#idk places just make me emotional! i think i will pack up my posters last :) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

erensonly · 3 years

Text

Cuddle Buddies (Bakugou x Black! Reader)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Chapter 8: Moving Into The Dorms~

0,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6.2, 7

Love Maze (song for chapter)

(don't play the song yet)

"Y/N, get up." You felt someone trying to shake you awake. "I ain't gon tell you again. Let's go." Groaning, you sit up, disoriented.

"C'mon, get up and start packing. You gotta have all this stuff in that dorm by tomorrow. And when I come back you better be up. I'm going to get you some boxes."

Mama walked out of the room. Going to the bathroom to do you morning routine and get the day started.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Grabbing a suitcase, you go to your closet to try and decide what you want to go with you and what you want to stay.

Deciding to take most of everything in the closet, you start to stuff them in the suitcase. Going to your drawers, you start to grab stuff to try and put it in the suitcase.

Hearing your phone ring, you go to pick it up. Seeing it's Bakugou, you answer the Facetime, and put the phone down to continue packing.

"Why am I looking at the ceiling?" Here he go, you thought.

"Because I'm busy. Why did you call?"

"Because I may or may not be outside..."

"And why-" hanging up the phone, you walk down the stairs and go to open the door, seeing Bakugou at the door. "Why are you here?"

"Not happy to see me?" He pulled you in for a hug. Wrapping your arms around him, he leans in for a kiss. Smiling, you kiss him back.

Finally pulling away, you grab his hand, dragging you to your room. Seeing your suitcase and clothes on the floor he asks, "Where the hell are you going?"

"I have to move into the dorms by tomorrow, so I'm getting my stuff ready," you continue packing.

"... need help?" that's sweet.

"Um... I have some stuff on that vanity that I want. If you could put that in a box for me I would appreciate it." Going to get a box from mama, you walk to her room to see where she put them.

"Mama, where did you put the boxes. I think I only need a couple."

"I put them in the hallway next to your room. By the way, is somebody here?"

"Yeah, Bakugou is here helping me pack some things. Wanna come say hi?"

"Maybe later. Finish packing."

"K."

Walking with a few boxes, you hand one to Bakugou and put the others down.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"Ugh," you groaned," finally finished. Thanks for helping me Baku-"

"Don't call me by my last name."

"Ok Katsuki. Thanks for helping me pack. Now I have to move this to the car and into my dorm."

"Let's go, we can get food on the way back."

Katsuki grabbed the boxes while you grabbed your suitcases. He put everything in the car while you went to tell mama that you were leaving.

Getting in the car, he puts a playlist on shuffle and starts to go towards the school.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ Seeing the U.A building, you get out of the car, not excited to have to stay here for the rest of the year. "I think mama said Aizawa should be here to show me my room. Let's go."

Going to find Aizawa, Katsuki grabs your hand, walking behind you. Not seeing your teacher anywhere in the common area, you're just left confused. "He's probably in his room. C'mon," he lead you towards Aizawas room, knocking on the door.

"Who the hell- Oh it's just you. Let me show you to your room." He sluggishly walked in the opposite direction.

After walking for a little while, he points at a door. "Here's your dorm, right next to Asui and in front of Bakugou. Do you need anything else?"

"Nah, I got it, thanks." He walks away, leaving you two alone. "Come on Y/N, hurry up and get your stuff, I'm hungry."

"Don't rush me."

Going to spotify on your phone, you play Love Maze (by my faves ofc. play song) you start to sing along.

Cause I'll be in love maze Cause I'll be in love maze

Hearing the beat of the song always put you in a good mood. You start to sway with the beat of the song, taking things out and putting them away.

Katsuki grabbed a box and started to place things where you directed. Still singing the song, you turn to grab a poster of of the box to put on the wall, but noticed that Bakugou was slightly swaying with the beat as well.

"I take it you like the song," you laughed at him and his slightly stiff movements. "Shut up. You're just jealous you can't dance like this." This dude-

"Yeah right. Gimme your phone." Handing you his phone, you add this song and all your other favorite songs to a new playlist.

(i'm so bad at syncing songs but forget it. gotta keep the story going)

"Oo, this is one of my favorite parts," you rap along.

But I don't wanna use my head I don't wanna calculate Love ain't a business Rather like a fitness

Turning to look at Katsuki, you start to sing to him,

Let them be them Let us be us Love is a maze damn but you is amaze yeah

He blushed, not looking you in the eye anymore. You grab his hands, trying to get him to dance with you. "C'mon 'Tsuki, dance with me."

Feeling the rhythm of the song, you feel him start to loosen up a bit, dancing with you. Even though he couldn't understand too well what was said in the song, he still enjoyed it.

Baby just don't give a damn

Getting ready to hear your next fave part of the song, you bend down a little, getting ready to really get down on him (iykyk)

Hearing the beat change slightly for a second, you move your ass to the beat. Standing up straight, you both start to move with the beat, syncing each other, his hand on your waist and yours reaching back to grab the back of his neck.

Just looking into each other's eyes, indulging in each other's company. Staying there for a while you pull away. "Let me finish putting this away and we can go eat, k?"

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"I want Chinese food."

"Did I ask what you wanted?"

"I will make you crash this car right now. Don't play with me." Obviously he was joking, so you naturally played along.

"I don't wanna die with yo big headed ass," he laughed. Deciding to play with his emotions a bit, you pretend that it hurt your feelings.

Furrowing your brows, you cover your face and start to fake sniffle, trying not to laugh. He glanced at you for a second, not being able to turn his full attention towards you due to him driving.

"Why are you crying? I didn't mean it," he rubbed your thigh. "Ok, we can get Chinese. You can get whatever you want." His tone was softer than usual.

You couldn't believe he actually fell for it. Not being able to hold in your laugh anymore, you burst out laughing at him. He look appalled. How could you just play him like that?

He scoffed and took his hand off your leg. "You ain't getting shit now." He was pissed that you played him like that. His temper is short as hell.

"Baby I'm sorry," you continued to laugh, "don't be mad at me. I didn't mean it."

"Whatever." He kept driving in silence. Was he actually mad at you? It wasn't that bad. You kinda felt bad.

Arriving at the restaurant, he got out the car, still silent. "Are you still mad at me? I'm sorry, don't be mad." You reach up kiss him, thankfully he kisses back.

"Don't play with me like that. I really don't wanna hurt you," he hugged to close to him. "Now, let's get you fed," he grabbed your hand, walking in the restaurant.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Getting in the car with a full stomach, you groan. "I'm so full and tired."

"When aren't you tired?" Here he go being a smartass.

"Shut up. Take me back to the dorms so i can sleep and call my mama."

The drive home was quiet with music playing quietly. Getting out of the car, you head to the door so you can go to your room. Seeing everybody in the common room you wave at them and kept it pushing.

Crashing on the bed, you sluggishly grab your phone, clicking on mamas contact.

"Hello?"

"Hey mama, just wanted to let you know i'm at the dorm and i'm ok."

"Alright. You got everything set up?"

"Yep."

"Alright, try and get some sleep and make sure to call me tomorrow."

"Alright, love you." Hanging up the phone, you try to go to sleep. Tossing and turning. Just feeling restless. You were genuinely so tired, but your mind wouldn't slow down, it kept thinking about that day.

Big Head🐥 can you come to my dorm

Bakuboy💥 Yeah What's wrong??

Big Head🐥 cant sleep

Soon after, you hear someone knocking on the door, the coming in. "Why can't you sleep?" He sat next to you on the bed.

I cant tell him that yet. I want to but... not yet

"Dunno."

He knew you knew why you couldn't sleep, but he wouldn't push it. Not yet. "Probably because you're wearing these uncomfortable clothes. Go get changed."

Changing into comfy clothes, you go back to lay down. "Come cuddle me."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. It's ok if you don't want to though."

"I'm not supposed to be in here. But for you."

He turned off the light, laying behind you. Wrapping his arm around your waist, he soothingly rubbed his thumb on your stomach. "Go to sleep pretty girl."

Humming, you snuggle into him. Feeling your mind quiet down a bit. You slowly fall into a deep sleep,feeling safe.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

and that's a wrap. this was alright, slightly rushed but🤷🏽‍♀️ um if you didn't like the song choice then idk what to tell you exactly. anyway i hope you enjoyed this chapter. there will be tings starting to unfold in the next chapters coming out so be on the lookout for that. have a good rest of your night/ day 🖤

#katsuki bakugo x reader #mha bakugou #bakugou x black reader #kenmasblackwife #mha #mha fluff #black reader #bnha

51 notes · View notes

imnotcameraready · 5 years

Text

chivalry is dead (14)

A/N: HUZZAH!!!! WE’RE BACK IN BUSINESS BABEY !!! oh my god, it is Finals Season over here and my last one is this thursday. sorry this is coming out so late! it was a difficult chapter to write, plus it was being written between studying s o .,.,..,

speaking of! update in My Life is that i’ve been spending this past semester studying in a different country. immediately after my next final, i’m going home! but that means i’m also packing, and have a (long as FUCK) flight back home, and then i have to unpack and its going to be busy seeing all my family — this bad boy isn’t going on haitus or anything, but it might be more than a week until the next update! just giving y’all a heads up :’) after that, once i reestablish a Routine back home, then updates will resume at the usual 4–5 days between chapters aslkdghasldfxkh

sorry for the long authors note, and thanks ! <3

WARNINGS: panic, crying, threats, mentions of violence, thoughts of violence/fighting, sword mention, past violence, torture mention — tbh, idk what else is in here? please let me know if there's anything i've missed!

