#elder younger irk

[caps-clever-girl]

vex and ho-tan have a third younger, but cant figure out what to do about a name because at this point, name-changing is a family trait.

Alfie chose her name when she was younger, its still close to her birth name but it feels like her, and of course took on ho-tan when she joined the elders.

vex chose his name because he thought it was funny. "whys your name vex" "oh does it VEX you"

Alvin picked his name when he came out because it was close to his mums name and his birth name

Irk chose his name to be more like his dad and because he thinks its funny. he wants to Irk people.

they cant keep calling the baby baby or child, but they also find it hilarious that the likelyhood of whatever name they choose being kept is slim at this point, so they dont want to choose anything they really like.

in the end they go with noah - its gener-neutral, but also because they nave noah dea what to name the baby. geddit? no idea? noah-dea? vex loves it.

(noah DOES keep their name; but they add Deer as an official middle name to make the joke stronger)

[general-cyno]

ehh it's just me musing but. I do find it a little curious that (depending on who likes whom I guess) cora is usually either seen as some saintly flawless goofy figure or a brainwashed cop who got killed because he refused to try and save his brother. I do think his character is not exactly easy to pinpoint, considering he appears for a very short time and in a flashback nonetheless, plus the fact that he's dead means no further fleshing out of his character - broadly speaking - outside of the people who knew him and are willing to provide insight on what he was like, though that'd still be kinda biased.

however I believe there's actually a bunch of things that were straight up shown and some that can be pieced together from what little panel/screen time he had: ie how he's seemingly more bad tempered, impulsive and violent than he's portrayed as in fanon at times, albeit motivated by his own priorities at the moment (trying to kick the shit out of law to stop him from exposing cora to doflamingo) + his sense of what's right and wrong and to whom it applies (punching medical staff and setting hospitals on fire for mistreating law, whom he'd been trying to help).

specifically about the navy and doflamingo part... it irks me a little, tbh. partly because it removes what little agency cora had during the flashbacks and sort of waters down his motivation to stop his brother. it's not just whatever crimes doflamingo was committing or planning to back then and the navy wanting to put a stop to that - the thing is that cora was influenced, at least to an extent, to oppose doflamingo based on their childhood experiences with (ofc) the more negative ones, which include doffy murdering their father right in front of him, overshadowing anything else. as he tells law, cora can't fathom how their kind parents could've borne someone as evil as his brother. and yet. that's the other thing. cora was very much a child, and younger than doflamingo at that, when the elder DQs chose to leave marijoa and all that it entailed after. between all the traumatic events he lived through and later being raised by a marine (sengoku of all people), I'll be the first to say his perception of those events, of their parents and doffy himself is not really the most unbiased or reliable. we don't see him questioning the existence of celestial dragons (beyond warning law he's in danger when cora finds out about the D) nor the nature of the WG/the marines and the antagonistic role they play in OP's universe. we didn't have him long enough for those things to be put to question deeply anyway, especially not wrt to doflamingo, so imo it makes sense that his focus wasn't on "saving" but stopping him.

that said... he does witness the worst of it, kind of. through law. law is the very reason why I don't agree with the idea of cora being simply a brainwashed cop. this guy watched how people (those who should care) mistreated, dehumanized and demonized a sick child over prejudices caused by the lies the nobles and WG itself relied on to sweep their own corruption under the rug. he saw first hand how all those doctors ran to call the WG to kill the child and how they answered to do that. and what did he do? he lied and betrayed the organization he'd been part of (presumably for more than the years he spent undercover) and the man who'd raised him like a son just to save the kid that everyone, even the so called justice, had turned his back on and would've gotten rid of if given the chance. heck, when he first brought up the topic of law with sengoku, the man basically told him not to favor him too much for it could jeopardize his mission.

but perhaps the biggest proof is that he lied to law about being a marine when the latter directly asked if cora was one. as he later admits, cora lied to him about this because he didn't want law to hate him - and knowing all law lived through (flevance), seeing some of it himself (their hospital shenanigans) and what law told him as well, cora knew he had plenty of understandable and justified reasons to hate anyone ever slightly associated with the marines or the WG, including cora. to me, someone who's completely blinded by the navy/WG propaganda and follows their every order to the letter without thought wouldn't have denied his own affiliation nor been so determined to ditch being a marine and make an enemy out of those institutions (even if that also meant betraying his father figure) just to save, protect and do right by a child who'd been clearly failed by them. at no point did cora ever try to argue that Not All Marines, much less express any other sentiments of that sort to law.

on a similar vein, despite insisting doflamingo was evil and an agent of destruction - law is also the proof cora was somewhat aware that his brother (and people like doflamingo) normally don't pop out of nowhere and do Terrible Things just because. that maybe in other (better) circumstances, doffy might've become someone different and/or made different choices. after all, cora is the one who points out the similarities between doflamingo and law, and eventually does his best to turn law's life around so that he won't follow the same path. should he have tried to save doflamingo as well? when? how? would it have worked? who knows. and if you ask me, regardless of their similarities at that moment in time, doffy was already a grown ass man compared to law and cora himself was just an even younger kid when shit hit the fan in their childhood. I'm not sure doflamingo (as an adult) would've been particularly receptive of "help" either, considering his disdain for the kindness in cora and their father that he saw as a weakness. not to mention waaay too many other factors that come into play also (trebol and co's grooming and influence for example). still, one of them did pull the literal trigger in the end and it wasn't cora, so there's that.

all in all, for a character with such a short lived amount of time in the story - cora is quite the complex one and so very compelling. characterizing him as just strictly one thing or the other can be a little reductive but the fact that his character can be explored beyond that in the first place (once more, despite his lil bit of alive and onscreen moments) is what's fun and says a lot about the writing itself.

[dollcieee]

Finding Fluffy

Platonic! Kid! Cloud Strife x fem! reader <3 Your big sister Tifa recently got a cat!

Tifa and Y/n have been begging for their father to get them a cat for a long time now. When Tifa's twelfth birthday came up, Zander, one of the village elders, decided to give Tifa the white and mischievous kitten Fluffy.

Y/n was so ecstatic to see Tifa carrying a small kitten that she instantly took the cat and ran outside to find it a collar.

She got Fluffy a red bandana, but the kitten jumped out of Y/n's arms and ran off, leaving for Y/n to chase after it.

'Kitty, come back!'

Fluffy was much faster than her. In the end, she couldn't find her. She walked back to their house but stopped when she imagined an image of an angry Tifa scolding her for losing Fluffy.

Y/n started crying heavily and crouched, the ends of her pink sundress touching the ground, covering her face with both of her hands still holding the bandana. 

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

In the peaceful village of Nibelheim, a now 12-year-old Tifa wanders around the house in search of Y/n, her younger sister. Going out of their house, she finally finds her sister, her back facing Tifa.

"O-oh no.. Fluffy.." Y/n continues to sob while holding the red bandana she was supposed to make Fluffy wear.

"Y/n what's wrong?" Tifa pats her sister's back, concern written onto her face, but Y/n continues to cry, "Hey you can tell me what's wrong, you know" this time Tifa embraces her in a comforting hug.

"Fluffy.." Y/n whispers, trying not to cry anymore, Tifa now notices the absence of their new kitten and looks around and asked "Y/n, Where's Fluffy?" upon asking her that Y/n cries again, holding the bandana tightly this time "I lost her and I d-don't know where she is now *hic an-and I tried lo-looking for her b-but *hic I can't find her Tifa!".

"It's okay, we'll find her together, okay?" Tifa says as she lets go of her and urges Y/n to follow her, "Let's start looking at the village square".

"Wait- Tifa!" Tifa turns around towards her sister, tilting her head in a questioning manner.

"Hold hand" Y/n in a much better mood grabs Tifa's hand and they both go to the village square.

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

"You see anything there Y/n?"

"no..."

The Lockhart sisters moved to another place near a trailhead leading to a gate. It's been almost an hour now, but the sisters were determined to find their cat.

"Y/n! I'll go to the other side" Tifa shouted, running to the opposite direction Y/n is currently in.

"Okay!" Y/n shouted back and continued on looking at the bushes.

Y/n flinched when she saw movement in the bigger bushes in front of her. Thinking it might be Fluffy, she sneaked inside the bush to take a peek. She saw nothing except a top of someone's head.

'This one has a very sharp hair' she thought as she called out to whoever this mysterious blond person was, "Hey!" the boy stood up and looked around him surprised by the sudden voice.

"Hey Chocobo head!" She shouted again.

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

Okay, that actually irked Cloud a little bit. Whoever was calling him should just show themselves to him. He was so close to catching the white cat he's been following.

"Pssst... helloooo over here!" Cloud finally found the voice who's been calling to him, when he looked to where she was his eyes widened when he recognized the face of the girl, it's Tifa's younger sister, Y/n Lockhart.

"What are you doing here?" He started to walk towards Y/n, looking down at her as she tried to stand up properly.

"Your Cloud right?" She asked, patting her dress to remove whatever dirt particle landed in it.

"Yeah, that's me, what do you want?" He asked back, arms crossed to his chest "Well um.. I was hoping that.. By any chance, you saw a white kitty around here?" She looked at the ground and back to Clouds piercing blue eyes.

"I did, I would've caught it by now if it weren't for your shouting" He nonchalantly answered.

"Oh, sorry..hehe" She apologized, a sheepish grin forming on her face, Cloud sighed and started walking away from her.

"Where are you going?" She asked, following him from behind, "To find the cat"

They both walked to the darker part of the forest.

"I hope Fluffys nearby" she whispers to herself, but Cloud hears her.

"Fluffy is the name of the cat?" Cloud asks.

"Yeah.. me and Tifa just got her today, but she just had to run away and I lost her. Now we have to look for her in the middle of the woods" she ranted to Cloud even doing hand motions to prove her statement.  

Cloud just nodded to whatever she said and looked around while walking deeper to the forest, Y/n started to close her distance with Cloud, the dark forest was starting to scare her.

"Stay close, don't worry I know my way here" Cloud exclaims eyes not looking away at the front. Y/n felt a little sense of relief from what he said.

"Do you go here a lot?" She asked, wanting to get to know the loner boy, "Yeah, I find it peaceful here"

Y/n nodded looking at him for a minute, "Why don't you hangout with us next time? I'm sure everyone would've loved to play with you" she continued but before Cloud could even reply a meowing noise can be heard close to them.

"That could be Fluffy-!" Y/n ran, leaving Cloud behind "Wait-" he sighed in frustration but went after her anyway.

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

"Y/n you there?" Tifa came back to where she had last seen Y/n, looking around, she doesn't see her little sister. She looked up at the sky, the suns about to go down and they're not close to home.

'Dad must be worried' Tifa thought, looking at the place she had last seen Y/n, she thought about it for a moment and walked into the forest to see if she could spot her sister there.

"Y/n you better be safe.." she whispered to herself.

▬▬ι═══════ﺤ

"Fluffy! You silly-silly cat!" Y/n carried Fluffy in her arms, hugging the kitten while swaying side by side.

"Meow"

"Don't you 'meow' me, you made me worried.."

"Don't just run *pant* off like that you could've been *pant* hurt.." Cloud scolded while trying to regain his steady breath back, Y/n didn't seem to care as she finally found her sister's cat. In a moment of silence they hear the shouts of Tifa nearby.

"Y/n? Y/n you there? Let's just look for Fluffy tomorrow. It's almost night-time"

"Tifa! We're here! Cloud's here too!" Y/n shouted back, looking at a now stiff postured Cloud, "Cloud, you'kay there?" She asked, leaning close to his face "-yeah I'm fine..".

"Hmm, okay then tomorrow we should-" "I gotta go now, don't tell Tifa anything!" Cloud who's about to sprint stops for a moment and faces Y/n "about earlier I'd like to hangout with you" he runs off to another direction leaving a confused Y/n "Whatta weird kid..".

"Y/n there you are! We should- you found Fluffy!" Tifa said excitedly, grabbing Fluffy from Y/n's grasp "Also where's Cloud? I thought he was here as well" she looked around, no spiky-haired boy in sight.

"He went away I think I dunno" Y/n answered, tying the red bandana around Fluffy's neck.

"Well let's go home, dad's gonna get worried" Tifa holds Y/n's little hand

"Yeah! I'm hungry!"

The Lockhart sisters got home safe and sound, and ate dinner happily with their dad and new kitty Fluffy.

Edited: 08/07/2024

[glorianamultistan]

i need a sangyeon male reader ff from u maybe a continuation it keeps me alive!!! ☹️☹️

Hi @innieplanet thank you for requesting and sorry it took so much time to finish it. I wrote something new and not a continuation I hope you like it.

Sangyeon x Male Reader

I do not own the pic.

Slipping down the sofa slowly, there, between the coffee table and the sofa, one could not easily tell by looking whether it was Sangyeon who was trying to hold both of them up or y/n, who in the trance of liquid kisses wasn't even aware of the slippage, trying to pull the older closer.

