#literally…. from his tail…. but like hey it’s pretty smooth!

[ceruleancattail]

Granted

Malleus x bard reader

(A continuation of Encounter.)

Fingers trailing over your palm, carefully tracing every line. His touch was gentle, carrying the warmth of golden sunshine, alighting on a daisy. You stifle a yawn.

Malleus has been at this for awhile. Rubbing slow circles into your skin with his thumb, his touch lingering on your callouses. Rough patches of skin, hardened from years of playing your instrument.

They scratched at every surface they alighted upon. A husk of skin, protecting the tender flesh lying underneath.

Not the most attractive part of your body, if you do say so yourself.

Fingertips sore and red from plucking strings, crescents of crimson peeking from underneath your nails. They used to sting, with the fury of a thousand wasps. Now, the pain’s dulled itself to a persistent throb, gnawing away at your hand.

It still hurts, but not as much as it used to.

A sigh, Malleus’s breath wafting against your hand. A ticklish sensation. A laugh slips from your lips, before you pull your hand away. Eyes of emerald follow your hand, watching it as it drops onto your lap.

Leaning towards him, you elbow Malleus playfully.

“What’s up with you and my hand? Wanna’ put a ring on that?”

He blinks slowly, as if a raindrop just splattered onto his forehead. Stunned surprise, eyes widening like a cat caught unawares. Another laugh falls from your lips, as you clutch at your trembling sides.

You’ll never get tired of just how expressive Malleus could be. You just can’t see him on a throne, not after your travels with him. Even if you tried, the only image you could conjure up was his smile.

A warm, soothing thing that simply just shone. Not with the sheer power of sunshine, blinding all who witnessed it. Malleus smiled with the serene aura of the moon, the silver light glowing in the pitch black night sky.

His lips moved ever so slightly. Forming words so impossibly soft, that they were blown away by the breeze.

“Perhaps I shall.”

“I beg your pardon?”

You tilt your head a little closer to him, trying to catch even a letter of his words.

Malleus only chuckles, your words a melody to his ears. Goodness, what power you hold. To be able to charm him with your words alone. What a terrifying bard.

“You may have it. I was only wondering about the… stiffness of your hands.”

Stretching your arms out, you held both of your hands aloft, palms facing him. The position was strangely reminiscent of a prayer. You dangle your hands in front of him, wiggling your fingers.

“Years of playing music, Malleus. That’s what it’ll do to your hands. These are the hands of a fighter, my dear prince.”

Reaching for your hands, he squeezes them affectionately. Holding them gingerly within his own, Malleus’ heartbeat tapping lightly into your hands.

“Perhaps, child of man. Perhaps.”

A rustle, as Malleus’ tail snakes forward. A scaly, ebony thing, resting on his lap. He releases your hand, running it down his tail. Scales slip off at his touch, clattering onto the ground. Riffling through the debris, he picks out a particularly small one.

Edges rounded, it’s slightly comical all alone in his hand. Black as the night sky, yet there was a certain twinkle to it that was simply enchanting. As if a star was shattered into fragments and scattered throughout the scale.

It sparkled in the light.

An entire universe, condensed into this one scale.

Malleus places it in your hands, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

“It’s admirable, how hard you have been fighting for your music.”

Lowering his head, Malleus presses a kiss into the very tip of your fingers. A light, fleeting thing. Much like the wings of a butterfly, just barely brushing against your skin.

“The scars of a warrior are not easily earned. A courageous fighter, indeed.”

He gesture to the scale.

“It’s about time someone gave you a sword.”

[poppyswriting]

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓…

Blitzø coming into your house out of nowhere as if it was normal.

It’s been a while since you started working with I.M.P and you couldn’t say anything negative it was quite the gig and it wasn’t like the missions sometimes weren’t fun to do.

It was one of the large amount of jobs that you had that actually gave you something to think about instead of your shitty life. You had great friends too, Millie and Moxxie were great Loona, well you were getting into that. But Blitzø was definitely the one that was the closest to you.

And you meant it literally and metaphorically. Ever since you entered I.M.P you’ve been building a pretty good friendship between the two of you. And he sometimes even got off the hip of Moxxie and Millie to your hip which the couple noticed almost straight away. Of course Moxxie was happy about this and relieved while Millie just smiled talking about it being her boss was making more friends. You didn’t mind it, before this job you were a full time loner. You didn’t had much friends so you had your house all for yourself, everyday.

But that changed when one day you woke up at the middle of the night hearing some noise coming from your dinning room. Robbers you thought, as you reached for your nigh drawer and pulled off a knife you had there just for this type of cases. With smooth movements you approached the hallway as silent as you could. This wasn’t a situation that surprised you since your landlord and the guards at your apartment complex were total lazy asses, so it was just about time someone snuck up and tried to steal something.

Looking by the frame of your wall you looked to see the silhouette of an imp roaming through your fridge. You kinda felt bad, maybe the imp didn’t had any food and wasn’t in the position to buy any. But from all of the apartments it had to be yours, well you weren’t letting that little thing steal anything from you as you approached their back. And unconsciously holding your breath you raised you knife ready to stab them before they moved rather quickly taking your arm and pinning you against the wall.

You hissed at this as they let go as quickly as they noticed your face, turning around you expected a strange face but you were met to…. Your boss?

“Boss? What the fuck are ya’ doing here?” You lowered you knife while you saw how he avoided looking into your eyes and fidget with his fingers. “Wait, wait have you been entering house before?” You frowned, the thought of him going into your home before it didn’t bother you as much like a normal person would it just confused you why.

“Hey, look I don’t mind just.. Warn me the next time you come in here. You got me thinking you were a robber or some shit.” He chuckled while sighed and yawned, looking over tot he fridge to se wit was still open.

“Did you took anything?” he avoided eye contact again, making you frown. “Blitz..” you walked over to your fringe, strange, nothing seemed wrong. “You ran out of butter.” You heard him say and you checked, did he ate the fucking butter?

“How did you- never mind I don’t even want to know.” You sighed and closed the fridge door, you checked the clock in the wall and it said 2:36am. Good dear it was late, you grabbed Blitzø’s hand and walked him to your bedroom. “Why are you taking me here?”

“Hey, you wanted to crash in here I’m not going to judge you. My bed is not that big so careful you don’t fall.” You lifted the sheets and moved closer to the wall so he could lay in that spot, he seemed a little surprised by this since Moxxie and Millie always threw him out in the nicest way they could. So he smiled and lay there besides you, pulling the sheets over him and getting himself comfortable.

after some minutes you heard low snoring sounds, that meant he was sleeping. Good, tomorrow was Saturday so it wasn’t like you got to get up in the morning and wake him up too. But your thoughts cleared for a second when you felt his tail make its way up to you thigh to then curl up in your whole leg. You chuckled a little and smile at this, it was cute you couldn’t deny it. So you returned the favor by making your tail curl up in his, good now you two were even.

[leclerced]

please tell me more about them, literally anything (peach n max) begging for a crumb of content ™

i have sooo many ideas about them. below is smth i wrote after posting that fic but i wasn’t sure if i should continue it

in my head, the story behind the nickname is that charles gave her the nickname after she was born, because he couldn’t pronounce her name but he could say peche. it was his favorite food, so that’s what he called his baby sister. just wanted to share that hehe

She was part of the package deal when Max became friends with Charles, he would have been annoyed that his friend’s younger sister followed them everywhere if she hadn’t been ridiculously pretty. And smart. And funny. She got along with everyone, Max included. He thought she was annoying as kids because she was his rival’s sister, but when he met her again when he befriended Charles, he saw her in a new light. Or just saw that she’d grown up like the rest of them and she was fucking hot.

It wasn’t hard for him to keep his distance for years when she wasn’t coming to every race because of her studies. He felt something shift a few weeks before her 23rd birthday, when she finished university and flew out the same day to make it to the next race. She’d shown up at the paddock in pajama pants and a tank top, hair in a low pony tail and bags under her eyes. She hadn’t slept in over twenty four hours, she planned to sleep on the plane but they flew through a small storm and experienced minor turbulence and she was kept awake anxiously waiting for the plane to shake again.

She’d planned on changing and touching up her graduation makeup that had smudged under her eyes, but she thought she looked okay when she checked herself out in the airport bathroom. She napped a bit in the car ride to the hotel and nearly fell asleep when she carried her luggage up to her room and saw the bed, but she didn’t want to miss the race.

She was so tired when she made it to the track that she didn’t even think about it when she saw Max’s garage and walked straight in to find him. She pulled him into a hug from behind and said hello as she pressed her face into his back. Max had only hugged Charles’s sister a few times, but he recognized her perfume and voice as soon as she wrapped herself around him. He couldn’t stop the stupid grin that appeared on his face as he broke the conversation with GP to turn in her arms and hug her back. “Hey, peach, I didn’t know you were coming.”

She yawned and leaned into his warmth. “I didn’t tell anyone. Came to surprise Charlie.” Max stiffened at the mention of her brother and he pulled back from the hug.

“Lets get you go him then.” He led her to the Ferrari garage with his hand on the small of her back, fingers brushing the skin where her tank top rode up. No one else could pull off sleepwear at an event like this, but her Ferrari branded sweatpants and tight black tank top blended in once she was in her brother’s garage. He was drunk on the feeling of her smooth skin under his finger tips and instantly missed it when she saw Charles and bounded up to him.

She jumped onto his back and squealed his name. Charles stumbled into Carlos whose hands reached out and righted the siblings, one hand on her thigh around Charles’s hips and the other on Charles’s waist. Max wanted to rip her away from the Ferrari team and drag her back to his garage, but he pushed the thought from his mind and turned back to leave the should-be twins to catch up.

The weeks leading up to their summer break were hell, she was at every race which was lovely, but it was mid summer and she pranced around in short skirts and self cropped Ferrari polos. When she stretched up, it revealed a delicious sliver of skin. Max felt like he was playing with fire every time she caught him staring and smirked at him before looking away, and he’d follow her gaze to meet Charles’s glare.

[dzamie-oc]

Voretober 02 - Admiration

Length: 1700 words Vore type: Oral vore, M/M, willing prey, safe vore Fandom: None (Kahudra) Other info: feet first, naga/anthro Summary: Vore streamer Sel'riss meets a fan at a convention. You'll never guess what they get up to.

Sel'riss slithered slowly through the convention hall. It took a fair amount of practice to keep his scaly, blue tail from taking up too much walking room, and if it weren't for fascinating analysis panels like the one he'd just come from, he'd probably never attend one. Well, barring free admission, but he wasn't the kind of snake who'd be able to swing that.

Anyway, he had a good hour and a half until the "legally distinct from Who's Line" panel. He could check out local restaurants, peruse the dealer's den, or-

"Hey!" A loud voice jolted him out of his thoughts. The naga tensed, hoping whoever his tail just tripped would accept an apology. However, when he turned around, the fox approaching him had a smile on his face. As well as a pair of Bro Strider glasses.

"Er… hello?" He wasn't quite sure how to respond to him. Did he drop something, or…?

The fox came to a stop just before him."You're Sel'riss, right? I'm a big fan," he said, bushy tail swishing behind him.

Sel'riss let out a breath. "Oh! Phew, I thought I'd hit someone with my tail. Nice to meet you, uh…"

"Lansat." The name clicked in his mind. "I dunno if you'd remember, but-"

"The guy with the-" Sel'riss cut himself off to check around him for congoers too young to overhear this sort of thing. Playing it safe, he continued vaguely, "the sleeping bag thing?"

Lansat's ears flicked back and he flushed red. "Y-yeah. Let's go with that. You're not too weirded out by it?"

Sel'riss shrugged. "I've heard worse. Plus, it is a little flattering."

Silence reigned for several seconds, snake and fox both trying to find a way to continue. A passing Vriska complimented Lansat on his getup. Finally, Sel'riss took initiative. "So… I have some time to kill."

Lansat's blush seemed to burn right through his fur. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?"

"Not out in public, I'm not. Care to join me away from prying ears?"

"Y-yes! Damn, that's smooth…"

Sel'riss felt himself slip into a more familiar rhythm as he led his fan towards the hotel elevators. "Practice. I mean, you've watched me for a while. Especially with my niche, I've got to have some way to meet new guests, at least enough to keep up appearances."

The elevator was a little small even for just himself, but he managed to pile enough of his body against the walls to give Lansat a place to stand. The naga quietly thanked the gods for generous weight limits, and tapped the floor. Certainly easier than taking the stairs, especially with how long of a trip it would be.

Once the doors closed and the elevator began to move, Lansat shifted on his feet. "So, er… more plainly, are you really going to eat me?"

"I figured you'd be interested in it. If not, I'll probably just hang out in my room by myself."

This, as he'd suspected, threw the fox for a loop. "If I'm- I mean, yes, of course I am, it's literally a dream come true, but, well, you're not exactly known for giving your prey a choice."

Card go in slot, lock go beep, door go open. Halfway through slithering into his room, Sel'riss glanced back at Lansat. "Wait, do you- you don't think I actually, regularly kill people on stream, do you? That's like six kinds of super illegal."

This time, Lansat did actually trip on his tail; quick reflexes caught him on another length of scaly body. On a whim, Sel'riss finished a loose loop around him, rewarded with yet more furiously blushing fox. "Of course not! I know you let them out afterwards, but they seem pretty frightened to be there in the first place."

Sel'riss slithered on, letting the length of his tail slide around his guest before slipping free to join the rest of his coiled body. "Oh, they are. All in good fun, mind you." He rummaged through a bag before pulling out a vial of blue liquid. "But before and after the cameras are on, they are free to leave at any time, and I won't stop them." He held out the vial to the fox. "Anti-digestive potion? Always a good idea to take mysterious drinks from strangers who want to eat you."

Lansat grabbed the vial and held it up to get a good look. "This is gatorade."

"It looks like gatorade!" Sel'riss cheerfully corrected, "and you might've seen me fool a couple of my guests by telling them it actually is, if they really couldn't pull off the "unwilling" act. Uh, don't worry about that - I'm not gonna record this, just having fun in some spare time."

"This is surreal… With respect, you're both more and less unhinged in person than I expected." Lansat popped the cork out and downed the drink. He made a face at the taste. "Ugh. And still I expected a sports drink flavor. So what now?"

"Take off anything you don't want a bit acid-eaten, and I'll handle things from there," the naga instructed. Once Lansat had stripped down to his underwear and placed his cosplay in a neat pile, Sel'riss wrapped his tail around him and lifted him up, paws by his face. "This way, you get to watch yourself vanish… and I get to see how you react to it!"

A single gulp saw Lansat swallowed up to his knees. Although his upper half remained stock-still, Sel'riss felt the fox's rapid heartbeat against his tail and his toes stretch and wiggle against soft, deceptively-yielding throat flesh. He broke that deception with a single gulp, and his gullet firmly pulled more of the fox's legs in. As more of his fur slid across Sel'riss's forked tongue, the snake picked up more of a spicy-sweet flavor. If his mouth wasn't full of tasty fan, he was tempted to ask what fur conditioner he used.

The snake's eyes flicked to Lansat's underpants, visibly tented out by a prominent erection; he tried to soothe his prey's embarrassment with a calm smile and another long, steady swallow. If nothing else, he hoped his mouth's warm, wet embrace would occupy Lansat's mind enough to take it off of more embarrassing matters. A telltale salty flavor added to the wonderful mix of the fox's fur, and Lansat's eyes glazed over slightly, though he still focused on his predator. Sel'riss reveled in shattering that focus with one more gulp: prey often found his throat much more pleasant to grind against than his mouth, and this fan was no exception; Sel'riss simply relaxed his gullet and let gravity and the fox's unfocused rutting drag his belly in, then his chest, until all Lansat could see besides his arms was framed by serpentine jaws.

Sel'riss ran his own hands along his torso; although preoccupied, the fox's humping was spirited and made quite the active bulges in his stretchy, blue hide. The naga curled his forked tongue against the top of Lansat's head, then finally, with two gulps, sent his head and arms into the welcoming, hungry embrace of his throat and beyond. He twisted around to watch the shifting, squirming lump lessen inside his thicker lower half, then laid his upper body atop his stomach to wait for its newest temporary occupant.

Inside, his prey thrashed about, trying to rub against his insides with his arms trapped over his head. He watched as the signature spasms of a powerful orgasm gave way to a tired stillness, just before his body pulled Lansat into his stomach to rest under his upper body. Almost immediately, his gut growled and began to knead at its visitor, doing its best to work powerful yet utterly useless acids into the fox's body.

Sel'riss mentally counted to twenty. He turned out to be a few seconds early, and was about to speak up just when Lansat's body jerked to attention. The fox managed to get his arms against himself more comfortably, and pushed out against his confines - which, of course, held with no complaint.

