#am i working through something personal with this idea? mayhaps.

[yandere-sins]

The Exception

My friend let me try playing Hades on her switch and well... I kinda liked it. Namely, I liked all the characters, so my brain went like “what if they were yandere” and I had an idea for this story that I threw together this morning before working on the Fox Wedding (: The latter isn’t done yet, but this sure is, so who knows, mayhaps some of you will enjoy it! Just tried to answer the question how we could get Thanatos to whisk us away.

Characters: Yandere!Thanatos x Reader Warnings: Yandere, Blood, War, Wounds/Impaling, Major Character Death (???) or well dying, I read into greek history for almost an hour but if I gotten something wrong then so be it

Thanatos had seen enough of the world to know that he didn't want to stay on the surface forever. 

The current battle spreading before him was a mere reason to sigh deeply as he watched bodies fall left and right, their souls soon leaving to a better, or perhaps worse, place. It was mandatory he stayed, but Thanatos was well aware of which side was winning and which was losing. It was his duty and his work to know these things, even though it didn't make the fighting any less futile in his eyes.

Letting his gaze wander over the battlefield, he watched the red splatters on the ground, heard the crushing sounds of iron against iron and the cacophony of fearful and devastating screams. He still couldn't believe Zagreus would want to come to such a place. A place where there was futile fighting and too much light, but perhaps, it was a world that fit the Prince of the Underworld, as he was the same, even if Thanatos only recognized this fact bitterly. 

Finally, the battle was closing in on its end, just like the hundreds of people that found their death because of it. The ones who weren't dead yet slowly but surely started to hesitate and retreat. Even as the personification of death, Thanatos reckoned that a pointless death was scary, even though so many humans chose it over desertion. Their death was inevitable, preordained by Thanatos sisters. Still, he had seen many hold on to the last sparks of hope that they could escape Thanatos' grasp. 

And then, on the other side of the coin, were those that practically would have offered their life to Hades and fought to the end.

You weren't an exception. Yes, your quest and pride were your downfall, and by the gleam in your eyes Thanatos could tell you knew. You knew and recognized that you'd die. However, as if you were spiting him personally, you still continued to fight ahead of everyone else, gaining questioning glances from your comrades and contempt from your enemies, which you pulled to the ground one after another and sending them to hell. 

Many before you had this overzealous compulsion to make that best out of their inevitable demise. Thanatos would admit that yes, most had a good reason for it, like saving their family or fighting for their own life. Others simply lucked out on the gift of pride and ignorance, forcing themselves and occasionally many more lives with them into the deep, dark pits of death. 

What was your reason? Thanatos wondered. 

He still had time before he needed to take action, he could allow himself a short - minuscule, really - different thought than his upcoming work, and you presented yourself so nicely to him as the incarnation of death waited for the end of today's battle. It wasn't often that he had the leisure to let his thoughts wander, so Thanatos intended to use these few seconds, which would fall under the radar, to still his curiosity.

By the looks of it, you weren't an inexperienced fighter. Or perhaps, you were just a farmer judging by your muscles. Surely, you seemed enthusiastic about your task, so were you fighting for something more significant than the glory of your country? Family? A loved one? Thanatos couldn't help but be curious about what your drive was, as he had seen so many reasons, yet they were all the same. Perhaps, yours was new?

Even so, you were graceful as you swung your sword around. What did he know about footwork, but at least, yours seemed to pay off as you weren't dead yet. When one of your foes managed to smack off your helmet, Thanatos believed that was it, but alas, you regained your strength, charging at the very same attacker. 

In a way, fighting was like an elaborate play. The only difference was that neither of the parties knew the other one's move. The person reacting better was the winner. He couldn't find joy in watching wars, but even Thanatos had to admit that it was a joy watching you. Even if you lacked the enthusiasm as the heroic shades that lingered below, like Theseus, had, you fought a fight worth mentioning in the books as well. 

Every move you made, Thanatos could see the calculations in your eyes, that keen shine reflecting in them. The sun seemed to break through the clouds just to reach out to you, making your armor sparkle in its rays. Yes, you were a formidable human, and Thanatos caught himself thinking that it was a shame you were fighting even if you looked so beautifully while doing it. 

Taking another deep breath, he could see the swirls in the air left by it. While the winter wasn't affecting him, no matter how little clothes he wore, Thanatos felt a second of pitiful understanding for everyone who had to fight in those conditions. Undoubtedly, the cold armors, freezing hands and weapons, and frozen ground were another nemesis for every soldier out here. Even if their bodies stayed warm from adrenaline and running, it certainly was another reason many of your human bodies gave out quicker, merely submitting to their fate. It was fair enough for Thanatos. It meant his work was over faster, and judging by you being circled and the other soldiers at your side beginning to see the end coming towards them with long spears and sharp swords, it was all over soon. 

You had fought bravely, that much he could give you. Perhaps you had impressed him enough to put in an unusual good word for you with Hypnos, who'd pass it on to Hades himself, granting you a shot on being put into Elysium. But your fate had long been decided, and as you fell to the ground, the battlefield erupted in victorious screams, announcing your time of death. 

And also, his start of work. 

As the winners retreated one after one, happy whenever they found a friend that survived too, Thanatos passed by them and onto the battlefield instead. Unseen by the human eye, he began his duty of reaping, one soul after the other, as mangled and frustrated over their death as they were, following his orders as he shushed them away. Usually, some pleaded and bargained with him for another shot of life, but even if Thanatos had wanted, there was no way for him to help them. But that day, everyone seemed awfully aware that there was no negotiating nor mercy waiting for them as they looked at his figure, frightened and frustrated. A pointless battle, with meaningless deaths, brought forth the self-pity in them, but this wasn't the first battle Thanatos tended to, so he felt nothing akin to that. It also wasn't his duty to take care of the souls gathered here, as it was Hermes' job to lead to them. 

He had something very different on his agenda. You. 

It was unfortunate for both of you, but when he reached you, you had yet to breathe your last breath. One eye slowly and in pain, opened, the other one damaged from the blow to the head you had received. However, as you looked at him, serene clarity laid in your gaze, and you recognized him, mayhaps by the giant scythe he carried around. Your stare was clear and less afraid than he expected you to be when acknowledging him, but you closed your eyes as a cough overcame you, hot, red blood dripping down your lips. 

"Guess that's it," you croaked, and Thanatos could only stare. Conversing… wasn't his strong suit, and there wasn't exactly a reason to talk to you.

"Are you going to kill me?" you continued, undeterred by his silence, and Thanatos weighed his actions. "No, of course not," he eventually spoke, shaking his head slowly, the hood on his head shifting along to his movement. 

"Ouch, that's cruel. You'll just wait until I die like this?" 

Your words were nothing he hadn't heard before, and he didn't feel offended by them. However, he didn't expect your lips to briefly curl into a smile, adding a jesting notion to what you said. Even that wasn't new, but… it struck a chord inside the usual stoic bringer of death. "I can't end your suffering," Thanatos explained, hoping you'd simply know about the unspoken rule that he couldn't harm you. 

"I think, I get it," you heaved, feeling worse by the minute. "You are just making sure I know I am supposed to die here."

That assumption wasn't wrong, even though there had been more playing into his service than just that. Too many kept trying to escape their fate, and sort of, Thanatos was just checking and cleaning up what would be left. You still had some time before your organs would fail and finally take you to the grave, different from the other souls that were already leaving for their new home. 

"No, you will die here," he retorted firmly. 

"I could," you chuckled, followed by another painful cough. 

"Don't test me, Mortal."

In between deep breaths, you allowed yourself a short laugh. Just like him, you were probably aware that there was nothing worse that could happen to your situation, so his threat was just a way he hoped to shut you up with. In silence, he watched over you, until eventually, your eye opened up again. This time your gaze was searching for him - or something really - but your sight had already begun to cloud. No matter how proud and achieved you are in life, in the face of death, everyone looked the same.

 "I think I did a good job. You know, fighting. Thought that if I already had to do it, I might as well give it my damn best."

More coughing. Thanatos watched the puddle of blood around you grow by the second. The spear inside your body must have been stirring up your insides the more you talked. Thanatos had expected something like this, you, young as you still were, had been led by the belief that doing your best could make up for the fact that you'd die. "But in the end, it was worth nothing, right? We lost after all."

Thanatos could only stare as he wondered what you expected him to say. He came here, knowing your life would end here, so really, the hope you had put into yourself didn't have the same disappointment to him now as it did to you. And yet, as he listened to you, seeing your body battered up with cuts and bruises, for the first time in centuries, he felt something akin to pity for you, and you specifically.

"Why did you fight then?" he asked, perhaps against your expectations. 

"Why? Because they told us too. The King ordered us to fight this battle, and only he could have known how many soldiers our opponent would bring."

"You could have run." Thanatos tried to stay as detached from you as possible, though it didn't quite work, your words taking their influence on him. "Can you?" you retorted before letting out a long sigh. Death was near, literally as well as figuratively. 

"Can you run from your duties? You don't have to do this either, do you?" 

"I do--"

"Really?"

There was no immediate response this time, your question justified, despite your little mortal soul undoubtedly never understanding the burdens on the shoulders of Gods. The world would stop if they all decided to not continue their work and fulfill their duties and expectations. If Thanatos stopped, no one would die anymore, and but the suffering of everything would never disappear too. 

"Dying sucks," you whispered, turning your head away. 

"I reckon," he muttered indifferently. Not like he could talk about it from experience. It must be painful, dreadful, and, depending on the circumstances, frustrating too. Right now, though he couldn't imagine the extent, you must have felt so hopeless and so, so scared. There wasn't much other reason for your banter.

"Thanatos… I always thought it was a pretty name, even if everyone feared it." Regaining his attention after finding himself momentarily lost in thoughts, he looked down at you again, watching as your eyelid closed slowly. "Say what you want, but you can't blame them for fearing death, and alas, me."

"Perhaps if they talked to you, they wouldn't be so afraid."

"Meaning you don't feel so afraid anymore?"

A smile danced over your lips once more, a truly unusual sight for a soul so close to their end, and especially after talking to him. Hypnos often teased Thanatos with being too formal and dutiful to be amusing, and Hades beware, comforting. Though he didn't care for his twin's words, yours did make him feel... happy. 

"Let's go then," you whispered, and Thanatos kneeled down, his hand falling to your wrist, listening to your pulse. Even with the feeling of your heart still desperately pumping blood through your body, only to lose it through your wounds, you didn't utter another word afterwards. You undoubtedly were dying, but perhaps, for now, you were merely unconscious as your lungs didn't stop reaching for air, and your heart used all your strength to function. 

Once more, the sun broke through the clouds, shining down right at you two, bringing Thanatos into the predicament of being blinded as it reflected off your armor. Perhaps he understood it now. Understood how unfair it was that someone like you, innocent and kind, was doomed to die out here. How awful his job on this day was, forcing him to take you to Tartarus and put you before the judgment of the god residing there. 

So what if... he didn't. 

He couldn't heal your wounds, nor make you feel better. But what he could do is battle the fate, earn the scorn of many, but at least, even if he took out the spear from your bloody body, you'd live. You'd live to tell your tale, and who knew, even he could apply some bandages, so maybe you'd recover some. 

It was a risk, and one Thanatos did not like taking, nor found pleasure in executing. But you couldn't refuse to come to this battle, whereas he, perhaps, after all these years, could refuse to do his job once. For your sake, and unbeknownst to him at that time, for his own even more.

His scythe disappeared in favor of Thanatos grabbing for the dreadful spear. Never before had he experience the kind of sound a wound could make from so close, and by the gods, he hoped he never would again. It was just your luck that you were unconscious, or the pain would have perhaps killed you faster than your wounds.

Leaning down, he scooped you up, his hand sullied with your blood and the dirt on the ground. The snow wasn't cold when he touched it, but your body was warm in his arms and still alive. Your threat of fade wasn't cut yet, and he wouldn't do it. With you in his arms, he stepped back, looking into your sleeping face before he retreated from the battlefield with a quiet, "Let's go."

No, the surface wasn't a place Thanatos liked to linger. It was too loud, too wrong, and too bright. But to see your smile, lively and happy, one more time, he didn't need to stay above ground. Where you were going, it was dark and, at times, lonely if you weren't a being born there. But you'd also be safe and alive for as long as you wished to.

And Thanatos would be with you, even if everyone would turn against him and his decision, for all eternity if he must.

[ask-artsy-oncie]

what kind of pokemon do you think the ducktale crew would have if they were trainers?

I'm only doing main partner pokemon bc I don't think I can flesh out teams for everyone

Scrooge - okay so this one was actually really difficult. I really see him as specializing in steel-types, because aside from his immense wealth, a major defining trait for Scrooge is how he's self-made (through his adventuring) and, less notably, his distaste for magic. I think all of this has a lot of cohesion with the steel type, but finding the right pokemon was a challenge. I was hoping for something from Galar, but nothing really jumped out to me as vibing particularly well with him, so I think the best fit I could find would be Aegislash, which is, at least, also from a European region, and fits well with his adventurer motif. If anyone has any better ideas feel free to send them in, though, cos I'm still not entirely sure.

Donald - Specializes in water-types. It would be entirely fitting of Donald's luck for him to get stuck with a magikarp. But with hard work and dedication (and a decent amount of rage) he ends up raising it into a Gyarados. He would also have the mega-stone for it.

Della - Specializes in flying-types. It was so fucking tempting to give her a celesteela, but not only would that be kind of mean, but I also want to refrain from using any ultra beasts. That being said, I think that Skarmory might be a good fit, because it still does retain the same flying/steel mix, and I do think that Scrooge has rubbed off on Della, significantly (for better or for worse). Plus I think it fits her motif very well (planes, metal flying machines, while Donald sails boats, watercraft that catch the air in their sails, and goes well with a water/flying type). I was also really tempted to give her a rayquaza, but I also wanted to refrain from using any legendaries. Mayhaps she went to space chasing a rayquaza, tho?

Huey - eclectic in his type choices, he likes to have an extremely varied team. Obviously this makes it harder to narrow down his partner pokemon, but I feel like it suits him. I also feel like Girafarig suits him - I think he initially relates to it as he ascribes his own rage to a persona he feels is an antithetical "side" to his "normal" personality that he needs to supress, yet ultimately, he learns that the Duke is simply an aspect of himself and a part to his whole, just like how Girafarig is not comprised of two separate pokemon, but is instead just a single creature.

Dewey - Electric-types for suuuure. It just fits his high-energy personality so well, and I think it also has synergy with his desire to be a media star, since iirc most reporters, interviewers, and camera-people in the games carry electric-types. I think Jolteon would work well with him, since as much as he would hate to admit it, he does tend to gravitate towards the basic and popular, which the eeveelutions definitely are. And though pikachu would have been the obvious choice in that case, I think Jolteon fits his aesthetic, best.

Louie - ooookay I am going to cheat on this one a little because I do have two pokemon in mind for Louie. Firstly, I think he favors both normal- and dark-types, though he isn't too hard-pressed about types. His main partner pokemon would be either a Meowth or an Alolan Meowth, though either way he never intends to evolve it. Cats. Money. Louie. It works. I am very adamant about Louie having some kind of Meowth as a partner. I also believe he would have an Absol. Absol just seems like such a good pokemon for anxious people to have, since it can easily sense and warn about disasters. I think Louie would value that, a lot.

Webby - with Webby's high value and priority on friendship, I think the fairy type would be a very good fit for her (especially since she is a part of Team Magic) though, I also think she would at least try to keep a varied team. Her partner would be Mimikyu - because oh my god look at this little guy, it needs a friend so bad!! Webby will be its friend!! And she'll give it all the love and attention it needs. Of course, it knows Return.

Lena - Ghosts, Dark, Psychics, Faeries, anything that exudes a magic and mystical energy to match her own. Lena would definitely be one of those "psychic" trainers who absolutely has powers of her own, but still takes the time to raise pokemon. Her partner would be a Gardevoir - a pokemon very in-tune with emotions that compliments Lena in her struggle to control her emotions and magic. It would also be a shiny Gardevoir and Lena would also have its mega-stone, because then they would share the blue-black-and-white palette. And when they're both powered-up, Lena loses the black in her palette while Mega-Gardevoir gains it.

Violet - Violet also has an affinity for the more "magical" types her sister and friend are. I think that, due to her interest in witchcraft and metaphysics as a field of study, I'm a bit torn between Gothitelle and Hatterene. She probably would have both, I'm just torn on who her partner would be. On one hand, I could lean harder into the metaphysics aspect, since that's what one of her fathers studies/teaches, and go with Gothitelle, but Hatterene also gives her more synergy with Lena because their partner pokemon would be the exact same type combination. I'm not sure.

BOYD - A Ditto!! Not just for their implied connection to science and the steel-type, but because BOYD (in-universe) was also designed to replicate (and ultimately be) a real person.

Hahahaaaa that took a lot of thinking! Thank you for the challenge!! I do have more ideas but I think I'm going to stop there before it gets too long. Also sorry if you meant "ducktales crew" literally. I don't know those people well enough to assign them pokemon, lol.

[crystalbahamut]

pounds of flesh

FFXIV Write Day 3: Scale

Summary: The Exarch is familiar with tactics used to dodge those most dangerous of creatures (Healers) and offers you his assistance.

Author’s note: Am currently ignoring the fact that there’s no faucet in the Pendant room (that I could find) because that seems inconvenient for such an otherwise nice kitchenette. The prompt started me off with the idea of scaling a staircase feeling on par with scaling a mountain but it sort of veered off from there. I really loved this prompt though; there are so many ways to take it.

Warnings: Shadowbringers spoilers, unspecified WoL, non-healing WoL (kind of), 2nd person pov, WoL/Exarch, overworking oneself on purpose

Words: 1,876

 ---

You might have gotten a little bit…carried away today. Triffids, hoptraps, wargs, and more; you had carried out a number of quests to reduce the threats posed to those traveling the roads of Lakeland, and that wasn’t even counting the morning spent in Rak’tika helping out the Night’s Blessed with some of their chores. You don’t mind– it’s nice to be helpful, good, necessary even– but now that everything aches and some of the cuts have opened up again you wonder if maybe you took it a little far. All you wanted to do was make sure you slept well tonight, but even taking the intercity aetheryte was too much to ask of your energy stores. You have scaled cliffs and mountains, but right now the thought of scaling the steps to your room is making you want to find a place the guards don’t patrol and just lay on the ground. It’s a good thing the manager is on break right now, or you’d have to field some uncomfortable questions about why you’re just standing around, staring.

“There you are.”

You flinch. Mayhap the manager would have been the lesser of two well-intentioned evils, considering the Exarch sounds…not exactly smug, but knowing. You stand taller and clear your throat. “Evening Exarch,” you say. “Did you need something?”

“Not precisely, though I am wont to worry when you stay out so late,” he says and steps towards you.

That…you almost turn around for that. He worries? You shake your head; of course he worries, you are (supposedly) the one hope for the world’s survival. ‘Tis nothing more than prudence. “Nothing to worry about; I’m quite fine.”

“Oh?” You can hear the smile in his voice as he comes around your side, and you quickly look away. “Should I be flattered that you seem to be emulating me?”

You scowl and pull the head covering down farther. How in the world does he see anything like this? “You didn’t invent hooded robes, Exarch.”

“No, I did not,” he chuckles. “However I have not seen you wearing one, until now.”

“Mayhap I simply felt like it.”

“Mayhap you did,” he says. “Or mayhap you are trying to hide a head wound incurred when a lake viper used its tail to swat you into a tree.”

You don’t have a good comeback for that. “You know, nobody likes a know it all,” you grumble and try to sink into your shoulders. One of these days you are going to break that damn magic mirror of his.

“My dear warrior,” he sighs as though indulging you in a whim. “What would it take for you to accompany me to Spagyrics?”

You turn to give him a look of incredulity and then realize that probably isn’t very effective. However he sighs and says, “I see.”

“Do you?” you ask. “I can’t see anything like this; I don’t know how you do it.”

He doesn’t take the bait, unfortunately. “Would you allow me to see to your wounds then?”

“I can heal myself.”

“If you could, you already would have.” He puts a gentle hand on your shoulder, though right on a sore spot that twinges, and you try not to wince. “I would just like some assurance you are well enough. If you are uncomfortable with me, I can fetch one of the Scio-”

“You,” you say immediately and take his arm. You pull back the hood to see with your good eye and find his mouth partly opened in surprise. “I trust you.” Also, if Alisaie or Y’shtola see you in this state, they will put you out of their misery. But you meant what you said. You do trust him.

“Thank you,” he says earnestly, as though he’s honored, and the wondrous tone of his voice is enough to give you the energy to make it up the stairs and to your room.

“I don’t think I’ve seen someone manage to limp so successfully on both legs before,” the Exarch says and goes to the cupboard where the first aid kit lives.

“It’s not that bad– though I’m going to warn you that I’m a bit dirty so it probably looks worse than it is,” you say and pull off the robe. Gently, as everywhere it touches seems to throb with new pain, or maybe the fatigue is getting to you. While he’s turned around you quickly (ow) change into some shorts and a tank top and sit on the bench by the door.

When he turns around the Exarch actually stops in his tracks. “Wicked white,” he says and sighs. “If Chessamile saw you like this…”

“The Warrior of Darkness would be ended by the wrath of a bypassed healer.” You put a finger to your lips. “But surely now my trusty accomplice will help me.”

He smiles again, though he looks like he’s trying to wrangle it back into a disapproving frown. “Extortion now, is it?” he asks as he starts filling a bowl with water.

“I think your offer belied the feelings of one used to dodging chirurgeons,” you say and give yourself a quick check to make sure anything that needs treating is visible. Thankfully your torso just endured some bruising; it’s your limbs that took the brunt of everything. And your head, you’re reminded as you try to gingerly scrape off some of the dried blood and accidentally reopen the wound, making fresh blood course back down over your eye. “Oops.”

“Perhaps I have, but even my own injuries pale in comparison. I can see why any healer would have their hands full with you,” the Exarch says as he comes over to take your hand, shove some cloth in it, and force you press it hard against the cut. “Pray just hold that there for now.”

