#its funny cause we went other places too but MOST of my pictures are fish.

[sketchy-tour]

The welcome home site had an update!? Oh no I'm still on vacation and now I'm forced to wait a few days before getting to explore the new stuff!!!

*shaking my silly cage bars but the cage is actually a nice cabin and I'm literally not trapped* djsjdjskskkd

[writer1]

A regretful Wolf and his Beauty

Chapter Eight

Beast!Rex x Fem!reader

Summary: As punishment for his actions, young prince Rex was cursed to become a monster by a witch. The only thing that saved him from his fate was an enchantress, who gave him a condition. He has to find true love in order to redeem himself and he only has until the last petal of the enchanted rose falls. Rex's family helps you by guiding your way into his heart. Rex's fate now lies in your hands.

A/N: This is a collaborative fic with @ahsokatano-thetogruta. 

Warnings: harassment, Hurt, injury, wolf attack.

Twelve and a half years later…

"(y/n)?" You hear a couple of knocks at your bedroom door. "Are you awake yet, Sweetie?" 

"Yeah, I'm awake, Papa." He hears your muffled voice from the other side of the door, making him smile. "Okay, I'll go and make you some breakfast."

"Thank you, I'll be down in a bit." You call to him as he heads downstairs. You blink your eyes open to see the sun shining through your curtains, brightening up the room. Getting out of bed, you head over to the corner of your room where your armour sits on its stand. You grab your clothes that go under it, putting them on. Piece by piece, you strap the armor to your body securely, making sure that nothing is loose so it won't fall off.

Once fully armoured, you head downstairs to the kitchen where your Papa, Bail, has set out the table with cutlery and has almost finished making breakfast. "How are you this morning, Shiny?" You smile at the nickname as you sit down in your usual place at the table. "I'm good thank you." You remember how the nickname came to be, female knights weren’t exactly… encouraged in your village. 

The boys that trained with you would make fun of you and called you Shiny. It means naive for knights, but you stuck it to them when you took a liking to the name and kept it. Now no one calls you by anything but Shiny. You’re almost positive that some people have forgotten your given name. You start eating your breakfast, wondering what's going to happen today in this boring town.

xxx

You begin to sing out as you leave your house "Little town, it's a quiet village. Every day like the one before. Little town full of little people, waking up to say…" 

You hear the Townsfolk greeting one another as you walk through town.

You gesture to a bigger set twi’lek man. “There goes the baker with his tray, like always. The same old bread and rolls to sell, every morning just the same. Since the morning that we came, to this poor provincial town, never an adventure for a knight.” 

The baker walks over to you. "Good morning, Shiny." You turn to him with a smile. "Good morning monsieur."

"Where are you off to?" He asks, it's not very often that you don't stay in your yard to train. You smile, holding up the book you have in your hand. "The bookshop, I just finished the most wonderful story. It was about a beanstalk, and an ogre, and a---" 

"That's nice. MARIE the baguettes, hurry up." The baker walks away, you huff. You never have anyone to talk to about books, or being a knight. Besides your father. 

The Townsfolk talk to each other as you pass by, all dressed in your armor and feeling proud wearing it. "Look, there she goes. The girl is strange, no question, wanting to be a knight like all the men.

She's dazed and distracted, can't you tell?"

"Never part of any crowd."

"Cause her head's up on some cloud

No denying she's a funny girl, that Shiny." You walk through as you see so many different people and aliens talking to each other.

"Bonjour."

"Good day!"

"How is your family?" a Chiss man asks another Togrutan woman.

"Bonjour."

"Good day."

"How is your wife?" A human woman asks another human man. His wife hits him in the head with a rolling pin, making you flinch.

"I need....six eggs." 

"That's too expensive!"

"There must be more than this provincial life!" You sing out as you walk through town. You walk into the bookstore.

“Ah, Shiny. It’s good to see my favorite knight in here.” You smile at Tera Sinube, he is a retired Cosian knight, now a librarian. He tells stories of working in a castle to protect a king and queen. The castle was filled with their family. It was a big family, as he says.

“Good morning. I've come to return the book I borrowed” you hand him over the book.

He looks surprised as he chuckles. “Finished already?”

“Oh I couldn't put it down. Have ya got anythin' new?” You ask looking around the bookstore at the variety of fantasy books. You climb up on one of the ladders.

“Not since yesterday.” Tera Sinube chuckle's out again.

“That's alright. I'll borrow this one!” You grab a familiar book, handing it to librarian Sinube. “That one? But you've read it twice!” He laughs out. “Well it's my favourite. With far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!” you tell him as you move the ladder with wheels so that you glide to him.

“Well, you will have your own adventures with daring sword fights some day, but if you like it all that much, it's yours!” you feel surprised “But sir?!?” He hands you the book, smiling.

"I insist, Shiny!" He gestures that it's no problem, your eyes sparkle with excitement “Well thank you, thank you very much!” You exit the shop into the busy street. You start reading the book as soon as you leave, you know the town well enough that you won’t get hurt.

“Look, there she goes, that girl is so peculiar

I wonder if she's feeling well.”

A group of girls stare at you as you walk by them, they don't sing but they grumble. “With a dreamy, far-off look.” some of the men sing, but you don't hear them. “Always training and her nose stuck in a book.” some of the other women sing.

“What a puzzle to the rest of us is Shiny.” the whole town sings, but you don't hear it at all while reading.

Your eyes widen when you read your favourite part of the book “Ohhhhhh....isn't this amazing?! It's my favorite part because....you'll see. Here's where she meets Prince Charming, but she won't discover that it's him till chapter three!”

“Now it's a wonder that her name doesn’t mean beauty. Her looks have got no parallel” A Twi'lek woman peers out of the window of her home.

A shopkeeper stands by the door of his shop “But with that tough façade, I'm afraid she's rather odd. Very different from the rest of us.”

“She's nothing like the rest of us

Yes, different from the rest of us is Shiny.” The whole townsfolk sing, then Maul walks into the picture, but you walk past him and his naive, eleven and a half year old follower Ezra Bridger. “Wow you didn't miss a shot Maul! You're the greatest hunter in the whole world!”

“I know.” A red Zabrak with black tattoos, named Maul, runs his hand over his head, feeling the small horns.  

“No beast alive stands a chance against you, haha...and no girl for that matter.”

“It's true Ezra, and I've got my sight set on that one.” Maul crouches down to the eleven year old boy, pointing towards you walking by. 

Ezra is surprised. "The inventor's daughter!? The only female knight in town!!?” Maul nods at him, eyes trained on you. “She's the one, the lucky girl I'm going to marry.”

“But she's--” Ezra tries to add in but he gets interrupted. “The most beautiful girl in town”

“I know but--”

“That makes her the best! and don't I deserve the best?” Maul crouches down to the boy, getting in his face, scaring Ezra.

“Well of course, I mean ya do, but I…” Ezra mumbles something, but Maul begins to sing.

���Right from the moment when I met her, saw her, I said she's gorgeous and I fell. Here in town it's only she, who's as beautiful as me. So I'm making plans to woo and marry, Shiny.”

Three Twi'lek triplets swoon at Maul. "Look there, he goes! isn't he dreamy?

Monsieur Maul! oh, he's so cute!

Be still, my heart! I'm hardly breathing!

He's such a tall, dark, strong, and handsome brute!" They sing together as Maul tries to get through the crowd of villagers.

“Bonjour.” one man yells out. “Pardon!” Maul asks as he tries to get through the crowd.

“Good day.” “Mais oui!” Maul keeps getting blocked by people, no matter what way he goes. “You call this Bantha?” one man exclaims to a vender. “What lovely Meilooruns!” a Chiss woman tells another.

“Some cheese…” “Ten yards!”  “One Credit.” Maul pushes his way through. “`Scuse me!”  “I'll get the knife.” the cheese merchant tells the customer.

“Please let me through!!” Maul demands. “This bread.” “Those fish.” “It's stale.” “They smell!” Maul can't believe that the streets have to be this busy on this particular day.

“Madame's mistaken!” the Baker exclaims angrily.

 “There must be more than this provincial life!” You sing out again, wishing for more adventure.

Maul strutting through the crowd

“Just watch....I'm going to make Shiny my wife!” He's still unable to get to you.

"Look there she goes....a girl who's strange but special. A most peculiar mademoiselle." The whole town sings again, but you hear none of it, you once again have your nose in your book.

"It's a pity and a sin, she doesn't quite fit in. Cause she really is a funny girl. A beauty but a funny girl. She really is a funny girl.....that Shiny!!" The whole town sings, followed by many bonjours before they all close their doors and windows, going back to their business, finished with the song.

You shrugged as you went back to reading your book. A second later, someone jumps down in front of you. “Hello, Shiny.” you recognize his voice. “Bonjour, Maul.” you greet him, reluctantly looking up from your book. 

While he had your attention, Maul snatched the book from your hands. You feel annoyed, but you are still polite to him. “Maul, can I have my book back please?”

Maul opens the book, looking at it closely while you try to take it back from him. He huffs as he struggles to read it. “How can you read this? There are no pictures." You step back and cross your arms “Well, sometimes you just gotta use your imagination.” Maul's eyes widen and then he turns around to you, smirking.

”Shiny, you need to get your head out of those books.” He throws your book behind him into a puddle. “You need to focus on more important things.” he steps in front of you before you could get to your book. “Like me.” 

Off to the side of the street, a group of girls sigh dreamily as they admire Maul. 

"The whole town's talking about it. It's not right for a woman to read, let alone be a knight. That's a man's job. Soon she starts getting ideas, and thinking." Maul starts to sound almost like he's grossed out, making you mad. You earned your place among the knights, and he has no right to tell you otherwise. You pick up your book, turning to him.

"Maul, you are positively primeval. I can be whatever I want to be, and I'm a knight." Maul huff's at you, but brings back his smile.

"Right… Right. What do you say you and me take a walk over to the tavern, and take a look at my trophies?" Maul starts pulling you towards the tavern, you've had enough. No more nice Shiny.

"No." You tell him, ripping your arm out of his grip. You give him a challenging smirk. "What's wrong with her" "she's crazy." "He's gorgeous." The triplets say in rapid succession, as you try to walk away from Maul.

"I have to get home to help my father now, Maul. Maybe some other time. Goodbye." You tell him, a little too happily. Then you hear the snickering coming from young Ezra.

"That crazy old loon, he needs all the help he can get." The young boy laughs as Maul joins in.

"Ezra Bridger, don't you dare talk about my father that way!" You yell, Maul stops laughing. He fixes Ezra with a stare that the boy knows means that he's going to get a beating when they get home.

"Yeah, don't talk about her father that way!" You are mad. "My father is not crazy, he's a genius." They suddenly hear an explosion and you go running. Leaving Maul and Ezra's laughing behind.

xxx

You rush into your house, running straight to the basement. You grab your helmet on the way down, just in case there is flying debris. It wouldn't be the first time. "Papa!" You call out through the smoke, coughing. "Papa!!" You yell again, almost down to your father's workshop.

"How in the force did that happen?!" You hear Bail yell out as the smoke starts to clear. "Are you alright, Papa?" You see him stuck beneath some rubble, so you reach your hands out and close your eyes, concentrating. The wood and machinery parts start to lift up into the air.

"Thank you, Shiny." He sighs with frustration. "I'm about to give up with this hunk of junk!" You chuckle at him.

"You always say that." He kicks his invention and storms away from it. "I mean it this time. I'll never get this boneheaded contraption to work!"

You smile and shake your head, walking over to him. "Yes you will. And you'll win first prize at the fair tomorrow." Bail raises an eyebrow at you crossing his arms, turning away from you in a huff "Hmph."

"And become a world famous inventor." You smile at him as he turns his head round "You really believe that?" He doesn't sound so convinced. 

"I always have." You give him a promising smile. Bail soon feels so much better from your words of support. "Well, what are we waitin' for?" He runs over to his invention. "I'll have this thing fixed in no time!" Grabbing a spanner, he gets to work on his machine. 

"Now, did you have a good time in town today?" Your father asks as you get your training dummy ready. "It was good, Papa. I got a new book!" You grab your sword, then go at the dummy, using all the techniques you've been taught.

"Papa? Do you think that I'm odd?" 

"My daughter! Odd! Huh, where would you get an idea like that?" Bail asks as he slides out from under the machine, his magnifying goggles making his eyes look hilariously huge. You laugh as you continue practicing your sword fighting, but get sad again. Your father slides back underneath the machine.

"Oh… I don't know, it's just that everyone thinks I'm different. Especially since I'm a knight, I'm not sure that I fit in here, Papa. There's no one I can really talk to." You stop fighting the dummy, sheathing your sword. "Well, what about that Zabrak fellow… Maul, right? He's a handsome young man." 

You huff, feeling sickened at the thought of talking to that oaf. "Oh, he's handsome… and rude, also conceited. That guy is definitely not for me." 

"Well, don't worry. This invention will be a start of a new life for us, you will get your dreams of being a knight. And I know for sure that you will find someone perfect for you!" 

You roll your eyes with a laugh. "Sure Papa, but I know that no one will ever want to be with me. I'm too odd, too different for someone to love." Your father sighs, finally coming out from underneath his invention. 

"Now, that's not true. Now I think that I've finally done it, Sweetheart. Let's give it a try!" Your father pulls a lever, and you hear a whistle. You put your helmet on and pull your father behind you, just to be safe. You wait, and finally the invention is chopping wood, just like it's supposed too. You smile, your father's finally done it.

"It works." Bail hears the excitement in your voice, making him equally as joyful. "It does?" He looks towards the machine that continues to chop up the wood. "It does!" He shouts out with joy.

You love how excited your father is about his working invention. "You did it! You really did it!" You give him a big hug and jump with joy. 

"Hitch up Threepio, Shiny. I'm off to the fair!" He cheers out, overjoyed that his invention really works.

xxx

"Goodbye, Papa. Good luck!" You wave your father off as Threepio pulls along the invention, neighing as he trots with Bail on his back. "Goodbye, Shiny! And take care while I'm gone!"

Bail travels across the land, through fields and over mountains, taking in the scenery around him. He crosses over a small bridge and enters a dark, gloomy forest. Threepio keeps his head down low, feeling nervous. "We should be there by now." Bail sounds confused, looking up to see a green and white Convor sitting on a tree branch, watching him as he passes.

"Maybe we missed a turn. I guess I should've taken the- wait a minute." He lifts up his lantern to a sign, reading it. Threepio's ear twitches, then he turns to the left of the path, but he gets pulled by his lead. "No, let's go this way."

Threepio shakes his head and looks down the path that Bail wants to take, eyes widening as the poor horse sees the foggy, dark path. He looks to the left again, seeing that it's much more pleasant. Threepio attempts to go left again, but Bail refuses. "Come on, Threepio! It's a shortcut, we'll be there in no time!" The horse trots on into the dark woods. Feeling more and more nervous with each passing second.

Suddenly, something not too far away runs past them. Threepio startles, looking around for the danger, backing up with fear in his eyes. Bail looks confused at the map. "This can't be right." A howl echoes deep within the forest, making him look up from his map and hold out his lantern. "Where have you taken us, Threepio?" 

Threepio backs up even more, ready to leave as soon as possible. Worry fills Bail. "We better...turn around." The constant sounds of howling frightens the horse, backing up into a tree, causing a cloud of bats to fly around the both of them. Threepio begins to gallop away as fast as he can. "Woah! Woah Boy!" Threepio halts as they come to the edge of a cliff "Back up! Back up!" He does as he's told, Bail sighs. "Good boy, good boy. That's Good that's- back up! Steady, steady. Stead- Woah!" Threepio bucks, causing Bail to fall to the ground. His lantern bursts into flames causing his horse to run away, a couple of wolves chasing after him. 

Bail gets up off of the ground "Threepio!" He loudly whispers. Nothing. Bail stands up off the ground, he turns to see wolves coming towards him. He starts running as fast as he can, hearing the howls and growling behind him. He tumbles down a cliff, coming to a stop at a gate. He quickly jumps up, running and grabbing on to the bars.

“HELP!!! Please, is someone there!!!” he calls. “HELP!!!” he calls one more time before the gates suddenly open, he falls to the ground, slamming them closed with his foot, saving him from the wolves. A wolf bites his pant leg, but Bail kicks it off. It starts to rain as he walks up to the gloomy castle, Bail knocks at the door and it immediately creaks open, he walks inside. It looks much more cosy inside than out, but it's still dark. 

“Hello?” he asks into the darkness, hoping to ask the owner if he could stay the night, but it seems abandoned. “Hellooo?” he suddenly hears whispers. “The fellow must have lost his way in the woods!” it whispers before being shushed. “Keep quiet! If we’re quiet he might leave, Fives! You know how dangerous this could be.” Bail can’t seem to find where the voices are coming from.

“Is someone there?” Bail asks, trying to find the voices' owners. “Not a word, Fives! Not one word!”

“I’m sorry to intrude, but I lost my horse, and I need a place to stay, just for the night?” 

“Aww, Echo, have a heart, Vod.” Echo presses a metal hand against Fives’ wax mouth. “Shhh!” Fives sighs, placing his one candle against his brothers hand. “ OW, ow! ow! Owww!” Echo starts hopping around.

“Of course. You are certainly welcome here, kind sir.”

“Who said that?” Bail grabs the candlestick, making Fives surprised as he's picked up, Echo is worried for his twin. Fives then smiles as he taps his shoulder. "Over here." Fives calls out.

Bail is confused, looking around. “Where?” Fives taps Bail's head, making him turn to see the candlestick looking at him, smiling at him “Hello.” 

A gasp escapes Bail as he drops the candlestick. Fives groans as he hits the ground, making his candles burn out. "Incredible." Bail leans down to take a closer look at the candlestick who just spoke. 

“Now you've done it, Fives!” Echo hops down from the table and crosses his arms.  “Splendid, just peachy- AHHH!” He screams as he is lifted off the ground.

“How is this accomplished?” Bail's expression is full of amazement as he turns the clock around to examine it. Echo is a little afraid. “Put me down at once!”

Bail turns Echo upside down and shakes him about. Fives just watches and chuckles at his Twin. Then Echo gasps as Bail opens up his little glass door and starts digging around. “Now to take you apart and see how you tick.” Bail whispers, he has no idea that this is a living being. Fives gasps as Echo screams, Fives turns and screams as loud as his voice will allow. “ REX!!!!!!” There's a roar and Bail freezes as a giant Wolf-like creature with blonde fur runs down the stairs, followed by four suits of armor and a desk shuffling behind them, seemingly having a hard time. The wolf’s honey brown, yellowish eyes widen when he sees Bail holding the clock in one hand, and a gear from it in the other.

“ECHO!!! Let go of him, NOW!!” The wolf runs over to Bail, who drops the clock and the gear, Rex runs and catches them, handing both over to Fives, that's when he stands to full height, he’s much, much taller than any man Bail had ever seen. “What have you done to my brother.” he growls angrily, standing as close as he can to Bail, showing his large, sharp teeth. “B-Brother? But that's a clock!”

“Yes, and you hurt him!" Rex's deep voice sends shivers down Bail's spine as he looks towards the clock cradled in the candlestick's arms while a suit of armor with orange feathers on its helmet puts the gear back into Echo's body. 

Bail tries to run away, but Rex runs on all fours, stopping in front of him to prevent him from leaving. “Please! I-I meant no harm! I just needed a place to stay!” Rex growls deeply. “I'll give you a place to stay, and for what you did to my brother, you deserve it!” Rex grabs Bail as he storms off deeper into the castle, leaving everyone else to make sure that Echo is okay now and that nothing harmful has happened to him.

xxx

Rex sighs as he walks back up the stairs from the dungen, he can’t believe that that man had hurt Echo, it wasn’t right. He runs up, immediately seeing his brothers. Fives and Echo are standing on Cody, with Obi Wan beside them. “Is he okay?” Rex asks as he walks over, he's on two legs at the moment.

“I’m fine, Ori’Vod. Just a little sore.” Rex sighs in relief, his brothers are only twenty one at the moment, the curse had slowed their aging a little. They get a letter when they do age a year. It's weird. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Rex whispers, kneeling down and nuzzling the little clock. Echo chuckles, reaching up and placing a hand on Rex’s nose.

“It’s okay, Vod. You know that I’m fine, but you should let that man go.” Rex pulls away, eyes narrowing. “No, he could have killed you, Echo. He’s staying in the dungeon where he belongs.” Rex holds back a growl, he's so angry at what that man did. When Fives screamed and then he came running down to see Echo with one of his gears out, it scared the living daylights out of him. He had believed that he was going to lose his little brother. “Hey!” Rex looks down to Cody nudging his leg.

“It’s okay, Rex’ika. Echo’s fine. We are all fine.” Rex sighs “I was scared, I didn't want to lose Echo… but I am not letting that man go. And that's final!” he turns around, his cape and tail swishing behind him as he storms off into the castle. 

xxx

“Oh boy! Shiny's going to get the surprise of her life! Huh Gaston?” Ezra looks at Maul who stares at your house, wanting to propose and marry you today. “Yes, this is her lucky day.” Maul turns to leave, letting the branch he was holding swing back a little into Ezra's face, but Ezra just shakes it off and follows Mail to the party. 

Maul clears his throat. “I'd like to thank you all for coming to my wedding. But first...I better go in there and propose to the girl.” He says with a wink and laughs, so everyone else laughs too. The three girls are crying that they aren't the ones to marry him. “And you, Ezra” He presses his finger on Ezra's nose “When Shiny and I come out of that door-”

“Oh! I know, I know!” Ezra exclaims excitedly. “I tell the band to start playing!” he gestures to the group of Bith aliens to play some music. Maul feels annoyed. “Not yet!” 

Ezra quickly stops the band from playing and feels a bit guilty. “Sorry.”

You are lost in your book when you hear a sudden knock at your door, making you jump. You quickly get up and place your book on the table, making a note of the page that you are on. You brush back your hair out of your face a little as you reach for your father's invention that allows you to see who's at the door with having to open it. You peek through the scope to see Maul. You groan “Ugh.” 

Being the polite person you are, you open the door. “Maul, what a pleasant surprise.” he just grins at you. “Isn't it though? I'm just full of surprises.” he walks closer to you, making you back away from him. “Y'know, Shiny. There's not a girl in town who wouldn't love to be in your shoes. This is the day…” He stops to check himself in the mirror. “This is the day your dreams come true.”

“What do you know about my dreams, Maul?” You find his big ego pretty amusing, so you hold back a laugh and try to be as kind as you can. “Plenty! Here, picture this...” he sits down on a chair and puts his muddy boots up on the table on top of your book. “A rustic hunting lodge, my latest kill roasting on the fire, my little wife massaging my feet.” You feel disgust when he takes his boots off and wiggles his toes. You hold your nose to block out the stench. “While the little ones play on the floor, with the dogs.” He stands up right in front of you. “We'll have six or seven.

“Dogs?” you really hope that that's the right answer as you brush the mud off of your book “No, Shiny! Strapping boys, like me.” You try to be enthusiastic and play along. “Aheh, imagine that…”

As you walk away, he creeps up behind you. “And you know who that little wife will be?” you snap your book shut, not wanting to know in the slightest. “Hm, let me think.” you turn around to see Maul right in your face.

“You, (y/n).” You duck under his arm and back away from him yet again, really wishing that you hadn’t left your sword in your room, you also feel uncomfortable with him using your given name. “Maul. I'm... I'm speechless.” you're back all the way up to the door. You put your hand on your chest. “I really don't know what to say!”

Maul backs you up to your front door, placing his hands on it either side of you. “Say you will marry me.” you look up at him as you try and find the door handle. “Im sorry, Maul. But…” you found the handle. “I will never, ever marry anyone, especially you!” you say, opening the door wide open, making Maul fall out of the front door and into a puddle. He goes to lift his head up, but you use the force to make sure that he gets a mouthful of mud. Maul looks up angrily, wiping the mud from his face. The band starts playing, Maul stands up, walking over to Ezra.

“So? How’d it go, Maul?” The eleven year old asks, but Maul cuffs him. “Shiny will be mine, have no doubt about that.” Maul storms off, Ezra following close behind him.

xxx

“Is he gone?” You ask a little while later as you walk out to feed the chickens, you’re wearing your armor as usual. “Oh, can you imagine? He asked me to marry him. Me, the wife of that boorish, brainless...” you growl as you tell the chickens. Then you start singing. "Madame Maul! Can't you just see it? "Madame Maul! His "little wife", ugh!” You kick over the bucket of chicken feed angrily. 

“No sir! Not me! I am a knight! Never a wife!” you sing in disgust. The thought of being someone's wife disgusts you, especially if it's Maul’s.  “I want much more than this provincial life! I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell.”

“And for once it might be grand. To have someone understand. I want so much more than they've got planned.” You hear a horse's whinny, as Threepio runs up. “Threepio? What are you- Wait! Where's papa, where is he threepio?” You know that something must have happened, you run into your house, grabbing your helmet and sword. You run back down, jumping onto threepio’s back.