"Oh my god, did you just-" his voice came, muffled through scales, fat, and muscle.

"I sure did."

"And I- I-"

"Not the first fan, unlikely to be the last. It'll digest normally."

"Oh, fuck, I'm going to-"

"Nnnope, not unless I wanna try to hide you for a day, and probably miss all those panels I wanted to go see." Sel'riss quickly shut that line of thought down. "And on top of that and the sudden one-day fast, there's legal issues. You're fine, Lansat."

"I… I guess I am. At- at least, it doesn't hurt to believe it." A moment of quiet, then the sensation of someone rubbing his belly from the inside. "Sorry about freaking out, Sel'riss. I should've trusted you."

Sel'riss shrugged, well aware that Lansat couldn't appreciate the gesture. "Can't blame you, I lie all the time to keep up the "cruel fatal pred" thing. I mean, it's no accident the potion looks exactly like blue gatorade. Anyway, my condolences in advance for your underwear; I think my stomach's more active than I expected."

"It- wait a sec." Sel'riss closed his eyes, enjoying Lansat fumbling around inside him. "Ah, shit. I knew something had to go wrong; meeting you IRL was way too cool to happen without a hitch."

Sel'ris laughed and promised to try to help after letting him out in an hour. In the back of his mind, he revisited his earlier thoughts: maybe cons weren't so bad, if he can find good company.

[danipedrosas-boatest]

List of kpop songs I associate motogp riders with for some reason idk

1. Pecco - Punch by NCT 127

Courtesy of Anna and that time we were discussing which songs we would play for riders

5. Zarco - Villain by Stella Jang

The vibes really

10. Luca - 28 Reasons by Seulgi

Screams main character, anti-hero getting his revenge

12. Maverick - Drama by Aespa

He IS the drama and I love him for it

20. Fabio - Tail by Sunmi

Sexy song for a sexy king

21. Franky - Lo Siento by Super Junior

Fun, chill vibes like Franky gives off

23. Enea - Genie by SNSD

If I had a lamp I would wish for him to win a championship

25. Raúl - Vengeance by Bibi

I want him to have a reputation era

30. Taka - Keep Your Head Down by TVXQ

A powerful song about staying strong and overcoming hardship, sums him up pretty well imo

31. Pedro - Super Tuna by Jin

I could imagine him listening to this while he plays with his legos

33. Brad - Kiss of Fire by Woodz

RnB just reminds me of Brad and I have no idea why

36. Joan - Snapping by Chungha

Low key but really stands out once you start paying attention

37. Augusto - Rodeo by Monsta X

Powerful and strong, can’t not listen or turn your eyes away from him

41. Aleix - Tomboy by (G)I-DLE

Amazing tough song until you get to “fucking tomboy”, which I can’t take seriously and which serves as a reminder he’s a big softie at heart

42. Rinsy - Eyes, Nose, Lips by Taeyang

A beautiful ballad, and it was inspired by Taeyang’s wife Min Hyo-Rin, and it seemed fitting seeing how much Rinsy loves his family

43. Jack - RBB by Red Velvet

I literally couldn’t think of anything else

49. Diggi - Growl by EXO

His symbol is the wolf, he’s an Roma fan, and it has the same smoothness he does

72. Bezz - Zimzalabim by Red Velvet

They are both weird and fascinating to me and I don’t know if it’s in a good way or a bad way

73. Álex - Wannabe by Itzy

HE IS A TWO TIME WORLD CHAMPION JUST LET HIM BE HIMSELF

88. Miguel - Drunk-Dazed by Enhypen

Everyone focuses on his marriage but he is incredibly talented and should be talked about more

89. Jorge - Regular by NCT 127

See above the note I have for Pecco

93. Marc - Abracadabra by Brown Eyed Girls/(G)I-DLE

👁️👅👁️ (help)

Honorable mentions:

26. Dani - Into the New World by SNSD

Iconic song that’s well-loved and legendary for a reason

32. Sava - Psycho by Red Velvet

HEY NOW WELL BE OKAY-

46. Vale - Dr. Feel Good by Rania

Cause he’s the Doctor and my sense of humor is nonexistent

99. JLo - Mic Drop by BTS

Icon, legend, menace, and forever the moment

[watchmegetobsessed]

Family Of Four - Tom Holland

a/n: i saw a video of tom and tessa right after i woke up and then BAM i just needed to write this little blurb! so here is tessa meeting your and tom’s baby for the first time!

pairing: Dad!Tom X Reader

word count: 1166

masterlist

Tom’s phone lights up the same time you hear the car pull up on the driveway. He presses a soft kiss to the sleepy newborn’s forehead in his arms before babbling to her as if she could understand every world he says.

“You ready to meet your bestie, Emma? Tessa is so excited to see you!” he coos as he hands her over to you, handling her tiny body so carefully, making sure she is secured in your arms before he pulls his hands back. “Gonna let them in. Want to go sit on the couch, love?” he hums, kissing your forehead before doing the same to Emma.

“Yeah,” you nod and watch him walk out to greet Harry who’s been dog sitting Tessa since your water broke exactly a week ago and you rushed to the hospital. You and Tom both agreed that it might be best if Tessa spends a short vacation at her uncle’s house when you bring Emma home. It’s not that you’re afraid she might to something to the baby, you just knew you’d be exhausted and stressed about having Emma home for the first time. It was easier to only worry about your recovery and just one newborn baby in the house rather than adding an extremely cuddly and nosy dog into the equation.

Emma yawns in your arms, her little hat has slid down to her eyebrows so you fix it before gently caressing her cheeks. You drink up the rest of your tea before moving to the living room. You hear Tom greeting Harry and then his usual sweet talk hits your ears, the one he always gives Tessa when he sees her for the first time.

“Who is my good girl? Hmm? Did you miss me? I missed you so much!” Tessa’s feet tippy-tap on the concrete outside the front door and judging from the sounds, she is over the moon to be back home.

“How is Y/N doing?” Harry asks while Tom probably rubs Tessa wherever he can reach her, trying to make her excitement die down a little before they get inside.

“She is doing great! Getting used to the new sleeping schedule, but things are going good.”

You smile at his words, because you’re not the only one with a new sleeping schedule, especially since Tom is always the one to check on Emma when her cries fill the room through the baby monitor and if it’s not time to feed her, he always tells you to go back to sleep and let him handle it. He has been on full daddy duty and you had no doubt he would be the most wonderful dad to ever walk this earth.

The boys talk outside a little longer before you see the front door opening and Tom sticks his head inside. You smile up at him, Emma nestled comfortably in your arms.

“Hey, you ready for Tess?” he asks softly.

“Yeah, it’s time for their first meeting,” you chuckle. Tom nods and disappears from your vision. Then Harry walks in, greeting you sweetly before he kisses Emma’s head.

“Look at her! She’s already changed so much!” he beams, watching his niece in awe.

“Right? She looks less like an old man,” you joke. Your daughter was the most beautiful thing you’ve ever laid your eyes on, but that didn’t stop you from cracking a joke that she was so wrinkly when she was born, she resembled an old man. The wrinkles have smoothed out a little by now and though she is the queen of weird faces, especially when she is creaming her diapers mercilessly, you’ve never seen anything like her before.

Harry sits on the other end of the couch and pulls his phone out to tape the first meeting. Tom’s fans have been begging to see this interaction since you announced your pregnancy with a sweet post on Instagram in your third trimester, especially because it featured Tessa. During your pregnancy Tessa was obsessed with your belly, she would always snuggle close to it in bed or on the couch, as if she was guarding the baby from day one and on the photo you posted, she had her head resting on your bump as the two of you were cuddled up on the couch. People went crazy over how cute it was, the picture got ten million likes within the first thirty minutes and it’s been still going up since then. And now it’s time for their first official meeting.

“Tess, gently! Calm down!” Tom calls out as he appears again, this time holding Tessa’s collar so she doesn’t run free, but it’s pretty clear that she is about to jump out of her fur, probably already smelling Emma. Her eyes quickly find you on the couch and the little bundle of joy in your arms and Tessa whines to her daddy to be let free, but Tom holds onto her tightly.

“Tessa, calm down. You have to be gentle with mommy and Emma,” he warns her again and though her jumps die down a little, her tail keeps wiggling like crazy as her eyes never leave the baby in your arms.

“Hi Tessa, I missed you so much!” you coo at her and she licks her face, nudging your leg as her way of saying that she missed you too. You share a special bond with Tessa, you still remember the first time Tom brought you home and you met her. It’s like you became instant best friends, Tom often complained that whenever you were sleeping over Tessa preferred to snuggle up to you instead of him.

“Tess, meet your new sister, Emma,” Tom softly tells her, holding her back with two hands as you bring Emma closer to her, still keeping a little distance at first.

All three of you watch the interaction in silence, Tessa sniffs the baby around, getting used to the new smell, a few more whines fall from her mouth before she slowly calms down and nudges Emma’s bum in your arms gently. When Tessa has clearly calmed down, Tom carefully lets go of her but still stays close in case she needs to be pulled back, but you know Tessa would never hurt Emma, she is already just as obsessed with her as you are.

“I’m literally about to cry,” Tom whispers, when Tessa lays her head across Emma’s lap, as if she was guarding the tiny baby.

“Keep it together, Daddy,” you chuckle, but you can feel your eyes watering as well.

Harry snaps a few more pictures once he stops recording and he manages to take one that resembles the photo you posted on Instagram about the pregnancy announcement. It’s perfect to announce Emma’s arrival that’s been kept a secret so far. Tom puts a black and white filter over it before writing a sweet caption, letting the world know that now you are a family of four: Tom, you, Emma and Tessa.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

[peonyneko]

Hi! I have a request :) How would Izuku act around a reader with a feline quirk? I’d say the quirk would be interesting— like a cat she’d sleep more than regular stufents— she could jump high— and she has claws. Either way, what would Midoriya think?

Izuku x Feline!Reader

- When he first saw your he immediately noticed your subtle feline features. Your sharp eyes, pointed ears, and canines were the first to capture his attention. "Someone with feline quirk! But what kind?" were his first thoughts.

- He was immediately interested in your quirk because "another transformation quirk!" But he didn't want to assume so he would trying ease into knowing your quirk.

- After knowing you for about a month, expect him to ask about your quirk without any hesitation.

- Are you tired often because of your messy sleep/school schedule because of your nocturnal nature? He will try to constantly recommend ways to slip in nap here and there throughout the school day.

- "Hey, ____. We have 25 minutes until battle starts. I saw a beanbag near the entrance early. You should go rest!"

- Lunch time? He'll sometimes forgets that you're not in danger when eating foods felines normally shouldn't have. After all, you're still human. "___! You can't eat choc- Wait, uh nevermind. Continue"

- Your incredible hearing really fascinates him. He can rarely ever sneak up on you, especially during battle and training. He takes up the challenge and is glad that you're helping him become smoother and more quiet with his actions.

- "Ah! So close," he said with a support item from your hero suit in his hand. He managed to grab it before you jumped away.

- Although he expected it, he's quite shocked by your flexibility. One time, your pencil fell behind your desk. He was just about to get but your body did a whole twist and you easily got your pencil without his help. He was left calculating the amount of surprises he will continue to get from you.

- He's fascinated by your claws. They help you climb, attack, cut, and so much more. Lucky you! He's always on watch for them when you two practice fighting. He would be someone to recommend serums or care products that will strengthen and sharpen your claws.

- "Do you need scissors? Oh, you already opened it?!" Wow, the claws really are cool and useful

- Your feline noises (For ex: meows, purrs, and soft rumbles) surprise him but he finds it cute and soothing. He is able to easily tell your emotions from them. Especially when they're negative ones, they immediately grab his attention. He looks out for them so he knows your mental state, too.

- Sometimes he notices that you're on edge because of your ears and eyes hinting it. He tries to calm you down by talking to you or giving you something to scratch or fidget with.

- When ever you both race, you both are quite literally flying. He's speeding with his jumps (also if you read the manga then you know what else). You're just as fast with your jumps and runs.

- When you jump up, he is in awe because you jump incredibly high, like Tsuyu. He does get worried when you jump down from very high heights but he remembers that it's your quirk and you know how to control it.

- He's likes your transformations. One second you're fully human, the next you're the feline creature he knows (and loves). You even do a hybrid transformation which hold a lot of advantages. He really wonders what your tail and ears feel like but he wouldn't want to touch them without your permission. (And he's worried you'll find him odd or creepy).

- He stands up for you when others try to put your down because of your animal quirk. He will let you handle the comments yourself but he will say something too. "They work just as hard as anyone else. You should mind your words and treat them as an equal."

- Your canines! He likes the way they look. Lowkey has the urge to touch them to see how sharp they are but (once again) he doesn't want to be creep and make you uncomfortable.

- Your movements are so smooth and fluid. He's in awe. No wonder some villains and training opponents look captivated when you move. Not only that, you move so fast. He needs to move his eyes fast in order to catch a glimpse of you.

- He absolutely loves it when you fully transform and become an emotional support for some of your classmates. When it's someone you're not close with or you're too tired, you're able to easily call other felines for help. He finds your kind gestures really heartwarming.

- One time you became his emotional support feline and he was so happy but nervous. He was ecstatic to touch your fur because it's so pretty. You're so pretty. Your noises calmed him down too. Your presences brought good vibes and he felt at ease. (Of course, he did ask for permission if he can).

- He tries to actively know if you are bothered by any actions or words. If you tell him about something that hurts you or you don't like, he'll immediately put it on his "don't do" list. He will also tell the class so they're aware.

- Is so proud of you during battles and challenges because you're doing incredible. Wow, look at them! That move was a great choice. They're my ____ alright. Wait... my?

- Also, being the observant male that he is. He also knows your weaknesses. He kindly lets you know the areas he thinks you can improve on. He also wants your suggestions on his power. He wants to work on his and your weaknesses together.

- You both already had an agreement. If you were to fall asleep in an odd place or position then he would help you out.

- He noticed your room was unlocked but you weren't there. Instead, when he went downstairs, you were sleeping in the main room. You were balled up under the table. His eyes soften and he goes near you. They're too cute. I'll take them to their room.

- Overall, Izuku would absolutely love the reader's feline quirk. He is fascinated by your strengths and weaknesses. Your transformations, features, and personality have him enraptured.

-----------

I tried not to specify the readers gender because different people might read this. If you want something similar, a part 2, or even a small story/imagine, please let me know. I hope you enjoyed it! Once again, sorry for the delay.

[yeojaa]

stay gold.

pairing.  jjk x f!reader.  rating.  explicit.  tags.  blond!jk being a good boy?  idk.  that’s literally it.  wc. 3k.  beta reader.  @hobi-gif​, ofc.  author note.  this was meant to be pwp but i cannot shut up so here is this mess that is neither pwp nor something with a legit plotline. 🤠 blame blondie.

Having a content creator boyfriend is fun.  Usually.

You get to go on cool trips, he gives you all of the random shit his sponsors send him, and you get to preen like a cat that ate the canary when his DMs blow up with hundreds of messages.  

Sure, there are the downsides.  All his stupid pranks - the ones that piss you off when you’re trying to do your makeup, the ones that have him dunking ice cubes on you while you’re in the middle of a shower - and his perpetual recording, camera glued to his hand and if not that, then his phone.  There are the rude comments - the oh, that’s his girlfriend? He could do better was a common one - and the long hours he spends editing, holed away in his office;  the beyond inappropriate packages he gets in the mail, thongs and other things that he immediately tosses away with a reassuring tilt of his pretty head.

You don’t mind it though.  He enjoys it, thrives on it, and you’re there to support him.

But you’d never expected this.

This Adonis standing in the doorway, freshly styled strands pushed back from his forehead, glimmering gold falling across his eyes.  He looks, for lack of a better word, unreal.

(You’re not often speechless.  Can’t be, when you’re dating someone like Jeon Jungkook and everything he does either makes you laugh or infuriates you.  Boring isn’t a part of his vocabulary and you’ve learnt to keep up with his antics over the years.)

(Still, this comes close, stealing all the air from your lungs.)

“Hey, baby.”  It’s his usual greeting, offered without hesitation as he crosses the threshold and tosses his keys into the catch-all by the door.  Kicks off his chunky sneakers and peels his sweater over his head, effectively tousling the tawny threads.

He’s so handsome it’s outright disgusting, leaving you gaping up at him from your post on the couch.  Gives you very little to work with as he shimmies down the hall, grabs an apple off the kitchen island, and then not-so-gracefully plops himself down beside you.  

You still haven’t found your words by the time he takes two gigantic bites, flesh crunching between his teeth, big doe eyes sparkling like he’s stepped right out of a Disney film.

“D’you like it?”  

Did you?  Well, obviously.

