#littlest devil au

[weirdgirl92]

@art--surgery This is both of our Cuphead AUs in a nutshell! 😉

[anawkwardgalnamedtarazan]

Behold!!!

My takes on @weirdgirl92 's Demon Princes of Hell!😈👑🔱

Asmodel, Prince of Lust 💋🐐

Beelzebub, Prince of Greed 🍎🐖

Belphegor, Prince of Sloth 💤🦥

Mammon, Prince of Greed 🪙🐺

Leviathan, Prince of Envy 🌊🐍

(Used the @retroferno Leviathan for reference btw!)

Belial, Prince of Wrath 🌋🐲

[letsgetrowdy43]

Requesting a Daddy Quinn ;)

Quinn’s daughter gets into little fight at school. Quinn and his wife is upset but didn’t get the full story of why their daughter got into a fight. she actually gave the boy a black eye. Little did they know the boy had pushed her and she got a nasty cut on her knee and pulled her hair. They went over for dinner to see Jack, Luke and Ellen and Jim. She was excited to see grandpa Jim and he secretly asked if she wanted ice cream and she sweetly declined and told him that she can’t because she got in trouble. Grandpa Jim carried her and she winced and went to the kitchen “why does my baby have a huge cut on her leg”. His daughter said “well this boy wouldn’t stop pulling my hair and he pushed me. That’s why I punched him…but I made him eat dirt when he said my daddy sucked at hockey”

Miss Innocent ☆—

Au Masterlist!!

Honey and Quinn sat in the front seat of the car, the radio off while Hayden sat quietly in the back, tears in her eyes at her parent's disappointed faces. Warren sat with furrowed brows at the tension in the car, his hand extended out to his sister as she looked at him with a growing pout on her face

The moment they got home Hayden excused herself to her room while her parents made their way to the kitchen to start family dinner. "She's never had behaviour issues before, I’m not getting it," Quinn said as he poured himself and Honey a coffee. "The principal said it was unprompted, and she wouldn't talk about it so I don't know how to handle it," Honey sighed as she leaned against the kitchen counter. Quinn walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around his wife, placing a kiss to the dip in her neck, "she knows hitting others is bad, so really its still enexcuseable," he mumbled as she nodded.

Honey sent Quinn and Warren off to the airport each with a kiss on the cheek, Ellen and Jim were flying in this specific weekend for the upcoming Devils versus Canucks game, so Honey made dinner and now awaited her in-laws in the living room.

Hayden ran down the stairs in a fit of smiles the moment she heard her Nana's voice, tear-stained cheeks pulled into a grin as Jim hoisted her up and placed kisses all over her face. "Missed you Hayd," he said as his granddaughter buried her face into the crook of his neck.

Dinner went smoothly, Jim and Ellen were excited to get all of their sons together again, and the two kids were buzzing from the arrival of their grandparents. Hayden stayed silent as Honey announced that she was pulling out desert, which made Jim raise a brow at her lack of enthusiasm, the littlest Hughes child made her way to the living room, letting out a huff as she collapsed on the couch.

“What's got you so down Hayd,” Jim trailed behind her, sitting down next to her, his hand petting her curls as she rolled onto her back. “Can't have ice cream, got in trouble,” she pouted, looking up at her Papa who frowned. “Come with me to the kitchen with Papa,” he stood up and picked up the little girl, “Your dad can't say no to me, I'll ground him,” Jim said with a grin as Hayden smiled softly.

Jimmy placed his hand on his granddaughter's legs trying to hoist her up better on his hip, a loud hiss leaving her mouth as she buried her face in his neck. The older man's brows furrowed as he examined her to see what was hurting her, he walked into the kitchen and placed her down on the counter, “Why does my grandbaby have a cut down the entirety of her leg?" He asked making both Quinn and Honey look up from what they were doing with Warren and Ellen.

“What?” Honey’s brows furrowed as she walked around the kitchen island, a gasp leaving her mouth as her eyes traced the big gash in her daughter’s leg, “Did you see this?” “No?” Quinn pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a few Bluey band-aids from the medicine cabinet.

“Sweets, what happened? Why didn't you tell us something was wrong?” he asked with a soft voice, watching as the little girl's bottom lip wobbled. “You guys were mad at me,” she cried, her hands wiping the streams of tears rolling down her cheeks as her dad ran his hand up and down his back. She sniffled, “Jeremy said Dad sucked,” Hayden’s tears started up again.

The littlest Hughes went on to tell the story of the argument between herself and her classmate. Starting with the boy making fun of Quinn, to which she shit him back with a mean name, then it escalated to him pulling her hair and yelling at her about her Dad. She grinned a little as she told the story of her punching him straight in the eye, making him 'eat his words' as she recounted, which resulted in a big bruise. The entirety of the fight ended with him pushing her onto the pavement where she scraped her leg up against a big rock.

“Sweetheart why didn't you get an adult before, or stick up for yourself when the adults were putting all the blame on you?” Quinn asked his 5-year-old as Honey placed a band-aid on her cut and kissed the patched-up wound. Hayd shrugged, “Cause I shouldn't have hit him back, I should've used my voice,” she said guiltily into her hands. Honey and Quinn were taken aback a how aware their daughter was, hearts breaking as Ellen came over to her and placed a kiss on her grandbaby's cheek.

“No one should hit anyone, ever, but you should learn to not let others walk all over you baby,” Jim said as Quinn picked up his daughter and hugged her to his chest.

“So I'm not in trouble?” “You still got in a fight sweets, so no, but I'm really happy you knew better and used your voice with us in the end,” Honey said as she ruffled her baby's little blonde ringlets.

“On Monday I'll go in and talk to your Principal and teacher, 'cause no one talks bad about my husband, and no one gets to hurt my baby ever,” Honey grinned as she kissed her daughter on the nose. The woman then looked up at Quinn and winked at him, "Besides Sweets, you and I both know I'm the best, don't need you to fight for me, I prove it on the ice," he grinned as she smirked into his shirt, nuzzling her face into his shirt before pulling away and looking at him with a smirk. "Almost as good as Uncle Lukey," she smirked as Quinn's face fell, Ellen and Jim quietly chuckling from behind him.

-

-

-

[bitchinbarzal]

We need an AU about the birth of Stevie and Jack seeing/holding her for the first time!

Jack was in Detroit when you called.

“Hey baby, what’s up how’s peanut?” Jack answered the phone in the midst of breakfast with the team before they headed back to Jersey.

You laughed nervously “Well… peanut is coming”

Jack dropped his fork, catching the attention of everyone else “You-you’re having the baby right now?”

“Well no, she’s not like hanging out of me or whatever but she’s coming tonight probably”

“Ok I’m coming!”

The team rallied, Dougie threw some random bills at the waitress and apologized while Nico was calling their travel organizer to get them home earlier.

When they arrived home and got to the hospital you were laying in the bed, face scrunched up in pain.

“Here, I’m here baby!” He announced, thanking your mom who was sat next to you for support.

He kissed your head and your hand gripped his bicep “Hey, how was the flight?”

“Yeah good, i mean don’t talk about me! How’s the baby? How are you?”

You talked him through the whole day from your waters breaking to now.

“And now it’s a waiting game!”

And it was a very long winded waiting game. The two of you ended up watching the Canucks Ducks game in the room.

Jack was talking to her, his head right next to your belly “You see that Peanut? That’s uncle Quinn and that stupid one there that’s Trev”

You giggled, hand tugging lightly on his curls.

Things finally got moving just after midnight, you were crying out in pain. Jack stood next to your head whispering sweet words of encouragement.

“you’ve got this baby”

“you’re doing so good”

“she’s almost here, mama”

When she cried, you did.

“She’s here! You’ve got a daughter, congrats mommy!” The nurse announced.

Jack began crying, kissing your head “You did so good baby, so good”

“Go, go with her” You pushed him towards where the nurse had taken her. You watched as they handed Jack a pair of scissors and cut the cord.

Cleaned off and medically checked they bundled her in a swaddle and placed her in his arms.

Her cradled her, tears in his eyes and he looked up at you too “She’s beautiful, baby”

You only nodded.

“Hi, hi baby I’m your daddy” he mumbled, sitting next to you on the bed.

You reached up, finger brushing over her cheek

“Our Stevie”

“She’s perfect”

Jack held her most of the night while you slept but also because he didn’t want to put her down.

You had to force him out the door to go play in the devils game against the rangers at Madison square garden.

The team were surprised to see him in the locker room but all looked at him expectingly when he said “It’s a girl! I’m a dad, boys!”

You and Stevie watched from the hospital room, talking to her about the rules of the game and the team.

“That’s your uncle Luke there and that one is Jesper”

When Jack scored he was ecstatic, you smiled and cooed at your daughter “Did you see that Stevie? Daddy scored!”

In the intermission interview Jack couldn’t wipe the smile off his face

“Jack, what a goal!”

“Thanks! Yeah we played a solid two periods just gotta carry on for another!”

“I hear you’re excited to get home tonight! Got someone special waiting for you” the interviewer said.

He laughed “Yeah, my daughter she was born this morning! the boys have got this win for her!”

@amadacstein: jack hughes says his daughter, stevie was born this morning and his girlfriend, y/n forced him to the game because she’s the biggest devils fan! Nico Hischier says the boys will get the win tonight for Stevie, their littlest team member!

They won and Jack was so excited to get back to the hospital and pick you up.

A little after eleven he burst through the door “Peanut I’m back!”

“Shhh she’s asleep” you scolded, the sleeping baby in your arms stirring.

He apologized silently before kissing your head and mumbling “let’s go home”

It took a lot longer to get home with Jack driving at 3mph the whole way but when you eventually did and got Stevie in her own room you announced you’d be taking a shower.

Jack stayed staring at the little being a little longer

“Gosh, I love you so much peanut. welcome to our world”

[the-enby-bird]

The Many Things Wrong With All Of Us (A Women AU Fic)

~

Cross is a slightly unreliable narrator in this fic. Aside from completely misjudging the Bad Sans’s personalities and relationships, she thinks Killer is cis and uses she/her and Nightmare only uses they/them. They do in fact not. 

