#like come on they've rarely ever been apart even since they were kids

[miniwheat77]

Brat. (dbf!Captain Price x Reader.)

!CW! NSFW, Smut, oral sex (f receiving), using worms as bait, age gap, (sorry if I missed any)

Your body feels warm, the hot sun beating down on you as you swam with one of your friends in her swimming pool. You had one as well but her parents weren't as strict as yours so you spent most of your time there.

You had just turned 18 but since you still lived with them for the time being you had no other choice but to follow their rules. You still had a curfew, had to tell them when and where you were going and what time you would be home. They still had to approve of it of course. Although they rarely ever told you no anymore since you were 18.

Your dad sat at an old wooden bar in and old dive bar him and his best friend, John Price liked to hang out in. They've been neighbors for years and years and it's essentially how their friendship started. They spent every holiday, game day, barbecue, and family get together with each other since then. They got along well, never fought. John was invited to everything and since he didn't have a family of his own it wasn't too hard for him to show. He wasn't married, had no kids, and lived too far away from his parents and siblings to plan the flights. He also didn't know when he'd be deployed but since he took on a job on the base and was only backup for missions, he was always home. Usually worked a 9-5 on the base. It was out of the ordinary for him and apart of him felt useless but it paid the bills. He was still there if they needed him anyways.

You dad was tipping the whiskey back like it was water which only meant one thing. Something was stressing him out.

John smiles after drinking some of his own bourbon. "Something going on mate?" He asks your dad. "Ah yeah. Y/N has been driving me crazy lately." He groans. "Me and her mom." He laughs. John tilts his head in confusion. "What's been going on?" He asks. "If you don't mind me asking of course."

"To be honest? I don't know. She's just been a real grouch lately. Has an attitude, doesn't listen, complains all the time. We've given her much more freedom since she turned 18 so I'm not sure where it's coming from." He shrugs. John nods his head. He's still listening. "I mean.. we convinced her to go to the doctor to get a few scans and blood work done, thinking maybe it was hormone imbalance or a mood disorder but those all came back fine and seemed to piss her off even more to be honest." He shrugs. "She got something going on in her personal life? Maybe she's fighting with a friend or boyfriend?" John asks. Your dad shakes his head. "She hates guys her age. Hates pretty much everyone she isn't close with anyways. She always said she won't date until she's older after her first boyfriend but I mean. She was like 12 so it was stupid anyways. She's only got a couple close friends and that's where she is right now. I don't know what it is." He tips back another shot of whiskey.

"Must just be moody. Maybe you guys should come out to the lake with me this weekend. I’m taking the boat out.” He shrugs. “Yeah that sounds good.” Your dad smiles. “Maybe getting out of the house will help her out.” He shrugs.

“I don’t know, I just know she’s in my damn nerves.” He laughs. Once they finish up their drinks, they part ways. Driving down the same roads to get home since they were neighbors. They’d usually carpool together but they’d met after work. When your dad arrives home, you’re home already. Watching a show on the couch. He closes the door behind him as he steps inside, smiling when he sees you. “Hey. John invited us out to go fishin this weekend. I said we’d go.” He smiles. “Do I have to?” You mumble. “Yes.” A grumble leaves your lips. “I’m not sure what the attitude is but it better quit young lady.” You roll your eyes, going upstairs to your room. Throwing yourself back on your bed with a groan.

—

John smiles at your dad, he’s sitting up at the front of the boat. You’re laying on your stomach, bikini leaving little to the eyes, you’ve got a pair of sunglasses on and you haven’t spoken much the entire trip. “John, you mind letting me off at the doc? I’m gonna go get another case of beer.” He nods his head, starting up the boat and making his way to shore. He lets your dad off, letting him know he’s going to go back out with you and to let him know when to come get him. When he’s back out on the lake and the anchor is down, he flips his hat around. Scooping up some water with his hand and flicking it all over you. He draws a gasp from your lips and you turn around, “John what the hell!” You gasp. Wiping the water down. “Cmon kid. You’re driving your poor ol’ man nuts. What’s with the attitude?” He crosses his arms, lazy smile playing at his lips. “I don’t have an attitude. Why does everyone keep saying that?” You roll your eyes. “Oh come on. The eye rolling, talking back, ignoring people when they talk to you. Being a real brat little lady.” He teases. You grumble, laying back down. “Nope. Cmon. You’re gonna try fishing. You’ll have fun.” He picks up a fishing pole. “We’re using worms. I mean.. you can use power bait but the stocked fished are smaller than natural spawn fish. It’s up to you.” He shrugs, holding out the styrofoam container that has the worms in it. You sigh, taking it from him. “You want me to show you how to put a worm on?” He asks. “Yeah sure.” You mumble. “Alright, here. You basically just thread it through the top.” You watch him hook the worm and thread it on, watching as it squirms. You take the pole from him, casting it out into the water and waiting.

Pretty soon, there’s a boat full of younger guys creeping up near you. They cat call you, yelling out obscenities at you. You ignore them, rolling your eyes. John is a little amused because he knows what your dad has said about guys your age and how you hate dating. They leave just as quickly as they come. “Can we just home? This is boring.” You roll your eyes. “No, not until we catch some fish.” He laughs.

This is where he starts to see it.

When you think he’s not paying attention, you’re adjusting yourself. Sliding awkwardly on the seat, rubbing up against your fishing pole for any sort of friction. Acting more and more bratty as the time ticks on. It’s amusing to John really, to see just how frustrated you are. “Where is my dad? He’s been gone a long time.” John shrugs. He pulls out his phone. He notices a text from your dad, seeing that he’s received a text from him a few minutes before.

You mind giving Y/N a lift home? Her mom texted me and said she took a bad fall at work and is in the ER.

Yeah no problem at all, see you later mate.

“He said your mum fell at work so he’s going to go see if she’s okay. It’s just me and you kid.” John sits down. “So we can go home now?” You ask. “No.” He laughs. You mutter something under your breath. He laughs. Your fishing pole bobbing startles you and John perks up. "You got a fish!" You set the hook, yanking the fishing pole and starting to reel it in. The fish puts up a pretty good fight and when you reel it closer to the boat, John scoops it up with the fishing net for you. Helping you get it off the hook. "Look at that darling." He smiles as you pick it up. "Good girl, see? This is fun." He smiles. His statement takes you off guard, cheeks heating up. "Uh.. Yeah. Whatever." You shut down quickly. He thinks it's odd at first. Once you've thrown the fish back into the water, he sits down across from you at the front of the boat.

He looks around, making sure no one else is around. “Look. I know what’s going on.” He smiles. “Yeah? And what’s that?” You look at him. “Well.. I’m putting two and two together here. The attitude, the never wanting to go out.” He smirks. You look up at him. “I mean.. you’ve been grinding up against your fishing pole since I gave it to you. Rubbing your thighs together when that boat full of guys came by.” Your lips part slightly, cheeks going red. "And when I called you a good girl." He chuckles, seeing how you start to squirm from his watchful eyes on you. “Do you not know how to make yourself cum sweetheart?” He laughs. "T-that's inappropriate John." You look away from his gaze, thankful your sunglasses help conceal your embarrassment. He laughs. "Oh come on, what your dad doesn't know won't hurt him, besides. You've been on his nerves lately and if I help you out, maybe he won't be so stressed out. So talk to me." He smiles. You stay quiet and he moves across the boat, sitting right next to you, throwing an arm over your shoulders. "You can talk to me darling. I can help you." Your heart rate picks up, it's racing in your chest. "I.. I don't know what you want me to say." You breathe. You're one step away from panting at his close proximity. The only thing you can think about are his hands on you. "Have you ever had sex before?" He asks. You shake your head. "Have you.. done anything at all?" You shake your head again. "I've tried to it myself but it makes it worse." You look down at your hands nervously playing with them.

He smiles. Right now, John is thankful there is a room below on his boat. "I can show you." He rests his hand on your thigh, feeling you stiffen up under his touch. "O-okay." You breathe. "Come on." He grasps your hand. There aren't many boats left on the water, it's getting late in the day and everyone is going home thankfully, you might get a little loud. He pulls you down the small set of stairs into the cabin of the boat. It's really small. He makes sure to wash his hands before he touches you, having you do the same.