Both seemed to be following the same route from afar, at least that is what Sunwoo thought when he yelled at them to stop before their managers come.

Y/n was not a celebrity, just a friend; that is how Kevin introduced him to the group, but the body language between them left a lot of room to be discussed by Sangyeon with Kevin before rushing to conclusions.

As it turned out, y/n was really just a friend, with a love for delicate skinship. Kevin did all he could, hugging, kissing on cheeks and forehead and practically sticking y/n on his lap for most of his visits.

There is always an ambiance of cheerful playness when y/n is invited by Kevin to spend time with him. All the other members, especially Juyeon and Eric started liking y/n company too.

Yet, Sangyeon was always too self-aware around y/n, somehow he was always trying to understand the body language of the younger and the broken Korean he spoke.

Soon Sangyeon realised that it was not some misplaced enchantment he had with y/n; he had started liking the younger; his shy and bubbly antics, his clumsiness and all made Sangyeon want to keep the younger close to him, in his arms, and all these thoughts were making him lose his sanity.

This overwhelming feeling that Sangyeon feels every time some member comes a little too close to y/n irks him.

It happened that one day while most of the members were out on schedule, Kevin asked y/n to come to their dorm and did not mention this to Sangyeon who was the only one present in the dorm.

He saw y/n through the door camera and opened the door with a nervous smile 'Kevin is not here yet.' 'I know hyung but he said I can wait for him as he will bring a present for me.'

Both of them sat awkwardly on the sofa and Sangyeon started the conversation to keep the atmosphere bearable for the younger, somehow during the conversation, y/n shifted closer to the older and was being hugged by him.

It was just how y/n's presence worked, skinship was necessary. But then suddenly Sangyeon realised his hand was around the younger's shoulder and he looked down at y/n typing on his phone.

As he looked up, the proximity was too much, too close; the face of the younger was so clear in front of him, mesmerising. Y/n felt like he was watching a book unfold through the older's eyes, the eyelids, the lips, the face, so close.

'Y/n I really need to ask you, are you single? Are you sure none of the other members like you romantically?" Whisper, Sangyeon did nothing but whisper to not let the moment go to waste, 'No, we are friends hyung.' 'Thank god.'

And this is how the kiss was confirmed and how they were in the situation in which Sunwoo found them.

They both stopped kissing but y/n hid his face in the elder's neck as Sangyeon hugged him. 'Hyung, you really need to let him go; we can not let the manager hyung see you like this.' 'Ah! Did Sangyeon hyung finally make a move!?' Kevin entered the dorm with Juyeon and Eric.

'What?' 'Oh hyung, we have been watching you look at y/n in not-so-subtle ways, so I asked him to come over to make it easy for you.' Kevin said while going towards the kitchen.

So, it was all planned, but the other fact was that Sangyeon was just made aware that he was not subtle while looking at y/n. He looked down, y/n sitting in his lap, looking down. 'Did you know too?' 'No, I thought Kevin was joking because you are my bias.'

Let's just say that it was not going to be easy for Sangyeon to control himself anymore.

P.S.:- If you liked it, you can support me by buying me a coffee; link's on my page.

[the-spaced-out-ace]

Lautski Week Day 5 (Alt prompt: Fairy Tale)

(warning: i am sucker for fairy tales, so this one is LONG. putting most of it under a read more, OR if you'd rather read it on AO3, here it is)

Pete really had to have had the worst luck in the world, the more he thought about it. Being the spare in heir and spare, though his birth hadn’t exactly been planned in the first place, and being such a sickly little thing he’d nearly killed his poor mother trying to arrive. Then to carry that same ailment for the rest of his life, a dizziness he could never quite name if he ever found himself too overwhelmed or overworked, and could only hope to cure with a little rest and food if there was any available. Spending his whole life knowing he could get away with anything since his elder brother was the heir, being grateful he was out of the court’s watchful eye and hurting over lack of conversation with his parents nonetheless, feeling isolated from the castle staff and having no one his own age to ever talk to, being so on the outside from the rest of the world he’d wish he could flat-out be invisible instead. It’s not like things would be any different. But then he just had to go and offend the wrong person, during one of his daily walks in the courtyard, when he bumped into an odd man in a yellow coat. He briefly assumed the man to be a gardener, but as he tried to at least know the names of all the people employed at the castle, it irked Pete that he didn’t recognize this man specifically. Pete asked him, “who are you?” and in response, the man laughed, “a bastard!”

All at once, Pete felt a rush of energy flow through him. He looked down. His sleeves were there. The cuffs were there. His hands were not.

“Got your wish, haven’t you, Petey?”

Pete began to apologize to the man, the warlock or demon or whatever else he could have been, if he caused any harm walking into him or speaking so curtly, but he refused to listen to a word of it.

The rules were laid out to him simply: the young prince was now invisible, doomed to roam the world faceless for the rest of his days unless someone loved him above all else for his heart and mind alone.

And there he was, five months later, still wandering. 

He’d slipped away from the castle that night, assuming no one would notice, though by now, rumors of the missing prince’s whereabouts were engulfing the people of the kingdom, some even claiming that the crown prince himself would pay a hefty sum to anyone who could deliver the safe return of his younger brother.

Perhaps if he’d stayed home and told his pitiful story to his family, they would have hosted a matchmaking ball just for him, inviting all the young noble ladies of the land for a chance to meet the prince and win his heart. It wouldn’t have worked, of course. He would need to be the one winning someone’s heart, and the game of love was never something he excelled in—seemingly another curse, a family one. And when people did see him now, they always screamed and ran in fear upon seeing his faceless and undefined form, convinced he was a specter, or in extreme cases, a demon. On two separate occasions, a priest would be dragged back to where he’d tried to take camp, and the party would attempt to exorcize him. By sheer stroke of luck did he come across a cloak abandoned in a tailor’s scraps, and thanking whatever benevolent force was out there, took the coak and made it his new shield from humiliation and window into the world.

Often, he found himself drawn to the marketplace nearest wherever in the woods he’d chosen to make home. He used to simply buy what he needed, but after enough time, funds were low, and he drew enough attention to himself when he had gold coins on him before. Now though, he’d trade or barter, plants he found in the woods and sticks for kindling in turn for fresh food and water. And because no one ever saw his face, nor questioned the hood of his cloak, he was never given much more than a second glance. Some merchants had taken an appreciation—dare he assume fondness—for the quiet boy who emerge from the woods once a week, knew just enough about medicinal and edible plants to barter for his needs, and disappeared again just as soon. He wasn’t quite invisible to them. But he was nameless, which was in many ways, the same thing. 

One day, a girl he’d done business for a few times but never truly talked to spoke up to him. 

“What’s with the hood, anyway? It’s not that cool out.”

From what he’d picked up, this girl was very wealthy, given the hundreds of dollars worth of goods in her little corner. More often than not, a man that resembled her or a red-headed woman took the reins, leading him to believe she was from a rich merchant family, or a noblewoman whose family was somewhere in the middle of the ranks. 

“It’s to hide myself,” he finally eventually answered. He extended his gathering of wild mint to her. “I have the usual request from here. Your father said next time I came with some I could trade for some of your chocolates.”

He didn’t think it was a very fair trade. Before, he could access those soft, sweet treats whenever he wanted. They were even one of the few things that could ease him quickly when his mysterious illness struck. Surviving on his own with dwindling funds taught him how expensive it was to the common man. And he knew enough about bartering now he didn’t think he could ever pay enough, physically or in gratitude. 

The girl took the fresh herbs and gave him a whole handful of the candy. “I put him up to that, actually,” she said. “You’re one of our best customers when it comes to sweet things.”

“My tooth for a bit of sugar can never quite be satisfied,” he admitted, “and they’re one of the few things that can help me get past my ailments when I’m dizzy.”

“I see,” she said. “But let’s go back to the original topic. Why do you hide your face?”

“People always scream when they see me.”

“Surely you’re not so frightening under there.”

Pete shook his head. “If I saw someone else like me I’d take quite the fright, too.”

“And that is because…”

Pete stayed silent for a moment. “It’s hard to explain. And impossible to believe.”

“Mysterious. I like it.”

If Pete had a visible face, he’d be blushing. “Forgive me,” he said. “I’ve been coming by this market for the past two months and I’ve neglected to learn your name.”

“Stephanie,” she said. “Now you have to repay me the favor.”

“Peter,” he said. “My name is Peter.”

“Well, Peter, enjoy your chocolates. Though I hope you don’t have to eat them all next time you’re sick.”

“I hope the same thing for myself,” he said. And with that, he was off and onto the next errand. 

The next week, Stephanie was at the booth again. She flagged him down. 

“I have nothing to trade to you today,” Pete started. 

“I hoped you’d give me a chance to just talk, learn a little more about the mysterious boy who shows up and disappears like clockwork,” she said. 

“There’s not much to me,” he said. “I left home to see if my luck would change, that’s all.”

“And?”

“And it hasn’t.”

Stephanie nodded, smiling a sad and sympathetic smile. “At least that means you get to be a little closer to here. You’re quite welcome around town.”

“I have my own shelter set up in the woods.”

“Well, would you ever consider one cooked dinner in a warm house?” she asked. “Just one night away from there?”

“I can’t risk it,” Pete said. “Wild animals or bandits could get to my resources. And I’d still rather not reveal myself.”

“I’m sure with a gentle demeanor like yours, no appearance could be as bad as you think it is.”

Pete thought for a second. Stephanie did not come across as scared of anything, though he still couldn’t guarantee that she would be still if she did see him. 

That headstrong nature and generosity seemed to win him over, though. 

“…do you really wish to see what’s underneath this hood?” he asked. 

“Yes.”

“Then meet me at the edge of the woods, tonight.”

He waited. And just as the sun finally sank beneath the horizon, she appeared to him, lantern lit. 

“I understand if you scream or run away,” he warned her, “But please don’t bring an exorcist or angry mob to me. I’ve made my new home here.”

“I don’t understand,” Stephanie told him. 

Pete only sighed, pulling down his hood. Stephanie stared. 

She did not scream. She did not run. She seemed not to react at all. 

“How did this happen to you?” she asked after what could have been mere moments but to the young prince seemed an excruciating lifetime. 

“…cursed by upsetting the wrong man,” he said. “It can only be broken if someone loves me for my heart and mind. I know that will never happen, so I’ve made my peace wandering the world this way.”

Stephanie drew closer, outreaching her arm. “Give me your hands,” she instructed. Pete, with some effort, trying to remember where each finger was, eventually interlocked his own hands in hers. She smiled. 

“You are not a monster, no matter what you think of yourself,” she said. “You’re a gentle and intelligent boy. And my favorite customer.”

“You’re my favorite merchant,” he said. 

Stephanie blushed and grinned. 

She came back to him every afternoon he did not come into town. They’d talk for hours on end as she helped him gather supplies and they would talk about whatever came to mind. About science, and the market, and home. About how he missed his and she resented hers. 

On one of the days, they talked about love, how Peter was sure that if it existed, it was not his destiny. 

“My parents were betrothed at a young age. They never got the chance to choose what they wanted themselves. My brother is a hopeless romantic, convinced he must be Romeo Montague himself, but can never find himself a beloved. Surely it must be in my blood. My fate, even.”

“Perhaps you could be the one to break fate itself,” Stephanie said. “You’ve got your own charm. I think you could do it.”

Pete shrugged. “I’ve accepted my fate. I just feel fortunate I have you as company.”

“It’s my greatest honor, Peter.”

Some more weeks later, on the summer solstice, she snuck out just to be with him at his camp as the stars glowed above. 

“I even brought you a special gift,” she told him. 

She held out a large bar of chocolate to him. He took it gratefully. 

“Thank you,” he said, and instantly, he broke it in half, handing one of the pieces back to her. 

She shook her head. “Peter, I could never—”

“I insist,” he cut in. “That’s all I’d like to do. Share with my most cherished friend.”

She took the other half, smiling fondly as she did. “Most cherished?”

“Yes.”

“Then we’re in agreement, then,” she said. “You’re not so bad, yourself.”

He sat. She slid down next to him. Staring up at the stars above them, the company of their respective cherished one was all they needed on that sweet, warm summer night. 

Pete couldn’t stop himself at one point, when he noticed a particularly bright star in the sky. He gently took her hand to gesture to her what he would have pointed out. “That one’s called Vega,” he said. “It’s one of the brightest named stars in our sky.” 

“Really?” she said, seemingly mildly impressed by his sudden show of knowledge. 

“Mm-hm.” He moved her hand carefully to point out its surrounding stars. “And all of these make up Lyra. The myth goes that the sun god Apollo gave his son, Orpheus, a lyre because he was one of the most talented musicians in Greece. When Orpheus lost his wife, his music alone was enough to convince Hades to go into the underworld and free her.”

“And did he?”

“No,” Pete said. “He looked back before she was in the light and so Eurydice had to return to the darkness.”

Stephanie sighed. “What an awful story.”

“It’s a beautiful one.”

