#oh. other than some drawing requests on my sideblog

[quibbs126]

hi!! you said it'd be okay to request oc/canon fankids, so i thought i'd toss one of mine into the mix! her name's salt lick cookie, and she's a farmhand on a ranch. she mostly helps with the horses (hence 'salt lick'), and is a HUGE Horse Girl™. she has that THICK southern drawl, and is pretty laid-back in general. her pet would be a little living hobby-horse toy, y'know, the kind on a stick that you'd stand over and run around pretending to ride as a kid.

i think it'd be REALLY cute to pair her with potato cookie, since they both work closely with animals, and potatoes and salt tend to work well together lmao!

i do wanna apologize for a couple things regarding the reference image: since i can't draw, i used a mobile dollmaker app, so the colors aren't 100% accurate… salt licks run the gamut from pure white to a deep, pinky red, but nothing's as dark as the red on her overshirt, so that red should be lighter and more pinkish. (her bandana is supposed to be white and pink, too, not. yellow.) and the website i used to make the background transparent decided to also make her pigtails, shirt, and half of one boot transparent… hopefully that won't make a difference if the canvas is white?

ah, sorry, one more thing, if you ever decide to draw this, i'd prefer if you tagged energy-drink-cookie, since that's my cookie run sideblog!! even if you pass on this, i think it's really cool that you're open to ocs and i hope you're having a good day!

Here you are, this is Potato Chip Cookie

You said to tag @energy-drink-cookie so here you go

Oh and by the way if you’re wondering why the oc looks different in my ref than the one given, it’s because I redrew it myself and afterwards I was told I could use that version if I wanted

Anyways on to the show, so I named him Potato Chip simply because they’re potatoes and they’re usually salty. I mean one’s salt and the other potatoes, what else was I gonna do if not some form of salty potatoes?

Potato chips:

Funny enough when making the initial rough sketch, I thought he looked a bit too much like Salt Lick, but around the time I was finishing up, I thought he looked a bit too much like Potato. I’m willing to say now he’s probably more of an even balance

I do admit that I kind of just gave him Salt Lick’s top hair, just with some more rounded ends to resemble Potato more. I was always planning on making his hair blonde with white streaks since he’s still a potato, but I also made the blonde slightly more orange, though I don’t think it’s very noticeable

I also gave him those dark brown flecks in his hair just because the potato chips I was looking at had some pepper in them. And it tied in with the eyebrow color

I gave him pink eyes because it was supposed to represent the salt, but also I realize that if I didn’t give him pink eyes, he’d definitely look too much like Potato

So with his outfit, initially he was going to be a farmer, but I ended up think “what if he was a chef instead?” and went with that for everything below his scarf (since that was what I had drawn first). But also I didn’t change the initial look, mostly because I really liked it, so I think his top part and his bottom part may not entirely coincide with his theme

When trying to finalize the colors, I wasn’t sure about giving Potato Chip his yellow shirt, since I thought it looked off, but my friend told me to make it flannel and make his scarf red, so I did. I think I’ve gotten flannel mostly down, but truthfully I’m not sure

But yeah overall I quite like his design

Now onto his character

So I said before he’s a chef. Well he still lives on the potato farm with his family, but he also acts as their cook, since he’s got aspirations of one day being a famous chef (though he’s currently a bit too young to pursue these dreams, he’s still a teenager). His dishes mainly consist of various things made of potatoes like potato salad, potato chips, potato pancakes, loaded potatoes, you get the picture. Also if they have a mill for potato flour/starch, I imagine he mans it as his main role on the farm

Other than that, he’s a sweet guy. A bit shy and sometimes easily startled, but he doesn’t have an ounce of malice in his dough. He just likes to make food for the people he cares about

And yeah I think that’s about it for Potato Chip, I hope you like him!

[pomrania]

Okay, so I should write stuff about what I’m planning to do this month, for art. It’s not going to start today or tomorrow, but yeah.

First off, it’d be for mutuals and half-mutuals. “Half-mutual” is a term I came up with, because I didn’t know of any other term, and it just seemed to fit. It’s for when you follow my blog, and I follow your sideblog. (Or the other way around, but I don’t have sideblogs that people follow, so that wouldn’t apply to me.) I know there’s at least two different half-mutuals I have, one where I follow their cat blog and another where I follow their art blog; there may be more, even ones that are regularly active, but this is just off the top of my head.

I’m limiting it to mutuals and half-mutuals because I don’t think I could handle it unlimited; therefore, it logically follows that I think I CAN handle it with the given limitations. Which leads back into the perennial problem of people going “I don’t want to impose” or “I don’t want to give you extra work” or “I want other people to have a chance”. STOP WITH THAT.

Let’s take it in order. “I don’t want to impose.” If I’m asking you to give me something, and you give me the thing that I ask for, that is like, the exact opposite of “imposing”.

“I don’t want to give you extra work.” I’m not on salary. I’m not some minimum-wage employee getting paid the same amount regardless of how much I do or have to do. Heck, I’m not getting paid at ALL for this; it’s something I do because I WANT to do it. And if I feel like I can’t finish all of a thing in one day, you know what I do? I carry it over to the NEXT day.

“I want other people to have a chance.” This is actually a valid concern, but don’t worry, I have a system for dealing with that, and it’s worked very well in the past. Basically, you can only make a second (or third, fourth, etc) request once your first request has been done and posted; and that new request goes to the bottom of the list, like all new requests. I can explain it in more detail if needed -- either because you don’t get what I’m saying (totally possible) or because you don’t see how it solves the problem -- but it boils down to that the only way someone can monopolize stuff, is if nobody else makes a request.

If you keep following me, you’re prolly going to see the above stuff a LOT, as it keeps being a problem for every damn request-based art event I do. So like, just trust that I know what I’m doing, and I’m capable of making my own choices, and don’t try to make those choices for me.

Okay, rant over, what’s the other stuff I’ll need to talk about....

Subject matter. It’s “drawing pets as monsters”. Last year I got a lot of “vampire” requests, and I don’t know whether that’s because I put ‘vampire’ in the list of examples, or if people just really want to see their critters as vampires. I’d rather not, in general. Mostly because there’s only so many different ways to represent “vampire” and it can get boring after a while. I mean, I’m not OPPOSED to drawing critters as vampires, but I’d prefer that either a) it’s something you really want, as in “oh boy I can’t wait to see this critter as a vampire”, or b) you give me something more descriptive than just “vampire”; doesn’t have to be a vampire from a specific folklore or anything, “cute little vampire like you’d see on spoopy decorations” or “monstrous blood-sucker” would also work quite well for purposes.

Duration. Uhhh I have no idea; I think I’ll start with requests open for a week, and then see how that goes. And I’ll have to remember to put that in the post too; that it might be open for just a week, and it might end up as more than a week, I don’t know.

OH something else I need to make sure everyone knows, although I might not need to put it in the post itself. That once requests close, that does not mean that the EVENT closes; I’ll still be drawing requests that came in. This is something that people keep getting wrong and worrying about; is there a better way of phrasing it, that’ll be easily understood?

Also, my normal rules wrt the definition of “pet” will still apply; that is, a critter you have some type of connection to, past or present, and you can give me their name. The “name” thing is important because that’s what I do for file names, so without a name I can’t get past super-rough sketching (because I’m only going to put actual effort into a piece once I’ve saved it, which I can’t do without something to name the file, and I refuse to depart from my naming scheme).

[detectiveichijouji]

[pinned] welcome~

OH HEY, ANOTHER BLOG TO BE DELUSIONAL ABOUT SOMETHING HUH... Okay so... This one is probably something i wanted to do a long time ago (to be more exact, since 2011) which evolved from “Ichijouji Ken investigating stuff at a young age” to “Ken and his friends start solving digi-cases around Tokyo, and have a rival phantom thief involved in their own adventures.. And a few suspects on who Arsenemon might be.”

Yeah, headcanons!! And uh, art and drabbles. Not sure if this blog will have a full story with a plot… Still thinking about it. But might say I’m totally in the mood to work on something like this ;v;

(the current stuff i’m running/writing are still in progress!! Just… taking a break from them for a while~ Also 02TB is boosting my mood for writing/doodling things with the 02 group more than before, lol)

This blog is canon compliant. This is not an AU thingy. Yes, the main ship here is Ken/Miyako so please don’t follow/reblog my stuff to spite on the ship or canon.

“Will you allow us to send asks?” Well maybe? For now I’ll just gather stuff for the blog.

💙💚❤️💛🧡🩷 Use the tags in this post to navigate!

[Rules for asking and Interacting with this blog below ↓]

→ NO BASHING/DUNKING ON ANY SERIES, OR CHARACTERS. Also I won't tolerate hateful comments.

→ NO SHIP WARS. Yes, this blog is canon compliant so please, avoid asking about non-canon or if possible asking shipping at all. (That said, Étoile is not-shippable with anyone.)

→ I don't ship human/digimon and I might block if you ship it.

→ Please don't send me requests to draw stuff. Some replies might have art! But if you just drop me something like "can you draw [insert here some prompt/idea]" i will immediately reply with my comm. price chart :) And no, I won't draw fetish art.

→ Unlike my other sideblogs, this one has an ongoing story. I don't expect peeps asking me about it, but I'd like to focus on it in the first place.

→ Ah, I have so little to zero knowledge of the American dub of any digi-series. I will only work with the Japanese version or Brazilian dub. No dub or OG version dunking is allowed in this space by the way.

→ I don't like passive-aggressiveness. If you have something to correct in my posts, please do it politely.

→ Usual common etiquette -- No hatred towards people's religions, sexual/romantic orientation, gender (or lack of), PoC, ethnicities, etc. I won't hesitate to block if needed.

→ Do not edit my art or repost it. If you wanna use it as an icon/sidebar, ask first. And no, you cannot use my art on A/I & N/F/T for ANYTHING. If you do that, I will block you immediately.

[mickeyjunk]

Playing with Ushiwaka

(aka can you tell this is the first fic I’ve posted in Years)

Summary;

Issun and Waka are living together in the Celestial Plain, being chill cute boyfriends and stuff. Waka is a housewife. Issun is a meanie. They’re both absolutely adorable.

