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bwabys-scenarios · 10 months

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Fixer Upper

Part 26

Perv!Kurapika x Fem!Reader

!!REBLOGS APPRECIATED!!

part 25

part 27

warning: Kurapika spies on reader while she masturabates, non-consensual picture taking(just her face, but putting this just in case)

taglist: @fabitheraven @tsukilover11 @ashdownunderscorebeloved @lemonslut @homeinmydreams @superweeniehutjrsblog @bugmomwrites @heartsforseo @lixiawinter @altaircc @itszenava @fiightforlovee @mimi-sanisanidiot @monainanuttshell @wow-im-gay @whorermoviestar @lightshowerrr @mama-m1na @nenggie @wicked-binch @jamayah @themanicwriter01

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The next few days passed by in a cold silence. Never had (Name)’s house felt so icy, so devoid of warmth. Each member of the household felt a chill in the air, not a single day passing by without the constant reminder that their typically kind and warm (Name) was holed up in her room, not talking to anyone.

“Do you think she’ll come out today?” Kurapika asked as he prepared breakfast. It was one of the only meals he knew how to cook after learning from (Name) during the Hunter Exam.

“If I had to look at your ugly face every day, I would stay up in my room too.”

Leorio glanced up from his newspaper. “That was pretty weak, Killua. You already have to see him every day.”

Killua sighed, Leorio was right. He had been struggling to come up with good insults lately. His spirits were down, and he missed his mom.

“… well, breakfast is ready.”

Kurapika had also been struggling to stay angry at the halfhearted taunts Killua sent his way. It was hard enough to wake up in the morning and get out of bed knowing the pain (Name) went through for him, because of him.

Soft footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, and for the first time in nearly a week, the three perked up. Alluka was out visiting a friend, there was only one other person it could be.

“Mom!”

Killua jumped up, about to run towards her. That was until they all felt the temperature in the room go down a few degrees. At least, that’s what it felt like when they caught sight of her cold, neutral expression.

“Good morning.”

A good morning from (Name) had never felt so bad. She didn’t say anything further, simply pushing past Kurapika to make herself a bowl of cereal.

“I… I made breakfast,” Kurapika said in a soft voice. (Name) didn’t even look up from her bowl, taking a bite before walking out to sit at the farthest end of the kitchen table.

“I saw.”

An awkward silence filled the room, even Killua feeling sorry for Kurapika. (Name)’s anger didn’t burn as hot as the sun like Kurapika’s did. No, her anger was as cold as an unforgiving winter’s night. Ice might melt in the presence of flames, but even a scorching fire was no match for a blizzard.

“Are you… feeling okay?”

Leorio was the first to speak up, setting his newspaper aside to give (Name) a concerned look. She was silent for a moment longer.

“No, in all honesty, I’m not. I… don’t want to talk about it. We have more pressing matters.”

This seemed to catch the collective attention of the group. Kurapika and Killua took their seats at the table, eating breakfast as (Name) continued. “As some of you know, I have a fall celebration planned that I invited all of our friends to. It’s happening a little under two weeks, so I’ll need everyone to start getting preparations ready.”

Leorio nodded, taking out a pad of paper and a pen. “Alright, tell us what we need to do, sunshine.”

“First, the house needs to be cleaned, and I mean cleaned thoroughly.”

Killua glanced around the house, seeing it had deteriorated while (Name) was holed up in her room. “Yeah… it’ll need a thorough cleaning.”

Kurapika mostly stayed quiet, eating his breakfast as (Name) explained their plans. He didn’t want to upset her after everything.

(Name) sighed softly, finishing her cereal. “It’s going to be a tough two weeks, but it’ll… be worth it to have fun with everyone. I… haven’t spent the holiday season with all of my friends before.”

This made Kurapika frown. He had left York New two years ago right before the holiday season. (Name) had texted him before he ghosted her that she was extremely excited to spend Halloween, the fall season, and Christmas with him. He hadn’t even stopped to think about how she felt being alone during the holidays.

“Thankfully I’ve had Leorio, and then Killua and Gon last year. Otherwise… I would have been all alone.”

Kurapika flinched, shrinking into himself. He was the only one that hadn’t spent any sort of holiday besides Halloween with her, and he was determined to change that. “… I’m taking some time off of work and… my mission. I’ll be here for the party and Christmas.”

This shocked everyone, especially (Name). She finally looked at him for the first time that morning, her eyes a little wide. “Oh… that’s… that’s nice.”

The air seemed to go up a few degrees. It was still cold, but not as chilly as before. Everyone relaxed, Killua leaning against (Name)’s shoulder.

—————

A few days passed with the group getting ready for their fall gathering. Leorio and Killua were on cleaning duty, while Kurapika, Alluka, and (Name) would be working on getting the grocery list and food preparation.

“Mama, mama!”

Nanika pulled at (Name)’s skirt, her smile wide. “Hmm? What is it sweetheart?”

She giggled, hiding her face in (Name)’s chest. “I’m excited! Want to bake cookies!”

(Name) scooped her up, balancing her on her hip as she pulled out some flour. “Mmm, I was planning on making cookies for our gathering, might as well practice, yeah?”

Nanika cheered, clapping as (Name) gathered all of the ingredients for their cookies. She glanced at a cab of peaches sitting in the corner of her cabinet, thinking back to Kurapika saying he would be staying for the holiday season, even taking a break from his mission to spend time with them.

‘… he’s trying, I’ll… I’ll make him some peach cobbler.’

Earlier that day, Kurapika had locked himself up in his room. (Name) had assumed he was either not feeling well or just tired from all the preparations they’d been making. He deserved a break, and she wanted to do something nice for him. Kurapika had been trying his best to be helpful, even if he often failed miserably.

(Name) made cookies with Nanika and worked on the peach cobbler. She sat the girl down with a few freshly baked cookies and a cup of milk, Killua sneaking a few before settling on the couch with his sister to watch a movie as (Name) finished up some baking.

Once the peach cobbler was done, (Name) waited for it to cool down to a warm temperature before placing some and a scoop of ice cream in a bowl. ‘He loves cobbler, Kurapika will be so happy!’

There was no light shining from underneath his door, and when she knocked there was no answer. ‘That’s… unusual. Is he not home? I didn’t see him leave.’

(Name) wasn’t the type to walk into Kurapika’s room unannounced(she didn’t want to embarrass him by catching masturbating or crying), but… she was a little worried. So, despite her hesitance, she opened the door and peeked in.

“Kurapika?”

The blonde was kneeling by his nightstand, which had been turned into a makeshift altar. Candles, flowers, and a bowl of fruit decorated the small table, with the newest pairs of the scarlet eyes (Name) got sat in the center.

Kurapika had his eyes closed in prayer when she walked in. He looked up, anger flashing across his face. “Are you trying to be disrespectful? Today’s the only day I can feel connected… to my clan! Get out!”

She flinched when he yelled, setting the peach cobbler on his dresser. “S-sorry, I… I didn’t know this day was… sacred.”

(Name) closed the door, hurrying away as fast as she could.

Kurapika took a minute to calm down, looking up to see the peach cobbler (Name) brought him. In his anger, he hadn’t even thought to ask her why she walked in, or considered that there was no way she would know about a Kurta only holiday.

He grabbed the peach cobbler, his stomach sinking when he saw she had shaped it into a heart. She was trying to make things better, to treat him to his favorite dessert after not seeing him all day. Kurapika placed the peach cobbler on the altar, sighing softly.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at her…mom, that’s the girl I like. She’s been nothing but kind to me, and I don’t know how she puts up with me. I also think if she were here right now, she’d offer you something to eat. I hope you guys like it.”

He kneeled back down, brushed off his tabard and held his hands together in prayer.

————————

It seemed like everything was going well. It was a few days before the celebration when Kurapika’s and Leorio’s phones beeped at the same time.

They had been taking a break, watching a movie while (Name) finished up cooking dinner. Leorio was the first to look at his phone, his shoulders slumping.

“Shit, this is the worst time for that…” Leorio mumbled, causing Kurapika to look at his phone too.

Chairwomen Cheadle: There will be a mandatory Zodiac meeting at 8 pm tonight. Apologies for the short notice, anyone out of town will be allowed to attend virtually. Anyone close by are asked to show up physically.

(Name) peeked into the living room when she heard the two groan. “What are you two whining about?”

Leorio handed her his phone. “Zodiac meeting, and it’s in an hour.”

(Name) tilted her head, handing his phone back. “Oh? What’s wrong with that? The meeting is taking place in town, so you won’t need to do anything but show up.”

Kurapika, who still felt bad for yelling at her the previous day, looked up. “It’s not attendance that’s the problem, it’s… the people. They can be… how do I put this?”

“Annoying?”

“Yes, very.”

(Name) smiled as she kissed them both on the cheek. “Well, you two better get ready. You’ll have just enough time to eat dinner before leaving.”

The two turned a bright pink before they jumped up to go get ready.

After a quick dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread, the two set off for the zodiac meeting. It was taking place in the same hotel Pariston used for the Halloween party.

Kurapika stepped out of the mom van and made sure his suit jacket was on straight before walking into the building. Leorio glanced back at the mom van, locked it, then followed behind.

There were only five other zodiacs present at the table, with a projector showing the faces of the other members.

The ones present were Cheadle, Gel, Pyon, Mizaistom Nana, and Kanzai. “Since everyone is now present, the meeting can begin.”

Cheadle took her seat at the head of the table, everyone else sitting when she did. The room went quiet as Cheadle organized a stack of papers. She handed the stack to Pyon. “Take one and pass it on.”

The stack went around the table, finally making it to Leorio, who paused. “… what the…”

Kurapika raised an eyebrow, glancing at Leorio. He was next to the dark haired man, so he hadn’t gotten to see the picture yet.

“What’s the meaning of this!? Why are you passing around a picture of (Name) with her personal information!?”

Kurapika’s eyes widened at Leorio’s words, the blonde quickly snatching the paper out of Leorio’s hand.

On the paper was a picture of (Name), information about her height, weight, family history, and current living situation written out below it. His now scarlet eyes scanned over the text before he looked up.

“What does (Name) have to do with this meeting? Answer me, Cheadle.”

His aura spiked as he stood up, causing a few of the other members of the Zodiac to stand up as well. Cheadle was quick to hold up her hand, signaling everything was okay. This calmed down the other members enough for them and Kurapika to sit down.

“As some of you may know, (Name) (Last Name) has been the radar of the Hunter Association since the Chimera Ant incident that caused her new nen ability to form.”

Kurapika shot a glare at Leorio, his eyes saying he’d have questions after the meeting. “She’s on our radar? That sure is news to me.”

“Me too, why wasn’t I told?” Leorio asked after Kurapika. Cheadle sighed, holding up the image of (Name).

“Neither of you were told because for one you are new members, and secondly you both have personal ties to the subject.”

Kurapika scowled, crumpling the paper in his hand. “That is precisely why we should have been informed. Both of us know (Name) well, what reason would you have to keep her under surveillance?”

“It’s not surveillance. There are no cameras in her home or people following her, she just has to check in regularly to be screened to make sure she hasn’t used… her ability. That is the reason she is on our radar.”

Kurapika knew she was able to speed up the growth rate of cells to destroy human tissue, but he couldn’t see why that was worthy of keeping her on their radar. “You let Hisoka run free, but (Name) is the one you’re keeping an eye on? Not the murderous pedophilic clown!?”

Cheadle groaned. “Listen, after the Chimera Ant incident, she-“

Cheadle glanced at Leorio, who was shaking his head ever so slightly. “After she… was found, the area around her was completely barren. The concrete, organic matter, and dirt was disintegrated into ash. Her ability can be incredibly dangerous and devastating if left unchecked. Just one attack was able to leave an area completely barren, imagine what she could do on a larger scale.”

