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wagner-fell · 3 years

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Spiders Are Ugly And Other Lies Capitalism Has Told Us (part one)

“Dad,” Astrid called out, shutting the coral coloured front door behind her. “Are you home?”

She dumped her cream tote bag spray painted with the words ‘Washing Machine Heart’ in big, rainbow letters onto one of the stools facing the granite countertop. The rest of the Merry Hoes followed suit. It was weird seeing a person as chaotic as Astrid in such a calm environment.

They were all spending the summer in LA with Astrid and her Dad. It had taken a while for Kevin to convince his family it was a good idea. Especially because he and Blessica had finally put years of pinning behind them. Making out on Kit’s bed at Mina’s third birthday party certainly wasn’t the way they had envisioned it but as the longing was over with, they were happy.

The Chu’s didn’t love the idea of their son living in a different country for three months with his girlfriend but we’re on board once Kevin assured them there was no possible way Blessica could get pregnant.

Kit wasn’t officially sleeping at the Yang’s but at the Institute with his boyfriend. Julian wasn’t so thrilled about the situation but Emma was. She was positively ecstatic about having a training partner as skilled as Kit was, courtesy of Jem and Tessa. Though staying a thirty minute drive away (on the wrong side of the road, Mari noted) wouldn’t keep Kit away for long. Even now he was with them instead of having his own reunion make out session.

Speaking of making out…

Mari rested their chin on the top of Astrid’s head and wrapped their arms around her middle. “Why don’t you show us your room while we wait for your dad to get home.”

It was kinda perfect, Mari often remarked, that she realized her feelings for their best friend weren’t so platonic as she previously led herself to believe at the same time they and Kit realized they were better off as just platonic.

Astrid hit her hand playfully. “That’s not fair!” she whined! ”How dare you take advantage of my constant hornyness when my God-fearing Presbyterian father could be in the next room? Shame! Shame on you, shame on your family, shame on your cow.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s ‘dishonor’”, said Kit, who didn’t even look up from his phone when he addressed her, “but go off I guess.”

Astrid looked like she was questioning all her life choices up to this point. “A white boy knows Mulan better than me.” She shook her head in disgust. Mari could feel the loose hairs of her girlfriend’s ponytail ticking her exposed collar bone. “Mulan.”

Mari laughed before softly brushing their lips against Astrid mop of bleached strands of pastel yellow, pink and blue mixed magnificently with her natural inky black.

“Is hornyness even a word?” Kevin wondered aloud as he observed the knickknacks placed at even intervals utop the kitchen cabinets. Blessica was with him. She was gazing at one of a crab steering a ship when she spotted a slim piece of paper taped below it.

“Ast,” she called. The both looked in her direction, despite Blessica needing the attention of one. “Your dad says he won’t be home till seven. Emergency at work.”

“Which leaves us more than enough time to pack and head over to meet Ty, Dru and Thaìs at the arcade,” said Kit. He finally turned his phone off and shoved it into the back pocket of his ripped jeans. “Marstrid can do the ol’ devil’s tango then catch up to us.”

‘Marstrid’ wrinkled their noses. “I thought we agreed on Astari, Christopher.”

“Astari sounds gayer,” confirmed Kevin, his eyes never leaving the miniature decorations.

“Not to be rude but why does Astari sound gayer?” asked a visibly confused Blessica.

“Because,” answered Mari, unraveling herself from Astrid to slide onto one of the bar stools and reaching into the Jolly Rancher jar, blindly searching for a green, “Astari has ‘star’ in it. Star equals astrology. An obsession with astrology is the price you pay for the gay agenda. Besides, Marstrid sounds like an old southern lady.” Then she furrowed her eyebrows and swiveled to face Astrid. “Southern is Texas, right?” Astrid nooded, a smile so big the Cheshire Cat would be jealous.

Without looking, she stuck her hand in the jar and pulled out a green apple flavoured hard candy on her first try. She held it out to Mari, who snatched it out of her hand with an angry huff.

“Hey, Ast, where do you guys keep the crisps?” asked Kevin when he finished inspecting all the knickknacks.

“Uh, under the barbecue sauce, I think.”

Kit’s eyes lit up. “So I’m sitting there”- Astrid understood what was happening in just enough time to quote- “barbecue sauce on my titties” in unison.

Mari put her head into their open palms, still sucking on the pity candy. “Why is this my type?”

“Are you sure this is the right place?” asked Blessica as Kit attempted to parallel park outside the location Ty had texted him to meet at. Key word, attempt. When Tessa had taught him to drive, he’d been such a disaster at parallel parking she had instructed him to ‘take the underground when tight spaces might be a possibility.’ Which he prided himself in doing. But this was America and the underground was called the subway, so, technically, no rules were being broken.

“Yes, Blessie, I’m certain.”

“Okay. Just checking cause a few turns back the GPS said-”

“Blessie!” He nearly crashed into the car in front of him.

“Right. Shutting up.”

When Kit managed to park with minimal damage and the three were about to exit, the voice of Nicki Minaj boomed from his pocket. Ty was calling him. He accepted the call, putting it on speaker.

“Hello Tiberius.” There was giggling from the other end of the line. A groan soon followed it.

“It’s been a year,” came the annoyed voice of Dru. “Get over your British kink already.” Kevin’s laughter echoed from the backseat.

“Hey Ty!

“Hi Kevin.”

”Hey Dru!”

“Fuck off.”

“Ouch. Why do you feel the need to hurt me so?” Blessica laughed.

“Hey…Thaìs?”

“Here,” replied Thaìs cheerfully.

“Are you here yet,” asked Ty.

“Uh, yeah! We were just getting out of the rental car when you called. You didn’t tell me it was going to be crowded. I had to parallel park!”

“What are you talking about?” interrupted Dru. ”There are only four cars in the parking lot.”

“But,” Ty countered, “there are lots of Billy’s Fun Zones’ around here. You guys must have got mixed up and taken a wrong turn. I could have sworn I sent you the correct location on GPS.” Maybe Ty said more on the subject but Kit could hear anything or see anything except the superior smirk Blessica was giving him.

He covered the speaker. “Not. A. Word.” And no word came out of her mouth the entire ride to the correct Billy’s Fun Zone but the ‘I told you so’ look on her face spoke loud enough.

Kit slid back into the booth next to Ty, handing him his pretzel. Ty kissed him on the check in gratitude.

Dru and Ty were right. About this one being empty. He told him he had heard about it from Alyssa. Her pack frequented it often. They were left alone because, well, there was no one else there to bother them.

“Where are Astrid and Mari?” he asked.

“Fucking. I think. Or maybe just making out. I’ll know which one when they finish.” When Ty gave him a puzzled look he continued, “Astrid describes it all to me in full detail. I honestly don’t know whether she doesn’t have a filter or she just needs someone to scream to about how amazing Mari is.”

“Why can’t it be both?”

“True, true.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Ty picked up the conversation again. “When Thaìs first met Astrid, she had a huge crush on her. They got along great. I always thought they would end up together. Or hook up at the very least.”

“Huh, that’s funny,” observed Kit.

“What is?”

“When me and Mari split, I was planning on trying to set them up with Thaìs. But then I caught her ans Astrid making out in a storage closet at school. Which, in hindsight, was pretty stupid cause they were in there so I wouldn’t be sad Mari moved on when I opened the door in the first place avoiding her to call you.”

“Hmmmm.”

The gears in Ty’s head were visibly turning. Kit loved watching this process. An idea was forming in his boyfriend’s genius mind, he could sense it.

“What is their stance on monogamy?” he asked finally.

“Um, fuck, hold on. Mari sent me this whole speech about it.” Kit scrolled through his phone at a rapid rate before he saw what he was looking for. He cleared his throat and began reading aloud.

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:52 AM: monogamy is just another lie capitalism has fed us

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:55 AM: like, for example, the notion that house spiders are ugly and to be feared

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:56 AM: it’s just to sell bug spray

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:56 AM: same with monogamy

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:56 AM: pointless!!!

Mari_da_bisexual_whore, sent 1:58 AM: in conclusion, if I want to join a polyam cult, who tf is the government to stop me?

Kev-Kev, sent 2:01 AM: mari please go to sleep

Bless-ing_to_the_world, sent 2:04 AM: ^^^^^^^^^^^

Mitski_my_love, sent 2:05 AM: preach!

Mitski_my_love, sent 2:05 AM: go off queen

By the time Kit was finished with his dramatic reading, Ty’s plan was fully formed.

“That settles it! We are going to play matchmakers!”

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

Alyssa, Ty’s friend mentioned is @thechangeling OC, not mine.

@the-blackdale @the-wckd-powers @adoravel-fenomeno @thomas-gaypanic-lightwood @illusions-give-reasons-to-live @ithurielkeepsgettingkidnapped @im-not-ruined-im-ruination @sofiatheskeleton @cncnbr @its-taff @noah-herondale-lightwood @maxboythedog @arangiajoan @shelvesofgold @book-dragon-not-worm sorry if I missed anyone LMK if you want to be added or removed from The tag List!!

#mari machado sotomayor #mari machado #mari the werewolf #tiberius blackthorn #dru blackthorn #ty blackthorn #drusilla blackthorn #blessica reyes #the merry hoes #kevin chu #astrid yang #kit rook #kit herondale #thais pedroso #the secrets of blackthorn hall #the wicked powers

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arianalilyblack · 4 years

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Come home to me - Chapter 4

Title: Come home to me

Chapter no: Chapter 4

Author: @arianalilyblack

Pairing: Harry Wells x Reader x Eobard Thawne/Harrison Wells

Word count: 2269

Summary: The wedding of Barry Allen and Iris West is finally here. You and Harry are caught up with the wedding spirit and start to slowly realize that maybe you developed deeper feelings for each other. Everything is perfect until Nazis bust into the church ruining everything. And alongside Earth X villains guess who shows up? Your ex flame, Eobard Thawne aka the Reverse Flash, complicating everything in your lives.

At first he felt pleasure as he heard a frustrated Cisco shouting in the next cell. It was fun for a while. But then his thoughts started to drift towards Y/N, and the smug grin disappeared from his face. He cursed himself for leaving her unprotected and alone. Obviously he knew that she could protect herself, but he still felt guilty as hell. He never should have left her side, not before telling her the truth. It was frustrating that he couldn’t talk about his newly experienced feelings for her. That smile at the wedding; that was the moment when all his oppressed feelings got out of their strongly locked cage. It was a simple friendly smile, but to him it shone brighter than the sun. It made his heart beat faster, and now he will never see her again. It all ended before it could really start.

The ball resonated louder and louder throughout the Pipeline, as he became more irritated by this imprisoned state, driving Cisco crazy with every bang. Sadness took a hold on his heart. He placed his head into his hands, horrible pictures flashing before his eyes. The sight of her getting tortured or her dead body lying on the floor was maddening. The ball stopped, hitting him right in the chest.

„For the love of God, finally!” exclaimed Cisco. „Have you calmed down, Harry?”

„Shut up, Ramon” Harry sputtered. He had trouble breathing, tears stung his eyes.

„Harry, are you alright?” asked Cisco, sensing that something was off with the grumpy scientist.

„Peachy” was the short sarcastic answer.

„Don’t worry Harry. She will be fine” Caitlin encouraged him.

„Oooh, so that’s the reason why my head is splitting into million pieces” draw the conclusion the engineer. „Mister Know-it-all finally saw the light” Cisco teased him.

„Ramon!” Harry growled.

„Harry, my friend, don’t you fear for Y/N, she’s tough as a nut.” Cisco tried to raise his hopes up.

„Attention all prisoners; great news, the cavalry has arrived.”

The Legends got the message from Felicity and came to the rescue. All the prisoners were out in no time; almost all of them went to fight with Nate against Metallo, except Harry. He had better things to do. He sprinted towards the workshop, to obtain a weapon prototype he and Cisco developed for similar situation. Right before he could reach the gun, Eobard cut his way.

„Well” Harry caught his breath. „Aren’t you a handsome devil?”

„Pretty popular with the ladies, huh?” Eobard smirked implying his hypothetical relationship with Y/N. Harry was smarter then to give into this pointless mind game. „Wells, you are in real danger now. But I’m going to make you a deal.” His smile grew wider with his every word. „I can spare your life, as a man of your superior intellect has a place in our new world. Of course, with one condition” he raised his index finger. „You have to give up on Y/N. You are a clever man; you already know that she feels what she does for you just because you look just like me. You are constantly reminding her of me and that’s the only thing why she would ever look at you. Her place is by my side. I’m the only one who can satisfy her needs. She has quite a temper, that little minx. She still loves me” His devilish smile was all over his face. It disgusted Harry to the core.

„Thank you… for the offer and information.” Harry nodded in appreciation before he looked up sternly and added „I’d rather die, than to let your liar ass torture her for the rest of her life.”

„Well that…” The speedster’s smile turned into a frown and his hand started vibrating. „That can be arranged.”

„Wait, wait!” Harry raised his arms in defense as the vibrating hand got dangerously close to his heart. „Wait. Think this through. If you kill me, she will never forgive you for that, ever. She will hate you more than she already does. And besides, who knows what consequences could cause the death of your doppelganger from another Earth.”

„You’re right.” He paused. „But there’s only one way to find out” he shook his head as he contemplated his action and advanced his weaponized hand towards Harry’s chest. But instead of coursing through his heart he was shocked by something, hand bouncing back in an instant.

„Yeah, so, I forgot to mention” Harry pointed arrogantly to his chest. „I went and loaded millions of biocompatible miniature robots into my body which were programmed to attack any foreign cells speeding into my system. Just face it, Thawne; you will never get her back.”

Eobard looked anxiously to the gun, then back to Harry’s face. He could easily outrun his shadow, but then he would complicate his mission. Harry winked at the evil speedster, lips curling into a cocky smile, and jumped towards the gun, but he was to slow, Eobard had already vanished.

You were dragged away from the girls. You had no metapower left whatsoever to fight back, so you complied. Meanwhile the energy slowly started to rebuild in your system; it just needed some time to fully regenerate. You made a fool of yourself yet again, by thinking Eobard had changed. It was naïve of you to trust his words, because obviously you did believe him when he’d told you that he just wanted to come home to you. Once again you were fooled by his silver tongue, and once again he had thrown you away, like some liability.

„So how does this Nazi job paying you? Is it really worth it?” you asked, teasing the soldier beside you with a small smile, trying to cheer yourself up. No response, no reaction of any kind. „Let me go, little soldier. I promise I won’t rattle you out to the Fuhrer” you flashed your most convincing grin, but all in vain.

The muscles in your body were sore, but you figured that you could still beat the crap out of this disrespectful bastard. A loud bang came from the Cortex that was followed immediately by two another. This was your chance; you pulled your arm out of his grip and kicked him in the guts with all you physical strength. Your hands immediately clasped into his head and banged it against the wall as hard as you could manage. It did the trick so you were able to run away. You just took the right turn when you stumbled into a hard chest. Your body bounced back into a fighting position, just before you met the most beautiful ocean blue eyes you’ve ever seen.

„Y/N” Harry gasped before taking her into his arms. „I thought I’ve lost you.” He pulled you closer to his chest.

„Harry” you whispered his name taken aback by his heartfelt greeting.

It felt like your heart was about to jump out of your body, but at the same time a bitter sorrow filled it. You didn’t muster to look up to his face. Right now it would have been too haunting. Instead you stayed in his protective embrace, hiding your face from him. His body suddenly tensed which startled you. The first thing that crossed your mind was Eobard standing behind you. But then again, you wouldn’t be still standing surrounded by Harry’s warm arms if that was the truth.

„He’s back.” Your heart clenched, and you breathed in sharply. „I won’t let him hurt you.” With his right hand on your back and his left on your head, he hugged you tighter. „Not anymore.”

Finally when you looked up at him with teary eyes, there wasn’t a single thing on his features that reminded you of Eobard. It was simply Harry Wells with such loving glance that you melted into his body.

„Don’t worry, I will be alright” you raised your hand and stroked his faced.

„I will always worry for you” he admitted with a small smile.

„Why?” you urged him. You wanted him to say it out loud, to confirm that you aren’t hallucinating. This novel closeness felt surreal.

„Because I care about you, Y/N, a lot” Harry confessed and gently drew you into a sweet kiss. His lips were so soft and delicate; it made your heart flutter. „I…” his voice trembled. „I love you.”

„It was about time” shouted Cisco proudly, raising his hands as a ‘hallelujah’ motion, scaring you to death.

„Ramon” grunted Harry in annoyance, eyes darting deadly shots towards him.

„Sorry to interrupt you lovebirds, but we kinda got to go. You know, cause there’s a Nazi invasion going on and all that” he motioned a circle above his head.

The whole team was reunited on the Waverider’s deck. Flash and the others came back from Earth-X, but they paid a huge price for it. Professor Stein had been severely injured and died shortly after they came back. You wanted to be left alone, to figure out your storming thoughts, so you searched for a quiet and secluded place.

The overwhelming feelings were driving you crazy. You were sure that you will lose your mind soon, if you don’t calm down. Your frustration came out as a loud groan.

„Why is life shitting with me?” you shouted into the thin air and buried your face into your hands.

It should have been one of the best days in your life, after all the two of you finally acknowledged your feelings for each other. Well almost. Because of Cisco’s interruption you totally forgot to say those three words back to him. Life wasn’t going to make it easy for you. Eobard’s return stirred up some suppressed emotions; you’ve missed him so damn much. You hated yourself for letting him under your skin. All you wanted was to be happy with Harry, without feeling constantly guilty about it. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard; you just had to keep in mind all the sadness that the speedster caused you. Remind yourself of all the sorrow and pain he made you endure. You crossed your legs, taking a meditating position and tried to clear him out of your mind and organism.

„Why the long face, darling?” The sudden presence of another human made you jump in your seat.

„Snart! But… how?” Leo smiled at your confused facial expression.

„I’m Leo Snart, from Earth-X.” He reached out with one hand and you shook hands. „Now tell me dear, what is it that’s bothering you so much?”

„Oh, it’s complicated” you let out a big sigh accompanied by a nervous grimace.

„The matters of the heart are always complicated” he looked at you with an odd, sympathetic smile. „Eventually the things fall in their right places, trust me. Now put a smile on that pretty face and let’s kick some Nazi asses.”

„Thanks, Leo” you cracked a smile back, grateful for his encouraging words.

Harry was on the control deck with Cisco and the others. They were working on a plan to defeat the enemy but he wasn’t much of a help to them. He kept getting distracted by the earlier conversation with Y/N. He had just confessed his feelings in front of everyone to her, but she didn’t say anything back. Maybe it was because he kissed her out of the blue, or maybe it was because she didn’t felt the same way. And that’s why he couldn’t find her anywhere, because she was probably hiding from him.

Eobard’s words were ringing in his ears; “She still loves me” claimed the evil speedster. The insecurity irritated him, and when he got annoyed he usually threw stuff. He started pounding the wall nearby because of the lack of disposable objects. One thought would persistently come back to haunt him; what if she chooses that monster. “That can’t be possible, she is a rational woman. She would never go back to that bastard.”

„Harry, focus!” ordered Cisco after several minutes of calling him out.

„Not now, Ramon. I have to go” with that he was out of the room. He didn’t hear the end of Cisco’s indignant speech.

Harry was familiar with the tight relationship that was between Y/N and Eobard from the start. He knew that very well and still fell for her kind and gentle nature. Her friendship was a ray of happiness in his somber life. Even if he was just the second best thing; he would be okay with that as long as he could stay with her.

The scientist was roaming the halls, searching for Y/N. He needed to find her, to make sure she’s okay. He could only imagine how hard this could be for her after all she’d been through.

„Hey grumpy” heard a loving voice behind his back. He turned around to face Y/N.

„Who’s grumpy? I’m not grumpy” he shook his head in denial and huffed.

„Yeah, right” she waved her hand giggling.

„I will show you grumpy” he threatened and rushed towards to tickle her with a mischievous grin.

„Okay, okay” she gave herself up. „You win, but only this time” she laughed.

„I always get what I want” he smirked and attracted her into a kiss.

„If he finds out… He’ll kill you” she said in a shaky voice breaking the sugary kiss.

„He already knows. And still, here I am holding you in my arms, caressing your beautiful face and peppering it with little kisses.” He did as he said, her cheeks turning into a burning mess.

„I love you, Harry” she whispered between two kisses.

Part 5

#harrison wells #harrison wells x reader #harrison wells fanfiction #harrison wells imagine #harry wells x reader #eobard thawne #eobard thawne x reader #eobard thawne fanfiction #harry wells x reader x eowells #The Flash #the flash fanfiction #love triangle #eowells x reader

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avatarstories · 4 years

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izumi’s birthday part three: sources of wisdom

The next morning, breakfast with the family is awkward. Izumi was a few moments late, having had to stop by the royal seamstress to have the last adjustments fitted for party outfit finished. By the time she arrived at breakfast, everyone was seated, and the only empty chair was between her father and Bumi. Bumi’s stony expression made her want to just be swallowed up by the floor. Maybe she could go find Druk and convince him to eat her. She gives Bumi a sad smile, and he rolls his eyes with a noticeable exhale. Izumi takes her seat quietly trying her hardest to give him as much space as possible.

“Are we going to talk about how Izumi and Bumi are making the air in the room extremely uncomfortable?” Kya says. “Lover’s quarrel?” she jokes.

“Fuck off, Kya” Bumi mutters, looking down at the table in front of him. Kya is across from him and leans in trying to get his attention.

“Excuse me?” she says with a joking lilt in her voice.

Bumi doesn’t say anything. Instead, he throws his tea at Kya and storms out of the dining room. Everyone is silent but all eyes are on Izumi. Having managed to stop the tea from hitting her, Kya bends it back into a cup.

“Well, Happy Birthday, Izumi! What an exciting way to start the day,” Kya deadpans. Zuko looks at Izumi with a concerned expression. Azula looks ready to go to murder. Toph and Lin have their eyebrows raised and are taking a big sips of their mango juices. Tenzin hangs his head and focuses intently at his rice. Izumi notices Katara giving Aang a look that says go after him and when he doesn’t move she shakes her head.

“This looks like a job for a wise old man like me,” Iroh says, pushing his chair back so that he can stand up.

“General Iroh, it’s really ok, Aang can take care of it,” Katara says.

“Uh, I kinda agree with General Iroh,” Aang replies sheepishly.

If looks could kill, the ice in Katara’s eyes would have Aang pinned to the wall. “You are unbelievable,” she says quietly, though the anger and disappointment in her tone are unmistakable. She follows Bumi out the door

“Looks like Twinkletoes is in the polar bear doghouse,” Toph says. Aang groans and then goes after Katara and Bumi.

“Care to enlighten us, Izumi?” Azula asks.

“Not really,” she mutters. “I’m going to the training yard,” she announces quietly, and she walks out the door.

Azula looks between Zuko and Iroh “I would go after her, but I was planning to go boss some staff around to make sure her party is perfect, which I think now needs to be even more perfect,” she says.

“I will see what is bothering our dear Izumi,” Iroh says pushing out his chair once again. He and Azula leave the room.

