#and then the pan upwards with his silly cry

[firestorm09890]

speaking of khml characters though look at Nept's pathetic sad face when told to sign paperwork

[xianeoz]

‧ ˏˋ ARATAKI ITTO ﹐ ◜ CANDY POP ! ◞ ̣ ͘ ┈─ I ONLY want it when it feels like this, I only wanna feel the bliss on bliss!

ׄ     ׅ  ★̶̲ WARNINGS 、fem!reader ╱ stepcest ╱ daddy kink ╱ age gap ╱ cunnilingus ╱ mirror sex ╱ overstimulation ╱ slight dumbification ╱ slight mutual pining ╱ size kink ╱ creampie ╱ pussydrunk itto ╱ messy plot ╱ pet names ╱ slight degradation ( like once ) ╱ male masturbation ╱ minors and dc antis do not interact.

ׄ     ׅ  ★̶̲ NOTE 、ikk i said fic but my brain wasn’t cooperating :c ts isn’t my best nd i’m not too proud but pls enjoy & reblog / comment plspls i used a whole lotta brain juice t_t

ׄ     ׅ  ★̶̲ WORD COUNT 、3.2k+

PERHAPS IT’S HIS initial instinct as a man; to immediately defile you in his mind. Ponder over imaginary scenarios with you crying his name, clawing and marking your claim over his body, to bend and fold you every possible way until you break. Maybe it’s just natural…something he has no moral control over because no matter how much he tries to stop, he can’t.

Itto doesn't want to treat you like that. You're too good to be seen as a piece of meat, but you plague his mind too often for him to daydream otherwise. You tempt him in ways he can't ignore, and internal disputes on whether or not it's purposeful are futile, simply because a man like him only chases one thing. Itto longs for that fill to his craving. The need for sweetness to settle on his tongue, seep into his taste buds and send a buzz to his brain as he relishes the taste is a must for him. Itto has yet to find something to satiate his thirst…will you be that for him? He’s sure you will.

He has this charm that's undeniable. That charm is what brought him into your life in the first place. Silly banter and a million-dollar smile; the perfect recipe to have pretty girls like you wrapped around his fingers. And there's the slight possibility that you aren't as easy as you appear, but he’ll put that to the test.

He starts slow. Long stares that pan over your body, stopping at your thighs and running upward. Just looking at you has him imagining how small you’d be beneath him… how he could easily overpower you and have you squealing for him to stop—and then he's acting on these thoughts. Gradually moving to lingering touches and smooth innuendoes that leave you thinking about them later. He wants you to feel how he feels. He wants that burning desire to kill you until it's too much and you can't take it anymore. He wants you to fall so hard that you run straight into his arms. Itto is much smarter than he leads on, he knows you’ll take the bait.

It didn't take long. He's been waiting for this day. The day you come to his room, knocking sheepishly on the frame of the door while leaning on it, your clothes minimal and tight, your face laid low and innocently. He smiles softly at you, watching your nervous mannerisms as you stumble over your words. “C-can I talk to you…?”

Your fingers dance along with each other, your right foot spinning against the floor. “Of course.” he pats the spot beside him. You're hesitant to move, stopping yourself before fully moving deeper into the room. You and Itto had never been close. Ever since he and your mom got together, you’d never been fully interested in welcoming him into your family. As far as you were concerned, he was your mom's problem– but lately, your opinion has begun to shift. You find this weird interest. An interest that has you slowly creeping toward him, your mind spewing nasty thoughts just by the way he watches you.

You’re by his side, your short skirt riding up your thighs. His breath hitches, his eyes slowly drifting up and down your body. You're so close– so close that he’s slowly losing patience. “I was just wondering…if- if you could help me move my stuff out?” He's hardly listening. He nods as if he were, but his eyes aren't shy to tell otherwise. “My friend wants me to move in and we already found an apartment…I didn't know who else to ask–”

You pause. His hand lands on your forearm, index finger brushing over the goosebumps that rose from the depths of your skin. “Of course. Anything for you…” you don't know why that statement has you choked up. You swallow a large gulp, nodding frantically. You try to hide it; the obvious effect he has on you, but your body tells on you. Your minimal interaction was more than enough for him to throw away his sense. You're trying to leave. Pressing your feet against the floor and lifting off the bed. Pulling your arm from his grasp– leaving his touch. Itto isn’t about to let you slip away like that. Not when he has you, how and where he wants you.

He tightens his grip on your arm, and without him having to utter a single word, you're back in your seat. How about that? You're so easy. “Good girl…” he praises. He moves closer. His hand runs up the length of your arm, pulling you closer. You feel his breath brush on you, raising the hairs on your skin straight. You freeze completely, following the flow he sets. It's in no time you're face to face, his body stretched over you to lean his lips close to yours. “You want this just as bad as I do, don't you?”

Perhaps it was the overwhelming emotions or the closeness of the two of you, but you find yourself immediately nodding a rampant ‘yes’, your wide eyes boring into his. His lips find yours, roughly pressing down as his tongue tenderly pulls your lips apart, slipping into your mouth. He overwhelms you in just five seconds, having you fall backward on the bed. His arm is quick to sweep you before you fall, catching you over his forearm and leaning you down. This allows him to gain further control, deepening the intimacy. Your arms raise around his build, wrapping around the back of his neck and pulling him into you. Your legs instinctively open around him, allowing him to position right over you. It's then that you realize what you've done, and how far you've gone. “I- Itto..!”

Your mind swirls in a whirlwind. You're caught up in a swarm of hormones and emotions, lost and so far gone that you essentially have no consciousness over your decisions. You don't know why, and you argue with yourself internally over it, but you push his head further down your body and to your chest, arching into him. “I need you… Please, daddy?”

━━━━━━━━━ ˊˎ-

Itto has waited so long for this. He's in a state of ignorant euphoria, completely ignoring the way you squirm and clench, gorging himself greedily on your cunt. His face is soaked in your essence and sweat, dripping off of about an hour of nonstop orgasms, forcing them out of you by the grace of his tongue. He should be tired, but his stamina is on a different level, never faltering as his tongue whips and swirls through your folds. Your clit is abused and tired, sensitive to even the draft of air blowing through the room.

You feel your orgasm creeping up on you for the- what? 4th? 5th? You've lost count, but you know he’s pulled so many from you to the point that the knot tying in your tummy is nothing but a tingle, a shock that sparks once to your fucked out brain. Your body is laid over the end of the bed, your head hanging off the side and your eyes stuck staring at your reflection in the mirror behind you. You watch him as he peels your legs further apart as your subconscious closes them, forcing your hips to the bed as he sucks on your clit. Tears fall down your face out of overstimulation, your body too tired to even blink and fight the pleasure. Your core tightens for the nth time, your stomach wrenching and cunt twitching as your high crashes down upon you. Indistinctly, he's murmuring against you, but you can infer it's the same thing he’s been saying for the last hour: “Give it to me, baby. Let me have it, let me taste it– let that pretty pussy make a mess on my face.”

You do. With this sweetest hum and lift of your hips, your clit twitches, and your hole spasms, another stream of cum seeping from your depths and further soiling the sheets. His tongue doesn't hesitate, slipping with ease in and out of your pussy, obnoxiously drinking up your taste. Itto has yearned for the sweetness that’ll satisfy his endless sweet tooth. You’ve fulfilled his hunger– but his carnal, predatorial desire is far from subdued. His cock aches against the binds of his clothes, a painful throb panging through his shaft as his need for release prolongs. He finally parts from your cunt, tongue swiping over his face and licking up the remnants of your taste, moaning at you on his tongue once more.

He’s quick to unbuckle his pants and discard them, his boxers tossed away soon after. You see his reflection in the mirror– the angry, red tip of his cock leaking a puddle of precum in his slit, the protruding vein that runs from the underside of his cock to the head, thick and ready to blow. You see him all together, the happy trail that leads to the trimmed bush at the base of his dick, the broadness of his shoulders and definition in his muscles… internally, you're freaking out. Everything about him is so big and mature. He's so different compared to the other guys you've been with before, from the body to the way he empties your pretty head, there's not a guy who does it like him.

Itto slips his middle and ring finger into your cunt, the slightly warmed metal of the rings on his fingers leaving you gasping. He drags the digits along your walls, picking up your abundance of slick. Your voice is at a whisper, quiet whimpers sneaking through your lips at the action. “So pretty f’me, princess…”

His fingers are pulled from you, his hand wrapping around the circumference of his cock. Wet from your slick, he groans at the calloused touch of his hand, dragging it up the shaft and sighing shakily. He stares you down in the mirror, eyes meeting yours as he jerks himself off. “Can’t wait to fuck ya’...been waiting so long to feel you around me, babydoll.” his words are somewhat unlike him. Sultry and teasing. It's evident that it's not for you, but for him. “Tell daddy how much you want his cock.”

Your breath pauses in your throat, the shamelessness in his words nearly appalling to you. You can admit it's attractive, and with the huskiness in his voice, it sends shivers coursing through your veins. You can hardly speak anymore– and he should know this, he is the one who tore your voice to shreds earlier by constant pleasure. “You want me to fuck you stupid…wear you down and burn you out from fucking you nonstop on my dick. Tell me you want me to,”

His hisses are more frequent, coming as he teases himself. He leans forward, angling his hips to line up with yours. His cock presses against your cunt, slipping between your labia and falling into a hug by your folds. Wet and warm, he shivers at your feel, using his left hand to position him at your clit before pushing his hips to you, gyrating against you. His mouth drops to produce low moans, his hand propping him up while he uses the opposite to pull you up, leaving the two of you face to face again. “Go on.”

Your lips brush against each other, the air growing condensed between the two of you. It must be some sort of seduction trick because you can suddenly feel all sense returning to you, the stimulation to your clit while being face to face with him reawakening your awareness. Your mouth falls to a crack, your cute whimpers falling through. You nod a ‘yes’, humming as you lean up to him, planting your lips on his in a kiss. “I need it, daddy. So bad..so bad, daddy please–!” you mumble against him. So desperate, so whiny, your voice is sweet in the way you kindly ask, and Itto swears he’s found heaven.

He’s biting on your lip, smiling as he slowly pulls away from you. Your legs open around him, his body repositioning to properly align himself with your hole. With no more time wasted, he's pushing slowly into you, letting you feel every inch sink in with hisses and heavy breaths. You cry out initially, your toes curling at his entry and your body tensing up. Itto is quick to aid you, building up a ball and spitting onto your cunt, letting the saliva dribble down to where his cock lay nestled inside you before grabbing your right arm and guiding your fingers to toy with your clit. “Just like that…fuck, princess, you're so fuckin’ tight…”

His teeth sink into his bottom lip as he pushes further to bottom out, groaning as your pelvis meet each other. “Ah, fuck.” if Itto thought you felt good on his face– you feel even crazier around him. You wrap your limbs tight around him, pulling him closer to you to hide in his neck, panting and whimpering at the stretch of your pussy. You're filled to the brim and he hasn't even done anything yet, and with this, you're sure he’ll break you. “‘M gonna start moving, so you hang on tight,” you nod quickly, snuggling deeper into his skin and bracing yourself.

His hands move from your torso to your waist, pulling you back in unison with his hips, slowly to let you feel the revelation of just how big he is with every inch. He holds you off for only a moment before meeting your hips in a rough collision, meeting you in the middle with his hips thrusting upward as he brings you down. You cry out loudly, sinking both your teeth and nails into his skin. His left hand goes down to your ass and gropes the fat, squishing the meat in his big palm before slapping it, “Atta girl. You can take it all like this, right, baby?”

“Mhm..! Want it all!—fuck!” and so it begins. A slow, agonizing beginning with deep, precise thrusts and heavy collisions. Tears are already brimming in your eyes and you can't help but squeal every time his entire length delves into you, his balls slapping against your ass and the base of his cock hitting your clit. His grunts in your ears are like music to your ears, deep and guttural to the point where it’s providing extra stimuli. The mirror gives Itto the perfect view of how cute you are, pressed so tightly and clinging so hard to his body as if you were horrified of letting go. In practice, you're so much better than what he imagined. So much cuter. So much more tailored perfectly to him, like you were made to serve and be fucked by him. He wants to treat you as his princess. Spoil you in pleasure and fuck you weak like you deserve, but this pit of fire in his chest burns otherwise. And maybe this is another instinct that comes with being a man, but taking you slowly isn't enough for him. He needs to fuck you like an animal.

That's enough for him to pull out of you, pull you off of him without a word, and push you against the mattress. He’s flipping you to your stomach with obvious aggression, tuning out your questions, and yanking your hips back. He arches your ass high in the air, smoothing his hand down the curve of your back and pushing the back of your head to shove your face into the mattress, the other hand positioning his cock before he's wasting no time slamming back into you. Your eyes immediately widen and your jaw drops, squeals and yelps flowing from your throat as he holds no mercy, criminally pounding you with no second thought. He plows your cunt, every ounce of strength being put into his thrusts. With every connection of his tip to your G-spot, you swear you see stars cloud your vision, your body seemingly soaking in bliss.

You're forced to look into the mirror, watching his face contort from pleasured to determined, eyebrows furrowing and cheeks blowing and deflating, a repeated cycle as his eyes zero in on the way your pussy swallows him up with ease. He hasn't had a taste of a pussy this good in so long that he’s losing himself, his head feeling like a blur as his first orgasm rushes up upon him. His grunts shift to moans, unabashedly sounding from his gut as he approaches his high. “Oh, fuck! Fuckfuckfuck– gonna cum inside you–!”

One final thrust has him dumping ropes of thick cum and pent-up frustration deep inside you, his hips twitching slightly as he dumps his load. His moans are incredibly arousing to you and you're whining just by hearing them, pushing your hips back against him and grinding–fucking yourself on his cock. His hand comes down against your ass, slapping it with a grin on his face. “So fuckin’ sexy, princess,” he muses, leaning over your body. He dips his head in the crook of your neck, lips kissing the tender skin. His tongue pokes through his lips, running from your neck to your shoulder where he kisses once more. “Gonna fuck you so full. ‘M not stopping ‘til I’ve given you everything I got.”

“I want it all…” you sniffle, connecting your eyes through the mirror. He only grins wider, brushing the side of your face with his fingers. “I know. My angel’s gonna take every last bit, like the fucktoy she is..”

He starts again. Rough and mean, calloused hands grabbing your biceps and tugging you to him. His hips are like magic, hitting every and any spot perfectly, with just enough power that your voice is on a loop. Your hips smack with disgusting wetness, the sound loudly bouncing off the walls. His name rolls off your tongue with ease, cry’s, and pleas that “‘'s too much!” filling his ears. He loves this. How your cunt contracts around him and how your voice sings his praises, it's like heaven for him.

“Rub your clit..make yourself cum, princess,” he whispers, changing the pace at which he fucks you. He returns to the slower, deeper thrusts, watching as you obediently toy with your clit before ferociously attacking the sensitive bud, contrasting completely to him and fighting for your orgasm. Your head throws backward and your toes curl, it's coming. You don't even have to say anything before he’s picking up the pace once more, sloppily railing into you. It's all too much, and before you know it, you're seeing white, your eyes rolling and your body falling limp as your orgasm knocks upon you. Your voice wears out by then, your body slumping to the mattress weakly as Itto lets you go, admiring the way your pussy spasms around him.

He takes no pause in letting you come down from your high, flipping you back over and raising your legs to your chest. Translucent white drips down your pussy, so pretty and making you shine. Itto wishes he would've done this sooner.

It continues on into the night. You're riding him, laying sideways, being crushed beneath him, curling up, getting on the floor– you're sure Itto made sure to put you in every position and fuck you on every surface in his bedroom, making you cum with each one. It’s amazing how much stamina a determined Arataki Itto holds. It’s even scary when he has no remorse for abusing your cunt like nothing. Maybe you’ll stay home and won't try to move out– but if you do, he's sure to help you make some memories before you go.

[author-morgan]

Hi, i was woundering if you were doing requests and if you are can i request M eivor x F reader, where he finds her crying or she feels down and he comforts her, please.

sorry it took so long, but i hope you enjoy this little drabble! ♥

m!Eivor x fem!Reader

ANOTHER BATCH OF honey cakes ruined. You sigh, watching the crows and songbirds peck at the burnt remains scattered behind the bakery, wondering how much larger their feast will grow before you’ll have something fit to serve your Jarl for the spring feast. Eivor is more than just your Jarl, though. He is one of your dearest friends of many years —and the one person always willing to put his stomach on the line to sample what sweets you craft. Honey cakes happen to be his favorite, and you’ve made them more times than you care to count, but it's as though the gods are against you today. 

Sliding another batch into the stone oven, you take to a stool, watching with a keen and focused eye. Not about to let more flour and eggs go to the bad. It’s not but a minute or two later that Tekla appears in the doorway, asking for a hand in rolling one of the mead barrels onto a cart to take to Grantebridge. Thinking it a quick chore, you agree to help, certain you'd return in time to tend the honey cakes. But you should have known it would take longer than what Tekla said —the scent of bread almost to burn fills the air and sends you in panic.

Using the linen of your apron, you grip onto the handle of the cooking pan. It takes a moment before the heat of the metal handle seeps through the thin fabric, though when it does, you drop the pan with a yelp, unable to get the pan to the table. Hands red and blistered, you look down at another ruined batch scattered across the earth and plank floor of the bakery —one final crack in the dam of your resolve, enough to let loose a flood of emotion. It feels silly, crying over burnt sweets, but you can’t help it. 

Floorboards creak as someone steps through the doorway. You spare a glance —seeing Sýnin take to pecking at crumbs on the floor before you see him. He slides onto the bench across from you at the table, brows furrowed. and concern written in his clear blue eyes when he notices the tear tracks on your cheeks and the dampness around your eyes you try to hide with a wipe of a sleeve. “Eivor,” you sniffle, finally deciding to sit up and meet his kindly gaze. He doesn’t like to see you in distress, and he especially doesn’t like seeing you cry. 

Eivor takes your wrists, seeing how you hold your hands against your chest —knowing you’re hiding something. “Your hands,” he frowns, looking at your red and blistered fingers and palms. You won’t be baking anything else for a little while with those burns, especially if they don’t get cleaned and bandaged. A soft sigh escapes his lips. It won’t be the first time he’s helped patch you from a mishap in the bakery, and —much to his disliking— he knows it probably won’t be the last either. Rising from the bench, he moves around the table. “Come,” he breathes, helping you stand, “let’s get you taken care of.”

He motions for you to sit on his bed in the longhouse while he plunders through chests and small boxes for a roll of linens and one of the Valka’s salves. Eivor kneels before you, pressing a cool, damp rag against one of your hands and then the other. You watch, lips twitching upward at how careful he is, and how mindful he is of the rough spots on his own hands while working. “What were you doing?” The question snaps you from the daze and brings the color of shame rushing to your cheeks. 

You look away, biting down on your lip as he spreads the chamomile salve across your other palm. “Wanted to make you some honey cakes,” you admit, not meeting his soft gaze yet, “but kept burning them.” Just the thought of watching the crows feast is enough to make your stomach churn and eyes water. Messing up a recipe you’ve made over and over again for nigh twenty years after the added stresses of helping Randvi and the others during Eivor and Sigurd’s absences was too much. 

It’s wrong of him to laugh at your misfortune and distress, but Eivor’s lips tug into a smile, and a soft chuckle escapes his lips. You are too good to him, and he knows it. Tying off a final knot in the second bandage, he wipes his hands on his britches and moves beside you on the bed, draping an arm around your shoulders to draw you into his chest, lips ghosting above your forehead. There’s something about Eivor’s embraces —the warm comfort that makes everything feel like it’ll be okay in the end.

“As much as I love your honey cakes,” he muses, “I’d prefer you not hurt yourself trying to make them.” That shameful flush races up to your cheeks again, but before it can surface, Eivor brushes back messy wisps of hair and leans in, kissing your forehead —his golden beard tickling your cheek and nose. “Besides” –a larger smile twists his lips– “you’re sweet as any honey cake.” Sweeter even.

At one time, you would have said you were immune to Eivor’s flattery, but it's become increasingly difficult as of late to ignore the way his sweet words make you feel —and more than a few times you’ve caught his lingering gaze watching you with an unfamiliar gleam in his clear blue eyes. Eivor may be your dearest friend, but he’s also the man you cannot help but love. “Eivor,” you chide, eyes flitting down to study the linen wrapped around your hands. 

Eivor cups your cheek, tilting your chin up so you can see he's being sincere. “Why don’t we make them together?” He proposes, unable to deny a fresh honey cake would be welcome. You lift a brow, a silent challenge. Eivor has helped you bake in the past —taking pans from the oven and scrubbing dishes mostly, but the image of Eivor elbow deep in flour is an amusing one. “You can tell me what to do, and with two sets of eyes, we won’t let them burn.” He smiles, nudging your ribs lightly.

“Deal,” you agree, glad to know you’ll have him all to yourself for the rest of the day. You mean to kiss his cheek in thanks —for tending your burnt hands— instead, you find your lips against Eivor’s and little desire to shy away. He turned his head at the last moment to see you smile, but this was certainly better. In all your foolish daydreams, you’d never been able to imagine how his lips would feel against yours. They are softer than you expected and gentler. You sigh against his parted lips when his fingers trail along your cheek and jaw, slipping back into your hair —not eager to part— and all the reassurance you need to know he feels the same.

[taglist:  @angstyoutlaw @vanillabeanlattes @withered-poppies @ananriel @itseivwhore @maximalblaze @dynamicorbit @theelvenvalkyrie @xxdearlybeloved @elizabethroestone @elluvians @letsloveimagines @finick94 @wallsarecrumbling @kitkitvm @thedragonqueenfan @callmemythicalminx @edelaen ] if you’d like to be added to my Eivor taglist, just let me know!

[skzsauce01]

God’s Menu

Synopsis: Two chefs face off in the final dessert round. Who will come out on top, and who will be the next Cooking God? Cooking competition AU inspired by Chopped. Possible cooking/baking inaccuracies.

Warning: none

Word Count: 6.6k

Pairing: fem!reader x chef!Felix

“Who will win and become the next Cooking God?”

This is not a laughing matter, but your nerves about the situation think otherwise. The bright lights of the studio kitchen and the multitude of cameras pointed at you make your pulse thrum at an even quicker pace than the last two rounds. With your opponent in front of you and the host right beside you, you grow increasingly on edge. It’s becoming more real by the second — a chance to win ten million won, your dream of opening your own bakery being fulfilled, your future studded with three Michelin stars.

You would say you didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at such a wild scenario, but clearly your body has already decided on that.