Kurapika was silent for a moment. Leorio crumpled up his paper and threw it in the trash. “Larger scale? When has she ever given you the idea that she would use that power again like that?”

Mizaistom cleared his throat, placing his own paper down on the table. “Very recently, Miss (Name) used her ability again during a mission with Kurapika Kurta, the rat zodiac. That went directly against her orders from the forner rat zodiac and former Chairman Pariston. Although her order from him was null and void when he left his position, her defying it is indeed worrying.”

“Yes, it would be bad if our little (Name) went rogue, wouldn’t it?”

Everyone looked up to see Pariston standing in the doorway, a smirk on his face. Kurapika was held back from rushing over by Leorio’s hand on his shoulder. He inhaled deeply, staring at Pariston from his seat, taking a moment before speaking.

“(Name) would never hurt an innocent person, she’s…”

There was a softness in Kurapika’s expression that none of the Zodiacs had ever seen with him. “She’s the kindest, most selfless person I’ve ever encountered. I thought I lost hope in humanity after the atrocities I’ve encountered while searching for the scarlet eyes, but (Name) has shown me what true kindness is. To say she would hurt someone is blasphemous, and I won’t sit here and take you saying those things about the woman I-“

He stopped, a blush taking over his cheeks as silence filled the room. Pariston smirked, leaning against the wall. “And there’s the truth, Kurapika. You’re in love with this woman, aren’t you?”

Kurapika cleared his throat, folding his arms over his chest as he looked away. “That is irrelevant to the conversation.”

“I think it is more than relevant, Kurapika. How can we trust that your judgment isn’t biased when you’re in love with that woman?” Saiyu said through the projection screen.

“You can either trust my judgment or I can leave the Zodiac.”

This shocked even Leorio, who laughed nervously. “He’s just saying that, you know how irrational he can be when he’s-“

“Oh no I mean it. I’ll burn the entire association down if they even THINK about hurting (Name).”

Kanzai stood, narrowing his eyes. “Are you threatening us? I won’t let you do that!”

“That’s enough.”

Cheadle glanced at Kanzai, signaling him to sit back down. He did so with a grumble, keeping an eye on Kurapika.

“Kurapika, no one is going to hurt (Name). I gathered you here to inform you all that she agreed to reinstating her vow to not use her ability.”

Kurapika’s eyes widened, and he relaxed into his seat. “She didn’t tell me about that…”

“She doesn’t tell you a lot of things, Kurapika.” Pariston said, taking his seat across from the blonde.

Kurapika growled, clenching his fist at his side, his foot tapping away. Leorio patted his shoulder, taking out his phone and showing Kurapika a picture of (Name) snuggled up wearing a Christmas themed onesie with little reindeer ears on the hood.

Not only did this calm him down, it also made him blush, a soft smile on his face as he stared at Leorio’s phone. “Thanks, Leorio. That… that really helped.”

The rest of the meeting went as smoothly as it could, and the two got ready to leave. They were stopped by Pariston, who was still sat at the table.

“You hesitated a bit back there, Kurapika. What’s our girl been up to lately?”

Kurapika felt his eyes go scarlet, his blood pressure rising as he whipped his head around. “Not ‘our’ girl, my girl.”

Pariston only smiled, folding his hands under his chin. “You’re dodging the question, Kurta. What has she been up to that has you so worked up?”

“Nothing, besides working her ass off to make sure this fall gathering goes off without a hitch. You think she could hurt someone? She’s made sure to meticulously plan out every dish so that none of them has nuts them because ONE kid that’s attending has an allergy! Tell me, how the fuck is a woman as kind as her-“

Leorio covered his mouth, sighing. “We’ll be leaving.”

Pariston sighed, waving them away with his hand. He watched the pair leave, laughing to himself as the other zodiac members present glanced between him and Cheadle.

“Pariston… what are you planning?”

The blonde smiled, leaning back in his chair. “Something entertaining.”

——————

It was late when they got home, nearly 10. The kids were in bed by then, and (Name) was nowhere to be seen. Leorio tugged off his suit jacket and pants before collapsing on the couch in his boxers and dress shirt. Kurapika glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. “Are you just going to sleep like that in the living room? That’s impolite to Alluka and (Name).”

Leorio groaned and waved his hand dismissively. “Yeah yeah, whatever. They won’t care, and besides I have to be out of here before 7 to run by my apartment and grab my homework before classes. Alluka doesn’t wake up until 9, and (Name) has seen my dick.”

Kurapika turned bright red before smacking Leorio over the head. “Hey, what was that for?”

The blonde huffed, turning on his heels to climb up the staircase. “Hmph.”

He wanted to give Leorio another good whack, but decided going to talk to (Name) was a bit more important. Kurapika was going to ask her for more information on the Chimera Ant incident, and why everyone was being so secretive about it.

He was going to do that, until he saw that her door was slightly ajar, and could hear soft pants and moans coming from inside.

A tent rose up in his pants, his breath hitching as he stood still, just inches away from her door. ‘Is… is she..?’

He took a deep breath before peeking through the crack in the door, blinking a few times before his eyes focused on (Name)’s figure.

Her face was in the pillow, her ass in the air and pussy on full display. This was the first time he had ever seen her pussy, and Kurapika felt his cock leak through his boxers, getting his pants sticky with precum.

Her pussy was perfect, looking soft and chubby, just like her. Kurapika watched her spread her plump pussy lips, her index finger rubbing circles into her clit. Before he knew it he was leaning against the doorway, desperately fisting his cock to the heavenly sight before him.

She looked way too cute with her chubby cheek squished against the pillow, her eyes half lidded and lips glossy from drool. Little pants and whines left her lips as her fingers wandered to her entrance.

Kurapika stifled a moan when he watched her stuff her fingers into her pussy, having to cover his mouth with one hand as he jerked off with the other.

‘So pretty… god (Name) I want you so fucking bad…’

As he pumped his cock, he remembered the way she jerked him off just nearly two weeks ago. Kurapika wondered if he could just… walk in and… help her out.

Then another memory surfaced in his head, the image of her face when he wouldn’t tell her how he really felt about her. This was enough to make him go soft, his eyes flickering from her dripping pussy to her face.

She was crying.

There were tears in the corners of her eyes, a tremble to her lips. Her fingers moved faster as she sniffled and moaned.

Was she upset? Sad? He didn’t know, but he did know that her tears made his heart ache. She didn’t cry when he made her cum, was there some reason for this?

He was going to leave and let her have her privacy. After all, she feared he may only want her to fulfill his own sexual fantasies, and jerking off to her while she was obviously upset wouldn’t really help his case.

Kurapika began to step back when he heard something that had his cock getting so hard it pressed against his tummy.

“Pika… please… w-want you…”

He felt his heart race, all the blood in his body rushing to his dick. ‘She’s… she’s thinking of me while…’

He stroked his cock to the pretty sight, trying so hard to pace himself so he could cum with her, but it got hard when he watched her fuck herself with her fingers while whimpering his name.

He came, panting softly as he watched her orgasm wash over her, cum dripping down her thighs. More than anything, he wanted to walk in and clean up those plump thighs with his tongue, but Kurapika stopped himself.

Instead, he took one last glance at her sweet, pleasured face before pulling out his phone. He bit his lip as he took a quick picture of her soft face, making sure not to get her nude body in the shot, no matter how much he wanted it.

Her face was enough to get him rock hard again, the blonde barely making it to his room before his hand was shoved in his pants again, jerking off to her o-face.

(Name) moaning his name confirmed in his mind that she was attracted to him and wanted him. Kurapika couldn’t help but feel guilty, almost giggling in delight like a girl with a crush when he thought back to it. ‘She wants me…’

————————

Over the next two days, Kurapika became rather clingy with (Name), following her around like a lost, lovesick puppy.

“Kurapika.”

“Yes, angel?”

“… get out, I’m trying to pee.”

Kurapika stood at the doorway of the bathroom, tilting his head. “Oh, go ahead. Don’t mind me.”

“I most certainly WILL mind you! Out!”

He pouted, crossing his arms. “Why? I just-“

“Kurapika Kurta I can’t pee with you watching me! Go!”

(Name) threw a bottle of shampoo at him, causing the blonde to rush out of the door and close it behind him. ‘Geez, what has gotten into him? He’s been clinging to me like a needy child. Even Killua wasn’t this bad… when…’

She sighed, washing her hands. ‘Oh, Killua…’

Kurapika was waiting outside the bathroom, watching her. “Took you long enough. Now come on, I want some-“

(Name) pinched his cheek, huffing. “No, I need to cook. You’ve been so clingy lately, what’s up with you?”

His cheeks turned pink, but he didn’t move away from her. “I…”

Kurapika didn’t want to admit he overheard her moaning his name, because then he would have to explain himself more, and might tell her more than he wanted to. He didn’t like lying, so might as well not say anything. “… sorry. I’ll help with the cooking, if that’s alright with you.”

(Name) smiled, taking his hand. “That’s perfectly fine, Pika. I need all the help I can get.”

He let her lead him downstairs, his eyes soft. Every time her skin touched his, Kurapika could feel his heart pound behind his ribs. “(Name)… I-“

“Oh look it’s the blonde twink. Have you finished following my mom like a mutt in heat and decided to actually help out?”

Kurapika’s eyebrow twitched, a scowl taking over his face. (Name) glanced at Kurapika, trying to hold back an amused smile. “Oh stop it Killua, he’s just attached to me. Much like a little puppy.”

Kurapika huffed, pulling his arm away before crossing them both over his chest. “I just… wanted to make sure you’re alright. You… you were hurt during our mission.”

“Yeah, but that was nearly three weeks ago, Kurapika.” (Name) said, giving him a knowing smile. “You just like being around me~”

The blonde turned a bright red, even the tips of his ears going pink. “Y-you say that like it’s a bad thing. Of course… I like being around you. You’re…”

He trailed off, clearing his throat. “Anyways, what can I do to help?”

(Name) could feel her own face grown warm, but shook off the fuzzy feeling taking over her body to answer Kurapika’s question. “You’ll be making the macaroni! It’s very easy, so-“

“Pause.”

Kurapika and (Name) looked to Killua, who held up his hands. “Mom, do you really trust a blonde to get your famous macaroni right? The only thing he knows how to cook is pancakes, eggs, and bacon, he’s a one trick pony!”

(Name) waved her hand dismissively, shooing Killua out of the kitchen. “Shoo, your negative energy will ruin the food.”

Killua pouted, but walked out of the kitchen. “Don’t come crying to me when he messes everything up…’

(Name) turned to Kurapika, the blonde’s heart nearly slipping a beat when you smiled at him sweetly. “Come on, let’s get started.”

She gave him a quick run down of her recipe, writing down the details. “Okay, don’t overcook the noodles. I’ll be back in a few minutes, I need to go pick up Alluka from her date with her little girlfriend.”

(Name) paused for a moment, glancing at Kurapika before standing on her tippy toes and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Good luck, I believe in you.”

Before she could pull away, Kurapika turned and held onto her neck, keeping her in place as he leaned down to kiss her lips. “Thank you, (Name). I won’t let you down.”

Her face was hot, her eyes shining as they stared into his. “Kurapika…”

“It’s Pika, (Name),” he said softly, going back in for another kiss. Before he could slip his tongue into her mouth, she pushed him back, letting out a soft sigh.

“I’ve… got to go, Alluka is waiting.”

Kurapika nodded, pushing a piece of her hair out of her face. “Go ahead, I’ll be here.”

He smiled as he watched her leave, feeling giddy. Now that he knew she wanted him, his confidence had gone up a bit, allowing him to be more affectionate with her without fear.