“Take me to Papa.” The horse runs off with you on his back, you will find your father, if it is the last thing you do.

taglist: @ellie1366 @pro-fangirls-unsocial-life @lightning-wolffe  @pinkiemme

@captainrexisboo

[jaskierswolf]

You Set My Heart Ablaze Pt. 16/25

Previous __________________

It was mid-April when Geralt walked into the station, after dropping Ciri of at school, to find a huge banner hung in the breakout room. The word ‘INTERVENTION’ was scrawled in red paint across sheets of paper that had been stapled together.

Geralt almost turned tail and ran from the station.

He didn’t need a fucking intervention.

He was fine.

This was Vesemir’s fault for going on leave. Geralt was starting to wish he’d joined him. Vesemir had taken a trip to the coast, near Cintra, to go fishing. He’d asked Geralt if he wanted to go along but Geralt didn’t want to take Ciri out of school to go on a fishing trip that would most likely bore her to death. She was off school next week anyway, the start of the Beltane Holidays.

“Fuck off!” He snapped at his team mates as he shoved past them to the locker room to get changed.

“It’s for your own good, Geralt!” Eskel called after him.

Geralt muttered the words under his breath and scoffed. He was fine. Yes he’d been hurt when Jaskier had decided to practically ghost him out of the blue but really he should have expected it. Jaskier had said so many times that what they were doing was strictly on friendly terms. Not a single phone call or coffee date went by without Jaskier reminding Geralt of that fact.

He’d pushed too far.

He’d let his feelings get out of control and Jaskier had gone for a clean break. It was less messy that way. Geralt couldn’t begrudge him that.

The thing that was confusing him was Jaskier’s apparent reaction to the whole thing. Coën had spoken to him after school a couple of weeks ago and mentioned that Ciri thought that something was up with Jaskier. He’d tried to ring the teacher but he hadn’t picked up. Not that Geralt had really expected anything different, by that point Jaskier had been avoiding him for about three weeks.

He’d sent an email to check in with the teacher instead, noting that Ciri was worried about him. Jaskier should have appreciated Geralt’s efforts to make it about Ciri, but the reply he’d received was a curt assurance that the teacher was fine and that he was just tired, along with an apology to Ciri and a promise to hide it better in future.

Ciri had never mentioned it again so Geralt had assumed that Jaskier was alright.

Until that morning.

Jaskier was on morning playground duty this week.

And he looked like shit.

There was small selfish part of Geralt that desperately hoped that it was the break in their friendship that had caused such a change in the man.

He shook his head. Perhaps Eskel was right. He did need an intervention. He sighed as he finished changing into his uniform and strode back into the break room as he was pulling his hair back into a bun. “Fine. Go on.”

Renfri cackled and pulled the screen down on the wall that Vesemir used for training days. Lambert clicked the button on the projector and Geralt groaned as the picture slowly faded into view.

It was a picture of Jaskier, a headshot taken from the school’s website. Geralt knew that because he’d checked website earlier that morning to make sure he’d gotten the dates for the school holidays right.

It wasn’t his fault that he’d accidentally clicked on the staff page.

His fingers slipped.

The slide show was titled ‘how to get over your daughter’s teacher.”

“Very funny.” Geralt muttered under his breath.

Renfri wrapped her arms around his neck and then grinned as she twisted to ruffle his hair. “We only want what’s best for you Ger-Bear.”

“Get off.” He grumbled and tried to escape her grip. Once he’d finally ducked out of her arms he turned round to the team with what he hoped was a convincing smile. “I appreciate the concern but honestly I’m fine.”

“You look like someone shot Roach in front of you.” Eskel raised an eyebrow at him.

“And then forced you to eat her.” Lambert added.

Geralt grimaced. “Why am I friends with you?”

“I’m delightful.” Lambert smirked.

Geralt frowned, remembering a similar conversation he’d had before.

“What?!” Lambert groaned. “Seriously! What did I say?”

Eskel shrugged and Renfri watched Geralt suspiciously. “Geralt?”

He grunted.

“Please tell me that you’re not sulking because Lambert said something that Jaskier would say.” She put a hand on his shoulder but he didn’t meet her gaze.

He shrugged her off. “I’m fine.” He insisted and stalked into Vesemir’s office.

With the chief gone, Geralt had been asked to step up for the week and make sure all the piles of paperwork didn’t build up. It also meant that he got to hide out in the office away from the others which suited him just fine.

The projector had been turned off by the time he’d left his office for his morning tea break but in its place was a bundle of paper, printouts of the slides. He sighed and scooped them up before putting the kettle on. His friends were only trying to look out for him and he could admit, in the privacy of his own mind, that he’d been sulking. More than anything he was just pissed off at himself for letting his walls down, and he was angry that it was suddenly so much harder to rebuild them again. Why couldn’t they just snap back into place? He could go about his day with his job and his friends and his family.

Jaskier’s face was smiling up at him from the sheet of paper.

“Fuck!” He cursed and typed out a text to Coën, asking the teenager if he wouldn’t mind staying a little longer with Ciri this evening.

A few minutes later his phone beeped and he let out a breath of relief when he read that Coën had agreed to stay for an extra hour. He quickly replied to thank Coën. Honestly, the kid was a lifesaver. Geralt wouldn’t have been able to stay at work without him. He’d considered finding a way to work from home when Ciri had first arrived, he was pretty handy at DIY and there was a time where he’d thought about making a business out of restoring and fixing up damaged furniture, even odd jobs round people’s houses whilst Ciri was at school, working to his own schedule.

But the fire station was his home, they were his family.

He’d been too selfish to give that up and in the end it had worked out for the best. Ciri now had a family beyond Geralt which was important for the young girl who had lost everything.

He sighed as he finished his tea, it was still too hot and burnt the back of his throat but he didn’t mind. It was better than cold tea and he had work to do. The breaks always went too fast and the day always went too slow.

He avoided his colleagues for the rest of the day whenever possible, luckily for them it was a slow day and most of the call outs were false alarms. Eskel and Renfri had a tough call at a fatal car accident and they were pretty shaken for the rest of the day after that but the team banded together and they moved on.

They had to.

It was the job.

When the handful of full-time cats turned up for the nightshift, Geralt felt a prickle on anxiety tickle up his spine. He was exhausted and this had all seemed like a good idea at the beginning of the day when he still had hours to go.

But now.

Now he just wanted to fuck it all and go home to Ciri.

He ran through the handover quickly before escaping to his truck. He sat in his truck for at least five minutes, his head resting on the steering wheel before he swore under his breath.

“Fuck, Geralt. Get a grip!” He turned the key in the ignition and pulled out from the station.

He considered dropping into a petrol station on the way but decided that would be too cheesy.

Jaskier would probably like cheesy though.

But they weren’t dating and couldn’t be dating so cheesy was out of the question.

“I’m just making sure he’s alright. Friends do that.” Geralt grumbled at he drew up in front of the block of flats, thankfully not on fire this time.

He peered at the keypad at the front of the door looking for the right number.

5D.

That was seared into his mind forever more.

He took a deep breath and pressed the buzzer, ignoring the rising wave of panic in his chest. The building was not on fire and Jaskier was not in danger. He didn’t need to kick through the door. He wasn’t in uniform and there was no smoke billowing from the windows.

“Hello?” Jaskier’s voice crackled from the intercom.

“Jaskier?” Geralt asked. “Can I come up?”

There was brief pause and Geralt stared at the keypad, willing for Jaskier’s voice to come out, as if staring at it would make it happen sooner.

“Fuck. Fine. Yes.” Jaskier sounded tired but the door buzzed and Geralt opened it before Jaskier could change his mind.

The lift would be too slow, he decided, so he ran up the stairs taking them two at a time. He slowed to a brisk walk as he walked through the corridor. It would be a bit much, even for him, to run down the corridor.

Jaskier was waiting for him, leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

He looked… lifeless.

Geralt had never seen the teacher so flat before. He was normally brimming with life, dancing around with sparkling eyes, never really staying still.

“Jask.” Geralt breathed as their eyes met.

Jaskier frowned and looked away. “This is not appropriate, Geralt.”

“I know.” He sighed. “I know.”

“Why are you here, Geralt?” Jaskier asked, still looking at his feet.

Geralt desperately wished that the man would look at him. “Honestly?”

Jaskier huffed, sounding somewhat amused by the question. “Normally helps.”

Geralt swallowed. This was a terrible idea. He was not good at this, not good at finding the words that were enough. All the feelings swirling inside him like a storm. How could words ever be enough? Jaskier normally understood this and he’d gotten pretty good at translating Geralt’s hums and grunts in the past but now that wouldn’t be enough.

He needed words.

Jaskier needed words.

“Take your time.” Jaskier said quietly with a tilt of his and finally looked Geralt in the eyes.

Geralt felt the tension leave his body as he let himself get lost of the cornflower blue of Jaskier’s eyes. A weight he didn’t know he was carrying was lifted from his body.

He took a deep breath. “I.” He cut himself off with a growl. Why was this so hard? “I don’t understand.”

Jaskier raised an eyebrow. “You don’t understand what, Geralt?”

“We were friends.” Geralt tried to explain. “And then we weren’t.”

Jaskier sighed and moved from the doorway, gesturing for Geralt to follow him.

Geralt looked around the flat. It was good to replace the memories he had of the place. He took in all the details he could, Jaskier’s instrument collection propped up against the walls covered with a thin layer of dust, a thick soft looking rug underfoot and picture frames scattered all over the walls with no particular care of placement. The kitchen was small and led straight into the lounge area. Jaskier’s furniture was a mess of different styles but somehow he managed to make it work and Geralt couldn’t imagine it any differently.

“Drink?” Jaskier asked as he shuffled awkwardly in the middle of the room.

Geralt consider it but shook his head. “Fine thanks.”

“I’m going to have a glass a wine. Do you mind?” The teacher asked as he moved towards the kitchen. Geralt shook his head. “Good. Please, sit down.”

“Jaskier.” Geralt sighed in exasperation as the man flitted about the flat, but he did as he was told and perched on the edge of the sofa. He waited for Jaskier to come back into the living area, a large glass of red wine in hand. “Jaskier, what’s been going on?”

Jaskier was tapping his fingers against the glass nervously, glancing around the room and looking anywhere but at Geralt.

“It’s not your fault, Geralt.” He finally answered.

Geralt laughed. “I never said it was, now stop making this seem like a bad rom-com and answer the question, Jask.”

Jaskier giggled at that and the sound brightened the room considerably. “I suppose it was a bit like a bad rom-com, wasn’t it? It’s not you, Geralt, it’s me!” He laughed.

Geralt laughed with him and their eyes met once more. “Is this the part where I declare my undying love for you and beg you to take me back?” He teased.

Jaskier froze.

Fuck.

Too far.

Why did he always take the joke too far?

“Don’t joke about that, Geralt.” Jaskier’s voice wavered and there was something indescribable shining in his blue eyes.

Geralt furrowed his brow as he took in the teacher’s reaction.

The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks.

Jaskier wanted that.

He wanted Geralt.

His body moved without his permission. He stood up and crossed the room in a heartbeat, his hands cupping Jaskier’s cheeks as he pulled the brunet into a kiss. It felt like all the air left him as their lips met. He hadn’t how much he had needed this, needed Jaskier. It wasn’t until Jaskier’s lips were on his that he realised the true depth of his feelings.

It was like the heat of fire after being caught in the middle of a blizzard. Hot, blistering and burning into his soul.

Jaskier whimpered against his lips and they both jumped apart at the sound of breaking glass. Red wine was running over the floor and soaking into the rug.

Jaskier glanced down at the mess of broken glass and back up at Geralt with wide eyes. They stared at each other, their breaths the only sound in the flat, before Jaskier lunged forward and captured Geralt’s lips in a bruising kiss. Geralt pulled Jaskier closer to him, after the distance between them the last few weeks he needed to feel the brunet pressed up close to his chest. Geralt’s hands drifting down to Jaskier’s ass. He smiled against Jaskier’s lips as the man squeaked when Geralt gripped his ass.

“Geralt!” Jaskier whined.

“Hmm?” He buried his nose in Jaskier’s neck and inhaled the soft chamomile scent.

Jaskier tugged at his hair and pulled him in for another kiss. Jaskier’s lips were cracked from where he’d been chewing on his bottom lip but Geralt couldn’t care less as he bumped his nose against Jaskier’s. It was messy, it was needy…

It was somehow still perfect.

They were lost up in the moment, caught up in each other as the world around the faded away.

All Geralt knew was Jaskier as their lips moved together, tongues dancing as the kiss deepened. It felt like Jaskier was reaching into his very soul. They broke apart, panting and gripping tightly onto each other’s shirts. Jaskier was first to catch his breath and he laughed as he pressed his forehead against Geralt’s.

“Well, that was…”

“Hmm.” Geralt agreed.

“Not that I’m complaining or anything but…” Jaskier pulled back slightly and rested his hand on Geralt’s cheek.

Geralt couldn’t help but lean into his touch. It had been so long since he’d felt like this for anyone, since he’d allowed himself to be vulnerable. “I love you, Jask.”

Jaskier smiled sadly and pressed his lips to Geralt’s in a chaste kiss. “I love you too but…”

Geralt groaned and pulled away from the teacher. “Don’t say it.”

“We can’t.” Jaskier pouted. “Geralt you know we can’t. That’s why…”

“Why what?” Geralt snapped.

“It’s why I had to, you know. I couldn’t bear to be around you and not have you.” Jaskier stepped forward with a heartbreaking expression on his face.

Like Jaskier was begging Geralt to understand.

He didn’t.

“You could have had me, Jask. Fuck!” He yelled and spun around in frustration, his finger pinching the bridge of his nose. He counted a few beats in his head and sighed, turning back round to face Jaskier. “I’m not. I’m not good at this but I thought I was being pretty obvious.”

Jaskier’s face fell. “Oh dear heart.”

“Don’t.” Geralt growled. “Don’t kiss me like that and then tell me we can’t do this.”

“I’ve hurt you.” Jaskier sighed and sat down on the sofa. “I’m sorry, darling.”

Geralt down next to him, he couldn’t help it. He was drawn to Jaskier, even if he was angry at the teacher. Jaskier seemed to have the same problem. He rested his head on Geralt’s shoulder and his hands landed on Geralt’s legs.

“I didn’t come here to kiss you.” Geralt admitted.

Jaskier laughed. “Oh?”

“I just needed to know why you were avoiding me.” Geralt sighed as he laced their fingers together. “I couldn’t understand what I’d done wrong. I thought maybe I could apologise?”

Jaskier shifted next to him so that he was kneeling on the sofa facing Geralt, a hand on his cheek. “Dearest, you did nothing wrong.”

“Hmm.” Geralt replied, not believing Jaskier. Of course he’d done something wrong. There was no other reason for Jaskier to pull away from him so suddenly.

“I was scared, Geralt.” Jaskier admitted. “We have the board breathing down our necks at work, three teachers suspended for misconduct.”

Geralt opened his mouth to speak but Jaskier’s finger on his lips stunned him to silence.

“Let me finish, dear.” Jaskier pleaded.

“Fine” Geralt mumbled against Jaskier’s finger.

“Good.” Jaskier bopped him on the nose and Geralt wrinkled it in surprise. “Three teachers suspended for misconduct,” He repeated, picking up his train of thought. “and then you came in with the lunchbox and well…” Jaskier trailed off and smiled dopily at Geralt. Geralt laughed and bumped his forehead against Jaskier’s gently. “Well, I realised that I was unreasonably in love with you.”

Geralt hummed and pulled him into a kiss. How was he supposed to resist the teacher when he said things like that?

He felt Jaskier’s smile against his lips as the brunet pushed back against his chest. “I wasn’t finished!”

Geralt smirked and tilted his head at the teacher.

“No. Stop it. Stop looking at me like that.” Jaskier pouted.

“I’m not looking at you like anything.” Geralt chuckled.

“Yes you are!” Jaskier poked him in the chest. “It’s all very…” He waved his hands in Geralt’s general direction. “distracting!”

“So you realised you were in love with me?” Geralt grinned, prompting the teacher to continue his story.

“Yes and,” He paused “then I remembered that we were supposed to just be friends and with teachers getting suspended left right and centre I just. I couldn’t risk it! I couldn’t do that to my kids, Geralt. I couldn’t do that to Ciri. She’s lost too much already.” Jaskier was staring at him with wide eyes and jutting out his bottom lip.

Geralt frowned at the words. “You did it for Ciri?”

How could he argue with that?

Jaskier was right. If he was suspended or fired because Geralt couldn’t control himself. Ciri would lose her teacher and she adored Jaskier. All of the buttercups did.

“I did it for all of my buttercups.” Jaskier amended. “Ciri included.”

“Fuck.” Geralt groaned and pressed his palm against his forehead.

“But I hated it, Geralt.” Jaskier shifted forward and took Geralt’s hands in his. “I missed you, Melitele knows I missed you. I missed the sound of your voice, I missed your laugh, I missed the way your lips quirk up in that little half smile.”

Geralt scowled. “I don’t do that.”

“You do.” Jaskier insisted. “and I missed your eyes. Gods, Geralt. Do you even know how beautiful they are?”

Geralt scoffed.

“Geralt!” Jaskier whined. “Beautiful.”

“Hmm.” Geralt rolled his eyes.

“I never wanted to hurt you.” Jaskier sighed. “Forgive me, darling.”

Geralt searched Jaskier’s eyes with his own, trying to find an answer to a question that he didn’t understand. He only knew that the answer was in Jaskier’s eyes. He tilted his head as he tried to comprehend what was really going on between them. They were fighting, but then they were kissing, and then fighting again. They couldn’t be more than friends but they loved each other but Jaskier could lose his job but the never-ending terms of endearment.

Was love always this fucking confusing?

He thought back to his relationship with Yennefer and decided it probably was.

“Geralt?” Jaskier asked quietly. “Please.”

He sighed, knowing he wasn’t able to answer the question yet. He didn’t have enough information to make the decision yet. “What happens next?”

“What?” Jaskier asked, his voice cracking.

“We can’t date, Jask. You were right. It wouldn’t be fair on the kids, on Ciri, if someone found out.” Geralt scowled.

Why did it feel like they were breaking up again before they even got started?

“I know.” The teacher sighed and buried his head in Geralt’s shoulder. Geralt instinctively moved his hand to thread his fingers through Jaskier’s soft hair. “It’s not fair.”

“No.” Geralt agreed. “It’s not. So what happens now?”

“I can’t pretend that I don’t love you, Geralt.” Jaskier moaned into his shirt.

Geralt laughed and gently pulled Jaskier up so he could see his face again. The brunet was pouting.

Gods, those lips would be the end of him.

He didn’t know what else to say so he did the only thing he could think of and kissed them.

Jaskier fell back onto the sofa and pulled Geralt on top of him. Geralt straddled Jaskier waist and he kissed him like his life depended on it. They wouldn’t have tomorrow, they only had today.

This moment.

This was it.

He couldn’t waste it.

He wouldn’t waste it. Not now that he had Jaskier in his arms, his lips captured by his own.

“Jaskier?” He asked, his voice a low growl. “Stop me.”

Jaskier laughed breathlessly, his face was flushed and his pupils were blown wide so there was only a slither of cornflower blue. “Like fuck I will. Shut up you brute and kiss me!”

So he did. ________

Next

[shining-red-diamond]

Shallow Waters (Part 1)

Words: 2.5k

Pairing: Hendery x Brittany (OC)

Rating: PG-15

Genre: fluff, some angst

Warnings: mentions of abandonment, illness, and 

A/N: Banner credits to @dearyongs

Summary: When Brittany met a merman named Hendery, little did she know her life was going to change. Not only do they fall in love, learn about each other’s worlds, and create a life for themselves; but there’s also a mystery surrounding Hendery that could potentially put both of their lives in danger.

-

Sipping on her strawberry lemonade, Brittany was zoned into her book. The summer sun brightened up the beach in her backyard, a gentle breeze kept the weather cool, and she was relaxed on her lounge chair on her porch. Brittany hummed a tune as she read, a habit she had ever since she was young. In her mind, it was offered as background music whenever she read one of her books.

Little did she know that her voice had caught the attention of a certain inhabitant of the ocean. Hendery had seen her and wanted to talk to Brittany since she moved to an isolated area in the Florida Keys about six months earlier. Multiple humans had come and gone to where he roamed, but something about Brittany reeled him as if she were a magnet for him. He was a little on the shy side, but he had finally worked up the courage to talk to her. Explaining that he was a merman would be difficult, but he hoped she would understand.

As soon as she had walked inside of her house with the empty glass in her hand, Hendery took advantage of her distraction to sneak onto her porch. He was intending on standing there to wait for her until he noticed the book she was reading. The cover had gold lettering centered at the top, and an elaborate picture of a human boy in round glasses trying to catch a small, spherical object while riding some sort of flying object was printed under the lettering. Hendery couldn’t read human writing, but from the cover he could tell it was an adventurous story. He quickly flipped through pages, but there were mostly words. Only a few pictures showed up on certain pages.

As soon as Brittany returned outside, she immediately jumped at the sight of a strange, young man with jet black hair standing on her porch and flipping through her book. The shock caused her to nearly drop her drink.

“Who are you?” she asked him, keeping a distance in her startled state. “What do you want?”

Hendery tried to speak, but he didn’t know how to speak human either. He’d picked up a few words here and there, but all he could do was make little squeals and dolphin sounds and use his body to explain what he was thinking. The only thing he could get out was his name.

“H-Hendery,” he introduced himself as he pointed at himself.

“Is that your name?” Brittany asked, and he nodded. “I’m Brittany.”

“Brittany,” Hendery repeated with a smile.

She noticed the book in his hands. “Oh, do you like Harry Potter? I’m rereading the series.”

“Can’t read.”

“Oh…” she paused before changing the subject. “May I ask where you came from?”

Hendery pointed to the ocean, but Brittany just chuckled. “Very funny.”

He used his body language to insist that he was from the ocean, and by the look of sincerity on his face Brittany could tell that he wasn’t joking.

“Oh, are you a sailor?” she raised an eyebrow. Hendery shook his head.

He then took the book out of her hands, set it on one of the lounge chairs and had her follow him to the beach.

“Dude, where are we going?”

Once her toes were touching the edge of the shoreline, Hendery stripped his shirt and shorts off before instructing her, “Wait.” Before she could say anything, he was dashing to the water before Olympic-style diving into the ocean. An iridescent glow where Hendery dove nearly blinded Brittany for a second before he dolphin-jumped out of the water again. A flash of purple where his legs should be had sparkled in the sunlight.

Brittany couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

A merman? A real merman?

She shut her eyes and pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. When she opened them, Hendery was sitting there on the beach, staring at her with confusion on his face.

Brittany could see his tail much clearer now. It was scaly, and each one was a beautiful purple and gold monochrome that also turned black in some angles. They faded into skin where the bases of his hips were.

“There’s no way this is real right now,” Brittany chuckled. “I must have hit my head. I’m dreaming.”

Hendery shook his head, and whispered, “Real.”

If she had already pinched herself once, she did it again but without this man knowing.

When she accepted that she wasn’t dreaming, she knelt down and asked, “May I touch them?”

Hendery had never been touched by a human much less any female creature. He hesitated a little, but he obliged. Taking her hand, he set to where he figured his shins would be.

“Gentle,” he begged.

“I will,” she promised.

Her fingertips carefully stroked his tail up and down, and the scales were smooth as a marble slab table with the exception of the gaps lining each one.

“Mermaids are real,” she whispered to herself.

“Yes,” Hendery replied.

Brittany faced him and promised, “I’ll keep it a secret if you want me to.”

“Please.”

“Okay. Can you turn human again? I can get you a towel to dry off with and something to eat if you’re hungry.”

Hendery nodded.

“I’ll be right back,” she said before rushing back into her house.

Lying there on his side, he watched as her slender legs carried her when she ran. Every inch of her was sketched into his brain: her flaming red hair, her eyes the color of the sea, and an hourglass figure like a mermaid’s. Hender was an observer, and as much as he watched her from afar some days, Brittany seemed like a kind person just from her actions. If she really was the most beautiful woman in the world to him, then it was definitely coming from her heart.

Brittany soon returned with a towel and his clothes that were abandoned on the beach, and he sat up a bit straighter. She helped him scoot away from the water to dry off properly. Hendery pat himself down, as he had done many times before with any absorbent cloth, and within a few seconds his tail split in a vertical line so delicately as clay being sliced in half with an invisible knife. His tail and scales melted into legs and feet, but Brittany quickly handed him his clothes before she saw too much.

“Thanks,” he smiled as she turned away to give him privacy as he dressed himself.

After Hendery was fully clothed, Brittany turned back around and asked him, “Would you like to come inside?”

“Inside?” he repeated.

“The house. I’m getting hungry, so I want to eat something for lunch.”

“Food?” Hendery’s eyes lit up as he smiled, showing off his sharp teeth.

