#i am scared! i have stage fright!

[malusienki]

oh!

[blorbocedes]

ppl mad at lando for saying he still gets nervous before quali and can't eat all Sunday cause nervy from the pressure, cause this isn't champion mentality cause you won't hear schumacher/hamilton/max saying it, or that he's sympathy baiting in the fastest car... but like. James Hunt would vomit before races. Nico only compulsively ate potatoes on Sunday. it's a nerve wracking sport! why does the champion/winning mentality only have be in 1 form (that is stringently stereotypically masculine)?

[stood-onthecliffside]

i have a presentation due on monday which i have to do in front of the class and i am like 🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏻‍♀️

[ukiiyostar]

hey while on the subject of Welcome Home, I'd like to talk about something I found interesting (tl;dr at the bottom)

so the team uncovered a toy telephone, one of those where you can dial the characters and they give you a pre-recorded answer, right?? But the thing about these pre-recorded messages is that they're supposed to reply to the kid, no matter what they're saying or if they're saying anything it at all, y'know? So it is incredibly interesting that the messages shown are that of the characters responding to silence.

the person on the phone says nothing, and the characters, upon hearing nothing, respond with "hello? hello are you there"s like any other person; they start talking as their character and when it becomes clear the person on our line isn't going to respond, they end the call

And here's where it gets more interesting, and it has everything to do with Eddie Dear

So you see, all the characters have different responses to the silent call before leaving: Barnaby tells a joke, Julie invents a game, Poppy thinks she might've broken the phone and tries to fix it (unsuccessfully), and Sally assumes they have stage-fright, just to name a few examples.

But then you hear Eddie's call

He starts off with the post office jingle and when no one answers, he tries singing the jingle again, this time a longer version and he quickly runs out of breath

It is then that he thinks to himself "maybe there's no one there"

He is the ONLY CHARACTER in the cast that even CONSIDERS this; and seconds later he is the ONLY ONE that begins to QUESTION the NATURE OF THIS CALL

LOOK AT HIS DIALOGUE

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE????

The other characters assume it's a prank call or some other excuse, but Eddie is the only one who wonders; the only one who begins to contemplate like "wait, why am in a call anyway?"

add this to other Eddie events like the santa commercial and homewarming...

I think he's actually waking up. hell, who's to say he isn't already awake? and this only makes me scared of what will happen to him.

speaking of which, I read another theory earlier that said that perhaps the reason this is all happening to him is that the Playfellow Workshop was planning on removing him from the show because they felt he was "insignificant" or simply didn't add anything other than being the mailman, and they slowly started removing his presence from the media (the way he's skipped on the santa's toys commercial thing and that other episode when wally and Barnaby go around asking everyone EXCEPT Eddie what homewarming is) until they could get rid of him completely.

what do you guys think?

tl;dr = looking at the toy phone responses, it's weird that they have a line replying to silence seeing as that's not the point of the toy, and also it's weird that Eddie Dear is the only character who, out of all the other responses, is the only one to acknowledge the odd nature of the call. my theory is that Eddie might be the next (assuming Wally and/or Home to be the first ones self-aware) to wake up from the puppet illusion, paired with another theory that the company was trying to remove Eddie from the show

[hausofmingi]

his good girl - chapter 1

pairing: song mini x stripper!reader

tags: stripper au, smut series

warnings: slight mentions of stalker, bad words (tee hee), dom!mingi, sub!reader, riding, daddydom!mingi, finger sucking, being carried and getting fucked, a bit of physical roughness (reader receiving), degradation but also praise, cum eating (off the floor!), aftercare

wc: 3.8 k

an: so I decided to give the reader a name because that feels more realistic to me as a reader than y/n. I find that sometimes reading "y/n" takes me out of it a little, so lmk if you find this helpful as well! Also, I am a little depraved so right off the bat, this gets very crazy kinky

minors dni!! 18+ only!!

“Where is the red garter belt I let you borrow?” You are racing around your and Lina’s small apartment, trying to prepare for yet another night on the job. 

“I don’t know, I may have left it at the club?” Lina answers from the bathroom. 

Red is his favorite. You don’t want to disappoint. 

“Well great Lina thanks for that, I’m never letting you borrow my shit again.” 

“Love you too!” she calls after you as you leave to go shopping. It’s not like you’re against making another trip to get some new pieces, but why do you always make the same mistake in letting Lina borrow your favorite stuff…

Your’s and Lina’s apartment is in a pretty run down building in an unsafe part of Gangnam, but no matter how shitty it is, its yours and you really want it to feel like home. 

But, that doesn’t mean you don’t feel the pair of eyes watching you as you exit out of your apartment building and walk towards the bus stop. 

You have been noticing that lately, the feeling that someone is watching you. When you leave your house, when you’re at the grocery store, while you’re going on a run. You try and brush it off because this is normal for women and all that, but today, you pay just a little harder attention. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a figure in a black hood (Jacket? Coat? You don’t want to look too hard) standing across the street from your apartment building. You walk a little faster to the bus stop just in case. 

That night, after spending more than you should on new lingerie sets, you and Lina are about to take the stage for your first stage set. It’s almost midnight, which is usually the time he makes his appearance. 

You always get butterflies, but not the stage fright normal kind of butterflies, the kind that make your clit perk up and your nipples harden. 

Why do you always get so worked up over a man who hasn’t even fucked you?, you think as you make your way up to the stage. 

You really have become quite the pro at this. After 4 years of working for this club, your boss has dubbed you his favorite girl. Doyeon always protects you and gives you the most popular customers, knowing you will always keep them coming back. 

You always thought it felt nice to be appreciated, especially knowing he didn’t have any intentions of coming onto you, on account of he’s a flaming fruitcake.

Its a good ways into your set, and his table still sits empty. You feel the sweat start to form on your back, but try to stay in your routine. 

Why isn’t he here? Where could he be instead? Did his company find out he was doing this? 

You always got scared that it might be leaked that idols come here, knowing the sasaengs stalker habits. Mingi, being a part of one of the biggest Korean boy groups, Ateez, must have a large number of crazy fans following him. 

Did they find out and tip the press to show up here? You didn’t see anyone outside though… Your mind runs rampant with all of the reasons that it could possibly be as you walk off stage and collect your tips from the stage manager. 

Tears start to threaten to spill, and you think you are crazy yet again to be this affected by a man you haven’t even had a conversation with. 

On the way home, Lina can tell you’re bothered and nudges your side as you walk home. 

“So you know how Taehyun has been requesting me a lot? Well he mentioned his upcoming tour tonight, I think he might finally take me along with them!” She exclaimed excitedly. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, he’s just saying that so you’ll suck him off some more.” you say. 

“Well damn… What’s got you all worked up honey?” She always called you honey when she was trying to comfort you. 

“Mingi didn’t come tonight..” you admit. 

“On a Thursday? That’s… super out of character. Well don’t worry, I’m sure practice just went long or he has an early morning schedule or….” her talking trails off as you dissociate. 

Lina has always been a nice friend, agreeing to move in with you without knowing you very well, trying her best to always cheer you up. It’s not her fault you felt like you guys were never really close. You give her props for trying though. 

You pull out your phone and check his bubble and instagram, seeing if maybe they could give you some clues. Nothing. 

You fall asleep that night thinking of the last time his fingers swiped your lip, hoping it wasn’t the last.

—

The next night at the club is gloomy. Even though it’s a Friday, attendance is lower and your energy is even lower. 

The feeling of someone watching you has been bothering you all day, but the guy in the hood has yet to make an appearance. You are just looking forward to curling up in your bed tonight and continually refreshing Mingi’s bubble messages. 

The stage manager calls for everyone to get onstage for the final number and the other girls rush out. You take your time though, not feeling like getting in a rush for this menial thing. 

You hang your head in your hands, covering your eyes and taking a breath. Just get through it, he’s just a man, you try to remind yourself. 

A smell reaches you, like a really expensive cologne. Musky and masculine, and somehow… dominant. 

You look up and standing in the doorway is him. He stands as if he owns the place, hands in his pocket, opting for a fitted vest tonight in lieu of a jacket. 

And he’s staring you down, studying you intently. If it was anyone else, you would feel the need to cover yourself and apologize. But not with him. 

You probably look like a dumbass, staring at him through the mirror with your mouth slightly open. 

He speaks first. “You were worried.” It’s a question but he doesn’t need an answer. 

“Yes,” is all you can manage to squeak out. 

He leans against the doorway, messing with his shirt cuff. You still haven’t moved, frozen in place. How did he get in here, past the security guard? How did he know which dressing room you were in? Was he the person in the hood you noticed this morning? He must be stalking you… Why doesn’t that bother you more? 

He notices your anxiety moving through you. “Don’t worry, I just know the security guard. He owed me a favor. I’m not a stalker” he responds, as if he read your mind.

“That’s… good” you say. 

He drops his arms and strides towards you, slowly as to not spook you. “Well thank you for worrying about me. I’m okay, for now. But, here’s the problem my love,” he draws his finger up your arm, making your hair stand up and bumps form. “You may be in trouble.” 

You aren’t sure what he means. “What kind of trouble?” you ask. “Like legal trouble?” 

You are afraid that maybe one of the idols ratted this place out and the feds are going to come knocking down your door and take you all away. Would Mingi still visit you in jail? Surely not, there’s no lap dances there… 

He sticks his finger under your chin and pushes it up to make you look at him. Drip. 

“Please stop letting your mind get ahead of you, baby. Let daddy speak.” DRIP. 

“A sasaeng has been getting very close to you. Too close. I can’t let you get hurt.” Awe, he wants to protect you. DRIP DRIP DRIPPING. 

“How did they find me?” you ask. 

He leans against the counter as he continues, “I am not sure, I don’t even know how much they know. Sasaengs are insane people with insane complexes. This one has been stalking me since pre-debut. But I’ve always been careful that she doesn’t see me come in here. So how she knows that you are important to me, I don’t know…” IMPORTANT TO HIM??? 

Okay you’ll have to throw these underwear out at this point. 

“So what do I need to do then? To protect myself I mean” you ask him. 

“Nothing, I want you to do absolutely nothing and let me handle it. But in the meantime, you can’t go back to your apartment.” 

Hate to say it, but fine by you. Maybe you’ll save some money by not having to replace your stolen shit anymore.

“Where will I go instead?” you ask. 

“You’ll come stay with me.” Jesus Christ, 20 year old you would be freaking the fuck out. But, it doesn’t make you freak out, in that way at least. 

“What about Lina, what about my job? I can’t live with you, much less San and Seonghwa. I’ll never see you. What if you have to travel for schedules? I’m just supposed to stay in your dorm 24/7? I have a life! I barely even know you! You only ever say 4 words to me, and then fucking leave me in a puddle, how can I just-” 

His hand stroking the side of your cheek cuts you off. “Again with the mind racing, baby. I don’t want you to uproot your life, it will be temporary. I have my own apartment now too, so we won’t be with other members. It will only be until we are 100% sure you are safe to be alone. I will take care of you, I promise.” he reassures. 

You lean into the hand that holds your head, a few tears falling into it. You finally get the courage to look up at him, making eye contact. He has dropped his heavy, dominant demeanor. Instead, his eyes hold only comfort and concern. 

Maybe he wasn’t kidding; maybe you really are important to him. 

After a minute of silence, “Okay, so what do I need to do right now?” you ask.

“Change and pack up your stuff, we are going to the apartment. Make a list of what all you need from your apartment when we get home and I will send a staff to collect it all in the morning.” 

“And take a breath, princess.” You unclench your jaw, which you didn’t even realize was clenched. He kisses your forehead before reaching down to grab your duffle bag that you carry your things in. 

You think in silence as you pack. Take a breath he says… he will protect me he says… Why me? Why is protecting me, a stripper, just some stripper that he barely speaks to. He doesn’t even know my real name…

“Yes I do,” he says from the chair he has sat down in to wait for you. Oops, you must’ve said that part outloud. 

“It’s Cora.” You like the way he flips the “r” of your American name with his Korean accent. 

“How do you know that?” he ignores you. “How do you know I used to live with San and Seonghwa?” “Touche…” you respond.

“All done?” he asks. You nod. He crosses to you and starts stroking your arms to comfort you. 

“I want you to remember though, you still have to be a good girl for me at the apartment, can you do that?” 

You look up at him through your eyelashes, surprised that he still is holding this up even at a time like this. Is it all an act, or is it truly how he is? Either way, you are turned on once again. 

“Yes..” you respond. He cocks his eyebrow, questioning your answer. 

“Yes what?” 

“Yes… daddy.”

“There’s my good girl.”

With his hand on your back, he guides you out of the dressing room and out the back door, where a black hatchback with tinted windows is waiting. He holds open the door for you, and helps you into the car. If only other men treated all their strippers like this…

The car ride home (whatever home means at the moment) is very silent. He has his hand on your thigh the entire way, the other staying steady on the wheel. His thumb rubs back and forth, another attempt at comfort you’re guessing. It works, sort of. 

Just smelling him and being near him your body is relaxed, knowing he will take care of you and wanting to give yourself to him. It’s like you are under his spell, which is crazy. You are usually so independent and self-sufficient. What about him makes you want to grant his every wish? 

“Shouldn’t you be blindfolding me, so I won’t know where your apartment is and so I won’t run away and all that?” you ask, kind of joking. 

“You won’t” he says while keeping his eyes on the road, fully confident in his answer. 

He’s probably right. 

