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#also. the drawing quality's gonna drop on days when i Want To Answer but have no energy to draw properly!! sorry :^)
astral-realities · 6 months
Note
Hello again! New questions bc im really curious! How much do you all identify with your puppets and their appearances? Are they more of a tool for you or are they significant for your sense of self? I've noticed that your appearances somewhat reflect your personalities, was this a design choice made by your architects or have you been adjusting looks along the way by yourselves? (I know Habitually Stargazing did a little, the dress looks really pretty on you btw!) Im particularily fascinated by the antennas! Im guessing you don't use them much having a hard-wire connection to the rest of your superstructures, right? (perhaps they would be more practical when communicating with visitors in your chambers? I don't know..) Im seeing a sort of analogy between animal motifs in ancient art and masks and those retro-looking antenna resembling those used with older technology, though I might be wrong.. I'd be thrilled to know whether these hold any cultural / traditional signifincance among machines alike!
Also I'd love to know more about your serial numbers! What do they mean, and do you more identify with them or with your names?
Finally, Flowers - a creature for you
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It's an umbrella slug, hiding under it's umbrella!
Hope you all have a wonderfull day, looking forward to hear from you!
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SDA: Oh! While the exact details might vary from case to case, I would say that it's a bit of both - the puppet is a tool tied to an iterator's sense of self.
SDA: The puppet is only a small part of yourself, but it represents you as a whole. You .. used it to communicate with your citizens, you use it to communicate with your peers. Others start to see *you* in this form. The more you use it, the more you begin to identify with it. With time, its image truly becomes yours.
SDA: From our creators' perspective, it might have been a matter of needing an interface to interact with us. It seemed to be more natural to speak with something that you can actually look in the face.
SDA: Another important fact is that the puppet is by far the most expressive part of our bodies. Our biological elements can be somewhat controlled by our programming, but it cannot fully override them - there will always be a living, sentient being deep below.
SDA: One that has its own emotions, preferences, opinions; one that wants to express itself. The puppet serves as an outlet for that. It can gesticulate, it allows you to convey how you feel in a way that's understandable to most.
TFB: It would've probably been easier for them if we couldn't think for ourselves. Just tell us what to do and we do it until the end of time, no questions asked.
TFB: Instead, they chose to fully depend on something with an *attitude*! Some really tried their best to keep good relations with their iterator, afraid of putting it in a bad mood...
SDA: Yes, I suppose...
SDA: Some of us might pay greater attention to the puppet's appearance, adjusting it to our own tastes, mostly with clothes and accessories. Fashion was important in our creators' culture, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for an iterator to request a new robe or a necklace. Some took matters into their own hands.
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SDA: ... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on like this.
BROS: Don't you dare, it's always nice hearing you so passionate about something~
BROS: About the antennae - you're right, they're not as powerful as the equipment in the rest of the structure! They're decent for close-range stuff, and they're what you'd resort to in case of an emergency.
BROS: Like, somehow losing access to the rest of your body. The puppet can't do much on its own, but thanks to these, it would be able to communicate with anything near it.
BROS: Aaand they were mostly another way for the architect to visualize whatever concept they had for a puppet.
HS: I'm almost offended by the "retro" remark. As far as I'm concerned, these are state-of-the-art.
BROS: Sure, sure~
BROS: Finally, as for the model numbers. They represent the architect's name, the cycle when the project was officially completed, and the name of the project at that time, like this:
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BROS: Nobody really identifies with this, it's mostly used in paperwork - maybe some database stuff. Even if two iterators were given the same name, it's extremely unlikely they also had the same creator *and* creation date, so it allows for telling us apart that way.
HS: The name that appears in your model number isn't truly binding either. Such as...
TFB: Come on now, don't put them on the spot like that.
SDA: ...
SDA: It's fine...
SDA: Originally, I was called "Visions of Serenity", you'll see me in databases as GTIAOT672005VOS.
SDA: I was renamed shortly after, due to some... rather unfortunate coincidence.
SDA: It really doesn't matter now.
---
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TFB: Also, thank you so much!! I don't get to see many marine species around these parts, this is lovely!
HS: (...and thank you...)
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anewp0tat0 · 1 year
Note
Oh darn! Did I ask you what's your opinion on the new season 4 art style? If i did, TOO BAD! Answer it again! Thanks babe <3
hey dude!! no, you have not asked me this, but it is always a pleasure to hear from you multiple times anyway😊
well, we still don't have a ton to go off of and judge unfortunately, but in my unprofessional opinion, I will try.
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this is the promo art that was released on September 10th of the p4. gonna be completely honest, there are things I like and things I'm a little unsure about. what I like most is that they look very manga accurate! however, that does also lead to a concern I have.
when I look at them, I can't help but feel that they look like manga colorings. that in itself isn't a bad thing, because it could possibly mean that they're working close to yana. but who knows. so the concerns that I have are these:
- tracing/heavily referencing the manga art, if reflected onto the whole anime, could mean that there isn't a lot of quality, effort, or creative direction going into the anime.
-the shading in this promo art is fine, but honestly, I'm not a fan of how gradients are used. I don't see the need for the bottom half of these characters to fade to black. the coloring remains to have the problem of desaturation, which I think was for me the only problem the teaser had, which I explained here last time you asked me hehe.
- this is a much more personal nit pick so it can be disregarded, but if the p4 were meant to look like playing cards or something like that, I do wish more detail went in. like a more varied but cohesive color pallet, or... mhm. maybe I do want them to be a bit glossier. I mean they're the face of the school, make them fantastic.
I think what I'm getting at but trying not to be harsh about is that it looks a bit lazy. and rushed.
however, this was not the case for the teaser. aside from the desaturation problem I expressed above which I think could impact the quality, I thought it was very well done, with a lot of time and effort, and a seemingly high budget?? enough?
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I still think these shots are wonderful.
so all in all, I may~ have a new concern, until the actual trailer drops(some day, who knows) and I can properly judge the art style and the direction. but for now, there's not much need for me to worry. as long as the teaser wasn't where the entire budget went into...
yea, for all we know, that p4 promo art could have been slapped together in a week just to have something new to show at aniplex. thanks again for including us for this year's show :]
so yea, I think that's about all of my thoughts for this little drawing that we have. may I ask your thoughts, dear Mary?(oh just realized your new username lol noice) ^v^
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Supergirl 6x16 - Review/Rant
might as well start this by saying that it was not a great episode at all but, considering that the quality has been consistently declining since azie's episode, im not surprised. only bright spot for me was nia confronting maeve. but anyway:
- yo feels like it's been 84 years since we got the full intro.
- esme's little drawings of her family. kara already calling esme her niece. j'onn already calling esme his granddaughter. kelly taking esme to her hometown to meet james and others. this kid is going to be so loved. as she deserves. and im a fucking puddle on the floor
- but also no kelly while giving me unnecessary and unwanted william. when's the last time all 7 of the super friends were present and accounted for together? answer: 6x01 they were all in the tower briefly. ridiculous
- ive been bitching for weeks about the unknown status of brainy and nia so its nice to finally have some confirmation after [checks notes] 16 fucking episodes
- also brainy going full green these days. especially at home, just chilling with nia. i love this for them
- lena, j'onn and alex appear to have no life outside of the tower now that lcorp and the deo are no longer options
- they also did nothing 99% of this episode. nothing
- love how lena could have her workstation anywhere in the tower, could probably have a legit office, but chooses right in front of the balcony kara frequents so she can appreciate the view.
- can we talk about the absolutely predatory look lena gave kara? she wants that kryptonian grade beef so bad it's embarassing
- maeve is such a cunt. running away, changing your name and address. pretty much dropping off the surface of the earth. being all difficult with your so-called help. abandoning your own blood just because you didn't get something that was never guaranteed to be yours in the first place. grow the fuck up
- bitch was really finna swipe that dream totem like a teenager shoplifting
- ooooh nicole's performance was great.
- nia didn't unload enough on maeve, the enemy of progress, imho
- dream totem knows your transphobic ass ain't pure of heart
- glad that nia did not forgive her. and that she didn't let maeve's unjustified selfishness overshadow her own trauma from the situation. nia's feelings are just as valid. and frankly, begrudgingly helping nia now can't erase 2 years of heartbreaking neglect
- fucking william. are y'all telling me that he has full access to the tower so he just traipse in whenever he fancies? fuck this
- i know that kara hasn't been particularly good at her job lately but the way they continue to nerf her seasoned journalism skills just to prop william as some sage mentor irritates me. after five years as a journalist who won a pulitzer, never mind the years as cat grant's assistant, you're telling me that kara can't counter someone trying to sidestep and/or shutdown her questions? stop
- reporter kara hasn't been interesting to me since S2. and as much of a grumpy asshole as he was, snapper actually made her do her job and do it properly
- andrea had every right to sack kara. but also she gives kara the interview again after she totally screwed up the first time? where's the sass when it's actually warranted andrea?
- once again revisiting the 'i quit' bullshit from S3. once again gonna try being only supergirl cuz that went so well the last time. i mean, if it leads to a "kara is my favourite person" line from lena, i can allow it
- kara has been having these deep conversations with alex and then with lena but tonight it was with william. why?
- william asked an important question that went unanswered because it's been very unclear what kara wants. it changes like the weather. or with whatever these dumbass writers need for their dumbass plot. kara still seems as lost and unsure of her place in the world as she did in S1
- also im not liking the fact that superman can apparently have it all (journalism, wife, kids, superheroing) but time and again, this show pushes that kara can't? that something has to give? what the fuck
- that dome sliced that woman's food truck in half and probably some humans and buildings. it's impossible to think that the entire circumference of that dome just so happened to fall in some safe zone. impossible. they maimed and/or killed people today
- on another note, kara immediately asking lena for a solution. lena giving one. alex looking appropriately sceptical. kara immediately saying "do it" because lena "is right most of the time" (her canon words). kara's faith in lena is unwavering and im totally fine
- love how alex is just foregoing her costume these days. her sentinel cover lasted half a season
- sigh. whiny politicians. shoehorning william. sprinkle of andrea. idiot superheroes. cringe cgi. at least 1 super friend mia. just enough supercorp bait. inconsistencies. lena cranking out solutions like a machine. standard episode template
- brainy and lena moments. i absolutely love their friendship. would've been nice if they had an actual scene of them talking about nia while they worked, especially since brainy was so worried about her
- so so so the nightmare monster was just fucking around inside the dome? and kara didn't exactly try to stop it now did she?
- never realized how painful bad cgi can be. my eyeballs were legit throbbing
- did they just say dream energy is like nuclear energy. fucking how? the writers are so dumb
- kara clearly has serious issues that everyone is ignoring. alex said they had it handled and they totally did but she still bailed
- everything about kara's quitting scene, self sabotaging the interview, barely being a reporter these days with real effort, her conversation with william, just screams depression to me. this baby needs therapy so badly. she's hurting and sad despite having warmth in her life. she clearly needs additional support
- would also like to point out that kara spirals in the episode where she has no one on one time with lena or alex
- the lena witch storyline is dragging its feet dawg. since lena said magic is "instinct and intuition" i want to believe this will lead to some situation where kara and her friends (or ideally just kara) is in danger and something just clicks, her eyes glow, lex goes flying, nyxly says oh shit im fucked
- felt kinda robbed of a brainia kiss tonight. and supercorp domestic fluff. and dansen content. oh...i figured out why this episode was trash
- i don't care for nyxly's plot. and i will care even less now that lex is involved. she was doing quite fine solo but i guess a show about women can't thrive without a man swooping in to help
- did lex just materialize from the gauntlet like some bald genie? fucking how?
- who is bankrolling the super friends? alex, lena, brainy and now kara are unemployed. j'onn i assume has his p.i thing tho we never see him do it. lena presumably is still rich but income vs wealth is the issue here. kelly just started as a social worker. nia is probably still on a cub reporter salary. who's covering expenses? and how?
this season doesn't feel like a final season...at all. instead of wrapping shit up, more plotlines are diverging. really feels like the stories are been written to continue and not conclude and that's so aggravating to say the least. and what makes it worse is that we're at 16/20 and kara still doesn't seem to have a storyline of her own.
and what troubles me: kara is going to give up something when she should not have to. she should get to have it all. the job she loves, being a superhero and having a love of her own. she needs to find a balance. maybe take a step back as supergirl, leave certain things to the police and j'onn and alex. reduce her workload at catco. attend therapy sessions and take some time off to reconnect with herself.
i don't see how spontaneously quitting solves any of her issues. where's the passion kara had just last week? or even at the beginning of this episode where she gushed on and on about the power of journalism?
why does she never get to have it all? S1 - gives up james because she can't have love + be supergirl. S2 - gives up kara danvers (to some extent) because having mon + being supergirl is apparently enough. S3 - neglects being kara danvers again (quits job, runs to argo) + tries to have love but fails (again). S4 gets to be kara danvers + supergirl but no love due to her dishonesty with lena. S5 - pretty much had nothing going for her.
it's so unfair man. after all these seasons and everything she's been through and sacrificed. the disservice to her character is a crime and the cw can go fuck themselves
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z3llous · 3 years
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Would You Still Love me?
(FTM Reader x Sanji)
Warning: Transphobia. It's gonna get sad before it gets happy, so don’t read if you aren't in the mental state for that.
(Also it starts with she/her pronouns for a reason, just wait and see ok? Don’t worry it’ll get there.)
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    (Aug 16, 2020)
  He was her closest and most trusted friend. They did everything and went everywhere together, but not today.
    Women were what he loved, y/n was a woman, and y/n loved him. So what was the problem? As much as she loved him, she wasn't sure he loved her in the same way. Her love was unconditional, but was his?
    The path trailed off into a darker more mysterious part of town.
    He seemed to "love" all women, but what about her specifically? Was it simply adoration? Would he truly love her if she asked him to, or would he continue to "love" the others as well?
Wandering aimlessly and alone was the plan of the day. It was all in hope of somehow easing the weight of her heavy heart.
She would love him even if he wasn't a him. Regardless of gender Sanji was her everything. Gender meant little to her as long as Sanji was Sanji, but what about him? Would he still care about her if she wasn't a woman anymore?
A dark eerie shop came into view ahead to her left. It somehow gave her a warm welcoming feeling that flooded her lonely soul and begged for a visitor.
Wasn't the person more important than the gender?
As she grew closer she noticed the witch symbol that marked all magic shops.
The thoughts that plagued her mind and heart relentlessly, became lighter as she turned the bone handle and opened the door.
"May I help you?" A sweet fairly young looking witch asked kindly.
Incense filled the small shop with its pleasant aroma bringing some comfort to her weary mind.
"I don't need help at the moment. Would it be a bother if I asked questions about some of the things you're selling?" y/n said politely, eyes trailing across the shelves.
"Not at all, dear. Look around, ask all you like." She answered happily twirling a strand of her soft teal hair.
"Thank you." y/n said before walking around in search of something that might be of use.
The bay leaves caught her eye, since she'd watched Sanji use them in soups before. Unfortunately, the thought of Sanji wasn't welcome at the moment. Her expression unknowingly dropped.
"I'm sorry to pry, but are you alright miss? No one else is here and I won't judge you, dear." The kind witch asked noticing the poor girl's change in mood.
"I- No, I'm not alright..." y/n answered truthfully, since there was no use in hiding it. Her heart couldn't bear to lie to such a kind woman.
"Well what's the matter, dear?" Curiosity and concern filling the witch's voice and face. She knew from experience how harmful holding in emotions could be.
"Well, there's this man I love, but he adores women in general. I'm not sure, even if he truly loved me, that it would be the same way in which I love him. I love him for him, not because he's a man. Would he still care about me if I wasn't a woman?" Y/n admitted feeling relieved that she'd finally said her worries aloud.
"Ah, your worries are deep and valid, dear. It's understandable that you'd feel that way. Would you mind if I read you? Take a closer look at your soul." The teal witch said looking wise beyond her years. She'd thought similarly when she met her wife and soulmate. One often searches deeply inside themselves and the other when soulmates are involved.
"Why not? I'm always open to learn a bit about myself. " She said walking over.
A teal lock of wavy hair dropped from the witch's hand as she released it and held out her palm calmly.
Y/n placed her hand into hers and waited. The witch examined her hands, eyes, and face with her experienced gold eyes.
"I'm certain this isn't your first life. You've been both man and woman in your previous lives." The witch said confidently and patted y/n's hand softly to reassure her.
"That doesn't surprise me..." y/n stated, eyes drifting to the floor.
"You've known it for awhile, hun. Well, I do have something. I wouldn't normally bring it out, but since it fits your situation. So, I'll make an exception." She said pulling out a purple potion with blue flecks swirling about inside in a whirlpool like manner.
The sight of such a thing mesmerized her eyes with its lustrous hypnotic swirl.
"It changes one from female to male. The only way to reverse it is to ingest a male to female potion. Make sure to take it before you climb into bed, because it has sleep inducing qualities." The witch continued as she carefully poured some into a small shot glass sized bottle, sealed it, and marked it with the male symbol, before placing it onto the counter in front of y/n.
"Thank you, so much." y/n said paying her and placing it carefully into her bag.
"Not a problem, dear. Would you like the other one as well? Some grow to miss their old body within a week." The witch said pulling out a red glittering potion.
"....Just in case, yes." She said after a moment of thought. The sweet witch had experience with these things after all.
"Alright, dear." She said cheerfully as she poured another small bottle and marked it with the female symbol. Excited for the poor thing to settle the turmoil that resided within her.
"I can't thank you enough!" y/n exclaimed paying for that one too and putting it into her bag as well.
"I wish the greatest of blessings upon you, dear! I hope that man sees you for you!" The Teal witch happily waved as she watched the girl leave.
---
Robin was the only one who knew of what she was going to do. Robin never failed to keep a secret for her and she certainly wasn't about change that.
Once night had arrived she waltzed into the safety of her own room. Sliding under the cool sheets she couldn't help but fantasize of the best possible outcome. Excitement filled her system and she drank the surprisingly sweet potion. A pleasant feeling swept through her that was soon followed by drowsiness and so she slipped away into unconsciousness.
---
*drєαm*
hє pínnєd ѕαnjí αgαínѕt α wαll αnd ѕlíd híѕ hαndѕ íntσ thє вlσndє'ѕ hαír. hє вєgαn tσ pull hím clσѕє fσr α kíѕѕ-
---
He squinted his eyes from the glaring ray of sun light that peeked past the curtain. Suddenly remembering he raced to the mirror. Amazing, the potion had worked so well. It would take a bit to get used to, but they already had some previously oversized clothes that fit nicely.
Robin, expecting it, casually greeted them as though nothing had changed.
"Morning, Y/n." Robin said as he walked out and sat next to her for their usual morning reading session.
"WAIT Y/N???" Ussop yelled confusedly, nearly dropping the project he was working on.
"Yes, Ussop?" y/n asked normally, turning toward him as he lowered his book.
"WHAT HAPPENED???" he yelled again.
"Oh, I bought a potion from a nice witch lady." Y/n answered casually going back to his book.
"That sounds SUUUUPERRR!" Franky yelled popping into the conversation for a moment.
"Thank you, Franky, it is." Y/n said with a smile.
"Did it hurt?" Chopper asked peaking around the corner, since he was playing hide and seek with Luffy.
"Not at all, it tasted sweet and made me sleepy." Y/n answered calmly as he turned a page.
"I wanna meet the nice witch lady!" Luffy exclaimed as he fell out of an orange tree.
"STAY OUT OF MY ORANGE TREES!" Nami yelled as she ran over and grabbed all the oranges that fell before Luffy could get them.
"I don't think the nice witch lady would appreciate you running all over her shop, Luffy." Y/n said amused, turning another page.
"Aaaaaw no fair!" Luffy whined as he rubbed the new bump on his head.
"Nami-swaaan! Robin-chwaaan! Y/n- Who are you?" Sanji said walking out of the kitchen with a morning snack only to be surprised by a familiar, yet new face.
"A nice witch lady gave y/n a potion!" Chopper said with adorable enthusiasm.
Sanji just froze with a blank stare, Chopper panicked, and Luffy started poking Sanji.
Suddenly it clicked and Sanji quickly placed down the snacks on a nearby table and sped off to the kitchen.
===[edited^]=== ---
Sanji didn't talk to y/n much all day. He seemed... distant.
Evening came around and everyone was having fun on the beach. Robin was comfortably reading a book and laying on a beach towel beneath an umbrella, Nami yelling at Luffy, and the others were messing around with crabs.
"Sanji! Mind if I help?" Y/n walked up happily offering to help him cook the crabs like he always did.
Looking away Sanji held out a ready to be cooked crab and said nothing the entire time. The silence began to bother y/n a little bit.
"Are you alright?" He asked Sanji quietly to avoid drawing attention.
".....why?" Sanji asked looking down.
"Why what?" Y/n said confusedly.
"Why did you take the potion? I- never mind..." He said refusing to look up.
"What? What is it?" y/n stared at him.
"It's nothing." Sanji said glancing at him for second and turning away.
"It clearly isn't nothing."
"I-..."
"I what?!"
"You were better before this!"
"I can't BELIEVE you!" y/n yelled standing up and running off.
Sanji angrily focused on the crab and Luffy looked up at with a frown.
Luffy walked off after y/n.
---
Sobbing echoed from the cave as Luffy walked closer. His frown dropped further when he saw y/n curled in a weeping ball. He sat next to him and gently placed his hat onto his head.
Y/n calmed down a bit and leaned against him before he began to talk.
"Luffy, Sanji doesn't like me for who I am. I love him with everything I am. Why can't he just love me. Does it matter if I'm a woman or not? I want my best friend back. I'm still the same y/n aren't I?" y/n began to cry again.
Luffy looked down quietly for a moment.
"Y/n is y/n no matter what. He's wrong for being upset with you. You'll always be our y/n." Luffy said as he turned to him and smiled.
Y/n hugged Luffy tightly.
"Thank you...thank you so much, Luffy." He said slowly letting go, giving Luffy his hat back as well as a teary eyed smile.
They got up and walked into town, since Luffy agreed to let them stay the night in an inn. He gave Luffy a piece of paper with his room number and the symbol of the inn drawn on it in case they needed to find him. Y/n hugged Luffy once more before he headed back to the rest of the crew.
---
The had nearly set by the time Luffy returned.
"Luffy? Where's y/n?" Ussop and Nami asked when they noticed that he had returned alone.
"In town." he answered with a rare frown.
"What???! Why?!" Both of them yelled confused.
"He isn't coming back tonight." He said turning to Sanji, who was staring at the sand with his hair covering both his eyes.
Everyone turned to Sanji. They all heard what he said to y/n.
"Apologize to y/n." Luffy demanded looking at Sanji seriously.
"I agree. You weren't exactly pleasant to y/n today." Zoro said getting up and standing next to Luffy.
"Cruel more like it." Ussop stated glaring over his shoulder from where he sat.
"...Yeah." Chopper sadly mumbled next to Ussop.
"Captain's right." Robin said not looking up from her book.
"Not Suuuperrr." Franky said lacking passion.
"Horrible..." Nami whispered.
Luffy walked closer and held out the paper in front of Sanji.
"Go find him and apologize. He'll forgive you." Luffy said pushing the paper against him.
Sanji slowly stood up and grabbed the paper. He finally looked up with a hurt expression.
"Are you sure?" Sanji painfully asked holding in tears and gripping the paper.
"He's your best friend isn't he?" Luffy answered placing a hand onto his shoulder.
Sanji nodded.
"Then go." Luffy said smiling.
Immediately Sanji rushed towards town.
---
He desperately looked for the Symbol. One path to another, alley after alley, turn after turn, he was beginning to think he'd loose his precious friend.
Who am I kidding. He's not just my best friend. He's also my love. I was just confused by the change in gender. My feelings never left and I got frustrated and took it out on him. It doesn't matter, y/n is y/n. I need to see him. I have to. I can't loose him.
As he ran around the corner hope rushed back into him at the sight of the inn.
He quickly apologized to poor man at the desk for bothering him at such a late hour. He scoured the place for the number that marked the room of his love.
"13..." he whispered at the sight of it.
Softly he knocked on the door. Anxiety crawled up his back as his worst fear arose from the depths of his mind.
What if he doesn't forgive me? I'll never forgive myself if he leaves because of me.
The door opened and wild disheveled y/n appeared. They looked at him for a second... and closed the door.
He knocked again.
"Please, y/n. Please talk to me. At least listen." He pleaded.
The door opened again and Sanji walked in. Y/n closed the door behind him and turned towards Sanji silently.
Remorse and longing filled his heart from just seeing him. Sanji couldn't help but quickly pull y/n into a needy hug.
Tears soaked into y/n's shirt as he pulled him in as close as possible.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was frustrated with my own feelings and took it out on you. I was wrong. I was so wrong. I'm sorry. Please don't leave. Please, I love you. Don't leave me. You're my best friend and my love. Don't leave." His tears escaped rapidly and his breath grew unsteady.
His shaky hands grasped y/n's shirt.
Y/n wrapped his arms around Sanji and leaned into him. Tears began to escape from him as well.
"I forgive you. I'm sorry I yelled. I shouldn't have pushed you to tell me. I understand. I love you too and I'm not going anywhere. It's gonna be alright. C'mon,  you can stay here with me tonight." Y/n whispered and gently led him to the bed.
Taking off his shoes and vest Sanji crawled under the sheets. Y/n turned the light off and crawled in too.
He pulled Sanji in close so his head rest upon his chest and began to run his hands through the messy blonde hair.
"Shhhhh, rest easy, my precious Prince." y/n whispered softly kissing his forehead.
"I will, my love." Sanji tiredly answered nuzzling further into his chest and placing a soft kiss onto his collar bone.
They slept better than ever before that night.
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anotheranimestan · 4 years
Text
Sweet Intoxication
Tamaki fans!! Come get yo juice!
Tamaki fluff with a lil spice (just a lil)
wc: 3.2k
I can’t be the only one who thinks the Suneater is 🤤 I could write about him for days
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Being UA High’s #4 ranked third year, it’s no surprise you’d created a great friendship with the Big Three. You were particularly close with the group’s resident “kitten” as Nejire liked to call him. You met during your first year when you were sat next to each other during class. He was so shy and wouldn’t talk to anyone except Mirio, even despite your many attempts at making conversation.
Until one day, you hurt yourself during practical training and he offered to walk you to the nurses office (much to everyone’s surprise). The entire time he was dead silent with a look of pure embarrassment across his face since you had to cling to him to walk. Once he dropped you off you expected him to leave while Recovery Girl fixed you up. But when you exited the office, there he was. Sitting on the floor waiting for you, his face riddle with concern.
When he spotted you his eyes lit up. “So um-are you okay y/n?”
It was the first time you got to hear his soft voice so clearly. It made your heart swell. You knew right then you wanted to keep him.
Ever after that moment you two stayed close and kept an eye on each other. He was still timid at first but over the years it blossomed into an air-tight friendship. You were practically apart of the Amajiki family after the amount of dinners you had with them. Not a day went by that you two didn’t walk home from school together.
That is until today. You see, during lunch Nejire let it slip that Tamaki had a crush on you when she thought you couldn’t hear. Little did she know you were standing right behind her as you approached the lunch table.
You were so caught off guard and your eyes grew wide as you locked eyes with your best friend. His face was pure horrid humiliation. Mirio desperately tried to make light of the situation and pretend it was all a joke but the damage had already been done.
Tamaki immediately fled the cafeteria, knocking over a few first years on his way out.
You were still frozen in place trying to process what was happening. You definitely didn’t expect him to have a crush on anyone, let alone you. He never talked about romantic interests like that. And considering he tells you almost everything on his mind you’d think you’d have some sort of inkling about this.
Your train of thought was quickly interrupted by the horrible thought of how much of a hit to Tamaki’s self-confidence this probably was. He’d become so much stronger and more social. You couldn’t let all his hard work get reversed.
You chased after him but he was gone. Disappeared off the face of the planet for the rest of the day.
You were worried sick and couldn’t think about anything else but finding him.
