#i called a jewelry shop nearby and they said they can try and fix it for me so i think i'm gonna go tmrw

[cetoddle-archive]

my favorite necklace got tangled into a nasty knot and i'm literally inconsolable about it

[selineram3421]

Petit Lapin Blanc

Part 1

Prologue

Alastor and Human Child Reader

:Platonic:

Warning! ⚠

⚠ humans being weird ⚠

~

You were watching the white rabbit on the t.v. It was hopping around in circles. Then someone called out to you.

Looking over, you see a red man.

"Could you tell me how you got here?", the man before you asked, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

How I got here? You think, trying to remember but come up with nothing.

A pout appeared on your face.

"I-I don't remember. I don't-", you hiccup and start to cry.

"Come now, there's no use in crying!", the red man says and pats the top of your head. "Are you hungry? Hm?", he asks cupping your face in his hands, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

His claws brush against your hair as he does so.

You notice that he's still smiling. Not at all angry that about you crying.

"I'm not hungry.", you sniff, holding your rabbit tighter.

"Let's get you somewhere safer, yes? There's a lot of strange folk here.", he says and stands up.

Tall. You think, having to look all the way up to keep eye contact.

"Would you like to come with me? If not that's fine too.", he says and holds a hand out to you.

You look at his hand and then back at him.

"I'm not supposed to follow strangers.", you tell him.

"Oh, you're quite right! I'll introduce myself.", he says, standing straight and fixing his coat. "I am Alastor! A Radio Host, specifically from around the 1920s."

"That's a long time ago.", you comment.

"Yes, but not too long ago.", he smiles kindly. "May I know you? You're quite the stranger now."

"Hmm..", you hum with a smile, putting a finger to your chin and pretending to think about it.

He notices your change of mood and his smile widens.

"Ok.", you say and give him a nickname. "I can't give you a real one, because you seem like a fae, mister."

"Me? A fae? Hahahaha!", he laughs.

Heads of nearby demons turn but some don't look for long. There's a few still watching.

"I'm not fae but close enough little one.", he chuckles, wiping a fake tear away. "Now that we are acquainted, would you like to come stroll with me? I'll see if I can help you out of this rabbit hole you've fallen into.", he holds his hand out to you again.

"No tricks?", you ask, lifting a hand up.

"No tricks, cross my heart.", he says and makes an X mark over his chest.

You squint at him. The man shows the hand behind his back. No fingers crossed.

Taking a hold of his hand, you decide to follow him for now. Both of you begin to walk together.

"Where am I by the way?", you ask.

"Somewhere you are not meant to be.", he says. "Worry not! I'll try to help you find your way back home."

If I'm supposed to be at home, how did I end up here? You thought and looked to your stuffed rabbit friend. Maybe home wasn't safe and I left.

You couldn't be too sure with not remembering, but for now you would follow the cheshire cat-like man.

He seemed like the safest option for now.

"I wonder.", Alastor said.

"Wonder what?", you ask, looking up at him.

"What is your favorite color?", he asks and looks over to you.

"Not this.", you say, pulling at your clothes. "I don't like these clothes either. Its not comfortable."

"Then let's get you new ones. Comfort is just as important as style.", he says.

"You do have a point.", you say with a nod. "Where can I find comfortable new clothes?"

Alastor stops and lifts you up. Letting you sit on his hip.

"There! Now you'll be able to see where we are going.", he says and points to a direction to the left. "We'll go that way. I have a friend who has a shop that sells all sorts of things."

"Really? Like what?", you ask interested.

"Let's see.", the man in red says and begins walking again. "She sells clothes, jewelry, china, handkerchiefs, letter openers.", he lists off.

"China?", you say confused.

"Like tea sets. Cups, plates, bowls.", he clarifies.

"So fancy cups and bowls?", you say.

"Yes, fancy cups and bowls.", he nods.

Looking at the man, you see that he has two fluffy looking things on his head. Also two small antlers.

"Mister Alastor, are you sure you're not fae?", you ask. "A faun?"

"No, I am not little one. Close but I am not fae.", he says again. "I'll tell you later, promise. And just Alastor is fine dear."

All you do is hum and pet your toy rabbit, resting your head on his shoulder. Looking up, you see a red sky.

I wonder of there's a fire somewhere. You thought drowsily, feeling yourself starting to sleep. I'll sleep for a little bit. I'm safe now.

With that, you let darkness take a hold of you.

.

Foster homes were something that you had to get used to.

The first few were terrible.

One had a weird man that made holes in the walls. Another had a woman who was mean to everyone, and the one before you got to the most recent had a couple that didn't like each other anymore.

The new one you were in now had an older couple.

You had just arrived to your new temporary home. The social worker opened the car door for you and helped get your bag out. The only thing you had to carry was your white rabbit.

Standing before the two, you took in their appearance. The man wore a dark suit and the woman wore fancy pastel clothes, like she was going to church.

"Hello little one!", the woman greeted you with a smile.

You didn't like that kind of smile. It was the one people used to seem harmless, hiding all the bad things they've done.

"Go on, say hello.", the young social worker, Sally said, nudging your shoulder. "Sorry, they're quite shy.", she smiled apologetically to the older couple.

"Oh its no problem.", the woman said waving her hand. "We don't mind."

The man just watched quietly.

"Let's go inside, yes?", Sally said, adjusting your bag and her briefcase. "I want to make sure everything is safe for the child and I'll be on my way."

"Of course!", the woman said and guided you both inside.

The man was the last to enter the home, closing the door.

A ticking sound had caught your attention. Looking around, you don't see a clock.

"We made sure to put away anything that seemed too dangerous.", the woman said while walking both of you to the living room.

The house was old and pretty.

You noted that everything was styled the same. It had a big living room with fancy furniture, a old fireplace, and pictures in detailed gold looking frames.

The two women were talking about paper work that needed signing, now sitting on the couch. It was boring to listen to and all you wanted to do was explore.

"Can I look around?", you ask, hoping to find where the ticking was coming from.

A quick scowl took over the older woman's face as she turned to look at you. Hiding it with a smile when the social worker looked at her.

"Oh, I don't think-", Sally began.

"I'll take them.", the man suddenly spoke up.

You jumped up a bit, forgetting he was behind you and turned to look at him.

"If that's alright?", he said.

"I can't let them leave my sight-", Sally frowned.

"Oh, just give them cookies or biscuits Hank.", the older woman said. "Its just across the hall and into the kitchen. Look, you can even see the table from here.", she pointed.

Sure enough, the kitchen table was visible with a jar sitting on top of it.

"I suppose..", Sally said and sighed. "Alright."

The man, Hank, steps out of the doorway. Gesturing for you to go and get cookies.

You looked at him with a slight glare, not sure if you could trust him, but you do go into the kitchen.

"Now, where do I sign?"

You can hear the older woman ask, the two begin talking again as you make your way over to the table.

Hank also enters the kitchen and gets the jar, opening it for you. Peaking in, you see cookies with white frosting drizzle.

"Sugar cookies.", is all Hank says before putting the jar back on the table and leaving the room.

You pull out a nearby chair and climb on it, sitting on your legs as you take a cookie.

Maybe this home will be better than the other one's. You think and take a bite of the cookie.

~

Smol with tall lol.

~Seline, the person.

Taglist@

@stolas-thebirb @c4rved-pumpk1n @ducky-died-inside

Next ➡ Part 2

🐇 ChL | ML for Alastor🎙

[plantsarefun06]

Creation of Lazarus

"But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved one is just poison in your veins. And one day, you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed, so you'd be spared your pain."

-Ra’s al Ghul ----

Ra’s was born in the Arabi desert, to nomads, in 1430. If you asked any person from that tribe what Ra’s was, they would say “A boy with dreams”. Ra’s had dreams of knowledge, dreams of helping others, he dreamed of having a legacy, and a great one at that.

His dreams led him to leave his tribe. He knew that as a nomad, he would never truly achieve what he wished to and the best course of action was to settle down in a great city and continue the measly education that he got as a nomad, and the great knowledge the libraries of the Sultan provided.

His studies led him to a physician. Ra’s requested to become a physician, he wanted to help others, this would offer him an opportunity to study and learn about diseases and ailments, firsthand, and offer him chances to help the sick and injured.

The physician asked for one thing. “I am infirm and soon for the grave. My daughter, Sora, she will need a husband to look after her.” That’s when he heard a yell from the curtain behind the clerk’s desk. A woman swiftly pushed back the curtain to scold her father. “I thought we agreed you’d stop trying to marry me off!”

The girl, clearly about his age, looked at him, let out a quick huff before grabbing his wrist in a vice-like grip and dragging him behind the clerk’s desk, behind the curtain, into what he could now see was a closet, with medicines and serums lining the walls, all filled with cobwebs and dust, clearly having not been used in a while.

“I’ll be honest with you Ra’s… I don’t really like boys much… but I can offer you companionship and support. And if we get married it will make my father’s last days much happier.” He was evaluating what she said as she said it when she quickly looked over to the shelves “And him stop pestering me.” She mumbled more to herself than Ra’s. At that he let out a light chuckle and having thought over her offer gave her his thoughts.

“I admit, I’m more interested in the pursuit of knowledge than women. We might be able to come to some… mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Sora gave a light smile to Ra’s, and he returned it. They both understood the agreement they both had created.

----

Within the year, as they all had expected, Sora’s father had died.

Despite them knowing that the time was drawing near, it was still hard. Sora would never admit it, but she shed a tear at his funeral, watching the bird fly through the skies as he was laid out in the Tower of Silence for a sky burial, traditional for his Zoroastrianism.

To cope Ra’s delved into his studies and found a project of the late physician. He had seen him look over it many times, but he had never been allowed to read the texts. He would simply watch as the physician would spend hours pouring over the texts, before the physician would finally come over and teach him about traditional medicinal herbs and serums and their effects. Ra’s forever acknowledges that he learned more in his months under the physician's tutelage, than he ever did in the library.

He learned of how diseases spread, and the common ways they would extend across the city in the matter of weeks. How if they started within the markets, they would quickly spread across many of the peasants, and other middle-class folk, but they wouldn’t get much farther, and how if the diseases started amongst the slaves, they would spread much faster due to the unsanitary conditions, and they would often then be picked up by someone of upper class, as they traditionally had slaves, and spread.

He was eternally grateful for the lessons he was given. They helped him serve the city in incredible ways. Ra’s performed near miracles for anyone who needed it. His reputation started to grow, some upper-class citizens would refuse to come, because Ra’s would cater to slaves, but others would request the treatment of Ra’s and would always find themselves healed within the week.

But these texts that he found of the physicians, seemed to have some pages with herbs and brews, but the majority held drawings of people, dressed in unfamiliar clothing, all bright, with texts in a script he couldn't begin to understand. He looked among the pages and found what looked to be a cypher in the physician's handwriting. The physician had part of the unfamiliar script figured out… no not script… it was CODE! The texts were coded!

All he would need to do was complete the cypher and he would discover what the texts were for.

----

Ra’s poured hours into the texts and completing the code, with no such luck.

“It’s no good. These codes your father was working on have me beat. I can’t break it…” He called to his wife, who was currently working in the front of the shop after it closed about an hour ago, she was preparing for the next day, he supposed.

“Perhaps I can help?” She poked her head in from behind the curtain to peer at him being over the table.

“Thank you, Sora. A warm bowl of goat’s milk and nutmeg would be most refreshing.” Ra’s commented back to her, without lifting his eyes from the texts in front of him.

He could practically feel the glare she was giving him. He wasn’t entirely sure it wouldn’t burn him with the intensity he could only feel from it, and he wasn’t even looking at her.

“I mean with the code. I learnt much from my father and knew he was struggling to complete his final great work, just as much as you. You’re not married to a servant girl, Ra’s. Warm the milk yourself, and let me see those figures.” The defiance in her tone was thick and her anger was subtle yet tangible. He didn’t understand it but that defiance, and strong will made him want to love her.

He knew that their relationship was built on the agreement of companionship, and for the safety of Sora after her father’s death, but he would be lying if he said that he didn’t love her. Love the way she would snark him when he would ask her to do things, that he could do himself, love how she would hum as she cooked the dinner that they ate every night, her loved how she would ever so lightly furrow her eyebrow when she was concentrated on work.

Ra’s let out a small smile and turned to meet his wife by the curtain. He bent down to kiss her forehead, “Sora… I believe this is going to be a beautiful marriage.” He gave her a light hug before giving her another kiss on her forehead and mumbling to her just loud enough for her to hear, “I’ll go warm some goat’s milk for the both of us, and you can look over the codes, until I get back, and we can work on them together.” He gave her a light squeeze before unraveling himself from her and going off to warm the goat’s milk, and Sora heading over to the table to study the texts.

----

“More code?” Ra’s asked no one in particular. He and Sora had stumbled upon a trapdoor underneath a floor mat in the medicinal closet while cleaning. Ra’s could tell from the hinges alone that it was used regularly. When they opened the hatch they saw that it led down a small ladder, the ladder led to a room, an underground cave almost, despite it being quite dark he could make out the sound of lightly sloshing water and summarized that there was a pool in this cave.

They both held small candles, and when holding them close to the wall they saw it. It was a wall full of more texts! They were familiar enough with the code to recognize that the code from the texts upstairs matched the one in front of them.

A glint of recognition and understanding was in Sora’s eyes. “My father was working on a map of the Tibetan mountains, using the wisdom of the stars and other maps from the libraries of the Sultan. And figuring out the meaning of the code from texts of the ancients. A code showing…” She stopped speaking, her eyes running over a few things before stopping.

“And code of what?” Ra’s questioned Sora’s sudden quietness and turned to give her his whole focus. Her eyes were completely fixed on one drawing. It was of the silhouette of a man, behind him was a circle of purple. The way it was positioned it seemed to be describing the man emitting the purple. Like he was glowing.

He refocused his attention on his wife’s face as she turned to him, “One which tells the way to achieve something men have long dreamed-” he saw the emotions his wife’s face held. Emotions he had never seen in her face before, it was complete and utter disbelief,

“-a wish to change reality.”

----

They soon were able to decipher enough code to learn that the Tibetan mountains was the location of the Temple of Guardians, the holders of two pieces of magical jewelry that possessed the ability, when combined, to grant a wish that could alter reality.

Sora and Ra’s had both packed enough for a 3-week trip on horseback, to the Tibetan mountains, and back. Ra’s had won the argument over who would be going, Sora wanting it to be herself, but eventually agreeing Ra’s would be better suited for the job, considering he grew up as a nomad, much to Sora’s chagrin.

He had been on trek for a week and was taking a rest on the side of the dirt road to fill his canteen with water from a stream he saw nearby, when he saw a flash of light blue and white out of the corner of his eyes. He immediately drew one of the daggers that he carried at all times and started to look around for what he saw.

He hadn’t fought anyone in a decade, last time being a practice spar with his uncle the night before he left to go live in the city alone, and even then, he was only okay, but he did know some forms of martial arts and weaponry in theory. He read about it in some of the texts from the library, while theory may not have anything on experience, it was better than nothing.

He was beginning to think he had either come down with a fever and been hallucinating, or he had simply been seeing things, when after five minutes of surveying the area, he could see that no one had been there.

He walked up to his undisturbed horse and grabbed the reins. Upon lifting himself on the horse he heard a light *jingle*. He looked down to find a small drawstring bag tied around the tip of his saddle. He was used to seeing little drawstring bags, like this one, around the shop. Sora often used them to hold the herbs they used for medical purposes, but he didn’t know why she would have packed it, or why it jingled when it was shaken.

He slowly picked it up, examining it as if it were going to spontaneously catch fire. He slowly undid the knot and overturned the contents of it in his gloved hand.

Out fell two earrings and a ring…

A ring that was a black as dark as the night sky he saw as a nomad child, with a pawprint, greener than any grass or any tapestry he had seen before…

And a pair of earrings red as the blood he had seen countless times as a physician, and five distinct spots, black as the ring…

Both the ring and the earrings looking exactly like the drawings he had seen of the Black Cat miraculous and the Ladybug miraculous he had seen in the texts.

Ra’s had learned many lessons in his life, but one of the biggest, most important of them all: There are no coincidences in the world.

Ra’s had no doubt in his mind that in his hand, he held the two most powerful objects in the universe, two objects that would grant him a wish.

Slowly, a grin grew on his face. He immediately seized the reins of his horse, and turned him around, heading faster than he ever had back to the city.

His father-in-law's final project was finally completed on its way to being completed.

----

The look on Sora’s face was one he had only seen once before, when they first discovered the small area underneath the shop, complete and utter disbelief.

“This… these jewels… are they really the Black Cat and Ladybug miraculous?” She asked wide-eyed, just looking at what Ra’s had set on the counter after barging into the shop, in a ridiculously loud manner, might she add.

“I do believe it is, they practically feel powerful!”

Sora slowly inched her hand toward where the earrings fell on the counter. The moment she gently brushed her finger against one of the earrings, a bright pink light emitted from it, one that forced both Sora and Ra’s to cover their eyes.

Once the light dimmed, they saw something that was not in the texts.

Both Sora and Ra’s were in a state of shock. It was broken when the thing floated up to her face and began to speak, “Hello my name’s Tikki. I’m the Kwami of Creation!” She said, giving a little twirl in the air.

Ra’s, finally able to speak again, asked, “That does not explain much. What is a ‘Kwami’ and why did you suddenly appear when the earrings were touched by Sora?”

“Ooh. A Kwami is an entity tethered to this plane of reality by the jewelry that is sitting on your counter. I’m the entity of creation. When everything came to be, I came to be with it, not before, not after, some people confuse that.” The ‘Kwami’, as they both learned it was, giggled before continuing with the explanation they both needed, “I’m the thing that gives power to that jewelry, without me, that jewelry is just some antique junk.” She finished her explanation.

It made more sense than just ‘magical jewelry’ to have some entity tethered to it. “If you touch the ring Plagg will come out!” She exclaimed before going over to Ra’s and pulling off his glove and grabbing his hand. She pulled his hand from his side and he willingly allowed the ‘Kwami’ to lift his finger to touch the ring.

A second burst of bright light, green this time, came from the ring. This time Sora and Ra’s expected it so it wasn’t too bad. They only had to blink a couple times before they heard a yawn, “Well that was a good cat nap!” The other ‘Kwami’, who he was guessing his name was ‘Plagg’ from what ‘Tikki’ said, “Do you all have some cheese, I’m starving!”

Sora was the one who pulled herself together enough to answer ‘Plagg’s’ question, “There is some food in the cabinet under the basin. You may find what you are looking for there.” Sora gestured to the curtain and both Kwami got the memo, before floating off where Sora indicated the food would be.

Both Ra’s and Sora locked eyes. Their silent conversation led to them both leaving each other's gaze to eye the ring and earrings. They both agreed that they had no idea what had just happened.

----

“That is not a good idea.”

That was the only thing that was said after Sora and Ra’s took them to see the basement beneath their shop that held the texts and the pool. Both of the Kwami were faced away from the texts as ‘they should not see them’. Ra’s gave them an indignant look at their immediate dismissal of their want for a wish.

“This could help hundreds maybe even thousands of people, how is this not a good idea?”

“You don’t understand, the wish has major repercussions, you can always ask for a way to heal the injured and dead, but that wish will have untold side-effects.” Tikki tried to explain to both Ra’s and Sora. The sincerity in her voice was deep, but they did not hear the sadness that lingered in it as well.

“Will you not allow us to make the wish?” Sora asked, tilting her head to the side, as if analyzing the situation.

“We cannot stop you from making the wish, but we must tell you, it will have repercussions, and the one who makes the wish will feel them deeply.” Sorrow again seeped into Tikki’s voice; this time Ra’s noticed it as well.

“Then I will make the wish, I have memorized the incantation and only one of us can make the wish itself.” He pulled the now silver ring and black earrings from his pocket. He placed the ring on his left middle finger. He prepared to force the earrings through his ears, worst case scenario he could use whatever came of the wish to heal himself, only to be pleasantly surprised when the earrings glided through his ear as if he did have a piercing.

Both the Kwami moved to the outstretched hands Ra’s offered and sat down. Ra’s failed to notice the tears in Tikki’s eyes, and the downcast look on Plagg’s face.

The moment he uttered the last syllable, the rush to Ra’s was undeniable. He felt immense amounts of power seeping into his veins.

“I wish to have the means to heal any injury and return any person from death.”

And everything went quiet. All the power he was feeling only moments ago, felt like it was running off him, like dirt would in a shower.

He looked over to see Sora sitting in the ground shielding her face, much in the same manner she was when they first met the Kwami.

Both the earrings and ring started to burn lightly, so he ripped them off and threw them behind him, before running over to Sora and helping her stand.

Ra’s felt at his ear, where he just ripped the earring out, noticing the earrings didn’t leave so much as a scar.

Looking to check over Sora, he saw out of the corner of his eyes a bright green glow.

Both Ra’s and Sora looked over to see a neon, toxic green color at the bottom center of the pool.

It was mesmerizing how the green stretched from a small center at the bottom of the pool out, almost like tentacles, or tree roots growing out in the dirt.

He continued to watch until the entire pool was filled with the green, when he saw the same white and light blue flash out of the corner of his eyes. He tried to turn quickly and catch it, but the only thing he saw was an empty room.

A room empty of both the Black Cat and Ladybug miraculous.

----

Life went on relatively normal for Ra’s and Sora. They cleaned out the basement and removed the texts, as they were no use to him anymore, and cleaned the area.

When finding a name, they settled on one- Lazarus Pit - from a biblical story that Sora’s father mentioned in one of the texts.

He had said ‘he wanted to be able to do the same as the Christian’s god, and revive the dead. And if the wish truly worked, it would be able to, they had yet to try the pit and test the magic that quite obviously resided within it.