–

Finally you reach the apartment. You almost drifted off to sleep, even though the drive was only about 20 minutes. He parks right outside the front door of the building and gets out to open your door for you. He offers his hand to help you out of the car. It’s much appreciated because you are still in your platform heels, just throwing a coat over your outfit you were going to wear to perform in. 

He keeps his hand on your back as you walk up to the doors, through the lobby, and up the elevator. It’s a really nice building with a concierge and fresh flowers all over. Sometimes you forget how big Ateez really is, and figure that Mingi bought this place with his own money. 

You wonder if he has neighbors on his floor. Do they know he lives next to them? Does he talk to his neighbors at all? Do they know that he is having his own personal stripper move in with him?

They’re gonna know now, from how loud you are being. 

How you ended up riding him in his dining room chair about 15 minutes later, you’re not so sure. 

—

He was going slow, too slow, slow enough that you could feel every. single. inch. 

You tried to grind your hips and get him in deeper, but the tight hold he had on your asscheek lets you know that even though you are on top, you are not in control. 

His other hand is holding your face, his thumb hooked in your mouth. You suck and gag on it as much as you can, but it’s hard to focus when he is going this slow. 

You felt high, things were getting foggy. All you knew is that you wanted to please him. 

“My beautiful girl, doing so well. You were waiting for this for a long time weren’t you?” his deep voice sends sparks to your clit and makes you even wetter, if that’s even possible. 

You can only close your eyes and nod. You want to throw your head back, but his hand on your cheek and thumb in your mouth keeps it facing forward. “Now baby, what did I say? Eyes. on. me.” 

He jerks your head a bit, just to make you a little scared. 

You know he would never hurt you. 

Unless you asked. 

You open your eyes like a good girl. How could you not be a good girl for him? 

His breath catches when you make eye contact with him again. His eyes bare into your soul, never breaking. 

You whimper a little when the head of his cock catches someplace you have never felt before. He smirks, knowing. He hits it again, making the upper half of your body keen forward, his thumb slipping out of your mouth. 

Your hands, which were bracing on the back of the chair, move down to his pecs. You are desperate for him, desperate for that feeling that release you dreamt about him giving you. 

You start to bounce since he let go of you, letting his arms hang down and his head fall back in pleasure. You are doing that to him. You are making him let go. 

You grind his cockhead up against your g-spot over and over again, drooling down his neck. 

You wish you could see what you guys look like, his giant body draped over the chair in ecstasy, you sat on his thick thighs bouncing on his perfect cock, licking up and down his neck. 

You’re close, really close, and your walls start to constrict down on his cock. His eyes shoot open and he jerks his head up at the feeling. 

“Hold on princess,” he practically growls at you. 

Hold onto what? You think. 

He grabs underneath your thighs, holding his hands behind your back and lifts the both of you out of the chair with him still inside of you. 

Oh my god, holy shit. 

This was too good, you couldn’t have even dreamt this up. 

You wrap your hands around his neck and he pummels into you as fast as he can, hitting your g-spot every single time as if he has memorized the angle. The sound of his balls hitting your ass covers your cries of his name. 

“Fucking. Take it.” he says, his forehead touching yours. He has essentially lost control of his body, just bouncing you wildly up and down his cock. 

It’s coming, It’s coming. Please, please, please, “please.” You don’t even know what you’re begging for, if you’re even talking out loud. You feel like you are losing your grip on reality, its so so close. 

He stills inside of you, leaving his cock right on the spot you need the most. He just shallowly thrusts, just rubbing your g-spot with his cockhead. Holy shit, it feels like fucking heaven. 

“Now,” he commands. 

And you obey. 

You flutter around him, feeling how his shallow thrusts stutter when you cum. You don’t stop for at least a full minute. 

“Thank you thank you thank you, oh fuck, thank you daddy” is all you can say as your clit jumps in ecstasy. 

His eyebrows are furrowed together, he’s close too. Right as your orgasm tapers out, you tighten your thighs around him and give him 3 bounces. That’s all he needs. 

He pulls you off of him just as he’s cumming, holding you away from him so you can watch the cum drip out of his cock and onto the floor. It’s so beautiful, you think. 

He sets your legs down on the floor, but they can’t hold you up and you fall to your knees. You can barely see straight, and you can’t catch your breath. Holy shit he may really have fucked the shit out of you. 

You keep your eyes turned to the ground while you try and slow your heart, but you see him start to squat down to your level. He picks up your chin with his hand to look up at him. “Baby… you need to clean up your mess.” 

“Wh..What?” you stutter. 

He stands up straight again, looming over you with his giant presence. “Clean it up.” his gaze falls to the ground and yours follows. 

Oh… you get it now. 

Not breaking eye contact, you lean your head down. You stick out your tongue and lick up the cum that he let fall to the floor, as well as some from you that you didn’t even realize had dripped down. He smiles. 

You feel like a pet, like a slave. 

You fucking love it. 

“That’s my good girl.” he praises you. You wipe off your mouth and look up at him through your eyelashes. He squats back down to your level, seeming to have fallen for your puppy dog eyes. 

“Does my baby need help getting cleaned up?” 

“Yes daddy.” 

He bends down to pick you up, which he does with ease, as if you weighed nothing. He guides your legs to wrap around him and he carries you into the bathroom. 

He sets you down to sit on the toilet and turns on the shower to start heating up. Why do you feel so dizzy? You gaze can’t focus. 

“Cora… don’t pass out on me my love.” he holds your face in his hands. 

“What do you need baby?” you grab onto his wrist to try and steady yourself. 

“Just a minute… I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize, take your time.”

He strokes your hair as you take a few deep breaths to steady yourself. 

“Is the shower ready?” you ask. 

“Yes my love, whenever you are.”

“Will you help me?” you ask.

“Of course” he says as he starts guiding you towards the shower door. 

He lets you step in first and before you can protest that you can shower on your own, he steps in behind you. 

It's a really big shower, with beautiful blue tiles and a detachable shower head. Detachable? Huh…

You lean into his chest, your head barely meeting the middle of it due to his height. One of his arms wraps around your body while the other starts to shampoo your hair. 

Why do you already feel so comfortable with him? As if you have been showering together for years. You literally just licked this man’s cum off the floor and have no remorse about it. Should you feel guilty? 

Nah, you kind of just feel like bragging to other Atiny’s on Twitter. I sucked his beautiful cock!! Suckers!!! Probably wouldn’t be the best idea…

After washing the rest of your body and getting you out of the shower and making sure you brushed your teeth, you are now tucked into his extremely comfortable bed. You don’t usually sleep naked, but it seems right when he is too. 

You turn to face him in the bed. He was already staring at you, it seems. 

“You know, I wasn’t expecting us to fuck right off the bat..” you admit. 

“Me neither, but I am not surprised. It’s hard to resist you.”

“You’ve been resisting me for the past 6 months. You know I always craved more from you.”

“Yes I did know. But I didn’t want to enjoy you in such a public space. I just craved being around you. Its hard to resist you, though, princess. Just know that.”

I guess that makes me feel better, but still… so many things unanswered.

“I know you are probably questioning a lot of things. Just try and get some sleep tonight, okay my love?” he asks. 

“Okay..” you agree in a small voice, knowing that you will wake up tomorrow with even more unanswered questions. 

“Good girl.” He curls his arm around your middle and tucks you into his side, kissing your forehead before drifting to sleep. 

He smells like the same cologne he was wearing earlier tonight. Beautiful, musky, and masculine. You let yourself drift to sleep, breathing him in.

OKAY I DID IT MY FIRST CHAPTER. plz reblog and like.

[star-dust-stuf]

Dead Poets x fem!reader

title: love, to come into me

warnings: body insecurities

a/n: here I am with another dps fic because they're so cute and make me happy and I want others to be happy too! sorry it's so short and sorry for typos, with love.

-

I was back stage with Neil, he wanted me to do this play with him, it was in the beginning of August and he really was determined to do this play after the boys and me begged his father. 

He wanted me to be on stage with him because he knew I was always one to be left out. He was sweet like that, and though I had my stage fright, I knew Keating and the boys would be up front guarding me from all those other people. 

I was looking at myself in the mirror, the outfit was absolutely beautiful, but it was tight around my waist, and I had a lower belly bump. 

I knew that it was normal but it still made me feel I was throwing off the outfit, how beautiful it was and I made it look ugly. I glided my fingers over the little lump and wished it would go away. 

Neil peeked from the other side of the mirror and saw what I was doing, it took him a minute to realize what was wrong, seeing the sad look on my face and the his sweet brown eyes on me. He stepped towards me. 

"Y/n?" 

I look from my stomach to him, "oh. Hey Neil." 

He looked at my stomach where I was rubbing. "It's normal to be nervous you know." 

I shake my head, "no. It's not that." 

Neil tilted his head, "then what's the matter?" He sounded so concerned.

I sigh, looking at my little bump finally losing my patience with it. "I mean, look at it!" 

He looked at my stomach again. "What, that?" He pointed and I nod. "Y/n, that's-." 

He got cut off by the boys entering, all ruffling his hair and some of them shouting YAWP in which I couldn't help but giggle at. "Ready for the biggest performance of your life!?" Knox said to me and Todd ended up putting his elbow in his rib. 

"Knox, shes scared out of her mind." 

Neil shook his head, "no guys, shes..." He looked at me wanting to know if he should tell the others and gave him a signal letting him know it was okay. "She's just insecure." 

Pitts, Meeks, Cameron, Todd, Knox, and Charlie looked to me, Charlie stepped in. "Hey, what about? You look gorgeous in the dress." 

I smile a little looking to my feet, "its... It's my stomach." I put my fingers over the little bump, they all nodded as they realized. 

"You can't control that you know." Cameron said. 

"Yeah, all those extra organs if you know what I mean-." Meeks said.

I blushed, looking down and Neil smacked the back of Meeks' head. "Look what you did idiot!" 

Todd laughed with the others but then he looked to me. "You know what he means, it's okay y/n, you're a girl and that comes with some  things you see as flaws but it's not." 

I smile and nod a little, "thanks, I expect Meeks to know so much." I tease him.

Meeks laughed a little as Charlie smirked, "i'd take your uterus for one night but I wouldn't servive." 

I smiled and kissed Charlie's cheek, "I know you would." 

They all gave me a hug, and throughout the play Neil had his eyes on me along with the boys in the front row. It was amazing to have such supportive friends that I love and I could see every day at school, that I can be myself around and explain how I feel. They knew they could do the same. 

[ernestelm]

Tuggoffelees Headcanons

Sometimes with different interpretations bc Im actually a cat, a dog and a weasel parading as a human, you would probably see me slowly navigate it out bc I alrdy have several clear stories in my brain. Also I do Quaxo is Misto stuff but I still call him Misto usually, I don't like writing the letter Q.

Misto fell first but Tugger fell harder

Childhood friends Misto thought they were alrdy married, he's a "its you, its always going to be you" because we love our horribly platonic girlies (me, I am girlie😔)

Tugger absolutely just went "wait he's so cool, what the hell" when Misto started his Mr Mistoffelees act. Like he was like already slightly in love but suddenly it overflowed and now he doesn't know what to do

He doesn't even know if what Misto does to him is just banter or flirting (Misto's version flirting are basically trust games where he confirms Tugger does in fact, trust him)

Tugger has zero idea how magic works but is a supportive bf

When Misto researches a new trick and needs someone to show it to or help he finds Tugger first

This has been happening since they were young

Tugger has zero idea what is happening but is always hyping Misto up even when he fails

Misto has slight stage fright so when he's performing, he mostly focuses on Tugger because he knows no matter what Tugger will never be disappointed in him

Tugger doesn't realizes this bc he always sits near Old Deut and thinks Misto is just looking at him

Tugger is absolutely terrified of lice since childhood

So do the other maine coons but Tugger is suuuper dramatic about it

He always runs to Misto all distressed and whines to him and asks him to zap them out

But Tugger is also kind of scared of electric so Misto has to slowly calm him down and hold his hand before doing the lightest shock that is required to kill it

and afterwards he has to console him and helps him clean it out

Tugger's owners are still confused as to why he always runs out after getting lice and always comes back all clean with the happiest trot

Misto is super secure about the relationship

Which is why Tugger is still confused if they are in a relationship or not

he is still waiting for Misto to confirm it ;>

Misto doesn't get it and thinks that Tugger is just shy or smth and thinks that its kinda cute

Misto goes non-verbal during performances

I know I broke this one, but I will try and do better and learn some more hand gestures (and hand signs for Victoria, my version is not deaf just selectively mute, Jemima does her talking(she's super fluent!) they'll probably be doing BSL tho bc London)

He requires more focus, esp in his performance form (with the half moon face! bc I realized I couldn't live without it)

Tugger is usually his assistant and helps him with talking when needed

It adds to the mystery part of the Mr Mistoffelees act ( I want to hopefully show how like how terrifying but alluring he is, he's like an elegant Macavity in my eyes )

Misto is actually super direct

Dude is not vague, the dude knows what he wants

He only "insults" Tugger with facts

He does show affection through words but Tugger always goes (in his head) "WHAT DOES THIS MEAN"

His man is dumb, let him be dumb

[little-guy-little-mouse]

" Uh...How do I do this again..? "

"Uh...Hi! I'm Ryunosuke Naruhodo, but you can call me Ryuno, Ryu, or...um...anything basically!..as long as it isn't mean.

I'm a defense attorney, and my duty is to free the falsely accused and seek the truth."

OOC: welcome to my silly ryunosuke blog!!!!!