Since you’ve already bursted out laughing on the last two takes, you can’t exactly do it again. It’s so difficult though. The host Park Jae is chatty and humorous behind the scenes, but the solemn way he delivers the cheesy line is such a big contrast to himself. It doesn’t help that you can see his jaw trembling as he holds back his laughter. It’s almost an invitation.

With the grin on your face barely concealed, you say, “I will.”

In front of you, Chef Lee Felix replies, “Not a chance,” in an extra deep voice, his thick Australian accent shining through, taunting you to give up your cracking charade of calm.

“Chefs, open your baskets.”

“Cut!”

As soon as the clapper is dropped, all three of you let loose into peals of laughter. Jae and Felix clutch onto each other for support, and you grab the nearby edge of the work surface to steady yourself. It’s all so silly. You wonder if Jae is like this on all episodes of God’s Menu or if he simply finds you and Felix especially fun to be around. Felix is a charmer, but you’re not certain if you feel that way because he’s rather attractive, the head chef of the two Michelin star restaurant Levanter, or simply because you feel like your insides have been reduced to cotton candy ever since you stepped inside the studio. Either way, the combination of you, Felix, and Jae has not been easy for the filming crew.

However, as the director calls for you and Felix to head to your stations, you steel yourself for the most important part of the competition. You glance at Felix once more to see how he’s faring, and he mouths, “Good luck,” at you. You smile back and hope that it’s reassuring enough.

“And… action!”

Jae resumes his professional television persona from the far end of the studio where the judges are sitting. “Chefs, open your baskets.”

With unsteady hands, you pull apart the flaps of the giant wicker basket. Then you immediately grimace once you see the four ingredients you have to use in your dessert. Strange foods are part of the competition, but you are always surprised by some of the things the producers put in the basket.

“You have to make a dessert with camel milk…”

You have used cow milk, goat milk, sheep milk, even buffalo milk once, but never camel. Hopefully, it has a similar composition and taste to one of those.

“Rose syrup…”

This is an ingredient you use daily in the upscale restaurant you work at, so you can possibly modify one of your recipes if the other two ingredients aren’t too absurd. Macarons will take too long, so maybe a decadent flourless rose and chocolate cake. You could easily incorporate the camel milk into a dense, fudgy cake.

“Beer flour…”

Never mind on the flourless cake. The cake idea may still be possible, but what on earth is beer flour? If it tastes anything like beer though, you might have to nix the idea altogether.

“And jalapeños.”

They are bright red and thus, extra spicy. Your first instinctive is to candy them and to use them as a garnish on your maybe-cake. The spice would cut through the sweetness and richness of the cake as well.

“Forty minutes on the clock, and your time starts… now!”

Your previous nervousness dissipates completely. Compartmentalizing while cooking, or soon to be baking in this case, has always been a relatively easy feat for you; your mind forgets the rest of the world and refocuses on the task at hand.

While Felix heads straight to the pantry for his additional ingredients, you tear open the package of beer flour with your knife. Unfortunately for you, it smells exactly like old beer, so you forgo your initial idea. You warily eye the clock and calculate the time needed for the plan you have just created. If you’re quick in the kitchen, you could make a good tart. All the basket ingredients can easily be used for one purpose or another.

Yeah, you think you’ll do that.

As you rush to the pantry for some flour, butter, sugar, and vanilla for your shortbread tart crust, Felix walks past you with a sheet of puff pastry and a carton of cream. You wonder what he’s going to do with his repertoire of skills. Hand pies? Strudels? Something completely out of the box?

You push those thoughts out of your head and gather your ingredients for the crust along with the ones for the chocolate cream filling. The cameraman following you takes several steps back as you stack containers in your arms. You press down the topmost one with your chin and carefully balance them as you speed back to your work station. Fortunately, yours is the closest to the pantry.

While the flours, butter, sugar, and vanilla are being combined together in the stand mixer, you begin slicing your jalapeños before candying them in a pan with some sugar. After a moment’s hesitation, you add in a splash of rose syrup as well to further accentuate the flavors in the rose glaze. You hear a crash of metal on your left. Felix has set a pan on his stovetop and is dropping a handful of sliced jalapeños into his pan.

It’s never early too early to start getting your presentation dishes, is it?

You walk past him — “Behind, Chef” — and peer inside to confirm that he is also making candied jalapeños. It’s a little concerning that you and he have similar elements in this round since the judges may deem the idea “uncreative.” If push comes to shove, you can probably transform the peppers into something else, but you have no idea what else to do with them now. Instead, you grab four ceramic tart pans and head back to find that your dough is fully combined.

As you press a layer of the dough into the bottom of your pans, you overhear the panel of judges speculating over your and Felix’s desserts. Park Jihyo, a celebrity chef known for her wide variety of kimchi dishes, points out that both chefs appear to be making candied jalapeños. Jae mentions something about Felix possibly putting it between his puff pastry like a sandwich. Could he be making a dessert sandwich with puff pastry as the bread? You can’t help yourself. A quick glance over at Felix and then upwards towards the wall-mounted clock informs you that he is pouring something into his blender and that you have thirty-three minutes left, neither of which are helpful.

You place the pans on a baking sheet and slide the tray into the oven to bake. You take a sip of the camel milk, which tastes a little nutty and will work nicely in the pastry cream filling. As the milk and heavy cream heats up, you chop a dark chocolate bar to add into the mixture to melt. The main reason why you decided on a chocolate cream filling is because one of the judges, Lee Chaeryeong, is a self-proclaimed chocoholic as well as a renowned chocolatier and baker. If you can impress her with your dessert, everyone will flock to your bakery.

Being the head pastry chef at Hero’s Soup is fun, but to have full creative control and to make whatever you want, is what you truly desire. You have a menu already drawn up, paint colors selected, and even a storefront scoped out. All you need now is a lot of money to get it opened. Chef Lee Felix and his dish are the only thing standing in your way. He may have gotten his start as a pastry chef, but you have spent the last several years being one at a top restaurant. Only one Michelin star, you admit, but you know your work is superb. The critics at Clé magazine said so.

You whisk in the sugar and slowly add your beaten eggs into the chocolate mixture. You don’t want to risk having bits of scrambled egg in the tarts. After you mix it all until it turns smooth, you check your tart crust in the oven. It’s done blind baking, so you take it out to cool before filling it with your filling. In the meantime, you work on the rose flavored cream to be piped on top.

“Behind,” calls Felix.

As you run back to your station with a carton of whipping cream, Felix heads to the ice cream machine with his blender container. He pours his light pink mixture in. Rose ice cream, it seems, will be in his dessert. Rather unhelpfully to you and more for the cameras, Jae announces that Felix’s dish will feature ice cream.

“An ice cream sandwich maybe with the puff pastry he has in the oven?” he adds.

That certainly is a dessert sandwich. You can’t help but look at the judges’ reactions to that suggestion.

Ok Taecyeon, chef and owner of the Japanese restaurant Winter Hitori, seems pleased by that idea. “Or maybe a mille feuille,” he says as he cranes his neck to look at the ingredients at Felix’s station, “with ice cream instead of pastry cream.”

A mille feuille and a tart are pretty different from each other, but you don’t miss your dessert’s similarities to his. Unoriginality aside, this could become a direct comparison of technical abilities. You’re certain you’ve got him beat on that.

You pause on your rose cream to fill your empty tart shells with the chocolate filling. There is an audible gasp from Chaeryeong as she sees the silky smooth texture being poured into each pan. How can you blame her when you yourself are mesmerized by the shine of it?

“Chocolate’s on the menu!” Jae exclaims. “How do you think it will go with all of the mandatory ingredients?”

You suppress a smile at her excitement as she details the finer points of chocolate pairings. Without a doubt, she is the one you must impress. It won’t be an easy feat, but you think she’ll enjoy your dish.

You stick the now filled tart shells back into the oven to bake. Fifteen minutes left, and not only does the filling have to be baked through completely, it has to cool down with adequate time so you can pipe on the cream. The giant bowl of rose cream is completed and set aside.

Now the only thing left for you to finish are your candied jalapeños, which you should have paid more attention to because they are on the verge of being burnt. The sugar and rose syrup have caramelized into a dark brown mess around the edges of the pan, and the red peppers have gone mushy. At that moment, the camera leans in to get a closeup of the disaster and captures you loudly swearing at it.

They can censor that in post-production.

"Behind. All good?" Felix asks as he rushes by with a casserole dish for ice cream collection. You hope his ice cream base didn't work.

"Mostly."

Jae's theatrical whisper and the approved hums from the judges inform you that Felix’s ice cream did turn out beautifully.

"Behind," he says again.

"Heard."

With an exasperated sigh, you set the ruined pan aside and turn back to your cutting board. You had the foresight to not use all of the peppers, but two measly ones are not going to be enough for the amount you want on each tart.

“Hey,” you shout to Felix, hoping that he can hear you over the whir of his food processor, “you have any jalapeños left over?”

He pushes the plastic container with one finger a smidge in your direction as he pulls off the parchment paper over his freshly baked puff pastry. “Take it.”

With a sigh of relief, you walk over to grab them. You expertly chop them into neat slices and throw them into a new pan. A sprinkling of sugar, a circle of rose syrup, and a turn of the stove knob later, the jalapeños are being candied, hopefully properly this time. As you wait, you check your baking tarts. They are still not done yet, which is to be expected but bothersome.

“Ten minutes left on the clock!”

The nervousness is back, and you whisper, “C’mon, c’mon,” at the oven door like it will encourage the tarts to cook faster. After letting yourself stare for a few more seconds because maybe they’ll suddenly be done in that short time, you pop back up to check on your peppers. They, fortunately, are turning out well. You turn down the heat so as to not let the syrup turn into rock candy as you wait for those cursed tarts to be done. Why did you decide on something so risky? Why couldn't you have done a puff pastry crust and not spend ten precious minutes fiddling around with the dough?

Because of the beer flour and because your pride demands that you prove your skills to all the talented chefs, that's why.

Another minute passes, and you drain the pan of the liquid and let the peppers cool down. Felix keeps running back to the pantry for more ingredients, and the judges voice their disapproval at that. You feel a breeze brush across the back of your neck as he dashes back to his station. It’s never a good sign when chefs grab last-minute items; it either means they’re behind schedule, forgot a component of a key element, or about to screw up whatever they have already made in an attempt to fill up time. Or maybe you’re just being cynical. All your nerves are on fire at the moment. Jihyo and Taecyeon soon turn their attention to you when they realize that your tarts are still in the oven.

“You can’t just look at them all day!” Jihyo exclaims at your crouching position.

She’s right, so you make a quick decision: finish these underbaked tarts in the microwave. You flounder for a towel, pull open the oven door, and walk to the microwave as you fast as you can with a tray of steaming hot pans. As all of the tarts are being cooked, you run back to your station to fill a pastry bag of your rose cream. You have six and a half minutes left, and if you’re quick, you can stick the tarts in the blast chiller to cool a little bit. Never mind that putting hot desserts into a freezer is considered blasphemous, you have a competition to win.

The microwave loudly beeps, and you run back to cart them back onto the baking sheet and shove them in the blast chiller. They could still be underdone for all you know, but that’s a risk you have to take. It will still be delicious at least. Felix decides to grab yet another ingredient, and you watch with interest as he selects a bunch of basil. You can’t say whether rose and basil is a good combination, but you trust that he has an idea of what he’s doing. He flashes you a panicked smile as he runs back. It’s the perfect embodiment of your current emotions.

“Less than five minutes, chefs!”

You’re certain the judges mean well when they begin to shout at you about starting on plating, but it only makes you more anxious. You keep watch of the clock, precious seconds disappearing in front of your eyes. Once it hits two minutes, you’ll take them out. Piping pastry cream is so easy, you could do it in your sleep. Garnishing should be simple too. You can do this.

Taecyeon yells, “There’s no time! Get it together!” exactly when there are three minutes left. One more agonizing minute later, you take out the tarts and head back to your station with the same kind of balancing act you performed when you made a mad dash to the microwave. At first glance, it appears the chocolate cream filling has set and cooled, but who really knows? You pick up your pastry bag and start squeezing fat dots in a crescent on the tops of each tart. The pink cream looks beautiful against the dark chocolate.

“Less than thirty seconds remaining!” shouts Jae.

“I can’t watch,” Chaeryeong declares. “Hurry!”

With a slightly shaky hand, you place your candied peppers on each dollop, grimacing when some of them are just the tiniest bit askew. You quite literally have no time to fix them though. A millisecond after you finish setting the last one, Jae calls out for you and Felix to stop cooking. You throw your hands up, showing that you have stopped. Then with a sigh, you grasp the edge of the table and look down at the final desserts. They all look amazing, minus the imperfect pepper placements, on the outside, so you hope that the insides match, no gooey filling in the center. Out of curiosity, you glance over at Felix and catch him eying yours as well. His mille feuilles look stunning — light pink ice cream sandwiched between golden brown puff pastry, topped with a row of pastry cream, red jalapeños, strawberries, and basil so finely chopped, you can barely see it.

You and Felix meet in the middle and nearly collapse on top of each other. He pulls you in more a congratulatory hug, and your unease about your dessert disappears for a second. His hold is strangely comforting considering you have only met him today. You could stay here all day. Then you remember that all of this is being filmed and that you’re hugging Chef Lee Felix, and your pulse jumps.

“We’re done now. Nice job,” he says. He pulls away and observes your frozen expression. “No laughing fits yet?”

A giggle escapes — they’re back and even worse than before, you can already feel it — and you clamp a hand over your mouth, embarrassed. “They’ve just started.”

“Good luck on the judging.”

“Yeah, you too.”

The director yells, “Cut!” and the moment is gone.

You and Felix idle around by the judges’ table as the production crew takes close-ups of the food. Felix easily makes conversation with all of the judges, especially Taecyeon. He smiles at the right parts, adds anecdotes when appropriate, and you wonder how he is so unphased by the dessert round. It’s all you can think about, replaying every single action you made.

“I can’t wait to try that chocolate tart,” Chaeryeong warmly says to you. “It looks amazing.”

Now all you can do is stare at her in disbelief with the silliest grin on your face. Felix gently nudges you to remind you to speak.

“I can’t wait for you to try it,” you hear yourself reply. It’s uncharacteristically high-pitched, and you feel yourself growing hotter despite the lack of harsh studio lights.

“The fourth one is for me, right?” Felix teases. “I want a bite of that too.”

“Only if I get some of your mille feuille,” you say. “It looks amazing.”

“What about me?” protests Jae, making everyone laugh.

Once the close-ups are completed, you and Felix return to your stations and make the dramatic walk to the judges’ table. The lighthearted atmosphere from before is gone, and your nerves are back in a completely different way. The anticipation from the beginning of the round is nothing compared to the fear you feel now. You stand tall with your hands behind you, the perfect picture of confidence, but behind the camera, you are twisting and knitting together your fingers. Felix, on the other hand, is solemn. Lucky him.

“In the dessert round,” Jae recites, “you were tasked to create a dish with camel milk, rose syrup, beer flour, and jalapeños. Chef Felix, what did you make for us today?”

With a steady voice, he answers, “Judges, I have made for you a rose and strawberry ice cream mille feuille topped with a strawberry rose syrup crumble, candied jalapeños, sliced strawberries, and some chopped basil. I hope you enjoy it.”

There’s a pause as the judges cut into the dessert and try it. Like in the previous rounds, their expressions are indecipherable as they chew and deliberate to themselves. Taecyeon is the first to speak.

“First off, your presentation is beautiful. Everything is very neat and precise, which shows your attention to detail. I especially love the basil. Not only does it complement the rest of the dish, it’s a nice addition of color to the plate.”

Chaeryeong nods. “I agree. Strawberry and basil is a classic combination, and I think you balanced those flavors very well. However, neither of those ingredients were in the basket.”

You can almost feel the temperature in the room drop at that revelation.

“Yeah, you definitely focused more on the pantry than the basket ingredients,” Jihyo adds. “Strawberry is the star of this dessert, and I wish you highlighted a basket ingredient instead, especially since you had so many good choices available. And ice cream wise, I think it is too sweet. And I can just barely taste the rose syrup in there.”

“Where is the beer flour in this?” Taecyeon asks as he lifts off the topmost layer of puff pastry. “Is it in the crumble?”

“Yes,” Felix quickly replies. “I didn’t like the flavor of the flour, so I decided it would be best to hide it with the strong syrup flavor.”

“You definitely did that well,” Taecyeon continues. “And your jalapeños are great, help cut through the sweetness of everything.”

It’s clear that there is nothing more to be said. You note that the baker of the trio of the judges said nothing negative about Felix’s dish.

“Thank you, Chef Felix,” Jae concludes. “Chef Y/N, what have you made for us today?”

There’s another cut as the production switches out the half empty plates for your tarts. Sensing your increasing anxiety, Felix reaches over and pats you on the shoulder.

“Good luck,” he whispers. “You got this.”

You can only give him a tentative smile in return before filming resumes. Jae repeats his line to help the transition.

“Judges, I have made for you a chocolate tart with a beer flour crust, rose pastry cream, and candied jalapeños. Please enjoy.”

Chaeryeong is the first to scoop into the tart with her spoon. When the spoon comes out clean and with a pile of solid chocolate tart, you breathe a sigh of relief. She mulls over it as she takes another bite, but Taecyeon already has one ready.

“This is rich and delicious.”

You stop wringing your fingers together. A smile is beginning to form on your face, and it takes some willpower to remain calm.

“I love the way you cut the beer flour with regular flour because let’s be real,” he continues, leaning in conspiratorially, “beer flour tastes pretty awful. I can still get some hints of it, but it’s not overpowering.”

Jihyo nods in agreement. “You have good textures, from the crunchiness of the tart shell to the silkiness of the filling. My only problem with your dessert is that it’s heavy. There’s a lot of chocolate and then you top it off with something pretty sweet. Your candied jalapeños do help, but the ratio of cream to peppers is off.”

Your joy wilts as you take in her comments. As much as you want for her to be wrong, you didn’t get a chance to eat your creation, so you can’t exactly deny it. However, everyone knows that the judge with the weightiest opinion in the dessert round is Chaeryeong. When you look over at her to see what she thinks, she is still picking apart the tart.

Jihyo, situated in between Taecyeon and Chaeryeong, nudges her. “Anything to add, Chaeryeong?”

She looks up at you, and you realize that likely already made a decision on her first bite. Her words are clear and decisive. “I think you made a lot of good choices. Finishing it in the microwave, using dark chocolate, incorporating the rose syrup in the candying process. I do agree with Jihyo that this is a little too rich though. Your rose syrup cream feels unnecessary, but overall, it’s a delicious dessert.”

Your heart is pounding. Everything feels hot, and you are suddenly hyperaware of the cameras around, waiting to capture your reaction. You remember your fiddling fingers and stop moving them.

“Thank you, Chef Y/N,” Jae says. “The judges need some time to deliberate the winner. Remember that the decision will be made on your dishes from all three rounds. Chefs, we will see you after.” He nods at you and Felix, and as per the instructions from the producers, you and Felix walk to the green room.

No other takes are needed. You follow behind Felix, wondering how he is still so poised after all of that. Inside the green room, there is a cameraman waiting, ready to film some commentary from you and Felix. You settle into a stool at the table, and he sits in front of you.

“You did a great job,” he says in an overly produced way. You bet he was rehearsing this. That’s what you should have been doing during his judging. Now your remarks won’t come out as smoothly. “I definitely focused on the pantry too much, but hopefully the other rounds will help me out. The beer flour really confused me.”

You swallow and try to concentrate on him instead of the tabletop. If you don’t get this right, you’ll have to redo it. “Yeah, definitely a tricky ingredient. It was smart of you to use it in your crumble. But yeah, I think we both did pretty good. May the best chef win.” You stick your hand out for him to shake, and he does.

“Cut,” interjects a producer. “Alright, that’s all for that scene. Let’s start on your interviews.”

You nearly forgot about those. You and Felix share glances, both of which are reluctant goodbyes, before being whisked away into separate rooms. As you sit in front of a green screen, you recount what you did in the dessert round, walking the audience through the choices you made and the emotions you felt. There’s a frenetic energy about you this time unlike the previous interviews after the appetizer and entrée rounds. You are so close to the ten million won, you can almost taste it.

Your interview takes almost all of the time. Just as you swallow your last sip of water, the producers are informed that the judges have finished discussing and that you are needed back to the kitchen studio. When you stand up, you nearly knock over the stool you were sitting on. The walk to the studio is longer than it was before, and you want to push the dawdling production crew aside so you can get there faster. Your heart pounds erratically underneath your mask of serenity.

Felix smiles at you from where he stands in front of the judging panel. The signature cloche of God’s Menu sits ominously from its location on the table, two spotlights illuminating its silver shine. Taecyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeryeong are getting last-minute makeup touches, and Jae is idling around, rereading his script even though he has said the lines numerous times before.

“Hey,” you greet Felix as you take your spot beside him. “You nervous?”

“Yeah. It all comes down to this, right? Ten million won and the title of Cooking God.” He says the last part like Jae does, no theatrics spared, and you laugh. It feels good to do so, like a small bit of tension has been released.

Someone adjusts the lights, and suddenly you and Felix are in the dark. Feeling a little courageous, you tell him, “No matter what happens, I just want to say that it’s been an honor competing against you. It’s been a lot of fun, and I think I’ve learned a few things from your cooking.”

“Same here. You’re an awesome chef and an even better person.” The lights shine back on you and Felix, and he sneaks a glance towards you after a producer calls a warning to begin shooting soon. “I’d say ‘good luck,’ but with the way you cook, I don’t think you’ll need it.”

Your face is as hot as an oven. “Thanks. Same to you.”

The clapper goes down. “Action!”

“Chefs,” Jae starts, “the judges have finished deciding. Let’s see who is our next Cooking God and who is getting ousted.”

His hand wraps around the handle of the cloche, and you hold your breath in anticipation. The sound of your pulse in your ears is deafening. You’re not one to wish for someone else’s downfall, but you hope that it’s Felix’s mille feuille underneath. Everything you have worked for today all comes down to this. You can’t lose. You knit and twist your fingers behind your back, and keep your eyes glued to Jae’s hand.

When you see the dish on the table and the judge’s impassive faces, you begin to cry. Your chest tightens, your throat suddenly has a cherry pit lodged inside, and your vision goes blurry. How funny that you start the round with laughter and end in tears. It’s all too poetic for such a moment.

“Chef Felix,” Jae solemnly says, “you have been ousted. Judges?”

You don’t hear what the judges have to say about Felix’s dishes from the past three rounds. All you can focus on is the wood paneling of the judges’ table as you stifle your bubbling sobs. It shouldn’t be too difficult, right? You suppressed all your laughs in the beginning, so this should be easy.