Words: 5577

AO3 link!

MASTERPOST! <– look here!! for the longterm warnings!! including sympathetic Deceit and cursing/swearing!

chivalry taglist: @starlightvirgil @forrestwyrm @daflangstlairde @marshmallow-the-panda @askthesnake @k9cat @patromlogil @theobsessor1

general tag: @jemthebookworm

hope you enjoy!!!

Remy was being uncharacteristically quiet. Patton and Deceit could tell it was unusual, given the Bard’s conversation prompts garnered single word answers. “Mhm,” “No,” or “Yeah.” When the Artist asked where they were going, Remy only said “Emile’s place.”

Something must have happened. But they couldn’t figure out what.

They were walking through another indoor alleyways, roofed by a walking bridge, when Remy turned left and opened a door. It seemed he knew the ins and outs of this town easily, despite how much more detailed it’d become. And, as Deceit had noted earlier, it HAD become more detailed. Through the door was a set of stairs and up the stairs was a small garden courtyard, with a pastel pink door at the end with a sign denoting it as “Dr. Emile Picani, PsyD.”

“That’s incredibly professional, all things considered,” Deceit gestured to the placard.

“Ah, I think it’s to mark the building as a doctor’s office,” the Playwright said, nose scrunching, “I’ve never seen that before, though.”

“You haven’t?”

“Not on Emile’s door, no. We should look into researching the laws surrounding doctors’ offices.”

“Research?” Patton asked, “Wait, what do you research for?”

“For creating, Patty-cake. We don’t just invent how much blood is in the human body, the different types of swords, how refrigerators work. That’s all research,” the Playwright seemed so pleased with himself.

“Yeah, like we’re any good at it,” in contrast, the Artist was more dejected. “We aren’t good at researching, using references, anything realistic. That’s….”

“We don’t have to research anything, if we just memorize it all! Or if we just make stuff up!” the Bard bumped hips with the Artist and summoned his ukulele again, strumming the first few chords to ‘Your Welcome’ before Remy put his hand on the instrument.

“Stop,” his voice was so serious, “Look, uh. It’s pretty bad.”

They formed in a semi-circle around him, Remy’s hand on the door. He pushed his sunglasses up and rubbed his forehead.

“Emile called me in the middle of giving midday naps, so I haven’t had coffee in a hot sec, so sorry. But, like, okay,” he fixed his glasses and shot everyone a look, turning slow to get the whole semi-circle. “Logan’s a lil’ spooked. Emile’ll explain what happened. Just don’t be loud, a’ight?”

The group shared looks at each other, mostly confused, though Patton gave them all his patton-ted Dad glare.

“Well,” Patton said, turning to Remy with a final determined grimace, “Alrighty. Open sesame?”

Remy opened the door cautiously, peeking in himself before opening it wider and allowing everyone else entrance.

The first room was a sitting room, themed similarly to how Emile’s office with multiple cartoon-themed posters. There were some couches and chairs around a larger coffee table, a few other coffee tables between the seating. An assortment of magazines and children’s books were displayed on the main coffee table. There was a reception area to the left, with a sign in sticker list and a computer behind a desk, but with no receptionist and no patients.

Just Emile and Logan sitting on the main couch. While Emile was sitting upright on the left, hands calmly folded in his lap, Logan was sitting very il-Logan-ly. Slouched tiredly into the opposite corner, glasses folded in the hand he was using to rub his own face, legs kicked out. Patton’s brow furrowed, inspecting Logan’s positioning. He could almost smell the grief radiating off of him.

Virgil, the Child, and the Thief were nowhere to be found.

Emile looked upon hearing the door’s hinge. He offered a tired smile and motioned to the seating. “Hey, everyone’s here,” his voice was quite soft, despite Deceit and Patton’s preconceived notions about him.

“Joy,” Logan sounded tired, almost defeated.

Once the initial shock wore off, Patton rushed to his side, setting a hand on his shoulder and sinking down to kneel beside him.. Logan flinched away, and Patton lifted both hands again immediately. “Sorry! Sorry, kiddo,” he bit his lip for a second, then continued, “What happened?”

Logan shifted two fingers, flicking one eye at Patton. It was bloodshot, with the surrounding eyelid puffy red. He examined Patton’s expression, with his cheeks puffed up and brow pinched together, and closed his eyes again. He couldn’t keep looking at Patton’s face, not when he’d nearly watched Roman — not Roman, the Thief, die. Nearly. And then he’d let Virgil and the Child both get kidnapped. Plus this headache, the same one from the previous night, was throbbing in the back of his skull, only exacerbated by his crying.

Good Lord, he’d been crying. Another thing to tick off the figurative “New Things” list.

“Do you want me to tell them?” Emile spoke slow and soft.

Logan shrugged. Someone had to, and it wasn’t going to be him. “Thief could explain,” Emile suggested, still treading lightly.

His crossed arms seized closer, and Emile winced. Jinkies. Shouldn’t have brought up the Thief.

“Oh, he’d better,” the Bard hissed, a muddled anger laced through his voice.

He yelped when the Artist elbowed him in the side, shooting him a dark glare. Emile looked between them and stood up. “Yeah, you’d all — well, maybe just the Romans? Deceit and Patton can stay out here, and we’ll tell them together. How’s that sound, Logan?”

He made a bit of a choked sound in trying to answer. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d just stood there.

“Kiddo?”

He was so useless.

“Logan, buddy, move your hands.”

“No,” he hissed.

“Breathe with me,” he heard Emile again, to his side, “I’ll count again, okay?”

This was pathetic. No wonder none of them listened to him. Dealing with plentitudes of positive emotions were hard, he couldn’t have imagined — oh, now was he imagining things?

These overly-abundant negative emotions were increasing such that he could feel a spike in his brain’s norepinephrine levels, which was silly in and of itself because he didn’t even have a physical brain for these hormones to spike within.

Patton tapped Logan’s elbow again, gently holding his forearms as Logan’s hand squeezed his face even tighter.

“Well, isn’t this dandy?” the Bard’s voice was a little too loud as he ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up before smoothing it back once more.” We broke Professor Glum. Where’s Thief?”

“Hey,” Patton said, shooting him a Dad glare. “Zip it, lock it, and put it in your pocket.”

The Playwright sank down beside Logan, on the opposite side of Patton. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of Logan since they entered.

The Bard backed up with a scoff. Clearly something was wrong! And Logan didn’t want to tell them! His stomach lurched with nervousness; they’d never seen Logan so rattled. If the Thief were here, he’d tell them what they did wrong. Plus, the Bard missed him, regretted their fight.

“Logan, dear, it’s okay,” the Playwright said, watching him shift uncomfortably, “How about Bard, Artist, and I go talk to Thief. It has been a dramatic few days and being reminded of my….of Roman’s fragmented state can’t be helpful in stabilizing you.”

“Ditto,” the Artist mumbled, still tugging at the strings of his hoodie from where he stood, just barely inside the doorway. The Bard nodded, too, eyes still pointed away.

Roman hated being so useless, and something in their chests told them that it was partly his fault.

Emile looked between each of them, then at Patton and Deceit. Remy must have left unannounced; that was okay. Emile would probably hunker down in his office after this to watch a movie. Maybe “Lilo and Stitch.” He needed something feel-good after this. Maybe some of the other characters would even join. That’d be nice.

What he NEEDED to do was diffuse the tension in here! Wouldn’t want them all stewing in this mystery for too long. Emile cleared his throat and stood up.

“How about we split up, gang? I’ll take the Romans all back to talk to Thief, and Deceit and Patton can stay here with Logan?” Emile looked up at Patton, then at Deceit, with a tiny smile waiting for verification.

Deceit met his look with a small nod. “I agree. It would be best for us to talk to Logan alone.”

“It’s been a long day,” the Artist voiced their collective thoughts, “We do need a breather.”

“That it has,” Logan said, clearing his throat and coughing a little. He lowered his hands into his lap and released a smidge of the tension in his shoulders, looking at Emile directly. “I….I agree with Dr. Picani. It would be more manageable to talk to fewer faces.”

“Well, then, alrighty,” Emile stood up, cracking his back as he did so, “Let’s blow this popsicle stand an’ head to Thief.”

He led the three Romans away, all of whom went quiet and guiltily. Patton and Deceit could hear Emile’s voice trailing off into gentle warnings about “he’s fine now, but just go easy on him, ‘cause it probably hurts, oh, what is ‘it,’ uh.”