Info about Ryuno:

he/him (subject to change if i feel like it)

timeline tbd, but asoryuu will be the main ship here as my partner has a kazuma blog!! @guy-with-a-red-headband

mod has not seen tgaa yet (sorry :c)!! i've seen like a couple minutes of the first trial but that's it! i've been spoiled a fair bit so i know some big plot points tho

i will be basing my knowledge off the wiki and the game as i play/watch it, but i can't guarantee a full in-character response (especially regarding other characters) D:

list of hcs are at the end!

this will be mainly an ask blog for now, but i might poke in the rp blog territory if i feel like it.

also yesss i knowww its late 19th century japan they didnt have tumblr let me dreammm

Info about meeee:3

main account is @bitesizedgummie (i mainly post aa stuffs :p)

he/they but a bit more they heavy at the moment

I AM A MINOR!!!! this is different for others, but please don't direct NSFW towards me OR character blogs. >:(

call me pickle!! :3

non-weird interactions are always welcome, even with non-fandom characters!!

Headcanons (actively working on any that are inaccurate due to mentioned canon info, pls lmk if there are any!)

transmasc!! (top surgery but no bottom surgery, don’t ask me how that works in their time period)

doesn’t like telling ppl he’s trans bc he’s usually met with transphobia

hasn’t told kazuma he’s trans bc of the thing listed above!

actively trying to try new food/cuisine

also actively trying to listen to new music!

tends to snort while laughing

scared of the dark, as well as thunder

VERY ticklish

sometimes (a lot of times) misses jokes

modern slang of any kind confuses the living shit out of him

he does archery as a hobby in his free time

can get thrown off track real easy if u try hard enough

tends to forget/mishear words in english

if u give him food he'll either scarf it down within 5 minutes or eat it over the span of an hour but if he likes it he will eat it just give him a minute

needs glasses but prefers either not to wear them or wears contacts instead (yes contacts were invented in their time period i checked) bc he always breaks them

tends to sing/hum to himself when listening to music? idk how that works considering their time period tho oops

has rlly bad stage fright, especially in front of a bunch of ppl he doesn’t know

[verfound]

FIC: "Of (Not) Telling the Parents" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

@lovebugs-and-snakecharmers is doing a Lukanette Month for September 2024, and we all just kinda tossed some prompts in the disco to compile a list?  We ended up with 71 prompts, so I decided I’d roll some dice to pick a prompt, do a twenty minute (ish, bc we all know sometimes they run away from me) sprint, and try to get some short fics out this month?

Direct continuation of Of Lost Luggage, Shirts, and Other Things. Quick & Rierse know what they did. 😂🖤

Read on Ao3

Prompt 63: Stage Fright

Luka wasn’t used to having this problem.

He was a professional rock star.

Like…still starting out on his solo career, sure – he had a handful of EPs under his belt, and he was working on his first full-length album.  He had opened for Jagged friggin’ Stone – had played in Jay’s own band! – before sold out arenas across the globe.  He’d been on TV – he’d been on Saturday Night Live!

And every time he took the stage it was…effortless.  Making music had always felt like breathing to him.  Playing was second nature.  There was nowhere that felt more like home than behind his guitar.

…well.

Maybe one place.

Marinette’s arms were starting to feel more and more like home with every passing day.

…which was probably what had led to the current problem.

Standing outside her parents’ bakery.

Marinette tucked against his side, her arms wrapped securely around his middle.

And scared absolutely shitless to go inside.

“…I can’t do this,” he said, shaking his head.  “We should come back tomorrow.  Darning, I am not rested enough for this.  I am not caffeinated enough for this.”

“Well, that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” she giggled, looking up at him.  “Breakfast.  Decent coffee.  Exciting news.”

“We can come back tomorrow,” he insisted, squeezing her hand.  “Or the day after.  Technically, there is no news yet.”

“Bullshit,” she said, tugging him down for a kiss.  “There’s news.”

“I haven’t technically asked yet,” he insisted.

“There is news, Luka Llewellyn Couffaine,” she huffed, kissing him again.  “You aren’t taking this one back.”

“I can’t take back something I didn’t –” he tried again, but she just pulled him into another kiss that…honestly?  Left him a little dizzy.  It probably wasn’t safe for public display, either – even in Paris.  Especially in front of –

“SABINE!!!!  SHE SAID YES!!!!”

…shiiiiiiiiit!

The next thing Luka knew, Marinette’s mouth had been jerked away from his own as Tom hoisted them both up in a bear hug.  The world started spinning around him, and he groaned as he ducked his face against Tom’s shoulder in an attempt to calm his flipping stomach.  That probably wasn’t the best idea, because Tom was still whooping and hollering and was entirely too exuberant for the way his head was pounding.

“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” Tom whooped.  “See, Luka?  What did I tell you, son?  There was no possible way she’d ever say no – she’d be crazy to!”

He clapped a hand on his back, and Luka hadn’t even realized he’d put them back down until his knees buckled under him and he went tilting towards Marinette.

“Luka!” she cried, rushing forward to catch him.  He groaned as he slumped against her, and she laughed breathlessly – maybe a bit manically – as she rubbed his back.  “He’s had a long couple of days – maybe…go easy on him?”

“Isn’t that what I should be telling you, mon choux?” Tom asked with a wink that had Marinette shrieking at him as her face lit up with a fiery blush.  “Oh, relax – I’m not that ignorant to what young people in love get up to!  Especially young people in love who are about to be married!”  He leaned in even closer, and Luka wasn’t looking but he was pretty sure Tom winked at them.  Winking would be a very Tom thing to do, especially when he followed it up with: “Besides, where else are my grandbabies supposed to come from?”

“…kill me now,” Luka groaned, his voice just low enough that he hoped only Marinette heard him.  She smiled and patted his back, and he almost smiled when she kissed his shoulder.

Until Tom laughed, grabbed his other shoulder, and pulled him back into a half-hug.

“Now, now, Luka, none of that,” he chided gently.  “This is good!  We need to celebrate!  Have you two thought about any details yet?  Themes, colors, your cake, a date…?”

“Tom, please,” Sabine chided as she followed a customer out the door.  She waved goodbye to the woman, who was giving her a knowing smile, and turned back to her husband.  “He just got in today – within the last hour, from the looks of it.  Let the poor boy find his footing first.”

“Oh, pah – he’s fine!” Tom said, shaking him.  He turned to Marinette with a grin.  “Well, mon choux?  Let’s see it!  I’ve been waiting years for this!”

“Papa…” Marinette sighed.  Luka looked up just in time to notice Sabine’s eyes had looked to Marinette’s obviously, painfully bare fingers.

“Marinette, sweetheart?” she asked.  Marinette looked up, her eyes widening when she saw Sabine’s pointed look.  “Is…there something you maybe don’t need to tell us?”

“What?  No,” Marinette said, quickly tucking her hands into her pockets.  “We’re engaged.”

“We are not,” Luka groaned, dropping his face in his hands.  “We can’t be engaged until I ask you, and I’m not asking you until…just tell them, darning.  This day can’t get any worse.”

“Luka, stop it right now,” she huffed.  She stepped over to him and pulled him into a hug, thwacking the back of his head before bringing it down to her shoulder.  “Dummy.  I don’t want to wait for a stupid ring – yes, you dummy, it is just a stupid ring,” she bit when he tried to argue, because it wasn’t.  It was her nonna’s ring that she’d been in love with since she was a little girl, and using it as her engagement ring was supposed to be this big, stupid, romantic gesture that she was going to love, and he’d gone and lost the damn thing like the damn idiot he was.  Why would she want to marry him after he lost her nonna’s ring?  “I want to be engaged to you now.  I want to be married to you now.  Stop making such a big deal out of this – it’s just the jetlag talking.”

“It is not,” he insisted, but then he shook his head and pulled away, blinking at her.  “…you still want to marry me?”

“Yes, you idiot,” she laughed.  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you since the airport!”

“But I lost the ring,” he insisted.

“You what?!” Tom yelped, and he winced as he glanced back at him.  He leaned closer to Marinette, whispering probably not quiet enough as he kept his eyes on her father.

“…don’t tell Tom,” he said.  “Marinette.  He’s going to kill me.”

“Oh, son, I’m not…” Tom sighed, his expression crumpling, but Marinette was already turning Luka’s face back towards her for another kiss.

“You didn’t lose the ring, Luka,” she said.  “The airline did.  You just…made a rookie mistake.”  She looked around him as he slumped against her, smiling sadly at her parents.  “He left it in his suitcase.  And the airline put it on the wrong plane – we’ll have it back in a few days.  He’s just…it’s been a rough couple days, and he’s too tired to be sensible about it.  Or to accept that I’m saying yes with or without a stupid ring.”

“He was really excited about…” Tom started, but he shook his head and chuckled.  “It’s all right, son.  These things happen.  Next time you’ll know to keep the important stuff in your carryon.”

“Ask him about the time he lost his lucky rolling pin sometime, dear,” Sabine said, reaching over to rub a hand along his back.  “It took us a month to get it back, all because he was afraid security would consider him a terrorist.  He was inconsolable.”

“All right, all right – don’t get me started on questionable packing choices, sweetheart,” Tom said, smiling fondly at his wife, “or I’ll tell them how your brother got us hung up in security for three hours for smuggling contraband into the country.”

“Oh, he’s already done that,” Marinette teased.  If he was more awake, he would probably beg her to not spill his secrets like that.  Especially the embarrassing ones.  Especially to her parents he needed them to keep liking him…  “He loves his Lucky Charms.”

And he might have laughed, if he didn’t feel like they were all ganging up on him.

“Why do I feel like I’m losing here?” he asked, sighing as he pressed his forehead against her neck.  She was too comfortable – he was going to fall asleep where he was standing, if he wasn’t careful.

“You’re not losing,” she said softly, her fingers running through his hair.  “You get to marry me.  How is that losing?”

“…I can’t marry you yet, though,” he sighed.  “Stupid Crusher.  Stupid Fang.  Stupid airline.  Stupid me.”

“I should get him home,” she sighed.  “I thought coffee might help, but I think sleep will work better.”

“Of course, dear,” Sabine said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.  “Get him home.  We’ll celebrate later – because we are celebrating, yes?”

“Yes,” Marinette said, nodding firmly.  “It wasn’t how he wanted to…ok, fine, technically he didn’t ask, but you can’t tell someone you have a ring waiting for them and then…yes, we’re celebrating.”

Tom laughed and scooped them all up in one last hug, and Luka groaned as he lost his balance again.  It was all right, though: Marinette was still holding him, and Tom was holding all of them, and Tom would never drop them on their asses like that.  He was pretty cool like that.

“Of course we are,” Tom said, and Luka groaned as he ruffled his hair a bit too enthusiastically.  “You two are getting married!”

Luka glanced up at Marinette as those words sunk in, and a stupid smile filled his face as he saw the grin on hers.

Suddenly, he wasn’t so afraid anymore.  They were going to get married.

And that…that was pretty damn cool.

[rotomartsblog]

Stories I want to base Ever After High OCs off (an ever growing list)

Hans My Hedgehog (One of my favourite ‘obscure’ fairytales. Already decided her name would be Hannah M. Hedgehog. To fit the design aesthetic of eah she wouldn’t literally have the upper body of a hedgehog and the lower body of a human, she’d be more of a hybrid. She’s a rebel because she rejects her destiny of becoming fully human at the end of the story and embraces her hedgehog side.)

Boy Who Cried Wolf (See my last reblog. Lies a lot but because of their destiny no one tends to believe them anyways. Also accidentally right a lot. Not lying maliciously just doing it for shits and giggles)

The Frog Princess (Because I think it’d be funny for there to be two royals who turn into frogs but are completely unrelated to each other. Also there’s so many variants of this story from region to region that it’d be fun to write this girl)

Speaking of, The Frog Prince (Specifically the daughter of the princess from the tale and the son of the prince’s gayass servant. Princess Girl does not want to be Hopper’s princess but is slightly willing to enact the version where she gets to throw Frog Hopper at a wall instead of kissing him. Dislikes frogs a bit but plays it up as a seething hatred to scare Hopper. Kind of a bitch if you couldn’t tell. Sporty girl. The servant boy is 100% in love with Hopper, like father-like son, and has the iron bands around his heart. Maybe he could be Hopper’s real true love :x)

Pinocchio (Daughters of The Coachman and Mangiafuoco, and niece of Lampwick. The Coachman’s daughter has a pet donkey that everyone thinks is a turned boy, but nope it’s just a regular donkey. She’s a rebel because she doesn’t want to go down the route of her father. Mangiafuoco’s daughter is scary and off-putting, but actually a genuinely nice girl. Would love to perform onstage but she has stage fright and is just so shy in general, so she resorts to puppet theatre instead. Always uses a hand puppet to talk through. Lampwick’s niece is a rebel because she’d rather not turn into a donkey thank you very much. Low-key resented Cedar up until Legacy Day because she believed if Cedar didn’t exist she wouldn’t need to turn into a donkey. Now they’re on better terms since Cedar decided she’d become human in her own way)

The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats (Youngest son of the youngest goat. Really I just like people with goat features. He’d feel tense around Ramona, even though he’s pretty sure she’s probably not the wolf from his story)

Puss In Boats (Daughter of Puss In Boots. Would probably be able to transform between an animal and human form like Bunny Blanc. Doesn’t really align herself with Royal or Rebel, but has slipped into thoughts like ‘if I can make someone else royalty, why can’t I make myself royalty?’)

