#moving out of my childhood home with like. 2 weeks notice (and we still don't know where we're going to go??)

[theseancekid]

hey just so y’all know, the month of september is gonna be like. incredibly, incredibly rough for me. i’m sitting here crying just thinking about it LOL. i just wanted to post something here to say 1. thanks for your patience and 2. i might need a little tlc, whether that’s ooc love or popping in to say nice things to klaus since he’s my comfort character LOL. i love y’all so much <3

[thelittleangel]

Blind date (Part 2)

tags: Castiel x male reader, fluff, angst, male reader

warnings: possible OOC, angst, reader doesn't take care of himself, references to a troubled love life, love yourselves (I mean it.)

At this point I've just given up on dating.  I’d never get a call back, whether or not we’d had a good time.  

It’s not like this was a bad thing.  I guess I'm taking time for myself.  I’m trying not to let this get to my self-esteem.  

And I'm trying not to think about Cas.  What he did, and why he left… I just can’t think about it.

I usually end up sitting alone on most nights, rotting in my pajamas on the couch.  It’s not what I want to be doing on a Friday night, but I don’t want to go out alone either.  

So, it’s one of those Fridays and I’m sitting on my couch, watching T.V. without really watching it.  I’m about to drift off when I hear a knock at the door.  I walk over and open it.  

I don’t know who I expected to be at the door, but the last person i expected to be there was Cas.  We looked at each other for a long time.  

“Hello.” 

“Hi.” 

He looks down at the ground, and then back at me.

“What’s up?”

“I want to go somewhere with you.’’ 

My brow furrows, confused.  “What?” 

“There’s a fair in town this week, I know you like those kinds of things, so I was wondering if you would want to go?”  

I look at him in shock.  “I’m confused.”

“I know.  I’m sorry I haven't answered you.  Just give me time to explain and I promise, I will.”

I breathe out a sigh.  “Fine, give me a moment to get dressed.”

We stare at each other for an awkward amount of time.  I gesture into the apartment behind me, “Do you want to come in?”

He shakes his head.  I nod.

Closing the door behind me, I walk back into my room.  One pair of jeans and a t-shirt, socks, shoes, jacket, wallet, phone, and keys later, I was back out the door.  

Cas looks me up and down.  A goofy little grin appears on his face. 

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He places a hand on my back.  His touch is very gentle, but still firm.  It’s something I've come to rely on to keep me stable.  

In less time than anyone can blink an eye, we’re at the entrance to the fairgrounds.  

The fairground was a bustling den of activity.  It was safe to say that it was crowded enough for no one to notice two men appearing out of thin air.  The lines for rides were long and yummy smells permeated the air.  

My mind immediately went to happy memories from my childhood.  My parents would take me to one of these once in a blue moon, and we’d always have a good time there.

Cas turns to me, “Do you want to go on any rides?”

My smile falters, remembering why we’re here.  I shake my head.  “I just want to do what we came here to do.”  

He begins to frown, whether out of sadness or frustration, I don't know.

“Follow me.”

He begins to walk towards a Ferris wheel, not bothering to look behind him to see if I'm still following.  

The Ferris wheel isn’t too large by any means, but it still has some element of grandeur. Standing in line, we do not talk.  Eventually, we boarded the ride.  

As the ride is moving, there’s a moment of silence.  “What did you want to talk to me about that had to be done here?”

He laces his fingers together.  “I know you’ve been going through a rough patch.  You don't talk to anyone.  You barely go outside of your home unless it's for a case and even that’s rare.  And we needed you to get out of your house.”

“Why?”

He looks up at me, blue eyes flashing.  “Because this isn’t healthy for you!  And everyone who cares about you can see it.  And I can see how you treat yourself too.”

I scoff.  “And how do I treat myself?”

“You beat yourself up.  You think the reason no one wants to go on a second date is because there is something wrong with you.  But have you ever considered that maybe you’re not the problem at all?  Have you ever considered that it may have nothing to do with you?”

I stare at him in shock.  He continues, “And it is so hard to see you beat yourself up like that.  To see you place blame on yourself for something that was never your fault to begin with.  To see you start to wonder whether or not anyone will love you.”

“You’re a fool to think that.  You’re a fool to think that no one loves you.  Sam loves you.  Dean loves you.  Your friends love you.  Your family loves you so much.”

At this point in his little speech, I'm staring down at the floor, at my shoes.  He reaches over and takes my hand in his.  “I love you.”

I look up at him in shock.  “I love you so much and it hurts me to see you do this to yourself.”

“Cas…” 

“Promise me you don’t do this to yourself anymore.”

I look at him.  His eyes are on our hands.  I reach a hand under his jaw, tilting his head to face me.  

“I can’t make any promises.  But I will try.”

He looks at me with an expression that looks like a cross between longing, desperation, and hope.  “Please try.”

I smile and nod my head.  “You love me?”

He scoots closer to me.  “So much.”  

I pull him into my arms and kiss his forehead.  He stiffens.  I look over at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not very good with physical affection.”

“What was that in the parking lot, then?”

“A feat of incredible courage.”

[dreamychuu]

Hokuto as childhood friends rambles...

Warning/info = gn!reader, hokuto is in love, fluff, pet names, some comfort, mention of being bullied, mention of arranged marriage.

A/n : i was suppose doing request but this thing have been appearing in my brain every second.

-

Rambles undercut

1. okay okay i think since you guys know each other since a kid there is a bigger chance that its beacuse of the both of your parents

2. You're very close with his grandma too! you guys spend times playing in his grandma house most of the time and maybe help her cooking (you guys ended up messing up the kitchen but his grandma just chukles)

3. Hokuto always call people with their surname but maybe since you guys know each other since you guys were a kid there is this habits to calls each others by a cute nickname that the lil kids you made.

Some hokuto nickname i made : oku-kun/chan, kuu-chan, kutoo-chan/kun, etc

4. But for the sake of his Reputaion he always calls you by your surname when there is other people who isnt both of your family.

(He once accidently calls you by a cute nickname in front of trickstars, at first he doesnt notice until subaru start questioning it while jumping in curiousty)

Basically all of them start suspecting hokuto and you were dating since the both of you keep secret nickname's for each others (the one who make the theory was makoto)

5. If you're being bullied , he will always try to comfort you, he's not good with words so all he can do is do something to comfort you.

Comfort Scenario : he hurriedly enter your room and saw you crying while sitting on the floor leaning against your bed with folded legs as you cover your face on your kness. He then took the blanket from your bed and sat next to you on the floor, covering the both of you with the blanket.

Noticing Hokuto presence , you start to cried harder and jump into his arm hugging him. he hugged you back with his hand on your back pushing you closer to him and his other hand behind your Head bringing your face in front of his chest as he give you a comfort kiss your forehead.

6. There is this one time when his & yours parents jokingly said that they might arranged married the both of you, when he heard this he was blushing but try to keep his composoure (he imagine about the both of you get married not in the creppy way)

7. Despite being in busy with each others life you guys at least can be seen going everywhere together at least once a week.

8. Whenever the both of you travel together you two always hold hands , beacuse of that you always bring a gloves so you wont feel much cold while holding his hands.

9. just like sillies little kids maybe you guys made like the classic "lets get married when we got older" Promise. (You forgot about it while he always remembers it)

10. You always do acting Together but since you got older you guys stopped doing it together but you still watch his performance (he appreciate it alot)

11. He such an hopeless romantic and when he do try to flirt or make a move on you, you always see it as a friendly joke since the both of you always do that as a kid.

12. Aoi twins found out about his crush and gave him a flirt lesson (it doesnt work)

13. He confess to you when the both of you was going home together. As you both decided to visit his grandma house by walking.

the two of you walked together until you suddenly stopped and looked towards the beautiful river that was in front of the bridge divider.

your eyes look towards the beautiful river while his eyes are glued to your figure , you look so "beautiful under the sky that evening", he said to himself

"[name]", he called out

with you turning to face fixed towards him your eyes meet each other.

"I love you," he said directly without hesitation with his gentle expression.

your eyes widened in surprise with a sudden confession from him you looked down he was confused and tried to melt the atmosphere by saying if you don't love him back it's okay.

You laughed hearing him sounds a bit sad and answered his confession with "I love you too, always been..."

[chl3borzoi]

SOOOOO i blocked my sister

Youre entitled to not like family after theyve done shit things.

Yes, my sister was a great resource when i was i my preteens letting me live with her during the summer, and for getting on my brothers for their behavior when i was in my early early teens but by that point it was kinda far too late

The thing that did it was on Thanksgiving last year she came with a woman weve never met before thats shes only known for 4 months saying theyre getting married in 2 weeks and moving to texas immediately after.

Our brother and his partner brought them out to lunch and tried to say hey we think youre going kinda fast you should take more time to get to know each other etc. They flat out told him theyre not invited to the wedding. Then when she gets home after that, she comes downstairs to find me and tells me theyre getting married, and she leans in and whispers "you're inviiiiteeeed~"

Shes in her early 30's

The thing is our MOM couldnt even attend because it was such short notice. And the marriage place couldnt get the shitty zoom stream to work. Our mom had to watch a recording of the service.

I looked out the deck window and saw her lying on her back on the porch watching the video and I knew her heart was broken.

Like. Christ im gonna put it all out there

I could tell stories of how my sister used to make me cry as a child, too. And where our parents failed to parent and the eldest should have taken the place of responsibility and etc she didnt give a fuck and YES a child should never have to act a parent role thats shitty but she was 15+ yrs old she shoulda fucking known better. (I have literally my entire family to blame for almost all of my issues, But still. During my crucial years i really do feel she did not care, and it didn't help that between me and her we have 3 THREE brothers who (one of which legitimately hated me ) too)) I DIGRESS

She let our childhood home turn into a jungle because she was too busy sitting in sweatpants smoking pot and drinking starbucks and begging our mom for more money to be put on her account,

(its all torn down, now too.)

We havent spoken very much,

Mostly just snapchats here and there

And a few days ago she sent me a chat on here saying shes revamping her account and wants to be active on here, so i blocked her.

Not only because i want tumblr to be an escape from personal real life shit but because i don't really wanna communicate or be reminded of her selfish dumb behavior.

Shes extremely hard to communicate with in person, too. Literally! I feel like im crazy trying to explain it. Shes so slow... it feels like trying to have a convo with her sometimes it feels like shes unintentionally gaslighting you. I know that sounds dumb but im fuckin serious.

She was so helpless when we helped her move, too. Pacing back and forth and fretting over all her shit (we're a packrat family yeah but holy fuck shes gonna end up being a fuckin hoarder) and me and our mom were just lifting stuff and carrying it out like :/

Sheesh

I don't hate her or wish her or her wife any ill will, its just. Fuck man. Walk in, break our moms heart (as if it isnt already broken after all the shit weve been thru as a family...) and act like everythings fine and perfect.

Also I literally witnessed my sister do/say this to her wife

"Hey, -blank-, come fight this pokemon go tournament for me."

Like

?!?!?!??!?

She was like "okay :D" but still thats so fucking bizarre

[afarcryfrommymain]

I like cult Aphid bc I like writing and drawing characters with something wrong with them™️ but the amount of prerequisites for him to join and STAY is a lot because he's got a lot wrong with him without also joining a cult, it takes some heavy fuckin lifting. So I'm just going over bullet points for this au in this post tbh.

1. Sister has to visit his home a little after he moves to Hope County, before the cult is at its worst and before he really properly starts at the sherrifs office

2. Has to meet John in a friendly setting prior to this and able to stand him enough to actually become his friend. (He absolutely cannot meet Sharky in this au until after its too late because it will become about them and its supposed to be JohnxAphid)

3. Big fight between him and Ruby which causes him to go over to Johns house and rant for 30 minutes about how he's got no one and he's sick of his family

(Alternatively Ruby dies but I really hate killing her just to make my boy sad in general and I don't like the idea of killing her until like, New Dawn time maybe and even then its like blaze of glory shit, its also more interesting for her to be alive in this au)

4. This prompts John to get him to join Edens gate, hes on the fence about joining but he's sort of considering, but like he's heard all the bs you have to do to join and isn't exactly jazzed at the idea of it. Hes also incredibly weary of a lot of religion because of his childhood n shit but let's not talk about that.

5. Aphid hops on the denial train when shit begins to hit the fan and Ruby trying to help gets into it with him again but this time its like "hey lil bro, I noticed your gay ass is about to join a cult so maybe don't?" And another fight and hes like "fuck it" and joins out of spite (dipshit)

6. Now he has to have good reason to stay in, which I'm genuinely not sure about outside of like, him and John start dating and he's like "fuck it" and leans into it. Like dating for long enough that it's at the "meet the family" kinda point.

7. He also can't be around for the first time Faith gets replaced because he could ignore it if it happens once (king of "not my business not my problem" in this au fr) but probably not twice

8. Continues to ride the denial train for a while but eventually when the reaping begins he doesn't really stay because he believes in it or whatever but because he just knows enough members of the project that he doesn't want to fight them anymore and kinda drops out of his job at the sherrifs office one day without 2 weeks notice or anything. (Point of no return for him, this point forward he can't be convinced to leave by anyone or anything)

9. Ruby will have to to take place of "main problem causer" this au (I finally let her do something woah) and the resistance generally sees her like "oh sorry your brother went crazy I think you gotta kill him tho??? Sorry"

10. Can't tell which Seeds die or if Aphid works really fucking hard to keep em around, John makes it because Aph is consistent in protecting people he loves in every au fr but they lose the bunker key in the process. Same with Jacob maybe.