‘Mmm…’

He licked his lip, his cheeks flushing when he tasted her strawberry flavored chapstick. Kurapika began to boil the macaroni, his head in the clouds. Everything felt so… warm and fuzzy. Was this what being in love was like? Kurapika wanted to bathe in this feeling, he had finally made up his mind.

He wanted to be with (Name).

No matter how he tried to separate himself from her, he was always drawn back, as if they were magnets meant to connect and stick by each other’s side.

‘And I can’t leave her, now that I know the Hunter Association is keeping an eye on her…’

It filled Kurapika with rage to know they believed (Name) was capable of causing destruction on a massive scale. The girl had a crisis over killing a man that was objectively awful, to think she could hurt an innocent was beyond comprehension for the Kurta.

Before, he wanted to leave to keep her safe, but now he knew even if he left, she would never truly be free from danger. The only thing he could do was stay by her side, protecting his angel to his best ability. He would die if it meant she would continue to live a happy, carefree life.

‘But…’

He bit his lip, watching the water on the stove boil. ‘My mission… I have to finish it first. I’ll hunt down the phantom troupe, then…’

He blushed, pouring the noodles into the water.

‘Then she’ll be mine.’

——————

“You seem to be in a good mood, big sis,” Alluka said, watching (Name) from the backseat. (Name) laughed, turning into the driveway.

“Yeah… I guess I am in a good mood.”

She felt happy for the first time since she killed that man, her heart fluttering at the memory of Kurapika’s lips on hers. The kiss had been so tender, full of a feeling that (Name) hoped was love. Maybe, just maybe, the two actually had something between them. She really hoped so, (Name) had never seen Kurapika look at anyone but her that way.

All of these fuzzy feelings were squashed when she walked into the kitchen to see Kurapika staring at a pot of… macaroni? At least she thought it was, but the noodles were over cooked and soggy, while the cheese was dry. “Kurapika…”

The blonde glanced at her, looking like a kicked puppy. “I… I really tried my best, (Name).”

She didn’t have it in her to stay mad at him, instead giving him a small smile. “Well, it was your first time making my recipe, don’t beat yourself up-“

“Mom, why does the mac and cheese taste like someone without a soul made it?”

They looked to see Killua spitting the bite of macaroni he ate into the trash. “How the FUCK did you make it so dry but overcook the noodles to the point they’re slimy?”

Kurapika grimaced, Alluka peeking at the macaroni. When she attempted to try a bite, Killua lifted it out of her reach and placed in where she couldn’t reach. “Don’t eat that, Alluka. It’ll hurt your tummy.”

(Name) rubbed her temple. “Killua, come on. It’s his first time making it.”

“Mom, if Gon did this I would understand, but Kurapika is only a year apart from you, and you can cook almost anything.”

“Baby, people have different things they’re good at and you know I already told you-“

“Yeah, yeah, I know. ‘People grow and learn at different rates’ or whatever…”

(Name) smiled, pinching his cheek. “Exactly. You’re never too old to learn something new or make a change. Never.”

Killua nodded slowly, before lightly swatting her hand away. “Come on Alluka, let’s go get my room ready for Gon.”

Kurapika watched with a fond look in his eyes as the two ran off, (Name) turning back to give him a patient smile. “Okay, let’s see the macaroni.”

She hummed as she looked over it. “Well… it’s not… awful. I’ll put it in the fridge and maybe we can salvage it later! For now…”

(Name) pulled out a container and a pie dish, setting it on the table. She pulled off the lid, the smell of cherries filling the air. “It’s cherry filling. All you have to do is poke some holes into the crust and pour this in, then bake for 45 minutes.”

She glanced at her phone. “I have to pick up Gon then go grocery shopping with Leorio. Oh, let me write down the directions so you-“

“(Name), stop. I’m not five. You can count on me for this, just take care of the groceries with Leorio,” Kurapika said, grabbing a knife to begin poking the the pie crust. She quickly replaced it with a fork, showing him how it was done.

“You poke it with a fork, silly.”

He blushed as she guided his hand, his heart thumping against his chest. “Like that, see?”

“Y-yeah, I’ve got it. Go on, angel, I don’t want you to be late.”

She gave him a nod and a gently squeeze to his hand before walking out. Kurapika sat at the table, poking holes into the pie crust as he thought about the meeting with the Zodiacs. He was supposed to ask her about why she was under watch, but he got a little… distracted.

‘What happened during the Chimera Ant incident? I bet that’s why… Killua gets those nightmares. Something bad happened, I just don’t know what yet.’

It made him anxious not knowing what could have happened to (Name) while he was away. If he was correct, Kurapika remembered having a small service and ignoring Leorio’s phone calls during that time.

‘I know some of them were for Gon, but I temper seeing (Name)’s name mentioned… the he deleted the message…’

Kurapika put the pie in the oven, sighed as he leaned against the wall. ‘Well, some of our friends and allies are coming over, maybe at least one of them will be willing to share some information with me.’

He looked at the fridge, his cheeks turning a little pink. “I wonder…”

Kurapika’s eyes scanned over the list of dishes (Name) planned on making, focusing on the dessert part. His face turned bright red when he spotted his favorite, peach cobbler with a little note beside it.

‘For my Pika <3’

She always managed to make his heart race with how thoughtful and kind she was, and now more than ever it angered him to to think of someone hurting her or thinking ill of her.

He glanced at the timer on the oven. ‘45 minutes…’

Kurapika jumped when he felt someone grab his sleeve. “Kurapika? Where’s mama?”

It was Nanika, her void like eyes staring up at him. When she was out, she would offen cling to (Name) like a child would their mother. “Oh, (Name) isn’t home right now, she-“

“M-mama isn’t home?”

Her lip quivered, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “B-but… but…”

Kurapika froze, not knowing what to do. The poor girl was clinging to his tabard, crying. “Hey, hey now, shh…”

He tried to remember what (Name) would do to cheek her up. “Nanika, it’s okay. She won’t take long, I promise.”

He gently patted her head, his fingers running through her hair in a soothing manner, much like (Name) did for the other kids when they were upset. Nanika sniffled, but began to calm down, rubbing at her eyes sleepily.

“I think you need a nap, kiddo. Alluka stayed up late last night picking out her outfit for her date.”

He picked her up, letting her rest her head on his shoulder, and brought her to the spare room, laying her down before tucking her into bed.

“Get some rest, kiddo. If you need something I’ll be in the kitchen, okay?”

Kurapika smiled down at her, feeling very soft. She was already falling asleep, her eyelids drooping. Kurapika left the room, turning the light off on his way out and leaving the door cracked.

Killua was waiting for him in the hallway, looking less hostile than usual. “She wouldn’t listen to me, and kept looking for mom. Thanks… for getting her to sleep. She can get a bit fussy when she hasn’t slept well.”

Kurapika gave him a nod before being distracted from his job again with the ring of the doorbell. “Did… (Name) say anyone was showing up so early? The get together is tomorrow…”

Killua thought for a moment then grimaced. “Oh, yeah. That’s probably Menchi.”

They both scowled, the blonde letting out an annoyed sigh before opening the door. Menchi stood behind it, wearing an ochre colored sweater, with jeans. It was a far cry from her outfit during the exam, Kurapika wasn’t sure he’d ever seen her in anything normal.

“Where’s (Name)?”

She seemed to look at Kurapika with a look of distaste, like she was just served a dish with bits of cat litter in it. The blonde tried to keep a small smile on his face. “She isn’t here at the moment, she-“

Menchi pushed her way in and immediately headed towards the kitchen. “Who the hell is burning a cherry pie!?”

Kurapika’s eyes went. He sprinted into the kitchen, his eyes wide as he glanced at the clock then the plume of smoke pouring out of the opened oven. Menchi pulled out the pie and opened the kitchen door to fan the smoke out, coughing.

“I don’t understand, I did everything (Name) told me to! I set the oven to 350, then the timer to 45 minutes-“

Menchi raised an eyebrow. “Uh… the oven is at 450, not 350.”

Kurapika’s eyes went wide before he groaned and sat down to hold his head in his hands. “Fuck… the macaroni then this, what’s wrong with me?”

Menchi stared at the charred pie, sighing. “This poor, poor pie. I assume (Name) made the filling. What a waste.”

She pulled some rolling pins out of nowhere. “No matter, I’ll get to work. You’re banned from the kitchen, blondie.”

He didn’t argue, just standing up and shuffling to his room.

———————

Gon walked around, giving everyone hugs and saying hi to Menchi before he stopped. “Hmm? Where’s Kurapika?”

(Name) shrugged, hanging up her coat. “I’m not sure, but Killua said he burned the pie earlier.”

She sighed and rubbed her temple. “It was an honest mistake, but it’s still a little frustrating to be down two dishes now.”

Gon nodded, patting her shoulder. “I’ll go talk to him! Maybe we can work something out!”

“Yeah, you go do that. I have to make sure Menchi doesn’t get off track with the food again.”

Gon walked up the stairs and knocked on Kurapika's door. "Kurapika, it's Gon! I just got here.”

The door cracked open, the blonde looking a bit downtrodden. “Oh, Gon… happy holidays. How… are you doing?”

He hummed, walking into Kurapika’s room. “I’m doing alright, but how are you? I heard… you had some problems in the kitchen.”

Kurapika nodded, rubbing his arm awkwardly. “Yeah, I just… I got distracted and I messed up… and…”

Gon held up his hand. “Everyone messes up sometimes! What matters is trying to fix the mistake you made!”

Kurapika gave him a soft smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. You always know what to say, Gon.”

The boy grinned. “How about this, we’ll wait for Menchi to leave, then we’ll try and salvage that macaroni and cheese!”

The two spent the next hour really catching up. Kurapika had been hesitant to get too close to his friends again, but now that he knew he was sticking around, he wanted more than anything to be close with them again. It felt like he had become so distant from the people he cared for most, so it felt nice to be all caught up with what they had been doing.

“And you’re gonna ask (Name) on a date- Mmph!”

Kurapika covered Gon’s mouth as his face erupted into a blush. “Shh, she could hear you!”

Gon nodded as Kurapika pulled his hand away, now whispering. “I think she’ll say yes, you two have always been so close. When you were gone, she looked at your picture in the living room a lot.”

The blonde turned bright red, clearing his throat. “Is that so?”

Gon stood, peeking out the door. “Mhm. Now come on, Menchi just left!”

Kurapika followed Gon down to the kitchen and took out the macaroni. “You followed the directions on the box, right?” Gon asked as he looked at the soggy noodles and dry cheese.

Kurapika huffed, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Of course, why wouldn’t I? Boil for eight minutes, remove from- hey!”

Gon began to scrape off some of the cheese. “If we take off some of the cheese, we can mix some fresh cheese in and add some extra milk and seasonings!”

Kurapika relaxed, smiling. “Ah, I forgot, you said you knew how to make macaroni and cheese during the Hunter Exam, didn’t you?”

Gon nodded proudly, setting the macaroni and cheese aside. “Now, let’s shred some cheese and get some bread crumbs!”

Though the noodles were still soggy after they were done, the macaroni and cheese looked a lot better and smelled decent. Kurapika couldn’t help but feel a little proud.

“Oh boys, something is smelling great in here!”

(Name) walked in, putting away her phone. She had snapped a picture of the scene before announcing her presence. ‘That’s going in the Christmas card.’

Kurapika blushed as she swiped a bit of the macaroni and cheese, fiddling with his tabard. “Kurapika, Gon, this tastes great! This is definitely going on the table, along with my macaroni and cheese.”

Gon cheered, and Kurapika sighed in relief. “Now, you two come to the table and eat your dinner. It’s burgers tonight.”

Everyone gathered at the table to eat dinner, smiling and laughing. They were all full of excitement for the next day, though none of them were prepared for the chaos that would ensue.

