#seriously four and wind being the youngest of the group together for a second there was so heartwarming it gives me liiiiiife

[telemna-hyelle]

OKAY

I HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO THIS WEEKEND AND WON'T BE ABLE TO SPEND TIME ON TUMBLR BUT THIS UPDATE WAS AMAZING AND THERE IS SO MUCH I LOVE ABOUT IT

FOUR CRYING AND SMILING AND FOUR ND WIND RUSHING TO TWILIGHT AND LEGEND GRABBING A CHAIR AND WIND RUNNING TO GET EVREYONE WITH A BIG SMILE AND TIME BEING JUST. TIME. AND TIME AND TWILIGHT BEING DAD AND SON AND ALSO THE HEARTBREAKINGNESS OF TIME TRYING TO COMFORT HYRULE AT THE BEGINNING WHEN TIME WAS BEGINNING TO LOSE HOPE BUT HYRULE REFUSING TO GIVE UP AND THEN IT WORKINGGGG

WHY DID IT WORK THO

WHAT CHANGED THIS TIME

I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS

BUT

BUT I BELIEVE IN MY HEART IT'S REAL THIS TIME GUYS

HE'S GONNA BE OKAY

THE LONG NIGHT IS OVER AND NOW

IT'S DAWN

[helliontherapscallion]

I'm sorry for adding on to your pile of requests but I just wanted some family fluff with sbi where all of the siblings are having fun on a road trip or vacation

I don't know if that's specific enough for you if you want a little more detail maybe they're just being really dumb and making stupid videos with each other because that's something my sister and I do a lot

(A/N): I hope you don’t mind that I added Kristin and Tubbo (BASED ON THE CHARACTERS, NOT ACTUAL PEOPLE). Real life AU btw (no covid tho)

Okokok so this is deadass something Philza and Kristin is both dreading and looking forward to

1. They love spending time with their family especially now since yall are getting older and don’t spend as much time together anymore/getting ready to fly the coop

2. Have you met the SBI fam? Chaos incarnated.

After packing, yall set out on your trip to the hotel yall rented for a week or so (about an eight hour drive away from the house)

You and your twin Tommy 100% smuggle Tubbo underneath all of the luggage and a blanket

You’ll just ask them for forgiveness when you’re about halfway through

It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission 

Wilbur and Technoblade catching you hiding the stowaway and blackmailing you both into doing their chores for a few week 

Seating: Phil and Kristin in the front, Tech and Wil in the middle, You and Tommy in the back, and Tubbo in the trunk (it’s a mom van)

Before getting too far into the trip, a gas station is raided for snacks and drinks

Philza raising a brow at the amount of food you and Tommy get 

Philza’s eyes were torn off from the refrigerator in front of him by his wife lightly nudging him. Looking at her in question, she raised her eyebrows and pointed at their youngest kids. It looked like they were just looking at the Monster drinks, so why- oh god the last thing he needed was two already hyper teenagers hopped up on Monster trapped in a car for eight hours. Before he could go over there to stop them, Kristin grabbed his arm. 

“They’re up to something. Listen to what they’re saying.”

He strained his ears to hear what you both are whispering to each other. “...e like this flavor?”

Tommy shrugged, “I dunno. I’ll text him.”

As Tommy texted someone, Phil looked back at his wife. She wore a similar wary expression as they both stared at each other. He nodded in confirmation, “definitely. How do you reckon we confront them?”

He watched as his wife thought for a moment before she sighed and looked at him with a hint of excitement in her eyes, “let’s wait to see. It might be a pleasant surprise.” 

“What? Are you mad?” He eyed his youngest gremlins once more. It seemed that they finally decided on a flavor and are now moving on to the snack portion. He looked back at his wife and felt his heart skip a beat at the small grin on her face. “...fine. Let’s just see what they’re doing after they do it.” Oh, the things he does for love.

He kept a very close eye on you two after that 

You both are on your phones for longer than usual

Texting Tubbo so that he wasn’t lonely 

Tubbo has fun with hiding too, never being bored at all

The only thing that he (and you and Tommy) struggled with was holding in his laughter

You jumped as you felt someone gently slap your shoulder. Turning around, you saw Tubbo’s hand peeking over the backs of the seats. You glanced at your parents in the front seats, they were deep in conversation. Good. You saw Tommy stifle a laugh and pull out his phone to record. 

Tubbo made grabby hands at something but you didn’t know what he wanted, so you decided to mess with him a bit. Smirking, you put your earbuds in his hand. It snaked back underneath the blanket before he threw it back at you and did more intense grabby hands. You put your metal water bottle in his hand. He did the same thing before he threw it back at you. It collided with your forehead with a loud bong sounding throughout the car. Tommy started to laugh loudly and ended the video. You followed suit in the laughter as Tubbo’s hand froze midair and quickly slinked back into his lair.

All noise in the car came to a halt as they all looked behind them (well, Phil glanced through the rearview mirror suspiciously) to see you and Tommy laughing your asses off with you holding your forehead. Through blurred vision, you could see Kristin looking at you with worry and Techno and Wilbur looking confused and mildly annoyed.

“(Y/n) honey are you alright? What happened?” You opened your mouth to respond, but only wheezes came out making you laugh harder. You could hear Tubbo silently cackling to himself in the back, the blanket shaking slightly. Without being able to speak, you only nodded your head and gave her a thumbs up. 

Tommy sent the video into the siblings' group chat and you could see over Wilbur’s shoulder as he watched it before starting to cackle and save the video to his phone. Even Techno got a good chuckle out and saved it to his phone making Phil and Kristin even more suspicious. Well, Kristin was just excited for what you two (four? Was Techno and Wilbur in on it as well?) had planned. Phil could just imagine the chaotic things you had planned. And he did not like what came to his mind.

When the rest stop came eventually (about three hours into the trip), you all left the car to stretch your legs and take care of business

Taking separate ways to walk in pairs (same person they sat next to in the car)

You and Tommy wait until Phil and Kristin leave before getting Tubbo out of the trunk

You three vibe walking along the winding sidewalks for a bit before you come back to the car and get Tubbo back into the trunk

You, however, forgot to use the bathroom so you leave Tommy and Tubbo in the car 

“Fuck, I forgot to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Be quick, I’m not fuckin telling em if we forget you.”

“Pfft, they won’t forget me. Stop joking around.”

With that, you left the car and made a beeline to the bathroom. After that, you went back to the car. Well, where the car was supposed to be. There was no sight of a van anywhere in the parking lot. That asshole, he just let them drive off? He and Tubbo’s probably giggling to themselves in the backseat like school girls. You were only gone for like eight minutes. 

Sighing, you walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, pulling up Techno’s contact and calling him. 

He picked up after a few rings. The second you heard the dial tone stop, you spoke to him, “check the backseat.”

“What? You’re taking a nap, why’re you calling me I’m literally right in front of you.”

“Just fuckin check, Tech.”

In the background, you could hear Tommy snickering to himself. You heard some rustling before Techno started laughing, “Dad, we left (y/n) at the rest stop.”

“YEAH YA FUCKIN DID!” 

You could hear loud laughter from your brothers and muffled cursing from Phil. You heard Kristin tell Techno to hand her the phone. 

“We’re so sorry, we’re turning around right now. We’ll be there in about five minutes. Stay in one place and don’t talk to strangers.”

“I dunno Mom, that trucker looks really friendly. Might do some hitch hiking with him.”

You ended up befriending an old lady when she sat next to you on the bench with her husband. She even gave you some butterscotch and those strawberry hard candies that all older people somehow have but you can never find in stores. Her husband was telling you stories about his younger days when you saw the familiar van pull into the parking lot. Waving goodbye, you thanked them and hopped back into the car. 

After profuse apologizing from your family and scolding Tommy for tricking them, you were on the road again. You glared at Tommy with a small smile on your face, “you fuckin prick. Did you seriously make it look like I was sleeping under a blanket?”

“Yeah, I told you that I wouldn’t tell them if we forgot you.”

“You fuckin dick,” you grabbed a few butterscotches and strawberry candies and handed some to Tubbo after ensuring your parents weren’t looking. He took them gratefully and quickly. You heard him whisper a ‘thank you’ and opened them with plastic crinkling. 

“Wha- are those butterscotches? Gimme some.” He was about to snatch them out of your hands before you moved away from him. “No, you left me at the rest stop. You don’t get any. Do you guys want some? I’ve got butterscotches and strawberry candies.”

After you handed them out to your family, Phil looked at you confused in the rearview mirror, “(y/n), where’d you get these?”

“Oh, I just made some friends with an old couple while I was waiting.”

“You what? What if they kidnapped you?”

“Naw they couldn’t’ve. Ethel has hip problems and Charles was in a wheelchair. They were chill anyway.”

“...Just- just don’t do that again.” “Well don’t forget me again at a rest stop three hours away from home and you got yourself a deal.” 

After a while the family was chill again and everything was back to normal

It was getting closer and closer to when Tubbo would make his reveal

You three agreed that Tubbo would just wait for the perfect time 

That time came about three hours later when Phil and Kristin was asking everybody where they should stop for food

“So kids, we have three options: McDonalds, Wendy’s, and Arby’s. What do you want?”

“Wendy’s is obviously the superior choice.” Tommy proclaimed and you nodded in agreement. You leaned back and whispered to Tubbo, “now would be a great time.” You pulled out your phone to discreetly record the front seat. 

“No it isn’t. Arby’s is you heathens.” Wilbur chimed in, glancing at his twin for back up. Techno shrugged, “I’m fine with anything as long as it’s edible.”

“I’m more of a fan of Wendy’s myself!” Tubbo’s muffled voice chimed in from his makeshift hut in the trunk. You snickered as Kristin whipped her head around to look at the back seat and Phil’s eyes snapping up to look at you through the rearview mirror. 

“...Tubbo?”

“Hi Mrs. Tommy and (y/n)’s mum!” You flipped the camera around just in time to catch Tubbo poking his head out of the blanket and grin sheepishly at them. You panned over to Tommy’s ruby red face as he was holding in his laughter before flipping it back to the front. 

“You absolute gremlins, this is what you’ve been hiding?” Phil scolded you and Tommy, his knuckles whitening from gripping the steering wheel. You could see his shoulders bouncing slightly with a slight strain in his voice from holding in chuckles. 

“Honey, have you been in the trunk this entire time?” 

“Yeah, but it’s quite comfy back here! Tommy and (y/n) gave me pillows and some snacks. Got some stretching done at the rest stop.”

“You’ve been back there for six hours?” Phil’s incredulous voice asked. 

“Yep! Don’t worry, I had a lot of room. Anyways, my vote goes to Wendy’s.”

The car was quiet before Kristin started to laugh, “Wendy’s it is. See Phil, I told you it was gonna be a pleasant surprise!”

Tubbo sat between you and Tommy in the backseat for the rest of the trip 

Techno and Wilbur saying that they knew Tubbo was back there but left out the blackmail part

There was no way they’d risk losing their little siblings doing their chores for them for a few weeks

At the hotel, the rooming was the same as the seating in the car

You, Tommy, and Tubbo having the time of your lives alone in your hotel room

Jumping on the beds, checking for hidden cameras and double sided mirrors (well, that doesn’t sound fun, but you had fun doing it), truth or dare, racing each other down the halls at night time, the works

B L A N K E T  F O R T S (but always cleaning up the hotel room in the mornings bc yall are respectful to the staff)

Getting plenty of videos of you guys ding dong ditching Techno and Wilbur’s room

Them getting tired of it so they tell Dadza and Momza and they tell you to stop : (

Walking around aimlessly around the hotel hallways with Wilbur and Techno

Going up and down elevators aimlessly 

Pulling an all nighter with Tommy and Tubbo on the last day

Philosophical late night talks when yall hardly know what you’re saying anymore (and becoming closer than ever before)

“Tommy, Tubbo?” You three were currently sitting on the balcony chairs looking out at the empty parking lot and the occasional cars driving by. It was about three in the morning and you guys were determined to stay up all night. “If you think about it, a hotdog is puréed meat in an intestine casing. When we eat the hotdogs, we turn it back into puréed meat. It eventually goes through your intestines which makes you the hotdog for a solid couple of hours.”

“...What the fuck, (y/n).”

“No no, they’ve got a point. Don’t you understand, Tommy? We are hotdogs.”

“...I’m starting to think you guys need sleep. Speakin nonsense.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you two reckon we’re alone in the universe?”

“What do you mean, Tubbo?” You glanced at the male next to you and raised an eyebrow. He was looking up at the stars with furrowed brows. 

“Like, do you guys think there’s life out there. Looking down at us right now wondering the same thing.” 

You hummed and looked up at the stars. They were twinkling down at you with the occasional shooting star blazing by. Red lights from far off satellites being the only visible sign of humans in the dark expanse of space. “I think so. I mean, nobody knows how big the universe is. You never really know.”

“Honestly I don’t know what’s scarier, being the only lifeforms and being completely alone or having things out there that we don’t know about.” 

You sling an arm over your twin’s shoulders, “that doesn’t matter. As long as we have each other, we’ll never be alone. We’ll face whatever the universe has in store for us together.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t know, I just hate it when people only see me as the loud annoying one. It really gets to me sometimes and I don’t know what I should do about it. Fuck, even Wil and Tech see me like that.”

“Toms, fuck them. They don’t know you like we do. You’re caring, ambitious, and brave.” 

“Yeah, don’t listen to what they say. We’ll prove them wrong when we form our own nation one day.”

Tommy’s sullen expression slowly melted into a smile, “yeah, I’d like that. You’d be the president.”

Tubbo grinned back at Tommy, “and you’ll be my trusty vice president and (y/n)’ll be our Secretary of State. We’ll rule together.”

“Our nation would be a place for people to escape tyranny and injustice. Somewhere where men could live free, you two would be amazing leaders.”

“What do we call it though is the question,” Tubbo hummed in thought.

“How about ‘Manberg’?”

You looked at your twin with half lidded, exhausted eyes, “I like it, but it needs more… pizazz. How about L’manberg?”

You watched as he smiled widely at the stars, “it’s perfect.”

Watching the sunrise together on the balcony wrapped in blankets

Sleeping on the rest of the way back home

Best sleep of your life

When you wake up (about an hour or so away from home), you see that there’s blankets over you three and you had your head on Tubbo’s shoulder, Tubbo had his leaned up against the seat behind him, and Tommy’s cheek was squished against the window

You stretch out your limbs a bit trying not to disturb the two beside you

Checking your phone to see pictures of you three sleeping sent into the family group chat with Kristin replying with a bunch of heart emojis

You send the videos and pictures you took along the way of you, Tommy, and Tubbo doing stupid things in the hotel room and in the car

If you looked in the middle row, you could see Wilbur watching the scenery pass by out the window with his earbuds in

Techno is reading one of his books (you have no idea how he doesn’t get car sick)

Phil and Kristin are talking lowly to each other holding hands on the center counsel 

Soft radio music is playing in the background

Life is good

General taglist (comment if you want to be added):

@crybabyjabby  @izzybobizzy13  @goldenstarofthunderclan  @bunnyz-pxstel  @averytiredfanfictionwriter  @dcml04  @sparkling-gayyyy  @bbigbbrainn  @thaticecreambish  @kiinokochii  @satansphatass  @bxkubitch  @bxmentchildxx  @roxy3457  @montygator17  @feverish-dove  @the-fictionwriters-hairdo  @jichuuchaeng  @404rynnotfound  @luluwinchester  @laura--444  @the-cult-classic-bitch  @youngstarfishdinosaur  @nottheotheruser

[cafecourage]

The moment they realized they loved you. (Isekai Au Edition) Part 1

Because this was my first time doing this I went a little crazy. If you want more information on this AU here is the Link!

Time:

- It had been welcomed with open arms.

- You two are literally the opposite but also very similar. Time is calm and stoic. You are chaotic and loud. But both of you are very cryptic.

- You’re the only person in the kingdom of hyrule currently that remembers what he had gone through. He feels like he can trust you with anything.

- It’s started with a slip up by wind and just spiraled out of control.

___________________________________

Time was discussing the groups inventory with Twilight and Wild when it happens. A small slip of the tongue followed by a laughter that could be mistaken as a fairy chime. He looked over to see your bright smile shining through under your hood. In front of you was the target of your amusement, the youngest link.

“That’s so cute!” You exclaimed to the horror of Wind, who was red in embarrassment. “Wait who’s dad?”

“Can we let this go?” The teen was covering his face now.

“It’s Time.” Four said without looking up from his book. Utter chaos broke loose in camp with just a few words. A chorus of any forms of agreement was making you laugh even harder. Time though covering up his true feelings about the situation was very lost. While yes, he acknowledged that he had slowly became the father figure of the group. That title didn’t involve you.

Unless…

“Time! I didn’t know we were married!” You bounced over to their leader looking at him with a playful smirk.

A life with you flashes in his head.

There could be a small cottage farm surrounded by the forest that reminding him of his old family and home. You could take care of the garden while he could take care the animals. In a few years the two of you might just have a few kids running around. Playing with each other without a care in the world. No more fighting. No more traveling. Just a simple lifestyle with a tight knit family. It looked peaceful. Everything he would want.

“You should have told me.” He was brought back to the present by your face looking up at him expectedly.

“I thought you knew.” He said super seriously. “We’ve got to raise nine children together already.”

“Hey! I raised you during the war old man!” Warriors called out from across camp.

“You’re the uncle then!” (Y/n) countered “I already say Twilight is our first born!” You declared pointing to Time’s flustered descendent. The rest of the conversation was tuned out as he went back to his thoughts once more.

Time lived longer than most of the heroes here by age 11. Yet not once did he stop to think about a future and family. He was so busy trying to keep out of hero work that it just slipped. Yet see you with the other heroes, knowing now that you were just as much a parental figure to the others as him. It made his softer just thinking about it and he welcomed that warm fuzzy feeling with open arms.

Reaching out he brush’s hair out of your face to kiss your temple. “I’ll propose to you properly later.” He said in a teasing tone to suggest he was only joking to hide the truth in that statement. Seeing your entire face flush red was really worth it.

“Gross Mom and Dad are flirting!”

___________________________________

- He’ll never once tell you straight if he liked you or was just playing along with the ongoing joke that the chain has.

- This time instead of you observing him. He wants to see how far he can go until confessing.

- It drives you crazy. Since you can’t get a read on him. You attempt to flirt back in retaliation. However, it always ends with you being the most flustered.

- Who knew the Old Man had it in him?

Twilight:

- It became a melancholic hopeless feeling that spiral out of control.

- He already had his heartbroken by someone before and he knows he shouldn’t get attached to you too.

- Yet he can’t stop himself from wanting to be near you. He heard you so clearly before.

- Now that he can actually speak to you directly, he wants to get to know his other travel companion more.

___________________________________

Being alone in the forest with you wasn’t what Twilight planned when dropped in a different Hyrule but here you two where. You offered to go on patrol with him when the others were setting up camp claiming it was too see if you could identify the era. It didn’t matter since Twilight enjoyed your company no matter what. The lack of conversation between the two of you didn’t bother him. If anything, it felt the most natural. Only a few words were needed for the two of you to understand each other. “Do you mind if I use my wolf form?” Twilight asked fiddling with the chain that attached to the shadow crystal around his neck.

You paused to think about it. “I mean you can. But be aware I will baby talk you.”

This got Twilight to stop walking. Maybe he lied. He doesn’t need a few words to understand your thought process. “Excuse me?”