“It was an honor to cook for you today, judges,” Felix says after he has received all of their critiques. He turns to you and wraps in a warm embrace, making your flimsy grasp on your emotions disintegrate. “Congratulations. I knew you would win when I saw your dessert.”

“Thank you so much,” you whisper.

After he heads down the hallway to the green room to film his exit interview, the cameras are back on you and solely you. The judges give you encouraging smiles, Chaeryeong’s the largest.

“Chef Y/N, you are the new Cooking God,” Jae announces. “Congratulations.”

You wipe away your tears with the back of your hand in a vain attempt to make yourself appear more composed. However, when the applause begins, it all comes pouring out — your thanks, your appreciation, your rambles about the bakery you have planned.

“I’ll be sure to come by,” Chaeryeong says. “Your tart was your best dish of the day. If you put it on the menu, I’m definitely going to buy one.”

“Your creativity in all of the rounds was amazing,” Jihyo adds, “but dessert is really where you shine. Give us a call when your bakery is open.”

Taecyeon compliments your appetizer and also agrees with the other two. “Chef, you should be proud of yourself.”

You beam through your tears. For a momentous occasion, you half expect confetti to start raining down and a symphony to start playing. However, there is only production orchestrating a few more shots of you shaking hands with everyone and a closeup of your face. The small celebratory scene is over soon as you are led to another room for your victory interview. This one is easy, simply you expressing your joy and partially promoting your future business.

When you’re done, you are told to wait in the green room while they set up some paperwork for you to fill out later. To your surprise, Felix is there as well, sitting at the table with a tired look on his face. His water bottle is empty, and there is an unopened one next to it. When he sees that you are there, he lights up.

“Hey there, Cooking God,” he says. “Congrats again.”

“Hey. Thanks again.” You sit across from him and slump against the table. “I thought you would have left already.”

“I’ve got some paperwork to do and one more interview to finish up. You know,” he says, propping himself up on his arms, leaning forward, “I never got to try your tart. I was really looking forward to it.”

You can see yourself reflected in his eyes. He has very pretty eyes. “I never got to try your mille feuille either. Do you think production will be mad if we sneak back in and eat the leftovers?”

“We might have to dig through the trash, but I’m down.” He pulls back. “What are you going to do with the prize money, if you don’t mind me asking? I don’t think Jae asked you about it during the judging.”

So you tell him all about it. You tell him of the empty building on the corner of the street you have been eying for the last year, the late night hours you have spent experimenting with recipes, the white banner and silver ribbons you have envisioned for the grand opening of your dream. He listens intently, nodding along and cracking smiles when you draw the details in the air.

“Wow, you’ve got it all figured out already.”

“Yeah,” you agree, feeling flushed and breathless. “It’s been a long time coming.”

There’s a knock on the door, and a member of the production team pokes his head in. “Chef Lee Felix, we’re ready to shoot the interview now.”

Felix nods and stands up from his stool, taking the both water bottles with him. “I guess this is goodbye then. Good luck with everything.”

“What’s your number?” you blurt out before the nervous laughter starts up again. You just finished one of the most grueling cooking competitions in the country; asking someone for their number should be a cakewalk, but said someone also happens to be a highly esteemed chef. “I’d love for you to be at the grand opening.”

His mouth splits into a grin. He tears the label off of the empty bottle and asks the staff member if he has a pen. Then he scrawls down the digits and hands you the label, the fresh ink against the glossy paper shining underneath the lights.

“See you during the opening,” are his last words to you before he follows production out of the room.

You clutch the edge of the label and mouth the numbers to yourself, trying to commit them to memory. A needless action, but it feels right.

When you are called for paperwork and logistics, you carefully fold the paper and place it inside your chef jacket’s pocket, right by your heart. The check for eight million won — taxes unfortunately exist for prize money — goes in there as well.

The grand opening is a grand affair: customers flocking to the street corner in droves, a giant banner and even a red ribbon celebrating the occasion, and display cases being emptied throughout the day. As promised, Chaeryeong and Jihyo show up to the opening. The day is nearly over when they arrive; only a few people linger around, buying last-minute treats. You decide to close for the night.

Even though the two celebrity chefs say they have finished filming a new episode, they are both in high spirits. They bring along a plaque for you to hang that reads “God’s Menu Approved,” and you are both mortified and thrilled. Chaeryeong wants you to put the plaque in the window, but Jihyo insists you have it behind the counter. However, you don’t really want it in either location. Your office seems like a wonderful place.

“How about a tart?” you ask to distract them. “On the house, of course.”

They nod enthusiastically at the offer, and you set down two familiar-looking ones. “As seen on God’s Menu, the Dessert Round Tart, chocolate with rose-flavored cream and candied jalapeños.”

The bell on the door chimes, and a voice you have not heard in months says, “Any left for me?”

“Felix!” you exclaim, rushing to him. He’s still in his chef’s uniform, and you can almost smell sriracha on him. “How are you here? I thought you said you had a shift.”

He shrugs and smiles boyishly at you. It makes you all sorts of nervous, and your stomach flutters with something that is not laughter. “Surprise!”

“Let me go get you a tart,” you say as you lead him to the same table as Chaeryeong and Jihyo, both who recognize Felix from the show.

You head behind the counter and reach for the last tart left in your hidden stash of desserts. You saved three for the judges, but Taecyeon isn’t here. He is apparently in the midst of opening a new location, and you understand. After all, you’re doing something similar. It all works out in your favor though since Felix is. With more care than the previous two, you place the tart on a small plate and set it down in front of Felix.

“Here you go. Enjoy.”

He cuts into it with the fork and savors the first bite. “It’s even better than I thought it would be. This is amazing.”

“Definitely agree,” says Jihyo. Hers is completely gone, only the smallest crumbs left. “You’ve really refined it.”

Chaeryeong, mouth full of chocolate, can only nod in agreement. You smile, flattered by their compliments. After some pushing from the trio, you sit down with them to eat the leftover desserts from the day and to catch up. Chaeryeong and Jihyo are predictably busy with the filming of God’s Menu and overseeing their respective establishments. Meanwhile, Felix is still head chef of Levanter and has been tasked with adding something new to their menu. You tell them all about the beginning of the day and how a dog almost tore apart the low-hanging streamers outside. Felix sympathetically pats your hand. You then join in on the laughter, yours of which is more induced by his touch than the memory of the dog.

Some time later, Chaeryeong announces that she has to go, and Jihyo follows. You send them off with some lemongrass cupcakes and lie about where you will be displaying the plaque. No matter what, it’s going in your office where only you can see it. Felix stays around, and with everyone else gone, it’s just you and him.

“Hi,” you say, suddenly feeling shy. “You’re not leaving yet?”

He shakes his head. “I wanted to ask you something."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Since you still haven’t tried my mille feuille from the show and since Levanter needs a new menu item, would you want to help me sometime?” He pauses and grimaces at his words. “Wait, you’re probably busy with your bakery now and—”

“I’d love to,” you abruptly say. “Probably only taste testing though, if that’s alright. Business conflicts and all.”

Your favorite thing about Felix, you decide, is the way he lights up, the way the excitement emitting from him is palpable. With a tinge of red across his cheeks, he says, “I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other soon.”

You let out a short laugh. “I guess we will. I’m alright with that.”

“So am I.”

~ ad.gray

[indiavolowetrust]

THE OBEY ME BOYS AS CRYPTIDS

READ THE OBEY ME UNDATEABLES AS CRYPTIDS HERE.

LUCIFER

It has stood there for so very long. Strutted about a bit, sat down to rest, and strutted about some more when other children passed by. It is at an exhibit at the zoo, after all, but you can’t help but think it looks a bit strange. Are peacocks supposed to have pitch-black feathers with thousands of eyes on it? Are peacocks supposed to have a massive crimson eye in the middle of their forehead? Is it even a peacock? You can’t remember if this exhibit was for peacocks. Where are the other people at the zoo?

You read the sign. BENGAL TIGER, it says.

It blinks at you. Its thousand other eyes blink afterwards in unison. As weird as it sounds, you’re pretty sure it’s waiting for you to compliment it.

MAMMON

You think it likes you. Or, at least, it seems to think of you as a friend in some way. The white crow leaves you little gifts everyday on your way home from school. Bits of shiny twine, bottle caps, the occasional soda tab or two. And then you begin to show it more and more attention, even naming it something silly like “Money”, and the thing responds in something like affection. The gifts become more extravagant: a broken necklace made from silver, a single earring, a gold bracelet encrusted with dark red, and an old ring inset with precious stones, to name a few. A pair of expensive-looking cuff links, a whole pair of earrings this time, and a circlet.

And then there is what looks like a golden tooth.

Your mother tells you over breakfast to watch out for suspicious people. There’s been a lot of grave robbing, you see. They’ve been stealing jewelry from the dead.

You drop your spoon into the cereal.

LEVIATHAN

It may be a snake -- a really big one, actually -- but you get the impression that it isn’t really dangerous. I mean, it’s not poisonous, so the worst thing it can do is bite, right? And it doesn’t seem like it would want to do that. It hisses almost playfully when you pet it, wrapping its coils around your arm as if it wants to give you a hug, and a few times you even let it kiss you in the face. You know that snakes don’t really kiss, but what’s the harm in that?

Your crush from third period walks you home one day, holding your hand, and even gives you a kiss on the cheek when he leaves you at your doorstep. Tells you that he’ll see you tomorrow. You don’t see the snake for a while.

His body is found strangled to death a couple weeks later, his arms and legs covered in bite marks from some massive animal. The snake comes up to you the next morning, affectionate as ever. You decide not to do stuff like that anymore.

SATAN

He’s a stray dog. You’d have to be a monster not to give him scraps. So you do, and the dog asks for more. You give him more. For the next few weeks – months, even – it becomes your routine: you sit at the secluded spot in the school courtyard, the giant hound with green eyes saunters up to you, and you share its lunch with it. It naps in the shade while you do your homework after school, seeing how your older brother doesn’t always show up in time to walk you home after your after-school club.

The bully from your fourth period class throws you into the trashcan one day, laughing and taunting you. Her friends join her, and soon you are being surrounded and kicked and stomped on the pavement. But you don’t cry out. You won’t give her the satisfaction.

A blow to your head, and all is dark.

You wake up sometime later. The sunset is beautiful. The area around you is warm – so, so warm – and strangely wet. The dog licks your face and wounds again and again, and you try not to giggle at the sensation. He’s a good boy.

Aside from the carnage that now surrounds you, he is such a good boy. You’ll bring him barbecued meat next time.

ASMODEUS

You gotta admit, it’s a pretty cute scorpion. You’re not really sure why it’s pink or why it’s following you, but at least it hasn’t shown any defensive or aggressive instincts. So it can’t be that aggressive. You let it be as you take the long hike back to your camp site. Your fellow co-workers in the field wouldn’t even believe you, anyway. The damned thing is probably spray-painted or something like that. Some weird kid’s prank.

Strangely enough, however, you notice it scuttling around at camp. Your co-workers seem to be getting stung by a great many insects while in the field, but they don’t seem to mind it. Or even bother treating it, for some reason. Then there’s that weird behavior – no, you’re thinking into it too much. Comparing a bright pink scorpion to a succubus is a little too crazy, even for you.

And then a strange man with pink eyes and a tipped tail stands in front of your tent one night, a rather satisfied smile on his face. You’re the only one that hasn’t been stung, he tells you. It’s your turn.

BEELZEBUB

You’re pretty sure insects aren’t supposed to look like that. Or be that big, for that matter. But he’s kinda cute, being fuzzy and orange and all, and only wants a bit of food every now and then. Mama always makes too much, anyway. A half-eaten pork chop that you didn’t want, an entire plate of rice, extra dumplings – everything, you know? Mama can’t have dinner with you because she has the graveyard shift, your dad always stumbles home smelling like alcohol, and as weird as it is, this orange fuzzy thing is your only friend. So you keep feeding him.

You wake up to screaming one night. They’re arguing like they always do, but – but this time there’s something different. Something wrong. Mama lets out a high-pitched scream, and then all is silent.

Despite being only a kid and armed with a single frying pan, you burst into the room. Blood trails from Mama’s mouth and she’s unconscious, but she’s still breathing. Just barely alive. It looks like she got hit in the head pretty hard.

There’s the sound of eating from across the room. You don’t pay attention to it too much. The fuzzy orange thing saved Mama’s life, so that’s all that matters. And at least you won’t have to feed him for a while.

BELPHEGOR

He is quite possibly the laziest ox you’ve ever seen. Sleeps all day, sleeps all night, and refuses to pull even the lightest of carts. Your uncle says he’s nothing more than a nuisance, really, but he’s nice enough. He even naps with you on long summer days, acting as both a pillow and bed, and it looks like he even grows fond of you. He seeks you out in the fields, presses his big nose into your palm, and nuzzles you.

You run through the fields, your heart hammering in your chest, but you’ll be damned if you let the neighbor’s boy catch you. You’ve already seen something that you weren’t supposed to, and he knows. He knows, he knows, he knows. And he’s coming after you.

You hop over the fence. Shouldn’t be too long to the house now. He yells taunts and threats at you as you carve your way through the darkness, nearly running blindly, and then --

He grabs you by the back of your shirt. You scream. You see the glint of a knife, the murderous intent flashing across his eyes, and you know it’s over. You can only hope you die quickly enough.

The next morning, you wake up on something soft. Warm. The lazy ox grumbles beneath you, protesting as you sit upwards in a panic, and then you realize that you are safe. Last night was just a nightmare. It never happened.

And then you happen across the body. There is an indent in the grass around it, as if something massive had just fallen asleep on the body.

[darling-sometimes-i-wonder]

Cake - Klaus Hargreeves

summary: you and Klaus attempt to bake a cake and things get a little messy<3

“Okay,” Klaus said, pressing his palms to the countertop. “We have flour, butter, eggs, sugar, club soda, brown sugar, vanilla, and icing in an ever-lovely pipette. What could go wrong?”

You snorted, smiling politely at Grace as she set the last bowl down. She smiled back, her pleasant face unchanging as she wished you both luck and left the room.

“You think this is enough?”

“I think it’s more than enough,” You assured. The kitchen was big, big enough to where it echoed if your voices raised just enough. But with Klaus it felt full; maybe it was the population of ghosts that accompanied him or maybe it was his loud personality, filling each nook and cranny in the room with his sarcastic banter and witty humor.

“Grace baked us an example pan,” You heard behind you.

“Oh that’s sweet-“ You turned around mid sentence only to get a face full of cake. You looked at him, shocked, and he stared back with similarly surprised expression.

“I didn’t think you’d turn around,” he started laughing. “I was just letting you taste it.”

As he laughed himself silly You grabbed his hand, brownie still in it, and smushed it upwards into his own face. You sent yourself into a fit of giggles at the sight of him tasing his own medicine.

Before you could get all of your chuckles out the bowl of flour was dumped over your head, Klaus sprinkling some more onto your nose, Salt Bae style.

You let him have his moment, reaching behind you nonchalantly and digging your fingers into the the egg yolks as he danced around. He was reaching for another bowl when you attacked, smashing the eggs into his face and wiping it into his hair.

He screamed, frantically waving his arms in surprise and disgust. While he was bouncing around you took your chance to shake up the bottle of club soda and pop it open.

“You look like you need a shower,” You yelled, dumping it all over him. Screeching a battle cry he blindly tackled you into the counter, the combination of ingredients making everything slippery and slimy. You tried to grab onto the counter but slipped right off, pulling Klaus to the floor with you.

You were laughing your head off, not even caring your hair and face were caked with flour and egg.

“Say hello to my little friend,” he grinned, whipping out the pipette. You screamed bloody murder as he free fired, sending thick globs of icing all over you.

“Oh my God.”

You both stopped abruptly at the sound of Five’s voice, your head smacking into the cabinet door and Klaus’s face pressed to the floor. He slowly pulled himself up, smiling his lazy smile. “Hello boys. Care for a brownie?”

Diego, Luther, and Five stood there staring.

“I don’t have time for this,” Diego muttered, stepping over the splotches of egg and leaving the kitchen. His foot slid sharply on the last step out, sending you and Klaus into a fit of giggles.

“Did you guys actually bake any brownies? Or anything edible for that matter?” Five asked, his face flat and critical.

“Well that depends. Do you consider Y/N’s face to be edible?”

“I’m leaving.”

“But do you care for some pre batter before you go?” you called out in a British accent, batting your eyelashes and holding out your flour and egg covered hand to him.

“That is gross,” Five shuddered. You stretched it out more and he shook his head. “Any closer you’ll lose that hand.”

You made a face and retracted it, plopping it on top of Klaus instead.

In a flash he was out, leaving only Luther. We all looked at each other silently.

Without speaking we both lunged at Luther, wiping our dirty hands on him and tossing the remaining ingredients around in the air.

“Now it’s a party,” Klaus grinned.

[taetaespeaches]

"You've thought about this before, haven't you"

Jungkook x Reader (or oc)

Word count: 1.2K

a/n: I wrote this for my darling friend @babeejeon as a late birthday present. I’m sorry it’s late, but I hope it makes you happy. I love you, and I’m so thankful for your friendship. So without further ado, thank you all for reading this, and I hope you all enjoy. And happy happy birthday to the sweetest girl I know. I’m wishing you a wonderful year.

Oh! and the song is Rosie by Passenger. 

Your body rose and fell with the deep relaxed breaths of your boyfriend. Jungkook reclined against the arm of the couch as you lied against him, your back against his chest, his arms wrapped around your waist. His right palm was positioned flat on your left side rib cage, his other in your hands as you mindlessly ran your fingers across the lines.

A series of clanks and clattering, and even power tools echoed from the TV speakers, though neither of you paid much attention. "You gonna read it?" Jungkook quietly asked into your hair, referring to his palm.

"I don't know how," you tilted your head back to peer up at him, the angle only allowing you to catch his jawline. Jungkook let out a breathy giggle, squeezing your side with the hand that rested on your body. Both of you turned your attention to the television when the sound of a chainsaw hummed. There stood Ash Williams who had just attached a chainsaw to his arm. Ash sawed off a shot gun and when the camera panned to his face, he quirked an eyebrow and said the single line, "Groovy."

A giggle escaped your boyfriend's lips as he repeated the word, "Groovy" trying to mimic it just right. The both of you started the first Evil Dead film earlier that night and he fell in love with it. Working your way through the second movie, however, you and Jungkook were both hit with an impending sleepiness that made you lose focus on the film. You knew you'd have to rewatch the movie at another time, though neither of you made any move to head to bed quite yet.

Smiling, you wrapped your hand around Jungkook's and settled further into his body, enjoying his silliness as he continued to say "Groovy."

"We should name our son Ash," he said seemingly out of nowhere. "It sounds cool. Ash," he said again, liking the way the name sounded.

"Oh? And what if we have a girl?" You teased.

"Clementine," he said without even a moment of thought.

"Clementine?" you smiled. "Like from Eternal Sunshine?" Jungkook hummed, letting know you were right. "Do you get all of our kids' future names from movie characters?"

Laughing, he squeezed his arms tighter around you, pulling you even closer to his frame. Nuzzling his chin against the top of your head, he whispered, "no, I actually don't." Pressing a small kiss to your hair, he hummed again. "Some are from songs," he said quietly, and you could hear the smile in his tone.

"Yeah?" You asked curiously, absolutely smitten by the fact that he had actually thought about your future children's names.

"Yeah," he lowered his chin so he could press a kiss to your cheek. "I like the name Rosie."

Turning over awkwardly, eliciting giggles from Jungkook as he tried to help you rotate your frame, you positioned yourself so your chest was pressed against his abdomen. Folding your arms underneath your chin to prop your head up, you cocked your head to the side curiously. "Rosie?" Your lips curved upward as you watched the pink tint his cheeks. Through a big smile you asked, "Why Rosie?"

"It's a song I found," he informed you bashfully, though he made no efforts to explain further. Widening your eyes, you shrugged at him, expectantly awaiting a further explanation. Jungkook sighed as his lips spread into a gorgeous grin. "Want me to play it for you?" Nodding quickly, your boyfriend chuckled, nodding back as he reached for his phone. "Ok, but if you don't like it, I'm going to be devastated."

"Do you want me to lie?" You teased, dropping your head to his clothed abdomen to place a quick kiss there as he searched for the song.

"No," he laughed, his gaze set on his phone. "Don't lie. Just like it," he shot you a sly glance, his eyes sparkling, before settling his orbs back to the device. "Ok," he said as locked the phone, setting it on his chest.

An acoustic guitar buzzed from the phone speaker, the peacefulness of the melody a stark contrast to the monster fighting playing on the TV, the two sounds mixing in the otherwise silent room. Jungkook toyed with your hair as the lyrics started. "Well, Rosie, don't be scared by the storm outside. We are safe and warm, we are home and dry. And though it rages on, there's no need to cry. Oh, Rosie, don't you worry, my dear."

As you took in the meaning of the lyrics, you watched your boyfriend's expression and you could see it. You could see your entire future together. Two kids, another on the way, Jungkook playing with them in the living room as you watched from where you leaned against the door frame. Saturday morning with no place to be fast, your kids' and Guk's hair standing in all sorts of directions, their heavy eyelids still full of sleep. There's a dog sprawled across the couch, too lazy to join in on the playing just yet.

Jungkook's eyes bounced from your shoulder where your hair was draped across, his fingers still playing with the ends, to your own gaze, which was set on him. He smiled and you scrunched your nose. "I can see myself singing this to our kids," he said softly, a blush tinting his cheeks. He wasn't embarrassed by the sentiment but more bashful under the intimacy of the moment.

You crawled up his body a bit to curve against his form, tucking your cheek against the warm skin on his neck, your hand settling on his broad chest, pointer finger tapping along to the soft beat of the song. "I can see that too," you admitted, angling your face to leave a sweet kiss to his neck where it curved into his jaw. Jungkook's arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you impossibly close to him as he began humming quietly to the song.

"Well Rosie, don't you think about the things that you cannot change. For the world is cruel, and it's violent and strange. But there's beauty too if you look the right way. Oh, Rosie, don't you worry, my dear. Oh, Rosie, don't you worry, my dear."

"You've thought about this before, haven't you," you masked your adoration with a teasing tone, a smile creeping onto your face.

Scoffing, he rolled his eyes though you couldn't see it. "I don't know what you're talking about," he feigned.

You nodded with an unconvinced, "mhmm," nuzzling your face further into his neck, not feeling quite close enough though you couldn't possibly get any closer to the man.

"It doesn't have to be Rosie," he spoke in a soft voice. "Or Clementine or Ash," he let out a single chuckle.