----

As time went on, and the pit remained below their feet, Ra’s continued his work as a physician, continuing working miracles without the use of the pit, which was an actual miracle. His reputation grew both of his physician's duties, and of the great mind he held. He was referred to as “the greatest mind of his age” by some.

Ra’s had heard him referred to as this on occasion, but he didn’t realize just how far word of his miracles went until the Sultan’s guard requested his aid in healing the prince who had fallen ill.

As the guards left his shop, leaving him with the letter asking him officially of his aid he immediately turned to Sora with quite possibly the largest smile he ever had on his face, “If I could cure the prince-- our reputation would be made, I’d have the funding to push my research forward-”

He was cut off by Sora who he only realized was rubbing her temple with her hands at his rant, “The prince is nothing but a cruel young aristo-- I’ve caught him leering at me in the Bazaar!”

“Don’t do this Ra’s. We can do without the Sultan’s money!” Sora pleaded to him. She held a look of concern on her face that Ra’s completely ignored, rather thinking about what he could possibly do with the benefits of healing a prince.

“You’re wrong! When I walked through the desert, I nurtured a dream. This is my way to fulfill it!”

Ra’s turned away from Sora, and headed down below the shop, to the Pit.

----

Everything went wrong. And Ra’s had no idea how.

Everything was going fine.

The royal guards had brought the sick prince to his shop as requested by Ra’s. The moment he saw the prince Ra’s knew that he was on his deathbed… he knew the only way to help him was using the Lazarus Pit.

He had the guards bring him down the ladder and he followed them, with Sora by his side.

They dipped the prince in the Pit. They let him wade. It was only seconds, maybe a minute, at most, before the prince burst out from under the water. Certainly not sickly like he was, to the point of not being able to walk, not like he was when he arrived.

For the briefest moment Ra’s lived in this fantasy where the Pit healed the Prince, and Ra’s got the reputation he wanted, the funding he needed, and got to continue the research that he always wanted to. He lived in this fantasy where he and Sora worked side-by-side, studied medicine, and became great physicians known for their miracles.

This fantasy ended when the prince left at Sora his eyes, we're not the same as they were when he went in; they were yellow and feral. There was a snap before the guards were able to subdue him. They only realized that the snap was from Sora’s neck. And Sora laid on the ground with scratch marks on her face, her head bent at an unnatural angle, and a small drop of blood dripping down her cheek, from her mouth.

Ra’s fell beside her body, unmoving, he saw out of the corner of his eyes, the prince stopped struggling in the guards' arms and seemed to gain some form of coherency of the situation, but he could not look away from her. He didn’t even breathe until the guards grabbed him as well and put a bag over his head.

Everything went wrong.

----

They said he killed her. The Sultan was told by the prince’s guards that his son had killed the wife of the physician that treated him for his illness.

That he had snapped her neck. In return the guards were killed. They could not have the truth be spread. It could cause uprising if such rumors were told to others. So, the moment he was told the story, directly from the prince’s guards who had been there, and he got assurance that they had taken the husband -the physician- and put him in the dungeons, and after that assurance was placed, he had his personal guards slit their throats.

It wasn’t hard to say it was the husband who did it. Without the guards to tell what happened, and the physician in such a state of shock he wouldn’t even talk, no one questioned what the Sultan said.

How did this happen again?

Why did the prince look like that?

He looked feral?

His eyes were near yellow?

Why would he attack her?

Why would he kill her?

Why did he seem to be fine after a minute or being restrained?

Why?

Why?

Why?

They were the only questions Ra’s was asking himself of late.

He was completely unreactive on the outside but was perfectly aware of what was happening. He was perfectly aware of how the Sultan was placing the blame on him. How the Sultan was saying he killed Sora. He killed his wife.

And yet he knew that regardless of the fact he was innocent, he would still be blamed and persecuted for her death. So, he sat still and continued to ask those questions in his head.

How did this happen again?

Why did the prince look like that?

He looked feral?

His eyes were near yellow?

Why would he attack her?

Why would he kill her?

Why did he seem to be fine after a minute or being restrained?

Why?

Why?

Why?

He knew he was being gagged, tied up, and dragged from his cell from the dungeons beneath the castle. He knew that this is when they would punish him. It would be death.

How he would die?

He did not know.

Likely a public flogging, beating, or torture of some kind before then bend him over a rock and to take his head off.

And to be honest, Ra’s couldn’t feel anything, he was completely numb as his knees, calves, and feet were dragged over the dirt, and cobble leaving long scars. He knew they were supposed to sting, and burn, and just hurt, but he couldn’t feel a thing. He knew that was a bad sign, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

He didn’t start to see anything until he saw it. There was a cage in the center of the courtyard, black iron, probably burning hot with the sun as it is, but that is not what caught his eye. It was the body of Sora that laid in it.

He started to feel the burn of the metal as they forced him in the same small cage as Sora. He was forced to curl in on himself as her body lay not 6 inches from him. Sat up against the side of the cage, with rope tied around her neck and waist, keeping her sitting upright, and facing the rest of the unbearably small cage. Her eyes still opened in the same shock they were in when he first was beside her body.

He felt as the cage was lifted up, the burn of the hot metal only worsening, as they carried the cage out to the city walls, to leave him in the desert to die.

----

His eyes never stayed off Sora’s for long. He remembered what her eyes looked like…

… these are not her eyes.

Sora’s eyes held none of what it used to. Her eyes held confidence, charm, they held stubbornness and defiance. All the things that made Sora the woman she was. All the things that were devoid in those eyes.

Those eyes were open and held only one thing: fear. And that was unlike Sora at all. Sora was never afraid.

But maybe she was of death. Maybe her eyes held fear because she realized what was going to happen…

...because she realized she was going to die.

----

Ra’s didn’t know how long he sat in that cage outside the city walls, staring into the unfamiliar eyes.

All he knew was that the trance was broken by the sound of creaking metal. The hinges. And the feeling of hands going under his arms and pulling him up. He had the strength to turn his head and be met with a face that was faintly familiar.

“Who are you?” He weakly rasped out. “Sabih, I’m a slave for the al-Hafiz family. You saved my mother from dysentery four months ago… I figured I owed you the same.”

And that’s all they said. That’s all they said when he walked back towards the al-Hafiz property. That’s all they said after Sabih settled him in the stables and fed him some water and leftover scraps. That’s all they said as Sabih handed Ra’s a small bag with some water, and food in it. That’s all they said before Ra’s returned to the outside of the city walls, and left on a search for the nomadic tribe he was born and raised in.

He didn’t know what to do, but he was going to figure it out, but not do it in that city.

----

It took him a few weeks, and some manual labor in return for supplies, before he found his uncle’s nomads and took control. It was relatively easy.

By the time he had found the nomads he had been able to sort through his mind. Find his priorities.

And right now, he wanted one thing: he wanted the great city to burn.

He wanted them all dead, he just had to be smart about it. He was thankful, now more than ever for the lessons Sora’s father gave.

He learned of how diseases spread, and the common ways they would extend across the city in the matter of weeks. How if they started within the markets, they would quickly spread across many of the peasants, and other middle-class folk, but they wouldn’t get much farther, and how if the diseases started amongst the slaves, they would spread much faster due to the unsanitary conditions, and they would often then be picked up by someone of upper class, as they traditionally had slaves, and spread.

It would be easy, he would start by giving a disease to the slaves, if the disease would spread quick enough, it could be passed down the classes and severely weaken the city. Especially if the slaves were hit first, considering that the city was built with them as their foundation.

----

The city was ravaged. Those who didn’t die of disease were killed by Ra’s and his men. When the priests of the Zoroastrian Delegation asked if they spared them and their Holy Towers of Silence. Ra’s turned to the man who was the messenger of the request and bared his teeth.

“Kill the priests. Burn their sacred buildings!”

Ra’s stood in before the destruction he caused. He returned to the city a very different man from when he first arrived there.

A man with a different dream…

Ra’s walked back to the old shop. One that he spent much time in. Leading the others down to the opening below the shop to allow them to see the Lazarus Pit.

“Uncle, you are still the leader of our tribe, but the tribe I am describing will stretch farther than the sands of Arabi. Stretch into every land… past the wall of every city.” Ra’s spoke keeping his voice low and authoritarian. His uncle let off a chuckle.

“Oh, nephew. Just like your father. You were always the dreamer. What you speak of it too… fantastical.” His words made Ra’s a bit angry, but a bit smug at the same time. His uncle had no idea what the Pit in front of his very eyes was capable of.

“*tch* My father never had half my vision, Uncle, nor half my talent.”

His uncle just sputtered in response, “But… it would take several lifetimes for one man to accomplish what you speak of!”

Ra’s just smirked at his words, “Yes, uncle. Yes indeed. And it will be quite some journey.”

“I don’t understand.”

Ra’s focused on the pit, reminded of Tikki’s words…

“You don’t understand, the wish has major repercussions, you can always ask for a way to heal the injured and dead, but that wish will have untold side-effects.”

“We cannot stop you from making the wish, but we must tell you, it will have repercussions, and the one who makes the wish will feel them deeply.”

He truly did. The creation of this wish helped him achieve one of his life’s greatest desires, one of his greatest loves, and in return he lost the love of his life, Sora.

And if you are to use the Lazarus Pit to heal physical injuries, you will suffer from temporary loss of sanity.

Truly a balance.

“You will learn in time. Time is something we have a great deal of. The destruction of this city… has unleashed a demon.

And I… Ra’s al Ghul… I am truly the Demon’s Head!”

----------

Heavily based off of Batman Annual Vol. 1 26

‘al Ghul’ translates to Demon’s Head in Arabic. Notice how that ‘al Ghul’ is only used during the quote at the beginning of the story(yes I did use a quote from the Nolan movies. It fit really well), and at the end when he loses it.

This is the closest I could possibly get to DC canon on Ra’s al Ghul’s origin. In the original Ra’s does not create the pits he simply finds them, with the help of maps left behind by the physician. I wrote this because I really wanted a Miraculous created Lazarus pit, but one that also had Sora in it. I really like her for the scene with the goat’s milk (that is comic accurate, you can check) and what happened to her was NOT deserved. I also wanted to show the human side of Ra’s, and how rage drove him to be such an evil person.

Also a headcanon of mine is that any miraculous jewelry that is some sort of piercing, does not actually require a piercing to wear, it will just go through the skin as if there was a piercing.

The ‘light blue flash’ that Ra’s thinks he hallucinated was a holder of the Rabbit miraculous leaving both the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous to him. This is done because the Lazarus pits are necessary to a stable timeline, not because whatever holder of the Rabbit miraculous is active, thought it was a good idea. They were practically forced.

Ra’s and Sora were closer to each other than anyone else, she was referred to as the love of his life, and they really had a deep bond and when Sora was killed he was broken. In the comic I based this off of, Talia even says, “[...]the death of Sora broke your grandfather’s heart… and forever darkened his soul.” when speaking to Damian.

[madasthesea]

Happy Star Wars Day!!! If today isn’t a good day for Star Wars AU, I don’t know what is.

The ship reverting from hyperspeed made Peter nearly fall out of his handstand.

“Master?” He called to the cockpit, his eyes still blindfolded. They weren’t supposed to reach their destination for several hours yet.

“Feet off the floor, Padawan,” Tony replied. He didn’t sound alarmed, and the Force was a quiet, if slightly queasy pool of light, as it always was in space, so Peter let himself relax a little bit, rebalancing himself on his palms.

“They are,” Peter protested. “Just as they have been for the last thirty minutes.”

“If you can’t take the punishment, don’t do the crime,” Tony said, his voice coming from the doorway. Peter could picture him leaning against the frame with his arms crossed, his smirk practically tangible in the Force. An imagine transferred clearly across their bond of a fluffy baby flitterbat, sleeping upside down.

Peter scowled, both at the accusation and the comparison, which made Tony give an undignified snort.

“I would hardly label what I did a crime,” Peter gritted out, shifting his weight. A half hour was a long time to hold a handstand, even for a Jedi.

“You called me old.”

“The word old never came out of my mouth.” Tony grabbed his ankle as he wobbled.

“You’re right, you said, and I quote—” Tony put on a high falsetto voice that was clearly meant to be a mimicry of Peter’s voice— “‘Don’t worry, Master, you’re in good shape for a man of your age.’”

“Which is a compliment,” Peter interjected.

“Your diplomatic skills leave something to be desired,” Tony sighed. “But you’ve served your time. Down you come.”

Peter held back any remarks of about time and gratefully flipped onto his feet, shaking his arms out before reaching up and tugging the blindfold off. He blinked at Tony for a second.

“There you are,” Tony said, smiling a little. “Now, aren’t you going to ask why we’ve stopped?”

“Only since you so clearly want me to, Master.” Peter followed Tony into the small bridge, collapsing gracefully into the co-pilot’s chair. “Why have we stopped at—“ He checked the nav computer— “Stewjon?”

“Got a call from the Council. They’re requesting help with a local dispute and we were closest.”

Peter nodded dutifully, already mourning the astrocartography exam he was going to miss. Master Sibwarra always made the make-up exams much harder than the original.

“Relax,” Tony admonished gently. “It’s our duty, much more than exams are.”

“Yes, Master,” Peter responded. In the first few months of his apprenticeship with Tony, that would have stung, but he’d learned to take the compliments and instructions with the same level of appreciation. “I know.”

“Besides, you could pass that class in your sleep.” And even Peter had to admit, that soothed like liniment on sore muscles. “And it just so happens,” Tony continued, leaving Peter to follow his train of thought, “that I have an acquaintance with a diner in the capital.” He cast a sideways glance at Peter. “And an apprentice with a bottomless pit for a stomach.”

Peter perked up a little bit at the prospect of a good, greasy meal. The refectory at the Temple served only the healthiest of fare, with the occasional fruit for dessert.

Tony smiled, probably sensing Peter’s lifting spirits. “I’ll have a ‘thank you, Master,’ if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Thank you, Master,” Peter said, and Tony’s eyebrow twitched upward in surprise at the sincerity.

 They were received with a level of ceremony that was bordering on absurd, but they endured it with the  grace of trained diplomats. They were shown to an airy chamber where two farmers were bickering. One was accusing the other of poisoning his crop while the other spouted vitriol.

Tony and Peter exchanged a look.

“Gentlemen,” Tony called, stepping forward. Both quieted and looked Tony over, their eyes widening as they saw the lightsaber hanging on his belt. “I think this can be resolved fairly easily, so long as we all cooperate.”

They both nodded. They sat down at a long table in the center of the room, Tony at the head of it and Peter at his right hand.

“Now,” Tony said calmly, his voice clear in the quiet chamber. He turned to the accused man, who was wringing his hands under the table. “Answer me honestly. Did you poison the fruit?”

The man blanched; glanced down at Tony’s hip where the ‘saber hung. “M-Master Jedi,” he said weakly.

Tony raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” he admitted in a rush of breath. “Yes, I did.”

Chaos descended. Leaving them to it, Tony looked over at Peter. An image of a bantha burger floated across their bond, making Peter’s mouth water. Peter responded with an image of fried crezzils, golden and crispy, and nearly felt Tony’s sigh of longing. On the surface, they both maintained the mien of a stoic Jedi.

After a few more moments of uproarious arguing, Tony called order again, and quickly put Peter in charge of negotiating terms of reparation. The situation was so straightforward that even Peter—who was well aware that diplomatics were his worst area—managed it with ease and only the occasional need for back-up from Tony. They were then honored with an interminable tea ceremony (they both preferred caff, anyway) before they were finally free to find lunch.

Tony led the way through the fragrant merchant district, lined with shops and stalls selling a wide array of produce and handcrafts. Peter trotted along after him, looking this way and that, trying to take it all in.

“Iko-re does the best ixlatl cake in the parsec,” Tony said as they walked. Peter’s stomach rumbled at the thought—if sweets were a delicacy, ixlatl was the crown jewel. Ben had given him a bar of it for his twelfth lifeday and Peter had savored every creamy, sugary piece, shamelessly licking the melted remains off his fingers.

Just as they were passing through the most crowded part of the city so far—a square lined with carts and bins overflowing produce—there was a shout, followed be the unmistakable sound of a blaster firing.

More screams followed and people started running, scrambling over one another to get out of open space.

The Force was instantly taut with panic and fear. Tony and Peter snapped to attention, both of their hands going toward their ‘saber hilts.

Tony charged forward, pushing against the crowd. Peter, glancing upwards at the buildings around them, leapt up and grabbed a lamp sconce, hanging from it for a moment to see what was happening. Ahead, in a clearing of people, lay a middle-aged man, his eyes open and blank. A woman was crying over his body. And there, even further in the distance, two men were shoving people out of their way as they fled.

“Master,” Peter yelled, the loss of life ringing like a church bell in the Force, pounding in time with Peter’s frantic heartbeat.

“Go!” Tony answered without needing an explanation.

Calling on the Force, Peter went, jumping forward from lamp post to cart-top to balcony, sailing above the crowd instead of pushing his way through. He kept his eyes fixed on the murderers as he went.

As soon as he was through the square, he dropped to the cobblestone street, sprinting at full speed. He could feel Tony nearby, pursuing as well.

The men glanced behind them and their fear cut through the Force, sharp and acrid, when they realized they had Jedi on their tail. They veered down a side-alley.    

Peter summoned his ‘sabers to his hands, igniting them in a flare of blue light, the crystals humming in harmonized approval as he took chase. He hurled around the corner, springing off the alley wall with one foot so he didn’t have to slow down, only to immediately inhale a lungful of a foreign substance, making his throat burn. Coughing, he felt Tony’s concern echo through the Force as his master passed him.

“I’m fine,” he wheezed, picking up his pace. The fire in his lungs cleared after a moment. Thinking little of it, Peter darted forward, ‘sabers at the ready.

The men veered into another street; this one narrower than the main road, with little stalls selling jewelry and linens. The shopkeepers ducked behind their wooden carts as they saw Peter following, closing the distance.

He let a tiny smirk curve the corner of his mouth. The Force coiled inside him like a spring ready to be sprung—Peter was nearly lightheaded with the power pooling in his veins. He prepared to leap.

He blinked awake to Tony leaning over him, his expression set in studied calm.

He looked around at the detritus around him and realized he’s crashed directly into one of the vendors’ carts, smashing it and its wares. Peter craned his head to peer further down the alley and saw the men’s backs disappearing.

“Master,” Peter panted. “Go.”

“Hush,” Tony snapped, trapping Peter’s face in his hands and peering at him intently. “You just fainted, Padawan.”

“They’re getting away,” Peter protested, trying to sit up more but he was hit with a wave of dizziness. His eyes fluttered closed.

“Stay awake.” Tony’s thumb pulled Peter’s eyelid up, which was good because it suddenly felt like an Aurodium coin had been placed on it, like the Feorians do before burial.

Peter slumped further, all energy seemingly drained from his body. He didn’t even remember passing out. He remembered chasing the men, then waking up, as if watching a poorly transmitted hologram with gaps in the recording.

“Peter.” Tony’s voice was firm and laced with power that Peter had little choice but to obey. “Stay awake.”

Peter wanted to protest that he was trying, even if there was no such thing as ‘try.’ Obedient to his Master’s command, he forced his eyes open again, barely managing to focus on Tony’s face, the lines around his mouth creasing as he frowned.

“Master,” Peter slurred, and then he knew nothing but darkness.

 He woke up on fire. Burning in every inch of him, every inch of his crude matter, going so deep as to set the Force alight, the core of him that was meant to be untouchable.

He sucked in a breath but it only fanned the flames.

A scream tore from his throat, try as he might to hold it back. Tears gathered in his eyes and fell, blessedly cool on his skin, but the shame of it welled in his chest, scorching in his veins until there was nothing but heat and pain.

“Padawan.”

A lifeline, a reprieve: like a sip of cold, spring water after a month under Tatooine’s suns. Peter stilled his unconscious thrashing.

“Peter,” the voice said again. “Calm yourself.”

A hand, so cool in comparison to his own blazing skin it almost hurt, brushed away the tears still clinging to his cheek.

“That’s it. The Force, Padawan. Find the Force.”

The Force? The Force was screaming from the top of a pyre.

But that wasn’t right. The Force was always placid, always tranquil. Calmer and cooler than the river in the Room of a Thousand Fountains when his peers convinced him to join them for an illicit swim.

“Breathe out the pain,” came the gentle command. A hand covered his forehead and the hurt was winnowed from him like flame into the vacuum of space.

Peter exhaled a sob, but it must have been close enough because the meditation continued.

“Breathe in the Force.”

The Force. Peter imagined himself submerging in the Light, in the inextinguishable plenum of existence. The thrill of a ‘saber duel, the vibrant peace of a buzzing forest. His Master’s warm hand on his shoulder.

“There we go. Breathe out the—”

“Master.”  

“Right here, Peter,” Tony assured. He tugged so lightly on Peter’s braid that he almost didn’t feel it.

“I’m sorry,” Peter gasped. For screaming, he wanted to elaborate. For crying. For wanting Tony to hold him while he trembled in agony.

Tony made a shushing noise, softer and warmer and more lovely than anything Peter had ever heard. “You’ve done nothing to apologize for, little one. Just breathe.”

Peter reached out blindly, wanting some comfort, even if a Jedi should be above that.

A foreign hand caught his, and it occurred to him for the first time that there were others there, bustling around him. For the first time, he recognized the chemical stink of a healers.

His hand was passed to another, and this one was familiar, calloused from years of ‘saber practice, engulfing Peter’s hand entirely.

“Master,” he breathed again, hoping that Tony could hear what he was trying to say through their bond. What he wouldn’t say out loud.

“Yes,” Tony sighed, pressing his thumb against the pulse in Peter’s wrist. “I know.”

Another wave of pain crested over him.

“Sleep, Padawan. It’s all right.”

There was enough Force-compulsion in the simple order that Peter couldn’t have disobeyed even if he wanted to.