     One blink. Two blinks. Waka took a few moments to get his bearings, gradually waking and coming down from the warm-high that was his sleep. Though he could distinctly feel someone nestled against his side, his arm pleasantly warm underneath what felt like a head.. He opened his eyes blearily, crimson glistening in the soft light of the early morning moon; Amaterasu had not yet raised the sun, but no doubt she would be soon. Turning his gaze down, he couldn't help a gentle smile at the sleeping form of his lover. Issun may have been embarrassed to cuddle at all, but that easily dissolved when he slept, Waka had found. He was something of a tsundere, really, constantly claiming that Waka was an annoyance or blushing heavily when the blonde managed to catch one of his hands in a gentle hold.      Though he was tempted to simply stay there, he'd rather catch one of those sleepy smiles Issun gave whenever he made breakfast. He slowly sat up, slipping his arm from behind the other's head and replacing it with his own pillow; Issun took it gladly, face buried as a deep sigh left him. How adorable.      His feet touching the cool floor, Waka stretched before standing up fully with the help of one hand on his knee. He could distantly hear activity of others rising, smell smoke from cooking-fires for those that had rose even before he. Though, he didn't particularly feel like cooking..      He stepped outside after just a moment, not bothering to get his shoes and enjoying the soft grass for a moment before yawning again and heading to the back of his home. There were several bushes of varying types, each with tiny berries that were plump and ready to be picked; he'd been putting it off, but they'd make a good breakfast with the bread and cheeses he had, sweet bread he'd baked himself and goat cheese with spices of all kinds coating it. As he picked the berries, he felt the warmth of the sun begin to creep across the land; Amaterasu howled in the distance, joined by Chibi's higher and excited response. He must be helping to raise it today.       After gathering a few handfuls and holding them in the fold of his pajamas, he tiptoed back inside, shutting the door softly so as not to wake Issun just yet. He gathered two wooden plates that were deep in the center, almost bowls, and rinsed the berries quietly with fresh water from one of his bottles. It took only a moment to arrange all the berries, by colour purely for presentation, and he rinsed his hands before retrieving the cheese and bread. After a moment's thought, he left his own plate to get Issun a bit of juice and set both the cup and plate next to the bed before going back for his own meal. He was careful to step over his lover, then settled next to him cross-legged and began to eat; the sun's rays would undoubtedly awaken him, if not his own hunger.      With a soft sigh, Issun stirred, easing his hold on the pillow in favor of blinking a few times, then giving a heavy sigh and sitting up. “Mmh.. Morning.”  “Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?”  Issun was too tired to be flustered, and instead crossed his legs and put the plate on his lap so he could eat. “Like a log. You?”  “Much the same. You're quite nice to hold.”  “Too early. Can it.”      Waka's shoulders shook in silent mirth as he complied, daintily picking up another berry and inspecting it before putting it in his mouth; the berries grown here always had such flavor to them, succulent and sweet.      He was surprised, though, when Issun leaned against him. Perhaps it was too early, too early for teasing and too early for hiding affections. A light pink hue dusted the tips of his ears as he let his head rest atop the other's; the messy bun had come undone, and his hair was soft as silk. He couldn't help a deep breath, taking in everything he could of his lover and watching the soft light pour into the room in a comfortable silence as they ate.      They spent a good while simply being in each other's presence, uninterrupted. After they finished eating, Issun took Waka's bowl and placed it farther from the bed before pushing his shoulder lightly; Waka fell back with a soft huff of breath, again taken off guard at the action. “Issun, wh-”       But he trailed off as the other swung his leg over to straddle him, making his face light up almost instantaneously. Issun was never this forward- why, they'd only just gotten into cuddling, what was he-?      And his thought process was halted at a sudden kiss, Issun's cheeks dusted with a light blush that rivaled Waka's. The prophet stared for a few moments, eyes wide with wonder, before he melted and his eyes slid shut slowly. Their hands met and they linked fingers, Issun settling down to lay half-on top of Waka and continue the kiss for a few more moments before he pulled back and sighed softly, head settling on the other's chest. Waka had no doubt he was enjoying hearing his heart hammer, the Poncle's actions thoroughly shocking him, though not unpleasantly. “.. Are you feeling quite alright? I never thought you'd do.. That.”  “I'm wonderful, now. It's always a treat to see you blush, pretty boy.”       He huffed softly at the nickname, Issun's quiet laugh sounding and pulling the sting from the tease. “You're a dork.”  “You're blushing.”  “You are too!”       Issun was quiet, but Waka could very nearly hear the eye roll he knew was there. He waited a few moments before moving his hand to the other's back, gently sliding his palm up and down in a comforting manner; Issun had tensed, but relaxed when he realizes what was going on. A back rub never hurt anyone, certainly, and it was perhaps a form of thanks for such an early-morning wakeup call. Waka held back a smile when he thought about it, how he'd been sleepy before, but now was certainly awake. “You don't.. Mind, do you?”      The poncle's words broke into his thoughts, and his brow furrowed for a moment before he exhaled through his nose in a sort of almost-snort. “Do I mind? I wish you'd do that more often. Though, I'd recommend it before bed, as that might lead me to further activities beyond back-rubs.."      Issun groaned, swatting his lover's hand as he chuckled. He could never resist lewd jokes, or hints, after all. “You're gross.” “You're incredibly attractive.” He could feel the pause, the shock that made Issun's breathing still for just a moment. “.. That has nothing to do with anything!” “It does.” “Does not!” “Does.” “Does not, you nasty jerk!” And with a huff, Issun rolled off his chest and sat up. Waka frowned, reaching to pat him again but halting in the motion. “.. Issun?”      No reply. Now there was a distinct feeling of guilt niggling at the back of his mind. He went quiet, letting his hand settle next to him as he watched the Poncle with concern.      Wait, were.. His shoulders shaking? Oh gods, was he crying?! He'd no reason to, Waka reasoned, a slightly panicked tone invading his mind as he propped himself up on his elbows and slid a foot up to bend his knee. “Issun, I didn't mean- Oh!”      And with another roll, Issun was straddling him again, hands gripped around the other's wrists and pinning them to the bed. Waka's eyes went wide, the darkened expression on his lover's face making a shiver go down his spine. “Iss.. un?”      The Poncle was silent for several moments, merely staring into the other's eyes with an unreadable expression. Waka fidgeted uncomfortably, a faint blush appearing high on his cheeks as he looked away. “Issun, I..”      And he trailed off, unsure of what to say. His racing thoughts were cut short, though, when his lover bent down and buried his face in his neck. The prophet gasped, then locked his jaw as he felt gentle nuzzles go down his neck, a surprised jolt of his knee making one leg kick out in surprise.  That quickly turned to more kicks as the nuzzles turned to nibbles and raspberries, Waka's expression screwing up as giggles bubbled up in his throat. He was fairly sure that he was not, in fact, in trouble for the lewd comment; though he was certainly paying for it now. “You're so gross, you big dork.”      Waka's arms strained to be free, though it was in vain; Issun's grip was much stronger than it looked, and he was already taken by surprise. At a particularly rough nibble-bite, he cracked slightly, a shocked gasp giving way for a flood of soft, protesting words. “Issun- Issun no, please, I- eeheh, not the neck you buhully!!” And he gave a slightly stronger kick as a raspberry landed just below his jawline and ear, then a loud squeak escaped as the other nipped at said ear lightly. “That's worse, dohooon't!”      Issun snorted at his whine, not giving up for a second and lightly nibbling at the tip of his ear; the sensitive skin was already flushed pink as Waka finally broke down laughing, unable to shake his head for fear of hitting his love and instead attempting to buck him off, again failing at the escape attempt. “That's the point, pretty boy. You don't get to just say stuff like that and get away with it.” Now he paused, lips brushing the other's ears as his giggles died down. “And if I can't talk you out of it, I'll just tickle it out of you!”       Waka squealed loudly as Issun dipped down and pressed a raspberry to his collarbone, the target coming out of the blue and the intensity making his laughs all the louder. “NonononOOooo! Stop, sto-ahahaha, nyyeehee, Ihi'm sorryyyyy!” “Oh, now you're lying? You're lying to me, pretty boy?”      Waka snickered at the trail of nibbles tracing up and down his neck, foot slamming against the bed repeatedly as his back arched. “Ihi'm not!” “Not sorry?” “No, I'm- ahaha, I'm not lyihihing!”      After a few more soft raspberries and nibbles, Issun gently released his lover's wrists, settling down again to lay his head back down with a smug smile. Waka's chest heaved, and leftover giggles still spilled from his lips for a few moments before he finally calmed down and focused on his heaving breaths. “You're such a jerk, Issun.” “I love you too.”      The words once again took him off guard, and Waka's blush grew again for a second before he sighed and shook his head. “You have such a way of showing it.” “The best way for you.” “... Perhaps I should..”      And he sat up abruptly, taking his turn now to pin the other to the bed and grinning devilishly down as the envoy gasped and squirmed. “Return the favor?” It wasn't long before Issun's laughs rang out, joined by Waka's soft chuckles.

[redhoodssweetheart]

By the Sea Part Five

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Mermaid!Reader

Requested: No (Requests are closed except for a few, see pinned post for details.)

Word Count: 2.2K

Warnings: Angst, fluff

Description:  Y/N is a mermaid that longs for the land.  Her friend Natasha tells her that she knows a human who will take care of her and leads her there, she only has one rule: do not under any circumstances fall in love with a human.  But Steve’s friend Bucky is drawing her in, in ways she hadn’t expected.  Will Y/N be able to return to the ocean once her stay in the human realm is complete?  And what happens when Natasha learns that Y/N is betrothed to be married to their king’s son?  Will she drag her friend back or keep her hidden amongst the humans?

A/N: Sorry I missed last weekend.  I’ll post another part to make up for it in a little bit.  Also the image header is not the reader  It’s Natasha (pretend the hair is red).  I also no longer do taglists if you would like to stay up to date on all my works please check out my sideblog @buckyismymainman​

Tony slung his arm around Bucky’s shoulders, “Why did you run out on lunch the other day?  You looked like the devil was on your tail.”

Bucky managed to remove Tony’s arm from around his shoulders and straightened his shirt, “I saw a new friend in town and she looked sad.”

“Oh?”  Clint perked up from his spot on the couch.  “Do my ears deceive me or did Bucky just say he was spending time with a woman?”

Steve rolled his eyes, “He was spending time with Y/N.”

All eyes were now on Bucky.  “You’ve met Steve’s mysterious new friend that none of us have ever heard of?”  Bruce had been begging Steve to let the group meet the girl, but Steve was still keeping her under wraps.  Now that they knew that Bucky had met and spent time with her they would never stop bugging Steve.

“It was completely by accident,” Steve said in a lazy tone.  “We were in town getting new clothes for her when I ran into Bucky.  He accompanied me and got to meet her.  It wasn’t as if I chose him out of all of you to meet her first.”

“What’s she like?”  Tony asked.

Bucky tugged at his collar and wished that he were anywhere but in Tony’s apartment right now.  “She’s sweet, a little shy, but she’s got this calming presence about her.  Also, everything seems to surprise and cause a sense of wonderment for her.  It’s almost as if she’s never seen these things before.”

“It’s just the new setting,” Steve said quickly.  “She’s never traveled this far from home before and it’s almost as if she’s traveled to a completely different planet.”

“Where did you say she was from again?”  Clint asked.

“Smeraldo, it’s an island that isn’t too far from here,” Steve cleared his throat and stood.  “I need to get going, I have to meet one of the ships at the docks to make sure everything with my shipment is all right before it leaves for Spain.  I’ll see you, gentlemen, later.”  With that, he excused himself and hurried to the docks and away from his friends’ scrutiny.

“He seems very peculiar about his friend,” Sam said, his eyes on the door where Steve had just hurried through.  “Almost as if he’s hiding something about her.”

“Maybe he is,” Thor said with a roguish grin.  “Maybe she’s on the run from someone or maybe she’s a spy who’s seeking refuge from someone who discovered her secret.”

Tony snorted, “You’ve been reading one too many books here lately, Thor.  I’m afraid that it’s filled your head with fantastical ideas about spies and crazy adventures that never happen.”

“What if she’s a mermaid?”  Clint grinned.  “You know how Steve always went on and on about mermaids.”

Sam groaned and leaned his head back against his chair, “Please, enough with the mermaids and the wild ideas.  She’s probably just some regular lady from this Smeraldo place and Steve just feels a little protective of her because of what happened last time.”

The room fell silent and the others looked down, all except for Bucky who was looking between his friends.  “What happened with Natasha?”  He had been too young when she had been around and he didn’t know the full story.  Steve never talked about her unless someone brought her up and asked him how she was doing.

His friends shared a look before Sam said, “We swore we’d never speak about it.”

Tony ran a hand through his hair, “He deserves to know, especially if Steve is going to be overprotective with Y/N.”

“Sam knows it better than the rest of us so he should be the one that tells it,” Clint said, glancing over at the older man with a concerned look.

Sam closed his eyes and knew that Bucky wasn’t going to let the subject go so he should tell Bucky before he said something to Steve and anger him.  “We all met Natasha around four years ago….”

Y/N was in the water with Natasha, they were swimming just off the coast of Steve’s beach together.  Natasha had come back that morning because she wanted to make things right with her friend and she wanted to explain a few things to the younger woman.

“First, I’m sorry for how mad I got the other day,” she was perched on the reef, her hands fiddling with a shell she had picked up.  “I shouldn’t have gotten so mad at you and tried to force you to do something that you didn’t want to do.”

“You’re right, you shouldn’t have,” Y/N replied with a frown.  “You don’t understand what kind of pressure I’ve been under since I found out that I was supposed to marry Loki.”

She nodded her head, “You’ve always been a free spirit and I can’t imagine that becoming queen would be appealing to someone like you.”

“It isn’t, and being forced to marry someone that I know I’ll never love as more than a friend isn’t a pleasant thought.  It’s not that I don’t think Loki will be a wonderful husband, it’s just that I don’t want him to be my husband.”

“He’s been searching for you, he’s worried.  He’s not mad and he’s talked his father down from marking you as a traitor before they know what’s happened to you.”

Y/N looked at her hands, “But I am a traitor.  I’ve chosen the land over the sea, I’ve chosen to remain a human for the rest of my days versus staying a mermaid and marrying the future king.”  She knew that if she were ever discovered in the village then she would be marked a traitor and be brought before the royal court.  There was no way that she would be spared, even if Loki understood and tried to pardon her.

“I wish there was something that I could do to help you,” Natasha said honestly.  “I wish there was some way to make them understand that it’s just a path you don’t want to take and that they could find someone better suited for Loki.”

Y/N knew the risk that Natasha was taking by coming to see her and having been the one that brought her to Steve’s in the first place.  “Natasha, I think it would be best if you didn’t come to visit me anymore.  If they find out that you were the one who took me here, that you’ve known where I was the entire time then they could lock you up for conspiring with me.  I should have never dragged you into my own problems.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Natasha took Y/N’s hands in her own and gave them a gentle squeeze.  “You’re my friend and I wanted to help you.”  She sighed and said, “There’s something that I need to tell you about my time with the humans.”  Y/N looked at her expectantly waiting to hear what had happened to her friend.  “When I was with Steve there was a man in the village that I fell in love with.  He was one of the reasons why I wanted to go to the human world so badly.  I wanted to be around him and love him.  Steve found me on the beach right as I shifted and offered to help. 

“I told him about the man that I had seen and Steve took me into town once he had taught me how to walk properly in clothes and how to speak to humans.  Together we went into town and searched for the man I had seen so many times before.  I managed to find him and caught his eye and he approached me.  I spent most of the summer with him, falling in love and thinking that he was the one for me.  That was until I discovered he was betrothed.  It broke my heart when I saw the woman run into his arms, she had no idea that he had been spending his time with me.

