#of course she's a bit more strict it would seem or at least tends to get herself more involved

[gierosajie]

Ngl, I hadn't expected just how similar Venti and Nahida turned out to be. Like sure I was kinda speculating about the tree cutting thing, but their other similarities was a surprise

[gynandromorph]

another little nofna style emulation comic i drew a bit ago that was primarily about why something can "look like words" when it isn't... it is possibly Legend's first time considering the involuntary nature of reading words. she can rationally know that she isn't looking at writing, but her mind continues to see words that she must try to decipher.

the comic ended up getting side-tracked, but i kind of just let these comics go where they go. it is the nofna spirit.

PS and Legend have probably only spoken several times at this point, as classmates. in my head, this is their first season of classes, and they have only just recently proceeded from practicing handwriting and making letters to writing out spoken word.

i imagine that letters and writing are not intuitive at all to people who haven't grown up with it. Legend knew how to read well before entering school. PS has not really internalized that letters represent sounds. she has seen her teacher or classmates speak words as they're writing lines, and later, other people can tell the words that were spoken while writing the lines. her penmanship is naturally excellent, and prior to this module, she was praised by her teacher lavishly.

i imagine that because MOST RODENTS become markscrafts, and rodents tend to be rather... prolific... in number. that classes for this profession would be fucking huge.

the teacher cannot individually dedicate attention to every struggling student, so the first practice is to pair two struggling students together who seem like they compensate each others' shortcomings and see if they can rehabilitate their grades together.

if students continue to fail despite peer review, that is probably the time where a teacher would talk to them privately or recommend a tutor, etc.

the classes also function by a "revise and resubmit" principle over an "extra credit" principle as it is the most direct way for students to figure out what they did wrong and the least amount of extra work for the professor.

their professor is a mouse; a tried to write the grade print small (called "mouseprint" in the canon).

PS's language here is very rough and strange; i imagine she has, at the VERY most, been exposed to common for only a year. she is maybe ~15-16 in age, psychologically. ever since i made her as a character, i assumed one of her core traits was a low drive to do work. she became a markscraft SPECIFICALLY because she did not want to put in the work to earn prestige or more credit. she picked the easiest possible career for her.

as a younger mind, and only recently introduced to the idea that she has to perform labor or GTFO society, her dislike of work is very obvious and she is not reserved about sharing it. she came from a life where she could volunteer to do small tricks for high value treats if she felt like it, and this life is comparatively brutal and demanding in her mind.

Legend's corsage is red star (Rhodohypoxis baurii) and PS's Leaf is a leaf from a large pineapple lily.

Legend is, conversely, probably 18-20 psychologically. idk, the ages are very weird with these animals. i've imagined her parents as highly Civilized people like XX's mother, but a little less strict. while many citizens of society hate wild people (presumably because many of them are serial killers who might serial kill them), not all of them do (example: nutsedge, who sympathizes with a Wild Hawk killing her classmates), and i imagined Legend's parents impressing into her rather strongly that she did not earn being born into a well-off family and physically gifted species.

of course, this didn't stop her from forming a superiority complex towards rodents anyway-- but, i think she's tolerating a significant amount of Weirdness from PS here that she extremely would not tolerate from someone she didn't assume was wild-integrating-into-society, from the constant touching, to the rude openness, the disdain for work ethic, the odd language usage, and the outfit that's essentially showing up to the study session in pasties and booty shorts.

it seems that in these stories, the animals attain a "fluent" level of speech in common relatively quickly (emancipation, secretary), somewhat influenced by natural talent; i think PS has a brute force spaghetti-against-the-wall approach that lets her just mimic as many phrases that she thinks are novel as possible. usually this is an option only available to toddlers who lack the self-awareness to feel embarrassment about constant awkward linguistic mistakes, but PS also has no cultural priming to be embarrassed of the behavior. you can see her parroting various things she's heard, such as "sooo much" as an emphasis phrase, and even "essentially" after Legend says it in passing. other more abstract phrases such as "with credit" or "okay" i imagine she knows simply by being exposed to them over and over again.

when the two get into deeper levels of literacy and markscraft classes, i imagine that Legend's knowledge of grammar and Big Words in general, combined with an ability to verbally express usually unwritten rules in the language, helped propel PS to a level of fluency that has her speaking like she was raised with it 99% of the time.

[bluegekk0]

Question 15 from that 50 question game, this goes to EVERYONE >:D

15. What habits does your character have?

Vyrm - there's a lot, but I guess I'll choose one. Maybe his snacking? He likes having something to munch on around especially whenever he's working, it helps him stay calm and focused. He especially enjoys snacks that are crunchy, basically anything he has to bite through.

Grimm - to keep this within the area of food/drinking, tea is his solution to basically anything, and he starts every morning by drinking his favorite fruit tea. On top of that, he loves sharing it with others, especially Vyrm, whom he often brings tea whenever he's hard at work on something.

Hornet - she often leaves the house to get out of town and spend some time alone in the Dirtmouth outskirts. I like to think she enjoys visiting the forest near the town, the one growing on the mountain slope. Despite her having endless freedom during the time she was by herself, she rarely ventured to the surface, and so she never had the opportunity to see the woods until now.

Holly - they have a somewhat unique habit of showing up out of nowhere. They can't teleport or anything, I just think it would be really funny if they were able to move really quietly, to the point others often don't notice when they walked into the room. On top of that, whenever they feel anxious, they tend to seek others so that they can stay close to them and feel more comfortable. What this means is that there are times when Vyrm wakes up in the middle of the night, only to get scared at the sight of Holly next to the bed.

Zote - I like the idea of him having a very strict everyday routine, so he has many habits you probably wouldn't expect from him. He always wakes up at the same hour, for example, and he cleans after himself whenever he finishes eating, and so on. Despite his unpleasant personality, I do think he cares a lot about staying clean and keeping his environment tidy, so he'll even offer to wash the dishes whenever he eats at the Vyrm family house. Of course, he always frames it as the family being slobs and that sort of stuff, but it's still a nice gesture, at least for him.

Lewk - he gets very excited whenever it's school day, so you can expect him to wake Grimm and Vyrm early on those days. And when I say early, I mean early, waaaay earlier than he needs to. Most of the time his dads stay in bed for a while longer, so in those cases he insists on staying there with them and waiting until they get up.

Asta - she's a bit of an escape artist, so she keeps finding new ways of getting out of the "nest" and roam around the room, something she's not supposed to do without supervision. In general it's hard to keep an eye on her, she has a habit of somehow sneaking out and finding herself wandering around.

Milo - unlike his sister, he's perfectly content staying where he's supposed to, and on the surface he might seem very boring, like he doesn't have any interesting habits to mention. But I think it would be adorable if, out of all the kids, he was the one with who kneads the most. You know, like how kittens do. Of course, in his case, the origin of this behavior would be different for fairly obvious reasons, and I think it would make sense if he simply found the repeating motion to be soothing.

[biennatodd]

its so interesting to me that there is this divide in how people-who-prefer-JFM talk compared to people-who-prefer-YZY among the lotus pier fandom (specifically referring to MDZS fans who spend a lot of time headcanoning, theorizing, and writing about WWX, JYL, JC, JFM and YZY as a household, and the dynamics of Yunmeng Jiang as a sect)

in many posts by people-who-prefer-JFM there is a lot more leeway about his motivations, and generally hes given more space for the possibility of other styles of behavior under different circumstances.

The language around JFM is often loose and accommodating. It "seems" like he wanted this; He "tries" to do this; "Maybe if-"; He "could" have done this. It's often framed around how other characters perceive and react to him, rather than addressing him as a cause.

The language around YZY is much more concrete. Very much so "YZY did this, because she is [this] way". The framing is around her actions and how she makes people respond. The fault lies with her. There is no room for hypothetical, and everyone seems to know EXACTLY how she would behave outside the confines of the story despite that being literally impossible. There is no what if, only what is.

Part of this is of course because YZY is more verbose, and thus we have more insight into how she thinks as a character, but I think it goes beyond that as well.

Because people who tend to favor YZY, or at least express more interest in YZY, will have similarly loose and accommodating language when theorycrafting about her, but unlike people-who-prefer-JFM, they tend to still apply that loose language to JFM as well.

There is space for them to be different, or more complex, than what is presented to us.

And this often trickles down to how people talk about WWX and JC respectively as well. WWX is the MOST verbose character in the novel, not just because the entire book is from his POV, but also because he just doesn't STFU (and I love that for him). But JC is more withdrawn and we don't get nearly as much insight to his thought process (although there is still quite a bit).

You would think that'd mean that JC would receive more accommodating/loose interpretive language due to vagueness, while the understanding and descriptions of WWX would be much more concrete but that still isn't the case.

Instead WWX gets slotted into the same more-forgiving category as JFM, while JC gets a much more strict, inflexible interpretation like YZY (unsurprising when taking their characterization into account that they'd be paired together).

People just don't talk about JYL enough for her to even be included 😭

[detruines]

is that MOON GAYOUNG? oh, no, that’s KANG “RACHEL” DOHEE, a TWENTY-SEVEN year old RESIDENT DOCTOR AT CENTRO MÉDICO who uses SHE/HER pronouns. they currently live in LAS VILLAS DORADAS IN QUILPUÉ, and the character they identify with most is ENID SINCLAIR FROM WEDNESDAY. hopefully they find their own little paradise here in el país de los poetas!

statistics

full name: rachel kang / kang dohee nickname(s): usually just goes by rachel date of birth: june 10th, 1997 age: 27 years old hometown: valparaíso, chile commune: las villas doradas, quilpué sexuality: heterosexual occupation: resident doctor at centro médico

tldr

youngest of three kids so she’s just a Baby fr. grew up with high expectations from her strict parents and the need to keep up with the oldest sibling, which kinda made her a perfectionist that would freak out at any minor inconvenience, but also has the mentality of fake it till you make it so she hides all that emotional instability behind her bubbly personality! the kind that goes “oh no worries this is fine!” with tears in her eyes bc while it is in fact Not Fine she’d hate to be of inconvenience. that being said, she might come off as a little pretentious at times, but she does mean well and is easy to get along with. tends to care about what people think of her, hence the people pleasing tendency. once she gets comfortable around someone she could become a tad bit clingy, which can be both good and bad. the kind to reach out to friends first and check on them. definitely the Mom Friend™. very book smart with good social skills! girlie went to harvard med school and now she's doing her first year residency in valpo bc she wants to be closer to family. aka she's also using it as an excuse to make peace with her brother felix, whom she had a huge fight with 5 years ago. she’s a very emotional person, tends to take things personally sometimes and make everything about her (re: the fight with felix). her love language is words of affirmation and acts of service.

biography

born and raised in valparaíso so she’s a native! as the youngest of three siblings, rachel looked up to the oldest a lot because they were the picture perfect child and well, she wanted to be the same thing. she wanted to be the picture perfect daughter. at first rachel thought it would be easy, and sure, while there was no doubt her parents adored her, she had come to realize that it took more than just being the baby of the family to get their affection ⸻ she would have to live up to their high expectations, first of all.

it wasn’t like she was pit against her siblings growing up. it just sort of happened naturally, especially with the oldest, considering that they seemed to have it the easiest, although rachel wasn't that different. everyone knew she was the top student in her class, that there was nothing she couldn’t do if she put her mind to it, and yet when it came to her oldest sibling, she always felt like she could never measure up to them. this put a strain on their relationship, which made her turn to felix for comfort and reassurance. at least she kenw they were both struggling to keep up with their parents' high expectations, or at least that’s what rachel thought.

that’s why she had become comfortable to whine around felix when things didn’t go her ways, although most often than not they did. sometimes rachel did it out of habit, unaware of the fact that her emotional dumping could come off as inconsiderate. to her, felix had been a safe place for her to be vulnerable. someone that she didn’t have to impress. despite being polar opposites of each other, with rachel being sunshine incarnate and felix the grumpy brother, they got along just fine. of course they did bicker from time to time, just like siblings did, but nothing was ever taken seriously.

rachel was in her final year in college when the fight happened. she was just venting to felix as she usually did ⸻ something about her not getting the honorary student award and how she felt like a failure because of it, and all of a sudden they were at each other’s throats. rachel wasn’t usually prone to lashing out at somebody, much less her brother, but somehow she did. she remembered feeling so upset that she couldn’t even recall what she said to felix, but she knew it was bad enough that he had to leave valpo.

it would be a lie to say she didn’t feel guilty about it, but she had better things to focus on for now. eventually she got accepted into harvard medical school, which felt like a dream came true, and so she too left valpo in the end. things had only gotten harder since then, but rachel wasn’t raised to be a quitter. now that her brother wasn’t around anymore, she often called her aunt to check on her while she was away, counting days until she could return home.

four years went by and rachel finally graduated from med school. she applied to do her residency in valpo, wanted to stay close to her family. after all valpo had always been home, and although felix hadn’t returned yet by the time she did, she knew that he would sooner or later ⸻ how could he not if the news of their dying aunt reach him? until then she could only look forward to the day they would make peace and become close again. hopefully.

[j-graysonlibrary]

The Xiang Chronicles: Book Two Chapter 5

Title: The Xiang Chronicles: Book Two

Author: Jay Grayson

Word Count: 98k

Genres: Fantasy, adventure, drama, LGBT+

Available on: my website

Synopsis: With another Xiang in the mix, for the first time in history, Pangu decides to reevaluate his methods and his place in the world. Along with taking his little sister Heidi as his last disciple, he also chooses to take the more political path in his efforts to end the discord throughout the land—particularly within Terra. (And gaining favor from the handsome Lord of Ultimos does not hurt.)

Heidi butts heads with everyone in the group, save Raine, and tensions are higher than ever. There are failed love confessions, in-group fighting, and demons from Kira’s past but that all comes to a head when they meet a servant of Shakti who is more than what she seems.

Could it be that the Mistresses of Shadow are more nuanced than previously believed? Or that the strict dichotomy between light and dark are, perhaps, a touch exaggerated? That and more begin to plague Pangu’s mind and his faith wavers…

Full chapter 5 under the cut

Chapter V:

The worst part was that Heidi was not even wrong. Pangu did not believe he did much as the Xiang and he had been avoiding that fact for some time now. Having a new Xiang crowned as well as having Heidi point out the fallacies in front of her only shone a light on a problem that had existed for a while.

Pangu looked to his feet and tried to even out his breaths. His eyes stung from tears that threatened to spill but he managed to hold them back. Maybe, if it did start to rain, he would let them go.

“I’m sorry I yelled,” Kira mumbled as another rumble of thunder sounded.

“It is okay. You were only mad for my sake…” Pangu gulped and looked up at his Terra and Agni disciples. Both appeared crestfallen but in different regards. He did not wish to upset them further. “Heidi’s words did not bother me. She’s just curious and she tends to say things without thinking about how they will come out…or what tone to use. She had always been like that so I am used to it.”

“She’s difficult,” Kira admitted. “I am not sure I can deal with her unless we come to some kind of compromise.” Or at all, he added mentally. For Pangu’s peace of mind he would at least make it sound as if he was willing to make an effort but whether that would actually come to pass was a lot harder to say. The idea of sitting down with the woman and talking things out was tantamount to stabbing himself under the fingernails with his knives.

“I know this is a bit sudden and off topic,” Baiya spoke up, getting the attention of both Pangu and Kira. “It’s a request if that is alright.”

Pangu felt the pressure in his chest ease as the subject shifted away from him. “Sure thing. What is it?”

“Yeah, what is it?” Kira seconded but sounded far more skeptical.

Baiya shot him a quick smile before putting all of his focus on Pangu. “Since we are so close to the border, I was wondering if we could stop by my family’s farm. It should only be a day and a half ride.”

It was a shorter distance to the farm than it was back to Ultimos and there was no urgent business in Ultimos either. Pangu had planned on just reconvening with Viren, getting his letter for the lord of Meala, and hitting the road again. Having a pit stop in Agni would not put them behind schedule at all.

Besides, he did care for Baiya’s family and seeing them might help bring the mood up overall.

So he smiled and nodded. “Of course.”

Baiya returned his smile and internally celebrated. He did want to see his family again, if for no other reason than to check on them, but he also wished to show Heidi a healthy brother-sister relationship. He had a feeling Loa would be good for her and he wanted them to talk.

Kira could see that there were clear ulterior motives but he made no effort to take Baiya to the side and ask. He would find out soon enough and if it involved burying Heidi or maybe tossing her off of a cliff then he wanted to be surprised. He had been lacking in pleasant surprises lately.

***

The trip across the border was much more awkward than any could have anticipated. Heidi did stay quiet, mostly only speaking to Raine and Pangu when necessary or when they checked in on her. Kira practiced his element by, occasionally, tripping the newest disciple which Baiya quickly caught onto.

“You had better stop,” he said, “She might end up blaming Pangu.”

Kira had not considered that so he sighed and crossed his arms. It had become his favorite way to pass time when they were not actively riding on their horses.

And Baiya was not the only one to notice. Raine hung back as Pangu trained with Heidi. They must have been only an hour or so out from their destination so Kira wondered what he wanted with him.

“Kira,” Raine addressed him in almost a formal manner. His face was rather stern as well. “The last time we were on foot, I noticed something.”

“Oh?”

He nodded. “Heidi kept tripping over sudden dips or inclines in the dirt. Even in the more sandy regions.”

“She’s pretty clumsy, huh?” Kira smirked but received no similar response.

“Are you…?” Raine led on, making the implication known.

Kira removed a hand from the reins and clutched the front of his shirt. “You think I was doing something? Raine, I would never.”

Despite the slight smirk that stayed on Kira’s face, Raine became more somber. “Oh, I am sorry. I should not have assumed…”

He was no fun to tease when he took things too seriously. In fact, Kira actually felt guilty for lying and he grappled with what to say to him. He would get a scolding, probably, but it might not have been unwarranted. He clicked his tongue and cursed himself for always having to lie even if it was not necessary.

Before he could admit that, yes, he had been tripping Heidi, Raine was called back to the front of the group by Pangu. Kira watched him go and deflated, feeling worse than before.

The farm was a different sight—the repairs had been taken care of so it was no longer in disarray but there was also a brand new building being constructed a short distance from the main house. It looked like a second house or, perhaps, an expansion.

Baiya dismounted his horse and cocked his head to the side at the sight of it. Everyone else followed and, in a matter of moments, the door to the main house was thrown open and two kids ran out screaming.

“Baiya!” Both Jaimas and Feiman shouted before colliding into the side of their older brother and hugging him with all of their force.

“You’re back!” Jaimas grinned from ear to ear as she looked up at him. “We weren’t expecting you.”

“I know, it’s a surprise.” Baiya squeezed them back. “Where’s mom? Loa?”

“Loa is off in Xiao,” Feiman answered with an exaggerated pout. His shaved head had been left unattended since they last saw him so a small puff of hair had grown in.

“Xiao?” Baiya repeated, confused.

Jaimas nodded and finally let him go so she could look at him easier. “She is studying with Lord Phay. And she helps make things better for people like us.”

He knew he would need to ask his mother for a more in depth explanation and he tried not to let it show on his face that he was disappointed that his sister was absent. She was the main reason he wished to stop by but, even in her absence, maybe Heidi could pick up on a nicer sibling dynamic thanks to Jaimas and Feiman.

The kids moved on from their brother to say hello to everyone else as they made their way to the house. Heidi also introduced herself to them, “I’m Heidi—Pangu’s sister.”

“Ooooh,” Jaimas nodded understandingly, “That’s why you look so similar.”

They found Daiji and Duobu in the dining room, chatting over tea but whatever they had been talking about was abandoned at first sight of Baiya. Daiji jumped from her chair and threw her arms around her son’s neck. “What are you doing home?”