Now that you’re able to relax and do nothing, exhaustion courses through your bones and you do as he bids if only because anything else is far too much effort. You struggle to stay awake as he pulls over a chair, the medical kit, and the bowl of water, and blink yourself back to consciousness when he sits down.

“Are there any sprains?” he asks as he looks over the injuries.

“My right ankle feels a bit funny, and I think I pulled something in my left thigh, but mostly I’m just scraped up,” you say. He dabs some of the scratches with the clean water and it’s uncomfortable but not unbearable. You almost start to fall asleep with his gentle ministrations.

But when he presses a new, slightly damp cloth to those scrapes, the stinging wakes you right up. “Thal’s balls!” you hiss and resist the urge to rip his hands away. On the plus side, your head has stopped bleeding again; now it only throbs as you set the bloodied cloth aside and try to quell the nausea caused by pain.

“I apologize,” he murmurs and dabs it more gently. It’s not a good feeling but you can bear it a little easier now that you know it’s coming. He clears his throat. “What were you working on so frenetically today?”

“Huh?” You think about the question. “Oh– nothing much really; I was just taking a few jobs here and there.”

“Are you in need of gil?” he asks and lifts his head. Presumably to look at you. “Surely some of these jobs could have waited another day?”

You take the washcloth and wring it out before you start cleaning your other leg, and then your arms. It will help him get through this easier. And it also makes it so you don’t have to look at him now. “They could have. But I wanted them done.”

“Because you plan to take the day for yourself tomorrow?”

“Perhaps,” you say. “Perhaps this is how I want to spend my days.”

“Working yourself to the bone when you already do so much?” He finishes wrapping your ankle and grabs your hand. He says your name gently, without reproach. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong.” You shut your eyes. “Sometimes…I just want to sleep. That’s all.”

“I see,” he says and doesn’t press for more. If this were Alphinaud you wouldn’t be able to escape without some awkward attempt at platitudes on his end, or Urianger, who would try to make suggestions while also nearly putting you to sleep with one of his lectures, but the Exarch keeps tending to you with hands that are gentler than they have any right to be.

When he starts treating the cut on your head it’s a good excuse to close your eyes, but even without some supposed excuse you don’t think you would do any differently. He’s so…gentle. Healers, even the kindest ones, are all business– as they should be, as they’re always the ones that have to make sure everyone is fighting fit for the next catastrophe. But the Exarch touches you so tenderly, like he wants to put you back together piece by piece, with soothing motions and soft brushes of skin, and crystal that’s warmer than it looks, and it’s all you can do to keep from falling apart in his capable hands.

“One moment, my warrior,” he murmurs and you realize you’re halfway to sleep by the fact that you can’t seem to open your eyes when he leaves, but it doesn’t bother you overmuch. When he comes back and nudges you to stand, you manage to do so, but you still don’t open your eyes even as you shuffle over to the bed with his help. You sit on sheets– the cover has been pulled back already, you realize with delayed thoughts as the Exarch tucks you in. You’ll be mortified in the morning, but for now…

“I pray sweet dreams find you tonight, my warrior.”

You think you imagine the gentle kiss placed upon your brow, but in case this isn’t some lovely dream and he is still around to hear it, you whisper, “Thank you.”

 The next morning finds you sore and a little stiff, but you can recognize that you’re better off than you would have been otherwise.

You also find a collection of medicinal-looking mixtures all lined up in bottles in a neat little row on the table. And, when you go over to investigate, a note from the Exarch.

 My dear warrior,

Though it is not a happy thought, there are many in Norvrandt who share your desire for uninterrupted sleep, as well as your difficulties attaining it. These elixirs each have their own cards describing ingredients and dosage; if you find one to your liking, it would be a simple matter of requesting more, and I should be delighted to do so.

Also, if you ever find the climb to your room to be too arduous, perhaps the smaller staircase leading to the tower itself would be less of a strain. Once inside, there are easier ways to get around that I would be happy to show you.

With fondest wishes,

The Crystal Exarch

 You smile and fold the letter back up. An easier way to the Ocular, hm? You’d like to see that. Perhaps now is a good time to stretch your legs and make the climb.

[shadowdianne]

Shattered [SQ one shot -I guess xd]

For you, @waknatious because we both knew all too well what would happen when you send me that post Xd I’ve cut out the angst significatively though, I would call this hurt/comfort at best. And you are one of the very few that may make me write something for these two again, sparingly, very sparingly so… Love you, always.

Lu.

Based on 6x08 I’ll be your mirror.

General reminder that I’ve done very basic editing on this one. I will maybe go back and change some things but who knows.

-.-

Her tongue felt like sandpaper when she woke up, her brain pulsing with a head-splitting migraine and Regina needed to blink a few times as she felt the touch of gravel against her face and exposed hands and forearms, her right hand still holding to a body that began to stir almost at the same time as she. She could feel nausea beginning to crawl up her throat and she did her best to swallow as she blinked twice, thrice, as she heard a shriek at her side, her own voice ricocheting against her ears as the Queen took a look at her surroundings.

In all fairness, she thought, her body tense, she hadn’t had that much time to think about what she was about to do. Her arms had moved in autopilot, calling forth every single piece of her that hadn’t been siphoned out of her back when she had split herself. When the dragon had hit the mirror, she had felt the magic calling forth from the other side of it. Emma, always reacting Emma, had probably merely answered instinctively to it, letting her own magic act like a magnet to it. She, however, had stood her ground, knowing that her other self would reach for the now hotter-than-lava glass and so when Emma had been expulsed from the world behind the mirrors, she had reached outwards, grabbing The Queen’s by the hand, and pushing them both backward, wishing the portal to close at the majesty’s back. The magic, the little sniff she had gotten from the outside world, had thankfully answered her call.

“What have you done?” The Queen’s eyes were bloodshot, her usual demeanor broken like the mirror shards that covered the wall where the mirror had been propped against, the one she -no, not she, her, not her, them- had spent so many hours prying through. With a snarl, the Queen turned to the now broken glass and frame, maybe hoping to find a piece that still showed the interior of the vault. None of them, however, showed anything beyond the clouded sky that had covered every single reflective surface ever since Regina had been there.

Chuckling, mirthless, Regina stood as well, ironing her clothes in one movement, her hands getting trapped for a moment on the small, scorched holes on the back of her blazer. The dragon seemed to be gone, perhaps suffused out like Emma had gone, returned, mayhap to the safety of his shop. That didn’t sit exactly well with the brunette, but she resolved to focus on the matter at hand; the irate Queen.

Who, now, turned towards her once more and grabbed her by the shoulders, knuckles white, seething.

“I’ve trapped you,” Regina replied, freeing herself with one quick move. She might not have her magic, but there were a few pros on being fighting with herself; knowing the extent of her own strength was one of them. “You were right, at the shore, everything I’ve dreamed, you have dreamt it. So, I thought a little surprise was in order.”

She wasn’t lying, not entirely. After all, she had seen the opportunity when the dragon had hit the mirror, but she hadn’t had any promise that the idea would work. For everything she knew, the magic could have thrown them away all the same, the imperfections the mirror had created in the fabric that kept the world beyond the glass together fragmented beyond any kind of repair. But one wasn’t at Emma’s side all this time without picking a thing or two and improvising, while wasn’t her preferable course of action, was one of those things.

The Queen, however, was having none of it, and she moved closer to her once more, her heels crunching the glass and the gravel, the tower they had been moaning perilously as she did, as if her anger could reach to the still erected beams and destroy everything at once.

“And so.” The other woman said, eyes narrowed, lips turned into a fine line, a rictus so similar to her mother’s that Regina froze for a second, a moment, anxiety seizing her muscles. The queen seemed unaware, or at least not preoccupied about it and so she kept on talking with badly disguised anger. “You thought that pushing us both here, trapping us, was the way to go?”

It was Regina’s turn to snarl, her hands at her hips as she kept a healthy distance between herself and, well, herself.

“Anything to keep you contained. I am not going to sit idle while you try…” She pointed at the shattered mirror, where Henry’s face had been, so close, yet unattainable. “Whatever you planned on doing with my son.”

The Queen blinked, momentarily stunned only to start laughing, cackling, really, as her eyes returned to the cold hatred Regina was so familiar with for she had been the one giving similar glances back when the two of them had been together.

“I was giving him a choice.” The Queen replied as the laughter ebbed away from the two of them, cascading down the dilapidated ruins around them both. “Something you have not been able to give you him.” She was looking down on her now, her face maybe covered in some residual dirt and yet managing to look every bit of the Queen she had once considered herself. Regina bit back a reply, chest forward, fingers curling as she wished for her magic to be within her reach if only for a moment. Nothing, however, came to the movement and The Queen’s lips curled as she focused on Regina’s movement, eyes turning into slits. “You are pathetic. Weak. If I could kill you I would do so in a heartbeat. You can’t expect to be his mother, you are not strong enough.”

Regina tried her best to let the words wash over her, harmless, but she still felt the distant pang of the words she sometimes said to herself while trying to fall asleep. She had been so sure, back in New York, that her choice was the right one. She missed those moments in where regret was framed by very small significant moments, a barely-there sentiment that she could push away as she kept on doing with the Queen’s voice on her head. Ever since the split, however, doubts and corrosion clouded her judgment, her own actions. The Dragon had been right, despite how much it pained her to admit it: the battle should have been kept inside herself rather than trying to externalize it as she had done. Because now she was nothing but the other side of a coin; one that had lost part of its vindictiveness, of her strength.

She hadn’t voiced it aloud, of course, with everything happening at once there was truly no moment to admit she felt her own connection to her magic different, changed. What was she going to do, she often wondered while trying to sleep, while reaching for sleep and numbness, if Emma did indeed die? What would she do if she was left alone, to take care of a Henry that would be devastated? Would he blame her for the death of his mother? Would everything she had built turn into ashes yet again?

The Queen tilted her head, sensing how her words had, indeed, touched her, and Regina cursed inwardly for every bit of her that belonged to the woman in front of her.

“What I was doing.” The Queen said, the triumph of the one knowing themselves right echoing on her tone. “Was trying to make him worthy, worthy of the title that will be his, worthy of a name and a position that you, for whatever reason, seemed to be refusing to take. I had to clean up your mess, Regina. Again.”

There was a maniac glint on the Queen’s eyes as she said this, the world around them silent, still, in an almost halted breath as she took another step towards Regina.

Regina recoiled. She had never considered how much of her own mother she had channeled when turning into the Queen, when the title and the façade had melded into one single person, the one now left behind the woman she could have been under very different circumstances. She, now, could see it; the burning devotion, the need, toxic, like gas, that spread around her her own intent for control. She could see it now, however, once more, and she felt stripped away of her strength as she faced her own face, so sure of how pain was the only path to take, the only debt that needed any kind of retribution.

“You are the one on the wrong.” She replied, but her answer felt weak even to her own ears. Doubling down, she pointed at the now broken mirror a few paces away, her muscles protesting as the headache doubled its efforts to blind her. “I managed to get you here, Queenie. Remember that. For every time you thought you had the upper hand…”

The other one interrupted her, scoffing dismissively towards her as she did so.

“This is one last attempt to stop me. Giving that you enchanted the mirror in the first place the spell will soon be dispelled. You cannot do anything right; you are nothing but a lesser part of me, one that thought she had access to feelings, memories, a life. You are a shadow, not the other way around, Regina.”

The headache grew in intensity and Regina could feel the anger beginning to boil inside her her, hotter than before. Muscles tensing, she was the one who took a step forward now, the set of rubble at her feet sliding for a second before they settled themselves once more. The sky above them, the intermittent set of clouds and starred glow, seemed to grow darker as she moved closer to the other woman.

“You live because I decided to take a potion, you wouldn’t otherwise. And as I tried once, as I did once, I will reach inside my chest and rip our heart even if it’s the last thing I do.”

The Queen laughed once more, not fazed by the words. Regina’s whole body felt aflame, the usual way in where she dispelled her anger, in how she channeled her fury, cut away from her but her fingers kept on twitching, calling forth magic she didn’t feel, knew it wasn’t there. If only she could, she thought as she stood, as the world around them kept returning to glittering mirrors, reach once, follow the words with actions…

She had made a promise, she thought with a start, Emma’s face appearing on her mind’s eye, the way the blonde’s eyes had clung to hers as the dragon roared above their heads, returning to her. The blonde had looked pale, tired, like she always looked lately, devoid of any fight herself as if already preparing herself for a funeral that wasn’t still written. And Regina, couldn’t wouldn’t really blame her. Even if with every comment, every dejected admission of how Emma didn’t see herself alive for much longer, made her want to grab the blonde woman by her shoulders and ask her why she seemed so intent on thinking there wasn’t any other way for her to survive. Why she seemed so convinced that Regina would destroy and maim and do whatever it needed to be done in order to prevent such. But, even if the Queen might have replied, Regina, the one she was, currently, never quite did that, far too many times biting her tongue and looking away as the blonde kept on glancing at the world around her as if nothing but sand compose every single thing she touched. Sand about to disappear between her fingers.

And yet, she had made a promise; “You're not sacrificing yourself, and neither am I.” One she had broken almost as quickly. But one that would keep Emma, stubborn Emma, trying to find a way to her. Because no matter what, she knew the green-eyed woman enough to know that despite everything, the blonde would actually try her damnest to retrieve her. If only to tell her how she dared. “You’ve taken this too far.” She would say to her, with fewer words, maybe, and a lot more anger. But that was the way with them both after all.

And despite how she had been the one pushing both sides of herself inside this realm, this world, she almost wanted to laugh bitterly at it; she had seen the blonde push her away from a vortex only to swallow down the darkness that threatened to take her. So, if she kept on standing, even for a moment longer, maybe a portal would be opened, maybe magic would pour inside, maybe she would be returned to her full abilities for only being able to actually pluck her heart out, finish a job that she felt was long overdue.

The only thing she needed to do was to keep on searching, keep on waiting, and study the surroundings, trying to find the mirror that would, indeed, do the trick.

The Queen had kept on talking, her voice a shrill that made its way into Regina’s ear.

“You wouldn’t dare to kill me, Regina, since I am the one that has kept you alive for so long. Or do you think mother would have kept you around after she returned from the Enchanted Forest if it wasn’t for what she saw on me? Do you truly believe that it was you who told Peter Pan that you had no remorse? Do you think, even for a second, that it was me the pathetic one, trying to get ahold of a love that seemed to be prophesized by some fairy dust? You are the one who hurt us, who kept trying to find solutions for a problem that did not even exist; I was the one reigning, I was the one that should be in control.”

Regina blinked, the ire on the other one’s words making her voice louder, almost a scream as it was now the one whose fingers twitched as if waiting for a fireball that didn’t manifest.

The movement of her eyes made them fall into the spread glass pieces around them, most of them from the mirror at her vault but others larger in shape and size. The original one they had been trying to mend. The one Sidney had been trying to use.

Maybe…

“I hurt you?” She said, moving to her left even a fraction in order to see if her suspicions were right. It was only a couple of shards, her mind told her, not enough to create the mirror, certainly not enough to escape. But if the glass was powerful enough she maybe could see where it would have directed her if they had been able to repair it.  “Tragic. Last time I checked I wasn’t the one trying to hurt my son.”

That got a reaction, enough of anger directed at her rather than at her movement for Regina to position herself next to the shard. It was clouded, like every other piece, but they were close enough to the smashed one. Maybe, with any luck, there would be enough residual power for it to react if she touched it.

“You can’t expect me to apologize.” The Queen replied, raising her hands with an almost smirk curling her lips. “Not when you are a coward who refuses, again and again, to reach for what should be ours.”

That made Regina stop, a second, two, the tone had changed there, minutely, and she eyed the other brunette with renewed anger.

“Don’t.” She warned; she knew the tone all too well, knew what it would preface, and she didn’t intend to have the conversation with herself, not like this.

But The Queen sensed the blood in the water, and, like a shark, she lunged.

“Don’t? Don’t say anything? Like the million times, you have stopped yourself in a pathetic try at honor that is so risible you made every piece of me crawl?” The Queen seemed about to attack now, muscles seizing beneath her clothes, and Regina prepared herself as she bent her knees; she knew that she herself wasn’t above a physical fight if there was no other option after all, and she needed to get the shard before the Queen realized what she was doing. “You could have everything you want if you only would let me take control. You could have her, as stupid that notion is. But no, it was always better to keep being honorable, being good.”

That made Regina bare her teeth.

“What do you want me to say?” She didn’t wait for an answer, though, she truly didn’t want to listen to it. Moving down, she grabbed the piece of glass, hard enough for her skin to be pierced by one side of it while wishing for the magic to reply.

The answer, however, did come, not from the Queen, however, but from inside herself.

“That you love her. That if you were selfish enough you would tell her, you would have her. That you would keep her safe, and alive.”

It didn’t matter, of course, the moment The Queen saw what she had grabbed, realized what she was doing, any kind of physical answer was ripped out from her lips, transformed into a growl deep enough to wake every slumbering heart inside her vault. Moving towards her, The Queen reached for the glass, the one that was indeed showing pieces of what seemed to be the woods, vines, crystals colored by moonlight, tall trees surrounding a clearing.

Regina didn’t have the time to realize what the glass was showing because the Queen’s hands grabbed her by the wrists and pushed her down as the rubble moved once more, trembling, and cascading down one of the many cracks the dragon had created with its breath. She felt her feet slip as The Queen grabbed the shard as well, both of their blood trickling now from the shard as they fell through the rock.

Down, down, down.

-.-

It was always interesting to see how their little town felt almost circular on the way magic run through it. Curses were dispelled and created almost as easily as difficult they should have been, death and life following each other in a perpetual circle. Emma wasn’t one to dwell on such things, she quite rather preferred to react to things, act if needed to. Anything else, anything that would make her stop and think even more about what surrounded her, made her anxious enough to wish for a way to disappear enough for everything to fall into ruin, and despite everything, she kept on choosing to stay.

Family was always and always had been a fickle, complicated, difficult term for her. She rather wanted to keep what she had created and found. Even if that in itself made her throat seize and close whenever she thought twice on the realness and proximity of her death.

She had said it to Aladdin herself after all; she had indeed tried to escape once. Or twice. But who was counting?

Her knee bounced as she kept on checking her watch and phone, the incessant beep on the room keeping everything, from the white corners, the hospital bed, the bright lights, that surrounded her a stark reminder of how she now couldn’t do anything but wait and sit still.

The moment she had crossed the glass she had turned, grabbing for Henry a second too quick to realize what had happened. The boy had melted into her hug, and she could very well picture him a tad younger, hugging her, close strong enough to almost hurt. She had, as she always did, imagined how many hugs she would miss from then on, but she had pushed through the thought, turning to her side where she expected for Regina to be, hugging just as tightly. The place, however, had been vacant and when she regained enough of her senses to focus on something beyond the boy, she had seen that they both were the only ones on the vault, the mirror broken in pieces and no Regina nor The Queen in sight.

“No!” She had whispered, turning towards where the anvil had been, about to smash it to pieces if needed. Henry had blinked and turned as well; his jaw set in such a mirror image of his other mother that it made Emma bit down her lip. “She didn’t cross.” She had muttered them, for the boy to shake his head and point where a few pieces of glass had been ripped away from the left side of the mirror’s frame. “She grabbed her; she made her fall to her.”

Emma had blinked then, anger rising inside of her, ozone filling the air as her magic returned in full force to her, dirty white clouding her pupils for a moment.

“I told her” She had said, still eyeing the mirror, as if expecting Regina to appear behind it. “I told her that the deal was to none of us needed to sacrifice themselves.”

At the end, they had tried just about everything they could do and when Hook had appeared, hook blazing “I thought the place for her Majesty to be would be the vault, that’s why I came.” He had made her leave the vault. Which she had done not after grabbing a shard of glass and keep it, resolved to find a way to get to Regina.

They had gone to Rumple, even, the man far too preoccupied with Belle and the Sorcerer’s wand to truly give them any more information. But they were short on magic users and Emma had insisted, arguing with Hook when the man had tried to placate her. She needed to return Regina to Storybrooke, she had said with gritted teeth and magic spilling out of her in thick blobs of ire and despair. No matter who she talked to.

“You can’t save them.” Rumple had said, however, eyes focused on the spun gold he had hexed, and Emma had wished to be able to be quick enough to punch the man before his own magic guards reacted to her. “It was already a miracle the mirror at her vault reacted to you alone and that was majorly because the Queen was on this side. She merely tapped onto Regina’s magic. But you can’t, not from here.”

She had stormed out of the shop, going back to her place only to stare at Snow as the woman told her that they were indeed going to liberate Regina, but they would need time.

“I don’t have time.” She had replied, fiercely, and pretended not to see the looks both Hook and her mother gave to each other. Henry had nodded just as fiercely, still on the clothes of the dance he had been supposed to go and Emma felt pain as she thought on how proud Regina had looked when staring at him, how worried she had been for his safety. She had admitted she didn’t know how to raise him but, honestly, as she watched him, she realized they had indeed done a good job, Regina had, indeed, do a good job. And she was planning on telling her that herself. “I don’t have the time, mom, to wait. And Regina doesn’t deserve to be kept on waiting with,- with her! Have you forgotten what she has done, already? What she has given away for us? They, you! All saw what she did when I thought my mind was too far gone, clouded by darkness. She kept on believing I could dial back, turn back. I’m not going to leave her just because it is not the best moment to find her. I will do it even if I need to reenact a curse myself.”

She had felt breathless after her speech, realizing with a numb afterthought that it had been a while since she had talked for so long without being interrupted. She had squared her shoulders and turned back, despite the pain of seeing her parents like they were she couldn’t keep still, idle, she refused so. She pretended not to listen to Hook as the man called for her and with Henry in tow, she closed the door of the apartment with a swish of her own magic, her boots heavy on the floor as she walked out.

It had been then when she had felt a blip, a distant call of a magic that felt mauve and purple and had a distinct scent, and her mind, her own magic, reacted to it as it exploded just behind her eyelids.

