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5-falsehoods-phonated · 4 years

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March Ado About Nothing

Series Summary - A series of one-shots and drabbles written based off of prompts posted in the TSS Fanworks Collective server. The goal is to take traditional whump prompts and fill them in the least-angsty way possible every day through March.

A note that though some of these fills are written bait and switch style (written in a way you think is going in one direction but reveals it to be the opposite towards the end) they are all written in a fluffy or silly style with very little, if any at all, actual angst.

Day 4: A Nice Family Outing

Summary: It was always nice for Janus and Patton to get out of their house and take the twins somewhere they could play and scream without disturbing the neighbors...again.

Prompts: *Stabbing*, Rescues, Adverse Reaction

Ships: Married Mociet (Janus x Patton) with kids Roman and Remus

Warnings: play fighting with sticks. Let me know if there are more!

General taglist (ask to be added or removed): @/janus-is-an-adorable-snek-boi @/im-an-anxious-wreck (in an effort to not flood your inboxes I’m only tagging in the first part ^-^)

WC: 850

Watching their sons stab each other, while an interesting way to spend the afternoon, definitely wasn’t the wholesome family fun outing Patton had imagined it to be when packing the picnic basket that morning. He chewed idly on a fingernail, tracking each movement with the quickness and accuracy that one really only acquired in parenthood- an instinct born from constantly trying to make sure your children didn’t die or kill/seriously maim each other before it was time for them to get their own insurance, and by that time one expected their sweet little gremlins to be grown up into something at least halfway civilized so that none of those instances happened by their own hands.

As it was his husband simply sighed in exasperated fondness beside him as the two run circles around each other a few yards away- both wielding sticks that they had been allowed to have on the grounds that if either of them seriously injured the other on purpose they would both be grounded for a month. In hindsight they really should have thought to bring the foam swords from home before they left but so far they had both been good about keeping the sticks away from their faces and not getting any more scrapes or bruises than was usual for all their roughhousing.

“I stabbed you you gotta play dead!” Remus yelled far too loud for Patton to be comfortable in public.

“Nuh-uh! Dad said no face stabs and you stabbed my face so it don’t count!” Roman screamed back.

“Doesn’t count Roman.” Janus supplied helpfully, earning an elbow in the ribs from Patton even as he snorted.

“Doesn’t count!” Roman parroted as he swung the stick at Remus’ knees.

“Does too! I hit your shoulder!”

“That's my face area so it doesn’t count!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

“Is too!” Remus, apparently having enough of the brotherly banter, abandoned his stick to tackle Roman to the ground instead, bringing him down with an indignant shriek as they began to roll in the dirt. Patton sighed and mentally ticked off the laundry he had already done that weekend and added the twins’ clothes to the pile he still had in the laundry room. It was only mud and they were old clothes so he wasn’t too worried- honestly most of his concern was whether or not they’d have enough bandaids for all the scrapes they’d probably have on their legs afterwards. He smiled and leaned back on his hands, at least there was never a shortage of Make-It-Better-Kisses. “Should we pull them apart now or wait until someone comes over to tell us we’re bad parents?” Janus drawled as he took a sip of grape juice from his wine glass.

“They aren’t being that lou-” Another shriek brought his attention back to the boys as they were now play sword fighting with the previously abandoned sticks. “...give five more minutes they’re having fun.”

“Mm.” They watched in silence for a couple more minutes before Roman and Remus eventually got tired on their own, both of them flopping down on the blanket to pant and rest in front of them. Reaching forward Patton gently carded through Remus’ hair, trying to ruffle as much dirt and grass out of it as possible. He looked over to see Janus doing the same To Roman’s face with a wet wipe, though it seemed both of their efforts were in vain. Seeming to give up on the fussy child Janus instead took Patton’s hand and began wiping it off with the cloth, taking it when he was done and placing a gentle kiss on his knuckles and causing his face to turn a brilliant red as he struggled to get words past his sputtering lips.

“Gross Dad.” Roman quipped from his place on the blanket. Janus glanced down with a wholly unimpressed expression and reached for him.

“Gross huh? I’ll show you gross!” Before Roman could wiggle away he was scooped up into Janus’ strong arms, shirt tucked up and away as his lips blew raspberries into his sensitive stomach. The unholy shriek that left Roman’s mouth was piercing enough to give any demon a run for its money, wiggling and giggling uncontrollably as his attacker refused to let up.

Patton turned to Remus, who was simply laying and watching quietly. Patton poked his forehead. “Feeling left out?”

“No!”

Patton grinned and reached forward, choosing to attack Remus’ more sensitive ribs then taking his husband's approach. Remus tried to stay still, face turning red with a held breath that was let out a moment later in an explosion of laughter and squirming that only brought him closer to the offending fingers rather than away. Janus stopped first, panting heavily and laughing just as hard as Roman as Patton finally let up and placed a hand on Remus’ forehead where he was resting on his lap. The sun was going down and they’d have to leave soon, but it was nice letting out the last of their laughter for the sun to enjoy before they made their way back home.

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#false writes #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #fluff #mociet #janus x patton #kid roman and remus #family fluff #chaotic creativitwins #march ado about nothing

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love-killed-the-superstar · 4 years

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yo im back at it again, this time for cassunzel week!! these ficlets will all take place in the same fic-verse as my cass week fics, which you can read here!

CASSUNZEL WEEK DAY 1 - HOMECOMING

On the day of her 22nd birthday, Rapunzel is radiant.

She must have known the surprise party was coming – how could she not, what with the whole of Corona buzzing with anticipation? – but still, she shrieks with delight all the same as the room erupts with cheer. She’s changed a little since the last time Cass saw her; her eyes sparkle a little brighter, her shoulders are less tense. Her happily ever after was only just beginning with Cassandra’s departure, but now – now she’s truly at peace.

Despite her initial decision to join Eugene and Lance at the front of the room in order to greet Rapunzel, Cass finds herself looking for a place to hide. Part of her doesn’t want Rapunzel to notice her right here and now, with the whole of the kingdom watching. She’s excited to greet her, of course, and give her a hug (maybe more, if her nerves cooperate), but… she just doesn’t know how to act with everybody else there. The new nature of their relationship isn’t exactly public knowledge, after all, and the last thing she wants is to cause some sort of uproar on Rapunzel’s birthday of all days.

So she hangs back, for once grateful at how tall and broad Lance is in comparison to her. Rapunzel begins to gush about the decorations, running over to hug her parents tightly, before making her way over to Eugene to give him the hug and kiss he’s earned for being such an efficient party planner.

“Well, I can’t take all the credit, sunshine,” he rambles, looking all too pleased with himself. “Everyone helped make this place a success. Oh, but I can take credit for keeping a certain someone – pardon the pun – under wraps…”

Cass considers leaving him hanging, but the second-hand embarrassment would be too much, even with Eugene getting the brunt of it. So she awkwardly side-steps out from behind Lance and gives a sheepish wave. Rapunzel’s face, set in confusion at Eugene’s awkward trail-off, morphs into one of pure amazement as her eyes meet Cassandra’s.

“CASS!!” She launches herself at Cassandra at full speed, leaving her winded from the impact.

“Oof. Hey, Raps. Ha, long time no see.”

Rapunzel’s arms wind round her tightly, scooping her further into the hug, and Cass returns it a little stiffly, glancing around as the rest of the party watch on in amusement. Lance is grinning like a fool, issuing a double thumbs-up, while Eugene simply offers a lopsided grin and a nod that she’s guessing he’s trying to equate to a sense of approval. The queen’s lips quirk up into a mile, but otherwise gives nothing away, while the king clears his throat and stares at the floor.

“Eugene said you couldn’t make it!” Rapunzel cries. “He said you were probably scaling a mountain or sailing between kingdoms or dodging a bounty hunter!”

“Oh, did he now? Dodging a bounty hunter, Fitzherbert, really? Unlike you, I don’t make enemies everywhere I go.”

“With your delightful personality, that genuinely surprises me,” he retorts, grinning all the same.

Ignoring him, she turns her attention back to Raps and pulls away to face her. “Well, regardless, I’m here now . Happy birthday, Rapunzel.”

Rapunzel reaches for her hands, entwining them, and for a moment Cass feels a horrific sense of deja vu – standing in the moonstone’s chamber, Rapunzel’s hair a swaying golden beacon, their fingers laced and faces close, such a tender moment and all the while, intense betrayal and anguish and hatred is tearing through her, clawing to get out–

But this isn’t then, this is now. And she is beautiful.

Rapunzel beams at Cass, but there’s a flicker of recognition in her eyes that roots them to the spot, just for a moment. She feels it too, Cass realises with a sinking feeling.

But in an act so defiant, as though to challenge the power of that awful memory, Rapunzel draws Cassandra’s gloved hands up to her lips and kisses them, just for a moment. Cass is pretty sure she can hear the king’s jaw drop in disbelief, but she’s far too shocked herself to glance over at him to confirm that. Rapunzel, oblivious to the surprise of those around her, quickly drops their hands and slings an arm around Cass’s shoulder, grinning from ear to ear as she turns to address the crowd.

“Thank you all so much for coming, and for celebrating my birthday on this fine day! Now,” she says brightly, “shall we let the celebration begin?”

From over the resounding cheer of the crowd, Cass hears Eugene burst out laughing behind them.

…

As far as Coronan celebrations go (of which there are far too many to commit to memory, in Cassandra’s opinion), this is one of the more enjoyable ones. The king and queen’s birthday festivities are usually more of a formal affair - there’s typically a banquet held within the castle and a more general celebration held in the courtyard for the public. Rapunzel, ever the fan of blurring the lines, has managed to merge the two somehow. The end result is an enormous buffet-style spread, two dance floors accompanied with separate musicians (one in the throne room they were decorating earlier with a formal string quartet, and one outside in the courtyard with a rowdier folk band that often performs at The Snuggly Duckling), and a whole lot of chaos.

Well, at least there are no gophers to chase after.

Cass, for the most part, has been hanging around the edges of the throne room to keep a low profile. People have been side-eyeing her all afternoon, though whether it's from the affectionate interaction with Rapunzel earlier or the whole former-enemy-of-the-kingdom thing remains to be seen. Either way, it’s better to avoid engaging with people when possible. Out in the courtyard, Rapunzel and Lance are caught up in some complicated jig of sorts, light on their feet and faces flushed with exertion as they dominate the dance floor. This gives Eugene the perfect opportunity to side up to her, a spare tumbler of punch in his hand. Pascal rests on his shoulder, watching Rapunzel’s dance in a similar trance.

“Thirsty?” he prompts, holding it out to her. She takes the drink from him and utters, “Parched, just from watching them.”

He laughs, and leans against the wall. “So, are you glad to be back?”

“Sure. I mean, I’ve missed it all, more than I thought I would. But…”

“But let me guess, you mostly came back for Rapunzel?” he finishes. “And now you’re pissed because you’ve barely spent a minute with her since the PDA fiasco that sent you scuttling right into the corner?”

The accuracy stings, it truly does. She goes to protest, but both Eugene and Pascal fix her with knowing looks. Cass hangs her head with a deep sigh.

“That obvious, huh?”

“Well yeah, everyone knows that Rapunzel is your favourite person in the world,” he says with a shrug. “And I know public affection isn’t your thing, at all. Here, hold this for me.”

He holds out his own cup for her and she takes it, eyeing him dubiously as he reaches for a small silver flask in his jacket pocket. He sprinkles a few drops into his drink.

“It all just took me by surprise, that’s all.” Cass sips at her drink gloomily and hands his cup back to him. “I didn’t hate it.”

“Still, here you are. Miserable in the face of festivities as always,” Eugene sighs, nudging her with his elbow in amusement. He takes a sip of his seasoned drink, smacking his lips in satisfaction. Still perched on his shoulder, Pascal shakes his head in exasperation. “Whoo, that’s better. You know what that punch bowl needs? Some rum in it. You want some?”

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

She rolls her eyes at him, but tones down the aggression. After all, he’s right; why did she even bother to come back for Rapunzel’s birthday, if she’s just going to bring the mood down?

“I’ll… try harder not to be such a downer,” she offers.

“How noble of you. You know, you should just tell Rapunzel you want some time alone with her, she won’t exactly turn that offer down,” he points out.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to pull her away from the party, she’s having fun .”

“She has fun with you .” As the song comes to an end, leaving Rapunzel being dramatically dipped by Lance, she catches Eugene’s eye from across the floor and waves. He waves back, before beckoning her over.

“Don’t,” Cass warns. Predictably, he ignores her.

“Hey! What’s up, guys?” Rapunzel asks breathlessly as she bounds over. “Did you see our dance? Lance is a natural, who knew?”

“It was something, all right,” Cass begins, draining the last of her drink and setting it aside.

“Yeah, it was great! But listen, sunshine. Your girlfriend here,” Eugene says matter-of-factly, jerking his thumb towards her, “who has travelled many miles to be here today, is lonely. Now, you’ve danced with me and Lance and your parents and it’s been great, but our girl Cass here is more of the wallflower type, so why don’t you two find somewhere private and catch up, huh?”

“Eugene!” snaps Cass, mortified.

“Sorry, Cass!” Rapunzel apologises immediately, reaching for her hand. “I didn’t realise, I got so swept up in all the dancing and cheer-”

“Rapunzel, it’s fine,” Cass interrupts. “More than fine. It’s your birthday, you should spend it however you want!”

“Sure, but… if we’re being honest with each other, Cass, I would like some time with you,” Rapunzel admits, squeezing Cassandra’s hand. Cass squeezes back, before quickly dropping it. “I mean, since we can’t be all… you know, ourselves in public at this point.”

Guilt stakes Cass through the heart at that. She shouldn’t have let go so fast.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Raps, it’s just still a bit-”

“Hey, no, only happy stuff today, please!” Eugene intervenes. He claps a hand on both their backs and begins steering them towards the back exit of the throne room. “Now, I think you two should duck out now, find a quiet place away from the chaos down here. Go talk. Give presents. Make out if you want, I don’t care. The frog and I can hold down the fort. Oh, but we’re setting off the lanterns in an hour, so don’t stay too long, okay? All right, have fun!”

And with that, the door swings shut behind them, leaving the two of them alone.

…

Eugene did them a favour, really. Cass will have to thank him later.

Walking through the empty castle walls in silence, they eventually find themselves climbing the small tower overlooking the training grounds; a spot they’ve spent countless afternoons in before, idly watching the soldiers train. Cass would silently watch on while pouring tea or adjusting a tray of watercolour paints, envying each and every one of them, all while pretending not to feel Rapunzel’s wistful eyes burning holes into her from behind. This time, after opening the trap door and helping her up, she holds Rapunzel’s gaze with equal yearning. God, it’s been far too long since she’s had Rapunzel all to herself.

The first thing they do, after the trap door slams shut, is kiss. It’s quick, and Cass still finds herself glancing around furtively in case of any curious onlookers, but they’re blissfully alone besides from one soldier posted at the edge of the grounds.

“He’s too far away to see anything,” Rapunzel remarks, already able to read Cassandra’s thoughts perfectly. “Now, can I kiss you again?”

The impatience in her voice sends a giggle rippling through Cass, and she nods, reaching for Rapunzel's waist and pulling her in for a second kiss; one that she can almost feel her smiling through. Fuck, she's missed this.

“So,” she says, leaning back against the wall as Rapunzel stands giggling before her, “good birthday, Raps?”

“Best birthday!” she declares sunnily.

“Oh, really? Best birthday? Better than escaping the tower and reuniting with your long-lost family?”

Rapunzel stops, and hums in thought. “Okay, fine, you’re right. Second best birthday.”

“That’s more like it.” Cass turns to stare out at the twilight sky ahead. “It’s a beautiful day for a birthday, Rapunzel, I have to say.”

“Isn’t it just?” Rapunzel sighs, scooting up beside her. “Every year I used to look out the window of the tower and stare at a sky like this. Even though I knew the lanterns set off at nightfall, I would just sit and watch the sky grow pinker and darker in anticipation for it. Even now, I have this… this jittery feeling in my chest.”

“Brings back some mixed emotions, huh?”

Rapunzel nods, her smile falling slightly. “It feels like a whole lifetime ago. I suppose it is now. Hey, what were my birthdays like for you, before I was here?”

Cass shrugs. “Castle life largely went on as normal, I guess. Your parents were sad, of course, so there was this air of mourning in the palace, even though the townspeople treated it more as a celebration of your life and the hope of your return. We would leave little messages inside each lantern, it was kind of a custom everyone followed.”

“Did you write me lanterns?” Rapunzel asks, turning to her with raised eyebrows.

“Everybody did, it’s not a big deal,” Cass starts, feeling the beginnings of a blush creeping in as she remembers the kind of things she used to write. “You remember all the lanterns we found on Terapi Island.”

“Yeah, but I never thought to look for yours! Do you remember the kind of things you wrote?” she probes, grinning from ear to ear. “Come on, Cass, tell me! It’s my birthday, you have to!”

Rapunzel bears those big eyes, ones Cass used to be able to say no to, and she curses that Rapunzel’s love has made her so soft inside.

“Fine. Ugh. Um, let’s see, I used to… okay, now don’t laugh.”

“I won’t!” Rapunzel promises, hand on heart, although her eyes are already beginning to crinkle in anticipation.

“You’d better not! Um. Okay, so when I was younger I had this… this dumb idea that maybe when I was older and stronger I could like – rescue you. Me and Max or Fidella would go on a lone journey, searching the lands far and wide for the lost princess, and we’d bring you home and I would, you know… be promoted to the guard.”

She cringes at the very fantasy her young mind used to entertain as Rapunzel squeals beside her.

“Oh, Cass! That’s just-”

“You said you wouldn’t laugh,” Cass reminds her with a grumble, burying her head in her hands.

“I’m not laughing , it’s just so sweet! You really wanted to bring me home?”

“Yeah. For a time. As I grew older and I was stuck doing maid duties, I kind of gave up on that particular dream, but then one day… there you were. And our lives got all mixed up after the fact.”

Rapunzel reaches over to rest her hand atop Cassandra’s, squeezing lightly.

“I’m glad they did. I don’t know what my life would be like without you, Cass, but I don’t regret it.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad,” Cass says wryly. “You’d still have Eugene.”

“I couldn’t picture my life without either of you,” Rapunzel insists. “Don’t act like you aren’t both equally important to me.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Cass reaches with her free hand to fish around in her pocket. “Hey, Rapunzel. Close your eyes.”

“Oh, okay.” She twists her face towards Cass and shuts her eyes, before pursing her lips expectantly. Cass rolls her eyes fondly.