Brittany nodded. She had heard of some merfolk having such sharp teeth, but her new friend’s teeth were like sharks. They nearly startled her as it was such a shock for her to see.

She breathed deeply to calm down. “What do you like?” she asked him as she guided him to her back porch.

“Fish.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” she smiled as she opened the door. “I’ve got plenty.”

Brittany’s house was the most beautiful thing Hendery had never seen in his life. It was all so clean and tidy with most of the furniture having a soft navy fabric on some of the human furniture. It was his first time inside of a human house, so he took in everything his eyes could see.

In the kitchen, there was a wooden table with six chairs, and a large kitchen island stood right in the center (he had seen human billboard ads kitchen ware of some place called “Home Depot”). Two metallic doors were built into one wall, and a sink was placed beneath a window. The cabinets were also a beautiful wooden, and Hendery was impressed at how clean Brittany kept it.

“Pretty,” he mumbled as he sat at the table.

“All I have is salmon,” Brittany interrupted his thoughts. “How do you like them? I just learned how to debone and prepare them.” She set out a wooden board on the island and placed three raw salmon fish on it.

Hendery looked at the fish for a few seconds before picking one up with his bare hands and chomping down on its head with his sharp teeth. He ripped the head off in the process, a few fish scales sprinkling onto the counter.

“That answers that question,” giggled Brittany. “Raw it is.”

As he ate, Brittany fixed herself a BLT sandwich and a glass of the remaining pink lemonade. She tore off a couple paper towels for her new friend and herself. Hendery raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“To clean off your hands and mouth,” she explained as she gave a small demonstration, and he nodded before continuing his lunch.

Brittany observed the way he was chowing down on the raw fish. It was as if he hadn’t eaten in a long time, and seeing how loosely the unbuttoned shirt hung on his body she could almost make out a couple of ribs poking out from his sides.

“Thanks,” Hendery said as he wiped his hands and mouth with the paper towel.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “Don’t worry about the scales. I’ll clean it up.”

Hendery nods. His eyes then casually wander around her house.

“It’s not much, but I like it.”

“Pretty,” the merman repeated himself from earlier, now poking at the faucet. He jumped when water automatically showered out.

Brittany chuckled as she tossed her empty plate into the sink. “You haven’t seen much of what humans do, have you?”

Hendery shook his head. “Little.”

“A little.” Brittany thought for a moment. She knew he couldn’t form full sentences, but she knew he was smart. Hendery was curious, and from the way he observed everything Brittany could tell he wanted to learn. A light bulb went off in her head.

“How about this?” she said. “I work in the mornings, but every afternoon you can come by and I’ll teach you how to read and talk.”

“Talk? Read?” Hendery’s eyes were lighting up. No human had ever offered to teach him to speak a language before. Sure, he understood hundreds of languages, but for whatever reason he lacked the ability to try to form a proper sentence. All he spoke to his friends were by different voice patterns and ocean soundwaves.

“Everything,” Brittany promised. “Just come knock on my back door and we’ll begin.”

Hendery nodded. Taking her hand in his, he pressed a gentle kiss to it. “Tomorrow?” he begged.

“Tomorrow.”

-

It was a Friday afternoon when Hendery began his reading and writing lessons with Brittany. She was an excellent teacher as her college degree was in elementary education, but she stuck with tutoring young children who needed phonics and spelling help in school. Hendery was no different from them in terms of learning the different phonics, vowels, and consonants. The first lesson was just the basics of the alphabet and what sound each one made. Flashcards with pictures and the letter, such as “M” for milk, were easy for Hendery to follow. The lessons did get harder with each lesson every day for about a month and a half, but Brittany taught him that practice and application are key in having the lessons stick in his brain. Of course, he got frustrated whenever he couldn’t get a syllable or pronounciation correct, but Brittany pushed him to do his best. Before long, Hendery was forming proper sentences to get his thoughts across to her.

“Okay, so as a final test,” Brittany concluded after their final lesson one Tuesday afternoon, “tell me about an adventure you’ve had in the ocean.”

“What story does Brittany want to hear?” Hendery asked. He had grown a habit of speaking in third person. Brittany had taught him first and third person point-of-view, but he liked speaking in third. She didn’t mind it a bit.

“Did you meet any other mermaids or mermen?”

Hendery shook his head as his smile dropped. “Hendery was abandoned when he was small.”

“What happened?” Brittany wasn’t expecting his answer to be so grim.

“He was too small and weak. His stomach couldn’t hold down anything his father gave him. Only fish.”

“Oh…” Her fingernails tapped on the table in a rhythm. “So, they just left you behind?”

He nodded again, but a grin came back to his face. “Hendery became friends with the sirens. They took him in, fed him, taught him to swim, hunt, and to communicate through sound.”

“Sirens?” Brittany repeated. “How many mythical creatures are out there that are real?”

“The Kraken is not real. The only octopus and squids that exist are only slightly taller than a human man.”

Brittany was now curious. She had only grown up hearing fairy tales about the mythological beings of the deep blue, but she always brushed them off as nothing more than stories. Now, that Hendery had entered into her life, she wanted to know which ones existed and which were hoaxes.

“Tell me more,” she begged as she pushed the notes for the lesson aside. “I want to know everything.”

“Is Brittany sure?” he teased. “There’s a lot of dangerous ones that could be harmful.”

“That’s what makes it exciting, and I know the perfect spot for us to talk.”

“Where?”

“Come with me,” she motioned with her finger, and Hendery followed her out the back door.

“But Hendery and Brittany have relaxed here already,” he whined.

Brittany giggled and took his hand. “Not here, silly. We have to walk and swim a little ways.”

Hendery got excited and held on to her hand tighter as she pulled him along. It was about a three minute walk before they came close to a pier stretching out in the ocean. The pier was nothing fancy, just a place where fishermen could come relax and catch a meal. Most of the time, it was empty mainly because it was a more isolated area. However, the two jumped into the water (Brittany had stripped her clothes off in the house, revealing a royal blue halter top bikini) and quietly swam underneath the bridge to avoid being noticed by two fishermen throwing their lines at the end of the pier.

Once they were far enough, the two of them crawled out of the water and onto the beach area. They decided to just naturally dry off in the sunshine, but it was a little chilly as the breeze kissed their skin.

“Hendery and the sun will keep you warm,” the merman offered, seemingly unbothered by the cool winds. Brittany just nodded in compliance and allowed him to wrap his arms around her waist as they sat down.

Leaning back against his chest, she immediately felt the warmth he gave off. Not only was the warmth nice and comfortable, but being held by her new friend likes this made her feel good inside. She could feel her cheeks turn as red as a firetruck, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted him to hold her forever, if he could. Hendery was discovering some new feelings for himself in that moment, and he knew deep down that he wanted to stay with his friend for as long as he lived.

“What does Brittany want to know?” Hendery asked, his voice cracking in shyness.

-

Tagging: @fantasywayv​ @ezralia-writes​ @queen-of-himbos​ @daybreakx​ @the32ndbeat​ @mafia-nct​ @philosopher-of-fandoms​ @neocitybyday​​  @dreamystuffers​ @jaekissd​ Let me know it you wanna be tagged or removed

[damianosismyking]

Part IX

Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V - Part VI - Part VII - Part VIII

CW: Mentions of Grief and Mourning. 

In the days that followed, Laurent often found himself in a state of confusion and uncertainty he could not shake. A general and constant feeling of being utterly at loss. 

It came from being around Damen, at the main house, where he was now installed. ‘It is the least I can do’ Damen justified Laurent and Auguste having to stay there and not at Laurent’s real room, down at the stables – that wasn’t his room anymore, he had to remind himself. 

It came from not knowing how to properly behave around him because of the feelings he couldn’t name, and the way Damen was polite but distant and looked at Laurent a certain way. 

It came from spotting Damen around the ranch and watching him spin on his heels to walk in the opposite direction whenever he saw Laurent approaching – and doing it himself when Damen didn’t.

From sitting in that office in the second floor to listen to Damen talk and talk about the case and their uncle and what they’d do next, if they’d settle or go to court, if there was a chance Laurent would have to testify in front of a grand jury and whatnots, all the while Damen would meet Auguste’s eyes but never his. And when he did, when Laurent managed to capture his attention, it was for only the breath of a moment.

It came from not being sure either Damen hated him so much he could not stand a glimpse of Laurent or if it was something else that pushed him away.

Most of the loss and confusion came from being around Auguste, though.

And the more he was around Auguste, the stronger it got because once the initial shock was over, Auguste was less and less what Laurent remembered him to be.

Every attempt of apologizing Laurent made was met with a consistent sneak away from the subject to question, instead, if the sun was always this hot around here or if the sky was always this blue.

Any mention of their old lives, their parents, the last time they saw each other, or the day Laurent disappeared caused Auguste to tense and bring up the lawsuit. Whenever Laurent asked about the wife or the child Auguste left in the city to come to the countryside – still in Dice, to where they moved since Laurent saw them last – earned a quick ‘they’re great’ before Auguste was talking, for the tenth time that day, about a funny-shaped tree or a bush.

“How was it,” Laurent inquired at their third day together. “When I left?”

“I managed,” Auguste gritted out. “Let's not talk about this.”

He said that a lot. ‘Let's not talk about this’. ‘Let's not get into that’. ‘Let the past stay in the past’. ‘I managed’. ‘It doesn’t matter’.

It did matter.

Laurent couldn’t tell if Auguste resent him or if he meant it and there was nothing he was holding against him. He couldn’t tell if Auguste was as pleased to see him as he claimed to be. At times, Laurent caught Auguste watching him speak of horses and grapes and wines like he’s been narrating the most compelling story. Other times, Laurent told him about the school he attended and his job with the horses and Auguste would darken, his eyes would pierce through him and there wasn’t a single expression on his face Laurent could make out.

He tried to get into that once.

“Are you mad at me?” he questioned while guiding Auguste through a path in the woods that led to a river with water so clear you could see every fish and rock underneath. He went there with Damen sometimes.

“Never,” Auguste had reassured, so cutting and exasperated Laurent didn’t have the guts to ask again.

For days, Laurent tried not to converge too much on that.

It was thrilling and terrifying to show Auguste the place he’s been living in for the past five and a half years. The view, no matter where they looked, was dizzying, beautiful and wide. Laurent was so excited to point, at distance, the places he cherished the most; to take Auguste to the white fence where they later sat for hours talking about nothing, bantering and teasing back and forth; to show Auguste to the trees he climbs proficiently and to challenge Auguste to do the same. Ride with him through the Vineyard. Laurent didn’t find it in him to care that he sounded childish pointing and rambling because Auguste looked at him and laughed at his little anecdotes and detailed stories of the ranch.

At the stables, Laurent introduced Auguste to each horse by name, glad Auguste took him seriously as he did so. Laurent introduced Auguste to his own horse last. “Remember when I told you about my brother?” Laurent whispered, “This is him. Why don’t you say hello?”

Laurent turned to find Auguste smiling at him. Fond. Sad. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I hear that you kept my brother company when I couldn’t. Thank you so much for that.” He scratched behind its ear. Laurent knew what Auguste meant to say.

However much Auguste tried to hide, he was unhappy. Like an underlying of helplessness just underneath the surface that he failed to fully conceal. It was there when Laurent described to Auguste about how he escaped and how he ended up with the deAkielos. It was there when Auguste stopped laughing at a joke Laurent told and immediately closed himself off, almost as if reminded of something inexcusable.

So, in all, Laurent was confused a lot of the time.

A week later, worried by Theomedes’ constant dissatisfied glares in his directions, the muttering under his breath that followed, and the wearyness that came from seeing Damen and never talking to him (unless it was about legal matters), Laurent convinced Auguste to sneak out to spend the night at his old room. It didn’t take much persuading before Auguste was following him down the stone path and humming along as Laurent pointed him the constellations he invented throughout his adolescence.

They sat for a picnic inside the mostly empty space.

Although Laurent packed most of everything after the break up, Auguste took his time to study the place, poking at shelves and opening boxes. Strangely apprehensive, as if expecting Auguste to give his approval, Laurent watched from the floor, leaning his weight on his arms stretched behind him.

“It’s great in here,” Auguste said at last. “The smell though?”

“You get used to it.”

They said nothing for a while, having run out of shallow topics days ago. Auguste, at some point, made a joke about them being too old and too big to share the only bed in the room and Laurent bit his tongue not to say that he knew for a fact someone much bigger than Auguste fit there with him just fine. “Maybe we should go back and spend the night at the house?”

“No,” Laurent said, “I want to stay here. If it makes you feel better, I have an air mattress somewhere, we’ll just have to find it.”

“Don’t be silly.”

He kept peaking around until, from the box of books, Auguste pulled the photo album.

Careful to contain his tremble, he opened it slowly. Then, one page at a time, breathing loud and heavy, he went through it. Part of Laurent expected Auguste to smile at the memories, point at funny baby pictures and laugh. Maybe provide context to some of the photos Laurent came up with himself, not knowing anything about the real memory behind. Instead, Auguste’s face twisted into something resembling pain. Even when all Laurent could see was Auguste’s profile, he spotted the downwards twist of his lips.

Auguste excused himself. He had to take a call, he said, although his cellphone was not buzzing. Laurent knew it was best not to follow him, but he did it anyway.

Auguste was far away, beside the fence that encircled the stable area, his hand on the wood to support his weight. By the way his shoulders moved up then down, Laurent wondered whether he was crying or trying to grasp for air. 

He stood pressing a hand to his diaphragm, probably – Laurent was not sure being so far away and Auguste being on his back and it being night already. Auguste tilted his head up them raised his shoulders all the way up to his ears; when he dropped them, he was shaking his head.

“Auguste?”

He startled but did not turn. “I’m sorry,” clearing his throat. “You were an adorable baby. I’d forgotten about that.” Auguste sniffed. 

“Is everything –” Laurent stopped. “What is wrong?”

Auguste shook his head. “I’m fine. I needed – some air, it’s all.”

Laurent waited, for some time. Then some more. Auguste no longer shook his shoulders, taking up a motionless stance instead. His sniffing decreased to a stop and after that there were only the sounds of the night. Where they’d be relaxing any other day, now they only served to amplify how Auguste wasn’t saying anything or looking at Laurent.

Hesitant, Laurent said, “What was it like? When I ran away.” He thought it was the wrong thing to ask, but it was all that he had on his mind.

Auguste sighed. “Hard.” Laurent had no reason to hope Auguste would say anything to follow-up. “I can’t even put into words.”

It was better not to push. Auguste could not make it any clearer that he did not want to discuss this. Laurent bit on his lip and looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry."

Auguste shook his head again. Laurent waited for it –  don’t apologize; it’s in the past; it was not your fault . “You could have called,” Auguste's voice was barely a breath. “One time. Only once to let me know –” his voice grew thicker. “You could’ve written to me. Anything. I would take anything .”

Laurent’s heart clenched. “I’m – sorry.”

“I mourned you,” Auguste said. “I am. I was. Mourning you. I buried your casket with our parents' because I couldn’t get your – ” A long pause followed that. “I thought he killed you. I thought he’s done something, killed you and hid your body somewhere. He was so  eager  to get your custody and I didn’t know why. I thought –”

“Auguste.”

“I looked everywhere, Laurent. I turned every last stone in that town. I... broke in into his house because I thought maybe he was keeping you from talking to me. I beat him up so he’d confess he did something and he wouldn’t. I ended up in prison for a minute for that and I didn’t care because I fucked up and he won and you were gone because of me. I finally stopped looking and someone told me - I should give you a proper burial. For closure. But I couldn’t even get your body back...”

Auguste stopped when his words became unintelligible. When Laurent reached for his shoulder, Auguste shuddered, and he let go. Apologies weren’t enough and Laurent knew it, so he just stood there and listened as Auguste gasped and mumbled with his face buried in his hand.

“I’m here,” Laurent said, mindlessly

Auguste nodded into his hand and after a moment he turned. “You are," he said after a sharp breath

This time when Laurent reached, Auguste let him. Auguste breathed unevenly. “I should’ve called,” Laurent admitted.

“You could have,” Auguste almost whimpered. Laurent never comforted anyone before. “Why didn’t you?”

“I –”  was scared ;  was being unreasonable ;  Was ashamed . “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“I know.” He looked resigned.

Laurent gave Auguste’s shoulders a little squeeze. Auguste placed his hand on top of Laurent’s.

On their way back inside there was nothing Laurent could say that felt right so he said nothing. Auguste went for the photo album the first thing after entering the room and he mentioned, hoarse and with the tease of a smile on his lips, that his son resembles Laurent when Laurent was a baby. He pulled a picture from his wallet for proof.

Laurent carefully inspected the image and the beaming faces of the woman and child that were Auguste’s family. The family Laurent wasn’t a part of. One that was there for Auguste when all Laurent did was hurt him.

“What’s his name?” he asked, quietly.

“Aleron Laurent,” Auguste said. “We call him Ally.”

Two dead people , Laurent didn’t say. “Tell me about them,” he handed the photo back.

Auguste deliberated about it while carefully folding and tucking the picture back in the wallet. “Ok,” he said, then went about telling the story of how he met his wife in a support group meeting.

Laurent made sure to stay quiet and listen, not wanting to miss anything.

__

NEXT > 

Read it on AO3

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #314

“as above, so below  /  what you reap is what you sow  /  what you give comes back threefold  /  as above, so below”

What do you do for work? I'm currently unemployed. I only get paid now and again to do pictures for people. What would you ideally like to do for work? I'd love if I could just be a photographer. What are you doing in order to achieve this? Practice and shoving my extreme discomfort about it aside and trying to promote myself where possible and not in an overbearing manner. What do you think is the worst being on the planet? "Rapists, pedophiles, abusive people in general." <<<< This. Anyone who disrespects the existence of other and equal people. Have you ever been arrested? If so, what for? No. How big an age gap is between you and your siblings? My immediate sisters and I are two years apart. My half-siblings, I don't know. I don't have their ages memorized, but I do know 5+ years, some even 10. Do/did your siblings cause trouble? Not really, we were good kids. What's your dream vehicle? I don't really have one. Are you good at taking care of your finances? What finances? And I don't mean that happily. What's your favorite comic strip? I don't have one. How many people have you texted today? Zero. Someone cheats. Second chance? Nope, byyyyeeeee. Thoughts on kids? Clay that I'm not playing with. Are you a risk taker? No. What are you listening to? I'm currently going through a phase of playing The Evil Within 2's theme nonstop, jc. Is/Was your high schools dress code strict? Not like, mega strict, but it still was overboard. No spaghetti strap shirts, and I even once got in trouble for wearing a floral mesh shirt, despite having a normal tanktop underneath it. It was weird, like no one had ever had a problem with it before, it was just this one teacher that I passed in the hall. Who was the last person to request you on a social media network - and did you accept? Someone I didn't know, so obviously not. Who was the last person’s vehicle that you rode in? Mom's. Who was the last person to make you laugh or smile, and why? Another current obsession of mine: John Wolfe, another let's player who I think is super funny. He said something that made me snicker before I turned on music and started this. Who was the last person that you took a photo with? My half-sister while she was visiting. Who was the last person to pay you a compliment, and what did they say? In group therapy the other day, one of the other women told me that even if I don't believe it, I bring so much positivity to group and she was really happy to be there while I am. I was so so super flustered but flattered, too. Who’s the last person that you visited in the hospital? My mom, following her surgery. Who is the last person that you lent money to? Actually today to Mom. What was the last food that you ate? I warmed up a burger for dinner. What did the last pair of footwear that you wore look like? They're just black flipflops. What was the last kind of bread that you ate? Just plain white bread. What was the last app that you downloaded to your phone? Oh wow, I never do this. I want to say it was a game for my niece. When was your last work shift? I haven't worked in a long time, so idk. When is the last time that you had trouble falling asleep? This is literally every single night. When was the last time you saw a significant other? I ain't got one'a those. When’s the last time that you took a risk? What was the risk? Well, I did say I'm not a risk-taker... Where was the last place that you went on vacation to? You know, how long does it have to be to be considered a "vacation?" I would say not since I went to the beach with an old friend, but it was literally a day. Where was the last place you got lost? uhhhhhhh Why did your last relationship fail? We need to work on ourselves before we could properly support each other and stay in a healthy mindset. Why did you leave your last job? I couldn't handle the stress of serving people and having so many responsibilities at once. How long has it been since you last visited a doctor? How about a dentist? I literally went to the doctor today because I had a follow-up appointment about my weight gain again. I haven't been to the dentist in a few months; I had a normal cleaning my last visit. How big was the last fish you caught? Oh boy, this is stretching years back. It was probably something small, idr at all. Give me the first initial of your last name? D. Something in your home that’s on its last leg(s)? We just moved here, so nothing that's a part of the house itself. As far as items we actually own, idk. Where do you purchase most of your clothes? I haven't gotten new clothes in so long, idk. I would probably say Hot Topic. Describe your skincare routine. I don't have one, if I'm being honest. I just shower. What’s your typical morning routine look like? I don't have one of those, either. The only thing that's consistent is going to the bathroom, eating, and taking my meds. Even brushing my teeth, the time of day when I do that (if I'm not leaving the house) varies. Then it's time to just binge stuff on YouTube and do whatever on the laptop... Are you still playing Animal Crossing? I've never played it, actually. How has the pandemic specifically affected you? It's caused a lot of stress worrying about my mom falling ill, given her being immunocompromised. It's also held me back from searching for another job (even though I don't know what I'd go for, anyway...), because I absolutely refuse to risk bringing Covid into this house by leaving it daily or whatever. What is your main source of anxiety? Being mentally ill, really. It just affects a lot. Any bands or artists you’ve recently discovered? Not very recently, no. What kind of games do you play on your phone? Just Pokemon GO nowadays. Do you have a specific aesthetic? It varies. I love dark, gothic, and gory stuff, but then I also love everything pink and pastel?????? Pastel gore is especially where it's at. Describe the moment you realized you were falling in love with someone. I'd rather not. What’s your favorite sparkling water brand/flavor? I've never even tried it before. What’s your favorite makeup brand/brands? I don't wear nearly enough makeup to be even remotely familiar with any. What’s your all-time favorite movie? It'll probably always be The Lion King. Do you have any subscription boxes? No, but they're cool. What fictional creature would you like as a pet? On deviantART today I actually discovered a fantastic artist who does a lot of HTTYD fanart, and I would say as a dragon lover, Toothless would be soooo great. Have any local businesses closed that you’re sad about? I'm certain tons have closed, but none come to mind. How do you feel about TikTok? I don't feel anything about it. Did you/do you still have a Neopets account? Haha I've had like... two or three at different stages in my life. What were you doing at 9 o'clock this morning? That's actually when (virtual) group therapy starts. Are you wearing any jewelry? Yeah; my piercings (if you count them) and then two rings that I always have on. Are you good at hiding disappointment? No. I'm bad at hiding my emotions because they're so strong. What happened the last time you cried? lmaooo I was finishing watching a The Evil Within 2 LP yesterday, and like, the last hour or so of the game just rips me apart. I was hoping so bad that my mom didn't pass by and ask what the problem was. What would your parents be surprised to learn about you? Both would be stunned to know the situation I had with Joel/my former best friend's boyfriend when I was around 12. What fictional character do you have the biggest crush on? dARKIPLIER Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world? When all things are considered, like laws, seeing family, etc., somewhere in Canada, or maybe Alaska. Actually, Alaska would be really cool. What after school activities did you do in high school? I didn't have any, if you mean like, school sports and clubs. I did do dance once or twice a week, but it wasn't tied to my school. What’s the last book you really loved? I positively adored The Handmaid's Tale. If you could have been a child prodigy what would you have wanted to be skilled at? My writing was seen as very exceptional for my age as a kid, but it still would've been awesome if it was even better. If earth could only have one condiment for the rest of time, what would you pick to keep around? Uhhh I guess ketchup. I use that the most of all options. What is the scariest experience you have ever had? The night of the breakup. It was such an impossible concept to me that I genuinely thought my life was over, that I'd pull the plug at any moment. Who is a non-politician you wish would run for office? Oh, hunny, Markiplier lmao. Call it a bias all ya want, but he's just a genuinely incredible person that cares so much for everyone and is so serious about equality and just being a good person. Do you think it’s important to stay up to date with the news? It's very hypocritical of me to say, but yes, regardless. Do you own plants? If so, what kind of plants? If not, would you like to grow any? I've never been into growing plants, honestly. Is there a city that you have a particular fondness for? If so, what city is it and why? No, not really. When was the last time that you acted impulsively? Is this a common behavior for you? I dunno, I've gotten better at this. I probably said something I shouldn't have. If you received an allowance as a kid, what kinds of things would you buy with it? Were you more the type to save up for something big, or spend it on little things? I didn't get one. When you cuddle with someone, how do you prefer to position yourself? Would you rather be held, or do the holding? Or both? Are we sitting or lying down? Either way I think I have a tendency to lay my head on their chest while hugging them, and my legs generally curl up. If I'm upset, I definitely feel better and just a greater sense of safety if I'm the one being held, but if the roles are swapped, then I like to be the one doing the holding because I know that's what I want when I'm upset, so treat others how you wanna be treated, y'know. When you woke up today, did you find unread messages from anyone? No. Have you recently told anyone that you miss them? Yes. Can you recall the last time you turned down an offer, of any kind? Mom asked if I wanted to come with her to Ashley's a few days ago, but I said no. I wasn't in a social mood at all. Is there anyone you interact with every day on social media? No. What was the main character's name in the last fictional book you read? Sunny. Have you ever been rejected by a church? No. Is your family nice to you? Yeah. Are you comfortable with your gender? Yeah. What was your favorite Mary-Kate and Ashley film? I don't remember; we had a couple, though. What was your favorite book you had to read for school? The Outsiders. What was your favorite Nickelodeon show? ngl, I don't remember a lot of them and don't feel like looking up a list. Do you still live in the house you grew up in? No. Which Spice Girl was your favorite? I don't remember their names. Do you think you look the best you've ever looked? Oh hell no. Have you been hurt by religion? Yes, honestly. In Truth or Dare, would you rather choose Truth or Dare? I always choose "truth." Have you ever had more than one crush at once? Yeah, I think that's perfectly normal to feel, even for someone monogamous like myself. Just when you establish a relationship, then it's time to make a choice. What social issue do you care about most? This is hard to say with how passionately I hold my opinions, but probably LGBTQ+ rights. It's just... so disgusting to me that I was once homophobic. It's like I want to make up for it. Just the idea of being repulsed by love just because someone has "the wrong thing" in their pants is just... appalling. When was the last time you read a Bible? Many, maaaany years ago I started reading it, but I didn't get very far at all. Do you own a Bible? I personally don't, but I know Mom has one, maybe multiple. Do you discover new music regularly? No; I very much stick to what I know. It's great when I do, though, given that that's how I find new songs to repeat to the grave. What does your first name mean? "Of Britain" or something like that. What country do you live in? U.S.A. Do you believe that gays are born that way? Uh, yes? Who honestly believes a homosexual would *choose* to be in the discriminated minority? People are murdered and abused for simply their sexuality; no sane person would "choose" to risk that torture.

