#she’d be so nice to him he’d buy her another castle

[loveandthings11]

Actually I completely believe that Kendall would have a flirty friendship with the Queen of Genovia

[vnderoos]

better than butterbeer ✷ cedric diggory

(gif is not mine, credit to the owner) warnings / language(?), a barely steamy scene at the end word count / 2.8k

masterlist in bio ↴

THE CORRIDOR WAS FILLED with students, all of them rushing every which way as they all transitioned from one class to another. "Watch where you're walking, you bloody—" Y/N started to snap when she slammed straight into the chest of another student, but she cut herself off when she looked up and her eyes met the beautiful grey's of Cedric Diggory. Her stomach did a backflip and her cheeks immediately flushed red at her previous words. She cursed her quick tongue silently. "I'm sorry, Diggory, I thought you'd be someone else," she told him, feeling guilty for trying to bite his head off.

Cedric, on the other hand, was quick to shake his head and flash her a toothy smile. "No problem, Y/N/N, just read this, will you? I've got to get to class," he hummed, holding a folded note out to her, and she took it in her hands softly. She didn't have time to ask him questions about it—in fact, she didn't have time to say anything else at all—before he patted her once on the arm and stepped around her.

She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, watching as he disappeared into the flood of other students, and she looked back down at the piece of parchment between her fingers with furrowed brows. She felt a little uneasy thinking about what was on it as she started towards her own next class, as Cedric normally tended to speak with her in person and not through exchanging notes, but she was curious about it nonetheless. She thumbed it open delicately and her eyes flickered over the paper.

Come to the Great Lake after your classes. I want to show you something. — From: Ced :)

Y/N couldn't help but grin down at his message after she'd read it, tracing his smiley face with her thumbnail. This wasn't the first time that Cedric had wanted to show her something. He'd taken her on handfuls of spontaneous trips, actually—like the time he brought her to a field outside of the castle grounds to see a bunch of light blue wildflowers, or when he snuck her up to the Astronomy Tower after curfew just so he could point out the constellations with her—and she couldn't help but feel excited that he'd thought of something else.

She folded his note back up and tucked it neatly into one of the pockets of her leather bag, for safe keeping, of course.

—

Y/N's classes hadn't seemed to end quick enough that day as she'd sat through the rest of her lectures with Cedric's message pinging around in her head the whole time. All she could think about was what he wanted to show her at the Great Lake that she hadn't already seen before. It was just a lake—filled with nasty little Grindylows and a giant squid, sure—but it was just a lake nonetheless. At one point during her day, her head had been so clouded with possibilities that McGonagall had even gotten onto her for neglecting to write any notes for the entire first half of the class.

Miss Y/L/N, I do hope you realize that daydreaming all class won't help you pass your OWLs. Plus, I'm sure your parents didn't buy you such a pretty quill for you to tap it against your chin all year, she'd said. The red that had tinged Y/N's cheeks after that had been brighter than Ron Weasley's hair, especially since almost every head in the class had spun to face her.

All of that had been forgotten, though, as she hurried down the dirt pathway to the Great Lake, her hair and her leather bag bouncing as she ran downhill. The path soon faded into the rest of the grass, and as she neared the lake, she spotted a figure laying in a patch of sun on the grassy slope that led down to the bank. She recognized the familiar mess of his brown hair and his Hufflepuff robe and she was quick to identify him. One of Cedric's knees were bent, keeping him laying steady on the slant of the ground, and the other was extended out in front of him.

He was looking up at the sky when she walked up behind him, a small smile tugging at her lips at how concentrated he looked. "Hey, Diggory," she called from a few feet away, with a playful lilt in her voice and her green robes swaying with the gentle breeze.

At her greeting, Cedric pushed himself into a sitting position and he turned to smile at her over his shoulder. His cheeks were dusted pink from the slight nip in the air and it was all she could do to notice how good he looked in that moment, especially with the warm light of the sun rays shining behind him. She'd always found herself captivated by him, though, as most girls did. He really was a good-looking boy, but something inside of her always made her feel like it was better that she kept that to herself.

"Hey, Y/N."

Y/N flashed him a light smile in return, choosing to ignore the way that her stomach swirled when her name left his lips. "You know, we could've gone to get butterbeer instead," she told him as she made her way towards him, setting her bag next to his in the grass, and he shook his head softly.

"I wanted to show you something, though, remember?" he told her and she nodded once. How could she forget it when it was all that she'd been thinking about since she bumped into him in the corridor? He patted the space beside him in the grass. "Lay next to me," he instructed and she waited until he moved his hand away to take her seat, lowering herself down onto the ground.

She folded her hands over her chest and Cedric rested his over his stomach as they looked up at the sky. Nothing about it looked out of the ordinary or particularly interesting to her. "So, what'd you wanna show me?" she questioned, curiosity prickling under her skin as she studied the familiar, blue sky and the same, white clouds for something new.

Cedric let out a breath of amusement, a smile breaking out onto his lips, at her eagerness. She was always like this when he took her to see these sorts of things—impatient and overly excited—but he blamed himself for that in part. He loved a good buildup. "Just wait a bit and you'll see," he promised, tapping his thumbs against his stomach, and she nodded. The two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they laid still in the grass until the sun started to set. As the sun went down, it painted the sky with so many pretty colors—shades of pink, orange, and yellow streaking between the clouds. Since they were sitting on the side of the lake, with no trees looming over their heads, the view was beautifully unobstructed, too. "This," Cedric said, grinning up at the sight. "This is what I wanted to show you."

When she'd come to meet him, she hadn't known what to expect, but it certainly wasn't this. She'd heard from Fred and George a long while ago that on particularly sunny days, the giant squid would bask in the shallows of the water for warmth, so the thought of that being Cedric's surprise crossed her mind once, but she hadn't even considered such a spectacular sunset.

"This is beautiful." Her voice was a breathless whisper as the sight had left her in awe. She found herself lifting one of her hands up to the sky, pointing her finger at a specific place where the sunlight looked like trickling gold behind the clouds. It was so vivid that part of her thought she might be able to coat her fingers in it if she reached out far enough. "That's my favorite part. It's so pretty, isn't it?" she asked him and she could see his hand enter her field of vision as he pointed up at the same, molten cloud.

"That one?" he asked and the side of his hand grazed her own in the close proximity. His skin left tingles against her own that shot all the way down to her elbow, and she looked over at him with newly flushed cheeks. She nodded her head. She had noticed when she walked up that Cedric looked nice that day, with a bit of color in his skin from the cold, but only then, while they were laying face-to-face, did she realize how handsome he really looked. His walnut hair spilled into the grass and a little over his forehead, some of the strands sleek with the reflection of the sunlight. His skin looked so warm beneath the orange lighting that the sun cast across him and she could see patterns in his irises when her eyes came to meet his. Her breath hitched in her throat when his full lips parted before he spoke. "It is pretty," he muttered with his eyes never veering from her own and she could barely hear him over the drumming of her heart in her chest.

It was like time seemed to stand still in that moment as the fingers on their hands, both still suspended in the air, fell relaxed. She saw his Adam's apple bob in his throat as he swallowed thickly, moving the back of his hand to graze over her own softly. She sucked in a breath and his knuckles rustled over hers, before he began to trail them down her arm slowly.

Cedric's eyes were locked on hers the whole time he did it, like he was looking for a sign that she didn't want this, but she was frozen still. His touch left goosebumps in its wake as it travelled the length of her arm and she shuddered.

When his hand reached Y/N's face, he hooked his forefinger beneath her chin and swiped his thumb over her bottom lip. She couldn't stop herself from grabbing his wrist lightly and pressing a kiss to the pad of his thumb. He blinked once and his tongue darted between his lips, running itself over them as he watched her. She managed a small smile at him, and she folded his hand into a fist, peppering a kiss to each of his knuckles.

"Diggory?" she asked and he hummed curiously. "I've got something to tell you," she whispered against his skin. His eyebrows lifted, as if to encourage her, and she closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before she opened them again and she gave his hand a squeeze. "It's been on my mind for a while, but I think I really like you," confessed Y/N, her voice as quiet as ever. "I realize that we're friends and it's probably stupid of me to even think of you like that, because it might ruin everything, but—"

Y/N stopped talking when Cedric leaned in to kiss her. His lips planted a soft peck against her own, leaving the sweet taste of caramel and her heart pattering after they'd gone. "I really like you, too," he responded with a grin.

She could feel her cheeks flaring, probably just as pink as the setting sun, and she smiled softly. "Oh." Her heart was thundering in her ears and her stomach was swarming with butterflies at his similar confession. She never would've thought that her sly, Slytherin heart would beat so quickly for a happy, Hufflepuff boy, but she'd be damned before she ever found herself complaining. "That— That's nice," she stuttered out, still in a state of disbelief, and his honeyed laugh filled her ears.

Cedric, whose hand was still in her clutches, pulled her hands over to his own lips and he kissed the back of her hand. "'Nice'?" he repeated. "Just 'nice'?" he asked again, his voice obviously teasing, but her face was on fire nonetheless.

She shot him a look of mock annoyance—the smile tugging on her lips giving her away—because he'd always known but how to get under her skin. "Shut up, you know you make me nervous, you prick," she told him and another laugh spilled from his lips, but it didn't last long that time because he caught her staring at his lips. His laughter died down as her eyes moved back to meet his, her hands falling from his own. With the thought now in his head, his eyes flickered to her mouth, only for a second, and she reached out to grab one of the sides of his robe. She ran her thumb over the fabric nervously, shifting her eyes to her fingers and back up to his again. "Would you... Would you kiss me again, Diggory?" she questioned, clearing her throat, and a smirk crossed onto his lips at the question. He was quite cocky then, and part of her hated it, but the other part of her thought it was the hottest thing.

"Diggory? Really?" he muttered, pretending to ignore her question as he plucked at a piece of grass between them, and she sighed in frustration, still playing nervously with his robe. "I thought for sure you'd use my first name by now," he teased and she rolled her eyes.

"Is that what you want?" she asked.

"I don't think I've ever wanted anything more," he joked, touching a hand to his chest and tightening it into a fist to make it seem like it wasn't all just a ploy to tease her—which it was.

"Fine," she hummed. "Would you kiss me again, Cedric?" she repeated her question and his name fell from her lips like a whisper, the cockiness on his face falling clean off after it did. She could see a flicker of something pass in his eyes and she furrowed her brows. "What?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I think I might like it when you call me Cedric," he said with a small smile on his lips, and before she could answer, he propped himself up on his elbow. He reached out to cup one of her cheeks softly in his hands, leaning down to press his lips against hers.

The kiss started out slow and sweet, just two longing mouths melding into one quiet moment, but the second that Y/N sighed against his lips, the mood shifted. Cedric's hand slid from her cheek and he knotted his fingers in the locks of her hair, pulling her mouth roughly against his by the back of her neck, and he poured more passion into the kiss. Her fingers were still clasped around the sides of his robe and she pulled his body closer to her own.

Cedric's balance teetered at her actions and he grunted against her mouth, his hand leaving her hair and slamming down on the other side of her. His lips broke from hers at the quick motion and their eyes met for a second. His pupils were dark as he looked down at her, his chest heaving, and they only stayed apart long enough for him to slot one of his legs between hers. His lips attached themselves to hers once more and her hands let go of his robe, sliding up the muscles on his chest and coming to tangle themselves in his hair. He lowered himself down closer to her body, using his hands to keep himself hovered over her, and his tongue swiped against her bottom lip in his next kiss.