“Okay, hotshot, not what I was going for. Hold out your hand.”

“Can I still get a kiss though?”

“Later. Hand, now.”

Cass takes out the bracelets she fashioned this morning from the blue stones of the lagoon and carefully fastens one around Rapunzel’s outstretched wrist. They’re nothing too special to look at, honestly; a little clumsier than the ones that Rapunzel originally made, for sure. The gesture will surely make up for it, though.

Rapunzel’s eyes open, and she gasps.

“You remade our lagoon bracelets?!” Rapunzel’s eyes are alight with amazement. “But you hate making jewellery!”

Cass shrugs. She isn’t about to go into detail about what a pain in the ass it was to thread the bracelets, and the number of times she stabbed her fingers in the process. She’d thanked the stars for her gloves being so sturdy. “Ehh. I hate making jewellery most of the time. I can make an exception when it comes to you.”

“Cass, they’re beautiful! I don’t know what to say!” Rapunzel hugs her tightly, pressing several kisses to her cheek when she pulls back again. “But I thought you said they should be returned to sacred ground?”

“Well, yeah, I did, but I’ve, um… I’ve actually been studying a little Saporian on the road,” Cass admits sheepishly. “A bit of language, a bit of the history. Just to pass the time on rainy days when it’s hard to travel, you know? Anyway, I found a history book that spoke of Herz Der Sonne and General Champanier. Did you know, they each wore matching pendants until the day they died? Matching blue pendants, the historians say.”

“The lagoon stones,” breathes Rapunzel. Cass nods.

“They were most likely buried in them, so I reckon we may never know for sure, but…” Cass bows her head to avoid Rapunzel’s eyes as she adds, “Since the lagoon was where they fell in love, it’s understandable that the blue stones were significant to them.”

“Just like they’re significant to us.” Rapunzel’s voice is soft, barely above a whisper, and full of awe. Cass swallows and nods.

“I… I thought, if the people who discovered this lagoon allowed themselves to take mementos without the world ending…”

Rapunzel’s hands find hers in the fast-fading light, winding tightly together.

“I will treasure this, Cassandra, for the rest of my days. Hey, maybe we can get buried wearing these too?” Her voice is light, teasing, but beneath that airy joke is something a little more… personal. Permanent. It makes Cass’s heart soar.

Rapunzel leans in and kisses her softly. “I love them. I love you .”

Cass melts a little, at that. “Oh. Oh, I… Yeah. Me too.”

“Here, give me the bracelet.” Rapunzel takes the other bracelet from Cassandra’s outstretched hand and ties it around her wrist. “Now, maybe it’s not the most practical thing to wear it over the glove, but it’ll be fine for tonight. Here, now we match!”

They hold their arms up against the glare of the rapidly setting sun, watching the light gleam through the stones. They glitter like they do beneath the waves of the lagoon, if only temporarily.

“You know… You feel different now, Cass.”

Cass cocks her head to the side, trying to work out what exactly Rapunzel means by that statement as she watches dreamily as the sun disappears below the highest turrets of the castle, distorting the colour of the grounds below. Has she picked up some kind of accent on the road that makes her sound off to native Coronans? Have the facial scars distorted her appearance too much? Is she acting haughty, aloof, more so than before thanks to her time on the road?

“I’m different?” Cass prompts.

“Not in a bad way,” Raps laughs, eyes crinkling with her smile. Her gaze roams over Cass, fully taking her in, before she adds on decidedly, “It’s just the way you are now. I don’t think I could describe it fully, but the life in you, it’s so different to how you were when… when you were at your lowest. It makes me proud of the person you’ve become.”

Cass is stunned. It’s not that she didn’t expect Rapunzel to comment on this; no, she knew she would be praised in some form, because Rapunzel simply can’t help trying to uplift people whenever she can. But she hadn’t prepared for Rapunzel to cut to the heart of the matter so quickly. It’s foolish, she knows, to think that Raps wouldn’t be able to see the effort Cass has taken to become this new version of herself. It’s an image she can’t always keep up, but it’s something she has worked hard towards before feeling ready to show her face around here again.

Rapunzel being proud of her is, shockingly, the remedy that she’s craved since the moment she stepped through the gates.

“You think I’m different now?” Cass bleats uselessly, unable to stop that goofy smile from creeping in. Rapunzel grins and leans over, pecking her forehead quickly before retreating.

“I think you’re getting closer to your authentic self. And it makes me really love you.”

Cass laughs nervously, swivelling away to watch over the field down below so that hopefully Rapunzel can’t see just how flushed she’s become.

As they lapse into a comfortable silence, the rumble of footsteps begin to flood the corridors leading out onto the training pitch. Cass strains her eyes and realises, as light fills each corner of the grounds, that all of the partygoers are congregating onto the pitch below, each holding a lit paper lantern.

“So this is where they’re setting them off,” Rapunzel remarks. “We’ve been caught out. Just our luck.”

“Well, Fitzherbert could have been more specific,” grumbles Cass, without any real venom in her tone. After all, she still owes him one for pushing the two of them into some alone time in the first place. “I guess we should head down and join them.”

“I suppose,” Rapunzel says, almost sounding disappointed at having to cut their time short. “Hey, did you make a lantern this time?”

“Of course. It’s nothing fancy, though. You know that artsy stuff isn’t really my strong suit.”

“I don’t know, Cass. You did make us these bracelets, after all…”

Rapunzel, glancing between the slowly gathering crowd and Cassandra’s face, makes a split-second decision and kisses her cheek once more, before crouching down to pull the door hatch open. Damn, what Cass wouldn’t give for this to be a boat they could undock from the walls of Corona and sail off into the night, away from all these prying eyes. Anything to squeeze a few extra minutes out of this situation.

Fiddling with her hands, she pipes up, “...I could say the same about you, you know.”

Rapunzel pulls the hatch open and cranes her neck to look back at her, brow furrowed in confusion.

“What’s that?”

“About being different now? You’re growing into yourself too,” Cass continues, moving to sit down on the floor, away from the curious view of the gathering crowd below. “I remember how terrified you were at the prospect of running a kingdom, but just look at all this! Seems to me that you’ve really come into your own since I’ve been gone.”

Rapunzel sits back beside her, face glowing at Cassandra’s compliment.

“Well, I love this place! And now that the magic, sundrop, saving the world destiny is behind us, I have more time to focus on this destiny instead. Turns out, it suits me more than I ever believed it would.”

“I haven’t seen Corona this happy and at peace in a long time. Whatever Rapunzel Positivity you’ve been spreading to the people, it’s working.”

“Hopefully it’ll stay this way for a little while longer.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and peeks over at her, meadow-green eyes bearing into hers. “I’m so glad you came back, Cass.”

“I’m glad too. You really believed I wouldn’t fight tooth and nail to come back for your birthday?”

“I didn’t know how far away you might be!” Rapunzel points out. “If you were all the way across the continent I wouldn’t expect you to make it back in time, and you haven’t written to me in weeks!”

“Because I was travelling!”

“Well, I’d still like to know next time!” Rapunzel takes a playful swing at her arm and Cass dodges, unable to hold back her laughter any longer. It doesn’t take long for Rapunzel to follow suit, their heads resting together as they giggle in the semi-darkness. When at last they’ve run out of steam, Rapunzel peeks over the rim of the tower.

“I see Eugene. Looks like he’s holding an extra lantern.”

“Probably mine,” Cass offers. “Since everybody else is accounted for but us.”

“Guess that’s our cue to head down there, then.” Rapunzel begins to climb down the ladder, before stopping, just as her head pokes out the top of the door. “So, did you write a poem in yours, or…”

“I’m not telling you!” Cass insists, poking her nose with a grin. “If you’re lucky I’ll let you squint at it through the paper before we set them off.”

“Well, is it romantic?” Rapunzel probes. Cass smiles inwardly as she recalls the words she wrote for Rapunzel, short and sweet, knowing that they’ll wind up on Terapi Island with no one to read them but the lorbs.

I love you, Raps. And for as long as the sun shines, I will never stop.

“...Maybe.” Lowering her voice to a whisper, Cass adds conspiratorially, “But you can’t tell anybody.”

Rapunzel mimes sealing her lips. “It goes to the grave,” she says seriously. “Now. One more kiss before we go?”

Rolling her eyes, Cass leans down to bridge the gap.

#cassunzel week #cassunzel week 2020 #tangled the series #tts #writing #cassunzel #uknighted dream

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thathopelessromantic · 4 years

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Crossing Lines

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Mature (implied sexual content + mild language) Pairing: Lance/Keith Note: The comeback no one expected with a series I thought was finished in 2018 and a fic I started in 2019 finally finished lol

There’s a nagging worry in the back of his head that this is not normal friends-with-benefits behavior, but it is easily drowned out by Lance’s sleepy smile when he shifts again to face Keith. He hides another wide yawn in his shoulder.

“Those kids wore you out, clearly.” Keith observes, trying to fight back his own yawn.

Lance smiles fondly. “It was fun to see them, to go back and be with everyone for a while. But I’m really glad you were here when I got home.”

AO3: (X) Part 1 of the series: (X)

Keith looks away from his computer as his phone buzzes against his leg. Pidge sits across the room at her desk, muttering to herself as she readjusts the device’s calibration – again. Their project was supposed to be at least 80 percent theoretical, but Keith knew the moment he was paired with Pidge that option was thrown out the window.

He flips his phone over just as it vibrates again. There’s a text from Shiro, asking him for the third time about a shirt Shiro insists Keith stole and Keith insists Shiro just lost, and a snapchat from Lance. Dismissing the text notification, he opens snapchat.

Most of the picture is just of a bright blue sky above him, but Lance’s face peeks out from the bottom, at an extremely unflattering angle. The selfie is taken at chest level while Lance looks down at the camera. His hair is pushed under a backwards baseball cap with frayed stitching along the edge and there is, what appears to be, a sparkly butterfly sticker on his cheek. Above his head it reads:

don’t blow up my apartment while im gone, mullet. i live there.

Shaking his head, he taps away the message. Pidge still appears absorbed in her tinkering and doesn’t notice as he takes a blurry picture of her.

we’re not that irresponsible

It only takes a few seconds for Lance to reply, no longer bothering with pictures and just texting back.

HA! but seriously, hunk’s been sending me worried messages all weekend

…Hunk had seemed particularly anxious the last time Keith emerged from Pidge’s room for a drink.

hm…like an hour ago pidge thought she had gotten the laser to work for real and did seem a little maniacal…

Lance replies with a supremely unimpressed expression, made, of course, all the more effective by the butterfly sticker. Keith snorts, but also half-heartedly wonders how easily he could get away with saving a screenshot of the selfie. He just saved one last night, of Lance cuddling with his parent’s dog ruined only slightly by the caption insinuating the dog had better breath than Keith, but he brushed it off with a lie about trying to lock his phone and taking the screenshot accidentally. He’s not sure if Lance believed him then, but he definitely wouldn’t believe it two times in a row.

Pidge loudly clears her throat across the room. Startled, Keith dismisses the message, and nearly drops his phone in the process. When he looks up, Pidge is looking at him over the rim of her glasses, with one brow raised.

“…Yes?”

“How’s that report coming, Keith?”

He glances back at his computer, at the three and a half pages he had finished of their ten-page report. “Fine.”

“Hm.” Pidge looks away, jotting down some other measurements on a pad besides her. “And how’s your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my-” Keith starts before he gives up with a heavy sigh. It’s a waste of breath with her. “Lance thinks we’re going to blow up the apartment. Well I guess actually Hunk does, and he turned to Lance for help.”

Pidge rolls her eyes, muttering something under her breath about worry-warts and ridiculous roommates. Keith smiles at the, somehow, simultaneously exasperated but fond tone she uses and turns back to his computer, tucking his phone under his leg again. But it takes a while to focus on anything other than blue eyes and familiar, silly banter.

It’s nearly three and a half hours later, though it hardly feels like it, when Hunk knocks at the door, tempting them out of the room and their work-stupors with the promise of pizza, the heady aroma already spilling out from the kitchen. They settle in the living room, Pidge and Hunk on the couch with Keith on the floor in front of them, legs stretched out under the coffee table. Pidge is still complaining around mouthfuls of burning cheese that they were almost done, if Hunk had just waited a little while longer, but Hunk turns on the sci-fi series they’ve been watching together and within ten minutes into the episode her complaints have turned into an analysis of how the character’s spacesuits work.

Keith relaxes against the couch as their familiar chatter falls around him. He’s a little lost in what is happening in the show, they’re further than he’s been able to get on his own, but it’s nice to share it with them anyways, especially with the way Hunk laughs triumphantly when he guesses the ridiculous plot twist twenty minutes early and Pidge keeps comparing the characters to people they know with frightening accuracy.

It only takes them an episode and a half to completely demolish the pizza, but when the third one starts up in the queue, no one bothers to reach for the remote. Full of good food and only half-paying attention to the show, Keith can feel himself being lulled to sleep right there on the living room floor. He fights against the urge as much as he can, but the last thing he remembers is the upbeat opening starting for the next episode, and then suddenly the episode is ending as he jerks awake, knocking his knee on the underside of the table, hard.

After his unfortunate waking, he extracts himself from under the table, gathering up dirty plates, despite Hunk’s protest, and taking them into the kitchen – the moving helps wake him up, even if his knee still hurts like a bitch. The stove clock reads 7:03. He slips through the living room as another episode is starting and goes to their bathroom.

As he’s washing his hands, his phone buzzes with another text. He opens the text as he exits the room. It’s a picture from Adam, Shiro’s fiancé, of Shiro sitting on the floor of what Keith is pretty sure is their laundry room, head buried in his hands. There’s a very dusty pile of something next to him.

The text says: we found his shirt.

Keith leaves the text conversation, trying not to laugh. Considering all the trouble Shiro gave him, Keith feels like he should be at least mildly annoyed by this instead of amused.

He turns the doorknob to the room in front of him and swings it open before he even realizes what he’s doing. He freezes, looking in at Lance’s dark, empty room. Distracted, he had apparently been moving through the apartment on autopilot – straight to Lance’s room. Feeling like he’s breaking some kind of unspoken rule, he takes a few steps in. Lance’s bed is still a mess of blankets and pillows, and there’s piles of books and discarded shoes covering his floor. He’s only been gone a few days, but his absence feels so prominent, especially like this, Keith can’t help but feel like something is wrong.

He’s texting Lance before he can think better of it.

when are you coming back again?

Lance’s response is almost instantaneous.

why? missing me that much already, mullet?

Yes, Keith’s head or heart, or maybe both, shout.

no just wondering how much longer we get to enjoy this peace and quiet he says instead.

whatever, asshole …….tomorrow night

Keith silently but firmly tells himself to stop being so damn happy about this news as he slips his phone back into his pocket. He takes one last look at Lance’s room before stepping back out into the hall and pulling the door closed behind him.

He just barely manages to fight the telling smile off his face before he gets back to the living room.

Keith crashes at their apartment for the night, on the couch. Hunk and Pidge both try to convince him that he could take Lance’s bed and Lance wouldn’t care, but Keith is fairly certain he wouldn’t get much sleep if he was in Lance’s room – even if he would be alone – and insists the couch is fine. He wakes up once around 5 or 6 in the morning as Hunk is getting ready for his opening shift at a local diner but otherwise sleeps well until about 10:30. He wanders into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee before going to roust Pidge. He doesn’t mind mornings much, but he learned very soon into their friendship that Pidge is very firmly a “night owl,” and has no interest in trying to deny her nature. She’s lying upside down on her bed when he gets to her room, and somehow managed to kick all of her blankets off of the bed, except one, which looks dangerously close to suffocating her.

He stands in the doorway for a moment, just staring at her. “How do you even manage this?”

“Mmphf.” Sleeping Pidge replies, very firmly.

“Right.” Keith pauses. “I’ll come back when the coffee’s done, actually.”

With a little extra time, Keith hops in the shower. As soon as he opens the bottle of shampoo, he recognizes the familiar, fresh scent as Lance’s soap. He’s a little surprised Lance left his favorite soap behind, even if he was just going to his family home for a few days. He also isn’t sure what to do, looking around the shower space for other soap. There’s plenty, and surely none of them would care either way if he used a little soap but…

Is he totally over thinking this? Absolutely.

Does that realization help him make a decision about which soap to use? Absolutely not.

What feels like ages, but is hopefully only a few minutes, passes before he finally convinces himself to stop being ridiculous and just use the damn shampoo. He just grabbed Lance’s first, it was a coincidence and if Pidge noticed later…well, she would just have to accept that.

…Right.

He washes up quickly after wasting who knows how long second-guessing his soap choices and leaves the bathroom to the smell of coffee slowly starting to fill the apartment.

He has to break the nonexistent, unspoken rule his brain has built up in his mind a second time, and trespasses across Lance’s room to find some spare clothes he’s left behind for overnight stays. He pulls on some clean boxers and his jeans from yesterday, but after he’s pulled the worn Altea University shirt over his head, he realizes its Lance shirt, not his. There’s a small hole starting in the bottom hem and the white letters are fading and cracked from excessive wear. It was folded in his drawers, so Keith is like…ninety percent certain it’s clean, but it still smells like Lance’s cologne. Or maybe it’s his lotion or laundry soap or bodywash, but between whatever lingering scent Lance has left on his clothes and the smell of his shampoo still obvious in Keith’s damp hair, he suddenly feels overwhelmed.

He hates how much he hates that Lance is gone.

It’s just a couple of days. Why is he such a disaster? They’re friends. When was the last time he missed Hunk or Pidge this much when they were gone? Even with their friends with benefits arrangement, what made Lance that special to him?

Actually, that was a can of worms he wasn’t really prepared to open just yet.

Keith makes a hasty retreat – a calm, completely normal walk out of one room to another if anyone asks – back to the kitchen for coffee. He pours a generous amount for both Pidge and himself, before he returns to Pidge’s room to finally wake her. He’s not exactly eager to spend another full day working on this project, but he wants to get it done, and he officially really needs the distraction.

It takes another hour, even with the promise of coffee, to pull Pidge out of bed, and she insists on showering “to feel like a real person” before they can get back to work on their project.

Keith has gotten as far as turning his laptop back on and opening their report, rereading the last few paragraphs to remember where he left off, when Pidge returns to her room in some leggings and a baggy t-shirt Keith is pretty sure belongs to either Lance or Matt.

“How about food first?” she suggests.

It’s not exactly the distraction he was looking for, but he shuts his laptop anyways, pushing it off his lap before she even finishes her sentence.