“It’s tragic.”

“That’s what makes it so special, I think. A man, so in love with his wife, that he would literally walk into hell for her, and so desperate to hold her again he turned even if he could see her but for just one moment.”

“I’d rather see a happy ending for young lovers,” Stephanie said. She glanced over at him. “You know a lot about that kind of thing.”

“It was part of my education.”

“Only the especially wealthy think to teach that.”

“Yes.”

A long beat held the two quiet for for a long time. Stephanie spoke up again first. “You’re the missing prince.”

Pete knew he couldn’t really deny it. “I’m the missing prince,” he echoed. 

“…y’know, your curse might have done one good thing.”

“What’s that?”

“We didn’t have to worry about titles. We get to be ourselves around each other.”

He wouldn’t deny that, either. 

Deep into the night, when the only other creatures still stirring were the fireflies, she bestowed him another gift: a simple kiss. A token between two new young lovers, only desperate to not face the same tragedy as so many others. As sleep conquered him, Pete half-sensed the most wonderful rush coursing through his body. Though of course, that could have been just a dream, or pure elation to be there with Stephanie. 

He woke early in the morning, just as the sun only began to rise, like he’d done his whole life. 

Stephanie had made her own camp, sleeping just three feet away from him. She really could have gone home. He still appreciated that even in rest, they were able to keep each other company. 

So he rose, preparing for his daily routine, foraging for plants for both himself and the marketplace, and reaching out for his satchel, a change had become obvious. There was no empty space or missing pieces, but instead, his form had a definitive end. His hands. 

His cry of shock and elation jostled Stephanie awake, already prepping to look for him. 

“Peter?! Peter are you—” She looked up then, seeing the smiling, if not somewhat awkward prince in front of her for the first time. She grinned at him. She stood, slowly at first, only to then rush over to give him a proper hug. 

“Welcome back,” she said. “It’s good to finally see you.”

“It’s good to finally be seen,” he said. 

The prince and his lover had a decision to make, on what to do next. Peter thought it would be for the best to at least go home briefly, to assure his family that he was alive and well, but he didn’t want to force Stephanie to leave her own home behind. To his surprise, she insisted on making the journey with him. Not for the reward, but for Peter’s own sake. 

When they reached the palace he was once sure he’d never see again, they were allowed in, Peter and Stephanie finally getting to tell the king, queen, and crown prince the long story. But when Stephanie was asked about the prize for returning him, she politely declined. All she wanted was Peter himself. His happiness, his safety, and his mind. 

Though not quick to marry their younger son off, the king and queen did allow the romance to continue. If it had saved their son, then a love like theirs was one of the most precious things in the world. 

With the prince restored and the young couple happy, the tale ends like any good fairy tale, with happily ever after.

[fox-the-artist-fruit-canid]

Tears of a broken promise

They were currently at the port they were reunited to say goodbye to eachother before they go into their respective misions,the ambience was tense in betwen the two o them they hadn´t talked since the discussion that they had last night.

He was nervous not dearing to speak as he waited for his elder brother to at least say something not receiving any answer he was going to speak,when suddenly a warm embrace took him by surprise.

The elder one was hugging him tighly almost making him suffocate hiting a bit his older brothers back to idicate that it was enough to wich he let go letting him breathe.

''what got to you so suddenly?''

He asked looking to his brother who to his surprise had a warm but wide smile in his face smile he hadn't seen in a really long time,not since their other family members passed away.

''im just a bit happier than this last days thats all''

Said the older before ruffling his fluff or rather hair making him chuckle he hadn´t seen him this energic and overall happy since a long while it almost felt off,but he wasn´t going to question it at least not now.

''if you say so''

Claimed the younger one as he just stared at his old brother hearing a 'ejem' coming from behind him looking at a certain masked irken that came with him just to make sure he didn't lated much.

''are you two done over there?''

Questioned the masked one looking at them with a deadpan expresion that could be senced troughout the plastic mask.

Both looked at eachother him looking more melancholic felling like he should say something but his brother moved before he could say something,moving towards the masked irken who looked a bit paniked at the sudden aproach.

''what are you-hmph!''

He had almost no time of reaction before he was hugged with such force he was even lifted off the floor hitting the taller one´s back to indicate he was suffocating under his grasp,the older one let go afther laughing abit as the other recovered from the bear hug.

The older one really had no reason to do that but he still did,the younger one weanwhile also laughed at this scene looking as the masked irken recovering and sending a dead stare at his brother as if they were enemies to wich his brother only smirked amused.

''Mis hurry up! we have to go!''

Soon the taller one was called an female irken with a lizard like apearence was calling him to come as she moved some samll metalic boxes inside the spceship.

''thats my call…looks like is time to say goodbye''

Said the taller one as the other two noded,he smiled at them before going for another hug,strange comming of him that he was very touchy that day since he usually disliked fisical touch.

This time he hugged both of them softly in diference to before,the younger one corresponded aswell as the masked one afther a couple of seconds.

''take care you two,ok?''

Was what he said before letting go off them,he patted both of their heads a bit to the disgust off he masked one who pushed his hand grumbling to wich the taller one only giggled.

''MIS!''

The taller one was going to say something but the angry scream of the irken of before made him jump and turn around to shout aswell.

''coming!''

An unamed planet were irk had an still operating investigation center or that was till they sent an almost screaming help mensage to the central,so a small rescue team was sent in case it was a trap.

he waved at them as he was leaving smiling brigtly,both waved back,the younger one left things unsaid but if they saw again maybe they could talk it out,but he couldn´t help but have a bad felling about this.

.

.

.

They had been traveling since a couple days now,the travel was about to end as they were aproaching the destination.

The rescue was more regarding the investigation that was on that rather small investigation center of the desertic planet than to rescue the investigators and scientist of the place.

Cruel maybe,but at this point they couldn´t risk it this was one of the last investigation centers hidden away and that was far away from irk and wich was still accesible.

The rescue team consisted of 5 memebers 2 elite pilots,an mechanic,an exterminator and a rebelious xeltrian,quite a weird combination if things had to be said.

Once they were on close proximity off the planet they were warned by the pilots as a call to be ready for the landing were their mission will start.

They landed safely afther that,once on the sanded ground of the planet he felt an rather agonaizing pinch on his neck almost like it was a burning red needle being puntured on his neck.

It wasn´t the first time he felt that kind of pain that came associated with the fact of now being part of the xeltrian hive mind,but he thought this signal probably came from amber the xeltrian that was with them.

But due to no signal of life outside it was obvious something went wrong and they had no time left and due to the abcent of any form of ship they probably escaped given the oportunity or the one´s that could.

Soon he learned he was wrong in thinking the signal came from amber.

.

They aproached to the base prepared for the worst since once close they could see the base rather dismanteled like they tried to get everything to get out of the planet as fast as posible.

Ignoring this they decided to enter the base looking around in watch of survivors for now only finding corpses some under fallen debry,something truly went wrong in there.

Once they reached the center and most important part of the investigation center they found with horror that everything was destroyed leaving nothing of research behind everything was destroyed.

He couldn´t help but curse under his breath as he saw this mass destruccion and bodys of all the scientist and researchers being trown everywhere some even hanging above their heads.

All their reasearch was gone but maybe there were still something to save,as they started to look around in watch of something they could save they had no clue they weren´t alone in fact being watched.

Saeri his cousin and the mechanic of the team soon in one of the corpses found an ipad that was mayorly intact only having a cracked screen.

''hey! found something''

''what is it?''

''its an ipad it has the screen cracked but it seems intact''

''good…if we can´t find anything else we'll take that and leave''

Was their converstion as he still looked for anything else they could safe meanwhile amber guarded atentive to any sort of danger.

As saeri got the ipad out of the body´s hands a sudden but low growl only him and amber heard made act of presence they got pale as they also received a transmission trhough their flagella.

They weren´t abble to warn saeri before a rank 4 xeltrian ran straiaght towards her,even if saeri reacted fast and shielded herself with an arm,what she didn´t take in count was that the xeltrian riped a part of her arm off.

She let out a loud pained scream as she fell to the ground with only a part of her now dislocated arm left as the other one was being swalowed by the monster known by the name the silent death.

Amber attacked knocking off balnce the rather more small xeltrain in coparicion taking saeri in her arms and runing being followed by him short afther since he had to make sure they had a way to distract that beast.

He closed doors and halls to try and slow down the rank 4 who started following them opening and opening gate afther gate and door afther door with only brute force.

Amber and saeri ran out fisrt being followed by mis who had closed the principal gate of the base which was more resistent and will take a while to destroy.

''someone has to distract it''

Said amber kinda the obvious somethng had to entertrain the rank 4 so that the others could go safely back to irk.

''im going to,i know how…''

Sighted mis prepared to sacrifice himself for the safety of the others,upon hearing this saeri tried to go down of amber´s arms but amber hold on tight.

''no! were not letting you here!''

''…it´s the only way…im sorry…''

Were mis words with a heavy heart as he loocked at the gate as shounds of broken metal were heard from the inside of the base.

''amber go now the rank 4 won´t late that much on reaching and breking the frontal gate…''

Amber only noded as saeri was still triying to get of her arms as this happened,amber started runing with saeri on her arms going far quickly.

''NO! MIS!''

Was the onle thing he could hear saeri sayas they went away sighting a bit sad,he took out his weapon and shot it staright onto the floor on a specific place.

He could hear a 'pip!' come from the sand as the floor now iluminated with tiny blue doted lights that blinked quickly making some sort of patern.

Now his gaze was taken quickly by the sound of the frontal gate being hit repeadly with extreme strenght being slowly but surely open seing as the blades of the rank 4 pierced the door.

His heart rate was speeding up fast almost feeling as if his heart will jump of his chest knowing the iminent death aproaching not by the rank 4 itself but by the mines he just activated.

The inside of his head was a disaster full of thoughts,regrets,with fond and bad memories,feelings and emotions,as he most likely was seing his life pass before his eyes.

Even if he didn´t realice at first due to feeling numb his shaking legs betrayed him making him fall on his knees being unable to get up,he experienced this kind of fear before and he didn´t like it in the bare minimum.

In his trys to calm down he inhaled and exahaled all the air in his body,now a bit more prepared his flagella wen out transmiting a signal to amber before starting a soft signal to the rank 4.

Said rank 4 went out trowing the gate down and finally coming out with a blood chiling roar,he walked out slowly now facing him it´s eyes full of hunger and anger,it growled at him as it received the signal he was sending.

Both looked at each other eye to eye with a firce glare,but one of their gazes softens and looks lost into the void of the sunrising sky.

He was sorry,really sorry,he once again broke the promise he made to her sister before she departed that he would be there for his brothers.

Now he was about to leave this world wich meant leaving take his only alive brother left behind…

Bitter tears fell off his face as he forced a smile into his facial expresion,he was sorry for everything he was sorry for absolutly everything,he was sorry…

At the sound off a last 'pip!' from the mines,the rank 4 charged at all its speed preparing its claws to decapiatate him,he was ready.

''saeri!''

afther that it all turned white.

.

.

.

They were close to reaching the ship in fact she could see it from a distance,saeri wasn´t cooperative still trying to jump off her arms and finally being abble to when she stoped runing when a transmision hit her

''we have to go back!''

''saeri no!''

''we can´t leave him! not like this!''

''saeri he´s gone!''

She stops her path upon hearing this slowly turning towards her,saeris face was covered in tears that rolled down her face non stop.

''i know…yet we have to try…''

Before she could continue walking or letting her answer something a loud boom was heard from the distance both seing a fire and smoke structure formed in the distance were the investiation center used to be.

She acted fast runing towards saeri and tackled herto the floor using her body as a shield in counter of the electromacnetic shockwave that followed.

But as spectated nothing just nothing,a great pair of metters they found the dead body of the rank 4 complitly destroyed and in another couple of meters they found the only thing left of him.

Once done they watched in horror as there was nothing but smoke left the truth making itself evident it was all nothing more than ashes now.

.

As they were back they watched for anything that could signal he had survived somehow,this hope being unrealistic and nothing more than a dream.

His PAK was still mildly intact but it was unfunctional completly shut down,upon this decovery a pained and deep in sorrow scream from saeri was heard meters away as bitter tears fell from both off their faces.

''making a hole in the floor wont make them come back faster…''

He truly was gone.

.

.

.

Back on irk he awaited kinda inpatient walking left and right as he awaited for the ship to return at the port,yet he wasn´t alone like last time being acompained by his masked companion.

''i know,i know,im just nervous''

Was their short conversation as the awaited moment finally arrived the ship in were his brother and cousin departed had arrived afther a week since he returned to irk.

He went as close as posible waiting impatient hoping to see his brother again seing as the ship landed waiting as the ship now opened its gate to let the tripulation out.

Saeri was the first to come out tho she looked lost in thought her eyes being abscent of any kind of shine and most importantly he noticed that a piece of her arm was missing.

