#apparently switching POVs helps sometimes

[thesharktanksdriver]

Specs of Stardust (platonic)

I really can’t wait to get to determination! Y/n and the straw hats so instead I thought I’d post little interactions/headcanons of some of the stuff they’d do

I swear I’m working on the Roger pov it’s just this popped into my head and sometimes switching between things in writing helps with my burnout

Masterlist for the series here

Tagged: @peachsuka28 @emptynessinmyworld @badluckinfrench @j-s-l-m @tigerfang-rage @madokamagicaa @rymtea @angstylittleb1tch @badluckinfrench @emmbny @kenkenmaaa @yunho-leeknow @chibiduck @spqce-bun @coca-cola-fiend @Koifishpoond

Luffy

The best way to describe these two in a room is that Luffy does something stupid and y/n just goes with the flow following him

The rabid golden retriever and the chill black cat

The dumbass duo, rabid dumbass and chill dumbass

Once did the impossible and shared food with y/n because they gave him a dessert Sanji made (the rest of the crew thought they were mass hallucinating)

Y/n gives him cool rocks that they find, they’ve both now made it a goal to collect a rock from every place they go

Gives y/n piggyback rides 24/7

And no one else can give y/n piggyback rides cause that’s captains privilege apparently

Occasionally when going into battle he gives y/n his straw hat to keep safe

Has semi-adopted one of y/n’s crows named Aurelius which he aptly calls Steve. Aurelius does not like him nor being called Steve

Aurelius keeps pecking at him but Luffy thinks it’s showing affection

Both throw caution to the wind about their own personal safety but if the other is hurt they will pummel someone

When he accidentally ends up in the ocean y/n jumps in after to save him forgetting they’ll sink too

Y/n acts a distraction for Sanji so Luffy can raid the fridge at 3 am

When y/n sleeps in the male quarter (they do regular switches between the female and male sleeping quarters) he has y/n tell him stories to make him go to bed easier

Likes to make y/n laugh

Likes to pinch Luffy cause they think it’s funny how he’s rubber

When Luffy says something really stupid sometimes y/n likes to write it down in a journal exclusively called “Luffy quotes”

So far some of y/n favourites are “the colour orange is named after oranges”, “if I get reincarnated I wanna be a clam”, “I am rubber and you are fat, don't you dare touch my hat” and “if you hungry, eat”

Sometimes the two of them make weird animal calls to scare Ussop

Speaking of the two, unfortunately for the rest of the crew they now have to deal with Luffy’s pranks now getting worse because y/n actually helps him plan them now

Ussop still has nightmares of when he woke up covered in bird seed and was almost taken away by the flock

As does Sanji when he realizes he’s been betrayed by y/n who’s let Luffy raid the fridge once more

Sometimes y/n likes to ask him about his childhood, they find it so oddly funny that he’s the son of Dragon, grankid of Garp, became brother of Ace and was semi-adopted by shanks

They also like to hear about it cause they always worried Ace wouldn’t find good people

Luffy whines it’s unfair y/n doesn’t fully die in water like he would before being smacked on the head by either Nami or Sanji

When having to give history exposition y/n is the only one who can dumb it down so Luffy can understand and pay attention for over 2 seconds

Sometimes will proceed to forget y/n asleep on his back and jump into battle

Even when finding out y/n is immortal has still not figured out their connection with Ace or Roger

Both like to sit on the figure head of the ship and occasionally nap there

By doing this not have fell off several times only for Zoro to save them

Luffy just kinda somehow know how y/n is feeling and y/n similarly knows how Luffy is feeling

Instead of buying Luffy stuff y/n just shares whatever they get with him since they have relatively the same taste in nick knacks

Similarly Luffy kinda just shares his stuff with them in return

The Luffy and y/n stuff pile is ever growing

Luckily Nami has not yet found out about it

Ussop on the other hand has and is joining in on the stuff pile

As does chopper

No one can really distinguish who’s stuff was who’s anymore but they don’t care

They now have an entire storyline happening with different characters

Y/n has a new journal for this exclusively for lore

Both are always hungry, while Luffy is open about it y/n isn’t

Somehow though Luffy caught onto this and now demands for for the both of them

“Shishishishi tell me another one!” Your captain says excitedly rocking back and forth as you both sit on the merrys figurehead, smiling you nod thinking of what to tell him “have I told you about the time I met a samurai?”

You jolt awake with a small groan as you lift your head off of resting in the crook of Luffy’s neck, the sounds of battle now invading your ears. “Luffy did you have to get the marines attention when I was sleeping on your back?” At hearing this the boy pauses, his extended out rubber arm hitting a marine in the face sending the guy flying back “shishi sorry”. At that you can’t help but sigh, he most definitely wasn’t.

Sitting at the table you watch as Luffy lists off the entire menu to the poor waiter, the retail worker shaking in their boots as he seemingly finishes and their gaze turns to you. “Oh, I’m fine-“ before you can finish Luffy cuts you off with a blinding grin “they’ll have the same as me!” And then you see the waiter’s hope drain even more impossibly so from their eyes.

Zoro

Mihawks reluctant kids that ended up on his island and he accidentally adopted duo

Before knowing their immortal he thought that they were mihawks secret love child or something after baratie

Bribes y/n with sword lessons if they side with him against Sanji

Sometimes the two of them switch bandana’s

When he naps sometimes y/n joins him, when this happens he makes sure to take a protective hold of them just in case of turbulent waves

Other times when he naps he’ll wake up with an umbrella set up for him

Doesn’t know it’s y/n and Chopper who put flowers in his hair when he’s knocked out and assumes it’s Sanji which leads to a yelling match

Speaking of chopper, both he and y/n like to hang off of Zoro’s arms like monkey bars and zoro uses them as weights when he’s doing push ups

When he ends up lost y/n somehow has the miraculous uncanny ability to find him

But sometimes when he gets lost y/n ends up joining him for fun

Has kept y/n from unknowingly being mauled by wild animals because for some reason they either love or hate y/n

Likes to ask them about any swordsmen they’ve met on their journeys

The one who typically has to save Luffy and y/n when they end up in water

Y/n likes to joke that he and Sanji are an old divorced couple to others on the crew much to his chagrin

Zoro’s actually pretty observant of y/n due to their instinct to shrug off injuries

Y/n calls out this hypocrisy but it doesn’t change anything

He actually really ends up liking y/n’s flock when the murder of crows occasionally stop by

The one he really connects with though is one named Acantha

She likes to perch on his scabbards and seems to almost guard them when he’s not around

Y/n once fell down the stairs and he almost had a heart attack

After this he instinctively watches to make sure they don’t fall again

When y/n has nightmares and cries in their sleep he almost always ends up waking up

It keeps him up at night

The mornings after he subtly tries to keep an eye on them to see if their ok

Y/n about to fight a one off villain and being confused they ran off without them doing anything, Zoro behind them glaring with his swords out at said villain

Whenever y/n is on look out duty he typically volunteers to do it with them or take over for them

Sometimes game stares off into space he gets their attention by flicking their forehead

Has and continues to use y/n as an arm rest since chopper is too short in comparison

Has fell asleep while doing this but is always woken up by Sanji yelling at him

Will either carry y/n slung over his shoulder or tucked between his arm and side

Y/n constantly wonders how he talks with a sword in his mouth

Or how he came up with that idea in the first place

Sometimes when they end up islands y/n buys him sword themed things, like sword polish or even a small rack to display them

In return Zoro buys y/n journaling gear since he sees them sometimes writing in a small diary and also gets them things that he notices catches their eye

….100% bought y/n the journal of Uta that needs a password and when opened loudly plays a low quality version of Genesis

He regrets this decision when he’s woken up to it at 3 am

“Y/n where are we? Luffy said he’d meet us around this time in the centre of this town” the green haired swordsman says looking around at the people who were also in the same abandoned building as the two of you. They all looked weird, one was a big muscle dude, another looked like a ninja with pink hair, a samurai, a blond dude in a tracksuit and some weirdo with a forehead tattoo. “Zoro how do we always end in situations like this?” You ask.

“I’ll teach you more sword tricks if you agree with me next time Swirly brows gets in a fight with me” he says suddenly waking up from his nap as you rested tucked between his arm, for a moment there’s silence and then you nod making him give an almost vicious grin towards the kitchen of the merry.

“So wait, you thought I was mihawks kid?” You question with an eyebrows quirked up, zoro with a bit of embarrassment nods. “Well, I assumed so since he gave you that little blade of yours” he says pointing a finger to Mihawks gift currently in its scabbard “but he just gave me a sword? How does that make you think I’m his kid?”. He gives you an impressed stare, “Mihawk does not just gift anyone anything let alone a sword plus whatever else he gave you. Doesn’t help that he acted like your damn dad afterwards” and after hearing that you let out a small “oh”.

Sanji

The seafood duo, aka the 5 michelin star chef and the kid who once boiled and ate their own boots (it was not tasty but they did it)

Since Sanji was the first strawhat encountered who knew y/n previously (the others being Chopper, Brook and Jimbe) he Was the first one to know about y/n’s immortality due to his prior experience with them

So it’s safe to say that he takes that secret to heart especially when y/n says they aren’t quiet ready to reveal themself just yet

It still felt too soon and they wanted to be treated normal for a bit longer (their words not his)

So he respects that decision even if he knows Luffy and the others wouldn’t make it a big deal

If anything Luffy would probably think it’s cool and move on

But even if that’s his opinion he swears to keep that secret until their comfortable

And he does so with the upmost respect he can and even covers for y/n sometimes

Due to knowing y/n he’s also the one who worries for them the most, especially when realizing the stories they once told on that island have become more fractured in time

Even their memory of that place is much more hazy

Like a film put over a picture, changing its focus and making it blurry

So he does his best to remind y/n, adding in the details he remembers them now forgetting as they write down the stories

Bribes y/n like Zoro to help win arguments via making them any sweet or desert of their fancy

When y/n is aimlessly pacing around deck he has them help out in the kitchen quite a bit!

Typically he has them help with preparing small things but lets them help with bigger tasks once learning they have some prior kitchen experience

At a port he got y/n an apron that matched his and he had Nami embodier it with their name

Is going insane trying to figure out y/n’s preferences because they say their literally fine with anything

Has made them go through entire taste tests and still cannot figure anything out

He’s chainsmokes more than usual after yet another failed test when y/n says they don’t mind salted black liquorice

Cries and chain smokes when y/n tells him they once boiled and ate their own boots

Almost cried when they pick up on some of his French words

Calls y/n stuff like “petite étoile” and “petite lueur”

After Alabasta y/n joking calls him “Mr. Prince” from time to time

Whenever he makes stuff for Nami and Robin he also makes some for y/n

When Luffy complains about this he always says “women and children come first”

Y/n sometimes clings to his legs, he always chuckles and lets them do so unless it’s dangerous

The only one allowed to raid the kitchen for snacks other than Chopper is y/n

Both of them abuse this privilege but he can’t resist their combined puppy eyes

Once finding out through Luffy that y/n is more hungry than they say they are he now makes them bigger portions

He swears they have a similar stomach to Luffy but he can’t be mad at them

Not when they seem to starve themself rather than tell others their hungry

Due to this he now carries small snacks just in case

Wants to meet whoever “Thatch” is so they can trade recipes and have a cook off

Also to find out through him how he feeds over 1000 people cause he has 2000 stomachs due to the combined forces of Luffy and y/n

Was at first iffy about the crows until a bunch of the birds started eating the leftover scraps he couldn’t incorporate into dishes or was going bad

So he grows to like the feathered flock since they help in not wasting anything

His favourite is one named Blanche who’s an albino crow the murder adopted as their own after finding her abandoned

She reminds him of a dove and of how he too was abandoned by a previous family but found a new one

She also delivers letters back fourth from Zeff for him

He adds a little blue ribbon tied to her leg

When staying in the boys quarters y/n often times has Sanji help them in taking care of themself properly

Mostly cause y/n would just pass out on the floor or stay up till 6 pm if not

Brushes y/n’s hair if Nami or Robin doesn’t do it

Also loves to style it via y/n’s suggestion

let’s y/n borrow his clothes when seeing that Nami had to drag them to a clothing store to actually buy them something other than the clothes they wear everyday

Sanji will never admit it but sometimes he has nightmares of when they had died and on those nights silently checks to make sure their still there

Y/n will never admit to him how many times they’ve starved to death alone on their raft

Mostly for his own peace of mind and their own

Y/n likes to buy Sanji food themed stuff like magnets, dishes and keychains

Sanji meanwhile buys them candies and other odd things he’d think y/n would like, for example Hawaiian shirts and plushies

“Petite étoile! I made you something!” Sanji yelled across the deck, looking towards him you see a Soda float on a small platter. Luffy eyes it hungrily though Sanji notices and he swiftly knocks the young captain with his leg. You giggle out a “thanks Sanj” which makes the swirly browed preen in a mixture of pride and genuine happiness.

“And that’s when…..” pausing in your story you try to think back, the details of which now seemed to escape you. Sanji clears his throat, giving you a sad smile as he then adds in for you “that’s when the musician taught you piano” at that your memory jogs slightly and you smile “and ukulele”

Sitting at the table you eye the small labeled plates with different tastes and textures, all tasted good and even if it didn’t you’d still eat it. But despite that Sanji sits across from you with a defeated look on his face, cigarette sitting numbly in his mouth. “Sanji it’s on really, I’m fine with anything” at saying this his temper seems to flare ever so slightly, something that reminds you of Zeff “you have to have some preference!”. “Well I mean…I ate my boots before. Nothing can be worse than that” once more that seemed to be the wrong thing to say as the cigarette falls from his mouth as he mutters “you what?!?”

Nami

The orange blossom pair

Is one of the first to pick up on the fact y/n might be immortal due to Arlong one day talking about a human child on the sun pirates boat before one that had betrayed them

At the time Nami wrote it off though, more horrified at the fact y/n was a pirate

It brought up a lot of memories of her childhood she does not like to reminisce on

But before joining the crew and after she tends to stick nearby y/n as a big sister presence

Not hovering over their shoulder but just far enough away to watch and make sure their ok

Especially when she wasn’t initially sure if Luffy and Zoro

To be honest Nami always wanted to be a big sister, especially since she in a way wants to make up for everything Nojiko went through due to her

So she takes to caring for y/n the best she can

Especially when seeing that y/n does not to care of themself at all

She’s plain horrified at how they walk off a broken leg, haven’t had a bath in months that wasn’t in salt water, doesn’t care for their hair and leaves stuff stuck in it, along with essentially starving themself sometimes

Nami quickly makes it a goal to change that with the efforts of Sanji

She gives y/n “discounts” when she charges the crew for stuff

The discount is actually free because she’d feel too guilty in charging a child

Along with the fact that y/n spends the pocket money she gives them on gifts for everyone but themself

Speaking of which she charges said person who got a gift with an import fee because that money the gift was purchased with was technically Nami’s

The only one who does not object to this fee is Sanji

Another fee she makes is a y/n hug fee, since as y/n’s appointed big sister she thinks y/n should be compensated for being hugged by a bunch of stinky boys

Teaches y/n about Tangerines and oranges, specifically how to grow them!

Likes to peel oranges for y/n and share them together as a snack as they ramble on about a place they’ve been

In the small garden for her fruits she lets y/n plant some hibiscus plants that y/n cryptically says reminds them of a friend they miss

Is confused as fuck how y/n seems to know almost all the islands they end up on

After finding out y/n is immortal she often asks about past navigators they’ve met and some of the most interesting places they’ve been to

Has to drag y/n to take them shopping because they insist their fine with one pair of clothes

She argues otherwise and can’t help but bristle once finding out their immortal that for years they’ve worn the same thing

It reminds her too much of her childhood, of Bellemere scraping together what she could even when the villagers gave her discounts for clothes

Buys them an entire wardrobe and complains when they borrow the other crews clothes

In reality she doesn’t mind and finds it cute

Has to fashion police y/n because they have no sense of shame and will wear the most god awful combinations of clothes

When y/n sleeps in the girls quarters Nami has their bed set up to be in the middle between her and Robin

That way if a night attack happens y/n is the most safe

And that way Nami can wake them up when their having a nightmare

Carries y/n like throwing a moneybag over her shoulder, it’s partially due to reflex and cause when she has to do this it’s typically in a shit situation

Y/n sometimes sees a small pink spark over Nami’s shoulder when she gets really excited

They haven’t told her yet though

Y/n likes to show Nami the stuff they’ve collected over the years

Especially their jewelry gifted to them

Nami from the moment of meeting the flock saw money signs (lol)

The crows have now been ordered to steal stuff and they bring it to her to examine and evaluate

They also heckle the poor news birds into giving discounts or plain for free

Besides their monetary gain she genuinely likes their presence quite a bit

They not only valiantly guard her tangerines from other less behaved animals but also help her in charting islands

Her favourite is one named Axel, he’s on the older side with a scar across his eye

He not only has an eye for valuable things but also acts as a guard for both the young fledglings and Nami

Y/n likes buying Nami jewelry and navigation gear along with sharing their writing supplies with her

Nami meanwhile buys y/n clothes and some jewelry for them

Sitting beneath the tangerine tree you watch as the hibiscus you planted for Rouge sway lightly In the breeze, your gaze lingers there before Nami lightly touches your shoulder making you jolt. “Here” she offers you a peeled tangerine with a smile, you take it popping the sweat fruit into your mouth. “How much will I owe you?” You ask enjoying the sweet taste, at that she laughs “I need a tester to make sure my product is good. Just consider it free since you’re doing me a favour”. Smiling you nod, not commenting how Sanji would be the better pick for this “job”.

“I still don’t get how you’d gone so long with no other pairs of clothes” Nami mutters whilst holding up two pairs of shirts your size “which do you like? Or do you want both?”. Looking at the clothes you point to the one held up by her left hand, the Hawaiian shirt with a funky pattern. “I knew you’d pick this one” her eyes are layered in fondness even if she gives a small sigh “I’m a creature of habit….besides Mihawk gave me those pyjamas so technically I now have more than one pair”

Waking up to from nightmare your typically used to the sight of the night sky but you awake with Nami’s worried face. Shakily you sit up, “h-hey I’m ok” it’s more said for her sake rather than your own. Despite your words Nami pulls you close, silently letting you clutch onto her like a lifeline as the scent of oranges and tangerines linger as does that small spark of pink just above her shoulder.

Ussop

The story teller duo! Aka the liar and the immortal

Honestly Ussop and y/n are a little dynamic duo of scaredy cat and unfazed who’s dragging the other into a haunted house

Except the haunted house in this case is literally every dangerous situation known to man

Poor Ussop has got it cut out for him more than usual when y/n is around

Something he notices fairly quickly

But he’s too committed in looking cool in front of them and cause he sure as hell isn’t leaving them alone for more than 15 minutes cause they’ll for sure somehow traumatize someone

Another thing he picked up on lol

There’s a Recurring joke with him and y/n when y/n remembers something important at the last minute and he yells that they have the memory of a goldfish

Though y/n’s title is the straw hats storyteller, they really like listening to Ussop’s stories

Though they knows his is fake they enjoy it better that way

Because that means there’s always a happy ending

Something that not all of their stories have

Similarly, though he sometimes gets afraid when they tell their stories, Ussop really likes listening to theirs as well

Mostly for the fact that though some of them are sad their genuinely heart touching most of the time

Y/n tells their tales in a way that captivates just about everyone around them

Something Ussop really admires

Both know and acknowledge each others skills

And sometimes the two of them will collaborate together in figuring out how to make their adventures more engaging when written down

Y/n and Ussop sometimes do commentary when watching Sanji and Zoro fight

Ussop during these commentary of the fighting matches writes down his favourite insults that he and y/n then giggle about later on

Their favourite so far is when Sanji called Zoro Durian in both appearance and smell

Ussop is the one to help y/n in their “disguises”

Aka supplying the fake moustaches

In similar fashion y/n helped make him the SogeKing mask before Water 7

Ussop has y/n test out his inventions and has them teach him new hobbies

To keep from the ever looming fear away Ussop tries to keep himself busy

Something y/n is a pro at and helps him pick up some of the hobbies they’ve learned over the years

On Sundays y/n teaches him and Robin how to do Pottery

Which helps out Sanji because of the amount of broken plates due to Luffy is uncountable

Calls y/n the first mate of the Ussop pirates

He will never admit it but when he misses Ninjin, Tamanegi and Piiman he ends up lingering near y/n cause they sometimes remind him of his old “crew”

Speaking of which y/n is the only one who he talks to about how much he sometimes misses syrup village

Specifically Kaya

Along with this he also confides to them about how he wonders if his dad would be proud of him or disappointed

It doesn’t happen often but occasionally it does really weight on him

But he trusts y/n’s judgment because they’ve met Yassop, and in the fact that they understand what it’s like to miss people

When this happens y/n also confides in Ussop about the people they miss too

Even people they don’t remember

It’s actually pretty sweet especially since on those nights the two of them just talk about how they genuinely feel

Something that is kinda rare for the two

To enhance each other’s stories the two now have started doing puppet shows!