Sal’s is a small 24-hour diner just outside of Altea's central campus that makes it a popular place for both students and professors. Sunday morning, it is practically bursting at the seams, but it’s got good food for reasonable prices and Hunk, Lance, and Pidge had become regulars even before Hunk got a job in the kitchen. Within a few months of becoming friends, Keith had been invited along enough times that the waitstaff began to recognize him too.

Their wait for a table is reasonable, all things considered, and then Keith and Pidge have only been at the table for maybe three minutes before their waitress, Flora, drops drinks off at the table with a promise to be back for their orders in just a minute. Her long, red pony tail swings wildly behind her as she flits around the small space.

They hadn’t ordered anything, but Flora had been there for a long time and was used to their group stopping in, especially on weekend mornings when Hunk was working. But sitting on the table in front of them is two coffee mugs, and a tall glass of apple juice.

Keith and Pidge both stare at it for a moment, before looking to each other. Keith has a feeling the juice is making him feel a whole lot more…things than it is Pidge.

“I guess she just assumed?” Pidge finally says after a moment and goes back to the menu, as if she hadn’t memorized it within the first three months of their visits.

Keith pulls out his phone and takes a picture of the juice, sending it to Lance with a text:

from flora

Lance’s response comes in a few minutes later, interspersed with at least a dozen crying emojis.

i cant believe u traitors went to sal’s w/o me. tell flora i love her and one of u better drink that. we don’t let apple juice go to waste in this house

i am not telling her that. but i will drink the juice for u

Flora comes back to the table before Lance’s next reply comes in. “Just your usual’s today?”

Pidge hums and haws over the decision a few times, like she does every time they come, before agreeing to her usual order. Though she asks for fresh fruit as well today, just to mix it up.

He can feel his phone buzz against his leg almost the entire time Pidge is ordering. And again a few more times as he confirms that he would like his usual order as well. “But, Lance isn’t with us today so…nothing for him.” Keith adds awkwardly at the end.

Flora blinks at him a few times, surprised, before she snaps her fingers as if suddenly remembering something. “Right. I remember Hunk mentioning one of his roommates was out of town for a few days. Sorry guys, I’m just so used to your trio, or just you and him,” she says to Keith, thankfully not seeing the way Pidge wiggles her eyebrows and makes kissy-faces at him for the aside. “I’ll take that juice back for you.”

“Oh no, that’s fine.” Keith says, moving the glass closer to him. “It’s already poured, we’ll drink it.”

Flora arches a brow, but doesn’t argue with him. She promises their food will be out shortly and leaves the table.

“I can’t believe Lance didn’t request you deliver any messages to her for him, or insist we eat his chocolate chip pancakes in his honor too.” Pidge says once she’s gone.

Keith pulls out his phone, flipping it around to show Pidge the twelve messages he got while they were ordering. “Oh, I’m sure he did somewhere in there.”

It’s hard to get back to work on a full stomach, but they power through it. Their shared determination to not have to worry about the project after today deters the usual urge to distract each other. Still, progress is slow, and they’re still working when Hunk comes home from work and peeks in to check on them. They pass on lunch when Hunk asks after his shower, and give non-committal answers to his questions about dinner plans.

Keith is entirely unaware of time and date and hell maybe even location by the time he drags himself through the conclusion but he is bordering on ecstatic when he finally saves the document for the last time and looks up from the computer only for Pidge to look up from her own work and meet his eye a few seconds later.

“Done?”

He nods, and she gives an excited “whoop!” stumbling off her desk chair to throw herself on the bed besides him. “So I just need to add in my input and double-check the details match up, right?”

He nods again, and she immediately scrolls to the top of the document to start reading. “Oh!” she jumps up again, grabbing her laptop from the desk and the notebook she was working in besides it. “Do you want to double check the equations and make sure the experiment outline matches the order you have everything in the paper?”

He is relatively confident in Pidge’s work, but he agrees, nonetheless, and the two settle against each other in the twin bed to finish their work.

Keith isn’t sure when he dozes off, he doesn’t even really remember falling asleep, but when he wakes up, it’s dark in Pidge’s room. Both of their computers are on her desk and he’s alone in her bed. He sits up, half-heartedly feeling around the blankets for his phone to check the time.

“C’mon Mullet, you really had to move right then?”

Keith about jumps out of his skin at the unexpected voice, though he’d vehemently deny it if asked. Lance is sitting backwards in Pidge’s desk chair, pushed close to the door. He lowers his phone, smirking at Keith’s startled expression.

“I guess the deer-in-the-headlights look is fun too, but I was really going to enjoy lording the drooling-all-over-Pidge’s-sheets picture over you.” Lance teases.

Keith’s heart brain is doing some kind of stupid, fluttery thing over the boy across the room that he is pointedly ignoring.

“Shut up.” Keith mutters, even as he hastily wipes at his mouth. There’s nothing there. Asshole. He pushes himself off the bed. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Lance presses a hand to his chest in fake offense. “Really? You sleep through my grand return and when you finally bother to wake up, that’s how you greet me?”

Keith crosses the room, folding his arms over his chest and summoning the most unimpressed expression he can muster. “You know what I meant.”

Lance doesn’t seem deterred by the new height difference between them, or Keith’s attitude, crossing his arms over the back of the chair and batting his eyelashes up at him cheekily. He’s wearing the same baseball hat from the picture he sent Keith yesterday, but he’s got it on in the right direction this time, making him look minorly less like a douchebag. The baggy zip-up, which may very well be Hunk’s, over a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off, and sweatpants isn’t really helping though.

“When did you get back?” Keith askes instead of commenting on his poor outfit choices.

Lance shrugs. “A little after five. Pidge said you started to doze off around four.” He adds before Keith can ask. “Hunk made stir fry for dinner.”

Taking that to mean Lance was actually sent here to wake him up for dinner, rather than simply coming to terrorize him because he was bored, Keith steps around him to leave. A moment later Lance stumbles off the chair after him, complaining all the way.

“Hey,” Lance calls after him.

Keith is already rolling his eyes as he turns around, assuming Lance has a few more jabs he wants to get out before they get to the kitchen, so he is wholly unprepared for Lance to hook a finger in the collar of his shirt and pull him close.

“Is this my shirt?”

It takes all of his self-control not to fly away from Lance’s hold, though the heat rising rapidly to his cheeks is probably giving away his embarrassment all the same. “Maybe? I just grabbed something from your drawers after my shower this morning.”

Lance has a look in his eyes that Keith recognizes as usually meaning something dangerous is in store for him. He leans in closer, stopping just before the bill of his hat brushes the top of Keith’s head. “Did you use my shampoo too?”

“I think you’re a little too obsessed with your things for someone wearing someone else’s hoodie.”

“Well I think you missed me while I was gone.”

Keith isn’t entirely sure who moves first, but one second they’re staring each other down daring the other to give in and the next he’s shoved Lance’s baseball cap off his head, burying his fingers in Lance’s messy hair while Lance’s hands have dropped to his waist, pulling him close with a bruising grip. Their kiss is uncoordinated and messy. Keith is ninety percent certain he was not the only one missing someone a stupid amount this weekend. His back hits the wall, and he faintly registers Pidge yelling something about her room from the other side of the apartment.

Lance rucks up his shirt, warm hands brushing over his sides, and Keith is dangerously close to wrapping his legs around his hips and saying fuck dinner.

They finally break apart for air and Lance laughs against his throat, the sensation sending shivers down his back. “I knew you missed me.”

“And what?” Keith asks breathlessly. “You were ambivalent about it all? I don’t think so. Not kissing like that.”

Lance pulls back to look at him with a surprisingly soft look. “I just wanted to hear you admit it,” he teases.

Normally, Keith would have a comeback for that, probably, but now he’s distracted as he runs his fingers through Lance’s bangs. “You have blue hair.”

Just the tips of his hair that are dyed, actually, not his whole head, he’s still surprised by the change. It seems a little silly, but it still looks good on him.

Lance, not one to be deterred by much, winks at him, striking a pose. “Hot, right? Rachel did it.”

“Yeah, it looks good.”

That does give Lance pause and he blinks at Keith and his easy admission a few times. “Er, well…we should probably go eat now. If just to reassure Pidge we aren’t defiling her room.”

Dinner is great, as usual when Hunk cooks, and they sit in the living room with another show on in the background, but they fill most of the time talking about Lance’s trip and gossip in their department that Keith is somehow always unaware of.

It is well after eleven before conversation begins to fade and they start to disperse around the apartment. Keith is, maybe a little, embarrassed about it, but he doesn’t bother to hide his intentions to stay with Lance rather than going back to his own apartment now that the project is done. For once, Pidge and Hunk leave them be with minimal suggestive looks.

Considering the brief tryst in the hallway earlier, Keith isn’t entirely sure what to expect when they finally retire to Lance’s room, but Lance doesn’t seem to be in a particular rush to do anything. Keith shimmies out of his jeans and drops into bed while Lance puts on some kind of moisturizer. He strips down to his boxers after and Keith can see new, blue markings up and down his arms before Lance turns the light off. Predictably, a moment later there’s a crash and Lance swears. Keith leans over to turn on the lamp next to the bed. Lance is leaning against the footboard, rubbing his shin.

“What did you knock over this time?”

Lance sticks out his tongue. “Don’t worry about it. Move over.” He says. He doesn’t wait before he climbs over the end of the bed and flops down, half on top of Keith.

“I would have moved if you let me,” Keith says into his shoulder.

Lance hums in consideration before he shifts on the mattress. Keith lets him maneuver him around the bed, mostly curious as to what he’s doing, until they end up on their sides, legs tangled together and arms around each other. Lance’s head is pressed against his chest, and his hands are, conveniently, on his ass.

“Lance-”

“Shh,” Lance interrupts immediately. “I had to go a whole weekend without even being able to see this ass, give me a moment to enjoy it.”

Keith laughs despite himself, rolling his eyes. “You are ridiculous.”

Lance wiggles against him, sighing contently. “You like it.”

“Whatever.”

Absentmindedly, Keith runs a hand against Lance’s back, trailing nonsense patterns against his warm skin. Eventually, he looks down, just to make sure Lance hasn’t actually fallen asleep like that, and sees the blue drawings on his arm again.

“What is all over you?”

Lance lets go of him to roll onto his back and show off his arms. “After Rachel dyed my hair, Nadia and Sylvio wanted to match, but Lisa, their mom, wasn’t really thrilled with the idea, so we found these tattoo markers at the dollar store and they were washable, so we went kind of crazy.” Lance shifts so his side is up where the black outline of a shark tattooed into his waist is now black and blue. “They also colored in my tattoo.”

“Did you draw these?”

“Haha,” Lance elbows him in the side half-heartedly. “I drew the rocket ship on my wrist, and the constellations on my shoulder, if they’re still there, are from Veronica, but everything else is from Nadia and Sylvio. Oh, and Luis,” Lance points to a…something near his elbow.

“A flower?” Keith guesses.

Lance snorts. “A lion, according to him.”

“Not the most artistically inclined I’m assuming?”

Lance shakes his head. “Not at all. Nadia’s pretty good though,” he turns over his arm to show off a dog on his forearm. “That’s pretty damn good for a seven-year-old drawing on a moving canvas with dollar-store markers.”

They just spent the last few hours talking about this weekend with Hunk and Pidge in the living room, but Keith can’t help but ask more questions about his family and what they did over the weekend. He brushes Lance’s hair out of his face, and Lance settles deeper into his arms, waving his hands in the air as he talks about the piñata he had to fill for the party by himself, that was bigger than the birthday boy, and the balloon mishaps that had his mother ready to call the whole thing off more than once.

There’s a nagging worry in the back of his head that this is not normal friends-with-benefits behavior, but it is easily drowned out by Lance’s sleepy smile when he shifts again to face Keith.

“Did you guys have fun this weekend?”

Keith shrugs one shoulder. “As much fun as you can have the weekend before a Kolivan deadline.”

Lance grimaces sympathetically. “You finished everything though, right?”

“I think so. We were just checking each other’s work before I fell asleep. If there was more to do, I doubt Pidge would have let me sleep for long.”

Lance hides a wide yawn in his shoulder. “That’s good,” he tries to say, only to break off half-way through into another yawn.

“Those kids wore you out, clearly.” Keith observes, trying to fight back his own yawn.

Lance smiles fondly. “It was fun to see them, to go back and be with everyone for a while. But I’m really glad you were here when I got home.”

The admittance is so quiet in the still room, and almost immediately drowned out by the way Keith’s pulse races, blood roaring in his ears.

Lance had closed his eyes, but he opens them again and looks up at him curiously. Keith knows he has to be able to hear the erratic beating of his heart. He wonders if Lance is even remotely aware of how many lines they’ve crossed in the period of their relationship, if he thinks at all about how little like fuck-buddies they behave when they spend nights wrapped in each other’s arms saying soft things and doing nothing else and if it affects him at all or if this is just how he is casually intimate with everyone. And he wonders why he hates that idea so much.

“Can I kiss you?” Keith asks. It’s usually Lance’s question, but for once, Keith can’t help but ask, ignoring, for now, how overwhelmed he is.

Surprisingly, Lance is quiet, and just nods his agreement, watching Keith with wide eyes.

The kiss now is nothing like the ones they shared before dinner, slow and gentle where the others were rushed and near-frantic. Keith wraps both arms around Lance’s waist, and Lance cradles his face with one hand, threading his other hand through Keith’s hair.

“Good night,” Keith whispers against his lips as they break apart feeling like he’s doing something unbelievably stupid even as the words come.

Lance presses one more quick, closed-mouth kiss against his lips. “Good night.”

Keith flips off the bedside table lamp, dousing them in darkness.

He isn’t sure how long they lay in the dark before Lance finally relaxes and falls asleep, but it feels like at least another hour before Keith admits to himself, he can’t sleep yet and carefully extracts himself from the bed. Lance makes a quiet noise of displeasure in his sleep, but easily stretches out, taking up the empty space and doesn’t wake up.

Keith goes out into the hallway, thinking he’ll just go to the living room and calm down but a light shines through the crack of Pidge’s closed door and he finds himself drawn there instead. He knocks once and Pidge opens the door immediately, looking around the hall almost alarmed.

“Keith? What’s wrong? It’s almost four in the morn-”

“Pidge, I think I love him.” Keith interrupts. “I think I’m in love.”

#vld #voltron #klance #fic #au #fwb #vld lance #vld keith #rita writes #fic: get some #lance mcclain #keith kogane #6.13.20

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moviestorian · 4 years

Note

Im glad the asks helped! I have anxiety and depression and can understand what youre going through. My ask today is what are your thoughts on Bo Rhap as a movie?

Thanks! :) I’m above all extremely happy to see people on this site being so kind and supportive in time of need, it’s a human quality that will never get enough praise! I’m also really sorry to hear about your problems. :( I send you lots of love, I can imagine how difficult it must be for you, but I’m sure you're strong and coping❤️

As for your actual question - that’s some truly excellent and interesting timing, considering that I rewatched BoRhap (with @incblackbird) literally three days ago. :P It was already my third rewatch, and while I enjoyed the movie overall, I liked it quite significantly less than upon the last time I saw it. Of course, there’s been gazillion discourses about BoRhap, whether it’s genius, extremely evil, etc., but since it’s such a broad topic (and I think some of my opinions could potentially outrage certain parts of the fandom), this time I’m going to stick to purely cinematic terms.

Needless to say, the soundtrack is excellent - with music such as Queen’s you don’t really have to do much, but they made a good choice of songs, alternating between their best known hits (We Will Rock You, Somebody to Love, Bohemian Rhapsody) and songs to fit the narrative (Doing All Right, Now I’m Here, Who Wants to Live Forever, Love of my Life). It’s practically impossible to leave the screening of BoRhap without at least one Queen song stuck in your head.

The cast was overall very good, too. My personal favourites in terms of acting were Gwilym Lee (who I liked even more than Rami), Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton and Allen Leech - I think they did a great job with their roles as they were written (whether their characters were well written or not is a subject for a whole another discussion). All the side characters were well acted, too (Mike Myers, Meneka Das and Aaron McCusker, for instance, I found particularly memorable), but I must admit I wasn’t a big fan of Joe Mazzello and Ben Hardy, but even they weren’t bad. So, acting is definitely one of the strongest points of the film.

Moving on, I also think they did a great job when it comes to costumes (Brian lending some of his old clothing definitely helped) and make-up (except for Roger’s wigs, perhaps); the choreography and stage movement for the characters were super well done, too - and it definitely wasn’t an easy task!

Now, let’s discuss cinematography. I will talk about editing in a separate paragraph, so for now I’m gonna stick to other aspects. The composition of shots struck me as rather mediocre, nothing particularly exceptional in either good or bad way, it was pretty basic but rather correct. Of course, there were some shots I really liked, but if I were to start adding screenshots the post would become way too long. XD The colours I really liked, especially in the musical scenes - they were vivid and lovely, and they used a combination of colours that I tend to appreciate in cinema, like various shades of blue and red. Finally, the camerawork - for dialogue scenes it was correct; again, rather average with some use of handheld camera which served no particular dramatic purpose, but it wasn’t nowhere near very bad, also it’s quite a common thing in modern biopics I would say. Handheld camerawork isn’t bad in default, but my comment largely comes from my personal preferences: in most cases I don’t really like it, especially when it’s particularly shaky. Then, there are scenes in BoRhap which display excellent camerawork, namely Live Aid and We Will Rock You scenes. If most scenes were filmed like that, I would give the movie a higher rating.

Before I move to the worst (imo) cinematic aspects of the movie, let’s have a look at writing. It is probably the most divisive thing in the fandom - people seem to either adore or absolutely loathe it; my stance lies somewhere inbetween. The first time I saw the film (I’m gonna remind you that I’ve seen it four times), I had certain objections, but the script didn’t bother me all that much; I was mostly simply having fun in the cinema. With every next watching, the experience was getting gradually worse, but even now I don’t hate the movie. Yes, some of the dialogue is cheesy, trite and makes me cringe a bit - certain parts of the script definitely end on an “overly sentimental” territory, I can’t deny that. Knowing quite a lot about Freddie, Queen and their stories, I generally think they deserve a better script; some characterisation was a bit offputting and chronology was all over the place. Having said that, I understand where some of those narrative choices come from, as scripts for mainstream movies require oversimplification of events, archetypes, and patterns. And quite frankly, I don’t think BoRhap differs any drastically from most modern biopics; it’s not a masterpiece, but - in my opinion - it’s also not bad overall. Regardless the flaws of the script, the movie still managed to emotionally affect a huge, if not major, portion of viewers, entertain and move them, and honestly? I think that was pretty much the point. Btw, there were some lines that I really loved, like “Puritans in public, perverts in private”, and I still think that their decision to cut from Live Aid performance to Ray Foster’s grim face during We Are the Champions was the funniest shit ever. XD Would BoRhap’s script benefit from sticking to historical accuracy? I’m gonna say yes, I think so - the scenes that were the closest to actual events are definitely the strongest - but this approach would require tons of changes, including narrowing down the narrative scope and probably the characters, too. Also, a lot of people keep forgetting that this is not an arthouse, niche film and therefore resorts to narrative and cinematic choice that compromise between satisfying the fans and the newbies; it’s meant to tell a (simple) story and entertain, not educate and provoke existential and philosophical debates. Still, I think the script could have been done a bit better, because some scenes (the tour “Now I’m Here” montage) feel a bit...random?