You’ve never imagined Jungkook blond.  He’d gone through a phase in college, colours of the rainbow rotating through the ends of his hair.  Brown, red, orange, blue.  You’d loved each hue but this was something else entirely.  (Different even from the two months he’d spent as full-on ginger, committing far too hard to his Haikyuu!! Halloween costume.)

This version of him is steeped in some twisted fantasy, a dream crafted by years of bedtime stories and happily ever afters.  It screams Prince Charming and has you reaching for him before you know what you’re doing, threading fingers through the surprisingly soft silk that curls over his ears and looks so lovely next to the silver of his piercings.  

You mean to be gentle, to comb delicately through flax but fuck.  He looks so good you want to devour him.  (You can only imagine your face - a lovesick puppy brought home from the pound.)

There’s still apple in his mouth, juice tracking down his chin because you’re really making it quite hard for him to chew when you’ve got him like this, two hands on either side of his face, holding him in place.  Inspecting him like a piece of meat as he peers at you, deceptively innocent and amused.  “That’s a yes?”  

An answer comes in the form of a kiss, of limbs rearranging and settling directly into his lap.  Knees wide, chest to chest, you can’t even be bothered by the sickly sticky feel of his skin, the way his hands are too cold to be creeping up beneath the hem of your - his - shirt.

(Where had he put the apple?  You know it’s not finished, two bites in and left to roll all over the rug.  You’ll give him shit for that later, when you’re not so distracted.)

“You look like Barbie,”  you mumble against his lips, into the warmth of his mouth.  You ignore the way he laughs, swallowing it down with a pass of your tongue and too much spit swapped, a string of saliva caught between you when you come up for air. 

Somehow, you’re still lightheaded, all your thoughts framed into the familiar silhouette of the boy beneath you.  Cherry red lips - your fault, from all your biting and teasing and the balm you’d applied earlier - and blond hair.  Who would’ve known that was your weakness?

(Deep down, you know Jungkook as a whole is the issue.  That it’s your stupid handsome boyfriend with his lopsided smile and bunny teeth, dimples and that scar on his cheek.  This is just a new layer to be explored, another reason you love him added to the Jungkook Best Boy jar that sits front and centre in your mind’s eye.)

“Don’t say that,”  he groans, equal parts reproach and affection, palms resting where they belong, nestled over your spine.  Long fingers toy with the soft cotton of your thong, brushing over the seamless material with small repetitive motions. 

You realise then his hands aren’t the only things heating up.

The two of you have an understanding, an abiding awareness of the boundaries of your relationship and the roles you take on.  Best friend, occasional sucker for the sake of a TikTok, lover.

He knows how much you hate your dirty laundry being aired - does his very best to never post anything that might be misconstrued, ensures he only ever portrays you in a good light because the internet could be cruel.  (Even if he argued with you in the quiet of your home, he’d keep you safe outside of the four walls.)  

You know how he needs his quiet time but that sometimes, a night out was unavoidable, a part of his life he - and by extension you - couldn’t always say no to.  (Even if you were achy and tired by midnight, glaring down at your phone as he made his rounds, exchanged contact details and rambled about shit that meant nothing.)

He’s learnt to make your eggs the way you love them:  soft in the centre, covered with too much pepper.  He never washes your clothes in hot water (not after The Great Sweater debacle) and he always makes sure not to use your special memory foam pillow.  

You kiss him goodnight without fail and play with his hair until he falls asleep;  you bury your face against his chest when he’s had a long day, signing your love with the felt-tip of your lips.  You bring him fresh cut fruit when he’s been working for more than three hours and wash his hair when he’s stressed. 

Knowing each other was easy;  loving each other was like breathing.

This, though, is different.  New.  Special.  

He’s never been like this before, glazed over in the eyes, patience wearing thin.  Sat so well, picture perfect beneath you and cornsilk crown lighting his entire expression up like a halo, he’s ethereal. 

“Baby,”  he whines, grits through his teeth as you roll your hips that much slower, the glide impossibly smooth thanks to the lychee watermelon lube he’d received to his PO box.  (One of the items you hadn’t thrown away from that package, together with a handful of other toys that’d come in handy over the months.)

You’re shameless, soothing a hand across his cheek, thumb slipping past his lips.  (You ignore the noise of indignation, meet it with a twinkling laugh of your own.)  It sweeps over his tongue, pressing down in tandem with the second sound - one that echoes out of his chest, a growl that pitches into a whine and makes your ears buzz.  “Hi, baby.”

“Stop teasing.”  It’s practically begging - or as close to it as Jungkook will get.  It draws a smile and another pass of your thumb, gliding across his gums to slot against the interior of his cheek.  You’ve got him fishhooked, immobile, even as he glares up at you.

(He’s so, so handsome.  Looks utterly out of it even as he tries to harden his gaze, coerce you into doing what he wants with that stare that makes your heart lurch pathetically in your chest.)

“You don’t like this?”

You know he does - that he loves being pampered.  That he’ll rarely ask, instead pouting at you from wherever he sits until you turn to putty under his gaze and smother him in all the love you have to offer.

“I do.  I just—”  The rest of his words don’t come, stolen by a gasp when you grind against him, swollen head of his cock bumping against your clit.  He’s making a mess of you both, back arching, hips rising, hands fisted into the sheets even as he chases friction like a dog does its tail.  The warmth between your legs is so close he looks as if he’ll lose his mind, rutting against your cunt like just the right angle might get him what he wants.  “Fuck, baby.”

“I’m trying,”  you retort, mouthful of teasing that only earns you another glare, some poor semblance of one as he bites into the webbing of your hand, bucks up impatiently.

“Please.”  He tries again, a different tactic this time, all sugar-spun sweetness.  Strawberry shortcake rather than sour cherry pie, so eager to get what he wants that he’s not above pulling out all the stops.  A hand risen from the sheets, digits decorated in ink swimming over your skin, sinking into the meat of your thigh.

(He doesn’t push though.  Knows you’ll pull the moment he does.)

“Please?”  An echo chamber, endlessly teasing, and a ducked head, lips finding the sweat-slick column of his throat.  Just one drag of your tongue has him crumbling further, careful composure slipping with each swivel of your hips, the edge of your teeth.  There’s nothing but desperation radiating off him, demand choked back when you drift lower, tracing over his chest, teasing him in the ways you know best.  

It’s all so unnecessary, drawing out what he wants until he’s a goner, three seconds from combusting beneath you.  You’d give him anything he ever asked for - offer it all up on a silver plate, a meal fit for a king.  This is just fun, different and exciting. 

You relent with a minor adjustment, settling yourself against him, face dropped into the crook of his neck.  “Slowly.”

He repeats after you, uncertain and hopeful;  his hand falls further, warmth descending to pull you close, hold you still.   As much as he needs this - needs you - he loves the slow burn just as much.  The stutter of his pulse gives him away, erratic beneath your touch.  He’s a thousand miles above the clouds, floating on cloud nine;  every second passed is another tingle of his toes, a tightening of the coil in his stomach.

When he aligns himself against your core, pre-cum pearling over his tip, he does exactly as you’ve asked.  Sinks into you at such a leisurely pace you wonder if you might be the one who splinters apart, shatters into a million tiny pieces at the way he splits you open.  

“Good?”  Jungkook asks so nicely it’s impossible for you to say no, to deny him this tiny bit of reassurance.  

(Maybe it’s the way he looks, crowned in glittering gold, painted by Fra Angelico.  Or maybe it’s how his smile spills like sunshine, a peachy pink horizon dragging over the apples of his cheeks, burnt red like their namesake.)

(Whatever it is, it’s everything you want, packed perfectly and pouting.)

“Good boy,”  you purr, breath hitching once he’s sheathed to the hilt, seated so deeply within that you swear you can feel him in your throat.

You’ve never felt so full before - close to overflow, taunted and taxed by ridges and veins, each flex of his hips that drives him somehow further within your fluttering walls.  So full you might burst, that you can’t possibly hold yourself together when he begins to move, fucking you tenderly, as if he can feel the weight of the moment.  

There’s something happening.  A shift in the air, in the axis of your planet that revolves around him.  It falls on its side, spins wildly out of control, and you’re emotional.  It’s not just his hair - that gilded crown he wears, heavy heavy heavy like aureate coin - or the impossible dark of his eyes - blown out, an entire galaxy devoured by the supermassive black hole that is his pupils.  It’s the things you can’t see, the pieces beneath skin, soft and jammy, the tongue-tart sweetness.

(The thing with Jungkook is that he doesn’t let go, refuses to fully submit, always so careful to regulate his voice when things get to be too much.  He’ll blink back his tears, stifle a sob, even as his breath disappears from nothing but a delicate brush of his chest.)

You take his vulnerability as a treasure, hold it close and craft a chest for its home, promise to keep it safe even while you're the one who poses the most danger.  When it’s your teeth and tongue that eviscerates the soft of his flesh, makes him keen and gasp, heart pounding like hooves, beat imprinted against, under, into your palms.

When he begs you to move - manages the request in a broken articulation that makes you giggle - you give, swivel your hips in a figure eight, an infinity of motion that never ends.  

You take all he has to offer and sing your praise into the wet of his mouth.  Lick over teeth and gums and trade spit for love;  know there’s only more where that came from, that the fountain begs to overflow as he finally - finally - breaks that much more, gripping your hips gentle as can be.  Hands soothe up and down, an unspoken plea in how he thumbs your hip bones, taps hopefully over the small of your lower back.

He doesn’t need to speak for you to hear him. 

It’s more than a kiss forming against your skin.  It’s a confession of adoration, sealed by the frame of his mouth, cemented by the sting of his teeth.  It’s I love you without saying it, plastering the pecks along your spine, placing them safely in all the spaces you’ve created for him.

It’s also an apology, because he’s just torn your castle to pieces, shattered your entire fantasy into smithereens.

He hadn’t expected you to react the way you had, rolling off him as if he hadn’t just been chasing the sweet bliss of release, splitting your walls and making you wail above him.  It has him pouting, utilising the one thing that melts you down like candle wax.  

“Baby,”  he whines, reaching for you, needy and horny and so hard he imagines all the blood has rushed from his head straight to his cock.  Everything spins when he moves with you, scrambles across the California king to paw at your hip.  

He’d been so good for you - wasn’t that enough?

“Don’t,”  you grumble, searing his insides with just one look.  (It shouldn’t be as hot as it is.)

“But—”  A plea punctuated by groping hands, eager as always, smoothing over the swell of your ass, flesh squeezing between knuckles.  He’d normally let this go - fuck into his closed fist in the shower after he’s done something to cut playtime short - but he can’t help it now.  He’s been on the edge for so long, lit up in neon that demands to be seen, heard, felt.

“Don’t dye it again.”  

Oh?

That has him reeling, laughing, such a stupid grin across his face.  It devours everything else, spearing dimples into place as he pulls you against him.  You can feel his smile forming against your skin, the wet drag of his tongue as he sucks a welt into the sensitive spot of your shoulder.

“You wanna play with Barbie, baby?”  It’s such a stupid line - utterly sophomoric and riddled with teasing and yet the delivery has you shivering in his arms, equally childish huff splitting your lips.

Jungkook doesn’t listen to you often - not about silly things like this - but he figures he can, just this once.

“I won’t,”  he chirps, sneaking another kiss, stamping another smooch.  It’s working exactly as he wants, stilling your protesting limbs as he cages you to him, slips his hand back where he most wants to be.  The glide is perfect, a mixture of arousal and fruity lubricant;  he slips a finger in without resistance, grinding his palm against your clit. 

“R-really?”  Of course you don’t believe him.  He messes with you too often, plays too many pranks.  (He deserves that.) 

His promise comes too easy, driven by how nice you feel, how pretty you sound when he presses another digit in along the first.  The scissor of his fingers is languid, exploring for the spots that make you breathless as he hums a noise of affirmation against your neck;  he fucks you open as if he has to, as if you aren’t already dripping, eagerly sucking him in.  “Really.”  

“Put it in then, Ken doll.”

He laughs - and then he does.  In bed, with your knee hooked over his, pace slow and sure and sinful.  In the shower, bent over with his hands bruising your hips.  In the kitchen for a late night snack, another apple in his mouth and your hands in his hair.

Maybe blonds did have more fun. 

tag list.  @neverthefirstchoice​ @youwannabelostandnotbefound​ @codeinebelle​

[simpz-art-stash]

Late beginnings

Summary: Mac goes out for a drink, and happens upon some advice he takes into consideration about his skewered relationship with Wukong. Before finally taking some action to mend the long burnt bridge. (Author’s note: I barely did any beta reading for this so if it’s worded strangely that’s just how I write without the normal filter on. I’m country so HOWDY) Next Page ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The night was late, but he didn’t care, he might as well have been nocturnal with the way his whole life revolved around the whole stereotype of shadows and shit. He’d walked into a bar he’d passed through a few times before, donning his human disguise of course beforehand, and walked in without sparing anyone else a glance. Before planting his rear in one of the stools seated at the front bar, ordering a drink to get the night started. “I’m really looking forward to seeing that new Monkey King movie with the trailer they just released. You saw it too right?? The whole style of the film is on par with their most recent game- OH, you think they’re gonna make a game of it?? I bet you they wiiiill!~” Ugh, great, just what he’d come here to avoid.

Mac’s eyes glanced to the blabbermouth boasting about whatever new movie was being made about his ex, to see two girls residing a ways down near the other end of the bar a few seats away from him. Both looking to have had a fair night themselves already if any of the cups and plates hanging around their spot was anything to go by. “Probably. I hope it’s better than last game that came out on the Brick 360, the bugs in that thing were gross to deal with.” Their friend commented back. Before looking down at their phone and claiming that it was getting late and that they had to go. “Yeah I’ll see ya Monday!” The chick waved their friend off a lazy farewell after they’d paid their bill before going back to their drink, now taking less tedious sips as the mood seemed to smooth out from their conversation prior. “I see someone’s a pretty big fan of that ol’ man.” Macaque piped up from where he sat, earning the attention of the stranger he’d directed his comment towards. “The Monkey King yeah?” Sparks danced in the chick’s eyes at the recognition of the name, before the stranger perked up and beamed a smile back at him, “You betcha! I’m a total nerd for that legend.” ‘A legend, hah.’ “S’the whole reason I moved to China in the first place.” She jabbed a thumb at her chest, “All the way from America!” Mac whistled, “That’s a pretty far leap to take, even for a legend. What, you hopin’ you’ll get the chance to see em’ or somethin’?” He sneered, taking his glass and lazily swirling it in his hand. “I wish!” She laughed, “Nah I mostly just moved here for work. If anything though it’s cuz a them for where I am now. I’d never even heard of him till about five years ago!” Mac blinked, lowering his drink from his lips, “You’re joking…”

