#kevin woo oneshot

[lemonietrinket]

Himawari ||| Kevin x Reader

Summary: Kevin is a ray of sunshine, and so are you. This time, Kevin has something to say to you. Genre: Fluff, as per usual Word Count: 1750 Theme Song: Man in a Movie - Day6; Spark - JBJ95 AN: Kevin Woo, an underrated ball of soft. Another request from @idont-knowabrian​ because they have good ideas. Thanks for reading!

Kevin took a deep breath.

It wasn’t like him, usually, to be so nervous. He’d been on so many stages, in so many recording studios, before so many important people, he reckoned he’d abandoned the idea of being nervous way back in his debut years.

And yet here he was, at your front door, freshly painted citrine by your own hand, cold dispelled by a smart but thick jacket, and  ever so slightly shivering,

Ah yes, that was the day he first met you. Walking past the terraced houses on his way to work, he’d glanced to his right and seen you coating the door in a very diligent fashion. Once he’d passed your door several times, greeting you with a wave and a shy smile every morning, and after you’d worked up the courage to ask if he really was who you thought he was, did he find out why you insisted on painting it in such a primary shade.

“To fulfil a childhood dream of mine.” You had shrugged. “I always wanted to live in a house with a big front window and a yellow door. Not that it originated from any great tragedy! I just... you know. Really like the colour yellow.”

You’d gone on to explain how you had finally had the chance to control the environment that surrounded you, after a youth characterised by restrictive policies that now as an adult you had escaped from. He would never admit it, out of politeness and slight shame on his own behalf, but he was more focused on your face at that very moment. He could still picture how your eyes flickered to the side, how you frowned and scrunched your nose at your own words, at the very moment your lips twitched into a smile, sheepish but no less relaxed. 

The memory did little to calm his nerves, merely lending a hand to his heart’s fluttering.  But it was no use now, as the very door opened to reveal you.

He was 90% sure his heart stopped.

“Kevin! Hi!” you exclaimed, face glowing in the dim streetlight behind. “You’re actually right on time. Not even a minute late!"

His eyes swept over the visage before him. You, in a mustard wool blouse, tucked into a deep moss-green skirt that billowed in the breeze at your ankles. Your eyes glittering in the twilight—a pool he wanted to sink into and also avoid for his own heart’s safety—outwitting the moon in a knowing gaze aimed only at him - a concept that almost stole his words - standing somewhat awkwardly in the doorway, hands clasped behind his back.

“You must be some kind of miracle,” you stated, voice touched with wistfulness.

He coughed, being very abruptly dragged from his thoughts. “What? Me? No! No, not...” He shook his head, playing it off with a laugh.

“What? Always here perfectly on time, always looking as dashing as you always do, it’s not a preposterous proposition, you know!” 

He shook his head, tipping his head away from the playful glint in your eyes, and letting his hands do the talking for him. 

You gasped, even though you saw the gift coming from a million miles away. Even if those million miles was only the couple of metres of your front path.

“Oh Kevin...!” You took the bouquet into your hands, eyes mottling with tears that you couldn’t quite contain, that matched the polka-dotted ribbon of pastel blue that neatly held the piece together.

The sunflower petals, smooth and radiant, were no match for you, Kevin decided. But as you cradled the bouquet close to your chest and stared up at him, lips—kissed by the sunshine itself—wavering in joy, he felt his heart swell to the point he felt as if it could burst.

“I hoped you’d like them,” he mentioned.

“I love them, Kevin, thank you so much!”

You sighed, peering down at the soft plumes. “Let me get a vase and water for them real quick—I won’t be long!”

And you disappeared from his sight.

What was he to do with himself? All tongue-tied and very nearly misty-eyed for you, a child of the sun. You’d been dating for a while, and what he’d planned wasn’t something to get this worked up about, surely.

But for you, he could barely contain the emotions that flooded from his soul. Feelings could no longer be caged by his ribs. They already struggled to contain the rapid march of his heartbeat.

He forced himself to take a deep breath, ironing out the tremors and his blending fears with it. He straightened his jacket, an undefeatable smile playing upon his lips. How luck had been on his side for him to even have the opportunity to meet you.

“Ready to go?” you suddenly enquired, reappearing in his vision and hanging from the door as much as you hung off his words—not that he was quite aware of that.

“If you are, then of course!”

“Great!” You locked your door with a grin, swinging your keys into your satchel, before coming to his side happily. You looped your arm around his, pulling your coat’s collar up to your chin to keep out the windchill while sending him the glimmering smile he adored so dearly. “Where to, fair knight?”

