#meadowrosewrites

[meadow-roses]

Grace finally gets to have a conversation with Dauntless, face to face :D

Written/full version of the scene under the cut

***

Grace opened the door and immediately froze. 

Felix was standing across the room from her in front of an open window. He was dressed in dark clothes with boots that reached up just below the knee. In his hands he was holding a helmet with a dark visor. 

He turned when he heard the door, and for a second their eyes met. It was only for a second.

“Wait! Dauntless!” Grace shouted, taking a step forwards before stopping herself. She didn't want to chase him.

Felix froze halfway out the window.

“Please…” she said gently. “Just stay. Talk to me?”

He made no response, but she watched his shoulders droop before taking his foot down from the sill and turning to face her.

Even with all she'd put into schooling herself to read faces, she couldn't quite tell what he was thinking. His face was mostly blank, was it resigned, maybe sad?

He just looked at her, waiting for her to speak.

“I'm not going to tell anyone, I… haven't told anyone. I've known for a while now actually.”

Felix tensed and confusion crossed his face.

“What-” he started. “How did you know?”

“Well, I didn't know,” Grace took another step into the room and reached to close the door behind her back. “But I had a pretty good guess.”

He spoke his next question by furrowing his brow and tilting his head.

Grace gave a short laugh. “You're a terrible liar, Felix.”

He bit his lip and looked down at the floor.

“I just wanted to know, why… why didn't you tell us?” 

She gave him a moment to stare at his feet before adding on, “and tell me the truth- please?”

He turned and leaned his back against the wall with a defeated sigh.

“The truth? I… I'm not sure I even know the true answer myself. I guess… I was afraid.”

He looked down at his gloved hands and awkwardly slipped his fingers together in front of him.

“I don't know exactly what I was afraid *of*, just that I was. I wasn't afraid of you guys-” he rushed to add, unlacing his hands and lifting one up to gesture. “-but I was afraid of what would happen to you guys if we were friends.”

“And that's why you're planning on leaving?”

“How did you know I was-?”

Grace shrugged.

“You really think you can save the world by yourself?” she added, crossing her arms over her chest.

“No, I can't save the world. I’m just a mechanic wearing a bicycle helmet!”

“Who also has superhuman abilities and a lot of inside knowledge,” Grace pointed out.

Felix didn't respond. He hugged his arms around his chest and looked to the floor again.

Grace sighed and put her back against the door, mirroring Felix’s pose across the room. 

“It’s not like I can stop you,” she said at last. “You could pick up your helmet and jump out that window and I would never see you again no matter how hard I looked. We both know how well that worked for me the last several months. But I guess- you can keep running away from everything you're scared of and everyone who’s gonna call you out and just stay afraid, or you can stop trying to run, and face those fears. The biggest lie you've ever told is the one you're telling yourself right now that you have to be alone.”

Felix’s face remained blank as his mouth drew into a tight line.

“You aren't alone, Felix,” she continued gently. 

“And if I stay, and they find this place, and they kill everyone here- either the government or the [gang]. I don't-” his voice cracked along with the mask on his face and he reached up to scrub his hand over his face before resuming with wavering composure, “I can't let that happen. I'll still be around, like Dauntless has been, but Felix can't stay here anymore.”

“That’s the stupidest thing you've ever said!” Grace stood up from the door and took a step towards him. “What are you going to eat? Where are you going to sleep? You're basically dooming yourself to get caught by all those people looking to kill you. You should stay, and help us fight! You don't have to pull away to protect us from a distance. Let's work together to make this place safe.”

“I don't want my life to come at the cost of anyone else's!” Felix shouted, arms still crossed over his chest, but she could see he immediately regretted it.

“I'm sorry,” he mumbled.

Grace groaned and rubbed her hand down her face. “It doesn't have to be your life or all of ours. Do you really think we're so bad at protecting this place that you're the reason we're still here?”

“That's not what I-”

“Yeah, the government's going crazy right now. Yeah, the [gang]s are pressing closer. I'm not saying you haven't been helping a lot, but we could be so much more effective if we worked together. We could save more people, Felix. You don't have to go out there and die like some sacrificial dumb-dumb.”

She shook her head and walked across the room to stand in front of him. A breeze came in through the open window, catching her loose curls and sending them waving across her face.

“I know you know I'm right.” She said gently. “And I know you're scared. I'm just asking you to trust me.”

She held out her hand to Dauntless, and hesitantly, Felix took it.

“On one condition. You guys aren't allowed to die.”

Grace grinned and gave him a firm shake. “You've got yourself a deal.”

After an awkward stretch of silence, Felix spoke again.

“So… when was the point- how did you figure it out? That I was Dauntless?”

Grace tucked her arms behind her back with a chuckle. She felt embarrassed all of a sudden, and she wasn't sure why.

“Well, uh, I was talking to Dauntless, and he laughed. It sounded like how you laugh- like how Felix laughs- and it started me thinking. All of the little inconsistencies between the two identities made sense if they had the same common denominator.”

