refusal to meet her eyes.

"No, Jill. I'm going." Clive grasped hard to the mask he tried to keep to fool everyone but it didn't work on her. There was a crack in the stoneware that only she could see, yet he clung to it, forcing himself to accept the role of leader that he never should have been forced to take.

"Clive, please, I…" Jill's face crumbled as she wailed out, "I-I don't want to lose you! I can't…" she sobbed, her head leaning forward to rest on his sternum. Fists trembling as they grasped at his shirt as she pressed her ear to his heartbeat. Forced to recall those 13 years when she believed he was dead and just a few weeks ago when Metia flickered out and she feared she'd lost him again, this time for good.

Yet he came back as he promised and now here he was ready to leave with the readiness of one who might not make it back, especially going to fight in his piss poor condition his body was in.

"You're not losing me, Jill. I'll be back by tomorrow night. I promise." Clive's voice trembled ever so slightly as he gently grasped her hand, ever so carefully removing her hands one at a time from his clothing and as much as Jill fought to hold on, they fell back at her sides.

Clive let out a long sigh, his warm breath caressing her cheek and that only made her sob harder. "Please, don't leave…" she begged.

"Jill, I promise, I'll be back." he swore even if his voice wavered. Clive reached with his good hand towards her, fingers so gentle as they brushed away her tears. Leaning towards her, he kissed away the tears on her cheeks before he chastely kissed her mouth, "I love you," he whispered against her lips before simply walking away.

Clive was headed towards the door when Jill could simply take it no more and shouted at him, "Do you really believe this is what Joshua wanted!?"

Everything halted, Clive's hand frozen atop the door handle.

It was the first time anyone had spoken his brother's name since the day he died…

Jill couldn't be stopped in her righteous anger, "Joshua gave up his power, his life, so that you could live! And now it's as if you're in a rush to die! Ready to martyr yourself at the first opportunity! D-Do you really wish to join him that badly, Clive?" Jill whimpered, hand fisted in front of her lips as she could do nothing but stare at the wooden planks beneath her feet as molten wet tracks made their way silently down her face. "Even if it means leaving everyone behind? …even me?"

All was completely silent for a long time. Jill stood there, hands covering her mouth as tears leaked in rivers down her face. Clive was akin to a statue before she saw that facade crack when he finally turned around.

Clive Rosfield looked back at her for only a moment before, like a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut, his legs folded underneath him.

Instantly, Jill sprung to his side as he collapsed into a heap with his back against to the closed door. "Oh Founder! Clive, are you alright? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" she whimpered, shaking hands running over his body to check for any injuries.

Upon finding none, and questioning why Clive wasn't answering her, she finally looked at his face only to see trickling tears leaking in small rivulets from his bloodshot eyes. The bloody plaster upon his cheek sodden and ruined amidst his salty tears and yet he remained utterly silent.

The sight ripped her heart in half.

"Oh, Clive…My love… My darling, please…" Jill muttered as she reached out to him, fingers brushing back his hair as she gently wiped his tears that didn't seem to stop.

Clive didn't respond. Lip wobbling as his mask of stoicism shattered and the grief that he'd pushed back since he awoke returned with a vengeance. Clive's chin fell towards his sternum, he curled up on himself yet Jill wouldn't have it. She pressed herself bodily between his legs and held him as tight as he would allow. His tears soaked her shirt, pooling in her collarbone as his grief became too much for him to bear.

"I'm so sorry, Jill… I'm sorry, J-Joshua…" he wailed and Jill could do nothing but cry silently with him. Her fingertips weaving through his locks and the other rubbing circles into his heaving back in what she hoped was comfort.

Clive's head rested on her shoulder as he began voicing his sorrows into her throat, "I know my body is weak. I know I physically can't do this now. I just - I j-just feel so fucking u-useless, Jill! I'm supposed to be strong! That's all I've ever had that anyone cared to see in me. It's all I've known! All I've been my entire damn life. A Shield, a soldier, a killing machine…a fucking monster. Now I don't have any of that…" Clive pulled his face back up and looked at her. His expression was laced with pure misery, grief and he looked so damn young - so utterly lost. "Now what am I?"

Jill gently cupped his handsome face in her hands, being careful not to press too hard into the plaster on his healing wound. Thumbs brushing the tears that continued to leak down his face before she answered him.

"...You're Clive…" Jill whispered with the softest smile. "And that's all I need you to be and ever want you to be…You don't need to be anything else and I'm sure Joshua would agree… I know he would."

As if answering the call, a sudden flickering light drew Clive's attention to the mantle Jill had placed the Phoenix Feather upon his return. Its ethereal light glowing brighter as if in agreement before it suddenly flickered back to its original state.

All was silent before Clive whispered, "Joshua…Oh, Joshua… I'm so sorry…" before burying his face in her shoulder.

Jill she said nothing as his tears soddened her shirt. Merely held him close as she allowed him to fall apart, to finally allow himself to grieve and hopefully allow himself to live out his life like she knew Joshua would have wanted him to.

[selenityshiroi]

FFXVI several hours later:

I have no idea how far I am through the plot. 3/5 xxxxxxxxxxxxxx down?