There's a small bed and a table and chairs and that's it. "Lay on your back." You swallow hard, getting up onto the bed. His deep voice has your clit throbbing at the attention it knows it's about to get. You're sure you've soaked through your panties. He leans onto the bed, helping you remove your bathing suit. When your bottom half is exposed to him, he wants to drool. "God you're beautiful." He groans. He glides his hands down your exposed thighs, causing chills to rise on your skin. You're panting now, small gasps leaving your lips. "Relax." He chuckles. "I'm going to help you, try to calm down sweetheart. You're too eager." He runs his fingertips over your skin, his touch is searing, it burns your skin as his fingers move across you. You want his hands on you. You want them inside of you. He takes a deep breath of his own, trying to ignore the way his cock throbs against his cargo shorts. "Start slow. Little circles on your clit." He reaches forward. "Like this." He breathes. He uses his thumb, rubbing circles over you. Your lips part slightly, a whimper leaving your lips. It’s different when he’s touching you. You can feel your lower stomach swirling, something is building already. “You try.” He draws his hand away. Resting your hand over your mound, rubbing circles over your clit just as he said. The sensation is gone just as fast as it came, causing you to whimper out at the loss, your touch feels like nothing. You draw your hand away. “This isn’t going to work John, it doesn’t work.” You blush.

You try to sit up but he pushes you back. “Have you ever cum before?” He asks. You shake your head. “Oh darling.. no wonder you’re so bratty.” He smiles. “All of that sexual tension and no way to release it. Poor thing.” He’s teasing you, but at the same time actually feels really bad. He knows it’s harder for you to cum. “Stop it John.” You try to push him off, tears gathering in your eyes from frustration. “I’m just teasing darling, let me help you.” He moves himself up further, grasping your thighs and pulling you down on the bed further, you let your head rest back on the pillow, looking up at the ceiling. The boat rocks back and fourth over the water. You’re nervous. You don’t know what he’s going to do to you. He moves himself between your legs, and you don’t understand what's going on until you feel something warm and wet against your entrance. You lift your head up, jumping at the sensation. “Oh f-fuck!” You gasp. He glances up at you. He’s still got his hat on, but he’s flipped it backward by now. Giving himself room to devour you. He moans into your opening, you taste sweet. You’re breathing hard, clutching at the sheets as he flicks his tongue over your clit. He starts slow, letting your sensitive nub get used to the sensation of his tongue, not wanting to overwhelm you. You clutch at the sheets, melting further and further into him as he laps at your entrance with his tongue. It's clear that he's had a fair share of experience. You feel something building in your stomach and you know you're about to cum.

You're getting louder and louder, crying out his name and he's never imagined himself in such a position.

This is just to help her dad, so that he isn't so stressed out.

That's all.

John rocks his hips into the bed, cock hard and throbbing against his shorts. Begging for some kind of friction. He imagines your pretty lips around his cock, maybe your pretty eyes looking up at him as you take him further down your throat. He groans into you earning another moan from your lips. When you're wet enough from his spit and your arousal, he slides a couple of his fingers into you. Feeling you tense up around him, all of the air leaving your lungs, you've never had anything inside before and he can't help but smile into you.

He sucks against your clit, swirling his tongue around it, you're squirming, struggling to stay still beneath him, even his grip on you doesn't keep you completely still. He sucks your clit into his mouth one more time, lapping his tongue over you, his fingers curling into the sweet spot inside of you and you lose it, lips parting as moans leave your lips. A mewl leave your lips and you squirm out of his grasp as he desperately laps up your arousal from your orgasm. You push him away, closing your legs. You're looking at him with a look of pure shock, panting, a little sweaty. The look you're giving him it's unsettling how fucked out you look. He wipes his lips of you, looking up at you. "Do you feel better?" He laughs. You nod your head. "Good. Try to relax." He smiles. "Still got about an hour of light left, let's make it worth while and try to catch some fish yeah?" He smiles, standing up. When he's out of your line of sight, he sucks the taste of you off of his fingers. Groaning at himself.

What has he just gotten himself into?

[unsoundedcomic]

I think you've explained this before, but iirc the families of Crescian twins aren't technically required to send them to a temple, there's just a lot of pressure to do so. Is it similar for the twins themselves, or not? Like, would Siya have been allowed to leave if she'd really decided to? Or would it always have been illegal for her to run off like Iori did? I think it was the latter but it occurred to me that it would be a little odd (although not too surprising) for parents to be allowed to decide not to send them away, but for twins not to be allowed to decide to go back

Twins can refuse the sacrifice. But with that choice comes great hardship and discrimination. Taken with the fact that the kids are raised apart in shrines and groomed for their destinies, refusal is very rare.

Now, a century ago it was illegal. Twins were seized from their parents soon after birth, taken to the shrines, and there was nothing their parents could do about it. Towns and cities celebrated the event and the esteem it would bring them. But that attitude did shift, and Cresce made it "optional" a few generations ago. In many parts of the country that just increased pressure to give the kids up. Since it was a choice, now it meant even more when you chose the sacrifice. And the kids can choose to. But to refuse is often unthinkable for them. They don't know their parents. All the positive attention they've ever known is for them being a kept twin. Any alternative path is evil, alien, and just difficult to imagine.

It's much worse in Sharteshane where twins are traded like cattle, and the wealthy put way more superstitious stock in their flesh than the rest of the world. They still outright kidnap twins and traffic them from other countries. There aren't just the privileged shrine kids, but foreign rando twins privately imprisoned. It's icky stuff.

[zannolin]

loving the stranger things posting as someone going through a sudden random stranger things phase lol. i have a question: what makes byler an interesting dynamic for you? i'm not a big shipper person personally but i like to hear people's thoughts!

it's so funny i got here because i was suffering from cares too much disease about the karate kid and i needed something to distract me and then um. it did more than distract.

sidenote: coming back to say this got??? so long. so i'm sorry lol. i'm a chronic rambler.

i'll be honest i never actually shipped byler seriously until literally 2 months ago today. i sort of went "haha what if...?" back in 2022 mostly because my friend was into it and i really love mike as a character. oh mike wheeler the character that you are...i've loved him since 2016 lol and i loved him and will as a dynamic since i saw s2. i was so sold on their friendship, and then s3 and s4 were brutal for me to watch as someone who has grown apart from a lot of friends because of similar circumstances (moving, mostly, but also some relationships, and the inherent tragedy of growing up, and the fact that having a shitty family and being 15 can do a lot of damage to your relationships if you're not careful, etc) so like basically i then got More into them because i am obsessed with friendship estrangement plots. and i like both their characters. ("like" is such an understatement even in 2022 i was unhinged about michael wheeler)

frankly they're interesting to me as a ship for all the same reasons as they're interesting to me as a friendship: devotion, knowing someone better than you know yourself, the fear of loss, the fear of change, how easy vs how hard it is to grow up with someone, estrangement, feeling like you're a bad person and self-sabotaging, etc. the funny thing is i didn't even think will was gay or that there WAS (one-sided, anyway) byler until the literal van scene in s4 because i have that little faith in netflix lol, not to mention i used to be a mileven shipper. and then s3 happened which killed my interest in that and then s4 beat the dead horse from here to california. i realized for one thing mike being queer is really interesting to me and opens a lot of room for fun angles on his canonical character with comphet and internalized homophobia, etc, and it works very well with established canon. to me.

i'm honestlyyyy kind of surprised i got into it at all because besides the fact that i'm not a big shipper anymore, i'm RARELY a childhood friends to lovers fan because 1) it's often boring to me, i'm like but why do we need something Other than friendship?? (aro alert) and 2) i personally do not enjoy romance where it's like. you end up with the person you dated in high school? like it's jsut a me thing but i go aaaaaa when it's idk 12 year olds being like "i'm in love" no you're not you're twelve. i literally have DMs of me to my sister watching s4 where i was like michael why are you saying you loved eleven the day you met her, you were twelve and spent the entire season fucking obsessed with finding your best friend and kept dropping her the second she wasn't useful for that, like i love you but you were— what. (regardless of whether or not that bullshit turns out to be, you know, Actually canonically bullshit. that was my reaction lol). um i'm rambling sorry. anyway. they just happened to hit really good beats for me where it could go either way for me (platonic or romantic) and i wouldn't mind and i'm happy with both. but apparently my brain is like What If Romance when it comes to fic for them and i'm being a bit self-indulgent. i want will byers to have nice things and i want mike to not be stuck in the world's worst written relationship ever (to me).

actually the tl;dr is basically everything i like about mike as a character has to do with his plots concerning will, and everything i don't like about what they've been doing with him lately has to do with his relationship with el, so via potentially unintentional gay symbolism, the power of friendship estrangement plots + my love of friendship breakup/makeup scenarios, and my fascination with writing queer loneliness and mutual pining, AND that "good luck, babe" edit, i ended up here.

also finn wolfhard keeps making the most ridiculously intensely tender expressions during byler scenes and i'm a simple creature i see a man with big wet brown eyes and i go oh well mayyybe....

