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readyplayerhobi · 4 years

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Flower | 35

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff

; Word Count: 3.7k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: Just a soft, fluffy chapter for you all after the angst and smut of the last two haha. Please leave comments and reblog it for me so others can read! Send me asks and so forth, we’re getting close to the endgame here so...I really hope you can spur me on.

; Flower Masterpost

“Ahhhh, I’m so excited!” Hoseok is practically vibrating in the passenger seat as you drive carefully, eyes firmly on the road and watching the car ahead of you. There’s nothing ahead of them but they’re still doing about ten miles less than the speed limit, frustrating you.

You don’t complain though, instead just sigh deeply while rolling your eyes at the slow person. It was hard to truly feel too annoyed though because Hoseok’s enthusiasm was so infectious. Which was why you’d been sporting a smile for most of the morning, thoroughly bemused by his excitement.

The reason for his bubbly demeanour today was because you were officially going to pick up your new puppy. You’d known for a long time that Hoseok wanted a dog; he’d loved them a lot and had always wanted one. But he just hadn’t had the time or space to get one, particularly given his old apartment not being pet friendly.

It had taken some convincing for you to say yes to a dog, mainly because you’d worried how Kasumi might be around another pet and also because you weren’t a huge dog fan. You liked them obviously, but they required so much more work than a cat. As much as Hoseok loved Kasumi though, you knew what he wanted.

The convincing had mainly been that he wouldn’t leave all the taking care of the dog to you. You didn’t want to end up being the only one cleaning up the mess in the yard or walking them, etc. He’d promised that he would care for the dog just as much as you did, maybe even a little more.

It wasn’t like he didn’t help out in the house anyway, he did because you wouldn’t let him not help, but you just didn’t want to get stuck doing all the dog duties when he was the one who wanted it the most. You doubted he would do that as he was pretty good with looking after Kasumi, even though she wasn’t even his. Given this was something he wanted, you had faith that he’d be a good doggy daddy.

The two of you had poured over websites that advertise puppies for sale alongside looking over rescue centres to try and find the best dog for you both. It had been hard to narrow down your requirements as there were some breeds that you just didn’t want to have and Hoseok had his own opinion on some as well. Other important things were that they needed to be okay with cats and being left alone during the day while you were both working.

But you also wanted something energetic when necessary and enjoyed walks. Part of the reason that you’d said yes was that you hoped it would get both of you to start going out on walks to just enjoy nature a little more instead of staying cooped up in the house. You always enjoyed when you’d gone out but it was hard to break your habits.

Your problems had been resolved happily when you’d been told by Hoseok’s parents that his aunt had a dog who had had a litter of puppies recently. They’d bought a female puppy and before they’d been able to get her spayed, she’d, unfortunately, got the attention of the neighbour’s dog. Which meant she’d been way too young to breed and they’d ended up with surprise puppies.

The mom was a working Cocker Spaniel breed with the prettiest colouring; a soft lemon tan and white with the most adorable eyes. The dad was a Bichon, a breed you weren’t too familiar with but who looked pretty cute too. What resulted was called a Cock-a-Chon, the most adorable bundle of fluff you’d ever seen.

Each puppy had the cutest curly fur and was the perfect mix of both their parent’s beautiful faces. They wouldn’t be too large when grown which was good for you both, as neither of you wanted a really big dog or anything. The puppy you’d both chosen was a creamy golden colour and you’d both fallen in love with her as soon as she’d fallen over her feet when running over to you.

Well...you say that you’d chosen her. It was more like she’d chosen Hoseok because he’d immediately ended up with a tiny puppy crawling all over his legs while her tail wagged at such speed you were worried she might hurt it. Needless to say, Hoseok had been completely lost to those sweet black eyes.

It had taken one look at you with equally big and cute eyes that had been earnestly begging to get your agreement. And that had been it. You’d officially known you were going to be collecting her a few weeks after that point and you’d let Hoseok name her, choosing Ciri from the Witcher series.

The time spent in-between that visit and going to bring her home had been spent making sure that the house was puppy-proof. You hadn’t known how to do that but the two of you had done a lot of research, hoping that if she was kept entertained enough then you wouldn’t have to worry about chewing or anything.

Given that Hoseok had been the one to want a dog in the first place, you’d let him run wild with all the stuff he wanted to get for her. There wasn’t any room for argument considering the number of things you’d bought Kasumi over the years and it had been heart-warming to watch Hoseok get so excited over a patterned collar and a personalised name tag on it.

So she had a ridiculous amount of dog toys already, alongside what you were convinced was a mountain of puppy food and treats, those mats to help house train her, two dog beds, a collar, a cage and lots of blankets to go inside it to train her for when neither of you was home. You hadn’t particularly liked the idea of caging her but you’d resolved to make it her safe space where she could go when she was feeling tired or just didn’t want to be bothered instead of punishment or anything.

Honestly, you’d warned Hoseok many times to make sure he didn’t go too overboard and spoil a dog neither of you even had yet.

Quite clearly, it hadn’t worked given how much he’d bought the little puppy. But again, you were loath to put a leash on his enthusiasm for it all. Pun not intended.

He never asked for a whole lot from you, even now with your three-year-anniversary approaching in just a few months. It always felt like you were taking a lot from him and not giving much back, so if he wanted to go wild and buy a lot of stuff for the new puppy then you weren’t going to complain too much.

There was a lot worse to spend his money on. Not to mention the fact that you weren’t even paying for Ciri. His aunt didn’t want to be paid for the puppy given she was going to a family member and she hadn’t even been expecting them at all. From what you knew, the other puppies had been sold for only a hundred dollars each. Just to cover their medical expenses up to that point.

It was a fantastic deal really, but you were mostly just pleased that Hoseok was finally going to get the dog he’d always wanted. He spoiled you often enough so you were revelling in the fact that you got to spoil him in turn.

That thought made you snort with laughter, the very idea of you two fighting not because you were angry but because you were trying to one-up each other with affection and love. You don’t get to see the curious look Hoseok gives you, slight confusion on his face before he shrugs to himself.

“I hope Kasumi will be okay with this.” Whispering the words, you frown slightly as you watch the road ahead. There’s only maybe another five minutes before you’ll both be there, reading to pick up Ciri and take her home but you’re a little worried about your other pet.

Ciri would probably be fine with her, being so young that she’d grow up with the cat as her big sister. But Kasumi had spent a long time with it being just her getting all the attention from you, and Hoseok when he’d entered her life. Not to mention the fact that she could hurt Ciri if they didn’t get on, those sharp claws easily causing harm to the tiny puppy.

“We’ll take it slow. The good thing about cats is that they can take themselves away if they’re not happy. She’s used to Ciri’s scent and we’ve got plenty of treats and toys for her too so she doesn’t feel so left out. We just have to make sure that we don’t let Ciri overwhelm her. She’ll be okay Meeps.” Hoseok reaches out and takes your hand, rubbing at your knuckles in reassurance.

His aunt had sent over some blankets and toys that she’d rubbed all over Ciri, soaking them in the puppy’s scent so that you could introduce it to Kasumi. Hopefully, it would mean that while your beloved cat probably wouldn’t appreciate the exuberance of her new sister but she would at least recognise the smell.

“Is it silly that I’m worrying about stuff like that? I mean...your friends are getting married and having babies but I’m here just concerned that my cat might not like our puppy.” That makes Hoseok snort in amusement, slipping his hand beneath yours to link your fingers together before squeezing.

“Hey...that’s their choice. We’ve chosen to have furbabies instead, nothing wrong with that.” Wrinkling your nose, you indicate to turn right and drive slowly down the street his aunt lives on. It’s a nice area with large houses set back from the road, each one having an equally big drive leading to two-car garages. Tall trees, probably decades old at this point, line along the street with luscious green grass between each one and the dips allowing cars to park.

Much like the rest of Hoseok’s family, his aunt is pretty wealthy. She never had any kids though, living in her beautiful house with her wife and a menagerie of animals. Alongside the cocker spaniel that had gotten pregnant; she also had a chocolate labrador, a black cocker spaniel, a parakeet and three cats. It was your idea of a dream in terms of all the animals but the clean up must be terrible.

Pulling into her driveway, you take in the sight of her house once more in awe. You doubt anyone in your family could ever afford something like this and it still leaves you with a sense of imposter syndrome when you realise just how rich Hoseok’s whole family is.

Thankfully though, he’d never made it an issue.

“Oh my god! Come on! Let’s go.” Hoseok practically squeals, his excitement making him look so young and completely at odds with his metalhead appearance. Snorting, you can’t help but smirk as you turn off the engine as he’s already out of the car. Sighing affectionately, you follow him at a much slower pace.

He’s already vanished into the house by the time you get to the door, his aunt, Miyeon, standing with the door held open and an exasperated look on her face. Smiling at her, you take your shoes off and hand her the bag that you’d prepared earlier with an apologetic look on your face.

“Hi, Auntie! How are you? Oh, I’m good thanks Hoseok, and you?” She says sarcastically, rolling her eyes at you. There’s more than a little fondness in her face and voice though so you’re not too worried that she’s genuinely annoyed at him, smiling a little brighter as you greet her.

“Sorry. He’s excited. It’s been like having a toddler in the car rather than an almost 31-year-old man. Thank you so much though, I know you didn’t want anything for her but I couldn’t just..give you nothing. Hoseok said that you collect wine and I don’t know anything about wine because I don’t drink but-” She interrupts you with a hand on your arm, a smile on her face.

“You didn’t have to. But thank you, I appreciate it. Don’t worry, wine is wine. I’ll enjoy drinking it no matter what, I guarantee you that. Anyway, come on. I’ve baked some cookies for you both. Hobi always used to adore eating them when he was younger; peanut butter, hazelnut and chocolate chips.” Leading you through her home, you can already hear the barking of puppies alongside Hoseok’s joyful laughter.

You don’t even realise you’re smiling until you see yourself in a mirror, your expression light and happy. Who’d have thought that just the sound of someone’s laugh could be such a fulfilling experience?

“Ahhh, so that’s why he likes them. He always asks me to bake those if I’m in that kind of mood. Always thought it was a bit odd as he doesn’t eat anything else with peanut butter, just those. Seemed a strange combination for him to love.” Her kitchen is just as big as the rest of the house, tastefully decorated with all the latest appliances.

You were a little envious of her fridge. It was one of those super fancy Samsung ones where you could see inside without even opening the door thanks to a panel on the front alongside what you could only describe as a tablet embedded into the door. Who needed to watch Netflix on their fridge?

But all you can truly focus on is the delicious scent of freshly baked cookies. Inhaling deeply, you hum and can’t help but wiggle in delight. His aunt laughs, handing one to you and you eat it quickly. They’re not your favourite flavour but you’d never turn down a homemade cookie.

Especially when it was still warm and slightly gooey.

“Go on, go take one to Hoseok. If he’s not gone into a puppy coma or something. Bora is working late tonight so she won’t be home,” She mentions her wife, letting you know that you won’t be seeing her today. “And I’ve got some paperwork to catch up on. Just let me know when you’re ready to go.”

“Are you sure? Do you need any help?” Shaking her head, Miyeon smiles softly at you before suddenly cupping your cheek. Her hands are soft, likely through years of a careful skincare regime, and warm but there’s nothing strange about it. More like she’s just observing you.

“He’s lucked out with you, does he know that?” Snorting, you grin as you move away towards the sound of happy chaos. Looking back at her, you hold the cookie up with pride.

“I try to make sure he realises that at least once a day. Keep him on his toes, you know?” Her laughter follows you out of the kitchen and you marvel at yourself for how bold you’d just been. Your past self would be shocked to see you now, probably confused as to how you feel confident enough to say something so bold.

“Hey, butthead. You didn’t say hello to your aunt. That was rude,” You say to Hoseok, your tone only slightly playful. “Go say hi. Look, she even made you cookies.”

Handing one to him, you note how he’s laid on the floor and is surrounded by all the puppies in the litter. Ciri was going to be the first one to go so her four brothers and sisters were all still here. Small tails were wagging furiously at your arrival and you couldn’t help but giggle as they ran over to you, jumping and standing on Hoseok’s exposed stomach from where his shirt had twisted up and causing him to groan.

“Hello, puppies! Oh, aren’t you so cute!” Cooing to them, you hand the cookie to Hoseok as he sits up with a slight wince. For a minute or so, he just eats and watches you with the little ones as you play with them all, unable to stop smiling as they practically throw their small, furry bodies against you in an attempt for your attention.

“Go say hi!” Hissing slightly, your eyes narrow at Hoseok until he holds his hands up and gets up, heading out of the room to go properly greet his aunt. Once he’s gone, you look at all the puppies with a gleeful expression and sit cross-legged.

“Good, he’s gone. Let’s play!” The last word is loud and sharp while you reach forward, tickling one of them until they fall onto their back, showing their tummy for scratches and yelping enthusiastically. His siblings are barking too, tails hitting you almost painfully from how hard they’re going.

Glancing over at their mom, who’s currently laid in her dog bed with tired eyes, you smile affectionately before crawling over to her and giving her a loving stroke too. She seems to almost let out a deep sigh and you can’t help but laugh, running your fingers through her soft fur.

“Is it tiring, mama? All these babies wanting your attention all the time. I bet you can’t wait for some alone time. You’ve done well though, look how cute they are!” It must be a law somewhere that everyone should take to animals as if they’re human, especially in that voice that’s reserved for cute things.

But her big eyes are full of warmth and her tail wags lazily against the bed at your words, causing a few pups to try and attack it. You can’t help but marvel at how she just doesn’t seem to notice them, letting them do what they want.

“Not long now, they’ll all be going to their new homes soon. I bet you’ll miss them. We’ll bring Ciri by sometimes so you can see her!” The other dogs in the house had been socialised with the puppies for the last few weeks and Choco, the labrador was currently laid out against the couch. He was watching you carefully but for the most part, didn’t seem to be too bothered by all the noise.

You presumed that Bella, the other spaniel, was with Miyeon in her office.

“Okay, I said hello. And apologised,” Hoseok said, sitting down next to you and immediately welcoming two puppies onto his lap. “Sorry, I was rude, you’re right. They’re even cuter than last time.”

Grabbing one of the toys they had, he played with one of them enthusiastically until the puppy seemed to exhaust itself. There was a brief moment where it tried hard to keep up but then the next thing you knew, it was fast asleep on the floor. Laughing, you pointed at it before grinning at Hoseok.

“Oh my god, it’s you when you’re drunk.”

That gets a playful scowl but he just shrugs, reaching over to rub Choco’s ears to make sure he didn’t feel left out by it all. The labrador’s long tail beats against the floor tiredly, almost like he can’t be bothered to do it and you smirk at the sight. No doubt all the animals in the house are feeling a little tired and overwhelmed with all the excitement that’s been happening.

Finally, though, the puppies all seem to lose their energy and start to fall asleep wherever they are. Soon enough, you’re surrounded by bundles of fluff that are all twitching in their sleep, the silence pleasant after all their noise.

Hoseok carefully, and slowly, lifts Ciri into his lap. Her colouring was more cream than the rest of them, the others skewing more towards an almost golden tan. It had been part of the reason he’d named her Ciri. Her character in the show, video game and book series was infamous for her ash-blonde hair.

She doesn’t wake up, even as he takes off the coloured collar that had indicated whose puppy she was and replaces it with the one you’d both bought. The tag clunks loudly against the metal ring, causing you both to pause in fear that you’ve woken the others up but none of them stirs.

Finally, he shuffles back until he’s resting against the couch next to you, Ciri sleeping soundly in his arms and looks at you with a bright grin. The sheer amount of affection and happiness in that expression makes your heart physically ache, causing you to press a hand to it without realising.

“Ahh, we have a dog!” He whispers, eyes dancing as he tilts until he’s leaning heavily against you. His head rests on your shoulder and you smile, kissing his hair and just inhaling deeply. The smell of him always makes you feel content and relaxed, but even more so right now after all the chaos of the puppies for the last fifteen minutes.

“We do. Happy?” Nodding, he looks up at you before carefully reaching and cupping your cheek. His hands are rougher than his aunts, but you lean into the touch happily. There’s a brief pause before he kisses you, the movement soft and gentle with no real pressure. It’s more of an ‘I’m-happy’ kiss than anything else and you reciprocate it with ease.

The two of you stay in comfortable silence after that, just stroking and admiring Ciri for a while with no inclination to move just yet. You didn’t want to take her from her family so soon, even if you were her new family now. She should get to play with them all one last time before she goes.

“God, if you told college Hoseok that in a decade he’d been in a long-term relationship with a job, a house, a car, a dog and a cat...well let’s just say that laughing would have been the politest thing he could have done.”

“You know, I was thinking something like that earlier. I don’t think my old me would even recognise me now. But I think that’s for the better. I like who I am now, where I am now.” Stroking Ciri’s velvet-soft ears, you don’t see the fond smile on Hoseok’s face.

“I love you.” Smiling shyly, you take the chance to lean against him now and rest your head. Gently, you poke at his arm in your silent language, letting him know that you reciprocate before sighing contentedly.

For once, you finally felt completely at ease.

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3laxx · 3 years

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Beneath Hexside High

When Boscha accidentally trashes the gym in Grudgby practice, Luz panics and pulls her in Gus' tunnel to avoid getting in trouble. Unfortunately for them, that only gets them in more trouble, as they discover some dark secret beneath Hexside...

Luz and Boscha fall through the floor into their rival school's ruins, Glandus, and discover that they aren't alone down there. Begrudgingly, they have to work together.

The summary is a little questionable but I'm tired xD I'm glad it attracted you anyway! Also I'm very open for summary suggestions, just shoot them in the comments!

In any way, have fun with this Oneshot, I had a lot of fun writing it and will hopefully be able to write more over summer.

Ao3 / FF.net

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Grumbling, she leaned against her locker and let her head knock against the hard surface. How these things were actually alive while feeling so much like metal was still a mystery to her, even after the four years she had spent on the Boiling Isles.

She was nearing graduation now, and her choice to take all tracks took its toll now. Nowadays, she was hurrying from one class to another, trying to perfect her glyphs skills while also trying to cram as much theory into her head as possible.

Her ADHD wasn’t making her life easy, with just scribbling down notes while listening to professors droning on about something, but usually, it helped when the magic theory showed itself in the more practical lessons. Naturally, she had a lot more trouble getting all the history right, since the Boiling Isles had an entirely different chronology and events from the human world.

Here, nobody knew about the invention of the printing machine, the World Wars, or John F. Kennedy.

Instead, she was learning about the Savage ages, the emperor’s version of the history of the Boiling Isles (while Eda was teaching her all about the true history) and the different laws and establishments made over the past fifty years.

Well, her friends kept an eye on her at least.

Eda always made her eat enough, so much that she started reminding her of her mom back in the human realm by now, and King always managed to make her smile.

Willow and Gus helped her with Plants and Illusions and when Boscha had started being a little more open to the friendly human, her clique had started helping Luz along as well. With their help, Luz had managed to find a lot more glyphs still, and now at the age of eighteen, she had mastered plants and ice magic, as well as discovered useful glyphs for abominations, oracles, lightning, teleportation, and her personal favorite, mist. Well, it was more of a combination between fire and ice glyphs, which she had first discovered by mixing up drawing her glyph in class and accidentally created the mist glyph, which held properties of both the fire and ice glyph.

She could also summon clear water and had even managed to find a shield glyph, making it a lot easier on Eda and Lilith to protect the House from boiling rain.

She had even been able to find a healing glyph, which she had immediately given to the Healing Coven as well because they had a deeper understanding of their magic, and paired with the glyph, Luz had been able to learn advanced healing outside of Hexside classes together with some glyph interested healers.

By now, she could easily attend to scratches, wounds, lacerations and even ease the pain of broken bones. The healers over in the Coven loved using the glyphs as a first-aid painkiller.

The best aspect of staying here on the Boiling Isles was, of course, her chosen family and friends, but one person had managed to make her stay way sweeter.

Her girlfriend.

Opening her eyes, Luz smiled towards the chattering group of her friends closing in on her locker and locked eyes with Amity. The young witch smiled back and, upon reaching her, leaned next to her on the lockers, not minding the eye above her head blinking sleepily before closing again, and took Luz’s hand to interlace their fingers.

“Hi babe.”, she greeted and got a small meep! in return, making her smirk. Amity was still so easily flustered, she almost felt bad.

“Hi. You look tired.”, there it was. Luz hummed when she gave a noncommittal shrug, then she turned to Willow who was waiting for her attention to talk about the upcoming test in plants.

Amity and she had started dating two years ago when they had confessed during their Azura Book Club meeting. Or well, Amity had confessed, Luz had awkwardly laughed and kissed her hand.

Fond memories.

She bit back a chuckle before answering Willow while squeezing Amity’s hand softly.

“Hey Willow, by the way. I’ve had some trouble with the speed of growing flowers. Either I grow them too fast and they break or I grow them too slow and can’t get them to full bloom. What’s up with that?”, she asked, getting Willow’s full attention – and enthusiasm – for her question.

After Willow had switched to the plant track, it had become evident that the plat witch not only had quite some skill to show for this track but also the enthusiasm and interest to study hard for it. She had caught up with theory a lot faster than Bump would’ve anticipated.

Her girlfriend rested her head against her shoulder before answering Skara who had been gushing about some up-and-coming singer she heard about, and Luz couldn’t help but overhear the mini yawn she tried to cover. Apparently, she had studied all night again, and then she was calling her tired.

Luz nodded to the answer Willow gave about managing to bring the flower up to full bloom before keeping it right there, when the bell screamed and she reached down to shoulder her bag again, waving the others goodbye and tugging Amity along who was just laughing about a joke Gus made before turning back to her.

Another little yawn.

Luz hummed at that, kissing her temple. She didn’t even get a chastising clap on her shoulder, just a quiet, satisfied hum. Normally, Amity was pretty adamant about keeping public affection to a minimum, especially while they were nearing graduation. But sometimes, Luz couldn’t resist.

“I look tired while you’re dead on your feet.”, she mumbled and Amity tried to bite something back but instead, a big yawn now sounded. She grinned at that and lifted their hands, pressing a soft kiss to her fingers and coming to a stop in front of the abomination’s classroom.

Luckily, they would attend a practical class today. She was sure Amity would doze away otherwise with the state she was in. Humming, Luz turned to her and softly took her in her arms, resting her chin on the side of Amity’s head. Thanks to her heels, Amity was just tall enough for Luz not to reach the top of her head, but she was still small enough for Luz to cuddle her in properly. The abominations professor would still take a while, Luz had heard about some hold up in the oracles hallways and he had been called there to keep whatever it was under control.

Amity sighed and buried her face in her girlfriend’s uniform, before nuzzling her way up to Luz’s neck, breathing against her brown skin. Luz loved the way she was snuggling up to her, like a little cat. Whenever she was given the chance, Amity would take up any and all physical affection. Preferably in private, since she wasn’t a big fan of being observed doing so, but with her sleep deprivation, her boundaries had seemed to be somewhat adjusted.

Not that Luz minded. She loved affection from her, and she didn’t care about being in public. Sometimes she even liked it, because she could show people how much Amity was her little girlfriend.

“… Mm md m stud all nmmght…”, she mumbled and Luz strained her ears but couldn’t actually make out what Amity had meant.

“… What did you say?”, she asked and the witch huffed, before turning her head a bit so her mouth wouldn’t be pressed up against Luz’s collarbone and muffle her words.

“Mom made me study all night.”, she replied, now much clearer and Luz grumbled at that, “For the last test I got.”

Furrowing her eyebrows, Luz held her tighter, genuinely confused.

“Your last test was an A, how could she be angry with that?”, she asked and Amity huffed.

“I don’t know. I think she had a bad day.”, she sighed, then she pressed a small, hidden kiss to Luz’s neck and shook her head.

“No talk, more hug.”, she demanded and Luz knew exactly why. After this class, she would have to go to the gym to train for Grudgby and Amity didn’t like hugging her when she was sweaty. She assumed her girlfriend just didn’t like the smell. And after lunch, they both had some extra activities, which meant no Azura Book Club for the afternoon.

Luz already missed her until tomorrow.

Even after two years of a happy relationship, the longing for close proximity hadn’t lessened. Even a weekend occasionally was too long, resulting in some snippy, well-meaning comments from Eda until Luz would see her again on Monday.

The witch nuzzled closer to her and Luz leaned her head against hers, experimentally blowing some tiny baby hairs that stood away from her little ponytail, observing how they fluttered in the wind. Amity had tried resisting her mother’s demands to dye her hair again about a year back but had quickly lost the fight. Luz wondered what her hair would look like now since Amity had let it grow out a little more and kept it wilder and unruly. She would really like to see her naturally brunette hair on her. Maybe as soon as Amity turned eighteen, she was allowed to let it grow out.

Humming, Luz let herself fall back against the wall, pulling Amity with her and letting her rest on her chest due to the slight angle they stood in now, but Amity didn’t seem to mind. They waited for another bit until it became clear that the professor wouldn’t turn up anymore, so Luz coaxed Amity into following her to the communal space of the graduates, a room that was reserved for the grad class only, where they lied down on a couch together.

Sitting down against the backrest, Amity immediately slumped against her and Luz adjusted accordingly for her girlfriend to sit comfortably, before nuzzling her nose into her hair.

“What class you got after abominations?”, she asked softly and Amity hummed, a little strained.

“Runes. Can you just hide me?”, she asked and Luz had to smile about that, softly kissing her temple. Amity wasn’t even bothered by the handful of other students in the room, which painted a full picture of her exhaustion for Luz.

