#chapter 1 is the only true drabble at almost exactly 100 words

[cattewife]

mishaps

a drabble collection for the h/ual/ian modern au series (not snz)

fandom: m/xtx t/gcf rating: T word count (per chapter): 100-300 contains: allergy problems that are *not* sneezing

Sometimes things go a little bit wrong. Life goes on.

just some microfic thoughts & moments that had nowhere else to go.

[ link to fic on ao3 ] or read below the cut!

chapter 1 [mishaps]: on a date

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"This is the worst.  I'm the worst," Hua Cheng groans, holding his (already ruined) sleeve bunched up against his nose to staunch the flow of blood.

"San Lang!" Xie Lian exclaims.  "It's no big deal!  Yesterday I spilled my whole drink on us and then knocked over the table."

"Yes, but that was endearing," Hua Cheng mumbles.

"It was not, but it's sweet that you think so.  This isn't even your fault!"

No, it's just yet another symptom of his wretched body trying to turn itself inside out in the autumn: stressed nasal tissues from constant allergies meeting the changing weather. 

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[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Season 3 Rewatch Drabbles: 3x14 The Tower

Summary:  A series of 100-500 word drabbles to accompany my    rewatch of season 3 of Once Upon a Time.  There will be a drabble–either a deleted scene, a “fix it” fic or a character musing for each episode of the season.  Focus will be on Emma, Henry, the Charmings and Killian–with an emphasis on Captain Swan’s epic love story.

Word Count: 915

Other Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28)

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The past year without her had been hell.  He’d missed her every day, every moment of every day.  He’d tried everything he could to forget her, to alleviate the ever present pain, but the only thing that had brought him even the smallest modicum of comfort was the remembrance of their parting.

Good.

That one word had told him everything.  Despite her walls, she did care for him, she would miss him–or at least she would have had she retained her memories.

It was that reminder that had gotten him through the early sleepless nights.  It was that promise that had given him hope when he’d finally been given a chance to return to her.

He would like to believe he’d be pleased to learn she’d been happy, that she’d found love again, but selfish bastard that he was, it had cut like a knife through his heart when she’d told him the eight months she’d spent with Walsh had been real and that she’d loved him.

Now, reunited, back in Storybrooke, memories restored, the walls she’d built around her heart were tenfold what they had been in Neverland, and in his lower moments he almost wondered if the year without her–but with the memory of her good–had been less painful.

“You know what Swan?” he asked peevishly as they stomped through the snow-covered ground searching for a trace of the witch. “Whenever you’re around, I inevitably find myself trekking through some manner of woods or forests courting danger.”

She gave him a sardonic grin. “And here I thought you weren’t afraid of anything, always looking for the next adventure.”

“Oh, is that what this is?”

“Isn’t it?” she asked, her words dripping with sarcasm. “What the hell were you doing on that ship?  I’m guessing it was one swashbuckling tale after another until you decided to come back and save me.”

He couldn’t stop the stab of pain her words gave him.  He knew this was a defense mechanism, but gods above, did she truly think that of him, even in part?

“Exactly,” he answered shortly.  She wasn’t the only one, after all, who could employ defense mechanisms.

She stopped abruptly and turned to face him, all trace of mocking sarcasm wiped from her face to be replaced by a seering intensity. “You’re lying.”

“Excuse me?”

“What happened back there?” she pressed. “What aren’t you telling me?”

The shame washed over him as he remembered the sordid business with Blackbeard, Prince Eric and Ariel.  The last thing in the world he wanted was to see the disappointment and revulsion in her eyes when she heard the tale.  More deflection was certainly in order.

“Nothing,” he said shortly, turning to continue his walk. “That’s my tale and I’m sticking to it.”

“I still don’t believe you.”

Killian mentally groaned.  She was not giving this up.  It was time to take drastic measures to change the subject.  “Let’s leave it at that, and you can just say thank you.”

“For my memories?” she asked, “I already did.”

“For saving you from a loveless marriage,” he said, turning toward her, looking into her eyes, looking for an indication it was true.

“Is that what you think you were doing?” she asked.

“He was a flying monkey,” he said flippantly.

“I didn’t know that,” she answered, and he could hear the pain in that statement.  It made him feel like a cad, pressing on her still open wound.

“Were you considering it? His proposal?”

“Does it matter?” she asked.

“Humor me,” he answered, both needing and dreading the answer.  He knew this woman, knew her better than anyone.  He saw the festering wound her walls hid, knew it needed to be lanced in order for her to heal.

And so he pushed, even though the act hurt him nearly as much as it did her.

“Yes, okay?” she finally answered, her tone steely. “I was in love, so of course I was considering it, but as usual, he wasn’t who he said he was and I got my heart broken. That enough humor for you?”