The Prince and The Pauper (It’s not a fairytale but the books included King Lear’s daughter so I feel like I’m free to do this. I just think designing two boys that look identical would be fun)

Mwindo (One of my favourite tales because of how entertainingly OP Mwindo is. I imagine that his son would be equally as OP and like half of the student population is scared of him. But that fear often gets subsided because he’s not that keen on using his powers like his dad was)

Commedia dell’arte (Not a story but kids based on the stock characters could be fun. They probably wouldn’t attend Ever After High since they wouldn’t have actual destinies, they’d attend another high school. I had the idea of Cedar doubling as the Burattino stock character, and it developed into all the stock characters being based on different dolls/toys, ie Pierrot being a rag doll, Pulcinella being a wind-up toy, etc. Really I just want Cedar to have people who could understand her whole ‘Am I even real’ situation better, is that too much to ask?!)

Two miscellaneous additions that don’t actually align to specific stories; a Warrior Girl and a Forest Witch. (The Warrior Girl is the daughter of a warrior tribe leader. My idea for her story is that it’s an ancient epic that is so old it has lost its exact name, having been repeated so many times. Also, her reason for following her destiny is less ‘we have to or we all disappear’ and more ‘I have to so I can prove myself worthy’. Her warrior kingdom’s society is very different from Ever After’s society, which she learnt the hard way. She feels awkward hanging out with the other girls because of cultural differences, and she doesn’t like hanging out with boys because they tend to underestimate her. She was only supposed to attend for Legacy year so that she could sign the Book of Legends because Milton Grimm would not stop bugging her father about it, but she decided to stay after the shit show that happened on Legacy day. I didn’t base the Forest Witch of a specific fairy tale because goddamn it there are too many witches living in the forests in these tales for me to choose just one. In universe she probably has a specific destiny, or a few, I just haven’t chosen it yet. Very closed off from others. Actually lives in the Enchanted Forest with her mother. She also likes archery but how much of her skill is genuine and is magic is up to debate)

The Devil (He appears in a lot of fairytales. The OC is a girl who is clearly the daughter of the devil, but it’s never said so no one actually knows it. Every time someone asks about her destiny she’s like ‘it’s nothing important don’t worry about it :)’)

[barcaluvv]

𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 ˢᵉᶜᵒⁿᵈ ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ! 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍 I woke up the next morning, a little later than usual. Sunbeams peeking through my cheeks who were still blushing from yesterday's situation, it seemed like they can't forget about the one who made them like this.This morning felt strange, there was no noise to be heard, Hector wasn't shouting around the house anymore, everything felt like a new start for me. To be honest I don't know what emotion is running up against my will right now, am I in love or am just dreaming? It fits more to be one, a dream, like according to what people who once were in love said "We are dreaming of those we don't have". If you told me exactly a week before everything happened that I'm awfully relating to this I wouldn't believe. I'm feeling scared and mostly concerned about Hector, we haven't talked since yesterday it's been a while really. Speaking of Hector, why didn't he wake me up to take him to his training? Maybe he didn't like yesterday's situation? What is he facing inside that dressing room? Are they having a tough time in there? Those scandals can take big influence on the team and their profit. I looked myself in the bathroom mirror while a few tears shed down my face trying to think of a valid solution that's not including staying in and hiding from the world. IIn addition to all these thoughts, I was mostly focused on the only thing and that i was wondering about whether the number 6 is doing okay, how is he coping with all of this.

After a while Hector came home, taking slow steps towards me and then fastening his walk taking a turn to his room, still not saying a word to each other. The next thing i heard was the gurgling of my bowels, I realised I didn't eat so I made us both dinner, I knocked on his door feeling numb all of a sudden.

I felt like the house was spinning but everything remained calm.

He didn't end up opening his room door, instead he texted "Tengo partido mañana, tienes que venir, alguien te necesita" which he invited me to watch him and his team mates play. The last part of the sentence sounded like someone out there needed me. The next day happened pretty quickly, it was the same but with intense more stage fright because of the game. The questions about number 6 were going through my mind obviously I was worried. When we got there, a lot of fans started to bang on the tinted glass window, sending me death treats, saying something like that I don't deserve him, I ruined his career...etc

those words pierced my soul, my voice became wobbly and I remained silent once again the world won. After a while they went somewhere else and I managed to get out of the car without getting hurt I mean physically, mentally I'm already pretty much hurt.

On my way to the gate I was hurrying, i didnt look where i go just suddenly my face gets on someone's chest, his scent was incredibly good, and while looking up, I see no one but the brown haired boy, Pablo I said to myself.And this is the moment when I experienced falling in love for the second time each again for the same person. We both smiled and I immediately apologised for ruining his shirt since all of my makeup was pressed against him. he didn't even have time to address me, a bunch of fans with ogeom signs were running towards us. He didn't even wait a bit, he pulled my hand and we ran for a while of course from them, when they finally lost sight of us, we found ourselves behind a small blunt bush that was nearby. I was breathing very loudly, skipping a heartbeat, the next thing I remember is our lips pressed together, at that moment I felt our sparks blooming. He slowly pulled out looking right into my eyes and saying "I'm going in again so don't be surprised when I do this" he pulled in and I can say there was intimacy in hesitance, hovering hands above my cheeks prodding the statement I let out a single nod. That so many bothered to say. A gentle brush of two lips, feeling a butterfly explosion right pressed onto my stomach, and delicate trembling of my fingertips, followed by the overwhelming, immediate relief from the heavy brick I had on my heart, it became pure. Perhaps not the first kiss but the first kiss I wanted. All of my worries disappeared as soon as our hands touched, despite his hands being cold from the wind also going through my hair i felt safe after a long while of not being. We turned back in silence and reached the stadium again, where the game was supposed to start in a few minutes. Me and Hector were still not talking, but I let a smile to him out wishing him a good luck. I still haven't seen number 6 for 20 minutes now and were already 10 minutes into the match. Not losing any hope, broad shoulders finally entered the field. The smile on my face widened, but the fear in my stomach has deept, and as always my expectations are coming to life. The next thing I saw was Pablo on the field laying in pain, holding back his screams while his arm Is pressed on his mouth, as the noises were trying to escape he didn't let them win, my heart began to ache, not like the ache you feel between your eyes or the ache in a tooth when u have cavity, my heart aches likes there's one million people tearing at its most tender places, I started to panic, then I sinked seeing first aid as they carry him from the field. without any hesitation i rushed towards him, pushing thousands of people to get through. Please Pablo say something, are you okay!?

It's going to be fine okay!! I kept saying that. I pressed myself against him and I held him in my arms tightly never planning of letting go "am I hurting you Pablo" I asked with a shaky drabbled voice.

Only if you stopped said the brown haired boy while holding my hand in disgrace.

I glanced at the game and noticed Hector and the other Barcelona players looking carefully at the cart, they clearly couldn't focus on the match. I saw Pablo glancing at them too back an forth. Minutes after his team mate and also one of my Friends Ferran scores and dedicates the goal to Gavi, pablo saw all this because the cart was facing the field, he slightly sends out a beautiful smile , full of spark and longing.

Three weeks passed by, I haven't heard of Gavi since he got injured, but somewhere on the news I read that he is back on the field. Plus me and Hector are still on weird conversations. My main questions are, is he doing okay, and when will I see him again. Wondering when will our eyes meet and create a magnificent bond that can't be expressed through words. I still replay our kiss in my head, over and over again, making it seem like a movie with no ending, the movie that you recommend everyone to go search for it. But that's really not the only thing that I should be worrying about I literally have an event, slightly bigger one though so I have to carry on with the look. Later that day, I sat by the closet, constantly looking for that one dress, I was about to give up but suddenly something sparkly chatched my eye, if it is what I think it is then yeah I found it. After hours of trying, I  finally found it! The dress was long with refined zircons around the neckline, in simple words it looked like it came out of a fairy tale, she had long sleeves and a set of gloves of the same color and material. I'm so excited to wear it! Naive me thinking nothing can possibly go wrong until... That day came, I entered the event with a straight head and a confident walk, I walked on the red carpet without looking from the side until, meanwhile, the cameras started rolling and the person I most wanted to see appeared at the door of the event. Pablo, it's him. It was the same thing that the cameramen repeated after every step he took, man he looked powerful. After some time spent, a journalist started questioning me about my and Gavi's so-called relationship, I kept silent while my heart wanted to explode, it had so much words to say but didn't.

Basically he ignored me the whole time, he didn't dare even to look at me. What a jerk, said this to comfort myself.

The Pain, I never expressed it potentially, I never screamed and jumped about it, never bawled and wept but the pain I felt was still. My heart was aching but never too loud, no one ever heard, I didn't allow anyone to, it itched and felt numb inside of me but in reality, it never went away. His smile was permanently plastered inside of my mind, the moment, too short but never enough to go out. But now it's 2:45 am, instead of sleeping I'm trying to find the words to explain how my world looks without you in it. Pablo, its like i became allergic to that name,or was I just tired of missing it? 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐁𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐄𝐃...

[queenofbaws]

Ohh, never sent anything like this your way and so I don't want to take the reigns too much! But I loved some of the prompts you RBed. Maybe "I keep thinking that something must be wrong with me. Even right now, it feels like I'm ten feet away from myself." In relation to anything Supermassive (UD/Quarry maybe) because I love love how you write fics for those games; take it anyway you'd please. I just super enjoyed the prompt lol

not-quite-six sentence weekend :P

The whole thing had seemed like a joke at first, just another way that the universe could grab them by the ankles, give them a good hard shake, then grab up all the loose change that spilled from their pockets while their heads were spinning. Things had been normal before camp - things had made sense. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and the things that went bump in the night were usually just your imagination or one of your pets knocking into something in the dark.

But now there were monsters. Now it was impossible to tell where reality ended and make-believe began. Now...

Well, now they were in a dingy little basement that reeked of burnt coffee, sitting on uncomfortable foldout chairs. It had to be the strangest support group that'd ever existed, bar none, and even that wasn't going the way it should've been...not with the other quote-unquote survivors doing what they were doing. Most of them were fine, but the Blackwood Bunch?

Oh. Oh, the Hacketteers were pretty fed up with them.

"So there I am, soaked to the bone, wearing someone else's clothes, I'm tired, I'm hungry, everything hurts, and it's like...every time I thought things were going to be okay, I...I ended up alone again. It was just...way too much. Insult to injury, you know?" Emma let the rest of her breath out in a heavy exhale, anxiously tucking her hair behind her ears. Per the usual, she hadn't let stage fright stop her from going at the first opportunity she was given, working her way through her story with tight smiles and shallow laughs. She licked her lips, took another breath, and -

"You think that's bad," Jessica spoke up from across the way, the collection of chairs a little too sloppy to be called a 'circle,' per se, "try having frostbite. And a concussion. And being in your underwear for most of it."

There was a ripple of low chatter from a couple of the others - not the Hacketteers, not the Blackwoods, but the others, the ones who'd been watching with slow-growing amusement and exasperation as their strange turf war had developed. In voices too low for the (warring factions) rest of them to hear, a man missing a suspiciously clean chunk of his ear leaned over to murmur, "Bet this is the one where they start throwing chairs," only for a woman with a garishly bright red pixie cut to dip her chin and respond, "Twenty bucks and you're on."

At the forefront, Emma's smile tightened, becoming something automatic. Automatonic, really. "I was in my underwear for a lot of it, actually."

"No frostbite, though," Mike cut in, happy enough to take over Jess's argument for her. "Seriously, you guys don't even know what you're talking about, okay? Like, yeah, sure, I know you got scared or whatever, but until you're fighting for your life out in subzero temps? Pfft. You don't know what it means to survive."

"Says the guy who stuck his hand in a bear trap," Jacob shot back, not bothering to lower his voice.

Mike had been ready, though. "Says the guy who stepped into a snare, then stepped into a bear trap, then...wait, wait, how'd he put it last time?" he asked, making a show of turning to Emily, then Jess, then craning his head around to Sam. "Oh! Right. Got dragged into a hillbilly sex dungeon. All in one night. Rip on the bear trap all you want, my guy, my one moment of dumbassery hardly stacks up to you going full fucking Loony Tunes. Walk off any cliffs while you were at it? Try and blow out a stick of dynamite thinking it was a birthday candle?"

"Hey man, that's not fair!" It was then that Nick threw his hat into the ring, sticking up for Jacob's case without a moment of hesitation. "You guys weren't down there! You have no idea what it was like, being in those cages all night!"

"Uh, hang on. A-a-agree to disagree." Chris was the one who spoke that time, but Ashley had lifted a finger beside him, the two of them seemingly lodging their complaint as a unit. "If we want to talk about dungeon experience, you...you really don't have a leg to stand on here, man. Sorry. You don't. Ash and I were in a fucking Saw movie, okay? So, I-I-I'm sorry that like, you got to sit for most of the night, but - "

"I was a fucking werewolf, dude!" Nick fired back, actually getting to his feet. "A monster! You don't have the first idea what that's like! My body exploded, I almost killed Abi, I...things still feel wrong! I still feel wrong! It's like...sometimes I don't even think this is my real body anymore, like I'm here, but I'm also standing ten feet away from myself! You don't get to just act like you've been there, done that - fuck that!"

A clearing of a throat. An unnecessarily loud, pointed sniff.

And then Josh entered the fray.