“I can’t control myself around cute creatures.” You simply stated like it was the most obvious thing.

Instead, Twilight was burning up. You thought his wolf form was cute? Of all things you used that word? What did you think of human Twilight if you thought like that? Did he want to even know? He was searching for any way to take this conversation but it all lead to dead ends. “Cute?” Was all he could ask. His voice pitching up as he got flustered.

“Yeah?” You looked at him just as confused as he was. “Wolves are just like big dogs and to be honest you look more like a giant dog then a wolf.” Your explanation did not help at all with his situation. “If it makes you feel better you’re very handsome as a Hylian and also built like an go-“

Twilights brain was malfunctioning he couldn’t hear any more of what you had to say about him. He grabbed on to the shadow crystal, turning into his wolf form he ran. He didn’t hear you call out his name in surprise.

Hylia, what was wrong with him? You were just a friend. A very blunt yet gentle friend. Nothing more. Nothing less. Why was his heart racing so much? He had heard you shower him in complements before while on his first adventure. But hearing you say it to his face with no shame whatsoever was a different story.

Twilight knew what these feelings were and deep down he really wanted to act on them. But was it ok? Was his heart finally healing from his last love? Twilight was already aware this time that you had to leave at some point. He didn’t need to act on them despite wanting to. He could just be your friend and continue the relationship like that.

His heart was already breaking a second time.

Twilight was in love you and it was driving him crazy.

___________________________________

- Like Time, Twilight isn’t going to tell you about his feelings. Instead, he is going to forever pine for you.

- It’s going to be a slow process and you need to be aware that he will get hurt if you’re going to go back home.

- He’ll see you off with a smile, but as soon as your gone he will break.

Warriors:

- It was full of denial and fear.

- He went through the receiving end of someone’s obsessive love.

- And it doesn’t help that you’ve watched over their adventures. He vowed to not get that close to you.

- There was a need to destroy the endearing feeling he sees when you smile at him.

- Yet seeing you with a sad far out look on your face makes him scramble to your side to find out what’s wrong.

___________________________________

It was just the two of you. Weaving throughout the crowds of castle town. You were currently in Four’s Era and in the middle of the Picori festival. The group was long spilt up, leaving Warriors alone with the dimensional traveler. Soon even (Y/n) was walking away from him. He didn’t know why he followed, the argument in his head was telling him that it was so they didn’t get lost. Yet there was a part of him that knew that wasn’t it.

“Where are you going anyway?” He thought to finally ask as you reached a quieter area. “It’s going to be hard to spend time in the festival from here.”

“Yeah, that’s the point.” You were a bit snappy today, “shouldn’t you find someone else to hang out with?” Warriors just shrugged as you slowed your pace down to pause in front of the small river that ran through castle town. The silence now filled with the rushing of water as you sat on the bridge.

Against his better judgement Warriors sat next to you. Finally, he got to talk to you one on one but the normally impulsive and excitable person Warrior’s grew to expect had changed in that moment.

You looked so tired.

“Hey Link?” You finally called out to him “I know I shouldn’t ask you this but…” hesitation was new to your character. “How do I even start?” You rake a hand through your hair. Sweeping a part of your hair out of your eyes. “Was I ever helpful during your Adventure?”

Oh… Oh he really wasn’t the right person for this talk.

You look back you and towards the festival and he followed your gaze. From where they were he could only spot a few of his party members. Wind was with Legend and Hyrule playing some of the stall games. While Four was with his Zelda holding hands as she pulled him further into the crowd. “Last time I saw this festival it ended up destroyed by Vaati.” The wind mage was only brought up a few times by Four. All Warriors really knew was that the villain was supposed to be sealed away by the Four Sword, and that his power was connected by the dark mirror. “I found myself wondering if my presence even mattered.” Your shoulder slumped in defeat as you curled into yourself.

The instant need to comfort shot through Warriors. He wanted to reach out. He fought the urge to hold you. He bites his tongue when he started to think of embellished words to make you feel better.

What was wrong with him?

Warriors had to say something though. “I don’t know about Four or the others.” He didn’t even think about your presence in his adventure too much. If anything, he actively tried not to think about it. Here you were though a person and not a figment of in his imagination. “During the war, your voice and presence is what broke the tension. The moments that could have been my lowest, you were there saying things that I wanted to repeat out loud.” There was a fondness while he was looking back at the memories. From the moment he ran on the battle field foolishly as a trainee soldier. His pride grew upon hearing your praise and surprise when seeing him fight for the first time. To your excitement while meeting his friends from the other Eras. He shared your sentiments about Mask as you cooed over the child as Warriors fought by his side. Then your anger, disgust and pity towards Cia. While on his side, your empathetic nature had you morning during her passing. These where just the tip of the iceberg.

Just having someone voice out mutual thoughts on a situation helps when you can’t do it on your own. You feel crazy thinking the way you do. “With you there it’s like you always have someone by your side cheering you on and supporting you.” He paused to look at you. Conflicting emotions clashing together. You turn to look at him, your eyes only briefly visible through your bangs. Curiosity and guilt were swarming with in them. “I’m not the person to talk to about this.” He finally admitted out loud. “But I would be lying if I said your presence wasn’t important to us.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Was that not what he was supposed to say? Warriors tried to stay calm under your gaze.

You let out a huff of laughter covering your mouth and turning away from him a bit to calm down. “I didn’t think about it like that.” There was a pause where you looked back at the festive before turning back to smiling softly at him. “Thanks Cap.”

The smile that you had on your lips had Warriors stomach do back flips. A blush decorated his face as he turns away. “It’s something that should have been said a while ago.” He manages to say without stuttering.

You were really pretty.

The sound of a picto box followed by winds snickering, was ignored when the thought had just register in his head. He finally realized how far he fell for you.

___________________________________

- one by one his defenses lowered.

- With every smiled sent his way, with every laugh that he earned. He found himself wanting more.

- He slowly opens up, a slow process but it wasn’t as scary as he thought it was going to be.

- A teasing nickname here. A gentle touch there. He realizes he has gone too far.

(Part 2)

[thefanficmonster]

Sweet Dreams

The Clarkes (The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope) & Child!Reader (Female)

Warnings: None

Genre: Domestic (Family) Fluff

Summary: When little Y/N is finally given a home by the Clarkes family, she’s rightfully very shy and apprehensive as any toddler would be when surrounded by strangers and finding herself in a new surrounding. Luckily, all the members of the Clarke family are nothing short of sweet and welcoming towards her, getting her warmed up to her new life almost instantly.

Happy birthday, @artlovingbre! I hope this reaches you in time despite the time difference and whatnot but anyhow - I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the best birthday you’ve had yet. Thank you for giving me the honor of writing this sweet and adorable fanfic as a gift for your birthday. I hope the final product lives up to your expectations. Once again, happy birthday! Enjoy your special day and this fanfic I’ve written you! Lots of love, Vy ❤

Safely strapped into the car seat with a seatbelt, the five-year-old Y/N fidgets with her hands resting in her lap, too shy to look up. Her reaction to the sudden change is completely understandable. In fact, the woman running the foster home mentioned that Y/N had handled the news of being adopted much better than other kids had in the past. The woman - Mrs. Jones - mentioned to James and Anne on several occasions how special of a girl Y/N is. Wise beyond her years and with a heart of gold, she had said the second Anne pointed the little girl out to James when they had gone to the foster home for the first time. Despite being quiet and reserved when she was sat down with James and Anne so she could meet them, the married couple already knew the little girl was the one they’d want to adopt into their family. Sure, she did come across as shy at the start, but having observed her as she played with the other kids, smiling and giggling like the children her age, Anne and James knew she was a wonderful girl. Truly, a heart of gold.

James is in the driver’s seat, a lot happier than he’s letting on. The idea of adopting another child was entirely Anne’s. After they had adopted Megan, he had never once thought about adopting another child into their already buzzing beehive of a household. Four kids, all at different ages and stages, it could get pretty exhausting and frustrating, especially when the older ones - Tanya and Dennis, to be more specific - would yell at each other from across the house. With these images in mind, James was very opposed to the idea, though he was aware that he’d cave eventually. He could only deny his wife’s wishes for so long but when she brought up the argument of Megan feeling lonely, that’s when she had him in the palm of her hand.

Anne, James’ loving wife is sitting beside the newest addition to the Clarke family in the backseat of their car as they get closer and closer to the house where their four curious children are awaiting to meet their youngest sibling. Anne had been looking at their family as it was - chaotic, dysfunctional even at times with the disagreements and argument among their four kids. Her and her husband had been hoping they’d grow out of this fighting phase and grow to be a lot more tolerant of one another, but the case seemed to be completely opposite. And the more time passed, the more the older kids would argue amongst themselves and occasionally pick on the youngest Megan. It goes without saying that they all love each other dearly, however they love getting on each other’s nerves just as much. Seeing no other way to put her family in balance and seeing her youngest daughter constantly left to the side, ignoring the arguing of her siblings, Anne had made the decision to incorporate a new addition to the family and she was determined to get over any obstacle to make it happen - the only obstacle being her husband and his will which was easily overpowered by her persistence.

The couple couldn’t have possibly chosen a better, sweeter, smarter child. The little girl, in their eyes, is a lot like Anthony and Tanya. Despite her age being closer to Megan’s, the two girls appear to have nothing in common except the childish excitement and goodness of their hearts and their friendliness. With that in mind, James and Anne know the girls would get on just fine. In fact, they know for certain that Y/N will be welcomed and accepted into the family no problem. The only member that worried them and the only one they seriously sat down to give a pep-talk to was Dennis but even he was offended because his parents felt the need to sit him down and instruct him on how to behave. Main reason for that was the fact that he too was just excited to meet his new little sister as was everyone. Of course, he never showed it or expressed it, but deep down he could barely wait for this day to come. He even supported Anthony and Tanya’s argument that they should come along to pick the girl up from the foster home - an argument that was inevitably turned down by James.

“You want to scare the girl before she even comes to our house? I won’t allow it.“ He said, mush to the disappointment of the aforementioned young adults.

In the meantime, as the car glides over the street only three streets away from the Clarkes’ house, all Y/N can do is wonder; think and rethink every possibility of what’s to come. No matter how many adults say she’s such a grown and mature kid, they have no idea what’s going on in her head. Just because she doesn’t go to confine in an adult about the monster under her bed or the one in her closet doesn’t mean she doesn’t fear those monsters. She does, but she’s never wanted to bother anyone else. Her main fear, however, was that haunting sound of the wind howling throughout the old house of Mrs. Jones. The eerie noises produced by the gusts of wind peeking in through the cracks and holes in the walls and around the door and window frames. Those sounds kept her up at night from the very first time she had to sleep in that small room she shared with another girl her age. She never outgrew that fear and on the autumn and nights she barely slept a wink. Now, she hopes she’ll finally be absorbed by the sweet slumber, confined in a warm bed with people that she can call family an arm’s reach away.

Pulling up to the house, Y/N finally looks up, eyes twinkling curiously as she looks up at the modest house standing tall above the vehicle her and her new parents are sitting in at the moment. Looking to the side, she finds Anne’s warm, caring gaze on her, accompanied by a small smile of genuine adoration.

“Here we are.“ James announces, unbuckling his seatbelt with a mildly trembling hand, “Let’s quickly head inside, the kids are probably lining the windows with excitement.“

And that they are. Tanya, Anthony and Megan are all aligned by the living room windows, staring at the vehicle expectantly, waiting to see their sister for the first time. Little do they know, Dennis is doing the exact same thing but by the kitchen window. He’s just as curious, but once again, not as willing to show it.

With her hand held in Anne’s, Y/N steps out of the car, finally getting a good look at the house she’ll be calling home from now on. There’s almost zero hesitation in the steps she takes towards the front door which opens before anyone even gets the chance to place their hand on the doorknob.

Light pours out of the brightly lit hallway out onto the porch, illuminating the married couple and the little girl standing in the slowly falling night.

“Welcome home.“ Anthony is the first one who greets them, more specifically Y/N, while Megan is restlessly shifting from one foot to the other, eager to run up to her new sister, six years her junior, and give her a hug. Tanya’s hold on her shoulders is the only thing preventing her from doing so.

The welcome wagon of three steps aside, allowing James, Anne and Y/N to walk in just as Dennis emerges from the kitchen, his gaze immediately seeking out the youngest member standing in the hallway.

“Y/N, these are your older siblings.” Anne says, motioning to the older kids aligned in front of her, simultaneously flashing them a warning look, “Why don’t you all welcome your sister while I get dinner ready?”

“I’ll help you.“ James chimes in, accompanying Anne in the intention of heading into the kitchen, allowing the kids to give a welcome to Y/N on their own. Though somewhat risky, they are hoping for the best outcome from their first interaction.

As the married couple walks away, the group leads Y/N into the living room where the girl, while still rather shy, finds herself feeling at home and comfortable. She’s curious above all else, though. Looking at the unfamiliar faces, all she wants is to learn more about them.

The one to break the introduction ice is Tanya. She crouches down so she’s at eye level with Y/N and gives her a warm smile. “Hi, Y/N. My name’s Tanya. I’m your older sister. It’s really nice to meet you.“

Surprising the older girl, Y/N steps forward and gives her a hug, opposing her shy and hesitant appearance. “Nice to meet you too.” She whispers before pulling away and looking around at the faces she still doesn’t have names to connect to.   It doesn’t remain that way for long though - Megan, excited that she’s finally able to give her sister a hug, doesn’t hesitate to take the opportunity.

“Hi, I’m Megan! We’ll be sharing a room together! You’re gonna love it! I have a lot of toys we can share too!“ Not bothering to hide her enthusiasm, Megan approaches Y/N grinning at the younger girl who smiles right back at her.

“Do you have stuffed animals? Mine will come tomorrow, but I can’t sleep without them.“ She says timidly, embarrassed by the confession.

“Of course!“ Megan squeals, “You can have them all if you want!“

Anthony is next to introduce himself, earning himself a hug also. However, when Dennis’ turn arrives, he’s rather hesitant on how to approach the situation. He’s not used to these interactions nor is he known for being very nice or welcoming and the last thing he wants is to scare or upset the little girl, leaving her with a bad impression of him.

“And that’s Dennis.“ Tanya says, shooting him a glare as a silent ‘be nice!‘ before changing her expression entirely, giving a Y/N a sweet smile. 

While Dennis remains still as a statue, death-glaring his older sister, Y/N takes a step towards him, offering a shy ‘Hi’ while avoiding eye-contact before giving him a hug too. Stunned and with a breath that has caught somewhere between his lungs and his throat, Dennis wraps his arms around the small girl as if on autopilot. Huffing out the quietest and most reluctant, “Nice to meet you, sis.”

James and Anne pick that exact moment to walk in with the intention of inviting their kids into the dining room where James has already set the table for dinner. They stop mid-step however when they see the scene in front of them - Dennis carefully - and fearfully - hugging his five-year-old sister as though she’s either a porcelain doll he’s afraid to break or an otherworldly being he’s never laid eyes upon before. The parents are debating between laughing and melting at the sight, simultaneously relieved at how well the newest addition to their family has been accepted by the rest of the members. Looking at Anthony and Tanya confirms that the two are thinking the same.

“Come on kids, dinner’s ready.” James announces, wrapping his arm around his emotional and teary-eyed wife’s shoulders, pulling her closer as a non-verbal way of reassuring her he feels the same way as she does.

To the surprise of everyone in the room, instead of letting go of the little girl, Dennis lifts her up into his arms as though she weighs as much as a feather, causing her to yelp and giggle.

“Bet you can’t make it there before Y/N and I can.” He exclaims, dashing past everyone and towards the dining room with the child giggling and squealing in his firm embrace.

If there was any shred of doubt left in James or Anne’s minds, it has now been erased and replaced with ease and joy they have been longing to feel since the moment they picked Y/N up from the foster home.

                                                            *  *  *

Following dinner, Megan and Tanya set up Y/N’s bed with the colorful sheets, pillow and blankets they had bought earlier that week. Megan didn’t forget to lay out a bunch of stuffed animals as well, remembering what Y/N had mentioned about those toys earlier. Meanwhile, Anthony and Dennis were giving Y/N a tour of the ground floor - or at least tried to. Y/N’s attention was immediately stolen by the box containing Dennis’ vinyl records and - much to Anthony’s surprise - he actually let her look through them and examine each and every record without giving her any warning or instructions when it came to how she held, picked up or put down his most prized possessions.

Being the youngest and also exhausted after such a busy day, Y/N was the first one to start yawning while the family sat watching TV in the living room. Anne and James were quick to react, taking the little girl up to the room she’s sharing with Megan. Tucking Y/N in with James’ storytelling filling her ears, Anne couldn’t suppress the pleasant feeling of joy and fulfillment. She plants a loving kiss on the little girl’s forehead just as James closes the story book and sets it on the bedside table, getting up quietly as to now awaken the already asleep kid. With one exchanged look they know exactly what the other’s feeling - shimmering eyes, glowing with fulfillment, genuine smiles, allowing their fondness to shine through. The two exit the room, allowing only the night light to stay one and leaving the door open a crack as a reminder that they are nearby. That she’s not alone. That she has no reason to be scared if she wakes up in the middle of the night.

But she won’t because for the first time the little girl is sleeping as peacefully as a child should be. Not at all bothered by the sound of any winds or thoughts of any monsters that might be lurking in the dark. She’s safe and sound, dreaming sweet dreams in her new loving home.

[abizarreyodelingincident]

Linked Universe: Our Nightly Confidant 1

Wind From Home

Twilight considers himself a simple man. A farmer at heart, even if he has the hands of a hero. He's grown in a small village, where everyone knows everything about everyone else. Community is a sense that's been cultivated in him as well as pumpkins on a sky island (whatever that saying means).

He loves his brothers and his sort of dad. This quest... he doesn't want to say it's a blessing. It isn't. The monsters threaten many. Their group hasn't always saved everyone. It's no blessing that hurts so many. But he can't help rejoice the opportunity to meet so many heroes. To find his place in the legacy of the Hero of Courage.

As a Hylian from a human village, he's never worried about his place, but he does find peace in belonging to a group with no such innate distance.

He's one of the oldests, weird as that is. Most of the group are like little siblings to him. Weird, insane and irreverent little shits that give him grey hair. No, he's not thinking exclusively about Wild (Wild's a special case). He's attuned to their moods.

Four asked if he had a special sense for this, the second time he'd done it. A 'special' sense, he had insisted in the middle of their training camp, meaning wolf senses. No. Twilight doesn't feel one side of him bleeds into the other. It's not like that.

It's not what makes his eyes trail after Wind today. His youngest brother (barely losing to Colin by a season) is currently laughing his ass off on a tree stump over Warriors tripping on Legend's items. It is denied, not very convincingly, that the items weren't left there on purpose. Little shits, he's telling you.

The truth is more down to earth, the way Twilight likes it. Dogs train themselves to recognize hylian expressions. They know what sadness and joy and anger look like all too well. They know when to cheer their big two-legged friends. And a wolf? Well, a wolf better learn fast the difference between a real smile and a fake if it doesn't want to end up stuck in a bear trap.