Duobu looked around them to the rest of the group. “Welcome back, everyone,” he said with a smile.

“Oh, right.” Daiji laughed at herself and waved at everyone. “Hi.”

“I wanted to check on everything,” Baiya circled back and answered her question.

“And the Xiang just let you?”

“I wanted to see you too,” Pangu responded.

“Of course, dear, you are so sweet,” she said and moved onto him to pinch his cheeks between her fingers. But then she spotted Heidi. “Who is this? Your last disciple?”

“That’s his sister, Heidi,” Jaimas introduced.

“Well aren’t you a pretty young woman,” Daiji cooed before turning about the room and dragging out a few chairs from around the table. “Come on in, take a seat, get comfortable. We can get some food in you and, Pangu, some of the legumes are in season so I can make you a nice bean dish.”

“I will take care of dinner, sweetheart,” Duobu interrupted her mini whirlwind, “You catch up with Baiya.”

He wheeled himself further back into the kitchen while everyone took a seat. Feiman crawled into Baiya’s lap and Jaimas sat in between Kira and Raine with an eager expression. Pangu could tell that they both were hoping for epic stories like those in old Xiang tales and he worried they would have to disappoint them.

Luckily, Baiya took charge of the conversation and locked eyes with his mother. “I heard Loa was in Xiao?”

“Oh, that...right.” Daiji smiled sheepishly. “Not long after you left, Lord Phay visited us. She gave your step-father and I a hefty sum of gold to make up for the damages and asked us for our opinions on her rule. To be honest with you, until then I didn’t think much about what lord we were under or politics but your sister became very invested. She is something of an advisor to Phay, giving her the perspective of us little folk, but she’s also learning a lot from the entire experience. The last letter I received from her, she was using economics jargon which completely went over my head.”

“Is the extra money the reason for the new building?” Raine asked and gestured back behind him.

She nodded. “Yes. We thought we could expand the farm and maybe hire some help.”

“Mom has interviews next week,” Jaimas announced and kicked her feet out.

“That is great,” Pangu stated with a grin, “I am glad to hear everything is going well.”

“Since you showed up with a sick Raine, things have really taken a turn for the better,” Daiji chuckled while Raine blushed. He had a feeling that every time he saw the woman she would bring that up.

Heidi glanced up at him. “You came here because you were sick?”

It seemed they still left out some details but Daiji was more than happy to fill those gaps. She spun the whole story, from start to finish and it lasted through dinner since there were plenty of interruptions and additions from her children.

“Loa really stepped up and saved us all,” Daiji recalled the attack on the farm. She looked at Heidi when she said, “It is a shame she isn’t here. I think you two would get along great.”

It was a shame, Baiya thought. But, throughout dinner and story time, Heidi had been rather quiet and attentive so perhaps something was getting through to her.

But, as soon as he thought such a thing, she said, “I am sort of surprised by how all of you are. I was expecting Baiya’s family to be a lot different.”

“What did you expect?” Dubou asked with a smirk as he stacked the empty plates up and pushed them to the side. The younger kids helped to pass the remainder of the dishes to him.

“I do not know exactly…” Heidi tapped her finger to her lips, “Something more authoritarian, perhaps?”

“What’s that mean?” Feiman furrowed his brow and then looked up at his older brother for clarity.

“Are you being mean to this young woman, Baiya?” Daiji demanded.

“No,” Pangu answered in his place, “They have not spoken much since I take up most of her time with training and catching up with family matters. So I guess Baiya seems a bit…aloof.”

“Aloof is a good word,” Heidi agreed with a nod.

Feiman frowned at the use of such vocabulary but Jaimas chuckled as if she knew exactly what was going on. Daiji, however, gave her oldest son a very particular look.

“Baiya, will you help me with the dishes? I want to talk, just you and me.”

Pangu gave his third disciple a sympathetic smile but stayed put. There was nothing more he could do to help. Kira smirked at the prospect of the man getting yelled at by his mother for some perceived rudeness to Heidi and he was very glad to have no family in that moment.

In their absence, Feiman switched to Pangu’s lap and started to show him a cool trick he could do with his hands (in which he could bend his thumb back and touch his wrist) while Jaimas started to talk to Kira. Duobu kept Heidi’s attention but she, thankfully, did not ask him what happened to his leg as Pangu feared she might.

Rather, Duobu offered the story, completely enrapturing the last disciple.

In the kitchen nook, Baiya set the stack of dishes down onto the counter and braced for the worst as his mother set her hands on her hips. “The Xiang was not covering for you back there, was he? Because if I find out my own son has been rude to a woman you bet I am going to have a word with him.”

“I know, mom,” Baiya said, resisting the urge to grumble the words. “Pangu was telling the truth. I have not spoken to Heidi much at all.”

Daiji relaxed her shoulders and smiled. Her eyes drifted off to the side, toward the entrance to the dining room and she caught a glimpse of Heidi. “She really is pretty.”

Baiya felt his stomach churn. “Mom…”

“What? I can’t say she’s pretty?” she threw her arms up. “It is just an observation. One I am sure you have already made.”

He sighed. “We are both disciples; we have more important things to worry about.” Not to mention the fact his attraction lied elsewhere.

His mother’s lip twitched, as if she was fighting a smile and losing. “Is that some rule imposed on you or just your excuse?” Before Baiya could respond with anything other than an exasperated sigh, she carried on, “Or, is it that Pangu is overprotective of his sister? He seems the type. But, surely by now, he’s come to realize that you are a strong, reliable man and that you would take care of her.”

“Mom,” Baiya was not above begging, “Please.”

She tilted her head back, to better look at him. “Is my Baiya embarrassed? What a rare sight.” Her wily smile finally took over, showing exactly how she felt about the matter.

It was the closest Baiya had ever come to just telling her the truth. The words, ‘I like men; I like Pangu, not his sister,’ were on the tip of his tongue and he had to bite down to keep them there.

If he told her, not only would it shatter her joy in the moment but it would be a shock to her system. He did not believe she would hate him for it but he did know she would be disappointed. Depressed even. Many times he had imagined the conversation and, each time, he could perfectly construct what her face would look like.

Heavy with regret for perceived missteps in raising him, grief in knowing she would never have grandchildren from him, and, finally, worry about how the world would treat him.

There was, most likely, never going to be a point where Baiya would tell her. He would feel too guilty in destroying her hopes and her view of him. Too much would change.

That was why he had to practically bite his tongue off to keep everything at bay. Only when he was sure he had better control of his words did he let off. “Will you promise not to bring this up to Heidi…or her brother?”

Daiji grinned so hard that her eyes squinted almost out of existence. “Of course I will keep it a secret.” Then she turned serious. “But, when you are ready, of course, and not so busy with disciple business, you should take that young lady on a date. You deserve to have a little fun, right?”

Lying to his mother, no matter how many times he had done it, always gave him indigestion. “Alright.”

She reached her hand up to him, patting the side of his face. “Thank you. In the meantime, can I ask a more practical favor of you?”

Baiya could have praised Tiandi he was so happy to have the subject changed. “Yes?”

“Remember the supply town south of here we make monthly deliveries to?” When he nodded, she continued, “Well there was a sandstorm a week ago that shut the roads down. If you are already headed out I was wondering if you would be willing to drop off some sacks of grain for us.”

“I will have to ask Pangu but, if he says yes, then of course.” He did not doubt Pangu would agree. The small town was basically on the way back to Ultimos anyway, just slightly further west than their original route.

“Thank you, honey.” His mother ruffled his hair with a wide smile. “And, if you ever find some time away from training and disciple related duties maybe, for the sake of my future grandchildren, you could talk to Heidi.”

Baiya moved her hand but leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. He hated lying to his mother and he had hoped after the resolution of the situation with his old employers that he would not have to anymore. Yet, there he was. “Sure thing, mom.”

[machinegunbun]

concept: so i know we think of colson as this really rough guy when it comes to sex, but what about soft!dom col where he's strict but caring, and maybe the reader even has a bit of a praise kink. ❤❤

Omg yess

word count: 1.3k

A/N: sorry theres not a lot of smut, my brain got to wandering and I didn't feel the horniest so maybe pt.2? tons of fluff tho and its good to be back :)

Okay, so.

I'm thinking maybe reader has a past that left them uncomfortable with intimacy, whether from a relationship or otherwise. They're still super into freaky shit, but they need to feel comfortable first.

Does that make sense? Like, they need that safety blanket there first.

So obviously at first meeting Colson was scary, because to an outsider (especially early kells) he's this chaotic, sex machine.

It's clear to everyone that Reader is obviously attracted to him, and they are. They love the idea of doing all this kinky stuff with him, and at first Colson being Colson comes on kinda strong with the flirting, which makes them a little nervous to pursue anything.

But, one day, reader is hanging out with the gang (I imagine she's friends with Ashley [ that is his assistants name, right? God, it's been so long ] ) Maybe they're at a restaurant, nothing fancy just something where you seat yourself, and everyone squeezes into a booth, deliberately leaving no room for Colson and Reader, pointing to a two seater across the way.

You sit just far enough away from the group that you're out of earshot, and you can see them peeking the heads up and around the booth to try and catch a glimpse of what you're saying.

It's awkward at first, you're expecting him to drop some flirtatious joke that makes you choke on your drink, but instead he asks you how you met (whoever you're connected to in the group.) You tell him the story and return the question. He opens up about the fact that they're a day one, and even tells you about some of the stuff they went through together, good and bad. It's the first time you'd seen Colson not crazy or off something. He wasn't kicking out a windshield or hanging from the roof by a metal beam, he just was.

It was then that you realized the difference between MGK and Colson baker, and that before today at this restaurant you'd never met the latter.

Colson was able to express himself a lot better than MGK ever seemed to, at least when it came to you. He inquired a lot about you as a person, but the moment was ruined when you were in the midst of exchanging deep personal stories and Rook shot his straw wrapper at Colson and it bounced off his forehead and into his drink. Colson stood to return the favor, his story completely abandoned.

You didn't get a chance to speak to him like that again until two weeks later, when you met up once again in his hotel room. You were both sat on his bed watching spongebob, waiting for Rook, Slim and Baze to return with the bucket of ice. It wasn't a secret to anyone what they were doing, it didn't take three grown men to find an ice machine.

You didn't mind though.

Colson made you a little less nervous now that you'd seen him as someone other than the party animal you'd come accustomed to on stage. He was actually pretty cool, and really funny when he wasn't stressing you out with his antics.

When you asked him if he would finish his story for you he looked surprised.

"Oh, wow. You remember that?"

"Yeah, of course I do. It feels like the first time I ever really got to talk to you." He seemed uncomfortable at first, but continued with his story nonetheless.

The conversation flowed effortlessly until you began talking about how you always found Colson so interesting. He did things that terrified you like they were nothing. You admired his grab life by the balls attitude, and somewhere along the way of your ranting you opened up about how nervous intimacy made you. How most of the time the only way you could ever get off was by masturbating.

You hadn't even brought it up with him in mind, but the relation clicked immediately for him.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry."

"No, it's really nothing," you laugh nervously "I think it's just anxiety, I dunno. I'm paranoid."

"No, no. I'm sorry for the way I always talk about you— To you." he corrected "I never realized it made you uncomfortable. You always seemed into it, but I should've been more considerate and I'm sorry. I never would have— If i'd known I was making you uncomfortable—" He rambled

"Colson, it's fine." You cut him off "I mean, I am into a lot of the same stuff as you, It's just... I tend to like the concept a lot more than the reality because I am worried, and I need to feel safe before I can even consider something like that."

Colson must've really taken the conversation to heart, because he treated you a lot differently after that. When he'd heard that his loud onstage personality made you a little nervous he was sure to cool it when he was around you. He made sure to address you directly more often when you hung out in groups, whether to joke with you or as a conversation starter. He hadn't realized how uncomfortable and ostracized you'd been feeling in the group aside from your connection to it, but he was determined to change that.

It took a little bit, but eventually you really were comfortable with him, even when he was acting wild. You realized that being an anxious person and being around someone loud like him that you didn't really know was a little off-putting. Large crowds were hard enough for you, but with constant abrupt movement and noise it only worked to make you more anxious. Once you knew Colson a little better it didn't bother you as much, and he even helped you to become a little more comfortable and a little less anxious.

So when you found yourself in his hotel room once again, finishing the tail end of a family guy episode, you decided to make your move.

You weren't really sure how to start. Not with Colson.

You managed to awkwardly snuggle your way into his side, to which he gladly obliged, but you both remained silent apartment from the episode flashing on the tv. Glancing up at Colson, he stared blankly at the TV, glimpsing down to you momentarily to see what you were looking at him for. Your eyes returned to the TV soon after, your hand finding its resting spot just above his XXX tat.

You could feel Colson's chest shake softly with laughter. You tried to remember what had just happened in the show, but you were so busy anxiously devising your master plan to seduce him that you completely blanked. You could feel your heart beating in your chest. All you wanted was for him to blindfold and tie you to the bed and fucking own you. Everything about him drove you crazy. From his voice to his tats to his eyes to that fucking hair. God, you wanted nothing more than to have him between your legs while you tugged at those beautiful curls.

Your hand drifted lower, your nails scraping softly across his skin. This time he audibly chuckled.

"Are you tryna fuck me?" he asks, causing you to blush. It wasn't that you thought you were being sly, but you didn't expect to be confronted like that.

"I-"

"You're good, it's cute that you're shy, I just don't fuck with that teasing shit so, unless you wanna get yourself in trouble..." Although the words were harsh, his tone was soft. Things progressed quickly after that, your lips meeting in a heated kiss to your hands pinned above your head, his mouth moving to your neck as he whispers in your ear

"What's your safe word, princess?"

~*~*~*~

taglist

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@cclynn88

@lonerlee

@madisonmgklover22

@bakedcolson

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@rumoured-whispers

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@nichmeddar

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Brahms's Lullaby ~ Brahms Heelshire x Reader

Note: Why do I love Brahms? Fuck if I know. Anyway, this is what happens when a a meek, cute girl moves away from her old life to turn the page and find herself once again...And yet, her dark past quite literally comes back to haunt her.

'That's one huge manor...' Y/N thought to herself, the back of her neck straining as she scanned it from the bottom to the very top of the roof. The grip on her luggage tightened as she gulped in anxiety, and after taking a few deep breaths, she entered in this house, and immediately got greeted by the elderly woman who was the mistress of the house.

Y/N wasn't sure if it was her who was just nervous about the drastic change in her life, or if the woman was simply incredibly intimidating, but hey, as far as she was concerned, this woman won't be staying with her, so she will be all alone in the house, taking care of a child...How bad could it be?

Oh wait. Y/N hates children. They are so loud, bratty, obnoxious, entitled, rude...And the list could go on for ages, but she couldn't loiter in her mind any longer, and instead, she had to memorise where each room was, and what instructions the woman was saying.

She couldn't believe it, but she was glad she chose to wear a pair of comfortable sneakers, for she kinda got tired going up and down the manor...But what could she do anyway?

The kitchen got introduced to her, the woman told her to keep the leftovers in the freezer, told her about Malcom the delivery boy and how he's the only one allowed to bring her stuff. Weird, but what could she do? P'haps the child has a very strict routine that they must stick to, otherwise they'll feel weird and uncomfortable. Who knows?

And then, she showed her the music room, and while she wasn't paying much attention to the woman who turned on the music on the radio rather loud, Y/N looked around, inspecting the musical instruments, especially the piano, and the music sheets neatly displayed - "Brahms's Lullaby" it was called.

"Oh, is the child a fan of Johannes Brahms?" Y/N asked with a soft smile on her face, as she gently traced her fingers over the keys. "Yes, he is. In fact, the child is called Brahms." the woman spoke a bit sharply, looking her up and down with eyes that almost seemed...Judging, for some reason. "What a lovely name. When will I meet little Brahmsy?" she asked, and as soon as she used that nickname, the woman's jaw got set, and Y/N could swear she was gritting her teeth in anger at her. "...Brahms. His name is Brahms. You will meet him right now. Come on." the woman went on ahead and opened a room, where a doll was sitting in a chair, neatly dressed like a gentleman, while next to him, crouching, an elderly man, who she could only assume was the woman's husband, the master of the house. "Oh, my dear Brahms...This is Y/N, she is here to be your new nanny. Miss L/N, this us Brahms, and he will decide whether he accepts you or not." ...a doll? She...Has to babysit...A doll? Well...The pay is good, and she's veeeery far away from her old home, so...No new beginning happens within your comfort zone, right? "Hello, Brahms, it's great meeting you. I hope we'll get along well." with a sweet smile on her face, Y/N crouched down if front of the chair and took the little hand of the doll, shaking it carefully. "...Fine enough. Now, could you give us some time alone? Brahms will decide now." with that look on her face, while the old man looked at her with pity, and...Relief, maybe? Y/N exited the room, only to see a man standing in front of her, wearing an amiable smile. "Oh, hello there, you must be the new nanny. I'm Malcom, the delivery boy. Well, delivery man. Nice to meet you." very charming... "Ah, yes, I've heard about you. My name is Y/N, nice meeting you as well." she replied politely, although she could sense the flirt he was failing to put forward. "If you want, some day, I can show you around the town. It's small, but kinda pretty." he continued in the same manner, and Y/N replied with simple answers, until finally, the woman opened the door widely, with an even wider smile. "Brahms has decided that you are suitable to be his new nanny, congratulations." how the human behaviour can change so drastically, doing a whole 180, in a split second. "Thank you so much for accepting me, Brahms! I'm sure we'll get along well!" Y/N clapped her hands together to her chest in a cheerful manner, as the elder man left as well, allowing his wife some more farewell words with the doll. "Here, I made you a simplified list of rules you must follow. You don't have to wake up at 7 in the morning every day like my wife told you, but you must make sure all of these are taken care of, alright, miss L/N?" the man asked, handing her the paper which she attentively read. "Yes, of course, I will do as instructed without fail. Thank you for having trust in me with your dear Brahms. Have a lovely trip and I hope you get a well-deserved rest!" Y/N wished them, and for a split second, she almost thought the man's eyes flashed with shock and sorrow. What was going on anyway...? This family is...Peculiar, to say the least. Well, no matter, she will be paid weekly, and with the pretty generous amount she earned while working as a doctor, she should be able to afford anything she'd want, so she won't get bored.

And so, the Heelshires left, and she was all alone with the doll - Y/N decided to make her new bedroom to her liking, as much as possible, with Brahms sitting on a nightstand, as she was humming whatever tune that went in her mind, and swaying carefreely.

"You know, Brahms? I wasn't expecting you to be a doll. But frankly, I think this is better. Children are annoying...But you? You're really nice. And you're not loud or obnoxious. I think we'll be great friends." speaking to a doll...I guess that's how far in my loneliness I've gotten. Tragic, really...She thought as she realised how much of a crazy person she'd look like, were someone to see her. "Since it's already evening, let's go make some really good dinner, and then we can play the piano a bit? Maybe even watch a movie together?" she picked up the doll and went to the kitchen, and looking in the fridge, then at the utensils available, she put together a nice dinner, and put it split in two plates, one for her, and one for the doll, and to keep away the boring silence that hung painfully throughout the house, she put on some LoFi music on her phone, and ate, feeling more peace now than she ever did. "Hmmm...I know your mum told me to put the food in the freezer...But it's better eaten while still warm. I don't think you'll like it if it's stone cold...So, I'll leave it here, on the table, and see how it is. If you don't like it, and you want me to put it in the fridge, just tell me, and I'll do as advised." ...Just tell me? JUST TELL ME? Girl, are you out of your mind?! As if a doll could speak...

After she washed her plate, fork and knife, she picked up the doll once again, and went to the music room, putting the doll on the piano, and cracking her fingers, she let them glide over the claviature, creating a beautiful melody echo through the room, and maybe Y/N didn't realise, but she had a glowing smile on her face, and she visibly relaxed and felt at ease, as if she was flying through the fluffy clouds.