As soon as the final bell rang you bolted for the Amajiki house. Of course his mother let you in with no hesitations and immediately informed you of his exact location (His room. Where else? That’s where he was always hiding). Although the suspicious look on her face told you that Tamaki’s condition must be bad. He probably came home early and locked himself away without a word. Not completely out of character, let’s be honest, but still it didn’t put you at ease.
You slowly approached his door trying to form some kind of plan to fix this. What was the best tactic though? Should you tell him? Tell him that you’ve secretly been crushing on him this whole time? Since that day at the nurse’s office when he held your hand for the first time? When his voice alone captured your heart. You were sick over the thought. You’d desperately tried to keep it a secret and hadn’t told anyone, even Nejire (for obvious reasons). You were scared that you’d scare him away with your feelings. You’d rather have him as a friend than nothing but that didn’t stop you from constantly dreaming of kissing him or holding hands again or cuddling every night while watching his favorite movies.
You didn’t have an exact plan but you desperately wanted him back so you had to try something. Anything.
The door was locked. You knocked as gently as possible. He was easy to scare.
“Tamaki? It’s me. Let me in.”
You heard a miserable groan from behind the door. “Please leave me alone to die.” He plead from inside. Always one for the dramatics. Something you secretly loved.
“Come on! You’re really going to lock me out like this? A bit dramatic don’t you think?” You insisted, slightly amused.
And just like that the lock clicked open. You let yourself in. It was dark except a little glowing ball lamp in the corner of the room that illuminated everything up with an indigo glow.
He was sitting on his bed against the wall, hugging his knees and burying his face.
You shut the door behind you and stood for a moment. You really just wanted to run over there and cuddle him. Tell him every reason you’re putty for him. But you didn’t want to push him. There was an art to dealing with a mopey Tamaki and you knew it well.
“So how long have you been sitting up here? I hope you at least finally ate some lunch.”
He peeked his head up at you. You were rustling a bag filled with his favorite snacks. You saved these in your locker for moments exactly like these.
Your heart fluttered when you saw those eyes you loved so much. Although his eyebrow were furrowed in embarrassment, still, he looked adorable as ever.
You took this moment as an opening and slowly approached, careful not to spook.
You took the spot directly in front of him. He’d still not managed to look you directly in the eyes.
“Sooo...” This is where you had no game plan left.
You finally had the chance to feel nervous now that you knew he was okay. Your heart started racing in your chest as the anxiety coursed through your body.
“This is the worst day of my life.” He concluded covering his face again with his hands.
You rolled your eyes. “I think there are worse things.”
“Like what?” He said like he was proving a point.
“Like...” You exhaled and gave your honest answer without thinking. “losing your best friend.”
He groaned again. “That’s exactly what I’m saying, y/n!”
Your head tilted. “What?”
“I can never talk to you again now.” The pure teenage agony in his voice was ridiculous.
You giggled. “You’re talking to me right now, dummy.”
“And now you’re laughing at me.” He leaned his head back against the wall in distress.
You reached up and grabbed one of his hands, pulling it away from his face.
“I’ll be very offended if you stop talking to me.” You inform him with humor in your tone.
He looked down at you finally. You were breaking through.
“But...aren’t you weirded out?” He was grimacing at the horrible cafeteria memory that had been replaying nonstop in his mind.
You laughed.
“No more weirded out than usual.” You poke him in the stomach. He was aggressively ticklish so he jumped and grabbed your hand instinctively. Now you could see his whole face again and you were so relieved. You missed it.
His eyes were trained on your hands and he nervously played with your fingers. He did this a lot and it always sent butterflies flying in your stomach.
“You ran out the cafeteria so fast you didn’t even stay for my reaction. Also, those first years are gonna be looking for revenge tomorrow.”
He cracked a tiny smile.
“So...what is your reaction?”
The nerves were really electric now. You almost panicked. Were you really about to admit to your long time crush just how head over heels you were for him?
You were silent for a while which didn’t put Tamaki at ease. He was sure you were going to reject him. You were way out of his league. You were heavenly and pure beauty in his eyes. You could make him warm just by smiling at him that’s how much he loved your aura. How could you be into a loser like him. He could barely stand up straight next to you and the other members of the Big Three. You didn’t know it but right under the bed you sat on he had a hidden a sketch book filled with his drawings of you. Or at least attempts as he called them. He could never capture the curl of your eyelashes or the soft slope of your neck quite right. And the lips. They were always off. Yours had this perfect kissable quality to them that he wished he could experience rather than just draw onto paper.
His pining was interrupted by your sharp inhale as you began to answer. He looked at you under his thick lashes, dying to hear your response. It made your cheeks burn and the words get caught in your throat. Your mind must have overheated because it completely shut down and your body acted on its own.
You didn’t say a word. You just pulled his legs down from against his body and climbed onto him. You wrapped your arms and legs completely around his body like a teddy bear and squeezed him tight.
At first he was stunned but quickly recovered and hugged you back. Your hair was completely covering his face but it was comforting being indulged in your familiar scent of shampoo.
You two confided in each other for a long moment. No words could express what you were trying to say.
After a while you pulled back to look at him. Big mistake. The soft glow of the rich indigo light made him look dream-like. Suddenly you were picturing all the things you had been imagining doing with him...to him.
He wasn’t blind to the way you were staring at him. Blank eyes lost in thought and lips parted like they wanted something. You looked angelic. Sitting on his lap and holding him tight. You were exactly what he needed.
He knew this could be the moment he’d been waiting for all these years. But of course his usual anxiety was holding him back from experiencing you like he wanted. You were so so perfect. He couldn’t possibly...
Your brain switched on just for a moment to spill out a few incoherent words. “I want...this....you. I’ve been.”
Overwhelmed by your words he finally gave into his desires as his head dipped down into the nook of your neck. His lips hovered over your skin and you felt his hot breath ticking your sensitive spot. You wished he wasn’t so hesitant but you could also easily savor this moment forever. Tamaki was finally satisfying your craving for him.
Your hand rolled up gently into his silky hair and your eyes fluttered shut when he finally made contact.
His lips were so soft and molded perfectly into the curve of your neck. He slowly trailed around your collar bones and up to your ear.
Your face nuzzled into him as he tasted you.
His gentle touch made your heart swell and bespelled your body to curl into him more and more.
His tongue began grazing the tender skin he’d laid the ground work on. Dragging circles around your sweet spots and sealing them with kisses. His warm breath sending chills through your through your muscles.
The sweet rhythm of his breathing, his snug hold on your waist and the vibrating hums of enjoyment resounding in his chest...
He was mesmerizing. This little Suneater easily held you in a trance like it was nothing and without even knowing it. Your body was soft like dough, molding into him as you succumbed to his warmth. Your head had fallen limp to the side so he could access as much as he desired.
His voice was thick like honey as he shyly spoke into your ear. “You...taste really good.”
Your eyes were still locked shut, under hypnosis but a smile spread across your face.
“Does that mean one of your limbs is going to turn into me?” You said with a drunk little giggle.
He noticeably shrunk under your words. “Please don’t tease me. You’re making me so nervous already.” He cried desperately.
Your eyes finally cracked open to look at him properly. His face was wrapped in conflict and self-doubt as usual.
So many responses flashed through your mind but only one managed it’s way past your lips. There was truly only one thing you wanted to say anyways. “Can you kiss me please?”
You needed more of him, his previous performance already had you hooked and aching.
Red flush spread across his cheekbones and the tips of his pointy ears. His gaze fell under as he considered something. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time. I’m honestly surprised I’m even getting the chance.”
As if you weren’t already deep under his spell, his words managed to further melt you like butter.
His voice was dark velvet. A sharp contrast to his normal shaky tone. “I just want to ask...do you really like me?”
“Tamaki...forget like...I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”
Your words slipped out of your mouth but it was like hearing them underwater. You were so detached from reality in this moment. Just pure bliss was conducting your movements while your mind was on hiatus.
His red washed face turned bashful as he tried to comprehend your words. He couldn’t stop a cute little grin from spreading across his face.
Before he could recover enough to verbally respond, your thumb placed itself on his bottom lip that was still lightly swollen from exploring your neck. The weight of your hand pulled it down to expose his pearly white bottom teeth.
This pouty look made him even more appealing, your mouth was practically watering at the handsome sight before you.
He acknowledged your hungry look as his invitation and his pouty lip puckered around the pad of your thumb. He placed kisses on each of your fingers and finally your knuckles before he pulled you close to him.
The movement wafted some of his cologne into your nose and just like that you were drunk on him again. He could have you.
His lips pressed into yours and it was like your whole world came to fruition. You realized then just how badly you’d wanted this. He trapped your bottom lip and gently sucked letting his tongue start it’s magic again.
Your arms contracted around his neck to pull him as close as possible and he respectively deepened his kiss.
He nibbled on your lip just enough for butterflies to start flapping around on your chest. Just when you think you’ve hit sensory overload he whips out something new. You already identified kissing him as your new addiction before your first kiss was even over.
His confidence was slowly building as he became more familiar with the curves of your mouth. Assessing exactly what you were liking by the barely audible gasps of euphoria you were making.
He strung you along for a while like this, each next move being more endearing than the last until finally he pulled away to give your lungs a chance to pull in some air. Obviously you didn’t want oxygen right now but at least you got to be intoxicated by some more of his scent.
“You’re so pretty.” He mused as his eyes glazed over your features. “And—and your lips are really soft.”
Suddenly a little self-consciousness washed over you. You weren’t used to his compliments like that. You accommodated this by nuzzling your face into his. Your lips were drawn to his cheek and you littered kissed all over, using your other hand to trace his jawline. He closed his eyes so he could focus on your touch. It was sending him over an edge having you on him like this. You felt his breathing deepen as you started gently sucking on the nook of his neck. Your hand fell and started exploring his chest. He didn’t look it but he was concealing muscle under his baggy shirts and you were dying to feel them.
Just when your teeth grazed the red blood pooled spot you’d been working on, a soft moan escaped his lips. He was lost under your control.
Without warning he shifted you down on your back with ease. Taking care to support your head as you fell onto the pillow.
He crawled on top of you between your legs and supported his weight on his forearms.
This sudden bold streak was really turning you on.
He spared no time as he tugged your shirt collar down just a bit to expose that sensitive part of your neck again that he just loved so much.
His tongue teased it with a few gentle circles before his mouth came down instense and started sucking.
Normally this sort of thing would hurt but you were so entranced that it only felt like a rush of intense pleasure. You ran your fingers through his hair encouraging him to do exactly what you suspected he was doing. You squirmed gently under his heavy body as he targeted your neck. Your hands slipped under his shirt and you got to feel the smooth skin over his broad back muscles which contracted as he moved.
Suddenly you let out a little squeal as the pleasure turned to a little shooting pain. He snapped out of it and brought his face back to yours. Nose to nose.
You glanced down at his work to see a little red bruise the size of a coin. For some reason you loved the idea of Tamaki giving you a little mark.
“Sorry y/n, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
You bit your lip, his concerned face was so cute. It reminded you of that day so long ago when you first realized you wanted him.
“Put another one.” You said only half joking.
He laughed nervously. You took his face in both your hands. Today couldn’t have gone more perfectly.
“I didn’t reply before but...I want you too.” He mews with soft eyes.
Just when you think your body is completely melted, he finds one more spot he missed.
He placed a few more gentle honeyed kisses on your lips before anyone could say anything else.
But much to your dissatisfaction, you heard Mrs. Amajiki call for dinner. You were prepared to aggressively reject this interruption but Tamaki’s smile broke your resolve.
He tucked some hair behind your ear as he spoke again after what felt like hour had passed since the last time. “Can we do this again like...soon?”
He was aggressively adorable you could barely stand it. You merely nodded in response you couldn’t possibly form any coherent words right now.
You laid there, trying to unmelt yourself with little success. You could only gaze at your little Suneater with twinkling admiration in your eyes as he lifted you to stand up in his arms.
His new love bite was still exposed on your neck. He pulled your sweater up to cover it and kissed it through fabric as he muttered a few more quiet apologies. You immediately started thinking of ways you could try to permanently keep it on your skin.
You eventually walk down to dinner together holding hands, fingers interlocked. Yea...he was definitely your new addiction.
~~
Thanks for reading 🥰
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harrywritingsbyme · 4 years
Note
PLEASE WRITE SOMETHING WITH THE PROMPT “if the world was ending you’d come over right?” Could be smut or fluff
Break Up’s and Make Up’s 
A/N: I decided on some fluff with a light sprinkle of angst. If you want to cry a little, I highly suggest listening to the song while reading this. Enjoy 🙃
Things didn’t work out between you and Harry. It wasn’t because the love ran out between you two, it was actually the complete opposite. Neither of you were able to explain the amount of love you two had for each other and you couldn’t even fathom the idea of loving someone as much as you two loved each other. You both thought that everything was great. 
But after being together for about a year and a half, things started to go south for you two. The ultimate reason for you and Harry to drift and continue on into breaking apart was life. As much as you two were solid fixtures in each others lives, it didn’t stop them from going in different directions. Both yours and Harry’s careers were going full speed ahead and they were taking you both to the places you wanted to go. The problem made it’s appearance when it came to scheduling and actually making time for each other. It became such an issue that the times where you and Harry were supposed to be spending the much needed quality time together, you two were fighting instead. And the common denominator m to all of these fights was not being able to spend quality time together. It didn’t help that even when you two were together, you still missed each other. You two changed and grew apart so much that you couldn’t even recognize one another. You and Harry both wanted to get  back to the amazing place you two were once in, but nothing seemed to be working. 
Eventually you two became so fed up with the entire situation, that you two mutually decided to go your separate ways. The last thing you and Harry ever wanted was to develop feelings of hate towards each other. So even though it was beyond difficult to do, you and Harry broke up. The both of you thought that it was this decision was the correct, adult way things and that it was for the best. 
But once the smoke cleared and you two really took the time to process what happened, you both realized that a big mistake had been made. 
You and Harry thought that by splitting up, you were eliminating the possibility of losing each other. You two even thought that you were going to still remain close and be friends despite the break up. But that wasn’t the case at all. Neither of you could even follow through with calling one another. Every time Harry went to call or text you, his heart began to pound out of his chest, and he could feel the sweat forming in his palms. Right then and there, Harry’s mind would take him to places he didn’t want to go. He’d start wondering if you’d moved on and were happier without him, even though it was still a month or two after the breakup. He would wonder if you still loved him as much as he still did, even though you two weren’t together anymore. Then he’d drift off into blaming himself for not trying hard enough to try and work things out between you two. And he’d ultimately end up in tears, sometimes even crying himself to sleep. 
You both tried to navigate through it all and figure out your feelings about everything that transpired, and eventually you and Harry did. After 7 months of not being together, you two reached a point of being simply okay with it. You two were still hurting though. But despite this fact, you and Harry managed to put all the pain you both were still experiencing into a box inside of yourselves. This box was filled with the memories and feelings that you guys did your best to keep locked away. You both pushed it to the farthest corners of your minds and you did your best to move forward. The idea of pushing those feelings to the side worked, but it wasn’t going to last forever. 
This ignoring and pushing aside the feelings was thrown to the wind when you and Harry just so happened to cross paths. When you two were together, the pizza shop around the corner from your home became a staple for you and Harry. That was you guys’ go to place, and still to this day it was Harry’s. That’s one of the main reasons why you weren’t completely shocked to see Harry sitting at one of the tables when you walked in. The all black joggers and hoodie, with the white vans, and the hair clip resting on the top his head were all indicators that it was Harry too. 
In that moment, you didn’t know what to do. You didn’t know if you were supposed to strike up a conversation or sit on the other side of the small restaurant and not say a word. You didn’t want to be childish and try to ignore him and his presence, but you knew yourself well enough to know that once you looked at him, you’d be a goner. You weren’t going to be able to hold back all of the feelings you’d been keeping inside for the last 7 months. While you didn’t want to do this, you also weren’t sold on the idea of striking up a conversation either. It was like picking at a scab that hadn’t fully healed. If you were to keep picking at it, which in your case was trying to converse with Harry, eventually the wound is going to bleed. By the end of it all, your emotions were going to be pouring out of you and nothing was going to be able to stop them. You’d be going into the situation completely blind, and the last thing you wanted was to rehash any old feelings you had towards and about Harry that would essentially take you back to the drawing board. Causing you to have to start all over again in trying to be at least okay with it all. 
While you were caught up in your thoughts about what to say or do in that moment, Harry had already walked over and sat down right in front of you. Every time he came in there, he was hoping that he’d run into you. Even if you didn’t want him anymore, he still wanted to talk to you and apologize. He wanted to see you and try to form some type or relationship with you, even if he had to settle on being friends. Anything he could get with you would be a blessing. So when he saw you walk into the shop, he thought that it was now or never.
“Y/n” Harry softly says your name form across the table, reaching out to touch your hand. When you feel and hear him in front of you, your head immediately shoots up in his direction. 
“Harry” you reply, trying to tone down and control the bewildered look that was on your face. “How have you been?” You ask him him, trying to make some type of a “normal” conversation. 
“Um, I’ve been fine I guess.” This was Harry’s default answer to that question. He didn’t want to say that he was feeling the greatest he’d ever felt because it’d be a boldface lie. And even if he tried, he couldn’t lie to you. “How about you, how have you been?”
“Fine, just living I guess.” You reply to him simply, mirroring his response to you. Even though you and Harry absolutely hated dry conversations and small talk, the both of you were thankful for this one. The awkwardness would have been through the roof if you two tried to make the conversation interesting. “So how has-“ before you could finish your question, your orders are being called. The both of you quickly, almost too quickly, jump up from the table and rush over to pick up your food.
The two of you go without saying another word until you both were outside of the restaurant. For you and Harry, walking out of the restaurant would have been like walking away from each other. After saying the most awkward goodbyes in the world, and seeing Harry walk away from you, something just comes over you. 
“Hey Harry?” You call out to him. You didn’t know if he was taking himself and the pizza in his hands to his new girlfriend or what, but you decided to just go for it. When he turns around your heart was pounding out of your chest, but that didn’t stop you. “I don’t know if you have any plans, but I was wondering if you wanted to come to my place. Just to catch up and stuff.” You ask him. “I completely understand if you don’t want to though!” You quickly add on. 
“I was just gonna go home, but your idea sounds a lot better.” He says lightly. 
“Well my address is still the same, so I’ll meet you there?” You say hopefully.
“I’ll meet you there.” He confirms, sending you a quick smile before getting into his car.
In the short five minuet drive to your home, your mind managed to go off in what felt like a million directions. You were just supposed to be going to pick up something quick for dinner after work. But now, your ex boyfriend was on his way to your place “to catch up”. As you two were going inside, it all felt a little bit like deja vu. Everything seemed familiar, from the way you two trailed down the hallway to your apparent with warm pizza boxes in your hands, to Harry kicking his shoes off at the door and dropping his keys in the dish the way he used to. Seeing this reminded you of how things used to be and you genuinely missed that. 
It was the same for Harry. He missed doing this with you. All he wanted was for things to go back to the way they were and just be with you. He had so many feelings about entering your apartment for the first time in nearly 8 months. When he walked inside, everything looked exactly the same, all the way down to the blanket that was draped over the back of your couch. Being there felt like home to him and he genuinely missed that. The first 10 minuets of you and Harry being back in your apartment together were spent tying to muster up the courage to bring up the very uncomfortable elephant in the room. Neither of you knew exactly what to say. How do you ease into a conversation about a breakup that neither of you really wanted? How were you both supposed to talk about this without completely breaking down. 
So that’s where you and Harry were. Sitting on the couch together, with untouched pizza and wine on the table. The both of you trying to figure out how to initiate the catching up you two were supposed to be doing. At this point, Harry didn’t know how much more he could take. He couldn’t just sit there uncomfortably with you and and not become emotional and bring it up. 
“I miss you.” He says quietly. 
“I miss you too.” You sigh. You could feel the lump forming in your throat and the tears welling up in your eyes. 
“What happened to us?” He continues, his tone carrying a mixture of heartache and disappointment. Harry was feeling the abundance of emotions that he’d been holding onto for months now beginning to spill out of him. 
“They say good things don’t last forever.” You say downheartedly. When you finally muster up the courage to look at him, you wished you didn’t. You could see the pain in his eyes. You’d never seen seen him so heartbroken and defeated before. 
“But we were supposed to.” Harry whispers back to you. That simple string of words opened the large floodgates of emotions that the both of you were trying to hold back all of these months.
“I know!” You stress, bringing your hands up to your face. “And I’m sorry.” You finish, giving up on trying to stay strong and just completely breaking down.
Seeing this was like someone took the knife that was already inHarry’s heart, and just turned it, making the pain even worse. He couldn’t stand to watch you, the woman that he loved more than anything, blame herself for the downfall of their relationship. If anything, Harry blamed himself for not trying harder to keep you guys together. As if it was an instinct, Harry moves over to your end of the couch and pulls you into him. When he does this, the tears come down harder
“Look at me.” He coos to you, pulling you away from him to get a better look at you. When he sees your bloodshot eyes and tearstained face, he lost it. “It’s not your fault baby.” When Harry says this, his voice cracks. He couldn’t hold back anymore. “I’m sorry for not trying hard enough to keep us together.” Harry whispers to you, cupping the sides of your head to look you in your eyes. “It’s nowhere near being your fault, and I don’t ever want you to think that. Okay?” He stresses as the tears fall down his face. All you do, or could do was nod in response. Even though he said this, you still carried so much guilt for not trying as hard as you should have. 
Harry then pulls you back into him, holding you as tight as possible. He was holding you as if you were going to slip out of his grasp and leave him again. He didn’t want to be away from you the way he was for the past 7 months. 
“I love you so much.” You mumble shakily into his neck.
“I love you much more than you know.” Harry says earnestly. 
Even though you both were sobbing, being back in each others arms was the best feeling the world. Some days you thought that this moment would ever happen. You felt like you’d lost Harry forever. You thought that you’d lost the best thing that ever happened to you. And Harry thought that he’d lost the best thing that ever happened to him. Sure you and Harry were going places and doing amazing things in your lives, but not having your soulmate by your side was the absolute worst feeling in the world. Finally having this moment to reconnect and come back together and fix things was something neither you or Harry would ever take for granted.
The two of you just sit there, tightly wrapped around each other. You stay like this for a little while longer before finally pulling away from each other. 
“We’re gonna be alright. Okay?” He says tugging your hands into his. When you give him a nod yes, Harry is quick to stop you. “I need you to say it. Tell me we’re going to be alright.” Harry begs. 
“We’re going to be alright.” You repeat giving him a confident smile. “Not to break up the mood, but can we heat this up and eat now because I had a long day and the crying didn’t help. I’m starving.” 
“As you wish.” Harry says with a chuckle, removing his hands from yours to take care of the now cold food on the table. 
For the rest of the night the two of you sit together on the couch, while going to town on the pizzas and downing the bottle of wine.  You and Harry were not only catching each other up on the last 7, almost 8 months of your lives, but also reminiscing on the great times you two had together and talking about your future and the goals you two had for your relationship. Eventually you and Harry were completely out of it. As you and Harry were drifting off to sleep, you asked him one final question. 
“I have a hypothetical for you.” You begin.  
“I hate those things. If I give you an answer you don’t like, you can’t blame me for that. I just stuffed my face with pizza and I’m a little wine drunk.” Harry grumbles to you. 
“Okay, just hear me out.” You reassure him. “So it’s the end of the world okay?” You begin the scenario. 
“Mhm” Harry hums back, his interest now peaked towards what you’re saying. 
“Alright. So, if the world was ending and I called, would you come over?” You ask. 
“I’d drop everything to be there with you. And just so you know, it wouldn’t take the end of the world for me to come back to you.” Harry says softly to you. “What about you?” Harry questions. 
“I’d do the same. You’re the first I’d go to in then, now, and every time in between.” You reply, turning your head up towards him. “I’m glad we’re back.” You whisper to him. 
“I’m glad were back too babe.” Harry whispers back down to you. Before you knew it, Harry’s lips were pressed against yours. It was a feeling that both you and Harry terribly missed. 
You and Harry knew that you guys had a long way to go when it came to getting back to a better place in your relationship. But despite this bump in the road, the both of you felt confident that you guys would not only be alright, but you and Harry were going to make it to forever. 
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gyucore · 4 years
Text
in the orb
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pairing: trapped soul! beomgyu x reader
tags: fluff, angst if you squint, reincarnation au, supernatural au
word count: 1.8k+
warnings: implications of death, light swearing
— you were cleaning your grandmother's attic when you stumble upon an old glass orb that just happened to talk on its own
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A cloud of dust scatters around the room after you drop the glass orb on a particularly dusty couch. You've lost it. You've definitely lost it. You're quick to cover your face with your sleeve, fighting back the urge to sneeze. The orb sits still on the couch as it should, a sheet of gray still masking its surface.
This was supposed to be an average weekend. Your grandmother had invited you to her house for some quality time together during your break, and you thought you'd offer to help her clean her mess of an attic, to which she was more than happy to accept. And right now, the sweet old lady was tending to her garden downstairs while you were up here, freaking out.
It's said that people often imagined hearing strange noises when frightened and alone. And you were in a dark and creepy attic at an old person's house. This could just be another case of the common I'm-so-lonely-I'm-starting-to-hear-voices scenario. It's simply wasn't possible for a dusty old orb to start talking when you pick it up. It's just not.
“Hello?” You call out, immediately finding yourself silly for even attempting to communicate with an inanimate object.
The dust in the room eventually settles, and yet still no response. “See, Y/N? You were just hearing things.” That conclusion seemed convincing enough. You felt the need to give yourself a good pat on the shoulder for going along with the sane route.
With that dilemma out of the way, your attention couldn't help but wander back to the large piles of junk occupying nearly every space in the vicinity. One could only hope for your grandmother to clean regularly. “Right, now back to work.”
“What work?”
“Oh, you know. Cleaning.” You answer its question from earlier.
You freeze, eyes wide, a chill running down your spine. There it was again. You weren't sure if you heard it right this time or was just hallucinating, but there was one way to find out.
Silence. You almost called it a day after considering that you were probably just tired and needed some rest.
Half a step outside the door and the voice spoke once more. “Are you still there?”
You pause, brows raised, and back still turned. Somehow, you didn't know if it was safe to face the big ball of dust just yet. “What do you mean? Of course I'm still here. This is my Grandma's house.”
Thank the heavens for modern technology and the invention of smartphones. Speaking of which, you fish for yours in the depths of your pants’ pockets. The voice recorder app should come in handy during times like this. You know, to confirm you're not crazy. With the app on, all you needed to do was have the orb talk again.
“Grandma? Oh! Then you're her grandchild?!”
“Uh, yeah?” The orb apparently knew your grandmother. Strangely enough, that was the least odd tidbit of information you obtained today.
“Her grandchild.. Wow, to think I'm finally meeting you! Or at least your voice?” The orb lets out a giggle and the more you heard it talk, the more human it sounded.
“Sorry, can you excuse me for a minute?”
Never in your life had you thought the day would come where you'd be excusing yourself from a conversation with some sort of decorative object but life has its ways. You were never a stranger to off days anyway.
“Oh, sure, uh, go ahead? I can wait.” The orb swiftly replies. For a second, you could swear something was moving from inside the orb after the light outside the window had hit a clear spot in the crystal.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the room as you dash downstairs, taking your phone out and bringing it closer to your ear, replaying the recording. Sure enough, the voice was caught in the audio loud and clear.
“Holy shit. I'm not crazy.” An exasperated sigh leaves you as you slump back on the wall in disbelief. For a moment, you considered running away and warning your grandma about the cursed object, but part of you was curious enough to disregard the warning signs, and possibly risk your life by going back up there and approaching the thing. You decided to go with the latter.
“Are you back?” The orb asks once you've gotten close enough for it to hear your footsteps.
“Yeah. Just had to do something real quick.”
“I see.”
You wait for the orb to continue but it doesn't. It continues to lie on the couch lifelessly as if it hadn't been speaking to you in the past few minutes.
“Um..” You clear your throat, hoping to get another response
“Oh!" The voice from the orb seemed startled after hearing you talk. “How are you're still there?”
You frown. “Why wouldn't I be?”