“Oh, um...” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, there is this small late-night vintage cafe I thought you’d feel at home in. We could go there first, and then the park after?”

“Sounds like a quest.” You nodded. “Let’s go!”

.

~ ~ ~

.

Your laugh fluttered in the breeze, blissful and very near misty in the shadows the lamps and stars could not banish. Skirt flowing, you span, arms wide as if to welcome.

“And then she went round and round like this!”

Kevin could barely hold back his laughter, feeling tears well in his eyes at your performance. He didn’t care if people questioned as they passed. In fact, he barely noticed them. Why would he, when the most important person was skipping along the cobblestone a few feet ahead of him?  “Why would she do that?!”

“I don’t know!” you feverishly giggled. “Wouldn’t you in that scenario?”

“No!”

“Well, she’d say ‘that’s your loss’!” 

As you wound around the paving, you drifted back to his side, arms clutching at his sleeve as you stumbled, dizzied.

“I shouldn’t have given you that much sugar,” he chuckled,.

You twisted your face in an exaggerated scowl. “Why ever not?”

Kevin felt his mouth continue without the accompaniment of his brain. “Ah well,” he guffawed, “it’s dangerous for me, you know.”

You played along with a hum. “How so?”

He felt the mild horror of his rational mind press him to change tact, but his words just continued to... spill.

“Well, you’re already too sweet for me to handle, and now? It’s just... too much for... my...”

“Heart?” you finished, expression twisted in an amused grimace at the cheese.

“Yes, I...” he broke down to breathy laughter, “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what the was at all—”

“Kevin, it’s fine, don’t worry,” you linked arms once again, “it’s just, unexpected of you.”

He gazed down at you, edging you to continue without another word passing his lips. Just in case whatever hysteria enraptured him the first time infected him again and he said something even worse. 

“I pegged you as the sweet type, but not the cheesy,” you placed a finger to the corner of your mouth, “however, I suppose on the Sweet & Cheesy Venn Diagram, there is instinctively an overlap.”

Bemusedly, he gushed, “What?”

“What?” you echoed, confused by his outcry. “Do you not understand me?”

“No,” he admitted. He immediately looked back to you, searching your face for any signs of offence taken. He found only mild excitement, as you awaited his continuation.  “No, I don’t think I do. But I feel I prefer it that way. You’re so... unique? Your energy is different from other people—friends and coworkers, I mean. I don’t know how to explain it but... things are so much more different with you here. I don’t think I could ever be without you.”

The two of you drew to a stop beneath a lampost. High above, the wind grasped a spider web and swung it into a waltz.

“Do you mean that?” you murmured, voice no higher than a mid-summer zephyr.

He, who’d continued to walk a couple of paces even though it had left you slightly behind, turned back to face you, as well as the anxieties that had lasted all evening.  “Yes. Of course. Without a doubt,” he insisted.

You stepped forward until the lamplight illuminated only you. Crested with a halo, your hands slowly wringing one another at your chest, you were lost for words.

Your silence only prompted him further, as he bit the bullet.

“Y/N, you’re the brightest piece of light in my life, sometimes you shine so brightly I could confuse you with the sun. And, I love you.”

You were stunned, to say the least. You had seen it coming but, not for another couple of weeks, you’d assumed.

But here he was, a few feet away, ever so barely shaking out of subtle fear, but his shoulders brazened, a determined expression painting his soft features that you cared for so dearly, with his eyes glistening in the auburn light and nearly flooding with sincerity.

You made the rest of the distance in a few steps, refusing to tear your eyes away, even if it would be for the entire world’s sake.

Once you reached him, you reached up to cup his cheeks, smoothing his nerves and drawing him closer to your level, before melding your lips with his.

Feeling the one thing he’d dreamt of ever since the first time he’d worked up the courage to utter words to you wash over him, he very nearly froze.

However, he managed to hold himself together—though only just—and relished in the brush your sweet lips against his own. He threaded his hands through your hair, to barely rest on either side of your jaw. His touch was so light you could almost imagine it missing, not that you ever would even dream of doing so.

