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echo-legend-vnandln · 10 months

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Echo: At the End

Chapter 3: Noir 2

Rating: T

Notes: N/A

Noir

Having gotten into the swing of things, the world was starting to almost feel normal again. Noir's day-to-day life wasn't much different than he felt it was before he was appointed Major. For the most part he continued his rounds, monitoring the medical needs of developing or new R.O.H.Ms, and the occasional paperwork that came with it. The only difference he felt so far was the inseascent media and governmental inquiries. Luckily, Cyan had seemed to be able to imitate his more generic responses after the first few weeks to see that he unbothered as possible. That left only one disturbance: Zero's unavoidable shadow upon him during every waking hour.

Still, the other seemed to be rather noninvasive in the grand scheme of his day schedule, a spectator that only imposed himself if Noir became too distracted to feed himself or the occasional reflexive catch should he go to stumble. Home life took little adjustment, Zero giving him the privacy in their shared quarters. If it wasn't for the resemblance, his presence might have been a bit more bearable.

For today, Noir had taken to accepting an invitation lunch via Sahara, opting to bring the twins as an apology for his rudeness his first day back. Heading to the top floor of the Summers building, Noir arrived with the trio of R.O.H.M. behind him. He flinched as the harsh sunlight beat down upon him from above, the glass dome acting as a greenhouse to keep Sahara's plants warm even as they started to drift into Aphrodite's long autumn.

Tees reached into the sky while before them flowers and grass stretched out into clean paths, almost looking natural save for a few clear tubes that fed from the level below for introducing Sahara's projects to the environment.

In the center of the dome, Sahara waited at a small fold out table, pouring tea for the five of them from an antique golden set. "Good afternoon boys," she called out, bangles on his wrists chiming as the danced along her skin.

"Good afternoon," the twins called back in high spirits.

Noir and Zero didn't respond beyond a smile from the former as they all found themselves a seat at the table.

"Well, thank you for joining me and being my guinea pigs for today," their hostess sang before taking a seat and sliding them their cups. "Tea from my Wisteria tree and honey from the latest hive I created. For light snacking, finger sandwiches with fresh peanut butter and honey for Noir with standard supplement bars for the boys."

Noir stared at the tea for a moment before stirring the honey within it with a small spoon, giving the cup a melodic tap when he was finished. Gingerly, he brought the cup to his lips then took a light sip, finding it to be as expected, sweet with a bitter aftertaste. "A bit bitter for me, but I don't think anyone could say the honey wasn't fresh from a real honeycomb," the doctor stated before taking another sip.

"Well done," Azul praised.

"Just as if made by the real deal," his twin echoed.

Sahara beamed as she was praised, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as she drifted her gaze to Zero. The R.O.H.M. had taken a drink but seemed to not react. "Well Zero?"

"May I have more honey," he asked, voice lacking the cheerful inflection of a request as he slid the cup back.

"Of course," Sahara answered as she lifted her flute from the pot and began to generously transfer more of the syrup into his cup.

"Your request was rejected again," Noir sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "The naturalists have too much of a hold on Apollo's senate. At this point if you bothered to make an exact clone of a hive they'd still scream and cry about alterations."

"I didn't expect anything less, but I might as well remind them I'm here for when they inevitably ruin their ecosystems clinging to the world of the past," the woman shrugged, unbothered. "Besides, I don't think I'd want my babies to go to that backwards planet," she cooed, holding out her finger for a bee to rest on as it hummed by.

"I can resubmit your proposal after the 90 day period is up," Azul offered.

"Please and thank you," Sahara chimed before turning her attention back to Noir. "What about you? Are you going to crusade for anything like our dear predecessor."

Noir avoided her eye contact as he shifted, eyes watching Zero as he seemed to nurse his tea. "I rather not make waves. They have their ideologies and nothing I do will change that. I rather focus on making everyone's lives better from the start and avoid being any sort of cultural figure. I'm not equipped to... equipped to...Zero?"

All eyes followed Noir's gaze to R.O.H.M. as he quietly ate one of the peanut butter sandwiches. Attempting to answer, he let out a noise then paused before slowly trying to chew down his current bite, getting a bit of a chuckle out of the twins. "Is there something wrong Major," he asked after swallowing.

"You're eating a sandwich."

"That's...correct."

Noir stared for a moment while Sahara sat up and reached across the table to pour Zero more tea, bangles loudly colliding into one one another. "Oh. Are you going to finally get to know your new friend," she teased, tossing Noir a wink.

"It is unusual especially for a...," the doctor started.

"A," Sahara repeated quizzically.

Everyone looked to Noir as he felt silent. For the first time, he realized he knew nothing about Zero's creation. While it had been mostly intentional, he hadn't thought of the more fascinating aspect of his existence, the technological potential. Dr. Summers could have assigned him someone practical and standard, but instead it was this man, in his image. A final puzzle.

The blonde sat up, calming down. "What is your classification and specs?"

Zero stared for a moment then stood up. "I am designated,Lieutenant Zero, classification Logos Realistic Operational Human Model, or l.R.O.H.M. I am considered a 0 Series model, as I am a custom designed and implemented by Major Richard Summers for the personal protection, welfare, and assistance of Dr. H. Noir, now acting head of Sunwear Inc. and promoted to the rank of Major of the interplanetary government in succession of my father. All other specifications and modifications are classified as are my direct reports."

"That's enough. I get it," Noir sighed, resting his cheek on his fist.

Zero took his seat then resumed to struggle eating his peanut butter sandwich, leaving Sahara to change the subject back to her project.

++++

Lunch came and went, allowing Dr. Noir to return to his duties, finally getting to work directly with some of his patients. As the day wound down his last patient entered, a young woman with a dark ponytail, dressed in a deep maroon blazor with matching slacks.

"Good Afternoon Dr. Noir," she greeted before taking a seat on the medical bed.

"Good Afternoon Crimson," the doctor greeted in turn.

"It's just Cris now, please. I'm finding that I'm not particularly fond of the color red...in name or style. Luckily this almost purple falls within uniform."

"Oh? I'll have that updated. It seems you're adjusting to the conversion well then. And you're far from the first to take issue with the uniform. Any other changes to note," the doctor asked, updating her form.

Cris crossed her legs and tilted her head. "Not particularly, other than my appetite increasing."

"That's a normal symptom, especially as you develop a more refined sense of taste. If you feel like you're gaining weight that you don't want, there are impulse control classes you can enroll into."

"I'll keep that in mind if it ends up becoming a problem. So far it's just nice not to eat those bland nutrient bars and be able to drink wine," the R.O.H.M. laughed.

"That's fair. And nothing else comes to mind," he asked to be sure, moving to her side and lifting her hair before scanning her barcode with his tablet.

"Not that hasn't already been explained to me as normal. Speaking of which, who's that yummy soldier standing outside."

Noir glanced through her vitals as they populated the screen, focusing in on her limbic and nervous systems. "He's mine."

"Oh? Really? Lucky you!"

The doctor looked up then away, feeling his ears heat up. "As in my soldier. I mean body guard. They felt it appropriate given how Major Summers lost his life."

"I see... I suppose that makes sense. I'm sorry."

Not answering, Noir went about searching through her system to make sure everything was firing correctly for her before pulling up some random pictures on his tablet, having her sort them into likes and dislikes to gauge relative appropriate behaviors and biases. The woman scoring within an acceptable margin, the doctor went over her vitals and sighed.

"I think you're almost processing everything under neurotypical parameters. Soon you'll be officially designated a p.R.O.H.M. Have you given any thought about what you'd like to do for retirement," Noir asked while taking a seat. "Not that you're unable to continue working as apart of Sunwear Inc of course."

Cris thought for a moment then smiled. "Honestly, I think I'd enjoy working on Hermes at a small shop. I think I enjoyed my work here as a receptionist, but it's rather overwhelming and so impersonal. As I'm learning more about who I am, I think I want to do something where I can interact on a more intimate level with other people rather than behind a phone."

Noir looked on then leaned back. "That sounds lovely. Dr. Groves has a sister that runs a boutique on Hermes. I'll have her ask if she has something available or knows anyone that can fit you in when the time comes."

"Really? Thank you!"

Noir nodded as the woman lifted herself off the examination table and brushed at the creases in her clothes. "That's all?"

"Yes, I'll send you an email with more information and a date for your official retirement once I clear you with the registration bureau."

Cris smiled once more and gave a little curtsy before exiting the room, leaving Noir to enjoy a moment of brief solitude before reluctantly standing to leave. Exiting, he turned, expecting to find Zero patiently waiting and instead found a dark haired man in a suit pinching at his guard's cheek and laughing.

"Excuse me. Could you please stop that," the doctor ordered.

Freezing up, the man let go then turned, hands in the air. The doctor took a step back as a pair of haunting green eyes gazed at him. "Ah. Sorry. I was just seeing if he really wouldn't react," the man apologized before sticking out a hand. "I'm Senator Casamus Summers...and by the looks of it you have no idea who I am."

Noir shook the open palm nervously before stepping towards Zero, noting a family set of emerald eyes and his guard's jawline, "Are you..."

"The eldest disappointment, yes," he laughed before pocketing his hand and leaning on the wall.

"I came to check how things were going for you and to see this guy," the senator chuckled before punching Zero in the shoulder playfully.

The R.O.H.M. tensed, but his face didn't break. Noir put himself between them, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't really know you, and I don't think it's appropriate for a senator just to show up in my building unannounced."

"Ah. Well, like I said I'm the eldest son, some would say the heir of my father's estate but clearly not in full. I have vested interest in how things are being handled, as I have my own shares, but I can already tell it's in good hands."

The doctor watched the other's face to gauge his sincerity, heavily distrusting politicians as a default, but ultimately was unable to read him.

"Just that you put yourself between me and him," Casamus explained, "That's how the old man died in the end. Putting himself before his creations."

"People," Noir corrected.

"You see. You even speak like him," the senator chuckled, "Don't worry. I talk like a jerk but I'm on your side, maybe even a bit more extreme. I'm on the full rights at creation side of the aisle. Utility should be a choice for any cognitive being, even if they are born with a chip in their noggin to do extraordinary things."

Noir watched the man carefully before relaxing enough to move from shielding Zero' "Well, you've seen me and judged me. Was there anything else" he asked.

"Dinner?"

"Excuse me?"

Casamus grinned wide once more, eyes moving from Noir to Zero. "I'd like to take you to dinner and talk more. You probably spent far more time with my old man than I ever did. Unless your gaurd here has an issue?"

Noir swallowed then looked back to Zero, the R.O.H.M. just staring back at Casamus. A part of him wished he had called the other a security threat but the man stoically looked on. "I...I suppose I should accept then," the blonde relented.

"Swell. How does tomorrow night sound," he asked, maintaining his Cheshire smile.

"That's fine. I'll have my assistant coordinate with yours. I'll ask you though to not return to this level uninvited in future. This floor is just for the R.O.H.M.s and the doctors seeing them that day. Any other floor is fine, but this is ultimately their space," Noir requested firmly.

"That's fair. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," the Senator answered, unphased by the light scolding before heading off to the elevator, helping himself to the private one.

With a wave, he stepped inside and let the door close, "Take care. You too, Zero."

Exhaling, Noir went to the window then leaned on it, crossing his arms as he looked outside, "Are you okay?"

Zero turned then gave a nod. "Yes."

Noir went quite once more, eyes careful to watch the plaza below to ensure that the senator had left the building. Having another thought, he pressed his palm against the glass, “If he should bother you in a manner you feel is inappropriate towards you, you have full permission to slug him.”

"Understood."

#echo project #echo #original story #original work #male x male #scifi #yaoi

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worryinglyinnocent · 5 years

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Floyd, are you ready for fall to start? What are you doing to prepare for the cold weather?

Well, I live in an air-conditioned office where the temperature is always set to ‘Antarctica’ no matter the season, so I am already fully prepared for the cold.

Worry can’t wait for autumn and being able to wear jumpers and coats and leather jackets again. She owns several jumpers but not a lot of hot weather clothing...

#TMI Tuesday #anneelliotscat #Floyd the Ducky #PLEASE LET IT BE AUTUMN SOON I HATE HEAT #I mean I hate all kinds of weather #but autumn is generally the most bearable

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mindninjax · 2 years

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To Shape a Home (6)

Autumn

Last chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

Bakugo x reader

Warnings: bad jokes lol

WC: 3.5K

a/n: openly exposing my fear of corn mazes. Or mazes in general actually. Anywhoo enjoy the fall activities. 💖

As it turns out you’re not that bad and accepting the fact that Katsuki is going to run into you every fucking where he goes in this town makes every day life a little more bearable. He’s been less on edge since the fishing incident, finding it much easier to speak to you without frustration boiling in his gut.

He’s even able to tolerate Denki’s whining about “not hearing from him in like a century dude!” Katsuki rolls his eyes, it was only a few months he avoided his other friends but only because they were so obsessed with you.

Still, you don’t seem to be plotting against him, or shoving your city life bullshit down everyone’s throat. In fact, you barely speak about yourself.

In conversation with the others, you're quiet and listening and when Eiji or Hanta try to ask you about your opinion, you quickly shift the attention back to them. So Katsuki learns things about you by watching you. Not that he’s trying to learn shit about you. But it’s hard not to notice.

Like how you have a thing for dumb ass jokes. You tell them to some of the kids in town and they laugh like it’s the funniest fucking thing they’ve ever heard. They’re really not. The jokes are stupid.

When Jodi, one of Katsuki’s most loyal customers who adores his tomatoes, stops by her son, Vincent bombards him with the jokes he’s heard from you.

“Hey Mr. Bakugo! Why did the tomato blush?” he asks excitedly. Katsuki raises an eyebrow as he loads a basket full of tomatoes for Jodi to take home.

“Hmm? Uhh I don’t know kid, why?” He says a little distracted.

“Because it saw the salad dressing!” he screams and laughs so hard he’s holding his belly.

Jodi only gives him an apologetic smile and mentions something about you telling him a new joke every time you come by to babysit. Katsuki frowns, you’re already so embedded in a lot of things in the town, he’s kind of envious. He didn’t know you were babysitting for Jodi, though he guesses it makes sense since you’re neighbors.

You’re also not bad at this painting thing. He’s picked up a lot of new skills in listening and watching you when you’re teaching. You’ve got weird little quirks, like how you write with your right hand but you paint with your left. Your shoulders are more relaxed and your sassy comments slip out on more than one occasion when the two of you are casually chatting.

Katsuki noticed that while attending one of the painting classes alone for once. Eiji was sick and had to cancel and Katsuki usually only goes to these things because Ei drags him along. The stupid painting shit does actually calm him. It feels the same as when he’s making new fishing lures, letting his thoughts turn off and focusing on his masterpiece. Plus, the shit is free and he doesn’t have to justify doing something he wants to do, especially to you.

He glares at you when he strolls into the room and sees the surprised “o” on your face fall into a smug grin.

“What? Just because Eiji gets sick and can’t make it doesn’t mean I can’t show up. I fucking signed up for this shit,” he pouts.