"I haven't done this in so long, I'm surprise I'm not rustier. I hope you liked it too, Brahmsy. Now, let's go to be. Do you want to sleep in my room? Come on, I'm a bit anxious to sleep by myself in this huge, creepy house." she mused as she got to her room, carefully putting the doll on her pillow and after going to the bathroom to change in her cutesy Unicorn Pusheen nightgown, and turning on her laptop, she put on Harry Potter, one of her comfort movies, and cuddling with the doll, she gave it a little kiss before getting engulfed in the story once again, and falling asleep without realising.

Everything was peaceful in the house in the morning, until Y/N reached the kitchen to make some light breakfast, only to find a paper on the table, with beautiful cursive writing in ink on it.

"Warm is better, thank you :) "

Frankly speaking, it freaked her our enough to get a panic attack and barricade herself in her room for the whole day, her bedroom locked and too afraid to leave that place for the whole day.

Oops.

After this, days on end, and then weeks passed by uneventfully, as Y/N took care of Brahms with no problem, Malcom came by to give her the groceries, the pay and anything that she'd order online, she'd chat with some old friends, would watch movies, would go out to plant flowers and tend to the garden, would dance around, happy to bask in the warm Summer sun, would read whatever books she likes, with the doll in her lap, and she realised that she never felt more relaxed and free in her life.

It was pretty cool not having to work for money, huh?

But one day, when she was out in the garden, barefoot and with a cute, flower dress on, her long, beautiful hair, accessorised with a colourful flower crown, and she was dancing to the music on her phone, she noticed a figure somewhere from the forest. It was unmoving, almost as if it was staring, and it startled Y/N. It startled and frightened her so much that she quickly picked up the doll and went inside the house, making sure all windows and doors are properly locked, and the drapes are closed, so nobody could get in.

That night, she kneeled on the bad, an upset frown on her face, as she felt her eyes watering slightly, looking down at the porcelain doll of the little boy.

"It's moments like this when I hoped you were human, Brahmsy. Not a child...But a man. I'm scared...I'm so scared...I don't like being alone. There was some creep outside in the forest, and it was staring at us. What do I do, Brahmsy? What am I supposed to do...?" as she felt a few tears streaming down her face, she sighed, hanging her head down, raking her fingers down her face in mild desperation. "...Who am I kidding, you're just a doll, you're not human. Why the hell do I even bother. I'm going to die here, sooner or later..." her voice was filled with dread and resignation as she got under the covers, clinging onto the doll as if her very life depended on it.

Since that very day, she continued seeing the silhouette of a tall man, standing there, menacingly stalking her every single day, from different places, until she heard the phone ring, and reluctantly, she answered.

"...Hello? Who is there...?" she muttered, gripping the phone anxiously, awaiting and answer. "You don't recognise the voice of the man that made you feel good every night?" her breath stopped completely hearing that awful voice she hoped never to hear again. Instead of answering, she slammed the phone down.

But it rang again.

And again.

And again.

Until it drove her mad and she disconnected it completely.

It wasn't like anyone would call her anyway, and if they wanted to contact her, then they could text her on her private phone, or on social media.

Why can't she just get some peace anywhere? She just wanted to get away from all hell she was put through at home...But now, it seemed like Hell was inclined to follow her to the ends of the world.

The stress and fright from this increased when she received multiple pictures of herself from either outside the house, or even inside, which is when she realised the stalked from outside was, in fact, the one who called her on the phone. It was her horrible ex.

And one horrible night, as she gripped on the doll to dear life, walking down the corridors of the huge manor, checking for the thousandth time that everything is locked tight, she heard a noise.

What was she supposed to do...? She couldn't run out of the house, everything was locked...And could she hide? Not really, she was sure he'd check all the rooms without fail.

So...What could she do except try to hide in her room?

She waited in her wardrobe, knowing very well that, if he were to get inside her bedroom, he would check every nook and cranny, but even so, she felt safer in a cramped, tight place, than outside in such an open room.

Mere seconds felt like outright centuries, she heard the door slam open, making her jump in fright, her hand to her mouth, so she'd muffle any sound she'd potentially make from her hyperventilating. She knew, it would be long before he checked the wardrobe, but gosh...The anticipation made her anxiety skyrocket.

Until it finally happened.

Y/N found herself being dragged from inside her safe place by the hair, thrown to the ground, but not once did she let go of the doll that became some sort of a comfort object for her.

"So that's where you were, Y/N! I missed you! It's been a while, hasn't it?" oh no, that overly sweet voice...It's nothing but poison. It was so bad that her bottom lip started quivering with fear as she tried to crawl away from there, but obviously, to no avail. "Wheeeere are you going, darling? Didn't you miss me? Come on, give me a hug!" he grinned, grabbing her and trapping her in his arms, and she couldn't help but tremble in disgust and fear as she felt his hands roaming in places it shouldn't. "Why aren't you talking to me? Why aren't you saying anything? Come on, let me hear you voice! ...DO SOMETHING, DAMN IT!" ah, his facade crumbled much faster than expected, and that aggressive scream in her face as he roughly pushed her in the wardrobe door made her whimper and wrap herself around the doll, trying not to let tears fall down her face and just...Praying for all this to be over...To be just a nightmare..."What the fuck is with that doll anyway? Why do you cling on it, and not on me? Give that here." but she didn't let go, and seeing how she was opposing him, he forcefully grabbed her face before slapping her before snatching away the doll from her arms. "Sheesh...It's so fucking ugly. No wonder you stay with this, it's the only thing that would stay with someone like you. So ugly, dumb, annoying...You should be grateful that I'm here! Nobody in this world wants you! You're worthless and you deserve nothing. Do you hear me? You ARE nothing! Better thank me nicely for coming all the way here for you! Nobody would bother doing ANYTHING for you!" he yelled at her, as she cradled her face, crying, but also fearing being seen crying, remembering how bad it would get. "Don't her Brahms...Please...Please don't hurt him..." she begged and pleaded over and over, but it only seemed to ignite more anger in his eyes. "You only beg me with that sweet voice of yours...To save your stupid...Thing? Really, Y/N? You're pathetic. You're stupid. You're disgusting. Fuck you and fuck your stupid doll!" and with that, the jerk started slamming the fragile porcelain doll on the wall, ignoring the desperate pleas from the girl. "NO! NOOOOOOOO! No....! Brahms, no...! What has he done to you..." Y/N crawled to the place where the doll's porcelain head was slammed apart, and she let tears fall over as, with shaky hands, she tried to piece together the overly-fragmented head, only to get pulled back by the hair and slammed on the ground, as he pushed himself upon her, his hands grabbing at her exposed flesh, her light nightgown offering close to no protection from the lecherous predator, and her weak, noodle arms, just like before, offered no resistance to his significantly stronger, bulkier built, and no matter how much she tried to fight back, she knew...She knew that struggling never helped, no matter how much she tried. It never did. And it only made it hurt more.

But then...Before she knew it, a loud noise, like that of an explosion, or destruction, came from somewhere in the room, startling the poor girl enough to make her scream in fright, while the predator jumped to his feet looking at the hole in the wall...

Only for a pair of hands to slowly creep out of the wall, tredging along the wooden walls, and then, a head wearing a porcelain mask creepily got out, followed by 2 legs and a body. It seemed to be a man, very tall - In fact, taller than her ex - , but while yes, his dramatic entrance startled the two, the man only got angrier, ready to fight the intruder, while the petite girl only got more frightened by the commotion, dragging herself in the safest corner of the room, shaking, guarding her head with both her arms, hoping again and again that this was all a nightmare, and it would end already - It was beginning to look so much more incredible, like a weird fantasy movie...This can't be real, right?!

"Y/N! Help me!" the voice of a child called out her name, almost strangled and desperate, and peeking at the brawl on the ground, she noticed her ex trying to strangle the stranger, whose head was leaning, his eyes fixated on hers.

He went out of the wall as soon as she got attacked...He was trying to protect her...Maybe? So...She got up, trying not to attract the attention of her ex, and taking ahold of the lamp on her nightstand, she brought it down hard against her ex's head, making him groan in pain...But he didn't fall. He didn't faint, like you see in movies. Instead, he got up, glaring at the meek girl and snatched away the lamp, throwing it away.

"You fucking bitch...Now you've done it." his voice was so dark that she was sure this was game over, so she bolted out of the room as fast as she could, but the labyrinthine house was impossible to navigate, and before she knew it, she found herself in a dead end, with no escape.

However, instead of seeing her ex with the wrath of a raging bull, she noticed the stranger slowly making his way towards her, his shoulder slouched, his dirty, once white, tank top now splattered with fresh blood, as is the rest of his outfit. But his hands were up, almost as if to say that he 'surrenders', as he stepped right in front of the trembling girl.

"Please don't kill me. Please don't hurt me. Please, please, please, I will leave you alone, I will go away, I will do want you want, please don't hurt me." even her voice was shaky, her arms crossed to protect her face, and her eyes closed in fear, so she didn't notice the curly haired man slowly crouching down in front of her, his head tilting slowly, before he gingerly grasped her wrists, pulling them away with such gentleness that she never knew. It was so weird for someone to be so careful with her body...With her...That she opened her eyes, doe-like, looking at the man's wide eyes that peered through his mask. "I am Brahms." but this time, his voice wasn't like that of a child, but not did it sound rough and hoarse, like her ex's. It was soft and delicate, masculine, but not too much. It was soothing. And what Brahms once saw to be the most frightened eyes, remembering how scared Bambi was when his mother died, yet now, they had more of a curious spark. "I won't hurt you. I promise. Don't leave." the once tense girl visibly relaxed under his touch, as he let go of her wrists and letting his knees touch the floor, he leaned forwards, between her legs, to get closer to her, and touched her face with both of his arms, wiping away her tears, surprised at how soft her skin was...Is it was a flower petal feels like? He remembers overly descriptive books where women are seen as different delicate things...A flower, a fawn, a butterfly, a nightingale, the Moon, and so many others...And he could finally understand why. "You are safe now." he continued, thinking it would make the girl smile, but instead, even more tears leaked down her face, and she threw her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her, his body flushed to hers...And he stood there, stiff, shocked at the situation he was in.

What was he supposed to do now? Touch was so foreign to him...But he loved it so much! It was so warm, it made him happy! He wanted the girl to be closer and closer to him. He remembers what she did daily to his doll - What was it called...A cuddle? - Yes, he wanted that. He NEEDED that.

He hated that man touching her - He was hurting her - Only HE can touch her. He deserved to die. He deserved to fuck off. All he has to do is get rid of the body, and the rest can go on as it always has been - Except, instead of Y/N cuddling the doll, she will cuddle him every night, and she will kiss him.

"Thank you, Brahmsy. Thank you. Thank you so much." she continued thanking him over and over again, but he didn't answer. Instead, his hands slowly made their way on her waist, then went to the curvature of her hips, then to her thighs, and without any warning, he lifted her up, indirectly forcing her to glue herself to him even more - Not before hearing her cute squeal of surprise - And he carried her to one of the guest bedrooms, shivering a bit as he felt her warm breath on his bare neck - It excited him, but he didn't understand really what it was - But it was enough to make him bite his lip behind the mask and his grip on her thighs strengthened a bit, under the pretext of making sure she doesn't fall by mistake.

Luckily, he reached the bedroom and closing the door behind, he got in bed, holding her close as she stood in his lap, so close that he could feel her rapid heartbeat slowing down little by little. It was no misunderstanding, she was getting more and more comfortable around him. He was her protector, and he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her ever again. She was his. Nobody else's. Only his.

They stood like that for a while, just holding each other and calming down, before Brahms turned the both of them to the side, and he hugged her tightly to his chest, playing with her hair, not letting her go for the whole night. His embrace was warm, and Y/N felt so safe - As never before, not even in her parents' home. She felt...Good.

The next day, she woke up still in Brahms's arms. She wasn't sure if he woke up or not, but she leaned to plant a soft kiss on the forehead of the mask, as she raked her fingers through his dark, curly hair, but before she knew it, a pair of arms wrapped around her torso, hugging her close to his chest.

"Good morning, Brahms. Did you sleep well?" her sleepy voice was so cute...He wanted to wake like this every day...As an answer, he merely nodded. "I'm happy to hear that. Come on, we have to eat breakfast, then take a shower...And after that, we can do whatever we want. Sounds good?" she asked, getting up and holding his arms, urging him to follow her. "No shower!" ah, the childish voice again, I see... "Then...How about I shower with you? I have some cute rubber duckies, if you want." she tried to appeal to his inner child, which seemed to pique his interest. "...Only if you wash me." he muttered, making the girl chuckle. "Okay, sure, sure. Let's eat something first. I think there's some milk and cereal." she remembered how much she loved to eat that every morning before going to school, when she was little.

She prepared two bowls and they ate in silence, until Brahms muttered that he wants to hear the music she usually puts when eating - And grinning at him, she put on LoFi music once again, which seemed to make the boy happy too.

After that, they went to the bathroom, and while Brahms waited for the tub to get filled, Y/N went to get the clothes in the washing machine, while getting some fresh clothes for the both of them. Apparently, he actually had other clothes, he just didn't want to bother washing or changing...For who knows how long...

As Brahms got in the tub, only briefs on, playing with the duckies, Y/N kneeled by the tub, taking the flower-scented showed gel and the sponge.

"Get in the tub too." Brahms put his arms on the tub edge, leaning his chin on them, looking at her attentively. "We don't have much space in the tub." she explained, but he had none of it. Instead, he rose from underneath the water, picked her up with a weird ease, and got her in the tub, not before splashing her, so her nightgown was soaked so she couldn't protest anymore. "...Fine, you got me. Let me clean you, then." she shook her head with a sigh as she heard him chuckle, gripping her wrists and pulling her to sit on his lap. Did he really like it that much, she wondered. "Can I shave your chest and neck, Brahms?" she asked as she trailed her hands over his chest, shoulders and arms, scrubbing with a sponge, one hand always finding its way on either her hip or her leg. The answer came in the form of a nod, and she reached to the sink to get a shaving blade and very carefully, making sure not to irritate his skin, or cut him by mistake, she cut down the overgrown, stinky, unwashed hair. In the end, his skin was finally clean and soft and smelling like roses and vanilla. "Let me sit behind you, I have to wash your hair." he seemed pretty exited, feeling her legs on either side of him, his head leaning back so her fingers could work miracles - He felt in heaven - He was so spoiled, and he loved every second of it. The shampoo smelled really nicely too, he had to admit. But her fingers massaging his scalp...Ahhh, it was so perfect, he was almost sure he'd fall asleep. "Let me wash you too!" he said, and in a split second, he could feel the girl's body stiffen, her eyes going wide, and her face...It was beginning to turn pink...? Was she...Blushing? "Ah, uhm...Well...Y-You can wash my hair, if you want?" she was stuttering! So cute! So cute, in fact, that he pinched both her cheeks, and they felt like marshmallows. "H-Hey, stop, that hurts." she pouted as he teased her. He loved that. "Yay!" Brahms cheered as he got her back glued to his chest, his hand gingerly tracing her neck, making her lean her head back, just as he did...But why did he like the sight of his hand wrapped around her neck? He didn't want to hurt her...But the visual was getting him feel weird things.

He followed the same routine as she did to him - Massaging her scalp, putting shampoo, rinsing, then this...Conditioner? Oh, it smelled nicely...And this is called...Hair mask? Ah, this is coconut scented! And she is smiling! She has a kitty smile! She looks like a cute little kitty!

After the bath time was over, Y/N wrapped him in a bathrobe, and while he wasn't paying attention, she quickly took off her nightgown and put another bathrobe on tying it tightly, and guiding the man back to their room, so she could use a hair dryer to dry both their hair, before brushing it neatly, so they could dress up...And he insisted she dressed in that cute, flowy, flower-patterned dress

"There, all good. What do you want to do now, Brahmsy? Do you want to go in the garden and see the flowers?" she asked, a bright smile on her face, both her hands holding his, and he could see her eyes were basically glimmering, pleading him to go out with her...But he hated the outside...Hmmm...

He grumbled a bit, but ultimately, he let himself be dragged outside - He hissed a bit, as if he was a vampire getting burnt by the sun, but after a while...He didn't find it that bad...? And the flowers in the garden were so pretty...!

"Hey, Brahms, take off your shoes and socks. Feel the grass. It will make you feel so calm and peaceful...Here, how do you feel?" she asked, intertwining her fingers with his. "It's...It tickles." he muttered, looking down and wiggling his toes to get used to it. "Come sit down with me. Watching the clouds is really relaxing." she said, helping him sit down, then laying on their backs. Instead of staying apart, however, Brahms pulled her close to his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. "...But it's kinda boring..." he muttered, as he started kneading her arm up and down, massaging it from sheer boredom. "Look, Brahmsy, that cloud looks like a bunny, don't you think?" she put her finger up in the air, pointing to one of the clouds passing by. "Ah! You're right! And that one looks like a dragon! And that one looks like a butterfly! Look, Y/N, it's so pretty!" his boredom dissipated quickly and it got replaced by excitement instead - Very wholesome, the girl thought as she looked at the person next to her getting so happy over such simple things.

They stood outside until evening came, and they could watch the beautiful sunset, the sky painted with the most gorgeous shades there are. "Let's get inside, dear, it's getting cold. We don't want to get sick, right?" she smiled at him, only for him to hang his head down, and then he took off his cardigan and put it over her shoulders and pulled the girl between his legs, her back glued to his broad, warm chest and his embrace made her feel so warm and at ease. "Brahmsy...?" she asked softly, tilting her head up, before feeling his chin on top of her head, but she was met with silence. "The stars are pretty. You are pretty. Y/N is the prettiest, brightest star. Y/N is my star. I love my star." his soft voice was heard, almost whispery, and after a few more seconds, she felt the softest, sweetest kiss on her hair, then on her temple and on her cheek, before his chin found its place back on her head. "I love you, Brahms." she said, with teary eyes, intertwining her fingers to his, pulling his arms closer to her and squeezing his hands. "And I've never loved anyone more than I love you."

Needless to say, that comment made the man giddy and happy, for he, too, felt happiest now than he ever did before. When they felt tired, Brahms picked the girl up and got her back to their now shared room, dressed in their sleeping wear and cuddled, yet this time, Y/N was holding him, his head resting on her chest, as she played with his hair, soothing, and humming a lullaby to help him sleep.

It was Brahms's Lullaby.

[austarus]

HR Wells x Reader - Reversal of Denouement

*A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me. It belongs to its rightful owner.

**Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!

***I’d also like to thank @grimtamlain-writes​ for being my beta reader.

Word Count: 8251

MASTERLIST

A low groan left HR's lips. His body felt numb, his chest ached - tingled as his heart beats steadily. Is it beating? The darkness of his eyelids eased the stinging coming from his mind – it wasn’t so bright. The headache formed there. His body screamed at him as the novelist made the slightest of movement. His left shoulder in particular had protested in desperate agony. He couldn’t move it very much, the area succumbed to restraints of some sort. HR’s throat felt raw as his body throbbed, the blood coursing meticulously through his blood vessels. The sound of a soft voice greeted his ears, but his eyes refused to open.

"I... you, HR... even if... see it." The voice was so familiar, so gentle. So sweet. "Should... better." A drop of water hit his numbed hand, static still prominent there from the little movement his body had done. “I wish…” The dark-haired doppelganger could only understand fragments of what the speaker was saying. He felt a pressure on his hand, tender skin holding onto his before something tickled his forehead. Feather-light. What was it? Who was it? A few moments passed and he heard nothing, the novelist only assumed that the voice’s owner had left. He didn’t want to be alone right now though, not with the darkness.