"Yeah. Know what? True. True that. Not a one of us - and I mean this, Nicholas - not a single one of us has any idea what it's like to be possessed by something otherworldly, flung around according to its whims, changed beyond recognition, and then woken up to realize, aw shit, it's Monday isn't it? I need to get to work pronto, but I'm just covered in all this gross, sticky blood!" Slowly, moving with deliberation, he straightened in his seat, the reconstruction scars on his face almost gone but not quite, his left eye catching the light in that eerie way human eyes weren't supposed to. "Shit. Wait. Hang on. That's not what I meant to say. Sorry, haven't had any of that coffee burbling away on the counter yet, and you know I'm not myself until I've had my coffee, hee hee, ha ha, hoo hoo. What I meant to say was - eat my whole, entire ass. Get back to me when you can describe the taste of human flesh to me, how's about that?"

She'd been quiet until then, but Abi raised her hands in a silent plea for them to stop, scrambling to take hold of the back of Nick's shirt when he took a single step forward towards Josh. "Guys! Guys, hey, this...I...fighting isn't helping stuff, okay? We should just - "

"Okay. Honestly? Sorry, not sorry, I'm on their side with this one," Laura piped in, the Blackwood gang sneering as the Hacketteers whirled. "You guys have...no idea what a hard time is, okay? Yeah, wow, yikes, werewolves. Try being in a jail cell for two months, never knowing if the weirdo who kidnapped you was going to let you go, kill you, bring you something to eat, or just stand outside your cell breathing too hard. On top of the werewolf thing! On top of it!"

"Yeah, like, not for nothing, but we didn't even get to make friendship bracelets, you know?" agreed Max, still nodding right along with Laura.

"They didn't even get to make friendship bracelets," Emily repeated, sadly shaking her head.

"Big talk. Real big talk. I'm sorry, did any of you walk away from your weird little winter getaway missing a limb?" Dylan asked. "No. Didn't think s - "

"Chris messed up his knee!" Ashley snapped. "Mike's missing fingers! Sam's, like, almost totally deaf in her one ear now! You can't just - "

"Yeah, I'm sorry, you didn't get fucking mauled," Emily cut in, speaking over Ashley as she yanked her shirt to one side, revealing the massive scar on her shoulder. "Don't complain about - "

"Pretty sure I got mauled, actually! Pretty sure a few of us got mauled, in fact! You don't - "

"You guys weren't lost underground for hours, trying to find your way out." Matt, that time, his usual stoic silence thrown by the wayside. "Pitch black. In a maze. Hearing something hunt you - "

"Wow. All due respect, dude? You weren't listening to our story at all, were you?" Ryan accused. "We - "

And with that, the meeting devolved the way it always did, all of the younger survivors pointing fingers and shouting, comparing wounds and battle scars, stacking their traumas on top of one another's like Pokemon cards. It wasn't the most therapeutic of ways to go about things, of that there could be no doubt, but...it must've been doing something, because they kept showing up every week.

The world was a strange place, after all. It only made sense that they'd be strange now too.

[billieeilishshusband]

Summary: Billie tries to ask you out on stage, But you have stage fright and she drags you on stage not knowing.

Warning(s): stage fright, Swearing

After performing 'Therefore I Am' She stood up and looked at the crowd "So, i actually wanted to bring someone on stage for a minute" The crowd yelled as Billie ran to where you were, which was just watching. You shook your head when you realised it was you she wanted. She must of not have noticed the shaking of your head because she grabbed your hand and dragged you on stage.

I was sweating and i looked like i was going to throw up. Billie looked at me, She clearly didn't know i had stage fright "YN-" She said the lights were completely turned off now. "-Will you go out with me?" The light slightly flickered white a few times before going back to no lights other than peoples phones. You moved her microphone so everyone didn't hear, I shocked my head and whispered to her "I can't, i don't want to be on stage. Please Billie don't do this" I hugged her tears falling, She looked defeated but she knew she didn't want to alarm her fans. "What?" She said looking at me "I'm gonna be sick" I ran off stage.

I hated being dramatic but i couldn't take it. Billie's POV

"I'm so hot i scared him away" i said. I really scared him i didn't mean to, i'm hoping the fans didn't hear. The rest of my performance, YN wasn't watching. After the performance i ran to backstage "Where's YN?" i said turning to the people they shrugged. I hadn't seen him, he must have gone home. i quickly messaged him 'Hey YN, i'm so sorry i didn't know you had stage fright, i didn't mean to point you on the spot like that' I got no reply. I knew where he lived so i went over. I still had the key to his house from when we used to chill out or when i wanted a break.

I opened the door and looked around the small apartment without moving before i yelled "YN, You here?" I could hear him listening to something, so i guessed he was in his bedroom. I walked to his room knocking on the door "Can i come in?" I heard a faint "ok" So i opened the door. I wasn't sure what to do, I fidgeted with my phone case before i finally came up with something "I'm so sorry for putting you on the spot. I shouldn't off i'm so sorry, i really didn't mean it" I rambled on for another minute before YN cut me off "Holy shit, Billie it's fine i should of told you i don't like being on stage" He said getting up from his place to go next to me.

"No, I shouldn't have put you in that position, i'm sorry dude" i looked up at him "I say yes, to the question" he quickly spoke. it took me a second to think of what he was talking about "Oh! Oh" I said.

[chameleon66]

Whispers of Panic

WARNING! Contains:, Raine angst, Odalia being Odalia, bullying, anxiety, anxiety attack(s), tickling, teasing, Hurt/Comfort,

Ships: Raine x Eda and a little Darius x Alador

Word count: 6215 (Long I know)

It had been a few months since Raine had transferred to Hexide and they couldn’t have been happier, they were the best in the Bard track, their anxiety had been down and they were best friends with the coolest witch in the whole school, Edalyn Clawthrone. Who they had to admit was very talented, funny, smart, strong and beautiful with her golden eyes, fiery and fluffy orange hair and winning smile that could make anyone weak at the knees, at least it hopefully wasn’t just them.

Things couldn’t have been better for Raine Whispers, but this wouldn’t be a story if everything was just fine and dandy now would it.

Monday

It had been just like any other Monday morning, Raine walked with Eda and her sister Lillith to school before heading off to their class.

That was when Raine felt a hand on their shoulder stopping them midway to their class.

Raine turned as was met with the face of Principal Faust and vice principal Bump following close behind him, Faust looked angry about something or maybe that's just how his face looked and Bump looked to just be on edge, nothing out of the ordinary.

“Raine Whispers?” Faust asked in a calmish voice.

Raine swallowed a lump in their throat before responding, “Yes, That’s me.” Am I in trouble? Raine thought.

Faust breathed in, then asked “Are you aware?”

“Aware of what?”

“I’ll take that as a no.” Principal Faust acknowledged, “ You Raine Whispers have been selected.”

“Selected for what?” Raine inquired, hopefully it wasn’t to feed Grom, they would either be giving Grom food or being the food.

“You have been chosen to represent the Bard track at the Hexide end of year showcase this Friday.” Principal Faust replied with an unusual amount to vigor in his voice.

“The end of year showcase.” Raine muttered to no one in imparticular, they had learned about what the end of year showcase was from Eda. It was when students from the nine tracks would perform in front of the students that were going to attend hexide that next year. Wait a minute…

THEY HAD TO PERFORM IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE!!

“I have been chosen to perform, i-i-in front of ev-e-everyone.” Raine’s voice shook as the words came out past their lips.

“Yes.” Principal Faust reiterated, “You are by far the most talented Bard in the school, and you have a long history of performing at your previous school, so you are the perfect fit for the position.”

Yes, Raine had performed in front of people before,weak knees, shaking voice, horrible anxiety and they even had anxiety attacks on some occasions, the full stage fright buffet.

“The show is this Friday at 6pm sharp, I have every faith in you Mr. Whispers.” Principal Faust then walked away in the direction that Raine was pretty sure was his office.

Raine felt so uneasy and anxious they didn’t even notice Principal Faust had misgendered them. They had to perform in front of the whole school, teachers, parents and then some new students, there was no chance they could do this with messing up. What if they forgot their song and made a fool of themself? What if they tripped on stage in front of everyone, what if they fainted on stage? What if -

A concerned voice jolted them from their spiraling downfall of ‘what if’s’. “Raine, are you ok?” Asked Vice Principal Bump putting a warm comforting hand on their shoulder.

“Oh um- Yes, never better.” Raine spoke almost as if they hadn’t gotten the scare of a lifetime a few seconds prior, then they stepped back from Bump arms pinned to their sides tightly.

“Just so you know it is completely ok if you don’t want to do the showcase, I myself don’t do well with talking in front of a lot of people.”

Bump’s word’s felt comforting in a way Raine desperately wanted to accept, but they didn’t need the words. It was just a dumb irrational fear that they just couldn’t seem to control, honestly it was pathetic, The top bard in school had stage fright.

“It’s okay Vice Principal Bump, Like he said I’m the best bard in this school, so I should not have a problem performing in front of an audience.” Raine had poorly faked confidence in their voice that did not manage to cover up the trembling in their knees. “I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.”

“Are you telling me or convincing yourself?”

“A bit of both.” Raine breathed with an anxious laugh. “Hopefully, you’re buying it, cause I’m not.” Raine added.

With that Raine walked past Bump to get to their class, the anxiety dripping off their forehead in the form of sweat and knees barely holding themself up as they walked unreasonably slow to their teacher's classroom.

Class had gone by way too fast for Raine’s liking, all they could do is fidget with their pencil lost in their anxieties and worries like a labyrinth, and it most certainly didn’t help that their teacher had announced to the whole class that Raine had been selected to perform at the showcase which just made Raine feel even worse, they couldn’t disappoint everyone but they also couldn’t make a fool of themself in front of everyone.

Lunch had arrived and after waiting in the line to receive a tray of food, they began to walk silently across the cafeteria.

“Hey Rainstorm.” a familiar voice called out to them, Raine looked up from their tray to see Eda sitting at a table with Darius, Alador and Odalia who all looked at Raine with dull looks.

Raine walked over to the table all of them were sitting at and took a seat next to Eda and across from Alador who had his nose buried in a book, probably about Abominations or something.

“Hey what’s going on? I called you when you came in and you didn’t answer.” Eda asked, turning her head to face Raine.

“I-I didn’t hear you.” Raine responded, the stutter in their voice becoming more noticeable.

“Well obviously.” Eda chuckled while rolling her eyes playfully at them which made a faint blush appear on Raine’s cheeks.

“Ugh, how come no one asks about me for titans sake!” Odalia groaned while staring daggers at Alador who was not paying attention in the slightest, “Don’t any of you know that I’m representing the Oracle track at the Hexide showcase!” Odalia boasted her voice dripped with ego.

“You do know that, I’m representing the abomination Track, Raine’s representing the Bard track and Eda and her sister Lily are assisting with the showcase, correct?” Darius Nagged with brows pulled down in a judgemental frown.

“Yes but I’m representing the Oracle track and it’s the best track, you know why?”

“Don’t tell me.” Darius turned and took a bite from his sandwich the scowl still frim on his face.

“Hang on, back up, Raine, you never told me you’re in the Showcase.” Eda said turning to Raine fully giving them her full attention which startled Raine.

“Oh yeah, I-I am, -b–but I-I didn’t even find out until t-th-this morning.” Raine somehow managed to get out somewhat conheriantly.

Eda flung her arms around Raine in a side hug which made Raine’s face go as red as their blood rushed into their face, it took Eda a second to realize what she was doing before she awkwardly maneuvered away.

“Well it’s just-it’s a huge honor to represent your track in the end of year showcase; they only let the best of the best perform in it.” Eda explained the excited energy radiation off her, But then she noticed the table was shaking a bit so much that all of their lunch trays bounced up and down ever so slightly. Eda looked down to see Raine’s foot bouncing anxiously and when she looked up to see Raine’s face, they were biting their bottom lip with their eyes fixated on the ground.

“You ok Rainstorm?” Eda questioned her cru-friend. Her best friend. Her very best friend, who she did not at all like in that way.

Raine’s eyes shot back up and foot stopped bouncing but the anxiety still lingered on their face. “ O-of course I am.” Raine lied to not only their best friend but to the whole table.

“Hey, it’s ok to be nervous, I mean if you're nervous that just means it’s really important to you.” Darius smiled with a tone of voice that felt soothing.

“I-I’m not n-nerv-nervous.” Raine felt their ears and face go redder, this was ridiculous, they shouldn’t be nervous. They had performed in front of so many more people and were still terrified back then, Surely they’d all make fun of them if they knew.

“You are an awful liar, Raine.” Odalia scoffed her eyes looking Raine up and down with her icy blue eyes.

Raine felt fear grip their heart as if Odalia was going to pounce on them and claw their guts out through their pointy tipped ears if they so much as blinked in an irritating manner.

“I-I-I um-gotta go.” raine excused themself from the table and speed walked out of the cafeteria with shaky knees, Eda watched sadly as they left. They must be really nervous about performing, Eda said in her head, she had never seen Raine act so anxious before.

“Sad to watch your boyfriend go, Edalyn?” Odalia smirked at her with her arms folded against her chest.

“Ok number one, respect THEIR pronouns and two we are just friends.” Eda insisted, because they were, there were no romantic feelings between the two of them. Zero.

Darius swallowed the rest of their sandwich before responding. “Eda it hurts me immensely to say this but Odalia has a good point, I’ve seen the way Raine looks at you, and they only look at two things that way.” Darius raised his left hand and gestured to Edalyn. “You and their viola.” Darius retracted his hand back waiting for a response.

Eda had to force the stupid lovestruck grin off her face and gave Darius the strongest grimace she could muster. “Oh be quiet Darius, you have no right to judge my type considering yours.” with that Eda walked off with her empty tray in hand leaving the three alone.