“Not at all! No one hardly knows the story back home. Only reason I found out was cuz I just started gettin’ into anything monkey-related as a hobby.” She pointed at him, “Don’t laugh either, it’s a wildly popular standpoint to have these days online.” Mac quirked a brow at that, he’d hardly touched the internet these days save for whenever he needed some quick info on something he couldn’t find elsewhere. He held his hands up, “Hey I ain’t judging…” He smirked a little to betray the look that he totally was though. It was kinda funny how ironic it was him being there right then. She squinted at him, “Anyways...Yeah, I’d seen stuff of him online, but I’d never paid much attention to it up until recently.” “What made you change your mind?” Mac boredly probed, taking a sip. She simply shrugged, “I was in a dark headspace, guy made me laugh.” He paused, “Wait, seriously??” “I mean have you HEARD half the crazy shit he’s done??” ‘Babe I’ve LIVED through half the shit he’s done.’ “Like, literally, the guy is HILARIOUS. My favorite story out of them all being one where he literally tricked THREE taoist immortals into drinking his own piss!!” She burst out laughing while Mac choked on his drink a little, not having expected to hear that of all things. Sure he’d heard a few of the shenanigan’s his peaches had gotten up to throughout his journey to the west but he’d never heard that one before. Nor had he the patience to read through all that mess of context that had been published either. “Ahhh man, it still gets me…” The chick sighed with a few leftover laughs as she wiped a tear from her eye. “What about you? What’s your favorite story?” She asked. And suddenly Mac felt like he’d been put on the spot as he stared back at her. “Come ooon, surely there’s one that’s gotten your gut rolling.” She pried. ‘Plenty, but there ain’t no way in hell I’d tell a soul.’ “Bahh...there ain’t the first one that comes to mind that I’d like. Honestly I’m not even much of a fan.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Whaaat?? Aw come on! There’s tons of cool n’ funny stories!” “Heh..can’t imagine what you find so charming about a guy who’s too good for his own friends.” Mac spitefully twacked himself mentally for spewing something so personal like that out. Ugh, and he hadn’t even finished half his drink yet… The chick sitting to his left seemed to tilt her head a little before she squinted at him. Her silence being what brought his attention from his drink to her as he blinked back with a quirked brow. “What?” “Your eyes, they’re like raging storm clouds.” She pointed out. He blinked, not really sure how to feel about that. The only one who’d ever really pointed that out to him before was… “...So?” “Nothing!...” She shrugged, turning back away towards her own drink as if no conversation at all had happened between them. Whatever...he had his fill of shit to drink to either way. The night might’ve been late but he was just getting started. “He makes me laugh though.” She pointed out, earning her a glance. “All his stories n’ stuff. If there was ever a man I’d want, it’d be one who could always make me laugh.” “Hmph, not one for strength?” He took a long sip. Ignoring the bitterness of others fawning over someone he’d come to love before he’d gotten so popular. “Strength is fine n’ all, but it can only take a relationship so far..you gotta have more pieces to put in that crockpot of a relationship if you wanna make it taste good. Stuff like patience, honesty, a little bit of everything to help it all come together to make it juuuuust right.” “Hm…” “It can’t be all just you putting the stuff in there either, it’s gotta be a contribution from both gardens. Otherwise you’ll just barren your lands and be left with nothing to spare yourself or others in your life with.” She glanced at Mac, “Relationships are tricky like that, but they should always be a 50/50 split~” She winked. That...actually sounded like pretty sound advice. Something he’d heard a little here and there before but never so simply laid out. Though it made sense from his standpoint, fairness n’ all that. But he’d been that way with Wukong before and it had never worked out, all the bickering and such, so what had gone wrong? “Can I...ask you something?” Mac inquired. “Shoot.” “What’re your thoughts on..a relationship that seemed fine, but then the other changed so much that everything about it fell apart?” “Mmm...care to sprinkle in a lil more context?” The chick eyed him. Mac’s face scrunched up a little, no idea why he was asking some random mortal for relationship advice of all things. “Hey man. We’re both probably never gonna meet again after tonight, so if you’ve got skeletons in your closet, your best place to let em’ out is here. Bartenders are known for being the most well kept secret keepers in all the world after all~” She winked at the bartender in question who simply looked the other way with a look that might’ve suggested such a fact as truth. “Hm…” Ah screw it, “Alright alright…” He sighed and put his drink down, “There’s..someone. We used to be real close, we were strong together but then uh..shit got real and he had to go deal with it. But when he came back he uh, wasn’t the same as before, an I might’ve sorta assumed he was cheating on me so…so we kinda fell out.” The chick nodded, “Ahh..the classic misunderstanding of change and cheating, a tale as old as time.” She seemed to hum a moment before she turned from where she was seated, if not to hop down off her stool and plop down on the one right up next to him. “Uh-” “Shhh, lemme see those eyes.” She squinted, leaning in and staring deep into his. It’d would’ve been really unnerving if she hadn’t said anything about them before, now he was a lil put off that he might’ve been asking a witch of all things for advice… “Right. Well, at least you feel bad about it. So there’s that.” He blinked and his brows furrowed, “Wh- of course I feel bad about it, it was his fault-” He suddenly had a finger pressed to his lips. “Nope! Nooononono, you do not get to throw all the blame elsewhere like that sweetheart. There ain’t no way in hell you’re gettin’ a second chance with them if you keep that up.” She pulled her hands back. His face scrunched up and he found himself crossing his arms, if he had his tail out it would’ve been irritably swaying behind him right then at just how annoyed he was getting at this weird lady and her words. “Oh yeah? An what do you think’s best then huh?” “I dunno if you’d be up for that kinda challenge…” She idly fiddled with an imaginative piece of lint off her sleeve, which only seemed to irritate Mac further at the thought of him not being able to handle Wukong of all people. Like sure he’d gotten his ass handed to him before but he could still hold his own! “Try me.” The chick glanced back at him with a smirk, which caught him off guard for a second before he shot her a glare back. “Alright, but it’s definitely not gonna be as quick or easygoing of a recovery as you might hope it’ll be. Nor is there even a chance of you recovering it in the first place. But, you at least got that spark enough to try so who am I to deny?” ‘Hmpt, dam right I got a spark.’

“First of all, no more blaming, if you’re gonna tackle this properly, you gotta do yourselves a favor an quit it with the blame placing. Sure it’s easy, but it ain’t gonna get you nowhere but back to square one. It’s all in the past, the now is now. So push forward to fix it and put it behind you two so you can focus on the more important things.” “Easier said than done…” “Hey man, even if they don’t follow the same ruleset at first you could always work things out to make it one later on. I’m just tellin’ ya right now so you won’t just go diggin’ yourself a deeper hole.” Honestly at this point he was pretty much six feet down under, death to him would’ve been a mercy right then. “Fine…” He rolled his eyes. “Next up, apologizing…” -----------~----------- “I thought I told you to stay off my island.” Mac didn’t really glance back from where he stood high up on one of the breathtaking ledges that which Flower Fruit Mountain bolstered. His arms crossed, eyes sternly held against the leftover warmth of the late afternoon sun as it shifted the skies hues from blue to blood red. Hopefully that would be the only tinge of red the Mountain would see after today. “I know.” “What, no witty remark? Give me one good reason-” “I just wanted to talk.” Mac stated plainly. “Why the hell should I give you the chance?” “...” Mac wasn’t sure if he could come up with a good enough reason after the shitshow he’d caused him the last few centuries, most recent being his spat with him between MK. “I’m sorry.” That seemed to catch the king off guard, as he paused in his vicious glare to stare at the other. “Excuse me??” “I’m.Sorry.” Mac turned finally to Wukong, that look of fiery malice having softened immensely upon meeting their eyes. “I was wrong for what I did and I’m sorry.” Wukong’s face looked like it had had a stroke with how frozen in place it was, almost like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Hurting everyone around you just to get back at you, I was wrong for doing that. And I just wanted to apologize.” Mac’s face twisted a little, the words coming out a little rougher than he’d liked, but he’d managed to get three steps in so far… “If you think a few sorry’s are gonna be enough to make up for all that crap then you gotta nother’ thing comin Mac.” Wukong finally shook off the surprise and crossed his arms with a steely gaze. “Nah I know they ain’t worth shit with as long as it's been...which it’s been..a really, really long time come to think of it..nearly 3000 years…” Fucking yikes. “What’s your point?...” Wukong raised a brow at him. “My point is...my point..” What was his point? To make amends and hope they’d get back together? To go back to the way things were? That couldn’t be done with the way things were now. Wukong had a successor, a moral compass, a lotta shit that Mac didn’t. A lotta shit that he wanted but never could figure out how to get his own. His face scrunched up a little and he sighed, “I..just wanted to make things right.” “Oh-hoh? After so long you finally decided to admit you were at fault? Sorry Mac, but it’s waaaay too late for that.” Wukong huffed, “Honestly, this is probably just another one of your stupid tricks if anything. The old Macaque would never throw himself down like that.” “Well maybe I’ve changed!” Mac exclaimed suddenly, his temper flaring a bit as his eyes flashed lightning. “3000 years later? As if…” Wukong rolled his eyes and turned away, “You’ve still got that same look in your eyes you always do whenever we fight. Do me a favor and just keep away from the hot springs this time yeah? The last time you were here you sent a whole dam boulder over there and smashed half the pools.” He waved his hand dismissively. “And I happen to take my once a month bath’s very seriously.” Mac’s nostrils flared a little at just how flamboyant Wukong was acting towards him and his attempt to make amends. How he just saw his attempt as a joke and nothing more, it pissed him off. Wukong had changed and everyone had accepted him, well not everyone, but still, why couldn’t the same be for him? Had he really fooled himself into believing that there was a chance he and Wukong could be together again? His shoulders slumped a little. Of course, who was he kidding. A 3000 year old pit of grudges wasn’t about to just up and disappear at the wave of a white flag. This was Wukong, the same guy who still playfully pestered the gods and demons around him for past conflicts that had happened between them. -----------~----------- “But you can’t just go, ‘ooo I’m so sorry for what I did.’ Nah, you gotta follow the five steps.” The chick claimed. “Yeesh, this a learning course now?” Mac tilted his head to the side. “It is if you wanna make things right.” She claimed matter a factly. “The five steps have never failed me before and have worked wonders for any an all my relationships. Might not quite have the same range of effect you’re going for but it’ll at least be a good start.” “Heh, you got the guts to back up that case?” Mac sneered. “I will if you don’t manage to screw it up.” The chick pointed out. “The five steps go as follows.” - express sorrow (I’m sorry) - own guilt (I was wrong) - name specific wrongs (I did X) - name impact (I hurt you) “And finally...” -----------~----------- “What can I do to prove myself to you?” Macaque asked finally. “What can I do to at least make it to where we can..not fight anymore..and just talk?...” Wukong stood there for a long moment, his features unreadable as their silence was muffled by the wind bellowing between them both from being so high up. “You really are serious about this aren’t you?...” Wukong’s head shifted ever so slightly, but not enough to where Mac could get a reading on his emotions. “I’m tired of fighting and waiting and thinking that if enough time passes things’ll go back to the way they were...when they never will. Trying to hurt you isn’t gonna make the old you come back, no matter how many times you beat me down...It’ll never be the same.” Mac admitted finally. A quiet gust settled down between them, before Wukong seemed to let out a dry chuckle and shook his head. “Can’t believe it took me 3000 years to beat the sense into you.” He turned and looked back at the other, where he no longer held a look of seething hate, but more akin to that of the same tired look just as the one Mac wore. Mac felt a sliver of guilt wriggle its way into one of the cracks of his heart and he glanced away, pulling a hand back and scratching his head. “Yeah well...your kid hit me pretty hard last time, enough to knock it in place.” A small smile crept a little onto his face. “Hm~ He’s gettin’ pretty good at hittin’ stuff with that old stick.” Wukong’s eyes glinted a little at the appeal of how proud he was for MK having taken Mac out the way he did. A little over the top and flashy, just like him.” “He’s got a pretty strong master to thank for that…” Mac found himself yearning a little for that same glint to be reflected on his memory the same way as MK’s. Not that he couldn’t see himself holding the same appeal for MK the way Wukong did, kid was strong, just a lil desperate in some of the cracks that shaped his outline. Something Macaque found that was easy enough to take advantage of, and something Wukong held a blind eye to. “Hm.” Wukong’s reply pushed him out of those thoughts for the moment as they shared a brief look between one another. A glimmer of reconsideration flashing between the two before Wukong finally turned his head away to drink in the sunset before them. “One chance.” Mac felt his heart nearly stop at that answer. “I’ll give you one chance, but if you screw this up, don’t even think about showing your face to me again.” Wukong replied, “I mean it this time…” Mac swallowed a little and nodded. Anything, he’d be willing to do anything to gain back what little trust he could from Wukong. “Good...you can start making up for it by apologizing to MK.” Mac blinked and sputtered a little as Wukong turned away and began to make his way back down the mountain. A smile playing on his lips while Macaque groaned to the heavens about his next trial.

[thatharringrovehoe]

Part 1

Dear Steve

Bambi

Princess

Harrington. I know I'm never going to give you this. So I guess I can write whatever the fuck I want. It's not gunna matter when I leave anyway so. I'm really fucking sorry I kicked the shit out of you. There was a lot of shit I was dealing with that night and you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The plate was to much. Now that I know you a little better I know you weren't doing any perv shit with Max. She won't tell me what happened that night, but she kept a copy of one of the NDA's she signed. So whatever the fuck it was I know you protected her. After I beat the shit out of you. Fuck. I'm sorry I'm a coward and you're never going to read this. But I just can't. I knew I was gunna get stupid over you as soon as I pulled up that first day at school. Saw you standing with Wheeler by you fancy ass car and wanted to throw you into the back of the Camaro, treat you right. But I couldn't. I can't. My dad would kill me. And I mean literally. It's the reason we moved to this bum fuck nowhere town. He caught me sucking off some cute twink by the boardwalk and kicked my ass all the way to Sunday. I was in the hospital for a week and by the time they discharged me we were moving the next day. Guess he figured Hawkins was gunna set me straight. Which jokes on him cuz I met the prettiest boy I had ever fuckin seen. Fell halfway in love with him when he punched me in the face that November. Fell the rest of the way when he let me stay at his place after my dad laid into me real bad three months later. Told me I didn't deserve it. Broke out his dads fancy scotch and we got black out drunk at 3 in the morning on a Tuesday. Fuck I wish I could tell you. Because I'm gunna miss you so goddamn much when I go back to Cali. You don't know how many times I almost asked you to come with me. I could teach you to surf and we'd both get crappy jobs. Rent a shoebox apartment. But I then I think of that family you talk about. The kids and the dog and the white picket fence. I can't give you those things. I can't ask you to give up those things. Hell you don't even like men so even if I could it wouldn't matter. It's why I can't give you this letter. It's why I gotta high tail it back to Cali the day I graduate without telling you. Because I know if I see you I won't be able to. I can't say goodbye to you Bambi. I'd end up staying in this shit town just to be near you. Live the rest of my life dying inside while you fall in love with some pretty rich girl and raise those kids you want so bad in your nice big house. I gotta leave for the both of us. Because I love you.

Steve crumples up the note after reading it for what must be the 500th time. Twists it gently in his hands as he waits on the stoop of what is hopefully Billy's apartment complex. God this was a stupid idea. It's been six whole months since Billy up and left without a fucking word. He's probably over Steve. Hell he probably has a boyfriend. Looking the way Billy does Steve wouldn't be surprised. Gutted but not surprised. The California sun beats down on him as he waits for Billy to get home. Whenever that is. It's December and Steve's body is used to frigid Indiana winters. Not this sunny sea breeze heat. He twists the note a little harder, bounces his leg as he waits and waits and waits. God he's drawing some looks. Probably. He's been sitting here for going on two hours now and is starting to realize packing up his BMW with a bag of essentials with nothing but a note and a maybe address to go confront the love of his life was probably not a very well thought out plan. God what was he even gunna say?

Hey Billy, Max found your note while taking out the trash and gave it to me because she knew I was fucking heartbroken when you up and ditched me without a word. And I just thought I would drive for three whole days just to see if you still mean it even though it's been half a year and you've probably forgotten all about me and I'm sorry I never told you that I lo-

"Steve?"

Steve's head whips up and his heart fucking skips what must be 10 whole beats. That can't be healthy. Because there stands Billy fucking Hargrove carrying a paper bag of what is probably groceries. God he looks good. His hair is longer, dirty blonde curls reaching just past his shoulders. His skin is a deeper shade of tan under his white wife beater and denim shorts. And beyond all that he looks, relaxed. Carries himself with an ease he didn't have back in Hawkins. California has been good to him.

"What are you doing here?"

What the fuck is Steve doing here? When Max gave him the note he hadn't even thought about not going to see Billy. Had begged her for the address Billy had given her before he left just in case shit with Neil ever got bad. In case she needed to leave. But they hadn't spoken since and there was no guarantee that Billy hadn't moved. That he'd even made it to California at all. Just packed his car and drove. He feels kind of stupid now. Kind of wishes he had thought of something to say before hand instead of just flying by the seat of his pants.

"Hello Earth to Harrington?"

Right. Fuck. He's just been staring at Billy like a fucking freak.

"I- uh. Hi Billy."

Wow Steven real smooth. Great Job. Very natural.

"I just um. I...got your letter."

Billy looks confused. Fuck, he did forget. You're an idiot Steve Harrington.

"You know what I'm starting to realize I may have jumped the gun here and uh.. I'm gunna go."

He stands up from the cement steps and feels the stretch of his sore muscles. He hadn't really moved once he sat down to wait. Billy puts down his groceries.

"Woe woe hey you don't have to-.. Oh shit."

When Steve looks over at Billy he's gone a little pale despite the tan. Is staring with wide eyes at the crumpled stationary clutched in Steve's fist.

"Steve. I can..Fuck I can explain."

And you know what? Fuck this. Steve doesn't need to hear this when he already feels like the worlds biggest fucking loser. Drove all the way across the country just to see a boy who had moved on. Had left Steve behind. Just like everyone else.

[teshamerkel]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

Chapter 16 (18 Pages)

<< First | < Previous | Next >

Nia spends time with Xander’s team, learning more about aura in the process.

 -

Nia yawns, finally giving up on her book for today and slipping a furret bookmark that Maggie had given her between the pages. No matter how hard Nia tries to focus on the words about different types of Pokémon evolution, the sentences are starting to blur and jumble before her eyes, so she figures it’s time to give it a rest.