It had become unbearable.

Since... Since when did…? How...? Oh. Right. Savitar... Am I dead? Is this where spirits wait for their turn to pass into their designated afterlife? Have I really...? Events from earlier resurfaced to his mind, his senses coming together. Right, had to protect Iris. For Barry – it was my fault Savitar had gotten to her. My big mouth. Even if Barry didn't really see me as a helpful friend. At least... At least I proved Savitar wrong, who ironically is a version of Barry. That's hella twisted. He huffed out a breath before venturing back into the calmness of sleep. Maybe a little more rest will help?

***

HR cracked an eye open: this time, harsh filtered light had greeted him. The novelist grunted in pain, adjusting himself slightly to assess where he was. What day was it? What was the time? How long have I  been here? A yawn left his lips this time, his throat and mouth as dry as a desert.

“Well look who finally decided to wake up?” HR’s eyes met Cisco’s, who stood with a tablet in hand. “How’s sleeping beauty feeling?”

The Wells doppelganger cleared his throat. “Like I’ve gotten assaulted by an Amtrack bus, and not the good kinds.” HR’s baby blue eyes scanned the room, landing on the flower vase that was set on a table near him. Blue forget-me-knots and pink hydrangeas stood proudly in their vases, nurtured well. HR felt his heart swell, his eyes not daring to leave the delicate petals that accented the med bay in better tones. Cisco handed him a cup of water to which HR downed it immediately.

“Amtrack does trains.”

“Not on my Earth, Francisco.” The author couldn’t help but ask, his eyes lingering on the flowers once more. “Did Tracy bring those?”

Cisco pursed his lips, an odd look present on his face. He wanted to tell HR, but… “No. Um, she didn’t.” Tracy had been visiting, though it had become some sort of a nuisance to all her complaining at this point. She hadn’t even known HR for that long, anyway.

“Oh?” His shoulders dropped subtly in disappointment. “They’re beautiful, I was just wondering and…”

“Let’s just say, a special someone’s been… dropping by and bringing a new flower each day. That’s all you’re getting from me, Aurora.” Cisco reasoned with the Wells doppelganger. The mechanical genius knew, but it wasn’t his place to say. It killed him, but… “I wouldn’t move around too much, if I were you. You’ve got a fractured shoulder and that chest wound. I’ve been told to relay the message that you’re to be on strict bed rest until that shoulder further heals.” HR lowered his gaze to see the cross-body sling. He clenched his slinged hand and unclenched it to bring some feeling into the limb.

“What about my chest?”

“Miraculously, that’s been healing really well since day one.” Cisco kept the talk real, showing the injured doppelganger the schematics and pictures. “You got lucky that it missed your heart by a centimeter.” A stab wound like that should have… I wonder if she knows that I know.

HR blinked at the seriousness in his injury, the looming idea of death from his decision. “How long was I out?”

“A week and a half.”

“What?” HR’s eyes widened in disbelief. “I-”

“HR!” Tracy’s sudden voice pierced the room, stunning Cisco and triggering an ache in HR’s head. The grad scientists shuffled over to him, both forgetting that Cisco was in the room. “HR, my love, how are you? Are you feeling okay? Is there any pain?” He continued checking his friend’s vitals and adjusting dosages to the IV and morphine administered – as per your request. The room was growing ever louder with HR and Tracy. Tracy embraced him, minding his injuries as she continued to fuss over him. It made the Wells writer smile, yet… his heart didn’t swell as much as it used to.

Odd.

Cisco sent you a quick text while the two were preoccupied, but you were already at the Labs. You stopped just outside the entrance, the wall and dimly light hallway obscuring you from who remained in the med bay. They wouldn’t be able to see you from where you stood.  A shaky breath left you as you clutched the Freesia flower in hand. Your heart shriveled in your chest as you backtracked. Hearing his voice is enough. After all, with Tracy around you couldn’t be near him – those dirty and hateful looks she’d send you. Best to keep my distance, I guess. You couldn’t help but sneak a peek at him though, the man who had unknowingly captured your heart and would never reciprocate your love. You pushed down the lump in your throat. Hastily, you sent Cisco a text to check on the flowers. Silently, you trailed away from the med bay and to the upper levels of STAR Labs. I wonder if he liked the flowers. Standing at such altitude with the wind blowing lightly had calmed you a bit. Looking down at the flower, you gripped it tightly before you began to pick off the petals one by one. The little moments you had with the goofy novelist surfaced to the forefront of your mind with each petal you held. Your little curious escapades. The little talks. The nights you’d visit him when Tracy wasn’t around.

“He loves me, he loves me not,” You murmured, a stray tear trickled down your cheek. The freesia symbolizes unconditional love and honor. “He loves me, he loves me not,” Your voice cracked as more tears fell. “He loves me, he loves me not…”

***

A frown presented itself on HR’s lips as he tilted his head to crack his neck. The crack relieved him tremendously. It didn’t make sense. The novelist mused to himself, setting aside the current chapter draft he was working on. The voice I heard was… different. It didn’t sound like Tracy’s. HR couldn’t get that voice out of his mind – the tenderness that was laced in the tone of that voice. Nothing like the slight shrill in Tracy’s. He eyed the flowers once more that day, their presence was prominent. If Tracy hadn’t brought those, then who had?

The team had helped situate HR in his room in order to vacate the med bay should another imminent event occur. He had overheard Cisco tell Wally that you were preoccupied with something in Star City – a bit of disappointment twinged inside him. HR had taken up doing bits of physical therapy for the rest of his body without moving his shoulder as much. His shoulder and arm remained in a crossbody sling. The flowers sat on his bedside counter; he tended to them as best as he could with the limited movement he had. Tracy protested that they don’t need to be around, but the novelist was vehement on keeping the plants. HR won’t deny the fact that he had gotten annoyed several times with her around when he needed thinking space for his writing. He couldn’t write with noise and nonsensical chatter, especially if it’s mainly coming from someone who doesn’t want to really listen to his input. She’d go on and on about her scientific research and such, but wouldn’t hear a word from HR regarding his writing. The longer the novelist was confined to his room for rest, the more he had time to think – to contemplate. Yes, he liked Tracy, but… it just seemed that she didn’t really see HR. She does all the talking; she doesn’t really ask about how I feel about things or ask me about my life, even things about Earth-19… It’s like she doesn’t see me for anything other than a pretty face. It’s not even my face that Tracy sees, just Randolph’s. Was I too quick to jump at the first person who showed interest in me? Had I rushed into ‘forever’ with her?

He tabled those thoughts for now. HR reached for his laptop; one hand opened it to start it up. While the device loaded, he grabbed his black-clear glasses and set them on his face. If anyone saw him as such, they wouldn’t be able to tell the physical difference between him and his handsome, yet grumpy doppelganger. Except for the eyebrow scar, but that was obscured by the glasses. HR did a couple of searches with a concentrated look. Surely, it was the person with that… angel-like voice.

“Hydrangeas,” HR whispered as his eyes skimmed over the text that had popped up. “The hydrangea represents gratitude, grace and beauty. It also radiates abundance because of the lavish number of flowers and the generous round shape. Its colors symbolize love, harmony and peace.” The Wells doppelganger scrolled further. “Pink hydrangeas symbolize heartfelt emotions.” Interesting. HR continued his research, glancing at the other flower type that resting in the vase. “Forget-me-nots symbolize true love and respect. When you give someone these tiny blooms, it represents a promise that you will always remember them and will keep them in your thoughts. They are also considered a symbol of fidelity and faithfulness.” A particular link caught his eye, he clicked on it. The novelist read to himself the text once more, “Based on Christian lore, the story about forget-me-nots is that God was walking in the Garden of Eden. He saw a blue flower and asked it its name. The flower was a shy flower and whispered that he had forgotten his name. God renamed the flower as forget-me-not saying that He will not forget the flower.”

HR swallowed thickly; contrary to popular belief around here, he wasn’t stupid. Sure, he wasn’t a science-based genius, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t an expert on other aspects of life and had basic common sense. The author was emotionally intelligent and intact with the world around him. These flowers weren’t picked out on accident. But who would do that? Who doesn’t want me to forget about them? The dark-haired man shook his head slightly as he shut his laptop. A surge of sadness welled inside him at the notion of ‘being forgotten’. Who had he done that to? He’d get to the bottom of this mystery in due time. Right now, I need to jog my memory on what I was writing. A hand found a rough draft paper, his eyes scanned over the words he had typed out. His brows creased as the written notes he’d made on the paper as well. (Y/N) … I had… What had I been writing about again? The novelist read each line, each note he had made no drafts and scratch paper.

The hairs at the back of his neck stood up as realization hit him the more he had read on. The drafts, the notes, all of it – the little novel he had been writing regarding his adventures. But this particular part of his story – the ‘angel’ in his story. The one who stuck by him since coming here, the one who had given him a safe space… And the one he hadn’t seen since waking up. How could he forget? HR lowered the paper; his eyes became half-lidded as guilt shot through him. Before Barry had gone to the future and gotten hints of Tracy with her Speed Bazooka, HR had been working on his book. A book that he had pushed off to stick with Tracy and help in any way that he can to make the speed weapon possible. He had gotten distracted from doing the things he loves. A few conjectures arose in his mind as he slipped his glasses off, one arm end pressed to his lips. His heart hammered into his chest; you were among the last faces he had seen before passing out that night.

The irony. How could I forget that (Y/N) was the ‘angel’ in my story?

***

“Look at you, up and at ‘em.” Cisco strolled into the lounge with a cheeky grin. The mechanical genius didn’t take HR for granted anymore, not with the stunt he pulled. No, Cisco willingly checked up on him – not just for you, but for himself. HR had truly become one of his close friends in the end, especially with all the advice about Gypsy. “What are you cooking up this time?”

“Just an omelet with a side of bacon and toast, Francisco,” HR turned to the mechanical engineer who continued to tinker away at the schematics to get Barry out of the Speedforce. He offered Cisco some with a gesture only for the scientist to politely decline. “I haven’t seen (Y/N) anywhere. Um, is she also…?”

“Oh, you know how she’s like. Either up in the vents or chilling in her birds’ nest on the roof. And on that note, our resident hummingbird has become quite the firecracker.”

HR raised an eyebrow at his friend. “How so?”

“She punched Savitar square in the face then decked him multiple times over when Barry brought him in. Harry had to be the one to pull her away – well, more like carry her away kicking and screaming bloody murder at him. It sounded badass; wish I had been there to see it.”

The Wells doppelganger gritted his teeth at the mental image of Harry carrying you – touching you. The thought ruffled his feathers for some reason.  HR expertly masked his irritation, turning the stove off and assembling the food on his plate. “Why?”

“Because he hurt you, HR.”

“…”

“He almost killed you.” And that was unforgivable, especially to her. “We almost lost you. She almost lost you.”

A rough sigh escaped HR as Cisco had sent him a knowing look before exiting the STAR Labs lounge. The Earth-19 man chewed on the inside of his cheek. Only a fool would misunderstand Cisco’s subtle intentions. HR knew what he had to do – he’d been reflecting on his time here, thinking about the people around him, about the relationships he’s formed. The novelist glanced outside – the sun shined, the birds chirped, and the trees rustled with the wind. 

And the world continues to move on.

***

“When are you going to tell him?”

“…” You tensed at the abrupt voice. You snapped your head up, eyes darting to find Cisco approaching you with pocketed hands in his gray-black jacket. He wore a Bulbasaur shirt. The clouds surged by with the intensity of the breeze. Your hair blew over your shoulders slightly. Tilting your head, you turned back to watch the city. Days had passed and you refused to see HR, content on what Cisco had been telling you. He’d been recovering tremendously well, but… you didn’t really want to hear about what he and Tracy were up to. It wounded you. “Tell who, what?”

“You know exactly who I’m talking about, Ms. I’m-going-to-put-my-feelings-in-a-box.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ohohohoho, no. I am tired of the love eyes, the lingering gazes, the pining. It ends.” Your best friend came to sit down next to you with that frustrated look on his face. “I know you have powers.” Your heart stopped in your chest at his accusation. “I know you used your powers to heal HR.” You bit down on your lip, not wanting to validate his statement. Cisco saw “I analyzed the wounds, looked at his healing at a microscopic level. I’m not Caitlin, but even I can pick up a few things. His cells were excelled to heal, but there were residues of your genetic markers at the wound point. You stitched his wounds together, cell-by-cell. My point is: why didn’t you say anything? Your powers are a-”

“-A curse.”

“What?”

“They’re a curse.” You threw a hard look at Cisco, making sure your hands wouldn’t touch him. “I can’t be playing God, Cisco. And… it’s unpredictable, volatile. I could either heal the life in my hands or take it away. I could rip someone ‘cell-by-cell’, Cisco. There’s no ‘in between’, not this time. He got lucky with my powers. He got lucky I didn’t make things 100% irreversible.”

“But why didn’t you say anything?” Cisco eyed the gloves you wore; it wasn’t the season for leather gloves.

“Because I didn’t want to give anyone false hope.”

“You don’t want to give yourself false hope, you mean.”

“…I can’t even heal a plant, Cisco. No matter how hard I tried, it wilted further. It’s a curse.”

“That’s not guaranteed every time, you know. It takes practice – discipline to get your powers to work with you instead of for you.” He nudged your shoulder with his, turning his gaze to the flock of birds drifting through the wind. “You know, he broke up with Tracy.”

“Ok?”

“Happened a week ago. She didn’t take it well and let me tell you. Tracy Brand was livid – the rage and yelling were off the charts. I think she has Harry beat. I knew it wasn’t going to last anyway, it was too superficial to begin with.”

“Uh huh.” You tried to sound uninterested, but deep down you were relieved. You heard a little ring in your ear. You wondered…

“She’s gone, won’t be coming here anymore.

“Ok.”

“So, go make your move.”

You turned abruptly to face him. “Cisco, have you thought that maybe HR doesn’t want to dive into a relationship right away? That… maybe he needs space to focus on himself?” All were things you had contemplated for yourself before.

“And what better way to do that than with a new roommate.”

“Excuse me?”

“Surprise, you’re getting a temporary roommate while we fully fix up things around the labs. I volunteered you since you have the space and the patience to deal with HR.” Your blood froze in your veins.

“Francisco Ramon, I am going to-”

“-Thank me, you’re going to thank me.” He had already breached away before you had the chance to strangle him. Heat rushed to your cheeks at the idea of HR living with you, even if it was a temporary living arrangement. You scolded your heart for beating loudly in your chest. One hand gripped tightly to your other. An audible sigh escaped you as your mind played with the idea.

Shit, what am I going to do?

***Day 1***

Cisco blew out an exhausted breath, setting down another box on top of a box in the guest room. You and the mechanical genius had been breaching back and forth with HR’s things as said novelist was crippled. His arm would take about another four weeks to heal. About 20 percent of shoulder fractures are displaced and may require some type of manipulation to restore normal anatomy. Occasionally the rotator cuff muscles are injured or torn at the same time as the fracture. Fortunately for HR, his rotator cuff muscles weren’t as damaged. This can further complicate the treatment. Therefore, in that time, HR would just be handling the lighter stuff, bless his heart. The novelist entered the room with his black backpack slung over his functioning shoulder – it was the last thing that he could carry.

“I think there’s one more box left,” HR pointed with his thumb towards his back direction, the breach closing behind him.

“I’ll go get it, not a problem. Why don’t you two get started on unpacking, huh?” HR shrugged with one shoulder and stepped away to set his bag down by the bed. Cisco threw a cheeky look your way when HR had his back turned, his eyebrows wiggling. ‘Have fun love birds,’ the scientist had mouthed at you. You flicked him off with a deadpanned look. Instantly you dropped it when the Wells doppelganger turned as Cisco snickered before he breached away. He gave you a confused look, but you waved it off.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For allowing me to stay obviously. And for all the help since I’m, well, a bit tangled up at the moment.”

He was referring to the cross-body sling that clung onto him like a spider. HR rubbed the back of his neck, and you didn’t miss the way his bicep flexed at the motion in that gray short-sleeve shirt. Calm the fuck down, it’s just a toned muscle. You’ve seen things like that before.  The puppy-like smile HR sent you had your cheeks warming up. The gentle smile that made your heart melt all over again. You cleared your throat as you reached for a box. “It’s no big deal, HR.” Undoing the tape seal with scissors, you opened the box- and the first thing you see are a pair of handcuffs accompanied by a silky black blindfold.

“What’s in the box?”

A little noise left you as you shut the flaps of the box, trying to seal it again. The flaps remained downward in the box. “Nope, nothing. Just some clothes here. I’m going to get that one box from the living room.” You had backtracked right into the door, your nose throbbed in response at the collision. “Ow,” you muttered to yourself, rubbing the skin.

“You ok?”

“I’m fine,” your response was quick, but not rude. A deep chuckle made its way to your ears as you scrambled out the room, your heart hammering in your chest. Your thoughts scolded you for being so awkward and flustered around him. Be cool, just chill out… The man you’re hopelessly in love with is just living with you temporarily, it’s not like anything will amount from this. You picked up the last box in the living room, hoping that just clothes would be in here and not anymore kink toys. I mean… I have toys, too. AW SHIT, I HAVE TO HIDE THEM!

HR’s eyes never left you as you made your panicked exit. He let out a little breath before shuffling over to the box you had been attending to. Immediately, he face-palmed hard when he had opened it with one hand. His face felt impossibly hot at what you had seen. She must think I’m an idiot or something. His mind thought back to when you helped him shop for some new clothes then it had gotten ruined from a meta. His hand fell away from his face, the image of your kind grin imprinted in his mind. I am an idiot, though. A fool.

Once Cisco returned, you three continued unpacking HR’s things for the time he’d spend here. The labs were still in ‘piss-poor’ shape according to Cisco and that he’ll need to consult with Harry and Wally regarding repairs.

“HR, how are you showering?”

“Um, like a normal person?” A dumbfounded look crossed HR’s features as he set the plate of sandwiches down. The novelist had knitted his eyebrows at Cisco. He had taken up to experimenting in the kitchen when he wasn’t writing. The tea and coffee were still brewing in your kitchen.

“No, I mean with how your shoulder is injured,” Cisco snuck an evil look at you, you returned it with a glare, “must be hard handling it alone.” You knew exactly where this dumbass wanted to take this conversation, so you stayed silent as to not get caught in the crossfire.

HR thought to himself for a moment. “Just a bit, but I’ve gotten used to the mild discomforts and pain. I can mostly reach everything thanks to my long limbs. But I think the nice thing is that it’s an internal issue, not an external one. An external injury or wound would require me to really have help with showering that way the area doesn’t get infected or irritated with the contents of soaps.” A laugh fell from his lips, but his mind wondered what his friend was playing at while you were around.

“I’m just saying, if you ever need a hand well,” Cisco trailed off with a smirk, chomping on his third sandwich.

Oh, I see. Devious, but a futile effort. “I’ll make sure you’re the first one I ask for help,” HR teased with a smirk of his own for Cisco to drop his in disgust. A cough escaped you, which had HR’s eyes land on you. Your eyes met for a moment before you deviated your gaze. HR felt hypnotized for a moment. Hm… The engineer quickly recovered from HR’s snide remark.

“Alright kids, I’ll be going now. The labs require some diligent work that I, a capable and distinguished engineer, could only do.”

“Yet, we still have the occasional security issues,” You sipped your tea once the snarky comment was out. HR stifled a chuckle, but you heard it. The corners of your mouth lifted slightly at the notion.

“Hey, that’s not fair. They always come up with something new to invade our space by.” Cisco pointed a finger at you, mocking a hurtful expression on his face. It dropped into a sneaky smile. “Make good choices and always use protection, you two!” He breached away before you could throw your cup at him.