Deceit waited until the door closed after them to let out an exhausted huff.

That’s what this was. Exhausting.

“C’mon, sit down,” Patton said, motioning to Logan’s other side on the couch, “Everyone else is gone. Think you can tell us what happened, teach?”

Logan exhaled. He could do that. It should be easy. Emphasis on should, because nothing about this, about reassembling Roman like a Lego set without instructions, was easy. Nothing about sword fighting was easy, either.

Still, a process of facts would be easier for Logan to convey, which he did. He explained how he and Virgil had chased the Child and the Thief into an alley, how they’d encountered the Dragon, and how there’d been a fight. How it ended with Virgil and the Child being taken by the Dragon.

He also added, almost as an afterthought or almost betraying how much he didn’t want to be thinking about it, that the Thief had gotten a 27.65 centimeter gash across his chest, 6.43 centimeters at its deepest and deep enough to cut through part of his bone. Patton looked like he was going to faint, face paling at the image, and Logan jumped in to clarify.

“It required magic to connect the bone back together, but it’s been handled thoroughly enough and Thief will heal fine. No vital organs were damaged, and he is currently laying on Dr. Picani’s other couch to regain the blood he lost,” he explained, now taking Patton’s hand into his own and squeezing. “He will heal fine.”

“I don’t doubt that, but, still….” Patton squeezed Logan’s hand, too, and then took his other. He held both of Logan’s hands in his own and pulled them close together, giving them small, reassuring squeezes. “I’m sorry you had to see that. It sounds horrible.”

Ah. Yes. Logan pursed his lips again and swallowed. No, he wouldn’t cry again. Not right now. “Thank you, Patton, but I’m handling this.”

Deceit cleared his throat, and the two looked up. He was scowling, eyes not distinctly watching anything, definitely not watching them, hair falling out of his hat again, definitely not distraught. It seemed that the bycocket fit worse than his bowler.

“Just to clarify,” he said, and they both could hear that he was holding some thoughts back, “Virgil and Child are with Dragon.”

Logan pressed his mouth into a tight line.

Of course Deceit would focus on that fact. He didn’t know what he had expected from Deceit. Sympathy? Unrealistic. This Imaginative excursion was turning him sentimental. Wanting things he would, should never receive.

“Yes,” he hated how tight his voice sounded.

Deceit nodded slowly. He was still trying to process Logan’s story, and how he appeared. Patton and Logan had been working together for a much longer time than himself; he had never seen Logan so distressed. The typical emotionless facade was gone. It was unnerving, almost. Like, he knew that the whole “emotionless” thing was a big lie but seeing the lie revealed was very different from just hoping.

He wanted to lean down, kneel down. Use his gloves to wipe away the logical side’s tears. Promise that everything would be okay. That they would retrieve Virgil and Roman and that all would be well.

Woah, there, Deceit. One lie at a time, or you’re going to start tripping over yourself. You know you aren’t allowed to do that.

Patton, however, drew Logan’s attention once more, tapping him on the arm. He held his arms out in front of Logan’s chest, as an offer.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said, voice soft, “Can I hug you?”

Logan blinked, slow. He wasn’t much for hugging, but physical comforting would probably aid him in lowering his pulse. And….Patton. After a long pause, Logan said “Yes.”

He leaned back on the couch, letting out a slow exhale and closing his eyes, letting Patton wrap his arms around his shoulders. If only he could sleep. That would benefit him greatly. They should have asked Remy to knock him unconscious before he left. He was less overwhelmed and more exhausted by the adrenaline and intense emotions he’d been wracked with. He began counting beats in his head, using Virgil’s breathing technique to slow his own oxygen intake.

Patton let Logan snuggle into his shoulder, trying to exude as much positivity as he could. This whole situation was like a swirling toilet flush, all his prior excitement about entering the Imagination going down the drain. He just wanted to make sure Logan was alright.

That all of them were gonna get out of this alright.

“You know, I kinda wish we had a different first quest into the Imagination. This’ all a lot more, er,” what was the right word? “High-stakes. Than I’d’ve wanted it to be.” That wasn’t the right right word, but it was close enough.

He was worried that pointing out the seriousness of the quest would garner some sort of negative reaction, but Logan just nodded. In truth, they were all in agreement. It would have been easier to understand Roman had they understood the Imagination more, or if he’d just communicated how he felt.

But well, Deceit was the only one bitterly remembering that none of them were adept at swallowing their pride. Including himself.

“It’s too serious,” Patton continued, “I don’t want anyone getting hurt in here.”

“People have already been hurt, Patton,” Logan reminded him, voice lacking any bite.

And people would always be hurt, and there had to be something Deceit could do about that. The “best” thing to do would be to wait for the night. But what if something happened between now and then? Deceit couldn’t get the image that the Thief had described out of his mind.

What would happen? Would the Dragon really dismember — he couldn’t think of that. No, Deceit had to protect them.

It was a matter of pure self-preservation. That’s all.

Without warning, Deceit stood up, causing Logan and Patton to jump. He strode to the door and exited.

Logan and Patton watched the door for a few seconds before realizing what had happened. Logan was the first one up, Deceit’s name halfway off his lips as he swung open the door. “Where are you going?” he asked, following.

“To get Virgil. Simple,” it was really not simple, not in the slightest.

“That….is a horrible idea. Nor is it simple,” Logan wanted to scream, because he frankly regarded Deceit as one of his more coherent cohorts, less eccentric than Roman or Patton and more cohesive than Virgil. But this is a level of sacrificial that he didn’t anticipate the typically cautious and selfish Side could reach.

And, still, Deceit continued walking. He stopped at the top of the stairwell and took a deep breath.

“It is a simple idea. I’m going to be in and out, and,” if he didn’t confuse Logan further then he’d probably follow, and Deceit wouldn’t dare put any more of his... “If I die, I die.”

Logan spluttered. That didn’t make any sense.

Deceit tried to escape, but was suddenly caught up in a pair of arms. Patton hugged him tight, pulling him back from the stairs. Less restraining him and more hugging him stationarily.

“Dee,” his voice was more desperate, “You can’t just go—”

“No one else seems to be acting with any urgency!” Deceit didn’t struggle in the hug, he didn’t want to hurt Patton or anything, but it was quite the annoyance. “Don’t you both understand? We’ve been thoroughly warned that Dragon is dangerous, and now we’re just going to leave Virgil with them to get tortured?”

Maybe the Dragon wouldn’t hurt Virgil, but Deceit wasn’t going to leave that to chance. His carelessness had led to Roman being literally shattered by insecurity as well.

Gosh, he had really failed them.

No, not failed. He hadn’t failed. Deceit didn’t fail, it wasn’t a thing he was allowed to do. He was simply going through a difficult disguise.

And now he was going to make things better, and then he was going to slink back into the dark corners of Thomas’ mind where he so thrived, would go back to watching the other Sides with a yearning he chose to ignore.

“Of COURSE we do not want Virgil to be hurt,” Logan’s voice wasn’t offended, definitely not, not the least bit hurt by Deceit’s assumption, “But we cannot enter without a plan, either, and you cannot traverse the Imagination alone!”

“I can and I will, let go of me,” the second part was directed back at Patton as Deceit lowered a hand onto his arms and shoved.

His grip was iron, though. The thoughts racing through Patton’s mind were like darts, trying to figure out the perfect bullseye explanation of what was nagging at his mind. Because, before they came into the Imagination, everything was a little more carefree. A little different. Oh, what was that?

“No. I–I, oh, hang on,” he grumbled into Deceit’s shoulder, holding him down and trying to word his emotions. Patton’s emotions, everyone’s emotions. Everyone was a little less wound up outside. But in here, it felt like everything was almost too dramatic! Between all the screaming and yelling, and all the swear words, goodness he stopped keeping track for the swear jar because there were so many. Like, 60 so far.

That was definitely bending the morals Patton liked upholding, of keeping things PG-13 and kid-friendly. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with all of THEM?

“Patton,” Deceit’s voice grumbled, bringing him back from his thoughts. “Are you planning to elaborate? Because, if not, then let me go.”

He sure was! If he could figure out how to make words work.

Patton made a drawn-out “eh” sound, waving his hands back and forth as he tried to word it. “I think — and Logan can DEFINITELY back me up on this — it’s safer, is more logical, hurts less people, will hurt you less, will make me not cry, will make Virgil not angry, will make, uh….” he counted in his head, frowning against Deceit’s back, “Will make five out of seven Romans happier, if you wait for all of us to make a plan together.”

Logan hummed in approval with Patton’s statement, and Deceit squinted at them both

He couldn’t deny that Patton had a point. As the anger wore off, it was replaced with a frozen pit in Deceit’s stomach, chilling him to the bones with worry and a vague understanding. He wasn’t usually this worried.

Perhaps it was due to Virgil’s absence. Virgil was the mediator of their worries.

Or maybe it was something else.