He worried upon seing this something must have went wrong he didn´t hecitate any longer and sproached her almost triping onto his own feet.

''saeri!''

''take…?''

Saeri raised her head off the floor to see him noticing the others cast on his arm wich meant it was broken,she worried upon seing this tho she lowered her gaze again.

''saeri! wha…what happened?…your arm…''

''it was ripped off…''

Was her simple answer that make him worry even more he didn´t said a word just staring at her with worry.

''what happened to yours?''

''it was just an accident nothing to worry…''

She was going to talk when upon the sound of movement he got distracted looking inside the ship in watch for his brother seing the pilots come out and later on amber who hold something in her arms but no clue of his brother were abouts.

''were´s mis…?''

The question saeri was fearing to come was made she only stared at the side blinking fast as if she was triying to contain her tears thing wich confused him.

''he´s gone…''

Was amber´s short but certain answer,upon this revelation he was taken aback quite not beliving what he just heard.

''what…?''

''he is gone take….he is dead…''

He went pale breathing heavily while bitter tears of remorse and frustration started producing in his eyes,he was going to say something until he saw that what amber was the only remain of his brother being his now unfuntioning PAK.

Silent decorated with a face of authentic horor and tears of complete and uter pain feel down his face,his legs failed him falling to his knees.

His cousin followed him kneeling down in front of him and hugging him gently while she also started criying in join to him.

''im so sorry…im really sorry…''

''no…''

Were her words as he finaly broke down crying his heart out while he hugged her back as they both cry amber holds her tears.

.

Meanwhile at the conmosion his masked companion comes closer noticing the scene not quite understanding what was happening until he notices the object in ambers hands realization hitting quick.

But despite none of them knowing someone watches this being mis or rather his soul who looks with eyes full of sadness repeating words of sorry no one can hear as tears run down its face.

Was all he could muster felling his troath dry and closing a bit out of nowhere knowing perfectly the reason as his eyes start to feel anoyed by something aswell,he clenches his fist as a form to mantain composure.

.

As bitternes and grief revolved in the ambience people observes the whole thing uravel without interrupting.

'at the rise of a new sunrise a hero says goodbye…'

Says a female voice to it´s left wich happened to be his mothers soul voice she also looked sad but she wasn´t as emotional as him.

'it´s time to go back…'

Upon hearing this he sighs and cleans his tears and nods taking a last glance again saying an apology before they both depart into the horizon.

[ailendolin]

The Little Match Girl - A Disstari Fic

Title: The Little Match Girl [AO3]

Characters: Dissectus/Votlari, Ho-Tan, Alvin, Irk

Summary: On New Year's Eve, Dissectus and Voltari find a little girl selling matches in an alley. A simple act of kindness changes their lives forever.

A/N 1: Explanations for the Youngers’ names can be found in here.

A/N 2: This is set in a universe where Voltari and Dissectus changed sides and helped Debbie and the Elders defeat Cuddly Dick.

————

The Little Match Girl

Dissectus could not say what had compelled him to turn his head and look into the snowy alley. It was the last day of the year and he and Voltari were on their way to Mary and Jenny’s shop to pick up something for Ho-Tan when he happened to glance to his right and notice a little girl with fair hair, bare feet and dirty clothes sitting on the cold ground, half-hidden in the shadows of the houses towering above her. She was holding a bundle of matches in her shaking hands, and when Dissectus noticed the crudely made sign at her feet that announced, Matches for Sale, his steps faltered.

Continue reading

[hunting-songs]

[Injuries] - whenever one muse is injured, the other becomes injured in the same place, and vice versa. Good for muses who get stabbed, etc. (Bonus: either muse can treat the injuries, so if one can get to a hospital they can get the other urgent medical care.) | Sonata of the Darkness? Eyes gouged out? Yes, they both have material

The village Elder had not been especially happy to see Senritsu sit in his living room.

Between the halfround houses a very small girl ahd appeared, looking with bright red eyes and a wide open mouth at Senritsu leaning by the housewall as if the short woman was a exotic animal. Senritsu rose a hand to wave at the child, humming a gentle 'hello' that was stilll thick from an accent but also sounded welcoming. There was a beaming smile spreading over the childs small face when she heard Senritsu speaking in Kurta and her heartbeat squeaked a melody so loud of happy anticipation it was almost deafening.

The village Elder had not been especially happy to see Senritsu sit in his living room and his mood turned even sourer when she greeted him in her accent-heavy Kurta that she had learned by sneaking around the village for a month. Raised by robbers, thiefs, poachers and tricksters had left its mark as much on Senritsu as the last years she had spend as a Hunter.

From one second to another the melody was smothered by the girls parent hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her away back to the protective shadow hanging beteen other houses. Senritsu did not blame the parent, after all their heartbeat was clearly warm and fast which was the melody of someone being scared because they were worried for a loved one, but she still looked after the two with a wistful sigh, suddenly feeling even more distant to the people than when she had learned their language from afar hiding for a month in the forest.

The village Elder had not been especially happy to see Senritsu sit in his living room and his mood turned even sourer when she greeted him in her accent-heavy Kurta that she had learned by sneaking around the village for a month. Raised by robbers, thiefs, poachers and tricksters had left its mark as much on Senritsu as the last years she had spend as a Hunter. The elders mood did not got the sligtest better when Senritsu explained why she was in the village, even when there were dandelions blooming soothingly on the walls. He knew about Nen, the woman figurered and had promptly stopped her Hatsu to talk to him more respectfully. Senritsu did not needed her keen hearing to know that the villagers avoided seeing her out of mistrust and fear, but hearing how the feet moving through the village took a big turn around the elders house as if it was infested with vermin was still making her feel irked. Not because she was holding it against the villagers. Butbecause it would make her research-work harder. And Senritsu loved her work too much to let it suffer. Yet there was one, just one, just this one, pattern of steps coming towards her and automatically Senritsu tilted her head to the side like a curious bird to listen more attentive.

The youngers steps were not rhytmically, the way he moved his left leg was a little slower, a little more careful, a little more heavier as if he was dragging a invisible weight behind him. A weight that Senritsu knew was the fear of a sudden pain. A weight that Senritsu knew was the fear of a sudden pain, for she moved the same on most days with bones that felt like glasssplitters. Senritsu felt a pang of understanding for the other and automatically lifted a small hand to wave a greeting at him. The light falling throught the canopy of leafs above wrapped everything in a green veil, dying the white housewalls green and turning the Kurtas blue clangarb tourquise.

"Hello, my dear tour-guide ready to narrante me through the village and show me where I can sleep,I assume?", the woman tilted her head from side to side like a thoughtful bird: "Or more accurately- I hope and not assume, since if I spend one more night in a tent, your Village elder will be happy for than I will be very much morendo." She chuckled over her own small joke, but eventually only shaked her head honestly amused and yet very aware how bad her joke was.

There was the dry rustling noise of something Senritsu had heard on herself in the last days and automatically Senritsu looked down, following Kurapikas sleeve to his hand to see a pale bandage wrapped around his hand. She couldn´t help but smile with a amused shimmer in her dark eyes: "Mhmmmm, seems like I am not the only one who had a accident with a cooking knife. No shame in that, cooking is an art that one needs to master with time and my time is always more focused on my work.", the woman motioned to the younger mans bandaged hand, holding up her own bandaged hand with a quiet, melodic laughter as if she was laughing over a joke only she could hear. [ @skarletchains ]

[c-rose2081]

(Prequel) Starchild || Mothership

(Disney Z-O-M-B-I-E-S)

A-ddison mentions she doesn’t always fit in on the Mothership — so it’s a good thing she has three siblings who would go to the ends of the Universe for her.

—

A-Spen : 17-Years Old

A-Lan : 12-Years Old

A-Li: 10-Years Old

A-ddison: 10-Years Old

—

A-Lan didn’t know A-ddison very well.

Of course he knew ‘of’ her, as they’d been sharing the same dorm space for years now. But that was more out of necessity then kinship. She needed a room; they had one. The exchange was simple, and so long as A-ddison stayed out of their way (she always did), there was no conflict.

Except…A-Lan knew hardly anything about the other A-Lurian with whom he’d been inhabiting a space. At 12 years old, that struck him as a bit odd. He and A-ddison didn’t share any lessons, as he was two years her elder, but he barely saw her around the Mothership, let alone with anyone else. The only times he was acutely aware of her presence was when she traversed their shared living area at nightfall. There were very short greetings exchanged, mostly just nods or waves, and then she vanished into her quarters until the next night when the routine would repeat itself.

He never actually saw A-ddison leave, and he was the first of the Family Unit to rise. This meant she was either 1.) up even earlier than him (which was practically the middle of the night), or 2.) waited till they all left to emerge and begin her day. Of course, A-Lan knew A-ddison was somewhat shy — he’d only ever spoken to her a handful of times since she started living with them. But he always assumed that was due to her very strong accent hindering her communication skills. But now, he wondered if she was simply avoiding being in their presence to begin with.

For whatever reason, that little factoid didn’t really sit well with him.

Not that he cared all that much what A-ddison did or didn’t do, to each A-Lurian their own, but normally ten-year-old’s were social creatures. A-li certainly was — he couldn’t shut her up most of the time. But it made him curious if A-ddison had any acquaintances of her own with whom to share interests.

“…you’re thinking very loudly, Younger One.”

Blinking out of his head, A-Lan glanced to A-Spen, who sat from across the table from him. They had obviously been studying maps, but paused due to his noisy pondering.

“Apologies, Older. Do you know much about A-ddison, by chance?” he asked, frowning, “I hadn’t noticed till now, but I don’t see her much outside her quarters.”

“About the same as you,” A-Spen admitted with a shrug, “she doesn’t ever speak to me.”

“You haven’t read her thoughts?”

“No. That’s not a very nice thing to do. Why the concern, A-Lan?”

“I’m not sure,” he murmured, “she’s still very young, is she not?”

“As are you, brother,” A-Spen told him, lifting a brow, “would you prefer to have another little one running about your heels?”

“No, A-Li is enough. I just…” A-Lan shook his head, not sure what it was that irked him so suddenly, “I’m curious of A-ddison’s nature, that’s all.”

“Hm,” A-Spen hummed, returning to their maps as A-Lan sat back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. It was a little while longer of comfortable silence, one that was just as quickly broken when someone rocketed into their dorm.

“A-Spen! A-Lan!” A-Li cried, causing both elder siblings to lift their heads.

“A-Li, your suppressors are off, and your vitals are elevated,” A-Spen pointed out, “why?”

“I had to run here,” the younger girl gasped, pointing back towards where she’d come, “there’s been…an accident. In the training room. I need…your help,”

At the word ‘accident’, A-Spen was on their feet in a second. A-Lan followed too, struggling to keep pace with how fast his littlest sister was. They maneuvered through the Mothership’s long empty hallways efficiently, and in silence. A-Li had yet to turn her emotional suppressors back on, meaning she was buzzing with childish energy and trace amounts of worry. She still hadn’t explained what happened either, just that it occurred in the training room.

Passing through a set of sliding doors into the athletic space, it was completely devoid of life. Lessons had ended hours ago, leaving the equipment abandoned. Yet in the middle of the floor lay a figure, crumpled painfully onto her side. From her awkward positioning, A-ddison looked like she’d fallen from somewhere, and hadn’t moved an inch since making contact with the floor.

“What happened!” A-Spen barked, taking wider strides to reach the fallen Little One, kneeling and lifting their arm to begin checking vitals with the luma lens.

“I’m not sure, Older,” A-Li explained, “I was just walking by when something thumped. I thought maybe the boys were in here playing levi-ball again, and I wanted to play too. But when I got here, it was just her.”

“It looks like she fell from up there,” A-Lan said, pointing to the ceiling where metal rafters crossed from wall to wall in ‘X’ shaped patterns, “I don’t know any other way she could’ve ended up like this.”

“Why didn’t she just catch herself?” A-Spen wondered, ghosting a hand across the girls temple, causing her to whine faintly in pain, “she hit her head pretty hard. Her thoughts are all scrambled.”

“Her wrist holder is missing,” A-Li pointed out, “maybe she lost it?”

“Or maybe she was trying to reach it,” A-Lan frowned, still staring up into the rafters, “isn’t that it up there?”

The other two aliens looked up as well, spotting the glint of something silver peeking from over one of the high beams.

“What’s it doing up there?” A-Spen mused, furrowing both brows, “that’s an odd place to keep it.”

“The boys aren’t very nice to A-ddison in lessons,” A-Li said faintly, “they were teasing her about not being able to complete her levitation quiz in time. Maybe they thought it was humorous to put it up where she couldn’t reach?”

“A logical conclusion, younger. She was probably climbing the rafters trying to retrieve it,” A-Spen nodded, lifting their luma lens again to continue checking over things. While they did, A-Lan used his own levitation to gently bring the estranged bracelet back down, taking it carefully in hand. Other than a covering of white dust on it’s surface, the glass seemed to be in tact. But it wasn’t pulsing like it should’ve been, or even reacting to its masters distress. Odd.