Finally, the infamous editing. I totally agree that it was one of the most undeserving Academy Awards that year, because some scenes were simply atrocious, with their unmotivated and overly fast cuts and unreasonably ridiculous face that doesn’t fit the dialogue scenes, and those are honestly the worst when it comes to pacing and editing. I think the editing is the worst aspect of BoRhap; but even here, I could point at some examples of pretty amazing editing (Oscar-worthy? Not necessarily, but definitely very good); again, I’m gonna bring up Live Aid and “We Will Rock You” scenes, especially the latter, because less people talk about it. I already mentioned that it has some really nice camerawork AND colours, but also the editing is actually really cool, because it’s cut to the music! Which makes me think: “what a shame!”, because if they went with different editing choices, the movie would be affected in a positive way. The way we have it, it’s either a hit or miss (sadly, mostly miss), and the badly edited scenes are pretty striking, so the ones that are done nicely are unfortunately a wasted potential.

Okay, this is already waaay too long, so I’m just gonna finish with a few general remarks. Well, despite BoRhap’s flaws, I still like and enjoy it. With every screening slightly less, but enjoy it anyway. I don’t think any amount of discourse will ever take away my positive experiences and memories from seeing it twice in cinema. It sparked my previously dormant love for Queen and united me with some people in the fandom and in real life; making this movie made Brian and Roger happy; as a result, I like this movie. It brings back a lot of positive recollections, which sometimes is more important than critical discussions. And boy, do I adore those - I’m often critical and I adore analysing stuff academically; but I think that not all daily interactions require those and depending on who’s asking and what about, I’m capable of switching between the two options. If somebody asks me in 25 years whether I remember the times of BoRhap’s release, I’ll be far less likely to say “yeah, the editing sucked and writing was cringy, I remember the discourse on tumblr and instagram” than “Yes, I remember that chilly evening in December when I had a really fun time and ended up with 10 Queen songs stuck in my head”, because the latter is the experience I want to remember.

Thank you for this ask! Hope it wasn’t overly exhausting to read, I didn’t proofread this, sorry! xx

#answered #anonymous #is this my #the film anon #?#wera talks queen #borhap #welll this ended up longer than i even expected XD #i was trying to be as objective as possible but it's possible that i sneaked some unpopular opinions in there :P #wera talks film

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bo0zey · 5 years

Note

Pick your favorite questions from the list.

i will do them all for u 0.o

1. Name cianna [see-ah-nah]

2. Nationality mexican irish german romanian hungarian french

3. Age 20

4. Birthday december 17, 1999

5. Zodiac sign (or your primal zodiac sign) sun: sagittarius; ascendant: leo; moon: aries

6. Gender female

7. Sexuality uhhhhhhhhhhhh idk but i will willingly kiss either gender

8. Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself) /tagged/my-face or u could just google pictures of fat rats

9. What do you/did you study? I’m currently a sophomore nursing major!

10. What's your current job like?/What job would you like to have? I’m currently a microbiology TA and I love it :) My dream job would be something with animals, like a vet tech or veterinarian

11. Your birth order i’m the oldest!

12. How many siblings do you have? 2 younger brothers

13. Do you have good relations with your family? my mom was my best friend, my dad and i get along better now that i’m in college, my brothers and i get along pretty well & we’re staring to get closer now that they’re getting older n growing up n developing their own personalities lol

14. How many friends do you have? errrr idk this is a hard question. i have a lot of acquaintances but i’d say i have maybe like less than 10 real friends??

15. Your relationship status single :D

16. What do you look for in a SO? funny!!!!!!!!!must be humorous!!!!and sarcastic and a little weird w darker sense of humor so we can laugh n be dumb together!!!!!!! also i would like them to be kind to me and those around them bc mean ppl suck. also they have to like animals. also i would like them to be loyal and trustworthy and 110% in love w me. and for physical stuff idk kinda attractive but NOT CONVENTIONALLY ATTRACTIVE like i personally don't really like the typically ‘attractive’ person???

17. Do you have a crush? currently in love w the cute chinese boy who lives across from my dorm room even tho i have never even spoken to him n he is totally unaware of my existence!!!!!!!! hahah oops :D

18. When did you have your first kiss? i mean technically 3rd grade i think but that doesn't really count so like maybe 16????

19. Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands? i mean in the long term i would definitely like to have a serious relationship but at the moment i’m only into casual stuff bc my heart isn't ready to be broken again sknfkjdbnkjd

20. What are your deal breakers? errrr i’m not sure....cheating is a no no, ppl that are interested in fucking every single person they see is a turn off, DUMB PEOPLE like ppl you can't even have a proper conversation with bc they're so DUMB, and ppl who r mean/judgmental/arrogant

21. How was your day? ok! accidentally slept thru my math class but caught a glimpse of my crush across campus when he was abt to smoke a cig and i got chipotle n i online shopped a ton from shein

22. Favourite food & drink deep dish spinach pizza from giordano’s & orange vitamin water

23. What position do you sleep in? i fall asleep on my left side hugging a body pillow

24. What was your last dream about? ate a braid of hair and inside the braid was bacon

25. Your fears not going to make it thru nursing school, not being financially stable as an adult, not having a family of my own, probably more but those r currently top 3

26. Your dreams i don't have any idk....maybe having like a house of my own and having as many animals as i want?? and i would like a loving partner with a daughter of our own

27. Your goals survive nursing school and lose 40 pounds and don't die before my cat

28. Any pets? i have a dog named cherry Cola, a cat named Leto, and a betta fish named Perc

29. What are your hobbies? writing stories about people in love, listening to music

30. Any cool places in your area? in my college town??? NO it sucks. in my hometown??? Not really it’s a small lil village with only restaurants and parks. but at home i’m near downtown chicago so that’s cool i guess

31. What was your last awkward situation? the first thing that comes to mind is my FIRST and so far ONLY encounter with my crush. we live in the same dorm building and i was wearing my nursing scrubs and had no make up on and about to go upstairs to my dorm, and then i heard footsteps and i was like ‘hahaha what if its my crush’ AND THEN HE FUCKIGJNG appeared from down the hallway to go back to HIS DORM [which is RIGHT ACROSS FROM MINE] and i literally STARED at him, then threw open the door and RAN UP THE STAIRS LIKE I LITERALLY DIDNT EVEN HOLD THE DOOR OPEN FOR ME AND HE WAS LIKE SO CLOSE BEHIND ME I WAS JUST SO NERVOUS MY FLIGHT OR FIGHT RESPONSE TOOK OVER AND I FUCKING FLED I LITERALLY RAN AWAY FROM HIM I AHTE MYSELF SO MUCH IM SUCH AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!!

32. What is your last regret? errrrr idk i regret a lot of dumb things.......

33. Language/s you can speak English n a LITTLE bit of Spanish

34. Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.) i’m really into zodiac stuff and i have got to say they are pretty spot on in accuracy idk

35. Have any quirks? ummmm ofc!!i am the quirkiest person i know hajnjfxbkjx like if u asked my roommates/friends they’d probably be better at answering this than me bc i don't see anything abt me as quirky but they always tell me i am quirky and do weird things but idk man I'm just existing

36. Your pet peeves err idk currently its ppl that constantly brag about dumb shit

37. Ideal vacation somewhere warm with me + the ocean + the loml + unlimited alcohol

38. Any scars? yeah :D both emotional AND physical!!!!

39. What does your last text message say? ‘ok thats a more than fair statement’

40. Last 5 things from your search history how many carbs should i eat, chipotle bowl calories, is the grim reaper the angel of death, ceftriaxone adverse effects, red man syndrome

41. What's your [device] background? lockscreen is a peach-theme background i made and home screen is my weight loss goals

42. What do you daydream about? the characters in my stories.................and being skinny

43. Describe your dream home pretty brick house??? flowers outside??? 3 floors--main floor, basement and upstairs??? 3 bedrooms n 3 bathrooms maybe??? master bedroom has its own bathroom!!! and open concept main floor. big kitchen and very homey n warm all around. as for like an apartment i want something cozy and aesthetically pleasing and warm

44. What's your religion/Your thought about religion i don't have a religion but if ppl do have a religion then thats not my business

45. Your personality type entj but only bc i got 3% extraverted; i am very closely related to intj tho n i think i fit that one better

46. The most dangerous thing you've done uhhhhhh probably operating a vehicle while high out of my mind. definitely the dumbest thing i ever did 0/10 would recommend anyone ever doing that

47. Are you happy with your current life? its ok but it could probably be better. i want to be done w college and skip to the part where i have a successful career and my own home and i can lay up w the loml every night

48. Some things you've tried in your life alcohol???weed??gummy edibles....

49. What does your wardrobe consist of? sweaters/sweatshirts/leggings

50. Favourite colour to wear? black, maroon, peach, purple, gray, idk

51. How would you describe your style? oh jeez idk i wear whatever i want so like e-girl when i really try and basic white girl when i don't care

52. Are you happy with your current looks? no i hate everything about myself lol

53. If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be? more freckles on my face....also be thinner n have longer hair

54. Any tattoos or piercings? my nose and septum are pierced!

55. Do you get complimented often? kinda by my friends but i always yell at them to stop so they don't compliment like as much bc they know i hate it but they still do it sometimes idk

56. Favourite aesthetic? i wanna be an e-girl yo!!!!!!!!!

57. A popular trend that you dislike nobody has a crush on me and i hate it

58. Songs you're currently obsessed with? pied piper by BTS

59. Song you normally wouldn't admit you like. anything by BTS lol i used to like be embarrassed for how much i like k pop but now i don't really care lol #stanBTS2020

60. Favourite genre? rap/r n b/alternative

61. Favourite artist/band/genre? i listen to every genre except country sooooooo yeah i really like billie eilish, BTS, the weeknd, juicewrld, lil nas x, trippie red, post malone,

62. Hated popular songs/artists? i don't rlly like selena gomez or justin bieber or taylor swift

63. Put your music on shuffle and list first 5 only - RY X i.f.l.y. - Bazzi novacane - frank ocean jungle - drake bang! - trippie redd

64. Can you sing or play any instruments? no and no

65. Do you like karaoke? no but i like to sing along to songs when I'm alone

66. Own any albums? haha noooo i got apple music son

67. Do you listen to radio? What stations? errr RARELY i used to listen to r n b stations tho

68. Favourite movie/series? idk donnie darko?? i also just finished tharntype n that was really good. also i liked tokyo ghoul. AND GIVEN IS REALLY GOOD

69. Favourite genre of movies/books/etc i like horror/scary/paranormal/funny movies and i like love stories in books

70. Your fictional crush/es danny phantom, ken kaneki

71. Which fictional character is you? uhhhh idk...

72. Are you a shipper? List your otps, if so frerard, ryden, taekook, mewgulf

73. Favourite greek god? idk they all kinda suck but maybe hades

74. A legend from where you live that you like i don't really know any:(

75. Do you like art? What's your favourite work or artist? i like to look at art! i think van gogh is cool

76. Can you share your other social media? ig: ciannnna venmo: ciannnna

77. Favourite youtubers? i don't really watch youtubers but maybe shane dawson and emma chamberlain

78. Favourite platform? twitter

79. How much time do you spend on the internet? too much time

80. What video games have you played? Which one's your favourite? i once played GTA5 that was fun!

81. Your favourite books (manga also counts) idk i don't really read anymore:/ i was into the hunger games and the twilight series when i was young. now i kinda read online manga and i really liked BJ Alex and killing stalking. and like for online books the unholyverse series, a splitting of the mind, the anatomy of a fall

82. Do you play board/card games? no but i like to play checkers and uno and cards against humanity

83. Have you ever been to a night marathon in cinema? nopee

84. Favourite holiday halloween is cool also christmas is alright bc gifts

85. Are you into dramas? i’ve been getting into thai boys love dramas lol sue me

86. Would you use death note, if you had one? um YES.

87. What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to? everyone needs to be a little kinder and have a crush on me

88. Could you survive a zombie apocalypse? absolutely not I'm not physically fit and don't have useful skills

89. If you had to be turned into a paranormal being, what would it be? vampire duh [or maybe ghost]

90. What would you want to happen to you after your death? i want to see my mom

91. If you had to change your name, what would be your pick? idk something cool ... i love the name Daisy

92. Who would you switch your life with for a week? idk probably kylie jenner

93. Pick an emoji to be your tattoo idk the alien? 94. Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true -im very productive with my time management skills -my favorite color is purple -i don't get nervous when I'm alone in public

95. Cold or hot? cold

96. Be a hero or be a villain? anti-hero

97. Sing everything you want to say or rhyme? sing if i’m good at it but if I'm not good then rhyme

98. Shapeshifting or controlling time? shapeshifting

99. Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death?immortal

100. ..... or .....? ......?

11 notes · View notes

fearsbellsarchived · 5 years

Text

[me? Thinking about a gf fairytales au instead of being productive? More likely than u think!!! think ou.at buT BETTER and w/o the real world dimension hopping part. under the cut bc i just copy/pasted my tags from forever ago to put them in one place

mabel and dipper are hansel and gretal

paz is sleeping beauty

bill is maleficient

if we’re gonna get disney about it wendy as merida

i LOVE the idea of tambry as rapunzel???

mabel can also be like...eric from the little mermaid

so mermando can be ariel

gIDEON AS URSULA/VANESSA IN THAT VEIN THO

bill is also rumplestilskin

stan can be the huntsman (idk from which story cause theres a fEW BUT)

ford is the sorcerer from fanstasia

ford is teaching dipper magic....and instead of a true love’s kiss that’s how he wakes paz (maybe?)

the northwests made a deal w bill like in the most famous version of rumplestilskin but instead of wanting paz for himself he just wanted to steal her body at 16

so when they lose the deal they ask for help from ford and ford’s like “yo i can maybe change the deal??? a little bit???” so instead of bill taking her over when he goes to she falls asleep

so dipper wasnt supposed to wake her up but he found her and fords notes and he and mabel went on an adventure

bill is all the villains

billains

so stan has to leave mabel and dipper in the woods (idk y it wasnt for long the twins are just impatient) so stan disappears and the twins are like “lETS EXPLORE THE WOODS”

they come across some creepy old house w a lot of spiderwebs (can u guess the villain yet?)

an older woman comes out and is like “why are you guys lost in the forest?”

mabel points to the glitter trail “we’re not lost”

dipper looks behind them ‘mabel!!! where’s all the glitter?!”

(ACTUALLY MAYBE ITS YARN???)

so they lose the trail

meanwhile stan is losing his fucking mind

he follows the stray glitter but it’s blown all over

he feels “LOST IN THE WOOOOODDDS!!!”

so the old lady offers for them to stay the night bc its getting late

dipper is SUPER sus but he plays it cool surprisingly

mabel is So In!

long short...stan eventually saves them from darlene’s trap

usually shes just a maneater but look

when u live in the woods u do what u can

so stan hauls them back to their cottage

dipper knew there was weird shit out there but he wants MORE

he starts going through his great-uncle’s journals (*cue the dipper squee*)

he reads about bill and his deal w paz’s parents

he’s like....’maybe we should rescue her?’

ford wont tell him why they cant

so dipper and mabel sneak out

they steal the grunkles’ boat

mabel falls over board???

dipper tries like HELL to save her

but then he sees mermando save her

SO MABEL IS SAVED BY MERMANDO!!!

gideon (who had long-loved mabel from afar) finds out

he visits the merman to trick him

all mabel remembers is his voice

so YES mermando trades his voice for legs just like the movie

sue me okay w his distinct accent it makes sense!!!

so the twins get sidetracked bc mermando shows up out of nowhere

they dock on a small island for a pit stop and thats when ‘kiss the girl’ happens

they dont kiss so they move on

they dock on another stretch of land the next day

AND GIDEON APPEARS

the twins have only heard about him from their grunkles so mabel hears his voice and goes *heart eyes*

mermando is Distressed

dipper is Focused on getting to this sleeping princess

mabel makes fun of him for liking her

SO GIDEON HAS MERMANDOS VOICE!

at one point dipper catches him w/o the amulet that makes him sound like mermando

and he tells mabel and its kinda like “the hand that rocks the mabel” or whatever the ep was called

it takes dipper and mermando being threatened (and gideons voice slipping) for her to catch on and she breaks up w him

dipper wants to throw him overboard

they just leave him on the next inhabited island they find

mermando got his kiss but decides to go back to the ocean anyway

he promises to write

mabel is Sad

SO BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED ADVENTURE!

the twins come across a land near the one paz is on and decide to stop for food and to stretch their legs and other hygiene things

they find out there’s some archery thing going on and mabel is like ’ooooh can we try?!’

turns out its for neighboring kingdoms’ princes to win a princess

mabel and dipper think this is RIDICULOUS so they crash it

mabel steps up to shoot and everyone’s like ‘wHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?’

then dipper steps up beside her. neither of them have shot a bow before

they shoot at the same time. mabel’s like thisclose to the bullseye. dippers too far right

THEN!!! PRINCESS WENDY COMES OUT OF NOWHERE

DIPPER AND MABEL ARE IN AWE OF THIS VALKYRIE. THEYRE BOTH READY FOR HER TO KILL THEM BC THEY THINK ITLL BE AWESOME

but wendy is like ‘ACTUALLY ILL SHOOT FOR MYSELF THANKS’ and splits like three arrows down the middle w her accuracy

she looks at mabel and dipper and is like ‘u dudes look fun! ive never seen u before who are u???’

and they’re like ‘WELL!’ and launch into detail about their adventure w overlapping voices and sound affects and VAST description

anyways. i cant decide how old people are rn okay

so wendy is like “hey dad??? im going on an adventure w these guys!” and her dad is like “unusual but u DID just win ur own hand. so ill allow it”

“YES! can i take soos too?!”