***Multiple Days Pass***

Through his time here, you noticed HR fueled to write what’s on his mind in the guest room. You could only assume that he continued his adventure story. Sometimes he would venture out for some coffee or take a walk to give his creativity a break. Keeping that in mind, you gave HR the space he needed as well as all noises to a minimum. You knew he liked the quiet atmosphere to pour his heart and soul into words as he did research for a scene. Pulling your jacket on, you compiled a list of groceries before you stepped out of your apartment. Locking the door, you headed out to the store picking up a few necessities as well as some snacks for HR. Like Harry, the novelist can easily lose himself in his task – which meant that he tended to forget about eating and such. You found a bag of Jitters coffee beans, adding it to your cart of items. Buying some snacks and fruit, you’d leave a note in the kitchen of the snacks when he emerged from his writing cave.

On the way back, you stopped by at Iris’ studio to check up on her. A few groceries for her as well were in hand. Cecile and you did your best to visit Iris. But you can’t deny that you blamed her to a certain extent. Had she spoken up once she had left Savitar’s place disguised as HR, HR wouldn’t have been hurt that night on Infantino Street. Surely, she could have contacted her father or Cisco or something. The transition could have been smoother. HR wouldn’t have been… The journalist was faring; she pushed through the pain and as Barry had told her ‘to keep living’. So, Iris did. She hadn’t been herself since Barry went into the Speedforce – she pushed too much, the smile wouldn’t reach her eyes sometimes. You sympathized; she lost the love of her life. But you almost had too.

“How are you?”

“I’m fine, just… taking it one day at a time.” You nodded at her response, a small smile on your face. “How are things with you and HR? I heard of the temporary living conditions.”

“It’s fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m in my bubble and he’s in his doing his writing.”

“Right. Nothing going on whatsoever?”

“Iris.”

Iris set her cup of hot chocolate down and raised both hands in mock defeat. “We all saw it. We all see it.”

“See what?”

“How smitten you are for him.”

“I’m not-”

“-Don’t say you’re not. If you weren’t you, Harry wouldn’t have to pry you off Savitar before you clawed his eyes out.”

“…” You just looked into your tea, the honey that settled at the bottom. Iris placed a sympathetic hand on your shoulder, but you didn’t look at her.

“The heart will want what it wants, (Y/N). Pushing your feelings into a box and denying it out loud won’t change things.”

“I know.”

And my heart wants him, over and over again. Even if he can’t see me.

***

HR tapped his pencil against the desk at a steady pace. His mind wouldn’t focus on the words in front of him, on the scene he wanted to set. Instead, it kept drifting further from it. Further towards you: your eyes, your smile, the kindness that you held; the serenity that your existence held as the world continued to turn and chaos had unfolded at each turn. HR didn’t see much of you while he was here, the novelist missed your company. You were here, but you weren’t really here. You were either in your room or at the balcony with a book or on the couch with your Switch. He didn’t want to bother you, but… sometimes HR just wanted to sit beside you and pull you close to talk. To hold you in his arms and ask you about your day, to understand what you were thinking. HR cracked his back in a stretch from where he sat on his bed, being mindful of his injured shoulder. It didn’t hurt as it had originally done a few weeks back. The Wells doppelganger noticed that you were careful to avoid touching him or him touching you. Not even a hug that you used to graciously give him. You were especially guarded with your hands. A rough sigh left him as he threw his pencil down. The frustration was setting in, he was getting nowhere. You consumed his thoughts. HR wondered if you were revolted by him but doesn’t verbalize his thoughts to you. He didn’t think you’d give him your truthful answer. Maybe she is revolted by me. She did find the cuffs and the blindfold… No, she knew about the cuff stage thing well before that.

The sound of the front door greeted his ears followed by the soft tune of music. A frown made its way onto his face. Might as well take a break. HR stretched once more when he fully stood up, a little noise of relief left his lips. He cracked his back once more before smelling himself. For safe measure, the novelist sprayed a bit of cologne on himself and turned off the candle he had on. He mentally noted to take a shower after dinner since his last was yesterday. He liked the feeling of being clean, to be honest. HR carded a hand through his hair. I need a haircut soon, too. Yeesh, I feel like I’m letting myself go. Once I’m all healed it’s back to proper cuts and the labs’ recreation room. He wanted to go back to lifting weights and doing yoga for body stability purposes – especially now because of his shoulder. HR rested a hand on his chest, the wound had healed completely, but a scar remained. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw the groceries on the table and heard you whisper along with the lyrics. The music was set to a low level that your whispers were audible enough. He watched you sway a bit with the tune.

So please don't break my heart

Don't tear me apart

I know how it starts

Trust me I've been broken before

Don't break me again

I am delicate

Please don't break my heart

Trust me I've been broken before

The guitar tune pulled at his heart, feeling the raw emotion behind the lyrics. He eyed you for a moment. HR cleared his throat to make his presence known, he knew you didn’t like to be snuck up on. However, a little gasp left you from where you were. “You went out shopping?”

You looked up from where you crouched to put away the cereal. “Uh yeah, we were running low on some stuff.” You shut the cabinet and went to the other items you had bought. The music continued to delicately play.

“Need any help?”

“Um, sure. Uh, just set these into the cabinet on the left.” Normal, be normal. He’s not going to eat you or anything. Distance is good. Distance keeps you safe. You didn’t meet his eyes, the eyes that’d pull you in and never let you out – your heart shook with him here and the song that played. You were hoping HR wouldn’t come out while you prepped dinner to have a sort of peace of mind. The next song played before you could stop it-

My last made me feel like I would never try again

But when I saw you, I felt something I never felt

Come closer, I'll give you all my love

If you treat me right, baby, I'll give you everything

“I like this song,” HR started as he was finishing up with putting his side of the groceries away. Another guitar-like song that brought out the soft feelings of love and rejection. HR mused to himself if fate had planned this out. If this was some sort of sign or a cruel joke… You had stopped yourself from clicking the button to skip the song at his comment. You don’t know what possessed you to let him indulge in another song that you’ve cried to late at night. “Hey, I can cook dinner tonight. I have something I’ve been wanting to try. I’m not that crippled so I can manage with a few cookware.” HR chuckled to himself, a goofy grin on his face. Your heart leapt in your chest; his grin caused a small smile to pull at your lips. “You can wash up first?”

You swallowed thickly, your eyes meeting his icy blues. You felt your cheeks warm up slightly as the nerves crawled up your spine. “Oh, ok. Cool, yeah. Can’t wait to see what you cook up.” You nodded, ducking your head away and shuffling out of the kitchen with that shy smile on your face. You missed the longing look he had sent you as you fastened your steps to head to your room.

God I love that smile. What goes on in that little head of yours? We used to be so close… before Tracy came into the picture. HR pulled out the spices and the chicken breast. He shook his head and proceeded to prep the food with his one useful hand. I need to consult Francisco.

***

“We need to talk,” HR’s voice broke the silence in the side lab of the Cortex. He had breached to the labs using the Breach Extrapolator after he had showered and such. His damp hair was pushed back in HR’s normal style.

“About what?” Cisco raised a concerned eyebrow at the writer, stopping what he had been doing.

“(Y/N).”

A nervous laugh left Cisco as he went back to attempting to make the necessary modifications to the Speed Bazooka. Tracy was reluctant to help the mechanical engineer after the breakup. “What about (Y/N)?” Cisco put down his screwdriver. “Did you do something weird to her?”

“What? No! I- we used to be closer. We always talked, we’d hang out after a long day here at the labs.”

“Uh huh.”

“And, maybe it’s just me, but things have changed.”

“How so?” Cisco was wondering what conclusion HR was leading himself to.

“Things changed when Tracy came into the picture.”

Cisco made a little ‘o’ with his mouth with a little nod before closing it. He pushed a rough sigh past his lips, he was getting really tired of this puppy love game. “Why do you think that?”

“Francisco, she flinches when I get close – almost when I touch her… Does she hate me?”

“I think you and I know the answer to that one. But I think the real question should be: Why do you care so much? Why does it bother you? Do you love her, HR?”

The novelist tensed a bit. “…” HR pursed his lips as Cisco walked around the table that the speed weapon was mounted on. Blueprints were scattered on one table while the glass board held variables and equations he could not decipher. “What?”

“I said what I said,” the mechanical genius smoothly responded. One look at HR and Cisco knew that he was baffled by his forward words. But they needed to be said. “Now run along and use that head of yours to think about what your heart wants. Barry isn’t going to get himself out of the Speedforce.”

***

Cisco’s words mulled through HR’s mind as he breached back to your apartment’s living room.  Only the lamp light on the side table was on. HR’s eyes landed on you, who laid on the couch with the book you had been reading on the back ledge of the couch. The novelist took off his shoes and set down his bag. He had detoured to the bookstore, looking for the next installment of your current book. The Wells doppelganger had assumed you didn’t buy it yet as it was vacant from your bookshelf. The gentle giant stepped silently closer to you; the dim light cast over you like a glow. There were slight bags under your eyes. She hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Spotting a large and fluffy blanket near, HR grabs it and lays it on top of you. He remembered you mentioned to him prior that you easily get cold, especially at night. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, HR contemplated something before his body moved impulsively. The novelist placed a gentle kiss on your forehead; his lips lingered for a few more seconds. Pulling back, HR watched your chest rise and fall.  He turned the light off and stumbled over to his room with his phone light guiding him. He knew what he was going to write. Cisco’s question pestered him enough though.

Do you love her, HR?

HR took one look out his door before shutting it, his heart squeezed tightly in his chest as he whispered, “Goodnight, my angel.” Only the shadows that lingered were a witness to the fondness laced in those simple words.

***

You woke up with a start, you hand instantly smacking right into your chest. Heavy breaths left you as your nerves were in overdrive. Cold sweat beaded your skin as you gasp for air. It was another night terror – the same one for a few weeks now; a new way in which you caused HR’s death. Swallowing thickly, you screw your eyes tightly shut and whisper the mantra that calmed you down. After a few minutes, you started to regain control of your breathing – the thoughts that ravaged your mind finally ceased like the tides subsiding after a tsunami. You blinked languidly, hating nights like these. They weren’t rare, but they weren’t an uncommon occurrence. Deciding that you needed to step out for some air, you did so with the intent of getting a glass of water from the kitchen. Your fingers found the lights for the dimmers in your room, setting it to its lowest setting for you to see yourself out.

Cracking the door open, you were instantly met with the scene of HR passed out on the couch again. He’s been doing that for around two weeks now, the couch his new base of operations. His mouth was slightly open as little snores escaped him. A lovestruck smile crossed your features at the sight. Papers were littered around him, on the ground, and on the tables. Must be the manuscript he’s working on for his final draft. I hope I can read it at some point. Coming back from the kitchen with the water in hand you couldn’t help but stop to admire the sight. You noticed the glasses still perched on his face. Moving as silent as a ninja, you inched closer to pull off the glasses from his face. They’ll break if he keeps them on while he sleeps. Then he won’t see for shit when reading things. You nibbled on your bottom lip as your eyes drifted to the papers. One peek won’t hurt anyone. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

Seating yourself on the ground, you leaned your back against the foundation of the couch. You were opposite to where HR’s upper body was. If there were any telltale signs of him waking, you’d hightail out before he could fully wake up and process what you were doing. Picking up a small stack, you started sifting through them. Your mind became engrossed with the words – the beginnings of the story he had spun about his adventures as to how he came to Earth-1. Then… mentions of an angel eluded you. It couldn’t be Tracy, could it? I know they broke up, but… on the other hand, it doesn’t mean that he can’t say that she was his angel at the time. Like a character development thing leading to their break up?? Well fuck, I don’t even think he’d mention such a personal thing in his book. I know I wouldn’t… would I? I don’t know. A little smile danced at your lips while you read on about the synonymous things regarding Team Flash that you failed to notice HR rouse from sleep.

“Do you like it?” Lethargy intertwined his words. A stunned noise left you as you clutched the papers. You turned to see HR rubbing his eyes before gazing at you.

I could get lost in those eyes if I stared too long.

“Uh, yeah, its- it’s really good,” you stuttered, setting the papers down in your lap. Embarrassment of getting caught gripped you. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I don’t mind you taking a peek. I don’t have anything to be ashamed of in it.” HR shifted his lithe body to sit next to you on the ground.

“Oh.”

“Couldn’t sleep?”

“No.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“It’s not that important, I’ll be ok.”

“If you say so,” HR’s shoulders sagged slightly. “I’m here if you want to talk.” You nodded at him, whispering a little thank you. HR ran a hand over his knee, he took a glimpse at you who stared at the papers. He noticed what chapter you hand been reading – the angel was making an appearance in the story. The hair at the back of his neck stood while you thumbed the words on the paper back in forth, just lost in your mind. Your hair was messy from sleep, the bags under your eyes were still there. It killed him how you wouldn’t confide in him anymore. But he didn’t push you. You would open up to him if you wanted to or not, even if he wanted you to do so as so his mind can be at ease with knowing what’s going on with you. Cisco’s question sprang up in his mind once more before he licked his lips, his eyes watching you. “I do.”

You gave HR a strange look. I do, what?

“Tracy wasn’t her.” Realization struck HR the more you whispered with him.

“Huh??”

“I heard this voice before I woke up.” The novelist fully turned to you with intense eyes, the enlightenment in them – the fire that burned brightly. “The tenderness in it could rival any tasteful delight in the multiverse.”

“A voice?”

“Mm, it made me think that only a heavenly deity would have such a voice.” You remained silent as he spoke. “I never got to hear that voice since my coma… until now?”

You tensed at what he was insinuating. “Now?”

“How could I forget?”

“I-I don’t understand.”

“How could I forget about you?” The baritone huskiness in his voice made you melt with the way he said those words. You swallowed, trying to calm the butterflies that raged in the pit of your stomach. “The flowers that were left – beautiful, delicate, yet meaningful. You left those after visiting me.”

“…”

She didn’t deny it. “But you never visited when I was awake because of Tracy.”

“She hates me.”

“And I was too blind to see that until I broke up with her, she threw quite a fit.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because you must have loved her so much that it would be hard to let go.” She was your angel, after all.

“She didn’t even know me. Truly know me.”

“… Did she hurt you?”

“Slightly, but the bruise is gone.” You and he were silent for a moment. Only the sound of a distant car horn was heard from the streets. “You didn’t deny it.”

“Deny what?”

“The flowers, the visit…” HR licked his lips as a rough breath left him. His nerves were climbing, but he needed to do this. “Cisco told me what you did to Savitar when you saw him. How angry you were that Harry had to pry you off him – I was so angry.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t know then… but I know now.”

“And?”

“Tracy was never the one written in my story – she didn’t care. She didn’t see me for anything other than a pretty face obsessed with coffee. You did.” HR tucked your hair behind your ear, carefully gauging your reaction. He saw how you tried not to flinch away from him. “Do you hate me?” He asked as he retracted a hand from you, happy that he was at least getting through to you.

“Never could I feel such a way towards you.” You hesitated for a moment before testing the waters. You started to explain, “I- the night you were stabbed by Savitar I… I just broke. I pushed Tracy away, I had Barry rush you back to the labs. You were dying, unconscious on the gurney and… I got to work trying to resuscitate you. I had Cisco take care of Tracy while I worked, I needed space to think clearly, but I couldn’t. When- when the others were preoccupied with Iris’ appearance, I used these powers.” It was now or never. “I was desperate. Your life was hanging by a thread- I didn’t think it was going to work, but nothing else was working. You were bleeding so much. But I had to try. I…” Your glassy eyes locked back on his, your hands pulled close to your body. HR understood now why you never tried touching him. Why you are avoiding getting too close. “Cisco found out, he confronted me. But these powers, life isn’t guaranteed. They’re volatile, unprecedented – regardless of how I feel in the moment the balance can tip between giving a life and taking one.” There was a tightness in your chest as your voice cracked, “I’m cursed, I could hurt you.” I’m dangerous.

“I don’t think you will.”

“You don’t know that!”

“But I do,” HR reached a hand out to hold yours. Tension filled your heart as panic started to settle. “You wouldn’t let yourself hurt me. It would pain you too much.” HR squeezed your slightly shaky hand, his other hand still bound by the cross-sling. “My life is in your hands.”

“How can you trust me so much?”

“Because love cannot be built without a foundation of trust.” He placed a sweet kiss on the knuckles of your hand. “And understanding.” He took the other and kissed it, baby blue eyes shifted back to yours with such intense emotion. The adoration that filled the author to the brim for you. Just for you. Only you. The one who saw him for everything and anything that he is. His safe space – the one other thing he wanted to be for you as well. He wanted to eliminate any fears that resided in your heart, the pain and doubt that remained.

“Do you hate me?”

HR cupped your cheek tenderly as he leaned close, your heart wanted to stop as blood rushed to your cheeks and ears. Your half-lidded eyes shut slowly as his lips skimmed over your own. “Never in my life, angel,” the novelist whispered as he captured your lips in a tender and sentimental kiss.

Never in my life could I hate the one who my heart has yearned for.

[dreamywriterinthedark]

Recess sobs and bedtime resolutions

Pairing: fem!Reader x Spencer

Request: Ok so the reader is a psychologist and is married to spencer and they have a 5 year old daughter who gets in trouble for punching a kid because they picked on her because they didn't beleive her dad was in the fbi If that makes sense any who if you don't write this i get it I just want to see speancers reaction

Trigger warnings: bullying, physical violence. (let me know if i forgot something)

Category: fluff, slight angst.

A/N: thank you so much for this request! I hope you like it. The daughter sounds a bit older than 5, in my head she’s in the early stages of elementary school. Let me know what you think about it! I’d be glad to receive some feedback. (Btw I hurt my own feelings writing this, you can’t even imagine...)

You were in your office, a typical Tuesday afternoon until you heard your office phone ring once more. You held up your finger to make your client pause what they were saying, you picked up the phone only to hang up.

“I apologise for the inconvenience. Now where were we ?” you said trying to get your client comfortable again despite the ringing. As she was about to speak up again, your cellphone rang, Spencer’s name lit up your screen and that’s when you were starting to get concerned.

“I’m so sorry I have to get that.” You said exiting the office to take the call. You were happy to hear your significant other’s voice nonetheless you knew he wouldn’t normally call you during working hours.

“Hi darling, is everything okay ?”

“No, not really. The school called, there’s an emergency.” he responded wrapping his scarf around his neck as he was making his way to the elevator.

“What happened ?” you asked getting more and more worried.

“She punched a classmate in the face. Can you believe it ?!” he pressed the button 0 waving goodbye to his coworkers.

“What ? Our daughter? Jane ? Are you sure it’s not her evil twin ?”

“Eviler twin you mean ? No offense, Y/n, but if she had one, I’m pretty sure you would remember…”

“Alright, I’ll tell my secretary to cancel all my appointments for the day. I’ll meet you there.”

“Love you, bye.”

“Love you too.” You answered before hanging up. You made it a little bit of a rule to yourself to never say ‘goodbye’ to him because you thought that if you did it may increase the chances of you never seeing him again. You knew it was a bit silly but with all those times he was close to death, you’d believe in any superstition if that meant he would get home safe.

After taking care of your client and letting your secretary handle the rest, you hurried out of your office to drive to your daughter’s elementary school.

You pushed the interphone button, once you were allowed entrance you walked to the principal’s office. You softly knocked, when the door opened it showed Spencer sitting in a chair right across the desk, next to it was an empty chair meant for you.

“I’m sorry, I came as I soon as I could.” you apologized.

“Well, I assume you’re Jane’s mother. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Principal Walker.” he greeted shaking your hand. As you sat down, Spencer gave you his best polite white smile.

“Do you know what you’re here for ?” he inquired.

