#i want to still be overexcited without her telling me that it's not normal and i should fix myself

[twoidiotwriters1]

Daughter of Olympus (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: I'm obsessed with Leara's flirty banter, it's the best -Danny Words: 2,537 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter / Next Chapter Listen to: 'Everything Has Changed' -by Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran

XXXVI: Kinda Want to Kiss Him, Kinda Want to Push Him Into Traffic

Leo's team lost, so he isn't in the ideal mood to have a serious talk, but Ara goes through with it anyway. While everyone's distracted singing and eating s'mores, she starts the awkward conversation.

"I wasn't hiding things intentionally," she speaks in a whisper, even though the kids around them are loud.

"So why does it feel like you are?" Leo's got a frown on his face that she hates to see.

She clasps her hands together and places them against her lips. "So, basically, I'm dumb."

"You could at least try a compelling excuse."

"I thought you wouldn't care!"

"I don't want you to go," he stares at the campfire, shoulders falling a little, "I know your parents asked you to—"

"They're not forcing me. I mean, they decided without telling me first, but if I were to push back, they wouldn't stop me."

"So you're saying... you want to leave?" Leo looks at her. "Is it your prophecy?"

Ara thinks of the vision she saw of Janus, and a chill runs down her spine. The place is not that dark, but they're still close enough to get away with a few things. Ara reaches for Leo's hand and holds it firmly.

"Rachel has recited it twice by now, it's getting serious..." Ara makes a face. "That's not what I wanted to talk about, though."

"Alright... so what is it?"

"Last year, Percy was hiding from more than just a prophecy, and I understand him better now," she sighs. "I watched him tiptoe over his feelings for years until he couldn't anymore, and it only made things harder. We're alike that way."

Leo stares at her with a frown. "Your mother is the goddess of love, Ara."

"And that's all the more reason to be afraid of her!" She exclaims. "And don't even get me started on Eros! There is a reason why my siblings play matchmaker with others and not themselves—"

"But aren't you supposed to... well, love it?"

"It doesn't mean I understand it. My sister Silena advocated for romantic love, defended it, and made use of it. Others, like Piper and I, focus on prosaic beauty and platonic love. Kids like Drew focus on the physicality and idolization of it. Love has many faces, and I never look where to look."

Ara focuses on the kids around the campfire, it's during this time that she gets to see everyone's soul light. She knows what they love, and to have that leverage over so many people can be overwhelming.

"I can't tell if I'm leaving because it's going to make me a better leader, or if I'm going away because I don't want to like you more than I already do."

Leo doesn't want to laugh, but it comes out involuntarily. "You're afraid of liking me too much?"

He's talking in a normal voice now, so she speaks in an even quieter whisper. "You're the first boy that likes me back—"

"Shut up."

Ara looks around in alarm. "Why?"

"No, I mean, that can't be right," Leo scowls. "That can't be true."

"I told you—"

"I remember what you said, but you also mentioned having a first date—"

"Yeah, and you know how that went! Even my first kiss was a fiasco..."

"Please, tell me you're not talking about me," he pouts.

"What? No, it was with a friend—"

"You kissed Lily?" Leo raises his voice.

"No!" Ara pinches his arm. "Be quiet!" 

"Nico?"

The girl turns around again, thinking Leo's spotted the younger demigod. "What? Where?"

"No, doofus!" He snorts. "You kissed Nico?"

Ara feels weirdly insulted. "Ew! No! He's like the annoying little cousin I acquired when I got adopted."

"He overexcites you a little too much for me to believe that."

Ara pinches the bridge of her nose. "Alright, let's circle back, okay? I want to make good use of this week, so I don't feel like I'm dipping out."

Leo keeps on teasing her. "Dunno, I kinda want you to feel bad about it..."

"That's not funny."

"It's kinda funny."

"Leo!"

"Arae."

When he says, her name sounds like a prayer instead of a curse. She tries hard to conceal just how much it delights her.

"What's your full name?" Ara crosses her arms. "I need to sound stern and Leo isn't gonna cut it."

"Great question! Unfortunately, I refuse to answer."

"Leoooo," she complains, making use of her puppy eyes.

"Stop that before I kiss you in front of everyone," he whispers a warning, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. "You'll leave once the week ends?"

Ara glances down at his hand, they're both glowing. "Yeah."

"I want us to be official by the time you leave."

"What!"

Leo hushes her, though he's smiling. "Jackson, be quiet!"

"Leo, I'm a veteran in this camp," she expresses anxiously. "When my friends got crushes, I was front and center making their lives hell, I loved teasing them—"

He laughs. "Oh, so Karma's gonna getcha real nice, huh?"

"I don't wanna be thrown into the lake," she groans, moving her hand away.

"Come again?" Leo tilts his head in amusement, his body tilting forward when she moves.

"When campers start dating, we throw them in the lake."

"Oh, like when Piper and Jason got together? That was fun," he smirks. "I'm game!"

"Sorry, I forgot you're insane," she frowns. "It's the middle of winter!"

"I'm always warm," he shrugs with a shit-eating grin.

"Let's see if you can handle me for a week first," Ara concludes, knowing she can't win the argument.

"I'll be fine," the boy replies confidently. "I'm the best thing that's happened to you since Reese's created its own cereal, right?"

Ara tries not to laugh. "That's not how I said it."

"I took creative liberty."

The girl shakes her head. "I'm going to bed..."

"That an invitation?"

"Leo!"

Ara wakes up right on time the following day. At first, she can't remember why she's so giddy, she didn't have any dreams, then she remembers Leo and has to take a moment to roll onto her stomach, kick her feet in the air, and giggle.

Once she calms down, Ara gets up and gets dressed. Lily shows up and Ara takes the clipboard off her hands, reading through it and adjusting the to-do list so she ends up going to the bunker right before her free hour.

"I've been thinking about what you said yesterday," Lily says as they walk through camp. "I think we can use your free hour to play video games."

"That's a great idea!" She replies. "Can we invite others?"

Lily pauses. "Who?"

"The Stolls, Jason, Leo, and Piper," Ara grins. "You know, so they feel welcomed! Jason needs to grow attached to us..."

"Uh-uh, one would think dating Piper, a Greek demigod, would be enough," Lily raises a brow. "Are you sure this isn't about your poster boy?"

"Whaaat?" Ara snorts. "No!"

"You gave away all the tasks he offered you, so now you have no excuses to spend time with him."

"What are you talking about? My to-do list says that I'll be going to the bunker today!"

"No, that's my to-do list, yours is only the first four."

Ara frowns, going over the list a second time. "That's confusing."

"You never read the list," her friend chortles. "You try to memorize it, then you spend the rest of the day asking me what's next."

"Well, I get things done, don't I?"

Lily snorts and rolls her eyes. "Anyway, I'll pretend I believe you. But I don't think Leo can sit still for more than five minutes, he's like a bouncy ball. Good luck keeping him inside a tiny room."

"He's alright," Ara tries to act like Leo's name doesn't make her want to smile like an idiot. "Hey, do you know his whole name?"

Lily wrinkles her nose. "I heard it was Leonardo, but he may be lying, you never know with him."

"Huh," Ara doesn't know why, but it doesn't sound right to her either.

"Why?"

"He didn't want to tell me."

"Why do you always fall for the guys with weird natures?"

"I don't know, Lily, why do you like stabbing people?" Ara taunts her. "We don't choose our favorite things, they just show up one day and it's like 'Okay, I'll obsess over you now!'"

"So you're obsessed with Leo?" Lily teases her.

"Next time we train together, remind me to kick your ass."

Ara visits the bunker and she brings Connor along as a distraction, they're both carrying large tote bags full of snacks.

"Hi, everyone! We brought lunch!" She announces to the crowd.

They're immediately surrounded by a flock of demigods. Lily's the last one to approach, and Ara's unable to hide her curiosity. "Where's Leo?"

Lily sips on her Capri-Sun. "Why do you need him?"

"Are you his new assistant or something?" She raises a brow. "I just wanna know."

The girl grabs another juice and then vaguely points to the ship. "He's in there. I'll take you."

"No, thanks. I got it."

"If it's about the ship's design, I should join—"

"It's not a—Why am I explaining myself? I'm the General!" Ara loses her temper. "You're dismissed, Saggio."

The girl laughs. "Non distrarre a lungo il nostro ingegnere, Generale, o ti costruirà una nave difettosa," Lily taunts her.

"Hey that's not fair, I still don't know Italian well!" Connor pouts.

Lily guides him to her workbench. "Don't worry about it, come help me design Ara's room."

"Don't put anything weird in it!" The girl warns them.

Lily gives her a thumbs-up without looking back. Ara wants to stay and make sure, but she brought Connor with her for a reason. She loves Lily, but the girl is a nosy little jerk. Ara is too, of course, that's why they're best friends.

Ara walks into the empty ship and gets a little overwhelmed. The thing is huge and she doesn't want to get lost in it, but luckily for her, on the first left turn, she finds Leo crouching near a wall and muttering to himself as he measures something.

Ara sneaks up on him. "Hey!"

Leo jumps out of his skin, dropping the measuring tape. His curls burst into flames. "What the heck is wrong with you?!"

Ara laughs, helping him up. "Many things, but I just like how you burst into flames when I startle you. Like an octopus squirting ink."

Leo picks up his measuring tape. "You're a terrible person."

"I am," she rummages through her almost empty bag. "And you like me anyway."

"Just because I begged you for a date, kissed you, and said I'm crushing on you big time, doesn't mean I like being bullied. I accept your bullying 'cause you're stronger than me and I can't fight you," he quips.

Ara hands him an apple and a water bottle. "Talking about that... you should train."

"I'm good," he replies, taking a huge bite out of his fruit. He swallows it before speaking again. "Busy building the greatest warship in history."

"We won't always be there to protect you," she crosses her arms. "I would sleep better if you knew how to use a sword..."

"I know how to use a sword! You poke the soft spots! It ain't that hard, doll," Leo taunts her, continuing with his work. "Besides, I was chosen 'cause I'm an inventor. Can't do that if I lose a limb."

"We can reattach limbs. Paolo has gotten his arm reattached a few times already."

Leo looks at her. "Please, tell me the second time was because they put it backward on their first try."

Ara steps forward and holds his face. "Are you not interested because you don't like training, or is it something else?"

The boy struggles to maintain eye contact. "I don't have what it takes to be a good swordsman or an archer—I'd probably stab my foot..."

"Guns exist?" She suggests, half-joking.

"I know I'm from Houston, but I'm not that kind of Texan," Ara tries not to laugh, but Leo notices her expression and keeps going. "I would shoot myself in the butt. Probably make my visits to the bathroom way shorter, everything would come right out—"

She bursts out laughing, letting go of his face. "I'm being serious!"

"And I don't want that," Leo reaches up to cup her face. "I'm pretty sure I could make a weapon on the go if I'm ever in real danger."

"At least train to be in good shape," she insists. "You can climb the lava wall with me, and learn close combat?"

"Exactly how close the combat is?" He smirks.

She pushes him away giggling. "Anyway, I came here for a reason, not just to scare you."

"That's good to hear," Leo takes another bite of his apple. "What is it?"

"Lily fixed my schedule, so I have an empty hour every day. I told her we should invite our friends—"

"Am I your friend in this situation?"

"For now, yes. It'd be a good excuse to spend time together and hang out."

"In a secluded space, where no one is looking," he steps closer to her. "Just like the one we're in right now."

Ara blushes. "I mean... the rec room isn't this big..."

Leo takes another bite of his apple and watches her with a strange look in his eyes. "We could get away with some fun stuff anyhow..." 

His skin is glowing again, just like hers. His words are making it impossible to think straight.

"That's a yes?"

"Yeah. I'm counting it as a date."

Ara looks away, the room feels a thousand times hotter now. "I—uh... that's all. I gotta... visit Pollo."

In the little time it takes her to finish the sentence, Leo pushes a strand of hair behind her ear and then holds the side of her face.

"Don't," she says. "There are people around..."

"Be honest," he inches closer. "You're worried they'll judge you for dating me? I mean, I know I'm no jock, but..." Leo is joking, but when Ara doesn't deny it, his smile falters. "Doll, that was the worst moment to stay quiet—"

She pulls him in, kissing him firmly. Leo doesn't burst into flames this time, instead, he wraps his arms around her. He tastes like apples.

"M'not ashamed," she mumbles once the kiss ends. "I'm flustered."

"Got it," he grins, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I—uh, I do have things to do though," she chuckles. "So I should..."

"Yeah," he doesn't budge. "Of course..."

"I can't leave if you don't let me," she grins, trying to move him. 

"Just one more kiss— Just..." Leo pecks her lips. "One..." He kisses her again. "More..." He tightens his grip around her, kissing her longer than before. "Kiss."

Ara's melting in his arms, and she's not even self-conscious about it at this point. Leo holds her face and pecks her lips one more time before stepping back. His smile broadens. "There. One and done."

She's looking at him in such a way that it makes his chest hurt. Leo hears someone approaching, and he doesn't care if others find out, but Ara does. He clears his throat, struggling to remember what he was doing before the girl walked in.

"Thank you for the food. I... I'll see you later."

Ara nods, still watching him with those warm eyes and flushed cheeks. He feels like he'll involuntarily combust if he continues to look at her, so he turns around and forces himself to continue working.

Once she's out of the room, Leo stops and leans one hand on the wall while the other holds his chest and clutches onto the fabric of his shirt, as if trying to push his heart back into place. He feels dizzy in the best way possible. 

Leo can't believe this is happening to him, but he's definitely not complaining. He vows to do everything in his power to keep Ara by his side for as long as the sun shines above their heads.

Next Chapter ->

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @ash-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles

[drysauce]

oh no my friend wants to read orv at some point in the future how do i stop her

[yanderemommabean]

I was going through your archive when I found a post that I love so dang much. It's the one where you take a demons power to go to different anime's. But surprise! Everyone is yandere for you now. But I gotta idea for it. Let's say you FINALLY get back to your universe, you're thinking that no more yandere's are gonna go after you. Then you see L in a cafe, Sebastian along with Ciel coming out of a car, and all the yandere's you THOUGHT you escaped from have just entered the Real universe.

You think you’re safe, you think that finally you can rest and not have to worry about being taken, being stalked and watched every living second of the day. The world seems to have slowed down, you no longer feel the need to run and escape from those you once looked up too and favored.

But then you feel the hairs stand on the back of your neck. That familiar trepidation turning into dread, sinking your heart and stomach. Call it instinct, call it magic, but you knew in your gut you weren’t actually safe.

A familiar blond bombshell with red wings is being admired down the street, his golden eyes piercing yours while he wears his signature playboy grin. Like a true hawk cornering it’s prey.

Just a few feet beside him, a man with a green and black checkered jacket is seen asking people all sorts of odd questions, you can only guess that he’s asking about you.

No. No this isn’t fair! This isn’t supposed to be happening! You want to scream, to dash the other direction, but you also want to fight them out of the absolute frustration of being chased constantly without a second to breathe. That fucking asshole demon! An absolute bitch!

You begin to search for a route that would help you hide. Alleyways, crowds of people, stores with accessible storage rooms, anything would be a godsend to hide from the ever growing list of problems and psychos following you.

While dodging as many pedestrians as possible was a skill you’ve reluctantly been honing in on lately, it was going to happen that you’d lose focus through your panic. You collide into a muscular, well built man with his hair in a tight bun. Beside him is a smaller, but still taller light haired man with an apologetic smile.

Asahi and Sugawara. Of course, even the sweethearts are after you.

“Oh-oh my goodness Y/N! I’m so sorry! I know I was looking for you but I didn’t mean-“

“Easy Asahi-“ Suga soothed, helping you up off of the ground while you wince and scrunch your nose. While colliding with the absolute unit of a man, you fell back and felt a crack as you used your hands to break your fall, and it looks like your body took that term literally.

“Oh god, that doesn’t look to good” Asahi murmurs, gently rubbing his thumb over your ever swelling wrist. His lips softly kiss the skin while Suga places his hand on your back, guiding you to walk with them as he beams his beautiful smile down at you.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to worry about anything, we’re gonna take care of you. I guess the whole team kinda scared you off huh? They tend to do that when overexcited” he smiles, as if any of this was remotely normal.

You were trapped. Not only where they more capable of chasing you down, their height and strength combined meant you couldn’t possibly get away, unless some miracle occurred. And lately? That’s been a commodity you’ve been starved of.

Asahi continues to ask if you’re ok, stuttering and timidly looking away on occasion when all you manage is a grunt of irritation and pain. You can’t even focus on where these two are taking you, your wrist throbbing and burning as the impact of the damage done starts to sink in.

As you are turned down a sketchy alley, Asahi abruptly stops in his tracks, pushing you behind him and giving Suga a stern and suspicious expression. Suga just nods, and pulls you close to him as he whispers in your ear “Stay beside me, ok? Not to make you worry or anything but...we don’t think we’re alone here”.

Fucking duh. Of course you aren’t. There’s as many psycho, obsessed anime characters as there is germs at this point. For all you knew cells from cells at work were coming to take you. And it would be kind of funny if that wasn’t a real possibility!

You just bite back a sob of frustration, tears freely running down your face as you collapse to the ground and bury your face in the hand that wasn’t currently having a malfunction. Suga assumes it’s the pain, kneeling down to try and soothe you the best he could. Seconds later, a blade swings by and misses you both by just millimeters.

Looking up from utter fear, you see none other than Zack Foster standing with an unhinged expression. “Alright you had your fun you little runaway, but I’m kinda getting tired of chasing you all over creation. A mans got needs you know? Cant keep his needs away from him forever!”

Asahi tightens his fists and puffs out his chest, stalking closer to the scrawny man as he sets his scythe against his shoulder. “You aren’t even close to worthy of having Y/Ns love! You just nearly killed her!” He shouts, giving Suga a nod to lift you up and make a run for it.

The two continue to throw jabs and tauntings as Suga gently lifts you, nuzzling into your shoulder as he rubs your back to soothe you. “You’re ok, you’re gonna be ok” he repeats, as if talking to a scared child and not an adult wanting to sell their soul again to get out of this nightmare.

Once again, because sure why not, Suga stops in his tracks and clenches you tighter to his chest.

You look over your shoulder to see just what new clusterfuck the universe has given you, meeting the demonic eyes of Rui, who’s webbing was ready to slice the man apart if he so much as breathed wrong.

“Enough games. Give me what is mine and I’ll make your death much less painful. Y/N was taken from me and I plan on getting rid of any and everyone involved”. His words were so calm, so matter of fact, as if he expected Suga to just comply and accept his fate.

You shut your eyes, hearing the voices of many other characters approaching like piranhas to an injured animal. Except instead of working together, they planned to tear anyone apart just to have you, and no matter the outcome you didn’t want to see just who the victor would be.

(-Mommabean, please leave comments or tell me what you think! Helps motivate me and to see where I need to work on more!)

[straightlikewetspaghetti]

Rancho Love

Pairings:

Main: Poppy x MC (Bea Hughes)

Secondary: Chloe x Veronica, Zoey x ??

Warnings: none

Love is a strong feeling, a bond, an interpersonal relationship that is difficult to clearly define and explain.

Hate is sometimes contrasted with love and described as an agonizing feeling, resulting from pain associated with feelings of hurt, revenge, hostility and deception.

It’s funny how thin line separates these two feelings...

At the beginning of the vacations, Bea went to her grandmother's ranch to prepare it for the arrival of unexpected guests. Today was the day of their arrival and the brunette sat on the porch, nervously shaking her leg.

It wasn't long before a black SUV belonging to her best friend pulled onto her property. In a flash, Zoey jumped out of it and locked Bea in a firm hug, even though it hadn't been that long since they last met.

Out of the corner of her eye, the brunette noticed Veronica and Chloe standing behind the black-haired girl. Bea and Veronica exchanged knowing glances, sparing each other unnecessary closeness, unlike Chloe, who had been acting like an overexcited puppy ever since she and Veronica got together. The blonde threw herself at Bea with a squeal and hugged her with a strength she would never have suspected. Despite the odds, it was a pleasant feeling.

When she released herself from the hug, she knew someone was missing. She glanced at Zoey, who only sighed. Bea took note of the dark circles under her eyes and obvious fatigue that was showing on her friend's face, which could mean that the princess had given her quite a hard time during the trip. "And what is the name of this little cutie." Chloe dropped to her knees and began exaggeratedly petting the overjoyed dog that magically appeared next to the brunette.

"Drake."

"Like the rapper?" the puzzled blonde asked.

"Never change, Chlo" Veronica laughed placing a soft kiss on Chloe's head.

"No, like a dragon, because his breath is murderous." the brunette playfully snapped her mouth and put emphasis on the last word as if she were talking to a small child.

The girls laughed and all the tension that was hiding inside Bea dissipated like a bad weather. She had forgotten that without Poppy, Chloe and Veronica were actually very bearable.