[cryoculus]

More love for Semi please? Anything will do, your writing is exquisite in any form anyway :D

» Word Count: 1,857 wordsCross-posted on AO3

SORRY THIS IS SO LATE :(( I actually wrote three chapters’ worth of content for him already and you can read the whole thing on the ao3 link.(NOTE: This is based on the current events of the final arc of the Haikyuu manga. I tagged it as a spoiler but I won’t really go into the specifics of what’s going on. Semi is our main focus here ^__^)

—

“Please?”

“No,” was your flat reply.

Semi heaved a long sigh, mouth twitching into an irritated grimace. You returned his reaction with a sassy look of your own—one, finely penciled brow quirked as bright, red lips rivalled the adamance that Semi brought about. While you were in no position to tell him to just go back to his cubicle and get today’s work done (you, sadly, held the same position in office), you at least had the right to turn him down. Your department had a monthly financial report coming up. Why on Earth did he want your help writing a song?

“Come on,” he groaned. “You know I’d eat my fist first before asking for your help, but our manager really digs your old pieces from college.”

Your eye twitched.

“Way to beg for someone’s aid in a time of dire need,” you bit back sarcastically. “Go do it then.”

“What?”

“Eat your whole fist.” You gave him a pointed look, even making a show of paying attention by putting your pen down.

Your co-worker let out a frustrated groan, fingers carding through his messy, ashen hair. The gesture made the tattoos on his chest visible for a second, before disappearing again behind his barely done button-up. It was a mystery, how a man like him made it as a public servant—with his flamboyant piercings and tip-dyed hair—but you supposed you should learn to look past physical appearances. The agency allowed it, so why should you make a fuss?

Ah, right. Semi Eita was the most hot-headed man in your department, and he had a knack for picking fights with you.

“If you get the balance sheet done by five o'clock, I might reconsider,” you told him, not really meaning the words, as you directed your attention back at the paperwork on your desk. Balance sheets are the toughest to fill out, since the data needed had to be collated from different sectors of the city. You highly doubted that Semi, with his thinner-than-a-strand-of-hair patience, could finish it in one sitting.

“Deal.”

Your gaze hardened as you looked back up at him. “Come again?”

“Are you deaf?” he asked, folding lean arms across his chest. “I said it’s a deal.”

You couldn’t help the snort that made its way past your lips. Whatever his reasons may be, it was painfully obvious that he was desperate. But still. You knew that he wouldn’t be able to carry out the deed in your given deadline, but instead of talking him out of his own agreement, you merely shook your head in acceptance.

Semi eventually stalked off to his cubicle; the one just in front of yours. There was a divider that separated each employee’s workspace from the others, and it at least granted some semblance of privacy from outside gazes. You’ve been to Semi’s cubicle a couple of times—more to coordinate paperwork than engage in conversation, really—and he decorated his personal space exactly how a part-time rock band vocalist would. Though he didn’t exactly put up posters and painted the walls black, he added his own flair to his desk with guitar figurines, neon stickers on his desktop, and a photo of his bandmates enclosed in a sparkly picture frame.

The only reason you bothered looking so closely was the fact that you also went to the same university together (under the same degree, too!) You’ve always been keen around him, with his loud way of living, as opposed to you, who’s always chosen to live simply and without pretentiousness. Sure, the disparity between your lifestyles had caused you to be at each other’s throats since freshman year, but it was still a surprise that your synergy was top notch. You would, as Semi put it so delicately, eat your fist first before admitting to the fact, but it’s a given that you preferred to work with him instead of other, unfamiliar people.

You sighed, brandishing a bored look at the bleak document in front of you. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to help him out…

But when you recalled every time he’s talked over you during board meetings, sneered at you when he got a higher score during exams, and his distateful behavior in general, you steeled your resolve.

Either he’s going to get that balance sheet over with or he’ll keel over. If he wanted your help, he’s going to have to work for it.

—

You were in the middle of fixing your belongings when the sound of a stack of papers hitting your desk rang in your ears.

“There,” Semi said breathlessly, making you look up at him in surprise. He even tossed a flash drive on top of the papers he deposited, where you saw the city hall’s heading printed in full color. You reluctantly checked your phone for the time. 16:57, it said, in a mockingly bold typeface before shoving it in your pocket.

The damn guy really did get it done before five.

“The electronic document is saved in there, in case you lose the print.” He was panting at this point, and you had a vague idea as to why he looked like he just ran a marathon. The one printer in your department (this year’s budget was cut) broke down a few days ago, and the nearest functional one was at the Logistics office three floors down.

Still refusing to believe it, you peered at the documents he just brought in. You scanned each of the entries printed on each page. That’s when you realized that Sendai City’s expenses have skyrocketed since the new year because the list of expenses occupied a whole page alone. A worried sigh made its way past your lips, but at least the liabilities were cut down to a minimum. You heard that the governor of Miyagi was going to pledge a few hundred thousand yen for the city’s founding anniversary, too.

You paused. Blinking, you rearranged the papers neatly back into its pile—biting back the urge to clutch your wounded pride. Semi was looking at you expectantly, like he wanted you to praise his flawless bookkeeping.

In actuality, his determination was beginning to freak you out.

“Why do you want me to help you so badly?” you asked, voice almost trembling. “Seriously, dude. I thought we hated each other. Quit acting out of character.”

“I told you, our manager really liked the songs you composed back in senior year,” he drawled, tired of having to repeat himself.

Your face twisted in confusion. “Who even is this manager of yours?”

There was a half-second delay in his response, but before you could paint a reason for his hesitation, he immediately replied with, “Saito. Saito Makoto.”

You stiffened, gaze going rigid at the mention of that name. “Oh.”

“Yeah. If I manage to give him a piece by the end of the month, he’ll help us sign a contract with a big-shot record label,” Semi explained, oblivious to your discomfort.

“But haven’t you been writing songs since high school?” you wondered aloud. “That’s what you said during our Pol-Gov class ice breaker.”

He frowned. “You still remember that?”

Okay. You kept forgetting that your sharp memory wasn’t always a praiseworthy thing. You gulped, feeling the heat creep up your face. “Um, anyway, the point still stands. You’ve been writing songs for God-knows-how-long, and while I’m not one to dish out compliments especially to you, I’m pretty sure they’re okay if you managed to gather a decent fanbase.”

He rolled his eyes, leaning against the divider of your cubicle. “We’re a rock band. I write rock songs, but Saito wants me to write a goddamn love song.”

Typical Saito. Though he looked like a rugged high school delinquent, he was awfully sentimental when it came to music. He was the one who inspired you to write the songs Semi was pestering you about all day after all…

“Fine,” you relented. “I never go back on my word and since you did a…good job with this, I’ll help you out.”

His light brown eyes lit up for a moment, but Semi managed to mask his relief in a split second—containing his excitement in a single nod. “Are you free this Saturday? You can come by my place and we could start getting to work.”

Well, that was forward of him. You expected to work on the song in a coffee shop or something, but he went on ahead and invited you to his own humble abode anyway. You parsed through your weekend plans in your mind, and once you confirmed that you were free, you scribbled down your phone number on a sticky note. Almost five years of acquaintance and you’d never bothered giving it to him. Huh.

“Just text me the time and place,” you told him, pocketing the flash drive as you slipped the balance sheet in one of the empty folders in your organizer. “You better not pull anything funny and lead me to a secluded alley or something.”

Semi scoffed, folding the piece of paper and sticking it inside his trousers. “As if.”

You then slung your bag across your shoulders, grinning insincerely. “Glad we’re on the same page, then.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

With that, Semi exited your cubicle, leaving you no room to wonder why he didn’t even spare a quick ‘thank you’.

Just as you were smoothing out the creases on your pencil skirt, your phone began buzzing in the pocket of your blazer. Brows raised, you fished it out and unlocked it.

From: Makohey, wanna grab some dinner? its on me :3

Speak of the devil. You swallowed the lump in your throat, fingers shakily managing to type a coherent reply.

To: MakoYeah sure. Where to tho

From: Makocan we get some italian? ik u love the udon place across the street but akane’s having dinner w her friends there

From: Makocant have her seeing us together now do we

The way he put that so casually made your chest constrict with a too-familiar sensation. You heaved a deep breath, pursing your lips into a thin line as you sent a quick “Ok” text to end your conversation. Saito replied with those iffy heart-eyed emojis that he only ever used when he wanted something from you, and you had to compose yourself so you wouldn’t burst into tears right there.

“Oi.”

You almost jumped at the sound of Semi’s voice as he peered inside your cubicle once more. He clutched his suitcase in one hand, eyeing you curiously.

“What do you want?”

“You’re headed uptown, too, right?” he asked, and you nodded reluctantly. “Thought you’d want a lift.”

“Semi, just because I’m helping you achieve your dreams, doesn’t mean you have to be nice to me.” You laughed softly, tension easing from his uncalled for kindness.

He, however, looked unconvinced. “Do you want a ride or not?”

You raised your hands in defeat, managing a genuine smile. “Alright, fine. It’ll be a hellish commute anyway.”

You liked to think that that’s how you started becoming friends with your odd, hot-headed co-worker.

[bangtansfavwriter]

🌷jungkook having a crush on you🌷

- jk and you vibed so fast that you became close friends very quickly (the chaotic duo that tested hyung line's last nerves when you were in your mischievous mood)

-you sorta became an honorary member of the maknae line and after you pulled a prank on jin that included a chocolate cake, marmite and liquorice and ended up with jin's face shrivelling so bad that it may have caused him his first wrinkles

(his revenge was to serve you kimchi bokkeumbap with kimchi that had gone bad, which resulted in the worst heartburn you ever had ("an eye for a eye, y/n" - you, drinking your 3rd mint tea that night: "fair enough"), you redeemed yourself by buying him hyaluronic acid lotion and his favourite strawberry cheesecake, jk just laughed his ass off to the misery jin and you went through and blackmailed jin with marmite whenever they bickered ("it will hit u when u least expect it, hyung" - "I can't believed I raised lucifer himself"))

-anyway, jk and you are always very playful together, and you laugh so much when you're with him bc of his antics

-he doesn't mind being extra goofy to make you laugh, it lifts his spirits as well

-hates to see you sad/upset, namjoon and jk once spoke about you, after namjoon asked him about your guys' friendship and for the first time in ages he was sure jungkook had deeper feelings for someone, as he said: "I don't mind making a fool out of myself, if it brings a smile on y/n's face. hyung, I know this is going to sound weird but sometimes I feel like it is my purpose to show y/n everything good and funny, this is something I wanna keep doing for a long time." (tbh namjoon teared up)

-your guys' fav pastimes were watching cartoons/animes and you had a fiery competition going on in any kind of jump and run games, especially for sonic (you once beat jk after a 4 hour session and he threw a dramatic fit until you made him hot chocolate and he finally calmed down)

-would show you tons of pics and vids of gureum and filmed every minute of your first encounter

-your personal photographer tbh, you two could go chill in a parking lot and he would still do the most aesthetic shots

-despite all the funny moments you two also had serious conversations together. moments like that were rare and mostly after 2am when you two shared secrets with each other you didn't dare to speak about at daytime, like your views on love where jungkook first thought of how much he wants to be your "loved one"

-has a folder with his favourite pics of you or places that remind him of you somehow, but he'd never tell you that

- tries to impress you quiet often, like the time you went for karaoke

your pick: new face

his pick: vision of love

you: ????????? bitch ?????? do i look like i can sing a mariah song????

jk: well....... i can..... 👀

you: i'll see you at the whistle notes

jk: i've made a huge mistake

-you're usually the first person to listen to his covers and he looooves seeing your reaction to it (but he's usually pretty nervous about it too)

- cannot concentrate for shit when you're watching him during dance practice, so hobi told you, in a nice way, to stay away from dance practice for the sake of bts and jk apologised like 12 times to everyone, he got better at focusing over time and you watched him once in a while... but he'd get v shy when he had to do hip thrusts and stuff, you'd just laugh it off but in reality you were just trying to hide you how much he actually affects you, especially during a choreo like that

-the boys teased him quite a lot about you and he'd get all whiny and say it's not like he had a crush on you or something

vmin: *laughing*

sope: *shaking their heads*

jin: oh reallyyy~~

namjoon: so you're ok with the fact y/n is on a date rn?

jungkook: WHAT

- so namjoon took out his phone and showed jk that you updated your story with some food pic where you could see a man's hand in the background, who was also tagged in the pic

namjoon: see? that guy also tagged y/n here in his pic

jk: .....

-the guys stopped teasing him the second they realized how upset jk actually was (he went completely silent, eyebrows furrowed), yoongi just stated the obvious: "our maknae is in love, huh", the boys smiled and jungkook nodded with a sad look on his face

-the next time you visited the guys jungkook was visibly flustered around you and would be just overwhelmed with the entire situation bc he wanted to know who that guy was, but he didn't know how to ask and neither did he want to intrude and what if you're taking it the wrong way and say that it's none of his business and suddenly he loses his best friend because of some stupid guy in a stupid picture and some stupid hypothetical date.... overthinking at its finest, as you can see...

-you didn't know why he became so awkward around you, the boys obviously knew but they couldn't say anything without risking jungkook completely losing his shit, but jungkook avoided you and left early when you were there and you were like "... why"...well the boys knew why but they couldn't say anything

-you tried talking to him but he tried to avoid you since he got so flustered around you that he'd stuttering, get embarrassed about it and then leave...

-you asked the boys about it, but they wouldn't say anything but tbh this was almost painful to watch for them bc they love their maknae but they knew this wasn't going anywhere.... so their eldest took the matter into his own hands and talked to you and asked you about the guy in your story.....

-shortly after that, the guys went to europe for vacation. jungkooks airport look was something for the goth look book once again, while the other guys looked bright and ready for their time off, and jin was like "oh here we go again" and once again jk helped out...

- the boys knew he kept himself busy the entire time after things got awkward with you, but they didn't exactly know what he was doing in his studio, only taehyung knew he was editing something

-so the boys were enjoying their time off and even got jungkook's mind off of you with some sightseeing and other leisure activities they had planned

-but at the end of the day, he thought of you and read your last messages over and over again. the last time you had texted was when you wished him a good time in europe and he thanked you. he sighed as he realized how your long texts with each other had turned into such short ones within 1 week

- yoongi: i cannot take this anymore, we need to do something about this

jin: i did. i invited y/n to join us.

the boys: ???

jin: all expenses on the company.

the boys: ?????????

-also, this was the first time you guys were separated, and it gave him the chance think about what he truly wants for you two, friendship or more.. he decided to confide in namjoon and jin about it and seek advice

namjoon: i'm sure y/n likes you too, and even if not, which I really doubt, at least you'll get it sorted out that way and carry on

jk: hyung, see that's the thing. if my feelings will not be reciprocated, i won't be able to continue a friendship... that's why I am so scared.

jin: y/n's coming here, tomorrow, jk, only for you, so i'm pretty sure your feelings will be reciprocated. just be honest about them.

jk: what do you mean y/n's gonna be here tomorrow?

jin: exactly that.

jk: with all due respect, hyung-nim, what the fuck

(-namjoon cackling in the background-)

-so jin explained how he asked you about joining them bc jk was so down and reassured jk that he didn't tell you anything about his feelings and that you solely come there bc you also had 2 weeks off and you wanted to spend time with him, even though jin had some convincing to do since you thought it might be awkward between jk and you

- jin: also, the supposed date on her story? that was just a night out among co-workers, so it was definitely not a date, I asked y/n about it

jk: ....... why didn't you tell me sooner? why are you telling me that a week later, when I'm in another country??

jin: remember the time you put actual fish oil in my bungeoppang?

jk:

jin: see, you did this and I'm still arranging you a romantic getaway, like the merciful god i am

jk: oh my god

jin: exactly

-jk texted you the same night and asked you where you are and said that jin told him everything. "maybe I should let the food war continue after all..", you thought and rolled your eyes. you sent jungkook a pic from the view you had from your hotel room, where you arrived a few hours prior, and he could clearly recognize that you were indeed there, as unbelievable as it was for him.

you: I can't believe jin ruined the surprise

jk: trust me, it still was a huge surprise for me

you: a good one, I hope?

jk: definitely... you know, i actually wanted to text you.

you: about the past week, i suppose?

jk: kinda. i'm going to send you something. it was done rather quickly, so have some mercy on me with that.. and please don't be mad at me

you: ok..? you're kind of worrying me here

jk: and y/n.. i won't say anything about it, it should speak for itself.. and please don't say anything about it until I see you tomorrow, ok?

you: alright..

jk: I'll see you at the café jin hyung told me about, depending on the answer you're gonna give me

you: I'll be there, no matter what

jk: ok, then, yellow shirt in case you're answer is positive, black shirt in any other case, how about that?

you: fine by me koo ☺️

jk: ok...... here goes nothing 🙇🏻‍♂️

-what he sent you was a gcf with your name as the title and what followed was a beautiful compilation of your favourite moments you and jungkook had shared, and some moments you weren't even aware of the fact that he was filming you..some scenes, for example: your guys' trip to lotte world, you giggling into the camera when turned the cam to both of you wearing bunny ears, you laughing your ass off while filming him dancing to cl's "hello bitches", you on the day you went to the planetarium together, the time you came over to his place with food after he was too exhausted to do anything after practice and you watched "spirited away" together, then you playing with gureum while he giggles behind the camera, you being bts' no 1 hype man during their concert preparations, some videos where you cheered for him during the days you two spent apart bc of award shows.... and at the end of the video there was a single picture of you two, where you smiled widely into the camera, while he looked at you with a shy smile on his face... and finally, you heard his voice saying the words which appeared on screen: "be my loved one".

- the next day, jungkook was waiting for you in the café opposite the church, where you would come to as well. he was nervous as hell and honestly he still wasn't sure if you're actually going to come there or if jin played a prank on him. he checked his texts again and again and just stared at the "read" sign beneath the text and the video he sent you and mentally slapped himself for telling you to keep your answer to yourself until you meet him in the café. he started overthinking again, to a point where he zoned out so much that he didn't even notice 6 guys with huge sunglasses and a suspicious lot of newspapers, sitting at another table what finally made him snap back into reality was the sound of someone pulling the chair at his table, which instantly made him turn around only to see you sitting down next to him, right at the moment when the bells started ringing. undoubtedly, the colour yellow has never made jungkook happier.

💕

epilogue:

-at the dorms with the boys after you left your company dinner party early-

jimin: why'd you come back so early?

you: because SOMEONE almost broke my co-workers hand during a handshake

jk: it's called asserting dominance, y/n, don't you ever listen to david attenborough sunbaenim?

[angst-king]

Dr Suneater

(this is a special needs AU, No Mirio, Tamaki, and Nejire were placed in 1-R they’d gotten in before 1-R had been made they were accepted by pure luck and faith from the school...)

 Both Nejire and Mirio were so patient with their boyfriend Tamaki who lacked self confidence. He had anxiety in talking to people, being in large crowded places, even in his hero training but. He always managed to pull through. To many people Tamaki presented as a scared, fragile elfling who trembled at his own shadow but. To his boyfriend and girlfriend they saw how strong he was for not only dealing with anxiety and low self esteem but. For being strong enough to help the other two when they need him the most. There had been very few incidents where it was displayed in a public setting but one of the times was with Nejire.

 They were walking through the cafeteria, lunch trays in hand, Mirio was talking about a video game they had all been playing. They took their seats at their favorite table. When Nejire noticed she’d forgotten her milk carton. “Hey guys I’ll be right back, I forgot to get my milk.” “Alright Nej” She gets up from her seat and is on her way to the lunch line to get her milk. 

Smiling, she grabs her milk and heads back to go and pay for it before heading back to her table. As she walked back the feeling of dizziness washed over her. Her head began to blank and filled with a staticy sensation. She froze, her eyes couldn’t focus and she tried to stumble and regain sensation but she fell face forwards. Her body tensed up and started to shake and spasm around. The people she’d fallen around shrieked, jumping at this.

It had only been a minute and Tamaki was worried when Nejire hadn’t come back yet. He peered over and didn’t see her in the lunch line. He brought this up to Mirio who looked over and then seemed just as confused. “Huh? Where is she?” Then Tamaki saw a crowd of people  around in a circle in the middle of the room, he’d had a bad feeling about this and got up from his seat. “Mirio I have a bad feeling about this.” 

He puts down whatever he was doing and goes towards the large mob. Mirio followed the elf boy, as they grew closer to the crowd all that could be heard was. “Oh my god” “Should we do something?” “is she faking?” “let's get this on video” “This is kinda funny lets put it on tiktok” When the crowd gave Tamaki an opening, his blood began to boil. There she was lying on the cold tile floor convulsing and these people are just doing nothing but spectating and taking pictures! Something in tamaki changed his demeanor, he looked to Mirio with a serious look that sent chills his way. “Go grab Nejire’s spare bag Mirio” With nothing but a nod the blond hurried the other way.

 Tamaki pushed his way through the crowd taking no prisoners. He made it to Nejire and started to push her on her side. She was warm to the touch as well as ridgid, she was frothing at the mouth as her eyes went back into her head. Students continued to crowd, narrowing the space some were trying to find a way to take a video, that made Tamaki growl.

“Back away now!” This shocked his peers as they’d known him as this timid thing who shook under their gaze but. This Tamaki was different. He was trying to control the situation the best he could. He felt this overwhelming need to protect his girlfriend who was in her most vulnerable moments. This was when she needed him the most, when she needed Tamaki to take charge. Someone tried to get down and get a close up picture, that was what made Tamaki snap. He did a spider man stance over top of Nejire  which would block anyone’s view of her. Sprawling over top of her in a somewhat push up like position he yelled. “Get back now!”

 Luckily Mirio phased his way over with Nejire’s bag. While this was going on Nejire’s seizure began to slow to a stop. Sighing in relief Tamaki sat beside her on Nejire’s right. Using the book bag to keep Nejire on her side. Tamaki began to loosen her tie and overcoat she wore then switching sides to get behind Nejire. “Mirio I need you to get me a hair tie or something to keep her hair back please.” Mirio quickly searched through the bag and got out a ribbon. Hands working swiftly, Nejire’s hair was tied into a medium height ponytail. Still leaving her bangs where they were as he moved on to examining the girl for any injuries. He swore under his breath seeing the right side of her face was a bit bruised. He sees her lip is busted and asked. 

“Mirio, can you grab the bandaid pads please?” “already on it Sun” He’s handed a box of bandage pads and pulls out one and patches up the bleed. At the feeling of touch and voices Nejire starts to stir she’s struggling to get up but Tamaki gently pulls her down. “Shhh no Nej I need you to stay down for now.” She silently complied though made soft whimpers and whines as her body was slowly becoming limp. When Tamaki had finished his assessment he then asked Nejire. “Would you like to go to recovery girl, or your dorm?” “d-dorm please”  Tamaki adjusted himself so he could help Nejire up while Mirio packed up the spare bag. “We’ll get our stuff, an excuse for the teachers and then it's off to your dorm.” Tamaki spoke softly, keeping his arm around Nejire’s waist to steady her. The crowd had dispersed a little which facilitated the walking to get their book bags. 