From then on, the two were a mess of lips and tongue, and they'd even cracked teeth at once on accident, but when they'd gotten their fix, Cedric pulled away. The two were both red, and not just from the cold anymore, and they were panting like dogs. Cedric started to laugh softly, pulling his arm up from the other side of her and falling back onto his side as she joined in. "I take back what I said earlier." She lifted a hand to wipe the saliva off of her swollen mouth and she pushed herself up onto her own elbow. "This was way better than butterbeer," she hummed.

Cedric chuckled and he threw his head back. "You're telling me," he agreed. When he let himself fall back into the grass again, Y/N did the same and he set his hand, palm-down, in between them. She tucked her hand beneath his and intertwined their fingers, sending him a soft smile.

For the rest of the sunset, she stared contentedly up at the sky, sneaking glances at the beauty laying beside her, but for him, it was the other way around.

He found her far more stunning.

↴

taglist / @pvintbreak​ @umpoedameron​ @h4ppydancing​

[ladyarrowhead]

A Worthy Companion (Sten/F!Cousland)

Fandom: Dragon Age: Origins Pairing: Sten/Female Cousland Setting: Modern AU; Mabari POV, 1st-Person "When his owner and partner for life has a ridiculous amount of bad choices in soulmates, a mabari warhound takes his Cousland's romantic future into his own...paws." Soon on AO3. But not right now.

A Worthy Companion

My best friend and I live in a castle tower overlooking the Denerim Park – at least that is how she loves to call our humble abode. I personally have counted the 13 flights of stairs we have to use to reach our door and know we live in something that is not a castle but a one-bedroom apartment. In case you ever plan to visit, make sure to bring some treats! Oh, you might not know how to recognize us, so let me give you a small description.

My best friend is the brunette sitting on the bed surrounded by books, eagerly trying not to devour the back of her pen. Yes, the one with ink on her fingers. I have been with her for quite a while now, back when her father used to call her pup and I was a puppy myself. Her name is Nahila Cousland and she works as a museum curator, specializing on Ferelden’s Occupation Era. It means she looks at paintings a lot, reads even more, and barely leaves her room if it were not for me.

My fur matches her hair, in case you wondered. Many people compliment me for it – the same going for my sharp teeth, excellent body and even sharper mind. Us Mabari are already renown for these qualities but I like to pride myself with being especially close to perfection. And that is exactly where the problem I am about to discuss begins.

Humans, as you know, dear reader, are certainly not blessed with a perfect sense of perception – and most of them are not blessed with good judgement either. My best friend is no exception.

Our fridge might be stacked with some wonderful tasty steaks she’d make for me, our shelves might be filled with yet another set of books she managed to buy for an astonishing amount of money, but the reason we live yet again in another cramped space is that she, sadly, manages to always choose the wrong companions.

One of them has left her when she had finished school and we moved to the dorms. Another has questioned her trust in her since Nahila liked men and women just about the same. The third had been rather nice – a kind young man her parents had liked as well. But one day Nahila just packed our things and left, spending two weeks on her friend Leliana’s couch, before moving to this apartment.

I remember one of their talks rather vividly. Nahila is not prone to tears but whenever she and her companion of choice part ways, the tears will not stop flowing. It hurts my heart whenever she is holding to my body, her shoulders slightly shaking as she just tries to become stronger. She had cried on that day, too, though my fur had been left alone that day as she was holding to Leliana instead.

            “Dear, I really thought you and Dairren were doing well! He seemed so nice and caring!”

I like Leliana. She asks the right questions and, more importantly, her voice is very calm and serene. One hand would pet my fur whenever she could – she is never brutal, always gentle, with me.

            “I really don’t want to talk about him right now. I just…I need some place to stay and get the next set of work done and then maybe…I don’t know, find a hobby or something?”

            “Nahi, if you are not telling me why you broke up, how am I supposed to help?”

My best friend had fallen silent back then. Her eyes had wandered to me as she had leaned down and ran her hand through my fur. Her voice had been heavy with anger when she confessed why she had forsaken her companion,

            “He told me to get rid of my dog. He said I’m paying far too much for him and he’d sell for a good prize.”

            “What?!”

I had thought the same as Leliana had said. Get rid of me? Her truest friend? Her most loyal and trusted ally? How in the Maker’s name would one dare to even suggest something like that? We were bonded, forever, until my last breath would leave me.

            “I don’t know. I always thought he liked him, but he did say once that he took forever to ask me out because being 5’2” and owning a gigantic mabari made me seem intimidating. He even suggested getting a Pomeranian instead because that would fit us better.”

            “I honestly don’t know what to say but...good riddance, then. Now cry your heart out – we both don’t want you to press down all your emotions, right? We’ll find someone for you, one day.”

My best friend had cried many nights afterwards. Humans are fragile like that – their hearts were big, but they could break so easily. They do not have the same sense that us mabari have – the one that lets us know whom to trust and whom to protect.

So, I had made a commitment then. If my best friend was not able to choose a worthy companion herself, it would be my duty to help her find one. Thanks to her talk with Leliana, I knew the most important criteria already – she needed a person who loved dogs. And who else but a dog was able to sniff out a dog lover?

Honestly, I am almost a little ashamed it has not occurred to me sooner.

I gave her time – Nahila always needed longer to lick her wounds, but now, four months later, here we are. She is happily burying herself in her work and somewhat on her way back to her old confidence. In other words – I am ready to commence with my plan.

With a loud bark, I make her aware of me. My barks are one of the only things to tear her away from her books – and, goodness, as sweet as she is, she is sadly also easy to manipulate when it comes to me. Something that friends do not do, I know, but you have to understand – sometimes, people need a little push.

As she looks up and smirks, I give out a quiet whine and run towards the apartment door. I whine once more, much louder, and like any good friend, she already fetches her coat, her pumps and my leash to get on the walk I so obviously demand.

            “You’re such a scoundrel”, she giggles and leans down, carefully putting the leash onto my collar, “This apartment obviously doesn’t agree with you, huh? It’s our fourth walk already.”

That is not exactly true. I like having my best friend to myself and this apartment is perfect for it – but her smiles are far more important, and now that they are coming back, I’ll give her reason to keep them.  So what if I urge her to take me on more walks than usually? Fresh air is something you can never have too much of. Hurrying down the sets of stairs, we immediately move towards the park.

My friend Barkspawn had once explained to me that some humans had a preference for certain kinds of people. His own human for example had been especially fond of passionate men who expressed their beliefs loud and clear. My other friend, Amgarakk, had told me his dwarven owner went more for the humorous people – people one could trust but who also made you laugh.

Nahila is of course a little complicated there. She likes men and women but her chosen companions had nothing in common except that they did not like dogs. And as much as I love her, my best friend maybe is doing so badly because she is not paying attention to that fact.

Right now, she is obviously busier with drinking coffee instead of contemplating on the failures of her relationships.  We are slowing walking through the pale green meadows and ignore the cold winter air as best as we can on our way to the dog area.

To me, most people seem the same – dwarves, elves, humans, qunari, tal-vashoth – they all walk on two-legs. To find her a worthy companion I must look for something else. If she is to find a dog lover, all we needed was to find someone with an amazing dog. Thus, I drag her to the biggest playing area I can find and urge her to free me off my leash.

            “What’s with you today?”, she asks, and once again I regret that unlike me, she is not bilingual – at least not in a mabari-understanding way. I would love to tell her I am about to find her soulmate. Then again, Nahila is a bit of a cynic. She would not even believe me,

            “Off you go, play with your friends. I brought a book, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

Of course she has a book, probably once again one for work. But I do not have time to chastise her about taking breaks – I am here to find her someone more important!

I rush towards the middle of the big meadow like an expert and scan the crowd. No mabari, which sadly makes it much worse because another mabari would have obviously been better. A dalmatian is eagerly arguing about mage rights with a golden retriever who is listening eagerly. A pug is translating for a shi-tzu who only speaks Antivan – apparently, he marked a tree that was not open for marking without asking around. A poodle is happily rolling around and warming up in the winter sun.

I raise my voice,

            “Is one of your friends still looking for a companion? Mine has had the worst luck – she’s pretty and she cooks fantastic steaks, so you’d benefit from this as well.”

They all look at me with pity. I am used to ignorance but not this. Mabari are something else, always admired by the very same people non-mabari have chosen to be best friends with. Some dogs are obviously submitting to these petty jealousies.

            “What are you trying to attempt?”, someone asks. A female voice, confident like my best friend’s. I turn to look at the dog it belongs to and spot a white and fluffy Pomeranian, looking at me curiously,

            “My friend”, she continues without hiding a hint of arrogance, “is smart enough to abstain from any of these companionships. To have your friend rely on you for such matters is quite futile, don’t you think? Here I thought mabari were supposed to be smart.”

I feel a hint of anger and growl, ignoring the hint of guilt in my chest,

            “I am doing this because I want to, not because she asked me to. She is worthy of happiness.”

            “I’m just saying – nobody likes other people doing their business for them. I doubt your friend is different.”

I’d like to reply with something witty but then I notice her fur is absolutely spotless. Obviously groomed with much love. Her collar almost disappears in that white fluff around her neck. Her teeth look sharp as she growls back. And she said her friend abstained from love encounters? Thus, in other words, they might be unattached, right?

            “Show them to me”, I demand and already sniff the air to get a hint of him. His scent clings to her fur – cinnamon and blue steel. The Pomeranian looks at me in confusion but with slight amusement before walking ahead. I follow her to the other side of the meadow, far to the north.

Her owner is a male qunari, his hair matching her fur just like Nahila’s matches mine. He is gigantic even when seated, a big contrast to the tiny dog who is now happily showing him off. His white dreads fall into his face but he does not care, his eyes glued to, oh the irony, a book on Fereldan Art History. The smell of cinnamon and blue steel is especially strong here, but what I notice the most is that he’s calm. A nice place to return to.

As she barks loudly, his attention immediately switches from his book to us. A pair of purple eyes scans my fur. He looks intimidating for a moment but then he smiles and I know I’m in company of someone worthy of respect. He closes his book and gently gets to his knees,

            “You brought a friend”, his voice is so dark and deep, I can hardly contain my excitement. Nahila loves deep voices!, “Well done. Who are you, mabari?”

I’m not a lap dog and simply wait for him to come to me. To my surprise, he waits as well. He does not just approach me to pet me and I like him already for it. Instead his eyes seem to look for my best friend, ready to ask if he can pet me. The Pomeranian watches us curiously before she rushes to his side, licking over his face. A deep chuckle escapes him as he turns to her and lovingly runs his hand through her fur,

            “No need to be jealous, Asala. You are meant to be mine, and his strength will not change that.”

Rarely have humans understood what it means for a dog to love. How unconditional and deep our devotion runs for our human friends. Nahila does, so much that she leaves the one who makes her happy, because he does not understand what connects her and me. This man however, seems to understand just that. He is, to put it mildly, perfect.

Asala wags her tail, her eyes full of pride as she practically shows off just how much of a good friend he is.

            “He’s kind”, I grin and bark as well, to make sure they both will follow my lead, “He’ll do perfectly.”

            “I told you, he is not looking.”

            “I told you neither is she. But you got to show him off to me – I deserve to do the same, don’t you think? Or are you so presumptuous to assume yours is the only one worthy of respect?”

Asala cocks her head to the side before she turns around. As he takes his seat on the bench once more, the two of us make our way over to the other side. Nahila is still buried within her book, but I see her rubbing her arms more often. Her portable mug has already been placed into her tote bag, so she’s done with her coffee. She is getting cold. We are running out of time.