 Peter felt sluggish when he woke and he wrinkled his nose in annoyance at the dizziness clinging to him.

“There’s my poorly tempered, Padawan,” Tony’s amused voice said. Peter groaned in response. “Ah, yes. I’ve been missing that acerbic wit, young one.”

Forcing down a smile, Peter opened his eyes to give a rather pathetic looking glare to his Master, who was sitting at his bedside looking almost embarrassingly fond.

“There you are.” Tony smiled more freely than any other Jedi Master Peter had met, but only when looking at Peter, who was always an eager recipient.

“Did you get them?” Peter asked when his mind was clear enough to form the question.

The smile dropped, but a bit of begrudging humor lingered in Tony’s eyes. “You are intractable,” he reproached. “You’ve been in the healer’s care for three days. Don’t you care to hear about that?”

“No,” Peter answered honestly. He wanted to forget about it, in fact, humiliation creeping up his spine and making him pout before he could catch himself. What a terrible Jedi he must be, to be taken by surprise in such a way as to inhale a toxin, and then scream and cry like a crecheling having a tantrum while dealing with the consequences.

Tony reached forward suddenly and tugged sharply on Peter’s ear. “Enough,” he warned, his voice stern. Peter stilled, realized that perhaps his mental shields had not been tight enough to indulge in such self-recriminating thoughts.

He looked up at Tony in mute apology.

“No, I did not ‘get them,’” Tony said after a long moment, and Peter figured the subject change was akin to forgiveness. “I, for some reason that is increasingly baffling to me, prioritized the health of my young charge, who had collapsed like a swooning maiden from a holo’ drama.”

Peter scowled deeply at his Master, but Tony only raised a challenging eyebrow and Peter backed down.

“Besides,” Tony continued. “They got in a speeder bike. I couldn’t have caught up even if I had pursued.”

“Oh,” Peter said, slightly mollified. There was silence for a long moment as Peter thought of the man they had killed. Tony’s mouth turned downward and he patted the back of Peter’s hand. Then they released their sorrow together.

“You owe me ixlatl cake,” Peter finally said, eager to change the melancholy mood of the room.

“Do I?” Tony said, his amusement glittering in the Force. Peter relished it. “Very well. You will get your ixlatl cake, so long as you beat me in a quarterstaff duel.”

Peter sighed, longsuffering, knowing that that was not so much a suggestion as a command. HIs quarterstaff technique was terrible and Tony knew it. He certainly would not be winning himself any cake. But Tony would probably give it to him anyway.

“Yes, Master.”

[minbbyyoongi]

Lucky Stay

Lucky Stay

The Mafia Boss of Stray Kids is enjoying a day out for lunch with his brother and finds the wallet of a pretty girl having a hard time. Here’s what he does with it.

Genre: Mafia!AU, It'll get violent eventually, uhh eventual smut, college!AU technically? idk

A/N: I saw this idea on a writing prompt Tumblr account forever ago and I finally got around to starting something, but I can’t find the account,. I have actual plans for this story and I’m in a better mental health state than I have been in a long time so I’ll hopefully be writing more. Hope you enjoy!

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

(Y/N) rushed out of her college campus, running to catch the bus across the street. Tripping, all her things get spread across the sidewalk and she hits the ground, hard. The sound of the bus taking off makes y/n slump, slowly collecting her stuff off the ground. Trudging towards her dorm she calls her boss and tells him she’ll be late. 

Bang Chan, leader of Mafia Stray Kids, was on his way to meet his brother for lunch. He chose a little diner near the university, mainly because it’s within walking distance of the base and he wanted to enjoy the sunny day. Crossing in front of campus, Chan sits on a bench across from the diner and stretches out. Swinging his legs back, he kicks something and hears it skid across the concrete underneath him. He leans down and grabs a wallet, black with a little silver pendant. He flips it around in his hands a few times and opens it up, finding a drivers license and a few cards, all with the name ‘(firstname-lastname)’. He stares at the picture on the license and is faced with the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. 

“Hey man! Ready to eat?”

Looking up, Chan’s younger brother had walked up to the bench and clapped him on the shoulder. He put all the contents back into your wallet and tucked it into his jacket, a problem for a later time, and went to enjoy a meal with his brother. 

You returned to your shared room and changed into a clean uniform, pulling out your phone to call yourself a ride to work. 

“How will you be paying today, cash or card?” 

The lady over the phone asks. 

“Oh! Uh-card! Give me one second” 

You fished around in your bag for a minute or two and felt the panic set it; your wallet was gone. What chance did you have?

“shitshitshit okay uhh-“

You hang up on the taxi service lady and call your boss, trying to explain to him your current situation. 

“I don’t care, (y/n), just get your ass to work here soon or you’re fired!”

The line went dead as your boss hung up and you slumped down against the wall. No wallet, no ride to work, what were you going to do? Rubbing your eyes, you make your way over to the beanbag your closet and silently cry yourself to sleep.

After lunch with his brother, Bangchan strolled around the shops nearby, not really looking for anything. He wanders into a jewelry store and gets distracted by the watches, a white gold band with a diamond lined watch face, he didn’t even glance at the price tag. 

“I’ll take this one.” 

He pointed the watch out for the lady and followed her to the register, reaching into his coat and pulling out your wallet. It caught him by surprise, almost having forgot about his find. He flipped it over in his hands, lost in thought for a minute.

The woman cleared her throat to get Chan’s attention.

“Ahem, sir, that’ll be $10,989.12”

He ran his fingers along the silver pendant and smiles.

“Ahh I’m sorry ma’am, I just realized something.” 

With that, Bangchan dipped out of the store and called his driver, not wanting to walk back to the hideout. He had a better plan to spend that kind of money on.

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

Returning to the hideout, Bangchan busies himself immediately. Sat down at his desk he pulls out your wallet and empties its contents. He again stares at your drivers license, lost in the picture of you. He shakes his head and gets back on track, entering all of your information into his system and hacking into your accounts. Within minutes he has access to every file about you, he has access to your bank account, your school…

“That’s close” he thinks out loud, wanting to meet the beautiful girl in the picture. He spends the next hour or two digging into your life, finding your little apartment in the rough part of town, learning you pay for your schooling out of pocket, and figuring out where you work. He didn’t expect someone so pretty and smart to be in such a horrible situation, and now you don’t even have your wallet with all your information and money. He was gonna fix this.

You woke up to soft music playing, stretching out on the beanbag you had fallen asleep on. Yawning,  you pulled out your phone and checked the time.

“Shit it’s 2 AM?!”

You groaned and rubbed your face, climbing out of your hiding spot and grabbing a water bottle. Deciding a walk would help you clear your mind you throw on a hoodie and head out the door. Before you can take more than a step onto the porch of your apartment you are met with a box, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string, your name written neatly on the front. Picking it up, you head back inside and slide onto your mattress on the floor, spinning the box around in your hands. No one had ever sent you anything, let alone hand delivered things. It was 2:00 AM, the mail from yesterday had come before your day took a turn for the worst, and there were no stamps or postal service evidence on it; someone dropped this off sometime after your roommate got home but before you woke up, which only amounts to about a two hour window. You shook your head to clear your thoughts.

Pulling at the black twine tied around the paper, you slowly unwrapped it. Inside was an envelope and a cardboard box, your name written in the same neat manner as before on the letter. You carefully ripped open the envelope and pulled out your drivers license, a debit card you had never seen before, but adorning your name, and a messily scrawled note.

“Oh lucky (Y/N), I found your wallet. I’m a friend, don’t ask questions, just use this card for whatever you need, there’s no limit on it. -CB97”

You read it aloud to yourself multiple times, mumbling the tag at the end trying to figure out where you had seen it before. 

“CB97,” you said, “Who is CB97?”

[unmanageable-day]

09. Between a friend and another friend

When you are friends for so long, and it has never come across your mind to date one of them. Until one particular guy friend of yours came to offer you a relationship, a new chapter of life like no other before.

prev | next

You walked in to a cafe nearby your house with a pounding heart. Earlier you received a text message from Taeyong, saying he wanted to see you. You embraced his invitation with a warm heart. Finally after a long time, this could be the chance for you to explain the whole condition and gain his trust again. To gain your friend back.

You spotted him sitting alone in a corner. He looked a bit off. Was it because Hyemi wasn't around? You could only hope he was fine. You were worried his mood will affect the conversation between you and him. After trying to calming yourself down, you approached him with a big smile. "Hey, did you wait long?" you greeted.

"Hey," he greeted back with his little smile. He surely looked low in spirit, making you hesitate whether you should ask about Hyemi whereabouts just for a small talk.

The first ten minutes was spent in dead silent. You only exchanged an awkward smile whenever your eyes met. "How are you doing?" Finally you initiated the conversation.

"Just living life," he answered shortly. His eyes were locked on his empty cup, sometimes he looked up at you. His hands were fidgeting, either tapping the table lightly or playing with his rings. "Jooyeon, do I really not have any chance?" He finally let out what had been in his mind.

You frowned as you looked away. "Taeyong, please, we've talked about this."

"I'm just hoping you would change your mind. Because..." He pulled a tiny blue tiffany box from his pocket, then he opened the lid to expose a ring lying inside.

It took some time for you to recognize that ring. Until you recalled a memory when Taeyong was almost 24/7 by your side. One day several years ago, you and him went to a jewelry shop to buy new earrings, then your eyes caught some limited design of rings from the shop. You were excited to see them, and of course you told Taeyong about how you liked those rings, yet for you, buying one of those rings was not on your priority list. Back then Taeyong only nodded and gave a short 'yeah, yeah' answer.

But now, he got one of those rings presented before you. If this happened several years ago, you would gladly accept that ring but only as a regular gift from a friend. But today, when both of your wedding days were counting weeks, it just felt very wrong. "Taeyong, are you out of your mind?!"

He stayed silent.

"Don't do this, Taeyong. Hyemi doesn't deserve any of this," you pleaded.

Hyemi again. He started to regret why he used to be so stubborn dating Hyemi. She always became his major excuse whenever he had to turn down his friends' invitation for hanging out. "Sorry, but now I really don't care about that," he snapped. "Call me selfish or anything. What matters for me now is whether I could have another chance, and whether we could give it a shot." He inhaled deeply before continuing his words with shaky voice because he was holding himself from breaking in tears. "I'm this close to leave everything behind just to be with you."

"I can't do this." Unexpectedly, you were the first one to burst crying. This was the most unexpected side of Taeyong. You had no idea he could be this desperate just because he loves you for a very long time and he can't accept if he had to let you go.

"What is it that you don't like about me, Jooyeon? What is is that makes you can't stand being with me?" He cried even more sadly. "Just tell me, and I will fix it."

You shook slowly, unable to answer him anymore. Both of you just cried silently because it was difficult to find a way. Win-win solution seemed to be impossible for you and him.

"Do you even love Doyoung? Because I'm sure he doesn't."

That was something you fully comprehended. It was true that your and Doyoung's feelings were mutual in terms of not loving each other romantically. But to confirm that to Taeyong wouldn't do any better, instead it might become worse and it would make him mad. It wouldn't get to his sanity how two people who were not even in love yet they could get married.

"Hey, Lee Taeyong, cut it out." A familiar deep voice with irritated tone suddenly barged in before you could say anything. You turned and found Doyoung with unusually displeased look in his face although he still remained calm. But you knew he was gritting his teeth. On top of that, you were confused when he arrived and how long he had been there. You did tell him that you were going to meet Taeyong at this particular cafe. But you didn't expect him to be there.

Taeyong wiped off his tears in agony. Then he laughed cynically. "Unbelievable. Where is the Choi Jooyeon I used to know?"

Doyoung slowly took your hand, giving you signs to just leave for now. You were hesitating, thinking of staying for a while, just who knows Taeyong would lower his temper. But Doyoung who could read you shook his head, locking his bunny eyes at you with his brows curled. To him, it was quite impossible being coolheaded talking to Taeyong who was headstrong.

Eventually you loosened your arm and let Doyoung take you. "People change, Taeyong. Feelings can change too.." you weakly said after sniffling. And after that you left him with heavy heart.

"If feelings can change that easily, why can't mine?" he asked loudly to you who did not even turn your back to see him again.

[fuwafuwamedb]

The Mummy Pt 3 (Hakuno, Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Kirei)

Previously: One , Two

___

“Enkidu!”

The being jumped a bit, picking up the pace as they pulled her along.

Countless prisoners were being escorted here and there. They could see guards butting the various filthy inmates with the end of the weapons. They could see several inmates making obscene gestures, motioning for them to come closer. Hell, Hakuno could see a couple that she was pretty sure she would rather not be in a room alone with.  

“Enkidu,” Hakuno picked up her pace, matching theirs better. “You told me you got the keystone in a gamble!”

“I was mistaken.”

“You lied to me!”

“I lie to everyone, Hakuno. What makes you so special?”

She threw a look the being’s way, wishing her gaze could be as effective as half the whips and torture methods in this place.

“Look, we can turn around right now. There’s a dessert place three blocks away and we could look at the River Nile and-“

“I’m standing in a prison, Enkidu!”

“You are! And I know our parents would faint on the spot if they saw this so why don’t we just turn around and-“

“Welcome,” the man before them declared, throwing up his arms as he came forward. “Welcome to Cairo Prison.”

“Thank you for having us.”

The response came automatically, although there was a chill creeping down her spine at the sight of the rather tall individual. His priest robes were dark, showing signs of former stains that had been washed out only a part of the way through multiple baths. The cross around his neck was silver, all but at the bottom, where there seemed to be something crimson gleaming off it.

Had the man begun to brandish a knife at them, she would have felt less surprised.

Enkidu takes me to the worst places.

“He is this way,” the priest told her, motioning off to the side.

“Hakuno,” Enkidu murmured.

“It’s fine. We need to talk to this fellow, don’t we?”

They did. The being knew full well that they had failed to talk to the man about where they had gotten the keystone and Hamunaptra was not going to find itself. Well, not without someone being smart.

“Please,” Hakuno told the man, pulling Enkidu alongside her.

The sun was shining in, showing off the puddles and the mud as they came to a clearing. Several outdoor holding cells could be seen, showing off various states of prisoners. The trimming and the detail of the area and the filth and the decay inside the cages showed a level of attention and neglect on the part of the country.

Prisons were uncomfortable.

“Here,” the priest told them, motioning to an empty cage.

“Hakuno,” Enkidu whined again.

Jeez, but the being was being so insistent!

“What is this man in for?” Hakuno asked, pulling the being along with her the rest of the distance.

“I admittedly did not know this myself,” the priest told him. “As a warden, my job is to see they live through their time here. Repent and reform. But when I heard you were coming, I met with him in the morning and asked him myself.”

“And?”

A man was thrown through the iron door on the other side of the holding cage, his long, blond hair falling into his face. His lips were cut and his face and body were littered with mud and grime.

“He was just looking to have a good time,” the priest murmured to her. His voice seemed to fill such a sentence with so many definitions of a good time. She couldn’t help but to pull her coat around herself a little more, fixing her hair.

“S-so you stole from this man?” Hakuno whispered to Enkidu.

“Yes,” Enkidu groaned, “I stole from this guy and I punched him in the teeth. Now about that cake-“

“Who are you?”

The being jumped at the sound of that voice, glancing over their shoulder as Blondie finally looked up. Locusts, plagues, curses, fire; she could have more easily have handled any of them in comparison to the feeling of those red eyes running over her and her adopted brother. A cold, creeping feeling went through her, seeing those eyes pass over her person and focus on the being.

“And who’s the lay,” the man added.

Lay?

Scary or not, the words were sobering. Hakuno moved in front of Enkidu only to find the being tossing her behind them.

“We’re ah- missionaries! Kind of a good will, gods be with you, kind of thin-“

The priest snorted, leaving her to smack the fool.

“Damn it, Enkidu!”

“Ah, this is my sister and platonic love of my life, Hakuno-“

She smacked them a few more times, finding the priest going to resolve another problem while they bickered.

They needed the man’s directions to the one who had found the keystone. They didn’t have time for this nonsense.

“Sir, we came across your nice jewelry box the other day.” She moved a bit closer, trying to keep herself cool. “And we were hoping you could tell us from where you picked it up.”

“No.”

No?

What did he mean no?

Gods, if he knew it was a keystone-

“No?” Enkidu leaned over her a little.

“No,” Blondie repeated, shaking his head again. “You don’t want to know about some jewelry box. You want to know about Hamunaptra.”

She gaped. The being holding her shoulders made a sound, moving closer.

“So you know?”

“I better know. That was where I got the damn box I brought back,” he growled. The moment he said that, he narrowed his eyes, staring at Enkidu. “…Do I know you?”

“Nah, nah! I just have one of those faces. A handsome one, you know?”

The fist came immediately, smacking the being right dead center. Hakuno watched them fall back, going to help when they were already smack dab against the ground. Blondie was being whipped from behind as she closed her eyes.

Well…

That’s what one got for lying and stealing.

She stepped over them and pulled her hat off a little.

“So you’ve been to Hamunaptra?”

“I have.”

She moved a little closer to the bars.

He knew?

“Could you tell me?”

“You want to know where Hamunaptra is?”

“The exact location.”

The man smirked, motioning her closer.

Something told her to stop. Something in her was saying not to move any closer, but… she had to know. This was her one opportunity. This was her chance to get back at the scholars and at Shinji. She could have her museum work and do all kinds of excavations. She could have the chance to do more.

Hakuno moved a bit closer.

He crooked his finger her way.

She was right by the bars, holding her hat to block out the sun and the eyes of the priest.

A hand grabbed the back of her neck. She could feel herself being yanked in, dragged directly to where those lips were. Her lips were moving against Blondie’s, her face heating up as she felt a tongue slide along her lip for a moment before delving into her mouth. She could taste warmth and spices, sweetness and-

“If you want directions, get me the fuck out of here,” the man snarled.

The guards were yanking and hitting him, pulling him from the area. The priest returned, pressing a hand to her shoulder.

“God is truly blessing us today. We will get to see Gilgamesh hang.”

HANG?!

“YOU CAN’T HANG HIM!”

Hakuno spun around, listening to the priest raise his hands and call forth for the courtyard nearby to be prepared for the hanging.

“Hakuno-“

But she wasn’t listening to Enkidu’s voice calling for her. She chased after the priest, shoving her way around the guards and rushing to the other courtyard. Her hands beat back any of the guards and the people, one of her shoes being yanked off to thwart them away.

Heels were useful for something other than a couple inches.

Blondie- No, Gilgamesh- was pulled into the courtyard below. She could see him as the priest motioned for the others to simply block her means of getting to the courtyard.

“He has had his good time,” the man told her.

“I need him!”

The priest said a small prayer, blessing her with the forgiveness of god for her indecency.

Damn it! Not like that! I need his mind!

“I will pay you one hundred pounds if you release him!”

“I would pay one thousand pounds to see this man hang,” the priest told her, laughing a bit as he confessed that.

This is the worst warden I’ve ever seen.

“Two thousand pounds,” she countered.

“Hold!” the priest called, stopping the guards that were preparing to pull the lever on the blond. “What else? The house of god is in need of many repairs with these heathenistic artifacts constantly found.”

“How dare you! Those are priceless treasures-“

The priest’s hand fell, leaving Hakuno to cry out as the floor went out from under the blond.

His body fell, with it going her heart and very soul. She could see him hanging, his neck taut as the rope threatened to snap that precious mind and spirit from its body.

“It seems we must endure God punishing the man a bit longer. The fool will need to strangle to death.”

“Cut him down,” Hakuno breathed, her hands going to her own neck as she saw the man shift, attempting to free himself from the grips of death. His face was turning red. He was attempting to move his jaw.

He needed air!

“Please!”

“It is in God’s hands.”

“He knows the way to Hamunaptra!”

The man stilled. “…The city of the dead? The foolish place where the pharaohs kept their precious wealth and prayed to their gods most? The place untouched by our faith?”

“Yes,” although she was going to ignore the religious bits. “And if you take us… we’ll give you ten percent.”

“Fifty.”

“Twenty!”

“Fourty percent.”

“Thirty!”

“Twenty five.”

“DEAL!”

The man waved for the rope to be cut, pausing a second later.

“…You have swindled a man of God-“

“Good day, Father.” Hakuno tossed her shoe in the air, grinning a little as she glanced down into the courtyard. She gave it a little wave as she found her freed prisoner looking up her way.

She hadn’t had the two thousand pounds anyway. She was a broke museum worker.

Thankfully, she just needed to avoid the church. Not a problem.

Her blond friend was still staring as she turned and walked through the lot of guards.

Enkidu was waiting to take her to a dessert shop only a few blocks away and she was finding she was in dire need of a reward for her quick thinking and sheer brilliance.

“Oh, Miss?”

The priest was following after her.

“Someone must find the man a place for the night. He is without possessions.”

Enkidu was still rubbing her nose as Hakuno glanced back.

“Thankfully,” she told the priest, “my brother and our dear friend are the best of friends. I have no doubt that they’ll be helping one another out of this place.”

Enkidu glared at her.

“…Tell me you love me, Enkidu,” she whispered, earning a sigh.

“I truly do, you tease,” the being murmured, pressing a kiss and pushing her towards the exit before going to deal with their hired guide.

“Good. We leave tomorrow morning.”

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

LinkedUniverse Fanfiction Ch. 15: Painting the Town

Stop! You’ve Violated the Law!

So, you’ve stumbled upon this original post for my Linked Universe fanfiction. That’s okay, it happens to everyone. As of March 2021, I’ve uploaded the entirety of this fanfic to my Archive of Our Own page. Along with finally giving the story a name–Oops! All Links: A Linked Universe Story–I made substantial edits to some of the chapters. These range from minor stylistic revisions to fixing a gaping plot hole that kinda completely broke the character conflict in the earlier chapters. I also renamed and renumbered (but not reordered) the chapters. Specifically, this is now Chapter 17: To Sell a Butterfly (Pendant).