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seventeenlovesthree · 1 month

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Digimon Writing Challenge - Mix and Match: Mimi + Piyomon + Reliability

[Yamato] [Takeru] [Hikari] [Sora] [Taichi] [Koushirou] [Mimi] [Jyou]

Summary: After fighting with Koushirou and being unable to console Meiko, Mimi feels like nobody is really relying on her. Especially Sora, who seems to handle things so much better than she does. Piyomon has her own opinion on that though.

Word count: 593

Mimi hadn’t been this frustrated in a long, long time. Not even when she had been alone in the US for several years had she felt as… Lonely as she did right now.

The last time she had disagreed with Koushirou that heavily must have been around six years ago. She still couldn’t control the surge of anger rising in her chest when she remembered how vehemently he had disregarded her point of view. How could he have ignored Meiko’s feelings so blatantly, how had he not been able to even try to understand that Mimi had to act, to fight by herself?!

Furthermore – Meiko had not let her console her any further either, but had run away instead. Of course Mimi could relate to the urge to hide from the noise and the fighting, but… It was still stinging to not be able to help.

Not only that – Sora had looked at her with those worried eyes before… And yet, she had turned to talk to Koushirou and Meiko, trying to reason with the former and to comfort the latter. All that by herself, without consulting her as well…

“It’s like none of them even considers to rely on me for once…”, Mimi growled, leaning her forehead against the cool window in front of her. She had decided to stay back with the other Digimon in the hallway leading to Koushirou’s office while Sora was trying to handle the situation. Meanwhile, Taichi and the others had gone to grab something to eat for them.

“I bet she’s angry at me too… She’s always handling all this stuff with grace and I…”

“I don’t think so!”, Piyomon chirped next to her all of the sudden and the other Digimon turned to look at her in surprise.

“What…?”

“I don’t think Sora is mad at you. I believe she just wanted to give you a moment to breathe. She’s just like that, you know?”

“I do… I do know that… But still… Why couldn’t we have done this together? Is she not trusting me?!”

“Mimi…”, Palmon tried carefully, but Piyomon was, once again, faster:

“She does trust you! And because she knows you so well, she knows that you have your heart at the right spot! I think it’s not a bad thing to speak your mind on the spot, you know? Sora is thinking about her words before speaking them a lot, but… Sometimes, she takes too long to act because of that. So… I believe it’s helpful in one situation, but not in the other!”

“Mh…”

Mimi had always admired Sora, but never once had she wished that she could be like her. They were both different and that was perfectly fine. Always had been. And yet…

“She knows she can rely on you! You have so much energy and your cheerful ways bring everyone together all the time! Just… Right now you need to rely on Sora to handle it in her way too.”

Looking at the small pink bird in this very moment made Mimi realize how much she reminded her of Sora. These kind, caring eyes that had nothing but patience for her. Maybe she had really needed a moment to breathe and think straight again. Maybe it was good to consider other methods every now and then as well after all.

“Thank you”, Mimi whispered with teary eyes as she sank to the ground, leaving Piyomon room to jump into her arms for a soft hug. “I swear I’ll become someone for her to rely on one day too…!”

#my drabbles #my doodles #my fanfiction #mimi tachikawa #piyomon #biyomon #sora takenouchi #are you sensing the little 'to sora' foreshadowing here???#soramimi #somi #digimon #digimon adventure tri

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remember-digimon · 4 months

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May I present, Princess Mimi!

Mimi is one of those characters I didn't really connect with as a kid. She is almost always complaining, and at first glance she doesn't seem to contribute much to the group. But there is something to her, it's just sitting below the surface.

Mimi is probably the only kid that doesn't have some kind of family issues. Her parents are very loving and even overly sweet, and they apparently give Mimi everything she wants. Not to say she's fully spoiled, just that she's used to a more comfortable lifestyle. Understandably, once she finds herself in the Digital World, with none of the modern faculties and conveniences that she's used to, Mimi finds it very hard to adjust.

While the group is split up the second time, Mimi stumbles across some Digimon that need her to sing to wake up their leader. She fully takes advantage of this situation, even after Joe and Tai arrive. In fact, she puts them in jail, with Palmon, for trying to get her to sing. It's only after a nightmare where everyone leaves her, and when Sora tells her she needs to give up the Princess act, that Mimi realizes she's been acting like a brat and asks for forgiveness from everyone.

Mimi's relationship with Palmon is a bit weird. As a kid, I always thought Biyomon was better suited for Mimi because she's pink (yeah I wasn't a bright kid lol). But if Mimi had Biyomon, who is cuddly and loving and heaps attention on her partner, it wouldn't have helped Mimi grow. Palmon helps her see beyond appearances and her own immediate comfort.

In fact, while they're back in Odaiba, Mimi says that Palmon basically doesn't fit her aesthetic, which understandably hurts Palmon's feelings. Later, when Togemon evolves into Lilymon, it's because Mimi has realized that the important thing isn't how someone looks, and it certainly isn't her own comfort. The important thing is to keep fighting, even when it's tough.

Like Joe, Mimi's crest was changed in the dub. Originally it was purity, and in the dub it's sincerity. These are both kind of vague to me. Purity is, thematically, very similar to light. No bad vibes, Disney princess stuff. Sincerity is being free of deceit and hypocrisy. Sincerity plays into Mimi's bluntness and naivety, while I feel like purity is just 'unproblematic girl.'

Mimi always speaks her mind. If she doesn't like something, she says so. If she thinks one of the Digimon hitting on her (?!) is gross, she'll straight up say it. For her, there's no point in not saying what exactly she's thinking. Even if it's another complaint about how her feet hurt, or how hungry she is, or what she thinks of Palmon. This is actually desperately needed in the group; the other kids won't outright say they want to stop for a rest because they're good Japanese kids that don't want to cause trouble for anyone else.

At the end of the season, it's Mimi that brings reinforcements for the fight against Peidmon. Of course she gathered these reinforcements with Joe, but she did manage to bring them to the battle. Mimi's lesson in the first season is to do her fair share of the work, which she does. Eventually. But once she's learned this lesson, it sticks with her. Even after she moves to America in 02, she's still very involved in what's going on in the Digital World, when she could easily ignore it in favor of her comfortable lifestyle.

Don't dismiss Mimi like I initially did. She says what everyone's too afraid to say. She's honest, and it isn't always easy to be honest. Especially in a culture that prioritizes the group over the individual.

#mimi tachikawa #digimon adventure #digimon #character analysis

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melanieph321 · 1 year

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Ruben Dias x Reader - Try Me Part 1/6

Here we go! Get ready for coach Ruben 😆

Summary - Reader is a very passionate football player and Ruben is her new and equally passionate football coach. However, the two of them can't seem to get along.

Enjoy!

"Pass the ball!"

You were flying, that was the feeling.

"Come on Y/N, pass me the ball I'm open!"

Your touch on the ball was magic, you were flying down the field. Your teammates couldn't keep up.

"Y/N!" The coach yelled. "Pass her the fucking ball!" Or he wasn't really your coach, but his assistant. He often used words like "fucking and bloody, followed by another set of curse words in another language." He was nearly your age only a few years older. It was hard to take anything he said seriously.

"She shoots, she scores!" You said and so you did, celebrating your magnificent goal with a tumble of cartwheels. It was the game winner, setting your team up for a great start in the summer cup group stage.

In midst of celebrating the victory with your team, you were suprised to be pulled aside by coach, or not really coach, Ruben was his name.

"What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"That!" He pointed to the goal where you just scored the goal of your life, however, instead looking impressed his face boiled with rage.

"Oh that. It was the game winner coach." Compared to your teammates you called him coach, but in a way that he knew that you were mocking him.

"Yeah, well, if you pull that shit again you can kiss the bench, because that's the only place I'll be putting you if you wanna play for my team."

"You can't bench me." You frowned. "I'm the best player on the squad."

"Unless you get rid of that bad attitude of yours, I'll do whatever I want with you."

"I bet you like it though?" You challengend, your face in his face.

He raised his brow in suprise.

"I found your profile on Tinder, cute pics by the way. A bit inappropriate, but cute."

He worked his jaw, probably fighting the urge to lose his composure with you, his trainee.

It wasn't you who found his Tinder profile. All the girls had a laugh about it in the locker room the other day. You held the phone though, while you're teammates begged for you to swipe right.

"Fuck it." He snorted. "I'm benching your ass the next game."

"You can't speak to me like that!"

"Well, I just did!"

He turned his back on you and walked away, leaving you stranded on the football field.

You longed for a shower once you got home. However the hot water was out, probably because your six year old step sister was splashing away in the tub. The water was cold when you pulled her out.

"Dad?" You entered the kitchen, Mimi in your arms, wrapped up in a towel. Your dad and his friends sat around the table playing cards, a cloud of cigarette smoke hovering above their heads.

"Dad?" He hadn't heard you the first time, the second time made him turn his head.

"Y/N, you're home. Great!" The cigarette stump bounced between his lips when he talked. "Go down to the corner shop will you, get me and Bubby a pack of Camel Blue. And how about some crisps for the beer? We've got guests coming over later."

"Dad, for how long did you leave Mimi in the tub?" You said, ignoring his request.

He frowned. "I didn't leave Mimi in no tub. She probably climbed in there herself, like she always do my good furniture. Ain't that right my sweet Mimi?"

"Yes!" She happily exclaimed. She loved it when he called her that, sweet Mimi. You used to be sweet Y/N when you were the youngest. Now you were just the forgotten middle child, Mimi's babysitter.

"Let's get you cleaned up." You said, drying her wet nose with the towel.

"Don't forget about the cigaretts!" Your dad called after you.

You and Mimi shared rooms whilst the others had their own. You had two older brothers, all with the same father but different mother's. Or, it was only you with a different mother. Mimi, Benji and Charles all shared the same parents. Right around when the boys were ten and fourteen their dad would go on to cheat on their mother with your mother, their next door neighbor. You all grew up around the same estate, until your mother passed away with cancer and you had to move in with them. Their mother eventually bailed too, but not because of cancer, she just hated your dad, leaving Benji, Charles and sweet Mimi behind.

"Daddy's friends are coming" Mimi said. You finished putting lotion on her body, moving on to her drawer to pull out a dress for her to wear.

"Yes." You nodded. "They're coming over tonight. But we'll stay in the room and watch Princess and the frog like we always do, okay?"

"Okay. I just don't like it when they shout."

You pulled the dress over her head, kissing the top of it. "Me neither Mimi, me neither."

After dinner you had Mimi come with you to the corner shop. It was not a good idea for her to be alone when your dad's friends came over.

"Can I have a lolly?" She asked.

"Just the one." You let her choose which ever flavour she liked.

"Y/N! How is football going?" Amin asked. He was the owner of the corner shop. Him and his family lived a floor below yours.

"It's going good. Our team is the top of our group. Hopefully we'll win it going on to the next round."

"Rember our deal." He smiled. "If your team makes it to the summer cup final, I'll bet good money on you to score and share the cut with you."

"How can I forget." You laughed. You needed that money to by new football cleats for the upcoming season.

"Bye Amin! Say hello to your wife from me."

"I will, have a good night girls."

"Thanks for the lolly!" Mimi pulled the candy from her mouth, waving it in the air.

You locked yourself in your bedroom once you got home. You let your computer rest on top of your bed whilst you climbed in to lay with Mimi in hers. There you lay watching Princess and The Frog, putting the movie on repeat until Mimi fell asleep. It wasn't difficult to ignore the drunken laughter happening outside the door. Occasionally someone would pull the handle and give Mimi a fright. But you had taught her to laugh at the muffled up curse words of whichever alcholic got it wrong on their way to the bathroom.

It wasn't ideal, but it was your life. Football made it better though, football made your life worth living.