[cloudy-zephyr]

Agender! Shinsou and Dadzawa

Cw: transphobia, insecurities, hurt/comfort

Foster! Shinsou au, adoptive dad! Aizawa

Shinsou is.... different. With their eyebags that never seem to go away, their only friends at UA are some stray cats found near Aizawa and Hizashi's apartment, and being taken in by the 1-A teacher. Shinsou is also agender. No one knows, they can't. Shinsou's seen how people react to anyone in the trans community, they couldn't take it. Shinsou already hates this part of themselves, feeling broken and confused.

They were walking to lunch and heard someone yelling their name.

"Hey, shinsou!" Kaminari yelled, and ran up to them.

They smiles slightl, and lets kaminari cling to their side as he spouts out what happened in class.

"You would not *believe* what he did next! It was insane!"

Kaminari is loud, and excitable, and talks with his hands but Shinsou loves that about him. As the pair is turning the corner towards the lunchroom, Shinsou hears a few students whispering.

"Did you hear"s and "who knew UA would let those kinds in" passed through the empty corridor and Shinsou felt their heart sink. They knew who they were talking about, and they knew exactly what that meant for them as well. Ever since Kaminari came out as trans, there has been a huge wave of support but also bullying and harassment. To be honest, Shinsou thinks it affected them more than his electric friend. Kaminari started to walk faster. Keeping his head low he grabbed Shinsou's wrist,

"Come on, man or else we won't have time to eat!" He forces a smile and rushes into the lunchroom.

Shinsou just nods, and when the two are away from the kids whispering they stop and puts their hands on kaminari's shoulders, facing him.

"You know," they start, "they're stupid. You shouldn't listen to what they say. You're you, and they don't know you."

Shinsou gives their best reassuring smile, and kaminari gives one back, "I know, man. Let's go eat."

After they've gotten their food and sat at the table, conversations begin. Shinsou rarely participates in these, they prefer to sit and listen. Sometimes they nods, and that's enough for everyone.

"Well, as I was SAYING, Shinsou totally kicked ass today! He was so cool, I've never seen anyone get that close to pinning Aizawa- sensei! Did you see thag one kick he pulled?"

Shinsous eyes softened at the praise, but also felt their chest clench. They turn to their lunch, pushing it around the plate instead of eating it.

*god, how pathetic. It's not that big of a deal! It's just a word. Why am I so upset about this? Does it even matter? It would just be an inconvenience for them, anyways. I'm not special enough for them to just,, accept me like that. I'm not at all like kaminari.*

While Shinsou was deep in thought, they didn't realize they had started crying slightly. Only did they snap out of it when Kirishima put a hand on their shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" Kirishima asked.

Shinsou furrows their brow, *are* they okay? The answer is probably not, and they stand so fast their legs hit the table and it shakes.

"I-" they look around, "I'll see you guys later," Shinsou grabs their bag and books it to Aizawas office area.

Shinsou doesn't bother knocking, and storms over to his adoptive dads desk while breathing erratically.

"..Toshi? What's going on?" Aizawa stands, coming around to look at Shinsou to see if they're injured.

"I-" shinsou looks at Aizawas face, "People were being mean to kaminari."

It's not exactly what they wanted to say, but it'll do. For now. Aizawa nods slowly, and motions for Shinsou to sit in a chair.

"Alright, what happened?" He crouches down so he's eye level with his son.

Shinsou explains what happened on the way to the lunchroom, and they start to shake. They start asking questions and mumbling too fast for Aizawa to hear, but he heard one thing.

"..what if I get treated like that, too?"

Aizawa's heart breaks at the sight of his son. He notices his hands are shaking, not really focused on the present, and how Shinsou looks *so* scared.

He hugs Shinsou, tight and grounding and Shinsou breaks. They start crying into his shoulder, hanging on and talking.

"It's not fair! It doesn't make sense, why? Why am I not normal?"

Aizawa pulls back and cups Shinsous face with his hands, "what do you mean, kid? What's going on?"

Shinsou breathes and says, "im agender."

Aizawa pauses, and for a few breaths no one says anything.

"Okay," aizawa says, "thank you for telling me. I can imagine how hard that must have been."

"Okay," shinsou croaks out, sniffing his nose.

"You are normal, Toshi. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. Can you tell me what made you so upset?"

Shinsou does, and he truly feels seen and heard for the first time. They say how they prefer they/them pronouns, and how terrified they are of being harassed and picked on. How scared they are of their friends' reactions, how many nights they stayed awake googling different variations of "what is wrong with me".

"Toshi, look at me," Aizawa has a very serious look on his face that kinda makes Shinsou want to look away, but they don't.

"There is nothing, and I mean nothing, wrong with you. You are perfect," shinsou starts crying, "do you understand me? Perfect, toshi. I couldn't ask for a better kid. This is a part of you, a part that I will cherish and love just like I cherish and love the other parts of you. I'm so sorry you've been feeling so alone, but you aren't alone. I'm here for you, and so are your friends."

Shinsou feels as though this weight was taken off their chest, like they can finally breathe again.

Tell me what you think!! Also the recent love on my posts is INSANE and I truly appreciate all of it!! I get the biggest smile when I see someone's reblogged my work, so thank you so much!!!

I am taking requests, my asks should be on but if not then feel free to dm me with a request and I'll see what I can do!! I love writing, I haven't done it in a LONG while but I'm so excited to get back into it.

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: The Litae (Kingdom of Ichor)

from top to bottom: Lití, Katharina, & Ikesía

Nicknames- The Divine Trilogy by Hermes

The Saintly Sisters by Dione

Mothers of Prayers by the people of Olympius

Age(s)- late 40's to late 30's (immortal)

Location- Hearthwood neighborhood, New Olympus

Personalities- The sisters share core values they hold dear of pious conservatism in favor in duty of traditional values & social institutions like patriotism, family values, and religious traditions. Being the oldest, the leadership role comes naturally to Lití, likining herself as the "anchor" of the family. Being the middle sibling, Katharina is quite neurotic while Ikesía is a hopeful optimist. Above all else, being mothers and protecting the religious integrity of Olympius is important to them. They're all asexual & single.

The Litae have the standard abilities of a goddess except shapeshifting. Their other powers/abilities include photokinesis, having an eidetic memory (can recite all religious texts), ambrosia manipulation, purification (of different materials & objects), truth sense, blessing bestowment (temporarily), and inducing feelings of piety, mercy, & forgiveness in others.

Even though the sisters have a suite apartment at the royal palace on Mt. Olympus, they prefer living next door to each other in three houses near a cul-de-sac in the Hearthwood neighborhood of New Olympus. They generally love the family aesthetic with the seemingly low crime rate being an added bonus! Their houses share similar interior designs with cotton furniture, large kitchen islands, woven rugs, hardwood floors, a fireplace, framed inspirational quotes as well as spacious backyards & gardens. They like the fact that one of them can walk a few feet to see the other. The sisters often rotate where they'll have dinner. The sisters each have a pet/companion- a griffin, the three of them having the majestic creatures since they were fledgelings! Lití's griffin is named Goldcrest, Katharina's is named Sundancer, and Ikesía's is named Aurelia. The griffins are usually their mode of transportation.

The Litae decided to have children on their own through the use of the fertility services of Gaia (goddess of the earth).

Lití has a son Epidotes (god of purity).

Katharina has a daughter Pompe (goddess of rites).

Ikesía has a daughter Telete (goddess of prayers).

The sisters are very involved in their children's lives almost to a fault. They push forward to make sure the kids have the best possible start in life. They want them to be happy of course, but also well rounded, respectable, & traditional.

They don't like visual media and music with strong violence, coarse language, nudity, and explicit sexual content.