"I like Rosie," you spoke through the comfortable quietness. "We'll talk about Ash," you giggled, resulting in Jungkook squeezing your side teasingly.

A moment of comfortable silence enwrapped you, allowing your mind to wander to how at home you felt wrapped up in Jungkook’s arms. The realization hit you that no matter where you were- a hotel halfway across the world, the backseat of a car during some road trip on an empty highway, or any other setting you can think of- if you were wrapped up in his arms, it would feel like home. Because Jungkook was your home. And he was your future.

Breaking the silence, Jungkook softly spoke, "I don't really care what we name our kids." He didn't say anything further, but rather let the unsaid words saturate the silence.

[chiauve]

The Man in the Dark - 3

The baseball bat was designed for a small child, hardly effective against monsters but it made Ally feel better to have something. The monster was chained down anyway and if she needed to brain it she’d have the chance to make this silly bat useful.

The light on the keypad was red again, the system locked, but she didn’t completely seal the door last time so all she had to do was push it open. She was prepared this time. Aside from the bat she’d wrapped a heavy cloth she’d sprayed with her mom’s perfume around her mouth and nose as stench protection. It didn’t really help.

Ally scanned the room with her fashlight beam, chasing away the swarm of rats congregated on and around the BOW chained to the floor. What were they even doing? The zombie itself didn’t move, but she could hear it breathing from wilted, wet lungs.

She approached slowly and regarded the trapped BOW, her light reflecting here and there in pinpoints on wet flesh and guts. The wounds were fresh, not rot where skin would fall away over time, with small punctures and scratches all around them. Then she knew.

The rats were eating it.

This wasn’t a zombie, this was a BOW being eaten alive.

Ally shivered. Monster or not, nothing deserved that. But that just left yet another question: how long had it been down here?

Pulling out her phone, she panned the camera down the body after the flashlight beam, recording the BOW from a safe distance to look up its type later. If it was a very dangerous kind and hadn’t been here long, then she needed to accept her fate and tell her dad right away. Checking her video, she found that while serviceable it was too dim, so snapped a couple of pictures with the flash.

The BOW twitched, a leg spasming under the chain making it rattle just slightly. Both she and the monster froze.

“H...hell-o...?” Ally whispered before realizing how stupid she was being.

A red eye opened and stared at her from beneath matted, dark hair, and then lit to fiery brilliance even under her light. Blackened teeth bared, the BOW snarled, though nothing more than rattling gasps emerged. Its whole body spasmed in a pathetic lunge and the chains creaked only slightly before that loud clunk and clatter was heard from below and the chains snapped down, crushing the BOW against the floor even tighter.

Ally gasped and stepped back, her body taut with the need to run but, somehow, she kept her feet planted. Still she raised her arms as though to ward off an attack, the light beam flashing across the wall and ceiling of the cell.

Because that’s what this was. A cell. This floor was a prison; a prison for monsters and this one was still here. She drew her bat.

The BOW tried to thrash, tried to cry out but could only gasp and spit blood. Thundering came from below and the chains snapped down again. Ally heard bones cracking.

“Stop! Stop it!” she cried out in horror.

The BOW gave one last kick, one last rattling, empty wail, and then lay still, spent. She could hear it panting, short and desperate, but it didn’t move again.

Ally was shaking all over and could feel the hot tears running down her face.

She was scared, she was scared of the dark and this monster, but this was too cruel.

Her grip on the bat tightened. She recalled some years ago playing outside with the neighborhood kids. There was a butterfly with a lost wing, and one of the older kids ceremoniously put it on a big rock and then smashed it. Putting it out of its misery, he said, it was just going to suffer.

Without realizing, she took a step forward. The flashlight shook but remained on the BOW. She stopped at the edge of the grimy blood puddle.

The BOW’s head shifted, that singular inhuman eye locking onto hers. It rested in a skeletal face, sunken deep in a grey eye socket. Underneath the filthy hair she could see an equally filthy beard.

A boy. A man. He, not it.

Her grip on the bat relaxed and she began to cry again. Her flashlight traveled up to his face and his breathing harshened, eye shutting tightly.

“Sorry,” Ally whispered with a hiccup, and moved the beam away.

There was a faint tick tick and, slowly, the chains began to relax until they returned to their original position, holding the BOW tight but no longer crushing him. Ally swore she heard him sigh in relief.

She took a calming breath in the heavy air. “H-hello?”

His red eye opened and regarded her.

“Hello,” she tried again, “My name’s Ally. Can you talk?”

The eye slid shut and the BOW’s harsh panting slowed.

The rats began to advance.

“No!” Ally hissed at them, waving the light in their direction. They fled, but she wondered how long that would last. If this poor creature was their food source they were not going to stay away. Even if they left her alone, as soon as she was gone the BOW was at their mercy.

She didn’t know what to do.

Taking one step into the dried blood and grime, Ally squat down and took a closer look at her monster, more confident now that he couldn’t reach her even if he did try to attack.

Nobody came down here, not for as long as Ally could recall. The hallway was dusty and there were no footprints save her own, so this BOW hadn’t been put down here anytime recently. But if he’d been here for years and years then he should be dead; even zombies eventually couldn’t hold themselves together any longer and just rotted away.

Even relaxed the chains sunk too deep into his sides, flesh and bone worn down after a long time of pressure. That made Ally frown and she leaned forward, risking a closer look at his face. She’d only seen one eye thus far, and now she could see why.

Half his face had sunken in itself, pressed against the floor so long it was now deformed. Not just his face, but his shoulders sat awkwardly, the bones settled so that the lower half caved in and pressed upward while the shoulders and ribs above surrendered to gravity. He could barely breathe.

Ally could see this easily through his paper thin skin, his muscles long atrophied.

This was a bloody skeleton wrapped in paper mache skin feeding a colony of rats, sinking in on itself. Alive and awake for all of it.

Ally swallowed, her throat thick.

[dalgonachan]

Kiss It Better

member: Mingyu x reader

genre: fluff with a dash of angst, live-in partners, non-idol au (?)

warnings: swearing, mentions of injuries, mentions of alcohol, suggestive content

prompt: there's no doubt his kisses were all you needed to feel a whole lot better

word count: 1735

a/n: i had a hard time choosing what gif to put so pls don’t kill me

The comfort of lying in bed lessens the throbbing pain in your head. With eyes shut and breaths evened out, you try to keep your focus on achieving the state of relaxation you need. The silence, however, only seems to amplify the throbbing; you groan through clenched teeth.

"How much does it hurt?" The sound of Mingyu's husky voice fills your ears.

You want to tell him that your head feels like exploding, that you want to bang your head straight on a wall, that it hurt so much worse than hell. Instead, the pain restrains you from saying any more than two words.

"A lot." You reply weakly.

The bed dips and you feel Mingyu shuffling by your side. His hand rests warmly on your cheek for him to caress, then it trails upwards to your hair and runs his fingers through it. You let out a shaky sigh as you relished in the gentleness of his touch. Somehow, it helps you tolerate the headache.

"My poor baby," Mingyu mutters before placing a chaste kiss to your forehead.

"May you feel better soon, (Y/n)."

His hand stops to rest on your shoulder and you feel him scoot closer to press your foreheads together. A small smile forms on your lips, an expression that showed your content towards Mingyu's sweet little action. There was no doubt he had a healing kiss because, at that moment, you could feel the pain slowly subsiding.

Hot oil spatters out of the pan and lands on your arm, the brief scalding sensation making you yelp and hop away from the stove. Earlier today, you had asked Mingyu if he could teach you to cook which he immediately (and enthusiastically) complied. Now, he was laughing at you for being too afraid to come near the stove after being exposed to minuscule droplets of oil and a harmless burn.

"Stop laughing at me, you little shit!" You barked, but he only cackled even louder. "That actually hurt! I don't understand how you're able to withstand it."

"You're just weak." He teased and you glared at him. "Now come back here, you little shit. We're not done yet."

You shook your head and backed away. "Nuh-uh."

"Quit being such a scaredy-cat." It only took Mingyu a single stride for him to reach your arm and tug you back to his side. "You're all grown up already. You need to learn how to cook so that you can feed yourself without needing anybody's help."

"But it's so hot and my arm still hurts!" You whined, pouting at him while pointing at the spot the oil had hit.

"(Y/n), I literally don't see anything wrong with it." He said as he took you by the wrist and examined your arm.

"But it hurts." You insisted.

With an exasperated sigh, he pulled your arm next to his face and grazed his lips over the skin you claimed to have gotten burnt before turning to you and grumbling, "You're such a baby."

You flash him a cheeky grin. "But I'm your baby."

Sometimes, his kisses were all you needed even when unnecessary.

It takes a while before you finally decide what you're in the mood to wear. Grabbing your clothes, you toss them onto the bed while shutting the closet doors when—

"YAAA!" Mingyu jumps out of hiding and scares you shitless.

Startled, you shriek and accidentally bump into the closet. You don't need the loud thud to tell you how hard the impact was because you've already fallen to the floor while cradling your knee.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?!" Mingyu hurriedly gets down to your side, regret and worry on his face as he looks down at your writhing figure.

"You fucking son of a bitch, do I look like I'm okay?!" You yell and it takes everything in you to stop yourself from slapping him. "I'm going to get a bad bruise and it's all your fault!"

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt." He sounds so genuinely apologetic that it washes away all your anger. "I'm going to get some ice. Just stay here, okay?"

With that, he leaves the room and you listen to the echo of his footsteps trudging down the stairs.

"I don't think I'm going anywhere, Mingyu." You mutter with a chuckle as you manage to get off the ground and prop yourself on the bed.

Lifting your leg, you observe the dark-hued discoloration beginning to bloom on your knee. The swelling pain makes you cringe and you bite down on your lip to keep from hissing. Soon, Mingyu returns with an ice pack in hand and he kneels before you to place it on the fresh bruise. The sharp coldness on the injury causes your lips to knit into nothing but a thin line on your visage.

"I'm sorry, (Y/n)." He says, looking up at you with sad puppy eyes, pouting all the while with his lower lip jutting out.

"It's alright. You didn't mean it." You shrug nonchalantly, brushing his forehead free from hair then flicking it. "Just don't do it again, you idiot."

He flinches back in surprise, then nods while grinning sheepishly. "Yes, yes. I won't. I'm sorry."

Seconds later, Mingyu lifts the ice pack away to look at the bruise forming on your skin; you grimace at the sight of red and purple clotting right below the surface. Carefully, he lowers his lips until they delicately make contact with your knee. You don't feel anything due to the numbness caused by the ice, but you're pretty sure that kiss was just as good as any remedy—maybe, even better.

Soreness; it's the first thing you feel throughout your entire body when you wake up. The urge to immerse yourself in a hot shower reels your head off the pillow, but you wince halfway through sitting up by a twinge on your shoulder. To make things worse, the supposedly short-lived pain eventually flares into a nonstop stinging sensation. Wondering what the hell was bothering you so early in the morning, you look over to check on it and discover a huge hickey just right above your shoulder blade.

Last night was a blur thanks to all the alcohol, but you can still clearly recall making love with Mingyu. His canines were something you were fully aware of, but you had absolutely no idea how damn hard he could bite. You trace your fingers over the love mark and let out a whimper, partly out of shock and of pain.

Just then, your attention shifts to the man lying next to you who's stirred from his sleep. You watch him stretch out his arms and legs as he heaves a long and deep yawn. It takes a while before his eyes flutter open and he sees you staring, a silly smile lighting up his already handsome features to greet you good morning. However, the smile drops when he sees you rubbing the area he had bitten and instantly, he's up to take a look at it too.

"Does it hurt that bad?" Mingyu asks, furrowing his brows.

"Pretty much, yeah." You try to sound as casual as possible to make him less worried about it. "Hickeys last for only a few days though, so it's nothing."

He doesn't say anything, but the disapproving frown on his face speaks for himself. Seconds later, his strong arms wrap you in warmth as he pecks the skin he had nipped the night before. The desire of a hot shower is long forgotten as the two of you retreat into the covers once again.

It wasn't supposed to be much of a big deal, yet here you were bawling your eyes out on the couch. You were caught in the pounding rain on the way home and in your rush, failed to notice that you had dropped the keyring Mingyu had given you years ago. Most people would simply shrug it off and get on with their lives, but for you, that Mickey Mouse keyring possessed great sentimental value; it served as a reminder of the time you and Mingyu celebrated your first anniversary as a couple.

Back then, he had surprised you a few days before that you were going on a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland. The sudden announcement made your jaw drop from utter disbelief, especially because of the fact that he had paid so much and you were going out of the country just to celebrate your first anniversary together. It was a one week vacation, but the events in Disneyland were the only memories that stayed with you after you left Hong Kong. You had so much fun that Mingyu decided to buy you the keyring as a souvenir and you've never stopped using it ever since... until you lost it out of pure carelessness.

"It's alright, (Y/n). Look at me, I'm not mad at all." Mingyu said, trying to console you from your distress.

"But you gave that to me on our first year together and... and... now, it's gone forever!" You wailed in between hiccups caused by ceaseless sobbing. "I probably look like an idiot for crying over a keyring, but I'm an even bigger idiot for losing it!"

Your lament makes you cry even harder as Mingyu encases you into a soothing hug. It successfully pacifies your sadness and soon enough, your bawling gradually turns into sniffles.

"Are you still upset about it?" Mingyu puts his hands on either side of your face to wipe away your tears with his thumbs.

"Yeah." You respond in a quavering voice.

"Will it be possible for me to kiss it better?" He asks; his eyes are focused on you, but you catch them flicker to your lips for a split second.

It was a simple and innocent question, yet it was more than enough to lift your spirits. You smile at him affectionately and lightly giggle. "Well, there was never a time your kisses never worked, so go ahead."

He grins mirthfully, a charming sight adorning his gorgeous visage, making you fall for him ten times over again. Without further ado, your lips touch and it sparks a feeling so magical that you melt into each other. Your heartbeat quickens the same way your breaths do and in that blissful moment, you could already feel him curing you of melancholy.

[doritmania]

The Adventures.

When she reached the ocean she lodged at the beach She looked at the cliffs and had a strange notion She climbed to a cave that was well out of reach Inside she found a fire and strange potions There was a sign saying “Eat this magic peach”

Because she was feeling quite adventurous She bit the big peach, which was fleshy and firm Then she heard voices cry, “Come and join us!” She was amazed by what she saw when she turned There were talking goats, but she did not make a fuss!

She followed them down into the strange grotto It’s walls were covered in moss, lichen and ferns And on them were written humorous mottoes She saw a light after many twist and turns And then she felt a tingling in her big toes

Then she began to feel tingles everywhere And as she entered a underground forest She thought she could feel tingles too in her hair! She saw a man with hair on his face and chest But the rest of his hair made her stand and stare!

Because the man was mostly covered in fur And everything that wasn’t was deeply tanned She had an idea but she couldn’t be sure She said, “What a surprise! Are you the god pan!” He replied, “Yes”, and gave a smile quite demure.

“Why do you live in this forest in a cave?” “Once you settle in it’s a wonderful place "I had to hide here after being a knave "The local gentry put on quite a good chase "I guess I shouldn’t have tried that last raid!”

“Raid you say? What were you raiding them for?” “Wine woman and song, all the usual stuff "And I thought all the beasts would answer my call "But that’s where the gentry called my bluff "They stoppered the beasts ears, and I got quite mauled!”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but it serves you right! "Tormenting those silly fools who never care! "Good thing you found this cave after you took flight "You need a disguise, maybe a cloak to wear "We can escape in the middle of the night!”

“I appreciate your efforts to help me "But I have heard there’s another way out here "The goats say there is a path under the sea "It leads to a land where the sky is so clear "And goats are always as honest as can be "How would you like to come with me, sweet dear?”

“A path under water, That I’ve got to see” The goats pointed out the way with their small snouts Then Pan led the way, he was obviously keen “Look at that”, said Pan, with some whoops and shouts! A path stretched out far, and Pan prayed on his knees.

“Look at that”, she said, “Where do you think it leads?” “Wherever it leads looks pretty far to me!” The goats said, “You’ll need food”, and gave them some cheese “It goes to some place called the Land of the Free!” “Free stuff?”, Pan said, “You guys are such a big tease!”

They walked the whole day, it seemed like miles and miles She said, “I did not think the new world was so far "Getting all the way there might be quite a trial!” “Why don’t you ride on my shoulders like a tsar?” “Tsarina you mean, but then please watch your wiles!” He winked, “Oh! Our friendship I never would mar!”

Pan ran at a great speed, she held his horns tight He ran so fast everything became a blur She looked at her hands, her knuckles had turned white She expected panting, but she heard him purr Nothing could stop Pan, once he had taken flight!

As they emerged they could hear waves crashing Then they saw some strange people all over the place The people were dressed in the strangest fashion They saw a man with red lines on his face Pan asked him where they were, he said, “Manhattan!”

She was surprised that Pan could speak their lingo He chatted at length with all of the locals They said"Where’re you from?“, He said, "I’m a gringo!” Because they did not want to seem like yokels They said, “He comes from where all the Queens go!”

Clearly she had not escaped their attention The old men were acting nonchalantly But the young one were filled with much tension They saw she was a woman of quality One who could defeat enemies and henchmen!

Soon she had quelled all of the neighboring tribes Then they all crowned her Queen of Manhattan The whole place was filling up with good vibes They built a ship and made her the captain And Pan named the vessel The Queen Of The Tides

The locals became her crew and they set sail They traveled at a pace to the islands Pan blew the sails at the force of a gale When they reached a large land Pan stopped blowing wind They docked the ship and walked up a steep trail

They found some tribesmen busy smoking cigars The tribe said, “Who are you? What you doing here?” She said, “I’m the Queen and I’ve come pretty far "We were hoping you all in good cheer!” The tribesmen looked at them like they’d come from Mars!

She said, “It is not our wish to disturb you "We’d like to know if you’d like to join us They said, "Well tell us then, what does a Queen do?” She said, “I want to fill up the world with trust” They said, “Well it sound just too good to be true!”

They said, “We will test you by setting a task "You have to do something that we cannot do!” What that did imply she was afraid to ask They said, “You have to capture the sacred cuckoo "If you can do that in your light we will bask!”

With a whoosh she came flying out of the tree She went upwards and then circled on high No one could believe what they were seeing Pan asked, “How did you learn to soar through the sky?” She said, “The cuckoo taught me how to be free!”

The tribesmen said, “Now she is our Goddess!” They all bowed and prayed as she flew all over Then Pan said, “Hey! Let’s have a big old fest!” She disappeared, she had become such a rover They said, “Where’s she gone?”, she had flown west

She flew over the sea, then over the land She flew over swamps in a massive delta Then she flew even further than she had planned She saw a huge beach with people in shelters She tried her first landing and aimed for the sand

The people had all seen her fly through the air By her arrival they were quite taken They noticed her robes and her long curly hair They said, “Behold! She is the Silver Raven!” Even the chieftain had admired her flair!

The chieftain asked her "Where is it you came from?" But she found it too difficult to explain So she said, "I come from the land of the songs" "Ah yes, "He replied", you have made yourself plain With a Queen like you I could never go wrong!"

There was a feast after breaking that tension The chieftain said, "Thank you so much for coming "Your arrival gave us hope, and then some!" "She said, "Being your Queen is really stunning! "It's nothing you should bother to mention"

She said, "Farewell, it is time to keep flying!" How did she take off last time? She wasn't sure But then she zoomed up without really trying She saw a big forest right down below her Then flew between trees, it was all about timing!

Then she continued to fly out to the west Because she'd decided to fly 'round the world She figured out which altitude was the best She saw churches and lakes and fields that were tilled She saw a kingdom and decided to rest.

In the kingdom she found a real big fat king He had a whole mob of miserable sons All of his sons looked exactly like him The eldest son was fond of making up puns The king said, "Marry this boy, here's the ring!"

Right then she refused and they tried to catch her She flew up to the roof and watched them scuffle She flew back down, then flew out with a turn She escaped from them without getting ruffled Then she saw that the ground had begun to churn

The castle had become a pile of rubble The king and his sons were no longer in sight The crowd roared, "Thank you for ending our troubles" They had a big feast all the way through the night Everyone cried, they gave each other a cuddle

The same thing happened wherever she traveled She was crowned, made a God and even knighted When they called her Sir she came quite unraveled The king said, "It's nothing! Things have been righted!" "You're the best knight ever", the crowd all babbled

She eventually got back to the island Pans fest was quite definitely still in full swing He said, "Did you manage to stop in Thailand?" She said, "Yes, they gave me this pair of pink wings" She could see that his eyes were so admiring! The next morning they headed down to the beach She swam in the ocean while Pan caught a tan She swam to the sandbank, and then found a breach She glided through the waves, she had no real plan Then someone did say, "I have something to teach!" She looked around and wondered who it could be Then she noticed something that looked quite smallish She said, "There is something that talks in the sea!" It said, "Well of course, I am the sacred fish! "When I'm chatty it usually makes people flee!" The fish came swimming all the way up to her It swam all around her and made her tickle It said, "This is no gift of incense and myrrh! Here is some magic, you won't feel a prickle! As a deep sea diver you will never err!" It was true! She could swim without taking air! First she swam out so far, to the horizon The fish watched her swim and admired her flair And then she smiled and rode back, with the tide, in She floated under the sky without a care When she got back to Pan he seemed so amused He said, "Oh my, did you find a sacred eel?" She said, "Well, I see how you could get confused "But a fish gave me a new power so real "I can swim underwater, that is the good news!"

He said, "Wow! Do you realize how big this is?" She said, "Whatever can you possibly mean?" "Did you see any caves?", he was in a tizz Right then his meaning she was trying to glean His joy was great he looked like he might fizz!

She said, "In the deep ocean I saw some caves "They were hard to see, almost not visible" He said, "Those are the ones!", He'd begun to rave" "The thought of those caves makes me quite miserable!" She thought to herself: Is Pan more than a knave?

He said, "Those cave lead to the underground world "It is the place where all the magic folk live "When they lived up here the land needn't be tilled "In those days their purpose was only to give "They were forced to leave 'cause that's what bad kings willed"

He said, "Now you will be able to reach them "I know you are tired after your last sojourn "And after all I'm just here being a beach bum "And after that flying your muscles must be worn" She said, "I will do it! I know I'm the One!"