You pulled out your phone, careful not to wake up Mimi whose limp body lay beside you. You opened up Tinder, suprised to be notified about a message from your latest match.

It was Ruben, sending you a winking smiley face.

You slapped your hand against your mouth, smothering your astonished gasped. The fake profile your teammates made must have really caught his eye, because there he was, in your DM's. You thought about earlier today, muttering "No one puts me on the bench."

Your heart raised, typing out the message, a message Ruben was going to regret answering, if he was bold enough. It read:

I like guys with big eggplants. Do you have a big eggplant? 😘

Taglist:

@kathb59

#ruben dias angst #ruben dias imagine #ruben dias x reader #ruben dias #fanfiction #man city #football imagine #manchester city #footballer x reader #football angst #footballer imagine #football x reader #football

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waltwhitmansbeard · 1 year

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Perc'ahlia Week: Free/Random

we did it folks! thanks to everyone who participated in @percahliaweek, esp the good folks who organized this whole thing! it's been so much fun to explore these prompts! here's hoping i stick the landing.

Percival de Rolo III wakes up on his last day knowing that he will not see another dawn. It hardly scares him; if anything, his aching joints have been screaming for rest for ages now, each one creaking and stiff like an unwound clock. He doesn't know where the certainty comes from, only that it doesn't feel macabre or fatalistic. He is going to die today. Better get a move on.

He doesn't begrudge Vex'ahlia's stubborn insistence that he's fine. He doesn't begrudge Vex'ahlia's stubborn anything. He lets her perform her morning ritual as usual, lies still as she grips one of his hands in both of hers and pours into him every ounce of magic she has for the day. The healing doesn't work, because he is not injured, merely human. Still, he smiles and thanks her, and they both pretend that it made things better.

Over breakfast in bed (all of his breakfasts are in bed these days, as are all of his other meals, and in fact the vast majority of his time), he quietly asks her to gather their family. She freezes, her forkful of eggs halfway up to her mouth. His vision is not what it used to be, but she is so beautiful, the golden rays of Pelor's dawn sparkling in her hair, now more silver than brown. She has always glittered, something beautiful and wild, a dragon who made a hoard of his heart.

She sets her fork down. She does not look at him. She asks if he's sure. He says that he is. She believes him, because after seven decades, she knows he is not a liar. It is a feat, the way she schools her expression into something that doesn't shatter his heart in two. She smiles and kisses his cheek. "Of course, darling."

They come, because for the past year or so, they have been preparing themselves for this very thing. Keyleth is called first, and she takes it upon herself to gather the most far-flung. Percy misses most of their arrivals; his energy wanes quickly after breakfast, and he passes in and out of sleep until a pair of lips on his cheek stir him back to consciousness. "Hi, Grandpa."

Vesper's eldest, Whitney, helps him into a sitting position. He feels each and every one of his bones as he moves. Beside her, her husband, an elven man Percy remembers not trusting for years, holds their infant son. Whitney's eyes are red and swollen. "Mimi says you...wanted everyone here."

Percy lets out a coughing laugh; gods above, they're great-grandparents now, and Vex still hates being called grandma. "I don't think I have many goodbyes left in me, dear. Better to get them all out while I can."

She sniffs. "Can't...can't Aunt Kiki do something?"

Slowly, he reaches over to pat her hand where it rests on the bedspread. "Keyleth has done more for me than any man deserves, as has your grandmother, as has Pike. I have seen my share of sunsets and sunrises, Whitney. Time for...better eyes than mine to take a look."

Just then, the door to the master suite opens, and more de Rolos come spilling in like light through an open window. Wolfe is first, one arm around Gwen, clearly keeping her upright; Danny follows, his aunt Cassandra hobbling beside him, leaning heavily on his arm. Danny's followed by his son, Shaun, and Shaun's very pregnant partner, whose name Percy can't remember. It's disorienting, but not the first time Percy's memory has failed him. Once he had the sharpest mind in Whitestone, keen enough to make the inventions that set his home years ahead of the rest of the continent, technologically speaking, but most days now, his mind feels like a sieve, permeable, untrustworthy.

Still, he smiles as the rest of his family spills in, children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, twenty in all, not including Cass, who is given the chair right by his bedside. So many de Rolos, in a castle once entirely empty of them. Percy sees so much of the family he lost in their faces—his mother's eyes, his father's nose, Ludwig's jaw, Whitney's hair—and not for the first time, he knows what it means to be immortal in the most human way.

As they say their goodbyes, as they sniff away tears, as they promise him to do right by their family name, he knows that the legacy he has been chasing his entire life, one not stained with blood and black with smoke, has been a fool's errand. His family is not his legacy. They are people, just as he is, no more, no less. They will be great and they will be terrible and they will make mistakes and they will make the world a better place because the gods know that Percy has been far from a perfect man, but he believes he has done what he can to sow in their hearts the seeds of kindness, charity, empathy. He cannot claim them as his legacy because they are still building legacies of their own, ones that will reach far beyond his time in this realm.

He lets them kiss his cheek. He whispers his love, over and over, endless and true. He smiles and looks into each of their faces, hoping the sieve lasts long enough to carry him into whatever comes next.

He doesn't remember falling asleep, but when he awakes, the only de Rolo who remains is Cass. He can't see the white stripe in her hair anymore, because it is all white now. Her eyes are a soft blue, belying her almost complete lack of vision. Percy squeezes her hand. "You still with me, Cass?"

"You're asking me?" They both grin. "I've been trying to get rid of you for years. It's about time you got out of here."

"Yes, well, you remember how Mother used to scold me for being so slow to rise in the mornings."

"That's because you'd stay up until all hours reading."

"Which is why I'm so much smarter than you."

She rolls her eyes, and the air shifts, cools into something more melancholy. "Are you so sure it's now? You seem in such high spirits for a man convinced he's going to die today."

Percy doesn't know how to explain to her the knowing, the certainty in his bones that he could count the number of words he has left. He thinks of a night when they were young, far younger than they are now, when Cass would crawl into his bed during a thunderstorm, shaking and afraid. He tries to explain it the same way he explained to that little girl that the thunder wasn't going to hurt her. "The gods have seen my hubris, my cruelty, my ego throughout the years...and they have loved me anyway. How else do you explain this?" He gestures weakly with his free hand, and he knows that she knows he's not referring to the castle and its riches. "I awoke this morning with my wife beside me in the home that we built, and I felt their calling in my chest. I am not long for this world, Cassandra." Tears slip quickly and silently down her nose. "I'm not afraid. Whatever is coming for me, good, bad, or ugly, it was worth what I experienced here, with my family. With you. I should have died with the rest of our siblings, with Mother and Father, that terrible night. I didn't. Everything after has been...a gift."

"A gift for me." She brings his hand up to her mouth, kisses his papery skin with her thin lips. "Your children and grandchildren, they've been a gift to me, too. Thank you for giving me my family back, Percival."

He smiles, and new fatigue washes over him. His eyes blink slow and long, and she pats his hand. "Rest now, brother. You still have work to do."

He wants to argue, but the sleep rushes over him, dark and warm, like smoke.

When Percival de Rolo III awakens for the last time, he is very much not alone. Perched on his left side is Keyleth, timeless and ethereal. The circlet and mantle of her station are gone, and for a moment, they're kids again, the entire world at their feet. Her eyes are glassy, and he has to be impressed that she hasn't started crying yet.

Standing on the foot of the bed, each holding onto a poster, are Pike and Scanlan. Like Keyleth's, neither's face belies much of the past seventy-odd years, but he can't find it in himself to be jealous of all the life they have yet to live. He thinks himself lucky to have had this, such a perfect little slice of the world, fit exactly to size for him.

Between the two of them, already a blubbering mess, is Taryon, the only person in the room who looks the way Percy feels. His liver spots match Percy's, which must drive Tary crazy. He wonders if this is harder or easier for him, given that Tary has already been grieving Lawrence these past six years or so. He hopes that Tary can be of use to Vex, though if he had to guess, he'd think Keyleth is better suited to the task.

Because she is also here, his heart, his Vex'ahlia. She sits at his right hand, where Cass had been earlier, and gently runs her fingers over the inside of his wrist. She has never been anything less the most beautiful creature he's ever seen, and not for the first time, though perhaps for the last, he thanks the gods for allowing her to be his. Well over half a century together, and he knows by the tremulous bob of her throat and the eyes that will not meet his that she is using every ounce of her formidable strength to keep herself in one piece.

"Hey, Percy." He looks back to Scanlan, whose shit-eating grin has not changed a bit in all these years. "If you finally wanted that six-way, you didn't have to say you were dying to get us here. You could have just asked."

Pike punches his shoulder, but Percy laughs. "You'd never...keep up with me...Scanlan."

"Yeah, I bet that's true." He reaches down to pat Percy's foot beneath the blankets. "You always were a better man than me."

"The bar is in hell," Pike grumbles under her breath, and Percy coughs out another laugh. They must be off-again, he guesses. Well, it was nice of them to come, regardless.

"Tary." The man in question cries twice as hard when Percy says his name. "Have I ever told you...how proud I am...of you?"

Tary brings a shaking hand up to wipe at his eyes, and Pike pats his arm reassuringly. "That's what I care about. If a guy like you could see the good in a guy like me...well, I knew I was gonna be okay."

And Tary is more than okay, Percy knows. He's done more good in the world than any of them would have thought possible the day they met him, arrogant and annoying and so very naïve. Percy is proud of him, proud of the work they've done together and apart. Someday, not too long from now, these same people will gather around Tary, usher him as gently from this world as they do for Percy now, and Percy can only hope that they sing his praises as loudly as he deserves.

Pike hops up onto the bed, her socked feet padding over so she can kneel by his elbow in front of Keyleth. She grips her holy symbol, now worn and smoothed, in one hand and rests the other over Percy's heart. "Everlight, please carry my friend into the next life with the same light and compassion he has shown me in our time together." Her voice is strong, but Percy can hear the tremble in it. "As faithful as I have been to you in my life, he has been twice as faithful to me, to his friends, to his family, to the people of Whitestone. And I think you and I both know that faith does not come quite so easily to some as it does to others." She opens one eye to grin at him, and he winks back. She closes the eye again to finish her prayer. "Let his soul rest among his ancestors, and may your benevolent light never stray from those he leaves behind."

There is a long beat of silence, and though his eyes are not what they used to be, Percy swears the mid-afternoon light streaming in from the wrought-iron windows flares just a bit brighter. Pike releases her holy symbol, leans down, and kisses his cheek. "Y'know," she whispers, just loud enough for him to hear, "for someone doomed by the narrative, you did alright for yourself, Percy."

"I couldn't...have done it without you."

The first of Pike's tears falls, and she slips back to the foot of the bed wiping at her eyes. Percy lets his head tip to the side, and Keyleth's face is as red as her hair, her own tears falling fast and loose down cheeks that don't look a day over thirty. "Hey."

"Hey." She sniffs, taking his hand in both of hers. "I know...I have a lot of goodbyes coming my way. Goodbyes I don't even know about because the hellos haven't happened yet. But you...fuck." She scrubs at her eyes with the back of her wrist. "I don't know what my life looks like without you, Percy. I don't wanna find out."

Oh, he truly does not envy her yawning years. He knows no one who deserves to have her heart broken less than Keyleth does, and yet he knows that so much heartbreak awaits her in the millennium to come. He squeezes her hand, and he prays to the Dawnfather that all of that heartbreak does not quiet her, does not harden her heart from the joys this world has to offer. Keyleth was made for sunlight, for spring flowers, for flight. The shadows will come, but they must not dull her shine.