“Well for starters, a talking glass orb isn't quite the public friendly concept you'd think it'd be.” It answers. Only now have you noticed that the orb had a particularly low masculine voice. “People don't usually stick around long enough to find out why I can talk in the first place.”
You blink. “Fair point. Though, I don't see the need for you to ask over and over again when I already said I was back.”
The orb chuckles. “You'd be surprised how many times people have reassured me of their presence only to leave halfway. Plus, I can't really see you right now to actually know you're there.”
“You can't see me?”
“The dust.”
“OH.” Not knowing what came over you, you immediately lunged forward and started wiping the orb with one of the dust rags you had lying around. It didn't take long for the thing to clear up and look like its old glorious self again. “How about now?” You ask, inspecting the orb as you hold it up.
“Better.”
It takes everything in you to resist dropping the orb on the floor when a glowing face of a man appears from the inside, smiling brightly at you. “I think I'm gonna pass out.”
The man visibly panics, pressing his face closer to the glass. “Wait no! If you pass out now, I won't have anyone to talk to! I haven't spoken to a single person in decades!”
“But you mentioned my grandma earlier, I thought you—”
“She could never hear me, but I could see and hear her.” The man explains, his voice a little quieter than before.
You bring the orb down, still cupping it in your hands. “How is this possible? Are you a ghost or something? How did you get in there?”
“Wouldn't you like to find out?” He winks, resting his head on his hand. “Take a seat and place me down somewhere soft.”
This seemed ridiculous by all means, but you oblige. The couch should be soft enough, and so you place him down gently while you take a seat on the floor, making yourself comfortable. “You were saying?”
“I—” The man accidentally bumps his head onto the glass as he leans forward, chuckling as he rubs his head gently. “Ow. Sorry. I'm just so happy to finally have someone to talk to. You can't imagine how long it's been. How the world survived without a single soul hearing my heavenly voice for all those years is beyond me.” He cracks a joke and you couldn't help but laugh.
“It's okay.” You say, shifting in your spot. “Go ahead.”
The man nods, the smile slowly fading from his face. “My name is Choi Beomgyu. You can call me whatever you like. I had a friend once, and she was a witch. Oh— not the kind that you hear from stories, no. She was really nice and cared a lot about nature, her friends, and her family. That type of person, you know?”
You nod along, assuring him that you were listening, and he smiles again.
There's just something about his smile that just seemed so happy and endearing. Perhaps it had truly been so long.
“She was this ball of sunshine. And back then I was a pretty different guy. Our personalities might've clashed and we butted heads a few times but somehow we ended up becoming close friends.” A faint smile graces his lips before disappearing as quickly as it came. “But then I got involved with the wrong crowd.”
The statement piques your interest and you draw closer. Beomgyu notices this and tries to talk louder.
“Remember how I said she was a witch unlike the ones in the fairy tales? Well, there were also people who were exactly like those witches. The ones that used their knowledge and abilities for their own nefarious purposes.” Beomgyu continues, his hair slightly covering his face as he looked down. “Let's just say that I got myself in a situation where they ended up hunting me down for my soul.”
“What?”
He frowns. “My friend saw me being chased down the streets one night and helped. We both knew that even when together, we were too weak to go against all of them. They had us cornered in her home, and that's when we knew it was the end for us.”
Beomgyu's voice started to waver as he spoke and you were about to ask him if he was alright, and tell him that it was okay if he didn't continue but the look on his face when your eyes met was enough to tell you that he needed to do this. He must've wanted to talk about this matter for so long, you think.
“She.. pushed me towards her workroom, telling me that she'll keep me safe no matter what. I didn't know what she meant until she cast a spell on me and I passed out. The last thing I heard were her screams. I never found out what happened to her after that, and I can only assume the worst.” He shakes his head, trying to getting himself together in front of his new friend. “Next thing I knew, I was inside her old glass orb. I've been trapped in this thing for years with no escape. No one to talk to— forever regretting how I didn't stop her that time, and regretting getting in the way of those witches in the first place.”
His story nearly brings you to tears, and before you knew it, your hands were reaching out for the orb. “Beomgyu, I..”
“It's alright.” Beomgyu smiles. “In the end, the orb ended up in her younger sister's possessions.”
Your eyes widen. “You mean.. Grandma?”
“That's right.” Beomgyu chuckles. “Though she had never able to see or hear me, unlike you.”
“Oh. That's uh, too bad.” You smile awkwardly, releasing the orb. The two of you sit in silence for a while, both needing a little mental break after that.
Shortly, your attention was brought forth back onto the orb when you hear Beomgyu laugh. You find yourself chuckling along. “Entertained are we, Gyu?”
The laughter stops and his eyes shoot up at you. You hear him mumbling something incoherent before hesitating to speak. “No, no.” Beomgyu shakes his head. “It's just.. It's kinda funny. I'm trapped here repenting for my whole life because of what I've done to her, or thinking about what I could've done.. but you know what? To be completely honest, I was starting to forget what she even looked like. But looking at you now, and hearing your voice..”
The idea popped up in your head and you weren't sure if it was even possible to begin with. But then again, you were talking to a soul inside an orb.
“You were easily granted access to the true nature of the orb, and are the first person to have ever done that without running away.” He kids. “Could it be?”
“I wouldn't count on it.” You tell it to him straight, getting up from your spot on the floor and dusting off your jeans. You knew what he was implying and there was no way that you were even considering yourself to be your great aunt's reincarnation no matter how ridiculous the situation already was. “I'll get back to cleaning. Feel free to talk while I do that.” You tell him before rushing to the other side of the attic, avoiding his gaze as much as possible. You'll figure out what to do with him later.
Beomgyu watches you fondly. You had told him to not even count on the thought of you being the one he's been hoping for all these years but it was too late for that now. 
“Entertained are we, Gyu?” Her voice rings in his mind, and he shakes it off.
“How do you always manage to do such amazing things? I'd appreciate it if you'd stop stirring my heart.” Beomgyu's gaze rests upon your busy silhouette, and he smiles in content.
“It's nice meeting you again, Y/N.”
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saltys-writings · 4 years
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Got7 Reaction when they want your Attention
Got7 all members
Reaction
Fluff
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JB:
I feel like in general he’s very good at communicating his need for attention with words
however sometimes even he will feel a bit desperate when you’re so busy that you can’t make enough time for him for a few days
he’ll be understanding about it, but as soon as you’re both home at night he will try to steal some of your attention for himself
gets really silent and physically affectionate, showering you in clingy hugs and pecks to your cheek and neck
won’t force you to give him attention if you try to get away, but he will be so thankful to you if you take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to just hold each other and maybe talk about how your day was
Mark:
if he really craves your attention he will try to distract you from whatever you’re doing atm
you know that one vlive where he squishes his cheek against jaebeom’s and yells “pizza pizza”? yeah that’s gonna be him with you, just maybe a little less crazy
is more touchy than usual, like he’ll constantly have his arm around you or his hand on your thigh or bump his shoulder into yours
if you still don’t react to him after that, he’ll kiss your cheek or your hand or wherever he can reach, probably drawing a smile from your lips
“I miss you, baby. Let’s do something together,” he’ll ask when he finally reaches you
do him that favour and in return you will also have his undivided attention
Jackson:
I think he’d get very deprived of attention very quickly
is defo the type to try to tell you he wants to spend more time with you without directly saying it at first and instead getting a bit clingy or trying to convince you to go out on a date again if you haven’t had one in a while
if everything goes well you’ll end up doing that and have a great time, fulfilling his wish for your attention
but if not, he will get increasingly frustrated and probably want to have a serious talk with you to tell you he really wants to see you more
however, so long as you’re on the same page it won’t come down to that and instead he will signal you with hugs and kisses that he wants to spend more quality time alone with you
Jinyoung:
i feel like he’ll ask for your attention more often than you’d expect him to, though he rarely does so verbally
usually it’ll just be enough for him to be by your side and just peacefully coexist, maybe relaxing and watching a movie together or even just practicing his lines for an upcoming drama while you rest your head in his lap
but sometimes he will want your direct attention, and then he goes full puppy mode
rests his chin on your shoulder and looks up at you with big eyes and a pout on his lips
seriously can you even think about saying no to that...?
Youngjae:
clingy
if he suddenly does every little thing for you that’s a sign he really needs some more of your attention, whether it’s just wanting to sit down and talk to you or if he has more physical needs
he’ll never force you into anything, but if he’s really frustrated he can probably become a bit pushy
don’t try to ignore him or put him off for too long, or one day his frustrations will become too much for him and he’ll just grab you and pull you somewhere he can be alone with you
will be very desperate and tell you he’s not getting enough attention from you
you defo owe him a full day of just lazing around together at home now, but please don’t do this to him again;;
Bambam:
very cute about it at first, but gets petty if you tell him off
like he will try to get your attention by joking around or lightly touching your arm or just being his weird self
best case scenario you give him what he wants
but if he manages to annoy you or you don’t really give a reaction for some other reason, he will give up after a few tries and walk away
don’t expect him to give you any attention once you ask for it next time
acts like he’s pissed at you and tries to ignore you
but you know as soon as you come closer and hug him or kiss him, he will drop the act and just be glad you’re there for him now
Yugyeom:
will keep annoying you until you answer or at least tell him you don’t have time right now
like he will just call out to you over and over again until he finally gets some kind of response
but sometimes, when he’s feeling very needy for attention he will just stand or sit down next to you and hug you
clings to you until you put aside whatever you’re focusing on and direct all your attention to him
is super happy once you finally do, and will do everything in his might to show you
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razorblade180 · 3 years
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Twin snowflakes part 24: Date Night.
Part 23 here! <-
Still exhausted, Veronica flopped back onto her bed with the help of Nick. The girl let the mattress steal all tension from her body, letting out a sigh of satisfaction. “Aaahhhh! That’s the stuff. Appreciate the help.”
“Don’t mention it. Especially after what you just did. Frankly I had no plan to get Summer to cooperate.”
Veronica chuckled the best she could. “Hehe, not often Nicholas Schnee doesn’t have a plan. I guess you owe me then? Lucky for you I take words of affirmation as payment all the time.”
Nick smiled. It was nice to see Veronica joking. Encountering Shiva always put a dread over him, but she seemed to not care much. That’s Veronica alright, refusing to take crap from anybody. “I could praise you, or how about I praise you over a nice dinner?” Nick quickly responded.
All the neurons in Veronica’s brain suddenly came to a screeching halt. Her body immediately came flinging forward to sit upright to stare at the smiling boy. “What…?” She asked, still processing the question.
“Let me take you dinner.” He said again, “I have a reservation at this place in Atlas tonight. I was gonna cancel but we could just have a night out together. You still haven’t tried much food from here right? Plus I know you still have to be hungry. This works out.”
Veronica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Did Nick just ask her out on a dinner date? That didn’t sound right, even if it was a thank you gift. As quickly as her eyes lit up, they began to squint at him with skepticism. “What happened with Valerie?”
Now his eyes got big. He wasn��t expecting that response. “Uhhhh what?” His voice gave away his nervousness and Veronica could clearly tell.
“Don’t play dumb with me Nick. I’m not gonna call you a liar or anything, but I know you, and you know me; as well as my feelings.” She said that last part sheepishly. “You aren’t the kind of person to play with my emotions or offer a dinner date when you’re crushing on Val, so what’s up? Be straight with me”
It was becoming clear to Nick that he apparently could be read like a book. This is the third person within twenty four hours to look at him and automatically knew to ask about Valerie. This was ridiculous! His life had many things that made him bummed out. How are people guessing right on the first try!?”
“Uhhhhh” he scratched the back of his head and sighed. No point tip toeing around it. Not like it was a secret or anything, yet his stomach felt queasy all the same. “I ran into her yesterday. She was pretty upset that I didn’t tell her I got sick. I apologized and tried to smooth our recent bickering over with dinner. It was going okay, but then…Val immediately started to brush me off. I got upset, she started deflecting, people started staring, then she really started saying some things that really got me upset; kinda made a little scene out of it before walking off. Nor really princely, huh?” He tried smiling at the self jab, but failed. “Anyways, next time we meet per her request more a less will be at the tournament. We currently aren’t on speaking terms. Something she should be fine with since distance was what she wanted in the first place.”
Veronica could hear a little venom in those words. Val really did have Nick upset. He’s never this openly bitter. Though maybe it was being behind closed doors that allowed him to drop the facade of being consistently pleasant. Frankly, that made Veronica a little happy for him, in an odd way. However… “I see. So I assume that this dinner reservation was for you and her?” An answer wasn’t needed. Nick’s moment of sulking was replaced with a guilt ridden look on his face the moment she asked. “You know, kinda shitty you’re asking me to a dinner meant for another girl that turned you down. Not a fan of being someone’s second choice.”
Nick closed his eyes and let in a sharp breath like he had just been hit. “Oooo yeah, yeah that was pretty messed up for me.”
“Mhmm, big time. No girl wants to hear that you know?”
“I didn’t mean- I wasn’t trying to...sorry. That was tasteless and selfish of me.” He looked down, shamefully and with genuine guilt. It was only when Veronica’s hand lifted his head by his chin did he see the girl stare at him with an observing gaze and lips pouting to the side. She then crossed her arms and looked away from him, ears tucked and a tinge of red visible on her.
“You’re lucky you’re a good person and I am hungry. I…guess you could apologize with a good dinner?” Veronica knew he wasn’t trying to be insensitive. Still, she was more than a little ticked off at herself for letting him off easy. Darn his good qualities! Being mad towards him for long was never gonna happen. Not to mention having a calm outing together is a golden opportunity. No way she wasn’t gonna capitalize off of Valerie’s mistakes. Her eyes shifted towards Nick to see a relieved smile that only made staying upset harder.
“This place better be good! Also I’m gonna order every expensive thing possible!” Veronica declared, attempting to save face.
“Hehe, thank you, and go right ahead and order anything you want. It’s not until around nine so please, get some rest.”
“I should be saying that to you. Isn’t going out at night in the cold while moody only gonna give you more sniffles?”
“Pfft, I’m sick anymore. Just focus on healing and rest. Not that I have to tell you this, but you gotta dress nice for where we’re eating.”
Veronica smirked, pointing at a closet of designed outfits. “Careful. I may not be worth billions but I’ll make you look like a pocket change if you don’t wear you best.”
The boy let out a cocky chuckle before walking to the door. “For your information, I’m two billion.” He said puffing out his chest playfully, leaving on that note. He could hear her gentle laughter behind the door. At least he could lift one girl’s spirit. As for the other, Nick looked at his sister’s locked door. He couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t going to knock, but he had to at least walk to it. Come to think of it, Nick had a hard time remembering when this door remained open. Most days it kept either the warmth in, while shutting others out. Slowly he rested his hand against it. The wood, cool to the touch.
“Tell me what you need.” He thought, “I’m not a mind reader…” Nick could only sigh. He removed his hand and stepped back. As he began to walk, the door moved. As if something was pressed against it from the other side.
“I know you’re there.” Summer said from the other side. Nick quickly walked back to it. Somehow he could imagine how she was on the other side. One leg extended while the other was bent as she pressed her back to the door. Nick took a seat himself, mimicking the pose he envisioned.
“You okay?”
“Far from it, but that’s par for course…” Summer looked over her shoulder as if she was actually resting against her brother’s back. “Honestly I feel so fucked up some days that therapy feels like a joke. I think I need a break.”
“What kind of break?”
“The usual…” Summer let her words draw out lazily. The back of her head rhythmically tapped the door. “Care to join me?”
Nick tugged at the carpet fibers, mulling it over. “Mmmm sorry, I’m not in the mood for that kind of relief. Besides, I already have plans. I’ll cover for you though. I think venting could do some real good for ya. Just don’t stay out too long. Leave around… half past nine.”
“Will do, thanks Nick.” Even though a door separated them, Summer could feel the care from the other side. Veronica’s words back in the forest about Nick and how Summer treats their relationship struck an all too sensitive cord. “I promise not to worry you. Have fun with whatever you’re doing tonight. I’ll keep you updated and everything.”
“Don’t stress about it. I believe in you. Anyways, I gotta get going. I think I’ll do a bit of distressing in my own way.” Nick stands up. “Better go while there’s daylight.”
“Gonna pay respects?”
“Yep. Enjoy your outing. I’ll see ya tomorrow if I don’t see ya tonight before I leave. Love ya.” He walked away after that, not expecting a response. Didn’t need one. After all, Summer coming to the door said enough.
All in all, things felt okay. Life felt okay. By no means was it perfect, but Nick was thankful he had blessings to count. He’d feel better after the tournament. What should’ve been an exciting time was getting more troublesome. Training, performing, fighting Darren in the duos, and now a not so friendly rematch with Valerie. At least Eliza still had a sportsmanship attitude. He still needed to ask her favor as well. By the end of this she would certainly be sick of him. Nick was surprised she didn't block his number yet. That would royally suck.
His slow walk took down the stairs and back to the front of the manor. He heard dishes clanking from the door to the far left while he grabbed his dark blue winter coat off the rack. “That you dad?” The kitchen door swung open to show Jaune drying a cup and Yang waving in the background as she held a slice in her mouth while talking to Blake. How they managed to swipe pizza out of Veronica’s room was beyond Nick.
“What’s up?” Jaune said, noticing his son put his jacket on. “Heading out? Your mom and aunts should be back soon. Pretty sure they’d want-”
“Veronica and I are going on a dinner date later.” Nick interjected. As planned, his father was derailed. Stammering footsteps came plopping out of the kitchen in the form of a very wide eyed blonde, and a shocked ninja. Blake’s ears even did the little twitch Nick as seen Veronica do whenever she’s caught off guard. “Yeah I thought you all should now. I’d say don’t bug her about it and let her rest, but considering Yang’s feet are already pointed towards the stairs…”
Yang looked down. “Huh...how about that?” She said, walking up the stairs with Blake trying to stop her.”
“Let her rest Yang!”
“But I wanna say stuff~” she whined, “I guarantee you she’s listening to us right now.”
Yang was right on the money. Veronica was currently judging how much strength it would take to lock the door. Her odds were bad. “Okay I don’t care how cute he is. This was cruel!” Veronica thought loudly to herself.
Jaune watched Blake slowly get dragged up the stairs by trying to stop Yang. Without looking, he leaned forward and reached out to grab Nick’s shoulder, who was trying to slowly back up to the door. He faced forward and smiled. “Good attempt, but you’d need a better distraction than that.”
“Eh it was worth a shot…” Nick sighed. He was pulled forward and fell into a surprise hug. He stood silently for a minute before wrapping his arms around his dad. “You needed a hug?”
“Not really, but you looked like you did.” Jaune said, squeezing tired. “You know you’re growing up into a fine young man. Better than me by a long shot at your age. I hope you know your entire family is proud of you.”
“I know dad…” Nick said, his voice getting stuck in his throat a little.
“I know I can’t relate to some of the pressures you feel. Honestly being a part of a household with this much attention and expectation still gets me anxious from time to time. So don’t hesitate to vent to me. You’re a young adult yeah, but I’m still my son and sixteen. Weiss and I would much rather see you yell at an annoying cameraman or get scrappy with a bully than see you try to hold it in for the sake of family image. Remember that.”
How did he do it? It was unfair, downright cheating almost in Nick’s eyes. How could so many people easily call him out? “What’s the point of enduring if everyone I wanna reassure sees right through the act? So much for a brave face.” He muttered. Jaune finally let go of him. The compassionate father poked Nick right where his heart was.
“Enduring an ordeal for the sake of others is pretty brave in my book, but who said you couldn’t endure hardships and still be open to those who matter? Have you meant your friends and family? Besides your sister I don’t think there’s a soul close to you who isn’t an expert of seeing past masks. Val and Vee live with bleeding hearts and the rest have had to put up with me!” He chuckled, “Just like I’m sure you know when someone is upset.”
Nick had his doubts. “Mmmmm, starting to think I might not know them as well as I think. Val is...ugh, I don’t know she is. Learned about Vee’s traits recently for the first time, and Summer-”
“Okay, I see your point. But! Learning new things about them and knowing there’s things you don’t know, doesn’t erase what you did. Y’all are teens. There’s a bunch of things to sort through. At the end of the day though, you know them where it counts. Does that make sense?”
“....Yeah, I think I do.” Nick nodded, thanks dad. Seriously. It’s kinda scary how good at talking you are.”
“Comes with practice, specifically learning to listen and just watch closely. You may not realize it but you do this plenty. It’s a big reason people gravitate towards you. Well… people who are just money hungry anyways, but that’s more of a rich person policy than a Nick-ism. I digress! You better get going before your mother comes back and give you her own talk.” Jaune said. He opened up the door for Nick to leave. “From the way you’ve been acting I assume you’re heading to pay your respects?”
Nick nodded, “I’ll try not to be terribly long. Don’t tell mom unless she asks. You know how she gets?” Nick walked through the door, fist bumping his dad on the way out.
Jaune closed the door and went back to the kitchen. Somewhere above him he could hear giggles and a few squealing. “Hopefully nothing catches on fire up there.”
“You are starting a fire!” Blake yelled, trying to contain Yang’s excitement so the blonde’s hair would stop flaring up. “Use your words.” Blake laughed.
“Please…” Veronica groaned. This level of energy was higher than usual. “You’re more excited than me. It’s just a dinner date. Barely even that. More like a thank you gift I suppose.” That being said the blush coming to her face clearly sung a different tune. “Can we please talk about anything else? I mean mom, you’re here!”
Blake crossed her arms. “So I heard you got into a fight? Let’s talk about that.”
“Ummm, so this date, any suggestions on what to wear?” Veronica poorly deflected. Blake didn’t even respond and Yang was smart enough not to. There was no choice but to talk about it unfortunately. “Sigh….I know okay? Ma told me I should’ve eaten and I didn’t listen. I should’ve, or learn to walk away from-”
“I’ll stop you right there. Don’t think for a second I wasn’t okay with a person getting hit when they were clearing harassing you.” Blake took a seat on the bed. “Expecting you to balance instinct, emotions, and logic here in Atlas was never in the cards, because frankly we don’t know what that balance is. Not to say I assumed you’d fight here. All I wanted was for you to try and...take a break from the norm.”
“If that’s the case then school should’ve been removed right off the back. It doesn’t matter the location, people act the same. Different faces, same insufferability. Only difference is these bozos are rich and human.”
“You make it sound like you aren’t crushing on a rich human whose parents are allowing you to stay in their manor.” Yang deadpanned. “Not making you go to school would only leave you bored and gods know what you’ll do with too much time on your hands. Then again you managed to stir things up already by stealing a spot on the cheer team.”
Blake did a double take. That wasn’t mentioned earlier. “Cheer team? How did that happen?”
“A girl got cocky with me so I out performed her. Honestly I was more than a little surprised by it all. Holding pom-poms, doing flips on mats, and even the couch blowing the whistle, kinda forgot what those things were like until I was in the moment.”
“See? That’s a change from norm.”
“Pretty sure that counts as a return to form.” Veronica countered. “It’s whatever though. Just a temporary thing. Although I’ll admit that Eliza chick, Marigold’s kid, she’s pretty decent.”
Blake wasn’t expecting that easier. “Oh? Well that’s nice. Sounds like that could be not so temporary?”
“Eh, whatever happens, happens.” It was a nice thought. Veronica couldn’t deny that. “Any other thing you wanted to discuss with me? I’d like to lay down for a bit longer.”
“How’s it feel to discuss all this genetic stuff with Nick and Summer? Call it what you want, but telling them was no different from a therapy session if it made you feel better.” Blake stated.
Veronica frowned. “Not how I see it. I’m pretty indifferent for the most part I’d say. Haven’t thought deeply about it. Veronica plopped her head on the pillows and turned away.
Blake and Yang took their scrappy daughter’s hint to leave. Blake got off the bed and was more than fine revisiting the discussion later. Yang briefly bent over Veronica’s covered face and kissed her head.
“Muah! By the way, I’m pretty sure Nick would love to see you in his colors. No heels though. He’s a little touchy about his height.” Yang left after that, closing the door gently. Veronica could only lay there pondering the advice.
“Hmmmm that could work.”
xxxx
While the youth finally got some rest, Adults were hard at work trying to piece together all that’s happened. Ruby and Weiss scoped out the undisturbed frozen lake along with Winter, Nora, and Penny most importantly. Though there wasn’t much to go on. Just crushed rocks, claw marks from ferocious grimm, and a mix of blue and red blood that made Weiss particularly uncomfortable. Ruby sensed that uneasiness and quickly began rubbing her partner’s back.
“Your daughter’s fine.” Ruby reassured. “If what she said is accurate then she never actually lost control.”
“Yeah but the blue dyed snow before us means she just barely held on. That’s too close for comfort.” Weiss held her hands together gently. “It feels like things are getting worse.”
“Because you’re in the thick of it.” Nora spoke, projecting her voice to get their attention. The strong and prideful woman made her way over to them. “Every day you’re worried for her and wake up knowing your daughter is a few rooms away upset. A parent is only as happy as their saddest child, and seeing Summer so distant makes it difficult to see the good stuff. This situation is trying, yes, but Summer still fought back. Your daughter fought Shiva off and killed grimm to protect someone. Determination like that is a sign Summer isn’t done fighting by a long shot, so that means you shouldn’t mope. I mean she gets all that strength to defy assholes from you.”
Ruby gave a big smile. She couldn’t have said it better herself. “Yeah! Nora’s right. We’ll turn this around.”
“....Geez, you two ever stop being helpful?” Weiss said, smiling gently. She was happy to have them here. “Thank you, especially you Nora.”
“Considerate my way of apologizing if Valerie really upset Nick. I told her she needed to call him, especially after him having the decency to call me so I could keep her in the loop about this. Apparently she wasn’t very pleased that he was ill and didn’t mention it. She’s….a lot sometimes.”
“Hey, so were we. I’m sure she means well and I’m not oblivious to the fact Nick can be...a lot as well. I’m partly to blame. I enable some of his actions towards her from time to time. I think I’m projecting a bit. Maybe I should tell him to move on?” Weiss sighed. Perhaps she played matchmaker too much and misread things.
Nora could only chuckle. “Hehe, I wouldn’t. Believe me when I tell you Valerie doesn’t hate having Nick look her way. A little forwardness is the only way she’ll acknowledge problems she doesn’t want to deal with. I can’t say for certainty what those problems are but I don’t pin any of it Nick. Val has a way of wanting her cake and eating it too. She’s gotta learn hard ways that’s not how life goes. I just hope Nick finds it in himself to not hate her because of this.”
“Pfft, I don’t think hate truly exists in his vocabulary.” Weiss laughed. She could count on her hand how many times Nick truly despised a person. “He’ll be petty about it I’m sure, but that’ll go away. Space between them might be good. At the end of the day I at least want them to still be close. Val has a way of motivating him that I like. He actually has fun.”
“Yeah, my Little Thunderhead excels at moving people, that’s for sure. Her semblance would be pretty mediocre otherwise if she wasn’t.”
The three continued talking lightly until Penny eventually walked up with Winter. “Okay, so I’ve finished running some tests of the area and the deposit of Diamond Dust. I have….unique results.” Penny said, a bit baffled.
Ruby wasn’t a fan of that statement. “Ummm that doesn’t sound great coming from a person who reads books written in binary. What did you find?”
“This dust is less volatile than the samples in my lab, even though it’s been untouched for longer. By all means it should be more refined.”
“Well isn’t it a good thing that it isn’t?” Weiss asked. “We barely handle what we have.”
“True, but it’s strange. There’s a couple possibilities that may explain this. Summer may have used up some unintentionally, or maybe Shiva herself was syphoning it.”
Winter folded her arms, “Not a fan of that second option. Based on the story though, what if it wasn’t touched at all?”
“Panic attack.” Penny said immediately. “She hasn’t been here since the accident, right? It’s entirely plausible that Summer’s mind and body remembered the trauma. Repressed memories or outright fear and anxiety could be the basis for this entire event. I tried contacting Oscar if he’s noticed anything different in Summer’s behavior, but I can’t get in contact with him. The seas have been rather violent lately due to weather changes.”