“I don’t think I have room to hide you in my Grudgby uniform.”, she timidly replied and Amity let out an exasperated groan, before turning to Luz and throwing both her leg over her lap and her arm around her chest.

“Pleeease, I’m so tired, I don’t wanna go to Runes.”, she whined and Luz decided she had never heard anything more adorable than her girlfriend’s whining.

“You’re top of the year. You’re not allowed to say stuff like that. Others are looking up to you.”, she jokingly mumbled, to which she finally earned the well-deserved jab in her ribs.

“You’re not allowed to say that to me, you’re my girlfriend.”, Amity grumbled and Luz giggled, somewhat sliding to the side so she leaned against the armrest instead and put her legs up on the couch after kicking off her shoes and coaxed Amity to follow her suit. Which she did and a minute later, they were lying down on their sides, cuddled up together.

“Sorry, Mi Amor, I won’t do it again.”, she mumbled, then Amity pressed her cold nose into the crook between her jaw and neck, which made her shiver. Amity loved to do that because she always had an exceptionally cold nose tip.

“Good. Accept defeat.”, the young witch huffed and Luz couldn’t help but giggle at her sleepy voice, softly kissing her forehead, before nudging her so Amity would look up. She looked up blearily, her eyes barely opened so Luz couldn’t even make out the molten gold of her iris, then she kissed her nose tip before Amity was allowed to lie back down on her chest, her nose pushing right back to the junction of Luz’s neck to her jaw. She supposed she wouldn’t ever be able to get Amity to stop that. Honestly, she didn’t want to, anyway.

“I accept defeat, oh almighty overlord.”, she softly mocked the girl in her arms and got an indignant, but nonetheless content huff back. Smiling, Luz listened to her breaths getting longer and calmer, while she kept her nose buried in her hair, enjoying smelling Amity’s very own scent paired with the shampoo she was using. Humming, the Latina finally closed her eyes as well, smiling to herself.

It didn’t take long until Amity fell asleep against her and Luz was just glad that the twins didn’t attend Hexside anymore since they had graduated two years ago.

It wasn’t that she didn’t miss their antics, but it sure made Amity a lot more comfortable not being annoyed by her older siblings all day long, since they still lived at home and she had them all afternoon still.

Luz was leaning against the side rest of the couch now and Amity had her arms slung around her torso, her cheek squished against Luz’s chest while she slept. The human smiled softly, before taking a picture on Amity’s scroll phone for her to find later, then she rested her head back against the cushion and hummed, closing her eyes as well.

She trusted the bell’s screaming to wake them up in time, so she let herself doze away softly, enjoying the feeling of her girlfriend in her arms and her head rested on her chest, their steady breathing aligning until they created a calming symphony.

Little did she know Gus found them as well after Luz had also dozed away, and taken another picture to send to them later, before sitting down on the couch next to them and starting to practice an Illusion spell he had been working on together with Luz, who had found the Illusion glyph just about a week ago.

---

Luz groaned when her head slammed into the stone floor and she opted to just stay on her back until the white spots of pain would stop dancing in her vision.

This decision wasn’t hers to make, though.

Because a rough pair of hands ripped her up and pulled her into a sprint. Or well, she was stumbling more than she was running actually until she regained her footing and was able to carry herself across the bumpy, uneven floor while behind them, a growl sounded.

“For fucks sake, Noceda!”, an incredibly charming voice yelled into her ear as if she hadn’t just taken the brunt of the fall for them both and she winced with the volume.

“Boscha, I swear, if it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t be in this situation!”, she grumbled, rubbing the spot where she had hit the stone, then she glanced over to the triclops girl.

The other teen didn’t spare her a glance while her seeking eyes followed the hallway they were running down, seeking a hideout or an exit or anything.

“That’s because you insisted on using that stupid tunnel the small faker dug to get away from Bump!”, Boscha growled and Luz finally ripped her hands away, so she could be running freely again.

“First of all, Gus is an Illusionist, not a faker. And it’s not my fault you trashed the gym just to show me off!”, she shot back and followed Boscha taking a sharp right.

“And it’s not my fault your stupid face makes me wanna throw things into it!”

The human groaned. They wouldn’t get anywhere with this.

After they had once again gotten into a fight in the gym, Boscha had absolutely trashed the place, leading to Bump demanding to speak to them and Luz, handling out of panic, pulling Boscha into the tunnel Gus had dug under the school.

The tunnel floor had opened up under the weight of the two girls, and given way to a hidden set of hallways, looking like the school floors above them. Luz had a bad feeling that they had been hidden and sealed off for a reason. Didn’t Grom live under the school or something?

She definitely remembered that Hexside had been built on the ruins of their opposing school, Glandus High. Were these ruins of the former Glandus school?

Well, it didn’t matter anyway. Because right after they had fallen into these forgotten hallways, something had started chasing them. Boscha had said it was something like rats, just essentially bigger versions from the human realm, but at the same time, she had been pretty uncertain.

That wasn’t anything like critters living off of crumbs down here. She was pretty sure it was a lot worse, maybe even Grometheus himself, but she absolutely didn’t want to find out. And to both their dismay, in their panic, Boscha and Luz had managed to find what was probably the only other hole in the ground and fallen through that as well. Now they were a long way under the school with no way back up.

Boscha took another aimless left and Luz huffed, still rubbing her head before running straight into a wall, along with Boscha who had looked behind them. Now, this was a dead end.

“Fuck. Any ideas?”, the three-eyed gaze found her and Luz quickly got up to grab Boscha’s sleeve in turn now and dart back to the hallway they had been coming from, before running again, away from the direction they had been coming from.

“I think these hallways are somewhat structured like Hexside above. If we follow this one and take a right, we might find some stairs and breakthrough.”, she rambled, her brain running a thousand miles an hour while she was trying to navigate through this maze. She hoped there would be some sort of stairs.

“Are you sure about this, Noceda?!”

Rolling her eyes, Luz shrugged and let go of Boscha’s sleeve.

“I’m assuming these are Glandus High hallways. I hope Bump somewhat resembled Hexside from it.”

Now it was Boscha’s turn to snarl.

“You really think Bump would resemble the infrastructure of our rivals?!”, she asked and Luz grimaced. She admitted, it seemed super unlikely, but if she was being honest, she had no idea. She just wanted to keep running for now. What was worrying her more was that the walls all along the hallways were somewhat lit. Which meant there was still magic lingering around here.

Was this a good or a bad sign? What if the creature chasing them was feeding off of it? Or even worse, it was the one keeping the magic alive down here?

Growling, Luz tried to keep her mind in the game instead of lapsing into theories.

They took another turn, running down a hallway and past a few abandoned rooms, but soon it became evident to Luz that if the hallways were somewhat close to Hexside above, they should’ve stumbled across some stairs by now.

“Maybe we can hide out in one of those rooms for the time being, until that thing forgets us!”, she yelped, pinching her aching sides, but Boscha didn’t lessen her sprint.

“That thing found us immediately when we fell down here! Pretty sure it uses magic tracking us!”

A nod was all Luz could muster. She groaned, taking a turn to some sort of communal area, then they sprinted into another hallway branching off of it, spending no time looking around. And sure enough, a few seconds after they left the room, she heard one of the old chairs cracking.

“Shouldn’t we find any sort of way upstairs, soon?!”, she questioned and the other teen growled, “I mean, we’re two levels below, somehow they had to be connected!”

After taking another turn, they stumbled into a big room, looking almost like an auditorium, and Luz had to break her sprint into a jog, favoring her aching sides.

“C’mon human! We gotta go!”, the witch yelled when she turned, but Luz was heaving. She couldn’t go on like that.

“I’ll try to block off here! Go around!”, she ordered and pulled a glyph, turning through the door they had been coming through. Boscha knew Luz was right. They couldn’t keep on running away like this, and she preferred the open space to the hallways as well. Grumbling, she jogged backward, then she turned and sprinted out into the hallway to go around. Luckily, they seemed to stretch all around this auditorium or gym.

Meanwhile, Luz tried to regain her breath as she threw the rock glyph, creating a wall underneath herself so whatever followed them would be confused first. Huffing, she crouched down on the ledge she had created for the beast to show itself. It had started chasing them down immediately after they had entered these halls and not let off of them. Maybe it was territorial, but it shouldn’t have found them as easily.

Groaning, Luz rubbed her sides. She was not used to sprinting that much, even after playing Grudgby for four years now. Against Amity’s endurance and Willow’s strength, she was still very much a nerd. Suddenly, silence filled the catacombs down here and the scratching and huffing from whatever had given them a good run for their lives stopped. For a short moment, Luz feared it had gotten Boscha, but she would’ve heard her screams. Probably.

Holding her breath, she fixated the door while she pulled the next glyph, a fire glyph, and remained quiet. Apparently, Boscha did the same, as she couldn’t hear a sound whatsoever anymore.

And then, hell broke loose.

Something was barreling through her wall and the next thing she knew she was falling down to the ground. Rocks of her summoned wall fell around her and dust filled her lungs before she roughly slammed on the tiles below, her elbow cracking and her head, once again, connecting with stone.

At this rate, she should consider wearing a helmet.

Quickly coming to her feet, Luz stumbled out of the dust cloud and for the first time, got a proper look at the beast that had been following them around for the past few minutes. It was big and scaly, but she couldn’t define what exactly it was. It almost looked like a mix of a rat and a lizard, just a lot bigger than was still acceptable. Its skin and scales seemed worn and battle experienced, but the beast didn’t seem old. On the contrary, it seemed quite full of energy.

A scream escaped her throat and the thing turned towards her. Where there should be eyes, there was just head. Her gaze flickering around, she saw no eyes. This thing had nothing that resembled eyes. Apparently, it was blind.

Figures why it found them so quickly.

It was completely relying on its hearing, judging by the big, mouse-like ears on top of its head. Luz breathed through. Maybe she could befriend and calm it down. After all, they fell into its territory, maybe they could satiate its rage somewhat and leave before anyone came to harm.

When it opened its big snout, though, Luz gulped and reconsidered.

These teeth looked very much made for killing.

She doubted this thing grew them for no reason. They looked like they could smash and swallow cows in whole. The thing started charging at her and she couldn’t move in shock until a fireball slammed into the side of its hideous head and she looked over to see a furious pink head between the rubble.

“Human! Do you have a death wish?!”, she heard and resisted rolling her eyes.

“How do we escape this?!”, she shot back and Boscha jumped over the debris of her failed wall, before joining her side, grumbling when she summoned fire around her hands.

“We kill it.”, she hissed and Luz slanted her lips, but she readied a glyph.

“I don’t feel like that’s the right thi-”, she began, but the triclops sent another fireball after the beast before grabbing her neck, her hand clasping too tightly she almost complained and forcing her out of the way while it charged.

“Either this thing or us!”, she called and the human sighed. Fine, she could see that logic. That still didn’t ease her mind.

“It’s blind! We could use that!”

Boscha shot her a glance and, while obviously heeding her useful information, she still seemed aggravated and annoyed with her. There was just no way to make Boscha happy.

Keeping their mouths shut and their feet planted to the ground, they held their breath. The beast shook its head after slamming into the wall, then it began sniffing around and Luz had to muffle a disgruntled groan of annoyance.

Cool, it could smell them as well. So much went for keeping quiet if it could still locate them.

Picking up her scent, it turned towards her and once again opened its snout, revealing its multiple fangs, before charging back at her and Luz could just so jump out of the way while it rushed past her.

“It can smell us!”, she yelled at Boscha who summoned some lightning to throw it at the beast, confusing it for a moment while she joined back up with the human.

“Alright then, new plan.”, the pink-headed witch shot her a glare, readying her stance, “We finally turn deadly.”

Grumbling, Luz pulled out a few new glyphs, furrowing her eyebrows.

“You do. I’ll try to cage it in.”, she held back and Boscha growled in frustration.

“Fine, you do you. As soon as you trapped it, I can kill it.”

She was just about to disagree when Boscha was already on the move. The witch sprinted towards the beast and sent powerful blasts after it, while Luz still pondered. She didn’t want to kill it. They had intruded into their territory. On the other hand, it was probably powerful enough to break out of everything Luz would cook up for it as a cage. And even if she could somehow capture it, it’d most likely starve once they left.

Huffing, the human gripped her glyphs tighter and ran after Boscha. She couldn’t prevent it and most likely, Boscha was right. They would either kill it or be killed and if she could choose, she preferred the first option to the second.

Slapping a glyph on the floor, she let a thorned vine shoot towards the beast but it smartly dodged the plant and instead opted for trampling Luz down in a big cloud of dust, while Boscha didn’t stop shooting it with everything she had.

Dazedly, Luz got back up after having felt her ribcage being compressed by about thrice her weight, then she threw another glyph to hinder it from reaching Boscha. An ice pillar slammed into its side just as it got ready to snap at the Grudgby team captain, then she huffed and propped herself up on her knees.

That had been close. The beast got back up way faster than she had been able to recharge and whipped its tail at the witch, but she managed to slam it back with a shield, causing an explosion where the tail connected with the shield.

“Human!”

Luz reacted fast and jumped to action, letting a plant glyph grow underground to resurface right before Boscha and foiling another attack, at least stalling the beast for a moment, until the witch could get herself a little farther away. She stumbled back, summoning lightning to disorient the attacker, then she made a run for it, past Luz and towards a wider space, so they could fan out and take it into their crossfire. The demon tried snapping at both of them but they were standing too far apart, both attacking it with the best they could muster until the beast managed to break through Luz’s defense and slam her into the wall behind her.

Groaning, she fell to the floor and immediately smelled the horrible stench of decaying organic material around her. The beast had her now.

She squinted her eyes and felt teeth snapping at her, yet the attacker was pulled back and only managed to bite onto her leg, dragging her with.

Opening her eyes, Luz saw Boscha having summoned a leash on which she had tried to pull it away from her.

“Fuck’s sake, Boscha! Let it go!”, she screamed in pain and gave it her best to punch and kick the beast wherever she could, but she had yet to find a weak spot.

“If you wanna be eaten, sure!”, the witch yelled back and despite the pain, Luz couldn’t help but groan in frustration. Sure, thank you, she was hanging onto that thing Boscha had caught.

Growling, she slapped a rock glyph on the floor and conjured a spike to impale the beast from beneath, but it jumped to the side. At least she had left an anchor to hold onto now, which she promptly did.

Immediately, the pull on her leg made her scream, and the beast snapped after her again in the hopes of getting more of her.

“LET GO RIGHT NOW!!”, she screamed and the pull stopped when the beast was released and jumped forward, ripping her in a different direction now, but she was prepared. A well-aimed blast from her explosion glyph shot the snout of the thing right open as the side of it had been exposed. Luz rolled away and tried coming back to her feet but there was no use.

“Strap it down!”, she yelled at Boscha who was already way ahead of her. The witch jumped past her and used the leash spell again to trap it, yelping when its razor-sharp teeth grazed her arm, then Luz slapped a glyph on the ground and a gigantic ice shard rose from the ground, impaling the beast right through the stomach and out its back.

Panting, the two teenagers watched its breathing stopping, then Boscha dropped down to the ground next to Luz.

“Titan’s fucking asshole, human.”, she fell flat on her back, panting, “Luckily for us I got skills.”

At that, the human could merely snarl as she sat up a little straighter, slapping a healing glyph on her impaled leg and making it a little better. She couldn’t quite heal up, but at least she had stopped the blood flow.

“Lucky for us I got enough glyphs packed for some reason. Oh wait, I know exactly why! Because I knew you would get us in trouble in training.”, she shot back and Boscha couldn’t do much else than laugh.

“… We’re actually a good team, Noceda.”, she finally said and Luz plopped down next to her before using her last healing glyph to stick it to Boscha’s arm, causing a low grunt from the witch as the pain subsided.

“We actually are, huh.”, grinning smugly, she turned back to the other teenager, “… ‘s that mean I’m off the bench?”

Boscha merely gave her a glare.

---

After a few minutes of catching their breath, they decided not to take their chances with the family of that thing.

Luz had discovered her arm that had taken the brunt of the fall from her wall was bruised and she shouldn’t move it more. At least she could move everything else. All over her body she was sporting scratches, smaller and bigger ones, and her leg had started bleeding again after the magic of the glyph had faded, even if the wounds had gotten smaller. The back of her head felt wet due to hitting it on the ground two or three times – she didn’t even remember anymore – but she didn’t dare to check if she was actually bleeding. For now, it was just a feeling and she couldn’t do anything about it anyway, because she had used up her healing glyphs.

Boscha looked just like her, except she had a laceration on her forehead from when the beast had decided to hit her force shield and sported some nasty gashes along her arm. Just like Luz, she was bruised all over.

Unwillingly, she still offered her support when Luz couldn’t put weight on her leg and let her wrap an arm around her shoulders before they could start to make their way towards the next hallway. Luz hobbled along to Boscha’s dragging steps and they made slow progress, but at least they couldn’t make out any other hostile noises for now. She didn’t suppose they could last another fight, Boscha’s bile sac was probably drained and her glyphs wouldn’t last them long anymore.

Luckily for them, they actually found a flight of stairs. It didn’t get them far, but at least they got back up to the level they had fallen into from Gus’ tunnel. Luz would really have to inform him of the maze down here, to mind when he would continue on his tunnel, not to fall down here on accident.

On the other hand, if she told him, he’d probably go down here on purpose to explore. Grimacing, she decided to tell Willow, so she could at least attempt to secure Gus’ tunnel enough so he wouldn’t do the same as Boscha and her.

Up here, the torches were all lit as well. In the dimmed light, they could see well enough to navigate around and watch for possible holes which they had been able to avoid on the level below. Which implied that this basement actually went down at least one level deeper than where they had been. At one point, Boscha requested a break, and Luz more than willingly agreed, groaning when she sat down and leaned against the wall. She had used her jacket as a makeshift sling for her arm and her leg was bleeding, not immensely, but she figured the amount she had already lost would be piling up in the future. It was just dribbling, but continuously. Boscha’s arm as well.

“Think we should just blast upwards? For all we know, Hexside’s halls should just be above us.”, the witch requested and Luz shook her head.

“There’s at least the height of Gus’ tunnel between us and Hexside’s ground level and the danger is too big that we’ll actually hit a wall and cause structural damage. Plus, we could be hurting other students.”, she quickly said while leaning her head against the wall, grimacing while she pulled her pants tighter around her wounds, in an attempt to make them stop bleeding. With just one hand that proved more difficult than she thought.

“Well, what do you propose, then?”, Boscha snarled and Luz sighed. She was not up for the snappy nonsense Boscha was pulling right now.

“We search the hole up to Gus’ tunnel and go up through there. We just took some lefts and rights. How hard can it be to find our way back?”

Boscha merely gave her a suspicious glance, then she sighed and shrugged, before helping the human back up to her feet.

“Fine, we can try that. I think it was a right, then left and two rights?”, she guessed and Luz furrowed her eyebrows.

“Wait, but wasn’t that left, right thing a dead end? Where we ran into the wall?”, she leaned against Boscha and the teenager groaned, closing her lower eyes in frustration while the third kept open, not to lose the direction of where they had come from.

“But wasn’t the big gym thing another left?”

“I think it was a right.”, Luz pondered, then she shrugged, “We’ll find it, pretty sure. We could follow some noises if you can hear some!”

Instead of broadcasting her frustration again, the Grudgby captain just started walking and pulled Luz along who tried to hobble the most balanced she could, before pulling a light glyph and activating it so it’d illuminate the way before them and help them have a little more sight than what the torches did. They bickered sometimes about the directions and ran into the wrong hallways quite a lot, but in the end, Boscha’s ears flicked when she picked something up.

“Hey, wait, I think there are some voices in that direction!”, she excitedly quipped and Luz considered this being the first time she actually saw Boscha being genuine. Just as quickly as that excitement came, she stopped it, though, “Thank the Titan, I was getting really fed up with you.”

At that, the human couldn’t help but snort.

“And what would you have done, huh? Just left me at some corner?”

Boscha shrugged non-committal and continued on until they finally saw a light that didn’t belong to the torches or the light glyph Luz had activated. Now she could also hear the voices of the students through the ceiling and let out a big breath of relief.

“Thank fuck.”, she sighed when they arrived at the hole up to Gus’ tunnel. Apparently, nobody else had discovered the hole down here. Which meant they couldn’t just pop up there looking like this.

Luz helped Boscha up into Gus’ tunnel and in turn, the triclops pulled her up. Deciding to follow the tunnel to the Grudgby field not to pop up somewhere in the school and attract any attention, they crawled their way to where Gus had shown Luz the tunnel ending beneath the bleachers. They emerged unseen and Boscha helped Luz hobble out towards the side where the bleachers were open, then they both breathed through. The sunlight hit their faces in what felt like hours to them when in reality, they couldn’t have been down there for longer than an hour.

“So, infirmary, huh?”, Luz finally broke the silence and Boscha nodded with a grimace.

“Maybe we can pretend we settled our dispute on the field.”, she added and Luz chuckled before agreeing. They made their way around the school and entered through the main entrance because that was the one closest to the infirmary when suddenly, a voice made them stop dead in their tracks.

“Stop right there!”

It sounded angry.

Luz gulped when she turned to see Amity stomping towards them, trailed by a furious-looking Willow and a guilty Gus. Trying a smile, she managed a small voice. Her girlfriend was looking like she could rip her up in the air. She was actually baring her fangs, and Willow wasn’t looking that much different.

“H-Heeey, Amity! Good that you’re here, actually, because-”

“Save it!”, she snapped and glared at Boscha who had shrunk just as much as Luz had, then she cupped her face, inspecting her up and down. When Amity pulled her fingers back out of her hair, they were tinged red, just what Luz had expected from her rough falls. Meanwhile, Boscha was arrested by Willow who was still trailed by Gus, with his shoulders pulled up, watching Willow grabbing Boscha’s ear and pulling her right to the infirmary while the Grudgby captain was weakly complaining and whining at the way she was being handled.

Luz fixated back on her girlfriend who was still looking at her red fingers, then she looked over the human once more, only now registering the injuries she was sporting. One twinge in her expression told Luz that their Grudgby lie would not hold up against her bitten leg.

“… Oh Titan, what happened to you…?”, she softly asked, so softly that Luz almost hadn’t heard her. Grimacing, she tried shrugging it off, even if her heart broke with Amity’s scared expression.

“I-I’m fine, Amity, I’m okay, it’s actually just-”, her girlfriend looked up to her and Luz cut her sentence off right when she saw her watering eyes catching her gaze.

The witch leaned towards her and pulled her head down with her hands cupping her neck, then their lips connected. Luz closed her eyes at that, savoring every little second she got of Amity’s kiss.

In the two years of their relationship, they hadn’t kissed in public, just little cheek or hand kisses. But never real kisses, on the lips, because of the public display of affection that Amity wanted to keep at a minimum.

Luz leaned into the kiss and hummed softly, enjoying how Amity’s body was pressing against her despite the pain. Her arms slowly weaving around her waist, Luz pulled Amity even closer, feeling Amity pouring all her concern and fear into the kiss. She couldn’t imagine how worried Amity must’ve been. First, they trash the gym, then they vanish completely, and now Luz turns up bleeding and injured. She must’ve been worried sick and Luz was feeling more and more guilty the longer she thought about it. Their kiss came to a gentle stop, but Amity didn’t have enough yet. She nuzzled back against her human and Luz captured her lips back, sighing with the small love confessions Amity granted her. She tilted her head a little more, allowing Amity more control, and even felt her girlfriend whining a little, mewling into their kiss. This was more of a reunion than it was a make-out.

Her fingers softly weaved into the locks around Luz’s ears, before she pulled back and her gaze sought out her human’s gaze again. Only now did Luz realize that her eyes were actually wet and that a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Oh gosh, Amity, are you crying?”, she reflexively asked and her girlfriend’s expression very quickly turned into something else. Something very different. She almost looked angry again.

“Yeah, of course, I’m crying!”, she suddenly shouted and pinched Luz’s ear, causing her to flinch and yelp, “I was worried sick about you! Nobody knew where you went until Gus said you might’ve used his tunnel and Bump got all weird about that! And now you come back injured!”

“Ouch, Ami, my ears!”, she tried but her girlfriend wouldn’t listen, “A-And about that, could we actually-”

“No, you’ll be listening to me now!”, she snapped and Luz immediately sealed her lips, her shoulders pulling up, “What you did in the gym was irresponsible and childish, and then disappearing like that is just plain careless! Am I being clear?”

Luz nodded, then she tried suppressing a little groan but Amity had caught it, her eyes suddenly widening.

“Oh Titan, that’s right! We should get you to the infirmary, immediately!”

The human nodded to that again and managed a strained smile before her girlfriend summoned an abomination to scoop her up and carry her to the healers’ office.

“… You don’t wanna carry me yourself?”, Luz dared to ask quietly and Amity turned around to chastise her more, though she could recognize a little teasing glimmer in her eyes.

“You’re covered in questionable substances and I don’t wanna touch that. As soon as you’re cleaned up, I can carry you around.”

Luz grinned at that.

---

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#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #boscha #amity blight #willow park #gus porter #lumity #beneath hexside high #fanfic

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bird--egg · 3 years

Text

LOOMING SUNLIGHT Chapter Three

The link to the AO3 version of this chapter here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30351717/chapters/75897176

Waking up was always a chore when the temperature outside made it tempting to lay around aimlessly. Cedar chose to wake up before the sun had properly risen, especially since it meant the weather was slightly cool. She felt a strong burst of longing towards Shadowclan, whose warriors were generally asleep during the morning and midday and awake during dusk and night.