***

First watch is always a bit nerve wracking. Unlike second and third watch, Twilight can't just shift into wolf form to sniff out enemies and make sure the whole forest is secure. Links don't fall asleep easily. Legend wakes up at the slightest noise for the first two hours he looks asleep. Time might just stare at the sky the whole night, not getting a wink of sleep. Sometimes, Twilight himself just... can't stop thinking. Wondering where she is now. If she's alright. If Ordon's safe without him. Once in a while, he'll close his eyes and hear Lumi crying, and Uli's quiet steps to shush her.

The other half of the time, it's staying asleep that's the problem. The Goddesses know they all have plenty of material to fuel their nightmares (he's never forgetting Yeta's face, he's resigned to that).

When the moon's path has almost reached its zenith, Twilight hears the first few moans. His heart drops. He hoped. But he's not surprised. Sometimes, the heart can't take the weight of the mask people plaster on.

It starts small. It always does.

For a time, it's mostly sniffles and choked sobs. Then a small 'I'm sorry.' Twilight grimaces. None of them show their scar easily. The deep scars, at least. Wind wouldn't appreciate an audience. Unfortunately, Twilight can't exactly leave. The next best thing however is to try and cut it short.

So, decision made, he creeps around camp, places himself behind Wind and shakes his shoulder. (Carefully. The group collectively learned not to take sleeping Links lightly. At least, Sky had laughed out the black eye with grace.)

“Hey, Sailor,” he whispers, hoping none of the others react. “It's your turn.”

In truth, it's a touch early for that. But he knows he made the right call when Wind rubs his eyes and freezes at the wet feeling on his fingers. He'd been in the middle of turning around, but he immediately fakes a stumble and buries his face in his rolled up blankets instead. It's a good cover to wipe tears without being too obvious.

Twilight would be impressed if that didn't send pangs of worry through his chest. Oh, Wind...

“Mrm,” Wind mumbles. “One minute?”

“Sure, I gotta take a leak anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah, piss off.” Wind waves him off from under the blanket.

Twilight smiles to himself. He should ask Wind to direct a play next time they visit his Hyrule. Queen Zelda was always in need of entertainment for the stuffy dignitaries. Jackasses couldn't crack a smile if they were whipped.

That faint irritation pushes him toward the end of the camp line, out of the clearing. Once he's out of sight and hearing range, he grabs onto his cursed necklace and sneaks through the underbrush. His senses make navigating through the twigs and branches child's play, and the lack of any pig-like stench reassures him that there's no malice-infected monster around. In less than a minute, he has circled around the camp and positioned himself the near opposite of where his hylian form left through. Generally, people don't make the association if he leaves a few minutes tick by. Out of sight, out of mind.

It's a bit embarrassing how well that trick works.

Wind's head is turned in the direction he disappeared earlier. Skittish, like a rabbit looking out of its hole. Wind must be waiting for him to return from his manly business, which is a bit of a lost bet at the moment. Seconds tick with only the faint brushing of leaves on his fur and the nightly wind for company. Then, all at once, Wind stands up and stomps his way to the stump Twilight had been using for his turn at the watch.

“Damn it!” Wind curses under his breath. The tears are held at bay, barely. “There's no way he didn't see... calm down, calm down dammit, he's gonna come back soon!”

A small boot kicks off some dirt. Twilight flinches in his hiding spot. That's more anger than expected. He's not sure what to do with that. None of them like vulnerability. None of them are used to being allowed vulnerability. He's worked on Wild and Time for a while now, and he's making progress, even if it's only them opening up to him.

It's that same instinct that pushes him to walk through the bush and reveal himself. He's as non-threatening as a large wolf can be, but Wind still whirls around with his sword drawn. Recognition is a second slower.

“Wolfie!” Wind whisper-yells. “Bad dog! I almost skewered you!”

Twilight raises one eyebrow, unimpressed. He is most certainly not a bad dog, and he is quite experienced at dodging last second hits by flailing, surprised preys. Not that he even thought of Wind as prey, never, but Wind didn't have to imply he'd be that stupid.

“Oi, what are you looking at?” Wind grumbles, dropping back on his tree stump. “Stupid dog...”

Twilight fights the urge to growl. He's here to help, not pick a fight. Unfortunately, his struggle had been obvious, because Wind deflates and sheaths his sword.

“Sorry. It's just... I'd been doing so well so far,” he whispers. “Even if they're big mother cuccos about me sometimes, they still listened to me.”

Twilight feels his tail curl between his legs. He knows he's overprotective. He knows it's annoying Wind, but he can't help it when every other time they fight, he sees Colin rushing into the path of King Bulblin.

“Hey, hey, don't be sad.” Wind cajoles, patting his knee like an invitation.

Twilight's too happy to question the change. He plops his chin on Wind knees and looks up. Small, calloused hands run into his fur.

“Do you have family, Wolfie?”

… What? For a second, he slips out of grasp just to better stare at Wind. Then, he sniffs his breath for a second, and whilst there's a fair amount of onions there (dental hygiene, Sailor!), no traces of booze anywhere. So, he softly woofs, tilting his head to the side.

“Do you have a she-wolf and a litter of little pups that trip all over themselves? I bet you're a good dad, aren't you?”

Twilight can't help the shocked whine that burst out of his throat, nor the flattened ears on top of his head. Him? A dad? He was far too young for that! Being a brother to Wild alone was trouble enough as it was, fatherhood remained firmly beyond his grasp. Besides... it wasn't like he had someone with whom...

“Aww,” Wind cooed, scratching behind his ears, “I didn't want to scare you, Wolfie. I just thought you take good care of us, s'all. I bet you'll be a good dad someday.”

Flattered as he is, he can't help puff and huff into Wind's shirt. He's a noble beast, talked down to like a lap dog. At least, he successfully distracted Wind from what nightmare he had.

Together, they listened to the crackling embers, moving only when the flames needed another log or when a critter stumbled too close to camp (a very curious rat that scampered when it met Twilight's eyes).

“How much did he drink?” Wind mutters, a bit later. “Did he pass out with his breeches down?”

A low growl rumbles into his chest. The disadvantage of others not knowing he's Wolfie is hearing that kind of crap about himself. He's a misunderstood man condemned by the judgemental Links of the world.

“What? Don't like him? Twilight's okay. Most of the time. Like, he saw me cry. I know he did. He knows I know, but he still pretended not to... you know?”

Twilight's best deadpan glare expresses that yes, he knows. More importantly, he puts a paw on Wind's chest, making a small inquisitive noise. Why? Did he need to share it with a very innocent wolf that doesn't judge anyone and anything except Warriors' morning hair?

The fragile grin on Wind's face falters. His eyes dart around. “I... it's not like... You won't laugh, right?”

Twilight nods emphatically.

“It's nothing too bad. I just miss my sister and my grandma.”

Oh, Wind...

“... Please don't tell the others,” Wind said in a tiny voice. “They already have a hard enough time taking me seriously. I don't want them to think I'm being a baby who cries about his family.”

The confusion can't overtake the lance of shame and heartbreak that spears through Twilight's body. Had... had they pushed Wind into this? Made him think that because they hide their tears, they'd laugh at his?! Goddesses... Uli would smack him with her wooden spoon for making a mess like this.

Again.

He might have been a bit overbearing once his quest had ended. Colin had been happy about the attention... the first three days or so. Afterward... well... Uli and Rusl had taken him aside, put their feet down and helped him let go of his dead grip on his little brother's safety. And half the monsters he'd faced had nothing on the challenge of letting Colin make his own mistake. He thought he'd gotten better about this.

But he might have forgotten Wind was not nearly as tolerant or hesitant as Colin.

“I'm a Hero too. I'm strong. Why would I cry over nothing? My grandma and my sister are fine. I bet we'll be portaled in my Hyrule soon and I'll have worried for nothing and Twilight and Warriors will be right to treat me like a fragile little boy again.”

He's not. They all know he's not. He's just... the youngest. The most cheerful, most innocent, most... most well-adjusted of them all, and they want so badly for Wind to keep that. He's a wonderful young man. They're all so proud, so impressed with him.

He's gonna have a few conversations with Warriors and Time tomorrow. Goddesses!

“Hey, Wolfie... I know you don't like being around too long, but... Do you mind staying a bit?”

Twilight chuffs, stubbornly burying his face even deeper in his little brother's shoulder. As if someone would be able to pry him off Wind before morning.

***

“Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?”

Wind looks up sharply, startled but unwilling to admit it. He'd been polishing that long view of his by himself. “What?” he says, and there's an implied 'the fuck?!' in there. Pirates...

Twilight brushes the grass and then sits on the hill, staring past the coast at the red sun. “My father told me that, the day before I left on my quest. Neither of us knew then I'd have a quest soon, of course. But it stuck with me.”

For a long time, Wind's expression shifted between fascination, embarrassment and a bit of confusion. Twilight really needed to teach him how to maintain a poker face before he played cards with Warriors again. Still, there's no rush.

For all that it tears him in half, dusk also has a way to sooth his old aches. It's a peaceful time. A moment when the day dies, when the living settle and close their doors.

“It's the horizon, for me,” Wind admits. “When I... the first time, I'd never ever left my island, and all of a sudden, I had to leave because that huge ass bird had kidnapped my sister. So I had to leave my home for the first time, and I was on Tetra's boat, staring at Outset Island shrinking and shrinking till it was gone. Even when I pulled out my sister's long view, all I could find was the waves of the Great Sea.”

“Ah, a boar and a bulblin got my brother, my childhood friend and a bunch of kids. Knocked me right out with a hit to the head.”

Wind pulled his lips together and narrowed his eyes. “Well... I didn't get hit or anything, but Tetra threw me out of a cannon so I could infiltrate the fortress. Hit my face pretty hard too. That counts?”

“It wasn't a competition!” Twilight laughs, ruffling Wind's hair. It causes a flinch, and that's the light-hearted mood gone. Great. Twilight breathes through his nose. “You know, sometimes, I really want to smack my dad upside the head.”

Wind blinks. “... Okay?”

“Every goshdarn time I see the sun set, I remember him and my mom and my brother and sister, and... home. Every sunset reminds me of home. Makes me miss it so bad. Now I can't help feel that strange sadness every time.”

Silence.

A snort.

“Goddesses damned!” Wind wheezes out through his laugh. “He...”

“Yup,” Twilight says, leaning his chin on his fist. “He didn't think that one through. Bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, ain't it? So, I do want to make him think before he spouts philosophy at me.”

“Hey, hey, Twilight!” Wind says, impish, tugging on his sleeves. Then, the second he has Twilight's attention, he puts on the most serious face he ever wore. “Do you ever feel a strange sadness... as you put on your pants?”

“You little shit,” he says, brimming with affection.

Wind, not to be undone, jumps to his feet. “Do you ever feel a strange sadness... as you drink milk?”

“Oi,” Twilight stands after him, darting right after the brat.

“Not the strange sadness of being chased by a goatherd!”

Two minutes. Two minutes and six variations of the most profound saying his farmer dad told him. Butchered. Butchered like a lame goat in winter. Twilight is both furious and delighted and it might be why, when he does catch Wind, he unleashes the noogie from hell.

Wind's screams, so closely related to that of a dying piglet, are very satisfying. Worth the kicks to the ribs.

And when retribution is served, Twilight shifts the hold into a one-sided hug with the smooth grace of a man who regularly pretends not to be the wolf that is never seen with him. Wind freezes, realization sharp on his face when he notices the tears gathering in Twilight's eyes.

“But the first thing I'd do if I saw him tomorrow... is hug him. Tell him I'm glad he's okay and that I missed him. Then I'd smack him and run for the hills, because Rusl happens to be the only guy in my village that knows how to use a sword.”

After a whole body shudder, Wind gives up and buries himself in his big brother's shoulder.

[drabbledragon]

Linktober: Campfire

Here’s the second day of Linktober! Enjoy!

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26749021/chapters/65311984

Summary: The Links sit by the campfire and tell stories, and one of them worries about the future in the meantime.

Warnings: None

Day 2: Campfire

As the sun set earlier and the nights grew colder, having a campfire around became more and more of a blessing. Not only did it keep the group warm and provide an excellent cooking fire, but it also gave the Links a chance to sit and breathe, and remind them that even though they’re Hylia’s Chosen Heroes, they’re people first and foremost.

With arms raised high and eyes wide, Four stood before the other heroes, face illuminated by the campfire’s light. “ There I was, on top of Death Mountain, severely wounded and on the verge of collapsing, when I saw it: a giant Gouen. It was easily ten times the size of me -”

“That’s not saying much.”

“Shut up, Legend.” He deadpanned for a moment, and then just as quickly went back to his theatrics. “ - and the whole thing was covered in fire that was just as hot as the lava that flows underground. I was fighting that thing for hours: left, right, left, right, quickstep, slash, and duck just in time to avoid a fireball to the face. I was completely and utterly exhausted but I knew I couldn’t stop because the Great Fairy of Flame’s life was all depending on me. So when Blue - I mean, when I delivered the final blow, it was like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. The Gouen was finally gone, and when I climbed up the rest of the mountain, I found the Great Fairy waiting patiently at the top, Silver Key in hand. ” He plopped himself back onto his tree stump, the whole storytelling ordeal seeming to exhaust him.

“That’s all?”

A large portion of the group turned to face Twilight with curious looks.

“Yeah, that’s all.” Four shot back goodnaturedly and then as if to emphasise his point, he raised an eyebrow and challenged, “ Why, you got a better story than me?”  

“‘Course I do.” The ranchhand gingerly rose to his feet. He regarded each of the group members with a haughty glance and inwardly chuckled as he noticed a few heroes were now leaning forward, eager to hear about what troubles he encountered on his own adventures. The whole group fell into silence as soon as the Hero of Twilight cleared his throat, “ Not only did I climb up Death Mountain, but I also had to defend myself from Gorons ...”

The rest of the night was filled with laughter, gasps, and objections as the group exchanged stories between the burning flames of the fire. A few arguments ensued during the evening - notably between Warriors and Legend - and when Time finally shared his own story of climbing Death Mountain very late into the night, the group was so exhausted that they couldn’t even tell if all of the Old Man’s story was completely true or not. It was one of the few nights where the Heroes of Courage could just sit around and talk with each other, free from the burden of fighting off Lynels and Moblins and free from the ever - present knowledge that their Hyrules all depended on them being able to make it to the overarching threat in time.

By the time the flames of the campfire began to weaken, most of the Links were fast asleep. Sat on a log by the dying fire, Wind glanced from hero to hero with tired eyes: Legend was tucked into his bedroll with Hyrule curled into his side, Wild and Four were snoring incessantly into Wolfie’s fur whom had appeared just an hour ago, Warriors was sleeping soundly in his bedroll by the edge of the clearing with all his belongings neatly folded up beside him, and even Time, who was perhaps the most highstrung out of all of them, was starting to nod off from his place by a large pine. 

Wind rubbed at his eyes again, pleading for his mind to settle down and to just let him get some sleep but to no avail.

His whole body jumped as a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder, and he nearly toppled over as he whipped around to see who was behind him.

“Oh, sorry, Wind!” Sky quickly withdrew his hand and began to apologise in an instant, “ I didn’t mean to scare you!”

The Hero of Winds blinked for a second, and then slowly slumped back to his position by the fire. “ It’s okay, Sky. I know you didn’t mean it.”

A few moments of silence passed between the two, and then in a quieter voice, Sky said, “ It’s late, y’know; don’t you want to get some rest?”

“Yeah, I do, but I …” Wind trailed off and bit his lip. Being the youngest of the group, he felt like he needed to uphold some sort of image; he felt that he needed to show the others that he was just as bold and tenacious as all the other Heroes of Courage rather than the little kid he appeared to be. He had to be strong, both physically and mentally, and he was sure that if he just waited a little longer by the campfire all his doubts and fears would just blow away like the smoke in the sky.

But he’s been telling himself that for the past hour, hasn’t he? He’s silently been repeating over and over and over again that ‘everything will be fine, he just needs to wait a little bit longer’ but each minute passes by and his resolve weakens further and further. Maybe he should just confide in Sky; if there’s anyone who will take his problems seriously, it would be him. Wind nervously answered back,

“Um, yeah, I wanna go to sleep but I … I can’t stop thinking.”

He watched anxiously as Sky’s eyebrows pinched together and he tilted his head, “Can’t stop thinking about what?”

“About, uh ...” Time to put that Hero of Courage title to the test. “ Leaving you guys … one day.”

In spite of Wind’s own fears of Sky laughing or poking fun at him, he was relieved to see that the Skyloftian simply regarded him with a look of concern. “ Us leaving? You mean like on errands or things like that?”

“No, I mean -.” Wind gestured vaguely before sighing and lowering his voice, “ I mean one day we’ll find whoever’s behind this whole infected monsters thing and defeat them, right? So if that happens, aren’t we all just gonna go home after?” He brought his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on top, watching as the glowing embers of the campfire began to fade. “ I know it’s selfish but I don’t want us to separate and go back to our own Hyrules because it’ll mean I’ll never get to see you guys again. We might all be hundreds of years apart but you guys are like family to me: Time’s the old cranky dad that likes to keep secrets, Twilight’s like the big brother offering to give me piggyback rides, Wild’s always there to cook a warm meal for us, Legend and Hyrule are always offering to teach me magic, Warriors’s the guy who’s always keeping us safe, Four is always ready to play pranks with me, and you’re always there to listen to me, Sky.” He finished off, and he let his forehead drop to his knees and allowed the fabric to muffle his last thought, “ I don’t want to lose any of you.”

The air was still save for the dying crackles of fire and for a moment, Wind was more than sure that Sky had left him at some point during his rant; but to his surprise, a rustle of fabric sounded from behind him and when he got the courage to peek an eye out, he saw Sky sitting right next to him.

“I’m scared to lose you guys, too,” He began, but his tone seemed to be lighter, more accepting. “ But there’s only so much we can do as Heroes of Courage, y’know? Hylia brought us together here for a reason, and once that reason is done and over with, it’d only make sense for her to send us back home. I have a lot of people waiting for me back home: Mr. Gaepora, Groose, Sun -” He mentioned his Zelda with a big, goofy smile. “- and I’m sure you have a lot waiting for you, too. So as much as I like you guys, I know it’s not going to last forever, because we’re all needed in different places and by different people. Besides, what would Outset Island do without you? I’m sure the whole place is falling apart without their Hero of Winds there.” The Skyloftian joked, and that was enough to earn a small smile from Wind. Once Sky had settled back down, he smiled warmly at the younger hero, “ We have a short time together, I know that, but we shouldn’t let it go to waste by worrying all the time. That day where we all leave for home will come and no matter how strong we think we are, we can’t change the future; so until then, why don’t we stop thinking about it and live in the moment, yeah? Let’s talk about all our adventures and experiences, the people we met and the things we’ve seen, and all the things we learned along the way. We’re Heroes of Courage, but we’re also people with hopes and dreams, so why don’t we share those until the very end?”

Wind took a few seconds to process the words and once he did, he couldn’t help but feel his heart become lighter. Sky was right: their adventure would eventually come to an end, but until then, they should cherish the time they have with each other, and live in the moment as much as they can. With a soft nod, the Hero of Winds smiled, “ Thank you, Sky, for hearing me out.” 

“Of course.” Sky smiled back, and Wind couldn’t be happier: he had picked the right time, at the right place, to talk with the right person about the right things.