Book bags over shoulder they went to the office to fill out an excuse to skip class which went smoothly. Now it was off to Nejire’s dorm. Nejire was starting to feel a little better but was still struggling to let their system rebalance itself. Making it to the dorm, Nejire began to feel sick to her stomach while her head was really hurting. “G-guys I f-feel sick” She warned them, Tamaki nodded and guided her to the large kitchen sink, they could rinse and clean it out. They were just in time a sharp gag caused the blue haired girl to lean over the sink and get sick.

Tamaki and Mirio frowned and stayed close, pushing her bangs back and rubbing smooth circles. It wasn’t a long round this time which made Mirio and Tamaki feel better, with a paper towel she cleaned up her face.

 “Hey Nej, want some water?” Mirio inquired, earning a slow nod while she held her head. “Nejire, do you  think you can stomach your medicine?” “y-yeah” With that Tamaki lets her lean her back against the sink and fishes in Nejire’s extra bag and finds a few bottles of pills. Looking at Mirio he says. “Give her these I’ll clean up the sink” Mirio takes Nejire away from the sink while Tamaki cleans out the sink. It didn’t take long to scrub it down and wash his hands. Nejire had swallowed down the pills with the water, she was ready to go lie down.

 “Alright Nejire lets go get you to bed” Nejire tried to walk away from the counter she was leaning on but her knees buckled. Tamaki caught her “I’ve got you” He lifted her bridal style so she was leaning into his chest. Blushing a little bit as she noticed the look on Tamaki’s face, It was so serious yet gentle at the same time. Kind of like a doctor treating a patient. Very few people got to see this face and deemed it a rare occasion but. Those who were around Tamaki like Mirio and Nejire knew this was a decent recurrence. Mirio had a fainting disorder which could be triggered by his hypoglycemia, sudden weather change, or standing up too fast. Tamaki had grown used to taking care of his lovers and even his Kohai Kirishima Eijirou who also had epilepsy. 

Tamaki’s serious side would always trump his social anxiety in certain situations like these. He didn’t know why but it gave him a shred of confidence that he never brought up on his own. Usually it would be a teacher, his friends, or his lovers who brought on the acknowledgement of his ability to turn from cowering anxiously, to brave and able to take on the problem. 

Carrying Nejire up to her room, Tamaki let Mirio handle the elevator buttons as well as the girl’s bedroom door. Entering her room, Tamaki sets Nejire down and says. “I’m gonna go change ok”  Mirio follows suit leaving Nejire to change into more casual clothes in private.

Grouping up in Nejire’s room in their casual wear, Nejire had the boys sitting on the bed. She was curled up between them and just relaxed. “Tamaki, I have a question for you.” Tamaki looked down “hm?” Nejire continued. “So how come you’re so anxious around people until something like me seizing or Mirio faint. You get all serious, not that I don’t like it. Its just amusing seeing you change demeanors.” Tamaki blushes deeply at this question and shrank. “I-I don’t know honestly. I gu-guess something in me j-just clicks because I know how vulnerable you are in that state.” Tamaki was trying to put thought into his words, it was truly his own mini anecdote. “I was used to being in those situations. So I guess a part of me is reflecting that I want to do something. So I do the things I couldn’t do for myself for you guys.” He shrugged at the end, it felt as if he’d just been rambling nonsense. He then received a hug, four strong arms embraced him lovingly with kisses on both cheeks. He’d been pulled by both Nejire and Mirio who nuzzled him caringly. “Well we appreciate it so much” Mirio states with a smile “thanks for taking care of me, Dr suneater.” Doctor suneater was a nickname Nejire had given the indigo haired male when she was so out of it after a seizure. It stuck and sometimes Mirio would even call him that too. “Y-you’re welcome Nejire, I’m just glad y-you’re okay.” 

“We love you Sun” Nejire and Mirio say together. A pink hue made it all the way to the tips of Tamaki’s ears. “I love you both too” “Hehe Dr Suneater” Nejire giggles tiredly with a small yawn.

[arthurjdrake]

A chance bonding experience over pie, tea and haunted tape recorders with @damn-fine-cup-of-tea

“February twenty-ninth, it is 9.30am. The air still reeks of fish although I could swear that it has gotten better since I first got here. I still haven’t managed to get the name for those beautiful pine trees they have here. I was told they had moose. I must see a moose before I leave this town. I’m going to the bakery. Carol, if you ever get up this way, the apple pie at the diner is to die for. I must find out if they make it themselves, or if it is the same as the one from the baker. They don’t have proper tea here, and I had to go to Bangor to get my hands on tea leaves. Remind me to tell you how much that was. The people here are quite lovely, although I will have to notify the ATF and possibly the NSA about some of the inhabitants.” The agent stood still in the office they had given him at the police station. A tape recorder in his hand, Javier glanced and nodded politely at a police officer passing by the door before he went on : “I had the strangest dream last night. One of the deceased, a woman called Catherine Brissaud visited me in my dreams and kissed me. She looked beautiful but there was something off about her voice, she spoke gibberish. Then, she opened her mouth and a man’s voice came out of it telling me that it would kill again. There was this music in the back I cannot get out of my head, Carol. This is all very upsetting. I still have no clue on who could possibly have done it, why, or how? None of the victims showed wounds, and still, their entrails are all missing. All of it. I might need to stay here a bit longer than we imagined.” Grabbing his coat from the back of his chair, the man decided to head to the bakery by foot, his thermos of tea in his hand. At last, a good proper cup of tea. Pushing the door to the bakery, he waited in line, glancing around the shop, searching for something, anything that would possibly catch his eye. That man in the corner with a cockatiel pattern on his tie surely seemed interesting.

With the recent keying of his car, Arthur had taken to walking places. Better that than risk further damages to his property from Freyja’s vague and self-serving ire. The very thought of everything that had happened online was enough to send him stir crazy if he stayed inside any longer. No, he needed a trip out to one of the few places he found some peace in this mad place. There was also the current issue of sorting out Nadia’s identity and Adam’s current curse from that blasted chalice. Jobs and side-tasks were stacking up faster than he could keep up with but in a way he was thankful for the distractions. Explaining how he ended up joining the queue tapping out a couple of quick replies to several of the emails in his inbox. With those sent he tucked his phone away and he could turn his attention to a few of the other patrons of the quiet bakery and associated coffee shop. He looked at the display case and hummed in thought unsure what to get - he never had been very good at making decisions. “Sorry,” he said to the man in front of him hoping it wasn’t a real bother “excuse me, I’m rather stuck on what to go for… Do you think the apple or the passionfruit one is better?”

“No harm done,” Javier turned around and gave the man a thorough look, his eyes travelling all across him before he gave him a pat on the arm. “I think, and this is only my opinion, that there is nothing better than a good, old fashioned, properly made, apple pie,” he released the man’s arm to point his finger at the pie behind the glass. “And this, looks exactly like a good, old fashioned, properly made, apple pie.” The crust/filling ratio appeared to be nearing perfection, as did the cooking of the apple, or the color of the dough that covered it all. And, this was really the cherry on top of it all : the pie was decorated very tastefully. Maybe this would help him forget about the town’s apparent aversion for a proper cup of tea. “You are British, aren’t you?” Javier was sure of that, but it never hurt to ask. “What do you think of the tea situation in this town?”

Arthur was quite accustomed by now to being inspected by strangers, and in a town like this his accent tended to make him stick out like a sore thumb. He didn’t mind, so he waited and smiled politely taking in the other man’s appearance in kind, at a guess he seemed of an age to himself - at least physically. The greeting was friendly in kind, which settled any initial concerns that he might have bothered this stranger with his question. It was a nice change considering it seemed a majority of those he’d met significantly younger. At least beyond Carrington but that was another dynamic entirely and gave merit to the fact that you could hardly tell people’s actual ages from initial observation. “I think you might be right,” Arthur found himself agreeing tapping his bottom lip thoughtfully “especially with this wintery weather.” The cold hardly bothered him but it hardly meant a warm treat every now and then wouldn’t go amiss. “I feel like I haven’t had a good apple pie in ages,” baking hadn’t been the highest of priorities on his list lately but it was something he was keen to get back into. His smile grew a tad wry at the stranger’s next question, “damn, what gave it away?” he asked in light jest. “Definitely not the accent, was it my fondness for weather discussions and freshly baked goods?” His grin turned to a mournful look though the humour remained in his tone, “oh gods it’s atrocious. Don’t even get me started. I turned up for my first day and asked where the kettle was - they didn’t even have one. They microwave it.” He shook his head in mild disbelief over this “have to get people from back home to send me yorkshire brew or else I’d lose my mind.” He glanced at the thermos, “I’m guessing you feel the same?”

“The weather is quite something,” Javier commented, idly tapping his finger on top of his thermos, in tune with that song he had heard in his dreams. God, that thing was stuck in his head. “Talking of which,” it may have not smelled like fish in the shop, and in fact, the whole place smelled very nice, but the agent had to ask about that damn smell. “Does it always smell like fish in this town?” It seemed odd to him that people would ever decide to settle and live in such a place. He kept a stern look on his face, although there was always a hint of playfulness in his eyes as he spoke. “Then you must have a slice of apple pie. Maybe you can sit with me. I’ll share the tea,” he offered. It would be a great opportunity to discuss with the locals, who, even if they were not connected with his case, helped him draw a better picture of the town and what could possibly be insidiously corroding, gnawing it. “I will say, that the accent sold you out, and the talk of weather and pastries confirmed my doubts,” he politely replied, glancing over the man’s shoulder to have a look at someone who had just walked in. Their socks did not match. He wondered if this had been done on purpose or not. “Funny.” He said, turning his attention back on the British man. “Of course they would. I have had people tell me that tea in bags was not so bad. It’s atrocious !” He shook his head, clearly disapproving of that kind of affirmation. “You are the third person who tells me they have to order tea from across the sea. I’m sure there’s a lot more of upset tea lovers in town.” Something had to be done about this. As it was his turn to order, the agent turned toward the saleswoman with a bright smile. “I will have a slice of pie, please,” he glanced at the man. “And the man after me, will have another one of those.”

Arthur had become relatively accustomed to the smell, but at least it had stopped raining fish. Small mercies. Yet, as the other man asked after it he shrugged. “I have no idea honestly… There was some weird meteorological event… Raining fish. Whole town was covered. But it’s definitely been getting a damn lot better since that stopped.” He didn’t mention the chest, or the fact that since he’d heard through the grapevine that it’d been opened that the weirdness had stopped. “How can I deny an offer like that?” he smiled, genuinely grateful for the offer this stranger extended out. “Then at least let me buy you some of the apple pie to say thank you for the kindness of sharing the tea,” it was the least he could do. The laugh that was drawn from him was light, “ahhh, guilty as charged.” It wasn’t entirely true, but true enough for this lifetime that he’d subscribed to the general notion. “Heathens, the lot of them. I’m telling you.” The disapproving look the stranger got was rather amusing overall. “Oh, most definitely. We should start a club.” They moved up and Arthur let the other man order for them both, taking his card out to cover the payment “I’m Arthur by the way, I didn’t catch your name mister-?”

Raining fish. It must have been a local expression, a derivative of it’s raining cats and dogs. Although, Javier could imagine that a storm could cause fish to end up in the atmosphere and rain down on a coastal town such as White Crest. There was nothing too weird here. “That’s funny,” he let a thin smile tug the corner of his lips upward. The town seemed to be rather normal, but the people here were a bit odd. The man he was talking to seemed quite normal, compared to the rest of them, although it was a bit early to be certain about that. “That is a very kind offer,” he nodded politely and moved aside to let his new tea friend pay for the pie. Javier wondered whether he should be introducing himself as an agent or as a citizen. It was unlikely that this person would have anything to do with his case, or he was truly the luckiest investigator this town had ever seen. “Javier, I’m Javier Sterling,” he had made his choice. Little did he know that he would not be able to be just a citizen for long, or that his tape recorder had developed a mind of its own and decided to record his conversation with Arthur. Sitting at a table by the windows, Javier walked back to the counter to ask for cups. If he clearly disapproved of paper cups, he did not comment on it as the saleswoman handed him those, and he walked back to the table to pour them each a cup of tea. This one had been advised by one of the people he spoke to online, and he had high hopes and expectations about it.

“You think I’m joking?” he glanced at the man, and the look on his expression earned a momentary thought of ah, of course you do. A majority of the cod and salmon had been cleared away from the streets, but Arthur still noticed the occasional one dotted around down. One had even been on the spear of a statue in down, talk about being skewered. “Least I can do,” Arthur said pleasantly as Javier stepped aside and he could pay for the two slices of pie. With the introduction Arthur offered an extremely warm hand out for a polite greeting “Arthur Drake if you’re going for full formality.” Once they were cut and served on plates with a couple of forks, Arthur picked them up and carried them over to the table. “So, what brings you to White Crest?” he queried as he slid into one of the seats at the table pulling one of the two plates over as Javier sorted out the tea “I mean, beyond the picturesque scenery and excellent apple pie? Somehow you don’t strike me as the small town kinda guy.”

Javier looked at the man with a perplexed look on his face, trying to figure out if this was some sort of elaborate joke. The puzzled look on his face did not really fade away until Arthur held out his hand and Javier shook it firmly, hoping that this conversation about the falling fish would stop now. “Drake. El dragón,” he commented, before he turned his back on the man. Sitting at the table, he took some time looking outside, although there was nothing special that caught his eye this time. Getting his coat off of his shoulders, the agent unbuttoned his suit’s jacket to get more comfortable. Besides, nothing looked worse than a man sitting with a closed jacket. “What brings you to White Crest?” The question was repeated, with echo, the chatter of the bakery amplified. Javier had just opened his mouth to reply, but the sound did not come from his mouth, but rather from his coat. The agent frowned, glancing at the piece of clothing. Could he have both pushed the record and play buttons by accident? There was a sound of rewinding tape for a couple seconds before the tape recorder started saying : “ get out of my head, Carol. This is all very upsetting. I still have no clue on who could possibly have done it, why, or how? None of the victims showed wounds, and still, their entrails are all missing. All of it.” When Javier got his hands on the tape recorder, he realized that none of the buttons were pushed, and still the tape played. Great, the damn thing was broken. “Excuse me,” he said, ejecting the tape and putting it away in a case. “I’m here with the FBI,” he sighed.

Ah well, he would learn soon enough. Arthur was hardly here to blow the man’s mind, so left him to his ignorance for the time being. “Indeed,” the translation that Javier picked up on was just part of the irony of each name he picked. Though most tended to overlook the fact. Pulling the cup towards him he first took a sip and hummed quietly in appreciation. Just the right strength. He waited on Javier’s response to his question, but what happened next had Arthur furrowing his brows in confusion. Victims, wounds, entrails missing? He looked to the coat in question suspiciously and then at Javier frantically fiddling with it once he’d pulled out the apparent recorder. “Uh…” he blinked a little caught off guard while Javier dealt with his screwy technology “sure…” Though he couldn’t help but frown a little with the clarification that Javier was with the FBI, “I see…” he caught himself and sat up a little straighter already having a suspicion this man was here for more than just the apple pie “well, seems like something important brought you to town.” He tilted his head in mild curiosity, “a case?”

Javier pursed his lips. Putting the tape recorder next to his cup of tea, he grabbed the latter and took a sip of it before he answered Arthur's question. Judging by the look on the man’s face, it was necessary for Javier to explain himself. He idly snapped his fingers, staring at them as he focused on what he would tell him. “A case.” He repeated, grabbing his fork to take a bite of the apple pie. His eyes shut closed as a pleased expression erased any trace of worry the tape recorder had given him. Groaning happily, the agent snapped out of it after a few long seconds. Right, the case. “We have five people with their insides missing,” he added, having swallowed his bite. “That apple pie is, excuse me, fucking amazing,” he stared at his place with the most delighted look on his face. “What about you? Where do you work?”

Arthur couldn’t entirely help how his eyes flickered to the tape recorder, a paranoid part of his mind wondering whether their conversation had been recorded. Were there others in town like him? Did that mean that other people might’ve been recording and documenting things? It was a slight worry inducing thought and he couldn’t help the slight tap of his foot. He’d forgotten about the apple pie in his minor moment of paranoia, but as Javier began to explain why he was here he felt some of the knotted tension ease. Well, at least they weren’t here for other reasons… At least not yet. “Sounds rather suspicious…” he remarked as he thought on the roster of things that might be capable of such violence or potential feeding habits, though admittedly he didn’t know them off by rote “but… the recording said there were um-- no wounds did it say?” It was only at Javier’s remark that Arthur remembered that he too had some, picking up his fork he cut through the pie and had a bite pleasantly surprised at the explosion of cinnamon and sugary apple that hit his palate. “Damn… You’re right.” He took another bite, but at Javier’s question Arthur swallowed and took a sip of tea to clear his mouth. “Ah, just up at the college... I lecture in the history and mythology department.”

Javier pointed at his face, his round cheeks suggesting that he was in the middle of eating another bit of that superb pie. Chewing slowly, he took his time to finish his bite as it took more than a discussion about missing guts for the agent to lose his appetite. “No wounds, nothing in common between the victims, no traces of effraction. It’s as if a ghost murdered them all,” picking up the paper napkin to wipe at the corner of his mouth, he glanced again at the tape recorder. He could have sworn that he had seen it move. He did not recall pushing any of the buttons, and yet the pause button was pressed in. And now the stop button, without him touching it. “Well that is odd,” he took the machine in his hand, inspecting it closely. “I’ll have to order a new one,” he thought aloud, putting it away in his coat. "That sounds fantastic,” he gave the man a thumb up, picking up his cup to take a sip of tea. “I find both of those subjects to be absolutely fascinating,” he explained. Javier was delighted that he had had the chance to run into a teacher as he believed that this was one of the most generous professions one could have.

He didn’t particularly wish to rush the pie as it was exceptionally good, so he took to sipping on his tea mulling over the tidbits of the case this agent was working on. This was hardly the first time he’d discussed weird and gruesome things over food so he wasn’t particularly put off by it. “Strange, is there any sort of similarity between the victims? Gender, ethnicity, age?” Most killers had some sort of profile that they worked to, Arthur might not have been in the service in this lifetime but he knew the protocol. Had stuck to it himself in recent lifetimes. As Javier picked up the tape recorder that had seemingly pressed its own buttons, Arthur narrowed his eyes a little suspicious of the little device that seemed to have developed a mind of its own. “Can I have a look at that?” Javier had taken the tape out so Arthur hardly saw any harm in asking to have a closer look. The thumbs up earned a humbled smile, “ah, they certainly are that. Though the FBI seems like a fascinating job. Serving your country and keeping people safe, I’m sure there’s nothing else quite like it.”

Javier rubbed at his chin for a moment as he thought about the different victims. They had nothing, truly nothing in common, aside from being found dead, with nothing left inside their abdomen. Thinking about this reminded him of his dream and that woman he saw. Catherine Brissaud. Shaking her out of his mind, he sipped silently on his tea. “Nothing, absolutely nothing. Ethnicity, age, gender, hair color, fragrance, occupation, hobbies. I have been looking at their whole lives and nothing is similar so far,” he explained. He had not expected that Arthur would find his tape recorder to be so interesting, and now that there was no tape in it, what wrong could it do. He handed over the device, not sure what the man could probably do to fix it, although maybe Arthur had a few other skills up his sleeve. “It is an amazing job. I do not think I could really make a change any other way.” Javier had considered working as a police detective a long long time ago, but travelling and working on cases like this one was a lot more gratifying to him.

“Well… That sounds both horrifying and utterly perplexing,” Arthur couldn’t help but be equally fascinated and terrified by the thought of something like that. “And you’re certain it’s the same…” he caught himself from saying thing “person… doing this? What about location? No apparent circle theory?” Arthur knew a little about psychological models of criminal behaviour, having studied history of different eras it was pertinent to have some understanding of how criminals behaved and acted in their attempts to avoid capture. As Javier retrieved the tape recorder, Arthur slid it over and turned it over thoughtfully inspecting the buttons. Pressing one to let it play though no sound came out (as he expected) considering there was no tape. He tested each button individually, finding nothing out of the ordinary about it. Interesting. “I suppose most people think of the police or the army when they think about serving their country, but the FBI is pretty darn impressive.” As he spoke, Arthur ensured all buttons weren’t pressed or locked and set it back down on the table in front of him mostly to keep an eye on it. “How’d you come into that field? Not something you just walk into surely? If you don’t mind me asking that is.”

“The way of killing is too specific to be done by several people, unless we’re looking at a cult, of course.” Javier rubbed his fingers against his jawline for a moment. “Considering the murders have been taking place in the same town, there is not a lot we can do to establish a possible location for the culprit’s home.” Obviously whoever was doing this must have been from White Crest, but drawing a profile for them was nearly impossible. “I expect that they’ll make a mistake. They always do,” serial killers were not very original, but how long it took them to start being reckless, to start playing with the press, or law enforcement, was never a set number of days. If only it had been so simple. Javier watched Arthur inspect his tape recorder. He remained quiet, although he still wondered what it was the man was trying to achieve, pushing buttons and staring at them. There was no judgement in his eyes, and he looked at him with marvel in his eyes. “People tend to forget that we also serve our country and not just the Bureau. We have to thank television for this,” looking out the window, his eyebrows raised as he saw a familiar silhouette standing on the other side of the road. Once again, they disappeared the moment something blocked his view. “I’ve always wanted to work in law enforcement. Back when I was a child, we used to hear about the FBI a lot on television. I started sending letters to the FBI director that summer.”

“Not something you could rule out I suppose,” Arthur remarked as he mulled over the few bits and pieces that Javier had provided regarding his reasoning for being here. “I mean if it’s in the same town then surely the culprit has to be living within the vicinity of the town? So, it narrows it down at least in that regard…” He looked out the window towards the street, watching as a couple of people walked by unassuming. How many people could this case put at risk? Too many. Perhaps it was a good idea to offer assistance and simply observe this agent’s progress. Putting such a creature away would likely benefit everyone, but there was a small concern in the back of his mind that innocents could equally incriminate themselves considering the… special population variation that White Crest possessed. “Perhaps, but how long do you wait until that happens?” Arthur completed his inspection and frowned, turning his attention to Javier with his remark. “Yes, television provides a great many unhelpful stereotypes. Perhaps success will make some think differently at least?” He could understand the draw of law enforcement. It was a noble profession. “That’s quite a direct approach, I guess you made quite an impression if that’s how you got into the business,” Arthur grinned wryly at the thought of a young boy writing to the FBI asking to join them one day. It was rather endearing in a sense. “And you’ve been with them ever since? That’s rather impressive.”

“It has not been ruled out.” Javier had, over the years, specialized in working on crime related to those sort of organizations. All these grotesque deaths, however… Those didn’t happen all too often. Usually with them, it was rituals that ended up in an accident, or, a human sacrifice. This seemed different. There seemed to be nothing that indicated a freak accident or a sacrifice. There were no signs, sigils, drawings, books. He took out his notebook and wrote himself a memo to have a look at all the books in the victims’ homes. A chore, but one that he would do anyway. “Maybe they’ve already done it,” he looked up from his notebook as he closed it, putting it away. He probably had missed something, a detail, when he went to those crime scenes. He would have to be more thorough. “Well, I only joined when I finished training at the academy,” he scoffed. The thought of 11 years old him running around with a cardboard badge after his older brother came back to his mind and he laughed some more, shaking his head. Boy, did he bore his brother to death with his stories back then.

“How long has all this been going on for?” he asked curiously “no symmetry with calendar dates or lunar cycles?” There was always some sort of pattern that came with things like this, or at least there tended to be. It was simply a matter of finding it that was the issue. Arthur lightly drummed his fingers on the table in thought. “Are all the crime scenes in town? Perhaps there is something that might have been overlooked?” While he had no particular investment in assisting, a part of him couldn’t help but be curious as to what might be responsible for these murders. “Perhaps you need another set of eyes aiding you with the case?” In a past life this had been the exact same sort of work he’d been employed to do. To locate and track moving targets and attempt to pinpoint their location, admittedly on a larger scale than a single murderer or cult potentially responsible for such things. “Was there any sign of forced entry at the properties?” Of course, he knew Javier had no particular reason to divulge any information regarding the case at all but it never hurt to ask. Did it?