She looks up at the two Pokemon lying a few feet away on a mossy rug, comfortably sprawled out in Xander’s team quarters. The luxio and his wartortle partner are playing some sort of game with dice-like stones. Felix is clearly losing, his fluffy ears twitching as he grumbles under his breath. Xander’s cat-like face is smug with victory, his tail flicking side to side with lazy patience.

Avery is sitting at Nia’s side, the two of them relaxing back against the wooden wall on a bed of straw and moss. Nia doesn’t want to disrupt the kirlia’s concentration as they focus on their own book, but the atmosphere is so peaceful and relaxed, bathed in the warm evening sunlight coming through the lattice window, and she can’t help but feel comfortable enough to speak up.

“Can I ask you guys something?”

All three Pokemon look up, faces open and curious.

“‘Course,” Felix says.

Nia smiles, a little embarrassed. “I know your team is just as busy as ours, if not more so. How are you not, like...exhausted? Literally all the time?”

Xander looks back to the game, laughter in his voice as he responds, “Oh trust me, we are. It used to be worse, before we got used to the job and the demanding work hours.”

“Naps help a lot, when you can manage ‘em,” Felix adds, frowning as he rolls the dice. He’s had horrible luck this whole game. At least, that’s what he’s been saying. Nia still hasn’t quite picked up the rules from watching. “You feeling worn down?”

Nia leans back against the wood of the tree. The bark making up the architecture of the tree is smooth, and thanks to her fur it isn’t even uncomfortable to lean against. She closes her eyes and hums.

“Yeah, I guess.  I know I’ve been here a few weeks, but I think I’m just not used to everything yet.”

“I’ll never get used to waking up so early,” Felix grumbles. “Mornings are suffering.”

Nia laughs. “Actually, that part’s not too bad. It’s more the battling, I think. And just...I dunno, emotional stuff.”

“Mental exhaustion can take a big toll,” Avery says at her side, voice soft. They close their own book to turn their full attention to the conversation.

“I’d be exhausted too if I had Tobias for a partner,” Felix says. He’s clearly teasing, but Nia knows that on some level the wartortle actually means it. “I don’t know how you put up with him every day, Nia.”

Nia’s torn between a laugh and the urge to roll her eyes. She settles on a light tone to match the wartortle’s. “Come on, I told you we worked everything out the other day. He’s trying harder to be nice.”

Felix and Xander both make a doubtful noise.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Xander says.

“Well, I think it’s great that Tobias is trying to grow,” Avery says, giving Nia a soft smile.

Nia smiles back and leans forward to watch the boys’ game again, cupping her chin in her hands.

“He’s been really patient with all of my questions since we talked,” Nia says, feeling like she should defend her partner somehow. It’s clear that he’s been trying hard to reign in his temper and be more considerate the last few days, even if he still struggles with it. “When we cleaned out the guild’s food storage this morning, he didn’t even snap at me when I bumped into some shelves and buried us in rice.”

Xander snorts. “That’s called being a decent Pokémon, Nia. Don’t give him too much credit.”

“I’m not! I’m just saying he’s doing better, y’know?”

Felix gives Nia a grin, tilting his head in consideration. “You’re too sweet, ya know that?”

Nia doesn’t know what to say to that, so she blushes under her fur and makes a show of moving her book to her side with a quiet word of thanks.

“Yo! I’m back. Did Felix get whooped yet?”

Nia jumps and looks up to see that Kry has returned from her trip to the cafeteria to find a snack. The dinosaur-like pokemon is munching on an apple as she plops down next to Felix and Xander.

“Hey, I could still win,” Felix protests.

“Ha! Yeah, and bagon can fly.”

“You do know they can fly when they evolve, right?”

“Not anymore, genius! No evolution, no wings!”

Felix deflates and grumbles to himself as he goes back to the game. Nia tilts her head and leans closer to Avery.

“S-Sorry. Uh, what kind of Pokémon is Kry again?”

“A fraxure. Dragon type, middle evolution like the rest of us.”

Nia nods. Right. Fraxure. It certainly looks like the aggressive Pokémon could live up to her name and fracture some bones, from the brief interactions Nia’s seen. Kry’s a bit...rough around the edges. But it’s clear she fits right in with the rest of Xander’s team. Somehow.

“What have you been reading, if you don’t mind me asking?” Avery asks, polite as ever.

Nia shakes herself out of her thoughts. “No, of course I don’t mind!” She holds up the book. “It’s about different kinds of evolution? I still don’t exactly, uh. Get it. As a process. But it’s fascinating to learn about all the different ways it’s triggered.”

Avery tilts their head, looking at Nia with thoughtful consideration. “You don’t understand evolution?”

Nia’s ears flatten. “W-Well, uh, no, but—“

“Does evolution not happen to humans?”

It’s clear that Avery isn’t judging Nia’s confusion, just curious in return. Still, Nia is thankful that they keep their voice hushed.

“N-No, definitely not,” Nia says. “At least, not in the same way? I think? When Pokémon evolve, they change...suddenly, right? Like, Xander used to look like Luca and then he suddenly turned into a luxio?”

Avery hums. “More or less, yes.”

“Is...Is that...how Pokémon grow up, uh...physically? By evolving?”

The kirlia shakes their head, eyes softening into something almost sad. “No. If that were the case we’d all be in danger of dying out, with how Pokemon can no longer evolve. Don’t worry, you’re an adult by Pokémon standards, even as a riolu.”

Nia relaxes at the confirmation. With the way everyone has been treating her, she was pretty sure they’d been seeing her as the adult she felt she was in the human world, but it’s still nice to know for sure.

“Pokemon can stay unevolved forever,” Avery goes on. “They’ll grow larger than a child Pokémon of the same species, though, and physically mature. Their...statures would simply be smaller than if they evolved. Weaker.”

Nia nods. That...makes some sense, in a way. Even with humans, there were grown women who ended up much shorter than some teenage boys. Different statures among the same species.

“Humans don’t ever...change so radically. So suddenly. At least not naturally.”

Avery turns curious eyes onto Nia, so the riolu continues.

“We start out tiny, and then just grow gradually until we reach adulthood. We can change parts of ourselves, of course—darken our skin, cut our hair, change our clothes or our entire style. But...that’s not what evolution is for, right? Aesthetics, individuality? Comfort?”

The kirlia hums. “No. Evolution is typically for...strength, I suppose. Increased speed, strength, defense, sheer size.”

“So for battling?” Nia asks, confusion edging into her voice. She knew that Pokémon were more biologically geared towards fighting, with their toughened defense and incredible healing capabilities, but she also knows that most Pokémon don’t seem to prefer fighting aside from playful battles. At least, not anymore. Now they’re bakers, florists, carvers and artisans. A society.

Maybe Avery understands what Nia’s getting at, because the kirlia looks thoughtful. “There’s a reason so many Pokémon evolve through battling experience and so few from exposure to stones, or travel. Most Pokémon evolve by training themselves and growing stronger. Legends say that Pokémon used to be more...primitive. Less civilized. I believe it used to be less about strength and more about survival.”

Nia watches as Felix tries to creep his hand over the dice to cheat a turn of the stones. Xander, discussing strategies in-depth with Kry, doesn’t even look before batting the turtle’s hand away with a paw. Felix yelps, and Nia giggles.

“Maybe that’s why evolution stopped working?” Nia suggests. “Maybe Pokémon have just...evolved to the point that strength evolution isn’t necessary anymore. You’re a society now, after all. You didn’t need to be physically strong to have a lot of power or be successful in the human world. We have systems, laws, protectors. Technology and weapons. Maybe you’ve just reached a point in society where that changed enough for you guys, too.”

Avery suddenly laughs, tinkling and light. Nia isn’t sure whether to feel happy at the sound or embarrassed that she’d apparently said something stupid. She settles for staring at the kirlia with wide eyes and heated fur.

“Apologies,” Avery says, meeting Nia’s eyes, ruby to ruby. “It wasn’t a stupid thought at all. Fascinating, actually. I was just...struck. By finding such a kindred spirit in you. Xander’s the only one who even tries to humor my philosophical ramblings.”

Nia feels herself relax, and laughs as well. “Two curious souls, huh?”

Avery just smiles, warm and soft.

“What’re you two nerds laughing about?” Kry asks.

Nia looks up to see the other three Pokémon staring at them.

Avery waves their hand in a dismissive motion. “My usual ramblings, Kry. Don’t mind us.”

“Talking about evolution!” Nia adds.

At that, Xander and Felix go back to their game with amused smirks. Kry, however, rolls her eyes. “Why? We can’t evolve anyways.”

“But maybe it could be fixed?” Nia suggests. When Kry turns a doubtful look on her, the riolu shrinks back. “I-I mean, maybe not, but...”

“No harm in discussing it, right?” Avery says.

Kry snorts and goes back to the game. “Guess not.”

Nia relaxes. She knows there’s no reason for Kry to put her on edge, but she just has such a...strong personality. Nia’s become more used to Tobias’ sharp attitude, but Kry? Not so much.

“Would you evolve? If you could?”

Nia blinks and turns to Avery at the unexpected question. “W-What?”

"Would you like to evolve if it were possible?” Avery repeats. Maybe this is a normal question for most Pokémon. Or for their teammates and friends, at least.

“U-Um. I don’t know? Maybe?” Nia flicks her tail into her lap, trying to sound confident. “I mean, it doesn’t really matter much to me, since I’m going back to the human world as soon as I can find a way to return, s-so...”

Avery doesn’t respond aside from a soft sound that Nia can’t quite decipher. She’s too afraid to look at the kirlia’s expression, too scared of seeing the pity or doubt she might find there, so she deflects. “Besides, to evolve I’d have to form an affection, um...”

“Bond?”

“Yeah! An affection bond with someone. And from what I’ve read, that doesn’t seem to mean just a casual friendship.”

Avery nods, eyeing their teammates. “Correct. An affection bond that can lead to evolution only occurs between Pokemon who trust each other with anything. Who see each other as they truly are and would likely die for each other.”

Nia flicks her ear, nervously. “Th-That’s a bit, uh. Extreme.”

Avery laughs lightly under their breath. “Indeed. It’s simply how we tend to describe it. It’s...the deepest form of love, whether platonic or romantic.”

Nia nods, shifting uncomfortably. “Yeah, so...I mean, don’t get me wrong! I’m really glad I met you guys and Andyn’s group and Maggie and, uh, even Tobias, in a weird way. But...”

“You don’t think you’ll ever have that sort of bond with us,” Avery guesses.

Nia flinches. The psychic type’s words aren’t cold or insulted, but it still sounds...harsh.

“Yeah, I guess,” Nia rasps, pulling her knees up to her chest. “It’s just...I’m planning on leaving, you know? I don’t wanna get too close to anyone just to leave us both heartbroken when I go.”

Avery doesn’t answer, but the silence doesn’t feel heavy. Still, Nia rests her chin on her hands, sighing. She wants to go home, nice as it is here, but she still feels bad just leaving these people behind after their kindness.

She’ll miss them.

Maybe Avery picks up on Nia’s mood change, because they turn to the riolu with an encouraging smile. “Xander mentioned that you can read the aura of other Pokemon now. Would you like to try it on me, if it’s not too much strain?”

Nia recognizes the distraction technique, but can’t help feeling grateful for it. She lifts her head, blinking. “R-Really?”

“I’m a psychic type. I know how exciting it is to try out a new mental technique with someone willing.”

Nia straightens up and turns to the kirlia, feeling a smile edge at her lips. It’s not every day she gets to test her aura abilities on someone new! So far she’s only felt Val and Maggie’s auras, and Amani’s blossoming pink during a different training session. “O-Okay. You know it’s pretty, uh…personal, though, right? Like, I’m kind looking at your soul, I think?”

Avery nods with a smile. “I’m aware.”

“J-Just let me know if you want me to stop, okay? I’ll need your hand, though.”

Avery offers a delicate hand.

Nia takes it and closes her eyes, summoning her aura (it gets easier every time she does it!), pouring it down her arm and into her hand, brushing it against the kirlia’s skin to find their aura. When Avery’s silhouette sparks to life behind Nia’s eyes, she laughs. Even without looking deeper towards the core of Avery’s aura, Nia can feel the prickle of their curiosity.

“Your aura’s blue like mine!” Nia explains.

The kirlia laughs too, quietly. “Kindred spirits indeed.”

Nia nods. “Your aura is more of a...purpley-blue, though. Deeper. Kind of indigo.” It feels...serene. Filled with a boundless curiosity and something deeply wise. It’s a dusk sky just as stars begin to shine, a calm evening full of possibilities. It’s actually a little difficult to put her finger on, to interpret the color into a personality, more difficult than it has been so far. Before Nia can go on, Felix’s hushed voice breaks through her concentration.

“That’s so cool!”

Nia jumps, yanking her hand back as the tear drops at her head drop lightly to the collar of fur around her neck. Nia turns to find Xander, Felix, and even Kry sitting close to her and Avery and watching the whole ordeal with fascination.

“Ooh! Can you do me next?” Felix asks excitedly, scooting closer as if she won’t see him there, practically bouncing in his seat.

Xander gives Felix a reprimanding look. “Dude, chill, she might need to rest or something. You know how Avery gets when they’re overworked.”

Before Felix can deflate under the scolding, Nia smiles. “N-No, I can do it, don’t worry. Just give me a second. I’m still learning so it kind of wipes me out, but that’s why I need to practice. You don’t mind me reading your aura? It’s kind of, um. Personal.”

Felix grins at her with shining eyes. “Nah, I don’t mind if it’s not too exhausting for you.”

Nia exchanges an amused look with Avery, then turns her body to Felix. She closes her eyes, holds out her hand for him to take, and then repeats the process of finding her aura, and sending it to where she’s touching the wartortle’s skin.

Felix’s aura flares to life behind Nia’s eyes, and she feels her face drop slack in surprise as the color registers. “Oh. Felix, you’re green.”

The turtle sounds as surprised as his aura feels, the green energy jumping in intensity. “Really?”

“Yeah. Like...a calm, leafy sort of green.” Not calm in the typical sense because the wartortle is certainly not that, but…flexible, she supposes. Purposefully not anxious. Like the changing seasons and the trees that follow them, very go-with-the-flow and easygoing. As unexpectedly sturdy as an oak tree, too. Comforting. It does make sense for the wartortle, in a way, but she has to admit she’s surprised by how deep into his very being his instincts to comfort amuse stabilize go. Oh, he is a very kind soul. A very open, alive soul.

Kry snorts. “Calm. Sure. Clearly you’ve never seen him after being rejected by someone.”

“Hey!” Felix says, indignant.

Nia’s concentration is broken again, and Felix’s hand is yanked away. She blinks back into reality only to sees Kry and Felix play wrestling. Xander rolls his eyes at them, but then looks back at Nia, ears swiveling forward and his brow furrowing with concern. “You okay?”

Oh, she’s breathing harder as her powers take a toll on her. But she doesn’t feel nauseous yet, which must mean she’s getting better! She gives Xander a smile. “I’m fine. This is already leagues better than I was a few days ago! Want me to check your aura, too?”

Xander blinks, exchanging a glance with Avery. Just as Nia’s about to reassure him he doesn’t have to agree, he nods. “You sure you’re okay? I don’t want you to push yourself too hard.”

For a moment, Nia’s thrown by the obvious concern in the luxio’s voice, and her heart squeezes with something fond—

(She said she wasn’t going to make strong friendships here, she can’t, she’s leaving, but—)

—but then she just laughs it off, shaking her head. “N-No, I’m fine. Really.”

Xander looks at her face a moment longer, as if he’s worried she’s lying to him and about to pass out. But then he nods and lifts a paw for her to take.

Nia smiles and closes her eyes, curious despite herself. She’s only known Xander for a couple of weeks, but the more auras that Nia reads the more interesting they become, the more exciting it is to reconcile them with a person’s outward personality. So she reaches out eagerly with her aura, ignoring the strain that she’d just reassured she wasn’t feeling, and nearly recoils in surprise when Xander’s silhouette lights up in a very distinct color. It’s not a deep, protective blue, as she would have guessed, or really any color that she would have predicted.

It’s bright red.

Red, like blood pulsing from a wound, but it doesn’t bring to mind pain or aggression. It’s the blood of a beating heart, it’s the red of passion and emotion, almost too bright in its intensity, almost volatile, and oh, she never would have guessed that this was such an integral part of cool and collected Xander, that he would feel emotions so strongly they hurt. His aura is the blood of a fierce battle, of a pulse pounding away to act, to protect. It’s the red of a heart willing to bleed out before losing those close to him.

A surge of what Nia now recognizes as concern flows through his aura and slams into her like a tidal wave. Nia feels herself physically knocked back from the strength of it, pulling her hands away to catch herself. She snaps back to reality, breathing hard and loud in the quiet of the room, her heart pounding.