            “She’s pretty”, Asala says and I want to fight her right then. My human is beautiful, and any other word is not good enough to describe her, but then Asala adds, “I think Sten has the same book as her. But humans who look like her usually already have a companion.”

Nahila closes her book and raises her head to look for me when she spots us. The surprise is written into her face – she knows I prefer to associate with other mabari – but neither Barkspawn nor Amgarakk were there after all.

            “Aren’t you something? Just look at you!”

I make a protesting whine when I notice her attention is not on me but Asala. The Pomeranian, however, walks right towards her, carefully sniffing her leg. Nahila waits. She always does, making sure us dogs want her pets before she gives them.

            “Your human smells like storms and sugar. Why does she smell like sugar?”

            “Jealous?”, I laugh and watch her hesitantly accepting Nahila’s hand on her collar.

            “Asala? What a beautiful name…but where is your owner, darling?”

To my surprise, Asala’s tail begins to wag. For all that is worth, she does not seem to be the ice queen that she appears to be. As she lets Nahila gently admire her grooming, she turns her head to me, whining quietly, which makes my bestie just nervously look around,

            “What makes her worthy of your love?”

What?

            “What makes her worthy? Quick.”

How could I ever describe what makes a human worth of your love? Us mabari always know – recognizing how loving and caring they can be. I know my friend and all her good and bad parts. The way she holds grudges, the way she persists. The way she longs for compromise as much as she longs for power. Most of all, I know that she gives far more than she takes. She would carry the world’s problems on her shoulders for the right person. She would do so for me.

            “She’s home”; I say instead, “Home with its safety, love and warmth. She always has been.”

Asala sits down in the grass, whining once again as she presses against her. Nahila very carefully lifts her into her arms,

            “Oh goodness, are you not okay? I…let me check…if there’s a number or something”, her hands wander to her collar, gently removing it, as Asala looks back at me,

            “Get Sten. Now.”

I dare not to question her – it seems that my answer has satisfied her and whatever weird theatre it is, she is doing, it is working. Nahila’s attention is completely on her, giving me a moment to fetch Asala’s best friend.

I rush over the meadow, past shi-tzu and retriever, past pug and poodle and dalmatian before I reach Sten’s side, barking loudly. He is not looking up from his book, because, like my Nahila, he’s probably able to recognize his own dog’s bark and filters the others out. I come closer, gently digging my teeth into his red coat and try to drag him with me. To my own surprise, he does not budge, though he lowers his eyes and he…

            “Weren’t you here just a moment ago?”

Recognizes me! To my joy, he gets to his feet. His eyes begin to scan the meadow and I can smell his ease fading and worry overcoming him.

            “Asala!”, he calls out loudly, but of course she does not answer. I try to pull him and his coat further and he begins to stumble along with me. Thank goodness Asala’s Sten is not dumb. He understands, follows me as I bark and rush right back to Nahila, who by now is holding Asala in her arms, trying to put the number that is on her collar into her phone. When she sees us approaching, her voice carries panic,

            “Oh Maker, are you her owner? She suddenly got all weak and-“

Sten kneels next to Nahila and gently takes his dog into his arms. As quickly as Asala “collapsed” as quickly she “recovers”, her tail wagging with relief as Sten’s arms are all around her. The smile comes to his face just the same, incredibly quick,

            “She’s all healthy but a little confused. The person who owned her before me needed her as a support animal, but she was too feisty and failed training.”

I rush to Nahila’s side. It feels stupid if Asala gets pets and I do not, but luckily, my best friend immediately understands, running her hand through my fur,

            “Did you get him, big boy? So incredibly smart!”

Sten glances at the two of them. I see his eyes looking at her face for a moment, her pastel blue coat that is covered in dog fur, her hands that are very much busy appreciating perfection. Nahila looks up and their eyes meet. Her scent changes – between sugar and storms, there’s interest.

            “I don’t get it. If she is too feisty to be a support animal, why did she get all whiny and clingy just now? That wasn’t feisty.”

Sten shrugs and gently places Asala on the ground. Even now she’s practically gloating.

            “Well, she was trained to calm those who need some peace of mind. If you give her a hint that you might feel bad or lost or sad, she comes up to you and tries to comfort you. Though she stopped that rather soon once I adopted her.”

I move away from Nahila’s side and lean closer to Asala,

            “You…did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

She gestures me to watch our friends. Sten has helped Nahila to her feet. The two of them look awfully cold and especially awkward. But just as I saw Sten glance at her, I see her eyes wander too – to his hands, his face and back to us,

            “It’s getting cold”, Nahila starts and I worry she’s going to ruin all the work I put into this but then she adds, “But maybe we could get coffee somewhere and you tell me more? I know a very nice place and they allow dogs and they have cookies both for dogs and dog owners-“

            “Good”, Sten cuts her off and takes Asala’s collar from her hands, “She must have given you quite a shock. It seems like a fair exchange if I treat you to coffee.”

I know the expression that is right on her face. The interest and that little, tiny spark of hope that this could be more than friendship. Even as Nahila places the leash on my collar, I notice her attention is mostly on him. As they are walking next to each other, Asala and I do our best to go slow and give them time. They do not mind.

            “Sten’s the calm after a storm”, she explains to me, “He knows both – like rising and falling tide. He asks questions whenever he does not understand something and persists – he does not give up. Not even on someone like me who was deemed unfit for their duty. Thus, my new task is to make sure he’s happy.”

I partly understand. My task is to ensure my best friend’s happiness as well. I was born for it and I knew so the moment I saw her,

            “Doesn’t explain your little acting number”, I comment.

Asala laughs, her tail wagging happily,

            “Sometimes, people need a little push.”

As I look over my shoulder and see both talking quietly, I feel at ease. Among those who are not dogs, finding a worthy companion is known to be a hassle. But as Nahila has found me and Sten has found Asala, I am very much convinced that it is completely possible to stumble into a companion worthy of your time and effort. All you need is just a little push.

[raindancer2004]

A mate for Christmas? - Alec

Word Count: 1,375 Alec x Swan reader Oneshot Warnings: Angst,  Fluff

Alec –

Demetri, Felix and the twins joined Aro and Marcus at the Cullen’s house for Christmas; Caius refusing to go as he knew the ‘Dog’ would be there. “Caius sends his apologies Carlisle, but he couldn’t join us for Christmas. He decided to stay back and keep things in order at the castle” “I understand Aro. We’re glad that you, Marcus and the guard would come” Carlisle replied.

Carlisle led them upstairs to where the rest of the family were waiting; including Y/N Swan, Bella’s sister.

Alec noticed her the moment he entered the room; Y/C hair, Y/C eyes and your scent hit him like no other had before ‘Blueberry and Vanilla’ He felt a pull towards her and a knowing smile from Marcus confirmed it; Y/N Swan was his mate.

The Cullens exchanged gifts and Y/N handed him a small gift neatly wrapped in blue wrapping paper with silver Stags “For you.” He took the gift and gave her a small smile; opening it revealed a dark green scarf and glove set “I know you don’t feel the cold but I thought they’d help you blend in a little better when you’re around humans when you’re on missions during the winter months” Alec laughed at her; Demetri smacked his arm and shook his head at him, Alec turned to face him and just glared at him. Y/N got up and went into the kitchen to get a glass of water; choosing to sit at the dining room table whilst playing a game on her phone. 

Jasper could feel everything Y/N felt at that moment; hurt, humiliation and inadequacy. Y/N felt like she wasn’t good enough for him ‘stupid little human, buying a gift for someone like him. I shouldn’t have bothered’ she thought, Edward and Jasper growled at Alec “What’s your problem?” Alec asked “You! You are my problem. You don’t deserve her” Jasper growled back. Alec raised his hands to use his gift when he felt Demetri’s hand on his shoulder “Don’t Alec. Jasper has a point; you did laugh at her and at the gift she gave you” Demetri said looking at him “Yes but…” “But what?” Bella cut him off “I’d never use it; I don’t need it” Alec replied “She told you one of the reasons she bought you that particular gift. The other reason was you could wear it when the two of you went out during the winter months… whilst she is still human” Edward said, Alec just sat there as though he was a scolded child “Brother go talk to Y/N” “Really sister?” He asked almost in disbelief “Yes she did something nice for you…when was the last time a human did something nice for you?” Jane asked “The secretary doesn’t count…even if she said she’d rather you kill her then Felix” Demetri added smirking.

Alec got up and made his way to the dining room “I owe you an apology” He said low as he entered the room; noticing the shocked look on Y/N’s face “I’m sorry I laughed at you; at the gift you gave me. I now understand why you gave me such a gift even though I do not need it” Y/N sat there and nodded at him as he took a seat beside her “You don’t need to apologise because you’ve been told to. I know that for you; one of the witch twins having a human as a mate is something to be ashamed of so just get the rejection over with so we can both move on” Y/N replied, her voice held no emotion “I-I’m apologising to you because I want to not because I was told to. I have no plans to reject you either. That wouldn’t do either of us any good” He replied back with a determination that Y/N was not expecting “O-ok, don’t get your panties in a twist” She replied and the laughs coming from the vampires in the other room didn’t amuse Alec, although Y/N bit her bottom lip to hide her smile. “I like her” Felix said nudging Demetri “She’s a brave little thing saying that to him” Jane mused.

“How about we go for a walk and get to know one another a little” Alec said standing up “Ok. Let me grab my coat” Y/N replies. A few minutes later she’s dressed to go outside wearing a blue and silver scarf with matching gloves and her dark blue winter coat. Y/N notices Alec is wearing the scarf and gloves she bought him “It’s to help me blend in remember” He smiles at her “Green looks good on you” She smiled back. They make their way out of the house and walk into the woods at the back of the Cullen house “What’s your favourite colour Alec?” She asked as they walked “Green, funnily enough” He replied “What’s yours?” “Y/F/C” She replied “My favourite animal is Y/F/A. What’s yours?” Alec thought for a moment before replying “Sharks. I watched a documentary on them a few years back and have been fascinated with them ever since” “That’s probably because they’re predators too” She replied smirking “Huh – you have a point” He says as he turns to look at her letting his ruby eyes darken a little; a smirk playing on his lips as she backs away slowly, he steps towards her slowly “Mmm…such a pretty little human” He says low as he stalks towards her like she’s prey “Run” He whispers and watches as she turns and does exactly that and waits a few moments before slowly running after her.

He watches as she looks around as if deciding which set of bushes she could hide in ‘Demetri would love this’ he thought to himself and flashes forward so he’s in front of her and catches her easily; burying his head into her neck and growling low “Got you” She lets out a soft giggle when she feels his teeth lightly graze her neck “Th-that tick-tickles” She says squirming in his hold “Who knew humans could be so fun?” He asks smiling before kissing the tip of her nose and pulling her into his chest; his arms wrapping around her. A few moments pass and she pulls away slightly and leaning up she places her warm lips to his cold cheek placing a kiss there; he can’t help the smile that appears on his lips and feels her head rest against his chest once more. He hears a familiar voice; Felix’s voice “Ahh young love” If Alec could blush, he would be, being caught in a tender moment with his mate, his human mate.

A few hours later they are cuddled up on the sofa together underneath a blanket as they watch ‘It’s a wonderful life’ with the Cullens and the Volturi “Merry Christmas Alec” “Merry Christmas little human”

Each year when winter rolled round again and Alec had to leave on missions, he would wear the green scarf and have the gloves in his pocket “This way I have a little part of you with me when you cannot be with me” He’d tell her each time he left “Aww I’ve made one of the witch twins soft” She gently teased him and she tapped his nose lightly with her finger. “You’re my entire world and I fall in love you with you more each day” He kissed her lips gently “I’ll miss you” She said low resting her head against his chest “I’ll miss you too” He replied resting his head on top of hers gently.