11. Faith is difference bc Ruby is a bleeding heart with a savior complex and completely falls for the front she puts up and is like "but we gotta help her 🥺" but Faith does get to leave the project (sorta kinda, it's a whole thing) and survives

12. Dude idk if I can keep her from shooting Joseph and I kinda want her to fr like he starts doing his speech and she does not let him finish. Aphids busy with keeping his very pissed off boyfriend, the brother who looked like he was about to be cool with death, and the members he was able to get to safe. He doesn't even realize he straight forgot about Joseph til its too late.

13. Ruby does a broadcast about Joseph and asks Aphid one last time to come back but he's all in now and probably isnt gonna back out anytime soon. He still goes to confront her and since Aphid might as well be a raid boss theres a big show down between the two of them. They're fighting and Ruby gets really close to killing him but she hesitates because "fuck that's my brother, I raised him, I love him, this is so fucked"

14. In the minutes she hesitates the collapse comes. It's late, but it happens and Aphid just bolts to the bunker he had holed up with John in up until that point. Can't decide who Ruby's bunker buddy is. Could stick her with the Edens Gate people and have fun new issues but who knows.

That's the broad strokes though, probably won't write anything for this past a one shot or two if I feel like it but I thought it'd be fun to lay it all out like tism

[saso-does-art]

Trigger wanting: these 2 chapter include: Addiction, Drugging, Implied rape, Abuse, MUDER, Ingery: ENKOY AT YOUR OWN RISK

Chapter 2: the yaoyorozu faimly

(trigger warning: implied rape)

(a few months ago)

(hinakos pov)

I smiled as the day finally ended. I was making tea. "You want some?" I asked as Setsuko walked in. She nodded before I put some lsd tablets in. I knew she liked LSD, so I got her addicted to it. I smiled, giving her the tea she passed out after drinking the cup. I pretended to panic, calling 911 after 10 minutes. "Help! My friend overdosed due to her addiction." I lied.

(a week later)

(netsukes pov)

I sighed as I walked into rehab for the 3rd this month. I was almost going to be realized and finally allowed to go to school.

(A month later)

I was walking home before I was pinned to the wall by Dabi. I stared at him, his hands now on me… I don't want to talk about what happened that night.

Chapter 3: the Aquino family

(small note: akua is a childhood friend of both present Mic and Aizawa)

(13 years ago)

(Akua's (akua is Setsukos mother) pov)

"We need to leave," Emilio (my husband) said, holding Kaki by the shirt. At the time, I was having my 2-year-old daughter Setsuko. "What happened-" I started as he instructed me. "NO time to explain," he muttered. I called my friend from elementary school (present mic) and explained it to him. We then immigrated back to Japan. The country I grew up in. Kaki was just 12, and Setsuko was only 2 at the time. When we got into Japan and settled into our new home, troubles arose…

(2 years later)

I watched my baby bleed out. Neva, Emilio killed him… HE KILLED MY BABY. I could feel my life shatter as Neva stopped moving; she stopped breathing, and Setsuko started crying. I tried to calm her, but not before Emilio got to her first. He, using the knife, had cut a slit across her right eye.

(a year later)

(setsukes pov)

I walked with my brother to the house of his friend Touya. Touya greeted us there. As we walked past the rooms, I noticed a young boy with red and white hair (I later found out (at the entrance exam) that the boy was Shoto Todoroki). I had stopped walking with them, and I watched him. He then turned around to notice me. I smiled slightly, walking slightly into the room. I then realized that my brother was gone, so I was going to figure out where he was, but the kid grabbed my arm. I then started to feel my arm burn, the burn hurting more and more, and eventually, I screamed in pain. The scream broke the glass of a vase in the room, and he had let go to cover his ears. I took that moment to back away from him, the burn scar still very visible. I was almost shaking.

(A few months later)

I could hear Kaki and Dad argue in the other room. Then I listened to the front door slam as Kaki ran out. "He is just going to Touyas for the night. He will be back tomorrow, right?" I told myself. The next day, Kaki didn't come back, "he's just taking more time with Touya; he'll be back tomorrow, right?" I told myself. The next day, we were told that Touya died in a fire the day Kaki ran off and that they had not even seen Kaki that night or yesterday.

[purplerainbow-butterflies]

2:40 am mania thoughts, as told by me. TW for disassociation, mentions of BPD, suicidal ideation/self harm ideation, mental hospital mentions, overdose (melatonin) mentions, nightmares, emotional abuse, depression

It's 2:41 am here in Delaware. I slept (stupidly) from 7:30ish to 10pm, then stayed up an extra hour doing my sister's college list with her. Well, a basic version.

I don't want her to make the same mistake I did. Rushing into things. I did with my first college and left. I wasn't ready mentally. Second college, still not ready.

Sometimes I wonder if it's because of the medications. Gabapentin, Abilify. Supposed-to-be-Effexor. (We don't talk about that - I ran out days ago. The psychiatrist couldn't move me up and the insurance won't explain why. (Cigna if you're seeing this, fuck you.)) Birth control pills. Trazadone for sleep. Trazadone.

It's funny - a Discord server I'm in, a couple of days ago, a certain channel for those with neurodivergences and mental illnesses brought up how certain meds like Melatonin and Trazadone made them have vivid nightmares, so realistic. I didn't want to put my two cents in - plus being in a BPD depression never helps. The past few weeks, since Sun, I've been having vivid dreams. Going to sleep by disassociating, then falling into the pattern of reliving memories, or creating fantasies.

The most recent one was watching TV with Mom, Dad, Stepdad, and the siblings. I said something awful, and Mom and Stepdad starting chasing me. I was eventually cornered into a window, and I woke up in silent screams for help. I didn't actually scream - but in my dreams I was calling, screaming for help.

I was screaming in November. Many noticed it, but I went into a mental hospital short-term. Long story short, don't plan an impromptu move then have it all fall apart (not the friend's fault tho), have a mental breakdown, reach out to Mom for support, be screamed at by said Mom whilst sobbing, then take Melatonin to cope. Dad brought me home saying he wished he knew, that we needed to communicate better.

I wish I could. Words don't come out of me easily. It's hard - I write for the freedom. Freedom I don't have. I've not had a comprehensive psych eval ever - I started looking at them today.

I fear they won't find anything wrong. That the constant anxiety, the BPD, the depression are lies. I've lied and been lied to so many times in life my life is one now.

Life. Funny thing, isn't it? Dreams crushed before they even start, breakdown after breakdown, nightmare after nightmare. Vent after vent, friends dropping like flies. Applications to colleges.

I wonder how my old friends are doing. I used to be a friendly person - now acting out a DnD character has me thinking I'm insane. Hydrus doesn't deserve this, my dad doesn't deserve this, my sister and brother don't deserve this. Self-sacrificial cause my mirror is shattered and I'm left picking up those pieces. I still am - my hands bleed and hurt every time though so it's hard. I might send my dad this. He knows best, he'd commit me if needed, he loves me. Right?

Mom... I miss her. Emotional abuse isn't easy because part of me misses before she went off her meds, the glimpses I have of a happy childhood. Coming out in my Ariel nightgown on my birthday, singing in the car at the bus stop, and of course, being 9 and having to call 911 cause "my mommy fell and won't wake up." I remember that. Nothing else.

I wonder if she was mixing them with something. Or if they just didn't work - I'm trying not to become her. But yet, something's not right.

2:58 am. Hydrus is snoring next to me, the little brat. I love him though. I've been awake since Dad left for work. Maybe I should go to bed. My mind goes to dark places though, and I don't want to go into the darkness. What does light look like again?

What does being normal look like again?

I hope Smith is the answer. Otherwise I don't know what I'm going to do.

[resident-leevil-old]

okay well anyways somebody asked me if i felt like talking about my raccoon city survivors au with mia and ethan again and the answer is YES.

> AU MINI FACTS <

- Ethan's mother died while giving birth.

- Ethan Winters and his father moved into Raccoon City when Ethan was a baby, around 3-4 years old.

- Ethan trans ftm because im trans and i said so.

- Mia trans mtf because im trans and i said so.

- Ethan & Mia are childhood friend to lovers in this au.

- Ethan's father worked for Umbrella, and Mia's father worked for the Connections while her mother also worked for Umbrella.

- Mia was born in Texas, but her family moved to Raccoon City after she was born. They still owned property in Texas, though.

- Mia & Carlos are related because I said so.

- so yknow the "dude its been three years" guy? that's their childhood friend and his name is Kyde because i said so.

- Albert Wesker Personally was ordered by Spencer to kill those scientists btw.

- a lot of this au is because i said so tbh

> AU SUMMARY <

Ethan Winters, Mia Oliviera, and Kyde Wells work together to survive six days of the Raccoon City Outbreak. In the process they uncover secrets and encounter many obstacles that just nearly cost them their lives.

> CHAR.BGROUND <

ETHAN W, SR - A scientist who worked for Umbrella. He lost his wife during the birth of his child E///// Winters. Struggling with the death of his wife and the harsh decline of his mental health, he began to experiment with viruses and vaccines in an attempt to bring his wife back, even using his child as a subject at certain points due to the child having strong genes from the mother. He acknowledged that he was a horrid father, but justified his actions by claiming he would bring back a better mother. He thought of Albert Wesker as a friend, and told him the truth of his research.

ETHAN W, JR - A quiet 14 year old that had a hard time making friends. Due to experiments from his father, Ethan is a culmination of infections and viruses that each impact him in different ways. As he grew up Ethan refrained from talking too much as to not interrupt his father's work, causing him to become selectively mute.

MIA OLIVIERA - Younger sister of Carlos Oliviera. Mia skipped a grade due to her intelligence and advanced knowledge on many things kids her age normally didn't. She very easily got sick as a child, though she seemed to outgrow it as she got older. She was schooled both at home and at school before the outbreak. She shared classes with Ethan Winters (Jr) and Kyde Wells.

KYDE WELLS - A friend of Ethan & Mia, known for his cowardice. Kyde has a heavy sense of self preservation, but a weighted sense of compassion as well. He only ever has risked himself for his two friends.

JAMES HARISON - Mia's father. He worked for the Connections as a scientist and a researcher. Harison and his wife often exchanged information they learned from their jobs, aiming to and succeeding at "fixing" their daughter's proneness to viral sicknesses.

MARISA OLIVIERA - Mia's mother. He worked for Umbrella as a researcher. Oliviera and her husband often exchanged information they learned from their jobs, aiming to and succeeding at "fixing" their daughter's proneness to viral sicknesses.

JAKE VERANO - An Umbrella worker who had been trapped in the underground facility for a week, listening to the sound of his coworkers being eaten alive. Unstable because of his experience, he tries to create a cure using the intel of Ethan W (SR).

> FULL AU <

[September, 25, 1998.]

Ethan Winters walked home from school when his father failed to pick him up. He walked through the streets, paying no mind to a big fight breaking out near him. On the way home, he meets up with his friend Kyde who had also been walking home. They talk and walk together for a bit, before splitting up.

When Ethan arrived home, he noticed the front door of his house had been opened slightly. Confused, but wary, he entered the house, knowing it was uncharacteristic for his father to forget the door was open.

He entered the living room, and found his father laying on the ground dead, shot twice in the head, having just been killed moments prior. Ethan moved over to his father, before Albert Wesker walked out of his father's office.

Ethan barely has much time to react to him, overwhelmed by his own panic and the death of the only adult in his life. Wesker - wanting no witnesses - shoots him three times in the chest, and leaves under the impression the child is dead for good.

Ethan Winters dies for the first time that evening.

[September, 27, 1998]

For the past two days, Mia and her parents have been barricaded in their home, unable to leave safely. Mia sat in her room for most of the time, unable to look out of the windows due to boards covering them. During those two days Mia tries to call Ethan and Kyde several times in hopes that they were safe. Neither of them answer.

Until this day, the 27th, at 2:00 am, when she calls Ethan. And he answers.

{TRANSCRIPT OF THEIR CALL:}

Ethan: h-hello?

Mia: [Ethan]! You're alive! Are you okay?

Ethan: I'm breathing. [Pause] I'm breathing. You okay?

Mia: I'm boarded up in my house, we can't leave safely. Everything is a mess. I'm so glad you're alive, [Ethan]. Are you safe? I'm guessing you're safe.

Ethan: Not sure. Not sure. Find you soon, here alone. Alone.

Mia: Alone? What happened? Where's your dad?

Ethan: [Pause.] [Loud sound in the distance.]

Mia: [Ethan]? Are you okay?

Ethan: [Dial tone.]

Mia speaks with her parents about the call, expressing worry about her friend. She spends a while trying to convince her parents that Ethan may be alive (purposefully omitting the dial tone) and need their help. Finally, they agree, and at 12 pm, they head out with all the resources they could gather.

Managing to stay out of sight, the family make it to the Winters' household. They find Ethan hiding in his bedroom, one infected laying in the hallway with a pole through its head and Ethan's father laying in the living room dead.

They rescue Ethan, and flee from the house. Mia's parents explain that they need to evacuate the city, but that they wouldn't be able to drive, so they'd have to move on foot. They returned to their house and rested for the night.