"Keyleth, Voice of the Tempest." He attempts to gather as much authority into his weak voice as he can muster. "I charge you with not just the welfare of Zephrah, but with that of Whitestone, and of Tal'dorei as a whole. There is no one I trust more to act as steward of these people. Your wisdom, your generosity, your empathy...more than ever, you are needed to bestow your gifts upon Exandria. You know..." He smirks up at her. "We've met gods, Keyleth. And this may not be the best time to blaspheme, but they've got nothing on you."

She throws herself onto him, and it hurts, but he takes it. One last hug from his best friend, from the sister he gained after so much loss. Her tears soak into his neck, and for the first time today, his own prickle behind his eyes. He regrets all of the things he will miss, the wonderful accomplishments of his friends, his progeny, his neighbors. It is such a mortal thing, to know that the world will keep spinning in your absence, and to love and hate the spin for it. But someday, even the ageless Voice of the Tempest will rest, and if the gods know any mercy, he will see her again.

Before she pulls away, a shaking, sniffling mess, she whispers in his ear, "Tell him I still love him?"

He nods. He already knows, but Percy will tell him anyways.

As if on cue, there is a small commotion near the one open window on the far side of the chamber, and everyone turns to see a raven, too large to be natural, resting on the sill, as if it has always been there. There is a cracked sob from Percy's right, and he turns his head to see his wife covering her mouth with her hand.

Just enough time left, then.

"Come here." A small tug to her hand, and she's coming up to sit beside him, hip to hip. She brushes his thin, limp hair from his face, and he struggles to bring her hand, wrinkled and beautiful, to his lips. "What a life, eh?"

Her answering smile is watery. "The best one I could have imagined. It's the best gift you've given me."

"Well, I gave you quite a lot."

"It's my love language, darling, and you were always so fluent."

He laughs at that, and it dissolves into a cough. The raven flutters its wings in his periphery. "Let them take care of you?" His eyes cast over their friends before returning to her crumpled face. "We didn't create this wonderful life together for you to be alone when I'm gone. There are so many people who love you, Vex'ahlia de Rolo, and while I will always be the first among them, in this world or the next, I am not worried for you."

Her hair, unbraided and streaked with silver, spills onto his chest as she leans over him. "I'm not worried for you, either. I know that wherever you're going, I'll find you. I'll always find you. It's kind of my thing, after all." She sniffs loudly. "So take my heart with you, alright? I'll want it back when I get there."

"My extraordinary, incomparable wife. My heart, my judgement. My treasure, my salvation."

Crying, she kisses him, and it feels just like it did that first time, in a snow-capped wood, when they were kids and death was just another monster they could slay. He tastes the salt of her tears and the warmth of her skin and he knows every agony, every loss, every sorrow was always and will always be worth her. For the briefest moment, his heart pinches, a desperate wish to stay, but when his final kiss with his wife ends, he's smiling, because how many men can go to their deathbeds with no regrets?

He looks to his friends once more, each one a gift, a story, a legacy, and with a fading voice, says, "Vox Machina. What an honor it's been to change the world with you." His eyelids feel so heavy; he's already slept so much today. To his wife, he murmurs, "Dear, do you mind if I rest for a moment?"

"Of course, darling." She bends down to kiss his cheek. "Rest now. I'll be here."

The last things he sees are Vex's shining eyes, and across the room, a raven taking flight.

When Percy opens his eyes, he sees them, his friends, their heads bowed and shoulders trembling. They are circled around his deathbed, and Percy watches them mourn. It's far and away the strangest scene he's ever beheld.

"Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III."

He turns, a smile already coming to his face. Oh, the ease with which he moves! He looks down at his hands—smooth and dexterous, hands he hasn't seen in years. "Would you look at that."

The black-feathered figure in the corner of the room is masked, so Percy can't see his face, but Percy doesn't need to see the smirk to feel it. "A handsome bastard once again, I see."

"Screw you, I was always handsome."

"No arguments here." The Champion of Ravens strides closer, and Percy can't help but feel a bit intimidated. "Welcome home, brother."

And they are embracing, reunited after so many decades of grief. "Thank you," Vax murmurs, in his strange, not-quite-Vax voice. "Thank you for taking care of them."

"It was my privilege." They separate, and the two dead men look at the ones they've left behind. "We still felt your loss. Every day, we navigated the hole your absence created. Them in particular." He gestures to Vex and Keyleth, who hold hands over his body's torso as they weep. "I just hope I did enough to help them find the way."

"You did. And now it's my turn." Vax sweeps a hand back, and the door to the chamber opens, but instead of the marbled hall he's used to, Percy sees only a brilliant, blinding white light.

Percy frowns. "Is Grog in there? To be honest, I thought he'd be the first to greet me. You know how bored he gets without someone to entertain him."

"I'm afraid I don't know. I only walk to dead to their doors. I don't get to see what's inside."

For the first time today, Percy's heart well and truly breaks. "Well, just know that as long as they live—" He jerks his head toward the remaining members of Vox Machina. "—your sacrifice will not be forgotten."

"I live as long as they live."

Percy chuckles. "First the mask, now the quotes—you want to be me so bad."

"Get in the light before I throw your ass in there, Freddie."

Grinning, Percy claps him on the shoulder as he passes by, letting is strong legs and youthful knees take him toward the door. Just a step away from the frame, he stops, bathed in the warm, mysterious light. He looks back one last time at his family, wonderful and perfect and his, and murmurs, "What a nice story, indeed." And then he steps into the light.

#percahliaweek #percahliaweek23 #critical role #critical role fic #cr fic #vox machina #vox machina fic #perc'ahlia #perc'ahlia fic #my fic #perc'ahlia week #perc'ahlia week 2023

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picturejasper20 · 3 months

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Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur S2-A: Trying to live a double life- Lunella’s character arc analysis

In Season 2-A, one of the main character arcs of Lunella is her trying to balance his normal and superhero life and her being conflicted about telling her family that she is Moon Girl and the reactions she could get from them. Along with this, Lunella’s life as superhero is becoming harder as she is having to deal with tougher enemies and it is taking a mental toll on her. She tries to hide things that are affecting her negatively, mentally speaking, and even doesn’t want Mimi to know about.

In this post i’m going to discuss this part of Lunella’s arc on this season and the different problems that trying to keep her identity as supehero from her family brings to her. I’m going to go by episode that explores and develops the conflict in some way.

Let's start:

The conflict is brought up for the first time in ¨Suit Up!¨ by Mimi to Lunella. Mimi asks Lunella if she wants to talk to the rest of the family about her being Moon Girl, Lunella says that she isn’t sure but mentions that then they would have to explain that Mimi was the Original Moon Girl too. Mimi understands that it could take a while before they explain the situation. Instead she decides to take Lunella to a friends’ house from her days as scientist to help her with building a new suit.

The episode on itself doesn’t explore the struggles that come with keeping a super identity secret. However, it explores Lunella’s mental state after the battle she had with Molecular Man. We are beginning to see that she tries to keep all these issues to herself, struggling with opening up about her traumatic experiences. This gives a good idea of why she needs her family support in these situations and not deal with this issues on her own.

The episodes that follow are more about Lunella learning that some people she fights against may have their own reasons of why they end up doing bad things. The conflict about Lunella’s superhero identity is dropped for a while until what would be more or less the later half of season 2 A. It could be argued that there is some parallel between Marvin standing up to his father about what the type of person he wants to be in ¨Kid Kree¨ and Lunella struggling to tell her family about her being Moon Girl. Both characters have parallels to each other, so, it wouldn’t be out of place to say that this could be intentional from the writers’ part.

¨The Devil You Know¨ brings up this conflict again, exploring the stress that is bringing to Lunella and Devil’s relationship. Lunella explains that she has to keep his superhero and family life separated, accidentally making Devil feel that he isn’t part of Lunella’s family. This leads to the two of them having an argument and being angry with each other, with Lunella leaving for her family road trip.

This episode is mainly from Devil’s perspective and how he feels treated as a sidekick by Lunella at times. I discussed more about this in detail on this post. On B plot, it explores Lunella feeling bad about dismissing Devil’s feelings and having a fight with him. She tries her best to have fun in her road trip but she can’t help missing Devil and thinking about how much fun he would have if he had come with them.

At the end of the episode, Lunella and Devil have a talk, Lunella apologizes to Devil for making him feel like he isn’t important. She tells Devil that she understands that he wants to be part of Lafayettes family and she promises that she is going to work harder on trying to bring both of her lives together.

The episode ¨Dog Day Mid-afternoon¨ brings up this idea of Lunella living a double life with ¨Franklin¨ hiding that he is an alien from Pops as a parallel to Lunella hiding about being Moon Girl. Franklin gets found by Pops at the start of the episode. Believing that he is a dog, the Lafayette family takes him in and allows him to stay.

Over the course of the episode Lunella sees that Franklin acts strange and finds out clues that he may be an alien. Pops insists that even if Franklin does weird things, it doesn’t mean he is evil. Later in the story Franklin reveals to Pop and Lunella that he is, in fact, an alien that was going undercover to trap a human criminal that was exploiting and controlling dogs using a special whistle.

Lunella (as Moon Girl) teams up with Franklin and Pops to stop the antagonist and get her arrested. Franklin says goodbye to Pops and Lunella, taking off with his ship. Lunella brings up to Pops that he is taking the reveal of Franklin being an alien quite well, to which he answers with saying that ¨when you care about someone, you want to love them for what all they are¨, indicating that he would prefer someone to be honest about who they are than having to keep secrets from him.

Pops’s relationship with Lunella is explored again in ¨Roller Jam!¨. While the episode is more about the friendship and rivalry that Pops has with another character, it leaves a clear point that he is a huge fan of Moon Girl. He admires what Moon Girl does for her community and helps Lunella with fighting against Brian Glory. It could be assumed that seeing her grandfather being supportive of Moon Girl is another thing that influences Lunella to convince herself to reveal to her family that she is a superhero. It helps by knowing there is another person in her family that probably wouldn’t get angry at her for keeping this a secret from them.

It is worth of discussing that Season 1 has been building towards this arc as well. In the episode ¨Skip Ad-olescence¨ James almost seems to find about Lunella being Moon Girl with Lunella using the time jumps. In ¨Like Mother, Like Moon Girl¨ Adria tells to Lunella that Moon Girl reminds her a lot of her, pointing out the similarities between them. She says that she admires Moon Girl but adds that ¨her mother must be crazy letting fight all those supervillains¨, giving some perspective of how she would react to Lunella being Moon Girl reveal.

Lunella mostly keeps her identity a secret out of fear of how her family would react to it, she fears that they would freak out or get angry at her for having lying to them for so long. She is scared that they wouldn’t allow her to be Moon Girl anymore. She tries working with it but this fear always stops her from doing so.

Another reason that likely motivates Lunella to keep her identity a secret from her family is that one of her biggest fears is not being able to protect someone she loves or losing someone. This was explored in the episode ¨Coney Island, Baby!¨ when the Beyonder is testing Lunella’s fears. He is able to figure out that this is Lunella’s greatest fear based on thinking she almost lost Mimi when she was a little girl.

Lunella likely keeps her identity a secret as a way to protect her family, from the way she sees it. She doesn’t want them to get worried nor get hurt because of her fights against supervillains and criminals. She may believe she would put them on risk if she reveals her secret to them and they could get hurt because of that.

She has also the habit of thinking that she has to take the burden all herself. She thinks that she to tackle these issues mostly on her own, that it would make it worse if her parents/family knew about it. She often has the habit of struggling to ask for help or telling others what is happening to her.

This idea of keeping things hidden seems to work for a while until the events of Season 1 finale involving Mordak, then being stuck on a wild planet for days and having a brutal fight against Molecular Man. All this leaves an impact on her, making her question how much she can deal with this on her own since it is being too much for her.