She had found both Regina and The Queen at the clearing where they had left the Glass coffin, its frame destroyed as parts of what it had been surrounding the two brunettes who were still holding a piece of it with bloody hands and wrists. They had been unconscious, eyes closed, and for a moment, a far too long one, Emma had feared the worst.

They still had a pulse, however, and when she had knelt next to Regina, very little had mattered the verdigris staining her clothes as she tried to see if her heart was still beating. The brunette had a gnash on her forehead and was far too pale for Emma’s liking. She had instructed for Henry to call an ambulance, his eyes panicked, his own blazer quickly turning into a short blanket over Regina’s form as they waited for the medics to arrive, a quick array of questions and answers being thrown into anyone who would listen to her and then, later, after getting a phone from one of the medics that had brought both Regina and The Queen, to her father as her mother had kissed him awake a few minutes prior.

And so, now, she waited. Still. Unable to do anything but wait.

The Queen was now being watched by her father and a reluctant Hook. When he had tried to follow her to Regina’s room she had stood her ground on wishing to be alone. Regina had gotten out, the man had told her, pointing to the sleeping form of the brunette. Yes, she had, Emma had replied, but she had been unable to tell him that part of the anger that still burned within her came from the fact that she had been factually unable to help her; Regina had gotten out by a mix of luck and magical practicality, a loophole within a loophole created by her blood and the Queen’s on the shard of the mirror that had been not other than the reflective surface of the glass coffin. Blue had been quite succinct at the explanation since she wasn’t versed on witch matters but Emma had caught the gist of it; given that it had been Regina who had created the original hex tying her to the place and how the object Sidney’s mirror had been tied to had ended up being the coffin, the magic of the original curse, the one that still lay dormant around Storybrooke, had called forth the Regina that had cast it originally, both sides of her.

That or she truly needed to study more magic; theory wouldn’t, after all, help her with her current conundrum: knowing that if it hadn’t been for that set of events she wouldn’t have been able to save the woman that now laid next to her. And that, in itself, was a far worse concept than any magical theory they could throw at her.

What kind of savior was she, she considered, fingers intertwined, clasped, knuckles white, feet firmly planted on the floor, knee perpetually bouncing, if she couldn’t help with something as straightforward as a magical jail? What kind of path was she in that she felt even more helpless than when she had first learned she had magic running through her? The title, and what came with it, stung, and weighed her down more these days, with each passing moment the never-ending realization that she wasn’t good enough to even be considered anything despite how her days had an end that kept on looming closer and closer.

There could be a myriad of other details she could be focusing on, of course, but she kept on returning to that point of her logic, not entirely sure what she was supposed to do. Henry had asked to stay, and she had complied, but Violet had appeared a few minutes in and had managed to get him out for five minutes to eat something, to talk. Emma had insisted on Henry to go; “If anything happens I’ll let you know.” She had said, lips thin, voice brittle, and Henry had stood his ground for a few more minutes before sighing. He, too, seemed to be eager to do something, anything, beyond waiting. And Emma couldn’t quite blame him. She at least hoped Violet would make him talk, if only so his feelings didn’t end up exploding inside of him, like bonfires. Which was precisely what she felt like: a straw puppet about to succumb.

“Why do you care this much?” Hook had asked her the moment she had told him to leave her be. “They are too far gone! They will probably not wake up until a few hours at least.”

But that hadn’t been the correct question because it held an answer Emma didn’t want to even consider, not aloud, not for herself and herself alone. So, she had shaken her head, pointed him to the door and turned.

Now, however, with the beep ringing on her ears and nothing to do but wait and count the lines and cracks on the floor, she felt her mind circle back to the question, the multiple ways in which she could have answered it. None of them felt right, not entirely, the multiple concepts of co-parenting, of friendship, correct but lacking. And so, she rose her hands and covered her eyes with them, pressing her fingertips against them until everything she was able to see was black upon black with dots and lines of colors that changed too fast for her mind to fully name them all.

“I told you, I trusted that you would be the one for him once I’m gone.” She mumbled, hoping for her voice to be sufficiently muffled. The noose around her neck tighter and tighter still as she tried to swallow, to form words that seemed too big for her lungs. “Fuck, Regina.”

She glanced up, her vision needing a few seconds upon adjusting, the scent of the hospital room not strong enough to dissolve the ozone and the scent that was Regina’s magic on itself, a soft cloud that had covered the brunette’s body ever since Emma had found her and The Queen, residual and just as weakened as its master, but still there. She now reached for that magic, for Regina’s forearm as her own felt as if pooling on her wrist, around her fingertips like cracks of electricity breaking through the air. If anything would have asked her, she wouldn’t have known why; neither she nor Regina touched each other that much. Touch, like everything else, was done following a pattern: one out of necessity, of high tension. They were economical in their interactions, perhaps because allowing themselves the luxury of simply reaching for the other would be too close to admitting that they wanted to simply be. Emma hadn’t exactly considered it, she had merely replied to what Regina gave her, knowing the fragility of what had been, at best, a truce at first. She now, however, reached for the other woman softly, index finger touching the other woman’s body in a shadow of a caress that felt far too short-lived.

Especially because the moment she did her magic burst out of her in tendrils that felt both gas and liquid in nature, wrapping themselves around Regina’s arm and ascending to the other woman’s mouth as they deposited themselves into her skin, glowing and turning from dirty white to purple a second before disappearing into her.

There was a beat, a second, and then brown eyes opened, searching for Emma’s hand, and clutching them tightly as, down the hall, David’s voice could be heard “She’s awake!”.

[They didn’t hear The Queen’s response for it was said through gritted teeth and breathless whispers, but the majesty’s eyes also glowed with dirty white quickly turning purple, electricity solidifying itself and turning into a plume that enveloped the woman, a final “I know the truth now” an echo that didn’t register to the ones in the room as they scrambled and tried to restrain her to no avail.]

No, they didn’t hear any of it, for it was later retold by David to Henry who had entered the moment screams could be heard, Violet in tow. But Emma kept her hand on Regina’s arm a little longer, eyes glowing, as the brunette coughed up a “Seems that sacrificing myself didn’t quite work.” That made Emma flush, worry renewed.

“We are in this together.” She lowered her voice, as steps echoed outside. “Don’t you dare to pull another one of this on me.”

Regina had smirked then, weak but awake enough for the line to form. “Understood.”

Because if anything happens to you there’s no rock I will turn nor a soul I will not destroy.

-.-

PS: *raises head from what they are reading* Oh, you expected them to kiss? Come on, it’s me! I didn’t call myself a little tease for anything during all the years I wrote for these two Xd Consider this a lost scene, a what if that could have happened. Despite my own personal head canons on when Regina actually started to realize she might be in love with Emma I always liked the scene of Regina at the vault as she and Emma got out of the mirror and Hook came into play. There were plenty of layers there that were always delightful to consider. I needed to do some twists on what happened canonically on this one -and I’m pretty sure the glass coffin ended up in another place rather than being kept at the clearing- but I’m not going to start considering OUAT cannon as something important to follow now, uh? Anyway, this has been written for W and also as a way of a writing exercise for me. As always and forever, comments are very much appreciated. General reminder that me writing for these two every other half a year or so doesn’t mean I’m back to the fandom but I will be delighted to listen to what you think of this one. And please, go and read waknatious’ stories because she is a truly amazing creator, and she deserves the love.

Dianne out

x

[fakeloveaskblog]

I think you. should ask Janus to "slither" over to your house! But also give him options! Like, "would you like to join me for dinner at my house? Or do you prefer to just go on a walk? How about we go to a fancy restaurant~ My treat~. Or maybe just enjoy each other's company at a park? You don't have to of course!"

(Words: 2095)

Logan: "Ah yes wonderful tactics stranger! This will surely be useless in my upcoming attempt!"

It was nearing the end of the day. Janus was closing up. Meanwhile Logan was trying to calm his nerves by reminding himself that he was objectivly very cool. He had on one of his best sweaters to look extra good (it had the tardis on it!).

"Alright. Looks like we can go home and have an existential crisis about the passage of time" Janus said motioning towards the exit.

Logan took a deep breathe before grabbing onto the sleeve of his crush' shirt "Please wait just a moment. How long have we known each other?"

"I guess since I started working here...so around 6 months? Please don't tell me you’re quitting! Work would just become soooo much more enjoyable"

"I was actually wondering if you mayhaps would like to accompany me on a so called 'hang out' during our leisure time...Today...Or some other day! If you want to! You don't have t-"

"No! No I would hate to!- Love! I mean I would love to!" Janus couldn't stop himself from grinning.

Logan flapped his hands in happiness "Good! So would you maybe like to go to the park nearby or-"

"No! Yes! Yes!"

"Great!"

Logan walked out of the library and held the door open for Janus. After quickly locking they walked towards the park. It was a simple small one. Just some trees, lots of grass, lots of people smoking grass, a pond, angry ducks, even angrier swans and exactly 1 ice cream shop.

All Logan wanted to do was take his crush' hand. It would be hard to do even if he tried to because Janus was constantly fiddling with his gloves. He was barely even looking at where he was walking.

"....I'm sorry for the weird way I talk sometimes" Janus quietly confessed "With the backwards talk. I kind of lie when I get nervous? I think?"

"Oh I know" Logan replied.

"You kNOw?" Janus' voice went up a tone.

"It is very noticeable but it is also quite charming if I may say so myself" It took a moment before he carefully added "Besides I have read that compulsive lying and also vitiligo can come from great stress or bad...events so even if I did not find it charming I wouldn't hold it against you either"

A small smile played on the edges of Janus' lips "Thanks"

"No need"

He took an impressively deep breathe before he stopped in the middle of the road and dramatically grabbed onto both of Logan's shoulders to stop him. He stood on his toes to make himself taller and stared into his love's eyes.

"I do not think you are also charming at all!!!" Janus very loudly announced.

Logan let up into a chuckle. He forced himself to keep eye contact "Well thank you"

Janus let go of him and kept walking very very quickly to try and distract from his red cheeks and heavy breathing. That was flirting right??? He had flirted??? He had done it??? He'd flirted??? The little voice in his head that he was starting to think was his self confidence trying to break through to him would be so proud!!!

“So would you perhaps like an ice cream in these trying times?” Logan asked. He was walking with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Oh right I would definitely love something high calorie that would just make me even more gross”

“Somehow your thick layer of sarcasm was the part of that sentence with the least falsehood in it. We can share one? Or if you get uncomfortable eating desserts in front of other people we don’t have-”

“SNAKE!” Janus interrupted him. 

He ran out into the grass of the park and hunched down to gently pick up a slippery snake. It was small enough to keep in one hand. He was repeatedly hitting his other arm against his leg and putting his fingers in uncomfortable positions.

Logan happily sat down next to him. Janus ungraciously shoved the snake right up near his face.

“It’s a baby northern watersnake! It’s not venomous I promise. It hunts fishes in the water. Isn’t that cool? It’s also one of the few species that doesn’t lay eggs! It can even put out musk to protect itself!! It’s so-”

He realized how much he was ranting and immediately forced himself to stop. He stopped his arm as well. He was so annoying.

“I apologize. Sometimes I just run my mouth and I do these stupid motions”

Logan boped his nose “The only stupid thing about that is you assuming I wouldn’t want to hear you rant. Or see you....stim...? I literally flapped my hands 5 minutes ago. I do not judge”

Janus shrugged at the stim question “My mother did always say that my father has adhd but that was in an insulting way. When I have done research on adhd I relate to a lot of it but it’s not like I have a diagnosis or anything”

“Bitchass mother” Logan mumbled under his breathe “I do not have diagnosed autism either but I do still now I have it.....Besides....Not to brag but I have both a deegre in both psychology and medicine so I can basically diagnose myself anyway”

Jan was already too overwhlemed to ask how the hell he had had the time for 2 bachelors deegre only to end up at a library.

“Anyhow we don’t have to talk about psychology...now...............maybe one day though” Logan did a little robotic evil laugh “For now maybe you can infodump about that snake, then we can get a shared ice cream and then I can infodump about glorious star trek. How’s that for a plan?”

His crush took a deep breathe before nodding. He stood up and cupped the snake in his hands. “You want to go to the pond don’t you little guy? Want to hunt and murder a few fishes don’t you?”

He turned to Logan and shuly said a few more facts while they went to the pond. He patted the snake on it’s head before carefully setting it down among the plants at the water’s edge.

The friends sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the snake as it looked for prey. (Though Logan spent most of the time adoring Janus’).

When the snake caught a small fish and swallowed it whole Janus broke out in happy flaps. He let out a happy squeal while pointing at it. Logan nodded back at him. He mimicked his flapping. 

He’d never seen Janus’ smile that brightly. Logan took his hand. Intertwining their fingers. They stimmed together until Lo pulled in his hand making his crush stumble into him. 

Jan sat with his head leaned against his chest. He looked up at Logan with blushing red cheeks. He forced himself to move back even if he didn’t want to.

“Sorry”

“No need” The nerd assured.

He stood up and held out his hand to help Janus up. They didn’t let go of each other’s hands as they walked towards the ice cream shop.

“To piss off homophobes” Janus lied up the explanation while motioning for their hand holding.

“Of course”

They ordered a scoop of lemon ice cream and sat down by the tables outside. Janus had taken off his gloves.  Their hands laid on top of each other. 

“Do you also have that experience where” Logan stopped to take a bite of ice cream “You categorize your life into what you were hyperfixated on at the time? For example I remember that when I met Patty I was into Doctor Who and right before then I was enjoying Sherlock Holmes”

Janus shrugged. He didn’t want to say that he had a hard time even remembering most of his life clearly “I can see the Doctor influence” He nodded towards his tardis sweater.

Logan’s eyes lit up “Oh have you seen it??? The ninth and fifth doctors are my favorite! Though as a bi man I can not ignore David Tennants’ everything”

“I have seen exactly 0″ 

“Well that is not a problem that can not be fixed! When I met Patty she hadn’t either- maybe because we were 12- but I show-”

Janus choked on his ice cream “12? Oh wow. For some reason I had assumed you were older”

“Oh no. She moved towns and started in my class. It was almost love at first sight. I stole flowers from my neighbor and invited her to see the movie everyone in town was talking about....Kung fu panda”

He broke out into a laugh.

“Don’t laugh at me Janny! It was an incredibly tactical decision. You see I knew she liked animals and the kung fu panda is a panda”

Janus doubled over the table while continuing to laugh “Me throwing popcorn at myself during my first hangout almost seems cool in conparison”

“Popcorn is usually hot. Not cooled down” Logan corrected. “Though to be honest the start of our relationship was sort of what you can call a ‘mess’ since as you already know both of us were foolish enough to think Patty was a guy. So suddenly I had to come to terms with liking guys. Until she told me she was a girl. So then I was straight. Until I met Thomas but that is a whole different story. It was like some people say a rollercoaster”

“Am I rude for finding that funny?”

“Yes incredibly and frankly you should be dragged to the guillotines right now”

Janus leaned closer to him with a sly smile on his face “Aw ~darling~ I didn’t know you could be sassy”

Logan did his best to hide how the nearly choked on his own spit “Yes I can indeed be if I want to. Just like how I have been able to have adequate facial expressions and voice tones and also eye contact during our whole hangout. Normally I only have a lot of expressions and tones if I am talking about hyperfixations or my wife”

“You don’t have to do that around me”

“Really? It does take a lot of energy to try and appear ‘normal’ but I was afraid of coming across as rude”

“Darling I find you lovely either way” Janus was going to pour up the biggest glass of fucking wine when he got home. He was a flirting machine!

“Oh okay” Logan relaxed his shoulders and started looking at a point right next to his shoulder instead of at his eyes. “Want to hear about Star trek the next generation? It’s the one with Data in it”

Janus squeezed his hand “I definitely have a very good idea about who that person is. Yes please tell me”

Logan went on a very very long infodump which Janus happily listened to (and did his best to reply to even though he didn’t know much). He was sure he would never get tired of hearing him talk. The ice cream nearly melted because they were both too busy with what he had to say.

“-And that is why the poetry actually have significance” Logan concluded after nearly half an hour.

“Well that sure sounds like an interesting series”

“I can show you it? Soon? I have it all on dvd”

“It’s a date- I uh I mean like planned thing not like romantic I mean-” Janus babbled out.

“I am aware of what you meant” He checked his watch “It is probably a good time for me to depart. It’s my turn on laundry today. I will get to categorize socks!”

“Wow. Sounds like a party”

Logan excitedly nodded. He stood up. Janus did as well. They looked down at their still connected hands. Jan was about to let go and simply leave but to his surprise Logan pulled him into a hug.

He leaned down and moved his arms around Janus’ waist. In return Jan quickly stood up on his toes and buried his head into his love’s shoulder. He breathed in his scent. Coffee and strawberry jam. He closed his eyes, taking in the moment.

“Janus, You are so special to me” Logan murmured while holding onto him as hard as he could.

“I- I love- I love being around you” He whispered back. Too afraid to say the truth.

Logan tried to memorise the way it felt to have him this close before letting go and taking a step back “Well I will see you tomorrow then”

“Can’t wait!”

[nanamisflowerfield]

Hiyaaa! I JUST READ MY REQUEST AND I'M IN LOOOOVEEEE💓💓🤧

SO HAPPY THAT YOU WROTE THIS BUT ALSO PLASE DON'T STRESS YOURSELF SO MUCH!

I'm a happy lil' girl rn so Can I also request a Sebastian one of the same request or maybe a second part like she starts to fix Ciel's mistakes and interacts with him and Elizabeth?( like Pluto's death or some other things? Also she teases Ciel and annoys him and Sebastian and her bond over their shared love for felines?)

I'd be delightful if you did that and again thank u so much! Take care hun muaaah

Omggg! Thank you so much for your sweet words, hun!!❤️❤️❤️ That means so much to me!

I did the Sebastian x Reader now~ I tried to pit more Ciel and Elizabeth in it and make it more fluffier but I think it isn‘t so good ;-; I also thought about making a second part, but I think Ciel had made too many mistaked maybe in his life to fix them and if reader changed them, maybe she would change her entire future too! And omg... I have a few ideas for a serie.... not good... No one would wanted to read my stuff anyway (　ﾟдﾟ)

No! I have to thank you for requesting it to me!~

Gender: I wanted to write it gender-neutral but it I wrote sometimes she/her in it.... Sorry! 

warnings: fluff? does that count?

words: 2106

Requests: Open

Other Version: Finnian

Everybody, please stay safe, take good care at you and the people around you!~

🗡  “Come on! Go and get that, stupid witch!” You yelled over to your group of colleagues and friends. You all runed as fast as possible to hunt down a strong witch, who wanted to kill the Queen of England and as a good-hearted and well paid Phantomhive, you tried to help her. Unfortunately for you, the emphasis was on the word tried, because the witch was too fast.

🗡  “Sooo…. When is going to be our wedding?” You heard a too familiar voice asking you by your side. “This is no the time to joke around, Elijah! We need to hurry!”

🗡 Thanks to the gods above, you surrendered the witch. But she started to laugh like a frickin’ maniac! “Ohh, you know why I did so many things? Hahaha… I did it for a reason! So many people did so many mistakes and nobody ever tried to help them out or to fix their big problems … So… Why don’t you be a dear and fix the mistakes your beloved ancestors did!”

🗡 Suddenly a light dazzled you and when you opened your (e/c) eyes. No! The witch can’t escape her again! So you did the only intelligent thing and killed her.

🗡 But that damn light came again and out of the sudden your group was gone…

🗡  “Wow… That was strange.” But not Elijah. Your cousin. He stood up and walked to your direction, looking over your body to see, if you have any bruises or wounds. At least one of your group members were there.

🗡  “Yes, indeed. But not as weird as this place here.” You said and looked around you. The surroundings looked like London, the city you used to live in, but everything was so… old? What’s up with the furniture and this crappy paintings? You were to 100% sure that you were in your home. The Phantomhive Manor. But everything was so… weird!!

🗡 Before you could have asked your cousin about his little wound the witch inflicted him with, knives were thrown into your direction!

🗡 Fortunately, you were a skilled fighter. You could practically use every weapon if you wanted to! So you used your great skills and blocked the attacks of some strangers.

🗡 Some of them shot at you, some threw knives but then… You saw something weird. A tree!?

🗡 Elijah pushed you away in time, but only got stretched but a branch of it.

🗡 How in the world, could somebody throw trees around!? That was not possible for any human being!

🗡 Now, when you two were on the ground, you heard footsteps.

🗡  “Who are you?” - “Uhh… If I’m not wrong, people usually introduced themselves before they asked others.” – “You are inside my home. I’m pretty sure, that you know who I am, assassin.”

🗡 Assassin? That was new…

🗡  “What the hell? Hey, kiddo. This place belongs to (y/n)! Afterall this is her home for she is a Phantomhive!”

🗡  “Phantomhive?” The young blue-haired boy raised his eyebrow and did not believed any word Elijah had said.

🗡 So, it was your turn to explain your situation. Who you are, why you are here and so on and on. But the young boy still didn’t believe a word. His household even looked at you in confusion. Until you showed them your ring. The ring of the Phantomhives.

🗡 His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw it and immediately glanced to his finger. It was the same one! How could it be possible? A young woman with blueish hair, the same ring as his and not to forget a similar past… Is she mayhaps from another world? But no. You retold him everything again.

🗡 When your eyes glanced around, you saw very familiar red eyes. The red eyes of a demon. Sebastian Michaelis. “Ohhh my gosh. Are you kidding me, Sebastian!? Did you really… REALLY attacked ME!? What the hell! I thought that you wouldn’t do such a thing except if we had our training sessions, but this is just…. Oh god, I am really mad right now. And what the hell is wrong with your clothes?” Sigh. “Dude… you didn’t even bother changing yourself? Unbelievable.”

🗡 Everybody was just very confused…. Even Elijah.

🗡 And who knows. Maybe you were unfortunate or maybe not, but you were stuck in the past. At first you though it was your bad luck, but now… Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Afterall… he was here. With you.