[September, 28, 1998]

The family and Ethan head out again, this time aiming to evacuate the city. After several close encounters with large groups of infected, the kids and Mia's parents are unfortunately separated. Given instructions by her parents, Mia leads Ethan through the city, having to take detours due to infected blocking pathways.

Eventually, during the night, they run into Kyde, who has lost his parents trying to escape the city. The three of them take refuge in an empty abandoned house, and rest for the walk in the morning.

Ethan sits up for a while, thinking about what happened to him, and trying to figure out how to explain it to his friends. Eventually he falls asleep, unable to figure it out. In the morning they head out again.

[September, 29-30, 1998]

During another detour taken due to large groups of infected, Ethan is kidnapped by a man in a white lab coat.

Mia & Kyde go after them, refusing to leave Ethan behind. They manage to find him after roughly half a day had passed.

Ethan had been in a hysterical state and through tears he explains to Mia and Kyde what had happened to him in his house a few days ago, confessing that he had died and revived two days later. He warns the two of them that whatever Jake, the white lab coat man, did to him, it made him dangerous and unstable.

Mia and Kyde refused again to leave him behind, and spend hours gathering information from files and research left scattered around. They manage to make Something that was able to calm him down and cleanse what they had learned had been called the "T-virus" from his body.

As soon as Ethan had woken up again, they fleed the facility, Mia & Kyde both making sure he didn't collapse on the way.

[October, 1, 1998]

They don't stop running when they're out. A broadcast goes out saying that the city will be blown up in four hours due to being unable to contain the outbreak. The three of them realize they won't be able to get out if they take anymore detours unless they find a vehicle with gas in it and a clear road to drive on.

Three hours later, out of options, nearly to the city boarder, and faced with another group of infected blocking the only straight shot out, they decide to risk a run through. However, just as they were pushing through, a helicopter flew overhead and spotted them. Calling to them, the pilot tells them to attempt making it up a building nearby if they could.

Through pure bullshittery and luck, they manage to make it up, and they board the helicopter. Just as it begins to take flight, the city starts to blow up bit by bit. In the distance, they see other helicopters flying.

> AFTER THE AU <

Mia and her parents reunite, her parents having managed to get out before the children did. Kyde goes to live with his relatives in Texas, and Ethan is offered to live with them as well.

Mia's parents move back to their texas home, and everyone who had been in the city were given therapy. Eventually the three grow up and graduate from highschool, and move on to other things, never once separating.

The three of them eventually move into a single house together in California, and some time after that Mia and Ethan get married. And for a while they live happily

And then, Mia witnesses Ethan having some sort of attack in the middle of the night one time, and realizes that he hadn't been completely cured of whatever had been infecting him in the city at all, and that it had only gone dormant for some years. While he wasn't vicious or attacking anyone, Ethan had just been really plagued and didn't even remember the fits that only seemed to happen every other night.

Out of worry and fear, Mia begins to work for the Connections, hoping there was something she could learn from them in order to help her husband finally be cured. And years after, RE7 began.

And THAT, my friends, is my Raccoon City Survivors au with the Winters, also known as Raccoon City Winters.

[althephie]

𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 - 𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐤𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐢

to 100-0

like so sad

do i feel bad for doing this to yall yes. but i am curel to myself too! so have fun!

𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 - 𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢 𝐤𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐢

- akaashi took advantage of his childhood friend y/n knowingly, and ghosted her for someone else.

I got my driver's license last week

her e/c looked out of the front of her car watching herself drive past down her street.

Just like we always talked about 'Cause you were so excited for me

the female could feel her eyes watering as her tears stream down her face wetting it. reminding her of the day that she found the love of her life with someon else. oh how much she cried that day.

she wanted to punch his stupid perfect face

perfect eyes

perfect body

perfect everything

akaashi was just perfect.

that it was too good to be true

To finally drive up to your house But today I drove through the suburbs Crying 'cause you weren't around

y/n was so heartbroken when she saw him at their favorite cafe with someone else. he had ghosted her for the past 2 weeks and barely contacted her. they were dating still and it hurt her.

on a very cold winter day, she decided to go get some coffee. instead of happy memories rushing in the heartache did.

And you're probably with that blonde girl Who always made me doubt She's so much older than me

she was a pretty blonde foreign girl, who was tall and had beautiful green eyes. she was definitely older than y/n and akaashi. she was mature. she had a perfect body.

she was perfect.

perfect eyes

perfect body

perfect everything.

the blonde was also just perfect.

She's everything I'm insecure about Yeah, today I drove through the suburbs 'Cause how could I ever love someone else?

the h/c was driving mindlessly as despair surged into her body as if it was her only life support. the only thing that kept her alive was her own depression.

ironic isn't it?

the thing that killed many, made her stay alive.

And I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay now that I'm gone

another round of tears flooded her eyes as a sinking feeling in her chest bloomed. she remebered confronting him alone.

he kept a straight face.

his once warm eyes were now cold.

he looked at her with such disgust and annoyance.

it broke y/n...it made her feel so insecure.

so useless

so stupid

all the dark-haired male had to say was....

" bye."

Guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me 'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

Lifeless e/c eyes looked and examined the house that he lived in remebering all the times they had in his front yard.

the small cheesy picnics

the snowball fights with their friends

the stargazing

the pictures they took of each other.

the warm feeling of the sun touching their skin while their hearts skipped a beat each time they touched or made eye contact.

And all my friends are tired Of hearing how much I miss you, but I kinda feel sorry for them

her friends

their friends

they did not know about his girlfriend, until they all reunited during spring break of her 2nd year of college. instead of seeing y/n and akaashi being lovey dovey. they saw akaashi and some girl.

who even was she?

y/n’s once lively self was dull and stoic. usually she would jump into bokutos arms and fangirl over how cute hinata was still, but instead they all received a fake smile. it broke their hearts and angered many.

'Cause they'll never know you the way that I do, yeah Today I drove through the suburbs And pictured I was driving home to you

bokuto, the one who introduced you two as children was offended. she was his cousin. he asked akaashi for his reasons without anyone knowing. akaashi just looked away and shrug.

And I know we weren't perfect But I've never felt this way for no one, oh

“ i didn’t feel the spark anymore, but when i met Kila. she became the sun in my eyes. she is so bright and gorgeous. she is just...amazing….”

“ y/n was just the moon during a winter sky. cute but dull and boring. she could be bright, but did not stand out, i guess ”

And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay, now that I'm gone I guess you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me 'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

in that moment, akaashi’s grey-blue eyes widened when he saw a fist coming straight to his face. Akaashi fell to the floor and looked up at his senpai in shock.

he had never seen bokuto look that scary before. instead of going into emo mode, he went into pissed off mode. His eyes piercing into the younger males soul

the nerve

Red lights, stop signs I still see your face in the white cars, front yards

“ WE ARE ALL CHILDHOOD FRIENDS!! SHE LOVED YOU!! AKAASHI” the white-haired male shouted with tears running down, “ YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MY BROTHER!! YOU TOLD ME YOU WOULD NEVER HURT HER!! YOU ASSHOLE!”

“ Y/N IS NOT DULL!! SHE IS NOT JUST CUTE! SHE IS FUCKING GORGEOUS WAY BETTER THAN THAT STUPID BLONDE YOU HAVE NOW!! “

unknowest to them, y/n was sitting against the wall of the building the two had met up and cried silently.

“ YOU-Yo...You promised me...you promised.”

bokuto weeps falling onto his knees infront of his bestfriend.

he promised to take care of her and love her

to never hurt her

and he failed

“ i guess her light is to bright that it...*choke* it blinded you akaashi....it blinded you from seeing her beauty.”

Can't drive past the places we used to go to 'Cause I still fuckin' love you, babe (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)

this y/n shook her head and woke up from her daydreaming. she did not know that she stopped the car in front of his house for a minuts. the s/c female sighed shakingly and pushed on the pedal to continue on going.

she needed to move on...but she knew she would never.

Sidewalks we crossed I still hear your voice in the traffic, we're laughing

she continued on driving more hearing his laugh ringing in her ears as memories kept on flushing through. she hoped he was happy

she hoped it was worth it for him

losing all his friends

losing his bestfriend

losing her

Over all the noise God, I'm so blue, know we're through But I still fuckin' love you, babe (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)

present y/n looked up with a microphone in hand as she watched the audience infront of her sing the lyrics.

they all looked at her with eyes of support

the same ones her friends and family gave her as she tried to move one

y/n broke down smiling and blowing kisses at her fans as she sang her song

I know we weren't perfect but I've never felt this way for no one

she was letting it out

she finally moved one

she wanted everyone to know that she was inlove once to and that no one is alone.

she felt free and happy

and...she got her drivers license. yeah, she was 20 years old, and should have gotten it earlier, but she had him...she had him to take her away from here.

now she has herself and her license

one that they planned to get it together after akaashi said that she needed one even if she sucked at driving. it made the two laugh.

now that was just a memory

And I just can't imagine how you could be so okay, now that I'm gone

she sung softly

not noticing a pair of grey-blue eyes staring up at her with awe. the girl he called “ dull and boring” was far from that, he was blind.

her brightest was so bright that it made him blind.

“ whoever broke y/n like that it stupid”

“ right? when she said that her ex ghosted her and left her for someone else it was so sad! they were childhood friends too!”

“ his lost.”

“ it was your lost akaashi.” he muttered to himsef watching the female laugh and cry at the song, she wrote about their love story.

'Cause you didn't mean what you wrote in that song about me 'Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street Yeah, you said forever, now I drive alone past your street

she finally felt free after writing this song, but her love for the boy was still there. first love is hard fo forget of course. it’s the one that hurts the most.

she was not perfect

he was not either

it took him to realize how much he needed her

when he let her go

akaashi was wrong

she was bright

she was not dull

he was just blind to it all...

blinded by her beauty

blinded by her personality

and her glow

that it made him ignorant to it all.

maybe his beautiful y/n was too bright for him

too bright for him to handle.

as i said sorry but not sorry T-T

i am also crying tbh. if yall are.

bc idk why i hate it when ppl cheat but i keep reading angsty fanfics about it bc they are so good. don't cheat ppl it hurts

i will be uploading more on my masterlist soon! so watch out!

[athys-obelia]

summary: no one's evil au lmfaooo but make it pt. 2

character/s: anastacius de alger obelia, claude de alger obelia, athanasia de alger obelia, jennette de alger obelia

and here's part 1 <3

oh my god okay. okay. so.

ana, claude, athy and jennette - they go on a LOT of vacations

claude complains every single time but anastacius pulls his trump card and sends athy and jettie BOTH after him

u think he's strong enough to say no after that? lmao jokes

and their vacations always go this way:

jennette: isn't this scenery just gorgeous, uncle

claude: indeed it is. and...quiet

jennette: ...too quiet

[cut to anastacius in the distance, fighting a bear as athy cheers him on]

athy + anastacius, hands down the most chaotic pairing yes i will not be taking criticism

they have tea in ana's palace everyday, just the two of them, they're so poised and picture perfect through the entire thing everyone thinks it's just the emperor giving profound advice to his heir

it's actually them deadass scheming,,, ana has no qualms discussing everything from court gossip to military tactics, both of which she's so on top of all the time

if anyone shit talks jennette or claude, this tea party is where their slow and agonizing demise is planned out to the dot

[true story - count sivan once made the fatal mistake of expressing his favour for athy as the next empress, dissing jennette by comparing her to athy sm which inevitably sparked a debate that ranked the princesses. a week after athy's sources informed her of the kindling behind this new debate, the count's sudden divorce became the talk of the town, and the man's business faced bankruptcy all of a sudden. the sivans still haven't recovered.)

athy n jennette were actually allowed to visit kiel in arlanta a few times, except it was too dark at their first arrival, postponing the meeting to the next morning

buttt then jettie can't sleep and she decides on a midnight snack run (their hotel doesn't really have the maids the palace does, but oh well. she's left the palace w lucas n athy plenty of times)

felix tags along btw, he knows this trip is important to the girls since they're leaving the palace without their Overprotective Papas™ for the first time and want some sense of independence, but... she's just so smol n he couldn't bear it if anything happens so he just shadows her

she totally knows he's there

n e ways so there's a juice place right beside their hotel which she aims for, but when jennette reaches it, it's closed

and out of nowhere, a voice addresses her - "hey you, do you come here a lot?" she nearly jumps out of her skin at the brunette, relaxing when she sees he's literally a kid around her age and not a murderer lmfaoo "me neither," he continues without waiting for her, pouting at the closed sign, before he asks for her name and whether she's new in arlanta

she confirms that yes, she's only visiting, and refuses to tell the stranger her name, still feeling strange at being addressed as 'you' for the first time (well, minus lucas, but he was like her brother and had the emotional capacity of a teaspoon, so)

he eyes her. "you're so weird. i've never seen a girl out so late before, and alone too. are you stupid?"