<Previous Next>

[dinfeanoriel]

Hollow Point

I promise I’m still alive. This is a little something to make up for not posting in a while! Linked Universe belongs to Linked Universe and Jojo56830! 

~~~~~~~

“You can’t be serious...” 

Time folded his arms, peering down at their youngest member with his single good eye. 

“As serious as can be, Wind.” Was all their leader said. Wind furiously shook his head. 

“I am not going in there.” He refused, stubbornly putting his foot down and crossing his own arms petulantly. 

Warrior hid a smirk behind his gloved hand. Legend was biting on his lower lip to keep from smiling but Sky had no such qualms. Twilight had an eyebrow quirked, directing a faintly amused smile towards Time. 

“I don’t understand what the big deal is, Wind,” Four spoke up, tapping his finger on the handle of his sword as he tried to reason with his friend, “We’ll only be here for a single night-” 

Wind cut him off, flailing his arms wildly in the air,

“Have you looked around you?!” He incredulously demanded to know, gesturing emphatically to their surroundings, “We’re in a creepy town called Hollow Point and you guys want to stay at an inn called Road’s End?” He shook his head stubbornly, “Nuh-uh! No way am I going to step foot in there!” 

Legend rolled his eyes at the young sailor, ticking off on his hand, “You’ve faced moblins, redeads, phantoms, Ganondorf, and various other creepy enemies but you won’t stay the night at an inn because it’s name is Road’s End and the town’s called Hollow Point?” He quirked an eyebrow, unimpressed. Wind nodded seriously. 

“That about sums it up.”

Legend could have face-palmed. 

“You won’t be alone, Wind,” Twilight tried, ”We’ll all be there too.” 

“That doesn’t matter!” 

Time released a quiet sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he tried to think of a way to coax Wind into going inside the inn. It was hard enough dragging him into the town itself- which Time had to admit was somewhat eerie in appearance- but now, Wind utterly refused to move. 

The buildings were a little worn for wear. The paint was fading on almost every single one of them and the wood rotting. A couple had signs hanging loosely from a single cord and others had their propped against the base or planted in the ground. 

An ominous atmosphere did hang thickly o’er it, and Time wouldn’t be surprised if they found a couple of Poes lurking about. 

The golden-armored Hero dropped his hand and tried to reason with Wind, “It is only an inn, Wind-” 

“Only an inn, he says...” Wind started to mumble under his breath. He shot Time a rebellious look when the eldest of the Links coolly raised an eyebrow at him. It didn’t faze Wind. Instead, the blue-clad Hero pointed towards the spooky, wooden inn and declared fervently, “I am not going in there.” 

Time’s good eye slid shut then cracked open and slid towards Twilight. Twilight understood what Time was communicating to him and Wind found he didn’t like that look. 

“Listen, Wind,” Sky piped up, “You know the saying ‘You can’t judge a book by it’s cover,’ right? It applies to this town and the inn too. We don’t know anything about this place.” 

“Still not going.” 

Sky could only shrug to Hyrule. He’d given it a shot. 

“Twilight.” Came Time’s voice and before Wind knew it, he was suddenly being hefted into the air and thrown over Twilight’s shoulder. 

“Hey!” Wind indignantly shouted, fighting to escape the Ordonian’s hold but failing miserably, “Put me down!” 

“You had your chance, Wind,” Warrior told him, following after Time and Twilight as they made their way towards the inn, “But if you aren’t going to go willingly, then we’re going to have to make you.” 

Wind glowered when Warrior ruffled his hair playfully and Legend found himself to be rather impressed by the look. The sailor was normally so upbeat, cheerful, and bright but since they had entered the dreary woods and stumbled across the town, he’d grown a tad bit irritable and uneasy. The uncharacteristic behavior had not gone unnoticed by the group. They’d picked up on it almost instantaneously. 

The young Hero hung limply over Twilight’s shoulder, arms dangling as he inwardly griped to himself about the unfairness of it all. A door creaked as Time opened it and stepped inside, ducking his head to avoid hitting it on the frame. Twilight was second with the other Heroes filing after them. 

Wind shuddered from the chill that greeted them. The air was thick with foreboding. Didn’t anyone else feel it?! 

The Inn was practically empty save for the elderly man sitting behind the clerk desk and a dark-haired woman clearing off tables in the room nearby. This did not strike any of them as odd seeing as it was pretty late. Time estimated it was nearing midnight, maybe even a few minutes past. 

The man behind the desk glanced up at them and Twilight couldn’t help but note the paleness of his skin and his disheveled, grey, hair. The wrinkles around his eyes and mouth were quite noticeable and a bit of an unnerving sight. His eyes were an incredible shade of bright, piercing, blue.  

It was a good thing Wind couldn’t see him otherwise Twilight was sure he would try to book it. 

“What rooms do you have available?” Time asked the man when the clerk inquired as to what he could do for them. The man’s eyes slowly drifted from Time to the other Heroes, landing on the sullen Wind still draped unceremoniously over Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight purposefully ignored his unsettling and all-seeing gaze. 

His wolf senses began to tingle and he subconsciously tightened his hold on Wind. 

He took a discreet look around, trying to seem uninterested, but now Twilight was alerted to the fact that something here was off. 

If his inner beast was stirring restlessly...

He’d speak to Time later. For now, he would keep a close eye on Wind. Perhaps the Sailor sensed or knew something they didn’t. 

The clerk glanced down at the sheet in front of him and listed off in a raspy voice, “We have one room with three beds, a couple of doubles, and a few singles.” 

“We’ll take the one with three beds and three doubles if you please.” Time listed, paying the amount the man said it would cost. Never did the Links take single rooms. It was a precaution they now underwent after their first almost disastrous experience. Although they knew the Links could undoubtedly handle themselves, there was safety in numbers. 

The buddy system was not to be undermined. 

Once done, the Links ascended the creaking and crooked stairs hidden around the corner and to the second floor where there rooms were located. Four proceeded with caution, testing each step first before placing his whole weight on the planks. 

He didn’t like how weak these stairs looked. Every time he would move, he felt the stairs would give way under him. 

Legend whistled lowly to himself as he raked his eyes across the entire expanse of the inn. 

“This place must be very old.” He murmured, experimentally tapping a couple knuckles against the wall. He blinked when the wood crumbled and fell, leaving behind a hole. “Oh.” 

Whoops. 

“Legend!” Hyrule hissed, staring incredulously at the Hero. “Those rooms cost enough! We don’t need damage fees added to price!” 

Legend cast his arms to the side, retorting defensively, “How was I supposed to know that the wood would fall apart if I just tapped it?” 

A fist knocked against Legend’s head before Hyrule could reply and the irked Hero looked to find it was Sky wearing a disapproving frown. 

“Use your head next time.” 

We are guests here. 

Legend scowled, rubbing his head, “That’s funny coming from you,” He grumbled, ambling after Hyrule and Sky as they hastened to catch up with the others, “Your head’s always in the clouds.” 

“I did come from above them, Legend.” 

The barbed words Legend had lingering on the tip of his tongue, ready to fly, withered and died as he paused and took a moment to process Sky’s words. The kind Hero, always so soft-spoken and gentle, was actually capable of sassing him? 

Hyrule was snickering and congratulating Sky in succeeding in rendering Legend momentarily speechless. 

Slowly, a wicked smile grew on Legend’s lips and his eyes gleamed.

“Never knew you had it in you, Sky.” 

Sky glanced back at him and shuddered in foreboding. He was now fearful for his life. That look did not bode well for him. 

“What have I done?” He couldn’t help but wonder, hurrying ahead.   

Legend only cackled. 

It appeared there was more to Sky than met the eye. 

“Alright,” Time addressed the group as they came together at the end of the hall. Sky, Hyrule, and Legend quickly caught up to them in time to hear him say, “We have rooms 31, 33, 37, and 39. 33 is the room with three beds and the rest are doubles.” 

Wind fell into himself. Did their rooms have to be odd numbers? 33 was a bad one too. Growing up on Outset Island, 33 was known to be a cursed number. It was worse because it was a double 3. 3, he remembered people constantly telling him, was a terrible number. Wind knew it was nothing more than superstition and was never told of its origin, but it appeared it’d affected him more than he’d realized. 

Then again, children were very impressionable creatures. They listened and devoured everything they were taught or overheard. 

“Warrior and I will take 37,” Sky said, taking the key from Time. 

“Four, Wind, and I can take 33.” Hyrule suggested, also accepting a key from Time. 

Dread pooled in the pit of Wind’s stomach. Of course. 

Of course he, Four, and Hyrule would take room 33. He cursed his nonexistent luck. The one room he did not want, is the one room he unfortunately gets assigned, courtesy of Hyrule. 

He slumped in defeat. 

“Wild and I can take 31.” Legend added, raising a hand. 

“Then that leaves us with 39.” Time snatched his key in his hand and turned to retire, “I expect you boys to be up and ready by 7:30 tomorrow. No later or no breakfast.” 

“Sure thing, Pops,” Warrior replied with a roll of his eyes and a sly grin. With a quick, two-fingered salute, the Knight had already unlocked his and Sky’s room and ducked inside. 

He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but he was exhausted! A good night’s rest and an actual bed was something he greatly looked forward to. He was sure everyone else felt the same. 

Twilight followed Hyrule and Four to deposit the sulking Wind into the room before he could attempt an escape. 

The blue-clad Hero was eerily silent and didn’t move as he was set in the middle bed. Twilight stifled a sigh and gripped the younger teen’s shoulder, 

“You can always call for Wolfie if you have difficulty sleeping,” He whispered to him. Wind said nothing, slipping from Twilight’s grip and turning onto his side on the bed so his back faced the Heroes. 

Twilight’s brow creased and when he looked to Four and Hyrule, he received two shrugs. They were just as confused as he was by the odd behavior Wind was displaying. 

Twilight gave Wind one last pat before leaving the room. Four and Hyrule spared Wind another look before unloading their weapons and packs, setting them carefully on the floor against the wall. Wind never moved an inch.  

After a long moment of silence and Wind lying stock, Hyrule shifted. It was abnormal not to hear the Sailor’s bright and bubbly voice weaving pirate tales or fascinating stories of the ocean to fill the quiet atmosphere. They were always complete with enthusiastic gestures that reminded them of just how young Wind was. Of how innocent and pure he still remained despite the adventure he’d been whisked on. 

Finally, he could take it no more. It felt wrong for Wind to be sullen and quiet. Hyrule didn’t like it. 

“Hey, Wind?” 

The younger of the three didn’t reply and made no indication of having heard him. 

“Why are you so against being here?” Hyrule asked, undeterred by Wind’s silence. 

Wind rolled onto his back and sat up with a dark frown, “Because it feels wrong.”

After he’d spoken, Wind hugged himself and looked around uneasily. He’d felt this way once before. The atmosphere...the air around him...the feel of it was familiar. He’d felt it before. 

But when? He couldn’t recall. 

Four and Hyrule glanced to one another then the young Hero.  “Wrong?” Four parroted, inclining his head, “How so?” 

Wind pursed his lips together, eyes burning holes into his covers, 

“Something’s off about this place. I feel it.” He shuddered, gaze darting to the window then the door. “Something isn’t right.” 

Four and Hyrule could only shrug. They didn’t feel anything was amiss, but they could tell Wind was definitely uncomfortable and antsy. 

“Well, I say we at least try to get some shut eye tonight,” Four suggested, climbing into his own bed while Hyrule vanquished the lamp light, “That-a-way, if anything does happen, we’ll be rested and fit to face whatever it is.” 

Hyrule hummed tiredly in agreement and curled up in his bed, relishing in the warmth and comfort his blankets provided. He burrowed deeper so only his tousled hair was visible. Four settled on his back, folding his hands on his chest and allowed his eyes to drift shut. 

Creaks and groans were heard momentarily as the Heroes shifted to make themselves comfortable. 

It wasn’t long until both were dead to the world. 

Wind took longer to try and fall asleep. The ominous and apprehensive feeling was only growing. His stomach churned, his heart thumping until the anxiousness he felt grew suffocating. 

He tossed and turned, striving to ignore it, but he’d learned from previous experiences never to doubt his instincts. After failing to succumb to sleep for a couple of hours, Wind sat up with an explosive sigh. 

Neither Four nor Hyrule stirred. 

The Hero slumped his shoulders. He wouldn’t be able to get any rest this night. He already knew it was a hopeless endeavor. Twisting in his bed, Wind sat up and slipped from the covers, his still-booted feet falling flat against the cold wooden floor as he stood. 

He quietly drifted across the room, soft leather quietly tapping against the ground, and noiselessly opened the door. He slipped into the dreary corridor without a sound, checking briefly to ensure he hadn’t woken the Heroes within. 

He hadn’t. 

Satisfied, he closed the door behind him, slowly turning the knob in order not to disturb Four and Hyrule. 

With another sigh, Wind spun on his heel and warily ambled down the hallway. It was dark and grey, the Hero found. The lamps lining the walls had long been extinguished. 

Wind found this incredibly unnerving. His senses screamed for him to leave. To get out of this inn and never return. 

But he couldn’t without the others. 

He turned a corner, giving a sharp gasp of fright when a shadow suddenly detached itself from the wall next to him. 

A very familiarly shaped shadow. 

A hand clutching at his frantically beating heart, Wind bent over, one hand on his knees as he tried to calm his breathing. 

“Wolfie!” He whispered in relief. “Don’t do that! You scared the living daylights out of me!” He lightly scolded. Wolfie nudged Wind’s cheek with his nose. 

An apology. 

Wind weakly grinned, patting Wolfie’s strong shoulder. 

“How did you even get in here?” He wondered aloud, but since Wolfie couldn’t answer him, Wind shrugged, “Guess it doesn’t really matter. I take it you can’t sleep either? Neither can I.” He pursed his lips and started cautiously walking down the corridor again. He kept a very sharp lookout. One never knew what dangers lingered around every corner or hidden in the shadows, “This place gives me the creeps,” He admitted to his animal friend, “Everyone keeps telling me it’s going to be fine and that it’s only for one night...but, Wolfie, something about this place is wrong.” He stressed the word, turning his head to meet Wolfie’s blue eyes. “Can’t you feel it?” 

Wolfie only stared back, intelligent blues boring into his own, searching.  

“Of course...” Wind grumbled, hugging himself. “It’s just me, then.” He sighed in frustration, raking a hand through his sun-bleached hair. “You know what bugs me?” He rhetorically asked aloud, Wolfie falling into step beside him. The great beast’s strong and soothing presence comforted Wind. He felt safer. Protected. Wolfie wouldn’t allow anything to happen. “I’ve felt this way before. Not,” 

He made a face, trying to think of how he wanted to explain himself to his animal friend, 

“Not scared or nervous or anything...just...I have this feeling deep inside. A sense of wrongness. Kind of...a warped reality? No...I’ve felt it once, but I can’t remember when.” He made an aggravated sound. “This is hopeless. I know I should recognize- ow!” 

Wolfie cringed when the young Hero turned and crashed into a mirror on the wall. He made a soft rumbling sound as Wind staggered back and rubbed at his smarting nose. The beast trotted to his side, nudging him with his head concernedly. 

Wind glowered fiercely at the mirror, momentarily ignoring his animal friend.

“How did I manage that?!” He demanded to know, grimacing in pain. His voice was horribly muffled by his hand and the Sailor almost groaned when something wet touched his fingers. 

He’d gotten a nosebleed. 

How fabulous. 

“Ooh, that hurt...” He groaned, hearing Wolfie whine in concern and gently paw at him. 

He scowled darkly and made to turn away to stalk down the hall when he was stopped by something grabbing the back of his tunic. 

He glimpsed past his shoulder to find Wolfie had gripped the end of his tunic with his teeth. 

“What are you doing?” Wind tried to tug his tunic free, but Wolfie wouldn’t let him go. “You’re going to ruin my tunic.” Wind tried, but the wolf refused to release him. Wind’s expression flat-lined. “Seriously, Wolfie? Let my tunic go.” 

A low growl rumbled from the wolf’s throat. 

Wind narrowed his eyes. “Let it go, Wolfie.” 

Another growl. 

“Wolfie!” 

Wind was about to give up when he glanced forward and jumped slightly upon seeing his reflection. “Are you serious?” Wind muttered, his heart thundering in his chest, “I knew the mirror was there and my reflection still got me!” He griped to himself, then froze. He thought back upon what he’d seen. 

His mind backtracked, processed the image, then rewinded again to reprocess it. 

It was his reflection, yes...

But...

Wind looked back up and stared. 

“Wolfie...” 

The wolf let go of his tunic, sidling up to him upon hearing the sudden change in Wind’s tone. He raised his head to find Wind’s spooked gaze fixated on the mirror. 

“Do you see that?!” Wind asked, pointing to the mirror. Wolfie looked, confused when he saw nothing wrong. Only Wind’s reflection. Blue tunic with a white lobster design, belt, pants... Sunny blonde hair, expressive eyes...

Wind turned to give Wolfie a troubled look then back to the mirror with wide eyes, “Wolfie, my reflection!” 

The wolf was utterly baffled. What was wrong with his reflection? He looked to see Wind pointing at his reflection and his reflection doing the same-

Wait a minute...

“Wolfie,” Wind moved closer to the great beast, hands digging into his thick fur as he grew more alarmed, 

“My reflection’s backwards!” 

~~~~~~~

I am SO sorry about the late update! Wi-Fi where I’m at has been down for quite a few days this month and the only way I could post was if I went somewhere with free Wi-Fi available.  But here, have a Wind-centric fic! Little sailor boy needs some love! 

[softstraykidsimagines]

You’re Too Young!

Summary: you’re perfectly able to defend yourself, but one mysterious boy doesn’t seem to believe you. As you try to get to know him, he seems to insist on being your protector. But he’s too young! 

Requested: yes

Pairing: Jeongin x reader can I express how happy I am to be able to write about this bean  (feat.Stray Kids) 

Genre: fluff, violence, gang AU 

Warnings: violence, cursing (but what else is new for that last one lol) 

Word count: 4.829k wOW ok buckle up this my longest one yet!

A/N: I found this quite tricky to write ngl: I didn't really know what to do for a good storyline at first and I also found is super difficult to imagine Jeongin in a gang I mean can you bloody blame me he is a child! BUT I absolutely adored writing it, I’m quite proud of myself for writing over 4k words hehe.. I hope you enjoy it! 

Also, just an FYI, I intended to make the base the warehouse where the boys did their photoshoot for the I am NOT album, which connected to the ‘concrete building’ which is meant to be where they filmed Hellevator. Sorry if it’s confusing ^^’ 

MASTERLIST 

You walked through the dark street, wrapping your leather coat around you even tighter. Why did I have to miss the stupid bus, you thought bitterly. You’d finished school late, after deciding to study for longer. But you’d forgotten to check the time, and so you’d found yourself sprinting to the bus stop, only to see it disappear in the distance, forcing you to trudge home at night, through a part of your home with a dark reputation.

You knew this was a bad idea. You knew it could be dangerous at this hour. But you weren’t afraid.

You kept your keys trapped in your fist, gripping one of them between your middle finger and fourth finger.

As you walked steadily in the direction of your home, you heard movement behind you. Your shoulders tensed, and instinctual fear burst through you, dialing all of your senses up to maximum. You kept your steady pace, refusing to look behind you, letting any sound from the deserted street tell you anything of what surrounded you.

Suddenly you heard rushed steps coming towards you. You spun around, slightly crouched, braced for whatever was going to hit you.

You were shocked when a young boy collided with you, grabbing your jacket sleeve and tugging you with him. You tried to shove him off, but he shook you, his eyes wild.

“We need to hide”, he hissed desperately. “Now”.