Every year on Christmas day Alec made it a tradition to wrap himself up in the scarf and glove set Y/N bought their first Christmas together, making sure she was wrapped up too before taking her into the Tuscany countryside to play hide and seek with her. Upon their return to the castle, they would snuggle under blankets and watch ‘It’s a wonderful life’ This tradition lasted long after he turned her as this was the little part of her humanity that he wanted to keep to alive; for the Christmas they met was the first time he had enjoyed that holiday in his long life and he didn’t want it to become just a shared memory.

[spookysanta]

braided. (c.e.)

Summary: she hates when he’s right, but she hates it even more when he knows he’s right and won’t shut up about it. or, he likes to do her hair more than she does.

Pairing: Husband!Chris Evans x Black!reader

WARNINGS: none

i don’t hate it anymore, thankfully.

UNEDITED

***

“Y’know,” he said as he entered the bedroom they shared from his shower, his waist wrapped in a towel, white steam trailing behind him from the hot bathroom. “I could ask what you’re doing, though I’m not entirely sure I’d like to know.”

“I’m not entirely sure I’d want to tell you.” His wife shrugged without missing a beat. She didn’t want to tell him that she learned a new hair-braiding technique on social media and decided to give it a try, only to stop halfway because her hands began to cramp.

“Well, it seems to me that you started on your hair and got tired.”

“Shut up.”

She hated how he just knew stuff.

And of course, she’d expected him to already have known what she was up to.

She didn’t have to tell him what was happening, because he just knew her. He knew that this would be bound to happen, especially now that she’s home full-time. When she isn’t working, she scours the Internet to find something new to do; today’s activity must’ve been hair related. She knew he would tease her for quitting her hair halfway through (like she usually does); but sometimes, she just loses interest, or her hands cramp up, she can’t help it.

“And here I was, about to offer my services to help. But no, you don’t deserve it since you’ve chosen to be mean to me.” His feet padded across the brown carpet floor over to their dresser to pick out clothes for an interview later in the day. “I was ready and willing to be the helpful husband.”

“Were you?” she retorted.

“Yup.” He discarded the towel around his waist, displaying his chiseled frame for his wife to see just because he could. He dressed himself, putting on a plain black button-up shirt and dark jeans despite the interview being conducted via video conference. “I was. I’d consider myself a nice guy, doll. I’m very helpful when I’m needed.”

He finally carried himself over to her, who was sat on their shared bed with her back against the headboard. He leaned over her tauntingly. “You sure you don’t want help?” he mumbled, lips brushing hers in a way that intimidated her.

“No.” she huffed.

“Fine.” He gave a peck to her bottom lip, standing up straight and heading toward the door. “I’ll be in the dining room if you need me…until then, have fun.”

He winked at her before exiting the room.

**

Did she mention how much she hated when he was right?

There aren’t many times when he’s just right about things, but when he is…it makes her blood boil. It’s not just that he was right, it’s the gloating that follows.

It makes her want to make him sleep on the porch.

After his interview—which had to have gone well, from the sounds of his infectious laughter coming from downstairs—she sent him a reluctant text.

 To Chris:

Okay. Fine. You win. Can you come help me now? My hands hurt.

First, it was quiet. Then, there was a loud cackle that made her hands cramp more.

She heard his footsteps (along with Dodger’s, for obvious reasons) bound up the stairs. He let out a breath as he entered the room, holding back laughter. “You rang?”

She cut her eyes at him, but softened her eyes when Dodger jumped onto the bed next to her and rested his head on her thigh.

He moved her so that he could sit behind her, the bed sinking to accommodate his frame.  She sat in between his legs. “Show me what you were trying to do.” He motioned to her phone that was tossed to the side.

She showed him a set of box braids that, to him, looked a little different that what he was used to. “Here.”

He usually helped her with her hair when she wanted to do protective styles like this—either she gets sleepy and she asks him to finish; or her hands cramp; or she gets bored; or he gets bored…

Regardless of why, the fact of the matter is now he knows how to do her hair and she planned to use it to her advantage—without the gloating, preferably, but she can only ask so much of him.

“Why do they look different than the other ones?”

“They’re knotless.” She replied. “I saw them on Twitter and tried to do it.”

“And…?”

“It’s too hard.” She groaned, plopping her head behind her on her husband’s chest.

He sat her up and looked at her hair. “You didn’t get very far.” He noted. She’d completed about four braids before he went to his interview, and since then, she’d only done two more. “How about we do the rest the way we know how, okay? It’ll go by faster.” He kissed her temple.

“Ugh.” She gave up. “Fine.”

“I know that’s not what you want—”

“At all.”

“—but you’re tired and I know you’re not going to help me until the end, and I don’t know how to do them the knotless way.” She felt him shrug. “Or, you can just have these four and be done.”

She nudged his chest with her elbow, making him chuckle.

He started reluctantly, first taking the rat-tailed comb and creating a part in the back of her head that spanned from ear-to-ear in width. She reminded him gently as she turned on the television, “don’t forget the gel”; and he knew all about the gel, by the way. The gel that smelled like heaven but was sticky and hard and was oddly fluorescent in color, and he had to use it because, “it keeps things neat”.

If it were up to him, they wouldn’t use the gel at all. But it’s her hair and what she asked for, and all he wanted was to make her happy.

Taking a piece of synthetic hair from its wrapping and folding one strip over the other like she taught him, he pressed it to the square part of her hair, braiding it into her scalp.

She’ll admit, he’s gotten quite good at it.

She won’t tell him that, of course—his ego’s already the size of Jupiter. But she will say, it’s a lot cheaper to have the two of them tackle the apparent feat of doing her hair as opposed to having to pay someone to travel all the way to their home to do the same job. In her mind, she was much more willing to spend the $80 on buying the hair and supplies, than the $250 (plus a generous tip) to pay one of her friends to do it.

He got on a lot easier than she seemed to. He completed six braids by the time Belle’s father was taken into the Beast’s castle; he’d done another five by the time Belle and the Beast played in the snow.

They made some conversation as he braided, but it was mostly her reminding him not to braid too tight. “It’ll pull when it’s time for them to come out.”

“I know, I know.” He replied gently, tapping her on the shoulder to hand him the gel when he needed more to lubricate his fingers.

Thankfully, these ones were were relatively large in size. Where they would usually be doing this all day, he was closer to being done in four hours. By the time he got towards the top of her head, Beauty and the Beast was over and she—much to his dismay—put on Age of Ultron.

Let’s be clear: she only puts on Marvel movies to fawn over her husband (and his castmates)—she already watched all the movies before they were married and knew their respective plots.

“Do we have to?” He groaned. “I’d really appreciate it if we watched something else.”

“Why?” she groaned back, mocking him playfully, reaching behind her and pinching his thigh. “You look pretty in your outfit.”

“You’d think so, huh?”

She laughed, watching the man that swept her off her feet quite literally fly through the air, his red, white, and blue shield in tow. Her eyes darted to the same shield that sat framed in a case in the corner of the room.

(He planned to move it to its own display in the living room, but he hasn’t gotten around to it yet.)

As if he read her thoughts, he mumbled to himself, “I gotta move that shield downstairs.”

“You said you were going to do it last week,”

“I meant to,” he turned her head to the side so he could start a new braid above her ear. “but I got sidetracked with work—I had meetings all week last week, remember?”

She nodded slowly in understanding, her head beginning to ache on her neck from having to remain still for so long.

She sat up straighter when she felt him get closer to the front of her head. She held up a mirror to see where his most recent part stopped, then she parted her own hair in the same way, taking pieces of synthetic hair and starting on the very front.

“Now you want to help me?” he laughed. “I’m almost done.”

“I needed a break.” She shrugged.

“I think four hours is plenty of break time, don’t you?”

“It depends.”

After another hour-and-a-half of them braiding her hair and debating—some would call it “bickering”—about why he wouldn’t dress Dodger up as Captain America for Halloween this year, they were finished.

She sighed, the tightness in her scalp irritating, but soothing in the same.

Her husband got up from behind her. Going into their bathroom, he went in the cabinet and took out a vile of oil, small and made of glass with a dropper for a lid. It was a combination of oils—some he’d heard of, some he hadn’t—that she liked to put on her hair to maintain its sheen.

He also took the time to grab her hair mousse and satin scarf, two other things that didn’t have much meaning to him until he married her.

He sat back on the bed. Wordlessly filling up the dropper, he dripped the oil onto her scalp, making her jump at first. He made sure to coat all her partings. Then he pressed his fingertips to her scalp, rubbing in gently the product.

“You okay?” he mumbled in her ear as he massaged her.

She nodded with a hum; her eyes closed in relaxation.

If there was one thing they enjoyed doing together, it was her hair.

He didn’t quite know why either. He liked helping her, yes; he liked talking with her as they did this, of course—but what was it about these kinds of moments that made his heart flutter?

There was something about massaging her scalp that made him feel closer to her. It was almost more intimate than sex, in his mind (which was saying a lot).

After a while, he stopped. She wanted to turn her head and whine to him to continue, but then she felt it.

She felt the cold foam on top of her head. Shuddering, she asked, “What’s that?”

“Mousse.” He said simply. “I’ll rub it in and then tie you up.”

She giggled childishly, “You’re gonna tie me up?”

“Yeah.” He kissed her forehead. “But not like that. Not yet, at least.” He pinched her side, which was something he always managed to do to be playful no matter how full his hands were.

He ran the product all through her scalp and down the shafts of her braids, the irritation immediately relieved. When he finished, he tied her scarf over her hair, making sure it was secure but not too tight.

“There.”

She turned to him, resting her head on his shoulder softly and kissing his scruffy neck. “Thank you, baby.”

“You don’t have to thank me, honey. This is what I’m here for.”

That made her heart flutter.

They sat like that for a while—her resting against him, and his arms around her protectively, careful not to pull her newly-installed extensions that they—ahem, he—worked hard on.

“You still have to do your ends, doll.”

Ugh. She hated that part; she always ended up burning herself somehow.

“Yeah, I know,” she sat up and stood, stretching her tired muscles. Her shirt rose just a bit, her brown tummy on display.

He almost licked his lips in lust.

Almost. He was trying to behave.

“I’m gonna go boil some water.” She yawned, trudging out of the room and to the linen closet to get two towels—one to wrap around her shoulders, and another to dry the ends of her hair once she soaked them.

In the time it took for her to get downstairs and into the kitchen to set a pot of water on the stove to boil, he’d changed into his loungewear and followed behind her. He found her seated at the kitchen table, half asleep. He tried to be quiet, but he startled her awake.

“Sorry.” He said, sitting in the open seat next to her.

She yawned again, “It’s fine.”

He found it adorable that she always got so sleepy after they finished her hair. He didn’t know if it was because of her having to sit still for so long, or if it was the scalp massage he’d given her. He didn’t really care why, because that meant he’d have another excuse to cuddle up to her.

The water soon gurgled from the stove, its heat steaming the screen of the above microwave oven. She stood, wrapping a towel around her shoulders and going to the stove. He emerged behind her, deciding that he would do it for her (since she always ended up injured).

Holding the pot by its handle, he gently dipped the ends of her braids into the hot water, taking the other towel to wring the hair dry. He did this twice, making sure that all her hair had gotten submerged and wrung.