“Man,” Lin says “I thought mom and I would be the ones to start drama.” At that, Sokka laughs so hard he snorts, and Suki punches him in the side for it. —————————————————————————————————

Izumi is moving through advanced katas when Iroh finds her.

“I have told you before, forms practiced in anger are like tea steeped in unclean water, dear Izumi.”

She finishes the form sending an arc of a flame towards the stone wall with an audibly annoyed exhale.

“Now, are you going to tell me what is wrong or should I guess? Kya suggested a -”

“IM NOT DATING BUMI! CAN EVERYONE STOP THINKING THAT!”

Iroh chuckles. “Everyone used to think the same of your father and Katara when they were yours and Bumi’s ages. When people share a special bond others cannot help but wonder. But of course I did not come here to talk about your father’s youthful affections. It appears you and Bumi are experiencing a strain. Care to inform your old grandfather so he can help you?”

“We had a misunderstanding.”

“I know that I am old, Izumi, but I am not blind.”

“Bumi was telling me about some issues in their family between him and his dad, and I basically told him that he should be lucky not to have the weight of a legacy on his shoulders.”

“So your problem stems from your fear of your future,” Iroh affirms. “Rightfully so on an occasion as momentous as your 17th birthday, but Izumi, you are a kind, gentle, and fair minded young woman, and your father is a picture of health, what has brought about this anxiety?”

Izumi crosses her arms and says nothing.

“Izumi?”

“I overheard some of the noblewomen talking about a curse on the Fire Ladies.”

“And what is this curse?”

“That Fire Ladies who die in childbirth give rise to evil Fire Lords. The spirits make them pay the ultimate price for what they bring into the world.”

Iroh takes in her words. “And so you have applied this to your own birth?” Izumi nods.

“You’re young yet Izumi, but I think you will find that destiny is what you make of it,” he says. “You and your father are the descendants of Sozin and Azulon, but you’re also the descendants of Avatar Roku on your grandmother’s side. There’s light and dark in you, and you will have to chose what nature you will allow to flourish. But knowing you, I would largely place my bets on the light side. And,” he takes a pause, “you can always seek to redeem yourself for your faults. I tried to break through the walls of Ba Sing Se, and then I took it back from the Fire Nation. Your father chased Aang halfway across the world, and now they are best friends. Azula was one of the most terrifying people in existence -”

“She still is.”

He chuckles. “Yes, she still is. But the original fire bending masters deemed her worthy of regaining her power when she lost it and repented, and they even gifted her a dragon egg as they did to your father,” he explains.

“Your father’s legacy was to end a war. Yours will be the equally important one of maintaining peace,” Iroh says. “Now, maybe you should go practice that and make your amends with Master Bumi. I am off to make some tea.”

“What if he won’t speak to me,” she asks.

“Well then your partner dance in front of the court later on at your party will be terribly uncomfortable!” he says walking back inside. ——————————————————————————————————— Bumi does not really know where he is walking to, and he just follows the direction that instinct takes him. He can hear his parents behind him, but he does not stop.

“Bumi please,” Katara calls.

He groans and walks faster. In this instance, he was incredibly pleased with himself because he still remembers some of the secret passageways in the palace that Izumi had showed him as children when they would play hide and explode with Izumi’s Aunt Kiyi and Aunt Azula, so he ducked into one that he knew was coming and hears his parents run right passed. It was slightly dark inside, which made perfect sense considering that usually only firebenders used these hallways and had no need for any other light.

Bumi went off memory and kept his right hand on the wall. If he had to figure this out like a maze in order to get out, that’s what he would do. After about ten minutes in the dark, he feels a variation in the stone that tells him he’s found a door. If he remembers correctly, this one will let him out by the portrait gallery. However, when he opens the door, he’s stopped by a piece of furniture.

“Huh?” he hears someone ask, and soon the furniture is being shoved out of the way and the door opens and bright light blinds him, and Azula is standing in front of him.

She stares him up and down. “I would offer to help you but I will warn you first that if you ruin Izumi’s birthday, not even the fact that your father is the Avatar will save you from me.”

Bumi remains frozen, unsure what to do.

“Well don’t just sit there,” she says, raising a brow. He stumbles into what he realizes to be Azula’s office.

“If you are avoiding your parents who ran after you when you caused quite the commotion at breakfast, then my office would definitely be the best place to hide. Push that back into place,” she commands gesturing to the small table she had just moved.

Bumi has not spent much time alone with Azula. Whenever he would visit the Fire Nation, he and Izumi were attached at the hip. Every summer when Kya would go to the Southern Water Tribe and his dad and Tenzin would go to an Air Temple, Bumi would get dropped off in the Fire Nation for a few months of sword training with Master Piandao. After Piandao passed away, Zuko offered to continue training him since Sokka was busy trying to get Republic City up and running. In all that time, he’d never really gotten to know Azula. From what Izumi had told him, Azula was Zuko’s right hand. She lead his small council and sat in on meetings when he was away on diplomatic trips, which made her an extremely powerful person.

He looks around her office. It’s clean and tidy. There is a small ink portrait of Izumi on the wall to the right of Azula's desk, and vases of Fire Lilies around the room.

Azula studies him while he looks around the room. “Should I ask what’s bothering you or should we pretend this exchange never happened?”

“Whatever you prefer,” he replies.

“I prefer to be well informed.”

“Izumi and I had a fight.”

“I gleaned that,” she says flatly. There’s a pause. “Izumi hates celebrating her birthday. She tells us every year it makes her feel guilty, but the 17th birthday of the Heir Apparent is a rite of passage in the Fire Nation.”

“Why’s that?”

“Traditionally, it’s when the Crown Prince, or in Izumi’s case, Princess, starts sitting on the small council and has to take up a stronger political role than just kissing babies and doing well in school… it’s seen as the last day of childhood.”

Oh Bumi thinks. “That’s why she’s so stressed.”

“Most likely a factor.”

“She never mentioned it.”

“Well, you know Izumi. Unless it’s Zuko, getting her to tell you what’s wrong is like pulling teeth. She is like you in that regard.” Bumi looks puzzled. “I read people very well,” she says in reply to his reaction. There’s a pause as she regards him. “I do not imagine it is easy to be a non-bender in a family like yours.”

“Man, you really don’t hold back.”

She offers him a half smile. “I understand the fear of being a disappointment too. When I was 12 I was so scared of failure and what would happen if I disappointed my father. It was not even two years by the time I self destructed.”

“I’m not going to self destruct,” he mutters.

“Then you might need some help carrying that weight on your shoulders around.”

He is quiet for a minute. “What if there’s no one to help me?”

She glances down at a small ink drawing of her mother, Zuko, and herself that sits on her desk. “From my experience, you can often find help in very unexpected places, but you have to be open to being helped.”

AN: you cannot convince me Azula didn’t get a redemption arc and a lot of healing and become a strange source of wisdom. you just can’t. azula redemptions are a peak of feminist literature.

I imagine redeemed Azula serves Zuko in a position similar to the hand of the king from GoT.

#avatarstories #izumi #bumi #azula #zuko #aang #katara #toph #lin #kya #iroh

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stillwithkoo · 5 years

Text

Kiss me, Heal me. 1

Pairing: Jungkook x reader, BTS x reader.

WC: 3k+

Summary: When Jungkook gets injured just before an important game, he sets out to find his soulmate to heal him. In a world where soulmates can heal all kinds of illnesses by kissing, he’s desperate to find his, even if he doesn’t know you yet. What happens if he does find you? Will you kiss a stranger who claims to be your soulmate?

tags: idiots and enemies to lovers, a lil slowburn, a bit of angst, soulmate culture, smut in the future.

pls don’t repost my fic anywhere, if i ever find out you stole my fic idea you’ll regret it. thanks :)

Jungkook’s luck seemed to have run out. He couldn’t believe he injured his leg just before an important game. The game that if he didn’t play, he could lose an opportunity for a scholarship and sponsors. He was careless and now he’s got nothing to blame but himself. He had to get stitches for it, and the doctor said he needs to let it heal for weeks. But, Jungkook doesn’t have the time to wait for that, so he’s made up his mind to find his soulmate. Even though the soulmate culture is kinda odd, he’s willing to put up with it if that means he would be healed.

His girlfriend would probably hate him for it but they weren’t working out like they used to anyway. they were fighting most days now, and he wasn’t really sure anymore if he still loves her or he just loves the idea of her.

So, tomorrow he’s gonna go to that Jay dope guy who’s an acquaintance of his best friend Namjoon. Joon said that his crack dealer looking acquaintance could help Jungkook find his soulmate. Says, he’s selling some kind of drink to help someone find their soulmate in a dream. It sounds crackheady already, but Jungkook’s lazy and doesn’t know how to find his soulmate, so he’s willing to try everything easy to find her.

💜💕💜💕💜

When Jungkook arrived at Jay Dope’s shop, albeit he had quite a hard time because of his leg, the first thing he noticed was the weird but sick figurines, the place looked hippy, but it smelled good. He was still waiting for this Jay Dope guy to show though, and he didn’t have to wait long as he appeared a few seconds coming from the back room.

“Hi, how may i help you?” The crack dealer looking guy said. “Uhh, my friend said I could buy a soulmate drink here?” Jungkook timidly said. “Oh, you’re looking for your soulmate…why? got sick of your girlfriend already?” Wtf. How did this guy even know he had a girlfriend? he’s such a creep.

“Um, how did you even know I had a girlfriend?” he asked, Jay dope just ignored his question. “I’m just gonna get it at the back, cos I keep it cool yk? in the fridge,” the weird guy said. He appeared a few seconds after. “That will be one happy memory please.” Jay dope says as he hands jungkook the drink. “Huh?” Jungkook asked. “You need to give me one of your happy memories, that’s the price I’m asking for the drink.” He said. Was he being serious right now? lmao, well if that’s really the payment he wants for the drink then so be it. “Uh, don’t you know it already? you seemed to know i have a girlfriend so-” Jungkook implied. “Well yes, but I need you to tell me and grant me permission to take it.” the guy said. “Oh, okay.” Jungkook agrees and tells the weird seller about that time when he got the scar on his left cheek, but he was still happy ‘cause he got to beat his older brother and won their bet. The winner would get to play on the computer all week.

Jungkook left the shop feeling a little disoriented, it seemed like he felt sad for some reason he didn’t know why? whatever, once he finds his soulmate, he’s sure he’ll be happy again. During the night, Jungkook took the drink out of his bag. He was gonna try and see if it was really effective, the can was color blue. And there were words written on it. They were: Good night, have a good dream. A dream is a wish your heart makes, whenever you’re fast asleep. You’ll find your soulmate, they will be the first person you’ll see.

What kind of crack is that? isn’t the 2nd line some lyrics from a disney song. fck, that drink better be real and effective though, because Jungkook’s head hurt after leaving that shop. He drank it and fell asleep soon after. And then he was dreaming, He was in their university, Having a class. But there was no one else, well except now. A girl just came in, she was kinda cute. Shit, is this what the drink’s talking about? Is she his soulmate? he went up to her and looked at her closely. he could see her face clearer now. Doe eyes and plump lips. Long lashes. A cute big nose just like his. But she doesn’t seem to notice him? he was quite frustrated. The classroom they were on was the room Jungkook used for his psychology class, so does it mean that they shared the same class too?

Well Jungkook was gonna find out soon anyway, tomorrow he’ll find you. Before the dream ended, you seem to have dropped your ID in the classroom and Jungkook saw your name. Y/N. great! if this isn’t some weird hallucination it’ll be easier to find you now.

♥♥♥

“Hyung, I hope this really works because I can’t wait to be able to walk properly again. I hate these crutches.” Jungkook whined.

“Well, did you find her? did the drink work I mean,” Namjoon asked, looking at his friend with concerned eyes. “Yes, I think it did. I saw a girl, her pretty features were so clear. her name’s Y/N and i think we share the same psychology class.”

“Wow. That shit hoseok gave you must’ve been some really expensive crack huh?” His bestfriend teased. “Hoseok? that’s Jay dope’s real name? whatever hyung, you were the one who recommended the guy to me in the 1st place. He seems legit though, even if he’s such a creep.” Jungkook retorted. “Anyway, I need to find y/n and if I’m correct she will be in our psychology class now. So, I’ll be going bye.” Jungkook said as he hopped away from his friend.

When he entered the classroom, the first thing his eyes focuses on is finding you. But maybe he was too early because you weren’t there yet. He was almost worried you were absent when he noticed your form entering the class, you took a seat in the middle and Jungkook decided he had to talk to you now. Seeing as the seat beside you was still empty, he went and sat next to you.

“Oh, i forgot to put some stuff there but my friend is coming, can you maybe transfer?” You said kindly to him, but immediately regretted it when you saw his injured leg. You just noticed it right now. “Um… It’s kind of hard for me to stand up right now, my leg’s kinda throbbing. Can I just sit next to you please?” Jungkook half lied, it was kinda true anyway his leg was being a pain in his dumb ass. “Oh, okay. I guess my friend can just sit at the back.” you meekly replied. “Y/N. your name’s y/n right?” He knows you? this popular jock knows you? “Yes, but how do you know me?” “I know you because I think you’re my soulmate.” He replied, shocking you. He must be joking right? how could you two be soulmates you both were so different? He was hot and you weren’t really that hot.

“Are you pranking me or something? cause I don’t have time for your jokes right now, mr.soccer player.” You retorted. “I’m not y/n, you need to believe me. I drank a soulmate finding drink and I dreamt about you. And I didn’t even know you, I didn’t even realize we shared the same class until today.” Well, at least he looked sincere when he confessed that to you. “Well, why did you want to find me anyway?” You asked. “Because I kinda wanna ask you for a favor. It’s about my leg…”

Is he gonna say what you think he’s gonna say, because you feel uncomfortable already. “Can you kiss me to heal me? I really need your help baby. I can’t afford to miss the game, my scholarship (and sponsors- but he didn’t say it) is on the line, my life depends on it. Please y/n…?” He pleaded. damn, you hate those big beautiful doe eyes- they were staring right through your soul. It didn’t help that he was so close to you now, you could smell his sweet scent, and you can’t deny how handsomer he is up close.

“Don’t call me baby, cause I’m not your baby.” You said though the pet name made your heart skip a little. “And don’t you have a girlfriend? what is she gonna feel when she finds out your kissing other girls? Also, I don’t even know you and I sure as hell won’t kiss a stranger. What if you just want to get in my pants? What if you’re a horny fck boy?” You said to him. “You say you don’t know me, but you knew I had a girlfriend? how did you know that then? were you interested in me?” He says and you’re completely caught off guard.

“As if. My friend told me, she likes to gossip about people.” you replied. “Well, Why don’t we get to know each other? Hi, my name’s Jeon Jungkook and I’m a soccer player. My girlfriend and I are having a rough time right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m a fckboy looking for chicks to pick up.” He says smiling stupidly at you. You already hate his smile.

“Hello, Jungkook. I’m y/n and I actually don’t fucking care. I’m sure you can wait a few weeks for your leg to heal, because I sure as hell won’t be kissing you.” You snapped at him. “Wtf. C'mon y/n don’t you have a heart? I could lose a scholarship opportunity here, If you help me, promise I’ll help you back when you’re sick. Namjoon even said that a soulmate’s kiss doesn’t only have amazing healing properties, but also luck.” He begged. Luck? well if that means winning the lottery, you could use some of that. You were broke too. anyway wasn’t he rich? why did he need a scholarship then?

“I need the scholarship cause my parents won’t pay for my tuition anymore. They didn’t like that I played soccer. They said I should’ve focused more on my education. But, I wanna play it’s my dream you know?” He said sadly, he looked so cute with a pout on his handsome face. And you were starting to get him. You wanna follow your dreams too, If you had one- because right now you didn’t even know what’s going on with your life.

“If I agree to help you, What about your girlfriend? Wait- why can’t we take a blood transfusion instead? I heard it has the same healing effect.” You suggested. “B-Blood transfusion? Idk, that seems more exhausting to me. What if you’re not healthy enough for a blood transfusion? And It would take up quite a lot of blood too. Doesn’t kissing seem a better option? I won’t owe you more?” He persuaded.

“I’m not really that comfortable with kissing you while you have a girlfriend, Jungkook. And maybe even if you didn’t have one too.” You confessed honestly. “I don’t wanna take advantage on you too, Y/N. But, I’m kinda afraid of needles and blood…” Oh. So that’s why he doesn’t wanna do a blood transfusion.

“Well, what are we gonna do? I wanna help you but idk if I can.” You sighed. “You’re really gonna help me now? that’s so great y/n! I could kiss you- oh. lol.” he squealed.

“You should just kiss him, you lucky whore.” A voice familiar to you said, it was from behind you. “Wtf Charlie? why are you eavesdropping on a personal conversation?” You glared at her. “Well, you two weren’t really being quiet about it, the whole class could hear you if they wanted too. Also, I’m just proving a point. Why don’t you just kiss mr. handsome here? It’s a win-win situation. He gets healed, and you both get your luck. Why are you hesitating so much anyway? You like kissing. Scratch that- you get off to it, it’s kinda your kink. Maybe because you’ve never been k-” You Interrupted her before she could say something even worse.

“Charlie you need to shut the fck up, before I fcking lose it and murder you right now.” You warned your friend looking at her right in the eye, You were annoyed at her talkativeness. “You have a kiss kink?” Jungkook’s cute dumb ass asked, you felt really embarrassed now. “No, I don’t. She’s just lying cause she wants me to make out with you and tell her the details after.” You lied, well half lied cause Charlie would probably want you to tell her the details after smooching with someone hot.

“I am not lying. Believe me soccer player, she’d die to kiss someone hot like you.” Charlie then winked at your hot soulmate. “That’s it. I’m sure you don’t mind if I tell yoongi you have a crush on him right now, I’m really gonna get up and talk to him now-” You stand up, moving as if to go to min yoongi’s whereabouts which you actually didn’t know. All you know was that he was a music major and he seemed cold to people in a hot kinda way, or more like hot for your friend kinda way.

“No! y/n wait please I’m so sorry! you’re a virgin and you’re lesbian. Sorry kook, I was lying.” She screamed. You sat back down, “Yeah, you better shut that mouth if you don’t want yoongi to know.” You smirked evilly at your friend. She just nodded submissively. “Um, y/n about us kissing? I could just tell my girlfriend and if she allows me, will you do it?” Jungkook said, you almost forgot about him. “Fine, but let me think about it for a bit too. (it’ll be my first kiss you know, she said in her head) If I do it, you’re really gonna owe me big time. And I’m not joking when I say I want a lifetime supply of Banana sundaes. At my fave icecream shop okay?”

“Sure. I’m a fan of sweet things too you know?” He said, you just smiled at him. We must really be soulmates then. The bell rang just then, your professor was absent but she left some activity for you guys to do, so that’s why you were able to converse freely and for a long time.

💜💋💜💋💜

To Babe 💓: 7:30

baby, can we talk?

To Jungkook 💟: 7:35

baby idk im kinda busy and going thru a lot right now maybe later?

To Babe 💓: 7:36

but baby it’s important, it’s about my injured leg.

To Jungkook 💟: 7:37

omg baby i forgot u were hurt. are you feeling better now? I wish i could kiss it better but I’m just too busy.

To Babe 💓: 7:38

I’m not. that’s why I’m asking you something that can help to make it better.

To Jungkook 💟: 7:39

Well what is it love?

To Babe 💓: 7:40

I found my soulmate… and you do know that I have to kiss her to heal me right? So I’m asking if you’re okay with it, it’s for my scholarship babe and sponsors I really need them.

To Jungkook 💟: 7:42

Wow. Why didn’t you tell me right away then? Fine, I’m letting you fool around with her just one time. And on one condition.

To Babe 💓: 7:43

You’re always busy that’s why i couldn’t tell you. And it’s not fooling around I’m just gonna kiss her a bit, you know how magical but crazy the soulmate bond works. What’s your condition though?

To Jungkook 💟: 7:45

Don’t ever fall in love with her.

To Babe 💓: 7:46

Of course, that’s not gonna happen.

To Jungkook 💟: 7:47

Well you better make sure it doesn’t. i gtg. love u tho 💋

To Babe 💓: 7:48

bye love u 2 ♥️

Well now that my girlfriend’s agreed, I gotta let y/n know so we could get on with it right away. I wanna be able to join our practices again and prepare for the game, it’s in 2 weeks. I still need to convince y/n more though, maybe I could ask her to eat icecream with me at her favourite place? yes, mayhaps that would work. I’m gonna text her since we had exchanged numbers before going home after that class the other day.

Jungkook: 8:15 pm

Y/N, guess what? she agreed. she’s okay with us kissing to heal me.

Y/N: 8:17

wow…that’s cool, i guess…so we’re really doing it then?

Jungkook: 8:18

of course! i mean u want to right? I was gonna ask you to eat with me at your favorite ice cream shop. You can order everything you like. u can bring charlie too if u want.

Y/N: 8:19

Wow kook, that’d be awesome. Idk if i’ll bring her tho, she has the tendency to babble a lot 😪

Jungkook: 8:20

So u’re going? yey. let’s meet up tomorrow. I can’t wait to kiss you. I mean- to heal my leg! hehe

Y/N: 8:21

oh okay hehe. sure let’s meet up at noon and discuss when to do it ughhhh.

Jungkook: 8:22

well see u tom! kooknyt

Y/N: 8:23

kooknyt too i guess shsh rest ur foot well!

Jungkook: 8:24

thanks! i will

it’s funny but you couldn’t help that you kinda cared about your soulmate, he was cute and kind. And you did really want his leg to get better. You’re just anxious that you have to kiss him to do it. And you will have to get over it soon, because you need to help him. Hopefully things will turn out fine, and after this, your life will be the same old boring shit that it was- just like before.

If you wanna read the chapters before anyone else does, you can subscribe for Early Access by buying me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/neinyajung ty! 💜

TBC. 💜 positive feedback and reblogs are highly appreciated! your comments are what inspires us writers to write more! so pls do comment what u thought about the story, for me to give you fast updates ty.

taglist: @mrcleanheichou @taehyungiev13 @hunnayesblog @busansgloss

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snezfics-n-shit · 4 years

Text

Whumptober Day 31: Halloween

Fandom: Ace Attorney

Characters: [2001 Half] Gregory Edgeworth, Raymond Shields / [2021 Half] Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, Trucy Wright

Notes: Two Halloweens, Two Defense Attorneys, Two Decades Apart. Last day so we’re going to town. Two whumps for the price of one! In the first half, you’ll find some Gregory content. For the second, you’ll see everyone’s favorite disbarred hobo dad. It really is Real DILF Hours this fine Halloween.

--October 31, 2001--

“Thank you again, Mrs. Wright. You kids have fun!” Gregory watched the group of trick-or-treaters go on their way. It felt almost like a dream to know his son was in that group, trick-or-treating with real friends. For past Halloweens, Gregory and Miles would stay in and read something together until deciding to watch It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown together before usually falling asleep on the couch. While he was more than proud of his son making friends, Gregory felt a little sad when his son told him he would be out.