Something they have Nami and Chopper help with in making the puppets

Ussop even made a mini stage out of popsicle sticks

Y/n uses Roger’s coat as the curtain

Ussop Is terrified of the crows especially after that time y/n and Luffy covered him in birdseed and was almost flown away by the murder

Along with superstitions he’s heard about them being bad luck

But the crows love him

Like they really love him, almost as much as chopper

It’s god damn comical watching him run away in terror meanwhile these little feathered fiends are chasing after him with puppy eyes asking for love

The only crows he likes are the baby ones

The little fledglings who (unfortunately for him) find perching on his nose to be the most optimal of places

But their cute as hell so he lets it slide

For now

This then perpetuates the cycle of them growing older and him being terrified of them but them loving him

Y/n finds it funny as hell

But he eventually comes around to them when y/n has them exchange letters between him and Kaya

As well as sending gifts and flowers back to syrup without the items getting lost or rotting

sometimes y/n and Ussop swap headscarves

Y/n likes to buy Ussop random stuff for him to use in inventions

Ussop likes to buy y/n crafts that they can do together (as well as with Chopper)

“And that’s how I, captain Ussop! Defeated the unstoppable man after 3 days of fighting with my 3000 men!” At hearing that you nod enthusiastically as Chopper chimes in about how cool that was. You smile, thinking back to those 3 whole days Roger and fought Whitebeard before recruiting Oden temporarily to the crew. “What did you do afterwards?” You ask making the long nosed sniper perk up, he thinks for a moment before he continues his “tale”.

“Uhhhh Ussop” you say watching as the sniper who currently tinkered away at some new contraption break from his concentration. “Oh hey! Whats up?” It comes out casually as he turns to look at you as you give him an almost apologetic look which makes his brows furrow. Wordlessly you point to the nearby open port window. One of your crows sits there, tilting its head at him “oh no-“ before he can get another word out it lets out a squawk and other feathered little devils start flying in through the window.

“Your dad is more proud of you than I think you know” you say this with utter confidence and it makes Ussop stumble for a moment. “Really?” He asks this in a quiet tone, almost unsure before you nod and smile “it’s all he talked about when I was on the red force. So you best believe it”

Chopper

Cherry blossom duo!

Was the second member of the crew to know about y/n’s immortality due to recognizing the picture of them with Hiriluk

Something that the little reindeer kept tucked away in a small slit in his hat Kureha added to it

So it’s safe to say that he’s ecstatic, confused and freaking out

Though luckily Sanji and y/n were able to talk with him

And to be honest Chopper gets why their scared to tell the others

He’d be scared in their situation! So he keeps the secret as best he can!

Though there were definitely a few occasions he nearly slipped up lol

As the two youngest members on board both Chopper and y/n band together quite a bit

Partially because of the fact that in mental age their close and because their both just natural sweethearts

Chopper finds it funny that despite being the oldest y/n is also one of the youngest

Both are the cutest mf’s out there that Nami 100% uses to guilt others into getting discounts

Y/n and him unfortunately for her also use the puppy eyes on her to get her to peel their tangerines

Chopper thinks of y/n as a big sibling and very much heavily admires them

Y/n similarly thinks of Chopper as a little brother and admires his medical knowledge despite his age

Both have made each other bff bracelets with little sakura charms

Sometimes when chopper gets sad about Hiriluk y/n tells chopper about their experiences with him

And that he would be proud of chopper

That Kureha is proud

And that their proud of the person Hiriluk took as his own because y/n knows chopper will become the best doctor ever

Every time this happens Chopper sobs

Similarly in the moments when y/n is lost (mostly since they don’t like being overly emotional about their feelings or trauma) Chopper likes to become kinda a therapy animal and let y/n pet his fur to calm them down

Along with that chopper also tries to have them open up about how their feeling

Y/n thinks choppers blue nose looks like a blueberry so they sometimes call him that

Chopper gets super “angry” about it (not really, the only times he’s angry at y/n is when they shrug off an injury)

Speaking of which, he gets really worried for y/n and their careless tendencies

He knows their immortal but he wishes they’d care for themself to at least show him their injuries even if their small

It reminds him of Hiriluk since he had also written off his disease and pain as nothing

The parallels between the two of them really make Chopper worried about losing someone again

Like he knows y/n would come back but having to watch someone you love die is still really traumatic

And the amount of times he’s almost had a heart attack from y/n narrowly dodging death isn’t healthy

Now is it healthy for the others either lol

When in his more deer-like form he lets y/n sit on his back! He bashfully preens in pride when they call him their loyal steed

Let’s y/n decorate his horns with little do-dads and charms

His favourite is the little sakura themed ones they bought at a spring island for him

They have done the two kids on a trench coat routine before and it’s somehow worked

The funny thing is that y/n was the legs and chopper was the upper half

Both make inside jokes about the rest of the crew

Both also occasionally goad Sanji and Zoro into fights

They watch with Luffy while eating popcorn

Talks with the flock all the time! He gossips with them and they all adore him so much

He doesn’t have a favourite and loves all of them

Especially since they all try and bring him herbs or steal him medical supplies from islands the crew dock on

The crows love to dote on him, even calling him one of their flock just like the others on the crew

It makes him happy since he gets a bit of animal companionship that he never got and the fact that the flock accepts anyone no matter their looks

He’s scared to tell the birds about how his birth family kicked him out since he knows they’ll try to get revenge

Y/n likes that through chopper that they can now understand their crows

Something in which makes the crows absolutely ecstatic about and Chopper has to regal their constant pleas for attention and to let y/n know that their adored

He tends to their little injuries and puts little bandaids on their wounds

They like to perch on his antlers and he gets supper bashful when they call him their favourite crew member beside y/n

Chopper finds it funny they call y/n their god?

It’s weird but he just assumes that cause the crows explained to him how several generations back y/n had nursed to health their injured ancestors

While y/n stays in the men’s quarter Chopper and y/n set up a little sleepover tent

Both typically fall asleep in the tent and Sanji or Zoro have to put them in their proper beds rather than sleeping on the floor

While sleepy y/n sometimes thinks chopper is a stuffed animal

Both cling to one another when tired (it’s adorable)

Y/n likes to buy Chopper Sakura themed things or medicinal herbs and books that they’d think he’d like

Chopper on the other hands buys y/n things they can do together or with the crew like puzzles or little crafts

“Ahhh!!! What happened to your arm?!?!” The young reindeer doctor practically screams as his widened eyes look at your bloody and bruised arm that’s also bent the wrong way. The rest of the crew whom you’d been trying to hide it from look to you, whoops. “Uhhhh….it was an accident?” You say this and before you can blink your being dragged to choppers medical bay, darn, you’d sneak past them next time

Sitting down on the flooring of the merry you thread your fingers through choppers soft fur. Your breathing still heavy and shaky as your mind comes down from focusing on bad memories. It takes a few minutes sitting there focusing on the sensation of his fur but eventually you find yourself of sound mind again. Tears staining your cheeks as you mumble a thanks to the doctor who nods. “A doctor has to look out for his patients in health and mind” is what he says making you smile ever so slightly.

“Hey chopper what did Rosemary tell you?” You asked looking quizzically at the Crow perched on his antlers, he looks up to bird listening as she squawks again. “She said that big crow, big lizards and Yama missed you? Who’s that?” He translates then giving you a curious look, you think for a moment then coming up with an answer “oh…she means king and the others”. He nods at the answer before then asking “who’s king? Wait! Do you know royalty?!?”

Robin

History duo, ones is a literal archeologist and the other is the ancient ass artifact

After chopper she’s the third person to know of y/n’s immortality due to watching them die with crocodile

While working with crocodile she didn’t talk to y/n directly too much but did try and look out for them in the shadows

She’s also been praying that y/n wouldn’t end up in Alabasta nor that crocodile would find them again lol

But that didn’t exactly go as planned

Once joining the crew y/n is one of the few to trust Robin partially due to their prior knowledge of her and experience with her

Both feel extreme sympathy for one another, especially once realizing they were both children hunted down by the government

Robin like with Chopper uses her abilities to tickle y/n

Robin cannot count the amount of times her ability has saved y/n without them knowing

Before Brook joined y/n would ask Robin to use her power to make arms and lift y/n up to see stuff lol

Sometimes with the sprouted arms y/n likes to play rock paper scissors with them which makes Robin laugh

Y/n eventually has Robin help in writing in their journal to remember things since they trust her perspective more than their own

Because these two both know Poneglyph’s the two gossip via notes to one another in the language

Robin when reading history books and finds something about y/n shows it to them

It’s now an inside joke between the two of them

They also make it an activity to skim through accounts of things and try to find y/n

What sad though is that in some accounts where it’s clearly y/n mentioned y/n can’t actually remember it

And for awhile y/n just gets kinda quiet and excuses themself

She does not mentioned their reddened eyes when she sees them again

But just offers them a hug

In a certain way, Robin kinda projects what she wish she had as a kid into y/n as a form of self healing

Especially after Enies lobby

She wants to be there for them

Care for them in a way she wished others had cared for her

And it’s with this that Robin becomes a mother figure to y/n

She’d tender and caring to y/n in a way that just kinda makes them instinctively cling to her presence

Her warm hugs and floral scent remind y/n distantly of their mom (or they think it does)

They know Robin isn’t her (no one can be) but Robin’s care and general warmth towards them just makes y/n really happy

Hugs galore

As well as Robin helping Nami take care of y/n since they have no self care at all

Y/n constantly steals Robin’s cowboy hat (when she had it )

Like in pre-timeskip one piece Robin calls y/n by their title of “storyteller” but also refers to them by nicknames as well

Robin loves the crows so much, she has each of them memorized by name

As well as their preferences

Her favourite though is one named Hesta, she’s a quiet one of the flock and likes watch Robin read

May or may not use her devil fruit to pet all the crows

Ussop may have freaked out when seeing the entire murder on the ship with Robin’s hands sprouted from the deck everywhere

When she has mini dates with Franky y/n dressed up as a server with a fake moustache

They also have a fake French accent because they took inspiration from Sanji

Both her and Franky have to hold back laughing cause y/n gets really into it

Y/n likes buying Robin history stuff and letting her borrow their journals to read

Robin meanwhile likes to buy y/n things she sees interested them while on an adventure

(She may or may not have stolen a few things whoops)

“Hey Robin can you help me-“ before you can finish what you’re saying the historian finds herself at your side, already helping in tying your shoelaces. She smiles, “for all the skills you’d picked up over the years I’m surprised you hadn’t learned to tie them yet” it comes out as a giggle with makes you smile bashfully “I know how tie sailor knots and stuff but I don’t think they work for boots”

“Y/n, do you want to help me write some the poneglyph’s? I want to look them over later and put what we have in order” Robin asks making you pause from tracing the forgotten language with your hands. You nod, then pulling out your journal and opening up a new page. “Sounds good to me. Should I include me and Roger’s messages?” At hearing that she nods, a curious smile on her face. “Of course.”

“What happened to you was never right, you deserved better than what the world gave you” hearing this makes her go still as the still sleeping Nami tosses and turns in her sleep. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you either. Neither of us did” when she says this you see tears glisten in moonlight as does she with your starry eyes.

Franky

Suuuuuperrrrrr Star duo!

Like a few others of the straw hats he actually met y/n in his childhood

Specifically because of the Roger pirates when they had stopped in water 7 with Oden

So it’s safe to say after everything in water 7 and Enies lobby he definitely knows y/n is immortal

Though after Franky beat up Ussop y/n kinda takes a little while to warm up to him again at

But Y/n comes around quick on Franky when seeing him help try and save Robin

And after he joins the crew y/n becomes his obligatory little helper!

Since y/n likes to be constantly doing stuff Franky has them help him do repairs on the ship and check for anything that needs to be fixed

He says he can’t fit in a lot of the smaller crevices (which he technically can’t) but normally he’d just use some invention of his

But y/n doesn’t need to know that, not when they get excited in helping

Franky 100% teaches y/n to do poses with him

Nami is half tempted to strangle him for this when y/n did the “suupppeerr” pose after a battle

Unfortunately for her dumbass number 2 (aka Luffy) joins in and then Ussop as well

Y/n in the morning likes to help style Franky’s hair, he wonder’s who Vivi is and why his hair colour reminds them of her

Y/n is also the reason why Franky’s hair is now styled occasionally like sea creatures

His favourite is when they style it as a shark or whale

He shivers each time he looks at y/n’s “ship”

Especially when they say that she’s a fine sea-craft (she not)

He just nods along

Back when he was a kid he was also equally appalled back then about it and had offered to make it better

But just like back then y/n refuse

And somehow that dinky thing always seems to end back up at the ship even when in a storm it ends up lost at sea

Y/n sits on his arm all the time, especially when he is in a muscle man pose

They think it’s funny

He thinks it’s funny when steal his sunglasses

The two of them have single-handedly increased the amount of Hawaiian shirts owned by the straw hats by about 70%

Sometimes when he misses the Franky family he talks to y/n about how they deal with leaving people they love

And y/n always talk about how they kinda deal with it

But it’s always hard

They miss a lot of people

Some of which they don’t remember but know they instinctively miss

It definitely helps him

But it also highlights to Franky just how lonely they are

Because he joined later on he hasn’t seen or heard y/n talk about some of their experiences

He’s maybe heard some from iceberg or the other straw hats but they were always vague

It’s sad to him, especially since their short friendship with him had honestly made him feel less alone in the harder segments of his life

But knowing just how many people they had said goodbye to and would say goodbye to, the years afloat on that thing they call a ship by themself

Yeah, it really weighs on him

Because he gets it

Y/n is the only one for sure who knows that Robin and Franky eventually get together (frobin for real y’all)

They don’t tell anyone cause they just kinda assumed everyone already knew and forgot it was a secret lol

Despite this though, they accidentally cover for Robin and Franky when they go out on small dates

Y/n is somehow Franky’s ultimate wingman (wingperson?)

They suggest to him things they know Robin like or would like

The two of them like to paint a pair of stars on each of Franky’s inventions

A blue 5 pointed on for Franky and a smaller 4 pointed gold one for y/n

Y/n Is the only one on the crew besides Luffy to use the Franky fridge to store stuff

Specifically the snacks the other crew members give them through the day

Franky ends up building some birdhouses on the ship for crows who stay the night along with prosthetic limbs for birds who lost legs or even their wings

He doesn’t have a particular bird he prefers over the rest

He thinks all of them are SUUPPEERRRR

They seem to like his golden chain and shiny metal nose

Much to his amusement

Sometimes a chosen bird will be allowed to wear his sunglasses and it becomes the super bird of the day

This bird for that day gets to hang around on his head and gets a invention made for them

Y/n likes to buy Franky cool gadgets they find along with anything that has blue stars

Franky doesn’t buy y/n stuff but instead makes them things, typically little do-dads or even some puzzles to keep them preoccupied

“Hey Franky, do you need some help there?” You asked watching the blue haired shipwright peel himself away from repairing the mast of the ship. He grins, “Surre thing little helper!” He then tosses you a hammer that you luckily catch.

“What do you suggest I get Robin? I’m still debating between these two” the cyborg man questions as he holds up two different bouquets of fresh flowers. You peer between the two, examining them. “Robin would probably like the second one. Those flowers have meanings of “love” “companionship” and “appreciation” which would be the best choice. She’d like the effort behind them” you say before correcting your fake moustache and dusting off any dirt of your fake waiter uniform you stole from Sanji’s days at the baratie. “Should I have Hesta fly in and deliver them?” He adds making you respond “of course!”

Two cans of Cola clink together as you and Franky sit watching the horizon. “I can only imagine Oden’s face seeing that you’re now a pirate after saying you’d never be one, oh and Tom’s” you giggle as Franky nods “do you think they’d be happy?”. For a moment you ponder “I can’t say for sure….but I think so long as your happy they’d be”

Brook

Dead duo (lol) cause they’ve both died and come back to life (though one has done this significantly more than the other)

By the time he joins y/n being a immortal ain’t a secret anymore

Even if it was his emotional breakdown when seeing them again asking if he’s finally gone fully insane before hugging them would probably proof enough that their immortal

But anyway!!

For very obvious reasons Brook for a long while after reuniting is kinda stuck at y/n’s side

Partially because he’s still unsure if this is real and afraid he’ll wake up alone again

On that ship where only the damned souls of the sea like himself stay

Y/n seems to know this though and happily allows him to stay at their side as they hold onto his coat since he’s too tall for them to comfortably hold his hand

The annual amount of death and skeleton jokes have gone up exponentially because of the two of them alone

Both Brook and y/n cope via jokes and each other (as sad as that is)

The crew can’t help but deadpan at the amount of time the two have watched something horrific or head about it and said “same” or pointed to a skeleton and said “look it’s us!”

Brook doesn’t ask his pervert questions or jokes in front of y/n he’s too mortified to do so when he basically considered them his family

He once accidentally did and y/n asked what that meant and he wanted to curl up and die (again)

Y/n brings him milk and stuff with calcium saying he needs to build up bone density

He has yet to tell them he can’t drink it but he appreciates the gesture and gives it to Sanji instead so he can use it for recipes

Brook is the only person y/n talks to about the ways in which they’ve died

Mostly because he’s the only other person who can understand what its like

And because hearing vindication that what had happened to them was wrong kinda helps them process stuff

Because they should not have died as many as they’ve had let alone in such gruesome ways

Hearing it from Brook, someone who’d also faced the horrors of death and immortality really opens their eyes

Whenever Brook plays music y/n instinctively joins him in song

It’s just second nature to y/n at this point

Both are different versions of insane from immortality. While’s brooks is more noticeable for y/n’s it’s more subtle

Y/n likes to show Brook all the instruments and songs they learned after his death

Especially their ukulele skills much to his amusement

Neither can play Binks booze together without sobbing midway

Nor can Brook handle their stories of Laboon still waiting at reverse mountain

Nor can y/n handle hearing how Brook would see visions of them and the crew in his years of isolation

The rest of the straw hats can’t handle just how depressing that all is lol

He accidentally found y/n, Chopper and Luffy in their game and now has made a soundtrack for it

When y/n stays in the men’s quarter Brook sometimes has to check their still alive because of his fear they’ll die again

Y/n has played the xylophone on Brook’s ribcage much to Nami’s horror

Both of them pull the “as the oldest people on board” card

The two of them also call each other senior citizens and try and get discounts at places via Nami’s orders

Both always get kicked out

Y/n somehow learned the word “boner” from someone and asked Brook what that meant because he was made of bones

He wanted to die a second time 💀

He was mortified after that especially when y/n then taught that word to Luffy and chopper who joined in on asking him what it meant

Robin had to help him escape the questioning

When y/n can’t see anything they like to climb Brook to get a better view

Y/n also sometimes hides in his ribcage

The two of them share an atrocious fashion sense

The only difference is that Robin and Nami help in making sure y/n doesn’t end up in a floral shirt with polka dot shorts and sandals with socks

Brook is extremely proud of y/n’s skills that they picked up from him and his crew

The crows keep bringing Brook bones because they assume all skeletons they find somehow are parts of Brook

Y/n taught them to play the xylophone on Brook

The dead musician’s favourite crow is one named “crazy Pete” because he just picks shit up and starts whacking against the nearest surface

This making him the best xylophone player of the crows as well as the best drummer

The flock also uses his ribcage as a perch as well as his Afro in which they have built a nest in that he didn’t know about until baby birds hatched

He got to name the newborns and named some of them after his old crew

Y/n likes to buy Brook skeleton things (like those plastic Halloween skeletons lol) and music sheets for him to write new music

Brook gets y/n a bunch of weird mystical shit that y/n always ends up loving

“Yohohohoho! Are you up for a duet?” The old skeleton asks as he holds up his violin, you look up from the book you were reading a smile already stretching across your face. “Do you have to ask?” You reply back as you get up and get into position, if a skeleton could smile he would.

“Yo brook!” You yell already snickering under your voice “do you think we ought to buy some trombone’s? Or maybe some Xylobone’s?”. At that he lets out his signature laugh, “maybe, but they’d cost a Skelaton! Get it? Cause we’ve both died!” For a moment there’s a pause of silence between you both before the two of you burst out into laughter. Nami grumbles under her breath about you both being “numbskulls” before realizing her mistake, the two of you laugh even harder.

In the middle of the night you and Brook sit in the crows nest, the humming the Bink’s booze filling the silence beneath the stars. Because for now that’s enough.