You let him pull you along the street, and rush into a side-alley. You both stood there, unmoving, the boy seeming to wait for something. You stayed quiet and waited as well. You waited. And waited. Nothing happened. You pushed the boy away from you, suddenly becoming very defensive. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”, you snarled at him. He backed away from you, his hands held up.

“I’m not doing anything! I just need to hide. I’m helping you too, you know”. You cocked an eyebrow as he continued. “Some guys from a gang are chasing me, they would have hurt you if they saw you as well”.

You scoffed. “A gang? Really? And what, you knew they were a gang, because you’re in one too?”, you finished sarcastically. He looked at you, silent.

You started studying his features, wondering what on earth he was doing out so late at night. He had black, straight hair that stuck up at peculiar angles, as if he’d been thrown through a small hurricane. His pretty but fearful eyes still held a childish shine to them. He can’t be over eighteen years old. He had a small build, but looked lithe and agile, ready to spring away from you if you tried to hurt him. He didn’t look like he could ever be part of a gang.

Suddenly you heard voices from the main road. The two of you flattened yourselves against the wall, as four men sprinted past the alleyway. You held your breath until the voices had faded before carefully making your way out of the tiny passage.

The boy grabbed your shoulder and yanked you back. Before you could protest, he made a sign for you to stay quiet. “There were six men chasing me”, he breathed. “Wait here...”

He tiptoed to the corner of the alley, and slowly peaked out into the open. Before you could even gasp, he was snatched by the collar and thrown out onto the street with a yelp.

From your hiding place, you saw the four men from before join the other two, as they pushed the boy around, jeering and laughing cruelly. Before the kid could even regain any balance, one of the men punched him in the jaw, knocking him back towards another man who hit him just as hard in the temple.

You felt like you wanted to throw up. You couldn’t let them hurt this boy. There was no way you were running away from this.

With an angry cry, you flung yourself at one of the men, and threw a punch at him with all your might. You heard a satisfying smack as the man fell back, yelling. Another came towards you, but was quickly tackled by the young boy, who had used the minor distraction to his advantage. You jumped here and there, staying light in your feet, keeping out of reach of the other men. You’d lost the element of surprise, now there wasn’t a good chance of winning. You were decent at fighting, at best, but simple science showed that you’d never be able to knock these guys out.

You leaped away from one of the males as he tried to rush you, quickly flying forward again to punch him with all of your strength. Suddenly one of them came at you from your right. You saw their arm swing towards you and you felt your cheek light up with pain as his hand collided with you. You stumbled back, only to be kicked in the gut, making you slam onto the ground, winded.

You’re vision went out of focus only for a second, but when you could see again, you saw the boy being held tightly by his neck, and one of the men walking over to you, holding a knife.

Shit... you closed your eyes. At least I die protecting someone. That’s not the worst way to go...

Suddenly, there was a pained yelp and a loud thud in front of you. You opened one eye to see another tall boy standing in front of you. You stared. The man who had fallen had a hand over his face, which was covered in blood. The now bloody knife that he had been holding was now held delicately in the steady hand of your savior. He turned to you and grinned.

“Hey! It looks like you and Jeonginnie need some help, huh?” You kept staring at him, not believing that someone could actually smile over something like this.

Then seven other young boys, all yipping and catcalling, appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the six attackers.

One of them stepped forward, and placed his foot over the knee of the bleeding man. This last one whimpered. “Alright, listen up!”, he said, his voice full of authority. “This one here already looks a little beaten up. Now, we don’t want anything worse to happen, do we?” He put his weight on the foot rested on the man’s knee, making him cry out. It must be broken. “Bad enough you hurt our youngest brother”, the guy continued. “But you also had to go and hit an innocent bystander. Now was that nice?” He slammed his foot onto the knee of the man, who screamed in agony.

“Yeah, who beats up a helpless citizen?”, called a shorter boy, smirking. He may have been small, but he looked imposing and downright testifying next to the taller men.

“We didn’t go after the other kid first”, growled one guy. “We—“ he got cut off from a blow from a blond kid.

“Who asked you?”, the boy yelled, his voice way deeper than you could have expected. “Keep your mouth shut, or Jisung will have to sew it shut for you”. You felt your stomach writhe at the thought.

“What Felix said”, chuckled the leader. “So, are you gonna run on home, or are you gonna ask for broken limbs and holes through your abdomen?” The boys all growled and reached for weapons that you could not see.

The men all shifted until one stepped forward. “Well leave you. You runts aren’t worth the trouble anyway”.

The one called Felix strode forward. “Who are you calling a runt?”, he spat. He got held back by the shorter boy, and stayed put, glaring at the attackers.

Slowly, the men walked out of the circle of your protectors, and in the direction from which they came from. The one who had been holding Jeongin let him go, letting him breathe properly. The leader let the bleeding one go, and they all huddled together. The bleeding man stayed back, hesitating.

“What?”, asked the boy who had first saved you. “You want your knife back?” He twirled it in his hand. “Too bad for you. Finders keepers”.

The man leaped forward, but stopped short as the leader and four other of the older boys pulled a gun out of their back pockets and pointed them directly at the man’s head. Your chest tightened in fear. They can’t kill him! They wouldn't! But their hands were steady as they glared at the man, until he gave up and joined the rest of his group.

Once they had disappeared into the darkness, four boys, including the leader, rushed over to Jeongin.

“Dammit, idiot”, one exclaimed. “If you’re gonna leave the base at night, leave with someone else, and not on your own!” The younger boy pushed him away.

“I’m fine, Woojin Hyung! Get off!”

The leader checked him up and down. “Are you seriously hurt anywhere?”, he asked, his voice anxious, not at all resembling what you’d heard only seconds before. “Is there anything we should treat immediately?”

Again, Jeongin shoved him away. “I said I’m fine!!”, he whined. “Let me go! You wouldn’t do this to each other!”

“Thats because you’re the youngest”, replied a boy with wide eyes, and cute cheeks guess who it is I dare you

The boy who had saved you crouched in front of you. You searched for a gun, but he didn't seem to have one, because he only held the knife as he inspected you.

“Are you alright?”, he asked kindly. You didn’t trust him enough to answer. He smiled softly. “This definitely isn’t the way you thought your night was gonna go, right? If you want, we can take you back to base and treat that cut”. He pointed to your cheek. “I’m Seungmin, by the way”. He grinned cutely, making you wonder if you had just imagined the most ridiculous thing in your entire life. But no, it felt very real.

The leader walked over with Felix. You tried to shuffle away, not wanting to be anywhere near either of them. They both stopped and stared at you in confusion.

“We’re not gonna hurt you”, the leader said gently. “Trust me, we’re not what we just looked like. That’s all for show. Gotta keep up our image, ya know? Felix here is actually a real softie”. He continued in a whisper. “Especially for little Changbin”. He sniggered as Felix protested, pouting. “Oh, and my name’s Chan, by the way”.

He was interrupted by Jeongin who came running to you, looking at you with the same wide eyes, filled with concern. “Are you okay?”, he asked in a near frantic tone. “You shouldn’t have stayed, you should have run!” You noticed Chan giving Seungmin a look as you protested, speaking loudly for the first time since you were rescued.

“Like hell I was gonna run. And leave you to those assholes? Not a chance”.

He looked at you in surprise, his mouth hanging open slightly. Before he could say anything else, the boy with cute cheeks came over. “Is anyone hurt here?”, he asked with a bright tone.

“No, thanks Jisung”, replied Seungmin. “But you might want to take a look at that mark on... umm.....” he turned to you. “We don’t know your name....”

You swallowed. “I’m— I’m y/n”.

Seungmin grinned and turned back to Jisung. “You better look at the mark on y/n’s face. Don’t want an infection”.

Jisung walked up to you, making you shy away again. He gave you a cute smile, his cheeks lifting and making him slightly resemble a squirrel. He looked at your cheek, not trying to reach out, knowing it would spook you. He finally looked back at Chan. “Nothing major, but it's best if I clean it up back at base”.

You were too numb to protest, your head had started aching and fatigue washed over you like a wave. You let Jeongin pull you up and support you as you walked into the shadows.

++++++++++++

After what felt like years of walking, you arrived at an old warehouse that seemed to connect to a six-story high concrete building. There were holes in the roof, and the windows were broken. But the tallest boy ran forward a yanked the rusted doors open, to reveal a huge lit up area with tables, computers and couches spread in a random pattern.

You stared in wonder at the place. A few of the boys laughed at your reaction.

“Nice huh?”, asked the taller boy. “A bit run down, but it’s home. Welcome to District 9, owned by Stray Kids!” He gestured to the entire group proudly. Everyone started lining up, as the tall kid began introducing them.

“You already met Jeonginnie”, he said with a smirk, ruffling the kid’s hair. “Of course we have leader Hyung: Chan. Then your knight in shining armor is Seungmin”. Each of the boys gave you a wide smile, a few waving cutely when their name was mentioned. “Then more elders”. At that, the next three boys retaliated angrily. “Woojin Hyung, Changbin Hyung and Minho Hyung. Then we have our resident medic squirrel, Jisungie, our hot temper, Felix; and then there’s me: I’m Hyunjin. The brains and techie”. He gave you a huge smile, his eyes turning into little crescents.

You nodded silently, not knowing what to say. Then Jisung stepped forward. “I need to check that cut”, he said. “I’ll get it cleaned up, then we can get you something to eat. I bet you’re ready to bite someone’s arm off”. He laughed before disappearing into the shadows in the corner of the warehouse.

Jeongin started walking to you, but Seungmin stopped him. “You need to rest. I’ll take y/n to the infirmary”. The younger boy made a grimace but walked off without a word. You stared after him, confused at his attitude. Shouldn’t he be more shaken up? Then you realized that this must be an occupational hazard. Seungmin gestured for you to follow him.

++++++++++++

You walked silently trough hallways that should have lined the side of the warehouse, but it felt like you had left the real world and were walking through another dimension which stretched out forever. Fatigue made you eyelids heavy, and your feet dragged along the floor and hit the steps of staircases as you resisted the urge to ask Seungmin where you were going and how much longer your trip was going to take.

Finally, you came to a hollow doorway which opened into a room filled with old broken mattresses and tables with medical equipment strewn everywhere.

“Sorry, it doesn’t look very professional”, Seungmin said sheepishly. “We just scrounge for stuff in the trash, if no one wants it. But usually Jisung’s in charge of cleaning everything and organizing it. JISUNG HYUNG”, he yelled. His voice reverberated off the walls and carried all over the ‘base’. You stood still as stone, not knowing what to say to the boy. Seungmin turned back to you. “He should be here in a couple of minutes. In the mean time, try to find somewhere to sit. You can move stuff around if you want, just be careful not to cut yourself”. And with that he turned on his heel and left the way you had come.

You slowly walked farther into the large domed room, trying look up at the tall ceiling, but it was veiled in a dark shadow from only a few feet up from the ground. Everything was hard, cold, exposed concrete, and it closed you in completely, except for the entrance and a square hole on your right that should have been a window.

I guess the warehouse is meant to connect to this tower thing. Judging by how many staircases you climbed, you guessed that you were three to four floors up. No point in trying to climb out of the window. You were going to have to trust this group of kids.

You heard footsteps approaching, and you turned to the doorway. No one was there. You frowned, sure that you’d heard someone.

You yelped as a voice sounded above you.

“That’s not the only entrance, I’m afraid”. Ten feet up the wall opposite the entrance, hidden in darkness, was another hole in the wall. In it stood Jisung, sniggering at your reaction. He calmly walked down a short ramp and jumped down to where you were standing.

“There are passages leading anywhere and everywhere in this place”, he said with a hint of pride in his voice. “You and Seungmin took a rather long and tedious one. It took Chan, Changbin and me so long to carve and map out every tunnel. But it’s worth it. We can go wherever we want here, and quickly too”. He pulled out of his pocket some disinfectant and some tissues. “This might sting a little bit, but I doubt you’re much of a wimp, just please don’t try to punch me”. He applied the solution on your cheek delicately, intent on his job.

Curiosity nagged at you. You wanted to ask so many questions, but you knew you’d only get answers to certain ones. You decided to ask the more obvious questions.

“What is this place? And who are you guys?” You tried to keep a steady voice, but you still felt shaken up by the night’s events, and there still remained a tremor in your tone. Jisung smiled kindly.

“This is our base, our home. We’re a gang known as Stray Kids, hence our introduction earlier. He live in and compete for territories in parts of the city, against other gangs. We give off a pretty terrifying image, but in reality everyone in this group is a softy”. You thought back to how kindly Seungmin had talked to you, and when the older members swarmed around Jeongin to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Jisung seemed to read your mind. “Also, we're in no way gonna hurt you, if you’re concerned about that”, he continued. “We only like scaring other gangs for fun. Threatening innocents, that’s not our style”.

“How long have you guys been out here”, you asked before you could stop yourself.

“Depends. Chan Hyung has been here the longest. Then Changbin Hyung and I came along. We were the first three. We actually planned on calling ourselves 3RACHA until Woojin, Seungmin, Minho and Hyunjin came later. Then Felix, then Jeongin. Our little Maknae”. He seemed deep in thought. “I know he doesn’t look like the type to want to be part of a gang, but he insists on staying with us. We’re a family. He’s always trying to prove himself, but I don’t think he’ll stop trying until he gets his own gun”.

You winced at the thought of the boy getting such a dangerous weapon.

“Don’t worry, no one under eighteen in this gang is allowed a firearm”, Jisung reassured you. “Hyunjin was the last person to get one. I’m next; then Felix, even though it makes me nervous to think of that trigger happy idiot with a firearm; then Seungmin will get one; and then Jeongin next year”. You nodded slowly. Jisung gave you a cheeky grin.

“You know, I think Jeonginnie was trying to be very impressive tonight”, he stated. “I think he might have a crush on you”. You were going to retaliate, but he stopped you before you could get any words out. “I’m just making an observation! Now it’s up to you to decide if you like him”.

“Hyung!”, came the Maknae’s voice from the hallway. Soon Jeongin walked in, furrowing his eyebrows at how close Jisung was to you. “I’m here to give y/n a tour, before dinner”.

Jisung nodded and put away the disinfectant. “It was nice meeting you, y/n. I hope we can see each other again soon”. Then he leaped up, grabbing the ramp from where he’d come, he hoisted himself up, and disappeared into the dark passageway from where he’d come.

Jeongin shuffled his feet. "Umm... should we go?"

You felt heat rising in your cheeks, but you kept a blank face. "Sure. What parts of your base did you want to show me?"

+++++++++++

You both trudged through dark hallway after dark hallway, Jeongin showing you differently rooms which all held a special function, either for the entire team, or for certain individuals. You both stayed relatively quiet, only speaking when the boy gave you an explanation over a room, or when you had basic questions. After a while you started wondering about what would happen when this unreal night came to an end. You knew Jisung had reassured you, but could you really trust him?

Before you could stop yourself, the question slipped out in a frightened tone.

"What are you going to do with me at the end of this?" Jeongin glanced at you. "I mean... Am I going to have to stay here forever because I know about you? Do I have to take a vow of silence to keep your secret? Are you... Are you going to....?" You didn't even want to end the sentence. Are you going to kill me?

Jeongin seemed to realise what you were implying, and gasped, his eyes filled with horror. "You think we would hurt you?", he asked, bewildered. He shook his head. "Even if that's what the entire group voted, even if that was part of our rules, I wouldn't let them hurt you. Hell, I would fight every single one of my teammates to keep you safe, do you understand?"

You gave a small and quick nod, shocked at the boy's outburst. He also seemed to realise what he'd said, and he looked down at his feet before stuttering: "I-- I mean that I couldn't let my friend's hurt a-- an innocent", he said quietly. "That's against my morals... And.... I wouldn't want my teammates become murderers for such a useless reason..."

You swallowed hard, glad that you were in the shadow, so that he couldn't see you turning completely red. You thought of saying something, but your mind became black. Jeongin suddenly spoke, in a voice that felt a little too happy.

"I think I smell Chan's kimchi", he said, sniffing the air. "Come on, I'm sure you're dying to eat".

+++++++++++

You sat at the dented and bent table, quietly eating the hot kimchi, studying the wooden surface. There were thin lines cut into the wood, and you saw even deeper holes here and there. This table must have been stabbed repeatedly. You forced yourself not to think too much about why the table could be in such poor condition.

Jeongin sat at the end of the table on your left, also having his share of food. To your right, across from Jeongn, sat Chan and Minho, who was inspecting and polishing his gun until it shone brightly. You tried to avoid their eyes as you ate, not wanting to look at the dangerous firearm just a few feet away from you. Suddenly, Minho threw the gun down with a loud clang, making you flinch so hard, you nearly spilled your food as you leaped away from the table.

Minho have you a look. "Seriously? You still don't trust us?" He sounded irritated. "After we saved your ass, brought you to a safe place, healed you and gave you food? At least try to trust Jeongin, otherwise I think he'll never want to talk to us again for scaring you".

Jeongin slammed his hands onto the table and glared at the older boy. "Don't talk to y/n like that", he snarled. "Can you seriously blame them for being terrified? Not even two hours ago the two of us were nearly killed. That might be an everyday danger for me, but that's not a normal thing for a regular person!" He raised his voice, making Minho's eyes widen in surprise.

You winced away from his yell, holding back years. This was too much. You had nearly been killed, you were sitting in a huge abandoned building surrounded by nine dangerous boys who all carried at least a knife each, and some had guns ready to shoot at anyone who stepped out of line. All you wanted was to end this nightmare. Jeongin noticed you holding in a sob, and gently rested a hand on your shoulder.

"I'm sorry", he told you quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled. The last thing I want for you is to be scared". You nodded, trying to silently treasure him that you were okay. Chan groaned mockingly.

“Oh my Goooooood”, he laughed. “Would you two just date already? It's doing my head in watching this cat and mouse game. You’re both cute, you're both made for each other, we get it; now confess”. 

You stared at Chan, then looked at Jeongin. He had his head bent down, seeming to find new interest in the sand-covered stone ground. This isn't real. This can't be real. Your head was spinning. You didn't know what to do, so the only thing you felt made sense to do was jump up from your seat, excuse yourself, and dash or of the room. 

++++++++++

You didn't know where you were going, you didn't care. You just wanted to get as far away from those people as possible. 

You nearly tripped in the darkness of the corridors, but you kept speeding up, sure that you could hear a voice calling you, chasing you. 

Suddenly, the floor disappeared from under your feet. You screamed as you felt yourself plummet into the darkness. Suddenly a hand grabbed you firmly and halted your fall. You swung lightly in your jacket, like a cat being held by its scruff. You twisted around to look at who had caught you, letting out a strangled but relieved cry at the site of Jeongin. He grunted as he slowly pulled you up, grimacing as his arms scraped against rough stone. You managed to cling onto the end of the building, pulling yourself up with his help, and you both finally collapsed onto the floor, huffing from the effort. 

After you had both regained your breath, Jeongin glared at you. “Did you really think you wouldn't hurt yourself if you didn't know where you were going?” He shook his head. “I can't believe you nearly just fell out of a window...” 

You looked out at where you were sitting, and noticed that the hole in the wall actually led to outside. In the distance, past more recked buildings you could see a few flickering street lamps and hear an even more distant sound of car horns from people driving late at night. It all seemed like it was worlds away. 