“I confronted him about it, demanding to know why he was using me if he was with another woman.  He merely chuckled and said that I had just been easy because I had been so naïve to believe the lies he had fed me.  He used me and hurt me all because his fiancé wasn’t around to stop him from being with someone else.”

“That’s why you told me not to fall in love,” the realization dawned on Y/N as Natasha finished her story.

She nodded her head, “I just didn’t want someone to use you as he had used me.  That same night I went to his home with the plans of murdering him while he slept, but Steve followed me.  He knew how hurt and angry I was.  He knew that my trust had been broken.  He stopped me before I could do anything and I returned to the ocean that very same night, never to return again.”

“Steve misses you,” Y/N said.  I know you don’t want to risk running into this man, and I can understand why, but Steve seems lonely and he had his friend Bucky do this picture of a mermaid.  I think it’s meant to be you.”

Natasha dropped her head, “I know, I saw it the other day, but I didn’t say anything about it.  And I know I should see him more because he misses me and I miss him as well, but it’s still too soon.”

“Just visit him more, I think it would make him happy,” Y/N said before glancing up toward the surface.  “I should get back.  It’s getting late and Steve told me that the boys are coming over for dinner later.  They’re eager to meet me.”

Natasha chuckled, “Ah the gang still comes over for Friday night dinners, tell them I said hello.”

“You could tell them yourself,” Y/N prompted.  “It’d be nice to have someone else there besides Steve and Bucky.”

“I don’t know,” Natasha said hesitantly.

“Please?”  Y/N pouted and batted her eyes at Natasha which caused her friend to laugh.

“Fine!  I’ll come, but I’m leaving as soon as the others are gone.”

The two of them swam back to shore and Steve was surprised when Natasha walked into the dining room wearing one of her older dresses.  “Natasha?  What on earth are you doing here?”

“Well that’s not the welcome I was hoping for,” she teased.

Steve shook his head and walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, “That’s not what I meant.  It’s just… you haven’t come to one of these in a while.  I’m surprised you came.”

“Y/N wanted me to come, she said it would be fun and it’s been a while since I’ve seen the others.  It will be nice to see them all again.”

The doorbell rang and Steve pulled away, “And wonder who’s first tonight.  Natasha, do you mind finishing setting the table while I get the door?  Y/N can you help her?”

“Sure,” Y/N responded with a smile.

“Natasha, as I live and breathe,” both girls turned to see who had come first only to realize that they had all arrived at the same time.  Bruce had spoken first and was standing there with a large grin on his face.  “Long time no see.”

Natasha walked over and hugged him and the others, “It’s so nice to see you all again.”  She paused when she reached Bucky and said, “I’m afraid I don’t know you.”

“This is Bucky,” Steve said.  “Bucky meet my old friend Natasha.”

Bucky stuck out his hand and shook Natasha’s, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.  Steve and the others speak about you all the time.”

“All good things, I promise,” Steve interjected.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at him, “I feel like you’re lying, but I’ll let it slide this time.”

Bucky’s eyes landed on Y/N, he hadn’t seen her since Steve had barged into his studio that night and taken her home with him.  As Natasha said her hellos and got caught up with the others he made his way toward Y/N.  No one but Steve was really paying attention to the two of them.  He noticed the way Y/N’s face lit up as Bucky approached.  

“I’m sorry if I got you into trouble the other night,” he whispered as he came to a stop before her.  There was a sheepish smile on his face and he looked down at the ground for a second.  “Would you like to come back one day?  You can come with me in the morning and I promise I’ll have you back before dark.”

“I’d like that,” she whispered.  “I had fun before Steve barged in on us.”

“So did I,” Bucky was relieved to hear that she hadn’t been bored out of her mind.

Steve suddenly clapped his hands, “We should eat before the food gets cold.”  He shot Bucky a look, but didn’t say anything else as everyone slowly gathered around the table and took their places.

Natasha watched Y/N as she took a seat beside the young man she hadn’t met before tonight and grew worried as the two of them laughed quietly and talked to themselves.  She caught Steve’s eye and mouthed, “We need to talk.”  He merely nodded before steering the conversation toward the upcoming summer festival.

[cockasinthebird]

I could NOT resist your prompt meme and I could equally NOT resist asking for 69 😎 (Doing this on anon because I still haven’t worked out side blogging, but I’m cherrydreamer)

@cherrydreamer Don’t worry, this is my sideblog as well, and it is just not a function yet to send asks from them!

69. “I’ve never done this before.”

And while I have, I’ve never written it before, so this is exciting!!! I sat down when I came home today, and wrote it all out in one sitting, 1.6k words only, but I knew from the moment I even got this ask exactly what I wanted to do, and I am very happy with the result! Just straight to the point!

Thank you so much for sending one in!!! Before I let you all read this juicy fic, I wanna say that I’ve gotten 5 69 requests, yes, 5, and several friends have admitted they were so close to saying 69 or 420, and I think it is hilarious, I love each and every one of you all so much for this!! 😂😂🤣 AND I’m gonna do them all!!! all 5 69s; I already know what the next two are gonna be!!

Now, with my rambling done, please, enjoy~

-

“I’ve never done this before,” Steve says, honest, and his words don't surprise Billy.

“Yeah you don’t strike me as the type,” his response spoken through a crooked smirk, eyes adoring as he takes in the perfect nudity of his blushing boyfriend.

And Steve’s eyes crinkle as he laughs. “Don’t be rude! I’m doing this for you!”

Billy chuckles and leans in to kiss those smiling lips. “No, we’re doing this for us, for fun.” His hand lingers against Steve’s neck; rubbing soothing circles just beneath his jaw.

“You done it before?” Steve’s dark and lustrous eyes fall down to where Billy’s thick chub rests against his thigh, just past the border of where his tan-line cuts off.

“Sure, a few times but only with girls, usually with her on top so I don’t, you know…” He caresses Steve’s cheek and grins something so self-satisfied. “Choke her to death.”

Steve can’t help the chortle that escapes, and he leans forward to press their foreheads together. He’s all flushed and nervous and weirdly embarrassed to try something new, but also excited.

“So how do we do it?”

“Well, as much as I’d love to fuck the shit out of your pretty little mouth,” Billy drawls rough and erotic, his thumb pulling at Steve’s lower lip, “I’m thinking the safest position is for us both to be on our sides, that way we’re both in equal control and responsible for our own breathing.”

Again Steve lets out a little jittery noise, close to a chuckle, as he kisses Billy’s palm. “Okay.”

“And you just say stop if you don’t like it or if it’s too much or for any reason really, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Steve whispers and leans in to kiss the other, smiling and blushing and just- “God, I feel like a virgin again!”

Billy grabs him firmly with both hands to his cheeks, kisses him over and over and over in an attempt to alleviate some of the timid nerves. “You’ll do fine, don’t worry! Now, lie down on your side.”

So Steve does as is asked, lays down on his side, head near where the pillow would have been if Billy didn’t insist they needed the full bed clear of everything that could “get in the way.”

“Mmmmh,” Billy hums in appreciation and runs his hand down along Steve’s side till he reaches a thigh and squeezes it softly. “Comfortable?”

“As comfortable as I’ll get,” Steve replies with a little, happy smile.

“Good.” And there’s a glint of something so devious in Billy’s eyes, lids heavy and pupils blown as he stares down.

Then he gets on his side, mirroring Steve’s pose but with his head in the opposite end, eyeing up that long cock that lies at half mast, having gone a bit soft from nerves, but Billy doesn’t take it personal. He looks down - or up, depending on whose perspective is to be taken into consideration - and catches Steve looking back.

“Enjoying the view?” Billy asks and cracks a wide and humored grin.

Steve visibly swallows, and nods. “Y-yeah, very.”

The trust placed in him is terribly heart warming, and just goes to show how much Steve really loves Billy. And Billy can’t help but love him back.

“Now lift up your head and I’ll just slip my leg underneath so you can rest on my thigh if need be, yeah?” Billy’s calm as he guides Steve on this exploratory journey, rock hard but patient, and Steve does exactly as instructed. “Perfect.”

“Any… any final advice?” Steve’s tone is hesitant but intrigued.

To those words, Billy licks his lips, making them good and wet, smirking like a devil down between Steve’s thighs. “Don’t be shy.” And he wolfs down Steve’s dick in one go, sucking him in as deep as he can go before gagging.

“Fuck, ah!” Steve gasps loudly and tenses up in an attempt to fight the urge to buck his hips for more.

Billy works him over good and ravenously, a hand around the bottom of the shaft where his lips can’t quite reach, tongue rolling against the head whenever, moaning and rumbling around Steve’s cock as it’s quick to grow fully hard with such masterful persuasion. It curves so wonderfully along his tongue and toward his throat.

“Oh God, shit-”

From the lack of attention, Billy moves his own hips, moans out something that could resemble actual words as he inches himself closer to Steve’s head.

There is instant relief in surface tension as slender fingers wrap around his aching erection and starts moving at an all too erratic pace, but it’s working for him, especially when Steve then closes his lips around the head and licks across the slit, swirls around the hot flesh, sucking on just the tip for now, but with such enthusiasm it makes Billy’s cock kick and leak near immediately.

Steve gives good fucking head for a guy who’s mostly only been with girls, but there’s always such a ferocity to it, like he loves the feeling of Billy’s girthy cock in his mouth, on his tongue, tickling the back of his throat as he swallows all of him.

He would survive, Billy thinks, if he had decided to be on top of this, fucking with abandon into this incredible wet heat while sucking off Steve’s own lengthy dick. Steve could probably take it, would probably just let him thrust with wild abandon. And the imagery of it is enough to make him go insane.

“God, Stevie,” he pops off to groan out, breathing hard and ragged as he gazes down, hand still fisting fervently. “Feels so fucking good, pretty boy, you’re doing so so good for me, arrh-”

And Steve moans eagerly, goes deeper till there’s no more flesh and his nose is pressed against Billy’s balls.

“Fuck, that’s amazing,” Billy pants and hisses.

Before going back to taste the pre that drips from Steve’s hard cock, Billy shoves three fingers into his mouth, gathering spit and licking around each digit, getting them as soaking wet as possible, then brings them over Steve’s hip, between his cheeks and teases at his hole, getting the rim nice and slippery, but not yet penetrating; waits for the go ahead.

Steve pulls off to meet Billy’s gaze, his own expression that of unadulterated euphoria. “Please, please, yes.”

It takes no more than that to make Billy drive in his middle finger all the way past the second knuckle, earning himself a loud and wonderful, “Ah!”

As he pumps the finger in and out, he bobs his head in tact, keeping a fast and confident rhythm, knowing from the way Steve loses all control of his voice that he’s doing absolutely magnificent, and the elated sounds coming from his boyfriend could easily bring him over the edge.

“Oh fuck, ahh, Billy, yes! M-more-” Steve mewls and calls out, having completely abandoned the task of sucking Billy clean, but more than makes up for it with a slick and excited handjob.

He needs air, and it is his first time doing something like this, he’ll learn, with practice, Billy’s not upset or disappointed.

By the keen request, he pushes in a second finger, keeps the same pace and recognizes easily from the way that Steve’s rambling and moaning out curses that he’s close, Billy’s close, too. Steve’s muscles contracting around his thick fingers, the hand around his cock jerking and flicking like his life depends on it, all he really needs, really wants now is for Steve to cum all over his tongue, fill up his mouth, make him choke and swallow on his semen.

So he sucks with more passion, forces his way further down till he feels the head go deeper into his throat, hollows his cheeks, curls his tongue around the shaft the best he can, and at that Steve comes undone, crying out till there’s no more air in his lung, cumming hard and thick down Billy’s throat, who takes great pleasure in swallowing every single drop.

His own tumble over the edge is incredible, so utterly fulfilling, as he cums into Steve’s swift hand, the heat of his orgasm blooming in his cock and sending warm ripples up his abs, down his thighs, toes curling as he pulls off of Steve’s wasted prick to breathe and groan, his entire being tensing up perfectly as Steve works him through it with a firm yet tender hand.

They both roll onto their backs, panting and heaving, exhausted and destroyed, just reveling in the afterglow and glorious bliss, waiting for their senses to return.

Billy’s the first to move as he sits up to look at Steve. White streaks have been painted across his chest, a bit on his chin, and like in the presence of a masterpiece that hang at the Louvre, Billy admires his work. He reaches down to swipe away sweaty locks from Steve’s forehead, and hadn’t realized just how sweaty his own neck got till just now.

“That was…” Steve huffs, somewhere between serene and disbelief. “Wow, I dunno… Fun?”

And Billy can’t help but chuckle at that. “Yeah,” he says with a nod, “Fun.”

He brings his hand down to Steve’s chest and draws with his own semen, connecting the moles in an incomprehensible pattern. 

“Perfetto!” he erupts, showing off what little Italian he has picked up from his dear boyfriend.