But even if it were something else, Deceit didn’t want to risk Virgil getting hurt. It wasn’t as though Virgil had never been hurt before. Deceit wasn’t malicious, but he certainly wasn’t doctile, and neither were either of the other concealed Sides. There were reasons he had to keep the veiled, after all. None of them were walks in the park.

But this was a true villain, without the inhibitions of keeping Thomas running, in a world Roman had created to hurt himself.

….Deceit’s arms felt a little tingly in Patton’s grip. Was that typical of hugs? He had felt a little sore after the Bard that morning, too, but had chalked that up to it being an unusually long hug.

You know, maybe hugs just weren’t his thing. It didn’t have anything to do with him not being hugged enough. And he wasn’t going to indulge that thought further. He wasn’t going to indulge himself.

“I think,” Patton’s voice cut into Deceit’s thought process again, softer now than earlier, “We’re all in a bad mindset.”

“Clearly. These circumstances are nothing like nothing within the reality that Thomas would have to face, and are nothing I have ever prepared for,” Logan responded, voice more level.

“....You’re just gonna say that?” Patton sounded incredulous.

Deceit scowled, looking down from them, up at the walls, as Logan clarified that he was thoroughly prepared for every possible real-world scenario but wasn’t prepared for the “imaginative nonsense” that Roman’s world wrought.

Patton was right, Deceit realized, far too right. They were simply in a bad mindspace.

“I don’t want to pursue Virgil alone, but I refuse to let him stay with Dragon for any longer,” he stated, cutting off whatever tirade Logan had continued onto. “Patton, can you let go? I won’t run.”

Both of them blinked at him, and Patton slowly released his extended hug. They had been serious, earlier, about accompanying him. But the more Logan considered the consequences of splitting up the team, the more he was wary.

“I don’t think it would be wise for any of us to go without formulating a plan,” he said, holding a hand out to Deceit.

“Well, I’m not just leaving him. I can’t,” and Deceit then raised a hand to his own mouth, cursing himself behind his hand.

Master of secrecy he was. Hopefully the other two wouldn’t—

“What do you mean, can’t.” Oof.

Deceit exhaled, shaking out his hand as he drew it away from his face, thinking of a cover-story. One came quick enough. “Wouldn’t it be dreadful if Thomas’ Anxiety was killed by his Ego?”

That would throw off the scent and puts the situation in a different light. But it just made Deceit feel worse.

It was stupid. He should have been consoling the others. HE didn’t need it.

Patton and Logan shared a glance. They both didn’t want Virgil to be hurt — alright, let’s stop beating around the bush here, they both love Virgil. Patton says it about ten times a day, and he’d swear off cookies if he were wrong about Logan loving Virgil, too! And they love Thomas. They don’t want Virgil getting hurt already, but they also don’t want Thomas getting hurt.

Logan nodded slightly toward Deceit, one of his eyebrows twitching up barely.

It was a subtle expression, much too subtle for Patton to interpret, but he could definitely tell that Logan was asking something. Patton just shrugged.

That didn’t seem to matter, as Logan nodded curtly and looked up to Deceit with a steady expression.

“Yes, but even you must admit that there are no preservation benefits to you going to rescue him alone. Plus, if we are staging a rescue, we should aim to retrieve Child and Damsel as well.”

“I–” he had forgotten that there were two others trapped. Now he was sheepish. A foolish oversight. “You’re right. We should. All the more reasons to go now.”

Logan shook his head. “You might have a sword, but Patton and I are unarmed and likely would not fight.”

“Oh, well, um, teach?” Logan and Deceit both looked at Patton, who was grinning sheepishly, “Sorry, but your Pop’s ready to pop off on Dragon. He’s been pretty bad, and bad Sides get grounded.”

Deceit snorted, but pressed his lips together harshly. The concept of Patton grounding someone, figuratively and literally, was ridiculous.

Though he would pay real money to see the moral side knock someone out.

Oh gosh, that was an actual possibility in the Imagination. Deceit might be granted the opportunity of watching Patton kick the daylights out of someone. That pleased him way more than he’d like to admit.

Meanwhile, Logan just frowned. “Excuse me, you are going to unleash a confetti popper on Dragon? Why would you use a celebratory cracker as a weapon, in a world where weapons are readily available to us?”

Now it was Patton’s turn to facepalm himself, rubbing his own forehead. “Ah, sorry! Pop off’s another one of those modern slang terms the kids’re using these days, maybe a good one for the notecards?”

Logan nodded, conjuring his set of notecards and taking notes as Patton explained. “It’s when you’ve got a lot of stuff bottled up inside of you, usually some kinda anger, and then something upsets you enough for that figurative bottle to open. Like a cap popping off? I think that’s the entropy.”

“The….etymology?”

“The entomology!”

“Getting closer. Etymology.”

Patton grinned a little and shrugged again. “That.”

“I see,” Logan fixed his glasses, “Also, to ‘pop off’ can also be defined as engaging in a physical altercation?”

“In some cases!”

“Mmm.”

Logan slipped the notecards away again and clapped once. “Well. Thank you for that, Patton,” he turned to Deceit, who’d been watching and listening with a vacantly fond expression, and motioned to him with both of his hands, “Returning to the original subject matter, Patton and I are still unarmed, and would not be of service while you storm a literal castle. If we want to guarantee Virgil, Child, and Damsel’s safety, then we need to outline a plan.”

“Oh, so just because you took a little vocabulary learning break, we’re ignoring the high-stakes of everyone being in peril?” Deceit asked, fixing his hat and forcing himself back into a scowl, “You’ve got no sense of urgency and we can’t have that out in a duel.”

“Do you?” Logan crossed his arms. This debate was actually helping him feel better about their future prospects. “Having a sense of urgency is Virgil’s job. Ours, together, is to concoct a longer but more cohesive plan.”

Logan’s voice is, as always, too level. He’s much too aware for his own good, Deceit thought, and his own frustration returned tenfold.

“Virgil isn’t here to do that job, so I’m taking it up!” he gestured to himself with his thumb, but stopped midway through the motion. He’s just as flippant and it’s proving Logan’s point. Slowly, he drew his hands back to his chest and exhaled sharply, saying with fervor “We must get him back.”

Patton’s head turns back to Logan when he lets out his own frustrated exhalation. There was something here. He was on to something, but Patton just couldn’t figure out the pieces. Meanwhile, Logan and Deceit’s argument continued before him.

“If you’re so concerned about preserving all of us, as a group, for the betterment of Thomas, then why are you going to such lengths to put yourself in a position of unsafety to save another Side? I don’t understand.”

“Because we can’t let him get hurt, isn’t that obvious?”

“I agree, but I want to hear your explanation. Why not?” Logan asked.

It was a simple question, but it struck a chord much deeper in Deceit than it should have. It almost made him feel ashamed at how angry he was.

He HADN’T failed.

“I’ll die before I let Virgil be hurt again,” his voice came out as more hiss than enunciation. “Any of you.”

Deceit’s declaration hung in the air for a second before he realized what he said. You could almost pinpoint the moment he realized he’d said too much, as he turned back around to the stairs, if only to face away from the pair.

“Oh?”

Please, please don’t bring it up. Deceit considered possible alternative stories. Some kind of lie about the other Dark Sides, perhaps? Logan and Patton weren’t as familiar with them as he was, he could definitely make something up about how they interacted, something about their hostility.

“Deceit?”

“Deceit,” one of them grabbed his arm, likely Patton, “Hey, kiddo, you’re okay.”

Curse his pride. Deceit wanted to tear his arm out of whoever was holding him’s grip because the burning indignity of his confession was making the weird feeling return in full force.

He wanted to grip his cloak and hide his hands again, so they couldn’t see them shake. Why were his hands shaking, anyway? He didn’t have anything to hide. Why would he hide?

Patton swallowed. ‘Any’ of you. Deceit was an actor, same as Roman, so Patton always had a hard time figuring out what to make of him. So this was a hunch. Just a hunch.

Just a hunch and a little hope.

“I don’t,” he looked at Logan, who was frowning at Deceit as one would an unsolvable puzzle, “I don’t understand.”

That was okay. “It’s a hard thing to understand,” Patton found himself responding, grin growing, “Love’s a queer thing.”

Deceit groaned. Logan rolled his eyes, though his cheeks tinged pink. None of the tension was lifted.

“That’s absurd,” he murmured, talking about the pun.

“Is it?” Patton whispered, talking about something more.

That drew both of their attentions back to him, with confused, expressions wrapped in a special kind of denial.

Was he strong enough to admit it? It was funny, in the same way that adultery or the puppets were, because Patton wasn’t known for admitting things.

Baby steps. He couldn’t scare himself or either of the other two away.

“Deceit,” he said, looking at the other with a firm expression as Deceit turned over his shoulder, “Once we’re, uh, out of the Imagination….d’ya think it’d be okay if we moved your bedroom to the Mind Palace? With the rest of us?”