It was only when Gregory woke up the morning before with a persistent tickle in his throat that he was actually grateful to be the only one at home for the holiday, for at least a few hours. For a moment, he assumed it was simply the doing of Fall allergies, and perhaps some of it was, but the steadily rising feeling of malaise started to tip him off. By the time he was seeing his son off with his group of friends, he was more than ready to turn in for the night at 6:30PM.

Gregory closed the door slowly so he could triple check that the group was traveling safely. Despite having kept a close eye out on his surroundings, he failed to notice a familiar face approaching his home. He thought he could easily resign himself to some cold medicine and an early night until he heard the turning of a doorknob.

“Miles? Is that you?” He called as far as his hoarse voice could reach.

“No, it’s me, Mr. Edgeworth!” Ray twirled a keychain around and bit into a chocolate bar. “You gave me your spare key, remember? When I helped you bring in that big bag of dog food? Or was it when you had shingles? I forget.”

“Neither.” Gregory shook his head. “I gave you the spare key that time you watched Miles when I had that date.”

“O-Oh, right. How did that go, by the way?”

“Not great. The movie was awful and she demanded a refund after it was over. I don’t think I’ll be going out with anyone on the PTA again.” Gregory coughed a few times in his elbow before noticing what Ray was eating. “Where did you get that?”

“From your candy bowl.”

“Did you take just one like the sign said?”

Ray shrugged as he pulled about four more chocolate bars from his coat pockets.

“You should really be handing out the candy to prevent this kind of miscommunication.”

“I’m coming down with a cold, so I think I’ll pass.” Gregory took Ray’s coat to hang on the coat rack, if only to prevent more candy smuggling. “I’m surprised you’re not trick-or-treating.”

“I wanted to spend time with you, Mr. Edgeworth. You said you’ll be staying inside alone this year.” Ray helped himself to the living room couch, pleased to greet the pomeranian lounging there. “Hey, Missile!” He made kissing faces at the pup. “I guess not too alone.”

“Don’t let him lick your face while you have chocolate all over.” Gregory called the dog over to him. “You can rinse your face in the bathroom, and could you bring me the cold medicine from the cabinet?”

“Of course, Mr. Edgeworth!”

“Thank you.” Gregory stole Ray’s spot on the couch and let Missile hop on his lap. Just sitting down was more rest than Gregory had let himself have all day. He looked up to watch Ray return from the bathroom, somehow having gotten his hands on a lollipop.

“How come you’re not using Coldkiller X?” Ray tossed the requested medicine into Gregory’s lap. “It’s been flying off the shelves since it came out; it’s a real hit.”

“I prefer my usual NyQuil. I’d rather sleep through my colds.”

“You do look like you could use some sleep, Mr. Edgeworth.” Ray wiggled the lollipop stick around in his mouth. “Also, I think it’s really cool you put candy all around your house for Halloween.”

“What do you mean?” Gregory furrowed his brow.

“These lollipops in your bathroom.” He pulled out the stick to reveal a purple teddy bear pop. “It kinda makes my mouth feel funny, though. I think I’m allergic to something in it.”

“Raymond, that’s--,” Gregory sighed and put his head in his hands, “medicated. It has an anesthetic in it.”

“Oh, huh.” Ray stared at the lollipop before offering it to Gregory. “Do you want it?”

“No, thank you.” Gregory found the offer to be both amusing and repulsive. “I think I’ll be fine just having some tea.” He ushered Missile to direct some affection towards Ray so he could stand up. “Do you want any?”

“Just water is fine.” Ray rubbed his tongue against his front teeth. “I don’t think anything else would taste good right now.”

“At least that means you won’t be stealing any more candy.” Gregory chuckled as he proceeded to start the stove under the kettle. “I also shouldn’t have to tell you that you shouldn’t be eating things from a medicine cabinet.”

“Got it. ‘Don’t eat candy from the medicine cabinet.’” Ray read aloud from his notepad before eating the page he just wrote on.

“I feel like I should be concerned that you needed to write that down.” To say nothing of Ray’s paper eating habit, which Gregory stopped questioning after six months into Ray working part-time at the firm. He wanted to say Ray had matured since he had hired him, but it was likely more familiarity with his antics than anything. “Do you want any ice in your water?” Gregory opened the refrigerator door and leaned forward, reaching for the pitcher of water.

“No, that’s fine.” Ray answered, not looking away from Missile, who was staring at him with wide eyes. “Who’s a good boy?”

“I’d like to think I am.” Gregory laughed before standing upright again. Having his head at any angle outside of a very specific range when he had a cold always gave him a head-rush. “AE’SSHHOOUH! Eh’KXNT...chooh” He stifled the second one so Ray wouldn’t say anything about trying to scare him. With it being Halloween, the potential for comments like that was abundant.

“Bless you, Mr. Edgeworth.” In truth, Ray was hardly paying enough attention to really say anything; he was too busy scratching behind Missile’s ears. “You’re such a cool dad, keeping this cutie.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been called ‘cool’ before, at least not sincerely.” Gregory tugged a tissue from the box on the kitchen counter and gently held it under his nose.

“R-Really? Not even about all your Star Wars stuff?”

“That stuff is exactly--,” Gregory used the tissue to muffle some coughs, “exactly what made me not cool. I only had one friend in high school, and that was Miles’s mother.” He always felt some pain in his chest bringing her up, but he was too caught up in the memory to stop himself. “She was homeschooled before she transferred, so she didn’t really care if I was ‘cool’ or not.” He dropped the tissue into the trash bin before he opened a cupboard and grabbed two plain blue mugs. Cold water in a mug wasn’t a faux pas, was it?

“Are you feverish enough to finally tell me about her?”

“This cold’s only just started, so no.” Gregory shut off the stove once he saw the steam leaving the kettle. As nice as it would be to have savored that, he didn’t want to keep Ray waiting for his water. “But I guess I can’t avoid talking about Marie forever.” He coated his own mug’s base with honey before topping it with a tea bag. He had no idea exactly what kind of tea it was; he only bought the types his son wrote on the grocery list in skillful handwriting absolutely not inherited from Gregory.

Naturally, when Gregory returned to the living room with both beverages, Ray had reclaimed the seat he had rightfully stolen. He set Ray’s drink on the coffee table in front of the sofa before finding himself a new seat next to him.

“So, what was she like?” Ray took a long sip of his water, hoping to wash out the anesthetic.

“Well, for starters, she was my best friend for over ten years.” Gregory moved the tea bag up and down by the string. “She transferred to my high school just after her parents separated. She moved with her dad all the way from the middle of nowhere, so we were both in the same ‘no friends’ boat.”

“Did you two realize the one you loved was right in front of you? Like in a movie?”

“Ah,” Gregory didn’t look up from his mug, “just one of us did. She didn’t feel the same way about me.”

“B-But you guys had a kid together! There had to be something there.” Ray’s jaw dropped when he saw Gregory shake his head.

“I only realized I loved her after we, uh,” Gregory coughed awkwardly, “you know. I told her and that just ruined everything we had. The last time I saw her before she died was the day she dropped off Miles.”

“Oh, huh.” Ray felt himself tearing up. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not that much of a tearjerker, I promise. I have a son I couldn’t be more proud of. I wouldn’t trade him for the world, even if it meant having Marie in my life for a few extra years.”

“Wha?’ Ray wiped some tears from his eyes. “I’m not that sad. I just, uh, lost an eyelash. Let me find it so I can make a wish.” He grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table to pretend he was searching for that ‘eyelash.’

“Hey, it’s definitely not the time to waste those.” Gregory scolded in jest before taking his own tissue for actual use. “E’kXTT… chuh.” That particular stifle made his head pound.

“It’s Halloween, Mr. Edgeworth. It’s okay if you startle me.” Of course. Why did Gregory think he could get away so easily? “I don’t know how you can hold those in. It was pretty impressive when you did ten of those last month.”

“I wasd’t about to let you bake jokes for the rest of your shift.” Gregory blew his nose forcefully, displeased at the amount of time it took to really feel any benefit.

“To think I just called you cool.” Ray teased. “I still think you’re cool, though. You made your son’s costume, didn’t you? Signal Red?”

“Indeed I did.” Gregory nodded. He figured his drink had cooled enough to chase down the cold medicine Ray retrieved earlier. “I stayed up all night making it.” He cleared his throat and made a face in reaction to the unfavorable taste of the medicated liquid. “Two nights, actually.”

“No wonder you’re sick. You work too hard and never sleep.” So was that why Ray seemed immune to colds?

“Once this kicks in, I’ll be sleeping like the dead.” Gregory leaned back. “You can watch TV if you want. Take the remote or a VHS.”

“Woah, really?” Ray made himself at home in front of the VHS shelves with Missile following behind him. “You wanna help me pick out a movie, boy?”

“Just not any movies about a dog. Otherwise, he’ll bark at the screen.”

“Aw, that’s cute! Let’s watch Air Bud, then.”

Thank god for NyQuil.

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

--October 31, 2021--

Phoenix was woken up by the sound of footsteps on the entryway’s tile floor accompanied by the excited listing of various candies. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes to take a look at the wall clock. 9:30PM. Miles and Trucy returned an hour late, but it sounded like they had a good time.

“Daddy! We got so much candy! Are you feeling better? Papa Miles said you should eat something healthy, but I won’t tell!” It was as if Trucy didn’t even need to stop to breathe while speaking.

“Trucy, your father needs to rest.” Miles, who had at least stopped to leave his coat on the rack, needed to catch his breath. “Sorry to wake you, love. I hope you got some sleep since we left.”

“I slept great, yeah. Did you two have a good tibe?” Phoenix looked up at Miles with glassy eyes and a tired smile.

“We had a wonderful time, but we missed you. It’s a shame you were too sick to come with us.” Miles glanced at the empty bowl and mug on the coffee table. “So you finally ate something?”

“Does that mean Daddy can have some of our candy now?” Trucy lifted her heavy pumpkin shaped basket. “He ate something healthy!”

“Not tonight, I don’t think. Why don’t you change into your pajamas and get ready for bed?” Miles pointed at his watch. “We already came home late.”

“Aw, okay.” Trucy pouted and dragged her feet walking to her bedroom.

Phoenix watched her leave and then frowned at Miles.

“What’s that look for?”

“You’re doh fud.” Phoenix sniffled.

“You were the one who wanted me to be more authoritative with her.” Miles was right; every time Trucy wanted something, she would go straight to him if she thought Phoenix would say no. Phoenix found it funny at first, but it got out of hand when Miles rented some ponies for Trucy’s previous birthday, ponies that needed to be cleaned up after. “It’s a school night.”

“I dod’t thigk she’d be up too late just shari’g a couple chocolates.” Phoenix reasoned. The couch made a squeak as he turned on his side.

“Do you think you could even taste them with you being that congested?” Miles peered into the tissue box on the coffee table, finding it empty. He wasn’t pleased to hear Phoenix blowing his nose into a tissue he had definitely used before.

“Aa’SCHOOUuh! HT’TCHUUUh! Ah, dabbit.” Phoenix cursed at his effort to clear his nose being undone so quickly. “I guess I should just go to sleep.”

“That’s a good idea.” Miles kissed Phoenix’s warm cheek. “Are you coming to bed or staying on the couch for the night?”

“It’s probably a better idea to sleep here.” Phoenix blew his nose again in the crumpled tissue that left the skin it touched sore and red. “You have a trial this week, right? I don’t want you to get sick.”

“I’ve already accepted that as inevitable.” Miles picked up the living room waste basket to dispose of the tissues that had accumulated on the couch while he was out. “Though I can’t blame you for staying here if you intend on sleeping under more used tissues.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been out since about an hour after you and Trucy left for trick-or-treating.”

Miles winced as he pictured just how many times his boyfriend had reused tissues while he was gone. No wonder his nose was so red Miles could think of a few costumes it would enhance.

“I’ll take another box from the hall closet for you. Do you want something to drink? I could heat up some apple cider so you can feel festive.”

“That would be great.”

Miles gave Phoenix another light kiss before heading to the kitchen. He took mental notes of what counters would need cleaning in the morning, particularly where it was undeniable that Phoenix tried refilling his own tea but was too out of it to keep the mug steady. As much as Miles wanted to spend the rest of the night personalizing Phoenix’s cider, it was getting late and Phoenix had no objections to just heating a mug in the microwave.

While the microwave was doing its job, Miles made a trip to the hall closet to deliver a fresh tissue box to Phoenix.

“I hope this lasts until morning.” Miles tore off the cardboard covering the opening. “Maybe you could take something so you can sleep easier and use less of these?”

“Yes, please.” Phoenix coughed with his fist pressing against his mouth.

The microwave beeped just as Miles went to retrieve the mug. On his way back, he made a stop at the bathroom to pick up a pack of NyQuil capsules. He blew lightly over the steaming mug to cool it off a little before he brought the drink and medicine to his boyfriend.

“Here you go, love. Let me know if it’s too hot or not hot enough.”

Phoenix popped out two capsules and washed them down with a large drink of cider. It burned his throat a little, making him tear up, but at least that part was done and over with. It was better than taking the medicine as a liquid, that was for sure.

“Thanks so much, hon. I can’t wait to get some sleep.”

“I’m looking forward to you getting some sleep as well.” Miles picked up the empty bowl and mug from the coffee table so there was only the mug of cider to worry about. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“G’night.”

Miles washed the dishes thoroughly but quickly enough for him to turn in at a reasonable time. He kept silent as he stopped to watch Phoenix finding a comfortable position to sleep in and stayed still for a while in case Phoenix needed anything.

With a quiet yawn, Miles began his trip through the hall, only to stop suddenly with a hitch of his breath.

“Hh’sshhooh!” He sniffed. “Oh, of course.”

#whumptober #whumptober 2020 #sickfic whumptober alt #sneezing #snez #snz #sneeze kink #snez attorney #thanks for putting up with me this month

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insanetwocubes · 3 years

Text

It's scary. Letting it go. Because when you let it go, you don't know if it's gonna happen again.

But if you adopt the concept that life will always happen and it doesn't stop, you would know that it will happen again. Inevitably. You can do anything short of kill yourself and I guarantee it will happen again.

You can't stop it because there's no logic or reason here. You were trapped before and you will put yourself in a situation where you're trapped again and when you learned from both of those something completely new will come up and get you trapped again! It will happen. And you can gain knowledge and become educated and avoidant and suffer for the fear of it happening again and until you let it go it will happen. As long as you see it as a bad thing exclusively, it will happen.

I think that's how it goes. I don't know. But... it follows, doesn't it?

So. Maybe bad things just don't exist? Maybe things that are bad are just bad because they're things you don't want? Is that how it goes?

I don't know.

I know it's scary. Terrifying. "Bad things don't exist" what do you mean? How else am I gonna avoid getting hurt?

What? Lol

Here's the kicker, right? I think you can't. I think you just can't. I just think you can't. Maybe there's no way. Maybe. I mean it follows, right? Bad things will always happen, you will always feel hurt. Right?

But our goals...

Create the hurt, though.

Life doesn't personally come up to us, kick us in the balls, and call us a nerd.

We do that to ourselves.

There are many good things in life. And maybe the price to pay for that is that they will be taken away at any given moment.

And it's just the game. It's not because you're playing it wrong, or you're stupid, or inherently worthless.

Maybe that's just the game.

Shitty fucking game.

Yes lol yes it is.

But... we're kinda here, huh?

Question. So. Say you....

So uh say you...

See something dangerous or unpleasant. Do you just... lyke.... go.... towards it?

I guess it would come down to exchanges at that point. A risk versus gain?

But.... if you're always gonna get yourself trapped....

Yes?

What's even.... what's the point?

The good things, isn't it?

So you just jump face first to get to the good things? Always? Without any idea of fear or safety?

Well you gotta keep safety in mind. But fear? Didn't we kinda establish that the less of it we have, the better?

That's kinda uh... outrageous.

Isn't it.

I kinda.... I kinda see what you're saying. So with lyke the depression stuff, right?

It was always gonna happen. Sooner or later. It's just up to... how fast we stop dwelling on it and get back on our feet.

Kinda lyke a "shut up about being sad and do something about it."

Kinda, yeah.

Lemme say before I forget. Look at what you're working towards. Because the pain was gonna be suffered sooner or later anyway. It's just up to whether the prize is actually bringing you the satisfaction that you seek.

~Four

#Dicerolls #things4said #like if you read reblog if you want #txt #Things1said #Intersysconvos

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garden-ghoul · 4 years

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Subway Stops in the Evil City

If you don’t want to read a full list of all 143 subway stops in the Evil City and how they got their names, this post is not for you. If you do, rejoice!! For reference, a copy of the official MPATH subway map here.

TARR - The Trestle & Ainsdale Rail Road, with its first line completed in 1894, was the very first subway in Evil City. It is one of only two non-union lines, rents out shared subway stations to the U at great price, and is fiercely territorial about union rail lines going through its territory.

Trestle - Downtown of Trestle, named for the Trestle Carryfar Bridge (in turn named after some guy named Trestle). Probably should have been incorporated into Evil City, but wasn’t. Originally a railroad town, officially founded in 1871. Famously terrible train station mentioned in ‘Sleeping on the TARR Tonight.’ I’d like to say it’s the worst one, but in the interest of journalistic integrity I cannot say that. It DOES have some fun fence murals, and fare machines, but it’s still Trestle so they’re always out of order.

Nilton - A neighborhood of Johnstown, just inside the Evil City border. Depressing station. Grimy and full of trash but mostly just sad. No fare machines.

Johnstown - A mill and manufactory town founded by someone named Johnathan who I’m sure has a surname but I can’t be bothered to find out. The Johnathan Swift Bridge at 9th Crossing is named for him. The station has some really cool paintings, but apparently the TARR didn’t authorize them so they keep getting painted over. I’d just let them make my station prettier, but I’m not the TARR big cheeses! No fare machines.

Reliable - Although the Reliable Cable Ferry was replaced by the Mauricio Reliable Bridge when the TARR was built, the neighborhood is still called 8th Crossing. It’s an okay station. It’s fine... for a TARR station, which means it actually sucks. No fare machines.

Ratlands - Today a jazz club, when the stop was named I think Ratlands was some kind of pub. A fun fact about the name: rats have always been associated with intellectualism and, today, jazz, and were actually trained to carry messages during the Munyenem War. There aren’t any far machines, but the turnstiles are permanently broken ‘cause of token suckers so it’s impossible to get on a train by paying a fare anyway.

Pearl Road - An important road that crosses both the Mauricio Reliable and Helia Adamant bridges and defines the boundary between Sospero and Jubilation. Pretty cool architecture and has fare machines. One of the more pleasant TARR stations.

5th Crossing - Since this stop was named, the Sinklow Cable Ferry at 5th Crossing has been replaced by the Helen Highwater Twin Bridge. I don’t know why they don’t name stops after cable ferries... maybe they’re hoping to get rid of all of them one day. Usually someone is busking here, which I love! And it has fare machines, which are broken half the time in a way where you can just whack it and tokens come out.

Rockrist - I don’t actually know why this one is called that! There’s not a Rockrist Street and I don’t know of any kind of encyclopedia of subway station names, so it will remain a mystery. This is a butt ugly station and also if you are on the wrong platform you have to leave, cross the street, and pay another fare. And no, of course it doesn’t have fare machines.

Clagg & Starling - Named after the Clagg & Starling Petrochemical Plant, which I believe famously set the Howlbank River on fire in 1952. I think maybe everyone who actually uses this stop works there. No fare machine.

E St. - The station is on E Street. All the north-south roads in the western half of Eimett have letter names. This station is very boring to look at in kind of a peaceful way. No fare machine and no-one ever uses this station even though it’s a mostly residential neighborhood.

Eimett - A residential neighborhood. Only good thing about this station is the reappearing graffiti that says EIMETT SOUP. No fare machine.

Steady - Named for the Rosalind Steady Bridge that replaced the Steady Cable Ferry at 4th Crossing in 1854. Gross but in an average kinda way. Surprisingly has working fare machines.

South Bank - I wouldn’t call this South Bank because it’s in the Narrows, but I guess South Bank technically includes the entire waterfront of South Ward? This station is unnecessarily snazzy because of all the expensive apartment buildings in the Narrows, and nobody even uses it because Archbow is two blocks away. Also, no fare machines. But at least you can jump the turnstiles because even cops don’t bother to go there.

Archbow - Named for the Eleanora Archbow Tunnel they dug for the Coastal Line. I assume this station was called Pull-together Station before Eleanora Briarcliff paid for it to be renamed. Either way, this was still the Pull-together Cable Ferry for about 20 years until they built Crosslightly over it. An actually nice and impressive station, which when it’s clean and empty reminds me of a museum. Not that it’s ever either of those things, but in old photographs it’s so pretty. It has fare machines for both TARR and U/NECR tokens, and also one of those weird horoscope scales. If you jump the turnstiles here you stand a pretty good chance of getting written up or arrested.

Municipal Intersection - This one’s named for a really ugly courthouse building everyone calls The Intersection, and apparently they have for like 200 years. I think this station is only well-maintained because it’s shared with the U. Kinda pretty. Only U/NECR fare machines. Like all shared stations they actually have guards here, so no jumping.

Benbassat - Named for the administrative building of the Evil City College of Architectural Design. Since this building was very famously built in 1929, the stop must have been called something else when it was named, but I don’t know what. Very artsy, they must have let the ECCAD students at it. Of course it has a U/NECR fare machine, I always feel like the TARR fare machine here was also built by students? It feels bootleg. Anyway this station also has guards.

Redding - Named for Redding University, which was founded in the 1800s some time. For downtown, this station is shockingly bad. I think the Redding students keep complaining and the TARR never does anything, so every so often they have a cleanup day and it immediately gets gross again. No fare machines.

Leekeeper’s Bridge - The bridge to Leekeepersland has a NAME but the TARR doesn’t care, huh? Kind of dilapidated but in a way that inexplicably feels oceany, so it’s nicer. No fare machines at all.

Wharf St. - On Wharf Street? Yeah it was on Wharf Street. Basically Leekeeper’s Bridge but they sweep once every two weeks instead of once a month. No fare machines.

Longshoreman’s Rd. - It has a REALLY good sandwich shop in it, but otherwise it’s almost exactly like Wharf and Leekeeper’s Bridge. No fare machines.

Ainsdale - And we’ve come to the other terminus of the original TARR line! Ainsdale isn’t so much a town as a neighborhood in the port district but maybe it was more of a town back then. A lot of the people who use this station are genuinely dock hands, I think. It’s very grimy. The fare machines actually work, though.

Nusquam St. Bridge - On to the TARR north line, which was completed in 1909. I think this might be the only bridge in the city that doesn’t have a name! When the TARR extended service north of the river, nobody could agree on who should sponsor it, so the money came out of the TARR’s budget and it was never named. It’s super weird to see a bridge with no charms on it, but who’s going to put charms on a dead bridge? Another fun fact about this one is that the subway stop is on both sides of the bridge, which is like a mile and a half long, and each of them only gets trains bound one direction. They’re really badly maintained and don’t have fare machines, so they’re a nightmare to use. Just avoid this stop(s) altogether. If they ever name the bridge it will probably be a better station, maybe check back in 40 years.