Stretching, Cedar poked her head out of the elders den warily. Most of the camp was sleeping soundly and she felt confident enough to move further outside, yawning silently. She licked her white forepaw and groomed herself slowly, tension unwinding as she watched the sun rise. Tigerpetal emerged from the tangled hedge that made up the medicine den, stretching dramatically before entering the leaders den. Cedar wondered what the medicine cat was doing talking to the leader so early on.

Her ears flicked towards a sound behind her and she noticed a black pelted cat approaching. Their eyes were a very vibrant green and one of their ears was crooked. What was their name? Cedar wondered a tad anxiously as it became apparent that they were coming to talk to her.

“Hey kit.” They meowed sleepily. Cedar squinted, offended at being called a kit. “You and Mothscar got a job today?”

“Not that I know. You should ask my mentor.” Seemed improper to ask an apprentice-or a ‘helper’ what they would be doing for the day without the mentors input. The black cat blinked.

“I can’t, Mothscar needs his beauty sleep.” Beauty sleep? Cedar tilted her head slightly in confusion. Emerging from the elder’s den, Mothscar laughed.

“If I’m aiming for beauty than I’m afraid I’ll be asleep long enough to wake up and see Larkkit’s ceremony.” Mothscar walked up to the two cats, nudging the lanky cat affectionately.

“Cedarpaw, this is Newtpool. We left Riverclan together when they were just a kit.” Cedar wondered what Mothscar had been doing leaving Riverclan with a kitten, the two were clearly not related. She suddenly faintly remembered her father Ridgesnarl complaining about ‘picky’ Riverclan cat’s. At the time she’d been confused at Ridgesnarl’s disgust, but perhaps pickiness was more specific to kicking out cats who weren’t good enough?

Newtpool glanced at the older white tom with an oddly neutral face, seeming to have a silent conversation with him. Mothscar just continued to smile placidly.

“Mothscar!” Tigerpetal yelled as she was exiting the leader’s den. She completely ignored Newtpool, walking in front of the lanky cat. Newtpool rolled their eyes to Cedar, who just stared back.

“You and your helper are coming to the gathering tonight. But there’s a couple caveats to your presence being allowed.” Behind her, Newtpool puffed out their chest and was pointing their nose in the air in a way that did kind of remind Cedar of the way Tigerpetal was looking down at her. She concentrated very hard on staring neutrally at the medicine cat.

“You’re not to tell anyone where you’re from, and don’t go conversing about your helper position.”

“Well, that seems silly.” Purred Mothscar. “Why wouldn’t we want the other clans to her about our new position? Maybe they have some kits they’d want to keep from becoming apprentices too.”

Tigerpetal’s lip raised slightly, showing gleaming white teeth. There was a long drawn-out silence as the medicine cat and the elder stared each other down, and Cedar couldn’t help but notice the chatter of cats waking up had completely drawn to a halt. Her ears pressed against her head, and she wished that she was beside Newtpool or at least behind Mothscar instead of in front of Tigerpetal.

Finally, Tigerpetal let out a low growl. “Mind yourself, Mothscar. The ice you’re walking on is getting thin.” Mothscar said nothing, simply looking at the ginger tabby with a friendly expression. Tigerpetal tail lashed once, before she stalked away to the medicine den.

“Newtpool!” She yowled from inside the den. “Get your tail over here!” Newtpool looked dismayed, shooting Mothscar a grumpy glare.

“Great.” They meowed, “Now she’ll have a burr in her pelt all day. And who has to deal with her?”

“NEWTPOOL!”

“I’m coming!” They yelled back, stomping away to join their mentor. Mothscar’s posture slumped slightly.

“Poor Newtpool.” He joked, looking back to his apprentice, whose fur was puffed out and eyes wide. She had no idea why Mothscar kept pushing his luck when it came to her status. Did he just hate Rootstar so much he would oppose his rules whenever he could? Would Tigerpetal really hurt an elder? Could she even, as a medicine cat? Was that…allowed?

Seeming to accept that she wasn’t going to say anything, Mothscar flicked her lightly with his tail.

“Let’s go see if we can find some moss.”

By the time the sun had started to go down, Cedar was full of nervous energy. Going to the gathering felt like an opportunity, but for what she wasn’t sure. To escape? Was the situation bad enough that leaving it would be escaping?

And even so, what clan would want her? She was wary of Riverclan because of the conclusions she’d drawn with Mothscar and Newtpool, but would Thunderclan take her? What if they were worse? She had no idea what was considered normal behavior towards a cat living in your camp who was from an enemy clan.

Besides, what if they punished Mothscar for her betrayal?

A paw poked her shoulder, interrupting her thoughts. She turned to see Willowpaw’s grass-coloured eyes shining at her. She moved back slightly.

“Hey Cedar!” He chirped happily. “Me and Stormfang are supposed to be pairing up with you at the gathering! And I’m even allowed to call you Cedarpaw!” Cedar felt like he could have said that last part a little quieter, because Stormfang immediately left her conversation to glower at her apprentice. Cedar left the Willowpaw to his scolding, briefly hearing his voice squeak out ‘you said I could though!’.

Cloverpaw was waiting by the entrance of camp, watching her mentor with tired eyes. Pigeonflight was talking loudly to Marigoldfur, who couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable. Cloverpaw glanced at Cedar but seemed too worn out to snap at the she-cat. Cedar wondered what training Pigeonflight was making Cloverpaw to cause her to look so run down.

They both sat beside the other completely silently, watching Pigeonflight fail to flirt like they were spectating. As the grey tabby accidentally implied that Marigoldfur’s brother was stupid, Cedar flicked her ear. “Yikes.” She meowed simply, and Cloverpaw snorted before looking at the dark grey she-cat with shock.

“Cedar.” Stormfang called, walking with a pouting Willowpaw. Cedar looked away from Cloverpaw’s blue and green eyes. She followed Willowpaw, feeling Mothscar follow her out of camp. Most of the clan left for the gathering in order to look like they had more cats than they actually did. Since Shadowclan was out of the picture, Windclan no longer had to worry about their camp being ambushed while away. The whole trip to four-trees Willowpaw talked her ear off, often stumbling as he tried to walk and look behind him at the same time. Meanwhile, Cedar was interested in watching Windclan’s long grass slowly become shorter as they approached Riverclan. She could even see the edge of Shadowclan’s burnt pines, which made her throat close up. He forced herself to look instead at Four-trees, which wasn’t totally undamaged either. The fire seemed to have badly burnt the tree closest to Shadowclan, but the other three were slightly singed as well.

Between the trees was more cats than Cedar had ever seen. Her eyes widened as she tried to take in the number of bodies packed into a relatively small space. Willowpaw also seemed shocked, tail shooting straight up in the air as he let out a small ‘meep’. Cedar slowed her pace so she could walk directly beside Mothscar, who seemed amused at her surprise.

Windclan seemed the last to arrive at the gathering. Most cats seemed to be sticking with their own clans, murmuring with each other. Cedar noticed that Windclan moved as a unit, barely spreading out and heading right beside Thunderclan.

“Everyone seems spooked.” Mothscar noticed, eyes flicking to Shadowclan’s burnt tree before returning to the crowd. Cedar grunted noncommittally. She’d never been to another gathering.

“So we just sit here?” She asked, and Mothscar looked a little surprised that she had spoken, before shaking his head.

“No, not normally. Young cats like yourself often talk to the other young cats of every clan.” He paused, and meowed “Stick with Thunderclan cats for now though. They’re the ones that don’t smell like fish.” Cedar nodded hesitantly, stepping away from the white elder slowly. Social interactions were not especially her strong suit. She had little time to worry about it before an orange tabby stumbled into her. The fire coloured apprentice whirled around to face Cedar, fur oddly spiky without being raised.

“Hey, a Windclan cat!” They meowed excitedly, tail lashing. “Wow you look really grumpy!” She added on belatedly. Cedar was not aware of what face she was making and attempted to shift it to a more friendly look. The Thunderclan apprentice flinched back before laughing uproariously. Willowpaw padded towards them, waving his tail at her as he sat near them.

“Hi! I’m Willowpaw, and this is Cedarpaw. What’s your name?”

“I’m Robinpaw.” Robinpaw announced, bowing with flourish. Willowpaw giggled, delighted. Cedar stood awkwardly, glad Willowpw had introduced her.

“This is my second gathering, and I haven’t seen you guys before. You must be new apprentices huh?” She asked, whiskers twitching. “Little tiny babies? Sparrows just leaving the nest??” Willowpaw mroowed with laughter.

“A sparrow? Can we be a cooler bird than that?” He asked happily, and Robinpaw opened her mouth to reply when the leaders yowled for the gathering to start. The clans fell quiet, turning to face what trees were left.

Rootstar was sitting proudly on the Great Rock, startling larger than the other leaders. Beside him was an older looking she-cat with a pale sun coloured pelt and amber eyes. She had several vicious battle scars on her but looked bored even as she was standing to begin speaking to all the cats gathered in front of her. Leaping up the Great Rock was a silver tabby with sharp looking white patches. Her eyes were yellow like the flowers in the meadow, but she looked decidedly more unpleasant. Something about their expression felt like fire against Cedar’s fur.

“Do you mind if I start?” The silver leader asked the other two. Rootstar flicked his tail in a ‘go on’ motion, looking slightly annoyed. Robinpaw leaned into Cedar’s vision, whispering: “The creepy grey cat is Troutstar. And the cat with all the cool scars is Sandstar, Thunderclan’s leader.”

“Why not.” Sandstar snorted, and Troutstar ignored the sarcasm in her voice, stepping forward.

“Riverclan has done well this moon. Despite the heat the river is running well, and food is plentiful. We had no trouble with the fire, as the river protected us.” Cats murmured uneasily as Troutstar casually mentioned the fire, and Cedar gritted her teeth.

“Rockshade has given birth to two kits, and we’ve chased some troublesome rouges off our land.” At this, Sandstar stepped forward. Troutstar shot the other leader and icy look, which Sandstar ignored.

“Speaking of troubling rouges, could Riverclan please stop chasing away their own members? It’s getting depressing to watch.” Cedar’s ears flicked, glancing backwards at her mentor, who looked vaguely troubled. Troutstar scoffed.

“Your mistaken if you think Thunderclan has any rights to command anything of Riverclan.”

“I’m commanding nothing; but I think most of us know that a stable clan shouldn’t be running off loyal clanmates.” At this, Troutstar’s whole bearing changed, fur laying flat and posture loosening.

“Thank you for the suggestion Sandstar. May I ask how your own clan is doing in these hot temperatures?” She asked, tilting her head. Sandstar looked at the other leader with lidded eyes, almost amused. Cedar swore she almost heard the older leader mutter ‘flawless transition’ to themselves before speaking to the clans at large.

“Thunderclan is doing fine. The shade helps the temperature feel more bearable.” And with that, she sat down. Rootstar took this to be his cue, coming to stand beside Sandstar.

“Windclan has new apprentice’s joining it’s ranks, Cloverpaw and Willowpaw.” The rest of the cats repeated the names to varying degrees of enthusiasm, but Robinpaw gave Cedar a confused look. Pelt prickling, Cedar pretended not to see. Why hadn’t Rootstar just lied and named her as well? Wouldn’t excluding her just be more suspicious as more cats began to recognize her and learn her name?

“Prey is doing well, and we’ve fond the heat quite unbothersome.” Rootstar lied, looking unbothered and smug.

“But enough of that. I’m sure we’re all aware of the fire that raged in Shadowclan territory this moon. Shadowclan’s lack of presence here tonight is telling, and I feel it’s reasonable to assume they were either chased off the land by the fire or…” Even Rootstar’s hate for Shadowclan seemed to falter for a moment. Sandstar shook her head softly.

“We will mourn for Shadowclan if they are gone. It is an unprecedented tragedy in Clan history, to have an entire clan taken from us.” There was a deep and painful silence as the gathered cat’s absorbed the implications of Shadowclan’s loss. Cedar, meanwhile, was digging her claws into the dirt. She felt the heat of the flames flickering around her, and worse, heard the laughter and chatter of clanmates who might be-

“While this is true,” Troutstar meowed, looking unmoved “Their land needs to be divided among us.” At this Sandstar turned to the other leader, looking angrier than she had the rest of the gathering.

“Until Starclan gives us confirmation that Shadowclan is gone, we shall. Do. No. Such. Thing.” She hissed out fiercely, pelt raising and looking ready to strip the flesh off of Troutstar. Troutstar’s ears flattened, and she almost took a step back, before standing her ground. After a moment of silence, the silver leader smiled pleasantly.

“I can agree to this, for now. If there is no news in the next three moons, Riverclan will take it’s claim of territory.” And with this announcement Troutstar leapt from the Great Rock, Riverclan hurriedly following their leader.

“Wow that was eventful!” Willowpaw meowed nervously, looking guiltily towards Cedar. Robinpaw nodded, bouncing slightly.

“No kidding! I thought Sandstar was gonna shove Troutface right off the Great Rock!” With this startlingly impolite statement, a warrior shoved Robinpaw onto their paws.

“Don’t be rude to a leader.” They grumbled, sending Robinpaw along with the rest of Thunderclan, which had begun to trickle out of Four-Trees. Willowpaw watched her leave with wide eyes as Cedar turned to her mentor, surprised to find Stormfang close behind her as well. Had she been there the whole gathering? Pelt prickling, Cedar rushed past her into Mothscar’s white pelt.

Even as Windclan begun to leave Cedar couldn’t help but feel things were going to get a lot worse. Was Shadowclan really lost?

#wc #warriors oc #warrior cats #warrior au #original warrior cat #warriors #warrior cat story #looming sunlight #windclan #shadowclan #riverclan #thunderclan

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quickspinner · 4 years

Text

Hello and Goodbye

One more dragon fic for the day! This one comes right after The Lizard and the Pearl and was inspired by it. Thanks so much for all your good wishes, I’m having a great day so far! I meant to post something about every two hours today but it took me a little longer to finish this one (and I’m afraid it suffered for being rushed, but that’s the way it goes sometimes), so in about an hour the first chapter of my new project will go up (and it’s not dragon-related) so keep an eye out!

He was born by the sea, lapped by its waves as he struggled from his shell. Even before that, he knew music. The crooning song of his mother, softened by the embrace of the water, and the more guttural, rumbling song of his father, singing love and loneliness from the heights.

He pushed free, tumbled from the egg, and landed on his nose in a puddle of salt water. He reared back and shook himself, and sneezed. He looked up, and up, and knew his mother, looming over him as she curled around the nest, crooning encouragement and welcome to him and his siblings.

Moments later, he felt the shadow of his father pass overhead, and knew him as well, felt a tug deep inside himself that whispered love and welcome and fierce protection. His mother’s head snapped up and she snarled and he was not sure why. He belonged to his father as surely as he belonged to his mother; he felt them both in what he would learn to call his heart.

Mother lowered her head and nuzzled him, leaving a smear of sea slime on his dry scales. “Luka,” she crooned to him. “Luka, my son.”

Luka. He heard his name and he knew it, and chirped back a meep that was not a word but that still meant Mama, and nuzzled her back. Luka turned and looked curiously at the other two eggs in the nest with him, both cracked but neither yet broken.

The shadow passed over again, and Mother’s head snapped up once more, her crest spreading to shield him from view. He tried to look around her, and chirped again, louder. Papa.

Overhead, Father gave a deep booming roar that Luka felt down to his bones. HIs shiver was not fear, however. He had no fear of Father.

Mother did. She reared her head back and screamed a challenge, and Father’s shadow faded with a mournful cry.

Luka looked again at the other eggs. He could hear his clutchmates inside. He went to one and reared back, placing his front feet on the shell, scrabbling at the cracks with his tiny claws, but Mother lowered her head and nosed him away. “Nay, little one. They must find their way to the world on their own.” Luka peeped distress, and Mother carefully took him between her teeth. He obediently went limp, and she lifted him out of the nest and deposited him on the sand of the beach. “Stay near, now,” Mother told him, her head swinging up to look at the sky. She extended one long wing fin in an arc around him, and turned her attention back to encouraging the young ones that had not yet entered the world. Luka poked around, drawn immediately to a tantalizing scent around the base of the nest. He nosed a coin out of the sand there, smelling that lovely scent and also the scent of Father. He peeped, scooping up the coin in his little jaws, feeling the taste of gold on his tongue for the first time. He rolled it around in his mouth, though he felt no desire to eat it. He dropped it on the sand at his feet, purred and pranced for a moment, and then inspected the next until he found a good place to wedge his prize in safely. He continued to explore around the bottom of the nest and found a few other things left there by Father. Luka wedged it all into his little nook and then curled up with his chin on the lovely warm gold, and settled in for a nap.

Luka hissed and nipped when his mother tried to scoop him up and put him back in the nest, and she chuckled as she closed her jaws gently around him. Grudgingly, he went limp and let her put him back in the nest. “No fear, little one,” she told him after she put him down. “I’ll mind your treasures.” Satisfied, Luka relaxed and shook himself and went to greet his siblings. No sooner had he laid eyes on them than he knew he was different. They were lithe and long like Mother, their hides mottled with blue and purple but pale compared to his dark blue-black scales. He was shorter, heavier, his body compact. Their wings were long but shallow where his were broad and deep.

But the blue eyes that blinked at him curiously were familiar, and he felt the same tug in his heart that told him they were family, so he rubbed noses happily, and tried not to crush them in their play tussles as they both ganged up to bowl him tail over claw.

Despite his differences Luka only knew love from his family as time passed. He played in the shallows of the lagoon while his sister Leika and brother Kinka explored in the deeper water, bringing back shiny things they found rooting in the sand; pretty enough, when they would let Luka inspect them, but not of the same worth as his precious coin. At first Mother had helped him hollow out a corner of the nest, the safest place he knew, for his little treasures and precious coin. Every night he curled on top of his tiny hoard to sleep, his siblings plopped on top of him. However, time passed, and they all grew, and they all began seeking out their own places to sleep at night; Leika and Kinka in the water, and Luka on the rocky part of the shore. He relocated his treasures there and slept on them every night, making sure they were well hidden before he left his little den in the morning. He spent at least part of the day investigating the beach, rooting through the sand and sniffing around the edge of the forest, to see if Father had left him any gifts.

This was how he knew his father loved him, though he kept to the heights and never came down to the beach while he could be seen. There were things about this that Luka didn’t understand, but the tug in his heart and the treasures Father left him told him that he was loved.

Mother didn’t give gifts, but she taught him many things, and so he knew she loved him too. Sometimes she wrapped him up in her long body and crooned over him, a sad song that Luka didn’t quite get, and nuzzled and groomed him, and held him tighter than he really liked. He was covered with slime when she released him, but she didn’t mind.

“Do you ever wonder,” he asked Leika one day, “Why Father never comes down here?”

“No,” Leika snorted from where she was lounging in the shallows, and she took in a gulp of water and squirted him in the face.

Luka snorted and shook his head, and then slammed one wing into the water, sending a wave of water towards his sister, following it up with a burst of fire safely over her head, just close enough for the heat to make her cringe. “No fair,” she whined, and Luka laughed.

He watched, though, as father stood guard over them from the heights.

“Luka,” Mother called in alarm. “Get down from there, ye fool child!”

Luka bent his long neck backwards to look at her with a sigh. “I’m fine, Ma,” he yelled back, and had to duck as his mother’s water cannon hit the rocks beside him.

“Down!” she bellowed, and Luka sighed, rolling his eyes.

He wasn’t thinking when he did it. He was thinking about how annoyed he was and how he’d nearly reached the top of this pile. He was definitely not thinking of launching himself off the rock wall he was clinging to, twisting his body in midair, and snapping his wings out, nor the precise angle at which he would need to hold them to bring him over the lagoon to glide down on the beach.

It all happened so fast he didn’t register his mother’s terrified screech until he was nearly at the beach, and his landing in the sand was...inelegant to say the least.

Luka rolled to his feet, shaking the sand from his crest and flicking his forked tongue in distaste at the grit in his mouth, when a wave washed over him, knocking him off his feet and back face first into the sand. He forgot about that though has his neck was soon his mother’s jaw and she was shaking him violently—not enough to hurt, but enough to let him know he had scared the salt out of her.

“Idiot,” she grumbled around her clamped jaws as he went obediently limp. “Little—argh.” She dropped him and raised her head, bellowing up at he cliffs. “Did ye see that, ye overgrown lizard?”

“I saw, Pearl,” the laughing reply came down, and Luka looked up, wide eyed, to see his father leap from a shadow in one of the crags and come to soar over them. “Well done, my boy!”

“Don’t push your luck, Jagged,” Mother snapped up at him, and the big sky dragon just laughed, soaring back up to the cliffs.

It took some time and a lot of embarrassing practice (practice that set his water-bound siblings laughing at him) before he finally flapped his way up the cliffs where his father was waiting. Father chuckled as the young dragon slid to a precarious landing on the rock slab where he was waiting. “Well, well. Finally came to visit the old man?”

Luka shrank into himself a little, suddenly feeling a little shy, but Father got up and met him with a friendly headbutt and nuzzle. “Been waiting to meet you, son.”

Luka relaxed and headbutted him back. “Same.”

“Luka!” came the familiar, exasperated call from the sea below.

“You’re worrying your Ma,” Father said, shouldering Luka back to the edge of the platform. “Go on now. We’ll have time later, I promise. You should spend as much time with your Ma as you can, while you can.”

Luka didn’t really understand, but he nuzzled father and turned to go. He balked a little at the height as he approached the ledge, but Father just chuckled.

“Go on now. No need to fear the sky. Your body knows what to do. Just leap, and trust it.”

He visited his father regularly from then on. At first, he only stayed a short time before his mother got worried and began anxiously calling for him, but as time went on, she seemed to relax, and he spent more and more time with his father.

Luka could feel the change in himself as well as in his clutchmates. The more he looked to the sky, the more they looked to the sea, and his mother began to seem distressed.

Finally, the day came when his father came down from the heights to land on the beach, a respectable distance from the water.

“Anarka,” he rumbled in his booming voice. “You know it’s time. You need to go.”

“Don’t tell me what I need to do,” Mother snarled, curling her wingfins protectively in front of Leika and Kinka at her sides. Luka had gone forward to greet his father but stopped at his mother’s hiss.

“You can’t take him,” Father said, and there were many feelings in it that Luka could not understand. “Look at him, Anarka. He can’t follow you, and even if you find a way to take him, he’ll pine. He needs his family. He needs the sky, and you can’t give it to him, Pearl.”

“I am his family,” Mother shot back sulkily, and there was silence for a moment before she said. “But ye are right, lizard. Fate meant this one for ye. Perhaps to ease yer heart after we go. Luka.”

Luka turned, and went back to his mother, wading into the shallows. She lowered her head and pressed it to his. “I’ve done all I can for ye, lad. It’s time for me and yer brother and sister to return to the sea, but ye were not made for our life. Ye must go with your Da and let him teach ya the ways of yer kind. I will always love ye, my son, but this is how it must be.”

“I understand,” sighed Luka. He nuzzled his mother one last time, and then each of his siblings in turn. Then he went back slowly up onto the beach to stand with his father.

“Goodbye, lizard,” Mother said.

“Until next time, Pearl,” Father chuckled, and ducked the stream of water she sent at him. “All right, I’m going, I’m going. Come on, Luka.”

He opened his great gold wings, and Luka did the same, following him up onto the cliffs. From there, they watched his mother and clutchmates strike out of the lagoon into the open ocean, all three of them leaping with eager excitement.

“She will always be your Ma,” Father told him. “But she must be what she is, as we must be what we are. We can’t change her, nor can we go against our own nature. But we’ll see her again, no fear. You can feel it, can’t you? In here.” He shoved his head against Luka’s chest.

Luka nodded slowly.

“She feels it too, though not as strong as we do. But she’ll know, if you need her, and she’ll come. Now, come on. It’s time you learned to hunt proper meat. We’ll put a bit more meat on your bones and stamina in your wings, and then I’ll take you to see the world.”

Luka spared one more look out to sea, but he couldn’t see the rest of his family anymore. He felt them though, in his heart, and he was content.

Jagged did show him the world, but Luka never acquired the taste for it that his father did. He preferred to linger near the sea, and once he was grown, he bid farewell to his father and struck out for his own place. It was a long time before he returned to the island of his birth. It surprised him, when he felt his father’s call, but he sealed up his treasures and obeyed, following the tug and feeling something new alongside it.

He didn’t understand the new pull, until he angled down to land in his father’s crag and found him with a small, sleek black dragon with flashes of purple in her scales and Jagged’s lightning in her eyes.

“Luka,” Jagged greeted him, prancing and bubbling over with enthusiasm. “Come and meet your sister. This is Juleka.”

“Juleka,” Luka said, lowering his head to look at her. “I’m glad to meet you.” He bent forward to bump his head along hers, but she grunted and Luka jerked his head back with a startled snort as a spark zapped him right in the nose.

“She’s adorable,” he said dryly, sitting back on his haunches as Jagged laughed uproariously.

#quickspins #the sky and the sea #across all realms #luka couffaine #dragon!luka #papa stone #jagged!dragon #anarka!dragon #fantasy au #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #birthday big bang

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funeral-clown · 4 years

Text

for @matttheratking

happy birthday king

you ever take a look at your hands and wonder, how did i get here?

i don’t

pepe the prawn/rizzo the rat 4 times someone thought they were dating and the 1 time they realized they were

1. Kermit

Kermit knocked on the door rapidly, trying to quell his rising frustration.