Melting further into the kiss, you knotted your hands behind his neck, just as he let his hands fall to the small of your back, and the two souls drawn together by luck finally combined.

~~~

AN: I know how to em-dash on my Chromebook now and I am so happy oh my jesuuuusss Also, zephyr is a great word that should come back into common use

Masterlist

[pocket-scenarios]

Not So Innocent - Kevin (m)

(Admin: Jongpd go follow @moonkyuke she made these Kevin gifs for well Ari)

Kevin was cute, he was your adorable, sweet, and soft boyfriend. He always asks before he’d kiss you, and they were always slow and sweet kisses, he never went further than that. The two of you had been together for a year and you knew you were his first real relationship so you were patient with him. He was cute, but there was always this sexy side to him, that would catch you off guard. When he’d come home from working out and he’d have sweat dripping off the ends of his bangs and take his shirt off, it made it hard to stay patient.

It felt like he was testing your patience by this point, seeing how long you could go before you broke. It was getting increasingly worse by the day, he’d walk through your shared apartment in nothing but a towel that would hang dangerously low on his hips giving you a view of his slight, but still noticeable v muscles.

“Baby, when are you coming to bed,” Kevin whined from the doorway, he could be so much like a child some times, it was adorable, you turned to face him from your place at your computer where you’d been editing an ad for a magazine.

“I’ll be there soon,” you said trying to ignore the fact he was only in his boxers, Kevin let out a whine stepping into your shared office and wrapping his arms around your shoulders, you could feel his breath against your neck.

“I’m lonely,” he mumbled lowly against your neck, “you’ve been busy all day,” he drew out some of his words, you couldn’t help the small laugh that passed your lips turning your rolling chair to face him.

“This is the last thing I have to finish, then I’ll be in bed with you, and you don’t have to be lonely,” you leaned forward to press your lips to his nose.

“Okay,” he grumbled shuffling out of your office, you smiled turning back to your computer, trying to hurry and finish checking the rest of the advertisement.

You let out a sigh of relief once you finished editing the ad pushing your chair back and standing up. You walked to your bedroom your tiredness finally kicking in. You threw yourself onto the bed beside Kevin, he rolled over and wrapped his body around yours, your back was against his chest, his head pressed into the back of yours. He pressed light kisses to the back of your neck, you melted into his touches letting your eyes shut, your fingers lacing with his own.

He moved to the side of your neck brushing your hair from that side of your neck, pressing kisses down your neck to your shoulder. He pushed your shirt far enough off of your shoulder to leave open mouthed kisses against your skin. You let out a shiver biting your bottom lip figuring he was just trying to keep himself awake.

“What are you doing,” you mumbled, Kevin, pulled away from your shoulder pulling his arms away from your body, you turned over to face him.

“I want you,” he said rather boldly, you bit the inside of your lip, he rested his hand on your hip pulling your hips against his, you could feel his bulge through his boxers, “do you want me too,” he asked cautiously, his eyes searching your face for a reaction, you could see the lust in his eyes and you could tell he was holding back.

“Are you being serious,” you asked quietly, he nodded, you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Would I joke about this,” he asked back his face inching closer to yours, “you’re so tempting,” he mumbled mindlessly, his lips covering yours shortly after, his kiss was different than the ones you were used to receiving from him.

He moved slowly much like his usual patterns, but he felt more in control of the kiss, his hand cupped your cheek tilting your head farther up to make it easier for him. Your breath was caught in your throat, his grip on your cheek tightening, his other hand pulling your body flat against his. You hooked one of your legs around his back pulling his weight slightly over yours, he let his hand that had been on your cheek settle on the bed beside you putting the rest of his weight over yours.

He swung one of his legs over your other side holding himself above you, his lips still staying attached to yours one of his hands held your cheek, his thumb stroking your cheek. He pressed his weight onto yours trapping you under him, you could feel his growing member press into your leg that was in between his. You intentionally rubbed your knee into his member feeling him tense over you a shaky breath passing his lips. He pulled away from your lips burying his head into your neck, grinding his still growing member into your knee.

“I want you so bad,” Kevin said breathily, “I shouldn’t think like this, but I can’t help myself,” he trailed off close to the end, sucking against the skin that connected your neck to your shoulder.

You ran your hand along his back the other gripping into his hair. You lightly scraped your nails along the skin of his back, eliciting a shiver followed by a groan from him. He bucked his hips forward sharply. He gripped the end of your shirt his hand shook slightly while he pulled it upward moving his head back from your neck to sit up on your waist while he pulled your shirt up. You helped him to get your shirt over your head, his eyes automatically fell onto the newly exposed skin he could touch and see.