 * Horror, Dust both use she/her, Killer uses they/she, Nightmare uses they/it, and Cross’s pronouns will change depending on the narrator but she prefers she/her

TWs: Mentions of drinking, like one or two lines; dysphoria; some implied sexual stuff; Killer being bad with boundaries and Cross panicking because of it; Killer slightly freaking out over the aforementioned accidental boundary crossing

AO3 Link

Word Count: 1015

~~~~~

Cross rubbed her arms nervously, the cotton under her hands scrunching up. The suit was stiff, accenting her broad shoulders and lack of curves.

She hated it. She absolutely, completely, hated it. 

Her hands shook as she grabbed her cup, water spilling over the sides. The cold liquid dripped along her arm, drawing a shiver out. She hated this. Hated these stupid, stuffy parties, this stupid stiff suit and the goddamn idiotic, stuck up asses and all their “sir”s and “mr”s. 

She just wanted to go home. Home, with the two little boxes with dresses in them, so that once, just for a minute, she could feel herself. Home, with the doors that actually locked, and home, with the mountains of blankets in pillows hidden every little nook. Home, where everything was nice, home, where she never needed to talk to anyone outside missions, home, where just for the littlest bit of time she could be… Happy.

But this wasn’t home. This was another one of Nightmare’s stuffy parties, filled with rulers, and leaders, and all these great people, dancing and talking and drinking for hours on end. Killer looked happy, having dragged Nightmare out onto the dance floor, blatantly drunk. Her dress hugged her ecto nicely, the shining red material flaring out at the bottom to swirl around her as she spun. Dust had snuck off to a balcony somewhere, abandoning her duties completely. Horror was standing near the banquet tables, her perfectly tailored suit highlighting how feminine, how perfect her bones were. Cross wished she got something like that, even the slightest change would be better than this. 

She didn’t notice Killer walking up, absorbed in her own thoughts. She didn’t know when Nightmare switched her out for some greying old human who looked nowhere near as stunning as Nightmare, elegantly spinning in their sapphire dress. Killer had sat right next to her, and she hadn’t ever noticed, somehow too lost in thought to even hear the incessant chatter that spewed from the smaller skeleton. She never noticed anything until Killer draped herself across Cross’s lap, ecto warm against her legs. 

“-so anyways, Dust-” Cross jolted, her eyes shooting down to her lap to meet Killer’s empty sockets. Killer laughed, “Sheesh, Crossy boy, you good there?”

Cross tensed, struggling to keep the grimace off his face. “Peachy. Why are you on my lap?”

Killer giggled again, “Well how else was I supposed to get your attention?” 

“By doing anything but this?”

“I tried,” Killer whined, “But you were too busy ogling Nighty, and you weren’t giving me attention!”

Cross flushed brightly, “I wasn’t ogling them!”

“Uh-huh, sure~” Killer laughed, poking Cross’s cheek. 

“I wasn’t!”

“Whatever you say, Crossy boy~”

Cross shoved down another disgusted expression, slumping backwards. “Fuck you.”

“Not in public, darling~”

“What- I- no- what the- fuck-”

“Awww, you mean you don’t wanna get your dick wet? Get a little down an’ dirty? Do the do, dance the devil’s tango?”

Cross choked on her water, colour draining from her face. She felt the floor of her closet before she realized she teleported, the stifling air wrapping around her. Her voice was choked out by hurried breaths, the closet wall pressing against her back the only ground to reality. 

The tight feeling in her chest hurt, the sharp feeling of her fingers digging into her sternum not enough to relieve the ache. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, that deep itch within her that felt it could only be resolved by digging her soul out through her chest-

A sob cut through the quiet of the closet as marrow dripped down her fingers, the crushing pain diving down comfortable to excruciating.

Why did she have to be like this? 

She just wanted a break from this, this hellish, crippling pain and these goddamn stupid feelings. 

She just wanted to sleep.

~~~

Killer rubbed their skull where it hit the arm of the couch, shaking off the disorientation and glancing around. She sighed, sitting up. 

Fuck.

She felt the chilled presence of Nightmare behind her, a cold hand resting on her shoulder. “Darling? Is everything alright?”

Killer slumped, leaning back to look up at Nightmare. “So I just fucked up.”

Nightmare tapped their fingers on the back of the couch as they walked around to sit next to her. “Could you elaborate? I am unfortunately not a mind reader, chérie.” 

“...I don’t know. I- I was just teasing Crossy, and he just- I think I went too far.” Killer shrank inwards, as if being as small as possible could relieve their guilt. 

“Ah. That… Could account for some of it? It felt bigger than that, perhaps you hit a sore spot?” One of Nightmare’s tentacles wrapped around her shoulders, another gently guiding them to look up. 

“I- I don’t know what I did, I was just joking around, he’s never- he’s never just. Run away before?”

Nightmare sighed, setting their hand on top of Killer’s. “Chérie, you did nothing wrong. Cross has been upset all night, you likely just tipped him over the edge.” 

Brushing the tentacle away, Killer shrank back into herself. “I know, but-”

“Killer. Please quit worrying yourself. You haven’t done anything wrong, chérie, so please just take a deep breath, and calm down.”

Killer’s breath rattled in her chest. “‘m sorry.”

“You’ve got no reason to be, darling.” Nightmare rubbed its thumb soothingly along Killer’s knuckles.

Her breath shaking, Killer slumped against Nightmare. “You should go check on Cross.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright if I leave?”

Killer choked on a laugh. “Sure.”

Nightmare stood up, smoothing out her dress. “You do not sound particularly confident.”

Killer curled into a ball, careless of her dress scrunching up. “Could you- actually just- send H over here. Please.”

“Nightmare smiled softly. “Of course, chérie.” 

Killer listened to the footsteps clicking away, and the louder footsteps approaching. She felt the couch dip beside them, and the hands on her, warm arms tugging her into a hug. They breathed out a shuddering sigh, relaxing into Horror. 

It wasn’t their fault.