[granny-griffin]

7:03 in the Teacher's Lounge

meadowrosewrites

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Relationship: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Yagi Toshinori | All Might

Characters: Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Additional Tags: Toshinori needs to take better care of himself, aizawa is a softie

Language: English

Published: 2023-11- 30

Words: 773

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

Toshinori is not getting a good grade in this "self-care" thing, and Aizawa decides to add it to his list of things that are his problem.

[ao3feed-izuku-midoriya]

Midoriya Has a Problem

Midoriya has a Problem by meadowrosewrites

Midoriya has made an embarrassing mistake and broken a bone again, and this time it has nothing to do with his quirk. Attempting to make decisions is difficult when your brain is sluggish from a broken bone.

All Might sighed deeply as he creaked to his feet. "You know wrapping your own hand- setting the bones of your own hand- is really difficult, right?"

Words: 773, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Characters: Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Izuku

Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Yagi Toshinori | All Might

Additional Tags: Parental Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Izuku is a Problem Child, Midoriya Izuku is a Dork, Broken Bones

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47251171

[meadow-roses]

I realized I'd never drawn Delia before! So I had to fix that.

Also, chapter update finally 😭😭

[meadow-roses]

Pinapple socks, I beg of you XD

Hehehe okay so the theme of this doc was how Felix's vigilante work is effecting his relationships with his family members.

Here's an excerpt of the scene that gave it that name, but first, a little bit of backstory advcg Julia's been really busy with work at this point in the story, so she totally misses the gradual change and just suddenly Felix is different. They've kinda been on strained terms ever since he dropped out of law school, and Emmett (Felix's dad) has urged Julia to try to just. talk to him, and not Parent HimTM Felix really doesn't like lying to her, but he thinks it would be better and safer if she didn't know... So yeah it's some drama 😂

"So uh. How was work?" He asked. "Oh, nothing out of the ordinary." She leaned up against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest. The two coffees sat on the table behind her, but now that Felix had started cooking, it would be weird to try to move the conversation. This wasn't how she had imagined it going. "How was your day?" She asked awkwardly as Felix crouched back down and opened the pots cabinet again. He stiffened, then resumed his hunt for a saucepan in an obvious attempt to hide it. She realized a little too late that was a question he probably didn't want to answer. "It was… normal," he said, setting the retrieved saucepan on the stovetop and avoiding eye contact. This wasn't working. She didn't know how to get Felix to talk to her if she didn't ask questions, but the answers she got to her questions left much to be desired. Emmett had told her to just wait and let him direct the conversation, but she was pretty sure that would lead to there not being a conversation at all. They would just stand awkwardly in the kitchen and not say anything. If she didn't give it a try though, she'd probably get an earful from Emmett later.

The water on the stove came to a boil and Felix carefully added the box of noodles, stirring them down under the surface with a wooden spoon.

Julia fought down the urge to say something that would fill the silence.

"So uh," Felix said, setting a ten minute timer and turning to lean against the counter, his arms folded behind his back.

"What did you want to talk about?"

She resisted the urge to jump straight to her primary concern and took a deep breath. The problem wasn't that Felix was keeping secrets from her, the problem was that he thought that he had to. Somewhere along the way she had lost his childhood trust. He wasn't a little boy anymore, and if she wanted his trust and his friendship, she'd have to get to know the man he was growing into.

"Whatever you want to talk about," she said with a half shrug and an obviously awkward smile.

He blinked and readjusted his stance after slipping several inches across the linoleum in his pineapple print socks.

By the blank look on his face she assumed a little prompting wouldn't be entirely outside of the spirit of this conversation.

"You could talk about your gymnastics classes or a new recipe you tried this week or something fun you and your dad did?" She suggested. "But really anything that's on your mind. I- I miss hearing about your life."

He swallowed and looked to the floor, wiggling one of his toes absently.

[meadow-roses]

Untitled Document

Julia

Felix

!!!!

Thank you for the ask!!

"Untitled Document" is a character exploration scene for Kate, and a rough first draft of when she finds out the identity of Dauntless.

Here's a snippet:

There was something in the air about this conversation that was not setting right in Felix’s gut. He swallowed against the sudden dryness in his mouth and attempted to continue the conversation like normal. It was probably nothing, just his nerves fritzing out like they had been doing a lot lately.

“Uh-hu, well- as good as I was expecting, in a- new place and all. Um.”

Kate seemed to have picked up on his nerves and gave him a quizzical stare. He tried to smile back but was really unsure how well that reassured her.

She sighed and adjusted her stance against the counter, fixing him with her sharp gaze.

“Well, Felix, I wanted to ask you something while it’s just the two of us. And I want you to answer honestly”

“Of course,” Felix replied. He did not like the direction this seemed to be going in.

“You’re a terrible liar.” She stated simply.

Felix squinted at her, cringing internally. “And?”