(felix has his sword out at this point)

she's flushing now and has no idea why she's still out here, but then this stranger kid apparently senses her mood and tells her the best ice cream store in arlanta is not too far away

(he also explains he knows someone who's starts doing weird things when she's hungry as well, and tries to defend that ice cream is actually a healthy midnight snack, "you can just take a healthy flavour like strawberry or mango, mangos are healthy,,right"💀️💀)

so jettie has travelled all the way from obelia, she loves her papa but he would have a heart attack if he found out she was ever awake this late?? yeah bc she's never getting this chance again, jennette accepts the offer

the stranger boy seems to be taking the whole "i'm not telling you my name," thing like a joke, and asks what he should call her since 'you' was getting boring

she goes with "lady j" and like a knight, the boy becomes "sir c"

(felix is on the verge of committing a crime - the princesses can only have one knight, after all)

they walk as the the boy navigates the streets in the dark, and she asks whether he's from the academy, seeing his uniform

"of course i am! you could probably tell bc i look so smart, right?"

she snorts. "yeah, that."

she also comes to know that this guy,,,well he might as well be a tourist? she's out here asking stuff like "oh where's the statue of lady alphia?" or "aren't we really close to the museum where they keep the first emperor's sword?" and he goes "lady do i look like your brochure?? but if you turn right from here there's a cool arcade and across the street from there is the best street food vendor you'll ever eat from."

well at least mans had his priorities straight 😌

"so can you take this off?" he asks, pointing towards her dress once they've neared the store

um???????? sir tf????????????

anyways jettie has been living with lucas n her dad farr too long to not take this the wrong way?? "...no?"

the boy raises an eyebrow "look, it looks like an expensive cloak but i promise i'll return it, alright? i gotta hide my uniform."

ohhhhhhh. 😳.

so she unfastens the cloak and because he's kinda just staring at it cluelessly (he can't even tie his shoelaces fight me), jennette sighs and moves the clothing over his shoulder, fastening it in place at his neck

he's literally a tomato when she looks back up and realises that yes, we are way too close rn

bc she's ana's daughter, jennette by default cannot function when she's flustered. so she kinda stumbles backwards like a fish out of water (years of princess training n etiquette? where art thou??) and 'sir c' has to grab her forearm so she doesn't bump into the pillar behind her smfh

the shopkeep is definitely suspicious of this pair that's definitely too young to be out so late, but chalks it down to his sleeplessness

they escape the store with the ice cream before the shopkeep can ask any questions, and 'sir c' escorts jennette back to her hotel. he climbs onto the roof of the building, helping her up as well

(felix wishes he had a magic stone to capture this moment, this is the first time he's seen jennette become such fast friends with someone)

she stands on the roof (it hurts her butt so she doesn't wanna sit)

"my sister would be so jealous right now," jennette murmurs, "she told me her ideal first date would be either a picnic or something like a moonlit walk. we're having like a moonlit picnic."

it's silent for a few seconds the boy speaks up, "is this a date?"

oh-

oh.

"i mean- i didn't- i don't- uh."

give her some time lmfao she's loading

"i don't really mind that," he tells her, and she thinks she might just walk off the roof in her embarrassment - who just says something like that?? "you're probably feeling really lucky right now, right?"

jennette: ✊😔

he does look pretty in the moonlight, she admits to herself, listening as he excitedly tells her about his siblings at home and how she should send an offering to the gods since they gave her the good fortune to be on a date with the most good looking one of all four of them

in turn, she tells him about how she spent her childhood away from her amazing dad and had gotten closer to him recently, about her sharp-witted uncle, her sister and friends

(the 'friends' section includes felix and he's melting)

she smiles - it's almost as if, at finding out he treasures his family just as much as she does, they've gotten a bit closer

and he tries to listen. jennette had guessed that his temperament was somewhat like her dad's - her dad didn't know how to listen, always making his opinion known before anything else, though she supposes as emperor he could do that

'sir c', on the other hand, tried his best, his blue eyes focused on her as he almost burst from the unsaid words he was holding back, trying to let her finish. the sight was an odd mix of sad and insanely adorable that she couldn't help but let him tell her about everything he couldn't hold in

sensing she could pass out from her exhaustion nearly half an hour later, and 'sir c' escorts her to her window and helps her sneak in bc "what sort of knight would i be otherwise?!"

(felix can't stop shaking the entire night)

the next morning, jennette's heart is pounding as kiel shows her, athy and felix across campus - the chance is low, but still...

"ezekiel!" comes a voice, and the four watch as a turquoise haired boy waves down the alpheus heir "are these the guests you mentioned?"

kiel introduces the trio to johannes vastia before asking, "where's cabel?"

"at the training grounds, he asked if you could bring everyone there so he could show them around there."

"... they're my guests though?"

athy is quick to befriend johannes (i mean she and his sister are practically the same person, so) and at the grounds, jennette's blood runs cold

(so does felix's)

the brunette doesn't notice her at first, arguing with johannes about something as kiel introduces him as cabel ernst

jennette is hyperventilating?? actually back up is this girl even breathing??

cabel ernst from kiel's letters? the 'loud and obnoxious cabel ernst', who gradually turned into 'my acquaintance cabel ernst', then 'hardworking, passionate cabel ernst', and finally 'my friend cabel'?

she'd actually rather admired this slow build of respect between her friend and the ernst boy, and had even expressed her interest to meet him

"this is the first daughter of his highness prince claude de alger obelia, princess athanasia-" cabel mock salutes the princess before his mouth forms an 'o' and he remembers to bow, "-and here's the emperor's only daughter, her highness princess je-"

andddd his eyes widen comically "-hey, lady, it's you?"

yeah jettie is on the brink of literal death - her entire face reddens as this...cabel, grins at her

she watches as he glances behind her, "and you're the guy who was following us - sup?"

felix flinches "...you knew...?"

cabel shrugs. "i mean you do kinda suck ass at the whole subtle thing."

"don't say it like that," jennette retorts, "felix was trying his best."

"princess 😭😭 you knew as well?"

"uhhhh no?"

athy + kiel in a corner: 👁️👄👁️

they watch as cabel's eyes widen all of a sudden and he just,,,runs away

...🐦...🐦...🐦...

yeah well anyway he comes rushing back a few minutes later, a piece of cloth in his hand "...*huff* here *huff*...you go."

athy totally flips out "jennette is that your CLOAK???!??"

"uhhhhh no?"

"um do you realise uncle would literally wage war at this."

and as if it would make everything better,

"i washed it," cabel offers with a grin

"you didn't," the vastia heir deadpans

"i mean, johan helped a little bit."

kiel smiles murderously at the pair. "johan, did you know cabel took the princess out?"

"wait, you're a PRINCESS??"

your honour they aren't very smart

so the group orders some coffee (milk for cabel smfh) to find out what happened, cabel mentions "date" and everything goes to shit again lmfao

kiel and felix scheme against poor cabel while athy n johan get over that stage pretty quick ("listen. MY sister will be living with ME after the marriage and if your friend wants to be with her he'll have to come with us to obelia." and johan's just like "fine by me ✌️😊") and start planning the wedding

cabel + jennette dip n sneak out of the academy again to get the juice they couldn't the night before bc shit is getting awkward here

on another note, our uncle cius' musical intelligence is actually very high - he can probably play more instruments than i can name tbh, but he feels most comfortable singing and i shit you not, this man has straight up an angel's voice

(didn't like singing in front of others coz he was secretly a nerd and only knew old love songs with deep lyrics, athy found out and educated him)

jennette tends to have nightmares often, most often regarding their family - she's seen her father murder her uncle for the throne, and vice versa, athy admitting her affections towards jennette were a front to get the position of crown princess, her uncle killing her to solidify athy's claim, etc - her family is her everything, so despite however many times these horrible scenes play before her, she's left sobbing uncontrollably

and on these nights, she leaves for her father's room, who holds her close and sings her to sleep

also lucas n jennette are like sibling duo# 1,,, jettie is an active lucathy shipper even though he denies it sm - like their dynamic is just peaceful walks in the gardens as she watches the plants n lucas shi talks the nobility and kiel

claude and athy have a thing for each other's sleeping on each other? idk it's weird

athy once fell asleep on the couch while reading with him, and claude moved her head onto his lap so she wouldn't be uncomfy sitting - well, she woke up to his hand absentmindedly raking through her hair and it was just so soothing that whenever she's tired and he's working or reading, she just plops her head on his lap and zzzz

and claude wondered what was up with that, so she proposed they switch roles and he felt so awkward trying to lay down in front of her lmao

obviously athy noticed and she just started reading, thinking he might be more comfortable if her attention isn't on him completely - she ended up reading out loud while playing with his collar and he just,,,passed out

also anastacius has definitely pulled jennette aside regarding the issue of his heir at some point - she had been hesitant at first before admitting she wouldn't like to be the empress at all

i know we'd all love to see empress!jettie and her sister duchess!athy ruling the court, but i really really really can't see her wanting the title?

so thus start athy's empress lessons, but holy shit her teacher is mean

like this man makes me want to bash his face in?? so he doesn't like the idea of athy becoming empress over jennette at all, all bc of both hers and claude's mothers being commoners

he has one of those long ass sticks that you use in presentation to point at stuff?? idk but basically mans has athy name every region, its lords and their vassals during their first lesson

the first time she gets one wrong, she's too shocked as the stick meets the delicate skin of her forearm to react

now the thing is, wmmap!athy would probably stand up against this bc her dad is the emperor and she's his only heir, but i imagine with anastacius' social nature he holds many parties / balls where she's probably heard claude's mom + diana slander and it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to be self conscious abt it (now she's the emperor's heir while jennette, 100% royal + noble blood, is right there which probably makes her feel even less legitimate)

so she endures it, the light marks on her arms as well as the taunts of his she's too smart to not understand - perhaps this is the price to be accepted in jennette's place?

and honestly, no one really notices until at breakfast a few weeks in, where jennette mentions how her dresses are still so modest when sleeveless dresses were more in fashion - ana is suspicious because athy is always on top of these things, societal trends and such, and claude is sus from the way she hesitates slightly in her answer, "i haven't had the time lately, i suppose"

the lesson after focuses on ettiquete since everyone knows she's good at politics and such already, but now tears of frustration are pooling in her eyes because what the hell?? this guy had made an opinion of her long before he even met her, so anything she did would be wrong in his eyes

he gives her a sinister smile, "tired, princess?"

"no," she insists, keeping her voice level. he's about to spout some other nonsense, when anastacius enters the room, taking a seat across from her

anastacius watches quietly as athy answers the teacher's questions in her "public" voice. he watches as her usually cheery disposition is replaced by something far more...dead, despite the front she puts on for him. he's soundless as she hesitates in her answers where she normally would've been louder, more confident. he stops watching in silence when his niece flinches at the sight of the stick

oh.

he interrupts her lesson, not missing the way she winces almost imperceptibly when he grabs ahold of her arm, announcing, "we're going."

he just- it's just that that was the moment he knew for sure - the sight of his niece emotionally disheveled for the first time reminds him too much of how his own brother had once been, and he'd... he'd promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt his family anymore

he ends up taking her to the port with some of his advisors to welcome some royal guests, insisting that she would learn better from experience rather than books - but the guest delegation gets so boring that he sneaks her out of the meeting n they end up in the streets

now athy has no idea where they are, but apparently her uncle does?? ana has his hand on her head as he navigates the streets of the capitol as if he comes here everyday, using magic to casually disguise the two of them

in the meantime?

felix is at the port trying to cover for them smfh, he makes up this huge story about how the great wise emperor wanted to familiarize his heir with the locals, understand her subjects, yada yada

back at the palace prince claude is currently dragging a man by his collar and only upon jennette's insistence does he throw him in prison rather than literally kill him

(jettie visits him later in prison to give the guy a piece of her mind, after felix's visit he's sporting a few noticable bruises and the prisoner is practically unrecognizable once lucas visits)

back to athy + ana, they end up stuffing themselves with some super good street food as anastacius confesses that yes, he has definitely been sneaking out of the palace ever since he was a lil kid

athy almost mentions that she, lucas n jettie sneak out too but that might give him a heart attack, so

"it's so pretty, uncle cius," she says, gesturing towards the necklace he holds up. once he's paid for it, anastacius fists the necklace, opening it to reveal the jewel pendant - now imbued with his magic and replaced with gold lettering of the word athanasia

and she realises that yes, that's what both him and her dad have called her all her life, haven't they?