They rarely partake in alcohol except a glass of white wine every once in a while. They do not partake in illicit drugs.

Lití thinks that smoking cigarettes is the nastiest bad habit ever. Her go-to drinks include iced tea, cafe au laits, and a small coconut banana splash from The Roasted Bean.

Ikesía likes lemon infused sparkling water & large iced chai lattes while Katharina likes mango smoothies, coconut water, green tea, and large vanilla iced coffees.

The Litae oversees the records for all the offerings and sacrifices ever recieved by the deities. They've been shifting from the information being recorded on scrolls to digitizing them. For this reason, they have enlisted the help of Techne (goddess of arts, crafts, & invention).

The sisters dress in minimalist conservative style clothing, keeping their makeup subtle & natural looking. They keep their nails short, neat, and expertly manicured.

Ikesía loves using the honey & magnolia body oil for her skin. Lití attributes her skin health to cocoa butter while Katharina prefers the use of almond oil.

Lití's favorite frozen treat is banana ice cream, opting for an olympian sized cup when at The Frozen Spoon. Katharina likes coconut sorbet while Ikesía likes salted caramel ice cream topped with crushed pecans.

The Litae's main "job" are being ministers at the Eleutherus Cathedral, the largest church ever built in New Olympus! They also work alongside Zeus and Eusebeia (goddess of piety, loyalty, duty, & filial respect); in part with establishing content for her faith based conservative TV network. The sisters also surprisingly work well with Atë (goddess of mischief, ruin, blind folly, delusion, & downfall of heroes). For other means of income the sisters have their own charity organization as well as writing for Hearthside magazine. They're also a co-author team of wholesome & uplifting romance novels that explores the greater themes of family and community. They also model for/endorse Cleanstream, LipCalm, & White Lily Gallery.

The sisters will stop by at The Bread Box for lunch, prefering it over Olympic Chef. Katharina likes the curried cauliflower quinoa salad while Ikesía likes the tropical kale salad (with creamy coconut curry dressing) along with a small corn chowder. Lití likes the baked mac n' cheese sandwich (on sourdough bread).

In the pantheon they're friends with Hestia (goddess of the hearth), Pistis (goddess of trust, reliability, & good faith), Soteria (goddess of safety), Eunostos (goddess of the flour mill), Peitharchia (goddess of obedience & discipline), Themis (Titaness of justice), Eudaimonia (goddess of happiness), Penia (goddess of poverty), Apheleia (goddess of simplicity), Ptocheia (goddess of beggary), Promylaia, Aletheia (goddess of truth), Praxidike (goddess of judicial punishment), Pathos (god of emotion), and Aeschyne (goddess of modesty & honor).

The deities they don't like is a long list including Kakia (goddess of vice & moral wrongdoing), Hybris (goddess of insolence, hubris, & reckless pride), Apate (goddess of fraud & deception), and Dyssebeia (goddess of ungodliness & impeity).

Katharina loves using the Glory's Crown almond & shea butter hair creme for her twist outs. Lití likes the rice water clarifying shampoo while Ikesía likes the ambrosia honey curling custard.

The sisters love planning family vacations for the six of them. Their last one was to the state of Achaea where they went to the Achaean Beignet Festival!

The Litae have a joint Fatestagram account where they mainly post inspirational quotes & livestreams of them performing sermons.

Katharina's favorite Olmorfia nail polish is "Sheer Fantasy." Lití likes "Clear as Cotton" while Ikesía likes "Blanc Blanche."

Lití has recently been to a breadmaking class!

Ikesía's favorite desserts from Hollyhock's Bakery are the honey cake & cream puffs (with a generous dusting of powdered sugar). Lití likes the sweet potato pie while Katharina likes the bougatsa.

Katharina has just gotten out of a long term long distance relationship with Olympos, one of The Ourea.

Ikesía has been enjoying her newfound friendship with the god of honor. She enjoys his company & has wondered on occassion if there could be more between them, but hasn't brought up the topic due to fear of how he would react to her asexuality.

In their free time the sisters enjoys horseback riding, cooking, knitting, baking, journaling, bike riding, pottery, gardening, swimming, basketball, yoga, tennis, going to museums, reading, and spending time with their children.

Katharina's go-to dish is rice & gravy with biscuits and porkchops. Lití is known for her pastitsio while Ikesía is known for her fasolada.

"A day without prayer is a day without blessing, and a life without prayer is a life without power."

[elmaxlys]

We’re continents apart and I miss you, brother.

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon. Sorry about the previous ask I get nervous easy and feel like I need to check im not annoying anyone at times. If I am ever annoying you though or you want me to do anything though please tell me!

Watson is close to everyone from the group, because he's seen as the dad figure and an easy person to talk too. Besides from that Jackie and Grievous are close and often train or play games together, and Jackie and Ran are close, they don't do much expect just hang out and since their both the youngest that helps them feel a bit closer. Ran and Grievous aren't really close, though Grievous wants to make attempts to become closer to Ran, potentially by inviting him to training sessions or game nights.

The other fighters from the Pit are still around! They mostly aren't around the Pit as they have jobs and other stuff to take care off, but they try to vist often. Like Genevieve and Levi come over on a regular basis to train with them all and just hang out. And sometimes Genevieve and Levi participate in the Pit's fights just for fun.

He was kept in a room in Mizu. The room was reminiscent of a jail cell, with no glass in it, and a door that required a key to be opened, he wasn't completely chained down but they did put cuffs on his wrists to prevent him from moving around to much. Benjamin honestly just kind of felt like something was off, because most people don't commit mass murder without a reason and he couldn't find a reason for Ranbob doing it. And he has reported multiple times (along with the others) feeling a strange weightless feeling near dreams room, almost like their getting sucked into a void, while also hearing a distant voice in their head calling them to come closer. When everyone said they heard the voice, with Ranbob even saying from where he was that he heard the voice but much clearer, and sometimes he feels like he doesn't control what he's doing. Benjamin and Isaac decided to block off the room and nearby rooms and made it a rule that if anyone heard the voice or felt like that to report it to them and where they felt it so ot could be blocked off.

Because Ranbob said he heard the voice too Benjamin started thinking that maybe Ranbob wasn't in control and there's something deeper going on. They specifically figure out its the mask when Charles finds it and brings it up to the group, where reports of the voices and feeling come back ten-fold, and even Ranbob who was starting to show progress and become a bit more willing to talk harshly backtracked to where he almost tried to attack anyone who came into the room. So Charles quickly puts it back as far from the group as possible, with Cletus following him to make sure he actually puts it back. Later they talk about destroying it but the question of what will happen to the possession on it stops them, as what if when they break it, the possession type thing (its not actually a possession I just forget the word oop), moves onto another object? Maybe even connect to them or Ranbob?

Ranbob does learn how to sew! Charles helps him learn actually and it helps the two get close! Cletus and Isaac are forbin as of now to return to Mizu, there are talks about going back later in time but for now everyone agreed it'd be best to hang back and avoid Mizu no matter what.

Life in the house is very hard to adjust to at first for Ranbob especially, its mostly awkward and learning boundaries. But after a few weeks to months living with the fishermen Ranbob becomes much more comfortable to open up a lot. Closest to Ranbob is definitely both Benjamin and Charles, as Benjamin is the one who recognized what was happening to Ranbob and Charles is the one who he spends most time with (mostly teaching Ranbob random skills).

Even after the fight ends Ran is still incredibly mad, and when Ranbob is so much as mentioned he growls and gets more aggravated. The fishermen are mostly surprised, Ranbob did mention there was a survivor that he remembers almost killing before they escaped, but because it seemed like a sensitive topic they never pressed him to tell them more. They never would've expected the survivor was his brother though. And the gladiators are completely surprised, expect Watson, Ran told Watson his past about Mizu and his brother (because I like to think Ran has night terrors due to Mizu and Watson is often the one to comfort him). Its only once Ranbob gets taken off to the medical bay and Ran goes to blow off steam in the training area the two sides talk. Where what they've been told is shared and connections and understandings are made. And they all manage to agree to try to get the brothers at least on talking terms, so they can talk about what happened and at least attempt to fix their relationship.

They are not! Other enderman hybrids do exist but their very rare due to complexity with passing the enderman genes. Though Ran and Ranbob did have a family of 6 they where apart of (the 2 other siblings where younger than them) but not every member had enderman genes.