Killian let out a long breath, feeling the pain and betrayal coming from her in waves.  Behind that thick, nearly impenetrable wall lay a heart that was bruised and bloody, but one that still beat, one that would heal, one that could find happiness again.

He could only hope she’d allow him to be the one who helped her find it. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad to hear that.”

If anything, her frown deepened. “You’re glad to hear I got my heart broken?”

Killian took a chance.  He stepped forward, letting his feelings, his sincerity, his care for her shine through his eyes as he looked deeply into Emma’s. “If it can be broken, it means it still works.”

For one bright shining moment, he thought she might kiss him.  Her breath caught, she swayed into him, her own feelings, which she’d been trying so desperately to hide, to banish, shown through her lovely green eyes.

And then abruptly the walls came up again.  

Without a word, she turned away, stepped past him and continued on toward the farmhouse in the distance.

The disappointment washed over him, and he allowed himself to feel it for a moment before sighing and moving forward.

The woman he loved–the one he knew loved him–was still in there.  He simply needed to be patient.

NEXT CHAPTER->

[ryouverua]

Final Answer (3)

I mean, to be fair, with your track record...

1 is here / 2 is here

I... I don’t want it to be true, not just because that takes away layers of his character but also because he’s been so openly suspicious? Is that a weird way to feel?

But here he is, outright saying he’s the mastermind... in chapter 5??? Is, is this allowed - 

I’m trying to imagine the facial contortions it must take to swing so wildly from such a cute, childish face to this nightmare fuel and man, Kokichi’s cheeks must hurt.

Kokichi’s chirps are on point as usual.

Uh..... what is that....?

OH WHAT THE HELL KOKICHI

also damn what gives you the right to be so cute in this picture jeez

I... I WILL SAY... THIS IS... PRETTY COMPELLING EVIDENCE IN KOKICHI���S FAVOUR...

YEAH THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING!!!

But... but he does have the exisals??? How in the world does he have the exisals under his control otherwise???

I’M WITH YOU, SWEETCHEEKS

I’M SO TORN RIGHT NOW...

But... they did??? Shuichi confronted you about it, and you denied that it was your doing???

But you could have just denied it again, and also the exisals?!?! And hold on, why are you scolding them about not preventing more deaths??? If this is gloating, there is definitely something ringing false about it!

If - and this is still an if to me, even though the remote control bit is pretty damning - you’re the mastermind, then why would you have been egging us to doubt each other more? Sure it could be a way to sow seeds of distrust, but.... but....

DAMN that was a direct hit in the waifu

But... but why??? Why are you revealing your hand now, then??? Why would you tell us you’re the mastermind at this point? Sure you have the exisals, but if you continued to hide Monokuma that ever-growing target on your back wouldn’t be so bad! Maki’s probably going to attempt to punt you outside at this rate!

And who better to organize something with such a high degree of skill than the Ultimate Supreme Leader, is that what you’re saying? Hmm....

S... Somehow Kokichi using ‘u mad’ is even more egregious to me than this whole killing game affair.

aslkdfjsdf

Oh Kaito, if you didn’t have bad luck you’d have no luck at all.

a-also did you forget who gave those to you or -

Were you?!

Man, Kokichi, your poker face is stellar. Or faces? Maybe that’s the key - swing wildly from one act to another and you just can’t get a read on him at all! I guess if he had used one himself to get through the tunnel in the first place, he’d have a rough idea of how long they would last?

Also Kaito it, uh, didn’t really work well for you last time so please don’t punch him again. D: I really don’t think you have the strength to, at this point! Even forgetting how it went last time, you just went through an obstacle course from hell (even if you were finally well-equipped for it this time) and you literally just got up after collapsing - because you were exposed to the toxic air from the outside, which definitely irritated your lungs, which are already being ravaged by disease!

As usual, he knows exactly what to say to hit you hard right in your emotional weak points. Maybe he likes lies so much because the truth hurts...

KAITO NO THIS ISN’T A SETTING WHERE SHOUNEN ACTS OF HEROISM PREVAIL -

Then again, what the hell does he have to lose at this point if he’s most likely going to die within the next week? FUCK THOUGH I REALLY DON’T WANT HIM TO HURT HIMSELF AGAIN -

MAKI SHUICHI COULDN’T STOP HIM AREN’T YOU FASTER THAN KAITO DO SOMETHING DAMN IT

!!!! Shit!

aaah fuck, aaah you bastard, shit shit Kaito!!!!!

ARE YOU SURE?! ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURE?!?!

C-Can you let him go then, please??? Please?! You’ve shown us what you can do, and Kaito is really not faring well in general right now!!!

U-Uh, Maki, your hair is... doing..... something interesting there....