Jinbe

Fisher duo! Would’ve gone with sun duo because of the sun pirates but that duo name probably fits y/n and ace more

By the time Jinbe joins everyone on the crew knows so he doesn’t need to keep the secret

Something that makes him hella realized about since he knows he’d have to jump through hoops somehow trying to explain why y/n knew him prior

Is always worried for y/n especially when realizing they already have a very small impulse control that melts away when Luffy is near

Like he is getting grey hairs as Robin and Nami emphatically pat his shoulder

Y/n loves to laze about on Jinbe, they’ll just randomly go up to him raise their arms up to be picked up and then just fall asleep or stay there

Y/n likes how warm he is along with how he’ll carry them around. Plus his more squishy and smooth textured skin on account of being a fishman is a texture that they like

Jinbe has accepted his role as a resting place for y/n

Something that now also extends to Luffy, chopper and sometimes Zoro as well

When not doing his duties on the ship he likes to listen to y/n’s recounts of things

He finds it pretty soothing as well as informative

If no one else is up to listen to y/n word vomit then Jinbe always has an ear open

His favourites are ones are those including Roger

He’d never known him, just knew about bits and pieces from Whitebeard so he’s especially interested in learning about him from someone else

Y/n sometimes like to ask him about fishman culture along with facts about mermaids as well!

Especially stuff about Joyboy

Something which makes Jinbe light up in pride

Head pats galore from this fishman once he finds out that y/n melts at that type of affection

Is the first to not question how y/n has befriended so many war criminals

Though his is curious how the hell Doflamingo ended up on that list

Speaking of which when y/n gets really scared or anxious he is quick to pick up on it

Just immediately picks up y/n leaves the situation while Luffy goes to beat up what caused the problem lol

Y/n when seeing him get odd looks gives people odd looks back

Especially when people ask where their parents were and they point to Jinbe as if it were the most obvious answer in the world

Y/n once has bitten someone who was being racist

While Jinbe was proud he was not happy with the fact they resorted to Luffy type behaviour

Definitely considers Jinbe a father figure

Something he holds in high regard especially when hearing how they think so highly about Roger

Due to Jinbe being a whale shark fishman y/n bought themself and him matching whale shark plushies

He got the smaller one while y/n got the mama

Jinbe may or may not have secretly cried about this

Because Jinbe is serious most of the time y/n has made it a sport in trying to surprise him

Like suddenly jumping from the crows nest into his arms or randomly appearing out of nowhere for hugs

Even if he’s upset with their recklessness he always ends up smiling

Much like the others he ends up as a resting spot for the crows, specifically the young ones just learning to fly

They always end up tucked into his kimono somehow but he doesn’t end up minding it much

Not when the combined forces of the baby birds and y/n give him puppy eyes

His all time favourite crow though is one named Pearl, she’s just a little sweetheart that loves to sit on his hands to be pet

To be honest he finds them all rather intriguing especially since crows typically aren’t this intelligent

Like sure typically their intelligent birds but these ones seem even moreso

it seems somehow they have increased perception?

He’s not sure as to why but leaves it as a “y/n thing”

Something that has become a trend in his will for questioning things

Don’t understand it? Probably a y/n thing so move on and accept it

Nami has been following in this mindset for awhile now

Y/n steals his robes despite them being too big

He purposely leaves them out when realizing they like to do this

Jinbe is the only one to know about y/n’s time as a slave and is the only one to know why they sometimes flinch when people touch their back

He’s also the only way who’s able to understand and comfort them when they silently stream out at the sea

At ports y/n likes to go shopping with Jinbe and though he says they don’t need to buy him anything they buy him sea themed stuff to remind him of fishman island

In similar fashion despite y/n saying that he doesn’t need to buy them anything he buys them charms for their bracelets and necklaces that represent a place they’ve been so they can keep track

“So Roger really could stand toe to toe with Whitebeard?” Jinbe asks as you nod with a smile “yeah, Roger despite having no devil fruit was extraordinarily strong and had extraordinary Haki. Plus Roger was Roger”. At hearing this explanation Jinbe nods but then inquires “what do you mean by that last part?” Which makes you lightly giggle before explaining “Roger is the only person besides maybe Luffy who would sneak onto a marine base, fist fight Garp the fist, raid the kitchen and then proceed to escape back to the Oro with the stolen food, treasure and highly classified government field he thought looked cool”

“Jinbe can I go up” you ask with your hands already reaching up to him and in position to be lifted. The fishman smiles, for an immortal you really were a kid still. He smiles. “Alright, do you also want to hear about fishman island again?” It’s not even really a question when he knows your answer but he asks either way and sees you nod. Pearl who’s perched on his shoulder makes room and finds a place between you and him.

It’s late in the night when he finds you sitting on the railing of the ship, silently looking out to sea just as you did all those years ago. He leans against the railing beside you, remembering not to touch your back at this time. “You got reminded of it again?” He asks on which he receives a full nod from you, “it was in the market, there were some propaganda posters about escaped slaves. I checked to see if I was on there, I wasn’t luckily, but it still left me feeling all flighty”. He frowns at that but nods. “Do you need me to stay with you for now?” You respond quickly without thought “yes….it burns Jinbe, my back burns again but I know the brands not there”

[sensei-venus]

Serpent-Cide (3/?)

(Part One|Part Two|Part Three|TBA|)

(Unedited) (Switches POV’s a lot in this chapter, Sweet Pea is a little shit, Sweet Pea is big boy 6’3 and I won't let y'all forget that😈, Reader is having a moment y'all.)

Sweet Pea was a mess.

I mean that in a bad way, not the cute fun way that most people say it when talking about someone.

I mean he was a mess, a walking nightmare and possibly a live train wreck. Being forced to show him around was one of the worst things that could have happened to me. I had way better things to do then stay with him. At this point it was almost like babysitting. If babysitting included walking around school with a MAN, not a boy, a man who was bigger then half the student body.

Not only was he huge but he also had a mouth on him. While most of the time he was quiet, the other half he was not. He chose to quietly pick and mess with anyone and anything he chose. If something caught his eye at just the right time, he was going of his way to mess with it. If it was a person, he was digging at them. Harassing them for a moment before pulling away and walking off.

Laughing and snickering at something. It was very apparent that he knew when to shut his mouth, and sometimes he didn't which dug into my nerves.

Just like his voice, his verbal altercations were deep and quick. His comebacks were sharp and were always on the tip of his tongue. He knew how to get on someone's bad side at the drop of a hat. I felt like I was extremely lucky because he didn't get himself into too much shit.

He loomed over me as we walked the halls. At first I didn't really understand what he was doing. I thought he would walk next to me to try and show some kind of dominance, like he didn't need me to help him around the school. His outburst earlier that day made me feel like he would want to one-up me, in his own way. Maybe he would even jump ahead of me and try to get to his class quicker. That wasn't the case as we walked to our first period.

He decided he was going to try and walk behind me the whole way there.

Almost trying to ride my ass the whole time. I swear he almost stepped on the back of my shoes a few times. I tried my best not to look back at him, feeling like that might piss him off or earn me some other kind of outlash like before. The whole time I could feel his presence behind me. It felt like pin pricks along my back which made me twitch a little in my step. Was he doing it on purpose I had no idea. But it was slowly rubbing me the wrong way. I

didn't know how long I could take it.

“So when's lunch? I'm already starting to get bored of this place.” Sweet Pea's voice echoed from behind me as he kicked at my seat.

I could feel my teeth grind in the back of my mouth.

We were about three periods at this point. I could tell he was already starting to lose what little focus he had. Most people probably couldn't tell if not for his loud complaining. Most people would see it as him complaining, to me he was just whining. That's all he had done all three classes, it didn't help that he kept trying to sit as close to me as possible.

I had no idea why seeing as all he did was whine.

I notice very quickly his little quirks, the ones that showed as he started to fall down the hole of boredom.

The way his foot would tap ever so slightly, the jiggle of his leg. He would pick at his knuckles to the point he had small scratches, barely drawing blood. They were pinkish and red by the end of second period. I honestly wondered if he even noticed it, if he felt his nails dig into his own skin. I was a little surprised when I watched his dig his nails into the set of dog tags he wears around his neck.

At some point I was scared he was going to try and put them in his mouth like a child. Luckily he didn't and only rubbed his nails and fingertips along the old metal plates.

Suddenly I heard a loud sound of popping from behind me. I felt my eyes twitch.

He was popping his knuckles.

I felt my face grow a little flushed. Although I had noticed the marks on his knuckles, I hadn't really taken a moment to look at his hands very well. I wonder what they looked like. I could only imagine they matched his body. Large and stronger to match his towering frame. He wasn't overly bulky but more so tall and thick muscles.

Now I felt even worse, why was I trying to think about his possible muscles under that stupid black t-shirt and serpent jacket.

I almost snapped the poor pencil in my hand.

“Helllloooo??” his voice boomed.

“When the bell rings, God can you shut up for five minutes.” I hissed, not even trying to turn around to look at him. I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my skull at this point. I could almost feel the way his foot slowly came to a stop. The movement dying down in seconds. I felt him before I could hear him. The breathing on my neck, right by my ear.

“So is the food here good or it just as shitty as Southside High-”

The sound of the shrill bell rang through the class. He ever so slightly pulled back. Leaving only warm breath fanning over my ear for a few seconds. Students hurried to grab their things and rush out of the cramped classroom. The teacher tried her best to slow them down but failed. Most of them piled out of the room, talking loudly and pushing each other to leave.

Quickly I packed my stuff away in my bag before turning around to find Sweet Pea already ready to go. His dark eyes lazily watch me as I shove my bag up onto my shoulder. We stare at each other for a good minute, until I realize he's waiting for me to walk in front of him.

Walking out of the room and make our way down to the lunch room. Sweet Pea is hot on my trail the whole time.

The hallway was usually one of the worst parts of my day as I would have to wade through the multiple crowds. Today seems a little better, most likely due to Sweet Pea’s presence. People slowly make way for him as he walks closer to me. For once I don't mind the way he sticks close to my back. It's almost like the whole hallway parts just for him.

“They like this every day or is it just because it's me?” he asks as we move passed the sea of judgmental eyes. The sudden urge to crack a joke came up but soon stopped.

“I wish. Maybe if they always acted like this I wouldn't hate coming down this hallway.” I wanted to tell him the truth. Going down this hallway every day was excruciating most of the time. If you were lucky no one would notice you, meaning you could get around everyone. Most days you were stuck or caught by some of the jocks or maybe one of the cheerleaders.

Sometimes it was just shoves and pushes. Other times it was getting your books or bag thrown in a garbage can on a whim.

Worst even, getting beat on by someone bigger than you for a laugh.

I stopped at that you thought as we made our way into to lunch room. It was packed with both the old and new students trying to get in line to get food. Almost all the tables were completely filled. My eyes were trained on the crowd of students as we both stood in line. Trying to spot the tale tale top of a special beanie. Not seeing it I could only guess that Jughead had made his way outside to grab a table.

The line for food slowly started to go down as the minutes ticked by. Sweet Pea was next to me as we grabbed our lunches. He stuffed his plate full of just about everything the lunch line was offering. I didn't question it with how big the guy was. His height factor reflects how much he needs to keep up with his growth.

We made our way out of the lone with no issue and walked outside towards some of the outdoor tables.

Breathing a sigh of relief I spotted Jughead and his little group. No surprise that none of the original vroho was sitting at the table with him, just Tori and Fang. Sweet Pea passed me, slamming his tray down next to Fang with a loud crash. Fang flinched a little which made Sweet Pea laugh and slap him on the shoulder hard, making him rock a little. Both of them chuckled as Sweet Pea finally sat down. Jughead looked at the two before turning his gaze to me.

I gave a small wave before turning around and heading inside.

The quiet uncrowded library was calling my name.

—————————

Sweet Pea didn't really know what to think about Reader at first.

For a split second, he felt just a little bad about yelling at her when they first met. But walking into that school was hard, being surrounded by northsiders who wanted all of them dead. It didn't even matter if they were serpents or not they were still southsiders. They where all still on the northsiders shit list in his mind.

Maybe that's why when she approached Jughead he got defensive.

He had forgotten that Jughead went to school here, not everyone had a issue with him. Maybe the pack of serpents, but not once loved Jughead.

In that moment it didn't matter that she was smaller, chubbier and maybe just a little cute. She was still a northsider deciding to wall up to them. Her stance was lazy as she stood in front of Jughead, moments passed and he just snapped. Getting into her face and calling her out.

When she snapped right back at him he felt his heart jump.

_____________________________________

“Shes not coming over here is she?” Sweet Pea remarked as he looked to Jughead.

The girl never made her way over to them, he turned a little to watch her walk away and back into the school. His eyes briefly watched her figure disappear behind the large lunchroom doors. He turned back to the table to find Jugheas still gazing back at the doors, his eyes squinted.

“Reader would rather…..Reader is in her own little world of strange.” he words were bland and almost emotionless. That caused one of the boys eyebrows to raise. He stuffed a fry in his mouth as Fang replied “ Im getting the feeling she doesn't like us that much? It's not like I'm shocked or anything, I'm just stating the obvious here.” he laughs. Toni rolls her eyes at him and sits back a little.

Sweet Pea looked up at him as he chewed his food, with a full mouth he said “So she's a weirdo? Didn't know northsiders had them too, kinda figured you guys would weed them out or something.” he scooped up a fat glob of ketchup with his fries. Toni shrugged “ Dont want to sound like a downer but I agree with Sweets on this.” Fang nodded along side her. Jughead let out a small sigh. His eyes fully coming back into focus with them.

“Listen Reader just has her own thing going on. She's one of the only people I know in this school that genuinely doesn't like being around people, in others business for that matter. She doesn't like messing with people so long as they don't mess with her. She's crafty too, I'll tell you that.

Toni raised a brow and smirked, she poked the boy in his side.

“Does Jug have a little crush??” she almost giggled a little to go along with her sarcastic statement.

Jughead rolled his eyes “On Reader? No way, that would involve her letting me get in her space- shit even taking her time of day. I don't think she's ever let anyone even think about having a crush on her. You would actually have to know her to do all that.” he grimaced a little. Thinking about all the times the chubby girl had ditched him, snuck away from him, or straight up blew him off to go do something else.

Multiple times he asked for her help with paper while in the library together. If he asked to do them with her she refused, the next day she would just bring him a fully edited paper before wandering back off to who knows where. She was hardly ever up front and would rather stay in the shadows. Never to be looked upon, never asked to be anyone life lifeline.

“That's funny seeing as I've been up her ass all day during classes.” Sweet Pea smirked. He knew he was getting on the girl's nerves. He was actually enjoying it a little. Scratching at his neck a little he found Jughead just staring at him. Eyes were slightly wide as if he was in some kind of disbelief. Something inside him felt good to see the uptight guy so silently stunned.

“I thought I told you not to mess with her.”

“I did! Kinda? I couldn't help but mess with her just a little bit okay? Honestly I feel like you overdoing it when talking about her. I have only been around her for like half the day and she hasn't acted like anything you saying. Is she Moody? Oh yeah definitely. But is she so fidgety that she runs away at the slight poke? Nah. She is a pushover.” he rolled his eyes at the newest serpent. The or eyes meet for a short period of time.

Jughead was ever so slightly surprised at the sudden turn of events.

Reader was not a pushover by any means.

“All she did was hiss at me, like a pissed-off cat when I started bugging her. She didn't make any attempt to leave or ditch me. Yeah, she didn't talk to me unless I got her to but still. She wasn't a complete shut-in around me. And fuck man she's sarcastic. She's like you but on steroids.” he chuckled a little after swallowing a big bit of his food.

Jughead scoffed a little as he looked back at the school.

“Well if that's the case, we may have a new advantage at this school.”

The others all looked back at him.

Sweet Pea stopped eating for a moment, his eyes moving from Jug to slowly drifting to the school. His eyes followed the other boy's gaze.

Only time would tell what Jughead meant by that.

[wrencatte]

mini fic 8 ! Fallen Order - Bogano First Visit - Cal & Greez & Cere Cal likes to sleep in...interesting places. Greez POV - 1.6k words

ao3 minific link - chapter 7 (beard)

Cal comes back from exploring more of Bogano limping, but in good spirits. Giddy, even!

Greez would almost be suspicious of it, not quite trusting the kid still, if it weren’t for how…young he looks with his cheeks flushed and his hair wild, holding an animated conversation with that droid that’s apparently sticking around. It takes years off him. Makes him look his age and like he wasn’t – like he wasn’t part of what was a genocide of his people.

Oh…great. Now Greez is sad just from looking at him.

He goes back to focusing on sprucing up the Mantis, determined to ignore his growing fondness for a kid who could scrap his ship for credits in a heartbeat. Scrappy describes the kid in more ways than one and Greez is not getting attached, stop. But he is. Because Cal is serious and jaded, but he also listens to Greez when he talks about the upgrades he’s done to the Mantis, asking intelligent questions and actually interested in the answer. He loves all food, never picky even when Cere’s nose wrinkles just a bit. When he laughs, it sounds like he means it despite all the terrible things he’s gone through. And – he’s just a kid. How could Greez dislike a kid who’s gone through such hardships and yet is still trying to do some good in galaxy?

He wonders vaguely if that’s a Jedi thing or a Cal Kestis thing – and decides maybe it’s a little bit of both. Cere’s a good person too. He can see the similarities in the two of them, raised on the same values and lessons, just trying their best in a galaxy that hates them.

Greez is so good at ignoring his own feelings and everything around him that an hour passes before he realizes…Cal isn’t hanging around anymore. The latero briefly considers being worried, but then dismisses the thought. He’s probably back out exploring Bogano. Sometimes the kid disappears for the entire day, gone before the sun rises and not back until it’s well below the horizon. How he can find so much to explore in this backwater swamp, he has no idea, but he’s not about to go out investigating himself.

Satisfied with that logic, it’s back to buffing out the blaster marks off the Mantis’ exterior. Hm, maybe a new paint job? Cal found something out in one of the workshops, didn’t he? Presented it with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes, laughing when Greez opened it and found an eye-watering pink inside. Pink is a little too distinctive, but Cal handed over another tin of an understated swamp green Greez actually likes. Maybe he’ll tag the kid to help.

He’s distracted by his thoughts by a flash of red-white out of the corner of his eye – BD-1, wandering around and scanning insects that he’s probably scanned a dozen times before.

….with no ginger-haired Jedi in tow.

Great.

Where BD is, Cal should also be. It’s a new rule of the galaxy. Never one without the other. The last time that happened, turns out Cal got tangled up in some rope and was hanging over a drop so high Greez couldn’t see the ground.

“Where is he?” he asks the little droid. He gets a simple beep in response which Greez totally understands. Completely. Yeah.

 – Greez stares blankly, not understanding at all. BD does a little head waggle, making a noise that sounds suspiciously like a droid’s version of laughter. That little shit.

“Hey! We can’t all be fluent in fifty billion languages. Give me a break.”

He may be over-estimating that number by a tad, but it’s definitely a high number. The translation matrix in the Mantis isn’t exactly top notch, but it has a pretty decent database and it still glitches when Cal gets worked up and switches to a new language he hadn’t used before.

The question is how does he know so many and the answer gives Greez a headache every time.

He will never understand the Force.

“Just…where is he? If he fell in a hole and broke is leg somewhere Cere’s gonna to kill me.”

Or ran into another, what did he call it? An oggdo? According to Cal, he barely escaped with his life. Still injured from their escape from Bracca and caught by surprise, the kid lost a good chunk of his poncho and had to be hosed down before being let back onto the ship, covered in toad gunk and mud. Now that he’s healed, he’s supposed to be figuring out their next move concerning the Vault, but maybe he’s decided to throw himself into a fight with an oggdo again – and lost, and that’s why BD’s here, looking for help.

BD-1 would be more frantic if that was the case, right?

“Where’s Cal?”

Ah, speak and she shall appear. The galaxy really is just out to get him.

Greez face-palms as he turns to see Cere standing on the Mantis’ ramp, looking a little sleep ruffled but getting more and more awake as her gaze bounces from Greez to BD-1 and never to Cal because Call isn’t here. The fact that she’s stopped long enough to fall asleep, let alone actually slept, is a kriffin’ miracle. She’s been non-stop ever since they picked up Imperial communications of a Jedi on Bracca and said Jedi turned out to be a teenager who decided to immediately pass out from his injuries once they entered hyperspace.

And that was nearly three weeks ago.

“Heeyy, Cere. Have a nice nap?”

She raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “I did, actually. Now, where’s Cal?”

Greez waves a hand. “Oh, you know him. He’s probably getting distracted by some new thing to explore.”

Cere crosses his arms, eyes flickering down to where BD-1 is watching them. “And I’m sure he made a conscious decision to do that without BD-1, didn’t he?”

“Maybe. You never know.” Greez feels oddly defensive, and he wonders if that’s a Jedi Master ability, making him feel like a kid who stole from the sweets jar when it reality it was his brother.

BD bwoops, it almost sounds like he’s laughing, hopping from foot to foot before he takes off, disappearing behind the ship’s ramp quick as a blink. Greez and Cere exchange bewildered looks. All they can do is follow. Where BD is, Cal will also be. And in turn, where Cal is, BD will be there. This they’ve learned – Cere when she nearly tripped over the droid sitting patiently as Cal meditated. Greez when he went to the second level of the Mantis for storage and found BD standing guard as Cal quietly had some sort of panic attack.