“So what you're basically saying is we're as lost as usual?” Weiss said, falling backwards into the snow. “Juuuuuust great. I’m going to assume the pain attack option then. That’s something I can work on with her. If Shiva is by any chance stronger now then the only thing we can do is what we always do. Brace ourselves.”
Ruby looked down at Weiss. “And option one actually means we have less dust to deal with. That’s a plus!” She knew it was a small amount of positivity but every bit helped. Weiss smiled at her and sat up.
“Here’s hoping for option one as well I suppose. We should probably head back. This place creeps me out a bit.”
Ruby helped Weiss up and everyone began leaving. Penny kept staring at the data she collected and trying to call Oscar. Unfortunately the man wasn’t answering. Her displeased sigh was heard by Winter, who rubbed the girl’s back.
“Not to be insensitive, but your son and Qrow wouldn’t do anything too crazy out a sea would they?”
Winter laughed nervously. “Hehehe….I’m sorry.”
“That doesn’t inspire confidence!” Penny yelped. Now she was only going to think about them being stranded by the gods or in a storm. Hopefully she would hear from him soon. “I guess a deeper study will have to wait. Ruby, can I stay at your place with Whitley for a bit? I don’t wanna go home yet. Too lonely.
“Sure thing! Door is always open. Though I bet you’ll have a livelier time at the manor these days.”
Penny tried her best to act like that would be a good idea. “Tempting, but a certain blonde teenage girl wouldn’t like that much, considering her parents so desperately want my husband to be her therapist. Summer also sees me enough as is. Nick would be happy I was there.” She said in a happier tune.
“He’s not home if I know him well enough.” Weiss frowned. “Times like these, I’m sure he’ll visit the graveyards.”
Truly, her son was easy to read.
xxxx
Right now the boy in question walked through an alley of tombstones and snow, his and covered in pollen. Atlas’s central graveyard had become a place for Nick over the years. The wide space and solitude became a welcoming barrier that blocked out most strangers from approaching him. Even the paparazzi had enough tact to not disturb a person here. His feet carried him down multiple lanes towards an old tree barren of any leaves looming over a grave with no actual tombstone. Standing before it was Eliza, wearing a dark blue winter coat and deep in thought. He wasn’t expecting to see her today.
Nick kept approaching until he stood beside her silently. A cool breeze went by them as the air itself felt still. Eliza eventually shifted her gaze to him, completely aware he was there. She looked down at his dusty yellow hands before speaking. “Talking to your grandma again?”
“Yeah. She says I should eat more sandwiches. Afraid I’m a little too then.”
“Heh, always witty. Visited your gramps yet?”
Nick shook his head, “No that’s halfway across Atlas from here and further from my home. It’s the next stop. What about you? Didn’t expect you to be here today.”
“Haven’t been in awhile.” Eliza waved her hand to cause a brief gust that blew away the snow from the grave and several others. “It needed cleaning and I was in the area. So what brings you here specifically? You only visit here on anniversaries, holidays, and when you’re moody. Last time I checked this is a random day, soooo”
“Eh don’t worry about it. Everything is alright now. Just decompressing.”
“Fair enough.” Eliza put her hands in her pocket and went back to thinking, until she realized Nick was looking at her again. “Uhh can I help you?” She said a little confrontational.
Nick got a little defensive and spoke quickly. “No, just surprised you’re not pressing me to open up.”
“Why? Your business is your business unless you make it my business. Something you’ll do if your attitude negatively affects the preparation for the tournament.”
“Ouch...well if that’s the case then the favor I’m about to ask you shouldn’t refuse.”
That peaked her interest. Eliza actually turned around fully. “You’ve been asking a lot of favors of me lately.”
“I’ve asked like two favors, and you’re the one telling me to directly involve you if-”
Eliza covered his mouth, irritated by him being right. “I know what I said! Sigh… what’s up?”
Nick looked down at the hand on his mouth, getting Eliza to remove it. “You’re lucky I didn’t lick it.”
“You’re lucky I don’t beat you up on hollow ground.”
Nick smirked. “Oh, so you think you can finally take me?”
Eliza squinted at him as her face got a little red. Why the hell did he have to be like this sometimes!? “The next words you speak better be your favor, or I’m walking away.”
“Well I wouldn’t exactly call it a favor but if you’re training by the harbor tonight, I’d appreciate it if you swooped by the seventh dock. The one with the huge building they rarely put cargo in. Summer is going to be there blowing off some steam. I don’t think anything will go wrong but you know, if you got the time…?”
“Hmmm I guess that’s not unreasonable. Wait, how do you know I train by the harbor!?”
“Did you forget my cousin literally owns a ship? If I’m correct, one time he said his sail caught on fire when a random bolt of lightning came down one day.”
“......” Eliza put her hand back in her pocket and began walking. “You’re really annoying Nick.”
“I’ve done nothing! Also I’m not done talking! I actually do have a real favor I’ve been mulling over for about a day!” Eliza kept walking away from him. “Hey! Don’t just- Can you train me!?” He shouted, hoping to gain her interest again.
It worked wonderfully. Eliza stopped mid-step and pivoted around. “Excuse me?”
“Training, yeah uh there’s this thing Schnee’s do called the candle test. Helps with our glyphs. Long story short, I’m ass at it hehe. Summer has stuff going on and it’s not really clicking with my mom or aunt. Since your magic is sorta like what I have to do, I thought maybe-”
“We are in a contest against each other, Nicholas.” She said firmly. “You are my opponent! One of two people currently in my way from reaching the top. Why on Remnant would I help you?”
Nick’s eyes avoided contact with hers. He began to scratch the back of his head as if he’d been caught red handed in a lie. “Because… you value sportsmanship?” He looked at her to receive an unamused blank stare that was colder than the snow. “Uh, and also you helping me in any capacity will let you in on a proposition that you’d find very intriguing. But I’ll only tell you when we’re training.”
“Tsk, I would think a Schnee would know better how to do business negotiations. Why would I make a deal when I don’t know if I even care about it? You tell me now or not at all.”
“I can’t say it now! I gotta smooth out details.”
“Then I guess we’re done here.”
“Fine, then I guess you don’t want a shot at gold with a sure fire way of at least getting silver!” He boasted, catching Eliza off guard. Nick slicked his hair back and crossed his arms to intimate his uncle’s calm yet assertive demeanor. “Yeah that’s right. I’m saying I have an idea crazy enough to benefit you and I. Everyone wants gold of course. However, you got a little more riding on this, don’t you?”
Eliza remained silent. Nick began walking a little closer to refrain from speaking too loud. “Last year was your real debut to the public eye and it was pretty good one at that. Third place is nothing to snuff at in the singles bracket. However...trust me when I say I know third is the worst seat in the house. That’s where the pressure and stress is. One mistake and you're off the podium and that feels terrible when people finally start looking your way.”
Eliza began tapping her foot. He wasn’t wrong. Not by a long shot. Confident as she was, Eliza was aware of her only two options. Do better, or hit the same bar. Winning was the goal but no one was gonna give her shit for losing to the top two contests. Nick and Valerie have been dominating for about three years now, and here he was saying he can get her to second. “Get to the point.”
Nick unfolded his arms. Time to be gentle again. “I cannot get into specifics at this time, but if you wanna show up at the manor anytime this week to help me, we can talk. I can get you second at minimum in King of the Hill.
His eyes burned with eagerness. Eliza had so many questions but obviously he wouldn’t answer them. This plan clearly had to be in his favor to get first, which neither of them had earned before. However, Valerie was first. How did she fit into this? What was going through his head!? Eliza had to know what regardless if she’d actually be okay with it. Her eyes narrowed at him. “Tsk, I take back what I said. Guess you are a Schnee. I will see when I can come over and help. Now, any other obnoxious request before I get driven away from this conversation?”
“Well……” Nick could feel just how dangerous this situation was. “It’s quite a walk to the other cemetery from here….hehe.” Laughing was hard when someone’s nostrils were flaring at you in frustration. Getting closer might’ve been a terrible decision.
Eliza closed her eyes briefly, then turned around to walk away. She went a few steps before briefly stopping. “Knock the snow off your shoes before you step in.”
Nick lit up like a Christmas tree. “You’re the best!!!”
“Why did he get more votes than me!?” Eliza internally screamed.
xxxxx
The day seemed to drag on. It had taken some time for Weiss to return home with the company of her sister and Ruby. Nora had departed earlier to check in on her family. Penny had opted to head towards Ruby’s home before her. They would’ve gone together but Ruby did want to see her niece and Blake. Penny had yet to properly see her friends. Though she wanted to, she thought it best to hold off for now.
The trio walked into the house and were assaulted by the strong scent of what had to be Jaune’s amazing cooking. They could practically see the aroma of spices dance in the air. One spice in particular hit Ruby. It was subtle but sharp at the same time. The kind of spice that sent a zing through your nose and hit your tastebuds. A mouth watering smile spread on her face and her stomach growled.
“Mmmmmm” Ruby hummed, “Somebody brought spices with them from Menagerie.” She sang. Ruby and Weiss wasted no time heading to the kitchen. Inside was an apron-wearing knight stirring a pot of stew, and their favorite faunus in the whole wide world in an apron cutting vegetables.
Blake didn’t even need to turn around to know what giggling pair just entered the kitchen. She put the knife down all the same and turned around with her arms wide open. “Well-” she couldn’t even say her boastful introduction before her two cheecky smile teammates dove in for a hug. All three of them just became a choir of happy laughter as they embraced one another.
Weiss finally let her friend go to get a good look at her. “Look at you! Traveled all this way and you’re helping make dinner!? I don’t deserve you!”
“Well I saw Jaune breakout a pot and I figured he’d enjoy some help without fear of something burning.” Blake jabbed. Ruby immediately tucked her lips to stop herself from snickering at the diss.
Weiss’s jaw dropped. She still smiled however, crossing her arms. “Oh ha ha, I’ll have you know my cooking is leagues better than what you remember since last time you had it. I can cook amazing meals all by myself!”
“As long as it doesn’t involve a fryer.” Jaune added, walking over to kiss his wife’s cheek really quick.
Weiss’s face got a little flushed. “Grease is bothersome.” She mumbled. Blake could only chuckle at the remark while walking to the pot and dumping the vegetables inside. The smell of the stew intensified and reminded Weiss she is still very much the weakest in her friend group when cooking was involved. “How are you going to outdo me in my own home? Why’d you bring spices in the first place!?”
“Don’t question it!” Ruby shouted. Her body went on autopilot to grab the plates and cups for the dinner.
“Ruby, aren’t gonna make dinner at home?” The room said, thinking about Whitley.
Ruby then proceeded to grab one of Jaune’s tupperware containers. Apparently they were now feeding Whitley as well. Ruby knew they wouldn’t mind, so she felt no remorse when filling it. Her boldness knew no bonds.
“Ruby, how do you know they aren’t making enough food for the people in this house?”
“Because this household would crumble anytime Jaune did a mission and didn’t make enough food for weeks.”
“I can cook!!!!” Weiss yelled.
Jaune playfully rolled his eyes and patted Weiss’s back. “Ruby isn’t completely wrong. Anyways she can take as much as she wants. Nick and Veronica have a dinner date tonight so they won’t be joining us for dinner. Then I don’t if Summer-”
“Nick and Veronica have a date!?” Weiss and Ruby shouted.
“Oh yeah… that happened while you left.” Jaune tried to reach for the ladle for the stew but Weiss swatted his hand before turning his head back to her. Fortunately Blake swooped in to continue stirring. “Yeah so they’re going on a date tonight. I don’t know details.”
Weiss turned to Blake who shrugged. “I didn’t press Veronica too much about it. Yang should be upstairs with her trying on dresses.
“Behold! A beautiful sunflower in the snow!” Yang cried out from outside the kitchen unexpectedly.
“Or I guess she’s downstairs now.” Blake turned off the burner on the stove and moved the pot before following her friends out to the main hall. Outside was Yang standing proudly with her hands on her hips and staring up the stairs proudly. Jaune and Weiss’s eyes went wide while Winter seemed….impressed? As much as she could be. Her feelings towards Veronica in general were mixed. The girl was definitely beautiful though. That was just a fact.
Blake looked up to see her daughter all dressed up at the top of the steps. She wore a white, thin strapped dress that had a light blue sash around her waist. The skirt portion went down to about knee level and the flats she wore were also white. The bottom of the skirt brought more color in by being an intense light blue that faded to white half way up; lace snowflakes were intricately etched on to that portion to break the color up. Gloves that went just passed her elbows followed a similar scheme but started white at the hands before transitioning to blue. To top it all off, a pretty little light blue ribbon formed a bow on top of her head. It was that accessory that made Blake notice that not only wet her ears gone from sight, but so was her tail.
Veronica’s face was stricken with a decent shade of red. Her feet shuffling in place a little as she rubbed her left arm. “So….ummm thoughts?” She said anxiously. “This is just one of several ideas so no need to hold back.”
“Several? What, did you make these in a couple hours?” Winter asked.
“No. I’ve been working on a Fire and Ice collection recently. This dress in particular was already put together for the most part. Although the snowflakes at the bottom was a last minute decision I made half an hour ago.” Veronica swayed to make the skirt flow side to side. “Normally I’d say adding flames or snowflakes is a bit heavy handed since the colors of the outfit already speak fire and ice, but I don’t know. Felt appropriate. Especially since the white lace is on the blue. I even have them on the upper rim of the gloves. Made sleeve versions too.” Veronica inspected the stitching to make sure it was okay. “Hmm not my best work, but I kinda like it.”
“I kinda love it!” Yang proudly said. “Oh it takes me back to the Beacon dance a little. Back then another Schnee was outdone by a Xiao Long wearing white.”
“Ha, no! Your dress didn’t even look done!” Weiss shot back, refusing to take such slander. “This dress is ten times better than what you wore.”
Ruby nodded. “Yeah sis, your dress was pretty plain. Didn’t even have a bow.”
“I couldn’t find one!” Yang defended.
Judging by the banter, Veronica was getting positive vibes from the dress. She looked at Winter since the woman was there. Surprisingly, a thumbs up was given. “Well that was more positive than I expected from her.” Veronica thought. The only person who remained silent was Blake. Veronica turned to see her mother assessing what her daughter had on. The silence she gave made Veronica a little concerned. “What’s up mom? Not a fan of how thin the straps are? It’s not a low cut anywhere.”
“No, all that is fine. I just have to ask, why-” before Blake finished, the front door opened once again with Nick coming through it this time. Everyone froze in place by his sudden entrance. Including him!
“Uhhh why is everyone just standing in the front of the house?” Nick questioned. It was only when he looked up the left staircase did he get his answer. “Oh, that’s why. You look...wow.” He said, rather clumsily. “I didn’t think you’d get ready three hours ahead of schedule. I still gotta wash up from the grav- I mean my walk. Yeah, walk, around town. With no real location stopped at.” He had no idea why he kept saying things. The deadpanned look on Winter and Weiss’s face clearly showed they knew where he was.
Weiss gave a reassuring smile and poked his forehead. “No need to lie, especially so poorly. If talking to them brought you some form of clarity then by all means have at it.”
“Yeah it’s not my business either.” Winter added, ruffling his hair.
Veronica wasn’t exactly sure what they were discussing, but it looked like things were going well. Nick even looked like he was in a better mood then when he left. His eyes went back to Veronica and made her fidget a little. The gaze he gave her was focused, deliberate even.She didn’t know how to feel about it until Nick began to look a tad displeased. “I-Is something wrong?” Veronica asked hesitantly.
“Not wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cover your ears. Tail yeah, since it can get in the way a bit, but why the bow?” He asked, pointing at it from afar. Everyone looked towards her for an answer, especially Blake. Nick had beaten her to the question.
Veronica looked down at her feet for a moment before looking at her family, crush, others. She never really knew what to call Weiss or her siblings. “Well normally I wouldn’t cover them, but while you were gone I kept thinking about this date…and how I wanted it to be a simple night out.” Heat began to rush to her cheeks. “So you know, people will stare and judge less if I’m like this. Not that their opinions matter, but I’d like to keep things peaceful as much as possible tonight. That’s all.” She looked at Blake who was looking right back at her. The answer didn’t seem to upset or surprise the mother. Veronica played with her a bit. “Is...that okay?”
“Hmm? You’re asking permission? It caught me off guard seeing it. Whether it be for aesthetic or personal reasons, I won’t dictate how you wanna design your clothes as long as it’s appropriate. After all, ribbons and I have a history. Couldn’t judge you if I wanted.”
That was a relief to hear. Veronica had completely forgotten her mother wasn’t a stranger to trying to blend in. “Well if that’s settled-”
“Hold on.” Nick softly said, his calm footsteps walking up the stairs to meet her. Everyone fell speechless as they watched him. Veronica for some reason felt as if the mood had changed. The room was quieter, air completely still. The face of the boy in front of her began to look more earnest than it has ever been as it got closer, stifling her breath. Nick extended his hand out slowly till his fingers clasped a corner of the bow, then unraveled it.
The ribbon flowed slowly into his palm and then was brought down towards Veronica’s. “If a calm night means you have to hide, then is it really a calm worth having? Like you said, those people don’t matter. Besides, I like your ears.”
Burst, Veronica felt like her heart could’ve burst. The blush on her cheeks deepened greatly and her eyes went wide from the shocking words. She had barely remembered to breathe. If she paid attention to the audience below then she would’ve been embarrassed by the grins that went ear to ear but no. Veronica only noticed Nick and his gentle smile that matched his words. Her mind finally caught up with itself and Veronica grasped the ribbon ever so slowly.
“O-Okay…” she said without thinking. Anybody else may have gotten more of a debate on it. Not him though. Not after words like those. “I’ll...make a few adjustments then.” She said, flattered and flustered as she walked back to her room without any more words.
“Take your time. You still have about three hours like I said, plus I gotta wash up.” He reminded her, not realizing just how sweet his words were. He turned back around to see smug faces and contained laughter. “What?”
“Nick…” Winter said, smiling with her hands on her hips. “And you wonder why girls flock to you obsessively. You’re too much.”
“I’ll say.” Blake said, admiring the boy. “But you know what? There’s something perfect about that. Nicholas, thank you.”
He wasn’t entirely sure what he did but he got embarrassed all the same, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. At least things finally felt relaxed in this house. “Umm you’re welcome?”
With teasing done and the mood lightened, everyone went back to doing their respective things. Jaune and Blake went back to prepping food. Weiss went with Ruby to set tables and properly catch up, while Yang decided to keep Winter company since both her son and Qrow were off adventuring. The chatter filled the hallways and even reached upstairs to not only Veronica, but Summer, who finally managed to fall asleep peacefully. Even Nick found a bit of proper rest in the bath. The soothing warm water filled with epsom salt was more than enough to make him doze off. Time steadily went forward and the adults began winding down. However, the kids were just getting ready for the night.
xxxxx
Dusk finally came. Winter leaned up against the main door waiting until she saw Nick coming walking down the stairs looking dashing. His crisp white suit, ice blue tie and handkerchief were perfectly in place along with his slick back hair.
“Hey Whitley jr.”
He groaned, “Please don’t. This is why I do nothing with my hair. One minute I look like dad, then the next I’m uncle.”
“Grow it out more then.” Winter suggested.
He shook his head. “That’s a slippery slope. Too long and I’ll be compared to you, mom, and sis. I guess my face is just too great.”
“Pfft, you just know you can’t compete with all this.” Winter sassed, turning her head to sway her hair. Nick would have objected if she wasn’t right.
“Whatever hehe. Anyways, everybody still here?”
“No, Ruby eventually headed home, but everyone else is strung about. I’m heading out myself but I figured I could drop you and Veronica off for your date.”
Nick gave her aunt a huge smile. “Awww, auntie!”
“Oh hush, don’t make it a big deal. It’s convenient, that’s all.”
“Well I appreciate it nonetheless. Veronica will too.”
Winter mumbled,“She better show it by not getting you or sister into trouble.”
“I heard that.” Veronica called from up the staircase. Winter and Nick looked in that direction to see her walking down. Nick wasn’t prepared.
Veronica had switched the gloves out for detachable sleeves that still exposed her shoulders. They also followed the same white to blue pattern. What really changed was she used the ribbon to make a high ponytail and now dawning jewelry. A pearl white necklace rested around her neck and complemented the pearl earrings she wore. Slowly she approached Nick with her hands holding each other in front of her. Veronica’s face was still a healthy shade of red. This close, Nick couldn’t help but smell of peach nectar. An interesting and oddly refreshing choice for perfume.
“Well...ummm...you weren’t kidding when you said you would out dress me.” Nick said, captivated. “I’d say you’re one billion, easily.”
Veronica chuckled nervously. “Hehe,th...thanks. I wouldn’t go that far, but I appreciate it.” Looking at him was harder than usual. Men’s dress shoes had a bit of heel, so Nick actually was a bit taller then her now since she chose flats. It could only be by an inch or two but it made a hell of a difference to her. “I had a little help near the end. These are actually your sister’s pearls.”
“Really? Oh, that’s right! I think the only reason she got them was so this other rude girl couldn’t. I don’t remember the specifics.”
“Wow. You two are….extremely petty at times.” Veronica said. Yeah pettiness was nothing new to her, but she’d never bought something to spite someone else. That’s the lifestyle in Atlas she supposed. “Anyways, if you’re ready to go then I am too. I’d really like to avoid-”
Click! The sound of a camera cut her off. The two teens looked back to see their parents all taking photos. Trying to stop them would be impossible. The only thing they could do is quietly wait for the clicking to stop, which was thankfully over in seconds.
“Gee I didn’t realize I lived with paparazzi.” Nick quipped. Another flash came from up above the second floor. Summer and her bed head leaned against the railing. “Summer!? You too!?”
“I came down to eat and saw we were embarrassing you. How could I not?” She took one more photo and then made her way down to the kitchen. “Have fun. I’m gonna eat and go right back to bed.”
Nick knew she was lying of course. That was the real reason she came down now, to announce she’d be sleeping in her room so nobody would disturb her. Summer, never missing an opening, also collected everything she needed from upstairs without anyone noticing. It was scary how far she’d plan ahead sometimes.
Winter finally decided to open the front door and head out. “Let’s move people. Rich or not, it’s rude to be late for reservations.”
“So strict. Almost think that you’re about to go drill instructor on me.” Veronica jokes, walking out the door.
“Don’t think I won’t make you drop and give me twenty just because you’re in a dress.” Winter shot back, closing the door as Nick walked out.
“The sad thing is she isn’t kidding…” Weiss nervously said. “That’s gonna be a long car ride.”
Summer came out of the kitchen with a bowl of stew and an evil look in her eye. “Why are there less left overs than usual? Who had seconds?”
“Ruby took some for Whitley. As well as had seconds…”
Summer squinted as if Ruby was there to actually receive the grumpy look before putts spoonful in her mouth and walking back upstairs.
“Ma’am, the table. Not your room.” Weiss said, using her mom voice.
Summer did a heel turn to the dining room. “Who made this stew!?” She said annoyed. Jaune and Blake both raised their hands. “It’s fantastic!” Was all she said as she continued walking.
Blake and Yang looked at each other confused before looking at their friends.
“Hangry.” Was all Jaune said.
“Ah…” the couple said together.
The moment Summer was out of sight from everyone she put the bowl down and searched around the living room quickly until she found her guitar case. Quickly, she grabbed it and opened a window towards the side of the estate and tossed it on a set of glyphs that hopefully propelled it right into her open room window. She then ran back to the dining room to sit down and eat comfortably.
“Phew! That was the last thing. And now I wait.” She took another bite of the stew happily. Nothing tastes better than an escape plan coming together.
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anothertimdrakestan · 4 years
Text
Forever And Always  -  Tim Drake x Reader
Words: 1.9k
Requested? Yes! From a lovely anon!
“Greetings! May I please request 3. and 12? Go crazy with it.” (3. so is saving me like a weekly thing? 12. alcohol does not solve all your proble-)
LINK TO PROMPTS  -> REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN!
You said go crazy with it and I took that as “make my heart melt with fluff” and I really went there. I shaped this w/ different memories as shown by news titles cuz it can span over a longer time thus giving us more fluff! I hope you enjoyyy also I think this is going up for Timmy day and that makes me beyond happy : ) Thank you for the wonderful req!
GOTHAM PRESS: Y/N L/N MEETS TIM DRAKE-WAYNE! FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE?
“Glad you could make it! And good to see you officially!” you and Tim had been chatting online for weeks, in what started a place to arrange a meeting the two of you had bonded and as the news speculated, business turned into a kinship, and you wanted to spend more time in his presence. Timothy Drake was fascinating, he was young and ambitious but grounded and even slightly insecure, where most CEO’s were jaded and over confident he was humble, it was enticing. “Absolutely, the pleasure is all mine!” Tim led you to a large meeting room, your people sat down with his and began negotiating but you were more focused on Tim. Stolen glances turned into winks and even divulged into texting each other from across the room. When the meeting ended you had to leave, but not before Tim could invite you to the next Wayne Gala, an invitation you had to accept.
GC NEWS: TIM DRAKE FLIES IN Y/N L/N FOR ANNUAL WAYNE GALA! 
Your first gala was pretty boring. Everyone wanted to talk to you and you couldn’t find time to talk to Tim, the only interaction you had was exchanging apologetic glances. As the gala was close to ending you decided to gather your confidence, walking up to Tim who was mid conversation with board members who looked as old as dirt. “Hi! Sorry to interrupt but can I borrow Mr. Drake?” instinctively you grabbed Tim’s hand, pulling him away. “Thank you for saving me from those zombies” Tim looked excited to talk to you, his eyes cast down to where your hand still held his. Realizing this your quickly let go, blushing profusely. “Yeah, uh, I just wanted to get to see you, you did invite me here after all!” you tried to make small talk, but decided you wanted more. “Care to dance Mr. Wayne?” Tim looked a little shocked, but agreed. “Anything for my savior” he joked, whisking you on to the dance floor, the two of you talked quietly through songs until the gala ended. You promised to return to Tim soon.
GOTHAM WEEKLY: TIM DRAKE-WAYNE SPOTTED MATCHING Y/N L/N AT HOLIDAY GALA!
“Hey Y/N you look really good, I like the red!” you grinned at Tim, “you don’t look so bad yourself, how’d ya know to match my dress?” Tim shrugged, lightly blushing “a little rumor I guess” the two of you wore matching shades of red, you knew Tim had asked around, it was just the kind of flirting he knew you loved, his thoughtfulness was one of your favorite qualities about him. “Well since we’re matching already care to dance?” you asked, wanted to show off your gown to everyone at the gala. “For you I suppose I can spare a dance” you rolled your eyes, Tim sure had the ‘will they won’t they’ thing down to the point where you didn’t even know what you were, but whatever you were was fun and exciting. Swaying together you rested your head on his chest and you heard him whisper “happy holidays y/n” making your heart flutter, why couldn’t galas last forever?
METROPOLIS NEWS: HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT Y/N L/N MOVING TO GOTHAM FOR A YEAR TO WORK WITH WAYNE ENT???
“Is it really true?” as soon as you signed with W.E. you got a call from Tim. “Yup! I got a penthouse close to the main building. Hope you’re okay with seeing more of me” you joked. This was a move for your mental health, Metropolis was too picture perfect and boring, it was time to expand. And there was a certain someone drawing you to Gotham, so you listened to your gut and made the move. Just a year, then you could reevaluate. 
GOTHAM CELEB WATCH: LOOK AT THESE PHOTOS OF Y/N AND TIM DRAKE-WAYNE LEAVING THE CHARITY GALA TOGETHER!