Steve leans up on his elbows and looks down at the mess, then laughs joyfully, before saying with a perfect accent, “Molto bene!” And he pulls Billy down into a loving and adoring kiss.

[illfoandillfie]



Hey, I didn’t know whether to DM or what but I’ve been following you for some time now and I absolutely love your writing! I’m wanting to know, even though I like posts, submit an ask for blurb events or just submit an ask in general either as my profile or anon, that drawing too lol and I sometimes even share your writing with people I know. Is there any other way I can support you as a creator?❤️

oh my gosh this is such a lovely thing for you to ask and it really means a lot that you care about what i (and others) create that you want to help!! Also thank you for being patient and waiting for a reply - i wanted to wait until i was able to properly sit down and think about this one because theres a lot I could say. As it is this got kinda long and I really hope it makes sense. There’s probably more I could say but this gets at the main bits I think. 

The TL;DR of it is that what you’re already doing is absolutely amazing but the biggest thing that will help creators is sharing their work! 

And the rest of my thoughts are under the cut

So firstly, I just reblogged this post which talks about lurkers and I do agree with it to an extent! It isn’t always easy to comment or interact with someone’s post and like I love everyone who takes the time to click on anything I’ve written, even if they don’t tell me they clicked on it. Sometimes as a creator you can get caught up in how many notes your posts get but it’s important to remember that notes aren’t really That important. They’re a good way of measuring interest but theres probably people interested that you can’t see and that’s okay! So what you’re already doing is really so much more than I could ever ask for!! 

But. I think it is also equally true that fandom content creators are struggling to be seen at the moment, especially regarding fics and especially in a fandom like the queen/borhap one which isn’t as big as it was 2 years ago after the movie was released. We are a relatively small fandom!! Certainly smaller than when I first joined. And the thing is, creators aren’t obligated to make things. They make things because they want to and they love it but it can be incredibly discouraging when it feels like no one cares. I write for you guys as much as I write for myself. If I just wrote for myself I wouldn’t bother editing and positing things, I’d just store them on my computer or maybe turn them into self published novels or something idk. And so I think supporting content creators (of all sorts, but im obviously speaking from a fic writer point of view) is incredibly important to keep this fandom going.

I think the biggest thing creators on tumblr struggle with is being seen. So the best way to help creators is to share their stuff! Likes are great for letting the OP know that you saw their stuff and liked it (or saved it for later), comments and requests and messages and all that are great for letting a creator know that you Enjoy what they make and want to see more of it or that you want to be friends with them and believe me i fucking adore getting asks and replies! It really makes my day when someone tells me they’re excited for something I’m working on or that they had an idea and think i’d do it justice (as long as they’re polite and not demanding about it) or just that they read something I wrote and it made them smile! But if we’re talking about helping content creators then there is one thing that helps above everythign else and that is sharing their work. Reblog it or link friends to it or whatever, just share it.

The tagging system on this website is finicky at best and that makes it difficult to get your fic seen by people who don’t follow you. The last two fics I posted didn’t show up in the tags i use and I cannot for the life of me work out why. I checked for ~inappropriate language~ in the tags and there was none, i didn’t link to outside websites, i did everything the exact same way as normal and it still didn’t work. Which means that I’m relying on the people that follow me and see the fic to pass it on to others. Not to brag but I have roughly 1700 followers (give or take some inactive/spam blogs). If every single one of them reblogged it and got 1 of their followers to see it then it would have reached 3400 people, or twice as many. Obviously that isn’t going to happen and it’s unrealistic to expect that. But by sharing a fic with one person you make a big difference! It means that one extra person saw it and had a chance to respond to it!

Now obviously not everyone feels comfortable reblogging fanfics, especially smutty rpf fanfics, on their main blog and thats totally fine! But if you make friends in the fandom and can say “hey did you see illfoandillfie’s latest fic” and link them then that’s really great! Or start an anonymous sideblog that you use solely for sharing fics you read! That’s how I started this blog! I’d been on tumblr for literally 10 years and I felt like my followers wouldn’t appreciate being inundated with rpf smut (especially when people i was friendly with were kinda anti rpf fics) so I started a sideblog to reblog fics I liked and post a few of my own! 

From your message it sounds like you’re already doing a lot to try and help me as a creator and that is incredible! Don’t feel you have to do anything more than what you’re comfortable with. And I do want to acknowledge that, while this fandom has shrunk a bit, I do feel like it’s more interactive than before! My fics don’t get quite as many notes as they used to but I feel like more people comment on them and give me feedback and that is so unbelievably valuable!! I can’t stress how important every little thing is, anything that can let creators know you see them and see the time and effort they’re putting in.

[writethehousedown]

And the Livin’s Easy Chapter One (Multi) - Zyan

a/n: me? doing yet another multi-chapter for the challenge? how original. this idea came to me while i was watching hawaii five-0 and i just ran with it. i have no actual knowledge of how the surfing world works, i’m a simple kick boxing fighter, so please bear with me and the in-accuracies you’ll find. the rest of the characters mentioned in the summary will appear in the next chapter :D my sideblog is @chachkisalpaca - oh, and also, frey is an absolute angel for beta-ing this. hope you enjoy!

Summary: The surfing season in Honolulu is at its peak, with every surfer, old and new, having their eyes on the big prize of the Hawaii Surf Association annual competition. As the day of the competition comes closer, Crystal tries to not get distracted with a certain Californian girl, Vanessa swears she’s over Brooke, Yvie tries to seduce the hotel’s lifeguard and Jaida is just witnessing everything go down as she sips on her piña colada.

It’s summertime and the beach is packed.

Crystal doesn’t expect any less, honestly; the summer season is at its peak, plus Honolulu is always a famous tourist spot. No wonder there’s barely a spot to stand in O’Ahu.

The waves are good today and Crystal engages in a playful banter when she encounters some of her fellow surfers while training. There’s a surfing competition next week, a very important one at that, and every surfer and their grandma wants that prize. To think of what she could do with the money — Crystal might just layback for the rest of the season and enjoy some very well deserved vacations before going back to Missouri for yet another college year.

She finds it sad that the waves last only during the summer, because she’s capable of surfing them even when the water temperature is below 0 and would catch a cold for the mere act of standing too close to the water (“Colds start with the feet,” her mother has been telling her since she was a child, and it just stuck.)

But she doesn’t have to worry for the winter that’s still months away; right now she just lets the Sun burn her skin as the water soaks her entire body.

She feels lightheaded, like she’s capable of doing anything while she’s on her surfing board.

“You getting’ better, Glass,” Vanjie shouts, while riding the same wave as her.

Crystal laughs loudly, the nickname ‘Glass’ still sounding so wild to her, she sometimes wonders why and how did Vanjie ever come up with that one.

“What do ya wanna bet that I’ll beat your ass next week,” Crystal yells back, and Vanjie cocks a brow, focused on keeping her balance.

“Fuck off, I bet you won’t even last the rest of training without falling.”

“If I make it through training without falling you’re buying me a drink at Sal’s.”

Vanjie meets her gaze for a brief second and laughs shortly.

“Es más fácil decirlo que hacerlo, but you got a deal, bitch.” She winks at her and Crystal takes it upon herself to win that bet.

“Veamos si puedes conmigo, perra.”

*

Gigi is, decidedly, not a beach person.

She gets it; the water looks pretty under the Sun, the palms make a good background for an Instagram picture, and her bathing suit fits her like a glove, drawing attention from both men and women, but despite all this — she just can’t take how crowded it is, the children running around and yelling like banshees, how cold the water is, the dirty people that leave their trash behind, and a long etcetera.

Brita’s been so kind to invite them to their family’s house in Honolulu for a few weeks, Gigi is very much aware of it, which is why she tries not to be a gigantic bitch while they’re on the beach; she doesn’t want Brita to kick her out, basically.

Besides, Honolulu is very pretty. One of the most beautiful cities she’s ever visited, actually. She doesn’t mind the rest of it; it’s this specific part of the city that she dreads. She’s also very aware of the irony of agreeing to go to a place that’s famous for its beaches while hating beaches, thank you very much.

She applies a generous amount of sunscreen to every inch of her body, still sitting under the umbrella and ignoring her friends’ pleas for her to join them in the water. Gigi merely says that she’ll meet them in a moment, and though they’re not very convinced by it, they still run towards the sparkly blue water.

Gigi clearly lied; as soon as they’re out of sight, she pulls out her phone and thinks for a moment about taking photos for her Instagram — if she’s going to spend most of this trip at the beach, she might as well take advantage of it and take some cute pictures for her feed. She didn’t pack so many bathing suits for nothing.

She’s scrolling through her DM requests —deleting the men, replying to the women— when there’s a sudden uproar from the people sitting around her. They’re cheering for something or someone. Gigi looks around, confused, until she lays eyes on the sea in front of her and the waves crashing against the shore; there are surfers in the waves, naturally, but these seem like the skilled type.

Gigi decides to film it for her Instagram Stories, because why not, they are talented, and Gigi can barely float around in her parents’ pool in a donut floatie without rolling over and drowning.

One of them falls, and the crowd gasps, though Gigi isn’t all that interested in it. Her friends wave at her from the sea and Gigi scrambles to find an excuse not to join them.

*

Crystal can’t stop laughing, even when they arrive at the shore and all Vanjie does is shout at her, saying that she bewitched her or something, because there’s no way she fell instead of her.

“Get over it, Vanj. You owe me now.”

She sticks her board into the sand, taking her hair tie off and rearranging her hair in a ponytail. Her hair is soaked, clearly, and Crystal’s hands are already tired at the thought of having to shampoo the sea water off it.

Crystal doesn’t mind though, it’s worth it.

Vanjie shots Crystal a deadly glare and rearranges her own hair, groaning slightly as she does so.

“I’m only paying you because a bitch keeps her promises,” she says. “Also, on the note of having drinks, you wanna grab a smoothie before going on with training? But you’re paying for your own drink, ho.”

Crystal laughs wholeheartedly with a nod. She goes to look between the pockets of her bag for money and asks one of her friends to watch her board for her; it’ll just be a moment.

They’re talking about their plans once the competition is done and what would they do if they get the prize money. Vanessa says she’ll pack up her stuff and go back to Puerto Rico for the rest of the summer even if she loses, and will chase waves on her hometown beach. Maybe teach a few of the little ones in her family to surf, if she has the time and patience for it.

“Y’know, the little shits are getting bigger and bigger, and they barely remember their aunt Vanessa! My girl Julia, bless that one, still remembers me — but, bitch, she did her first communion already! Damn, last time I checked she was still five,” Vanjie rambles, and Crystal definitely feels her on a spiritual level.

This is the part she likes about being friends with Vanjie, the fact they both have similar experiences with their Latin families and understand each other in a way most people wouldn’t. Her favourite part of summer is getting to spend it with her.

Crystal says something about her little nephew Mateo —who Vanessa adores, despite having not met him yet, just because his name matches with her surname— and how he’s gotten so big in the blink of an eye, already reaching Crystal’s hip, when she bumps into something.

Or rather, someone.

There’s a gasp and Crystal is wet yet again, though this time it’s sticky and it smells fruity.

“Well, there goes ten dollars,” a voice snarls, and Crystal finally pulls up her gaze to meet the asshole that just spilled their drink all over her.

She finds a woman with long auburn hair, skin pale as snow, think as a rail, with pink plump lips and a pair of icy blue eyes staring right back at her. Crystal thinks it’s a shame that she’s an asshole, because she is really pretty.

“Watch where you walk, pendeja,” Crystal bites back and the woman rolls her eyes, avoiding her as she goes on with her way. Vanjie and Crystal briefly look at her before proceeding with what they were doing. “At least I can wash the stickiness off once we hit the waves again,” she consoles herself, resigned to smell like fruit until she gives her bathing suit a proper wash.

*

“I hate the beach,” Gigi declares, settling at Jackie’s side with a huff and her arms folded. Jackie quirks an amused eyebrow, barely stifling a laugh, and Nicky casts a side glance at her.

“Why’s that?” Nicky asks, her gaze still glued to her phone.

“Some idiot cost me ten dollars, can you believe? I didn’t even have a sip of that smoothie!” Gigi complains with a whine that’s rather childish. Jackie just laughs, patting her friend’s back.

“If you join us now, I’ll buy you another smoothie later.”

“Fuck off with that motherly tone, Jacqueline,” Gigi says with a laugh, Jackie gasps offended and swats her arm playfully.

“That’s not the way to talk to your friends, baby Geeg!” Jackie scolds her, only making Gigi laugh louder.

Jackie is the eldest of them all (though, to be fair, she’s only a couple months older than Brita) and she’s naturally the mom friend. She’s pulled them out of the bar, called cabs, helped them through heartbreaks, more than Gigi can count (though Gigi isn’t good at counting). It’s only fair she gets to do these jokes.

Gigi pouts and puts on her puppy eyes, locking her hands. “Do you promise to buy me a smoothie, though?” She asks, in a tone so high-pitched she annoys herself.