“And I know you’re keeping secrets from me. You seem like a nice guy who wouldn’t want to hurt anyone, so instead I’m just going to ask you. Whatever it is, it's safe for you to tell me. We can help you.”

"Julia" is kinda similar to the previous. Written from Felix's mother's pov, it's kinda her musing about how she figured out Dauntless' identity, but dramatic✨✨

It wasn’t hard to figure out. Really the hardest part had been accepting the truth that was blatantly obvious from the very beginning. She knew who Dauntless was.

The fact that only someone close to him could put the pieces together was what was keeping his secret safe in the council halls, but still, the fragility of the situation was unnerving. Somehow, she had to sit in meetings and keep her face straight and her demeanor calm as officers and politicians discussed ways to find and put an end to the man who was her son. It was terrifying.

She knew it was only a matter of time before the charade would come to an end, and she couldn’t imagine that end being a happy one.

"Felix" is the first doc I made when I started working on his backstory!! :D I'll share the opening to the first scene I wrote in there. XD

Harley, Andrea, and Scott have slightly shifted personality-wise as the story developed, and also the scenario is entirely not canon BUT first dialogue from Felix :D

“Well. We’re stuck here,” Andrea said, sliding down from the mountainous pile of trash and rubble she had been standing on. “I can’t catch a signal, the ship is trashed, and I can’t get the map to load up so we’re just lost behind enemy lines.”

She huffed as she sat down next to Scott on an ancient upside-down pickup truck, both legs stuck straight out in front of her. Scott grunted, arms crossed across his chest.

“Hey, can I see the PD?” Harley asked, looking up from where she was kneeled wrapping Marco‘s leg. “I might be able to get it to work when I’m done here.”

Andrea shrugged. “Catch.”

The device arched through the air headed in decisively the wrong direction. Harley lunged to catch it, her body moving fast enough it became a blur to the others. She caught it neatly and gave Andrea a curt look before crawling back to where she had been sitting.

“You two should be more careful with that,” Marco said, wincing.

Andrea shugged again. “It’s not like she can miss.”

Harley patted Marco's leg and settled into the rubble beside him, flicking the screen on and scrunching her face in concentration as she messed with settings. Marco laid back and closed his eyes.

“Say, were’d the little guy go?” Andrea said suddenly, straightening from her slouch.

Scott gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. “Ran off that way. Said he was looking for ideas.”

“Huh. Guess we could use a few of those."

The junkyard became quiet except for the occasional grunt from Harley, and Marco's labored breathing. Somewhere off in the landfill wasteland something large dislodged from the side of a trash mountain and crashed into the valley below. Andrea shifted her position on the truck and crossed her arms. Scott continued staring at the disfigured rubble at his feet, lost in thought.

Harley glowered at the unresponsive device in her hands. No connection, no way to send for help. It seemed the only way out of this one would be to walk, but what to do with Marco? Carry him? It didn't seem like a good idea to just leave him here, but carrying him into further danger?

She was broken from her thoughts by the sound of rattling cans, and looked up just in time to see the ginger-topped head pop up from behind a nearby trashed vehicle.

“Does anyone have a hairclip I could borrow?”

Andrea spun around, still seated. “A what? Buddy we’re lost in a junkyard not a hair salon.”

“I've got one, Felix,” Harley said, pulling the pin from her bang and holding it up for him to see. Without the hairpin her electric-blue bang fell into her face and over her eye.

Felix scrambled over the rubble and accepted it with a grin. “Perfect, thank you.”

[meadow-roses]

How about white sorcerer?

Of course! This one is for the Deepwood wip. Now that Rowan has joined them, the team has unlocked more information!

Tracy frowned and stooped down next to Rowan.

"What do you mean?" He said in a low voice.

Now that he was mostly out of the view of the other critters milling around at their work he let his concern slip onto his face.

"I don't really know, I just know they're getting help from somewhere, and if my instincts are correct I think it's somehow magical."

"That's what I'm confused about," Tracy said, gesturing with one hand for him to continue. "Magic? What are you talking about?"

Rowan grimaced as he attempted to organize his thoughts. "I know this sounds crazy, but just bear with me. I met him before, when I was a child. A real, actual sorcerer. He kidnapped my brother – he could do all these terrible things and meddle with the natural order of reality. I think this white raccoon is that same sorcerer."

Tracy nodded along as he tried to track with what Rowan was saying.

"You last saw him when you were a child?" Joden asked, tilting his head with the question. "Isn't it… unlikely they're the same person? He certainly didn't look that old from what I saw."

Rowan sighed. "I'm not that old, and secondly I haven't a clue how old he really is. According to my father he looked the same when he was a boy. I'm not sure that age is something affecting him."

"But... what does he want?" Joden asked.

[meadow-roses]

How bout Mind Juice?