Right?

~~~~~

there will be a second chapter where our darling cross gets a hug, i  just havent finished editing yet so who knows when yall might see it

[moxtoons]

You know, your Cuphead Hell Babies AU is almost similar to a fanfic I’ve been working on called The Adventures of the Littlest Devil. I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, but basically it’s a “childhood friends” scenario like yours, but mine are mostly based on some headcanons I came up with back in early June (before the DLC came out). Anyway, I’ve already put up the first 6 chapters on AO3, and I’m only telling you about it now because I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to rip off your AU. Your art is amazing, by the way.

I have seen some of yours/your friend's tags about it on some of my art and I've been very interested!!! I was actually going to look into your blog to start reading about it!! I would never think anyone explicitly copied me! I'm always happy to see other people's ideas and AUs! I know I'm not the first person to think about this AU and if you ever want to just talk AUs I'd love to 💛 and honestly I was starting to worry the opposite! I don't want anyone to think I'm copying their AUs or ideas 😅

And thank you so much I've been really enjoying drawing the little hell boys!

[modgirlyreposts-revamped]

An analysis of how “love race” fits and lines up almost perfectly with SB, that no one asked for

This entire analysis is what happens when I decide to listen to MGK while playing Security Breach because I think it suits the game’s aesthetic, and let my overactive brain and ability to make connections quickly do the rest

I’ll be putting the lyrics first, and then explain why I think it fits, and while the song does line up pretty well with the canon story of the game, it suits the story of my AU a little more so the explanations will be a mix of both

“I found a silver ring”

“And put it on my finger”

“I picked up my guitar”

“And played it for the Reaper”

I see the first part of the song being sung by Glamrock Freddy, the second part by Gregory, and the last part by both of them. Throughout the game it’s made obvious that the animatronics live under the constant threat of being scrapped and replaced for the littlest imperfections, which seems to affect Glamrock Freddy a lot. The Reaper being a clear stand in for death could be Glamrock Freddy reflecting on how any performance could very well be his last, if the company deemed it not enough.

“God was a girl”

“The devil wore a T-shirt”

“Love is a game and they”

“Were kissing in the bleachers”

Glamrock Freddy sings about Breach (or Vanessa, if you’re following the canon story) and Vanny. Breach being described as a god more likely means that Glamrock Freddy sees her as a savior, or godsend, to him and Gregory as she is the only one who can guarantee that they’ll all make it out alive. The devil is Vanny, who is an almost complete opposite of Breach, most noticeable in their style. Breach dresses formally in her work uniform almost all the time, but Vanny wears very casual clothing complete with her leather vest, and mask that is with her at all times. The line “kissing in the bleachers” would be Glamrock Freddy unintentionally hinting at the state of their relationship in the past, Breach and Vanny being exes around the time of Security Breach.

“I don’t want to be without you but”

“I’m here, screaming by myself”

Since the first part of the song is being sung by Glamrock Freddy, this relates to his connection to Gregory, and want to protect him. The line “screaming by myself” could be describing Glamrock Freddy’s feelings of isolation. He is the odd one out of the band, and shoulders a lot of responsibility as the company mascot which could be overwhelming to him.

“I’m on the run”

“I’m on the run”

“I’m on the run”

“To get back to you”

“To get back to you”

This part is fairly obvious, as both Glamrock Freddy and Gregory spend the night running from location to location throughout the mall, and Breach running after Vanny to turn her in, while Vanny is also running after Breach not to kill her, but to try and be with her again. The line “to get back to you” is in a literal sense with Glamrock Freddy and Gregory, but is much more figurative when applied to Breach and Vanny.

“I find a special ring”

“And put it on her finger”

“A voice said suddenly”

“‘You’re never gonna keep her’“

The second part of the song is being sung by Gregory, and the “voice” as described in the song could be his perception of Breach being warped, to try and make it easier for Vanny to catch him. 

“Please don’t look behind us”

“The past is trying to catch up”

“Pressures from outside us”

“I got claustrophobia”

Gregory eventually learns about the franchise’s dark past from Glamrock Freddy, and wants to stop the cycle from repeating once again. Even on the outside he is not safe, as he is stuck fighting for his life on the streets every other day without a family, and Glamrock Freddy is the first person he meets who he is able to trust. He spends the majority of his time in the mall hiding inside of Glamrock Freddy and other closed off places, tying back into the last lyric in a literal sense.

“I don’t want to be without you but”

“I’m here, screaming by myself”

This being sung from Gregory’s point of view could be him realizing just how much Glamrock Freddy means to him, and how he doesn’t want to be seperated from him ever again.

“I’m on the run”

“I’m on the run”

“I’m on the run”

“To get back to you”

“To get back to you”

Gregory would sing this with a sense of urgency as he is aware of just how dangerous Vanny is, and the other animatronics being hacked, and his reliance on Glamrock Freddy and Breach.

“God was a girl”

“The devil wore a T-shirt”

“Love is a game and they”

“Were kissing in the bleachers”

“God was a girl”

“The devil wore a T-shirt”

“Love is a game and they”

“Were kissing in the bleachers”

Since he’s still young Gregory doesn’t catch on right away about the previous state of Breach and Vanny’s relationship, but it starts to become more and more clear throughout the night, and Glamrock Freddy repeating this part after him is him reaffirming Gregory’s assumption.

“I’m on the run”

“I’m on the run”

“I’m on the run”

“To get back to you”

“To get back to you”

This time this part is sung by both of them, as they make their way through the mall one last time to find Vanny, and stop her from repeating the cycle once again. 

“I don’t want to be without you but”

“I’m here, screaming by myself”

Gregory, Glamrock Freddy, and Breach all sing this part, as a found family. The three grow closer to each other throughout the night, as they’ve never really had a family they could really call their own, with Gregory’s status as an orphan, Glamrock Freddy feeling like an outcast compared to his friends, and Breach’s actual family being garbage. They cannot be seperated, as they are all they have at this point before rescuing Vanny, and the rest of the Glamrocks.

“I’m on the run”

“To get back to you”

“To get back to you”

This final part is sung by the gang as the mall goes up in flames, and they rush back through the mall to the rooftop, being saved by Sammy’s gang, with the help of Millie and CTW Funtime Freddy.

In conclusion, “love race” lines up almost perfectly with the story of Security Breach, and further proves my point that MGK songs are perfect for the game’s aesthetic.

Edit: Guys, even their voices sound like Glamrock Freddy and Gregory, this song is literally perfect for this game I can’t get over this-

[weirdgirl92]

Remember that young King Dice oneshot I thought about doing back in April?

Well, as it turns out, writing a oneshot fanfic that’s meant to serve as a midquel to your other fanfic is fucking HARD! I’m serious, ever since I first got started on writing it, back in the spring, I kept going back and forth deciding which parts I should cut out and which parts I should leave in. Not only that, but I kept getting sidetracked, and worrying about how I’m gonna write the actual next chapter for The Littlest Devil!

Fortunately, I’m almost finished with that King Dice oneshot (possibly the longest oneshot that I’ve EVER worked on), but because I’ve got work from 4-8 today, I can’t actually finish it until I either get back home after my shift, or I just finish it tomorrow morning.

Anyway, thank you to all of my AO3 readers for being so patient, and I’m sorry for the super long hiatus! 😁

[reydelcastill0]

I'm too exhausted to work on my fic for the Inherited AU, but I can't stop thinking of the AU anyways.

I particularly like thinking about Nero and the familiars bond, but Nero eventually realize how their affection is sometimes parental. Like, I can't stop thinking of when Griffon sat on top of V all mother-hen-y,

So I imagine that Griffon would do the same to Nero. And for the littlest of reasons! Like yeah maybe he needs to force Nero to take a break when he isn't listening to anyone (which would happen because Devil May Cry is short a devil hunter). But Griffon would also do it because he just can. And sometimes Nico jokes that maybe Griffon is just brooding, which he'll deny, but he actually is because he cares about Nero and wants him safe. Maybe that's some Vergil slipping in to become Griffon's form of care (especially because I feel like Griffon's form of taking care of V could be interpreted as metaphor for self love and care).

I already wrote a fic where Shadow lays on top of Nero and Griffon teases Shadow for going all mama cat, but I can also imagine Shadow grooming Nero, or making very parental big cat sounds, or trying to get Nero to hunt. Like especially the grooming part. I also made an art piece depicting this, but that just lives in my head rent-free. Shadow maybe pinning Nero down with a paw so that they could groom his hair, which inevitably will get stuck on their tongue because of the texture of Nightmare in Nero's hair.

[ackerfics]

I’m amazed at your parent trap au and I love it so much like thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisss much! You’re amazing and you’re awesome and you’ve got awesome talent! I will lay down my life for the Ackerman twins! ⚔️

On some unrelated news, if you could please spare us some Altair Ackerman hcs too?

aaaaaa thank you so much !! this day has been hard for me because of our backlogs that just keep piling up, so reading this really made my day :<< the ackerman twins are too precious to be in any form of pain and i hate myself for writing slight angst for them hhhhhh

i shall be taking a quick break from finishing an activity from one of our subjects to make some altair ackerman hcs. i hope you enjoy !!

btw, here's my masterlist (for the ones who will be seeing this in the tags) if you want to check out the series.

i'm starting this list by saying that altair thought that being tough will always be the answer to any problem. even though levi occasionally reminded him that being soft for once won't change anything, little altair learned that by masking his feelings with the iconic ackerman 'resting bad bitch face', he can breeze by any problem in his life. this explains why kids in his class are too wary to interact with him.

i'd say that they're too intimidated by the unparalleled energy altair has. they're missing out, that's for sure.

altair has this somewhat little talent of picking up things quickly just by watching them. he learned fencing by seeing a movie his dad invited him to watch (levi was actually surprised when he saw altair doing perfect parries with a stick). he learned horseback riding while watching isabel interact with their horses (isabel was cheering for him as he rode her horse, with levi nearly having a heart attack when altair got thrown off because of the trail's bumps). in summary, altair is really a genius.

i rest my case, the twins are geniuses.

his appetite is unmatched. petra had to give him two servings of everything because in the words of altair, "he is a growing boy and that he will be taller than his dad in the future." cue levi confiscating his nintendos and gaming consoles.

there wasn't a day that altair never plays pokemon. pokemon is his lifeblood. it started when levi gave him a nintendo as both a christmas and birthday present and suddenly, the boy never stops. every pokemon is ingrained in his brain, in fact, he has multiple posters in his room of every version of the game and series. his favorite starter pokemon is charmander or any fire-type, he is a sucker for those. okay, altair once got lost in the neighboring forest of the plantation because he saw a pikachu pointing in that direction while trying out pokemon go.

that was the first time mikasa lost her composure. she was supposed to be watching him for the day.

altair only smiled when he was found because he captured the pikachu. but was it worth levi's nagging? definitely not. that man can make a long-enough speech that nearly (note: nearly) stopped altair from playing pokemon.

"are you even listening, al?" "yeah, dad, but do you think I can find a squirtle here?" cue levi aggravatedly sipping his tea.

yeah, altair is basically one of the reasons why stress is a frequent visitor in levi's life.

enough about altair being a little devil, this boy can be the sweetest little shit if he wants to.

when he was still a baby, levi would always let him lie down on his chest, humming as a way to keep baby altair asleep and undisturbed from the bustle of the plantation. every time altair woke up in that position, he would always lean up and nuzzle his face against levi's cheek, even reaching out a small hand to pat his dad's face. levi's smiles are permanent for the rest of the day, no matter how small they are, just because altair wanted his attention for the littlest of things.