"How can you expect me to function under such conditions?" speaking of the devil, a clear high-pitched squeak pierced the silence of the ranch, causing even nearby grazing Sheridan to lay his ears down. Bea's head twitched involuntarily, a tic she had developed at the sound of that particular tone of voice. "Zoey! Come here!"

The girl looked pleadingly at Bea and mouthed silently "Help me." The brunette smiled in understanding and headed towards the car Poppy was standing by. Bea approached quietly, causing the preoccupied blonde to not even notice her. She took advantage of the peaceful moment to take a closer look at her.

Poppy was rummaging through the trunk, probably looking for something. Bea couldn't help but notice the way the girl's jeans perfectly framed her well-defined curves. In an instant, memories of that one night when Poppy had proved to her that she had to dominate on every level, began to flow into her head.

The girl standing before her was the picture of perfection. Her silky blonde hair was tied up in a heavy knot, revealing a slender neck that Bea loved to tease. Her entire outfit perfectly exemplified her sense of style and elegance, which she always groomed to a fault. Against the landscape of the countryside she stood out like a sore thumb.

"Do you want to go to the bathroom or do you always have such an idiotic expression on your face?" the malicious comment from Poppy snapped her out of her reverie and worked on her like a bucket of cold water.

"It's good to see you too Pops." she said in a calm voice, as if she hadn't literally fantasized about the girl standing in front of her a moment ago.

Poppy turned her head towards her and smiled flirtatiously, though Bea knew that smile hid disdain and annoyance. "I didn't feel the need to lie." she shrugged and went back to her previous activity.

Bea laughed under her breath and nodded. The audacity of this girl will be the death of her. "How can I help you?"

"You finally offered? What a wonderful woman you are!" Poppy sneered, placing an amount of baggage in Bea's hands that nearly knocked the brunette to the ground. "Jesus Christ Poppy, you came here for a month, not a lifetime!" Bea's voice was barely audible over the amount of suitcases crushing her person. Trying to take in the situation, her muscles tensed visibly and out of the corner of her eye she noticed a familiar glint in the blonde's eye. Poppy giggled innocently, but her gaze was wary and sharp. She scrutinized Bea from head to toe and a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "You wouldn't handle me, Farmsville." "Is that a challenge?" Bea stood sideways and tensed as much as possible to dominate the blonde with her stature. A shiver of indefinable fascination ran through her veins at the thought of competition.

Poppy just rolled her eyes, but as she walked away, she ran her fingertips gently, almost imperceptibly, over the brunette's shoulder, which, along with the amount of baggage, made Bea's legs buckle more and more. With an idiotic grin on her face, the brunette watched Poppy's hips move mesmerizingly. In any normal situation she would have thrown her luggage and pounced on the blonde like a predator, but somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered that the girl was a first class manipulator. Only around Poppy did Bea feel that showing any emotion besides lust was a weakness. Their game of hot’n’cold had gone on for so long that Bea's feelings were lost as she herself was. And even after so long of their physical closeness, they hated each other to the marrow of their bones. Poppy Min Sinclair was one big game Bea felt she was losing. After less than an hour, each of the girls was put in their own rooms and once again they all met on the porch to come up with some common activity, much to Poppy's displeasure. "Howdy ladies! You are a blessing to the sore eyes of a man." Their conversation was interrupted by a low male voice and the clatter of hooves. They all fell silent and looked at the intruder, who was watching them from the back of his powerful steed with an all too friendly smile. Bea was the only one who reciprocated the smile and ran up to him with Drake faithfully at her side.

"Alex you corny chum! I didn't even know you were around." excited Bea waited patiently until the boy slid off his horse and embraced her tightly and a little too long, which didn't escape the girls attention, especially the peculiar blonde. The brunette pulled away from her friend and looked at the slightly amused girls "Ah, but where my manners are!"

"They don't exist." muttered the bored blonde, eyeing her manicure carefully, not even lifting her eyes to the brunette

Bea just rolled her eyes, but didn't let Poppy's grumpiness ruin the moment for her. "Girls, this is Alex, Alex this is Zoey, Veronica, Chloe and Satan, I mean..." she took a dramatic pause to make sure the blonde was paying attention. "Poppy." "The best thing for last." Poppy's voice was low, much lower than her typical squeak.

Bea sensed what was going on and stood between Alex and the blonde, creating a safe space. She looked at Poppy with a scolding look, but the corners of the girl's mouth were only twisted in a minimal mischievous grin that no one else noticed. "Keep it in your pants, Sinclair." Zoey spoke up with disdain as she observed the blonde's pathetic behavior. Alex, hearing this, laughed sincerely and then smiled coquettishly at Zoey. When she looked at him, he squatted closer to her, causing an outline of a blush to appear on her cheeks. She returned the smile. “Can we like, not fight for a sec?” Chloe shy and concerned voice broke through the tension. Veronica stood behind her, proudly holding her around the waist and measuring Poppy with a cautious, almost warning look. Poppy rolled her eyes and scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, but remained silent. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chloe smiling in her direction and even her emotionless facade couldn't ignore the smaller blonde puppy eyes. She felt weird, fuzzy feeling inside. "What brings you here pal?" Bea finally spoke up when the situation had calmed down somewhat and nobody was threatening to jump down each other throats. The boy tore his gaze away from a still blushing Zoey and looked at the brunette as if he had only now discovered that he had actually come to her with a reason. "Yeah, right..." he laughed nervously scratching the back of his neck and reluctantly stepping away from the black-haired girl. "Judy asked me to bring Spot." he pointed to a black and white mare that was nibbling the grass, looking with interest at Sheridan, who was grazing nearby.

"Even nana knew you were here and she didn't tell me?" Bea didn't hide her surprise at Alex's words.

"What a wonderful friend you are." sneered the blonde under her breath.

Alex chuckled, but stopped immediately when Bea flashed him a menacing stare. "Look, I wanted to use the element of surprise." "Of course." the brunette sighed. "While you're here, why don't we give the girls a tour of the ranch?" Bea looked smugly in Zoey's direction and Alex immediately caught what she meant.

"There's no way my foot is going to get anywhere near these... Stinky animals." Poppy wrinkled her nose with visible disgust on her face.

"I'm pretty sure they don't want it as much as you do." Zoey retorted, earning a nudge in the shoulder from Chloe. "All right..." Bea pushed Alex, Zoey, Chloe and Veronica towards the stables. "Go on now, and we'll join you in a moment."

It couldn't be without a mischievous smirk from the boy, but he didn't say a thing. Obediently he began to head towards the stables with the rest of them, Zoey noticeably walking closest to him. Bea lifted her eyes up and counted down to ten in her head to calm herself down. If it wasn't for Poppy's parents' pleading, she would never have agreed to her coming here, but somewhere deep down she hoped the blonde wouldn't be so problematic. She began to wonder for whom this was the bigger punishment.

She turned on her heel to say something to Poppy, but her voice froze in her throat when she saw, one of the most adorable scenes of her life: Poppy was kneeling beside Drake and vigorously scratching his stomach. Her voice was soft and gentle as she whispered sweet nothings to him.

Despite herself, the brunette smiled softly, remembering that even such a cold person had a weakness for dogs.

"I should charge you for looking." Poppy didn't look away from Drake, but Bea saw the gentle smile dedicated to her and not the dog. "I like this side of you." she began, slowly walking toward her. "The gentle and happy one. Why are you forcefully trying to make our lives difficult?"

Poppy's hand hovered over Drake's stomach and there was a heavy silence. Bea gulped nervously, expecting an outburst from the blonde that never came. Instead, Poppy rose from her knees and looked blankly in her direction. "There is no such a thing." her voice sounded incredibly flat, which was much more threatening than her typical screech. "I didn't ask to be here." she put her arms around her waist and turned dramatically to her side. For the first time Bea saw the real Poppy, the one she tries to hide under her harsh persona. She looked extremely lost and hurt, but the brunette couldn't be sure without knowing what was hiding in her head. And for the first time Bea wanted to know what the girl standing in front of her was thinking and feeling. And it was terrifying.

"You wouldn't have to be here if you weren't trying to act like a brat." it wasn't the most pleasant thing she could answer, but it didn't miss the truth.

"Trying?" Poppy looked at her with rising curiosity. "By what do you assume that I'm trying and I'm not like that?" she asked without waiting for an answer. "Since when do you know anything about me, other than the size of my underwear?" As much as she hated to admit it, Poppy had a point. She couldn't be sure which one was the real one, but she tried to go on. "Because you sound like a coward. And I know..."

"You know nothing about me." she snapped, unable to listen to the cruel truth.

"And I know..." Bea continued ignoring her and coming face to face with the blonde, who now seemed much, much smaller and dimmer. "That somewhere deep down, there is a real Poppy that I could..." fall for. The brunette didn't finish that sentence, again settling an awkward silence between them.

Poppy looked straight into her eyes, probably searching for something there. After a moment, she lowered her gaze and trembled. She sighed quietly and carefully grasped the brunette's hand. "Focus on the me you see there..." she pressed it to her chest, where her heart was pounding like a herd of galloping horses. "Because she's focusing on you too." Before she could answer anything, Alex's voice rang out: "Are you slowpokes gonna finally come here?"

"We're coming!" replied Bea, tilting her head toward him but not taking her eyes off the blonde. She felt Poppy withdraw her hand from her in a flash and put her typical look of annoyance on her face.

"You don't have to miss me like that!" The blonde almost purred those words and walked towards the stables, leaving an even more confused Bea alone.

[jadoue1999]

The X-Men and the member they lost - Chapter 7

Summary:  The X-Men are finally back home, but there is much to talk about and a long road to go before everything goes back to normal. If they ever do.

Previous parts: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, 

Chapter 7: Grief and bonding

The X-men stared at the speedster in stunned silence as he stopped in front of them. Wanda was avoiding their gaze, obviously ashamed. She spoke with Charles, the telepath trying to see if she would be a good fit at the school.

“I want you to understand, Ms. Maximoff, that the last time we spoke you seemed very keen on keeping your world. While I understand why you did it, I expect you to find a better way to cope than… this.” He said, motioning to the town around them.

The woman nodded. “Yes, you’re right. It never should have come to this.” She quickly glanced at Peter with glassy eyes, “for what it’s worth, I never meant to bring him here. I was just so sad that my boys would never meet their uncle… I suppose my powers acted without me realizing.”

The wheelchair bound man slowly nodded his head in understatement before agreeing that it was better that she’d go with them. Erik had to agree. He might not have been thrilled about having his son’s captor living with them, but with this world and the lack of mutants; it was certain her future would be bleak. Government officials were already coming in, just waiting for an opening to take the woman away. Being stuck in isolation, unable to use their powers other than the occasional scientists’ visits was something he wished on no one. Plus, he could see how much Peter wanted her by his side. He’d tolerate her presence, for his son.

They marched through the portal, this time it was a lot faster and easier on the mind. Erik felt slightly nauseous, but it went away quickly. He noticed with a smirk how amazed Charles had been at the ease Wanda created an interdimensional portal. The school was overjoyed at seeing everyone back in one piece. The students flocked Peter with greetings and questions. Though it was the professor who took most of the questions. The speedster was apparently still a little confused about what had happened. The students were all wondering who Wanda was. The group settled on saying that she was a powerful mutant who had accidentally lost her way. Erik could see that the professor didn’t want to scare anyone.

Jean, Scott and Ororo suddenly ran to Peter and squeezed him in their arms. They were all laughing in relief, telling him how glad they were to have him back. Peter was... uncharacteristically quiet. He who was always babbling could barely keep up with all the attention. Erik could see him starting to fidget and anxiously looking around. Finally, the crowd of people seemed to be satisfied with the few answers they got and started to leave the group alone. Charles took the other members of the X-men with him, probably to fill them in on what had happened. Wanda stayed by herself, looking disoriented as ever. Hank offered to give her a tour, which she accepted after sharing an anxious glance with Peter. Soon enough, they were gone, leaving father and son together. The metal bender walked over and gently put a hand on his shoulder. He could see how nervous he was. “Hey, are you okay?” The speedster looked at him and nodded, “oh, yeah... just tired. It’s been a while.” Right. He had been in a small town living with four other people for who knows how long. Of course, coming back to a manor full of overexcited children would be overwhelming. “How long was it? For you?” He seemed lost in thoughts for a few seconds before he shook his head. “I’m not exactly sure. I’d say a few days, but it felt longer than that.”

They walked together to an empty room, where they could talk in peace. The sun was just setting, bathing the room in a soft glow. They sat opposite of one another, neither of them talking for nearly a minute.

“So… you’re my dad,” finally spoke up Peter. He chuckled to himself, “you know, I imagined this conversation a thousand time and yet I have no idea what to say right now.”

“Well, I know,” he smiled at his son, “thank you for releasing me from the Pentagon.”

Peter seemed a bit flustered at the sudden recognition, but a wide grin soon adorned his face. “Ah, it was nothing. Ask Charles or Hank, I literally did it for fun.”

Erik smirked in amusement; the speedster really was something. He wasn’t sure what he could tell him. It was no doubt his mother told him about their lineage, so she probably told him how they met. He probably knew most of his life story whereas he didn’t know much about him.

“Tell me about you?” he asked him. “I’ve missed so much of your life; I’d like to know you properly.”

Peter hummed, probably trying to decide what to say. “Uh… What do you know? Just so I have a starting point.”

“Well, thanks to Charles, I know that your real name is Pietro, and that you had a twin, but I don’t know much else.” He knew, of course about the Pentagon break and about En Sabah Nur, but he had left the mansion too quickly to learn anything else about him.

The speedster seemed taken aback by the mention of his true name, but quickly masked his surprise with an awkward grin. “Right… well first off, I don’t really use Pietro. It’s, uh, it’s what Wendy used to call me. She never really accepted to call me Peter other than in public and she’s, uh, she’s been gone for awhile, and I try to not think about it so much. So, I hope you don’t get too offended. I mean, that’s why I never mentioned it to anyone else before, cause I prefer Peter anyway; I’m trying to keep that part of my past in the past and-“

“It’s alright,” said Erik, interrupting his rambling. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll use Peter.”

That seemed to satisfy the young man, who visibly relaxed in his chair before changing the subject. “Thanks. Anyway, I didn’t really do much, just a year ago I still lived in my mother’s basement and stole anything I wanted.” He looked around him before grinning. “You know, the explosion that destroyed the mansion?” Erik nodded, him and Jean had taken quite a few days the rebuild the whole thing. They had both needed a few days of recovery after using their powers for such an extensive and detailed task. “Well, I’m the one that saved everyone from the explosion. They were all saved without any whiplash.“ His face suddenly darkened, “except for Scott’s brother. He was already vaporized by the time I got inside.”

The speedster continued his rambling for a few minutes, Erik nodding along and trying to keep up. He was glad that Peter was finally back to himself. The conversation turned to what had happened in Westview and he simply had to ask.

“Charles told me your mutation gave you protection against telepath.”

“Sure does!” he answered, knocking on his head twice with a smug grin. “No telepath goin’ in there any time soon. My thoughts are sealed.”

He might not have known much about his son, but he was well aware that he was trying to deflect the subject. “Yes… well I wanted to ask because we never got a real explanation. How did you end up with the necklace? How did it even work on you?”

Peter’s fingers unconsciously brushed against his neck as his eyes became distant. “Agnes… she, uh, she had this freaky book that told her how to deal with people like me. She said there had to be a physical object with the spell, so it could keep up with me.”

Erik hummed as he put his hands under his chin, it was a start, but there had to be more. “She didn’t do anything else?”

“Well, the spell was painful. It’s hard to explain, but I was trapped in my worst memories until it found an opening and it could take control of me. Definitely not something I’d recommend.”

Peter kept fidgeting as he recalled the events, so Erik decided to stop asking about it. Perhaps a happier subject would help. “Tell me about the twins, they seemed nice.”

A smile grew on Peter’s lips and Erik knew that he had hit the right spot. The speedster started talking about how amazing they were and how much fun they’d had. He gleamed as he recalled helping the younger speedster with video games and how he had teased them about stealing all their candies. And while he now felt bad about it, the teamwork they had done to deal with Kurt and Raven was something he felt particularly proud about; going as far as to refer to them as ‘mini X-Men in training’. That made them both smiles.

They talked for a very long time; the clock was nearing midnight. Erik could see his son starting to doze off and he let him sleep while he went to grab a book. He hadn’t been in Wanda’s world for long and he himself felt drained, he couldn’t imagine how tired his son must have been. He had been reading for about twenty minutes when a sudden gush of air made him look up to the now empty chair. He heard movements in the kitchen and decided to join him on his midnight snack. Peter was reaching into multiple cupboards, fixing himself what looked to be sugary cereals and various other things. With the quantity of food, he was taking out, he must have been very hungry.

“Are you alright?” Erik asked as the silver blur kept going around the kitchen.

“Sure am!” he answered, not looking at him. “Just needed a quick meal, I did that all the time when I was with Wanda.” He opened the doors to where the various dishes were and turned his head slightly to the side. “Now boys, what I’m about to show you is the ultimate combo-“ The speedster stopped himself before he could finish his sentence. He slowly turned to Erik with pained eyes and looked around.

“Peter?”

His son seemed like a shell of himself as he ever so slowly put down what he was holding. His eyes scanned the counter that held too much food, even for him, before he looked back at the man with teary eyes. “I, uh, I have to go.”

Before he could protest, Erik was alone in the kitchen. The food was back to where it had been, but the speedster hadn’t touched the dishes he had just taken out. The metal bender sighed as he realized his son had taken out 3 bowls. There would certainly be a long road ahead before Peter could heal from his grief.

***

Peter was glad to be back, he truly was. 

He got his team back, his mind back and his father knew about him and accepted him even with his rotten luck concerning family. Nothing had felt better than having his friends jumping on him and telling him how glad they were to have him back between two laughs. Then the overdue discussion he had with his dad had been great. He really couldn’t ask for a better ending. However, his life in Westview had been so unique, so unlike anything he’d ever known before. There wasn’t the fear of being discovered because Wanda had made sure that they could use their powers without people staring. And there was no constant threat, save from Agnes, but they didn’t know at the time. Most of all, he felt complete. The overwhelming grief he had felt ever since Wendy had died wasn’t present because his twin was with him. She had never left in the first place. And he not only had his sister with him, but she was also married. Sure, her choice of husband was strange but who was he to judge? Vision had been pleasant company, even though they hadn’t talked much.

Then... then there were the boys. He had never thought himself as parental figure material. Hell, he was older than most student, but could still fit in better than most. He wasn’t exactly the most mature person. Still, he never thought he’d be a good role model. Then, he got into Wanda’s freaky tv show where he was the cool uncle that messed around with his nephews. He could play with them and do all the mischief his heart desired. He loved them and they loved him. Nothing felt as freeing as running through the crowd at Halloween, stealing candies, smashing pumpkins, and covering everyone in silly string. Then, the twins developed powers. The joy he felt when he saw Tommy suddenly breaking into superspeed mode made every happy moment in his life seem bleak. 

He and Wendy had grown up thinking they were unique, anomalies even. Then, she had died, and Peter thought he was alone. Until Charles, Hank and the claw guy had found him and asked him break out his father. He was happy to find that he wasn’t the only one with powers, he simply wished Wendy could have known as well. Then he moved to the mansion, where there were so many mutants. He felt at home. Yet, he never really was able to make connections with anyone, their world was simply too slow for him. But that wasn’t the case with Tommy. The twin was able to keep up with him and see the world at his pace. When they played games, he didn’t have to go agonizingly slow to give him time to react. When they wanted to go somewhere, they just went there while having a conversation, the child wasn’t frozen or in need to be moved. He just kept up with him. Peter, or Pietro as he had called himself, had loved taking out the soldiers with him, telling him what to do and working with Tommy like he had never done before. Him, Wanda, Vision, and the twins. They had been an unstoppable team and he truly believed that they would be together forever. Until they weren’t. He still remembered the panic he felt when the boys had started to fall apart as Wanda was freeing everyone. His mind had been jumping between his chill persona and the real him breaking through. It wasn’t fun.

He had meant to have a better talk with Wanda, but life at the mansion was always busy. Well, that and the fact that they didn’t really speak when they found themselves together. They felt contempt just sitting in silence and watching a movie together. It was clear neither of them was ready to speak about what they had lost. There was the occasional reference to something Vision or the twins would have liked, but even that was too much sometimes. Instead, they got to know each other. Wanda had been shocked when he told her that his real name was Pietro, and he could just tell that she saw her true brother for a second. One big difference between him and Wanda was that he had lost Wendy at 16, while she had lost her Pietro at 26. Peter hadn’t exactly dealt with her death, but he had learned to cope with the pain. Wanda only had a few years, and the wound was still pretty fresh.

One night a few weeks after they came back, Wanda had suddenly stopped the movie and turned to him. “What did Agatha do to you? When you went for repairs?”