Another gala another Tim rescue mission. You could see him visibly uncomfortable as a Gotham billionaire’s daughter draped herself all over him. You called it a rescue mission because it was better than admitting you wanted to be the only girl flirting with Tim. Plastering a grin on your face you made your way up to Tim, placing your hand on his cheek “there you are Timmy! I can’t believe you’d leave your girlfriend all alone” you winked at him as the other girl slithered off of him. “I - um - yeah. girlfriend. y/n yeah” Tim stuttered. You grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the back of the party. “C’mon Tim I had to rescue you! What are friends for!” Tim nodded, still blushing. “So is saving me gonna become a weekly thing now?” he joked as you ruffled his hair. “Only if you need me to Timmy. Can we get out of here? This is boring even for a charity event” Tim agreed, as the two of you had almost made it to Tim’s car the paparazzi found you. Tim tried to cover your face as you got into the car, all the shouting and flashing lights were a lot. “Shit that’s gonna be everywhere tomorrow” you groaned. “Let them say what they want who cares. We’ve been in the news before.” Tim reassured you. As Tim directed the driver back to your place you rested your head on his shoulder, nodding off. You could feel Tim lightly shaking you, you could almost swear he said “y/n love, are you awake?” and before you could answer he scooped you up, carrying you inside. What a night for the books, in his arms you realized you really liked Tim, and after seeing that girl at the party you knew it was time to get a move on.
G.C. COUPLE ALERT: Y/N AND TIM SPOTTED AT THE BEACH! IS IT A DATE?
“You want me to take a day off?” Tim questioned as you talked excitedly over the phone. “Yes! You’re the damn CEO you deserve a day with mwah! Plus it’ll be fun! Have ever even seen a beach before city boy?” Tim snorted, this was coming from a Metropolis girl after all. “Fine only for the rescue the other day, I’ll pick you up in 20″ He hung up and you celebrated. All you had to do was flirt all day and he’d totally get the message. On the ride over the two of you got to really talking, not the small talk at a gala, really talking. You told him about your childhood and why you needed to leave Metropolis and he opened up about his parents. It was truly a moment when you felt your souls bonding. After a few hours of flirting and trying to get the message across Tim had avoided all of it. You even tried looking at his lips to try to get the two of you to move faster, but he never got the message. It started to seem like a hopeless endeavor so you gave up early, just enjoying his presence. That didn’t mean you weren’t discouraged.
GOTHAM CITY DRAMA ALERT: TIM DRAKE AND Y/N L/N KISS CAUGHT ON CAMERA
“Yeah I want another fucking drink. Why? Cuz I said so!” you chided the bartender at a charity auction. It was an open bar and after watching Tim busy all night you needed another drink. After a little persuasion you grabbed the drink and headed outside, wanting some fresh air. “Hey, I haven’t seen you. What if I needed saving!” you turned around to see Tim, he approached, sitting down next to you. “What’s up” he nudged your shoulder, noticing the alcohol on your breath. “You want honestly Tim?” you questioned, and he nodded. “Well maybe you can give me some advice. There’s this guy I really like. And we hangout all the time and I like really really like him. But I don’t know how he feels and I’m scared I’ll ruin everything” you poured your heart out, and Tim’s eyes softened. “Well I can’t believe you haven’t told me about the lucky guy, but if it were me I’d say I’m pretty oblivious so maybe you could make the first move and he’s slow at emotions like me. Plus you can’t just tell me you really really like a guy and not tell me who he is!” Tim teased you, but you took the advice seriously. “You really think I’ve just gotta go for it?” you stared into his eyes. With a shrug he replied “well yeah I think so. I mean maybe not tonight because you’re a little drunk and you can’t let alcohol solve all your pro- Mmhph!” you didn’t need more than that, crashing your lips on to Tim’s. Your heart soared when he kissed you back, his hand caressed your cheek pulling you closer in. You heard a few camera clicks in the distance but you were too focused on the feeling of Tim’s lips on yours. Pulling apart you and Tim were grinning. “So I’m the lucky guy huh?” he said sheepishly while you nodded and blushed. “I feel really dumb right now” he admitted as you mumbled “yeah kinda but we’re here now” and you leaned in to kiss him again.
GOTHAM TONIGHT: Y/N L/N SOON TO BE Y/N DRAKE-WAYNE?
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” you shrieked as Tim got on one knee. He’d convinced you to take a day off, saying the two of you deserved a day at the beach. You should’ve known something was up, Tim never took days off. As you questioned him about who was covering patrol and texted Damian saying you’d have to reschedule your cheese viking tournament Tim shushed you, saying it was time for a day at the beach. The two of you reminisced on how he missed all the signs you dropped in the car and at the beach, it all seemed so full circle. He’d taken you up to a lighthouse, you loved watching the waves crash on the rocks. The two of you spent a while just talking, truly feeling on top of the world. When the tide grew stronger around sunset you got up to look out on the ocean, and when you turned around you saw Tim fumbling with something in his pocket. “Y/N I never thought I’d find my person, but not only did I find my soulmate, I found my best friend and savior. You’ve saved me from everything from boring galas to my own life after some of the roughest nights ever, you’ve stood with me through it all, you stayed with me when you learned about my identity, you’ve been my rock and I need you in my life forever. So what do you say? You’ve always like Y/N Drake Wayne so can it be official?” you watched him get on one knee, pulling out the ring and you fell into his arms. Coming down the cliff you saw he’d gathered your family and his, they cheered and celebrated as you held Tim’s hand, never wanting to let go. 
GOTHAM NEWS HOUR: TIM AND Y/N DRAKE-WAYNE TIE THE KNOT!
“Do you, Tim Drake-Wayne promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, for as long as you both shall live?
“I do, forever and always”
“And do you, Y/N L/N promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health
“I do, I do with every fiber of my being”
“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride”
“Here’s to forever babe”
“Forever and always Timmy”
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shreddedparchment · 5 years
Text
400 Buffalo Wings
02/14/2020
Pairing: Thor x Reader          Word Count: 2,149
Warnings: language, allusions to penises and sex, lots of buffalo wings, fluff
A/N: Just an intended drabble that turned into a one shot for Valentine’s Day. I did Bucky last year so I thought I’d do Thor this year. I may do another one, if I’m in the mood. I hope you enjoy it! This is seriously just silly fun. xoxo
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Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
It feels like your whole apartment is shaking.
Startled you spring to your feet and reach for the heavy wooden bat that you’d placed by your umbrella holder in the foyer.
You’re not exactly scared but you know the threats you might face.
It’s been three months since your life changed. Three months of surprising bliss. Three months of dating the perfect man.
With this perfect man, however, comes dangers that you know you’re not ready to face. Dangers that might very well end your life more quickly than you can attempt to fight them.
In fact, as you approach your front door—Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!—you know that if whoever is on the other side wants to hurt you, you won’t even have the chance to swing this bat.
There’s a heavy shift on the other side as you reach it, and with a trembling hand placed against the red painted wood, you push yourself up onto your toes and peek through your peep hole.
Your heart unclenches and relief floods you as you plant your feet back down and rest your forehead against the cool wood.
“Why are you knocking on my door, dummy? You have a key!” You tell him, pulling back to unlatch the chain and unlock the door.
He doesn’t answer you, but you open the door and you suddenly notice the way he’s swaying a little, the glazed look in his eyes, the sloppy grin stretching his bearded cheeks.
“There she is.” He says, his booming voice finding its way into your chest cavity to restart your heart at twice the speed.
Gods, you could listen to him talk forever, and be happy with only that if you couldn’t have anything else.
“Are you drunk?” You ask, brow furrowed.
“No.” He argues, frowning at you.
He blows a raspberry to emphasize the absurdity of what you’re saying, but then he sways too far forward and only stops when you throw your hands out against his chest to keep him upright.
His electric blue eyes look down at your hands, and suddenly he’s smiling like an idiot again.
“Thor, you’re drunk.” You insist.
“I’m drunk.” He agrees, too happy to notice your annoyance.
You hadn’t expected him to remember. This isn’t his thing. Earth holidays aren’t exactly something that he’s studied.
And technically this isn’t even a real holiday.
But you’d hoped…
“Come on.” You tell him and move to wrap his free arm around your shoulders so that you can help lead him inside.
He’s staring at you as you walk him in, absolutely pouring heart eyes at you and you’re so irritated by it that you really wanna just let him fall to the ground in a heap.
Instead he tightens his arm around you as you shut the door and presses his massive forehead against the top of your head.
“I missed you.” He whispers, sending shivers across your skin.
“Not much if you went out drinking after your mission.” You counter, not really meaning it but wanting to fight to expend all this damn disappointment.
“I had to!” Thor exclaims, voice rising and cracking in octave as he stands up straight.
He does it too quickly and he almost goes teetering backwards into your kitchen.
“Woah,” You exclaims but reach out with your bat less hand now and catch the loop of his jeans to keep him upright.
“When there is victory, there must be revels!” He assures you.
You sigh.
“Are you angry with me?”
“No.” You sigh and move him towards the room.
He can sleep it off.
“You’re angry with me.” Thor insists.
“Not angry. Just…I’m…”
“What were you doing?” Thor wonders, looking around the apartment as you pass through the living room and into the hallway towards your bedroom.
He notices the glass of half-drunk wine on your coffee table, a small plate of half eaten pasta. Netflix is still running, Sleeping With Other People still playing.
“Nothing. Just watching movies.” You tell him. “What are you carrying?”
You look over at his other arm, tucked underneath it what looks to be a sleek fancy black box with a golden ribbon tied around it.
For a moment, you wonder if maybe he didn’t forget…maybe someone reminded him?
“Food from the party.” He tells you, shifting towards you so that you can take it.
“Oh.” You reach over and grab the box by the bow and place it on the end of the bed as you near it.
Quickly you shrug out from underneath his arm and turn him around before helping him sit, but he throws himself back making your whole room shake.
“Thor!” You gasp, chastising him as the walls and ceiling creak and complain.
“That’s my name.” He says, slurring his words. “Dunweritow.”
His eyes are already closed.
“Dumbass.” You sigh, watching him scratch at an itch on his chest.
You smack his leg and he lifts it for you to place on your lap. You untie his boot and peel it off, letting it drop to your floor with a thud.
You do the other, then move to undo his jeans and begin to tug those away too.
“Are you trying to take advantage of me?” Thor accuses you. “Getting me naked while I am not of sound mind?”
You scoff and almost laugh, but you only pull harder until the jeans fall free of his hips and you can slide them down his massive thighs to leave him in red form hugging briefs.
They leave nothing to your imagination, but you have to stop and laugh when you see that they’re covered in tiny black hearts.
“What?” Thor asks, pushing himself up onto his elbows despite the sleep in his eyes.
He looks down at his pants and makes an O with his mouth as he sees his underwear.
“I forgot I chose those.”
“Why did you choose them?” You wonder, still laughing a bit.
“Is it not St. Valentine’s day today? Where are your heart underwear? In my research this is what is done, is it not?” Thor asks, trying to clear his mind of his drunken fog to focus on you.
So, he did look into it, but maybe didn’t do more than get past the images part of the search? At least he tried…
“I don’t have any underwear with hearts.” You remind him.
“No…” Thor shakes his head. “No, but you have those red ones. With the pink lace?”
There’s a shift in his underwear that draws your eyes. You frown.
“I’m not changing into any lingerie, Thor.” You get up and throw his pants into your hamper, the move around the bed to take off his shirt.
“Come on, take this off. It reeks of booze.” You grab the ends and he sits up completely then raises his hands up above his head so that you can peel the shirt away.
“You just want to get me naked.” He insists.
You scoff a chuckle again. “Yes, it’s my dream. You naked, in bed, all the time.”
Never mind that it is partially your dream to have him naked in bed all the time. He doesn’t need to know that when you’re upset!
“Mine too.” Thor says, “One of them.”
He sits there, slouching, hands between his thighs as he watches you dump his shirt in the hamper too.
“I’m hungry.” He tells you.
“When aren’t you hungry?” You counter. “And you’ve ben drinking. Of course, you want food.”
You move to the sleek black box—there must have been fancy caterers at the Avengers after party—and pick it up only to deposit it back into his lap.
“Here, eat your leftovers.” You grab his boots and move to place them by the end of the bed. “I’m gonna go clean up the living room and I’ll be back.”
“Very well.” He sighs but grunts.
The sound draws your attention and you find him struggling with the knot of the golden bow.
You let him struggle with it for a minute, a little smug that he’s so helpless right now. But watching him also frustrates you more and you move to sit beside his legs and push his hands away to take the box.
Placing it in your lap, you sigh and begin to work the tight knot slowly.
Thor leans against the bed, his hand beside your thigh so that both your knees are between his hand and his body.
He scratches at his chest and his head, his thigh and his beard as he waits and watches you undo the knot.
It finally pulls free and you run the stiff glittery ribbon through your fingers as you pull it apart.
You’re going to just give it back to him and let him open it himself, but you’re curious as to the quality of food that would warrant such a fancy box.
As you toss the lid aside, you see that there is mostly white wax paper inside. You rifle through it, folding the layers of paper back and find instead of food a small drawstring pouch in deep velvet red.
Suddenly, your hands are buzzing. You’re not sure what you’re seeing but your body seems to respond to it before your mind can catch up.
“Did you really think that I’d forget what today is about?” Thor asks, reaching around to wrap his arm around your waist, tickling the small of your back.
You pull out the pouch and with shaking fingers you pull it open. Slowly you reach in and feel for what he might have hidden in so much paper and box, when your fingers make purchase on a small metal circle.
You were hoping for a card maybe. A bracelet or necklace at most. Flower or chocolates. Something small and simple.
Well, this is small…but most definitely not simple.
You fish it up and find yourself staring down at a thin golden band around which is wrapped another in silver creating a beautiful Celtic vine pattern.
The gem is round, brilliant, but modest in size. The brilliant yellow diamond, however, stuns you with its color.
“Will you marry me, babe?” He asks.
You meet his eyes, tears threatening to spill across your cheeks. You had accepted that you’d get nothing and all of a sudden here he is, offering you everything.
“Yes…” You nod. “Yes.”
Thor smiles and pulls you closer to kiss you silly as you struggle to lean against him with the angle that you’re sitting.
He kisses you until you can’t breathe then pulls back to rest his forehead against your own.
“How about that red underwear now?” He tries.
You throw your head back in laughter, as you shove him away and get up to go clean.
“Is that a no?” He pleads, and you look back to find him splayed out on his back at the center of your bed, watching you with deep longing.
“That’s a no.” You assure him, but as you go out of sight, you know that it’s only a no for now.
~~~~~~~~~~
“THOR!” You shout, staring at the team of delivery men as each one comes in and deposits tray after tray of what looks like buffalo wings.
There are at least twenty boxes, each one with twenty wings each.
“Is my food here?” Thor wonders, still drunk off his ass despite the very competent way he just made love to you.
“Your food?!” You demand, looking at not only your small kitchen table, but your coffee table and end tables all laden with boxes of wings.
Thor smiles at the sight of them and throws himself down onto the couch as he reaches for one of the boxes but being so drunk, he falls sideways and just stays there where he’s fallen, eyes shut as sleep threatens to take him.
“Thor! What the hell were you thinking?!” You demand, flabbergasted by the sheer amount of food in your home.
“I’m hungry.” He explains, eyes still shut, voice losing strength with his drowsiness.
“That…that doesn’t mean that you order four hundred buffalo wings!” You nearly shout.
“Well, I’m the God of Thunder and this is how I eat and I love you, babe.” He tacks on at the end and you’re not sure if he says it because he’s trying to get out of trouble or if he means that you’re supposed to eat too or whether his drunken stupor is just making him say whatever comes to mind.
You remember that you just told him that you’ll marry him and that you will have a lifetime of buffalo wings in your future. The very thought is so ridiculous that all you can do is laugh as you watch your husband to be pass out on this, your first shared Valentine’s Day.
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real-jaune-isms · 4 years
Text
RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 11 Review/Remix
Not the most action packed chapter we’ve ever had, and certainly not as dramatic as Chapter 11s from past Volumes. But this week had some wonderful surprises and existential dread and depression in equal measure and I think that’s a formula for a pretty damn good watch.
Despite the devastating energy bomb Oscar delivered last episode, we open with the city of Atlas overrun with tons of Grimm. The people are still hiding in the subway, fearing for their lives twice over now that Ironwood’s monologue is playing and showing just how off his rocker he is. Those in the crater mines take it far worse, though we see some of the humans and faunus who had previously seemed on edge with each other holding one another in solidarity and comfort. Fiona breaks down in tears and is pulled into a Happy Huntress group hug by Joanna and May, so it’s a small comfort to see they’re all still alive.
Ironwood and Winter walk the halls of Atlas command together, and Winter can’t help but notice the fearful reverence the general’s presence instills in lesser officers. The Ace Ops are talking things over in the wake of their boss’ ultimatum, and Elm is of the belief that Ironwood was just bluffing about nuking Mantle if he doesn’t get what he wants. Vine agrees it may very well be the kick in the pants Team RWBY and the others will need to finally see the right path, but we the audience are getting pretty sick of hearing this shtick. Marrow thinks Ironwood is taking this too far, and Harriet is just angrily indifferent about the whole thing. Ironwood rounds the corner and addresses the squad with their new orders: get some drones ready to drop the bomb. Winter asks why exactly they need to actually make those kind of preparations, and he makes it clear that he really does intend to remove Mantle from the equation if he is prompted to. He actually thinks committing this massacre, nay genocide, will make Penny more willing to return to his command if she no longer has an alternative job. No, dumbass, she’ll only want to defy and even kill you more! This is how he believes they will save Atlas, but Marrow has had more than enough and calls him on his shit for a line like that. All this is doing is helping Salem in her mission to divide and destroy the world, and it’s spitting in the face of everything Marrow thought the Atlas military stood for. Harriet threatens to clean his clock if he doesn’t shut up, and Vine again suggests that this would be a necessary sacrifice for the good of the Kingdom. Elm tries to agree, to say that this should be their top priority whether they like it or not, but Marrow has more to say. He can’t believe any of them actually buy the nonsense they’re spouting, and wants to know if there’s anything his teammates actually believe in anymore. With so many moral compromises, where do they draw the line of patriotism vs fascism? The faunus man gives a pretty good clincher to his tirade by calling his badge and rank nothing more than a collar. Say what you want about the writing of the faunus discrimination subplots in the prior volumes, I think this was pretty good. Ironwood isn’t about to let Marrow walk away from a rant like that without consequences and we can hear his cocking his gun. Marrow hears it too, but before he can react Winter comes in from his right with a sucker punch that knocks him to the floor. As she drops a knee on Marrow’s back to cuff him for insubordination we see Ironwood was a second away from shooting this man, one of his few trusted elite soldiers left, in the back of the head for an execution without mercy or hesitation. She just saved his goddamn life and that makes her an MVP for this Volume. The other Ace Ops realize this close encounter with death too, and they all share the same expression of shock fear dread and confusion. Not even Vine can hide how much he doesn’t like what could have just occurred. Winter says she’s going to take this “traitor” to the brig where he belongs and Ironwood allows her to leave and do so, only taking his finger off the trigger once they’ve walked past him. Those with a better understanding of trigger discipline than I could probably make something poignant out of that, so have at it if you can. What is abundantly clear to us is that Winter will be taking Marrow no such place. She has absolutely had enough and she’s about to desert with him in tow. The remaining three have to get back in line and spend a little time rethinking their positions on this job. Well, at least one of them will be, I don’t think Harriet is gonna change course after what she’s already done.
From one tense situation to another, we go to the Schnee manor dining room where Team RWBY are trying to figure out their next moves with Oscar and Emerald. They know they don’t want Ironwood getting his hands on Penny, but they don’t know what to do instead that won’t result in mass casualties. They don’t know that Robyn and Qrow have flown the coop and might come to their aid soon, and under Ironwood’s watch there’s no way to try and evacuate the people in the crater before he drops the bomb. It’s a real bad situation with no clear solutions or backup plans. Emerald can’t help but be snarky and say if the perpetual optimism engine that is Ruby can’t think of what to do then there’s no right answer at all. Weiss is annoyed that Em is giving them sass when they really don’t need any, but Yang is downright furious and her to GTFO if she doesn’t like trying to help them solve this. Emerald tenses up when Yang stomps towards her with clenched fists, and her hands go to her weapons in case she needs to defend herself. We know Yang wouldn’t actually throw a punch even if she’s mad like this, but Em doesn’t. Probably because the most substantial thing connecting the two of them was the time Emerald used her semblance to make Yang look like a heartless brute who would break a leg for no reason on live TV. Also Emerald doesn’t have the best role models for how to handle frustration... Oscar continues to insist they all just take a deep breath and remember the big picture rather than lose it over small disagreements, and reminds them that Em is going to be staying on their side cuz Salem won’t let her safely be anywhere else. But when he tries to reassure the group with a reminder that Oz is back to offer help too it just tenses the situation further. Ruby’s got her head in her arms on the table, and she’s really having a hard time of it all. Oscar muses about all the negative personal energies keeping them from a productive cohesion, and Ruby pops off. A day’s worth of their best efforts, hard fought battles and painful consequences, and nothing has gotten better. Just like at the start of the Volume, all they’ve been able to do is argue over what to try and do while Atlas heads towards its demise. Yang tries to put an encouraging hand on her shoulder but she brushes it off and runs out of the room in a huff. Everyone silently realizes how much they’ve fucked this up if Ruby is so hopeless and desperate, and Yang follows her sister out of the room.
Upstairs, Jaune is doing his best to boost Nora’s Aura and help her heal faster, but it’s not doing anything about her lightning scars. Those babies are here to stay, and I don’t mind it. It shows history, survival and a damn good story about what she’s been able to power through. Ren is sitting at the foot of the bed, and the best he’s able to offer is how glad he is Nora is okay. She seems indifferent and even passive aggressive at the diagnosis on her scars, claiming it’s just another example of her being classic dumb Nora. Ren tries to object that this wasn’t her being stupid or foolhardy, but she bites back at him with all the resentment she seems to have been holding in since they split ways yesterday. He’s got no right to say what it was or wasn’t, he wasn’t there to see it. He pushed away from her when things went wrong because he didn’t want to have to feel anything he thought would be too hard to deal with. Ren makes no effort to argue, he knows she’s right and he apologizes profusely for how he wronged both her and Jaune. He regrets the things he said to them, or more likely the things he said to Jaune out on the tundra since he and Nora haven’t exactly talked much. He admits he’s been mad at himself for not measuring up to their mentor figures in the Ace Ops, for how little he could help when Tyrian came a’ slashing at Robyn’s election rally, and for slipping up and letting Neo get away with the Lamp. Mentioning the rally of course gets Nora’s attention away from her pissed off brooding, and she does start to listen a little more sympathetically. Ren says that he tried to tunnel vision on getting stronger in the hopes it would mean he wouldn’t fail again and bring the team down with him. We know from Ironwood how bad tunnel vision is, so I’m glad Ren is realizing it was a bad choice. Ren has realized now that by doing all that he failed the worst of all, that being in his role as a member of this team and as a partner to Nora. The two of them lock eyes, and Jaune notices the deeper meaning behind this prolonged eye contact and knows he should make himself scarce for now so they can have this more important conversation sans his third wheeling ass. Good boy, but a bit over the top excusing himself.
All Nora can find the words to ask is why Ren hadn’t said anything about these personal doubts sooner so they could try and deal with it and grow as a team, and he says he wanted to try and solve it himself because it was his problem and he was the one dragging the group down because of it. She disagrees on the grounds of her own perceived failings, being silly of mind and strong of muscle and little else of value. Ren won’t hear that kind of self depreciation sitting down, so he moves further up the bed to sit by her lap. He tries his best to give her affirmations by rephrasing her qualities as great things but she’s just not willing to hear it... until he gets a little more passionate about it than he may have meant to. These are the things he loves about her. Because he loves her. Lie Ren tells Nora Valkyrie “I love you”. Nora knows in her heart he really means that, but she has some things she wants to get off her chest. In the single sentence of backstory we get, her mom apparently abandoned her and fled from a Grimm attack before she ended up in Kuroyuri meeting Ren. SInce then they’ve always been an inseparable pair, and she wouldn’t give up a day of that for anything. But now she realizes she needs some time to really learn who she is as her own person and fighter, and going back to being as close as they were wouldn’t allow that kind of growth. Because Nora loves Ren too, always has. And she can tell their separate missions have done him some good too, but she needs a little more time before she’s ready to be the partner a great guy like him deserves. She just wants to know if that kind of request is okay with him. He puts a hand against her cheek and lovingly wipes away the tear she had shed. Of course that’s okay. He’s proud of her for being mindful of her own happiness and growth, and is willing to put the relationship they both very much look forward to having on hold while she grows as a person. This is a very healthy dynamic and all meming aside we really love to see it portrayed so naturally and acceptably in media. And for good wholesome measure, Ren Boops Nora. They laugh and smile and press their foreheads together because Rooster Teeth loves showing us that as a sign of proximity and intimate comfort.
Cutting to something far less happy, Qrow is retrieving Harbinger and Robyn’s gauntlet crossbow from a locker in what I assume might be evidence lockup. He asks Robyn if she’s got the security cameras running on loop, presumably so they can sneak through the halls undetected, but she is currently distracted. At least one screen is feeding audio of Ironwood’s threat to Mantle, and others are showing he really is gearing up to do so. Qrow tries to reassure her by resolutely saying they’ll stop him before he has the chance to, but she doesn’t seem to pleased with that plan. Regardless, they make their way through the halls and head for an elevator to take them up to the Academy. After avoiding being spotted by guards, they make it to the elevator but Robyn stops Qrow before he can hit the call button. She tries to advocate for a better way to solve this, he insists there isn’t one. Robyn says it’s not just about Qrow so it isn’t his choice alone to make what is or isn’t the only solution. Qrow just keeps insisting that this is what he’s gonna do and when he does it’ll all be safe and over with, but Robyn tries to suggest success isn’t guaranteed and if they fail it’ll only doom hundreds more than if they try something else. Qrow doesn’t give a damn, he just yells that Ironwood deserves to be killed, because in case the pronoun game was too hard Qrow is dead set on doing a murder. Robyn claps a hand over Qrow’s mouth and pushes him against the wall because they ARE still trying not to get caught remember? I really have to admit on my first watch I thought this was gonna be an eruption of some kind of romantic tension I just hadn’t noticed til now and she was going to shut him up with a kiss. But no, thank god they didn’t pull that tired trick. After making sure the coast really is clear, she gets to the heart of things. She can tell Qrow is in pain, he’s mourning, and its a shroud he’s well accustomed to. But don’t act like this is righteous justice for the people at large, Qrow wants blood on his hands purely for personal vengeance. She acknowledges that Clover had a lot of qualities worth looking up to the way Qrow had, but she thinks that at the end of the day Qrow has proven to be the better man and the better Huntsman. I feel like she could have phrased that a touch better so as to not speak quite so ill of the recently deceased, but the pep talk is there. He’s got the will to fight for what he believes is the right course of action rather than just what a higher up says he needs to, and that is the sort of strength of character that’s worth a whole lot in this world, so she hopes he won’t go abandoning it now that the going is even rougher. He seems to be calmed and inspired by this, but before any more words are said the elevator pings that it’s stopping on this floor so the two ready their weapons to fight whoever emerges. The doors open, but we have the perspective of whoever is inside looking out to see the two hunters drop their guard in confusion. As that is the end of that scene we will not be finding out who they saw for at least another week, but I think it’s most likely to be Winter and Marrow and the four of them will form an unlikely alliance.