“Will she be ok, Older?” A-Li wondered, back to her normal self as her suppressors once again kicked in.

“I’m not sure. I don’t like these numbers very much. We should bring her to a healer, then report back to Scout A-La. She won’t be pleased about this.”

The three siblings nodded at one another, and it was A-Lan who carried A-ddison to the medical wing of the ship. After explaining what had occurred to those working in the med-bay, they went to locate Scout A-La. She was an intimidating A-Lurian; tall, elegant, and part of the Captain’s Family Unit. It was A-Spen (and A-Spen alone — as per custom) who broke the news to her, and she quickly left to find her granddaughter with little more then a ‘thank you’.

The siblings then returned to their dorm unsatisfied. Because, despite not knowing A-ddison all that well, being stuck in the medbay wasn’t ever a pleasurable experience.

“Maybe she has something in her room that we can bring her?” A-Li suggested, “something to comfort her?”

“That seems like the correct course of action,” A-Spen agreed, leading the charge as the trio approached the room which had been empty until A-ddison arrived. Having never seen into her living space before, A-Lan wasn’t sure what to expect. Every A-Lurian liked to keep their quarters different. A-Lan himself liked painting small figurines, and had them displayed all over his room. A-Li preferred the soft toys; she slept with at least a dozen. A-Spen was a minimalist, and had almost nothing in their room sans a massive interstellar holo-screen.

A-ddison’s quarters looked the same as any other. There wasn’t anything really spectacular about it. It was the same walls, same floors, and same window as every other room on the ship. Wandering to the desk — one overflowing with papers, portable holo-screens, and old written texts — A-Lan frowned at the many red markings which dotted the various assignments. Obviously A-ddison was struggling in her lessons…all of them, it looked like, not just levitation.

“These maps…” A-Spen said, drawing A-Lan’s attention as he turned and walked to where his elder stood. A-Spen was looking at the different sheets hung up on the walls, eyes wide in surprise, “exquisite. Look at this detail; every quadrant is exact.”

“She likes the stars,” A-Lan wondered, “but struggles in her schoolwork?”

“What are pho-ne-tics, A-Spen?” A-Li wondered from across the room, scrolling through a holo-screen left on the bed but appearing puzzled.

“It’s the study of speech sounds,” A-Spen informed her, moving to the next wall to once again study more of A-ddison’s star charts. Obviously she spent a lot of time staring out the window, if the amount of maps she’d created said anything.

“Why is she studying speech sounds?” A-Lan mused, “she’s fluent, isn’t she?”

“As far as I know. Maybe it’s to help with her accent?” A-Spen shrugged, turning around to face the rest of the room, “are there any comfort objects in here which we can present her?”

The other two siblings shook their heads, causing A-Spen to frown again, “that’s alarming.”

“What’s alarming?” A-Lan asked curiously, “maybe she just doesn’t keep things.”

“She’s been here four years, yet has nothing that holds meaning to her?” A-Spen parroted, “even I have items that hold sentimental value. She’s still quite young — most ten-year-old’s have something that means a lot to them.”

“Well she’s not from here,” A-Li reminded them, “maybe all of her stuff is back where she came from?”

“Maybe.”

A-Spen went quiet, glancing around the room again. A-Lan — thinking back on what he had been pondering earlier — turned to A-Li curiously.

“Little One, is A-ddison acquainted with anyone else?”

“N…not really?” the younger girl admitted, replacing the holo-pad on the side table, “A-ddison’s usually by herself. She gets teased a lot, so I can’t imagine she’d want to be acquainted with any of our classmates.”

“They all tease her?” A-Spen wondered, lifting a knowing brow as A-Li clammed up.

“Um…”

“A-Li, you know better then to demean others. It’s not the A-Lurian way.”

“I know. But she’s just so strange; and everyone else was doing it. I didn’t want to be the odd one out.”

“That’s not an excuse,” A-Spen chided unhappily, “I believe we’ve made an error in our treatment of A-ddison. One which needs to be rectified.”

“I concur, Older,” A-Lan said, nodding his agreement, “we haven’t been very welcoming.”

“I think apologies are in order. From all of us,” A-Spen turned to look at A-Li, “from you, especially?”

“Yes, Older.”

With all of them in agreement on what to do next, they left A-ddison’s room, careful to ensure everything was still in its proper place. The return trip to the med-bay was a quiet one, and A-Lan wondered if their roommate would even want to see them. After all, they were still practically strangers despite four years of sharing a living space. But as they were allowed entry to a small private room by one of the healers, A-ddison was up and alert in bed. Scout A-La sat beside her, running a hand through her long, pale blue curls. Both glanced towards them as they entered.

“You have visitors, stardust,” the Elder spoke softly to the girl, who looked a little dazed, but no worse for wear otherwise.

“Apologies for the intrusion, Great One,” A-Spen spoke up, fidgeting in their boots. It wasn’t common for A-Spen to be unsure of their words, so seeing them get tongue tied under the very bewildered eyes of a child was somewhat humorous, “we just wanted come check in. See how A-ddison was doing after what happened?”

A-ddison blinked and tilted her head in open confusion. Her brows furrowed into her hairline, making little creases appear in her forehead. Was she not fully understanding A-Spen’s words? Or perhaps, she was more puzzled as to why they cared in the first place. She even turned to Scout A-La for guidance, who urged her to speak with a little hand motion.

“…I’m fine now…” A-ddison told them in her funny little accent, though it was far better now then when A-Lan had last heard her speak. No doubt she had been practicing with the phonetics text A-Li had found on her holo-pad, “thank you for helping me.”

A-Spen nodded faintly, using an elbow to nudge A-Lan to speak next.

“Uh, this is yours,” he blabbered awkwardly, fumbling for the girls wrist holder. He’d tucked it into his belt for safe keeping earlier, and was happy to finally pass it back to its rightful owner, “I checked it over. It’s perfectly functional, nothings broken.”

“Thank you,” A-ddison told him softly, gently slipping the article back on her wrist and flexing her fingers through the appropriate guides. As A-Lan had noticed earlier, the tool barely illuminated at her touch. Perhaps that’s why she was having such a hard time with some of her lessons? Many of them were highly dependent on a functional alcura glass. Any A-Lurian would struggle to cope without it, let alone A-ddison who apparently wasn’t mentally strong enough to fully wield the tool. Or so he assumed, based on what he’d seen so far.

“A-Li told me you were struggling in levitation,” he spat out, as to not lose his train of thought, “I could help you study, if you’d like? I have some mind exercises which may help you get better control of your luma lens.”

A-ddison blinked again, turning to Scout A-La who said something in gibberish. It wasn’t a tongue A-Lan recognized, but A-ddison responded back fluently, and (seemingly) without her funny lilting tone. This gibberish must’ve been her home language — she was bi-lingual. Which explained away both the accent, and her uncertainty when it came to speaking.

“I would like that,” A-ddison told him eventually, breaking him from his thoughts. She smiled; something small but thankful. Relief flooded into his gut despite his emotion suppressors, and he managed a little half smile back and a nod of agreement.

“A-Li has something to tell you,” A-Spen said, pushing their youngest forward a bit from where she’d been hiding behind their legs, “right, younger?”

A-Li grumbled something incoherent under her breath, but turned back to A-ddison who was waiting very patiently for her to speak.

“I…” A-Li huffed, shuffling in her boots, “I apologize for the unkind things said in lessons,” she spoke finally, “I was just doing what everyone else was doing, and that’s no excuse to promote inequality. I ask for your forgiveness.”

A-ddison didn’t turn to her Grandmother this time. She nodded instantly, and grinned from ear to ear. The emotion which rolled from her being was bright like a newborn star, and to all of their amazement, her hair seemed to brighten with it. The pale blue strands flashed neon before settling back down into a more vibrant color then it had just been.

“You’re a chameleon?” A-Spen asked in wonder, eyes wide.

“It’s how I leave the dorm without being seen,” A-ddison shrugged, flickering into non-existence then back again as A-Spen nodded their approval at the display.

“It’s a rare gift, I’ve never seen it in person. And, pardon our intrusion into your quarters, but I saw the star charts in your room. They are very impressive.”

A-ddison ducked her head, gripping the bedsheets in her lap. Her cheeks took on a reddish color, and her antennae flickered back.

“I like the stars,” she managed, “you see so many when you sit at the windows like I do.”

“I should take you to the bridge. You get the best views from the observatory,” A-Spen insisted with a little nod, “your skill is unmatched. I may ask for your assistance in my studies of the sky.”

A-ddison once again brightened at the prospect, showing off her chamelionism again with the flicker of her hair color from blue to pink. A-Lan wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but it made Scout A-La chuckle (someone who A-Lan had completely forgotten about).

“I think that’s enough excitement for tonight,” the Elder said, rising from her chair and turning to A-ddison. She spoke briefly in gibberish, to which A-ddison responded in her funny A-Lurian…

“But I’m not even tired…”

“Settle in now, precious one. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

A-ddison made a noise of discontent, but slid back down into the bed as a healer came to tuck her in for the night and lower the artificial lights, “I’ll be back in a moment, A-ddison. I’ll escort our guests out.”

A-Spen, A-Lan, and A-Li followed Scout A-La from the chamber, walking with her a little ways from the door and back towards the main medicine hall, “thank you three for coming. I haven’t seen her this bright in quite some time. I’m sure it meant a lot to her.”

“If you don’t mind my curiosity, Elder One, but what was the language you were speaking?” A-Lan wondered, “is it why A-ddison struggles with her communication?”

“Yes. It is a language known as English; hailing from a small blue planet far away from here. I’m hoping to have A-ddison fully immersed in A-Lurian soon, so we only speak her home tongue when necessary.”

A-Lan nodded his understanding, stepping out of the med-bay with his siblings as A-La paused in the entryway.

“Your kindness today is much appreciated, young ones. Thank you for looking after my granddaughter.”

“Of course, Elder,” A-Spen said as they bowed their heads respectfully, “we hope to share our dorm with A-ddison in a more appropriate way from now on.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate the company, as well as the help with her lessons,” A-La chuckled faintly, “have a good rest. If A-ddison is well enough, she’ll return to her own quarters by tomorrow night.”

“Of course. Good evening, Elder.”

The trio bowed at the waist as Scout A-La bid her goodbye, gracefully returning to the private room in the med-ward and disappearing.

“I always thought A-ddison was shy,” A-Lan told his siblings as they walked back towards their apartment, “but she hardly seemed shy at all, did she?”

“More practice in our language, and a bit of confidence in her lessons, and I’m sure she’ll make a fine A-Lurian,” A-Spen proclaimed, “and, hopefully with our guidance and presence, an incident like today will not happen again.”

“Maybe I can convince A-ddison to play levi-ball with me,” A-Li said, her excitement seeping past her suppressors, “we’ll show those boys.”

“I do believe A-ddison is a bit younger then you, A-Li,” A-Spen told the younger girl, “you know what that means, don’t you?”

A-Li blinked, and A-Lan laughed at A-Spen’s thought.

“You’re right, Older. We have to start calling A-ddison our Little One instead. Which means A-Li doesn’t get everything she wants anymore.”

“What?” A-Li barked in alarm, “but we’re the same age.”

“On the contrary, A-ddison is a few light-cycles younger then you,” A-Spen said factually, waving an arm to open the door to their dorm, “you’ve just been demoted. Which means I’m not fixing your rations anymore.”

“What…?”

“And I’m not helping you clean your room,” A-Lan tacked on, rubbing his sisters hair as she gasped in horror, “we’ve got a new Little One now. And she’ll get everything she wants.”

“B-but…” A-Li had no words as A-Spen and A-Lan sniggered at her expense, “but guys…!”

And the trio returned to their evening, fixing nightly rations and turning off their emotional suppressors for a while. As they chatted and played a game between them, A-Spen was sure to use their levitation to open A-ddison’s door, lest she unexpectedly return.

Years later, that door would constantly be open. If A-ddison tried to close it — to hide like she had before — one of them would open it again and invade the space previously off limits. Because even if she still struggled in lessons, or didn’t have many friends, she was their Little One now. That came with a lot of responsibility. Even A-Li accepted it, albeit begrudgingly at times. They had a duty as Older’s to protect their youngest…

No matter what happened.

—

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[iris-in-the-rain]

Vextan for the ship ask game, please 💙

NOTES: I didn't forget this ask! Damn, but I love those two!! 🥰 The names for the Elders' Youngers belong to @ailendolin, as do some of the headcanons about the Elders' past 😊

Gives nose/forehead kisses: 

It's Ho-Tan. She did it to Vex, not long after they first met, he was asleep, and she just had to press a kiss to his forehead, after he fell asleep helping her work all day. She regularly does it to Alvin and Irk, and she loves doing it to Vex, especially when he doesn't expect it!