Peter was confused for a second before concluding that the witch had probably used a fake name when she came in the town. “Not much to be honest. She did some freaky magic to suspend me in the air and basically blackmailed me.” He looked at her with a frown. “But you knew that. What did she to do you to make you so worried about me?”

The redhead squeezed the hot cocoa mug she was holding. “She made me revisit everything that made me create Westview. My parent’s death, my brother’s death, Hydra’s experimentation, and my encounter with Vision’s body. And we revisited the night I woke you up and…” She didn’t complete her sentence. Wanda was staring off in the distance as she recalled the intervention. “She threatened to hurt you and the boys if I didn’t cooperate. I also feared she might have done a similar thing to you.��

Peter thought back at the dreaded moment the witch had threatened his nephews and the confusion he felt when she spoke about why she menaced them and not him. “Nah, apparently your magic protected me, so she couldn’t really do anything. The rugrats were the real targets.”

Wanda pressed her lips together in a sad smile and nodded. They both stayed silent for a few seconds before she broke the silence. “I miss them.” Peter turned to the redhead; her eyes were fixed to the liquid in her mug. “Vision and the boys, I still have days where I think they’ll just… be there, you know? I imagine that Tommy and Billy are with you and Vision is about to cross the door and wish me a good morning.”

The speedster agreed with her statement, it was hard to keep going in a school full of mutant children without his mind trying to catch a glimpse of his nephews that never really existed in the first place. 

“You know,” he started with a smile. “I had never met another person with superspeed before Tommy. Felt nice to not be alone, even for a moment.” His grin faded as he stared at his hands, a burning question on his lips. “If you could, would you go back to Westview?”

She closed her eyes in concentration, momentarily lost in thoughts. She shook her head as she turned to him. “In retrospect, no.” she sighed, “but if I could see them again, without hurting anyone, I would.”

Peter hummed at her answer, he could see the logic in her thinking, of course, but he wasn’t sure he could resist the temptation. Even if it hurt people. Good thing he wasn’t the one that got reality bending powers. She continued the movie once more and they absently watched as they thoughts were consumed by memories of their long gone family.

***

Notes: Thanks for reading!

Next chapter: One of Wanda’s spell takes an unexpected turn!

[gukyi]

BLAME IT IN THE RAIN WITH JK (FROM UR FIC TITLE GAME) IS PERFECT!!!! FOR A DRABBLE!!! PERFECT!!!!!

blame it on the rain | JJK (1k words)

Jeon Jungkook doesn’t take issue with many things in his life, but the semester-long study abroad program your school offers is certainly not one of them. For one, as a computer science and business dual-degree, he pretty much has zero opportunity to study abroad for six whole months, not when he’s taking six classes each semester and barely managing to keep up with the workload of each. For another, you went on a study abroad trip. And nothing could really make Jungkook hate something more than that thing taking away his very best friend for six whole months. 

Okay. Give Jungkook some credit here. It’s not as if he doesn’t have any friends other than you. He does. He doesn’t have many, considering he’s a computer science and business dual-degree, but he does. You are just... his favorite friend. Sue him. He noticed your absence the most. It weighed on him like a ton of bricks, followed him around like a storm cloud. Your FaceTime calls could only offer temporary relief, especially since you were halfway across the globe and the timezones made everything that much more inconvenient. He missed being with you. What else is there to say? He missed you. 

But he needs not miss you any longer.

Finally. It’s June third, classes ended literally three weeks ago, and since his last final he has been counting down the days until your flight would get in, until you would return to campus and everything would go back to normal. No more calls at four in the morning, no more sending each other pictures of your lonely ass dinners, no more wishing you were by his side. You are coming home. 

Jungkook is, admittedly, a little overexcited for your arrival. 

“Dude, why the hell did you get to the arrival gate thirty minutes before her plane was even scheduled to land?” Taehyung says on the other end of the phone, and Jungkook can hear the way he’s rolling his eyes. 

“I didn’t want to be late! Imagine if I had gotten stuck in traffic,” Jungkook defends weakly. It’s three in the afternoon on a Saturday.

“Yeah, right. Just say you miss her and be done with it. I’m not judging.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Okay, you’re right, I am, but can you blame me?” Taehyung concedes easily. “You’ve been pining after her for the past six months. I’m honestly kind of glad she’s coming back.”

Jungkook can relate. 

“Wow, I would have thought you were glad that she was gone, so we could spend more time together,” Jungkook admits, a little surprised. Taehyung was always complaining that Jungkook spent so much time with you he never left any for the rest of his friends. 

“Not really. Without her you’re like... a completely different person. In a worse way. No offense, or anything,” Taehyung says. Jungkook does not like the direction of this conversation. “I mean, like, you’re just... better when she’s around. I missed the old Jungkook. I’m glad you’ll be back.”

“Oh.” Jungkook doesn’t really know what to say to that. Had he really changed that much without you? Just then, he feels his phone vibrate in his hand, sees your contact information pop up at the top of his screen.

You [3:34PM]: Just landed! ✈️ You [3:35PM]: Gonna grab my bags and meet you out front soon!

Jungkook [3:35PM]: Can’t wait!!!

“She just landed, I gotta go,” Jungkook says quickly. 

“Wait, doesn’t she still have to get her bags--?”

“Gotta go, bye, Tae!”

Jungkook quickly hangs up and stuffs his phone into the pocket of his jeans, waiting against the side of his car nervously, eyes darting towards the three different exits as he scans the thin crowd for your familiar figure. Reasonably, he knows that it’ll take you another fifteen to thirty minutes at least for you to get all of your belongings, make your way past customs, and finally get outside. But he doesn’t think he can wait a second longer for you. 

Thunder cracks above him. It’s been raining all day--a shitty scenario for him to be welcoming you back--and Jungkook is half-soaked himself, barely able to stay underneath the awning of the airport, but he couldn’t care less. He’d wait out in a fucking blizzard for you. 

The minutes pass by agonizingly slow, and anyone who walks through the airport exit that looks even remotely like you gets Jungkook’s heart pumping. But he waits, because he has to. And because he knows that it will all be worth it in the end. 

Is what Taehyung said true? Is Jungkook really different without you? It’s true that it felt like there was a part of him missing when you weren’t there. Like there was this inescapable emptiness. Maybe he really was different without you. Maybe he really is better with you. 

“JEON JUNGKOOK!”

Jungkook’s eyes fly up to the sound of his name, smile breaking out across his face when he sees you standing at the exit, suitcase by your side and sparkles in your goddamn eyes. And maybe you’re crazy, and maybe he is, too, but when you break out into a run in his direction, when you run into his arms and he lifts you up into the air, the only thing he can really think to do is press his lips against yours. 

Rain is pouring down, soaking the both of you from head to toe. Your suitcase has been abandoned in the middle of the sidewalk, passersby staring weirdly at it and the both of you as they walk by. But Jungkook doesn’t care about that. He doesn’t care about the rain, or the suitcase, or the strangers. All he can focus on is you. 

Rain is pouring down outside but it feels like the lightning is within him, sending shocks through his blood. 

When you part, your smile is wide and your eyes are shimmering, and it feels like Jungkook has let out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding in. 

“I missed you,” You tell him, running a hand through his sopping wet hair. 

Jungkook beams. “I missed you, too.”

please no more drabble requests for now, but i may open them again soon!

[imaginesmai]

Alfie Solomons - Snowy Morning

I don’t know how long it has been since I wrote for him, but here is something!

Plot: Alfie wakes up to a snowy morning and a overexcited girlfriend.

At any given moment, Alfie was absolutely certain of two things. The first one was that he loved you with all his heart, and would do literally anything for you. The second was that the first one would be the death of him eventually.

He had been awakened at an ungodly hour that morning by a loud squeal, and with a cry of alarm he rolled to one side to reach for his gun. It was a reflex he didn’t figure he would ever outgrow, even if his enemies were resting in their caskets and he lived where no one could find him. Without opening his eyes, he had already taken off the safety and was sitting on the bed, the gun before him.

It didn’t surprise him anymore that you were the cause of the squeal, so when he opened his eyes, he let the gun on the bed besides him. You stood a few feet ahead, your face pressed against the window and still wearing your nightgown. Alfie let himself fall back on the bed and tried to get a few more minutes of sleep. You had a different idea.

“Alfie!” you called ou for him from your place. “Alfie, come here!”

“Can’t do, pet” he grumbled, dropping one arm to cover his eyes.

He could practically hear you folding your arms over your chest and pop your hip to the side, giving him that look that you always gave him when you thought he was being difficult. And even if he was know for being a grumpy man, he couldn’t help the soft, silly smile that appeared on his lips.

“Alfie…”

The man opened one eye and peeked at you between his fingers, the sight making his smile grow wider.

“Y/N…”

The side of the bed dipped down and suddenly there was a weight on his stomach. His arm was pried away with gentle hands and you pouted at him from where you were now straddling his abdomen. The light tan that you had gotten in the past summer was slowly disappearing, giving away your natural skin colour. You were still wearing a bed hair, with some lock standing in weird positions. And the way you were bulging out your cheeks only made your anger look less credible.

Alfie decided not to tell you how the position was making his back ache or how he needed to move, because he would never say anything like that to you. So he just chuckled and raised his arms until he could wrap one around your waist.

“All right, all right. I give in” he gave a light smack to your bottom. “What in the fuckin’ world is so exciting that you had to wake me before midday?”

It amazed him how easily he could stay in bed those days. Since he finally broke up with the business and decided to retire, his life had been much more calmer. And now, he could spend the mornings nuzzling you and enjoying life.

“It snowed!” your face lighted up like a lantern.

“And?” Alfie raised a brow.

“And I’ve never been out in the snow before!”

Sometimes, Alfie forgot in what circumstances you two met. Tom Shelby had nearly thrown you in his arms a few years ago, when he first met the man. After a huge argument with some Italian man, Tommy had taken his daughter with him and had killed him; his daughter, who had been locked up in a basement for years because of her father’s greed. Tom had just asked Alfie to watch you for a while, but your charming and innocent self had managed to make its way to his cold heart. Since then, there hadn’t been a day where Alfie had left you out of his sight, and enjoyed every opportunity of showing you something new.

No matter how much his back hurt.

“Need to have something to eat first, don’t we, pet?”

You leapt from your perch on his stomach with a nimbleness that always caught him off-guard – or maybe that was just the wind being knocked out of him as you launched yourself from the springboard of his diaphragm. Your nightgown spun around your ankles as you jumped up and down on your heels, the excitement barely contained.

“Or… we could have a winter picnic?” you proposed, a shy smile on your face. Alfie looked at you from where he had sat up on the bed.

“Picnic?”

Alfie thought that, even if it didn’t sound too normal, it didn’t sound bad. It had been years since he allowed himself to enjoy the snow, and he didn’t want to be the one to say no to you. To anyone looking from the outside, the idea would have seemed ridiculous. But Alfie just gave a loud, belly laugh and put on his worn out slippers, knowing he would have to change to the thick boots soon.

-

It had taken another fifteen minutes of debate before you actually ate your breakfast inside, as Alfie realized it was snowing, not just snowed. After the quickest breakfast of his life, Alfie had put on his winter coat and had insisted in covering you in thick scarfs. He wondered if he would ever miss the bakery and being busy all the time, or his life would just keep getting better day by day.

“You’re lucky you’re light” Alfie complained again.

His hands were cupped beneath your knees and your arms draped lightly around his collar. It wasn’t hard to be smaller than Alfie – while the man wasn’t certainly the tallest, his back was as broad as a trunk. The situation was that you didn’t have winter boots, and the five inches of snow accumulated on the backyard were no place for dress shoes. So he did what he always did and gave in when it was about you, and was currently carrying you around.

The sight in front of you was magnificent. You lived in a small cabin near the city, surrounded by trees and a large field that ended in a beach. In that moment, besides the white ground, there were falling cops on the trees, the sand was completely white and the water was calm. Your nose was red and cold, and you snuggled it in Alfie’s neck.

His skin rose with gossebumps and he shivered, although for you it was a faint movement under the thick cloth.

“Oi, you can’t do that. Get that bloody ice cube away from me”

“But I’m cold” you pressed your lips against the same spot, watching as he shivered again and didn’t complain. Something caught your attention and you almost threw yourself to the ground. “Look, Alfie! Look there!”

“Jesus, pet, don’t move so much” he groaned and adjusted his hands again. He looked towards where your hand was pointing.

“It’s a Christmas Rose!” you moved again. “Down there, in the snow”

Alfie finally noticed the little patch of pink-white flowers near the edge of the footpath. They were close to the small fountain that adorned the backyard, and if it hadn’t been so cold, he was sure Cyril would have already destroyed the vegetation. They were, indeed, beautiful. But to him, no where as beautiful as you.

“They’re hardy cold-weather plants” you explained, and rested your cheek on his shoulder. “I’d read about them, but I’ve never see one in real life. There’s a legend about them. It’s said that the very first – no, don’t pick it!”

You smacked Alfie across the head as soon as he bent a little with the intention of picking it. His hand stopped midway from where he had reached for it, his fingers already in the position to pluck it from the ground.

“I was going to pick it up for you” Alfie tried again but received another smack.

“Don’t pick it!” you repeated, and he finally straightened up “If you pick it, it’ll just die. I can see it fine from here”

Alfie rolled his eyes but resumed his walking around the backyard. You didn’t complain about the activity and he wasn’t going to get tired soon about having you sleepily resting on his shoulders. As he said, for him you weighted nearly nothing. Your legs were wrapped around his waist, covered in one of Alfie’s pants and with the thickest sockets he had found.

Every once in a while, one of you said something or you stretched your hand to catch some of the snowflakes with your fingers. Alfie told you some stories that involved winter, snow or cold, and you listened and asked when something interesting came up.

Since he had retired, that was his routine. He got to spend every second of his day with the most important person of his life. He left many things unattended, enemies that deserved their fair share of revenge and allies that could still benefit him. Maybe a cabin in the woods wasn’t what you expected when Alfie accepted to take care of you while Tommy took care of your father, neither spending your life with the grumpy man that said more swear words than actual words.

But he was careful around you, avoided swearing too much and made sure you had everything you could have dreamt of. And you didn’t need more than a quiet morning in the backyard of your house, white ground and thick coats. You kissed the side of Alfie’s face, his beard tickling you, and you smiled happy, knowing that the quiet snowy morning was the best you could wish for.

Want to read more? Check out my side blog @imaginesmaimasterlists​, where I keep all the masterlists! Feedback is always appreciated

[charmspoint]

As much as I praised Talentless Nana and it’s handling of Nana, trauma she’s recovering from and the redemption she’s undertaking, I do have some problems of how it handles it’s other important character, this funky boy right here.

Lots of ranting and spoilers under the cut.

Now I do like Kyouya a lot. I think he’s a perfect blend of straightlaced serious and fun and quirky. One of his core motivations being making friends, where all of his attempts are at the same time so terribly awkward and so touchingly sincere, makes him potentially a very interesting and relatable character to have on board.

I say potentially because Kyouya himself is very underutilized both in the show and in the manga. I made a meme about it before, remember that. Most of my love for the characters comes from discussing the show with my brother and developing him in my fic, not from the actual story itself.

At first I assumed Kyouya is supposed to be a deuteragonist, an equal to Nana, mostly because of how much he and Nana were and are compared to L and Light (I might talk about that later but for now: It’s a hard comparison to call because ye I can see why but Talentless Nana is more about the characters while Death Note is more about the conflict so it’s mind games aren’t really comparable at all, Nana and Kyouya are more interesting and loveable than L and Light combined, Misa is the best character in Death Note.) But rn I can’t help but feel that Kyouya isn’t so much a deuteragonist as just an overly emphasized extra, maybe a relic from when the author did intend to make Talentless Nana more about the conflict before switching it over to more of a character driven story. Either way at this point I feel like Michiru, catboy Jin and Moe all have more development and backstory than Kyouya and Moe wasn’t even introduced in the anime. When you add to that Mr. bet you thought you’d seen the last of me, it kind of gets ridiculous.

Like there’ve been multiple times in the manga when Kyouya would show up and I’d have this moment where I just remembered ‘oh this guy is here too, he’s a character’, like I’d literally just forget he was in the story because he wouldn’t be there for the longest time and then would randomly show up when it was time to solve a murder. Like the author just remembered ‘oh yeah I’m supposed to use this guy too’.

And it’s really a shame because Kyouya has so much potential and it’s just never explored. Like his whole motivation to find friends? He does! And it’s just sorta…brushed off. Like when he introduced Fuuko to Nana as his friend, with Nana remarking she already met Fuuko here:

Like you can tell he is genuinely super excited to finally have a friend and with a good reason. Despite being technically on the side of good, through most of the story Kyouya is a lot less popular than Nana with their classmates, sometimes even suffering ostracization because they are starting to see him as a conspiracy theorist that ruins all the fun. While they respect him for his intellect they are quick to turn on him and his own awkward and blunt nature doesn’t help here at all. Nana said it herself when talking to Yuuka:

Nana presents herself as a sweet, caring, extroverted girl. She acts cute and clumsy in social situations but is trusted enough to be deemed Leader and her classmates genuinely believe that she is working herself to the bone to protect them. She is also heavily endorsed by Michiru who is the living definition of a cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure. On the opposite end, Kyouya is very stoic, sometimes even scary looking, He gives of an unfriendly air as soon as he arrives, he’s socially awkward, he doesn’t know how to talk to or connect with people, he can be too blunt and insensitive and he seems to have a habit of picking on the most popular girl in school, calling her out for horrible murders. And he seems to be always be proven wrong which cements him as someone overly suspicious, as someone who just has a bone to pick with Nana. As someone unlikable.

So when Kyouya, who’s been rejected by the majority for most of the story despite his best efforts to help, protect and befriend them, FINALLY gets a friend, finally gets someone who fully believes in him and tells him she will follow where he leads, someone who is willing to go through his stoic front because she truly believes he has the right answers and he’s doing the right thing…you’d think that would be given a bit more weight. You’d think we’d see some changes in Kyouya, a bit more focus on him, a story unfold. We don’t, not really. We see Fuuko following him around and helping him and they even get a solo scene together where Kyouya says he will tell her the weakness of his talent but then it…cuts off. Like ooo must preserve the mystery, forget about the fact that we’ve known this character for almost 40 chapters and we are long overdue any new information about him. A good way to develop him is dropped right in our laps but nothing happens with it aside from Kyouya being overexcited to call Fuuko his friend whenever he can, which is admittedly very cute.

That’s not even the worst arc that’s been left dangling for him, remember his missing sister? You know, his biggest motivation to come to the island in the first place? I honestly wouldn’t blame you if you forgot, because that plot is still stuck basically in the same place where it was introduced in like ch 2 or 3 (out of 56 mind you). Like he doesn’t go anywhere with that, at all, we don’t even see him looking for her. When they burn all those bodies Nana thinks about how he might have missed his shot because his sister might have been amongst them, but that’s never confirmed or denied. My absolutely favorite set of panels on that is this one where Kyouya looks like he himself genuinely forgot he had a sister to look for.

Only to immediately be interrupted by some shenanigans. This hint at conflict doesn’t even come to be, like later Kyouya is packing up completely normal and he leaves the island completely normal without any seen resistance or last ditch attempt to look for his sister. It’s like he simply just forgot she existed again. Like at least his wish to make friends is brought up often, I stg Nana mentions his sister more times than he does.

Again, his primary reason for even being involved in this plot, is not given any sort of development or even focus. 

And like when I talk about this I usually say smtng like; Well he and Nana are slowly getting closer and are starting to look like they will form a team so maybe then he will get development. But goddamn Nanao got more development and even a flashback, completely outside of Nana’s knowledge or influence, and he’s been presumed dead since ch 1.

Not to mention that the lack of Kyouya doing much of anything aside from what he’s strictly needed for leaves his and Nana’s relationship very lacking to say the least. Like I get the idea, they are supposed to start out as enemies and eventually grow closer and team up to defeat the real bad guy and that’s a perfectly solid idea, I love these two, I love how they bounce off each other. It sure would be even better if they, you know, actually got closer. Like we barely see them interact outside of immediate rivalry and while the times they work together to discover a killer that isn’t Nana are very welcome, they are also a far cry of what we should have gotten by now. We really get no sense of Nana starting to understand Kyouya better or him starting to understand her better. When he suggests a team up, it’s because that’s what comic book characters did, not because he came to understand her better as a person and grew a trust with her that made him want to start that partnership. And again it’s endearing that he mirrors his actions towards what he sees in a comic book but also…they REALLY needed that level of trust and connection they just never got.

 I really hope that this gets better, especially now that Nana is making moves to confess her crimes and is working side by side with Kyouya instead of against him. I really hope we get more on him , his backstory, his talent, his sister, I’d take his preferred idol at this point. But until that happens it’s really hard not to feel like so much about Kyouya has simply been wasted and neglected by the author.

[infernwetrust]

Luke Langdon [Michael Langdon x Fem Reader] Pt 2.