“I didn’t say anything!” you say in a squeaky high pitched tone.

“Ya didn’t have to. That dumb ass grin said it all,” he grumbles back.

You chuckle and hand him one of the brushes you know he likes. When he’s sitting on a stool toward the back of the room, he watches you glide around, smiling at people and reassuring them they’re doing great. While you work on your own painting, you squint and poke your tongue out like a toddler trying to tie his own shoe.

Something about trying to figure you out is amusing to him. It’s like he’s trying to find some reason to dislike you. That may make it easier not to get too attached. But the more he searches, the more he can’t find anything.

“Watching me won’t help you finish your painting,” you tease, appearing next to him seemingly out of nowhere.

“Yer the damn teacher right? Ain’t I supposed to be watchin’ what you do?” he mutters back, trying to hide the embarrassment he feels from being caught staring at you.

“You’re supposed to be creating your own experience and artwork with a little guidance from me.”

You lean down next to him to inspect his canvas. He can feel the heat radiating from you and can smell your sweet fragrance. This may be the closest you've ever been to him. Should he scoot away? Should he tell you to back off?

He does neither, instead he turns his head ever so slightly to look at the side of your face. He watches your eyes flit up and down the canvas, your eyelashes dust your cheeks when you blink. You’re so focused, but he can tell you’re completely enamored with your task.

“Your mountains are really nice. You’re good at seeing where the light will hit objects you’re painting,” you praise. The tips of his ears grow hot and he clears his throat loudly.

“Yeah well, turns out it ain’t so hard once ya get the hang of it,” he shakes off your compliment, shrugging a shoulder as if it’s no big deal. It isn’t a big deal, you praise everyone in the class, you’re just doing your job.

So his heart needs to quit goin’ nuts and fuckin’ relax.

The moon climbs overhead as a herd of townspeople make their way to townsquare. It’s a full moon, the moonbeams shine down brilliantly. The chill in the air sends a shiver up your spine and if not for the warm atmosphere of your friends surrounding you as you follow the crowd, you’d be freezing.

Eijirou, Denki, Hanta, and surprisingly Katsuki are with you, joking and talking excitedly about the events of the night. Well, all but one of them are laughing and joking. Katsuki stays quiet, as he always is when you’re with them.

He walks slightly behind you, hands shoved in his pockets and glaring at the ground. You'd thought the relationship— if you could even call it that—was getting better between the two of you. Apparently not as well as you thought. He’s always so tough to read. You never know if he’s in his normal grumpy mood or if he’s in the “grumpy but I’ll be cute and play fetch with your dog” mood. You sigh as something Eijirou says catches your attention.

“Yeah, there’s a new Haunted Maze at the Spirit’s Eve festival this year,“ he chats excitedly with Denki and Hanta.

You gulp, a haunted maze? That...does not sound like fun.

“A umm… a haunted maze?” you ask, falling in step with Eiji. He wraps an arm around your shoulder when he hears the nervousness in your tone.

“Don’t worry Darlin’. It ain’t that scary,” he says smiling.

Behind you, there’s stifling laughter and if you weren’t extremely nervous about the maze, you would’ve turned around and said something to the blonde. You press your lips in a tight line and continue toward town square.

The decorations are beautiful. There are pumpkins everywhere and it smells like freshly baked pies and cider. Gaslit lanterns hang from the poles in the square and cast a creepy yet comforting glow amongst the cobblestone.

Scarecrows and Jack-o-Lanterns hang from the trees and sit along the walkways as the bustling townsfolk saunter around in the cool night. The maze is straight ahead, a large hedge of grass that looks like a dark menacing wall. Stalks of corn peak over the top if it. Great, hedges and corn. You take a deep breath.

Immediately, you teeter on the edge of an anxiety attack. You could bite the bullet and tell the others you don’t want to go in the maze, but then you’re labeled a killjoy. Plus, it’s the first festival you’re attending since moving back. They were nice enough to invite you, you shouldn’t back out. Still the idea of being trapped and lost in the maze really makes your knees knock together in fright.

You’re humming a bit to yourself in line while Eiji and the others make bets about who will get out of the maze first. No, you got this. You’ll be fine. You’ve braved the subway at 1 Am and during rush hour. This will be a piece of cake. Everyone enters the maze one at a time. First, Denki, then Hanta, Eiji is in front of you and right before he enters he gives you a little wave and wink.

“See ya on the other side!”

That doesn’t sound foreboding. It can’t be that bad. A small town corn maze? Nothing to be worried about. You close your eyes and right as you’re about to take a shaky step into the maze, a deep grouchy voice behind you makes you almost jump out of your skin.

“S’matter with you?”

Katsuki. You’d completely forgotten he was there. When you whip around he’s staring at you with his arms crossed over his chest, a shit eating grin twitching at the corner of his lips.

You blink then frown and roll your eyes. “Nothing. Nothing, I'm just…getting ready…” you stammer gazing down the dark path again.

“You look scared shitless,” Katsuki scoffs and there’s a hint of amusement in his tone.

“I’m not scared,” you fire back immediately. You’re almost afraid this will cause another argument like the one the two of you had in front of Toshi’s. All that progress trying to be friendly with him, down the drain.

“Sure look scared to me,” he huffs, turning away as if you aren’t his problem.

Shit. Why’s he watching you like this? He raises an eyebrow when you spin back around to glare at him.

“Well looks can be deceiving. I’m just… trying to think of a game plan,” you snap back.

He snorts and mutters “whatever” under his breath.

You stand at the entrance again, contemplating whether you should just call it quits. The “I told you so” grin that would plaster itself onto Katsuki’s face if you did leave, keeps your feet firmly planted in front of the entrance.

“Yer holdin’ up the line, idjit! I’ll just go in with ya.” He grasps your wrist and pulls you with him as he stomps into the maze. There’s no time to argue or pull out of his grasp before most of the light is hidden by the large stalks of corn and you both are only illuminated by the light from the moon.

You trip a bit over your feet as he drags you along, his grip on your wrist isn’t tight so you snatch away from him.

“What the hell, Katsuki!? I was gonna go in myse-”

A rustle in the stalks of corn stops your statement cold. You scan where the noise came from, peering into the night and praying for your eyes to adjust and make out whatever is making that rustling noise.

You scream and almost pee your pants when a bird flies out from the corn stalks, wings flapping loudly in your ears as it passes closely overhead. You don’t even notice you’re grasping or more so wrapping yourself around his side until he clears his throat and you quickly take three huge steps away from him and blush.

“Heh, still not scared?” And there it is, that “I told ya so” grin you were dreading.

You dust yourself off, smoothing your jeans and playing with one of the braids in your hair nervously.

“No. Just…corn just freaks me out,” you explain. It’s a stupid excuse and you curse yourself for not finding a wittier comeback.

“Corn…freaks you out? Bull shit, sweetheart.”

This is the second time he’s called you that. You’re not sure if you like it or not, but when he says it now, it’s exceptionally softer than when he said it back in front of Toshi’s. Your heart does a flip, why does it sound so different and comforting now?

“Shut-“ A scream in the distance makes you jump and again you grab his arm and close your eyes.

To your complete surprise and shock, he doesn’t pull away from you in disgust. He looks down at you clutching his arm, gives you a smug smile then mutters “Heh, I gotcha.”

Why’s he being so...nice? Should you ask him? Will that set him off? Maybe it’s best not to. Especially considering you have to get through this stupid maze now and he has forcibly made you his partner.

You gaze up at him blinking quickly, then pout your lips and look at your feet. “You lead the way,” you reply.

For a long time the two of you walk in complete silence, You still hold tight to his arm and he slows his pace to walk with you as you slowly make your way through it. There are scarecrows hanging ominously around each corner and the wind sometimes blows through the leaves of the crops and makes you think someone is walking through them. Katsuki stares straight ahead as he walks, every once in a while he’ll stop when you jump or tighten your grip on his arm and mutter a quick “S’alright, just the wind.”

He hasn’t led you into a dead end and soon you’re relaxed enough to trust that he’ll get you out of the maze. He’s walking slightly ahead of you and you’re grasping the back of his shirt while walking when he finally breaks the silence.

“Kinda makes sense that a city girl would be afraid of corn.”

Is he...trying to make a joke? He doesn’t chuckle or change his tone into a light hearted joking manner like any other person would. Though you think it’s a joke, there’s no harshness behind the words, you don’t even think he’s teasing you. He says it nonchalantly, as if you both talk like this on the regular.

“I’m not actually afraid of corn. It’s loud noises and the whole ‘getting lost and never being able to escape’ part of the maze that freaks me out,” you reply shrugging. If he’s gonna be nonchalant, you should match it. It’s the quickest way to move past this awkward phase you’ve been in.

He stops and peers at you over his shoulder. You stare at him, a bit guarded and on the defense. If he snaps at you, you’re ready. He stares for what seems like way too long, then swallows and turns away. There was something unrecognizable in his expression, his brows furrowed ever so slightly and you could’ve swore he looked a little sad.

“Makes sense,” he replies and continues walking.

“You’re good at these,” you offer, trying to steer the conversation in a new direction. However, when you trip slightly over your own feet and run face first into his back with an oof, you succeed in continuing to look like a damn doofus in front of him.

“Pft, and you ain’t,” he chuckles and again your heart does a little flip. He sounds relaxed and you don’t know why but that makes you happy. In the light of the moon, you see the hints of a smile on his face and it gives you pause. It really is dumb how handsome he is.

“Which means we make the perfect team,” you beam at him and wink, then wonder if maybe that might’ve been too much.

“Team? I’m the one leadin’ us through the damn thing. What are you doin’?” he snorts, pointing a finger at you. It’s close to the tip of your nose and for a second you think he’s going to playfully boop you.

You put a hand to your chest in mock offense. “I’m the cautious one! The one who pays attention to our surroundings and warns you of the danger!’

You pout again and this time he actually laughs. It’s not a long winded one and it only lasts about five seconds but still it makes you feel like you’ve won a prize for the night.

“Yeah cause a bird flying outta the corn is dangerous,” he teases, leaning his nose down to mock you.

You turn away from him, crossing your arms with your nose in the air. “Birds are little assholes. Plenty of people have been pecked to death.”

“That sounds like a fucked up story they’d put on the news to scare all the people in the city from comin’ out to the country,” Katsuki says laughing again and this time you laugh with him.

Your laughs die down as you both catch your breath and the silence is awkwardly filled with the crickets chirping. Katsuki clears his throat then.

“We should keep goin’ if ya wanna get outta this shit hole,” he says. You smile a little to yourself when he lifts his arm out for you to grab.

As you stroll with him, you’re extremely aware of how warm he is. He’s wearing a long sleeve shirt but you can still feel warmth radiating through it. He’s like your own personal space heater, cozy and—dare you say— safe. The muscles in his arm are hard and sometimes when walking he tenses up and then relaxes when you unconsciously squeeze his arm.

There’s a question you want to ask him but you’re afraid you’ll ruin this nice moment between the two of you. Before you can overthink it, the words come tumbling from your mouth like word vomit.

“So what are you afraid of?” you try to ask it casually like he did before, keeping your eyes straight ahead and hoping that it won’t upset him.

He doesn’t sound upset when he grunts back “nothin,” but you do feel his whole body tense up and the muscles in his arm harden under your grip.

Taking the non-explosion of his anger as a good sign, you press him a bit more.

“Well you just tensed up like you saw a ghost when I asked so it’s gotta be something,” you reply.

He keeps walking but his body doesn’t relax. He stays rigid and uncomfortable as he walks, glaring straight ahead without looking at you. You’re thankful for that because now you can analyze him.

His brows are knitted together in frustration, but for some reason you can tell he’s not frustrated with you. He’s far away from here, thinking about something, perhaps whatever it is he’s afraid of and whatever it is you can tell he’s seeing it clearly projected in his head.

You bite your lip nervously, this wasn’t what you wanted. You thought that maybe he’d say spiders or something. Maybe snakes, like Indiana Jones. Shit, it’s no wonder he thinks you’re annoying.

Desperate to help, you tug the sleeve of his shirt lightly. “Hey Katsuki, can you do me a favor?” you ask in a small voice.

“Hah?” He blinks quickly like he’s being broken out of a spell cast on him and looks down into your eyes in confusion.

“Squeeze my hand,” you request, pulling your arm out from under his and holding your hand out to him.

His eyes flicker between your hand and your eyes, as if he thinks you’ll play a trick on him. “What why?” he grumbles.

You smile warmly, hoping that the warmth in your eyes reaches him and he knows, he doesn’t have to be afraid if you’re here.

“So I know you’re still here with me,” you say simply.

He hesitates and stares into your eyes for a long time before he finally wraps his hand around yours and squeezes, not too hard. His hands are rough and calloused and slightly sweaty, but it’s so big around yours it almost covers it completely. He stares with an eyebrow raised as he continues to squeeze and when you squeeze twice he relaxes and his hand goes limp in your grasp.

Under the light of the full moon drifting across the sky, you and Katsuki stare into each other’s eyes. You can tell he’s thinking, maybe searching for something in your expression. You instead enjoy how the moon shines through his hair and how his eyes look a bit softer than they did when you first entered the maze.

When you don’t let go of his hand and intertwine your fingers with his, he intakes a sharp breath that you choose to ignore. He continues leading the way, hand-in-hand with you and very soon you’re at the end and can see the low lamp light of the exit. Right before you drop your hands at the exit you give his a little squeeze.

“Thanks for helping me through it.”

You flutter your lashes at him, warmth coursing through you and heating your cheeks. You don’t miss the way the tips of his ears go red when he turns and walks away from you, throwing a “yeah yeah” over his shoulder.

Thanks for reading!

#bakugo x reader #bakugou x reader #marquie writes #to shape a home #stardew valley au

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heckin-kiibler · 3 years

Text

Birthdays were… An odd thing for Kiibo. As a robot, he was not 'born' in the same way humans were. His creation was the culmination of years of development, during which he was technically activated in order to test specific parts of his AI. Alongside that, given his own… Unique history, it could be said that he had three separate ‘birthdays.’

First was the birthday he couldn’t remember; the one that marked the first day Professor Idabashi considered his development complete and Kiibo was properly switched on. Of course, this version of himself did not last, but if one were to get technical, this day would be his true, original birthday.

Then there was the date of his rebirth, after his AI reset itself in order to properly become the Professor's son. That had been almost five years ago now. Or perhaps six?

Finally, there was his most recent birth date, when his body and AI had been finally restored after the events of the Killing Game. His memories weren’t perfectly intact, but apparently enough of his files were able to be salvaged so that he could remember most of what had happened during that dark time in his life. Sometimes he wondered if it would have been better to forget all that had occurred, but despite the despairing situation they had been in, there were a few good memories he had that were far too valuable to lose. He didn’t want to forget his friends. Each of them were all the four of them really had, though the Future Foundation had certainly been very accommodating as well.

It was his second birthday that he generally celebrated, though, and was also the one that happened to be today.