altair gifted every woman on the plantation a single rose for valentine's and mother's day. in a way, every single one of them stood as a mother figure to him. every small thing they did to make him smile was enough for altair to appreciate their impact on his life.

levi nearly cried when altair asked for the same haircut as him. he kissed his son on the cheek without thinking much, resulting in altair being embarrassed because he saw petra laughing at the side with a camera.

levi and altair are inseparable, just the two of them against the world but he was desperate to have a complete family that he impulsively made the switch plan.

altair never hated you unlike how caelum had mixed feelings for levi. in fact, al really wanted to meet you. every night, that was what he always prayed for, for you to meet him and give him all the hugs and kisses he missed out on. the time he met you during his brilliant, show-stopping plan, he wanted to shed his tough guy exterior and cry in your arms all night.

he slept in your room his first night in london, listening to your voice with a rare smile as you told him stories from caelum's bookshelf. (note: you still don't know his identity. reading books to caelum is your nightly routine with the younger twin.)

in conclusion, this precious bean who has been strong his whole life is one of the softest kids to exist, matching his twin in every way possible.

[yukipri]

On Thatch & Marco - A One Piece Mermaid AU Text Headcanon/Story

So I’ve gotten quite a few asks regarding Marco and the Whitebeards, and while this isn’t a response to a specific ask, here’s a little story on them!

~~

It's only been a few weeks since they've left Dawn Island, and they're still in East Blue but they've somehow already more than doubled the number of brats on board. And while the Moby Dick is far from boring, Thatch has had more adventures in this short timespan than he's had in years, and he's thriving.

Sure, he still feels little twinges of guilt for basically ditching his duties, but he's growing, in ways that the stability of an established Yonko crew hadn't allowed, and he knows that he'll be a better, more useful man to Pops and the others by the time they've caught up in the New World. Honestly, he's wondering if he should suggest these kinds of experiences for all the commanders, and wonders how Pops would feel about that.

But it's on one of these days and brief moments of calm when Thatch is daydreaming about his family in the New World when he spots a blue seagull circling far above them. It's weirdly shiny, and Thatch immediately recognizes it as a species native to an island in Pops' territory, and one that is unusual all the way here in East Blue.

Which means only one thing: Marco's checking in.

A quiet whistle from Thatch is all it takes for the seagull to come spiraling down, and Thatch remembers to take a quick glance around deck to make sure Luffy hasn't spotted it; he's learned the hard way what it means for a bird to land on deck when the ever-hungry mermaid is feeling a bit peckish.

But the bird lands safely on the rail close to Thatch's arm. It's by no means nearly as brilliant a blue as Marco, but certainly more beautiful than most birds you can find out at sea. Thatch still remembers the first time he found Marco making friends with the things, remembers laughing hysterically and making all sorts of bird jokes as Marco, then still a teen, looked more and more like the constipated old man he eventually grows up to be.

Well, jokes aside, the birds are now incredibly useful, serving as Marco's personal messengers to their allies across the world. Which, huh, Thatch supposes that includes him now, which is kind of an odd feeling.

And while Thatch wants to feel flattered that Marco's checking up on his favorite Thatch, he also knows that Marco's checking up on their littlest little brother, and the little brother of that little brother (baby brother^2, Thatch and Marco had fondly dubbed her, when Ace first told them about her). Because while Thatch's definitely accompanying Ace and co for his own selfish reasons (and he also swears it's not just so he could encounter the love of his life, darling Luffy), he also knows that Marco and Pops had ulterior motives for letting Thatch go, beyond just allowing Thatch to stretch his legs.

When Ace had asked, uncharacteristically shy, if he could still be one of Whitebeard's sons without formally joining his crew, and when Whitebeard responded with an affirmative--Thatch wonders if Ace really understands what that meant. A good parent, a good father is definitely a foreign concept to him (and unfortunately for Luffy too, Thatch has found, and knows that Pops will adopt her the moment he meets her if he hasn't already). And the Whitebeard pirates don't take the bonds of family lightly.

So while yes, Thatch is here for his own adventures, he's also very aware of what he represents, both to his family and to the world. For his family, his presence on board maintains the connection between the Whitebeards and Ace. Ace is still so very new to their family, and while no one doubts his competence, he still has much to go in terms of learning to rely on them, on learning that the Whitebeard pirates will ALWAYS have his back. And well, East Blue is kinda far away, too far for a shout to be heard on the Moby. So Thatch is here acting as their representative, and he couldn't be more honored to have the role. He is, if nothing else, excellent at being a nagging older brother, and it's the role he's easily found himself fitting into here.

But the other reason is that Thatch is the Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeards, and no one who knows anything about pirates would fail to recognize him, and the weight of his presence. He knows people won't immediately make the connection that this crew has already been adopted, or even what that means because it's not quite the same as ally, but Thatch's presence establishes an undeniable connection between them and one of the Four Emperors. Thatch knows that when he makes eye contact with the marines and they balk, it's not just him they see: it's the huge, looming shadow of Whitebeard himself. And until the world learns to see that shadow behind Ace, behind all of the ASL pirates, well, Thatch will stay right here.

The blue gull on the rail looks at Thatch expectantly, and Thatch lets it perch on his shoulder as he makes his way to the kitchen. Sanji glances up in surprise and squints at the bird, but doesn't say anything as he returns to preparing dessert for the ladies (it's a reminder that Thatch should be doing that too, or else the snot-nosed cook will one up him in earning the favor of Luffy, or at least her stomach). Thatch decides to make this quick, and grabs two cookies from the hidden cookie jar, as well as some parchment and a writing utensil.

Thatch knows Marco wants to know how they're doing, but well, the timing of the gull is awfully convenient, so he's taking advantage.

Dear Blue Chicken Sauteed in Pineapple Sauce, Thatch writes, taking advantage of the opportunity to write in "code," despite the lack of confidential information and low risk of one of Marco's blue gulls being stopped. He'll take every opportunity to tease, thank you.

The stove on this ship works great, and the fish is beautiful. Thatch's pen moves before he really thinks about what's coming out. She's stolen my heart, I think I want to marry her. Thatch pauses...huh, well, honestly he's not exaggerating, is he? He'll let Marco guess how serious he is. (he's suddenly uncomfortable because he's not sure how serious he is himself, but that's a thought for another time)

And now, the most important part of the letter: PS - I dropped my hair wax in the ocean. Can you send me an extra from my room?

Because, tragically, Thatch had--and now his beautiful pompadour is a sad mess that's tumbling down his shoulders. Thatch knows he could pick up another tub of hair wax on any of the islands they’ve stopped at, but he has standards, and he needs his special wax that he’s used for decades, which is unfortunately only found in the New World.

Which makes his current situation stuck in East Blue quite tragic, except it isn't quite as heart-breaking as Thatch had thought it'd be, once he realized how much Luffy likes playing with his loose locks, and the sheer number of times Thatch has been finding himself overboard recently would have made putting his hair up again after every time a pain--but well. It'd still be nice to have the familiar weight of his hair wax in his pocket again.

Thatch decides to omit the major change with himself since he last saw Marco that resulted in the hair wax being lost in the first place: the fact that he's eaten a devil fruit. Because that's a surprise. Thatch wants to see Marco's face when he realizes how badass Thatch has become, controlling Darkness of all things. (well, Thatch has to actually get good at it first, and stop almost drowning. It's coming along)

Thatch wraps one cookie in the letter, tying it into a neat parcel, and feeds the other to the bird as thanks for his services. The bird takes off as soon as Thatch opens the door.

Well, now Thatch has a lovely mermaid to feed, and a baby cook to outclass.

~~

Thatch sees the next blue gull a week later, damn those things are fast. It's carrying a parcel this time, and Thatch reaches out gleefully, because he doesn't remember the last time he's had his hair down for this long and he can't wait to have his signature hair style once more.

The bird doesn't stick around this time, and instead just drops the parcel into Thatch's hands before wheeling back the way it came.

And...huh. The parcel's not the right size, or weight to be Thatch's hair wax.

Thatch squints suspiciously, as Ace comes to stand by him, staring after the gull. "Marco?" he asks, and Thatch grunts, already feeling grumpy and just knowing he's not gonna be thrilled by whatever Marco sent.

He opens the parcel, and inside is a little blue bauble, wrapped in Marco's infuriatingly precise, fancy shmancy handwriting.

Dear Soggy Bread, congratulations on graduating from a baguette. May you evolve into a better bread next time. PS - The stone's for baby brother^2.

Ace ignores Thatch's enraged yowl and plucks up the stone--before cursing and dropping it. Thatch's reflexes manage to catch it before it hits the deck--and he immediately knows why Ace dropped it in the first place.

The stone immediately feels weird, not necessarily in a bad way, but in a way that distinctively reminds Thatch of the sea. He's familiar with what the stone is, but not how it feels, and is reminded once again of his relatively new status as a devil fruit user. At Ace's questioning (and wary) look, Thatch explains, as a good older brother should.

It's a special stone made on Fishman island. There's a piece of seastone at its core, and then it's wrapped in a mix of glass and crystal. It's a luxury trinket popular with a lot of young mermaids, because it's pretty, but also feels like the essence of the ocean is in it, which can be immensely comforting to most merfolk and fishmen.

While not the purpose, the glass and crystal casing also ensures that devil fruit users can touch it without feeling weakened, though they can still sense the sea from it, hence why it feels weird.

Thatch hates, hates to admit it, but it's a ridiculously thoughtful (and expensive) gift for a mermaid devil fruit user who can't enjoy the sea directly, damn Marco for thinking of it first! The bastard's definitely teasing Thatch by trying to woo his crush from half a world away. Marco hasn't even met her, this is just a game to him, but Thatch's serious, damnit!!!

Thatch wishes he could be petty enough to lie and say the bauble is a gift from Thatch, but he can't, because as much of an asshole as Marco can be, Thatch still loves him. Sigh.

Luffy chooses that moment to slide across the deck to them like a playful sea lion, slamming into Ace's legs and snaking up him in a split second to peer over his shoulder at whatever her brother's looking at in Thatch's hand. Ace isn't fazed and doesn't even twitch.

Thatch sighs dramatically. Adorable little brothers and their adorable little brother^2s, damnit.

Thatch dutifully presents the little stone to Luffy, as Ace warns her not to drop it, it's gonna feel a bit weird ok. Thatch lets Ace take over rattling off the information he'd just conveyed, doing his own duty as Older Brother, and is instead transfixed by the way Luffy's eyes widen in wonder as she rolls the shiny thing from one hand to the other.

While Luffy's not really the type for jewelry or trinkets, it's clear she's enthralled by the stone, the way she is with few inanimate objects other than food. Thatch belatedly notices that the stone's a brilliant crystal teal, with shards of gold obscuring the dark seastone center, the same color as someone's Zoan form. Bastard.

"Who's it from?" Luffy asks, and Thatch knows he's told her about his crew before, but she's unlikely to have remembered any names.

He may not lie about who the gift's from, but it doesn't mean he can't take revenge.

"A pineapple man who can turn into a burning chicken," he says with a straight face, ignoring Ace's frantic gestures to abort.

Thatch finds out why moments later, as Luffy's eyes widen impossibly more, and he belatedly realizes that to Luffy (and probably only Luffy), he'd just made Marco sound like the coolest person on earth.

Thatch meets Ace's furious eyes apologetically even as Luffy's COOOOOL!!!!!! rips across deck, and they both sigh.

They're not looking forward to Luffy meeting Marco

~~

~~

Hope you enjoyed! As always, comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated and encourage me to create more for this AU! ^ ^

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

Read the next part: Marco’s Bauble, Part 2

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[mandohasmyheart]