“There is some sort of regularity to this,” it had nothing to do with the moon, or with a day of the month in particular, but there was indeed a pattern. More or less every three weeks, a person died. This comforted him in his idea that he was dealing with a cult. They killed when they needed to, no more, no less, taking only what was necessary. The agent finished his slice of pie and wiped his mouth with a lot of attention before he replied. “There is no doubt that we missed something. Either that, or we are dealing with a ghost,” he shook his head and sighed. Rubbing at his face, Javier looked at Arthur through his fingers for a moment, entirely still and silent. “We’ll see. We don’t usually ask our consultants to inspect crime scenes. But if you find something interesting, I might have to make you tag along,” his hands dropped down onto his lap. He shook his head at Arthur’s next question, a thin smile appearing on his face. He could tell that the man was interested, but Javier wondered if his interest would falter as he found out that there was, so far, no way to identify the killer, or even start drawing a loose portrait of them.

“Oh? And what’s that?” considering they were already discussing this at length he didn’t see any harm in asking. It was only in the interim of discussion that Arthur chose to look down at the tape recorder and frowned a little at how a couple of the buttons he’d unpressed earlier were now pressed and the little cogs turning inside of the machine. Interesting. “You know, in this town I wouldn’t say that too loudly… Some people might really believe you if you said you were dealing with a ghost… Lots of folks believe in that around here, maybe it’s why your killer is getting away with things so freely hm?” he smiled a touch wryly at the agent, more in good humour the man sat opposite him was painfully human in his limited mindset. It was unfortunate really, he wouldn’t catch anything with that sort of mindframe. Arthur reached for a napkin which he unfolded and set on the table on top of which the recorder was placed. Next, he took one of the salt shakers and carefully unscrewed the lid and made a ring of salt around the device. A rite was spoken under his breath, and a grey cloud of something intangible shot out of the little speaker of the device. With this done, he picked up the recorder and inspected it once more. “I know you don’t,” Arthur said in simple understanding, he knew the protocols perhaps not the modern day ones but things hadn’t changed all that much in a century. The objective was still the same, gather the relevant evidence and hunt down the killer in question. “But, and correct me if I’m overstating - but I’m not sure the typical means of case operation will solve this mystery and I think you might’ve already begun to realise that… Plus, if I find something - it gives you a lead. If not…” he tilted his shoulder a little “no harm done. So, what do you say detective?” The question was posed with the offering of his tape recorder back - likely in fully functioning condition now if what Arthur suspected had been inhabiting it was right.

“I think it will happen again. In a week or so,” Javier replied, picking up his cup of tea and frowning at it. Lukewarm. Wrinkling his nose, he looked away from Arthur as he emptied a salt shaker on the table, too busy pouring himself a new cup of tea. If could see what he was doing from the corner of his eyes, it was not until he had put his thermos away that Javier looked at the state of the table then up at Arthur’s face. If he remained completely silent, you could tell from the look on his face that he disapproved of this. Picking up the napkin carefully, he wrinkled it in his hand so as not to make a mess, and put it in his plate, making sure that not one bit of salt would fall to the floor or on the table. “There was no need to pour out the salt shaker. I better not start mentioning folklore monsters that require being stabbed to you,” not that they had cutlery that could cause a problem, but Javier had already been stabbed with a fork in the past, and knew that this was far from pleasant. “So, people think ghosts are real then. What else?” Vampires, fairies, Big Foot, el Cuco? Having spent quite some time near New Orleans, Javier was used to people believing in weird stories, or telling them to their children to traumatize them (which was a custom Javier did not understand). Having taken care of this salty mess, the agent took his tea cup and listened to the professor’s explanation. It was not an unexpected offer, and on other occasions, he had been given the same one by other men and women before. All he needed to know was whether or not Arthur would pose a problem in the future. He did not seem like someone who would get in his way, or do dangerous things for the sake of helping him. First taking the recorder back from Arthur’s hand, he nodded quietly before explicitly replying : “Alright. I suppose we have an agreement here.”

His point made and task completed, Arthur looked slightly amused at the disapproving look Javier fixed him with. “Just trying to make a point at the strange thing people will do if you mention stuff like that around here.” The act was both meticulous in its layout and answered certainly enough what he’d suspected about Javier having no clue about the truth of this town. “Actually, most folklore indicates that beheading is usually the best course of action against most of those tall-tale beasties.” But he tipped a shoulder as Javier mentioned about ghosts, “I’ve actually found the people here believe in a lot more than just ghosts…. You’ll see soon enough.” He clasped his hands in front of him on the table waiting quite patiently, Javier didn’t have to take him up on the offer but it was there regardless and his interest was quite plain to see. “Very well,” he took out his wallet and fished out a simple black card embossed with his details in calligraphic silver script which he slid across the table with his index and middle finger. “Contact me a time that suits, I’ll be happy to come and offer any assistance I can that might be of any pertinent use.” He stacked the plates and cutlery, picking up the spare cup. “Thank you again - for the tea and the company. I look forward to hearing from you,” with a polite dip of his head Arthur delivered the plates to the counter to save the waitress from collecting them, collected his bag and made for the door.

[lucythewriterr]

Bottled

Authors note: This is one of the first stories I ever wrote. It’s not very good and now looking back I don’t like it very much. I was rushing to hit a deadline and I cut out a lot of story to keep under a certain word count. I submitted to a few ezines but got rejected, because of course it’s not a good story. But I’m posting it here, because otherwise it would fade into the abyss. Enjoy.

Also the name in the picture says ‘Steampunk Queen’ because that was the username I previously used on writing websites.

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I awoke with my cheek pressed against the delicate glass of the miniature bottle. From outside my body looked misshapen and deformed, like one of those mirrors that twist your reflections into funny shapes. My entire purpose here was to be a decoration, and yet in that moment I looked like a squashed tomato.

Up above me, the cork, brown and hard looking, lingered like a dark chandelier that shed no light. It dared me to push it, to try and escape from my crystal prison. But I knew there's no way my tiny arms could budge an inch of that bark.

“I should’ve listened,” I spoke to myself because there was no one else around to talk too. Or if there was perhaps a human or a giant lurking in the shadows, they wouldn’t be able to understand me. They would have just heard the same squeak all other beings do when fairies talked. “Mother told me not to wander.”

Moira had told me at least twice a day for as long as I could remember not to wander, and in my twenty years of life I have never listened to her - and I never will. Why should I? Moira isn’t really my mother and she didn’t get to tell me what to do. All the other girls listened, but all the others girl had been with Moira since birth. Not me, I showed up at Moira’s house 13 years ago after my parents were eaten by trolls.

As I lay there, my mind slipped back to how I ended up in this mess.

“Ember!” Was what Lula had snapped at me when she had caught me climbing out the tree window earlier that evening, satchel in one hand, wand in the other. “Where are you going?”

I’d flashed her a grin of pink and purple, a sign I’d scoffed a dozen berries as a midnight snack to build up my strength. 

“Out,” I’d said. “Would you like to come?”

Lula’s mouth had opened and closed like a codfish gasping for air. She’d put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyebrows, perhaps in an attempt to look threatening. It would’ve worked, if Lula was not half my height with pink wings and candy floss hair tied in bunches.

“Oh Ember!” Lula had and stormed across the tree floor towards me. “You know Mother doesn’t like it when you sneak out!”

“Mother doesn’t like anything,” I’d swung one leg out the window into the open night air, like a fisherman dangling a hook to catch its prey. There was no one below me of course, it was night and almost everyone was asleep, but it had made my little heart patter to think about being watched by some new creature that might want to fight. Or be friends, or perhaps even both. 

“I’m going to watch the mermaids.” I’d leaned back out the window until there was more of me outside than inside. My purple wings fluttered, teasing the fish to come take a bite.

“Mermaids?” Lula’s mouth had dropped open again. She’d started twisting knots in her nightgown, a habit she exhibited when excited.  “Ember you can’t””

“I can,” I’d looked at her with a smile teasing at the corners of my lips. “Would you like to come?”

Lula’s mouth had set into a firm line. My younger sister never defied authority, not even if it benefited herself. But hanging around her neck had been a chip of a mermaid scale on a gold chain, just one of her many possessions that proved Lula’s mermaid obsession. She had books, paintings and endless mermaid sculptures scattered around our bedroom, but she had yet to see one in person. Mermaids mostly stuck to the open sea and it was rare to see them in this part of the world, but they popped up occasional for festivals and sightseeing.

“They’re only in town for tonight,” I’d teased. I knew I had no choice but to take her with me, if I left her behind she’d snitch and Moira would put bars on my windows. Again. “So… are you coming or….?” I’d turned away, preparing myself to jump out the window and leave her behind.

“No don’t leave!” Lula had run towards me and grabbed my arm. “I want to come! But...” She’d frozen and looked over her shoulder at the closed door. Across the hall Irida and Timber, my other adopted sisters, were fast asleep. Moira would only let us leave the house if there was at least 4 of us together and now Lula didn’t like going anywhere without me, Irida and Timber. “What about –“

“Lula, are you coming, or not?” I’d had been running out of time. I knew if I didn’t move soon I’d miss my opening.

“Yes! Yes, I am.” Lula had rushed over to her bed and grabbed everything she might need for a night time adventure. As she changed clothes, I’d looked out at the canopy of leaves overhead. They’d blocked out most of the sky, but I could see peeks of moonlight drifting through and casting beams of white light onto the forest floor. During the day my home was a wash of colour and music, but at night there was nothing but the snore of sleep and the occasional footstep of trolls, the only nocturnal creature that roamed this area of the world.

“Let’s go!” I’d shouted, startling Lula who looked at the door with wide eyes.

She’d dressed in her boots and coat, a satchel over her shoulder and a wand gripped tightly in her small hand, yet she’d still been hesitant to take a step towards the window.

“Ember…”

But before she’d been able to say anything but my name, I’d fallen backwards out the into the night. 

At once my wings had opened like a parachute and piloted me upwards. Their purple shimmering surface had glistened in the moonlight, giving a flash of colour to the dark and dreary jungle. If anyone had looked in our direction that might’ve seen a burst of violet glitter – a butterfly perhaps? Or a child’s toy? They would never be sure, for we’d be gone before they could take a second glance.

I’d led, as always. I’m the tallest of my sisters, taller even than Moira, so I’d naturally learned to lead, despite my flying teacher trying to make me follow every single lesson.

I’d swerved under trees and through leaves, my eyes straight ahead. I’d known exactly where to go because I’d been planning the same route in my head for months. I’d practice by day and on the occasional nights where I was so naughty mother put iron bars on my windows, I’d practiced it in my dreams.

But the iron bars were gone now, thanks to two weeks of sucking up to teachers and good behaviour, I’d been free to fly wherever and whenever I wanted.

“Is this the right way?” Lula asked as she’d flown beside me, careful to not get her wings stuck in my own. Lula, being smaller than me has always been much faster, but also blind as a bat if not for her dinner plate sized spectacles. 

“Of course,” I’d turned onto my back, flying upside down for a moment so I could look at the moon. We weren’t supposed to fly upside down, because our brightly coloured wings could attract predators. 

But that was exactly my plan.

“Don’t you trust me?” I’d asked.

Lula cheeks had flared pink. “I don’t know.”

Looking at the room now from my glass bottle, I realise she was probably right to question my decisions, after all I was leading her into a trap. I’d led her to a swamp with the intention of killing a troll but had been captured by a dwarf who’d bottled me and sold me to my victim in exchange for a pound of mushrooms. 

I lay back down to reminisce until morning when I feel the bottle move violently upwards.

I opened my eyes in time to catch sight of a gigantic, slimy, green hand holding my prison.

I was being carried and knowing no screaming or magic would help me I sat in the corner, my arms around my knees. You might be thinking I did this because I’m scared, but that’s not true. I wasn’t scared, I never get scared. I was just preparing myself for when I would eventually be freed from the bottle, at which point I intended to kill the gross creature keeping me prisoner.

I was carried for an hour and then plopped down on wall a of mud that squelched as the bass of the bottle sunk into its place. 

I knew where I was instantly from the smell of dirt and water.

I was under a swamp. Troll territory.

“This is it!” Said a loud, burly voice. “Your new nightlight!”

I walked in a circle, trying to figure where I was but the sweat and dirt on the creature’s hand had caused the glass to go murky and I couldn’t really see anything.

A set of small hands appeared and grabbed the bottle. It pulled me off the shelf to eye and level and I came face to face with the yellow eyes of a troll.

“She’s beautiful!” The troll – a girl I guess by the high-pitched voice.

I stuck my tongue out and turned away, not wanting to spend another moment looking at the ugly green monster.

“She’s doesn’t like me?” The troll asked, looking upwards at the bigger troll, whom I assumed was her father.

“Fairies are stubborn,” her father had a very deep voice. “Don’t worry Moza, she’ll settle down in a few days and if not, she’ll die.”

I couldn’t help it, I flinched. I knew what trolls did to fairies. They either cooked and ate them or they bottled them up and kept them as pets. That’s what they were expecting of me, to be her pet.

Moza put me back and then climbed into her bed, situated just below the window ledge. Perhaps if I rocked my glass from side to side I could roll off and hit her on the head whilst she slept.

“Goodnight Moza.” The troll kissed his daughter on the head and went to leave the room. 

“Wait!”

He turned at the door and looked at Moza. I thought I saw dark moons under his eyes, a clear indication any creature wasn’t getting enough sleep. But trolls had naturally dark saggy faces, so it was impossible to tell.

“Will the nightlight keep the monsters away?” Moza’s voice was full of childlike innocence. I might have thought it was cute if she wasn’t a monster.

“Yes dear,” the troll said. “Now, get some sleep.”

The troll left the room and, with some reluctance, Moza laid down and wrapped her fur blanket around herself. I waited until I heard her begin to snore and then I began to prepare my escape.

I touched either side of the bottle and closed my eyes. After a moment, I felt the all too familiar vibration of Midna glass.

I collapsed onto the floor with a loud huff. “Dammit!” 

Midna glass, whilst not dangerous to the touch, prevented all those near it from using magic. My wand, safely tucked into the waistband of my skirt, was as useful at getting me out of here as any non-magical twig.

I lay on the floor like that for several moments, staring at the cork looming above like a brown moon, forever watching, even when you couldn’t see it. The cork had 4 holes drilled into it to give me air. I flew up and stretched my arm through the gaps but despite being tiny, the rest of me just couldn’t quite squeeze through.

“What are you doing?”

I turned to find Moza, sat up on her knees with her blanket wrapped around her head, making it look like she had long white hair. I instantly moved my arms inside the bottle, lest she eat them. As I formed a protective barrier around myself with my wings, Moza moved closer to the window ledge. 

“Are you trying to escape?” Moza’s eyes were wide with wonder.

“Of course, I am,” I said, knowing she couldn’t understand me. “I don’t want to stay here.”

Moza narrowed her eyebrows, which looked like two giant slugs attached to her forehead. Most trolls had a unibrow, but this one looked to be too young to have grown one yet. I guessed she had to be around eight or nine years old at the most.

“Why not?” Moza asked.

I was so surprised my wings sprung open and got stuck against either side of the glass. 

“Wait, you can understand me?” Troll was a simple language to learn – I had taught it to myself I was twelve. Fae however, was a complicated, beautiful language that even Elves struggled to learn. I’d never met a troll who could speak it and I’d spent years stalking the grotesque creatures.

Moza smiled, flashing several murky yellow teeth. “Of course!”

I narrowed my eyebrows, instantly suspicious. “How?”

Moza jumped off the bed and ran across the room. She opened up a large wooden chest, shuffled around inside and returned to her bed carrying a large white book.

“It says, 1000 languages and how to learn them.” Moza said proudly, as she looked down at the hardback. “I learned fairy first because I’ve always wanted to be a fairy.”

I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. “You want to be a fairy?” I cocked my head to the side, deciding that I might as well entertain this troll child’s fantasies. “Why?”

“Because you’re so beautiful!” Moza said. “Look at you! You’re all pink and blue and purple and you wear dresses made of flowers and you can fly and do magic!” Moza flung out her arms and pushed them up and down in a wing like motion. “I’m just green.” She dropped her hands and frowned, her night time fantasy forgotten. “They don’t make dresses of flowers for trolls.”

Most troll wore brown or green tunics to blend into their surroundings. Of course, troll’s fingers were too big and stumpy to sew, so all their clothes were made by dwarfs in exchange for mushroom harvesting. 

“As far as trolls go you are a very pretty shade of green,” I said, although she looked the same as any other troll to me. They were a green murky colour that helped them blend into swamp water.

Moza’s eyes lit up. “You really think so?”

“I know so!” I stood up. “If you get me out of here, I could make you your own flower dress.” 

Moza’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know…” She looked down at her big feet with a frown. “Papa said never to trust a fairy!”

Everyone knows fairies are extra emotional because they’re so tiny and although I’ve always denied that claim, in this moment I proved them right.

“Fairies? You don’t trust fairies!” I flew to the top of the bottle, almost hitting my head on the cork. “Trolls are the ones you should never trust, vile, gross little things! They eat fairies!”

Moza’s eyes grew wide with fear. She began to back away from the window. “Eat fairies?”

“Yes! You dip us in sugar and eat us for desert! We’re an exotic delicacy to your kind!”

Moza screwed up her face as if the folds of her skin and closed eyelids could protect her from the truth. “No! Trolls is good! We would never eat Fairies!”

“Yes, you do!” I sunk to the floor. “I know so.”

“How do you know so?” Moza asked.

I laid down on my back and closed my eyes. “I just do.” I didn’t want to talk anymore about fairies being food. It brought up bad memories and I didn’t want to cry in front of a troll.

“Well…” Moza took a deep determined breath. “I’d never ever eat a fairy. Not ever ever ever!”

I opened one golden eye. “You say that now…”

“No, I swear!” Moza yanked my bottle off the window and I fell upside down. I tumbled around the bottle until Moza plopped me down on her bed. “I would never eat a fairy.”

I rubbed my head, feeling slightly dizzy.

“So, you’ll let me go then?” I asked, standing up.

Moza frowned. “But I need you…”

“Why?”

“You’re my night light…” Moza considered the dark shadowy corner of the room. “To keep the monsters away.”

I wanted to tell her she was the monster. Trolls were so big that the only thing bigger than them were giants, but giants were gentle folk. Vegetarians. Trolls were rarely ever killed by anything other than pure stupidity.

“Trust me… no monsters are going to come and get you.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, although I didn’t know why.

Moza blinked. “Why not?”

I blew air out my nose. “Please… can you just let me go?”

Moza cocked her head to the side and her green hair fell in front of her eyes. “You don’t like trolls, do you?”

I shrugged. “Not particularly.”

“But why?”

Maybe it was time. Maybe if I just told her, she would let me go.

I took a deep breath and looked away so if I did cry, she wouldn’t get to see. “When I was a little girl, just like you,” I waved my hand at her, “-A little smaller. My parents were eaten. By trolls.”

Moza was so shocked she jumped up and my bottle fell onto its side. 

“No!” She shouted. I cringed, hoping it wouldn’t wake mama and papa troll, wherever they were.

“That’s so sad!” Moza climbed back onto the bed. 

I refused to let a tear form. I wasn’t going to cry.

“Yes… very sad.” I pretended to inspect my purple nails.

“I’d hate to think of what would happen if my parents died…” Moza looked scared at the very thought. She looked at the closed door and I wondered if she was about to run and check if they were okay. “I can’t imagine I’d ever be happy ever again.”

 “Well Moza…” I wiped my eye with the back of my hand. “Now you know how I feel.”

“You know my name!” Moza leaped back onto the bed. My bottle rolled over again. “What’s your name?”

“Emberline.”

Moza screwed her face up in confusion. “Ember… lime?”

“Emberline.”

“Emma lee?”

“Emberline.”

“Emberlike?”

“Just call me Ember,” I waved my hand. “Most people do.”

“It’s a pretty name.” Moza nodded, encouragingly. “Better than Moza.”

I shrugged. “I’m sure Moza is pretty for a troll name.” I’d never met a troll called Moza before, but then again, I hadn’t talked to many trolls. “Can you let me go now?” I was growing bored and impatient.

“But why?” Moza asked again.

“Because I want to go home!”

Moza pouted. “But you just said your parents died,” she said, “so, you don’t have a home.”

“I have an adopted mother,” I informed her. “And adopted sisters. Three of them.”

Moza was silent for a long time before speaking again. “And you miss them?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Very much.”

Moza looked at me and then looked back at the door, unsure and unclear of the path that lay ahead of her. “They’ll be sad you’re gone?”

“Very,” I told her. “They will think you’ve eaten me!”

Moza’s hands flew to her mouth. “I would never!”

I shrugged. “But they don’t know that…”

“Okay!” Moza stood up. “I go ask Mama and Papa if I can let you go free!”

“Wait—”

I stood up but Moza was faster than me and was out the door before I could reach the other side of the bottle.

“Great, now they’re either going to take me away from her or eat me.” I collapsed onto the floor and the impact caused my bottle to roll onto the cushion.

This gave me an idea.

I stood up, took a deep breath and with all of my might, I pushed the bottle off of the cushion. It rolled off and landed on the moss blanket with a gentle thud. I took a moment to catch my breath, then put my hands on the glass and pushed again. This time I didn’t stop until the bottle rolled off the bed and smashed onto the floor.

I fell with it and cut my leg and arm in several places. Luckily, they were only small cuts and once I flew away from the Midna glass I was able to temporarily heal myself with a bit of magic. My scars would come back later, once the spell wore off, but it would work as band aid for now.

After taking some time to recover, I tried to escape through the two windows in the room. Both were sealed with iron locks I could not touch, for iron burns fairies hands off.

I searched far and wide but the only other way out of the room was the door that led to the rest of the house. Reluctantly, I followed it.

The door led into a hallway, which led to two rooms. The first a bedroom, empty, the windows also locked. The second was a drawing room with a skylight high above. Through the glass I could make out the shape of Baba trees, a rare sapling that doesn’t grow anywhere except my home forest. Turns out I wasn’t far away from home at all.

In the centre of the room was the man troll from earlier and beside him was his wife. You could always tell the difference between male and female trolls – female trolls had a smaller nose and bigger eyes. They also smelled better, although not by much.

Moza wasn’t in the room, meaning she was probably on her way back to her bed. She’d find the glass, go into a panic and tell her parents who’d immediately begin searching for me. I knew I needed to get out fast, but instead of looking for an exit I flew over to a pink glowing bottle on the highest shelf in the room and tapped lightly on the glass.

Lula sat up instantly, her wild pink hair flying around her like a hurricane.

“Ember!” She squealed.

“Hey, they didn’t eat you!” If it was the choice between me and Lula, I’d have thought they’d eat her first. My purple flat hair and freckles made me look like a mouldy mushroom. Lula on the other hand, with her frizzy candy floss hair and glittery skin looked like an exotic lollipop. I know which one I’d eat.

Lula put her hands on her hips in an attempt to look serious. “No thanks to you. You got me captured Ember!”

“Did I?” I chimed.

“It’s not funny Ember.” She said. “You said we were going to see the mermaids! Instead you led me into a troll swamp to get captured.”

“I…” I waved my hand. “Don’t have time to explain.” I battered my wings and hovered in the air, drawing Lula’s attention.

“Where are you going? Get me out of here?” She asked, taking her hands off her slim hips.

“Just give me a sec!” I buzzed away so I didn’t have to hear her protests. I hid behind a wax candle in the shape of an ogre and pulled out my wand.

“Illjoss.” I spelled the word out with my wand and the letters appeared in the air in pink glitter. They twisted together into a straight line and faded until a sword appeared in its shadow.

A simple spell really. It created a sword that would harm only one person. Once I stabbed the male troll, it would vanish and I’d need to cast the spell again if I wanted to take the female down too. I knew afterwards I’d feel drained from using too much magic. But it will be worth it in the end. It will be worth it for revenge.

As I flew past Lula’s bottle, she caught sight of the sword in my hand and began to shout and scream, her voice muffled by the glass. I knew she was telling me not to do it, but I didn’t care. I was going to get revenge for what these trolls did.

Well it wasn’t these trolls exactly. The trolls that had killed my parents didn’t look anything like these two, but I’d never see the parent eating trolls again. And if I couldn’t kill those specific trolls, I’d kill any trolls. I just wanted them to pay for what they did.

With sword in hand I flew up to the chandelier of twisting tree roots strung with elf lights and candles. I sunk behind a thick root and waited, my eyes on the room below. Now I was the predator waiting for my prey. 

But I was smart. I knew I couldn’t take both down at the same time. I would have to wait for one to leave and then go in for the kill.

The woman troll said something to her husband, stood up and began to move towards the door. I knew this was my chance. As soon as she left I’d swoop down and stab the man in the eye. He’d scream and when the woman came to rescue him, I’d get her too.

I balanced myself on the end of a light, prepared to jump. My sword was ready by my side and I could feel adrenaline pumping through my veins. This was it. The moment I’d been waiting for.

And then she walked in. Moza.

Her mother grabbed her and swooped her up into her arms. “What are you doing out of bed, hun?” For the first time, a troll managed to sound sweet. I didn’t like it.

“I lost Ember!” Moza said with wide eyes.

“Who’s Ember?” The mother chuckled.

“My friend.”