¨Family Matters¨ is when Lunella keeping a double identity secret really catches up to her. Her family is beginning to pick up how she gets really late and is absent from family activities. At the start of the episode Adria asks Lunella where she has been and she tries getting away from the conversation. Adria says that she is just worried about her and would like to spend time with her more often. She gaves Lunella a teddy bear she made for her.

Some minutes later Mimi goes down to Lunella’s secret hideout and finds Lunella making a mess, trying to change her schedule. Mimi brings up that it would be a good idea for her to tell the rest of the family the truth as she is seeing that having to keep all this hidden is leaving Lunella exhausted. Lunella says that she would think about it and leaves to do supehero stuff.

She, Devil and Casey (who sent a drone) find out that the alarm came from supehero Turbo fighting the villain Silvermane. Turbo is someone that Lunella is a huge fan of, getting distracted in the battle by telling Turbo how much she admires her. Silvermane runs away in the middle of the fight. Turbo explains that Silvermane has been trying to steal her special suit that is powered by unique technology. She explains to Lunella that she is in New York for personal business and Lunella offers (more like begs) if she can help her with fighting Silvermane, to which Turbo accepts.

Lunella comes up with a tracker that can help them with looking for Silvermane. As the team along with Turbo try finding the villain, Lunella gets multiple calls from her family asking her to hang out. Lunella turns down or skips most of these activities, making the family worried that she isn’t spending any time with them.

The team takes a break after not being able to find Silver. Turbo tells to Lunella where she got her special suit and the two have a moment talking about their struggles of being superheroes and their mistakes when they were starting. Turbo says that she usually doesn’t get to talk to other people about these things and is happy to see someone else who gets it.

Lunella later comes up with a new plan to get Silvermane to come to them by using Turbo’s suit as bait. She gets interrumpted by Adria, who asks her if she wants to join family game night since they found free time in her schedule for her to play. Lunella plays with them for while, knowing that she has been missing spending time with them recently.

While they are having a fun time, Lunella gets an alert about Silvermane. She tries getting out from the game only for Adria and the rest to ask her why she is constanly skipping and barely around. Adria gets specially suspicious and demands to Lunella to explain what is going on. In a moment of stress, Lunella accidenatlly yells at her family and realizes what she said, running away to met with Turbo.

The team and Turbo manage to trick and capture Silvermane. To celebrate, Turbo takes them to spot on top of a building she knows. From the roof Lunella notices that Turbo is looking at someone through a window: It is a woman with a birthday cake. Turbo explains to Lunella that the woman is her mother and that she comes to her like this every year during the day of her birthday. Her relationship with her mother went rock bottom after the constant lying with Turbo having to keep up her super hero identity a secret from her. She talks about she hasn’t seen her ever since then and that there are some things she can’t change about what happened between them.

Turbo acts as a parallel to what Lunella’s relationship with her family could turn into if she keeps up constanly lying to them. For Turbo, hiding her super person for too long meant her accidentally ruining her relationship with her own mother permantely. Lunella sees that she is falling in a similar pattern away, with lately not spending time with her own family and breaking into ugly arguments with them.

This is what finally pushes Lunella to come out with the truth about her being Moon Girl to the rest of the Lafayettes, as she would prefer taking the risk than ruining her relationship with them just like it happened with Turbo and her own mother. The episode ends with Lunella saying to her family that she has something to tell them.

In the next episode, ¨The Molecular Level¨, when Adria, James and Pops listen to Lunella reveal that she is Moon Girl at first they think it is a joke until Devil appears, leaving them shocked. Devil gives them some gifts, saying that he is happy to meet them.

Pops takes the reveal quite well, expressing that he is proud of Lunella and asking her if he could be her sidekick some time. James panicks but still seems to take it well in spite of the shock. However, Adria shows to be mixed about the situation, as she is happy that her daughter is a superhero yet she feels bad that she didn’t know that all this time Lunella was fighting crime.

Lunella gives them a detailed explanation of how she has been trying to balance her schedule and how she has a lot of good equipment to protect herself and others. She wants to convince her parents that there shouldn’t be any serious problem. James and Adria still feel very shocked about everything but Lunella assures them that nobody else knows about her being Moon Girl aside from Devil, Casey and Marvin.

However, Molecular Man suddently breaks into the Lafayette’s deparment, destroying a good part of the house. He managed to track Lunella down and he wants to get revenge on her since he wasn’t able to find the Beyonder nowhere. He attacks them, chasing them down around the house and breaking everything in his path. Lunella tries to fight Molecular Man, only to be pulled back by the adults, trying to keep her safe.

In the middle of the struggle, Adria, James and Pops learn about how Lunella went through an interdimensional portal and ended stranded on a planet. They later learn that Mimi used to be the Original Moon Girl too, leaving Pops specially angry at Mimi for not telling him about that.

The battle gets more intense, with Lunella ending up trapped inside her own room and her family on the other side of it, being attacked by Molecular Man. Fortunately, Devil is to get Lunella her superhero suit using the drone that Casey controlled the previous episode. She puts it on and order the rest of the Lafayettes to escape, as she is going to fight Molecular Man.

After Lunella defeats Molecular Man, she realizes that he went through a lot and understands how painful it must have been for him getting his own planet destroyed. Molecular Man admits that he took his revenge too far and apologizes for his actions. Lunella gaves him part of her suit, which has self repairing abilities. Molecular gets healed and decides to use his powers to rebuild, first repairing the damage he causes in the house and then leaving to rebuild his own planet.

Once Molecular Man leaves, Pops, Mimi and James congratulate Lunella for winning and James comments that they already consider Devil part of the family. On the other hand, Adria doesn’t look so happy, she tells Lunella that she is proud of her and she growing into a mature person… but she says that she ¨is never doing this again¨, forbidding her for being Moon Girl. The episode ends with the frame of the Lafayette photo breaking, mainly where Lunella and Adria are, symbolizing how their relationship has become ¨broken¨ after the ending of The Molecular Level.

I would argue that Adria’s reaction is understandable. She was shocked when Lunella revealed her super identity at the start of episode but she seemed to be going along with it. It was after seeing the chaos that Molecular Man brought to the house and attacking them that she decided to not allow Lunella to be Moon Girl any further, worrying for her safety. As her mother, it is reasonable from her perspective since she is looking after Lunella. Season 2 B would explore the consequences of these decisions and how Lunella finds a way to persuade Adria to let her do superhero stuff again.

In all, one big part of Lunella’s arc in this season is her choosing to tell or not tell her family about her being Moon Girl. She sees if the risks in doing so are worth it, afraid that they won’t talk to her for being lying to them for so long. Eventually she sees that trying to do this double life and having to be always lying about her superhero persona is bringing too much trouble in her life and her relationships with her family. It is when she sees what happened to superhero Turbo that finally pushes her to tell the Lafayettes the truth about it.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Season 2 B explores these changes in dynamics and how the Lafayettes are going to see Lunella knowing that she is Moon Girl. I’m also interested in watching the relationships that Devil is going to have with Pops, James and Adria too. It is certainly something that is going to bring a lot of changes to the status quo of the show from now on.

#moon girl and devil dinosaur #mgadd season 2 #lunella lafayette #mgadd devil #adria lafayette #Pops lafayette #James lafayette #mimi lafayette #Mgadd analysis

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lionhearteddame · 11 months

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”The menagerie of canines the Princess of Wales accumulated was a diverse collection which rivalled even that of her royal mother-in-law.”

The Dogs of Alexandra of Denmark: A Tour of the Kennels at Sandringham by Mimi Matthews

[…] “The Queen opens the door of each kennel herself, and its occupants come rushing out at the sound of her voice; indeed, the previous barking has shown that they know who is approaching even before she speaks. The scene is one of tremendous animation when all the dogs have been liberated, and deerhounds, wolfhounds, terriers, Newfoundlands, Spitz’s, Bassets, and collies come jumping and barking around.”

#Queen Alexandra #Princess Alexandra of Wales #British Royal Family #Royal Pets #Royal Hounds #Royalty #Animals #Royalty and animals #Animal Appreciation post #Yes I know it’s a cat in one of the pictures #Alix loved every animal #both cats and horses too #and bunnies!

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maiiruo · 9 months

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Serenity of Smoke

wc : 1.7k

next chapter !

So, is all countless suffering for my own good?

— [ I ] —

You always loved the idea of writing for a living. You were an avid reader in your childhood, books upon books surrounding your room so much you might as well have been swimming in them. The local library became your second home when home didn't feel like it, the librarian recommended books every time you finished another and giving the praise you never received.

Journalism was both a romanticised and underrated job. You wanted to give others the same feeling you did as a child, the ability to indulge in fictional worlds when the real one was too much. Growing up made you come to the reality that acting on your love for journalism proved to be harder than you expected. The side jobs, the money you constantly lacked—you only had a chance of winning if you were famous. Since you were a child you dreamed of this type of job, the type where you could be alone with your thoughts, the type where you could stay in the serenity of your home and isolate yourself with the excuse of your work. No forced interactions with shitty co-workers? You were immediately sold.

Today was slow, uneventful. You worked from home in your office which doubled as your bedroom on the frequent occasion you fell asleep at your desk, only going into the office on few instances. Writer's block came to you more often than you'd like to admit, your days consisting of a split screen with whatever show Netflix recommended to fill the silence and an unbelievable amount of procrastinating. At this point, time became blurred and you lost count of how long you had been staring at your blank screen, your eyes becoming low and heavy with fatigue. On the rare occurrences you were in the office, you felt close to nothing but envy. While you were told to be an exceptional writer, said to be "the next Sylvia Path of our generation", you wrote slower than your peers, the words finding their way to you harder than others. They were the "shitty co-workers" in your nightmares, belittling you on the speed at which you produced your work as if the quality of your writing didn't surpass theirs by lightyears.

You opened the door to the prettiest cats you ever met, being an exception to the "Closed!" sign on the door. Your eyes raced to look for your favourite—Mimi and Mars, Mimi being a calico with the most beautifully placed patches across her eyes and Mars a brown cat with heterochromia. Yoongi's café was one of the few places your mind felt at peace, especially after closing hours; he would always let you stay until he finished his last few tasks. Soft light poured through the windows, the sounds of purring cats and light traffic eliminating the overwhelming anxiety you felt prior. You swore you could have fallen asleep right there, on the floor with your back on the wall and the sun warming your face, Mars and Mimi laying on your lap.

Eventually, Yoongi walked out from the back room, carrying empty food platters and readying them for the day ahead. He smiled as he sat himself down next to you, "Said hi to the cats before me?" You leaned your head on his shoulder, the smell of cigarettes encompassing the air around you. "You're basically one of the cats yourself." Mimi rolled herself over onto Yoongi's lap, purring as he calmly pet her head. "If we're both not married by 60 we're getting married and becoming cat parents." You mumbled in agreement, your tiredness almost overpowering your ability to speak. Although he was making a comical remark, you both knew you would agree to being (platonic) cat parents without a second thought.

"Writer's block beating your ass?" At this point, you believed he was able to read your mind with how he read you so easily. "Yeah...today was long." He wrapped his arm around you, running his thumb back and forth across your shoulder before announcing it was time to put the cats in their cages so he could lock up.

You gave Mimi and Mars their last pets before they left, probably being the last time you saw them that week. "You guys don't wanna go do you? You should stay with me one day." Despite your words, both cats followed Yoongi with no sympathy for your yearning. While you were exaggerating your heartbreak, Min laughed as he carried Mars and Mimi to the back where the cages were.

"They definitely like me more."

"Ermm, fuck you too then."

"Swearing in front of the kids? No wonder they like me more. She's such a bad influence isn't she?" Turning his attention to the cats, he looked at you with a fake look of disappointment, as to make you feel bad for your 'bad language'. He broke character and laughed, his smile so contagious you laughed harder.