PART 1

PART 3

Summary: The one where you and Michael have a child together, but like most relationships, there are parenting differences.

Warnings: SMUT, swearing, fluff c:

WC: 2.7k

A/N: Part 2 of this 3 part series. Just a little longer! Thank you for reading! -Juno

When you had gone to check up on Michael, things still a mess in the living room, he was still outside on the deck. He had taken a seat and now appeared to be on a phone call. You tucked little Luke away for the night, repeatedly kissing his forehead and apologizing that he had to see you and his father like this. All you wanted was for him to remain as pure as possible. Yes. You did understand that the time will come where he will struggle to keep his emotions together, just like Michael did, but you didn't know how soon and until then, things were fine the way they were.

Out of fear, you had convinced Michael that the two of you could never hire a nanny until the both of you learned how Luke behaved. When you two needed a night off or wanted to go out, you left Luke with your parents. And man did that boy love his grandparents. His eyes widened every time he heard their voices. It was almost terrifying. Whenever they would come over just for a visit, Luke made sure that he was in the room. Grandma's arms were his favorite place to be when he wasn't be smothered by you or Michael. He'd occasionally give grandpa's long thick beard a tug and in return he'd "snatch" his nose and it made him a giggling mess every time. There was only one incident with Luke that was a cause for concern. Sometimes his skin would be absolutely burning, but when his temperature was checked, he was fine. You and Michael had come to learn that in Luke's case his temperature went based off his emotions.

When he was sad, he ran cold. When he was happy, his temperature was slightly normal, but he was a little warmer. When he was overexcited, he ran hot. And when he was extremely upset, he was burning.

Your parents knew exactly who and what Michael was and while they weren't a fan favorite of the whole satanic thing, they loved Michael regardless because he was always so respectful. He made sure things were taken care of for not only the little family he created, but for your family as well. For that, they were forever grateful. They even tried to get on board with it, but Michael reassured them that they didn't need conform for him. When it wasn't grandma or grandpa, it was Ms. Mead. She let you know that you can call her mama, though. She understood that she came off as a little intimidating the first mi of times you and Michael started talking, but she grew to love you anyways and Luke absolutely adored her. She too wanted to tell Luke about how great he was going to be, but Michael had warned her not to, especially when you were around.

You took a deep breath as you approached the back deck door. You made no efforts to be silent because he knew you were coming anyways. He could smell you, hear you, and feel you. Not wanting to get himself riled up again before you came out to talk to him, he avoided listening to your thoughts. You stepped out, standing a few feet away behind him as you listened to him talk on the yeah.

"Yeah, everything, especially that. That one was her favorite." he said, scratching the back of his head. "I appreciate you Johnny, I really do. You always come through for me every time I fuck some shit up." Johnny was like Michael's second in command, but only for house matters. If anything broke in the house and needed to be repaired or replaced, Johnny was there, 24/7. Demons don't need to sleep anyways, right? But surprisingly enough, a lot of them did, or forced themselves to. It's what helped them feel human every now and then. Michael didn't care though. He was going to do everything human like or not.

"So 10AM sharp tomorrow?" Michael confirmed. "I'll have everything cleaned up so the boys have no issue coming in and out of the house. Thanks again."

"Michael.." you called out to him, your voice barely audible, but he heard you anyways. He looked over his shoulder at you before turning around.

"Hmmm?" he questioned, his blue eyes piercing into your body.

"I just wanted to come out here and try talking again. Well first I would like to apologize." You could feel yourself beginning to choke on your words, recalling how he broke down completely a couple hours ago. Out of shame and respect for your husband, you dropped to your knees right where you were, not wanting to get any closer to him, wanting to give him his space. "Michael, I'm so sorry. I wasn't trying to degrade you or make you feel any less of yourself for your past struggles. Why would I do that? Look how strong they've made you."

"Don't do that." he said, waving his hand, immediately making you rise up from your feet. "Don't you ever get on your knees like that in front of me again. Do you understand?"

"I'm just trying to-,"

"Answer my question, Y/N. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Michael."

"As my Queen, you are to never get on your knees like that unless it's for.. you know. And as much as I do like it, you don't have to suck up to me. We're almost equals. You just don't have the powers, but you were always so stubborn. I could just give them to you, but I know you don't want them."

"And I'm glad that you haven't."

"Come here." You did as you were told, not stopping until you were just inches away from him. You felt so small under his gaze despite his reassuring words. He ran his fingers down your cheek.

"I'm sorry."

"No Y/N. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I don't listen to you. I'm trying so hard to give Luke the father that I never had and sometimes I try too hard and forget that you're just as much his parent as I am. I don't mean to undermine you in any sort of way. I just don't want him to be lost."

"And I know you will make sure that he is never lost. I know you'll ensure of his greatness because Michael, you are nothing but greatness. Other people, they look at you as some cold-hearted man with daddy issues." He laughed as you said that and you were happy that you were able to bring him some joy, considering the earlier events. "But all I see is perfection. We're all a little bit misunderstood and I don't blame you for anything. I married you, right? So I knew what I was signing up for and didn't care. Michael, I love you. Do you understand me?" He nodded his head, but that wasn't enough for you.

"No, Michael." you said. "Like you told me. Answer me. I want to hear your voice."

"Yes. I understand you, Y/N. And I love you too. So much... I loved you ever since I stumbled across you. You reading that book, drinking that coffee that was too light for my satisfaction."

"I don't see how you drink black coffee anyways. It's so strong."

"Dark roast is the best roast."

"Yeah well I'm surprised your breath doesn't stink."

"I brush my teeth everyday, twice a day, sometimes three. Mrs. Langdon, I'm not liking your tone regarding our coffee differences."

"Mrs. Langdon..." you said, mocking him, sticking your tongue out at him. In one swift motion, he picked you up, wrapping your legs around his waist. Your arms made their way around the back of neck, hands entangled in his messy and slightly frizzled out hair. His hands firmly gripped your ass, shifting his stance a little bit so the two of you would be more comfortable. He wasted no time, colliding his lips with yours in a kiss that screamed nothing but love, lust, and apologies. Using his senses, he walked backwards until he met the deck sofa, plopping down on it, your lips never separating as he kept you close to him.

He was surprised when you pushed him back into his seat, but he didn't complain. He wasn't feeling too dominant tonight. He just wanted to make love to you. He wanted you to feel good. He was going to show you just how sorry he was. He kept his eyes on you as he took off his rose gold watch, his erection growing as he watched you rid yourself of the PJ top you had put on. He tossed his watch to the side, continuing to watch as your hands reached for his button up. His hands slowly ran up and down your thighs as you unbuttoned it, exposing his lean chest and torso. You ran your hands down his chest, causing him to release a heavy sigh.

You grabbed his hands from your thighs, putting them on your breast which he gave a gentle squeeze before gliding his thumbs over your nipples. He knew that drove you crazy. You gripped onto the sides of his now opened shirt, your breathing become heavier and shallower each time his thumbs darted back and forth. Without realizing it, you were grinding against his length, making his favorite pair of jeans, a mess, but he didn't care about the growing wet spot. And when he started grinding back, you threw yourself forward, resting your forehead against his as you two shared heated moans. Sitting up a little, he took his shirt all the way off, throwing it on the floor, leaning back once again.

He slid you off of him, making you whine with frustration. The both of you, looked at the wet spot that covered the entirety of his jeans, making it look like he had wet himself. He chuckled, running his tongue over his top lip before looking at you.

"These were my favorite jeans." he hummed. "And you ruined them with that pretty little pussy of yours." You blushed, hanging your head low, slightly ashamed that he was this much power over you. Before Michael, no guy ever came this close to having you soaking wet just from a kiss and a slow grind. He snapped you out of your thoughts, grabbing you by your legs and pulling at them so you'd lay down. He stood up, unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his jeans, letting them drop to his ankles before he stepped out of them. Your eyes stayed on the massive bulge that was between his legs. His underwear was soaked from you too, so he went ahead and got rid of those as well.

You stared in awe at his size, the heat between your legs only rising in temperature. You almost touched yourself at the sight, when he stopped you.

"No." he said, practically drooling at the sight of your naked body. "Let me." He laid between your legs, blowing softly on your already swollen clit, through the material of your panties. "Won't be needing these anymore, will we?" He didn't even bother to pull them off, knowing he could always just get you another pair. He ripped them off, wanting access to your bare core, immediately. His lips brushed against you, causing you to jump slightly. He smirked, looking up at you.  

"Michael... please?" you whispered. "Please please please please." And that is all it took for him to dive into you, his tongue doing laps around your folds. He sucked on your clit, flicking his tongue across it at a moderate pace. You rested your leg on his back and your hands found their way in his hair again, slightly tugging at it, causing him to let out a moan against you. The vibrations rippled throughout your body, sending you into absolutely bliss and before you could even come down from that small high, two of his fingers were inside of you. You gasped at the feeling, starting to shake because he never did stop licking at your bud. He pumped his fingers in and out of you, slow at first, and when you bucked your hips up, he took that as a sign you wanted more. His fingers began to move rapidly in and out of you.

"Mmmm fuck!" you shouted. "Right there, Michael. Don't stop, please. I'm so close." He added a third finger, wanting to stretch you out as much as possible for him. "You feel so fucking good." He was a pre-cum mess as he ate you out. He didn't know if he was going to attempt to clean this couch or just replace it all together. You caught him and yourself off guard when you lost all control, squirting on him. You let out ear bleeding screams, which Michael liked. Your body shook violently as he continued having a go at you, wanting to see and feel you ride out your orgasm completely. And when he sat up, before he could even compliment you on how beautiful you were, you grabbed him by his throat, pulling his face close to yours. He groaned as the sudden aggression that had awakened in you.

"Fuck me." you said. "Don't say anything else, don't do anything else, but fuck me. Now." He lips moved, but you tightened the gripped on his throat, serious about what you said. He climbed on top of you, lining himself up with your entrance and sliding into with ease. You closed your eyes, throwing your head back and digging your nails into his hips. The both of you were so sweaty from your interaction and how warm it was outside for the night. Your bodies clung together and he moved himself in and out of you, not taking his eyes off you as he watched all the pretty little faces you were making.

"Y/N..." he breathed out. "You look so fucking beautiful, taking all of me." You clenched around him at the sound of his raspy voice. You could tell that he wasn't going to be able to hang on for much longer which was unusual for the two of you. If he really wanted to, Michael could go for hours, but your tonight, with the two of you being so vulnerable, he was weak under your touch. He sped up, looking down where he was fucking you. His shaft was covered from your cream and juices. You were so wet for him and he was loving every second of it. You moaned his name repeatedly every time he hit your spot. And let's be honest, it was every time. He was always on beat, until he was close, but his uneven thrusts felt just as great.

You pulled him down closer you so that he lay completely against you as he fucked you senseless. He nuzzled his face in your neck, giving it soft kisses, occasional giving it a soft bite. You breathed heavily in his ear, biting, sucking, and licking on it, which drove him insane.

"You keep that up and I'll cum for you right now." he said, barely holding on. He was getting sloppier and sloppier by the minute, struggling to even hold himself up, just wanting to melt completely into your arms.

"Cum for me then." you whispered in his ear. "Cum with me." And that's when he lost it, you not trailing to far behind. He moaned loudly in your ear, you in his, as you both let go, erasing the pain from earlier today.

Both of you laid there for a moment, still coming down, too tired to really speak. When he did decide to move, he pulled out slowly, aware of how sensitive you would be. He moved his now very damp hair out of his face, searching through his jean pockets for the hair tie he had earlier. He put his hair in a lazy bun before happily sighing and looking at you.

"I'm going to go and take the shower I've been needed since I got home." he began. "Care to join me?" When you made eye contact with him to give an answer, you could see that this was going to be no type of innocent shower. And you were okay with that.

Taglist: @jimmason @angelicmichael @whatcodysaid

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Going home' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Going home"

Chapter Summary : They were able to escape hell and now, they were back together after not been able to see each other for days. Yirina & Park could finally taste their freedom as they will be going home soon....Yirina's new home....

Link of the Picrew used !

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3300

Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

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

We were now back together for good. Our pain to be inside those cells awaiting to be brainwashed again by the Perseus Collective and lamenting ourselves about our fates were finally over despite the hard moments we had to face to escape this hell. I managed to survive that Bell and I was able to feel Park's presence near me in days....we did it but our fight against Perseus is very far from over and now, because of our state and the conditions we've been facing, the others preferred to send us back to England....my new home I can say....yeah, England is my home now, we're going home....

Me & Park spent the rest of the day to relax, not forgetting to tell her everything that happened to me in those 2 weeks & she also did, explaining that she was suffering the same fate as me : been kept for some tests with Adler that apparently did have the same results as the one I did with him but when I cracked up under the pressure, she told me that they were starting to hurt her an little, to make her face the pain she faced back in North Korea before they decided to make the drugs tests on her until me & Sonya liberated her...she was able to keep faith...

Now, the next day in the evening, the 17th of June was the day of our departure from Verdansk and of course, we were both able to find back our old stuff we couldn't take to our mission in the Yamantau, putting my hands again on my diary that I haven't write for days now and to me, I even had to look back at everything in it to make sure that it wasn't vandalized by someone here and hopefully, it was all clean.

"Already preparing your bags ?" That was Woods asking to us as he was seeing me & Park at our respectives desk in the safehouse that was empty today with only me, Park, Woods & Sims present here as Wolf & Song were gone for the day in Verdansk.

"As you said, the plane that will take us can arrive at any moment." I was the one to reply to him after I finished to pack up my bag, keeping my diary near by out of it. "So, we prefer to be directly ready once it arrived." I added.

"Yeah but you're looking an bit overexcited to leave the place." He stated with an raised eyebrow.

"Why we can't be ?" Park spoke up in an half-funny tone, moving to help her as we were told, drugs were still inside our systems and I was sometimes afraid for her with that fact. "It's better for us to return to London than...be here." She continued, rolling her eyes around the main room.

"I'm joining you in that part to be somewhere else than here." He revealed to us, making me laugh as in the room, he was the person that spend the most time here.

"At least, we're leaving." I exclaimed, helping Park with an part of her stuff.

"With what happened, it was sure that the MI6 wasn't going to let you here but you both know that you will one day come back to work with us." He said, crossing his arms.

"We know." Me & Park both whispered in unison, knowing well that our fight with Perseus isn't done.

"Hey, just saying." Woods was thinking that we weren't happy about it, gesturing that it wasn't his fault before he saw our smiles on our faces when we saw him like that.

"I just wonder of something, Woods." I started after I was finished to help Park with her bag as I moved to reach my diary, an question. "Is anyone has tried to put their hands on my diary ?" I demanded from him, showing my diary to him.

"You better answer, Woods." Park adviced, an grin on her face as she was sitting back on her chair.

"No, not at all." He responded, sounding very sure of his words but for me, he was hiding something.

"Woods." I muttered, still holding the diary.

"What ?" He breathed, confused.

"Tell me the truth : did anyone of you read my book ?" I repeated my question, putting an threatening tone to my voice to him. If I had to put an scare in him if I can, so be it !

"Yirina, like I told you, no one read your book." He affirmed again, making the same gesture like before and he was sounding good enough to convince me to resign myself. "I was the one to avoid the others to do it, you know how Wolf was when he saw you with it." He make me remember that moment in the plane and hopefully, I was pleased that Woods was the one to be 'the protector'.

"It's all I wanted to hear, thanks !" I expressed my gratitude to him before I moved back to put my diary back in my bag along with Lazar's one and seeing it along mine...it was making something to me..."If only he was still here..." I talked to myself in an very low voice about Laz'....Park noticing me but staying silent about it.

"I don't know how much time you will be out but it's sure that you will come back." Woods told us again about it, looking at the wide opened main door leading to the outside. "We'll try to keep you updating about the situation and see if the MI6 can help us from afar." He continued, removing himself from the desk he was leaned on.

"We'll see how it goes." I commented about it before fully closing my bag, my eyes looking at Park and smiling at her, reciprocated by her. "You're alright ?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'm just impatient to be on that plane." She replied in an low voice, seeing her face almost white.

"Go take some water, you're looking pale." I suggested to her and she quickly nodded and by luck, there were just an bottle of water on the desk near by, causing her to take it and drink it entirely. "Not so fast."

"I'm good, Yiri, don't worry." She reassured me despite the low voice she was still having.

"With drugs in your systems, it wasn't the best idea to keep you here." Woods exclaimed, true in his words, I was maybe more resistant to the drugs even if there were some moments I could feel bad but it was dangerous to stay here. "And now, you all going back to London."

"I guess we missed home." I smiled an bit to him about that.

"I think that you will happy to find back your friend, 'Zed' and their girlfriend, Portnova." He confided to me as I was taking my bag in hands.

"I know, I...." I was going to continue to speak until I stopped myself, troubled by an little thing from him. "Wait....how did you know that Portnova was their girlfriend ?" I asked him as it was something I never mentioned.

"Well, you told me that." He responded, seeing an little drop of sweat on his face.

"Woods, Yirina never spoke about it at all." Park spoke up, taking my defence as both of us were realizing that Woods wasn't 'the protector' of my book because he read it.

"You read my book !" I raised an eyebrow, sending him an deadly glare as I was ready to move towards him, mixed between be angry & joking.

"Listen, I can...."

"The reinforcements has arrived !" We all heard Sims voice, cutting Woods in his words,  coming inside the main room through the main entrance as we could hear noises from an incoming plane arriving near by. "Did I....step in the wrong moment ?" He questioned us, seeing me & Woods.

"Not at all." I replied to him with an grin, going back to normal.

"Good, you should be coming then." Sims ordered, going back outside as Woods was quickly following him to avoid my angriness to hit him.

As our presence here was ending, it was time to take our bags and leave that safehouse maybe for forever. To avoid Park to be bad at any moment because of her state, I volunteered to take her bag in my hands, now holding hers & mine as we both go out of the safehouse, staying near her at any occasions as we could observe an small private jet plane landing on the runway...I wonder how the CIA is managing an runway without been discovered by the soviets in here.

Now, we were with Woods & Sims awaiting to see the persons that will replace me & Park here but I was surprised when it was only one person coming out of the plane with an bag in their hands : it was an woman with black hair that was almost looking like Park and Woods was the first one to greet her as she was getting out of the plane to put her feets on the ground.

"Hello, miss Petrov, welcome to Verdansk." He saluted her, sounding nice as he was offering his hand.

"Oh, you must be the famous Sergeant Woods." The woman said in an lovely voice to him before she moved her hand to shake it with him. "I'm Liliya Petrov, you can call me Liliya." She presented herself clearly to him.

"Uhm..." Woods was looking to blush on his face....that was an first...."Liliya, this is Yirina Grigoriev & Helen Park from the MI6." He gestured to us as we moved to shake hands, me having to put the bags down to do that. "They're the persons you're replacing as an cryptographer."

"I heard an lot about you two, to be honest." Liliya said to us in an good voice, meaning that everything was rather nice than bad...at least, that what I hope. "I'm glad to meet you."

"Us too." Park spoke for me & herself and we were sharing the same feeling about her.

"I heard that you were one of the best cryptographer in the CIA, is that right ?" I demanded as I was just curious about it.

"I don't want to say that I'm the best, I'm just doing my part of the work." She responded honestly and it was enought for me to be convinced by her good side. "And I hope that I will continue to be doing that." She added before turning around to look at Woods. "And I'm very happy to be working with you, sergeant."

"Please, call me Woods." He told her in an voice that was sounding stunned by her.

"Or Frank if...well, I'm thinking too far." She thought before she shook an little her head, taking back the bag she left on the ground.

"Sims, you can show her desk, I'll be coming soon to do the rest." He ordered to Sims, trying to look away, seeing the blush on his face as Sims was moving with Liliya to get inside the safehouse, leaving me, Park & Woods near the plane that will take us away.

"Is there love in sight for the famous Sergeant Woods ?" I scoffed about that as I never thought to see Woods blush in my entire life.

"Oh, damn you, Yirina." He said, urging to make me an middle finger, still blushing.

"Remember that you read my book as I forbidden it, so get lucky that you're not the one to be damned." I attacked him back on the subject with an clear voice before I offered my hand to him. "Guess it's time for us to leave now." I said, now ready to leave the USSR.

"Yeah, I hope you will be recovering fine during your vacation." He told us as he moved to shake hands with Park in an slower way before he let us to get inside the plane. "Goodbye, enjoy your moments." He added as we were getting inside the plane.

Park was the first one to get inside, staying behind her with the bags in my hands as we both installed at the first seats we could see, facing each other and putting our bags away as the plane was starting to take off but like I thought, Park wasn't feeling so well and it was better that she was going into sleep now for the whole flight back to England, surely arriving back in the early morning next day. She was quickly to sleep after I handed over an nice blanket to her and me...I wasn't sleeping.