His hands hesitated with every move, he slowly started to gain more confidence leaning down to leave kisses along your stomach, while his hands moved up your sides. You shivered from the small action, his hands hesitated at your breasts, unsure of what to do, you pressed your own hand over his good guiding his movement. He eventually started to knead the skin without you guiding him. You pulled your hand back letting your week fall behind your head.

“Does it feel good,” Kevin asked quietly, his lips attaching themselves to your collar bone, your hand that was still on the back of his head gripped good hair tightly.

He pulled your legs apart moving his in between them so he could grind his hips down into your own. He let his body move on its own, soft groans and whimpers passing his lips. He pulled at your shorts, he moved off of you to pull your shorts from your waist, leaving you in just your panties.  His hand hesitated at the hem of his boxers uncertainty flashing in his eyes.

“Do you want to keep going,” Kevin asked his eyes searching your own, your heart fluttered from his sweetness always made your heart skip a beat no matter the circumstances, you nodded not trusting your voice.

Kevin slid his boxers off kicking them somewhere else in the room, he shied away slightly when your eyes traveled along his body trailing along to his member, you’d felt many times before, but hadn’t seen with your own eyes. He leaned over you pulling your panties down with his hand before he put his weight over yours. You slid your hand down his chest trailing dangerously close to his member, you wrapped your hand around his length pumping him slowly. His eyes fluttered closed, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip.

You rolled your thumb around the tip of his length, running over the slit spreading his precum on the rest of his length. He buried his head into the crook of your neck letting out sharp exhales tensing to keep from bucking into your hand. You picked up your pace trying to get him to break, Kevin let out moans of your name still holding back to the best of his ability.

“I don’t want to cum yet,” he mumbled, his hips started to rock into your hand despite his words, “I want to be inside of you,” he muttered as quiet as he could into your skin.

His weight settled father onto yours while you pressed your hand into his shoulder. Your hand stilled on his member, your grip still tight on him. You positioned him to where he could thrust into you, you bucked your hips towards him trying to get your point across. Kevin buried his head further into your neck trying to hide his blush. He wrapped one of his arms around your back pulling you closer to him, he pushed himself fully into you letting out soft groans and whispers of sweet words. 

He sucked on the side of your neck while he rocked himself slightly, not pulling out any. You arched your back up, rolling your hips to try and get him to move. He let out a gasp when you rolled your hips, he slowly started to move, his grip tightening onto your hip and the sheet of the bed. His pace quickened rather quickly, his self-restraint wearing thin, he tried to keep himself at a steady pace, his breaths uneven against your neck. He slid one of his hands between the two of your bodies in an attempt to find your clit, he rolled his thumb over the sensitive nub.

You let out a moan of his name, letting him know he was doing something right, he continued to move his hand in time with his thrusts. You wrapped your arms tightly around his neck pulling him closer to you if that was possible. You could tell he was getting closer to his end, you were trailing behind him, your own end building. You rolled your hips up to meet his thrusts, his own thrusts were becoming increasingly more shallow. Soft whines and murmurs of affection passed his lips.

“I’m so close,” he managed out in between incoherent sentences, you nodded your head not trusting your voice to come out fully.

Your mind was starting to feel hazy, your hips and body moving fully on its own, wanting your own end to come. He slammed his hips into yours one last time, stilling himself inside of you while his release rocked through his body. His hand still tried to. move across your clit sending sparks of pleasure through you while you could feel his member twitching with his release. Your walls squeezed around him with your own release, his name falling from your lips like a mantra.

Kevin pulled himself out of you, wrapping his arms around your middle pulling you into his chest.

“I love you,” he said rubbing his hand along your arm, “thank you for putting up with me,” he said with a laugh, you wrapped your arms around his own middle smiling against his chest.

“I love you too,” you mumbled.

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[knickknacksandallthat]

Has flavors of fall been completely written? And is there a chance you'll post an early chapter just cuz 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

Also are there any other fics you're working on?

Love your work so much! You're probably my favourite author no exaggeration!