Mind Juice part 2! :D (part 1)

Galarius’ mouth opened in dismay. “Madness?”  “It’s a spell that touches the mind, so,” he trailed off, nervously itching his finger. “This sounds really risky,” Galarius said worriedly, turning back to Aris. “But if it works,” Aris looked up at him, raising her eyebrows in an attempt to look encouraging. “And if it doesn’t-”  Aris cut him off.  “You won’t be any closer or further away from getting your answer. The Oracle said we wouldn’t be able to find the sword without taking ‘great risks’.”  She uncorked the bottle and took a sniff, wrinkling her nose in disgust and recapping it. “The Oracle said a lot of things,” Galarius pointed out. “Including, ‘There are many paths to the answer you seek but only one of them will lead you true’. How do you know this is the right one and not another wild goose chase?" “Because we haven’t had any better ideas, and this is the most risky one so far.” “That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Galarius said, crossing his arms. “The most likely side effect is amnesia,” She paused to check that she had her facts correct, throwing a glance to [Faecorn] who nodded in response.  “I already have amnesia,” She continued. “So assuming it doesn’t work we are no worse off than we were before, and if it does we might have our answer.” “And there is the chance it could break the curse permanently,” [Faecorn] interjected.  

[meadow-roses]

Ketsler wip

This snippet is from a scene set in Ketsler's backstory when he's a teenager. It was originally written by @masterfuldoodler from Rhyin's perspective (you can read that here) but I've been working on rewriting it from Ketsler's hehe

“I don’t know, Ketsler,” he finally said. “Maybe I’ve been asleep all my life. Maybe this is what it’s actually like to be alive. Maybe it will get better, I just need to… to catch up to you.” The old feeling of guilt jolted through his system and Ketsler looked away. It wasn’t fair. They were equals, even if Rhyin didn’t have magic. Even if he never had magic. He hated the fact that magic- something meant to be a blessing- could be twisted into such a curse for the both of them. Maybe Tehvlar was right though, maybe he had found the cure. Maybe… Rhyin *could* catch up to him. Rhyin was still staring dejectedly at his hands, and Ketsler realized he probably needed to break him out of whatever moody thoughts he was starting to bury himself in. “So what’s with the bandage?” He asked, lightly tapping Rhyin’s knee and gesturing to his arm. “Didn’t they use a healing spell?” Rhyin broke out of his thoughts, shifting his hands to lace his fingers together. “Father says he used one to seal it closed,” He answered, giving Ketsler a glance before looking back down to his hands. “He said the internal healing should come from my own stores. It burns though.” Burning again. Ketsler frowned again, nodding slowly. He wanted to do something to make things better- Rhyin seemed so out of sorts and in pain- but he didn’t understand the theory behind the experiment well enough, nor did he want his interference to ruin anything and possibly make Rhyin’s condition worse. Tehvlar was basically inaccessible right now to ask for advice, and there was no telling how much longer he would be engaged in the meeting.

[meadow-roses]

Meet the Family part 2

Grace consults with her fellow team members on the safety of inviting her boyfriend to join their undercover rebel group. They be scheming.

This scene is around three years old, and was started as a character study/exploration for Grace and her friends to get a feel for how they are involved in Felix's backstory plot. This is not a scene in the actual story and a lot of the "plot" is not canon, but I thought it would be fun to share with you guys! Enjoy!

Part 1 * Part 2 * Part 3 * Part 4

*******

“Well,” Erin said, pushing her chair away from the desk and spinning to face Grace. “As far as background checks can go he seems in the clear. Medical records, work history, social reports, all completely normal.”

Grace hummed in response as she read over the profile summary displayed on the computer screen.

Erin took her glasses off and began polishing them on the corner of her open vest. “On top of that,” She said with a shrug. “I think we all trust your gut, so if you think he’s a good guy he probably is, and the info checks out on that. Plus-” she emphasized the next sentence by putting her glasses back on. “We could really use the help.”

Grace looked away from the screen to meet Erin’s gaze. “I just don’t want necessity to drive us into endangering lives.”

“We’ve accepted new members on less evidence than this before and we’ve been fine,” Erin said, crossing one leg over the other to make a place to set her elbows on.

“That was at a different time though,” Grace pointed out. “With the government like it is right now, they’re probably going to be looking for rebel groups more than ever, and they’ll have plenty of loyal associates unemployed to do that with.”

“I don’t know, Grace.” Erin said, her face scrunching into a smirk. “I don’t think a guy that gives names to all the squirrels in the park is gonna end up screwing us over.”

“He could have made the names up on the spot,” Grace pointed out.

“So you think he’s lying?” Erin slouched her chin into her palm, folding her fingers around to smoosh into the side of her heavily freckled face.

“No,” Grace tightened her arms over her chest. “I’m just, worried I might miss something and end up regretting all this. I don’t think he would betray us, but I haven’t known him for that long.”

“Well,” Erin kicked back in the chair and spun back around to face the collection of monitors. “If you’re that worried about it, why don’t you take him to meet Grandma, see what she thinks of him. It’d be hard for that to go wrong.”