Kindred spirits, Cere had called them with a sad sort of smile on her face.

When they make their way under the Mantis – Cere having to duck – what greets them is, quite frankly, an adorable sight.

Cal is curled up in the shadows, poncho pulled tight around him, head cradled on his arm.

Deeply asleep. He’s not even talking like he sometimes does. His expression is relaxed, content even. A few of the brown, bouncing critters that dig burrow – boglings? – are piled up around him like a lump of dozing akk dogs. Ears twitch. Legs kick out as they dream. They’re snoring. These little sounds that Greez will never admit out loud he finds cute. If he listens closely enough, he can hear a deeper snore from beneath the pile – Cal.

BD beeps quietly, a job well done in letting them know where Cal is, then skitters over to the kid, picking carefully around various limbs until he can tuck himself under Cal’s arm and snuggle against his chest like he’s a bogling himself. Cal makes a soft sound and curls around the droid, holding him close.

“Would you look at that,” Cere says softly, expression aching.

Cal sleeping -- actually sleeping without nightmares or pain – is something neither of them are familiar with at all. And who can blame him? Greez can’t imagine that the kid’s been through. He’ll be having nightmares himself for a long while thanks to Bracca.

“Do we leave him here?” Greez asks, torn between wanting him to sleep and cringing at the amount of mud that’s gotta be soaking into his clothes.

BD whirls in quiet warning, daring them to try and wake Cal. Cere laughs, shaking her head.

“Do you want to be the one who wakes him up?” she asks, her tone amused. Greez grimaces. No thank you. “I thought so. It’s better if we let him sleep, especially if he’s sleeping so well. It’ll be easier to connect to the Force if he’s well rested.”

“So, we just…walk away? Leave him alone?” Sleeping outside isn’t exactly his idea of a good time.

“Are you planning on going any further from the ship?”

“Well, no.”

Cere gestures to the boglings that have, surprisingly, not run away yet. A couple are looking at the two of them with wide, wary eyes, but they seem too comfortable to move. “He has plenty of guards. We’re not going anywhere. You’re more than welcomed to hose him down before he boards.”

“Oh. Yeah. Good point.” Greez is absolutely hosing him down. Bogano mud stinks.

They leave him there, sleeping soundly with BD on guard, but they don’t go far. Cere disappears for only a couple minutes before she comes back out with a holonovel, a drink, and a chair, setting up right where she can juusstt see a peek of Cal under the ramp. Greez picks up the buffer again, pauses in thought, then hurries to grab the swamp green paint tin – after a nanosecond of hesitation, he scoops up the pink paint as well.

He’s sure there’s a non-obtrusive thing he can paint pink. Maybe it’ll get that one bright, looks-his-age smile from Cal again.

[genshin-impacted]

Exchange of Rings

(Alhaitham x Reader - 3/?) 

You and Alhaitham learn about each other while living together. Neither of you mind what you're seeing (or hearing). OR cooking + hobbies + singing

Word Count: ~3.5k

Notes: afab!reader, second person pov “you”, gn!reader, switches pov with Alhaitham, modern au, arranged marriage, fall first/fall harder, suggestive themes, slow burn

[Previous - Next]

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Like most working adults, you and Alhaitham are gone for most of the day and home at around sunset. With your differing schedules, you don’t get to see each other for most of the week. Still, the two of you begin to develop a routine together with the awareness that you are no longer living alone. 

It means making more food so the two of you can pack the leftovers for lunch. Having cooked at home for your family, you have less trouble adapting the portions to make enough for the two of you, but for the first nights Alhaitham made dinner, there was nothing to bring to work the next day. It wasn’t a big deal, but Alhaitham seemed inordinately upset, if only because he had believed he had made enough for four people and increased the proportion of ingredients appropriately. 

You think you were partially to blame, considering you probably ate enough saffron rice for maybe two and a half people, and you tell him just as much. You were half-joking, but Alhaitham leveled you a look. Before you could get nervous and actually apologize, he nodded to himself. 

“I’ll simply increase the proportions two-fold next time,” Alhaitham said. “I should have taken into consideration both of our individual diet patterns when calculating.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, really,” you stammered, feeling your face heat up. “Your cooking is just really good. I don’t eat that much usually.”

Alhaitham had stared at you again, observing you, and it is now a feeling you have grown familiar with, though it still makes you feel the need to look away. It’s not as though it really bothers you; if it had, you don’t think you would survive in this relationship where Alhaitham is prone to thinking before speaking. (Sometimes, for a long time.)

In some ways, the way Alhaitham looks at you makes you feel seen. And that’s why it’s embarrassing, you think: you feel as though he can tell who you really are behind the polite pretenses and manners hammered into your psyche. 

Just when you think he’s decided to drop the topic, he said, “There’s no need to be embarrassed. There’s nothing wrong with a big appetite. If you were worried about your diet or appearance-”

“Speaking about food,” you interrupted, voice a twinge higher, “is this your mom’s recipe? It’s really good!”  

You can still palpate his desire to continue the previous conversation even as he graciously allowed you to talk about the subject of the day. 

.

Living together also means waking up to an alarm and clicking snooze only twice– maximum. The two of you actually had a serious discussion about this, having apparently shared the scenario of an unfortunate roommate pressing snooze every five minutes for a half hour. 

The two of you already worked out the chores; some things you do together (dusting, cooking, setting up the table), while others you take turns doing. The topic of laundry came up and Alhaitham is the one suggesting doing individual loads for the time being, justifying by saying that he probably will have to do it more often. Which is fair, you think, you take up twice as much closet space as Alhaitham, so that means he has less clothes to rotate through in general. 

What he lacks in closet space, Alhaitham makes it up in the form of books. As promised, he moves in his bookcases, which line up the walls of the small living room next to the couch that he often sits at after dinner for leisurely reading. 

As a reader of specifically non-fiction, you think Alhaitham must be well-read in all topics. You like to dabble in some topics from the sciences or humanities too, and it’s come in handy, helping along some of your supper conversations as they veer towards specific bits of knowledge that you’ve garnered throughout the years. While the last time you’ve really read an informative book was eons ago, Alhaitham is on a constant pursuit of knowledge, sifting through pages and pages of information and grasping at the ones that are pertinent– no matter how esoteric the knowledge may be. 

You remember peering into his bookshelves the other day when it was your turn to dust (worst chore by far). You were hoping to pick up a topic that you could perhaps talk with him about, but some of the books you’ve seen are truly beyond your knowledge AND interest.  

Especially with “Factory Mass Manufacturing and Warehouse Management,” you think absently, as you cut slices of apples onto a plate. Considering how Alhaitham is the secretary of a prominent business, you can somehow see the relevance. But even so, you can never imagine reading something like that just for fun.

You walk over with the plate of fruit, crunching on a slice before gently placing the plate on the arm of the couch next to Alhaitham. You peer over his shoulder to look at his reading material.  The font is small, paragraphs thick and heavily informative almost like a textbook, but Alhaitham is close to finishing. Incredulous, you catch a glimpse of the title, and it’s the same warehouse management book you’d seen a few days before.

“You’re already almost done reading that?” You ask, bewildered. You look at Alhaitham as he pauses midway from picking up a slice of the apples you have cut. 

“It’s not that long,” he replies, flipping to the last page. “Only about 400.” 

‘Only,’ he says. You only nod. “Is it interesting to you? How do you choose what book to read next?”

“I don’t have a system, if that’s what you’re asking,” Alhaitham says. “I just choose whatever seems to be a good read for the time being.”

“Do you read just non-fiction?”

“Not always. I find that fiction and imagination can often explore various topics that reality cannot.” Alhaitham bookmarks his place in the book before shutting it. You blink when he turns to place his full attention on you. “Do you read?”

Fanfiction comes to mind immediately, but you aren’t planning to admit that right off the bat. “Nothing recently,” you say. He gives you a glance before standing up, and you follow curiously behind him as he sifts through his selection of books.  “I also usually read fictional works over non-fiction, but…”

“Are you interested in the sciences?” Alhaitham asks, pulling out a book from his collection, “Or history?”

Alhaitham ends up giving you two of the thinner non-fiction books to start with, both about topics that you surprisingly do have an interest in. You don’t remember ever talking to him about the specifics, but you garner he must have gained some sort of knowledge about your preferences in the times you’ve talked. You don’t have it in you to turn down Alhaitham’s book recommendations even though you really doubt you can find it in yourself to finish a book let alone read non-fiction. 

For one, you feel like this is a heaven-sent opportunity to bond with the man. Anyone can look at him and see how important books are to him, and you want to show interest in his hobbies, no matter how different they are from yours. And if you do end up reading, you get some more knowledge you can talk to Alhaitham about and- you try not to be too giddy at this– you might use this chance of reading to sit next to Alhaitham when he reads. (You believe they call it parallel play.) And two: you might get to understand Alhaitham just a little bit more if you delve into the books he cherishes so much.

And for that, you are motivated to see these books through to the end. 

If you sneak a peek at Alhaitham over the pages of your book ever so often, you hope he does not mind. 

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.

.

You and Alhaitham begin to develop a routine together with the awareness that he is no longer living alone. 

Alhaitham has had his share of roommates, has lived with his parents or grandmother for a period of time. But as an adult, he has the autonomy that regardless of where or who he lives with, he does everything on his own. It is different trying to live together with a spouse.

It means sharing the space in which the two of you inhabit. Alhaitham prefers to read on the couch before sleeping, and you always end up sitting on the other seat with the laptop, most likely browsing the internet. When glancing over, he can see you either shop online, scroll through social media, or play a game. It’s an open-world concept, you had explained to him when he asked once out of curiosity: Genshin Impact.  

You had looked at him then with a mix of embarrassment and anticipation, on the precipice of saying something more. You probably wanted to elaborate on what kind of game it was, but then you seem to hold yourself back, smiling at him before going back to your screen. Alhaitham has never been interested in video games, but he almost wishes you had continued to talk, if only to get to understand the hobbies you’ve touched upon during dinner.

Small talk is terrible, but with you, he can tolerate it to a certain extent. Even when asking about your day, the perspective that you bring to the table so differs from his own that he imagines if he went through the same day as you, the two of you would create very different experiences. 

Your hobbies, too, are very different from his own. His life has always revolved around books, while you have dipped your toes into whatever hobby suits your fancy at that time. Anime, gaming, baking, crocheting, embroidering, writing, photography: your interests are diverse and often fleeting, though some of those have stayed with you till now. Alhaitham is a learner- he has theories and knowledge filling his mind to the brim, and you are a doer, fueled by passion and creativity.

Alhaitham concludes by the end of the month that even with all your differences, there is at least one thing he knows the two of you have in common: curiosity. Perhaps that is why he finds it even pleasant to converse with you. He finds genuine interest in the topics you talk about, and you listen intently when he speaks upon his latest book. The reason why he knows you’re truly listening is because you said just as much.

“Why read books when I can just have you explain them to me,” you tell him jokingly as you wash the dishes that night. “You’re really good at teaching things, Alhaitham. Thanks for being so patient with me.” 

Alhaitham is not unfamiliar with compliments, but he doesn’t remember the last time someone has commended him on his abilities to instruct. And for his ‘patience’? He’s more likely to leave mid-conversation than wait for someone to try and find a grasp on their words. 

He can recall tutoring someone or other during his undergraduate years, but people are rarely as willing to learn or conscientious as you. Perhaps that is why he doesn’t mind taking his time explaining things to you. Some things are harder to grasp for you than others, but he commends you for the effort. And he knows you put the effort into understanding, if the look of disconcert with your furrowed brows and slow nods are of any indication. Your questions are pertinent; they show that you’re actually listening.

It’s much better than some other people he has tried to teach who have only wasted his time trying to ask for help with something that they have no intention to use. It must be why with you, he may seem more patient, while others have found him either curt or intimidating. (He could care less about what people think of him, and the less he interacts with them, the better.) 

Alhaitham gives a simple ‘thanks’ before your attention is back on the dishes. He goes to sit on the couch as per usual to read, but once in a while, he glances up from the pages to look at you, the far more interesting thing in the room.  

If you are by any way bothered by his looks, you don’t say.

.

Living together denotes exactly that– being under the same roof for an extended period of time. On days that both Alhaitham and you stay home all day, a rare occurrence, are days that he fully understands what it means to live in the same space as someone else. 

It’s hearing you let out a huff of laughter after you see something funny on your phone. Or listening to the muffled music that comes from your headphones when the two of you are on the couch together. And you are often on the couch together, many times not speaking but simply doing different activities in the same vicinity, which Alhaitham finds he appreciates very much. 

One of his distaste for married life was the idea that he would always have to be doing the same thing as his significant other. He understands the appeal of it, certainly; seeing you open one of the books he recommended to you as the two of you sit side-by-side has a small smile forming on his lips. But to be doing the exact same thing as his spouse all the time? He much prefers the way you and him complement each other, doing things while still being considerate of the other. 

“Do you mind if I cook fish tonight?” 

“I’m planning to vacuum in an hour; will that interrupt your work?”

“It’s a little cold tonight. Can I turn up the heater?”

And when Alhaitham works out in the living room, he notices you staring at him as you read. 

His headphones are in, but when he pauses his workout, he pauses his music as well. “Am I bothering you?” He asks. He doesn’t think he makes a lot of noise when he exercises, aside from the obligatory breathes he has to take. Perhaps the constant movement in the corner of your eyes is distracting. He finds you frozen in place, mouth gaping open and closed as you try to answer him. He doesn’t particularly think it’s a very difficult question to answer, but he knows you often try to find the best way to word things so he waits.  

Alhaitham does not expect the very simple and stammered “no” that comes from you and the way you scramble to bury your nose back into your book.

You’re embarrassed, he thinks. Why? He looks at you for a while longer, and you seem more determined to not meet his gaze, as though refusing to look at him- ah. 

Alhaitham recalls that the first question you asked him was whether he found you attractive. You never provided an answer to him whether or not you found him attractive, but perhaps you didn’t need to, especially not now.

It’s a… strange feeling, to be admired for his looks. He isn’t exactly unfamiliar with them, but he never cared for how people viewed him– good or bad. Having someone like you look at him, on the other hand… He finds he does not mind the way you are flustered at being caught staring, yet respectful enough to not to purposely bother him and accommodating enough to let him exercise despite how obviously distracting he is.

It’s a little… endearing. And very amusing. If only you’d look at him now, you would catch him smiling even as his workout puts him through the wringer. 

.

.

.

If you could go back in time to catch yourself before you started staring at Alhaitham– attractive, extremely fit Alhaitham who is working out in front of you– you would. You try not to make eye contact with him again after your weak response, and you feel his gaze on you for a moment longer before he goes back to his workout.

Pushups. With one arm. Sweat glistening on his forehead, breath heavy from effort- 

You take a quiet deep breath in and think of less… distracting thoughts and back to the explanation of the downfall of the Byzantine Empire that you’re reading right now. It is unironically a riveting book to sift through, but it’s just that you have something else more entertaining in front of you. Respectfully, you avert your gaze.

“I can cook dinner after I shower,” Alhaitham suddenly says, and you look to your left, craning your neck up to look at him as he wipes his neck with a towel. 

“Okay,” you say automatically, mind still reeling. A brief pause. “Have a nice shower.” 

Alhaitham looks at you again, and you are used to it by now to know that it is neither a good nor bad thing, until you see a quip of a smile on his face. “Thanks,” he basically drawls. “I will.” 

The moment Alhaitham is out of earshot, you slam your face into your book, the cool pages battling the heat on your cheeks.

.

.

.

Living together means Alhaitham can discern some of your habits. It’s the plate of fruits that you cut for him when it’s a quiet afternoon of reading. It’s the way you start or end your sentences, the way you refer to certain things to a point of his own recognition as though you are teaching him your own language. And although you did not do this in the earliest stages of his relationship with you, he suspects that you are beginning to at least become more comfortable living with him, because he begins to hear you sing.

Most of it is probably not meant for his ears. Alhaitham remembers coming back to the apartment with the sounds of your distant, muffled singing, which stops the moment he closes the door shut with a slam. (There is no other way to close this door securely, unfortunately.) He never brings attention to it, suspecting it would only embarrass you and discourage you from singing. 

Or would it do the opposite, he wonders, covering his yawn as he walks into the kitchen after his afternoon nap to see you starting to cook dinner. You’re humming along to the music on your headphones, oblivious to his approach, and Alhaitham takes to leaning against the refrigerator until you turn around and notice him. It’s the first time he’s ever seen you jump and yelp like that. 

“I’ve noticed you sing a lot,” Alhaitham says.

“Sorry, yeah,” you say sheepishly. “Is it distracting?” 

“Not really. There’s really no need to apologize. You’re actually on tune as far as I can tell.” He sees you press your lips together, trying to hide your pleased smile. “Are we eating pasta tonight?” He asks.

“Yeah, with tomato sauce,” you say, stirring the pot gently. “So you really don’t mind? Me…” You wave your hand in a vague gesture. “Singing and all.”

“I don’t mind,” he says. Alhaitham thinks he’s been quite straightforward with how he feels about things in general. You know by now that he does not give opinions in halves; what he thinks is as clear as day. You don’t look so convinced, but it is true: he doesn’t mind hearing you sing. He’s always been sensitive to noises, bothered by the interruptions to the serenity of silence, but your voice he finds he does not mind. Perhaps he is used to hearing you, having lived with you for some time now, but he finds it hard to separate you and your voice with the image of home. (He supposes he has two places he can call home now.)

That and he can always filter the noises you make if he really needs to. Being accustomed to living with you has its perks, after all, but he has yet to find a reason to do so. In some ways, silence is no longer a part of his daily routine anymore. Alhaitham finds he does not mind that either when it involves you.  

Alhaitham continues, “Though I do ask you don’t sing in the showers if it’s late; I do sleep quite early-”

“Yeah, no, no problem,” you stammer, staring at the pot as though it required more of your attention. (It does not as far as he knows.) “I- So you’ve heard me sing in there too?”

“Yes,” he says simply. When you stand there, stunned, he continues, “Again, I don’t mind it.”

“Noted.” You slowly grin, telling him teasingly, “Feel free to burst into song any time too, Alhaitham.” 

The comment surprises a huff of laughter out of him, and he walks to the living room knowing full well you’re still smiling ear to ear. “Unlikely, but thanks anyways.” He says, “I’ll be reading; let me know if you need help.”

Alhaitham hears you chirp out an affirmation before going back to cooking. The stove flickers out as you turn off the stove, turning around to separate the pasta from water. Alhaitham is a few pages into his new book when he begins to hear you hum again. He looks up from his book to watch you bob your head along with the song you’re singing, steam rising from the sink as the hot water is poured. 

He’s smiling as he goes back to read his book. 

.

.

.

Taglist:

@crowbird @thetwinkims @jaguarthecat @loki-zos-galvus @fantasy-enthusiast @tanspostsblog @dxstopiaa @theprinceofkhaos @homeinhobii @nagisuterus

[bp-zb1fics]

hi! i love how you write bp trainee!reader fics and i was like ‘omg imagine jay x g group trainee!reader’ so i came here to request something. i wanted to request jay chang confessing to g group!reader during the boys planet finale, or something a long the lines of that. i wanted to see your take on how he would confess to someone, you can always switch up the plot or even ignore this ask if you don’t want to write it! <3

If this was a movie

pairing: jay x g group reader

genre: canon, fluff

tw/tags: lots of pining, confessions, a kiss or two, some swears, jay kinda dramatic and very in denial, kamden, matthew, ricky best wingmen, a lil hui vs jay action but not really 

wc: 1731

summary: it’s the sleepover night before the finale and jay has something to tell you.

a/n Hi! First of all thank you so much for this lovely request, it was an utter pleasure to write and I really enjoyed it and I hope you will too! I'm always a sucker for canon fics because it's so fun to take the show we all know and love and hate sometimes bc mnet kinda shady and write about it. I've lifted lines directly from the sleepover segment from episode 12, just be citing my sources. I definitely would have included reader/ mc/ y/n's pov but ended up keeping it to jay's pov for some reason, idk maybe it's like writer brain. If anyone wants a "your pov" version, do let me know~ that would be a fun part 2

Check my pinned for more fics~

Italics mean it’s spoken in English.

Jay tips his head back and exaggerates his cringe, laughing along with everyone at Gunwook stealing Junhyeon’s aegyo. Only he can’t help but let his eyes linger back to you giggling quietly from where you’re leaning against Hoetaek, the elder playing with your hair. 

And even if he knows that Hoetaek is a little more familiar with the former Cube trainees like you and Matthew and Sung Hanbin, he can’t help but feel the smallest twinge of jealousy. He wanted to be close to you like that, to mess with your hair until you pout at him and he can’t help but-

“By all means, keep staring, we might as well get a neon sign that says I LIKE YOU and put it on your head.”

Kamden mumbles from beside him, effectively snapping him out of his maladaptive daydreaming. 