Hello Anon! To answer your question first, yes! It has been completely written! (Well...okay, okay...it's mostly written lol. I'm still having fun adding things into the epilogue chapter - but the MAIN plot and chapters have all been written 😉)

Will I post a chapter early? hmm...maybe not early this week BUT...you might get an extra chapter around Christmas. (But shhh...don't tell anyone!) Happy to partake in the tradition of giving this season! 😁 (And happy holidays to anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas too! Whatever your reason for celebrating or not celebrating this season, I hope you have a wonderful time! ❤️)

And just because you asked so nicely, anon, here's a little sneak peek into works I have in my in-progress list!

1.) 12 Day Program for Courtship - So as promised to anyone who read the 12 Days to Woo a Minyard, this guy is my main work rn. I'm busy outlining and writing to see what shenanigans I can work up between Kevin & Aaron. (And oh man...so far...beautiful amounts of hysterical and cringe...can't wait lol!) The gist rn, though, is that Aaron is torn between going to some medical training program or the *lacrosse training camp the team does each year during the summer. He has 12 days before the deadline is due and has to pick one of them, so Kevin is determined to convince him of which option he should clearly choose. But things aren't as easy as they seem - because Kevin has a rival in Katelyn, who is just as determined to get Aaron to go to the medical training program instead. It's a fight to the finish, with the prize being...lacrosse, right? Because Kevin cares so much about the team and Aaron can't afford to be so far behind. Not because he'd miss Aaron and can't bear the thought of being without him this summer. Not because they've been getting closer lately and Kevin is suddenly feeling strangely attached. Not because his eye starts to twitch whenever he sees Katelyn and Aaron sitting close to one another in the campus coffee shop. Nope. Not at all...

*me forgetting that this au is a No Exy AU, LOL!

2.) The Stray (We'll see if this title sticks) - another Andreil fic set in a universe where Andrew/Neil meet for the first time in an apartment complex and rub each other the wrong way. (No, not that way, get your heads out of the gutters guys! 😉😉) Cue the slow getting to know one another, learning to trust, and a couple of secrets along the way. (And some annoying Riko appearances, booo). I've got some scenes written for this one but holding off so I can focus on #kevaaron. (Completely outlined though).

3.) To Win the Heart of a Prince (Title TBD) - fantasy AU for Andreil this time where Andrew is to be crowned King and must choose a prince for a husband from one of the neighboring kingdoms to form an alliance. Cue lots of angst, trouble from the Moriyamas & Wesninskis, secret identities, romance, and a little background jerejean. (Completely outlined in a fit of inspiration last week LOL)

4.) Roommate AU (Title TBD) - Andreil universe set in college where Neil is kicked out of his childhood home and starts living with Matt, Kevin, Allison, and Andrew. But Neil has never been out on his own before and feels the weight of college, his part-time jobs, and the frequent calls from his father and stepmother slowly crushing him. Good thing he isn't distracted by anything...like his mysterious and slightly odd roommate...who grows more and more interesting by the day. (I have plans for this to be a three-part series, actually, with it mostly outlined).

The above will all be multi-chapter fics, but I might throw in a oneshot here and there along the way. (Depends on how frustrated I'm feeling with my multi-fic at the moment lol!)

And aww, thank you so much as well!! Such a lovely compliment! I'm always so happy to hear someone is enjoying my work, so I so appreciate you reaching out and letting me know! Thank you, anon! 😘❤️🥰 (And I hope something piques your interest above!)

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 12

Foolish Heroes of Barley

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Last time, the party had returned to Barley to deal with a few loose ends. They've been staying in town for a while, waiting for their hired Deathseekers to deal with the dragon in the tower. This session, their stay comes to an end, and as you can see from the image here, they don't get into any trouble whatsoever.

A few other things happen before their fateful final night in town:

Kevin Softbreeze, the herbalist from the Deathseekers, visits town and sells Looseleaf some magic flowers that repel demons- though they're not very potent, and she'll need to stop by his garden in Cauterdale if she wants some seeds to try growing. Saelhen buys some potent knockout drops.

The villagers appear to still be arming themselves and preparing for battle with Wheat- since they didn't mention Arnie as the culprit at all, and tried to pin it on the dragon directly, Malath is still skeptical that they're totally safe from invasion, and defensive preparations continue.

Rumors spread that Chitch has gone missing, but no one can find the body. The party spreads rumors of their own- true ones- that Chitch went to go find his daughter after learning that the pain-wizard is dead.

On their fifth night in the village- somewhat earlier than expected- they notice something outside the window of their rooms in the inn. Lumiere's tower, previously unnoticeable, is suddenly aglow with some sort of yellow cylindrical magic barrier, made up of hexagonal panels.