Grace sat down on the edge of the desk, her face illuminated blue by the computer screens. “I guess so,” She said, after thinking the suggestion over.

The dark room, lit only by Erin’s computer screens and the light coming in through the open doorway from the hallway, was suddenly no longer dark. A blonde man very much in need of a haircut was standing just inside the door, his hand still on the lightswitch. “What are you guys doing in the dark?”

“Tychus, turn that off!” Erin moaned, throwing her hands up to cover her eyes. Grace laughed at her, blinking in the sudden light.

“If you keep this up you’re going to ruin your eyesight,” Tychus said, coming up behind Erin’s chair and leaning over the back of it. “Oh wait, you already did.”

“You’re so mean to me,” Erin said.

She tried to scowl disapprovingly but a treacherous grin pulled at the edges of her mouth. With this comical expression she turned in her seat to shove his arms off the headrest. Tychus laughed and sidestepped her chair, taking a seat on the desk in front of her and putting the keyboard up in his lap.

“Wow you just came in here to pick on me, didn’t you?”

Tychus shrugged playfully. “You’ve been in here all day and I got lonely.”

“I’ve been working,” Erin said, reclaiming her keyboard.

“Would you two just get married already?” Grace said, laughing and shaking her head.

“Hmmm, how’s two months from now sound?” Tychus said with a wink in Erin’s direction. “Maybe the 15th? To choose a completely random and not at all specific date.”

Erin shook her head at him, unable to keep herself from smiling broadly as her face turned red. Tychus chuckled and the two exchanged a quick kiss.

“So when do I get to meet your boyfriend, Grace?” Tychus asked as Erin resumed her typing.

Grace gave a quick laugh. “Erin’s been running a background check on him.”

"Ooo, you girls are getting a little serious now. I don't know if this qualifies as a misuse of your hacker skills, Babe, but, what'd you find? Nothing too shady?"

“Nothing at all,” Erin said. Her eyes remained fixed to the screen as she spoke, her fingers continuing without slowing their dance across the keyboard. “He’s just a perfectly normal guy. You know, aside from the weird things.”

"Weird is good," Tychus nodded in approval. “Only the best for our Grace. She’s pretty weird too, after all.”

Erin snorted. “Speak for yourself, you weirdo."

"We're not running an investigation so I can date him," Grace said. "I was thinking about asking him to join the team."

"Oooh, you're not spying on him, you're just spying on him." Tychus smirked and tapped the side of his nose as his fiancé rolled her eyes.

"Sure," Grace shook her head with a smile. "He passed all of Erin's tests, but I still want to be extra careful with all those loose agents lurking around. Erin suggested I bring him over to Grandma’s for dinner.”

“Well that sounds fun,” Tychus said. “Can I come too and pretend to be your cousin?”

Grace grinned. “We don’t look related at all, but sure.”

“You know what would be fun,” Tychus continued, lifting a leg up onto the desktop and propping his elbow on his knee.

“If we got as many people as we can spare to come over. Just say we’re your extended family and it’s a farewell party at your grandma’s so we can see how he reacts. Not being secretly evil or something isn’t the only qualification for the team, it’d be nice to know how well he can roll with unexpected situations.”

Grace nodded slowly. It was a good point. If this sort of a scenario would stress him out too much, he probably wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of leading a double life. On top of that, she could have more than just her own and Grandma’s opinions about him, he could also meet his potential teammates before being thrown into life-or-death situations with them.

She smiled, one finger thoughtfully pressed against her bottom lip.

“Tychus, my dear brother, I think that is an excellent idea.”

[meadow-roses]

Meet the Family - part 1

Grace invites Felix out on a date to hopefully pop the question- "would you like to join my team of secret agents?" but she's still not certain he actually has what it takes. Felix, secretly a retired secret agent, is extremely confused when Grace (accidentally) starts speaking in code. Neither of them have any idea what "frogs" stand for in this conversation.

This scene is around three years old, and was written as a character study for Grace back when I first realized she was involved in backstory plot! It's crazy to remember a time when the story didn't include Grace and her pals haha

This is not a scene in the actual story and a lot of the "plot" is not canon, but I thought it would be fun to share with you guys! Enjoy!

Part 1 * Part 2 * Part 3 * Part 4

***

Grace considered herself good at reading people. It was a skill that had come in handy more than once in the past, and now she found it more necessary than ever.

In most cases, getting to know someone is something that happens gradually over time. You learn their name and their favorite color, you know them for a month and find out they don't like spicy food. A year and you'll learn their routine for getting going in the morning, that they had an obsession with model trains when they were twelve-years old, or the story behind the odd knick knack in their bedroom. In a general sense Grace was fully content to get to know Felix in this natural way, but the more she learned the more she got the sickening feeling things weren't adding up quite right.

The traffic on the street outside cut patterns of blue and red in the sunlight thrown over the faded linoleum of the diner floor. They had chosen a table tucked into the corner, away from the service desk and where groups of people stood around the doors laughing and hugging goodbye. Grace had observed Felix often seemed anxious close to a lot of activity, and while she didn't understand it, she liked it when he was comfortable enough to converse without distraction. 