Kiibo sat on top of a cliff, overlooking a large body of water, as the autumn breeze blew through his hair. This had become one of his favourite spots since escaping the killing game. It was quiet, but for once, that wasn’t a bad thing. It was a comforting silence, one filled with the sweet sounds of nature rather than the terrifying emptiness that had always followed nighttime at the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. He still wasn’t fond of being completely by himself, but he was getting better, and places like these made the ordeal more bearable.

“Ah, Kiibo, here you are.”

Kiibo turned around, a smile already on his face. It seemed he would not need to be alone any longer. He would know that voice anywhere, thanks to his advanced vocal recognition technology. “Shuichi!”

“I was looking for you.” A faint blush spread across the detective's face as he offered a wrapped box to the robot. “Happy birthday, Kiibo.”

“A gift?” Shuichi was known to give out presents on a fairly regular basis, but seldom were they wrapped. Kiibo supposed that the change was because of birthday traditions. He took the box from his friend, gratitude flooding his circuits, and began to carefully unwrap it. “Thank y-- Oh!”

Inside was a beautiful blue kimono adorned with floral patterns in black outlines. Kiibo looked back at Shuichi in wonder.

“Um, during the killing game you had mentioned that you liked kimonos, so…” Shuichi trailed off, looking away. Kiibo's sensors could detect some embarrassment coming from the man. Not long after, though, he turned back to the robot with a small smile. “Well, I thought you’d like something like this.”

That was certainly true, but… Had he truly said something like that? Kiibo scoured his memory banks before coming across the singular instance where he did state his preferences for Japanese themed things. He had really remembered something like that, despite everything that had been going on in the killing game?

“Sh-Shuichi..!” If he had a crying function, surely he would be..! Kiibo wanted to hug his friend, but he was also holding his(!!) kimono and didn’t want to put it down. Instead, he opted to stare at the other with wide, joyful eyes.

The detective's smile widened as a soft chuckle escaped his lips. “Did you want to put it on?” He offered, stepping toward the other as Kiibo nodded excitedly.

It wasn’t a perfect fit, given that the garment was draped over his armour rather than being worn properly, but it still filled him with an indescribable amount of warmth. After Shuichi finished tying it for him, Kiibo turned to face the detective. “H-how do I look..?” He asked, suddenly a little shy.

“You look great, Kiibo.” Shuichi said softly, reaching over to pat Kiibo's head. “I believe the preparations are ready, if you’re ready to head back.”

“…Preparations? For what purpose?”

“Ah, well, I don’t know if it was still meant to be a surprise, but… We’ve set up a little party in the Neo World Program for you.” He smiled. “Some members of the Future Foundation were happy to help out. Apparently some of the bakers even went a bit overboard.”

A birthday party? In the Neo World Program? Then… Did that mean… “Will I finally be able to learn what cake tastes like!?” Sure, it was only a simulation and not real food, but given that Kiibo was unable to eat real food, this was his best alternative! With the right modifications to his avatar, he had been able to experience many kinds of food—all of which he greatly enjoyed—but he’d never gotten to try cake before! He’d heard such positive things about the dessert, so he couldn’t help but feel excited about the prospect.

“Heh, cake and many other desserts, I’m sure. Do you want to go?”

Oh… It was true that he was very excited about the festivities, but… Kiibo looked back out at the lake, then back at Shuichi. This would likely be the only chance he had today to spend time alone with the detective. The robot's face couldn’t help but redden as he spoke, “…Could we stay a little longer, just the two of us? I… I want to enjoy this time with you.”

Shuichi took Kiibo's hand in his, stepping closer to him as he brought his lips to the top of his head. “…Of course, Kiibo.”

#kiibo #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #shuichi saihara #saiibo #k1-b0 #keebo #ic #.shuichi saihara #verse 2 | post game #((happy birthday to my son i love him so much))#saiibo | kiibo x shuichi

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dangermousie · 3 years

Text

2020 End of Year Post - cdrama edition

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2020; if I had to make a post about all the cdramas I watched this year, I would still be doing it in three months...

Overall it’s been a fairly decent cdrama year (certainly better than the very lacklustre kdrama year.) It’s no miracle that 2019 was (so many excellent dramas!) but overall pretty solid.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

44 The Legend of Jing Yan - the worst cdrama I have seen this year, and possibly the worst drama of 2020, period. The hero and heroine were both uncharismatic, incapable of acting and saddled with such shrilly moronic characters, the only suspense was how they haven’t both perished long since from forgetting to breathe. Nor was anyone in the rest of the cast much better; the screenplay was written by a lower mammal and the cinematography was the best a third-rate wedding cinematographer could offer. Stay the HELL away from this one.

43 Unicorn Girl - the only unicorn about this bland yet irritating piece of pap was the fact that I was supposed to believe the leads are hockey players.

42 Autumn Cicada - I like spy stories, Allen Ren, and Republican Era settings. I can tune out Communist propaganda with the best of them. Yet, the propaganda ate the story to such a degree that there was nothing left; pre magic change Pinocchio was less wooden then this narrative.

41 You Complete Me - no you do not.

40 Skate into Love - the only positive thing I can say about this is that at least it’s better than Unicorn Girl, if for no other reason that only one of them is supposed to be a hockey player.

39 Irreplaceable Love - how do you make a story about fake siblings with a mad mother falling for each other boring? I don’t know, ask the makers of this.

38 Eternal Love Rain - I hate to rain on their parade, but these two actors cannot act, have about as much chemistry as a piece of bread, and are trapped in a story perfect for entertaining the mental abilities of the leads of Jin Yan.

37 For Married Doctoress - ummmm, you could do worse I guess. It only made me break out in mild hives. The sadistic ending did make me laugh though.

36 Dance of the Sky Empire - why you get Xu Kai and waste him in this insipid mess of a story is beyond me.

35 Love Designer - it’s inoffensive except to my sense of entertainment. There is nothing wrong with it but oh God is it bland.

34 Love a Lifetime - It felt like a lifetime watching this, but I didn’t love it. The story is incoherent, the actors have no chemistry and it’s all an epic waste of time.

33 Love is Sweet - so sweet it gave me diabetes. I like Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, but there is literally no plot. I don’t need to sink into a plotless morass to watch pretty people engage in PG-rated make-outs. I am an adult with access to stronger stuff if I am thus inclined, though to be fair they could get x-rated and I still wouldn’t be able to sit through so many episodes of plotlessness for that.

32 Fake Princess - I love Zhao Yi Qin, but the guy needs to pick better projects. The female lead in this one has the voice and personality that can strip paint but the story is also doing nobody any favors.

31 The Changan Youth - I lost my brain checking this out. I had to go and read a dense treatise on medieval coinage or Mayan farming to try to recover it.

30 My Dear Destiny - kinda cheesy fun. It honestly shouldn’t be as low except it really feels like community theater.

29 Handsome Siblings - why is the Nic Tse version so good and this one so bad? True mystery for the ages. Chen Zhe Yuan is the sole reason this isn’t lower, because that kid tries SO HARD to make this drama bearable and almost succeeds. I can’t wait to see him in Sha Po Lang which actually will give him something to do.

28 In a Class of Her Own - see my comment on The Changan Youth. But at least Song Weilong is gorgeous to look at.

27 General’s Lady - inoffensive, pretty and so utterly pointless.

26 The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion - those two leading actors are a no go to me but at least they considerately acted with each other instead of ruining two dramas for me. It’s very pretty though.

25 Jiu Liu Overlord - it’s a mess and I bailed, but I placed it this high merely due to the fact that Lai Yi finally gets a leading role and he’s sexy as fuck and I am shallow. Whoever styled Bai Lu should never work again except at a circus, however.

24 Cross Fire - not my genre and Luhan will always look too much like my cousin for comfort, but it’s a surprisingly gripping and dark drama. I liked it!

23 God of Lost Fantasy - if you want to watch a mediocre wuxia/xianxia, this is not a bad choice. Probably better than Legend of Fei actually, because at least it doesn’t have an A-list cast to waste and gives us Sheng Yilun himbo and shirtless.

22 Renascence - the insane cuts (it went from 70 eps to 36!!!) made a fairly cheesy story into a total mess. But I had a good time until I finally bailed mainly because of the male lead (Chen Zhe Yuan yet again carrying a not-good 2020 drama on his shoulders; the guy should be nicknamed Atlas) and the insane but in a fun way story. The female lead (both the character and the actress) were not up to par but oh well.

21 Legend of Fei - only this high because objectively there is nothing I disliked it. But there is nothing I liked either. The most uninspired drama on the list. If you could eat cardboard, this is what it would taste like.

20 Ever Night 2 - compared to EN1, it’s a waste of film. On its own merits, it’s not very good (the cast replacements are uniformly inferior and Dylan Wang is so wrong for Ning Que I cannot even put it into words; the script is useless.) But it had some parts I loved so very VERY much (all the shippy stuff was perfection) so I don’t feel too bitter.

19 Castle in the Sky 2 - a lovely if not too complex fairy tale. It is inferior to its prequel because it doesn’t have Zhang Ruo Yun who elevated it, but it’s still a solid bit of fun.

18 The Great Ruler - it’s very high fantasy, very pretty, and surprisingly involving.

17 (tie) Legend of Two Sisters in the Chaos - the secondary couple steals the show but the rest is not too bad if not too involving.

17 Legend of Awakening - a solid bit of fun with a seriously BDSM streak (theme this year apparently - but come on, the lead’s powers only activate when he’s in extreme pain!) It’s a bit generic and the costuming is done by a blind person, not to mention the OTP is a NOTP, but the rest of relationships (romantic and platonic) are wonderful (I live for the found siblings story in this one) and I like most of the characters.

16 Consummation - a rare modern cdrama I liked; a sweet coming of age story (and love story) even if wrapped in a pretty weird virtual reality concept.

15 Oops the King is in Love - this is how you do a low budget, sweet, silly piece of fluff. Our heroine pretends to be a eunuch and crosses paths with a powerless young king and they are adorable, even more so than the drama.

14 Song of Glory - pretty solid, though draggy and I didn’t love the toothpaste filter. But A+ cast, excellent leading couple chemistry, Li Qin being a BAMF and a leading man (Qin Hao) who is actually an adult.

13 And the Winner is love - objectively kind of a mess (and the heroine has the brainpower of a gnat), but the OTP chemistry is excellent and Luo Yunxi fighting and flirting with a fan as finally a leading man is worth the price of admission.

12 Miss S - snazzy and snappy and stylish and whatever else starts with S.

11 Eternal Love of Dream - I don’t know if it would work for you as well if you weren’t a hardcore shipper for this OTP in Three Lives but I was and this was such a darling, wonderful, shippy delight; plus I love this type of high fantasy.

10 (tie) Maiden Holmes - solid and sweet and a wonderful OTP. Proves that functional doesn’t have to mean boring. If you watch one cross-dressing drama this year make it this one.

10 Qin Dynasty Epic - srs bsns history epic. I am not far into it but it’s so good and smart and visually stunning (if you love battles, this one is for you.)

9 Love Lasts Two Minds - I adored this so much more than I should objectively have, but it’s so beautiful (and no I am not just referring to Alan Yu’s face) and the OTP has wonderful chemistry and the story is solid, and the whole trope of her memory being wiped but falling for him all over again while he’s constantly and utterly devoted is a fave; plus he’s in pain and semi-dyng for most of it so sluuuurp (happy ending, don’t worry)

8 To Love - yes, a modern drama is this high! But it involves intensity, tragedy, genuine adults and sexiness that is Lin Gengxin. And there is an actual plot and darkness OMG!

7 Legend of Xiao Chuo - so beautiful, so fun, so full of gorgeousness of Shawn Dou. Plus, Liao is a rare setting for a cdrama and there are a lot of characters and stories I liked a LOT. Less ship content than I wanted but more than I expected.

6 The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so so delightful. I was literally laughing out loud. I have no idea if it will work as well if one isn’t a seasoned watcher of period cdrama/reader of web novels, with bonus for watching/reading Goodbye My Princess, but it was a complete delight for me (and yes, I shipped for real, as well. Best of both worlds.)

5 Twisted Fate of Love - Jin Han gets a leading period drama role! And he’s enjoying it to the hilt, excellent as a smart, twisty bastard who is also charming and so madly in love with heroine. Sun Yi is beautiful and tough and her chemistry with JH is on fire, the story never drags, and it’s so twisty and fun and just awesome.

4 Love In Between - the most underrated drama on this list. It has no big names or big budget, but it’s wuxia that’s clever, driven, tragic, hopeful and so beautifully shot. Three separate (amazing) OTPs, a leading man who is so not typical (a doctor who cannot fight and who never acquires this ability) and who is intense and smart and damaged, a heroine who puts her quest ahead of her emotions, an unhealthy degree of involvement by yours truly. This is a drama Fei should have been.

3 Love and Redemption - such a lovely, addictive, utterly romantic fairy tale. I was obsessed with it for a reason. All the tropes you love and some you didn’t know you did, a star-crossed OTP to the nth power (and a secondary OTP I hardcore love), a twisty yet coherent plot, some insane chemistry and so much whump and hurt/comfort they must have bought blood packets in bulk.

2 Go Ahead - yes, I can’t believe it either. A contemporary slice of life cdrama made it this high on my list. But the way it feels so real, the found family perfection, the characters I love and loathe, the perfect cherry of a wonderful OTP that hits my narrative kinks on top, and just a perfect storm of loveliness all around with this one.

1 The Wolf - is that any surprise to anyone who’s checked out this tumblr for the last couple of months? Tragic, intense and gorgeous; so romantic and angsty and passionate it made me lose my mind (though some of it was gone the moment the camera panned to Darren Wang) - all my favorite tropes and then some; this is a drama that may not be perfect but it is 100% and then beyond perfect for ME.

FAVORITE DRAMA

The Wolf - I have seen objectively better cdramas; even this year. But it has been literal years since I have been this hardcore obsessed, this utterly pleased, this emotionally catered to and devastated at once. A beautiful dark fairy tale that manages to own me despite the storytelling gaps due to censorship, it took me for one of the biggest emotional roller coaster rides of my drama watching career. Visually gorgeous, poetic, intense, and so romantic it took my breath away, this is not just my favorite cdrama of 2020, it’s my favorite drama this year period, and the one cdrama this year to make it into my permanent Top 10 cdramas list.

WORST DRAMA

Legend of Jin Yan - see my write up for it for why as I refuse to waste more time on this stupid mess.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Wolfie, The Wolf - he is such a haunted, tormented, complex, dark mess; loving and violent, severely damaged and with a hidden yearning softness, longing and aloof. And the amount of charisma and sheer masculine sex appeal Darren Wang brings to the role is insane and not something I see much of in a cdrama. Plus, that character arc with its rapid fall and slow painful redemption is A++++

Runner Up: Sifeng, Love and Redemption - has a male lead ever loved more utterly and selflessly, suffered more thoroughly and beautifully, and managed to have such chemistry with both his leading lady and his leading man (that his leading lady temporarily turned into) at once? The answer is no.