Then she packed some lunch in a waterproof skin She swam back to the sandbank, then through the waves Something told her the lost people were her kin And then she reached the mysterious caves She swam in and the waves were a distant din At first she swam downwards, right into the earth Then the caves changed direction and she swam up Suddenly the caves had a much wider girth She swam into a pool, shaped like a cup She emerged from the pool and stood on some turf The seaweeds on the wall were incandescent She thought about that path under the ocean Of that path this cave was quite reminiscent Then in a far corner she saw a motion She was not afraid, she was quite persistent - She saw a man who looked very strange He had wild bushy hair and clothes made of leaves At first his big glowing eyes looked quite deranged But the sound of his voice she could not believe He sang out, "Have you come to see the great mage?" "Yes, I've come in search of the magic people" He looked a her with a penetrating stare He sized her up until his eyes had their fill Then he relaxed and suddenly had no cares "Were you sent here due to the evil kings will?" "No", she said, "I was sent here by a strange man "He has a lot of fur and horns on his head" He said, "Yes, I know that man, that man is Pan! "So the rumours aren't true then, Pan is not dead?" "Trying to kill Pan would be a complete sham!" He said, "The mage will be anxious to meet you "He has longed for some news from the other side "That Pan lives still, now you can confirm that it's true! "And a creature like you who does still abide "By the ways of the world, back when it was new!" The mage lived right at the center of the earth The wild man said, "It will take long to get there" "It's okay, I can fly", she said with much mirth "To say I'll get their quickly is reasonably fair He said, "I can see you're a woman of worth" She had to fly quite carefully through the caves Sometimes she'd pass through hollows, filled with big towns With houses and markets and streets that were paved Then it got hotter, she knew she was far down Soon the rocks were shimmering under heat waves She reached a round door with a big turning wheel The door felt her presence and it opened wide As she went through it, the heat she could not feel There was a large see-through bubble right inside The sight beyond the bubble had made her reel Outside of the sphere was red hot lava She wondered what to do, then the bubble moved She thought: Seeing the mage is quite a palaver She watched the lava as it bubbled and grooved After some time she wondered: How much farther? She felt a slight bump, then a round door appeared The door opened up and then she stepped through it She saw a man who was rather pointy eared He was clearly wearing a real wizards kit He said, "I hope that the trip wasn't too weird" Over tea she told him, "Pan is still alive" "Oh my", he said, "That is wonderful news!" He was so overwhelmed, he practically cried "All along those rumours were only a ruse "This may end the problem in which we are mired!" "To the reign of magic we must be returned "We thought there was no one to read the great runes "But Pan lives still, as you have confirmed "Pan learnt to read them through all of his doings" He opened a small door and through it he wormed After a short while he came back with a scroll "These are the passages Pan must read out loud" He wound it up tight, then gave her the roll "To have met you great Queen, of this I am proud" He gave her a stone that glowed brightly like coal She made the long trip back up to the surface She swam up through the cave and back to the shore She saw that Pan was sitting in the same place She said, "I've been all the way to the earth's core!" Naturally Pan had a huge smile on his face She gave him the scroll and he was intrigued He said, "This is the great scroll of succession "Once read the power of the mage will be freed "A new mage will come to end all repression "This great scroll is most important, indeed!" She asked him, "But how will this succession work?" He said, "This great power comes from afar" He read through the scroll, then looked up with a jerk They heard a loud voice say, "So that's where you are!" A fog descended, they were lost in the murk Then the voice said, "Queen, I've been looking for you" Then a magic wand descended from the sky It came towards her, but then could it be true? Pan said, "You're the one, there's no need to ask why "You're both the Queen and also the Great Mage too!"

She made a castle that floated in the sky For guests she had a long ladder of rope When Pan came, "Throw down the ladder", he'd cry He had to climb so high he could hardly cope But she'd be waiting with tea and chocolate pie

Now the magic people could come back on out They were glad to see the sun, and the night moon They loved to explore, and they walked all about As they traveled they'd sing in glorious tones That they loved the Queen Mage there could be no doubt

She would make the air castle go high in the sky Then she could see the whole world from her window She'd watch the land and sea without any cares The world would glow like a big ball down below She'd walk outside, let the wind rip through her hair

Then that glowing stone she got from the old mage One day, out of the blue it started humming She saw a sight, not of this earth she would wage A silver disc, from the sky it was coming What could this thing be, it was so hard to gauge

It stopped and hovered in front of the castle A door opened up and two strange men appeared Pan said, "Who are they, I hope they aren't rascals" She said, "Pan I doubt it is as you have feared" One of the men was holding a small parcel

The first one to speak said, "We have come in peace" She said, "You see!", then gave Pan a nudge Pan whispered, "I hope we are not being fleeced" She said, "Lower the bridge", but Pan would not budge She waved her hand, and the drawbridge was released

As the two strange men entered she heard a hum She said, "Do you have a stone in that parcel?" The second man said that is why we have come "Do you have a stone that glows in your castle?" She pointed, he looked, he said, "Yes, that's the one!" He said, "In this parcel I have this stones' twin" He took out the stone and put them together Right then you could have heard the drop of a pin He said, "These two stones are the greatest treasure" They both seemed so happy she just had to grin She said, "Where have you come from, may I inquire" One said, "We have traveled from such distant stars" Pan said, "How long have you been in that flyer?" He said, "Two earth months, it was very far "But to find this stone was our strong desire" "Two months?", she said, "That's when I brought it above "The old mage gave it to me in the earth's core" They both looked at her then their eyes filled with love One said, "That's why we never heard it before Perhaps you are the one they call the Great Dove!" Pan looked suspicious, his eyes darted around He said, "In this great castle show some respect! "This lady is our Queen Mage, that's who you've found!" One said, "That is nothing less than we'd expect She said, "I'm happy you got here safe and sound" One said, "Would you come with us through outer space?" She said, "That is fine, but I'll have to bring Pan" One said, "Our ship only has one extra place "We can assure you that this isn't a sham" Pan had a look of suspicion on his face

She said, "The castle has all of us in it "We could use it to travel through outer space" Pan smiled, and said, "That idea's a real hit!" Both the men had confused looks on their faces One said, "You should not go in space in such haste" "The real trouble is there is no oxygen "You really would have to take some air with you "The air in space is very toxic to men" The added, "And women too, that is quite true "You'll need big containers to put air in them" "I could make a bubble right around this place" She continued, "It's size could be enormous "Inside it all of the air would be encased "Squashed into a sphere, though once it was formless "The pace would be slow, and not much of a race" She added, "I saw something like it before "At the core of the earth, when I found the mage "If I made it the same way, it would work for sure "It went through lava boiling in a great rage "I think for Pan's fears I have found the cure!" Pan said, "Yes, this is a marvelous idea! "And I believe we will make a pretty sight "A castle, floating in a bubble so clear "Past stars and across alien skies at night In a castle we can travel in good cheer!" One said, "Well, I do not see why ever not "The whole concept may well be unorthodox "Leaving the atmosphere can get really hot "But if this sphere can withstand all those shocks "Then I think it's really all worth a good shot!" Soon they were hovering above the Arctic There was nothing to see for many a mile She took out her wand, then she gave it a flick The results of her great spell all made them smile The bubble was made, they'd be off in a tick! Soon they passed through what seemed like a roaring fire Once they left earth they started floating around They were all amused, and then she got inspired Suddenly they all fell back on to the ground The sphere also spun as it floated higher "She's using opposing centrifugal force!" The one who had spoken couldn't believe it His friend then said, "Centrifugal force! Of course!" "There's the sun, this trip sure is getting quite lit" Pan's wit had them laughing until they were hoarse

"First we've got to fly back to our home planet" He added, "That is where we will continue "We must find out if you are the candidate "Who must then travel with a retinue "To the great source to receive the mandate" "The mandate for what, may I ask?", she asked "It is the one to control the universe" "The whole of the universe? That's a great task!" "It may seem like it now, but then you must first "Pass the test of the great spirits of the past!" Quite soon they approached the home of the aliens It had a landscape of high mountain ranges Pan saw the great peaks, then started naming them They gasped, Pan said, "And I thought you were strangers "I bet your castle is in the Shady Fens" "The Shady Fens! That's right Pan, how did you know?" "Oh, I've been here before a couple of times" "Then you must know of the Queen Portamento!" "You could say that", Pan said, with a great sigh She laughed, saying ,"Pan, did she bruise your ego?" "Yes, you could say that Dee, in actual fact "Besides everything else she's also done too" The two alien chaps looked like they also backed What Pan was saying, like they'd also been stewed "She's been known to reduce men to sob's and racks"

She was quite curious to meet this femme fatale Who could bring a dark shadow across Pan's face? Were they over reacting? She couldn't tell And then, soon enough, she saw her dwelling place And by the sight of the place her fears weren't quelled Queen P's castle was beautiful, but wicked It was surrounded by swamp, and not a moat The castle itself was covered in thicket "We'll leave your castle here, then travel by boat" Said Pan, while his eyes looked like flames that flickered As they approached the castle, through the great murk They saw poles on which people could be shackled "She imprisons those who will not do her work", Pan said, as they heard a sound like a cackle They all got a fright, their heads turned with a jerk

 Queen P's castle was beautiful, but wicked It was surrounded by swamp, and not a moat The castle itself was covered in thicket "We'll leave your castle here, then travel by boat" Said Pan, while his eyes looked like flames that flickered As they approached the castle, through the great murk They saw poles on which people could be shackled "She imprisons those who will not do her work", Pan said, as they heard a sound like a cackle They all got a fright, their heads turned with a jerk

"Pan! Who would have thought I'd see you here again?" Then mockingly she feigned a look of surprise "I would have thought we'd have to bring you in chains "Though you're not filled with joy, I have to surmise" Then a look of concern she chose to feign "Well, Portamento, I see you haven't changed "And as for the chains, let's leave them off this time "To willingly return would have been deranged... "...on my part, recall how I spent the last time" The look in Pan's eye's had become more inflamed Oh, and what do we have here?", P smiled at Dee Pan said, "This is Queen Dee, as I'm sure you know" P said, "I did not, she's a new Queen, you see? "When I saw my minions with someone in tow "I thought, 'Who's the Queen Bee, is it me or she?" P said, "Please come in, and please bring that stone" Pan gave Dee the stone and said, "Now hold this tight!" Thought P looked clam there was a change in her tone She said, "Give me the stone, it will be alright "Here on my planet you two are quite alone..." Queen Dee then spoke, "I don't think it will matter" P saw that Dee watching something inside Then suddenly there was a very loud clatter And into Dee's hand the other stone arrived The glass case that had held it had been shattered Right before their eyes the stones fused into one P stared at it with her eyes filled with envy P said, "I guess you believe I have been shunned?" P said, "Beware as my great power fills me!" Then a bolt of energy left them all stunned! The four travelers found themselves in a bubble Dee stood on the boat's prow with her hands held high "Once again she has kept us out of trouble" They cheered, P said, "I'll give it another try!" Then a flash reduced P's castle to rubble! They all looked on in horror! Had P survived? One man said, "We'd better go to the launchpad "It's quite far, right on the planet's other side" Then Dee said, "Hold on now there, wait just a tad "For what, exactly, is this launchpad required?" "The launchpad holds the ship powered by starburst "And once inside it you will be jettisoned "To the very center of the universe "It travels fast, so in the seat you'll be pinned "It sound scary but speed has to be put first" He continued, "It's a very long distance "But starburst power travels as fast as light "Outer space offers zero wind resistance "And to you it will seem like an average flight "But waiting back here, we'll feel time's persistence" 

Dee summoned the castle and they climbed inside Then they flew up above the mountain ranges "I've been given a task by which I'll abide "But the time! Can you imagine the changes?!? "Can Pan come along with me on this ride?"

"The ship is too small, and it won't take the weight "And knowing those strange universal beings "I'm sure they'll expect only the Candidate!" Pan smirked, "When you're done, it's me you'll be seeing "But for these guys, I think it will be too late!

The ship shone gloriously in the distance With it's elegant shape and it's silvery glow "I hope you don't have any big commitments" Pan said, "For the next nine hundred years or so" And then she buckled up, on Pan's insistence

When the ship took off in a blinding light It blurred due to it's quick acceleration And within minutes it disappeared from sight The men and Pan looked on in consternation "Well things around here are sure gonna be quiet..."

Through her front windshield the stars were streaks of light The controls were set for her destination It was like diving through an endless night Time froze, as she looked on in fascination Then she saw a centered white light glowing bright

And in the light there were myriad cloaked figures Who seemed to be as tall as ancient pine trees This was confirmed as they kept getting bigger Those starburst engines began to cool, then freeze Then the ships landing gear was suddenly triggered By the time she got there her fame was peaking Through all of the universe's golden shores When the universal beings  were speaking There was one subject they always spoke of more Which was: Soon the candidate they would be meeting

Thoughts had traveled even faster than her ship About who this most great candidate could be And all of the words on every being's lips Asked if there could be a greater one than she Or would she rule all with just her fingertips   The first one she spoke to led her to some doors The room that they entered was a huge chamber It was gorgeous inside, with gold on it's floors "Though you've just arrived, you are not a stranger" The being stared at her then, with a slight pause "We're looking to fill a vacant position "It is the most important one we can fill "It needs someone with the right disposition "With your chutzpah you can really fit the bill" Said the being, making clear her position Soon more beings started to gather around They seemed so startling due to their great height "As you can see you are attracting a crowd "We were not expecting one of such great might" "You consider me to have great might", she frowned "Yes, we consider your might your greatest gift Thought it's power is unknown to yourself" The conversation had changed, had there been a shift? "The power you possess is your greatest wealth "With it you can heal the most dire of rifts" When the vote was cast, it was unanimous The beings all had voted one and the same They all said to each other "She deserves this" "She is our greatest leader, but in name "So to change all that we will change her name first" And so Dee became Universal Leader Of all the known planets, and all of the stars She'd also be the universal teacher And her message will be carried very far Where it will reach those who may never meet her Then it was time to travel back to her land To cross the broad expanses of outer space To also find Pan was still part of her plans Her ship blasted off with incredible pace She was greeted with waves from all her new fans She flew wide eyed into that beautiful night After her great victory she felt so alive It made sense that everything had gone so right There had been good will from the time she arrived And she could see many stars, shining so bright She had to find her way to the Shady Fens So she flew straight back the way that she had come She flew at a speed at which time surely bends You could definitely tell she was having fun She was looking forward to seeing her friend After awhile that planet came into view With one look you could see it really had changed It was filled with dams and buildings that looked new To ponder the difference made you feel deranged Things had happened while she traveled, this was quite true

When she had landed there was a great applause She saw there was a welcoming committee And in between all of them stood Pan, of course Pan said, "There you are, and looking so pretty" All their faces showed he said it with just cause "The time you've been gone has been nine hundred years" She just stood and stared when she heard all those words When Pan said them she couldn't believe her ears She said, "I can hardly believe what I've heard" By the look on his face, Pan seemed close to tears

"I've been using universal energy To fulfill my role as universal Queen I use my energy and incredibly Things are done in exactly the way I mean" As she said all this she sounded really keen Pan for his part was amazed by what she said "You're doing all that as part of your day You save the world without getting out of bed Folks will come to see there is a new way This is a another way for worlds to be led"

She traveled with Pan all across the whole land Much had change across Portomento's planet They saw people on the beach, looking so tanned A planet depended on how you ran it Pan ran it with the lightest touch of his hand 

"Since becoming the universal leader Things have definitely all changed for the better Things run so smoothly I can take a breather Things get sorted down to the very letter When it comes to you I'm a believer"

Her old flying castle was being kept still And so they decided to travel to earth Then they thought how much had changed, until They had found themselves staring at their old turf It was hard to recognize all those all those old hills Buildings with people populated the place Everyone seemed to be having a good time Most of them seemed to have a smile on their face "It seems that everything on earth is just fine" He said, "Knew this was going to be the case" The next thing they flew so high above the earth "It's great to think all this is under your care" He said, "It must do wonders for your self worth" She said, "The feeling are more than I can bear It's strange to think the universe is your turf" "We should go look at a place you've never seen" He said, "Is there any place you have in mind" She said, "There is a place they say is like dreams The Golden Shores is a place I'd like to find They say there's nothing there which is as it seems" To get to Golden Shores they'd need the spaceship They traveled back to Portomento's planet The long trip through space would just be a quick nip Everything depended to how they planned it They were going to make the most of their trip They were floating in space above Golden Shores They were busy consulting the oracle The rules of this great place had caused this slight pause They were being scanned to the last follicle It was just using this pause for a great cause

The Golden Shores was a place of such great trust To keep it that way they used their great system Their talking oracle really was a must They wouldn't always use it, it was just when Someone newly arrived, then they made a fuss

It wasn't so bad to be completely known And have all your needs promptly taken care of Whether it was drinks delivered by a drone Like someone wiping a table with a cloth In Golden Shores they make you feel like you're home

The thing they most wanted to see was the lights They shone in the sky with a mind of their own At night they continued their magical flight The source of the lights was not quite well known They could not figure it out, try how they might

"The lights are what I see in my dreams at night I need to take a closer look now", she said Pan said, "Well look, this all needs to be done right There are some that say that the lights can be read You'll get to read the lights with some peace and quiet"

The Shores were constantly bathed in a deep glow They flew above it all in tiny machines There was a place that the oracle did know To which very few people had ever been They saw a mountain, the oracle did glow

This was the place that they had been looking for Here they would have the best of unbroken views You could see that she felt it right too her core There could be no better place for her to choose As she did look out she couldn't ask for more She said, "The lights are there for giving advice I need to just watch and wait for the message Once you're in sync with them, you won't think twice About content, it's like looking at a page Of a book that you find to be rather nice"

She sat back and relaxed and watched the clear sky The lights, when they came, were a thing of wonder As they flickered she sat and asked herself why They cast the spell that the planet was under To read beneath their charms was what she must try

She said, "This is what the lights are telling me If you want a good world be good to the world You know already people choose to be free If you can give that much they will be thrilled Freedom is the only thing they want to see"

She sat down and thought about what they had said To her now the lights had made such perfect sense The gist of the lights wasn't easily read And the concentration had left her intense After all of this she was ready for bed

While she was resting she saw pretty colours As the lights floated down to fill up her sleep They filled the room up like her real true lovers Pan could tell that her sleep was getting quite deep After seeing such lights now, there came others

In her dreams the lights told her about new things About what a brave new world should expect next And all about now what tomorrow may bring When she woke up her brain muscles had been flexed Pan had no doubt that she was the woman king

She had woken up with so many new dreams So many brand new ideas rolled through her mind Soon enough then she was filled up with new schemes To look for all of the folk that she could find To find not just one sort, but all of the teams

They went to their ship to decide on their course Going somewhere that they'd never been before Once decided they blasted off with such force The ship was so quick you couldn't ask for more They steared that ship with the gusto of the Norse

The first planet they came to was filled with trees The folk who lived there were as tall as forests Pan's head wouldn't have reached even to their knees They sang everyday up among the bird's nests She said, "My hope now is that they'll hear my plans"

She wanted them to help her in her new quest "All of the folk should get to know each other We should travel 'round and be each other's guests" She said, "Time to learn to love one another" The tree folk thought that her plans were for the best

They would need a bigger ship for their big dreams And Pan knew exactly where they could find one It was a place where nothing was as it seems They would find brand new big ships there by the ton He said, "I know of a place if you are keen"

They could see ships flying before they arrived She wanted to give all of them a test drive Pan said, "Just wait and see what they have inside" She couldn't wait, her ship did a final dive They saw ships that were as tall as they were wide

They landed their ship and they started shopping They saw all kinds of ships they could imagine There were ships in the sky that were flip-flopping "They all look so good", Pan said with a grin She wondered how they stayed there without dropping

Then they came to a big long open hallway And she saw it in front of her widened eyes "There is one I want, I can finally say" Pan looked too and you could say he was surprised He said, "Let's go find out how much we should pay" It was the biggest ship they had seen so far Inside the roof stood real tall above their heads They could fit in their old ship like a tin jar They saw newer ships brought in like they were sleds It was a first impression you could not mar They looked at the rest and were very impressed For their purposes the ship would be ideal You could certainly fit in the few odd guests They would find the owner and make their appeal To buy this perfect machine would be a test They located the chap they needed to see And it was for granted the price was sky high "But with your old ship the price is going to be A lot less than that, it will get you to fly That ship out of here like you got it for free” She loved her old ship but it was very small Because it was antique it was worth much more Than any ship that you would see in a mall She wanted that ship, she felt it to her core If they rode in that ship they'd be walking tall But from the moment they payed she felt alright Yes the old ship had been a just sacrifice And it all meant that soon they'd be taking flight And to reach their goal would be so very nice Using peace to solve things instead of great might The ship was so big they would need a full crew Soon the bridge was full of brand new candidates In their spacesuits they looked so shiny and new On their ship there was no place for one who hates Their work would need people who were bold and true 

They were ready to blast off around sunset When it came to bed they'd be sleeping in space She would be the one to ignite the first jet The crew were ready, for lift off they were braced And a groovy lift off is what they would get They cruised up and went safely into orbit Then they slowly circled above the planet The crew slowly gathered around the cockpit And from the champagne they tried not to get wet And Pan made a speech using a lot of wit The lights of Golden Shores came to her that night They gave her good ideas as she lay sleeping About how to lead and how to put things right Pan was seeing how everyone was keeping It had been a long day, the ship was quiet Then there was a man who was talking to Pan He told him about the plight of his people His people had been the victims of a scam They were made slaves by a man who was evil He said, "If you can’t save them then no one can" Then Pan asked, would they be able to find them The man said, "They often travel past big planets The only thing is to find out where and when" Pan said, "We could catch them using our big jets There's much to be discussed between now and then" And the next day Pan told her all about it She said, "This is the kind of project we need And if we can do this we'll make such a hit If we can get those prisoners to be freed It would not hurt our reputation one bit”

First they needed the flight path for that slave ship They'd have to find some spies with info to sell With the right stuff they could be saved a long trip Who would have the best info, you couldn't tell Pan could sense the right info was in their grip Then a man came forward with some stuff to tell He'd been working for a slave ship before this And for that reason he knew them all quite well "They'll go to the conference, that they can't miss The'd go even if they found it pretty dull" 

"And what kind of conference is this then", she asked "It is a conference that's held for pirate ships" All those pirates was something worth trying to grasp In such a place they would be up to their hips In such a place they could free more folk at last So it was determined that they would gate crash It was two weeks before the conference began They needed the time to prepare for the bash They would also need to prepare a new plan Just in case they had to escape in a flash

The day came when they had to start travelling Soon they would need to be on the right planet They got the position and took to the wing Once they were on their way they increased their jets To see their power was really quite a thing Soon they arrived at their new destination They sent out a signal of a pirate ship They doubted if back to space they would be flung Waiting for the reply made their hearts all skip There was much relief when they said they could come