Chapter Two - Princess

Din x F!Reader 

{before the asset AU}

Summary: You were always a trouble maker, something that should make your powerful father proud, but instead earns you a babysitter. The mostly silent Mandalorian is nothing more than a challenge to you - seeing how long you can drive him crazy before he cracks under the pressure. Much to your surprise, he is always prepared for everything you throw at him.

Before you know it, the two of you are in some compromising positions, ones that have you wondering just what his motives are and what will happen when it's time for him to leave.

Word Count: 4k 

A/N: willing to tag a happy few if there is interest. Just shoot me an ask and I can get that going for the next chapter. 

Warnings: language 

Feedback  Masterlist  AO3

--- 

It had been seven days since you had been assigned your newest and broodiest babysitter.

He was quiet, hovering around you while you went about your studies, ran a couple of errands for those snacks you always liked to have on hand when the late-night munchies hit, and even spent the nights outside of your bedroom door like you were some kind of prisoner. In a sense, you suppose you were, given the stern talking your father had so kindly given you in the presence of the Mandalorian the following morning.

“People are out to get me,” he had said nonchalantly while plucking a piece of fruit from the platter presented before him. “They will stop at nothing to see me fall and that means taking the one thing that I hold near and dear to my heart.”

You knew it was a gesture of love. You had no doubt that your father wanted nothing more than to keep you safe and locked away in your room where the terrors of the galaxy couldn’t find you. Honestly, you were pretty sure most of the galaxy thought of you to be a myth. For as long as you could remember, Avin Vale, who just happened to be your father, was the kind of man you didn’t fuck with. While you had never actually seen him in action, you had heard the whispers when you were sneaking through the streets, your cloak clinging to the sides of your face in an effort to hide your identity. There had been wisps of beheadings, prisoners howling from their chambers keeping locals awake and the occasional missing person flyer stapled to various carts in the market.

Despite knowing all this, you knew that if anyone really wanted to see the devil that he was, all they needed was to get to you. You knew that it was all for your safety, but still, you wanted to have the life that so many others had.

When you couldn’t sleep at night, you played scenarios in your head of sneaking out into the night, finding the kind of suitor who swept you off your feet with the promise of giving you every star in the galaxy, if it meant that you would be theirs. You pictured the day they approached your father, asking for your hand, this faceless being knowing just what to say so that your father accepted them with open arms and the blessing of a beautiful life together. At the end of your daydreams, you found yourself aching to have the kind of passion that had your lips feeling bruised and every bit of your skin explored by needy hands.

It was almost pitiful how bad you ached for something you weren’t even sure you would ever get to have.

Especially to a universe that barely knew of your existence.

Sighing at the sudden consuming thoughts, you paid the near-human-looking man at the cart for your items and turned, nearly running face-first into your large and quiet escort. “Dank farrik,” you muttered placing a palm on his bulky armor and pushing back so that you could look up at his covered face. “I don’t understand how you can wear all that and still be so quiet.”

His shoulder moved upward in a small shrug. “It takes practice.”

Glaring up at him, you could swear that he was smirking under that damn helmet of his. “Sure,” you said curtly before scooting your way around him with your bag of various items clutched tightly to your chest. “I’m done now.”

“Are you sure?” He asked, the modulator making his tone come out ten times more sarcastic than you were sure he intended, but given you had kept him out of the palace for the better part of three hours, you were certain he was only partially making sure. “There were a couple more carts up ahead that we didn’t stop by.”

Shooting him another glare, followed by a very unladylike gesture, you moved away and began stomping back towards the general direction of home. Your father always insisted that the maids and other workers on the grounds could get you the things you wanted, no matter what time of day it was, but you had been able to convince him that getting out off the grounds made your likelihood of sneaking off in the middle of the night less likely. He was even more comfortable with the idea now that you had a shiny new shadow to tag along.

For the next twenty minutes, the two of you walked in silence while your thoughts started to wander again. It was hard not to find yourself looking over your shoulder every couple of paces, not to see if you were able to lose the Mandalorian, but to see if you had anyone looking at you as anything other than a normal woman running some errands. Since your little card game had been broken up, you couldn’t shake the feeling like you were being watched.

Especially even more so with the human spotlight walking only ten steps behind you.

“No one is watching us,” his almost robotic voice cut through the shared silence.

“Okay, now that’s just creepy.”

You heard his heavy footsteps pick up slightly until he was now walking in pace with you. “Creepy that I’m good at my job?” He asked through his modulator.

“Yeah, that.”

“Hm,” he said, his visor moving to glance over to his right.

You gave him an eyeball, one that you doubted he saw and continued to push forward through a small crowd of school-aged younglings, offering a soft smile to the littlest in the bunch in the process. “Well, it’s hard not to notice the way people are looking at us with you trudging on behind me. If I wasn’t a target before, I certainly am now.”

Expecting some sort of response from him, you were almost shocked at the sudden silence that washed over the two of you once more. You knew you shouldn’t be surprised anymore, the man seemed to live in silence most days, you were starting to question if he was getting enough fluids considering you had never seen him take a pee break in the last couple of hours. Although, you were certain even if he needed to hit the head, he wouldn’t tell you. Especially seeing the grounds come into view.

The usual guards were standing at the gate, nodding towards you and your companion before opening the gates to let the two of you through easily. “Evening Princess,” one of them said with that condescending tone in their voice that made you wish you were allowed to carry a weapon. “Find everything you need?”

“Almost,” you replied, not giving the Twi’lek another glance.

Heavy boots continued to follow behind you as you paraded your way towards the main hall. Eager to finally get yourself some nourishment and maybe sneak a couple of sips of wine while father was busy talking it up with Rafan, but to your surprise, both of them were standing at the entrance hunching in on each other in a deep conversation. As you slowed your steps, your father muttered something to his tanner partner with a nod, allowing Rafan to match his gesture and slip-on past you without a word.

You already could sense what was coming next without the explanation. “You’re leaving?”

A tight smile stretched the old man’s face, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “Just for a couple of days.”

Throughout your whole life, your father traveled for work, meeting with other representations of power. There was a time when you were barely past his knees that you recalled crying and begging him to let you tag along, promising to behave, but every single time it never changed his mind. While you were used to his sudden absences around the estate, every time you found yourself wondering if it could be the last time. Especially with the sudden uptick in security around the place.

“Just a couple of days?” You asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ll be back just before the party.”

Once again, you knew his intentions were true, but you weren’t going to hold your breath on his promise. He seemed to know just what was going through your head at the moment because he gently placed his hand on your shoulder giving a gentle squeeze. “I promise,” he said softly, maintaining eye contact before his hand slipped down your arm, tugging your hand into his grasp. “Just promise you’ll be on your best behavior.”

Tight-lipped, you gave him a silent nod. Seeming content with your response, he let go of your hand and took a step back to follow his second in command. For a moment, you stood there, your bag hugged to your chest as you listened to your father walk away. In all of your life, you were used to the absences, but it still didn’t stop the feeling of loneliness that always washed over you.

Someone stepped closer to you and just by the shift in plates, you knew that your babysitter was scooting closer to where you appeared to have spaced out. He cleared his throat, coming out a little garbled before his modulated voice cut through the quiet. “Would you like to find something to eat?”

If you didn’t know any better, you would think he was concerned for you, earning him a sideways glance. “If you are hungry, feel free to ask the staff to make some food,” you answered matter of factly before moving into the main hall and tossing your sack bag on the closest table and beelining to the large room to the left - the opposite direction of where you could smell the aroma of dinner being made.

“You aren’t planning to eat?” He asked, clearly following in step behind you.

Shaking your head, you moved through the large room, the racks stacked high with various types of liquors and wines. Your father was a collector of sorts and he always liked to have something to offer important guests when they arrived as a gesture of good faith. “I’m planning to drink,” you admitted as your fingers skimmed over the bottle at eye level.

It was one that had a nice coating of dust, meaning that it had long since been forgotten in the vast collection. Grabbing it from where it was nestled, you blew the dust off in a puff, coughing as it clouded your senses for a moment. Content with your choice, you moved back out towards the main hall in search of a glass and a way to crack the damned thing open with little effort. “You need something in your stomach first,” his voice came through to your right.

“Wine will be in my stomach.”

There was a sigh, almost as if he had already grasped on to the fact that there would be no arguing with you right now. Without another word, the Mandalorian reached over and grabbed the bottle out of your grasp. When you turned to argue with him, you found his hand wrapped around the neck, giving it a tugged before a satisfying pop replaced the argument on the tip of your tongue. “Does the Princess require a glass or does she drink right from the bottle?”

“Haha,” you said flatly before grabbing the bottle back out of his hands. “I’m not a princess.”

He did that little head tilt he always did when you know he was cocking an eyebrow at you from under his helmet. “I beg to differ.”

“Then beg.”

Without another word, you turned on your heel, grabbing your belongings from earlier, and made your way towards the steps in the back of the hall. Pausing only enough to look back over to see if your shadow was still on your heels, you noticed he hadn’t moved from his spot. “You don’t need to stick around,” you insisted, moving so that you were facing into the dim stairway. “I promise I’ll stay in my room tonight.”

No answer was needed before you began to move up the steps, counting them as you did - an old habit you developed as a child. Sometimes you swore it was a different number every time, but for the last five years you had never been off. Making your way through the softly lit halls, the lamps coming to life as they registered your entrance, you were thankful that you had a whole wing of the palace to yourself. Not only because you could sneak out a little bit easier prior to your new guard, but because you had the privacy to get lost in a bottle of wine and a book without fear of being interrupted.

As the door to your room came into view, you paused, still half expecting to hear the Mandalorian trailing in behind you, but unless he had become even more of a shadow - you were one hundred percent sure that you were alone.

Just like always.

Pushing the door open with your shoulder, you noted that the housekeepers had been in sometime during the day to make your bed and pick up the clothes that you almost always had thrown around the place. They knew better to go really digging through your things, the one time you had caught a younger maid poking through one of your drawers where you hid a couple of your more, ahem, spicier late night readings and you saw red. That poor girl resigned so quick, you were certain she left smoke in her wake.

You had felt a little bad at your reaction, but if your father had learned about the things you dived into in the late hours of the night he would probably have a heart attack. And then he probably would have really banned you from ever leaving the grounds. That was a luxury you could not afford to lose.

Placing your bag down on your bedside table, you flopped on the bed with your wine in hand before bringing the bottle to your lips and taking a long swing. The liquid was sweet, reminding you of honeydew as it slid down your throat so smoothly, you were taking another long draw before you had completely finished the first. Having plans to dig into your forbidden pile of reading, you moved to get up but felt the desire to run a bath instead.