Gets jealous the most:

I don't think either of them really do, to be honest. Vex can sometimes be oblivious, and Ho-Tan loves him so much, that she simply cannot be jealous of anything that makes Vex happy (spoiler: she's the one who makes him happiest) Although, one day on a trip with Debbie and rest of the Elders, a woman attempts to flirt with Vex. Ho-Tan does not like the ugly squeeze of insecurity and fear in her chest, but Vex just squeezes her hand tighter, holds her gaze lovingly and without taking his eyes of his beloved, brightly says, 'I'm already with the most beautiful woman here'.

Takes care of on sick days:

Ho-Tan is a caregiver by nature, so she always looks after Vex and their children, but she struggles herself when she is poorly. That's when Vex takes charge and he makes sure that his beloved is resting and wants for nothing. What always makes Ho-Tan feel better us having her family by her side.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day:

They both love beach days now, although Vex did need convincing at first. Building a sandcastle with little Irk and Alvina was all it took to fall in love with the beach. The sea was a bit trickier, but Ho-Tan took his hand and they walked in the shallow water together, picked shells and listened to the waves, and to this day it's one of their favourite things.

Brings the other lunch at work:

Sometimes Ho-Tan forgets to eat when she gets into the writing mindset. She writes and writes, until she smells something familiar, and lifts her head to see Vex with a cup of cherry infusion tea in his hand. She knows it's for her, and gratefully takes it from Vex, with a sweet thank you kiss, as Vex takes the seat next to her and feeds her an almond muffin, that their children helped him make.

Tries to start role-playing in bed: 

To be fair, neither is the type, but after one evening at Debbie's and hanging out with Voltari and Dissectus, not to mention Negatus, Vex's head is full of information. He only has to try to realise it's not his and Ho-Tan's thing, and they fall asleep, watching the starry sky outside their chambers' windows.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer: 

Vex. Only he doesn't really get embarrased. He used to care what people thought once upon a time, but not anymore. In fact, I can imagine him exactly like Ben Wyatt from Parks and Rec in the season 7 episode 7, 'Donna and Joe'. Any Parks and Rec fans will know exactly what I mean 😁 And yes, he would call Ho-Tan 'babydoll' 😍

Firmly believes in couples costumes: 

They both do, although Ho-Tan takes a bit of convincing. When Debbie first introduces the idea to the Elders, Ho-Tan is a bit worried that people might find her looking silly. Vex assures her that that's the whole idea, but that if she's not ready to do a couples costume, he won't get dressed up either. He then tries on the most ridiculous costumes, until Ho-Tan is crying with laughter and feeling much better.

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas: 

If she could, Ho-Tan would make presents for everyone, all the time, as she loves it. She adores looking at the faces of her family on Thanktival morning, especially since Chompus stopped eating the presents, and her loved ones can enjoy them instead. Ho-Tan always insists she doesn't need much in return, but Vex is having none of it. He wants to give his beloved everything and he tries, asking Debbie for help and trying to find the most beautiful, most expensive gift every time. And every time nothing seems good enough. Until Debbie suggests he learns to paint. And Vex does, painting the apple orchard and Ho-Tan under the tree. It's not perfect, but Ho-Tan cries with happiness, and insists this is the most precious gift she's ever had, and can Vex please paint himself next to her, because that's when her life began.

Makes the other eat breakfast:

Vex is terrible at eating breakfasts. It may be because it's virtually impossible to get him out of bed on time. He usually oversleeps, runs to the chamber and gets cranky as the day goes on. So Ho-Tan hatches a plan. She sets Vex's alarm back an hour and when he wakes up, she's there ready to tell him to please come downstairs, the children are waiting and they're all going to have breakfast together. The sun is shining through the window, there is no rush, Irk makes a mess of his eggs, Alvina excitedly tells her parents about school, Ho-Tan's smile is brighter than the sun and Vex never wants to miss breakfast again.

Remembers anniversaries:

While Ho-Tan remembers all big anniversaries, she also holds dear all the moments that marked a significant change in her life. Some of them may seem small, but she cherishes the memories of the joy it brought her. And while Vex can be absent-minded a lot of the time, he knows when Ho-Tan gets a faraway look in her eyes. And so hd asks, what are you thinking about? And she will tell him, and he might remember it differ, but it's important to his love, and so it becomes a special day for him, too.

Brings up having kids first:

Neither is that willing to breach the subject first. Ho-Tan watches longingly as Flowers cradles little Daisy, and Vex watches Ho-Tan, heartbroken, as he doesn't think he'll ever be ready, thoughts of his father burning in his mind. He tells Ho-Tan that he wants her to be happy, even if it's without him. That forces a conversation, and Ho-Tan says that whatever happens in her life, she needs Vex by her side. They are both scared, of course, but Flowers offers sage advice, and both Vex and Ho-Tan promise to be honest with each other about their fears and worries and start looking forward to expanding their little family.

Kills the bugs:

Oh they do not kill the bugs. Or any living creature. Granted, Vex shrieks when a spider drops on him once, but Ho-Tan gently scoops him up (the spider) and takes him outside. Later, Vex swears that no, he did not scream. Both spend time with Irk and Alvina when they are little, to teach them about nature and every creature there is to be found in Yonderland. And yes, uncle Flowers joins them sometimes, but robes stay on.

First to define them as a couple:

Okay, literally everybody knew the moment they saw them together. It was impossible to miss the tender gazes Vex was directing towards Ho-Tan, and Ho-Tan's constant need to be near Vex. The atmosphere around them was different, it exuded calm and devotion. When Debbie saw them, she exchanged glances with the other Elders, who just shrugged. So, you two...? Debbie asks them, and Vex and Ho-Tan just look at each other. Yes, they are a couple, in the traditional meaning of the word, sure, but they've also been a family and each other's everything since they can remember and really being a couple is just a small part of their world.

Who hides their guilty pleasures longer:

They don't really hide much from each other anymore because the confidence they've instilled in one another has stripped them of embarrassment. Anything goes, as long as it makes them happy. Sure, Ho-Tan is slightly surprised the first time she sees Vex binge-watching cartoons, but after finding out what they are, she enlists Debbie's help to get him his favourites and if Ho-Tan takes to recreating her favourite characters' dialogues from films she's seen with Debbie and the girls, when she thinks no-one is around, Vex is certainly not going to bring it up, until he's sure Ho-Tan won't mind.

Snorts while laughing:

Ho-Tan. Debbie invites her and other girls for a movie night, and they watch a comedy. Something makes Ho-Tan laugh, maybe it's not that funny, but she keeps laughing, until she snorts. Rather than that stopping her, it only makes her laugh harder, until tears are in her eyes. That's how much she's laughing, when Vex is trying on all the funny costumes, and Vex just looks adoringly at her, and vows to make her laugh like that all the time, snorting or not.

Ask game can be found here

[bokettochild]

WIP Wednesday

Figured it was about time I did this again, so here's a sneak peak at my currently WIP AU of Linked Universe, AKA the TBBU rewrite.

As Marin described them, they look fierce. Brawny men. Taller, easily, then the songstress, although likely not as much as himself. Tattoos mark their faces, bold and dark, and beneath their still dripping cloaks, he can see the glimmer of armor and weapons. 

  He’s on his guard immediately, although he doesn't show it as he nods to them in greeting. “Welcome, gentlemen,” they look like nothing of the sort, “and who might I help you find?” 

  “Pardon?” the darker of the two asks. 

  “I’m assuming, based off the fact that you’re here, that you’re looking to locate someone,” and hopefully not try and kill him because please, he’s had a long day already and the carpet is already far too stained. 

  Zelda should have listened when he said to just make it brown. 

  “So,” he continues, not betraying any wariness as he turns his head back to his papers, grabbing a fresh sheet to begin writing on, “what’s the family name?” 

  “Um…?” 

  “Your father’s and your last name, sir,” he repeats, sparing them a brief look, patience already running thin after a long day of the same. 

  “How-” 

  “The family resemblance is strong,” he answers, catching how the younger looks to his elder in confusion and a bit of shock. “You’re fortunate though to not have gotten your father’s nose.” 

    The words draw a smile- rough and rugged and sharp, but honest in an odd way- from the younger. He looks like he could rip Link’s throat out with his teeth, but his smile seems more good-natured than anything. His elder meanwhile just rolls his eyes with a heavy sigh, as though he’s heard that particular comment a few too many times before. 

  “Now,” he tries, smile wooden and polite as he looks up at them, “what’s the name?” 

  “We’re looking for a Link Taylor.” The bigger of the two men answers, voice rich, but not nearly as deep as one would assume by looking at him. It’s nice, almost melodious, and to himself he notes that the man must be an amazing singer. Usually he wouldn’t notice that, but Marin and Tune had an ear for good voices and tended to point them out. 

  He scrawls out the name, trying his best to hold his hands steady as he does so. “A general description of the lad?” 

  “Tall,” the man answers, stepping forwards and settling one hand on the table, leaning over and watching him closely as he writes. Link doesn’t let it bother him; he’s seen plenty of men come in and try to intimidate him into giving them what they want, be it his help or something else, and he’s handled all of them before. Granted, this fellow bears a presence that itself is a warning, but he could take him if he had to, and worse comes to the worst, someone will be along eventually to come ask him for something, so if he somehow does get the lower hand, backup might still arrive before he gets killed. “About six three, six four,” the man continues, his single eye watching intently as Link writes out the words, “Blonde. Blue eyes, and he looks about a second from keeling over.” 

  He nods, not letting the crowding bother him as he glances at another paper, filled with names of those they’ve found dead and identified. The name, his own- although he wouldn’t be surprised if there were another Link Rochester Taylors out there- isn’t on the list. “Are there any defining birthmarks or scars that you can think of?” 

  The man shifts. He’s blocking the view of his son, but Link gets the impression the other is simply standing and watching their exchange. That’s nice. People who look like that don’t commonly behave themselves, so he’ll take that blessing as he can for the moment. “A burn on his left side, mostly to the arm,” the fellow chuffs, sounding irked at the thought, “and heavy scarring over his eyes.” 

  That makes him stop, glancing up for a brief moment at the man before back down to his papers. “Is he blind then?” 

  “No,” the man sighs, “but sometimes I wonder.” It’s a pointed thing, frustrated and pained, although not without humor. He wonders why. 

  “And I’m assuming by the name that he is a tailor?” 

  “No,” the man answers, and his son is still silent and standing, watching them, nothing being provided from the man. “It’s the family name. He’s a soldier.” 

  Ah. 

  He scratches out a note at the bottom of the paper, scrawling instructions for one of the other generals to follow when the note is brought to them. “I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place then, sir. We here reunite families of civilians with each other. All soldiers are handled by General Tangoro, down the hall a way,” he nods to the door in the general direction of the woman’s office. “I’d speak with her, although I can’t promise results. I’m sure you’re already aware, but not all soldiers made it home and some are still missing right now. We’re doing everything in our power to find everyone, but it may take time.” 

  “I already know where he is.” 

  “Well, I’m afraid I can’t grant you infirmary access,” he informs the man, handing off the file he’d been throwing together and the note for the general, “all visitation is under the supervision and command of Miss Feaflen, and if she denies you access then there is nothing that I can do about it. It’s for the safety of everyone involved.” 

  “He’s not-” 

  “If your soldier is currently in the prisons however,” he continues, clipped, setting his chin on his interlaced fingers and staring up at the man with no small amount of exhaustion dragging at his shoulders and beginning to seep into his voice and face, “all visitation is strictly forbidden. Traitors to the crown are not allowed contact with anyone save their guards until the court martial. For a date on court martials, please speak with the warden. He’s in a meeting right now but I’m sure someone can help you if you ask. Simply-” 

  “Captain,” The man snaps, not rough, but more stressed, as though he is the one with someone looming over him with hands big enough to snap his neck. “We’re looking for you.” 

[hopelessromantic1352]

New Beginnings- Chapter 13

After their relationship is outed, Thomas stresses over how to protect Natalia’s career and image. Thanks as always @alj4890 for helping me and convincing me my writing sounds ok 🤣

Warning: swearing, light sexual innuendos/actions

Tags: @alleksa16 @alj4890 @kuladekiwi @lxaah11 @lilyoffandoms @moodyvalentinestories please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from this taglist!

“What the hell is going on, Hunt?”

Lucas, Thomas’ agent has never raised his voice towards the director, but today has been filled with uncharacteristic surprises involving the brooding and (supposed) eligible bachelor.

His polished, brown Santoni’s echo against the marble flooring in the grand entry until they meet the threads of a Persian rug. He stops, pinching the bridge of his nose and he releases a deep sigh.

“This was not supposed to be public information until after the movie had been released.”

“And when was I going to be informed?” Thomas closes his eyes, “Cause where I’m standing, you’d think telling your agent would be a high priority. Especially when you want to keep news out of the news!”

He stares at the wall, clenching his jaw. “I kept it from you in hopes of keeping it from everyone. I did not see any point in revealing a private relationship to you.”