Looseleaf rouses the rest of the party- the plan is to watch from a distance, and not interfere. A very loud roar is heard in the distance, which is suddenly cut off in the middle- it seems the Deathseekers have sprung their trap.

It's not too much longer after that when they begin to hear screams from around them in the village.

Saelhen's elf eyes spot... something rustling in the fields around the village. All of them. Quite a lot of somethings. Except despite the rustling, she can't make out anything but barley stalks. And the nothing- the hordes of nothing- is moving towards the tower.

The party leaps into action, heading downstairs with weapons drawn. On the ground floor, they see... something sort of familiar. Those Greed Echoes, the mud-and-grass monsters they fought on the road- one of them is forming itself out of broken bottles, dust, and wooden planks uprooted from the floor of the Harvester Inn. Cassie, the innkeeper, is watching in terror, knuckles white gripping a frying pan.

Congratulations! You're both right! The dragon is summoning an army of hateful Justice Echoes powered by the roused hatred of Wheat that's been stirred up in town!

Oyobi thinks fast, and oneshots the echo in the kitchen with an arrow, shattering a bottle that'd become its core. The screams outside continue, though, and the party exits the inn to find panicked villagers fleeing their homes. Justice Echoes made primarily from twisted stalks of barley have formed in their fields and homes, taking the weapons amassed for self-defense from their owners. They attack only those who resist, and make their way towards the tower.

Looseleaf: Let's just attack some hate-plague spirits and see if they decide to attack us instead. If they don't attack us at all, then we can just ignore them and run leisurely next to them and pick them off as we go. If they attack us, then it's a regular fight. "We're up to do some heroism this fine night, right, team?" Oyobi Yamatake: "Obviously!" Orluthe Chokorov: "Uh, I don't have that one prepared, do I? Uh..." Vayen: Saelhen du Fishercrown: "I am up to rub Mother K's face in the super obvious consequences of her actions while incidentally preventing pointless suffering." "Go team! Woo!"

Looseleaf starts us off by rending the spirit of the closest barley-monster, using her new Painspike ability to make the target Frightened of her.

However... these monsters have no purpose except to attack that which they fear, so rather than the normal effect of being Frightened, Looseleaf has now drawn aggro from this monster. Which is kind of what she wanted! So, that's a win! She now has a way to goad the enemy!

The party takes some swings at the monsters, knocking a couple out, but most of them seem to just be ignoring them, continuing to run through the fields towards the tower. They could become a problem for the Deathseekers if they're not dealt with- or for Wheat, for that matter.

Backup arrives in the form of Malath Kanthalga, who perceives these events as- what else?- an attack by Wheat. She's screaming, demanding to know who's responsible, and smashing echoes apart with her mace. Still, the echoes are mostly ignoring the village- they're grabbing anything they can find to use as a weapon, sort of ransacking the place, but most of them are just fleeing.

So Saelhen comes up with an extremely well-timed plan. It's a really good plan, I love it, and I'm excited to hit them with the consequences of her plan- until Looseleaf issues a timely bit of advice:

Saelhen du Fishercrown: Saelhen dashes (Cunning Action), steps forward, inhales a great gulp of breath... "FOOLISH HEROES OF BARLEY!" she bellows. "WHILE YOU FUTILELY WASTE YOURSELVES AGAINST WHEAT'S DEFENSES, I, THE SECRET SHADOW MAYOR OF WHEAT, WILL BE HERE BURNING YOUR HOMES!" "AND ALSO MENACING YOUR CITIZENS WITH MY PERMISSIVE IDEOLOGY!" She waves her hooded lantern, unlit, above her head, to drive the point home. "WHO AMONG YOU CAN STOP ME AND DELIVER JUSTICE? NO ONE, PROBABLY, I ASSUME!"

Vayen, in a surprising show of, let's call it camaraderie, is very much in support of this plan for some reason! He takes a break from his busy schedule of doing absolutely nothing every turn in combat to cast a helpful illusion, to ensure as many monsters aggro Saelhen as possible!

A few more rounds of combat ensue, with a good chunk of the monsters- including a few very large building-sized hulks- immediately turning to kill Saelhen. The party gets some good hits in, and Saelhen gets a little roughed up. She... would like maybe fewer things to be attacking her, actually.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Their attention is on me, Mother Kanthalga, the secret mayor of Wheat this entire time, but you might be able to calm their anger! These creatures were born from this town's... collective mind, or something, they may listen to you if you order them to stand down!" Benedict I. (GM): Not with advantage, but a 22... "Wh... what? What are you saying? That's..." She hesitates, then speaks, in a booming voice she- well, you spent a few days here, you know she reserves it for sermons. "STAND DOWN! The time to strike against our foe has not yet come!" "We must be prudent! We must defend ourselves, not attack!" [DEFEND OURSELVES,] the echoes agree, continuing to bear down on Saelhen. Saelhen du Fishercrown: Worth a shot!