You started laughing, quietly at first, then louder, a childish cackle. I must be going nuts. You felt hysteria clouding your mind, but you couldn't care less. You'd survived an attack from a gang, you'd nearly just fallen out of a window! This was quite a night. Jeongin was staring at you as if he’s never seen you before in his life.

“I'm sorry I ran away like that”, you hiccuped. “I know I'm not aware of all of the paths here... Maybe you could show me more of your home so that I could memorize them”. You had no idea where your sudden burst of confidence had come from; the dangerous night must have given you a temporary high, making you invincible to fear. 

Jeongin then chuckled. “If you keep getting yourself into trouble like this, I might have to, so that I know you have somewhere to hide to stay away from danger. Are you always this unlucky?” 

You giggled again. “Unlucky is my middle name, pal. You’re gonna have to protect me”. 

“Maybe I'll meet you every night to make sure you don't get yourself hurt”, Jeongin offered, amused. 

“And we could go somewhere to eat so that no one thinks it's suspicious”, you laughed even more. You were definitely losing it. Jeongin became silent. “So... Is it a date?” 

You stopped laughing and felt blood rise to your face again. “Ummm...” the boy looked away. “Yes. It's a date”. 

He looked at you with surprised and bright eyes. “Really? Like really really?” He sounded like a child who had just gotten a gift. 

“Really really”, you smiled. 

He beamed at you. “Then I can always protect you!” 

You lightly hit his shoulder. “No way! Your too young! What if you taught me to defend myself? Basic kickboxing? How to handle and throw a knife?” 

Jeongin yelped. “Do you really think I would let you anywhere near a knife?!” 

You both laughed again.

You talked until it started getting light out. When you left, the boys all had pouts on their faces, and immediately invited you back anytime you wanted. As you walked home in the growing daylight, you thought about what had happened tonight. 

This is no normal relationship, you thought. 

Then you shrugged, smiling to yourself. 

But who said abnormal was bad, anyway? 

[BONUS]

“Hey, y/n!”, Jisung called as you strolled through the warehouse casually. “Have you eaten today?” 

You were about to answer when a dark voice sounded from a few floors up: “That’s my line, Hyung”. You looked up to see Jeongin, smiling childishly at the creepy voice he’d made. He leapt from the platform, jumped down levels of old metal trash, and ran to you, hugging you quickly. “I’m glad you came, I’ve been feeling lonely”. He stuck out his bottom lip. Since when does he act cute? 

“He’s also been insufferable”, said Jisung, rolling his eyes as he walked off. Neither of you payed attention to him as you both made your way to one of the passageways. 

“Hi, y/n”, came the greeting of Woojin. “Do you have time for that kickboxing lesson you mentioned?” 

Jeongin steered you away, glaring at the older boy. “Y/n definitely has no time, I’m afraid”. 

Seungmin crossed paths with you in the hall. “Hey, y/n! You wanna learn how to throw some knives today, like you asked?” 

Jeongin huffed. “Why is everyone trying to stea my date?!” He made a face, making you laugh. 

“You’re way to protective”, you said. 

“No, I’m being responsible”, he replied, giggling as well. 

[mintzias]

i don’t think a real introduction post is necessary for me, but i’m still gonna yeet my new character your way. relatively new, beau has been a wip for a while but i never wanted to bring him anywhere for some reason. didn’t feel right before but now i’m gonna try.

anyway, since he’s been under works for a while i actually have a proper info sheet about him saved, so i’m just gonna tweak it a bit and post it under a readmore for anyone who might be interested! he’s not as infuriating as james thank god, so there might be some more connections to me made.

and this is a way for me to feed my obsession with supercars lmao.

tw car accident, death, violence, long post.

born in london to an american mother and english father. spent the first two years of his life in england, being tended to by countless nannies his parents eventually found useless and hired a new one. luckily for beau being so young, he hardly felt the impact of the familiar faces always changing.

on his third year of life he moved to america when his parents were offered a new businesss proposition that required them to be on site most of the time. he lived a posh life in manhattan and was graced with the finest kindergarten while the chaos with the nannies kept on going. not too academically inclined even as a youth, he spent most his time causing trouble and running around like a rascal he still is. this did help him make friends and he was a more physical kid than mental, so he fell easily into the stereotypical boy group.

he was twelve (and his new baby brother was four) when another move came upon them and the family rented out their home and packed their bags. tokyo was calling them for the future and beau was grumpy as hell that he had to leave behind all his friends, and everything he had learned to know just because his parents found a new project to take part in.

they moved, and beau had a hard time adjusting to new culture and new language. he became reclusive and very emo about the injustice his parents made him go through, and it took him close to three years to get his life relatively normal again. he went to school and learned the ways of his new hometown, and reluctantly made friends with his classmates. 

things started to go well and his parents’ project calmed down enough for them to spend more time as a family and not just two businesspeople with a child. things were normal for them, beau continued his academics and his role as an older brother, which would become twice as difficult when his youngest brother was born.

a simple life went by quickly and the next memorable moment was when beau enrolled in university. he wanted to attend a vocational school but his parents scolded him for such menial ideas and told him to keep up his image by getting himself a business degree. he begrudgingly agreed just to please his parents, and with a promise that he would be taking over the million-dollar business.

most of his high school friends parted ways when he started his new studies, but he had a safety new of four when he first stepped into his adulthood, and the harder studies he knew he wouldn’t be able to finish. it was hell, and even if beau tried his hardest, he barely got acceptable grades and was close to flunking. that’s when he met ayame.

romantic meeting or not, she started tutoring him first and eventually they fell in love. they began dating at 19, and it looked like it would last forever. his parents approved of her, and her parents approved of him even with his insecurity about being a foreigner and a whiny white boy.

she was a classic girl-next-door until she dared to show her rebellious side. it took her a year to gather the courage to bring him along to her nightly escapades, and that’s how beau was introduced to street racing. it was a tight community, the underbelly of the tokyo he had learned to know and the racers he had only heard rumors about. ayame was right at home with the gangs and introduced him to them. it became a frequent thing they did together, and ayame taught him their ways, how to race like a pro. it was an adrenaline spike and beau became addicted to it, spending more and more time with the crew while his academics plunged below the point where they could’ve still be saved.

it didn’t take him long to drop out and focus his entire attentions to the races. he never told his parents about his failure as a student, but they didn’t have time to ask him either. he kept his illegal activities away from the eyes of his family and never pulled them into the dangerous lifestyle he was leading.

being acquainted with the wrong side of the law helped beau fake his graduation as well, the fear of his parents knowing of his incompetence fresh on his mind. after the papers were presented, he told them he’d found a job and would be moving in with his girlfriend for better access to the workplace. they agreed and wished him well, and that’s when he became his own man.

he did indeed live with ayame, and they were happily together for four years before he popped the question and they got engaged. it was the happiest time of his life, and the engagement held for a year forward before they would be tragically torn away from each other. 

they partook in a race as a celebration, ayame with her own car and beau with the one he had won some time before. it was a high-stakes race, every car on the line, winner takes all sort of situation. the couple was confident of their chances to walk away with three new supercars, the confidence coming from countless of races won in the past.

the winding roads were coming to an end and beau held his first place while his soon-to-be wife was second. it seemed like a clear win for them until the third placer abandoned the rules set for the race and rammed his car against ayame’s, causing her to lose control in the speed. her wheel hit the curb and spun out, crashing violently, spinning on the asphalt for several meters before coming to a stop.

there was not even a thought spared for the possible win when beau caught what happened through the rearview mirror. the two others that were in last place were the next ones to stop by ayame’s wreckage, and beau yelled at them to help him get her out of the car. when her body finally laid in his arms, she was barely breathing. he tried everything he could to get her to wake up and come back to him, but despite his best efforts, she drew her final breath.

beau was crushed. his entire life fell into pieces when he held his wife for the last time. he was forcefully pulled away from her when the ambulance and police were closing in and his fellow racers tried their best to keep him from going into a rage when he arrived at the finish line. reasoning with him was impossible and his keys were confiscated when he tried to get back to her, his wife. when there was no way to get out, he lashed out at the one that ran her off the road, beating him into a bloody mess. he was restrained before he could take it too far, but the still fought the men holding him back.

he informed his parents, and mourned with her family. the support of her parents helped him stay in line and not lash out too violently even if no day went past that he would cry his eyes out and hit the walls. as much as her accident haunted him, he didn’t withdraw from the races and became determined to get revenge on the man that caused her death. 

avenging her was nothing short of wrathful. on the same road, the same time of the day, same conditions. he abandoned the set rules and swerved full-body against his car when passing him, sending the man into an uncontrollable spin. the wreck wasn’t as bad and the man survived, but beau didn’t stop to help him. he didn’t finish the race and went home, sent a message to his friends and family telling them he was moving back to america. 

trying to adjust back to the american life was hard and without a proper education he didn’t get a job that could support him. as much as he wanted to give up his career in racing, he weaseled his way back into similar crews and got his debut on the streets. it was no different from what he did in tokyo and the competition was the same, still falling behind him after the starting line. he built his reputation from ground up until his name was just a hushed whisper during the meets, their glances full of fearful respect. he left everything behind in tokyo and tries to live his life to the fullest. death doesn’t deal with warnings, a motto to live by.

FUN FACTS!

his everyday car is a 2017 McLaren 570S, while his main racing car is a 2002 mazda rx-7 spirit.

races independently but has claimed a crew for himself nonetheless ( forest hill riders | f.h.r )

owns a private garage where he stores the best cars he has won.

out of sentimentality, the license plate of his day to day car is ‘AYAME’.

he still tells his parents he works in business that pays extremely well. sound weird to say “yeah i make a couple of mil for driving and selling illegal cars”.

he doesn’t admit that he flexes his cars but he absolutely flexes his cars.

careless af with his money. hears someone say “i want that” and he’ll step up and buy it.

takes his work very seriously and is very stoic when it comes to preparing for a race.

fluent in japanese and english, and can put on a british accent like no ones business.

refuses to drive white cars. hates them in fact. does not like white cars.

bought a 1992 honda nsx and restored it to the same condition as ayame’s car was before the crash, down to the smallest imperfection and craziest mods. it’s not in use, but has stood in the garage for nine years.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

another racer, a type of frenemy situation where the competition is playful yet serious. they would have known for at least ten years and hang around each other during meets, but have a wedge between friendship due to different crew affiliation.

either one of his brothers (born 1993 and 1995) who don’t know about his lawless lifestyle but have made something of themselves. or not. i haven’t put much thought into them, just that beau was fiercely protective of them before leaving tokyo. all they know is that he makes money, has a job, and that he’s still shaken from the accident years ago but kept to himself.

any other connections are welcomed too! i’m bad at coming up with these lmao. if you got this far, thanks! 

[airyravenmaid]

Bad Bath & Beyond

This was the other little snippet/blurb I wanted to put up. I... don’t know what chapter it takes place in XV, but I know it’s still fairly early on. I figured the Lucers needed a “bathhouse episode” (my words), so I took the ideas that were thrown out and made a full thing of it. And though I don’t go to P5 School™, I did take a little inspiration from that bathhouse trip (at least here, we have a Robbie Daymond-voiced character who isn’t a deceitful little bastard; looking at you, Akechi 3:< 💢).

And apparently, a certain trope I used towards the end with the part that’s slight Lightis is a really popular one on Twitter? I literally had no clue of how much people ate it up until my sister told me; I only put it in because I got the idea of how to end the thing before bed. So... I guess I did something right XD. I hope you guys can agree, and have as much fun reading it as I did writing it for you lovely ones out there! 💘

No hunt in any sort of world was a clean job. So much as the most minor of beasts and daemons had their share of messes to deal with, everyone (un)lucky enough to face any quickly figured that out. There was always scratches, cuts, bruises, roughing around in the dirt where the creatures lied. Whatever one was encountered, you’d never escape the way you faced them.

That said, of course, going out into the woods in the dead of night to hunt down a daemonic Jumbo Flan bent solely on crushing any opponents to death was a great way to make the mess of a lifetime. One simple warp strike from Noctis quickly made this abundantly clear, chunks of blue ooze flying out and staining his Engine Blade and parts of his body.

“Just what I needed tonight,” Noctis sighed unhappily, at the last minute deflecting another strike from the gelatinous daemon’s arm extension. “A little help here?”

“Happy to oblige,” Ignis responded, using a fire-based Enhancement to power Noctis up a lot better.

“I owe ya, Specs.” Noctis ran to dodge another crushing jump from the Jumbo Flan, also wanting to find a better angle to strike from. “How’re you guys holding up?”

“Not much differently from you over there!” Gladio grunted, using a Dawnhammer strike down upon the creature’s head. He pulled out his greatsword, not caring that it was covered in a blue substance and continuing to move and strike it. “‘Case you haven’t noticed, this thing ain’t dead yet!”

“I think it’s close to being on its last legs, at least!” Prompto interjected, firing his pistol ammo repeatedly at the target. “Lightning, you doing alright?”

“About as good as it’s gonna get!” Lightning shouted back, using her special Blitz technique to get a wider range of damage with her gunblade’s sword mode. “No one’s resting until this thing’s down!”

“Goes without saying, new girl!” Gladio exclaimed, seeing the Jumbo Flan about to attack Noctis and prevented by doing so by the King’s Shield successfully guarding him from the gooey arm being slammed down on either of them. “I’ve got your back, Noct! But, don’t forget to watch it at the same time!”

“Will do!” Noctis took out a flask containing magic he knew would be able to burn and shock the Jumbo Flan out of existence, silently thanking Ignis’ aid from earlier while it still had time to last him. “This oughta do the trick—!”

Before he had the chance to use it, the daemon knocked it clean from his hands in one swipe. Noctis picked himself up from falling on the ground as soon as it happened, but was too late to grab his flask as it soared across the open and landed in Lightning’s grasp. It thankfully hadn’t gone off on contact, but the woman who caught it only had a fairly basic idea on such a foreign type of magic use involving it. Unknown caution wasn’t the only thing Lightning wound up throwing to the wind. She immediately tossed the dualcasting flask right at the enemy with precision that could give Prompto himself a run for his money, but in doing so burned and near-electrocuted a little more than the Jumbo Flan they were all hunting.

Within agonizing seconds, the intense flames followed by unforgiving shockwaves did their damage to the close-in-proximity team. It’d successfully vanquished the daemon they’d been hunting, but everyone found themselves either screaming in pain or frenzying from aftershocks trying to get rid of the consequences dealt to them. Afterwards, the only remnants of the double spell to name were ruined hair and black char marks coating flesh and clothes alike.

“...That settles that,” Lightning coughed, patting the flames away from singed pink locks. She noticed the Jumbo Flan dissolved into a dark ooze and disappear rather than stay only in an expected form of a blue puddle. “Huh. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a flan like that before.”

“Just like I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone that reckless playing with fire,” Noctis scolded, the last small flame dying out and leaving a ruined patch on his sleeve. “You realize we could have all died there, right, Lightning?”

“Would you rather I didn’t throw it and risk us getting our heads served to us fresh on a platter, Your Highness? Be grateful we even beat it.”

“I’m not saying I’m not, but what I am saying is to aim more for the daemon, and less for the ones trying to beat it.”

“Maybe if you stuck to a more practical way of using Fire and Thunder, then this wouldn’t be a problem. What I don’t get is how it even affected us.” Lightning personally was more used to outright conjuring her magic from herself for ease reasons back when she first had to fight to live. Whoever came up with the idea to stuff it all into a little black orb of confusion that no longer only harmed its target really should have thought things through better, she annoyedly believed.

“Weird. It’s almost like fire is hot to touch and electricity shocks us. I know, I’m as surprised as you are.” Noctis was being entirely sarcastic, something which was clear Lightning couldn’t have cared less for anyways.

“Alright, break it up, kids,” Gladio intervened, forcing the prince and former soldier to end their little argument. “The thing’s dead, so get your asses over it and move on.”

“For once, I’m with Gladio here,” Prompto winced, picking off a dried goo slab off his temple. “I don’t know if you guys could say the same, but I could use me a well-earned bath.”

“It would be best to check into the nearest inn for the night while we clean ourselves up,” Ignis agreed, cleaning off any mess from his stained lenses. “Here’s to hoping we can find one that’s affordable, but in equally high quality.”

“So much for a nice campout under the stars,” Gladio sighed, letting out a disappointed scoff. “We’re a little more well-done than anyone’d like, but a little ooze never hurt anybody.”

“It’s only for one night’s stay, Gladio. We’ll bathe, get a good night’s rest, then be well on our way come morning.”

“Assuming these two don’t kill each other by then.” Gladio peeked over at Lightning picking up the empty flask from the ground, tossing it back to an eye-rolling Noctis who otherwise thanked her for the gesture before going to ignore her as best as he could again. “I seriously don’t get what those two’s problem is with each other. And it’s a lot more besides a little magic hiccup.”

“Who’s to say? All we can do is hope Noct and Lightning come around enough eventually and don’t surpass basic civility as mandatory teammates.”

“In the meantime, let’s hit the road!” Prompto chirped, pointing towards the Regalia’s parking spot. “I heard near here, there’s a new bathhouse with my name on it! Come on? What are we waiting for?”

Both at and pardoning Prompto’s hasty insistence, the weary quintet made their return to the car, everyone getting seated and taking off towards where they knew a good enough inn was without going too far. Noctis took the wheel in getting everyone there, allowing him to focus more on the road and cool off somewhat from the events of what’d just went down. They eventually made it to the inn after a somewhat lengthy drive, finding themselves at the nearby area just a little outside of Leide where they wanted to be.

Checking in had been a tad awkward when it’s five people covered in blue daemon goop also finely charred, but using Ignis’ expert negotiation skills (plus a bit of flirting from Gladio may have helped, but that was well after the fact even though the front desk person was thoroughly won over) helped everyone settle into their stay. The first order of business was getting themselves cleaned up after the messy job they’d just finished taking up. Whatever they needed to deal with could wait until early in the morning; hygiene and duty were in no way to be pitted against each other competitively.

“I’ll be seeing you four after I’m done,” Lightning told them, now wearing only a white towel around her body and a smaller one for her head. “You said we’re all meeting together in the sauna, right?”

“That would be correct,” Ignis answered, confirming what was agreed on before. “Do take as much time as you need getting yourself properly washed up, Lightning. It is the reason we all came here.”

“Kind of a shame the five of us can’t bathe and get to know you more, but it’s probably for the best,” Prompto sighed, disappointed at having to wait to speak more with Lightning.

“After the day we’ve all had, the lady at least deserves her privacy,” Gladio pointed out, playfully slapping Prompto on the back and getting a yelp from the group’s youngest. “‘Sides, nothing wrong with being stuck with your good friend Gladio, huh?”

“Eeyup. Nothing beats that, Big Guy.” Prompto saw Noctis already make his way into the bathhouse with Ignis after having said nothing to their newest member, frowning at his slight aversion to her. “So, we’ll see you on the other side, Lightning! Don’t wait up now!”

“Just— ‘Light’ is fine,” Lightning insisted before Prompto left with Gladio, the blond’s pleased thumbs up telling her the words were heard. She gave an almost quizzical glance back, turning and leaving for the women’s bath seconds following.

Inside of the men’s half of the divided bathhouse, the four bare Lucians were much more relaxed now that they were able to wash themselves free of marks and gunk that built up from the relentless forces of combat. The heated temperatures of the soothing water all four of them sat in aided in making for a peaceful environment, even with Prompto snaking around in it like a hungry shark making dramatic music.