“sure!”

sO THEYRE OFF AGAIN!!! lemme tell u the ship is filling faST!!!

they get to paz’s land. and the first thing they find is a girl in a tower with long purple hair.

everyone is pretty much just making ‘wtf’ faces for like....ten minutes.

finally wendy calls up the tower like “YO! WHATS W ALL THE HAIR?!”

tambry leans out the window w a bored expression and goes “its mine. im tambry. who r u?”

they introduce themselves and are like “u wanna come on our adventure?”

then....ROBBIE APPEARS!

and he knows where the princess is!!!

”oh yeah. her. shes also in a tower. its got a door but its guarded by gnomes.”

then robbie climbs tambrys hair pecks her cheek and ducks in the tower

they decide to head for the tower robbie directed them to. but they have to pass the castle. Northwest Castle

robbie warned them about the northwests. said that the princess was one and before she disappeared she was the snottiest brat hed ever met

so they became friends despite the fact that he plays music for a living (and not very well either)

her parents told her of the spell when she was twelve

so robbie’s like “they are not nice people and neither was she??? most of the townsfolk are glad shes asleep tbh”

but dammit! dipper came here for an adventure!!! he wasnt going to stop just bc the princess wasnt what he expected!

so they continue on!

mabel is like “maybe she doesnt KNOW how to be nice!”

and soos is just excited to be there!

and wendy is just...u kno...chill

they start to get close to the castle and they feel like they’re being watched

and then soos notices the PEACOCKS!

they assume theyre spies for the king and queen. which is half true?

they can also warn bill if someone is near pacifica

oh damn imagine that

being stuck asleep w a DREAM DEMON in ur head

sorry for the accidental psychological torture paz

WHICH IS THE ONLY TORTURE SHES HAD!

i think to make up for risking her life as a baby ther parents were like “we’re just gonna spoil u rotten and PRETEND u do no wrong eVERYTHING IS FINE”

so dipper is reading the journal and he FINALLY gets to the true loves kiss part of the deal

and he looks around at the party like “oh shit true love what do we do???”

mabel suggests he at least try and everyone agrees that yeah okay thats the back up plan

but dipper wants to use a SPELL!!!

so the king and queen see him w the journal and remember ford having the same one

so everyone is brought to the king and queen

theyre like “pRINCESS GWENDOLYN?!”

bc this is MY STORY and if i wanna give wendy a more princess-y name thEN I WILL

i say as i continue to refer to mason as DIPPER!!!

SO THEYRE MEETING THE NORTHWESTS!!!

wendys like “yes that is me the princess” and then everyone else introduces themselves...w dipper introducing himself as mason bc it just sounds more fairytale-y

soos is jesus (hey zeus! not jee sus)

soos is like....wendys bff/personal servant but mostly bff

so they explain their adventure to the northwests as quickly as possible

preston is no patient man and he’s is like “tbh its probably important she be here for her 18th bday soooo??? as long as she wakes up by next year why not???”

but only bc dipper was like “i wANNA USE MAGIC I DONT WANNA KISS HER THATS PLAN B!!!”

plus u kno...even if he DOES whats the guarantee itll work???

the guarantee is me being a filthy shipper tHATS WHAT!!!

so they continue to the tower!

there is probably a sidequest thingy with giffany bc i liked that episode

also soos needs more screentime im sorry

SO THEN!!! FINALLY!!!! THEY MAKE IT TO THE TOWER!!!

WHICH IS!!!

IN FACT!!!

GUARDED

GNOMES!]

also theres a manotaur/multi-bear sidequest i just thought of bc i like THAT episode!!!

is this gf, a fairytale, sk.yrim, or a d.n.d campaign now??? WHO KNOWS!!! ITS NOT ME!!!

SO THEY GOTTA GET PAST THE GNOMES!

first they offer safe passage in exchange for mabel as their queen

after thats declined theyre like “or the redhead. well take her!”

this is also declined

finally jeff tells them to attack

at first the party tries to fight them off and they do okay

uNTIL SOME GNOME WEAPONIZED SCHMEBULOCKS RAINBOW PUKE!!! (i think it’s toxic tbh but i dONT REMEMBER)

finally mabel just pulls out her trusty crosSbow (aka “GRAPPLING HOOK!”) and they just make a tightrope to the window above the door

wendy goes first and NAILS it

then everyone else follows

soos almost falls and gets left to the gnomes but everyone helps him balance and they all make it through the window

coincidentally. the window leads to the princess’s room

OH MAN WHY DIDNT I USE THE PTERODACTYL?!

oh well. anyways.

everyone is looking around the room and like...taking it all in

dipper takes a moment...then walks over to the princess

he isnt sure if waking her will also wake the demon

crossover even more w my old paciphera au??? idk probably not

so dipper tries the spells he narrowed it down to

none of them work

all his friends have returned to the princess’s room and mabel is like “u gotta kiss her brobro!”

so dipper...poor poor dipper...just leans forward and kisses her

paz pretty much snaps her eyes open when dipper is a half inch from her face while he’s pulling back

and even tho she was forewarned she wasnt expecting DIPPER so she SCREAMS

dippers ears are ringing

she shuts her eyes and stills her breathing and sits up.

AND SEES EVERYONE ELSE AND SCREAMS AGAIN

“i dIDNT EXPECT U TO BRING *FRIENDS*!”

so once shes a little more calm they explain the whole adventure to her

paz feels a little honored they came all this way just for her

also since True Love beats everything bill is like.....back in his home dimension. also paz has been fighting him for like....over a year.

so paz is like....ready to Go. u kno. just wants to go HOME.

they get pazs shit together and exit the tower through the door

she says goodbye to the gnomes. all by name.

“oh yeah mom and dad made them my personal guard when i was like...eight. theyve been prepping for this my whole life. they’ll meet me back at the castle.” so then she starts telling them about herself and her last like

two years of being asleep w a DREAM DEMON

“sometimes i got the weirdest nightmares??? and they never ended. but when i woke up i couldnt remember anything specific.”

she and dipper talk away from the group. he tells her about how hes her true love and everything “okay well. we’ll have to lie to my parents and say it was a spell. bc they will NOT approve of us being true loves and if they hurt you...”

“then they hurt *you* too!” dipper finishes (idk maybe a combo w a soulmate au thing?)

meanwhile mabel is like...whining about boy problems??? and wendy is like “this is y boys r dumb.”

soos is like...wandering off. I WANNA INCORPORATE MELODY BUT WHO SHOULD SHE BE?!

paz and dipper start like....arguing about how to deal w her parents

apparently they actually ARENT that nice. if she doesnt marry a prince they’ll give her over to bill completely...or something idk

SO theyre nearing the castle!!!

theyve written theyre grunkles okay no worries. also mermando.

thats y mabels complaing about boys.

mermando and that manatee wife of his!!!

paz is not exactly ready to face her parents so she convinces the party (roll for charisma) to go the long way

which is actually just circles

anyways

we run back in to melody and soos and the party is like ‘wHOOPS WE DIDNT EVEN NOTICE GLAD U DIDNT GET EATEN BY A SPIDER LADY!

maybe melody is like....a fairy???

something light and ‘childish’ bc thatd fit her personality

soos is like “ive BEEN here. u dudes have been going in circles.” and everyone glares at paz.

“im sorry!!! i just dont want to go back!!!”

“ur dad made us promise to have u back for ur 18th bday.” says dipper while he tries to stay mad at his future wife

paz is like “YEAH SO HE CAN MARRY ME OFF TO A PRINCE!!!”

idk why paz and dips are being better at being soulmates here okay i was like....sleep-drunk when i first wrote this

so the party has a choice to make.

take paz back home where she wont be able to be w her TL (which in some cases has probably led to death) OR!!!

sneak her out and take her home w them?!

wendys probably gotta go back to her own kingdom tho.

and soos wants to stay w melody

U KNOW WHAT I JUST REALIZED?!

sTAN NEVER GOT TO BE SOOS’S DAD!!!!

SORRY SOOS!!!

so anyways

mabel and dipper decide to help her sneak out

luckily she knows all the blindspots

it takes longer but they finally make it back to their ship

they say theyre goodbyes to soos and melody and paz wishes them well in her kingdom. she promises to return when shes ready to rule

they load the ship and sail to wendys kingdom next

they stay a few days to recuperate

paz has trouble sleeping bc when she does the nightmares come back.

cue a kat.niss/pee.ta thing where paz sleeps next to dips bc it keeps the nightmares away

wendy has to explain why soos isnt w them to her dad who kinda shrugs it off?

“u proved u can protect urself.” or something.

after like.....a whole fucking year the twins are heading home.

paz and dipper sleep together on the ship too bc its just fucking easier

paz is nervous to meet the grunks

she and dipper arent exactly....dating??? its def more like soulmate au

where theyre AWARE theyre supposed to be together but they dont even rly know if they WANT to be together.

paz is p much “i dont rly wanna be w anyone else. ill let u kno if that changes.” and dips is like “tbh same.”

mabel is already planning a big royal wedding.

iDK Y BUT I WANT THEM TO FIND OUT THEYVE BEEN ROYALTY ALL THIS TIME??? probably just bc i LOVE that trope!!! but theyre not so its whateves.

so they FINALLY get home. mabel has been writing letters this whole time. to mermanso. to soos and melody. to wendy.

shes the captain of the dip.ifica ship and shes gotta keep her crewmembers in the know!!!

the twins also wrote to the grunks the whole time so!!!! no worries!!!

paz tries writing to her parents...but she can never find the right words.

meeting the grunks isnt as bad as she thought???

stan loves her off the bat. partially bc shes rich and bc she doesnt take shit

ford is pleased to meet the girl he saved and shes v v thankful to him for saving her life as best he could.

it takes her like a YEAR to write the letter.

she promises her parents she’ll return. AFTER shes married.

at this point she and dipper ARE together. they figured all theyre confusion out and are just living the good life!

mabel and wendy are doing the long distance thing. shes still friends w mermando.

robbie and tambry found paz and they write back and forth.

u CAN TAKE ROBBIE AND PAZ SIBLINGS FROM MY DECOMPOSING HANDS!!!

everything is as happily ever after as it can get.

and then dipper proposes despite knowing what it means.

BUT THATS A WHOLE OTHER ADVENTURE!!!!

*end credits roll. an epic theme song starts playing*

#💎 OUT OF DIAMONDS. ╱ out.#[i did this forever ago anD I FINALLY MOVED IT TO AN ACTUAL POST OF IT'S OWN]#[im planning on writing this tbh but if u got some rp ideas hum <<]

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a-forgotten-spirit · 6 years

Text

Azriel x Reader

AUTHOR NOTE

Hey my little spirits this has taken me so long and to be completely honest I'm not happy with it so please give me feed back either in the comments or a personal message.

Another note I am taking requests to get me back into writing and recently changed the set up of my room and got a huge desk putting books and things on it so im trying to have a more positive space to work in. Send me a message if you want a request.

Tags: @alphaomegahybrid @cookiemonsterwholovesbooks @livlaughlove20 @klashmafia @tiasbandom @mariamuses @shane-knight @ourbooksuniverse @warning-fangirl-at-work @xxpapasfritasxx @shadowsingersxks @-im-fantastic- @kenzie-cold-greenkale

Chapter 5

Y/N P.O.V

I walked to the training area ready for a good fight and ready to show the boys around here what it means to be a real warrior not an overgrown child with a sword. Walking into the arena I saw Devlon already there a sword in hand. My men stopped as did Azriel and I walked in to the place that would occupy the fighting.

"Had fun with all your men" he snickered as did his friends I saw my men go-to move and I raised my hand in a motion which meant to stop and I rose my head to Devlon smirking.

"Ah yes well-rested, it was great fun to bad I don't invite the lowest scum into my bed" I replied seeing the reactions from the others was priceless. The perfect picture of mad and rage showed within them. "Now I'm here to fight" I unsheathed my swords "So let us begin"

I moved with accuracy and skill. The faster you are the easier it is to win, I ran past him slicing his cheek with my sword while he raised his. I was behind him now, lifting my leg and kicking his rib cage he harshly fell. "I thought you were better than that" I laughed lightly and walked overstepping on his chest only for a sword to be at my neck. Smiling down at him as I swung my own swords pushing his away but not from his hand and pointing the end of my blade at him "Checkmate" I smirked and walked away.

I didn't get far before his voice rose in an annoying octave "Cheater, you use two swords" he yelled and picked himself from the ground. I shrugged throwing my sword to my men and turned facing him.

It was as though the world slowed, his sword raised and he came for me but I raised my own sword and countered it easily. Spinning and hitting his sword from his hand I held the tip once more to his throat. "Checkmate" I smirked again.

"Hand to hand" he bellowed, I looked to him and tilted my head to the side as he rose from the ground and was breathing heavily. The way his eyes shone in anger was one of the best things I have ever witnessed. The look of pure and utter shock mixed with anger was one I wanted to see constantly.

"Why" I smirked "Can't you understand that you lost twice, Devlon get it through your head. You lost" I tried to emphasize it didn't work he was getting his breath back and continued to ask for a fight so I threw my sword to my men not even watching where it was going in the slightest. "Fine let us go"

As soon as those three words left my mouth I ran at him bending back as a fist came hurdling at me, bending only to flip myself as I went down my leg coming up and kicking him hard in the stomach sending him back as I pushed myself up to a standing position. I walked over to him and stood on his wing as he screamed.

"Get off" he screamed but didn't move knowing it would hurt him, I pressed down a little harder slightly twisting my foot as to get the friction and for it to hurt more. I was angry he wouldn't accept that he lost now I was going to make him.

"Admit you lost" I countered looking at his body laying on his back against the training area's ground. I knew Illyrian's had a thing with always being the best I didn't realize they cared that much. Cassian knew when he lost and always backed away, I am mated to a Illyrian and he doesn't do this.

"Never" my face instantly dropped my foot left his wing as I grabbed his arm and brought him up only to punch him in the face, I continued to hold him as I punched again and then threw him onto the floor and crouch before him.

"You've lost. Everyone can see it and I know it must be hard losing to someone but come on give up, its over" the thing he did next I was no where near ready for. I was pulled forward by him and then pushed beneath him so he was above me my hands pinned to the floor.

"How does it feel being underneath another male, I'm sure you've done it plenty of times" he smirked and moved forward his face was mere inches from mine and I could see from the corner of my eye my men and Azriel all moving forward but this was my fight, no one else.

"Nothing magical, lots of practice I guess" I smiled and tried to move as his leg moved in between mine my eyes growing wide as I realized what he was trying to do discretely. I noticed his wings were down and covering us from the waist down.

"I'm warning you. If you make one more movement I will have no remorse to break that leg of yours" I gritted my teeth and watched as a smirk appeared on his face and his leg moved up now at my mid-thigh. "Devlon I will not warn you a second time" he continued to move forward.

"What, scared. I thought you said lots of practice" he paused and licked his lips "I don't doubt that I bet you bring multiple males to your bed I mean this morning was pretty interesting" his head tilted and he continued "It's going to be an amazing experience as multiple of my males take you to bed" he finished as my eyes went wide at what he was implying.

I lost control.

My body moulded into the shadow his body had created. I moved in between the shadows with ease, moving to one behind him I jumped out tackled him to the ground and punched him before standing and jumping back into a shadow near by. "I warned you Devlon" I whispered near his ear at the shadow created by his wings. He rose and looked around quickly.

"Where are you, you bitch" he yelled and I laughed loudly I knew all could hear and were beyond confused well all except my men and Azriel. I rose from a shadow in the training area and looked to Devlon as my leg rose to kick him at the back of his knee making him fall to the ground. "You fucking bitch" he whispered as I jumped back into a shadow.

His wings flared in anger behind him as I moved to in front of him and rose to be eye level which meant half of me was still in the black inky abyss "I warned you Devlon, do not mess with someone you know nothing about" I paused and grabbed his chin in my hand "Never underestimate someone you've never fought" My body began to rise as I had to bend and look down at him.

"That's enough Y/N" I knew that voice as I rose to my full height and turned slightly seeing Cassian in full Illyrian leathers, looking at Devlon. He moved forward and into the training area "She warned you that I know, take a hint. You lost" he shook his head and continued "She's the High Lady of the Shadow Court" I heard a few gasps and Devlon's head rose quickly.

"That bitch is the High Lady" he laughed and looked to me again "A whore is a High Lady" I don't know how it happened but Devlon was on his back with Truth-Teller at his throat and Azriel above him with narrowed eyes.

"Now Devlon I'd advise you to shut your mouth" spoke Cassian in an amused voice "As you can see someone isn't happy" he laughed but made no effort to advance and help Devlon. I saw the look in Azriel's eyes, there was no remorse or guilt only anger and something I couldn't place.

"Oh so I guess she chose a bastard male," Devlon asked and that made me angrier then I had ever felt. Azriel had done so much for me, yes he left when I was broken and I can still feel the pieces chipping off but he is in no way anything less than this sad excuse for a warrior.

"Kage hold Az" in less then a second Azriel was on the other side of the arena in the shadows being held back, no one could see him but I knew he was fine and entirely ok with Kage one of my best warriors. "Araysh hold him down" Devlon was then held in place as I walked over he went to speak but my shoe collided with his rib harshly. "You don't get to speak" my voice was low and dangerous sounding. "You will never speak to him like that again and if you do" I paused and licked my lip just as he did before "I will personally send you to the afterlife, I have blood on my hands and im happy to add one more to the list" I smirked and leaned down slightly at his held form.

"You said you don't take the lowest scum to your bed but it seems you already have" he smiled and I smirked as I looked at him, this absolute piece of shit who thinks they are the greatest person to ever exist because they were born a full Illyrian.

I nodded in thought "Ozul and Araysh. I give you full permission to do as you please. Shadow form as well, please do your worst. They insulted your Queen and her mate" his eyes were now the size of dinner plates and I have never felt so alive. I could hear Cassian yelling orders but that didn't matter, I simply ignored him. As I usually do. "Kardama and Draven show his friends a lesson" then all hell broke loose I saw Delvon get dragged into the shadow while I heard some laughing and saw Draven immediately punch the one who laughed when I was called a whore.

I turned around to see Cassian "Call off your men" he was furious as I watched him, his chest rising and falling I haven't seen him this mad in a while. His wings flared as he walked up to me and I could feel the fear from the shadows.

"You didn't call yours off" I simply stated and his breath got faster and his wings spread to their full length as I laughed and looked to him shaking my head "Cassian" I walked forward "When an object is in the way of the sun, it creates a shadow" I spoke then fell through the floor as I heard the yelling from him and other men in the area. I moved to find Kage and grabbed a struggling Azriel who seemed to calm down once I grabbed him and Kage left to join the fun.