Xander is watching her with wide eyes, one paw lifted as if he’d reached out to help but then feared making things worse. Avery is watching her too. The sounds of Kry and Felix’s tussling have stopped.

“Nia? Are you all right?” Avery finally asks, voice soft and level.

Nia swallows hard, her own heart just starting to slow from the overwhelming intensity of Xander’s aura. She looks at the luxio again, and that’s what finally prompts her to pant, “I-I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Xander asks. “I didn’t hurt you?”

“Y-Yeah, no, sorry, that was just, uh. Unexpected? You’re red, by the way.” Just saying Xander’s aura is red is the understatement of the century, but how is she supposed to explain what she just felt?

“Red?” Xander echoes, his stiff posture finally starting to relax again. Kry and Felix move closer to listen.

Avery hums. “Interesting. And that means?”

Nia fiddles with the collar of fur around her neck, gaze flicking up to the sun-washed ceiling as she thinks. “W-Well...I’m not sure how good I am at explaining it...”

“Wait, but you said green meant calm, right?” Felix asks. “Isn’t there like...a color cheat sheet or something? Like a list of what each color means?”

“Your green is calm,” Nia corrects. “The colors sort of tell me about someone’s personality and who they are, but I don’t think there’s like...a strict color-code?”

Nia looks to Avery for help, but the kirlia only offers a sympathetic shrug. Oh. Apparently their psychic powers don’t work the same way.

“U-Um. Okay. So for example, my aura is sort of a turquoise blue, but Avery’s is more purple, like a royal blue or indigo. Their aura feels...calmer than mine does, I guess? And Felix, yours is green because you’re so adaptable, like the trees. Very go-with-the-flow, but still sturdy and reliable. Someone else’s aura might be green too but feel super different to me.”

There’s a moment of quiet as they all digest that information, and Nia cringes. “...At least, I think that’s how it works.”

“So what did my aura feel like?” Xander finally asks. “Mine seemed to…affect you differently than the others’ did.”

Nia hesitates, still fiddling with her fur. How does she describe this? “Yours is red, but it’s red like…passion, I guess would be the word. It’s just really emotional? Kind of intense, actually. I’ve never felt someone’s emotions as strongly as I did yours. They kind of swept me away and knocked me right out of my aura state.”

When Nia looks away from the ceiling to gauge the others’ reaction to that, her stomach drops. Xander is staring at her in something close to horror, his fur lifting like a startled cat. She catches Felix shooting Xander a worried look. Wait, what…what happened? She just described his aura to him. Why does he look so upset?

Before the silence can grow too tense, Kry snorts and crosses her arms, apparently tone-deaf to the sudden shift of the room’s mood. “That’s a load of crap. Xander’s the most level-headed one here. Do mine next.”

Nia opens her mouth to say no, watching Xander back away with a gaze like he isn’t totally here. Avery and Felix exchange a concerned look before the kirlia moves to follow the luxio, approaching him with soft words and a hand soothing the spiked fur along his spine.

“Well?” Kry grunts, shifting to cut into Nia’s line of sight.

“W-Wait, Xander—”

“You admittin’ you were wrong?” Kry says, almost like a challenge. “Too afraid to read mine?”

Nia focuses on the fraxure, huffing in irritation. She just upset Xander—and something in her recoils at that thought, already flooded with guilt—and Kry hasn’t even noticed? Fine, if reading Kry’s aura will get her to shut up and move so Nia can check on Xander, she’ll do it. Nia closes her eyes and touches Kry’s open palm. She shoots her aura down her arm and into her paw almost angrily, and Kry’s energy flares to life. Once again, the color that she finds there isn’t quite what she’s expecting.

“You’re…gold,” Nia says. It’s the gold shine of priceless treasure, something proud and hard-fought. But it’s also the gold of armor, of a shield, determined and immovable. Protective. She feels the fraxure’s emotions shift too rapidly for her to catch, but she doesn’t really care too much anyways, with what’s happening to Xander three feet away. Nia pulls back and opens her eyes, meeting Kry’s hard stare with her own.

“So what’s gold mean?”

Nia frowns. “It feels...determined. Proud, I guess. I dunno, I’m not very good at this yet.” Nia’s attention is elsewhere, and she leans past the dinosaur to see Xander, only to find that Xander and Avery have disappeared from the room entirely. Felix meets her panicked gaze with a sad, soothing smile.

“Sorry, Nia, Xander just…had to get some air. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

“Wait, what…what happened?” Nia rasps. “Is Xander okay? He looked...”

Felix and Kry exchange a meaningful look. The wartortle nods, and Kry moves to start cleaning up the game abandoned on the rug a few feet away, completely silent. It’s such a shift from her aggressive prodding moments before that Nia wonders if the fraxure wasn’t as oblivious to Xander’s sudden emotional turn as she thought.

Was Kry distracting her?

“Nia,” Felix says, catching her attention again. He gives her a small smile. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Just…accidentally brought up some unhappy memories for Xander.”

Nia wilts, her heart sinking in her chest. She really likes Xander—she didn’t mean to upset him! Why would learning about his aura have upset him so much? Is this what Val was warning her about, about using her powers responsibly? But she didn’t do it without asking. He wanted to know! Should she have not told him what she saw? But then she would have had to lie to him!

“I didn’t mean to upset him,” Nia whimpers.

Felix’s expression softens. “I know you didn’t. And he does too, don’t worry. But maybe for tonight you should head back to Maggie’s. C’mon, I’ll walk with you.”

Nia opens her mouth to protest—she doesn’t want to just leave without talking to Xander or at least apologizing to him! But Felix is already at the doorway to the hall, beckoning her with a twitch of his fluffy tail. He doesn’t seem angry with her, but it’s clear that he’s nudging her to leave for today. Feeling upset and a lot less proud of her aura abilities, Nia grabs her book and follows him out the door, shuffling up the guild’s stairs and hoping Maggie doesn’t ask her what’s wrong.

[frenchbreads-writing]

Valentine’s Day Dilemma|{Ojiro Mashirao}

My amazing tradition of doing things late has struck again!!

I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything in literally forever but writer’s block has been kicking my ass lately but I’m starting to get back into it again so that’s good.

Also, it’s my one year anniversary since I started my first writing account!!!! Thank all of you who are here and support my content I love y’all so much!!!!

I hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Ojiro Mashirao x Male Reader

Words: 1.6k (1,615)

Warning(s): None

Requests: Closed

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

‘Another love letter.’

Ojiro thought as he watched another girl confess to you.

He couldn’t understand you. You were insanely good-looking, charming, and nice you could have anyone you wanted.

You smiled apologetically and returned the letter to the girl saying something Ojiro couldn’t make out.

The girl looked dejected and sauntered off.

You could have anyone you wanted yet you always rejected anyone who has ever confessed. No matter how good-looking or cool they were.

“You know, you could always ask him out instead of watching him like a creep.”

Ojiro jumped and turned around to see Dark Shadow hovering next to him.

“W-what? I’m not-“

Dark Shadow moved closer to him and poked him in his chest.

“Yes you were, you were staring at (y/n) with big ol’ googly eyes.”

Before Dark Shadow could continue Tokoyami’s voice rang out from behind them.

“Dark shadow, leave him alone.”

Tokoyami walks up and swatted Dark Shadow on his beak.

Dark Shadow stuck his tongue out before disappearing into Tokoyami’s side.

“T-thank you Tokoyami.”

Tokoyami nodded at him.

“You’re welcome.”

He paused for a moment.

“Dark shadow is right though, you should confess to (Y/n).”

Ojiro choked on his saliva at his words face becoming beet red.

“W-what?! I don’t like him like that!”

“Oh really?”

“Yes!”

Tokoyami raised an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms.

“Every time he walks in the room you stare at him the whole time and every time the two of you talk you seem like you’re a moment away from passing out.”

Ojiro froze and his tail came up and covered his face.

“B-be quiet.”

Tokoyami chuckled.

Before the bird-headed boy could tease him any further the bell rang signaling the start of class.

“Just think about it.”

Tokoyami said before walking over to his seat.

And that’s what Ojiro did for the past week.

He’s entertained the idea of confessing ever since he realized his crush.

But ultimately, he always convinced himself that you’re far above him on the social ladder and you wouldn’t settle for someone as plain as him.

But this time he looked at you while Aizawa droned on about his lesson. You were quietly snickering as you passed notes back and forth with Kirishima.

As he stared suddenly you turned around to face him.

He jumped, startled at the sudden attention. The sound of a yelp from behind him snapped him out of his daze. He turned to see Kaminari’s school supplies scattered on the floor. Ojiro’s tail resting on his table.

He stuttered out an apology and moved his tail away.

A chuckle made Ojiro look up.

You were laughing at the scene.

Ojiro covered his face with his hands and faced the board, face burning with embarrassment.

During hero practice he watched you. You were practically made to be a hero, gracefully getting through obstacles and completing challenges.

But you also looked out for your classmates. congratulating them when they succeeded and encouraging them when they failed.

You were amazing.

After class, Ojiro walked up to Tokoyami.

“Okay, I’ll do it how do I confess?”

The following days were spent with Ojiro and Tokoyami brainstorming ideas.

Ojiro walked up to the school almost an hour early. It was Valentine’s Day, the perfect opportunity to confess, even if he would be rejected.

When he walked through the school gates he saw you standing at your shoe locker fiddling with the handle.

He went to his locker and watched when you opened the door around 10 pink envelopes fell out with about 30 still crammed into the small space.

You just sighed and picked up the fallen ones before scooping the rest of the letters into your hands, you then proceeded to toss the letters into the trash, put on your shoes, and walk away.

The letter in Ojiro’s pocket suddenly felt heavy.

He took it out and stared at it before crumbling it up and shoving it in his bag.

Throughout the rest of the day, he watched as you got letters and chocolates from random people, boys, and girls alike.

Each one you politely declined.

All of them walked away dejected, clutching their gifts to their chests, and some even cried.

Ojiro didn’t get nearly as many Valentine’s gifts as a lot of his classmates. Hell, most of them were from his classmates.

Ojiro sighed as stood by the school gate.

He was supposed to meet Tokoyami there to tell him how it went. Tell him how he just couldn’t go through with it.

He stood there moping until he heard squealing from behind him.

He turned around and gasped as he saw you standing directly in front of him.

“(Y-Y/n)!”

“Hey, Ojiro I was wondering if you had a moment?”

He nodded, his face turning red.

“Well, uh, I wasn’t planning on doing this but Kirishima convinced me.”

You reached into your back pocket and pulled out a card handing it to him blushing and rubbing the back of your neck.

“H-here.”

He took it and looked it over.

It had very clearly been crumpled up and smoothed out.

The words on the front said ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ he blushed and opened the card and there were more words.

At the top, it said ‘Tail me you love me!’

And below that

‘I was wondering if you would like to be my Valentines?’

When he finished his face was bright red.

“S-So?”

Ojirou’s mouth opened but nothing came out, he was too embarrassed.

You looked hurt taking his silence as rejection.

“I-it’s fine if you don’t feel the same, sorry for making you uncomfortable I’ll just be going now.”

You began to make your way past him when Ojiro grabbed you by the arm.

“(Y-Y/n) wait!”

You paused and looked at him.

He shoved his backpack off of his shoulders and riffled through it for a moment before shoving a crumpled ball into your chest.

“This was for you.”

You took the ball and gently unfurled it.

The words on the front were in the same font as yours and opening it revealed the same exact card as yours but on the inside had a lot more words.

You began reading and at the second line, you realized it was a confession letter.

“W-wait, Ojiro you feel the same?”

You looked up clutching the card to your chest tightly, beginning to crease the sides once again.

Ojiro’s tail was wagging behind him as he nodded.

You let out a laugh as you lunged forward, wrapping your arms around him, pulling him close, and lifting him from the ground.

Ojiro let out an embarrassing noise as he instinctively wrapped his arms around your neck.

“(Y-Y/n) c-can you put me down? People are staring.”

You froze as you looked around and most of your fanboys and girls were staring in disbelief.

“Oh yeah, sorry.”

You nervously chuckled as you lowered him back down to his feet.

“So, (Y/n) does this mean we’re dating?”

You blushed and rubbed the back of your neck.

“If you want to, then yeah.”

Ojiro smiled and grabbed your hand. Your hand was a little sweaty but so was his.

The two of you blushed at the gesture.

“S-so we should go on a date right?”

You nodded.

“Yeah, um, are you free right now?”

Ojiro thought for a moment.

“Uh, n-no I have chores to do, how about tomorrow?”

You smiled.

“Sure!”

The two of you stood there for a minute in silence before you cleared your throat.

“I’ve gotta go but I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Ojiro nodded enthusiastically.

“Y-yeah!”

“...”

“Um, you can let go of my hand now”

“Huh?—“ Ojiro looked down and saw he was still gripping your hand. “—Oh, sorry!”

He let go and you chuckled.

“Thanks, bye cutie.”

Ojiro blushed as he waved at you, his tail also waving side to side.

“Finally, it’s about time one of you made a move!”

Ojiro jumped and spun around.

Dark shadow was in his face again.

“Watching the two of you ogle each other every two seconds was painful.”

“W-what?”

Tokoyami cleared his throat from behind Dark shadow.

“Yeah, the two of you were very obvious with your infatuation with each other I don’t know how you didn’t notice.”

Ojiro sputtered.

“Wait, so you knew he liked me the entire time and you didn’t say anything?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Ojiro just sighed. It worked out in the end so there’s no reason to be upset.

“It’s fine, anyway I should be going, see you tomorrow Tokoyami.”

Ojiro waved and began his walk home.

As Ojiro was finishing up his final chore for the day his phone vibrated in his pocket. He fished it out and turned it on.

A text from an unknown number was on his screen.

It said “Hey Ojiro!!! Tokoyami gave me your number”

He smiled and typed a quick reply.

“Hey (Y/n).”

You replied almost instantly.

“I just wanted to say that I look forward to our date tomorrow”

“Me too.”

After that, the two of you texted back and forth, for the rest of the day and well into the night.

So when you told him you had to go to sleep he was left alone in the dark laying in bed.

He was so nervous that he couldn’t sleep, but he was also excited.

Out of all of the people you could’ve chosen, you chose him.

Ojiro hugged his tail to his chest and buried his face into the tuft of hair at the top.

He needed to go to sleep to wake up bright and early to set something up for after class.

Hopefully, he could impress you.

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

{Tag list}If you want to be added to the tag list, send an ask or look at my pinned post!

@lotsofrandom​ @your-strangelove​ @yumeneji​ @kaiwai​ @dumbass-calamari @naonaocat @tamakiwithcrab​ @delightfulcupquakequeen​ @brithedemonspawn​ @chatnoirfangirl1624​ @redsharksimp @chuckamok​ <- Sorry anyone who isn’t tagged properly but I wasn’t able to tag you!

[fruitcoops]

Remus gets injured in a game. I have literally read everything you have written but i'm not sure if you have wrote one like this. If you have, ANOTHER PLZZ

Hello anon! I wove this together with a couple different prompts, listed below:

1. Coops argument

2. Prompt 21: “You need to eat something”

3. Remus gets in a fight with Snape

4. Protective Sirius

5. Coops going home grumpy after losing a game (see link)

Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove! TW for fights, blood, bruises, arguments, and someone getting called a wh*re

Snape’s cheek gave easily beneath Remus’ fist, which was a tad bit surprising. He wrapped his other hand in the neckline of his jersey, yanking him back in to land another punch to the side of his head—that would leave a nasty bruise in the morning. Stars sparkled in his vision as Snape got a lucky shot in and he doubled down, ignoring the thin line of pain that trickled down his chin.

“Break it up, boys, that’s enough!” The referee’s whistle blew as he and another pried Remus’ hands off Snape’s jersey; someone took him by the shoulders and pushed him away from the fight. Pots.

“Say it again!” Remus shouted at Snape as the refs and their teammates continued pulling them apart. “Say it again and I’ll knock your fucking teeth in!”

James’ hold on him faltered for a second as another person skated over and tried to join the melee. “Cap, no!”

“Move, Pots.”

“Loops won the fight, it’s done. Let’s just keep playing.” James shoved both their chests hard enough to send them back a few inches, but Remus’ blood boiled as he ground his mouthguard between his teeth. He glanced up at the clock—3:16 left in the third, Snakes up by two. Their win was almost guaranteed and Snape was still pulling this bullshit.

He skated quickly over to the bench and mumbled his thanks to Hestia as she pressed some gauze to his lip and ice to his cheek. “Lupin, you’re in for the rest of the game,” Coach Weasley said, tapping him on the arm with his playboard. “Anything broken?”

“No, Coach.”

“Then get your ass back out on the ice and score some points. We need some speed.”