The AO3 iterations of these chapters are the definitive versions. So, if you would like to read this fanfiction, please do so on AO3, right here. With this embedded link. Hehe. Geddit? Link?

Note: My screen name on AO3 is FrancisDuFresne. Yes, that is me. I am not plagiarizing myself.

Anyway, for posterity’s sake, the rest of the original post is below the cut.

It’s finally here! Wow! ... If you thought the long wait would end with a chapter the scale of “Fire,” you’ll be sorely disappointed. Sorry, folks. Still, now we finally get to see more of Selggog and the Links’ quest. When we’re talking my fan narrative, what can beat the hijinx of the Heroes of Wind and Twilight? Word Count: 1576

“So why’d you come with me, instead?” Wind asked.

Twilight looked down to his friend and shrugged. “I didn’t want to sit around waiting for Wild to find weapons he liked. Potion shopping beats that, at least.”

Wind glanced upward at passing shop signs as they walked down one of Selggog’s many busy streets. The others sent them to resupply on potions. Hyrule had finished the last of their stock following their skirmish with the Hinox. The two of them had been searching for an apothecary for the past half hour.

The elder of them sighed. “We should ask someone.”

“Where’s the fun in that, though?” Wind countered. He was jovially bouncing about on the balls of his feet with each step. “Having absolutely no idea where you’re going makes it a little adventure!”

“Aren’t we already on an adventure?”

Wind frowned. He clasped his hands behind his head and looked up. White, fluffy clouds dotted the otherwise clear sky. “Yeah, I guess,” he said somewhat dejectedly. Then, more chipper than before, “Well, it can be a side quest. How about that?”

“’Side quest?’ Kind of a silly name for it.”

“Yeah? Well… I like it.”

Twilight let out a bark of laughter. “Maybe it’ll stick.”

Some passersby knocked shoulders with the Links as the streets became busier. “Ack!” Wind grunted. “You know,” he called out to someone ahead who had rammed into him, “wouldn’t kill you to say sorry!”

“Shhh,” Twilight hushed sharply. “We don’t want—“ he was cut off by someone bashing his shoulder—"unneeded attention.”

Wind rubbed his shoulder and looked up to his friend. “You think they’re always this in a rush?”

“Dunno. I’m not used to city life.”

“Yeah,” Wind said. He thought back to Windfall Island, which he used to think of as a metropolis. “Gotta say this place is a bit bigger than I’m used to.”

Twilight patted his pockets. Satisfied everything was where it should be, he glanced at his partner. “Just make sure no one filches anything. You have your wallet, right?”

With a pffft, Wind checked his own pockets over. “Of course I d—”

A pause. “Wind?” Twilight asked. He stopped walking.

The youngest hero looked up at his friend with a sheepish smile. He raised his arms in a guilty sort of half-shrug. “Wind,” Twilight said slowly, “Don’t tell me you—”

“Yep.”

“By Ordona…” he cursed, smacking his forehead. He thought that over. Why did I just hurt myself? I didn’t do anything wrong. He promptly smacked Wind on the back of the head.

“Ow! What the heck?”

“What did we tell you?!”

“To watch out for pickpockets…” Wind admitted with his head hung, kicking at a pebble on the road.

“And did you?!”

Wind looked up.  His wide eyes seemed to burn with anger Twilight had never seen. “No, Twi!” he shouted back. “I didn’t! So can you stop yelling at me and making me feel like crap so we can go find it?!”

Twilight was about to fire back, then paused. For all Wind had been through, he was still just a kid. He sighed and looked around. Some people had stopped and were staring at them. “Well?” he called out to them.

They shrugged and went back to bustling down the street on their errands. When Twilight turned back to his friend, he found him breathing deeply with his eyes closed. “Hey,” he began, “I didn’t mean t—”

“Stop,” Wind interrupted. He opened his eyes and met Twilight’s gaze. “Just because I’m cheery most of the time,” he whispered. Twilight could barely hear him. “That doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings like everybody else.”

“I—”

“Just remember that.”

Twilight had never seen the youngest Link upset enough to yell. He really had struck a nerve. “Okay,” he said. “I will.”

Wind’s expression softened. “Thank you. Now let’s find my wallet. What’re we gonna do?”

“I would suggest we ask Sky to borrow the Master Sword for its dowsing ability.” He considered this. “But even if it was willing to help, there are so many wallets in this town that it probably couldn’t pick yours out of the crowd.”

A thought struck Wind. “What about your wolf sense?”

Twilight looked around. The streets were packed with people going about their business. He remembered how the residents of Castle Town reacted to seeing his beastly form. “No. I don’t want to scare all these people.”

“Fair,” Wind replied. “But what else can we do?”

“Uh…” he muttered, wracking his brains. “I… I don’t know.”

Wind’s jolted to attention as if shocked by a yellow ChuChu. The sudden movement made his partner flinch. “What if I just earn back all the money that was stolen?” Wind suggested, thrusting his arms down, palms up, as if pointing out something totally obvious.

Twilight’s brow furrowed. “That might actually work…” he admitted pensively. “How much was in there?”

Silence. Well, at least between the two heroes. The townspeople were loud and rowdy as ever. “Um…” Wind said, clearly stalling. “Not too much.”

“Don’t dick around with me. How much?”

“About two-fifty?”

“That’s a lot of smashed pots,” Twilight joked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. “How do you plan on earning that much?”

The young seafarer dug in his pouch and pulled out a necklace. “I’ve got some treasures I can sell. How many people here would buy a chintzy necklace with a butterfly pendant?”

“With this many people, hopefully at least a couple.”

“How much should we charge?”

“How many do you have?”

“Seven.”

Twilight nodded. “Anything else?”

Wind shook his head. “Some trinkets, feathers, a lot of junk.”

“Right. Well, let’s get started.”

“Hoi!” Wind called out to the crowd. “Beautiful butterfly necklaces here! Twenty-five rupees apiece!”

No one walked over to them. The crowds just kept moving by. Undeterred, Wind repeated his sales call even louder. This turned some heads, but nobody came. He tried once more. The second-floor shutters of a nearby building slammed open. A disheveled old man in a sleeping cap poked his head out. “Quit yer yapping!” he shouted down to the Links. “People are trying to sleep!”

The two heroes glanced at each other, paused a moment, then shrugged in unison. Wind hooked his thumbs on his belt and shifted his weight to one leg. “Guess that’s out the window,” he said.

Twilight let out a frustrated sigh. If he had just been more careful, we’d have potions by now, he thought bitterly. No, stay focused. We need to figure this o—

“Oh!” Wind exclaimed, again startling his friend. “Let’s find a shop that will buy some of my stuff!”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure most shops won’t buy off strangers. They’re trying to sell their junk, not buy yours. Think how fast they’d go bankrupt.”

Wind shook his head. “No no no, I mean a treasure teller! Someone who deals in treasures. There was one on one of the islands I sailed to. I’m sure there’s one around here.”

“Alright,” Twilight said, “how are we gonna find one? Search every street? That didn’t quite work for the apothecary.”

“Look for a sign with a rupee on it,” Wind replied, scanning the street for such a sign. “There’s gotta be one aro—OH! Look!”

Wind pointed out to the building directly across the street from them. Sure enough, the storefront had a multitude of rupees painted all over it. Twilight sighed in relief. “That was easier than expected.”

“I wouldn’t get too excited. We have no idea what they’ll offer for my stuff. These guys can be fickle.”

“Right.”

The two heroes crossed the street and entered the store. The walls were covered in a bizarre wallpaper filled with celestial bodies and distorted floral patterns. The shelves immediately drew their eyes. Treasures and spoils lined the perimeter of the store. Everything from golden statuettes to fine china to jewelry to precious stones rested upon the shelves. A beaded curtain hung in the doorway between the store and some back room.

While Wind marveled over the treasures, Twilight strode to the ornately-decorated counter. It was adorned with an equally beautiful silver bell. He gently tapped its button. A soft, pleasing ding rang out. No one came after a few seconds, so he rang it again, a little harder this time. He strained to hear any movement in the back room but was left wanting.

By now, Wind had refocused and walked up beside his friend. They glanced at each other. A look of confusion and mild annoyance passed between their eyes. Wind shrugged. “Hello?” he called slightly louder than the second bell ring. Nothing.

“Oh, come on,” he grumbled with a huff. He hooked his thumbs in his belt again. “Maybe no one is here?”

Twilight shook his head. “With this kind of merchandise, the door would have been locked tight.”

“So why the heck is no one coming?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Alright, here goes,” Wind said with resignation lacing his voice. He cupped his hands over his mouth. “Hoi!” he yelled. “Is anybody here?!”

Nothing. The hairs on the back of Twilight’s neck stood on end. His eyes narrowed. Honing his wolf senses had carried over somewhat to his Hylian form. Something didn’t sit right with him. “Quiet down. This doesn’t feel right.”

Just then, a drawling whisper came from directly behind the young heroes. “No need to be afraid, dearies…”

[onlystylesangels]

Precious Y/N

Requested From: @mypetgreenturtle14

Prompt: Harry x reader. He rubs their clit to relieve them

Warnings: Smut!! Fluff, angst?

Word Count: +4k

A/N: Yeah, I think I went a little overboard with her. Enjoy my loves!

P.S: I also changed it a bit. It’s the reader’s birthday, because it’s my birthday, so yea. Enjoy!

Y/N was home, gathering her clothes and taking them to the washer. She has been cleaning up her small apartment since she woke up.

 Y/N didn’t really have anything planned for the day, but she was sure that she was going to finish cleaning up her apartment and treat herself to some binge-watching.

Once Y/N has finished folding her lavender scented clothes, she goes to the living room and turns on the television so she could watch another episode of Friends. She prepared herself nachos and made herself a smoothie. 

  Y/N had no intentions going anywhere. It was her birthday, so she had an excuse to go out and party with some friends. But this year was not that. She wanted to treat herself and that was her birthday. Something simple and comforting.

    **//**

 Harry was at a studio recording some songs. He promised Y/N that he was going to come by and he had no idea that it was her birthday. He was too busy thinking about songs, lyrics… he forgot all about her.

 Granted, he was planning to surprise her and take her to restaurant that would allow them to sightsee and see the beautiful, illuminating stars that stared down at them. But he couldn’t just ask one of his close friends to shut down his restaurant just for him and Y/N. It was too late.

 So once Harry was out of the studio, he went off running to a local floral shop praying to god that it was still open at this hour. He prayed that he could just get one thing right tonight, just one thing right, and he will go to her, hug her, kiss her, do whatever to show that he didn’t forget her birthday.

Harry arrived to the floral shop just in time, the elderly woman was just about to lock up her little shop and call a night, but Harry convinced her to open it back up so he could purchase Y/N’s favorite flowers.

“You better have a good excuse for me to keep my shop open.” The elderly woman responded. “Which flowers would you want?”

 “I apologize. It’s my girl’s birthday. I forgot that her birthday was today, I was too busy think’ ‘bout my work.” Harry looked down, his hands tucked in the pockets of his worn-out brown coat.

“I know how it feels, love. Once you’re too busy thinking about yourself, you forget everything about anyone around you.” The woman made herself to the display of flowers that were enclosed.

“Do you know which flowers she likes?”

Harry pointed to the bundle of flowers that reminded him of Y/N. “Those right there.”

The woman walked to the bouquet of flowers and wrapped them with tissue paper and finally covering them with a plastic sleeve.

“There you go, love.” The woman handed Harry the beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Thank you, ma’am.” Harry grabbed the bouquet flowers from the old woman’s delicate hands and dug in his pockets to grab his money. “Here. Keep the change.”

“No. It’s on me, love. Go home and celebrate your girl’s birthday.”

“Please, ma’am take the money. You have already done enough fo’ me by not closin’ up your shop.”

“Keep it. You can use that money to get her something.” The woman handed Harry his money, setting it on his palm, closing his palm with her small hands. “My treat.”

 Harry went around the counter embracing the elderly woman into his arms. “Thank you so much, ma’am. You don’t know how much I appreciate all of this.”

“Please, call me Penny. And it’s my pleasure-“

“Harry.” Harry responded back.

“It’s a pleasure Harry. Now get outta here, go to your lucky woman.” Penny smiled, as Harry hugged her one last time and rushed to a nearby bakery that was Y/N’s favorite.

Once Harry got the little cake and candles. He was running off to a shop that was Y/N’s favorite shop to go whenever she was trying to find some new jewelry.

 Once Harry arrived to the store, he saw no life to the small store. Jewelry displayed but no lights hitting their jealous jewels. It was just a lonely place with jewels begging to be worn.

“Damnit.” He said under his breath.

 He was giving up. He got the flowers, the cake, and the candles. But he was going to Y/N emptyhanded without the necklace that she has wanted for so long now. A silver necklace that was shaped as a bird locket. She told Harry that she wanted it for her birthday or for Christmas. Why she loved that necklace, Harry had no idea why she liked it. She liked it more than the necklace that was adorned with pearls, and the price was more than what the bird locket cost.

  Harry dragged his legs along the lonely sidewalk. It was just him and his thoughts that surrounded the crosswalk. Him feeling defeated by the curse of the late hours and the curse and the curse of him not remembering Y/N’s special day. He wondered, what was Y/N doing. Did she go out with her friends or did she went shopping herself, and treating herself with a body massage or spending her time alone at home. He hoped she didn’t stay alone.

  **//**

 Once Harry stepped foot on the doormat of Y/N’s apartment, he rummaged through his pockets of his jacket he retrieved the keys and unlocked the old, creaky door. He kept forgetting to get her a new door, but Y/N would always say that it was still good enough and that he shouldn’t waste his money on a door.

 Harry stepped in the warm, cozy little place and took off his dirty brown boots to the side.

“Darlin’? Y/N, love. I’m sorry I came late, I was held up at the studio, I jus-“ Harry walked into the living room and saw Y/N snuggled in a fuzzy blanket, her hair adorning her beautiful face and her body curled up.

When Harry set the bouquet of flowers down on the coffee table, he sat on the edge of the couch, carefully making himself comfortable so he could avoid waking up her little angel.

But before he started to get a blanket to cover himself, he felt Y/N wake up from her slumber and rub her eyes, letting out a yawn.

“Mmm. Harry?”

“Hi, love.” Harry whispered. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake ya.”

“No. Just taking a nap, that’s all.” Y/N continued to rub her eyes, but she stopped and sat up and cuddled with Harry. “It’s late. You didn’t call, Harry.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, darlin’. I was just caught up at the studio and I forgot to call you and I forgot it was your birthday, but then I looked at my calendar and realized that today was your birthday it was jus-“

Y/N shushed him by putting her soft finger on his lips. “It’s okay, Harry. It wasn’t your fault. You get busy when you’re at the studio and I see it everyday how exhausted you are when you come back home. You don’t have to worry, love.”  Y/N hugged Harry, making him feel better, but he was still guilty for not getting her anything and that was something that he wouldn’t ever forgive himself.

Harry grabbed Y/N’s hand and led them to the kitchen where he left the small cake in the refrigerator.

“I didn’t get ya anythin’ but I got you a small cake and some flowers. It’s not much, but I had to get you somethin’, darlin’.”

Y/N smiled, her eyes still sleepy. “Thank you, Harry. But I’m tired. Can we eat it tomorrow?”

Harry’s smile dropped, his dimples no longer showing. His eyes looking down at the little cake that he was holding in one hand and the candles in the other.

“Yea- We can eat it tomorrow, love. Whatever you wish, Y/N.”

 Harry covered the cake and put it back in the fridge, setting the candles in a kitchen drawer. He walked to the living room and grabbed the flowers unwrapping them from the tissue paper and putting them in a vase, feeding the beautiful flowers their water and plant food.

When Harry finished fixing up the flowers he walked himself to Y/N’s bedroom, already seeing her body lying down, covered with the bed sheets.

His head was bowed down, letting out a sigh. He was feeling too guilty. He missed Y/N’s birthday, and she was too tired to actually celebrate it, and he couldn’t blame her. She was probably exhausted from celebrating it with her friends, and he wasn’t there to be with her to celebrate it. He felt selfish.

 Harry washed himself off, took of his clothes, only leaving him with his boxers.

“Goodnight, love.” He said, but there was no answer that replied back. Just soft breathing leaving her precious lips, nothing but breathing and the heavy light coming from the energized moon.

       **//**

 Harry woke up from his deep slumber. He saw that Y/N was still in bed, sound asleep so he sat up, tiptoeing his way towards the door of the bedroom.

 When Harry brought himself to the kitchen, he started to prepare breakfast. He didn’t even hesitate in dressing himself in clothes, he was cooking with only his boxers on.  

 Harry mixed the batter of the pancakes and cooked some eggs. Harry knew with the smell of the pancakes and eggs would eventually wake Y/N from her slumber, so he tried to hurry because he didn’t want her to wake up before he was done.

 When the breakfast was warm and ready to eat, Harry grabbed the breakfast tray and set the food and finished up with a mini vase adorned with the flowers that Harry got her yesterday.

 Harry carried the tray, tiptoeing towards the bedroom. Y/N was tossing around in the bed, smelling the aroma of the pancakes and syrup. She wasn’t going back to sleep now that her stomach demanded food to consume.

 “Harry.” Y/N said quietly, her voice still drowsy.

“Hi, darlin’. I got ya some breakfast. Your favorite.” Harry said, as he leaned over to plant a kiss on Y/N’s forehead. “I’ll eat with ya if you want.”

“Thank you, Harry. And of course. Eat with me.”

 Y/N and Harry both ate their breakfast in bed. They laughed they fed each other pieces of their pancake and Harry joking that she ate his last pancake.

“Sorry, love. I couldn’t resist your pancakes.” Y/N smiled, as Harry embraced her and told her that it was okay of her to take his last pancake.

He would do anything for Y/N. Feed her his last pancake, give her his sweater whenever she looked cold. Or that one time that he told her to take his car so she could hang out with her friends. Harry had to go to the studio that day, but he cancelled it so Y/N could hang out with her friends and he wanted her to spend time with them. He didn’t want Y/N to take an uber. He never wanted to imagine anything happen to her, so he protected her as much as he could.

   When Harry and Y/N finished their breakfast, Harry washed all the dishes and told Y/N that he was going out for a bit, because he forgot to add one last piece to a song he was making back at the studio.

 So he left. Leaving Y/N alone once again.

 Y/N couldn’t blame him. Harry did have a job to go to everyday and it was something that she wouldn’t tell him to not go.

 Once Y/N finished showering, she went to the kitchen and put away the clean dishes that Harry washed. When she was about to clean the counters, she heard keys play with the locket of the doorknob.

Her head stuck out to see Harry carrying a little blue bag filled with tissue paper.

“Harry, You came back. What’s th-“

“Darlin’ I forgot to get you somethin’ for your birthday. I went to that little shop where you saw that necklace that you liked, but it was closed and I didn’t want to make you feel sad ‘bout not getting’ a present, so I went-“

“Harry.” Y/N walked towards the door, caressing Harry’s cheek. “Harry. I don’t care if you didn’t get me a present. All I cared was spending time with you. That’s what matters to me.”

“I know, love. But I felt guilty for not getting you a present and I forgot it was your birthday yesterday. I’m sorry, Y/N.”

 Y/N never realized that Harry forgot her birthday. She just thought that he was running late to get to the studio. She just thought that he forgot to wish her a ‘happy birthday’ and that maybe later he was going to call her and wish her then, but he never called. A phone call that she was wishing to get, but nothing but a silent, speechless phone.

 “You forgot? I thought you were going to call when you were at the studio.” Y/N said quietly.

“I know, love. But I forgot to call during break, but I was fixing up this song and-- that shouldn’t be my excuse. I’m sorry, love.” Harry murmured. He ran a hand through his hair, showing discomfort.

Y/N sighed out, grabbing Harry’s hand. As she looked into his beautiful hues of green eyes.

“Darlin’, I’m not angry that you forgot my birthday and I get it, your busy and I get why you forgot. It’s okay, you shouldn’t feel guilty of anything.” Y/N assured him. His face still looking gloomy, his thumb caressing the skin of her hand.

“I know. But it feels terrible. I should be the one to celebrate it. Give you mornin’ kisses. I should be the one takin’ you out to a restaurant. But no, I was too busy with my problems and ignoring everything about you.”

Y/N took Harry’s hand and led them to the living room. They both sat down, Y/N still holding onto Harry’s hand which was adorned with rings. And Harry still looking down at their intertwined hands.

“Harry, I’m not mad. Look. I’m not frowning, I’m smiling, honey.” Y/N explained.

Y/N’s eyes were about to brim with little tears. She was devastated. She hated seeing Harry sad or gloomy. She always wanted Harry to be a cheerful little soul, she wanted him to be happy. She never wants to see gloomy frown on his beautiful angelic face. It was something she has hated ever since they began dating.

“It still feels bad.”

Y/N took the bag from his hand that he has been holding onto dear life and sets it down on the coffee table. She leans towards him and instead of kissing his heart-shaped, pink lips. She tickled his tummy, instantly making Harry laugh. Y/N’s favorite sound that came out of his mouth. Tears almost begging to leave Harry’s squinted eyes.

“Okay, okay, okay. S-s-stop love.”

Y/N obliged and sat back down on her original spot.

“You happy now?” Y/N smiled.

Harry nodded. Giving Y/N a small peck to the lips.

“Now open this. I want to see how it looks on ya, yea?”

Y/N took the little blue bag and carefully took the tissue paper out one piece at a time. Once all the tissue paper was out, all that was left was a small red box with a littler silver bow wrapped around it.

She opens the little box and realizes the familiar silver necklace that she showed Harry once and told him that she liked very much. A bird locket, the necklace feeling too delicate she didn’t dare lay a finger onto the gorgeous silver necklace that she fell so in love with.

“Can you put it on me, Harry?” She asked, handing him the small box.

“Of course, love.”