“Rizzo, c’mon, open up! The cast meeting is in ten minutes, and you still need to present your ideas for the Pizza Rat sketch! It’s cultural relevance is dwindling by the second!”

When no reply came, he grumbled loudly before lifting his tiny green hand to bang on the door again. Before he could connect, it swung ajar in a sudden jarring motion. Light filtered from the dressing room into the dim backstage hall, illuminating the shadowed wooden floor. Kermit wished vaguely for eyelids, so he could blink. Instead he looked down.

“Oh. Er. Hi there, Pepe, I was expecting Rizzo.”

“I know,” the prawn snapped, “I am thinking the whole county knows! Your frog lungs are very loud, and I,” he gestured grandiosely to himself, “am trying to take a nap!”

Kermit coughed, feeling awkward.

“Right. Well. There’s a staff meeting in ten minutes. What are you doing hanging around in Rizzo’s room anyways?”

The prawn shrugged.

“We are the same size. It makes his clothes the perfect size to steal, okay?”

Kermit frowned.

“You have more arms than he does!”

“I also have scissors, okay? Now leave! This king of prawns, he needs his beauty sleep.”

“Yeah, well,” Kermit fumbled for the reigns of the conversation, “Well. If you see Rizzo, tell him-”

“I will be telling him you want to see him. Okay? Okay! Now leave! You are late for your cast meeting.”

With that the door slammed shut. Kermit turned to leave, only to hear a rusty wheezing laugh.

“D’ya think he bought it?”

“Of course he bought it! I am an ACTOR, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now help me back into this pizza costume.”

Inexplicably flustered, Kermit dashed towards the stage for the meeting.

2.Bunsen and Beaker

Rizzo and Pepe were playing their usual game of “Who Can We Scam Into Buying Lunch” when Bunsen and Beaker slid across from them at the table. The friendly banter halted immediately as they blankly stared.

“Hello!” Bunsen offered cheerfully.

“Meemeep!” Beaker echoed.

“Uh. Hi,” Rizzo responded. “What, uh. Whatcha up to?”

“Well! I’m glad you asked, my rodentious friend! Beaker and I were hoping to share our luncheon with our two similarly minded friends today!”

Pepe’s antennae twitched.

“So you will be begging off food too?”

Bunsen and Beaker looked at each other and laughed.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, but we won’t be trying to steal anyone’s lunch. WE have worked tirelessly through the night, and have constructed a perfect alternative for the worker on the go!”

“Please don’t blow to table up,” Rizzo muttered, “Please, God, don’t let them blow the table up.”

“Don’t be silly! Of course we won’t be blowing anything up outside of the lab!”

Beaker nodded, meeping in agreement.

“However, as a pair of hard workers yourselves-” Pepe laughed- “We think this might interest you.”

“Is it food?” Rizzo asked bluntly.

“In a way!”

“Is it sentient?”

“Not so far!”

Pepe looked at him and shrugged. He shrugged in return.

“Alright.”

Bunsen jostled excitedly.

“Very well! Prepare to feast your eyes, and your bodies, on THIS!”

He rolled up the arm of his lab coat dramatically to reveal several stickers with various food shapes.

“Uh, Doc, I don’t wanna harsh your vibe here, but are you saying you’re edible, or are you trying the feed us stamps.”

“Not stamps, my dear friend! Oh no, these are no mere stamps at all! These are nutrition patches! A whole serving of food, compiled on a simple slab of sticky paper! We have cut out the need to eat entirely! We’re sure they will be all the rage.”

Beaker meeped excitedly, showing his own arms covered in piles of the things. Bunsen paused, alarmed.

“Beaker, I thought I told you to stick to just a few! These are still in beta testing, there’s no telling what wearing so many at once will do!”

Rizzo chuckled nervously.

“Hey, you guys haven’t seen Willy Wonka by any chance, have you?”

“No, why, does he work here?”

Rizzo and Pepe slowly started making their way from the table.

“Great visit. I would rethink the nutrient patch thing, though. Taste and smell and texture are all parts of what make food so great!!

“Plus, the unions, they will be all over you, okay? Workers will be told to wear patches instead of eat, it will be a whole mess, okay?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry, Mr. Prawn! Beaker and I have been in our own union for quite some time! Another thing we have in common!”

“....Yeah, sure, okay! Just be ready to juice him.”

“Juice him?”

Beaker slowly began to swell, turning purple.

“Juice him.”

In the frantic mayhem left behind them, one could almost miss the small exchange.

“How do you think he knew about the actors guild for small animals?”

“I dunno, okay? My question is how long until Kermit decides our next parody movie is gonna be Willy Wonka!”

“Honestly,” Rizzo added, “I’m shocked we haven’t done it already.”

3. Gonzo

“Wait, you’re moving out?”

Rizzo stopped to look up at him from throwing things in a suitcase.

“Of the room? Yeah.”

“But where will you go?”

Rizzo dropped the jacket he was holding and jumped up to sit on the bed.

“Well. It’s a bit pricier, rent-wise, but I was thinking down the hall.”

“You pay rent?”

Rizzo wished his eyes could roll.

“No you lamebrain, and neither do you! We all live in the same house, I just thought, you know, it might be time for me to move up in the world. Literally. I’m bunking with Pepe now, things are a little more my size with him.”

Gonzo frowned.

“Is this because I keep stepping on your stuff on accident?”

“It is, in fact! It is in part because of that!”

“I said I was sorry!”

“And I forgive you but you can’t help being a big.....whatever you are any more than I can help being a rat! And when a rat’s stuff gets crushed for the twenty thousandth time, a rat starts looking for other lodging.”

Gonzo sat on the floor so they were eye level.

“You’re not mad at me?”

Rizzo laughed.

“Nah, besides. I think your girlfriend wants to eat me.”

“Camilla would never!”

“A chicken can’t help being a chicken anymore than a rat can help being a rat!”

“Why not live with some of the other rats then?”

Rizzo scoffed.

“I’m related to most of em, and the ones I’m not want their own space too. If y’know what I mean.”

“I don’t!”

“Yeah that’s for the best. Anyway, aside from not getting stepped on anymore-”

“That was only once!”

“Ahem! Aside from not getting stepped on anymore, I think me bunking with Pepe would be good for us from now on too. Give us a chance to grow the act without being around each other all the time.”

Gonzo shrugged, setting a blue hand on Rizzo’s shoulder.

“Well. I like being around you all the time, Rizzo. We’re best friends. But if this is what you wanna do, go live with the prawn, I understand. Besides, I can finally fit that chicken coop in here!”

Rizzo laughed awkwardly.

“Yeah you go wild buddy. I’m gonna finish packing.”

Pepe poked his head in.

“Hey, Ritzo, you ready to go?”

Rizzo pulled Gonzo’s hand off his shoulder before hopping down.

“Yeah almost.”

Pepe squinted.

“There is a weird energy in this room right now, eh?”

“That’s just Gonzo. He can’t help it.”

“It’s a medical condition!”

“I pity your doctor,” Pepe stated.

Rizzo grabbed his suitcase and dragged it to the door.

“Hey buddy, any chance I can get some help with these?”

“Oh, sure!” Gonzo leaned over to pick them up, only to heave and huff dramatically trying to lift the tiny luggage with his fingers. “Oh wow, what do you have in these, rocks?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rizzo scoffed, “It’s the set of encyclopedias my mom sent me for Christmas. Now let’s go, it’s just upstairs!”

He and Pepe ran ahead before Gonzo could object.

“Well,” he muttered, “At least the suit each other well.” He jiggled the suitcases in silent reiteration of the pun.

4. Miss Piggy

She saw them practicing ballroom dance with Pepe in a tutu and just assumed.

Rizzo frowned at the mail.

Pepe looked up from the blueprints of the vending machine he was studying.

“What’s wrong? You look upset. We’re finally pulling off the snack heist of our dreams, okay! We’re never paying for chips again! This is a time of joy, okay?”

Rizzo hesitated.

“I just got a letter from my ma.”

Pepe got up and walked over, concerned.

“Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, it’s alright, it’s just. Well, look.”

Pepe scanned it over.

“Congratulations on your- Oh. She thinks we’re?”

“Yeah. And I mentioned it and turns out she’s not the only one.”

Pepe frowned.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Like what, just because we live together, we’re in a relationship?”

“And eat together every day?”

“And are listed as each others emergency contacts?”

“And know each other’s bank account information?”

“Wait, what?“

“Nothing! We were listing things!”

“I’m changing my pin number.”

“Eh, I can guess it again.”

“Pepe!”

“Back to the list, okay! And we, uh, we share clothes!”

“Sure, if laundry’s backed up! And we, um, we hatch schemes together!”

“Snack heist!”

“And sometimes at night if I am lonely I steal your blankets to simulate the warmth of another person!”

“That’s- I have nothing to say to that.”

“Well I wouldn’t have to do that if I could just crawl in with you, okay?”

“You- Wait. Pepe do you WANT to be in a relationship?”

“I don’t know! If we get married we can’t testify against each other in court.”

“True. And it would be a pretty big tax break, if either of us paid taxes.”

“Kermit and Piggy would finally have competition, okay? We can overthrow there cutest couple powerstreak and usher in a new age! It’s the time of rat and prawn, okay!”

“Year of the rat, baby!”

“And prawn!”

They both stared at each other for a moment.

“So I guess she was right. We are in a relationship.”

Pepe shrugged.

“Eh. I could do worse. And you could not do better.”

Rizzo wished again, and not for the last time, that he could roll his eyes.

“Whatever you say, babe.”

#happy birthday matt #more muppets fanfiction #i realize miss piggy was a cop out i was running out of ideas #i hope you enjoy this bc it was easily the most difficulty i've ever had writing something

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polar-stars · 5 years

Text

Shokugeki no Kimiko à la carte Series - Morning Glimpses

Author’s Note

Late entry for Day 1 of @shokugekiocweek (Prompt: Breakfast)

JESUS CHRIST THIS THING IS FINALLY DONE, I AM....SCREAMING?

This was such a chore and took up the entirety of my day and I even had to cut most of my initial plans and just....I am not even sure if I like the end-product //lies down//. Still, I’m just glad that it’s just finished at least <.< But meep, onto day 2 I suppose ovo;;

Good Morning Totsuki and welcome back to school after the break!

Being the dedicated journalist that I, Sotsuda-Cohen Cho am, I of course arrived as early as possible in front of Totsuki’s gates to witness the return of everyone and possibly drink in a few updates right on the spot.

I was more than surprised to find out that there are people who actually managed to be here before me.

Believe it or not but today, early in the morning, I met Inoue Eito (our current 10th Seat for the people who live under a rock) accompanied by Matsuoka Takeo (our current 9th Seat for the same ignorant people). Seems like our all-known party-lion Inoue-senpai had much of an headache this morning and needed support to walk. The support was given by a very annoyed Matsuoka-senpai, who was quick to order me away from the scenery.

I wonder what exactly Inoue-senpai thought to be a good idea doing in the very night before school starts.

Hopefully the rest of our beloved Elite Ten does not have to deal with such an insufferable headache this morning! Although, I can fairly imagine most of their mornings.

Hayama Akio will most likely awake to the most bewitching and sheer out-of-this-world fragrance one can only imagine. His father is the master of spices and aroma after all. As we all know, Hayama-senpai inherited his father’s godly sense of smell and will certainly be able to guess, no, know the ingredients to his breakfast this morning instantly.

—

“You made pancakes with cardamom, dad?” Akio asked when coming down the stairs. He smiled. “And I can also smell blueberries, strawberries, grapes, lemons, Blackcurrent-Ginseng-Vanilla-tea and Spiced-Chocolate-Coffee.”

Almost a little startled by this entrance, Akira Hayama looked up from his work in the frying pan to face his son instead. The initial surprise faded quick however as he rather began to smile. “Indeed.” He gave an appreciating nod. “Well done.”

“Since you know what’s served already”, Hisako Hayama took a halt to her hectic walk around the house, “Tea or Coffee?” A very frequently asked question in the Hayama-Household, one could almost say: the most frequent.

Akio‘s smile only grew a bit more. “Today I’ll settle for tea, mom.” Already in preparation to what would happen next, Akio was quick to raise his arm. “I’ll get it myself!”

Hisako, who had already positioned her feet into the direction of the teapots, flinched subtly. After a small moment, Hisako nodded towards her son with a friendly smile. Said smile quickly turned to a slightly mischievous one as she turned her head towards her husband. “He chose tea.” Akira replied without turning around. “Kaori chose coffee. Today it’s a draw.”

They had made it a competition between each other over who would have more success in making their two children chose their individually preferred type of beverage.

—

Thinking about the morning of Hayama Hisako’s and Akira’s son, also makes one wonder if their daughter had a good rest as well. Hayama Kaori, the greatest talent among the current highschool first-years. Some would say that she embodies grace and excellence from head to toe.

A true gathering of refinement. The Master of Fragrance, a Healer as renowned and skilled to be recognised by emperors and empresses, a diligent Elite Ten member and the icy valedictorian of her generation.

—

Akio turned his head into the direction of the table. There sitting was his little sister Kaori with the coffee mug in her hands. Even right after waking up, she still managed to look like a proper and fine, young lady. One you could most definitely invite her over to tea with the most posh and sophisticated women of high society and you would do so without worrying for even a second that Kaori would embarrass herself. To Akio it almost felt like she somehow skipped puberty.

He felt his heart sink a little at that sight. Distant seemed the memories of her happily running around Granny Jun’s garden, eagerly naming every flower she spot.

“Kaori, Good morning! I hope you slept well!” He greeted, trying is best in pushing various worried and concerned thoughts out of his mind for now. She replied with friendly words but in a tone that one would rather use in a business meeting than towards a family member. “Good Morning to you as well, Onii-san.”

Akio felt his smile crumbling a little. “I see you look ready and prepared for going back to school. That’s a joy for sure.” He said, not having the heart bringing up the most recent conflict he had with his sister in front of their parents. They all were so rarely together nowadays and Akio wouldn’t dare to ruin it.

Kaori only gave a quick nod as reply and so, Akio turned his head away again to get himself the tea his mother had prepared.

Meanwhile Akira had finished his cooking and brought a plate stapled with steaming pancakes to the table where Kaori was sitting. Once her father was near enough, she spoke up. “The coffee is exquisite as always, Dad. Thank you.” She took another sip of it and as she lowered her cup again one could see something truly rare: a small smile gracing Kaori’s face.

A soft laughter escaped Akira and all fatherly instincts in him could not resist raising his hand and lightly patting his daughter’s head. “No problem, my Blossom. You know I will support you in any way I can on your way to the top and if it’s just providing you with a good waking up on your first day of school.”

Akio turned his head away from the sight to get his tea.

—

A large portion of humanity will sort themselves into the “not being a morning person”-cult and buy mugs with such lovely slogans like “if you talk to me before I had my coffee I will kill you”. But then there’s the most beloved president of the Chinese RS, Hojo Suzume, who can make the morning sun worry about being outshined by her wide, jolly grin.

Ah, what some would give for the astonishing energy of Suzu-senpai.

—

“Good Morning!” Suzume cajoled as she threw the apartment’s door open. Some might wonder how she still had air left to do so after she’d just been out jogging for an hour but people who knew the Hojos a little better would know that Suzume has been blessed with many capacities to her vocals by her father’s genes. There were people who wholeheartedly believed she could wake the dead if she wanted to.

“Fuck. Suzu, you’re fucking drenched in sweat.” Takayuki greeted her, before taking a sip of his jasmine tea from a mug that read: “All the coffee in the world can’t make me a morning person”.

His mother, the head-chef of the estimated Hojo-Ra, Miyoko walked by with a basket of steaming Dim Sum in her left hand. Without warning she suddenly raised her right hand to lightly slap the back of Takayuki’s purple head, making him flinch in surprise. “You know the common custom in this civilization is to give a ‘Good Morning’ back, Takayuki.” "Sorry, Ma.“ Mumbled Takayuki into his cup. The woman then gave a nod towards her daughter and held the basket up. “Morning, Suzume. Dim Sum?”

It merely took the blonde teen a few bouncy steps to reach her dark-haired family members. “I think one before the shower can’t hurt.”

After two bites of the warm delicacy and a satisfied hum, she shifted her attention back to Miyoko. “Mom, do you happen to be in the mood to make a smoothie?”

The answer she received was a long, stern stare till finally a little smirk emerged on Miyoko’s lips. “I don’t think so, but who knows? Maybe the craving for a Matcha-Pear-Smoothie will overcome me while a certain young blonde will take a shower, so she’ll be ready for school.”

—

As president of the Chinese RS, Hojo Suzume obviously specializes in the cuisine of the broad lands that the Pacific Ocean separates our Japanese Isle from. As daughter of two famed Chinese chefs and legacies of Totsuki's long history, including past presidency over the Chinese RS, one can't be blamed to think that taking the president-spot had been the jolly blonde's destiny ever since she was born. But surprisingly enough Suzu-senpai had to earn this spot in a truly brutal and outstretched battle against the former president's, how to call it, cabinet.

It had truly been a thrilling fight for both the participants and the observers and it's safe to say it's memories that have burned theirselves into many of Totsuki's minds, just like Suzu-senpai had burned away her competition with her admirable knowledge around China's culinary wonderland and the excellent handling of a wok.

Based on my observations thus far her efforts have payed off, as she is hold in high regard by most of the student body and loved deeply by the members of the Chinese RS. Without a doubt, she's one of the most cherished presidents in recent years.

—

"Should I go with my standard-fan or a more fancy one, since its the first school day after break?" Suzume inquired as she came down the stairs, freshly showered with the fragrance of pineapple-honey melon shampoo wafting around her, dressed in Totsuki's uniform and holding two Chinese fans in her hands. The fan in her right hand was simple and red, the fan in her left hand was white and had black ink-branches besprinkled with red flowers painted ingeniously on it.

Miyoko and Takayuki both turned their heads towards the stairs where Suzume was standing, both having the same frown on their face.

Suzume help up the white one and elaborated. "I think special occasions warrant special fans. But then again-" "I approve. Take the fancy one, Suzu. Yo've got Kuga-Blood in you, Suzume. We're not afraid of attention~"

Suzume turned her head upwards and met the brown, mischievous eyes of her father as he came down the stairs dressed in a ridiculously sumptuous dressing gown and a cocky grin.

"Terunori." Miyoko spoke, lowering the Dim Sum she had nearly been biting into. "I didn't thought you'd grace us with your presence this morning." Pretending to be greatly upset, Terunori placed his hand on his chest in a big gesture and cried out. "Wife, you wound me! But of course I wouldn't miss breakfast with our two most lovely and precious children before they go off to Culinary-Hogwarts, for anything in the world."

Suzume let out a laugh, Miyoko rolled her eyes a little albeit the ends of her mouth lifted subtly, Takayuki raised his eyebrow. "How the hell is Totsuki comparable to Hogwarts, dad?"

"Anyway" Terunori lifted a finger and put his focus back on Suzume. "Take the fancy fan, daughter."

Suzume smiled back. "You know that I don't necessarily need a fan in order to get eyes on me though, right dad?" Before she could continue, Takayuki already commented. "Yeah, last year she entered her first class after break by kicking the door open and shouting 'somebody once told me', I hear."

Another one of Suzume's trademark laughs ensued at the memory. "Yeah and it was epic. But, to get back to the fans, you see: My first class this year is together with…" For the first time of the morning, her smile disappeared as it was replaced with a displeased grimace. "…Four-Eyes."

As all Hojos understood "Four-Eyes" as Suzume's code-word for "Shigeo Eizan" not one sign of confusion could be seen on the family member's faces. Rather, deep understanding found its way on Terunori's, Miyoko remained a stern rock and Takayuki looked like he was about to let out an "ew".

"It's a 40-minute lesson, yet still I'm certain that Eizan will still manage to make one of his 'oh-im-smarter-than-all-of-you'- or 'morals?-kindness?-what-are-those?'-comments and.." She threw her hands into the air, frustrated. "…UGH!"

Terunori gave repeated nods. "Fair." Before he could tell his detailed opinion about the bespectacled family however, Miyoko already sighed. "You're all acting like we're at war with them." Takayuki at that only questioned. "Aren't we?!"

Suzume held up her pretty fan. "Well, it's likely that I'll have to take initiative at some point in the lesson, if his commentary gets too sickening. And I wouldn't want to ruin my good fan for that." She gave a shrug.

Terunori imitated the pose of "The Thinker" as he stated. "That's a tricky one indeed." Miyoko held up a glass filled with a green liquid while she simultaneously leaned forwards a little. "How about you try to not hit anyone with one of your fans today and just sit down and finally have the smoothie you asked for?" She then looked at Terunori. "And how about you stop trying to behave like we're the modern Montagues and make some of your Baozi?"

For a few seconds both Suzume and Terunori only wordlessly stared at Miyoko from the stairs. Then the stars lightened up in Suzume's violet eyes as she exclaimed. "Okay Mama!" She rushed towards the table and took the glass out of her mother's hand. Terunori followed rather quickly. "You're lucky that I love you so much, Miyoko-Sweetheart."

—

Suzu-senpai might be popular but even she has her critics. Her most vocal and prominent one would be a fellow Elite Ten Member actually. But that certain member, Eizan Shigeo, has much of a certain reputation himself. There could be so many things said about him, that one wouldn't know how to start. Furthermore, it's not always easy to tell which info regarding him is true and which is false.

What can very safely be said however is that he is a man all about the success and results. But maybe that's not all too surprising when we keep in mind that he's been named the heir of a consulting company with a great standing in the culinary industry. Despite not being the first-born son, his intelligence and sharp understanding of business granted him this position.

And wether you like him or not, his tactical, clever thinking is said to make him valuable to the Elite 10 as well. Even if he might not always uses his talents with the best intentions in mind.

—

"I don't like repeating myself, Umino." Shigeo hissed into his smartphone, making sure to not make too much noise. "For the last time: he has black hair, green eyes and a mole on his cheek. But what's most important is that he still owes me something and although my kind-hearted soul granted him time over the break it seems he forgot about his debt. So in order to remind him, you two morons will get a hold of him when he returns to Totsuki and wait until I arrive for the further procedure." "A-Aye Boss." The voice on the other side of the phone stammered.

Shigeo's yellow eyes rolled upwards, before he said. "Now stop calling me. The instructions are clear and I expect you two, combined, to have enough braincells to follow them." Not giving Umino any chance to say something else he then hung up.

Afterwards he made his way out of his room and down the stairs.

—

Elite 10 membership runs through Shigeo-senpai's family. Both of his parents used to be in the Elite 10 and after all, our current 3rd seat is an Eizan as well.

Shigeo-senpai and his older brother, Eizan Masashi, can certainly be seen together quite a lot despite the fact that they're not in the same generation.

Both of them are well-aware of their standing within the academy and individual skills. Together they're a force to behold and only the most bravest of souls would go up against them. Still, despite their constant cooperation, they're still brothers in the end. And all siblings bicker here and there.

—

"Morning." Shigeo greeted as he came down the stairs. He was promptly greeted by Masashi's curt tone. "There you are! Mother made you miso soup!" Said mother was quick to interfere though with the help of her calm but strict voice. "Masashi, you don't need to sound so aggressive."

Nene Eizan then shifted her focus to her middle son and merely said. "Good morning Shigeo, I suppose you want a coffee?"

The more than familiar trademark smirk appeared on Shigeo's face as he replied. "That would be splendid, Mom. Thank you. I had a call to make, that's why I was not down here sooner." A huff escaped Masashi.

"Don't you think you're a bit too much on your phone sometimes?" Nene sighed, as she began to operate the coffee-machine. "Who is there that you need to call this early in the morning?"

"The gorillas, most likely." A third voice found it’s way into the conversation. Turning his head into the direction it had come from Shigeo's gaze landed on the kitchen table and a young, blonde boy sitting at it with a cup of hot chocolate and a bowl of miso-soup.

"Gorillas?" Nene repeated, confused over her youngest son's words. Kei was just about to open his mouth and elaborate further, but Masashi was a little quicker. "Those two indecent friends of Shigeo’s, Mother. Umino and Yamada."

"Oh…" Was all Nene managed to say before Kei voiced his thoughts again. "Shigeo has no fuckin-" "Language!" Reprimanded Masashi before Kei could finish his sentence. Likewise, Nene's face darkened a little. "Kei."

"So…Sorry." Kei stammered, imitated by the strict, warning tone his mother has used for merely saying his name.

Shigeo let out a chuckle. "Don't listen to Kei, mom. He demonizes everything." The overall arrogant tone of Shigeo's voice paired with the self-confident smirk were enough to rile Kei up yet again. "There's no need to demonize you, Shigeo! You and Masashi are demons!"

"How dare you?!" Masashi roared, but before it could escalate, Nene shut her two fiery children efficiently with a single. "Cut it out. Both of you." They followed suit immediately, both not intending to push their luck on this one.

Nene let out another sigh, before handing Shigeo the espresso she had prepared. "Please just put your phone away for breakfast at least, Shigeo. It's not polite." Before Shigeo could reply however, Nene's eyes already trailed to someone behind him and she said. "Then again, can I really blame you going by what example your father is giving?"

Shigeo raised an eyebrow before turning around and witnessing said father coming down the stairs with his eyes attached to his mobile phone, only looking up when Nene raised her voice a little. "Etsuya! Watch where you're going!" The Soba-Master then shook her head. "At times it feels I have four children instead of three."

Etsuya raised a hand to signalize his wife to calm down. "Okay, okay. I'm putting my phone away already. See?" He held the device up in presenting manner, only to put it into the pocket of his suit afterwards. He then casted a suspicious look on his spawn as he said. "Why is your mother in such a bad mood? Did you three have a fight again?"