Back in Schnee manor, Yang reaches the foyer to see Ruby sitting on the stairs clutching a banister. Instead of going right up to her Yang goes past to take a look at the collapsed suit of armor. She’s heard by now how Ruby and the others managed to kill the Hound, and tries to give her little sis amused props for doing what the elder sibling couldn’t. Instead Ruby just asks if Yang knows what they saw inside the Grimm. Yang says she does, and tenses up like she wants to brush past this very depressing topic Ruby is hinting at. Ruby is having none of that and just says what we’ve all been thinking. Summer Rose was most certainly turned into a Grimm too. Fearing the possibility in her head was one thing, but to hear Ruby say it aloud with a voice so hollow and hopeless is too much and Yang falls to her knees sobbing in a second flat. Yang tries to wipe the tears away, to be calm and strong like always, but Ruby isn’t stopping. They know Salem used to want Silver Eyed Warriors dead because of Maria’s brush with death years ago, but now Salem wants Ruby brought in alive and it seems obvious why. So why wouldn’t it be the case that Summer was the turning point, that fighting her was when Salem realized she could do so much more with her mortal foes? Ruby has had enough of lying to themselves for the sake of optimistic hope, her hope that Amity could get a message out got them nowhere but further failure and she blames herself for being childish. Yang takes her hand and assures her that it wasn’t childishness but rather optimism and hope. Those are things they desperately need in this struggle, but to be blindly optimistic can certainly be bad so they need to be smart about which risks they take. Ruby still isn’t about to concede this point because the risk she took was a failure and their message didn’t bring any help. I should like to remind the reader/viewer that it took about a week for Team RWBY to get from Mistral to Atlas and this message went out... 12 hours ago? Maybe 16? You’re giving up the ghost a little soon there sweetie, though they do need that help ASAP so better late than never isn’t really a viable option. Yang reminds Ruby that her plan was a bust too, but she kept trying to do good things that weren’t part of the plan and they did some good there. Summer took a risk too, by leaving for the mission she never came back from. And there’s little question that went according to plan either, but she still did her best and Yang still considers Summer her hero. As she embraces her little sister, I get the strong feeling that Summer isn’t the only Rose she considers her hero either... and by the tears that start welling up in Ruby’s eyes she clearly knows that.
Their sweet moment is shattered by the sound of equally shattered glass, and Jaune comes rushing down the stairs to tell them to get outside immediately. Penny woke up and the virus is in control again to make her head for the Vault without delay. Ruby bursts into her path to beg her to stop, and it does get her to start struggling against her digital orders. She begs to be stopped, and Ruby wraps her arms around her because honestly she’s just trying her best and with a weapon like Crescent Rose she’s gotta have some upper body strength. But that’s pretty meaningless against Penny’s rocket boots as she takes off with Ruby in tow. Blake and Ren use Gambol Shroud and Storm Flower (thank god for the grappling hook upgrade last Volume) to try and pull her down by each arm with the rest of their teams providing tug of war style support. Weiss uses a black glyph to really hold her in place once her feet are on the ground again. Before anyone can figure out what to do to properly subdue her Penny uses her magic to summon a cold vortex and blow them all off guard so she can start flying away again, still repeating her orders to open the Vault and self-terminate, though now she sounds emotional and conflicted about it due to her mental struggle. Before she can get any farther, a new set of chains grab her shoulders. Emerald has joined in, and even if it was a small gesture I found myself very enthusiastic to see her pitching in for the rescue. She yells for someone to do something already, and Jaune lets go of Blake’s side of the struggle (guess it would have been off balance if him Nora and Oscar were all helping Ren) to boost Weiss’ Aura so she can make a stronger inertia glyph. Back on the ground, Ruby hugs Penny again and asks how she can help her friend. And Penny says Ruby should kill her. If she does, Penny guarantees Ruby will be the one she gives the Winter Maiden powers to. None of the group like hearing this idea one little bit, but she thinks it’s the only way since she can’t fight the virus. But once again Nora swoops in with the sage words about it only being a part of you and not letting that be the end of it. Penny’s more than just a robot receiving orders, she’s got human spirit and willpower that’s been resisting for so long. This gets the gears in Ruby’s head turning and she realizes the human part can be what saves her. Jaune needs to boost her Aura, which he rushes over to do immediately. It seems to do the trick, and her soul is doing a much better job of keeping the virus contained, though it’s not gone forever. Everyone comes in for a happy group huddle, and she is assured that she is far more than a machine and that humanity is what will keep her going in spite of the remaining virus. It’s a very soft and touching moment. 
Then Emerald has something to say. They’re wrong... about being in the same place they started yesterday. They’ve made progress even though they can’t quite see it right now. They’ve taken some hits, and she admits some of that has been her fault, but that’s war so you gotta roll with the punches and fight on. She just really won’t like it if they give up the moment she decides she’ll fight by their side, okay?! It’s not like she likes these friendly, kind, understanding and emotionally complex fellow teens that are willing to take her in, baka!!! Oscar points out that she’s admitted she wants to stay with them and they all have a happy laugh realizing she’s got a softer side after all. Oscar helps her back to her feet, then addresses the group. Ozpin has some things he wants to say to them all, if they’re willing to hear it. They all share a look and decide that yes, they will listen. Oz comes forth and immediately launches into a speech about a fairy tale. Typical. We can presume these are further details about “The Girl who Fell Through the World”, and he says that girl took her grand trip to run away from consequences of a choice she has to make. But her problems only grow because the initial issue was never resolved. That’s the very thing he’s done here, his problem being the consequences of the truth and his past coming to light. He regrets not trusting them with the whole story and he regrets retreating into Oscar’s mind when he was found out. The group decides they understand where he was coming from a bit since in that interim they had to make some impossible choices about trust too. Trusting in someone is a risk, and they decide they’ll take that risk on him one more time. From the look of things, that second chance is going to Emerald too, and I hope she makes them proud. Penny winces again and it’s clear that one way or the other they will need to take her to the Vault. Ruby thinks on that for a second and realizes that’s actually worth a shot considering who they have at their disposal and the likelihood of it not going exactly how Ironwood thinks it will. To that end we see Ironwood down in the Vault receiving a call from Ruby saying Penny will be there. He sets the stipulation that Penny meet him at the entrance of the Academy and she has to come alone. I’m sure no green haired illusionist will play a hand in whether or not she really is alone... But either way there will be unexpected company because Watts hooked up a broken Scroll to the wiring of an Atlas robot to listen in on Ironwood’s call and know where the meeting will be. Neo arrives in the alley where the doctor and Cinder waiting, and it seems miss Fall has a scheme to get the ice cream psycho precisely what she’s demanding of them.
But what exactly these carefully laid plans will be has to wait a little while, cuz that’s the end for this week. Great job all around for this well balanced episode with many kinds of scenes and many ways to make my heart hurt...
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lovelylogans · 4 years
Text
paper rings
i like shiny things, but i'd marry you with paper rings uh huh, that's right, darling you're the one I want i hate accidents except when we went from friends to this uh huh, darling, you're the one I want
part of the wyliwf verse.
ao3 | other fics on tumblr | coffee?
warnings: food mentions, underage drinking, drinking, slightly tipsy/drunk adults, proposal, complicated parental relationship, this one is really mostly just fluff y’all but please let me know if i’ve missed any!!!
pairings: moxiety, logince
words: 9,924
notes: okay. so, SOMEHOW, it is the first anniversary of me uploading the first chapter of where you lead, i will follow!!!!! i remember where i was when i uploaded the first chapter; i was studying abroad, and i thought that i may as well keep on writing during the trip, since i always keep writing, and this was the project i felt most passionate about, at the time. and now, a year later, the world certainly looks very different, and my life does, too. but this project is still going. i love this little universe, so much, and i’m so happy and proud and grateful that all of you keep reading it, and you’re cheering these characters along right beside me. so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so very much for reading. and happy birthday to this little universe.
patton’s been basically vibrating with excitement since monday, and now that it’s actually friday michel’s banished him to his office because “your happiness is scaring the customers,” but patton can’t help it!!!!
it’s labor day weekend, starting today, which means at any minute logan’s going to be coming into town, straight from yale, his first time being home since he moved into his dorm about three weeks ago now, which means logan’s gonna be home!!!!!!!!!!! 
he’s due back in town any minute!!!!!! he’s going to be here for about four days!!!!! logan and roman are going to be in town for four! entire! days!
sure, patton has seen him at friday night dinners, but that’s not the same as him being home! patton can pester him about classes and how frequently he’s taking breaks and ask questions about how he’s settling in and any potential new friends, because sure, he and dee are roommates, but patton wants to ask questions about his other dorm roommates (suitemates? it’s technically suitemates, isn’t it?) because patton only got to see just a glimpse of them on move-in day, so he doesn’t really know much about them, and—
and patton has a lot of questions and a lot of things he wants to know, generally, and also, logan’s going to be here!!!!!
patton looks down at the paperwork on his desk, considering it.
yep. he cannot focus on this at all. it’s basically a lost workday, at this point. goodbye productivity, he hardly knew thee. it’s time to go and sneak downstairs under the guise of checking in on the guest’s dining room, but really to sneak a cup of coffee and maybe also a cookie.
he descends the stairs.
“no,” michel says, without looking up from the guestbook.
“i’m just checking on the dining room!” patton protests. “i’ll be out of your hair, in and out, you’ll barely even notice me.”
“too late,” michel says, then, “stop making that facial expression.”
“i’m smiling, michel,” patton teases. “i’m happy.”
michel grumbles something in french, and patton’s about to ask what he’s saying, when he hears the door open. he swivels to see—
logan.
he’s wearing the navy blue yale sweatshirt patton bought him when he made his college decision, part of the pack of “yay yale, go yale!” stuff patton had kind of went nuts on—he can see an unbuttoned shirt and a loosened tie underneath it, along with a pair of jeans and sneakers that host a couple of roman-penned doodles. he’s got cocoa’s leash wrapped around one hand, cocoa panting happily at his feet, and he’s holding onto the strap of his backpack with the other.
patton’s moving before he can even think about it; logan drops his backpack to the ground, and patton’s wrapping his son up in the biggest bear hug he can manage.
logan’s done growing now, and is still firmly stuck at taller than him, something that when he thinks about it too much still strikes him as strange and still makes him a little bit emotional. logan smells like the laundry detergent he and virgil bought in bulk for him, and something patton can’t quite pin down, maybe something Inherently Yale, and maybe he’ll never be able to pin it down, but patton crams down the wave of sadness at the idea of him and logan growing apart; kids grow up, that’s what they’re supposed to do, he reminds himself.
still. all of those complicated feelings aren’t quite enough to quell the wave of my baby’s home, my baby’s home!!!!!!! happiness and excitement that’s been building since logan mentioned over phone that he was going to come back to sideshire as soon as his friday class was over.
patton draws back, hands on logan’s shoulders, beaming.
“there’s my college-goin’ boy,” he teases. “how’ve you been, kiddo?!”
logan’s lips twitch up into a smile, and patton feels his heart swell up with fondness at the sight of it.
“good,” he says, then, “i have eaten basically nothing but dining hall pizza for three straight days.”
patton laughs, and claps him on the back. 
“very collegiate,” he quips. “i’ll keep the secret from virge, if you want. i’m assuming you’re probably not going to want pizza, then?”
“like grandma and grandpa will serve us pizza tonight,” he says, adjusting his grip on cocoa’s leash; patton reaches out a hand, and logan hands it over as he picks up his backpack.
“true, true,” he says, and reaches down to pet cocoa, because she’s butting up against his shins in a clear ploy for attention. “i know, yes, you’re a very good girl—well, clearly you’ve been by the house, do you want to hang out here or—?”
“please get him out of here,” michel shouts from the front desk, and patton pivots, holding up the leash. 
“but cocoa is here!” patton says teasingly. “you don’t wanna kick out cocoa, do you?”
cocoa wags her tail at the mention of her name. she loves michel; patton really doesn’t know why, but ever since patton had taken her to work for the first time, back when they were training her as a puppy and didn’t think she’d do well shut up at home all day, she’s always made a beeline straight for michel.
michel, also, is very much a dog person. he watches the westminster dog show religiously each year, and his two chows, paw-paw and chin-chin, probably eat better-quality food than patton’s parents. and ever since he’d discovered that cocoa’s part chow, well...
it’s moved him to look at least tempted to take back his continual askings for patton to get out.
“no, that’s okay,” logan says. “i was going to ask if we could stop by the diner, anyway?”
“hungry?” patton guesses, and smiles a bit when logan nods.
“didn’t have time to stop for lunch,” he admits sheepishly, and patton gasps, only a little jokingly.
“oh, well, we definitely have to get you right to virgil, then,” he says. “he’ll get you something nice and healthy and not dining hall pizza—we’re going now!” he calls to michel.
“good riddance,” michel says, perhaps a bit less enthusiastically than he would have if it was just patton and logan, and if cocoa wasn’t part of the deal.
patton’s about to head over to the inn’s parking lot, but logan says, “can we walk?”
“oh! yeah, sure!” he says. “wanna see the town, huh?”
“just—cocoa,” logan says awkwardly, and moves to take back cocoa’s leash. “and it’s, um. nice out today. have you taken your allergy medicine?”
“yes, no sneezing because of pollen from me,” patton says, not to be deterred, “and you missed the town?”
logan grumbles something, and then moves to check his phone, and patton directs his grin out toward the inn’s grounds.
it’s that sweet point between summer and fall, where all the sweltering heat and humidity has died down, but the fall chill hasn’t quite crept in yet; the leaves and grass are all still green, the sky still a perfect shade of cloudless blue, but there’s a slight breeze that tempers any of the heat of the bright sunshine. 
it is very nice out today.
it’s the perfect backdrop for a walk with his son and his dog; cocoa eagerly plants her nose against the ground and spends most of the walk sniffing every little plant, weed, and patch of grass she can find, while he asks logan all about classes and dorm life and how his first quizzes and papers went; he knows most of this, from their daily phone calls, but it’s still very nice to hear logan say it without the distortion of the phone’s speaker.
it’s probably good that they’re treading old ground, conversation-wise, because people keep stopping them on the sidewalk. 
dot and larry beam at logan and patton. babette and morey stop in the middle of a walk to enthuse over the pair of them. emile’s walking toward remy aserinsky’s café, and clasps his hands together and gushes over them. mrs. torres nearly starts crying at the sight of the pair of them. 
patton guesses people are really happy to have logan back in town? which, like, fair, he doesn’t blame them, not one bit. logan’s the best, and his absence has been keenly felt during all sorts of town activities; mayor porter had even stopped him after the last town meeting, bemused, holding out a paper of pr-perfected answers that always frustrated logan about needing to include, asking where on earth logan was, he’d usually emailed the mayor’s office three times to get these answers.
except the occasional visitor seems like it’s almost nothing, when they approach the main square of town; there’s a veritable crowd.
patton, bemused, looks around at them: his neighbors, the business-owners in town, even a few of his workers—it’s like half the town has turned out, and patton turns to logan.
“is it a holiday or something?”
“hm?” logan asks, distracted by making sure cocoa doesn’t tangle her leash around a telephone poll.
“it’s just,” patton says, and jerks his chin out toward the crowd. logan seems to catch sight of all of them, and his eyes narrow, just for a moment, before his facial expression smooths back over into indifference.
“it’s not a holiday, to my knowledge,” logan says. “but who knows, with taylor involved?”
patton acknowledges this with a slight laugh. “i bet it’s double-coupon day at the store, or something. i can never keep track of all the promotional deals that he puts on. i haven’t seen any posters for festivals or anything.”
“that’s probably it,” logan agrees, still somehow distracted by cocoa, who has long since freed herself. 
they draw closer to the diner, and his son lets out a laugh, and surges forward, and runs to hug a familiar face, also grinning from ear to ear.
“roman!”
patton watches roman rush forward, wrapping his arms around logan’s waist and picking him up off the ground, spinning him around with the force of his hug, and he can’t help but smile when he hears logan laugh; to patton’s knowledge, this is the first time they’ve seen each other since they went off to school.
“my love!” roman enthuses, setting logan on the ground but keeping his hands wrapped around his waist, “mi querido, my beloved, oh, i have missed you—”
“i’ve missed you too,” logan admits, barely above a whisper, and as patton’s politely averting his eyes from them kissing, that’s when he notices something strange.
the curtains are drawn.
virgil never draws the curtains, not even when they’re closing at night. the last time patton can remember that happening is when they painted the diner, nearly two years ago.
and there’s a CLOSED FOR BUSINESS, ONLY OPEN FOR DANES, SANDERS’, AND PRINCES on the door.
“do you think virgil’s doing something at the diner?” patton asks logan and roman, who have stopped kissing, but they’re holding hands.
“what?” he says.
patton gestures to the curtains.
“oh,” logan says. “maybe you should go in and check.”
“if he’s doing something—”
“he would have deliberated it for months at a time and argued the pros and cons with you,” logan says pointedly. “i barely managed to convince him to re-upholster the seats a couple summers ago, remember?”
patton does. “but still—”
“he specified that it’s open for us, go check,” roman insists, at a pitch barely below a squeal, and so patton slowly opens the door to the cheerful jangle of the bell.
and he’s overwhelmed by yellow.
there are bundles, heaps, mountains of yellow daisies; crowded in every booth, sitting at the center of every table, fighting for space among candles that definitely weren’t there before, clustered around the feet of the table. there’s the biggest daisy chains that patton’s ever seen, ringing the diner’s ceiling, brushing against the pride flags behind the counter, and pots of daisies sitting in every chair, every booth. 
patton pivots slowly, trying to take it all in—daisies bundled up in mugs, daisies twining pillars, bouquets of daisies tucked into every spare surface, every spare nook or cranny, soft instrumental music that patton definitely knows, even if he’s never heard this particular version of it—and he knows, he knows something big is going on here, hovering just at the edge of his brain but refusing to click, and he hears footsteps, turning to see.
virgil’s stepped out of the kitchen, through a clearly designated path from all the daises, there’s so many daisies, and smiles at patton.
“hey,” he says softly.
“hey,” patton breathes out. “what’s—” he struggles for a word, still trying to search for what this is, what the sense of déjà vu is—“all this?”
virgil smiles at him. there’s something nervous, in his face, making his smile a little awkward, and virgil wipes his hands on his jeans. he’s wearing the homemade hoodie, the one virgil wears most often, the one patton loves best, and his dark outfit looks strangely out of place in all this brightness, these florals, all this cheerful yellow.
he has That Look on his face, the soft one, the loving one, that always makes patton feel like he’s melting into a sentimental, happy little puddle of goo.
“so, turns out,” virgil says, “a thousand yellow daisies sounds super impressive, but once i got them all piled in here i decided i needed, like, way more, so i’m pretty sure i’ve bankrupted the east coast out of all the yellow daisies it’s got.”
“i’m sure you did,” patton says breathlessly. 
virgil’s smile quirks at the edges. “you don’t remember?”
“i—”
“i mean, you were pretty specific, but i don’t blame you, it was eighteen years ago,” he says. “and you were kind of preoccupied with a lot of other things, it being logan’s first christmas eve and all the rest of everything going on, back then.”
and then, very suddenly, it clicks.
“ but proposals… that’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, right? it should be planned. it should be magical... it should be—it should be more. there should be music playing and romantic lighting and a subtle buildup to the popping of the questions. there should be a—a thousand yellow daisies, and candles, and—and more than just an oh, i guess.”
“oh,” patton breathes. all of a sudden, he feels very dizzy, and very warm, and the thoughts in his head could really only be described as the sound a kettle makes when water comes to a boil.
“yeah,” virgil says, “so” and he slowly gets down on one knee. patton is distantly aware of some clicking sounds.
“virgil,” patton says thickly, vision already blurring with tears, even as virgil smiles up at him, removing a small velvet box from his hoodie’s pocket.
virgil clears his throat, but it doesn’t stop his voice from sounding rough as he begins, “when i first thought about us being married—” 
patton can’t help but let out a choked noise, somewhere between a sob and a laugh of sheer delight. married. married!!!!!!!!!
“—i thought that maybe this part would happen like how we’d moved in together; we’d slowly come to the realization, and figure out that we’ve basically been married the whole time, and maybe go off and elope, with the kids in tow. 
“but then, well, i kind of remembered something you said, and i realized i agree. this—us—it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. you are a once-in-a-lifetime thing. you and logan and roman—the family that you’ve helped make and bring me into—that’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, one that i cherish, so so much. you let me into your life, you let me be a parent to your son, our son, and i can’t—i can’t thank you enough. for everything that you’ve done for me. i don’t know who i’d be without you in my life, and i don’t ever want to find out.”
patton sniffles, and hastily reaches his fingers to swipe at his eyes under his glasses, because virgil’s going blurry, and he doesn’t want to miss this. he doesn’t want to miss a single second.
“you deserve the—the big romantic gestures, with the daisies, and the candles, and the music, and wedding with cake and cookies and flowers and dancing and—and everything you want, i’ll try my best to give it to you, because you deserve—” virgil’s voice breaks, and he clears his throat. 
“you deserve everything, anything, that i can give. you deserve the very best in life. you’ve been through so much, and you’re the strongest person i know, and i just—you deserve everything good in life, everything you want, and, for whatever reason, somehow, you’ve chosen that you want me, and—and i’m so grateful for that, for you, every day, and i want to show you that, and i want to give that to you, because i love you.”
“i love you too,” patton manages to squeak out. his cheeks are wet, and aching.
“so,” virgil says, drawing himself up as straight as possible, cracking open the ring box, and patton lets out another sobbing laugh, like he’s so full of joy he can’t help but let it escape his body somehow, “patton thomas sanders. i adore you. i love you more than anything in the world. i—i am not sure how many times i can communicate i love you, i feel like i don’t have words big enough for how i feel about you, but. i want to spend the rest of our lives trying. will you marry me?”
“yes,” patton bursts out the millisecond the question’s fully out of virgil’s mouth, “oh, my goodness, yes, yes, a thousand-million times yes, virgil—”
virgil breaks into a relieved smile, and he fumblingly removes the ring from the box and catches patton’s hand, his own hand shaking. he holds onto patton’s hand to steady himself—or steady patton, patton thinks he might be shaking too—and carefully slides the ring onto his finger.
it fits perfectly.
patton lets out another sobbing laugh at the sight of it, the ring on his finger, they’re engaged, they’re going to get married, and virgil rises to his feet, smiling the biggest patton’s ever seen him, and—
“oh,” patton sobs out, and pats down his pockets, even if he knows full well he doesn’t have it. “oh, this is so silly, it would be so much more romantic if i had it on me—”
logan clears his throat.
patton had nearly forgotten he was there, but he whirls, and—
and logan’s smiling, just a little, but his eyes are wet enough that patton can tell he’s emotional over this, too; roman’s clasping his hands to his chest, practically bouncing up and down, clearly just barely holding in every comment he could possibly make.
and logan’s holding a camera in one hand, and the black velvet box that patton’s been hiding in his knitting supplies since logan helped him pick it out in the other.
“oh,” patton says, beaming. logan knew, logan knew about this, logan knew and he went by the house to get the ring box for him, and patton loves him, so so much, and he leans in and rocks onto his tip-toes to kiss his son on the forehead before he takes the ringbox from him, and spins to present it to virgil, opening it—
and virgil laughs, and this time he’s the one who’s crying, and patton can’t help but laugh, too, opening the box.
“virgil—”
“yes,” he says immediately, smiling so big, and patton is so in love with him, and patton lets out a messy, sobbing laugh.
"can i ask?”
“oh! sorry, sorry—”
“marry me?” and “yes” leaves virgil’s lips as soon as he asks, and patton manages to slide the ring onto virgil’s finger, and virgil immediately cups patton’s face in his hands and leans down for a kiss.
and cocoa’s barking at their feet, knowing that something’s going on and excited to get in on it, and he can hear the clicking sounds of logan taking pictures, and roman is hollering behind them.
and everything is perfect.
virgil feels so jittery with happiness that he thinks he might vibrate to another plane of existence.
patton had scooped up a discarded daisy chain fashioned it into a flower crown that’s nestled in the midst of his curls, and every time he looks at virgil he bursts into delighted laughter, eyes crinkling up with a smile, and he’s adorable, and virgil is so lucky, feeling the urge to reach out and touch patton, just to make sure that it’s all real.
they’re engaged. patton said yes. patton had also been planning on proposing.
virgil thumbs the ring on his finger—still new to him, even with the retro look it’s got going for it, still something to get used to, but the metal’s already warm. it’s fairly simple: a gold band with a single diamond inlaid in some kind of silver rectangle, flush set, ‘cause i read that lots of little stones are bad when you work with food, since you don’t wanna get anything lost in the dough and stuff, patton had explained, and then he’d bitten his lip and asked do you like it? as if that was even remotely in the realm of possibility, as if virgil could not like the engagement ring that patton got him to symbolize their commitment to each other for forever.
virgil had tried asking patton the same thing, though, and patton had spun his gold band around his finger—well, it looked more like two gold bands joined around several small diamonds—and said “you silly goose, of course i love it” so virgil figures that their emotions are the same on this particular subject.
they’re alone, just for a bit; roman and logan had dashed off to get the champagne that roman had apparently badgered his mother into buying for them on his behalf, so they’re sitting together on the floor of the diner, surrounded by their thousands of yellow daisies.
“i just,” virgil says, and fiddles with the ring on his finger, before looking at patton. “we’re almost married.”
patton giggles, leaning forward to press their foreheads together. “we are,” he agrees.
“i love you,” virgil says, giddy and almost a little helpless, because he couldn’t think to say anything else, he couldn’t think of words big enough, but—but patton knows that. he’d told him.
patton twines his fingers into virgil’s hair, and pulls him in for a kiss.
patton is an exceptional kisser; virgil has known this for years. but apparently, they get exceptionally clumsy when the pair of them are beaming so widely that they can barely even move their lips together, and they keep trying until patton laughs and virgil breathes it in, lightheaded with the euphoria of all of it, and they break apart.
“we’re so happy we can’t even kiss right,” patton howls with laughter, which gets virgil to start laughing, which means the pair of them are cackling like hyenas at each other as the bell jangles, roman calling out “who wants champaaaagne?!”
virgil tries to explain, but he catches sight of patton, flower crown gone askew from their kissing attempt, which just sets him off again.
logan sighs “dads” at them, which makes virgil even happier, which turns to him grinning even wider which means he’s laughing louder, and roman rolls his eyes at logan, grinning, looping an arm through his.
“they’re happy,” roman says.
“overjoyed,” patton offers, grinning.
“elated,” virgil tacks on.
“ecstatic,” a voice says, which is when he notices ms.—isadora, right, she’d told him to call her isadora, but it took a lot to break eighteen years of habit—and he and patton scramble to their feet.
after a pause, logan adds, reluctantly, because he cannot resist a word association game, “jouissant.”
“ooh, good one,” patton says. “that’s a ten dollar word right there, look at what you’re learning off at college!”
“from the french,” isadora says. she’s holding the champagne bottle awkwardly; virgil had learned on the day after both logan and roman moved to college the amount of times she had drunk alcohol could have been counted on one hand, then, but after that day it was escalated to two. patton moves to take it from her, looking at virgil, clearly about to ask for—
“i don’t have champagne glasses,” virgil realizes.
patton says, “i think mugs’ll work, it’s not like we’re going for class, here.”
virgil acknowledges that with a shrug, and, after checking with isadora, goes to gather five mugs. 
patton’s the one to pop the champagne, and virgil quickly moves to put a mug underneath it to catch anything fizzing over—he just mopped these floors, before all the daisies had come in—and patton splashes a generous amount into it.
they end up splitting the bottle among five mugs, and roman lifts his, clearing his throat.
“to virgil and patton!” he declares. “we have seen this coming since i was five—”
patton elbows him jokingly, grinning.
“—and we wish you all the best together,” roman finishes. “salut!”
“salut,” they all echo, clacking their mugs together in a chaotic rendition of cheers, and patton smiles at up at him.
“aren’t we supposed to link arms or something?” virgil asks him an undertone, and patton’s smile widens.
“save it for the wedding,” he says, in the same undertone, with a sly grin that he barely hides with his sip of champagne, and virgil has to hide the silly grin that springs onto his face with his own sip of the bubbly, sweet champagne.
isadora sips at her mug with all the delicate class that he should have expected, but it’s still kind of funny to watch her lift her pinky and sip demurely out of a gaudy SIDESHIRE PRIDE PARADE branded mug, which has more rainbows on it than possibly anything else virgil owns.
roman breaks off with patton to start making his own daisy chain, and they tug logan to join them, too, so that leaves isadora and virgil standing alone together.
“congratulations,” she offers quietly, and virgil smiles at her.
“thank you,” he says, equally soft, touched.
a pause, and then, “remus would be thrilled.”
theres a prick of bittersweetness near his heart; not nearly enough to puncture the happiness, but enough to twist his smile, just a little bit.
“he’d try to pull a carrie at my wedding,” he says, and isadora smiles. it’s a very nice smile, one that he almost never sees.