"you're my heir, athanasia," he uncle tells her with a small smile, "i am proud of that."

getting teary, she tells him, "i'm really proud of you too, uncle cius," triggering a very flustered + blushy anastacius

this mans craves validation - not from the sycophantic nobility, or the obsequious concubines he'd dismissed all those years ago, but from the family he thought he'd neither have nor deserve

and just the acknowledgement is so large for athy - he wants her as his heir, not because she's his niece, but bc he trusts her to look after his hard work after him??? - yeah she's totally bawling her eyes out

anastacius magics her a handkerchief but my mans magic isn't that strong?? lmao he's used up so much by now that the 'handkerchief' turns out to be some scratchy tissues

awkward amirite

nope! athy laughs at that, offering him a sip of her drink as she magics another straw and a proper handkerchief lmfaoo

n e ways so when they return, everyone's shocked to learn that the crown heir, princess athanasia will actually be joining the official circles as anastacius' temporary aid - he doesn't wanna entrust her to anyone but family, and decides that the best way to learn is by his side

(she's so confused bc lucas doesn't normally bat an eyelash when she wears the prettiest gowns, but he deadass can't look her in the eyes when she's in her aid uniform - it's more like a suit than it is a dress)

yes lucas women in suits >>>>>

everyone is STUNNED when at dinner, claude proposes they leave on vacation??

anastacius is just not having it?? like no, this is not my brother, and he throws a grape at claude to check if it's a clone or sum (¿¿how does that work??)

anyays so he ain't no felix, ana's aim is ass and it hits jettie instead

mans nearly gets on his knees to apologise

long story short everyone preps for vacation, but by some aCCiDeNt claude n athy end up at a different destination than jettie n ana, when she suggests returning to the palace to regroup, mans deadass sulks

"so you wouldn't like to spend this time with your father, despite barely visiting my office for weeks?"

o-oh

so at their return, the nobility starts pestering everyone that the princesses aren't independent enough, yada yada idc so to quell this annoyance, to the girls' joy, they get to move into emerald palace together, while claude and ana stay in the ruby and main palaces respectively

literally emerald palace becomes such a cool place to be in since it's the residence of the only decent people in this family, the brothers spend hours going through the requests of maids who want to be transferred

it's such a busy time because of athy joining the court and jettie starting her studies as well - naturally, since she isn't becoming empress, she'll be getting the duchy claude + athy were to be given in the beginning

speaking of futures, jettie's interest in plants and cooking has definitely branched out into herbs

claude notices her tending to a small garden during his visit to athy and even gives her a few tips (he had been studying medical since he was a kid, and picked it up again when athy was born and the empire stablised somewhat)

this soon becomes a routinely thing, and he actually starts reading up on some herbs and even orders a few for her prospering garden

after a month of her learning from books, claude proposes adding a medic as one of her teachers, and turns out his hunch was right?? she's excelling at medicine and they keep it between themselves for the time being

it doesn't last long though, bc they're on a hunting trip when ana injures his leg

and !! this girl istg, she gets to cleaning and wrapping the wound without blinking an eye, as if it's the most natural thing ever, and claude is just smirking while athy and anastacius and literally everyone else: 🌟💞✨jettie✨💞🌟

literal tears coming out of anastacius' eyes "how come my daughter is smarter than me😭💅"

claude: that's not a very high standard, brother

anastacius: ✨suddenly i'm an only child✨

behold, the people in charge of running an empire everyone 👏👏👏

even though jennette is claude's (unofficial) student and athy is her uncle's heir, they both ask their dads to the debutante

yes athy does dance with lucas, anastacius sent him an invitation even though he wasn't a noble (he's an active match maker 😌) and nobody dared question the emperor's special guest

at the end of the night, kiel gives jettie a letter from arlanta - it's an invitation to the academy during holidays, from a certain brunette

when she brings up the subject, felix lets out a squeak and literally everyone goes silent 😭😭

athy n kiel are just out here DARING him to spill them beans

but anastacius takes on look at his excited lil kid and decides that yups, she's going to get everything she wants

a/n: i literally don't know how many parts this should have lmaoo but y'all made it this far!! thanks for reading i hope you liked it<3

[red-cape-morgana]

FIAT LUX

Everyone sees the girl of steel as an almighty, indestructible being. But before being a hero, she is a person, and this implies some quirks. Some fears as well.

Chapter 2

(Chp 1) // (ao3)

Of course Lena knows about Kara's love of phosphorescent things, and especially about those sneakers.

She can actually see the shoes' faint glow in her entry every single evening, when Kara gets back home. And if now it has become a comforting sight, something she looks for when she wakes up and Kara was on patrol the previous night, it has not always been that way.

The first time she had seen that greenish glow... she had thought of kryptonite.

She had been quietly reading perched on her couch, when Kara had finally gotten back home from a grueling long workday. The blonde had an agar look on her face, leaving her bag and kicking her shoes off. Lena had heard her mumbling something about breaking pencils, spilled coffee and needing a shower, before heading to Lena’s luxurious bathroom.

Lena had decided to let her girlfriend unwind for a while before asking about that apparently rough day. Now that she knew about Kara's alter ego, she understood her girlfriend's clumsiness on a whole new level and knew that a simple task could require a lot of focus from her. Consequently, the number of incidents grew up accordingly as the hours of the day passed, and many phones had been the innocent victims to the super's strength.

Lena was getting lost in her historical novel once again, when she had noticed a faint light in her entry.

Odd, she had thought. Lights are turned off. What’s there?

She had closed her book before getting up to check on that. On her way, she had grabbed her phone, just as a precaution. After so many assassination attempts, she had learnt that communication means where really what mattered (as well as an efficient punch in the nose from time to time).

A couple of meters away in the entry, she could distinguish a faint greenish light coming from the messenger bag that Kara had abandoned there.

A bomb.

She started to run toward the bathroom. She needed to warn Kara! The kryptonite would suppress her powers, she had to flee! She speed dialed Alex to ask for an intervention squad while barging in the bathroom.

"Lena?! What's going on? Why are…?" Kara stammered when Lena had opened the shower cabin.

"You have to go!" Lena had said in a hurry while dragging the soaping blonde out of the shower.

"To go? But, why? Lena, what's…"

"There's a bomb Kara!" Lena shouted at her, in a near panic

She needs to go, she thought to herself. If it's kryptonite, she is even more at risk then me. The residual radiations would deepen any potential injury and worsen her state. And considering the rate of cellular degradation from direct exposure, even the DEO may not be fast enough.

"Lena, you, hide while I take it away." Kara stated while fumbling to activate her suit.

"You don't understand. It's kryptonite. You can't risk getting anywhere near it!"

"What?" Kara exclaimed. "But, I thought you had installed a biometric security system after last time?"

"I did!" Lena answered while trying to shove the unmovable kryptonian toward their bedroom, where she could escape through the window.

"But there is that greenish glow in the entry, and I know how to recognize kryptonite Kara. Believe me if…"

Kara had held up a hand to stop her mid sentence.

"You said in the entry?" she had calmly inquired.

"Yes! Why do you care where it is? It's still a bomb Kara." Lena said, her voice filled with exasperation.

And Kara had laughed. She had laughed till tears streamed down her face, mixing with water and shampoo left from her half finished shower. She had laughed even harder when Lena started to scream at her to go while she had time.

The brunette started to fear it may be something else than kryptonite, and that it was messing up Kara's mind because who laughs at the prospect of a toxic bomb in their apartment for God's sake?!

Kara didn't stop before hearing her talking to Alex, asking for help in their apartment. That got her attention, and she took the phone out of Lena's hand before uttering between giggles

"No it's fine Alex. Lena… Lena thought my shoes were some kryptonite trap. Can you, can you believe that?!"

Lena felt as if she could hear the groan Alex surely made to accompany her “I’m tired of my sister” expression.

Well I guess 13 years of that kind of shenanigan does that to someone, Lena mused. She had only known Kara for 3 years, and yet she was sure she had her own special kind frown as well.

Kara ended the call, promising they would explain more clearly tomorrow, before proceeding to explain that what she had thought to be a kryptonian bomb was only the new sneakers she had bought that were phosphorescent.

“They are the best glow in the dark shoes one can buy Lena! I had to get them, you understand?” she said as if her point was obvious, bouncing on her feet like a kid who had just been promised a trip to the candy store after school.

Lena had debated throwing the shoes out the window, just for the scare they had given her, and also because she wanted to erase Kara’s smirk.

Now the blonde keeps referring to that moment to tease Lena, a reminder that the genius she is got fooled by glow in the dark material. But coming from the Luthor family, can you blame her for thinking of an assassination attempt first?

And if that incident wasn't enough, the hour-long rant Alex gave her about Kara's love for glowing things would have clued her on it.

The next day, Lena had dropped by the DEO, willing to apologize for the false alert of the previous day. She knew Kara had said they would all gather at the end of the day for a drink, but Lena felt the need to see Alex first thing in the morning. Those apologies also included freshly brewed coffee from the best roaster in town, and enough pastries to satisfy a small army. The redhead vented to her for an hour straight, using memories from their shared childhood in Midvale to illustrate her explanation. As well as justify her exasperation with her sister’s eccentricities.

Lena took the opportunity to learn what her girlfriend was like when she got on Earth, Kara oddly quiet about this period of her life. She also thought it was the safest move possible in her situation, to let Alex get it out of her system. No one wanna get on the bad side of their possible future sister in law, and even less when they work for a secret agency that has a knack for making people disappear.

What she learns though, makes her see some of her girlfriend's habits under a new light.

Lena knew it must have been incredibly jarring to not only start a new life on a foreign planet, but learning that she had been lost in space for decades, and that Kal-El didn’t need her anymore must have been devastating. It was her mission after all, the reason why her parents had sent her away. Knowing that now, she didn’t have any purpose anymore… And it goes without saying that the enhanced senses she suddenly gained thanks to the yellow sun, would be enough to drive anyone crazy on their own. Heart beats, motors, reading through a book, crushing your mug of hot chocolate accidentally,... And all that during teenage years. Earth must have looked like hell at first. No wonder why Kara is unusually quiet whenever this topic arises. But Lena sensed there may be something else lying there, and since she wouldn't pry at Kara's traumatic memories, Alex was the next best best source for informations.

So far, she only thought Kara was that kind of forgetful/lazy person that never really complete a task. When the blonde would leave the curtains in their bedroom slightly open, or their door ajar, or her phone on the bedside table and always displaying time. Lena simply thought that Kara didn’t mind any of it. And since it wasn't bothering herself much, she let her do.

For Lena it was just Kara's little quirks. Just like her love for phosphorescent things.

Though, now that she thinks of it, she can remember an incident that happened when Kara had first moved in with her.

So far, in their relationship, the blonde had rarely slept over at Lena's place. Either because Lena was actually the one sleeping over, or Supergirl was needed for an emergency mission, or when Lena was travelling the country for scientific and technological conventions and checking up on branches of L-Corp. They had decided to move in together to make things easier for both of them. There was no point in sneaking around like lovesick teenagers, and Kara had already claimed two drawers at Lena's (who was very keen on borrowing oversized sweaters from said drawers when her girlfriend couldn't be around).

The move in itself was as smooth as possible: Kara stacked her boxed belongings in the van, Alex drove it to Lena's place, Kelly had looked for the best itinerary during this busy week day, and Lena had prepared snacks for everyone once they'd arrive. All in all, it had been the matter of a day.

Alex and Kelly had stayed over for dinner at Lena's demand, and Kara had just dug out what she would need for the next day.

"It will all be unboxed tomorrow Lena. What would be the point in putting it all back in the boxes now?" Kara had said, when Lena pointed out she couldn't see the color of her couch anymore with all the stuff the hero had thrown on it.

At some point, Nia and Brainy had joined them, bringing a couple of bottles to celebrate "an event I didn't think I would get to see before having grey hair, considering the pace you were going!" Nia had said.

The evening had continued full of laughers, memories of moments the couple had been completely oblivious to one another, and potstickers of course.

When everyone had left it was finally time to go to bed, the super had become strangely agitated. Lena had brushed it off as all the emotions of the day and finally living with her.

It will all settle once we lay down and get some rest, she had thought.

She had been proven wrong. Kara had spent the night turning and tossing, unable to find sleep. Lena had tried to soothe her by pressing her front to her back, gently holding the blonde in her arms. But when Lena had woken up some hours later, Kara wasn't in bed anymore.

"Darling?" Lena gently called as she padded in the living room, barefoot and eyes still full of sleep.

Kara was on the couch, huddled against an arm rest and looking at her laptop without really seeing it.

Lena closed the distance between them before sitting next to her girlfriend. Sensing that she wasn't in the right headspace to explain what was going on, she simply decided to just lean against Kara, anchoring her in the present. Together.

After some time, the sun had started to rise.

Lena had slipped in a state between sleep and alert, still here but not fully conscious of how long they had stood there together. At some point Kara had closed her laptop, setting it aside on the coffee table, and she had pulled Lena on top of her, holding her close. The weight and warmth of her girlfriend must have calmed her nerves somewhat because Lena felt the stiff muscles finally relax under herself.

Lena was about to suggest they move to the kitchen to have a well deserved breakfast when Kara had softly said "It was so dark, you know. I just… it brought up some memories. I'm sorry."

Lena hadn't prayed any further. Kara had every right to keep some things secret, and she knew she would learn about it eventually, when the hero would be ready to face this.

After that, Kara had always left a small source of light in their bedroom. At the end of the first month living together, she even bought some star stickers that she put on their ceiling as well as on some furniture. Lena had raised an eyebrow at that, but Kara had brushed it off, saying something about how it remembered her of her apartment and that she thought it comforting to share this with Lena.

Showing the Luthor a part of the Super that very few select people had ever witnessed.

But now, after her talk with Alex, Lena knows that it comes from a different place.

From what Alex told her, on earth Kara had never liked total obscurity. Elyza and Jeremiah had tried to help her of course. They offered the teenage girl therapy, sophrology and many alternatives to help her conquer her fear. But nothing had worked.

Every night Kara would wake up drenched in cold sweat, her breath coming up in short pants, convinced she was back in the phantom zone. Those nights, Alex would begrudgingly get up and walk to this new sister she didn't ask for bed, and lay down with her. She would take Kara in her arms, because that was the only thing that would ground her in the present.

Until one night, when Alex slept over to a friend.