"Fathe-" Masashi wanted to begin an explanation, but he was cut off by Shigeo. "Please, dad. I never fight. Masashi and Kei however…" He shrugged, not minding the death-glares that both Kei and Masashi threw at him. "What about Suzume-senpai?!" Kei then asked provocatively.

Immediately displeasure spread all over Shigeo's face. "Don't remind me of her. I have my first class today with that annoyance." He groaned. "Hojo is too stupid and irritating for my kindness." "Yeah right." Kei gestured quotation marks into the air. "Your 'kindness'. Good one."

"I've got to say." Etsuya now said. "Her father is the most obnoxious person on the planet, so I can hardly blame Shigeo on that one."

Nene brought herself back into the the conversation. "For being Kuga's daughter, I'd say she actually turned out surprisingly decent." She placed two bowls of miso-soup on the table. "Could I now kindly ask everyone to sit down and have breakfast together? Without any arguing?"

—

The last, but certainly not least, Elite 10 member from the 114th Generation is possibly the most infamous and yet still the most mysterious one at the same time.

For everyone else, I can make several attempts to envision how their mornings might look like. But for Yukihira Hiraku? Not possible.

Filled from head to toe with talent, Yukihira Hiraku entered the academy as a transfer student last year and took Totsuki by storm. Yet his origins are shrouded in mystery to this day. All we got is his mysterious relationship to the Nakiris, yet it still leaves more questions than answers as well.

Who is he really? The newfound idol of our school? The famed Tongue blessed by Angels?

—

"I can't believe you overslept again, Hiraku! You two are going to miss the train! Is it that hard to set an alarm. I swear-" Those were some of the things Hiraku caught out of his mother's speed-ranting as she squeezed the bento she had prepared into the mess that was his schoolbag.

Hiraku could only watch her with his usual stoic expression. Kimiko stood next to him, already having been perfectly prepared a hour ago, the school bag in her hands and ready to walk any second. "You really have no sense of time." She scolded.

"Couldn't we ask Aunt Alice to pick us up still? If we do miss the trai-" Hiraku was just about to bring up but Erina interrupted him. "No. Your aunt is busy running an enormous school and we won't bother her because you still haven't learned how to rise early, Hiraku."

"Come on, Erina." Soma attempted to calm the frustrated blonde. "We've all been late sometime." The answer he received was violet eyes glaring at him and a sharp tongue hissing. "You're not one to talk in this matter, Soma!"

The God Tongue had finally managed to not-only squeeze the bento into Hiraku's messy bag but also close the zipper of it afterwards, despite the fact that the bag looked like about to explode any second. She let out a sigh, exhausted by the battle that the closing of the bag had been and her own ranting throughout of it.

She then picked the the bag up, to hand it back to it's owner. "Now please hurry up, will you."

Kimiko grinned at that. "Don't worry, mom! We're Yukihiras in the end and we always find a way." She eyed Hiraku. "Even if Hiraku's helium-balloon-brain can cause inconvenience here and there, it's still salvageable and as long as things are salvageable Yukihiras find a way to salvage them. Right, dad?"

Soma laughed in response and winked. "That's the spirit, Kimiko! I believe in you."

Hiraku placed a squid-arm between his teeth and merely said. "I believe we really should be going then, huh?"

"That would be for the better, yes." Erina crossed her arms. But then, that rare but beautiful little smile of her's appeared on her lips at last. "Get to Totsuki safely and remember to have fun, okay?"

Soma appeared behind her and laid his arm around her, giving a thumbs-up. "Meanwhile we'll keep things running over here. And you know you can always check in when you need something!"

—

Well, no matter wether your morning went down eventful or uneventful, something is certain: Things on Totsuki will never be boring!

In the name of Totsuki Sports, I welcome you back to Totsuki Academy! Let's see what the second half of the school year has in store for us. Of course you can be assured that Totsuki Sports will keep you updated on all things going on in our lovely and certainly most lively school.

Signing off,

Sotsuda-Cohen Cho !

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cheetahsprints · 5 years

Text

Schoolyard Gossip

Prompt: Little Homeschool

Summary: Peridot learns that Little Homeschool has a thriving rumor mill, and she's the latest victim. Meanwhile, Amethyst stakes a claim which may cost what she wants most.

Words: 2181

Peridot dances in place as her Botany & Permaculture class comes to a close. She's headed to teach Meep Morp - or as it's registered, 'Sculpting & Making Art with Items' - Class next, but that isn't the source of her excitement. Almost immediately, she spots Amethyst. She finishes inhaling her fries, probably fresh from the boardwalk. They fall into step, chatting and laughing. Her next destination is baseball practice. This is a usual part of their routine.

However, something new happens. A warm purple hand slightly bigger than her own engulfs hers. Warmth spreads to her core. For a moment, she blames it on the sun emerging from the cloud. Logically, she knows her hard light projection isn't so affected. She's glad she doesn't have organs, or they'd be clumsily somersaulting. For years, she wondered if she was imagining the spark growing between them.

These days, Amethyst's time is quite full - at least compared to before. It's such a reward, teaching and guiding gems. The memory of the pride in Pearl's eyes when she said she wanted to have a part in her still makes her giddy. It's great to put her Earth culture knowledge to good use. Steven was a harder case, with the nerve to doubt her.

She chalked it up to personal issues - he was used to helping in a certain way. That boy was lost… anyone could see it, but Amethyst was clueless about how to get him out of the funk. She does have free time to hang out with her fellow OGs - as they've been nicknamed by formerly corrupted gems, never mind that they were Crystal Gems during the war while Amethyst was incubating - as well as the new gems she's come to consider family. She's even taken up art lessons, suggested by her old friend Vidalia, and encouraged by her current crush, Peridot.

Yet, none of that is so exciting as the time between Earth Stuff 101 and Baseball practice. That is when she gets to enjoy her walk and talk with Peridot. She can see Peridot enjoys Little Homeschool just as much as she does, if not more. Peridot is basically the poster child of Reformed Gem, and she wears it loud and proud. Amethyst doesn't always completely follow the topic Peridot is on, but she appreciates that Peridot gives her a chance, expects her to be smarter than Amethyst makes it seem - truth is, she is more knowledgeable than she lets on. Stars forbid anyone think she's a nerd!

In any case, Amethyst does follow the way Peridot's eyes light up when she's passionate. She doesn't miss her wide grins, showing off pointed canine-esque teeth that seems a common trait among green, yellow, and orange gems. She loses herself in Peridot's charming, if dorky, laughter. She tracks the movements of Peridot's fingers when she's frustrated, dragging them through her hair or gnawing them. Today she can't resist breaking the bubble and grasping her hand. She does resist the urge to grab her alluring behind. That wouldn't track unless they were explicitly a couple.

Peridot wouldn't have expected holding Amethyst's hand to be a revelation, but it is. This is just where she wants to be. She doesn't want it to end. Inevitably they reach a literal crossroads where they must part ways for now. For the rest of the day, it's difficult to focus. She has to mentally rebuke herself several times and endure instances of Lapis and others raising an eyebrow at her. She rubs her hand that held Amethyst's with the other, trapped in disbelief.

Was it just two friends being friendly and platonically holding hands… does she dare read into it?

Browsing the internet and her own mental database of romantic information is neither helpful or productive. The history is too confusing. It reminds her of the time she briefly thought Amethyst was jealous of Lapis, after Pearl let slip everyone thought they were dating - first of all, ew, Peridot shudders at the memory of drowning those rumors - only for it to turn out Amethyst's was preoccupied with Jasper, resulting in a grim attitude.

Overall, Peridot has a terrible history of being able to read Amethyst. She'd have better luck with Garnet. Nonetheless, as the weeks pass, the hand holding becomes part of the routine. Though exhilarating, it has downsides. It's distracting for one, and Peridot is certain she saw student gems pointing and whispering. It comes to a head in class at the end of the week.

"So, who can tell me the importance of bees in agriculture?"

To Peridot's pleasant surprise, one of the gems near the back, a known slacker, raises her hand. Peridot points, and instant regret is the result.

"You and Professor Amethyst are a thing right? I have a bet with a Nephrite who doesn't believe me!"

Peridot glares at the Quartz, indignant. "My social life is none of your business. However, as it stands, I am certainly not seeing anyone in a romantic capacity."

Kunzite sees fit to chime in, "With respect, that's coprolite. I asked the same of Amethyst yesterday, and she said, and I quote, ya darn right, that's my girl and don't forget it."

Peridot's eye twitches, her stone well chipped. What kind of sick joke is this? Amethyst is supposed to be her friend. Sure she's given to pranks, part of what Peridot adores about her, but this is too much. It's embarrassing to be contradicting and upsetting because it's not true. In love with her or not, she's going to kill Amethyst. Grinding her teeth she manages, "You. Did not. Get called on. Or raise your hand. Thus your comment will be ignored and stricken from the log."

"There's a log?"

"Silence!"

Peridot releases her class early, all the better to prepare for the confrontation soon. Unfortunately, traversing the grounds turns out to be a task. Every gem that crosses her path has to give their opinion, as the word of the exaggerated relationship between her and Amethyst has already spread like wildfire.

When Amethyst reaches for Peridot's hand, Peridot yanks away from her with a borderline snarl. It cuts deep. Did she mess up already? Amethyst has been taking it as slow as possible despite the screaming desire within her - or rather because of it. Peridot is careful and easily startled, like a deer. With her, it was two steps forward and twenty steps backward if you weren't cautious.

Amethyst notes that Peridot is tense enough to be shaking. An old stream of self loathing enters Amethyst's consciousness, but she redirects it with reason. She'll hear out Peridot before she jumps to blaming herself. It might just be -

"I'm setting a boundary," Peridot claims, her volume wince inducing. "You are not to lie about my love life AS A JOKE. That is private, not to mention a hurtful breach of trust!"

- a misunderstanding. Amethyst recoils as though struck by the force of Peridot's accusation. Puzzled, she mumbles, "Uh, what? Sorry, no idea what you're getting at, Dot." In the past she would've been incensed at the implication, but she maintains a relaxed air.

If she fumes too, Peridot's ire is likely to become an inferno.

Peridot takes a sharp inhale. She barks, "Don't play dumb, I know you're not. WHY DID YOU TELL KUNZITE WE'RE DATING? I can't walk a meter without getting congratulated or someone making a comment!"

"Wha -"

Amethyst squints, checking that Peridot's gem isn't cracked. Wasn't she mad about her spreading lies? Amethyst points at her saying, "If you wanted it to be a secret, you should've mentioned it, and not held my hand in public."

"YOU - WHAT - I -"

Many gems have stopped to take in the scene. Peridot notices them and her cheeks darken. She digs her fingers into her hair in a way that would be adorable, under circumstances where her aggravation wasn't directed at Amethyst.

Peridot seems to gather her thoughts and promptly explodes. "YOU SEEM TO BE UNDER THE IMPRESSION WE'RE TOGETHER! I DON'T RECALL GETTING THE MEMO, AMETHYST!"

"Instead I get this information from a gem in my class - unbelievable," Peridot finishes, her voice soft and cracking by the end. "This prank has gone too far."

Amethyst actually has to clamp her hands on either side of her head to suppress the onslaught. It takes a moment, past the slight ringing and giggles from the peanut gallery, to register what she said. Amethyst moves her hands to rub her own face, uncertain if she wants to scream, laugh, cry, or some combination of the three. She remembers before the whole Pink Diamond revelation, when it seemed dangerous to hope. That fear didn't dissipate until the corrupted gems were healed.

Now it seems, she had gotten ahead of herself and wrecked the train.

"Peri - Peridot, listen I -"

Amethyst stares hard at the ground, unable to meet Peridot's angry eyes. "It's not a joke. I thought my feelings for you were obvious, I just didn't want to - to push it, to scare you away. I swear I didn't mean to hurt you."

A few tears slip. She swiftly wipes them away, sniffling. When she dares to look up, Peridot is staring at her, lips parted. Peridot is aghast, thrown by what just occurred. She was embarrassed at being played for a fool, now she's ashamed of her indiscreet outbursts. She was seconds away from demanding an apology. She wants to drop down and beg forgiveness.

She grabs Amethyst by the wrist and sprints to her greenhouse. It's guaranteed empty for a while, allowing them privacy that Peridot should've granted in the first place. She stutters for a bit as her mind races faster than her tongue can keep pace.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that in front of everyone. Argh! I'm such a clod!" Peridot hugs one of the potted plants to her chest and gazes at Amethyst, beseeching. "I don't know what's going on anymore, what are we?"

Amethyst reaches for her, hesitates, then drops her arm. Had Peridot possessed insides, they would've turned to dust at that. Amethyst says, "I accept your apology, I know how proud you are and I get why you lost it like that - I shouldn't have assumed. I - I didn't think we were dating yet exactly, but you didn't have a problem with us holding hands… I just… I didn't want anyone to think you were - but I didn't have the right -"

Realization striking, Peridot interrupts, "You were afraid someone would make a move, before you got the chance to take the next step."

"Yeah! But that was the wrong way to handle it. I should've talked to you instead of er -" Amethyst snorts. "Marking my territory, as it were."

Peridot frowns. Words are hard, feelings are hard. Once upon a time, Peridot wouldn't be able to have this type of conversation without some kind of intermediary. She takes a second to marvel at how far she's come before continuing to explain.

"Regardless, my reaction was overblown. I - it was painful, the implication when it wasn't reality, so I thought. It was jarring enough that a tasteless joke seemed in the higher percentile of probability than the idea that you were… more or less telling the truth," Peridot explains.

Amethyst blurts, "Can I hug you?"

Peridot opens her arms, and Amethyst rushes forward. Peridot notes that she's careful to hold back in order to avoid knocking them over along with the table behind Peridot. She relaxes into the embrace, relief coming over her. When Amethyst's arms loosen, Peridot shifts to press her lips to Amethyst's gemstone. Amethyst strokes her back.

"Hopefully the students will stick their noses elsewhere after that mess."

"Don't worry about the gossip line, I've got a little hook about a certain Pearl and her new squeeze I can cast as a distraction," Amethyst claims.

"I can still be your girl, if you still want that," Peridot murmurs.

Amethyst's eyes are shining. "Of course I do, ya nerd.

Peridot sighs, tilting her head as a fond smile invades her visage.

"At least my critical cognition isn't weighed down by exponential density as compared to my stone."

Amethyst blinks, processing her 'peri-phrasing' as she dubbed it. Her expression melts into understanding, then flashes into false rage. "Oh really? You can run but you can't hide!"

Amethyst lunges at her. Peridot uses her power to smack Amethyst square in the face with a trowel and makes good her escape. She dives under the nearest table, army crawling her way to the exit. Her hair gets tussled, but it's the least of her concerns. Amethyst bellows a battle cry, summoning her whip in Peridot's peripheral vision. Peridot reverts to sprinting on all fours, while Amethyst races after her laughing and cracking her whip. Chasing down her favorite green geek-mobile, Amethyst muses that the scene is sure to cause a lot of speculation.

#amedot #amedotweek #little homeschool #su:f #su fic #mild angst #mutual pining #miscommunication/lack of communication #sometimes when I write dialogue for Peridot I have no idea if it makes actual sense

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anarkhebringer · 5 years

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Okay, so for my Miitopia AU, I have a headcanon thing I’m making official for the AU. It’s a long post, though, so only click it if you don’t mind scrolling a lot.

Since Felix finds Meep in the Dark Lord’s castle without any stolen face parts, a completely harmless Scaredy-Scorpion, Felix now kinda just adopts any harmless monsters he finds out and about when he’s assigned to go on patrols through the area the group is in after they get done saving faces that day. Since Lysithea and Claude are the nerdiest ones of the group and know about the mannerisms and other vital details of monsters due to research, Felix is better able to care for all of his new buddies and ensure they all stay happy and healthy.

One day you’ll see the group facing some HUGE AND STRONG foe, things look bleak, then all of a sudden Felix appears with his army of monster friends to beat the shit out of the foe and take an easy win. It’s a beautiful thought. Somehow he even manages to befriend a Fiend or two since there are some that aren’t manifested from stolen faces due to being dark beings.

And those Fiends were the hardest for the group to accept since literally ALL of them, Felix included, have a special Hatred for Fiends and their Terror big brother variation due to how dangerous and anxiety-inducing they are with their ability to one-hit kill ANY of the party if they aren’t fast enough to prevent it. And the Fiend always takes at least one party member away. Dimitri has the most Fiend blood on his hands for tearing them to shreds after they solely target Claude to kill him most of the time due to him being the highest level party member and the strongest of them all. The party thanks every deity to ever exist that Sprinkles and revival/shield magic are at their disposal.

Though despite the history the party has with Fiends, when they aren’t manifested from stolen faces, they aren’t as violently aggressive and don’t just kill right away. They’re just more annoyed at the intrusion on their isolation and solitude. Something Felix can understand, so he and the faceless (no stolen eyes, just ones they had already) Fiends have a mutual respect and aren’t aggressive to each other. They just do the usual ideal antisocial loner bonding method: exist in the same space in silence, just doing their own thing and maybe talking once in a while. They respect his rules since he takes them in and saves them from a fate of not being able to control their rage and power.

Terror Fiends are more naturally aggressive, but since they know they are weak in terms of resistance to physical strength, and that almost all of the strength from the party they live with is solely brute physical strength, they try their best to not attack anyone out of anger because they know they’ll be killed despite their much higher HP, speed, and magic resistance. Only one death has happened at the scythe of a Fiend (Terror and regular included) when a Terror Fiend killed another one due to an argument. The living Terror Fiend was kicked out and they begrudgingly took their leave, only to meet an unfortunate fate of having a stolen pair of eyes put on it, and having to be slain on the next mission for Claude and his party.

The one who started it all, Felix’s best buddy (and little adopted son, by Felix and Ashe’s words) Meep the Scaredy-Scorpion, helps keep the monsters happy too. The Fiends are annoyed by Meep’s excessive affection, but they don’t get fully angry unless Meep doesn’t back off when asked to. They flash that black and red eye of Spite, and Meep takes the hint and gives them space. They may be annoyed at constant attention to them, but they still appreciate the hospitality nonetheless and let Meep love on them a little bit here and there. He’s a super friendly and curious little guy, and that kind of purity draws Fiends in due to their naturally dark and impure associations. They don’t wish to take advantage, it just intrigues them is all. And when Meep becomes talkative, and makes a lot of noises and squeaks, the Fiends tend to ask Felix and Ashe to translate since they can understand what Meep says at this point due to the bond the three share.

“What is the Meep saying? Why are the chirps so loud?”

“He’s talking about liking the color of the drapes here, oddly enough. He says the dots on the wallpaper are pretty, too.”

“How do you decipher such from these painful sounds?”

“You get used to it.”

“This does not quite answer my question, but it is satisfactory for now and I will take your word.”

“It’ll get easier to tolerate and understand in time, Meep’s just like this. It’s an acquired taste I suppose.”

“...Hm.”

There’s more to this, but this is long enough for now. Part 2 may be soon.

#long post #Fire Emblem AU #Miitopia AU #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Miitopia #AU headcanon #AU info

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future-critical-blog · 5 years

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How Pacing Fucked Steven Universe

Note: this is anonymous because I know what will happen!

Steven Universe is without a doubt one of the best shows I've ever seen. It's certainly the best cartoon series I've ever watched. The first four series, and a large amount of the fifth, are truly wonderful.

So, I'm going to be entitled and complain about the last little bit that didn't work for me. I got all those hundreds of episodes, and I’m just going to take a moment to really honk about the stuff I don't like.

Because we live in an age where Nazis are back, feminists think trans woman are the biggest threat they face and the world is burning - at this point, a bit of a moan about Steven Universe/Future will get lost I think.

Bear in mind: this comes from a place of love. I care about Steven and the characters because they took me on an amazing journey that really had an emotional impact on me. Then they tripped me right at the end, and now they're fuck-twaddling around taking up space in my brain that should be used for thinking about how great the show is.

This is about how the inability to wrap Steven Universe properly sucks and undermines all the amazing work the creators put into it. Now, that work hasn't gone anywhere: I can, and will, re-watch the series to reminisce about it. About what could have happened. Nobody has taken that away from me.

But still, there's nothing worse than a story that buggers up the ending. Worse yet, that ending is still going in Steven Universe: Future.

So what's the problem? Let's start.

Pacing, pathos and atmosphere

Things used to be teased, hinted and slowly revealed. Steven Universe used to a slow-burn that really built things up with the even-hand of a masterful storyteller. Remember that long shot at the end of 'On the Road', after the characters leave? We see just the empty, sinister kindergarten whilst a discordant note builds in the background before... bang, credits. It builds atmosphere and tension.

What happened to that? Slowly building a feeling, weaving a narrative, and taking us on an emotional journey? We got a very rushed pay-off to all this with Series 5. The crew thought the show wouldn't be renewed, so they made the executive decision to wrap it all up.

· Everyone’s fixed now. Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst, Steven.

· Diamonds are friendly now. Blue got sad, Yellow got angry and White got… put in her place by a comeback?

· The bubbled gems/corrupted monsters are all fixed.

· The Off-Colours and Lars just got home. No further adventures, they just got home.

Bits got missed out. Things got rushed. Homeworld, the Diamonds and five series of build-up got dealt with in the space of 40 minutes. For comparison, just Series 1 alone was 8 hours long.

Yeah, the network created that situation. You're cancelled! They seemed to say. No you're not! HA! They continued. But it still sucks, narratively, and the creators are now compounding that problem by trying to go back and add in the bits they missed.

Worse, there's no pacing now because there’s no more overall story. No atmosphere. Fundamentally, post Change Your Mind, everything is done. The series was wrapped up. All we have left now is some loose-ends and Steven being moody.

It came back mostly just to tie up random ends. But more of something isn't always good: Series 1-4 and about half of Series 5 are amazing. We shouldn't clap and applaud we get more just because it's more for its own sake, we should cheer things for being good in their own right.

I don't just want more meep morp, I want the morp to have something to say and to mean something. Victory laps and adding unnecessary lore is pointless: characters and emotion are what drive stories.

This isn't about 'filler' episodes as such, nor is it about breaks and hiatuses. It's about spreading the story arc (and the individual elements within that arc) correctly over the allotted time. A story that takes 700 pages to set up, only to be resolved in 3 pages feels badly unbalanced - I'm looking at you, Stephen King. And that's exactly the problem Steven Universe has. The set-up is incredible, and the payoff is badly disappointing. That's pacing.

Being the Underdog

This was covered nicely, if ironically in hindsight, with the episode ‘Historical Friction’. The play about olde-time mayor William Dewey was utterly uninteresting until Pearl rewrote the play’s script to make him an underdog. This is part of pacing. It's dull to watch a winner win constantly. The characters need to be in situations where they're facing actual threats, otherwise we're just watching a series of foregone conclusions unfold.

What would Lord of the Rings look like if the Hobbits just marched from The Shire to Orodruin, with no setbacks or problems, and then just lobbed the One Ring into the fire? What's the point of the story? It'd be like a grand-scale version of watching someone go out for groceries. Nobody wants to watch that, not really: you can go to the supermarket and see it if you’re that interested!

This couples with suspension of disbelief. Usually, the good guys win. We know they're going to win. We need to be able to suspend our disbelief, and that's something that the pacing and storytelling need to enable. We need to be able to get caught in the story, even though we know everything will probably work out by the end.

When you get it just right, even the creators don’t know for sure everything will be alright. Remember when Picard was assimilated by The Borg? Even the writers weren’t 100% sure how it would play out, because Patrick Stewart was playing hardball with the studio at the time over his contract. There was a chance this could have been the end of his character.

But Steven isn't an underdog anymore. He's a bossy, self-important grump with a martyr complex. He wins all the time, not least of all because of the pacing problems. By this point:

· Steven has healing powers that can literally bring people back to life

· He has all the powers of a Diamond

· He has the backing of the three other diamonds

· He now has an army of friends who will fight at his side

So where is the story to tell? Consider, in Steven Universe: The Movie, Greg's arm gets hurt by the injector. There's no danger, no worry. We know Steven has healing powers. So why bother showing it? It's about as relevant or interesting as watching Greg brush his hair.

There’s no danger. There’s no suspension of disbelief because the hero is now so super-powered.

This is even worse when coupled with the uneven pacing: when something takes so long to be painstakingly set up, only to be knocked down in a heartbeat, then why get invested in it? The 21st Century reboot of Doctor Who falls into this trap a lot: multipart episodes about a Dalek (or whatever) invasion… but luckily their Evil Machine has a ‘reverse’ switch that fixes everything. Dust hands, job done. All that build-up utterly squandered on an almost supernaturally fast resolution.

You Need a Story to Tell

The first five series have a definite story. It gets rushed, badly, come series 5 but there is still a story. That is done now: there's no grand, overarching tale now. We're very much into 'oh, what if...' territory.

What's the problem with that? Things get missed, because they don't need to fit into a cohesive whole. They just happen because they're cool.

Consider The Movie:

· Spinel goes from a cuddly, professional buddy to a would-be mass-murderer

· Spinel knows where to find a stupidly powerful injector

· She knows how to work it

· It is tuned to work to her 'trumpet' sound

· It is shaped like her gemstone

· She knows specifically where Earth is

· She knows how to fly a massive injector, with no obvious engines, to Earth

· This all happens in an afternoon

And the explanation we're given, after the event in a Q&A session? It's because Spinel and Pink Diamond were close. That is supposed to explain the entirety of those bullet points. It rankles me because it's not truthful. Those questions aren't answered by that, they're answered by 'because we thought it would be cool'. It's an unsatisfying explanation, but it's true and they’ve tried to handwave it into something else.