 😈 “Lady (y/n), there you are.” Said a smiling demon behind you, while you trained in the garden a little bit. The only thing that some might hear, when you are nearby, is the wind and the sword you held tightly in your hand, cutting every leaf that tried to land on the ground.

“Demon. What do you need?” You asked, still focused on your training rather of the one you had a pact with. He might sound and looked like the demon you knew, but he for sure is not the one you’ve met. He was kind of a younger version. One which never had met you. One that has to get to know you better again. It was weird, but you have to live with it until the day will come and you will be back in your time.

Just a few days and maybe you will fix the mistakes Ciel’s have done. Even though you don’t know which mistakes he has done. But even then, you will stay on his side, whenever he needs your help so you can finally be back. Back with him. The only person who knows you best…

😈 “What are you thinking about again, my lady?” He asked you, like on every other day since you have been arrived here. “About me! Who else~” Elijah said, as he approached you two, sword in hand and ready to train with you.

Sighing, you ignored them and continued.

😈 It was like back then. Elijah never stopped to be by your side, while you tried to drink you tea, shaking your cousin off of you and Sebastian smiling at you two.

😈 But now… Now it was slightly different. He wasn’t always there like your shadow. He was now by your ancestor’s side and serving him. Were you…. Jealous? No. That couldn’t be possible. You tried to shake off those strange feelings you had, but your mind always seem to wonder of to the attractive butler and demon.

😈 “Cieeeeeeel!!~ Ohhh, I missed you sooooo much!” You heard a high-pitched voice and fast footsteps rushing through the building in search of the young head of the phantomhive household.

What happened right now? It was like seeing a pink something running around. Weird.

😈 But this pink-something was actually the fiancée of Ciel. Her name was Elizabeth Midford.

😈 Unfortunate for Ciel and for you, Elizabeth and your cousin Elijah were very alike. Both loved the same things and both were nearly overprotective over you two. It was horrible. Ciel just wanted to work in silence, while you read plenty of books in hope that you might find another way to break this curse or spell or whatever this stupid witch put on you! Just be far away from this crappy place and be back… Back to the people you love and back to great technology like computers and smartphones! The internet… The Fanfictions you’ve read in secret…. All these things you loved so much were gone now….

😈 “(y/n)! That was so funny! You have to hear Lizzie’s story! It is hilarious!” – “Ohhh, El! I laughed so much thanks to your great jokes. You can be happy to have such a great fiancée, (y/n)!” Rolling your eyes didn’t help to stop them…

😈 “My lady. I think I might have found what you were looking for.” Said the one and only demon behind you, as you turned around to see a smiling Sebastian. “Mh?”

Following him, you ignored the two blondes and a deadpanned Ciel, who just wanted to flee.

😈 “So, what have you found… Sebastian?” You asked him after you two walked into another room filled with plenty of books, like many other rooms Ciel had. Sure, back in your time you had many too, but in digital form, so it was different than this.

“Oh, nothing. I thought that you needed some space.” He smiled, placing his forefinger and thump on your chin, staring into your eyes.

😈 Time to fricking blush like jfejfösdjgöajö IT’S SEBASTIAN!!!

😈 But no! You are a badass and he was just a very very very attractive butler!

😈 He served you back then! As if you could ever feel attracted to him!

😈 “Sebastian. Stop.” You said, trying to hide your face, walking away from the chuckling demon.

😈 Since then, he won’t stop teasing you. For now, he has no pact with you, so he will only listen to your ancestor and not you. You are just a sweet little being to him. A plaything some might say.

😈 But you are not the only one who got a little bit annoyed or more likely teased. Ciel too, because you are “too cruel” how he described you once. Only because you teased him a couple of times (46 times a week… Ciel counted it.) His fault if he is adorable and blushy, when you tease him.

😈 But after two months you’ve decided to finally make Sebastian, the cruel demon, blush! So he will realize how mean he is to you!

😈 Mission: Make Sebastian Blush Like A Tomato!

😈 You tried it. Many times… Wearing short clothes (Baldroy, Meyrin, Finnian, Elijah and Ciel blushed furiously and you were certain, that you saw their noses bleed…), brushing your hands with his, smiling sexy at him, bending over, touching him a lot…. And it goes and goes… But nothing happened. He just smirked and teased you back.

😈 Mission: Totally Failed.

😈 “My lady, how it seems you tried to tease me.” Sebastian smiled as he poured tea into your teacup. “Yeah… And I give up.” – “Oh, that is quite sad. I was happy to see more today.” He chuckled or more likely laughed at your attempts. “Haha… Very nice of you… No go, Sebastian….”

😈 But there was Sebastian actually speaking the truth. He was a little bit to not see you trying to attract him. He had always fun to see you like this, but now that you gave up, you had no reason to be near him again… He liked it whenever you were there, staring at him or trying to talk dirty to him (without success).

😈 When you talked later on with Ciel during your usual cup of earl grey tea about your past and what so not, he told you about his cat allergy and why he hates it that Sebastian always hides cats everywhere, because of his love for the small kittens.

😈 Wait… Right… Back then, you figured it out. There was one thing that the demon butler and you had in common! Your love for cats!

😈 So you walked to Elizabeth once and asked for a favor…

😈 “Sebastian. Could you maybe turn around? I need to show you something.”

😈 And that’s what the good butler did. He turned around and saw you. You looked the same, except for your clothes. You changed your usual attire for skintight, beautiful clothes with a cat-ear hairband and a tail. On your hands you wore paw-gloves, as you smirked at the now slightly flushing butler, who worked a few seconds ago in the kitchen.

😈 The knife he used to cut the onions, fell down and his red eyes scanned your body many times, when his mouth turned to a smirk and he walked to you.

😈 “My my~ What do we have here?~”

😈 Let’s say that many kisses were exchanged… Too many to count, when he held you tight in his arms.

😈 Maybe the reason for you to make him blush was not only to get your revenge… Maybe it was because you fell in love with him once, when you were younger and that you fell for him again.

  Bonus:

😈 “What the hell!? (y/n)!? Sebastian!? NO! Where is my sword!! Get your hands off of her, you goddamn butler!!! I never liked you!!” Elijah screamed when he tried to get his sword, ignoring the sweet words you and your beloved exchanged. The teasing kisses and the “I like you too much”s….

[duelofthefatesmp3]

i DO actually wanna know how youd make kotor 3 !!!!!

this ask has been sitting on my inbox for so long on PURPOSE! i wanted some time to re read the revan book + watch some swtor gameplays so i could give a concrete answer about why the book and swtor arent satisfactory and what i would do instead (im not like. a storytelling god so i this is just my PERSONAL idea). under the cut!

to begin with, what's wrong with revan the book and swtor, mai?

i am very fond of swtor i think it was such a nice idea to have an "open" world game set in star wars old republic time. but ultimately, it was not a good conclusion to revan and meetra's storyline! now, i don't really know what happened in the development of the third kotor game (if there ever was a plan for one) but it's clear they dropped the ball on that and decided to start a whole different project. i don't think we can blame disney for that one, because it was announced on 2008, launched in 2011, and disney had just bought star wars that year. so who knows.

the thing is that it's painfully evident that a bunch of the story that was gonna be in the third game, ended up in the book + misc parts of swtor. much of the book feels like a gameplay.

now, it was clear when the book was planned that they wanted to keep revan's story open so when the game came out, they could have a cool Revan storyline so he could make a cool villain appearence and draw in some of that kotor nostalgia. which ehhhhhh. uh. i don't really think did any favors for revan's character. he didn't have a satisfactory arc (I'm not saying "a happy ending" because good arcs aren't always happy) but at least some closure?

revan went through many big events in his life. we didnt need to keep his ass in stasis for his fun villain moments 300 years later. we already had what we wanted from him: jedi turned sith turned jedi again to defeat a terrible threat. that was it we could have let it there and it would have been cool! but then they decided to drag and drag his story just to leave him right where he was before. he just suffered a little more in the in-between.

you could say he finally redeemed himself of all of his crimes this way, but wasn't that the whole purpose of the first kotor game (and would have been the purpose of the 3rd?)

swtor does not centre revan in his own narrative. he's a side character for the player to experience. and look, i get it, we've had a different protag on each game, why not have another one in this one. well, because the protagonist has no personal relationship with revan. meetra was one of his closest friends, and fought with him. there is a connection that can be exploited. but the swtor protagonist is just some guy 300 years in the future who happens to stumble into revan and his life. not even his descendants get to fully interact with revan.

also, there is the fact that revan is not the centre of the game itself, only of a particular storyline. and it's weird, because swtor could have happened without revan's involvement.

ms. meetra surik, ms. bastila shan, women of the world I'm sorry

so it's no news that star wars is misogynistic as fuck right. cause it is.

so you decide to make your gender neutral protagonist a guy. then you decide to make your other gender neutral protagonist a woman. cool. now let's guess who gets underdeveloped, turned into a plot device without reason, and promptly fridged in the most unceremoniously fashion just to fullfil some manpain moments. which one do you think got that treatment.

i know the revan book is supposed to be about revan, but why make meetra go through a whole arc just to undermine her character and turn her into the faithful servant of the guy? she leaves everything behind for him, sacrifices herself for him, hell not even dead is she not serving the guy. and she was the second game’s protagonist! she beat up a bunch of powerful people and now she’s just meh, there? she had so many interesting ways to interact with revan (meeting kreia, revan’s first master, encountering another force consuming entity, etc.)

meetra went through a whole arc about dealing with the guilt of doing something horrible and having the consequences of it cut her from the force. we see her broken, then slowly come back to the world and reconnect herself with the force, then stop running and face the consequences of her role in the war. thats such a cool character with tons of potential! and nothing happened!

then we got bastila who is. a whole deal. so you make her go through a “promising jedi who defeated revan, to questioning reluctant companion, to fell into the dark side, to was redeemed thanks to her bond to revan, who helped her come back because he’d been through the same experience” arc, and then you decide to push her to the side to have a baby?? which is... its clear that the writer didnt know what to do with her (or with the other characters outside of canderous) so hey, lets get her to marry revan and have a baby.

my ideal kotor 3

to preface, im not a game developer, so some of my choices could be stunted by what a kotor rpg can do lol. of course, it would follow the same mechanics and have the same format as the first two, because consistency!

the fun way to start the game, would be from scourge’s perspective. we get to play as a sith! i’d even say you get to change scourge’s name and gender and looks (i know sith have different looks)

in scourge’s storyline, we get from his arrival to normound kaas, to his talks with nissyris, to his missions working for her. in some of these, we can make scourge lean into the dark or the light side! fun! plus we get some exposition with dialogue options. it all continues untill we get to nissirys story about the emperor. we get a fucked up cutscene of his childhood and then BOOM when its over, we see revan waking up from a nightmare and their pov starts.

ok, as for revan’s story, since we’d have to pick it up from where kotor ended, i’d have a little cutscene of revan back into the ebon hawk, with bastila, and them telling the crew to take them to courascant. then cut to a council meeting where revan and bastila get scolded in private, then rewarded by the republic. i would also like to see some revan mournink malak’s death mayhaps. since he was their childhood friend and all.

i would 100% scrape the marriage and two years passed part. as the book said, the council had no use for revan aside from the legend(tm), so why would they stay in courascant. revan was very alienated from the jedi at that point, despite being back in the “light side”

then like, to revan asking around for meetra and other jedi from the mandalorian wars, we can cash in that atris cameo, then revan starts to have these visions about the sith emperor, and maybe we could get a playable dream sequence about revan’s fight with mandalore the ultimate (I KNOW I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT.) and we get the whole exposition to mandalore telling revan that the sith are behind it all. i believe we should get a bunch of these flashback/dream sequences of revan’s past doing shit. cut to revan burying the mask in a planet, then back to the present. we see a bunch of mission and juhani scenes trying to reach him, but he keeps pushing them away. revan and bastila meet canderous, travel to the ice planet, meet clan ordo (god i love clan ordo) you get the whole quest, you decide weather to spare veela or not, maybe you get a cheeky mandalorian companion (force sensitive mando oh?) and leave canderous behind.

we can visit like, a couple more planets searching for clues maybe, etc. then when reaching nathema, you are forced to go alone as revan, get to explore nathema a bit (raiding ancient location yay) nathema as a location can be so fun because you can have it weaken you hp bar and also you cant use the force (which, in game is pretty cool)

then we get to scourge and nyssiris arriving to the planet, they fight but since theres two of them and revan doesn’t have the force, they beat the shit out of them, and while running away, they get in a fight with bastila and the companions in the ebon hawk (ebon hawk shooting game my hated). bastila manages to get a glimpse of revan’s thoughts before they take them away. but the ebon is so ruined it takes bastila, t3 and the mandalorian a while to fix it, and they get stuck into the unknown regions for a while. the ebon hawk is left in an outer rim planet with t3 fixing it, bastila and the mandalorian run back to the jedi council, only to get caught in the middle of the jedi civil war. we can have bastila choosing to hide in courascant and trying to make sense of what she saw, reading texts about the sith empire, trying to plot a course to where they took revan (more atris! but shes pissed at her now)

cutscene to meetra’s pov, leaving malachor v behind, getting calls from everyone at the hawk (atton my beloved) but just as she’s leaving she gets a force message from revan, calling for her to find him and sending visions of normound kaas. then, through her force bond with visas, she tells her not to go because they’re gay and in love and whatnot.

then boom, she gets intercepted by bastila’s ship, with the mandalore and the other mandalorian (yes i do love having a bunch of mandos on board) and they go on their way to find revan.

now i want there to be an underlying message of “we can’t take our friends with us because we have to do this ALONE we’re powerful JEDI we don’t need our FRIENDS.” meetra gets asked if she wants to bring any friends and she’s like “no. we have to do this alone.” along the game you get constantly contacted by other game characters, you get the chance to talk to them or ignore them.

so, we get back to nathema, and meetra has a whole “holy shit this is just like darth nihilus but ten times worse. but i beat darth nihilus. i can do this!” then she finds peace in this place without the force, we get a whole speech about how the odds arent against them, they find a way to normound kaas, and get going.

in normound kaas i thought about them getting a whole mission about how to infiltrate the citadel, only to get helped by scourge. he joins the party, we get a little flashback of all the years he spent trying to make revan remember and they storm the citadel. we get to fight the dark council members, fun! then we get to free revan and the game switches povs. bastila hands the mask to revan and he has a cool “yes im revan im pretty cool” then a nice heartfelt yet rushed reunion with everyone.

then have a small CONVERSATION WITH MEETRA where she talks about the sith triumvirate she defeated and revan is impressed with her and is like “we are the last hope of the jedi, we’ve learned to walk between light and dark, we’ve done horrors but we can still make things right, our experience has made us more powerful etc.

then they fight the imperial guard, ALL OF THEM, meetra revan and scourge make it into the throne room, they all fight the emperor. meetra shows the emperor that she has seen the void, she has cut herself from the force, and she’s not afraid of him, revan supports her, talks about redemption and hope  and NOW.

NOW. how the alternate endings could go:

if you decide to take scourge through the light side, he manages to form a forcebond with meetra and revan since they’ve both teached something about the duality of the force, they get 100% stronger, but its still not enough. UNTIL. a bunch of ships (jedi and mandalorian, even non republic ships) arrive to dormound kaas, the gangs from each game storm the room and together they make the emperor and his guard a bunch of punching bags. they beat him! (unknow to them, this was a backup body because the emperor can do weird shit like that, and has only debilitated his plan, but he’ll come back dont worry). then they fly back to the republic, to tell the chancellor about the sith threat, and preparations for the war begin. meetra and revan get to live happily ever after for a while, then they die away from the jedi or the sith (waaah im thinking about them helping canderous rebuild the mandalorians, and them doing it since they killed so many mandos in the war)

BECAUSE IN THE END KOTOR IS ABOUT LEARNING TO PROCESS TRAUMA AND RECOGNIZE YOUR MISTAKES AND LIVE WITH THE GUILT WHILST TRYING TO FIX THE MISTAKES YOU MADE ALONG THE WAY. AND ALSO TO HEAL FROM TRAUMA YOU NEED A SUPPORT SYSTEM SO EVEN THOUGH IT MAKES SENSE TO YOU YOU SHOULDNT PUSH PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU AWAY. AND THINGS AREN’T BLACK AND WHITE ITS COMPLICATED SO YOU DONT END UP BACK ON SQUARE ONE YOURE A CHANGED PERSON.

or

if you decide to dark side scourge further, he betrays revan and meetra, they all die, and the emperor unleashes his angry lightning or whatever on everyone + a bunch of visions of all the enemies of past mocking them, and their loved ones suffering. and since you’ve had that “im not calling my friends bullshit” no one comes, you die there, and the emperor is only stalled for a few years. swtor ensues. scourge becomes the emperor’s hand.

now you could of course bring revan and meetra up in swtor, but maybe only as force ghost guides, or have some of the other characters of the game have relevance (visas tries to heal the miraluka planet 2021)

WELL THAT WAS A LOT OF WORDS. HOPE THIS IS SATISFYING ENOUGH

[chibinekochan]

Um first of all wanted to say THANK YOU AMAZING AUTHOUR! Your work 10/10 👌 - also can I request a hc to the boys reacting to mc being put under a love potion, (Solomon casting it, mayhaps as a prank) but you act normal bc you already love them (true love stuff) idk I thought it would be very fluffy and cute.

Thank you so much, that is very sweet of you! 

Solomon would do something like this, shady wizard.

Asmodeus 

He is very aware of the spell, and its effects. 

Not that he ever needed to use this. 

Asmo is a little disappointed when it has 0 effect on you. 

Not that he would take advantage of you but he wouldn't mind to see you flirting with him. 

He is wondering if it doesn't work on humans, but he has seen it working before. 

What other reason could there be? 

Asmo read through the spells description and there it says, it will not work if you are already in love with the first person that you see. 

Seeing as you two are alone right now, that can only mean one thing. 

You are in love with him! Wait a second. 

Asmo feels strangely shy about this, so unlike him. 

There is only one way to know for sure. 

That is, of course, to ask you. 

"Hey say are you in love right now?" 

"You mean from the spell? I don't feel any different."

"No, I meant before that spell was cast." 

You get a bit shy. "Well I mean you know…"

"Please be honest with me."

You turn red. "Yes, I am in love right now."

Asmo knows this is a bit silly to ask bit he has to know. "So the person that you love is in this room right?" 

"Yes." You feel very shy but this might be a good opportunity to confess your feelings. "And before you ask the person I love is you." 

Asmo is a bit taken aback. He had no idea. I mean he likes you obviously and yes you two have been flirting and enjoying time together. Well now where he really thinks about it, all the signs were there. Maybe he just never thought you would fall in love with him. 

"So what about you Asmodeus?" You ask a bit shyly, hoping he feels something for you too. 

"I love you too of course. Sorry I was just a bit surprised that's all." He smiles widely and hugs you tightly. 

He will not do anything else for now, just in case the potion had an effect on you after all. 

Satan

In a twist of fate he made a love potion for Lucifer to drink, to embarrass him of course. 

Sadly you somehow thought it was lemonade and drank it. 

Satan is very worried about its effects, and slightly curious how you would be when you are love drunk.

Soon he notices that there is no change at all. 

Satan is a bit confused, he double and triple checks the ingredients and the brewing method but he did everything correctly. 

That only leaves one option : You already love him!? 

He has to let that sink in for a minute and then blushes. 

Satan has to know to be sure. "Hey this might be a strange question, but are you in love with someone?" 

"Huh, why do you ask?" You have no idea why Satan asks. 

"Well, you see this love potion doesn't work on someone who is in love." 

You start to feel embarrassed. "I mean I meant to tell you before but yeah I love someone. That someone is you. I love you Satan." You fidget a bit and turn red. 

Satan blushes as well. He was hoping for this but was honestly afraid of your answer. 

He smiles and takes your hand to calm you down. "I'm very glad to hear this. To be honest I love you too."

Now you are both bright red and smile happily. 

He will wait until the potion has no effect anymore and then asks you to date him officially. 

You agree and soon you find Satan telling anyone that you confessed your love to conveniently leaving the lovepotion out if his story. 

Leviathan

He has this collectors item lovepotion and honestly expected it to be fake. 

To your credit it looks just like a bottle of the anime themed soda that Levi currently drinks. 

You accidentally fill your cup with it and Levi's. 

You both drink it and it tastes kinda strange but to be fair most of his soda does. 

Leviathan, at least, doesn't notice. 

Later your cups are empty and Levi is filling you both up. 

He gets pale when he sees the open bottle of lovepotion. 

"Ahhh look at this!" He runs over to you, bottle in hand. "It's a lovepotion! Do you know what that means???" 

You are slightly confused. "Wait, I thought it was soda and a lovepotion? Come on, that does not really exist, right?" 

"It's genuine, trust me I know the ingredients. What are we doing now? WE SHOULD CALL AN AMBULANCE!" Levi has half of a panic attack. 

"Alright, first of all we should calm down. I mean I don't feel any different then usual. Do you?" 

"No, but who knows I mean I never took a lovepotion before. So you really feel nothing at all when you look at me? No faster beating heart or sudden urge to kiss me?" Levi seems mostly concerned but also flustered to ask you. 

"Well not more than usual at least." You blush and hope that Levi doesn't notice. 

"Wait, no more then usual? D-don't tell me… don't me you ACTUALLY… no wait you can't actually like… LIKE ME?" Levi has no clue how to react to this. 

"I don't know if now is the right time but I really like you a lot. You know not just as a friend." You feel a bit shy about confessing it right now, especially when you don't know if Levi is feeling some effects from the potion. 

Levi goes beet red. He didn't see this coming whatsoever." Oh, I thought it was just me OMG. What, like, seriously, are you seriously sure about this? I mean is this like in -  TheonetimeIbecamefriendswithademonwhowasactuallyveryniceandthenheturnesouttobeanerdandnowwesomehowgotengadedbutitisverynice?" 

"Yeah it's just like that Levi, but what about you?"