[morimakesfanart]

Sindria's Prophet #10

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [AO3]

I made my way onto deck carefully. I didn't have a lot of strength, but I also didn't want to wait in bed until we reached shore. I wanted to see Sindria with me own eyes. A few beams of sunlight broke through the clouds. Just like in the anime when Alibaba first saw it, there was a lot of cloud coverage. Clouds do tend to surround islands so that was to be expected.

I couldn't help but think about how strangely comfortable the warm weather was now that my fever wasn't so bad. I was someone who was very susceptible to the heat and the sun. I had worn my hood up back in Balbadd out of habit, but maybe I didn't need to -just like when I was little. Back home the start of summer was starting to feel like the high of the summers of my childhood. I had gotten severe sunburns back in highschool that took 8 years to fade. Even indoors I'd breakout in hives from the heat and my breathing would suffer, but at least I didn't burn. This sun was definitely warm and a tad hot, but it was not the sharp heat from a thin ozone layer. I could enjoy the sun again. My heart swelled. I wanted to tell my younger sibling. We were always there for each other back home, and they were the main person who took care of me when I got sick. They knew how bad the heat was for me. I walked to the bow of the ship where the three kids were standing and joined them in staring at the growing island in the distance. I put my bag down next to me; I wanted to watch until the last second. Alibaba was telling Aladdin and Morgiana about The Adventures of Sinbad, and everything he knew about Sindria. It was nice seeing him enjoy this moment. Even if he went back to mourning in a few hours, at least he was letting himself have this. And his fanboying was cute. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for similar reasons. My sibling had also gotten into Magi with me. Because of the financial situation we were trapped in we had often mused about getting Isekaied and moving to Sindria. Their interest started to wane while the franchise became a major hyperfixaction for me -maybe even special interest levels. At least, one of us had made it here. ”Oh!" Aladdin cut Alibaba off when he noticed me. "Miss Mori, are you well enough to be out here?" "I'm better enough to stand and watch things." I answered with the best smile I could muster -like a lier. "I told you earlier, I'll rest as soon as we get settled in." My body wasn't in pain anymore, just drained. ... Okay, maybe my throat was still raw from flehm but it wasn't a new pain, and I might still have a light fever, and my head did kinda ache and... I should probably be resting, but- "I'm glad you're feeling better." King Sinbad had walked up behind us. He had his arms crossed. "But I'd still prefer you see a doctor as soon as we land." I turned to face him and tried my best to hide the fact that the railing was the only thing holding me up. "I intend to." I kept my tone light hearted. "My fever may have broke, but I'm not better yet." Knowing my body, it would probably take a week to be anything near 'better.' The way the waves were moving around Sinbad convinced me that he was doing something -had done something?- but it didn't seem like a bad thing. "Good. I don't want to loose my Beautiful Prophet after only just finding her." The King gave me a soft smile. Sinbad clearly knew I wasn't well, so why'd he flirt with me when I was already feverish?? I couldn't handle this; I was still trying to figure out how much of the previous night was a dream! I don't know what expression I had on my face, but Sinbad nodded after watching me for a few seconds. "I wanted to introduce you to the rest of my Generals when we land, since you'll be working along side them soon, but that can wait until after you're better." That refocused my attention. I let my head lull to the side. "I'm going to have to prove that I read Fate to all of them like I did with Masrur, aren't I? I better start thinking up examples now." He just laughed. It was something he did when he didn't know what else to say. Sinbad excused himself; he told me to make sure to ask for help and to not push myself. He also asked the kids to keep an eye on me. This wasn't the first time I was this sick; I knew how to take care of myself. But I was apparently not well enough to be thinking ahead. Not when it came to Sinbad, and not when it came to my own well being. It was only as we got to the port and I could

see the Palace sticking up at the top of the skyline, that I realized I didn't think I'd have the energy to walk there or up its steps... You know... Where all of the guests like me would be housed, and where the doctors were... The prospect of walking down the ramp to get off the ship was equally concerning. I was a little light headed and my legs were weak from being sick for so long. I was going to have to walk down it carefully to not fall over. I'd been on both sides of this situation before. The safest place for an unstable person like me was in the middle of the group so I made sure that was where I was. Alibaba was excited so his group was in the front. I followed behind them since it guaranteed someone would be behind me. The first few steps down the ramp weren't as awful as I anticipated. I was definitely still on the unsteady side, but holding my own. That is until I was hit by a wave just like the previous night and subconsciously reached for a railing that wasn't there. Yet, my left hand didn't come up empty. Someone's hand had caught mine and another hand had wrapped around behind me holding my waist. "Careful." Sinbad's gentle voice made me head tingle. "I told you to ask for help when you need it." His hand on my waist pulled me against him and as he did so the weight of my bag moved from my shoulders to his forearm. I looked up at him as I realized what was happening. I couldn't tell if his chuckle when we made eye contact was calculated or genuine. His eyes softened as he continued, "This stubborn side of yours is cute though." My face was getting hot. Was my fever back??? Wait -no. I was blushing.

I whipped my head away and looked down the ramp as we started walking again. I wasn't about to push him away when I needed help. When we got to the end of the ramp I felt his grip around my waist tighten. I was lifted slightly into the air. My free hand instinctually grabbed his clothes for added support. In one smooth motion I was moved from the ramp to the dock. Sinbad had made sure I didn't stumble when we hit the bottom. I felt like I had to say something after he helped me -and I had just grabbed onto him. I was exhausted and a little ashamed, but I forced out, "Thank you. I'll try to remember to ask next time." while looking up at the flirty King. He just smiled. His gold eyes held a deep warmth that I wanted to get lost in, but he broke eye contact and walked me to the side so I wouldn't be in the way. I wasn't used to being treated so tenderly. Sinbad dropped my left hand, but he didn't remove his right from my waist. For whatever reason, he had decided to stand with me while everyone else unloaded the ship. I felt his hand on my waist tense up. "Make sure you do. You are Sindria's Prophet now. I told you back in Balbadd that I will supply you with anything you need, but I can't help you if you don't tell me." He sounded light hearted, but it felt like he was masking something more serious underneath. All I could bring myself to do was a half hearted nod. There was too much in his words for me to unpack in my condition. My mind went blank and I took to watching the goings of the dock. I didn't know what to do with my now freed left hand so ended up curling it against my chest. I noticed when I did it that I hadn't let go of Sinbad's clothes with my other hand yet, and now that it had been so long, I didn't know if I should. I was definitely still sick and drained. I closed my eyes and after a moment I felt a light pressure on the side of my head. It took me a few seconds to realize I was leaning against him. I was too tired to right myself. The longer I stood in that position, the more familiar it felt. But I had never stood like this with Sinbad, and his body didn't match any of my exs. But I had clung to someone like this recently. It was nearly a perfect mirror image to how I had slept the previous night... There was no way for me to deny what happened any more. Accepting it lead me to countless questions. Why hadn't he said anything about what happened? And why had he kept quiet the whole night? If he made it known that he was the one that helped me he could use it to his advantage. It didn't make any sense for him to do something like that -the catching me part, yeah. But in what reality would the Womanizer of the Seven Seas sleep next to a woman instead of with her? And I was sick! What would make him want to risk being that close to a sick person? Why was he doing it now? He is literally a King; he shouldn't be the one taking care of a sick person even with limited staff.

I felt and heard Sinbad hum. He walked me to a bench nearby while everyone else finished unloading. "Mori, you wait here. You're not in any condition to make this trek on foot." I was not ready for all of the shows of concern. Nor was I ready for the full weight of myself or my bag to be returned to me when he finally released my waist. I took my bag off as I sat down. Somehow, I hadn't realized he was supporting me so completely. I was more worn out that I expected; I hadn't even been up that long and I was already ready for another nap. It was only as I sat there that I noticed how labored my breathing was. My forehead felt pretty warm too. I pushed myself too far somehow when all I did was stand around and walk down a ramp! I hate being sick. Sinbad was extremely observant. He must have realized how bad my condition really was. That had to be why he had held me up that whole time. But was he actually worried or just doing it for show? Sinbad was naturally caring so it was probably both. He didn't have to be the one that did it -he could have ordered someone else to take care of me instead. Was this his way of building up a bond of trust? Because it was working, and I didn't know how much longer I could keep up the walls around my heart. I knew he was naturally kind hearted, but being on the receiving end was something else. Acts of service and quality time are my two biggest forms of love language. Taking care of me when I was unwell without being asked definitely counted. I could see the Palace and some of the steps leading up to it from where I sat. There was no way I'd make it on foot. At no point were there any horses shown in the backgrounds in Sindria. Any carts seemed to be hand pulled or maybe used small pack animals. How was I going to get all the way up there? The King walked over to his subordinates. I couldn't hear what they said from my spot. Even so, Ja'far's expressions made it a little easier to figure out what was going on. They were probably discussing the logistics of getting me to the Palace in my condition. There was a bit of a back and forth. Then Ja'far looked incredulous at something Sinbad said. The King laughed it off, Ja'far sighed in relief that whatever it was had been a joke, and then Sinbad said something else that caught Ja'far by surprise. The General glanced my way and then at the Palace. He looked really uncomfortable. It must be hard having to deal with Sinbad's whims. I did not envy Ja'far; I mourned my future since I had basically signed on to the same treatment going forward. Aladdin wandered over to the bickering adults. When he figured out what they were talking about he excitedly pulled off his turban. I smacked my palm into my forehead. Why didn't I think of that?! Aladdin's turban was like a flying carpet. When I looked back up at the group Ja'far looked relieved. Sinbad was smiling but his heart wasn't in it -he must have really liked whatever his idea was but could see that Aladdin had a better option. Alibaba and Morgiana had joined them probably because of Aladdin. If Aladdin takes me up to the Palace and drops me off, then he could come back down and rejoin the other's for the walk. He'd want to be with Alibaba after all. Of course that would also mean someone would have to be dropped off with me that could vouch for me. The magi walked over to me pulling the giant floating cloth behind him. "Miss Mori! If you ride on my turban than you'll be able to stay with everyone!" Aladdin's excitement was nearly contagious. The others followed behind him. But what did he mean 'stay with everyone?' Alibaba hadn't lost his excitement for being in Sindria yet. "Yeah! Walking through the streets together with King Sinbad will feel like a parade like this." They had to be kidding. I wished they were kidding. And yet they weren't kidding. As everyone else walked, I alone road the flying turban cloth. It was nice to not have to walk when I was still so unwell, but... I wasn't in the mood to deal with all the staring. The King had finally returned home; of course

all of his people would be looking at us. What must I look like to them? Definitely someone important if I was on a magic item. It wasn't mine but they didn't know that.

I did my best to not let my emotions show on my face. I grew up in theater so I had experience with being in front of crowds. The hard part was hiding my fatigue and sickness. If I could focus on analyzing something than I'd have a chance at energizing myself. There was a basic map of Sindria and it's Palace in the back of one of the manga and several shots in the anime. Neither was detailed enough to be used to get around, but they did help me figure out which areas we passed through, etc. I instantly knew what the orami was when I saw them on our way through the city center -they're basically lemurs with fluffy tails. The manga and anime had different layouts for Sindria. Which would this version more closely follow? Maybe I'd be able to tell from the Palace steps. Dang though, did everyone on this tropical island have to be pale? I know that everyone except the children are assumed to be immigrants or travelers but it just makes the colorism in this series more obvious. This was a world were pretty much everyone was pale except for Egyptians (Heliohapt) -with white hair no less- and a few random side characters. Even the Fanalis which the writer said she intentionally based off of Africans were super pale. If the mangaka couldn't depict these races properly then it was no wonder the clothing of these cultures weren't depicted properly. The original version of Sinbad was a woman dressed like a harem girl for goodness sake -an actual Queen Sinbad would not look like that. Would I end up dressed like a harem girl now that I was living here??? Both Yamuraiha and Pisti had flashy outfits. At least the materials would be more appropriate for the weather. And as bad as it sounded, it also sounded kinda fun to dress like an anime character in the proper setting. When in Reim, ya know? I love anime as much as the next person, but there was one aspect that I struggled with as a historical reenactor and lover of historical fashion -headwear and hair. Almost all historical hair styles are designed to keep the hair up and out of the way in many of the areas referenced in Magi. Most depictions of historical clothing in media got hair and makeup wrong so it would be "more appealing to current audiences" but there are people who still wear turbans and stuff in the present. Turbans are designed to keep hair up and hidden; they aren't just a hat that gets put on top of the head. This aesthetic reeks of cultural appropriation. On the other hand, if Sinbad wore his turban properly I wouldn't be able to see the way his dark violet hair flows behind him while he walked at the front of our procession. Or the way it shown in the sun light or gets caught by his necklaces when he turns his head. While I still had the opportunity, I studied his back, the rhythm he walks with, and the way his clothes move. I tried to focus on the city and analysis, but my eyes definitely kept drifting. It hadn't been long since I came to this world so of course I was still struggling to keep from seeing Sinbad as a comfort character let alone hyperfixating on him. Whether illness or my chronic pain, I've always been the type to crave some kind of physical intimacy when feeling unwell. That must have been why I had reached out to him last night. If he had decided to use it to form a bond with me, why had he kept quiet? He didn't seem to be the type to go silent in situations like that. Which means he chose to be silent on purpose. I just couldn't understand his reasoning. I kept finding myself touching the spot on my waist where his hand had been. I could still feel the ghost of his touch. I normally don't liked being touched by people unless I know them really well, yet his never made me feel uncomfortable. Was it because I knew his life like the back of my hand? Even though Sinbad was a womanizer he was always shown treating women respectfully so maybe that was why. The waves around him were really comforting too; they made me want to stay next to him even though I knew I'd have to leave someday. I was definitely unwell if thoughts of Sinbad were

making me cuddly. I was too tired to think anymore, and too tired to care about the eyes that kept wandering my way. The sun was starting to get to me so I had put my hood up and used my bag to cover my legs. If I laid down my legs would be bare again and I could get a sunburn. Sinbad had reminded me several times to ask if I needed anything; I didn't want him to feel the need to remind me again. He was at the front of the procession so I opted to get Ja'far's attention instead. There was no way Sinbad hadn't told his right hand man about the situation. ... Was that why Ja'far had been hovering near me this whole time? He was looking away so all I could see was green, but he turned to me as soon as I called out to him. "What is it?” Ja'far was using his 'gracious host' mask. He was definitely near me on purpose. "Can I have something to cover my legs? I'd like to lie down." I sounded exhausted even to my own ears. "Of course," he said before going to get me something to suffice. I had nearly fallen asleep in the short time before Ja'far returned. I thanked him more habitually than consciously. The cloth he gave me wasn't an uncomfortable material. I'd have to thank him properly later. Ja'far grabbed the side of the flying turban and started pulling it along with him -I wouldn't be able to guide it if I was asleep. I was so exhausted that I forgot all about that. It was nice that he was so reliable that he would realize that and take action without being asked. I'd have to thank him for that too later. The flying turban felt like I was sleeping on clouds; it was the comfiest thing I'd ever laid on. It had to be thanks the gravity magic it was infused with. The voices of the city mixed with the sun and waves making the perfect lullaby.