There were an thought in me, urging to...take an look at Lazar's diary in my bag and for the first minutes of the flight over the USSR, I was resisting the urge until I resigned myself to take it in my bag but as I wanted, I will only read one single page of it as I didn't want to give myself too much pain by reading what Lazar wrote on it.

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

Eleazar 'Lazar' Azoulay

First entry :

1st June 1976

After an long time, I was finally given the right to be an full operative on the field by the Mossad and as thoughts were given to me, I decided to write on my own in this diary even if I don't know if I could really write an lot due to the missions I will be given in an short time but I can start by presenting myself, why not ?

I was born in Washington D.C, the 25th of October 1948 but I only lived two years in the US before my father moved the family in Israel after he accepted an job at Tel Aviv. My life went pretty basic except the part where I was exceding in every domain in sports.

I moved in London to make my studies, gaining at that time the perfect nickname of 'Lazar' that I prefer before I became an member of the Israeli Defences Forces and then, some years later, the Mossad recruited me as an explosives expert but also because of my skills in the field.

With that new role in my life, it's time to do something right !

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

Right in front of my eyes was the handwriting of Lazar himself, giving me details about an part of his life and I wanted to read more but it was at this moment that I saw that some pages were removed from the diary as the next page I could see was talking about something years later and by that, I was an bit disgusted to witnessing the missing page and because of it, I put the diary back in my bag, not wanting to read it for an long time before going back to my seat....only wanting now to go to sleep....

When I opened my eyes, I was leaned against the wall of an room that was looking like an interrogation room but I wasn't the captive but one of the captors with Freya herself as we were keeping an man, tied up to an chair by his legs & only his left arm free and by looking at it, he was badly hurt, his shirt almost fully blooded, his face messed up along with his hair while Freya was in front of him at the other side of the table between the two.

On that table, there were an map of an region and as I could see from where I was, it was in Afghanistan...Afghanistan....1980...That map was something of interest as Freya was trying to have something from interest as Freya's hands were tapping on that map multiples times, we were trying to find something from him and I wasn't willing to raise my hands on the man but Freya was the one to do that, seeing the bloods on her fingers.

"Are you going to speak or what ?" Freya asked him furiously, slamming her hands again on the table. "Tell us where are the mujahideens are hiding in those mountains !" She clarified her question to him but he wasn't speaking.

"I don't know." The man replied but that wasn't enough for Freya who punched him hard in the face. "Please, let me go, please." He pleaded after the punch, almost crying.

"Listen..." I started, deciding to step in the interrogation. "Do you have family, sir ?" I demanded to him in an curious tone as Freya moved aside to let me get in front of him.

"Yes...two boys...and an little girl." He responded to me, looking at me scared.

"Do you see this place on the map ?" I pointed to him, an place on the map that was an small village near some mountains and he nodded. "This village is starving to death and the soviets are planning to move to give resources to the people." I added, staying serious. "But the mujahideens want to attack the soviets and loot anything from them, including the resources."

"I...." He was in an loss of words when I was speaking.

"This village is full of children, of innocent people and they are dying because of the mujahideen presence and if they succeed in their attack, the village will not survive." I make myself clear to him, moving my hands away from the map. "So, please, tell us where they are hiding, you could save an lot of lives and...by tonight, you could be back with your childs." I said, speaking the truth here.

"There ! They're hiding there !" He whispered, moving his only free arm towards an position on the map, an few mountains away from the village I pointed to him before I pull out an pen to make an circle of where he was showing me the location.

"Good, thank you, sir." I thanked him in an good voice, putting my pen back in my pocket and then, also the map. "You saved an lot of innocents today and we will let you go back to your family." I added, turning my back around to get the map back into my jacket.

"Wait, no..." I heard him say loudly until the sound of an pistol echoed in the room and when I looked around, jumpscared, the man was now having an bullet in the head...Freya...aiming her pistol to him.

"What the fuck was that ?" I yelled against her, angry about what she did. "He gave us the intel, why did you do this ?" I demanded furiously.

"No loose ends, didn't you hear Perseus ?" She asked me back normally as she was putting her pistol back in its holstler. "We couldn't let this man talk freely about us." She continued, turning around to look at me. "This is our job, Yirina."

"No, I didn't agree on killing innocents and you too !" I shouted to her, trying to put the good senses in her.

"No one is fucking innocent in this world." She exclaimed in an angry voice, moving to face me as my eyes drifted for an few seconds on the dead man. "This is how Perseus think."

"Not me and you too, what happened ?" I told her as she put her hands on my arm.

"I'm perfectly fine, Yirina." She replied with an grin that I couldn't make back on my face after what she did. "I'm doing this for the good of us, our own good, remember your proposal to me." She whispered, putting her hand on my cheek as I was looking down.

"I don't know." I muttered.

"We could talk to Perseus about an wedding, you know." She proposed like that, like if she was completely forgetting what she did before she moved to make an kiss on my lips.

"You changed, Freya, you changed !" I proclaimed, removing her hands off my face in an gentle way.

"No, I never changed, it isn't me who changed." She claimed, surely thinking about me as she start to move away from me. "The cleaners will took his body away, come." She suggested, arriving to open the main door of the room as I was still standing at my position, still shocked like if I could feel his blood on my hands....

"Come on, Yiri, it's time for us to be going home !"

[honey-we-gotta-jazz-it]

Let Her Breathe

Arizona Robbins X Reader

TW: mentions of past abuse

“Y/N! I would never cheat on you! Why don’t you trust me?” Arizona yelled. You sighed.

“You did it to Callie!” You yelled. It was a low blow, you knew it. You knew Arizona was trying her best to hide Callie from you, she thought you didn’t know. But little did Arizona know you’ve been working in the hospital on a different floor for years, she knew you are best friends with Meredith, but she didn’t know that you knew about her and Callie super well.

“How do you know Callie?” Arizona asked. You sighed.

“I’ve worked at the hospital since it was Seattle Grace. I was there during the merger. The plane crash. Mer is my best friend, which you know, and I was there for her when Lexie died because Derek and Cristina were too injured to be by her side. I was on your floor for weeks, but was in Mer’s room the whole time. I was there when Derek died. I helped her move on, and start dating Andrew. Arizona, I literally helped Alex and Callie amputate your leg but you were too out of it when you woke up to remember me.” You told her, making her freeze. She just stared at you, in what you were hoping was shock and not anger.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked.

“Because you never told me about her. Before Callie left she said you didn’t want me to know about you and her! She felt like I deserved to know. So she told me about your history of hiding ex’s, and everything about your relationship. But she told me not to tell you because you’d freak. So I just kept my mouth shut. I wanted to avoid problems.” You told her.

She sighed. She knew you were being reasonable. You had every right to be angry that she was hiding her past wife, and every right to be concerned that you knew she has cheated before.

“Callie and I, that was different.”

“How? Please enlighten me.”

“I had just gotten into a plane crash! I went through one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. I trusted Callie not to amputate my leg and she did.”

“So you cheated on her? She wanted to keep you alive, Arizona! If she didn’t have Alex and I amputate your leg you would’ve died. She was trying to keep you alive.”

“God, I know she was!” Arizona yelled, making you flinch. Hoping she missed it, you went to reply, but you noticed her features soften. “You flinched.”

“Yeah. I did. Anyways-“ You tried to push past it before she interrupted you.

“No, no forget that. Has someone hurt you before?” She asked. You sighed, but didn’t answer her. Arizona’s eyes softened even more as she slowly opened her arms to offer you a hug.

You were hesitant because you knew she was just angry at you. But you trusted her anyways and accepted her embrace.

“Yes.” You finally answered, which only made her tighten her grip on you.

“Y/N. I’d never lay a hand on you.” She whispered in your ear. You melted into her touch. Only Meredith knew about your abusive ex. She was there to make sure that you ex was put behind bars no matter what happened.

“You’re my first relationship since my ex. Because I trust you. After my ex I’ve never trusted anyone as much as I trust you.”

Arizona caressed your cheek gently. “I’d never hurt you, Y/N.”

The next day at work, Arizona pulled Meredith into an on call room.

“Did you know that Y/N has been hurt by an ex before?” Arizona asked.

“She finally told you?” Meredith asked, sounding proud. “Good for her.”

“She flinched during an argument.” Arizona replied. Meredith sighed, her heart sinking for you. She was thinking about how she can help make you feel better after work when Arizona interrupted her thoughts. “So, that’s a yes. You knew?”

“Yes. I helped her get them arrested.”

“But you didn’t tell me?”

“It’s not my place to talk about her issues. What she tells me stays between us until she’s ready to tell other people, which she’ll do at her own pace.”

“But this is different! This is her safety.”

“When she told me, she said specifically, this stays between us. So it stayed between us. Even Derek knew not to meddle when it came to us, and you know how he used to be. Now Andrew’s the same. He lets me keep Y/N’s secrets without freaking out.”

“So you also knew that she knew about Callie?”

Meredith just nodded, leaning up against the wall. “It’s not lying, you know. If you didn’t tell her, she didn’t lie, you never asked.”

“Yeah. I know.”

You went to Joe’s after work. You were meeting Meredith there. She wanted to help you feel better since you were still super worked up and freaked out about this whole Arizona situation. When you walked in you saw her already sitting at a table.

“Hey Mer.” You sighed, seeing she’d already ordered you whiskey. “Oh god you’re the best.”

“So Arizona came and talked to me today. What happened? Something about you flinching during an argument?” Meredith started softly. You just rolled your eyes.

“I was just about to tell you about that.” You laughed, Meredith nodded softly.

“She pretty much yanked me into an on call started accusing me of knowing about your ex and the fact that you know Callie and not telling her.”

“Basically I just panicked. She was getting really overexcited and defensive, which terrified me.” You began. “She didn’t even raise her hands or anything. She just kinda got super loud, and it made me flinch.”

“You do know she’d never lay a hand on you like that though, right?”

“Oh god of course. Even in arguments she’s normally really gentle. Last night she was just acting like I caught her red handed in something I shouldn’t know about. Which I guess I did, she finally found out I know about Callie.” You responded. Meredith nodded, sipping her drink.

“Now that she knows about your ex I’m sure she’ll try her best to tone it down a little more if you two fight. Did she apologize?”

“Not really. She panicked, gave me a hug and assured me she’d never hit me. But she never really acknowledged it.” You replied. “I’m sure she will when I get back home though.”

“If you need to stay at my place tonight you know my door is always open. The kids would love to see you again, and Andrew is staying at the hospital overnight so you don’t have to worry about that.” Meredith laughed.

“Actually, is it okay if I stay at your place tonight? I’m not really in the mood to go back home tonight.” You admitted softly. Meredith nodded quickly.

“Come on. You okay to drive?” She asked, leaving money on the table. You nodded, hopped in your car and followed Meredith to her house.

When you both arrived at her house, Ellis, Bailey and Zola all came flying down the stairs. Ellis ran over to you and clung to your leg. Ellis always had this love for you, and no one could pinpoint why.

“Hey Ellis.” You smiled, lifting the girl up and placing her on your hip. The little girl, who couldn’t talk yet just smiled at you. You gave Bailey and Zola hugs, before Amelia summoned the kids back upstairs so she can put them to bed. Placing a kiss on Ellis’ head, you set her down and watched her take off up the stairs after her siblings to her Auntie Amelia.

“Come sit. I’ll grab you some wine?” Meredith offered.

“Yes please.” You agreed, leaving your shoes by the door before placing yourself on her couch.

“I think Maggie already went to Jackson’s and Amelia is going to Link’s so it’s just going to be us.” Meredith said, handing you a glass.

“That’s completely fine with me.” You agreed sipping your wine. Amelia came down the stairs, and smiled at you.

“Y/N! I thought I heard your voice! You giving Mer some company?” Amelia asked. You and Meredith both laughed.

“Yeah. I just had to get out of the house tonight. Long story.” You replied, brushing it off.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Amelia smiled, heading out the door.

“Hoodies and no pants?” Meredith asked, laughing. You nodded, laughing along with her. She jogged upstairs and grabbed a hoodie for you. When she came back down she had her hoodie on and was already without pants. As you did the same she started searching for movies to watch.

“Your favorite Dartmouth hoodie?” You asked as you slipped it over your head, making Meredith laugh.

“Just like our old movie nights before relationships.” She smiled.

“I almost miss not being in a relationship.” You laughed, sitting next to her on the couch.

“Should you tell Arizona? That you’re here?” Meredith asked. You sighed.

“Probably. Am I going to? Probably not.” You replied, shutting your phone completely off and tossing it to the side.

“Comedy movie night?” Meredith asked.

“You know me too well.”

A couple of movies in there was a frantic knock at Meredith’s door.

“Uh oh. That can’t be good.” Meredith sighed, standing up to open the door.

The second she pulled it open, Arizona flew into the house. Breathing a sigh of relief when she saw you sitting on the couch, wearing one of Meredith’s hoodies.

“Hey.” You greeted casually.

“If you are going to yell can you do that outside?” Meredith asked before Arizona could reply. “My kids are sleeping.”

“I’m not going to yell.” Arizona replied to Meredith before looking at you. “You should’ve texted me or something.”

“You’re right, I should’ve. We just wanted a no pants, wine filled movie night with no partners.” You explained. Meredith nodded to back you up.

“You know she’s safe, so you guys can talk tomorrow or something, okay? You gotta let her breathe.” Meredith replied gently. Arizona just sighed before nodding and leaving.

Meredith shut and locked the door behind her, before coming back to the couch.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Yeah. Let’s keep going.” You replied.

At the hospital the next morning you were jotting down some notes about a patient to help one of your interns. Meredith came up behind you, and handed you a coffee.

“Thank you, Mer.” You smiled up at her.

“Anytime. Arizona is looking for you, is it okay to send her in?” Meredith asked. After taking a sip you nodded.

“Okay.” She smiled, before leaving the room you were in. Soon after, Arizona came into the room. You smiled softly at her, before looking back down to your notes.

“Can we talk?” Arizona asked, setting your pen down you nodded. She took a seat across from you and sighed. “I’m sorry. I understand why you needed a night away from me and I can completely respect that. A text would be nice though.”

You nodded. “You’re right, I should’ve texted you. I’m sorry. Thank you for understanding why I needed some time.”

“I know Mer and her kids love you.” She added, chuckling nervously. You tilted your head to the side, when it finally clicked.

“You, you do know you don’t have to worry about Mer and I. Right?” You asked softly.

“Just walking into the house and seeing you wearing her favorite Dartmouth hoodie, and no pants. It was just weird.” Arizona replied with a sigh.

“I get it.” You began softly. “We’ve been doing that since way before you and I were dating. We’ve been doing it since before her and Derek were even married.”

“It’s like, I know she’s straight but I just can’t shake that stupid suspicion that I know is not happening.” Arizona sighed. You reached out and took her hands in yours.

“You don’t have to worry about her one bit. Okay? She’s just my best friend, and she was just making sure I was okay.” You promised.

Arizona smiled as she got up to place a kiss on your lips. You pulled her down onto your lap, continuing to kiss her gently.

“I love you, Arizona. Nothing can ever change that.” You promised. Arizona smiled, holding you close.

“I love you too Y/N. So much.”

[twoidiotwriters1]

Pure Blood 36 (Sirius Black x F!Oc)

Words: 2,560

Masterlist:

Chapter 35

"I don't even know if I'll be able to walk without the crutch," I lean against the wall, watching the others choose a dress for prom.

"That is no excuse for not wearing a nice dress,” says Marlene.

“You don’t need to walk on it, just wear it," Lily adds.

"Better just wear normal clothes and use my crutch to trip others–“

“Don't be grumpy. It’ll be fun. It’s our last party at Hogwarts!” says Jenna.

"Won't you choose a dress?" Marlene asks.

“Jenna already chose it for me.”

"You say it as if I control you.”

"Because you do," I joke. She rolls her eyes.

"At least I know that Black will thank me for it, because you’re ungrateful.”

I laugh.

“Don't overreact. I agreed with the dress. It’s not that important. The real gossip is that it’ll be the first dance in which the two dungheads will finally be together without trying to kill each other,” I point out to Lily.

The others squeal with excitement making Lily blush.

“That's beautiful! We’ll finally be with Lily without her bickering about James!”adds Marlene.

“I never did that!” Lily exclaims.

“Yes you did!” We all say.

"Even Jenna and I knew it," I comment. I move my crutch a little, but it’s a big mistake, I hit one of the boxes next to me causing it to fall and the clothes that were inside are left disorderly on the floor, also, I lose my balance and end up hitting my knee.

"Ok, P. Why don't you wait outside?"

I frown. “You're talking to me like I’m a little girl.”

"Here, go by some sweets,” She says handing me money.

I make a face.

“Fine.”

I leave the store and walk to the nearby bench. I'll rest first, my knee still hurts.

For a few minutes I only see people passing from one place to another. Some girls also look for their prom dresses, makeup, accessories. They squeal while discussing their ideas with their friends. I laugh at their excitement, at least some get to enjoy this.

"Oh hello, Persephone,” I turn to my right to meet Peter.

"Hey, Pete,” He sits next to me.

"How long have you been sitting here?" He asks.

"Uh, just a few minutes, why?”

"Oh, no nothing. You, uh- haven't you seen anything strange?”

"Not yet, but it's still early. " I joke. "Why do you say that?”

“No reason,” He responds quickly.

"Are you okay, Peter? You're sweating a lot,” I point to his wet hair.

"Yes! Yes, I'm okay. Just, uh, a little nervous. It’s almost graduation and there are many things to do…”

"Really? I thought you just had to get a tux, you already have a date, what else do you have planned?”

"Uh, you know, I want that night to be special for the- the girl, my date, yeah,” He looks away.

"If you say so… Need help?”

"What?" He turns back to me. “No, no thanks. I'm fine, everything’s fine,” He looks to his right again. Rosier, Regulus and some other Slytherin boys stare back at us.

"Peter? Sure you're okay? Are they bothering you?”

"I should go. Goodbye, Persephone,” He doesn’t wait for my answer and runs in the opposite direction from the others.

That was very strange.

My gaze returns to Regulus. I sigh when he continues on his way with his friends.

How did he take the news about Alphard? Or maybe he already knew. I wish I could talk to him like I used to.

***

After a month, our student life finally ends. Very strange weeks, from my physical therapy with Madame Pomfrey, the other therapy with McGonagall and Dumbledore, although this was not planned, but it helped a lot to talk to the real adults about everything that I went through.

They didn't provide any solutions to my questions, but I still appreciate the help and advice. Dumbledore had a lot of muggle metaphors and references. I hope that one day they serve me and it’s not just a sign that the Headmaster has already gone crazy.

The time with my friends and boyfriend was quite relaxing. Talking about the future with them no longer sounded so overwhelming. We all panic about what might happen, but at least we are together.

The graduation ceremony was quite emotional. Apollo, Jane and Atlas congratulated me. My friends met my family and the little boy loved the attention, although he’s still a bit upset with Sirius. He was expecting another small gift and when he received nothing, his approval disappeared.

Only until the day of the big party where everyone wore their best clothes, did I realize that it was all over. Next year we won’t return to Hogwarts.

No more jokes in the hallways, late-night meetings with Remus, we no longer have to try to calm Lily before exams. We’ll no longer be able to see the gardens, go to the kitchens. One more minute trying to remember my entire experience in a magic school and I’ll cry.

"Several people are upset because they continue to trip near our table,” says Sirius handing me a glass of punch. “Do you have any idea what it could be? Because, it can't be you. You don't have the cane anymore,” He smiles raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe it's their long dresses. They must watch that,” I smile innocently and he shakes his head.

Oh, boy. Sirius looks like a real star. His long hair is slicked back, his tux fits him perfectly, and that beautiful smile lights up the entire room. Since when did I become such a cheesy girl? I don't know, but I blame him. Him and his perfect face.

"Admiring me again, darling?”

"I can't help it," I say without regret. Why should I?

"You flatter me, but you’re not the only one in front of someone dazzling.”

I laugh out loud.

"Are we really flirting that bad?" He laughs too.

“I don't think we ever tried. It's fun,” He drags his chair closer to me and puts his arm on the back of my chair. "This party is not so bad, is it?”

"I'm sorry I can't dance any longer. I feel like I will sound like an old woman, but my knees can't take it anymore.”

“Don't worry. I like to be here. Only with you,” He kisses my temple. I lean on his shoulder.

The others must be having fun. They laugh, dance and sing to the rhythm of the music. I think this is the first time I've seen Lily and Remus so relaxed. I'm even beginning to doubt if they didn’t get drunk prior the party, but I don’t judge, we are all of legal age.

Sirius and I listen to the music changing from afar to a slow, romantic song. James and Lily don't hesitate to be the first to share it. Some people are still a bit shocked by their official relationship, but I think it doesn't matter at this point. Jenna and Marlene dance near them. They all look so cute, and even Remus got his last dance, although it didn’t last long.

“Percy," Sirius calls after a while. I turn to see him. "Uh, there’s something I should talk to you about.”

"Are you pregnant?”