The younger agent nearly growls in frustration and Thomas has to pull the phone away from his ear. “This kind of thing ruins careers, Hunt! I didn’t think I had to tell you that. You aren’t some stupid, young, think with your other head kid that has too much fame to go around. You’re smart and don’t let things like this happen.”

He could not begin to fathom how he had let this happen. He told Natalia he would not be the reason her career was brought to ruin. Yet here he was, listening to his agent scold him as though he was a new arrival to the despicable world of Hollywood. As though he was a child.

“It’s time you go on the offensive. Get your ass back to LA and take her out as soon as she’s feeling up to it.” Lucas takes a shuddering breath, his anger simmering on the surface, “Until then, keep your fucking head down.”

Thomas winces and internally cringes at the foul language. He despises using obscenities, despite the occasional use in his head, he tries to never use the words out loud. It was ungentlemanly. It was not him.

Lucas hung up before Thomas could say anything or defend himself further, so he simply shut his phone off and began to pace the marble flooring once more. There were no upcoming awards ceremonies or any parties he knew of, but then again, he usually did not attend such parties.

He paced for another minute or so before he decided on calling his friend.

“Ryan, I must skip pleasantries—“

“I saw the news.” His friend cut him off and silence stretched between them for a few moments.

“Are there any upcoming high profile parties?” Thomas simply stares out the front windows, watching as branches sway in the cool breeze outside.

The estate is quiet today, aside from Mr. DuBois and Elizabeth, and it felt empty. Perhaps it was just the added stressful situation grabbing at his brain.

“Chris has a premier coming up in a few weeks. After that, we’ve got a few birthdays that’ll definitely hit the tabloids. What’s on your mind?” The friendliness in the charming actor’s voice was one of the many reasons Thomas gets along with him.

They’ve known each other for ages, although Ryan doesn’t show his age, his maturity does. He matured in a way Thomas respects and although the man can get on his nerves, much like all his close friends, it never irks him for too long. Vice versa, when Thomas gets in one of his moods, Ryan brushes it off because the elder man is just too serious to let loose. Or so Mr. Summers says.

“It’s time I show the world how much Natalia means to me. The minute she feels ready, we will be attending parties and taking the offensive so I can salvage her image. Can I trust you will assist?”

“Of course. I’ll enlist the others too. We care about you, Hunt, almost as much as we care about Nat.” The chuckle only forces the director’s lips into a tight scowl.

“Much appreciated.” Without a goodbye, he hangs up, leaving Ryan to his own amusement.

THREE MONTHS LATER

Months had come and gone. Most of Natalia’s time was spent resting between physical therapy sessions and editing film with Thomas. Since the accident their friends rallied around the couple and helped with whatever Thomas would allow them to. Everyone chipped in here and there, whether it was regarding the film or navigating the media or just day to day tasks at home.

Now that she’s up again, they’ve needed help less and less thankfully. Her physical therapist has gotten her walking without a cane or any assistance and she knew what that meant.

“The premier is this weekend.” She laid between Thomas’ legs on the couch, eyeing the scar on her right leg as he tightens his arms around her waist. “How are you feeling?”

Insecure.

The bruises and cuts have healed on her face, leaving behind only minuscule scars in a couple spots. He swears no one can see them, but she can. Her eyes leave the scar on her leg and move to the long reminder on her forearm. Gently, her fingers follow its path.

She never thought of herself as beautiful or gorgeous. But now the doubts about herself are only enhanced by the defects on her skin.

“I’ll have to buy a new gown.” Deflecting his question, she focuses on what she would want. “Something floor-length with long sleeves.”

The man holding her nods, but moves a hand to gently trace a line down her arm, sending delicious shivers up her skin. Since the wreck, they had not been intimate and she has been aching for him. Besides chaste kisses that didn’t lead to anything more, she’d begun to doubt his feelings for her. He always said he loves her, which she reciprocated, but don’t actions speak louder? It’s been nearly a year they’ve been together, but still, they have not been together. The accident ruined any chance of that happening after New York when she was ready to give herself to him. So for a few months, her need for him has only increased with no way of acting on it. But now she can walk, surely they can finally give in.

“Why must you cover yourself so much?” His deep voice is hushed and his breath brushes against her ear as his finger is now trailing circles across her exposed thigh.

She internally scolds herself for wearing shorts around him.

“I’m not certain I’m ready to show off the new additions to my skin.” His finger slowly moves higher, to the inside of her thigh and pauses.

Natalia’s breath hitches and she feels a new hardness pushing into her back.

Without any warning, he had flipped their positions on the couch and now braces himself above her. Not even registering what exactly was happening, he presses a deep kiss to her mouth, suffocating any questions that were rising. It didn’t take any time for her body to react, wrapping her arms around his neck as one of his hands slide down her belly, stopping at the waistband of her shorts.

He broke away, looking down at her with darkening eyes that hold an equal amount of love and lust. “This body may have imperfections now, but that does not take away from the fact that every single part of you is beautiful. What has been left on you only shows the world what troubles you have overcome to be where you are now.”

Thomas pauses, his voice becoming deeper as the emotion he feels continues to grow. Love, grief, anguish for what she had suffered. He can see her eyes welling with tears, her hands busying themselves in his hair, so he reaches a hand up, leaving her waist, and gently places it on her cheek. The soft, olive skin is damp from a rogue tear, so he wipes it dry before his thumb moves along her cheekbone.

“My love for you is not only for your looks, my darling, it is for your heart and soul. You should pride yourself on everything you have survived and fought through to get where you are today. You are where you want to be and a handful of scars will never take that away from you.”

The more he spoke and the more he caressed her cheek just made her heart melt. “Thomas—“

Her voice cracks and tears fall slowly before he leans down and kisses her gently. “I love you, sweetheart.”

The gentleness in his voice, the sweetness in his touch, when she closes her eyes and focuses on him completely, that’s when she knows. He really does love her.

“I love you too.”

The next day, she, Addison, and Holly went shopping for gowns. The girls expressed how Natalia was happier than they’d seen for a long time. But the night of the premier, she couldn’t be more nervous.

Her almost sheer silvery, white dress is flowy enough for her to feel free. She knew her nerves were going to be enough for the night, she didn’t want to feel constructed in her gown. The jewels spattered across the material almost convinced Natalia not even to try it on, but Addi convinced her otherwise.

The fashionista had said , “This is your first premier with your sexy, reclusive director… I can’t believe I just called him sexy.” She then proceeded to make a gagging noise before she thrusted the dress into her friend’s arms. “You need to make a splash and get everyone’s attention.”

Since the surgery on her arm, she hasn’t gotten the full use of it yet, so Addison is at Thomas’ doing Nat’s hair. “I love your hair.”

The blonde sighs as she pins curls atop her friend’s head. Natalia has let her hair grow out, the ends a lighter, bleached brown compared to the rest of her deep chestnut color.

“Thanks Addi, I love how you did your hair and your dress.” Her nerves keep her mind occupied so she just gave a short, simple reply to her friend who looks at her worriedly.

Addison has her hair curled with one side pinned back and a bright blue, sparkly gown that fits her slim figure perfectly. “You ok?”

“Hmm?” Natalia looks up and shakes her head, focusing. “I’m fine, I suppose I’m just..”

“Nervous?” She finishes the brunette’s hair and sprays a little hairspray to keep everything in place. After a small nod, she sits on the counter facing Nat. “You don’t have any reason to be nervous. You’ll have Thomas right next to you, Holly and I won’t be far away and of course Ryan and Chris.”

“I know that, it just seems as though things have gone wrong so much as of late and now I’m going out into the public eye for the first time since the accident.” Her eyes inadvertently look at the scar along her forearm, sighing quietly.

Addison catches the movement and she sets a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, “I think those scars are cool, and if I were you, I’d show them off like a badge of honor.”

Someone behind them clears their throat, urging both the women to turn around. “You both look beautiful.”

Although Thomas says it to both of them, his dark eyes are fixed on Natalia, roaming the curves of her dress and dancing across the updo until they land on her lips. She wears a deep blush that only accentuates her makeup and her eyes meet his every darkening ones again before looking down at her gown.

Addison’s eyes dart back and forth between the two, feeling the sexual tension rising with every second before she suddenly stands, “Thanks, Thomas, I’m gonna head out and meet with Holly. See you two at the premiere.”

When she passes her former professor, she doesn’t look him in the eye and he pays no mind to her either. “You look absolutely stunning.”

Uncomfortable and unsure how to respond, Natalia stands and grips the skirt of her dress subconsciously. As she looks up at him, her breath is taken away. His taut muscles fill his tuxedo, not able to hide the broad shoulders or narrow waist. Her tongue slides across her bottom lip as he adjusts his cufflinks, smirking at her.

Looking away after being caught ogling, she just releases a breath and smiles softly, “Thank you.”

Her quiet response has Thomas moving towards her, gathering her in his strong arms and securing her in a warm embrace. “Any particular reason for your sudden shyness?”

His warm, tender lips move down and across her cheekbone, eliciting quiet moans from her. “Because you just have that effect on me, Mr. Hunt. You seem to bring out a very submissive side that I have no control over.”

A quiet animalistic growl comes from Thomas, his arms tighten around her waist as the admission from her ignites a fire inside him. “We may be fashionably late to this premiere.”

Soon his lips and teeth travel down her neck, careful not to leave marks but firm enough to get her heart racing. As her hands begin to wander, slipping to the front of his slacks, a phone breaks their passion causing Thomas to groan in frustration.

Scowling deeply, he fishes his phone out of pocket, his eyes flashing with concern before he answers. “Yes?”

His gaze settles on Natalia, who is checking her hair and makeup in the mirror. Her eyes meet his and her heart lurches at the worry he wears on his face.

“Yes, I will inform her. Thank you.”

Thomas doesn’t have time to pocket his phone before she places a hand on his arm. “What’s happened?”

“Lucas had been investigating who tipped off our relationship and he says he has finally found the source.”

By the expression on his face, her heart clenches in her chest. “Who was it?”

[viola-halogen]

12 Days of Thanktival — Day 9: Hurt-Comfort/Elders/Snow Day

—

[AO3 link]

Relationships: Scribe Elder Ho-Tan/Wise Elder Vex, Scribe Elder Ho-Tan & Wise Elder Vex

Characters: Scribe Elder Ho-Tan, Wise Elder Vex, Chief Elder Choop, Vice Elder Flowers, Lord Elder Pressley

—

Summary: When Ho-Tan gets hurt sledding, Vex takes care of her.

A/N: Me and my family usually go sledding whenever we get a lot of snow so it was really fun incorporating that into this fic as something the Elders and Youngers would do together.

—

Better

A ten minute walk from the Elders’ Chamber there was a steep hill that sloped downwards into a narrow dip before coming up again on the other side, and sometimes on days when it snowed properly the Elders and Youngers would go sledding there.

It was a popular destination on snow days, and they would usually be joined by families from the local villages, which meant that they had to get there first thing in the morning to be sure of the best spot. They’d done well this year, getting up at the crack of dawn and dragging their sleds through the woods by the light of the moons, so that it was still mostly dark by the time they set up their camping chairs at the top of the hill. They were all wrapped up warm in coats, scarves and gloves—even a begrudging Flowers—and Ho-Tan had made hot chocolate for all of them. While they waited for it to get light enough to start sledding, they huddled together for warmth and talked excitedly about the day ahead of them. Before long other groups started to show up, and when the hilltop was starting to get crowded, Choop leapt to his feet.

“Raise you to the bottom!” he announced gleefully, positioning his sled to get the best takeoff and sitting down.

“You’re on, old boy!” Vex said, struggling to get into his sled. Irk sat on his lap and took the reins of the sled, as everyone else got into position. Only when they were all ready did Choop push off, flying down the hill and gaining speed as he went. Vex gave a push with his legs and then they were racing off after Choop. The sled was slightly too small for both of them and rocked from side to side, so that they both had to fight to keep their balance.

“You remember how to steer this thing, right?” Vex yelled in Irk’s ear as they swerved dangerously around Pressley and almost went flying.

“What?” Irk turned around to shout, and at that moment the sled spun out of control, flipping over and dumping them both in the snow. Luckily Irk was still holding onto the reins, and the sled didn’t continue to slide down the hill.

“Are you alright?” Vex asked his son as he dusted snow from himself.

“That was awesome!” Irk cried. “Let’s do it again!”

Vex grinned and got to his feet, taking the sled from Irk and beginning the trek back to the top. Unfortunately going up the hill was a lot harder than going down, and by the time they made it he was out of breath and feeling rather warm in all his layers.

“Here’s an idea,” Vex said, gesturing to a sled that lay on its side, currently not in use. It belonged to Ho-Tan, he was pretty sure, and was a lot bigger than the one he and Irk had been sharing. “You take ours, I’ll take this one, and we’ll race to the bottom.”

“Deal,” Irk said.