They do notice how Jackie looks similar to Tubbo but they mostly just brush it off, as if Cletus takes off his head gear he looks like Quackity and of course Ranbob looks like Ranboo with the mix of black and white skin.

Hey, don’t worry about it, seriously. I do the same thing with people, so I kinda get it. I really do enjoy reading these, so really, I should be thanking you for sending them!

The bonds between everyone sound interesting. So Watson’s just generally the dad friend? How does he feel about that? Has he just unironically adopted all these dorks? Is it something of an inside joke? Jackie and Grievous sound like quite the combination. Honestly I can imagine these two either being very chill, or very chaotic, depending on the day. Ran and Jackie just hanging out sounds neat, what do they do together? Do they play games like Jackie does with Grievous, or do they just nap and cloud-watch, or something similar? And Grievous trying to bond with Ran sounds nice, how does that work out for him? Do they find some sort of activity that brings them closer?

I saw you mentioned Ran and Jackie were the youngest, which brings up two things. One, does the height difference remain? I’ve seen a lot of art depicting it as such, and honestly, the thought of some new fighters being tossed into a fight with these two, and A, seeing this short kid next to this ridiculously tall guy, and B, their expressions when being told Ran’s not an adult is very amusing to me. 

And two, what exactly is the age limit for going into the Pit? It’s probably not incredibly young, but how old are Jackie and Ran to be stated as the youngest? In their early teens? Late? Older? What kind of rules are there in the fights, no deaths aside?

The other fighters still being around is pretty cool, how do they get along with the gladiators? I imagine fairly well, since you’ve said they hang out, but are they close with anyone is particular? And what exactly is the Pit, besides a tournament? Do people fight for money in there? Do they just fight to fight? Is it open to a lot of people?

So the fisherman hung around Mizu and talked to Ranbob? It must have been strange, seeing the change in their would-be murderer. It does bring up the question of how in control Ranbob was when he first met them. Was he relatively himself at the start, and only begin to fall more under Dream’s thrall later, or was he under it from the start? And how do the fishermen feel about this? 

Actually, how young even is Ranbob? I believe you mentioned him to be Ran’s older(?) brother, but as previously said, Ran’s among the youngest of the gladiators, so how much older is Ranbob?  How old was he when he was led to kill the residents of Mizu?

I believe the word you’re looking for is possibly spirit? I’m assuming? And yeah, pretty smart of them to get away from it. Do they ever end up dealing with that in the future, or is it a ‘let’s just agree to never go near that thing again.’ kinda deal?

Charles and Ranbob bonding! Very nice! What other skills does Charles have, and where’d he learn them? Actually, what’s the general backstory for the fishermen? Is it anything that could tie in later, or no?

But that adjustment period can’t be easy. As we saw, the fishermens’ house was pretty small, and for Ranbob, to go from literally being the only person there in a huge city, to such an arrangement, well. It can’t have been easy. How did it affect him, and how did the fishermen deal with it?

In relation, how did Ran deal with going from Mizu to outside it? I imagine the lifestyle was a bit different from what he was used to.

So the relationship isn’t so easily fixed, hm? Y’know, all things considered, that’s pretty fair. How do the two groups get along, once they’ve decided to get the two brothers back together? And what kind of plan do they come up with? Perhaps deciding to travel together? Or maybe stick around and fight more? How does that work out for them? 

How does Ran feel about the brother that almost killed him being around his new family? And how does Ranbob feel about finding him again? Did he even think he was still kicking, or believe him to be dead?

So Endermen hybrids aren’t that common huh? Does that happen to be why Porkius was so interested in them? And are any of the fishermen or gladiators hybrids as well? Philza’s often shown with wings, and honestly, I’m curious to know if your AU’s Watson is a similar hybrid, or otherwise. 

Also, how do the gladiators fight? Are there double battles and team ups? Is there anyone they fight better with? What’s their general strategy? 

And how does Porkius feel about these new developments? Does he know? Help out, or let them sort it themselves? What’s going on with our resident king?

[spookykiri]

A single dad hawks au reposted from my Wattpad

Word count: 1425

This was just something small that I wrote AGES AGO and thought I’d just repost it from my Wattpad over to here. I haven’t proof read it or even read it since I wrote it so.... you know... might be awful.

I have many talented friends who write amazing stuff on here and thought I’d just give it a try.

_______________________________________________

"MEGUMI TAKAMI!"

The little girl giggled lightly and shuffled further under her bed, the red blanket hanging slightly to conceal her from view. It was around 8am on a Monday. Usually by now megumi would be walking hand in hand with her dad down through the city on the way to school. But she decided it was the perfect day to test her fathers patience, knowing that if they were running late she might just get to fly to school instead of walking.

"Where are you little chicken?"

Keigo was tiptoeing down the corridor, wings trailing behind him as he stalked the way to his daughters room. Stepping inside he could see a pair of little feet sticking out from under the bed. His face adorned a playful smirk as he clambered onto the tiny mattress. The room was silent until he stuck he's head under the bed, megumi's eyes widened at the sight of her upside down dad. "BOO!" He yelled, reaching under the bed with extended arms.

Squealing happily the little girl shuffled quickly out from under, only to be tackled by her father. Strong arms lifted her up into his chest and surrounded them both with his wings, she was still giggling. "Looks like I caught myself a little chick," keigo acted surprised for his little girl, earning another happy laugh from her. "A little chick that should be getting ready for school." His eyebrow raised and she gave him a mischievous smile.

One that she learned from her father.

The two of them lived alone in keigo's city apartment. It would be wrong to say that it wasn't difficult for the pro hero. With managing the time spent with his little girl and his designated hours as a hero it was rare that he ever got a break. Every single day he would get her ready, take her to school, go to work, pick her up, either hand her over to miruko for the evening and go back to work or spend the evening himself with her. Miruko was a major help in his life. She took care of megumi a few days a week when keigo was on night patrol, this was because she opted to take morning patrol anyway so had the time to spare.

Megumi was only four so obviously it was hard for her to understand sometimes. Of course she loved spending time with "auntie miruko" but it wasn't unusual for her to ask for her dad and want to spend time with him instead. Countless times the pro hero had been called out of meetings for his daughter but he never hesitated to put her first before his job. Megumi was his pride and joy, his greatest achievement. Putting her first may have cost him a few pay checks or deals but to him it wasn't about that. Megumi deserved everything that he didn't get as a kid so he didn't hesitate to come to her aid for whatever she may need.

"Come on chickie you gotta put your hair up. Your teacher already sent me an angry email to tell me that it shouldn't be down. She's scary you know." Keigo, used his hands to softly comb the strands of her blonde hair into two pigtails. Being a single dad this was something he had to learn how to do fairly quickly, watching many videos on how to tie hair he was finally getting the hang of it. Securing each bundle with red hair ties he checked in the mirror to make sure they were even.

In the mirror two faces stared back, megumi was the spitting image of her father. Bright yellow eyes, blonde hair, long thick black eyelashes and to top it all of she even had small red wings sprouting from her back. They were slightly different however because the tips of each feather appeared to be dipped in what looked like a shiny metal. The reason for this was megumi's mother, keigo dated a woman with a metal based quirk. However after megumi was born- they were already broken up at this point- the woman was unable to care for her daughter.

Keigo offered her help, a place to stay and plenty of money to help her stay afloat but it seemed as if the financial issue wasn't the problem. To put it bluntly megumi's mother didn't want anything to do with either of them. Breaking up with Keigo meant that she was reminded of him every time she laid eyes on her daughter. So after dropping her off at her dads for the weekend- megumi was only a baby at the time- she took off and made no effort to keep contact. Keigo gained full custody of his daughter and they've been living together ever since.

The break up was not even on bad terms, Keigo treated megumi's mother like a princess. they were simply young and fell out of love quickly. Both of them were only 22 when she fell pregnant, after deciding to keep the baby Keigo was scared of what the future might hold for not just the two of them but for this new life they were bringing into the world. Shortly after she was born the two began to fight over petty things and most of the work was left to Keigo. That was probably for the best because it was clear that megumi's mother just wasn't cut out to be a parent.

Keigo was happy that she was out of the picture as megumi was the best thing that ever happened to the pro hero.

"You wanna fly to school?"

"YEAH!"

"I know that's why you hid isn't it chickie?"

"Nuh uh, I hid because I DON'T wanna go school."