I pulled Azriel to the home we were in, coming into our room as I stretched and let out an angered groan "Fucking idiots" I yelled and the shadows rose drifting around me, I was beyond angry and wanted to throw something or punch someone. I didn't join the fight knowing it wouldn't do me any good in any way. I was just throwing my hands around when a different pair of hands wrapped around my waist and lips attached themselves to my neck. He always knew this calmed me.

"You can't kiss my neck and fix everything. Devlon is a piece of shit and by the Cauldron I would happily have him ripped apart" I spoke but it wasn't in an angered voice, no, it was quiet and calm. I guess neck kisses do work wonders.

"Calm, my love" his voice whispered as he smiled against my now heated skin. I moved my neck to the side and let him continue "You do realize your men are terrorizing all of Devlon's friends" he laughed a little and continued to trail kisses.

"Not important" I whispered and closed my eyes leaning more into his chest which was pressed to my back. "Let them do as they please" I spoke so quietly I'd be surprised if he heard me. He gently moved me to the bed and lied me down lightly "Right now" I asked.

"I've wanted to do this for years" he whispered and I put my hand on the sides of his face and pulled him down to my lips. Our lips met in a fiery passion, we moved as one as fast wanting all the physical connection I could. Anything to feel him against me.

I moved so I was on top with my legs spread apart over his waist as I bit my lip and looked at him moving down to kiss him once more. His hands went to my shirt and started to lift it up as we continued to kiss wildly. Then a knock came at the door to which we both ignored it and continued our passionate time together. Another knock to which we still ignored and moved forward his hands moving to my breasts and gently grazing over the fabric of my bra covering them. The knock sounding again, I got up stormed to the door throwing it open.

"What the fuck do you want" I yelled seeing Rhysand and Cassian who looked behind me at Azriel laying on the bed his wings spread beneath him and my clothes slightly disheveled, I was panting as I looked up at them.

"Sorry, are we interrupting something" Rhysand smirked as did Cassian "Would you like us to leave" he added, I'm guessing they weren't expecting my response. I'm guessing they expected me to flush and open the door for them. That was not the case.

"Yes you are" I slammed the door harshly and went to walk back to Azriel who was smiling at me and there was another knock, I moved to open the door once more "Rhys if you do not leave I will kill you" I threatened and looked straight at him all truth spilling from me.

"We need Az" Cassian smiled and pointed behind me, I heard the bed creak and knew Azriel had moved to get up. My shadows wrapped around him gently making him stay, He could easily move them but didn't.

"I need him more" I responded and I saw the look in Cassian's eyes, I knew he wanted to say something. I knew he was going to I could feel it like a chill going up my spine.

"Need him for what exactly" was his sly response and saw the look in Rhys as well. I guess they didn't expect me to be honest maybe once more expecting me to break out into a blush.

"I need him intimately" I smiled and moved forward to look at them straight on "For sex" I finished and slammed the door once more.

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Chapter 6

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four-loose-screws · 5 years

Text

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 4 Part 2

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations - Ko-fi

TW: Rape mention.

———————————

Chapter 4 - The Battle in Jungby

Part 2

Jungby's royal family were the descendents of the Holy Archer Ulir, so Jungby's army was mostly made up of archers. This meant that the soldiers left at the castle were, of course, mostly archers.

They were very poor at close-range combat, so their strategy was to keep the castle gate shut tight and rain arrows down on the Verdanian army.

On the other hand, Verdane's geography was mostly made up of forests and lakes, so their army excelled at fighting in forests, and was entirely comprised of axe-wielding infantry.

There were many types of axes, and for this battle against Jungby's archers, their weapon of choice was hand axes, which were small and ideal for throwing. While hand axes were inferior to bows in accuracy, when they did land on their target, they did lethal damage. And unlike bows, there was no need to calculate what angle an axe would be shot from. If an enemy dodged an axe coming at them from below, they wouldn't be fast enough to dodge a second axe falling from above.

The Verdanian army dealt considerably more damage than the archers, and whittled away at the Jungbians' numbers.

Seeing that the number of arrows coming down from the castle walls had dimished, Verdane's army brought out a huge battering ram.

It was so thick that an adult would barely be able to wrap their arm around it, and the tip was plated with gold. A large group of Verdanian soldiers hoisted it up using both of their arms and charged at the castle gate, trying to tear it down with the force of their attack.

The bow knight Midir was fighting from atop a tower within the castle wall.

The first time the battering ram hit the castle gate, he felt a pain course through his chest, as if he himself was the one who had taken the hit.

'I must do everything in my power to protect Princess Aideen!' He bit his lip and aimed an arrow at one of the men holding the battering ram.

It was a direct hit. The enemy fell. However, another one quickly replaced him, and hit the castle gate again.

"No! Lady Aideen!" Midir shouted.

Aideen was everything to him. He knew full well that she was a princess, and he was a knight, and they could never be together. But just her existence was enough to fulfill him.

'What if they manage to tear down the castle gate?'

Normally, there would be soldiers guarding the area behind the gate, but right now, there was no one left to do so.

'If the barbarians got into the castle, then they would… Princess Aideen, no…' Blood trickled from his bitten lip. "Princess Aideen!!"

His arrows picked off the enemies one by one, dulling the battering ram's movements.

"What're you doin', there's only one of 'em left!" The Verdanian Army's leader, crown prince Gandolf, shouted at his men. "Outta the way, I'll take care of 'im!"

Gandolf walked up to the castle wall, paused for a moment to judge the height of the castle, and put all his strength into throwing an axe upwards.

It spun higher and higher, until it was even higher in the air than the castle wall was tall, until it suddenly changed direction and started to fall right towards Midir's head.

The moment he realized that it would fall on him, Midir jumped back. He managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, but the handle hit his shoulder. The force sent him stumbling backwards, and there was no wall behind him to catch him. In the blink of an eye, he lost his footing.

As he fell to the ground, he lost consciousness.

The Verdanian Army let out a large battle cry, then resumed hitting the castle wall with the battering ram over and over again.

Every time the castle gate creaked, they let out another battle cry. Now that there were no longer any arrows coming down at them, they sounded like they were chanting at a festival.

Aideen was watching the battle from the main tower's second floor, and saw Midir fall from atop the castle wall.

'They even got a knight like him… He was so loyal to me…' She wanted to go see if he was still alive, and heal him if he was, but she couldn't take the risk. 'I must fight by myself now.'

The gate finally came down, and the Verdanian soldiers flooded the courtyard.

'This is it.' She stepped away from the window and stood in front of her full length mirror.

She knew that for this fight, her only weapons were her class and dignity as a noblewoman. However, she also had one more weapon, even if she did not realize it - her beauty as a woman.

Deep down, she was terrified, but that did not show on her face, so she felt at ease. Her clothing, a white cassock with a hood, enhanced her beauty and dignity all the more.

She took House Jungby's holy weapon, the Holy Bow Yewfelle, out of her closet. With Yewfelle in her left hand and a healing staff in her right, she stood in the center of the room.

A few moments later, two Verdanian soldiers slammed the door open and burst into the room.

They held up their axes and started patrolling the room, leaving her no openings to potentially sneak out of. Once they knew there was no one else with weapons present, they relaxed.

Aideen took advantage of this by scolding them harshly. "Where are your manners!?"

They stiffened up.

"I am Princess Aideen of Jungby. Bring your leader to me." She glared at the soldier standing closest to her for one second, and then two…

And won the fight.

"Fine, we'll bring 'im in, alright!?" He grumbled, and they both walked out of the room.

Once they were gone, Aideen breathed a huge sigh. 'Everything comes down to this meeting. I must do my best.'

She heard a woman scream from one of the other rooms. She feared for the worst - that the soldiers were raping her maids. 'They must be so scared that they can't fight back.'

She felt disgusted, but there was nothing she could do. No one could have ever imagined that Grannvale would be invaded.

After she had waited for several minutes, a man with a stern face entered her room. A number of soldiers followed in after him.

"I was told that there's a high-and-mighty princess in here."

"I am Princess Aideen of Jungby. Who are you?"

"I'm Prince Gandolf of Verdane. And you're the one who's lost this fight, missy."

"You may have won the battle, but you have not won the war. By order of the treaty between our countries, I demand you treat me as the royal I am. If you are going to kidnap me, then take me to King Batu."

Gandolf smirked and walked up to her. "And what if I told you that's a load of bullshit?"

When the stench of his sweaty body hit her nose, she cringed. "What do you think will happen when the Granvallian army comes home? Grannvale is a huge country full of mages and multiple people who wield holy weapons. If anything happened to me, my king would not overlook it." She glared at him.

And he glared right back.

After a long staring contest, Gandolf's gaze was the first to falter.

"I like you." He said in a voice that made it clear he was trying, but struggling, to maintain his dignity.

'I haven't lost yet.' Aideen thought.

"I'll do what you say, and take you to the king. Then, you're gonna be my wife."

"You cannot forcefully marry a princess."

"In Verdane, the king's orders are absolute."

"Then we will ask your father and see what he says. But in return, you must free my maids."

"Yeah, 'bout that. I handed 'em over to my men, if you know what I mean. It was the only way I could keep 'em from killin' 'em. The fun's already begun."

"A man's fun!? Is that what you call it!?"

"You know what we're gonna do once you're my wife, don’tcha?"

"Hypothetical words have no meaning. Again, I demand you free my maids!"

He paused to think about it, then said, "A'ight, I will, but we gotta wait 'till tomorrow. They're so crazy once they get started that even I can't stop 'em. Fightin' does that to a man. Now see you in the mornin', Princess.

"You two better keep good watch over her, ya hear me!?"

The moment he walked out, Aideen turned to the guards and said, "I thank you for following your orders and guarding me. However, this is my private room. Please leave, and stand guard by the door."

The guards stared at each other, not sure of what to do at first, but soon figured that if even the prince had folded to this woman, they should too. They silently obeyed, walking out of the room and letting the door shut behind them.

Aideen fell to the ground as if she'd been held up by a string, and that string had just been cut.

She had been able to keep herself safe, and hadn't lost Yewfelle.

'But how long will I have to fight like this for?'

She knew very well that her nobility and dignity would only get her so far. If even one enemy who did not care about such things came before her, she would lose. She was especially worried about what might happen if they got drunk and lost their self-restraint.

'Please hurry, Prince Sigurd.'

She recalled a memory of Sigurd riding his horse, his blue hair fluttering in the wind.

She knew that there wouldn't be many soldiers left in Chalphy either, but still, Sigurd would come to save her for sure.

The problem was not of if, but when.

Her guess was that he would arrive in three, maybe four days.

'I'll handle this brute until then.'

However, events began to unfold in ways that she had not expected.

The next morning, Gandolf walked into her room, and asked, "Ready to head out on our trip, Princess?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You were here yesterday, weren't you? I'm takin' you to the king. Just like you wanted me to."

She had made the demand herself, so she couldn't argue against it. "What about my maids?"

"I'll let you have your way there too. You two get in here and pack, you're comin' too."

The two maids nodded and entered the room.

"There should be one more."

"She died, the poor thing."

The maids burst out crying, but Aideen kept her composure. "I won't move until her funeral is over."

"As you wish, Princess. We'll make sure she's buried properly. We Verdanians may be barbarians, but we at least know how to respect the dead. We leave in one hour. If you tell me then that you ain't ready, then I'll tie a rope around your neck and drag you outta here myself. Got that?"

She knew that if she refused him any further, she would no longer get what she wanted.

She consoled her crying maids, then got ready for the trip.

When they left, she requested a carriage, but Gandolf denied it.

It seemed that if he compromised any further, then he'd lose all sense of authority.

Once they could no longer see Jungby Castle, one of the maids looked at Aideen and asked, "What's going to happen to us?"

"Everything will be alright. Prince Sigurd of Chalphy is coming to rescue us." She said, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "And if he doesn't, then I'll look for an opportunity for us to escape. Neither of you have any reason to worry."

She was entirely serious about that.

#fire emblem #genealogy of the holy war #fe #fe4 #light novel #translation #japan #japanese #nintendo #super nintendo #super famicom #famicom #snes #fe4 suzuki novelization translation #tw: rape mention

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firelxdykatara · 6 years

Text

Day 2: Hidden Identities

So this is a day late, but hopefully not a dollar short! (lol kill me my jokes suck) ANYWAY, this is for Day 2 of @thirtydaysofzutara and was heavily inspired by @artcraawl‘s amazing Zutara Mulan AU pictures. Some of it is directly from the movie, some is embellished, anyway I hope it’s a fun read, as I certainly had fun writing it!

---

“I don’t know if I can do this, Tui.”

Katara gave one more half-hearted tug, but her father’s sword remained stubbornly embedded in the tree’s trunk. With a sigh, she flopped to the ground, thumping her fists against the hard-packed soil in frustration. Her companion, a silver dragon-lizard with impossibly black eyes, scurried up the tree and perched on the flat of the blade, tugging gently, but to no avail. “It’ll come out! You just have- to be- persistent!”

With a final tug, the lizard slipped from the blade and fell to the ground. Katara pushed herself up on her elbows with a groan. “I’ve been persistent! It’s not working! I haven’t even been able to get that stupid arrow out of the pole.”

“No one else has, either,” Tui pointed out, curling her tail over her shoulder and rubbing a spot of dirt from her scales.

“That’s not the point.” Katara sat up and pushed herself to her feet. “They belong here. They don’t have to prove anything.”

“Neither do you, as far as they know.”

“Sure, and what happens when they find-”

“Who are you talking to, Tak?”

Katara froze. Tui scampered into the bushes with an alarmed squeak, and the moment stretched uncomfortably, as the woman tried desperately to convince herself that voice belonged to someone—anyone—else. It didn’t work; she was pretty sure she could feel his amber gaze burning holes into her back.

He had the disconcerting ability to make her feel like he could see right through her façade—through the warrior she was trying to be, to the scared, homesick girl beneath.

Time sped up again, and Katara turned to look at Zuko, who was standing behind her with his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

“Uh…” she began, before realizing her voice was pitched too high, coughing to cover it up. “No one! I’m just, talking to… myself…” She trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand (mostly to hide the fact that she kept reaching for a lock of hair that just wasn’t there anymore). Her eyes slid to her sword, still sunk into the tree trunk, about the same time Zuko’s did. Disapproval radiated from his lithe form in waves, and Katara had to fight back the nervous laughter that kept threatening to bubble up.

“Oh, this is… I was just training…” she said, grabbing the hilt tightly in both hands. It still refused to move, and she braced herself with one foot on the trunk. Finally, with an almighty yank, the sword came free, and the momentum sent her careening off-balance.

Zuko ducked just in time—the blade passed a hair’s breadth over his head.

“Oops,” Katara muttered, giving a weak chuckle as she clumsily shoved her sword back into its sheath. “Cut it a little close there-” Spirits, Katara, stop talking.

The captain looked less than impressed as he straightened back up, looking at her with some emotion in his eyes that she couldn’t quite describe. Then he sighed, shaking his head. “Pack up.”

Something churned unpleasantly in the pit of her stomach. “What?”

“Go home. You’re through here, Tak. I’ve tried my best, but you just aren’t suited for war—not in my company. And if you’re the best that Chief Hakoda could send in his own stead-” He broke off, squaring his shoulders. “You’d be more of a danger to your own comrades than the Fire Nation soldiers. And I won’t have good men, even you, needlessly killed because they weren’t ready.”

Katara watched as he walked away, trying very hard to keep from noticing the way his muscles had tensed (probably from anger) beneath the thin padding of his training vest. “He’s right. I know he is. But…”

Tui poked her head out of the bushes. “But you want to prove him wrong.”

A wry grimace twisted at her mouth. “I was too willful and stubborn to make a good wife, remember? It must be good for something.”

“So what are you going to do?”

The sun had set, the last of its amber glow receding from the skyline just as the full moon began to peek through the clouds. “I don’t know…” Katara murmured, gazing up at the sky—she traced the moonbeams with her eyes, until she caught one that illuminated the arrow still stuck at the top of that tall, wooden beam.

She could have had it down weeks ago, if she’d wanted to risk waterbending—but it was supposed to be a physical exercise. For all that she was at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the company (not that anyone but Sokka realized it), the last thing she wanted to do was prove herself by cheating. But there had to be some way to get to that arrow. And maybe, if she got it down herself…

Hours later, the only thing preventing her from screaming in frustration was the fact that Zuko’s tent was only ten feet away. “Come on,” she grunted, taking another running jump at the pole—and, as before, she made it a few feet before falling to the ground in an ungainly heap.

She might have had a better chance at getting higher, if not to the top, if it weren’t for the weights at her wrists. Katara picked herself up for the thousandth time, dropping the weights and dusting herself off. (It was a good thing her family didn’t seem to have the ‘quitter’ gene, or she might have contemplated just leaving, like she’d been told.) She couldn’t help the nagging feeling that there was something about this exercise that was missing, that she just didn’t understand. She picked up the weights again, holding them in front of her, inspecting the etchings in the gold. It was an ancient form of Earth Kingdom script, and she could only make out a few letters.

Somehow, she doubted anyone had carved a cheat sheet onto these things a thousand years ago, anyway.

But as the weights swayed gently on their leather ties, something occurred to her—it was so simple she could almost kick herself for not thinking of it sooner. It was so obvious. It wasn’t just about having to struggle against the weight. It was about discipline and strength—using them to her advantage.

Squaring her shoulders, Katara faced the pole again—this time, when she jumped, she swung the weights, tangling the leather ties together, and she began to climb.

Halfway up, she almost wanted to let go, forget the whole thing. Her arms were screaming in protest, and she kept slipping even as she gained inches in height—sweat was streaming down her face in small rivers, and she could feel her tunic sticking to her back. The cotton binding around her breasts was beginning to itch something fierce. But she had already gotten too far to quit, and so she kept going—gaining inches and losing centimeters, until she could see the top of the pole. She could almost reach out and grab that arrow.

The sun began to peek over the horizon once more, and Katara gasped for breath, her muscles screaming in agony as she grabbed the top of the pole and finally pulled herself up. It was a deceptively wide beam of wood, in fact, and easy enough to perch on was she grabbed the arrow in one tender hand and pulled it free.

It was only when the cheering began that she realized she’d drawn a crowd.

A tired grin crossed her face, and she subtley bent some of her sweat, coating the arrow-head with a thin layer of ice. Just as Zuko’s tent flap opened, she threw the arrow down—it landed with impressive accuracy, thudding into the ground at his feet as he stepped out. He looked up at her, and while it was difficult to tell from how far away she was, Katara almost thought he looked proud.