Forward, but careful. Deceit blinked, leaning back only a little, only in surprise.

How tender a way for Patton to invite him into their lives.

He stepped back around, expression guarded.

Logan looked up from Patton to Deceit, less guarded and more stepping back. This was curious indeed. That tightness in his chest returned. He didn’t quite understand what Patton’s offer meant — of course, it would be beneficial for Deceit to have a room in their Mind Palace, so he could be central in conversations if he was choosing to become more prevalent in Thomas’ decisionmaking. There must have been another reason behind it, however, because his pulse was quickening once more. His fists closed at his sides and he could feel how sweaty his palms were. Was he nervous? For what?

You know what, maybe Logan was just allergic to the Imagination. That’s why his hormones were being regularly imbalanced and causing visceral physical reactions to emotional stimuli.

Patton smiled a tiny bit more, and offered his hand to Deceit. “I think,” he started again, gentle as ever, “Roman would take it personally if we left without him. ‘Cause he’s worried about Virgil, too.”

Deceit looked at his hand, then up at Patton.

Inclusion. Teamwork, like he’d preached earlier.

He wasn’t ready to admit what he truly wanted. Deceit wasn’t personally selfish. But he could….he would allow himself to indulge in the thought of wanting to be wanted.

He took Patton’s hand, and Patton pulled him a little closer.

“Fine.”

Patton smiled.

“Hey!” the trio turned back to the door to see the Artist poking his head out, “Where’re you guys going?”

“Nowhere!” Patton chirped back, waving his other hand, “We just wanted some fresh air!”

Logan and Deceit shared another look. It was best to keep this agreement to themselves, for now. They wouldn’t want to overwhelm any of the others.

“Okay, uh. Well,” the Artist jogged out to join them.

His hood was pulled over his head, tugged into a small opening where only his face was visible. He looked around at Patton, then Deceit, then Logan, and nudged Logan slightly with his elbow. “I never got to say, um. I’m sorry. For getting mad at you this morning.”

That felt like so long ago, and so much had happened since then, Logan had almost forgotten that it was all the same day. He nodded slowly. “Of course. While it was an unconventional and fairly belligerent method of relaying your discomfort, I understand why you reacted in such a way.”

He opened his mouth to continue, but then closed it again and clenched his jaw tight as the headache came back once more. What WAS that? Logan waited for it to dull back once more before continuing, “I will avoid making similar observations in the future.”

“Uh, thanks,” the Artist watched him with worry for a few seconds before looking around the trio again and stuffing his hands further into his pockets, “Should we go inside? We need to outline what we’re gonna do.”

“Awh, outline? ‘Cause you’re an artist?” Patton asked, his usual cheeky grin returning, “I’m proud of that one!”

The Artist rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever, Pop Rocks. Let’s just get inside. Bard and Thief miss you guys.”

He turned away, leading them back to normalcy with a slight new understanding of each other.

60 notes · View notes

simplystefanie-rae · 5 years

Text

I’m such a flake, doing mini episode reviews still on ML when I keep saying I’m ‘totally trying to give it up and do my own thing!’. Like loooooooooool, sorry but this bitch is opinionated.

I’m just annoyed with Gamer 2.0 because it was almost what I wanted, which is for them to address Marinette’s busy schedule and how she takes on too much, but the solution just doesn’t fit for me. Like, yeah she should absolutely let loose every once in a while and remember to have fun, but I just don’t see when that was ever really an issue in the first place. She knows how to have fun and do her own thing, the problem is she lacks the time to do it and keeps on trying to do things for others as well even when she’s stretched thin.

When her dad came into her room to get her to play Mecha Strike with him and she said she had way too many things to do and not enough time to do it, Tom offers the right solution to her right there. ‘Don’t bake too many cakes’. But then he’s all pouty about his daughter not dropping everything to play with him and just kind of leaves it at that and at that point I’m just confused, especially when the solution turns into Marinette realizing she needs to just have fun in the end. It would have been a nice time to have Marinette’s own dad actually have a meaningful conversation with her about how she does too much and is too young to be taking on this many responsibilities, and then us as viewers can have a great sense of irony in that he has no idea how much she actually does, but it would be good advice we can see her take in and maybe then adjust her schedule, realize she has to not take on so many tasks at one time, etc etc.

Side note, but the more we see of Tom the more weirdly irresponsible and over emotional he becomes, and this would be awesome if they actually had a point to it but Idk, it’s whatever. It’s something to play with in fanon I guess, since I really hate the idea that her parents are the perfect parents just to juxtapose Adrien’s home life.

Anyway, I did appreciate Chat’s advice to Ladybug and I thought they were adorable in this scene, and isolated by itself I love it, but since I’m stefanie and I ruin everything of course I have problems with it when taking the entire conflict into account. Because again, I don’t think learning to have fun is a proper solution to Marinette’s problem. It certainly eases her stress in the moment but those responsibilities don’t go away. And it just seems... tone deaf? Lesson deaf?? to have Chat insist Ladybug just needs to have fun and not stress out about winning against Gamer after he’s forced to let her handle the entire situation alone. Ladybug only does so with a confident smile because the narrative needs her to get over her negative emotions by the 20 minute mark. Which seems par for the course with her, she always has to get over any negativity very quickly instead of being allowed to just stew in it for a bit and talk it out with others properly. So I just am left wanting, as usual.

I’m sure every episode needs an akuma battle, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if they were just on patrol and Chat coaxes Ladybug into playing a game with him around the city. It takes any and all pressure off her to win and she can truly just unwind.

The end is also like... Okay so she gets Max to play with her parents, which solves their problems. She even decided to play a round and put off what she needs to do because the lesson of the day is she needs to have fun more often and not stress. But again, those responsibilities didn’t go away. She still has that poster to finish, tests to study for, ect, she’s just putting it off. Like, if this was just a situation where she needed to unwind and recharge I’d get that, but that packed schedule she had was absolutely ridiculous. I just wanted a proper handling on this, or for one of her parents to have a good talk with her instead of being bummed out she couldn’t play with them (again how OLD are they), or idk, they could have even left this problem open-ended since I don’t think this is the last we’re seeing of it.

Closing thoughts: Chloe is still a grade A asshole, and I don’t understand this choice in continuing to make her one when they also want us to feel bad for her and also root for her. She didn’t even need to stir the pot with Max, he could have been akumatized for simply feeling lonely since no one could play with him and it would have been enough, but they have Chloe be a dick to Max only so she could be an even bigger dick to Marinette. Like this was a deliberate choice these writers made. If she’s not going to have to learn a giant lesson again about not being an asshole to people then what is the point of her?

Oh and I loved that Max, even as an akuma, lost very gracefully and allowed Ladybug to destroy the akumatized object. Has anyone every done that before??? It was some nice growth on Max’s part.

#ml spoilers #long post #longish

60 notes · View notes

not-just-any-fangirl · 7 years

Text

Days Of Summer

A/N; HELLO AND WELCOME TO THE SHITPOST

jk, but it is on the lighter side! The ever loved rock camp au, insipred by the masterpiece that was Camp Rock. Idk if you have me to blame or @hannah-nobody, but you are all welcome either way.

This here is the collab her and I have been talking about for forever, and now we’re posting it in an attempt to make ourselves actually fucking finish it, but there is no motivator like disappointment.

Have Hannah’s made up reviews!

a beautiful coming of age story - ny times

one giant shit post - person

Quick notes - Every chapter will have a set of songs to go along with it, all being added to this spotify playlist with each chapter! All genres are used, and we hope it will be as cringey as possible!

Summer has arrived, and with it the start of the two month long music camp; Fairy Tail! Full of new songs, friends, and adventures, the campers learn things they never knew about themselves and one another. And just how easy it is to sneak booze and a full sized karaoke machine out into the middle of the woods.

Camp Rock!AU

Pairing: Nalu, Gajevy, Gruiva, others mentioned; Fairy Tail

Words: 5631

Rating: T

Parts: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven

Chapter One: The Start of Something New

Now who’d have ever thought that

we’d both be here tonight?

Oh yeah

And the world looks so much brighter

with you by my side

The music pounded through Natsu’s veins as the last notes of the song faded away and the crowd erupted into a series of screams. The band members on stage smiled as they tossed various mementos to their mud-splattered fans; picks, drumsticks, water bottles. Hands groped desperately at the air, his own among them.

He wasn’t really paying attention. His own voice joined in with the noise as he let go of all the energy the atmosphere of the festival has stirred within him. His head tipped back and he squeezed his eyes shut as he cheered.

When the band finally left the stage, Natsu looked around. He stood on his tip toes, trying to find Gajeel’s unruly mane of black hair in the sea of sweat-soaked festival-goers. When Natsu couldn’t spot him, he decided to head back to the tent.

Still on high from the previous band’s performance, Natsu made his way almost absently through the crowd. Most people lingered, waiting eagerly for the next act to come on, leading him to gently push a few people out of his way. Some people decided to sit during the break, not caring about the mud beneath them. Others remained on the shoulders of their friends, basking in the heat of the sun that had come and gone for most of the weekend.