He could feel the fury rolling off Sirius as they wove through the Snakes’ defense, shooting again and again to no avail. Frustration built up in every nerve—he was worried about the win, of course, but mostly he was pissed. Pissed at Snape, pissed at James for pushing him, and pissed at Sirius for butting into the fight.

Remus scored a final goal just as the buzzer sounded. Hissing filled the stadium, even though it was a home game. Snape smirked at him as he skated past and the only thing keeping him from dragging him right back in by his greasy hair was the possible suspension.

The shower was cold, because of course the fucking shower was cold. Remus shoved his stuff in his duffel and waited outside the locker room, silently fist bumping the guys as they left. God, he hated losing games. It was inevitable, but it always felt shitty.

“How’s the lip?” Sirius asked when he finally came out, bag slung over his shoulder.

“Fine. What the fuck was that?”

“What was what?”

“You butted into my fight. Nobody asked you to.”

Sirius’ eyebrows rose. “Re, he called you—”

“Yeah, I know what he called me,” Remus snapped, practically slamming the door to the parking lot closed. “I was there.”

The only reason you’re on this team is because you’re the captain’s whore, Snape had sneered. He bit the inside of his cheek as his anger flared at the memory. “I was just trying to help,” Sirius grumbled.

“Well, you didn’t. You proved his fucking point.”

“I didn’t prove shit!” Sirius scoffed as they got in the car. Immediately, Remus felt claustrophobic.

“I had it handled, Sirius!”

“You’re still bleeding!”

Remus ran his tongue along his lip—sure enough, the salty tang of blood filled his mouth. He swore under his breath and held his sleeve to his lip; his cheekbone throbbed and he knew it would be swollen in mere hours.

“Here.”

“I don’t need that.”

“You’d rather stain your sleeve than accept a tissue from me?”

“It’s a black sweatshirt, it’s fine.” Sirius muttered something. “Care to share with the class?”

Sirius sighed as he turned off the freeway. “I said it was your idea to keep these here in the first place. I don’t know why you’re being all pissy with me. We’ve lost games before.”

“I’m pissed because you don’t think I can handle myself in a fight.”

Sirius took his eyes off the road for a half second in shock. “Excuse me? Why do you think that?”

“I just told you!” Remus said, exasperated. “Snape was being a dick, so I punched him. I didn’t need your hero complex to swoop in and save the day.”

“Re, I didn’t even get a hand on him. Pots—”

“Oh, I’m pissed at him as well,” Remus snorted, staring out the passenger window at the blurry lights against the dark. “If someone calls me a whore, I’d rather get the message across that they can’t do it again.”

“Would you rather have gotten a penalty?”

“Yes.”

“That is unbelievably selfish.”

Remus laughed without humor. “Y’know, it’s really funny that you’ve never had this conversation with Logan, the king of the penalty box. Is it because he’s not a delicate flower like me?”

“Wh—” Sirius clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, Remus. I have never seen you as a—a delicate flower. For your information, I have chewed Logan out on multiple occasions.”

Remus gritted his teeth and trained his gaze firmly out the window. He heard Sirius sigh next to him and it took every ounce of willpower to keep his composure. The next ten minutes were dead silent and deeply uncomfortable, which was a rarity with them; even after losses, they would talk through the errors or try to lighten the mood.

Both of them closed their doors a little harder than necessary when they got to the house and Hattie trotted over hesitantly when they came inside. “Hey, Hatters,” Remus murmured, crouching down to her level and holding a hand out. She licked his cheek and let him bury his face in her thick fur—Sirius scratched her ears as he walked past. “Did you have a good time while we were out? Huh, baby girl?” He looked up and saw the tail end of Sirius’ eye roll. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t bullshit me, Sirius, it doesn’t work. I’m giving the dog a hug because I’m still pissed at you.”

“There is literally no good reason for you to be pissed at me!” Sirius finally said, tossing his keys into the bowl by the door. “Holy shit, Re, I don’t even think you’re mad at me!”

“Oh, yeah? Then who am I mad at, oh great and wise captain?” Remus practically spat, shouldering past him into the kitchen and wrenching a cabinet open. “Please enlighten me.”

“I wish I knew!”

Remus slammed the bread down on the counter and glared at him. “Then maybe you should shut the fuck up if you don’t have anything to support your claim.”

“Acting like this is a goddamn debate club isn’t helping. Your lip is bleeding again.”

“Fuck.” Remus ripped a paper towel off the roll and dampened it, holding it to his lip with a wince. Sirius opened the freezer and dug around for a moment with another paper towel. “I don’t remember you getting hit.”

“This is for you, you stubborn fucker,” Sirius said as he walked over and pressed it gently to the side of Remus’ face. “Better?”

“…a bit.”

The tension on Sirius’ face began to fade; he just looked concerned as he pulled the ice away and checked the bruise. “Your eye might swell.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you actually want to talk now, or should we yell a little more?”

Remus sighed and felt his anger abate. He was beyond exhausted, and still upset, but having Sirius nearby was like balm on a burn. “I don’t know.”

“I’m going to make some sandwiches. Hold this.” Sirius tapped the ice towel and moved to the abandoned loaf, grabbing some peanut butter and jelly as he went.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat something.”

“I’m fine.”

Sirius glanced over his shoulder and gave him a look. “I know you, Re. You’re not going to feel better unless you get some food, and neither will I.”

“I hate it when you’re reasonable.”

“No, you don’t.”

Remus’ lack of response was enough of an answer. The pain stretched to his forehead and he grimaced, prodding his lip cautiously. Sirius whistled for Hattie and spread the leftover peanut butter from the knife onto a clean spoon, holding it down for her to lick. A smile tugged the corner of Remus’ mouth. “Cute.”

“I can be cute on occasion.”

“You’re always cute.” There was a beat of quiet. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re forgiven. I’m sorry for yelling.”

“Not for interrupting the fight?”

“Nope.”

“That’s fair.” Something tickled at the back of Remus’ throat. “I fucking hate Snape.”

“Me, too.”

“Surprisingly enough, it feels pretty shitty to be called a whore. Who would’ve thought?”

Sirius turned and faced him, sleeves rolled to his elbows. His eyes were soft. “You know that’s not true, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Remus. What he said wasn’t true. You have nothing to prove to anyone on the team, least of all to me. You earned that spot on the roster fair and square, and Snape’s just freaked out because there’s another player who could grind him into the dust without breaking a sweat.” He stepped closer and leaned on the counter next to Remus, leaving a few inches between them. “I don’t think you’re a whore, if that means anything.”

Remus laughed softly. “Of all the people out there, I think you’re the only one who could reliably make that assumption.”

Sirius didn’t smile. “You’re my best friend and also my fiancé. The sex is a great bonus, but my favorite part of being with you is just being with you.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Remus muttered, though the sharp edges began to smooth in his gut. He closed the distance between them and laid his head on Sirius’ shoulder. “Love you.”

“I love you, too. Can I take a look at your lip?”

“Sure.” Remus peeled the towel away and Sirius bent slightly, poking the area around it. “Ouch.”

“That’ll probably take a week or so to heal. He got you good.”

Remus pouted. “No kisses for a week?”

Sirius did laugh that time, bright and sunny enough that Remus nearly made his lip bleed again with the answering smile. “I said nothing about no kisses.” Warm lips trailed from his unbruised cheekbone to the edge of his mouth, leaving tiny tingles in their wake.

“I really am sorry about what I said. You were right, I wasn’t angry with you, and I had no right to go off like that.”

Sirius shrugged. “It happens.”

“It shouldn’t.”

“Then let’s agree to talk first, bite heads off later, okay?” He held his pinky out and Remus linked it with his own, kissing it quickly.

“Deal. Are the sandwiches done? I’m starving.”

Wordlessly, Sirius handed him a sandwich and hopped up to sit on the counter, scooting over to make room for Remus to join him. They ate quietly, swinging their legs as the calmness of the kitchen crept back in once more.

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

A Miraculous TikTok Account

Part 1/57, 97.7k words

Next

I was like “hey brain I’d love to do a shitpost social media au” and then it was like r e w r i t e m i r a c u l o u s

I don’t even know if it really even counts as miraculous anymore so much has changed god damn it --

Rena Rouge had never been so excited for anything in her life.

Of course, at first glance people would find that insane. She was going to a meeting, after all.

But it was the people that were also attending that had her practically vibrating she was so excited.

All the heroes of Paris were to be gathered under Master Fu’s orders. They hardly ever worked together, so having all four (five, including her, she reminded herself) together was pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime event. She wished she was still a reporter, this was the kind of thing she would have killed to report on back in the day…

Still, a part of her had to wonder why exactly they were all there. Master Fu had been vague when he’d called. She had some theories, of course, but all this waiting was starting to shift her excitement into nerves. She attempted to smooth out her tail, but ended up just tucking it under herself to hide her anxiety. Maybe she shouldn’t have come so early.

The first person to show up after her was Carapace. He’d poked his head through the door, the hood of his sleeveless hoodie pulled so low over his face that it partially hid his face. Then he broke into a wide smile and pushed the hood up a little to show the green glint of his mask. He made his way inside and took a seat next to her.

“Salu -- Bonjour!” His confident smile melted into an uncomfortable one. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Salut,” she said, not wanting him to feel awkward.

Besides, that was kind of his whole shtick. Carapace was the relatable hero, the one you could vent about your problems to.

(Well, technically you could vent to all of Paris’s heroes, they didn’t mind… but Carapace was the only one that felt close enough to actually try it with.)

Silence lapsed between them as they sat there. She tried to remember whether she had met him as Rena Rouge or not and he seemed unsure whether she wanted to talk, but they were distracted from their thoughts when Chloe walked into the room.

Chloe just kind of… does that. If Carapace was the personable one, Chloe was the one who felt the most unreachable. She was open about her persona, had to be after everyone found out about it, and exactly how relatable can a mayor’s daughter be? She’d leaned into it, though, opting for golden jewelry and wings that glinted in the light.

Neither of the present heroes said anything to Chloe, and Chloe didn’t acknowledge them.

Was it rude? Technically. But what else were they supposed to do? Chloe had made it clear a week ago that she didn’t like them. There’s no good conversation that can come after you get shit-talked on live tv.

The last person to be on time was Chat Noir. The original hero. He gave them a smile worthy of a model as he slipped inside. “Bonjour.”

“Bonjour,” said Rena and Carapace, and even Chloe gave a quiet hum of acknowledgement.

The leather of his black suit made a high-pitched squeaking sound against the chair when he sat down that made both him and Rena’s hair stand on end (literally).

Master Fu walked in to find Carapace trying to soothe two very frazzled miraculous holders and Chloe ignoring them on her phone.

He sighed and gently rapped his cane on the ground.

Instantly, the room quieted. Chat and Rena snapped out of their shock.

“Bonjour,” chorused everyone.

He smiled tensely. “Bonjour. Where’s Ladybug?”

“Not here yet,” said Chloe. She set her phone down on the table and crossed her arms over her chest. “There’s nothing in the papers, either.”

Master Fu nodded a little bit and took a seat at the head of the table. “We can wait for her. There’s no rush.”

Carapace hesitated before raising his hand. “There’s… a bit of a rush. I was procrastinating a college app and it’s due tonight…”

“It shouldn’t be long,” said Master Fu.

This was true. About five minutes later Ladybug burst into the room, panting softly. “Bon… jour...”

“Thanks for finally showing up,” said Chloe.

No one knew for sure, because Ladybug’s eyes were completely white, but they got the feeling that she was rolling her eyes.

“There was an akuma.”

“Really? There was nothing on the news…” said Rena, genuinely confused, but she trailed off when she realized that maybe getting one of your childhood heroes in trouble was a bad idea if you wanted to have a good relationship with said childhood hero.

Thankfully, Ladybug didn’t seem all that annoyed. “That’s because the news anchor and her crew got swallowed by it before they could get any information out. Anyways, it’s dealt with.”

With that, Ladybug took a seat in the last open chair. There was a beat as she smoothed out the red and black folds of her dress and then she crossed her legs and smiled at everyone.

Master Fu sighed and shook his head, slowly placing his cane in his lap.

“Now that everyone is here, would anyone like to guess why?”

The heroes of Paris stiffened a little bit. That sounded a lot like they were in trouble. They didn’t want to be in trouble.

Rena slowly raised her hand. “Is it… because of what Queen Bee said last week?”

The heroes’ expressions soured a bit at the memory. The video of Chloe trash talking all of them to an interviewer had blown up, and now they could hardly do anything without having at least one reporter hounding them for a response.

None of them could give any, though Rena was sure at least some of them were tempted. The public was supposed to think them all friends, or at worst friendly coworkers. It gave them hope, seeing them all working together for team ups, and analyzing their friendship dynamics kept them relatively distracted from the fact that it had been six years since the first hero had first arrived on the scene and they still had virtually nothing on Hawkmoth.

But now that illusion had been shattered (and trust her, she knew a lot about illusions). Akumas had been more active this week.

“That’s precisely it. Thank you, Rena.” Master Fu regarded them all carefully. “What do you think we should do about it?”

Really, they’d had no clue what to do about their image.

Chloe hadn’t been joking, she’d made that plainly obvious, so saying she didn’t mean it or that was just the type of friendship they had wasn’t going to work…

“Act more like friends…?” Said Ladybug when no one spoke up.

Master Fu nodded.

“Oh, so more team ups or something?” Said Chat.

Carapace shrugged. “Don’t know how much of that I can do, since I’m the only one that can consistently get in the water, but…” He shrugged again. “... sure, I can do that.”

The old man drummed his fingers on the table lightly to bring their attention back to him.

“Yes, that, too, but I was thinking something more… convincing.”

Rena decided that she definitely didn’t like the way his eyes gleamed.

“So, until you manage to defeat Hawkmoth, you will all be living together.”

Everyone opened their mouths to argue but he held up a hand to silence them.

“And you’ll be doing it publicly, posting regular content about it to a social media platform of your choosing…”  He put his hand down. “Now you can complain.”

The teens all immediately started attempting to talk over each other, their voices steadily increasing in volume as they tried to be the one to get their complaints heard.

Rena was silent. Part of her thought that she should be complaining. She had siblings, after all, she had a life outside of heroism… but she couldn’t help but smile. She would be living with her childhood heroes (for a long time, probably, because the Hawkmoth situation was not getting better)! And, really, her sisters could get annoying at times. She’d love an excuse to get away.

So instead of arguing she leaned back in her chair and watched everyone else.

Chloe was the most passionate about it, her jewelry flashing with every wild swing of her hand. Her voice was the loudest, but with the other voices in the room and the fact that she was literally buzzing in her anger it was hard to make out what she was saying.

Chat seemed distressed and Rena could see his mouth saying “I don’t think I’d be allowed to” repeatedly even if she couldn’t hear him over Chloe’s screeching.

Carapace’s face was set in an uncharacteristic frown as he complained. Sure, of those voicing their complaints, he definitely seemed the most relaxed, but the fact that he was frowning was in itself proof of just how upset he really was.

Ladybug was quiet, though she didn’t look particularly happy about it. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as if she was holding herself back from yelling as well and her fingers worried at the hem of her dress.

After a minute of this, Master Fu raised his hands for silence and instantly got it once again.

“Are you done?”

The general consensus was ‘no’, if the looks on their faces meant anything, but they nodded anyways.

“Good. Chat Noir, I’ve already worked everything out with your dad, we’ll discuss it more after the meeting is over.”

Chat relaxed a bit.

“Carapace, your schooling will not be affected. In fact, you’ll likely have a better college experience since all your food and toiletries will be paid for by me.”

Carapace’s expression shifted to a thoughtful one as he considered this.

“Queen Bee, must I remind you of the fact that you’re on thin ice as it is?”

Everyone’s eyes shot to Chloe, who had paled considerably. Her angry buzzing quickly lowered to a dull hum and she settled back into her seat.

Master Fu seemed sated by this, and he looked at Ladybug and Rena.

“And I’m assuming I don’t need to convince either of you?”

Rena shook her head instantly. Ladybug took her time to consider, but eventually shook her head as well.