HOLY SHIT MAKI I THINK YOUR HAIR IS ALIVE

HER EYES, HER HAIR, HER HANDS, HER CLOTHES, HER LITERAL EVERYTHING IS SCREAMING MURDER, SHUICHI!!! THAT IS A HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT!!

I DON’T THINK SHE’S JOKING THIS TIME, SHUICHI!!!

D-Damn Shuichi... you’ve gotten stronger in all of this, at least. I imagine he wants to help Kaito too, but he understands that he’s got nothing on the five exisals, even if Maki may stand a slim chance.

And honestly? I bet Kokichi is waiting for an excuse to retaliate against Maki. He’s probably itching for revenge after being thrown around so badly by her.

Another relationship, broken...

Still as enamoured with Shuichi as ever, huh.

As happy as Shuichi would normally be about that fact, I’m pretty sure this particular victory must ring rather hollow to him.

Himiko raises a good point, actually! Exactly what do you have in mind for everyone, Mr. Mastermind? Is this where a supposed new motive comes out?

............... Huh.

Despite.... setting a rule, as Monokuma, that the killing game would end with only two people left?

Also I shouldn’t find that whole ‘sorry about that, guys’ hilarious but I do - it’s like he’s telling his friends he can’t show up to the movies a day before they were planning on going because he’s ‘not feeling up to it’, but instead of the movies it’s a damn killing game.

This....... doesn’t...... feel right, does it? Are you satisfied? Why would you be satisfied? What about this is satisfying to you?

I-Is that really the crux of the issue right now Tsumugi?!

?!?!

And with no motives being thrown their way to encourage the killings?

................................ I’m holding judgment right now.

This is Chapter 5. The ‘mastermind’ appears in plain sight, despite setting the rules of ‘until 2 people are left, the killing game will continue’, and declares the killing game over. There’s one chapter left after this. He’s telling everyone they can live or die together, but they have no obligation to him to do either. They’re free to live or die miserably if they would like to. He won’t interfere with them. The killing game is over, so that means he won’t offer motives or encourage them to kill each other anymore. And also - also, I just won’t forget this - he was negotiating with Monokuma in Chapter 4, which is something I just can’t see the real mastermind doing. I know Monokuma is supposed to be an AI, but why would the mastermind of all people need to negotiate with his avatar? Monokuma should be acting as his right hand, right? Is this just an even bigger, bolder version of him ‘confessing’ to being the culprit during all the previous trials? But if it is, why? Why would he do this? Is this his version of winning? He just wants to take absolute control of everything?

But on the other hands, how in the world does he have control of the exisals? He may have gotten his hands on the keycard, but he’s put together so much information that he shouldn’t have access to on his own - when we were searching earlier and found things like the Gopher Project files, he wasn’t with us. So how did he find out about those things, barring him already knowing it all going in aka being the mastermind as he is claiming?

You mean you want to have a hostage in case Maki tries anything, right?

Wait.... 

...

Wait, wait wait.

No, that’s an odd thing to say. What do you mean, it might start up again if he runs around? Why would it, if you’re the one in control? Kokichi, if you’re the mastermind, how could the game start up again without your ‘okay’?

......

Kokichi....

I’m just getting more and more doubtful by the minute now -

Are you lying to us right now?!

“It also happens to be one of the new areas of the game for the chapter, but I’m sure that’s just a total coincidence and totally won’t be where the next body is found!”

I’m so sorry Maki but your red-eyed glare just cannot match the sheer terror Kokichi’s troll face invokes.

I think what feels like 100 years ago I said that I’m less inclined to believe the guy who proclaims himself a liar and then also calls himself THE SUPER MOST AWFUL, TERRIFYING SUPREME LEADER OF EVIL!!! within the same breath a moment later.

I........ I don’t know. I wonder if I can apply it to this situation as well. He’s saying plenty of right things, but it’s almost like...

You know when people tell you that tone matters, and that if you say nice things to someone in a dismissive or outright awful way, your initial intent is lost? It’s like he’s doing that on purpose. The lies aren’t in the words - they’re in the execution of those words.

But still, it’s that damn exisal remote that’s throwing me off!!! Kokichi has something only the mastermind would have, and he has the power of the exisals - the mastermind - behind him! Oh, and of course, Monokuma hasn’t shown up to refute any of this, and you’d think he’d be more than happy to pop up and say something right now! I’d say he might not have the range to go this far out, but I can’t think of a reason why he wouldn’t be able to travel this far! By Monokuma not appearing, he’s basically acknowledging that this is true!

Cancelling the killing game, though? I don’t care if you’re bored - the rules were explicitly set to only have two survivors left, and if you were really determined to let humanity kill each other off, you’d let this go to the bitter end! There is something seriously screwy going on here!

“Just so you know, you’re seriously wrecking our Saiouma potential.”