Almost made the cut - Feng Xi, Twisted Fate of Love, Han Shuo, The Romance of Tiger and Rose, Qing Ci, Love in Between.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Xiao Qian, The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so funny, so much the reason this drama was such a delight. I adore her beyond words.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Murder Daddy, The Wolf - I am sad the censors robbed us of seeing him die on screen. He was fully human but nonetheless managed to be the worst monster in a drama full of literal ones.

Ling Xiao’s Mom, Go Ahead - I hate her so much I don’t want to look up her name. She abused the kid, the disappeared and came back to abuse him some more. I mean she literally gave her child mental health issues. She is the WORST.

FAVORITE SHIP

Xing’er x Wolfie, The Wolf - are you kidding me? Who else could it ever be for me? They destroyed each other and saved each other, sworn enemies and childhood lovers, soulmates and epic messes, they couldn’t live with or without each other. The longing, the passion, the intensity, the angst, the epicness. LIKE THERE ARE NO WORDS!!!!

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Si Yuan, Shen Manqing, Love in Between - I loved them as much and often more than the main OTP. So much angst and passion and a happy ending! She is a seeming sect darling (except the sect is horrible and also sexist so her only worth is as a marriage candidate) and he’s an information broker who is actually one of the members of a destroyed sect that’s blamed for the massacre of her family. That chemistry and yearning is insane. The scene where she touches his face when he’s unconscious was in serious running for my favorite scene of 2020.

NOTP

Legend of Awakening - I have never seen a couple that didn’t just have no chemistry but exhibited actual revulsion towards each other before watching Chen Feiyu and Cheng Xiao try to act as lovers in this one. It was almost entertaining to be honest.

FAVORITE SCENE

It’s a tie and both are from The Wolf. One is a sequence where Wolfie marches to the walls alone, seeking death at Xing’er’s hands and the whole sequence with the battle and rescue follows. The other is the intercut between Xing’er going to her wedding and Wolfie going to his execution, and the auto-da-fe being intercut with her wedding.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Wolfie, The Wolf - Ummm have you seen this tumblr lately, it’s basically a drool shrine to the man.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yelü Yansage, The Legend of Xiao Chuo - I have loved this actor since The Myth and he continued to competently steal every scene he was in.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

To Love - come out of the coma, dammit!!!!!!!

NEEDS A DIRECTOR’S CUT

The Wolf - duh. It started out as 59 eps and got cut to 49. I reaiize some stuff is never gonna get put in due to censorship, but some of the stuff that got cut got for time reasons because they were deluded and hoping to get a TV broadcast so ep count had to be under 50. I mean I doubt the censors would care if they kept scenes of Wolfie building her a swing or whatever. I really really want a director’s cut the way Goodbye My Princess did even if like with GMP it’s only three extra eps. Hell, I will take extra three minutes, as long as those three minutes are Darren Wang shirtless or with a sword. Ahem.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

The Song of Glory - it’s a fairly solid drama but honestly it didn’t need to be as long as it was and kind of got draggy and I got lost interest. (I could have gotten snarky and said all the dramas I didn’t like needed scissors taken to them in their entirety but decided to play nice.)

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

There are a number of dramas I could complain about with regard to this (hi there, darling The Wolf!) but this award goes to Renascence - poor Renascence was never going to be a masterpiece, but it had the potential to be a bit of good cheesy fun until it had its run time cut by more than half and became an incoherent piece of insanity.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Dumb shrill innocent heroine who can’t tie her shoes - see basically all the cdramas I didn’t like this year.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Male lead torture - I mean it’s always open season on that in cdramas, but between Love and Redemption, The Wolf, Love Lasts Two Minds, Love in Between and so on, it was a banner year!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Legend of Fei - what a waste of that cast; what a waste of our finite time on this Earth. What a waste of my intelligence to hope for something better and stick with it for a dozen eps. I have had stale wonderbread that had more personality than this drama.There is absolutely nothing that stands out about this drama in any way, from half-dimensional characters, to actors who are sleepwalking, to a plot that moves at the speed of an arthritic snail, to uninspired cinematography and direction, to lack of any chemistry between anyone in the cast. If paint-by-numbers was done by a group of particularly linear robots, it might come across the same way as this drama.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

The Wolf - honestly, I did not expect it to come out AT ALL EVER let alone to become my favorite drama of 2020. I was not familiar with the leading man (hahah), I liked Li Qin but wasn’t yet obsessed with her, and Xiao Zhan was excellent in The Untamed but I was hardly going to follow him from drama to drama (and I don’t do SLS any way.) And the trailer was enjoyable but unlike seemingly everyone, I didn’t think it was going to be some epic masterpiece. And then it came out and while it wasn’t objectively an epic masterpiece, it pulled out all the favorite tropes, shippy and narrative kinks from the deepest darkest recesses of my id. And I fell harder than I have in years.

2020 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

None. Covid Year gave me PLENTY of time

BEST NON-2020 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2020

Novoland Eagle Flag and Joy of Life - they are in my Top 10 dramas from anywhere now. They are quite different except being smart and giving me protagonists to obsess over.

ETA: Also The Untamed because @idlewilds3 pointed out I actually watched it in 2020 even though I didn’t think so because this hellyear has lasted about three decades.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2021

I am gonna limit it to dozen and leaving out ones that aren’t necesarily supposed to air next year (Joy of Life 2, Love in Flames of War, Novoland Princess from Plateau.)

Monarch Industry, Novoland Pearl Eclipse, Silk Washing Stream, Dream of Changan, Sword Snow Stride, Wu Xing Shi Jia, Ancient Love Poetry, Immortality, The Long Ballad, Mirror Twin Cities, The Imperial Age, Fall In Love

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tonguetwster · 3 years

Note

Don't mind me finding new twst writing blog with big potential~

If it's okay, I'd like to leave a request!

Tempered! Reader x Dorm leaders.

Lemme explain!

It's a beautiful *dreadfully cold day* everyone are staying inside, no crazy man goes outside. It's the coldest Night raven college has ever felt. And there goes reader in light 'autumn' clothes. Laughing, rolling in snow like a mad man and genially just having fun!

After that accident reader explains that they came from a really cold (or a really cold part of it). So since they were a kid They trained themselves to be more acceptable towards the cold.

(hope I'm specific enough. Hope it's okay!)

tysm for the ask and yes, this request is absolutely perfect!

Riddle is understandably surprised and concerned for your wellbeing and puts a bright scarlet heavy coat in a rush, then bolts for you.

You see him and gush over how cute he looks in the coat because it looks like it’s swallowing up. It looks so big on his small body.

He gets embarrassed, his face turning to the same shade as his coat.

Once he snaps out of it, he scolds you lightly for worrying him and then embarrassing him like that

You explain to him that you grew up in a cold environment and he calms down, but is still embarrassed about your gushing.

Contrary to what one might expect, Leona actually doesn’t mind the cold. He stated in one of his voicelines that he actually hates warmth despite growing up in a warmer country like Afterglow Savanna.

So when he sees you playing in the snow, he doesn’t care much for it and goes back to sleep. Unfortunately, your fun ended up being too loud and it disturbed him.

His ears twitched and his eyes opened, eyebrows furrowing in frustration. He gets up and approached you, using his magic to put on appropriate clothing for the weather.

He pulls you to his room and uses you as a pillow as revenge for disturbing his sleep. You’re not leaving for the next 8 hours. Good luck.

Realistically speaking, I figure Leona would’ve put two and two together that you grew up in a colder climate so he wouldn’t need to ask a question if he knows the answer to it already.

Azul is an octomer and has lived in the Coral Sea for most his life, meaning that he can withstand colder temperatures.

When he sees you, he likely also deduces that you grew up in somewhere with a colder temperature as well like him.

While he’s not really interested in playing in the snow, he just invites you to go on some errands with him.

He promises to give you something nice for your help.

After that, he treats you to a nice dinner in Mostro Lounge.

Kalim is SUFFERING. Poor baby is all cold and shivering when he’s not in Scarabia. Jamil has to take extra care of him so that he doesn’t catch a cold.

Much to Jamil’s dismay, he sees that you’re playing in the snow and immediately wanted to join.

He runs after you and tries to join in. You two ended up having a fun bonding moment for a while.

But then Kalim got sick like right after. Jamil had to nurse him back to health, scolding him for just joining you in the middle of the harsh snow. You’re helping him out since you feel bad for the poor thing.

Kalim asks how you’re not sick and you explain. He’s pretty amazed by your ability to survive in the cold like that.

Vil lived in Pyroxene where it’s pretty fucking cold so he’s likely also used to it. I’m guessing he could be working out, likely with Jack since they tend to work out together in the morning.

He spots you playing in the snow and was admittedly worried at first, but he sees that you seem so happy and figured that you were similar to him and Jack.

Seeing you play like that reminded him of when he and Jack were children and played in the snow when Vil had free time from his extremely busy schedule

While he figured that he’s too old to be playing out in the snow, he offers you to run with him and Jack.

If you accept, you three get to have a good time together and having conversations about your experiences back in your hometowns.

Idia probably build a pretty good heater for himself indoors so he’s generally fine. Though, I’m not sure if he needs it. Assuming the Isle of Lamentation is either the Underworld or Greece, the climate might be different from what I’m thinking.

Ortho pleaded with him to play in the snow with him so he reluctantly agreed to it.

When the two brothers went out, they spotted you having fun on your own. Ortho decided to invite you to join them.

Idia is suffering and just wants to go home but he knows Ortho would be sad so he’s just trying to bear with it as much as he can.

You at least make it a little more bearable for him by having a conversation about him about his interests.

Malleus is a dragon fae and lives in the chilly dorms of Diasomnia so I’m assuming that he’s likely used to the cold as well. When he sees you playing in the snow, he’s quite amused by your behavior. It’s just so innocent and carefree.

He’s often alone so he can’t help but want to join in. Despite his extended life, he’s never actually played in the snow with someone, constantly having the weight of his duties on his shoulders.

Lilia suggested that he play with you since you were also all alone. Everyone else was indoors, so all that’s left was you.

Malleus took this advice and approached you, asking how you seem to be so unfazed by the chilly temperature. His face was curious yet amused.

You explain to him that you grew up in a colder place and invite him to play, making him quite a happy dragon. The two of you end up having a good time.

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #Anonymous

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alecxaheart · 3 years

Text

Falls At 4419 | Bang Chan Oneshot

✎ Genre : Strangers to Lovers AU, Fluff

✎ Pairings : Bang Chan X Reader

✎ Word Count : 2.1k words

✎ Synopsis : Who could've thought that your ride to love life starts at a bus stop.

✎ Requested.

You had the usual tiring daily routine for the rest of your life. Your weekday mornings start with your alarm clock greeting you "good morning" in the most annoying beeping way as possible. What a gentle reminder, too, to tell you that it's almost time for work.

" Work again? " you groaned at the thought, hands reaching out to the bedside table to turn off the alarm. Once you did, you forced yourself out of the bed and start preparing for today.

You were completely exhausted due to the stack of work your boss gives you.

It's to the point that it made you sleep deprived, haggard or just messy in general. You don't even know if you ever managed to cover all of that, physically, with make-up. However, when it came to your words and actions, it's noticeable when one paid attention. It's a good thing that Ms. Han was blind to that, or else you'll be told that you're lacking and higher chances of you getting fired.

But aside from every negative thing about your occupation, so far your performances were praised by your co-workers. Salary has never been a problem, in fact, you've been paid higher than expected. Maybe it's from the plus being Ms. Han's pet-sitter — for the love of all things, it had to be a cat.

You're almost done preparing for work. With your feet taking a quick slip into your black heels, you're on your way out of the house. Clacking noises could be heard each time your heels meet the pavement.

As you were headed towards the bus stop, you felt something vibrating from your purse. Opening it, you found your phone ringing. The caller ID displays the name of your boss, Ms. Han. What could be the kind of good morning greeting I'll receive from her today?

You answered it and placed it to your right ear, immediately hearing your name. " Assistant (L/N) (Y/N)! " Ms. Han called out through the other line.

" Good morning to you too, Ms. Han. You have matters to discuss with me at this time? " You replied, stopping at your tracks as you've reached the bus stop. All you need to do now is wait for the bus and keep yourself together with whatever Ms. Han may throw at you.

" I'm assuming you've already done the project for today, " You hummed in response. There was sound of a slight slip from the other line, you assumed that Ms. Han was drinking tea. " Make sure to deliver that presentation well. After that, I want you to attend the board meeting this afternoon on my behalf. Send them my sincere apologies for I have other more important business matters. "

So much for being trustworthy..

" Noted, Ms. Han. " Your ride finally came. Once it opened it's doors, you hopped in and tapped your card at a machine.

" Also, fix this week's schedule. Cancel everything on Friday, " Ms. Han added. You ended up seating at the very end of the bus, beside the window. It just happened to be the only row of seats that's vacant.

" Got it, Ms. Han. Anything else? "

" Ah, right. After the board meeting, take care of Eliza, " Her cat – you should've seen that coming. " Don't worry about the ride to my house, my driver will be picking you up. " She continued, taking one more sip at her tea. The ride was never a problem, but her cat is. Nevertheless, you accepted it since you both needed the job and money.

It didn't took that long until the conversation finally ended. When she hung up, you deeply sighed and looked out of the window. Spring was almost over, the atmosphere started to get colder. The cherry blossom trees began to slowly wither, every petal that has fallen decorated the road and sidewalk. It was both exquisite yet melancholic. Could you ever compare yourself as a cherry blossom? To bloom all over again yet someday, you'll wither once again. Possibly.

As you were gazing outside, your eyes widened as you saw someone else's reflection who sat beside you. His airpods plugged in his ears as he bobbed his head to the beat. You never knew or felt that his presence is already there, not until right now.

He's the same guy you meet each day whenever you took this bus. To be honest, he's eye-catching ever since the first time you saw him. He had the usual black outfit. Curly brunette headed, tall nose, dazzling dark brown orbs, lips — Okay, let's stop fawning over him. In conclusion, he has very well defined facial features. It was obvious that he's one of God's masterpiece, many should've envied him with that.

Despite of him always being your seatmate when the seat next to yours is vacant, you both never conversed with one another. Even with him having an eye for you from the start, no one even dared to start one.

Although, maybe today's a bit different.

The bus abruptly stopped in its tracks as the stop light just switched to red. The driver groaned and scratched the back of his neck.

At the back of the bus, there's you who is silently staring at the window. Awfully close to the window. However, when the bus hit the brakes, your forehead bumped onto the glass. " Ouch! " You groaned in pain as you held your forehead, checking if it bled and to ease the pain. The curly brunette noticed this and paused the music he's playing on the phone. He shifted in his seat to face you, " Are you okay? ". Your eyes met his worrisome ones and it made your heart skip a beat. He's more dashing when he's this close to you. It also made you more timid towards him that you began to stutter, " I- I guess I'm okay.. ".

" Let me see, " He reached out to your hand that's covering your forehead. His hand accidentally touched the sore part in the process, causing you to wince in pain. He whispered an apology before carefully taking your hand off and scan your forehead. He sighed in relief, " Thankfully, it wasn't such a big impact but it did turn red. You can place ice or put an ointment on it as soon as you get off, ok? " You responded with small nod and smile, your heart melting at his kindness.