“Dude,” Noctis cut in, knowing fully well what his best friend intended to do. Again, did the so-called music continue followed by another pause. “Prompto.” It continued, this time increasing in speed and volume as the prince’s tone went ignored. “Dude, come on! It’s late, of all the times—!”

“DUN-UUUH!” Prompto interjected, half-leaping at Noctis laughing after he stopped making dramatic music. The Insomnian heir only seemed mildly vexed, but found himself chuckling alongside his friend while playfully shoving him off. “Element of surprise, Noct!”

“Not really much of a ‘surprise’ when you’re humming man-eating shark music.” A bit of water went puckishly slapped at Prompto by Noctis as revenge for jumping at him, the former trying to retaliate fruitlessly while the latter only shielded himself. “Come on, knock it off!”

“Need I remind you both that this is a public bathhouse and not a pool?” Ignis interrupted, not needing his laid down glasses to be able to tell the two youngest boys’ tomfoolery when he sensed it. “It’d be an utter shame to get ourselves kicked out before the night comes close to its end.”

“Lighten up, Specs, we’re getting clean,” Noctis reassured him, fixing the towel on his head after it astoundingly survived Prompto’s playful attack. “There’s no wrong way to bathe, is there?”

“You’d be quite surprised on that one, Noct. Especially considering what plenty of people have done in public bathhouses.”

“It’s just us four, so what could go wrong?” Prompto asked rhetorically, catching himself on the exact accuracy of the sentence. “Well, five, counting our newest addition. Speaking of which.” He leaned over to the wall, knowing the women’s bath was on the other side and hoping nobody else was there and caused him to greatly embarrass himself. “How are you doing on the other side, new girl?! Everything okay?”

“She can’t hear you, doofus; the dividing wall’s solid concrete,” Gladio told him, knocking on the hardened barrier. “And I’m sure Light’s fine. She’s just as tough as the rest of us.” He glanced once at Prompto and Noctis, cockily leaning his back against the tub rim with his arms behind his head. “Well, half of us, anyways.”

“Why, I never!” Prompto let out a scoff, slipping into an almost Cindy-like accent at the fake offense before resuming his normal tone. “All I wanna know is whether or not she’s, like… what’s the word? ‘Feeling it’! With us, that is.”

“Right now, I’m feeling a bit of a warm spot,” Ignis pointed out, noticing a sudden increase in temperature. “...Actually, make that a very warm spot.”

“Is someone messing with the pipes?” Noctis wondered, also detecting a change.

“Who knows? I like it!” Gladio boasted, leaning against the faucet shrugging. “Nothing says ‘nice bath’ like testing the hot water limits.”

“Yeah, for a lobster,” Prompto snorted, striding over to Noctis’ side thinking of something. “So, Noct! While we’re kinda still on the topic, what do you think?”

“Of?” Noctis questioned, rubbing away a smudge planted on his small bicep.

“Of Light! You know, as a girl~.” Prompto’s slightly suggestive tone and wiggling of damp yellow brows immediately let Noctis know what kind of question it was, the prince internally scoffing at the notion.

“She certainly is one, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“No, no! You know what I mean! Gimme a real answer, dude. And be honest!”

“Persistent tonight, aren’t we, Prompto? Fine…” Noctis thought a little bit on the question, scrounging for whatever scarce responses he could tell his best friend. He didn’t feel anything in particular, but none of it was too negative to instill anything strong in that way either. “Well, Lightning… is an okay enough teammate and really shows her work. I can see why Cor picked her to come with us, but I don’t know what else you want me to say about her.”

“Maybe more on the fact of just how strong she is? How smart she is? The fact that she also looks like an absolute pink goddess?!” Now Prompto found himself getting a bit too carried away about what he knew of Lightning, snapping back enough to focus on the interrogation at hand. “Things like that!”

“Well, she’s strong and pretty smart when not mishandling a little magic flask. I’ll give her those at least, but she’s here to do her job until we reach Altissia, and that’s that.” Noctis could see the disappointed feeling in Prompto’s eyes, feeling a little bad but knowing there was nothing he could do to help it. “Sorry, dude, that’s all I really care to say about her. End of story.”

Prompto nudged Noctis with a bare elbow, prodding more into a fruitful possibility. “Then make room for the epilogue and give the lady a chance! For all you know, you and Light might have plenty in common if you got to know her some!”

“Why is it I seriously doubt that?”

“Because you’re not trying hard enough?”

“Yeah, well, right now I’m trying to have myself a nice bath. So, if you don’t mind, I’ll do just that tonight…” Noctis sank a little more into the water, the towel on his head sitting as idly as he was sighing.

Prompto shrugged, giving up on it for the time being since he’d only be putting himself in a time loop of vague indifference. “Alright, dude. You do you, and I’ll do me—” He tried sinking into the water like his best friend, only to shoot up in pain when he realized the water exceeded its comfort zone into nigh-boiling temperatures. “—Trying not to get cooked like a lobster! Is that you doing that, Big Guy?!”

“Could be,” Gladio snickered, blatantly turning the faucet to add more scalding water to the tub. “Can’t take the heat, get out of the bath. Just like the old saying goes.”

“Then my old saying goes ‘turn down the damn water before we get boiled alive taking a bath’!” Noctis butted in, joining Prompto in fighting for control over the faucet, made difficult by Gladio’s strength easily keeping them away despite their persistent struggle. “Come on! You’re making it way too hot!”

“What’s that? ‘Make it way too hot’? If you say so, Princess!” Knowing full well Noctis said the exact opposite, Gladio kept at cranking the heat up to the younger two’s discomfort.

Ignis for the most part endured the other three’s squabble with a grain of salt, only to opt for getting up and concluding his bath early when the water levels got too scalding even for him. Fixing his glasses over his eyes again, he mentally prayed to any Astral willing to comply that the bath would survive the night, nevermind his dear brothers-in-arms causing a scene. Contrary to what Gladio believed earlier, on the other side in the otherwise vacant women’s bath was Lightning, who’d barely finished cleaning her body when she found herself grimacing at the noise she could hear loud enough from her spot in the toasty water. Rolling her eyes, the physically 21-year old wrung out the dampness in her pink hair and rinsed off her body suds despite the commotion.

“Those guys are pretty damn rowdy, that’s for sure,” Lightning scoffed, sinking a little into the water trying to relax to her best ability. “Leave it to them to make even a bathhouse trip feeling long as Hell.”

Nobody thankfully got themselves banned from using the public bath in anymore possible future stays at the inn, but everyone agreed it was best to move onto the sauna as soon as possible. Unlike the bathhouse and showers, it was co-ed and enjoyable for all five of them altogether. Ignis had been waiting patiently for everyone else to finish so as to avoid overheating by himself in the room (how the other three boys were still willing to expose themselves to extra heat after Gladio nearly cooked them alive was honestly beyond him), but nonetheless was the first one in. Following him were the remaining three hailing from Lucis taking their seats in towels only, Lightning joining them last and taking a seat between Noctis and Prompto. The latter was more than eager on the matter, but the former only sighed apathetically.

“What? Does ‘His Highness’ have a problem with me sitting here?” Lightning asked in a scoff, giving Noctis her traditional flinty look.

“Nah,” Noctis responded without lying. “Do what you want; I’m no one to stop you.”

“Good to hear, because I have no plans on moving.”

“Cool. Just sit there and let us both sweat in peace.”

Prompto had to hand it to Noctis in some way. Though he knew the prince not to be the type to feel any physical concern towards the opposite sex too easily (unless it was a certain Tenebraen Oracle he’d been close to for a good decade), he for one felt his stomach doing leaps for gold just by sitting next to such a fine, almost ethereally beautiful young woman in only her towel. It was more out of basic nervousness than anything too extreme, but no one was leaving the sauna after only a few short seconds of sitting, so he was gonna make do while the time was ripe. Clearing his throat, he earned himself a raised eyebrow from Lightning, sheepishly picking up from it so as not to look like a weirdo to the new girl and make the moment good.

“So! Lightning— I mean, Light! You, uhh, feeling it?” was what came out of Prompto’s mouth, immediately regretting it by the skeptical look on the girl’s face.

“Excuse me?” Lightning interrogated.

“No, I didn’t mean anything dirty or whatever by it! What I do mean is… how are you feeling? Right now.”

“Warm and sweaty. How else am I supposed to feel in a sauna?”

“He’s asking whether or not you feel more incorporated among us all,” Ignis translated. “And since the question is at hand, how are you feeling so far on the mission with us, if I might also ask?”

“Oh. In that case, I can’t complain too much. There’s still a lot about this place I need to get used to, but that shouldn’t get in my way too much.” Lightning glanced at Noctis, who wasn’t so much as making eye contact with her, but not out of malice or spite. “I think the prince over here might still be more steamed about your weird flasks than he is in the sauna.”

“I’m over it,” Noctis corrected. “I just think you shouldn’t forget magic’s not a toy is all.”

“Believe me, I’ve used more than my share of spells, for your information. My question is how you can make some kind of bomb out of it that easy.”

“You can use the flask to draw out elemental veins whenever we make a pit stop,” Gladio explained. “Noct here gets what he needs from certain spots, and like that, we’ve got our magic for the time being.”

“Think of it as sorta like… magical apple-picking,” Prompto pointed out. “You can also put together different spells in the same flask to get something really cool!”

“At the same time?” Lightning inquired, getting nods from all except Noctis. “I’ve never heard of that until now. I’m more used to doing magic one at a time. ...And magic that doesn’t affect more than just the target.”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Gladio wondered, unsure of what Lightning meant. “You get caught in a Fire spell gone wrong, you burn. Caught in a Blizzard spell, then you freeze your ass off. That’s common physics there, Sarge.”

“Where was it you said you were from, Lightning?” Ignis inquired, a tad suspicious. “You’ve said it wasn’t a place anywhere near here, but even the most faraway of areas are fully aware of proper magic use.”

“Somewhere you’re definitely not familiar with,” was the only answer Lightning had to give. “That’s all you need to know, so leave it there.”

“Oh, now, don’t be so shy, Light!” Prompto insisted. “We wanna get to know you better, so at least give us a little hint! How else are we gonna learn anything?”

“There’s only so much info you need for me to tell you all about. For now, just leave it at me not being from where any of you are and end it there—”

In the middle of speaking, Lightning felt a sudden weight fall upon her shoulder. Coming back down from her talk did she look and realized Noctis hadn’t just fallen asleep (no surprise there, and that was disregarding how cozy the sauna must have felt to him), but chosen the side of her body as the unfortunate cushion to sustain his exposed top half. Pale blue eyes rolled at the prince’s apparent narcolepsy, trying to shove him off of her to no avail. How in Etro’s name did he suddenly feel heavier when asleep? Or was she seriously underestimating the power of tired royalty that didn’t want to wake up too soon?

“Time and place!” Lightning groused, repeatedly batting her palm against Noctis’ face, getting no reaction from him. “Wake up, will you?” He only muttered in his sleep and slouched more against her unknowingly, Lightning shoving him upwards. “Noctis! That’s enough.”

Unfortunately for Lightning, Noctis only sat upright for a second or two before descending upon her lap and slumbering even harder, if possible. Groaning, she found herself unable to move as freely with the unwanted extra person using her as a human pillow for a poorly-timed nap. She only looked up at the sound of a few camera shutters going off, glaring at Prompto now having some brand new embarrassing photos to hold against his friend later. Gladio was equally amused and openly snickering; even Ignis seemed to be almost smirking behind the side of his fist covering the creased up corners of his mouth.

“I’m not finding this to be anything like a joke, so quit laughing,” Lightning scolded the other three. “How do you guys wake him up?”

“Rather bold of you to assume it’s easy for us to awaken Noct after he’s fallen asleep,” Ignis pointed out, the look on his face unchanged. “Not even the worst of tremors nevermind an alarm clock could get him up and ready to start the day early.”

“Or a huge thunderstorm,” Prompto added, recalling his time in high school with Noctis. “I asked him if he heard it when we got to school that day and he didn’t even have a clue it happened until after I brought it up!”

“Point being, he ain’t waking up anytime soon, so looks like you’re stuck with him like that until he actually does,” Gladio teased. “Besides, this is the closest I’ve seen you two together, gotta say.”

“Not on my watch, it’s not,” Lightning protested, standing up with her towel gripped in one hand while the other hefted Noctis over her shoulder like a giant flour sack. “I’m not sitting here acting like His Highness’ royal throw pillow instead of finishing up my hard-earned bath.”

“And how do you think you’re gonna somehow wake him up?”

“Easy. I’m hitting the showers early.”

Saying nothing else, Lightning carried Noctis out of the sauna room and headed towards where the individual showers were. The towel around his waist seemed halfway tempted into slipping from its host and revealing the indecency underneath, but it was ultimately kept more up by the more free of Lightning’s back wrists. Not caring for the moment that she was trespassing in the men’s shower room, she propped Noctis up so he leaned against the wall. He started to roll and slump to the side, but she caught him in time and readjusted him to her liking.

“There we go,” Lightning decided, brushing her hands off and turning to make her leave. “Simple and— CLEAN!” The victory proved short-lived when Noctis— still in a deep sleep— fell forward and pinned the woman chest-first to the ground. ‘You can’t be serious right now. How is he sleeping through this?!’

Lightning practically slammed Noctis against the shower wall, giving up on having him stand and letting him at least sit upright on the damp shower floor only prevented from touching the rear by the prince’s complementary towel. Close enough, she decided. Turning the shower head towards Noctis’ face and on came the water, spraying him directly in the area at the same time Lightning turned and left for her own shower.

“Hnn…? Morning already?” Noctis yawned, only a bit mildly disoriented when the shower’s rain made him come to. He wiped the water from his face, turning off the water after standing up and looking at where he was by himself. ‘Guess I’m some kind of sleepwalker because I have no idea how I just got here.’

“Oh, look, Sleeping Beauty’s finally awake,” he heard Gladio’s voice pipe in, Noctis turning and seeing his other three friends enter the shower for their cooldown session together. “Guess Light did the almost-impossible after all.”

“She wasn’t in here. Was she?”

“Did you think you simply waltzed right in here on your own?” Ignis inquired, taking Noctis’ soggy, damp towel and hanging it somewhere to dry enough rather than have it interfere with a proper shower. “A lot of things you could be, but a somnambulist isn’t one of them, I’m afraid.”

“But, what you are is an affectionate sleeper, apparently,” Prompto teased, waggling his camera full of promising new snapshots. “Wanna see? You looked cute as a kitten all curled up on Light’s lap!”

“The Hell are you talking about…?” Noctis breathed, not understanding at all what was going on.

“Why don’t you come over and see, mi compadre? Managed to get a few before you woke up.”

Noctis did as suggested and couldn’t believe his eyes. There he was in the photographs clear on Prompto’s beloved camera; sleeping, yes, but right on Lightning’s shoulder?! How in the Six did that happen? He would never! Consecutive pictures only made the prince’s cheeks burn redder, now being shown proof that he’d migrated his way to lying in her lap to her understandable chagrin. He glared at his snickering blond friend, figuring him to be the definite mastermind behind such humiliating snapshots.

“To think I was worried you’d never give Light a chance too!” Prompto laughed. “So happy I was wrong for once!”

“Not funny, Prompto,” Noctis growled, the embarrassed red not letting up even slightly. “You had to have set me up like that. I just know it!”

“Who, me? Couldn’t be! So, it wasn’t.”

“Then who if you say you didn’t? One of you two? Low blow, I gotta say.” Noctis pointed his accusatory finger at Gladio and Ignis, thinking them to be some degree of the culprit if not accomplices.

“More like you did it to yourself, Lover Boy,” Gladio broke it to him bluntly, still finding the situation amusing. “Next time, try not taking a nap in the sauna and this wouldn’t be a problem.”

“And it isn’t as though no efforts were made to awaken you. Light certainly tried, but you simply wouldn’t budge, as usual,” Ignis informed him, feeling a need to subtly tease Noctis on the matter without making it a bigger deal than it ought to be. The rather complacent look hidden in his eyes further said it all, as the flustered prince could tell by examining them. “At the very least, you did look awfully comfortable resting on her. Really a shame she didn’t agree with the notion.”

He’d long stopped looking at the photos that he severely doubted Prompto was going to get rid of anytime soon, but nothing could quell the mortification Noctis felt. Not so much at falling asleep in public; there were very few “wrong” places to nap, but in this case, on the new teammate certainly fit the qualifications for being less than ideal of a rest area. Turning off the shower and grabbing his dewy towel, Noctis excused himself out of the room, wondering if he’d stuck his head long enough in the bath that it’d drown out at least the moment’s shame.

The attempt went unsuccessful, many thanks to the immediate intervention of Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio all grabbing Noctis and pulling him back into the shower room until everyone was done. So much for that, the Lucian heir sighed in his thoughts. At that rate, the only thing to do was cool himself off under the refreshing streams of the shower and hope it’d be enough to wash away all he found burdensome from recent hours.

“So, how’s this gonna work?” Gladio asked later that night in the hotel room, everyone dressed more or less to sleep. “Two beds and five people doesn’t add up.”

“That means one of us has to rest on the sofa for tonight,” Ignis concluded, gesturing to the cushioned loveseat in the corner of the room near the window.

“I’ll do it,” Lightning volunteered without any hint of reluctance in her voice. “Sitting in a sauna with you guys is one thing; it’s another to sleep in the same bed with one of you.”

“Wait a second, Light!” Prompto objected, stopping the woman from setting up shop on the person-sized sofa. “I’m sure it’s not too shabby, but a bed would be a lot more comfy, don’t you think?”

“Trust me, I’ll live. I’ve dealt with worse than sleeping on a sofa. Besides, it’s only for tonight since we’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Still, a lady deserves a good night’s sleep on a nice mattress. Tell you what; you and I can switch places for the stay so you can get some shut-eye.”

“You don’t have to do that, Prompto. I’m sleeping on a sofa, not in a spiked coffin.”

“I know I don’t, but I insist! Though…” Prompto glanced at the bed he almost slept in, occupied by one other person. “Looks like you’re gonna have to bunk with Noct for tonight.”

“What?!” Noctis and Lightning snapped in unison, exchanging a glance when they realized they’d spoken at the same time before turning away just as quickly.

“There is no way I’m bunking with him,” Lightning argued, moving Prompto aside to put her things on the sofa. “You’re free to, but I’ve had enough of being used as His Highness’ headrest.”

“Aww, Lightning, it won’t be so bad!” Prompto insisted, still preventing her from moving onto the cushions. “You already know he sleeps like a rock, so it’s almost like you’ve got an entire bed to yourself. Or, more like half the bed since there’s still someone else sleeping in it.”

“Just do whatever you want. I just wanna get some sleep,” Noctis yawned at Lightning, already turning over and getting cozy under the sheets. “Your choice, Farron.”

Sneering at Noctis’ apathy, Lightning’s tired mind and body wound up giving into the plush mattress’ rampant seduction. She went over and dropped her stuff and herself on the side of the bed closest to the door, pulling her share of the covers forward for warmth. Prompto seemed pleased at her choice, making himself as comfy as he could on the hotel sofa and adjusting properly to rest well for the next day.

“I don’t want anymore sudden tricks after earlier, Prince,” Lightning warned Noctis, their backs still to each other but her arm reaching behind her to point to him sternly. “You stay on your side, and I’ll happily stay on mine.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Noctis responded indifferently, stirring a bit so he could get cozy on his half of the bed after the room lights went off. “Night, guys.”