[supernaturalimpala-67]

I have a supernatural theory that I have been thinking about for a long time and I want to share it and see what everyone thinks.

P.s. sorry it's a little bit long to read but it is so worth it I promise.

So to start off we all know how in the beginning Mary is killed by Azazel and John tries to figure out what killed her. Therefore, him and the boys become hunters and "saving people, hunting things, the family business" becomes their thing.

But there are some other things that I would like to address for what happened after the fire and Sam and Dean's childhood, or lack of.

So we know how John would leave for weeks at a time and how Dean would.have to watch Sam while he was away, but let's go even more before that.

During some of the flash backs of Dean and Mary you see how strong of a relationship they have together. Now keep this in mind because it will tie in later.

In the book 'John Winchester's Journal' by Alex Irvine, there is an entry that includes after the fire that talks about Dean climbing into Sam's crib when he was a baby. After the fire Dean right off the bat had to become a parent figure to him because their father just lost his wife and wasn't stable.

Moving forward a few years, John leaves the boys more often and therefore misses more holidays so now Sam and Dean only have eachother.

Skip a few more years when Dean is a teenager. If you notice in season 9 episode 7, Bad Boys, Dean is arrested for shoplifting peanut butter and bread. There are many things to address in this flash back but I'll talk about this one first. In an episode Sam and Dean were talking about their favorite food and Dean brings up how when Sam was little he liked eating peanut butter and banana sandwichs and how gross he thought it was.

Next in the episode, we see him sitting down on the couch in the boys home in hand cuffs.

Once the police officer leaves Sonny takes off the hand cuffs. When Sonny sees the bruises on Dean's arms he asks what happened and Dean responds with werewolf, skip to season 1 when Sam and Dean were hunting a werewolf for the FIRST time and how their dad had never hunted one either. So that leaves many people to wonder what are the bruises from? Well, as much as I don't like the thought of it there's a chance John could have been abusing his son. In all of the flash backs, 1 John isn't in a lot of them, 2 there is a major personality difference between John and Dean, even though he tries to be like him. But there is more of a similarity between Dean and Mary, they both like same music, and when she comes back in season 11 they bond even more and it shows a lot more of that mother-son relationship between them even though it has been many years.

When you look at John and Sam though you notice there is a lot more similarities between them, even though they constantly fought.

My personal theory is that when Mary died he was sad and angry at himself for not being with her and as Dean got older he saw more of Mary in him and he very badly responded to that and took his anger out on Dean because he was that barrier in-between John and Sam, he always has been even in season 1.

To add to this theory, many times when you see Dean talking to or even about John there's this way the dialog is, or how he will straighten up like a soldier when he sees his father. Also in a other episode (I can't remember what season) but Dean is talking about how he accidentally let sam almost get killed buy a monster, luckily John was there in time. Dean talks about how John was so angry at him for leaving the motel and leaving Sam alone. In some of the dialog he talks about 'what dad did' vaguely and left it at that, and with amazing script (thanks to Kripke) and an amazing actor to play the part and put the emotion into the script (thanks to Jensen) that showed so much in just that alone about what kind of father John was.

Also in this scene:

Dean is having a meal with Sonny, and I know for sure that older Dean doesn't look at John that way. Dean always wanted a normal life but never got that because of what happened with his mom then his dad going crazy trying to figure it out and digging them all a deeper hole to try to climb out of, that they eventually never would. But he gave up the chance to live with Sonny and have a normal life to make sure Sammy was safe.

Also in this scene:

He's in this memory (I think) and he finally is able to say all of the things he never has before and it also shows their relationship too. Dean says "I hate you. I hate you, but I love you" this makes me think that even after every thing he has been through, even if it did start with her, he still loves her, she's still his mom. In the show you can also see how much of a bond there is between Dean and Mary, and how much difference there is from their relationship to Sam and Mary's.

Let me know what you think and if I got anything wrong!

Thanks

[kileyrose-2003]

Tina’s Tuesday Night Mini Fic Pt. 1

Word count: Who cares? Lol

A/N: Hi lovelies! I am back!! First thing, I know. You're probably saying Kiley, wtf? It's not Tuesday. I know. Life happened. I've had a busy past few days and a final today. Anyways, this was something I did with @merci-bitch when the U.S originally went on lockdown. It was a fun way to keep me busy and get my mind off of stuff. We both decided to restart this about a week ago. So, I dedicate this to my dear friend Tina. Love you hun and hope you enjoy this! And please, if you haven't been to her blog to read any of her work, go do so. She works so hard on what she writes and is amazing.

Pt. 2 will be coming next week

To everyone waiting on fics: I'll get there. Eventually. And I'm not going into reasoning. But anyways, love you all and I hope you have a great day!

"...This is the greatest show!" You slammed your hands down on the piano keys and breathed in sharply. "God damn it, Jenny!"

"What?" You let a groan and handed her the sheet music. "Look there at that line there. Do you see that note?”

“I can see, can’t I?” Her bright green eyes lost their cool shade of arrogance when she seen how pissed you look. "Not F!” You pointed to the paper in her hand. “D! You hear that note there?" You pressed down on the key repeatedly. "D!"

"Sorry." The red head smiled at you impishly. "No, you're not. This is the fifth time we've done this and yet you still insist on doing this your own way." She sat next to you on the piano bench and gave your shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Well, I think the change makes it sound better.”

“Phineas liked it better this way,” you seethed through gritted teeth. “But what does he know of art?” You could feel your face slowing turning a distinct shade of cherry red and you bit down on your tongue.

"He must of known something with how much you tried to get in his pants," you mused to yourself.

You rolled your eyes. You loved Jenny to death but how you couldn't stand her at times. You tried and tried so desperately to get along with her and compromise when she was like this but no matter what you did, she was stubborn and so..cold at times.

Sure, Jenny was a bit of a snob but she was a genius when it came to music and you respected that. She was what inspired you to take up music in the first place.

Your childhood was far from easy. Before you even joined the circus, you were bounced all over the place. You never belonged anywhere. From the deteriorating cottage in a small, seaside village in Sweden to the cramped one bedroom apartment in London that no one would dare walk past at night. Your father was no where to be seen and your mother was an actress, always struggling to meet ends meet. She was never home, but that wasn't always a bad thing. That meant you got to explore.

That was how you got to hearJenny sing for the first time. Hiding out in the musty attic of an old Swedish theatre. Even before she hit extreme levels of fame, her voice was like a siren's call. Drawing you in further and further in. It still was in a way. She was so beautiful and even as much as she pissed you off, you loved watching her sing. Like the time at the palace. She was eye candy in that dress, the way it hugged her hips and how the bust showed the slightest bit of clevage when you looked at her at just the right angle-

"Stop it, Y/n!" You told yourself. "She's not interested in you."

Or was she? The way she looked at you when you spoke to Phineas was always with such contempt or such jealousy. You could never understand why though. It was her who tried to steal Phineas away. Not you. He was a close friend who gave you a chance when you had nothing and you never so much as even thought of eyeing him in such a manner. Phineas clearly wasn't interested in her or any other woman but his wife. He pushed her away numerous times. Jenny had no reason to be jealous of you. Yet, she was.

‘But it is of me or others though?"

One could never be sure with Jenny. Sure, there was a bit of a rivalry between the two of you when it came to music. But she was your friend. 'Very clingy for just a friend,' you noted.

'That's normal though, isn't it?'

Maybe you were just over thinking things. Besides, the relationship between the two of you seemed to be getting better lately. Ever since the scandal went public, it seemed the two of you were spending more and more time together.

You were the only one who listened to her side of the story, held her when she cried, made sure she wasn't drinking her emotions away, and tried to help her through it. Even as much as she pissed you off. You warned her in the first place not to seek out Phineas but despite the nasty arguments, the constant bickering she became your friend. Maybe even your best friend. Which you got alot of shit for.

Nobody liked Jenny and you were starting to get the feeling you weren't so popular anymore either. Everyone thought after the affair went public, the two of you would of left. Her name as well as yours, was slandered all over the paper simply because you associated with her. You had been called it all. The ring leader, the mastermind, the mistress to the two.

But neither of you resigned. Yet. Part of you wondered how long it would be until either would receive letters of negotiations to end your contract. But either way, you knew Jenny wasn't leaving without you. She promised you that.

'So maybe she does like me.'

Then that small voice came in the back of your head. 'Or maybe you just want her to like you back.'

Either way, you couldn't let that haunt your conscience for now. Even as much as you'd like to visualize a future with her, it wouldn't work. You could feel the heat pooling into your cheeks as you came back to reality and bit down on your lip. Jenny's hand was lingering up and down your back, rhythmically making shapes with the tips of her fingers. Damn her and her touch! You shouldn't be feeling this way.

"Are you okay?" You shook your head and covered your face with your hands, trying not focus on all the pain you felt inside. "No. No, I’m not."

You felt tears burning in the sides of your eyes. "This isn’t working!” Jenny furrowed her brow and tried to move your hands away from your face. “What do you mean?” She was trying to be gentle even though you could tell from the look in her eyes she had no clue what to do.

“This..all of this!” You ripped the sheet music out of her hand and flung it on top of the piano. “Something's got to give,"

She rolled her eyes as if she seen it all before and stood up, walking hastily over to the ice bucket. "Do you not have what you want?" She opened up a bottle of red wine. "Fame? Recogniton?"

"It's not enough and I don't know if I even have any of that anymore." Jenny eyed you as she poured the liquor heavily into both glasses. "I'm not liked here, Jenny."

She handed you your glass and sat down next to you. You eagerly took a sip of the wine, just wanting to forget everything for a little while. "That's not true. I like you." She leaned in closer to you.

You cracked a small grin filled with cynicism. Maybe even a little bit of hostility. Never had you felt so much love and hate towards someone at the same time. "We could both leave." Jenny's voice pulled you out of your head.

"And go where?"

"Back to Sweden with me for the time being." You noticed the intensity in Jenny's eyes growing and she reached out and grabbed your hand. You could feel her nimble gently squeezing into the palm of your hand. "You know I care for you, Y/n."

"Do you?" You tried your hardest not to sound sarcastic, you were still a little mad at her. But god! How close she was to you. You could smell her expensive perfume, see the slight hint of a shimmer radiating off of her lips. "You're fiery and you don't take my shit."

This couldn't be real. You had to be dreaming. "Jenny, this...there's a possibility this couldn't work." You tried to scoot away from her, a little intimidated by the proximity between the two of you.

"We can try to make it work."

"How?" You eyed her skeptically. "Let me take you out. Let me show you I can make this work." You furrowed your eyebrows. "Why? Need a new fling after Phineas?" You teased.

Jenny wasn't amused by that all. If anything she was pissed but she smiled anyways. Seeming to stoop down to your level with a smile that was sickly sweet. "More like a date."

"And why should I do this with you?" She let go of your hand and placed it on your thigh. "Because I probably understand you alot more than you think." As you looked into Jenny's eyes, you found some level of sincerity mixed into those deep lustful orbs. You wanted to trust her so badly.

"What do I have to lose?" You thought.

Everything. Everything to lose.

"Fine." You gave in, despise everything in your mind screaming not too. "But you have one shot and one shot only."

Jenny nodded and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on your cheek. "And it won't take me more than once to impress. After all, I already made your career." You felt the hair on your arms stand straight up as her hands lingered on you, gently squeezing your hips.

"I'll see you tomorrow at 6. Sharp."

"Yeah," you watched as Jenny walked away, her hair flowing behind her like a beautiful sheath.

You felt a pit growing in the depths of your stomach. What the hell had you gotten yourself into?