“You said our daughter was involved in a conflict with a student...” you answered.

“Your daughter punched a student in the face.” He said bluntly.

“Right…”

“Are you sure it’s Jane ?” Spencer asked still struggling to believe it.

“Wait until you see her knuckles...”

Spencer put his face in his hands in defeat, you rubbed his shoulder to bring him comfort.

“What happened exactly ?” you asked.

“Well, it was during the 10AM break. Jane went out to play with her classmates when a boy started arguing with her. Next thing we hear is a scream, the boy is on the floor crying.”

You and Spencer both looked at each other with an immense look of stupor.

“The boy, did he bully her ?” Spencer asked trying to find some innocence in the sweet child of his.

“Not that we know of.” answered the principal.

“Is he okay though ?” you questioned.

“Yes, just a minor injury. He went back home.”

You nodded, “So what happens next ?”

“We are giving her a warning but the next time something like this happens there will be harsher consequences than a simple punishment. Understood ?”

“Yes. we understand. Thank you for your time, sir.” you said as you rose up from your chair. Spencer and you both exited the room finding your daughter in the waiting lounge looking guilty as ever. You saw Spencer’s face look puzzled and hostile. To torture your daughter with even more guilt you told her to ride back home with her dad which she did not love but couldn’t protest.

Spencer hardly spoke to Jane the entire drive. He was dry, so much it looked like he ignored her. Jane was desperate to get him to talk to her.

“Please, dad. Don’t be mad at me!” she exclaimed.

“I’m not mad, I’m disappointed.” those words he pronounced cut like a knife. You knew that by seeing her dad’s reaction she would become aware of the gravity of her actions. And he actually wasn’t mad, at least not until he saw her pouting face. He loved her too much to be angry.

“Okay but can you just talk to me!” she whined.

“Oh we will, back home with your mom.”

That car ride lasted longer for Jane than usual. No music, no anecdotes nor laughs, just plain silence and introspection while gazing at the landscape.

Your house was in the suburbs near a forest, Spencer had all sorts of scientific arguments as to why living near nature was beneficial but you just loved the paysage before your eyes when taking your morning coffee. The location was perfect; in nature which means less pollution, noise and lower criminal rates yet a short car ride from the city which was full of cultural spots and with high quality education.

Jane tried to run up the stairs in hope to avoid her parents’ correction but was interrupted by your strict toned voice; “Not so fast, young lady.”

She shut her eyes stopping dead in her tracks, she lifted her stuffed animal and said to it “It was nice knowing you, fluffy.” She then turned around and sat on the couch.

Spencer was pacing around, “Why did you do it ?” He asked his daughter his voice slightly higher than before. She started melting in tears which truly pained him. You walked up to her, as you were sat on the couch next to her you started stroking her arm and drying her tears.

“It’s okay. We’re just trying to understand why you did that. There’s no way you would’ve done it without a reason.” you told her.

“Jeremy kept making fun of me…” she struggled to get out whimpering.

“How long has he been making fun of you ?” Spencer asked.

“Since Valentine’s day when everyone was exchanging cards but my box was empty.” You glanced at Spencer in shock of how long you hadn’t known your daughter was getting bullied, silently suffering.

“Honey, I’m so sorry you had to go through this.” you reassured her kissing her cheek and running your hands through her hair. “But what happened exactly that made you punch him ?”

“He made fun of dad, he wouldn’t believe he was in the FBI.” She answered tilting her head up. “I asked him to stop but he wouldn’t so I defended myself.” she affirmed seeming not so guilty anymore. You unwrapped your arms from her giving her a frown.

“That’s not how you deal with problems.” Spencer said sitting on the low table across the couch.

“Yeah, you could’ve talked to us first but you didn’t even try. You know you can tell us everything ?” You backed him up.

“I know but I thought I could deal with this problem on my own. You guys always seem so good at it. And I want to be just like you when I grow up.”

You glanced at Spencer both slightly smiling at each other.

“If there’s one thing I learned from my job at the FBI is that violence is never the answer. It’s only justifiable if it’s legitimate defence; when you life is in danger.”

“Dad, do you still love me ?” she asked watching her feet swinging on the edge of the couch.

“Of course, I love you. I always will, no matter what.” he responded taking hold of her hand. “Okay?” She nodded. She didn’t seem to understand that punching someone is wrong. You needed to have a talk with Spencer;

“Now go to your room and do your homework, we’ll talk punishment tomorrow morning.” You said.

“But-“ she protested.

“No buts, go to your room.” You ordered.

You joined Spencer on the couch, he looked completely defeated. “Hey, are you alright ?” You asked him while taking a seat next to him. “Yes.” He answered a bit too quickly. “I mean…No…Not really.” You knew exactly why he was feeling like this. “It’s not your fault, Spence.” you reassured him playing with his hair.

“This whole time…And I didn’t know she was struggling. What kind of father am I ?”

“I come home every night and I didn’t know about this. It’s not because of your job, it’s not because of us. I’m blaming the school, here. They’re the ones who are supposed to prevent bullying from happening.”

He rummaged his hair with his hands whilst his elbows rested on his knees.

“Plus it’s a good sign, she doesn’t get along with kids her age…” you said slightly smirking.

“How?!” Spencer asks slightly irritated due to his public middle school flashbacks.

“It’s a sign of high intellectual potential. Her emotional age is too advanced for kids her age to understand, they tend to be too insensitive for her. She believes animals and inanimate objects have emotions and that they are intelligent. She talks to her stuffed animal like it’s a pet. She took the pepperonis out of her pizza! Also she has an enormous amount of creativity and she’s highly sensitive to her surroundings. Have you seen how she profiled your every move and suddenly her emotions followed ? Just like you she’s protective of the ones she loves. She only punched that kid because he wasn’t exactly talking highly of you…”

“So you’re saying…”

“Our daughter could be a genius.”

“As mother as daughter.” he complimented with a smirk.

“Oh come on we know who’s the genius here!” you said slapping his shoulder playfully.

You both chuckled. You kept talking for at least half an hour to come up with a plan you both agreed to. It’s not good for a child to watch their parents disagree.

~slight time lapse~

An hour after dinner, you went up to your daughter’s bedroom as it was her bedtime. You leaned on the door frame admiring Spencer, sat next to Jane on her bed, reading a story to her about conflict to teach her what to do in the type of situations she got in. He learned that from you since you were a psychologist. He admired how resourceful and clever you were. He couldn’t be more proud to have you as his significant other and the mother of his child. Your foot made a cracking noise on the hard wood floor which caught Jane attention.

“Mommy! Come!” she exclaimed shaking her little hands.

“What’s up?” you ask sitting next to the bed.

“Me and dad were reading this book you got me and now i understand. I’m sorry for not coming to you first. I just didn’t like what they said about dad.”

“Honey, it doesn’t matter what people think of you. Seeking validation from people can be so unhealthy. If you keep bottling up your emotions you’re going to explode like a bomb and that’s no good.”

“Can you forgive me, mommy ?”

“Of course. You’re still growing, as long as you learn from your mistakes I’m confident you’re going to be alright.” You answered squeezing her hand. Spencer watched in awe, it reminded him how in love with you he is.

“Yes, please don’t ever do that again!” he said a bit too quickly with a high pitched voice that made you all burst in laughter.

“Alright, you should get some sleep.” you told her giving her a kiss on the cheek and tucking her in; “Good night, my love.”

Spencer kissed her temple and set aside the little book he was reading to her wishing her good night as well. You walked out switching the lights off. As you walked down the stairs you asked Spencer to stop in his tracks pointing your finger up; Jane was talking to her stuffed animal. You both had to muffle your laughs. The future looked bright.

[logo-comics]

Fortune Lovers Inverted Personalities DLC

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Mary weren't so demure and self-sacrificing? If Sophia were a social butterfly? If Geordo were less... like himself? Have we got the DLC for you!

Join Maria Campbell as she navigates the the Sorcier Academy of Magic! But this is not the Maria you know, nor is this the Academy you're familiar with.

Maria, having grown up an outcast and ridiculed and despised by her fellow commoners, dreams of becoming the greatest Light Magic wielder of all time, with political allies to help her forge herself into someone that those who mocked her would fear the return of!

Joining her in this tale are the main cast as you've never seen them before!

Prince Geordo: The Soft-Hearted Prince - I do hope that you don't have any troubles during your time at this Academy. If you do, my fiancee and I would be more than happy to ensure you feel safe. A brilliant mind and an understanding of the political situation of Sorcier, he is a bit of a pushover, reliant on his fiancee to ensure that he doesn't get forced into things that he doesn't want to do. A rather simple pawn, if you so desire.

Prince Alan: The Good-Humored Prince - Hey, congratulations on getting the second-highest score, Miss Campbell! You earned it! A musical prodigy with a love of life in general and deeply emotionally invested in his relationship with those he cares about, he tends to let his heart lead more than his head. Handy, in that he is exceedingly loyal to whoever gains his loyalty.

Keith Claes: The Flustered Nobleman - Oh my! I am terribly sorry, Miss, I don't mean to be so forward, but you seemed to have dropped your handkerchief and I wished to return it to you so that you would no longer be without it and... A hopeless romantic at heart, this heir to the most influential politically neutral nobleman of Sorcier has some difficulties talking to those he finds attractive, something that ironically increases his appeal to many of the student body. A potentially useful piece to have on the board.

Sophia Ascart: The Beloved Storyteller - "Oh, would that I could still be Emma, be ever the merchant's daughter you knew, Sophia!" the Princess wept, "For I hold you first and foremost in my heart!" Capable of reciting entire books from memory, she quickly became popular in her youth for the powerful performance she gave to her readings, enthralling all those who hear her. There is no benefit, save her company, in the grand scheme of things, but that can be enough for some.

Sirius Dieke: The Ill-Tempered Student Council President - As a member of my student council, you are supposed to set an example. If you break the rules, I will personally make your life a living hell. A short fuse is what defines this strict proponent of order and discipline. Theoretically, he means well. **SPOILERS FOR THE MAIN GAME** Raphael is much more bitter in this setting and managed to essentially kill the spirit of the Dark Mage's ghost through sheer anger, albeit at the cost of the original revenge plan.

And, naturally there are the rivals to consider as well!

Nicol Ascart: The Exuberant Dandy - I hope that we can become good friends during our time at the Academy! I think you'd love to meet my sister! Son of the Prime Minister, he is quite the cheerful, handsome fellow, whose personality belies a great intelligence. A clever mind with somewhat unconventional thought processes, he could be useful.

Mary Hunt: The Bold Noblewoman - Pardon me, Miss Campbell, but I simply must kiss my fiancee. He is always at his most attractive when he really gets into his composing... Daring, affectionate, possessive yet somehow still managing to be polite about it. Daughter of a Marquis, she will not give up her fiancee without a fight if you try it.

And, of course, what game of Fortune Lover would be complete without:

Katarina Claes: The Compassionate Villainess - If I am cast as a villainess by my appearance and mannerisms, I will use this image to help others! A young woman with the heart of a saint, but the appearance and habits of a demon in human form, she has turned intimidation into an artform, forcing other nobles to help fund charities and stopping attempts at bullying with a glare. A gentle heart and a visible menace, she makes for an interesting contrast, at least. And before you ask, YES! She is romanceable!

Meet the Capture Targets! Win their hearts and minds as Maria plans to rock the world! All of this and more awaits you in Fortune Lover's Fortune's Shadow DLC!

[its-me-im-coraline]

Peculiar and Beautiful // Victoria De Angelis

words // 1333

warnings // angsty but also fluffy

pairing // Victoria De Angelis x GN!Reader

author's note // if you want to be on the tag list let me know besties, don't forget the 'sleepover' on sunday (yes i'll be saying it on every fucking post lol) and yeah, that. also, a little complaining moment from me, im currently in sooooo much pain, my tooth hurts, i got neuralgia on a tooth and ljajakjfa so if this seems high to you it means im on meds for that lol unlucky few days anywaaaays enjoy to revive yourselves from the teasers of iwbys video

request // yes, here

summary // Reader finds themself in a emotional rut. A few comments online, the constant youtube recommendations on how to be “perfect” have been making them feel some type of way, hiding away from the one person that can help them; Victoria

It was a consistent thing and that was the issue. The comments about what Victoria did and did not deserve, who she should be with, the constant shipping with Damiano… And then there were the absolutely random videos on youtube, indirectly telling them what and who they should become, at least according to all those people online. It took less than expected to cave into the vicious lies surrounding their daily life. Although they tried to take control over the situation the absence of Victoria did nothing to improve the rut they were in at the moment.

Her presence tends to be a reassuring thing to her lover. Words need not be spoken, all problems can be hidden, but the moment they look each other in the eye everything is resolved. Understandably, Victoria missing from the equation in the moment made matters far worse than Y/N could imagine.

The self depreciation came in waves. At first it was that they looked “off” next to Victoria, as if for some reason they didn’t please the eye aesthetically when together. It was a comment that was shared around a lot. They did not believe it at first until their brain led them into looking through all the couple’s photos… Maybe they are right, they would mumble before closing the phone and continuing their work.

After that stage came the personal attack. Why don’t I look good next to her? Must be my looks. Agh, if I didn’t look like that… Whenever they passed through a mirror or reflective surface they’d stare at themselves to see how they looked, whether they looked bad or decent. Never gave enough credit to themselves, sometimes not even believing Victoria when mentioning the beauty she was lucky enough to hold in her arms. Always something about being independent and not needing anyone to make them feel valuable due to their looks. Simple and plain stubbornness.

Victoria took not too long to notice how something was off with her lover. At first, she gave not too much attention to it, knowing how both missed each other and knowing how tired they were from work. But, as days passed by she could simply not ignore the situation anymore. She first saw something was off when talking to Y/N on the phone, seeing how they did not exactly respond to her jokes and comments as they usually would. Again, she wrote it off as tiredness, missing her, just as she missed them but it was far more than that. After a while they started cancelling some of their facetime call time, saying different things about having bad days at work and, although, she believed them does not mean she was not worried out of her mind. The more that kept happening the more Victoria kept stressing. Not few were the times she’d end up falling onto Damiano’s bed and almost crying with worry.

“Why don’t you tell them to take some time off? Reckon they said their boss owes them some time off work.” And he was right. The answer to the pair’s misery was there all along and she simply had not seen it.

Victoria wasted no time, rushing to get to her phone and arrange everything. Surprisingly enough, dealing with Y/N’s boss turned out to be the easier part of the whole ordeal. The real struggle coming to persuading them about it.

“Oh come one, cucciolo, I know you want to see me-”

“I do want to Victoria, but I can not. I have work.” Lies, lies, lies. They knew they were lying, work wasn’t their trouble in the moment.

“Dealt with! You have a few days of work. Your boss was surprisingly real nice about it.” They could practically hear the smile the beautiful woman wore on her face but they could not keep their response at bay.

“What?! What did you do?!”

“You sound unhappy…”

“I am not, but Victoria why did you do this before talking to me?”

“Because…” she sighed.

“You are tired, I miss you and you are stubborn. Plus, I wanted to surprise you. I thought it’s be a good surprise... Am I wrong?”

“No, no! It’s great. When is the ticket for?” Everyone knows Y/N can never say no to Victoria, even the girl knows of her partner’s weakness, targeting it with her adorableness at times in order to get them to do something like buy her fries or in this case take a break. But Y/N was not worried about Victoria’s influence on them, or rather not that influence. They were out of this world worried about how little time it was going to take Vic to see their insecurities, maybe she’d even agree with them, they thought.

The first night of being by Vic was pretty normal, just as it was back at home, full of cuddles and kisses and all the children shows and movies playing in the background while the bassist recited all her adventures to her lover.

“And Thomas just felt face first onto the pavement! Can you believe it?!” Y/N laughed lightly, eyes fluttering in an attempt to focus on the woman in front of them and head lazily hang on the pillow by the headboard.

“Are you feeling alright, amore?” She asked, voice soft as she caressed the other person’s cheek.

“Yes, love, just a bit tired.”

“It’s alright, let’s sleep. You had a tiring flight, I get it.” Y/N simply mumbled a thank you, kissing the blonde’s forehead before pulling her close in order to sleep.

Unfortunately, the momentary bliss did not last long. After being seen together people started talking and Y/N returned to the previous thought pattern, this time getting deeper into their insecurities. They felt like they were not enough for Victoria so, while trying to not be suspicious they started distancing themselves from her. They would avoid kisses, get away way to soon for both their liking, sleep early, sleep-in… No matter what they stayed away from too much interaction with Victoria, and she was getting sick of it.

Finding them walking down the hallway from the stairs to their hotel room, Victoria rushed to her partner, making sure to get in the room with them quickly, before they had the chance to hide away - again.

“You are ignoring me,” she simply stated, voice stern but never elevated.

“O-of course not, what are you on about?!” Voice was trembling and eyes were looking everywhere but the exasperated blonde.

“Yes -agh- yes you are! You were all over me when you came here, which I’m not complaining about, and then the next day you all but slept in the tab to avoid me! What is going on, Y/N?” The use of their name might have stung just a little bit, enough to make them talk. They always got worried when Victoria went all first name basis rather than cute pet names.

“I-” they hesitated for a second but the strict look on the woman’s face made them continue.

“People talk, Victoria.”

“About what? What does-”

“About us and you and me… It’s always how I am not a good fit and other things like that and maybe they are right.”

“You don’t seriously believe that, do you?”

“Of course I believe that! Look at you, Vic, you are perfect and me? Well, I am me.”

“And that’s exactly why we are together. Because you are you! Y/N, you being who you are is why I fell for you. Your little quirks, those strong characteristics you get insecure about are literally what make you who you are, that individualize you.”

“Really?” They asked with hesitation, fearing the chance of her lying.

“Of course, cucciolo. I love those things that make you different. Reminds me that there is no other one like you and it simply makes me longing for you more,” she praised while leaving kisses all over their neck.

“I simply love you.”

tag list: @bieberhoodforever @tabi-toast @ginny-lily @moriro-da-regina

[kalstar]

What my Genshin Team members would say about each other

Featuring Jean, Bennett, Chongyun, and Xiao

A/N: This is basically what I think they would say about each other in those "about ___" voice lines in the game. The setting is you the traveler, have put Jean, Bennet, Chongyun, and Xiao in one team. This is what they think about each other after a couple months of fighting and adventuring alongside each other. Is this where I slowly turn into a writing blog?

Tw: mentions of death (?) (no one dies it's just Xiao being mean)

Word count: 2.3k

Story (?) under the cut

Jean

About Bennett

"Bennett? I think he's very charismatic. I hear that he goes on adventures on his own, it must be hard dealing with everything by yourself; he seems like a very independent individual. I think he would make a great member of the Knights of Favonius in the future if he so chooses.

I very much admire his perseverance and positivity. Even when we were faced with near-death experiences, he could still laugh and brush it off as if it was nothing. He always manages to cheer everyone up. It's great having someone like him to boost our morale on the team.

I've heard a little bit about his past from the Adventurer's Guild… How he was found as a baby barely holding on to life… without having any real parents and that extremely bad luck of his, I truly hope that we're able to at least bring him a bit of comfort. I should check up on the Adventurer's Guild every once in a while... "

About Chongyun

"Hm, Chongyun is quite the strange one. At first, I was always so confused on why he always stayed in the shade and it really concerned me how much ice cream he was eating at a time… but then he told me about his congenital positivity and it made a bit more sense. It's strange how this condition of his works, I've never heard anything like that in Mondstadt before. I wonder if we can find a cure for it.

He seems to be very invested in his training as a martial artist and as an exorcist. He's constantly pushing himself to be better and learning how to control his condition. He always asks me about how to train or how to be stronger. I hear he's already the best exorcist in Liyue, I can only imagine the heights he can reach as he continues to grow.