3rd Crossing - This station is named for the Faithful Cable Ferry it stops next to, not the neighborhood of 3rd Crossing, which is on Billygoats Bluff. Huge cable ferry transfer station, so the TARR actually puts in a little effort. Most of the effort is that the fare machines work and they often have guards there. Sad little mosaics.

Gale Rd. - Gale Road is North Bank North Bank. So nobody ever uses this stop, they all have chauffeurs or something. And there’s no fare machines anyway. Clean, though.

Cornet Shrive - After the neighborhood, which I guess is named after the Little Cornet River? They have the coolest Jhinyad grocery stores there where you can do a full tea and lunch ceremony. This station has great buskers, both musicians and storytellers. No fare machines, and pretty gross.

Kill Neck - I THINK Kill Neck means “the narrow part of the river” in another language but I forget which one. An absolutely nasty TARR station. For some reason there’s always at least one seagull in there. No fare machines.

MPABT - The Metropolitan Port Authority Bus Terminal. It always cracks me up that they have a bus to Iron Mountain, as if anyone would not just take the ferry. This is the actual worst station in Evil City. It’s full of trash at all times, smells indescribable, and I think if I ever went into the bathrooms I would probably die. They have fare machines, but I’ve never seen anyone dare touch them.

Doghouse - Apparently Doghouse, the neighborhood, is named after part of the glass manufacturing process (so is Cold End). The doghouse is where the molten glass comes through before you pour it. This station is almost as infectious as MPABT, but it doesn’t have fare machines. I kind of feel like something bad is going to happen to me there.

Fireproof - Yeah this is named after an asbestos processing plant. Clean, in a depressed sort of way, and without actually being clean. No fare machines. Sospero - Sospero is called that because it’s SOuth of PEarl ROad, get it? I think the southern boundary is Linden Road. I’m pretty sure this was the terminus of the northern TARR line until it connected up with the southern one in 1948. Nasty in an almost perfunctory way. Everyone in Oxbow is too tired for fare dodging. They just put tokens into the turnstile when they want to get through. It’s so sad. No fare machine.

Narrows - Back to South Bank for the 1948 line, Narrows is named after the neighborhood, which is at the place where the river narrows. There’s nothing wrong with this station, except no TARR fare machines, but what were you expecting?

Delmer - I assume this is named after someone? Like maybe the library is in Delmer Square or something? I literally only get off here when I need to go to the library. It’s a nice station and has plaques about the library’s history, which I have only read on the northbound side because I’m not a tourist, and has well-maintained (relatively) fare machines for both U/NECR and TARR tokens. This is the one station where the U and TARR trains share track, which means there are turnstiles that take both types of tokens. But why would you use TARR tokens when the U ones are 5 cents cheaper?

Queen St. - Severin has never had a queen so I don’t know what this is about. Maybe it’s because it goes to Queenstock? But why is Queenstock called that? This is another kind of fancy neighborhood, but people in Martinet Heights think riding the train is somehow morally superior. Very clean station but no fare machines.

Medicins - This means medicine or doctor or something in Arinese I think. There’s like 15 hospitals in Martinet Heights, including the teaching hospitals for ECU south campus. Kind of nice for a TARR station, but surely the doctors don’t take the train. Maybe the nurses’ union complained and that’s why it has fare machines.

Trapezoid - Named after the large bronze trapezoid set into the plaza. My friend’s grandma said it’s actually a conspiracy the city covered up when a bunch of people died and the trapezoid used to be a memorial plaque, and when I went asking around a lot more people confirmed that there used to be a garment manufacturing company called Trapezoid there until it burned down in the 19-teens and a bunch of people died. Now it’s all office buildings so everyone who gets off at this stop is very stressed. Okay station though, with trapezoid tiling. No fare machines.

Firesein Park - I guess the neighborhood is named for the park. It’s a pretty cool park even if the landscaping sucks, they have concerts there in the summer, which I don’t think they have a permit for. Sometimes the cops bust up the concerts, when they have nothing better to do. The station is always super gross. I think some people vandalize the fare machines on purpose.

Mosslow - Mosslow is kind of like a mini neighborhood between Firesein and Little Orele, which was probably named that because it’s in a dip. Quiet station, nothing architecturally interesting, but good graffiti outside. No fare machines.

Little Orele - Lots of immigrants from the Ohrland have been coming here since I think the 1870s and recently there have been even more because of the Ðlyan annexation and the immigration quotas in the Big One, so the neighborhood is spreading out into Tolly Bank. Best pickles in the city and some very cool murals, including in the station (again, illegally, but they never get painted over). No fare machines.

Strongox - The cable ferry at 6th crossing used to be called just The Ox, which owns, and was replaced by Ɱora Strongox Bridge when the TARR southern line was built. Pretty cheerful for Oxbow, which means you can have a nicer time at certain funerals. No fare machines.

7th Crossing - It’s named after the neighborhood, because they definitely replaced the Steel-Grip Cable Ferry when they built the line. I approve of this one because Munye Steeleye is a very cool name for a bridge. It’s weird for the TARR to go through an actually nice neighborhood, but it wasn’t one when this line was built. Everyone in Longwood uses the Millstone Junction Line anyway. No fare machines.

Longwood Heights - I think it’s funny that they didn’t name this stop Longwood, considering it was built before the Longwood stop on the Millstone Junction extension. It’s nice now because so many artists get in--they’re like raccoons. They put in fare machines just to paint clouds and stuff on them. If you pick a random person in this station there’s 50/50 odds they have a taco in their pocket.

Clearwater - I think it’s VERY funny that there’s a town named Clearwater like a mile downriver of the Muddy River confluence. People there like to take the TARR one stop and immediately transfer to the Millstone. No fare machines.

Confluence DoubleDown - Apparently DoubleDown was established in 1930, and apparently there’s nothing in that weird nebulous area that might or might not be West Montrose except the DoubleDown. This station is the most depressing place I’ve ever been. No fare machines, but you can buy TARR tokens at the checkout in the DoubleDown.

Scrippetts - I think this one is named for a historic pharmacy that got turned into an X-Drug a while ago?? This is a terrible station, only good if you want to walk three blocks and transfer to the B-M Line. It does have a fare machine, but no guards so nobody ever uses it.

Coastal Line - Completed in 1901, the Coastal Line has a reputation for being used mostly by rich fucks in the North and South Wards to go to the beach. But you can also use it to get from my house to a transfer station, so it’s not all bad.

Palisades - The train station is associated with a little shopping center that probably didn’t exist before it was built. I’m pretty sure everyone who lives in the Palisades has two cars and only takes the train for the novelty value. The neighborhood is named for the columnar basalt cliffs north of the harbor, which look like a stakewall. This station is insanely cute in a way that makes me kind of mad. And I lowkey feel like I’ll get arrested for loitering. Does have fare machines, but no guards, because can you imagine rich people jumping a turnstile? They might ruin their manicures.

Brandywine - Named for Brandywine Shoal, a bar district ‘where sailors went to get wrecked.’ Now all the bars are way too expensive for sailors to go to. The station has some pretty funky murals that I’m a fan of, but no fare machines. Maybe they’re afraid drunk rich people would try to vandalize the machines and then sue them for injuries.

Anchor St. - Anchor Street is actually named after the Steadfast Anchor that they keep in the tiniest little public park and it’s worn shiny on the tips from people touching it for luck. You’re not allowed to put charms on it so people leave them around the base of the plinth. The station itself is nothing special. No fare machines. It’s Coastal Line so it’s nice.

Bessemer Forge - There used to be a major forging operation in North Bank! There was one in Queenstock too, unless that was smelting. Bessemer Forge was owned by Charles Bessemer and operated up through the 50s, when it moved out to Oxbow. Also has history plaques, but I’ve never read them because I have no reason to be on Cross Street. I can’t remember if this one has fare machines. Probably, because it’s a ‘transfer station’? That’s just a little joke for all my Orbital Line non-acknowledgers.

Alliance Square - Dedicated on Alliance Day 1722 for the 50-year anniversary of Severin’s formation. Only tourists get off here, and only the stupid tourists who transferred because they didn’t realize you can get off at Millennium and walk. Does have fare machines, because tourists.

Millennium - The Millennium Center was built in 1900 in anticipation of the new millennium, showcasing the architectural specialties of Evil City. The Millennium Fair drew a huge amount of international attention for its flashy futuristic aesthetics and predictions for the year 2000. At this point most of them are probably not going to come true. The station is gorgeous, and was built alongside the Millennium Center with the same aesthetics. It’s also a tourist attraction, so has fare machines.

Union Station - The Coastal Rail Company, the Sea Gate Railroad, and Millstone Passenger Rail united in the early 1900s under the authority of MPATH and completely refurbished Oxbow Street Station into the daring architectural feat it is today. If it weren’t so busy it would be very clean, but it is. You can catch actual heavy rail trains up the coast from here, following the Pike. Not only do they have fare machines, you can also buy tokens from an actual person behind an actual desk. Decent sandwich shops, but overpriced.

Queenstock - Maybe the word queenstock is actually a reference to some kind of smelting jargon? I need to find a book on smelting. This area is where all the students go drinking, so this not a lovely station, especially on weekends. I’d avoid getting off here. Does have fare machines.

Ring 55 at Big Tern St. - Big Tern Street might be named after the island or after the Tern’s Nest or both, I don’t know. I always thought it was dumb to name this station after the ring road around the old city center. You could have just called it Big Tern Street. Cleaner and much less busy than Queenstock, pretty spare decoration and no fare machines.

Long Shore - Longshore is a term for currents or sediment deposition running along the shore rather than into it, which I don’t think is what’s going on here. Probably it’s back-derived from ‘longshoremen.’ But this is the station by my house! I love Long Shore Station, it’s really easy to get into downtown but it’s not super busy, and the ocean waves tiling is so pretty. And. It has. Fare machines. So there.

Flatlands - It’s in Flatlands. The lands, they are flat. Nobody uses this station except people who missed getting off at Long Shore because they were reading or something. Really boring decor. No fare machines.

Lookout Rd. - Lookout Road is named for the Lookout, the lighthouse on Lookout Point, which is where this road goes. Tourists get off here. The station is pretty for them, though, and has not only history plaques but some really lovely art of the Lookout. And yes, fare machines.

Brambling Hill Beach - For rich fucks who want to tan. There aren’t actually turnstiles here. I’m not sure you... have to pay to get on the train here? Fuck the rich.

Brambling Hill - For rich fucks who want to do some shopping. My theory is that all the sunburned and shopping-addled rich people couldn’t handle the concept of turnstiles, or paying for public services, so they took them out.

Millstone Jct. Line - When it was built in 1922 the Millstone Passenger Rail ran from VISTA to 9th Crossing Boulevard; in 1940 it merged with the Sea Gate Line to share track and improve coverage, and in 1943 it extended further south to give service to Birchbrake.

Valentine Institute - It always trips me up that this station isn’t officially called VISTA. It’s just more elegant, guys! The Valentine Institute for Science, Technology, and Arts is maybe the most famous liberal arts college we have. They wouldn’t let MPATH build a line through their campus, so when they wanted to build an extension they had to put the other half of VISTA Station a quarter mile away and make people walk through the tunnels under the college. Architecturally it’s pretty nice, and there are fare machines at both ends.

Monument - Named for an obelisk dedicated to the Birchbrake wreckers and Evil City soldiers who died in the Munyenem War in the 1620s-30s. I always thought it was weird that it’s in Millstone rather than in North or South Bank. It’s kinda cute because it has one of those little news shops where they sell candy. But no fare machines. You can’t even get tokens at the shop.

Millstone East - The eastern part of Millstone. They do have the park here that the original millstone is in, but it doesn’t have a name. The stone, I mean, the park is called Millstone Park. This station always freaks me out a little because it’s so clean. No fare machine.

Azalea Lynn Beacon Drive - Named for the longshoreman and labor rights activist who got us the 8-hour work day. She was shot in the 60s and everyone knows the police had her assassinated. Fun fact, I went to Azalea Lynn Beacon Primary School. This stop is the amount of grimy I expect. It has murals from local schoolkids with quotes and portraits and stuff about ALB. Fare machines usually work.

Linden - There is literally nothing interesting about Linden. Or the station. Or its lack of fare machines.

Marshland - You can walk straight from my house to the marshlands up the Ainsdale Estuary if you take Pier 14 Road. There are some really nice walking trails and sometimes we go birdwatching. This station nominally serves the neighborhood and the depressing little mall on the other side of the estuary, but it’s usually almost empty. No fare machines.

Tern’s Nest - Named for the neighborhood on the hill. Like all hills, it’s inhabited by rich people. I’m not sure if terns used to actually nest up there or if it’s just the sort of place people thought they would nest. I want to climb the rocks but it’s all private property. Nice station, no fare machines.

Legion - Named for the headquarters of Legion Inc. When the station was named in 1922 Legion probably just made paper but now they make plastic stuff as well. The headquarters, built in 1920, was one of the first buildings to showcase Evil City’s trademark structuralist-geometricalist style. You can tell they’re proud of it because the station is built to match. Plus they put the exit right across the street from the building so you come out looking at it. No fare machines.

ECU North - There’s an ECU campus in West Ward too, but it doesn’t have its own subway station. This station is always trashed because of college kids. Does have fare machines. On average one is working at any given time.

Elm Creek - Technically this station is named after the neighborhood/creek that comes down through North Ward, but literally everyone I know calls it Refrigerator Building Station. Because of the refrigerator building owned by United Severr Refrigeration, which has really cool turn-of-the-century architecture and plays little animations in neon on Kingkiller Day. The station has kind of a weirdly corporate vibe. I don’t like it. Does have fare machines though.

Pikes Crossing - Named for the intersection where the tollpike crosses the ring road. It’s possible that the pike was once an actual pike with defensive barriers, maybe back in the 1600s? This is a weird null zone where it’s not quite residential yet but it’s no longer nice or businessy, and it’s not part of any neighborhood. Nonetheless, it’s always completely packed at rush hour. No clue why. Does have fare machines.

Eichelborough - This is very obscure trivia but Eichelborough (pronounced Eckelberg, he was foreign) is named after Eichel Strash, who fled the breakup of the Empire in the early 1700s and somehow got a town named after him. This station has inexplicably bad vibes. No fare machines.

Nasser Rd. - A road. This is also in Eichelborough but a less worse part of it. The station is still a little depressing I guess, but in a normal subway station way. No fare machines.

Cadbury - Named after Cadbury Park, where there is a statue of someone named Cadbury. Apparently people in Cold End really don’t like her because someone keeps graffiti-ing the statue to say ‘Cadbury Sucks Eggs.’ The station is also a mess most of the time and I think the U has given up cleaning graffiti off most parts of it. Has permanently broken fare machines.

Cutty Heights - Another hill full of rich people. Station is hilariously gross, which means none of the rich people use it. I guess who uses it is people who work at rich people’s houses, and people from... Clermont? Is that a real place? No fare machines.

Rush - I do not know why it is called this but people joke it’s because the platform is standing room only at rush hour (which would mean the neighborhood is named after the station, which is very funny). It IS weirdly busy for a commuter suburb. I’m not sure what the station looks like, I’ve never seen the floor. Does have fare machines.

Tanna St. - A street. Nobody ever uses this station. Due to some kind of stupid districting thing it’s not even in Evil City. Awful architecture and no fare machines.

9th Crossing Blvd. - 9th Crossing Boulevard is also Highway 117, which they did a good job not naming the station after the highway. It’s named for 9th Crossing, now the Johnathan Swift Bridge. Very busy station, and actually pretty cool architecture characteristic of the early 20s. Has fare machines! They work!

Promenade - First station on the southern extension of the Millstone Junction Line, completed in ‘43, and from here on the stations are aboveground. The Promenade is a mall, but a fancy old mall from when Sunrise was a new suburb for upper-middle-class people. So the station is also kind of fancy and has patterned brickwork instead of just being cement. And it has fare machines.

Blount St. - If you get off here and you’re wearing a hoodie you get arrested on sight. A very nice looking station that somehow manages to have the vibe that it hates you, personally. The fare machines don’t actually charge you more, but you feel like they want to.

West Castle - I went to the library to look up a map and it turns out there IS a town called Castle east of West Castle (I realize there’s literally an O-Line stop called Castle but in my defense who cares about the O-Line?). They do have a castle but they built it in the late 1800s for tourism reasons and it’s not very good. There’s a casino in it now. Anyway this station is the terrible and inexplicable terminus of the Brinell-Montrose Line, which would mean it didn’t even GO to Montrose when it was built?? It has a sandwich shop which sucks SO bad. The fact that the fare machines work feels weirdly like an insult.

East Montrose - This is the boring part of Montrose. The station: painfully average. No fare machines.

Sliver St. - I understand that this street is named after the cotton thing, due to Badgett’s concentration of textile mills, and therefore is pronounced ‘slyver’. This station is absolutely in the middle of nowhere and it’s just aboveground so you have to pay your fare on the train itself. No fare machines, obviously.

Riverbend - There is no river, stream, or creek here. Maybe it was named as a joke. This is right by the highway and has the distinction of being less smelly inside than outside. It’s not totally enclosed though and it gets really cold in winter. Has fare machines that WE deserve.

Herringbone Rd. - The fact that for the stop in Smelt they picked Herringbone Road is excellent, because it really highlights the fish half of the fish/ironworks pun. Herringbone Road is also Route 40/82 there, so it’s obvious why they picked it, but I’m still pleased. It also has a herringbone mosaic pattern on the walls of the shelter, which is so cute. Didn’t expect to like a station in Birchbrake this much, but here we are. At least it doesn’t have fare machines.

Duliamen - Duliamen has got to be a foreign word but I have no idea where it comes from. Sound vaguely Munyenem. The edge of Birchbrake is kinda a cool area and has some good cafes with an offputting industrial vibe. The station has a minimalist raw concrete thing that kind of scares and comforts me at the same time. No fare machines.

Lamplighters - Named for the Birchbrake lighthouse keepers who lived in the neighborhood. Famously affiliated with the wreckers who foundered merchant ships by tricking them with lamps, and then used the same technique to take down an entire Munyenem fleet. And people say Birchbrake isn’t badass. This neighborhood is way cute so it’s kind of disappointing that the station isn’t. No fare machines.

Birchbrake Center - Honestly I’m not sure they needed three stops in downtown Birchbrake, it’s not like it’s a shopping destination. I will note that the Millstone Junction Line is almost completely useless for 70% of the residents of Birchbrake, but they have a pretty good bus system so it doesn’t matter that much that the subway coverage is so bad. This station has fun murals and fare machines.

Breakwater Rd. - There is no way they ever had to build a breakwater in Birchbrake Harbor, the water is already VERY broken by the time it makes it past the Gravediggers. I always forget this station exists. Fare machines? No fare machines? Who can say.

Iron & Steel - Named for the Iron and Steel Institute of Severin, a trade institute founded in 1788. They have the most amazing museum of steel jewelry. The station has an exposed beams aesthetic that kind of reminds me of the Millennium Center, but it’s probably modelled after the Institute, which did it first when they retrofitted and remodelled in 1897. Does have fare machines.

Blunt Leadenhall - First station on the western extension, completed in 1955. Blunt Leadenhall is a place that makes lead pipes and stuff. I guess it’s historic now but I don’t know why they would have wanted to name a station after it in 1955. It has plaques about the leadworks that I am confident not a single person has ever read. No fare machines.

Longwood - Yep! It’s in Longwood! Unlike the TARR station a block away, they let the artists in on purpose and commissioned a super cool mural about the history of the Evil City. No fare machines though.

Vinegar Hill - A neighborhood in Longwood Ward. I was hoping I would find something like they used to brew vinegar there or it smells sour for some reason, but nobody seems to have any idea why it’s called that. Nobody uses this station. No fare machines.

Southgate Center - A shopping center constructed in 1949. Charmingly old-timey and yet irritatingly upper-middle-class. Almost exactly like Promenade except worse in every way. No fare machines.

Crizzling - Yep! It’s in Crizzling! I guess it was very important for people from Crizzling to be able to commute into the city and that’s why they built this entire line. A totally pointless station that really tests my enduring love of all subway stations. It’s not even underground. And it has no fare machines.

Brinell-Montrose Line - Originally the Sea Gate Line, built in 1921 to serve the Montrose area, it later joined the union with the Coastal and Millstone Lines. Unusually, one of its termini (West Castle) is in the middle of the line, because the Millstone Junction Line extended past it in 1943. I have a theory that West Montrose actually used to be the terminus but they changed it so there wouldn’t be twice as many trains on part of the track.

Grove - It’s my understanding that there is a grove of elm trees. I have no idea who uses this station, and it has no identity to match. And no fare machines.

Brinell South - There is nothing in Brinell whatsoever. It’s only notable because it’s on a grid system unlike any other town I’ve ever been to.

Brinell North - Yanus Brinell thought that his stupid town would become a real city if it had some subway stops.

M54 - He was wrong. Oh, yeah, this stop is called M54 because that’s the intersection number. The grid system has letters going one way and numbers going the other way and it makes everything sound heinously stupid. And to add insult to injury, ALL the stations in Brinell have working fare machines.

Arcair - Renamed for the Arcair Building in south Linden when the Seagate Line became the Brinell-Montrose Line. Arcair is a refrigeration and air conditioning company based in Iron Mountain. This station is corporate in a way that’s trying to be cool and totally misses the mark. Bad! Does have fare machines.

Dearborn - A neighborhood in Brambling Hill. I think this is where everyone lives who works in the fancy shops and at the boardwalk. The station is kind of depressing-cute and has no fare machines.

Karona Rd. - A road, not in any particular neighborhood because neither Flatlands, Canal Road, or Brambling Hill wants to claim it. Kinda middle class, unremarkable station with no fare machines.

MPAFT - The Metropolitan Port Authority Ferry Terminal. I love taking the ferry to other cities, the boats are so nice. This station kind of rules, it’s very boat-themed and has all these white-painted catwalks in a way that makes it fun to run around. And, of course, it has fare machines and you can buy ferry tickets in the ferry terminal part.

Six Bells - Named after the Bellringer (officially known as the Six Bells Light). This is the only lighthouse I know of that also had bells to tell time and deliver storm warnings to the city and the people fishing in the harbor. It was built in 1605 and continuously improved until it was sturdy enough to stand for hundreds more years. The Longshoreman is my local lighthouse but I think the Bellringer is just cooler. Very cute station that seems like it was designed by the same people as MPAFT, and has fare machines because there’s honestly not much reason to go there unless you’re a tourist since MPAFT is so close.

Longfellow - Named for the Acacia Longfellow Bridge, which as the name suggests is the longest bridge in the world! It barely beat out the Miette Crosslightly Bridge at 2nd Crossing, which had been the longest bridge in the world for the previous 8 months in 1921. They used to be the Takes-a-village and Pull-together Cable Ferries, which were maybe even more impressive feats of engineering since it’s still almost 3 miles of river to cross and they did it in the 1700s. There’s not much at this stop, though, just a little neighborhood of old houses cut off from the rest of North Bank by the Brandywine Estuary. Badly maintained in kind of a cute way, no fare machines.