“Great. Now, shall we talk logistics?”

~~~

Taglist:

@nathleigh @mialuvscats

[saksukei]

mermaid yunho au

[I was inspired by warmau and they are one of my favorite authors so please check out their blog!]

other mermaid aus; yeosang san

you're studying marine biology in a university and you have to write this report on Marine invertebrates

and you're having this absolute brain dump

you heard of an opening for an assistant of a marine biologist

some guy named Jeong Yunho needed an assistant

and so you went and gave the interview and they hired you on the spot because you were qualified enough to take up the position

you had expected yunho to be this fifty year old guy– but

DING DING DING

HES SO YOUNG, HANDSOME AND TALL?? AND LIKE HES A MARINE BIOLOGIST WHO SCORED TOP MARKS AJDHSJSJJSJD MALFUNCTIONING

THE BEST PART IS THAT HES SO SWEET AND GENIUINE THAT

when you told him about your report, he agreed to help you out!!!

every day, you'd accompany him and study different skeletal remains to the floors of the ocean etc

one day you and yunho were working on your report and you geniunely looked tired so

“hey let's take a break–” he suggested, a worried expression on his face. “i am treating you for being such a good assistant.” he explained, but in all honesty, he really liked hanging out with you

You nodded as you accompanied him to the cafeteria, where you ordered some fried chicken

The two of you sat down, waiting for the food to arrive

“so– how are you liking the experience so far?” He asked.

“its okay but– I mean, okay this will sound very weird–”

“weird is my second name,” he laughed.

“alright well–” you sighed. “as a kid I really thought that the ocean had it's own secrets and that–”

“that?”

“I just always thought that mermaids and other fantastical creatures exist but–” you sighed, “science proves otherwise.”

“thats not stupid at all,” yunho remarked. “i can tell you for a fact that I topped in marine biology but I still believe mermaids exist.”

“you do?”

“heck yeah!” he giggled. “mermaids are so cool and so amazing.”

“they are!” you replied, a hint of excitement in your voice. “i really wish they existed though.....”

“hey, I promise– if I ever discover some mermaids I will inform you,” he winked

“thank you,” you smiled. “but if you do ever discover some pretty mermaids, please don't imprison them. Everybody deserves to be free but since human beings are caged to themselves, we try to do the same to others.”

“are you sure you're not a psych major?” he joked and you smiled.

The two of you carried on and as the weeks went by, you both become very close

Heck, you two even met outside work and yOU START DEVELOPING THIS FAT CRUSH ON HIM BECAUSE THE MANS SO FINE

and like ,,,,, the fact that he had so much vast knowledge about the ocean made you realize this dude was miles ahead of anyone like–???

he knew so much about the smallest little things and it continued to surprise people that worked with him

One day, Yunho and you were hanging around the beach because it was kinda a safe place for the both of you

The two of you were sitting on this huge rock as the shoreline was very rocky and there was barely any smooth sand to sit on

“hey let's go and grab some dinner” yunho suggested and you agreed

The two of you got up but much to your dismay

You slipped and fell backwards, your eyes shut as you were ready to hit your head on the rocks and possibly die,

You braced yourself for the impact, only to be surprised when the water hugged your body, as you gently sank, with something keeping you afloat

you opened your eyes to see yunho, holding your body close– except there was something different about him?

and you looked down and realized

something pink?

and as you looked more clearly–

there was a rose gold colored tail that eventually faded into this lighter shade of pink, with diamond scales. The fin was almost as long as your arm, aside from the tail.

The disbelief in your eyes told him everything

“you– you're a– what?!?”

“okay so I might have not been completely honest with you but surprise!” he faked a smile.

“you're a–”

“yes, I am a mermaid.”

YOU MALFUNCTIONED

“let me just, take you out of the water and then we can have this conversation.”

You nodded as he put an arm around your waist and swam towards a flat rock that you could sit on

Once you were up and out of the water, the shock was still evident in your face.

“yunho, you're a mermaid?”

“yep, that's how I know so much about marine biology like the back of my hand because I literally live in the ocean half the time.”

“but the legs–?”

“when I step out of the water, my tail converts into legs and then boom! I can walk.”

You were speechless

“i know you think I'm weird and you probably want to run and tell everyone–”

“hey, my second name is weird!” you smiled, remembering what he had told you in the past.

Yunho giggled

“yunho, I hope you know I won't tell anyone about this.”

“i know– otherwise I would have let you smash your head on the rocks,” he smirked.

You rolled your eyes. “but you are now officially ten times more cooler than you were, previously before,” you told him, as you started noticing the little gills on the side of his face and how his light pink hair color complimented that of his tail.

“thank you,” he ruffled your hair. “oh I forgot something!” he exclaimed, as he dived deep into the water without any other explanation.

before you could stop him, he was already gone.

And with in a minute, he was back up, holding something in his hand.

“i thought you were going to leave me here to rot,” you hissed.

“as much as fun that would have been–” he smirked, “i had to give something to you.”

“and that is?”

“every mermaid has this necklace that is made up of a string that is the same color and texture of their tail– and I want to give mine to you.”

“but isn't it important?”

“it is– because of this you can know every emotion I feel, all the time,” he explained.

“how can you give it to me, then?”

“well, its a symbol of trust and–” yunho started blushing.

“and?” you asked, a hint of amusement in your voice.

“in mermaid world– it means we are soulmates.”

[milknette]

chapter 01 - au

lights out solo in the blue, but now i’ve found you.

tumblr month: @adrinetteapril​

links: ao3 | ff.net chapter: previous | next

HUMANS suck.

Marinette bites back the need to scream, instead settling for a cold glare pointed at anyone who dares look at her— some even having the audacity to laugh .

This is a terrible idea.

Why did she think this was a good idea in the first place?

Her mind races back to last summer, where Alya was animatedly telling her about the wonders of the human world: how it was filled with knowledge and treasures that she could never find back home, where the people were so interesting and diverse, pointing out that she’d likely never get bored with the sheer amount of things they could do way up there.

“Come with me, Mari!” Alya had begged her. “This was literally the best summer I’ve ever had and I can’t imagine going back to college without you. I swear you won’t regret it.”

But as she stands in the middle of the quad, soaking wet from head to toe, Marinette only finds that she wants to curse her best friend’s name; to grab Alya by the shoulders and shout, “I regret it, you land mammal— how do you live like this!?! ”

She really should’ve just stayed at home.

Her dad was right, after all. Marinette doesn't belong here.

(Not with creatures like them.)

The mermaids are a proud people; ever since they had shown themselves to the humans (though the land people insisted they ‘discovered’ them— Marinette has to roll her eyes, humans could be so selfish and egotistical. ), active attempts to integrate and create peaceful unions between the two species were being implemented.

It was one step further into blurring the line between the real and the mythical— though really not all that noticed, as most mermaids didn’t care about the world on land in the first place.

Only a handful were actually interested in human life, and even fewer made an attempt to live within it.

Marinette, to her deep regret, happens to be one of them.

After a fair amount of begging and convincing, her parents had allowed her to take a kind of ‘exchange program’, where she’d be attending university with Alya on land for the next year.

It's exciting, at first.

Walking on her own two feet is a struggle ( really , how humans survived with these two weak limbs, she'll never understand), but decides that it’d be worth it if Alya had been telling the truth.

Sure, there are times Marinette misses her mermaid tail.

Though, at this moment, she really could be doing without it.

Marinette growls, looking irritatedly down at her scales, gleaming pink as they reflect in the sunlight. Her tail serves her well underwater, definitely, but it has become completely and utterly inconvenient on land: flopping uselessly as she tries to make her way to her next class.

She has no intention of transforming back to her original form, of course, but some other students thought it would be oh-so-funny to force her to do so— attacking while Alya wasn’t with her, so they knew Marinette would be stuck without being able to do anything about it.

After all, it's common knowledge that a transformed mermaid exposed to water would automatically revert back to her original form, and stay like that until they dried up— which meant one thing:

Because of a couple of immature college kids with water balloons, she’d miss her next class.

Again.

They're only too lucky that a mermaid using their powers is illegal, or they’d be in a whole new hell of trouble.

The sudden ring of Marinette’s phone distracts the mermaid from her thoughts, as she quickly retrieves it and answers the call.

“Girl, where are you?” The voice asks on the other line. “I dropped by Mme. Mendeleiev’s class and you’re not there yet? You know she’s tired of you being late all the time.”

Marinette groans, running a wet hand down her face. “Water balloons.” She only responds, flatly.

“Oh.”

From the static of the phone call, she can hear a hiccup, evidently her friend's poor attempt at trying to hide her laughter.

“It’s not funny, Alya!” Marinette cries, hissing as a few teenagers point and take out their phones to record her. “I’m stuck in the middle of the goddamn quad because of you land mammals ,” she spits. “Your species sucks.”

 “Hey, not all of us!” Alya protests back. “I’m a great land mammal.” The line suddenly goes silent, as Alya pauses if in thought. “Why don’t you just dry up? Where’s your towel?”

“Sure you are,” Marinette only drawls. “And it’s still wet; this wasn’t the first attack I got today.” She snarls, tightening her grip around her phone. “Now get over here and help me out. It’s hot and if another teenager tries to take a video of me, I’m going to end up breaking more than a few laws, and that’ll get us both in trouble.”

A gasp. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.”

From the other line, Marinette hears sudden scuffling and books being thrown into her bag. “Fine, fine, give me fifteen minutes. I’m on my way.”

“Hurry up,” the mermaid responds curtly, before hanging up the phone.

She sighs, putting away the gadget, and looking upward. “This is so annoying,” Marinette complains, squinting as the sun shines down on her. Muttering to herself, she grabs at her tail in an attempt to drag it to some place that was shadier, with little to no success.

Marinette glares at her lower half.

Betrayal.

Humans are the absolute worst.

She decides that the next person who even attempts to look, much less talk to her, would understand why mermaids remained as creatures to be feared.

— And as it turned out she didn’t have to wait long, a cautious tap on her shoulder sending a sudden shiver down her spine.

Who the hell is dumb enough to touch a mermaid without her consent?

“What?” Marinette finally snaps, turning (with great difficulty) to the guilty party.

Only to flounder as bright green eyes meet her icy blue ones.

“I’m sorry,” the boy says, an awkward laugh escaping him. “I just thought you might need help,” he begins, clumsily gesturing at the lower half of her body, “with… all that.”

Marinette squeaks, a high-pitched sound of disbelief, before laughing— a notch too high for it to be considered genuine. “Oh, this? ” She asks, awkwardly patting at her tail. “This is nothing! No big deal! I’m cool, I’m cool, it’s cool… because I’m a mermaid, get it, it’s always cool underwater, haha …”

An awkward pause.

She cringes.

Did she really just say that?

Marinette wants to swim into the deepest trench in the ocean and stay in there.

Until she hears laughter.

The mermaid looks up, and to her complete surprise, the boy is laughing: amusement evident in his expression.

“Yeah!” He smiles ( a toothy grin that rivals even the rarest pearls she had scavenged back at home ), then continues. “That’s really funny, Marinette.”

She pauses, looking at him in disbelief. “You know my name?”

“Of course!” He replies, that same kind look in his eyes. “You did make quite a splash when you got here,” he winks.

That's corny.

Really corny.

So why in Poseidon’s name does she find that absolutely adorable?

“And I’m also studying mythology,” the apparent student continues. “I see you around the building sometimes.”

So the very pretty human boy who reminds her of sunshine (the good kind— warm and comforting, the kind of sunlight that reminded her of home; not the heated and dry sun that‘d been constantly beating her down as soon as she started living on land) knows her name.

That's nice.

Marinette continues looking at him, dumbstruck.

As if only realizing something, he smiles, offering his hand. “I’m Adrien, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

She stutters, awkwardly taking it. 

His hands are smooth — nothing like the rough and calloused hands of the land people she’d met thus far.

“I— uh— Marinette.”

The corners of his mouth tilt upward. “Yes, I know.” He laughs.

Oh.

Right .

Why is she so nervous? This isn’t like her at all.

“So, about my offer?”

“Huh?” Marinette asks, still reeling from the sudden attention.

The mermaid isn’t used to his attitude, after all, knowing that most humans typically don’t take all that kindly to her species.

Friendliness, Marinette isn’t quite used to yet.

(Alya being the sole exception. If she arrives in the next five minutes, at least.)

The amused smile never leaves the human’s— Adrien’s face. “You’re a literal fish out of water. I don’t think you’re stuck here because you want to, right?”

She nods, the joke easily going over her head, as she remembers what happened. “Some girls thought it’d be funny to force me to transform back here.” Marinette growls. “You humans are all the same —.”

A pause, as she looked at the friendliness in his eyes.

There's no hostility, fear, or disgust in them.

It's a nice change of pace.

“Well, most of you are, anyway,” she amends, then gestures down the rest of her body. “I’m stuck like this until I dry up.”

Adrien hums, sympathetic. “That’s pretty inconvenient.”

“It is,” Marinette agrees. “But my friend’s on the way, so don’t worry— I mean ," she pauses, "not to say that you were worrying about me or anything, I’m just…”

The mermaid fumbles on her words, before resignedly just shutting up. “That is to say, I’ll be just fine.”

Adrien quirks an eyebrow, before looking around. “Really? Your friend’s nowhere to be seen, are you sure you‘ll be okay?” He pauses. “And don’t you have class with Mme. Mendeleiev right now?”

Okay, now he has to be some kind of mind-reader, right?

(Not all that farfetched, considering the co-existence of humans and mermaids in their world.)

“Wh— how do you know that?

“I’m actually her TA,” he explains. “I keep track of all her students and classes. So helping you would actually be doing my job.”

“No, it’s really alright—”

“I have some papers to give her anyways, so it’s on the way,” he points out, patting his messenger bag. Then, his lips quirk upward. “And besides, I’m pretty sure you’re in danger of being dropped from her class if you’re late again.”

She gulps.

Of course he’d know about that, wouldn’t he?

Marinette sighs, defeated. “Fine,” she began. “There should be some towels in the restrooms; it’s a little far, but if you could—”

“No time,” Adrien only states, suddenly kneeling down in front of her. “I think you only have five minutes before you’re late, and it’s a ten-minute walk to our building.”

He grins, before suddenly scooping his arms under her tail and waist, raising her up.

Marinette can’t stop the surprised squeak escape her throat, as she feels herself get lifted off the ground.

The cute boy is carrying her.

And not just any carry, but a princess carry .

“What are you doing put me down I’m gonna scream …” Marinette rushes to say, swatting helplessly at his chest.

This is so undignified for a mermaid, to have some human’s filthy hands on her —

Adrien smiles.

Marinette feels her mermaid-equivalent of a human heart skip a beat.

Then, he winks.

She's sure she's the color of her tail, now.

“Let’s go!” He only says, before running with surprising speed, so light and quick on his feet that she feels like she's flying. His hold on her didn’t falter either, carrying the mermaid with both strength and gentleness.

It's a strange feeling, being in his arms.

But as he easily runs into the building and up four flights of stairs, she decides that it's not entirely uncomfortable, maybe .

.

.

Marinette shows up in the nick of time, only a few minutes before she’d officially be considered late.

Mme. Mendeleiev looks at the two as they burst into her classroom, hands crossed against her chest. “Late again, Marinette?” She asks, evidently unamused.

The mermaid is about to protest, until Adrien decides to speak up:

“Actually, ma’am, Marinette’s just in time.”

“I take attendance at 10:15 sharp, Adrien.”

“And she got here at,” Adrien exhales, out-of-breath, as he looks at his phone, showing the lock screen. “10:14,” he states.

Mme. Mendeleiev pauses, eyes narrowing at the two, before sighing.

“Fine,” the professor sighs. “There are towels at the back. Dry yourself up then take your seat, Marinette,” she states, then pointedly looks at Adrien. “And you,” Mme. Mendeleiev stares at the floor, dripping wet from their entrance. “Go get a mop and clean up this mess…”

The sudden “woah!” from outside following a crash makes her frown.

“... before anyone gets hurt.”

Adrien has the decency to offer a sheepish smile, before immediately nodding, helping the mermaid to the back, then setting her down.

“Sorry for getting you in trouble,” Marinette mutters, apologetic, taking the towel in her hands. “And giving you extra work to do.”

He shrugs, visibly unbothered, as the kind smile remains on his face.

“You didn’t get me in trouble, I decided to do this myself.” He responds. “I couldn’t leave you alone helpless like that.”

“You’d be the first,” she points out, using the towel to wipe her hair. “I guess humans aren’t all that bad.”

“Yeah,” Adrien chimes, a bright laugh escaping him as he runs a hand down his wet hair. “Not all of us land mammals suck, I can promise you that.”

Marinette manages to look the slightest bit embarrassed. “You heard that, huh?”

He smiles. “Yup,” he responds easily, before leaning over to her ear. “But I get you. Some humans really stink up here.” He wrinkles his nose, then scrunches his nose up in a way that she can only describe as absolutely adorable. “Must be because they aren’t taking a bath 24/7.”

Marinette feels herself laugh, ready to reply, when—

“What’s taking so long?”

Mme. Mendeleiev finally barks, glaring at the two.

The two look at each other, then burst into laughter.

“Guess that means I have to go,” Adrien says lightly, then bends down, kissing her hand. “I’ll sea you around, Marinette!”

He runs out, and for the first time, Marinette feels like she's falling.

Or sinking , if she's being technical about it.