One of the shoulder-riding music lovers caught his attention.

She was perched on someone a few people in front of him, and she was stunning. He altered his route in order to take in more of her. She was screaming as though the band were still on stage, making rock signs with her fists as she waved her arms in the air. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, but strands fell loosely on her sunburned shoulders. A pink crop-top exposed her stomach, where someone had painted a peace sign in neon green paint around her belly button.

He grinned as she wobbled on a dark-haired boys shoulders, but the blonde’s own expression turned from laughter to panic as she lost her balance.

Instinctively, Natsu pushed through the crowd and got to her just in time to soften her fall with his own body. The two of them fell to the ground in an ungraceful heap.

“Oooooowwww,” The blonde groaned from on top of him.

She raised her head, and a splotch of mud had somehow made its way onto her cheek. Natsu stared at her in bewilderment as she looked at him, eyes wide, then giggled.

He could feel the heat in his cheeks as he became aware of her body pressed against his. He’d thrown his tattered shirt away long ago, and surprisingly he didn’t feel self-conscious going shirtless among the energetic crowd. Especially not now that the pretty blondes’ hands roamed over his bare chest. Natsu quickly sat up before he became too absorbed with her wandering hands, tightening the scarf around his neck before helping her up and sheepishly apologising.

“No, no, no,” She smiled at him, “Don’t be sorry! It was Gray’s fault. He’s so meeeean.“

The girl pouted and Natsu felt a smirk pulling at his lips. He had no idea who Gray was, but he was very glad that they’d chosen to shrug her off their shoulders, for whatever reason.

Seeing his smirk, the girl’s laughter died off and she bit her lip in thought. She stepped closer, invading his personal space. His breath hitched when she placed a hand back on his chest.

“Thanks,” She told him, her voice low, before leaning up on her tip-toes and placing a light kiss on his cheek.

Her lips were sticky with pink lip gloss, and he found himself wondering what they tasted like when she drew back.

Her hand remained on his chest.

“Y’know, you’re pretty cute,“ She mused aloud.

“Erm…” He had no idea what to reply. He’d never been called cute before.

Before he had chance to formulate a reply, the girl stepped forward once more. Her arms snaked around his neck, and Natsu quickly discovered that her lip gloss was cherry flavoured.

She kissed him deeply, her tongue tracing the seam of his lips before delving into his mouth. He wound his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he returned her fervent kisses. The feeling she gave him far excelled that of the music ringing in his ears, or the way bass shook his bones when the band had been on stage. He had no idea who this girl was, but suddenly he felt like this whole weekend had been leading up to meeting her.

The girl twined her fingers in his hair, and just as her nails began to scrape against his scalp in the most teasing way, the kiss ended. The girl was pulled away from him and Natsu was left gasping for air. When he looked up, she was pressed against the bare chest of the dark haired boy whose shoulders she’d been sitting on earlier, an arm wrapped protectively around her waist.

“Geez, Lucy,” The dark haired boy scowled, “Can’t leave you alone for two minutes.”

The girl- Lucy- stuck her tongue out at him, laughing when his frown grew. She removed his arm from her waist, her gaze turning back to Natsu with that dazzling smile as she stumbled back to him.

The boy grabbed her wrist.

“C’mon Lucy, we have to go.“

“Graaaaaaay,” Lucy whined, squirming in his grasp, “You’re acting like my daaaad.”

“Your dad thinks we’re at a budding entrepreneur’s conference,” Gray scowled, “I think I’m showing you a pretty great time in comparison to him.“

Natsu watched with raised eyebrows as Lucy tried to dislodge herself from Gray. He would have intervened, but it was clear other boy was being gentle with her, despite her protests. Natsu wondered at the nature of their relationship, praying he hadn’t just made out with someone else’s girlfriend.

Eventually, Gray grew tired of Lucy’s protests and slung her unceremoniously over his shoulder, much to Natsu’s shock.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Lucy called back to him as Gray carted her away.

He watched her disappear into the crowd, banging her fists against Gray’s back even has her protests died off into laughter.

Natsu’s lips tingled.

The rest of the weekend was spent looking for her between sets, or hoping to catch a glimpse of her in the queue for a hotdog. Her name rang in his mind like a song. He wanted to see her again.

He wanted to thank her for his first kiss.

Natsu shook the memory from his head and returned to the task at hand.

Packing for camp.

God, how long had it been since that kiss? Two months? No, he was sure it was three. Every day for three months, his thoughts had wandered back to that kiss. To that girl. He’d even wrote a few songs about it, much to his own embarrassment. Not that he’d ever shown anyone of course. And he was pretty sure he’d throw himself out of a window if Gajeel ever found out. Mostly because Gajeel believed that Natsu had hallucinated the whole occurrence, despite the fact Natsu repeatedly assured him that he had not been on drugs.

Speaking of the devil…

“You packed all yer shit yet Salamander?” Gajeel asked as he barged into Natsu’s tiny bedroom.

“Almost,” Natsu reassured him before turning to back to his bed to pack his last item.

Tenderly, Natsu plucked it from his bed. His most prized possession. A gleaming red fender squire, with custom artwork of a dragon on the neck. A gift from Igneel on his birthday last month. His precious, his baby. Fervor.

Gajeel said it was dumb- Fervor the fender. But Natsu liked it. Sure, the name sounded funny, but the word itself appealed to him. It meant earnestness of feeling, but it also meant intense heat. The word had instantly caught his attention when he’d first learned it in English class. He wanted his music to make people feel things. Real emotion. And every time he delved deep into his own little world of creation, he felt as though every note burned within him, burning to be realized. Fervor was the perfect name. It was everything he wanted his music to be.

Plus, he called her Fev for short.

He lowered the guitar into her case gently and closed the lid before handing it to Gajeel to go put in Igneel’s trunk. His dad had taken the day off flying to the rescue in his helicopter to see them both off to camp, and Natsu was grateful.

“Careful with her!” Natsu chided Gajeel as he heard the case hit the door on his cousin’s way out.

Chuckling at his cousin’s foul-mouthed reply, Natsu picked up his duffle bag full of clothes before casting one last look around his room. A few posters were hanging limply off the walls, and would no doubt be on the floor when he got back, but everything else seemed to be in order.

From his basket in the corner, Happy let out a curious meow. His blue cat stared at him, as though daring Natsu to even try to leave without him. He didn’t want to leave the little guy, he really didn’t, but…

Natsu bit his lip and groaned. He stormed over to Happy, kneeling in front of him and opening his duffle bag.

“Alright get in you ol’ sour puss,” Natsu helped the feline into the bag, “But keep quiet until we get to camp!“

Once Happy was safely tucked inside his bag, Natsu left his room, slamming the door shut behind him. Making sure to brush any incriminating cat hairs off his black skinny jeans as he headed for the kitchen, where he found Igneel searching for his car keys.

Igneel was an impressive man, Natsu knew. He was “built like a brick shit house”, as Uncle Metalicana so eloquently put it, and his crop of red hair was truly striking to see. Despite being impressively sized, however, Igneel was obviously exhasuted. Natsu’s father worked long hours as a helicopter rescue pilot. Those long hours could prevent them from running into each other for weeks at a time, but Natsu understood. He knew Igneel still loved him.

“Heeeey, what’s this?” Igneel asked, coming towards him with a devilish grin.

Natsu had a brief moment of panic. Had he been caught cat-napping already? His fear was quelled when Igneel merely swiped the grey beanie from Natsu’s head.

“Daaad,” Natsu chuckled as he reached for his hat, “give it back!”

“No!” Igneel laughed as he held the offending item out of his sons reach, “You wear this damn thing all the time. You’re not taking some smelly tea-coasty to camp!“

“Awr, c’mon Pops!” Natsu whined, still reaching for his hat, “You know I hate my hair!”

“And why’s that son?” Igneel asked just as Natsu finally managed to tear the hat from his father’s grasp.

“Because it’s fucking pink,“ Natsu stated as he shoved his hat back over his hair.

Igneel swatted him over the head for his bad language, causing Natsu to straighten his beanie once more. He grinned sheepishly up at his father, nervously fiddling with the studs in his ears as Igneel scowled at him.

“Yo’ old man,” Gajeel’s head popped into the kitchen, “We leaving or what?”

Igneel sighed, shaking his head as he patted himself down, still searching for his keys. Natsu laughed openly before retrieving them from the fruit bowl on the kitchen bench and offering them to his dad.

He’d sure miss Igneel over the summer, but for some reason, he couldn’t wait to get to camp.

“Jesus, Lucy, I’d like to leave for camp today at some point!“

Lucy smiled to herself as the wind carried Gray’s complaints up to her open window. She cast an eye over her neatly packed suitcase, mentally checking things of her list, before zipping it closed and skipping over to the window.

“But my case is so heavy,” She pouted as she hung out of the window.