Levi still seems only seconds away from fainting. "I mean I really like you too and it's not the lovepotion. I mean you are awesome. The best thing that has ever happened to me. I mean look at me, are you really sure that you like me?" 

"Of course, I like you and it's not just that. I love you Leviathan." You smile softly at him. 

Levi gasps for air. He feels like fainting. He never thought that you could love him. 

"Really y-you l-l-love me-me?" 

"Yes, I really love you Levi. What can I do to prove it to you?" 

Levi waves his arms around. "Wait, hold on a second just… I mean wait, I need to mentally prepare myself." He takes a few breaths to calm himself down and to assure himself that this is happening. 

"Alright, you know you are my best friend right? Like a really super real best friend and I don't want to mess this up. You know… So I just gonna say this now: I love you too!" 

Levi is far from calm, he is bright red. 

You've never been more in love with him than in this very moment. "You will always be my best friend Levi. We take it slowly, step by step. How about a hug for now?" 

Levi agrees and you both hug for a while. 

It feels very good. 

Levi asks you later if you are still sure about this and you kiss him on the cheek. 

Well that settles that. 

Mammon

The spell gets cast on everyone else, but Mammon knows how this works and closes both of your eyes. 

Then somehow gets you both out of the room. 

He does not care about the chaos behind him. 

Mammon just doesn't want you to go fall for some random demon or his brothers. 

It's not gonna happen!

You are slightly confused but Mammon doesn't pull his hand from your eyes, but he also has his own eyes covered. 

So to nobody's surprise he falls over something, and you look at him and help him up. 

Well not that he minds that you fall for him now. 

It might be from a spell but hey it's better than nothing. 

Just to be safe he brings you to your room and then locks the door behind you two. 

Obviously the spell has no effect on Mammon, he has been under your spell for a long time. 

Not that you have to know that part. 

"Mammon, what just happened?" You feel slightly lost. 

"Well, that shady wizard just had to show his skills to everyone. Beats me but we are safe now. How do you feel?" 

Mammon keeps a slight distance between you two, as funny as it would be to have you all over him it just wouldn't be right. 

"Pretty normal. What kind of spell was that even?" 

"You sure no strange urges? Wanting to pounce me or something like that?" Mammon feels only slightly disappointed. 

"Pounce you? Why would I want to do that?" 

"Hahaha yeah, good question beats me… so um really nothing unusual?" Mammon keeps probing, what is he even hoping for right now? He has no idea. 

"I feel normal so will you tell me what is going on?" 

"Well Solomon cast a love spell. A pretty powerful one too. So you should feel very attracted to me right now." 

"Lovespell? Are you kidding me? Wait, wouldn't you be in love with me too?" You aren't sure if this is some prank that Mammon has pulled. 

"Well that is you know…Ummm well… AhAh yeah I'm too powerful. So it doesn't work on me."

"So Lucifer is fine right now?" 

"Ahahaha yes of course."

"So if I go back he will be completely normal?" You can see that Mammon isn't telling the truth. 

"No-No don't go, please just stay here." Mammon is sweating bullets. 

"Mammon tell me the truth!" 

He sighs. "Fine, look it doesn't work on people who are in love already."

"Wait does that mean that you love me?" You blush. 

Mammon blushes. "Hey, hey, don't jump to conclusions there."

You look at him slightly disappointed. "I thought you might feel the same way." 

"Hey, no unfair tactics like that! I mean, you know alright. You got me I admit it. I love you. Are you happy now?" Mammon looks shyly to the other side. He is confessing like he committed a crime. 

You chuckle slightly, he really is so cute sometimes. 

"Yes, thank you Mammon. I love you too." 

"No making fun of me!" He grumbles slightly. Then realization hits him. "Wait did you just say... That you love me too?" Mammon stares at you with wide eyes. 

"Yeah, of course. I love you very much!" You smile at him, glad to be able to finally admit it. 

Mammon is completely red now but he is smiling with a wide smile. 

"You know it took you long enough to say it." Mammon pouts only slightly. He is very happy right now. 

"Yeah, sometimes I'm a bit slow. So will you forgive me?" 

"Of course I will forgive you, but only this once and only if you give me a hug." 

You can tell how happy he is and you both smile like idiots. 

You give him a big hug. 

Mammon is truly glad that you both feel the same way. 

Beelzebub 

He somehow thought the lovepotion was seasoning. 

Beel uses it on the pizza he then shares with you. 

You are really grateful and it tastes really good. 

Then Solomon notices what happened and he is mortified. 

He informed you two and advises that you stay close but if anything strange happens to go into separate rooms right away. By the next morning you both will surely be normal again. 

So you you go into Beels room and wait for the promised effect. 

"It's been like an hour now, do you feel strange?" 

"No just a bit hungry but I couldn't finish eating the pizza."

"Same. Maybe we are immune?" 

"I have some snacks hold on."

"Thank you, but I meant I don't feel like I have fallen in love from the potion. Do you?" 

"Hmm I don't feel any different than usual. I mean I love you anyways so I guess I wouldn't notice the difference."

Your heart makes a small jump when you hear this. "You mean you love me like a sibling right?" 

"It's not the same as loving Belphie or my other brothers, you are different and special." Beel doesn't hesitate at all and you start to blush. 

 "You mean romantic love?" You just have to clarify. 

Beel thinks for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly you want to hear. "Yeah." He boldly states with a pleased smile, like he didn't have a word before to define the love he feels for you. 

You become a tomato. "I had no idea that you felt the same way about me."

Beel almost drops his bag of snacks. "Wait, you feel the same way?" 

"Yeah, I just thought, you know, we're more like a family, but we're not romantically involved."

"Ah, I see that was my fault since I never told you in a proper way." Beel nods knowingly. 

Then he looks you in your eyes and holds your hand. "I love you."

Your heart skips a beat. "I love you too Beel." You smile and hold his hand. 

You both feel very happy right now. 

Lucifer 

He is pretty annoyed that you got hit with the love potion that was clearly meant for him. 

Lucifer has some suspects but first he wants to take care of you. 

He brings you to his room, just to keep you from seeing anyone else. 

You have already seen him anyways and he feels responsible for this. 

So you just more or less sit in Lucifer's room while he checks for any effects on you. 

You feel completely normal. 

Lucifer would still rather keeps you in his room, just in case. 

He knows it should work on you by now, it's been 3 hours already. 

"So you don't feel any different from usual? No higher heart rate when you look at me? No sudden desire to kiss me? Nothing at all?" 

"No, Lucifer I told you already I feel normal." You feel a bit shy. 

"Are you honest with me?"

"It's no different than normal."

Lucifer steps closer to you, gauging your reaction. He looks deep into your eyes. "So you feel nothing at all when I'm this close to you?" 

Your heart beats louder. "It's not like I don't feel anything… I mean if you are this close of course I feel something. It's just not more than normal." 

"So, the symptoms I have described to you are normal to you?" Lucifer seems to probe you for some reason. 

You shift slightly around, avoiding his gaze. 

"Not normal per se. Just normal when it comes to you."

Lucifer seems to be very pleased with this reply, a small smile is on his face. 

Belphegor

He had planned to use the lovepotion to humiliate Lucifer. 

He didn't think that Lucifer would give you the tea, since apparently it's your favorite type.

Sadly, Belphie only notices it after you have already drank a cup.

Lucky enough he is the first person you see. 

Actually a pretty lucky twist of fate. 

He always wanted to see you being love stuck. 

Maybe even flirting with him. 

Belphie brings you to his room, with some sort of excuse. 

You go along since you enjoy hanging out with him. 

You both play a game and just enjoy being together. 

Belphie doesn't see a change in the way you behave at all. 

It's been like  2 hours by now you should be all over him. 

"What they say is, do you feel any different than usual?" 

"No, everything is normal. Why do you ask?" 

"Hmm are you sure? I mean you got no urge to kiss me or anything?" 

You blush, thinking he might have figured out how you feel about him. "No-no, not really. Is there a reason you ask?"

Belphie leans closer to you and looks you deep into your eyes. Causing you to blush more and slightly shift around. 

"Nothing really, but you do behave a bit suspiciously." Belphie looks at you like he wants to see into your mind. 

"You are the one that behaves suspiciously." You turn your head away from him. 

"So, if I would kiss you what would you say to that?"

"You shouldn't tease me like that. You might end up breaking my heart."

"Your heart? Now this is interesting."

"Stop playing around and tell me what is going on Belphie." 

He sighs. "Alright. You had some lovepotion but I guess it didn't work on you."

"What? Why would you give me that?" Hearing this is very upsetting to you. 

"I didn't mean to give it to you. Please, you have to believe me."

"Why didn't you just tell me? You promised to tell me everything." This stings a bit. 

Belphie can see that you are disappointed in him. "I'm sorry. I just thought it would be fun to see you flirting with me or being in love with me."

You shake your head. "I can't believe this Belphie. If you wanted that you could have asked."

"I can't just ask for you to fall in love with me."

"Well yeah, but you know what, I love you. You are really such an idiot sometimes."

You still feel pretty upset. 

"Wait, can you repeat that?" Belphie is taken aback by your casual confession. 

"The part of you being an idiot?" You pout. 

"I know that part, I mean the part of you loving me."

"I'm still mad at you, you know." 

"I know I'm really sorry. Please forgive me." He bows in front of you. He is very sincere. "Just please tell me if you still love me?" 

"I love you Belphie." 

He smiles at you. "I'm so glad to hear this." 

He seems very giddy. 

"So what about you?" You ask, a bit shy. 

"What about me?" He plays innocent. 

"Belphie, you are on thin ice." You playfully narrow your eyes at him. 

He laughs. "Alright. Alright." He takes a breath. "I love you."

You smile at him. "Was that so hard?" 

"Yes, it almost killed me." He smiles brighter than you have ever seen him. 

You smile too and then you hug. 

You stay together the whole night and talk for most of it.

Check my Obey me! Masterlist for more content

[mikeshanlon]

what do you think are the other ggreboot characters zodiacs?

okay so just gonna like ramble about some placements i think they might have and disclaimer i am no expert or necessarily Fixed in these possible placements. also every sign has good and bad and manifests itself in diff ways so if u dont love the placements i chose sorry babes bladididahhh okay continuing

julien: def think she is a gemini, i think she def gives mutable/gemini sign vibes both in how sometimes she will be a lot more calculated and "bitchy" and then be a lot softer (not saying geminis are two faced but multifaceted), and in how she wants to grow over the course of the season and become more authentic. especially with how geminis are curious and want to see how the world works and question things, the more she explore the more she understands herself. geminis are also super fun and magnetic which i think fits her vibe. plus i think she is definitely a good communicator, even tho i think her speech in 1.04 was.... something... she was able to pull it out on the spot and be well spoken and convince the party goers, so very good with her communication imo. leo rising, bc u kno Magnetic Grand Influencer. always aware of how shes percieved. can be rash, but like, she's fun, shes got a warm heart.

zoya: zoya is canonically a libra (october 22). i think that fits in a lot of aspects, she definitely embodies the traits of libra that are very concerned with justice, and i do think she is diplomatic/logical (her knowing whats important to her and not as caught up in the world of reputation as the others), tho less of a... pushover/peacekeeper as aki is. also her love of the arts in reading/plays. def think she probably has aquarius placements given again the sense of justice but also her being more outspoken/rebellious/unpredictable... aqua mars maybe? could be a cancer moon, for the idea of nostalgia/past, wanting home and security, hating superficiality.

aki: obviously i have not shut up abt him being a libra sun. i just know it in my bones its the introverted libra blueprint the peacekeeping the innocent nature the love of art (film in his case) his magnetic lover pretty boy energy, a pretty defined Aesthetic. diplomatic, always looking at things through logic. libra mercury as well for similar reasons, diplomatic and reserved with his words, objective, tries to make everyone happy even at his own expense (hello forgiving/apologizing to audrey and max for all the shit they did lmao). i think he has a pisces moon because i do think he's sensitive and cares deeply and quite dreamy in his own head but not going to be maybe as reactive as a cancer/scorpio moon. they are a lil weird they can kind of be a pushover/doormat, its the vibes. aquarius rising bc he does have the Mysterious Aloof vibes esp if you don't know him, a loner, a bit weird, abstract outlook, nervous. mayhappssss pisces mars bc its again like p romantic and sensitive but they can be kinda hard to pin down and less agressive but i havent Nailed down a venus/mars yet.

audrey: taurus sun i think. i love the idea that two of the sides of their love triangle are represented by venus and i think it fits with them-- both find love very important and have love for each other, but it doesnt really work romantically bc of their diff styles (like personally as a libra loveee them as friends idk if i could really be in a relationship tho). taurus is fixed and resistant to change bc its what they know, ie, her not wanting to move at all. interesting in aesthetics, being classy, etc. wont hold back her judgement (also guessing she has some fire in her bc of how much she lashes out. mayhaps aries or leo). loyal, at least to julien and the idea of friendship and partnership lmao. wants a loyal partner who stays by her side no matter what. also her love of reading and cooking and domesticity is very taurean. this may be bc of her big eyes but i feel like she has a water rising, i think scorpio rising fits best, she can be quite intimidating, she wants privacy, determined, she wants a reliable partner again. can be impatient.

max: leo sun-- im sorry maybe too obvious LMAO but he's just like very charming, confident, wants fun, dramatic af, loves an indulgent moment, wants people to want him. but also i think very warm and nice to his friends when they need it, like going out with julien, or in softer moments like helping audrey with her mom and cooking breakfast for her and aki. leos are also quite funny which i think max is. he's mischevious, he wants vibrance. i also think leo/taurus and leo/libra compatibility make sense for the love triangle lmao. aries moon, likes confrontation, likes drama, want what they want (and often, they have lots of diff crushes) and will go after it. impulsive. want instant gratifcation, to live life charging ahead and in the moment. don't understand skirting around emotions. i think gemini or sag in mars, because of the freedom/independent aspects, fun, and also the sexuality of the mars signs.

monet: capricorn sun and mercury, she knows what she wants, she wants success and power, and shes going to figure out the most effecient way to get there, no matter what. shes going to protect what she cares about most, shes not gonna deal with the bullshit, a bit of a hater of everything. wealth, oppulence. DEFINITELY has a strong scorpio placement / mars energy--probably scorpio mars as at least one placement: ready for war, secretive, observant, calculating. i think maybe aries rising, direct action, competitive, want to lead, blunt and brusque, quick to drop if its not working, with scorpio and cap placements that drive and aggression to be on top increases.

luna: i think she's a virgo sun, she's calculating/discerning, shes a bit judgy, she has rules and order and you're going to fucking follow them! she's observant, able to figure out things like monet's betrayal. def think shes a libra rising, she is so etheral and magnetic, social. while i dont think her libra manifests in a super diplomat way like zoya or aki, i do think she does try to compromise and find balance in certain areas, like going along with the zoya and julien sister narrative and making it work even though she didnt rlly want to. also the style aspect of her character is v libra rising. leo mercury, she's dramatic and fun and has an ego and some u kno.. scathing shit to say lmao.

obie: okay im sorry he is such a fucking toxic pisces male. projecting fantasies onto ppl and then getting upset when they dont fulfill that? yup! mutable as fuck, never really taking a stand in activism, family, love. wanting to be a martyr. staying in situations he doesnt think will work out bc he wants them to--like waiting until he had an excuse to leave julien, or thinking that maybe things werent good with zoya but holding on. hates when ppl critique him. maybe venus in libra bc very idealistic about what he wants in a relationship and wants things done a certain way or else hes like wtf. idc abt his other placements lmfao

[yehet-me-up]

Content Tag Game

Tagged by EXO sister-wife Kat @yeoldontknow​ <3 1. what fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)?

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for?

3. how long have you been writing? on this blog?

uhhh I definitely wrote half of several harry potter and lotr fanfics in HS but that was ‘the dark times’ many moons ago. so as an adult this is my only fandom! just stumbled into kpop and stumbled onto fanfics in the most backwards way possible (was sent a meme of a 1D ‘imagine’ and was like hey I wonder if they have these for kpop and then I found them and they were not a meme, but were fucking incredible AND NOW 4 YEARS LATER (started August-ish 2017???) here we are hahaha)

4. on which platforms do you post your stories?

oh dear god i just remembered I have an AO3 account..... WHOOPS, shit 😅 might need to, y’know, update that at some point. jfc adhd object permanence is something else.

5. what is your favorite genre to write?

Personally it’s sci fi/fantasy, but here in the fanfic space I’d say..... uhh slice of life, romance, angst but make it a happy ending?? fanfic is a way for me to share all the sort romantic hopeful feelings I have about love and life and friendship and purpose 💕

6. are you a pantser or a planner?

Used to be a pantser when I started this (and when fics used to be like ?? 3k-5k) now that fics in general are longer for one-shots and series my good lord I need an outline. Especially for exo mall which is *insert meme of crazy guy with the bulletin board* a lot for my brain haha

7. one shot or multi-chapter?

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion?

I’d say mine are usually 5k or so?? some series were shorter per chapter, depending on subject matter. I tend to write like... interconnected long as frick oneshots, so i don’t count those as chapters ☠️

9. what is your longest published story? is it complete?

uhhhhh good question haha. my book was 95k and I think exo mall is like *dammit math* 140k or something that has significantly gotten out of hand. I have two more fics so it will probably be like 180ish when it’s done?? not including the drabbles to come haha 

10. which story did you enjoy working on the most?

I loved No Quarter and torturing Kat with her husband, also staying up all night to finish Chanyeol’s exo mall knowing kat had NO idea it was coming was a BLAST. Kyungsoo’s exo mall was one of the most ‘in the flow’ writing experiences i’ve ever had. I wrote this Baek oneshot at like 3am when i couldn’t sleep once and tbh it felt like I wrote it in a dream. ja;slkfjasd I love so many of these this is like a trip down memory lane, so I’m going to be a wh*re and say two more haha.  This is the most honest and close to ‘real life’ thing I think I’ve written on here (and also one of the only sex scenes I didn’t lose my goddamned mind trying to write a;sldkfja;sdf). And lastly Ablaze, which was the longest thing I’d written (I think) and let me know that hey? maybe I could write a book someday <3

11. favorite request you’ve have written and why (if any?)

This request for Exo Mall Baek was such a joy to write! And for some reason this Taeyong drabble makes me wish I had the time/energy to write it into a full story, it gripped me so much when I wrote it, like a movie had fully downloaded into my brain out of nowhere.

12. are there reoccurring themes in your stories?

For sure! I’d say found family is a big one. Trusting that you’ll find your place even if things don’t make sense or you feel unsure. Believing that love is worth the risk and fear of trusting someone ;laksjdfal;sd. That love can be big gestures and super intense, but that after that fades away it’s the small daily moments that matter most - the people who stay and listen when you’re sad, holding hands and forehead kisses, taking care of people when they’re sick or scared or just need company, showing up to try again or to communicate even when things are hard. 

Someone commented on a fic of mine ages ago that I helped them see that real love (of that small, daily, consistent kind) is possible and MAYHAPS I cried because underneath it all, that’s what I’d want people to take away - that love of all kinds is scary, but it’s always worth it in the end <3

13. current number of wips?

Surprisingly just ... 3? wow how time has changed hahaha. I have Jun + Baek for exo mall (plus some drabbles but that will be something people write in about, so I wouldn’t consider them wips) and then I maaaaay continute on here with the Jun + Min regency baes series. We shall see :)

14. three things you have noticed about your own writing?

1. I can’t NOT write Baekhyun as the biggest cheesy dork in the entire world 2. That I’ll always have endless fantasy world to live in. I have to try actively to not start new WIPs because it’s so damn easy to be inspired. If I’m ever bored I know that I can jump into some story and let myself be carried away for a while 3. that who and how i am in real life is not usually the same person that i am when it comes to the vibe of my writing, and that that’s totally okay <3

15. a quote you like from a published story.

“I wish it had been with someone like you, though,” you say, squeezing his hand.

“Someone like me?” he says, raising his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.

You look down at the floor, trying to figure out how to put how he makes you feel into words. “Yeah, someone strong, and steady. And safe.”

He lets out a laugh. “Safe? That sounds awfully similar to boring.”

“No, no. You don’t understand,” you say emphatically, coming to stand fully in front of him, grabbing his other hand as well. “You never ask me to be anything but who I am. You’re patient, kind, caring. For the longest time I thought that falling in love would be stifling. That it would… I don’t know, take my independence. Take my spirit. Make me into someone I don’t recognize.”

You step closer, holding his face in your hands. “But I can’t think of anything I want more than to be with you. You make me the best version of who I am. I don’t know how it is for you, being with me. But when I’m with you, it just feels like… home,” you finish gently.

- from Kyungsoo’s exo mall because THIS is how I feel about falling in love now, and this story was me working out what I believed about the process (like a goddamned emo bish haha)

16. a quote from an unpublished story.

For a moment you allow yourself this weakness. It won't destroy you to admire the strong lines of his body, the intensity and focus in the set of his brows, the deep, warm color brown of his eyes as they - oh lord, he's looking directly at you. As he notices you watching him his lips press into a small smile, inclining his head towards you.

'Oh no,' you say, mortified. In a breath you've blinked and drawn your arm through Maggie's, weaving your way through the crowd and dragging her with you.

'What's wrong?' she hisses in your ear, slightly off-kilter from the drink and revelry. 'You're going to tear my arm off.’.

'Sorry, he -' With a hand you push through the front doors, gulping in the cool night air and breathing deeply to steady the erratic pace of your heartbeat. 'Maggie, what's happening to me? He looked at me and I felt so... naked. I can't explain it.'

She realizes you aren't in actual distress and laughs. 'Good. About time you fell in love. I'm delighted.'

- From perhaps a future chapter of Jun and Min regency baes series....

17. space for you to say something to your readers.