It doesn't seem like these things are hugely receptive to emotional appeals or logical argument- they have the one emotion, which they're made of, and they don't super do other ones.

In the following combat rounds, Saelhen... takes a few more hits, which she is not designed to do on account of being a rogue.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: WHY DID I NOT DECLARE ORLUTHE THE SECRET SHADOW MAYOR

More echoes emerge from the fields and attack, and Saelhen is starting to look really rough- and Vayen just keeps the illusion on her, not actually helping in any way. Until... one of them goes for Looseleaf, instead. When it starts looking like she might be in danger, he fires off a bolt of blue electricity, which begins to singe one of the monsters attacking her for damage every turn. He's... a higher-level spellcaster than anyone else in the party, apparently!

Looseleaf, with a little room to maneuver, unfolds her wings and takes to the air- up and out of reach of the smaller monsters, drawing their aggro and forcing them to waste turns. Meanwhile, Orluthe and Oyobi, backed up by Malath and a couple of villagers who've reclaimed their weapons, cut down a few more echoes as more surge forth from the fields to replace them.

Saelhen... keeps trying to persuade Malath to persuade the echoes to stop. She does very well at persuading Malath to try that! Malath tries that, wholeheartedly, once again to no effect! Eventually, Malath stops trying.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Would you consider coming to them as a trusted comrade, who trained them to protect them, rather than the one leading them off to war? Maybe?" Malath Kanthalga: "I am going to come to them as a very angry warrior with a mace," she growls. Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Okay! Okay, fair enough. Spiritual remedies off the table, understood."

Orluthe is getting really tired, and keeps whiffing his swings- it's touch-and-go for a while. But Saelhen and Looseleaf's frantic attempts to kite enemies out of range have been paying off, and they manage to down the remaining super-hulks juuuuust before anyone dies.

Benedict I. (GM): Y'know, it's possible that making the two squishiest members of the party draw aggro was not the number one best strategic move Saelhen du Fishercrown: IT MAYBE WASN'T, NO Looseleaf: eh, it's worked out so far!

The combat wraps up, and we transition to a bunch of Athletics rolls to chase down and terminate as many of the smaller echoes as possible. They build a firepit in the center of town, to dispose of defeated echoes in- just in case that's necessary, because who knows what kind of magic is animating these guys.

So after a wild night of chasing, taunting, fleeing, and burning justice echoes- well, it's not so much a wild night as a wild twenty minutes or so- there's a point at which the fields just suddenly fall silent. A pair of echoes chasing Saelhen fall to the ground, inert.

With a good roll...

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "...of course, you're free to dismiss this as the ramblings of a crazed outsider. But keep in mind, Mother Kanthalga, that the ones who fell upon your town, tore it apart in a frenzy of violence, and stabbed you repeatedly for your pains, endangering your people, your daughter and your livelihoods, were repeating the words you taught them." Benedict I. (GM): Malath winces. "That... I don't know why they..." Saelhen du Fishercrown: "...think on it. You're reasonable people, around here. You can come to your own conclusions." Benedict I. (GM): "I tell you, I did not make these things! If not for..." She's kind of lost for words. "...Apologies. I have much work to do," she says, and leaves.

After some work mending the village and cleaning up the aftermath, Looseleaf heads back into the inn to check on Vayen, who hasn't been helping at all and is instead drunk at the bar. He asks "Did she make it?"- and Looseleaf gets a nat 20 on Insight.

She's pretty sure that he was talking about Saelhen- and that he sounded almost hopeful. He was unusually jazzed about a plan that involved her being attacked by a horde of angry monsters- and he chose to shoot the echo that was attacking her, not the one bearing down on Saelhen with a bunch of its friends. When she informs him Saelhen survived, she's able to tell he's disappointed.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: so he doesn't hate us, as a group he hates saelhen specifically Looseleaf: But also weirdly- okay, what if: what if he actually has an ancestral quest involving that bracer and he's mad that saelhen beat him to the punch and furthermore used it as a shitty cover story Saelhen du Fishercrown: saelhen going THE DE LA SURPLUS ANCESTRAL QUEST IS REAL???

Looseleaf switches to talking to Vayen via her spirit-magic imitation of the Message spell.