From the driver’s seat of his beaten up Ford Escort, Gray rolled his eyes. Lucy laughed as she watched her grumpiest friend pull himself out of the stuttering car and slam the door behind him. He stomped up her driveway, muttering as he went. It wasn’t long before she heard the front door open. She waved to Loke who sat in the backseat of Gray’s car before coming away from the window.

Lucy couldn’t help her excited smile as she flung her satchel over her shoulder, swinging open her bedroom door in order to pull her case onto the landing. She met Gray at the top of the stairs.

“Excited?” He grinned at her once he noticed her smile.

“Yes!” She beamed back, “I just want to be on the road already!“

“We would be if someone didn’t take so long getting ready,” Gray joked as he pried her suitcase from her, grunting when he hoisted it up in order to carry it down the stairs.

“Excuse me, but we both know you’re the one that’s running late.“

“Actually, that was Loke’s fault,” Gray informed her, slamming her case down at the bottom of the stairs with little regard for the recently polished hardwood floors. “It took him a good twenty minutes to say goodbye to all those girls at his door.“

Lucy laughed at the thought. She was glad she hadn’t been there to fall victim to Loke’s… entourages’ jealous gazes. She was just about to tell Gray as much when her father walked in.

“Ah, Mr. Fullbuster,” Jude Heartfilia greeted, “I trust you will take good care of my daughter while the two of you are at Business Camp?”

Jude Heartfilia was many things. A wealthy business man, the owner of a rather impressive moustache, unable to properly show emotion. He was a little awkward as a father, like he’d never fully adapted himself to the role, but he was loved by his daughter. And above all, he was incredibly easy to fool.

As the heiress to the Heartfilia fortune, Lucy’s father had set notions as to what her life would be like. He wanted her to blossom into a successful business woman so that when the time came, she was ready to run the family company. Did Lucy want this?

Hell no.

Lucy had felt a deep rooted passion for music since her early days. She’d danced to her mother’s records and begged every birthday for singing lessons. It was all she had ever wanted to do. But Jude, like most parents these days, did not deem the arts a worthy career path for his daughter. Before her mother had died, Lucy had managed to persuade him to allow her to attend piano lessons. He’d only agreed because he believed it showed discipline, something that was encouraged in the world of business. But as she became more skilled on the piano, her unyielding desire to be a musician only grew.

Unfortunately, Lucy’s path to becoming a musician had been halted abruptly. She had joined an orchestra- allowed because it demonstrated the ability to work in sync with others- but had only been part of it for a year when the tragedy struck.

She and Gray had quit orchestra after that. It was what had brought them together, but they had no passion for it anymore. Not after their mothers had died together in a car accident. Gray had abandoned his violin completely. Its case gathering dust in the loft of his shared apartment, untouched in years.

It had been hard, but together, they found new passions.

Gray had taken up the drums while Lucy found herself writing songs. When the words had begun to spill forth onto the page, Lucy had found herself able to return to the piano again. The words were nothing without the music to go with it.

Throw in two new friends and the taste for adventure and where did they all want to go?

Fairy Tail.

The best music orientated summer camp in a hundred mile radius; a place dedicated to helping young people find their sound and hone their talents.

Would Lucy’s father allow her to go to a music orientated summer camp?

Hell no.

Those had been his exact words. And so, Business Camp was born.

“Don’t I take care of her always?” Gray joked to her father. Lucy noticed him trying not to wince when Jude firmly shook his hand.

“Son, in that outfit, you look like you’re about to kidnap her.“

Jude raised a scrutinising eyebrow at Gray, who looked down at his faded Fall Out Boy t-shirt and laughed nervously. Lucy felt sorry for Gray, truly she did. But honestly, after his extreme emo phase a few years back, she wondered how her father could protest to anything Gray wore now.

“You won’t make a very good impression turning up to Business Camp like that,” Jude berated him.

“I know, Sir. This is just for the drive,“ Gray grinned, “Lucy will be changing too.”

Lucy looked down at her own attire. A t-shirt so big on her it hung off one shoulder tucked into denim shorts. She looked back up and echoed Gray’s nervous laughter from before.

“Obviously,“ She smiled at her father.

Jude seem to approve of their decision. After checking his watch, he gestured to Gray to continue hauling Lucy’s case to the car –much to Gray’s annoyance- while he said farewell to his daughter.

“Have a safe trip,” He smiled before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“I will Father,” She waved as she retreated to the door, “Don’t work too hard while I’m gone!“

She heard Jude laugh as she closed the door behind her. She felt bad for lying to him, but her excitement blotted out the feeling. Gray was slamming the trunk closed as she skipped down the stairs.

“Business Camp, here we come!” Gray raised a fist in the air.

Lucy laughed as she opened the passenger door and scooted in. In the back seat, Loke was sprawled out and cradling his guitar as though it were a lover.

“Shouldn’t you make room for Cana?” She suggested as she fastened her seat belt.

“We’re meeting her there. She left early with Gildarts,” Loke explained, “Man, I can’t believe he got us reduced fees because he’s teaching. Cana’s dad is so awesome.“

“He said it was his present for the two of you graduating,” Gray said, his voice muffled by the shirt he was pulling off.

Lucy groaned.

“Gray, must you?“

“C’mon Lucy, you know the AC doesn’t work,” Gray complained as he forced the car to shudder to life, “Would you rather I do it while I was driving?“

“Hey,” Loke interrupted, leaning forward so that his head was between the two front seats, “Does your dad still think the four of us are going to Business Camp?”

“Yup,“ Lucy laughed as Gray pulled away from her house.

She didn’t even look back.

“Man, your old man sure is gullible,” Loke slumped back in his seat, “I mean, really, Business Camp doesn’t even sound real. And if it was, I can guarantee you that Cana wouldn’t go. Not even if you paid double her weight in booze.“

“I can guarantee none of us would go,” Lucy assured him.

As they drove out of town, Lucy retrieved Gray’s iPod from the glove compartment. Loke strummed idly on his guitar while she leafed through the music, looking for the song she knew would fit their mood.

When she found it, she plugged it into the speaker and hit play.

Gray groaned.

“What is this?” He gestured to the speakers as the music flooded through the car, “2009?“

“Graaaaaay,” Lucy whined playfully, “You know you still love it.”

The song continued as she watched Gray trying very hard not to look at her. Behind her Loke was biting his lip to keep from grinning. When the chorus kicked in, just as she’d guessed, none of them could fight it any longer.

No one is as lucky as us

We’re not at the end, oh, but we’ve already won

No, no one is as lucky as us

Is as lucky as us

The three of them screamed the lyrics together through their laughter as they sped down the highway. Lucy knew right there and then, laughing and singing in their incredibly environmentally unfriendly car, that she was lucky. She was spending the summer with her three best friends in a place she’d always dreamed of going to.

Who knew what adventures awaited her?

“Lucy wake up. We’re here.“

Gray kept shaking her until she eventually opened her eyes. His words hadn’t fully registered, so when the car passed under an arch bearing the Fairy Tail symbol, she jumped up so high she almost banged her head.

“We’re here!” She squealed.

“I literally just said that,” Gray scowled.

Lucy was practically hanging out of the passenger side window trying to get a good look at the place. The camp was surrounded by a large lake on one side and trees on the other. The excited chatter of other new arrivals drowned out the sound of the birds flitting through the trees, but Lucy still caught glimpses of them in the afternoon sun light. Gray parked in the gravel parking lot outside of the Reception cabin before she could get a better look at the place.

As the three of them got out of the car, the doors to the reception cabin burst open, drawing everyone in the parking lots attention. Parents of the camps younger attendees stared in shock as an older camp member burst through the doors wearing only a bikini top and cropped jeans. Lucy laughed at their expressions.

“Hey ass-wipes!” Cana called from the top of the steps, “Who’s ready for two months of drinking, partying, drinking, and getting laid!?“

“I thought we were here to learn the true meaning of music?” Loke replied skeptically, ignoring the horrified glances of nearby parents.

“I know I’m here to party and show off my drumming skills,” Cana winked at them. She drew out the ‘s’ on ‘skills’, making Lucy suspect she was a little tipsy already.

“And I’m here to show you what a real drummer looks like,“ Gray called back, gesturing to himself.

Cana stuck both her middle fingers up at him, completely oblivious to the heavy parental presence in the parking lot. Lucy shook her head in exasperation. Cana and Gray’s drumming rivalry was almost as infamous back at school as Cana’s drinking habits. Almost.

The fourth and final member of their notorious clique barrelled down the steps as Lucy stepped forward to properly greet her. Cana tackled her in a bear hug, making Lucy squeal and laugh.

“Me and my girl are gonna get us some nice tail,” Cana muttered to herself as she squeezed Lucy, “Some hotties. What are you into Lucy? Singers? A bassist? Maybe a cello player?”

“Cana,” Lucy whined, “Get off!“

“What?” Cana laughed as Lucy disentangled herself, “I know all the guys at camp are gonna love these.”