Waiting for the tub to fill, you continued to drink from the bottle until it was just enough for you to strip down bare and slide in. Of course, you were still clutching the bottle like it was your lifeline at the moment. “Happy birthday,” you muttered softly to yourself as the sadness finally settled in your chest.

You didn’t give in to the ache in your chest that was begging for the normal release of tears. You had spent too many of your birthdays doing just that and you refused to have it be another repeat this year. So, instead, you continued to drown down the filling with gulp after gulp of the sweet wine until your body felt warm and flushed in the tub. It was all so comforting and cozy, just closing your eyes the littlest bit had you feeling like you were anywhere else.

-----

“Princess,” a voice came through as you groaned, twisting until you felt something cold splash across your cheek. “Oh, good, you’re breathing.”

The modulated voice had you suddenly sitting up, the once warm bath water ice-cold as your choppy movements had it splashing all around you. The silver-clad man was standing on the opposite side of your bathing quarters, his arms crossed as his gaze was fixed where you were bunched up.

Completely naked.

“How long have you been in here?” You asked while trying to wrap your arms around you in an effort to keep your modesty. “It’s rude to interrupt a bath.”

“More like a nap,” he said cooly but didn’t make any effort to move. “I tried knocking several times.”

“I doubt that,” you replied, eyeing how your robe was conveniently just out of your reach and hanging to the Mandalorian's left. “I would have heard you.”

Finally, the man shifted, uncrossing his arms and tipping his head to the side in that almost puppy-dog way of his. “You were snoring.”

“I don’t snore.”

A low chuckle came out of him now as he stepped forward to where you were. “Just like you aren’t a Princess?”

“Fuck you.”

Even without being able to see his face, you knew he was smirking at you from underneath his helmet. The two of you glared at one another, well more as you glared at your reflection, for a couple of seconds. After a beat, he moved, turning away from your naked frame and snagging the dark purple robe from its hook, and keeping his eyes forward while his arm extended back towards you.

Wordlessly, you took the covering, quickly standing and wrapping yourself in the thin material. Stepping out of the tub, you noted the bottle of the wine sitting on the ground by your feet and quickly scooped it up, taking a swig as you moved into your bed chambers. Naturally, your shadow moved behind you with ease, it was impossible to move without feeling his hidden gaze on your back.

“Why are you in here?” You finally asked. “You can see that I’m okay, you don’t need to hang around.”

In that silence of his, he moved a couple of steps back, leaning against the wall closest to his only exit. “I would argue otherwise.” His head nodded towards the bottle of wine in your hand. “If I had known you were going to try and drown yourself, I would have done a better job fighting you for that.”

“You opened it,” you reminded him with another swig while settling down on the edge of your bed facing him.

He gave you a half-hearted shrug. “Something told me that you would have found a way to get your hands on it otherwise.”

“Huh,” another swig, “you are a little too damn observant.”

Silence.

You sighed, clearly picking up that he was in no rush to get out of your room, despite knowing that you were currently sitting half-naked in a very thin article of clothing before him. As you took another gulp of the wine before extending the bottle towards him. “Care for some?”

Shaking his head, he held up a hand towards you in silent nix of the offer. “I prefer to be alert at all times.”

“Hm,” you nodded, shrugging and sipping from the bottle some more. That familiar warm feeling was beginning to wash over you once more. “I suppose you would actually have to remove your prized helmet to do that, right?”

His weight shifted as he uncrossed his arms and leaned himself so that he was looking at your head-on. “It is against my code to remove my helmet in front of the presence of others.”

“I know.”

That damn head tilt of his again and you suddenly wanted to know all about who he was behind the mask. Maybe it was the wine that was in your system or the fact that you were certain it was judging you behind the safety of being a blank face to you. “Isn’t it the way? Or something along those lines?”

“Something along those lines.”

You nodded your head, looking down at the bottle in your hand, rolling it back and forth between your palms while noticing how much lighter it felt. “How do you… eat? Or drink?”

His body shifted once more so that she was now standing and no longer leaning against the wall, but you knew that you had his full attention. “I do remove it,” he said, his voice soft in the quietness of your room, “but I have to be completely alone.”

“What happens if someone sees you without it?”

“Then I am no longer worthy of my title.”

His title. You knew it was important. You knew that many of the Mandalorians you had read about in your studies were dying out or in hiding. It was one of the reasons you knew it was a huge deal for your father to be keeping him on sight and even more so if he was stuck with you. “Why are you here?”

Your sudden blurting of a question had him shifting once more. “I’m here to keep an eye on you.”

This time you didn’t hide your eye roll. “That’s not what I mean.”

There was a huff, one that could almost be a sigh and you started to suspect you weren’t going to get an answer. But he surprised you as his distorted voice came through once more. “I’m here for a bounty, but due to the issues with my ship, I am with you until further notice.”

“Just like a babysitter.”

He moved so that he was leaning once more. “Something like that.”

Another swig of your stolen wine and you felt another question bubbling up in the back of your throat. “Do you really think my dad will be back in two days?”

“Do you want him to be?”

It was a loaded question, one that you weren’t really sure if you knew the right answer completely. Another swig and a shrug off the question, you said something else entirely. “It’s my birthday.”

“Well then, happy birthday.”

“You sound so sincere over there,” you said flatly, cocking an eyebrow up at him.

You watched as the Mandalorian shifted his stance once more. “I try not to get attached.”

“To your jobs?”

“Something like that,” he repeated his same words from earlier. “I am not usually one to… babysit, as you say.”

Scooting yourself back on your bed a bit more, you felt the belt around your waist loosen, but the wine was making you less concerned about how modest you looked. Part of you was curious to know if this Mandalorian was capable of getting all hot and bother underneath all that gear. Judging by the way he was shifting himself on his feet once more, as you moved just enough that the swell of your breast was exposed to the chill in your room, you felt like you were getting the answer you wanted. “I have a question,” you stated, sitting up more and leaning forward so that you could really look him in his visor.

“I feel like I shouldn’t be surprised by that.”

Ignoring that, you pushed forward. “Why are you babysitting me? Especially if it isn’t something you usually do?” You moved, crossing your legs under the long sleek fabric pooling around you. “I’m sure you’ve heard all about how I can handle my own. I’ve been doing it for years.”

He was quiet, his gaze fixed on where you were sitting on the bed cradling the bottle of wine like it was your only source of comfort. He continued to stay quiet while you blinked, not daring to look away from him knowing that he could easily slip out without a trace. “I have been asked to not disclosed that information.”

“Meaning that my father wants me to be kept in the dark.”

Silence.

With a sigh you threw yourself back into your overly plush pillows, feeling the feathery puff of them surround your face and shoulders. “I shouldn’t be surprised anymore.”

If you hadn’t heard him step forward, you would have been certain that he had taken your sound of defeat as an excuse to leave. “He just wants you to be safe.”

“I know.”

He cleared his throat now causing you to roll over and look at his station by the door. “Any other questions for me tonight, Princess?”

You still hated the nickname, but this time you smirked when he said it. Maybe it was the way he said it, maybe it was the wine, or maybe because you were too tired to come up with a proper comeback at the moment, but as you felt your eyes get heavy with the need to sleep, “Not tonight, Mando.”

As your eyes fluttered close and the slow feeling of sleep washed over you, you could have sworn you heard a whisper not too far from where you lay. “It’s Din.”

—

[imagine-straykids]

Bad Boy AU: Hwang Hyunjin PT.3

Summary: After that incident (in Pt.2), you and Hyunjin’s relationship grew in an unexpected way, leading others to question whether all of your playful berating and banters have a deeper meaning than what you guys said it actually is.

after 20913290210123 years im sorry

if you haven’t read the previous parts:

Part one // Part two

it’s been about 2 months now, after you pulled that whole project shenanigan on Hyunjin

he said he was going to get you back, but surprisingly nothing big really happened... at least yet

he did pulled small harmless teasing like hiding your chair before you came to class, so when you showed up, you looked like an idiot 

also choosing you as the next person to answer questions just so you’ll make a fool out of yourself, or bumping into you when he passes by on purpose, and etc but nothing really major

and for that, you would retaliate by trying to trip him when you get the chance to, hiding his stuff when he goes to use the restroom and etc

so before you knew it, you both kind of had this small competitive bond between you guys, always trying to one-up one another 

highkey you know y’all were being so childish and petty but you weren’t going to stop until he does so first

y’all weren’t particularly friends because you guys don’t really talk to each other and only interacted when you absolutely really have to during class session

so it was like this silent fight 

you’re hitting each other back and forth, but there’s no sound

you didn’t really expect anyone to take notice of your somehow developing relationship with Hyunjin, because it was basically just you guys acting petty towards each other

so that was why you were so surprised when your friend hit you with a question one day at lunch time

“Are you and Hyunjin like secretly dating?” She gave you a stern look as she held her fork in her hand, in the middle of the chewing

you legit almost spat out your food

“wait what?” you stared at her in confusion

“I mean, don’t get me wrong or anything, but I’ve been kind of speculating you and Hyunjin these past few months and it looks like you guys have something going on, at least by how you both are acting. Both of you are always trying to hit each other, taking the other person’s things and always calling each other’s name during class. Like are you both lowkey flirting or what? Is this some sort of secret relationship I didn’t know about?”

you almost spat out your food a second time

you couldn’t believe what you were hearing, like seriously

“No, we’re not dating. And even if we were, I would’ve told you. You know I wouldn’t keep anything from you.” 

okay but honestly, the fact that she thought you guys were flirting lowkey bothered you

“Oh, okay. Sorry. I just have been watching from afar and thought. So if you guys are not dating then what is it?”

“He’s just salty that I made him look like a clown in front of the whole class, don’t you remember? My bestie that ditched me for someone else that’s why I ended up with the devil himself.” you poke fun at your friend

“Hey! Mr. Kim was pressuring us to pick a partner fast, and if I didn’t I was going to end up with Johan in the back. I heard he likes to pick his nose during class, eww.”

you couldn’t help but to laugh at your friend

“I know. I was just teasing you.” 

“So basically you guys just hate each other?” your friend raised her eyebrows

“basically I guess. I don’t know. but I know for sure he doesn’t like me that way.” 

and with that, you both went your separate way when it was time for Math class

you sat down and took out your textbook, waiting for the lecture to start when you were suddenly greeted by Seungmin, one of Hyunjin’s friend

it felt weird because you had never personally spoken to him before, maybe except only in groups when y’all had to work out a problem together

but to be fair you never really spoke to any other members of Hyunjin’s squad or whatever

“Hey! Y/n right? I’m Seungmin.” He smiled and extended his arm to greet you

you were so lost

what the hell was happening

“Uh... yeah, I’m Y/n...” you were shaking his hand but you had no idea what was going on

“I’m sorry. I should’ve introduced myself earlier. I just thought since you’re the girlfriend of one of my friends now, I figure I should get to know you better.” 

GiRlfRiEnd? WhAT? OF OnE oF yOur FrieND?

you were in disbelief

Hyunjin fucking didn’t

he better not

“Wait uhm... of one of your friend?” you repeated it just to get a confirmation

“Yes, Hyunjin.” He smiled, absolutely not aware of the triggering feeling you’re having right now

“You don’t happen to know where he is right now, do you?”

Seungmin was in deep thinking for like 3 seconds

“Oh yes, I think he’s in dance class right now. Second floor room 212″

“Thank you very much, Seungmin. I’ll be back.”

there was still 5 more minutes left until the class start

so you rushed out of the room and onto to find Hyunjin’s ugly ass