Thank you so much. Truly, from the bottom of my heart. This fandom brought writing back into my life after such a long time away and I had no idea I would love it so much. The friends it’s brought me and the kind words that made me cry or cheered me up on a shitty day or made me laugh out loud and the watching other writers grow on their journeys. Getting to hear how something I made could help you feel less alone or less sad on a shitty day is all I’ve ever wanted from sharing all this. Thank you for being here and thank you for sharing parts of yourself with me <3

Tagging anyone who sees this who would like to do it, even if you don’t consider yourself a “real writer” yet (yes you are, stop doubting yourself!!!!) 😘

[passionate-hedgehog]

Impasse pt 2

Impasse is a 3-part series revolving around Reader entering society in Regency-Era London. Completely inspired by me binging the entirety of Bridgerton in less than 24 hours, Impasse will end with either Duke Damien Haas x Reader, or Courtney Miller x Reader.

Pt 2.

Pairings: Eventual Damien Haas x Reader, Eventual Courtney Miller x Reader

Warnings: None

Word: 2187

A/N: I know that my masterlist links arent working. If you try to use it, and things dont go where you want them to take you...well...I warned you. I’m turning this into a 4 part fic. There’s no way I can comfortably fit what I want into 3 separate sections. Part 3 will be out when this hits 15 notes! Thank you to everyone that liked and interacted with the first part. And thank you to the fans of my toher works. I love all of you omg. Enjoy ♥

Chapter Summary: The social Season has officially begun. Deals are being made amongst friends and old flames are fanning. Will there be any sparks igniting as well?

“What do you suspect he wants to talk about?” After the morning activities with Lord Haas in the drawing-room, Y/n and her handmaid found themselves busy with average daily activities.  

Caroline’s expression was nonplussed as she stared at the back of Y/n’s head. The women were preparing Y/n for bed. The latter was in her chair as the housemaid brushed through her hair.

“Why must you give me that look every time I open my mouth?”

“Why must such ridiculous things come out of your mouth every time you open it?”

They discovered Shayne in his favorite study, books littering the desk he occupied. Y/n would always ask him when he planned on attending university but the young man tended to reply with something akin to “that’s not for me”. The young woman didn’t understand. She knew how smart her twin was, how clever he could be given the situation. Mayhaps one day he’d see the things he could accomplish.

“To what do I owe this visit?” The fair-haired man asked as his sister sat at the opposite side of his desk. A rather thick tome set open before him while his right hand held a fountain pen to sheets of parchment.

Y/n perched her arms along the length of the armrests and sat comfortably. “I thought I might see what you’re up to. But I find that you’re doing nothing different than normal. When are you going to talk to Father about university?”

Shayne restraint from rolling his eyes visible as he went back to his books, and scratching at the parchment. “When are you going to talk to me about Courtney?”

“What? That has nothing to do with...Shayne. My favorite twin, you could be doing so many more things if you were off to study. Collegiately.”

This caused the young man to sigh. “Y/n-,”

“I’m being serious here, Shayne. You’re in here, every day, reading and writing. It’s almost a different book a week. Sometimes, your nose is in a book about far-off adventures in distant lands and sometimes it’s about the history and tragedies of the lands around us. Look that book right there.” She motioned to the collection of parchment before Shayne. “I gather that one is not Shakespeare. What is it? The history of France?”  

Shayne lowered his head back to the pages before putting his pen back on the parchment, not meeting his sister’s eyes. “Spain, as a matter of fact.”

Y/n held a blank countenance. 

“I’m trying my hand at the Spanish language. Does that quell your curiosity?”

Y/n smirked. “You’re just proving my point.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” The young man laid his fountain pen on the parchment and clasped his hands together before leaning forward. “I’ll talk to Father about university if you read and respond to Courtney’s letter..”

The young woman grumbled and stood up from her chair. “Suddenly, I have a desire for some poetry. Caroline, I’ll be in the library. I’ll call for you if I need you.”

The handmaid nodded from where she stood by the fireplace, her hands clasped in front of her as Y/n walked to the door. “Of course.”

Y/n turned one last glance to her twin before exiting the room and found Caroline in the chair Y/n’s ownself just left. The handmaid was smiling at Shayne as he talked. The rosy tint to Caroline’s cheeks as the man laughed sparked Y/n’s curiosity yet still managed to make her smile. It was cute if she had to be honest. The handmaid had the tendency, lately, to be quieter than usual. While yes, Caroline was well-mannered and modest, it was different when Shayne was around. Had it just been the two women, Caroline could be witty. Y/n enjoyed that in the handmaid. It was refreshing and reminded her of a long-lost friend.

“For Heaven’s sake, Courtney. You’re not even here but you’re still here.” The young woman fiddled with a woven bracelet made from brightly colored twine.

“Y/n?” A voice called from next to her as her hand was on the doorknob to the library.

“Oh, Lord Haas! I did not realize you were here.” Y/n peered behind her companion and to her own left and right, in case she missed any other person.

“It’s just me. And please, call me Damien. We’ve known each other since we were young, back when we had all of our friends amongst us.” The duke gave a gentle pleading look. 

“I was a tad cheeky back then. I wasn’t going to call you by any title.”

Damien cocked an eyebrow and smirked. “You’re still a tad cheeky to this day. Am I wrong?”

Y/n’s matched his smirk before opening the door to the library and making her way inside. A witty remark was caught in her throat when her eyes caught someone standing next to the nearest shelving of books.

“Court-Courtney?” Her hand slipped off of the knob of the door. “What are you doing here?”

The light-haired woman bit her lip. “I wanted to visit. You never responded to any of my letters. I thought...I thought maybe something had happened.”

“You...I can’t...Excuse me.” The young woman turned around in haste and scurried away. She found herself in the empty kitchen trying to breathe through what just happened.

Good going. You’re such a coward.

“I’m such a coward.”

“No, you’re not.” Damien had followed her into the cooking area. He led her to a chair and guided her to sit. “Some refreshment might make it better?”

Y/n watched her old friend as he went about collecting items. She noticed how at ease he seemed going through her icebox and cupboards. How expertly he sliced up fruit. She couldn’t help but notice how handsome he looked in his livery, as well, but there was enough going on inside of her head. Damien approached the table with a modest platter and placed it in the center of the table before he sat himself in a chair across from her.

“I figure that some soft cheese might do some good as well as figs and berries. I hope they comfort you the way they do me.” He had gestured towards the food.

Y/n gave a thankful nod before reaching for a bite. “Thank you, Damien. This means very much to me.”

The man grabbed fig and brie, biting into them. “If you need to talk, I’m all ears. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course. But I’m here.”

Y/n fidgeted with a slice of fig fruit. She mentally weighed her options before speaking again. “I haven’t seen Courtney in over a year. We got into an argument...about the things she wanted to do and where she wanted to be in life. I regret it. I regret it every day. I let our relationship ...decay...because I didn’t approve of what she wanted to do.”

“She wanted to work with horses, right? And entertain? That’s where she’s been this whole time?” Damien bit into some brie.

“I was treating her like she was someone like me. Someone that already had their life plans laid out for them. She was able to choose what she wanted in life.”

The young man studied Y/n’s face. “Y/n, were you...jealous that she had such an opportunity to live a dream that you tried burning bridges with her? She was your best friend. That had to be a hard decision to make.”

“It’s about more than that. I’m happy she was able to live how she wanted to...thrilled that she got to work with her passions. But..I wasn’t there with her. She wasn’t with me. It didn’t matter what she was doing...I just wanted it to be with..with me. 

“I had this asinine vision that society would be in a different place by now. That two close friends could...be closer. And that I wouldn’t have to feel like I was left alone for the rest of my life. I see so many friendships for what they could be. The feelings that I’ve had over someone that will never be attainable I see in others. All of the time. Especially while I promenade! And it makes me sad for those yearning and it reminds me of what I can never have.”

There was a moment of silence before Y/n’s eyes widened in the realization of what she had just let out. “Oh my. I-You didn’t hear any of what I just said. Promise me!”

Damien laid a soft hand on Y/n’s arm. “I promise. I had no idea that you had harbored such...persuasions. Not that it’s anything you need to feel sorry about. You can’t help it. Your reactions, for sure, but...not for what you feel.”

“You, Lord Haas, will make someone a fine husband someday. Maybe even sometime soon? It is our season, finally, after all.” Y/n tried to hide her watery eyes behind a coy smirk. “Someone is bound to catch your eye.”

Damien breathed out before responding. “Someone already has, if I’m being honest. But maybe I’m far-reaching more than I originally thought.”

His words seemed to spark a sense of excitement through Y/n. She sat up straight and gripped the edges of the table.

“Who is she? Will you point her out to me while we promenade? No. I have an even better idea; can you introduce her to me at one of the balls?” Y/n was nearly on the edge of her seat. “Damien! This is exciting!”

“It’s not quite that intriguing, I promise you. Especially since nothing can come of it.” The man picked at the fruit on the platter. “But I digress. It seems that you’ve got your own sorting out to do. What are you going to do about callers if Courtney plans on joining in on the festivities this season? She may not come from one of the families but she has enough friends.”

“Then I hope she enjoys herself. For all I know, everything I felt could have been my very own thoughts and not hers. If she’s here to find a match, then let her. If she’s here to have fun, then by all means...I hope she has it. I just hope I can keep my heart to myself this time. I don’t want to get hurt again.”

“Y/n,” The man licked his lips before continuing. “Might I suggest trying to find out what exactly it is that your heart wants before you do anything else with it?”

The young woman topped her fig slice with some brie. “I’m going to pretend that you did not just offer such advice. Who would even think about courting a woman trying to figure out whether or not she wants her story to end with another woman? You slay me, Lord Haas.”

“I’m being entirely serious. Y/n, you could…” Damien seemed to pause before paying very close attention to fiddling with a berry. “We could stop your callers from coming around and maybe I could use a distraction. We could work together.”

“What? Like...you and I? Together together?”

The german-born duke hesitated before taking one of Y/n’s hands into both of his. “We could go to promenade as a match. And then to the balls, And the parties. No one would be the wiser. You could use this time to figure out what it is you truly want. And then who.”

The young woman looked down at their hands, hers fitting inside his the way she suspects other women her age dream of, yet, she wasn’t sure what it did to her. What he offered could very much help her, but what if Courtney got the wrong idea? What if everyone got the wrong idea?

“But what if it went right?”

“Hmm?” Damien asked in confusion.

“Nevermind.” Y/n shook the thoughts from her head. “Damien, I think...you may be on to something. You’re right. I...I don’t know how to be a...a wife to anyone. Let alone a man. And I won’t know until I figure myself out a little bit more. And then if this girl is running through your mind and you firmly believe that you can never court her…”

“Trust in me with this. I always thought she was someone I could never hope to marry, far too good for me in so many ways. But...maybe this will help me to see who else is out there. Maybe I’ll find my perfect match. And if we come out as a couple, it’ll provide good reason for the other men to leave you alone.”

“Too bad they just don’t leave me alone as is.”

“I believe Olivia said the same thing after she met Sam.”

“Heavens, that was a riot.” Y/n lifted her pinky to solidify the agreement with her friend. “Lord Damien Haas, I believe we might have ourselves a deal.”

[sunarintoes]

Dear Whovever: [Kenma]

Synopsis: You and Kenma are both best friends and youtube gamers however you want to be more than just best friends so you decide to ‘man up’ one day and write a heart felt confession in a minecraft notebook before then putting it in Kenma’s personal chest.

WC: 3K

TW: slight swearing :)

[Episode one]

[recording in 3… 2… 1… start!] 

“Hey gamers, Kodzuken here with Tulip-but-make-it-yellow! I've done a few Minecraft videos with Tulip before, but thought I'll start a new series that will be posted every Monday.”

“It's called Minedays with Tulip and Kodzu”

“I- no, Tulip. I'm not sure what we’re gonna call it. But you guys will know- obviously since it's the title of this video.”

You whine and pout into the monitor, “Kodzu I think Minedays is a cute name.” 

Instead of replying Kenma rolls his eyes and hits you ingame. “Should we introduce the challenge and get it started?”

“Yeah that's a good idea!” 

“Well, it's about eleven am right now, we have until eleven pm to build a Minecraft house from a random topic,” he pauses and moves to the side to point to a sectioned spinwheel, “on this bad boy,” whacks the spinner, “we have eight different themes, in a sec I’ll spin it and whatever it lands on will be what we have to build.”

You let out a high pitched ‘hmm,’ “I feel bad for Kuroo and Hinata, they’re both going to have to edit twelve hours of footage down to 10 minutes!”

Kenma chuckles, “fifteen minutes actually.”

This time you roll your eyes. “Hurry up and spin it you fool! I want to get buildinggg” 

Smiling, Kenma moves back a bit and spins the wheel, after thirty seconds full of anticipation the wheel finally stops and its small arrow is pointing at- “Yes! Cottage core theme!” you yell out while Kenma groans. 

“Really? That's lame why couldn't we have ‘Lucifer’s Bedroom’?” 

You poke your tongue out to the monitor - which Kenma could see, after all, you are in a Discord call with him. “Don't be sad just because you're prancing in my turf…. Looooooser!”

Kenma playfully glares towards you, “You’re on! See you in twelve hours!”

Unfortunately, the difficulty of building a cottage core house in the woods - in survival mode, proved more difficult than planned. 

“We spawned in a desolate area huh? Barely any flowers!” you hear Kenma make a sound of agreement as you sink into your comfortable ‘gamer’ styled chair. 

“Don't tell me you've given up? Just because you can't find any flowers?” 

You scowl at his cocky tone however your mood does a one-eighty when you suddenly get a good idea. “Ok everyone! I know what I have to do! I'm going to restart in another place because this isn’t working!”

Kenma makes a sound of surprise, “you're restarting? It's been an hour already-”

“Yeah and we have, like... eleven more.” Kenma sighs in response, “better get a move on.”

For the most part, the two of you kept quiet - not wanting to let the other know how well you were doing. However one look at your phone only to see that your twitter has blown up, you decide to take a short break, after all it has been four hours of you sitting on your ass playing Minecraft. Once you open Twitter you're met with a barrage of tags and mentions - all of which screaming ‘KenYn’ and ‘Kodzutulip.’ You felt heat rise to your face, you - yes you, Ln Yn with the online alias Tulip-but-make-it-yellow, has a big, fat, humongous crush on your best friend and fellow youtuber - Kenma, aka Kodzuken aka the cutest guy in the world. To make it worse - or better, you couldn't really tell, was that many of your viewers shipped you with him - as did his viewers. 

You are of course, happy with this but you can’t help but wonder if Kenma feels the same way, does he feel weirded out by all this shipping content? Does he find it uncomfortable? Does he find it unsettling to be shipped with his in-real-life best friend?

“Hey Yn?” Kenma calls softly, “you've been looking at your phone for the past ten minutes and your face looks sad.”

You instantly look up to meet Kenma’s face and try to find the right words to say, “I… I’m just kinda tired and eventually got distracted!! Sorry Kenken!”

Kenma visibly cringes at the old nickname - the one you gave him in primary school, “if you say so… better get your head in the game though - my mansion looks epic.”

Your eyes narrow, “mansion? The theme is cottage core!” Kenma quietly chuckles in response, “a mansion can still have a fairy aesthetic, you should know that”

You huff in faux annoyance as you place your phone away and ‘get your head in the game’ just as he requested. “Be prepared to be crushed! I am the cottage core guardian!”

There are ten minutes left to your’s and Kenma’s excruciatingly long Minecraft challenge, your ass hurts from sitting on it for almost twelve straight hours - including bathroom breaks. When the buzzer rings the two of you step back from your respective buildings and make your way to the starting point - which had been marked by a stack of 20 or so dirt blocks. 

“Well that was twelve hours of eye straining torture,” you say as you stretch your arms. 

“You're tired already?”

“Kinda… I can't wait to go to sleep after this.”

“Weak, I’m playing Battlefield as soon as this is over.”

You roll your eyes and scoff, “this is why you look like a living corpse in the morning…”

Kenma looks you dead in the eyes and with a completely serious face he says, “yeah but you love it.”

You choke on your spit at his boldness, “y-yeah I guess.” 

If you were being honest, you were not the best at reading people and it was dark in Kenma’s gaming room, the only light coming from his three screen/monitor computer setup, but you think you see a light blush creep up to his cheeks. And you hate it, you hate when he says things that make your heart flutter, you hate it when he just sits there and the digital glow accentuates all of his delicate features, but what you hate most is yourself. You hate yourself because you have fallen in love with your best friend, you hate yourself because you know he doesn't like you back and you hate that you continuously give yourself a sense of false hope. 

“Yn… you want to stay up and game with me don’t you? ”

You sheepishly look to the side, ‘mayhaps.’

Kenma sighs looking at you with a soft face as he whispers “then I won’t play Battlefield and I’ll go to bed and so will you, ‘kay?”

You smile tiredly at him, “sounds like a deal.”

“We'll get back on at the same time tomorrow and we’ll do the final part of this video - the reveal. Until then.”

You smile and wave at the camera “cya soon~”

[recording over]

After your call with Kenma ended you got ready for bed but for some reason, no matter how tired you were, you just couldn't fall asleep - your mind was screaming obscene ideas that you couldn't help but contemplate. At first it was just wishful thinking but then came a thought that refused to leave, ‘confess.’ 

It was a tempting thought, but how? Surely you couldn't just say ‘hey Kenma I've liked you since high school lets date!’ yeah no, that was a horrible idea. Maybe if you confessed with some originality he would be more likely to accept but for now, you were going to do your best to go to sleep.

[Episode two]

[recording in 3… 2… 1… start!] 

In the morning you woke up feeling refreshed and excited for the day to come, Kenma had texted you and asked if you were feeling up to recording the reveal from last night and episode two today and of course you said yes. 

The video goes on without any troubles and soon you find yourself staring at the computer screen at eleven once again. 

“Remember to like, subscribe and comment below on who you think won this round.” Kenma’s voice is soothing - if you had to describe it you would say that it is silky like honey and smooth like dark chocolate; or maybe you would just say his voice is perfect. Kenma waves to the screen monitor, “hello? Earth to Yn! Are you dead or something? You look like a zombie.”

It takes a while to register, you weren’t really paying attention to the words he said as you were more interested in the way he sounded. You sit up and smile into the camera, “I'm awake… thanks for caring!”

He scoffs and swivels in his chair a bit, “I don't care about you, you're just my idiot best friend and flatmate.”

You playfully narrow your eyes, “well this idiot flatmate of yours helped you bake apple pie so you wouldn’t starve to death!”

“Hmmm, I guess. Well I'm going to head off. I'll see you later.”

You smile softly, “yeah I'll see you later, i'm just gonna stay on for a while.”

Kenma looks at you with an intrigued expression, “you're going to stay up longer? Better not be in this world, that's cheating. Want me to stay up with you?”

You roll your eyes and giggle, “it's all good I want to fix my house up in the other world. I'll see you tomorrow.”

He sighs, “if you say so.”

[recording over]

Your chair rolls back as you stretch, “maybe I should confess to him through a Minecraft journal…” you jump up. “Thats it! Thats a great way to confess! Its original and Kenma would appreciate it…. If he accepts my feelings that is…” 

You groan and slump back down into the chair, “maybe it’s best if I don't confess at all. No! I've wanted to do this for years! If he doesn't like me back it's all good! Maybe I just won't do this on a stream!”

You reach over to the bench and pull up your phone, “who to call, mmm ok let’s call Alisa I’m going to need some emotional support!”

“Hey gamers, Kodzu here in another Minecraft live stream, today we’re just in mine and Yn’s regular world and i'm going to build a house - a cottage to be specific,” he pauses and looks at the comment section; ‘no Yn isn't here right now, no Yn won't be joining this video, no I didnt know shes streaming at the moment, yes my favourite food is apple pie, yes I have a calico cat, no Yn is not my significant other, yes we are just friends.’ Kenma moves back and takes a breath, “wow you guys sure are interested in Yn huh? Maybe I should get them in more videos, might get more views that way,” he laughs a bit.

“Let's start off by heading to my base, I have the materials I’ll need there- oh uh what's this?” Kenma pauses as he stares at the foreign object, “I don't remember having a written book in my chest… maybe Yn went in here and put it in?”

Kenma stares at the book for a while before he opens it, only to be shocked. The comment section notices the blush on his face and continue to spam him with questions:

[kodzusbabe]: what's in that diary!!

[Kenmastan]: hahAAAHHA LOOK HE’S SO RED IN THE FACE

[piefacecutie]: ^^ omg you're so right @/Kenmastan hes so cute 💓

[Kenmaxyn]: I hope it's a confession!

[ynhater]: @/Kenmaxyn from who? Cause I didn't do it and I'd be the only one for Kenma oppAr

[kennismaken]: I hope it’s Yn! They’d be such a cute couple

[applepudding]: umm? Kodzu! Why did he get up and leave??

[ynhater]: babe come back!

[Kenmaxyn]: OMG MAYBE IT WAS YN !!!!

After your late night call with Alisa, you decided it would be best to just do it and then ignore Kenma for the day - well, not ignore him per se, just simply decline all his Discord calls and Facetime calls so you could put off being rejected a little while longer. You woke up with a throbbing headache that you could only blame yourself for, after all you are the dumbass who stayed up until God knows when just to write a heartfelt confession. Eventually the angst of waiting for a message from Kenma overwhelmed you and here you are now; streaming Overwatch to get your mind off of a certain someone.

“Ah no! Cant believe that stupid Hanzo got me! What a pain!” you frown at the screen and let out a sigh, “the round is over… bummer. Well while we wait an eternity for the next round I guess I should answer some of your questions… oh? I didn't know Kenma was streaming, no I’m not dating him… “ you feel your heart sink as you read the next comment; “what do you mean Kenma ran away after reading a book? Was he unhappy?”

The next moments felt like a blur, your heart was heavy and you felt tears well up in your eyes and somehow you missed the sound of someone breaking into your apartment and then your bedroom. Within a second you feel someone wrap their arms around you from behind, your body tenses up but immediately relaxes when you recognise the perpetrators scent; sweet yet salty, like caramel toffee.

“Kenma! W-what are you doing?”

“I like you too… I have for so long.”