It's also what happens when you run out of proper story. Sure, you can still come up with little adventures but there's no big narrative anymore. There is no large picture for everything to fit into.

That’s dangerous territory. Not only does it lead to weird scenarios, but it also starts generating new lore at a maddening amount. The fans don't help this, it seems to me that some people purely watch Steven Universe to demand moar fusions, moar songs and moar lore. Even when that’s all they get, it’s not enough.

It's like demanding more swimming pools in your home because you're bored with foundations. Sooner or later the whole structure falls down because swimming pools can’t hold a house up. Neither can lore hold a story up: stories are about characters.

Similarly, the concept of 'fusion' relies on characters otherwise it's nothing more than the character dumps we used to get in toy-driven franchises back in the 80s. Songs have to have an emotional resonance otherwise they're just empty pop.

Remember the X-Files? How they got into a rut just generating series after series with no pay-off, but lots more wrinkles to an already convoluted story? Then it got to the end and... you can't end it. It's too sprawling, too stupid and too contradictory. That's where lore without a story takes you. Lore has to serve a vision, not the other way around.

Filler

Not filler the way it's come to mean to SU fans. I like the 'boardie' episodes - they're full of interesting characters and ground Steven's world in something resembling ours. No, I mean filler in terms of stories that don't mean anything: the characters don't learn anything, the world isn't made any more interesting. Things just happen in a self-contained bubble with no payoff or consequence.

In itself, that's fine. Some episodes are like that. If that were the only aspect to 'filler' episodes in SU, then who cares? The problem is the pacing. After glacial teasing, hinting and laying down groundwork... things get wrapped up so fast it'll make your head spin.

· The cluster? We talked it into staying bubbled.

· The Diamonds? They're fine now.

· Bismuth? Steven chatted to her.

· Lapis? She's sort-of fine, but not really.

· Spinel? Sent to live on a farm.

These are all things that took many, many lines of dialogue and building to create and were knocked down in the space of a couple of sentences.

This is where the 'filler' comes in. Instead of another story about Onion being weird, why not devote it to tying up the plot in a way that feels paced properly? Instead of answering questions about Watermelon Stevens, why not draw-out a little more the actual conclusion to a big story point?

Why do I think Onion and Watermelon Stevens should be singled out for Calvary? Simple: they have no explanation and don't matter. They don't matter to the day-to-day lives of the characters or the world. They serve no narrative purpose. They don't advance other characters' arcs. They don't ground the world they inhabit. They turn up, do 'stuff' in a little bubble and then go back into the toybox until the next Onion episode.

As a side note, I would lay a lot of money that Onion will never get any sort of pay-off. He doesn't age. He's deeply bizarre. He's apparently a wanted criminal. He's terrifying. And I don't think for an instant he will ever get a reason for being any of those things: he'll just carry on as a quirky in-joke and take up episode space because apparently that is a story-telling priority now.

Songs

Songs are sung when something is too important for the characters to just say it. The song needs an emotional resonance, to show what a character feels effectively. Contrast 'That Distant Shore' to 'Independent Together': one is about a deep longing and sadness for a home the character has never had. The other is a soft-rock ballad about how great stuff is when you can be your own self but also be with other people... or something.

See the resonance that the former has, and that the latter lacks? Whether you like Lapis or Steg, or the songs, is irrelevant to the story and the characters. One song has something to say, the other is there for the sake of giving fanservice. Independent Together isn't something so important to say that the characters feel they need to sing it.

This really kicks off around the middle of Series 5. Previously, songs were a special event. Now, they're commonplace. Even in Mr. Greg, a fully musical episode back in Series 3, the songs have so much emotion. Plus, Mr. Greg is an experiment: 11 minutes, mostly held together by 6 solid songs:

· Don't Cost Nothing: how much Greg and Steven just love one another.

· Empire City: how excited they are to go on a trip together

· Mr. Greg: Pearl almost lets her guard down, then realises and shuts down.

· It's Over Isn't It? : A heartbroken character sings for a life they never had.

· Both of You: A child shows the two adults they have something special in common.

· Don't Cost Nothing: reprised as a coda.

I won't pretend that all those songs have a huge emotional impact, but they do all serve part of the story arc. You can see it there: the status quo, the trigger, the choice, the quest, the showdown, the resolution and the new status quo. Couple that with the fact that at least 4 of those songs (counting Don't Cost Nothing and its reprise) do have a very real emotional punch, you've got a great episode.

All in 11 minutes.

That's the level of truly amazing, genius storytelling we're working with. Now contrast that to the 1hr 20m of Steven Universe The Movie:

· The Tale of Steven: A prelude to a re-cap song

· Once Upon a Time: a re-cap song

· Let Us Adore You: The Diamonds are emotionally disturbed and co-dependent! How adorable!

· Happily Ever After: The status quo. Also another bloody re-cap.

· Other Friends: The trigger! Not huge emotional resonance, but up-beat and plot-relevant.

· system/BOOT.PearlFinal(3): The quest.

· Who We Are: NICE. This one has emotional impact and says something important.

· Isn't It Love?: A Garnet re-cap. So at this point we're recapping what we re-capped when we recapped the re-cap. Lost yet?

· No Matter What: Again, NICE. Emotional relevance and says something about Amethyst and Steven.

· Disobedient: Kate Micucci hadn't been given anything to do yet?

· Independent Together: Aimee Mann brought a friend! Can he have a job and some dollarydoos?

· Drift Away: CHARACTER. PUNCH. PATHOS. It's here, folks. They can do it!

and so on.

See the pattern? For every one song that brings what we saw in Mr. Greg, there are at least four that are there just because. Because we thought it'd be cool. Because we needed more tunes to fill the runtime. Mr. Greg achieved more in 11 minutes than Steven Universe: The Movie achieved in over 80 minutes.

What's the reason? The Movie doesn't really have a story to tell. It's a victory lap. It's not bad: it's fine. Bits of it are simply excellent. But this is what happens when you stop having a big, cohesive narrative arc that you're trying to bring together.

Characters

Characters grow and evolve. Specifically, they have arcs. Just like the plot as a whole, and just like the subplots that compose it. Generally, the stages are:

· A status quo (Luke on Tattoine)

· A trigger (his Aunt and Uncle die)

· A critical choice (he leaves to become a Jedi)

· A quest (the adventure)

· A climax (the fight at the Death Star)

· A turnaround (the Death Star is destroyed!)

· A new status quo (the Rebels are ready to take on the next challenge)

SU gave most of its characters arcs broadly representative of this. The problem is, once those arcs were done the characters got put back in their boxes. They were 'fixed' and that was it. Amethyst's arc probably worked best: it spread over most of the first five series and felt like a real progression. Hence her fusion with Steven (Smokey Quartz) felt 'earnt'.

Pearl doesn't really grow or evolve much at all until Series 5. Ditto Garnet. Lapis is basically the same throughout the show: she broods, runs away and then comes back because of Steven's coaxing.

So, it’s back to my main drumbeat: its pacing is badly off. Some things take their good time and evolve naturally, others are wrapped up quickly and cast aside. Examples:

· Peridot worked to become friends with the CG. She had a character arc that took half a series.

· The Diamonds: it mostly turned on a sixpence in the 2nd half of Change Your Mind. Off-screen they then became annoying relatives, rather than murderous galactic tyrants.

Why does this matter? Well, most of the characters are now 'done'. Pearl is no longer co-dependent. Ruby and Sapphire know they're together (as Garnet) for love. Amethyst no longer hates herself. Peridot is a sweet (albeit socially clumsy) sidekick. Lapis is... well, the same as she's always been but seems happier with it now?

How do you tell more stories when your characters are already done? When the veg is cooked, you can't put it back on the hob because you've decided you want dinner prep to take longer.

SU keeps wrapping things up, believing they're 'done', then getting more time and needing to draw it out. This means either dawdling around with characters not going anywhere (which feels like either a smug victory lap or just something for its own sake) or actively unpicking their development.

Scrubs, in my view, is the poster child for the latter option: the show's cancelled, quick wrap up JD; Elliot; Dr. Cox; Carla; Turk etc! Oh no, we got another series! Undo the happily-ever-after so we can do more stuff!

That's why the pacing, particularly around characters and where they're going, matters.

Fusion

Fusion is the absolute biggest muddle of a metaphor. Is it friendship? Understanding? Sex? All? None? In any case, it used to be meaningful. Fusion meant something, even if that something would vary depending on the characters and the circumstance.

It took special effort to do: characters had to synchronise themselves through dance, to bring their thoughts together to fuse.

Now? It happens at the drop of a hat. No synching, no dancing. Fanwank it away any way you like: the characters are all 'fixed' now, they all trust each other, whatever. Fusion now doesn't mean anything because it takes no effort: pop here's Sunstone, pop here's Smokey, pop here's Opal. The fusions have just become like alter-egos that take no more effort than a quick-change in a phone booth.

And then there's Steg. Yeah, I get it: he represents the familial love between father and son. But why is he so built? Why does he look like some sort of sex-god? I'm a long way from a prude - it's just weird is all. A 16 year old boy + his middle aged father + the memory of the mother/wife shouldn't create a weird Adonis! But let me set that aside: the true problem with Steg is we had no build-up. Greg and Steven didn't talk about it, Steven just suggests fusing (through whispered dialogue we don't hear) and then it just happens.

Steg also isn't saved by being an interesting exploration of either Steven or Greg. He's fanservice. Fans wanted more fusions and more 'what if so-and-so fused!!' so they got it. He has 0 character. Just like Sunstone has no character beyond being an 'after school special'. Rainbow Quartz 2.0 has no character, aside from being chipper and cockney.

Contrast that to Smokey Quartz. Smokey is a delightful, self-deprecating scamp. She has a definite personality and stood up to a full interview with Sardonyx. Smokey has enough of a character that it would be possible for her to act out-of-character. What would out-of-character look like for Rainbow or Sunstone? Provided it was cartoon-English and early 90s cartoon dialogue (respectively) it could be anything.

What happened? Fusions used to be characters, they used to have personalities that couldn't be written down on a postage stamp in luggage marker.

The answer is the story ran-out. The characters are all fixed now - so there's no emotional or narrative drive for their relationships. Hence the concept of fusion is now just serving fans who want to see 'what if' combinations of characters.

Too Many Endings

I’ve touched on this already, but here it is again.

The problem with wrapping up a show is you put all the pieces away as well as you can, and implicitly make work for yourself if it is not the end. You've just set up a load of strawmen you need to kick over if you decide you've got more story to tell.

That's what happened here. Change Your Mind ended it. Except it didn't, so we went back and unpicked what we could. Even though everyone is basically fixed now and the characters have no real growth or underdog-fight. Then The Movie ended it. Except it didn't, so we went back and unpicked what we could. Even though everyone is still basically fixed.

Will Future be the end? Probably not.

That's why Steven is now a moody little jackass with a hero complex - we needed some conflict to drive what little plot there is, which exists only as a vehicle for tying up loose plot threads (Jasper!) we left out because of how rushed the first ending was.

It's a bit like when you misspell something, then you go back over it with your biro. But now it looks unclear. So you go over it a few more times to make sure it's clear. But now it looks like someone took a biro and leaked half the ink onto the page. The very act of trying to tidy it has made it less clear.

A Special Note About Garnet

This isn't about pacing, but whilst I'm on the moan I'll leave this here.

I feel wicked for this. Garnet is a brilliant character. I love Estelle: she brings Garnet so well to life. Any LGBT representation in a cartoon is rare and amazing, and we need more. But Garnet also sucks.

Why?

She's a metaphor. She's a metaphor for being gay and together in love. She is a symbol of a same-sex relationship. On a side-note: yes Gems don't have gender technically, but let’s not be wilful here: they have female-coded designs and the subtext is so obvious as to barely be subtext.

It's nearly 2020. We're now 20 years into the 21st Century. 2001 A Space Odyssey was set 20 years ago. First contact between Zephram Cochrane and the Vulcans is now only 43 years away. And we can still only talk about gay (or, God forbid, bi or transgender) characters in children’s' media through metaphor. I cannot emphasise enough how utterly shitty that is, and how glacial progress has been.

Now, that isn't SU's fault. However, what is SU fault is their clever (and I mean that genuinely) ploy to sneak a same-sex couple into the show means that we don't see them as a same-sex couple 95% of the time. They're hidden. Ruby and Sapphire's love and relationship literally lives under a disguise called Garnet.

And that sucks. It makes sense as a plan. It's great we have Garnet. Garnet is still amazing. But she also sucks, because she acts as invisibility for the lesbian couple she represents. Yeah, that’s some tough mental gymnastics to work that cognitive dissonance but I managed it.

My God, I Get It: You're a Cat Person

This is also nothing to do with pacing, it's just a creator conceit that bugs me. I freely admit it's also piddly and petty.

So: I'm not a cat person. And no, it's not because I haven't met your adorable little Tiddles or whatever. I don't hate cats, it’s just that most of the cats I've ever met are simply ghastly little shits. Their owners, through some mental blind spot; ancient Egyptian curse or brain parasite have become convinced that these hairball-gobbing, furniture-shredding, wildlife-destroying little cunts are angels. Somehow they've convinced themselves everything they do is adorable.

No amount of murdered birds or small mammals change their minds.

I've met, officially, two nice cats in my life and I treasure their memories. The rest can go to hell.

Why does this matter to SU? Cat Steven. Lion. Peridot and Amethyst doing little kitty-mouths when they're being cute. My God, crew, you love cats. I got the memo.

Why does that work me up? Well, do you know what I'd like instead? If a tiny amount of that 'cats are brilliant!' energy went into a proper wrap for Pumpkin. Created by Jessie Zuke and obviously a puppy metaphor... what happened to her? The crew don't care, because they won't tell us. If they cared even a jot it would have a story around it. Instead, we got some half-arsed bullshit from Joe Johnston about 'pumpkins don't last forever' and... scene. That's it.

But Cat Steven, OMG, yes we have to make sure to include him. Whenever we're at the Beach House. Especially if Garnet is there. Because... lesbians all love cats? Or something? Just... CATS. MOAR CATS.

Couldn't you show a little more respect for a character, albeit a not particularly important one, rather than worrying about how much airtime the various cats all get?

In Conclusion

It bears restating, this is mostly ire directed at Series 5 onwards. The other series are all still there, and I can watch them to reminisce. I can still enjoy some truly wonderful episodes of just about the best cartoon I've ever seen. This show is incredible... but the endings kinda suck. And that's down, mostly, to pacing. And how it kinda fucked Steven Universe.

#steven universe #steven universe future #steven universe the movie

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imaginetonyandbucky · 6 years

Note

Open prompts, yay! How about anything with tsum tsums in it? I love them! Soulmates AU where you are born with your soulmate's tsum? Or tsums are like daemons? The little guys are the ones to fall in love first? Anything goes, really!

Come Up to Meet You

The Asset called the creatures 'Soft Pills', because he had to take pills often enough that he recognized the shape. He knew there was another name for them, something like 'Sum', but no one ever told him.

He liked the soft pills. They were warm and nice to touch and made pleasant noises. He didn't have one of his own, but that was reasonable. He didn't have a soul, so how could he have a Soulmate? The little creatures appeared for humans; not weapons. But sometimes, if he'd done very, very well on a mission, one of his Handlers would let him hold their pill for a little while.

On AO3!

"That's interesting," Steve said, "Bucky'schrysalis was doing that too."

"Hm?" Tony blinked up from his Starktab andglanced at the cocoon next to him on the end table of the couch.

(It was, in fact, a cocoon. 'Chrysalis' was themetamorphosis—supposedly—going on inside the cocoon, but 'chrysalis' soundedprettier than 'cocoon', so everyone used it. It did give a sense of somethingactually happening in there, though, which Tony appreciated.)

The cocoon was about the size of Tony's hand from wristto fingertips, and the sad gray color of old trees. Tony had recently replacedthe padded pickle jar with a lighter, less breakable plastic container, butotherwise it looked exactly the same as it had for the last 44 years. "What'sit supposed to be doing?"

"That. Look," Steve said completelyunhelpfully, pointing. His Tsum lifted zirself onto zir back legs, waving zirtiny forepaws like Tony needed encouragement. "Can't you see that?"

"See what?" Tony said, getting a bit annoyed.He put his tablet aside and leaned closer, finally just taking off thetranslucent lid. The cocoon lay on the neatly-folded baby blanket that had oncebeen Tony's and probably hadn't been washed since his mom gave it to him. Blueblanket, dull gray cocoon and nothing else, as always.

Or not. "Wait…is it…." Was that a spec of white? Tony gasped, then looked over his shoulder at Steve,close to panic. "Do you see white? Is it petrifying?" He whipped hisgaze back to the container before Steve could answer, lifting it closer to hiseyes. Oh, God, that was white. It was too late. His Tsum haddied, and—

"Hey, no! Tony, it's all right. Zie's not dead! Zie'snot dead, okay?" Steve got out of the armchair and came over to him."Zie's alive. Zie's still alive. I wanted you to see that zie's moving." He pointed again, this time with his largefinger hovering right over the whitish spot. "Look."

"Zie is?" Tony leaned so close his nose nearlytouched the cocoon, his eyes fixed on the white spot. There was almost…maybe….

Yes. That was definitely something: a tiny little lumpforming and smoothing out again.

(More after the break!)

"Oh, that." Tony let out a deep breath ofrelief, then carefully put the container down again. He dragged his trembling fingertipsalong the cocoon's skin, smiling wistfully at the familiar smoothness. It wasroom temperature, just like always. "Zie does that sometimes. Never meansanything." He shrugged. "'Haven't seen it in at least 20 years,though, so that part's kind of neat." It had been a couple days before hisparents died, like some kind of awful prophecy. "But, yeah. Once in awhile zie moves like zie's going to come out, but nothing happens."

"Oh," Steve said, crestfallen. "I'msorry."

His Tsum made a soft little 'meep' from zir perch onSteve's shoulder. Zir barely-existent little face looked sad.

"Eh. It is what it is." Tony shrugged again;he'd become an expert at feigning a nonchalance about it he didn't actuallyfeel. (He'd tried. God knew he'd tried to stop caring. It never stuck.) He gavethe cocoon a last, soft pat, then put the lid back on. He sat, picked up histablet, put his ankle on his knee and then gave Steve a big smile that wasn'tentirely fake. "I'm used to it. It's been that way my whole life. Istopped crying over my agoraphobic Tsum decades ago."

"It appeared like that?" Steve asked,dumbfounded. He sat down on the couch near Tony, instead of reclaiming hischair. His eyes were huge, like Tony had just confessed to somethinginconceivably awful. Well, maybe it was if you weren't used to it. "Youmean, it's always been in a chrysalis? You never…."

Saw it? Petted it? Played with it? Lovedit? Tony shook his head, nothing real in his smile now at all."Nope." And boy, was he sick and tired of getting the same reactionall the time. He was extremely aware of what freaks he and his Tsum were,thanks.

He patted the container's lid, thinking suddenly it'dbeen a bad idea to swap out the jar. The rectangle was too much like a coffin."Good old Dad always said it proved something was wrong with me, if Icouldn't even make a 'magic, fuzzy space worm work right'."

"He really said that?" Steve looked even moreshocked, which was nice of him. "But, the Tsums…unless you hurt them…howcould he think this was your fault?"

Tony leaned back and stretched his arms along the top ofthe couch, leaving his tablet in his lap. Steve's Tsum was on his shoulder, soit was easy to reach out and scratch the top of zir head. He quirked somethingnearly like a grin when zie chirped happily and headbutted his finger. At leastwhen it came to his dad he'd perfected pretending he didn't care.

"Well, I guess since he pretty much figured everythingwas my fault, no sense in not adding this to the list, right?" Tony wincedinternally at how bitter he sounded, then did his best to make his voice light,even added a chuckle for verisimilitude. "Makes sense though, right? Imean, who the hell would want me as their Soulmate anyway?"

Steve let out a breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose."I swear, sometimes I really wish I could go back in time and punch yourdad. He was a different man, then. I don't think I would've liked who hebecame."

Tony snorted. "Yeah, well. Join the club."

"I'm sorry," Steve said.

"Thanks," Tony said, his attention was onSteve's Tsum, though, as zie made the laborious journey from Steve's shoulderto the couch.

Zie nearly got to Steve's elbow before zir legs gottangled in his shirt and zie tumbled the rest of the way to the cushions. Zierolled upright, gave a quick shake, then waddled the rest of the way to Tony.Zie lifted up on zir hind legs and began climbing Tony's jeans.

Tony scooped the Tsum gently into his lap, thenobligingly petted zir belly when zie rolled over. Zie was still mostly white,though parts of zir downy fur were slowly changing into a mix of gray, blackand red. There were two tiny gray and red bumps on zir back that Tony joked werean extra set of arms. Steve was sure they were wings.

Tony enjoyed teasing Steve about his Soulmate being anairplane, but given their line of work, it was likely Steve's Soulmate was somekind of winged vigilante. Certainly the Tsum's normally adorably featurelessdot eyes now looked kind of like they were wearing adorable goggles.

Steve smiled fondly at the little creature while Tonypetted zir. There was a saying: Don't trust anyone your Tsum doesn'tlike. It was good advice in general, but it wasn't quite accurate.Yes, Tsums were friendly to pretty much everyone—and if they shunned someoneyou should run like hell—but that didn't mean they likedeveryone. Tony knew what an honor it was, that Steve's Tsum had asked to be heldthe first time they'd met.

Hell, Tony knew what an honor it was that he'd been thefirst one Steve brought his newly-hatched Tsum to, after zie had finally comeout of zir cocoon.

"I thought your Tsum was in chrysalis because ofwhat happened in Afghanistan," Steve said quietly. "After you'd beentortured, and what happened to your heart." He lifted his head, givingTony the full earnestness of his stare. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't haveassumed."

"Don't worry about it." Tony rubbed his chestwith his free hand, absently feeling out the scars where the reactor had been.It still hurt sometimes when he breathed deeply, but he'd take that over theconstant worry and pain. Steve's Tsum was still on zir back, nibbling on hisfinger; it felt like a minnow kissing him. "Almost everyone assumes that.A Tsum going into chrysalis because of their human's trauma makes a hell of alot more sense than a Tsum appearing in a cocoon but never emerging or petrifying."He rubbed the Tsum's belly and zie chirped again, stretching zir legs like atiny, stubby cat. "I used to hope it meant I'd really get a Soulmatesomeday." He grimaced. "That's probably selfish, worrying about mewhen it's my Tsum who never got to hatch."

Steve's hand landed warm and solid on Tony's shoulder."It's not selfish to want that, Tony. We all want to find our Soulmate. Iknow what it's like to grow up thinking there was no one in the world foryou."

"Yeah." Tony swallowed, then forced himself tolook up. "Howard told me how you and Bucky's Tsums were stillundifferentiated when he met you."

Steve nodded. "That's right, they were." He smirkeda little at his Tsum, reaching out to pet zir belly too. "And after 26years of my Tsum being plain white, I'd just assumed I didn't have a Soulmate.I mean, nobody else I'd ever met still had a white Tsum after that many years.Most of them had gone into chrysalis in high school."

"Smaller world, back then," Tony said."These days it's more common to be in your 20s or older."

"I guess. Maybe the War made a difference too. Idon't know. But, the only other person I'd ever met with an undifferentiatedTsum was Bucky." Steve grinned, chucking his Tsum under zir chin. Ziewrapped zir arms around his finger like zie was trying to give him a hug."Our Tsums adored each other, right from the beginning. Hell, the wholereason we met was 'cause Bucky's Tsum jumped out of his belt pouch to get tomine. A couple bigger boys had grabbed zir, and thought it was funny to holdzir out of my reach. Bucky kicked their asses and gave zir back to me. Then wespent the next hour trying to go home without our Tsums screaming blue murderabout it." His laugh was layered with old pain. "They loved each ofus, too. My Tsum treated Bucky the way zie treated Ma: like we were allfamily."

"That must've been nice," Tony said. Hecouldn't remember ever seeing his parents' Tsums together, though he didn'tthink they'd fought. Then again, his parents weren't Soulmates. Howard hadsneered at anyone who 'let their love life be governed by 'barely-sentient sausagesdumped here by aliens', which meant he sneered at pretty much everyone.

Howard's Tsum had been in a tiny corporal's SSR uniform,with a pale face and plain brown hair. Tony had always figured it wasn't Howardrailing against destiny so much as wanting somebody prettier.

Maria's Soulmate had died in the war before she couldmeet him. Her Tsum had a smart gray suit and glasses, with a tiny yellow staron zir chest. Tony never saw zir much. Tony thought zie would have liked him,but his mother wouldn't let him touch zir. It took decades for Tony to realizeshe didn't really think he'd hurt zir; just that she couldn'tbear the risk of losing her only link to a man she could have loved.

"It was nice," Steve said. He didn't mentionhow sad it was for Tony that he'd never experienced it, which was kind of him.Steve watched as his Tsum crawled onto his palm. "Maybe it was stupid, butit'd been…comforting, knowing my best friend was in the same boat as me. We'djoked about growing old and Soulmate-less together. How we'd be buried next toeach other, with our Tsums' petrified cocoons."