“Oh my god dude, shut up.”

He hisses, still keeping one eye on you as you lean into Hoetaek’s touch. Think positive, Jay. Even if you're also a fellow English speaker, at least you’re far away enough that you probably won’t overhear them. Ricky snickers from his other side.

“You’re so subtle, man.”

He levels them a look. It’s their last night, can’t he get a break?

“It’s our last night Jay, you know, you should tell them.”

Apparently not. 

He looks up and Kamden manages to look even more unimpressed than he usually does, head tilting a little more than 45° for emphasis.

“Nah, it’s cool, besides, they’re definitely not into me.”

Jay deflects, ignoring the sinking feeling that begins to take hold. 

“You don’t know that.”

“I’m pretty sure I do.”

“Just try.”

“You’re being very persistent today, Kam, I dunno, it’s kinda sus.”

Before Kamden can fire back, the whole conversation about memorable first impressions turns around and bites Jay in the ass because the universe loves messing with him.

“So who was your best first impression, Jay-ah?” 

Suddenly everyone’s looking at him expectantly. Kamden and Ricky look like they already know and Jay knows that they know that the answer sitting at the tip of his tongue is just across the room, Hoetaek’s arm around their shoulder. Still, Jay hesitates.

He’s had a crush on you ever since the Star Level test. You had immediately caught his attention walking in. Sure, there were perfect visuals like Jiwoong and Hanbin but you were the most attractive person he’s ever seen. And you were talented, Jay could swear your performance was one of the best but Kamden’s convinced that he’s just biased.

But even though you’re both from G-group, you’ve always ended up in different teams, leaving Jay with not that many opportunities to talk with you. When he does end up around you, he just can’t, defaulting to his usual over the top expressions for laughs. While he’s always thought of himself as a confident person, he just finds himself fumbling around you. It doesn’t help that you seem to stick to Hoetaek or Sung Hanbin or one of your team members. You’re friendly with each other, sure, but nothing more than that. 

Right, back to the question.

“The person I remember the most is Yujin.”

He immediately feels the collective disappointment that emanates from his corner of the room as the rest of the trainees react, Matthew even sitting up to hit him with some bombastic side-eye. He pretends he doesn’t hear Kamden sighs, doing an impression of Yujin which looks more like a possession honestly. The others laugh. Jongwoo’s comment is the crutch he needs to limp away as he holds Yujin in check as competition.

Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy.

“For me, as soon as I heard Jay sing, I felt like I was in trouble.” 

Hoetaek speaks up and Jay forces himself into another exaggerated look of surprise and shoves down the ugly feeling that jumps out at the way you hug one of Hoetaek’s arms. 

“Your competitor?” One of them jokes.

Not just in singing, Jay thinks.

“But you did watch Love Me Right, hyung?” Jongwoo asks. Jay really wants this conversation to move on.

“It was so hard to watch Love Me Right.” He watches as Hoetaek shifts so that you can lean more comfortably.

“That’s not the only thing that’s hard to watch right now.” Ricky breathes out. Now Kamden and Matthew are snickering.

Just smile, Jay. 

“Honestly, I wanted to give up when I saw you, hyung.” He manages to grit out without giving himself away, hopefully. 

Everyone laughs and Jay desperately sends a prayer to the universe to let his pain end. Ironically, it’s Kamden and Matthew who come to his rescue.

“Actually, I’m curious about something. Did I give off an American vibe?”

The conversation swerves towards Matthew’s imitation of Kamden, the apparently routine mispronunciation of Jiwoong’s name and Kamden’s impressive first impression of Ricky’s hair.

By the time they move on to Keita’s first meeting with Zhang Hao, Jay thinks he’s in the clear.

He's not.

Kamden proceeds to smack his arm and he meets eyes with Matthew whose usual bright smile was beginning to border on shit-eating grin territory.

“If you didn’t notice, they’ve been looking at you the whole time we were talking.” Kamden says lowly, Matthew nodding in agreement.

“Nah, you’re capping.”

“No, for real, Kam and I were literally right here giving some top-tier content and all they could see was you.” Matthew insisted.

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“It definitely means something.” Ricky counters because he was apparently listening in on them the whole time while everyone else watched Jiwoong wax poetry over Hao’s violin playing. Jay shakes his head.

“It really doesn’t.”

Kamden looks like he wants to jump on him and start shaking some sense in. Matthew sighs. Ricky just shrugs and lies back down.

“Ah well, we’ll have to see then. I didn’t let Kam slander my hair and my catchphrase for nothing.”

After having to spectate the absolute trainwreck of awkwardness that is Zhang Hao and Kum Junhyeon, there’s the slightest chill that goes down Jay’s spine that he ignores, figuring it must be the weather.

It was definitely not the weather. He should have run while he still had a chance.

“Actually, there’s another pair I want to see.” Matthew speaks up. Suddenly he feels Kamden and Ricky both watching him like hawks as if he’s going to bolt any second now.

After Matthew names you and him, Jay actually wants to bolt. Kamden and Ricky are extremely helpful in explaining to the others the minimal interactions you two have had as the “least close trainees in G-group.” You look like a deer in headlights as Hoetaek gently shoves you towards the middle of the room, whispering something to you before he goes back to his spot. 

“Wah they’re both so red.” Jay becomes acutely aware of how much his cheeks are burning as he sits across you. You don’t seem to be any better, making eye contact before looking literally anywhere else.

Well, might as well get over it so he can go back and die of embarrassment.

“Uh, the first time I saw you was during the Star Level test. I thought you were very talented.”

Damn, when did Korean become so hard? Maybe it was the way your hands were holding his, can you feel how fast his pulse is racing? Okay Jay, you can do this, just speedrun it.

“And I really liked the song you performed, it really fit your voice. Your stage outfit was also very pr- very noticeable, it made you stand out. And I really wanted to get to know you more but we were in different groups all the time which really sucked and you don’t know how many times I wished you chose Home so we could perform together or the Star Creators would put us both in Over me and I understand, you’re really perfect for the concepts of your songs and it’s crazy how much I like you, seriously so crazy.”

Pin-drop silence. Three things, in order, that Jay realises.

Speedrunning this might not have been the best idea.

Switching to English midway through the conversation is a skill that he didn’t know he was capable of considering his level of Korean would definitely be more byelingual than actual, intelligent multilingual like Matthew.

He might have confessed his feelings to you. No actually, he did. Fuck, now would be a great time to get on the next plane and fly off to the States and cry to Beomhan for a month. Forget debuting, he’d settle for a nice normal life without the evil editing and the screen time robbing and the utter stress of eliminations.

But before Jay can actually bolt, you speak up.

“Uh- uhm…” You look so unsure that it freezes him there, seated in front of you, holding your hands like it’s his last lifeline.

“I really like you too.”

Everyone gasps and begins murmuring quietly.

“Wait, my English is bad, what are they saying?”

“Finally, they’ve confessed, I knew it.”

“Wait who confessed?”

“That was like an American romance movie, wow.”

Then the clapping starts. Jay tears his eyes away from you for one second to look at Kamden in utter disbelief. His co-conspirators don’t miss a beat.

“Congratulations, you finally did it! Thank fuck.”

“Be happy together, you two!”

And because Ricky apparently wasn’t satisfied with the slander he had put himself through.

“Now kiss.”

Which turned into a chant because even the trainees who didn’t speak English fluently knew what they were talking about. Someone even helpfully throws a blanket over Yujin to protect his eyes.

Jay turns back and finds you giggling. While it looks like embarrassment, now he could feel the way your fingers interlocked with his, your eyes flitting to his lips. The chanting becomes background noise as he leans in, pressing his lips against yours firmly.

Fireworks explode in the background as you pull away.

Everyone applauds with the occasional whistling, oohing as Jay tugs you to sit between his legs, Ricky graciously scooting over to make space.

Kamden claps him on the back and Matthew flashes both of you a thumbs up.

God, he loves hates these guys.

As the conversation settles back down and everyone decides to actually sleep, you sneak another kiss before cuddling up to his side.

Jay smiles. Maybe this is a movie.

[effervescentdragon]

tell us more about the pirate au sequel please 😊🥰

okay so its the sequel to this fic, which was inspired by me bingeing pirates of the carribean, obviously. this one is from charles' pov and it follows the same kind of structure, switching between past and present in a way that unites them at the end, where the past and present meet. i have the whole plot planned out but i havent had much inspiration to write it, so i will post a part that ive already written. thank you so much for asking btw, the pirate au is one of my favourite things ive written. oh and the rating goes up on this one <3

"Well. This is a buggery."

Charles snorts, then resists the urge to cover his mouth and apologize. Manners maketh man, or however that saying George loves goes, but Charles is trying to get used to the fact that he doesn’t need to be perfectly poised at all times anymore. He is free to say and do whatever he wants, bar some honestly self-explanatory boundaries and rules, since he is a pirate now. The thought gives him a thrill, as it always does. However, the whole pirate thing, well. It’s still quite new, and sometimes he forgets that there are much less arbitrary boundaries to respect and much less rules to abide b⁸y. And even those rules which exist are more like guidelines.

The whole point of piracy is that I am free to speak my mind, he thinks, so he does.

"Not really. Buggery is much more pleasant than all of this."

Him and Susie look at each other, then burst into laughter.

"You may be right, little Prince." She grins, and Charles likes the way all the words sound in her Scottish brogue. "I've never tried it in my life, so I bow to your authority."

It suits her, the speech, and how rough it sometimes sounds to the untrained eye, he thinks. It's fierce and unyielding, just like her. Susie is leaning on the bars, casual as anything, but there is a tightness around her mouth and eyes that belies the severity of the situation they're in. Still, it helps Charles relax, just knowing she’s also here. Knowing he isn’t alone, that he has someone to talk to, even if it’s about things that are probably not appropriate in their current situation.

Then again, what would be a more appropriate time for some light-heartedness than this, he thinks, then says "I can attest with my own, ah, personal experience, it is much, much better than this.”

“Yes. We’ve all heard your personal experience, little Prince.” Her grin is wicked and mischievous, and despite his best efforts, it makes Charles blush. He’s gotten rid of most of his ‘uppity, princely reservations’, as Sebastian likes to say, the bastard, but he thinks there will always be a part of him that will be embarrassed about his love life. “Monsieur Gasly apparently isn’t all talk, if the sounds coming nightly from your cabin are anything to go by.”

Charles blushes, as he is still wont to do, because despite all the freedom he has in the world, some things are so fundamental, they never change. His propensity to blush is, sadly, one of them.

“Yes, well,” he stammers. “He is, ah. Good at certain things.” He smiles wickedly. "Very good, in fact."

Susie waggles her eyebrows.

“Oh, I’ve heard how good he is. Magnificent, if my French knowledge serves me correctly. Divine, I believe was another word used frequently.” Charles knows his cheeks are red, but he’ll bear the embarrassment if it means Susie isn’t feeling dejected for at least a moment. “Incroyable, also. Often.”

“Fantastique, aussi,” he says haughtily, just to hear her laugh. “As I say, buggery is way more enjoyable than this conundrum we have found ourselves in."

Susie snorts. "Conundrum, he says. This is a fuckery, Charles," she states gloomily. "A fuckery, and I'm not sure how we'll get ourselves out of it."

Charles isn't sure either, if he's being honest. Everything went wrong in the blink of an eye, and he hasn’t had time to breathe since he was roughly manhandled and struck on the head, at which point his memory ceases. He has woken up in this cell, the movement making it obvious he was on a ship. He recognised the decorations, or lack thereof if he were to be accurate, and his guess had proven correct when a uniformed officer dragged a spiffing-mad Susie with him but a moment ago and threw her into Charles’ cell without a second glance.

Charles did very much admire how Susie somehow managed to leave obvious nail-tracks against the soldier’s hands despite being bound in heavy chains, just as Charles was.

[misguidedandperplexed]

Questions about fanfiction that I need everyone else's opinion on, apparently (part 2)

Head-hopping (also called head-jumping) refers to when the writer jumps between different viewpoints (or POVs) in middle of a scene, i.e. the writer includes thoughts, feelings, and references to lived experiences for more than one character in a scene. The perspective change can occur between paragraphs, sentences, and sometimes even within the same sentence.

It's different from a POV jump in a dual- or multi-POV story in that there's no indication of the jump (i.e. section break or new chapter), and there's sometimes more than one jump — to a third/+ character or back to a previous character's POV.

It's also different from Third Person Omniscient in that there isn't a separate omniscient narrator who sees and knows all (e.g. the narrator in the Good Omens novel). In Third Person Omniscient, the whole story is written from the narrator's perspective, using their 'voice' throughout all the narration, whereas in head-hopping the story is told from the perspective of two/+ characters, using each of their 'voices' during the parts being told from their perspective.

Some readers find head-hopping jarring because it requires them to resituate themselves in the different characters' perspectives each time there's a switch, and may additionally confuse them if references to other characters aren't consistent (e.g. writing "his head office" twice in one sentence and referring to the two different head offices of two different characters).

An example of head-hopping:

Crowley slips his sunglasses back on. He usually takes them off as soon as he enters the bookshop, but their discussion is making him far too uncomfortable and vulnerable to even consider meeting Aziraphale's eyes. Aziraphale hesitates before asking his next question, hopes that he's not pushing the matter too far, hopes that Crowley won't stomp out with some silly excuse instead of considering what he's asking. He rather enjoys spending time with Crowley and doesn't want this to come between them.

(sorry if it's poorly written/OOC, I wrote this on the spot because I didn't want to use any published fics as an example) (if you're not a fan of Good Omens, you have my apology for using it as an example) (if you are a fan, there are no spoilers; it doesn't refer to any actual conversation/event in canon)

If I've written the example in a way that doesn't illustrate the difference well enough, here are a few articles that discuss head-hopping, with more examples: link, link, link.

I personally don't like head-hopping. I'm probably at a 'dislike' but have in the past stopped reading fics if the hopping got too confusing or frustrating.

If you specifically do or don't like head-hopping, I'd love to hear why!

Please reblog for greater reach and more opinions!

Part 1 (includes reblogs with additional helpful info from @oliversrarebooks)

[mqfx]

unfortunately my most prominent jyl thoughts start with the soup. & im no expert on ancient chinese kitchens, but given that lotus root & pork soup is something that simmers for hours, i think that as much as the soup is an act of service & a tried and true "we dont have to talk about it" comfort tactic, its also... a great excuse to duck away from everything going on. the kitchen being the safe space, so to speak! and overall jyl seems more avoidant than confrontational? i havent read mdzs for the details in years can you tell but i think theres a good chance under the right circumstances she could have become jfm 2: shijie edition, in which she can read emotional cues fairly well and she doesn't want anyone to be unhappy, but how proactive she might be about resolving a situation is entirely based on how secure she feels. im not forgetting her valiant defence of wwx "i take insults against him seriously" moment! but theres a difference between an eroding stagnant unhappiness & a situation that is more clear cut. im just not confident about how she would raise jin ling in the whole (waves hand) jin situation if she had not been collateral damage. is this making sense 😭

this is all true but let me make clear that my problem with how the fandom conceptualizes jiang yanli is NOT the soup. I'm not mad about the soup and in fact since it's one of basically three things that we even know about her at all, it stands to reason that when we think about her we're Gonna Have To Mention the Soup.

and one can (if one cares enough about her, which I'm sure you do anon) draw reasonable conclusions about her character based on this thing that she does. after all, everything is (supposed to be) important in a given text. I don't disagree with anything you said. she is a careful, conflict-avoidant person due to her tumultuous childhood with abusive/neglectful parents; despite this, she possesses strong morals and protective instincts. I don't think she would've been bad at raising jin ling because unlike her parents, she and her husband actually loved each other and communicate instead of willfully misunderstanding each other then bottling it all up (if she had married someone she didn't love, then yeah she might've been jfm 2. either way we'll never know because guess fucking what mxtx did)

my ISSUE, which fandom can barely acknowledge let alone address, is that "soup" has become a convenient shorthand to refer to her, but it's not a quality. it's a thing that is associated with her, not her personality. this isn't fair! "avoidant" is a trait, "comforting" is a trait, "kind" is a trait, "average" is a trait, soup's not a fucking trait! and some of that is just the general fandom trend of flattening characters in fanon, but the fact that she's a woman and therefore not paid as much attention compared to the ~Complexities~ of the men doesn't help

and I get that sometimes it's not that serious, sometimes it's for Joaks, but why is it that even when joking people can come up with all sorts of qualities for the men but when it's her it's just that she cooks soup? and in more serious discussions, why is her sole purpose apparently to be emotional support or tragic motivation for her brothers? (because mxtx herself wrote her that way!)

why did mxtx not delve into her reactions or point of view (mdzs is the only one of her novels with switching pov, so she could have)? or even just written more scenes with her? (CQL notably gave the women more scenes. the book is abysmal on this regard.....and in others)

tl;dr mxtx did a shit job of developing her character and that of the other women, and fandom makes this problem worse by not giving a shit. the feedback loop continues. your ask and my answer combined are already more words and effort than mxtx spent on writing her

[theliterarygnat]

THE HUNGER OF THE GODS BY JOHN GWYNNE

2/5 stars | Major Spoilers Unfinished and unpolished

__________________________________

Even if I were to enjoy this book, I would not be able to rate it over 2 stars. There is much in here that shows The hunger of the Gods is unfit for publication as it is an unfinished product. A traditionally published book generally goes through several edits before is goes out to the public, and this has clearly either not received that treatment or the editors did not do their jobs well; whether that be because the publisher didn't let them or not is a different matter. However, my paperback edition published in 2023 contains hella many issues. Dialogue tags either disappear into the nether or appear out of nowhere, sometimes they are disconnect from the dialogue and in the wrong place, characters on multiple times are misnamed or have their names misspelled, there is inconsistent italicization, inconsistent hyphenation, inconsistent capitalization, and many sentences (much like this one) should have been split at least in half if not into threes. I cannot fault Gwynne for this as this type of polishing and finishing is the job of the editors, for them to either do or point out to him to get it fixed. From my understanding, Gwynne's daughter had died the year this book had been published. It seems to me that Orbit, the publishing house, has not given Gwynne the time to grieve and pushed for publication of what is essentially a partially-uncooked meal. It's generally solid, but the lack of these finishing touches adds up to a lackluster product. I cannot blame this on the author, so I will not; I am however looking askance at Orbit.

About the actual content of this novel! I have blogged my experiences with this book on this blog as I went through the chapters, where my most detailed thoughts and critiques of prose can be found. I get somewhat redundant there but also very specific about what isn't working and why.

The pacing is generally better than The Shadow of the Gods, though there is much build-up to a rather short climax. The main reason the pacing works better, despite this book being meatier, is that the characters tend to be in harmony regarding the energy and action-levels of their chapters, making the flow generally more consistent than in book one. Likewise the multi-POV structure feels more natural. My biggest gripe with TSOTG was that it should have been three books instead of one, or at least three short-stories that we read in full one after the other. The head-switching in The Shadow of the Gods felt pointless with how little the stories overlapped. There are multiple scenes in THOTG that we can see from two to three different POVs, which helps make the multi-POV quirk work much better. Some chapters feel less important than others, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense for some of them to be there.

However, there are problems with this book. Mainly, there are underutilized, underdeveloped, and unexplained elements that muddle the story. Raising gods from the dead is done twice, and neither of them amount to anything; not to mention that while the Battle-Grim have the wherewithal to raise Ulfrir from the dead, they somehow don't consider bringing Agnar back at all. That is despite him dying a bad death in book one. We also know from Varg and other sibling-Tainted that Tainted born of the same mother and father have a mental link going on, which lets them know if their siblings are alive, hurt or well, or dead. Glornir, despite being Thorkel's brother, apparently didn't know he was alive, AND didn't realize he died only weeks/months prior?

The characters do not grow significantly (besides maybe Varg and Biórr) and some of them get worse if not stagnant. I will not speak at length about the characters as I have done that enough on this blog and all my issues with them. However, to be short and concise:

Orka is the same the whole two books; stone-hearted, hellbent on getting her son back and willing to do anything it takes to get to him. This isn't really bad when it comes to Orka specifically, but it does get hard to care sometimes. She gets more supporting characters this book, which helps keep her chapters exciting, though there is… not enough drama/emotion there for my liking.

Varg is getting better at fighting and smarter with how he speaks with people (mostly if not only with Sulich) but there are some things that Gwynne does with his character that just do not land with me. He's still the character I enjoy the most because I like the archetype of his character, but there is not much focus on his personal quest, which sucks.

Elvar is much of the same and worse, not just a mercenary slaver but also a slave-owner who will not hesitate to beat her slaves if they cross her. I don't really like how the book kind of gives her everything she wants and didn't care for before she got it; it's handed to her on a silver platter when her character is one of the shallowest of them all. She gets more depth added here, her backstory becoming more prominent, but that only makes her worse. There was no hint of any of that in the first book when that should have come out the second her father started trying to manipulate her in Snakavik. It feels tacked on to make her more interesting. It also retroactively makes the chapter of her trying to decide between the Battle-Grim and her father in TSOTG worse and more stupid, and I already hated the fact we needed to devote a whole chapter to it only for Elvar to have to be told by someone else to not be an idiot. I rant about her a lot during my "live-reading" summaries because there is just so much that does not work for me with this character.