[italiansteebie]

Heyylo, hope you're doing well! ❤️ This is a Harringrove request, I've seen a lot of fics with angel Billy (wings and the whole scbang) but only ONE :( fic with angel Steve. I think it would suit our boy, don't you? Maybe you can write an angel Steve + Human Billy or Demon Bills? Please and thank you, love your blog! 🥰

Hi!! thank u so much!! i hope this is good, i've only read one angel!steve fic and i don't really know much on the topic! sorry if it's not quite what you're looking for! i hope you like it anyways 💜💜💜💫

An Angels Wings

No one has ever seen Steve Harrington’s wings. It’s no secret that he’s an angel, his mother is an angel as well, and she flaunted her son from an early age before her husband deemed his wings “Un-manly.” When he was young, Steve’s wings were very large, too big for his body, and the resembled that of a hummingbirds, except quite large, and long in wingspan. The stereotype of white-winged angels was true for most, only the purest of angels got graced with wings of color, and Steve’s were magnificent. In picture from when he proudly flaunted his wings, the blue-green and gold speckled beauties were hard to miss.

They had been dating for a year and Billy has never seen Steve’s wings in person. It’s become his goal to make Steve comfortable enough to show off his wings again. There’s only 3 other angels that reside in Hawkins. Their wings are all white, and Billy doesn’t bother to get to know them. He has the most special angel, in his opinion. Billy is lost in thought when Steve comes home from work. “Hey Bill,” Steve greets with a soft smile, and sits next to him on the couch. He grunts softly as he leans back and puts pressure on his wings. He looks over at Billy with kind eyes, “Bill. I need to ask you something.” Billy gives Steve his full attention, “Yeah?”

Steve’s eyes flash fear for half a second, “I need you to help me unbind my wings. Robin noticed blood today and I don’t want to risk infection.” Steve sniffs, teary after the emotional confession. Billy nods his head, willing to support Steve in whatever he needs but he feels guilty for being excited to see Steve’s wings while he’s in pain. Pushing his thoughts away he turns to Steve and helps him take his shirt off, gasping softly when he sees the blood soaked ace wrap. “Doll, I know why you bind, but wouldn’t you feel much better at least sleeping with them out?” Billy asks gently, pulling at the ace wrap. Steve shakes his head and sniffles, “I would, but I’m scared.” “I know, babe. I’m here for you, what ever you need to do. Right now, we need to get you better.”

Steve starts the unwrapping process, slowly taking the elastic bandage away. The color of his wings starts to peak out behind the wrap, and Billy runs his hand over Steve’s shoulders, relaxing him. The last of the bandage falls into Steve’s lap, and his wings are out for Billy to stare in awe and grief. Steve’s once large and full wings are now small and crushed. There’s an unpleasant cracking sound as Steve unfurls his wings all the way, once they’re spread out Billy can see that the color is just as vibrant as they were in his childhood, but they were small, and feeble looking. Billy is shaken out of his trance when Steve speaks, “Can you grab the cream that's on the bathroom counter? On the left side?” Billy gets up without question and grabs the container, its label isn’t in English, it’s not in any language Billy can recognize.

Steve grabs it from his hands, opens it and takes a generous scoop. He reaches to his back and spreads it over the cracked skin as best he can. Billy watches as the cream starts to glow, and the cracked skin begins mending itself, the process is almost beautiful. Watching his lover surrounded in calming purple light as he his healed. “The cream only works in the hands of an angel, the language is an ancient dialect that isn’t spoken by any one except the angels that still live in the original village in The Netherlands.” Steve reveals, “I hope I never have to use it on you,” he says. Billy hushes him and re-assures him that he will never have to.

The process of healing is over and Steve reaches for his bandage and begins to wrap, starting with his chest. “What if,” Billy starts, grabbing Steve’s hand gently to stop him wrapping any further, “What if an hour everyday at home, you leave your wings out?” Steve looks unsure at the idea, but agrees.

Weeks pass by and the hour of free wings turns into 2, and then 5, and then sleeping un wrapped, and then spending weekends free, and so forth. After 6 months and few therapy sessions, attendance requested by Billy, Steve now flaunts his wing proudly again, and uses his angel abilities as much as he needs too. It’s fun for him, he can heat food up without using the microwave, and heal the kids scrapes and bruises. And then, the healing power is not so fun. On one of Steve’s days off, Billy goes into town to buy groceries for dinner. After about an hour Steve gets a frantic call from Max, she’s calling from a landline near Mirkwood, and Billy’s hurt. Neil found him at the grocery store, and Steve come quick, please. I’m scared. Steve drops the phone and runs out the door, he hasn't tried flying in a very long time, but with the adrenaline pumping he forgets his hesitations.

He finds Billy in 30 seconds, and lands haphazardly, asphalt cracks beneath his feet. Max runs over to him, tears steadily streaming down her face, “Please help him, Steve. I don’t know what to do.” Steve runs over to where Billy is propped up against the Camaro, the puddle of blood makes Steve pause for a second, but he shakes the fog from his head. In his haste he forgot the healing cream but he knows he has the power to heal alone. He presses again Billy’s wound, Steve acknowledges it as a stab wound, and presses firmly. The veins in his hand glow light purple, and the golden spots scattered on his wing illuminate with the same color. Steve breaths in through his nose, and pushes his energy through his wings into his hand into Billys side. The wound spasms, and Billy grunts and jumps in pain, “Pretty boy, I don’t know if that’s gonna work. I’m too far...” Steve hushes him, and takes another breath, the light purple moves into a deep blue, and the wound starts to heal. The glow from the action draws a crowd and townsfolk watch in awe as the wound is reversed.

Billy is healed, the wound is gone without a scar, and Steve collapses in fatigue. “Steve? Steve, baby. Wake up,” Billy says, patting his face softly. Steve opens his eyes, and cracks a smile, “There he is. There’s my guardian angel.” Billy says. He leans in to kiss Steve once the crowd has dispersed and just Max is left. They share another passionate kiss, “Never. Make me do that again. Okay?” Steve says sternly. Billy laughs, he’s not planning to.

[hazbbyhaz]

sleepless || harry styles

eight

pairing: Harry Styles x OC

synopsis: a night out on the town

disclaimer: cursing, bars

Forever is composed of nows

Avery watched Harry decline the incoming call without a second thought. “We should get going.” He said, already making his way to the door. She quickly grabbed her keys and her coat before following him out of the flat. There was something impatient and troublesome about his presence as he waited for her to lock her front door.

“How are we getting there?”

“We drive.” He must be a damn good photographer if he could afford a car. As if he could read her mind, he soon spoke, “The car’s not mine, It's my uncles.”

The vehicle was small but cute. It seemed to fit him well. During the drive to the club, Harry was rather quiet and closed off. Later saying that his friends were already there, quickly assuming she still remembered them from his birthday

“So, you're a photographer, right? What do you photograph?”

“I like black and white photographs,” He said. He stopped to think about what he was going to say next before he continued. “When I got into photography I used to just take pictures of my friends without them noticing. Then I moved on to public transport, parties, concerts. All those places where you can catch a glimpse of people's souls. I quickly threw out all of my colored films and switched to black and white. There's something so much more vulnerable and secretive about it…”

“I like that.” She imagines Harry with a camera in his hand, spending his days in London looking for the mystery in every person who passed him.

He gave her a small smile, which did not reach all the way up to his eyes. “Me too. However, I can't make my money with that. It's not good enough to stand on its own, so I work for a modeling agency as a photographer. It's not bad, they pay good enough but it also shows me just how much I hate staged photographs. What about you then? What's your passion?”

She shrugged, moving her gaze to the front. “Writing, I guess.” The truth was, she had no idea. In her opinion, it was too hard for her to organize all of her thoughts inside of her head, let alone sit down to put them to paper. She wanted to be a writer. She did. It was one of the only things she really wanted, but she knew she didn't have the talent or skill set for it.

“So you want to be a journalist? Or a writer?” Harry asked. She struggled with finding an answer since nobody had ever shown that much real, genuine interest in her.

“Just a writer, I think… but journalism sounds nice too.” In reality, she'd like to tell him that she didn't know what to do. Tell him that she was lost. Completely and utterly lost. In her childhood, she was never given the chance to find her talents or develop specific abilities. She had never shown her work to anyone, only submitting a handful of short stories to magazines just to receive no reply in return.

“Can you tell me more about your photographs?’’

He grinned and told Avery more. He spoke with so much emotion that Avery found herself wondering if she had sounded the same when she talked about writing. Most likely not. I felt like he knew exactly what he was doing. He knew how to capture an image and turn it into the most wonderful masterpiece.

Soon after, the club came in sight. Harry parked the car at the side of the road, and as they were getting out, a sudden wave of exhaustion overcame her. Just thinking about meeting his friends, for real this time, made her mind so tired, “You ready?”

“Sure.”

Avery had never been much of a club person, always liking the warmer feeling a pub provided. She didn't like the loud music, the overwhelming smell of pure sweat, and just the overall pace of it all. She felt like everything went so much faster. Harry helped her take off her coat as they got inside. Despite her objections, he paid for both entries, emitting a small chuckle when she tried to argue with him.

The entire place was filled with people and the music was being managed by a DJ in the back of the room. Different colored lights flashed and moved through the crowd. Harry soon took her hand into his own, leading her through the crowd, and down a small flight of stairs to a much quieter area.

The brunette girl was the first person Avery spotted. “Emily, How are you? Why are you down here?” Harry greeted her with a hug, letting go of Avery's hand in the process. “Not bad, the DJ is kinda wack.”

“Well, look who's talking. The girl who said we HAD to come here.” A guy standing close by said, mimicking Emily.

“Shut up, George.” Harry greeted the others. Some of them she recognized from the party and some she didn't.

“This is Avery.” He introduced her and all of his friends' eyes stopped on her for a moment, looking her up and down, making her feel like a rat on a doctor’s table.

“Nice to see you again,” Emily said, the others nodded in her direction, but a second later all of their attention was back on Emily. She let out a dramatic sigh, “So, what are we going to do? Stay here, or go somewhere else?”

“I vote that we stay here.” A rather tall man, Harry had introduced as James, said. The brunette rolled her eyes, all of them making their way to the dance floor nonetheless, George making it his responsibility to get drinks for everybody.

It was hard for Avery to enjoy herself. She felt incredibly awkward while dancing, or trying to anyway. All the others had some type of rhythm in their blood, while she was desperately trying her best. Once “Low” by Flo Rida started to pour out of the speakers, she made a mad dash to the bathroom, staying there until the song was finished. Harry didn't drink, as he had to drive them both back afterward, so Avery did the same. Wanting to avoid all possible realms of embarrassment.

He gave her a small backstory of his mates. James has very rich parents, his dad paying his way through law school just so he can tell his colleagues that his son is a successful lawyer. James has a twin brother named Jasper, he ended up leaving home the first chance he got. George is a failed musician who has the entire second verse of Piano Man tattooed on his ass. Emily is into fashion, but she lost per passion for it after she got rejected from a school in Amsterdam. They all seemed to be on some kind of path. Every one of them working their way to the future, attempting to reach some sort of goal.

And Harry had taken photos of all of it. Documenting their entire lives as these individuals. He had taken photos of James passed out on the floor with numerous textbooks open around him, all just to live up to his father's standards. There were pictures of George playing the piano in many different pubs, several pints sitting atop the instrument while his friends listened to him play a tune. A few were taken of Emily hard at work, sat by her sewing machine, or window shopping at nearby second-hand dress shops. And when Jasper was around, there were a couple of him trying to learn how to juggle, the instructions given to him by a homeless man.

Their lives had been documented in a way so utterly beautiful. Photographs were taken in moments that seemed worth freezing. Moments that a curly-headed boy thought deserved to be remembered forever. Knowing all of this made Avery feel so unexplainably lonely, especially while being in their company.

“Did you have fun?” They had made it back to the car at 2 am. Harry took a quick look back, seeing all of his friends laughing, and stumbling while making their way back home.

“Yes, thank you for inviting me.”

“My pleasure. What are you going to do when you get home?” He backed out and drove onto the main road.

“Probably make a couple of cups of coffee.” She still hadn't made it out to the grocery to pick up more tea.

“You don't sleep often, huh?”

“What makes you think that?” The answer was obvious.

“You look tired a lot. Why don't you sleep?” Avery ignores his assumption. She wasn't offended, it was easy to assume without being incorrect.

“I don't like it,” She shrugged, feeling like a child. “I prefer to stay awake.” Avery could tell that he wanted to ask more questions. She would have been fine with this, but at this point, she was beyond exhausted and couldn't handle giving any more answers. “Can I ask you a question?’’

“Shoot.”

She waited a moment before continuing. Not for dramatic effect, just to figure out how she wanted to go about it. “What do you dream of?”

Harry's eyebrows pulled together, and he looked her way. “Uhm… I guess making a living off my-”

“No,” She quickly stopped him. “I mean… When you fall asleep at night. What do you dream of?”

“Oh… I don't know. I forget most of the time when I wake up, but last week I dreamed I had adopted a puppy and he ran away the second day I had him. I oddly enough didn't mind that he had run away. He ended up coming back on the third day. Quite random, but that was that… Why are you asking me this?”

Avery smiled at the description of his dream. So innocent and childlike. He didn't have to worry about what would appear before him when he fell asleep, and she was glad that he didn't have to. “No reason.”

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