Darius spared a glance at Alador who was still reading with a curious twinkle in his sparkling eyes, Dang, Darius could swim in those eyes for as long as he may live.

Odalia’s face moved to obscure his view of Alador and Darius immediately turned away from the two in embarrassment, why couldn’t he just move on? There was no chance he and Alador would ever be together, not in a million years.

Tuesday

Eda and Raine made their way to Eda’s locker as she needed to get one of her potions books, Raine had been near silent all day letting Eda do all the talking. Eda had definitely noticed this.

“Raine, are you sure that you’re ok? You’ve been awfully quiet since yesterday?”

Eda's eyes shifted to the bard, they looked stressed with their eyes glued to the floor, their legs shaking as they walked, and their hands were gripped onto their viola’s case’s handle with a white knuckle grip.

Raine looked up, adjusting the glasses on their face before forcing a smile a bit too wide on their face. “Yep, I just didn’t sleep well last night.” Raine told them the fake smile falling from their face as they spoke.

“If this is about the showcase, I’m sorry if I made it sound like a lot of pressure.” Eda made a mental note of the way Raine’s muscles had tensed at the mention of the showcase. “Because it’s actually a lot of fun, I should know I’m helping with the show.”

Raine tried to force the tenseness out of their shoulders and a clamish look on their face to appear, “What? I’m not scared, I have performed in my life more times than I can remember.”

Raine leaned onto the surface of the locker trying to appear cool and collected when the locker suddenly opened its mouth and Rain fell in.

Eda jumped into action grabbing Raine’s wrists and pulling with all her strength to get them out, that’s when the locker suddenly loosened its grip on the bard and almost made both of the witches fall over luckily Eda catching herself and Raine before they fell to the floor.

“Easy there Rainstorm, it would be a really bad way to die.” Eda giggled, setting Raine back on their still wobbly legs.

Raine let an anxious laugh flow through them and looked at their friend with a small smile.

“Thanks for the save.” Raine thanked Eda with a tint of red appearing on their cheeks.

“Don’t mention it.” Eda winked at them. A scream rang through the hall causing Raine to jump a bit, but luckily it was just the bell telling the students to get to class. Eda and Raine looked at eachother Raine with nervous energy and Eda with confusion.

“I better head to class.’ Raine gulped before picking up their viola and darting down the hall leaving Eda by herself with a concerned twinkle in her eyes.

“Bye?” She waved slowly, not that they noticed.

Wednesday

“I just don’t know what to do.” Raine admitted “The showcase is day after tomorrow and I still can’t get myself to stand up and perform in front of people, I know I should have just told Principal Faust I didn’t want to do the Showcase but I think he’s really counting on me and so is the rest of my class.” Raine sighed through their nose and buried their head in their arms.

“But I also can’t tell people I have severe stage fright. I mean think about the teasing, ‘The best bard in school has stage fright.’ Eda will probably not want to be my best friend, anyone which is just as bad, do you have any advice for me?”

Raine looked over to Alador who was reading and hadn’t even looked up from his stupid book. Raine tapped his shoulder to which Alador's eyes shifted to Raine.

“Oh hey Raine, when did you get here?”

Raine groaned before rubbing their temples. Maybe this is why Odalia was always annoyed with Alador Raine thought to themself.

“By the way, I wanted to tell you congratulations on getting selected to be in the showcase,that’s like a super big deal, So many people from all over the isles come to see it and last year the emperor's coven even came to see it. They only select the best witches to be in the showcase, the ones they know won’t mess it all up, a few years ago one kid got expelled by principal faust because the plant that she grew was four inches too high, but hey no pressure.” Alador finished with a smile that only the most oblivious person could have at that moment.

Raine felt their heart practically stop as Alador spoke, Now their place at hexide was now on the line, just like at their previous school, Raine felt their hands tremble and stomach tie itself tightly into a knot of anxiety. They were doomed. “Yep, no pressure.”

With that being said Raine went to the school to practice. Raine tried to relax as they began to whistle the melody of their favorite tune from when they were a child, simpler times.

Alador almost managed to return reading to his book but then he felt a strong force knock them down the steps and when Alador looked back they saw Raine covering their mouth with their eyes wide when they glanced over at him they immediately ran inside.

Alador steadied himself on the railing before his mind was suddenly connecting the dots. Remember the times when he got so frustrated with Odalia not letting him hang out with Darius and whatever Abomination slime nearby turned into huge monstrosities. he knew other witches could experience that too, was something bothering Raine?

“Was it something I said?”

Thursday

Raine was up to their ears in anxiety now, they practiced their songs on their viola all week even missing an hour or two of sleep practicing. But those stupid irrational fearful thoughts just kept coming back and kicking them.

Why couldn’t they just get over this?

Ok, Raine needed to calm down. Luckily a solution came to them soon enough, they could go hang out with Eda. After all, they hadn’t been hanging out with her as often because of how much they had been practicing.

Raine quickly put their viola in its case and made their way outside to the school’s Grudgby field where Eda was probably practicing with Lily.

But once Raine got there, they saw Eda playing by herself on the field with Odalia gazing into a crystal ball with Alador on the bleachers, Wow had Eda been by herself while they were practicing for the showcase Raine noted. Wow they had been pushing away their best friend just because of a stupid showcase.

“Hey Eda.” Raine hollered from across the field.

Eda’s ears perked up and when she saw Raine her smile lit up brighter than a light spell as she rushed over to Raine and they did their signature handshake perfectly in sync.

“Oh geez it feels good to see you.” Eda said hugging Raine tightly, Raine felt their heart flutter but accepted the hug, maybe some good old comfort was just what they needed.

The hug broke before Raine started speaking, “Yeah I guess I have been busy a lot lately.” Raine admitted arms wrapped around themself.

“Oh come on don’t feel too bad about it.” Eda said placing her hands on their shoulders “Everybody around this time of year gets busy like pre-paring for coven tryouts, finals, and not too mention the end of year showcase-”

Eda paused herself as she noticed Raine’s knees shaking and shoulders tensed at the mention of the end of year showcase, “Are you sure that you're not scared about it?” Eda asked, hands moving from Raine’s tense shoulders.

Raine forced their breathing to slow down and shoulders ease a bit. “Are we still talking about that?” Raine looked at Eda, trying too hard to appear calm. “I have performed dozens of times and it makes no sense for all the best Bard to have stage fright.” Raine locked their eyes down on the ground and tried to look like they were joking but all they got was a concerned look from Eda.

Eda knew Raine was nervous but did they actually have stage fright? Because that would explain a whole lot about how they had been acting the last few days. But Eda didn’t want to confront them here in front of the Drama queen herself (*cough* Odalia *cough*).

“Alright then, how about we go and grab some apple blood from the cafeteria?” Eda suggested hoping Raine would fall for her trap to them alone with her so she could talk to them.

“I think that the cafeteria is closed after school, Eda.” Raine pointed out. “But I could turn some water into apple blood if you want.”

Well that hadn’t quite gone according to plan Eda thought but Raine was so polite to offer her and she also couldn’t blow her cover so she nodded her head and went to fetch her some water and paper cups, leaving Raine waiting for her on the field.

Eda returned with two cups with water in them and held them out for Raine, Raine took in a breath then whistled but the magic didn’t flow out in a steady stream to change the chemistry of the liquid but instead in an uncontrolled burst that knocked both Eda and Raine off their feet, the water spilling out of the cups.

Eda looked at Raine slowly sitting up, Eda knew emotions had a strong effect on magic and that it was not Raine’s intention to do that, Raine must be in a much worse state of mind if their magic got that out of control.

Both witches got back on their feet, both unsure of what to say.

So Eda started, “Raine, are yo-.”

“YOU INSOLENT TRASH!”

Both of them looked up to Odalia on her feet holding up her crystal ball which had a small piece chipped off it. “YOU BROKE MY CRYSTAL BALL!” Odalia screamed like a banshee fighting poor, already shaken Raine.

Raine felt their throat and chest tighten with their knees getting weaker. “I-I-I’m s-sor-sorry.” Raine managed to push out.

“Oh you better be you stupid bard.” Odalia quickly jumped off the bleacher and got within a threatenly short distance from Raine. “What were you trying to do, kill me?”

“I-I didn’t-”

“Oh my titian just shut up.” Odalia was now red in the face with rage with both Eda and Alador just sitting there like statues. “Why were you selected to be in the showcase out of all people, because you know what?” Raine wanted to speak but couldn’t find any words to say.

“You are nothing but a poor, weak, cowardly excuse for a bard!” Odalia's eyes glowed with powerful rage.

Hot tears stung in Raine’s eyes like acid as sobs made their way to their throat, they just burst into tears as they ran off the field.

“Wait Rainstorm!” Eda shouted after them but they did not spare even a glance at her. She turned with fury to Odalia. “Do you know how upset you just made them!”

“Oh I’m well aware.” Odalia examined her painted purple nails “But seriously that was seriously pathetic.” Odalia crossed her arms across her chest narrowing her eyes at Eda.

“They already are stressed out enough without you screaming at them.” Eda was not only angry but also just felt sorry for her cru-friend, best friend.

Odalia smirked at Eda “Say what you want Edalyn. Just don’t act surprised when they screw up the showcase tomorrow.”

Odalia walked away with Alador looking back at Eda before following her. Eda just stood there alone on the grudgby field.

Friday (The night of the showcase)

Raine paced back and forth in the bard classroom which was being used as the waiting area for kids who were in the showcase, one kid from each track was there but none of them looked as nervous as Raine did.

Raine had been eating an apple given to them by Odalia while pacing trying to get themselves calm they couldn’t perform if they were this stressed. Their magic had been out of whack enough already lately from them being stressed out.

“Knock, knock.” Eda chanted while opening the door and Lillith stepped inside the room holding a clipboard.

Lilith looked up from her clipboard and began to speak “Alright folks, the show is starting in ten minutes and there are a lot of people here.” Raine took another bite out of their apple before chewing anxiously. “The order you are performing in is posted on the wall . Please familiarize yourself with it.”

As if on cue everyone started to crowd the paper on the wall, everyone except Raine who was waiting until everyone was gone, though they continued to chomp on the apple until a voice began to speak again.

“Raine, are you stress eating?” Eda asked with Lillith now walking towards her sister and Raine.

“What no, what makes you think that?” Raine swallowed what they were chewing.

Lilith stared at the apple they were eating before looking up at Raine.

“Because that apple you're eating is made out of foam.” Lilith pointed out. Raine looked down at the apple to see foam instead of fresh apple meat.

Odalia snickered behind her hand staring Raine dead in the eyes. Raine groaned before sitting down on a desk chair when Eda walked up to them and put a hand on their shoulder.

“Don’t worry Rainstorm, ignore what Miss ‘I’m so much better than everyone’ has to say, you’ll be awesome out there.” Eda smiled a toothy grin at them which made Raine’s heart melt.

“Come along Edalyn we got to get backstage.” Lilith whispered shouted at her younger sister before speed walking out the door, Eda got up to her feet but before she could follow her sister she leaned over and whispered to Raine. “Just so you know, you’ll be going last.”

That should have comforted Raine but it really didn’t , it just meant more time for them to be nervous and scared out of their mind.

Time ticked by fast, soon the kid from the beast keeping track was on and Raine was to be going next. Raine was still sitting down feeling nauseous, that was either nerves or the foam apple they had eaten. Maybe they could just fake that they were sick or sneak out the bathroom window.

“Raine!” a feminine voice shouted causing Raine to jump only to turn and see Lillith standing there, “Raine, you’re on in two minutes.” Raine had enough time to grab their Viola and bow and swallow nervously before following her to behind the curtains where they could see a kid on stage with a giant worm trying to tame it.

Raine gripped their instrument harder trying to get themself to calm down with little to no success trying to do so when Principal Faust was suddenly walking on stage.

“And now for our final act of the night we have Raine whispers performing for the Bard track. Principal Faust announced as an eruption of cheers and claps prevailed.

Raine froze, this was it, there was no going back now, it was now or never, Oh how Raine wished they could choose never.

“Go!” Lilith nudged them from behind pushing Raine on to the stage in sight of the audience, Raine’s chest tightened and their knees knocked together as they tried to position their viola to play it, but when they looked up and saw the dozens and dozens of eyes staring at them.

Raine lost it

Eda was watching backstage worried upon seeing her cru-FRIEND, GOSH DARN IT. completely freeze up when they look at the people in the audience. When suddenly Raine ran off stage ignoring the people who were calling their name behind them including Eda. Eda looked to see everyone who was backstage dumbfounded except for Odalia who was grinning evilly, That sick witch. But Eda would deal with her later, right now she had something more important to do.

Eda took off in the direction Raine went trying to find them, when they came to an empty classroom and they heard heavy breathing and dry sobs, Eda slowly opened the door to see Raine with their knees pulled up to their chest, glasses crooked on their nose and arms wrapped around their knees.

Eda slowly sat down next to Raine unsure of what to say for what felt like the millionth time that week, but she had to say something. So she sighed before forcing words to come out of their mouth.

“Raine, it’s-.”

But before Eda could say more Raine looked up at her for Eda to see the terrifying sight that was their eyes, Raine’s usually vibrant green eyes that were usually full of music were now dull and red with tears brimming the edges of their eyes.

“Go away Eda, you don’t deserve to be around someone who just ruined the showcase for everyone.” Raine’s voice was weary and tight as if confined to their throat forever.

“Oh please Raine, Odalia ruined the showcase when she just talked about how amazing her future is for twenty minutes straight.” Eda said bluntly.