Harry wrapped his fingers around the delicate piece of jewelry, unclasping the necklace and bringing it in front of her neck and clasping it.

Harry set his hands on Y/N’s shoulders and pecked her cheek.

“Happy Birthday, Y/N.”

“Harry. It’s gorgeous! Did I ever tell you why I liked this necklace?”

Harry nodded.

“I liked it because the little bird reminded me of your swallows that are on your chest. So whenever I’m wearing it I will always have you near me, no matter how far we are from each other.”

“C’mere, love.” Harry said, as his arms were open for her to embrace him. “I love you so much, Y/N. You don’t know how much ya mean to me.”

Y/N smiled, enjoying the wonderful scent of his cologne. She kissed his cheek. “I love you Harry.” Y/N whispered.

     **//**

“What’d ya do when I was at the studio? Did you go out with your friends?” Harry asked out of the blue, as him and Y/N were watching a little bit of Friends.

“No. I stayed home and cleaned. I didn’t really have anything planned.”

“Darlin’, you spent your birthday alone? I know I wasn’t here to celebrate it with ya, but why didn’t you celebrate it with your friends?” Harry asked worriedly.

“I was waiting for you, Harry. I didn’t really wanted to go out yesterday, it was cold out.” Y/N confessed. She was right, it was pretty chilly out.

“You’re right, darlin’. Its just- I wished you spent it with someone, so you wouldn’t feel so lonely on your birthday.”

 When another episode of Friends finished, Y/N got up from the couch and was about to go in the kitchen, but Harry stopped her.

“Where ya goin’?”

“I have to wash those dishes, and I have to put the clean dishes away.” Y/N said. As Harry’s hand was intertwined with hers.

“No. You are stayin’ here on this couch. No more cleanin’ for you. You cleaned yesterday. You are goin’ to lie down here and you will continue watching the show, while I go in the kitchen and wash the dishes, yea? How does that sound?”

“Umm… okay.” Y/N let out. Her body lazily falling onto the couch and covering herself with the fuzzy blanket.

    **//**

 After Harry finished washing the dishes and cleaned the rest of the peaceful little kitchen, he went and joined Y/N in the living room. They cuddled some more and continued watching the show.

 When an episode finished off Y/N would play the next right away, but when the current episode ended. Y/N was about to reach for the remote to continue watching the next episode but Harry stopped her, grabbing the remote from her and putting it on the coffee table.

“No more, love. I got somethin’ better in mind.”

“Oh, and what would that be, Harry.” Y/N asked. Her lips in between her teeth, as she looked at Harry staring down at her lips.

“You know what.”

And with that last sentence, Harry cupped Y/N’s cheeks and kissed her, savoring the taste of her lips, his tongue fighting with hers. Y/N’s hands ruffling his hair, grabbing onto his shoulders tightly as if she was about to fall over a cliff. Their moans spoke every speechless word. Their breaths becoming disordered.

Harry raised Y/N’s arms so he could discard the shirt that she was wearing. He was becoming hungry to feel every part of her body, from in and out. He wanted to touch her so bad, but he was afraid to touch delicate, gorgeous skin that reminded him of the fur of a baby fawn. Skin so soft to the touch he would want to use her as a blanket.

When her shirt was finally off, he then unclasped her bra and threw it some place that would take Y/N forever to retrieve back. But he didn’t care at the moment, right now his priority was to make love to Y/N and to make her scream out his name. He wanted her to feel good.

Harry led her to the bedroom, setting her down gently as he climbed onto her, kissing her chest and sucking on the skin of her collar bone.

His hungry hands slid down to the untouched skin of her thighs, his hands gripped onto her thighs as he kissed her skin passionately.

When Harry began trailing kisses on her thighs and making his way up, Y/N’s breathing started to be unsynchronized.

Her hands were tied in Harry’s little loose curls. Their breathing becoming staggered, both breathing in deeply and letting out words of pleasure by their many moans. They were uneven, too close for them to let loose, but the time wasn’t near yet.

“Mmm. You feel so soft, love. You’re such a beauty.” Harry whispered into her ear, as Y/N gripped onto the blankets that were close from falling from the bed.

“Please, Harry. I need you, please, sweetheart.” Y/N begged him, his eyes staring down at her marvelous colored eyes.

His lips were slightly swollen from the kissing and Y/N gently biting onto his lips. His lips matching the same color as a red rose petal.

“Okay, love.” Harry said. His head coming down to kiss the crook of her neck, causing Y/N to smile, as she kissed his left shoulder.

Harry got off the bed and opened the drawer that was sitting beside the bed. He grabbed the small foil package.

Once he was about to lie back down on the bed Y/N sat up abruptly and went to unbutton his pants. His pants fell to his ankles and Harry raising up his legs so Y/N could completely discard of them. Y/N’s fingers touched where the band of his underwear was and slid the material down, exposing his cock. She was about to stroke him, but Harry stopped her.

“It’s not about me, love. Tonight is about you.” Harry softy said. His hand cupping her cheek and gliding a finger along her face. Y/N stared at his green eyes. She got up from being bent down and began kissing his lips again, their tongues once again fighting for dominance. Harry wrapped an arm around her body and made her jump onto his torso as he set her down again on the bed as he started to position himself.

Y/N lied down on her back, legs open as Harry was on his knees in between Y/N’s legs. She saw him open up the small foil package, Harry’s brows furrowed the whole time, as he concentrated trying to rip open the package. When he finally opened the small packet, he spit onto his hand and stroked himself and inserted the condom onto him, stroking again.

 Y/N began hyperventilating. The excitement of having him here as a whole. God was she lucky to have a man like Harry. Caring, loving and having the best sex that she could ever dream of. He was a fucking treasure that she was sure to love everyday and to care for the rest of her life.

 Harry bent down, slowly, as Y/N’s eyes were on him and his eyes were stuck on hers as well. Y/N’s tummy filling with butterflies as Harry inserted a finger into her, he left sloppy kisses on the skin of her inner thighs, leaving Y/N a moaning mess. He inserted his second, then his third finger, pumping in and out ferociously causing Y/N to scream out Harry’s name already. The effect he had on her was unbelievable and it was such a dream whenever they would have intercourse it was something that Y/N would wish it never end.

“You taste so good. Ready fo’ me, Y/N, hmm?”

Y/N began nodding, her words being jumbled together causing her to not answer.

“What d’ya want, love?”

“You. I want you, Harry.”

With no answer Harry kissed her flaps and licked his wet fingers. He leaned in forward and kissed Y/N passionately as Y/N moaned when she tasted herself as they kissed.

 “Slow or fast, love?” Harry asked. His forehead touching hers as he slid his hand down and up on her shoulder, leaving little soothing circles on her skin.

“Slow, Harry.” Y/N replied, her lips kissing his cheek.

 Every time they would have sex, Harry always asked if she wanted to start slow or fast he always wanted Y/N to feel comfortable and he didn’t want to hurt her in any way.

Harry positioned himself, he wrapped her legs around his waist and his hands holding her still by putting them under her thighs.

Once he thrusted himself inside of her, his scrunched up in pleasure as he started to moan out Y/N’s name.

“Y/N! F-f-fuck. Baby, you’re s-so tight.” Harry moaned, as Y/N wrapped her legs tightly around his waist.

Harry thrusted in smoothly and slowly but with each thrust, each time Harry groaned and Y/N moaning his name, as she dug her nails onto his back, leaving little small crescent moons as temporary markings.

Y/N brought Harry’s face down to her so she could kiss him, their moans making them part their lips.

The love, their bodies working as one single soul. Their moans becoming the background noise that filled the small apartment. Their hands becoming selfish, as they touched any skin they could feel, their hands intertwined as if they were afraid to let go. But they couldn’t let go. Not yet.

“Har-harry! I’m so close! Go faster, please.”

Harry took his opportunity and thrusted faster than ever, as Y/N started to moan even louder than before. He set Y/N’s legs on his shoulders making it easier for him to thrust inside of her.

Y/N began to clutch onto the covers of the bed and digging her head into the pillow, trying to keep her moans in.

Harry slid his hand up to her clit, rubbing it gently causing Y/N to moan softer as her breathing became even. He moved his hands from keeping her thighs up on his shoulders and cupping her breasts, kneading them and leaning down to suck on of her nipples. He began thrusting harder and harder and continued sucking on her nipple, giving the same attention to the other nipple.

Harry gently pinched her nipples, as Y/N rolled her head back, her mouth open in an ‘o’ shape. Her pleasure sending shivers up her spine.

  When he leaned away from her, he continued massaging her clit as butterflies and shivers ran through her body. His hands wandered off, touching every curve of Y/N’s body. A beautiful body that you would think was created by the gods and goddesses.

 “Fuck, darlin’. I’m so close.”

He continued to thrust deep inside of her and Y/N still moaning out his name and pulling onto Harry’s hair making Harry to groan from the pleasure he was currently feeling.

 When Harry rubbed Y/N’s clit again, that is where she releases and Harry also releases seconds after when he thrusted inside of her for the last time. Harry comes out of her as his hands are on the bed, and head bowed down as he breathe heavily. Releasing air and breathing in air. He looks up to see Y/N having her eyes shut for a while then opening seeing Harry’s sweaty forehead and his chest shinning from the sweat. He smiled, his dimples in full display as he looks away, bashful from seeing Y/N smile back.

“I’ll be right back, darlin’.” Harry said before kissing Y/N’s forehead.

He got up and took off the condom and throwing it in the trash that was in the bathroom and headed outside of the bedroom door.

 Y/N sat up, and wrapped her messed up hair into a ponytail.

 Harry came back with the birthday cake he got her yesterday along with candles adorning the small cake.

“We forgot to slice the cake. I thought we could do it now.” Harry smiled. He set the cake down on the nightstand and lit up the candles with a match.

Harry brought it close to Y/N so she could finally blow the candles and make her birthday wish. Y/N closed her eyes thinking about her wish before blowing out the candles. Once she finished, she opened her eyes and blew out the candles.

Harry exclaimed in excitement, hugging her and kissing her lips.

“So. What’d ya wish fo’?”

“I can’t tell you, Harry. You know that!”

“I know, love.” Harry smiled as he kissed her once again smiling in between their kisses.

And with that Harry sliced half of the cake as they shared the half piece with each other. Harry gave her the utensil first so she could get her first bite if the cake and Harry tasting it after her.

While they ate the cake, Harry swiped his finger to get a speck of frosting and putting it on Y/N’s nose and lips.

Harry smiled as Y/N smiled and was about to get the frosting from her nose and wipe it clean with her finger, but before she could Harry grabbed her hand and rubbed soothing circles on her skin.

“Kissy?” Harry asked, his lips puckering making Y/N smile.

“Okay, Harry.” Y/N laughed in between the sweet kisses.

 And with that Harry and Y/N spent the rest of the night laughing and cuddling with each other, eating bits and bits of the cake. A precious moment that Harry will never forget and spending his time with his precious Y/N.

________________________________________________________________

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. Send me any requests if you’d like. And as always comment or reblog and let me know what you thought. Much love 💞💓 -Ani.

[thelastblueheart]

I love you like rlb

THIS IS NOT MINE!!! This was originally posted by tolieawake but has since been deleted. I was able to get my hands on it and have shared it since it is a fandom classic. Please credit them as the writer!

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I love you like rlb has become a well-known, accepted and valuable component of American vernacular. The meaning of the letters ‘rlb’ is unknown, but is uniformly considered to be a statement of a great romantic love, commitment and sacrifice.

In which Tony goes insane trying to figure out why that phrase affects the Cap so much, Bucky teases the press, and Steve and Bucky love each other like rlb.

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I love you like rlb The first time he saw it, Steve stopped dead in his tracks and stared. Tony, who was walking and talking and gesticulating wildly all at the same time (the way that Tony does), didn't notice at first. When he did, he frowned, spun on his heel and headed back to where Steve was standing. “You okay, Cap?” he asked, tugging his sunglasses just far enough down his nose that he could peer at Steve over them. “Fine,” Steve mumbled, but he couldn't quite tear his eyes away. He was staring at the large glass window of the shop beside him or, rather, he was staring through the window at the brightly coloured t-shirt hanging on the mannequin. It was a vivid shade of blue, with yellow swirls crossing it, and white text proudly displayed across the chest. I love you like rlb it proclaimed proudly. “What?” Tony asked, “you never seen that saying before?” Steve swallowed, but didn't answer. Behind the mannequin was a rack of t-shirts, in various colours and patterns, all proclaiming the same thing – I love you like rlb. “I -” Steve started, before stopping to clear his throat. “Do you know what it means?” he asked. “Uh, it's just a saying, Cap,” Tony replied. “You know, like LOL or Got Milk? Roses are red. A prominent part of our popular culture that people use without really thinking about it.” He shrugged. “I don't think anyone knows where it comes from, or what the 'rlb' means – but everyone just takes it to mean, you know, like a declaration of love or something. Lots of love. Lots and lots of love.” He frowned. “I gave Pepper an I love you like rlb bracelet once. Real fancy, solid gold, she wears it occasionally.” He paused his rapid-fire rambling long enough to stare at Steve. “You sure you okay, Cap? 'Cos you look like you seen a ghost or something.” Tony paused. “You haven't seen a ghost, have you?” “No, no, it's just...” Steve let his voice trail off, hands tilted out to the side as he shrugged helplessly. How could he possibly explain it. “I don't know if it's related,” he said, “but some of the guys used to say that, during the war.” “Huh,” Tony said. He turned to look in the window at the t-shirts. “I mean, I know the saying's been around for a long time. One of those things that no-one is quite sure where it started or who said it first.” “Dernier,” Steve muttered. “What?” Shaking his head, Steve took a step away from the display, visibly pulling himself together. “Nothing,” he said. Shoving his hands into his pockets (to stop the shaking he wouldn't admit to), he turned and headed back down the street. “Don't we have somewhere to be?” he asked. - “JARVIS,” Steve said, standing in the middle of his floor of Avengers Tower (because Tony was ridiculous like that about giving them all things), “can you do some research for me, please?” “Certainly, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS replied smoothly. “What would you like me to research?” “I... I saw something today,” Steve said, “while I was out with Tony. He said that it was just a common saying, but...” letting his voice trail off he sighed, scrubbing one hand through his hair. “Sorry, I'm not explaining this right.” “Perhaps you could start with the saying?” JARVIS suggested. “Right, yes, of course.” Taking a deep breath, Steve forced the words – words he'd thought he'd never hear again, through his lips. “I love you like rlb,” he said. His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. There was a stinging in the backs of his eyes, but he resolutely ignored it. “That is a common saying,” JARVIS informed him with a thoughtful hum. “What is it that you would like to know about it?” “Does anyone know where it comes from?” Steve asked. “Tony said no, but, well, I thought maybe it's just not well-known? Or, does anyone know when it started? What it means?” “One moment, please,” JARVIS requested, before making another humming sound. Steve knew it was the sound JARVIS made to let him know he was thinking – or rather, running searches and collating information. Stumbling backwards, Steve let himself fall down onto his couch, grabbing the nearest cushion and almost ripping it apart as he held it tightly, hands clenching in the fabric. “While there does not appear to be any documented origin for the saying,” JARVIS said calmly, his smoothly modulated voice helping to calm Steve, “it is generally attributed as a saying which emerged among American troops during World War II. Returning soldiers brought the saying back to American soil with them. This origin in the War leant a certain romantic slant to the saying, which has persisted to this day. “Interestingly, french troops also carried the saying home to France after the war, which suggests that it was well-known enough that it transferred between Allied troops. Or was known to the resistance. It is also used fairly extensively in all Allied countries, but most prominently in America. “In 1951, it made its first appearance on merchandising – as a small engraving on pendants, which were sold by the Goldman Jewelry company. Stark Industries was involved in the design of the pendants.” Steve sucked a sharp breath in. “Since then,” JARVIS continued, “the phrase has appeared on various items of merchandise continually through the years; although the merchandise itself has changed, the phrase has never fallen out of use. It has been accepted as part of the current American and French vernacular, and appears in numerous romantic comedies, romance novels, and cards, as well as on items of clothing, jewelry, plaques and also tattoos. “The meaning of the letters 'rlb' is unknown, but is uniformly considered to be a statement of a great romantic love, commitment and sacrifice.” Pushing his fist against his mouth, Steve bit at his knuckles, trying to choke down the sob rising in his throat. “In the 1980s,” JARVIS continued, “the phrase was picked up by a number of gay rights campaigners and has since been used proudly by the community. However, evidence suggests that even before that time, and certainly since, it has been used as a phrase to express love between partners, without reference to their sexual orientation. “As there has never been a documented point of origin for the phrase, companies have been able to create merchandise freely, and therefore, at this current time, there is a proliferation of merchandising available. “Despite its unknown origins, and the lack of clarity around its exact meaning, I love you like rlb has become a well-known, accepted and valuable component of American vernacular. I am sorry that I am unable to provide you with the exact meaning of the letters rlb or of a more precise origin.” Sucking in a deep breath, Steve leant back against the couch, blinking rapidly. “It's okay,” he said, ignoring the way his voice cracked once more. “Thanks, JARVIS.” “You are welcome, Captain. If I may, you appear to be experiencing some distress. Would you like me to alert Mr Stark? Or perhaps one of the other inhabitants of the Tower? Miss Potts is currently upstairs and has finished work for the day.” “No,” Steve said, shaking his head. “No, I'm fine. I'll be fine. I just -” Getting up, he stumbled towards his bedroom, shaking lightly and half-tripping over his feet. JARVIS made a concerned sound before falling silent. - The next day, Steve pulled out some jeans, a baseball cap, hoodie and sunglasses, and braved the craziness of 21st century shopping in order to buy a few things. The watch with the engraving on the back went on his wrist. The sweatpants and t-shirt were shoved into a bag, to become his sleeping clothes. The fake dog-tags – well, he got them to add one with a simple string of numbers on it (32557) – and then slung them around his neck, letting them fall down beside his own, real, dog-tags. It wasn't much, wasn't nearly enough, but somehow, it made him feel better. - The fight with the Winter Soldier was nothing like anything Steve had encountered so far in this new century. The Soldier fought hard and fast and with an edge to his movements, despite the precision and grace and obvious training, that made Steve think of back alleys in Brooklyn. His team were yelling on the comm, Hawkeye hissing because neither Steve nor the Soldier would stand still long enough for him to safely take a shot. Iron Man was circling overhead, the Hulk standing nearby and looking ready to smash given half a chance. Widow was racing towards their position, ready to enter the fray. Thor cheered them both on as brave warriors. Then the Soldier grabbed at Steve, and somehow, during the fight, his helmet had been knocked off and the top of his uniform torn just enough that the Soldier's fingers closed over the chain around his neck, tugging and twisting. Steve ducked and rolled to prevent strangulation, even as he snapped his arm out, desperate to grab his dog-tags back. The Soldier froze, gaze fixated on the tags dangling from his hand, eyes widening and punching the breath from Steve's lungs even as his brain scrabbled to find a reason for his reaction. “Cap?” Hawkeye called. “I have a shot.” “Wait,” Steve said. He glanced down at the tags, noticing that the Soldier had grabbed his fake ones, and his eyes were fixed on that phrase. The saying. I love you like rlb Slowly, the Soldier raised his eyes to Steve's. “What?” he asked. His voice was muffled beneath his mask, and Steve found himself stepping forward, reaching out to gently remove the mask. His heart was pounding in his chest and he lost his breath as soon as the mask came away. There were tears in his eyes (he ignored them), and his heart was pounding (faster than he ever remembered it being since the serum). “Bucky,” he whispered. Slowly Bucky (because those were Bucky's eyes, even as they struggled against confusion and the blank stare of the Soldier) formed the words. “I love you like rlb,” he said. - “I'm just saying,” Tony said, “it's a little strange. First, Cap freaks out about the saying when he sees it on some t-shirts, and now the Winter Soldier – the Winter Soldier! - uses it to somehow break the insane amounts of brainwashing he was under.” Clint shrugged. “They say it originated in the war somewhere,” he said. “Maybe Cap was there when it first started.” “And the Soldier?” Tony asked. “We were.” The team turned to see Steve step into the room. His hair was still wet from his shower, and his eyes were suspiciously red and bright. There was a cautious hope in his eyes that made them realise just how withdrawn he'd been. Steve nodded towards the observation window they were all arrayed in front of. On the other side, the Winter Soldier sat at a table, staring down at the dog-tags still clutched in his fist. His hair hung over his face, so they couldn't see it clearly, but he'd been suspiciously quiet and compliant since he had been taken into custody. “We?” Bruce asked, eyes darting over Steve, assessing him. Steve gave him a tight smile. “We,” he repeated. He nodded towards the Soldier. “His name is James Buchanan Barnes. He's my best friend. He -” Steve cut himself off, taking a breath and swallowing. Then he shrugged. “We were there the first time Dernier said it – I don't think he meant for us to hear, but we did.” His gaze turned un-focused, looking off somewhere they couldn't see. - “Are you insane?” Dum Dum hissed, staring at Dernier through the rain. He scowled. “You know what you're risking.” Dernier shrugged, glancing over his own shoulder at where Gabe was sitting under the flap of their tent. “I know,” he agreed. “And I wouldn't risk it for just anything, but I love him like rlb.” “Rlb?” Bucky asked, stepping up beside Steve and frowning through the rain. “What are they talking about?” Steve shrugged, shaking his head. “I'm not sure,” he said, brow furrowed. - Shoving his meager supplies into a pack, Steve slung it up onto his shoulder, turning to face his men. “I don't expect you to follow me,” he said, “but I do ask that you don't try to stop me.” “What's going on?” Falsworth asked, stepping into the tent and glancing around at them. “What do you think?” Morita asked, “we got another rlb situation.” Steve blinked. “What?” he asked, before shaking his head. “Never mind. The rendezvous is in two hours, north-east from here. Get to the pick-up point and -” “No offense, Cap,” Falsworth interrupted, “but we're not going to the rendezvous.” “No chance,” Dum Dum agreed. “You're going after Barnes. So are we.” Steve shook his head. “I can't ask you to -” “You're not asking, we're offering,” Gabe said, pushing himself to his feet. Around them, the others nodded. - They trooped into base camp six days later, covered in mud, tired, hungry, but with Barnes by their sides (well, by Steve's side). Phillips took one look at them, before shaking his head. “Rlb?” he asked. “Rlb,” Falsworth agreed with a nod. - “You got a girl back home?” Steve paused, glancing over at the small huddle of soldiers, grouped around a fire and sharing stories. “Yeah,” one of the others replied. He pulled a worn photo out of his pocket, holding it out to show the others. “This here is my gal,” he replied. “Prettiest gal around.” “Nice sweetheart,” another soldier commented. He shook his head. “Nah, not just a sweetheart,” he said. “This is the gal I'm gonna marry, I love her like rlb.” The others nodded, smiling understandingly. - “Hey Steve,” Bucky murmured, shifting so that his face was smushed against Steve's neck, where they lay in their tent. “Mmm,” Steve agreed. A wicked smile curved Bucky's lips against Steve's skin. “I love you like rlb,” he said. Rolling his eyes – and his body – Steve turned so that he could look at Bucky. “Really, Buck?” he asked. Bucky just grinned back at him. “What?” he asked. “Haven't you figured out what it stands for yet?” “'Course I have,” Steve replied. “They're not as subtle as they think.” Bucky huffed a laugh. “But you coulda just said 'I love you',” Steve continued. “Coulda,” Bucky agreed. “But I like this better. You know, I heard some soldiers use it earlier today, like it's something special, something more than just 'I love you'. I like that.” “You would,” Steve agreed. Reaching out, he traced his hand over Bucky's forehead, his nose, his cheek. Bucky turned his head, pressing a kiss against Steve's palm. “I love you like rlb, Buck,” Steve said. - “And this is the common floor,” Tony proclaimed, spreading his arms wide and spinning around as he indicated the area they had just stepped into. Behind him, Bucky (because he was all Bucky now, no more Winter Soldier), stared around and gave a low whistle. “Would you look at that,” he said, turning to grin at Steve. “You've been hanging with the rich kids.” Smiling (he hadn't stopped smiling since Bucky had first hugged him, pulling Steve close in the tiny cell they had him in, pressing his lips to Steve's neck and mouthing those words against his skin I love you like rlb), Steve gave a small shrug. “Just one rich kid,” he said. “But a very rich one.” “That's right,” Tony agreed. “So, if you need anything, just let me know. If I don't have it already, I'm pretty sure I can get it for you.” “Got any I love you like rlb t-shirts?” Bucky asked, casting a sly grin at Steve. Tony gaped at him. “What?” he asked, before stopping and shaking his head. “No, don't tell me, I don't want to know,” he said (even though he did really want to know). “JARVIS, please order Barnes some t-shirts.” “Certainly, Sir,” JARVIS agreed easily. - Bucky tended to wear his I love you like rlb t-shirts around the Tower – whenever he wasn't in uniform, he could be found lounging around in one of the shirts. Steve would always give him a soft smile when he saw the shirts, and Tony was fairly sure that was at least half the reason they had basically become Barnes' signature wardrobe. So it wasn't that surprising when he wore one to his first press interview. At least, it wasn't surprising to the Avengers (even if it was driving Tony crazy that Barnes refused to tell him just why he liked the shirts so much), even if it did surprise the press. “Sergeant Barnes,” a reporter asked. “I notice you're wearing a t-shirt with the popular phrase I love you like rlb emblazoned across it. I was just wondering, was this a particular choice? Does it have any significant meaning for you?” Bucky blinked, staring back at the reporter, before turning to look at Steve. “They don't know?” he asked, sounding slightly incredulous (but with that underlying hint of humour that suggested he knew exactly what he was doing and that his incredulity was all part of some crazy plan he had – Tony still couldn't quite believe the things that guy could talk Cap into when his voice took on that edge). “Bucky,” Steve sighed, with a roll of his eyes, but he made no move to stop him. Turning back to the reporters, Bucky smiled sweetly at them. “Sure it means something to me,” he said. “I mean, I was surprised that anyone even remembered this crazy saying.” He gave a small shrug. “I think it was Gabe as first used it,” he said. “Dernier,” Steve softly corrected him. “Right,” Bucky agreed with a laugh, “Dernier.” “Are you telling us,” the reporter asked, eyes wide, “that you know of the first instance of this iconic phrase being used?” “Sure,” Bucky said. “At least, I know it was the guys as first started using it. Not sure if I heard the very first time they said it – it wasn't something they used to say in front of Steve or I, at first.” “Why not?” Bucky laughed again. “Because it was about us,” he replied with a grin. “They didn't want us to know they'd caught on.” Another shrug. “Thought they were being so clever, so subtle.” He shook his head with a fond smile. “Dernier said it about Gabe.” “Jacques Dernier and Gabe Jones,” a reporter asked, “who, years after the war, confirmed that they had been in a romantic relationship since the war?” “And during,” Bucky agreed easily. “And yeah, Dernier said he loved Gabe 'like rlb'. They used it all the time – well, not necessarily the whole 'I love you like rlb', but 'rlb'. Like it was some super secret code they'd made up. Steve's about to do something stupid 'cos I got cut off from the guys again, it's an 'rlb situation'. Explaining to Phillips why we were late to a rendezvous, 'sorry General, but rlb, you know?'” Next to them, Tony was gaping – he was a genius, okay, so he'd figured it out. “And the rlb,” the first reporter asked, leaning forward, “what does that stand for?” Bucky laughed. “Rogers loves Barnes, of course,” he said. - There was a violent and prolific reaction to Bucky's statement. Tony claimed they'd broken the Internet (Steve was fairly sure that was impossible, but he let Tony think he'd convinced them of it), and for a while, none of the reporters were interested in anything else. But, when it came down to it, things were no different. Bucky wore his t-shirts around the Tower, and would lie next to Steve at night, mouthing the words into his skin. Somehow, the fact that this, of everything they'd done and said, of all the history that had been written about them, that this was the thing that lasted and thrived the most – it made Bucky grin. “I always said we had a love like one of those epic romances,” he told Steve fondly. Steve snorted. “You did not,” he replied, “you said I was a punk and that you'd better stick by me 'cos otherwise I'd get myself killed.” Bucky shrugged. “That, too,” he agreed easily. Then he grinned, bright and brilliant, the kind of grin that chased away the lingering shadows of his pain and guilt for a moment. “Still, we're like, the definition of romantic love in this century,” he said. “That's gotta count for something.” “I don't know about that,” Steve replied, “but I do know I love you.” “Like rlb?” Bucky asked. “Sure,” Steve agreed with a laugh, “I love you like rlb. Now sit still, Jerk, I'm trying to draw you.”