She fiddled with the straw in her water glass as she watched him carefully study the menu.

A rise in volume of laughter from several tables over broke his concentration and he looked up, catching Grace's stare.

"Do you know what you're going to get?" He asked, a finger left to hold his place on the menu.

Grace realized she had forgotten to even look. 

She shrugged. "Mmm I don't know, the second one."

Felix raised one eyebrow and looked back at the menu.

"The second one? I thought you didn't like peanuts." 

Grace laughed. Of course her random selection would end up something like that. 

"I haven't read the menu, I just picked something," She said between giggles. 

"Oh, okay," Felix replied with a chuckle. 

Grace sat up in her seat and leaned across the table, resting her chin in one hand.

"What do you think I should have?"

Felix's eye dropped back to the menu again as he traced his finger over the options. 

"This one is cheddar and steak," he said after a moment. 

"Sounds perfect! What are you getting?" 

She slid back into her seat, the red leather squealing in protest. They must have reupholstered the seats recently. 

"I hadn't decided yet," he replied, sounding slightly embarrassed. 

"No rush, take your time."

Grace watched as he stuck his thumbnail between his front teeth, a strange habit she'd noticed he did when thinking under pressure. This was a perfect way to buy her more time to figure out what to say, even though she had been thinking about this moment for the last few weeks. 

She picked up her own menu from the tabletop, gave the dessert menu a quick glance, then began balancing it to stand between the salt and pepper shakers. 

How do you ask someone if they have a secret identity?

Asking him to meet her for lunch was one thing, asking him to join her on a secret mission? That sort of thing took trust, and she was still unsure she knew enough of his story to trust him.

Although, she doubted anyone with a truly reprehensible past would be able to put on an act as consistently bizarre and endearing as the man sitting across from her seemed to be. Most people hiding a secret identity would go for a more… normal persona.

But trust was a funny thing. Once you've given it there's no way to take it back, not ever fully. She had an oath to uphold, and she couldn't let her feelings for him endanger that. 

"I think I'll just get the same as you," Felix said, breaking her out of her thoughts. 

Grace hummed in approval as he picked up his own menu and stood it up to match Grace's among the condiments. 

"So uh," Felix said, turning the pepper shaker so it fit better into the fold of the menu. "Is everything okay? You seem really quiet today."

"Oh, yeah?" Grace laughed, trying to not sound nervous. 

Felix's eyebrows knit in concern. "Yeah." He paused a moment. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Actually yeah, I just, didn't know how to start." Grace put her fingertip onto her straw and wiggled it back and forth in the glass. 

Felix reached out a hand and placed it gently on her arm. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah! It's nothing bad, don't worry," she hurried to assure him. 

The concern on his face relaxed and he nodded, folding his hands on the table in front of him. 

"I'm leaving on a- research trip, in a couple weeks," she said carefully, avoiding looking him in the face. She found it was becoming increasingly difficult to lie to him when he looked at her with such earnest care, so she settled for a half-truth instead. "I just wanted to let you know."

Felix nodded slowly. "How long will you be gone?" He asked.

"I really don't know," Grace fiddled with her fingers. "It could be weeks, or even a year."

Felix nodded again. He did that when he was trying to think of what words would say what he was thinking. Grace had been taught long ago that a lot of what a person says is not said in only words, that every person has their own unique way of speaking without speaking. Felix, she had found, spoke without words almost more than with. She was still trying to figure out exactly what he meant when his mouth tensed up at the edges when he smiled. Normally she would assume it was just a forced smile, but there was some layer of nuance she knew she was missing. 

"That's great!" He said with that tense kind of smile. "What kind of research are you doing?"

"Um," Grace said. Her mind drew up a blank instead of the pre-planned cover story. She blinked rapidly and said the first answer that came to mind other than the truth. "Frogs! The life cycle of frogs. We're researching frogs." 

She smiled and nodded her head several times, trying her best to pass it off as normal. She reached for her water glass and sucked up a gulp through the straw. 

Felix squinted and drew his head into his neck slightly, an action he did when something didn't make sense to him. 

Grace cringed inwardly. That was a, really, dumb cover story. I might have just botched everything.

"Frogs? That's… really cool," Felix said. He was still squinting, but the smile had returned. 

"Ye-yeah," Grace said, a little too quickly after swallowing her mouthful of water.

Felix watched the resulting coughing fit, alarmed, as Grace tried to get herself under control again. 

"You okay?" He said.

"Sorry," Grace nodded, clearing her throat. "I didn't quite swallow that right." 

Felix awkwardly scratched an itch on the side of his face. "Well, I, hope you have a good time," He said with a hint of confusion to the tone. 

"Thanks!" Grace said, still coughing a little.

Before she could continue, the waitress interrupted to take their order. After the polite exchange of information she walked back to the service desk, leaving the table quiet. 