He carefully placed his hand on your head and light pushed it back, gesturing you to rest. You gladly complied and he smiled, showing his dimples. It was cute, you thought.

" Does it still hurt? " He asked.

" A bit but bearable, " You replied, closing your eyes.

" How about a small talk to distract you from the pain? "

" Sounds good to me. "

" My name's Chan, you? "

" The name's (Y/N). It's nice to finally know you, Chan. "

And that's how everything started to blossom, at the end of Spring.

After that day, you started to anticipate what's going to happen on the next days that you never complained about the annoying beeping clock at dawn ever again. Especially and specifically, on the bus. Your mornings now start with you enthusiastically getting up and preparing for work. Chan happened to bring more interest into your life.

You don't know what kind of sorcery Chan does to always know how to remove your stress or just to make your days better in general. However, you don't mind it. Instead, you're really thankful for it.

You blossomed more in Fall, like a cosmos flower. You bloomed while the rest withered.

You excelled so much at work. The company was at its rough times, yet you handled everything outstandingly that you were praised by the whole company. Even Chan was happy for you, which mattered to you most.

" I knew you were exceptional ever since the beginning, " He murmured while hugging you securely, smiling. You, too, smiled brightly and blushed at that.

It's not only you who blossomed this fall. Your love, too, bloomed in Fall.

You never knew that the potential crush you had for Chan back when he was just a seatmate at the bus would grow. You fell head over heels for his giggles, smiles, kindness, goofiness, just for him. It keeps getting stronger as more time passes that you couldn't control it anymore. This was a first ever since you started working. You never really paid attention to your love life since work was always in the way. You're foreign to this feeling, you're clueless on how to handle it.

This love is the most amazing feeling, you'd be honest. Yet you fear that you'll be rejected or wouldn't be loved back. Then love would be the worst feeling.

Although, your faith and hope will never be taken away from you until the day hasn't came yet, until there's a possibility. You'll keep hoping on his small gestures you'd like to think are hints. You'll put your love for him in the hands of faith. And with that, you became patient with him. Waiting for the time that the true feelings will start to unveil.

______________________________

찬의

Channie

Hey (Y/N)

Are you done with work?

Almost

Why do you ask?

I'll pick you up, ok?

I'm on my way there.

'That's first, yet weird.

But I don't mind.'

Alright, be careful

Seen 7:02PM

______________________________

A month has passed, you two grew closer than ever. Yet occassionally, there would be a hint of awkwardness between the two of you. One would act weirdly, stutter or get nervous around one another. You hoped that it wouldn't ruin your friendship. You valued this friendship more than anything else.

Heading towards the front doors of this company, you could see Chan's figure on the other side. Waiting for you to come out. Once you did, he turned to face you and greet you with a sweet smile. You smiled back. " Let's go? " He said as he offered you his hand. You nodded and timidly took it into yours. That's another first.

Both of you exchanged the usual conversation. Asking about each other's day, telling short stories, joking once in a while, then some comfortable silence here and there, it felt just right. It's already dark out, the city light and streetlights being the only source of light, while the moon is having the pitch black sky to itself. The streets aren't as busy as it was in the daylight. You could hear the rustling and crunching of autumn leaves as it was carried by the wind or getting stepped on.

The two of you eventually reached the bus stop, taking a seat as you wait for a bus. " Do you know the number that bus has? " Chan asked out of the blue, eyes boring on the street. You hummed in confusion, he chuckled. " The bus we always took, especially in the mornings. "

" Ohh.. To be honest, I'm completely unaware of that. " You answered, scratching the back of your neck. Once more, he chuckled then gazed at you while your attention was somewhere else. A bus was coming in your peripheral vision. Once it was in front of you, you scanned for it's number. At the very end, it's written..

" 4419, " You turned to Chan, only to find him staring at you with adoration. You two stayed like that for a few minutes. His eyes were so soft, looking ever so luminous and sparkling underneath the light. He took out a flower he plucked from earlier, placing it behind your ear. Not even tearing his eyes away from yours. " Beautiful, like a cosmos flower, " He whispered, but it was enough for you to hear it clearly. You've felt like you're continously falling, yet Chan still has his grip on you. The same grip when he first held your hand back when you've bumped your forehead on the bus. Loving, gentle yet firm. Telling that he's willing to fall with you. " I love you, (Y/N). "

With just those 4 words, you were filled with so much joy and shock. You froze on your seat. For a second you panicked on what's the right word to say, asking if an I love you too was enough or is it already too redundant.

Although you knew that Chan's anticipating an answer as the clock continues to tick, and waiting is dreadful. Chan will love and cherish anything you say to him. Just the thought of you being truly his will bring him genuine happiness, and that's enough. No need for further more explanations. Then you've came to the conclusion, that there's no other words that best describes your true feelings for him. Simple yet genuine, " I love you too, Chan. "

Now, a love fully blossomed at the end of Falls.

End.

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nonbinary-renfri · 3 years

Text

Geralt learns that loss always comes early on in his life.

His mother, long red hair and soft tones his vague impressions of her memory, vanishes while he fetches her water.

So many of his friends and brothers in the witchers’ keep are lost to the deadly maw of the Trials. They die from the Grasses with tears of blood weeping from their eyes and agonized screams on their lips. They die at the hands of Old Speartip, and if a corpse comes back at all it is in mangled, gory form. Of those that survive, the boys they lived as so briefly die too, becoming unfamiliar, hard men with countless scars and cold yellow eyes.

Taking to the Path is a whole sort of loss in itself. Geralt leaves behind the stone walls of what has become his home and everything their solidity brings- a comfortable bed to sleep in at night, regular hot meals, relaxing baths in the hot springs below, companionship in the bitter cold hours of midnight- and the sense of security Kaer Morhen exudes.

The elders never sugar-coated the hardships of a witcher’s Path during their training, but Geralt quickly finds he isn’t as prepared as he thinks he is for the true loneliness of traveling the road alone. It’s jarring, departing from a place you’ve come to love full of the people you’ve come to know into an unfamiliar world that recoils from the mere sight of you. His eyes mark him as something to be hated more than his hair, but its pale hue is often what draws people’s attention towards him first. Ordinary humans are… generally unfriendly in their interest in him, and for years during the long consecutive months spent on the Path, Geralt rarely feels another person’s touch except for in the throes of combat, as claws and teeth gouge at his flesh and one of the more humanoid monsters he hunts gurgles out its life on top of him. He aches for something more than this violence that clings to him, but doesn’t know what that could be or how to find it; not when the pitchfork scars carved into the round muscle of his shoulder are still raised and pink.

Traveling the Path means there are no longer mentors to consult, friends to spar with as a way to relieve the tension crawling up his spine, or trusted healers to ensure that a troublesome wound truly isn’t infected. There are just long, cold stares and harsh words and the wet snap of spittle hitting the floor. And sometimes there’s a howling, slavering mob and too-hot flame too close to his skin as blood soaks into his clothes.

Geralt quickly becomes very grateful for his extensive training in wound treatment, especially as he realizes most healers have next to no knowledge of a witcher’s biology, but plenty of dubiously-inspired interest. He spent too much of his youth playing science experiment to fall back into that horrific role again.

A life spent hunting monsters is hard, generally thankless work, but what keeps Geralt’s feet on the Path going forward is the way the clues itching at his brain can become the smallest lick of satisfaction when he solves the puzzle rankling him, curling in his chest like a sun-warmed cat. That, and the creatures with stories and reasons for what they’ve done that would break his heart if he had one that could feel, though it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth as he cleans his sword of their viscera, discontent acrid on his tongue. There are times where he’s not fast enough, not smart enough, not powerful enough to kill the monster quickly, and there’s dead humans and sometimes dead children strewn in pieces at his feet. He’ll flee the town with stones sending up puffs of dust as they thud onto the road behind him and the voices of mothers howling and sobbing echoing in his ears. The guilt aches nearly as bad as the bruises forming across his back and shoulders. He doubts his mother cried that way after leaving him.

Witchers save whole towns from their worst nightmares and scrape by with a palmful of coin, with which they buy an ale the barkeep’s spat in. Returning to Kaer Morhen for the winter is always a breath of fresh air in comparison; every time the sense of kinship washes over Geralt as he sips White Gull by the fire with his fellows and they all swap stories of their most ridiculous contracts from the past year. They laugh and joke, as much as witchers do, and knees and shoulders and fingers casually knock and brush each other as they jostle and elbow their neighbors. The room is loud and raucous and more comfortable a space than any human inn or tavern is for monster slayers such as these, without the blatant glares or the stench of fear or the insults muttered under the breath as they go past. It’s part of what makes stepping back out onto the Path as the weather warms bearable, spring snarling its green teeth at winter’s snowdrifts; the idea of coming back next year with a ridiculous yarn that could make the grizzled, stoic elders chuckle in disbelief and your brothers pound their fists on the table in mirth. This is the closest thing to family many of them will ever know.

And then. The wanderers return to the witchers’ keep one late autumn, to cracked open walls and shattered skulls in the dried-up moat and not a single living member of their guild in sight. The realization hits slow, that they are all that’s left of the School of the Wolf, and the sorrow they all lock behind their clenched teeth hangs heavy in the air.

Most of them don’t stay, that winter. Living for a season in the mangled skeleton of their home among the corpses of their friends and teachers is an untenable prospect for many. They vanish silently for the most part, night after night, taking their horses and whatever supplies they need with them. In the end, a few days before the mountain pass will become untraversable with the season’s snow, Geralt and Vesemir are the only two left in the hollow, broken fortress.

It is somber, grueling work, laying many of their fellows to rest. The dark sadness of the Path doesn’t flee Geralt’s mind like it would’ve among the warmth and clamour of his kin; if anything it becomes even more oppressive, roiling above his thoughts like an overhanging storm cloud. He finally leaves the keep on an eggshell, blue-white dawn when the wind tastes of threatening but still distant snow, making certain to say farewell to Vesemir before he departs.

Geralt can’t remember the old witcher ever having embraced him like this before, but the warm crush of his father’s arms is somehow familiar to him all the same. The weight of the darkness in his soul lessens ever so slightly.

The Path is even harder after that, with their safe haven and respite defiled so and lost to many of them because of that. In the years following the massacre, Kaer Morhen is always even emptier than it ought to be come wintertime, with many of the surviving Wolves abandoning it as a ruined den. Occasionally a silver medallion will find its way back to the keep, devoid of its living owner, but many of the witchers simply disappear into the vastness of the Continent without a trace. Years later, as Geralt searches for a monster to kill for coin, he is shown an eyeless dead man wearing the medallion of his school. He cannot recognize the remaining facial features; no familiarity murmurs in the corners of his mind as he stares at the wrecked visage. A witcher of his ilk is dead and his name isn’t even a hint of a whisper on Geralt’s tongue.

Perhaps in the past that wouldn’t have brought him such anguish, as he expected his fate to someday be much the same. But his moniker is widespread now, thanks to Jaskier, and anyone to find his body is more likely than not to loudly declare, “The White Wolf is dead!”

Or, if whoever it is feels particularly spiteful and a certain bard isn’t within a day’s travel distance, they might name his corpse “Butcher” instead. Despite dozens of songs attempting to convince the people to the contrary, that is one title Geralt still cannot lose. It clings to him like the sucker on a leech, swollen full of bloody deeds.

It’s fitting, he thinks, as he cuts out two of the cornerstones in his life with the neatness of a blunted cleaver. A whirlwind of raven hair and wisteria eyes, tart berries and flowers sweet in his nose; Yennefer leaves because he wished for her to stay but couldn’t simply have asked it of her. And the man who has so desperately tried to change the public’s opinion on witchers runs at the bite of barked untruths from between the white-haired man’s bared teeth.

Geralt has looked loss in the eye many times throughout his long life, but he turns his back before he can watch the second half of his heart walk away, the whole of it carried in the strum of a distant lute’s strings and the perfume fading from his senses. In his youth he thought the organ was needed to feel, but the gaping raw wound in his chest where his heart sat once teaches him that he can hurt almost more without it.

#i decided i was gonna sit down and write and finish something and this is what we got #was like i guess i'll just go through my inspo tag and write whatever Hits #so. geralt angst i guess #the witcher #geralt of rivia #vesemir #julian alfred pankratz #jaskier #yennefer of vengerberg #writing #my writing #mine #angst

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kuzuhinasecretexchange · 3 years

Text

Work Title: How To Learn To Enjoy Coffee In Four Days

Author: @jagopolis

For: @starryy-night

Pairings/Characters: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu/Hajime Hinata, Peko Pekoyama

Rating/Warnings: General audiences, warning for a lot of foul language

Prompts used: Coffee Shop AU, urban fantasy

Author’s notes: I am so sorry for the foul language. And the other thing, I hope this small piece is to your liking! I adore modern/urban fantasy so I immediately jumped on board, and while coffee shop AUs are not something I often write, I think I did decently! Enjoy this small piece and glory to the lovely kuzuhina ship! Also, 10°C is 50°F.

Nobody liked Mondays.

And that was the fact as true as the sun setting every morning, the stars showing up at night, or that every full moon werewolves would go a bit feral.

Even the weather seemed to agree that Mondays are shit. The temperature was no higher than maybe 10°C if not for the wind, and the sky had that ugly, grey color of clouds that won’t bring rain, but will obscure the sunshine just because.

Amidst all that, just after they got a moment off their duties, Peko approached Fuyuhiko with an offer. Apparently, a new coffee shop opened nearby, and she was looking for a friend willing to visit it with her.

And, you know what? Yeah, sure, why not, any break from the bleak reality will make this boring day much more bearable.

Turns out the shop wasn’t even far from their workplace, they didn’t have to take a short-distance teleport, just a quick train ride. At least, it would be quick, if not for the elf who suddenly decided to argue with the driver. Seriously, even goddamn dragons aren’t that proud.

But finally, they arrived at their stop and headed towards their destination. It was in one of the more rural districts. With narrower streets, mainly small houses and equally small gardens.

“So, this is the fuss is all about?” Fuyuhiko mused out loud, judging the rather modest front of the cafe.

Peko nodded quietly, though what interested her more were the fluffy cushions leaning against one of the windows. Knowing her, they won’t leave without a new one.

This was actually a good opportunity to take a peek into the cafe. And it wasn’t anything stellar, truth be told. Just a few tables with chairs or more comfortable sofas, a small counter, and a single, tired employee checking something on his phone. No customers at this hour? Sheesh, if this is another shitty place… Fuyuhiko sighed and pushed the door, walking inside. What hit him immediately was the sheer intensity of magic woven into this place. It felt as if they transitioned from a shitty autumn Monday to a bright summer Sunday by just taking a single step. The interior transformed from a cheap look to a full-blown forest. With trees and birds singing and all that shit. And, yeah, Fuyuhiko was aware this is all just very good illusion magic at work but y’know, this shit is still impressive. Especially since he tried and failed miserably at learning it.

And then Fuyuhiko noticed that there is a fucking window with soft cushions next to him and all immersion went poof.