Guðvarr surprisingly tolerable but also the most aggravating of them all. Gwynne kept on trying to make him more pathetic by mentioning him potentially pissing/shitting himself almost every single chapter, which got boring quick, and didn't really have the desire effect. I just started rolling my eyes. He also seemed a little inconsistent, both extremely self-aware at times and bordering on self-hatred only then to genuinely self-aggrandize with no capacity for introspection whatsoever. It's not necessarily unrealistic but I wish Guðvarr's character was more straightened out because while I hated him as a person, he had the potential to be an intriguing character.

Biórr had potential that got squandered in his first chapter. He was not the character I wanted nor expected, and honestly he is worse for it. I had high hopes about him being a strong-willed anti-slavery warrior who'd be among the first to question Lik-Rifa, enough to maybe break ranks, but not really; he's whiny, constantly talking about Elvar and Agnar (made all the worse by my dislike of these characters) and he doesn't have much solid substance to him. Not offensively bad, but he was not someone I really cared about.

Lik-Rifa also lacked gravitas or charisma on the page, being rather two-dimensional and very transparent to the reader. There isn't much to say about the plot. Nothing impactful truly happens until the very end, making it a very, very slow build-up filled with blips of excitement. This story overall is not one I particularly enjoy or care about, but that I will be seeing through when the last book comes out. This is less because I'm genuinely invested and more because the Bloodsworn Saga has been frustrating for me, and I want to know what all of this was for. My hopes especially are that Elvar gets what she deserves (which is: nothing fucking good. she needs a serious humbling), and I want to follow Varg around some more. I also hope that Snakka will actually have some actual presence in that book, because while Ulfrir is on the cover of this one, he does fuckall.

[novelmonger]

Book Review: Shatterpoint by Matthew Stover

Recommended by @rainintheevening as part of the 2023 Book Rec Exchange

Quote that should have been on the back of the book: "Ever since I came to this planet, people have been telling me how crazy I am. They've told me this so many times that I had started to wonder if it might be true. Now, though, I understand: you don't say this because it's true. Not even because you think it's true. You say it because you hope it's true. Because if I am insane, you aren't really the revolting slime-hearted vermin that, down deep, you know you are." [Don't get me wrong, the quote that is actually on the back of the book is pretty good too.]

Premise: This is a Star Wars novel set during the early days of the Clone Wars. The Jedi Council catches wind of one of their number, Depa Billaba, who has apparently turned to the dark side. She went to Haruun Kal, Mace Windu's homeworld, whose government has sided with the Separatists. Her mission was to recruit resistance against the government among the Korunnai, the people who live in the dangerous jungles of that world, all of whom are Force-sensitive. (The running theory is that a ship full of Jedi crash-landed on the planet in ages past and were not able to leave, and so they settled there. Mace was a Korun orphan who was sent to be trained as a Jedi, unlike most Korunnai.) After word reaches the Jedi that Depa seems to have fallen or even gone insane, Mace goes to Haruun Kal to try to find out what became of her and hopefully bring her back. He volunteers to go not only because it's his homeworld, but because Depa was once his Padawan, and so he is best suited to bring her in.

Thoughts: I've always liked Mace Windu and thought he was pretty cool, but I never quite felt like I understood him on any deep level. He was always that aloof guy on the Council, sitting there with steepled fingers and silently judging everybody. So I was immediately interested to get a better handle on what makes him tick. It was especially interesting to me to watch him struggle with the pull of the dark side, and the way warfare was already haunting him, even in these early days. The Jedi were never supposed to be soldiers, and this book makes it so clear why.

It took me a while to get a handle on Stover's writing style in this book, and while it's generally effective enough, I don't think I'm a huge fan of it. For one thing, he keeps switching back and forth between third-person narration of the story, and the first-person journal recordings Mace is making. While it makes sense that Mace would do such a thing, it sometimes resulted in there being a scene where they prepare to do something, then you switch to the journal entry after the thing happened, and we don't actually get to see it playing out in front of us. That's a pet peeve of mine, after suffering through Robert Jordan's habit of skipping all the action in favor of people thinking about talking to someone, then skipping ahead to them thinking about how they talked to someone. (But it was nowhere near as bad in this one as it was in Wheel of Time.) Smaller quibbles about Stover's style include too much name-dropping of the exact model of weapons (which does nothing to help me imagine it, sorry), and the way he would sort of slip in and out of a limited third-person POV and a more omniscient one. I would be comfortably inside Mace's head, privy only to his own thoughts, and then along would come a sentence that said in effect, "And Mace was so awesome and powerful and everyone was intimidated by him." It felt a little too much like Mace was bragging to himself about how cool he was XD

Don't get me wrong, though--Mace is definitely cool in this book. There's a whole host of cool fight scenes, both with his lightsaber and without, where you really get a sense of what a Jedi Master in his prime can do. And then when it comes to planning and thinking up ways to outwit his enemies as he understands what he's up against and the tables get turned time and again...Mace is pushed to his limit, but he manages to make it all work out. And it's not just his prowess with a lightsaber or the Force or battle strategies, either. The strength of his character and integrity, as well as his ability to see into the heart of his enemies as well as his friends, his capacity to love and forgive...I came away from this book with even more respect for Mace Windu than I had before. It's so clear why he's a Jedi Master.

But, as I said to the dear friend who recommended this book to me: I give Mace Windu an A+ for style, but a D- for stealth :P

Also, the award for Best Supporting Character goes to Nick Rostu, a Korun who lived most of his life in the capital city and hopes to become a mercenary someday, and who helps Mace throughout the book. He's a lot of fun, has some great quips, as well as some good banter with Mace. The way Stover kept harping on about how annoying Nick was, and having Mace think about how the two of them were not going to get along, made it pretty obvious that Stover very much wants the reader to fall in love with him. And this reader definitely did :D

[fortes-fortuna-iogurtum]

hehehehehehhhe i wrote a whole fic tonight hehehehehehehehehhehehe

[autisticgayngel]

Canonverse Castiel-centric/pining/loving Cas fics

some of these are Dean's POV and a lot are alternating POV, but all of them really delve into Cas's emotions and his love for Dean. All canonverse and all happy endings. Categorised by post-confession, pre-s15 curtain fic and other canon-era. Descending word count within each category. If anyone has any recs for things I should add lmk!

Post-Confession Fics

things happen (they do, they do, and they do) by sobsicles 28k rating E

Everyone has recced this, and for good reason, it's stunning. Cas gets back from the empty and Dean sort of lets him down gently and is very worried about breaking his heart. Despite this Cas is finally able to express to Dean how much he loves him and takes full advantage of this. He's earnest and sweet and so intense about it, but also incredibly hurt about the lack of reciprocation, though he tries to hide it. He does get the love he deserves in the end and it's so good!

closer (isn't close enough) by fleeceframe 18k rating E

Again, Dean's POV, but very much focused on how much Cas loves him. Has the gorgeous Cas line: “When you are hungry, you eat. When you are tired, you rest. When you are dirty, you bathe. But what are you supposed to do with love?”

My unintended by DeanaWinchester, Jeanne_de_Valois 10k rating E

Really good Cas POV, he’s obsessive and insecure but also deeply loving.

my heart a compass by lagaudiere 10k rating T

The empty torments Cas with visions of Dean and of the family he longs to have with Dean. Dean saves him.

I said show me something by ilovehowyouletmefall 7k rating E

Sparked by the debate about whether or not Dean thinks Cas can feel. Cas is hurt by Dean saying he thought he couldn't feel and vulcan mind melds to show him exactly how he feels about him. It's a really interesting exploration of both of their feelings and fears.

Gift by thisisapaige 2k rating G

Very sweet little fic of them trying to work things out once Cas returns from the empty.

Pre-s15 Curtain Fics

take the long way home by dothraki_shieldmaiden 95k rating E

Dean tries to retire with his family but finds himself alone as Sam and Jack take a road trip and Cas goes hunting in order to prove he's still useful as a human and to avoid thinking about his feelings for Dean. Really agonising and harrowing at the start as they both feel so rejected and miserable. Cas gets into situations where monsters use his feelings for Dean to attack him. Eventually, they're able to tentatively work out their feelings and settle down together and it's very sweet.

Morning Glory by edgarallanrose 26k rating E

Dean and Cas retire together. Cas becomes a beekeeper and Dean starts to use the honey he makes to bake goods, which they sell at the farmer's market. Cas is very much in love with Dean but it takes Dean a bit longer to work things out.

Other Canon-era

A Winter's Tale by NorthernSparrow 64k rating T

This one hurts a lot, so fair warning for that. Cas falls ill while human and homeless and is hospitalised. Dean finds the journal Cas kept as he struggled to survive in this time. Pre-Destiel but Cas does write a lot about his feelings for Dean. Sam and Dean shower Cas with love and kindess as he recovers. Also a destiel epilogue that is very sweet and fluffy.

In the Shadow of your Wings by Enochian Things (Salr323) 57k rating E

Cas confesses his love to Dean post s11 finale but the timing is terrible and Dean is very repressed about it all and breaks Cas's heart. Cas gets an Italian man of letters boyfriend in an attempt to get over it and Dean is insanely jealous (which Cas is oblivious to) but they all have to work together to try to save Sam from the BMOL. Dean eventually gets his shit together and treats Cas the way Cas has learnt to understand he deserves.

That Black Dog Ache by SaltyWords (agent4hire22) 28k rating E

This is very much Dean's POV but I'm putting it here anyway because it has a really intense love confession from Cas, which I'll include an excerpt of that drives me insane:

'“I listen to your music, and I close my eyes. I try to imagine I’m in the Impala, hunting with you. And, sometimes,” his throat jumped, “I lay on your bed. I think about what it would be like if I got to have a place on it beside you... If you ever let me get close enough.”'

Kelp!I Need Somebody by andimeantittosting (Saylee) 27k rating E

A really sweet fic in which Sam, Dean and Cas go to investigate a case on Jesse and Cesar's ranch. Switching POV with really good mutual pining as they tentatively begin to realise the other feels the same.

Being Dean Winchester by Anonymous 26k rating E

Set early s4, Cas has to possess Dean temporarily. While doing this, he has to work to hide his feelings from Dean. Cas is already obsessed with Dean and in love with him but is embarrassed by it and struggles to keep Dean from seeing all of this, especially when Dean wants to have sex with someone while Cas is possessing him.

Après by imogenbynight 24k rating E

Set after the angels fall in s8. Cas falls to earth in Paris and realises he's in love with Dean. Dean comes to get him and they find love together in Paris.

desiderium, lost by atlasian 20k rating T

Castiel confesses his love for Dean and Dean tells him to move on. Cas tries, fairly unsuccessfully, before Dean gets it together.

No Other Worthy Quest by MajorEnglishEsquire 15k rating E

Cas just loves Dean very much.

'“For fuck's sake,” his skin is heating. Cas can feel it. “Stop saying lovey-dovey shit.”

“I know,” Cas rolls his eyes. “It’s so mortifying for you when I want to tell you I love you. I’m using all my self-restraint, I promise not to embarrass you.”'

The Arrow by jscribbles 12k rating T

Valentine's day and Cas has been hit by a Cupid's arrow and is literally sick with love for Dean.

and all this devotion by dothraki_shieldmaiden 10k rating M

Dean gets hurt on a hunt and Cas takes care of him in a cabin. Very sweet, delightful Cas POV of him being very much in love.

Cuckoo And Nest by komodobits 10k rating E

Cas struggles to work out why Dean deems some things meaningful and some things worthless, and where he fits into this apparent dichotomy. Really gorgeous and agonising Cas POV that deals with their constant issue of Dean just wanting Cas to stay and Cas wanting Dean to want him to stay but they're both too afraid to express it.

Breathe by turningthepages 9k rating G

Dean and Cas platonically sleep together to help with Dean's sleep. Cas both likes the situation and longs for it to mean more.

First Date by aeli_kindara 9k rating T

Dean asks Cas on a date and they're both trying very hard to make it all work. The sequel is stunning too.

'Dean says, “We should do that. Go on a date.”

Something in Castiel’s chest fuzzes, like static on a TV, and stops.'

weights on my ankles by dothraki_shieldmaiden 9k rating M

After 15x3 The Rupture, Cas goes back to Rexford. While there, he thinks about how Dean hurt him all those years ago and how he hurt him more recently. Partly a 9x6 Heaven Can Wait fanfic-gap fic.

Let it Linger by OmniscientOranges 8k rating M

Cas starts sleeping with men out of jealousy when watching Dean pick up women at bars. The way the fic describes how in love he is and how hopeless he feels about it is both agonising and very sweet.

He Thought He Was Reckless by MajorEnglishEsquire 8k rating M

Cas plays up injuries so that Dean will coddle him. Self-woobification from the Angel of the Lord and it's so sweet!

Something to Protect by Sass_Master 6k rating G

Cas tries to work out how to make Dean feel less unsafe so that he no longer has to jolt awake. Sweet, tentative intimacy and Cas enjoying it so much.

lonely hearts. by outpastthemoat 5k rating G

Deals with Cas accompanying Sam and Dean on hunts and feeling incredibly lonely and longing to be with Dean. He finds solace in romance novels.

Some People Would Call This Romantic by almaasi 5k rating G

Human Cas goes to the beach and finds it rather overwhelming. Taking a romantic walk with Dean along the beach is also overwhelming.

The Tea is Decaf by mnwood 4k rating T

Really sweet! Cas and Eileen talk and gossip about Sam and Dean in the bunker at night over tea.

A Place to Rest by Inessencedivided 3k rating G

Dean and Cas talk through things after the Stuck in the Middle with You love confession. Cas cries some more.

White Noise by domesticadventures 2k rating G

Cas struggles with feelings of worthlessness in the aftermath of Lucifer's possession.

Receipts by surlybobbies 1k rating G

Cas writes little notes about how much he loves Dean on receipts from meals they share together. Dean finds them.

[hanniiesuckle17]

Blue Skies Chpt 3: The Mexican Standoff

A/n: I know the title is hella weird so imma just drop a definition for yall. Mexican standoff- a confrontation in which neither party stands any chance of victory. (also this is not edited so sorryyy) Tag List is open <3

Tag List: @woodiegochile @mini-meanhoe @leggomylino @hanstagrams @desertofdessert @hoes4hoseok @jeonqqin @geminirules @mrsunshine999 @jisungsjheekies @hannie-squirrel00​ @cotccotc​ @kodzu-ken​ @konenichi​ @yangs-jeongin​ @binniebutter​ @orangegyu​ @little-precious-baby ​

Blue Skies TL: @etherealyoonghwa​ ​

Summary: Y/n and Hongjoong were only acquaintances in college. They were on the same dance team but never crossed paths until one day both took notice of the other. One magical night after a party resulted in Y/n leaving with a guilty and angry conscious and surprisingly a blue stick. Three years later, Hongjoong is a hit producer and Y/n is a successful single mom. What happens when their paths cross yet again?

☁

Hongjoong’s POV

The three of us walked down the street, hands shoved in out pockets. Yunho’s little brother had told him about this awesome bar he had been to the other night and now the six foot man was dragging both San and myself all the way to Sangsu-dong just to go to ‘The Tipsy Devil Pub’.

“You guys are so slow. Come one!” The giant bellowed, already several steps ahead of San and me.

The red neon sign glowed in the night. It was hard not to smile seeing the cheeky devil design illuminating the street below it. “This place better have amazing food.” San groaned as Yunho pushed open the door excitedly. A buzz of volume leaked out of the pub.

“It’s not like you’re going to eat it. You’re on a diet.” I said with a laugh.

“It could be my cheat day. You don’t control me.”

As we entered the establishment my ears were greeted with a familiar sound. The door shut behind me and I watched my two friends ahead take in the dimly lit and packed bar. From the speakers my song drifted over the heads of everyone in the room. 

Blue skies don’t stay when yours is the only smile in my mind

Lips on mine.

Legs entwined.

Little Miss Blue Skies will never see the sunrise.

Not with me.

Little Miss Blue Skies,

Come back to me.

Yunho smiled turning around to face me. His long finger point up as if gesturing to sound waves in the air. “Dude! They are playing Blue Skies!” I nodded, getting my own look around the bar. 

“You think if we are with him we can get free drinks?” San suggested, pushing to the back of the bar. A row of booths lined the wall, a maroon velvet covering the seats. 

“If you can afford that Chanel belt, you can afford your own martinis.”

“That’s offensive,” San paused, not bother to look back at me. “You know I drink Daiquiries.”

Yunho scoffed, sliding his long legs into the curved booth. “Like that’s any better.” I sat on the outside of the seat- my eyes scanning the crowded venue. My eyes fell on a certain figure sitting at the bar. 

He was a pretty lanky guy, but his features were soft and very attractive. One arm of his was wrapped around a young boy who couldn’t be much older than three. The boy sat in the stool next to the man, feet dangling over the edge. 

A nudge to my shoulder brought me back to the conversation which apparently had moved on without me. San tilted his head as if to ask what I was looking at. Not really knowing how to justify the fact I was looking at a three year old, I just pointed to the bar. 

“Who the fuck brings a child to a bar?” The handsome man scoffed, tossing a cashew into the air and catching it with his mouth. He grabbed another handful from the bowl on the table. Guess today was his cheat day.

Yunho followed where my gaze led and pouted his lips a little. “Oh- Gunho, told me about that. Apparently that’s one of the owner’s kid. Sometimes if they can’t find a sitter I guess one of their friends at the bar watches him.”

“So that’s his dad? The owner?” I asked, pointing to the good-looking man at the bar. 

My friend shook his head, stealing some nuts from San. “He said his mom runs the bar with her friend. I think she’s single.” He looked around all the moving bodies in the space before pointing to a woman behind the bar. She was turned away from us, but she gave off an aura that sent chills down my spine in a good way. 

“Single moms aren’t usually your type, hyung.” San laughed, flagging down a waitress to order some drinks. Tearing my eyes away from the girl’s back I turned to my friend, brows raised and questioning his teasing tone. 

“Hongjoong’s type are usually the ones who leave,” Yunho struggled to say without laughing. Seeing my glare he chose to sip on a glass of water. “I could have said you like psycotic bitches..... It’s really a toss up between the two.” 

I rolled my eyes, thanking the waitress and she handed us our drinks. After a few rounds of some random drink in a rocks glass (Never again was I going to let San order for me), I felt a tug on my sleeve. 

Thinking some drunk stranger just bumped into me I paid it no mind. Feeling a harder pull I turned, vision not quite keeping up with the speed of my body. Once my brain could decipher through the alcoholic daze I saw the little boy from before. 

“Hey, bud,” I put down my drink and saw that Yunho had a goofy smile on his face looking at the kid. Should have known the gentle giant liked kids. “Can I help you?” 

The toddler looked up at me with big curious eyes. “What’s your name?” The boy asked in choppy words. My brother had a daughter and she talked like that around this age. I smiled, leaning over to better speak with him.

“My name is Kim Hongjoong. What’s yours bud?”

The little boy smiled, revealing a toothy grin. “Mr. Kim you look like my daddy!” 

I blinked a couple times attempting to process what the young child just declared. The other two men with me froze as well. “Hyung- is there something you need to tell us?” San stuttered, looking from the boy to me. 

“I-I... I don’t think so....I haven’t had a girlfriend since.....”

“Blue Skies- we know.” Yunho interrupted. “Maybe you just look like the guy?”

I nodded, trying to convince myself that Yunho’s suggestion was probably the most likely one. There was probably a ninety percent chance I looked like the kid’s father. Wetting my now dry lips I said, “H-how do you know? Where’s your dad?”

The boy shrugged, completely oblivious to the panic on my face as most kids would be. “My daddy isn’t here, but my mommy showed me a picture of them together.” He stumbled over some of the bigger words and if I wasn’t freaking the fuck out I would have found it cute. “My daddy had dark hair though,” The boy smiled, pointing to my fading blue locks. 

Pushing past the lump growing in my throat I asked the question burning in the back of my slightly inebriated mind. “Where’s your mom?” 

Fully turning around, the little boy pointed to behind the bar where not only the man from before was staring at me, but also a familiar set of E/c eyes. Staring back at me was a face I thought I would never see again. A face I thought I lost. A face that left. 

Y/n. 

She looked just as beautiful if not more than when I remembered her. Unable to stop myself, I stood up trying to see her better from across the crowded room. “Hyung... is that?” Yunho asked, probably not wanting to say her name just in case. 

“Yeah.....that’s her.”