She held her breath, clutching tightly the towel around her shoulders. She trusted him, obviously, but she still was terrified.

It took him all of five minutes to finish. By then, her arms grew tired, so she was grateful. He dumped the hot water down the sink’s drain, setting the pot back on the stove to cool down before he washed it.

Meanwhile, removing the towel from her body, she continued to wring out excess water from her ends so that they didn’t drip when she made her way upstairs to clean up. “I’m gonna put these in the wash, okay?” she kissed her husband’s cheek.

“Alright, baby.”

She smiled, thankful to have this man in her life.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He replied, kissing her hair.

—

tags (from sign-up sheet): @justtwhst @lokisbitch27

other tags: @cyberdoshee @honeychicanawrites @lovlisumi

[melanielocke]

Entrance to the Forbidden City

This is a one shot Breath of the Wild AU, where Thomas is Link and is seeking a way into the Gerudo city. Close the the city, he encounters someone who might be able to help him. At this point, I have no plans to continue this, but you never know.

Taglist: @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @foxglove-airmid @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @justanormaldemon @styxdrawings @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @alastair-appreciation-month @writeordie-4 @amchara

Thomas sheathed his sword as he entered the Kara Kara Bazaar. He wouldn’t be needing it here, he hoped, but during his travels he’d learnt to always be on guard. Calamity Ganon was growing stronger, and with him increased the number of monster attacks, not to mention he’d heard the rumors the yiga clan was active in the Gerudo Desert. His next stop should be Gerudo City, but there was a problem. For centuries, the famous city of the Gerudo had forbidden entrance to men. Thomas believed it had something to do with previous evil kings leading the Gerudo into pointless wars, but there hadn’t been male Gerudo in centuries. He needed to speak to the chief about appeasing Vah Naboris and freeing Urbosa so he could defeat Calamity Ganon, but lately the Gerudo had been on high guard and the chief would not be leaving the city.

He’d come to the Kara Kara Bazaar instead, a place where the Gerudo traded with Hylian men who were not permitted entrance to the city in the hopes of finding someone who knew another, secret way into the city. Thomas didn’t want to harm the Gerudo and respected their customs, but he liked to belief this was a life and death situation. He overheard a couple of Hylian men.

The Bazaar was a nice place centered around an oasis. A little Gerudo girl was swimming in the water, and Thomas would like to go for a swim later. The desert heat had proven a bit much for him and he was glad for the shade the buildings offered. Most of the traders were seated outside on carpets, displaying their wares.

‘It’s impossible to get inside,’ one of the Hylian men argued.

Thomas was not included in the conversation, but the men did not have the good sense to keep their voices down.

‘There are rumors, of a man in the city,’ another said. ‘There must be some truth to it.’

‘Even if you could get past the gates, I imagine traversing a city full of Gerudo women might be dangerous,’ Thomas said. ‘They’re quite handy with their spears and scimitars and would not look kindly to men sneaking in.’

‘You make a fine point,’ one of the men begrudgingly admitted.

‘Better to send messages through my wife,’ another said. ‘None of this hassle of getting in the city, I bring my goods here and if I need anything from the city, my wife makes the journey.’

Thomas, of course, didn’t have a wife. He’d woken up from a long slumber not long ago and had been fighting monsters and traveling Hyrule ever since. Not to mention he was not attracted to women.

‘I’ll have to find another way in then,’ Thomas said. ‘For I don’t have a wife to ask favors of.’

‘In that case, you might want to talk to that Gerudo girl over there,’ one of the men said. ‘The one selling cakes. Rumor has it she can get you inside the city, but she refuses to talk to any of us, she will only sell us her cakes.’

Thomas followed the man’s gaze to a lone girl with a golden brown skin sitting on a patterned Gerudo carpet. She wore a purple veil that covered both her hair and her face from the nose down, combined with a short purple top and a white sirwal Thomas knew was popular among Gerudo. Her stomach was bare, and Thomas realized that despite being slim, she was quite muscular. She wore lots of jewelry, a pair of topaz earrings. Thomas had been looking into getting a pair of his own as he’d been told they offered shock resistance.

She looked up, caught his stare. She had beautiful dark eyes, he noticed. He rarely looked at girls that way, he wasn’t sure what was different now.

‘She seems into you,’ one of the men said. ‘I say grab your chance, Gerudo girls are said to be hard to get.’

Thomas left the men behind, growing a little uncomfortable with their conversation, and sat down on the carpet beside the girl. He was aware that might be odd or too forward, but he needed to speak to her.

‘Seen something you like?’ she said.

Her voice was a little deeper than he’d expected of a girl, but perhaps that was because she was Gerudo. Thomas didn’t know how to respond. Was she flirting with him?

‘I like men,’ Thomas said.

He preferred being direct, and this way it would be clear he didn’t like her flirting, if that was what she’d intended to do.

The girl laughed. ‘I meant the cakes. As for your preferences… that shouldn’t be a problem.’

Thomas looked at the person in front of him. ‘You’re not a girl,’ he said.

‘Never claimed I was,’ the boy said. ‘My name’s Alastair.’

Gerudo males were rare, some said they didn’t even exist. Of course, it had been a hundred years and Thomas barely remembered anything. Perhaps Alastair was the first male Gerudo centuries. Or perhaps there were more of them nowadays.

‘Why are you dressed like a girl?’ Thomas asked and he realized that might be a stupid question.

‘I like these clothes,’ Alastair said. ‘And considering there are no male Gerudo, you can hardly say these clothes are gendered, are they? I think it’s nonsense for clothes to be gendered, yet so many male Hylians would rather die than put this on. I say, their loss, I look great. Besides, I’d die in the desert heat if I had to wear that tunic of yours. Not that it doesn’t look well on you.’

Thomas smiled. ‘Right. Sorry, I’m Thomas. And you’re right, what I’m wearing is pretty hot. I actually traversed the desert without my shirt, but I figured that would be indecent here.’

‘Now that’s something I wish I could have seen,’ Alastair said. ‘You could go for a swim here if you want.’

Thomas felt his cheeks flush. Was Alastair flirting with him? He had to admit, Alastair was very attractive, although he couldn’t see most of his face. A few locks of ink black hair escaped his veil, framing his face.

‘I’m looking for a way to get inside Gerudo city,’ Thomas said. ‘Do you know how? Wait, you must be forbidden entry as well, right? You’re a man too, even if you’re Gerudo.’

‘I’m not Gerudo,’ Alastair said.

Thomas frowned. ‘Really? You kind of look Gerudo.’

‘If I were, I’d be a lot taller. And my hair would be red, not black. No, I’m Hylian,’ Alastair said. ‘But I live around here, work for the Gerudo chief. I grew up in Hateno village, but I like it here better.’

‘Even if you’re not allowed in the city?’ Thomas asked.

‘You mistook me for a girl,’ Alastair pointed out. ‘I can go in the city whenever I like as long as I wear this. It’s almost time for me to pack up. Why don’t you join me for dinner? We can have whatever I don’t sell for desert.’

Thomas smiled awkwardly. He was very much interested in having dinner with Alastair and not only because Alastair might help him get inside Gerudo city.

One of the men he’d spoken to earlier came by to buy a mighty fruit cake. As it was made with banana, it increased someone’s strenght for a while. Thomas had always been interested in the strange way cooking meals and elixirs could come with beneficial effects.

‘Fond of bananas, are you?’ Alastair asked while scribbling something down.

‘My favorite,’ the man said with a smile. ‘Can’t get enough of them.’

He helped Alastair box the remainder of his cakes, and they went inside. The house was small, with a two person bed, kitchen and table all in the same room, and a small door leading to a bathroom. One wall was decorated with several Gerudo spears.

Alastair removed his veil and put it in a closet. His black hair reached his shoulders, falling in soft locks. Thomas wondered if only male Gerudo had dark hair. As far as he knew all Gerudo women had red hair. He was pretty, Thomas had always loved the combination of dark hair and eyes, and he once again wondered about Alastair’s possible interest in him. He’d definitely been flirting, right? But Thomas didn’t have time for romance, he reminded himself. Lucie was in Hyrule Castle all by herself, holding back the calamity. She needed his help as soon as possible. He was here to appease Vah Naboris.

‘I’ve been selling lots of fruit cakes with banana in them,’ Alastair said. ‘Bad news.’

Thomas frowned. ‘How is that bad?’

‘The yiga clan is said to be fond of them,’ Alastair said. ‘Have you heard of them?’

The yiga clan was a group of evil sheikah dedicated to resurrecting Calamity Ganon and destroying the Hylian champion. Thomas knew who they were, considering they were all after him.

‘I am familiar with them,’ Thomas said. ‘Fought off a couple of their foot soldiers during my travels.’

‘You’re very brave,’ Alastair said. ‘The real reason I’m here, selling cakes, is to investigate them. Hylian men come here, yes, but so do the yiga. I’ve had my eye on that man who bought the banana cake for a while. He’s been here on and off for some time, and the time intervals wouldn’t allow him to travel all the way to a Hylian town. He could come from the Gerudo Canyon Stables, perhaps, but the traveling distance would also match up with the hideout of the yiga clan.’

Thomas’ eyes went wide. ‘You know where their hideout is?’

Alastair gathered some materials onto the stove, Thomas could recognize hylian rice, goron spice and some vegetables.

‘Not yet,’ Alastair said as he added everything into his cooking pot and put on the stove. ‘We know it’s somewhere north of Gerudo city, and they’ve been around a lot. My sister’s been fighting them off, but not long ago they stole the thunder helmet, an heirloom to the Gerudo chief’s family.’

Thomas wondered how Alastair knew so much about the Gerudo. He claimed not to be one, yet dressed like one, seemed familiar with their customs and heritage.

‘I could help retrieve it,’ Thomas offered. ‘I’m familiar with the yiga clans’ fighting style, and am quite accomplished with this sword.’

Finding the master sword had been quite a journey, as Lucie had taken it back to Korok Forest. To find it, he’d had to traverse the lost woods in the north.

‘Good. I like your sword, it looks good. But first, I should introduce you to my sister,’ Alastair said. ‘The chief of the Gerudo.’

Thomas frowned. ‘You said you weren’t Gerudo.’

‘I’m not, my mother is,’ Alastair said. ‘And so is my sister.’

‘I’m confused,’ Thomas said.

‘Gerudo men are extremely rare, none have been born in centuries,’ Alastair said. ‘Gerudo women usually find Hylian men to be their lovers and have children. My mother was different, she was married to my father and lived with him in Hateno village, but she returned to her hometown not long ago. Anyway, this means all Gerudo have a non Gerudo father, and most only give birth to daughters. I’m the exception, but I’m Hylian, even if I do look a lot like my mother. Although you could say that culturally, I’m more Gerudo than Hylian.’

‘That’s weird,’ Thomas said. ‘I had no idea it worked like that. I always thought the children of a Gerudo are always Gerudo.’

‘Most of the time,’ Alastair said. ‘My sister is Gerudo like our mother, I’m Hylian like our father, even if I look like the Hylian version of my mother. People are always very confused. Since the chief of the Gerudo is my sister, I can get you an audience with her, no problem.’

‘Is that why they said you could help me get inside?’ Thomas asked.

‘I’ve spread that rumor myself, actually, to draw out the yiga,’ Alastair said. ‘Unfortunately, they still got in somehow to steal the thunder helmet. But I recognize you, you’re the Hylian champion and you carry the sword that seals the darkness. However, that won’t get you into the city.’