Your eyes widen and it doesn't take too long for a smile to appear on your face, “I'm so glad to hear that.”

You feel him smile into your neck as his embrace tightens, “finish up your livestream so we can talk please.” 

“You don't need to tell me twice!”

It is eleven at night once again, but this time you’re not sitting alone in your gaming chair, instead you're sitting on Kenma’s lap - in his gaming chair as he slowly runs his hands through your hair and softly kisses your neck.

“So everyone’s pretty much freaking out over us huh?” you hum in response, “we’ve been officially together for what? Five hours?”

“Correct you are.”

You smile and hold up your phone while you continue to cuddle into him, “smile baby, I want the whole world to know that you're my player two.”

[Bonus - the love letter]

Dear Kenma,

This must be so strange - finding a journal in your chest. 

I have wanted to tell you this for quite a while and I guess I have never found the write words to say; or the right way to for that matter,

But I love you

I have loved you since our first year at Nekoma

It's been a while hasn’t it?

I'm sorry if this inconveniences you, makes you uncomfortable or makes you never want to see me again; 

Just let me continue for a little while longer because I need to get this off of my mind.

I love your smile - especially the rare one where you really smile, where your eyes crinkle and your cheeks begin to hurt 

I love your voice - it’s smooth and silky, like honey being spread across bread

I love your scent - it reminds me of salted caramel,  I can never get enough 

I love your mind - the way it works to make me laugh, make me calm and all else

I love your lips - not necessarily in a sexual way, but more so in the way you talk and speak, they move softly and slowly in a way only your lips could move in.

I love your body - how although you're hunched most of the time you still possess a fine elegance in the way you move. How at times it reminds me of a graceful swan floating down a lake. 

I love your hands - they are so pretty and dainty and soft, I want to hold them all day and all night

And most of all;

I love you

I love you in your entire

I could go ahead and pick the parts I love most and least but then you would no longer be you

I love you in your entire

Flaws and all

I know this may not be the most romantic, especially considering you’re reading this through Minecraft and I've never done this before but I had to let you know

Love 

Yn

Taglist: [open] @ladyrenart

note: sooo this is another style that i tried and i have mixed feelings about it :) also if you can’t tell,,, i’ve never written a love letter before :’)

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain: Chapter 702: Castling:  Part I/III

Ironwood stood over a table, with RWBY and JNR standing around it. Aurora and Ilia stood behind them with Winter standing behind Ironwood. "Now that... that..." Ironwood stated, "is out of the way, I would like to talk about where you would like to setup?" He pressed some buttons, and a map of Atlas appeared.

Ruby quickly pointed at the map.

"Mantle?" Ironwood asked.

"Uh, maybe?" Ruby replied. Ironwood then looked between everyone else's faces, seeing no objections.

"Any organized attack against the City of Atlas," Ironwood stated, "would likely come from the City of Mantle. However, the City of Mantle is not... happy... with the government right now, especially not the military."

"I wonder why?" Jaune sarcastically asked.

"We have asked," Ironwood said, and briefly paused, "a lot of them. Without much in return. Though, it's not like we can exactly tell them what the military has been up to."

"Will this be a problem for us?" Ren asked.

"Yes, and no." Ironwood stated, "Because of the unhappiness the citizens have with the military, we've... pulled out a lot of military support from the area."

"And that's supposed to make them happy?" Jaune sarcastically asked.

"It's... pragmatic." Ironwood voiced, "Nothing more. "But this means we have a number of unoccupied buildings." He looked up at Jaune's nascent antlers. "I'm going to assume headroom is of the upmost importance?" he asked, and zoomed the map in on the city. "Warehouses would work, but," he said, and paused, "given your newly married status..." Ironwood voiced, and zoomed in on a large building.

"Is that a castle?!" Nora eagerly asked.

"Nora." Ren admonished.

"It is." Ironwood stated.

"Swweeeeeet." Nora voiced.

"A castle?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Kind of a bit much?" Yang asked.

"It has sat largely unoccupied since the Great War." Ironwood stated.

"Is it haunted?!" Nora asked.

"Nora." Ren chastised her.

"Reports are mixed." Ironwood.

"It's not like really haunted, right?" Yang asked.

"I sincerly doubt it." Ironwood stated.

"But?!" Nora whined, "you said?!"

"I have read reports that would imply it is."

"Why would it be a good thing for the castle to be haunted?" Weiss asked.

"It would be pretty exciting." Yang said, and Blake let out a subtle smile.

"Is it a good ghost?" Ruby asked, "Or a bad ghost?"

"I honesty wouldn't know." Ironwood said to her. "Now for the public justification, it would be a wedding present."

"You would pretend to give it to us?" Weiss asked.

"I'm not one to play pretend." Ironwood replied, and took a step back from the table, crossing his hands behinds his back. This lead to a round of shock, the exception being Aurora whom smiled brightly. "You were instrumental to both the Battle of Beacon and the Battle of Haven. In the spirit of solidarity with..."

"Solidarity?" Jaune scoffed.

"IF I HAD!.." Ironwood shouted, and then breathed in deep to calm himself, his arms uncrossing, "if I had known about Haven, I would have sent an Air Fleet."

"Sending in his big shiny aiffleet, does definitely seem like something he would do." Yang affirmed, "She then gestured around the room, "Case in point."

"If only," Blake sarcastically said, "we had some way to tell you."

"To be fair," Ruby said, "we really didn't have anything to tell him, other than my feelings, and I mean..."

"True." Ironwood grimly stated, "A hunch... at least, at the time, would not be enought for me to fully mobilize on. But, I could have say sent some Knights and Paladins?"

"Like that worked SO WELL last time." Nora quipped.

Ironwood nervously looked down. "Please tell us," Weiss stated, and Ironwood looked at her, "have you uncovered what had happened last time?" Ironwood nervously looked back up at her from the table, telling everyone it was true.

"Have you tried unplugging them?" Jaune asked.

"They are wireless." Ironwood condescendingly said to him.

"Mayhap?," Weiss asked, "that was Jaune-dear's point?"

Ironwood's eyes grew wide at the sudden realization. "But, if we don't have a central control system?.." and trailed off.

"Have soldiers," Jaune said, "leading them. Or have you forgotten how to do that?"

Ironwood went through a thousand thoughts in a few moments, "The point of the Knights was to keep people safe..." Ironwood tried to say.

"But you can't get rid of your infantry." Jaune said to him.

"Says the knight!" Nora exclaimed.

"We actually fought with the common soldiers." Jaune stated. "Not every knight were arrogant, vainglorious assholes."

"You are, you know," Yang said to him, and gestured to Ironwood, "telling a General what to do?"

"Am I being an asshole?" Jaune asked.

"I'm afraid it's far worse." Ironwood stated, and everyone looked at him questioningly, "You are right. Even with Knights, we still always have soldiers on the ground. It doesn't make any sense to make the Knights independent of them. This would mean they wouldn't need to be in constant communication with a central source, which means we wouldn't need to even let them communicate wirelessly. If we needed to, you could programme them to muster around a certain set of sounds being played."

"And that's not at all ominous?" Blake asked.

"If it means we can ensure their control?" Ironwood asked. "This will require a complete retool. It will take a lot more time to produce Knights, even after redesigning them, but I'm sure the public would love to hear our expenses going down."

"The Atlas military," Weiss quipped, "does spend a great deal."

"It's what keeps us safe."

"We know," Jaune sourly said, and paused for a moment, "that you are doing the best you can."

"th... thank you." Ironwood stated.

"And we should definitely thank you for the castle."

"We should be close enough that we can daisy-chain our coms to Atlas HQ." Ironwood said, "I'll have teams make sure the castle is up in running order."

"And the ghost?" Nora asked, raising her hand.

James let out a weak smile, "We'll be sure to leave him undisturbed."

"Sweet." Nora stated.

* * *

Jaune looked out the window at the ocean below them, when he heard / felt / smelt Yang snuggle up to him. "So?" she asked him, "it's really happening, isn't it?"

"I can honestly say," Jaune voiced, and paused to reach his arm around her waist, to pull her close, "I didn't see CASTLE as the next step."

"Haunted castle!" Yang said with glee.

"I'm sure we'll find a way to get along with the ghost." Jaune sarcastically said.

"Or you could end up seducing her." Yang stated.

"What's it with you girls and me seducing... other... girls?" Jaune asked, "It's not like I'm that good at it."

"I don't know?," Yang asked, "it worked on us."

"And I have no idea how I did it." Jaune said, "I didn't excactly succeed in Beacon. So, what changed?"

Yang pulled away, to stare into his eyes. "That's where you're wrong, Ladykiller. You killed my lady a long time ago. I was just too fucked up to realize it." She nervously looked down. He gently craddled her head and lifted it back up.

"You're always going to be fucked up..."

"Real inspirational." she tried to quip, but was was still stuck in his eyes.

"It didn't stop me before." Jaune said, "It's not going to stop me now." He then pulled away and looked out the window again. Yang wrapped her arm into his and snuggled into him.

"Tease." she stated.

"The fun part?" Jaune asked, "Is that I'm broken, too."

"So, what?" Yang asked, "The two of us make a whole person?"

"Hm?" Jaune said, pretending to think about it, "No, I think it's like five parts to make a whole."

"One gigantic ass whole." Yang said, and then started laughing out loud.

"A castle is pretty cool, though."

"Oh, I know." Yang stated.

[yyxgin]

hi are we friends yet because ♡ i have decided to come to you whenever some stupid bts shit goes through my mind and today i offer you: a drabble in which the boys invite you (a close friend mayhaps?idk i didn't think this through) to visit them on tour and you have to share a bed with a member who isn't exactly fond of you but you end up cuddling and he goes all soft for you when you wake up?only if you want to!!you don't even have to write it you can just respond 'yes 💞' and i'd say thank

hi hello we are best friends now,,please come to me with all the bts shit i'm willing to write everything. anyways here it is,,you did not specify the member so i wrote it w seokjinnie (i'm living for this au btw,, its so over-used but still good lmao)

pairing: seokjin x fem!reader ; genre: idk man, angst? and than fluff? seokjin hates you and then he does not ; words: 1.5k ; warnings: mentions of alcohol, maybe curse words i'm not sure, jin is a meanie >:((

Kim Seokjin wasn't exactly fond of you.

So when he found out that his band mate Jungkook insisted on bringing you, his best friend, to visit them on tour for a week, he was furious.

„What do you mean y/n is coming? You won't be able to focus, she'll only distract us from work.“

His excuse was a poor one, but it made sense. The bad thing was that his younger brother was quick to sweep off any of these reasonings off the table.

„Seokjin hyung, she's my best friend. I promised to take her with me some day and she always wanted to visit Spain. And it's only for a week.“ his pleading was a pain in the older's ass. He always gave in for his little one.

Why didn't Seokjin like you? Well, that's an interesting question.

You were quite childish in his eyes, being the same age as his maknae. He never saw you as a grown woman, you were always a little girl for him. The age gap wasn't that big, but to Seokjin, it seemed like a good enough reason for him to have second thoughts. You two haven't really talked to each other that much, but he felt like your personalities just did not click well. So with that, Jin has made his mind. He didn't hate you, but he was more happy when you weren't around.

„You guys were so good!“

These words were the first Seokjin heard when he came back into the waiting room at the stadium. He rolled his eyes as he took a seat on the sofa and tried to catch his breath.

„Thank you!“ Jin watched Jungkook as he took you into his arms and span you around.

„Especially Jin, Epiphany really made me tear up a little. Your managers made fun of me when they saw me.“ you giggled and took a seat next to your best friend on the sofa.

„Yeah, sure.“

Jin's tone of voice made your best friend glare at him. His words hurt you a little, but you weren't going to show it. You weren't a little girl anymore.

„We are getting drinks! Y/n, you're coming, right?“ Jimin asked you and pierced you with a playful look.

„Of course I am!“ you laughed.

Everyone liked you. Not Seokjin. It was weird.

But as the boys catched their breathes, changed and ate dinner, all eight of you made your way into a packed club in Madrid to celebrate the success their toor has been so far.

If you weren't there, they wouldn't be getting drinks right now. But it was your last night here, so they wanted to make sure it was a memoriable one. It made Jin's stomach twist. Are you really a kid that needs to be entertained?

„Promise to not get drunk.“ you said to Jungkook in a low tone.

Jin's ears pricked up on the sound of your voice.

„I won't.“

„Promise. I don't want to take care of you tonight.“ your scolding made Jin smirk.

Jungkook was known to be a literal baby when drunk and everyone knew this. It was understaneable of you not wanting to be his care-taker for the last day of your visit.

But Jungkook did not keep his promise.

And so when it was past 3 am and everyone was drunk out of their minds, it was your job to get them to their hotel. You were sharing a room (and a bed, you two really didn't mind) with Jungkook and you really wanted to sleep, because the night has been everything but fun to you.

Everyone got drunk. You did not. But neither did Jin.

He saw you struggling to carry your best friend. Altough he thought that this whole drinking session was for you, it seemed now that you didn't even enjoy drinking. Seokjin furrowed his brows as he came up to you and helped you with the heavy beast your friend was.

„Let's go. I've sent the rest of them in a cab to the hotel already and another one is waiting for us in front of the bar.“ his voice was low and considerate, but loud enough to cut through the loud music.

You shamefully looked to the ground and nodded. Why were you acting so bashful?

You eventually got to the hotel, so now it was time to go to your room and get him to sleep. Jungkook, on the other hand, had a different idea.

„I want to sleep with Jimin tonight.“ he offered.

„No, Jungkook, we are sharing a room.“

„But I want to sleep in Jimin's room.“

You knew there was no use in trying to convince him. If you'd bring him to your room, he'd only get up and try go get to Jimin's room, which would cause only more trouble. So you nodded along and with Seokjin's help, you tried to walk him to Jimin's room.

Once the door behind him was closed, you were left with Jin. It was strangely quiet.

„Umm… thanks for the help. You can go to sleep now. Sorry for bothering so much.“ you let out and shyly smiled at your companion.

„Well, I'd love to, but your best friend just went and took my bed, so…“

The realisation hits you. Everyone was now in their rooms, all the beds were taken. The only bed free for the two of you to use was the bed you were supposed to share with Jungkook.

„Oh, well, you can sleep in my bed. I'll take the floor.“ you said and began to walk to your room on the other side of the hallway.

„What about Jungkook's bed?“

„Well, we were supposed to share. So, it's the same bed.“ you were red in your cheeks. The sight somehow made Jin chuckle.

„How practical.“

He didn't say anything else as he walked into your room. The bed was big, there was no trouble with two people sleeping there and not running into each other's bodies.

But even after this realisation, a confusing sentence left Seokjin's mouth. „It's fine, I'll take the floor.“

„No!“ you let out, suddenly wincing at the urgency in your voice. „I mean, no. It's my fault, so you take the bed. You need to sleep in a comfortable place, you are a performer, you can't wake up with a sore back.“ you explained.

It was good to hear from you. The words didn't sound only polite, but considerate as well, making Seokjin look at you in a slightly different way. „Sleep in the bed too. It's big enough." he muttered.

The blush on your cheeks deepened. „No, I can't…“

„For the love of god, just do it. I want to sleep already and I'm not in the mood for bickering.“ he snapped.

The tone of his voice cut through you like a knife. He sounded so annoyed. You hated feeling annoying. You didn't reply.

So after a few minutes, you found yourself sharing a bed with Kim Seokjin. It was strange. And weird. And it definetly made your heart race.

Jin's heart? Fine. But his conscience? Bad.

„Sorry for snapping.“ he said into the quiet room.

„Oh, it's okay. You have every right to be annoyed with me.“

„Do I?“ his question caught you off guard.

„Well, I know that you hate me.“

„I don't-“

„And it's fine, really. I tried really hard to get you to like me because what Jungkook's friends think of me means a lot to me, but it seems like I did something that made you dislike me, so…“

Your back was turned to him, but just the sight of you curled up in the corner of the bed made his heart broke a little. The realisation hit him. You knew all along how he felt about you, but he never thought about how it made you feel.

Did he really have a valid reason to dislike you?

The room is quiet for a while and you thought that Jin has already fallen asleep, when his voice called you again.

„Did you really cry during Epiphany tonight?“ he asked.

„Yeah.“ you chuckled.

Jin doesn't know what moved in him or when it happened, but he had a sudden urge to hold you. Like he wanted to erease every moment he's been horrible to you with just a little touch.

So that's what he did. He hugged you. And you let him. Hell, you've been dreaming of it for a while now.

The last thing you heared before falling asleep in his arms is a heartfelt, guilty and honest apology.

„I'm sorry.“

And when the morning comes, Seokjin wakes up and watches you with hazy eyes. Your skin is illuminated by the morning sun and your face looks cute when you are sleeping. He woke up with you still in his arms and something about that thought makes him bubble up inside.

When the morning comes, Kim Seokjin can think only of one thing: How could he ever hate you?

[stillwithkoo]

Kiss me, Heal me. 3

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Summary: When Jungkook gets injured just before an important game, he sets out to find his soulmate to heal him. In a world where soulmates can heal all kinds of illnesses by kissing, he’s desperate to find his, even if he doesn’t know you yet. What happens if he does find you? Will you kiss a stranger who claims to be your soulmate?

WC: 3k+

Warnings: Smut but it's not who you think it is, Infidelity- but jk has a shitty gf n it's mutual lol, snarky oc at the end.

tags: idiots and enemies to lovers, a lil slowburn, a bit of angst, soulmate culture, smut in the future.

A/N: this is unedited as always so sowee 👅💋 hope ya still like it tho! enjoy loves. :)

pls don’t repost my fic anywhere, if i ever find out you stole my fic idea you’ll regret it. thanks :)

You still couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. Though it was a week ago, and you've been avoiding Jungkook like he had the plague. Also, he went home awkwardly last week after that happened. You wondered if it meant something to him? To you? Of course it meant something to you, you were in-like with him. No matter how hard you tried to deny it, mayhaps you liked him. It really didn't help that you felt like heaven when he kissed you. It kinda makes you think if you were just meant to be healing soulmates and not romantic soulmates. And then there's his girlfriend too, they haven't broken up yet and what if she finds out you kissed his boyfriend? Would that make you a slut? Are you really a slut now? Ugh, maybe you are for Jungkook that is. But no. You should just forget about it, Jungkook doesn't seem like he'll leave his girlfriend for someone like you anyway. Even though you heard they were almost fighting everyday. Your best friend Charlie told you so, of course she asked how last week went and of course you cursed her for making Jungkook scheme with her against you.

But, you also told her about the kiss which she happily squealed when she found out, shipping you both. And then she proceeded to tell you about Jungkook's chaos in paradise. Why did he even kiss you? He's just making you overthink stuff, and it isn't even nighttime yet. Did he just want to help and heal you? Or was it something more? It doesn't matter you kept saying, but maybe you were just trying to convince yourself otherwise.

You went to the library to distract yourself and read some books, and of course like every cliché romance novel- (tho the romance part isn't really true) the person you were avoiding was there. Jungkook and his long curly hair that you hate. Why did he have to be so damn godlike all the time? He was in a casual polo shirt tucked in inside his pants, maybe he didn't have soccer practice today. And he looked so good you were trying not to get wet just staring at him. Maybe he noticed you were ogling him so he decided to stare at you back. But you were still embarrassed and you didn't know how to act around him now, so you went to the back aisle of the library. Not acknowledging that he was calling your name. He didn't let you go though, as he went after you to make your suffering even worse.

"Y/N, hey are you avoiding me?" he suddenly asked. You pretended to be busy reading the book you were holding, just so you didn't have to stare at his handsome face. "Oh. Hey Jungkook, of course I'm not. I'm just busy trying to catch up with school and stuff. Why'd you think so?" you replied indifferently. "You didn't listen to me when I called your name awhile ago, and I haven't seen you around campus so I thought maybe you were avoiding me. Aren't you really?" He said as he moved towards you, making you feel queasy.

"I really am not. I just didn't hear you awhile ago, and besides the whole campus is pretty big maybe we just didn't notice each other." you simply fibbed. "Okay, whatever you say. I just wanted to know how are you feeling btw? Are you feeling better now after we… kissed?" you can't believe his cocky ass would really bring up the kiss. Fck him. "I'm spectacular if you must know. And can we not bring that up ever again please? It doesn't matter anyway." you retorted sarcastically.

"Why not? Are you mad at me because I kissed you? Or are you mad because you loved it?" he said as he moved closer to you trapping you within the shelves. You couldn't breathe but it was also like you didn't care, you wanted him close to you even if you felt like dying inside too. When you finally looked at him in the eye, you weren't surprised that he was staring at you with that playful but concerned look you kinda liked. "Don't be so full of yourself, I only liked it because it healed me. There's no other reason." You tried to shove him off and get away, but he held unto you and placed his hands on your hips. "If that's true, then why can't you look at me more than a minute longer and why are you running away baby?" he whispered into your ear seductively. He then moved to look at your face, and then at your lips. Seemingly wanting to taste them again. And you wanted to taste his too, you remembered how you got almost addicted to his lips the first time you kissed. He leaned in closer and you suddenly remembered you didn't even answer his question yet. But you think you did now as you were kissing him. The kiss didn't last long as you remembered his girlfriend Chaeyoung. It was unfair to her and what if she caught you? You were almost making out with her boyfriend again. The thought was enough to make you pull away from Jungkook, leaving him a little confused.

"Why did you pull away? You can't lie to me, I know you liked kissing me too."

"Yes, maybe I did Jungkook. But it's wrong. You have a girlfriend Jungkook, what are you thinking? What about chaeyoung? Don't you care about what she'd feel?" you reasoned. "I know that, you don't have to remind me. But you're my soulmate Y/N, she's just my girlfriend. And I don't even know what I feel about her anymore, but when I kiss you I don't think about anything or anyone else."

"But we can't do this Jungkook. I can't allow you to cheat on her with me, and I can't allow you to use me while you figure out what you really feel about her. It isn't healthy for the both of us."