“Let me take her,” the father reached out his arms. She latched onto him and instantly began telling him our entire conversation from earlier. Whilst she talked, the mother left and returned a moment later with a glass of milk.

“My tiny fairy friend wanted to go free so I came to ask you to let her go but I forgot to ask her where she’s from so you could take her home but I went back and she was gone.” Her over excitement was muddling up her words and even I couldn’t really understand a lot of what she was saying.

The mother narrowed her eyebrows in concern and felt her daughter’s forehead for a temperature. But her father didn’t seem think there was anything wrong at all. He nodded along to Moza’s story as if he understood it perfectly and the entire time she talked he had a twinkle in his eye and a bright smile stretched across his face.

I froze and a memory I had long since forgotten about payed me a visit. I was a child, with wings the size of my hand, sat on my mother’s lap in our tiny treehouse. Earlier that evening I’d had a nightmare and climbed into my parent’s bed for comfort. My father had come in with a glass of warm milk to help me sleep and eventually it had worked, and I’d drifted off into dreamland in his arms.

That was only a few days before they’d died.

Moza was smiling now, her worries having been melted away by her parents’ love. She had been scared before. I had vanished and she’d been alone, like I had once been, like I was now.

And if I killed them she’d be alone too.

“Unjoss,” I whispered. The sword disappeared.

I flew over and sat down next to Lula’s bottle. She started talking to me again but I ignored her. I sat there until the trolls – all three of them - left. And then I flew up and popped the cork off Lula’s bottle.

“What happened?” Lula asked, as she bounced onto the countertop. “I thought you were going to kill them.”

“I was,” I couldn’t say it to her face, I had to look away. “But I realised I can’t leave that little girl without a family.”

We found an exit, in the skylight. One of the panels had been broken and replaced with a piece of wood. Lula managed to move it out the way with a simple strength spell. She flew out into the open air, but I hesitated at the barrier.

“I’ll be back in a second.” 

I flew back through the house to Moza’s bedroom. She was in bed, reading her book. Her window was pushed open and my smashed bottle was on the desk.

“Ember!” She squealed when she saw me and dropped her book.

I flew over to her side. “Hello Moza.”

“You were gone…” Her face lit up as edged towards me. “But you come back?”

“To say goodbye,” I smiled softly. The room was silent save for my wings pattering away behind me. “I have to go be with my family now, my sisters.”

Moza’s face fell. “Oh...”

“But if you keep your window open I’ll come back and visit you. At night, I can come keep the monsters away,” I watched her face carefully to catch her expression. “If you’d like?”

Moza clapped her hands in glee. “Oh yes please!”

“I hate staying in at night anyway.” I shrugged.

“I’ll keep the window open always!” Moza said.

“Then I promise to keep coming back.”

I could hear Lula calling my name from the living room. It was getting late now, I had to return home soon or mother would part iron bars on my windows. Again.

I smiled at Moza, bopped her on the head with the end of my wand and took off out the window and into the night.

[blindspot-repata]

On a Date - Chapter 6

Honeymoon

#blindspot #tasha zapata #audrey esparza #rob brown #edgar Reade #fanfic #blindspotfanfic

"Do you think there's still time?" He asked rolling on the bed beside her.

"We should have gone more than an hour ago.” She said touching her naked body on his body. "If you hadn’t gotten so excited."

“Ah, you are funny! You've teased me and now it's my fault?” He smiled wickedly.

"It's been almost three days since we don’t left this room. It would be good to take a walk for a change.”

“You're right.” He said coming closer and placing kisses along her face and neck and indulging in the chills she caused.

"For that, otherwise I'm going to be late.” She asked to stop, but she was enjoying the kisses.

“I'll stop.” He reached her lips and he lingered on the kiss.

"It's nine-thirty, let's get dressed, and we'll have breakfast early, because the boat leaves at ten." She got up and got ready.

They were in the Maldives, a place that was like a little piece of heaven. They were on a small island staying in a hotel with a beautiful view. They would take a boat trip around the island where they would descend to enjoy the beaches and the surrounding attractions.

There were few people aboard the boat that was not too big. The two managed to stay in a good place where they could enjoy the course well, Reade was delighted with the looks of amazement and Tasha's smile at seeing small and large fish in the clear ocean.

“What's it.” She looked at him doubtfully.

“Anything. Just watching you.” He replied smiling.

"Look at the landscape, the fish, look at the sea, then you won’t remember what you saw.” She tried to scold him.

"I just want to look at you, which is the most beautiful thing I see here.” She blushed and he hugged her affectionately, giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

"You know, Tasha, this looks like a dream. Being with you in such a place, it's awesome!” He looked deep into her eyes as he held her.

“I love you!” It was all she could say before they kissed sweetly.

“Ready?” Reade asked as they finished adjusting the dive gear.

The two of them dived into that ocean of water so transparent and unrivaled blue. The feelings mingled inside them as they reached the seabed which was filled with corals, anemones, fish, and very different species that were only seen here in the Maldives. The guide accompanied them so that they didn’t exceed the limits allowed. They spent a few minutes down there where they took pictures as they swam and watched the wonders that inhabited that beautiful place.

The couple marveled at the ride and went to a place where it was possible to feed the stingrays, this was an attraction much appreciated by tourists. The stingrays were beautiful and docile animals, but they needed some care when approaching because the danger was in the tail that these animals used to defend themselves.

At the end of the afternoon, after several hours of fun, the boat left them on the beach of the hotel where they were staying. They both laughed and commented on the ride made by two children.

"Confess you were afraid of that shark!" She teased him laughing as they walked back to the hotel watching the sunset in that wonderful place.

"An animal of that size." What did you want? He said defensively.

“I loved your scared face.” She laughed as he lifted her from the floor in a tight hug and gave her a very sensual kiss, making her stop to talk.

“What do we have for tonight?” He asked between one kiss and another.

"We can go to the famous nightclub." It was a very suggestive idea, because this nightclub was very famous.

They arrived at the club and marveled at such perfection. The place was entirely underwater and its walls were surrounded by glass where you could see fish and sea creatures swimming around as visitors sipped a drink and danced to electronic music. There was a restaurant at the top of the club that went where the couple headed first.

After dinner they finished the evening drinking and dancing. Now they were holding each other at the sound of light music, feeling the torpor of alcohol circulate throughout the body. The colors and the reflection of the lights mixed with the colors of the creatures that were outside the nightclub, forming beautiful images.

“I'm a little drunk.” Tasha smiled sweetly.

"I wouldn’t say a little, you're rather drunk.” He laughed. “Do you want to go back?”

"Only if you promise me such a night." Her smile was mischievous now.

“Hmm ... let's see. I think I can promise you that.” He said playfully and touched her cheek softly.

“No ride for today?” She barely opened her eyes because the headache was too strong.

"Don’t even talk to me for a ride, I don’t want to get out of this bed." He also had a very strong hangover. "Out of the drink you've made me exhausted."

"Did you think it would be easy? Never!” Despite the hangover she could play with the situation.

“We did that?” She sat on the bed and was horrified at the situation of what she saw.

The two of them spent a very passionate night, which they could tell because of the mess the room was in. There were clothes and objects scattered on all sides, even the drapery had a loose part.

"Yes. You haven’t seen the bathroom yet. There must be water scattered all over the place after we've forgotten the faucet on the connected bathtub while everything was repeated.”

“What did we do!” She let out a delicious laugh that delighted him.

"Let's spend the day at the pool and no drinks whatsoever, my stomach is too hurts."

“And no sex?” He wanted to test her.

“I didn’t say that. Later, maybe. If you're deserving.”

It was three days before the two of them took advantage of that wonderful place and then they would return to the normal life that is where the reality was with all their problems, which both were willing to face with all the love they had entrusted to the altar.

[jadekitty777]

Hidden in Plain Sight

Who is ready for a week of fanfiction about my two favorite men?!

Not me 8D!  Because despite having six months to prepare two of the days are still not finished (so be forewarned Day 2 and 4 may not be up on time). But, all the same, I’m determined and excited to finish off an entire week for once! So, let’s jump right in!

Day 1 – Long Distance @taiqrowweek

Summary: When Tai receives a package in the mail from his old academy, he finds there’s an unexpected gift inside from someone else entirely. [Pre-Volume 2]

Rating: K

Ao3 Link: Hidden in Plain Sight

~

The door creaked on its hinges and immediately the sound of excited yips and a jangle of tags greeted Tai in the form of thirty pounds of tiny dog. He juggled the package he carried under one arm to lean down, Zwei’s ears flopping about as he gave him a pet. “Hey there pupster. Sorry I’m late. Did you already eat?” When his answer was only a cold nose nuzzling into his palm rather than a mad dash for the kitchen, he took that as a yes.

Tai was never going to figure out how he learned how to use the can opener.

He kicked the door closed with his heel, dropping his mail on the table as he passed. Zwei started sniffing intently at the box. “Sorry bud, it’s not from the girls.” There was a growly huff of disappointment.

Tai chuckled, stretching his arms over his head as he headed for the kitchen to scrounge around for a dinner of his own. The only sound for the next few minutes was of him, clattering around in the kitchen and the breeze in the trees outside, the silence of the rest of the home leaving a solemn weight to the air. Two months, and he still wasn’t quite used to no longer hearing the various noises of the girls running down the stairs or yelling at each other in the living room as they played the newest fighter game or the faint noise of their laughter drifting from the floor above.

He was immensely proud of them both: of his eldest, who had gotten an acceptance letter well before entrance exams, and of his youngest, who had been allowed to skip two years ahead. Though, he had always known ever since he watched Yang throw down Qrow when she was only seven and Ruby build her first model of Crescent Rose at only ten, that both his girls had immeasurable talent and the drive to pursue their dreams. As a father, he could only encourage them to embrace that potential and ambition, aware that one day he was going to see them grow into the extraordinary huntresses they always wanted to be.

Still, it didn’t mean that watching them get on that airship to Beacon wasn’t one of the hardest days of his life.

It was even harder to say those goodbyes alone and return into the near empty home, more still and lonely then it had ever been.

At least, Tai thought as he sat on the couch with his plate of pasta and reached for the remote, I don’t have to fight for the TV anymore.

He turned it on, the television already on his favorite channel, and set the remote aside. He balanced his plate in one hand, reaching down to curl his other arm around his dog, hefting him up beside him. They got comfortable, Zwei nestling up against his side while Tai kicked off his shoes and rested his feet on the table. “Oh gods, I remember this one,” He said as the sitcom’s laugh track played after one of Starla’s typical neurotic-induced jokes. “This is the one where Annie and Davy get the male nanny and everyone treats him like he’s gay.”

The corgi gave a slight growl.

“I know, right?” He laughed, twisting his chopsticks around some noodles.

They watched the rest of the episode, infuriating as it was, and the next that played for the power hour, plus one of All Our Life. By the time the intro to Collide started playing, the sky outside had turned dark and Tai was starting to feel the drag of exhaustion trying to pull his eyelids down and knew it was time to call it a night. He shut off the TV, getting to his feet. Zwei, who had rolled onto his back to take a nap, awoke and wiggled his paws a bit. Tai rubbed his belly before helping him on the ground floor so he could run out the doggy door. He wandered back into the kitchen to clean up the dishes and by the time he was done, Zwei was back inside, settling onto his doggy bed. It seemed he was going to stay down here tonight.

“Night buddy.” He said, giving his pet a few more affectionate pats, before picking up the package and heading upstairs.

He set the box on his bed and headed into the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. He reemerged to slip into some comfortable sleep shorts, tousling his hair one more time with the towel before tossing it onto the floor. He sat down on his bed, picking up the package and setting it in his lap. There was no return address, but he knew who it was from. He pulled off the tape, only finding two items inside. The first was a palm-sized black plastic case with no distinguishable marks on it. The other was a note that simply read:

I have a feeling you may not be in Vale anymore

Tai rolled his eyes. He had to wonder where his old headmaster’s sense of humor came from. “Very funny, Oz.” He set the scripted letter aside, before pulling out the case next, dropping the cardboard box onto the floor. Popping the top open, he eyed the chip that rested atop cotton padding. There was a picture of a gear etched on its tiny surface. The last time he had seen it had been fourteen years ago. He carefully fished it out, holding it delicately between his fingers. For what it held on it, it was extremely unimpressive looking.

He reached for his nightstand, pulling over his Scroll DEX.

And hesitated.

Did he really want to do this again?

Tai pondered the question, staring at his reflection in the transparent screen. What stared back was a man who was nearly two decades older, age lines starting to show and a paleness to his hair that had once been so vibrant. While he had kept in shape over all these years and had fought the occasional Grimm around the perimeter or when enlisted by Patch’s call-to-duty system to deal with bigger threats, he knew it wouldn’t compare to what he was going to face if he joined Ozpin’s inner circle once more.

If you didn’t want to, then why did you call at all? The thought whispered at the back of his mind, the answer already there.

Somewhere within himself, there was still that young orphan boy in him that grew up wanting to protect society from hurting like he once did. To shelter those wishes for peace and safety, knowing all too well the pain it caused when they went unanswered. So, he’d return to this underground war waging out of sight from the rest of society’s eyes so that next generation didn’t have to.

He’d return, because that’s what a Huntsman does.

The screen lit up as Tai slipped the chip into the device. It read ‘Initializing’, beginning a percentage counter that haltingly climbed in number. Once it finished, it would have all his old data on it as well as any new intel, any of his current objectives and secure, untraceable connections with the rest of the association. Reading over everything could wait until morning. He hooked the phone to the charger and set it on the nightstand, before shutting off the lamp and climbing into bed.

He was just drifting into sleep when a sudden jingle jerked him back. He stared in confusion at the blue-tinted light that brightened the ceiling, before rolling onto his side and pulling his Scroll over to read the banner on the lock screen:

216 messages from A Dumb Bird

“What?” He whispered into the night air, sitting up slightly. He pressed in his thumbprint and swiped over the screen, opening up into the messaging app which started him at the most recent entry. It was dated today, two hours ago. It was a short message, only two words:

‘Miss you’

The words themselves made a pleasant buzz hum underneath his skin. The one before it was dated three weeks ago, well after midnight. It was a picture of five puppies in a box.

‘Someone’s selling these droolers for five lien. Think yours needs a friend?’

Tai shook his head, scrolling slowly at first but faster as the dates and messages swam by. A few more weeks. Four months. Ten months. A year. Two years.

He finally got to the first message of the 216 he had been sent, all the way back seven years ago when Qrow had decided the girls were old enough and they were both steady enough for him to quit teaching and work missions for Ozpin again. Overwhelmed by emotion, Tai had to set the Scroll aside, burying his head in his pillow.

“Listen up!” Summer’s ever-sweet lilt was as clear as ever, even in his memory. “I want all of us to make a promise that on these missions, when we get to places that have reception, all of us will send messages to one another to let us know we’re okay. I don’t care if it’s a text, a video or a picture, just send something.”

Qrow knew Tai couldn’t get these messages to this phone without the chip. Hell, he even sent messages or called him on their normal Scroll all the time. And yet, all these years and he still…

He took a breath, before pulling the Scroll over again and started to read each and every one. Some barely said much except that he’d made it to town or when he’d be heading back. There were a few pictures; a collection of mini-whiskey shots found in a hotel room or a big dragon statue with a tiny plastic one the man had balanced on its nose just to tease him about ‘size comparison’. There was even a video in which Qrow, slightly tipsy speech filtering through with mirth, pointed the camera at a normal crow and started to talk about how he “found himself after all these years”. A lot of it didn’t make sense, but Tai still chuckled and even watched it a second time.

It wasn’t until he got to the ones that he had received from three years ago and onwards that he noticed a subtle but still apparent shift to the messages – not to mention the quantity. Suddenly it wasn’t just a few shorts words, but full sentences about how Qrow was doing or what he was looking forward to when he got home. Snippets of how much he loved him or how he missed waking up beside him that Tai had to wonder if the other had sent here because he wasn’t feeling secure enough to send them to him for real. Over a dozen pictures now of various things, like a candy shop he thought the girls might like or a lightning bolt during a storm that lit up the whole sky (with a caption ‘you electrify me’ that had Tai nearly rolling with giddy laughter).

The one that hit the hardest was a video, the only other one in all the messages, that had been shot two years ago. The other huntsman must have been at an inn, because he was leaning against a headboard.

“So, hey.” Qrow started, running a hand along his hair. He often did it to look suave, but this time it only made him seem nervous. “I tried to make it somewhere in time but got held up on the field. You know how it is. So, guess I’m fashionably late.” He winked, but the act was quick to drop and he looked away. “I’m sorry. I wanted to at least call on the right day. I wanted to show you that… I’m here. That even if I’m across the world, I’m always here for you.” He chuckled, offering the camera a half-smile. “Guess I ain’t proving that very well if I’m missing our first anniversary, huh? I’ll try better next time.”

Tai remembered. He’d be lying to say he hadn’t been a little down about it when the day itself passed, but he never held it against Qrow – nor for the next two he also missed. He’d learned, both from being in the profession and exclusively dating those in the same job field, that sometimes the best one could do is just cherish what time you did get together. It was impossible to be a fulltime huntsman and still be able to make every special occasion; and while Tai knew he had a lot of faults, being selfish enough to think he was more important than the people his partner was risking his life to protect was not one of them.

So, when Qrow finally was able to call, it hadn’t mattered to him that it was a few weeks late because the gift of getting to hear his voice was one worth waiting for.

“I just,” The recording continued, the man fully turning back to the camera, “I wanted you to know that, this? You and me? It’s… been amazing. You’re, I mean,” He shook his head, laughing as he ran a hand over his blushing face; he looked unbelievably endearing. “Tai, man, why is this so hard? I’ve known you for years. Yet every time I try to just tell you how much you mean to me, I can’t seem to say anything decent. I’m going to call you soon and what the hell am I gonna say?”

Now that Tai would never forget – because it had been the first time Qrow said “I love you” aloud to him; and it had taken his breath away.

Now he found himself in the same position, as the man he found himself utterly captivated by, smile towards him and say, “I’m just, so happy, you know? Happier than I thought was actually possible. I never thought us being together would make that much of a difference but, it has. It really has.” He rubbed the back of his neck, bashfully adding, “Hopefully I can find a way to tell you that tomorrow.”

The video ended there.

Overwhelmed, Tai scrolled through the rest of the messages until he caught up, staring at the newest one that was now three hours old. He ran his thumb over the two simple words, his heart feeling ready to burst, and hurriedly typed a reply.

‘I love you so much.’

After a minute of no response, he started to go back up to reread again. He was just in the middle of admiring a shot of an old-fashioned air balloon hovering in the sky when his phone pinged and brought him back to the bottom.

‘Tai?’

‘Yeah. It’s me.’ He replied.

There was another lull, but not as long as the last before he replied, ‘Welcome back, you damn dragon.’ Tai smiled, knowing that’s what Qrow had him listed as in his Scroll. There was another ping.

‘I’ll give you five lien if you delete every message prior to these.’

‘No deal unless you’re going to use it to get me a puppy.’

‘Between you and Zwei, I can’t handle any more dogs in the house.’

“Oh my god Qrow!” Tai laughed aloud while writing ‘You charming jerk’ in return.

‘A charming jerk you love.’

The smile he wore was uncontainable. ‘Yeah, I do.’

‘This charming jerk loves you too.’

“Yeah.” Tai whispered, deliriously happy as he held his phone close, never wanting to let it go – or, more precisely, the person on the other end. “I know.”

~ A/N: For those wondering, the show Tai is watching is a reference to Friends and an actual episode that aired in later seasons.

The DEX in Scroll DEX stands for codex, which were oftentimes books filled with parchment paper (which is the same type of paper scrolls are generally made of). It can also stand for Deluxe.

Lastly, this story is mostly a headcanon, but it’s based off the idea the missions Tai starts taking during the duration of Volume 2 – that causes him to send Zwei to the girls – and again at the beginning of volume 3 are indeed for Ozpin rather than just typical Huntsman missions.

[shewhowantsmouseears]

The Son Of Scheherazade, 21

Notes: As always, thanks to my fantastic editors, Drucilla and BlueShifted!

Originally this entire arc was going to be stuck in comedy. (honestly, most of this story was meant to comical when it was first made.) But after some good long thoughts, I decided that things should take a bit more of a dramatic turn.

In other words, next chapter? Gird your heart, things are going to get worse before they get better.

Summary: The next piece of the map has been found, deep within a mysterious cave that offers your greatest desires. But can this  crew survive the caverns when they can't survive each other?

Despite being woken up in the middle of the night, Mickey managed to get up bright and early the next morning. While he never got a straight answer out of Minnie about what had upset her, he decided not to push it. When she was ready, she'd surely tell him. For now he decided to focus on the upcoming location of the next piece of the map. Something about a cave – as usual, Daisy was never one to give details until they had arrived. While the disaster with the Imp hadn't exactly been fun, Mickey was looking forward to a new adventure to learn things and better himself.

He walked into the empty hallways, stifling a yawn behind one hand, Minnie loyally on his right and Pluto lagging behind. “I wonder what today will be like,” Mickey said sleepily, rubbing the last bits of dream dust from his eyes.

But not too long after they started walking, Minnie suddenly spoke, “Master? May I ask you something?”

Mickey glanced over, wondering why she was upping the formality and politeness today. “Sure, Minnie, you can always ask me anything.”

“Do...” Minnie was already regretting asking this, and she knew the answer, yet there was a weight on her chest making her press on. “Do you love your parents?”

Any further drowsiness in Mickey was swiftly swept away, startled by such a question. “Huh?” He momentarily wondered if he heard right, then tried to guess what he'd done in his past that would make her doubt his deep affection for his family. “Of course I do! They mean the world to me! Why else would I be doing all this to rescue them?” His eyebrow quirked. “Why do you ask?”

Minnie, obviously, couldn't just say she recently learned his father was a murderer and that his mother miraculously stopped his blood-lust. “I... I was just … I don't know a lot about them, so...I was wondering what they were like.”

Mickey and Minnie had spent so much time together that Mickey had begun to recognize and understand some of her quirks – when Minnie was trying to find a word loophole, her eyes would widen just a bit, she'd bite on her lower lip, and then she'd speak with a gentle carefulness like someone trying to make their way down a rough hill. Like many of her habits, Mickey found it absolutely adorable. So adorable, really, that it became difficult to care why she was clearly lying. “Well, I'm pretty sure I've told you what my mother is like...but my father, oh boy, he's always over the top.” With a chuckle, Mickey resumed his walk. “Everything's always big and loud with him. The only time I've ever known him to be quiet was when mother was telling one of her stories. Gosh, I remember when I was little, she almost lost her head,” Mickey took no notice of Minnie paling at that ironic phrasing, “ because my father was trying to see how high he could toss me!” The chuckle turned into a boisterous laugh, recalling how his mother nearly hit the ceiling when Mickey literally hit the ceiling, his father trying to apologize through wild guffaws. This was a boy who loved his father.

Did Mickey know about his father's bloody deeds? He must have, she thought. How could the story of Scheherazade spread so far and not have the wretched crimes attached to it? Did Mickey forgive his father for his actions, or were they so far away that they couldn't possibly reach him? Was Mickey ever made to suffer for his father's past? Even with all the good his mother had done,  there were some things in this world that could never be forgiven. Minnie lifted her head, as Mickey went on about the time his father had brought in fresh fish so he and Mickey could pretend their bath-tub was an ocean. As he laughed about the smell that room had for days, the golden scar on his neck bounced on his throat.

It was then Minnie remembered the famous show-down with Daisy that felt like an eternity ago, where that scar had helped him achieve victory. Where had such a hideous gash come from? Why hadn't it healed properly? For the first time since it attained its golden glow, Minnie actually stared deeply at it, studying it, and with great horror realized this was not a wound made by accident or caused by childish mistake. She'd been through enough horrifying masters to know that kind of cut, that was the kind of slice meant to end a life, someone had actually tried to kill -

“Minnie, what was the last thing I said?” Mickey asked of her, slightly miffed but more amused.

Minnie stopped in place, caught and rather grateful she had to stop thinking. “I. Um... something about... fish?” She faltered, and then shut her eyes, embarrassed. “I'm sorry, Master, here I am asking about your family and not even listening!”

“It's fine, it's fine.” Mickey waved a hand, not minding. To him, it was rather funny that someone didn't care to hear about his famous parents. “If you ask me, just talking about them doesn't do 'em any justice. You'll only get to know 'em when you see those two face to face.”

Minnie blinked – until this moment, and she realized in hindsight it was rather silly she hadn't come to this conclusion before, she didn't realize she'd be meeting his parents. Logically, she'd have to – Mickey refused to use her wishes, and turn her into a mortal, until they were freed. That would mean Mickey being right there with his parents, and Minnie, naturally, at his side. Could she face the former villain that fathered Mickey without seeing his face soaked in blood? And what of the beautiful mother, who Mickey would naturally judge all women against? Would they approve of such a girl being with their prince? “I... suppose you're right,” she finally said. “I won't know them until I meet them... and they won't know me until they meet me.”