"Well what a shame. Let's go."

"Pappaaaaa."

Megumi hung off her dad's arm as he stepped towards the door. Already dressed in his hero suit he swung megumi's "hawks" themed backpack over his shoulder. Obviously completing the final look. He then picked her up, putting her inside his jacket to keep warm and then locking the door. "What are you doing papa? We need go out the door, silly." Megumi scolded him but Keigo simply smirked. "Who said we were going out the front door."

He headed towards the balcony instead.

Standing on the ledge he told her to hold on tight before simply.

Jumping off.

Well it could have been classified as "falling."

The little girl screamed in happiness as the sound of her fathers wings beating filled her ears. Little hands clutched at the fabric of his shirt but she knew she was safe due to the seatbelt like arm holding onto her. All her trust went into her dad when they went flying, her wings were too small for her to fly along side him but she loved the sensation of the air whipping at her face as they glided through the air. Keigo's eyes flicked between their destination and his little girl. Smiling widely at the sight of her ecstatic expression.

The flight was short lived as her school was very close to where they lived in the city. Landing with a few more beats of his wings keigo's feet touched the concrete playground. Everyone was staring at the two of them but neither were fazed.

What? never seen someone fly into preschool before?

"Right, you got everything? Papa's gotta get to work, chicken." He crouched down to her level, his shining wings folded behind him. "Yep! I even got my notebook with your face on it!"

"Chicken all your school stuff has my face on it."

"YEAH BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"

Keigo chuckled, ruffling her hair and giving the little girl a kiss on the forehead. Going to stand up however the man was pulled back down into a crouch. In front of him a little fist was waving in his face. Without a second thought Keigo fist bumped his daughter and watched as she exclaimed a loud "POW!" Afterwards.

Let's just say he left for work with a blinding smile on his face.

_______________________________________________

@sugas-sweetheart

[howtosurvivebeingsingle]

I Do, Do I?

If you follow my regular blog that I rarely post on, you'll know that my heterosexual roomie proposed to me. The thing is, we're both hetero females that decided that instead of getting married by 50 at the rate we're going, we may as well. The amount of benefits married couples get while they're still in college is ridiculous. We have friends that live a town away that are both married since they graduated high school and the amount of money they were able to save landed them a cozy four-bedroom house. Sounds too good to be true, and believe me I wish it were. I am still attending my local university myself trying to double major, as is my roommate. We both have multiple jobs to support our apartment but with expenses, we're borderline broke. There's enough to get by, that being said when classes start is where the trouble begins. Marriage is looking pretty tempting right now. Is it really all it's cracked out to be? Here are the details I've heard so far; You get generous financial aid meaning starving is less likely, Married life is less expensive which is less cost of living in an apartment or house, Mutual motivation from your spouse (depends but mine's fine), and it prepares you for what marriage is actually like.

In Short, my maybe wife and I will pay less for college, less for housing, have that emotional support most people lack, and get a taste of what being married to a man is like (sort of). The bargain is that if we actually go through with this, we'll still date men as we please and if we're in an actual relationship and the guy proposes we get a divorce. Imagine your maid of honor is your ex-wife? There's more humor to it. He picks you up for a date and she's watching tv. Before you go, "Bye Honey!", or she gets the door for you and introduces herself as your actual married wife. The situation is so complex that I'm actually near writing a book about it. Here's where I advertise my Finding Mr. Darcy book trilogy that's in the works. If there's one thing I know about, it's being single. I'm the Carrie Bradshaw of singles instead of sex, that is if I can even claim that title. I asked my friend if he thought being married had all the perks and he said this; "It's a pipedream trying to trap singles into thinking life is better with someone else. True as that last statement maybe, the rest is not. The idea is that after marriage it's time to settle down. You move into a cottage in the plains, wide-open spaces where all the little kids can run around. Your husband comes back from work and the two of you snuggle in bed without a care, it's bullshit. Girls and I mean girls are too high maintenance now that you've got to give them everything they want or it's no deal. Hell, you're even lucky to find a woman who actually wants to care for you as much as herself. Total pipedream, and waste in this century."

That was the first time I had ever heard him speak so hopelessly about love. I expected an answer like "No, true love is out there somewhere." as he often said, but this was not the case at all. Either he was in a really bad mood that day, or I don't know my best friend like I thought I did. The next day, I decided to take a look at married couples in the workplace, by workplace, I mean my job in digital services. From what I was seeing was a lot of arguing. Either the man would be on the computer and the woman was nagging on him the whole time or the woman was on the computer and the man was making her feel like she was stupid. If both parties were separate, the wife would call every ten minutes to ask meaningless questions, or the wife was present with two or more hyper kids. It was hard for them to get anything done with or without their spouse present. I also decided to take a look at single parents and the closest one was my sister. In 2019, she got pregnant with my nephew by her boyfriend Will. She had him in march of 2020, so he's about a year old and beginning to get used to his legs. When she's home, she's stressed from being home from work, and on her off days, she's stressed with her son's rambunctious behavior. Our mother watches him when she's working her ten-hour shifts and leaves the rest to her when she gets back. Pretty soon it'll just be my sister and her kid when mom moves down south of the US. Both can verify that he's quite the handful and with my experience, he is. That doesn't mean I love him any less, but my share of babysitting isn't any easier.

The situation is mutual whether you're married or not with kids. Stress with a side of stress and exhaustion. Putting kids aside, I've seen couples without kids like my maybe wife's other best friend. Things seem all prim and proper when they come to visit, but according to her, they still manage to argue almost on a daily. My coworkers feel the same way about marriage life even when I had explained my situation. They continued to urge me to take things into careful consideration before jumping head into marriage. I kept getting negative answers from people despite my search to find some hope for the situation. Then the question crossed my mind; despite the fairytale images given to us in childhood, is it really worth the trouble of getting married?

Julie: "It always ends in tears. Someone leaves, someone dies, or you get a divorce."

Varsha: "So long as they compliment you. You need support from both parties for it to work."

Denny: "It depends. You don't need a man or woman to support you all the way, you can do fine just being single. My wife and I are great, but I'd be just as fine alone."

Enzo: "No. All odds are against you in the long run. The woman finds someone else to bug and takes half of everything."

Annie: "It's more of a want than a need. The best thing is not to be pressured into it if you're not 100% into it."

Vinny: "Only if you're ready and trust each other all the way."

Marcus: "The question you should be asking is if friendship is worth it. That's what it really comes down to."

Lori: "It can be fulfilling despite the fear of failure."

The answers kept leading me in circles and in the end, I wound up back where I started. It was a total toss-up of whether you got heads or tails, but I wasn't about to give in that easily. I decided to take my venture to a baseball game on Friday and what I saw there nearly startled me. A couple of 65 years renewed their vows at the stadium. I started to think that maybe all it did take was a bit of compromise and despite half the negativity from my interview and friends there really is someone for everyone. Perhaps the divorced people just haven't found the right person just yet. Like my grandmother on my mother's side, she married four men before she met my grandfather and they've been together almost fifty years. I guess you could say it was a task of trial and error, but it worked out in the long run. Neither of them has ever had a reason to want to divorce. Before I leave questions unanswered, yes my grandfather too also had his share of divorces. The numbers don't seem to matter, only the fact that there really could be someone out there for everyone. A glimmer of hope to end this rather late and brief update. I wonder if there really is hope, is there still time for we singles of every shade and orientation. Is there truly that soulmate we all long for somewhere besides where we are? Until next time and Much Love Your Way Darlings!

[claudes-therapy-center]

Dimitri and Claude sharing a relaxing bath. (Lotta love for these two they've been through a lot)

In honor of Dimtiri’s birthday, I’ve finally wrapped up this prompt! Sorry it took so long, and also sorry if it’s not exactly what you wanted. Hope you enjoy! :)

---

The water’s warm- a sense of comfort after a long day after scouting. Claude feels his muscles relax the instant his dirty skin meets the inviting pool of water. Instinctively, he sighs, letting the steam fill his lungs. Now this hits the spot. For once, he can stop thinking about tactics and strategy and just let his mind rest.