Peko, however, was absolutely taken in, and he knew that from the way her lips twitched in the slightest of smiles.

“…come on, let’s not keep the barista waiting,” he grumbled, before moving to the counter, now overgrown with moss and flowers. But behind it was the same, very bored barista, checking his phone. The audacity! Fuyuhiko very loudly clears his throat, and the guy finally has enough common fucking sense to look at his customers. “Welcome to our small shop, what do you desire?” barista’s voice was no less enthusiastic than the way he greeted his only customers, and Fuyuhiko was so, so fucking tempted to curse this idiot out right there and then. Let’s go. Let’s fucking go.

“What we fucking desire, is–” There was a hand on her shoulder, and Peko’s voice quickly cut him off. “We don’t desire anything, Fae. However, we would like to order an espresso and a caramel latte. With almond milk.”

…of fucking course it’s a fae. As if anything today can go right, he almost told his desires to a fae. Good job Fuyuhiko! Good job you idiot!

The fae barista nodded and got to making their order, while Peko, with her hand still on Fuyuhiko’s shoulder, guided him to a table far away from the counter. The shorter man huffed angrily and sat down.

“…This was close. You need to watch your tongue around faes.”

To that, Fuyuhiko just grabbed a handful of moss growing from his chair and ripped it off. “It’s not my fucking fault that bitch tried to scam me out of my wants! How the hell was I supposed to know he’s a fae to begin with? These stupid illusions make him look almost amagi–”

Peko cut him off with a nudge before he could continue his angry rant as the barista approached them. He placed their orders on the table. It didn’t appear as if he heard anything, then again, who knew with these sly bastards. “Anything else?” Your stupid head on the platt–

“No, thank you very much.” God bless Peko for her natural unshakable composure.

The barista nodded and then walked away, all while Fuyuhiko dug his sharp claws into the living wood of the illusionary table. Meanwhile, Peko picked up her espresso and took a long, slow sip. She was someone who not only knew a lot about coffee but also enjoyed this devilish brew of the evilest of demons. No, seriously, how the fuck could anyone ever enjoy its bitterness? Fuyuhiko let out a frustrated growl, before finally taking his cup and sipping some of probably the single sweetest coffee in existence. It still tasted like coffee, and that meant absolute garbage though. “For being clearly a front for fae activity, their coffee is rather delicious.” Peko mused, setting down her cup. It was already empty, much to Fuyuhiko’s horror. His latte was barely started and he already had enough!

“If you say so. I just think it’s a very shitty business practice to try to extort desires from your clients,” he muttered, grip tightening around his glass. “I’m just gonna go pay and then we’re out. And never, ever coming back.”

Peko looked at him with that slightly amused look of hers, before turning her eyes to the weird-ass not-illusion-hidden window with the cushions. Oh no… “Please don’t tell me you want a souvenir.” She nodded. He cursed out his life again. Then got up and walked to that counter and damn barista, who somehow already got back onto his phone. Fuyuhiko had to try real hard to not start growling at the fae. But he was a distinguished dragon, and way too old to growl at people he disliked. “I’m paying, card, how much is it?”

The barista looked up at him with these annoyingly green eyes of his, then on the register.

“830 yen.” And at that moment Fuyuhiko started growling. What a fucking steal! He could get coffee that’s equally as horrible for what, a 100 yen? Fucking faes and their fucking shady business practices!

No, Fuyuhiko, remember your goal here.

“…you’ve got quite the prices.”

The barista just shrugged. The bastard-

“I didn’t set the prices, I just work here.”

The eyeroll Fuyuhiko made was one of the more subtle kinds. Absolutely.

“Alright, whatever. Can the cushions you have by the window be bought?”

And that, for fuck’s sake FINALLY, got a reaction out of the bored guy. His brows furrowed in genuine confusion, as he looked over Fuyuhiko’s shoulder and at the window.

“Well, no, they’re a part of the interior…”

Aha. Sure sure, anything a fae has in their sight can be acquired through a bit of rule-bending.

“What about exchange then? You can exchange anything for anything with equal value.”

Gotcha bitch.

The barista sighed, before rubbing his temples and hesitantly nodded.

“That… Is true, but you’d have to bring me an equally as fluffy cushion for trade. You’d already have a cushion though, so why-”

“Then it’s a deal!” Fuyuhiko took his card out and quickly made the right payment. For the coffee. But the more important and tricky one will have to wait. “I will bring you that cushion tomorrow.”

Barista didn’t say anything, visibly too stunned by the weird happenings. Haha, 1-0, shitty customer service guy. With everything taken care of, and his power and pride flaunted, Fuyuhiko turned around and gestured at Peko to follow him. She sighed, with that smallest of amusements on her face. She was lucky to be his best friend, he wouldn’t bother for anyone else.

“I’m never doing you any favors again.”

To which Peko just laughed, as they walked out of the enchanted cafe and into the much less gray Monday of the city.

—

So, Tuesdays.

On most occasions, Fuyuhiko didn’t mind Tuesdays as much as he did Mondays, for a simple reason. His work started later and he could wake up at a reasonably late hour and not be late. Sure, not much happened, but there wasn’t any reason for outright hatred either.

That is, usually.

Because today, he had to carry a fluffy fucking cushion to a stupid cafe and uphold his end of the deal with a fae. Because, in his own stupidity, he shouted ‘it’s a deal’ in front of a being known for making shady deals with other magical and amagical creatures for a living. But this was fine. Everything was fine. This was a harmless deal with clearly stated conditions. Pillow for a pillow, exchanged today. That’s all, the fae really had no room to scam him out of his soul or some shit.

And so, after work, he made it very clear to Peko how dissatisfied he was with what she put him up for, before leaving with his sacrificial pillow, one he extorted from Souda with a few threats and curses. What? He doesn’t have stuff like that just laying around, he prefers smooth materials.

He took one look at the traffic and decided to not bother with a train, instead preparing to pay quite a bit for a teleport. Really, fuck whoever thought that instead of making this perfect means of transportation free, one has to pay stupid amounts just to make a short jump.

The machine situated on the end of his street happily swallowed a few whole bills while he typed in the address. Glass doors of the booth closed behind him, the low hum of magic filled the closed space, before pulling him under for just a moment and spitting out at a different machine. THANK YOU FOR USING OUR SERVICES flashed across the screen, as the glass door opened to the narrow street from yesterday. “Thank you for ripping me off, assholes,” Fuyuhiko muttered to himself. At least he wasn’t one of the losers who were nauseous after teleportation. He covered his mouth with his hand. Just in case.

The street was as empty as yesterday. Actually, everything looked exactly like yesterday, even the weather was the same. Pushing the annoying deja vu aside, Fuyuhiko quickly made his way to the coffee shop, pillow in his hand. A plastic bag, but who cares.

Inside the exact same illusion has greeted him. His eyes wandered to the counter, behind which the same shithead from yesterday was standing, but this time just mindlessly fidgeting with some coins instead of being on his phone. What an improvement.

So Fuyuhiko walked over, slammed his cushion on the counter, and stared the barista dead in the eyes. “My end of the deal. Your turn.” And the barista looked at him with such deep confusion Fuyuhiko was sure the last time he saw emotion as strong as this on someone’s face was when he breathed fire during a party to get everyone’s attention. So he just stood there, waiting for the idiot to remember what this is all about. Up until now, he didn’t really have the time to examine his target of curses. He had the appearance of a guy roughly his physical age, with a standard built and brown, spiky hair. So spiky in fact that some strands seemed to completely defy gravity and just stand upright. Fuyuhiko briefly wondered what kind of hairspray the guy was using. He was dressed in a brown apron and striped shirt, just standard work clothes. No one would wear that atrocity without being forced to.

“…wait, you’re the guy who wanted to trade pillows-?” the barista finally spoke up, examining the bag. He reached into it, and took the cushion into his hands, squeezing it.

But Fuyuhiko really had no patience for this place, nor this guy.

“Yes. Now, which ones can I trade this for?”

The barista stared at the pillows stacked up against the window as if he saw them for the first time in his life.

“Any, I think. Just, uh, bring one to me and I’ll decide?”

Without waiting for any further encouragement, Fuyuhiko bolted towards the window, grabbed the single fluffiest bastard situated there, almost tripped on a tree’s root on his way back, and placed the soon-to-be-his pillow right next to the one he brought.

The barista blinked in great confusion again, before nodding.

“Yeah, sure, this looks about equal in volume…”

Which, to be fair, surprised Fuyuhiko. Was this fae just. Agreeing to the terms of a different being? What the fuck. What the Fuck.

“Would you like to order anything, though?” the barista continued. Fuyuhiko shook his head.

“No, that’s all I wanted out of this place. Bye.”

He grabbed his bag, the newly obtained gift, and turned around. “Wait!” the barista’s voice caught up to him. “…we also serve tea?”

Did that bastard notice that he didn’t drink his coffee yesterday? More importantly, remembered it? That’s very fucking weird of him.

But also rather rude of Fuyuhiko to just walk in, demand a pillow, and walk out? Fuck this shit… a single cup of tea couldn’t harm anyone. Even if served by a fae. If they used some illegal charms they’d be shut down before they could even open.

“…single cup of green tea then.”

As Fuyuhiko turned around, he caught the barista smiling to himself. Yeah, good job dipshit, you just convinced a guy to become your customer again. This time though, instead of sitting by a table, the dragon decided to sit by the counter. Maybe to observe the sly fae. Maybe.

Said fae in question easily maneuvered between the shelves and picked out what seemed to be Fuyuhiko’s ordered tea, then scooped some into a tea infuser, placed that into the cup, and poured hot water onto it. And it’s not like Fuyuhiko has never seen someone make tea, for fuck’s sake he makes it himself, but damn this man had some moves.

“Enjoy your drink.”

Fuyuhiko looked at the cup with still brewing tea with the slightest hint of suspicion. But he just went over all the arguments, so he just picked it up and took a sip. “…that’s one sweet green tea.”

The barista laughed a bit, before scratching his neck. “Yes, you see, I picked a sweeter mix, I thought you’d like it after your last order.”

“Do you remember every order you get?” Fuyuhiko could not contain a snark. The barista answered with a slow nod.

“Pretty much-? That’s what I’m paid for.”

The dragon just stared at him as he continued to sip his tea. The fae shifted his balance from left to right, then searched for something to look at, finally landing on the pillow.

“…that girl is really lucky to have you. I mean, not everyone would make a deal with a fae to get a gift!”

And to that, Fuyuhiko spat out his tea for the first time. He coughed loudly, to the barista’s bewilderment.

“Peko is like my sister!”

The barista shook his head with stunning speed, his voice seemed to get a tone higher.

“No, I wasn’t trying to insist anything like that-! She’s lucky to have you, as a brother-?”

Fuyuhiko continued to cough his lungs out. The barista leaned forward and, after hesitating a moment, awkwardly patted his back. And while Fuyuhiko would prefer for a stranger to not touch him, the gesture was somewhat appreciated (and, damn, his hands were warm). A few more coughs and the cursed tea finally left his lungs in its entirety, it would appear. He could finally breathe freely. Barista went back to standing at a distance of the counter (would it be strange to be disappointed by that?).

“Uh… Sorry about that. So, your ‘like sister’s’ name is Peko, and yours is?” That was probably the most awkward segway into a different topic Fuyuhiko has heard since he met Kazuichi. Anyway, it’d be pretty rude to not introduce himself.

“Name’s Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko.”

The barista’s eyes went a little wide, no doubt recognizing the family name. But he made no comments about it, instead just nodded.

“I’m Hinata Hajime. It’s nice to see new faces around here.”

That’s… An underwhelmingly typical name. The dragon hoped to at least find a family connected to this fae, but it seems he truly was just. A guy working in a cafe.

The momentary quiet apparently startled Hinata, as he reached to scratch his arm.

“So, you-”

“Before we change the topic again,” Fuyuhiko cut in. “Let me finish this tea. It’s getting cold.”

Hinata gave an apologetic look and a nod, before shuffling off to poke some buttons on the cash register. From the side, Fuyuhiko could appreciate just how. Nicely he fit into the scenery, with his green eyes, and hair in a shade similar to the trees, and–

Hinata turned his head and flashed him a quick smile, before going back to work, and Fuyuhiko was almost sure his heart stopped. Gh, get yourself together, you useless fucking homosexual!

“Actually, there’s something I want to ask you,” quickly start a conversation maybe then he won’t judge him for staring. “You behaved like a completely different person yesterday. I’m not tryin’ to pry, but what’s up with that?”

Hinata stopped for a moment, before resuming the apparently absolutely pointless fidgeting with the register.

“Yeah, I. Apologize for that, not very professional of me, hah?” from just the tone of his voice Fuyuhiko could guess that he stepped into something he shouldn’t have. “It was just. A long day, I barely got any sleep, and–” “Y’know what, nevermind, forget I asked.” Good job Fuyuhiko. You absolute moron. You idiot. How do you ruin your chances in a single sentence.

“Oh, no, it’s fine! I get it, it must look pretty weird from the outside, like two different people, or something!”

“Like, identical evil twin shit?”

Hinata’s smile got wider for a moment, covering up a laugh. “I wish! Someone to cover my shifts, that’d be fantastic.”

And, alright, listen. Fuyuhiko was prying way too much, but this a matter of planning his week ahead and knowing when to come to this cafe and when to ditch it all and not expose himself to any bullshit from faes.

“So you work here alone? Sounds tough.”

“Well, not really. I’m just the only one on shift right now. My coworker will come to give me a break eventually.” said Hinata, following it with a dismissive wave of his hand.

So of course Fuyuhiko followed it with:

“Then, when are you free?”, praying inside that his hidden intention is not picked up just yet.

“Uh, I finish my shift Friday evening?”

The intention wasn’t picked up but if Fuyuhiko had any more tea, he’d probably spit it out again. Luckily, the cold, half-finished cup laid abandoned next to him. “…it’s Tuesday.”

“Yes, well, fae don’t really need to sleep as often as most sentient species, so I can take 5-days-long shifts without much issue.” and he had the audacity to say that as if it was just a common occurrence to work for 100… something hours nonstop!

But that. Did give him quite a bit of time to get to know Hinata better…

“Sounds fuckin’ awful, I can barely stand 8 hours at work.”

Hinata responded with a chuckle, just shrugging.

“You can get used to it, I guess. Are you going to finish your tea, or-?”

Aw, shit, the tea. Yeah, it was undrinkable now anyway, and it’s not like Fuyuhiko liked it that much in the first place.

“I’ll pay, how much is it?”

“A cup will be… 300 yen.”

OH FOR FUCKS SAKE– the prices here will kill him! Drain all of his goddamn earnings!

He just took out enough bills and handed them over. Staying longer than this would be rude, even if nobody else was in the cafe. Or, that was an illusion, he just fell for an illusion, and it’s all fae tricks designed to make him lose money.

He grabbed his pillow and stood up.

“Till next time, then.”

Hinata’s brow slowly raised.

“Next time?”

But before he had to answer that question and no doubt embarrass himself further, Fuyuhiko walked right out of that cursed place.