Felix seemed entirely engrossed in his own thoughts as he squinted intently down at the tabletop.

This was the part where she was supposed to invite him to join her, but who in their right mind would agree to a year long research trip about frogs? She couldn’t tell him the truth, not until she knew he could be trusted with it, but with that kind of a cover story, she was going to have to find another way for the prep team to vet him. 

After a moment Felix spoke, breaking the silence. He sounded like he was choosing his words very carefully, but the words themselves didn’t seem to match the level of care he was using. 

“I didn’t realize you liked frogs that much. What about them do you find so interesting?” 

“Frogs?” Grace said, suddenly feeling like she was missing something very important. “I, uh, you know they are really, uh, important to the ecosystem, and an endangered species and all.”

Felix nodded slowly like he understood something deep. “Endangered, huh.”

“Do you like frogs?” Grace asked, wondering if she’d stumbled on another random interest of his.

“I do.” He replied through his hand placed thoughtfully under his chin. He looked far too serious to be making a joke. 

Maybe she hadn’t blown it after all.

“I don’t know if you would, like to join me on the research trip then?” 

Felix raised both his eyebrows and regarded her silently for a moment. Very slowly, his eye squinted, and he nodded. 

“Yes. I-” His gaze dropped to the tabletop. “I’d like to do that.”

Grace had an increasing feeling that Felix was having a completely different conversation than the one she thought it was. 

“Wait, you… actually want to go on a year long research trip about frogs?” She said, relieving the tension in her pose by leaning forward onto her elbows. “Who would want to study frogs for a year?”

“Don’t you?” Felix raised one eyebrow. 

“Oh yeah, of course,” Grace hurried to cover her mistake. “I was just surprised someone else would.” She laughed nervously and began stirring her water around with the straw. 

The table grew quiet again as the two watched how the ice flashed in many colors as it swirled around the glass. The waitress brought them their food and left the bill, Felix thanking her as she left them alone again.

“So,” He asked, sliding her plate towards her. “When do we leave?” 

[meadow-roses]

For the WIP ask game, what about What Is A Hero?

That's the My Hero Academia fic I've been working on off and on! It's a roleswap au also kinda villain Midoriya fic lol

Here's a snippet hehe

The villain wearing Deku's face tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. Behind his dark bangs Ochaco could see his eyes glowing green. It was time for some Gunhead Martial Arts. Just as she prepared to leap into combat, the door near the end of the hall slammed open. "Midoriya! Ururaka!" Iida shouted at the top of his lungs. "Please take your seats, class will be starting in less than five minutes! What are you doing?" "Iida!" Ochaco screamed. "He's not Deku, he's a villain pretending to be Deku! Run for help!" She could hear a clamor in the classroom behind him as the other students jumped from their desks. Iida took only a second to process her words before he turned to run. The engines on his calves fired up with a whir, but then immediately died down as he stumbled and caught himself against the wall. "That's a nice quirk," the villain said with a smile. "Mind if I borrow it?" Ochaco, Iida, and their classmates who had made it to the doorway first looked at him in horror. "What did you do to him!" Ochaco screamed as she whirled to face him. Behind her Bakugo launched himself over the students in the doorway with a roar. "You've got some nerve walking in here with that stupid face! I'll end you!"

He flew at the villain with a crackling flash. The fake Izuku's bangs blew back from his forehead like in a breeze as his eyes flashed brilliant green. Bakugo dropped mid-flight onto the floor in front of him.

[meadow-roses]

Saving Midoriya

Saving Midoriya by meadowrosewrites

All Might and Aizawa search for their missing student in the rubble of a destroyed building. Midoriya isn't doing too well, and honestly neither are his teachers.

"It seems wrong of me to ask this of you," All Might said, clutching Midoriya closer as his small body trembled just with the effort of breathing. "But you can't sleep yet. There's still someone you need to save."

Words: 1084, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga)  

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead

Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Yagi Toshinori | All Might

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Parental Yagi Toshinori | All Might, parental aizawa except he's just in the background having a panic attack

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46960231

[meadow-roses]

Adric is sick

This is one of my favorite docs tbh xD This one is basically just a collection of scenes centered around Adric's reluctant connection with the magic side of the world. This is a snippet of my favorite one where he finally confronts the Will-o-Wisp.

A warm breeze ruffled the leaves overhead as he stepped forward into their shadow.

"This is it," he said.

He was unsure if the wisp understood speech, but that had never stopped him from talking to it in the past.

"I'm done running. You've chased me- my entire life- all over the world. Everywhere I go you're always there and I want to know why."

He walked slowly towards it, adrenaline making his breath come shakily. The wisp drifted backwards just as slowly, keeping a consistent distance away from him.

"What do you want?" Adric asked in a desperate whisper.

The wisp's light flared brighter like a fire fed new kindling. As the glow returned to normal it started moving away through the trees, drifting along lazily like an oversized firefly.