But never Jackie, she’s got the patience none of them have, so she just nods with an over the top sigh and forcefully drags her to the water.

Gigi hates what the salty water does to her hair, though to be fair — Jackie did buy her a smoothie once they came back to their spot.

*

Sal’s Shack has grown to be Crystal’s favourite place on the island.

She discovered it when she was a little girl and came to Honolulu for the first time, after her parents saved up for a whole year and her father pushed as much as he could for a promotion at his job. It isn’t just a restaurant or a bar; Sal doesn’t like labels, so he never put one on his establishment.

It’s whatever you want it to be, though it does become a bar after midnight, that title going away once the Sun is up.

When Crystal met Vanjie, almost five summers ago, she took her to Sal’s Shack, and Vanjie was so in love with the place they kept on coming back, with or without the other.

Sal immediately smiles upon seeing them enter, even if the place is already getting crowded, Sal tells them he’d be able to hear Vanjie’s voice from a mile away.

“What can I get you tonight, girls?” He asks, with that warm, kind smile that reminds Crystal of her childhood years.

“I’m in the mood for your spicy meatballs sandwich,” Vanjie says dreamily, prompting Sal to laugh wholeheartedly. Crystal follows her suit by saying she wants a burger, and tells Sal not to be shy with the sauce.

They get settled while they wait, talking about how their college careers are going and how much they want the summer to be endless.

There’s just something about this city that makes it magical, Crystal likes to think. She’s had a few summer flings there, never seeing them again once she packed up her things and came back to Missouri, but each one of them had something special that made Crystal feel as if it wasn’t just a summer fling.

She wonders if she’ll find someone new this time around too, though it isn’t high up in her priority list.

*

Brita takes them to her uncle’s restaurant-bar-whatever, saying they have to visit it, not only because they serve pretty good cocktails, but also because there are always some hotties hanging around.

Though the idea of a summer hook up is attractive to Gigi, this isn’t Los Angeles; she doesn’t have any cab numbers, she still can’t properly manage herself around, and would consequently get lost trying to come back to the house. She tells herself that she’ll wait a few days until she’s a little more familiar with the place, just in case.

They arrive to the bar —Gigi’s decided to call it a bar for her own sanity—, and much like at the beach, the place is full, and she can’t see a free table.

“Don’t worry, girls,” Brita says, “I called my uncle and told him to save us a table, follow me.” So follow they do. They absentmindedly link hands and elbow their way through the place. The music is blasting through the speakers, there’s a couple of people dancing, and a lot of others just standing with their drinks and nudging on them.

Gigi has to admit Brita was right; there are some attractive people around, and it takes all of Gigi’s willpower not to stare. Perhaps sticking to the rules she’s just imposed on herself won’t be that easy.

They make it to the end of the bar and Brita smiles widely upon seeing her uncle, breaking the chain of hands and launching herself into his arms. The girls stand there awkwardly until they finish their conversation.

“He looks like Brita, but as a man,” Jan comments in a whisper, making Gigi and Nicky laugh. Jackie shushes them, though she agrees under her breath.

Brita introduces them one by one with a wide smile, and Gigi has to admit the resemblance between them is scary. Brita’s uncle gives them a warm welcome and tells them to call him Sal before guiding them to their table. It’s in a corner of the place and they can see everyone and everything, plus, they’re a few feet away from the bar. It’s a nice spot overall.

They get settled and Sal leaves them a few menus with the drinks options, including non-alcoholic drinks, and leaves to go back to work, telling them to look for him if they need anything.

Gigi briefly looks at the menu before setting it aside and looking around the bar, trying to find a face that stands out from the rest — instead, she hears a voice that breaks through the noise and makes a few heads turn around.

They voice comes from a few tables away, right in front of them. There’s a woman with dark, curly hair waving her arms around and talking with her friend, while the other woman sitting in front of her and facing Gigi is dying with laughter.

Gigi squints, finding her face oddly familiar, until it clicks.

*

Crystal throws her head back as she laughs, bracing her stomach as Vanjie grows louder and louder during her speech.

“And the fucking bitch had the AUDACITY to call me a fucking liar! Can you believe?” Vanjie slams her fist on the table and Crystal is hollering with laughter. She knows she shouldn’t have brought up the fact that her ex is also coming to the competition, but right now Vanjie is too worked up to back down.

For the longest time, Crystal thought Canada didn’t have any surfers — with such a cold weather, how could someone even want to enter the water? But it turns out that Vanjie’s ex, Brooke, is Canadian and a surfer, and she’s going to be competing alongside them. She found out, because she follows Yvie Bridges’ socials, and she posted a picture with Brooke, captioning it with “Excited to be reunited with my sister in Honolulu!” Except with a lot more exclamation marks.

Vanjie quickly tries to backpedal her entire rant by saying she’s not bothered at all by Brooke’s presence, because she’s over her and she’s seeing this girl, Kameron, who she met in a competition in Puerto Rico and is a sports photographer.

Crystal cocks a brow and before Vanjie can further prove to Crystal that she’s not over Brooke at all, she asks her if she wants another round of destornilladores. Vanjie nods effusively, tossing bills to her.

She heads to the bar and perches herself on it, waving at the barman. She places her order and when there’s a seat available, she takes it without hesitation.

Crystal is watching the barman as he mixes her drink, when someone slides into the empty seat next to her. She casts a quick glance over them and has to do a double take when the woman’s face is familiar.

She blinks repeatedly; this is the woman that threw her smoothie at her earlier that day.

It seems that Smoothie Girl recognizes her too, because she stares at her for a moment too long, and somehow Crystal finds the courage to speak up.

“You’re the asshole that threw their smoothie in my bathing suit,” Crystal finally speaks up.

“And you’re the asshole that threw herself into my smoothie,” she shots back, cocking one of her perfectly painted eyebrows, and Crystal has to admit that was a good one.

The barman places her orders in front of her; Crystal quickly pays him and Smoothie Girl takes advantage of his presence to place her own order. Crystal searches for Vanjie’s eyes among the crowd, and she finds her with her stare glued on her. She smiles when she sees their drinks, but frowns when Crystal points at the woman sitting beside her.

It’s her, she mouths, but Vanjie tilts her head, confused. Smoothie Girl, she mouths this time, and Vanjie looks surprised. She starts to mouth things Crystal can’t catch, but she guesses it’s a combination of get your ass over here, and that bitch.

“I’ve been thinking all day about what you called me,” she says, attracting Crystal’s attention again. She frowns, confused.

“What? Pendeja?” She asks, and Smoothie Girl nods. “Oh, that’s Spanish for asshole.”

Smoothie Girls snorts, cocking a brow. “What’s the Spanish word for ‘you owe me ten bucks’?”

“That would be ‘in your dreams,’” Crystal retorts, the brunette rolls her eyes.

She knows Vanjie is watching them closely, her stare burning a hole in Crystal’s neck, in case hands need to be thrown. But she has a feeling she won’t be needing Vanjie’s hands — not that she can say the same about this woman.

The barman leaves a drink in front of Smoothie Girl and she pays with a coquettish smile, Crystal thinks her drink smells way too fruity.

“That smoothie left my bathing suit smelling like fruit even when I washed it three times,” Crystal comments, trying to sound nonchalant. The woman cocks a brow as she sips on her drink. “What flavor was it, anyway?”

She seems surprised by the question, though she’s quick to answer.

“Uh, mango and peach, I think,” she replies and Crystal scrunches up her nose.

“Ugh, that sounds hideous.”

“It’s not! Had you licked your bathing suit you would know it’s very tasty.” She laughs at her own joke, and Crystal finds herself laughing too.

It’s weird how just moments ago they were calling each other assholes and now they’re laughing like nothing happened.

Crystal scoots herself closer in the chair, their knees practically brushing as she tries to catch her gaze.

“You got a name, Smoothie Girl?” She inquires in a casual tone. Smoothie Girl finally meets her gaze, and her blue eyes aren’t as icy as the first time they ran into each other.

“Genevieve, but everyone calls me Gigi.” She offers her hand to shake and Crystal gladly takes it. “And you?”

“I’m Crystal. Some people call me Crys, others Cryssie — and that dumbass over there,” she discreetly points at Vanjie, who’s typing away in her phone, trying to act as if she hasn’t been staring at them for a long minute now, “calls me Glass. Don’t ask me why, she just does.” Crystal shrugs, and Gigi laughs.

She feels some sort of pride blooming in her chest at making Gigi laugh.

“So, Crystal,” Gigi begins. “Do I have to assume you’re a surfer? I mean, what you were wearing when you ran into my smoothie looks like something a surfer would wear.”

Crystal nods enthusiastically, proceeding to tell her that she’s been surfing on and off since she was just thirteen and how she comes to Honolulu every year, rarely shifting her destination for the summer.

In return, Gigi confides her that she’s from California and it’s her first time in Honolulu, saying that her friend —Sal’s niece, apparently— invited them and she just couldn’t say no, even when she isn’t that much of a beach enthusiast. She hates them, in fact.

Upon hearing this, Crystal lets an over the top gasp that makes Gigi go into a fit of giggles, apparently already expecting that reaction.

“What the fuck? Dude, you can’t be serious,” she exclaims, and Gigi continues giggling.

“I’m deadly serious,” she assures her, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger.

“You don’t even like the food or ice cream?”

“I do, I hate the dirty people that leave their trash behind, though.”

“What about the kids? They’re always so cute — running around with their water guns and getting excited over everything. Some remind me of my own little cousins.”

Gigi visibly scrunches up her nose, doing a disgusted face.

“I hate kids, actually.”

Crystal folds her arms in a huff, intently staring at Gigi.

“No, there’s no way you’re that much of a… Beach Grinch,” she blurts out, the embarrassment flooding over her as soon as the words come out from her mouth. Gigi cocks a brow.

“Beach Grinch? Now that’s original,” Gigi says, leaning in closer to Crystal, a wicked smile painted in her lips. “Y’know, though I find the beach extremely boring, I can’t say the same for the people that like it.”

Crystal grins; she’s played this game far too many times, but something in Gigi makes her think this time it won’t be as easy as with the other ones.

Just when she’s lining up a witty reply, Gigi suddenly scoots back, a bashful smile where there used to be a wicked one.

“Sadly, I don’t have the time to think too much about it, ‘cause I’m here to have a good time with my friends. Later!”

She hops off from her chair, bringing her drink with her, and makes her way back to her friends, swaying her hips as she walks and making her skirt fly with the movement.

Crystal takes a moment to realize what Gigi just did, and when she finally pulls herself back together to walk over to Vanjie with their drinks, she tries to convince herself that maybe Gigi is another one of those straight girls wanting to “experiment.” It’s what she says to herself to make her cheeks cool down several degrees.

Vanjie says they can cash the bitch outside if she wants to fight, but Crystal just dismisses her with a wave of her hand.

After they finish their drinks, they hang around at Sal’s for a little longer, dancing when there is a good song playing and talking with strangers, and just before they leave, Crystal looks through the crowd for Gigi’s eyes, and she finds her staring right back. What she sees in her eyes makes her stomach twist.

‘If she’s playing hard to get, then it’s on,’ she thinks, and the next thing she thinks is that Gigi can read her mind, because the wicked smile is back into her face before Crystal withdraws her gaze.

[imagine-loki]

Sweet Pea

TITLE: Sweet Pea CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: One Shot AUTHOR: marvelgirlonamarvelworld (sideblog) ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki taking care of his girl during her period. He’s super attentive,  comforting her and doing everything possible to ease the ache and discomfort. 

RATING: T+ NOTES/WARNINGS: FLUFF, period fluff, some language, angst (if you squint super super hard).

A/N2: So this was a request. Thought I’d also share it here :) Thank you for reading!

-

The tower was silent. Pleasantly mute and was only disturbed by the distant echoes of leather soles striding mightily against the tiles.

The rays of midday crept through the floor to ceiling windows as the slender figure swaggered down the hallway. The green pine cape, fastened by the golden engraved shoulder blades, swayed to and forth; already foretelling royalty was amongst them all. 

Promptly his strides came to halt, and a shimmer of light formed between his palms. With petals as white as purity and as bright as her soul, the trickster couldn’t help but sigh and continue to smile. A large bouquet of flowers lay carefully cradled on his grasp, while a dreamy teenage smile softly formed on his face. 

Sweet peas. Her favourites.

Loki was anxious, delighted and dazzled to have finally arrived. To come back to her, after weeks seeming like years on a mission gone sideways at the last minute. It had all been wrapped up in day five; however, somebody, whose seldom could not possibly fit in the tower itself, had forgotten to secure the perimeter and bug all enemy radio frequencies. But that was a tale for another time.

There were other matters at hand; to come back to her arms as promised a handful weeks back.

Stealthily the door was pushed ajar…

Darkness engulfed it all. Only shadows cast by the outer lights formed and danced as Loki tiptoed inside; already glimpsing a lump hidden beneath a gray ocean of plush blankets; already discerning and savoring the bitter tang of sickness and ache dancing around.