when you found the room, you peaked your head in and found Hyunjin stretching 

you snatched Hyunjin’s ear and dragged him out into the hallway

you slapped his shoulder 

“What the fuck?!” was all you could say

“Ouch,” he frowned as he cover the part you had hit

“Seriously? Your plan of revenge is to tell everyone we’re dating? I mean--w-what even--” you were at loss for words

“Oh, that.” Hyunjin’s face turned from plain to joy and he started cracking up

“So I see you’ve heard about it,” he continued

“No shit. You’re an even bigger idiot than I thought you were.” 

“Hey, I was cornered by the members. They all came up to me and started asking about you. So I just told them we were a thing to get them to stop bothering me. What else do you want me to say?” He said with the littlest care in the world. It didn’t irritate him a bit.

“UHM... whAt ElsE cAN YOU say? THAT WE’RE NOT DATING?!” 

“yeah, but what’s the fun in that.” 

you facepalmed so hard

“you’re an idiot, Hwang Hyunjin.”

“You get to be with the Hwang Hyunjin, yet you’re over here complaining your ass out.” 

“uh well yeah... one little problem, WE’RE NOT EVEN DATING! I literally just told my best friend I had nothing to do with you, and now if she hears about it, she’s going to think I’m a shit friend who lied in front of her face.” 

“Shhh... people will hear if you’re being too loud.” he threw his hand around your back and pulled you closer, while he put his other index finger up to his lip signaling you to shush

you tried pushing him away but people started to look

“Hey, I mean, if we don’t want to pretend, we don’t have to pretend, if you get what I’m saying...” his face was coming closer and closer to yours

you had enough and pushed him away with full strength

“No thanks. I have to get back to class. This conversation isn’t over, Hwang Hyunjin.”

“Alright, see you after school honey,” he teased you as he waved you off

you could only do nothing but roll your eyes

This Hwang Hyunjin was not going to be easy to deal with and you could already feel there was going to be a storm to come

[youseissi]

The Dark Witch Next Door

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺:

The man that just moved in next to Hongjoong might be too kind for his own good and the witch's totally not worried about him.

or

Kim Hongjoong is a dark witch that specializes in potions and when herbs from his garden keep going missing he's pretty sure Park Seonghwa is the culprit. After all who else would need fern flowers besides the white mage living next door.

Pairings: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa

Tags:

Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Onesided Enemies to Lovers, Light Angst, someone dies but not really, tsundere hongjoong, Necromancy

Notes: This is the first story in a series of short stories for a witch au.

Warnings: Non descriptive gore (necromancy).

Arcana Series: TDWND ✧ TWND ✧ TBC ✧  AO3

Hongjoong counts the little sprouts on the garden floor. He finishes and starts over not quite satisfied. And then one more time. A couple of them were missing. Again. It took weeks to grow those and every single time at least a couple of them went missing, if not up to half of the batch and he needed those. He didn’t have time to wait for another month to continue to brew his potions.

He knew who always did this and, unlike that doofus, he had actual clients to tend to. Saying that Hongjoong, the village's dark witch, was furious was an understatement.

“Having problems with wild animals again?” His neighbour’s annoyingly angelic voice sounded over the fence. Ha. As if it wasn’t that little familiar of his that snatched all his ingredients away.

“I guess so, you don’t happen to know anything about it, do you?”

“Haven’t I answered this question a few too many times before? My answer haven’t changed.” Seonghwa replied, a soft smiled contradicting the tone of his words.

“Yes, yes I know. I just feel the need to ask since these herbs…”

“Are very important ingredients for very expensive potions, I’m aware.” The white mage completed his phrase with a chuckle, having heard the speech way too often. “I really don’t know anything, but I’ll let you know in case I do.”

His two tailed cat chose this moment to cut in between them, sprinting between Hongjoong’s feet and jumping onto the fence, mewling quietly for its owner and Seonghwa promptly took it in his arms excusing himself.

Hongjoong just hummed in response, going back to tend to his destroyed garden. One day he would catch the older in the act, he promised to himself mindlessly as he plucked the remaining blossoms and replaced them with new seeds. It had to be him, after all who else would need fern flowers besides the white mage living next door.

✦

“That’ll be fifteen gold pieces for a good harvest potion, per field of course.” Hongjoong declared matter of factly as he wrote down on a piece of paper with his crow feather quill, doing the math for how much the final price would be.

“Can’t you lower your price? Isn’t that a little too expensive? People are dying, you know.”

Yes, he knew. Tough luck, that was the cycle of life for a mere mortal, get over it. He couldn’t lower his price for a simple reason like that as Magic wasn’t free for him either. Every single ounce of mana needed a sacrifice to be turned into magic. No matter the use, it had a price, always and forever that was the universal truth for every supernatural being. So the whole town could die if that was the case, but he was getting paid for his sacrifice.

“I’m aware of the situation, this is the best price I can do and it’s already severely lowered. Also I need at least half the pay beforehand for ingredients. Would you like some tea while you go over the papers?”

“Sure…”

Hongjoong didn’t stay out of the room for long, just quick enough to grab the already boiling kettle and pour the tea onto some fancy china cups he used for clients, but immediately he knew something was amiss when he stepped back into his living room.

“Have you reached a decision?” He asked with a fake condescending smile.

“I- I’ll speak to the other farmers.” The villager sitting at his couch mumbled.

“Okay, just decide before the next moon cycle or it’ll damage the quality of the spell.” Hongjoong warned eager to get it over with, gathering the papers from the table before getting up to show his client to the door.

He opened the door facing away from his seated guest slowly, stalling a bit until he heard surprised gasps turn into loud screams. The smile in his face turned genuine as he turned back to face the distraught villager.

“What have you done to me?” His guest exclaimed frightened off his mind as he stared at his arms, little mushrooms growing not only there, but all over his body. A harmless prank, if you ask Hongjoong he deserved much worse.

“A little curse, this one for free even! I don’t take kindly to thieves around here, if you could please put back the bottles you took from under the window sill.” The dark witch replied with a fake sweet tone, smiling wide.

“Here, here just stop it please!” The man took out of his jacket pocket a few bottles and even a little jar of stardust that he hadn’t noticed it was gone, surely more valuable than any service the man could buy. Tending to humans was so bothersome, perhaps he’d only take requests from unworldly beings from now on.

“Good boy, now come closer so I can undo the curse.” Hongjoong commanded.

Naively the man rushed to his side and the witch only pushed him out the door, swiftly closing and locking it up on his face.

The man knocked loudly and yelled angrily, with empty threats of burning his house or some other stereotypical bravado humans liked to throw at them. A real witch has nothing to fear against such bigoted ideas, as if his small territory wasn’t strongly protected already.

He giggled as he took the cups back to the kitchen. On one of his windows the neighbour’s cat sat there staring judgmentally, his two tails swinging uncoordinatedly against one another. Not that he expressed any judgment, but Hongjoong just felt his disapproval somehow.

“What? It’ll wear off in a week, stop staring at me.” He excused his actions annoyed.

The cat only started back, letting out a yawn and pawning at his ears. The back of his paws a familiar blue and green that could only be found on the dark witch’s yard.

“You little…”

The smart kitty ran away before he could finish cursing under his breath.

✦

Usually at that time he'd be having tea with the herb thief that was his neighbour. Not that he enjoyed his company or anything, or at least he wouldn't admit to it, it just became their ritual not long after he moved in. Seonghwa knocked at his door with a basket of baked goods inviting him out for a cup on his first day and it stuck. The man might be a petty thief, but he did make great cookies.

The dark witch came out to his front yard with a spring in his step that day, excited to confront Park Seonghwa about his sneaky familiar. He had caught the pesky little animal red handed! He even brought out his favourite cups, brewed his fancier tea leaves, the ones he had imported from lands far beyond their little edge of the forest, and spiked it just the littlest bit with alcohol. Hongjoong was one to celebrate his victories in life no matter how small they were.

Yet as tea time approached Seonghwa’s voice sounded through the fence just out of his sight, covered by the wall of mismatched planks that were higher at the side of his small outdoors resting area. It seemed the white mage had guests. Rude ones for that matter, did no one respect tea time anymore these days? A sacrilege if you asked him.

“Oh dear, what has happened to you?” The mage asked, concern loud and clear on the other side.

“The evil dark witch! He has bestowed an horrible curse upon myself, can you believe it? But that is not the reason I come to you today, no need to worry about such trivial matters.” A familiar gruffy voice answered and Hongjoong groaned quietly at the reappearance of his former client, if the cheapskate could even be called that. Humans like this one just did not know when to give up.

“I’m sure he must’ve had a reason, have you done something to offend him again?” Seonghwa still seemed very concerned with that matter regardless it seemed.

“Not a thing! I swear that witch is the devil.” The villager exclaimed as if it was true and Hongjoong had to remind himself that it was rude to interject into conversations he was not invited to. It took him all his self control as he had quite a few things to say, most of them not pretty words, that's for sure.

“You should be more careful from now on, let me take care of this for you.”

A moment went by without voices, Hongjoong sipping on his tea slowly. Seonghwa’s tea would get cold if he didn’t hurry up, the witch thought impatiently.

“Oh, honorable white mage, I’ll forever be in debt to your generosity.”

Tch, his curse wouldn’t get to last a week it seemed. The overly polite flair in that man words annoyed Hongjoong so much he considered muting the man for a few days. Give him a scare that made him think twice before speaking.

“That’s nothing, please. Now why have you come here? You mentioned you had something to ask before.”

“I fear I might fall into even greater debt for I’ve come to ask for a favor, if you’d be so kind to hear me out.”

A favor? If it was the same he had asked from the dark witch than that man really had no shame downplaying a service like this. Seonghwa shouldn’t have bothered undoing his curse, now it’ll only waste him more energy to cast a new one. Making little of a witch’s work, there was no worse offence and Hongjoong was expecting the white mage to repay the man in kind.

But it did not come, the situation developing in the complete opposite he’d expect. The man did ask for an enchantment that assured a good harvest, the last few ones having been miserable it seemed, and the village starved under his rule. Seonghwa seemingly empathetic agreed to go and asses the situation for him, to see if there was anything he could do and of course there was.

The way Seonghwa was talked to unsettled the dark witch, he’d better charge a great sum, because of course he could help and at a much quicker and effective manner than Hongjoong could. But at greater cost as well.

If he were to do something to this degree for free, where would he draw the line? There was a difference between being kind to being a pushover and it needed to be clear. At least that's the work ethic witches had to live by, magic was an expensive craft after all.

Soon enough the sky began to darken, Hongjoong not quite knowing if he should just go back inside. It wasn’t like they had arranged anything, he only came out to his yard out of habit. Who would even want to meet Park Seonghwa, the stupid fern flower thief that kept undoing his curses? Not him, that’s for sure. The fancy tea he had put out for him had gone bitter after the first hour anyway.

The witch was about to go back inside, the dishes floating back through the window at a wave of his hand when Seonghwa finally appeared, passing by the dirt road in front of his house.

“Oh, Joongie! Have I made you wait? I’m sorry, I should’ve let you know I’d be busy.” The older said with regret, but all Hongjoong could focus on was since when did the white mage called him by Joongie ? It short-circuited his brain for a few seconds before he answered with a rosy tint to his cheeks.

“It's not like I was waiting for you, I was just enjoying my afternoon tea. I finally made some from that exotic blend you’ve been nagging me to make, but oh well guess it’s too late now.” Hongjoong downplayed it as he got up to follow the cutlery inside.

“Aw, you ought to make it again tomorrow.” Seonghwa whined bringing a hand to rest on Hongjoong’s shoulder to keep him there.