Lucy felt her face turn red as Cana groped her boobs. She swatted her friend’s hands away, but it was too late. Parents were already shielding their children’s eyes.

“Aahh, you guys are here!” Another voice called from the reception cabin.

At the top of the stairs stood Cana’s father, Gildarts. Lucy had always liked Cana’s father. Now even more so since he got them reduced entry to Fairy Tail. A part of her wondered if he had taken the job here over the summer because of how much he knew his daughter and her friends wanted to go. It seemed like the sort of thing he would do.

“Hey Mr. Clive,“ Lucy smiled at him as he reached the bottom of the steps.

“Lucy, how many times? Call me Gildarts,” He smiled in return. He then turned his attention to Gray and Loke, who still had yet to unload the car, “You guys unpacked the ladies luggage yet? C’mon, I’ll show ya where you can take her stuff, and then I’ll show you where you guys are at.“

“We do we have to lug around Lucy’s stuff?” Gray frowned, “Have you actually lifted her suitcase? I swear she packed her whole wardrobe!”

“Be a gentleman!” Gildarts scolded him as he opened the trunk, “And put a damn shirt on, you’re giving that girl over there a heart attack!”

Lucy and Cana turned to where Gildarts had gestured to. Sure enough, across the parking lot a delicate looking blue haired girl was staring at Gray’s bare chest, her face completely red. When Cana burst out laughing, the girls blush only deepened.

“C’mon,” Cana beamed when she finally got her laughter in check, “We’ll head over to the auditorium while your chaperone is sorting your shit out-“

“I’m not her chaperone!” Gray called from behind them.

“-My old man says he’s got a heck of a show planned for orientation,” Cana continued, ignoring Gray’s outburst completely, “I wanna get front row seats.”

Lucy let Cana pull her along with a smile on her face. This was it! Once orientation was over, she’d be an official Fairy Tail Camper! Along with a couple hundred other kids. She’d have to make friends in the crowd.

Natsu shuffled awkwardly as more and more people filed into the outdoor auditorium. He was anxious for this to be over. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be here- of course he did, he’d been waiting for this for months- it was just that he was anxious to get to his cabin. They’d been intrusted to leave their bags at reception, to be taken to their cabin during orientation.

Happy was still in the bag.

He’d managed to hold on to one of two of his most prized possessions he’d brought along though. Apparently, instruments didn’t count as luggage. Or the camp managers understood how precious they were to their players. Either way, Fev was strapped safely to Natsu’s back in her padded case.

“Excuse me,” A soft voice tapped his shoulder. “Can you take that off? It’s kinda hard to see.“

Natsu turned to see a small girl with wild blue hair smiling at him brightly. He muttered a few apologies and took his guitar from his shoulders, resting it against his feet instead.

“Thanks!” She grinned, and then gestured to the figure standing beside him, “Anything you can do about that giant?”

Beside him, Gajeel turned and scowled at the girl.

“Ain’t my fault you can’t see, Shrimp.“

The girl pouted at the back of Gajeel’s head as he turned away from her.

“Unfortunately, no,” Natsu sighed. “But if you can find a hack saw, I’ll be willing to make him short for you.”

The girl giggled, the sound turning into a laugh when she noticed Gajeel’s annoyed glance.

“I’m Levy,“ She introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you,” Natsu smiled shyly, “I’m-”

But he never got the chance to introduce himself. The giant speakers by the stage sent a crackling sound out the audience, effectively silencing them. Everyone gathered waited a moment, and then a voice drifted out. A voice Natsu knew quite well.

Is this real life?

Or is this just fantasy?

“Dude,” Gajeel grasped his arm in a death grip, his eyes fixed on the stage. “It’s not.“

Caught in a landslide,

No escape from reality.

“Dude,” Natsu began to grin, “it is.”

Open your eyes,

“Oh my god!” Levy squealed behind them, “I love this song!”

Apparently, everybody else did too. The music drifted out from the speakers, and the longer the song went on, the more people began to sing. By the time the second verse was over, over half the auditorium was singing.

At the third verse, Natsu and Gajeel’s attention was drawn from the stage when Levy began to do her own dramatic rendition.

“Mama, just killed a man,” she sang along dramatically, her arms making wild gun gestures, “Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead.“

Natsu glanced at Gajeel to see his cousin watching her with a strange mix of horror and fascination. Levy didn’t even notice him staring at her, she was so absorbed in the song.

By now, everyone who knew the song was singing along. Some of them doing so a lot like Levy. The people who weren’t singing along mostly consisted of younger kids who had no idea that they were listening to one of the greatest songs ever made.

His own voice joined the crowd and Natsu couldn’t help the giddy feeling that rose in his chest. This. This was what he lived for. That feeling that music gave you, like you were a part of something. Something very alive.

His fingers twitched as the guitar solo begun. He was concentrating so much on mimicking the notes against his thighs that he almost missed the appearance of a man on stage. He was a pretty big guy, his muscled chest clearly defined by the shirt that clung to him. He was grinning cockily as he brushed back some of the brown hair off his face.

“Are we ready for this kids?” He spoke into the microphone over the last notes of the solo, “Are we ready?”

The air was practically humming with energy and excitement when the guitar stopped. The piano picked up. Natsu grinned as everyone seemed to be bobbing their heads in time with the notes. When the vocals kicked back in, the man on stage waved his arms dramatically and pointed the microphone to the audience.

Everyone screamed the words at him.

I see a little silhouette of a man,

SCARAMOUCHE, SCARAMOUCHE, WILL YOU DO THE FANDANGO?

The man on stage gestured for certain parts of the audience to sing different parts of the song. Everyone became carried away with the music. Natsu forgot all his nervousness about starting camp and just let the music guide him. He was singing dramatically with strangers throughout the whole song. Even Gajeel seemed less intimidating when he was screaming Bohemian Rhapsody at you. Well, Levy seemed to think so at least.

When the song was over, people cheered despite their breathless laughter. The man on stage gave an over exaggerated bow and then laughed into his microphone.

“That was amazing you guys,” He said, and Natsu was included to agree. “My name is Gildarts Clive. Welcome to Fairy Tail!”

This got another cheer, perhaps even louder than before. This Gildarts guy sure knew how to get things going. After introducing himself, he went on to explain that he was the camp’s residence guidance councillor, and that he could likely be found in his office should anyone ever need him. After explaining where his office was, Gildarts then asked them to bid a warm welcome to the man in charge, Makarov Dryer.

Natsu still couldn’t believe it. He’d been to Fairy Tail a few times now, but this was the first time the director had been well enough to personally be there. It was one of the biggest draws for the camp; that Fairy Tail was ran by the infamous Makarov Dryer, the former guitarist to legendary band: The Ten Wizard Saints. But reading about it and actually seeing a living legend in the flesh were to entirely different things.

Reading about him was more impressive.

Somehow, all the photos didn’t manage to translate how tiny Makarov actually was. Natsu could barely see him from this distance away!

“Jeez,” Levy whispered behind him, “He’s shorter than me!”

Natsu bit back a laugh as Makarov welcomed them all and explained how things went down here at Fairy Tail. He wasn’t nearly as interesting as Gildarts had been, and Natsu soon found himself wondering if Happy had suffocated in his bag yet.

The next thing he knew, the show was over and it was time to make their way to the cabins. Natsu and Gajeel had been lucky enough- to use ‘lucky’ as an extremely loose term- to be roomed together, so he simply tried to follow his cousin’s unruly mane of hair through the crowd. Unfortunately, with all the people pushing and shoving, Natsu managed to lose sight of him pretty easily.

He stopped at the open field near the auditorium, standing on his tip toes to look over the crowd for Gajeel. Natsu’s grip was tight on the straps of his guitar case as people jostled to get past him. Where had that bastard run off to?

A weight collided with his back and he stumbled slightly.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” A light voice cried worriedly as slim fingers clasped his arm to steady him.

Natsu turned to tell them it was fine, but his breath stopped short when he realised who had bumped into him. Pale skin, blonde hair, even those damned short shorts.

“Lucy?” He breathed.

This couldn’t be happening. It was a miracle. The girl from the festival. His first kiss. She was here.

Lucy cocked her head to the side slightly, a small furrow appearing between her brows.

“Do I know you?” She asked politely.

His heart sank.

“I-I-” He stuttered.

“God damn it Lucy!” A skimpily clad brunette appeared from the crowd and grabbed her arm, “Hurry up! I want us to be sharing a bunk!”

Lucy laughed and let herself be pulled along, no doubt desperate to get away from his blubbering idiocy.

“See ya around!” She waved at him.

Natsu just stood there in shock.

He couldn’t form the words. He couldn’t even feel satisfied that he could prove to Gajeel that the girl he’d been pining over for months was actually real. The girl he’d written countless songs about was at Fairy Tail. His muse.

But she didn’t remember him.

Playlist:

Start of Something New - HSM

Where The Lines Overlap - Paramore

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Live While We’re Young - One Direction

Walking Backwards - Sam Tsui

236 notes · View notes