---

“I’m sorry. About your uncle.” Katara winced inwardly—she kept forgetting to pitch her voice low enough, but Zuko didn’t seem to notice. He was staring at the fire; if he’d heard a word she said, he didn’t indicate it. Which was almost a relief—she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get into a conversation about lost loved ones and not accidentally blow her own cover.

Sokka had been helping as much as he dared, once he’d realized her plan, but there was only so much he could do to keep her from ruining everything with her ‘stupid girly habits’.

Apparently, talking about feelings qualified.

Either way, Zuko clearly wasn’t in the mood for company. Katara turned to go—if she hadn’t already become so tuned to the tenor of his voice, for reasons she couldn’t even begin to explain, she might have missed it entirely when he said, “Thank you, Tak.”

She stopped, glancing back at him—he was giving her at least an attempt at a smile, and it suddenly struck her how very young he looked. Especially for a captain.

He really couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than she was, and it was hard enough for her to manage to keep her own life straight—she couldn’t imagine what it was like trying to lead an entire company.

She opened her mouth to say something else—she wasn’t quite sure what, but since when had thinking ever stopped her from blurting out what was on her mind?—when she heard the screech of a bird of prey high in the sky above them. It sounded familiar, almost… almost like…

She was six years old, and the snow had turned grey from falling ash. Buildings burned, people were screaming and running away, bursts of fire from soldiers in the streets kept illuminating the overcast sky, and Katara couldn’t find her parents.

“Mama!” she shouted, tears streaking through the soot stains on her face, running towards her house. Everything was chaos, but she still knew home. Somewhere, high in the sky, a fire hawk screamed—the little girl could see it circling over her family’s hut, an omen she couldn’t quite comprehend.

When she opened the door, the smell of charred flesh nearly knocked her off her feet. It was-

“The Fire Nation!” Katara heard herself shouting, those last images from her memory still superimposed over her vision, the smell sticking to her all these years later. She wanted to gag, but there was no time. “They’re here! They-“

An arrow whistled through the air and into Zuko’s shoulder as he stood, knocking him flat.

“Zuko!” Katara rushed to his side as more arrows floated into view just over the snowy hilltop—he waved her off, pulling the arrow free with a grunt and clambering to his feet.

“Everyone, get out of their range! Grab the cannons!”

It was pure chaos, after that. Zuko’s company scattered—they grabbed armloads of cannons and their weapons and ran, forcing the Fire Nation soldiers to abandon their high ground advantage if they wanted to do any real damage. Out of range of the arrows was also out of range of their firebenders, and it took everything Katara had not to panic and freeze.

“Sokka!” The relief nearly knocked her over, but she held her ground, grabbing for her brother’s hand and yanking him out of the way of another arrow barrage. “Where’s Zuko? Is he-”

“He’s fine! We need to set up these canons, Tak. Now!”

Their answering barrage sent shockwaves rippling through the ground—when they were down to the last cannon, Zuko appeared behind them. “Hold- we don’t know who’s left. If…”

He trailed off. The smoke cleared, and revealed the bulk of the Fire Nation army still intact on the hillside.

Ozai was at the army’s head. Katara could feel his smug smirk from here.

“Sokka, take that last canon. Hit Ozai, if it’s the last thing you do!” Zuko commanded. “Men- prepare for a fight!”

Katara’s hand went to her sword hilt, but something was still bothering her. Taking out Ozai wouldn’t decimate the Fire Nations forces—they’d keep coming, they’d kill everyone. How many more villages would suffer the way Omashu had? The way her tribe had? The way-

She caught sight of the snow-covered mountain just behind them. They weren’t going to have time to retreat back through the mountain passes to safety, but maybe, if she could only just… She reached, but nothing. Practicing her bending in secret had only gotten her so far, and that snow was too far off. But…

“Give me that!” She pushed Sokka aside and grabbed the cannon. It would work. It had to.

---

Katara was beginning to lose feeling in her arms. She hadn’t realized Ozai’s blade had cut that deep, but now Koda’s saddle was soaked in her blood, and she had barely been able to muster the strength to grab Zuko and pull him to safety.

The avalanche had stilled, snow wiping the last traces of the Fire Nation army away, and Katara finally slid from her horse’s back, stumbling to her knees. Zuko had regained consciousness, and he rushed to her side. “Tak! Are you alright?”

She gripped his arm and pulled herself upright, nodding weakly. “I’m fine, is everyone else-”

“We made it, Tak,” Toph said, affectionately thumping her shoulder. “Thanks to you. That was brilliant.”

The others chimed in, and Katara smiled, for just a moment. And then she collapsed.

When she opened her eyes, she recognized the colors of the medical tent above her cot. For a moment, Katara was dazed, confused—how had she gotten here? Where were Zuko, Sokka and the others? How-

Her clothing had been removed. The breast binding wraps were visible, overlapping the bandages around her abdomen. The doctor was looking at her, perhaps to be sure she was truly awake, but when she opened her mouth to speak, he turned away and left the tent.

Katara sat up quickly, wincing at the tight feeling of the wound in her stomach, wanting to protest—but then Zuko stepped inside, and the words died in her throat.

It was then that she realized her hair was loose—the thick, dark brown waves that just brushed against her shoulders were much more visibly feminine now that she no longer wore them in her father’s hairstyle, and the breast wraps had only been effective at hiding her figure when covered by padding and armour. Now, she felt her cheeks burn as Zuko’s eyes followed her figure, and realized the truth of what the doctor had obviously told him.

“So it’s true,” came Long Feng’s voice as he entered the tent behind Zuko. Where the latter’s gaze was completely unreadable, Long Feng didn’t bother to disguise his disgust. He surged forward, grabbing Katara by the arm and dragging her out of the tent, throwing her into the snow with just her blanket for cover. She fell to her knees before the rest of the company, tears of humiliation freezing to her lashes before they even had a chance to fall.

“A woman,” Long Feng hissed. “A despicable traitor to our great kingdom!”

Toph and Aang stared in shock. Sokka started forward, but Katara shook her head. It was too late for her, but she would not let her brother take the fall, too. “My name is Katara. I only came here to save my father-”

“More lies!” Long Feng insisted, turning to glare at her as Zuko approached. “Devious snake!”

“I never meant for it to go this far!” Her eyes met Zuko’s, and she pleaded with him silently. Please understand. “You have to believe me! I only wanted-”

“Silence!” Long Feng shouted.

Sokka ran forward. “Wait! You can’t do this—she’s my sister!”

“Sokka, no!”

But the damage was done. “You knew about her deception?” Long Feng was practically quivering with rage. “Stand aside, boy, or you will share in this traitor’s fate!”

“Sokka, please-”

He refused to budge. Katara could still see Zuko, staring at the both of them now, sword in hand. He took a step forward, and several gasps ran through the company—Toph and Aang looked ready to rush to their defense, but Long Feng threw his arm out and stopped them. “You know the law!”

For just a moment, Katara met Zuko’s eyes, and thought she saw something flickering in their depths. Something other than anger or disgust. Something warm.

Then it was gone, and Zuko threw his sword to the ground. “A life for a life,” he said, staring down at her. “My debt to you is ended.” Finally, as if only now realizing he was there, Zuko looked at Sokka. “Take her home. Don’t bother coming back.”

He turned on his heel—Long Feng made a noise, as if he were about to protest, but Zuko turned on him with a glower that could’ve melted steel. The advisor finally cowed into silence, he turned to the rest of his men and motioned for them to move out.

---

“You trusted Tak. Why is Katara any different?”

“You stole my victory.” “No! I did!” “… The soldier from the mountain!”

“She’s a woman, and from the water tribes! She’s not worth protecting!”

“I have heard all about you, Katara of the Water Tribes. You followed your brother off to war—stole your father’s armour and ran away from home. You impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Earth Kingdom, and… you have saved us all.”

It was… surreal. That was the only way Katara could describe the feeling that overtook her, when she realized that not only was the Earth King bowing, but so was the entirety of Ba Sing Se. As far as the eye could see, citizens were stooping low, and it was all but impossible to believe they were honoring her.

Even Zuko was bowing—even her brother. She wanted to tell them all to stand up, that she really hadn’t done anything that extraordinary, but she didn’t want to risk losing the King’s good faith. The moment eventually passed, anyway, and Katara turned to find the Earth King smiling warmly at her.

“I would be honored if you would accept a seat on my council, Katara,” he said—Long Feng looked like he was about to faint.

“B- but sir, you can’t just- there are no positions open!”

“Alright. You can have his job.”

This time, he did faint. Katara had to smother a chuckle before taking a deep breath and shaking her head. “You honor me, your majesty, but… I think it’s time for me to go home.”

He nodded, as if he’d expected nothing less of her.

The Earth King gave her his medallion and Ozai’s sword, and when Katara finally turned to go, she very nearly ran right into Zuko. “Oh! Zuko, I-”

“Katara-” he began, at the same time. They both broke off; Katara bit her lip, waiting for him to continue. He cleared his throat. “I, uh- you fight good. Well! Proficiently, you- you’re an excellent soldier.”

Their eyes met, but Katara was the first to look away, this time. “Oh. Thank you, Zuko. For everything.” And then she left, finding Koda and pulling herself into his saddle to begin the long journey home.

“You don’t meet a girl like that every dynasty,” the Earth King declared—sounding very much like he was calling Zuko an idiot.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” From a distance, Katara could hear Grandma Kanna’s voice, “Would you like to stay forever?!” Zuko laughed. “Dinner would be great.”

#zutara #katara #zuko #zutara mulan au #zutara month #my writing #day 2

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yodawgiherd · 6 years

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Possibility of a turning point

Rating: T

>>>Read on AO3<<<

Back when i started writing this, i never expected coming this far if im being honest. But here we are, 50 chapters in, and i don't see myself stopping anytime soon. It's kinda crazy. To anyone still interested, thank you, for the kudos and comments, and rest assured that i read them all and they fuel me like nothing else.

Enjoy!

Snip. Snip. Snip.

“Still not regretting your decision?”

Mikasa turned her head left and right, checking the way her new hairstyle sat on her head.

“Nope, looks pretty good.”, she looked up at Eren with a grin, “You can add hairdresser to your resume babe.”

“Eyes front.”, he ordered, “I’m not done yet.”

With a chuckle, she obeyed, and he was left to look over his handiwork with a critical eye. When Mikasa came to him with a request that he cut her hair, because it was getting too long in her opinion, he didn’t know what to say. He liked playing with her hair a lot, braiding, washing, or just petting it, but cutting it was something else. What if he did it wrong? But in the end, her gentle persuasion and the promise of a reward afterwards (eyebrow wiggle from her side) outweighed his worries and now here he was, snipping away at the strands of ebony. Luckily, her request was pretty easy, all she wanted from him was to shorten it, no special hairdressing skills required form his side. And overall, he was handy with delicate work, scalpel required a lot of accuracy to use, just like scissors. Now just about finished, he could say to himself that he did a pretty good job after all. The length she asked for was short, very short, one could say boyish, but it suited her. Then again, he thought everything suited her, because she was just so damn beautiful, so he might not be the best of judges for this particular issue. Putting a last few finishing touches, he stepped back, nodding.

“Want me to change something?”

Leaning forward, she inspected it from all angles, shook her head a bit to see if it won’t go in her eyes, and in the end let out a satisfied sigh.

“It’s actually perfect, just like I wanted it.”, in one swift move she stood up, wrapping her arms around Eren’s neck. “You are such a talent, baby. Now I won’t even have to tie it back when I blow you.”

Stunned, he stared at her. Who was this girl and what did she do to his Mikasa? She went on as if nothing happened however, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. The proximity of her body combined with her comment did remind him of something.

“So… What about the reward you promised me? Any hints?”

“Impatient,”, she shook her head, but the smile didn’t leave her face, “You’ll have to wait for it. But I promise that it will be…”, she leaned a bit closer, whispering into his ear, “worth it.”

With that, she let go and walked away, leaving a confused and somehow turned on Eren standing in the middle of the bathroom by himself. Well, if she tells him to wait, he’s going to wait, so far, she never let him down. Humming to himself, he started cleaning up after himself, already looking forward to the mysterious gift.

Annie watched the sun overhead, leaning on the railing. It blinded her, the rays falling directly into her eyes, but she refused to look away, defiantly squinting against the blazing ball of fire. In the end however, her body betrayed her, and her head turned away on its own, protecting her vision. She sighed. Sometimes a strong will is not enough. Her fingers skimmed over the cast on her broken hand, the touch bringing in the memories of the fight. The storm that raged around them was nothing compared to the storm that was Mikasa. Never in her life has Annie fought someone that good, so strong and fast combined with the skills she had, that was terrifying to face. Annie was sure that Mikasa could easily kill her back then, it even seemed like that was what she was going to do, but then she looked at her ring, and stopped, thank god. Survival however meant that now she had to nurse her body back into health, because the beating she received was rather thorough. Broken hand, black eye, numerous bruises and a limp in her walk served as a sort of everyday reminder what kind of beast she did unleash. But the pain of her body was small when compared to the anguish she felt emotionally. The things Mikasa told her back at the gym hurt her more than any of the punches that hit home. Armin tried to kill himself, because of her, because of what she did to him. Head hanging low, she let out a long breath. She’s a terrible person.

The floorboards behind her creaked, and soon another person was standing next to her. Judging from the way the newcomer favored his right leg, avoiding putting weight on the injured left one, it was easy to guess that it was no one else but her father. He didn’t say anything, just wrapped an arm around her shoulders, offering his silent support. He changed, following the confrontation the two of them had, the defiance of his daughter finally opening his eyes. Things shifted for the better between them, but that didn’t erase the mistakes of the past. Closing her eyes, she leaned on her father’s shoulder.

“I’ve been thinking Annie. “, he said, rubbing her back gently, “We could move, if you want to. Get away from this.”

It was tempting. To start again, with a clean slate, somewhere where no one knew you, no one knew your past. A lot of things flew through Annie’s mind as she considered the offer, weighing the pros and cons. But there was something, like a gravity, a strong magnetic pull in her mind that just didn’t want to let her leave. It whispered that she belonged here, and that not everything is lost yet. In the end, she shook her head.

“No, I don’t want to run.”

“I just…. Feel bad sweetie. I’ve been a terrible father, made your life so much harder….”

“That’s not entirely your fault. I could have stopped you anytime, but I didn’t, I just… I just wanted the guidance you gave me, and I turned a blind eye towards the fact that it was a bad one.”

Her father laughed, his body next to her rumbling with the sound.

“We fucked up a lot of things, didn’t we?”

Even with all the shit they were going through, with everything seemingly falling apart around her, Annie could feel her lips curving upwards into a smile.

“We sure did.”

But maybe, just maybe, they can fix it.

If she was being honest, Hitch didn’t expect so many lines to go through when she gave her patient the assignment. But, as it was usual with repressed feelings, once the dam broke, there was no stopping the flood. They were sitting in her office for a better part of the hour already, but they were far from done.

“Overprotective.”, she read on Eren’s half, raising her eyes towards Armin.

“He’s very careful about everyone, honestly, he hates making people hurt. But those instincts are boosted to thousand percent when it comes to Mikasa.”

“Being careful with the people you love is quite common, wouldn’t you say? What’s the line between being protective and overprotective according to you?”

“I have a perfect event to back up this point.”, Armin sat up a bit straighter as he combed his memory for the exact thing he was looking for, while Hitch waited patiently. It was usually like this. The lines he wrote on paper were accompanied by a story, one that he wanted to get off his chest. Armin had a lot of things pent up inside him, and Hitch was glad that he was finally talking. The incident with Annie, the one that supposedly made him try to take his life was just a tip of the iceberg, a breaking point, but there was a whole lot of ice beneath the water surface.

“Mikasa had an accident, about two years back, something related to training.”, he furrowed his eyebrows, “I can’t recall the specifics, but I do remember that Eren was freaking out about it, even when it was nothing that serious. She even told him that everything is fine, but he just wouldn’t listen. He took her to a hospital, for an x-ray scan, because he wanted to be sure.”, Armin raised a finger, “And here comes my point. He used his influence and the fact that he worked there, and everyone knew him of course, to skip the whole que, getting Mikasa in first while other people, even with more severe injuries, had to wait until she was done. Wouldn’t you say that it is a negative trait, at least partly?”

“I see your point.”, Hitch nodded, tapping the list with her pen, “And I think you are right, it’s a good one. Moving on.”, she redirected her gaze back at the paper, “Mikasa: Indestructible? Sounds like a movie title.”

“This one is pretty self-explanatory. She acts like she’s made of steel sometimes, completely ignoring the fact that her body is still human.”, Armin smirked, “It drives Eren crazy. It’s not really a negative trait or anything, but they did argue about the point a few times already.”

“It makes her partner worried, so it definitely has a place here. Now…”, Hitch looked up, seeing the clock on the wall nearing the end of an hour. She really wanted to go on, the list was giving her tons of resources to work with, but there were other patients on her schedule, and even good things shouldn’t be taken all at once. “Our time this week is almost done, but I feel like we made a lot of good progress, wouldn’t you say?”

Nodding, Arming stood up, stretching. It really did feel good.

“We can continue this next week, just after Halloween.”, Hitch said, watching him put his jacket on. “What about that; do you plan on going somewhere? A party?” It was good to gently nudge your patients to try and get out of their shells. Social occasions were useful if spent in the right company.

“I wasn’t planning to, but then Eren and Sasha planned a party at the bar we are working at. And I can’t really say no to that.”, he left out the fact that he didn’t want to, either. Now, standing here, watching Hitch, he felt an amazing idea slowly appear in his brain. “Maybe you could come with me? Unless you have something planned?”

“I’m not sure that would be proper.”, honestly Hitch didn’t plan on going anywhere, she didn’t like losing control over her actions, meaning she wasn’t much interested in drinking, and that’s what Halloween parties were most about, no?

“Please doc?”, Armin tried again, doing his best puppy eyes, “No one knows about the fact that you are my therapist, apart from Eren and Mikasa. You can come as my friend, not a doctor.” Seeing that she still wasn’t sold, he pulled out his trump card. “Eren usually drinks a lot, and it’s pretty funny to watch you know….”

Well, maybe she didn’t have to get drunk herself, but seeing other’s do it could be educational. And also, she could go to provide her patient with emotional support and stuff. Yep, that was a good reason.

“Well, if you are sure that I won’t get in anyone’s way…”

Armin seemed to be really happy about the fact that she gave in in the end.

“Oh no, not at all, it’s going to be loads of fun, I promise!”

Right.