“Shuichi, sweetie, does this look like the face of a guy who isn’t down for a good hate-ship? Also I have Kaito now so you know Tsumugi’s going to be writing some damn good Oumota drabbles as she cries herself to sleep tonight.”

the power of escapism is real

Kokichi’s gone. Kaito’s gone. It’s just... the five of us left. Holy crap. The only way a murder could possibly happen would be with, uh, well, Kokichi as the victim - but no one has to commit a murder at this point either, right?

But Kaito is probably on his deathbed too... a-aaah jeez, I’m really worried about him. I don’t know how he’s going to get out alive from this.

Actually, for that matter, if we’ve got almost all the answers - and I feel like there’s a bit missing still, but we’re nearly there - what in the world could even happen from now on? Where is there to go from here, when there’s nothing left to even fight for? Everyone is dead! And their mission completely failed! Seriously, what is even the point of doing anything now, except living on quietly until they die?

And man, I’m suspicious as hell about Kokichi’s declaration of culpability but honestly, that could still just be me being stubborn. This entire affair could easily end with Kaito winding up dead, and everyone having to overthrow Kokichi next chapter. Having the villain announce himself a chapter earlier... well, that would be a twist in a DR game - but what does that leave for the next chapter? if someone says despair one more time I will end them

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Season 3 Rewatch Drabbles: 3x6 Ariel

(Source)

Summary:  A series of 100-500 word drabbles to accompany my    rewatch of season 3 of Once Upon a Time.  There will be a drabble–either a deleted scene, a “fix it” fic or a character musing for each episode of the season.  Focus will be on Emma, Henry, the Charmings and Killian–with an emphasis on Captain Swan’s epic love story.

Word Count: 710

Other Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28)

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Emma stood on the precipice.  Did she stay, or did she move forward?

The last few minutes had been…a lot.  She’d been on Neverland all of six days–she assumed.  It was hard to keep track of the time in a place where the sun never rose or set, but they’d at least slept five times since arriving–and in that time, if she’d learned anything, it was that Pan was a sadistic little shit, but Echo Cave was on an entirely new level.

Reveal your closest held secrets or let Neal die.  That had been the choice.  Her parents and Hook had chosen to save Neal.

And while she questioned whether their secrets were truly their darkest, they had been doozies.   It would take her some time to process the fact that her mom wanted another kid so that she had a chance to be a parent or that her dad had almost died from dreamshade poisoning and can never leave the island.

And then there was Hook.  Emma didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, but when his secret was, in essence, an admission that he’d fallen in love with her, her heart had given a quick swoop and then begun to pound.  There was no denying the attraction between them–it would be laughable to even try after that kiss (gods could that man kiss!)--but love, well she wasn’t nearly ready to go there.

Their collective secrets had succeeded in building a bridge to Neal’s cave, and now it was up to Emma.  Could she do this?  Could she admit to Neal the secret that had immediately popped to mind the moment Hook had told them the rules of this stupid place?  Shame burned inside of her for even thinking it, but she hadn’t been happy when she’d heard that Neal was still alive.  

No, it was worse than that.  She’d hoped it was a lie; hoped it was all just another of Pan’s games.  When she thought about Neal, there were so many feelings that welled up–love, anger, pain, even fear.  Oh not fear that he’d hurt her, at least physically, but fear that just being near him would force her to relive some of the worst moments of her life.

There was a part of her that still loved him; probably always would.  When they were together and happy, he’d made her feel like she mattered, something no one else in her life to that point had ever done, and for that, he’d always hold a special place in her heart.

But she knew that love was not enough.  What he’d done had scarred her so badly, she could never go back to him.

Her mom seemed to think she should; had spent the last day, in fact, acting as though she believed Neal was Emma’s True Love or something, and that the only thing holding Emma back was her fear that she couldn’t get him back.  Every conversation with her had been like a twist of the knife to Emma.  She’d just wanted to forget Neal, forget everything, and as much as she hated herself for feeling this way, it had felt like his death had given her the chance to do just that.

Now…well, now she had to make the same choice her parents and Hook had made–the choice to make herself vulnerable and face her deepest secret.  A part of her wanted to turn tail and run out of the cave as fast as her legs would take her, Neal be damned, but she knew she couldn’t do that.  She had to face him; had to tell him the truth; had to hope somehow, someway the truth would set not only him but her free.

She took a step forward, and then hesitated once more.  She looked back seeking–well, she didn’t know exactly what she was seeking.  She caught Hook’s gaze, and he gave her a small, almost imperceptible nod.  That nod seemed to say more than an entire soliloquy could have. Go on Swan; you can do this. I’m behind you all the way.

She felt a renewed strength, a renewed determination, and with that she turned back around.  As hard as it would be, she knew what she had to do.

NEXT CHAPTER->