It amused him to see her asleep. It didn’t seem right, it was midday after all. Something was quite off. Yet Loki was unable to determine with certainty what it was aside from the latter.

The edge of the queen bed shifted and dipped under his weight as the loving-foolish grin never diminished. The delicate floral array remained in his sweaty left palm as he pulled the blanket slightly to the side. And Loki was greeted by a low-pitched mewl and throaty groan.

An airy chuckle escaped his mouth and rested his palm on her hip bone. He could discern her figure curled tight against the pillows, head buried beneath, and limbs tangled between the sheets.

“Loki?” Her call was a murmur, sleepy, anguished, and muffled against the plush feathered thing. Through the shadows, the peeking silhouette of her face met his gaze while his hand rested on her hip. He was unable, however, to notice the faint glimmer and damp streaks on her cheeks, as well as the soft tremble of her lips or the incessant desperation deep within. “Is that…you?”

Her figure eased under his morphine touch and turned to him, craving for more; wanting to feel his magic radiating from his fingertips, desperately seeking to make the pain ease away. 

“Yes,” he responded while imagining her sleepy features now hidden by the dark. “If it wasn’t for Stark I would’ve returned to you sooner as I had promised, darling. Please believe me when I say I will make it up to you, love.”

His voice brought her taxing mind some comfort, distracted her from the ache; the incessant pulses and stings as if her insides were being twisted and needle pinched, as if her back had been replaced by large spikes digging at her insides. Rapidly she swallowed the sudden lump, already feeling tears welling and threatening to spill flush. Damn hormones had her in a wreck; got her craving his sweetness just as much as it infuriated her. She was a mess, good thing he couldn’t see it yet.

“Good thing you’re here now,” her voice was a mere uneven whisper before hugging the pillow flush and in the process…coiling away from his numbing touch. The room was so cold, it only made the pain worse. “I missed you…so much.”

The smile which once was was no more upon hearing her message travel through the void. If it hadn’t been for his enhanced audition Loki would’ve completely missed it. He knew all too well that tone. Something was wrong.

Just as fast the bouquet of blooms was placed on the nightstand and the dim yellow light from their night lamp flickered to life. His face was an anxious grimace as his eyes scanned her figure, noticing her body slightly shiver and her cheek glisten.

“Darling? Are you alright?” He asked, gazing to the barely visible girl buried beneath pillows and blankets. “You’re shaking like a leaf!”

A groan was her only response. The cramps and back pain were too much to bear, drained her energy away. She had not the strength to muster anything but unintelligible gibber against the pillow.

“Love,” Loki uncovered her body and inclined closer, his hands desperately seeking to cradle her face. “You’re worrying me, speak to me,“ with no effort Loki sat her body, her back resting against two pillows, and his lips met her crown. “What is the matter? Have you fallen ill?”

“I don’t know,” her cheeks flamed. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his chest. The sensation of her insides being twisted and the shame impeded her to tell; although his coos and gentleness made her heart swell. She felt like crying again. “I guess, I just don’t feel so well today, that’s all. I’ll be fine.”

Loki closed his eyes and sighed, his hands gently stroked through her hair as frustration seeped through his veins. Her reasoning was nothing but a chain of little half-truths and half-lies. It anguished his heart to see her in such a way.

“Please do not lie to me darling,” Loki implored and cupped her cheeks again. Her puffy eyes were fogged, glazed and overwhelmed. And Loki couldn’t help but kiss away the trails of tears before stroking her nose with his. “Speak to me. It mars me to see you suffering. Let me help you.”

Her lips turned to a pout. She appreciated his caring but his insistence was more than annoying. She’d rather drown in her own suffering just as much as she’d love to have him spoil her…again the stupid fling of emotions. Truth be told, as she looked into his worried eyes, she had no clue what she wanted at all.

“It hurts,” she mumbled and continued to pout before burying his face in the comfort of his chest; shielding her telling eyes from his scrupulous stare. “It hurts so much.”

“What hurts, love?” Loki urged her to go on, already searching through his memory for every single healing and protecting spell to make all her ills disappear for eternity. “Speak to me.”

“Everything,” she rasped. “My back, my stomach…these cramps are too much. I feel like I’m bearing the fucking antichrist!” she cried out. “I’m tired, and I want ice cream, and I wanna sleep without pain just for one night!”

Loki fell silent for a never-ending minute. He was unable to find words fitting to solace her woes. He had nothing but a vague idea of the meaning behind her cry out, all thanks to unintentionally listening to her and the red-head assassin converse about it as he passed by the lounge once; however, seeking a much detailed explanation of it seemed unfit in her frail state. And leaving her while he searched for the red-head was out of the question. 

“Aw, darling,” Loki pulled her aching body and cradled her on his lap. Gentle kisses were peppered all about, stealing some giggles and smiles from her mouth. He’d at least made her smile. “How bad?”

She growled against his chest. Her patience was running thin with his unnecessary questioning. “How bad did it hurt when you apparently tied your testicles to that goat to amuse a giantess, hm?”

Touché. 

Loki pursed his trembling lips, trying his hardest not to laugh at her call out but failing miserably thus chuckling wholeheartedly. Her angry fit was quite humorous to him, somewhat endearing. Though as much as the desire to disprove such unsettling tale nagged him to the bone, he refrained from such. For an idea loomed in the corners of his memory, a way to make it all better, something he knew with all certainty would please her.

Securing her body in his hold, the tricksters stood up and carried the girl across the room where a closed white door stood.

“Loki what are you doing?” Her arms draped around his neck and peeked to his face. Flickers of adoration and tenderness danced in his eyes as well as in his one-sided smile. “Where are we going?”

“I am tending to the needs of my queen,” he surmised as the door opened on its own, just as the white lights blinked in contrast to the dark. Crescendos of his strides ricocheted against the tiled walls and ceased after a brief stance. “I have learned a warm bath works wonders to ease away the pain.” 

Loki gently sat her on the counter before turning his attention to the already filled bathtub. A mixture of herbal and floral scents emanated from it, filling the white-tiled room from corner to corner, and drawing ecstatic sighs from her mouth just as it enticed her hormones to act out.

Her eyes were drawn back to the trickster prince as a shimmer of light formed in his hand before fading just as fast. Her hands covered her mouth while the tears made themselves present again, and this time she allowed them to spill. For between his thumb and index was a heartfelt offering, a single white flower. 

She took the little blossom before throwing her arms around him and burying her face in the crook of his neck. “Oh, Loki…Thank you.”

“Anything for you my dearest,” he confessed, gently caressing her back and momentarily losing himself in the tropical scent of her hair. “Anything,” he repeated again, before undoing the embrace and proceeding to offer to undress her. For he was unsure if she’d be comfortable with it given the situation. Though as for him, his love for her outweighed anything and everything. Loki was willing to do everything for her, no matter what it was.

“You don’t…you don’t have to. I…I can manage…” she squeaked while gazing down to the flower resting on her palm. She wished him to stay, but it was messy, too messy, not to mention the bloating, and that is what frightened her; his reaction, what he’d say or rather think. “It’s just…a a lot of blood and that is really,” she chuckled nervously, “it’s not pretty. I’m not pretty…like this.”

In all honesty, who is ever looking their prettiest when the time of the month comes? Nobody.

“Darling,” Loki cupped her cheek, “I have been by your side long enough to know, that there is nothing at all in the realms, that would incite me to see you with any lesser idolatry and beauty.” Never in the time that had passed had Loki ever developed the courage to confess how great his love was for her until now. “Blood is nothing but stardust coursing through your body. And it is more than normal what you’re going through now. Seeing you as you are will make love you no lesser than I loved you yesterday. I will only love you more than I did then.”

There were no words to be said, only tears and a smile which spoke times ten. His declaration had stolen her breath, quieted say. She wanted to say ‘I love you’ but… one can only say those words so many times before such deep-seated message expanded and turned into something bigger, something impossible to express in such short sentence. It would not encase even a third of it.

With a kiss to her forehead, Loki carried her body bridal-style to the tub, though not before dissipating all her clothes, and lowered her to the warm scented pool. Pale pink foam floated and covered her to the shoulder as she laid back and closed her eyes. 

This was indeed heaven. 

The concoction he’d created, with multiple herbs and flowers, was a secret remedy taught by mother; great to ease the body, though, never once had he imagined it’d ever come in handy. And as he sat at the edge, massaging her shoulders and bathing her, the ethereal prince made a mental note to thank the Allmother for her teachings. 

Loki continued on to massage her scalp before conjuring a fine silver bowl to use and wash away the remnants of soap with clean water. “Feeling better?”

“Much better,” she yawned and smiled. Good thing the bath session was over.

“Come, love,” Loki urged her to stand and covered her body with a towel before carrying her back. “I presume you’d like to wear one of those Midgardian shirts I do not use.”

She hummed in agreement. “This time I can manage.”

“Very well, dear,” he glanced down to her puffy eyes as he approached the other side of the room where another door stood. Loki placed her back on her feet and allowed her to venture into the closet while he patiently waited. “As you wish.”

Leather boots to the side and armor no longer on his body, except for his comfortable cotton Asgardian clothing, Loki patiently idled for her reappearance. He allowed his eyes to wander but were quickly drawn back upon hearing the door click. And that dreamy teenage smile that’d withered before, resurfaced again as she walked out with his shirt and a pair of baggy sweats.

The soft smile of her face made his knees almost give in as he stood before her. Right away he pulled her body flush to his. “I missed you too, darling. So so so much…”

  He’d forgotten to say it back. It’d been so long, and to finally be home and have her in his arms was more than amazing. It was heaven.

Loki undid their embrace and rapidly kissed her lips. He’d almost forgotten how tender and fitting they were to him. “come on, love,” he stepped away, the flavor of her lips lingering as he directed her to bed. “You need to rest.”

“Only if you stay with me,” she said, sitting on the mattress. 

“I have no desire to leave you.”

Back in bed, beneath comfortable plush and fluffy pillows. Loki sat on a chair while his hand remained entwined with hers. A physical assurance while patiently waiting for slumber to take her from him. For this time the pain was lesser, almost nonexistent, a discomfort slowly turning to nothing but a memory. And only with her placidly resting would he be able to feel his heart settling back in his rib cage, would feel his breath return to his chest.

With her head against the plush feathered thing, her eyes lazily wandered to the nightstand where a delicate garland of sweetly scented flowers laid forgotten. They were her favorites.

“What it is, dear? Is the pain not ceasing?”

“They’re beautiful,” her eyes never drifted from the flowers.

Loki followed the trail of her glare and reached for the bouquet and offered it to her, his cheeks turned to a warm blush. “I’d forgotten I brought these,” his free hand lightly scratched the back of his head before chuckling and averting her gaze. “Sweet peas, your favourites as I recall.”

Their hands parted and grasped the floral array. The sweet scent emanating from them made a tear roll down her cheek, made her heart jump and swell against her rib cage. Gosh was his awful sweetness getting the best of her. 

It even surfaced the twisted idea it all was a dream. It rattled her soul to even imagine the possibility. This all was too good to be true.

Sitting upright, her arms desperately sought the trickster. This was very much real. And once again, their lips danced together while the saltiness of astray tears slipped through and danced between them. 

“Thank you,” she whispered, their foreheads rested against one another’s. “Thank you for all of this. I have no idea what I did to deserve you…thank you.”

“Anything for you, darling.” He stated with a smile before urging her to lay back. “Anything to see that smile never fade from you, dear.”

Just as the pain was a distant reminder, so was the once heavy atmosphere as well. For now swayed the sweet richest hints of green and touches spicy floral tenderness while the prince sat there, contemplating her lashes flutter until slumber overcame her body.

  “Anything for my sweet pea.”

[a-shameless-otome-rp-sideblog]

looking for otome-based RP partners!

Hullo (hopefully future) friends! I’ve got a bit of a weird proposal.

(For anyone who saw the first one on my OTHER-OTHER side blog, this is redux, the 2.0, because that sideblog was TOO NEW to show up in tags and I am really hoping that this one shows up on this MUCH OLDER and REPURPOSED sideblog!) 

ANYWAY, here blog isn’t and probably won’t ever be an RP blog. I’ve RPed on Tumblr a lot in the past (mostly in the Homestuck community, a few years back) and while doing so was a lot of fun, it was also a lot of work! Maintaining pages, bios, graphics, etc, is all stuff I seemed to have all the time in the world for a few years back, but I find I really just don’t anymore.

Unfortunately, I don’t really know where to find RP outside of Tumblr and cherubplay (thanks again, Homestuck!) either, but Cherubplay isn’t exactly the greatest for finding anything outside of just raw-doggin-it-smut-fests and while that can be, uh, fun, it’s not really what I want to focus on when I RP.

So why am I here?

DISCORD RP!!

I’m hoping to find other people who don’t really have time to run an RP blog (or who do have time, but also might be willing to dip their toes into doing it on Discord, too, assuming you aren’t already!) for some good time plotting and roleplaying!