As they flew in they could all sense the danger They must have their wits about them to survive To the realities Dee was no stranger She also knew there was a way to connive And come out looking like the best Star Ranger Now they could see the amount of other ships They filled the horizon, jamming up the sky They could see the host ship as it gently skips From ship to ship just like a little lost fly And you wonder why it makes all of those trips

Now that they were settled a ship came to them They asked if they could definitely board the craft And they boarded the ship with about ten men They checked all types of things like all the life rafts Then they waited for them to ask the question The question was "What are you all doing here" They answered that they were looking for contacts "If that's all you doing you've nothing to fear If you need to get something done then you're waxed But from anything else you know to stay clear" 

The next day they were allowed to meet people They tried to find the ship with the captive crew They sent out some people who knew them and still They were hard to find, where were they now who knew They kept searching 'till they'd almost had their fill Then soon one of the searchers received a tip "Folk you are looking for lie not very far You'll be able to find them in a short trip" The searcher was ecstatic nothing could mar That they'd be with the captives in a short blip

Dee and Pan got ready to meet with them first It seemed less suspicious if they went ahead Pan was so keen he was all ready to burst He didn't want to see the bad guys all fled Before him and Dee had time to do their worst For Dee and Pan it was a short shuttle trip They were greeted with handshakes and suspicion But they could see that Pan wore no gun on his hip If there was a battle surely they would win Or was there a way the tables could be flipped

They were looking for weapons in the wrong place For a fight Dee and Pan were not that well armed The weapons they carried were spread out in space Even if they used them no one would be harmed If they were needed they would cut to the chase The main pirate wanted Dee to stay with them Dee simply whistled a deep and somber tune "You couldn't keep me, you don't have enough men" She said, "We'll have help, and it will be here soon Help will arrive it is just a case of when" 

You could hear them first before seeing them They appeared accompanied by a low hum It could be said the whole effect was quite zen In fact it could be said that it was quite fun The first lights appeared with the force of ten men More lights joined and there was a moment of fright How much light was needed to conquer a ship Before long there was a multitude of lights How many lights now must be making this trip The ship would be destroyed by anyone's rights 

Then all of a sudden the lights stopped coming There was enough of them to fill up that place Some of them had decided to form a ring Nothing there could keep up with their crazy pace The lights flew around just like birds on the wing The pirates knew now that they were outnumbered The only thing to do was to surrender And respect the lights which had come in a herd And even if it makes you look like a cur In a moment the head pirate gave the word

And in a word the captives were all set free And in a word they were all very happy The way they danced and sang was something to see You could just see how much they'd wanted to flee Far from exile is where they wanted to be Dee and Pan were making sure it all happened Using the light was just the first step you see Soon they'd use power against all that had sinned Soon they'd find a way to be all they could be Soon they'd find a way to make all the foes friends

The ex-captives all moved to Dee and Pan's ship They had to make up a story for cover Like they were going to change ships for a trip Were'd they come from, that was somewhere or other As long as they weren't captives trying to skip The reunion was joyous and heard all 'round There was a party for all who had been freed There was a party for all who could be found There was a party for anyone indeed There was a party for anyone around

It was up to them to fly the captives home The captives were all waiting to make the trip They were even trying to reach home by phone The voyage seemed short, just a quick hop and a skip Pan was keen to go, he was chill to the bone But then Dee did not want to be too hasty She did not want them falling to the wrong hands To re-take them as slaves would seem too tasty Could be the pirates, any one of those bands No chance must there be to eat them like pastry

Then the freed folk wanted to find more enslaved They wanted to spread some good fortune around 'Need Freedom' was on all of their souls engraved And to being victorious they were bound From such situations heroes have been made They went with Dee to the closest ship at night They arrived unannounced and went straight inside Dee was ready and waiting to call the lights The enslaved they found looked for a place to hide But then the freed folk asked them to stay and fight

[auroraphilealis]

Metamorphosis (7/10)

Metamorphosis (7/10) | Once upon a time, Dan Howell and Phil Lester were best friends. They did everything together, from hanging out at each other’s house, to sitting next to each other at school - but one day, Dan was torn away from Phil by none other than Phil himself. Five years on, and Dan still doesn’t know why his best friend threw Dan away. Was it the fault of the bullies who relentlessly picked on Phil, or was it Dan himself? Dan just didn’t know. So when a chance to protect Phil and get his best friend back arises, Dan jumps on it in a heartbeat, and uses his own confidence to boost Phil’s just enough to make the bullies back away. | Phan | Teen and Up | High School AU, Bullying, Getting Together, Make Over Fic, Kissing Booth, Kissing Lessons | 2,705 Words this chapter Disclaimer: In no way do I pretend that this is real or cast aspersions on Dan or Phil.

Thanks again to my beta etoilesdephan for her wonderful help editing this fic <33

(Ao3) (Previous)

Chapter Seven

Walking into Phil’s home again after five years of not being allowed inside was interesting, to say the least. Dan hadn’t quite been able to even hope for this day to come again, and yet here he was. Everything was just as Dan had remembered it too; the mahogany bannister of the stairway sleek and polished by a caring mother just across the way from the front hallway, the orderly, bright colors of the family room with the same purple loveseat and couch combo Dan had spent far too many nights playing board games with the Lester’s on, and the pleasant hum of a mother who worked from home on the best of days baking cookies in the kitchen.

The whole experience was surreal, and felt like coming home.

“Philip, is that you?” Mrs. Lester called from the other room. The sound of her voice sent happy tingles up Dan’s spine, and he practically vibrated in place as Phil toed off his shoes and tossed a happy grin Dan’s way. He seemed just as happy as Dan to finally have Dan back in his house, and that was enough to make Dan want to break down into tears. This was finally happening; he was finally getting Phil back.

“Yeah, mum, it’s me. Dan’s here too, if that’s okay?” Phil shouted back, for the first time all day raising his voice and speaking normally. He was safe here, that was undoubtedly true, and he radiated with a spirit Dan hadn’t properly seen in five years, not even that afternoon.

Home was true haven for Phil, always had been. The Lester’s were the most supportive, warm family that Dan had ever known, all a little strange and quirky, and raising their son to love himself above all else. It had always been too bad the outside world was so much crueler than them.

The kitchen went suddenly quiet and still at Phil’s question. The humming from earlier had stopped, and there was no gentle pottering around of someone fiddling with dishes and pans. For all of a second, Dan worried that he wouldn’t be welcome here, that somehow, over the course of the last five years, the Lester’s had come to resent Dan, but then, quite suddenly, Mrs. Lester came rushing out of the kitchen with a look of absolute stunned surprise on her face, and her lips quirked up in a half grin.

“Daniel?” she asked as she took in his presence at Phil’s side, their hands still slotted together innocently. Her gaze drank him in, and she blinked rapidly a few times like she couldn’t quite believe her eyes.

Then, her gaze seemed to catch onto Phil’s new appearance, sans glasses and with black hair, and she absolutely gasped, hand rising to her breast as if to still her suddenly racing heart. Dan laughed, bright and loud as Mrs. Lester stared at Phil, who looked unsure and awkward beside him.

Mrs. Lester gaze was appraising, thoughtful, happy, as she took in the sight of her son, and it was clear by the way tears sprung to her eyes that this had been all she’d ever hoped for; a Phil confident enough to embrace the things that he’d always wanted, and to try them, finally, for himself.

“Daniel Howell,” Mrs. Lester suddenly burst out, “You absolute saint, you!” she continued, and moved forward to pull both Dan and Phil into a bright, perfect, motherly hug. Again, Dan laughed as he was drawn into a pair of arms he’d long missed, and he reached around Mrs. Lester’s waist to hug her back just as fiercely. All the while, Phil moaned and whined from beside Dan, but Dan didn’t care because he was finally back with the family he’d loved for so long.

“Look at you!” Mrs. Lester was saying, patting her hands at Phil’s hair, cupping his face, and kissing at his cheeks. “So dashing. That color really does suit you, Phil, and look, I can see your eyes!” she cooed, smoothing her fingers across Phil’s newly exposed forehead and laughing at the way he squirmed away from her, blushing an incriminating red. “And you!” Mrs. Lester continued, drawing away from Phil to cup Dan’s face as well and have a good look at him. “How grown up you are. It’s so good to see you back here, Daniel, dear!” she exclaimed as she tilted his head this way and that, all while Dan laughed and Phil rolled his eyes with a fond smile from beside them.

It was all very silly, and yet all very homely, everything that Dan had been missing for so long.

“Oh my boys,” Mrs. Lester squealed as she finally pulled away properly. She had both of her hands pressed together in front of her, and she was very clearly crying as she looked between the two of them. Dan’s hand had been dislodged from Phil’s, but he took it back in his easily enough, just wanting to remain connected to Phil, and watched as Mrs. Lester threw her head back at the sight and laughed. “Just the same as always. I’m so glad to see you again, Dan. I do hope you will stay for dinner?” she invited.

Dan didn’t even have to look at Phil to see the way he was blushing and grinning, and he nodded his head with a simple “Of course,” because who could pass up on an offer like that? Besides, Dan was certain that his own parents wouldn’t mind.

Soon after, Dan was once again picking up the many bags of shopping he’d done that day, and was following Phil up the carpeted stairs of his home and up towards his bedroom. Just as Dan remembered, Phil took the stairs two steps at a time, something that terrified Dan, and when he commented on it, his friend merely laughed. The sound was so familiar, the conversation an echo of the past, that Dan couldn’t help laughing as well, taking the stairs up at a much safer one at a time.

When they reached the landing, Dan couldn’t help casting his gaze across the familiar floor plan, noting the Lester parent's room, and then Martyn’s, Phil’s older brother who he’d watched go off to Uni two years prior for the first time. Having to witness that from his bedroom window had been hard for Dan, who’d been so close to the family for so long. He wished Martyn were here now to see Dan and Phil’s reunion, but he knew, one day, he’d get to see Martyn again too. Finally, Dan turned to follow Phil into his bedroom, and didn’t waste a second taking a look around.

Phil’s room hadn’t changed all that much; he still had a Buffy shrine with a huge Sarah Michelle Gellar poster on the far wall of his bedroom, just across from his bed, the Sarah Michelle Gellar life sized cut out Dan had won for him in a magazine one year, and the collage of emo boy magazine cutouts glued to the walls shrouding his bed that Dan had helped him set up one week during the summer. Dan could practically see young-him laughing with Phil on his bed with messy fingers as they smeared glue everywhere.

The memory made him smile, and he stared at the familiar bluey-green bedspread Phil had always had, at his desk shoved into one corner, and his tv with all his gaming consoles stacked up at the far side. It was achingly familiar despite the new hosts of games and consoles Phil had acquired, achingly familiar in that there had been a time when Dan spent most of his days lounging across Phil’s rather massive bed.

No, not much had changed after all, and that was something Dan could admittedly be incredibly grateful for.

Finally dropping the shopping bags onto the floor for, hopefully, the final time, Dan turned his grin onto Phil and clapped his hands together. Phil looked a bit more unsure than he had earlier, a little more awkward and scared, as if Dan would judge his room’s decor, and was waiting quietly in the middle of his bedroom.

“Right!” Dan said, choosing to ignore this and break the awkward tension. “I didn’t get too much, just a new school tie for you, a few t-shirts, and a pair of sneakers, but I’ve kept all the receipts in case you don’t like them. Should we start with the tie?”

Phil didn’t argue. Instead, he took the tie Dan was offering him, and, thankfully not looking at the tie, slipped it over his neck without so much as thinking about the second tie currently already in this tie’s place. As soon as he realized this, however, Phil began to blush up a storm, and Dan laughed with an easy step forward.

“Here,” he said softly, reaching out with steady hands to undo the knot on the first tie and unravel it easily from around Phil’s neck, “Let me get that for you.”

Phil practically froze at Dan’s proximity to him, his eyes glued to Dan’s, and the look sent a shower of sparks throughout Dan. Rather suddenly, he felt incredibly warm right down to his core, and he could feel his heart fluttering along with a secretly longing he’d long since tried to suppress. He didn’t act on it though. No, he couldn’t act on it, and so he merely dropped the first tie of Phil’s to the floor, and reached up to do up the new one around Phil’s neck.

Phil didn’t stop him. Instead, he merely continued to stare into Dan’s eyes with a look of absolute confusion and terror that made Dan’s heart ache. Dan couldn’t seem to stop flicking his own gaze upwards to catch hold of Phil’s, back and forth as he did up his tie. Phil’s breathing, meanwhile, was uneven, and though Dan had a guess at why, he didn’t want to imagine Phil still being afraid of Dan in that way. Could he not see the longing in Dan’s eyes? The desire in his heart?

Perhaps it was best that he could not.

Once the silk fabric was done up properly, Dan dropped his hands and stepped away from Phil.

“Much better!” he exclaimed, shooing Phil over to his full length mirror. “It’s much thinner than your old one, and an actual bright red rather than that atrocious faded thing you had before. Better suited for school than what you had on, for sure,” Dan decided easily, bending over and taking the strip of fabric currently on the floor into his hands. He wasn’t risking the chance of Phil trying to keep it, but it didn’t seem to matter either way; Phil wasn’t paying Dan a lick of attention.

Instead, he was once again staring in awe at his reflection in the mirror, hands shaking as he reached up gently to fiddle with the tie and run the soft fabric through his fingers, as if he couldn’t believe it was his. The sight made Dan grin, and he actually laughed when Phil pulled lightly on the knot to loosen the tie just a bit more, matching the way Dan’s was largely loosened around his own neck.

“Now you’re getting it!” he exclaimed, and watched as Phil grinned in return, turning back almost instantly to take in his own appearance. The top two buttons of his uniform were undone, showing off the slightest bit of pale chest, and his shirt was baggy around his waistband, untucked as it was from Dan’s earlier ministrations. Even his trousers didn’t appear so straight laced anymore, and Dan felt proud of what he’d done. He’d given Phil a step in the right direction of confidence. Now if only he could instill that inside of Phil, rather than just decorating the outside.

He hoped this would work to do both.

“No one in their right mind would dare to make fun of the way you look now,” Dan decided, stepping up behind Phil so that his friend would see him in the reflection cast by the mirror as well. Slowly, Phil’s gaze moved to latch onto Dan’s, and Dan felt something warm settle deep inside of him. Softly, he grinned. “You look perfect.”

Dan could see Phil’s cheeks turning red again, knew before Phil dropped his head to look away that he would, and decided to give the poor boy a break for once. Surely, he’d embarrassed him quite enough as it was. Humming, Dan turned away and started to rummage through the other bags at his feet for the other articles of clothing he’d picked out for Phil. He could only hope that Phil would like them.

Dan’s fingers quickly landed on the galaxy print jacket he’d seen earlier, and he held it up with a huge grin, remembering again the spark of something he’d felt when he’d seen it. It had just screamed Phil, and while Dan hadn’t spoken to his best friend in five years, he could still hope that he’d managed to stay enough the same that Dan could still pick out the right kinds of clothing for him.

Besides, Dan was certain the purple jacket would look far better against Phil’s skin than the old, bulky black hoodie he usually wore. It had been bundled up and tossed into the bags alongside Phil’s new clothes not long after Dan had picked Phil up from the salon, covered in hair and generally the worst for wear, but it didn’t matter. Dan hoped that now, Phil would never have occasion to wear it again.

Turning around with the jacket outstretched in front of him, Dan said, “I saw this in the store and instantly thought of you. Do you like it?”

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Phil turned away from his reflection in the mirror to look at Dan and what he was holding. For all of a moment he looked surprised at the object in Dan’s hands, and then his expression exploded into one of extreme excitement. He didn’t even have to say a word for Dan to know just how Phil was feeling about it, and he shoved it forward easily enough when Phil reached out with grabby hands to take it from Dan.

“I love it,” Phil said as he shrugged it on, instantly turning to stare at himself in the mirror, and even turning a few times this way and that to see how it fit against his shoulders. It was perfect, just as Dan had imagined it would be, and with Phil’s newly black hair, it gleamed against his body like it belonged there. It made his shoulders look broader, and clung to him in a way that the black hoodie had not. Phil looked, should Dan dare say it, hot.

He swallowed thickly as Phil once again turned to him with the biggest smile yet, and did his best to smile back.

Phil looked absolutely stunning, his expression showing that he actually thought so too for the first time in his life. There was nothing Dan would not do to keep that expression there.

So he said, “You look amazing, Phil, fuck,” and watched the way his cheeks turned dark red all over again. He ducked his head, but Dan wasn’t imagining the fact that Phil also appeared pleased.

As the afternoon wore on, Phil tried on the other two shirts Dan had picked out for him, as well as the shoes. He was absolutely in love with the pokemon themed one, and endlessly delighted by the heat sensitive one, but his favorite thing by far were the pair of shoes. While Phil’s worn down converse’s were bright blue and definitely served him well, he’d been long overdue for something new, and the mix of red and white looked absolutely dashing on his feet.

The look of absolute glee that took over Phil’s expression as he stood in those made Dan feel as if he were on top of the world.

There had been a time where he’d thought he’d never get to share a moment like this with Phil again, but as the night wore on, and Phil threw his arms around Dan for a hug, whispering in his ear, “I’m so glad to have you back,” Dan felt like everything was finally going to be alright.

(Next)

[ask-thehappykids]

Humandroid - An Andy Fic

I got to write a short story for a paper I had to turn in for Humanities, so I wrote this. It’s a little heavy-handed near the end because of that, but I actually like how it ended up and it has to do with Andy’s backstory, so I wanted to share it!

The android’s eyes fluttered open for the first time to the tune of whirring monitors and whispered murmurs. An icy blue pair of eyes stared up, unblinking, and unfazed by the harsh fluorescent lights above. A look to the left, then the right. Something internal told them to blink. They were surrounded on all sides by people, all staring directly at them.

“She’s beautiful,” one of them spoke.

Their eyes slowly traced over the face of the one who had spoken. Glasses, shaggy and unkempt hair, and a smile that would have sent shivers down their spine, were that physically possible. The other three were similar, with some combination of poor posture and unsettling smiles, as if they were staring at something to covet.

“We’ve gotta test her out, don’t we?” said another. His grin was wide and almost predatory, creating an unsettling combination with the way his tone was both giddy and impatient. Everyone’s eyes were locked on them, laid out on the table they had woken up on.

Another blink answered the waiting gazes of those above them. There was a gentle click from inside their own head, so soft they were sure that no one else could hear it. Their jaw moved slightly, adjusting itself. Then, softly, their voice finally slipped out in a gentle, “Hello?”

The four men took in a collective sharp breath, eyes wide. “Her voice is gorgeous,” said one that hadn’t spoken up before. “Can’t wait to hear it saying other things.” He nudged the one who had called them beautiful with his elbow, an eyebrow quirked in a knowing way.

“Enough waiting around then,” said the fourth one. He grabbed at their legs, wrenching them open with wild abandon. They were acutely aware that there was nothing between their flesh and this man’s eyes. “We’d better make sure she works the way she’s supposed to before we turn her in to the boss.”

No more invitation was needed for the men to take what they wanted. Hands wandered on fresh skin, grabbing and smoothing and stuttering over the new flesh. Their icy blue eyes darted around, watching and taking in as much information as they could. Hands, flesh, hot breath, all over them at once.

“She feels so real,” muttered one before pressing his lips to the base of their neck.

Andy awoke with marks on their neck and the register of soreness between their thighs. The night before had been dedicated to their partners, Daniyal and Rory, and the pleasure that came from that. It was so pleasantly familiar now to feel that when they woke up.

They heaved themselves up and out of the bed, padding gently to the bathroom, but they stopped short in front of the mirror. A pit formed in their stomach when they made eye contact with their reflection. A thick crease drew from the bottom corners of their eyes and down the sides of their face, adorned with a pair of small bolts on either side. They acted as a reminder that anything they thought they felt was nothing more than synthetic, just like the rest of them. There was no soreness between their thighs, no pit in their stomach, no gentle throbbing in the marks adorning their neck where blood would pool. It was all just adaptations they had acquired over time to make everything about them seem more real to the outside world.

Andy tore their eyes away from the mirror and busied themselves with cleaning up. After all, avoidance was a very human thing to do. They scrubbed themselves gently with a wash cloth, their skin feeling plush and soft under their touch. It had the same give, the same flexibility and folds, as a humans, but that was just a lie. It must have felt so disingenuous to any human who touched it. Andy ran a slow hand up their own thigh. They imagined Daniyal would shiver at the touch and Rory might have gotten goosebumps. But Andy’s skin didn’t respond. Their brain told them the sensation was pleasurable and comforting, but they felt nothing.

After getting themselves dressed and pulling their blonde hair back into a ponytail, Andy made use of their morning by starting breakfast. Surely, their boys would be hungry when they woke up.

Steam began to rise from the pans, the smell of bacon and eggs following suit. The frantic pop and crackle of the bacon grease complimented Andy’s rapid thoughts. Their eyes focused on the task, hands deft as they ran through the motions of the meal, but Andy’s mind was somewhere else entirely.

“I’d say be careful not to burn breakfast, but I think you’ve made bacon and eggs enough you could do it in your sleep.” Rory’s words quickly pulled Andy back to reality and their eyes snapped up to stare at the wall directly in front of them. It was always fascinating how Rory could read a room without actually being able to see it. Andy figured it was some byproduct of knowing elements of the future that gave him incredible insight.

“I have it under control, thank you,” Andy said softly. Their eyes trailed back down to the pans they were handling, becoming acutely aware of the heat that they couldn’t feel in their hands. “It is almost ready.”

“Smells good.” The smile in Rory’s voice was evident.

Andy finally turned to get a good look at Rory. He was still shirtless, though he had pulled on a ratty pair of shorts. Andy made a mental note to try and wash all the caked in dirt out of those later. His long, dark hair was pinned back in a loose bun, strands of it still falling in his face from how sloppy it was. The more they looked at him, the more Andy was aware how different they were from each other.

“You’re staring at me,” Rory said pointedly. “Do I need to put a shirt on? There something on my face?” His tone was joking, but Andy became frustrated.

Their eyebrows furrowed, but they averted their gaze. “You cannot possibly know that.”

Andy noticed Rory grin out of the corner of their eye. “I can hear the bacon burning already, which means you’re not paying attention to it. And, I can feel you staring at me, you know?”

“I do not,” Andy muttered, turning back to their cooking. “I do not feel anything.” They pulled the bacon off the stovetop and turned so that they could grab a plate from the cabinet.

They caught sight of Rory, who’s face had grown much more serious. His grin had pressed into a tight line, and his face seemed thoughtful. They wished Rory would just let them wallow in peace.