Kupka played the 'I have your wife' trope and that was my secret OTP trap card

I'm now a basic bitch who ships Clive and Jill like burning

They were 'I like them...they healthily communicate and share their trauma instead of dwelling in it and are super supportive of each other'

Now I'm like 'ahddksklkfhdksk!'

But when does the choice of fabric in that one side quest kick in and I get to Jill in a new outfit? I know what a bonus content choice is, SE

Speaking of bonus content choices...Otto or Gav scene and Jill or Tarja scene

I chose Otto for the first because he hadn't joined me before but I'm curious about the latter. With the girls I was already in 'ahdksjsgaldhdj' OTP zone so obviously I took my wife, even though I'm also curious about the Tarja scene. That is was chapter replay is for, I guess. I did see that was a thing but haven't looked at it.

As soon as Mid turned up I was like 'yeap...that sure is Cid's daughter'. I'm actually surprised Vivian isn't her mother. I thought, when Vivian first showed up, that it might have been what connected her to the crew.

If this was an older game the hideaway would become an airship in late game. But looks like the Enterprise is in a different castle. And may or may not end up an airship.

I have suspicions about the mystery plot. Based on all the FFXIII Trilogy repackaging that this game has.

Also hello Prince and his lover

Happy pride month

(SE you still have time to confirm Vanille and Fang are also lovers this pride month)

(Not that they need much confirmation)

I'm sad that Joshua is probably not making it out of this story alive. At least that is the vibe I have. But I am believing Clive and Jill both will. Her ill health was giving me concern but some of the story elements give me hope.

But trying to remain spoiler free is soo hard. I want to see people's opinions and reactions to stuff.

But I know once I take just a peek of fandom I will either see something I shouldn't or dive in too deep

So spoilerfree and ignorant of others I remain!

(Also if the multishippers aren't shipping Clive and Gav then that is discrimination against himbos. I'm already in basic bitch Clive×Jill OTP mode but I have faith in the multishippers without looking at the fandom)

I have no idea how much game still remains, either

I'm guessing at least another 20 hours based on just story stuff

Oh, and the most important plot point happened

As soon as he turned blue and leapt out to save Jill I shouted out loud 'wait...MY DOG IS FENRIR?!?'

Turns out he's technically my wife's dog

Peak married

So it didn't even matter that the UI spoiled the fenrir bit on the attribute screen before Tomes could lay down the lore. Because my FF fan ass knew on sight lol

Oh yeah...about Clive and Jill. I was on the fence about whether or not they had been banging the entire time during the 5 year timeskip. Because everyone else sure as hell believes they are and its a small hideaway...but they are still doing the whole pining/almost kiss/long stare thing. And either it's just to bait the audience or they really have been doing that the entire time.

Like...babes...please...you are, in a rare case for FF during the main game for the main protaganists...grown adults.

One last thing...I got a massive amount of satisfaction over beating the entire Titan boss thing. I didn't die, I learned the boss patterns pretty well and managed the phases pretty quickly...but during the fight's stages I kept thinking 'nooooo...stop...not another stage....no...come on...don't power back up :(((('

Like...I'm managing the battle system and I get a lot of satisfaction over beating things. But it is still the thing I have to do to experience the story. Rather than me doing it for the gameplay. So a win, really, since this isn't my choice of gameplay.

I would have probably preferred story mode but I'm invested now lol

[minitiate]

Here are some quotes from arcs 6 and 7 of Pact

(scene: fight with the Behaim kids at the police station)

6.10:

I reached over to push up my sleeve.  I touched the Stonehenge charm.

I could feel connections of varying intensity.  Bonds between the charm bracelet and the other people around me.  People paying fines, staff, police…

Two to my right.  A teenage girl and a younger boy who was maybe just on the cusp of teenhood.  The boy had what looked like a pad of yellow sticky notes held between index and middle finger, and was periodically flipping through it with his thumb, a practiced gesture.  There was something drawn on the top one, and it looked complicated.

Another to my left, older, maybe older than me, a man in sunglasses. Another in front, the same age, standing to one side, fiddling with her phone.  It wasn’t a smartphone, some brick phone, the durable sort.

None had noticed me quite yet, but I was stirring interest by way of the charm.

...

“Go get Gav,” she said, her eyes wide, her voice a hush.  “Get him in here, tell him to use protection.” 

...

The man with sunglasses, ‘Gav’, appeared in the door.  He also had a chain in hand.  He tossed it to the ground at the doorway, then used his toe to move it so it was secure. 

6.11:

6.12:

“Ainsley,” I said.  “Release me, and I’ll help Sunglasses over there.”

“I can’t,” she said.  “I made promises.  To take this seriously.”

“This is serious.”

“-I can’t,” she said, so fast I doubted she’d even heard what I said.

“You can.  Sunglasses over there-”

“Owen.”

“Owen’s going to get hurt if that engine explodes.  I bound myself to save your life.  You-”

7.X:

“Get everyone packed up.  We’re going back.”

“Back?”

“To Jacob’s Bell.  It’s done, I’m fairly certain.”

Not without casualties.

“I, uh, okay,” Owen said.

“I’ll need help packing,” Duncan said, working his way to a standing position.  “You and your twin can get some driving practice in, I suppose.”