Which I guess brings us to the meat of this whole thing… (more, of course, under the cut!)

WHAT WILL WE RP?

I’ve been real keen on otome lately and I’m really looking to play some canon boys to your MC or OC! While I’ve certainly had my fun playing girls before (mostly in WoW, or other MMORPG settings), I find I always prefer to play dudes, and (if you’d pardon this bit of arrogance!) I think I can be pretty dang good at it!

While I do occasionally ship MxM, it’s really only something I do with my best bro, so I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’m really only interested in MxF pairings atm! I hope that’s okay with everyone.

COOL, BUT WHAT SERIES? WHAT CHARACTERS?!

I’d like to say I have a pretty healthy familiarity with a lot of otome, but I’m not sure I’d be the hottest at RPing them all! If it can’t be guessed by my avatar, I’m kind of on a Hakuouki kick right now, so I’m partial to that, for sure, but for ease of readability and so you can get a good idea of what I’m open to, I’ll list them in some nicely formatted order.

Hakuouki Characters

Okita :: Okita is tied for my personal favorite Hakuouki dude with Sannan, but I think I’d enjoy playing him a lot more than Sannan (which isn’t to say I wouldn’t like to play him, too!). I’ve always been partial to smirky, tease-y boys, especially when they’re struggling with confronting their feelings.

Sannan :: Sannan speaks to my love of polite but cold characters, and it’s only a bonus that he’s a megane, which I’ve also always loved! As mentioned above, he’s probably tied with Okita as favorite Hakuouki dude, but I think Okita’d be easier to play.

Kazama :: Kazama is fun because I’ve always had a love for garbage can style kidnap-and-seduce plotlines if that was your kind of thing!

Saito :: I love Saito aesthetically and his personality is pretty rad and I’d rank him as pretty up their on faves, but I admit I don’t have overmuch experience when it comes to awkward slow-to-open-up kinda boys! I’m sure we could make it work though.

Other dudes :: I’d be willing to try honestly most anyone from Hakuouki but these are the ones above are the ones I feel most confident/interested in playing! If you’d like someone else, you can most certainly ask, especially if you have some kind of plotline you’d like to see!

===

Diabolik Lovers

Oh baby, yeah I am totally into this hot hot dumpster fire!

Reiji :: As mentioned, I love megane, and Reiji’s probs my favorite of everyone in the whole dang series. Older? Check. Smart? Check. Responsible? Check. Cold? Double check. Really fucking mean? Check. Smirky? Well, in the games, yes!

Shuu :: Sorry Reiji, but I also love Shuu. I might make him just a twinge OOC because his laziness might make advancing the plot kind of headachey, but other than tht, I love this loser.

Subaru :: Subaru, contrary to his third place on this list, is probably pretty close behind Reiji for favorites. Aggressive, ill-refined, totally willing to fight everyone – I admit I tend to play the more well-spoken and calculating kind of characters more, but I’d be willing to rock Subaru for you to the best of my ability!

Ruki :: I won’t say Ruki’s my favorite of the Mukami brothers but I like him a lot and I think I’d play him well!

Everyone else except Azusa and Kou :: Spoiler: I love Azusa to death and find him adorable but I don’t really relish playing openly masochistic characters, so he’s a no go unless we can work something out! Kou is – no offense, but I just really do not like Kou. As far as the famous Sakamaki triplets go, Kanato is one of my absolute all time favorites, and I’d be willing to play him with the right person… but we all know he’s kind of an absolute nutbag, so I’m hesitant to dump that on anyone! Ayato is a staple and Laito could be… like Kanato, I think I’d have to feel pretty assured by my partner they could handle the grosser parts of his character. Open to exploring it, however!

===

Amnesia

I’m not gonna bother sectioning everyone into neat little areas cause there is so few, but Toma is my favorite (I’m a real sucker for yandere, whoops). I’d be willing to play him, of course, provided my partner was comfortable with it! I’d also be willing to do Kent (my second favorite!), Shin and maaaaaaybe Ukyo. Sorry, I didn’t really care for Ikki – not because Ikki was bad (he was actually cool!) but because fan girl route characters drive me BANANAS.

===

Other fandoms :: Hit me up and ask if you want me to try anything! I might surprise you!

===

AND SO THAT LEAVES US WITH… WHAT WILL YOU PLAY?

Honestly, I’m gonna be real with everyone here: I love roleplaying because it’s like writing fanfiction with someone else, so it’s all the fun and self indulgence of fanfiction, but better, cause ya know – someone else is doing it with you! And I’m really here for the self indulgence, so please go ham.

Yeah, you can play the MC of the game, and I’d be cool with that! But honestly, I love OCs, and I’d love to hear about and plot with your OCs. I have some ideas for potential plots (especially for Hakuouki), but I’m also open to your ideas, too, and I think a lot of plots could work best outside the confines of a pre-established MC. Also, you get to show me your drawings/face-claims/whatever for your characters, and that’s pretty rad!!

Also, as someone had asked when I tried to post this on my previously non-functional blog, I’m also open to crossovers! I’m cool even if I don’t know much about the character -- you’ll just have to pardon my ignorance.

===

So, uh… RULES? RP STYLE? ETC? SOME POORLY ORGANIZED POINTS

+ Yeah, I’m deffo 21+ so ideally you would be too, especially if there’s anything like, remotely scandalous going on! I’m not too sure I feel very comfortable RPing with anyone younger than 18, mostly just because there’d be such a big age difference between us. Rest assured it isn’t because I think I’m better than you, or being ageist! It’s mostly just for my own sense of comfort!

+ Speaking of scandalous, I don’t push hard for anything super graphic unless that’s your style because I’m very much a person who loves drowning in the emotions of “holy crap does this guy really like this lady a lot”. I tend to be over indulgent as heck when it comes to inner monologues describing just how much your character makes mine’s heart go doki-doki, so expect a lot of that. If we start heading towards fuck-making of the graphic non-fade-to-black-variety, we should deffo discuss the sorts of things you discuss before those scenes! (Kinks? I GUESS???) But, as mentioned, it’s deffo not at all on top of my list of prerogatives. We need to BUILD for that!

+ My RP style tends to be 3rd or 2nd (lmao, Homestuck) person, present tense, a couple paragraphs to “oh my god, you can shut up now”. You can write however you like, with my only request being that you be passably literate! Not like, snootily literate. You get what I mean? I hope so. ):

+ As far as activity goes, I’m also fine with the Tumblr esque style of replying whenever you get around to it! If we both happen to be on for a barrage of replies, great! If we can only get one or two out a day, also great! I’m pretty easy going, honestly.

+ I love working in universe and also going mad with AUs. Find some cute starters or AU ideas on tumblr and you wanna throw them at me? I’m always open. From vampires where there are none to school AUs to coffee shop AUs I am willing to try most things, but note: I am primarily a fan of DRAMATIC ROMANCE so keep that in mind!

+ Want some kinda crazy love triangle where your lady is pursued by not one, BUT TWO DUDES? We can probably make it happen!

+ I run the gamut from fluffy and sweet romance to angsty yandere esque stuff, so please feel free to talk to me about what kind of dude you’d like!

===

A SAMPLE OF MY STYLE:

It has been months, Okita reminds himself. It has been months, and months, and more months on top of that – almost a year, maybe a little more, even, and as he sets his teeth behind that constant wolf’s grin, he thinks to himself: You should be better than this. You should be stronger.

But for all the time he’s spent with her, it has never gotten easier. No, no – it has only ever gotten worse, and it’s particularly bad now that he’s alone with her, now that she’s so close –

“Okita-san?” Her voice rings in his ears like a few plucked notes of some delicate string instrument, and he feels his lips part, his smile all teeth. She’s paused, midway between pouring him a cup of tea, and her eyes – ever and much too familiar – meet his with a hint of shyness Okita feels guilty for relishing. “Are you okay?”

“Worried about me, mn?” He rolls his head from one shoulder to the next, halfway between a shrug and a stretch, and tries very hard to resist the urge to pull her towards him, into him, that he might catch more of the rich perfume that lingers along the line of her throat. “You shouldn’t be.”

You should, he thinks, and not without a hint of guilt, be more worried about yourself.

===

ANYWAY, IT’S LATE.

I feel like I’m missing some garbage, but I’ll probably add to this tomorrow when I inevitably remember what I forgot! If you’re interested, send me an ask or a submission or a Tumblr… DM? We can work from there with regards to exchanging contact info!

[volumes2lo-gan]

Logicality high school au where Logan has to tutor patton who pretends not to understand the lessons so he can spend time with Logan. Poor Logan has no clue patton has this huge crush on him so imagine his surprise when Patton is giving him math, and science pick up lines and if that wasn't strange he finds out that patton actually know these lessons so he goes to confront patton

Do the Math

Fandom: Sanders SidesPairing: LogicalityWarnings: None

Logan wasn’t sure how he’d gotten stuck tutoring Patton, but one thing was certain: his patience as an educator was definitely better than he’d thought.  He’d been tutoring him after school on Wednesdays for a couple weeks now, and with each lesson, Logan found himself repeating things over and over again because of Patton’s short attention span.  He didn’t know why the other student would constantly zone out while he was staring at the board, but Logan had had to snap him out of it twice during this session alone.  

Patton was currently sitting on a desk, facing a relatively exasperated Logan and a hectic whiteboard.  “So… you’re saying that if the person is five feet tall…” he started, swinging his feet.  

“Yes, go on…” Logan urged, hoping this lesson was finally sinking in.

“So they’re five feet tall… and look to the tippy top of a tree in front of them….”

“Yes?”  The student tutor leaned forward in his chair expectantly.

“Then… the hypotenuse is 80!”  Patton beamed and Logan suppressed a groan.

“N-no, not quite.  Not at all, actually.  Patton, can you tell me the units in which you were giving your solution?” he prompted, already knowing the answer he’d receive.

“80… d… degrees?”  Patton said sheepishly, slowing his kicking as he gave Logan his patented doe eyes.  Honestly, he’d think he’d know by now that that look did not make all of his answers correct.  In fact, that look statistically never increased his odds of being correct.  He was always wrong regardless of whether or not he gave Logan those eyes, so why did he keep trying?  Logan shook his head to clear his thoughts before steepling his hands and directing their point at the other student.

“Feet, Patton.  You were solving for the distance between the person and the tree in feet.  The individual is five feet tall, the tree is twelve feet tall, and I gave you the angle of 70 degrees from eye-level to the top of the tree– which is a fact that you seemed to have forgotten.  This is all sufficient enough data to solve for the distance from the tree.  So if you were to plug in all of these data points,” he turned to the whiteboard and started drawing a very simplistic image of a stick figure near a pine tree, “then you’d be able to find that by looking up to the top of the tree at a 70 degree angle, the individual is roughly two and a half feet away from the tree.”  When Logan turned around from the board, capping his pen, he was met with Patton’s glazed-over expression for what felt like the dozenth time this session.  “Patton, are you even listening?”  Patton sat there happily swaying his feet back and forth for a little while longer before realizing that Logan had stopped talking.

“Oh!  Sorry, Logan,” he said, a deep blush burning across his cheeks and hiding his freckles, “I must’ve fazed out again a little.”  Logan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“That’s alright, Patton, it’s been a long session, let’s call it a wrap and try again some more tomorrow.”  Logan started packing up his bag and Patton hopped off the desk and gathered up his things as well.

“Sorry about that problem, I guess that angle and I were both pretty obtuse,” Patton chuckled as he stuffed his folders away.  “Wish I could’ve seen that other one twice though.  Then I’d have had 20/20 vision to find the answer!”  He slung his bag over his shoulder as Logan shook his head.

“I’ll never understand how you come up with those so fast,” he said, honestly impressed by the use of wordplay.  Patton beamed.

“I’m good at what I like!  I’ll see you tomorrow, Logan.”  He waved before heading out the door and down the hall.  Logan stood in the room for a little while longer, organizing his bag as he went over his last encounter again.

Obtuse… clever use of double meaning… the other angle, 20, twice… 20/20 vision, Logan chuckled to himself and then froze.  Wait.  He turned to the board and looked over the sketch he’d drawn.  5-foot person, 12-foot tree, 70 degree angle, and 2.55-foot distance.  He hadn’t marked the other angle and he wouldn’t have been so suspicious had Patton not insisted he use a calculator two days ago to calculate 12 plus 8 when he noticed he didn’t have enough fingers.  He turned back from the board and saw a piece of scrap paper on the floor near where Patton had been sitting.  Curious.

Logan walked over and picked it up.  Patton’s name was scrawled across the top along with a bunch of tiny hearts and heart-eyed smiley faces and animals.  Logan laughed a little at the doodles, but the small laugh died down as his eyes scanned down the rest of the page.  There were small graphs, all labeled with the curly script from the top of the page, sketching out lessons Logan had mentioned in passing at the start of the session.  Patton had apparently not only taken note of all of his hypothetical equations, he’d actually solved them, seemingly before they moved on to the main problems no less.  There was no reason, Logan thought, for Patton to be in these tutoring sessions.  In fact, he could probably apply to be a tutor himself if this paper was adequate proof of his abilities.