Sea Gate - This neighborhood is named for the fact that it’s the gateway to the sea, which I really feel should have been on Back Head or Cape Hook but nobody lives in either of those places, so. Mostly insanely expensive old greenbrick apartments with nice river mouth views, very nice architecture but pretty grimy and no fare machines.

Sentinel St. - Named for the fact that it goes toward the Sentinel. Sea Gate Station is also on Sentinel Street, and Sentinel Street Station is also in Sea Gate, so theoretically their names could be switched. Another pretty but dirty station but does have fare machines. I’ve been trying to figure out if this was the terminus of the Sea Gate Line way back when, because it couldn’t have used Union Station, right?

Tomisin Square - All the way back south since the rest of the stations between North Bank and Montrose have been covered above. Tomisin Square is named for a family who came down the Hallasford River in the 1700s with a bunch of good seeds and farming practices and made South Castle a thriving agricultural region. Very good shops, and the station has cute art. Yes fare machines!

West Montrose - IF this station was built to be the terminus of the Brinell-Montrose Line that would explain why it it looks a little like a fancy wine cellar. Despite the dumb fancy station, West Montrose is where it’s at. Cool independent stores, pretty good cheap restaurants, and surprisingly interesting architecture. More evidence for the original terminus theory: it has fare machines.

Hwy. 40 at Sarch Rd. - I hate the name of this subway station. It is named after both a highway and a street that is really horrible to say. Sarch. Eugh. The station is in the most depressingly pointless part of Montrose and also both grimy and depressing, and has no fare machines.

Salom Pier - Named for one of the piers in Badgett, mostly used for shipping raw cotton in and cloth out to the Howlbank. An okay station. A fine station. Whatever. I can’t remember if it has fare machines.

Nine-Mile Drive - Named for the road that runs from the Hallasford River north of the confluence to the southern edge of Badgett. My map of the Evil City greater metro area confirms it’s about 11 and a half miles long. Kind of a warehouse-y car dealership-y area that I wouldn’t go to if you paid me. No fare machines.

NECR - The North Evil City Railroad completed its first line in 1947. Although it is not a union line and isn’t administrated by MPATH, it’s still known as part of the U and has a far more cordial relationship with the union lines than does the TARR. If you say ‘en ee cee ar’ you’re a cop.

Locust St. - It seems strange to me that NECR decided to put its southern terminus in a place that already had such a high density of subway stations. There’s a Bido literally right outside Locust Street Station but because of the transfers involved it’s much easier to walk from Wharf Street.

Cross St. - Skipping all the way to North Bank, we have the unimaginatively named Cross Street Station.

North End - Yeah, it’s in North End.

Greenmarket Square - Site of a farmers’ market from the 1500s until now! The only place with prices better than your average Goods Barge is the part where they sell vegetables at a discount because they’re starting to go off.

Edgewater Rd. - This road seems to be named for the very short distance it follows the edge of the Barrow River rather than actually being near the coast.

Barrowmouth Ferry - If you want to get literally anywhere by ferry it’s easier to go to MPAFT and they have more destinations. But the Barrowmouth Ferry (if you’re not from around here: pronounce it Ber-mith) has been running for a couple hundred years and they don’t want to stop now.

Roselawn St. - A street.

Woollingfuoy - I love to say Woollingfuoy. Never been there, though.

Backbarrow - Ditto Backbarrow.

Garlsbrood - I LOVE to say Garlsbrood. It used to be a pretty important railroad town, but these days the trains don’t need to stop as often and GST is out of business.

High Hill - Cute town. Kind of kitschy. More train memorabilia than even *I* think is tasteful.

CNR Research Park - The first stop on the northern branch of the NECR, which was completed in 1954. Nobody I have asked has any clue what CNR stands for, or what they research. Maybe another government conspiracy??

Breitseid Place - An experimental suburb of Backbarrow that reportedly has prefabricated houses they have to decorate a LOT to make you forget they all come out of the same mold. Kind of creepy.

Newkirk - What on Earth is in Newkirk? Commuters, I guess.

Orbital Line - Widely agreed to be the most useless rail line, it was completed ten years ago during the economic boom from war manufacturing. Since large portions of it are aboveground or utilize existing tunnels it was relatively cheap to build despite its long track length.

Sharpe St. - Starting up in Sea Gate we have Sharpe Street, named for Mayor Ghiris Sharpe (1878-1886), who was one of the most corrupt mayors we’ve ever had, and that’s saying something. Outrageously sucky station for North Bank, as if the O-Line needed to prove how much it doesn’t deserve to exist. No fare machines.

Callen Yards - A railyard that has been in use since the mid-1700s. I believe this is technically the terminus of the O-Line because it’s where trains go at night (service stops at 1am). And yet it has no fare machines. The architecture is so boring, but given that it’s in Callen Yards that’s forgivable.

Graves Hill - Perhaps the one hill in Evil City not occupied by living rich people. Most of the people who die in Ends or Kill Neck Wards have been buried there, rich or poor. The difference is you’re not allowed to walk on rich people’s graves. They have little wrought-iron fences. I like this station, even though people do live around there it’s always a little somber. No fare machines, though.

South Ends - Ends sucks and I don’t like to be there. I don’t know why it has the vaguely ominous name it has and neither does anyone I’ve asked. This station would be nice if it didn’t have an aura of being in Ends. No fare machines.

Broodway - Named for the road that goes to Garlsbrood. Even stronger Ends aura, but near some okay shops and it does have a sad little mural and one (1) fare machine.

Fester Highlands - If I hadn’t decided to ride the entire circle of the Orbital Line that one time I never would have seen Fester Highlands. I wouldn’t be missing much. I can’t remember anything about this station.

Backstairs - I’ve heard that Backstairs is supposed to be kind of a pun on the fact that it’s at the back end of Hell’s Gate, but if so I don’t get it. It is, however, definitely the coolest neighborhood in the ward. The station has great decoration by local artists, and some art pieces that are made to look like fare machines but don’t give you tokens, so if you’re dumb enough to put your money in there the artists get it as “donations.”

Swift - Named for the Johnathan Swift Bridge that replaced the Swift Cable Ferry at 9th Crossing in 1837. Station that wants to eat you I guess and has no fare machines.

10th Crossing - Named for the site of the Take-it-easy Cable Ferry, the only cable ferry in Evil City still operational besides the one at 3rd Crossing. Take-it-easy has been in dire financial straits since the early 40s when a road bridge was built nearby, especially since the ferry operator (Mr. Milonnillo, he’s kind of famous) refused to raise prices. But since the Orbital Line station was built, a lot more people use the ferry to cross over to it because the parking is so bad! I think Mr. Milonnillo’s friends decorated this station because it’s unusually cute for being in an area no-one gives a gull’s ass about. No fare machines, but I’ve heard Mr. Milonnillo will sell you tokens because people sometimes give them to him instead of money.

West Trestle - Due to the terms of the rental contracts the TARR got MPATH to agree to for shared subway stations, nobody is allowed to build subway stations in their territory, which includes the entire town of Trestle. So MPATH built a station juuuust outside the town boundaries. It’s the only way to get from Trestle to Montrose without taking an incredibly stupid route, so it’s pretty busy and pretty disgusting. Does have fare machines.

Muddy River Park and Ride - A supremely redundant train station right across the river from Crizzling, but I can’t stay mad because the name sounds like a theme park. Muddy River Slip and Slide. Boring open-air station with fare machines.

Hwy. 19 at Hallasford River - This might be the only genuinely useful station on the Orbital line, because prior to 1974 if you lived in the far suburbs you would have to walk several miles and cross at least one river in order to get to the nearest train station, and parking was probably a nightmare there anyway. Depressing, disgusting station with no fare machines.

West Castle East - No, this is not a station in Castle. No, even though it’s 2 blocks from the Brinell-Montrose Line there’s no stop there and you can’t transfer. West Castle is a fake town anyway. Bad architecture and no fare machines.

Castle - Yes, this is a station in Castle. Castle is a very slightly less fake town but the fake tourist castle really hurts their case. The station is really gaudy and they have way too many ads for the casino. They have a slot machine and a bad little news shop but no fare machines.

Bondurant St. - I don’t really know that much about the history of Birchbrake, okay, everyone I could ask is from Evil City or Ramshead. All I know is there’s a Bondurant School of Metallurgy at the ISI. Anyway this station isn’t too bad. Hasn’t got the shine worn off it yet, but no fare machines.

Near North - Another neighborhood of Birchbrake with a lot of warehouses. It’s just north of downtown, which I imagine is how it got its name. The station disappointingly does not match the nearby MSJ stops and is very boring. Fare machines here for some reason.

Brigantine - Brigantine is a weird little not-quite-a-town between Brinell and Long Neck Bay. I can’t tell if it’s trying to be Brambling Hill 2 or if it just wants to be left alone. Don’t think anyone ever uses this stop, and it has no fare machines.

Long Head - Named for the headland north of Long Neck Bay, which is named for the long neck of land that makes it extremely difficult to get into Birchbrake Bay (waves Wreckers Day lantern). Absolutely no reason for there to be a stop here, I can’t remember anything about it.

GST - Garlsbrood Shipping and Transit was a short-lived rail company that only operated from 1897 to 1909. According to old maps it originally went from Garlsbrood, through Ends, to Linden, where I think they were planning to extend to Birchbrake, but they went out of business shortly after building a rail bridge right next to the Nusquam Street bridge. I can’t find anything on what the bridge’s name is, but nobody uses it now. This section is for rumors I’ve heard about ‘the Ghost Line,’ an unreliable rail line made entirely of abandoned stations with tragic pasts. I am not including non-tragic stations on the historic GST Line.

Garlsbrood Station - Okay, just one, but only because it’s spooky. This is the original terminus of the GST. No tragic past here as far as I can tell, unless you count the GST going out of business. It’s closed down but there’s a cool illegal skate park inside and the skate punks say sometimes a completely empty train comes in.

Station in Long Shore - Another original terminus. GST used to own a dock there, and the rails still exist, but I’ve personally never seen a train stop there. It’s where Azalea Lynn Beacon worked and organized, so my aunt calls it Beacon Station.

Secret station under 5th Crossing - I can’t believe the TARR would have ever let another rail company dig under their lines, and I can’t work out the geometry of this, if the GST crossed the river at Nusquam Street. But I’ve been down there and there is a station in the same style as the terminus in Garlsbrood. I didn’t explore too much because I think there were people living in there and I didn’t want to meet them. The only tragic past I can figure for this one is the time Clagg & Starling set the river on fire in the 50s.

Station near the White Star chemical plant in Backstairs - This station is on private property, so maybe it was intended to be used for deliveries to the plant. Again, it isn’t actually on the route that the old maps show for GST, and I wouldn’t even put it on this list if my friend didn’t insist that it’s haunted by the ghosts of people poisoned by improper cyanide storage at White Star 20 years ago.

Johnstown Flood Station - This one is pretty well documented, partially because it has a long informative plaque about the 1848 Johnstown Flood, and partially because someone I know has actually managed to get on a train there! She said it was black with a gray stripe and had more of a nose than the modern subway trains (I’ve never found a photo of the GST from when it was running so I can’t confirm). It was raining hard that day and the river was rising really fast, so she took shelter in what she thought was an abandoned subway station--so imagine her surprise when a train picked her up!

Trapezoid 2 - She got off at the next station, where it wasn’t raining, and it was straight up Trapezoid Station, nothing in between. Except that when she went aboveground there was a burning building in Trapezoid Plaza. She went looking for a pay phone to call the fire department but she couldn’t find any anywhere. Eventually she went home to use the phone there, but the fire department thought she was making a prank call, and when she went back there was no building, on fire or not.

Station in Eimett - The entrance is between two TARR stations, and it’s boarded up. I didn’t manage to get inside, and I can’t figure out what tragedy would have happened there, so this is more of a speculative one. But there aren’t a ton of abandoned subway stations downtown because GST is the only one that actually went out of business instead of merging and keeping its stations.

Station at the bottom of Cutty Hill - My friend’s uncle swears this station wasn’t here 15 years ago, before the phosgene riot, and he’s lived in Fresh Pond his whole life. He said when he was released from the hospital there was a new train station two blocks from his house and nobody else thought it was weird. He admits he could be having some kind of memory problem from being poisoned, but it’s also not on any maps and doesn’t belong to ANY railroad company we could find. My life’s mission is to get my hands on some bolt cutters and break in there.

#evil city #overground

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neonbluewaves · 4 years

Note

Can I request 17-19 with Neon?

Thank u so much anon, specially for asking only three because otherwise these will get sooo long :v

-And then dad told me that I was not allowed to get a piercing. Ever. But it’s my body and I do what I want, you know? Quite literally, too

Neon and Tonks sat on a bench in an empty corridor, the holidays were coming and students were busy packing. Like other years Tonks will cram everything in her trunk last minute and lose a couple of socks on her way to the Express, and like other years, Neon will stay with Nuria in the castle and let the days pass by until classes start again.

-Well you can always ask Jae, he’s known how to do them since year four. But if he tells you he’s giving you a discount don’t trust him, he’ll just give you a high price first and then the actual one so you think he’s being generous.

-Wait, how do you know this? Do you have any piercings?

Neon stares at Tonks for a solid minute before picking all her hair, moving it out of the way so Tonks could see her right ear, showing an industial one at the top, a black ring and a small diamond on the upper lobe and her usual black thick ring at her lobe, then turned her head showing the left ear, an orbital piercing with a small cross and lower on her lobe, again, her characteristic long earring with the three beads and spike.

-I don’t know, Tonks.- she says letting her mane fall down once again. She sticks out her tounge letting her see her last piercing before asking.- do I?

Tonks scratches behind her head embarassed before letting out a small “kinda forgot all that for a moment”. They stay in silence for a while before Tonks opens her mouth again

-So how did your parents react when they saw all those?

She wonders for a moment what to say. The truth obviously not, now’s not the time to open up about dear ol’ mama and papa in a hospital with no notion of the passing time. But saying the haven’t noticed yet won’t do, because they aren’t that hard to see, so instead she just says

-They kinda flipped out but they’re getting used to them.

And Tonks is satisfied with that answer because she just nods. It’s come to a place where Neon feels like Tonks is actually her friend, but she doesn’t share, it’s not her thing, and she doesn’t want her pity, or anyone’s, so she keeps her life as much of a mystery as possible. Then she remembers that year she got Tonks that silly present she found thanks to Peeves. But the thought of her giving Tonks a present that was laying around instead of buying her something now seemed cruel and lazy. Then again back at that year she didn’t really care much about them all. She really had changed huh. Letting out a breath she gets up and holds out her hand for Tonks to take.

-C’mon, let’s go get you that piercing you want, Jae hasn’t packed yet for sure, I’ll pay, it’s my christmas present this year

Tonks gladly takes her hand, a radiant smile on her face, but instead of letting go she uses this to drag Neon towards the common room

-So, do you wanna get any more piercings?- she asks as they practically run through the corridor

-Maybe on the clavicle, who knows, just to be that original

If there’s one thing Tulip learnt quickly, upon meeting Neon Welkin, is that both her and her brother were very hard to guess what they would do or say next. They were a Bertie Bott’s every flavour beans box, obviously full of beans, but you’d never guess what flavors are in there unless you open that box and start tasting every bean.

Both her and Merula had looked everything they had found in Jacob’s room, studied every paper and knew that place like the palm of their hand. But they only saw that. The palm of a hand. Neon got inside that room and took a good look at everything before turning to Tulip and asking “did you find any notebooks? pictures? puzzles?” no, they had not. Just hints that apparently had led them nowhere, since Neon had been the one to enter the othe first Vault before them. She went to a corner, oposite to the entrance while muttering a sad sounding “dissapointing”. She had known Neon for a couple of days and she had managed to irk her with one single word. She picked up a pretty big wooden box and turned it around, broke a small piece from the bottom and a small notebook appeared. “Tadaa” she waved the notebook in front of her face “it was a cute attempt, what you and Merula did, really, very cute.” she scrunched her face in a mocking way, and now Tulip really wished Merula were here to wipe it off, but then she opened the book and showed Tulip a page, talking about some signs he had written and what it could mean, and her tone went from teasing to teaching, and they found some new information by re-arranging some hints. Truly and unexpected surprise.

This time, after two years in this room, they found something that wasn’t related to the Vaults. It quite schocked Neon so she didn’t know what to make of it. It was a picture of a beach. The waves slowly moving towards the sand, and a very pretty woman standing there, holding her staw hat so the breeze doesn’t take it away from her head.

-That’s my mom.- Tulip feels a similar feeling to whiplash. She didn’t imagine her mother to look like that. She didn’t really know how she imagined Mrs.Welkin to look like, honestly. It would have been like Neon, but she had heard before that she looked just like her that, so honestly, there wasn’t anything set in her mind. Still seeing the beautiful young woman looking effortlesly stunning would be shocking for anyone.

-I know this beach, it’s ‘Sainte-Marie’, we went there a couple of times when I was little.

Neon was looking at the photograph with certain sadness and nostalgia. Tulip could picture the woman holding a little Neon near the water so she could splash around a bit.

-What’s your favourite thing to do at the beach? - she asks before she can stop herself. As if Neon would say just like that. It took her a lot to tell her about her parents, she wouldn’t--My brother and I used to make sandcastles, they were terrible, but with some imagination they looked like real life castles. We’d go swimming, looking for seashells or any kind of treasure really, and after that we’d stay under the beach umbrella to play cards with dad and mom, I’d team up with dad and I din’t know what was going on, but we pretended I was the one calling the shots and winning. He told me if I won against him once I had learnt he’d build me a house there.

Tulip had listened to all that in awe, as Neon had been talking the corners of her mouth slightly went up, and her expression softened and her eyes seemed a little wet, shinning like a precious ruby.

-A house there seems lovely.

And Neon bites her lip, because she almost says “then I’ll take you there sometime”.

+ + + + +

-Do you think the average person has the potential to be a hero?

She had read those words somewhere, she didn’t remember where exactly, or when. The question seemed to suddenly pop into her head as she walks up the stairs leaving towards the cursed door guarding the Vault.

The ice had spread throughout the castle, professors, and some students alike, doing their best to help those trapped. Suddenly she realized why that came to mind. Now their safety was in Neon’s hands. Risking oneself to protect others, wasn’t that what heroes did? They thought of what was best for everyone. Was she doing this for that reason, or just the selfish thought of finally finding Jacob, of finally seeing her parents wake from their slumber? She didn’t know. She was too stupid to have answers.

Bill and Penny were right next to her. Were they heroes? they certainly seemed to have the cualities they did. They had agreed to help out of the goodness in their heart, they were kind, good people. She wasn’t that. She was mean and rude, and she got them to help because they had certain abilities she didn’t.

When they had finally managed to open the door, a knight with a sword came out of it, a gust of wind coming from behind him, and in two sweeps with his sword the walking armor does, Bill and Penny find themselves trapped in a chunk of ice.

Neon’s nose and lungs hurt from breathing in the freezing air around the room. She has some frost on her sweater, pants and face. She’s starting to get tired, and the armor is not. It’s not human after all. She’s been holding her ground pretty well if she says so herself, specially for a second year, but she has to stop it soon, or God knows what will be of her companions’ limbs if they stay frozen for long.

Can an average person be a hero? Maybe so. To Neon they looked like average people, living average lives. Maybe Bill and Penny were heroes.

She wasn’t average, and she wasn’t a hero. And right now, as she pointed her wand towards the enemy she decided she was fine with this, because the “heroes” were in need of saving, and Neon was their hope. So screw being a hero, she though, she was extraordinary, a force of nature, unstoppable. And a silly medieval costume could stop two heroes, but it wouldn’t stop Neon Welkin.

#Anonymous #almost didn't write 19 but then I remembered I wrote it for Nuria #writting early Neon/Tulip interactions is fun because they certainly didn't start as besties or anything like that jdgfsdjf #they really grew into each other u_u #have some Neon stuff y'all #neon welkin

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winchesterandpie · 5 years

Text

The Curious Case of the Missing Sweatshirt (Dean Winchester x Reader

Pairing: Dean Winchester x reader

Word Count: 1,889

Warnings: Angst for a while, but it ends fluffy (I promise)

A/N: Here’s another one-shot! I hope you enjoy it! Nobody voted against angst, and I felt like writing it, so HERE IT IS. Don’t worry, it ends with fluff because I can’t write things that end in angst. Regardless, I don’t apologize 😈This fic has been minimally proofread because I’ve got a bunch of exams and I’m trying to get into a research lab, so I didn’t have a ton of time to proofread, so please excuse mistakes!! Gif is not mine, and feedback and reblogs are welcome! Love you guys!!

Series Masterlist

I hadn’t thought the day would come where I would return to the bunker without either Winchester. Yet here I was, walking away from the aftermath of a hunt, and I didn’t see them anywhere. They were stronger, more experienced than I was. Logically I figured that I would be the first of the three of us to kick the bucket.

“Cas! Cas, please! Help me!” I called desperately. “Please,” I said as my voice broke, giving way to sobs. I pushed my way out of the ruined house, scanning for any sign that the Winchesters were still alive. Please don’t let them be gone. Still in denial, I dug through the ruins as well as I could, hobbled by an injury to my side that bled heavily. Then I found it.

No. No, it can’t be. Please no. My eyes couldn’t deny the evidence before them. Dean’s prized handgun sat abandoned next to the biggest pile of rubble. Grief washed over me as I sank to my knees. Neither the growing pain in my side nor the threat of emergency services arriving allowed for mourning. I had no choice but to leave. Gingerly, almost reverently, I picked up the gun and limped to the Impala.

As I drove away, a heavy rain began to fall, sealing with finality the dreadful facts I didn’t want to face. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. With the last of my willpower, I made it back to the bunker and patched myself up. It felt odd to do a job that Dean had always done.

The reality of that last hunt came crashing down on me and I fought hard against the tide of emotion that threatened to overcome me but there was nothing I could do. The grief was too fresh and I was helpless against it.

Suddenly furious at the universe, I threw the pillows from my bed at the wall one by one. When that didn’t satisfy the ache in my heart, I moved on to upend the dresser. Then the nightstand. Then anything I could find that could be made a mess of, shouting angrily the whole time. Why should my room look alright if nothing in my world was?

“How could you?” I shouted at the ceiling, the words directed at… Chuck? The universe? Death? I didn’t know, and to be honest I didn’t care. “It should have been me! Not them!” My fist flew into the wall, bloodying my knuckles.

“It should have been me,” I could only repeat hopelessly, almost like a prayer, an attempt to get whatever cruel power took them to take me instead and let them go. As my eyes blurred, I stumbled down the hall to a different bedroom. A soft blanket laid invitingly over the bed, and I crumpled onto it.