However, his mind has other plans. In fact, it seems to run a mile a minute, fluttering from one thought to the next. Claude chuckles bitterly at himself- he should’ve known better. How could he just stop thinking when there were so many questions still to be answered? As he wades deeper into the pool, he thinks back on how the war is going. About their latest capture at Fort Merceus, the previously impregnable fortress. About the javelins of light that had pierced through the heavens, ripping apart the entire fort with terrifying ease. Just where had that sort of power come from? What kind of being could control such a thing? Had he been a different man, Claude would’ve thought of the goddess. But he held no such allegiances or reverences, especially not now.  

With a hum, Claude runs his wet fingers through his hair, untangling the knots that came with riding a wyvern constantly. The water feels good against his scalp, and absentmindedly, he realizes his hair’s gotten much longer than he remembered. Not as long as Dimitri’s, mind you, but it was certainly due for a trim. 

Claude frowns as he thinks about the thought-to-be-dead prince of Faerghus, Dimitri’s a very different person from last he saw him, five years ago. During his academy days, he had pegged Dimitri as one of those chivalrous types, the type of person to seek justice over everything else. And he was right, in a way. Now, justice seemed to be all Dimitri thought about. (Or really, revenge.) It had nearly killed him too. If he hadn’t seen the Imperial soldiers surround Dimitri as he fell, if Marianne hadn’t been by his side ready to heal, who knows what would’ve happened. (He’s lying to himself. Claude knows Dimitri would’ve been as good as dead, but his mind doesn’t want to think about it. Doesn’t want to think of living a life without Dimitri in it. Not again, not after he found him again after five whole years-)

Claude’s breath catches in his throat, and his hands fall to his side. The water splashes loudly at the contact, but Claude pays it no mind. All he can think about is the horrible possibilities, the what-ifs, the alternate timelines. What would he have done if Dimitri had died? How would he go on? The Alliance would still look to him, and he knew, for the sake of Fodlan, he couldn’t falter. He couldn’t take a second to grieve, because time was of the essence. How could he still be the strong leader everyone expected him to be, after losing the person he loved most?

Abruptly, he swallows, shaking himself out of those thoughts. There was no point dwelling on those types of things, it wasn’t like that happened. Regardless of what Dimitri had become, all that mattered was that he was alive, that there still was a chance.

The door slams open behind him, and Claude whirls around, inadvertently splashing water around him. Again. In the doorway, standing as stiff as a board, is Dimitri. Claude almost wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all. “Speak of the devil, and he will come,” he mutters to himself, smirking. 

Dimitri, to his credit, looks incredibly embarrassed. A blush dusts his cheeks, and Claude doesn’t think it’s from the steam. “I-I’m sorry,” he stutters out, averting his eyes. It reminds him so much of their Academy days, back when their worries were so much smaller. Back when Dimitri didn’t hold anything against him, when they would sneak into each other’s rooms when they felt the ghosts of their pasts haunted them. Nowadays, he felt those ghosts had a stronger grip on Dimitri than ever before. A pang of hurt drills its way into Claude’s heart as he remembers those simpler times, but he doesn’t let it show. 

Instead, he smiles easily. “No harm done,” he says nonchalantly. A small desire worms its way into his brain, and Claude thinks about denying it. That would be the right thing to do, especially considering how fragile the relationship was between the two of them. But honestly, what was the harm? Dimitri couldn’t possibly hate him more than he did now. So he swallows his apprehension and proposes, “Come, join me! The pool’s big enough for the two of us.”

As he expected, Dimitri turns away. “T-That’s quite alright, I’ll just wait.” Claude’s surprised he’s still blushing. Perhaps he should get naked around him more often, if only to not see him in his normal angsty mode. 

“Nonsense!” Claude still calls to him, filling away that information for later. “Could be ages for all the other soldiers to finish up. Plus, it’ll be more efficient for the two of us to bath together. Saving water and all that.” He blinks, frowning as another thought pops into his head. “I’m not going to try anything, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No!” Dimitri’s voice comes out quickly, almost taken aback. It startles both him and Claude, who tries to school his expression as best he can. He’s a little tired of taken by surprise. Dimitri clears his throat. “I don’t take you for that sort of man, Claude.”

Claude chuckles. “Heartwarming, Highness. Your faith means the world to me.” He turns away again, massaging his scalp. Despite his seemingly lighthearted demeanor, he’s accepted defeat at this point. Teasing was one thing, but he wouldn’t ever force Dimitri into something he wasn’t comfortable with. The door gently closes behind him, and Claude tries to ignore at the sadness that starts to gnaw at him once more. Bathing with each other had been a normal event back in their academy days, a rare time of tranquility amongst the busyness of life, and now it seemed like an impossibility. It was just another reminder about how much had changed. Though there were good things these five years had brought, often times Claude found himself wishing for the simplicity that he had lost.

He’s broken out of his thoughts by the sound of someone entering the pool behind him, and then a hiss. For far too many times today, he turns around. Looking uncomfortable in the hot water stands Dimitri, in all his nicely toned glory. Now it’s Claude’s turn to have his brain short-circuit for moment, unused to seeing the other in anything other than layers upon layers of clothing. He looks… really good. It was obvious that he’d been keeping up with his training during his five year absence, because his muscles were very nicely defined. Still, Claude’s eyes lingered on the scars roping around his chest- some old and fading, but many of them were newer, still red and loud against paler skin. It’s simply the reality of war, but it still hurts him, to know Dimitri was in pain. 

Speaking of him, he clears his throat. “If you’re going to continue gawking, I will leave,” he speaks seriously, looking uncomfortable with Claude’s eyes on him. 

It takes everything in his body not to act flustered. “It’s hard not to notice a hulking bear in the pool,” Claude musters out instead, trying desperate to mask his inward panic. He makes a point to wade the other side of the pool, grabbing a small bottle of shampoo. “Or a lion, in your case. Anyway, glad you could join me,” he makes sure to add, fiddling with the small bottle.

Dimitri wades deeper, more used to the temperature now. “We used to do this as kids, did we not? When the private bathrooms were full?” 

“Yeah, back when no one wanted to use the communal baths.” Claude frowns, a thought popping into his head. “You know, I always found it odd Garreg Mach had communal baths in the first place. I’ve never seen them in Fodlan before coming here.”

“Perhaps they just found it was more efficient,” Dimitri supplies, echoing Claude’s words from earlier. Though, it doesn’t fully answer Claude’s question. 

“I suppose.” Claude hums, pulling out the small cork on the bottle. He pours a generous dollop on his hand before massaging his scalp again, letting the shampoo set in his hair. 

“I never knew what shampoo was until I saw you use it,” Dimitri reminisces, starting to relax against the edge of the pool. “I always wondered how your hair was able to look so nice.”

Claude hopes his blush isn’t visible above the steam. Normally, compliments were things he could just shrug off, but he never really could with Dimitri. He just had this way of saying things, an earnest air about him, that it was hard to think he was saying something just to say it. And the way he delivered it- the factual way he spoke, the honesty in his look- was just like how he did it five years ago. 

Still… many things had changed since then. And, quite frankly, he couldn’t be sure of where his relationship with Dimitri stood now. He knew his own feelings of course, but Dimitri’s… No, he couldn’t risk it. This wasn’t just about him. If Claude ruined his relationship with Dimitri, then he would put all of the Alliance at stake. They needed Dimitri’s support, the morale that he brought with him. Losing him could mean losing the war, even if they were already this close. It would be selfish to risk such a thing just for Claude to get an answer.  

So he chuckles, hollow to his own ears. “Well, I just found it off from some merchants in Goneril. Been using it ever since. I’m just glad they’re still around, so many of the trading has come to a halt because of the war.” Claude deliberately skips over the compliment, and instead, scoops some water and runs it through his hair.

Dimitri visibly darkens at the mention of the war. “Yes,” he growls out, and mentally, Claude kicks himself for bringing it up. Surprisingly though, Dimitri’s anger doesn’t seem to last long. Much to Claude’s amazement, he lets out a long sigh. “But soon, this war will come to an end,” he says, voice sounding more resigned than anything else. “And trading will resume as normal. Hopefully then, I’ll be able to buy shampoo for myself again.”

Claude wonders if the wonders today will ever cease. “...You don’t have any shampoo for yourself?” There’s a whole lot more Claude wants to ask (such as: You aren’t blinded by anger anymore?? You can just let things go now?? Who taught you this and when did Teach have the time to?) but all he can safely ask is about the shampoo. 