"I know baby, I'm sorry. I'm not using you to figure out my feelings for her or forget her, I don't know what it is yet but I feel so good when I'm with you. Can't we just forget about everything for a little while and just let it be?" he said as he cupped your cheeks with his hands. "I don't know Kook, I don't think I can forget that you're with someone else and fool around with you. If things aren't working out for the both of you, why don't you talk it out or break up?"

"It's not that easy to just talk it out with her… and I can't break up with her…" (just yet) Jungkook wanted to add.

"Well what are you planning to do? And what do you want me to do Kook? I don't wanna be the other woman. You surely don't think we'll just mess around while you're still with her?"

"I can't let her go just yet Y/N. I need to think more. But I can't let you go too. You're my soulmate, pls don't give up on me. I just need time to figure things out." Jungkook said dejectedly. "I'll wait for you Kook, I just hope you can make the right decision. Also, It's not like I can avoid you forever. But, maybe it's best if we just stay friends for now. Like friends with no funny business or benefits." You said meaning it seriously but the last part jokingly. Trying to make the mood a little better.

"That's okay with me I guess. Well friend, promise you won't avoid me now?" He looked at you with hopeful eyes.

"Promise. Just don't try to do illegal things to me." You joked. "Okay! Hmm, so you wanna go eat icecream with me at my fave ice cream shop this time?"

"Are you paying for mine? If you are then who am I to say no."

💜💋

"Babe, you feel so good inside me."

"Of course I do, I have the best pussy and you know that."

"Not to ruin the mood, but what about your boyfriend? What if he catches us here? I heard he's built, I'm not saying I'm scared but you know I hate confrontation." The guy said balls deep inside her. "What about him? He doesn't care about me, he's probably fucking someone else too. But I can't break up with him you know? We've gone through a lot, and even if he neglects me I still want & need him. And you can't blame me for wanting someone to fulfill my needs, when he doesn’t anymore. Don't worry about him catching us, he never comes here unless I tell him to. Jungkook is so obedient, but a lousy boyfriend."

After you both finished your ice creams,( you learned his fave was the cookies and cream flavor,) Jungkook didn't want to go home yet. He suggested to go to the bowling alley at the mall, to teach you how to play bowling, because you mentioned you've never played it before.

"You have to hold it like this. Place your middle and ring finger in the top 2 holes and place your thumb into the bottom hole." he instructed, after a while you were almost getting the hang of it, though Jungkook was still the best because he'd made a 'turkey' already. You found out he loved going bowling with his dad, before they fought about his goals and dreams. It's amazing how athletic he is. He's an amazing soccer player, he's good at bowling, he's an exercise muscle pig, he can probably do anything if he puts his mind to it. Maybe the only thing he can't do is leave his girlfriend for you, or like you. But it's not time for your pity party right now.

After a taxing hell week, Jungkook invited you to have a movie marathon with him as a friend at his place, to relax after the horrid week and hangout.

"What movies are we watching this time Kook?" you asked sitting on his bed comfortably, holding a bag of chips to munch on later as you watched movies. "Hmm, I was thinking we could watch all the Iron man movies, and maybe spiderman after."

"Wow you really like Iron man huh?" you teased smirking a little. "Well yeah, only uncultured swines don't." he retorted.

"I really like how pepper stayed by his side through everything. She's a brilliant woman." Jungkook says sometime during the movie. "Yeah, I haven't really seen all the iron man movies till now but I can say they suit each other well. Pun unintended." you laughed at your silly thought, making Jungkook smile too.

You were focusing on the movie when you realized Jungkook's attention wasn't fully on the movie, instead it was at you. He was staring at you and he wasn't even being subtle about it. "Hey creep, why are you staring? You're not planning to murder me are you?" You joked. "I'm not a creep and I'm not planning to murder you, I was just admiring the view." You felt a blush forming in your cheeks at his words. Did he mean he was admiring you? That you were the view? The view isn't even that beautiful though, you thought insecure.

"Stop joking around Kook." you told him shrugging him off. "I'm not though, but I'll stop. Wouldn't want you falling for me even more." He cockily remarked. You knew he was joking but you couldn't help but get pissed a little by his joke. It was like he was trying to rile you up and for what? You couldn't do anything with him. You shouldn't, besides you already had an agreement. "As if Kook, keep dreaming."

"I'll keep dreaming of you then."

"Shut up or I'm really gonna get mad now."

"Okay, okay. I was just teasing babe don't be mad, I'm sorry."

"Let's just continue watching the movie okay?"

"Yeah, of course." he said awkwardly.

💜

You were out buying something at the store when you saw someone familiar passing by. Was that Chaeyoung? Jungkook's girlfriend? After taking the items you bought you followed her, as you were curious if Jungkook was with her at the mall too. But to your surprise she entered a resto, and the guy waiting for her wasn't Jungkook. It was some guy you didn't know but they looked kinda close if you must say. Thinking he was just a friend, you were about to go on your way when you saw at the corner of your eye that they were a little too close to be just friends. She fed him some food and they were sweet with each other. An ugly thought geared in your head. She wasn't cheating on Jungkook wasn't she? But if she were then it would be so unfair to him.

You had the sudden urge to ask her what she was doing when you realized it wasn't your place and your business to butt in. You also remembered that you kissed his boyfriend so you were conflicted. Isn't it hypocritical to hate her for possibly cheating on Jungkook, when Jungkook kinda did the same? Their relationship is kinda fucked up if you think about it, and you don't want to be a part of it. But how can you not be affected when you've already sinned with your soulmate. You decided to go home instead of snitching her to Jungkook, as you thought it wasn't the right time yet. Also, you needed more proof and to know the truth if she really was doing it.

You were back again at Jungkook's place to do a project for school, as the universe decided to make you partners for this class project. Maybe it's the soulmate effect, ew. You should stop being delulu, you thought. You weren't gonna lie and say you don't enjoy spending time with Jungkook though, He was always so adorable and kind. Except for times when his cockiness gets the best of him, he was enjoyable to be around with. "So, which part do you wanna do first?" you asked. "Hmm, maybe the easy one first?" you laughed a little, of course he'd choose the easy part to do. "Okay. You'll do the vocabulary part and I'll do the introduction summary for now." You stated. He agreed and you both proceeded to do the project, chatting occasionally to ask some questions about it. You just finished your tasks for today, when Jungkook decided to make a dad joke and it was actually a good one- or maybe you're just lame that's why you found it so funny that you had tears in the corner of your eyes from laughing so much. Someone decided to knock on his door interrupting your crack fiasco, and you remembered to get yourself together and stop giggling like a crackhead.

"Chaeyoung? Why are you here?" Jungkook said as soon as he opened his door, his girlfriend appearing in front of him. "Because you weren't answering your phone Kook, and now I see why." She retorted, looking at you accusingly. She had put weird extensions on her hair, making her look quite ratchet. But her outfit was kinda nice, it was slutty like her. "Well Y/N's here because we're doing a school project, it's not what you're thinking Chae."

"And what am I thinking Kook? Care to tell me how you know what's on my mind?" she said sarcastically. "I'm just saying the stupid things you're thinking aren't real, babe." Chaeyoung got angry at his statement. "Are you saying I'm stupid Jungkook? How dare you!" she screamed.

"I never said that, you're the one who said it. Are we really gonna fight right now again? Because I don't have the time or energy for it. So can we do it some other time? Not right now when Y/N's here." Instead of being ashamed, the things Jungkook said just seemed to rile up his girlfriend more. "And so fcking what if she's here Kook? I don't care about her, and you shouldn't too. Your business with her is done! You shouldn't be meeting up with her anymore, but look at you hoeing around behind my back." You wanted to defend Jungkook, but you remembered that you did kiss him and that made you feel a little guilty. Though, you agreed to be just friends right now. "I'm not hoeing around Chaeyoung! Stop accusing me of doing things I'm not doing. I care about Y/N because she's my soulmate, and you should respect her as a person if you can't respect us being connected in each other's lives." Jungkook retorted right back at her. "If you're not playing around then why do I feel like you are Kook? A woman's instincts are never wrong. You've been cold to me. And whenever we talk, we just fight. Is it really crazy for me to think that it's because you want something or someone new?" she cried crocodile tears.

"I'm sorry if you feel that way, but It's not wholly my fault. You always seem to find mistakes in me and accuse me of stupid shit I didn't do, that's why we're always fighting. You say I never communicate, but when I try to- you're the one who doesn't listen to me. I don't even know what to do with you anymore Chae. I don't know what to do with us." Jungkook sighed, quite exhausted with the whole conversation they're having. It was so awkward for you to witness them fighting, that you wanted to get out of the room already. So you told Jungkook you were leaving.

"Kook, I'm sorry to butt-in but maybe I should leave now? We're almost done with the project anyway." Jungkook was about to reply and escort you out, but his girlfriend chimed in. "You really only thought to leave now? When you could've done that ages ago? Come to think of it, it's your fault why we're fighting again. You're an annoying little slut." Jungkook was embarrassed and bummed at his girlfriend for insulting you like that, she was being paranoid and a bitch. You decided not to mind her and say anything, even though her bitch ass was really getting into your nerves. "Chaeyoung shut up!" he told her.

"No. Why should I shut up when it's true? It's her fcking fault for being such a flirty whore trying to steal you away from me! You're not even gonna deny it are you?" You couldn't help but answer her as you couldn't take the bullshit she was spouting anymore. "I don't usually respond to background noise and nonsense people, but since you wanted my attention so badly- I'm gonna tell you this. I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend, so please get out of your imagination now, It's not healthy." You retorted snarkily. You were about to get out of the door, but you couldn't help but tell her one last thing before you go,

"And before you call me a whore, make sure you're not one."

And you coolly went out of the door and walked away from them, leaving poor slutty Chaeyoung stunned.

TBC. 💜

If you enjoyed reading this and u wanna help a broke gal buy some food to eat during this pandemic, my kofi is: https://ko-fi.com/neinyajung U can buy me a coffee for $3, only if you want to ofc! I totes understand if u can't. Even just reblogging this chapter would make me happy :)

Also, positive feedback and reblogs are highly appreciated! your comments are what inspires us writers to write more! so pls tell me what u liked about the story, so I'll be inspired to write and give you fast updates.

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[consumedkings-archive]

mayhaps 4. “You’ll play this game with me, won’t you?” for john/elliot?

BABES I AM. SO SORRY that this has taken so long but i am really pleased that i finally hit a stride with it and how it came out!! i hope you enjoy this absolute tooth-rotting fluff piece. i’ve been having a rough few days so it was so nice to get the chance to just write something sugary-sweet for once. (❁´◡`❁)

v. we can change or part ways ✤ pre-cult au

john/elliot + “you’ll play this game with me, won’t you?”, or: john picks a fight with isolde and immediately loses. hints of joseph/isolde mentioned very briefly. sort of a  sequel to this oneshot!

word count: 2.3k of pure fluff. also, some john bullying.

warnings: does john being an idiot count?

“This is a stupid game.”

It’s eleven o’clock on Christmas Eve, Elliot is snowed in at the Seed Ranch, and Isolde and John won’t stop arguing.

It’s almost enough to make it all worthwhile; the fact that they’re trapped, or that Elliot didn’t even want to come to this family dinner because she hasn’t forgotten about John impulsively asked her to marry him and her kicking him out of her apartment shortly thereafter, or that Jacob keeps looking at her from across the living room like, so uh, this is the one, huh?

“It’s not stupid,” John defends. “It will prove the superiority of Elliot and I over you and Joseph as a couple, and I think that’s not stupid at all.”

“It is,” Isolde replies flatly, “because any couple that has me in it is far superior over any couple that has you in it. No offense, Elliot.”

“None taken.”

“Offense is definitely taken,” John interjects.

“My point is that it could be Elliot and I versus you and Joseph, and I would still win, because anyone with two eyeballs probably knows Elliot better than you know her.”

“Then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t want to play!” John snaps, and then he looks at Elliot. Something in his expression shifts—something that Ell can’t quite read, and she thinks it might be because they haven’t even really made up yet from their last argument but have sort of been forced to play nice in close proximity.

And then his expression clears, and he flashes his teeth at her in that crooked smile, and he says, “You’ll play this game with me, won’t you?”

Elliot stifles a sigh. The idea of the game is simple enough—a couple stands back to back, is asked a series of questions about who-is-more-likely-to-whatever, the person who thinks they are drinks. And so on, and so forth. It sounds like a quick way for Elliot to get pissed at John, and also get piss drunk—there’s like, five rules about making them both drink—but he looks so earnest and—

And, well. He’s been trying. And that has to count for something, doesn’t it?

“Yeah,” she relents at last, “I will. If you stop fucking whining.”

“See?” John says, looking at Isolde pointedly, needling, and she groans.

“Can’t wait to watch you get drunk off your ass because you can’t get on the same page as your girlfriend to save your life.”

John rolls his eyes, almost so hard that Elliot can hear it more than she can see it, but he reaches out and snags her hand to haul her off of the couch. Isolde is prompt in producing two glasses full of alcohol—champagne, if Ell knows Isolde at all, and by now she does—and they stand, back to back, in the center of the living room.

Elliot says, “This is stupid,” with a withering sound, and John reaches behind him and gives her hip a squeeze. She still hasn’t forgiven him for his impromptu proposal, and yet he’s finding himself awful comfortable acting like everything is completely fine.

“Don’t be a poor sport, hellcat, you already agreed.”

She cranes her neck to shoot him a dirty look, with half a mind to tell him that she’d like to instead dissect everything he’d once done to piss her off rather than play this stupid fucking game, but her thoughts are quickly interrupted by Isolde settling onto the couch next to Jacob, looking quite pleased with herself.

Probably because she’d wriggled out of having to play a drinking game.

The first few questions are easy; softballs lobbed in their direction to get them to more relaxed. Things like, who’s more likely to get injured doing something stupid (Elliot), or have an embarrassing tattoo (John), or sell all of their belongings and move to Tibet (in which neither of them drinks, so then the rules are that they both must drink). In hindsight, Elliot thinks that Isolde is sending these easy ones on purpose, just ramping up for something better, grittier.

Halfway through, Joseph brings her a glass of wine just as the questions shift a little; who’s more likely to forget the name of someone they hooked up with (John), and date two people at once (John), and go home with someone they just met. The last one, they both drink, thanks to their most fortuitous first meeting in the club, and because they both drink they must then both drink again.

“These questions feel a little pointed,” John snips out eventually, when he’s drank six or seven times in a row, and Elliot can see Jacob grinning at them from the corner of her eyes. She’s pleasantly warm, but certainly nothing close to how toasty she’s sure that John is—how he must be after heartily drinking expensive, highly alcoholic champagne.

“They’re just fun questions, John. Aren’t you always talking about how you’re the fun one?” Isolde asks playfully. Elliot swallows back a laugh—it would be cruel, of course, to laugh at John’s expense—but she can’t help it. He’s put himself into corners too easily. “Who’s more likely to have the highest number?”

“Oooof?” John prompts irritably. “Candles? Chris—Christmas ornaments? Dog hairs on their clothes?” All things that he knows Elliot would beat him in and thus, have to drink for.

“Bedwarmers,” Elliot says, at the same time as Isolde does, and now she can’t help but laugh at the sound that comes out of John; long, and suffering, and fully aware that had he not insinuated that he is superior to Isolde in any way, she would not be specifically targeting him.

He drinks. Jacob asks, “More likely to hit someone with their car?” And she can feel John’s shoulders sag in relief, because she drinks dutifully.

“Thanks, Jake,” John murmurs, his words slurring a little now after enduring an onslaught of pointed questions. Elliot sees Joseph lean towards Isolde, murmuring something into her hair.

“Joseph says I have to stop torturing you,” Isolde announces, resulting in another breath of relief.

“I only suggested perhaps John has reached his limit,” Joseph admonishes. “You enjoy twisting the blade, a little.”

“You’re right, that is very sexy of me.”

John finishes whatever’s left in his cup—which can’t be much and then sets it on the table, nearly taking a headfirst dive over to the other side, and Elliot steadies him and sets her own glass aside.

“Easy, Slick.”

“Unfair,” is what John whines at her in response. “Isolde likes—she—you better.”

Looking awfully smug, Isolde suggests, “Should probably get that one to bed, Elliot, it doesn’t look like he’s gonna make it much longer.”

She stifles a sigh. The last thing that she really wants is to spend Christmas Eve with John completely, absolutely shit-faced; though considering that she’s so much more of a light-weight than he is, it is nice to have there be that kind of disparity for once. Let John be faced with his crippling vulnerability that he’d can’t laugh off because he’s so toasted.

By the time Elliot gets him up the stairs and into his bed, John has moaned and groaned his way through seven different thoughts. He settles against the pillows and lets out a breath, eyes closing.

“Gonna be stuck here,” he says after a minute. “For a few days. ‘Cause—the snow.”

“I know,” Elliot replies, perched on the edge of the bed. And then: "Fuck, I hate this," the alcohol in her system making her painfully unable to filter herself. At her words, John laughs, sitting up and sliding his arms around her waist so that he can look at her at her.

Drenched in dimly-filtered moonlight, all sharp elegant lines and eyes so blue she thinks they might swallow her up—he’s infuriating. Infuriating. So handsome, and also somehow smart and dumb at the same time. The idea that John wants to marry her is incredibly absurd, not only because of their track record but—

"Do you remember," John begins, fanning out the blanket across their laps, "that storm? A few months back? Took out your, uh....?"

“Power?”

“Yeah, that.”

She does. Elliot hates the dark, and with the power out that meant all of the small little lights she'd spread throughout her house didn't work. "Yes. It was awful."

"I remember it fondly," he continues in that still-warm lilt of being inebriated. He settles more comfortably in his spot and thumbs the slope of her hip, easy and affectionate.

“That tracks. We tend to have different views on how things go.”

He narrows his eyes, but the gesture is playful; he seems to be in a better mood than before, the tension between them less aggressive, waning and waxing the way it likes to do. John will contest it to his death, but she thinks that maybe he had intended for them to be equally as inebriated, not one more than the other, when he suggested the game before.

“It was awful,” John concedes, “but also—good. A moment in time can be many things. Should I state my case?”

Elliot groans. She’s drunk, and he’s more drunk but also a lawyer, and there is no way she can out-talk him anyway. Not in a million years. “John, you know I can’t out-argue you.”

“Maybe you’ll end up agreeing.” The brunette shifts again, reaching out and taking her hand. He does it very easily, like the argument doesn’t exist, like she hadn’t told him to fuck off and kicked him out of her apartment those nights ago. “Consider this: you’re me.”

“Hate it.”

“You’re me, and you’ve been dating this girl,” John continues ceaselessly, winding their fingers together. “That you really like, and you keep—messing it up, but this is the first date since the last time that you messed up, and the power goes out.”

Elliot grimaces. Even like this, even with John leaning in so that there isn’t a lot of space between them, telling her the story like it was the greatest thing in the world—all she can remember from that moment in time is the panic.

“And she’s really pissed off,” he adds, for flavor. “So you light every single candle you can dig out of her cupboard, because if you don’t you think she might actually come unglued from hitting her berserk button so much. And when she finally calms down, she ends up falling asleep right against you, and just before she’s really asleep for good she says that she loves you.”

Oh, Elliot thinks, her chest tightening painfully. She doesn’t remember that. The adrenaline crash, sure, burying her face into John’s neck and smelling his cologne as she fell asleep; but that does sound like something half-asleep Elliot would say, the traitorous bitch.

“Stupid,” she murmurs after a moment, when she thinks she’s recovered. Her words elicit from John a half-cocked grin as he’s leaned in, studying her. “That you remember that.”

“I remember everything,” John replies, his voice pitching low, “about you, Ell.”

Bad. This is bad, a mistake. It’s cozy under a blanket, away from the bustle of his siblings, knowing how much it’s storming and snowing outside, and she keeps thinking about how he kissed her in her apartment that night he’d tried to sneak the proposal in—like he wanted more, like he wanted to kiss her more than that, but he was trying to behave.

He was trying.

“I can’t,” Elliot manages out, soft. “John, I can’t—this—back and forth, and—”

“I don’t want to either,” John insists. “I want you, Ell, I mean it—I meant it then, and now, and I’m sorry that I thought a ring would fix it. Or, not even fix it, just that I thought—”

Her chest feels tight, and hot, and she swallows thickly as he speaks before she interrupts. “It was really stupid, really really fucking stupid, like—the meanest joke you could—”

“It wasn’t a joke—”

“So what did you do?” she asks, suddenly, blurting the words out before she can stop herself. John blinks at her.

“What did I do?”

“That night,” she presses. “That night in my house, when the power went out. When I said...”

Her voice trails off. She knows what she wants him to say, deep down inside of her. She knows that she wants him to say, I love you, I loved you then and I love you now and there’s nobody else I want more than you, because she’s a hopeless romantic and there’s nothing that would make her life into a Hallmark movie than John whispering a profession of love like this, right now.

John starts, “Elliot, I’m—”

Panic. If he says it, it’s real, and then she will have to face it. Really, truly face.

“An idiot,” Elliot interjects, her words overlapping with his and strangling them until all she can hear is the tail end of him saying, “—with you,” and his mouth sets down in a deep frown.

She looks at their hands, intertwined. He’d been so sure of himself that night, sliding the ring on her finger, and it’s less that he seemed sure she would say yes but more sure that he thought he had been making the right decision. More than anything, all I want to hear is that you missed me.

“Go to sleep,” she says at length. “We’ll see how you feel when you wake up in the morning.”

John, true to form, heaves the most dramatic sound possible out of his body before he lays back against the pillows, still in his jeans and button up. Elliot stands, and leaves him like that, because there’s plenty of things that John Seed deserves and Elliot thinks waking up in tight jeans is one of them.

“Hellcat,” he says, when she reaches the door. She pauses, glancing back; he’s quiet for a moment before he says, “Mean it, you know.”

I’m in love with you. She knows that’s what he’d been trying to say before she’d spoken over him.

“I know,” Elliot replies softly. “We’ll see if you mean it tomorrow, too.”

She hopes he will.