“part of the reason he’d be thrilled,” isadora agrees. “still. regardless. he should be here congratulating you.” a pause, a sip of champagne, before she says, “he would be proud of you. as am i.”
virgil swallows down the sudden lump in his throat.
remus had, almost always, relentlessly teased him, on the rare occasions he’d had dates as a teenager. the baby’s growing uuuuup! he’d croon, and then proceed to attempt to sabotage him, “lovingly,” with something that virgil could easily undo, but something that would distract him from any mounting anxiety over a date. 
he thinks remus and patton would have eventually gotten along. it would have been a rocky road, to be sure, but. they probably would have bonded over fatherhood, over their sons being friends. maybe because virgil cared deeply about both of them. he’ll never know, though.
“thanks, izzy-dory,” he says.
isadora’s smile has its own bitter quirk to it, at the re-emergence of a nickname that no one but remus had had the bravery to use on her; but, somehow, it isn’t sad, even as they’re remembering their own shared grief.
because she’s right. remus would be thrilled.
patton feels like he’s filled up with helium and he keeps bursting into peals of laughter at absolutely nothing at all.
virgil had taken over driving, like he usually did when he came to friday night dinners. they’re a bit late, patton’s sure, because when he and virgil were changing into their suits patton kept giggling, because they’re almost married, and then he got distracted by trying to kiss virgil again, so—
so, they’re a bit late, but he got engaged today, sue him.
virgil’s holding his hand, the other one on the steering wheel.
“i wonder how they’re gonna react,” patton muses, because, well, it shouldn’t exactly be a surprise, they moved in together a while ago and patton’s been pretty gosh-darn clear that virgil’s gonna be the one he’s spending the rest of his life with. he really hopes they aren’t gonna be too... well. them about it.
virgil says, “i did ask your dad about a family ring, a while ago—”
“oh, shoot,” patton says, turning to face him. “i totally didn’t think to do that!”
“essie got the family ring,” virgil says reassuringly, “so you didn’t miss anything, there isn’t a male family ring, as far as i know, but—but they had some forewarning, at least.”
“well, good,” patton says decisively. “they’re gonna be happy about this, okay? they’re gonna pop open some cristal and say congratulations and they are gonna like it.”
“that’s the spirit,” logan says dryly from the backseat.
“that it is,” patton says, and squeezes virgil’s hand. “anyway, logan, you’re home! do you have anything you wanna do over the weekend?”
logan considers this, before he says, “virgil told me he was planning this for this weekend, so—”
patton turns slightly. “you did?”
virgil shrugs. “i knew you’d want lo to be there.”
patton beams, and presses a kiss to virgil’s knuckles. 
“roman was planning on something tomorrow with all of us,” logan continues, “but otherwise—i think the regular things. the bookstore, the press, the diner.”
“roman’s planning something, huh?” virgil says warily.
logan smiles, and doesn’t say anything else. virgil grumbles to himself.
“he’s a journalist, he knows how to keep secrets,” patton says, and, teasingly, “especially if they’re from his boyyyy-frieeeeend.”
logan mumbles something under his breath, turning ever-so-slightly red, and patton grins.
they end up plotting out a loose plan for logan’s weekend: a shopping spree of all the latest books at the bookstore, topping up any school supplies logan might have forgotten at home, doing the laundry logan had hauled back from yale, and an investigation of the library’s most recent shipment, hanging out with roman, and lots of diner food.
they pull up to the sanders’ house, and patton takes a deep breath, squeezing virgil’s hand one last time before he gets out of the car.
as soon as he walks closer, virgil immediately laces their fingers back together, squeezing.
“if you want, if they end up turning on us, we can go,” he says, in a low voice. “this day’s for us, right?”
“right,” patton says, and lets out his breath. “and who even says that they’ll react bad anyway?”
virgil doesn’t answer that—probably a good choice on his part, since he’s most likely already overthinking and patton is nervous enough—and logan knocks on the door.
his mother opens it.
“finally, you’re here,” she says, and they file in after her.
“sorry we’re late,” patton says, smiling, “we got a bit held up.”
she sighs. “well, nothing to do to fix it, then—come in, come on, would you like a drink?”
“um,” patton says, “well—”
“now?” virgil says in an undertone.
they enter the living room, where his dad’s already fixing himself a scotch at the drinks table.
“why not?” patton says, equally quiet; if we don’t, they’ll be upset we didn’t say right away, patton tries to communicate with his eyes, and virgil seems to understand, squeezing his hand.
“hello, logan,” his dad says, turning. “how’s yale?”
“busy,” logan says. 
“hey, dad, why don’t you come over and sit down?” patton offers. “we, um, we have some news.”
richard and emily exchange a glance, before they sit on the couch together.
“what?” his mother says, turning to face them.
“it’s, um,” patton says, and makes the mistake of looking over at virgil, who is giving him That Look which makes his heart burst into butterflies and he can’t help but giggle, “well—”
“we, um,” virgil says, trying to help, but he can’t help smiling, too, and patton covers their held hands with his own—hiding his ring from view, coincidentally.
“oh, my god, you didn’t,” his mother says, aghast.
patton blinks, and virgil squeezes his hands harder. “didn’t what?”
“oh, my god, you did,” she says, a look of horror blooming across her face.
“now, emily—” richard says.
“you eloped!” his mother fumes, slamming his hands on the couch cushion and standing, and patton yelps out “mom!”
“i knew it, i knew you’d do anything to keep me out of your wedding!” she rants. 
“mom, that’s not—”
“well, that is just cruel, patton,” she continues, overriding his attempt to intervene, moving to begin to pace, “a mother waits and plans for this day, even your mother, and tonight you just waltz in here—”
“we’re engaged,” patton bursts out. “we didn’t elope, i mean—well, we’re going to get married. in the future. since we’re fiancés now.”
his mother stops in her tracks.
“oh.”
she slowly sinks down to the couch.
“mom...?” he prompts, because he can’t really interpret the look on her face right now.
“who proposed?” she says.
“i proposed, but he had a ring too,” virgil says.
“it was very romantic,” patton says, and he can’t help but smile at virgil, all soft and silly. 
“i was there, it’s true, he was very romantic,” logan confirms.
“oh,” richard says, attempting to blink off whatever whiplash must come from expecting your son to have eloped only to figure out he’s gone about the thing properly, for once. “well, congratu—”
“when’s the date?”
“oh,” patton says, caught off guard, and looks at virgil. “um—”
“the venue, the florist, the registry?”
“we got engaged today, mom,” patton tries to point out.
“i know that in a million years, you would never let me plan your wedding,” his mother starts, sounding a little wistful, and oh, no.
“um, mom—” patton begins, because. well, he’d expected the “differing social classes,” protest, he’d expected the “he’s not well-educated enough” protest, he’d expected, maybe, the “we revoke every little thing we’ve done to signify approval,” protest, or maybe even “we will start openly attempting to sabotage your relationship now.”
he hadn’t expected the mother-of-the-groom version of bridezilla. mother-in-law-zilla, maybe?
“i gave up on that dream a long time ago,” his mother continues, putting on the full, oh, what could have been, i miss that dream so face. emotional manipulation, emotional manipulation, he chants to himself, trying his best to summon emile’s voice. “yours was going to be a russian winter theme—the romanovs.”
huh. that sounded strangely familiar, but patton couldn’t put a finger on it; his brain’s been doing that a lot today.
“before the firing squad or after?” logan asks, in a blank, studious tone that only barely masks the sarcasm, and virgil just barely manages to stifle his snort. patton elbows him in the side.
“snow white roses, trees with white lights and candles, snow everywhere—”
oh, well, that doesn’t sound too—
“—you arriving in a silver sleigh with white horses...”
aaaaaaaand there it is.
“wow,” patton manages to get out, and she deflates.
“you hate the idea.”
“no, it just—” patton says, and struggles with how to put this delicately. “it doesn’t seem very... us, mom.”
“yes, well, it would have been beautiful,” she sniffs. “what will it be now? burgers and fries for the dinner? you walking down the aisle with a ketchup dispenser in hand?”
“hey,” patton says, a little sterner. 
“i dunno, pat, a diner wedding could be cool,” virgil says jokingly.
“what do you think of the romanovs?” his mother says, giving virgil her most withering stare.
“they probably had it coming,” he says, stone-faced, and patton elbows him again, a little harder.
“happy day,” patton says, and looks at his mother. “let’s celebrate the engagement now, and leave all the wedding planning for later.”
frankly, it had probably been kind of naive to assume that his mother wouldn’t try his best to butt her way into wedding planning; she had gone into raptures about the potential of his debutante gowns and future outfits enough when he was younger to ohhhh he’d forgotten about the wedding talks. that’s where he’d heard all the talk about the romanovs.
well. at least it isn’t a bad reaction, he figures.
“yes, yes,” richard says. “ah—champagne?”
“yes!” patton says eagerly, ready to get past his mother attempting to worm her way into wedding planning. “yes, let’s—let’s do champagne!”
“elsa!” his mother calls, then, undeterred, “you know, it’s tradition for parents to help pay and plan for the wedding, and if we could just get in touch with your aunt celine, i bet most of your father’s side of the family—”
“small wedding, mom,” patton says, “we’re probably going to want a small wedding.”
he glances at virgil. “right?” he checks.
“yes, small wedding, absolutely,” he confirms. “my family, your family, the town—”
“the town constitutes a small wedding,” his mother says, doubtfully.
“we were talking about champagne!” patton says quickly, as elsa comes into the room. “um, elsa, can i go help you find champagne flutes, preferably until my mother exhausts this topic of conversation?”
“you’re doomed,” logan says, and patton tries his best to glare at him.
he can’t really manage it, though. 
because, well. he can’t really blame his mom. he’s very excited about his wedding, too.
patton decides to take this as a win, even if he knows he’s going to spend the rest of his evening trying to dissuade his mother from throwing money at their wedding.
“okay, spin, twirl,” roman says.
virgil sighs, but does so, awkwardly; he’s wearing a purple flannel and a pair of black jeans, very regular for him. like, not very fashionably forward of him, but very regular. roman surveys him, squinting.
“since when do you need to do outfit approval for an outing?” virgil grumbles.
“since always,” roman says happily, before he smooths his hands over virgil’s shoulders; he supposes the whole thing is semi-formal—he’s wearing a white top tucked into a red skater skirt, which he guesses passes for cute but semi-casual. “okay, but, hang on, what if—”
“how many times have i told you i don’t want a makeover,” virgil says wearily.
“and how many times have i listened?” roman says. “it’s not even that much, anyway, just—” 
he digs out a jacket that pairs well with it, a black one, one that at least takes virgil’s outfit to i threw it on to i at least attempted to plan, which virgil shrugs on with a sigh, and roman immediately sticks his fingers in virgil’s hair.
“hey—”
“i’m not even doing that much,” roman says, correcting virgil’s bangs, before stepping back. “okay, now you’re set.”
“finally,” virgil grumbles. “why don’t you do this to patton and logan?”
“because patton is very set on his sense of dad-fashion and logan at least has some kind of officious-looking thing going for him,” roman says. “you are just helplessly grunge.”
virgil rolls his eyes, but gestures for roman to go ahead. roman skips down the stairs, catching logan’s hand, because they’re together, in the same space, where roman can touch him and not just see his face over grainy video call.
“hi,” roman says, and presses a kiss to his cheek. “ready to go?”
logan smiles at him; unlike patton and virgil, he knows exactly what’s going on.
“we all are,” logan confirms. 
“right!” patton says brightly. “what’d you have in mind, kiddo?”
“you’ll see,” roman says, instead of stating an elaborately crafted cover story he’s sure he could come up with on the spot—virgil not knowing what’s going on means he won’t be super surprised when roman leads him to, well. the thing.
he keeps a tight hold on logan’s hand as they walk, swinging it between them. they hadn’t really gotten to spend a lot of time together yesterday, with the engagement and logan’s grandparents and all, so roman is absolutely planning on capitalizing on logan time when everyone else is occupied. 
it’s an easy walk, from patton’s house to town; the weather’s still really nice, and the breeze feels nice on his legs, and logan’s hand is cool in his, and the closest thing he has to dads are behind them, trying to be subtle about their reinvigorated lovebird honeymoon phase but failing miserably.
roman squeezes logan’s hand. “so, my big yale man—”
“nickname denied,” logan says.
“all right, eli-logan—”
“slightly better,” logan says, then, “wait, you researched yale nicknames?”
“of course i did, that’s four years worth of new material there,” roman says. “so, anyway, i have news for you.”
“news?” logan says, startled.
“um, yeah,” roman says. “i asked my mom and caught up on all the taylor gossip, i bet you could write an exposé over thanksgiving break. so, i’ve got common knowledge, and town meeting stuff, and apparently my mom’s got some info for you, so i managed to get her to tell me that so you know everything before everyone else—”
a little smile breaks out on logan’s face, and he leans in to press a kiss to roman’s cheek.
roman blinks at him, but smiles. “what was that for?”
“just,” logan says, and he smiles wider. “you look very pretty today.”
roman preens; he did put extra effort into his hair, and he’s wearing a bit of makeup, a fun little glitter look on his eyes, and he usually wears skirts on special occasions, he used to wear them more when he was a kid; he borrowed this one from charlotte.
this skirt would be pretty short on him, if it weren’t for the fact this skirt is too big for her. most ballet women are tiny; charlotte’s 5′5″, and she’s the tallest of his new friends. 
“well,” roman says, and preens even more obviously, so that logan will laugh. “obviously.”
logan’s laugh buoys him all the way to the point where they’re nearly to the town square, and he can hear the rush of noise, and music.
“what’s going on?” patton says curiously.
“well,” roman says slyly, and moves aside. “go and see.”
patton breaks into a smile, probably remembering the last time that roman told him to go see something.
“roman,” virgil starts, and they turn just in time to see.
the town square’s decked out with all the yellow daisies that virgil had used to propose, and a banner that says PATTON AND VIRGIL’S ENGAGEMENT PARTY, and the gazebo’s twined with blue and purple ribbons and there’s stacks of presents, and there’s a cheer that comes from people gathered: his mom, and a ton of girls who go to the dance studio, and mrs. torres, and emile and remy, and dot and larry, and babette and morey, and even taylor, all here for—
“what’s all this?” patton says, delighted.
“well,” roman says. “since i’m a poor college student and couldn’t exactly afford an elaborate engagement present, i figured i’d do the next best thing and give you an engagement party.”
“roman,” virgil says.
“i—i made it so that there’s music, and dancing, and food and stuff,” roman says, gesturing vaguely, “so even if it’s a party for you, the attention won’t always be on you, since i know how you feel about—”
he gets cut off, though, because virgil cuffs him gently around the head and pulls him in for a sidehug.
“you’re a good kid, roman,” he says, gruffly, and roman can’t help but smile. he feels like his heart is glowing, from the happy look on patton’s face, to the outward expression of fondness from virgil, to the way logan’s looking at him all proud like he’s doing something super special.
“well, duh,” roman says, like he isn’t grinning so big that he’s sure it’s messing up his makeup. “go on, go, it’s time for the party!”
and so virgil goes to patton, who takes his hand and drags him straight for the throne-like chairs that are set up for them to start opening their presents, and logan bumps up against his shoulder.
“i still can’t believe you did this,” he says quietly; they’ve been facetiming a lot so logan could help plan it, so it’s not like this party is news to him.
roman shrugs, and leans into logan’s side in a blatant ploy; logan obliges him, and wraps an arm around roman’s shoulders.
“well,” he says. “they’re important to me, too. i wanted to do something special.”
logan presses a kiss to his temple, and says, “wanna get some cake?”
“hell yeah,” roman says, and so they go and get in line to get some cake.
the sun has set, there are twinkling lights on, the music is playing, the party is still going fairly strong, and logan sways to the music.
this mostly has to do with roman dragging him out to dance, and he’s obliged, mostly because of how happy it makes roman, how excited he gets, how beautiful he looks.
roman’s hair is sweaty and has long since become a bit more of a wreck than it originally was. the glitter around his eyes has smeared a little, and his sweat catches the light, making him gleam and glow in a way that is unfairly attractive, for his version of being a sweaty mess.
he’s never, ever going to be as good a dancer as roman—for one, he hasn’t been training for nearly fifteen years—but he’s perfectly content to dance with hm, so long as he can see roman look this great, be this happy.
the song ends, and roman whoops, putting his hands up in the air, before he fans at his face.
“want a breather?”
“yes,” logan says gratefully. he runs fairly frequently, but he also isn’t nearly as in shape with roman (again, training for nearly fifteen years) and his feet ache.
roman grins at him, grabbing his hand so that he could drag logan out of the crowd, and logan follows along, trusting roman’s sense of direction in a crowd far better than his own.
they pop out somewhere near the beverage table, and logan spies, somewhere deeper in the crowd, his dad trying to twirl virgil around and virgil awkwardly ducking his arm, to gales of laughter from his dad.
“they’re happy,” logan notes.
“yeah,” roman says. then, “do you think sookie’ll kill me if i steal this bottle of champagne for us?”
logan glances over at roman, who’s grinning, and holding up a recently-opened and not-very-depleted bottle of champagne.
“it’ll be worth it,” logan decides, and roman giggles, before taking logan by the hand again, dragging him to the exact place that logan expected.
they settle on the steps of the gazebo, stretching out their legs and beholding the crowd. roman sighs, pleased, and logan tries his best not to stare at roman’s tanned thighs and the way they look in that skirt.
he has been doing that quite a bit today.
“champagne, my good sir?” roman says, mockingly officious, and logan blinks.
“we forgot to grab glasses.”
“well,” roman says, and takes a swig directly from the bottle, before offering it to logan. “i’m pretty sure you don’t have cooties, and if we do, we’ve definitely cross-infected each other by now.”
“well, who knows what kind of super-cooties you could have picked up in new york,” logan says, and tries his own swig; he’s less practiced than roman, and he gets a near-painful mouthful of fizz and bubbles that makes him cough, just a little.
“a joke!” roman says, thumping him gently on the back. “college really has taught you things.”
logan rolls his eyes, and bumps his shoulder against roman’s.
they technically both got drunk for the first time at the same time; patton had offered his house for it—you’ll both probably get offered to drink at college, and i want you to try it somewhere where you know you’re safe just in case, all right? patton had said, and so they’d drank candy-flavored drinks in glass bottles and roman had tried to experiment with bartending and they’d kissed a little but logan’s pretty sure that he’d fallen asleep in the middle of it, because the next thing he remembered was waking up with a dry mouth, draped over roman, on the floor of the living room.
he hasn’t drunk very much since; unsurprisingly, roman likes parties more than logan does.
they swap the bottle back and forth in mostly companionable silence, watching the party go on; patton and virgil get champagne flutes clanged at them a few times, making them lean in and kiss each other to cheers from the crowd; the music rumbles on, and roman dances in place, singing along quietly; they watch emile and remy dance, and kirk’s bizarre arm-flailing that might pass as dancing.
logan feels warm, and pleasant, and a little floaty, and he turns to rest his head on roman’s shoulder.
“this is nice,” he says.
“yeah?” roman says, amused.
“i—this is really nice,” he says earnestly, and roman snorts, adjusting so that he can cup logan’s chin in his hand and examine his face.
“are you tipsy?”
“moderately, i think,” logan admits, and roman throws back his head to laugh, before cupping logan’s face in both his hands.
“you’re adorable,” roman teases, and he leans in to kiss him.
logan hums happily into his mouth, leaning into it as much as he can. he’s missed this; he’s missed him, so bad. this is his first time living away from roman, his first time not going to school with roman there, to talk to him at the press or for logan to steal into the studio to watch roman dance. it’s been harder than he thought it would, to be away from him. from home.
but he’s here now, and he’s so happy, and he feels so warm inside.
his dads are getting married, and roman is right here, kissing him, and logan parts from him with a dreamy little sigh.
“i love you so much,” logan tells him, and roman’s face goes soft.
“well, i love you so much too, bulldog-an,” roman says, and brushes some of logan’s sweaty hair out of his face, ignoring the face logan made at the highly questionable bulldog logan pun. “like, so much.”
“oh,” logan says, relieved, “good,” and roman laughs, but not in a mean way, not at all.
“you’re a peach, baby,” roman says, and logan rests his head on roman’s shoulder.
the party’s still going; it’s a slow song playing, and his dads are dancing slowly, eyes closed, completely in their own little world.
“you know,” logan says thoughtfully, “when i propose to you, i wouldn’t mind something like this for us. i think that’d be nice.” 
roman laughs, a little nervous, and he says, “what?”
“when i propose to you,” logan repeats. “or when you propose to me, i guess. however. i don’t care which way. but a party like this, then, it’d be pretty—mmph,” because roman’s pressed his lips against logan’s, hushing him.
and oh, logan has missed kissing like this; feeling like he was melting into it, hyperaware of every swipe of roman’s tongue and promising hint of the scrape of teeth and the taste of champagne on both of their tongues, roman’s hand a warm presence he can feel burning through his shirt that’s inching lower and lower, and logan twists his fingers in roman’s shirt in kind, dropping down to squeeze at roman’s bare thigh—
“this skirt,” he growls, “has been distracting me all day.”
“yeah, i know,” roman says, pleased, wiggling into the touch, flexing his muscles on purpose, “that was the goal” and how could logan not lean in to kiss him even more at that, spreading his hand as wide as he could to feel as much of roman’s soft skin as he could, kissing him heated and quick and desperate, and—
and there was the clanging of champagne flutes starting again, someone hooting and hollering, and roman and logan broke apart.
well. logan kept a possessive hand on roman’s thigh. because feeling up roman’s muscles was just very nice.
“we should probably get back to the party,” roman breathes, and he’s still close enough that logan can feel the breath on his face.
“i—yeah,” logan says. “we probably should.”
roman laughs, and leans in to kiss him on the cheek. “i’ll get you some water first, though. stay put, okay?”
“okay,” logan agrees, leaning back; well, as much as he can lean back, when he’s sitting on stairs.
roman giggles, and walks off, with more swaying to his hips than he usually would, looking over his shoulder to give logan an ostentatious wink.
logan can’t help but burst into a smile.
i’m going to marry that man.
"wait! wait, wait, wait, wait,” virgil says, frowning, wrapping his hand around patton’s wrist to keep him from going into the house, and patton bites his lip to keep himself from laughing.
listen. patton knows he’s a lightweight. he usually plans for these kinds of things, so that he doesn’t end up drunk off his butt from what would usually get other people teetering their way from tipsy into drunk.
with that, it follows that he’s been around virgil drunk more than virgil has been drunk around him.
but the champagne had been flowing, and everyone had been eager to fill up the newly... affianced? newly fiancéd? the engaged couple’s drinks throughout the entire party.
and as such, virgil is frowning, almost over-exaggerated, clearly going through some kind of calculation that must make sense in his drunk brain.
“i gotta do the,” virgil says, and vaguely mimes something. “the carry-you-over thing.”
it clicks in patton’s brain, then.
“you want to carry me over the threshold?” he asks, amused. “honey, that’s what newlyweds do. people do that when they get married.”
“we’re basically almost married,” virgil argues, and patton tilts his head, considering this.
look, he’s not sober either, okay?
“all right,” patton agrees with a laugh, holding out his arms. “carry me over the threshold, darlin’.’
virgil beams at him and, carefully, gets into place.
“ready?” he asks, and, when patton nods, lifts him with a small grunt, and patton squeaks as his feet leave the ground, wrapping his arms tight around virgil’s neck.
virgil slowly ascends the porch stairs, patton beaming at him, until virgil comes to a pause.
“what?” patton asks.
“the door,” virgil says.
“oh, i can get—”
“i’m not putting you down,” virgil says, as if offended by this potential slight to his ability as a good fiancé, and scowls at the door, as if he’ll be able to open it with telekinesis. 
“no, virge, i mean—” patton says, with a laugh, then, “hang onto me tighter?”
virgil obliges, and patton reaches over, twisting the doorknob.
“there,” he says, satisfied.
virgil leans ever so slightly to smack a kiss of gratitude to patton’s cheek, before stepping carefully over the threshold, making sure that patton doesn’t bump his feet or his head against the doorframe.
and patton expects that to be it, for virgil to set him down right there, except he keeps going, ignoring cocoa barking excitedly at their feet.
“virgil!” he squeaks.
“night, logan!” virgil calls to logan, who calls out a cheerful “night!” and moves past them, clicking his tongue for cocoa to follow him, for her to go out one last time before bed.
and virgil keeps going, moving up the stairs much more slowly than they usually would, a combination of the pair of them being tipsy and giggly, and virgil climbing the stairs with patton in his arms.
the door’s slightly ajar, and so virgil turns to bump it open with his hip, and carries patton across that threshold, too, and, at last, deposits patton on the bed, patton bouncing ever so slightly with his landing, bursting into laughter.
virgil immediately looms over him, crawling above him, and patton giggles at the sight of him, moving to cradle his cheeks in his hands. 
“my big strong man,” patton purrs, “you’re such an amazing almost-husband—”
virgil dips and immediately moves to devour patton, and patton gasps into his mouth, snaking his arms around virgil’s waist. virgil bumps noses with him, and patton laughs, adjusting, before he surges up and kisses him again, and he feels so excited, all of the energy of the party resurging and making his blood heat and patton presses himself closer and nips at his lips and kisses him, and virgil gasps into his mouth, and—
“you’re drunk,” patton groans, and virgil sighs, resting his head on patton’s collarbone.
“but kissing,” he whines into patton’s chest. “and—other things.”
patton snorts, nudging virgil so he rolls off of him, and he does so easily, with no resistance.
“you’ve had to tell me to not get too eager when i’m drunk,” patton says, “and now i’m telling you.”
virgil pouts, and it is awfully difficult to not just dive right back in and kiss him, when he’s all rosy-cheeked, and he’s got kiss-swollen lips. 
“nope,” patton says, and swipes a kiss across his cheek. “payback for that one time after my final final exams.”
“you were drunk,” virgil protests.
“and so are you!” patton says, laughing. 
virgil lets out a long, weary sigh, and grumbles, “fine,” rolling away from patton.
“aw, lovely,” patton says, and puts his hand on virgil’s side, shaking him a little to get his attention. virgil pretends to mope—or maybe it’s not pretend, virgil can be a sulky drunk, and he usually is, until patton draws him out of whatever corner he decided to brood in, and then he gets all blushy whenever patton kisses him on the cheek or gives him gestures of affection or pays attention to him, generally—“hey, honey, we can still cuddle, n’stuff.”
virgil visibly perks up at that. he rolls back over.
“yeah?” he says hopefully.
“yeah,” patton says, “of course we can cuddle, just—we should get ready for bed, first, and then we can cuddle all you want.”
“mkay,” virgil says, and steals one last kiss before he ambles away to go brush his teeth, even as patton squawks after him, because that’s cheating, they aren’t supposed to kiss and stuff when they’re drunk, those are virgil’s rules!!!
patton ends up butting up against him in the bathroom, bumping his hip against his, and they brush their teeth together, making funny faces at each other in the mirror. 
they tumble into bed together, patton letting out a relieved groan.
“the party was very fun,” he sighs. “but i am very tired.”
“seconded,” virgil groans, wrapping an arm over patton gracelessly; it’s like he wants to touch as much of patton as possible, hug him as close as he could, and patton smiles, burrowing closer.
a beat, then, “okay, i know that i’m the one who said we should follow the rules, but—”
“mm-mm,” virgil grunts, and patton sighs.
“yeah, i figured.”
“well,” virgil says, after a beat. “look at it this way. we’ve got the rest of forever to kiss and stuff before bed.”
patton hides his grin at the thought of that in virgil’s chest; he knows their rings are resting side-by-side on their nightstand table, their symbol of their commitment for the rest of time.
virgil’s right. they do have forever.
and that sounds just about perfect to him.
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yzafre · 3 years
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when we stood on the skyline (there was no turning back)
AO3
Sora is born into a world where your heart has wings.
Unique to the person, tuned to their soul, the wing-shaped embodiment of your being sprouts from your back in a shimmer of lights.
Sora loved his Mom’s wings, a pale brown with white undersides that appear in a spiral of green.  They were super soft, and she’d use them to shield him from the rain or even the sun on particularly hot days.   Sometimes, she’d give him her dropped feathers to play with.  He’d carry them around in his pockets to pull out while waiting in line at the store, carefully separating and smoothing out the barbs.