“At least she didn’t run off the stage and make herself look like a fool.” Raine’s voice cracked midway through their sentence.

“Raine, it’s all ok.” Eda tried to reassure them only for Raine to curl up tighter and bury their head into their arms.

“No, it’s not, I have stage fright!” Raine admitted to Eda. “Ok there I said it, I’m normally able to just suck it up and perform but for some stupid reason I couldn’t just do that like the dozens of times I’ve done it in the past. What kind of Bard has stage fright? Why can’t I just grow up and lose this stupid irrational fear? Odalia’s right, I am a poor excuse for Bard.”

Eda was stunned, she kind of already figured out Raine had stage fright but she didn’t realize it this bad. She was even more stunned to hear raine talking so harshly of themself, it almost made Eda angry to hear her best friend thought of themself that way. She couldn’t just sit there and let her friend tear themself down like that.

“Raine, can you turn towards me?” Eda asked in the most gentle voice she could. Raine slowly moved their head from their arms only for Eda to pull them into a tight hug letting them bury their face in their hair as she rubbed their back to ease them.

“Raine, you are the most talented Bard in the whole school and probably on the boiling isles, and you don’t need to be on stage and perform in front of an audience to prove that to anyone.” Eda felt Raine hiccup but did not let that discourage her. “You shouldn’t let fear control your life but you also shouldn’t force yourself to face your fears unless you are ready to because then you just hurt yourself and that is never the answer, But my point is you really shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, You’re doing great.”

Raine almost started sobbing, but they did cling onto Eda a little bit harder. It was a few minutes before Raine let go of Eda and began wiping the tears from their cheeks as they looked at Eda, eyes still wet with tears. “Thanks Eda, I needed to hear that.” Raine smiled at her.

“You're welcome.” Eda felt a sense of pride wash over her as Raine smiled at her, things would be ok. “How about we get you home?” Eda asked.

Raine looked down, almost ashamed before speaking “I don’t think I can face my parents after I ran off stage.” Raine’s knees fell from their chest as they finished and Eda understood. Disappointing the people who sacrificed a lot for you just makes you feel like a failure, and that was the last thing Raine needed right now.

“How about you stay the night at my place? Both of my parents couldn’t make it to the showcase because they had some emergency at work so they probably won’t be home until morning.” Eda knew that it would probably be a bit awkward but she was willingly to put those feelings aside for Raine’s sake.

Raine gratefully smiled at her and nodded.

“Alright then, let’s get moving.” Eda helped Raine to their feet and they snuck out the classroom window and rode Owlbert to Eda’s house with Raine texting their parents that they would be spending the night with a friend's house.

After they got to Eda’s home, they found Lily wasn’t there (Probably still dealing with the drama at the school). So they ended up going to Eda’s room and just watching Eda’s crystal ball. It was obvious Raine was still coming down from an anxiety high because they were still quite fidgety and their leg were still bouncing up and down as they sat in Eda’s desk chair.

After watching three episode of some reality witch show, it was decided they would get ready for bed, Eda went to the bathroom to brush her teeth while Raine just sat on her bed picking at the skin around their nails, when Eda came back out she felt a pang of sadness run through her, it wasn’t easy seeing someone she cared for still feel bad.

“You ok? Rainstorm” Eda asked. Raine was about to say something along the lines of ‘I’m fine, totally fine.” but then they stopped themself. Eda wasn’t going to make fun of them for not being fine. So Raine just shook their head.

Eda sat down on her bed in front of Raine, “Still feeling bad about what happened?”

Raine just nodded, they weren’t completely over what happened, not anyone probably would be at that point.

If Eda could just snap her fingers and make Raine feel better then she would, she just had to think of something. Then Eda got an idea, an awful idea, Eda got a wonderful awful idea (Dr seuss anyone?). Eda looked over at Raine who looked at her back.

“Hey Raine, I could try something that my sister used to do to me to cheer me up, if you’re ok with it.” Raine gave her an inquisitive look but what did they have to lose?

“Yeah ok.” Raine responded.

Eda slowly put her hands on Raine’s stomach which made Raine squeak and cheeks flush, Eda took in how adorable that was before she began to trace circles over their stomach. Raine felt a wobbly smile as they shook with repressed giggles, they really tried not to giggle but Eda’s fingers were maddening.

Eda saw Raine fighting down giggles and took that as a sign to start tickling. The sparky feeling in Raine’s stomach grew as Eda was tickling them, Raine couldn’t pick out if it was torture or pleasure but either way Raine began to softly giggle which had Eda taken it back. Raine’s giggles were soft and melodic in a way that made her blush like crazy, but she brushed it off because right now she had to make Raine hysterical.

Raine felt Eda’s hands shift from their stomach to sides which almost immediately made them start to giggle and when Eda started tickling their sides they started laughing. Raine began to fall back on the bed, and Eda followed them pinning them down beneath her.

“EDHAHAHAAHA NAHAHAHAT MY SIHAHAHAHAHDES!” Raine barely got the words out between their fits of laughter.

Eda took pleasure in the fact Raine was having trouble getting words out and decided to tease them.

“Aww… What’s the matter, Whispers? Can’t handle a bit of tickling?”

Raine’s face and ears got redder, admittedly they were feeling a lot better than before, and they were thankful Eda hadn’t managed to find their worst spot yet (Foreshadowing).

The two were having the time of their lives but then Eda made a discovery. When her hand got a bit lower and landed on Raine’s hip, Raine burst into hysterics. Eda had found Raine’s weakness and now she was going to exploit it.

She began to squeeze and tickle Raine’s hips which got her the cutest laughter out of Raine. Raine had jinxed themself and now they were paying the price, and it was quite a hefty price as well.

“Wow, Raine, you’ve got quite the giggle button.” Eda started slowing down her tickles as Raine started to wheeze and hiccup, and soon enough Eda’s tickles had completely stopped.

Raine took a few deep breaths before they stared up at Eda, her face mere inches from theirs. Both teens took a pause just staring into each other's eyes in some odd way.

Eda couldn’t take it anymore, She pressed her lips against Raine’s lips which caused Raine to stiffen from shock. It was impulsive but felt so right, Raine relaxed as brought a hand to Eda’s cheek with Eda’s arms around their neck. After a minute they broke apart and after a second opened their eyes.

“You’re…extremely red.” Eda chuckled.

“Shut up!” Raine turned their face away from Eda’s

“Like actually vermillion.”

“I said shut up!” Raine repeated to Eda though they giggled a bit through their sentence.

Eda looked at Raine with a smile which Raine returned without a second thought, Eda had to ask now, she had no excuse not to. “Rainstorm, would you like to go out with me sometime?”

“I would love to.” Raine beamed.

Eda hugged Raine as her adrenaline died down causing her to feel drowsy in Raine’s hold. Raine felt Eda relax and they relaxed too with a sense of calm filling the room.

Bonus

Lillith stormed inside the house, she had been at the school for two whole hours sorting out the problem and looking for Raine and Eda who had disappeared to titian knows where.

Lilith made her way upstairs grumbling, she had figured Eda went home early to avoid the chaos and given the hour was probably asleep. So She naturally went to her sister's room about to start nagging her but felt herself pause at the sight before her.

Eda and Raine were cuddled up together on Eda’s bed both fast asleep.

Lilith sighed, grabbing a spare blanket from the closet upstairs and laying it on top of the two before walking out to her own room.

She could nag them all she wanted tomorrow.

[tragedybunny]

The Song Divine - Chapter 2

༺Summary༻

Astrid was an opera singer with a glowing future ahead of her when fate crosses her path with that of Prince Folwin, youngest son of the Emperor. The two begin what feels like a romance from tales of old. The closer the two become though, the more Astrid is pulled into the deepening conflict tearing the Imperial Family apart from within. One fateful night will shatter it entirely, leaving Astrid alone in the world and a fugitive. Just as she begins to find solace among the companions who took her in, her and Folwin are thrust back together for a grim mission that will have them pardoned if they can see it through. While the dangers they face are great, the biggest struggle might be having one another close through it all.

༺Warnings༻ Setting appropriate violence, sexual content

༺Word Count༻ 3512

༺A/N༻ Hello Lovelies! I am back for Chapter 2. Thank you for continuing to support my little story. Huge thank you to @icybluepenguin for being my support, inspiration, and someone to shake some sense into when I'm feeling down.

And to the rest of my server crew as well! You all are the best!

Also on AO3

The backstage of the Opera House pulsed with expectant energy from what could have been a small army making itself ready for tonight’s performance. From performers to musicians to the stagehands; they were all united as one force, though everyone seemed to be a little more on edge than usual. Astrid stood a bit apart from it all. Though she had been at the Opera for a couple of months, living in the great dormitories many of the young artists at court lived in, she hadn’t made a many friends. 

“Are you alright Astrid, you look like you look a bit pale.” The one exception had somehow snuck up on her, causing her to jump. 

“Matthias! You nearly scared me to death.” she scolded the rising star and one of tonight’s leads. 

“I think stage fright will do that first.” Matthias' warm brown eyes sparkled from under a mane of unruly dark curls. “If you pass out and miss your first part, everyone is going to think you’re cursed.” 

Despite a rather shaky audition and her own crushing reluctance, Astrid had somehow procured her first role outside the chorus. She’d thought of running away rather than going through with it, but thinking of defying her father was like drowning in ice water. Besides, this was what she’d been trained for her whole life, she knew nothing else. If she could just get through this first time, it had to get easier. “I promise I won’t pass out.” 

Matthias grimaced and Astrid felt a creeping dread. “I hope you can keep that promise,” Matthias paused for what seemed like an eternity, while Astrid held her breath.  “Prince Folwin is out there.” 

The world spun for a moment and she almost broke her promise. “What?” That strange incident in the Imperial Gardens had gone unmentioned to anyone, so there was no way Matthias was teasing her. 

“It’s true, he’s up there in the royal box with a number of his retinue. Not a terribly shocking development, this is an opening night, and he is quite fond of theater.” 

Astrid had heard that, though the Emperor was the one who officially sponsored the Academy and Court Artists, it was Empress Hellentia and the youngest of her five sons who were most vested in Elyssia's arts and culture. Well, there were a lot of things one heard about Prince Folwin, but this one seemed most relevant to her. 

So Matthias spoke true, it wasn't surprising Prince Folwin was here, and Astrid silenced a voice inside that dared suggest he could have remembered his promise. "That seems more like your and Orianna's problem," Astrid deflected.

Matthias covered his heart dramatically and looked stricken. "Such coldness, you wound me." The sounds of an orchestra warming up filled the backstage. "Better ready myself. May Andriel's touch be with you, Astrid." 

"And her pleasure dwell with you." The invocation to the Goddess of love and the arts was ingrained in her from her days at the Academy. Watching Matthias walk away, Astrid lost herself for a moment in panic, thoughts of the Royal audience washed away by the sheer number of others out there. She had to succeed though, this was her whole life and if she failed she had nothing. Even worse, her father was playing tonight, and she would humiliate herself in front of him. 

When at last she stepped on stage, though her part was small, her voice was clear and true.  "Breathe, don't look at them," she told herself. Sweat formed on her palms, her stomach clenched, and she was sure she went pale. 

But she sang, and with every note confidence grew, and by some miracle of Andriel, she was lost in the song. The audience vanished, and it was just Astrid and the music, at last.

Still, it was a relief when the final curtain call came. Orianna and Matthias were met with a standing ovation and marched off the stage triumphantly. Astrid hung back as the rest of the cast followed, letting the last of the applause resonate around her, and for the first time, she dreamed of what the future could be, instead of dreading it. Stepping back behind the curtain, an excited buzz greeted her as she pushed through the stationary crowd, looking for Matthias. She stopped cold as she found the reason for the excitement in the center of the gathered onlookers. 

Prince Folwin was greeting Orianna, a bouquet of red roses had been placed in her arms and she beamed up at him. “A glorious performance as usual, Madame Orianna.” 

Astrid’s pulse turned to thunder in her veins and her heart pummeled itself furiously against her ribs – she needed to get away. If he saw her, he might recall that meeting and think she had been expecting him. How foolish would she look, the nameless singer expecting a Prince to remember her? Taking a step back, she turned, looking for the quickest route through the press of bodies. 

“Astrid! There you are,” his silken voice exclaimed.

Freezing, she turned back, pulling her arms around herself, making her body as small as possible as all eyes fixed on her. The transition from her fears to realizing how wrong she had been made her head spin. But soon enough she wished she had been right, as no one looked away from the scene of the flamboyant Prince hurrying over to her. 

“I was worried I would miss you somehow.” His hand captured hers, despite how stiffly she responded, and he brushed his lips against it, lingering for longer than was strictly polite. “Now you can’t tell anyone I don’t keep my word. Oh,” he snapped his fingers and one of his attendants hurried to his side holding a small bouquet of purple camellias, “these are for you.”

Gingerly, she let him place them in her arms. “Thank you, Your Highness,” she said softly with a small courtesy. “You honor me.” There was nothing she wanted more than to flee, to leave behind the gaping stares and the rising tide of whispers. 

“Nonsense, I’m delighted to be here. Though I do know of a way you could return my kindness.” He gave her a dazzling smile, and Astrid realized he’d never let go of her hand.

“And that is, Your Highness?” The initial bout of being overwhelmed was wearing off and her mind was starting to catch up. 

Prince Folwin leaned in, so that only she could hear what he said. “Join me for a little salon I’m hosting; performers, artists, writers. You’d make quite the impression on my friends.” 