They sledded for hours as the sun gradually made its way across the sky. At one point it clouded over and began to snow again, and the kids made a game of trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues. They were beginning to carve out tracks in the snow where it had been compressed under their sleds, which only seemed to make them go faster. A steady stream of people had been arriving all morning now, and the sledders were becoming increasingly packed together.

Vex had just made it back up to the top of the hill and was pausing to get his breath back when it happened. One minute he was watching Choop and Ho-Tan sledding along next to each other, and the next Ho-Tan’s sled ran over a rock, diverted violently from its path and crashed straight into Choop’s. They went tumbling down the hill together, coming to a stop in a small ditch near the bottom, and Vex was horrified to hear a cry of pain from one of them. He didn’t hesitate, abandoning his sled and stumbling down the hill, using his hands for grip on the ground, his boots ploughing the snow as he half-ran, half-slid to where they had landed. When he got there both Choop and Ho-Tan were sitting up, their sleds cast to one side. Ho-Tan was clutching at her head and wincing, while Choop held her other arm and turned it this way and that, examining her wrist. He gave it a small twist, and Ho-Tan cried out in pain, biting down on her lip.

“Alfie! Are you okay?” Vex cried, and they both looked up at him.

“I think her wrist is broken,” Choop said. “The sled ran over her arm on the way down. She hit her head on the ground as well.”

“Let’s get back up to the top,” Vex said. “We can come back for the sleds.”

Ho-Tan nodded somewhat dazedly and leant on Vex to stand up, and the three of them began the trek up the hill. When they got there Vex sat with Ho-Tan, while Choop went to get the sleds.

“You need to go home and get that seen to,” Vex told her. “I’ve got a potion to fix broken bones somewhere. I’ll come back with you.”

Ho-Tan shook her head. “No—I don’t want to ruin your day,” she said. “You stay here and have fun. I’ll be alright on my own.”

“Nonsense,” Vex said. “I can’t leave you to go off on your own when you’re hurt, what kind of a jerk would do that? And I’m sure Flowers won’t mind keeping an eye on Alvin and Irk while we’re gone, will you?”

“Of course not,” Flowers chimed in. “No brother—or sister—should be left to suffer alone.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Ho-Tan said. “Okay, let’s go.”

Vex and Ho-Tan headed away from the group and began to walk back towards the Elders’ Chamber. The walk seemed considerably longer with Ho-Tan shivering by his side and desperately trying to conceal the miserable look of pain on her face from him.

“How badly does it hurt?” he asked her gently.

“My head feels worse,” she said. “My wrist just feels sort of… funny. But it hurts when I try to move it.”

Vex reached out and put an arm around her shoulders. “We’re nearly there now,” he said. “Just a bit further.”

Ho-Tan nodded, but said nothing. When at last they rounded the corner and found themselves outside the front door to the Chamber, Vex pulled out his keys and let them in. He took Ho-Tan straight to the kitchen, where there was a fire still blazing in the hearth, and sat her down in front of it.

“Stay here and get warm,” he told her. “I’ll be right back.”

He made his way to his room and started rummaging around for the healing potion he knew he had somewhere—he’d bought it on a whim from Wizard Bradley a while ago and since forgotten about it. Finally he found it, stuffed at the bottom of his emergency supply kit (it was mostly spare buttons and a bag of dried fruit) and rushed back downstairs to Ho-Tan. He found her cradling her broken wrist in her lap and wincing in pain. It was already swollen and bruised, and the sight of it made Vex’s heart pang with sympathy.

“I found it,” he said, dropping into the chair next to her and uncorking the small glass bottle. “Here, drink this.”

Ho-Tan took the bottle with her good hand and necked it, grimacing at its foul taste. Then she put it down and turned to face Vex. “That was really disgusting,” she said. “What’s it made of, fish guts?”

Vex laughed. “I’ll make us hot chocolate in a minute, that’ll take the taste away.”

“Aah!” Ho-Tan cried suddenly, clutching at her wrist in pain. Vex had only taken that kind of healing potion once before, but he remembered exactly how painful it could be as your bones magically underwent the months-long process of repairing themselves in a matter of minutes. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Ho-Tan, stroking her shoulder.

“It… it hurts…” she said.

“That means it’s working,” Vex said. “I know it’s horrible… just hold on, it fades pretty quickly.”

Ho-Tan nodded and buried her face in Vex’s chest. He could tell how much effort it was taking her not to cry out in pain, and he felt a rush of admiration for her strength and perseverance. A few minutes passed like that, but eventually the pain seemed to abate, because she sat up and managed a watery smile.

“How do you feel now?” Vex asked her.

“A lot better,” she said. “It’s still kind of numb, but I can move it again.” She bent her wrist gently to demonstrate. Vex took her hand and felt it gently, to confirm that the break had been fully fixed. Then he examined her forehead as well—it was going to bruise spectacularly, but there was no serious damage done. The best thing to do would most likely be to let it heal on its own.

“That’s good,” he said. “You might want to be careful with it for the next few days, but other than that you should be completely fine.”

Ho-Tan smiled weakly at him. “Thank you for taking care of me,” she said. “It was very sweet of you. I’m just sorry I ruined your day—I know how much you love it when it snows.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said. “Nothing is more important to me than making sure you’re okay. There’ll be other snow days. All that matters now is looking after you.”

A warm pink colour spread across Ho-Tan’s cheeks, and she leant her head on his shoulder again.

“You’re the best,” she told him. “Thank you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and leant down to kiss the top of her head. “No problem,” he said. “I’ll always take care of you.”

[despairparfait]

📂ㅤAS AN OLDER BROTHER?ㅤ. . .ㅤriddle x sibling!reader ★

synopsis. what, perchance, would heartslabyul's riddle rosehearts be like as an older brother? my personal not very in-depth analysis.

i. Stated in the absolute nicest way possible, I feel as though Riddle's younger sibling would have experienced the very brunt of his pre-overblot behaviour. The strictness; the over-studying; the routines; they have lived through just as much as the Heartslabyul dorm members, but probably twice as bad.

Though, what makes you, said Rosehearts sibling, different from the Night Raven College students? You have never been subjected to the ghastly collar treatment. Why is that? Alongside whatever lessons and such are put in place by your mother, Riddle's routines are personally tailored for the very purpose that you will attend Night Raven College alongside him one day. Thus, you know the rules.

So when you began your studies as a first year, just as Riddle was entering his second, you found yourself the most burdened student in the Heartslabyul dorm with your elder brother constantly on your back. Yet your dorm mates viewed you as the most studious, the one to turn to if not to Vice Trey Clover — and just as much as both you and they wished that you were able to negotiate Riddle out of more lenient sentences, you were unable to. But you could do your very best in helping everybody avoid them, by letting them know of their rule-breaking in advance to Riddle noticing.

(Not that any of your warnings would have ever stopped a particular Trappola, no matter if you yanked that chestnut tart from his hands and stomped on it.)

ii. After fourth period, back to the dorm and cram in an hour's worth of studying as Riddle has his afternoon tea. Then, assist in preparing for the unbirthday party. Once finished assigned tasks, studying until the party's start. You regularly find your schedule filled to the brim on the daily, handwritten and placed on your desk personally by your generous older brother by the time you even awaken. On one hand, it's agitating. On the other, you know that it's just a way that has been drilled into his head by your mother, that good grades and an ace magical ability is what is expected of those coming from your golden lineage. (Thanks to this schedule that he keeps you to religiously, you are placed top of the class for the first years. Rendering the Rosehearts name to be dominating the academic boards for two different years.)

iii. However, he will not just leave you to your own devices for this schedule. He will regularly check in on you as you are studying, inquiring as to what it is that you are working on at the time. As much as it is to snoop and ensure you're not slacking off, it is also a way to ask whether there is anything that you are currently struggling with. He will not even acknowledge the rift he causes in his own schedule as he merely sits opposite you to help you with something that you are finding difficult.

iv. If there is anything at all regarding you that annoys him, it's your budding friendship with Ace. Maybe at first it was a subtle fear that his troublemaking ways will become a bad influence on you, but then that annoyance grew as the ginger continued to pull you away from your studies time and time again. At the beginning, you were extremely hesitant to follow him as he grabbed your hand and pulled you away from your desk, calling you boring. But as this continued, you began to hide the fact you were even disappearing, which irked Riddle to no end. He would unapologetically storm the dorm in order to find where you two were hiding, intending to off Trappola of his head the very second he sees him. Yet why couldn't Riddle notice the irony which was his hatred of this friendship, and how he was projecting his own friendship with Trey and Chen'ya onto you two?

v. During the events leading up to Riddle's overblot, I see both Ace and Deuce working their little socks off as they attempt to get you on their side of the rebellion. But the fact your brother is practically your shadow whilst in the dorm, it was impossible for them to get you alone long enough to complain about him. Especially considering you'd find Riddle sitting with you as you study increasingly often to bat Ace and his truancy away.

vi. Yet, your dorm life did tend to get increasingly better after Riddle overblotted. Him coming to terms with who he is and what he has gone through, recognising his tyrannic ways and accepting that he can be better. To some degree, he saw you as the poster child of how miserable his influence has made the dorm. Noticing and regretting the fact that he has treated you just as harshly as his mother did to him, becoming the very person that caused him to be as he is. Although his vow to be more lenient with the rules was a substantial change for most Heartslabyul students, you were definitely the one that experienced the most change after he came to his senses.

vii. You immediately noticed the fact that you wouldn't find a lengthy schedule on your desk anymore when you woke up. His handwritten notes were no longer a daily thing, instead, becoming almost termly and coinciding with your timetabled lessons. It became less of a minute-by-minute routine, and more of a general sheet of paper to look at before the day to see what classes you have, and what dorm events are planned. Although there would still be jotted timeslots for studying, they'd be a lot less like in-negotiable demands, and more friendly reminders that Thursday morning at 10:15am, you don't have any lessons so you could probably get some homework done.

viii. His random visits while you're studying, or just generally doing whatever as you have a lot more time and freedom on your hands now, become a lot less frequent and imposing. Yet when he does appear, you notice how the way he approaches you is a lot different from before. Rather than what you're studying, he would ask how you're doing. Not academically, but mentally. He would begin to show genuine concern about your wellbeing, taking into account the stress of school, which was not something he batted an eyelash about before.

ix. Deep, probably late-night conversations leading to that winter break planning the discussions you two are going to have with your mother when you return home for the holidays. Despite it being a difficult subject to discuss, it proves to become an extremely helpful icebreaker between you two. Acknowledging the source of your respective traumas, and coming up with a plan in order to settle everything once and for all. Which would probably take a whole lot of effort, and even more time, but if you two can discuss that of all things, then you'd probably be able to discuss absolutely anything.

x. Pre-overblot Riddle would probably burst a blood vessel at even the thought of you wasting your time and effort on boys. But he'd likely mature quite a bit afterwards when it comes to the subject, with some guidance and (some good, some bad) advice from Trey and Cater. Sure, he'd have his own personal preferences for brother-in-law. He wouldn't want you to date any really bad influences, but he supposes he cannot really stop you from doing what you want. Just don't expect to make it public that you're dating Floyd and not have Riddle banging your door down with the reddest face you've ever seen.

(Just please, please, please don't let it be Ace. He already sees enough of him as it is.)

[whydotheykeeptakingmine]

Ooc: ramble about lack of Bajoran and Betazed birthday traditions info

In my spare time this weekend I went looking and while it wasn't a lot of time cause of obligations, I could not find a lot of info about both bajoran and betazed birthday traditions and it irks me not to know.

I found a bit about the 14th for bajoran but that's it, nothing for how adults do or elders or even younger kids, nothing.

Nothing for betazed either and that surprises me too.

Has anyone else had any better luck finding stuff on either of them?

[chiratsuku]

Inertia dotting construction of tardy rivalry. A mere aim to set eye 'pon Bucciarati was enough to mess up dry varnish of his salutary day. To him -- moonlit Neapolitan was still pretty much a calligraphic page coated by invisible ink, a culprit of mystery, something so irking that unsettled heel in tracks. Riddled ambitions? No, it wasn't even that ... this Capo, still frankly 'fresh' was just sitting in his bad gut no matter how much he just tried to digest his persona. Maybe one day, he'll figure out reason for that.

Sure, he could walk around, but where's the fun in that when you can stir a reaction of excitation? Same rules for every rotten heart in their culture: 'respect your elders', that's how it goes here, in Italy. The younger passionato certainly had enough decency to keep up their theatre of courtesy whenever they ran into each other on common ground; like right now in restaurant. It was a matter barely worth split of minute but tension that accumulated in the corridor blowered density like a pronto stroke of hot up Tarantela. He waited, long enough for other to act accordingly.

Flashing twitch of lip-corner into his cheek exposed teeth when Prosciutto muttered through his reaction. Spewing arrogance rolling on his tongue in lieu of typical fume from Muratti, '' Always so polite, aren't you ... ? '' Dim and nebulous, a sizzling 'Grazie was all that sprawled out his mouth when path was clear for him pass.

〾ㅤㅤ@jukudoku ╱ cont.