‘You know who I am?’ Thomas asked.

To most people, the Hylian champion was just a story, someone who’d died a hundred years ago. The Zora recognized him, of course, for to them a hundred years wasn’t much and most Zora from back then still lived. He’d encountered his cousin Christopher too, a renown Sheikah researcher of ancient technology who’d accidently turned himself into a six year old. But beyond them, people didn’t know who he was.

‘I recognize that sword. I’ve always been interested in weapons, although I prefer spears myself,’ Alastair said, gesturing to his collection. ‘My sister will be quite interested in you as well. But you can’t walk in like this.’

‘So, then how?’ Thomas asked.

Alastair smirked. ‘I think I have a veil and outfit that would fit you lying around here somewhere.’

Thomas frowned. ‘I’m not slim or feminine like you. No one’s going to believe I’m a girl, not with these shoulders.’

‘You’re right, your shoulders are quite extra ordinary,’ Alastair said. ‘But it’ll be fine. I think at this point, about half the city knows I’m not a girl, but as long as I dress like one no one kicks me out. Besides, Gerudo women are very tall and muscular.’

‘So all these men claiming it’s impossible, they could just put on some feminine clothes and they could go in? And they never realized?’

Some of them had facial hair, but Thomas imagined the veil would conceal that as well. He couldn’t imagine anyone would believe he was a woman ever, not with his height, his broad shoulders Alastair thought were extra ordinary. But according to Alastair, that didn’t matter as long as he was willing to dress like a girl. Alastair had a point though, clothes being gendered was strange.

Alastair rolled his eyes. ‘Most men are far too proud of their so called masculinity to dress in women’s clothes. Never mind that any Gerudo woman could defeat them in battle with their eyes closed. You seem like a strong warrior though, watching you fight a Gerudo warrior might be interesting.’

‘Thank you. You seem strong too. Do you often use your spears in battle?’

‘I am currently undercover, but I do fight. I travel sometimes, and these days anyone should be able to defend themselves if they wish to survive outside the few cities that remain.’

‘True,’ Thomas said. ‘I’ve encountered monsters everywhere lately.’

‘Ever defeated a molduga?’ Alastair asked. ‘My sister and I have. They’re very large and live in the desert, killing unsuspecting travelers. They are sensitive to shifts in the sands and will know where you are in an instant.’

‘I can’t say I have,’ Thomas said. ‘But I’m willing to give it a try. My ultimate goal is to defeat Calamity Ganon though.’

‘I hope you succeed,’ Alastair said. ‘If you ever need help, or someone to accompany on your journey, I’m more than willing.’

‘It would be dangerous,’ Thomas said.

‘Have you seen my spears? I defeated a molduga with those,’ Alastair said. ‘And my sister is even stronger a warrior than me. I’m better at stealth too, so if you need to break into the yiga hideout unseen you could use my help.’

Thomas guessed he should take Alastair up on that offer, he could always use extra help. His journeys could get lonely, would Alastair be willing to come with him beyond a trip to the yiga clan hideout?

‘Alright,’ Thomas said. ‘We can go together after I speak to your sister. When do we leave?’

Alastair made two plates of the food he’d made, and Thomas thankfully ate some curry. It didn’t have any special effects, but he loved eating food with goron spice.

‘After dinner. I think it’s best to start searching for the hideout early tomorrow morning, or it’ll get too hot. Or, and I think this is a pretty solid idea, we wait until it’s so hot you’ll have no choice but to take off your shirt.’

Thomas smiled. ‘Let’s go early. Not that I don’t want you to see… I just don’t think it would be practical, and we only just met…’

‘Don’t worry, I’m just joking. But you should go out with me sometime after we defeat Calamity Ganon.’

‘You’re going to help me?’ Thomas asked.

‘Of course,’ Alastair said. ‘If we break into the yiga clan hide out and wreak some havoc, I won’t have to go undercover as a cake vendor anymore. I’m sure Cordelia won’t mind if I join you.’

[hitoshisbabygirl]

Lambient Nights ~ K. Bakugou

Author's Notes ♡: Hey guys, it’s me, ya girl and I’m back with another collab this week! I really loved this masquerade idea and I hope I tackled it in a modern way. It’s kinda all over the place but the smut was immaculate (ha sorta ).･ﾟﾟ･(／ω＼)･ﾟﾟ･.! This is nice and heated, I liked making Bakugou his common aggressive self with a bit of tenderness so ʕ⊙ᴥ⊙ʔ. I hope I did a decent job with this wonderful idea , I tried to make a modern masquerade but I feel like I failed 😅 anyway I hope you enjoy reading this and much as I did writing it ~ bunny ❥

Warnings : NSFW!!! (◎_◎;)

Semi public sex, female oral, Big Dick Baku , Dom! Bakugou, name calling , Bakugou cursing as usual

Word count : About 2.2 k!

Paring(s) : Katsuki Bakugou x F! Reader

Enjoy ♡

———————————————————————

Number 2 Hero GorundZero!

Youre invited to the annual Midnights Masquerade

Meet around the back at the Twili Castle

Have your masks and outfits ready

Make sure you bring a friend or that special one tonight ~

Madam Midnight

Bakugou lets out a deep sigh, setting the dark paper down on the counter as he let out a growl, sparking up his kitchen counter. “Damnit!” He yelled as he glared at the mocking note. With a huff, he picked up his phone, calling up some of his friends. “Shitty hair, did you get one of these things too?” Bakugou yelled as his red haired and laughing counterpart answered his question “Well hello to you too Bakubro! I did, I'm planning on inviting Mina , she said she always wanted to go to one of those Masquerade Balls, She'll probably leave me for the girls anyway! Why don't you bring that one girl.. What was her name, Er Cassy? Carie? Camie? Yeah Camie! Why dont bring her?” Kirishima rambled. “ Hell NO, she's been dating some guy from their old highschool, that big wind brute. They've been dating, and me and her were a fling a while ago , why they hell would you even say that?” Bakugou huffed as Kirishima laughed once again, stopping his yelling blonde friend. “How about [ ]?” Kirishima said as the blonde on the other side fell silent, making the red haired friend call out to him again, a grunt falling from his lips as Kirishima questioned him again. “Sooo…[ ] ? what about her?”Bakugou responded with an uncommonly quiet tone “She probably would, but not with me..” Kirishima stopped and tried to figure out why his usually confident friend was so self conscious “Why do you say that? She'd probably love to go with you!’ With a deeper sigh Bakugou continued , “Yeah She’d love to go to that shitty thing , but it's stupid.” Kirishima couldn't help but laugh at his friend's conflicted feelings. “Bakugou, ask her and tell me what she say and we'll see you guys tonight okay?” Kirishima sia dand before his explosive friend could argue anything with him he hung up, prepared to deal with the aftermath of his best friend.

[ ] hearing her phone ring from her bedroom , running from her bathroom up the stairs to the room,she saw the iconic “angry pomeranian” lighting up her screen. With a laugh she picked up the phone. “Well hello Katsuki, how are you today?” A grunt on the other line made her laugh harder as the blonde finally spoke. “What are you doing later?” He gruffed out as [. ] stopped, biting her lip as she thought about the context of his question. “Hmmmm nothing, I’m probably gonna cook later and just hang out with Mina. Why? Aww Katsuki are you finally going to admit you like me?” With a crash coming from the other line she heard Bakugou yell. “OW. HEY DUMBASS I DONT LIKE YOU WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE” with a howling laugh she calmed down and waited for the reason the angry blonde called her in the first place. “Sigh..well since you’re not doing shit, coming with me to this shitty masquerade party” [. ] squealed out as she hopped off her bed as he told her the details and who’s masquerade it was. “YOU of all people got an invite to Midnights’ Masquerade? Count me in! I’ll be your date!” With a sigh Bakugou agreed to pick her up at 8:00. As they hung up [. ] couldn’t help help the giddy feeling pooling up in her stomach as she got dressed quickly, heading to the store for her outfit for the night.

Promptly at 8:00 , Bakugou pulled up to her house, sighing as he looked at himself. All black everything, he hated the suit jacket Kirishima kept trying to give him so he decided to go with a vest and opt in a black button up instead of the white one the shop had. Looking down as he scrolled through his phone he heard a door shut as heels clicked down the driveway of the rather pretty house he was in front of. Looking up from his phone he saw one of the prettiest sights he’d even seen. Sure he’s seen his fair share of women of all types and ways of life but something clicked seeing [. ] come from her door. A long black low cutting dress framed her body as long curls fell down her back. She ran to his car and got in, dramatically falling against the seat. “Who knee dressing up took work” she said as she looked at the usually angry blonde beside her, that unusually head a unreadable face. “What?” [. ] said as Bakugou snapped out of his trance, grumbling as he stepped on the gas, headed to the mysterious mansion on the invite.

“Look at you mamas!” Mina called out to [. ] as she hugged her, the two laughing together as they took in their appearances. “Look at YOU, even with the mask on your adorable Mina! Where are the other girls at?” [. ] laughed as the pink girl took her hand. “The others are inside. We can let the brutes talk to eachother.” She said as she gestures to Kirishima and Bakugou, walking into the mansion. “This place is huge..it’s nice though” Kirishima started as he looked to Bakugou who was paying him no attention, watching the duo of girls walk into the main doors, vermilion eyes staring at the girl he came with. “ Yknow if you want you could catch up to her?” Kirishima suggested as the blonde let out a gruff. “Shut up. Let’s get this shitty night over with.” Bakugou said as Kirishima laughed, running to join his bestfriend. Throughout the night Bakugou joined his friends, the group of them talking about work, and watching their significant others wander and dance around the hall. While the others drained on about their life , Bakugou couldn’t help his rage boiling over as he watched [. ] roll her hips onto Mina , the two laughing and enjoying the night.

As he watched Mina go for a different girl to hit on, he saw a mystery man walk up and put his hands where minas were, letting her continue her actions. With pops of explosions coming from his hand he stomped to the girl, snatching her away from the guy as he took her to a nearby room, shutting and locking the door behind them. “Uh is there something wrong here Katsuki?” [. ] said with a slight slur as the older and towering blonde stepped to her.

“What the hell was that!? You let that extra put his dirty hands all over you, you’re here with me no one can touch you but me” He growled out as [. ] scoffed, stepping right back to him. “Like you care now Katsuki , I was with Mina not some random” She said as she tried to get past him. Grabbing her arm , Bakugou turned her back to him as he put her onto the bed in front of them. “Oh no sweetheart, there was a nobody touching you, and it seems you want me to let everyone know how much I actually care about you.” He started as she looked at him confused. “I’ve liked you since last year you dumbass..and now here we are with me admitting this stupid shit with you under me” Bakugou said as [. ] blinked , a slow grin coming to her lips. Unknowing to him , the incident he witnessed was planned out by her devious friend herself. Mina let it be known that she , Kirishima and everyone knew the hidden feelings he had for her, and giving him a little show should spark him and his feelings to be admitted. And they were right.