“So, this is my reward? Eternal waiting?”

Mikasa laughed from the bathroom.

“Patience is a virtue baby.”

With a sigh, he let his head fall back on the sofa, melting into the soft material. Whatever Mikasa had planned, he just hoped that it won’t be too exhausting, because he was beat after his shift at the hospital. That didn’t mean that he didn’t plan on enjoying anything she threw at him fully, of course. Finally, the door opened and let the woman of his heart in, dressed in a bathrobe with a smile on her lips. It was easy to see what took her such a long time, as her features were enhanced by a much more makeup than usual.

“Training for Halloween already?”, he asked with a grin of his own, gesturing towards her face.

Mikasa shook her head.

“When I’ll start training for Halloween, you can be damn sure that you will be my guinea pig, trying stuff on yourself is not as…satisfying.”

Eren had the creeping suspicion that originally, she wanted to end the sentence with funny, but whatever response he had planned got canceled because she picked just that moment to pull on her belt, letting the robe drop on the ground. He sucked in a breath. The black lace of her underwear combined with strappy heels of the same color she picked were the only things covering her body, but from the way she walked it was clear to see that the clothing was only part of the show. She came close, leaning on the sofa next to Eren, who gave her his undivided attention, her smile widening when she thought just how much he was reacting to her.

“I heard that someone requested a private dance, do I have it right?”

It took him a few moments before he realized that she’s expecting an answer and nodded rapidly.

“Okay…”, slowly, she dragged a finger down his face, “You do remember the rules of the club, don’t you?”

“No touching.”, he confirmed, putting his hands on the sofa next to him, palms up.

Satisfied with his obedience, she gracefully slit into his lap, hips touching him in just the right places. Eren had to fight his arms from automatically holding her waist, but he forced them down. A dancer huh? Mikasa’s body was amazingly flexible and lithe, and while she used those skills in the ring most of the time, they could very well be made to work on a more sensual activity. Like lap dancing. It wasn’t the first time they did a stripper roleplay, but it was the first since…. Fuck, what was the girl’s name? Jade? Eren grimaced a bit, the memories of the club were not amongst his most treasured ones. Mikasa must have noticed his change of expression, because she stopped, confused.

“Something wrong?”, she asked, cocking her head to the side.

“No, no, everything is amazing, please continue.”

But as always, she wasn’t buying it.

“Eren…”, she started slowly, her eyes narrowing.

She deserved to know about it, about it all, the whole stupid experiment that Hange put him through. But fuck, with her here on his lap, he seriously hoped that she will wait, at least until the play is done.

“Okay, there is something, but it’s nothing serious. Can we talk after? Please?”

She sighed, shaking her head a bit.

“Only because you are such a good boy.”, she said, tapping his chest with the tip of her finger. “But you are not off the hook, we are going to talk about it, understand?”

He couldn’t nod fast enough. Curiosity satisfied, at least for now, Mikasa started moving again, and Eren’s head fell back with a sigh.

This night is going to be a long one.

#fanfic #eremika #snk

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mbtinsanity-blog · 6 years

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Alright folks, it's time for a good old-fashion MBTI rant, you ready? OKAY HERE WE GO LET'S GET STARTED

So Vox put out a video who knows how long ago about how the MBTI personality test is pretty much inaccurate half the time, the theory formulators (mother Briggs and daughter Briggs Myers expanding on Carl Jung's ideas) had no formal training in psychology or cognitive behavior, the system doesn't really fit everyone, people shouldn't use the system to gage someone's professional success, and the whole thing is totally useless astrology-esque Forer Effect nonsense and should only be used for entertainment purposes.

Where do I even start here.

So first of all, they're right, your Myers Briggs personality type should absolutely not be an indicator of your professional success or leadership skills, nor should it pigeon-hole you into any particular job or role. Companies that use MBTI this way are companies I'd be skeptical of using sound practices in their organization and categorization of employees.

The thing is, there is waaay more to people than their personality type. Trying to fit someone into a "suitable" role based on the way they think, feel, and take in information is ignoring what people actually want to do or enjoy doing, which is significant data when you're trying to get someone to do a job. Just because you might be really really good at crafting/outfit-making because the way you think and interact with your environment + the culmination of your life experiences has given you the tools you need to be good at it DOES NOT mean you want to start up your own crafting business or that you want to go into fashion. It just doesn't. Yes, that's a real life example for an ENTJ in case anyone was wondering, and that also doesn't mean all ENTJs would be good at crafting or fashion design. Crafting and fashion design are activities that can play to an ENTJ's strengths (like Te, Ni, and Se), but you still need skill, experience, tools, knowledge, and interest to do them.

That said, you CAN use someone's Myers Briggs personality type to predict what they might be good at. I was playing Mario Party with a bunch of new friends and I go in knowing that my Te sucks, I have none of it, but I instantly recognized one of my friends was a Te user when we paired up for a Te-oriented mini game I'd never played before. So what did I do? I instructed him do most of the Te work and we totally owned it! Recognizing what cognitive functions people are good at does help predict what kind of tasks someone might be good (or bad) at, which is useful for anything from knowing your own personal strengths/weaknesses to effectively structuring teamwork. Even so, it's really important to consider what tasks people want to do. I know an ENFJ who is really flippin' good at math, but she also hates it. Her propensity for math might not have anything to do with her type, and her hatred for it isn't an inherent ENFJ quality either, so you can't just say "hm, well because you're an ENFJ, you must be good/terrible at math so you should/shouldn't go into a math-oriented field", we can only guess. Trying it out is really where you get to discover it for yourself! And even if you're terrible at math, that doesn't mean you can't get better at it, practice, and go into a field that uses it. You can do whatever you want to do, regardless of your type.

Once more for the people in the back: YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO, REGARDLESS OF YOUR TYPE

Okay so back to why this Vox video pissed me off. First of all, it implicitly discredits the founders, Briggs and her daughter, by stating they had no background in psychology. What's that smell you say? Why I do declare it's the pungent aroma of logical fallacy Appeal to Authority, or at least it's antithesis. What actually makes a scientist a scientist? Someone who performs GOOD SCIENCE. I cannot tell you how many "scientists" there are out there with degrees in their field of specialty who didn't practice good science. Meanwhile, people without degrees (I dunno like pea-counting geneticist Gregor Mendel and legit so many other major contributors to science without degrees in their field of contribution) who have been taught scientific principles and appropriately used them are way more scientifically legitimate to me. One scientific principle is observation, and when it comes to psychology, observation is especially key! Who cares if Briggs and her daughter didn't have the scientific background, you don't need it to be a good scientist and make legitimate observations. On top of that, they came up with a testable system, which even in fields like biology and chemistry can be challenging to develop, but in psychology it is especially not easy. So trying to discredit people’s science and their systems based on professional qualifications? Yeah no, not having it. Let’s keep going with that train of thought for a sec and touch on their feelings about astrology. Now I’ve always called myself a “sucker” for astrology, acknowledging that the descriptors do tend to be both positive and appealingly general enough to ascribe a feeling of accuracy to your specified type that isn’t based on anything real (i.e. this is the Barnum or Forer Effect). But let’s challenge that for a moment, shall we? Surely from a scientific perspective there’s no way to support astrology as being a legitimate system, right? But the answer is a little more nuanced than “astrology is illegitimate”. Astrology doesn’t have any logical basis for the associations of its types with the alignment of the stars when someone was born, but what it does have is twelve distinct and cohesive personality types. It is not inconceivable that someone out there observed various people over time and generated 12 different personality types based on the month in which someone was born by recognizing patterns in people and then assigning those patterns to individual personalities. I’m not saying these personalities were formed with “good scientific observation,” but the system isn’t as far-fetched as it might otherwise seem. Even if it’s not a good system, it’s still worth considering seriously as a system before brushing it off as total nonsense as many are inclined to do. To do so without investigation would not, in fact, be considered “good science”. So what about the idea that MBTI doesn’t fit everyone? Well, that’s kind of the point of testing the system, isn’t it? Not everyone has to fit the system for the system to be useful, but also I personally have yet to come across someone who doesn’t possess at least one of the suggested eight cognitive functions. Maybe MBTI doesn’t work the way the system currently says it works, which is why we can modify the system if the system doesn’t hold true. Theories are flexible and subject to change! If the system “doesn’t fit,” maybe it’s not a good system or maybe that’s okay and it’s still useful. Myers Briggs has wider applications than pure entertainment, and suggesting otherwise is being narrow-minded to the scope of the system. MBTI gives us a way to talk about human cognitive processes in an accessible way. Being able to describe some of the reasons why people get along or don’t get along and how you can improve relationships is 200% useful information that we should not just discard as flimsy entertainment. Even if a system seems ridiculous, take it seriously and then explain your reasons for why it isn’t cohesive. Be better, Vox. Be better.

#rant #personal rant #that video made me so mad #psychology #mbti #myers briggs #systems #astrology

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sockpansy · 6 years

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Just kiss already

Hey there @organizeddiscord ! I got you for the fic writing event hosted (started) by @the-prince-and-the-emo and so, without further ado....

Ships: logince and moxiety, both romantic.

Word count: 1796

Prompt: student au: main ship are trying to set up their mutual friends, while falling in love in the process.

Summary: patton is the pastel boy who everyone is friends with, except Virgil, the moody emo who avoids everyone. Logan and Roman notice this, and want to help Patton, who really wants to be friends with Virgil. Along the way of setting up new friends, logan and Roman realize that Patton and Virgil would be a cute couple. Now they just need to make it happen.

______

Patton was the pastel popular kid that eveeyone liked. He was kind and helpful, clumsy but always willing to listen. Everyone loved him.

Except Virgil.

Honestly, Virgil found patton funny with his puns, and he seemed sweet, but he perfered to be alone, and patton was always surrounded by people, lots of people.

So Virgil tried to keep his distance.

Patton refused to take the hint.

Prancing over to the emo edge lord, Patton gave a cheerful greeting.

"Good morning Virgil! I like the eyeshadow." Said person looked up through his bangs.

"...uh yeah, sure, thanks." He tried to walk past. Virgil may not want to be friends with him, but he just can't be mean to Patton, it is physically impossible.

Patton walked beside Virgil."that math test was really hard. But you turned yours in so quick! You must be really smart."

"Nah, i just gave up and accepted defeat, plus then i get to nap quicker"

From down the hall, two friends watch in thought.

Logan, student concil president, and Roman, theatre star, stood side by side.

"Ya know Logan, patton really wants to befriend Virgil..." Roman sighed dramatically.

Logsn gave a curt nod."yes he does..yet Virgil does not want too...and you cant force someone to be friends"

Roman blinked and looked at logan silently, a grin overtaking his face. Logan soon turned to face him. Eyebrow raised, before the gears clicked.

"Roman we are not-"

"Just let me explain! Look, virgil doesn't have any friends, and patton wants to be friends, if we get them to be away from lots of other people and make them hang out, maybe virgil will come around and agree to be friends with Patton."

"Roman we can't just-"

"Ill by you a week supply of crofters."

"Im in."

______

With some quick planning, and a few practiced lines, the next day Logan and Roman went to put their plan into action.

Patton always greeted Virgil in the mornings, so when patton started to talk to Virgil, Logan and roman walked over.

"Patton, Virgil."Logan greeted.

Roman was grinning as he announced."Patton listen! I just found the coolest roller rink and they are having a special!"

Logan looked at Roman a bit, a practiced."ah yes, you told me it had a group special? A group of four gets a free pizza and a handful of arcade tokens each for free with a purchase?"

Roman nods excited."yeah, but the skates are super cute, of course ill bring my rainbow ones! But how about it Patton, wanna go?" Roman asked. Logan was keeping an eye on Virgil, who hadnt moved but was looking for a way out of the tiny crowd.

Patton beamed excitement."oh that sounds great! But who could be the fourth person?"

Logan piped up, facing virgil he said."Virgil? Would you like to join us on a skating trip this Friday afternoon?"

Virgil, caught off gaurd by suddenly being asked to go somewhere, just stared at them all. "Uhh..."

Patton had jumped at the idea." Oh please Virgil! It will be so much fun, plus it will be a group thing so you wont have to pay!".

Virgil bit his lips a bit."I..i guess?"

____

The roller rink was a place that was dimly lit, but you could still see everything. It had an arcade and booth for eating along with, of course, a rink.

Roman paid for the group while logan got them roller skates.

Virgil said."uh I..brought my own so...yeah."

Logan nodded as he and patton went to get skates.

Roman sat beside Virgil as they changed shoes. "So emo nightmare...you have skated before?"

Virgil glanced st him as he slid on purple and black roller blades. "Yep, I like blading better."

Patton and logan came back over. Patton was grinning. "This place looks so cool!"

Logan gave a smile and nods. "Yes it is...quite interesting."

Roman stood in his rainbiw skates."come on Logan! To the rink!" And he pulled a stightly wobbily logan after him.

Patton was bittting his tongue as he tried to figure out if he was putting the roller skates on right.

Virgil glanced at him."I can help you..." And he made sure Patton had his skates tied tight enough. "You fall in shoes, so we have to make sure you don't break an ankle here."

Patton giggled."thanks Virgil! So...you've been skating before?"

Virgil glanced up at him."yeah a few times..."

Patton nods."so then...could you teach me? Ive never been skating."

Virgil stopped and looked at Patton.

"If you have never skated,why did you want to come?"

Patton grinned."cause it means more time with my friends."

Virfil bit back a smile, patton's smiles were contagious.

"So..you want me to teach you?"

______

Roman had stayed near Logan most of the time the nerd was in the rink, using his free time to do tricks. Logan didnt skate much, but had enough balance to stay on his feet. The duo watch as Virgil and Patton were laughing as Patton learned to skate. Patton had fell, but when Virgil went to help him up, his skates decided to trip him, and they were on the floor laughing together.

Roman was the first to speak."Logan, they can't just be friends."

Logan hummed."I...do see what you mean..."

Roamn nods,"they have to be soul mates Logan! And we have to be the ones to set them up."

Logan sighed but gave the tiniest of smiled."there is no way I'm talking you out of it..."

Right at that moment, logan stumbled and grabbed onto roman's sleeve, making the other struggling to keep them both up.

"Sorry Roman." Logan apologize, Roman gave him a charming smile, moving his hand to hold it instesd.

"Its easier to keep you balanced like this." Roman smiled at Logan, who simply nodded and gave him a smile.

"I suppose it is."

______

After the roller rink, Virgil would smile back at Patton and greet him in the mornings, so...friends.

Logan watched then as Roman was ranting.

"Maybe an amusement park date? They could go through the haunted house and when Patton gets scared virgil can comfort him!"

Logan turned to face Roman."why not just a simple food date?"

But before either could continue, patton and virgil walked over.

Virgil took a breath."ok so..this weekend is a renisance fair and you guys took us skating so...i thought it might be...fun. To take you two too."

Roman and logan shared a quick glance, before returning to the two in front if them.

"I believe it would be quite...fun." Logan said. Roman nods in agreement.

"Yes! I do so love the renaissance fair!"

"So cool...see you guys then."

_____

Roman was dressed like a prince before the renisance fair.

Logan walked beside him."really Roman?"

Roman rolled his eyes."oh what, cant handle prince charming?"

Logan glanced at him."maybe if he was actually charming."

Offended princey noises came from Roman.

"Guys! Over here!" Patton was waving with Virgil beside him in a dark purple cloak.

Walking over, roman said."appears i wasnt the only one to dress up."

Virgil shrugged."I just like purple."

Roman rolled his eyes but smiled. "Hey hey hey! Emo nightmare, how about you take Patton to get a costume, while i help logan get one! Im thinking a bard."

Logan gave a sigh but nods."perhaps, but lets see what all there is."

Patton gasped and grabbed virgil's arm."oh what if I dress up as a belly dancer with the cute skirts?"

Virgil gave Patton a soft smile."why not? Come on." And took Patton to dress up.

Roman lead logan to a different costume shop.

_____

"Why do i have to dress up? The plan was to get Patton and virgil alone while being here to make sure things go well..."

Roman tightened his vest."oh shush, you look good anyways."

"I feel ridiculous."

"I could make you wear the poofy pants too..."

"Althought i love costume accuracy, i also have dignity."

"You do?"

Logan smacked roman on the head, not enough to hurt, but enough to make him get the point.

If Roman ever got a point that is.

"Awe come on lo, it was funny." Roman laughed a bit as he put a dark blue hat with a feather on top of his head. Logan looked at himself in the mirror.

"Ok its....not bad."

Roman grinned."trust me specs, i know how to make any guy slay, and besides, a prince always has a bard..." He wiggled hia eyebrows.

Logan didnt look away from the mirror. "Im not singing about you...or at all."

"Awe come on...please?"

"Nope."

Roman made offended prince nosies again, and logan let out a small laugh.

"Coen on, lets go check up on patton and Virgil." Logan Stated, holding his hand out to Roman, you took it smiling.

"Lets."

____

Virgil was laughing. Full on laughing. Patton was in a crop top and a skirt and so much of him jingled as he walked, but virgil was laughing at one of the puns Patton said.

Logan resisted the urge to groan as he heard patton tell another, making virgil laugh more.

Roman was still holding Logan's hand."well they seem to be getting on along fine without us."

Logan nods."they are quite cute together."

Roman nods and shook his head a bit."not cuter than us, i mean, these outfits are awesome."

Logan stared at roman for a bit, before giving him a smile and nods."yeah...not cuter than you."

Roman blinked."cuter than me? What do you-?"

"May i kiss you?"Logan asked with a straight (gay) face, but his ears were turning red from blushing.

Roman was blushing as well. "Oh uh, kiss me?"

Logan nods."yes I..."he took a breath." Perhaps...patton and virgil are not the..only ones with possible romantic feelings that could lead to a relationship."

Roman smiled and took logan's other hand. "Hmm...maybe you are right...but no, you cannot kiss me."

Logan blinked."oh I..im sorry i won't ask agian.."

Roman laughed a bit and put a hand on his cheek."you cant kiss me because I want to kiss you." And the prince proceeded to do so.

_____

From across the way, Patton giggled."awe virge, look at them, they finally got together."

Virgil smirks and held parent's hand. "Yeah, they did, good idea to invite them along." Viegil gave patton's cheek a kiss.

Patton giggled and leaned on virgil's shoulder a bit,"i love you."

Virgil smiled at him." I love you too."

________

Aaaaaaaaand done! Sorry it took so long, but i hope you like it and thst it wss what you were kooking for.

#Sander sides #my writing #sockpansy #sock #organizeddiscord #the-prince-and-the-emo #fic event thing #if you have questions ask me

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