Just one glance, through the window. And, sure enough, Hinata stood there, stood there, alive, and probably real since apparently glass resisted the illusion. Luckily, his eyes were still stuck looking at the door, so he did not see Fuyuhiko questioning his existence.

Turning away and walking down the street, the dragon took out his phone and quickly opened the chat with Peko.

FUYU: How do you learn to enjoy coffee?

KOKO: Why are you asking? FUYU: None of your business! KOKO: It’s that barista. FUYU: …… KOKO: I knew you’d enjoy that place. :-)

#kuzuhina #kuzuhina secret santa 2020 #jagopolis #starryy-night #submission

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owlsbride · 3 years

Photo

Icha Icha and Prejudice: The Book Club

Chapter VII: Under the Suna Sun

Kakashi was a man of war, of battlefields, makeshift camps, nights under the stars but surrounded by insects, earth and who knows what else. He was a man who had spent more than a day without bathing with questionable hygiene and eaten the most diverse foods, even some that he would never want to remember ever again. Kakashi had shared missions with both comrades and traitors at the same time. He had forever soiled his hands with blood for Konoha, and after many years of self-pity, regrets, little self-esteem, psychological torture and a considerable amount of therapy he could say that he felt Ok, with everything... Much of the time.

However, what Kakashi was not, and maybe he had his new job to blame, a man of high temperatures. He was perfectly fine with Konoha's weather. It was a nice one: with all four seasons developing naturally throughout the year. A winter that invites you to sit by the fire, but that does not soak the bones. Stable autumns and springs with the necessary rains and a hot but bearable summer, with sweet fragrances, long sunsets, cosy beaches, soft breezes and the eternal smell of the cherry trees. Even in those days when the heat was oppressive, Konoha was still comforting, comfortable and pleasant.

Now Suna, Suna was terrible. Kakashi hated Suna. No, he didn't hate his people, the villagers, the Kazekage nor nothing like that. He just hated the weather. There was a hideous winter or a hideous summer, and he wasn't sure which one was worse. He had been there on many occasions, and he never had been one to complain, but this heat? This heat was killing him now with all the protocol clothes and the village tour under the midday sun to take the dimension of the damage caused by Naruto and if he has to be fair also by the Kazekage. The same Kazekage that could not be found anywhere because he was busy in reunions and meetings with very important people.

"Gaara is going to be busy with very important politicians, Hokage Sama..." Baki began, Kakashi lifted an eyebrow "Not that you are not import..."

"It's ok, Baki, will he be available in the night?" Kakashi interrupted tiredly. He had been travelling the whole night for nothing, he didn't give a damn if he was an important person or not. He just wanted to go to what would be his room and wash off all the sand that he already had on parts of his body that he didn't even know existed.

"What a drag" Kakashi heard Shikamaru snarl and agreed with the boy, nodding only his head "He must be afraid of you, Lord Sixth." The Hokage smiled to himself. Shikamaru could be a bit of a pain in the ass at times and a lazy one, but he would never admit a disrespect to Konoha or his leader. And this time, he didn't correct him.

"Hey, crybaby," Temari spoke to Shikamaru, lifting her chin full of proud and arrogance "My brother is not afraid of no one."

"Troublesome" Shikamaru answered, looking down.

Kakashi's head was about to explode, but Shikamaru was right. Knowing Gaara's social skills, the most probable thing was that the young man would be hidden in his office trying to figure out how to handle the situation. After all, what he had told Sakura the other night, was correct.

The Kazekage had a difficult childhood, like most of them, but somehow he hadn't been able to fully heal the wounds of the past, (has someone actually done it?) and with his too rational mind and his emotional part repressed he was an introverted, quiet and distant being. Gaara was more like a child than an adult. However, the Kazekage had earned his respect. Suna had never been better, and his performance in the fourth war was outstanding, nothing to do with the boy with the deep gaze who was always seeking answers. Gaara was doing well as Suna's leader. Until two weeks ago that Naruto came up with his plan. And so it was now. He really should have brought Sakura, at least now it would be easing his headache. He could hear from behind him the merry couple fighting about something.

"Hey, you two" Kakashi addressed them both "Don't you have something to do? Like catching up, maybe?" He shooed them away with his hands.

"But Hokage Sama..." Temari tried to protest bowing a little.

"It's ok, Princess," Kakashi said mimicking some kind of courtesy he learned over the years "I'm sure Baki, here, is willing and able to show me the place around. I'll see you all of them later tonight after recognising the situation" Kakashi finished with a bow from his own.

Temari and Shikamaru stood still watching Kakashi walk away into the village with Baki. They both had to recognise that as idle or hunched or oblivious he may seem, he was a really regal Hokage.

"Oh, Temari..." Kakashi spoke again without turning to look at her "Make sure that your brother is available for dinner." It was not a suggestion, not a request or a wish, it was an order.

"Jeez, you are so fucked up." Shikamaru whispered.

"Yeah, what a drag" Temari finished realising her breath soundly. Shikamaru smiled at the use of his words.

The situation was absolutely irrational and surrealistic. There were hordes of villagers asking him things about when the improvements that the future Hokage to be promised them were going to arrive. The answers were never, but of course, he couldn't say anything remotely closer to that. What were they thinking? Would Naruto have drugged Gaara to agree or did he just convince him with a few words? If so, he would be a great Hokage if it could mature even a little.

Naruto and Gaara promised that through new jutsus they would stop the sandstorms. That they both would build hot springs bath and aqueducts coming from the outskirts of Konoha to Suna, to create their own spa and recreation centre. They had also promised that they would control the winter temperatures and that soon the houses would not need to have hermetic closures to fight against the sand. How the hell were they going to achieve that? Yes, the times were changing, but a whole new infrastructure to generate the energy necessary to fulfil Naruto's plans was impossible. At least for the moment. In fact, they had to be grateful that they could connect the required antennas to access the telephone lines and the internet.

Fortunately for Kakashi, time was on his side, and all his responses were "I'm sure, my dear sirs, that by the time Uzumaki Naruto takes over as the Seventh Hokage he will have all his plans in motion." With good fortune and favourable wind that would still be within a few years.

"There is one more thing, Hokage Sama" Baki spoke once all the villagers were already returning to their homes not so happy with Kakashi's half-lies, half trues answers.

"What now?" Kakashi felt light, almost floating. The heat was finally having its effect, and the headache was throbbing. Fucking Sakura, she was right, a heatstroke was coming.

"If you prefer we can discuss it later, you look..."

"I'm ok, Baki, what is it? what did those two do?" Now he was starting to get mad.

"Well... Uzumaki Naruto, and Lord Gaara, had promised all the kids in the village that they will form a special camp to train future academy aspirants and genins, and that Naruto would be in charge of assigning missions, all of low rank of course, in order to practice his duties as a Hokage and that Gaara would be his advisor. Kankuro would train the kids. We have all the village children signed up waiting for the special camp to start."

"What you are saying is that they want to form an academy prior to the academy just to simulate the work of the Kages and that not only are Naruto and your Kazekage involved but also Kankuro?"

"Yes, Sir" Baki was so embarrassed.

"Definitely not" Kakashi was about to pass out.

"But Lord Sixth, the kids are so excited, what will we tell them?"

"There is no we, Baki. I'll speak to Gaara tonight, and he will have to take care, now I want to go to my lodging."

The dinner with Gaara wasn't comfortable at all. The Kazekage would bearly looked Kakashi in the eyes. He much more preferred the terrible and strong Gaara from the Desert than this excuse of a boy playing the leader. Yes, he had messed up the things a bit, but nothing beyond repair.

The new infrastructures would arrive sooner or later, and the camp thing could be a summer camp and not a pre-academy. He would give them the possibility to do it in Konoha where Kakashi himself could control them, and Naruto would only be a simple instructor. That way, Gaara would not have to neglect his village. It was the best measure for damage control.

Even so, Kakashi did not put aside his job as Konoha's leader in this meeting. With the tenderness worthy of a good older brother, but the Hokage's firmness, he asked the youngest to please not listen to Naruto's follies anymore. Being a good friend did not mean putting the village's stability at risk just by being complacent. Kakashi also gave Gaara a friendly reminder: to never get over his persona again. He was Konoha's Hokage, not Naruto.

Gaara still had a lot to learn yet, so Kakashi incentivized him to not to hesitate to ask for advice outside his closest circle. Sometimes the objectivity of others was the best advisor. And for that, the councils were hostiles towards him, except of course for the two brothers and Baki. That annoyed him a lot, but somehow everything turned out ok.

Kakashi arrived finally at the luxurious room that Gaara had prepared for him. He didn't see Shikamaru in the whole day after he dismissed him early in the midday and during the dinner they bearly address each other and it was ok. He didn't need the Nara witty mind talking and complaining around in the same room. Besides, Kakashi suspected that Shikamaru was involved in much more satisfactory endeavours than politics, and plans for future summer camps.

After the longest shower of his life, Kakashi finally was ready to go to bed, it was still hot out there and in the room but the cold shower and the conditioner helped a little. He collapsed on the mattress as he had not in a long time. Only on his underwear, he didn't even take the bother to rearrange his mask. This time he was as tired as if he had been fighting all night for the Anbu. It was a very comfortable bed, enough for more than one person, and suddenly he remembered Sakura.

22:40: Are you there? I'm so so so sorry...

22:40: Sakura this have been madness

He waited for the answer, his eyes closing slowly.

22:41: You were right Sakura, I should have brought you with me. The heat is killing me, my head is killing me, everything is killing me

22:41: Ok... Let's talk later.

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Notes:

Well, Kakashi is having a hard time at Suna right?

Next chapter: chatting, texting, reading... and he will come back to Konoha eventually.

I just realise that I'm always asking for likes, and kudos and comments, but I've never thank you before! so here I go: Thank you, everyone!! you make my day when you do something like that, so please keep going and make me happy. See you soon.

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wishingforatypewriter · 4 years

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6,12, and 15 PLEASE for Sorina, Ryoali, and Akisako. 😘

Sorina

6. What do they love about each other?

Even though he makes jokes about her being a brat and such, Souma loves Erina’s queenly attitude. He finds her haughtiness extremely attractive and thinks she’s at her best when she’s dominating others with the sheer force of her cooking. In softer moments, he loves how she sings when she’s in the shower and hums whatever song got stuck in her head on and off until she goes to sleep. He loves how clueless she is with domestic tasks and how excited she gets about learning how to knit and loading the washing machine. Yeah...he just loves her a lot, I think.

The thing Erina loves most about Souma is his creativity. She loves watching him cook, and seeing him invent possibilities that the most notable gourmands could not have imagined in their wildest dreams. She loves how steady he is, despite the more eccentric parts of his personality; she feels like he keeps her grounded and helps her calm down at the end of the day no matter how busy her work life gets. She loves his golden eyes, which remind her of honey, and his mischievous grins. She loves every dish he’s ever made for her (not that she’d admit it easily).

12. What would happen if they never met?

Souma never would have gone to Totsuki because without Erina, Senzaemon never would have pressured Jouichirou to send him to the academy. He would have attended the local high school and started working at the diner full time after he graduated. He would have married Kurase, or someone like her. It would have been a nice life, but a simple one. He wouldn’t have known to want anything more.

Erina...would have probably become a pawn of her father’s after the Central regime was established at Totsuki. She would have been trapped under Azami’s thumb until she graduated, after which she probably would have come into her inheritance and escaped to live with Alice and her family. Eventually, she would amass the power and resources needed to oust her father. After she did, she would return to Japan and preside over Totsuki. She’d get married eventually to a man her family found suitable and she found bearable, but it wouldn’t be a passionate love. She’d find her life professionally fulfilling, and wouldn’t know to want anything more.

15. Describe your favorite moment of that ship!

Ah...I think that would be during the Central arc when Erina is hiding at the Polar Star and Souma makes the tempura egg don for her. I think that’s the moment that made me start shipping sorina over soumegu.

Ryoali

6. What do they love about each other?

When it comes down to it, the thing Ryo loves most about Alice is how much she cares about people. He was never more proud of her than when she told Azami off for Erina’s sake. He also loves watching how protective she is over Erina and Hisako (in her own obnoxious way, ofc).

Alice loves Ryo literally just for being. She decided when they were kids that they would belong to each other, and she’s kind of loved him unconditionally ever since. I mean, there are things about him she really finds adorable like how competitive he gets and how dedicated he is to his craft as a chef. But she mostly just loves him for being him.

12. What would happen if they never met?

Oof...I think both of them would have a significantly lower quality of life. Ryo just wouldn’t have had the same opportunities to develop as a chef if he had stayed in the port town, and he probably would’ve spent his life working at the pub.

Alice would have continued to develop her mastery of molecular gastronomy in Denmark, but without Ryo, she probably wouldn’t have enrolled in Totsuki. Without her bond with Ryo, she may not have had the confidence to charge into Erina’s domain.

15. Describe your favorite moment of that ship!

Everything about the final round of the Autumn Elections! I’m still not over how Alice kept bragging about how great of a chef she was to her mom, her grandpa, and Chef Doujima. She was such a proud girlfriend! And then the flashbacks to their childhood together...it was all so perfect!

Akisako

6. What do they love about each other?

Hisako has a love/hate relationship with Akira’s arrogance, but she’s impossibly attracted to his princely charm and confidence. He loves that he’s (almost) as smart as her, and that she can follow her tangents on the science and politics of nutrition. She loves his hair; she love that it it looks like it was spun from moonlight and that he lets her play with it whenever she feels like it.

Akira loves the way Hisako carries herself. She’s poised and dignified at all times, and there’s a physical gracefulness about her that he’s always found attractive. She has the mannerisms of a highborn lady, even more so than Erina and Alice, and Akira is fucking mad for it. He also loves how loyal and generous she is, even though he sometimes wishes she would be more selfish.

12. What would happen if they never met?

They both would have been fine, honestly. Hisako would have married a nice man from a good family, and Akira would have found a beautiful girl who was also new money. The love just wouldn’t have been as passionate.

15. Describe your favorite moment of that ship!

Honestly, most of what I love about this ship is based on hypotheticals in my own head. But I do truly love the match between them during the Autumn Elections. To this day, I contend that Akira’s tone with her bordered on flirtatious, but I digress.

#sorina #akisako #ryoali #soueri

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fierysafrina · 4 years

Text

Heat | Obey Me!

Fandom: Obey Me! Rating: General Word Count: 3.200 Genre: Comedy | Slice of Life Summary: You’ve never been fond of summers, less alone the heat. Spending it in Devildom, your hatred towards it reaches a whole new level. Notes: I’m dying of the heat here. Thank god we had rain, but even then I’m not fond of the summer, so I can’t wait for autumn and winter to arrive. Then again it’s already July here, huh … who would've thought…

Laying on your bed, you stare at the ceiling above. Everything is quiet. Too quiet. But you don’t have it in yourself to care about it right now. No. At the moment you care about nothing but the heat and drops of sweat that you feel on your forehead and it’s only 6 in the morning.

Your phone goes off and you groan. You don’t move—refuse to move, because moving means warming up and warming up means more heat. No. Not today.