Adric's breath caught in his throat as he stumbled into a run to follow. The faster he ran to try to catch up, the faster the wisp moved deeper into the forest.

“Wh- Where are you going?” He yelped after it, huffing for the breath enough to shout.

[meadow-roses]

Mind juice sounds fun

Mind Juice part one! :D (part 2) This is from the Shifters wip maybe around halfway through?

“It is experimental,” [Faecorn] said with a nervous edge to his voice. He pushed his spectacles back up the bridge of his nose and threw a glance in Galarius’ direction. “But theoretically it should work,” Aris asked, turning the bottle around in her hands to more closely observe the contents. “On paper, yes. But we’re dealing with magic, so that adds a layer of unpredictability to the entire attempt. We don’t know what kind of curse you’re under, so it’s hard to find the appropriate cure.” “And if it doesn’t work?” Galarius asked. [Faecorn] gave a half shrug. “Eh, I can’t say for sure. Nothing could happen of course, or it could react badly to the curse. The two spells could compound, or the curse might be strong enough to just deflect the spell and have nothing happen at all. Or it could succeed and leave us with nasty side effects from incorrectly breaking a curse.” “What is the most likely side effect,” Aris asked. “Permanent memory erasure,” [Faecorn] said with a grimace. Aris looked down at the bottle, considering. A current of air came in through the open window, catching and playing with the edge of the curtain and the wind chimes hung among the herbs overhead. “Worst case scenario?” Aris said, wiping a wisp of hair out of her mouth. “Well,” [Faecorn] said. “Death. Although I think that among the least likely effects. Madness is far more likely.”

[meadow-roses]

For the Hurt/Comfort dialogue prompts

@scribbly-bear requested #26 for Ketsler. This scene is set during Ketsler's backstory/childhood.

26. "You're soaking wet."

"I'm fine," was all Ketsler said as he waved a hand dismissively and slipped past his cousin out the door.

He could feel Rhyin's frown on his back as he broke into a jog down the path.

"I'm fine," he repeated to himself as his feet hit the cobblestones in rhythm.

It was a pleasant sensation, feeling the edges of each tiny rock through the bottom of his sandals. Every time his heel struck the earth it pulled him back into the reality he could feel around him and out of his head. There were too many thoughts swirling around like a thunderstorm, turning into bile in his stomach as the lightning pushed against the inside of his fingertips. He couldn't risk teleportation like this, not when he could feel himself losing control.

He could feel the way the grass shrank out of his way as he ran past, afraid to be touched by him. Even the air felt thick and still, although he was moving as fast as he could without breaking into a run.

"I'm fine." He said it out loud this time, his breath throwing snowflakes into the suspended air.

Behind him his footprints were left as frost melting in the sun, the plants that would have been shriveled by the cold ushered off to the sides.

The trees sensed him coming and shambled of their own will to greet him, rolling their roots over and swaying their upper branches. He winked past them, stepping through to the space beyond without missing a beat in his steps. It was the rocks he needed. The trees would just get hurt.

He fell into the first boulder he came across, his palms spread flat as he forced his way inside its embrace. As soon as the rock sealed smooth behind him he let go, screaming as the thunderstorm inside broke loose. The boulder surrounded him like gentle arms as the lightning pulsed and flashed and the air became like wind freckled with rain. Eventually he blew himself out, sank down against the wall, and sobbed into his knees.

He felt the shame boiling inside and overflowing like a pot of water without a lid, soaking his clothes with hot, oversized tears. Here he was, losing control of himself, directly after being scolded for not maintaining control. But this was the only way he knew to get himself under control. To make the words, "I'm fine," into truth and not an empty promise. He sobbed until all the water was gone and the pot was left hot and dry, waiting to be taken off the heat before it burned itself out. Shaky breaths came in and out, and Ketsler crawled out of the rock.

Rhyin was there. He must have followed him here from the house. He was frowning sympathetically in the way only Rhyin could, awkward yet sincere.

Ketsler paused, still on the ground, and looked up at him sheepishly.

"You're soaking wet," Rhyin said after a moment. "Are you… okay?"

"I- uh," Ketsler began, but Rhyin interrupted with a shake of his head as he reached out his hand.

"Answer honestly, okay," he said as he pulled Ketsler up to his feet.

"I'm feeling better now," Ketsler trailed off awkwardly, looking down at his thoroughly soaked tunic.

Rhyin squinted at him for a moment, then relented. Taking his cousin's hand in a way that left no room for debate, he began leading him back the way they had come.

"You'll feel a lot better after you get something to eat. Father's going to be in his study for the rest of the afternoon, he won't notice us."

"Are you sure?" Ketsler asked. The urge to hide from his own uncle felt wrong, but he felt it just the same. He was worried what would happen if he froze over the kitchen floor again so soon after getting a talking to.

"Yeah," Rhyin said, giving him a look over his shoulder. "Come on, it'll be fine."

Ketsler relented. When had Rhyin's predictions ever been wrong?