Before I could say anything else or turn back to the boy, a woman sprinted across the bar and scooped up the kid. As she was running towards the bar, the toddler waved at me with a clueless and happy grin. Even if I hadn’t just drank three...whatever San ordered...I don’t think I would have been able to process what happened in those next few seconds. The woman shouted something to Y/n, who nodded not even batting an eye as the in my eyes, kidnapper, rushed out the door with a man who challenged even Yunho’s height. 

Shaking myself out of shock, I pushed through the rowdy mass of intoxicated young people, Yunho and San following me. I never took my eyes off of Y/n, not even when she yelled something to a man coming out the kitchen and bolted towards the exit. 

The second she got to the door I switched directions only to be stopped by the handsome man from the bar and the guy who basically Naruto ran out of the kitchen. 

“Hey! Big fan! I’m Wooyoung,” Naruto said, introducing himself all while keeping me from following Y/n. “I’m one of the owners and I just want to say how honored I am you came tonight. Can I get you a drink?”

“No. I just need to talk to that girl.” 

“Sorry, dude. That’s not gonna happen.” The other guy stated. He obviously wasn’t strong and the owner, Wooyoung was holding me back the most but I got the feeling I didn’t want to mess with this guy. 

I sighed, looking back to Yunho and San who were being absolutely no help. “I just need to fucking talk to her okay!” 

The two shared a look, before the skinnier one turned back to me, shaking his head. He was about to open his mouth and say something when the more excited one interjected. “You know....I can’t let you go talk to her....but for the right price....I’ll give you her number.”

“Woo, you devil spawn.”

“He’s not going to agree to it-”

“Done.”

“Excuse me, what.....” Wooyoung turned away in surprise from the argument he was having with his friend. 

At this point I was desperate. Wooyoung’s eyes turned to saucers as I started pulling out all the cash in my wallet (which was quite a bit). “How much?” The two of the just stood staring at the money in my hand. “Not enough?” I heaved an anxious sight before looking over my shoulder at my friends. “Yunho give me your wallet.” 

Not batting an eye, the tall dancer gave it to me and let me start taking cash out of his billfold. I handed them the thick stack of cash, looking at them expectantly. Slowly, Wooyoung reached out and pocketed the money before speaking again. 

“You know I was just going to ask for a selfie, but that works too.”

Previous Chapter   ☁   Next Chapter

Blue Skies M.List

Masterlist

[genshin-impacted]

Exchange of Rings

(Alhaitham x Reader - 4/?) 

It was only a matter of time until you and Alhaitham begin to affect each other-- in a good way. OR disagreements + touch + groceries + sleep

Word Count: ~3.9k

Notes: afab!reader, second person pov “you”, gn!reader, switches pov with Alhaitham, modern au, arranged marriage, fall first/fall harder, slow burn

[Previous - Next]

.

.

.

You like to say you're an open person. Open-minded, open-hearted, but open about yourself? Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that you are honest about what you think, though definitely not as honest as Alhaitham. 

He definitely does not soften the blow for anyone, even for you– or so you think until you hear just how blunt and abrasive Alhaitham can be when he receives a phone call from work on the weekend. ("Do not call me again." “But-” “Goodbye.”) You never realized it was possible to talk to someone at work like that, but you think maybe Alhaitham’s got something right with how clearly he sets his boundaries. 

In comparison to that, his words to you are more like… flicks on the forehead. It makes you cringe, maybe yelp if you're sensitive, but otherwise they're harmless. The forehead flick is also a reminder of the greater force Alhaitham is capable of so you take his mercy in stride. 

It's not as though you're prone to being chastised by Alhaitham, but you're not a perfect human being. Sometimes you forget that you put laundry in the washing machine or that the heater is still on when you leave the apartment. And you know you're unused to being scolded because every time he needs to, it comes as a surprise to you, and you don’t think you’ll ever see it coming. 

You do notice eventually that when Alhaitham needs to tell you something, he stands in front of you regardless of what you're doing and says your name tonelessly, though you feel unprepared each time it happens. In your defense, Alhaitham's tone of voice has never had variety. He also says your name like that when he asks you what you want for dinner or if you want him to leave the lights on for you when he goes to bed.

You wish you could say the scolding goes both ways in equal frequency, but Alhaitham is extremely organized and conscientious, so you never have much chance to tell him anything. He always washes the dishes after he eats, clears the table without asking, and does his chores when it's due. You do think he tends to leave his books laying around when he's done with them, but that's a habit you don't mind much. It's even a little fun for you to figure out which books he finished and where: the neuroscience book at his bed, the finance book at the dining table, the biography at the kitchen counter. You did have to tell him off about that last one, mainly because you wouldn't want it to get splashed with oil or food if it's left there. 

That's also the thing with Alhaitham. You only need to tell him once and he will remember and do it– if he finds it reasonable, of course. You never find another book in the kitchen or on the dining table, just stacks of books on the living room table. But even that gets cleaned up when you bring over snacks for the both of you to munch on as you watch TV and he reads. It's apparent to you that Alhaitham doesn't want his books to get dirty, so it all works out in the end.

It's usually never the small household things, but you remember you did have to talk to him about how to handle the landlord and the neighbors. As much as he doesn't care about what others think of him, you do. Especially when you want to leave a good impression on the landlord so they're more willing to help out or need to ask the neighbors for a cup of sugar. No matter how annoying they can be, you don't like to burn bridges, and perhaps that is the biggest difference between you and Alhaitham. 

Thankfully, when you tell him how you feel, he takes it in stride. You must have looked as surprised as you felt because he sighs at your expression. "You gave a logical reason," Alhaitham says, "so I concede. I'll be… cordial with the neighbors."

"You can tell them off if they play disco music again at 3am," you say, warmth swirling in your chest with the knowledge that Alhaitham listens to you. "Nothing against disco, of course."

"Of course," he says with dry amusement. "They're manageable. But if the landlord tries to check up on us after 10PM again-" 

"It's because you have such an early bedtime," you tease. The deadpan (read: grumpy) stare you get from Alhaitham makes you laugh. "But yeah, you can let him have it. As long as we don't get evicted."

"Has it come to mind that maybe you just stay up too late?" Alhaitham scoffs and you just smile sheepishly at him. "If they even try to wrongfully evict us, I'll have Cyno involved," he says, strangely ominous. "And believe me when I say that's the last thing any of us want."

When you ask about Cyno, Alhaitham gives you a short answer of “coworker” and leaves it at that. He would have moved on without any elaboration had you not reeled him back and asked follow-up questions.

What’s his role in the company? Attorney. 

Is he a good attorney? He gets his job done. 

Are you guys friends? gets you a blank stare that you give right back until Alhaitham responds with a “most likely.” He ignores your look of confusion and finishes his plate of salmon. 

Alhaitham is honest but he isn’t the most forthcoming with information about his life unless you ask. So, you suppose neither of you are very open.

You think the closest you get is how open you are about showering affection unto other people. When you like someone, whether it's platonic or romantic, it's hard not to show it through proximity. And you like Alhaitham a lot, so you teeter the line of being close to him at all times and giving him the space to actually breathe. You compromise by patting Alhaitham on the back when you pass by, peering over his shoulder to look at what he's cooking, or scooting closer to him on the couch so the two of you can share the blanket. 

You’re careful to gauge his reaction. If he shows any sign of disliking it, it would break your heart, but you would also respectfully keep your distance. Luckily enough for you, Alhaitham doesn’t bat an eye at your attempts to be close to him, so you lean over until you’re shoulder to shoulder to show him the latest funny and/or informational video you’ve found scrolling on your phone. Like clockwork, Alhaitham turns his head to look at your phone as you press the play button.

“It’s feng shui,” you tell him. You want to go into more detail, but you think the man in the video exuberantly helping other people rearrange their furniture is the only explanation Alhaitham will need. For most funny videos–if he happens to find them funny–you get to hear a huff of laughter from him. For the more informational videos, it either ends with a short “interesting” or starts an entirely new discussion between the two of you about the clip's content or something related. When the video ends you look at Alhaitham expectantly, and without fail, he provides you with a response. 

“Is this why you bought that potted plant the other day?” Alhaitham asks when the video begins to loop again, and you smile at him sheepishly.

“Well, no,” you say, “I actually just wanted to spruce up the living room a little bit, but!” You scroll through your phone. “I think there’s a video that talks about filling in the space with certain plants for good luck, so maybe I got the right sort of plant in the end.” 

There’s that huff of laughter, and you smile at your phone, heart fluttering at the thought of making him laugh. Your arm shifts against his as you continue to watch other videos, and he does not move away even as he uses his hand to flip his book to the next page. Having this knowledge makes you beam, but you taper it down just in case Alhaitham can see how lovestruck you are. 

And that’s how you know you’re not ‘open’, per say. You leave lingering touches on Alhaitham, seek his company and approval, but not once have you told him how much you like him. You’re conflicted about it, but no matter how open you have been about your feelings on anything else, with Alhaitham, there’s so much more to think about. Would he be okay with how you feel about him? Would he return your feelings? Does it matter if he returns your feelings now, as rapidly developing as they are? Alhaitham makes your heart flutter, your stomach flip, and your brain blank. But not for too long, luckily; Alhaitham would notice if you took a long time to answer his question and notice how you stare dreamily at him when he isn’t looking.

So you decide not to open that can of worms. For now. All you know now is that being with him makes you light, that every time he reciprocates your energy, you feel as though embers are sifting in your chest. 

It’s 2AM when you rub your eyes, sleep finally catching up to you. Alhaitham had gone to bed a few hours ago, bidding you goodnight and warning you to stop staying up so late if you really don’t want those eyebags you always complain about. It’s about a few hours past a healthy bedtime, but you suppose it’s better late than never when you close your laptop and head to the bathroom for your nightly routine. You’re quiet as you go through your toiletries, careful not to wake Alhaitham up with the noise, though the toilet flushing is out of your control.

You tiptoe into your shared bedroom a few minutes after, your eyes adjusting just enough in the dark to see where the blanket has been folded to lift and put yourself under. To your surprise, you hear Alhaitham shift the same time you do, turning his body so that it faces the center of the bed. You can’t see his eyes in the dark, but you think you can feel his gaze.

“Sorry,” you whisper, “did I wake you?”

“...No,” he says, just as quietly. You try not to melt at the softness of his voice in the covers of the dark. “I was still awake.”

“Couldn’t sleep?” You ask sympathetically, tucking yourself under the blankets and turning to face him. 

A sigh. “Unfortunately, no.” 

“Did you want to try taking something to help you sleep?”

“No, I usually don’t have any problems-” Alhaitham stops, and you wait for him to speak again, the only sounds in the bedroom are your shared breaths. “Never mind. If I can’t fall asleep in the next twenty minutes, I’ll find a solution.” 

“Alright,” you say, yawning. You laugh quietly when you hear Alhaitham follow after you. “Let me know if you need anything.” 

You guess Alhaitham found a way to sleep because the next time you wake up, the sun has almost reached its apex. Your stomach growls when you smell lunch cooking a room away. 

.

.

.

Alhaitham can’t remember the last time someone has wanted to spend as much time with him as you do. Granted, he actively avoids people to prevent exactly that, but you are, he finds, the exception for many things in his life recently.

Alhaitham wouldn’t say he is touch-adverse, but he isn’t particular to physical touch at all. Only family has ever been that familiar with him, and even then, it is not excessive. He remembers most vividly the head pats that his grandmother would give him, his mother’s hand in his when he was young, and his father’s firm grip on his shoulder when he tells Alhaitham he’s proud of him. And when he did find himself in a group of people he didn’t mind being around, they weren’t exactly the touchiest of people either. He imagines Cyno trying to put his arm around his shoulder in a show of camaraderie and almost grimaces in real life. The only person who would even consider doing something like that to him would be Kaveh, but that’s only when he’s had quite a few drinks in…

With you around, he’s beginning to become more familiar with being close to you, in a literal sense. He feels it is subconscious for you most of the time, the way you hold onto his shoulders to go around him or the times you talk to him, a nudge here or a slap on the back there when you’re particularly amused about something. The frequency of touches has only grown since the two of you have gotten to know each other. Without knowing how physically affectionate you are previously, Alhaitham finds it hard to tell whether or not you’re doing it on purpose until you start asking him for permission. 

“Alhaitham,” you start to say, pointing to the seat directly next to him on the couch, “can I sit next to you?”

“Alhaitham,” you ask, pulling your hand back after showing him a video on your phone, “do you mind if I lean on you a little bit?”

“Alhaitham,” you say sleepily, lifting your head up from his shoulder for a moment, “is this okay?”

It’s very straightforward, he thinks after you let out an appreciative sound when he replies with an affirmation. Your head is an unfamiliar weight on his shoulder, but it is not uncomfortable, and he thinks he will get used to it very soon, if he hasn’t already. It’s become almost instinctual to do some things with you, beyond the habits that he has formed with living with you like the chore rotation or cooking for four people. Having your presence next to him is one of them. 

It’s almost comforting how predictable your actions are. When you slide into bed with him as he reads, you’ll almost always inch forward until you can comfortably show him some videos on your phone if the algorithm is to his taste. Without fail, you end up falling asleep with your head by his hand. Alhaitham never moves away though; he lets you stay as you are, close enough that your breaths tickle his arm. He reasons that it would be a hassle waking you up and making you move. You don’t fall asleep as easily as he does, kicking and turning before you leave the room for a glass of water so as to not bother him. (Another reason why you should start sleeping early as a habit, he thinks.)

And without fail, when the two of you go grocery shopping together, you will reach out for his arm to hold onto as he pushes the cart. You’ll hold onto the list the two of you made together, eyes on the screen of your phone as you trust Alhaitham to guide you through the throng of people safely. You don’t even blink when he has to tug your arm to move you from incoming foot traffic, but when the danger has cleared, you will always look at him and smile gratefully before going back to your list.

Speaking of the list, the two of you always make a list– you say this with a hint of exasperation. It's the result of an hour discussion of what groceries the two of you need for that week. And without fail the two of you will end up spending another fifteen minutes or so debating on the necessity of some extra items while shopping.

Some of the things that you insist on do annoy him somewhat, just because of how unrealistic it is. You do and will never need the bulk-sized croissants that will go bad before the two of you can eat them all, despite your insistence to bring the leftovers to work. He’d rather not be known as the coworker who brings free food; he can already imagine the racket his coworkers would cause with the free food let alone have him be the one to bring it. 

But you wouldn’t be able to live with him so well if you couldn’t hold yourself up in a discussion. Even Alhaitham caves if the madeleines are on sale or if the linguini pasta is a buy two get one free deal. “You know we both love eating these,” you would tell him. “And we always end up needing more pasta by the end of the month.”  

You always look so pleased when he tells you that ‘you have a point,’ as though winning an argument against him– if you can even call it that– is a cause for celebration. (He has a feeling that many of his coworkers would agree, so he keeps silent.) 

The times where he wants to purchase something, and you don’t are rare and far in-between. You have a habit of indulging his purchases, or perhaps you simply trust him to be financially frugal. He does find out that the two of you have a similar sense of humor though, when he buys the most experimental (read: ugly) art piece for the apartment and weeks later you still can’t stop laughing when you look at it on his side of the bed. 

With amusement, Alhaitham finds that you are easily prone to laughter. You can laugh at his dry, sardonic humor and turn around to laugh at a sex joke on your phone right after. (“You’re not going to ask your fiancé if they’re good after choking on their own spit?” “You’re talking just fine, aren’t you?” “Boo-o-o-o-o.”) 

Some parts of you he will never comprehend, but Alhaitham enjoys being able to unveil the different sides of you, layer by layer. It’s almost like a never-ending puzzle trying to figure out what makes you tick and the habits that make you you. 

What he doesn’t realize, as he finds out one sleepless night, is how these new habits affect him. 

Alhaitham can hear you start to get ready for bed hours after he has. He glances at the clock and barely represses a sigh when he sees that it’s already 2 AM. He’s never stayed up this late, even when he was still in school, and yet here he is, almost bleary eyed as he struggles to sleep without you there. 

And he knows that’s the reason why. There is no other justification. He’s worked out today so he should be thoroughly tired. He’s avoided blue-light, so his circadian rhythm isn’t disrupted. The only difference now is how much he has grown accustomed to having you in the same bed as him, a familiar warmth on the other pillow. 

Alhaitham almost wants to call his grandmother and demand if this is what she wanted for him. (She would probably just laugh until she cried. Maybe even be a little proud, though Alhaitham wouldn’t quite understand why.) Is this what it was all for? Dependency on another person for a good night’s sleep? It’s almost unthinkable for him to have gotten to this stage when he has never, ever relied on someone to live his life the way he wanted it to be. 

But then you finally get to bed, whisper to him good night, and Alhaitham finds his eyes closing as they should have been hours ago. 

Alhaitham wakes up feeling refreshed and unable to be miffed at you for ruining his sleep schedule, unbeknownst to you. Perhaps, like the many other things he has adapted to through living with you, needing to sleep next to you is something else he will get used to.

(Since when has that become so natural to him?)

.

.

.

You’ve been trying to sleep at the same time as Alhaitham lately. 

For one, he sleeps at a healthy time, which you haven’t done for years now. Secondly, it’ll be better for you in the long-run with your work schedule. And finally, you now have a reason other than work to go through with it. Alhaitham is encouraging you to do it and how could you say ‘no’ to that? Some parts of it are positive reinforcement (“Sleep is good for your health.”) and other parts of it sound more like a threat (“Didn’t you say your eyebags had eyebags just yesterday?”). You think maybe it just gets rid of any interruptions when you come into bed in the middle of the night, but Alhaitham rarely takes a long time to fall back asleep even if you do wake him up. 

Alhaitham has been the reason for a lot of your rather positive changes. Slow changes, you think, as you play on your laptop when Alhaitham shuts his book to head to sleep. Blue light be damned, you feel a yawn coming on already despite it only being 9 PM, a testament to the habits you’ve been building with Alhaitham. But old habits die hard, and your dailies have yet to be done for Genshin. You know the light makes it hard for Alhaitham to sleep so you close your laptop, slipping out of bed with the intention to play in the living room for a few minutes. 

“Wait,” Alhaitham says, stopping you before you stand. “You can stay.”

The words alone from Alhaitham are enough to make warmth swirl in your chest. You think your voice is softer when you speak to him, “But won’t the sounds and lights bother you?” To your surprise, you watch as Alhaitham pulls out an eye mask and earbuds from his nightstand. 

You don’t know if you’re too much of a hopeless romantic or if you’re reading too much into this, but you think maybe– perhaps– Alhaitham would rather inconvenience himself with using an eye mask and earbuds than have you leave his side. You feel your heart flutter, though you think you mask it well when you tease him, “You miss me that much when I’m gone?” 

You see Alhaitham roll his eyes before setting in his eye mask and earbuds. “Good night,” he says. 

You watch him for a little bit afterwards, heartbeat thrumming in your ears, and all you can think about is the fact that he never said ‘no’ to you. (And he would if you were wrong. You know he would; he has never let a lie stand when it’s the two of you.) 

The giddiness never leaves– you don’t know if it will ever– but a wave of tranquility rolls over you too. A pervading warmth. A sense of belonging that mixes itself with the tangles in your stomach. Something in you shifts, and you think you’re beyond infatuation now. 

You’re in love with Alhaitham. 

You take another glance at him before going back to your game, wondering if he would wear a funny eye mask if you were to buy it for him. (You love him.) You finish your dailies in a few minutes and close your laptop, the fan quieting until all you can hear is silence. (You love him.) You turn off the last lamp of the room and slide underneath the blanket. You hear Alhaitham shift on his side of bed, turning towards you, and you wonder if he knows he does that every time you slip into bed with him. 

Just as you lean into him on the couch or bicker with him over groceries, this, too, is starting to feel natural: you love him.

.

.

.

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@crowbird @thetwinkims @jaguarthecat @tanspostsblog @dxstopiaa @yoimyas @theprinceofkhaos @homeinhobii @nagisuterus @sleep-deprivedracoon @scentedcandlesandcookies @secretlyrexlapis @flooffi @kibbly-bibbly @loki-zos-galvus

[annicaax]

Kellan route summaries

Part # 3

Changed the PoV to 1st person. Or should I switch to 3rd or keep saying "MC". If ya guys are reading, please let me know which one you prefer/enjoy.

---

Was it a hasty decision to stay with the ward? I've always made hasty decisions and regretted them afterwards.

Magic is menace, one I can hardly imagine coursing through my veins. I feel like a total idiot, trying to pull a few tricks, but I can still feel my powers. They are there, like Fiona says.

The day passes in a blur.

I couldn't bring a cauldron full of water to boil today, but could heat it up a bit. With time and patience, like Cecelia had said.

I sigh as I trudge along the dirt road walking back to Donna's. All the Ward business and magic practice has got me exhausted, but I still help Donna cook dinner, and after we eat, I apologize.

I still haven't got any gold to pay her. No ward work or magic practice can bring me the gold I need.

Donna tells me she's good and asks me not to worry. So I go to sleep, happy but determined to make myself count.

Another day. Another bust.