[yayforstuffs]

“Have a nice evening, ma’am!” Seth called out as a rather stuffy woman left the stall, and breathed out a sigh. Despite her looks saying that she had quite a bit of money, she sure was stingy on spending it, insisting that the pieces he and Vesroh had made were too expensive for her. Her loss, he supposed. Didn’t want people like her wearing their stuff, anyways.

With her leaving, though, it also meant it was time for him to close up the small stall. Vesroh had gone to another seller, some acquaintance of his that he’d wanted to buy something from before their shop had closed, but it was on a different street. It didn’t matter much, though- he’d closed up enough times with the older man there that he knew by now what to do, moving almost by habit. Technically, though, he could stay open a little longer… but it was close enough to nightfall that most other vendors had shut up shop and any potential customers had gone indoors, leaving the street mostly vacant. There was a group of three men that were ambling their way down the road, so he didn’t close the blinds just in case, but he did begin packing up the things that weren’t on display.

It proved he’d had a good thought to not close them up, as the group drew closer and, after a moment, approached the stall.

“Good evening,” he greeted as he stood back up, toeing the box he’d just set down closer to the front of the stall. “Anything catch your eye?”

One of the men, the tallest, wearing a necklace with a rather large ruby in it, looked over the display and then looked at the others, and gave a small shrug. Perhaps not, then. But another stepped up and began looking.

“Ah, maybe. Lemme just… see what’s here.”

Seth nodded. “Take your time.”

The other’s face was weirdly unreadable. It seemed like he wasn’t really looking at the jewelry- Seth wondered what was distracting him.

“Say… do you have anything available that isn’t displayed?”

Ugh. Maybe he shouldn’t have started to pack up early. “We do, yes, but it’ll take a minute for me to get it out. Anything in particular you’re looking for?”

“Mm… something intricate. A necklace, maybe.” Intricate. Okay. He reached down for a box and opened it, pulling out a necklace with beautiful beads and wires wrapping around them in different patterns.

“Something like this, maybe?” He held it up for the other to see, holding it at the top and supporting the bottom with his other hand. The man leaned in and looked at it, then reached out and felt the beads. His fingers touched the palm of Seth’s hand as he did so, and the younger blinked. Something felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. But it was only for a second, and besides, the other had pulled his hand back already.

“Mmmmm… no, I don’t think that’s something she’d like. You have anything in red?”

“Yeah, let me…” Seth again retreated behind the opening, putting the necklace away. A few seconds later, he popped back up with another one- this one was a favorite of his, despite its color. Simple, but the rubies in it made it highly valuable, and the gold wire accents took the plain and made it gorgeous. He held it up with a grin. “How about this? One of our finest pieces.”

Again, the man inspected it, reaching forward to touch it. Seth tightened his grip slightly, as was habit- a precaution for any that might try to grab and run. But again, as the man’s hand made contact with his, something didn’t feel right. He gave a twitch of a head shake, and the man stood up straight again, putting his hand to his chin.

“I dunno, what do you think? Red and gold’s a good look for her.”

“That pattern’s neat, innit? That bit there’s nice.”

“This?” The man touched the chain again, lifting it off of Seth’s palm to highlight a portion of the pattern, and this time, a shiver went through him as contact was made. He pulled back instinctively, pulling his hand closer.

The three looked at him inquisitively, and he realized that in pulling his hand to his chest, he’d also pulled the necklace out of the man’s hand.

But… that feeling- it was….

“Did… did you just… cast a spell?”

The looker’s eyebrows showed confusion, and his gaze slid from Seth to the other two, who seemed just as confused as him. “I… did not? Why would I…?”

Seth forced out a sigh to relax his shoulders. It was getting late.

“S-sorry, it’s… the night’s just getting to me, I think,” he said with a lighter tone, trying to make the atmosphere a little less awkward.

“Ah, yeah, I getcha,” the other said, giving Seth some actual relief. “Happens to me all the time, too. Especially with the times lately. It’s real easy to get jumpy once the sun goes down.” Seth nodded, holding the necklace back out, but the man held his hand up. “Actually, I think I’ll pass on that one.”

“Oh- alright.” He bent down and carefully put it back in its box. “Wanna look at anything else?” he asked as he slid the box over by the others, and then straightened again.

“I like the red though- do you have another red one? She likes mythological creatures… You ever heard of something called the Phoenix?” Seth’s breath caught in his throat. “Big fire bird, y’know. Lots of red, orange… maybe some yellow.” He tersely swallowed, a poor attempt at keeping himself calm. His breaths had become a lot shallower, and he was suddenly acutely aware that nobody else was nearby. What if he hadn’t imagined it? “You know, I’ve even heard that there are some people, get this, that have magic from this legendary bird, can you-” Abruptly, the man cut off, sniggering to himself. “Oh man, I can’t, I’m sorry, I can’t keep going. Your face is priceless.” Seth’s foot shot backwards to run, and the man snapped his fingers as he issued a two-syllable phrase.

He couldn’t move.

He couldn’t move.

“I lied. I definitely cast a spell on you.” He couldn’t even move his eyes to look for Vesroh. Couldn’t use any magic, either, to Send for help. The tallest that had initially looked at his wares was speaking now, moving his hands: he was preparing a spell, and Seth didn’t want to find out what it was. “You’re hard to find, you know.” The talker leaned forward, propping his elbow on the counter to rest his chin on. He couldn’t run- even if he could move, who knew what spell the other was preparing? He had to at least interrupt the casting first, and then run. “Particularly considering we didn’t even hear from the Low Plains gang for weeks after what you did. And by then, you were looong gone.” He at first tried to move his entire body, but realized that, should he break out before the spell ended, he’d want to catch them by surprise. He tried moving his pointer finger. “You didn’t manage to wipe out everyone, at least. We had a couple stragglers that showed up at our doorstep, horrifically burned to the point where even our healers couldn’t fix their faces. We’ve got some terribly scarred people that would really like to thank you for what you did.”

Seth’s finger twitched.

And he burst to action, shooting his hand up and shooting out a small ball of fire from it right through the stall window at the one casting, and the talker jerked back with an alarmed cry. To his satisfaction, he hit, and with that, he turned on his heel and took off. He didn’t get five paces before the talker yelled out and Seth’s movement was forcibly halted.

“You’ve got some guts, I’ll give you that, but you’re not getting away. Not this time.”

Paralyzed again. Speaking from behind him told him that the caster was back at work. He was right back in the same spot.

“That was a smart move, too, hitting Owen. Only problem is, I can keep doing this however long I need to in order to give him time to cast.”

His eyes became glassy, and he needed to blink, but he couldn’t. He kept hoping, hoping, hoping that Vesroh would come back. A monk like him would be able to do something, right? This guy couldn’t paralyze two people at once, right? Or- or maybe guards would come by, or- or something, someone would see what was going on and help.

“Y’know, I couldn’t believe it when Caden said he had to send three- three people after you. I guess when you can just set yourself on fire on a whim, that’d make it hard for one person to get ahold of you, huh? Especially when you’ve gotta have at least one person making sure no passersby see anything. That takes some serious concentration.”

A tear finally slid down his cheek. He couldn’t go back, he couldn’t go back, he couldn’t go back, he’d be killed. Or worse.

“I mean, we did a looot of debating about how to bring you in. We didn’t have any way of keeping you from setting everything on fire, no reliable way to knock you out ‘til you were nice and safe in an anti-magic cell. But Owen here did some research, found this really cool spell, and I think we’ve got a nice way to handle this problem.”

He stumbled forward, caught by surprise as the spell ended and his unbalanced weight threw him off, but then he was being tugged backwards. He jerked around to try and break the hold of whoever had him, but found nobody was holding him- a bright white was emanating from the caster’s necklace, pulling him closer. He leaned away from it and worked his feet against the cobbled stone ground, but he kept moving forward as the white from the jewel became brighter and brighter, enough to begin obscuring his surroundings. ‘Uncle Ves they’ve found me and I need help please!’ As he was Sending for help the white entirely covered his vision, and he realized he couldn’t tell where the ground was- he wasn’t touching it anymore. He wasn’t touching anything anymore, whirling around in a sea of endless white that never let him figure out which way was up and which way was down, and then his movement stopped as everything blacked out.

It took him a moment to realize that the reason everything was black was because his eyes were closed, and he opened them. There was red glass in front of him, and… No, that wasn’t glass, that was- that was ruby. He then realized what he was seeing through the ruby, and his eyes widened. Two giant faces peered down at him. Two ginormous faces peered down at him, one of them- the talker that had paralyzed him- sneering. Seth saw his mouth moving, but didn’t hear a thing. He instinctively tried to back up, and found he couldn’t- not by conventional means. He was suspended, floating in the middle of- of- He looked around and saw- gold setting. Necklace chain. Giant- giant clothes. The big neck and- and chin and- face above him. His heart sank and his breathing hitched up another peg as he realized it was the jewel- the jewel on the necklace of the caster. He was inside it. He was inside the jewel.

Fire burst into existence around him, surrounding him as he shot his hands up, flames blazing out in front of him, pushing against the gem wall- and nothing happened. He tried again against the backing behind him, hoping maybe that would do something different, but it didn’t. It didn’t work. He couldn’t get out. Magic didn’t do anything. A couple attempts at moving, and he reached the front of the ruby and desperately punched it as hard as he could, crying out in equal parts fear and pain when his hand slammed uselessly against the hard surface. He looked out and saw they were laughing. Laughing at the young adult that now had tears streaking down his face as he near hyperventilated, crying as he fruitlessly tried to break out, exhausting every spell he knew.

He finally looked out again, and realized the scenery had changed. They were leaving.

He turned his head to the side, somehow hoping to at least still see the stall, but it was long gone.

His mantle flickered out.

And he cried.

[dhawkesnest]

Prompt # 17: Obeisant

As he stepped over the threshhold, Kaestian swept his gray eyed gaze around the small but cozy shop. A fire burned in a small wood stove, keeping the space just comfortable enough to be welcoming, and before stepping further within he paused there to shake the snow off his cloak. His eyes took time to adjust to the difference in light, for the Crystal Griffin was lit by only candlelight and the faintest glow from the outdoor lamps through the shades over the windows. Kaestian took notice of two customers and listened to their murmured discussion with what might have been the shopkeep. The woman behind the counter seemed to notice him immediately, raising her eyes to him and offering him a warm smile. “Welcome to the Crystal Griffin. Please, have a look around. I will be right with you.” The first impression he had was of her appearance and the sound of her voice. Her accent was not one of Ishgard, it seemed to me an amalgamation of Ishgardian and something else he could not place. He took measure of her carefully; the elegant features of her face, piercing blue-green eyes, and long brown-black hair that fell over one shoulder and well down to her waist. She appeared far too young to be the shop’s owner, but then with his kind it was always hard to tell. Offering her a respectful nod regardless, he turned his attention to a selection of books on a shelf nearby, tilting his head to read the titles. There was all manner of items here, in various states of organized disarray. The customers made their purchases, and with the ringing of the bell above the door, they were alone. Kaestian could hear  and smell her as she approached him, his keen hearing picking up her soft footfalls on the stone floor and his nose detecting the distinct smell of lavender. For the moment, he remained facing the shelf with his body, merely turning his head to meet her gaze as she stepped up to his right side, presumably to ask him if he needed anything. He opened his mouth to inquire about the shop’s owner, but she did not afford him the opportunity. “Keastian Teaurelin, I presume? The real one, anyway. I was not expecting to hear from you so soon, or perhaps I suspected you might write first.” His expression morphed into one of surprise as it occurred to him that she might actually be the one who had called upon him. She is so young… “How did you-?” The woman smiled, her expression not unfriendly, but her eyes guarded. “Uncanny resemblance to your…brother, perhaps?” The mention of his brother put him on edge, and he was unintentionally gruff with his next question. “Who are you? What do you want? Why have you summoned me here?” “Straight to the point, hm?” The younger woman nodded gently and reached to fidget with the books on the shelves, straightening them to busy her hands. “My real name is Ellemeare Sergenaux.” Though she were and Elezen and an attractive one at that, she did not resemble any of the Sergenaux family that he had seen in passing. He shook his head. “You do not look like any of the heirs that I have seen.” “Adopted, actually. If you know of our family, then you are familiar with their penchant for picking up… strays? I am not related by blood, but they are still my ken. But how I came by my last name doesn’t matter. You asked me a question, and I intend to answer it. I need your help.” Kaestian turned more to face her, catching sight of a piece of jewelry that sparkled at her finger. He recognized the crest upon it immediately. The sight of it compelled obeisant behavior from him that had been ingrained in him for years, and though he grimaced slightly he lowered his head and offered a bow. After all he’d seen, a part of him longed to rebel against the action, feeling that those of nobility should have to earn the respect they so desperately craved, and yet he lowered himself into the graceful gesture regardless. “Milady.” Ellemeare’s eyes widened faintly, and she moved to touch his shoulder in a bid to see him rise to his full height again. His expression became one of consternation, and hers became one of apology. “Please, don’t stand on formality around me. It is only because of who you are and the help I need that I have given you my real name. To most, I am Renelle Devereux, keeper of the Crystal Griffin. Geologist and Herbology enthusiast. Please, relax, and address me simply as Ellemeare. I would only ask  you to call me Renelle in mixed company.” “You are a member of nobility, it would be disrespectful for me to-”

The woman named Ellemeare held out a hand to stop him from continuing and murmured. “I insist.” Pausing, he exhaled softly. “Very well.” Clearing his throat, he attempted to force himself to return to a relaxed pose, pulling the necklace from his pocket and holding it up so that she could see. “This would have something to do with the reason you are needing my help, I presume?” She nodded, moving over to pluck dead leaves from a nearby plant and then darting to the other side of the room to fix a display of crystals. Kaestian had to turn and shift to keep his eyes on her, watching her curiously as she moved about the room. “Correct. While I do have every intention of you having it back if at all possible, I am seeking answers as to what it is.” His expression grew confused once more and he shook his head. “You are not making sense. It was merely a trinket of my brothers.” “If that were the case, you would not be here. I know that he sent me this shortly before he died. The letter that accompanied the necklace was vague, with him mostly impressing upon me the importance of keeping it ‘safe’. I have been able to find no information in the libraries here in Ishgard as to its origins, and for obvious reasons I do not think it would be good for me to go to the Knight Commander or the Knights Twelve.” He looked down at the item in his hand, noting the dragon coiled around the dark stone in the pendant, and nodded in agreement. He said nothing, however, as she saw fit to continue. “As his brother, you would be privy to more information than I, and might be able to at least tell me where he acquired it, which would give me a place to start.” “Why do you want to know so much about it? If you intend to return it to me, why does it matter?” The woman continued to putter around, turning to look at him periodically, though he wondered why. Did he suspect her of something? Or was it possible she was concerned about appearing rude. “Part of it is merely inquisitive nature, but it goes deeper than that. To keep it safe while I researched it, and to keep anyone from finding it, I wore it. I took it with me on my travels into Ishgard and later to Gyr Abania and Doma. I had a strange reaction to it during the time it was on my person. A family member also believes something might be trapped and dormant inside, and whatever it is, I don’t think it’s friendly. It seemed to sap me of energy while it heightened my talents. It made any abilities I used more amplified, more potent, but at the same time exhausted me physically to wear it. The longer I wore it, the stronger those feelings became. Whatever this thing is, I believe it may be dangerous, and I surmise that your brother was killed so that someone might get their hands on it.” He kept his gaze trained on her as she paced and made her point, staring down at the object in his hand with a grimace. On the fact that it could be evil, he couldn’t argue with the woman. He had always felt an unease with this piece of jewelry, though he had attempted to dismiss the idea as overactive imagination combined with superstition. “What am I to do to help you?” “I need any information you can provide on how your brother might have come by this necklace. I want help looking into this quietly, and I may need your aid in destroying it. I also want someone who’s aether is not so tied to the object to carry it for a while, or hide it somewhere. Preferably where no one, including myself, can gain access to it.” “Why?” Ellemeare approached him suddenly, which caused him to stand perfectly straight and still. He was reminded in that moment that he was alone with someone that he did not know. He knew nothing of what she might be capable of, and her being of noble blood only increased the amount he was on edge. The woman held out her hand, flame flaring up and dancing about upon her palm before she closed her hand to snuff it out. “Because my being close to it might put any number of people in danger. Including those I love.” Kaestian’s eyes widened momentarily at the sight of the flame. He had seen thaumaturge’s cast their magics before, but this was different. Unease was settling further into the pit of his stomach. “Why me, why not someone from your family to help you destroy it? Surely…” Ellemeare shook her head slowly back and forth. “Could they help me destroy it, yes. However, right now they are preoccupied with things of far greater import. They are currently not in Ishgard and I do not intend to call them back to handle this matter for me. I also thought to the fact that you would probably like to know who was responsible for the death of your brother, and that helping settle a matter in this city might do good for your morale.” Kaestian’s eyes narrowed softly, but he maintained his temper. “My morale?” “I overheard the events of the household you resigned from when I was trying to find you.” She stepped back to a respectable distance, allowing him his space, but it did not help him relax. “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m asking you for your help with the promise that if you do, we will find who killed your brother. You will have prevented potential loss of life here within this city, and I can help you to work towards clearing your good name. I am also willing to pay you for your efforts.” “I’m already doing what I can to clear my name on my own, and I do not need your money, milady.” Kaestian shook his head and moved to set the necklace down on the counter nearby, turning for the door. “Please.” Something in her voice bade him stop, and he turned to look at her. What he expected to see was just an expression of pleading, but when he gazed back into the woman’s blue-green eyes, he didn’t see desperation. What he saw was fear, genuine fear which she was obviously trying so desperately to hide. Up until this point, he had wondered if she was merely trying to get him to do her dirty work, a common theme amongst the nobles, but no. She meant every word she said, and the 'please’ added to it shook him. It was rare for one of noble blood to be so honest. More so for them to be humble.