My strength fled and I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. They flooded, hot and wet, down my face until they ran out of water to spend. Tear tracks dried, hiccups set in, a headache pounded at my temples, until at last I fell asleep.

“What do you say? Victory dinner tonight?” Dean grinned at me from the kitchen table.

“Burgers?”

“Sounds perfect to me.”

“Ooh, and don’t forget pie!”

“That’s my girl,” he chuckled, sweeping my into his arms, holding me against him. “Can’t forget the pie.” Pressing a playful kiss to my lips, his wicked fingers began to dance up and down my side, taking advantage of my ticklishness.

“Hey, no! No fair!” I gasped through giggles, falling back onto the couch and trying desperately to curl into a ball to avoid the tickles. “Dean!” Sammy was rolling his eyes at us, I could feel it. “Fine! I yield!”

“Alright, sweetheart,” Dean laughed, his hands instead coming up to cup my face.

“If you two lovebirds aren’t too busy, I think I’ve figured out something with the monster we’re hunting.” A grin pulled at my lips at the interruption.

“Well, Sammy, I think we’ve wasted enough time pining for each other, it’s high time we had some fun.” Unable to resist his pout, I pulled him down for a quick kiss that he reciprocated appreciatively. As we separated again, Dean rested his forehead against mine before stage-whispering, “I suppose we’d better get this hunt over with, huh?”

“That’s probably a good idea,” I responded, our lips brushing with every word.

“So get this…”

“Alright, now we’ve got to be fast. Get in, get out, before the neighbors notice.” The three of us were gathered around the Impala’s trunk, picking out our favored machetes. “Y/N and I will circle around back, go in that way. Sam, you go through the front, clear the upstairs. Everyone got it?” With a curt nod, and a last ‘good luck’ to Sam, we split up.

Dean and I made our way easily through the back door, met with no resistance. Within a few minutes, we’d checked the main floor, which turned out to be completely empty, and we’d met back up with Sam.

“That leaves the basement,” I whispered, a feeling of unease starting to rise from the pit of my stomach.

“Has this seemed… too easy to you guys?” Sam asked hesitantly.

“Something’s not right…” Dean trailed off as he caught a flash of movement in the next room. Immediately, we were on the alert, moving stealthily to the room it had come from.

The moment we stepped into the room, the vamps jumped at us from every imaginable corner of the room. For every one that we cut down, another two took its place. All of a sudden, the floor shook beneath us. It was almost as if…

“This place’s coming down!” Sam shouted over the din of the fight. Another shockwave through the floor caused a hole to open up in the center of the room, and the ceiling trembled.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” It seemed that the vampires had the same idea, for the survivors vanished quickly. A final shockwave left only enough time to meet Dean’s horrified gaze with widened eyes before the floor fell out from under us, the ceiling coming crashing down to join it.

I started awake, my breath coming in heaving gasps as I slowly remembered where I was. With a shiver, I realized the room had grown cold and sought out something to keep myself warm. Reaching for the nightstand, my fingers were met with a soft fabric, one that I quickly identified as Dean’s hoodie. I hesitated only for a moment before pulling it on.

His scent, comforting and warm, met my nose and I curled tighter under the blankets. For now, the hoodie kept the sadness at bay. If I closed my eyes, it felt almost as though he were just on a quick run for supplies and would be back soon. Nothing dangerous. Nothing unusual. If I tried hard enough, I could almost hear Sam moving about in the library. If only...

Meanwhile… Conveniently in the library

Sam and Cas stood worriedly over Dean, waiting for him to wake up. Cas had arrived to find Y/N gone, but quickly realized that the brothers still needed saving. He had healed them both, but Dean’s injuries had been worse, and he was taking longer to recover his strength.

“Cas?” he mumbled as his eyes squinted open. “Where’s Y/N?” When they didn’t immediately respond, he started to rise from the couch before freezing. “Where are we?”

“Uh, we’re back at the bunker, Dean.” Sam was relieved his brother was alright, but was nearly as worried about Y/N.

“And we just left her?”

“She had already left by the time I found you,” Cas said. “She came back here - your car is parked in the garage.”

“So where’d she go?” With a groan, Dean forced his sore muscles to support him as he rose. When no one had an answer, he continued. “Well, we’ve gotta find her. Sammy, try calling her, would you?”

“Our phones are no good, remember? They, uh, they kinda got crushed when the house came down on top of us.”

“Of course,” he sighed in exasperation. “I guess we’ll have to split up and search the place.”

And back to your POV

“Sweetheart? Are you in here?” I heard his voice, so familiar that my heart ached to hear it. I had thought my eyes had run out of tears, and yet I felt new ones gathering in my eyes. The door slowly creaked open, but I was too lost in my grief to hear it. “Sammy, I found her!”

“Hey, what’s wrong?” The voice continued to come closer, but I knew it wasn’t him. It simply couldn’t be him. But then the bed sank under the weight of something, and I shot upright, fully prepared to defend myself.

“Dean?” No, Dean is gone. This has to be some cruel trick. I froze, my mind and my heart fighting. On the one hand, I knew he couldn’t really be here, but on the other I desperately hoped he was.

“Y/N, it’s me, it’s ok,” he said quietly, his hands out in front of him, as if to show he meant no harm.

“How do I know you aren’t a shapeshifter or some other monster?” One tear trickled from the corner of my eye, then another. My heart was winning. But I had to know.

“D’you have a silver knife? Holy water?” I looked around for them, before shaking my head forlornly. The pain had overcome my instincts, and now it seemed I would pay the price. “That’s ok. It’s not a problem, sweetheart.” Then, he turned toward the door, calling, “Sammy, I need to borrow your knife. And some holy water.”

The taller Winchester came slowly into the room, the requested items extended carefully. Quickly, Dean made a small slice, before Sam had the pleasure of splashing some of the holy water on his face.

“See? It’s me, sweetheart. I promise,” Dean said quietly, arms stretching out for me.

“Dean.” Relief made my tears well to overflowing. Within a moment, his arms were wrapping around me, pulling me firmly against him. “I thought… I thought you died.” The words escaped almost brokenly through the sobs.

“We made it, though. I’m right here,” he murmured into my ear as his hand rubbed soothing circles up and down my back. “It’s alright, I’ve got you. I’m here now.” He held me, whispering reassurances for a long time as the tears dried. Sam had left us our privacy, for which I was grateful.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” I said as I pulled back, my hands coming up to the sides of his face, re-memorizing every plane as though he could disappear beneath my fingertips at any moment. When my fingers stilled, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“What do you think of my hoodie? Pretty comfy, huh?” Dean grinned softly at me.

“Well, it’s no substitute for the real Dean, but it’s definitely comfy.” I returned the smile, content in his arms. He hummed happily, squeezing me reassuringly.

“Think we should have that victory dinner now?”

“I’d say we definitely earned it. And a pie.”

“A whole pie?”

“After the day you put me through? Honey, I deserve all the pies.”

Forever Tags

@riddikulus-obsessions @addictionmarvel @peppermint--teas @mercedesbarnes @javapeach

The Curious Case Tags

@krystallynx

Feedback and reblogs are appreciated and I will love you forever!! Tag list is OPEN!

#Dean Winchester x reader #Dean x reader #dean winchester x you #dean x you #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #The Curious Case of the Missing Sweatshirt #angst #fluff #argh what is this

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coppoladelrey · 6 years

Text

Heartless - Part 2

Summary: Bucky was deeply in love with Natasha, but she leaves him for another guy, and he doesn’t know that. After a few weeks in his room, he goes buy a coffee, and he meets you, the opposite of Natasha. He decides to date you, to prove Natasha that he moved on, what will happen when you find out?

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: sad Bucky, and Natasha being horrible.

Tagging: @float-autumn-leave, @sebsunshinestan, @superflashallen, @learisa, @buffy-morgendorffer-01, @ly--canthrope, @joannie95, @wtfholland, @nikolett3, @buckyisthatyou, @atomicfandombomb, @akamaiden.

Heartless Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Bucky Barnes was depressed, the whole team knew it, including Natasha, but she was the only one that didn't care about the emotional health of Bucky. Steve tried to drag him out of his bedroom, but Bucky refused, the only thing that Bucky was doing outside of his bedroom was gym in the middle of night, so that he could sleep. The whole team tried to do their part, Wanda baked cookies for him, but the super soldier didn't eat them, Steve tried to talk to him about the 40’s, but it turned out to be a monologue, rather than a conversation. Even Tony tried to get him out, with the excuse of building him a new arm, but Bucky was adamant, he wouldn’t leave his room, not even for a mission.

The situation went on for three weeks, and Tony couldn’t take it anymore, so he called Natasha. She was the only one that could take Bucky out of his state, and that’s what Tony wanted, he needed Bucky for missions, at the same time he didn't want to bring more pain for Bucky, but desperate times calls for desperate measures.

The Black Widow entered the lab, Tony was working in a new prosthetic arm for Bucky, he just needed the former Winter Soldier to try it on, but his attempts of alluring Bucky to his lab, miserably failed.

“What do you need me for, Tony?” Natasha asked, she knew why Tony called her in his lab, but she would rather pretend to be innocent, of course, Tony could see right through her act.

“You know why, go talk to him. You broke the guy, at least try to fix him.” Tony came back to work, Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, but she was wise, and decided not to speak.

Tony Stark could read Natasha Romanoff like a child’s book, he knew that the former spy was manipulative, had no regard for others peoples feelings, and pretended to be an innocent girl on everybody’s eyes, Natasha had no idea how Tony was so successful on reading her, she was a former spy, highly trained, but the billionaire saw her façade, he never spoke anything against her, Natasha was far too valuable for the team to let her personal life interfere.

Natasha took a deep breath, and knock on Bucky’s door. She didn't want to go there, she didn't want to see Bucky, she was happy with Clint, but she was terrified of Tony, he could easily expose her, the secret affair with Clint, how she manipulates all of the team to do everything she wants.

She knocked again, no response.

“Bucky is me.” She announces, and Natasha can hear Bucky moving around the room, he opened the door, the smile on his face, was filled with hope and happiness, to her it was the most pathetic thing, Bucky was still deeply in love with her, that was the first time he smiled since she left. Natasha knew that, but that didn't move her.

“Nat, I missed you so much, baby.” He hugged her, but she didn't hug him back, she wanted to get this over with, as soon as possible. Natasha gently pushes Bucky away, the simple action, hurts Bucky even more, she didn't want him back, the super soldier keeps thinking that he’s not good enough for the woman of his dreams.

“James, you need to get out of this room, the team is worried.” The team. Not her, she couldn’t care less about Bucky, but for him, the woman being in his door is enough evidence that she cares, and still loves him.

“I will, for you, baby.” Bucky smiles, and Natasha fights the urge of rolling her eyes. She has no idea the exact moment when everything that Bucky does irritates her to no end.

“You should go out, meet new people, maybe go on a date.” She suggests, and Bucky shook his head, quickly.

“You’re the only one I want.” He replies, he held hope in his eyes, that maybe his fallen angel will take him back to her warm embrace, but he doesn’t know that his fallen angel is heartless.

“We need this time apart, I need to find myself, maybe you can find someone worthy of your love, James.” Specialists would argue if the woman is a high functioning sociopath, but Natasha has feelings, but she choose not to use them on certain people, and the super soldier in front of her is the primary person that she chooses not to use her feelings, for her he’s just a guy that would take her back, no matter what she does.

“You’re that person, you’re the only one I want.”

“James, get out of this room. Go meet new people and enjoy life.” Bucky watches the woman he loves walk away, her hips swaying, he wanted nothing more to have her in his arms again.

In that moment Bucky decided to do what Natasha suggested him, he came to the conclusion that it was the only way to get her back, was to pretend that he wasn’t heartbroken anymore, that him and her could co-exist in the same team without being a couple.

In the next weeks Bucky was apparently the same again, he was going on missions, talking and laughing with the team on movies nights, he didn't try to talk to Natasha, he was giving her the space she needed. But the former assassin was hoping that the Black Widow would miss him, that she would finally realize that he is the man that she wants and need, in her life.

The winter was almost over, but Bucky didn't got out of the Tower, he prefered the comfort the Tower provided him, despite acting like nothing happened, Bucky was still heartbroken because of Natasha, he cried himself to sleep every night. For everyone in the team, Bucky was himself again, but he was hurting because of the breakup, he was incredibly good at hiding his feelings, even from Steve.

One afternoon everyone was at the living room, watching a random movie, and Bucky wanted a coffee, but there wasn’t any at the kitchen, so he decided to go on a coffee shop, something he hasn’t done in months. So he gathered all the courage he had and went to the coffee shop near the Tower.

Bucky opened the door, the smell of coffee and loud conversations filled his senses, and it was extremely soothing to Bucky, he thought that he should’ve done that a long time ago, for the first time he wasn’t thinking about his former lover, he was taking in the small coffee shop, the art on the walls, people on their cell phones, people working, typing on the notebooks, modern day technology was appealing to Bucky, and he rejoiced from the fact that everything was very accessible.

He went to the barista, who gave him a warm smile.

“A black coffee, please.” He informed her, and typed his order.

“Name?” She asked politely.

“James.” He replied, the barista nodded and put his name on the cup.

Bucky sat on a chair, he was patiently waiting for his coffee, he wasn’t anxious about anything, Bucky wasn’t thinking about Natasha, about his broken heart, his mind was wondering on anything in particular, just the coffee that he was waiting.

“James.” A barista screamed, Bucky sat up and went to the balcony to pick up his coffee.

“Y/N.” That same barista screamed, and you ran and picked your drink.

Bucky didn't saw you, and bumped into you, almost spilling hot coffee on you, but luckily he didn't.

“Easy there.” You laughed, and Bucky looked at you.

You were like the spring that was coming after that harsh winter, you represented hope, freshness, everything in your smile, you were kind hearted, everything about you were like spring, fresh and positive.

“Okay.” Bucky was still looking at you, he was in awestruck, he never met someone like you.

“I’m Y/N.” You stretched your hand for him to shake it, Bucky shakes your hand, hesitatingly. He was scared of what he was feeling, the super soldier was still in love with Natasha, but you brought an entire foreign feeling to him, a sense of peace, which was confusing to him, since Natasha was the one that brought that kind of feelings.

“I’m Bucky.” He replies, Bucky had a grin on his face, he was hypnotized by you.

“Yeah, I know. You’re an Avenger, you’re kinda famous.” Again with your smile, he thought. It was inexplicably warm, and peaceful, it was like you had no worries in your life, it was like God put you on earth to shine his dark and broken heart.

“Well, yeah, I guess that’s true.” Bucky Barnes was flustered, he was blushing, and you couldn’t believe how adorable he looked.

“Anyway, I gotta go.” You informed, you were late for work, and you couldn’t be more annoyed, you wanted to spend time with the Avenger.

That’s when Natasha’s words came to his mind, that he should meet new people, he came up with an idea. He wanted to show Natasha that he was moving on, that he could find someone that loves him too. In his logic, if he dated you, Bucky could show Natasha that he was desirable, and that way she would want to be with him again. But for that to happen, he needed to play with your feelings, Bucky reasoned with himself that playing with your feelings, a complete stranger, was a small price to pay, in exchange for the love of his life back in his loving arms.

“Y/N, would you like to go on a date with me?” You smiled again, and that foreign feeling inside of Bucky came back.

He felt something for you, that was unquestionable, but whatever fling he felt for you, trumps the burning love, passion and desire he has for Natasha.

“Straightforward, huh?” You laughed. “I like that, I’ll give you my number, we can go on a date.” You wrote your number on a napkin, you gave it to him, and you left the coffee shop.

Bucky was staring at the napkin for at least ten minutes, you were a good person, you were positive, you had no trace of evil inside you. But for him to have Natasha back, he needed to use you, he just needed to make sure that you never find out the truth behind his motives.

#marvel imagine #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x you #bucky barnes angst #bucky angst #buckynat #marvel

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kingdomofkitten · 5 years

Text

Last Minute and Lasting Memories

¥ 56,930.

¥ 113,860.

¥ 170,790!

¥ 569,299!

¥ 11,385,986!

The hyena simply stood aghast, at all of the prices laid out in front of him. These had to be the wrong price tags, right? All for some nice jewelry? No, they seemed to be correct, much to his horror, and disappointment. In all fairness, perhaps this was merely karma.

Haida, admittedly, was a touch late. It was already Christmas Eve, and he hadn’t gotten anything for Retsuko, or Ikari. He had been so busy and stressed out with work, that he didn’t even have the idea of Christmas gifts dance around in his head until just today. As if a sudden 100 ton piled onto his back, which already had a bunch of anvils on it. But whatever, he was out shopping, might as well get it over with. He went through the mall like a hawk, trying to find good sales. He had to fight to get the latest paycheck, so he wanted to make sure he wasn’t breaking the bank account today. But at the same time...it was for his wife! And his son! He wanted to make it something special. They were special to him, so it made sense. So, something super important and awesome for them, and cheap enough so they can still pay the bills.

WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO FIND ONE OF THOSE, WOULDN’T IT?!

But no! Everything is marked up like it’s an auction! He had to get away, before his sanity was gone. He ran off, and found himself back outside. The snow, and the lights practically blinded him. He was so confused. So petrified. Christmas….wasn’t always the greatest for him. It had been some time since what happened at the hospital, and the stuff that followed that Christmas, but the memory, even with all the wonderful ones that followed, is still burned into his memory. And now it plans to be even worse, with Ikari now here. Ugh, why couldn’t this happen without him?! …..wait, how could he even think that?! Aagh! Haida ran everywhere he could. Toy stores, make-up stores, everywhere...they were all closing down. “No...no, NO! COME ON!” Haida exclaimed, as he saw time running out for him. “No, PLEASE! SOMEBODY! ...anyone?!” At the end, he only saw one shop left.

A secondhand store.

He shuddered. The mere embarrassment. Retsuko, a practical angel in his eyes, who deserves nothing less than ROYALTY...and here he was, buying some junk that was passed down by someone who wanted a quick buck. “Disgusting,” he thought, as he went inside. “You should be ashamed of yourself. You are making a mockery out of her! What kind of man are you?!” But what choice did he have? Just go in, find some moderately nice stuff, and run out. That’s all. Dignity be damned. He wandered the aisles, looking for something to stand out to him. What would a girl like Retsuko like? He’s been with her for years now. Just a few months ago, he married her! And yet, somehow, when it comes to finding a good gift for her, he could never put two and two together, for some reason. He knows her from front to back, but here he was. Whatever. It’s guessing time.

He browsed shelves up and down. It was actually impressive how much stuff you can find in one of these stores. Old video games, clothing, appliances, DVDs, toys...and yet, nothing that could potentially entice a late-20s red panda….actually, wait, he thought, what’s this? He saw, in the jewelry section, a very, VERY pretty necklace. Which, alone, is not that interesting. But he looked closer, and saw...it was a rock necklace. Like, not that it was made of rock, it just had that aesthetic to it. Guitars, amps, skulls, the devil horns gesture, the works. And in it all were some lovely diamonds embedded in them. Somehow, he had a gut feeling. “She’s going to like this.” He grabbed the necklace, noticed it was 11,000 yen. Honestly? Not bad. That will do. He put it in his basket. “Now, to find a toy for Ikari.” What would a 2-year old be into? Probably just a blanket, still, or-

Wait.

Is that, Retsuko?

Certainly looks like her. She’s just browsing the store, looking through the racks upon racks. What was she doing here? Does she know Haida was there? Is it a hallucination, to emphasize how much Haida failed by going to this store? Oh, crap! She turned towards him! He backed away, before she could notice. “Phew! That was a close one,” he thought to himself, as he suddenly eyed something. He walked closer towards what appeared to be a stuffed animal. A dinosaur, to be exact. Obviously this was own by some child at some point, as it appears one of the eyes is missing. Still, there was kind of a charm about it. Haida couldn’t quite explain it, but it appealed to him in some capacity. He wondered about Ikari. Could he like it? “I mean, it’s not like he’ll really notice it’s worn out right now. He’s 2.” Haida thought. So, he grabbed it. Now to pay for the stuff, and get out, before Retsuko notices him.

Walking out of that store felt weird. He accomplished what he set out to do….and yet, it still felt like something was unfinished. Come to think of it, it felt that way for every Christmas, for the past few years now. What was it? It was odd, whatever it was. Being with Retsuko managed to improve Haida’s life in every capacity...except for the alleged most wonderful time of the year. For some bizarre reason, every Christmas so far has been happy, and joyous, yes! But also….empty. Incomplete. What was it? Oh, well. Probably best to head home…..perhaps it was the gifts themselves? Like, they WERE, in the end, last minute gifts. It’s not like he put much thought into getting them. Perhaps that was the problem? ...but wait, last year, he and Retsuko paid to go see some show that evening! It was fun, they had good laughs, a beautiful night! And yet….it still felt off. Whatever it was, it was beginning to bug Haida. What was it?! WHAT?!

*bzzt bzzt*

A text. From Retsuko. He opened it up, to see what she wrote. “Hey, Haida! I was wondering, could you meet me and Ikari up at that soba shop in town? I think you know the one I’m referring to. At least, I HOPE you do. ;)” ...huh. Yeah, he could actually remember which one she was talking about. Why did she want to meet there? Is that where some party is going on? “Hmm….alright, I guess I won’t question it.” He uttered, as he began making his way there.

Through the door, he could see the wife and child, bundled up in adorable little jackets ordering soba. He smiled, although truthfully, he was worried about his gifts to them. Will they like them? Will they hate them? Only one way to find out. He entered, and saw Retsuko turn to him. “Honey!” She exclaimed, with a bright smile on her face. He could only blush at her precious gaze. “H-hey, Retsuko! Hi, Ikari!” “Christ, I’m still like before we ever went out.” He thought to himself, as he continued. “S-so, what’s up? What are we doing here?” She simply giggled. “I just figured it would be a bit of a special place for us. I already ordered you a bowl, just so you know.” Retsuko answered. “Special place? The hell is she talking about?” Not like it mattered, as the bowls were set out, ready to be eaten. Haida scarfed his down rather quickly. Being so frantic to find a good gift meant he effectively starved himself throughout the whole day. “Ah, that hit the spot!” He sighed out in relief, as he turned to see his wife give a tiny bit to Ikari...who promptly squirmed at the mere taste. “Yucky!” The child exclaimed, causing the parents to laugh. “Oh, you’ll get used to it, buddy,” said Retsuko, sighing, and looking….sad? She wasn’t sobbing, or anything, but Haida noticed, she didn’t quite have the glow she usually does. What...what was wrong?

“...Retsuko?” Haida asked, concerned. “Hmm? Yes, sweetie?” She turned to him, possibly trying to hide those hurt emotions. To no avail, alas. “Are you okay? You look down.” Retsuko only stared at him in shock. He clearly noticed. “...um..y-y-yeah! Yeah. A-okay.” “.....Retsuko, you’re lying. What’s the matter? You can tell me.” He got closer to her, seeing her worn face looking down. “....promise you won’t laugh. It’s not funny to me.” She muttered, as he holds her hand. “I promise.” He replied, in the most earnest voice she possibly ever heard him speak in. She looked, and stared deep into his eyes. He had a look of worry, as if the world could suddenly disappear, at any moment. She sighed, and spoke.