Mickey nodded, but then paused for thought. “... Actually, since my Ma has that Eye thing, maybe she already knows you! Going by what Daisy said, all she said is a name to keep tabs on folks, and since she has my name, she has to know all of yours!” To Mickey, this was of great comfort. His parents could see how far in his journey he'd come, how much he'd grown and learned, about the amazing friends he'd made, and about the girl he had fallen for. No doubt they'd seen the horrors he committed against the Grimwolds, but surely they'd also seen his remorse and his efforts to change.

Minnie wasn't as pleased. “I'm... I'm sure she hasn't seen everything!” she said quickly, cheeks beginning to redden. “I'm sure she's so focused on where she is and what's going on that she doesn't watch us that often!” Like when Minnie threw a hissy fit about Lotus Blossom, or when Minnie did those ridiculous cheers in Rumansy, or when Minnie yelled at Mickey at the amusement park, or last night when Minnie WASN'T GOING TO DO ANYTHING TO MICKEY WHEN HE WAS SLEEPING!!!! “...I don't think your parents will like me that much.” Could her master please wish up a rock for her to crawl under and die?

“Aw, don't be silly!” Mickey lightly slapped Minnie on the shoulder, oblivious as usual to her inner panic attacks. “Everyone loves you, who wouldn't? I bet right now my folks practicing all kinds of silly welcomes to say when we rescue them.” Although now that he thought about it, he did kind of hope to get to his parents before Minnie did and beg them not to gush about his first romance. Minnie needed to be eased into his parent's strange ways, not be given the full blast right away. Still, he had faith that his mother and father would adore Minnie and gleefully welcome her to their palace life. He could already picture his mother wanting to dress Minnie up in dozens of dresses to see what suited her best while his father shared humiliating stories of Mickey's childhood. Minnie would be in a better life with freedom to do as she pleased, where she pleased, with who she pleased. Father, Mother, Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto, all together as one happy family. This gave him such happiness he couldn't stop smiling.

At least not until he was in the dining room and saw everybody's glum faces around the table – save for Daisy, who had propped herself up in Goofy's seat again, her pipe unlit in her beak. Mickey looked around, surprised that the energetic crew seemed so despondent, their bodies sagging over the table, eyes worn out, heads hung low. “Some kinda morning greet this is!” Mickey said loudly, getting their attention. “What, did somebody die?”

Somehow that little joke seemed to make things infinitely worse, as they now swiftly turned their heads away from him, Clarabelle clutching her stomach and Jose eating his cigar instead of smoking it. “Sheesh, tough crowd.” Mickey mumbled as he walked over and pulled out his chair. The breakfast meal seemed very small this morning, as if whoever had made it – Horace – imagined the crew wouldn't have much an appetite. Mickey shrugged off the oddness and began to eat after sitting. “So, Daisy, where's the next map piece again?”

Daisy straightened up, popping the pipe out of her mouth. “The Cave of Wants. It's located deep within a maze of caverns, a dangerous trap that has ensnared thousands of lives.” She pressed her fingers together, forming a triangle shape. “Legend has it that the gods once possessed a mirror showing them their greatest desire, but after a war with mankind, the mirror fell down to earth and shattered, creating the cave. Thus, whoever goes within will find what they've always wished for... but they can never leave! They are trapped by their greed, following the twists and turns of the cave until they die! Many have entered, determined to take the pieces of the mirror outside with them and sell them for infinite riches. After all, there are many who would love to see their wishes granted without doing any of the work. Hundreds of adventurers have braved the caverns for this fortune... but none have succeeded! Many call it the Cave of Death, because once you go in... you are never seen again!”

Even though the majority of the crew was still weighed down by the retelling of Scheherazade's fame, Daisy still managed to their attention with her excellent story-weaving skills, and a fresh wave of excitement and fear sailed through bodies... except for Donald, who was extra bitter from the night before. “Wait a minute,” he pointed out, “If nobody's made it out alive, then how does anybody know what's in there in the first place?”

Perhaps a day ago, or maybe even long before that, Daisy would have come up with a terribly witty lie about being connected to the gods, but the acid in Donald's tongue so burned her that her creativity faltered. “Because shut up, that's why.” What was she so upset about? This is exactly what she wanted. She wouldn't be surprised if the crew would find a way to keep her off the ship and sail away without her once the map had been attained. They'd be better off without her, and she'd find new entertainment to keep her busy. She'd done it dozens of times before, what made this so different? “Listen, when have I ever been wrong?”

Everyone's hands went up.

“...Okay, when have I ever been wrong about something that was important?”

Their hands stayed up.

“You guys are no fun.”

Goofy cleared his throat, ready to take over before things went belly-up. “This cave sounds like pretty bad business, so we have to stick together. What if we got a piece of rope and tied ourselves altogether with it?”

“Captain, we love you,” Clarabelle said as gently as she could, “but we can't trust you not to trip, tumble, or otherwise make sixty knots in sixty seconds.”

“Thirty seconds.” Horace felt the need to add.

Goofy conceded the point. “Guess we'll just have to hold onto each other... and we can't distracted. No split-ups, no running off, no going away without telling anyone, no matter what you see or hear.”

“... Why is everyone looking at me?” Mickey asked after Goofy had made his clear instructions.

Clarabelle sucked in air through her teeth. “Mickey, how can I put this delicately...”

“You can't,” Horace quipped, earning a kick to the shin.

“You do have a tendency to go into 'Hero Mode',” Daisy answered, making quotes with her fingers, her snake copying with his tail. “And the cave might use that against you. It might show you an illusion of a girl being robbed by vicious thieves, or Minnie misplacing her clothes-”

“DAISY!”

“-so we just need you to tone it down a notch.”

Mickey mercifully ignored the bait. “Okay, okay, so maybe at times I look before I leap... But I promise, that won't happen this time. We'll stay as a group from the beginning to the end until we find the map piece! And since we all have different desires, we can't all get fooled by the same thing. There will always be someone to snap us back into reality.”

Donald turned his back toward Daisy, intending on ignoring her as much as possible, though this also pained him. “And I've gotten much better at controlling my powers! I can just smash those mirrors with my lightning! I won't let any of you get caught...” He then cast a hateful side-glance at Daisy, unable to help himself. “Because I actually care about all of you.”

Daisy smirked, her newest mask the strongest one yet. “How sweet of you. Just try not to get too emotional in there, being drowned in a cave via raindrops would be such a disappointing way to die.”

Mickey looked back and forth between Donald and Daisy, seeing a battle of glares playing out before him, and he leaned toward Panchito, whispering, “Say, uh, did I miss something?” Last he checked, Donald usually went out of his way to defend Daisy, and her taunts towards him were much more playful. All of a sudden they were now bitter enemies.

Panchito was a terrible liar, as evidenced by his long, desperate “Ummmmmmmm,” as his eyes bounced all over the room. “I cannot recall missing anyone or anything or anywhere! Jose, friend among friends, do you remember missing or being missed?”

Jose at this point had eaten more of his cigar than his breakfast. “Panchito, whose glory is only matched by your bravery, if something was missing, we would find it, and if we're not finding anything, then nothing is missing!”

Mickey wondered why he ever bothered asking the two strangest members of the crew about anything ever. “I give up.” Adventure couldn't be started on an empty stomach, so he started to eat, and the heavy air continued to hang all around them. Most of the crew decided that nothing could be done about it.

But Panchito Pistoles and Jose Carioca would not let this stand. After Mickey had questioned the change in Donald and Daisy's behavior, Jose looked at Panchito, and Panchito looked at Jose. With a silent nod, they understood each other at once. They were simple birds with simple needs, and whenever they devoted themselves to something, it got 110% of their energy. Donald's happiness was 120% devotion, and how could they live with themselves if they couldn't help their dear Donald? They couldn't suddenly find his family, but perhaps the cave would give them something else to work with. They would find a way to fix everyone's sadness, Donald's first and foremost! He was their third Caballero! Their brother from another mother! Their mister who was an A-Lister! And so as they ate their breakfast, they plotted and planned, not once thinking about any desires of theirs that would show up in the cave.

~*~

As usual, Pluto was instructed to stay behind and guard the ship, though at this point Mickey believed there was little point in doing this. Not once had anyone aside from a crew member tried to climb aboard, and any treasure that could be stolen wasn't something that carried a lot of personal value. Mickey thought about this as they sunk their anchor in the deep, rich red sand below and how much he'd used his parents gifts – the pup and the rug. The rug hadn't gotten much use since day one, but then it was such a hefty thing that carrying it around everywhere seemed ridiculous. Why, out of all the gifts to prove her Eye was real, did Scheherazade give him the flying carpet? What other secrets was she hiding?

The sand was soft underneath as they walked, and there was a scent of old clay breezing by them. The land beneath them became steeper as they continued, almost as if they were heading toward the underworld or the lair of Hades. Heavy clouds drifted above their heads, blocking out the sun and erasing the shadows. It was because of this they almost didn't see the cave at first – but when they did, the group collectively gulped.

Instead of being attached to a mountain or hill, the gaping mouth of the cave opened up from the ground surrounded by nothing, except for a woman in heavy robes waiting expectantly. The rocky surface of the cave was darker than the shadows, darker than any night, and even as they squinted they couldn't see anything inside the open hole. Only two stalagmites hung from the rim of the entrance, glassy and clear in appearance, making the entire cave appear as if it was a hideous beast waiting for its next meal.

“Could use a nice 'welcome' mat,” Horace said dryly, and only his wife's iron grip prevented him from retreating.

The woman took her time to approach them, her face difficult to see given how large her gray hood was. Black hair spilled out from her shoulders, and her arms were linked together in her long sleeves. Once she was in front of the crew, she bowed respectively. “Captain Sinbad, Son of Scheherazade... I welcome you to the Cave of Wants.” Mickey thought her voice sounded familiar, but couldn't place it right away. “I am here to guide you.”

Mickey raised his eyebrows, surprised. It would be nice to have a little bit of help, but this was too good to be true. “Well, gee, miss, we'd love to have you along, but... how'd you know who we were?”

The woman then chuckled, suddenly sounding much younger than she was pretending to be. “Who could ever forget you... Big Ears?” As if that infamous nickname wasn't enough to jar all their memories, the woman slid her hood down, revealing -

“Lotus Blossom?!” Mickey, Minnie and Donald all shouted together, mutually horrified. Goofy merely blinked, remembering her but not terribly worried.

Clarabelle grabbed Daisy by her ponytail and spun her around. “You knew she was gunna be here, didn't you?”

“I did not,” Daisy said with an unconvincing grin. She had never heard of a guide for the cave before now, but why question something this hilarious? “Maybe the cave got ahead of itself and granted my wish to see Mickey's ex-girlfriend for myself!”

“SHE IS NOT MY EX-ANYTHING!”

Minnie shoved Mickey aside in order to confront Lotus directly, who had been laughing at all these reactions. “You! What are you doing here? Trying to trick my Master again?”

Lotus merely smiled, bending over to match Minnie's height. “It's so nice to see you again too, oh girl who Mickey finds uncomfortable to kiss.”

“THAT'S NOT WHAT HE MEANT!” Much like the last time Lotus drove Minnie crazy, Donald put himself in charge of hoisting Minnie up in his arms to make sure no further trouble was caused. “WE CAN'T TRUST HER! YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY MASTER! PUT ME DOWN!”

Goofy, sensing this might go in circles for a while, took Minnie's place. “You said you're here to guide us, Lotus Blossom? How come?”

Lotus stood up straight, clearing her throat to give a more dignified response this time. “Well, once I served my time for theft, I decided to turn over a new leaf. The last guide to the Cave was retiring, so I took her place. It's my job to get people in and out of the cave safely, but I can't always guarantee it. So if you want to go in there, you'd better be prepared.” She turned toward the cave, her open hand gesturing to the fang-like rocks atop. “Once the illusion catches you, you'll forget everything else. Drinking, eating, sleeping... It'll give you what you want most, and that's a very hard temptation to resist.” As she motioned with one hand, she kept her other hidden in her sleeve, fingering something small and shiny. “Do you all think you have the strength to overcome it?”

Mickey thumped his fist to his chest, trying to ignore his earlier outbursts. “I know we have it! As long as we work together, there's nothing we can't do! Right, guys?” he turned around, expecting to see a sea of triumph, but his enthusiasm was quashed as he watched Minnie rant and rave in Donald's arms, Daisy arguing with Clarabelle and Horace about how much she really knew about this place – so she didn't know about any guide, what was the big deal? -  Panchito and Jose still trying to come up with a plan for Donald's happiness and just up and ignoring everything else, and Goofy had somehow tripped while standing up. “... Uh. We're usually better than this. It's an off day.”

More importantly, Mickey faced Lotus Blossom again, hands on his hips. “Well, I still trust them, but what about you? Are you really on the up and up?” The sting of her deceit still burned, even if ultimately she had been a good lesson for him about going head-first into trust and trouble. “How do we know you're not trying to pull another fast one on me?”

“What could I possibly do this time?” Lotus shrugged, still keeping her one hand hidden. “I'm outnumbered! Even if you go along with it, the rest will keep an eye on me so there's no way I could try anything. Can't a girl get a second chance?”

Mickey “hmm”ed about this for a moment longer, arms crossed and fingers strumming. Those were fair points, and wasn't Mickey the ultimate result of someone giving a criminal a second chance? In the end, they needed the map piece, and a guide would be better than having nothing. With a defeated sigh, he offered his hand to shake. “All right, but no funny tricks! We're here on very serious business! There's an item in the cave we need, and if you can help us get it, I'll forgive you for playing me last time.”

“Done deal,” Lotus Blossom chirped, taking Mickey's hand and shaking it... then yanking him down and kissed his nose. “There! Not quite what I wanted last time, but it'll do.”

Donald slapped his hand over Minnie's mouth to keep in her newest scream, though she was getting harder to hold. Daisy tittered. “I like this girl.”

“You would,” Horace huffed.

“Then let us be off!” Lotus announced, as Mickey quickly rubbed his nose clean. “Everyone stay together, and we'll make this trip as quick as possible! Follow me.” The group began to walk, with Minnie quickly breaking out of Donald's grip and making sure to keep Mickey away from Lotus Blossom. Panchito and Jose hung to the back, and while they hadn't said much to the group, that hadn't meant they weren't listening.

“My dearest and most darling Panchito,” Jose said, using his latest cigar to act as a torch. “I have a conundrum.”

“What puzzles you, and what can I do to help you most?” Panchito asked, moving his guitar onto his back.

“I wonder, you see, how Lotus Blossom knew that we were coming. She didn't seem surprised at all to see us. And to think she would have this exact job at this exact time at this exact location, that is a lot of coincidences piled up together.”

Panchito stroked his chin, now just as intrigued as Jose was. “It seems to me that whenever there are a lot of coincidences piled up together, there are no coincidences piled up at all. That would suggest something else is going on.”

“An excellent deduction! What could that something else be?”

“I have no idea. Isn't that fun?”

Clarabelle jabbed her thumb backwards, unable to hear the birds directly but knowing they were yammering about something or other. “What are those two going on about?”

“Probably how much they love each other,” Donald said with a shrug. “Or me. Or music. Or girls.” He didn't give it too much thought or worry.

As they entered the blackness of the cave, the group huddled together to make sure they wouldn't separate as it became difficult to see where they were going. Goofy linked arms with Horace and Clarabelle, as did Panchito with Jose, and Mickey with Minnie. Daisy felt Donald's arm begin to slink around hers and she violently pulled it back. “Hey!” Donald whispered, hoping it wouldn't turn into an echo across the cave. “I'm just trying to help!”

“I don't recall asking for your help,” Daisy replied snidely, rubbing her arms as the cave began to grow cold without the sun's natural warmth. “We went on about Mickey going into Hero Mode, but you have it just as bad.”

“What do you have against people being nice to you?” Donald growled, finding it harder to see Daisy's shape.

“Because when Nice People help Bad People, they get hurt, and I am a Bad Person. Flintheart should have taught you that first and foremost.” Now she was going too far, but she couldn't stop herself, not if Donald wouldn't learn. “You're nothing but a stupid, spoiled brat who has no idea how the real world works. You should do your family a favor and give up looking for them, because they're better off not finding you.” She drew a breath, stunned at her own words, and for the briefest pause in time, perhaps for the first time in her life, she considered actually apologizing. She hadn't meant it – she rarely meant most of her lies. She could hear the footsteps of everyone going forward, but Donald's had stopped.

Yell at me, she thought. Lose your temper again. Let it all out. Say you hate me. Say you never want to see me again. But Donald said nothing.

“Hey, look!” Mickey's cheerful voice loudly burst out, delighted at what he could finally see. “There's light!”

Just as Mickey said, in the distance there was a hue of rich blue, and as they approached it, they could see clumps of blue goop sticking to the walls and ceiling, surrounded by smaller wriggling blues. All of them glowed brilliantly, giving enough illumination to see their friends and their surroundings. Minnie held up her hand, watching the color on her fingers, amazed by such a sight. “What are these things? It's all so pretty!”

“I think these are glow-worms!” Goofy plucked one off the wall to see it for himself, letting it crawl around his knuckles. “Get enough of these little fellas together and they can light brighter than any torch! If the entire cave is like this, we'll have no problem findin' the next piece of the map.”

“Don't get ahead of yourself,” Lotus Blossom warned. “There's still one vital thing you all need to do if we want to go any further in the cave. I need all of you to understand how serious this. You have to do one big, important thing.”

As expected, now all eyes were on Lotus Blossom, with Mickey frowning. “Well, what is it?”

“Look here.” Lotus Blossom took out her hidden hand, and there was a bright, harsh flash -

Mickey rubbed his fists into eyes – that smarted! He was going to see spots for ages! “What was that for?” he asked aloud, already getting the sense something bad had happened. “Sheesh... this is no time for tricks, Lotus Blossom, we have to keep moving! Just remember everyone, we have to stick together, we cannot be separated!” He turned around to remind everyone of this -

And found himself all alone.

“Well..there's no way they can blame me for this one,” Mickey quietly said to himself.

[waitingtobeimpressed]

The Silent Serpent Part 2

Chapter 2 - “Absolute Bloody Asshole!”

Sweetpea x OC

Warnings: Sweet peas Attempts at flirting with Mae. (Trust me it was painful to write)

Word count: 1344

The picture is mine and I did, in fact, create it. And umm if you didn’t notice it can kind of only be used for my story because it has the title of the book and my name in it Sooooooo……

I also did not create Riverdale but some people get salty about not making that clear. However, I did create the character of Maeble Mikaelson/ Forgarty and all the relationships she forms. So. Yeh.

Yes her name is Maeble Mikaelson. For a bit of context, her mothers maiden name is Mary Mikaelson and her Fathers name was Fish Forgarty  (It’s complicated), She prefers to use Forgarty as her last name because to put it lightly she hates her mother with a passion…

She doesn’t remember her father because he was given life in prison when she was still a baby. We might see more of him in the future though…

I’m still new to the whole Tumblr thing so just give a chance and hopefully, I will figure it out.

History for Mae had always been intriguing, whether it was learning about the impact Egyptian Gods had on the common people of the time to recounting the events of Nazi Germany and the truly horrific influence one human being could push upon a whole nation. Mae loved nothing more than to be taught the victories of wars long ago to the mistakes that crippled the planet, because without disaster there could be no change, and without change, humanity would cease to develop and adapt, Not allowing ourselves to be the best we could be.

However, Mae also clearly understood that all histories have a dark side, that all opinions in some way are completely biased, that we are never really in control.

This fact terrified Maeble. It kept her awake a night with thoughts of what if? How different life would be without all of the evil in the world. Because with the absence of evil would all the good deeds remain? 

Mae held tightly onto the pen in her right hand. Her knuckles going white with irritation. Irritation caused by no one other than Sweet Pea, Head Serpent of South Side High. At this moment in time Sweets was rhythmically kicking the front leg of Mae’s chair going in time with the music that was blasting into his ears from his white headphones. Getting harder and harder with each impact, leaving her on the verge of insanity. The class had only started 15 minutes ago and she wondered how long it would take before she lost it, before she snapped.

Every once and a while Pea would look up at her face through his long eyelashes, smiling and he watched her copy down everything the teacher said, save for a few curse words directed at the class. He Hadn’t moved from straddling his seat but had moved closer to the desk so he could lean forward on the back of the chair, Allowing himself to yet again be the nuisance that Maeble hated with a passion. He knew she hated him and he loved that. He wasn’t sure why though. It was a complete mystery to him. Maybe it was because even if it was negative he craved her full attention.

And without being able to control herself, Mae always surrendered it to him. Always bending to his will before eventually Snapping in two,

“Can you not?, you absolute bloody asshole, I’m trying to work.” Mae finally spat in a hushed tone, forcing pea to tear his big brown orbs up to meet her icy blue ones. He smirked, getting the exact reaction he was looking for. Mae, on the other hand, silently cursed herself, she had given in too easily and now she was going to have to deal with him for the next 42 minutes.

“Ah princess, how I have longed to hear the stunning English accent of yours” he smirked once again. making Goosebumps crawl their way up Mae’s spine, stopping at the nape of her neck.

Mae sighed and looked back at her book, underlining relevant information she thought would be handy since she hadn’t quite heard what the teacher was saying. “ fuck me, I fucking hate you, fuck!” She whispered.

Sweets smirked like it was the only facial expression he knew how to make. 

“ How could you possibly hate a face as good looking as this?” Mae glared at him so hard she thought her head might explode or at least get a killer headache. “ And about fucking you it would be my honour, just name the time and the place, princess”

Mae pretended to think about it before looking him dead in the eye, ” Does ‘Not a chance in Hell even when it freezes over’ work for you?”

“Ouch, Pea you okay buddy?” Toni laughed out as she turned to face them as well, crossing her short legs in their direction.

“Its none of your business Topaz…” Sweetpea sneered as he half turned around in his chair.

“Oh, that heartbreaking rejection reminds me, Mae are you coming down to the Quarry after school, a few of the Serpents said they were going to bring kegs and stuff, and this is the last time we can all go swimming there before it becomes too cold. What do you think?” Toni Suggests as she closes her untouched History book, already deciding the was enough for the day. Mae’s hearts drop into her stomach. She couldn’t go swimming, not in that water, not in any water. Water was Maes biggest fear as stupid as that sounds. She couldn’t stand the thought of jumping in even if she was surrounded by all of her closest friends. She couldn’t stand not knowing what she was swimming above or how peaceful the Lakes and Oceans looked before they became nasty.

“How the hell does that remind you my rejection?” Sweets cuts in before Mae has time to muster up an excuse. He glanced back at her, meeting her gaze until she shied away from it. He is the only one aware of her gut-wrenching fear, he knew this because he is the one who saved her when some jerk thought it would be funny to push her and a couple of other people, including SP, over the bridge and into Sweet Water river after a particularly bad fight between the Serpents and the Ghoulies. As soon as he plunged into the icy cold water his thoughts went to Mae, did she get pushed as well or did fangs manage to get her in time. He shot up, gasping for air. His eyes scanning from each of the people until he settled on a girl, thrashing her arms about, choking on the water. Sweets swam so fast it physically pained him but he didn’t even think about stopping until his arms grasped her waist and pulled him flush against him. Mae was crying, her blue eyes bloodshot. She was trembling with fear until she just stopped moving completely. She had fainted in his arms either due to the cold but most likely because she was petrified. Sweets swam her to the shore to where fangs and Toni were and carried her bridal style to them where they proceeded to wrap her in blankets. Sweetpea made up some story that she had hit her head on the way down, so no one knew the real reason. Mae had just woken up to hear him before he walked away to get cleaned up himself. She would never forget that night as it still plagued her dreams.

“ Because sweet pea, I had ‘rejected‘ the idea until I saw Mae was back in town, and for good for this time. right?” Tomi eagerly smiled, tapping her pen on her closed book.

“Hopefully, unless I get kicked out again” Mae mumbled, looking down at her book until her attention was ripped away from it.

“So is that a yes?” Toni pushed on, going to get the answer she wanted even if it killed her.

“I haven’t gone swimming since I was like ten, Toni, I have nothing to wear even if I did want to go. I’ll just watch” That was a lie which caused Sweets to turn and face her again. He knew that she had never gone swimming and she knew that he knew. Mae raised her eyebrows at him a silently begged him to keep his big mouth shut about it. “ ill keep the kegs company.” Mae said with a forced smile and sweet pea knew was bullshit.

“Okay if that’s what you want to do, hey maybe sweets will keep you and the kegs company, he never swims with us anyway” Toni pouts and turns back into her seat. “ oh and sweets can you give her a lift, I’m going home first and I think fangs’ has an after-school detention again” she grins, knowing exactly what she was doing.

Sweetpea just looks at me and nods his head, smirking that god damn lopsided smirk” Anything for my princess”

[cannonalise92]

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How To Get Rid Of Female Cat Spray Smell

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How To Use Tresemme Keratin Smooth Heat Protection Spray

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