He laughs. "Not yet.”

"What's going on?”

“I know that after all this, you’ll continue to live with Apollo, but I wanted to ask you something. You don't have to answer me now, not even this week. I just want to give you the idea and you have time to think about it,” He says nervously.

“Okay?" I say confused.

"I wanted to know… Okay, the other day I got to know how much money my uncle Alphard left me and I was thinking about maybe using that money to buy an apartment. Not that is not cool with the Potters or anything. It's just that, I think it would be a good idea.”

"That's great, Sirius.”

Sirius living alone in an apartment, could be fun, watching him solve all the domestic problems alone and stuff.

“Yeah, that's what Euphemia and Fleamont said, even James, but I also thought– Maybe you… Uh, well, do you want to move in with me?”

“What?"

His nerves increase.

“Only if you want, you know. There is no pressure and it's not because we have to do something else, I don't want you to misunderstand things,” He speaks quickly. "I thought it’d be great to be with you and it’s also safer, we would protect each other. As usual.”

"Sirius, I don't know.”

“Think about it, love. I'll see some places with the Potters, everything will be fine no matter what you decide. When you’re ready you can tell me.”

Live with Sirius? Just the two? I'm not going to lie, it sounds good. But I still feel like I'm not physically ready yet and I'd be better off with Jane and Apollo. Just for a while.

But, moving in with my boyfriend. Not in a million years would I have thought of that possibility.

***

I didn't think I would cry on my last day. Right now I have to leave the room that I shared for seven years with Jenna. But what surprises me the most is that I’m not crying about leaving school, but because of the little letter that I found on my pillow.

Dear Persephone,

Despite all the problems we've had, I always considered you a sister. Part of my family, with or without my parents.

Hopefully one day you can forgive me for my past and future actions.

I can only tell you that I will always think of you in any and it is never my intention to hurt you in any way. I hope your life is better than mine. Take care of my older brother and your future together.

Since I met you, I discovered that my family motto is wrong. Family does not always have to be pure.

I will always love you, Persephone.

Do not worry about me. I will take care of you from afar.

Reggie x

I fold the letter, hold it to my chest, and squeeze it against me. In an ideal world, Regulus would be with us celebrating a new era. I’d be holding him so tight that he would complain. In an ideal world, I would protect one of my best friends forever.

***

"And I thought you wouldn't buy any nonsense with the inheritance money," I say crossing my arms.

"What are you talking about, Singh?" James says squealing like a little kid. "This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!”

"Your child is overexciting mine, Persephone,” says Lily to my side.

“It's not like he can help it. He thinks he can do things by himself,” I wince.

"You don’t like it?" Sirius pouts. He is seated on the new bike that he just bought.

"If I thought before that you could kill yourself with a broom, now I think you will kill yourself with that, darling,” I smile sarcastically.

"But do you like it?”

I roll my eyes.

"Yes, Sirius. It's pretty.”

James and Sirius keep talking about… things I don't understand. They both laugh and point to each part.

"I didn't think they would really do it,” Remus says from my left side. Lily and I look at him in surprise.

"You knew?”

“I thought they were joking,” he sighs. “Seven years and I keep falling for this. My bad.”

"Sirius, do you know how we could make this bike even cooler?”

"I hear you.”

"How about we use a little magic?”

"You, my friend. You’re a genious!" Sirius points out.

"This just keeps getting worse," says Lily.

“I don't want to see more. I have therapy,” I say and enter Apollo's house leaving Lily in mom mode with the two children and their new toy.

"Auntie, Phoney!" Atlas greets me from the chair that he shares with his mother, who is preparing some things for my therapy.

"Nephew, Atlas! I just saw you five minutes ago, but it's nice that you continue to get excited when you see me!” I sit next to him and tickle his little head. He laughs, but then he looks behind me. “Remooh." He points it out.

Remus smiles at the little boy and sits in a single chair.

"Don't you want to be with your friends?" I ask teasingly.

“They are very close to drooling on the bike. Atlas behaves better than them.”

"Yes?" The boy asks and we laugh.

"That's right, my love.”

"Ready?" says Jane. Then the torture begins.

At first it was very difficult, I couldn't help screaming, but now it's better. I do my best to relax or at least endure the pain.

"Just a couple more weeks and you'll be better,” reports my sister-in-law. She smiles. “And now, talking about the two children outside. You better get used to it. You’re lucky that Sirius chose a motorcycle. Your brother gets like this every time he gets an old coin. Ever since he knew it was a muggle hobby, he was interested in it. He has a huge collection.”

“No wonder my brother is so weird. Since we were little, he got excited about very boring things all the time…”

“Actually, collecting coins is more interesting than you think,” Remus adds and I look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Ok, I get it.”

"It hurt?" Atlas asks pointing at my leg.

“Not so much anymore.”

"I'll help you,” He leans towards me and with my help he gets up a little and kisses my cheek.

"Thanks, Atlas," I laugh.

"Will you hit me if I say you look nice with a baby?" Remus says with a mischievous smile.

“Hit you? Persephone!” Jane scolds me.

“Don't believe him, Janie. It is an exaggeration.”

“When she had the cane, she tripped me and I told her that if she kept complaining about the pain, no one would want to help her. I still have the bruise.”

"You have such a weak skin,” I pout.

Jane laughs shaking her head.

"But I still think you should have a baby.”

I roll my eyes.

"I already have one and he bought a motorcycle when I wasn't looking at him.”

"Wouldn't you like to have children, Persephone?" asks Jane.

"I don’t know. Maybe. I like children, I just don't know if I want to have one. They’re better when I can return them to their parents,” They both laugh. “What about you, Wolfie?”

"First I need a girlfriend.”

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot!” I roll my eyes. “Answer me.”

“Maybe," Remus replies.

"Well, for now I'll just be the favorite aunt of two children," I kiss Atlas's cheek.

Jane gets up when she finishes healing me.

"Yes, speaking of which…”

"What's going on?”

She smiles nervously.

"You will be an aunt to three babies.”

"What?" I screech.

“They're twins,” She announces.

"You and my brother need another hobby,” I grimace.

"Wow, three children!” Remus says surprised. "And so fast! Percy, can you imagine your children being friends with James and Lily's? It would be total chaos!”

"Oh, don't go to that dark place, Remus. You would be the official babysitter of that chaos,” I joke.

“Oh, no…”

Taglist:

@avipshamitra​   @auroraawrites​ @findzelda​  @lizlil​​ @siriusmuch​​   @chloe-geoghegan1​​ @reverse-hxlland​​  @may-rapp​​ @the-specific-oceans​​ @eveft​​  @secret-obsessions​​​  @theeicedamericano​​ @xkonpinkx​​​​    @inkandpen22​​​​

@littledeadgirlwalking​

@yunloyal

@bloodorangemoonlight​

[shinsorokiri]

UA Idol | Chapter Three

Hitoshi Shinsou x Reader

Word Count: 2,204

Warnings: Language, big anxiety

A/N: Chapter Three is up because my dumbass forgot to upload last week! So here’s some more. The “original song” is “Pantaloon” by Twenty One Pilots, so if you would like to listen to it, go ahead! I hope you enjoy and I promise I’ll stop forgetting to upload lmao.

UA Idol Masterlist

───────────────────────────────────

You two are pulled aside and interviewed, in which Mina gives a short little excited burst of personality, and you’re there to make sure she doesn’t start shrieking again. It’s pretty endearing, it’s very obvious you two are best friends. After all of that is over with, the two of you are able to wander around, so Mina obviously drags you over to where Denki and purple boy were. They’re still there, and Mina makes it a point to shake the ticket in front of her friend’s face.

“No fucking way! You did it!” he yells, engulfing her in a hug. You don’t realize, but you and lilac man both cringe at their volume, but nevertheless you smile for your best friend. After all, this is a dream come true for her. You’re still in shock from your audition, so all you can think about is the pride and happiness you have for Mina in this moment. “Oh! My best friend and roomie made it to!” Mina squeals, grabbing your wrist and shaking your hand that’s holding the ticket for you. “Denki Kaminari, (Y/f/n), (Y/f/n), Denki Kaminari,” she says, motioning from him to you then you to him. “Hi there, cutie,” he says with a slight smirk and you raise an eyebrow at him. “Call me that again and it’ll be the last word you ever speak,” you say, and to your surprise, he laughs. “Damn, Mina, it’s like I’m looking at another Shinsou,” he says, and that’s when the lavender dude sighs. Ah. So, he’s-

“Mina Ashido, Hitoshi Shinsou. Hitoshi Shinsou, Mina Ashido. (Y/f/n), Hitoshi Shinsou, Hitoshi-”

“I got it,” you and Shinsou say simultaneously, with the same inflection in your voice and deadpan facial expression. That’s when you look at each other. And by that, I mean really look at each other, not just look at the other person when their eyes are focused on something else. And that’s when everything just kinda… stops for a few seconds. The only thing you can even focus on is him, and you can’t tear your eyes away from his, no matter how much you want to. Do you even want to? You don’t even know the man, and yet butterflies are erupting in your stomach and all feelings of unease leave your body. Of course, Mina and Denki don’t notice the cease in time or the feelings exploding in your body. You’re only forced back into reality when your best friend’s voice interrupts you. “Holy shit, they’re like clones of each other,” Mina mumbles, staring back and forth between you two. “The only difference is-”

“Contestants 14799 and 14800? Follow me, you’re on deck,” the same producer who grabbed you two away from them earlier comes and snatches them away from you. “Don’t go anywhere, Mina. If you’re cool with it, I kind of want to go to dinner to catch up after this, it’s been too long,” Denki says, and Shinsou raises his eyebrow at him. “What about me and (Y/n)? Are we supposed to tag along on your date?”

“Oh, honey, I’m gay as fuck. But Denki, I’m so down to catch up! I can’t believe we went a whole month without linking up. And I’m sure (Y/n) would be happy to come with. Especially if we go to her favorite restaurant which I just so happen to have a coupon for because I was gonna take her there to celebrate or mourn after the audition.”

“Awesome! You two stay right here, we’ll be back out!” Denki screams over his shoulder as Shinsou drags him away. “Seriously, Denki?”

“What? I want to talk to Mina again! She and I were literally the best pranksters of our little group in high school and it’s been like a month since we last caught up with each other,” Denki whines and Hitoshi sighs. “But why did you need to drag me into it?” he groans, and Denki smirks at him. “Oh please. Don’t pretend like I didn’t notice you eyeing up Mina’s friend.” “Choose your next words wisely.”

“Shin. Come on. You at least think she’s pretty since your eyes literally didn’t leave her the entire time she was by us. Give her a chance at least, maybe she’s the one,” Denki says, his joking demeanor gone away. Shinsou hesitates before speaking again, saying the thing he’s said to his overexcited blonde friend multiple times before. But this time, he doesn’t believe it as much. “I don’t have time for love, Denki. It’s time consuming and I need to spend my time on more important matters.”

“But she was really cute, right?”

“If you call her cute again, I will beat you up.”

“Why?”

“Because she was cute. And I don’t need you to make me think about it every five seconds because my brain is already doing that on its own,” Hitoshi mumbles, looking away from his friend who has a smug grin on his face. You were cute, so what? You were so cute that the world around him stopped functioning for a bit when you two made eye contact and all he could focus on was your eyes and how you made him feel like he was okay despite the fact that his anxiety was through the roof right now because of the situation he is in and all the people surrounding him at all sides because that’s normal. That’s normal, right? Please, assure him that it’s normal. “Hm. Have you thought about buying her dinner? That’ll send off the right message.”

“Shut. Up.”

“What’s up guys!” Shinsou and Denki’s conversation was cut short by Present Mic literally screaming at them. “Just getting pumped to do this!” Denki responds immediately, hopping up and down in place. “Alright! That’s what I like to hear! Now, who are you guys?”

“I’m Denki Kaminari and this beautiful bastard next to me is Hitoshi Shinsou,” Denki responds, finger-gunning over to Shinsou. Shinsou sighs but gives a genuine smile to Present Mic as he waves. “COOL! So, are you guys a duo?”

“No, we’re just here to support the other! My family doesn’t live around here and Shin’s… couldn’t make it!” Kaminari covers up for Shinsou, knowing that he just told the entire story of why his family couldn’t support him right now to the producers maybe thirty minutes ago. Shinsou silently thanks him for that, knowing he’d probably have to tell at least some of it again to the actual judges. “I love seeing y’all supporting each other like this! Makes me think of when I supported Aizawa the first time he ever actually performed instead of just sat on the sidelines watching someone else sing his song! Kaminari, you’re first, you ready?” “I was born ready.”

“HELL YEAH! Go on in!”

Hitoshi watches his best friend enter the room, his own nerves starting to kick in. Regardless of how he’s feeling, he listens as Denki belts out Kiwi. For someone who has the personality of a corroded triple AAA battery, his voice is really pleasing to the ear. Especially when he lays on the distortion but still somehow manages to hit high notes in his belting range. Honestly if anyone was born to be a rockstar, it was Denki Kaminari. Unsurprisingly, he comes out with a ticket, waving it around like the excited Pikachu he is. “I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it-”

“Okay I get it! You did it!” Hitoshi says, waving his fists in a little celebratory motion. He is genuinely smiling though. He’s happy for Denki. And then he realizes it’s his turn. “You got this, man! If I can do it, you definitely can!” Hitoshi gives him a small smile of appreciation before walking through the doors himself. This was... a lot. It was a lot. He stopped in the middle of the performing area and looked at the judges. “Hello, handsome.”

“Midnight. Please.”

“Never, Aizawa.”

“I’m sorry for her lack of professionalism. Hello, what’s your name, where are you from, and why are you here?” Aizawa completely ignores Midnight and Hitoshi clears his throat. “Hi, I’m Hitoshi Shinsou, I’m 22 years old, and I’m from Tokyo. I’m here because my roommate convinced me to audition with him, but I also just really love music and it would be pretty nice to have my mom see me performing.”

“Aw, a family man. How sweet,” Midnight says and Hitoshi shrugs. “It would just be nice for her to see it before she... you know.”

“Is she sick?” Hawks asks, a small frown on his face. Hitoshi nods. “Yeah, she is,” he says, and there’s a sympathetic look on all the judge’s faces. Goddamn empaths. “Well, hopefully she gets to see this! I’m sure you’ll do great,” Toshinori says, giving him a reassuring smile and thumbs up. “What will you be singing today?”

“Um, I was actually planning on singing an original? If that’s okay?”

“That’s more than okay! Go for it,” Midnight says, and Hitoshi makes his way over to the piano. “If you wouldn’t mind, could you tell us what it’s called?” Aizawa asks. “It’s called The Pantaloon,” Shinsou responds, placing his hands on the keys. He starts playing away, hoping that what he sings for them is good enough. He had to shorten the song a bit, but it’s still pretty wordy, so he’s worried they won’t like it that much. He also knows that his style and voice in general is a little different, so he hopes they don’t hate it.

“Your grandpa died when you were nine. They said he had lost his mind. You have learned way too soon You should never trust the pantaloon.

Now it's your turn to be alone. Find a wife and build yourself a home. You have learned way too soon That your dad is now the pantaloon.

You are tired, you are hurt. A moth ate through your favorite shirt. And all your friends fertilize The ground you walk, Lose your mind.

You like to sleep alone, It's colder than you know, 'Cause your skin is so Used to colder bones. It's warmer in the morning, Than what it is at night. Your bones are held together by your nightmare and your frights.

You are tired, you are hurt. A moth ate through your favorite shirt. And all your friends, they fertilize The ground you walk. So lose your mind.

You are tired, you are hurt. A moth ate through your favorite shirt. And all your friends, they fertilize The ground you walk. Lose your mind.”

It’s funny how when you do something well, you forget how it went. Hitoshi finishes out the song, playing the last chord, hoping it went well but not really knowing since he kinda... blacked out...? Not really, but he doesn’t remember how it all went, so he hopes it went well. “Wow,” Midnight’s voice pulls him out of his head, and he looks over at the judges. “Literally what the hell, he’s the second person who auditioned who is better than me!” Hawks basically yells, throwing his hands up, the pen he had resting in them flying up and then coming back down to hit him on the head. Hitoshi can’t even pay attention to the fact that Hawks just assaulted himself because I’m sorry, did he say better than him?? He has 10 Grammy’s what the fuck does he mean better than him??

“What are the odds two kids like them would audition not just in the same season but on the same day not even forty minutes after each other?” Toshinori says, awe evident on his face. “It’s certainly rare, I can tell you that. Especially when it comes to actual songwriting ability, which it’s evident they have,” Aizawa says, and Shinsou’s breathing literally stops. Aizawa Shouta is his literal idol. And he just complimented his songwriting skills? What? “Well, Shinsou. I think I can say with confidence this isn’t the last time your mom is going to see you perform,” Midnight says, and Shinsou smiles. This is crazy. “You’ve got a future in the business kid, even if you don’t win, I see you in the top two with the other singer-songwriter we saw today. Easily,” Aizawa says, and Shinsou literally cannot believe what he is hearing. “Really?” he asks, disbelief in his voice. “Yes! Of course, after a performance like that in a room like this with a song like that, of course you’ll make it far in the competition! I’d bet you even make it to the top two with it!” Toshinori basically yells, and Shinsou scratches the back of his neck, letting out a flattered chuckle. “Thanks… thank you,” he says, and Aizawa picks up one of the tickets. “I’m just going to give this to you. I think we all agree that you’re a yes.”

Hitoshi goes and takes the ticket, thanking them again and again before walking back out the doors. He shows Kaminari the ticket, and Kaminari literally screams in his face. Full on shouts. “I FUCKING KNEW YOU COULD DO IT BRO!”

“Could you please be quiet? For once in your life? Just shh?”

[thebladeblaster]

Heart of the Vanguard Concept Chapter part 1

(Concept chapters are basically just to test to see if people will like a fic idea I have. This fic crosses over Yugioh Duel Monsters and Cardfight Vanguard.)

(Note: Besides the god cards this fic will stick to tcg/ocg effects for simplicity. People can also still stupidly set cards in face up defense position.)

Yugi double checked that he had everything with him before making his trip. He tiptoed out of the door he sweat dropped as he felt a fiery glare aimed directly at him. It was his grandfather Solomon Mutou holding a broom as he had been previously sweeping with tightly.

“You're not going to another card shop, are you Yugi?”, his grandfather questioned, remembering the invitation his grandson had received earlier.

“W-what…of course not grandpa. I’m just uh...going to hangout with my friends. You know Jonouchi and the others.”, Yugi replied nervously.

“Um hm...well have fun!”, Solomon replied with a wave before going back to sweeping.

After closing the door the young Mutou took a sigh of relief. He met up with his friends Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda in the subway.

“Took you long enough Yug!”, Jonouchi said.

“Sorry, you know how my grandpa gets at the idea of us going to other card shops.”, Yugi replied.

“Yeah...reminds me of when we went to Duke’s.”, Honda replied, sweat dropping.

“Hopefully Jonouchi doesn’t end up in a dog suit this time.”, Anzu teased.

“Shut up!!! No one’s making a dog out of me this time!”, Jonouchi yelled.

“Better hope we don’t run into Kaiba on the way.”, Honda replied much to Jonouchi’s chagrin.

“If I see Kaiba I’ll wipe the floor with him!!!”, Jonouchi yelled.

“Guys the bus.”, Yugi pointed out as he saw everyone boarding.

They all hastily ran onto the train so they didn’t miss it. They took a sigh of relief as Yugi looked out the window. The buildings passed by like a blur. It always felt weird for him to leave Domino City. He always seemed to be off on some strange supernatural adventure every time but this time it was different. He was going to see friends. A definite nice change of pace.

After they finally got out of the subway they were greeted with a big expansive city.

“How are we supposed to find that tiny card shop in this mess?”, Jonouchi questioned.

“Well, we got there once. We just have to find where we are so we can find it.”, Anzu replied, looking over at the map.

“Maybe we're better off calling Misaki for directions. She has a perfect memory after all.”, Honda suggested.

“Oh, that’s right!”, Anzu gasped, as she brought out her phone and started calling her number.

The phone rang a few times before it was answered.

“Oh, Anzu. Are you guys almost here?”, Misaki asked, though there was an extreme amount of background noise.

“We're having a bit of trouble. We have just arrived outside the station and this place is a bit...big. I was wondering if you could give some directions to the shop?”, Anzu asked.

“Hmm...I guess the city is pretty big. Alright.”, Misaki replied as she started giving them directions.

They were astounded at how accurate it all was. She wasn’t even there but she was leading them perfectly throughout the city. On the way they stopped as they saw a familiar face.

“Gah, Kai?!”, Yugi gasped.

It was indeed the aloof fighter Toshiki Kai. Along with him was a blond haired teen with grey eyes. He wore the same school uniform as Kai. Jonouchi growled as he saw the older teen.

“You guys are here?”, Kai questioned, completely ignoring Jonouchi’s growling.