“Oh Suki..I’m glad you’re finally admitting it. Now shut up and make me yours”

And with that fateful sentence, Bakugou pinned her arms to the bed, kissing her lips quickly as she let out a gasp , wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. Deepening the kiss, Bakugou crawled over her, picking her legs up and wrapping them around his waist. Pulling away Bakugou smirked , pulling the dress up and off of her revealing the orange and black lingerie underneath. “Well damn baby, seems you wrapped my gift up already..you planned this shit didn’t you?” Bakugou snarled as [. ] bit her lip and giggled, opening her legs wider. “Why don’t you unwrap it” she said , revealing that the underwear had an opening through the crouch, revealing her glistening and puffy lips to the hot head. “Fuck…” Bakugou whispered as he pushed her legs up and opened. “Can I have a taste babygirl?” He said as his voice dropped octaves , causing a shiver to go down [. ]’s spine. Shaking her head for permission, Bakugou snapped his wrist, lighting the straps off of her underwear and pulling them off. “Hey!” She started as she was soon cut off from complaining when a warm mouth sucking at her clit. “F-fuck...Suki” she moaned out as Bakugou smirked, popping off her clit. “Shut up shitty woman , I’ll buy you as much shit as you want. Right now I wanna fuck you so the whole place know who you belong to..I want you fuck you silly yeah? So be quiet or I’ll make the after party even worse” And with that he continued, sucking her clit , soon putting a thick and warm finger inside, then another, rolling his tongue diligently again her nub as she whimpered and moaned out, pulling the blondes hair as she rocked her hips against his lips, Bakugou letting out a growl as she sped up his actions, doubling down on his actions as he felt [. ]’s hips jerk, her orgasam flooding her senses as she screamed out as it hit, her pussy gushing as her body fell down onto the bed. With a smirk Bakugou snapped up, pulling her clit up as he came from off of her. “Geez you made a mess slut...Ready for the main course?”

He laughed as he rubbed at his tent in his pants, a spot forming on his dress pants as he pulled his zipper and pants down, showing his throbbing and heavily length. “Well sheesh..I know you were packing but geez Suki...you’re gonna split me in half with something like that..” [. ] laughed nervously as Bakugous’ smirk widened “or I’ll give you a nice stretch. I promise, you’ll be nice and full..and I won’t hurt you okay?” He said as he leaned down to kiss her temple “only if you want it” he finished off with as [. ] smiled softly. “Of course I want it , I’m just surprised. At least your attitude matched what your packing” she laughed as he rolled his eyes, grabbing her hips and flipping her to her stomach as she gasped. “Don’t worry, I’ll treat you like the good little bitch you are” He said, pulling her closer as he smacked her clit with the head of his dick, grunting as he slid between her wet walls, moaning out as the girl underneath him whimpered, pushing her hips to meet his.

“Fuck yes..take this dick baby” Bakugou said as he started to push his hips against hers, spreading her ass as he watched him disappear between her legs, his pride growing as he heard her little noises and moans spurring him on to go faster and harder. As she threw her hips back to match his Bakugou reached down and rubbed her clit from behind, her walls closing tighter as she screamed out at the sudden simulation, her eyes rolling back as he smacked her ass and soon after reaching up to pull her hair back to him, her back against his chest as he continued to rub her clit, pumping into her as his other hand slid to her neck, keeping her against him.

“Take it pretty slut, let them know who’s doing this to you...you’re close, I can tell by how tight you keep getting..let it out baby..and I’ll make you feel even better once we get home” [. ]’s mouth dropped open as she moaned out, Bakugous name fumbling from her lips as he bit down on her neck , pushing her over the limit.

With a whine of Bakugous name she came, falling forward as she shook in oversimulation. As she clamped down on Bakugou it pushed himself over the edge as he came into her, grunting as she get even tighter “Fuck..you wanted me to come in you hun? Damn..to know my girl was such a little cumslut..I’ll have to remember that for later” He chuckled as he pulled out of her. “Let’s try to wrap this little party up..then I can give you the real show later..”

[dreamescapeswriting]

BTS Reaction || Scolding Your Child [Request]

A/N: This all just reminds me of that clip of Jackson Wang with the little girl who was playing in water omg

Seokjin:

It was your son's 8th birthday and Jin had thrown a huge surprise party for him at the BigHit building complete with a bouncy castle which now looking at it seemed more for the boys than it did for your son and his friends.

"Jin sweetie?" You called out at the bottom of the bouncy castle and he came down smiling at you as the other members stood at the top watching you both talking.

"I can't find him, he said he was going to go and find you and then he vanished right before I could say anything." Neither of you was panicked by the sudden disappearance of your son he couldn't get out of the BigHit building so he couldn't have wandered far.

"I'll get Namjoon to go and check the security cameras and then-" Jin stopped when he turned around and you followed his gaze to find your eight-year-old son climbing onto the side panels of the bouncy castle and Jin went red in the face panicking about him falling down and seriously hurting himself.

"Get down!" He yelled when you both reached your son, he was laughing along with his friends cheekily as you tried to grab him,

"I saw uncle Jimin do it so I wanted to try," Your son protested so you pulled him down and stood him in front of you, you were about to take charge when Jin did it for you. Neither you nor Jin had been great at the whole scolding thing but your son wasn't spoiled and he respected everyone around him,

"So if uncle Jimin took a long walk off a short pier would you follow?" Jin questioned raising an eyebrow at your son who just shrugged his shoulders and answered,

"If I had my swimming trunks yes," You held back the giggle you wanted to let out and you son ran off you rubbed Jin's lower back and kissed his shoulder as he stood there staring at the space where your son had been stood.

"He gets his humour from you,"

"Sometimes that isn't a good thing." Jin mumbled wrapped his arms around your waist and taking you over to where the food was so you could properly plan a way to scold your son when the party was over,

"Uncle Jimin is grounded too," You mumbled pointing over at Jimin who was now scaling the side of the bouncy castle once again.

"JIMIN!" Jin yelled and Jimin jumped down and sprinted away right as Jin began walking towards him.

Yoongi:

Your kids had all be warned that they weren't allowed to go into their dad's studio, it was one of the house rules and the most stuck by one. Even you weren't allowed in there so the kids all accepted it, except for your youngest daughter who was 4 and always wanted to be with Yoongi.

"I told you, baby, you're not allowed." You told her as you pulled her away from the door to the at-home studio that Yoongi practically lived in.

"How about we go and play with dolls instead?" She shook her head and sat down in front of the studio door staring up at it as if it would somehow make Yoongi come out and grab her.

"Wait here." You whispered to her sprinting off to find your phone on the other side of the house, why did you need such a big house there was only four of you in the house.

"Namjoon? What's up?!" You asked running back to the place where you had left your daughter only to find her missing and the studio door pulled open.

"Shit. I'll call you back." You hung up and rushed into the room to find your daughter standing there with her arms folded over her chest, her bottom lip out and tears on her cheeks as Yoongi scolded her for going into the room she wasn't allowed in.

"You know you're not allowed." She rushed over to you hiding behind your legs and mumbling that she was scared of her dad, Yoongi was strict but he had been the same way with your son.

"He's right." You said pulling her out from behind you and standing her in front of you and Yoongi,

"You know you're not allowed in here." Your tone was softer than the one Yoongi was using but you knew that yelling and screaming wouldn't make her understand,

"You could get hurt in here, or you could ruin daddy's work." You told her and she sniffled looking at Yoongi who was agreeing with you. She said nothing but threw her arms around Yoongi's neck bringing him down to her level.

"I just wanted to spend time with dad," Yoongi stared at you as you smirked at him, he could never stay mad at her because of the way she was with him. The kids both made him a huge softy though he would never admit that out loud to them since he still had to be more of a father figure than a friend to them.

"We'll spend time together when I'm done, okay?" She nodded and you both walked out of the room together.

Hoseok:

Your daughter was spoilt rotten, you and Hoseok would never spoil her she had to work for the money she got every week by doing chores around the house but she was getting to the age where she no longer wanted to do any chores, she just wanted the money.

"You're not going out until you earn the money yourself." You told your 15-year-old daughter as she followed you around the kitchen. She'd come home demanding you give her money to go out to the cinema with some friends and you told her no since she'd been neglecting her chores all week.

"Fine! I'll go and ask dad!" With that she turned around only to come face to face with Hoseok who raised an eyebrow at her, she began batting her eyes up at him and asking nicely for the money.

"You haven't done your chores this week, you know the rules." She scoffed at you both,

"We're rich! Why can't I just take the money we have! It's not like we need it!" You watched as Hobi put his coffee mug down onto the kitchen counter,

"We earn the money because it teaches us values, you can't expect to get something for nothing young lady." He started and she began to rant back at him about how she was his daughter and it wasn't fair that she had to earn her money,

"You could always go out and get a job." You started and she stared at you with an expression of shock mixed with anger,

"A job?!" You stared at her raising your eyebrow,

"I had one when I first met your dad and continued to keep it until I had you." She laughed at you and began ranting about how you weren't working now and Hoseok lost it. He began yelling about how spoilt she was acting and how she wasn't allowed to go anyway because she was grounded for the next two nights.

"Go to your room!" He finally finished and she stormed off with her arms folded over her chest mumbling words about you both. Something you and Hoseok did as kids whenever you were scolded.

"We've got another on the way, you'll be doing this all over again in 15 years." You teased touching the small bump that was under your shirt and he groaned debating about going and calming his daughter down but he knew that would only make her think she could get away with things again so he left it.

Namjoon:

Much like Namjoon your son was clumsy and he was clumsy from an early age, he was always falling off of things or dropping things, or just breaking things much like his dad so it was no surprise that he was always falling off his bike whenever he rode it. You, Namjoon, and the boys were taking your son out to a local park for the day since it was beautiful sunny weather and he was riding along on his bike next to Namjoon and Jungkook when he fell off and you heard him scream the words,

"Ah shit." From there it felt like the world was moving in slow motion you'd never heard those words leave his mouth until that day and you never wanted to hear it again, your 5-year-old son hadn't heard that from you or Namjoon so you stared at him as Namjoon picked him up brushing off his scraped knee while you searched for a band-aid in your handbag that you always carried around.

"Where did you hear that?" Jungkook was walking away trying to act as innocent as he could possibly be and you should have guessed that that was where he had heard the words from. Jungkook was the one that swore the most around you guys but you assumed he had it stopped since you all had kids to be mindful of, it was no surprise that he'd picked up on it since Jungkook babysat the most out of all of the boys.

"Uncle Jungkook says it a lot when you aren't around." Jungkook froze at the mention of his name and you began lecturing your son on why he wasn't supposed to say words like that because they were bad while Namjoon got up from the floor and began scolding Jungkook right in front of you son so he would realise it wasn't allowed - even for adults.

"It was one time!" Jungkook yelled but Namjoon wasn't having any of it he didn't want his son to grow up thinking swearing was okay, he bent down onto his knees in front of you son and gave him a second lecture about how naughty words weren't allowed to be said and you son agreed promising never to copy his uncle Jungkook again and Jungkook promised never to swear in front of the kids again.

Jimin:

You were walking around the mall with Jimin and your daughter looking for a birthday present for Jin's son when your daughter spotted a new dollhouse that she had been wanting for months but you'd already bought her the toy and it was waiting back at home for her birthday next month.

"I want one daddy!" She yelled out loud enough for people to start turning around to see what she was doing, you looked at her as she tried to convince her dad to buy her the dollhouse that she wanted but Jimin told her no.

"But I want it now daddy!" She yelled stomping her foot on the floor and then folding her arms across her chest like she was a spoilt little girl when it wasn't true.

"No, we're here for your cousin's birthday." She stood in place when you and Jimin tried to leave and you stared back at her as she stood her ground demanding that she had the dollhouse now instead of waiting.

"This is your fault." You giggled to him as he picked her up and carried her out of the toy shop kicking and screaming about how she wanted the dollhouse and how she deserved it.

"How do you work that out?" He asked as she continued to kick to try and get down but neither of you were having it.