Looseleaf: (Like, Vayen, everything you're doing is about Saelhen in some way or other. And I can't figure out why. You seem pretty much ambivalent towards all of us except for her. I don't get it. If you want Saelhen dead, why haven't you just killed her? I saw that lightning bolt- if you wanted, I bet you could take all of us, in a straight fight.) (You're sending real mixed signals. If you want her dead, why isn't she dead? Why do you want her to be dead via a hand other than your own?) Vayen: He locks up. And then sighs. Looseleaf: (And now you're sitting here sounding all tired and sad and I feel bad about that.) (I dunno, do you want to, uh, talk about it, with someone.) Vayen: "I don't... want her... to be dead," he says, clearly choosing his words carefully. "I have nothing against her." Looseleaf: (Then it's the- bracer??) Vayen: I'm letting that one Insight roll do a lot of work here, but he definitely reacts to that. "I- um, no," he says, lying. Looseleaf: (There is literally nothing significant about Saelhen other than her bracer, unless you plan on telling me that your deepest desire is to defeat the dance emperor of Kanzentokai in a danceoff and reclaim your ancestral throne of dancing glory.) (Which, granted, if that's the case, that'd be amazing.) Vayen: "I don't know what you're- that's not..." "It's all coincidence. Whatever you're thinking. I don't have- I don't have anything against- Saelhen? Noeru?" Looseleaf: (Look, I- okay, here's how I see things. I don't know how the bracer works, it's weird magic stuff, but the way I see it, there's two major ways the bracer could work.) (That is, you either want the bracer for yourself, because whatever it does or whatever you need it for, you need to be the one wearing it- OR, you just need anybody willing to use the bracer to do whatever it is the bracer's supposed to do.) Vayen: "...Can you not?" "I- I have a job." "I have an important job." "It's from the School of Restricted Arts." Looseleaf: "Well, tell us about the dang important job then! Maybe we can help you with it." "I don't get why you're preassuming that we'd never do anything you might want us to do." Vayen: "It's from the School of- are you listening?" "It's secret." "Look, it's- you don't need to worry about it, okay?" Looseleaf: "Hhhhhrlgkrkshxzshktkrrrzzzzktttttkzzz," Looseleaf says, reverting to her natural dialect in a brief moment of frustration. Vayen: "Sure, it's easier if- I mean, she- that was her idea, she wanted to..." "I just- I can just..." "As long as I can keep an eye on..." He groans. "I shouldn't be talking to you." "You're not in the School." Looseleaf: "Okay, just- hhhjkkkkkrkxxxxxtk." Vayen:"Are... you okay?" He's never asked a question like that before. Looseleaf: (I'm fine, that's just how we express frustration, our throats don't naturally conform to making sounds like 'hrrrrrgh', whenever I do that it's a performative thing that I do to adhere to human expectations- look, the big reason why I'm trying to, pound my way through your portcullis of secrecy with a twenty-foot battering ram of blunt communication,) (is because right now Saelhen is like, probably 80% convinced you're trying to poison her in your sleep.) (Seriously, this amount of in-party distrust is, like, way too Ccorde-damned much.) Vayen: "I wouldn't do that," he says. "If I were going to do that, I'd have done it already. Looseleaf: (If you'd express, in a credible way, that you're actually just trying to get Saelhen to do whatever it is she'd do anyways, she'd feel a lot better about it!) (And then she might even work with you to further your goals directly!) Vayen: He doesn't say anything for a little while. "...This is stupid." "This isn't even- it's wrong, even." "Maybe that's why." Man, that bottle he's holding is emptier than you thought it'd be. He's only been here less than half an hour. "Don't try to- guh, friends. He'll never- stupid. What's the point." He sort of collapses on the bar.

Vayen, it seems, can't hold his liquor. Looseleaf... carries him back up to his room.

Next time: the party finally leaves Barley, for good this time! And also a minor medical emergency happens, and also they kidnap a twelve-year-old, but like, it's fine. It'll be fine. Don't worry about it.

[lemonietrinket]

AN

sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while

I was very caught up with exams

but now I’ve found out they’re not happening anymore, it’s likely that I will have a bit more time to write stuff on here!

however, I do have other writing projects and a lot of other commitments to do in place of my alevels so I can’t promise a huge increase

in the mean time, I have some plans for what I’m going to do in the nearish future (in no specific order) so I hope you do stick around:

1. Complete rewrite of Loved ||| WayV x Reader — we’re talking the full lot baby, an extra couple of thousand words and actually good content!  [completed: 26/03/2020]

2. Loved is also going to get endings for each member, meaning the series will be moved to the multiparter heading on my masterlist — long fic lovers unite

3. A multiparter mingi fic is coming too, where reader works as an english teacher at kq and finds someone is rather doting — prospective title is Smitten so keep an eye out

4. A moot of mine has informed me that there’s a drought of wayv stuff so I’ll be looking into doing more of that for yall

5. A small jaehyun oneshot is coming too — all shirtless jaehyun stans unite [completed: 29/03/2020]

6. If anyone wants anything else then please do let me know! I’m always taking requests and requests take priority so please don’t hesitate to send anything in!

I’m a small account so thank you everyone for your support! just getting notifs about notes and reblogs god the rush i get over reblogs, especially with hashtags makes me so happy and so while everyone is in quarantine and suffering being stuck at home with a loss of purpose, I hope I can offer something to keep people amused

thank you so much and stay safe everyone!

~~~

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