“Hmmm… I don’t know, I already wasted a lot of it today.” Hongjoong tried to answer calm and collected, but a thumb rubbing at the base of his neck had him sidetracked.

“Please? For me?” The white mage pleaded with his best puppy eyes and Hongjoong started feeling very suffocated all of a sudden, heat crawling up his neck and tightening his chest.

“Oh, get over yourself, Park Seonghwa.” Hongjoong muttered under his breath, inaudible to the older as he retreats inside hurriedly. Stupid charming mage with his stupid starry eyes. If his ears burned red it had nothing to do with him.

✦

He did not make the tea the next day, or the next one, or the next next one, or…

It had been over a week before a day came that Seonghwa did not start the day announcing he’d be busy and to not wait for him. Hongjoong appreciated the daily notice, as excessive as they sounded, not particularly curious for what was keeping the mage busy. It was probably just a busy time for his business.

When they finally sit down together again the long awaited reaction to his findings were quite underwhelming, the older just chuckled at how worked up he was, but Hongjoong did not relent.

“If I catch this little rascal anywhere near my herb garden again...” He threatened, trying to express how serious this was to him as he poured himself more tea.

“Yeosangie likes sweets, it’s not his fault! I’ll try to discipline him better from now on.” The white mage continued to make light of it with a soft smile, not convincing Hongjoong for one moment that he’d tell off his beloved pet.

The dark witch eyed the cat resting over his fence with distraught and Seonghwa made a motion for the cat to jump on his lap, stretching his arm to catch him into a protective hold as his shirt swayed around obnoxiously. Usually what would catch the witch’s attention was the veins popping in his hands, the way his collar bone poked from under his skin and his muscles flexing, Hongjoong wasn’t blind after all even if he liked to pretend he was.

But that wasn’t it today. Seonghwa quickly fixed himself, noticing where the other’s eye fell and how his expression turned sour.

“Working a lot lately?”

“Yes, I suppose it’s been busy.” The white mage averted his eyes.

“And getting fairly rewarded, I assume?” Hongjoong asked, even though he could guess the answer. He wanted to reach and touch the plethora of scars covering from the tip of the other's fingers up his forearms, he almost did.

Hongjoong was a dark witch for he poured his magic into potions and that dealt with the dead rather than the living. A technicality really, only categorized by the facts that all his ingredients were either already dead or would be by the time his potions were done.

Yet for white magic as it affected the living it required live sacrifices. Seonghwa didn’t look like the type to use animals and such, the practice was not well seen by the community to start with and he didn’t keep any besides the cat as far as Hongjoong knew. So there was only one source left to drive mana from. Himself.

“I only wish to help, it’s no trouble.” Seonghwa dismissed his worries with a weak smile.

Hongjoong considered it to be all the trouble, but oh well.

“You are an absolute fool Park Seonghwa.” His voice came out harsh and sharp, Seonghwa immediately hurt by then. Not offended, just sad to have upset the dark witch so much.

Hongjoong got up quickly to go back into his house not feeling in the mood for tea anymore, a pout and puffed cheeks hidden away from his companion.

✦

“Mister! Don’t you think you poured more blood on his field? Pour some more on mine too!”

“What?” Honestly Seonghwa was getting a lightheaded at this point, this was supposed to be the last one for the day.

“Oh, mine too! I don’t think you did enough today.”

“No! Mine is more important, don’t listen to them!”

“Wait, I’ll-” The white mage tried reasoning, but soon a crowd started forming and it wasn’t long before it started going out of control, no longer just words being used to try and grab his attention.

✦

The dark witch was drinking his precious tea with a different guest from faraway that eventful morning. Very far away considering how painfully slow it was to make a gateway from the underworld, be it through a spell or potion or however method used. It was a long time coming that meeting, months in the making.

The summoner in front of him talked excitedly about all the new pets he found on his latest journey there, eager to show the hellhound he had the pleasure to domesticate and Hongjoong was about to scold Mingi for even suggesting conjuring one on his living room close to all his precious tomes when he felt a crippling cold at the back of his neck, an eerie omen and he just knew something had to be wrong.

His neighbour's cat appeared tapping frantically at his window not an hour later, paw scratching at the glass with sharp screeches and desperate mews to catch his attention.

Oh, humans. Such selfish creatures, they just couldn't help themselves, could they? Once they found something that gave them even the littlest bit of edge over the others, any way to make their lives easier without working for it, they needed to capture it, hog it for themselves, grabbing and pulling without a care for the source.

And that was exactly what they did in this case with the treasure that was Park Seonghwa. The villagers fought nail and tooth for a piece of him, blunt claws showing themselves to paint the fields red till there was no more, leaving his remains to dry up. 'It can't be helped', they thought as their precious magic spell could no longer work for them, losing interest without a second thought.

With blood and flesh at his feet the dark witch saw red with rage, cursing at their fields, at the air they breathed and at the water they drank. He cursed and cursed till there was nothing left uncursed, loud cries and screams sounding all throughout the small village cursing back at him uselessly, but they did not dare raise a finger against him as they knew Hongjoong wouldn’t be merciful like their beloved white mage.

All the pain and misfortune that would befall the village served them right, the witch laughed through tears.

✦

“You’re so lucky I have a necromancer friend that owed me a favor.” Hongjoong continued to tell off the white mage that struggled to look up at him with the unusual height difference, his head laying on their garden table surrounded by flowers to cover the gruesome details of his severed neck.

“Yes, yes I’ll be sure to repay Wooyoung properly once I’m back on my feet.” Quite literally, the bodiless head meant. “Speaking of that, when do you think that will be?”

“It looks like it might take a while, we’re not paying for it after all. And he’s been very preoccupied lately with a jinx that went south.”

“Oh really?” The mundane chit chat was oddly nice, the witch had been extra prickly since the incident and Seonghwa had no choice, but to listen to his nagging now. Not that he minded, if asked he’d tell without an ounce of hesitance how much he loved to hear Hongjoong’s voice, be it sharp remarks or embarrassed squeals.

“He’s been using up all his energy trying to exorcise his boyfriend for a month now.” The dark witch commented absentmindedly as he stirred some powder into the bowl in his hands.

“Oh my, what a predicament. I think I have a spell that might-”

Seonghwa did not manage to finish his phrase as a spoon full of soup was pushed into his mouth.

“Even after all this you’re still wanting to help people? For free? Haven’t you learned your lesson?” Hongjoong asked incredulously.

“Haha, I’m sorry I guess it’s an habit.” The older just chuckled. “Are you mad?”

“I am! You need to take better care of yourself! It’s not like I really care about what you do or anything, but, you know… I- I… I don’t know what I’d do if you really died. Be more considerate.”

Seonghwa swore the blush in the younger’s cheeks was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. He might just die a few more times if it meant he got to hear such words and see the expression again.

“You’re too kind, Joongie.” The comment only earned him another forced spoonful of soup through his smile.

[onewfantaesy]

Little Henchmen AU

Just because Jinki, Minho, and Taemin were residents of Halloweentown didn’t mean they were welcomed. Or liked. Or trusted. They worked for the boogeyman after all; most days they were met with sneers and threats to stay away. It didn’t matter that they were barely between the ages of 4 and 7, physically and mentally, because they were chaotic imps who were nothing but trouble.

But every so often, they hope that maybe going into the town square will end differently. That they won’t be yelled at or told to go away. They just want candy - they’re trick-or-treaters, they need to eat candy. And so what is they play a few tricks? That’s what they’re supposed to do! No one gets mad when the vampires suck blood from people, or when the witches cast curses.

So they put on their trick-or-treater masks and venture out into town when Kibum gives them a free afternoon to cause mischief. Jinki has a vampire mask, Minho a devil, and Taemin a skeleton. Then they’re off.

“Trick or treat!” Taemin, the littlest imp, shouts. “Trick or treat! We want candy!”

“Only the good kind!” Minho shouts.

“Chocolate!” Jinki clarifies.

“Get out of the way,” the mayor, his ugly clown face showing, says. And he kicks them to the side. “We’re preparing for next Halloween!”

“So are we!” Jinki argues. “We need candy!”

“We’re trick-or-treaters!” Minho tells him.

“TRICK OR TREAT!” Taemin shouts again.

They’re knocked over like bowling pins, and the three of them are huffing and grunting and scrambling to stand back up.

It’s the same most of the afternoon. Being pushed aside or knocked over or just flat out ignored. Until Taemin annoys some particularly testy devils.

“TRICK OR TREAT! TRICK OR TREAT! TRICK OR TREAT!” Taemin shouts, stomping his feet in front of them. It’s been three hours and they’ve found no candy at all. “Gimme candy, you old trolls!”

That pissed the devils off, and they pick Taemin up and throw him across the town square. He lands against the center fountain with a loud thump and crack, then falls to the floor clutching his arm, letting out a loud scream. He’s crying and sobbing and screaming, and Jinki and Minho are quick to rush over to him.

His arm is bent in a funny direction, and neither of the older boys know how to fix it.

“Shush, shush,” Jinki says quickly as they bring him back to their treehouse. “Don’t cry; boogie hates it when we cry.”

“Don’t wake him up,” Minho says, trying to hold his hand over Taemin’s mouth.

But Taemin is in more pain than he’s ever been, they hadn’t found any candy at all, and he was really not feeling well at all. He couldn’t help but cry.

That’s when they hear Kibum’s rumbling from underneath, and they’re quickly summoned down into his lair.

“You need to shush,” Jinki pleads, dragging Taemin over to the lift. “Or boogie will get really mad.”

“It hurts,” Taemin sobs, unable to make himself stop.

And his trick-or-treater mask had cracked. He was very, very upset.

“What the hell are you three doing?” Kibum asks, his voice echoing throughout the lair as the three boys tumble out of the lift. It only makes Taemin cry more, his arm having been jostled.

“It’s not our fault!” Jinki is quick to defend.

“We didn’t do anything!” Minho adds.

The Boogeyman’s shadow looms over them, and the three boys cower before it. Then Kibum is slithering towards them, curious about what the dilemma is.

“What did he do?” Kibum asks, gesturing toward Taemin.

“We just wanted candy,” Minho says in a small voice.

“And they all got really mad at us,” Jinki says, his voice equally as quiet and shivering.

“So what happened?” Kibum asks, his voice growing louder.

“They threw me at the fountain!” Taemin finally cries, and his mask cracks in half and falls off, showing a red face full of tear tracks. “Really really hard and it hurts really really bad and now it won’t bend normal!”

Kibum grimaces, noting the way Taemin’s arm bends where it shouldn’t. But he’s not good with kids, not with making them feel better, and even if he did know how to mend a broken bone, he wouldn’t really want to.

“Who threw you?”

“The devils!”

Kibum is kneeling before the boys, keeping them at arm’s length. It’s not much, and it certainly isn’t the most comforting, but he wipes at the tears falling from Taemin’s eyes with a thumb.

“Go back upstairs,” he tells the boys. “I’ll call someone to come fix it.”

“We didn’t even get any candy,” Jinki says quietly.

“And we didn’t even get to trick ‘em yet,” Minho says.

“Go back upstairs,” is all Kibum says.

Half an hour later, one of the calmer residents of Halloweentown is coming through the front of the treehouse. Boa, a surprisingly compassionate rag doll, manages to patch up Taemin’s arm good as new, even gives him a sling to keep it in.

“I’ll come back next week to check on you,” she says, smiling and petting Taemin’s mess of hair.

“My mask too?” Taemin asks, pointing at the two halves of his skeleton mask.

“I’ll bring you a brand new one,” she tells him instead, trying to excite him a bit. When the three boys still look sad and upset, she reaches into her bag. “In the meantime, I think you’ll like this.”

She gives them a big bag of candy, and the three quickly turn on each other to try and grab the most for themselves.

“It’s mine!”

“No mine!”

“No she brought ‘em for me!”

“I want you boys to share,” she tells them, picking them up by the backs of their costumes and separating them. “There’s enough candy for all three of you.”

“And what do you three say?” Kibum’s voice echoes from down below.

The three boys gaps and are quick to get in line, muttering nervous little thank-yous to the rag doll.

In his own way, Kibum does care about his favorite trick-or-treaters. They are his little henchmen, after all. It would be a shame if something happened to them.