Chongyun reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. I was very focused on my training and kept pushing myself to the limit. It's quite nostalgic to see that side of me living through someone else. I hope that he can achieve his goals in the future, I think he very much deserves it."

About Xiao

" I thank you, traveler, for giving me the opportunity to fight alongside someone as powerful as Adeptus Xiao. It truly is an honor to be working with him. I never thought I would live long enough to see gods of another region, but you've made that possible. I am in your debt.

Adeptus Xiao is truly one of the strongest fighters I've ever seen. I've only heard stories about the power of Adepti, but to see it with your own eyes is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The way he gracefully moves on the battlefield with seemingly little effort is truly inspiring.

When the other boys are asleep, we often have long conversations over the fire. We would talk about our troubles and worries over the campfire, hearing the wisdom of someone as wise as him, it brought a bit of comfort. There is a lot about Adeptus Xiao that I don't know, especially about this "karmic debt", but I hope that we'll be able to help him get through it."

Bennett

About Jean

“It’s really awesome that I get to fight with someone as cool as Master Jean, and it’s all thanks to you traveler! I always travel alone, so to think that I can go on adventures with someone as amazing as her, maybe I’m not so unlucky after all! I hope my bad luck doesn’t get in the way of our adventures though hehe.

Don’t tell anyone, but I always try my best to impress Master Jean hehe. I always put out my best effort whenever she’s around, not that I don’t usually, but you get what I mean right? I make sure to hit the enemies harder and my fire burns longer! I know it’s silly but if I impress her, do you think she’d let the Adventurers Guild team up with the Knights of Favonius?

She can be a bit intimidating with how strict she can seem sometimes but she cares about everyone a lot! She always makes sure that everyone is doing alright and if they ever need anything. She's taught me about a lot of things, like how to better treat my wounds, what plants are safe for eating, and how to better hit weak spots of enemies. She's just so cool!"

About Chongyun

"Chongyun? I think he's super cool and strong!! Do you see how big his claymore is?? How can he just swing it around so quickly AND he can summon even more swords from the sky! Man, I wish I could do that, maybe more people would want to join my adventure team. I should train with him and ask for tips.

Both Chongyun and I can't eat spicy foods and Chongyun can't even eat anything warm, so we try to be careful of what we eat. Though there has been a couple of times where his condition, I think it's called "Congenital Positivity", started acting up after we ate something hot in Liyue. He acted all hyper and energetic, it's like he was drunk or something. Thankfully I could give him a popsicle before Adpetus Xiao could throw him in a cold river.

Since Chongyun is the best exorcist in Liyue, I asked him if he could get rid of my bad luck with his cool exorcist powers. He used these blue talismans and made a summoning circle thing with his hands, it was so awesome! I think it worked! For like… an hour… but it was still really cool!"

About Xiao

"To be honest, I was really scared of Adeptus Xiao at first... He looks like he could kill me just by his sharp stares! It sends shivers down my spine sometimes... I didn't know much about legends in Liyue since I never really travel far from Mondstadt, but after fighting with him for a while, I can see that he's definitely really strong; he's probably the strongest person I know!

Sometimes I find him looking really sad and when I get the courage to ask him what's wrong he always says that it's none of my concern... I've overheard a few of your conversations with him, something to do with "Karmic Debt" and his burden to carry or something? I don't know much about Adeptus Xiao's past but I wish he would stop being so hard on himself...

Whenever we rest after a really hard fight, I always offer to heal up his wounds. I know what it’s like to get hurt a lot of the time, so I try my best to help patch him up. He wouldn’t let me treat his wounds at first, but over time he warmed up to me and I make sure he always feels better by the end of it!"

Chongyun

About Jean

"It's an honor to be fighting alongside someone as important as Master Jean, I wouldn't have this chance if it wasn't for you traveler, I don't know how I could ever repay you! I don't know much about Mondstadt but it's very interesting to learn more about the areas of the world, maybe our exorcist services could reach their people someday as well.

The first time I saw Master Jean fight on the battlefield I was truly starstruck. She was able to control her movements so well while also supporting all of us; it was amazing! I also heard that she was able to take down five ruin guards on her own, she must train very hard every day to be able to do that...

Being able to meet and fight with Master Jean has been a motivating experience. I hope I can learn much more from her and maybe become as skilled and strong as her one day. She's quickly become a role model for me and I highly respect and admire her. Again, thank you very much for this opportunity traveler!

About Bennett

"Ah, Bennett? I think it's really nice having someone my age on the team that I can easily talk to. Sometimes we exchange stories and legends from our hometowns. I'm glad I get to share more of Liyue with other people and it's also very fascinating to listen to the stories of Mondstadt. It just shows how diverse Teyvat can really be.

Bennett's passion can be a bit much sometimes so I need to keep my distance... I hope he doesn't notice, I know many people tend to avoid him because of his bad luck but I hope he doesn't think of me like that. I just... don't want to embarrass myself in front of everyone ahaha...

Bennett says that ever since we started adventuring together his bad luck has decreased. He thinks that I bring him more good luck and that I’m his “good luck charm”, I think that might just be placebo, but I appreciate the sentiment. Maybe one day it would be possible to exorcise one's bad luck. He would definitely be the first I test it on if I ever figure it out."

About Xiao

"To be honest, I wasn't very pleased when I found out he was on our team. Of course, I have the utmost respect for him, my family and the Adepti have been exorcising evil for generations, but his demeanor isn't one that I'm particularly fond of... But, after spending more time with him, I realize that we have more in common than I thought.

Though Adeptus Xiao is definitely a very skilled and powerful warrior, he can be a bit... strange... We were in Dragonspine one day and I saw him try to eat the snow. I gave him one of my popsicles instead and he looked so confused. He seemed to enjoy it but I guess there are even some things that Adepti don’t know about.

I've gotten to know him a bit more and though there are still many secrets that he holds, I realize that he just wants to protect Liyue like the rest of the exorcists. He seems to face his own struggles and demons as well, whenever he looks more down than usual, I offer him some of my Qingxin infused water and it seems to calm him down a bit. I'm glad that I can at least help him a little bit in any way that I can."

Xiao

About Jean

"At first I thought she was just any other human, but you told me she was the leader of the people of Mondstadt, I quickly realized there was more to her than meets the eye. She's a very skilled fighter on the battlefield, it's impressive to see a human fight with such strength and skill. I've only ever seen that kind of power from you, traveler.

The people of Mondstadt are very lucky to have someone like her to lead them. She can work well with just about anyone. She was brave enough to ask me to spar with her at one point. I assumed she had a death wish but she can carry herself very well and never holds back.

Often times she asks me for advice about a lot of different things. I keep telling her that I'm not a teacher nor a fountain of wisdom, just an Adeptus. Though from what I can see, she seems to be stressed over a lot of the little things that go on in Mondstadt, if this keeps up she’ll burn herself out."

About Bennett

"That Bennett... he can be very overbearing. How can a human be so happy when their life has only been filled with turmoil. It confuses me and I can never understand what sort of tricks he's trying to pull on me... He has such a passion for adventuring but knowing his luck he's going to get himself killed at some point...

Honestly, I pity him. No one dares to go on adventures with him anymore, why hasn't he given up and moved on to something else? You humans are always so confusing. You find it admirable, I think it's just asinine. Though... I guess he is quite a skilled adventurer, it would be ignorant of me to not acknowledge his skills on and off the battlefield.

It annoys me that he can just live without a care in the world. How can one have such bad luck? He’s just… always one step away from death. How has a mortal survived for this long when the archons hate him so much. It truly irritates me how reckless he can be and leaves me to save him at the last second..."

About Chongyun

"It brings me a bit of peace of mind to know that there is another person from Liyue with us. I don't feel... as much of an outcast... I hear that he's from a family of exorcists. I've never paid much mind to the affairs of humans, though because we share similair duties, it was unavoidable that I would cross paths with them at some point.

I must admit that it's fascinating how he exorcises demons. While I exorcise demons and monsters with my spear, he seems to exorcise evil spirits... just by being present... I never knew that such things were possible. I hear it was because of his congenital positivity, I think it's an impressive skill, though he seems to treat it as a curse of his own.

It’s strange, whenever Chongyun is around their screams and cries don’t sound as loud as they usually would be. It’s as if all my years of karmic debt and demons within slowly fade away into nothingness. Maybe it's the cooling aura that he always carries with him or the Qingxins he brings back. I wonder if he actually has anything to do with it."

[wildflowers-of-trolberg]

What are some critiques on Hilda(the show) that you haven’t shared yet?

It's taken me a long time to answer this, because I thought I had shared all my critiques. Between all I've said about Johanna in Season 2, and my worst episodes list, I pretty much covered everything. The only thing I could think of that I had left to discuss was that I don't really like the vocal tracks on the Hilda soundtrack; they just don't tend to hit the right vibe for me.

But over the weekend, things changed. It's not directly about the show itself, but there is something major about Hilda that I need to critique, and that's the tie-in novels. I read the first three of these over the last few days, and I have plenty to say and very little of it is good. Sorry in advance, but this will be long and negative.

First, just a brief explanation for those who aren't aware; Hilda has three different canons. The series began with Luke Pearson's graphic novels, or comics, and these got adapted into the TV show. The TV show was then in-turn adapted again into a series of regular novels written by Stephen Davies; each book combines a few episodes into one story (changing the order of events and moving things around as necessary), and they're in a separate canon to the show.

I'll be honest; I didn't go into these expecting to enjoy them. @remked has been uploading snippets for a while, and the general sense I got from those were that the novels were a bit stranger than the show, and that the novel version of Johanna was a lot worse of a parent compared to her show and even graphic novel counterparts.

I'll come back to the second point, but I was right about the first. The books seem to be based on very early show scripts, which would make sense, but that leads to a lot of weird moments. A good example is that the prime minister of the elves lives in a magical cave hidden by a riddle and three trials, despite the fact he's a middling bureaucrat and his staff presumably have to get there every day; another is that the forest giant Woodman loses Hilda to tries to rap, which is just bizarre and comes out of nowhere.

The illustrations are strange, too. I have nothing against whoever the artist is, but honestly their attempt to capture the show's style really doesn't work all that well, everything just looks a bit off, and they aren't always very consistent with the text. It's a little hard to describe the effect, so I'll just show you Trevor's gang throwing rocks because that's probably my least favourite illustration:

But I could stomach that. I can look past janky artwork; it's still better than I could do, and strange doesn't necessarily mean bad. What I really didn't like about this canon is that the everything just seems more mean-spirited. It really feels like the entire world is against Hilda at times, a lot more than in the show. The main difference I noticed with Hilda herself is that she cries a lot more in this, and it's understandable why.

The first adventure Hilda shares with her friends is the Lost Clan in this timeline; it follows the events of the show pretty much exactly, but it ends with Frida and David both cutting Hilda out of their lives (even getting their parents to talk to Miss Hallgrim so she'll separate them in class) because they don't want to get dragged into adventures. They do make up, of course, but only when Hilda apologises as if she's entirely in the wrong, and Frida is cold with Hilda throughout the entire rest of the second and third book anyway. David gets one good moment, during the marra incident, but is otherwise similar.

And they're the ones who are supposed to be sympathetic. Nearly everyone else is affected, too; Trevor is established as the class bully, and deliberately tries to drown Raven out of pure spite. Raven Leader is just an exasperated authority figure who dislikes Hilda, and Miss Hallgrim is even worse. She's not just a reasonably strict teacher who doesn't understand Hilda; her introduction is her sending Hilda out of class for not paying attention, while Hilda is fighting back tears because the entire class is openly mocking her. At no point does Miss Hallgrim try and stop them, and unlike in canon she doesn't get a redemption arc; she just continues like this and then faints after the troll mother shows up. There's even a moment where the parents start mocking Hilda, and she still only drops the hammer on this hurt and embarassed child.

But the elephant in the room, and the one thing that really ruined all of this for me, was Johanna. I went into these books with some idea of what she was like; I'd seen one snippet (from Hilda and the Nowhere Space, courtesy of @remked again) and @trolbergoraclecolumnist (who has also read these things) told me that he could make the case she's emotionally abusive. It didn't hit me just how serious that was until I actually read the things, and even then it took a while of me just feeling like things were wrong for it to fully set in, but he's absolutely right. I absolutely don't think it was Davies' intention, but the only way I can read it is that the version of Johanna we get in this AU is an abuser.

In the show, Johanna is clearly conflicted about moving away from the valley. She doesn't want to live in fear of the elves, and she thinks that Hilda needs to learn to socialise, but she also knows that it's going to hurt her daughter, at least in the short term. She's willing to let Hilda try with the elves (if Jorgen hadn't stepped on their house, I don't think they would have moved at all) and listens to her concerns. She's transparent about her decision; when she takes Hilda into town she doesn't commit to anything, telling her daughter this is where they could live, and tries to reassure Hilda that the city can be an adventure too and that she won't have to give up everything she loves.

In Hilda and the Hidden People, the novel version of Johanna not only doesn't do that, she does the opposite. It comes out that she's been planning this move for a while, and is already committed to it (whether this idea came to her before the elves started attacking is unclear); she knows Hilda won't like it, but she makes no attempt to reassure her, instead she straight-up resorts to lying. She tells Hilda that they're just going to look around in town in a horribly insincere way, when it's clear that she's already planning the move and is using this to finalise her plans, and when Hilda is inevitably upset by having her whole life ripped out from under her Johanna doesn't try and be understanding. She makes it about herself and how hard Hilda's making things for her. The line, specifically, is "please don't be difficult today".

Later on Hilda actually calls her out for lying, but she just bluntly tells Hilda not to argue with her. She plans and executes this entire move without ever thinking about how it's going to hurt Hilda, and then tells Hilda she's not allowed to be upset and that makes her in the wrong. And Hilda accepts it; when she falls off of Illus (Jorgen's girlfriend) she genuinely thinks she's about to die, and her main regret is "how mean she had been to Mum these past few days". This isn't a situation like The Beast of Cauldron Island/The Fifty Year Night where it's debatable who was in the wrong and I can see why people sympathise with Johanna; she's lied and manipulated her own child into believing it's all her fault.

In Hilda and the Great Parade, Johanna doesn't really do much either way. She makes no attempt to help Hilda adjust to the city, and laughs at her when Hilda is upset about it (it's fond, and Hilda is being overdramatic in that scene, but considering the circumstances it still rankled me). She has no concerns or remorse about giving the Raven to Trevor (which she is tricked into doing) and the most Hilda is able to convince her to do to help is give a note to Frida, which Johanna is reluctant to do. They do have a bonding moment at the end, watching the parade from the wall, but it's not nearly as earned or sweet.

In Hilda and the Nowhere Space, things continue. In this canon it's made clear that Hilda only joined the Sparrow Scouts because Johanna "loved the idea of Hilda following in her footsteps", and that since then, every time Hilda gets back from scouts, all Johanna asks her is if she's got any badges yet. Not how she's doing or how her adventures are, but if she's living up to the expectations her mum has set for her. Johanna seems fixated on this point, and Hilda's not just worried about disappointing her; it's shown more than once that she has genuinely started tying her sense of self-worth to getting badges and talking about how Johanna will "see how useless she is" at the badge ceremony.

Like in the show, this comes to pass; Hilda doesn't get any badges, and her mum is upset. But in this version Johanna doesn't just give her a concerned look; she goes over to Hilda and berates her to the point of tears:

(Once again thanks to @remked for this). Johanna does ultimately apologise for this, but it's a single sentence where she makes no apologies for pressuring Hilda in the first place. She's spent the entire book trying to make Hilda just like her, pushing her around, and honestly it only feels like she apologises because she wants to assauge her own guilt. Especially after the whole move thing, it reeks to me of more of the same, of Johanna trivialising her own actions.

I genuinely find Johanna and Hilda's dynamic in this canon upsetting. A handful of bonding moments can't make up for legitimate emotional abuse and manipulation, and it hurts to see the best fictional parent I know portrayed as an abuser, even if it's not what the author intended. So if you want my critique; I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to say avoid the novels.

[writing-gifts]

both sides of the viewfinder chp. 1

adult film star!bruno x afab!reader  (they are also gn)

this is 18+ content

summary:  Bruno's interested in you and you're interested in him. It's only a matter of time.

chapter 1 || chapter 2 || chapter 3 || chapter 4

------

A/N: okay so this is gonna be 3 chapters. the last chapter’s smut, but there’s pretty suggestive stuff happening in the 2nd chapter

i did research for this and wanted to try to make it more on the realistic side but there's always the chance that i messed up somewhere, so if you wanna point it out go ahead. it'll be good to know for the future!

------

This wasn't your first time filming for sex work but you felt a little out of your element. The studio that recently hired you was much bigger than what you were used to and considering that you were mainly doing freelance work before, this made everything feel much more professional and serious. Their work had to be highly produced.

"--We aren’t super strict about that, but you should definitely tell me before you go anywhere."

Right now, you were being given a quick tour by one of the people you'd be working with--the Director of Photography. Jocelyn was pretty much your manager and would be giving you most of the orders.

You continue to follow behind her as she continues to show you around. But you couldn't help eyeing the high quality lights and cameras you pass as she talked though. The equipment must have been worth a lot.

Once she has finished showing you around, she leads you back to the set filled with the crew that you passed earlier.

You listen closely as she goes over the details of the film.

"This will be the room where the main scene will take place. Today we will have you operating one of the stationary cameras, but since you’ve done stuff like this before I decided to let you do it without someone breathing down your neck. Just follow my orders."

You like the woman already. "Thank you."

"The shoot will start in--" she checks her watch, "--about an hour. Today is just filming for you but you know you’ll be doubling up as a runner when necessary. We might also have you help with other tasks while you work here too."

You nod to show you understand.

She smiles, "If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask me or any of your co-workers. Try to avoid asking the director though…."

-------

You adjust the headphones on your head as you stand in front of the camera you'd be in charge of today.

Working it should be simple enough since you didn't have to actually move. You just needed to make sure it stayed in focus so they had more options when it came to angles.

About 10 minutes later, the two actors starring today show up dressed in fairly nice clothes that they wouldn't be wearing for too long. One of them seemed quite friendly with everyone. He must be pretty popular you think.

Before you can recede to your thoughts, you recognize him.

Is that Bruno Bucciarati?

You quickly confirm that it is and turn your body away from him and towards the camera, as if doing that would hide you. You weren't necessarily a stan but you did follow him on social media. And perhaps you did subscribe to his OnlyFans. And there's a good chance you paid money for some of his work.

It wasn't your fault that he was one of the few male stars you found attractive!

You shake your head. This was work. Don't get starstruck.

Luckily, it doesn't take you long to get distracted with the camera. You rarely get to operate such expensive equipment like this so you find yourself looking at all it had to offer.

While you neglect socializing with the people you would be working with from now on, someone comes up to you.

"You look so focused."

Your eyes widen from the sudden voice and you pull down your headphones as you look to the side. "Oh sorry--" When you see who it is the rest of your statement dies in your throat.

However, Bruno isn't deterred by your abrupt stop. "You must be the new camera person."

You stare a second too long before nodding.

He holds out a hand and you have to calm your shaking one before reaching out and grabbing his. His hand was really warm.

“Nice to meet you, my name's Bruno Bucciarati."

"I'm ____. I've actually seen some of your work before! You really are as handsome as in the videos."

Even though you're straight-faced, you were regretting what you just said. It was a simple compliment but what if it was too much? His looks did astound you though, there was no denying it. And you really didn't understand how he managed to pull off that haircut.

You smile to ease the tension within yourself and Bruno returns it. Whether it was genuine or out of politeness you didn't know, but it helps you relax.

"Thank you," he says.

“Okay everyone get in your damn places! We’ll be starting soon!”