Tony cleared his throat. "I'm sorry," he said,meaning it. Tony had flown into the desert with Yinsens' wailing Tsum down thefront of his shirt, because that was the only place he could keep zir whilewearing the armor. Zie had been a sweet-looking thing, with dark brown hair anda dress with bright patterns. Zie was in chrysalis by the time he crashed, andhad turned to stone by the time Rhodey found him. It wasn't that he'd imaginedhim and Yinsen growing old together or anything, but….

Yeah. Tony could understand.

(He kept Yinsen's Tsum next to his parents'. Their Tsums'petrified cocoons had been in the ashes of the car.)

"Thanks," Steve said softly. His Tsum mewled alittle and nuzzled his palm. "Bucky never took his Tsum on missions,unless he had no choice about it. He couldn't stand the idea of zir gettinghurt. He asked Jim Morita to take care of zir before we ziplined onto Zola'strain. His Tsum had always been a reckless little thing, getting intoeverything and breaking stuff. Zie liked riding around on Bucky's shoulder, andwas always peeking out of his belt pouch to see what was going on. Bucky wasreally worried zie would get out of his belt pouch and be blown away in thewind. Later I always wondered if he knew…." Steve swallowed. "If heknew he wouldn't be coming home from the war. Maybe he figured somehow that ifhis Tsum wasn't with him when…when it happened, zie'd be all right." Stevesniffed, swallowed a couple more times. It was painfully obvious how hard hewas trying not to lose it. "Zie…zie was in chrysalis the next time I sawzir, after. I spent two days just staring at it, barely daring to breathe incase I missed it turning to stone. But it never did."

"I know," Tony said, then had to clear histhroat. He put his hand on Steve's shoulder, then slid it around to the back ofSteve's neck. "Dad, ah, hypothesized it must have been because the body would'vefrozen fairly quickly. Which doesn't really make any sense," he added,because it felt ghoulish and insensitive to be talking about Bucky's corpse at all.

"Yeah. Howard told me that too. I almost hithim." Steve's smirk had no mirth in it. "Peggy thought that maybe hisTsum didn't want to leave mine alone, so zie stayed, in the only way ziecould."

"That's…." Tony floundered for somethinghopeful. "Really sweet." It was also really, really sad, but Tonywould rather bite his tongue off than say it.

Steve nodded. "At the time I was grateful that Ihad…anything left of him at all, even if his Tsum was still mostly gone. I keptthe chrysalis in the same pouch with my Tsum, because zie refused to be awayfrom zir. Not even for a minute." Steve gently patted the breast pocket ofhis polo shirt, where the cloth bulged from holding the cocoon. "Zie wouldlikely be wrapped around it right now, if you weren't here." He gave Tonyanother of those miserably humorless smirks. "The agents who found me hadno idea which of the two frozen chrysalises was actually mine. But my Tsumnever hatched, even after I was awake." He petted his Tsum, running threefingers along zir back, over and over again. "After that, I startedwondering if it had something to do with us. Me and Bucky, I mean. Like, thesame kind of quirk that had ended up with our Tsums never differentiating alsomeant they stayed in chrysalis forever."

"And then zie came out," Tony said.

"Yeah." Steve smiled, and it finally lookedreal again. "I couldn't believe it. I honestly thought I was dreaming, orit was a prank. Or someone accidentally switched the chrysalis at thehospital."

"Any idea when you're going to meet them?" Tonypetted the top of Steve's Tsum's head. He couldn't not; it was like trying toignore a kitten. He didn't bother admonishing himself for the small flare ofjealousy, that Steve's Tsum had differentiated and Tony's never would. Tony feltjealous of everyone for that, but he'd never begrudged them their happiness. "Normallythey emerge differentiated about a month before you meet your Soulmate, but Idon't think you count as 'normal'." He grinned, making sure Steve couldtell he was just ribbing him, trying to lighten the mood.

Steve chuckled. "Fair enough. All I can tell you isthat my Tsum's been in chrysalis for nearly three years. This guy had better be spectacular."

"Well, you're probably going to meet him inWashington," Tony said philosophically, "you might want to lower thebar a bit."

Steve laughed and shook his head. "I visit you allthe time, Tony. He could easily be a New Yorker."

Tony's grin spread to wicked. "Better make that bar real low, then. Especially if he's from Brooklyn."

"Asshole," Steve said fondly, still laughing,but then his expression slipped back into something serious and sad. "Thisis the first time that Bucky's Tsum moved in zir cocoon. I don't know what itmeans." He hooked his thumb under his chin with his fingers splayed overhis mouth, staring at Tony's plastic-boxed chrysalis as if it could lend himinsight via serendipity. But whatever it might have told him just made Stevewince and drop his hand. "I'm worried," he admitted. "What if ziecomes out differentiated? What do I do then? Or…Oh, my God." Steve jerkedupright, as if something horrible had just occurred to him. "What if Bucky'sTsum comes out looking for him? What if it's because Bucky hasa Soulmate somewhere? He's dead! He can't…." Steveswallowed, and his bright blue eyes went red-rimmed and liquid. "Oh, God.What if it's because he has a Soulmate? What do I do?"

"Hey, hey, it's all right. It's all right, Cap. It'sgonna be fine." Tony moved closer so he could pull Steve into a sort ofsideways hug, making sure not to squish the chrysalis in his pocket, or tumble theTsum off Steve's thigh. "First of all, zie's probably not going to evencome out, okay? I mean, mine's done that before, right? Like, at least a dozentimes. It's never meant anything. And if…if it does,then…I'll take zir. Zie can live with me. I'll look after zir." he said,ignoring how badly the impulsive offer made his heart clench. Steve had justtold him how his and Bucky's Tsums were BFFs, back in the day; why wouldBucky's newly-hatched magic space worm want Tony instead? Hell, why would Steveeven trust Tony enough to look after Bucky's Tsum, when he'dnever looked after his own?

"Actually, never mind. That was stupid," Tony saidquickly, feeling like an idiot. "Forget everything I said after 'it'sgoing to be fine'. I know you wouldn't want me to look after Bucky'sTsum." He tried to laugh and hit somewhere around a rattled squeak."I mean, my own Tsum didn't even want me, so—"

"Tony," Steve said, and Tony shut up so fasthis teeth clicked. Steve pulled back so they could see each other's face."Bucky's Tsum and mine were family, just like Bucky and me. And thatchrysalis is all I have left of him. I couldn't bear—" He swallowed again,wiped his eyes. "I can't give zir to anyone else. I'm sorry. But if itwasn't…." He took a breath, then managed a smile that was only a littlewet. "If it wasn't for that…I've seen you with my Tsum. I know how wellyou'd look after Bucky's."

"Oh," Tony said softly, blinking. "Well,thank you."

"You're welcome. It's true," Steve said.

As if to prove to Tony that Steve meant it, Steve's Tsumrolled zirself off Steve's thigh back onto the couch, then climbed Tony's jeansuntil Tony picked zir up again. Zie headbutted his fingers, then leanedexpressively towards the chrysalis inside it's plastic box.

"You want to say 'hello', Goggles?" Tony askedzir. His voice was a little thick now as well. He obligingly put the Tsum onthe end table and opened the plastic container, then helped zir climb inside.Zir chirped happily and wrapped zirself around the chrysalis.

Tony's Tsum moved beneath the soft armor of zir cocoon, likezie was trying to hug zir back.

The rest is on AO3. :)

#winteriron #tony x bucky #tony stark #bucky barnes #steve rogers #alternate universe #soulmates #tsum tsums #crack treated seriously #prompts #taste is sweet #Anonymous

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kentuckywrites · 6 years

Text

Santago and the Not Red Nosed Mediator

Santago gets another assistant in his Christmas shenanigans in the form of a friendly Mediator ( @anryl ).

The bedside clock read 12:03. Sydney blinked a few times as he stared at it, wondering how on Mira he’d slept so late. He forced himself to sit up, running his fingers through his long, unkempt hair. After a loud yawn, he looked over his shoulder towards the other half of the king-sized bed. The covers were pushed back; he was the only one left. Sydney raised an eyebrow, but the question of where his partner was didn’t linger for too long. He simply grabbed his glasses, hopped out of bed, and headed downstairs to make himself breakfast.

Or at least, that was the plan before he saw the mess.

Every device was on: the TV, blaring news about the weather for the next few days, the coffee brewer, whirring to life next to an array of empty coffee mugs, the lights, brightening up the carnage spread throughout the room. Sydney had to stop halfway down the stairs as he almost tripped over said carnage. It was a thin strip of paper, stretching out down the stairs and over the railings and thrown over every piece of furniture. He could just make out Pongo’s scribbly handwriting on the paper.

After stepping carefully over a few tangled strips, Sydney finally spotted Pongo, hunched over the island counter and staring down at the end of the paper - or, was it the beginning? - all while sipping from a dark blue mug. He wasn’t wearing a top, but Sydney saw Pongo’s usual vest and underarmour on the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

“...Pongo? What the fuck are you doing?” Sydney decided to ask.

Pongo’s eyes shot upwards and he jumped back, almost spilling the contents of his mug. “SHIT - I MEAN FUCK - NO GODS DAMN IT -”

Sydney couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m more of an awful influence than I thought, huh?”

Pongo regained his composure, standing straighter as he grasped both the mug and the paper a little tighter. “Do not say that! You are the light of my existence! - well, I mean, the sun also helps keep us all alive too but you get what I mean!!”

“Heh...same to you. Don’t know where I’d be without you.” Sydney looked away, biting the lip between his piercings. “But ah, it’s too early to be sappy. What’s up with the paper everywhere?”

Pongo paused.

“It is a list.”

His words sounded forced. Sydney could understand at this point that Pongo was being honest, though the subject was something he didn’t want to be entirely honest about. He danced around and over the paper on the ground in an effort to reach Pongo, who watched with an amused expression.

“Well, if there’s anything you need help with regarding said list, let me know,” Sydney made the last few steps over to Pongo, who purposefully angled his wrists so that Sydney couldn’t see the list’s contents.

Pongo grinned softly. Sydney blinked once, and something soft pecked his cheek, a familiar warm sensation that sent chills up his spine. Pongo returned to looking over the list.

“I will actually need one thing from you, if that is okay,” He told him.

“Sure. Name it, I’ll do anything.”

“...I want you to um...I want you to be home for Christmas.”

Sydney tilted his head at first, but then his curiosity shifted to understanding. “Oh. Of course, fuck, I’ll be home, I promise.”

Pongo gripped the list tighter. “F-Fantastic! We can spend it together! Christmas, I mean! Yes! It will be tons of fun!” He began to collect the list into his hands, though he only managed to grab so much of it before realizing just how long it was, just how much of the room it spanned across. “Now, ah, I would love to stay but I have a lot of errands to run - Eros needs a tuneup before tonight so I ca - SO I CAN PERFORM IMPORTANT MISSIONS BECAUSE BLADES DO NOT REST ON CHRISTMAS EVE -”

Sydney slipped his hand over to Pongo’s left hip. That got the Interceptor to shut up very quickly.

“Then don’t let me keep you,” He winked, “I’ll be home when you’re done with it all.”

Pongo let out a small, shaky exhale. “Right. Sorry, there is just a lot to do tonight. I promise I will be back - though, ah, it might be very late tonight.”

Sydney nodded once, and Pongo pulled away from his grasp, bending down to pick up some more parts of the paper. Without asking for permission Sydney went around the table to help pick some up, and in the next ten minutes they’d compiled all of the paper into Pongo’s large and loving arms. He had to put it down onto the couch to quickly throw on his under armour and vest, but he managed to pick it all up again on the first try.

“Okay! Have a wonderful day, Sydney!” Pongo called out as he somehow opened the door on his own to leave. As soon as the door closed behind him Sydney smirked, taking a brief look around and placing a thoughtful hand to his chin.

“Now, what to do while he’s gone…”

Danny knew about Christmas. Meep had told him wonderful stories about the holiday, and they even got to read some of the history behind it, since the information was recovered from one of the Lifehold databases. He understood why the commercial district was covered in garlands and why the windows he walked past sported figurines of Santa and his sleigh and reindeer. It was a great tradition, he thought, and he beamed thinking about how Santa would visit them all again this year to deliver gifts.

Though he couldn’t help but think about it. How exactly did one man deliver gifts to an entire planet? And how had he gotten aboard the White Whale? Danny’s focus shifted, his mind wandering as he tried to process the different answers for his questions. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t comprehend the figure sprinting towards him at full speed, unable to dodge away thanks to a large collection of paper in his arms.

“gAH -”

The collision was quick and strong, knocking Danny to the ground with a thud. He managed to keep his head from hitting the sidewalk too hard, but he couldn’t say the same about his rear, which now stung like the toxins from a madness hornet. With a small groan he sat himself back up and assessed the damage on the other figure’s end. The papers - wait, paper, it was all one long sheet - was scattered all over the other person’s body, though as they sat up Danny could pinpoint a key feature that helped identify them: pupiless indigo eyes.

“P-Pongo?” Danny stuttered, “Are you okay?!”

Pongo shook his head, and at first Danny panicked, thinking that was his response. But eventually Pongo started to laugh.

“I am alright, are you? I am really super sorry about running into you, I am in an awful rush and I cannot really see past -”

“The paper,” Danny guessed, reaching down to sweep up some of it in his hands. In doing so he noticed words written on it, childish calligraphy marked in black pen. He thought nothing of it until he saw names. And next to those names, objects.

Scarlen: Geographical History of Planet Earth

Draco: History of France

Sunel: heelies

Blue: robo kitty plushie

Shintaro: worm on a string

Danny’s eyebrow perked up. “Hey, Pongo, what exactly is this?”

Pongo froze.

“A...a list.”

Danny didn’t need any other clues after that.

“Wait, are you...ARE YOU SANTA?!”

Pongo’s hands went up defensively. “W-Wait, shoosh! Please, not so loud!”

“Oh, ah, sorry. But...are you -”

“Y-Yes?...Well, I was never on Earth because...you know.” Pongo gave a small shrug. “But for the entire time that New Los Angeles has existed, I have been acting as Sandy Claws.”

“...Santa Claus.”

“Sappy Cause, yes,” Pongo nodded feverously. “I think this is the third year I have done this. The new influx of xenoforms in NLA has made the list much longer than last year, but it is nothing I cannot handle!”

Danny chuckled. He stood up with some of the list in his hands, and Pongo was quick to follow, taking some more of the list in his arms. He caught a group of people giving them weird stares from behind Pongo, but he didn’t let his attention linger for long.

“So you’ve been delivering presents year after year all by yourself?” Danny asked, “That sounds like a lot of work for just one person, I’m really impressed!”

Pongo buried his face into the paper in an effort to hide his rising blush. Whether it was from embarrassment or nerves, Danny wasn’t sure. “Well I mean, ah, I had a lot of help from my bestest friend L’Cirufe, though I am the one who buys all the gifts and ends up delivering them.”

“Doesn’t that kill your credits account?”

“You would be surprised, especially considering how much Commander Vandham is willing to pay for a nice tank top.”

Pongo shifted his stance. “Well, in any case, I need to get going. My Skell needs to get checked in for a tuneup and if I stay any longer I will be late for the appointment!”

The paper made more crumpling sounds, disguised under the bustle of commuters and BLADEs going about their day. Danny scratched the back of his neck, giving Pongo a small grin. When the idea struck him, his jaw went slack and he jumped up once. “Wait, Pongo, do you think I could help you? With delivering presents this year, I mean. I could pay for the stuff you’re buying too if you need.”

Pongo stared at him, pensive. Danny may not have known the exact thoughts running through the Interceptor’s brain, but he could see them running through his indigo eyes. Inside them danced little lights, shooting stars of inspiration, sparks that didn’t die even when Pongo spoke again.

“You could be Randolph.”

Danny squinted at him. “D-Do you mean Rudolph? And how would I be a red nosed reindeer?”

“I mean, you could get a costume like L’Cirufe and I do,” Pongo suggested, “Wait, did I mention L’Cirufe helps me every year? He is an elf, so that is why I picked Rudolph for you, since I am Santa, unless you want to be Mrs. Santa Claus?”

“I’ll take Rudolph,” Danny giggled, “Parts aside, where should I meet you to help out?”

“Oh! Ah, after Eros is tuned up and after I go on the spending spree, L’Cirufe and I usually go to the top of BLADE Tower to sort through all the gifts and make sure we have everything. We used to meet in my barracks, but then there were too many gifts to fit in there!”

Danny caught Pongo’s feet tapping up and down, remembering what it was Pongo was trying to do. “Okay, I won’t keep you much longer, but I really want to help. Maybe cut the list and let me buy some of the things on it, and I’ll bring them up tonight!”

“Okie dokie!” Pongo nodded, scrambling through the extensive list to find a spot to cut. He eventually reached a point where the end was in sight and tore it as carefully as he could. Danny opened his mouth to argue - he’d ripped it so that Danny would only get less than a fourth of the list!! - but the deed had been done. Pongo thrust the smaller sheet into Danny’s hands.

“Right, get those, if you could wrap them before tonight that would be amazing, and remember, top of BLADE Tower, nine P.M. sharp!” Pongo chirped, and before Danny could reply Pongo was bounding past him, a skip in his step. Danny watched him go, laughing as he promised to be there. Once Pongo was out of sight Danny looked down at the portion of the list he’d been given, recognizing some more names.

Touya: hot chocolate and kitty mug

Christie: Ovis pillow

Mina: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Pandora: rose gold earring/necklace set from Delair’s

Athena: A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Jenkai: even BIGGER Ovis pillow

Danny blinked a few times. Those weren’t the only ones on the list, of course, but they were just a few of the names he recognized. And he couldn’t help but gape at what was written for Pandora - how was Pongo going to afford that?! Well, it was Danny’s problem now, and he was intent on getting started. With a deep breath and a puff of the chest, he set out, determined to get everything Pongo needed for the night.

He wondered along the way if Pongo had gotten himself anything. The answer came quickly. Danny made a mental addition to the list.

To his surprise, buying all the gifts cost Danny less than five thousand credits. Pandora’s earring and necklace set contributed to seven hundred and fifty of those credits, but it was still less than he expected, and he even found time to buy wrapping paper and bags to wrap them all in. It didn’t make them any easier to carry, so Danny even put some credits into buying a larger bag for them all. He patiently stood in BLADE Tower’s elevator with the sack now, thankful that no one else was in the elevator with him. He wouldn’t have been able to explain everything without ruining the magic.

The elevator came to a stop at the top level of the tower and the doors slid open without a noise. Danny walked out and ascended the small flight of stairs that would lead him to the roof. At the top was another door, and one shove later he’d made it to the roof. He laid eyes on Pongo almost immediately, who stood next to a lit up Lailah Queen Skell with the list still in hand. However, instead of his usual Interceptor garb, he now donned a red and white fluffy coat with a black belt around the waist. His black hair was covered partly by a Santa hat, though Danny noticed the puffball on its end was heart shaped. Pongo was joined by L, who was pacing back and forth next to the Skell and donning a rather revealing elf costume. It didn’t have sleeves and had no pants, showcasing his strong thighs and calves. Danny rolled his eyes.

Pongo gave Danny a wide grin and rushed over to meet him at the door. Danny didn’t notice the pair of reindeer antlers in his hand until Pongo had put them on his head. As he adjusted them with one hand, Pongo rattled excitedly. “Danniel, you made it!! I got you antlers because you are our Rudolph now - though Rudolph had a red nose according to the stories, but you are still close enough! Oh, I hope it was not too much trouble getting all the gifts, I can take that bag if it has all the gifts in them, see, I have a much bigger bag attached to Eros with all the gifts in them, wait, were you able to wrap them -”

“I did!”

“Thank goodness! Thank you so so much Danniel you have no idea how much this means to me -”

L stepped forward, laughing and adjusting his pointy elf hat. “We suggest you inhale the atmospheric contents, Pongo! There is still time before the deliveries must be made!”

Pongo heeded his advice and stopped to take a deep breath. Once he had regained his composure, he told Danny, “My apologies, I get nervous about this. I want everything to go right, you know?”

Danny nodded. “I get it. Now, is there anything else I could do to help?”

There was a long silence and Pongo put a finger to his chin. Something about his costume made him look younger, more innocent. How was the sky so dark now, yet his eyes so bright? He got too focused on them, and in the seconds after the silence had started, it was broken.

“Just help me check through the presents one last time, I would say. The delivering stuff is all on me, so once I am on my way, you could get back home and get some rest. Who knows, you might even find a gift at your front door when you wake tomorrow morning!”

At that, Danny’s face fell. Over Pongo’s shoulder, L gave Danny a reassuring wink. “No worries, our mediating companion! Pongo has accomplished the deliveries for two years straight - wait, we request a stop in the current conversation, what is the sexual identity of time?”

Pongo’s eyes widened. “...Is time...gay?...No, I have no idea, I do not think it applies to any conversation here. Danniel, I require the sack of gifts, then we can run through everything one more time before I depart.”

“Right! Let’s do this!’ Danny cheered.

Together the four collected all the presents together and ran through the list one more time, making sure every name had a gift. Danny’s head perked up when Pongo called Meep’s name, and L held up a small box from the large sack on Eros’s back.

“What did you get Meep?” Danny asked.

“Oh! Something called a friendship rock,” Pongo explained, “See, it is like a normal rock, but it is the symbol of friendship.”

Danny had a feeling Meep would be happy to receive that.

The list reached its end sooner than he realized, and no name went without a gift. Although, once the end had been reached and the two natives of Mira were about to pack everything back up, Danny realized there were some names missing from the list. Notably: “Pongo, L, why weren’t you on the list?”

L’s answer came quick. “It is simple: we do not celebrate the Chris Tee Mas. But we are one of Pongo’s greatest friends, and assisting him in his hollandaise efforts brings me great joy - enough to be considered a gift all in its own.”

A hint of blush made its way across Pongo’s cheeks and nose. “Aw, L’Cirufe...ah, I am not on the list because of a similar reason. Delivering gifts and making people happy is a gift to me.”

Danny shifted his hands behind his back, carefully trying to put his hand in his back pocket. Looks like I was right, he thought as he slowly took out a small box, he deserves a gift...even if it’s not much.

As Pongo was about to turn away, Danny reached out with his empty hand and caught Pongo’s forearm. “Before you go, ah...I wanted to give you something.”

Pongo turned back to look at him, lips pursed open. “Danniel, you did not have to -”

“For all the smiles you’re about to put on peoples’ faces, yes, I had to.”

Danny held out the box, no larger than his palm, a small pastel blue satin cloth fitted around its edges. Pongo hesitated before taking it, observing it quietly. After a moment, he opened it and peered inside. Danny explained, “See, ah, the jewelry set Pandora wanted - that you had written down for her - didn’t say anything about rings, but there were two rings with the only rose gold set they had left so I thought maybe you’d like them?”

“They are really pretty, Danniel…” Pongo breathed. Danny had to squint to see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “Th-Thank you…”

L looked over Pongo’s shoulder, gasping at the rings in the box. “Oh! Are you assisting in Pongo’s proposal plans, Danniel?”

Danny took a step back as Pongo jumped in surprise. “WH-WHAT?! D-DANNIEL HAS NO IDEA ABOUT THAT - OH G-GODS UM, I SHOULD GO AND DELIVER PRESENTS NOW, SEE YOU GUYS LATER!!”

And off he ran towards Eros, making sure to close the box and put it in one of the coat’s pockets before climbing up to the cockpit. With the sack secured, all that was left to do was turn Eros on and take flight. As Eros ascended into the night sky, L and Danny waved him goodbye. The Skell trailed like a comet in the sky, leaving behind wisps of pink and purple in its wake. Danny wondered then how many people would make a wish on the nonexistent shooting star. He closed his eyes. Maybe just this once, he’d make a wish.

I wish everyone has a great Christmas.

He opened his eyes again, and the waiting game began.

L offered to stay with him for the night, but Danny was persistent. He didn’t think he would fall asleep that night; it was too enchanting to watch the star fly around and deliver presents. Danny told L he would be okay on his own, and L left close to midnight. He found a small wall to lean against and allowed himself time to relax. When was the last time he’d had this? He told himself to do this more often - maybe not here, maybe not like this, but somewhere, and maybe with some art supplies.

Danny almost didn’t catch the first hints of the sunrise. How had time flown by so fast?! He sat himself up, hearing his spine crack as he yawned and stretched upwards. As if on cue, the roar of a Skell’s engine grew louder, louder, and Eros appeared on the horizon, approaching BLADE Tower. Danny waved towards it, and the Skell eventually came to park on the roof. The engines were killed, and the cockpit slid open. Santa Claus - Mira’s very own Santa Claus - hopped out, greeting Danny with a gentle smile.

“Danniel,” Pongo said, pulling the hat off and tossing it back up into Eros’s cockpit. “Why did you wait here for me? You could have gone home and gotten some rest, you know.”

“I figured Rudolph sees Santa’s adventure to the end,” Danny admitted, “Plus, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Pongo joined him sitting next to the wall, sighing as he let himself lean against it. “I am fine, Danniel, I -” He couldn’t stop himself from yawning, unable to finish his sentence.

Danny took a long, hard look at him. Pongo stared out at the open expanse of sunrise, the light catching his eyes but doing nothing to brighten them now. If anything, they looked dull - not lifeless, but tired.

“You should get some sleep,” Danny began, but Pongo cut him off.

“No. I do not sleep.”

“Why not?”

Pongo paused.

“...Nightmares. Every time I close my eyes they haunt me. They feel so real and no matter what I do I cannot control them.”

Danny became aware of the distance between them. There was a mere inch between Pongo’s gloved hand and his own, and with one decision there was no room at all. Pongo’s head tilted, incapable of showing any extreme forms of surprise.