“Yeah, Aichi invited us to come over remember?”, Anzu replied and Kai simply nodded.

“Man, this is so cool to think we’d meet the King of Games in the flesh!”, the blond said.

“Hehe. I’m not that great, I'm just an average teen like you guys.”, Yugi replied with no hint of irony.

“Cool. Name’s Taishi Miwa. Looks like you guys already know Kai. Though let’s be real who doesn’t?”, Miwa introduced.

“Yeah. My name’s Mutou Yugi. Oh wait...you already know that.”, Yugi replied.

“Yeah...average.”, Kai replied blandly with a hint of sarcasm, rolling his eyes as he remembered Battle City.

“Well...average kid with an ancient magic necklace.”, Yugi replied awkwardly.

“Uh huh...you're just as ‘normal’ as Aichi and Ren.”, Kai replied, which made Yugi sweat drop.

“I’m gonna clean your clock in a duel!”, Jonouchi said to Kai.

“I don’t need another hyper kid like Kamui constantly challenging me to duels.”, Kai replied.

“Grr! I’m no kid!”, Jonouchi replied.

“Really? You sure act like one.”, Kai replied.

“Down boy. You can duel him at the shop.”, Honda said as he put his arm on Jonouchi’s shoulder.

“Hey I’m no dog!!!”, Jonouchi yelled as Honda pushed him along.

Eventually they stopped before a small card shop named ‘Card Capital’. It had a poster on the front and a sliding door. The small shop was completely crowded by people clamoring to get inside.

“Hehe, maybe Misaki can give grandpa some pointers on how to get his shop this busy.”, Yugi commented.

He jumped as some turned around to see him.

“Oh my god, is that the King of Games!”

“He’s here!”

“I thought he was taller?”

“Would he really be in a place like this?”

The door slid open and they saw Misaki on the other side. She had on a white dress shirt and a orange apron with two Cs.

“Are you guys gonna come in or will I have to give your spots to one of these guys?”, Misaki questioned.

“No need. Come on guys!”, Anzu said.

They all walked into the shop. It was just as tiny as they remembered. It was full of posters advertising various card games. It had lots of chairs and tables including two standing tables. The front desk had various card packs and there was a display on the other side with various assortments of rare cards. The shop was packed with various people dueling. It was rather lively for such a small shop.

“Is it always like this?”, Anzu asked.

“Nosy? Yes. Packed? Only when we host shop tournaments here.”, Misaki replied.

“You scoundrel!!!”, they turned their attention to a familiar voice.

They walked over to see Aichi and Kamui. The latter of which shook the former by the collar. Aichi laughed it off raising up his hands in surrender. A redheaded girl with blue eyes was trying to diffuse the situation. She wore a pink top with an orange tie and a blue skirt.

“Kamui calm down.”, the redheaded girl said.

Aichi sweat dropped as the younger boy continued to shake him.

“It’s fine Kamui. I think you’re overreacting.”, Aichi replied.

“Yeah, he just beat Emi in a duel.”, a teen with brown hair and eyes wearing a grey uniform replied.

“He just?”, Kamui questioned.

“Yeah…”, Aichi replied.

None of them seemed to notice them yet.

“You were supposed to let Miss Emi win!”, Kamui shouted.

“I was?!”, Aichi questioned, completely confused.

“I don’t get what the big deal is.”, Honda commented.

“It’s best if you don’t try to understand Kamui’s stupidity. You might catch it.”, Misaki replied casually.

“You say that as if you wanted Aichi to hold back against me.”, Emi replied.

“Well... I!”, Kamui was saying before he was cut off.

“I wanted to duel him at his best. Why would I want him to hold back?”, Emi replied, crossing her arms as Kamui shrinked back.

“It’s fine Emi. Kamui just got a bit overexcited.”, Aichi replied, brushing it off.

“Overexcited is an understatement.”, Miwa chuckled, making Aichi turn his attention to the new arrivals.

Aichi’s eyes brightened up as he saw them.

“Kai! Yugi! Miwa! Jonouchi!”, Aichi said.

“Are we gonna talk about how he called out Kai first…”, Honda commented as he sweat dropped.

The short teen was practically beaming which made Yugi blush. Though, he was at least taller than Yugi though not by much.

“No need to be so excited it’s just us.”, Yugi replied as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Oh, that’s that Yugi guy right? Didn’t you duel him in Battle City?”, Emi questioned.

“Yeah, your looking at the King of Games here!”, Jonouchi said as he gestured to Yugi.

“Woah cool!”, Emi replied.

“Oh uh...this is my little sister Emi.”, Aichi introduced gesturing Emi.

“Sister?!”, the Yugi gang gasped.

Jonouchi bent down to Aichi’s level.

“Don’t tell me she has crazy psychic powers too?”, Jonouchi whispered, causing Aichi to sweat drop.

“Uh...no. At least I don’t think so.”, Aichi replied.

“You don’t think so?”, Jonouchi replied as he pulled back sweat dropping.

“Hopefully it doesn’t run in the family.”, Honda whispered nervously.

“Yeah…”, Anzu replied as she sweat dropped.

“Since your here do you want to duel, Yugi?”, Aichi asked with a light blush.

“Gosh, why are you always so nervous, kid?”, Jonouchi questioned.

“I’d love to Aichi! It’s time to duel!”, Yugi replied.

“He said the thing!”, a black haired teen with v shaped hair and brown eyes with a grey uniform said.

“Oh my god this is awesome!”, the brown haired guy from before gushed.

Yugi chuckled, blushing nervously at all the attention he was getting.

“Their like two anxious peas in a pot.”, Anzu commented.

“Are we going to duel in here. I don’t think the holograms would fit.”, Yugi replied as Aichi blinked.

“Oh...yeah that’s true. We were dueling retro style with the Battle City rules in here since there’s still a lot of people who don’t have duel disks.”, Aichi replied.

“Oh? Retro’s fine.”, Yugi assured.

“Okay.”, Aichi replied as he nodded.

“You guys should use the standing fight table.”, Shin suggested.

“Who wants to stand and fight without the duel disks anymore?”, Misaki questioned, making Shin sulk.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that Kaiba would build portable hologram systems to duel with?!”, Shin questioned.

“I guess we’ll sit?”, Aichi asked.

“Yeah.”, Yugi replied.

“Oh man this will be awesome! It’s like Godzilla vs Kong or Devilman vs Mazinger Z!”, the brown haired teen gushed, embarrassing the two.

“Heh, I could take them.”, the v haired teen proclaimed as he crossed his arms.

“Oh really why don’t we duel tough guy?”, Jonouchi suggested.

“Alright I’ll take you on 3rd place Duelist Kingdom guy!”, the v haired teen replied, causing a tick mark to appear on Jonouchi’s head.

“Hey it’s Katsuya Jonouchi!!! And it was second place! I lost to Yugi!”, Jonouchi corrected.

“Yeah, whatever 3rd place guy my name is Katsumi Morikawa! You will forever remember my name after the beat down your about to endure!”, Morikawa proclaimed, causing many in the shop to sweat drop.

“You're going to wipe the floor with him, Jonouchi. He’s the worst duelist I’ve ever seen.”, Kamui commented.

“As if! I’ll show you Kamui!”, Morikawa growled.

Aichi and Yugi sweat dropped at the conversation around them.

“Are they always like this?”, Yugi questioned.

“Would you believe it’s usually worse?”, Aichi replied, making Yugi chuckle nervously.

“I know that feeling.”, Yugi replied.

Kai and Miwa had seated themselves down at one of the tables. Some duelists had actually lined up to challenge the aloof fighter.

Yugi noticed Yami’s spirit hovering over his shoulder.

“Oh, it’s just a normal duel for fun Yami.”, Yugi said.

“Fun?”, Yami questioned.

“Yeah, it’s not always shadow realm and convoluted plots.”, Yugi replied.

“Oh, hello Yami.”, Aichi greeted waving at the spirit.

“Who’s he waving at?”, Miwa questioned, confused.

[i-dream-of-twilight-sparkle]

Chapter 10: Dragon Love

Spike’s first stop when he went out of the castle was to the post office, where he goes to meet up with a new friend, Gabby the griffon. Perhaps one of the few overexcitable griffons ever. Their friendship managed to make Rarity a bit jealous of Gabby, but in the end they learned to share their time with Spike.

Spike: Hi Gabby!

Gabby: Oh hi Spike! How’s my favorite little scarred, but still adorable dragon doing?

Spike: Pretty good! I actually came over if you were interested in going with me, my mother, and all our friends friends to Saddle Arabia to see a Royal Ball. There will be plenty of entertainment, food, and friends both new and old to mingle with.

Gabby: Sure thing, Spike! Sounds like a good time!

The steps of hooves are heard from behind the desk. It’s the town mailmare, Derpy Hooves.

Derpy: Both of you going to the ball, too? Awesome!

Spike: Oh hey Derpy! Did you want an invite too?

Derpy: Oh, I actually happened to come across Rainbow Dash before I went into work today! So I’ve already been invited. But I still appreciate it, Spike!

Spike: Very nice! It’ll be great seeing both of you there! I need to head off to find a few more friends I want to invite, but I’ll catch both of you later!

Gabby: Alright, Spike! Seeya!

Spike leaves the post office while waving back to Gabby and Derpy.

Spike: Alright next stop, Thorax’s changeling hive…

Spike gets out his own pack of portal gum to travel to see his friend Thorax. Once just a normal changeling that was discovered in the Crystal Empire by Spike who defected from Chrysalis’ rule and would later help Starlight, Trixie, and Discord defeat Chrysalis. And then showed many others in the Changeling army another way for them to live instead of dependent on invasions to feed on love. The Changelings quickly became a sovereign kingdom of their own.

Spike walks near the hive, Changeling guards recognize him and acknowledge him as a friend of Thorax’s and allow Spik to pass to see him. Eventually he reaches Thorax’s throne.

Spike: Hey there, Thorax!

Thorax: Hello Spike! It’s been a while since we talked just the two of us, what brings you to the hive?

Spike: I just came over to invite you and any of the other changelings here craving some real love, cause in Saddle Arabia there will be a Royal Ball that precedes a Wedding for two of me and Twilight’s friends who live there! Both events are sure to have plenty of love to go around whether it’s friends with friends, family with family, and relationships old and new coming together! And that’s before the actual wedding!

Thorax’s mouth just starts drooling

Thorax: Oh wow… two events full of scrumptious love we can get our fill just by sitting around all the love that will be in the air?! You bet that I’ll go! Is it ok if I bring along some of our hungrier citizens that could use a boost?

Spike: Of course! I definitely wouldn’t want to deprive any of your subjects, if they really want a piece of the love that is sure to be everywhere!

Spike and Thorax go around the hive inviting any changelings that want to come to, as obviously this event is going to have enough love to perhaps fill these changelings for maybe a week or even more. If they decline, they likely know they’ll have their fill for one reason or another anytime close to the time the ball might start, Thorax’s brother Pharyanx among them. Otherwise, they could usually tell who wants to go for if they drooled or flicked their tongues just imagining all the love they could get.

Ocellus: Oh my gosh, I absolutely must go! I have been quite starving as of late…

Spike: Don’t forget Ocellus, your friends from School should be there as well. In fact, I plan to get Smoulder too, when I head on over to the Dragonlands. I think my pony friends will get the rest.

Ocellus: Oh yes, absolutely will be nice to see my friends there too! So much love and friendship to go around! I can’t wait!

In a few short moments, they’ve gone though the whole hive and determined who wanted to go and who didn’t.

Thorax: Thank you for telling us about this, Spike! You will help a lot of our citizens, plus we should have a great time aside from our love feast we’re sure to get!

Spike: No problem, Thorax! It’ll be great to see you there. For now though, I’m heading off to the Dragonlands for my final stop, before settling down for whenever my mom says it’s time.

Thorax: Ok Spike, tell Ember and Smoulder I said hi!

Spike: I will! Bye!

((Story continues after the break))

Spike waves off to Thorax before creating another gum portal, this time to the Dragonlands. He’s still become too accustomed to Equestria, but the Dragonlands is still his species’ home. So Spike always gets to have a dose of his heritage every time he comes over. Spike doesn’t plan on leaving Equestria, even when he’s a super huge adult (And he and Twilight have already discussed how that will go, probably will take a little bit of Genie magic to make it work but that is a very, very, very long time from now, so it’s not exactly a subject that comes up often between the two). But as perhaps the first dragon to grow up in Equestria he’s very much an ambassador to Dragons who may themselves want to move into Equestria, though mainly the smaller ones since if too many big ones come in, there will be problems like when a red dragon sleeping made smoke that was polluting Ponyville, and it took him learning what Fluttershy’s stare could do in order to get him to leave. Not to mention the large size of the big dragons tend to cause a panic in fear-stricken populaces.

Spike flies around the skies of the Dragonlands until he finally catches a glimpse of Smoulder. Which then he swoops down to catch up to.

Spike: Hey Smoulder!

Smoulder: Heeeeeeyyyyyy! Sup’ Spike! Come here to toughen yourself a bit, in the Dragonlands?

Smoulder gives Spike an affectionate punch in the shoulder

Spike: Ouch!

Smoulder: Oops, sorry

Spike: It’s alright, I know that’s your way of saying hi, sometimes. But anyway, I came to invite you somewhere. Your other friends in school will be there as well, I just got done with a visit to the Changeling hive and Ocellus will be going. My pony friends will probably be getting the rest.

Smoulder: Where are all of you going?

Spike: Saddle Arabia, a Royal Ball is being held as well a wedding between two friends of me and my Mom’s who live there.

Smoulder: Hahahaha, no wonder Ocellus is going. She’s going to get the biggest love feast she’s had in a little while!

Spike: Yeah, probably ha. But do you think YOU will go.

Smoulder: Eh, kinda sounds a little too lovey-dovey. But maybe I should go for a chance to hang out with my school friends at least.

Spike: There should be plenty of food as well as entertainment as well. So even if you’re not exactly into any of the love stuff happening, it’s still mainly just a party.

Smoulder: True, I could probably enjoy just going anticipating a big party... So sure, I’ll go!

Spike: Great! Now I only need one more invitee, and I think I’ll see if Ember’s able to go. You have any idea where she is?

Smoulder: I think Lord Ember is meeting with her father, former Lord Torch in their volcano home.

Spike: Huh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen their volcano home. Can you take me there?

Smoulder: Sure! Just follow me!

Smoulder jumps up in the air to start flying, Spike following as well through the air., until they finally get to a humongous volcano that definitely looks like Torch, and probably Ember too once she’s as big as her father many thousands of years from now could fit in. Spike and Smoulder approaching a cave near the bottom of the volcano.

Spike: Is this an active volcano?

Smoulder: You bet it is! But when it erupts, that only means it’s shower time for ol’ Torch

Spike: This place definitely isn’t a place anyone other then Dragons want to approach then, that’s for certain.

Smoulder: I guess if any ponies wanted to try visiting they’d probably need some sort of heat shield spell or wish from your genie mother. Otherwise yeah, this is a pretty dragons-only spot. But only for the safety of non-dragons, we swear.

Spike and Smoulder head into the cave, the cave is actually pretty hot. It’d probably be unbearable for any ponies without some sort of magic heat suppressor around them to just walk in this place, even besides the fact it’s a volcano that could spew out deadly lava and suffocating ash at any moment. But for dragons like Torch, it’s an atmosphere they revel in. Dragons after all treat lava simply like a hot sauna, and the smoke just brings the lovely smell (At least, in a typical dragon’s opinion) of ash and sulfur.

Eventually they get to the center of the volcano where they can see the towering Torch and his daughter Ember. The current and the former Dragon Lords.

Spike: Hey… er… Ember and Torch!

The two look over to see they have visitors in the small dragon that was born and still chooses to live in Equestria, and another who happens to be the representative in the Friendship school.

Ember: Ahhhh! Hello both of you! Spike, this is the first time I’ve seen you go as far to see us at our home! You’ve sure came a long way from Equestria. What’s the occasion?

Spike: I simply went on over to ask if you and Smoulder would like to attend a Royal Ball and wedding between two of my mom and me’s friends. Smoulder already agreed but thought while I’m here I thought I’d extend an invitation. Oh, and Thorax says hi to both you and Smoulder.

Ember: Haha, of course Thorax says hi. If you invited him he was probably drooling for all that love that will be at that event you’re going to. But perhaps for the sake of peaceful diplomacy, I should go. If a Princess like Twilight is going, along with Thorax, I have a feeling others like the Yaks aren’t too far behind.

Spike: I’d ask your father too but er… his size would probably be a problem unless he agrees to being magically shrunk.

Torch: BA HA HA HA HA, it’s ok little Spike. I don’t think I was going to go, anyway. After all, I’m retired now. But I hope you, Lord Ember, and Smoulder have a good time in Saddle Arabia. Show the ponies how dragons can really light up a party!

Spike: Uh, I hope you aren’t telling us to light the palace on fire.

Torch: Nah, I promise it was just the expression.

Spike: *phew* I guess while I’m here, anything going on lately here? Equestria will always be my home, but as a dragon I guess I should still keep up with anything going on here. You’re the current and former Dragon Lord’s. I imagine you two talk about this nation a lot.

Ember: Heh, maybe a little. But this is our home, usually we just jokingly rib at each other between just us as father and daughter. We sometimes talk about our politics, but things are usually stable when you have one leader promised in power for tens of thousands of years and a general populace that generally remains for themselves with their own stash of treasures.

Torch: Yeah, in fact after I’ve retired I’ve simply been just reflecting about my long reign and the many, many, many, many mates I’ve had over my era.

Spike: Wait… did you say many mates?

Ember: Oh shoot, that’s right. Spike grew up in Equestria, he doesn’t exactly know how… “relationships” for lack of a better word work in the Dragonlands

Spike: What are you talking about?

Torch: In the Dragonlands, there is no such thing as marriage. Only several mates over our long, long lives.

Spike goes wide-eyed

Spike: SAY WHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

Ember: Yeaaaaaah… I imagine that must be surprising to anyone who’s mainly experienced life in Equestria. But if you just think about it, most Ponies’ average lifespan is just over 100 years and their regular definition of love is. once they find somepony they love they’ll spend time with them for the rest of their life, barring something happening resulting in divorce, or an unfortunate early death of half of the couple. However, dragons live so long that even if there was a mate a dragon really loved. It might of been perceivably boring at least in our views, to had been with only one. 

Thus, it’s actually pretty normal for both male and female dragons to just move on to a different mate at some point. Sometimes, more then one at one point of time! That’s not even seen as wrong here whether you kept it a secret from your mate(/s) or not. And if for any reason a dragon misses a past mate, absolutely nothing wrong with going to see them again to become mates again, if both consent of course.

Spike just stands there trying to process this information that dragons have a very vastly different outlook on love from the one he was raised to know by ponies.

Ember: We’re just starting to at least have some aspects of Friendship. Is it any surprise that love is a lot different too? We can still love and can get infatuated, such as your crush on that white unicorn. But we never settle down with just one mate throughout our lives. Though forgive me for being grim, but you might actually be kind of thankful that this is normal for dragons. Because even if you get into a relationship with the white unicorn at some point she… won’t exactly be around very long in relative to your long lifetime…

Spike breaking out a bit of his trance of being told how Dragon love works, to look to the side solemnly.

Spike: Yeah, I’m well aware of that… I don’t exactly like talking about it however…

Ember: Well uh… it’s still a little while until then. I don’t mean to get you down, but we’re just teaching you a few things about us that most ponies don’t put in any books about us, since until they actually bring brave enough researchers. Any information they have about us are pretty incomplete or even inaccurate information. It’s possible that pony researchers thought we had lifelong mates if they had noticed a couple once or twice but never actually asked if the couple had ever been married or anything. 

I think at the very least Celestia knew enough about us, but since she sort of kept her policy towards the Dragonlands as leaving us alone. Informing Equestria about how we live never came up as a priority.

But thanks to your pony mother who’ll soon be ruling solo in Canterlot, we’re entering a new era of prosperity between Dragons and Ponies and other species. I’m pretty sure soon we’ll have some updated books about us in the coming years that will make this common knowledge there. You were raised by ponies, but you’re still a dragon. So thought it’d be useful information for you to know

Spike: I gotcha, but still. Can’t help but feel wowed, and almost a little scary of how many I might end up meeting over my life when I’m old enough to start mating.

Ember: Hehehe, you’ll still have that scar of yours, eye scars happen to be a very attractive trait in older dragons cause it’s perceived strength. You’re sure to have a lot of female dragons after you in your older years. Maybe even me and Smoulder at some point

Ember jokingly winks, Smoulder being the rebelllious teenage dragon just gives a “blegh”.

Spike: …Aren’t you and Smoulder both a decent bit of years apart from me?