Turning away from the door, he drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before offering her another respectful bow. “Forgive me for doubting your intentions.” It was as if he’d lifted a weight from her shoulders. “Don’t. I can understand the lack of trust, especially when concerning anyone of nobility. Though you probably have not looked much into my background here in Ishgard, having only just met me, I can assure you I am not someone the nobles favor. I have oft spoke against their treatment of others, and I have an uncanny knack to not give a shit when they don’t like something I have to say.” She was being candid with him again, and the swear word brought a chuckle that he tried to disguise as a cough. The sound brought a smile to her lips as the tension and worry relaxed from her expression. “Will you please help me sort through this?” After a pause of consideration, Kaestian nodded. “I warn you, I am no longer a house guard, nor am I a Knight. I will do my best to aid you, but I also withhold the right to change my mind.” “Say no more.” Ellemeare nodded, holding out her hand to shake. Kaestian eyed her hand and then bowed his head politely before reaching for the necklace. “Where do we begin?” “I’ll make some tea, then you can start with the story of where your brother got this trinket of his.” Ellemeare bounded into the other room, disappearing behind a cloth curtain towards the back of the store. Kaestian watched after her as she went, wondering what he had managed to get himself into. (( @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast​ ))

[pixelpolaroid]

Oath by the Blood- Chapter 3

Calling out to action

While the rest of the egos were occupied, sitting around and watching a movie in the cabin with some guests, Jameson and Jackie went out. though the hero didn’t know where they were going, Jamie seemed to be in a rush. Eventually they made it downtown, and it was much more bust there, regardless of how late it was starting to get. Jameson did send a text to Chase, letting him know they’d left, but beside that, he didn’t mention to anyone where they were going. Only that he needed to pick up some tools.

Jackie looked like a lost puppy, gazing through the streets as he followed closely behind Jamie. He kept falling a bit behind, and every time Jamie would take his wrist to pull him to go faster, the hero would flinch a bit. Each time Jamie would try to ask what was wrong, he’d just say that it was nothing. Jackie never let Jamie’s hand linger for too long.

Eventually they made it to a side alley between an apartment complex, and another abandoned building that looked to have been a shop at one point. Jackie kept checking over his shoulder. “James, what are we doing here?” The hero could tell they were in a pretty run down part of town, but Jamie just acted like this was home to him. The fact that he was so comfortable there was slightly disconcerting.

The mute boy didn’t answer his question, he just continue deeper into the dark alley. Eventually, Jameson approached a metal door attached to the back of the abandoned building. He knocked on the door 5 times, the last two at a faster rhythm than the others. Jameson took a step back, holding his arm in front of Jackie a when he started to step in front of him.

It took a moment, but soon a loud clang sound echoed between the slim space. Jackie saw the door creak opened as a pair of red orbs glowed slightly from the darkness inside. Jackie stumbled back a few feet as a mechanical moving figure with a red shirt and matching red eyes was revealed from behind the door.

“Client Jameson Jackson identified,” The eyes moved in Jackie’s direction. “Searching history. Search complete. Identifying. Ego: Jackieboy man,” The red man stepped aside and opened the door more for the two. “Please come in.”

Jameson nodded at the android and stepped forward. He turned around in the doorway though when he noticed that Jackie wasn't following behind. He held out a hand for him to follow, giving him a look that said, “it’s okay, trust me.”

Jackie hesitated, but ignored the ego’s hand as he followed him forward with his head down. There was a moment after the android closed the door where they were in complete darkness before he flicked on a low burning light. It was still hard to see anything though.

“I do not believe we have been properly introduced,” Jackie jumped when the android suddenly stood inches to his left. Jackie turned and took a step back as he held out a hand. “I am Google Red. Jameson has worked with us in the past and we help provide him with spare parts not found in regular scrap shops.”

The hero hesitantly shook his hand as his eyes glanced over to Jameson. Who was this guy?

“Pleasure,” He muttered, quickly pulling his hand back. Google Red turned robotically to JJ, his hands sticking to his sides. “Thank you for coming on short notice, it was rather serious.”

Jamie nodded, his face turning sincere. “It sounded like it, so where is he?” he signed. Of course, Jackie had no idea what he was saying, but he didn’t think it would help him understand what they were talking about.

Red started going back into one of the narrow hallways of the building. It looked like it used to be some kind of old jewelry shop. There were glass display cases around the front with a back room and the door they came in from behind the counter. Jackie followed slightly from a distance as Red lead the two into a small storage room.

“We aren’t entirely sure who did this to him. The worst damage is on the exterior, luckily none of the major wiring was permanently damaged. Unfortunately,” He started leading off as he opened a door to one of the rooms. Jamie sucked in a deep breath and froze in the doorway. Jackie peaked over his shoulder and had the same reaction. “That means he’s still conscious.”

Inside, Jackie saw three other androids. They all looked exactly like Red but each had a different color scheme. There was one in blue sitting on a makeshift bench against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked up at the two and his eyes flashed blue for a moment, he did not look pleased. Standing away from him though was another android that looked exactly the same with a green color scheme. He had a much more worried expression.

What made the hero freeze however was the fourth android. In the middle of the room, there was a yellow android laying flat on a table hooked up to a seperate power generator and what looked like a computer off the the side. The yellow one had been badly damaged, the right side of his face had been bashed in, exposing his inner endoskeleton and wiring. His left leg was detached and his arm looked what Jackie could only compare to being dislocated.

Jamie took his tool box while throwing off his coat and ran over to the android’s side. He placed a hand on Yellow’s head. Jackie could see his exposed eye looked at the mute, and the struggle that was just him trying to smile. Green stayed nearby as Jamie examined him with worried eyes. “We’ve done what we can, but we figured you’d know better,” Google Green explained.

Jamie took a deep breath and pulled up his sleeves. The hero watched from a distance as the mute ego started working on the android. All he could do was watch. He had no idea how Jamie knew what he was doing, or where he learned how to do any of this. But he could see the intensity in the boy’s eyes as he worked diligently. Something about it told him that fixing the yellow android was for more than just a job.

[ashencreature]

Important Update for partners across the board

This is long, and I’m sorry, but I just wanted everyone to know what’s going on. Honestly, I’m not expecting anyone to actually waste time reading through all this, but it’s just so I can try to ease my own anxiety in case the worst case scenario does come and I left some sort of explanation.

Ok, so, some of you know there’s been a lot going on for me at home in the last 3 or 4 years. But everything’s kind of getting worse by day and at this point, I’m not sure what to do anymore. 

When I was 14, I moved in with my dad. We moved quite a few times in the first few years I was with him. Hell, that first year alone, I was in 3 different schools. All for Freshman year. And the last house we were in that year, we stayed in for maybe 2? 

But when I was 16, the factory my dad worked at closed and he lost his job. That’s kind of where all this starts. Instead of getting a new job, he decided he wanted to spend all day drinking with his new friends and occasionally doing odd jobs for them or things with them. We had to move out of that house, take my dog to the shelter, and move into a trailer. It was only supposed to be for a year. But nearly 14 years later, and we’re still here. 

Now the landlord here is a real prick. More like a slumlord if you ask me. He jacks the rent up for the dumbest reasons and acts like he’s god’s gift to humanity or some shit. He told us himself, and had the park manager tell us, that we couldn’t fix our roof to stop the leaking because the walls would collapse of we tried to move it. So literally the entire 14 years we’ve been here, the roof has been leaking. My dad tried everything he could think of, short of tearing it out and redoing it, to fix it. Nothing worked. 

And in that time, the entire back half of the house got destroyed by mold. My bedroom, being the very last room, was the first to go. I think I slept in it for a year? And ever since, I’ve had to sleep in the living room because the walls had to be torn out due to the mold. It’s right down to the studs and the scant insulation. It’s been like that for over 10 years. Well, now the mold is spreading and getting worse. The bathroom is destroyed pretty much. The back hallway is the same. The floor’s rotting away, and the toilet is falling through the floor; again. 

Now, I think my dad went to the garage he was at for the first time when I was maybe 18? I don’t remember exactly. I do remember being in junior year and my friends either having to buy me lunch, share theirs with me, or pray that we actually were cooking in cooking class; which happened a lot less than you’d think. Other than that, I didn’t eat. Senior year was a little better because I at least would get money dropped off to eat. Not that the cafeteria had a lot of choices for me to pick from. I pretty much ate nothing but gross excuse for pizza and occasionally pretzels, fries, or Belgian waffles. 

Anyway, so senior year rolls around and we’re all prepping for college. At the time, I wanted to go to AMDA for musical theater, and managed to get an audition there for that March. I had to force my dad to go to the meeting about FAFSA and to fill out the paperwork. Which he said he did, but I don’t believe it because he says they denied me. And I’ve never heard of FAFSA being denied. Not that it mattered anyway, because I bombed the audition and didn’t get in. So graduation rolls around and all my friends go off to college. I haven’t seen or spoken to most of them since. They never stop to visit when they come home and they never try to reach out on Facebook. Eventually, I got sick of being the one to initiate and maintain all conversations, so I just gave up. 

The 2 friends I still had at that time helped me to get jobs when I was 20/21 and living with them, in 2011/2012. This was because 2 of us and their mom were in a car accident on the way to my friend’s college at the time. We all nearly died. My friend had a concussion, their mom needed surgery, and I nearly got impaled by a fake Christmas tree. I ended up going to the hospital a lot later than they did with a copy of the report in the doctor’s hand and got told I wasn’t in an accident I had the flu, go home. Anyway, so after my friend’s mom’s surgery, I moved in to help around the house and look after my friend’s youngest sister. These jobs weren’t the best; Wendy’s and the deli department of one of the local grocery stores. But it was money. 

For all the good it did. Because by that time, my dad had quit working at the garage. So here I was, paying for rent, bills, gas, food, and child support for my brother. All on $200 a week. My anxiety was driving me insane. And I came to find out that my dad was going in and threatening one of the store managers, which was probably why the guy was such a scumbag to me. But I digress. So I was in the store for a month shy of 2 years. I started at maybe $7.45 or $7.50. an hour when I started. It was slightly over the minimum wage at the time. By the time I left, 2 years later mind you, I wasn’t even making $8, and I was working full time hours while only being part time. Everything that went wrong got blamed on me, even when it was my day off and I wasn’t anywhere near the store. I liked most of the people that I worked with, even if I hated the job, and the assistant department manager became a really good friend. She was 2 years older than me, and we hung out a lot. I’d spend the night at her house, I was at her wedding, I’ve been to her daughter’s birthday parties and so on. 

At one point, I was supposed to get training to be an assistant specialty cheese shop lead. They sent me to one class, told me about another, but never gave me any more details about it, even when I asked. Then they said they were going to train me over there, but never did. That was just the first of a long list of grievances. The culmination of which was on a Sunday night, our busiest day of the week. There was just me and 1 other guy in the department. Then 1 lady in the hot food section, 1 lady in the beer store, and no one in the bakery. But they expected me to take care of all 4 departments and still wait on the 20+ people that were at the counter the whole night. And I had an order to make and put away for the assistant department manager. Needless to said, I had a panic attack. I told my partner, and both of the other people nearby. They told the assistant store manager, and he didn’t care. They made me work for 3 and a half hours, through a panic attack, without a break. I couldn’t breathe and was on the verge of fainting. I finally had enough and told one of the ladies that I didn’t care what the store manager said, I was going to get my inhaler in the break room and get a drink at the water fountain, or I was going to faint. 

A few days later, I got called to the main office to speak to the store manager, who I usually didn’t have a problem with. And unfortunately, since my anger receptors are evidently attached to my tear ducts, I broke down in tears when I wanted to be furious. He basically told me that I was going to the bakery or I was getting fired. So the next day, I quit. There was a lot of other stuff too but that doesn’t really matter. Including being so sick that I couldn’t eat for over a week, fainting in the back room because they wouldn’t let me take a day off, and not being able to talk for over a month. The assistant department manager almost called the ambulance when I fainted, but you know, I’m clearly the problem here. 

So there we were, I didn’t have a job. My dad didn’t have a job. I was 23, and feeling just as helpless as I did at 16. I spent a year filling out job applications for a bunch of different things from craft stores to fast food to jewelry stores, but never heard back from any of them. The only interview I got was for Chipotle. But they wouldn’t even hire me. Naturally, cue the anxiety and depression getting worse. And around this time, our electric got shut off. This was in May I believe because it was just before my birthday. 

At that time I started thinking about going back to school. So I looked at schools and degrees you could do all online, because I knew I could never afford to go on campus. And, as most of you know, I started at CTU in July of that year. Now the program I did was an accelerated one, which meant I could finish gen ed classes faster, be done faster, and lower my tuition. I did as many as I could, but only my admission adviser was any help. My actual student adviser was never around, never responded to my emails, never called me back. But whatever. 

So for 3 years I spent pretty much all day, every god damn day doing schoolwork. I’d be at my local Dunkin from 3 in the afternoon until they closed at 11. Sometimes I’d be working even later next door because I still had stuff to do. The first year and a half I was fine. It didn’t bother mine, just like working didn’t bother me at first. But then, a year and a half after I started, I got sick. I couldn’t eat anything without my stomach cramping up and getting the worst migraines. It got so bad that one day at Dunkin, I felt like I was going to puke, and got up to go to the bathroom and almost fainted. Personally, I think it’s a combination of anxiety, depression, Celiac/gluten intolerance, anemia, and asthma. But I don’t know for sure because I haven’t had a doctor since I was going to the pediatrician. And even if I did, can’t afford it. 

So I’ve just been getting sicker and sicker. I was 125 pounds in January of this year. 11 months later, and I’m down to 108.5 the last time I checked. I think the lowest I hit was 107, and that was all 6 months after the weight loss started. There’s times it’ll go back up, but I can’t get past 110 or 111 tops. Neighbors who used to live down the road came to visit earlier this week, and all the lady could say was how skinny I got. I’m like yeah, malnourishment’ll do that to you. 

And to make things worse, my dad at some point went back to the garage and was working again, so things were slightly better. I say slightly in the loosest way possible. But, just after Christmas last year, my dad quit again. I’ve seen him apply to 1 job and go to 1 interview in the year since. Other than that, he’s been collecting scrap and doing shit for people who refuse to pay, including the landlord. In the last 7 or 8 months, despite how many times I’ve told him that my refund checks from the school aren’t free money I can spend however I want, my dad’s made me spend it. The $5,000 I had that was supposed to set me ahead for my student loans are gone. And I’m $5,000 deeper in the hole than I should be. Which means instead of being like $45 or 50 grand in debt I’m about $55 grand. 

Then, because we haven’t had electricity in almost 4 years, and with the mold problem, everything in the house is ruined. We had only cold water, and I took cold showers for as long as I could. But last winter, the shower pipes froze and burst. So even if I wanted to, I can’t do that. Plus, because we can’t use the washer and dryer, or hook up a generator thanks to the scumbag landlord, or afford a laundromat, our clothes have gone unwashed for over a year. Most of mine were sitting in the tub, which got filled with mold and bugs. I have practically no clothes left, with no way to wash them, and no way to shower unless I go to someone else’s house. And even when I do, I still don’t feel clean. Even after washing my hair 4 times or more. 

We were supposed to move into the place next door and tear this one down. But the landlord and my dad made a deal that he’d give it to us for the cost of the title transfer. Then suddenly, he wanted $600, then like $800 or $1,000. But he won’t stop asking about it, no matter how many times we tell him no. Him and his wife keep trying to say we’re $5,000 behind on rent which isn’t possible because with what rent is now, you can’t even get $5,000 as a total for a whole year, and this last year is the only time we fell behind because everything else was caught up. He gave us a bill full or errors. Payments that were made aren’t marked. Payments that weren’t made are. There’s random charges after the monthly rent cycle. Which I think are from when he was bitching about us paying the taxes for a place we didn’t even own and was still in his name. He told us we can’t run the generator for power because it was too loud. Though the noise ordinance here is 11, and it was always off by then. And when one of the neighbors asked how we were supposed to live, he told them it “Wasn’t his problem”. 

So when I started getting really sick, and unable to leave the house to go to Dunkin for school because I was too gross, the neighbors next door let us run an extension cord over to their place. Not a lot. Just enough for the light in the living room, the fan, a mini fridge, and to plug in my phone and computer. OH WANNA HEAR A GOOD ONE. THE LANDLORD TOLD MY DAD 3 SEPARATE TIMES IF I NEED TO PLUG IN MY COMPUTER TO GET A LANTERN. YES THE OLD FASHIONED OIL OR CANDLE TYPE LANTERN. WHICH YOU CAN TOTALLY PLUG AN ELECTRONIC COMPUTER INTO. So because of that, I was able to finish school and graduate in June. 

But, because I still can’t bathe or do laundry and have no clothes, I still can’t go to interviews. If I walked in with my arms, face, neck, and legs literally black from dirt, and reeking to high heaven, I’d fucking get laughed out of the place. My dad still refuses to get a real job and insists on hauling scrap or doing shit for people who won’t pay at all, or want to pay less than it’s worth. And guess what’s due this week? You got it, my first loan payment. 

I can’t figure out how much I have to pay, work on getting it lowered or delayed, or even access my account info because there’s an issue with my birthday apparently, and they can’t find it even though they have my name and social and keep emailing me. I’ve been telling him this for months, and he still won’t come with me to try and sort it out. Because what he needs has to taken care of then and there and everything else can fuck all. He blew up at me the other day about it, blaming me for going, leaving him with payments, for my mother walking out 20 years ago even though they hated each other, and pretty much for being born. Because he resents having to take care of kids he made the choice to have. Not like I asked to be born, and I’ve been wishing I was dead since I was 9, but whatever. 

Anyway. 

So, the neighbor’s dad was diagnosed with lung cancer over the summer. Like 2 weeks later, he was dead. And she’s struggling just as much. We’ve been trying to help her and she’s been trying to help us. But her ex was paying her rent and some of the other bills until she found a job because they have a young son. But he started refusing to do that, which I honestly wouldn’t be surprised it if was the landlord’s doing cause they were talking. And he was telling her to “pull the plug” on us. And his wife started harassing her about rent like 2 weeks after her father died. Then, she went to Domestic relations earlier this week and then like the day after she goes, her ex somehow gets an emergency custody on the little guy. They came for him yesterday. 

She’s most likely going to have to move, which means that we’ll be losing power and internet unless we can figure something out to get our power back on. But even then, the bill’s supposedly at least $1300, and that won’t fix the internet problem. 

So... Needless to say, if I disappear suddenly in the near future, that’s why. I don’t want to go. I’ve spent too much time here, made too many friends, and put too much work into my muses. But everything is going to shit all at once. It’s just been building and building for the last 3 years, especially the last year, but my dad refuses to see and do anything about it. Instead, he’d rather blame everything on me and expect me to fix it. As if my mental health wasn’t bad enough from childhood abuse and being sick and stressed all the time. Now I’m too fucking scared to leave the house. I haven’t been outside since the midterms when I went to vote. But I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen now. And I just wanted everyone to know that I love them. And even if I do disappear, I still plan on keeping my muses and coming back when I can. Granted Tumblr doesn’t die before then. In which case the only blog i’m worried about losing is Elizabeth’s because of all the worldbuilding, metas, and headcanons I’ve done.