After dumping the bacon onto a plate, Andy turned back around to tend to the eggs. But as they did so, a pair of arms wrapped around their waist and Rory’s chin rested gently on their shoulder. They wanted so badly to relax into the touch, but they were suddenly acutely aware of every inch of synthetic skin making contact with Rory. After a moment, they blurted out, “Do I feel warm to you?”

“Not particularly,” Rory answered, making Andy’s eyebrows furrow. Of course not. “Why? Feeling sick?” Rory’s hand pressed against their forehead and Andy couldn’t help a small scoff.

“I do not get sick, Rory. And I….suppose it was a silly question to ask.” Andy continued to scowl down at the eggs, then pulled them off the stove and edged themselves out of Rory’s embrace. “Of course I would not feel warm,” they muttered, reprimanding themselves quietly.

“What’s with the sudden interest in body temperature?” Rory asked. He busied himself by grabbing Andy a new plate from the cabinet. “There’s nothing wrong with how warm you are usually.”

Andy took the plate and carelessly dumped the eggs onto it. Of course Rory wouldn’t understand what they were feeling, why would he? In an attempt to escape the conversation, they let out a strangled, “It is fine.” Not very convincing.

“Talk to me, Tulip,” Rory said softly, carefully taking the pan Andy had been holding far too tightly. Their hands brushed together, flesh against fake, and Andy pulled back. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Andy looked down at the floor, their hands desperate for something to grab onto, but all they could do was clench into fists at Andy’s sides. “Rory,” they whispered, the words choking them on their way out, “can you tell me how I will die?”

Rory took a step back. Any lightness left in his demeanor was gone, his body growing tense. “Andy, I can’t tell you that. I don’t—I don’t like thinking about you—“

If Andy were physically able to cry, they had a strong suspicion they would have been sobbing by now. “But it happens? I can do that, correct? You have to tell me, I need to know.”

“Well, everyone—“

“But do I, Rory? Am I included in everyone?” Andy’s gaze was hard as they looked him over. If he could feel them staring before, then he must have felt it now. He had to know how desperate they were with whatever sense told him when they were staring. “Am I even capable of death? Or is that another thing that I will never know?”

Rory was definitely aware of the cold gaze locked onto him, evidenced by his tense stance. He reached out to comfort Andy on instinct, but pulled back at the last second. All it took to see what Andy wanted was a single touch and, though he’d already seen it, Rory was suddenly very aware of the motion he usually avoided. “I think Daniyal’s worrying has been rubbing off on you,” he tried desperately. “You’re perfectly fine the way you are.”

“I am a husk. How can that be fine? I am nothing but synthetic nerves and programmed emotions. I cannot feel anything that is truly mine, only what I am told to. I am the product of the male sexual fantasy and it’s sadistic lover, consumerism, I cannot possibly have the same depth as a human.” Andy’s chest heaved, metallic lungs taking in unnecessary breaths as they worked themselves up. “But maybe, if I were to know how I die—if I die, I could feel some connection with the human experience. I could be somewhat…” Their eyes cast upward, meeting the pity Rory had on his face. “…like you.”

Rory’s hand lifted slowly, meeting Andy’s face to gently caress their cheek. Andy clutched at his arm, their grip fearful. “Tulip, just listen to yourself. I’ve never heard anyone sound so human. All those things you’re so afraid of, all those concerns, well, it sounds human to me.”

Andy’s brows furrowed. “But I do not feel the same way you do. My feelings are all learned, none of them are innate.”

“I’d say humans are like that too,” Rory pointed out thoughtfully. His hand no fully cupped Andy’s jaw, tilting their head up so that their eyes couldn’t stray away from his face. “We learn and react the same way you do. We just got our programming from different places. You don’t need to know how you die for that.”

“But what if…” Andy trailed off, their nails digging into Rory’s soft, human flesh. “What if I can never be more than what I was programmed for?”

Rory chuckled softly. “I’d say you’ve already far surpassed that. You’re made up of far more than your sexual experiences.”

Andy thought for a moment, their eyes locked onto Rory. Their brain processed the information as fast as it could go, eyes searching for something disingenuous in Rory’s words. “Do you really believe that?” they asked, voice barely a whisper.

Rory pressed a kiss to Andy’s nose, then dropped his hand from their jaw to grab their hand instead. “Of course I do, darling.”

It was a little reassurance, at least.

[your-brother-crutchie]

Nightmares

32. “This is, by far, the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.”

45. “I had a nightmare about you and I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”

Sorry it took me so long to get to these (they’re from the last prompts list that I posted), but we got here in the end!

227. "Your eyes are red . . . Were you crying?" 

You may of course, I love me some angst so I might actually write this one again because it’s a wonderful prompt that I wish to reuse so we’ll see.

It was half three on Monday morning when Race woke up. He'd been tossing and turning in his sleep for twenty minutes before finally waking with a quiet shriek and a racing heart. He quickly covered his mouth with his hands, eyes wide as he prayed that Spot, his college roommate and best friend, hadn't heard.

Although he didn't want Spot to know that Race often dreamed about him, there was something about this one that left Race itching to check on the boy in the room across the corridor. He was shaky and scared and, although he knew it was stupid, his nightmare had stirred Race's chest into an anxious frenzy. It was silly and childish but Race lasted thirty minutes before sliding out of his duvet and wincing as his bare feet hit the icy floor.

Wrapping his arms around himself, Race tiptoed towards his door, carefully avoiding the piles of papers that he'd left lying out last night. He'd been studying late and had been far too tired to even think about tidying them up. To be fair, he hadn't counted on having a nightmare about his best friend at nineteen-years-old.

When he slipped through the door, Race was faced with the silent, black hallway. He fumbled for the light switch, knowing that it would probably wake Spot when he opened the door but not really caring; that boy was a terribly light sleeper anyway, he'd probably forget about seeing Race in the middle of the night and put it down to one of his many random disturbances during the night.

Race blinked when the lights went up, regretting his decision slightly as he let out a small squeak and immediately blushed, despite their apartment being otherwise empty. He wasn't normally so jumpy (unless they were watching a horror movie, Race was terrible with horror movies), but he couldn't stop thinking about his dream. It hadn't even been particularly scary, it was just a terrifying situation that Race never wanted to find himself in.

Pushing Spot's door open, Race screwed his face up tightly when it creaked loudly and silently cursed Spot for still not sorting that. He peered around the half-opened door and seeing that, somehow, Spot was still asleep. However, as soon as he moved to push it further, even only slightly, Spot started stirring and rubbing at his eyes.

He froze, unable to move, like a deer caught in the headlights, Race stared at Spot as he glanced slowly upwards at him, immediately blinking and shielding his eyes from the blinding hallway light, "Race, what the fuck? It's four am."

Spot rubbed at his bleary eyes, obviously having trouble focussing, as Race just hovered there awkwardly. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to run but, now that he was there, he also just wanted to stay in Spot's room for the rest of the night. As he tried to decide what his next move should be, he felt his body twitching until he was just standing there in Spot's doorway, trembling in terror of what Spot might say or think.

"Hey, are you shaking? Come here, are you okay?" Spot gestured for Race to come in as he leaned over to flick on his bedside lamp. As the room was illuminated in a dull glow, Race closed the door to shut out the blinding light as he crept slowly over to Spot's bed. Sitting tentatively on the edge of his bed, Race's posture was rigid and stiff until Spot tugged on his shoulder to lie back with him, "What's up?"

Remaining still and silent for a second, Race built up the courage to say it, only chickening out when he caught Spot's gaze, ". . . I had a nightmare about you and I just wanted to make sure that you're okay . . ." Race kept his eyes focussed on the bed sheet that he was twisting in his fingers to avoid looking back at Spot.

He could feel Spot's eyes on him, shame flooding him as he felt Spot's incredulous stare, "This is, by far, the dumbest thing you've ever done." With a bark of laughter, Spot pushed gently at Race's shoulder though stopped when he heard a small sniffle fill the room. He looked at Race properly, turning him slightly so that he could see him in the light before frowning, "Your eyes are red . . . Were you crying?" Spot ran his hand soothingly down Race's arm as he quickly stopped his teasing.

Race hung his head, avoiding Spot's eyes as he gathered his reasons into a sentence, "You hated me." Unfortunately, this elaborate sentence was not what tumbled from Race's lips when he opened his mouth. He immediately regretted his cracking voice and his vague answer but it was too late to take it back, Spot had already heard it and was already confused.

"Now, why would I hate you?" A soft smile settled on Spot's features. It was foreign for him so Race knew that he was trying. Usually, everything Spot did was hard and controlled but he'd learned that that wasn't how to deal with Race when he was upset. You had to be gentle with Race or he just responded by getting angry.

Sniffing, Race rubbed furiously at his eyes as he brought his chin up, staring directly ahead and acting as though Spot wasn't even in the room, "Because I was- um." He paused, trying not to get mad at himself as he realised that he couldn't back down anymore. He had to tell Spot or he'd never understand and the longer he left it, the more betrayed Spot would feel, "Because I'm gay."

"Oh, Race." Immediately wrapping his arms tightly around Race's waist, Spot stroked soothing circles into Race's scalp as he fell back into his arms and started to cry once again. It was weird being comforted by Spot. The boy was usually so controlled but, for once, he was letting Race see him as somewhat vulnerable. It was probably because Race was far further gone but it was still strange to see Spot so open, especially physically.

When Race's sobs had quieted down, Spot continued to hold him as Race breathed heavily into his neck, still unable to catch his breath, "Race, you don't seriously think I'd hate you for liking men, do you?" He pushed him away slightly, trying to get a glimpse of Race's face. When Race was silent, he didn't expect Spot to keep talking but the shorter boy turned his shoulder so that he was looking at him, "I'm pan, so that would be just a little bit hypocritical." He offered Race another gentle smile, his fingers lingering on his arm.

Snapping his head up to look at Spot, Race couldn't help his jaw dropping open as he stared at the boy in front of him, "What?" How had he been so scared of him finding out for so long that he hadn't even bothered to consider that Spot could be queer, too?

"You heard me." A smug smirk drifted over Spot's face as he simply shrugged, rolling his shoulders as casually as possible when he obviously knew that Race was watching him, "It's no secret, either, god only knows how you missed it. I mean, I've been single since we met but surely you'd have caught on with the abundance of frying pan jokes?"

Race was silent as he felt the shame creeping behind his freckles in the shape of a blush, ". . . I thought they were Tangled references . . ." His blush only grew when Spot started laughing, quickly becoming a joking scowl as he whacked at him lightly with the back of his hand.

Shaking his head, Spot pulled Race into another tight hug to stop the onslaught of playful punches, "Oh, you naïve, young soul."

[rockleefangirl987]

Belated Day 3 for Rock Lee Birthday Week 2017

@paintertainment - a couple of days late but here we go. 

Our mission: When did you realize you adored him? Or even just liked him? What was your favorite moment of Lee’s even if he isn’t your ABSOLUTE favorite. Show us what you see Lee as through your eyes!

So here we go....

You know, this is something I occasionally think about because now it’s hard for me to remember the timeline when it came to my interest in one Rock Lee. But I’ll try. As one of his fans, he deserves my full attention.

I started watching anime for the first time last year, and naturally, I discovered Naruto.   

Now here comes the “which came first - chicken or egg” situation. This was about the time Hulu started running ads about two new “exclusive” series. One was Sailor Moon Crystal, a reworking of the original Nineties series...and something I found a bit, well, I wasn’t sure what to think. I see this little character with black hair saying “The name of your foe is,” and he flies into the air, lands and announces, “Rock Lee!” And I see somebody in a tutu! People in spaceships? It’s called Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals. My reaction: “What?” But since it claimed to be a Naruto spin-off I figured I’d keep my eyes open.

Back to the original source material. The chunin exams arc is about to begin, and I see three figures in a wooded situation. The camera pans upward, I see this kid and my first thought was What an odd looking little boy. My introduction to Team Guy. Now remember at this point, all I knew was Team Kakashi, so the introduction of this new team took me by surprise and I wasn’t certain I liked it. After all, Naruto is the star, and Sasuke and Sakura are with him. How dare these upstarts try to worm their way in! And who did that ‘odd looking’ boy think he was by proclaiming to all the word that he wished to be Sakura’s boyfriend? Wait. Did he say his name was Rock Lee? Like ‘The name of your foe is Rock Lee’? Is this who they gave a spin-off show to? (Palm in hand).

Next stop: he challenges Sasuke and manages to beat the shit out of him. He is obviously taken with Sakura, and I confess my heart kind of broke for him when she reacted as she did (my feeling being ‘Oh come on! It’s not like he’s trying to hack you to death like Norman Bates! Good grief!’). I raised an eyebrow when Might Guy appeared and punched his student (Excuse me?), then apologized, leaving both of them to cry on one another while I sat there with my mouth open in shock. Who are these people? But right now, I’m only thinking, okay, interesting little minor character. Let’s get back to Naruto and the gang.

The squirrel did it. Or the squirrel started it. Remember Lee had sworn to catch all of the leaves (was it twenty?) and if so, it meant Sakura would become his girlfriend. He doesn’t accomplish what he set out to do, although he came very close, because it was at that moment he sees a paper bomb on an innocent squirrel, and because he’s ethical, moral and honorable, he rescues the animal and saves its’ life. The camera focuses on the forgotten leaves he never caught, but what struck me then was his selflessness in thinking of the life of a little animal and in that second, all thoughts of the girl he believed he loved were gone.

I’m impressed. Perhaps he’s not as odd as I thought. He kept impressing me - taking on the Sound Ninja, ripping a tree up by its’ roots. We’re just getting started.

So now we get to the meat of the matter. When did I know...Now that I remember…

One episode after another, after another, after another and I kept thinking ‘When’s he going to get his turn?’ because frankly, I’m kind of curious to see more of what this kid can do. He’s matched up against Gaara.

That did it. When he removed his leg weights and let them go - talk about friggin’ iconic. I was on the edge of my seat for the rest of that arc featuring him. I also emptied a box of Kleenex when I saw his backstory because I had no idea of what he had gone through, or how much this all meant to him. It tore me up when he wondered why he was the only one who was suffering. I was so proud when he ran away from the hospital to become part of the Retrieval Arc. That odd-looking little kid wasn’t quite so odd after all.

Those are the moments which made me a Lee fan. Whether it was the scenes he shared with Guy, Tenten, and Neji; the tiny things like saving the squirrel or taking a whiff of the flowers Sakura brought him. Whether it was watching his devotion, his integrity, the often silly little way he has in his mannerisms because he’s so enthusiastic. His manners, the way he never uses contractions. After a while, you start to find his dark eyes as enchanting as his smile. You see a certain innocence in him, but realize if he needs to, he’ll start opening Gates and piledrive your behind into the ground! You want the best for him because he’s the type that draws that emotion out of you.

I forgot to add: I started watching Ninja Pals almost immediately upon realizing how much I was liking Lee.

So as someone who has read more books than I can recall, and has watched even more movies, I love character studies, the things which make someone tick. Lee fascinates me. Each time I watch some episode I missed (because I have a load of catching up to do) and they delve a tad deeper into what makes him who he is, I can’t help thinking it takes a special character to do that to me. If he wasn’t so special, I wouldn’t have started writing a story with him as the lead protagonist - because sometimes you feel those secondary characters deserve more than they got in the main movie or the main TV series.

Anyway, that’s how I became a Rock Lee fan. It was nice to know there are others out there that felt the same. It’s funny how the life and world of someone who is imaginary can mean so much. 

[eyeofthewolfe]

Breaking Earth (Ninjago Fanfic): Chapter 5

The visually scary criminal cunningly darts around questioning, but one ninja finds out that she has a special interest in himself.

Prologue and Chapter 1: here

Chapter 2: here

Chapter 3: here

Chapter 4: here

Chapter 5

 Cole was the last to enter the brig, where the criminal was lurking in the shadows behind bars. Wu, Misako, Ray, and Maya were already standing in the room.

“State your name, thief.” Ray spat at the figure.

Her response was a light chuckle. “Names…so subjective. It’s the personality that defines people, not their silly individual titles.”

Cole raised his eyebrows in surprise. First of all, her voice was unexpectedly deep for a woman, and also she had a really good point.

The older man crossed his arms. “I’ll take that as a no, then.” Ray spat.

“Very perceptive, blacksmith.” She responded. Ray blinked in shock. “How did you know I was-“

“A blacksmith?” the mysterious figure interrupted. “Where I am from, we know a lot about the people of Ninjago.”

“So you are from the Cloud Kingdom!” Kai stepped forward, but it followed quickly with a laugh.

“Not at all, mister Kai. I am forbidden to speak openly about the nature of my home realm.”

Misako leaned over to Wu. “Do you have any idea which realm she could be referring to?” she whispered.

The old man shook his head. “I am unfamiliar with many of the realms of Ninjago, and there are no texts that covers such topic.”

“You are correct, Master Wu.” The criminal continued. “My realm is the most secretive of the 16, and we strive to keep it that way.”

Lloyd stepped within a hands length of the bars. “Then why come to Ninjago? To steal from the bank?”

“No, Master Lloyd,” she replied coolly. The shadows shifted and she emerged from the shadows. “I came to collect my greatest achievement.”

The room seemed to drop ten degrees when she became visible. If there was only one way to describe her, it would be scary. Long black metallic hair was pulled tightly back and in a perfect ponytail, save a few long stands that acted as bangs and hung by the sides of her face. Her cheeks were extremely defined and her face was aged a little but longer than normal. Two black orbs that were actually pupils contrasted her extremely pale skins and they pierced the air as she gazed around.

Her attire only added to the scariness factor, for her body was jet black from neck to foot. Slick black pants were barely visible under a giant black lab coat. She wore giant boots with huge heels, which only made her height even more sickening than without them. Let’s just say Jay would look like a dwarf standing next to the 7 foot tall woman.

It felt like her reveal had knocked the breath out of the team. Lloyd has stuttered backwards in shock as the stared upwards at the tall thin woman.

The criminal slowly blinked, unfazed by the reaction of the team. “Why the dramatic reaction? Is there something on my face?” she asked sarcastically.

“What are you wearing?” Nya gaped at the outfit.

The woman glared at her with a small smirk. “My uniform.” She replied.

“Oh yeah?” Jay confidently rebuked. “Your uniform for CRIME?”

He was met with a dead pan face. “Jay, Jay, Jay…I thought you were funny?” the criminal sighed.

Jay dropped his jaw. “I…am funny,” he mumbled to himself.

“Enough chit chat,” Ray snapped. “We want answers. Why did the police find you in the bank security vault?”

“Because I wanted to be in there.”

“Why did you want to be in there?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified.”

Ray snorted. “Classified? You are being interrogated for your crimes. There is no classified information anymore.”

The woman smiled smugly. “Then I apologize for the inconvenience.”

Kai’s father growled in his throat and balled his fists. He was about to step closer to the bars, but Maya held him back.

“A short temper, hmm?” the woman raised an eyebrow. “A trait that runs in the family. Your son is just as bad.”

“Enough of this,” Misako interrupted. “This woman is playing us, and therefore outsmarting us. We will continue this tomorrow.”

Lloyd nodded. “Mom is right. We all could use some sleep. However, someone needs to stay here and keep watch. Zane, roll your virtual dice.”

The team turned to Zane, who stared into the air for a few seconds. Finally, he said- “Cole.”

“Of course,” Cole murmured to himself.

Lloyd frowned awkwardly and looked back at Zane. “Cole hasn’t been feeling well, we should probably re-“

Cole waved his hand. “No, it’s fine. You all go.” He sank into a chair in the room. Jay gave him a confused look.

“Cole, are you sure?” Lloyd asked, genuinely worried.

“Yeah, yeah…you all go on. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

“I’ll take over in four hours,” Jay quickly interjected. Cole gave Jay a shocked glance.

“Alright, it’s set.” Lloyd nodded. He turned to the criminal. “I don’t want to hear of any problems, understood?”

The woman smiled as her eyes drifted to meet Cole’s. “Oh, Cole won’t have any problems with me,” she replied.

“Good,” Lloyd confirmed coldly. “Alright team, back to the temple.”

The room emptied slowly, each person wishing Cole a good night. Cole couldn’t show it, but each good night was painful to receive and give, for it was the last time he was ever going to see his friends.

Jay was the last one to leave, and he stayed a bit behind. Once everyone else was out of earshot, the blue ninja leaned down. “You are leaving after watch, aren’t you? When everyone is asleep?”

Pain stabbed at his heart as he nodded. Jay took in a huge shaky breath. “Well, don’t leave until I say goodbye.” he tried to tell Cole without his voice changing, but instead it rose with emotion.

“Jay, don’t cry-“ Cole turned to his friend, but he was already out the door. With a sigh, Cole sat back in his chair and faced the criminal.

She stared right back at him with a small grin.

“It looks like someone had a rough day,” she remarked casually.

“I don’t talk to prisoners,” Cole replied in a harsh tone.

The woman tilted her head some. “You just did.”

Cole opened his mouth to reply, but then quickly shut it and turned away.

Her pale fingers slowly grasped the bars of the prison. “You may not want to talk, but I do.”

Cole snapped his gaze back at her. “You say another word I will make it so that you can’t speak.”

Raising an eyebrow, she replied, “I don’t think you have it in you, Earth Ninja.”

He didn’t want to lose control of his anger, but he was getting pretty close. The chair screeched as he stood up sharply. “If you say one more word, the consequences will be painful.” Cole growled as he approached the bars.

The woman waited until they were face to face. Finally, she smiled. “As painful as that scar on your back?”

Cole was not expecting her to say that. His heart skipped a beat as he stepped backwards. “How..how do you know about that?” he questioned.

“I thought questioning was reserved for the morning,” she replied coolly as she folded her hands together. Cole clenched his teeth.

“What do you know about my scar? Tell me!” he yelled at her. Without trying to, an orange glow lit up the dark room. “No, not my fist-“ Cole complained as he looked down, and then froze.

Not only did his fists illuminate with his rage, so did his feet. The orange cracks that decorated his arms now ran up from his feet to almost his knees. “That has never happened before,” Cole breathed softly as he eyed his glowing calves. Then the cracks began to spread.

The wooden floor peeled away into ash as orange cracks spread from his feet. Cole flinched and hopped away, but everywhere his feet touched, the wood decayed. “No, no, no..” Cole told himself in a panicked tone.

“Relax, take a deep breath.”

Cole looked up and glared at the woman, but her smile was gone. She stared at Cole with a serious expression. “What?” Cole shouted at her.

“Calm down. Breathe.” She articulated without losing the gaze. Cole paused and debated whether to listen to her or not, but the popping sounds of cracks spreading scared him into obeying her command. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

His heart beat decreased quickly. He felt less on edge after every deep breath. Finally, he slowly opened his eyes.

The glow was gone.