“Danniel?”

Danny grinned. “People have come to me with that problem before. Sure, medications work, but I think what you need is some reassurance.” He used his right hand to pat his left shoulder. “Try napping on my shoulder. I’ll be like your human safety blanket.”

It didn’t take long for Danny’s grin to reach Pongo. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Slowly, surely, Pongo scootched over closer to Danny and laid his head to rest on his shoulder. With the distance closed, Danny could smell Pongo’s hair, soft touches of vanilla on the breeze. Its length posed a short lived challenge, for Danny was able to push some loose strands away before it could make his nose itch. He even let his cheek rest on Pongo’s head, closing his eyes for a brief moment before letting the cool air embrace them.

“Try to get some sleep now, okay?” Danny whispered.

Pongo didn’t respond. Danny couldn’t see whether his eyes had closed or not, but he could just make out the slow rise and fall of Pongo’s chest, an indication of sleep. He wasn’t concerned, and instead took a moment to admire the reds and oranges of the sunrise. Everyone would be waking up to presents at their doors, radiance that could rival the dawn. It made Danny feel warm inside, accomplished. Ready to take on another day.

He spoke to the city, to all its inhabitants, and he spoke to the planet, their home amongst the stars.

“Merry Christmas, everyone.”

#xenoblade x #Santago and the Not Red Nosed Mediator: Short Story #Danniel #L #Sydney #did I top last year's fic? I'm not sure #I still think this is adorable #and I hope I got Danny right because I'm rusty with writing him #also FUCK THAT LITTLE PLOT TWIST IN THERE #YOU KNOW THE ONE

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signs-of-the-moon · 6 years

Text

Moon Rise Chapter 20

"Death does not make a battle won. Treeclan may think they are clever by taking away one of our warriors, but I assure you all that this casualty will not weaken us. We will remember Ryestep forever in our hearts, and as we go on to fight the next battle, we will hold his memory close," Whitestar meowed from her place atop Tall Stone. Upon the battle patrol's return to Grassclan's camp, a clan meeting had been called. Passion sparked from the leader's pelt, sending a surge of urgency to every cat in the clearing. Those gathered below the ancient stone hung onto Whitestar's every word with murmurs of agreement rippling around. The medicine cats circulated throughout the crowd as the meeting went on, cleaning cuts and patching the wounds of those who fought. Swiftpaw was having her neck wrapped with goldenrod and cobweb as she watched Whitestar pace along her perch. "What Treeclan doesn't know is that we use loss as a way to gain. They believe us to value each other as well as a parasite values its host. They do not see that we have families to protect, cats we care about with the deepest caverns of our hearts. Not anymore. But we will show them that we are united more closely than they'll ever be." The white and black patched apprentice turned her eyes to see Rosebloom sprawled out over Ryestep's body, her cries of sorrow echoing as loud as the thunder which had begun to rumble above them. Today no cat made a move to run for cover. Though Grassclan hated the rain, nobody wanted to miss out on Whitestar's speech. But it was hard for Swiftpaw to pay attention. She felt sick to her stomach for Rosebloom. Her kits were due at any time and her mate had not made it to see them born. Ryestep had been so excited for their arrival, too. Swiftpaw remembered the tom coming into the nursery, delivering treats and specially requested prey to his beloved, mewing words of admiration to her even while Rosebloom complained of being as fat as a kittypet. They made a beautiful couple, it pained Swiftpaw to see them torn apart. Watch over her in Starclan, Ryestep. Rosebloom still needs you. "Once our clans were at peace, but now we are no longer. I will do my best to prevent a war from breaking out, but I fear the pressure has become too much to hold back. I will try to ease the mind of Blazestar at the Gathering in the next half moon. This fighting has to stop. I want no further confrontation with Treeclan until then. If a patrol tries to start a fight, walk away. I do not want to see any more cats harmed or killed over petty assumptions." The words of agreement spoken before turned into yowls of protest. Swiftpaw snapped her eyes to look on at those who now disagreed.

"How can you ask us to do that?" Caterwauled Butterflytail. "Treeclan will think of us as cowards!"

Ashwhisker's meow trembled with worry as he spoke up. "What if this tempts them to take over the border?"

"Or attack our camp?" meeped Quailpaw, as cobwebs were being wrapped around her head and eye. Frostpaw pressed closely into her side, grooming her cheek. Whitestar waved her tail and dipped her head, asking for silence.

"If Blazestar orders his cats to step paw over the border, then he is a bigger fool than I realized. Until he proves to be, we will not worry about that. We will go about our normal lives, as if we were still in a time of peace. But we will not let our guard down. Apprentices are to have increased battle training in case the worst should happen. Every cat is to stick with their partner. Those who do not have one will be temporarily assigned." Even apprentices? Swiftpaw wondered. "Until further action is taken on Treeclan's part, that's all I have to say. I need to speak with my senior warriors now. Chicorynose, will you partner up any single cats?"

"Yes, Whitestar," Chicorynose meowed as she ducked her head. The siamese she-cat gave a curt nod, leaping off of Tall Stone. Cats without partners began to crowd around Grassclan's deputy. One called for the apprentices to join them. The six of them did as they were told, listening as cats were paired off. Warriors were assigned first, then Rosebloom-once assigned to Ryestep-was assigned to Ashwhisker, and finally the apprentices were partnered. "I am pairing you 'Paws off randomly, so please don't be too disappointed. Remember, this isn't permanent. Shadowpaw, I want you with Frostpaw, Heatherpaw with Quailpaw, and Rabbitpaw you will stay with Swiftpaw." What?! Swiftpaw inwardly gasped, casting her bright blue gaze onto the fluffy lynx point tom. Rabbitpaw turned to look back at her, a darkness in his eye. His tail-tip was already twitching with annoyance, and the two hadn't even come within a foxlength of each other yet. Of all the cats in the clan, why did she have to be with him?

"Don't think I'm going to enjoy the time I have to spend with you," Rabbitpaw growled as he came to sit beside her. Swiftpaw looked at him with disbelief. The two had never gotten along, but she thought they had made progress. He had defended her at her first gathering after all, and they hadn't fought in a while. At least not physically. Mentally, however, the pair were at each other's throats. Rabbitpaw often shot her dirty looks, even when it wasn't warranted, while Swiftpaw would make faces at him while his back was turned. But she thought it was all in good fun. That's what rivals were supposed to do, right? So why did Rabbitpaw treat her more like an enemy and less like the friendly competition that she was?

"Like I'd enjoy being with you," she scoffed, wiggling her tail as she padded past. Rabbitpaw rolled his eyes, following behind her.

"Yeah I know, you'd rather be partnered with Frostpaw," he responded as he watched Swiftpaw slip into the apprentice's den. She settled herself down into her nest, watching him do the same.

"No, Frostpaw likes Quailpaw, I wouldn't want to get in the way of that," she protested. The two had never admitted it before, but it was obvious that they liked each other. Swiftpaw recalled when she had first started keeping an eye on Frostpaw and her littermates. The fluffy silver and white tabby would do whatever it'd take to impress Quailpaw when they'd go out on patrol. She'd help her catch harder prey like mice and vole while Quailpaw would give her demonstrations on advanced battle techniques. They often shared their nests with each other, and almost every sunhigh for the past moon the two could be seen sharing tongues by the apprentice's den. Rabbitpaw let out a snort of agreement, glancing away. For a heartbeat he remained silent before he turned his eyes onto his new partner. Swiftpaw watched him as she cleaned a wound on her shoulder, a malicious smirk spreading across the tom's muzzle.

"Then you'd rather be spending your time mooning over Shadowpaw and Mistypaw." There was no tease in his tone, only bitterness. Though Rabbitpaw's smirk remained, it was obvious it was one fueled by displeasure. Swiftpaw's body went stiff, her pelt growing hot with embarrassment.

"I don't moon over them!"

"Yeah, you do. I see how you play with Shadowpaw. All the apprentices think you look like a couple of lovebirds in Newleaf. But only I seem to notice the way you look at my sister, batting your pretty blue eyes while she tells you about her day."

"Shadowpaw's my best friend, and Mistypaw is interesting to talk to. It doesn't mean I like either of them," Swiftpaw growled defensively, her nubby tail wagging. The nerve! She snorted while Rabbitpaw shot her a look. He didn't believe a word she was saying. But Swiftpaw didn't care. Only she knew the truth. She wasn't going to let assumptions and rumors get to her. If she did like either of her friends, she'd come to the conclusion on her own terms. "Why don't you mind your own business?"

"I would if you weren't always sticking your nose into the lives of my whole family. First Frostpaw, then Mistypaw, and now Dewstone and my moms! It's like your obsessed or something," Rabbitpaw countered, tail lashing. Swiftpaw bit back a snarky reply, one that would tempt her to reveal Dewstone's request. She'd been asked to watch over Rabbitpaw and his littermates, so of course she was always sticking her nose into their business. But she didn't know if she should tell him about it. Rabbitpaw already disliked her, what would he say if he found out she had been watching them to see if anything weird was going on? He probably wouldn't like it. Swiftpaw let out a growl of frustration, rolling onto her back. She could feel Rabbitpaw's eyes still trained on her, burning a hole in her pelt.

"If you're gonna stare at something, go stare at your reflection in the river," she snarled, not responding to the tom's previous remark.

"Like you stare at my sister?" he bit back. Swiftpaw flipped back onto her belly, rising to her paws.

"Look. There isn't anything wrong with me keeping an eye on my friends. And recently I was told by Whitestar to speak with Dewstone, I didn't start hanging around her to spite you. And as for your moms, of course I'm starting to become closer with them. I'm camp bound, stuck on nursery duty, and bored out of my mind. So excuse me if I wanna take the time to get to know the clanmates I'm taking care of," she meowed, blue eyes blazing as she went to stand by Rabbitpaw's nest. She hovered above him, glaring down at him challengingly. "Is that a good enough explanation for why I 'stick my nose' into your family's lives?" Rabbitpaw shrank in his nest, his ears pinning back against his head. He parted his jaws to speak but no sound came out. Instead he closed his mouth and glanced away, speechless. Swiftpaw gave a curt nod as if to say "that's what i thought," before going back to her nest. She circled around in the wool for a heartbeat before settling down, resting her chin on her paws. Her body ached and her heart raced. Between the battle from earlier and the argument with Rabbitpaw, Swiftpaw was feeling wiped out. She was grateful for the silence that had settled over the den-beyond the occasional rumble of thunder-taking the time to lick her wounds and calm herself. As time passed, more of her denmates began filtering in until all six apprentices were safe and sound in their shelter. A soft murmur echoed through the rocky walls as they began to talk amongst themselves. Shadowpaw tried to pry into Rabbitpaw's thoughts, asking him why he seemed so down. But the fluffy lynx point tom didn't say a word. He merely glanced away. Shadowpaw's eyes then turned to lock with Swiftpaw's, silently asking her about what happened. Swiftpaw gave her head a slight shake, telling him she'd talk about it later. She tore her eyes away from her friend's to get a glimpse of Frostpaw and Quailpaw. The pair grabbed hold of their fleece nests, dragging them closer together until they overlapped. Only then did the two she-cats settle down in them, their bodies pressing together.

"Do you think Treeclan really wants to start a war with us?" Quailpaw asked quietly to no one in particular, her voice filled with concern.

"Whitestar said she'd try to prevent it," Heatherpaw assured, lifting a paw to groom. "Starclan knows we don't need anymore cats dying for no reason...." Empathetically, Rabbitpaw rose from his nest. He hesitantly brought himself to Heatherpaw's side, laying down beside her. Along her shoulder he began to rasp his tongue calmly while pressing his paws into her flank, kneading the lilac she-cat's fur. A low purr rumbled in his throat as he blinked at Heatherpaw slowly with soft, deep blue eyes. Swiftpaw looked on with astonishment. She never expected to see Rabbitpaw act that way towards anyone; he wasn't even that affectionate with his littermates. But she supposed that he might feel sorry for her. Heatherpaw had lost her mentor only half a moon ago, it would take time for her to overcome her grief. Swiftpaw could only imagine what it felt like. Over the past couple moons she had come to realize a mentor wasn't only a teacher, but a friend, and in a way a mentor was also like parent. Losing one must feel like losing one's kin. Rabbitpaw may not know what it felt like, but Swiftpaw was sure he didn't have to to be understanding. She wondered if he'd act this way with any of his other peers if they were unlucky enough to lose someone close to them. Or if Heatherpaw was a special case because of some hidden feeling the tom may have for her. As she thought about it, Swiftpaw acknowledged that she didn't know Rabbitpaw as well as she'd like. Though she had been keeping her eye on him and his littermates, it did not give her any insight on him beyond a surface level. She judged him based on his outward actions, and on the way he behaved while viewing her as an outsider. She didn't know him on a more personal level like a friend might. But they were partners now, if only temporarily. Perhaps in the time they'd have to spend together, Swiftpaw could come to understand the fluffy lynx point tom better. Deep down she hoped that she could. Though she was fine with a friendly rivalry, she couldn't stand being enemies with a cat from her own clan. She had to make things right, even if it took spending all of her time with Rabbitpaw.

The next day brought the most sunshine that there had been since the Gathering. As Swiftpaw pushed her way past the entrance of the apprentice's den, a warm shaft of light rested itself upon her face. The patched molly blinked as she moved out of its way into the shade of Tall Stone. There she rummaged through the fresh-kill pile, pulling out a couple of hares to drag to the nursery. As she turned with the first in her jaws, Rabbitpaw came bounding over. For a heartbeat they stared at one another in silence. Swiftpaw gestured towards the hare, seeing if her new partner would lend her a paw. To her relief he did, grabbing the prey and taking the lead towards the honeysuckle bush. Swiftpaw followed behind. Cricketsong's kits came tumbling out to greet them as they caught whiff of the apprentices approaching. Tulipkit pranced up to Swiftpaw, picking up the foreleg of the hare she was carrying. She proudly helped her bring it inside, sitting on top of it once it was settled.

"Breakfast!" She announced. The queens let out amused purrs, stepping up to have their share. Rabbitpaw led the remaining kits inside, herding them towards their mother before dropping the second hare beside the first.

"Rambunctious bunch," he remarked, licking blood from his lips. Cricketsong dipped her head in agreement, her kits squeaking in protest. "You three better eat so you can grow up to be big brave warriors like me." Swiftpaw had to suppress a snort. Although he may be big, Rabbitpaw hadn't proven himself to be very brave from what she'd seen. Then again, she needed to get to know him better before drawing that conclusion. But it seemed ironic to identify a cat named after a rabbit as brave. Cricketsong's kits did as the tom said, joining the queens in their meaty feast. Ashwhisker hovered around the group, making sure everyone was being well fed. He turned his muzzle towards the visiting apprentices, giving them an approving nod. Seeing this sign, Swiftpaw dipped her head, turning tail to leave. With the day's first task completed, she could now reward herself with some breakfast. She made her way back to the fresh-kill pile, listening as Rabbitpaw's footsteps followed after her. Did he really have to go her everywhere she went?

"I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I won't be trailing after you all day," he meowed, settling on her one side to look through the pile. "I'm going out with Gingerstrike at sunhigh. And I've been chosen to go to the gathering tonight." He sounded as if he was almost bragging. Swiftpaw wiggled her tail, about to say something nasty, getting cut off as Rabbitpaw continued to speak. "I'm only following you now because I'm trying to adjust to having a partner. That's what we've been told we are, and I intend to follow through with acting like it." Swiftpaw nodded, pulling out a mouse to drop at her paws.

"I get that," she mewed, bending down to take a bite. "Maybe we can finally come to understand each other more in the meantime?" she suggested hesitantly. Rabbitpaw gave a shrug, selecting a mole of his own to chew on. At least that's something, she thought with a sigh. The day went on as normal once Rabbitpaw left for training. Day turned into night; the moon peeked through the cover of clouds as moonhigh rolled around. Swiftpaw watched as cats lined up and disappeared through the bramble tunnel, on their way to the gathering. While she waited for their return, she made her way over to the nursery. She settled down in Cricketsong's nest, allowing the kits to cuddle up by her belly. Swiftpaw would be watching them this evening, along with Rosebloom who was already fast asleep in a neighboring nest. Soon she'd find out what the other clans had to say, and then she could fall asleep in her own den. For now Swiftpaw was comfortable laying here with the kittens by her side. It was peaceful. So peaceful. Until the sounds of annoyed cats broke the silence of camp. Swiftpaw's eyes shot open as she realized she had dozed off. Carefully she crawled away from the kits, out from under the honeysuckle bush, and made her way over to the gathering party. She pushed past a few of her clanmates to settle beside Shadowpaw.

"What happened?"

"Treeclan's at it again," he hissed, tail lashing.

"Blazestar's still accusing us of trespassing. Even after Whitestar called out his warriors for crossing the border today," Rabbitpaw chimed in.

"They did that?" Swiftpaw gasped. She was missing out on so much being trapped here in camp. Rabbitpaw gave a nod.

"Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. I watched Gingerstrike tell off that Treeclan apprentice Magpiepaw before sending her scrambling back up a tree. She wasn't the only cat I saw, either. I think she was meant to be a distraction while the rest of her patrol came to mark their border further into the Forest Patch. We came home to tell Whitestar about it right after we'd chased them off. We didn't even give ourselves time to remark the boundary after scaring those tree lickers away." Swiftpaw could hardly believe what she was hearing. Would Magpiepaw really pull something like that? She didn't know the molly that well but she had thought better of her. Now she wasn't so sure what to think. But if Blazestar had ordered Magpiepaw to act as a diversion then Swiftpaw could understand. A cat couldn't go against their leader after all, not over something like that. Things were growing complicated now. Blazestar had his warriors cross and mark across the border; war had to be on the horizon now. How foolish Whitestar must think he is. The clan had to be ready to prepare for the inevitable. But even after that empowering speech from the day before, were they truly ready?

#warrior cats ocs #wc ocs #Signs of the Moon #Signs of the Moon: Moon Rise #Moon Rise #Chapter 20

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universal-kitty · 6 years

Text

I should be sleeping, but instead I’m gonna listen to SU music w/ a music box style and tell y’all about my SI for SU, Watermelon Tourmaline instead.

5′2″ with pink-to-white hair. Skin is a light green that looks white in bright light. Wears red framed glasses all of the time. It’s technically not logical why she’d do this, but that’s like questioning Peridot’s visor or Garnet’s shades; in the end, nobody really cares.

Was mostly owned by White back on Homeworld, but wasn’t uncommon to see her in the other courts, as well.

Not...100% on her “official” powers, but so far, I’m working with: slight mood control (can calm raging gems; however, doing an entire court would drain her; best done in a small group or a single gem; fusions are more difficult, especially with the more components that make the fusion), slight plant control, and slight strength (a bit more sturdy, making her harder to poof).

Eventually served the Diamonds well enough to be honored with a Pearl of her own: Powder Pink.

Once Pink was allowed Earth, Watermelon Tourmaline found herself gifted to Pink’s court, hoping that her experience would benefit Pink’s first attempt at living up to her Diamond name.

That went...incredibly well. [/sarcasm]

It started with the Rose Quartz at the Kindergarten. It’s not like Tourmaline knew who was being made, but... The other gem struck her as...odd? Friendly, but extremely weird.

The rebellion rose to power. WT got nervous, but Pink was surprisingly unfailing...or so it would seem. WT knew enough of empathy to know not to trust that aura!!

Of course, that was nothing compared to the war. Pink shattered. Gems fighting everywhere. Homeworld versus the rebels. WT and Powder got separated. Despite her best efforts, WT was poofed by an Amethyst.

Luck was on her side, though: managed to be where Rose would protect Garnet and Pearl in the final stretch against what would be called “the corruption song”... Saving her, but who knows how many others corrupted.

She reformed much later, to a still-empty battlefield, new outfit blank of alliance... Knowing Homeworld was out of reach now and the CGs didn’t know she existed.

WT eventually made her home in the forest not too far off from Beach City. It was an old place, but learning how to fix it wasn’t so bad... Nabs stuff from town, on occasion. Has since made it a comfortable life.

...She’s learned how to sleep on her own due to depression. It’s the best way to waste a few thousand years; sleeping comfortably in darkness.

Rose never finds her. However... Steven does, funnily enough.

If it was canon, the episode would be a filler-type and set before “The Heart of the Crystal Gems” arc, but after “The Return.” Called “Forest Wanderer” Steven and the Gems hear reports of an odd girl in the forest. Not knowing what to expect, they prepare for the worst...but find a rather skittish gem, instead. She keeps largely to herself and- at first- is terrified of the Crystal Gems having finally found her. Steven gets her to calm down, but though she toes around her past, she never gets to the point of it. The group are interrupted by a corrupt gem’s roar- a corrupted Tiger’s Eye. WT admits to not even knowing her own gem summons during the battle’s heat, but with the beast giving everyone a run for their money, WT gives it a shot....hand behind her back and summoning dual chakrams. Helping the gems, WT manages to assist in the poofing...but largely decides to stay behind.

She would become a minor gem character from then on, largely missing key events until later in the series, but always giving Steven a shoulder to turn to when things are getting tough in filler episodes.

Speaks fondly of friends back on Homeworld... Labradorite ( @madamethana ), Tabu Tabu Jasper, and Hematite ( @mayxwolf ). A group of Off-Color Topazes ( @half-fox-demon1020 )...and her Pearl. Worries that she may never see them again.... It’s tough, but Steven does what he can to help ease it a little.

Steven: It’s dramatic and not what he’d want, but she’d shatter for him. Steven teaches her so much about humanity... WT can’t help but feel like she owes him so much for that. Plus, she’s apparently got some maternal instincts of her own; her support is upfront and incredibly humanlike, for her long-running disconnect from others. One of her charms, as Steven would say!

Pearl: She’s a bit...uptight, but WT can respect that. In fact, her strictness helps WT in some ways! Largely in keeping up the upkeep in her forest home and doing better in other certain aspects... Like training! WT has a lot to catch up on, after all.

Garnet: A...fusion? Good stars, how much one can miss in a few thousand years.....!!! However, there’s no beginning disgust (just lots of surprise and confusion) and- with time- WT only respects Garnet more! ...And wishes she could have a relationship like Ruby and Sapphire do... There might be a small, hopeless crush there.

Amethyst: Despite being poofed by an Amethyst, WT’s got nothing against them. If anything, this gem in particular is loads of fun! Overwhelming a lot of the time, but still makes learning of humanity a little more fun...and exciting! So many new foods they’ve tried!! It’s really something incredible.

Bismuth: Never met before, but they sure hit off a first meeting well enough! Enjoying the puns, amazed by the forge, starry-eyed at the upgrades... WT was honestly a little charmed by the larger gem. Of course, hearing that she was bubbled for her stance on shattering Homeworld gems.... That did rise up some nervousness in her; if the CGs had been shattering gems... What would have become of her? Of Powder? It makes their next meeting a little awkward, but that’s what words are for; they’re doing much better since the chat before the wedding.

Peridot: An oddity through and through, WT wasn’t too sure what to make of the shortstack the gem sub-race had turned out to be, but as she got to know the other gem... WT simply found someone a little like her old self; not seeing the real beauty in the world yet and taking too much of Homeworld to heart. Peri’s growth since has only made her happier and the two better friends.

Lapis Lazuli: Cautious at first, these two were much like wolves meeting each other for the first time. If not for Steven, the outcome would’ve surely been concerning, to say the least of it... Still, they did eventually buddy up, especially since Peri had already warmed up to WT by the time Lapis showed up. Meep-morps abound, WT cheering them on during her short visits... It was nice. Y’know, up until Lapis ditched Earth in fear of the Diamonds. WT couldn’t help but be...bitter at that. At the cowardice of it all. She really can’t...be that mad, but it bothers her, regardless.

Jasper: The two never really...had a solid gem-to-gem so far, but considering Jasper’s attitude and Steven’s tales, it’s no wonder. However, WT has a sinking feeling about the gem. Empathetic abilities let her know there is more to this “brute” than most people might first realize and it’s...a little unsettling to feel. It still only endears WT to Jasper...and in a way, fosters a sort of care-love for the gem. (Now just to hope she’ll survive knowing the truth...)

Pink Diamond: A childish, but still somewhat respectable leader, in WT’s opinion. Oh yes, another Diamond, doing their duty...but also noticeably pleased at the small things that’d get anyone else shattered. Every once and awhile, WT would expect Powder to be on approach and greet the Diamond casually, no salute or “my Diamond” in sight; yet it seemed...to make her happy? She was odd....and no wonder things turned out like they did.

Yellow Diamond: Respectful, but absolutely terrifying. Not belonging to Yellow’s court is the best thing that happened to WT, in her opinion. The pressure alone to perform as to the peak of her abilities would’ve made her self-shatter from the stress millennia ago!!

Blue Diamond: A pleasure to serve and be around. The Blue Court tends to be a fairly empathetic, well-thought out place. Makes WT feel at home and gives her enough room to be herself in a way that best benefits her role. A rather homely court, despite not being “hers” at all, honestly.

White Diamond: The air is uptight, but you get used to it after awhile. Dedication, loyalty, and focus always. It felt...like a home. Wonderful, really. Yet after experiencing Pink’s court and finding Earth it’s....difficult to imagine how “home” felt like there. It was empty, devoid of life, and the Crystal Gems have since become all the home she’ll ever need. Never going back to White Court; not ever again!!

#gemsona #self insert #self insert community #Aki speaks #Steven Universe #Aki's Summer Trip 2k18 #okay I'm tired now #TIME FOR SLEEPS #Information on the Inserts

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