You got up to help Yoongi put all 13 cats back into their cages, matching each cat to the assigned name on their enclosures. You made sure to pet them before locking the gates, covering them with blankets and giving treats to each of them before you and Min left. Both the book and laptop in your tote bag remained untouched, as you expected. You crossed your legs and sat on one of the chairs while Yoongi vacuumed the cat hair that had been shed and it was finally time to leave. He grabbed his keys and walked you back to your house despite living the complete other way of LL. He watched as you walked through the door before leaving, walking back to where he was parked in front of his café and driving to his apartment in the other direction.

As you finally changed out of your 'outside' clothes, you made yourself your favourite strawberry tea and switched on every ambient lighting you had in your room—the big light was basically illegal in this house. You opened your phone to a message from Yoongi, saved as "luna :P" in your phone.

6:47pm

bar 520 tmrw?

6:48pm

u know i could never say no :3 what time?

6:48pm

7? u can get ready at my place, bring whatever

6:50pm

okay, see u tmrw :3

Seen, "luna :P" liked your message.

don’t steal, translate or repost my work

©maiiruo

#min yoongi #yoongi series #yoongi fanfic #ambw #ambw kpop #kpop fanfic #yoongi au #bangtan x reader #yoongi x reader #bangtan series #yoongi angst #yoongi fluff #ꨄ︎ masterlist !#bangtan masterlist

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notsowrites · 9 months

Text

where every wish comes true

Summary: Alex wants everything to be perfect for his first Christmas with Michael.

A/N: my humble contribution to this year's @rnm-secret-santa for @dr-lemurr

[read it on AO3]

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Because the holidays have never been a big deal to Alex, he has a basic amount of Christmas decorations - a wreath for the front door, a fake tree that he usually puts up in front of the window in the study, and enough ornaments and decorations to make the tree look festive. It's basically the extent to which he feels is enough “holiday cheer.” He and Maria exchange gifts - a tradition between the two of them since they were kids. Even when he was overseas during the holidays, he'd always make sure she got sent something he knew she wanted but couldn't justify the expense for herself. Since he understood that money was difficult for her, particularly given Mimi’s medical bills.

But in all their years together, their on and off again relationship with no discernible beginning or end points, Alex realizes that he and Michael have never shared the holiday together in any way.

And of course, everything is different now. Never before have they been in a committed relationship like this, one that others around them know about, and one where Alex feels like he can be public about his feelings for Michael. The pendant of alien glass around his neck, laying against his chest, feels like a promise that Alex intends to make good on one day.

The first problem he encounters this year, however, is where to put the tree. Typically he just rearranges the study, moving the couch from under the windows to against the wall, and putting the tree there instead. It's only temporary, and it makes the house feel a tiny bit more festive.

But when he drags the box out of the storage, and stands in the open doorway to the study, Alex realizes he doesn't want to keep the tree out of the way this year.

Wanting is something he's teaching himself is okay - he's allowed to be selfish. He's allowed to do things and desire things simply because they make him happy. And right now, he wants to put the Christmas tree in the living room, because he wants to be able to cuddle with Michael on the couch, with the fireplace going, and really see if all that fuss about coziness is actually true. There's simply never been the opportunity before where it was possible, and now that it is, Alex finds he wants to experience it for himself.

“There's nowhere to put it,” he whines to Maria on the phone, standing in the middle of the living room, surveying the furniture.

“And the study is not an option?”

Alex sighs, glancing down the hallway, the reasons floating through his mind. “No.”

“So we just need to figure out a different spot for you,” Maria replies, sounding much more confident than Alex feels. There's another voice in the background, and Alex can just make out Maria explaining his dilemma, realizing after a moment that she’s speaking to Rosa.

“Is that Rosa? I can call back-”

“She says you're overthinking it,” Maria pushes on, ignoring him. “And I agree with her.”

“Great,” he grumbles, falling down on the sofa and staring up at the ceiling.

Overthinking is something that he knows he does on occasion, especially in regards to Michael. Because Alex can’t think of any time in his professional life - a decade in the Air Force, including officer school and two completed tours - where he’s had the same doubts and worries. Things just always seemed easier when he can fall back on facts and logic.

And Michael, well. Alex knows his feelings for Michael are sometimes anything but logical.

“What about in that space next to the dining table?” Maria asks, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Alex glances over where there’s a potted plant in the corner near the doors that lead out to the patio; the decor in the wall alcoves; and the guitar he has leaning in the corner near his bedroom doorway. It might work, he thinks, but it’d be a tight fit. And he doesn’t really want the tree to be sticking out awkwardly, especially if he’s putting it somewhere he might trip over coming out of the bedroom.

“No, I don’t think so.”

There’s a bit of shuffling on the other end of the line, and then Alex hears Rosa loud and clear, realizing he’s been put on speaker.

“What about in that corner? Next to the sofa?”

Alex twists to look to his right where the end table is currently placed. It’s a large enough space in the corner if he moves the table and the plant - but isn’t the point of this to be able to see the tree while sitting on the couch? It really would just look like it was shoved into the only available spot between the couch and his keyboard bench.

“The couch would be in the way.”

Rosa sighs, rather loudly, and says something that Alex can’t quite make out, probably meant only for Maria anyway. While he listens to them chatter amongst themselves, he wonders about next to the fireplace, but figures there probably isn’t enough room and the tree would cover part of the TV - and it’d definitely make it harder to get to the record player.

“Are you up for moving some furniture?” Rosa asks after a moment. “Because I think I have an idea, if I remember your house correctly, and Maria says I am.”

Not letting himself get too hopeful, Alex nods his head as if she can see him. “Yeah, if it’ll make this whole thing work.”

“Move your keyboard bench.”

For a moment, Alex wants to argue and ask where he’s going to put his music set-up in the meantime, but the answer is obvious. If he moves the keyboard, and his audio equipment into the study, they can go against the wall where he typically puts the couch when the tree is in there. It feels like such a simple solution, he’s annoyed at himself for not thinking of it.

“You two are geniuses,” he replies quickly, pushing himself up off the sofa. “Love you both, but I gotta go.”

He hears the two of them giggling on the other end, and ends the call.

None of the furniture he needs to move is actually heavy, thankfully. And he hopes he can get it done before Michael gets home - because he’d like to be able to at least have the tree up. First, he gets the bench - it’s the smallest and lightest part. Then all of the smaller items - the guitars, the sound mixing equipment, the speakers, and finally - the keyboard itself. The table, however, presents its own dilemma. It’s a little too big, and a little too awkward in size for him to lift all on his own.

Alex falls back onto the sofa, frustrated with himself and his own limitations, when he hears the front door open, close, followed then by the familiar sound of Michael’s boots on the floor.

“Rearranging?” Michael asks, and Alex turns slowly to look over at him, noticing the way he’s taking in the emptiness of the space where his instrument set up used to be.

“Trying.”

Michael nods his head, glancing around the living room and dining room, as if looking for something. “Where’d the rest of it go?”

“In the study.”

He watches as Michael disappears out of view, his footsteps receding down the hallway, and then back towards him, as if Michael had needed to see for himself where the missing equipment had gone.

“So we just need to move the table?” Michael finally asks, sitting down on the coffee table and sliding over until he’s across from Alex, reaching out and taking his hands in his, letting their fingers slide together. “Any particular reason for this change? You seemed pretty settled in how you had the house set up.”

Alex lifts his left hand, along with Michael’s, and motions vaguely towards the box with the Christmas tree that’s on the floor next to the dining table.

“I thought - I think it'd be nice to be able to enjoy the tree out here.” Alex doesn't know why his own reasoning feels dumb - it's his own home. A house he bought with his own money and has worked to furnish how he wants. “Since it's our first Christmas together.”

Slowly, a smile spreads across Michael's face, as he gently tugs Alex's hands towards him. Alex goes, letting himself be pulled forward until Michael is pressing their lips together - once, twice, three times. The smile never leaving his face, either.

Alex pulls one hand out of Michael's grasp, reaching out to slide it up along Michael's chest to cup his face, letting the tips of his fingers slide into the curls at the back of Michael's neck. His hair is longer - obviously in need of a trim, but Alex likes something about it like this as well.

Especially when it means watching that one stubborn curl fall over Michael's eyes as he works. Or as he cooks. Or even as he's just talking while they're sitting on the patio chairs outside, Michael telling him about the dreams he had as a child, searching for home in the night sky.

“So where’d you put it last year?”

“Uh, the study,” he replies with a sigh, still frustrated with himself. “Christmas was never a big affair growing up. And here I just - I never saw much reason to go all out on decorating.”

Michael’s eyes go soft, and Alex feels a little less like an idiot for admitting something like this.

“Max and Isobel always tried - especially when we were kids,” Michael says, his attention drifting back down to their hands, letting his fingers drift lightly across the skin. “Think they wanted to make sure I felt included. Never really got a real Christmas otherwise.”

Alex’s heart breaks for the childhood Michael should have been able to have growing up. That he’d been left to fend for himself so often in ways that no child should have had to do.

“That’s why I wanted to tree in here,” Alex tries again, gently tugging at Michael’s hands, pulling him towards where he’s sitting on the couch. He smiles at the easy way Michael moves, first pinning him against the back as their lips meet, sliding onto his lap and dropping his hands. Michael’s hands slide up to cup his face, kissing him over and over again as Alex drops his hands to his thighs. He doesn’t stop his hips from bucking up against Michael.

“Good thing for you,” Michael says after a moment, pulling away and Alex feels his hands drop down flat against his chest as he looks up to see a familiar smirk, “that your boyfriend is an alien who can move things with his mind.”

It’s always fascinating for Alex to watch Michael use his abilities, watching as the table slowly glides across the floor of the living room, freeing up the empty space in front of the bay window.

Between the two of them, they carefully get the table moved into the study, and set everything to rights with his equipment, which seems to calm the remaining nerves Alex had about everything.

Getting the tree together is easiest, the two of them laughing as they try and fluff the branches out enough to make it look somewhat like a tree before decorating it in the small collection of ornaments Alex has purchased and collected through the last several years. He sits on the coffee table to sort through the containers, Michael choosing to be the one to hang them up, taking any leads Alex chooses to give him about placement.

And it’s then, as he watches Michael place the silver star at the top, that it hits Alex just how right all of this actually feels. How perhaps this is what has been missing for the holiday to feel like it’s more than just a date on the calendar. That perhaps next year they’ll be doing this not as boyfriends, but as husbands instead.

Husbands, Alex repeats to himself. Because he’d asked Michael to marry him, and Michael had said yes.

He watches as Michael effortlessly gets a fire going in the fireplace, fascinated by the way the flames burst from his hand, the logs lighting with minimal effort.

“Is that why you run hot?” Alex can’t help but ask, raising an eyebrow at Michael and nodding at the fireplace. He knows enough about the alien’s biology to know the elevated temperature the alien’s have is related to their species, but it feels like a good moment to joke. He knows he’s tried in the past to make a similar remark in the past, but the timing hadn’t been right, and it hadn’t landed how he’d intended.

This time, however, he watches as a smile spreads across Michael’s face, his eyes lighting up in amusement.

They settle onto the sofa, fingers laced together, Alex pushed into Michael’s side as they both take in the quiet moment around them.

“What did you used to do for Christmas?” Michael asks, his voice quiet next to Alex. “Since coming back here?”

“Spend time with Maria and Mimi,” he replies, turning to look at Michael, noticing the way he’s focused on him, eyes bright and golden in the warm haze of the firelight. “Maria called me a grinch the first year I got back because I didn’t decorate.”

“But not this year.”

Alex shakes his head, leaning up to press a kiss to Michael’s lips.

“No, not this year.”

#roswell new mexico #rnmsecretsanta23 #malex #malex fic #notso writes fanfic

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