Your brows raise at the director’s choice of words.

Bruno turns back to you. "Well, let's do our best to get through this."

You nod and watch him walk towards the bed where his co-star is waiting, and the director immediately starts going over what he wants the two of them to do once he’s there.

You decide to do a quick second check on your camera to make sure everything is still working properly before waiting patiently for the director to start.

------

Between some cuts and breaks, filming’s done about 6 hours later. You’d been informed about the typical work time so you weren't surprised. The porn from this studio was highly produced, with a few “amateur” looking works thrown in, so it was the norm. But this was the longest you had worked on one film. So depending on how particular the director was, you would need to be prepared to do at least several hours of filming when behind the camera.

You rub your eyes. It's only 4 pm but you're yearning for your bed. You could only imagine how tired the actors were.

Right after you turn off the camera, Jocelyn calls you over.

"You did well today and looks like you don't need any serious training. Good job!" she praises.

You guessed you passed the new hire "test". That gave you a bit of an energy boost and you can't help the smile on your face.

While you remove the camera from its tripod, you begin to retreat to your mind. And of course, your mind wanders to a certain actor.

Bruno was good at what he did. Really good. And the other actor seemed to genuinely enjoy working with him too. For a second, you wonder what it's like.

You glance up and accidentally make eye contact with a now fully clothed Bruno. The man walks towards you and even though you had watched him just have sex for multiple hours, you feel nervous.

“What’s up?” you ask when he's close enough.

"Nothing. I like to check up on newcomers, but you must have worked in this field for a while since they usually tend to have some hang ups."

"Uh yea. I've been doing stuff like this for awhile. Good work today by the way."

"Same with you. It was long but things went as smoothly as they could."

You nod in agreement and finish folding up the tripod. “They did, but honestly that one position you were in looked super uncomfortable! Is your back okay?”

The man laughs. “I'll be fine. That was pretty tame to be fair.”

“Wow, you must be super fit or flexible then...” You notice your coworkers walking off with equipment and decide its best to end the conversation so you can follow them. "Oh, I need to put away this stuff. Thanks for checking up on me though!"

Bruno smiles at you and you scurry off with the camera and the tripod.

-----

You'd been here a week so far. Each day varied with things to do and you never really knew what you'd exactly be working on until you got to the studio.

For today you had a list of various tasks but the first one was conducting a pre-shoot interview with the actors for the porn being shot in an hour.

You look through the viewfinder at the two men sitting on the couch. You were already recording but the interview hadn't started just yet.

“It’s been awhile since I've done an interview so bear with me...” you mumble while going over the questions in your head.

“No pressure ____,” Bruno says.

The man doesn't seem bothered but Prosciutto, on the other hand, isn’t as laid back.

“You should at least have a list of questions prepared,” the blonde says.

"Yep right here!" You pull out a piece of paper from your pocket. From the list you could tell this collaboration had been long requested by their fans.

“I did my best to remember it but just in case…” You place the paper on a surface out of view.

You readjust the camera on your shoulder before speaking again. “Okay, let's start with names you say.”

You focus the camera on Bruno. You wish you had a tripod, but they were insistent on having you walk around with the damn thing to make it feel more “personal”.

"I’m Bruno Bucciarati."

You then turn the camera to focus on Prosciutto.

"I’m Prosciutto."

“So I know this is the first time you both are working together. How are we feeling?”

Bruno smiles. “I'm feeling pretty good and ready to work. How about you, Prosciutto?”

“Pretty much how I do before any shoot.”

“And what's that?” you ask.

Prosciutto crosses his arms. “Mostly relaxed but looking forward to it of course.”

"That's good. I know it'll be tiring filming and from how highly requested this seems to be, the director's going to want this to be perfect. But I'm hoping you guys still have fun."

"I'm sure we will, but I still don't know why so many people wanted us to work together," Prosciutto says.

Bruno nods. "Agreed. I feel like we’ve rarely interacted until now."

"Well people like seeing attractive people together. And I've actually seen fancams of you two interacting on Twitter. It's pretty entertaining!"

“You search those up?” Bruno asks.

“No, they just show up on my timeline sometimes.”

“...So you're a fan of Bruno then?” You weren't sure why but you sense a bit of judgement coming from Prosciutto.

"A little, but let's move on." You take a peek at the paper. "So who’s receiving and who’s catching?"

You raise a brow at how the question’s phrased.

Bruno looks at Prosciutto. “Don't you think we should let the film speak for itself.”

The blonde hums in agreement. “If they need to know so badly, they can skip ahead.”

“True. I think either way would be fun to watch though,” you say.

“Definitely. You should let me know what you think later.” Bruno says.

You don't mean to smile but it's already happening. "Sure."

“You're real unprofessional flirting with the camera person in the middle of an interview,” Prosciutto chides.

“It's just some banter. Are you jealous?”

Prosciutto tsks at Bruno's statement.

You shake your head deciding not to acknowledge those comments. The editor would have to cut out that bit. The two seemed to get along well enough for work but you had a feeling they would get on each other's nerves if they stayed together too long.

“Okay so this is definitely a good question to ask next. What do you guys like about each other? Either personality or physical wise."

Prosciutto glances at Bruno before speaking. “I can admit that the man has a nice….physique.”

You grin. "You sound like I'm putting a gun to your head."

The man fixes you with a very unamused look but you continue on smiling.

"What about you Bruno?" you ask.

“Well he has an attractive face and body, of course. His stubbornness is enjoyable at times too.”

“Stubbornness?”

Prosciutto seems to have the same question as you because he looks at Bruno for his explanation.

“Yes it's a good trait to have in certain situations.” Bruno returns the blonde’s stare. “It'll also make seeing him unravel much more interesting.”

The two of them are now looking at each other very intently and you feel like you should leave the room. But you need to finish the interview.

“Nice...so this is the last question. Is there anything specific you two are looking forward to?”

Fortunately, the two of them can still hear you and respond.

Bruno hums, “I suppose it's been awhile since I've given a blowjob, so there's that.”

"...And I'm looking forward to receiving one."

You let out a chuckle, “Okay, Prosciutto I see what you're about.” You quickly skim the list of interview questions. "Well looks like that's it! You guys ready to go?”

They both give you their positive answers.

“Then let's get you guys ready for the shoot."

Bruno smiles while Prosciutto's face stays neutral.

After that statement you stop recording.

“Okay, nice job guys!” You look at the clock on the wall. “That went pretty fast. So you can go ahead and head to the set.”

Prosciutto nods and exits the room but Bruno stays behind.

“Are you going to be helping film for the shoot?” he asks.

You gently place the camera down on the table where you left the paper.

“No, I have to go out and buy some things for something being filmed later this week. And then I have to go do some other stuff around the studio…” You laugh, “They really have me running around!”

Bruno looks slightly concerned. “You’d prefer to stay behind the camera the whole time right?”

“Yep but that's okay. I already knew what I was getting into, and I get paid better pretty well for it.” You look back up at the clock. “I’ll definitely be back for the interview after filming though so I should see you then.”

Bruno nods. "Okay, good luck with your errands."

----

By the end of the day, you're exhausted. Your list of tasks wasn't hard, you just ended up moving a lot more than you planned. You even almost forgot to take your break in your hustle.

When you return to your apartment, you eat something and take a quick shower before dressing up for bed. And once you're snuggled up in your covers, you decide to check your Twitter to see if anything interesting has happened.

While scrolling through the random posts retweeted throughout the day, you happen upon a pretty suggestive picture of Bruno in lingerie. He posted it not too long ago.

Nice.

You click on his icon to check his page to see if there’s anything else new, and under his username notice the words follows you.

Your eyes widen and you double check and refresh to make sure you're not seeing things. You go into your notifications and see that he followed you a couple hours ago. You really weren't sure what to do. It would be weird if you messaged him, right?

You take a deep breath and decide to take the chance. Bruno probably got hundreds of messages so it shouldn't be a big deal.

hi, i saw that you followed me. just making sure you didn't make a mistake lol

Before you can overthink it you send the message. After that you go back to his page and like and retweet the lingerie photo, but you still need a distraction so you wouldn't obsess over a possible reply. When you're thinking of getting out of bed, a message from Bruno pops up.

You quickly open it to see the full message.

No mistakes here. I searched you up and saw that you already followed me so I wanted to follow back.

It's not the first time you've been followed by pornstars or coworkers you worked with, but it was honestly still rare. And something about it being Bruno made your heart beat faster. You momentarily think about everything you retweeted in the last hour, before sending a message back.

oh okay, thx! i'll try not to bother you too much, you probably get a lot of messages

A few seconds pass before you get another reply.

Not necessarily. I have DMs off for people I don't follow. I love my fans but they can get...rowdy. Either way, you can message me whenever you want.

Wow, what would you even talk about with Bruno outside of work related things...

oh, that makes sense. well i guess i’ll take you up on the offer ^^

You see the three dots going for a while before another message appears.

I saw you retweeted my picture.

Your heart skips a beat.

oh god, now i feel embarrassed all of a sudden!

No don’t be. I'm glad you like it.

You smile to yourself.

yea, you look really good in lingerie ...you look good in anything tbh or without anything lmao

You feel like you're about to say something really embarrassing if this conversation continues and quickly type up another message before he can respond.

i’m really tired so i’m going to get ready for bed

The three dots disappear for a moment before showing up again.

Shame, I would have liked talking more. But I understand, you looked really exhausted during the post interview.

yea i was but it’s no biggie and we can message later ❤

Okay then, sleep well ____.

good night 😴

You close out of the app after that and honestly, that went way better than you were expecting.

[twst-kumi]

Children of secrets Chapter 1

In the great library, Crowley searched for the group's country but couldn’t find anything. They even showed him their ID, student card and currency, so it wasn’t a lie. The problem was, he couldn’t find anything in his book and maps about a country named Japan. It didn’t exist. At least not in this world or planet. 

_There is nothing, Japan doesn’t exist here. Then how did the black carriage took you? (Crowley)

_If we knew how we would have left long ago. (Sano)

_Then could you come from another dimension or planet? (Crowley)

‘There that option, yes’ The group looked at each other before looking at the poor director. Truthfully they already knew they were not in their world. But in a world where they didn’t know if they were hostile to Yokai or not, it was better to act clueless and like they were human. Deep in thought, Crowley looked at them, two boys and six girls. He could shelter the two boys but what about the girls? It’s an all-boy school, he can’t let girls stay here. But… he also couldn’t leave them without a place to go. 

_This is quite problematic, while the two boys could stay without a problem, you young ladies can’t stay in a school full of males. That's dangerous. (Crowley)

_Ah, I understand. After all, boys are more dangerous than being homeless without anyone to protect or help you. (Aoi)

_What? No, I will make sure you stay somewhere and are taken care of. (Crowley)

_I see, thank you. I suppose putting us in a stranger’s care while separating us is the best option. (Asano)

_Ah… I’m sorry but I rather live on the street than be separated from our group. (Yuuken)

‘Wait! It sounds like I’m heartless and irresponsible.’ Crowley thought while sweating at the situation. Maybe they are more dangerous than the boys in this school. If word of that incident were to get out, that would be bad for the school. And their reputation would be stained forever. 

_ Of course, you will stay, until I find a way to send you back! (Crowley)

He hurriedly blurted the word out before seeing the small smile on their face. Ah, so he got tricked. They knew what they were doing when they played with his word. And he couldn’t come back on his word. 

_Well since I am a kind teacher, I will provide you with your needs and shelter. Of course, you will have to work to earn your bread. (Crowley)

Turned toward the door and left with them. He continued talking about what they would be doing from now on and a bit about the school. They followed him listening carefully. As their new home came into view, their eyes grew a little bigger. This dorm was practically run down. 

_Thankfully we didn’t demolish this old dorm, this is Ramshackle dorm. Students tend to avoid it so you will be safe here. (Crowley)

_Does that mean we can do whatever we want with it? (Asano)

_I… well, yes. I was planning to destroy it so I suppose you can. Although… What are you planning to do with it? (Crowley)

Yuuken laughed when he saw the man growing worried. He patted on his shoulder before reassuring him. 

_Don’t worry, we were just planning to renovate it a bit. (Yuuken)

After a quick tour of the dorm and a “warm” welcome from the ghost, the group settled their thing and started to examine every still usable element in the dorm. They still have electricity, clean water and a stove working. Finding a broom and a bucket, they started to divide the chores among them. Yuuken and Kaiba would do the heavy lifting and important repairs like the stair, Sano and Haru would take care of the small repairs and mending the furniture, Asano and Aoi the bedrooms, Alice and Yume the cleaning. Everyone was laughing as they started and soon the place was more livable. They still had more repairs to do but it was far more than enough for a start. After they would finish, if they could completely modify the dorm it would be even better. Thankfully, they had the acknowledge to renovate the dorm themself. This was the perk of being a century-old (or more) yokai, from the most rudimental house to a traditional Japanese house to a slightly more modern house. They had the time to learn and use those skills and their power helped a lot. Putting some buckets out as they heard the rain pouring outside, they were starting to make a list about what was left to repair or change. They could hear the rain leaking from the roof.

They were still chatting when Crowley came back with their meals. First, he was surprised to see the dorm almost fully repaired. Even with his magic, he couldn't be that fast. Hard to believe it was a run-down building. He could also feel something strange. Something was strange here, almost as if something unbeknownst to him was there. He could feel but he couldn't point it out.

_How incredible, you repaired that place fastly. If I leave this place to you then maybe we could open this dorm again. (Crowley)

_ Or not, we prefer keeping your Territory untouched by strangers. (Sano)

_I’m sorry? (Crowley)

_Sano is right, we don’t know if we will be able to return to our world. So we may as well claim this place as our own until we find better or you take care of your mistake. (Yuuken)

Those kids were talking fearlessly or carelessly in their case. This confidence made him question them a bit. They were talking out of habit like they are used to it,he could see that. They weren’t even scared about the situation, rather… they enjoyed it? They were hiding something from him, it was carefully hidden but still there, hiding beneath their smile. Like small predators ready to bare their fangs if provoked. 

_Well, you sure know how to work together. Maybe it was destiny that you got here… (Crowley)

_To clean your school? (Asano) 

_How humorous! It seems like we have funny students this year!! (Crowley)

Muttering to herself a small “I wasn’t joking tho”, Asano crossed her arm and huffed a bit. She could definitely feel that chore coming their way. 

_But yes, I want you to work as a janitor and in exchange, we will provide you with your meal. (Crowley)

_Ugh! No way I rather go to class than clean. (Aoi)

_Unfortunately, only a magician can go. A magicless kid like you can’t. (Crowley)

Before she could even do anything, she was stopped by Sano. But as foolish as the director looked, he was still a powerful magician. And fastly caught on to what was happening. Now he was sure, they were hiding something. Dropping quickly the kind act, he looked at them seriously. 

_You! What are you and what are you hiding ?? (Crowley)

Looking at each other, they sighed and let the ginger head wrap things up with her skill as they acted guilty. Aoi’s species were known for their skill to deceive the living, she was after all a Kitsune. One of the most famous Yokai species alongside Sano and Kaiba as an Oni and Yuuken who are a Tengu. 

_Ah…. I’m sorry, the truth is with actually have magic. (Aoi)

_Nonsense! The mirror said you didn’t have any! (Crowley)

Showing him a part of their actual power and revealing her fox ears, she shed tears crying pitifully. She could see the man calming down before trying to soothe her. 

_We hid it because we didn’t know if you guys would be hostile to us or not. You see, the world we come from is quite hostile toward magic and mystical creatures. If found, we could get killed at any moment. I remember that witch who used her power to help someone, and she was burned alive! I’m sorry if it seems like we were deceiving you director (Aoi)

That begin said the witch was burned 200 years ago, but he didn’t need to know that detail. After all, the best lie is when you tell a bit of truth in it. 

Not finding any lie, Crowley calmed himself and even felt a bit sorry for them. Because this world wasn’t hostile to magic it didn't mean that was the same for them. 

_I see, I’m sorry for forcing you to reveal such a traumatic matter but as your kind educator, I must know what happened. (Crowley)

Crowley smiled at them trying to be as reassuring as possible. 

_But if it’s that hostile, why do you wish to return? (Crowley)

_Huh? But we never said we wanted to return, you’re the one who said that we must return. (Yume)

_That true (Alice)

Thinking carefully about it, Crowley felt like he couldn’t let them simply go. They had magic so they could technically enrol in the school. The problem was most of them were girls, and with the incident that happen today, he didn’t know how he was supposed to cover it. They didn’t want to part and that was understandable in an unknown world. Resigned to this fate, the masked director decided to do an exception and let them all enrol in the school. 

_Tomorrow come to my office after you guys cleaned the main street. (Crowley)

_Huh? We are still cleaning? (Aoi)

_Of course! I may let you guys be as students but you will still be this school janitor. And until I prepare everything you need plus work you all can along with your studies. (Crowley)

Aoi truly wanted to burn this man to crisp. She didn’t want to do those kinds of works. She hated that to be real but at least they had a place to sleep so she couldn’t complain. 

The next as promised, they gathered at the main street with the cleaning tool. They laughed while chatting about what they wanted in their new dormitory and made some jokes. Reaching the alley, they looked surprised and a bit amazed bit the statues. No matter how they looked at it, this was a Disney villain’s alley, right? They started the cleaning not daring to bring the matter out. At some point, it was Yuuken who brought it up. 

_I wonder who they are… I mean, they look like Disney characters but that it, right? (Yuuken)

_What you don’t know about the queen of hearts? (Ace)

‘Like in Alice in wonderland?’ Yuuken looked at the redheaded boy behind him. He was soon joined by Haru who wasn’t far from him. 

_Queen of hearts? It’s my first time hearing about it. (Haru)

_In the past, she was the queen who lived in the Rose Maze. She was someone who valued rules and discipline above all, strict in all things from the march of the card soldiers to the colour of rose bushes. It was a land of madness where all submit to her rule. (Ace)

_Wow, she was really strict. (Haru)

_Even me, I’m not that strict in the kendo club. (Yuuken)

Ace laughed putting his hand behind his head. He couldn’t help but throw small glances at the petite girl’s skirt. She was truly a girl in an all-boys school.

_Yeah, no one can compare to her in that. Why do you ask? Because it was off with your head! (Ace)

_Who’s the other then? (Haru)

_No you should ask about who he is first, don’t you think? (Yuuken)

Haru pouted as she felt like she begin to be scolded by him. 

_Ah… It’s alright! I’m Ace. A fresh-faced first year. Nice to meetcha. (Ace)

_I’m Yuuken, and this is Haru. The other are Kaiba, Yume, Sano, Aoi, Alice and Asano. (Yuuken)

_You….What? (Ace)

_Just call me Yuu. (Yuuken)

_Hey Ace, what about that lion? (Haru)

Haru grabbed his sleeve as her eyes shone with curiosity. The young male blushed, she was so cute. He could die from it. She was almost like a kid, Yuuken noticed Ace's reaction and couldn’t help but laugh silently. The poor first year was a blushing mess.

_S… Sure! This is the king of the beast who rules the savannah. However, he was not born to be king, but he took the throne through effort and elaborate planning. After becoming king, he even allowed the loathed hyenas to live in his kingdom without discrimination. (Ace)

_Well You can’- (Haru)

_Haru! (Yuuken)

_What about the octopus woman? (Haru)

Swallowing her sarcasm, Haru changed the subject by pointing to the next statue. 

_That’s the sea witch who lives in a cavern in the deep. Her purpose was to help all unfortunate merfolk. As long as you could pay the price she could transform you, help you find love, anything. If it was within her power there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do. They say her prices were pretty high though.

Ready for another sarcasm, Haru opened her mouth and looked at Yuuken who shook his head to say “no”. She pouted before turning her attention to the fresh year.

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