It's been a week already. Fiona is a good teacher, and I've gotten a hang of what magic is, but I am frustrated as I cannot pull a single spell. Nathan Cayde whistles sympathetically when he finds me seated by myself, moping inside the apothecary. Apparently, he's here to pay a visit to Fiona before he ventures out to scout the town for the Ward.

I fume inwardly. Sympathy doesn't sit right with me sometimes. I eventually lose it and let out a low growl. Fiona tells me to stay calm and let my magic flow, but I've had enough.

I let out a sigh, apologize to her and leave the apothecary building behind.

Walking the streets as the suns set, I search for a job, eventually finding a carriage driver in need of help. I am to take a cloth package to his waiting the pattern on the gulch, and he would pay me enough gold ducats in return. He's too busy to go himself. I'm too tired to be suspicious, and I can't say no as he's offering half of my payment in advance. The rest of the gold, I am to collect from my patron at my destination.

A petty thief running errands... I feel ashamed but I am compelled it to do it as I need to pay Donna for my lodgings.

I saddle Whisper, collecting him from the hitching post where I had left him earlier, and make my way to the gulch.

Night falls by the time I ride to my destination, the sky twinkling with stars.

And what I expect to be my single solidatory patron turns out to be a bunch of a poachers waiting for some entertainment.

Was I tricked? I push aside the possibility but I am proven wrong when they leer and snicker at me.

They want to play with me? I grin fearlessly, pulling out my pistol, but one of the riders quickly aims for Whisper's legs.

Whisper whinnies and bucks. I am thrown off my horse into the dirt. I roll, making my fall less painful but I part with my gun in the process, and the men around me have a good laugh.

I disregard them, checking Whisper for injuries, but he seems fine. He hasn't run off, either, which is great! Before I can heave a sigh of relief, I hear the words:

"I believe I have warned you against signing up for strange jobs, Miss y/n..."

The voice is familiar, echoing through the gulch before the man himself manifests before me.

Kellan!

I frown because I am not a damsel in distress who needs her knight. But I am still grateful to have him lend me a hand up.

I smile at Kellan, who looks between me and the poachers. He says, "you have a strange affinity to attract trouble wherever you go."

I shrug, stating the truth. "old habits, cap."

Kellan's lips quirk up into a half smile. He looks amused but he is so handsome that I am momentarily distracted, admiring his profile.

The poachers, our current snemies, appear to be annoyed. They hurl a few insults at Kellan who obviously isn't armed except for his cane.

I try to reach for my gun but next to me Kellan appears bored.

He doesn't even lift up his hands before bright, orange balls of fire flying at the riders, showering down upon them to be exact, spooking their horses and throwing them off.

They barely manage to get a hold even as one of the riders curses under his breath, and remarks that they are all having a collective drunken dream.

I watch, picking up my gun from the dirt, only to find myself standing alone with Kellan on the gulch.

The fight is over before it's begun.

I turn to Kellan who looks dashing under the starlight.

"Thanks for the save, but it's not needed captain. I can manage in a gun fight."

"What you need to manage miss, is magic..." Kellan says, and snaps his fingers.

His blunt words ring in my ears just as a dark, raven horse comes whinniying towards him. So he rides a horse!

I nearly smile, but then frown remembering what he said to me, saddling myself on Whisper.

"I don't think ward members should be out doing strange errands, miss y/n."

Kellan says from atop his horse. He sits regally, his face impassive.

I roll my eyes. I feel like I'm being lectured. Whoa, he barely says a word but manages to get under my skin.

I seeth inwardly but summon a fake smile. "Well, I wouldn't if my work with the ward would pay me in gold, captain."

I say sarcastically as we both begin to steer our horses towards the town.

"The ward does allocate. monthly payment.But if it is work and quick payment you need, miss y/n, you could always come assist me in my office after you finish practice with Fiona," Kellan suggests with a smile.

Im thrown off by his sudden words. My mind shows me what it's like to share a common work space with my hot boss, just the two of us, but I push the image away.

Kellan is hot!? Maybe he is, but I am not about the lose my head over him.

I don't say a word and neither does Kellan. We simply ride, enjoying the balmy night breeze.

Soon we arrive at my lodgings.

"Good night, miss... See you tomorrow."

I was so lost in thoughts I forgot Kellan was next to me. So he escorted me to my lodgings. What a gentleman. No, a gentle demon? While I'm stweing in my monologue, Kellan adjusts his grip on his horse's reigns, steering him forward, and they both vanish into the night. I retire to my lodgings with a sigh as there is nothing else I can do.

***

The next day, practicing at Fiona's during the day, I once again fail miserably at magic. I can't summon a leaf, how can I summon a familiar?

I sigh as a Fiona pats my arm. She offers me a smile,

"Let's try something basic."

She brings me an old oil lamp, removing the glass top and exposing the wick.

"Let's try lighting it. I mean, try lighting it!" she encourages me with a grin.

I try and try. All I see is a spark and nothing. Ugh! Am I even a witch? After several tries that end in failure, I hear that annoyingly familiar voice again.

"Maybe Fiona's ways of teaching don't suit your style."

It's Kellan, and the turning around I find him standing with his back against the wall, looking chic in his suit and that furry overcoat, but hey, I thought I was alone with Fiona in here in the apothecary!

"No offence, Eichen. You are splendid as you are..."

Kellan offers Fiona a half smile and she smiles back. "None taken, Cap'n."

I sigh just as the doors burst open bringing in Sascha Nathan and Cecelia.

"Maybe what the little witch needs is a new teacher..." Kellan says, ignoring the newcomers and stepping forward, offering me a crooked smile.

I don't understand what's going on for a moment, but soon it's clear to me, the captain himself is going to teach me magic. And I have always dreamed of having such a hot teacher. Ugh! Shut up, brain!

While I battle my wits, Fiona steps back. Kellan takes her spot next to me.

"Now, miss y/n... try lighting the lamp. Will you?

Kellan stands and puts his hand on the small of my back. His hands are always burning. I involuntarily shiver a little, and turn to look into his rose-coloured eyes and he nods. Oh now my cheeks are the things that are burning. He's so intense, effortlessly charming despite his stoic disposition.

Focus! I look away as he withdraws his hand, channeling my magic, my determination bringing a small flicker of flame atop the wick, and then nothing.

Kellan urges me on with his words, "come on, you can do it!"

He keeps pushing me to accomplish my goal. He is as strict as a demon.

He is a demon! Pushing me and pushing me until two full hours pass, until I manage to light the oil lamp, its flame small but stable.

"Is that all?" Kellan calls out to me in taunting voice, not giving me a chance to feel proud. "That's all have you got?"

"Excuse me!?" I glare at Kellan.

"I thought after all that I'd taught, you could summon a bigger flame, but where is your fire?"

Kellan looks on with a deadpan expression on his face. I feel like punching him. He's sooo strict!

"I managed to light the lamp, cap!" I say through grited teeth.

"So is that all?" He taunts me again as everybody else, including me, eyes him in silence. "Could you not push your emotions to further channel your will and summon something bigger?"

I bristle a little, but I may be disappointed, too. Looks like he is expecting a lot of progress from me, just like I do. While nothing happened in more than a week, what will happen over a day? I sigh, watching Kellan put out the lamp's flame.

I try lighting the lamp again but I am worse this time. Kellan eggs me on with his taunts. Well, his voice is gentle but it does feel like he is riling me up on purpose! I hate this man!

I grow furious after a few attempts, and unconsciously direct it at the wick of the lamp. It glows brighter but Kellan sitll pushes me further. All of a sudden, a burst of magic and frustration leave my hands towards the the lamp.

Kellan jumps, throwing his overcoat at me, hugging me close, and twisting me out of harms way, as the oil lamp explodes. Shards of glass rip Kellan's expensive overcoat, a particular speck of fire catching on and searing the fabric of his shirt on his shoulder, and a loc of his hair.

He quickly brushes it off with a swipe of his hand. I stare at him in awe, at his face from up-close, and blush realizing I am lying on top of him.

One of his hands is resting on my cheek now. It was perhaps an impromptu gesture, and another is on my waist. I nearly feel the hardness of his chest muscles under my hands from where they rest on him. I choose to ignore the feeling and save my decency, picking up myself and apologizing.

"Kellan -- Sir, er, captain... Are you hurt?"

Gee, tongue! Why are you in knots? I turn red but Kellan chuckles. That face, I can already tell it's a rare sight. He is so handsome.

I am ready to overlook my embarrassment if he will show that sweet smile.

"Do you think a little fire can get to me?"

Kellan questions, and I shake my head, remembering he is a demon who can throw flame balls. My current magic practice is a mishap but no one seems to hurt.

"Right..." I say looking at Kellan.

"Right," he repeat my words.

I want to apologize again but surprisingly he beats me to it.

"I apologize," he says, looking away briefly. "I might have pushed you way too far. I was unreasonable. You may have great potential but you're still new to magic."

I shouldn't have pushed you though the times are desperate.

The last phrase is murmured to himself, so I don't know if I heard him right. I shake my head and force myself to speak. He just apologized. I should respond.

"It's... fine, Sir! I... do want to learn to harvest my powers." I say and look away feeling sheepish. All this magical mishaps are sapping my confidence. I hate it!

I get irritated, and before I can stop, I am yelling.

"Now what?!!" I clamp my mouth shut, looking at Nathan, Cecelia and Fiona who offer me simpathetic gazes.

"You did well, y/n. you should take a break," says Fiona.

"Right," says Cecelia. "You were magnificent."

Nathan nods. Smiling slightly, he says, "you're a powerful witch. Maybe Cap pushing you is good for the ward, but all work no play can make you sick."

I smile and thank them, feeling grateful. Then I let out a sigh, faintly murmuring the words, "I still need to work extra to earn some gold ducats."

"You should have a drink with your friends." Kellan says, putting his overcoat back on. He walks right to where I am, taking my hand in his, opening my palm and dropping a few ducats into it.

"I am giving you some in advance. Show up early in my office tomorrow. You're helping with my paperwork."

I gape at Kellan as he walks away. How did he hear my faintly mumblings? Like me, Fiona, Cecelia and Nathan, even Sacha are slack-jawed, too.

They fill me in on their state of surprise as we all take a quick walk to Ada's to grab our drinks.

Apparently, it's a rare for Kellan to take a personal interest in any of the new recruits. (It's usually Cecelia's job or one of the other member's)

As we find a table and sit, I protest and declare Kellan hasn't got any personal interest in me, but Sascha insists that he does.

My irritation flaring up, I hiss-- " there is no way Kellan Malphas can have a personal interest in me. If he does, his interest might come from the fact that I am a witch!"

This time nobody protests or teases me. I shake my head, cooling off a little.

Why was I getting flustered? Ugh!

I smile at the group. They are all good sports. They smile back and shake it off. While we all play a friendly game of poker, I remind myself to keep my temper in check.

As I sit savoring my whiskey in peace, I cannot help but wonder what tomorrow brings to me, or how my one on one working sessions with Kellan will go. They probably will go fine. Kellan isn't as stoic as he displays him to be. Ha guys like this one, I think he might be secretly sweet.

AN: Phew! I know I made this very detailed. So let me know how was it? Do you want me to keep it detailed or just summarize things? Is 1st person narration good with you or third? Thanks for reading. Please do leave a comment/ and/or like/reblog. It would mean a lot.❤️ I hope you all like this part too.❤️❤️

Link to part 2: click here for part 2

Link to part 1 is at the end of part 2. Check them out if you haven't!

[atopearth]

Kissed by the Baddest Bidder Part 5 - Mamoru Kishi Route (up to Proposal Epilogue)

Time for the last original main guy on the Switch, Kishi Mamoru! Honestly, I thought Kishi was the oldest one but he's actually younger than Baba loll! Maybe it's because Kishi always seems like he's tired of life so he seems like he's 40 lmao. LMAO, I love how Kishi was so ready to just let the heroine leave because he's too lazy to take care of her, but Baba and Ota knew him too well so they stayed outside his room to catch him and force him to keep her in his room🤣🤣 OMG, I can't believe they really gave the heroine "back" to the people who sold her in the auction to keep their relationship with them amicable. I mean, Ota was weird more than disrespectful, but Kishi is everything negative loll, legit does not care about people, does whatever he wants or thinks is convenient, treats the heroine like crap and says demeaning stuff to her all the time. Ohh he used her as bait to find out where this creepy religious hideout was, dangg, he actually works properly🥲🥲🥲 At least that means he doesn't intend to leave the heroine here forever, otherwise he really would have been a jerk. Loll at Kishi pretending to be the heroine's boyfriend, him displaying his love to the heroine in front of the AID cult people was hilarious. At least he bothered patting her head and soothing her to sleep, the poor heroine has really had a very tough few days lol. Ooh, so I guess the reason why Kishi doesn't care about anything is because he only cares about getting revenge for his cop partner Minami who died in an "accident" when they were investigating AID and the leader Aida I guess, and he joined the auctions because he thinks people are selling information on police etc there.

Knew Aida was disgusting but omggg yuckk. Anyway, Kishi saving the heroine was expected, but lol it was so funny when the heroine was going to thank him but then realised that she only got into this mess because Kishi dragged her into it lol. Didn't expect Kishi to really need the heroine's help, but I am glad that the heroine saved him with the bamboo sword he used to help her, I thought that was pretty cute. The heroine is definitely way too nice to Kishi lol, she's like ready to do anything for him already. Anyway, I'm sorry heroine, you may apparently love Kishi but I don't lol. Kuroshima being the real traitor was expected but I didn't think Aida would be his son, and I can't believe as a detective he just allows Aida to continue doing all this crap because he feels like he owes him for not taking care of him as a father like wtf??? You're letting all these "believers" get sexually assaulted by Aida, brainwashed blah blah just because he's your son!?? That's absolutely disgusting especially since he knows how wrong it is and yet he lets people like Kishi's partner die just to protect his son who is destroying other people's lives. I'm glad Kishi found out it was Kuroshima and laid a trap for him hoping that he would choose his integrity as a cop instead of his son, but it's sad to see Kishi disappointed that he "lost" this bet on what kind of person Kuroshima is. Lmao, I love how the heroine and Kishi are just arguing with each other showing how much they care for each other in front of everyone lol. They're like such a funny bickering old couple🤣 I'm glad Kishi knows how much of an ass he is in his own PoV lol. I definitely think his PoV is necessary to like Kishi's main story tbh, because without it, I was too annoyed with him to care loll, but seeing him get so touched about what the heroine did for him made me feel better about him haha.

Honestly, it's actually hilarious how childish Kishi is with the heroine, I can't stop laughing at how silly they both are with each other. I loved how the heroine kept gambling to try and win the bet so Kishi would take her out on a date hahaha, too bad she lost, but it made him realise how much he's been neglecting on going on a proper date with her so it's worth it haha. Omggg he didn't plan anything LOL, sometimes I just want to strangle Kishi because he literally has the heroine in the palm of his hand and doesn't appreciate it through his actions as much as he should! Well, the heroine is definitely ridiculous for going to a hideout looking for Mamoru, like seriously??? Soryu already told her where he basically was, so all she really needed to do was wait for him to come back and not cause trouble for him loll. LMAO at Aida for saying he was born just to kill them, I legit died when Mamoru said that was the stupidest reason for being born hahahahaha. What a nut. I agree with Baba though, if Mamoru bothered to tell her at least something about what he was doing, she wouldn't feel so insecure and have to chase him here since she probably thinks his life might be in danger. All he said was he'll be gone for a bit, like dudeeee a bit doesn't exceed a few days max!! Anyway, it was funny how the heroine was trying her best to stop Mamoru from smoking for a week to win a bet for a trip lol. Too bad he replaced smoking with kissing so it interfered with her work lol. Even though Mamoru is a natural destroyer when it comes to housework, it was cute how he decided to do everything when the heroine got hurt. It's sad that he felt a bit traumatised because it was his fault though. On the other hand, Mamoru getting pissed off and yelling at the heroine alwayssssss grinds my nerves lol. It's like, I know he feels bad that he's always getting her hurt because of his work, but how could the heroine possibly leave it alone when he's sitting in jail?! Sigh. LMAO when the fortune teller told Mamoru to clean his messy room and that it'll improve his luck in money and gambling if he does😂😂

Ughhh, honestly, the heroine and Mamoru are so dumb, it pisses me off, especially when the heroine didn't think it was dangerous to meet Olivia at all, knowing that she thinks Mamoru caused her boyfriend to die, like seriously??? Anyway, I like Hayami and Mamoru, they suit each other loll. It's nice to know that Mamoru doesn't know how to handle Hayami because he resembles his dead colleague he wants revenge for, but I'm glad to see them getting along anyway haha. I find it saddening that it's always the heroine who thinks that she's inadequate and "not good enough" and that Mamoru will break up with her eventually when I feel like she's the one putting the most effort into the relationship. Despite that though, I loved seeing how shocked all the guys were seeing a heroine who just kept smiling and didn't yell at them🤣🤣 I'm really glad the heroine made the first step and bidded on Minami's keyring (Mamoru's dead partner) when Mamoru didn't know what to do. He obviously cares alot about it and could never forget Minami. But yeah, honestly, I feel so frustrated for the heroine lol. I feel like every story, the problem gets resolved eventually and it shows how Mamoru and her shouldn't hide stuff and communicate more but even in this Twist of Fate story etc, Mamoru is still hiding everything when it comes to his feelings or his work and whatever he's thinking. Like yeah, he can't reveal work that's confidential but he never tells the heroine what he's thinking. Minami got killed by corrupt cops and wants Mamoru to expose the dark side of the police force for him if he dies...that's sad for Mamoru. I'm glad Mamoru finally had the resolve to talk to the heroine and tell her his decision in regards to the letter from Minami. And Hayami is certainly suspicious but I guess we'll see~

Lmao at Mamoru getting so childish about the heroine wearing a ring on her ring finger and not being able to get it off and he gets annoyed every time he sees it😂 He's such a baby lmaoo. Honestly, for Mamoru's sake, I really hope Hayami is a good guy, because I feel like Mamoru deserves a nice trustworthy partner he can be himself with. I feel sorry for the heroine always having to worry about Mamoru's safety all the time, but I guess that's how it is when your partner is a cop. It was pretty hot when Mamoru grabbed his gun that was attached to the heroine's thigh, love the CG. Anyway, I feel so bad for the heroine having to witness Mamoru basically die in front of her eyes, she literally had to live with the idea he was dead for a while until they caught the criminal! I like how the heroine ended up proposing to Mamoru first because she couldn't take it that she never gets to know anything because she's not legally "family", so it was nice to see her sick of that and wanting to change things. Now that the case is done and Hayami really is a good guy, they can get married yay lol. Personally thought Mamoru's proposal was underwhelming and quite simple considering how much crap the heroine had to go through lol. Seeing things from Mamoru's perspective really helps because it's obvious he's smitten with the heroine but he neveeeer properly shows it to her, so seeing him so desperate to catch Jack the Ripper because he wants to protect the heroine, and then asking the guys how to buy a ring etc just makes it so cute lmao. Hayami congratulating them on their engagement was hilarious, he's so right that if the heroine ditches him, Hayami really might have to take care of Mamoru for life since he's so focused on his cases loll. LMAO when the heroine took the guys seriously and decided to not act like herself in front of Mamoru's parents, I legit died when she starting going "ohoho" HAHAHA. I loveee how the heroine stood up for Mamoru because he's not great at communicating and thinks it's a hassle so he doesn't bother retorting what his mother says, so it was really cool when she told Mamoru's mother how good of a person he was and how he was hardworking. It was still hilarious that she ended up yelling at his mum though lol, but it's great that his whole family is chill lol. His younger brother is cute too! I definitely think the Proposal epilogue was my favourite out of everything I read tbh lol, Mamoru's family and the "fake" heroine was the best😂

Overall, I’m not a fan of Mamoru and his stories at all tbh lol! I find Mamoru wayyy too frustrating to deal with. Like it’s fine that he prioritises his cases and trying to find the real perpetrator for the ones who caused his colleague’s death blah blah, but honestly his lack of communication is probably the most frustrating out of all the guys to me. I feel like he always takes advantage of how considerate and thoughtful the heroine is, and the thing is, he knows how good she is and is happy about it, but he never considers her feelings enough to actually show how much he appreciates her and I think that annoys me the most. Definitely a frustrating guy to love in real life lol. Otherwise, best proposal epilogue, I live for the “fake” heroine hahaha. Anyway, all in all, I enjoyed KbtBB much more than I originally thought I would. I feel like a lot of people are turned off by the premise and don’t seem to give the stories a proper chance but I definitely recommend the Switch version that has stories beyond the main story because the main story really isn’t the best at times, but the stories after that can be so nice! Personally, I love Ota and Soryu the most when it comes to their relationship and character development, and then I would probably choose Eisuke, Baba and then Mamoru last haha. It’s such a nice chill story to read tbh and I think I just enjoy how yeah the guys are kinda jerks but they’re okay hahha.