“We don’t have much time, Cole.” The woman quickly spoke as she grasped the bars again. “And there’s not enough time to explain.”

Cole looked up at her, dazed. “How did you know that was how to stop it?”

“That ability is directly tied to your emotions. You get angry, it’s activated. You calm down, it stops.” The criminal said as she stared directly at Cole. “But right now, we need to leave.”

The ninja clenched his teeth as his back began to strain in pain. “What do you mean, criminal? You aren’t going anywhere!” Cole spat, then doubled over.

The woman backed away from the bars. “You need to leave before you destroy this room.”

He was so much in pain; he couldn’t even reply. He stumbled around, looking for something to grab onto before finally clutching the bars. He could not only feel the scar crawling painfully down his back, but now he felt the burn of it spread onto his neck and even father on both sides of his forehead.

“You can’t internalize the pain, Cole!” The woman shouted. “You are only speeding up the process. You need to release it!”

The bars were already cracking and popping as Cole held onto for dear life. The scars on his body burned, but the pain wasn’t ceasing.

“Release the energy!” the woman demanded as she pressed herself up against the wall the farthest from the ninja. Cole clenched his teeth, but then took her advice. With a yell, he projected his pain outwards.

A sonic boom of energy erupted from Cole’s body, and everything within a foot of him disintegrated instantly. Cole collapsed to the ground and ash and debris floated in the around him.

He felt a warm hand lightly touch his back. Cole looked up while sucking up huge breaths to see the woman stare deeply into his eyes.

“Your instability is even more worse than I thought. We may not have enough time, but we need to try.”

The ninja cautiously looked around the room in horror. Ash and glowing cracks covered all of the walls. The chair that Cole once sat in was fallen over, because half of it was turned to dust. The metal bars that once imprisoned the woman now was mostly gone; the bars that remained were glowing hot and bent away from Cole.

“What….” Cole panted as he fixed his shaky gaze on the woman. “What did I just do?”

“Master of Earth,” the woman said, “You are spreading your instability to the world. What you just did was minimal to what you can do.”

Cole’s eyes widened. “And there’s no stopping it...” Cole murmured.

The woman stood, caring less about the ash that floated around her. “I should have said this from the start. My name is Madge, and I know how to save you.”

[mncha-blog]

The Adventures.

When she reached the ocean she lodged at the beach She looked at the cliffs and had a strange notion She climbed to a cave that was well out of reach Inside she found a fire and strange potions There was a sign saying “Eat this magic peach”

Because she was feeling quite adventurous She bit the big peach, which was fleshy and firm Then she heard voices cry, “Come and join us!” She was amazed by what she saw when she turned There were talking goats, but she did not make a fuss!

She followed them down into the strange grotto It’s walls were covered in moss, lichen and ferns And on them were written humorous mottoes She saw a light after many twist and turns And then she felt a tingling in her big toes

Then she began to feel tingles everywhere And as she entered a underground forest She thought she could feel tingles too in her hair! She saw a man with hair on his face and chest But the rest of his hair made her stand and stare!

Because the man was mostly covered in fur And everything that wasn’t was deeply tanned She had an idea but she couldn’t be sure She said, “What a surprise! Are you the god pan!” He replied, “Yes”, and gave a smile quite demure.

“Why do you live in this forest in a cave?” “Once you settle in it’s a wonderful place “I had to hide here after being a knave "The local gentry put on quite a good chase "I guess I shouldn’t have tried that last raid!”

“Raid you say? What were you raiding them for?” “Wine woman and song, all the usual stuff "And I thought all the beasts would answer my call "But that’s where the gentry called my bluff "They stoppered the beasts ears, and I got quite mauled!”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but it serves you right! "Tormenting those silly fools who never care! "Good thing you found this cave after you took flight "You need a disguise, maybe a cloak to wear "We can escape in the middle of the night!”

“I appreciate your efforts to help me "But I have heard there’s another way out here "The goats say there is a path under the sea "It leads to a land where the sky is so clear "And goats are always as honest as can be "How would you like to come with me, sweet dear?”

“A path under water, That I’ve got to see” The goats pointed out the way with their small snouts Then Pan led the way, he was obviously keen “Look at that”, said Pan, with some whoops and shouts! A path stretched out far, and Pan prayed on his knees.

“Look at that”, she said, “Where do you think it leads?” “Wherever it leads looks pretty far to me!” The goats said, “You’ll need food”, and gave them some cheese “It goes to some place called the Land of the Free!” “Free stuff?”, Pan said, “You guys are such a big tease!”

They walked the whole day, it seemed like miles and miles She said, “I did not think the new world was so far "Getting all the way there might be quite a trial!” “Why don’t you ride on my shoulders like a tsar?” “Tsarina you mean, but then please watch your wiles!” He winked, “Oh! Our friendship I never would mar!”

Pan ran at a great speed, she held his horns tight He ran so fast everything became a blur She looked at her hands, her knuckles had turned white She expected panting, but she heard him pur Nothing could stop Pan, once he had taken flight!

As they emerged they could hear waves crashing Then they saw some strange people all over the place The people were dressed in the strangest fashion They saw a man with red lines on his face Pan asked him where they were, he said, “Manhattan!”

She was surprised that Pan could speak their lingo He chatted at length with all of the locals They said"Where’re you from?“, He said, "I’m a gringo!” Because they did not want to seem like yokels They said, “He comes from where all the Queens go!”

Clearly she had not escaped their attention The old men were acting nonchalantly But the young one were filled with much tension They saw she was a woman of quality One who could defeat enemies and henchmen!

Soon she had quelled all of the neighboring tribes Then they all crowned her Queen of Manhattan The whole place was filling up with good vibes They built a ship and made her the captain And Pan named the vessel The Queen Of The Tides

The locals became her crew and they set sail They traveled at a pace to the islands Pan blew the sails at the force of a gale When they reached a large land Pan stopped blowing wind They docked the ship and walked up a steep trail

They found some tribesmen busy smoking cigars The tribe said, “Who are you? What you doing here?” She said, “I’m the Queen and I’ve come pretty far "We were hoping you all in good cheer!” The tribesmen looked at them like they’d come from Mars!

She said, “It is not our wish to disturb you "We’d like to know if you’d like to join us They said, "Well tell us then, what does a Queen do?” She said, “I want to fill up the world with trust” They said, “Well it sound just too good to be true!”

They said, “We will test you by setting a task "You have to do something that we cannot do!” What that did imply she was afraid to ask They said, “You have to capture the sacred cuckoo "If you can do that in your light we will bask!”

With a whoosh she came flying out of the tree She went upwards and then circled on high No one could believe what they were seeing Pan asked, “How did you learn to soar through the sky?” She said, “The cuckoo taught me how to be free!”

The tribesmen said, “Now she is our Goddess!” They all bowed and prayed as she flew all over Then Pan said, “Hey! Let’s have a big old fest!” She disappeared, she had become such a rover They said, “Where’s she gone?”, she had flown west

She flew over the sea, then over the land She flew over swamps in a massive delta Then she flew even further than she had planned She saw a huge beach with people in shelters She tried her first landing and aimed for the sand

The people had all seen her fly through the air By her arrival they were quite taken They noticed her robes and her long curly hair They said, “Behold! She is the Silver Raven!” Even the chieftain had admired her flair!

The chieftain asked her "Where is it you came from?” But she found it too difficult to explain So she said, “I come from the land of the songs” “Ah yes, "He replied”, you have made yourself plain With a Queen like you I could never go wrong!“There was a feast after breaking that tension The chieftain said, "Thank you so much for coming "Your arrival gave us hope, and then some!” “She said, "Being your Queen is really stunning! "It’s nothing you should bother to mention”

She said, “Farewell, it is time to keep flying!” How did she take off last time? She wasn’t sure But then she zoomed up without really trying She saw a big forest right down below her Then flew between trees, it was all about timing!

Then she continued to fly out to the west Because she’d decided to fly ‘round the world She figured out which altitude was the best She saw churches and lakes and fields that were tilled She saw a kingdom and decided to rest.

In the kingdom she found a real big fat king He had a whole mob of miserable sons All of his sons looked exactly like him The eldest son was fond of making up puns The king said, “Marry this boy, here’s the ring!”

Right then she refused and they tried to catch her She flew up to the roof and watched them scuffle She flew back down, then flew out with a turn She escaped from them without getting ruffled Then she saw that the ground had begun to churn

The castle had become a pile of rubble The king and his sons were no longer in sight The crowd roared, “Thank you for ending our troubles” They had a big feast all the way through the night Everyone cried, they gave each other a cuddle

The same thing happened wherever she traveled She was crowned, made a God and even knighted When they called her Sir she came quite unraveled The king said, “It’s nothing! Things have been righted!” “You’re the best knight ever”, the crowd all babbled

She eventually got back to the island Pans fest was quite definitely still in full swing He said, “Did you manage to stop in Thailand?” She said, “Yes, they gave me this pair of pink wings” She could see that his eyes were so admiring! The next morning they headed down to the beach She swam in the ocean while Pan caught a tan She swam to the sandbank, and then found a breach She glided through the waves, she had no real plan Then someone did say, “I have something to teach!” She looked around and wondered who it could be Then she noticed something that looked quite smallish She said, “There is something that talks in the sea!” It said, “Well of course, I am the sacred fish! "When I’m chatty it usually makes people flee!” The fish came swimming all the way up to her It swam all around her and made her tickle It said, “This is no gift of incense and myrrh! Here is some magic, you won’t feel a prickle! As a deep sea diver you will never err!” It was true! She could swim without taking air! First she swam out so far, to the horizon The fish watched her swim and admired her flair And then she smiled and rode back, with the tide, in She floated under the sky without a care When she got back to Pan he seemed so amused He said, “Oh my, did you find a sacred eel?” She said, “Well, I see how you could get confused "But a fish gave me a new power so real "I can swim underwater, that is the good news!”

He said, “Wow! Do you realize how big this is?” She said, “Whatever can you possibly mean?” “Did you see any caves?”, he was in a tizz Right then his meaning she was trying to glean His joy was great he looked like he might fizz!

She said, “In the deep ocean I saw some caves "They were hard to see, almost not visible” He said, “Those are the ones!”, He’d begun to rave" “The thought of those caves makes me quite miserable!” She thought to herself: Is Pan more than a knave?

He said, “Those cave lead to the underground world "It is the place where all the magic folk live "When they lived up here the land needn’t be tilled "In those days their purpose was only to give "They were forced to leave 'cause that’s what bad kings willed”

He said, “Now you will be able to reach them "I know you are tired after your last sojourn "And after all I’m just here being a beach bum "And after that flying your muscles must be worn” She said, “I will do it! I know I’m the One!”

Then she packed some lunch in a waterproof skin She swam back to the sandbank, then through the waves Something told her the lost people were her kin And then she reached the mysterious caves She swam in and the waves were a distant din At first she swam downwards, right into the earth Then the caves changed direction and she swam up Suddenly the caves had a much wider girth She swam into a pool, shaped like a cup She emerged from the pool and stood on some turf The seaweeds on the wall were incandescent She thought about that path under the ocean Of that path this cave was quite reminiscent Then in a far corner she saw a motion She was not afraid, she was quite persistent She saw a man who looked very strange He had wild bushy hair and clothes made of leaves At first his big glowing eyes looked quite deranged But the sound of his voice she could not believe He sang out, “Have you come to see the great mage?” “Yes, I’ve come in search of the magic people” He looked a her with a penetrating stare He sized her up until his eyes had their fill Then he relaxed and suddenly had no cares “Were you sent here due to the evil kings will?” “No”, she said, “I was sent here by a strange man "He has a lot of fur and horns on his head” He said, “Yes, I know that man, that man is Pan! "So the rumours aren’t true then, Pan is not dead?” “Trying to kill Pan would be a complete sham!” He said, “The mage will be anxious to meet you "He has longed for some news from the other side "That Pan lives still, now you can confirm that it’s true! "And a creature like you who does still abide "By the ways of the world, back when it was new!” The mage lived right at the center of the earth The wild man said, “It will take long to get there” “It’s okay, I can fly”, she said with much mirth “To say I’ll get their quickly is reasonably fair He said, "I can see you’re a woman of worth” She had to fly quite carefully through the caves Sometimes she’d pass through hollows, filled with big towns With houses and markets and streets that were paved Then it got hotter, she knew she was far down Soon the rocks were shimmering under heat waves She reached a round door with a big turning wheel The door felt her presence and it opened wide As she went through it, the heat she could not feel There was a large see-through bubble right inside The sight beyond the bubble had made her reel Outside of the sphere was red hot lava She wondered what to do, then the bubble moved She thought: Seeing the mage is quite a palaver She watched the lava as it bubbled and grooved After some time she wondered: How much farther? She felt a slight bump, then a round door appeared The door opened up and then she stepped through it She saw a man who was rather pointy eared He was clearly wearing a real wizards kit He said, “I hope that the trip wasn’t too weird” Over tea she told him, “Pan is still alive” “Oh my”, he said, “That is wonderful news!” He was so overwhelmed, he practically cried “All along those rumours were only a ruse "This may end the problem in which we are mired!” “To the reign of magic we must be returned "We thought there was no one to read the great runes "But Pan lives still, as you have confirmed "Pan learnt to read them through all of his doings” He opened a small door and through it he wormed After a short while he came back with a scroll “These are the passages Pan must read out loud” He wound it up tight, then gave her the roll “To have met you great Queen, of this I am proud” He gave her a stone that glowed brightly like coal She made the long trip back up to the surface She swam up through the cave and back to the shore She saw that Pan was sitting in the same place She said, “I’ve been all the way to the earth’s core!” Naturally Pan had a huge smile on his face She gave him the scroll and he was intrigued He said, “This is the great scroll of succession "Once read the power of the mage will be freed "A new mage will come to end all repression "This great scroll is most important, indeed!” She asked him, “But how will this succession work?” He said, “This great power comes from afar” He read through the scroll, then looked up with a jerk They heard a loud voice say, “So that’s where you are!” A fog descended, they were lost in the murk Then the voice said, “Queen, I’ve been looking for you” Then a magic wand descended from the sky It came towards her, but then could it be true? Pan said, “You’re the one, there’s no need to ask why "You’re both the Queen and also the Great Mage too!”

She made a castle that floated in the sky For guests she had a long ladder of rope When Pan came, “Throw down the ladder”, he’d cry He had to climb so high he could hardly cope But she’d be waiting with tea and chocolate pie

Now the magic people could come back on out They were glad to see the sun, and the night moon They loved to explore, and they walked all about As they traveled they’d sing in glorious tones That they loved the Queen Mage there could be no doubt

She would make the air castle go high in the sky Then she could see the whole world from her window She’d watch the land and sea without any cares The world would glow like a big ball down below She’d walk outside, let the wind rip through her hair

Then that glowing stone she got from the old mage One day, out of the blue it started humming She saw a sight, not of this earth she would wage A silver disc, from the sky it was coming What could this thing be, it was so hard to gauge

It stopped and hovered in front of the castle A door opened up and two strange men appeared Pan said, “Who are they, I hope they aren’t rascals” She said, “Pan I doubt it is as you have feared” One of the men was holding a small parcel

The first one to speak said, “We have come in peace” She said, “You see!”, then gave Pan a nudge Pan whispered, “I hope we are not being fleeced” She said, “Lower the bridge”, but Pan would not budge She waved her hand, and the drawbridge was released

As the two strange men entered she heard a hum She said, “Do you have a stone in that parcel?” The second man said that is why we have come “Do you have a stone that glows in your castle?” She pointed, he looked, he said, “Yes, that’s the one!” He said, “In this parcel I have this stones’ twin” He took out the stone and put them together Right then you could have heard the drop of a pin He said, “These two stones are the greatest treasure” They both seemed so happy she just had to grin She said, “Where have you come from, may I enquire” One said, “We have traveled from such distant stars” Pan said, “How long have you been in that flyer?” He said, “Two earth months, it was very far "But to find this stone was our strong desire” “Two months?”, she said, “That’s when I brought it above "The old mage gave it to me in the earth’s core” They both looked at her then their eyes filled with love One said, “That’s why we never heard it before Perhaps you are the one they call the Great Dove!” Pan looked suspicious, his eyes darted around He said, “In this great castle show some respect! "This lady is our Queen Mage, that’s who you’ve found!” One said, “That is nothing less than we’d expect She said, "I’m happy you got here safe and sound” One said, “Would you come with us through outer space?” She said, “That is fine, but I’ll have to bring Pan” One said, “Our ship only has one extra place "We can assure you that this isn’t a sham” Pan had a look of suspicion on his face

She said, “The castle has all of us in it "We could use it to travel through outer space” Pan smiled, and said, “That idea’s a real hit!” Both the men had confused looks on their faces One said, “You should not go in space in such haste” “The real trouble is there is no oxygen "You really would have to take some air with you "The air in space is very toxic to men” The added, “And women too, that is quite true "You’ll need big containers to put air in them” “I could make a bubble right around this place” She continued, “It’s size could be enormous "Inside it all of the air would be encased "Squashed into a sphere, though once it was formless "The pace would be slow, and not much of a race” She added, “I saw something like it before "At the core of the earth, when I found the mage "If I made it the same way, it would work for sure "It went through lava boiling in a great rage "I think for Pan’s fears I have found the cure!” Pan said, “Yes, this is a marvelous idea! "And I believe we will make a pretty sight "A castle, floating in a bubble so clear "Past stars and across alien skies at night In a castle we can travel in good cheer!” One said, “Well, I do not see why ever not "The whole concept may well be unorthodox "Leaving the atmosphere can get really hot "But if this sphere can withstand all those shocks "Then I think it’s really all worth a good shot!” Soon they were hovering above the Arctic There was nothing to see for many a mile She took out her wand, then she gave it a flick The results of her great spell all made them smile The bubble was made, they’d be off in a tick! Soon they passed through what seemed like a roaring fire Once they left earth they started floating around They were all amused, and then she got inspired Suddenly they all fell back on to the ground The sphere also spun as it floated higher “She’s using opposing centrifugal force!” The one who had spoken couldn’t believe it His friend then said, “Centrifugal force! Of course!” “There’s the sun, this trip sure is getting quite lit” Pan’s wit had them laughing until they were hoarse

“First we’ve got to fly back to our home planet” He added, “That is where we will continue "We must find out if you are the candidate "Who must then travel with a retinue "To the great source to receive the mandate” “The mandate for what, may I ask?”, she asked “It is the one to control the universe” “The whole of the universe? That’s a great task!” “It may seem like it now, but then you must first "Pass the test of the great spirits of the past!” Quite soon they approached the home of the aliens It had a landscape of high mountain ranges Pan saw the great peaks, then started naming them They gasped, Pan said, “And I thought you were strangers "I bet your castle is in the Shady Fens” “The Shady Fens! That’s right Pan, how did you know?” “Oh, I’ve been here before a couple of times” “Then you must know of the Queen Portamento!” “You could say that”, Pan said, with a great sigh She laughed, saying ,“Pan, did she bruise your ego?” “Yes, you could say that Dee, in actual fact "Besides everything else she’s also done too” The two alien chaps looked like they also backed What Pan was saying, like they’d also been stewed “She’s been known to reduce men to sob’s and racks”

She was quite curious to meet this femme fatale Who could bring a dark shadow across Pan’s face? Were they over reacting? She couldn’t tell And then, soon enough, she saw her dwelling place And by the sight of the place her fears weren’t quelled Queen P’s castle was beautiful, but wicked It was surrounded by swamp, and not a moat The castle itself was covered in thicket “We’ll leave your castle here, then travel by boat” Said Pan, while his eyes looked like flames that flickered As they approached the castle, through the great murk They saw poles on which people could be shackled “She imprisons those who will not do her work”, Pan said, as they heard a sound like a cackle They all got a fright, their heads turned with a jerk

Queen P’s castle was beautiful, but wicked It was surrounded by swamp, and not a moat The castle itself was covered in thicket “We’ll leave your castle here, then travel by boat” Said Pan, while his eyes looked like flames that flickered As they approached the castle, through the great murk They saw poles on which people could be shackled “She imprisons those who will not do her work”, Pan said, as they heard a sound like a cackle They all got a fright, their heads turned with a jerk

“Pan! Who would have thought I’d see you here again?” Then mockingly she feigned a look of surprise “I would have thought we’d have to bring you in chains "Though you’re not filled with joy, I have to surmise” Then a look of concern she chose to feign “Well, Portamento, I see you haven’t changed "And as for the chains, let’s leave them off this time "To willingly return would have been deranged… ”…on my part, recall how I spent the last time" The look in Pan’s eye’s had become more inflamed Oh, and what do we have here?“, P smiled at Dee Pan said, "This is Queen Dee, as I’m sure you know” P said, “I did not, she’s a new Queen, you see? "When I saw my minions with someone in tow "I thought, 'Who’s the Queen Bee, is it me or she?” P said, “Please come in, and please bring that stone” Pan gave Dee the stone and said, “Now hold this tight!” Thought P looked clam there was a change in her tone She said, “Give me the stone, it will be alright "Here on my planet you two are quite alone…” Queen Dee then spoke, “I don’t think it will matter” P saw that Dee watching something inside Then suddenly there was a very loud clatter And into Dee’s hand the other stone arrived The glass case that had held it had been shattered Right before their eyes the stones fused into one P stared at it with her eyes filled with envy P said, “I guess you believe I have been shunned?” P said, “Beware as my great power fills me!” Then a bolt of energy left them all stunned! The four travelers found themselves in a bubble Dee stood on the boat’s prow with her hands held high “Once again she has kept us out of trouble” They cheered, P said, “I’ll give it another try!” Then a flash reduced P’s castle to rubble! They all looked on in horror! Had P survived? One man said, “We’d better go to the launchpad "It’s quite far, right on the planet’s other side” Then Dee said, “Hold on now there, wait just a tad "For what, exactly, is this launchpad required?”

“The launchpad holds the ship powered by starburst "And once inside it you will be jettisoned "To the very center of the universe "It travels fast, so in the seat you’ll be pinned "It sound scary but speed has to be put first” He continued, “It’s a very long distance "But starburst power travels as fast as light "Outer space offers zero wind resistance "And to you it will seem like an average flight "But waiting back here, we’ll feel time’s persistence”

Dee summoned the castle and they climbed inside Then they flew up above the mountain ranges "I've been given a task by which I'll abide "But the time! Can you imagine the changes?!? "Can Pan come along with me on this ride?"

"The ship is too small, and it won't take the weight "And knowing those strange universal beings "I'm sure they'll expect only the Candidate!" Pan smirked, "When you're done, it's me you'll be seeing "But for these guys, I think it will be too late!