[imagine-loki]

Loki and the Witchling

TITLE: Loki and the Witchling 

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 7/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a healer working with the Avengers when Loki comes to join the team

RATING: T (so far) 

NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 click here

  It wasn’t hard to find something to wear that night, after you’d washed the smell of smoke and fire off of your skin and our of your hair. How you’d come to smell like smoke you didn’t know, but it was nice to get rid of the acrid scent. Clint’s shirt and your pajama pants had gone straight down the trash chute. They were too scorched to be saved. You were also very much not thinking about how you would now smell like Loki from using his shampoo and soap. He’d given you permission to borrow something of his to wear for the night and you picked a pair of pajama bottoms and a t-shirt from his dresser. They fit well enough, but you had to roll the bottoms of the pants a few times. Loki was quite a bit taller than you.

    You cursed when you realized you were going to have to steal clothes from Natasha for tomorrow. She was the hardest to steal from. She guarded her stuff well and would kick your ass if she caught you in her room without permission. That’s why no one had suggested you bunk in her room, even though she was out on some overnight mission for Fury. Unfortunately, she was the only one whose pants would fit you well enough to wear out of the tower.

    You threw that thought from your mind for the moment, knowing you needed to get some sleep. It was strange to sleep in a strange bed, but the room was the safest you’d ever been in, and there was something comforting about being surrounded in pillows and blankets that smelled like Loki. But you were obviously not having feelings for him. That would be ridiculous.

    You got up early the next morning, intending to see if Natasha had left any clean laundry in the laundry room that you could more easily steal. The second you opened Loki’s door, you found a wrapped box. You picked it up and brought it inside Loki’s room with you, curious as to what it could be, especially since it had your name on the tag. You unwrapped the box, then grabbed one of the many daggers Loki left lying around his room to open the box. You laughed aloud when you saw that inside was an entire outfit, including undergarments and gym shoes, all in your size. As you pulled everything out of the box, wondering who could have possibly sent it to you, a note fluttered out. You grabbed the note and read it over.

    Tony said he destroyed all your clothes. I picked these up for you on my way back from my mission last night. Couldn’t have you breaking into my room this morning to steal something of mine while I’m trying to sleep

    -Nat

    P.S. Your boyfriend should like the shirt

    You didn’t question how Natasha knew your sizes for everything. She knew everything about everyone. You pulled the t-shirt from the stack of clothes to look at it properly. It was a green t-shirt. You unfolded it and laughed. In the middle of the front of the shirt was an image of Loki’s helmet. Loki would like the shirt, or at least be amused by it. You got dressed quickly, amazed that not only did everything fit, but it fit better than anything you’d ever owned. Natasha had gotten your actual sizes, and not the baggy handmedown sizes that you usually wore. It actually warmed your heart that she had done so.

    Dressed, and with your new phone, you headed down to breakfast. You weren’t surprised at all to see Loki there. He usually was. “Morning Loki,” you greeted him.

    “Good morning, witchling,” he replied, pleasantly from his spot at the diningroom table. “Clint left breakfast for you,” he indicated the stack of pancakes that was sitting at your usual place at the table. “He said the team’s list of purchases for Tony is there too. Lady Natasha left this for you,” he added, indicating a backpack that was next to your seat.

    “That was nice of everyone,” you commented as you took your place at the table. Loki finally looked at you properly.

    “Where did you steal those clothes from?” he asked with a grin.

    “I didn’t. Natasha got them for me so I wouldn’t steal her clothes. She said you’d like the shirt,” you grinned back at him. Really she’d said ‘your boyfriend’, but you knew she was teasing you about your friendship with Loki.

    “She was correct,” Loki commented. He turned red and looked like he wanted to say more, but didn’t know how, or wasn’t brave enough to. So you turned your attention to your pancakes.

    “Did Thor snore too loudly?” you asked, changing the subject for him.

    “He snores so loudly,” Loki grumbled. “He’s also a lot bigger now than the last time we’d shared a bed. He hogs the bed and the blankets,” he whined.

    “I’m sorry. You can have your bed back tonight. I’ll sleep somewhere else, even if Tony hasn’t fixed my room yet,” you told him, feeling bad that he hadn’t slept because he’d been displaced, because of you.

    “Nonsense. If Tony does not finish your room, you will stay in my shielded room,”

    “Loki…” you started. He just gave you a look. You sighed. It would be a waste of breath to try to argue with him, so you’d jump off that bridge later and hope that Tony got your room finished before it became an issue.

    “Fine,” you grumbled at him, letting him win this round because you knew fighting him would be a waste of breath.

    Tony walked into the room while you were finishing your pancakes. “Kid, Happy is going to drive you to school. We’ll pick you up to go shopping afterwards. Clint said he left a list for you?” You grabbed the list from the table and handed it to Tony.

    “I don’t need a ride to school,” you told him. He gave you that same stubborn look. Why did they all have that same stubborn look?

    “Happy is driving you,” he replied.

    “Fine,” you sighed. This wasn’t shaping out to be a good day if all of your teammates were going to tell you what to do all day. It wasn’t your fault that Tony blew up your room

    “Why does your shirt have his ugly hat on it?” Tony demanded, gesturing at Loki.

    You shrugged in reply, fighting off a grin. “Ask Natasha, she picked it out,” you replied innocently. “Um…Tony…what do I need to do to be considered by the university?” you asked him shyly. You needn’t have been so shy or worried about asking him. His eyes lit up in excitement.

    “I’ll make a couple of calls,” he replied.

    “Thank you.” It still felt like you were taking a handout, but it was his suggestion, and Loki was right, having options for your future was definitely a good idea. You checked the time on your phone. “I’ve got to get going,” you told them, bouncing up from your seat and taking your plate to the kitchen. You grabbed the backpack Natasha had left for you on your way to the main entrance. “See you guys later!” you called, waving to them both.

    Happy drove you silently to school and you spent a long fairly boring day there. Your teachers forgave your lack of homework. Apparently Tony had come through in getting you off the hook for the homework he blew up. All of your teachers gave you full credit for it and thankfully you didn’t have to make up any of the work from being sick yesterday either. That was at least a bright point to your day. The other good things was that it was Friday and you didn’t have to think about school for two whole days.

    You weren’t prepared for the whirlwind that was shopping with Tony, Pepper, and Natasha. They all had so much energy, not that you didn’t, but they also had crazy good fashion sense, and insisted that you were getting nice things. All of the stores also recognized all of them, and catered to Tony’s every whim. So you somehow picked out an entire bedroom suite, new carpet, decorations, and paint for the walls, plus an entire wardrobe of clothes, everything from jeans and t-shirts to dresses and ball gowns. You had tried to protest on the dresses and gowns, but were overruled quickly by everyone who insisted you needed nice things too. Jewelry was picked out and you were dragged into the salon to have your hair professionally done for the first time you could ever remember.

    Before you left the salon, Nat and Pepper shoved you into the salon’s single person bathroom with one of the dresses they had picked out for you earlier that day. “Guys!” you shouted at them through the bathroom door.

    “Trust us!” Nat called through the door.

    “Will you tell me what’s going on?” you demanded.

    “Maybe after you change,” Pepper replied. You huffed at them, but changed into the dress. They weren’t going to let you out of the bathroom until you had. Why was everyone telling you what to do today?

    “I need some shoes!” you called through the door once you had the knee length green dress on. The door cracked open wide enough for a pair of dressy sandals to be handed in to you. You slipped them on, bagged up your comfortable clothes and shoes. You opened the door again once you were dressed. Natasha and Pepper both complimented how you looked and shoved you back in the salon chair and let someone do your makeup. “Seriously, are you two going to tell me what’s going on?” you demanded once that horror was finished.

    “Nope!” Natasha replied pleasantly. You glared at her. Pepper laughed and you wondered briefly where Tony had disappeared off to. Happy was nearby, obviously guarding Pepper. She was the CEO of Stark Industries after all, and had no powers of her own, besides the incredible ability to corral Tony.

    “You’re staying out of the tower while the sweaty workmen finish your room,” Pepper finally told you as you all left the salon. Natasha was carrying the bag with your comfy clothes in it. A car was pulling up, and parked in one of the spots in front of the salon. “There’s your company for the evening. Right on time. This whole thing was set up by Tony, by the way. Unless it goes well, then we’ll admit that we helped,” she laughed.

    You had no idea what she was talking about until Loki stepped out of the driver’s seat of the car that had pulled up wearing a perfectly tailored single breasted all black suit, including black dress shirt, and black tie. You were struck dumb by how handsome he looked.

[seungkwanslowqualityenglish]

Boyfriend!Zhengting

Who:Zhu Zhengting

Word Count: 3000 Words

Genre: Fluff / AU

Request: Yes. “ I love your boyfriend!Chengcheng post! If it's okay, may I request for bullet points boyfriend!Zhengting and boyfriend!Xukun please? Thank you!! “ 

I hope you enjoy this.

You first met Zhengting in a cafe.

He was a trainee at this nearby agency, that some trainees often came to before, during, and after practice.

You had been working there a year, yet you must have worked on days he didn’t come in.

Since damn, he was stunning, and took your breath away.

You served their table, seeing three of your usual customers, Zeren, Xinchun, and Wenjun at the table also.

“The regular?” You ask those three, then they all nod.

Once you have it written down, you turn to the newer comer as he gives you his order.

The moment you walk away, and are out of their earshot, Zhengting is questioning the other three.

Asking how they know you and just a slew of other questions, about the beautiful waitress.

You serve them as usual, but find yourself wishing that Zhengting would have stayed a bit longer, as they all leave.

The next day it’s back to the usual three being the only patrons, and you as usual take your break as they walk in.

“Who was that yesterday?” You ask them, as you sit next to Wenjun.

“Zhengting.” Xinchun simply replies.

That then sparks the long conversation about why he hadn’t came by before, because he usually practices during lunch.

How old he is, born in 1996.

And something Wenjun clarified very well, that he is single.

The next time you see him is about two weeks later.

The other three had came in as usual, during those weeks, but Zhengting never came in again.

It wasn’t until one day, Wenjun gives you a paper with a random address, telling you to go there at seven, and to dress nice.

You decide you might as well, thinking maybe Wenjun or Zeren planned something for you.

To say you were shocked to see Zhengting would be an understatement.

Zhengting was honestly just as confused as you were, but then both of your phones buzzed.

It was Wenjun, Zeren, and Xinchun.

The text just said Zhengting likes you, enjoy your date.

You assumed his text said something along the same lines, except with your name instead of Zhengting.

“Really?” Zhengting said, his voice getting sorta high pitched, since he didn’t believe it.

You then nodded your head, looking at him.

“Yeah.” You simply said.

“You like me?” You added, not really believing it since like how could someone like him, like you.

He nodded, and then you realized what was around you.

The others had planned such a cute little picnic for the two of you.

And you both decided to enjoy the date they had planned.

Then a few days later, Zhengting took you on a proper date, and that just started it all.

The Yuehua boys will constantly remind you how if it wasn’t for them, you two wouldn’t be dating, since both were too shy to make a move.

It would honestly be your third date, when Zhengting kisses you.

You were both stargazing, and he was captivated by your beauty, and he kissed you.

You of course, kissed him back.

And there you two were making out while laying on a blanket, under a starry night.

He would always take you a place where you can be alone.

Like stargazing, picnics, sailing, honestly, just anywhere the younger ones can’t find you.

You would go on about seven dates before he asks you to be his girlfriend/boyfriend.

When you say yes, you instantly become like 9 people’s mom/dad.

Like all the Chinese and Korean Yuehua trainees call you that, so just get used to it.

Quanzhe literally has you saved in his phone as mom/dad, you can’t escape it.

They added you into their group chat, and Justin literally put you as mom/dad and whenever you change it, one of the children changes it back.

Don’t tell Zhengting, but Quanzhe and Chengcheng like you more than him.

They’ll constantly ask you to get them food or take them out for food.

You won’t tell the others, and you know Quanzhe won’t either, yet you usually just take him since he’s the least annoying all of them.

Zhengting would take you on a ton of dates, just like even just watching a movie at home, it’s a date to him.

He’ll always treat you also, like you aren’t paying for anything if he’s with you.

He’ll take you out and the children will tag along, and he’ll just pay for you two and tell the rest to pay for their own, unless you ask him to, then he’ll pay for them all.

The younger ones try to get you to take them out for food and stuff, but then when Zhengting gives them that look, they stop.

Zhengting says he sleeps better with you in his arms.

He’ll always wrap his arms around you and hold you close.

Like constantly the big spoon when cuddling.

He just loves holding you in his arms.

He’ll tease you a lot.

He just enjoys watching you get all red and flustered at his comments and compliments.

But he’ll never say anything hurtful.

Yet he’ll completely encourage you roasting the Yuehua boys, especially when they do something they know not to.

He’s just too soft, like really, he needs you to help him keep those children in line.

He’ll always compliment you, not matter how much of a mess you look like.

Like if you want an honest opinion about that outfit, ask Justin or Chengcheng, not Zhengting.

If you are like “Does this make me look fat?” he’s like “No, you look fine.” then you go to Justin and he’s like “You look pregnant/hella fat in that.”

His smile can literally alleviate all your pain.

When he’s sad or mad, you’ll do pretty much anything to see that smile again.

He would do the same to you, if you are mad or sad.

Arguments with him are rare.

He believes you should never go to bed angry.

So he’ll always apologize or talk through it with you, before bed time.

He also believes you shouldn’t say anything you might regret.

So if the argument is getting bad, he’ll just walk out and leave you alone, so he can calm down.

He also believes he should tell you that he loves you at least three times a day, minimum.

Every morning, he wakes you up and tells you he loves you.

Every evening, when he gets home from practice, he tells you he loves you.

Every night, when you go to bed, he tells you he loves you.

He’ll also usually text you a few times during the day letting you know he loves you.

He definitely says I love you first in the relationship.

He just gets to this point he realizes he really does.

He feels like he can’t live without you, and he really really does love you, so he tells you.

From the moment he tells you, he’s constantly reminding you.

Some mornings, if he doesn’t have to wake up early, he’ll wake you up by pecking your face with kisses repeatedly until you wake up.

Then the only way to stop him, is by kissing him.

Which leads to making out, until you both realize you are hungry and should probably get some food.

He’ll attempt to impress you by doing backflips.

It works.

You two always do facemask together, it’s become a sorta ritual for you both.

You’ll always purposely have a whole evening with no schedules, just so you two can have your mask time.

Zhengting will always try to kiss your neck, forgetting about the mask he has on, and so he’ll lift it and start kissing you.

You’re always like “Zhengting your messing up your mask.” but then he’s just like “I’m young, I don’t care.”

He’ll often kiss your neck, that’s pretty much his favorite place to kiss you.

If he’s kissing you, his lips are often on your neck.

At least he’s respectful enough to not leave your neck covered in hickeys, despite how tempted he is to do it.

If he does leave hickeys, it’ll be in places only he gets to see.

The only time he won’t kiss your neck, is when it’s easier to just kiss your lips.

He’ll over come up behind you when you are cooking, and just wrap his arms around you and start kissing your neck as he asks you what you are cooking.

He’ll always be ready to help you cook, if you want his help that is.

Like tells him what to do, and he can do it.

But if you don’t say exactly what he needs to do, he’s no help at all.

You need to tell him like the directions exactly, no add until it feels right, he needs measurements and times, or he’s lost.

He can cook, and he will for cook for you, but he always uses a recipe, until he gets to the point he knows the recipe by heart.

He’ll do cute things like cooking you foods from your native country or cooking you ethnic foods.

He might mess it up a few times, but he’ll keep trying until it taste just like it does back home.

He’ll also call your mom or dad and ask for some recipes he could make for you.

He’ll do cute things like make you breakfast in bed, or on your day off letting you rest and he’ll fix all the food.

If neither of you two feel like cooking, he’ll always be willing to buy you two some take out.

He’ll always pay.

You’ll never pay for anything when he’s around.

If you want to pay you’ll have to do something slick like swap his card for yours.

Or distract him so you can pay.

It’s not that hard to distract him.

Yet, he’ll give you the silent treatment for a good five minutes before giving in and having to tell you he loves you

He’ll take you shopping, but he’s the least helpful person to have around.

He thinks everything looks good on you, so clothing shopping around him isn’t very ideal, unless you are wanting him to pick the item he likes without you trying it on.

He’ll come up behind you when you are waiting in line and just wrap his arms around you and rest his chin on your head.

You two are definitely that couple.

The couple everyone finds annoying, but at the same time wants a relationship like that.

He probably knows your coffee order by heart, and so he can order it perfectly for you.

He probably also knows what foods you don’t like and what foods you love, so he can order food for you and it’s something you’ll like.

He’ll buy you little things like jewelry, specifically necklaces since that way there isn’t a chance it might not fit.

He’ll bring sweaters and shirts of his over to your house, and leave them for you.

If you point them out, he’ll get flustered in telling you that he brought them incase he needs one or something.

Then you are like, you brought them for me didn’t you.

And he’ll just be like, yeah.

So you put one of his sweaters on and he loves it.

Like you wearing his clothing, he loves it.

When you two move in together, he’ll definitely make sure you know his closet is also your closet.

He wouldn’t admit it, but he loves it when he goes home from practice or work and sees you wearing his shirt or sweater.

He will help you in any way you need.

Like you need someone to curl the back of your hair, he can do that.

You need someone to zip up your dress, he can definitely do that.

You need someone to help you clean the house, he can do that.

He can help you with your hair, yet, only simple things.

Like yeah he can help you curl your hair, but only if you show him what to do and all.

He can probably do a simple braid and probably put your hair into a ponytail, but that’s about it, other than being able to brush or comb it out.

He would honestly find it soothing to brush your hair, so he’d do it often.

He would also find it soothing if you ran your hands through his hair.

He can help you do your makeup however.

He does the Yuehua boys makeup, so he can and will definitely do yours.

He’ll honestly also love to watch you as you do your makeup and hair.

He’ll just be so captivated, and amazed as you do it.

He would probably hold you in his lap as you do your makeup.

He would just rest his chin on your shoulder, as you did your makeup, he would tells you that it looks good or he’d prefer another color.

He’ll always ask you if you’ve eaten, and if you haven’t, he’ll get you food.

He would give you the best hugs.

Like he’d just completely wrap himself around you and hold you tight.

He would always ask you about your day, and be completely serious about it.

Like he’s not faking interest, he’s truly interest.

The kind of boyfriend to stay up with you until 3 am, just because you were telling him a long story, or you started talking about something that interest you.

Like even if he knows nothing about it, he’ll listen intently and then read up about it, so he can have some input in it.

The first few times you kiss after you start dating, the kisses are short and sweet.

Mostly, they would just be on your cheeks, nose, and forehead, since he wouldn’t be extremely comfortable with just kissing you on your lips.

Yet, once he gets comfortable kissing your lips, he’ll constantly be kissing you there instead.

His kisses are either short sweet pecks, or they quickly escalate.

He’ll always wrap his arms around you waist and pull you into his lap, when the kisses escalate.

When you two are at the dorms, you’ll just to keep it lowkey, but then you’ll just start making out, ignoring pretty much everyone and everything else, then like Justin will walk in or something and start yelling you ruined his innocent eyes or something.

Yet, when you are at your apartment, Zhengting will literally just pull you down on top of him when you are making out, since he honestly just enjoys the contact.

He’ll also start kissing you when you are in the kitchen trying to cook, you’ll end up against the fridge door, your legs wrapped around his waist, as you two make out.

Yet, more often than not, he’d just pick you up and put you on the counter, and you’d make out there.

He’d be very clingy.

Yet, honestly, you don’t mind since you enjoy the warmth and love you can feel from him.

His hugs are literally the warmest hugs you’ve ever felt.

Like they warm you up when it’s cold, yet at the same time it doesn’t make you overheat when you’re hot.

He would just constantly want to hold you or have you in his lap.

He would total be that boyfriend that has you rest against his chest as he wraps his arms behind you, and will lean his head against your shoulder.

He would especially do this when you read, he would then read what you are reading, read it to you, or ask you to read it to him.

He would also do this if you seem tired, and you two would nap together like this.

He will always try to help you keep your life balanced.

Like if you are working or studying a lot, he’ll make sure you take a break.

Honestly, he would really really feel selfcare is important, so if you aren’t going to care for yourself, he’s gonna care for you.

Like if you are working on an essay or report and you’ve been typing for hours, he’ll just be like “Hey babe, you might want to save that, just incase your laptop goes dead or something.”

And you are like, wow a good suggestion, so you do.

Then once he sees you did it, he’ll close your laptop and pick you up and carry you over to the bed or sofa, whichever is closer, before tossing you down and climbing on top of you, telling you that you need to take a break, as he tickles, if you are a ticklish.

He’d take you to the beach, and probably pick you up and swing you around, before throwing you into the ocean.

If you can’t swim, he’ll teach you how.

Like he’ll spend a whole month, beforehand, teaching you how to swim, then finally take you to the beach when he’s sure you are good enough at swimming.

He’ll also constantly keep his eye on you, ready to pull you out of the ocean if needed.

You’ll probably just run around splashing each other and someone throws seaweed at the other, it was probably Zhengting.

You two will just run around at the beach the whole evening, and as the sun starts to set, you’ll sit down, sharing a blanket, watching the sun set.

It would probably be this moment when he realized he can’t live without you.

Just watching you watch the kaleidoscope of colors, as the sun sets, the light just faintly outlining your face, as you unknownling bask in the beauty of the sunset.

He will fall even deeper in love with you, and as he gazes at you with a look of such love, you realized you truly do have the most perfect boyfriend.