If Dimitri sees his disbelief, he doesn’t comment on it. “No, the seller I usually go to has been missing for years. And I haven’t seen anyone else trading it.”

Claude doesn’t know which is more fantastical- the idea that Dimtri’s learned to deal with his emotions to some degree, or the fact that he’s been actively looking for a shampoo seller for the past five years. He pours more water over his head, feeling the soapy suds fall down his back. “Well, that won’t do!” He says, an idea rapidly forming. Just like the last time, the logical part of him screams to not do it, but more of him is saying to shoot his shot- Dimitri’s in a good mood, he didn’t freak out at the mention of war, he agreed to coming into the bath anyway, what was one more request? “You’ll just have to borrow mine in the meantime.”

Dimitri looks taken aback. “I couldn’t possibly…” he begins, but Claude swiftly interrupts.

“Nope! I insist.” The smile Claude wears is a little wicked in nature. “Think of it as a sign of good nature between our armies,” He speaks with a faux-authoritarian tone, before going back to his regular voice. “No but seriously, you can borrow mine until I talk to my seller again. Might as well, right?” 

“If you’re certain…” Dimitri says slowly, probably recognizing that it’s pointless to argue. 

“Oh, I am,” Claude says, his solemn tone clashing with his smirk. He rinses the last bit of shampoo out of his hair, ready for the next phase in his plan. Once his hair is free of it’s soapy prison, he makes his way out of the pool, bottle in hand. Dimitri looks surprised at his sudden exit, which is quickly replaced with disappointment. Claude chuckles to himself. Even after all these years, Dimitri was still terrible at masking his emotions.

“Don’t look so down, Highness! I just need to grab something, I’ll be back.” He reassures him with a wink, relishing the small sputter the other gives out. Dimitri’s good mood is really picking his own mood up, and he walks behind Dimitri with a slight spring in his step. Time to absolutely ruin everything, an evil piece of his mind crows. Claude ignores it. 

He squirts a bit of shampoo in his hands as he sits on his knees behind Dimitri. The other man seems to be aware that he’s behind him, but he must not know how close Claude actually is, otherwise he would’ve certainly demanded to know what he was doing. As Claude rubs his hands, he recognizes that this was his last chance to scrap his entire idea. Once he did this next part, it was a point of no return. 

Claude places his hands on Dimitri’s hair.

Instantly, Dimitri whirls around. “What are you doing?” he growls, looking rather annoyed and taken aback by Claude’s presence. 

“Shampooing your hair,” he says with a confidence he doesn’t feel.

“I can see that!” Dimitri huffs, and Claude wonders if he’s pushed too far. Perhaps the sight of seeing Dimitri in such good spirits put him in a sort-of euphoria that clouded his vision? He couldn’t say for certain. (Or rather, he wouldn’t.) Still, it wasn’t his intention to make him uncomfortable, he just wanted to… relive some of the memories that floated around in his head sometimes. 

Dimitri’s voice breaks him out of the beginning of his self-pity spiral. “Are you going to continue, or will you allow me to get soap in my eyes?” He asks petulantly, not deliberately not glancing at Claude. Which is a good thing, because his jaw is practically on the floor. Idly, he wonders if this whole day has been nothing but a fever dream. 

Quickly, he shakes himself out of his stupor. “As you command, your Highness,” he intones, massaging his scalp with renewed vigor. 

Dimitri hums, pleased. “Thank you,” he breathes, heartfelt. “For everything, I mean,” he quickly tacks on. “Thank you for being here.”

For a solid minute, Claude’s dumbfounded. This has to be a dream, he thinks to himself. But the feeling of Dimitri’s hair in his hands is solid and tangible, proving that thought false. In fact, he can feel Dimitri stiffen at his lack of response. So he swallows and replies, “You’re welcome,” unable to keep the emotion out of his voice. 

Claude lets himself truly relax then. Outside, the world is cold and unpredictable. But in here, the warmth of the pool is pleasing, and Dimitri’s presence is a comfort. For once, he feels at ease. He had no way of knowing what the future would bring, but so long as he had Dimitri by his side, Claude was certain everything would turn out alright. 

-Mod Panda 🐼

[lapeaudelamemoire]

I made a typo last night in a message to T.

He points out how rare it is for me to make a grammatical error.

I say yeah, well. It was 3am.

His response: [It] makes you cuter, to be flawed.

This is the boy who copped the worst of my abuse when we were 14 and 15 and I said things that should never have left my mouth.

And he laughs because I made a mistake in writing and tells me it's cute that I fuck up.

Some days, some small moments, even after all the drift - some days I'm still stupidly lucky and it hits me over the head but gently, like a leaf blowing into your face.

I don't know what I've done in this life to deserve people who love me after nine years, ten years, three, four, five... Or how wordlessly beautiful it is to look back and see that when I'm crying alone terrified in a cold ship-like Kentish Town apartment and someone 15 minutes down the road doesn't show up and I'm a quivering mess and I think death would be less cold, the first kid I've ever fallen in love with whom I ran into the ground when I was young and angry and didn't know any better lets me ring him and sends me music he's made to lull me to sleep and I hear his voice singing.

I would never have known. 14 year old me wanted to wait ten years for this boy; we thought we were going to end up together; and next year it will be ten years and we've loved other people and we keep missing each other and we've told each other about the people we've loved over the years and watched each other leave those people and come on back, come on back...

And now I finally live in the same country but a different city and this is the second person I've cried this hard over after him and I haven't seen him since I've been here last year but it's fine, and I haven't seen Phil in two years since I abruptly stopped talking when I had to go down to London and he gets me food when I haven't eaten all day from a small estate near Middlesbrough and manages to get this sent to my door in Melbourne.

And they've seen me in a corner curled up with a knife hitting the floor and held me while I sobbed and my body rocked like a listing ship in choppy waters and I've told them the worst things and done so much wrong and hurt them but somehow they're always there when I need them and they pick up when I call or reply when I text and they still call me Kit or some variation of that and they've let me sing stupid broken songs where my voice breaks and I go off key and they've let me not want them too damaged from someone else's touch and - and - and -

And the hours I've spent crying in their company. Doing nothing else. They've heard me talk through every reason to die say I want to jump out the window drown myself in a tub frantic ringing long flatlines on the telephone

and now he's telling me I'm cute because I made a spelling error and Phil says I'm adorable even while my face is distorted from wailing, which is right now, eyes screwed up and my lips stretched over my teeth and my nose scrunched up

And I. I sat with Kai last year over his birthday and talked about it and she told me about the girl she saw after me and she gave me back those books I would have been heart sore to lose from Lisbon and sometimes someone else still checks on me on here and C's email from this time last year and I -

Sometimes T tells me he doesn't know how I take my coffee or some other tiny thing because we've spent a grand total of less than three months together in person and how we're still getting to know each other but he knows me so well it's been nine years and it's so hard to believe we've gotten to where we can say that watching the years go by and what was it, we are two goldfish in a bowl

And it's times like these the gratitude comes falling in through the roof full force - I saw him at my compound gate last year and he'd put on weight, no longer skinny, and we didn't have sex all the time he was there even though when we were kids it was all we wanted and he let me be and he watched Cowboy Bebop with me and pointed at Faye and said she always reminded him of me and

He's got all those embarrassing chatlogs somewhere, probably, from when MSN Messenger was still a thing and I still remember his display picture and email and handle and horrible webcam photographs of me when I was 14 and my body was still growing I think, you can actually see my breasts filling out and my body thickening or losing weight after it was through with that and I had short hair.

It's been nine years and he tells me I'm cute for making a typo.

And I swear, maybe I'll never want to be perfect again.

I lack the words - for this immense grace, which my frail human frame and tongue and mind can only go on repeating the unlikely events of, in unbelief in relief -

No I don't know how you fall out of love, it only changes, they watch me grow they let me walk back into their arms while my ribcage is a hammering cracked dismal thing or I'm just happy, I'm just happy to see them.

Strangely, in the background it's that disappeared post empty space of a site that was this one song that's playing -

Ultimately, it is a beautiful thing. I open the door into tomorrow, or next year, or just today, and they're there with me and the boy with the blonde hair I dreamed of kissing when I was a teenager, his hair falls across my face like a curtain, just like I imagined all those years ago.

Maybe one day I'll open the door into one day and you'll be there, too. Maybe this is the song that foretells it.

And I won't walk back, I'll be walking forwards.