A couple of minutes pass before your phone goes off once again. This time someone’s calling and with great reluctance, you decide to check who it is. Your mood immediately worsens, seeing Lucifer’s name and you wonder if he feels when you’re having a rough time just to make everything worse.

Letting out a sigh, you know if you don’t pick up, he’ll give you work and in this heat, you certainly don’t want that. You’re already melting and you’re only lying in your bed. “Yes?” you answer in a monotone voice.

“Ah, you’re already awake I see.” Lucifer muses and you roll with your eyes, obviously teasing you for those times you slept in. “And here I wondered if you'd still be sleeping since it’s weekend.” He teases you and you can’t hide the groan that escapes you. He laughs on the other side, but a smile soon betrays you. He always seems to find a moment to tease you.

“Why in the whole wide universe are you calling me at 6?” you ask, slight annoyance spotted in your voice.

“We’re having a meeting in an hour. Get ready and come down on breakfast.”

“What?” you murmur before your eyes grow wide. “No! Why?!” you sit up.

“What do you mean why? It’s Saturday and as far as I know, Diavolo said there’ll be a meeting on Saturday once a month with the exchange students.”

“No!” you groan and lay back down, trashing your feet like a child. “I refuse! I don’t wanna go! It’s hot! I’m literally melting as we speak.”

Lucifer sighs and you can hear him shaking his head. “Which is why we’re having it early in the morning.”

Closing your eyes, you groan before you sigh. “Do I have to?”

“Yes.” Was his simple answer that made you curse under your breath. “We’ll wait for you here. Get ready and come down into the dining hall.”

You click with your tongue and throw the phone on your bed, ignoring it. Closing your eyes, you find yourself laying on a blanket under a tree. There’s a soft breeze that makes the heat just a bit more bearable. There’s laughter from people and children and you smile to yourself, enjoying the peace.

It's short-lived, for the next moment the door bursts open and before you realize you’re being thrown over a shoulder as the demon in question runs out.

“Mammon!” you glare at the demon, already wiggling and trashing only to be stopped by his hands on your hips, stilling you completely. “What’s the meaning of this?” you demand.

“Talk to Lucifer!” Mammon snaps and you sigh. “He called ya thirty minutes ago!”

“What?” you’re confused. “I just talked to him.”

“It’s already half past 6, idiot.” Mammon groans. “Ya really don’ wanna leave Lucifer hanging more than ya already do, do ya?”

At that you grow limp and let him carry you. You can feel the warm breeze the moment you leave the House of Lamentation, but you don’t ask Mammon to let you down. You’re not in the mood to walk to the academy, but you feel slightly bad for letting him carry you. No one’s outside at such hour either way, so you don’t mind if anyone sees you like this. And it doesn’t seem like Mammon cares either as he’s mumbling under his breath to reach the academy quickly. Quietly you wonder why he doesn’t use his wings instead. You’d definitely be at your destination much quicker.

Only when you reach the academy, Mammon lets you down and you cross your arms with a huff. You turn your head away, refusing to meet his gaze that baffles him and wonders what the hell he's doing wrong. You look down at your pyjamas, which consists of shorts and a top—thank god you put on shorts the night before even if you’re used to sleeping only in top—, before you sigh.

“You could’ve let me change at least…” you murmur under your breath.

“And risk Lucifer’s wrath? Nah thanks.” Mammon answers and quickly adds; “Not that I’m scared of him! I just don’t wanna do more work than needed!” Then after a moment; “Ya wore this inside the House a lot too, so it’s fine. It’s just us…”

You chuckle and shake with your head as the two of you walk inside. “Is it always so hot here?”

“Today’s one of the colder days.”

“Colder?!” you hiss, glaring at him. “This is cold for you? I’m melting!”

Mammon stares at you for a moment before he bursts into laughter. Your glare intensifies, but you don’t have it in yourself to shut him up. Messing with your hair, you groan when you spot the two angels and a sorcerer walking in front of you. At the sound of Mammon’s laughter, the three turn around and smile when they spot you.

“Solomon!” you cry out, knowing that he’ll more than agree with you. He raises an eyebrow as he waits for you to rush to his side, smiling softly. “Can you tell Mammon that it’s abnormally hot?”

He chuckles and messes your hair and you wonder what’s with everyone and your hair. “It is rather hot, isn’t it?” he muses.

Only then you take his whole appearance in. He’s wearing his usual clothes that consists of black long-sleeved shirt with a mock turtleneck, black pants and a cape. You scowl at him, taking a couple of steps back to Mammon.

“I should’ve known.” You put your hand over your mouth, disbelief on your face. “You betrayed me; a fellow human! We should be sticking together, but you’re sticking with the rest! I do not know who you are.”

Amusement is clear in his eyes and before he can say anything, Barbatos approaches you, speaking: “Everyone’s already waiting.” Then his eyes are on you. “I’ve prepared some ice tea to cool down.”

You smile at that and walk to his side. “I can’t wait to drink something cold.” A pout grows on your lips. “Why does Devildom have to be so hot this time? Why can’t the exchange program happen in winter instead? I’d rather be cold than hot and unable to move.”

Barbatos, Solomon and Simeon chuckle as you walk towards the hall. A shiver runs down your spine just when you stop outside the hall and you can already hear Lucifer scolding you when you look down at your clothes. The demons certainly know the set was also your pyjama, but the rest don’t, so you hope the oldest brother won’t say anything about it. But knowing Lucifer… You shudder just thinking about it.

Much to your surprise, when you walk into the hall, it’s surprisingly chilly. Not to the point you’d need long sleeves or trousers, but just enough to make you shiver at first. You don’t mind it much, as a matter of fact you’re quite fond of the coldness that you completely miss the baffled look Lucifer is sending you. He soon composes himself when Diavolo greets everyone as you take your seats.

You’re suddenly motivated to lean down on the table, but decide against it, knowing you’ll get scolded. Although you don’t miss Diavolo looking at you once in a while, amusement quite visible both in his eyes and on his face. You only shrug when Asmodeus asks you what you’ve done to receive such reactions and you really don’t know. Perhaps it’s due to clothes you wear or how you almost slept in, or maybe it’s because of how you’re not joining in the conversations and think of all those hills and mountains you could visit back home in this heat instead.

“So,” Diavolo’s voice raises just a bit, waking you from your daydreaming. “I have an important question for exchange students.” He says and looks from one to another until his eyes fall on you last. You’re curious what he wants to ask, but for some reason you already have a hunch what this is about. “How do you find Devildom so far? Is it to your liking? Are the classes hard?”

You glance at Lucifer, who’s writing something down before you look at Barbatos, who’s smiling, like he’s expecting something to happen. You narrow your eyebrows and turn to Satan, who’s the closest to the ice tea and ask him if he can hand you some. He does so without reluctance and you smile at him in thanks. You take a sip as you listen to Diavolo’s questions and the moment he stops you raise your hand.

“Ah, [Name].” Diavolo acknowledges you. “You didn’t have to raise your hand, we’re not in class.”

All eyes turn to you. You hear Belphegor snort beside Mammon, who’s sitting beside you, while the latter is suddenly, for some reason, very nervous. Leviathan, Satan and Asmodeus watch you intrigued and in wonder while Beelzebub is quietly sipping on his ice tea. Solomon and Simeon are already smiling, like they know what you’re about to say and Luke’s chiding Beelzebub, who was more than ready to go for another ice tea.

“Please,” Diavolo gestures to you to speak.

Lucifer stops writing, his eyes focusing on you, waiting.

“Thank you, Lord Diavolo.” If you already begin, it’s good to be polite, right? You didn’t really want to be on a bad end with Lucifer regarding etiquette. It was already enough for Mammon correcting you whenever you two met with the Prince and talked to him like you were his friend. You put ice tea on the table and cross your fingers, like you’re suddenly preparing for a debate of the century.

“Before I begin, I’d like to thank Barbatos for making the most delicious ice tea I’ve ever tasted.” You begin and beam at Barbatos, who’s taking it with a shy nod, his cheeks dusted with redness. “It’s neither too sweet or unsweet, just … perfect.” You make an OK sign that makes Asmodeus and Satan laugh while Beelzebub and Luke are nodding in agreement. You see Lucifer resisting to facepalm, but you don’t miss the tick mark that appears on his forehead. “Now on the matters regarding the exchange program;” you continue; “if I were to judge it from 0 to 10—” Lucifer is looking at you with expectation and for a moment you feel bad about it. Just for a moment; “—I’d give it -10.”

The silence that spreads is nothing compared to the sudden confusion that erupts from all sides.

“W-what?”

“I-I’m sorry, did I hear that correctly?”

“-10? Like … m-minus?!”

“Can you please elaborate?”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Is it possible to get such a low grade when it isn’t even a possibility?”

The only one who’s not saying anything is Lucifer. But you’re more than sure that you’ve spiked his anger if the broken pen in his hand is any of a hint.

“Please,” Diavolo speaks over everyone and although hardly, the brothers calm down. “If you could please elaborate?” he looks at you with a smile.

“It’s hot.” You answer and the brothers are looking at you like you just grew another head.

“I beg your pardon?” Lucifer speaks. You’re not sure if he’s confused or upset at your reason.

“I get you’re used to this, I really do, but, I’m just a human. I mean, I’m literally the only normal human – if we ignore the angelic side of me – and I’m melting. I’m not used to such heat. Like, okay, up to 30 degrees Celsius I get, hell even that one is too much for me to handle. The best is 20, 25 tops. That’s at the moment the only bad thing and the reason why the grade is minus.” You cross your arms and lean back. “Everything’s still okay. Sure classes are hard sometimes, since it’s a subject I never had before, but it’s passable. Everyone’s helping me around too, so I don’t have anything else to add. But the heat. Can’t anyone do something about it? I’m going to melt sooner or later.”

There’s silence that stretches before Diavolo’s laughter fills the hall.

“It’s not a laughing matter!” you slam fist on table, but no one can find your reaction upsetting, less alone Lucifer, who shows clear confusion. “I refuse to go to classes! I refuse to move from bed unless someone carries me! I refuse to do anything! Summers are meant to spend in shades and in cold places!”

If no one knew you, they’d think you’re being serious. For a moment they even took everything seriously.

“I apologize for that,” Diavolo smiles. “If I knew this heat would be unbearable for a normal human, I’d definitely take it into consideration before.”

“Hey, now I take offense to that.” you’re pouting. “Suddenly I feel like you’re not taking me seriously.”

“Be assured we do.” The Prince says and looks at Lucifer. “Perhaps we should take a week off from classes? Make it a vacation?”

“I don’t see why we should.”

“Yes!” you interrupt the demon. “In some countries they spend two months off in summer! I agree! I don’t care if it’s a week or month or two, as long as I don’t have to struggle in this heat.” You turn to Lucifer. “Would you rather have me skip classes—not that I’d actually have a chance after I said it—and have low grades or would you rather see me work and be a competent student?” you cross your arms and raise an eyebrow, like you wanted to dare him to refuse the idea.

For a moment, Lucifer remains silent before he closes his eyes and sighs. “If the heat truly gets so much to you, I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t take a day or two off.” A wide smile crosses your lips and just when you’re about to celebrate, he adds: “But this will be one chance only.”

“Eh?” you murmur, eyes staring at him. “Tch…” you click with your tongue and look away. You’re pouting, Diavolo is laughing while Beelzebub is handing you another ice tea that you happily accept. You beam at ice tea when an idea comes to you.

“No.” Lucifer denies you before you even have a chance to speak.

“You don’t even know what I wanted to say!” you oppose, pointing at him and forgetting about the etiquette you may have learned. Then again, who even cares about it when you’re upset. “Isn’t the council supposed to listen to others before making a decision?” you raise an eyebrow and a smirk grows on your lips when you see his hands twitch.

“First; I’m only the Vice President, no more.” He glares at you, but it doesn’t bother you. As a matter of fact, it almost makes you laugh at how easily he gets provoked when unnecessary. “For second, what do you want now?” he sighs and massages his temples, already feeling a headache coming.

“I forgot.” You answer with a shrug and smile ever so innocently when his elbow misses the desk when he tries to lean on it.

“Now, now,” Diavolo speaks, cutting in before Lucifer could go full demon on you.

His horns are already visible, and he’s glaring at you. You can see the brother shifting uncomfortably, even Satan, who usually remains expressionless, is looking at you in worry. Luke on the other side is sitting closer to Simeon, who, along with Solomon and Barbatos, find the situation quite amusing instead. Who would’ve thought that someone like you—a human with no special powers—could rile up the Avatar of Pride so easily.

“Why don’t we all calm down and perhaps [Name] can try to remember while we hear what the rest of exchange students want to say?” Diavolo is smiling, but the tension is clear and you can tell Diavolo wants you to calm down the moment he looks at you.

You do so, leaning back on the chair and sipping the ice tea you’re holding. You’re listening to what Solomon and Simeon are saying with Luke occasionally adding a thing or two, but you don’t miss the way Lucifer is tense. The corners of your lips turn into a smirk and he’s glaring at you, like he’s feeling it.

But then you begin to feel it before you realize it. When ice tea doesn’t sate your heat anymore, it’s only a matter of time before you grow restless. The fact that the meeting still hasn’t ended yet, is slightly growing on your nerves as well.

“Well then, why don’t we end it here for today?” Diavolo asks.

“What?” Lucifer is surprised, eyes wide as he looks at the Prince. “But we still must cover—”

“Now, now, Lucifer,” the Prince smiles. “While it’s true we still have things to cover, it won’t do us any good if not all of us are present.”

You pursue lips into a thin line, knowing he was looking after you. Even if the hall was chilly when you came in, it’s already warm and you feel sweat run down your back. The heat was growing and you didn’t like it. You narrow your eyebrows when you see Barbatos handing you another drink. You can’t bring yourself to thank him, but you still smile, although forcibly. It doesn’t sate the heat, but it’s better than nothing.

“Alright …” Lucifer sighs.

You let out a sigh of relief and watch as everyone stands up. Everyone except you. You remain sitting and no one seems to pay attention to it. Not even when they leave the hall, except for Barbatos, who is staring at you in worry.

“Are you alright?” Barbatos asks.

“Yes,” you nod, sighing quietly. “Just…not very fond of the heat. Never was.” Slowly standing on your feet, you groan, feeling uncomfortable in your own body.

“Why don’t you come to the Lord’s Castle later on?” Barbatos asks with a small smile. “I have bath salts for refreshment.”

“It’s alright,” You’re quick to refuse. “I wouldn’t like to impose on Lord Diavolo or you for that silly matter. All I need is get back to my room, do nothing and I’ll be perfectly fine by the evening.”

“While that may be the case in the human world, here summers get much hotter each day.”

You whine at that and sit back down, whimpering. “I hate summers the most. Do you think Lord Diavolo would refuse if I ask for permission to go to the beach?”

Barbatos caresses his chin, thinking. “I’m not sure, but there’s only one way for you to find out.” he smiles and it makes you grin. “Do keep in mind there’s also Lucifer.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll work it out with Lucifer.” you say determined.

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