“I get really sad around Christmas, these past few years. About what happened at the hospital.”

“...huh?” Haida looked even more confused than before. “I...sigh, even explaining it is weird! Okay, remember when you poured your heart out to me, at the hospital, when you got sick?” “I do...I recall you saying you didn’t want to pursue a relationship then. Honestly, made sense, given you had just had that break-up, probably should’ve thought abou-” She stopped him. “Well...I heard you got pretty depressed after that…” It had been some time since that event, so Haida had to think about it a bit. How long, 5 years ago? ...wow, had it actually been that long already? “....yeah, I was pretty bummed.” He suddenly answered. “I...also found out that Christmas was especially hard on you, since...well, that was when I was going through that social media nonsense.” “I mean, I saw a picture you took with two fake wine glasses, implying you were with some dude, so yeah, that kinda put me in a bit of a funk, so…” He joked, but he saw she was still upset. “...erm, sorry, Retsuko.” “It was fine. At the time, all of that kind of just blew past me. Even our chat towards the end, which was very lovely at the time. And was a great indicator of things to come, I might add. But some time later, after we had started dating, Fenneko told me about all of it. It was just a silly drunken thing, I’m assuming to her...but I couldn’t get the images out of my brain. These thoughts of you in tears, drinking away your pain...all because of my own ignorance, and my shooting you down...there would be nights I would have horrible nightmares about that time, and I would wake up with tears streaming down my face. And even after we became much closer, even after Ikari was born, even now, as we’re married…..that feeling, of dread, of sorrow, of regret...they still hover above me.”

At that moment, Haida’s heart plummeted. This was someone he loved, deeply! Someone he knew as being a beacon of light in a dark dystopia such as the Japanese work environment! Obviously, he knew she wasn’t always going to be happy (she DID get mad a lot), but the fact that she said all of this, that his own pitiful reactions to her decisions all those years back now haunt her? Especially around one of the happiest times of the year! She shouldn’t be so depressed around this time! Oh, god, how did he never notice?! Was...was this the emptiness he was noticing? Was this the nagging feeling he had creeping around him? “Retsuko…,” he was only able to let out, feeling like a broken man after hearing this. “...I-I picked this place, because...well, it was a great place to remind me, Christmas...it’s not some fancy dinner, or some big social thing you have to do, in order to be loved...it’s something you spend with your family. Your friends. People you care about, people who care about you….people you love,” she continued, caressing his hand. “...still, even if that were the case, it doesn’t change how much guilt I have for putting you through all of that. If I could, I would go back, and jump onto you in that hospital bed, saying yes until I couldn’t speak anymore. Maybe all of this would’ve happened sooner, if I did that, and you wouldn’t have had such a bad Christmas then....I’m sorry, Haida, I’m sure you didn’t want to hear any of that.”

“....actually, Retsuko? Far from it. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.”

“Huh?,” she questioned, looking at the hyena, smiling warmly at her. “Firstly, you’re right. Christmas isn’t some big thing you have to pull all the stops for. It’s something you need to spend with the people around you, who care for you. Something I probably should’ve remembered earlier today, honestly.” He looked away, slightly embarassed. “Oh, right, when you were at the secondhand store? I saw.” Retsuko winked, making Haida beet red. “THAT BEING SAID...secondly….you know, maybe if you had said yes at the hospital, things would have happened sooner….but by that same token….they may not have happened at all. We don’t know what would’ve happened to us. The fact is it happened, and now we’re at this point in our lives. Even back at that time, I just considered that moment ‘ancient history’, and just tried to move on, occasionally trying again...to little avail, sure, but it was something. And yet, look where all of that got us to. We’re now married. We have a son. We’re living pretty alright, right now. And we got friends and families that have our backs, no matter what….what I’m saying is, if given the chance to change the events of that day, I wouldn’t change a single second. If it meant being in the same home with you, being able to help you put Ikari to bed, helping you deal with all the bullshit at work, hearing you scream your head off, if it means being able to wake up to you, in my arms, desperately trying to get up for work, and us saying that we love each other, if it means all of that…...I’m willing to take the heartbreak of that day a hundred times over.”

The shop went silent.

“H-Haida…” Retsuko uttered, before jumping him, and giving him a long, tight embrace. Haida was taken aback slightly, before holding her closely as well. Ikari gently walked towards them, and joined in the hug. “...isn’t Christmas wonderful, Haida?,” asked Retsuko. “It is….speaking of, probably should get the gifts out of the way, huh?” They break the hug, as Haida grabs out his presents to them. “P-please understand, I was rushing, I only got around to getting these today…” He held out the gifts, the necklace to Retsuko, and the dinosaur to Ikari, wincing away. Retsuko was the first to react, a gasp coming from her. “Oh, Haida, I love it! It’s beautiful!” She exclaimed, observing the necklace, and every detail on it. Ikari simply grabbed the dinosaur, and proceeded to hug it tightly. Haida only looked, a bit in shock. “...huh. I somehow wasn’t expecting any of this. I guess I just thought...well, it was you guys, I didn’t want to seem like I was disappointing you,” said Haida, with which Retsuko laughed. “It’s fine! As long as it’s from you, I am perfectly okay with it. Besides, I think this oughta look good on me, huh?” “Well, obviously it would, given it would be worn by you.” Haida replied, with a wink. “Mhmhm! ...plus, if it makes you feel any better, Haida...I was at that store to get your present too.” She similarly looked slightly embarrassed at saying that, as she handed him...a coffee mug. “You remember that mug I accidentally broke in a fit of rage once?” “Yeah?” Haida answered. “Well, I tried all day to find another one like it, and I was only able to find one at that store. It had an awful smudge on it, though, so I wrote on it with a red marker. He looked at the mug. Indeed, it was the “No. 1 Papa” mug he had previously...except now he noticed the extra writing.

“(and husband!)”

Tears began to seep through, as he looked at Retsuko with the biggest smile he could possibly give. “Oh, thank you! I love it!,” said Haida, as she looked at him in surprise. “O-oh! No problem, Haida!” How adorable, she doesn’t know how much this really meant to him. Not just because of the circumstances that led them both to this point, and coming together this holiday season….but also because he really liked that mug, and was happy to have it again. As the three happily look over their presents, Retsuko looks over her phone, to check on notifications from Fenneko, when she noticed a particular app. “....you know, I haven’t done an Instagram post in a while….wanna do some pics?” She said with a small smirk. “....let’s.”

And so they did. Several photos were shot, both inside the Soba shop, with all three flexing their gifts, and the food, and some outside, with them running across the streets, posing in front of a giant Christmas tree, and Retsuko and Haida getting close, and kissing. Enough for some silly post with “Hanging with the family this Christmas!”, or something along those lines. As such, they started walking home, with Retsuko typing out something. It was seemingly a long thing to write, Haida realized. “Hey, how long does it take to say ‘Merry Christmas,’ anyways?,” he joked, causing some small laughter from the red panda. “You’ll see what it actually says, soon enough.” Later that night, as the two began falling asleep in their bed, she finally reached out for her phone, and posted those images. “...what the...you just now got to posting those?” Haida asked, just barely awake. “Mm-hmm. Check your phone, if you want to know why.” Haida grabbed out his phone, and opened up the app. Indeed, he saw all the photos taken. Selfies, food pics, fun little night on the town, it was all enough for him to smile...but then, he saw what she had wrote.

“A few years ago, I rejected a hyena I knew, named Haida, and told him I only saw him as a friend. Just earlier this year, we exchanged vows, and became husband and wife. And now, here we are, at this holiday season, with our happy toddler, as we continue onto the new year, creeping ever closer. But before that, Christmas is coming up. By the time you’re reading this, it probably already has come. And with that, I want to say something that I’ve been keeping in mind as of these past few years. If you know people, even ones like Haida, hold them close. Keep them near you. Believe it or not, you’d be surprised how important those people can be to you. Maybe you won’t be as lucky as I was. Maybe you’ll find, at the end, you two are still just friends. But even that’s fine! Who knows? Even then, those people may very well change your life in the best of ways. Haida, I love you! And I hope that this post, made on the very last minute of Christmas Eve, makes you smile tonight, and all throughout tomorrow. To everyone reading, Merry Christmas!”

Indeed, it made him smile, and will all throughout tomorrow.

“I love you too, Retsuko. Merry Christmas.”

OH MY SWEET JESUS I AM ACTUALLY DONE AWONFJLFBNAOUJSNA

Yes, it’s finally here! Like I said, this was majorly impacted by the recent Christmas special (to where I actually changed the original name, Last Minute, to fit with the new direction), and as such, now, just an hour or two before Christmas eve (at least, in my time), here it is! ...almost fitting in a way, huh? Well, in any regard, Merry Christmas! Or Happy Hanukkah! Or Happy Kwanzaa! Or Happy Winter Solstice! Or Happy.....Life Day? I dunno, you do you, I guess. :P

#aggretsuko #Aggressive Retsuko #retsuko x haida #Haida #Retsuko #Ikari #christmas #christmas special

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yeosanggf · 5 years

Text

A Christmas Chenle

Pairing: Zhong Chenle x Reader

Summary/Request: You and Chenle are in choir together and are assigned to decorate the tree for your school’s festivities. | Hi uwu I absolutely love the way you write💗 if you have the time, could you please do something fluffy with Chenle pls? I’ve been looking for some Chenle fluff and I can’t really find any:/ If you don’t have time it’s totally fine hehe I hope you have a great day/night uwu💗💗 @maaaaaaaaatroshyka

Genre: fluff

A/N: if you dont celebrate Christmas, dont worry i have many chenle fics planned! I hope this takes your mind off some sad stuff :( i know my fellow shawols must be having a hard time so may this serve as a happy distraction! much love - dia

“You’ll go down in history!” The men’s choir finished their final rehearsal. Winter Break’s Eve was approaching swiftly and every year your school would hold a celebratory assembly to hold festivities, perform skits, and sing songs about Christmas, Hanukkah, and other worldwide winter holidays. In three days, you and the boys would perform for your school at this annual Christmas event. Mrs. Yang, the choir director, had chosen you out of the girl’s choir to join the men’s this year to sing soprano. There were a few boys who could hit the high notes, but not enough. You’d be singing alongside Lee Donghyuck, Moon Taeil, and Zhong Chenle, the last of whom was in your grade.

You rehearsed in the Performance Hall. For three of the four seasons, it was a lackluster room; usually, the red carpets were the only pop of color, the only thing that drew the eye upon entrance. During the Holidays, the Hall was lit up. Festive cultural desserts were set out on tables and fairy lights brightened the walls, bringing light to the ever-drab occasion of an ordinary assembly. The walls were ordained with paper snowflakes, a giant wreath was hung on the open door, and the voices of the choir opened up the space and shattered a wall of dullness, turning the place into a Winter Wonderland. The choir, being the biggest group, had the responsibility of decorating the Performance Hall. Every year, a tree was put up, a menorah was lit with fake candles, and gifts were exchanged within every performing group in Secret Santa.

“Alright kids, as there’s an odd number of you this year, there will be one group of three…” Mrs. Yang addressed the nineteen of you. The sopranos were split into Hyuck and Taeil, and you and Chenle. Your job was to buy decorations for the tree.

You and Chenle had been friendly before; it was hard not to like him given his outgoing nature. Taeil’s voice would crack, he’d start laughing, and soon after the whole choir would be giggling with him. He was a lovable creature, Zhong Chenle.

That Sunday, you and Chenle went to the mall. It was an awkward atmosphere, you’d never hung out alone. You rocked back and forth on your feet and he played with his hands, both of you waiting for the other to say something first. He broke the ice.

“Wow, so it even smells festive in here, huh?” You gave a quick glance at the candle store behind him before giving him a small smile. He wasn’t wrong. It did. “Shall we?” He grinned.

The only plan was to walk until something caught your eye. For Chenle, that thing was a plushie store. Without thinking, he grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you gently in that direction.

“Y/n, who’s your Secret Santa?” He asked, turning a Charmander plushie in his hands.

“Oh, I have Jisung. Shoot I’d completely forgotten about that.”

“You know him?” He put down the Charmander as he eyed a seal across the room.

“Not really, I know he’s on dance crew but I have no idea what to get him. I don’t know what dancers like.” Chenle walked over to the seal as you followed behind.

“Well, he’s my best friend. I can help!” Surprisingly, you’d never seen the two interact. Jisung was a tenor, so he sat far from you and Chenle. “Jisung… he likes random stuff. Stuff he’d never need but can entertain him for hours on end, you know?” You nodded, understanding. “Last year he got a launchpad and he was on that thing for hours…”

You and Chenle walked around the shops for a while, looking both for decorations and a present for Park Jisung. One store was completely decked out. There was tinsel in the windows and a light up snowman at the door. The inside had shelves upon shelves of ornaments and lights, and even a section for gift-giving. You and Chenle decided to split up to look for decor. You were on silver decorations and Chenle on white. You admired the gift section as you searched. Initially, you wanted to find something for Jisung, but the jewelry counter had you hooked. It was cheap enough, maybe 20 bucks a piece, but you only had the school’s money on you. They had necklaces, earrings, and rings of many designs and cuts. One set of gold dangly earrings caught your eye. A gold chain hung from each ear, with little golden music note pendants hanging on them. Realizing your distraction, you turned back around to see Chenle waving you over. You met each other at the checkout counter with hands full of decor to rob the school’s bank account dry.

“They’ll never let us buy anything again.”

“Well, better to regret doing something than never doing it at all!” Chenle laughed, handing the wide-eyed cashier the school’s card. “Did you find anything for Jisung?”

“Not yet. What does he like, man? I can’t think of anything good…” Chenle had told you a bit about him while you walked around the mall before, but it wasn’t helpful information for finding a gift.

He likes to dance, rap, he’s kinda shy… you recalled him saying.

“Ooh, I know!” Chenle grabbed half the bags, “Jisung has abnormally large feet, we could buy him shoes! He can never find ones that fit!” You couldn’t contain your laughter.

“Chenle do you really think I have enough money to buy something like shoes? I don’t even have my own money on me right now.”

“It’s okay, I’ll buy them for now. You can pay me back later, but I’m so sure there’s a place around here that holds his size, come on!”

Chenle ran to the shop he was thinking of and waited for you at the door. There were indeed a lot of shoes.

“Jisung likes black…” he said, putting a finger to his chin and furrowing his eyebrows as he looked for the size. It was really cute, the way he focused. He grabbed the correct size and walked with you to the counter to pay. He didn’t even notice the price as he gave his card and turned to you. “Aren’t you glad you have me here?” he said in a tone that was more of a happy statement than a question. You didn’t respond, you were too focused on the receipt the cashier handed Chenle.

“125 dollars? Chenle, what the hell? You just paid for shoes that are 125 dollars!” You exclaimed as you grabbed the receipt. He saw the fear in your eyes, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Yeah,” he said, taking the box from the cashier, “Is that okay?” Um, no.

“How- I don’t have $125 to pay you back, man, I’m a highschool student!” Chenle stared blankly at you for a moment before apologizing.

“Oh… I’m sorry, I guess I should have consulted you,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. There was nervousness in his voice. “You can totally pay me back in increments, no rush!” He smiled and ruffled your hair playfully, making light of the situation, before once again grabbing the bags and shoebox and heading back to your car. You’d heard the kid was rich, but that was a lot to spend so spontaneously at his age…

Chenle closed the trunk before freezing suddenly.

“Hey, Y/n I think I forgot something. Give me a minute, okay? I’ll be right back,” before you could answer he ran back to the mall. Ten minutes later he returned.

“Found it?”

“What?”

“Whatever you were looking for?”

“Oh, no. It must be in one of our bags. It’s okay, I don’t really care. Let’s just drop this stuff at school, I’ll worry about it later.”

“If you say so, Chenle.”

♪

On Wednesday evening you two helped set up the tree with the decorations you’d bought. The other night after the mall trip, you wrapped up Jisung’s shoes to put under the school tree alongside the other gifts. Wong Yukhei, of the bass line, arrived late to the decorating, with a big flourish as usual.

“Yes!” He exclaimed, walking through the big double doors, “Let’s get this matzoh!” and, as usual, everyone ignored it.

Yukhei and Ten were in charge of light decorating around the side door that led up to the stage. No one trusted them with the bigger stuff. Of course, the first thing they did was put up was mistletoe.

Just like when you were buying the ornaments, no plan was put into decorating this tree. You and Chenle both just threw stuff on and hoped it looked good - and honestly, it wasn’t too bad. For two kids who could barely reach the top of the tree, it looked pretty dang good! Once all the decorations were up, you both stepped back to take a look at the final product.

“You know, it could be better,” Chenle smiled.

“But we decked them halls okay no one told us to try.” Since Sunday you’d felt closer and closer to Chenle. He laughed at your jokes now. Jokes… You felt comfortable telling jokes with him! A big accomplishment considering how intimidatingly extroverted he was. It was safe to say that by this point, you were friends.

♪

Friday was the day of the performance. Students flooded the PH adorned in ugly Christmas and Hanukkah sweaters, reindeer antlers, and Santa hats. The girl’s choir wore festive onesies and the boy’s choir wore ugly sweaters. From morning to evening there were festivities. The theater kids did skits with the sports captains and the teachers had a holiday costume contest.

The day came to an end with the songs you’d rehearsed. People milled around eating whatever holiday treats others brought in for the occasion and listened to the sound of your voices bouncing off the walls. When the day was over, the choir went backstage for Secret Santa. Safe to say Jisung loved the shoes and gave you a big hug, which gave you time to whisper in his ear that it was really all Chenle’s doing but you were glad he liked it. When it was your turn the boys all looked to you, and you saw Chenle pull a little box out from his coat pocket.

“You’re my Secret Santa?” You laughed, taking the box, “What, are you proposing or something?” You opened the box and your eyes widened, your smile faltered before growing twice as big. Gold chain music note earrings… the ones you saw in the shop on Sunday. You gaped unintentionally and looked back up at him, as he gave you a wink from across the room. After the gift exchange, you caught him leaving from the offstage exit. “Hey! How’d you know?” you asked, stopping him. “How’d you know I wanted those earrings?”

“Y/n, you were staring at them for a good three minutes on Sunday. I thought of getting you them but I didn’t know how to be discreet about it… then I remembered Jisung’s feet and it wiped all memory of the earrings from my mind.” He chuckled, “But I remembered again as soon as we were about to leave! Remember that?”

“Well, I don’t remember how many times you just said the word ‘remember’. Oh, by the way, here’s 20 dollars. The first installment on this loan I have.” You smiled, taking the 20 out of your pocket.

“Hey!” Yukhei called from behind you. You both turned and were met with a smug smirk on the tall boy’s face. “You’re under the mistletoe~” He winked before bounding away, giddy that something he did worked. You watched Yukhei leave before facing Chenle again. He took your face in his hands.

“Can I?” He asked. It was probably the quietest you’d ever heard him. You nodded. His heart beat faster and faster, more rapid than he was expecting, until his lips finally met yours in a sweet embrace. You both pulled away quickly, and it was awkward again, like the first time you hung out. But this time, you both welcomed it. “Y/n?”

“Yeah?”

“You just paid off your loan.”

#zhong chenle #nct dream #fluff #christmas #holidays #nct #highschool au

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ryan-the-whisk-taker · 5 years

Text

New Mission Chapter 17

(Like chapter 5, this chapter will be longer than most other chapters in the story. But this one does not contain any possibly triggering content.)

Big City Livin’

A few months later, Jade, Greg and Steven were on their way to Empire City, so Jade could get a surprise for Garnet. “So, what’s this place like?” Jade asked Greg. “Loud, busy, crowded, fun.”

“Like Homeworld?” Greg shrugged. “I dunno. I’ve spent most of my time here on Earth, but if that’s how you’d describe your home planet, then sure.” Jade looked out the window at the bright lights and sighed. “What’s wrong?” Steven asked. “Well, I guess I’m just a little sad. This place is so much like Homeworld, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I kinda miss that place.” Steven looked at Jade with a concerned look on his face. “I understand. Pearl misses space, too.”

“It’s not just space, it’s the entire Gem empire I miss. Sure, Garnet’s here, and so are you and my other friends, but I had friends back there, too… I might’ve even had a Pearl of my own!” Jade took a deep breath. “But, I’m happy here. I have more friends here than I had back there, and I don’t have to listen to a tyrant Gem like Yellow Diamond.” Greg laughed. “I’m glad you like it here. I’ve been here forever, but Homeworld doesn’t seem like a good place to live.” They continued to drive until Steven said, “Ooh! There’s the jewelry store! Didn’t you need some rings or something, Jade?”

“Oh yeah, I did. Um, if I tell you what the rings are for, do you promise not to tell Garnet?” Steven nodded. “I’m planning to propose to her, so I need to buy rings for Ruby and Sapphire,” Jade whispered. “Cool! I’m sure she’ll be surprised, as long as she doesn’t use her future vision to see it.”

“I sure hope she doesn’t see it coming,” she said as Greg parked the van in front of the store. Greg got out of the van and opened the door to let Steven and Jade out. “Thanks for taking me here, Mr. Universe.”

“You’re welcome.”

Jade opened the door and let herself into the store, Steven and Greg following. “Welcome! Are you looking for anything in particular?” The woman at the front desk asked. “Actually, yes I am. I’m looking for two engagement rings, for my girlfriends.”

“Oh! Well then, you should look over here.” Jade followed the woman over to the display case filled with rings. “So, were you looking for any specific stones?”

“Stones?” Jade asked. “Right, I hadn't even noticed that you're a Gem. These are gemstones made here on Earth, but they don't have projected forms like you. We have almost all gemstones here for rings.” The woman handed Jade a list of gems, cuts and ring styles. “Hmm… Maybe, two cubic zirconia rings, circular cut, and this style. Could you do that?”

“Of course! Let me just see how much that'll cost you.” The cashier punched a few numbers into the register, and the price $100 appeared on the screen. “Wow, that's cheaper than I thought it would be,” Jade said. “Would you like to pay now, or after we fit the rings?”

“After. Oh wait, how are we gonna fit the rings if Ruby and Sapphire can't find out?” Steven looked up at Jade. “Can't you just shapeshift your hands to look like theirs?”

“Oh yeah!” Jade proceeded to shapeshift her left hand to look like Ruby’s hand. “I forgot Gems could do that…” the cashier said. “You know a lot about Gems, it seems,” Greg replied. “Yeah, my ancestors were friends with a Green Opal.”

“Cool! I don't know if I've ever met a Green Opal,” Jade said thoughtfully. “So, are you ready to fit the rings?”

“Yep!” Jade held out her left hand, still shapeshifted to look like Ruby’s, and the cashier measured her finger. “Okay, I have the measurements for Ruby, now I just need Sapphire’s.” Jade shapeshifted once again, this time making her hand the same size as Sapphire’s. The cashier measured again, and wrote down both measurements. “Okay! And can I have a phone number? If you have a phone, that is.”