He couldn’t wait for his wings to come in.  One evening he spent hours focused, trying to replicate the bright flash he’d seen others use to pull out their wings.  For all his efforts he got nothing, not even the barest burst of sparks like Riku sometimes showed when he got excited.
“A person’s wings aren’t quite strong enough to spread on their own,” Sora’s mother consoled him later as she tucked him into bed, “We all need a little bit of help, the wind beneath our wings to hold us up.   That’s what your Flight is for.”
“Like you, and Uncle Dylas, and Auntie Emi?” Sora asked.
“That’s right.  And once we bonded, that's when I manifested my wings.”
Uncle Dylas lived three houses down in a house that was smaller, but had a giant tree and a truly spectacular tree-house out back that he and Riku played in after Uncle picked them up from school.  He made perfect cookies, taught them all the card games there were, and sometimes snuck them dessert before dinner.
Auntie Emi didn’t really have a home, at least that Sora had seen, or maybe her home was their home, or maybe Uncle Dylas’s, whichever she preferred on any given day.   He couldn’t figure anything else out since that’s the only place he’d ever seen her sleep.
She also left a lot, though she’d always make it home in time for the big holidays and Mom and Uncle Dylas’s birthday every year.  Mom said she had a big job that took her all over the world, and Auntie did bring home really cool gifts whenever she came back every few months.  Once she even got him a pocketknife with a big, bold pattern – which was so cool because not even Riku had gotten a knife yet – but Mom took it away and said he could have it back in a couple years.
All of that to say that Mom and Uncle and Auntie were pretty much the coolest people ever, and always seemed to know what each other was thinking, and got to be around each other basically whenever they wanted.  If that’s what being part of a Flight was like, then that seemed pretty cool.  He’d certainly like to see Riku whenever he wanted.
More than anything, though, Sora just really wanted his wings.
“When will I get my Flight?” he whined.
“Give it time,” his mother laughed, “You’ll meet plenty of people, and when you’re older you’ll find the right ones.”
“Of course we’ll be in a Flight together,” Riku said when Sora brought it up, “Who else is going to make sure you’re okay?”  
“Hey!  Who says I won’t be looking after you?”
“Anyways,” Riku continued over his protests, louder than before, “We’ll just have to find our third, and then we’ll bond.”
“Yeah!  But, Mom says it can take a long time to find your people.  She didn’t meet Uncle and Auntie until she was twenty.”
The two grimaced at each other, because that was forever to wait.
“You’ve got a point,” Riku said, “And we already know pretty much everyone on the island.  It’s not like we can take just anyone.  We’ll have to wait until we can go over to the big island ourselves, at least.”
“Yeah. What do you think they’ll be like?” Sora mused, and their conversation turned to guessing at all the qualities of their future partner.
Their answer came in the dark of the night, in the form of a falling star.
Kairi entered their life between one day and the next, blown in with the tides.
It’s Tidus that introduced her to them, helping her off the boat and onto the beaches of their play-island.  She was quiet, watching everyone with foggy eyes and hovering on the edge of their games.  She answered Selphie’s questions and smiled faintly at the boys’ competitions and flinched if you approached too fast.
Sora thought she was nice.  Riku, he could tell, pretty much wrote her off by the time the second week was over.
It was during the third week, as they were arguing over how to retrieve the ball Sora and Selpie had gotten wedged up between a hut and a particularly large branch, that things changed.
Riku was insisting he could retrieve it himself.  He had recently managed to pull out his ghost-wings, glowing spectral shadows of the wings he’d someday have.   Like all ghost wings, they could only be pulled out for a few seconds at a time, but he decreed they could give him enough of a boost to help out.  He was explaining how he could shimmy up the corner, one side on the hut and one on the cliff, when Kairi cut in.
“Don’t be silly, all you’re going to do is break your neck.”
They all turned to her in surprise to find her frowning up at Riku with her hands propped on her hips.  She seemed to waver for a second and then –  
Sora watched as a light seemed to flicker on behind her eyes, like a new lightbulb slipping into place, chasing away all the fog keeping her trapped.  Rather than giving in, she tilted her chin up and firmed her stance.
“Alright then,” Riku scoffed, “How would you do it?”
Ten minutes later Kairi stood smugly over her spoils as Riku eyed her with grudging respect.  From that day on, everything was different.
Kairi fit between Riku and Sora in a way Tidus and Wakka and Selphie never quite managed.
Riku liked that she could keep up when they ran races and got Sora to stop napping.  He said she’s cooler than Sora ever was, and smarter too.  Sora figured she must be, because Riku listened to her when she told him his plans to supply food for their raft by building in a mini mushroom shed were stupid.
(Later, Sora thanked her profusely for this, because no matter what Riku said mushrooms were slimy and gross, and if he had to live off them he’d die.  Kairi giggled and told him he’s also very silly, but she still supported him on the mushroom front, so that’s okay.)
Sora liked being around Kairi because she was warm.  She was bright, too, not quite like the sun, but in a way that said everything’s going to be alright, and you never had to be scared of the dark because the light would still be there, even then.
“Like if the sun was a nightlight,” Sora explained to Riku.
“What,” said Riku, from where he’d been drawing raft plans in the sand.  After a moment he rolled his eyes, dismissing the remark as more of Sora’s nonsense, and went back to his sketch.
“She is pretty cool, though,” Riku agreed later, “Maybe - maybe she could be our third.”
It didn’t take long for the three of them to agree that they definitely wanted to be a Flight together.  When Sora got home, he immediately asked him Mom how they could make it happen.
“Ceremony?” his Mom questioned, turning away from the papers in front of her.
“Like, if you get married there’s a ceremony, right?” Sora asked, “So what about when you become a Flight?”
“Oh! Oh, well, no, there’s nothing like that.  A reception later, sometimes, but no ceremony.  Why do you ask?”
“We’ve decided we’re gonna be a Flight together – me, and Riku, and Kairi.  Now we’ve just gotta make it happen!”
“Oh,” she blinked down at him, spinning in her chair to face him, “Well, like I said, there’s no ceremony.  It’s just something that… happens, when you’re ready.  Besides, no one bonds at your age.  You need time to grow up and find the right people.”
“But why wouldn’t it be Riku and Kairi?” Sora pouted up at her, “They’re my best friends!  I’ll never find anyone better than them.”
“It’s not quite that simple, I’m afraid.  I met a lot of people I thought were the right ones before I met your Aunt and Uncle.”
“Well, how did you know they were right, then?”
“I suppose it’s like how I knew I was going to marry your father,” his Mom mused, “Only… more.  You turn and look one day and realize this is it for you.”
“But I know I want them now, so we should be bonding, right?”
“Perhaps ‘know’ isn’t quite the right word,” she corrected thoughtfully, “It’s more like ‘understanding’.  You understand how they’re already a part of you, and the act of understanding makes it real, and suddenly they can’t not be a part of you anymore.”
“What?  They become a part of you, but they’re already a part of you?  I don’t get it,” Sora grumbles, pouting down at his plate.
“You’ll understand when you’re older.”
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thebibliomancer · 4 years
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Song of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 10
Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because DON’T TRUST WHO??
Last times in book: Kylan, Naia, Tavra, and Gurjin are on their way to Aughra’s High Hill to enlist her help in warning all Gelfling of the Skeksis’ drinking problem. I.e. they like to drink people. On the way up the hill, Kylan spots some dream-etching in a spider nest that says DO NOT TRUST HER. Vaguely ominous!
Chapter 10
Naia talks to some more plants. The party meets Aughra. Ha ha.
Aughra’s High Hill was not casually named. Within the mountainous forest, it was the highest point in all the land, near where the Black River originated, closest to the suns and moons and stars. Not a high hill, but the High Hill.
Good reason for it to be named like that then.
‘Aughra lives on the high hill’ ‘Oh, which one?’ ‘I don’t think you understand. When I say the high hill i mean THE high hill.’
Anyway, after all that stuff about reading writing under a spider web, Tavra doesn’t even care enough to ask. Gurjin does but Naia just tells him they’re not sure what it meant.
With Naia spending time chatting with Gurjin, it leaves Kylan nothing to do but think which he decides is his role.
If that was his job in all of this, then he would gladly take on the burden.
Its a lonely job possessing the sole pair of braincells to rub together ha ha (just joshing obvs)
Kylan thinks about that mysterious DO NOT TRUST HER message but he can’t really get anywhere on that ponderation so instead decides to ask Tavra what she meant when she said spiders hate Gelfling.
“Spiders hate Gelfling... All Vapra know this.”
“They hate us? All of them?”
“Oh yes. From the death-stingers to the crystal-singers.”
This was news to Kylan, though on reflection he’d never had a conversation with any spider before. The idea that an entire race might loathe his own was discomfiting. He wasn’t even sure what a crystal-singer spider was.
He asks why spiders hate Gelfling but Tavra just tells him to ask the next time he sees a spider. Which is a weird answer.
So I’ve changed my suspicion for what’s up with Tavra from ‘something something Skeksis’ to ‘something something Skeksis but definitely think she’s Spider-Tavra.’
I think the books and the show are following at least the same vague outline so I figure with all the opinions she has on spiders all of a sudden, she might be being controlled by one.
Later, Tavra tells the group they’ll reach Aughra’s by evening and asks if they’ve prepared what they’re going to say to her.
“I plan to tell her the situation and see if she has advice. Is there more to it than that?”
“You’re about to speak to Mother Aughra, the Ram-Horned. The mouth of Thra. She was born of the world, both child and mother. She has seen Thra before the Gelfling were but sprouts in the garden of all creatures. You would speak to her so casually?”
“I’ll speak to her like I’d speak to anyone else,” Naia said. “With respect -- if she deserves it.”
God, Naia is great. Its that Drenchen upbringing. The hard-talk. Just cut right to the point.
Gurjin points out that Aughra probably respects hard-talk since it’s the language of the natural world.
Which I kinda see? As a point?
Tavra just shakes her head at this but doesn’t really object. She doesn’t even want to be here so at best she’s disappointed on principle.
Kylan, almost passive protagonist but definitely a socially withdrawing protagonist that he is, doesn’t add to the conversation. Just thinks anxious thoughts.
Aughra was said to be wise, to know all things -- but as Tavra had said, she might already know about the Skeksis. Worse, she might already know and yet have done nothing. The Gelfling were her favored children, as their lore sang time and time again, but those songs had been written by the Gelfling. Did Aughra think of the Gelfing as much as any flower in her garden? Would she be equally content to see one creature devour another, if it, too, were part of the circle of life?
Its an interesting idea there about the Gelfling being her favored children, according to Gelfling. Like, oh geez what if we overestimated ourselves?
(Although the minor good point to add to this anxiety ramble is that the Skeksis aren’t part of the natural order. So there’s that.)
Gurjin also thanks Kylan for keeping Naia company and helping her in the woods during that whole Gurjin heroic sacrifice thing.
Kylan: “I’m glad you’re alive. I’m glad we all are.”
Aw, friends.
They reach the finger vines as mentioned in Rian’s warning.
Thick orange vines covered the cliff wall in front of them, finger-shaped and tangled like rope that had been left too long to its own devices. No further pathways led deeper into the crag, but Kylan could feel a draft coming from behind the vines. There was a tunnel there but they would have to pass through the overgrowth, and if one part of Rian’s instructions had stayed with Kylan, it was to stay away from the finger-vines.
Tavra hucks a rock into the vines and they immediately tangle about it before dropping it as inedible.
So, I’m pretty sure that these are the same vines that Jen will eventually blunder into. It’s not his fault, he didn’t have a helpful Rian in his life.
I wonder how long the vines take to eat something. Jen is lucky that Aughra was literally right around the corner when he got caught.
I’m honestly a bit surprised that finger-vines are a specific predatory plant and not just. Something Aughra set up to discourage solicitors.
Oh my god, I’m once again blown away by Jen going to visit Aughra in his quest without any idea of her significance. The UrRu never even told him that (for all practical purposes) god lived a day down the road.
I’m sure they did their best but wow. He has holes in his education.
I’m getting off-track.
Naia tries calling for Aughra through the vines but this time she’s not lurking right around the corner so that doesn’t work.
Tavra was unimpressed and unsurprised, almost smug at the situation.
I’m glad that you’re probably a spider, Tavra, because you are being a bummer.
She again calls this whole trip a waste of time which annoys Naia into wing flicking. Love the wing body language but now I’m wondering what specific muscles correspond to that. I guess if your back stiffens... yeah, that makes sense.
Anyway, Naia is so annoyed that she decides to dreamfast with a plant again. She just goes and puts her hands on the vines and instead of entangling her, they do not do that.
Kylan had learned the language of the Landstriders, as all Spriton did. Tavra had certainly learned the tongue of other creatures as well, in her training to serve the All-Maudra. But those were languages spoken on the tongue, in sets of words and phrases. Naia’s unique ability to dreamfast with creatures other than Gelfling let her speak in the universal song of the heart.
This is neat!
It expands on Kira’s beastmastery. At least in the novelization, it’s mentioned during Jen and Kira’s dreamfast that Kira’s podmom Ydra taught her the language of animals.
And apparently it used to be a thing for some Gelfling to learn. But not as much as Kira! Ydra knew a lot!
Anyway, after dreamfasting with a plant again, the vines open like a curtain to let the four Gelfling (or four Gelfling and a spider??) enter.
At the end of the tunnel they find a door to Aughra’s Sweet Orrery.
(Just imagine the Dark Crystal theme in your head)
Most impressive was the enormous moving contraption that occupied the center of the chamber. It filled the space of the room with dozens of huge spheres, mounted on poles and swooping arms. The machine rotated and gyrated like a living thing, spheres orbiting spheres, circling yet other spheres, all of it shining in bronze, copper, iron, and glistening stones. Clearly, the grating sounds emanated from the machine, and the movement of its pieces stirred the air so it felt as though there were a breeze, even inside the crystal dome.
“Amazing,” Kylan breathed.
He recognized some of the symbols etched deep into the metals: the symbols that represented the Three Brothers, others that represented the elements of the earth and water, air and fire.
“Its the path of the stars,” he said. “The suns, and...”
Then Aughra pops up from behind a book tower.
And she is amazing.
“What, you just gonna stare? Walk right into my home just to stare, did you? Maybe you should draw a picture, take it with you!”
This is exactly the kind of Aughra I was hoping for.
Also, the way she speaks the Gelfling language (the single Gelfling language that exists I guess?) with what sounds like an ancient accent to Kylan. Although I’m not sure how he would know, I’d bet he’s right.
Naia takes the lead and tells Aughra that they’re here to ask for her help, calling her Mother Aughra.
“Mother Aughra, eh? Ask for my help, eh? Why is it you Gelfing only call Aughra Mother when you need help? That’s what children do, I guess... I guess that’s what they do.”
‘You never call, you never write’ hahaha
This is quality Aughra content.
With her grump helpfully communicated, she takes note of the party and grumps some more, noting that they only have a Spriton, a Vapra, and a Drenchen.
“Hmph. Three out of seven ain’t bad. It’s still soon. Where are the others?”
And when they don’t have any idea what she means:
“What others, he asks? What others? The other clans, of course! Gelfling gathering. What else is there to know?”
Its like when you arrive to the final dungeon without a full party and the NPC is like ‘lol no go hit some more plot flags’
Aughra sat heavily on her table stool, as if hoping they might go away if she ignored them long enough.
I don’t know how many ways I can say how great this is.
I’m living for it. Unlike Jen, these Gelfling know that Aughra isn’t some random grumpy mountain woman. She’s basically god and she’s behaving like a cranky grandmother. Kylan can’t even warp his head around how different from his expectations this is turning out to be.
I also guess it answers in this continuity whether Aughra was so grumpy in the movie because she’d lost much of her hope after the Gelfling were all but wiped out. It turns out: no, she’s Just Like That.
When a thousand ++ trine you reach, be so nice you will not.
But since they don’t just leave, Aughra decides she will say more things.
“Come on, then, Gelfling. Children. Aughra already knows what you want to know. Whether it’s what you want to hear, though, hmph! Might not be.”
Oh, this sidequest is shaping up beautifully.
J.M. Lee, you have done a marvelous job.
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Text
Most Powerful Magic - Chapter One
Summary:  Set a few months after the end of the events of Family Fights, Hilda and the librarian’s sister are tired of seeing Johanna and Maven dancing around each other and decide to take matters into their own hands
Notes: Heyo! Okay, for a better understanding of this fic, I’d recommend reading Family Fights first. However it’s kinda long so if you want to read this before season 2 comes out and you haven read FF yet, you just need to know that the librarian has a teenage sister named Myra, and that the librarian trains Hilda in witchcraft. You should probably be fine with this info. Oh, also please forgive the typos and low quality of the writing. I really rushed with this because I wanted to post it before season two came and ruined my headcanons :’)
Read it on ao3: (chpt1)
”Go on.” Her mother encouraged her gently, the hand on her shoulder nudging her forward. “She won’t mind.”
Myra took one look at her mother’s smiling face before entering the living room. She knew her sister didn’t like being disturbed while she was studying, but she was having a sleepover at a friend’s house that night and so she wouldn’t be with Maven when she went to sleep, which would mean missing her bedtime story. She really didn’t want to miss her bedtime story. So now Myra approached her sister, who was taking notes on their living room table, with a book at hands.
“Mavey?” She called when she got closer, which got Maven to look at her. “Can you read to me now?”
Looking slightly irritated, the teenager glanced at the book she was using, thinking about how far she was from finishing her notes. “Does it have to be now?”
“I won’t be home at night.” Myra nodded, trying to put on a pleading face. Maven bit her lip and then sighed, resigning to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to tell her no.
“All right.” She reached for her sister's book. “Let me take a look at that.”
As soon as she read the title, she frowned. After skimming through some of the first pages, an eyebrow was lifted at Myra.
“Are you sure you want this one?”
“Yeah! It’s one of my favourites! I love how the knight saves his prince through the magic of love.”
Saying that, the little girl twirled to make her skirt flair around her, nearly tripping on her feet when she tried to face her sister again.
“Myra, this is stupid.” Maven chuckled, running her eyes through a picture of the two protagonists hugging. “Love isn’t magic.”
“Yes it is!” She stomped her foot on the ground. “It’s the most powerful magic of all!”
That only made Maven laugh even more, both at her sister’s innocence and at the angry face she was making at her. It was always hilarious when Myra got angry, like being threatened by a baby kitten.
“You evil sorceress!” Myra exclaimed at her. “One day you’ll see I’m right. Someone will kiss you and you’ll transform into a beautiful princess”
Out of one of her discarded drafting sheets, Maven made a small paper ball.
“Not happening, sweetie. I’d just rather be a witch.”
She threw the ball at her sister, who gave a dramatized gasp of betrayal before beginning to laugh along. Even though she appreciated Myra’s bright eyed way of seeing the world, she knew for sure that love was not, in any way, magic. No matter what the legends and fairytales said. After all, she was a witch. If love was magic, surely it wouldn’t feel so impossible.
_#_#_#_
Myra did not feel comfortable at all being in that place.
Before those two years when she had been… away, this had been the place she would come to every day. While it had been so familiar, now the school was full of faces she’d never seen, and some she had but for all the wrong reasons.
She could only hope none of those children remembered her from their nightmares.
Of course, once she had begun attending school again, it was not Trolberg’s Elementary School she went to (neither was it their local high school - they couldn’t risk her studying with people from before her marra period and having them question where she’d been at and how she hadn’t aged a day.) but it was still unpleasant to be there. She felt out of place.
Luckily for her, the person she was there to talk to was just coming out of the building, so she wouldn’t need to be there for much longer. Upon noticing Myra by the school’s grades, Hilda stopped on her tracks for a second, surprised to see her there, but she recovered quickly and told her two friends to stay close to the main building while she talked to Myra. Although she’d never been anything less than kind and welcoming to her, Hilda didn’t completely trust Myra yet. She couldn’t say she blamed her.
“Good afternoon!” The girl greeted when she walked closer. “ I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Yeah, sorry for the surprise.” Myra straightened herself up, no longer leaning against the grades. “But I needed to talk to you at some time when neither your mother nor my sister could hear us.”
Hilda narrowed her eyes with suspicion even as she tried not to let her face show any distrust.
“And why would that be?”
“Hilda, I can not be the only one who is tired of this.” Myra exclaimed, gesticulating with her hands. “It’s becoming ridiculous!”
“What is?”
“The two of them! You are a smart girl, you must have realized at this point that they like each other a lot.”
Finally understanding what the conversation was about, Hilda let her guard drop and nodded.
“They definitely do. Have… have they not noticed?”
“No!” Groaning, she ran a hand through her hair. Her lilac strand was there again, but she still kept it mostly black. “Well, I can’t say about your mother, but I know my sister and she definitely thinks it’s unrequited, and the two of them are driving me mad! I caught my sister singing girl in red, for crying out loud!”
“Things are a little complicated in this aspect, I’ll admit it.” Hilda said, remembering the times she’d found her mother absent mindedly drawing her mentor. “But there’s hardly anything we can do about it, is there? shouldn’t they figure this out on their own?”
“Should they figure it out on their own? Yes. Will they figure it out on their own?” Myra looked at her nails, making a disinterested face which reminded Hilda of her older sister. “Eh, not looking likely. Is there anything we can do, though? Definetly.”
Hilda blinked. “And what is it?”
After giving the girl a mischievous grin, Myra took a step back to start on her way home.
“Meet me in the library at seven this evening.”
_#_#_#_
“I don’t really get it.” Hilda whispered as she followed Myra, who was climbing the stairs to the top floor of the library. “Wasn’t the point being somewhere where they couldn’t hear us? Maven will certainly notice us in her workplace, you know.”
There were few people in the library that evening, mostly students who had work due the next day. None of them were paying the slightest attention to the two girls making their way through the bookshelves, but Hilda felt like she should be trying to go unnoticed at the same time. Whatever Myra’s plan was, she was sure it’d be better if no one else knew.
“Already taken care of. This is the time the Trolberg Book Club comes here, and she needs to give them some attention. Besides, what I need to show you is right here.”
Myra stopped near a bookshelf that Hilda recognized, and her brow furrowed as she realized what she wanted.
“Are we supposed to be here?”
“Nope.” Myra answered as she tried to push the bookshelf. “But in for a penny, in for a pound right? I’m gonna need your help with this.”
Figuring that if she had agreed to go behind her mother and teacher’s backs already, she might as well go through with it, Hilda pressed her side body against the bookshelf and they both grunted as it began to move. As soon as there was a passage big enough for them to squeeze through, they stopped, panting.
“Honestly, you’d think that a magical room would have a better entrance.” Myra mumbled under her breath as she stepped inside and flicked the light switch up, turning the old lamps on.
Hilda came in after her. That room had become familiar to her, not only did Maven take her there for lessons often enough, but it was her first pick when she wanted to research a certain topic. She’d always been advised to be careful, however, as not only there was beautiful knowledge stored in there, but also dangerous information. She didn’t know if Maven had made that up just to scare her into being careful, but she’d even gone so far as to mention the existence of a soul stealing spell that hid itself under the guise of being a good luck charm.
Due to having been taught to act like so, Hilda treated the library’s hidden room with reverence. Meanwhile, Myra looked like she was right at home, skipping down the stairs two steps at a time and going straight to the shelf she wanted. Hilda supposed you saw things in a much more different way when witchcraft had always been a natural part of your life.
“Aha! It is still here.” Taking a book with leather binding out of its place, Myra put it on the table at the corner so that Hilda could see it too.
The first thing to call the young witch’s attention in the page she was shown was a romanticized drawing of a cupid right at the center. Though the ink in any other spot she looked was already faded, the cupid’s colours had resisted the test of time, and Hilda could only imagine there was some magic in the engraving.
When she brought her focus to the actual spell she was being shown, however, she felt like any understanding she thought she’d had of Myra’s plan went down the drain.
“A love spell?” She gasped. “What do we want to make them fall in love for? Is the whole point of us doing this not already believing that they like each other?”
The teenager waited a few moments to speak, letting Hilda take a closer look at the spell first. At the same time that the casting ritual looked simple, Hilda noticed, the potential for that spell to go wrong energy-wise was gigantic, and her brow was furrowed when she lifted her gaze from the book to Myra.
“First of all, no spell can make you fall in love. Magic can’t create love, only the illusion of it. Also, relax! We’re not actually casting it.”
“Huh?” Though Myra was talking as if this all made a lot of sense to her, Hilda still felt like she was missing something.
“Listen.” She said, nearly losing her balance when she squatted down to be closer to Hilda’s height. “We are going to pretend we cast this spell on your mother. There are a bunch of similar spells, but it has to be this one, because it’s the only one that has this completely ridiculous breaking condition.”
Hilda lifted an eyebrow, content to at last be getting an explanation. “Which would be?”
“A kiss from the person the spell made them fall for. Sure, it’s very cute when it’s in curses, but you’ve got to agree that for a spell with the objective of getting the two people together, it’s pretty dumb.” Myra said, picking up the book and showing her the note in one of the corners warning about how the effects would only last until both parties kissed. Hilda had to agree, it did not sound intelligent at all. “So yeah, we’re going to pretend we accidently cast it on your mother, with my sister on the receiving end. And then we’ll tell this to Maven, who naturally will freak out and want to break it, but she knows about this one spell and how to break it. This should give her the motivation to kiss your mother and if we’re lucky enough, they’ll actually talk for a change.”
Rubbing her chin, Hilda looked at the book, then up at Myra, then at the book again. The plan was coming together on her mind, the thoughts organizing themselves in her head like a puzzle. in a way that allowed her to see the parts that didn’t fit.
“I see what you mean.” She hummed. “But how are going to pretend to have accidentally cast a spell? That doesn’t sound very believable at all.”
As she finished her question, she glanced at the entrance at the top of the stairs anxiously. The library was better lit than this secret room, making it so light came in even though the lamps were on. Talking about doing something behind Maven’s back, even if with good intent, made her skittish, and she almost expected to see the older witch at the entrance ready to ground her for a week.
“Obviously.” Leaning her hip against the table, Myra scoffed, though there was no meanness behind it. In fact, she seemed to be amused by Hilda’s clever thinking. “So… that’s the part that might make you give up on the plan. We’re kind of going to have to throw ourselves under the bus.”
“What do you mean?”
Showing the first sign of nervousness since Hilda had met her, Myra looked away from her and around the room, suddenly very interested in the runes in the tapestries. It didn’t look like she was expecting to be caught like Hilda had, however, but like she was trying to gather strength.
“I don’t suppose you have a crush on anybody, do you?”
“What?! No!” Hilda gasped, bringing her hands in front of herself. Remembering that she was in a library, and hidden on top of it, she lowered her voice. “No, I don’t.”
Myra sighed, biting her lower lip in the same way Hilda had sometimes seen Maven do when she was anxious. “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t have. You’re just a kid.”
As she said nothing else, silence hung over them heavily, making the girl figure it was up to her to push Myra a bit further, even if it looked like she would rather not be pushed.
“Well?” She said softly. “Do you?”
As Myra nodded, Hilda could see the glimpse of a smile on her face even as she gazed down.
“Yeah. Their name is Nyx. And they’re… pretty amazing. My sister knows I like them, so she won’t be surprised. If we orchestrate it well enough, it should be very easy for her to fall for it.”
When the teenager looked up again, the nervousness was gone, and her smile had shifted from smitten to mischievous.
“You see it now, don’t you? We’ll pretend I asked you to cast this spell so they’d fall for me, and we’ll pretend it went wrong in a way that serves us. Maven will see that your mother under a love spell does not act at all differently from your mother normally, they’ll kiss and admit their feelings. Sure, we may make ourselves look bad, but it’s for their own good. What do you say?”
Despite the nerves and the part of her that said she shouldn’t meddle with her mother and mentor’s personal lives, Hilda felt herself suddenly buzzing with excitement. A chance at an adventure and a way to finally stop having to deal with their mutual pining? Looking bad was the least of her worries. Squaring her shoulders, she smiled.
“I’m in.”
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