He stuffed the paper in his backpack and leaned out into the hallway, hoping to find Patton still by the lockers, but the few students waiting for the late bus were heading out and Patton was nowhere in sight.  Well, he’d have to confront him tomorrow, he supposed.  Logan hoisted his backpack onto his shoulders and exited the room, turning out the lights behind him.

The next day, Logan stood at his locker for ten minutes before finally spotting Patton through the waves of students.  He waited for Patton to get to his own locker before making his way across the hall.

“Hello, Patton,” Logan greeted, startling the other student.

“Oh!  Logan, hi!  I– sorry, I didn’t see you there.”  He smiled, but was seemingly having a hard time catching his breath.  Logan made a mental note to announce himself a bit more subtly in the future.

“That’s quite alright, I just wanted to talk to you about something I found slightly peculiar,” he held up the paper he’d found the day prior.  “I believe this is yours?”

Patton squinted at the paper before giving a small nod.  “Y-yeah, that’s my note sheet.”

“Okay, so now that we’ve cleared that up, maybe you’d be able to clear up why someone as smart as you is requiring tutoring sessions?”  Logan asked matter-of-factly, handing Patton back his sheet of paper.  Patton’s blush deepened and he turned back to close his locker.

“I- uh, well…” he stammered.  “I guess I just… wanted to hang out with you?”  Logan quirked an eyebrow and Patton nervously continued.  “I, um, oh wow I didn’t think I’d be doing this this morning, but, uh… I… I really like you?  Like, like like you, you know?  I didn’t know how to tell you, so I just figured ‘hey, Logan does tutoring, maybe I could hang out with him there!’ which, now that I say it, it sounds kinda weird, but I didn’t know how else to go about it and I–” Patton’s words had started to tumble out in a single train of thought, but he manage to stop himself before he completely derailed.  He looked at Logan and saw that he was still trying to process everything.  “Basically, I really like you, Logan.”  He summarized with a sheepish smile.

Now it was Logan’s turn to blush.  Patton’s words sank in and suddenly everything made sense: Patton requesting tutoring out of the blue, him always giving those big doe eyes and getting that glossed look whenever Logan started explaining things.  Patton was utterly infatuated with him.  And Logan couldn’t deny that there were definitely some kind of feelings in return.  

“I– um,” Logan paused, weighing his words, “I think that I feel something for you as well.”  Patton beamed and Logan felt a warmth spread in his chest.  “I’m not… entirely sure of what the feeling is, but I think… I think I’d like to find out.  With you, of course.”

“Aww, Logan!”  Patton pulled him into a big hug and Logan felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment.  “That’d be perfect!  How about a movie or something next weekend?”  Logan thought for a moment.

“I would like that… as long as you stop pretending to be bad at math.”  

Patton chuckled.  “Yeah, that wasn’t really the best plan, I’ll admit, but you get so excited about math!”  Logan crossed his arms with a smile.  “Okay okay, but next week, movies.  It’s a date!”  Patton beamed as the first warning bell rang.  “I’ll see you after school, let’s meet in the library this time!”  He darted down the hall with a wave and Logan started walking to first period.  

He smiled to himself.  It’s a date.

Tagged: @prison4murdoc @here-to-vent @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @novagalaxy4real @thomas-must-get-to-sleep @depressed-alone @blocksavage1776 @lollingtothemax @all-the-fand0mz @justanotherpurplebutterfly @emphoenixcat @hetaliagurl5 @kittyboof8 @not-so-innocent-bi-sander @princeyssash @virgilient @dontmesswithmygentleself @lilbeanblr @burningpeachdelusionofchaos @lindesensate @kanejandkruge @just-fic-me-up @pinkeasteregg @ravenclawicecream @sander-sideblog @patton-of-love-for-my-friends @pastel-patton123

[apprentice-melphina]

Three’s Company - Chapter 1

If this looks familiar to anyone, I’m reposting to my Arcana sideblog after editing.

AU where Julian and Asra meet the Apprentice at the same time while researching a cure for the plague. NB but AFAB!Apprentice (in later chapters, if relevant). The Apprentice with a capital T+A is can be substituted with whatever name you want.

Summary: The Apprentice is fully aware of Julian’s and Asra’s feelings for them. They simply choose to ignore them in order to complete their work, and out of fear that their choice might hurt the other. But when the choice is taken from them, will Julian and Asra grow closer in their mourning? And what happens when the Apprentice is given a second chance?

Even without magic to transport him back in time, Asra could clearly remember the moment he had met Julian’s apprentice.

He and the doctor had been working at the palace together for only two weeks to find a cure for the plague. While Asra preferred to work alone in his magic, he had to admit that the palace library was an invaluable resource with books from far and wide, each tome heavy with the weight of hope that it would contain the answer to the kingdom’s ever-growing problem. He also made it a point to show his face around the palace every few days to dissuade any fear that he was not as committed as the gaggle of doctors also employed by the kingdom.

It was on such a day that he was flitting about the palace that he saw the new batch of apprentices being ushered in, through the front gates and to the library to immediately begin their work in the dungeons. The doctors had to request more and more apprentices each week to aid in their work as they lost at least one a day, some to weariness, to psychosis, and others to the plague itself.

He saw Julian’s new apprentice then, though he didn’t yet know whose apprenticeship they would be burdened with. Their eyes shown with excitement, taking in the wonders of the palace and the various titles of the library. While standing in line to be marched down to the dungeon, the Apprentice made eye contact with Asra before glancing nervously down at their own hands. Asra stood up from his pile of books as the group followed Valdemar to a bookcase, waiting patiently for the passageway to open. Then they were ushered inside.

The whole time, Julian had not looked up from his scrolls and folios, muttering to himself as he scribbled illegibly at his desk. Asra had to break the silence.

“Who was that?” His voice came out husky and he coughed, hoping Julian wouldn’t notice.

Dr. Devorak’s head popped up, whipping around the room in alarm before turning to Asra when he didn’t find another living soul in the library. He lifted a heavy eyebrow in question.

“A group of people just went down into the dungeon.”

“Oh, yes, probably the new—the new recruits!!” Julian leapt up from his desk, reaching for the red volume on the shelf, the first to open the passage way downstairs. “I forgot they were coming today. I am supposed to meet them down there and fill in my apprentice on my findings so they might help me.”

He turned to Asra with a mischievous smile as he pulled the last book, black and gold, from its position. “I’ve got myself an apprentice now, Asra! You know what they say, two heads are better than one, and all that. Sounds like I might come up with a cure faster than your little—” he waved a hand at Asra’s pile of books—“magic can at this rate.”

Julian disappeared down the steps before Asra could muster up a retort.

The two of them had been called to the palace around the same time to find a cure for the plague ravaging Vesuvia. Specifically, they had been called upon to cure the Count of Vesuvia, Lucio. While they were both strong in their perspective areas of study, the cure for the plague had alluded them, much to the delight of Quaestor Valedmar who handled the majority of the dead bodies on their frequent trips to Lazaret. While their appointments had not been made into a competition by the palace, Asra and Julian had taken it upon themselves to make it such, teasing the other with their own progress and reviling in rumors of the other’s failures. They worked in close proximity; Asra generally made himself at home in a pile of books and pillows on the library floor while Julian spilt his time between the dimly lit dungeons and his desk in the library.

Asra sat back down among his work, shaking his head to rid his mind of the new face that had disappeared into the dungeons. Instead of reviewing his notes as he had planned, his mind drifted until he realized that he had been doodling in the margins of his notebook. An eager face looked back at him, hair half pinned back behind their head, half falling about their shoulders. He had only seen a shadow of a smile as the Apprentice had looked away from him in embarrassment, but Asra took the liberty of imagining that face split in half with a grin, the corners of their eyes pointed upward in a laugh.

A cool body wrapped around his arm, a small head peeking through his sleeves to admire the drawing.

“Pretty,” Faust commented.

Asra let out a silent laugh in agreement before scratching out the face with his pencil. Faust looked back at him, tongue flickering.

“Let’s go home, Faust.” He packed his books, not noticing a red, leather-bound book beneath a pillow that he failed to collect and returned to his shop.

.

“Now that we’ve completed your tour,” Valdemar continued, pressing their fingers into a steeple at their chest, “please, join your appointed doctor to begin working with them immediately. You will direct all further questions to them.”

The group of new apprentices broke apart, muttering to each other as they looked around the room to find their mentor. Julian had missed the introduction of the apprentices and the divvying up, so he stood anxiously around the edge of the crowd, waiting for one of them to walk up to him expectantly.  It didn’t take long for just that to happen and Julian looked down at his apprentice with a welcoming smirk. They had their hand at their cheek as they looked up at him through heavy lashes.

“Doctor… Devorak?” they questioned.

Julian bowed in a flourish. “At your service… um…” He halted, not knowing his new apprentice’s name. They gave it.

“At your service, my dearest Apprentice.” Julian deepened his bow before grabbing the apprentice’s hand in his and bringing this forehead to it. With the working theory that the plague could be passed through contact with someone else’s saliva, this had become the preferred custom of greeting, even if one knew they weren’t infected.

“Now, follow me to my office and I shall give you a bit more information about my expectations of you.”

They followed obediently and immediately Julian felt uncomfortable. It was not in his nature to give orders, but to execute them. He had been opposed to even being assigned an apprentice for this very reason, but Count Lucio and Quaestor Valdemar both had insisted that all doctors have an apprentice so as to work more efficiently.

As they walked in the office, Julian gathered up stray scrolls and books, stuffing them on to the small shelf, suddenly hyperaware of the mess that he usually left when researching. There was no other seat than his own, behind the desk, so he sat, and The Apprentice stood in front of his desk, looking down at him with too many expectations. He looked down at his desk so as to hide a blush, moving papers about with no purpose before he found the words to speak.

“Now, then, my dear! As you know, we are working towards a cure for the plague. You’ve gone through some training before this obviously, but what exactly can you do?”

The apprentice smoothed the front of their robe in thought, avoiding Julian’s gaze before they answered. “I have had some teaching in magic as well as—”

“Magic!” Julian slumped back in his chair with a huff, bringing one hand to his temple to massage it. “Then you’d be better off with that magician than here.”

“The magician… being the one in the library?”

Julian opened one eye from between his splayed fingers to look at his apprentice.

“Yes, that man was Asra, the magician employed by the palace to find some…. other worldly solution to this plague.” Julian sighed, slumping forward again in his chair as he made some notes in the margin of a random slip of paper at his desk. “Is your only experience in magic?”

They looked at him again, a prideful gleam in their eye as they puffed up their chest. “No, sir! I’m only beginner levels at magic but I have also studied in the sciences as well. I know how to prep a surgery, draw blood, care for minor ailments--”

Julian waved a hand and his apprentice cut themselves short. “That’s all and well. I’m sure Valdemar wouldn’t have brought you here if you weren’t of some use. Then why are you here?”

There was silence, punctured only by dull moans from the other side of the thick metal door that separated the doctor and the apprentice from the never-ending doom of the plague. Finally, they found their words.

“I don’t want anyone to suffer anymore.”

Julian’s chin rested in his hand as he looked up at his apprentice from behind his desk. Now, they did not look away. Instead, their shoulders were set back, fists gathered in determination at their side as they looked at Julian.

All of a sudden, Julian threw his head back in a laugh. “Very well! I think we’ll work well together. Though I must warn you, that magician—Asra—can be a pain to work with, so try not to bite his head off. Heavens knows I struggle with the temptation every day.”

The doctor opened up a drawer in his desk, throwing aside papers and notebooks in his grumblings. Finally, he pulled a white beaked mask out of the drawer and handed it to the apprentice across from him. “Here you are! Your own mask.”

They gingerly took the mask from Julian’s hand, holding it up to their own face to compare the size. Julian continued to look through his desk, fumbling through papers and empty vials.

“Er, well, I have your first task for you!”

The apprentice looked at him with wide eyes past the mask.

“It seems as though I have no more herbs with which to stuff your mask. Now, you could go without them and burn out your nose hairs with the smell of the plague and death, but you never know when your nose might come in handy, so, I need you to go to that aforementioned magician and convince him to give us some more.”

“Convince him, sir?”

“If it were me asking, he’d need some convincing, but maybe he’ll be more forthcoming with you. We’re not on the friendliest of terms, you see, so you might want to avoid mentioning that you’re under my tutelage…”

The Apprentice looked quizzically at Dr. Devorak before nodding. What could they do besides accept whatever task the doctor had set upon them? Julian flashed his apprentice another smile before telling him where to find Asra’s shop in case the magician had left his spot in the library.

The door closed heavily behind them and Julian let out an exasperated sigh as he hid his face behind his long fingers. First, he was forced to work alongside the enticing magician and now he was given a just as appealing apprentice to order around.

“What have I gotten myself in to…”