That scent of floral musk she remembered washed over her and she wanted nothing more than to say yes, to let herself be swept away by the shining Prince. Still, she couldn’t quite trust him: there was nothing about her that should draw him in so, she was no one. And how would it look to the world? “I can’t. Everyone will talk.” 

Folwin chuckled quietly. “They’re already talking, my dear, too late for that.” 

“But they’ll all think I’m trying to get ahead by… you know… with you.”  There was every chance her words were going to irritate him, and she’d never see him again, which saddened her for some reason. She knew nothing about him for certain, except his name and station, but she found herself drawn to him. 

“I assure you, no one will think that. Don’t make me beg it of you.” And then he did something entirely unexpected. Prince Folwin pouted, looking genuinely put out by her refusal. 

Despite her every intention to keep refusing, Astrid felt herself cracking. Why should she deny herself what she was being drawn to? As he said, everyone was already talking, She nodded her assent before she could think about it more. “When?”

Then he was all smiles again, kissing her hand once more. “Two days. I’ll send for you, my dear.” Releasing her hand, he turned away, thankfully drawing the enraptured attention of the crowd with him. 

--------------------

Astrid wouldn't have believed a town the size of Abyssus could be as loud as it was. Every public space was filled with revelers, vendors, and the odd guards trying to prevent utter chaos. The Sending was in full swing and she wondered how exactly the sailors would manage in the morning after the drunken debauchery of tonight. Their little group wouldn't be around to find out though.

The inn they'd been staying at, the Broken Beast, was overflowing as a troupe of performers retold the tale of the town's founding. The four of them had their obligate tankard of ale and mingled with the locals, then they were gone. They gave a farewell to the landlord and claimed they would return after sampling the festival’s delights. They did all that with their bags obscured by a song Astrid had woven, and with eyes turned away by one of Brecken's folkweavings. The dust he had spread from his hand was a small act of magic from a natural, but not highly trained gift. The other was being an impossibly good shot, with the bow concealed at his back. Their horses were left readied in the stable, and Lyza led them through the thronging crowds to their target.

At the center of town were two buildings that had been there since Abyssus was founded, and the whole of the little town had grown up around them. The first was a humble temple to the Celestial Court. Astrid had stopped briefly yesterday during their walk, taking time to look pious, another bit of cover for them. While it was ostensibly a temple to all ten, some were featured more prominently. The Father and Mother were well represented: the statue of Elayra, the Mother, had eyes with the strangest painting effect that seemed to follow Astrid, while Fulnarsis, the Father, was simply there. Of course, there was also the iron box, veiled in black, that represented Chirax, the god who would swallow humanity if he could, dwelling in the Infernus. The scent of incense and intonation of the clergy reminded Astrid of the countless hours she’d spent in Andriel’s shrine, trying to pray away her stage fright. Now she wasn’t sure she believed in gods at all. 

The second building in the square was the governor’s dwelling. Although he was technically the head of a whole province, it included miles of forest and a few hamlets even smaller than Abyssus. The post was nothing anyone from any truly great family would want, so it had been offered to a man who had risen up through the military on brute strength and iron will. Sir Thomasen, whose military career had been cut short by the loss of one arm and one eye. Tonight he was at the tavern owned by his daughter and son-in-law, reliving his glory days, and drinking to the health of Abyssus’s sailors. 

And kept in his manor, for lack of anywhere better, were the taxes of the town, held all winter when the roads could become an icy graveyard. The Imperial officials would be here soon to escort them back to the Capital. They were in for a shock when it came to that. 

Dancing, shouting, cavorting, and playing far drunker than they were, the four of them cut through the crowd without a second glance before sneaking their way to the side of the house and the servant’s entrance. Dark cloaks were drawn around them and the earthen tones of their clothes helped conceal them as they faded into the shadows away from the press of bodies. No servants would be here tonight, they too were given the night off for the festivities – just one clerk, and two guards at the vault. 

Tallus took the lead. Lyza and Astrid tucked themselves behind the hedgerow, not even a small fence had been bothered with all the way out here. Brecken remained in the open, serving as an early warning. He stumbled and swayed, looking like a lost drunk while Tallus tested the door. All of them heard the soft creak as it opened immediately, no lock. Astrid thought the governor was either very brave or foolish. They needed no signal, all of them moving at the sound, Astrid and Lyza, sprinting from their hiding spot, and Brecken meandering. Tallus waited inside, impatiently gesturing at Brecken, who then took the small path to the door at a full-tilt run, a speed more than human. 

The door shut behind them and the first part of the plan was done – they were inside in the small kitchen and pantry area used by the servants. “You’re up, Astrid,” Lyza reminded her. It wasn’t as though she needed it; this plan was one of many variations of the same. 

Astrid headed through the door, up the short set of stairs into the main house. In a town this size, there was no separate building for administration, all of it was done under Sir Thomasen’s roof. Stopping in the entry hall, where the servant’s stairs emptied, she listened. No signs of life. Just across the hall lay her goal, the household office where the clerk would still be, and a door leading down to a guarded vault. Closing her eyes, and shaping her will and intent, Astrid began a slow, soft song. The clerk could likely barely hear it, but that would be enough. Instead of suspicion and confrontation, he would be drawn curiously to her. 

Seconds passed and Astrid wondered for a moment if they’d miscalculated, or been found out and circumvented. Still singing, she resisted the urge to run and tell the others to abandon the job. When she could almost stand it no longer, a door creaked open. 

“Who…who are you?” 

He was so young, she allowed herself a moment of guilt for the possibility she was about to ruin his life. “A humble traveler, I’m lost. Can you show me the way?”

The door shut behind him, as he dazedly stepped into the hall. “Happy to help.” With glazed-over eyes, he meandered toward her, enchanted beyond hope. 

The thing about commands was that proximity, and dispelling someone of their will beforehand, helped. “Then sleep, and do not wake until morn.” 

The clerk's eyes closed without resistance and he collapsed into Tallus’s now - waiting arms. Behind him were Brecken and Lyza. Astrid shoved her hand into the Clerk’s high-collared overshirt and grasped for the chain around his neck. Giving it a tug, it broke away easily, and she presented a key to Lyza. It would get them to the vault room; the Governor had the vault key on him, but that was what Tallus was for. 

“I’ll get posted up.” Astrid would stay as a lookout, ready to unleash a barrage of spells if they were cornered. 

“We won’t be long,” Tallus said with a grin, settling the Clerk on the floor. 

The three of them vanished and left Astrid alone in the darkened hall with her sleeping victim, and her thoughts. Lyza’s questions from yesterday kept coming back to her. The three of them had become family to her, and she wanted nothing more than to be with them. But this life, always in danger, always running, living to throw stones at the implacable mountain that was Elyssia -  it could only end one way. 

Not that her fate wasn’t already well sealed if she were caught. The sounds of a brief scuffle traveled up through the floorboards. Perhaps she could convince them to move on, or more particularly, convince Lyza. Something to bring up once they were back at the hoard. The door behind her burst open and the three tumbled out into the hall, laden with satchels full of coin. 

“Let’s move,” Lyza commanded. 

They moved as one, with an intimate timing built from months of operating together. Back down the servant’s stair, silent and swift, and out the door, no one the wiser. The crowd was in frenzy, dancing and shouting; not even a curious glance was spared for them. They weaved and bobbed, greeting and farewelling like all was normal. They reached the back of the inn and Astrid breathed a sigh of relief, they would be out soon enough. It was too quiet she felt, a sudden misgiving taking her. Even the horses were silent. 

“Lyza!” 

It was far too late, though. 

“You four are really predictable.” 

Lyza drew her sword, and Brecken echoed with his bow. Stepping out of the cloaking spell that had hidden them were six of the Emperor’s elite Wardens, their crimson armor almost black in the darkness. Their leader was a female with a deep burn scar down the left side of her face. Astrid swallowed hard hearing that steely voice again. 

“Good to see you too, Astrid.” 

The eyes of her companions darted to her for just a second, then returning to the looming conflict. 

“Rayna, please just them go,” Astrid managed in a whisper, feeling as though she couldn’t breathe.

“It’s Captain Rayna now, thanks to you. And I won’t let them go, they’re part of this now too. But no one has to die, at least right. Surrender yourselves, and Emperor Maximilian will show you his mercy.” 

She could see her companions do the math, and weigh their odds. Six Wardens, the most elite soldiers, against the four of them. 

With a terrible cry, Lyza charged the closest one, and before she had struck, Brecken had knocked and loosed an arrow that drove itself into one's neck. 

For a moment, their odds seemed fair. 

Tallus was gone, almost melted into the shadows, as Astrid stepped back to sing softly, launching a bolt of force at Rayna. She'd been a determined young Warden during her days in Folwin's honor guard, and her dislike of Astrid had been painfully obvious. But she had an iron will and never backed down– she'd be the key to ending this quick. 

The bolt struck an enchanted shield, and fizzled. Lyza was locked in combat with her target, and Brecken loosed a shot that went wide. Tallus seemed to have the same idea as Astrid and struck at Rayna with a dagger from behind. Seeming to sense him, she whirled with a vicious strike that sent him scrambling. 

Lyza's sword  found the weak point in the armor of the Warden, causing a gout of blood to gush from the joint beneath his arm. As she turned to the next, Astrid wove another song, seeking to ensnare Rayna while her attention was on Tallus. The notes were clear and high, words to bend the great essence of the universe to her whim, a song about the snares of life. 

For a moment, there was sweet triumphant as Rayna's feet were bound and she crashed to the cobblestone below. Brecken moved, a viciously sharp short sword now drawn in place of his bow, heading straight for the downed Captain. Astrid turned her next spell to a Warden who was taking the fight to Tallus, shield forgone for a brutal two-handed blade that seemed to be of some black metal. Enchanted as well no doubt, and who knew what it was capable of. 

The next words of her song spoke of fear, and the great sword hesitated. Tallus was merciless and ducked around the predictable swing to drive a dagger up through the throat of the Warden. At the same time, Brecken shouted as a shield knocked him sprawling, leaving him unmoving. 

Astrid prepped another spell, but she began to falter. There was only so much magic you could be the conduit for, and Astrid was no great master of it. But Brecken’s life hung in the balance. Lyza had also noticed and shoved her opponent to the side to charge. Astrid’s voice was weary and quiet as she sang her first note. 

“Enough!” The courtyard around them exploded in light, and Astrid felt an irresistible command to freeze in place, one that appeared to be shared by everyone else engaged in the current melee. 

An old, pale man in a black cloak and another Warden were suddenly front and center, and Astrid felt true fear dig its talons into her. They’d never formally met, but she’d seen High Wizard Branagh enough from a distance. 

“We don’t have time for your games, Rayna, apprehend them.” Wizards were rare, and they practiced the most complex and elusive of magics, unwoven. Their word and a channel were enough to focus their magic.  Branagh leaned heavily on a great staff of willow, his particular channel. Elyssia probably held the greatest number of wizards, but many remained in a citadel in the Free Holds, pursuing a life of arcane studies. Astrid always thought they held themselves too highly above the rest of the world.  “Now.” 

The Wardens came free and Rayna rose, burning hatred in her eyes, but Astrid noted Branagh wasn’t spared her gaze. 

“Put them in irons,” she spat at her remaining four, now five with the new arrival, Wardens. “And haul them upstairs.” 

[aphrodict]

7:50 am

long time no see tumblr >:DD basing this off an irl experience frfr uploading one with no specified characters after this

tighnari x gn!reader | no warnings, just pure fluff

“me? no way—absolutely no way!” followed by the other groups chattering and laughing. 

you had been grouped with your crush, tighnari. and apparently, things are suddenly going your way. there you two were, accompanied with three of your other classmates; venti, cyno and yoimiya

“oh come on! we did the rest already, we just need you to present it.” venti whined, like he did anything.

you look over to your right, where he was sitting. you smiled, gave yoimiya a wink—and, oh, she knew.

“why not present it with tighnari? its not like he did anything anyway.” she said, nudging venti, and now he knew.

see, the whole class knew you liked him, especially your seatmates. you kept talking and chatting about him all the time.

tighnari tilts his head, confused; what are they being so secretive about? he wants to ask.

the timer presented on the tv goes off, your teacher, lisa, ushers you all to go back to your seats and listen as each group presents. she goes over what you need to do again, making sure everyone understands.

“group 4, presenters please stand up and go to the front.” you go up—tighnari following you. 

now, you arent scared or nervous of presenting. your heart is beating so fast because you’re so close to him. shoulders basically touching, you can feel his warmth radiating off of him, the soft cloth of his jacket.

and after introducing your group, the whole class cheers. what did i say? they knew, you’re popular just for that alone. constantly being brought up when someone mentions tighnari. 

though some students had other beliefs, thinking you were a much better fit for thoma, a friend of yours a year younger or diluc even! the quiet senior.

now you question your whole existence, purpose even, since the class is cheering so loud. you’re nervous as hell, your heart feels like its about to burst out of your chest and your face is red. 

you feel a hand on your left shoulder, tighnari is even closer now—and he tries to calm you down.

“hey, are you okay? if you have stage fright i can take it from here.”

“NO, no i dont, i dont have stage fright.. you’re just really close to me i just dontknowwhattodo—“ is what you wanted to say. but nothing would come out of your mouth.

i guess this is what they mean by ‘some things are went better unsaid’? no, certainly not. you just hope you can calm down after this.. without having your heart skip one too many beats each time you think about it.

@aphrodicts-imagination