Ember: I’m mostly joking, but in actuality once both dragons in a couple are about hundreds of years old it’s not considered wrong to go with any dragons whether they’re 100 years older or younger. Again, just think of the difference between Pony and Dragon concepts of time passed. Yes, it’d be wrong right now, but that’s mainly because relative to dragon aging you’re still just about a hatchling. But say in about maybe a decade or two when you’ve grown to early teenage size you may just be young enough to still be ok for Smoulder to be with, if she so wished.

Smoulder: You better not be shipping me with him, or else I don’t care if you’re Dragon Lord. I’ll kick you in the shins!

Ember just laughs.

Spike: I guess I understand, but boy this feels like a lot of odd conversations will come across from all this…

Ember: From a pony perspective, yeah. Dragon’s approach to love is really weird, but some day it’ll be normal to you at some point, I assure you.

Torch suddenly looks a little away from the conversation and thinking a little solemnly. Ember noticing that’s kind of odd for him to do so.

Ember: Huh? Father? What’s up?

Torch: Nothing too big, Ember. Just reflecting on the conversation you just had with Spike and on my own history. Even though yes, I’ve had many, many, many, many mates over my long life. I… admit there may have been one dragon that I was with for only a few years, that if the pony concept of Marriage for a lifetime did exist in the dragonlands. I would of certainly tried to propose at the very least… though I doubt she would of ever accepted it…

Ember: Who was this, Father?

Torch: Her name was Jennesis, though I liked to affectionately call her Jenny. She was a beautiful pink dragon with green back spines. And she was absolutely the most beautiful and kind dragon I ever had the pleasure to live with.

Spike: Is she still around?

Torch: I don’t know, this was a few thousand years ago. And also unfortunately, she probably wouldn’t say the same about me. As I admit unfortunately, I wasn’t exactly as good a mate to her as she was to me. Which is why we were only together for a few years.

Ember: Which in relative lifeline comparison between dragon and ponies, is like a pony relationship ending in at most less then a week...

Spike: Oof

Torch: Yeah… I admit it’s one of the few regrets I otherwise have, of what I otherwise feel was a glorious reign as Dragon Lord. I had many mates before and after Jenny, but none have ever quite matched up to her.

Ember: Dang, not even my mother?

Torch: Your mother was a lovely mate as well Ember. But Jenny was just on a whole ‘nother level.

Spike: Well, this has certainly been an interesting conversation. But if it’s ok, I’m going to start heading back to Equestria. I have everyone I wanted to invite now. But I suppose thanks for teaching me a few more things about being a dragon. I’m sure it’ll be useful information to know in the far future.

Ember: You’re welcome Spike! I’ll see you in Saddle Arabia!

Spike: Bye Ember! Bye Smoulder! Bye Torch!

Spike waves off to all three before using another gum portal to get back to Equestria, where he walks back to Twilight’s castle. All that information Ember and Torch gave him still kind of bouncing in his head as some of it was still a lot to take in. But nonetheless he gets set to just relax until Twilight likely gets back from finishing her own list of invitees.

UP NEXT: Chapter 11 - Celestia’s Secrets, Part 1

[stellacolletore]

08.31.2020

from tsukuba’s peak (falling waters have become)  characters: tsukuba haruomi, mashima taichi/ayase chihaya, tsukuba akihiro summary: Haruomi knows Ayase-sensei’s no damsel in distress. That doesn’t mean he’ll stand by while a Bad Guy goes after her, though. notes: takes place when the 2nd of the tsukuba triplets (haruomi) is in his first year of high school and chihaya’s just been a teacher in mizusawa.

Haruomi might have been giving the wrong impression with his slit eyes for as long as he can remember, but those who know him know better. He’s a pretty perceptive guy.

It’s yet another quality that sets him apart from his younger and older brothers, who, at an earlier point in time, looked so identical with him that people mistake them for triplets. Now the only commonality they share with one another is their undying admiration for Akihiro-niisan. In a span of five years, Fuyumasa-niisan found soccer more of his league than karuta (which almost got him disowned by Akihiro-niisan, who then was the president of Mizusawa Karuta Club) while Natsufusa-kun’s attention was gradually stolen by the world of video gaming.

As for Haruomi, he stuck with karuta like their eldest brother, reaching Class A in his last year of middle school and studying so seriously for once with the hopes of entering the high school of his dreams.

Which isn’t Hokuo, he’d tell the recruiters sporting the well-known red shirt of Tokyo’s current high school karuta powerhouse when they scouted him last tournament. I’m going to Mizusawa High.

“But Mizusawa’s golden days are long over,” Haruomi remembered one of the recruiters snickering. To which he had replied defensively, “That’s going to change, though. Because she’s coming back.”

And Ayase-san has indeed returned, finishing her college degree and immediately applying for a teaching position at Mizusawa High School. She’s the defender of the Queen title for two consecutive years now, and is currently on her way towards─

“ ─making Mizusawa into a karuta powerhouse.” He recalls the brimming confidence in her voice on the first day of club meeting, finally understanding what Akihiro-niisan means when he tells him when she’s on your side, Ayase-senpai’s karuta gives your karuta a certain level of strength.  Ayase-san─Ayase-sensei to him, now─certainly had been over the moon with his club membership. After all, Haruomi’s one of the Shiranami society members who grew in leaps and bounds before her own eyes.

Everything’s going well that when trouble finally entered the picture, Haruomi’s able to spot it in a blink of an eye. Or, to be more precise, spot him.

Likening the situation to one of the shoujo mangas Sumire-neechan rants about during break time back at Shiranami society, Yamazaki-sensei’s definitely the Bad Guy who goes after the Female MC with the sole purpose of threatening her relationship with the Male MC. (He shakes his head at the thought of his vocabulary being this much influenced by Sumire-neechan.)

Not that there’s an ounce of doubt when it comes to Ayase-sensei’s relationship with Mashima-san. They’d been going steady ever since their last year in high school, and Haruomi himself won’t be surprised if one of these days they’d suddenly announce their engagement. But still, this development is concerning. Call it a guy’s intuition, but Yamazaki-sensei looks like he’s after more than just being a karuta club ‘vice adviser’.

As if affirming his thoughts, Yamazaki-sensei asks, “Ayase-san, would you like to go out for dinner after practice? I’ve been waiting for that a few weeks now. Surely you’re free this time.” Glaring eyes instantly latch onto Bad Guy, ever protective of their undeniably beautiful─and undeniably dense ─karuta club adviser. As usual Ayase-sensei takes his question in stride. Innocently, she replies, “Ah─but I still can’t, Yamazaki-san. I’ve already promised to eat dinner with someone tonight.”

Yamazaki-sensei sniggers; Haruomi detects a hint of annoyance in his teacher’s voice. “Is this your ‘boyfriend’ again?”

He definitely wants to wipe that expression off Bad Guy’s face. It’s a telltale sign he’s about to say something obnoxious.

“How come we’ve never seen him around? Ayase-san, you know it’s not a good example for your students if you’re lying about dating someone when, in fact, you’re not.”

Haruomi had enough.

“Ayase-sensei’s not a liar! Mashima-san’s real, Sensei. In fact, he’s a better karuta player than you could ever be.”

“What did you just─” In a flash of anger, Yamazaki-sensei lunges at him from his seat on the tatami. Haruomi already has his fist clenched, prepared in case it needs to take a swing at his teacher’s face, but Ayase-senpai’s barreled into the space between them just in time. “Please don’t fight!”  

Taking advantage of their momentary surprise, she addresses Bad Guy apologetically. “I’m so sorry, Yamazaki-san. We can get dinner next week─it’s just that tonight’s really one of the few times Taichi’s free.” Turning towards Haruomi, she softly reprimands. “Thank you for your concern, Haruomi-kun. But you should always remember to show respect for your teachers. It’s wrong to yell at Yamazaki-sensei, ne, Haruomi-kun?”

Properly chastised, both boys retreat their offensive stance. Pleased at handling the situation before it escalates (again), she claps her hands together, gathering the attention of the members previously watching the showdown. “All right minna! Time to go home!”

They soon disperse, his teammates on their way home and Ayase-sensei to her date. Meanwhile, Haruomi finds himself staring at the door of the teacher’s lounge, where Yamazaki-sensei is preparing his things before heading out of the school. As much as it annoys Haruomi, he’s still a man of principle; and as such, owes even Bad Guy an apology.

He’s already opened the door when his ears pick up on Bad Guy’s Obnoxious Voice again.

“You’ll see her, don’t worry. I’m not lying! She’s really Ayase Chitose’s sister! Yeah, she’s hot, too, all right. Didn’t you get the picture I sent you? Anyway, see you next week─yeah, she’s already promised to come. Okay, okay...Bye.”

What is it he’s about to do again?

Haruomi walks away from the room, his hand reaching on the inside of his bag. He opens his phone and dials a number.

“Onii-san, could you give me Mashima-san’s contact address?”

***

It looks like a normal practice meeting, with everyone expecting to go through the same routine. Except for Haruomi, who’s certain that things will be changing as soon as it’s over.

As expected, Ayase-sensei, with her ultrasonic hearing, notices him first.

Her head springs up from the match against Haruomi, eyes trained towards the sliding doors. Confusion mars her features, as if the sound she hears doesn’t correspond with her surroundings. Guilt pricks Haruomi for a second.

After all, asking Mashima-san to make a surprise visit to their club is also asking him to skip what obviously are very important classes. But this is important, too! His conscience immediately reasons out.

Mashima-san appears at the spot Ayase-sensei is looking at, and without missing a beat he hears his teacher gape unceremoniously. “Taichi! What are you doing here?!”

The abrupt mention of their sensei’s boyfriend’s name effectively wrenched everybody’s concentration away from the game. A yomifuda is read but everyone’s attention is on the very surprising, very handsome visitor at the entrance.

“Eeeeh?! ”

“Sensei’s kareshi?! That’s sensei’s boyfriend?!”

“Ikemen! ”

“Masaka…”

His teammates’ expressions are priceless, sure, but Haruomi is most amused upon finding Bad Guy’s eyes blown wide, skin getting paler by the second.

See, sensei? He’s real, all right.

Apparently, Mashima-san had a lifetime’s worth of encountering greetings like this, merely blinking at them before giving a slight bow. “Hajimemashite. I’m Mashima Taichi, Mizusawa High School alumni and co-founder of this club. Doozo yoroshiku.”

Haruomi then discovers just how much the girls of his karuta club are similar to Sumire-neechan when they crowd over him in a classic montage of high school girls fawning over handsome guys.

“You and Ayase-sensei made this club?! Sugoi!─”

“That’s so romantic! Ano, did you like her since first year─”

“How was Ayase-sensei like before─”

“Ikemen!”

“Calm down, minna,” Ayase-sensei implores. After the girls have listened, she repeats her question, this time with evident concern. “Taichi, why are you here? Did something happen?”

Mashima-san quells her worries with a reassuring smile. “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just,” his golden eyes proceed to sweep the room, locating Haruomi who’s been pushed at the back by his overexcited teammates, “your student there asked for my help.”

The implication behind her boyfriend’s words totally goes over Ayase-sensei’s head, but definitely not Yamazaki-sensei’s. Bad Guy is basically trembling in the corner and nothing has even happened yet.

Ayase-sensei’s face registers a brief moment of surprise, before lightening up. “I see!”

The reaction is equal parts endearing and frustrating, really. How Ayase-sensei manages to keep every bit of that childlike trust even in adulthood, Haroumi would never know. Nevertheless, she definitely has to pick up on some social cues before Mashima-san goes crazy with worry.

Thinking that the past Mizusawa karuta club President’s really only here to help out, Ayase-sensei wastes no time in having him observe how her students play.

And help he did, doling out insights on everyone’s game strategies. In less than an hour, his identity transformed from ‘Ayase-sensei’s gorgeous boyfriend’ to the ‘President who led the team to national championship’. Haruomi himself is knee deep in the practice session that he almost forgets Mashima-san’s true purpose for dropping by.

Almost, because even when a confrontation could be avoided if he just stayed respectful for once, Yamazaki-sensei’s Bad Guy streak doesn’t disappoint.

“It’s nice, really, when one is able to give good advice,” his Obnoxious Voice grates at Haruomi’s ears, “but I think it’s too extreme to call it incredible.” He gives a pointed glance to Rina-chan, who had just called Mashima-san that after a one-on-one consultation on card placements. “What’s incredible is being able to ‘show’ the ‘talk’, if you get what I mean.”

Tension immediately spikes inside the room, Haruomi and his teammates displaying looks of discomfort and annoyance. Teach him a lesson, Mashima-san! They mentally plead.

Mashima-san, an air of uncanny calmness around him, responds lightly. “I do. Say, Yamazaki-san, Chihaya’s been telling me how good a mentor you are yourself. I’d actually like to see how you play your karuta.”

Ego inflated, Bad Guy predictably challenges. “Why not have a match with me, then, Mashima-san?” He glances at the students, “The kids could take notes.”

Mashima-san places a hand on his hair, looking sheepish. “Ah, but my skills are rusty. Haven’t been playing much since entering med school.”

Irked at the girls rendered swooning at the knowledge that Ayase-senpai has a runway-model-level handsome, karuta playing, intelligent boyfriend, Yamazaki-sensei pushes on, “I’m sure you can put up a fight. I’ll go easy on you, if you like.”

Appearing unaffected by the blatant jab at his capabilities, Mashima-san checks his watch, nonchalant, before turning to Ayase-senpai for permission. “What do you say, Chihaya? Do we still have time?”

Ayase-sensei considers the request. She notes how a full match would extend their club meeting for an hour at least. Then, addressing the rest of the club, begins to ask. “Is it okay with you if─”

Not even waiting for the end of her sentence, Haruomi and his teammates answer eagerly, “Hai, Sensei!”

“O-okay then,” Ayase-sensei heads to the door, “I’ll just let Miyauchi-sensei know we’re finishing up late.”

At their teacher’s exit, Haruomi and the members promptly settle down. He hands Mashima-san a deck of karuta cards, whispering a plea at the same time, “Show him his place, Mashima-san. We really can’t put up with him any longer.” His Shiranami society senpai reaches a hand to ruffle his kouhai’s hair playfully, eyes crinkling with reassurance.

While shuffling the cards between him and his opponent Mashima-san suggests, “Ano, Yamazaki-san, don’t you think it’s more exciting if we bet on something? We used to do it a lot back then.”

Yamazaki-sensei, after a brief moment of surprise, agrees. “Hm, let’s see,” his Bad Guy mind tries to conjure a wicked request. “Okay...If I win, you’re not allowed to come here during practice hours. Sorry, Mashima-san, but looking at how the students are distracted and all over the place with today’s visit, it’s best if we eliminate anything that interferes with their concentration.”

Shouts of protests instantly ensue. Mashima-san simply laughs, finding their sensei’s rudeness amusing, apparently. With a certain gleam in his eyes, he replies, “As for me, I have one condition: Whoever wins this match gets the right to be the club’s mentor.”

Meeting his opponent’s shocked expression with an easy smile, he elaborates. “Of course, we can’t have Chihaya’s team settling for anything less than the best, wouldn’t we?”

***

Ayase-sensei comes back thirty minutes later only to find the room in complete uproar. “Sorry, I got held back─”

“ ─It’s already over?! Just like that?!”

“Sensei couldn’t even get one card…”

“Mashima-san’s the real deal.”

“Kyaaa! Ikemen, hontoni ikemen!”

“I WAS HOLDING BACK!” Yamazaki-sensei exclaims, face burning with obvious humiliation. He points an offending finger at Mashima-san, who had been coolly observing Bad Guy’s pathetic breakdown from his side on the tatami. “One more round, Mashima-san! I’ll be playing all-out the next round.”

“That’s fine with me, Yamazaki-san,” he says languidly, “but you’re going to have to place a new bet.”

“If─!” Bad Guy doesn’t miss a beat, “─I win, I get the mentoring rights back.”

“Mentoring rights?” Ayase-sensei inquires at Haruomi. He grins, “Mashima-san’s earned his place as your vice adviser as of the moment, Sensei.”

Ayase-sensei’s confusion doubles when she hears her boyfriend’s end of the bargain. “Then, if I win, I get to borrow your phone, Yamazaki-sensei.”

“His phone?! What are you going to do with Yamasaki-san’s phone, Taichi?” She asks, concerned at how Bad Guy instantly petrifies at Mashima-san’s words. The rest of the room is also stunned at the odd request. But his intention is perfectly clear to Haruomi, and he has to physically restrain himself from blurting it out in the open. Mashima-san’s got this. I have to let him handle this.

Haruomi sees Ayase-sensei’s boyfriend put on a bashful expression, looking much like a boy who’s had to explain why he’s acting sneaky. “You know those pranks where you hijack a person’s gallery and post something silly on their social media? I just wanted to try it out.”

Sufficiently manipulated, Yamazaki-sensei releases a breath he’s been holding. His teammates nodded in understanding as well.

However, Ayase-sensei only squints her eyes, clearly showing how she’s well caught up with Mashima-san’s lie.

It’s then that Mashima-san’s gaze shifts, connecting with Ayase-sensei’s and holding her in place. Haruomi’s familiar with that type of communication─it’s something  that exists between long time friends or lovers. And since both apply to Ayase-sensei and Mashima-san’s case, it doesn’t take a minute before his girlfriend’s demeanor changes, too, having received the wordless message. She doesn’t prod any further.

The second match goes more or less the same, the only difference being Yamazaki-sensei’s resolve slowly crumbling at every card he couldn’t defend, every fault he commits. Gone is Mashima-san’s lighthearted persona, too, and Haruomi wonders whether this is what his senpai looked like when he was actively playing karuta back in the day. An image of Harada-sensei enters his mind right then, comforting Haruomi with the fact that Mashima-senpai’s karuta prime is still yet to come.

Contrasting the mood of the rest of the match’s audience, Ayase-sensei is looking troubled beside him. He even hears his sensei plead silently, “Don’t, Taichi.” Curiosity getting the better of him, he asks,“What’s wrong, Ayase-sensei?”

He gets a worrisome answer. “Taichi...he’s...using nasty karuta. The kind that makes your opponent want to stop playing. He hadn’t played like this since...”

Abandoning her explanation, Ayase-sensei shifts towards questioning him back, brown eyes pleading to understand.

“Haroumi-kun, what is it you’ve asked his help for, exactly?”

***

A conversation at Mashima Taichi’s car, moments after practice had finished and the karuta club members went on their way home.*

“Anywhere we have to stop by before I drop you home?”

“Eto...The pharmacy! And I won’t be going home tonight.”

“Okay...Let’s go over those one-by-one. What do you need at the pharmacy? Are you feeling sick?”

“It’s not for me.”

“For Chitose-san, then? I thought her acid reflux was handled already.”

“Not for her too. It’s for my boyfriend, actually. See, he’s about to get another migraine.”

“Wha─”

“I know you’ve been pulling all-nighters for the past week, Taichi. And if it were me playing your scary karuta a while ago, I’d be dead asleep by now. I might not be the one who’s going to be a doctor between the two of us, but I’ve been with you long enough to realize that even your superhuman brain hurts sometimes.”

“Glad to see how you’ve successfully bribed your way to getting my schedule from Nishinoya. Did you promise him an exclusive Daddy Bear merchandise?”

“That’s the thing. I didn’t have to, because he’s just as worried about your workaholic lifestyle as I am. Honestly, you have to look out for yourself better, Taichi.”

“That’s awfully ironic, coming from you, Chihaya.”

“...”

“Sorry. What I meant was─”

“No! Don’t apologize. You’re right. I haven’t been looking out for myself all that well, either. If I were, then you and Haruomi-kun wouldn’t be so worried, right? Enough for you to break Yamazaki-san's phone 'accidentally'?”

“...”

“In case you’re wondering, I can see why you’re both concerned about Yamazaki-san. He’s always acting...weird. But I thought that’s just because he’s new, and I shouldn’t pass up any opportunities that could help the club. Especially when I’m not yet the strong advisor they needed.”

“Chihaya...You’re already doing great. And I remember Sakurazawa-sensei telling you the same last time, too.”

“...Thanks, Taichi. I’ll try harder to remember that...Anyway, I’m going ahead and answering you next question: I’m not going home because I’ll be staying at your place.”

“But, as you know from your stolen copy of my schedule, I’ll be stuck studying.”

“Yep. Alchemy midterms, right?”

“Chemistry, Chihaya, it’s Chemistry ─You know what? Call it what you want.”

“That’s good, because it really sounds more interesting that way! But going back to your point─it’s my turn to look after you now, after what you just did for me.”

“And how can you help me with my midterms?”

“That’s what the painkillers are for. I’ll be busy nursing your headaches, baka Taichi. Which reminds me─can we stop at the grocery too?”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to burn my kitchen─hey, stop punching me! Cook, alright─Don’t tell me you’re going to cook again.”

“Whether you like it or not, I’m cooking. If I’m going to be called Mashima-sensei by my students in the future like what Haruomi-kun just did, I might as well start preparing to pass Mrs. Pressure’s standards, ne, Taichi?”

“...”

“See? I thought so, too.”