“Um, Steven? Would you mind if I used your phone number for this?” Jade asked her friend. “Of course not! Go right ahead!” Jade gave the cashier Steven’s number. “Thank you! We'll call you when the rings are ready for pickup.” Jade smiled and summoned a stack of money from her gemstone. “Thank you!” She said before she left, Greg and Steven behind her.

“That was easier than I expected.” Jade said with a sigh of relief. “Yeah. By the way, where’d you get all that money?” Steven asked. “Um… Amethyst gave it to me. But I’m not sure where she got it,” Jade answered. “Oh, okay. So, should we head home, or do you want to spend some more time here? I mean, it’s a pretty fun city.”

“I guess we could spend some time here, if you want,” Jade said to Steven. “Okay! Dad, where should we go?”

“Hmm… Maybe we could go to the hotel we went to once with Pearl? I still have plenty of money left over from that,” Greg said to his son. “Okay! Jade, you’re gonna love it there! The room we got last time was huge!” Steven said with a big smile. “I’m sure I will,” Jade said and ruffled up Steven’s curly mess of hair.

Greg pulled out of the parking lot and drove to the hotel he stayed at last time he had been in Empire City. “And, we’re here!” Greg said as he parked the van in front of the hotel. “Woah…” Jade said while looking out the window at the massive building in front of her.

The three of them walked into the hotel, and the man at the front desk recognized Greg as soon as he saw him. “Mr. Greg!” He cried. “Welcome back! I see you brought your son with you. Oh!” The man noticed Jade standing behind Steven. “And who’s this lovely lady?” Jade blushed. “Um, my name is Jade. We’re just in town looking for some rings for my girlfriend,” Jade explained. “I see. Well, I hope you three enjoy your stay!” The man said after Greg handed him a stack of bills and walked away. “Thank you, sir!” Jade called. “Just call me ‘Ricky’!”

“Okay! Thank you, Ricky!” The three of them walked into an elevator and went up to the top floor.

“Steven, this place is amazing!” Jade exclaimed when they exited the elevator. “Yep! It even has a pool!” Steven replied. “A pool? What’s that?”

“Well, it’s a big pit-like thing filled with water, and you can swim and play in it! It’s really fun.”

“Cool! I think Blue Diamond has something like that on Homeworld. Although, no one except her, the other Diamonds, or their Pearls have seen it from the inside,” Jade said thoughtfully.

“Huh. Oh, you also have to wear this thing called a swimsuit, and it’s pretty waterproof.” Steven pulled out his phone and showed Jade a picture of a girl in a swimsuit. “Hmm… Like this?” Jade started glowing, and when she stopped, she was wearing a lime green, one-piece swimsuit with circular cutouts on the sides. “Yeah! Just like that! It’s a good thing I packed my swimsuit, too. I had a feeling we’d be staying here for the night. I’ll go get changed!” Steven said before running upstairs with his hot dog duffel bag.

When he came back down, he was wearing a pair of yellow swim trunks. “Ready!”

“Great! Now what do we do?”

“Well, we can either jump or climb in, or… We could use the water slide!” Steven ran over to the large slide leading to the water and climbed up the ladder, Jade hesitantly following behind. “Are you sure about this, Steven?” She asked. “Yeah! It’s really fun. Do you wanna go before me?”

“Um, sure…? But can you tell me what I’m supposed to do first?”

“Okay! First, you need to sit down, then you push yourself forward and then, you slide!” Jade followed Steven’s instructions, and sat down. “Now I just, push myself?” Steven nodded. “Yep!”

“Okay…” Jade slowly pushed herself forward, and suddenly got caught by the water. Then she slid down the slide into the pool. “Woah! That’s cold!” Jade shouted after coming back up. “Yeah, it takes a little bit to get used to. But it feels nice after a while,” Steven said before he went down the slide. “Wooo hooo!” He slid down into the pool, and swam over to his friend. “You seem to really like this!” Jade said and Steven nodded in response. “I guess it is pretty fun,” she agreed.

Jade and Steven stayed in the pool for about half an hour more, then got out and changed. Steven changed into his pajamas, and walked back out to the main room. “I see you’re ready for bed!” Jade said to her friend. “Yep! I know you’re a Gem, so you don’t need to sleep, but are you going to?” Steven asked. “I’d like to. I mean, I did have a bed in my house on Homeworld. But where would I sleep? From what I’ve seen, there’s only one bed.”

“Hmm… I’m sure you could sleep on the couch in the bedroom, if you wanted to. Dad and I were gonna sleep on the bed.”

“I don’t mind sleeping on the couch. Besides, you two need to sleep and I don’t. So if I wake up in the middle of the night, I hopefully won’t wake you guys up.”

While Steven and Greg slept, Jade sat on the couch, thinking about her home planet. She sighed “Why do I keep thinking about her? I’m a Crystal Gem now, I shouldn’t think about her.” Then she stood up, and walked over to the balcony. “I shouldn’t miss her. She was cruel… Alexandrite is right-She probably just replaced us…” Tears started forming in Jade’s eyes. “She doesn’t care about us… She probably wishes I had never even been made!” Jade yelled and slammed her fist into the wall. The sound of the impact woke up Steven, then he slowly and quietly walked over to his friend. “Jade? Are you okay?”

“N-no… I’m not okay…” Jade said to Steven. “I woke up, and I was thinking about her… Y-Yellow Diamond…”

“I understand. Peridot used to be like that. She still felt loyal to her. I know why you’re thinking about her-You’re still not used to being on Earth, and you still feel kinda loyal to Yellow Diamond. I’m sorry, Jade,” Steven said. “I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but I’m not sure if it’s gonna work. Like I said on our way to the jewelry store, I really miss Homeworld. It’s, where I was made. The first time I had left Homeworld, was for the war…”

“You fought in the war against Mom?” Jade nodded. “Yeah, I did. I was one of the soldiers fighting on Homeworld’s side. I got poofed a few times, and I was nearly shattered by a Bismuth, but everyone said I was a tough fighter.” Jade chuckled. “It was actually kinda fun, fighting all those rebels. I never thought I’d be on the other end of the fight. I was actually there when your mom, y’know, shattered her own Diamond. I didn’t meet your mom, but from the day the war started, I was taught that I should never trust a Rose Quartz. But now, I can.” Steven smiled. “Yes you can. I’m glad you’re my friend, Jade.” He then hugged Jade’s waist tightly. “I’m glad you’re my friend, too, Steven. You’re a better friend than Emerald or Diamond were. Although, if I had completed my mission, I might’ve gotten my own Pearl, like the elites. I had a dream where I got a Pearl, the day before I accidentally, poofed myself…” Steven thought for a moment. “You said a Bismuth almost shattered you. Do you remember what that Bismuth looked like?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I know a Bismuth, who wanted to shatter Homeworld Gems. We might be talking about the same Gem.”

“Did she look like this?” Jade began projecting an image of a Bismuth. She had tattoos of stars, and rainbow dreadlocks. But most importantly, she had her gemstone in her chest. “Oh, my, gosh… We are talking about the same Bismuth! She made this weapon called ‘The Breaking Point’, and she wanted to use it to shatter Homeworld Gems, especially Pink Diamond. She and Mom got in the fight, and Bismuth ended up getting poofed, so Mom bubbled her away in Lion’s mane. Then, I accidentally popped her bubble and she reformed. She stayed with us for about a day, training, watching tv, cooking pizza. But then she showed me the Breaking Point, and I told her that shattering Gems was wrong. She starting saying I lied to her, and that I was actually my mom. I ended up poofing her again, and I told Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl what happened. She’s been in the burning room ever since. I didn’t know that Mom had shattered Pink Diamond at the time.” Steven noticed Jade staring at him. “Wh-what?” He asked.

“You, took down a Bismuth? I could never do that! The closest I’ve ever been to a Bismuth, was when she almost shattered me. You’re amazing, Steven!”

“Heh… It’s nothing, really… I was just defending myself.”

“Still! Although, you are half Quartz, so I guess it shouldn’t be too shocking. But I still can’t believe such a young Gem could take down a Bismuth who fought in the war!” Steven blushed. “Well, she did try to shatter me, but I understand why- She thought I was the one who bubbled her. I’d be upset too, if the mother of my new friend lied to me.” Jade yawned. “I think you should get some sleep, Steven.”

“What about you? You seem sleepy, too.”

“Y’know, I think I will get some sleep. We have a long trip home tomorrow, after all.” Jade walked Steven back to the bed his father was still sleeping on, and gave him a hug before walking back to the couch.

The next morning, Steven and Greg were ready to go by the time Jade woke up. “Good morning, Jade!” Steven said when Jade walked into the main room. “Hmm? Oh, morning, Steven…” Jade said groggily. “Did you sleep well?”

“Not really. I wasn’t too comfortable on the couch.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe we’ll get a second bed if we come here again.” Jade smiled weakly. “Thanks, Steven.”

“No problem! That’s what friends do, right?” She nodded. “Yes, it is what friends do.”

A few minutes later, Jade, Greg and Steven checked out of the hotel and walked to the van outside. “This was nice. Thanks for taking me here, Mr. Universe.”

“No problem! I haven’t gone on a trip with a Gem since I came here with Pearl, but this was fun! By the way-” Greg looked at Jade. “Good luck with Garnet. I’m sure she’ll be really happy when you propose to Ruby and Sapphire.” Jade smiled at Greg. “Thanks. I hope you’re right.” They got into the van and drove back home to Beach City.

#gemsona jade #gemsona blue topaz #gemsona pink coral #steven universe story #rhites stories #new mission story

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luukia · 6 years

Text

Alsar Chapter 15

Chapter 15 : Shopping!

T/N : Anyone playing King’s Raid? I’m busy grinding King’s Raid~

“Ah that’s right, yesterday Malik-san gave me his old magic bag and turns out, there’s various things inside. Since Malik-san doesn’t use it anymore, he gave the bag along with its content to me.”

Ah that’s bad, I’m really forgetful. I almost forgot to tell Chris-san. It’d be a waste if I were to buy the same thing that Malik-san already gave to me before.

“Oh? So that’s your new magic bag. What kind of thing is left there?”

“There’s five set of sleeping bags and tents, some cooking utensils, cleaning utensils and tableware. Malik-san said the only thing I need to buy is food and clothing.”

If I may say, I think Malik-san already gave me the perfect equipment for camping.

“Hmm~ Then what about weapon? Do you have any dagger with you? I think dagger might suit you more since it’s not as heavy as ordinary sword~”

“I have one though since I spent my days collecting lulu grass in the forest, there’s almost no monster there so I don’t have any hands on experience to use it. I practice my combat skill with Malik-san in the training ground but.. Well, the result is quite unsatisfactory I think..”

I touch the dagger on my waist, the one that Malik-san gave me when I took my first lulu grass gathering quest. I never actually use it so I’m a little bit afraid.. I don’t know whether I can fight properly or not..

“That’s alright~ Knowing basic self defense mechanism is already good!~ What’s more important is how to know when to escape. If you think your life is going to be in danger, run away immediately! You can also use your support magic to help you escape~”

Clenching my fist and pump it into the air, I say,“Yes! When the time comes, I can use [Roots] or [Sleep] on the enemy and run away!”

I’ve trained my support magic with Tord-san, so far my success rate to trap the enemy is 100%. I will do my best in successfully running away!

“Hahaha! Hit them hard with your support magic, Ren-chan!~ Anyway, since Malik already gave you the necessary equipment, let’s start by searching for clothes and food.”

“Is there any specific clothes I need to look for?”

Chris-san seems to ponder a bit before he answers,“Hmm let’s see, since you will be riding a horse with me it’s better to buy long sleeved shirt so you won’t get cold. Also you will need a mantle and boots. Mantle and long sleeved shirt to protect you from the wind and boots to protect you when walking in the forest.“

Turns out, there’s still a lot of things I need to buy. Good thing Malik-san gave me some pocket money.

“I see.. I still have a long way to go huh..”

“Well, Ren-chan is a special case afterall. If you’ve been living in Alsar since birth, you will already have all the stuff needed, probably you only need to buy food for your journey.”

I see.

Looking at the street, mostly the people in Alsar wear boots instead of sandal like me.

Since I’ve only been living in Alsar for about 1 month, I don’t have proper clothing for every season yet.

I don’t know how hot it will be during summer or how cold it will be during winter.

“That’s right, I need to buy plenty of clothes then!”

“Yup, yup !~ I know a shop specializing in selling shoes for adventurer, let’s go there!~ I usually buy my shoes in bulk, about.. 4 or 5? So I will have spare shoes when I need them~”

I guess since most adventurer spend their time outside of town, their shoes will get dirty easily. Probably torn easily too.

But since I only will be out of town for half a month, I guess one shoes is enough for me.

“Yes, let’s go there.”

“Yup, this way Ren-chan~”

Chris-san pulls my hand along with him nonchalantly.

Is it strange that I don’t feel uncomfortable holding hands with Chris-san?

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

Inside the shop, there’s plenty of stuff from clothing to even magic bag. The shop line up the marchandise neatly, giving me the pristine and clean feeling.

“This way, Ren-chan~”

Chris-san take me to the clothing aisle.

“Hmm, there’s no clothing in Ren-chan’s size, we have to shrink it later. Ah, what about this cloak?”

Chris-san give me a dark brown cloak and he puts it over my body.

Touching the cloak lightly, I was surprised, “Oh this is waterproof? Nice, I don’t need to worry about rain then. Do you think it look good on me?”

“Yup yup, it’s good~ Hmm~ I think I’m also going to buy a matching one with Ren-chan~”

I really like this cloak, I think I’m going to buy this. Chris-san also said it looks good on me.

Wait, the price!

Huh? There’s no price tag?

“Chris-san, this cloak.. There’s no price tag to it..”

“Yup, in this shop you will need to ask the staff here for the price. Let’s just keep looking for nice looking ones for you and then we will worry about the price later~”

W-what?!

What if I didn’t have enough money??

Ah as expected, I’m really grateful that Malik-san gave me some pocket money.. Although if possible I don’t want to use it..

“Haa.. Next is shoes then?”

Although I’ve only known Chris-san for a short time, but I feel like.. I somehow already know his personality inside out.

He’s like the kind of person that hit first, ask later kinda thing.

So irresponsible.

Luckily, the shop’s assistant is close by so let’s just keep gathering the candidate for my clothes and think about the price later.

“Ren-chan, how about this one ? Since it’s black, it’s easy to mix and match. Also, it seems like it’s going to be easy to move while wearing it~”

Chris-san hands me a black boots.

It does seems easy to move with.

Although the size is too big for me, I will need to use [Small] magic on it.

I can just go to the kids section but honestly I really don’t want to do it. I would rather use magic to shrink the adult clothes to my size rather than wearing kids clothing.

“It looks good. Let’s put it into our cart.”

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

Thanks to Chris-san, I can pick a lot of things relatively fast.

Chris-san also has good sense of fashion, so the clothes he pick always looks functional yet fashionable.

If I were alone.. I don’t think I will ever get things done..

“Yup, I think we already covered everything you need. Let’s go talk to the staff now Ren-chan~”

“Yeah.. We already have heaps of things…”

In front of me is the mountain of clothing that we’ve picked. I’m a little afraid to know the price..

Like the gentleman he is, Chris-san insisted to carry all the clothes to the shop assistant.

With a cheerful voice he says, “ All of these please!~”

Chris-san hands the clothes to the shop assistant along with his guild card.

“Eh!? Chris-san?!”

“Let me pay for it~” He smiles.

“What?! No! I can’t let you do that! This amount of clothes must’ve cost a lot!”

I already feel bad enough that he paid for my lunch, I can’t allow him to also pay for my clothing!

It’d be wrong! I don’t want to take advantage of Chris-san!

“Ren-chan, I think you misunderstand something about me. You must’ve think I do this out of kindness to you, right? But! The truth is, I do have ulterior motives! I was thinking to ask you to prepare my share of food for our subjugation quest in Calhea in return for all these clothes. You know during ordinary subjugation quest, my food ration is quite poor. Mainly because my cooking skill is not to be proud of. So, having you to cook for me is a huge advantage for me~”

“What? But even if you say so, the price of all of these clothes compared to the future food expenses doesn’t match!”

I don’t hate Chris-san, in fact he is enjoyable to be around so I don’t mind cooking for him.

Especially since I already planned to cook for Malik-san too, having one more person to cook is not a problem at all.

But really, at most.. I think the ingredient might only cost about 100.000 elk. Compared to that, this mountain of clothes must’ve cost a lot more!

Ignoring me, Chris-san says to the store clerk,”Excuse me, since I’m buying this as a gift, may I have the clothes gift wrapped? And also please help me putting it into Ren-chan’s magic bag~”

“Yes, let me assist you.” Suddenly, another shop assistant appeared behind my back.

Chris-san hands the clerk his guild card but I still don’t want to let this slide!

“Umm, Chris-san.. The payment..”

“Yes, everything has been paid by this gentleman’s guild card. Thank you for your patronage.”

What?!

Suddenly everything has been paid!

So guild card can also function as debit card some of sort.

Guild card is so convenient!

“Chris-san.. I would feel bad receiving this huge amount of gifts..”

“Ren-chan, do you dislike it? Please don’t show me such sad face.. Nothing would make me happier than seeing you smile so please, can you smile for me?”

Ugh..!

D-don’t show me that face! He looks exactly like an abandoned puppy!

There’s no way I can win against that kind of sad puppy face, so sly!

Ah… Fine, it’s my lost then.

Puffing my cheeks with a hands on my waist, I say,“Geez Chris-san! Fine! This is the last time, okay?”

When Chris-san said that he’s going to pay for me, it’s already a lost cause. He will never yield, never.

And then after sighing, I smile shyly and bow to Chris-san,” Thank you, Chris-san. I really appreciate it.”

Chris-san in return turn his back on me while covering his face.

“Ahh, I can’t stop smiling, he’s so cute..!”

I think Chris-san whispered something but I couldn’t really catch it.

“Did you say something, Chris-san?”

“Hmm?~ Nope, nothing ~ Anyway, you’re welcome, Ren-chan~”

Chris-san hands my magic bag to the store clerk and after they finished filling my magic bag with the neatly wrapped clothes, we head back to the street.

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

“Chris-san, I just want to say that I’m really grateful for the clothes. Thank you once again.” I bow my back again when we left the store.

“Ren-chan you’re such a good boy~ It’s okay, don’t mind it so much. I’m happy enough that I get so see Ren-chan’s smiling face. Anyway, what’s your plan for tomorrow?”

“Even if you said it like that, I would feel bad if I don’t express my gratitude properly. Hmm.. Tomorrow.. I’m planning to just stay at home all day.”

A good child or not, it’s expected to express gratitude properly when someone gave you something expensive like this!

“Just staying at home all day?~”

“Yes, since I won’t be home for a long period of time, I want to start preparing the meal for Malik-san and for our journey too. I want to prepare a variety of food in advance. There’s a lot to do, from cutting,roasting, boiling... And so on. Since I’m going to prepare a huge quantity of food, it might take a whole day. After I finish cooking the food, I’m going to put it into a magic bag so it won’t rot.”

I’m going to buy the ingredient tomorrow morning at the market.

I wonder what kind of food should I cook ~

Malik-san says he can’t go without a rice so I should include rice for sure.

“Ren-chan I can see your excitement bubbling through. You really like cooking huh~ I was thinking of asking you out tomorrow but I guess you’re busy huh~”

“I love cooking and also housework! I really enjoy doing it~ Yes, I’m sorry but tomorrow I’m going to be busy.”

Chris-san gives me his dejected puppy look again.

Because he has natural droopy eyes, when he acts like that, it’s making him even more pitiful. My heart clenches looking at him.

Ugh! But I won’t yield! Definitely this time I won’t yield!

Preparing food for our quest is essential! I can’t put it on hold or I won’t be able to cook enough food for everyone!

Seeing I’m holding on my ground, Chris-san reluctantly give up and says,”Fine then since we’re going to depart two days from now. Is it okay if you come to the guild at 5 o’clock? The guild is open 24/7 so you don’t have to worry to wait for its open time.”

“I’m fine with it but isn’t 5 o’clock is too early?”

I know we’re going to have depart in the morning but 5 o’clock.. Isn’t too early?

“Yes, I always travel in the dead of morning because the sun is not up yet so temperature is relatively cool. If I wait until the sun is high, it’s going to be too hot to travel. When the sun is high, I usually take a nap in the tent and rest until the temperature is cool enough. If we travel in the blazing sun, the horse will get tired easily so traveling when the sun is high is not effective.”

“I see! That makes sense! I feel like recently it’s getting hotter too.”

But compared to the summer in Japan, this is nothing. The humidity during summer in Japan is really unpleasant..

I see, I guess it’s going to be summer soon. I need to remember it so the next time I go on a quest, I won’t get heatstroke.

“Well then, see you in 2 days! Thank you very much for accompanying me today!”

“Ah, let me take you home Ren-chan~”

“Ah it’s okay, I can go back on my own. I will meet you later Chris-san. I’m going to make lots of delicious food so wait for it!~”

I quickly part my goodbye before Chris-san shows me his puppy face again and run back home.

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Chris’s POV

Staring at Ren-chan’s leaving figure, I clench my hand,“Ahh, so dangerous.. Even though I don’t have anything planned with him, but I still want to see him tomorrow. He’s too cute that it’s practically a crime! I want to see Ren-chan again~”

“All these time, I never think about settling down. Never. But.. If it’s Ren-chan, I don’t think it’s a bad idea~”

All these 30 years, I’ve been getting numerous marriage proposal but I turned them all down but somehow.. Ren-chan is different. I think, I can finally settle down if it’s him.

“Fufufu~ In two days, I can meet with Ren-chan again. I can’t wait!~ For the time being, I’m going to treat him gently and aim to become his lover!~ Ah, now that I think about it.. This is the first time that I ever pursue someone like this huh~”

I can’t wait~

I want to kiss Ren-chan and do a lots of things to him but.. I want to see his smile the most~

I want him to keep calling my name with his gentle voice~

Today, when I slung my hand over his shoulder and waist.. He felt so small inside my embrace, like if I press a little bit too hard, he might crumble away. I thought to myself that I have to protect him.

Really.. This is not like me at all..

I never get attached to someone before..

This.. this might be my first love.

When Ren-chan told me where to eat, I choose to go to ‘Ken’ without any doubt even though I never bring someone there. All because I think by going to ‘Ken’, Ren-chan might show me his beautiful smile again.

What’s more, I hardly ever buy anyone presents before but if it’s Ren-chan, everything comes naturally easy.

“To become a man suitable for Ren-chan, I have to change myself to become a responsible adult!~ Ah~ I can’t wait to meet Ren-chan~”

I walk back to the guild while thinking about meeting Ren-chan again.

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T/N : There we have it, another side of Chris! I wonder whether Ren can be considered as sugar baby? He keeps getting things either from his legal sugar daddy (Malik) and another candidate for husband sugar daddy (Chris)

Chapter 14

Index

Chapter 16

#alsar #webnovel #translated

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