Everyone exchanged their brief goodnight biddings and drifted asleep one by one. Lightning felt the covers slip off her body in her sleep, groaning irritably and reaching back so she could steal them again. In doing so, however, the blankets got caught in the middle courtesy of Noctis gripping them without the willingness to give up even a portion. Both bedmates snarled at a low volume, engaging in a sleepy tug-of-war for nighttime warmth until Lightning proved victorious and balled herself up in her prize.

Though just as tired, Noctis refused to lay idly by and freeze to death in his coveted sleep. Gripping a section of blankets, he yanked them forward to cover himself, Lightning rolling over and into his back in the process. She felt far too tired to fight anymore, going as far as reaching her arm over in a way she believed was grabbing the blanket rim to safeguard it from her opponent. Drifting off further into slumber’s embrace, Noctis and Lightning only shifted slightly and put themselves into positions they weren’t consciously aware of, finding just the right way for both of them to sleep the hours away until the day’s and everyone’s wake.

Incoherently heard the next morning were voices muffled by the prince and ex-soldier’s slumbers. Noctis being too far gone to so much as blink his eyes open, Lightning was the one to step closer to the land of the living. She wasn’t fully awake yet, but could pick up on the words being said around them by their teammates.

“Now isn’t that cute? They look so comfy together,” Gladio snorted, shaking and batting Noctis to resuscitate him for the day. “Rise and shine, Princess. Might wanna take a good look at yourself, by the way.”

“Five more minutes…” Noctis snored, hugging whatever was in his arms close to his chest.

“Let go of me…” Lightning yawned, reaching to rub her eyes when it hit her. “What the…?”

“I’ll be up soon, just gimme—” It hit Noctis too, realizing his embrace snatched a pair of forearms. For once, he snapped awake, looking down at what he was cuddling then turning around stunned as reality set in for him too.

As it turned out, not only did Noctis use Lightning’s arms as a makeshift teddy bear the entire night with her chin on one of his shoulders, but the pink-haired woman herself had said limbs hanging over and under his torso’s side and her right leg arched over his hips in a messy, almost-spooning position neither of them consciously put themselves in. They didn’t even look at each other for a full second before jumping away and scrambling out of the bed as if caught in a scandalous pose together. Both of their cheeks flushed with embarrassment, Lightning gathering her cleaned day clothes and running into the bathroom for privacy while Noctis opted for hurriedly dressing in one of the room corners.

“Why the sudden morning rush, Noct?” Gladio asked derisively, knowing full well what’d gotten the prince’s goat.

“Shut up, you know why,” Noctis growled, agitated while throwing the rest of his outfit on before fighting with his socks and boots.

“Hey, we didn’t say anything,” Prompto joked. “Just that you and Light looked even cozier together than in the sauna. And she fell asleep on you back, too!”

“I don’t wanna hear it. Let’s hit the road already.”

Lightning came out fully dressed and ready to leave, but in one swift motion without stopping did she grab her belongings and rush out the room to meet everyone at the Regalia outside. The boys all followed after, Noctis in no more of a hurry than his friends so he wouldn’t have to face Lightning after that (and that was pardoning his hopes of not sitting next to her in the car either). En route to the front desk for checkout, Noctis swore he saw Ignis secretly glance at him every now and again, the notion more or less confirmed when he spoke after it was mostly the two of them in earshot.

“There’s a chance last night’s incidents wouldn’t have seemed so awful if you’d warmed up a bit towards Lightning,” Ignis suggested. “I’m in no way forcing you into anything, but were you to give her more of a chance, I’d say you two could get along better. Perhaps you might even come to fancy her.”

“Me? Like her? Get real, Ignis,” Noctis scoffed, looking at Lightning in the short distance and believing the thought even less. “I’ll deal with having her as an extra teammate, but that’s where I’m drawing the line.”

“Very well then. A word of caution, though, Noct?”

“Sure, what?”

Ignis’ mouth turned up to a smirk, his matching tone solidifying for Noctis which side his advisor friend was on. “Do try not to sleep too much on the idea. I think you may have done plenty of that in recent hours.”

The minute he’d said that and went off to manage checking everyone out of the hotel like nothing had happened, Noctis in further chagrined disbelief realized what the absolute worst thing about betrayal was:

It never did come from your enemies.

[lozthekingdomofmandacaru]

Understandable

Words: 949

Date: 31/03/18

Music: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST - Lullaby of Resembool

Linkeduniverse was made by @jojo56830 (the blog Au is @linkeduniverse)

Just in case you guys forgot or didn’t read my other fanfiction Breathtaking, here’s the list of nicknames I came up with to be easier to know which Link is which:

Time: Pops, sir (Sky and Hero), boss (Warriors when being sassy/salty), grandpa and old man (both usually by Twilight).

Twilight: Leader, second in command (Warriors and Legend), heartbreak brother (Warrior when drunk), big brother (Wind), pup and puppy (both by Time).

Warriors: Capitan, womanizer (specially Legend), weirdo (Wind), clean freak (is a joke between him and Legend because Legend is just as bad).

Four Swords/Minish: Shorty (Warrior, to annoy him, but he actually likes it), master smith (Sky and Hero), green (usually when divided), picori hero (Time), little one (Time and Twilight), mister smith (Wind).

Wind: Little hero (everyone except for Minish), little brother (Twilight, to play along), boat boy (Warrior), navigator (he’s really proud of this one), conductor (and this one too).

Wild: Wild (no joke, they’re sometimes afraid of what will happen if they leave him alone for too long), Hunter, pyromaniac (Warrior mostly), champ/champion, mister cook.

Legend: Veteran, clean freak (Warrior), show off (also Warrior), collector.

Hero (of Hyrule): Belt (Warrior), Ace (when they don’t know what to do, they turn to him, because somehow he will know what they need do to. I mean, have you played the first two games?), adventurer.

Sky/Chosen One: Mister, knight, Hylia’s favorite (Warrior and Legend mostly, as a joke), lover boy (when he starts talking about Zelda).

The Hero of Twilight carried his burdens silently most of the time. Everyone knew that, they suspected he got that trait from the Hero of Time, who carried his burdens silently all of the time, but most of them couldn't really say anything, for they all have done the same at some point. They guessed it was a hero thing, to try and bear with the weight of the world alone, to try protecting the people around them from things the heroes themselves wished they hadn't witnessed.

That made his seriousness understandable, just like it made the Hero of Wild frenetic behavior, bordering on paranoia, on moonless nights understandable (something to do with a desert, he never told the whole story), or the sudden heartbreakingly sad smiles that sometimes appeared on the Chosen Hero's face, or the thousands of secrets the Hero of Time kept to himself.

It was understandable.

What they couldn't understand was why he was smiling so gently that morning.

Now, being serious does not mean someone can't be gentle or kind, Pops was the living proof of it. And they had seen Leader smile like that before, usually towards the Hero of Wind or some cat he found wandering around, so it wasn't really something new. It wasn't surprising.

Surprising was how the smile stayed on his face for more than a few minutes. In fact, he was smiling for maybe an hour. He also looked weightless, like he was floating a few inches off the ground and not trying to get out of a forest filled with murderous trees. It was like watching a child daydream about a day of playing with their friends, or a lover wishfully think about their future with their special one. If Navigator or Knight were the ones doing that, the group would simply shake their heads playfully and even chuckle a bit, but seeing Leader act so out of character was... Weird.

"Alright, enough is enough, what's with you, second in command?"

"Can't believe I'm agreeing with this womanizer, but you're not acting like you usually do, second, and it's a little disconcerting."

The others agreed silently with the Hero of Legend, watching the always serious man turn to them with a blinding smile and joy in his dark eyes. It was like looking at the ranch boy he once was, the one with no other worries other than making sure the goats were fine and where they should be and playing time to time with the kids together with his childhood friend. The one the group only knew through the stories shared by the fire. It was weird, that wasn't the same man they knew, but he was, at the same time. Only with a lighter world on his shoulders.

He glanced at them silently, stopping his stare on the youngest of them and the Hero of Hyrule.

"The longest white hair, the sweetest voice...", He started, his smile spreading on the other two faces.

"And the prettiest silver eyes.", Ace finished, eyes now full of joy.

"You met her too! You did!", The excited lad wasn't asking, "How was it? Isn't she beautiful? Isn't she nice? Did she sing for you?"

"No, we only talked. Well, she talked and I listened."

"And what did she say to you? Definitely something good, I assume."

"Just enough to soothe an aching heart and bring memories of simpler days."

"Wait, wait, hold on, you met the mysterious lady too?", Captain received a nod and, scrunching his nose, he couldn't help but ask, "What is a lady doing wandering around this dangerous forest in the middle of the night? All alone, on top of it..."

"I don't think she has to worry about the forest, Captain. If anything, the forest seems calmer when she's near."

"She sings to the trees lullabies about love, time and grand adventures. It soothes whatever is nearby.", Was the explanation provided by the youngest hero, "There are also the music boxes made specially for that."

"This forest truly is something else.", Pops mused, "Next time you see the lady, tell her she is welcome to join us in our travel. It's dangerous to be alone, even with enchantments strong enough to placate wolves."

The playful glare Leader shot him was nothing new, the two bantered like grandfather and grandson a lot.

"But what did she tell you for you to practically float around like a love struck fool? You're worse than Captain when he manages to not get rejected."

"Well, at least I have what it takes to actually go talk to girls, clean freak."

"Stop bickering, you two. I want to hear the pup."

"She told me stories of hope and freedom. I don't remember much, and I have no intentions of telling what I do remember.", He smiled softly at the pout in his little brother's face, "You know the feeling of drinking warm soup in a chilly night? Or the feeling of telling stories by the fire with your friends? Running around, the breeze in your hair, heart beating loudly in your ears? The feeling of not having to worry about tomorrow?"

"Feels like home.", The Hero of Wind whispered, only loud enough to be heard, as if he didn't wanted to shatter the heartwarming peace the other was. The two heroes smiled to each other, then to Ace like they were sharing a secret. Like they understood. They did.

The group watched the three heroes share the same expression, brilliant smiles and blissful peace in their eyes. For a few moments, they wished nothing but to meet the mysterious lady, in hopes of her bringing some peace to their tired souls.

I don’t like moonless nights... Anyways, it’s nice to post one of these once in a blue moon. I wasn’t sure if I should post this in my main blog (where the other two fanfictions are), or here, but since it’s a crossover between Linkeduniverse and Kingdom of Mandacaru, I’ll post this here...

[ponticle]

Day 8: Wednesday, 2/8: Camping Trip (Alistair x Anders, modern au)

[Read it on Ao3]

[Masterpost for this challenge]

Chapter Summary: Anders arrives home from Hawke’s at 2 in the morning, just four hours before they have to be up for the camping trip. 1728 words. Rated T: slight implied sexuality, language.

Wednesday, 2am

I slide gently into bed next to Alistair and take extra care not to wake him up. I stayed out significantly later than I wanted to, and I'm not eager to pick up our awkward conversation where we left off. I still can't believe I suggested we get married. That's not even what I was doing, actually. It was totally hypothetical… but I know what it sounded like.

Despite my best efforts, he stirs and looks over at me in the dark.

“Hey… what time is it?” he asks.

“Later than I planned to get home…” I grumble. “Go back to sleep—we have an early morning.”

He shakes his head and winds an arm around my waist. “I missed you.”

He kisses me gently and pushes his tongue between my lips. Despite what happened earlier, the urgency of his mouth makes something pull tight in my guts.

“Al?” I whisper. “Don't we have to get up in like 4 hours?”

“Yes… which seems more like a nap—why don't we just stay up?” He rolls me onto my back and pins me to the mattress. His dick is poking me.

I laugh, “Al, you're crazy.”

“I know… but you're the one who wants to marry me,” he smirks. There is so much gentleness in that smile—like every kind thing he's ever said to me wrapped in a shell of honor and loyalty.

“I didn't mean that,” I blurt.

He stops moving and his face falls. “You didn't?”

“Well—it's not like I'd never mean it…” I stammer, “I just meant it as a theoretical suggestion—not like a right now proposal.”

“I know that,” he softens, “but it made my heart stop…”

The way he's looking at me makes me want to kiss him and kill him. It's simultaneously the sexiest and more horrifying expression I've ever seen him don.

“Well…” I interlace my fingers behind his neck. “Can we just table that discussion for a little while?”

“Only if you promise me it won't be too long,” he smirks.

“Okay, Al…” I crane my neck to kiss him. “Not too long.”

Wednesday, 6am

Wednesday morning arrives with lots of pomp and circumstance. Alistair wakes up before me and has us completely packed up and ready before the sun is fully up. When he wakes me, it's with a variety of kisses and questions.

“Do you think we'll need to bring extra first aid equipment?” he asks.

“Why?”

“I don't know… what if someone gets sick?” He smiles—he can tell he's being silly too.

“Everything's going to be fine,” I assure him, carding my fingers through his hair.

We've had a string of really good days in a row. Since Sunday, I almost feel like we're going to be okay.

“I love you,” he whispers.

“Love you too.”

In the car, we go over some essentials.

“Tell me who is going to be there again?” I ask.

“Okay, so there's Icis… she's the very best intern in the bunch,” he explains. “Super intelligent, really on top of her shit. She's bringing her girlfriend, Sera, who I met at the white coat ceremony this year—she's crass and hilarious.”

I laugh. “At least we're not the only gays in the bunch.”

He smiles. As much as we all want to believe that the world is a kind place where our intimate relationships don't matter, it isn't true.

“Then there's Cole… he's definitely a little weird…” Alistair makes a face, “but he's perceptive—I'll give him that.”

I laugh.

“And then Krem is the only other student—he's pretty great too… on the faculty side, Dorian will be there; so will my friend, Leliana, whom you met at that Christmas thing…”

I look at him blankly.

“The one with the red bob?” he reminds me.

“Oh yeah… okay.”

“And then… Cullen's coming, I think…” he adds, like it's an afterthought… although I'm not dumb enough to believe that. He purposely left it for the end and said it quickly so it wouldn't stick out.

“Why?” I ask.

“Dorian invited him… they've been friends as long as we have…” he explains. “Cullen's new here and he's just trying to get to know everyone…”

I growl.

“Just be friendly—you'll kill him with kindness,” suggests Alistair.

I'm pretty quiet for the rest of the ride—silently seething—but I'm still warmed by our conversation last night. He wants to marry me—someday.

“We're here,” whispers Alistair sometime later. He shakes my shoulder slightly and smiles down at me.

“I must have nodded off…” I rub my eyes and stretch my arms over my head. One elbow bumps the window noisily.

“Yeah… everyone else is already here, I think…” he waves to a variety of people outside the car and disengages the engine.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asks me seriously. “I love you… I don't want this to be the worst 48 hours of your life.” His tone is pleading.

“I'm going to be fine,” I smile jovially and look around, “you're going to sleep with me, right?”

He smirks, “We didn't buy that double sleeping bag for nothing.”

“Hi!” Dorian is the first to greet me. He claps me on the back and breathes in audibly. “This air is so clear today! Cold as shit, but still.”

“Hey, Dorian,” says Alistair. He's unpacking our tent and backpacks from the trunk.

A young blonde woman sidles up next to him. She's wearing a completely white and off-white ensemble, which contrasts starkly with her dark eyes and skin.

“Who's your date, Doc?” she smiles at me inquisitively.

“I'm Anders,” I wave to her over the top of the car and smile.

“Icis,” she nods, “nice to meet you…”

She's quite striking. She looks like a leader. I can tell just from her first few sentences that everyone else does what she says, even though she might be the youngest one here. Another blonde—less put-together-looking—pops up next to her a second later. She drops a mittened hand around Icis’ shoulder and laughs. “Do you think we'll need both the electric blankets?”

Icis stiffens slightly. “Sera… you remember Dr. Theirin, right?” she gestures to Alistair. Her mouth seems like a vice—she wants to make a good impression, I think.

“Yeah,” Sera smiles lopsidedly. “Nice to see you again.”

“This is his partner,” she looks at me questioningly—the title was a snap decision, it seems, “Anders.”

“I'm just his boyfriend,” I blurt.

Alistair, who has rounded the car to stand next to me, looks a little hurt.

I'm introduced to the others in a cursory manner, and before I know it we're packing up to start our climb.

“We've got to make it to the summit before dusk so that we can get our tents set up and a fire going… on the way there we're going to play a game,” Alistair says to the interns. “Differential diagnosis roulette…”

They groan in unison. Krem swears under his breath.

“Hey, Al,” says someone over my shoulder.

I turn to look at the new voice and realize it's Cullen. He's right behind me. In the flurry of activity, I had almost forgotten he was coming.

“Hi,” says Alistair stiffly.

I debate about whether or not to wait for him to introduce me. He seems to have forgotten how introductions work.

I extend my hand. “Hi, I'm Anders.”

Cullen takes it and looks at Alistair warily. “Cullen—nice to meet you.”

“Hey, Dr. Rutherford!” calls Icis, from somewhere.

Cullen waves to her.

“You know she's considering a psychiatry residency?” he asks Alistair.

Alistair huffs. “She'd be wasted…”

They both laugh, basically ignoring my existence.

“You seem to be packed a little light,” notes Alistair.

He's right—Cullen has almost nothing with him.

“I just figured I'd curl up with you if I got too cold,” jokes Cullen.

For a second, I'm sure I misheard. He can't possibly think that's an appropriate joke.

Alistair doesn't seem scandalized, though, he hits Cullen's shoulder and smirks, “I think you're going to have to bang down Dorian's tent door tonight, buddy.” He reaches around and pulls me toward him by the waist.

Cullen swallows visibly.

“Anders and I will be rather engaged, I think,” Alistair kisses the side of my head, even though I’m straining to get out of his grasp.

Cullen rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah… I'm going to check in with Dor…” he takes off toward the front of the group.

“So… what the hell was that?” I ask.

“What?”

“That weird joke? And then the kissing thing…”

“I just love you…” he whispers into my ear. “Come on… let's go.”

It sure doesn’t feel like he loves me, though. It feels like he’s using me to make his non-ex/ex jealous.

The trek up the mountain is pretty nice, actually. The sun is shining, so even though it's bitterly cold, we're not freezing to death. For the majority, Alistair is quizzing his students. He was right about Icis. She knows the answer to every question. The most impressive thing, though, is that Alistair has enough of a working knowledge of all of this to invent astute and challenging questions on the fly. I've never been so turned on. Intellectualism is my kink.

By nightfall, we've made it to the campsite. It's getting colder by the second, so I'm glad when Cullen lights a fire. So far, I haven't had to deal with him very much. Thank god.

“All right, everyone get your tents set and then let's do some bonding,” says Dorian.

Alistair smiles and produces two huge bottles of scotch from his backpack. “...and drinking.”

Everyone rolls their eyes at him.

“It's for science…” he adds.

“I can't wait to get into bed with you,” he whispers inside our tent. I managed to get the thing sorted in record time.

“Oh yeah?”

He sits with me on the sleeping bag and kisses me.

“Yeah, you've been amazing today,” he adds.

I'm not sure what he means. I've felt like a teenage ball of rage all day.

“Yeah… I know this could have been weird… can I please at least give you a conciliatory blow job before we go back out there?” He smirks.

“Not right now… I think they'd miss you… but tonight, when everyone is drunk, I'm totally down.”