"You're always bringing her gifts and spoiling her a lot," It was something that bothered you a lot, you didn't want her to become one of those children that demanded everything they wanted and then got it. Jimin put her down in front of him and began to tell her off,

"This isn't the way we brought you up." You watched as you daughter was shocked into being silent. Jimin never raised his voice at her ever so it was quite a shock to your both to see him doing it now, he began to tell her that she was behaving wrong and if she continued he would ground her and she wouldn't go to the party at all.

"But dad-"

"No buts!" You watched as she nodded and stared at the floor following you both around in silence as you continued to hunt for a birthday gift.

Taehyung:

Your son wasn't exactly thrilled by the fact that his dad had to work on his birthday but the producers had been kind enough to let you go and hang around on set while they filmed an episode of run and everything was going fine until they brought out a giant bouncy castle for the boys to film on.

"I want to play." He grumbled sitting on the floor in front of you and watching his dad as well as his six uncles all climb around the bouncy castle, throwing balloons full of paint at one another.

"Not yet, daddy is busy." He mumbled something you didn't hear but he got up from the floor rushing over to his dad and began telling him that he had had enough of waiting and that it was his time to play now. The producers cut the cameras and you rushed out onto the set for him,

"He's just cranky because he's tired." You lied knowing your son had already napped and had a full night of sleep the night before.

"No! I want to play! I miss daddy!" That was all it took and he began to throw a tantrum about not being able to see Taehyung enough and how he wanted to spend more time with him,

"Tae I'll take him home-" You couldn't finish your sentence because Taehyung went down onto his knees and faced your son,

"What have I told you about tantrums?" You watched as Taehyung scolded your son in front of everyone. He'd always been amazing with your kid, you both were, he was just a little stricter when it came to keeping him in line and yelling at him whenever he did something wrong.

"But I miss you-"

"I miss you too and I know it's your birthday but daddy is very busy. We have a surprise for you after all this is done so keep being good and you can have it okay?" He nodded and you both walked away to sit and watch from the side again, this time your son sat in silence and watched his dad play with his uncles.

Jungkook:

You were bringing food into Jungkook and your son who were playing video games, it was Jungkook's day off and he was spending it with his son to get some bonding done.

"What are you playing?" You asked when you watched Jungkook acting dramatic when he lost, your son looked up and then back down at the screen ignoring you. He'd been in a bad mood with you since the night before when you wouldn't let him stay up late to greet Jungkook but it was the only time you would have with Jungook for a while,

"Teaching him how to play overwatch," Jungkook chuckled going back to the game and explaining the controls to him,

"Oh let me." You swapped places with Jungkook and began playing against your son who was winning at first but you managed to beat him and he threw the controller down onto the floor before punching you in the arm. He was only 6 so it wasn't like it hurt but Jungkook shut it down right away, standing in front of him and making him look him in the eyes.

"Hey! Hey!" He looked at his dad with tears in his eyes and Jungkook shook his head at him,

"We don't hit! We don't hit mummy, daddy or anyone else, do you understand?" Your son nodded as he let tears roll down his face, Jungkook was being firm about this since it was a serious thing to get into your sons head from a young age and your son threw his arms around your neck holding you tightly and kissing your cheek promising that he would never hurt you again. He then looked at your arm where he had hit you and gave it a 'magic' kiss so that it would feel better.

"No more games tonight, we'll do something else together okay?" Your son nodded and left the room to go and find board games for you all to play while Jungkook sat down next to you and you praised him for doing such a good job of scolding him. He'd always been worried he wouldn't be up to it.

Tagline: 

@writingdreamsnottragedies @yoongisdumplingcheeks @snowy-meowl @jooniesdarlingdimples @lynnthevirgo @chimchims-stories-and-tales @fan-ati--c @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @callingmyangel @btsiguess-kpop @rjsmochii

[recurring-polynya]

In tHiaM, Renji mentioned a fictional fateful encounter in which he and Rukia met in the circus. I can picture this deeply. The Rukon has circuses. It has gritty knife throwers, it has scrappy beast tamers, it has a lovely doe-eyed tightrope walker who does stunts so dangerous your hair'd turn white just watching her. It is for Renji's birthday so he should get Rukia being extremely badass and saving his life from a rampaging circus bear. Ideally, Kenpachi is there.

A lot of times, I’ll have some idea for a story, and I’ll do a bit of research and find out that the thing I wanted to do absolutely does not exist in Japanese culture, and I was completely sure that when I dug into it, Japanese circuses would not be a thing, or they would be extremely different from Western circuses, but as it turns out, circuses were absolutely a thing in the Edo era, and they had acrobats and strongmen and horseriding and more. I had so many tabs open about circuses, and almost none of it actually made it into this fanfic.

Anyway, THANK YOU ALOPEX, you know what I like to write, and what I like to write is Renji telling rambling stories of questionable veracity. I put in some lifting for good measure. This might be the most perfect Renji birthday story.

If it isn’t immediately evident, this takes place in the middle of the Advance Team Arc, or more specifically, in the middle of my Advance Team Arc story, See You on the Other Side, where Renji tells Chad a different RenRuki origin story that’s basically the desert bandit subplot from Crouching Tiger, and also a story about bees.

Read on ao3 | ff.net

🏋️‍♂️   💪   🤡    🎪    🐻

Renji hefted the last bumper plate onto the end of the barbell and tightened the collar. Chad watched him with narrowed eyes.

“You sure you want to try this?” Renji asked. “One thousand pounds. It’s the weight limit for this bar. Once you beat this, we gotta go back to Urahara’s place and pick up big rocks.”

Apparently, Chad worked part time at his gym, which meant he had a key, which meant that he and Renji could go in at two a.m. so that Renji could teach him how to lift absurd amounts of weight with his reiatsu. It was pretty convenient, as long as you didn’t mind lifting weights at two a.m. Renji loved lifting weights at two a.m.

“You just don’t want to tell me another story,” Chad replied, flexing his shoulders in anticipation.

“Whatever, I got a million of them.” Renji took a few steps backward.

Chad flared his nostrils and stepped up to the barbell. He squatted down and curled his fingers around the grip. He took three deep breaths as he stared straight again. Leading with his hips, he straightened up in a smooth, textbook perfect movement, the sinews in his neck popping out, the air around him boiling with power.

Renji wished he could drag Chad over to Squad Six, so those spoiled weenies could see what hard work actually looked like.

Chad dropped the weight and a huge breath burst out of him, his eyes widening in relief. “I did it,” he gasped.

“You did it, buddy!” Renji shouted, pointing at the barbell. “You’re a machine! You didn’t even make it look hard!”

“It was hard,” Chad managed.

“I don’t believe it!” Renji continued. “One thousand pounds! You’re incredible, dude!”

“What do you mean, you don’t believe it? You told me to do it.”

“I mean, when I told you we were gonna work for the big one-kay, it was, you know, a stretch goal. I didn’t expect you to get there so fast!”

“You said you would tell me another story when I hit it! I assumed it was a reasonable goal.”

“I keep making unreasonable goals and you keep hitting them, so I’m just sort of winging it, now, t’be honest! I’m actually really bothered how much you are motivated by my dumb stories. If I had any human money, I would just offer to buy you tacos or something.”

“I can make my own tacos. I like the stories.”

Renji sighed. They didn’t have tacos in Soul Society and he was determined to eat as many tacos as he possibly could while he was stationed in the Living World. “Go get cleaned up, and I’ll put the weights away and try to decide which story to tell you this time. I did bring us some protein shakes. I can’t vouch for them, because they’re made out of stuff I found in the Shouten, but it’s important to get some calories in you after lifting. ”

“I’m sure they’re fine. I like your protein shakes. Oh, and I know which story I want to hear--how you met Rukia.”

Of course he did.

Renji was a man of many stories. He had so many good stories. He had Inuzuri stories that were full of mischief and dirtbaggery. He had Squad 11 stories that were full of headbutting and idiocy. He had interesting stories about his clever friends Izuru and Momo and funny stories about his goofy friend Shuuhei and horrible stories about his horrible friends Iba and Madarame. But Chad had asked him once how he met their mutual friend Kuchiki Rukia, a very reasonable and natural thing to ask, and Renji had responded with a ridiculous story that was very obviously not true. Now, all Chad wanted to hear was ostentatious lies about how he, Abarai Renji, had met the incomparable Kuchiki Rukia.

Renji racked his brain as he racked Chad’s weights. This would probably make the eighth or ninth Renji-Rukia origin story, he’d honestly lost count. He was running out of material. There was a bulletin board next to the weight storage rack, covered with flyers for a weightlifting tournament in Naruki City, the Karakura High kendo team, tumbling lessons. Renji stared at the picture of the girl in the sparkly leotard on the last one. He thought about how he and the gang used to make up stories of how they were gonna make it out of Inuzuri some day. He thought about Rukia’s absolute favorite, the one she told over and over, the way it got bigger and sparklier every time she told it.

Chad returned, a tracksuit zipped overtop his workout clothes. “Need help?” he asked.

“This is the last one,” Renji replied, hefting it up onto the shelf. “You can put the bar away, though.”

Chad did.

It was kinda nice, Renji thought, being in a gym in the middle of the night with Chad. It reminded him of hunching over his dorm room desk across from Izuru, cramming for written exams. It reminded him of achy muscles in a dim Fifth Company dojo, trying to figure out the mechanics of Zabimaru’s shikai deep into the wee hours. It reminded him of long runs with Ikkaku as the sun was just peaking over the city walls. The hours between dusk and dawn were a pretty good time for doing things, in Renji’s opinion.

“So, did you remember? How you met her?”

“Of course I remember!” Renji protested. “You think I would forget something like that?”

“You do get hit on the head a lot,” Chad rumbled gently and it took Renji a moment to realize he just got dragged. Chad was actually a really funny guy, you just had to pay attention.

Renji plopped down on a pile of mats and started rummaging around in his backpack for the two bottles of questionable nutritional substance he had mixed up earlier. “Well, I certainly remember the time I ran away from home and joined the circus, I’ll tell you that.” It was a good opening line, and he paused a few seconds to get the full effect.

“The circus?” Chad echoed skeptically, sitting down next to Renji and accepting his smoothie.

“The circus,” Renji replied after taking a long swig. It was very, very strawberry flavored. “So. I think I mentioned once that when I died I got sent to the shit-end of Rukongai. District 78 of the Southern Quadrant, where your best hope is to die soon and catch an express trip back to the Living World. I was too dumb and stubborn for that, though, so I was always on the lookout for a way out. Now, it’s pretty hard to move between districts in Rukongai-- it’s illegal without a special permit, see, and special permits get harder to get the further out you go. But there are a few kinds of permits that allow you to travel all up and down Soul Society, and one of those is for entertainers.”

This was more-or-less true. It was true in theory, but travelling shows never made it out to the deep Rukon-- there was no profit in it. Rukia used to swear up and down that a circus had made it to Inuzuri once, basically just passing through on their way to capture wild animals from the magical wilderness past the end of District 80, but she had seen it. Rukia was older than the rest of them, and she used to talk about it in such nauseating detail that they had no choice but to believe her.

“When I saw the posters plastered up all over town, my first thought was that it was an opportunity to pick up some quick kan as temporary labor. My primary job skill at the time was picking up heavy objects, you see, perhaps moving them from place to place. Circuses always need help with set up and tear down. I mean, do I look like a theater kid?”

Chad stared at him pointedly.

“I don’t know why I asked that,” Renji quickly corrected, “but also, keep in mind that I am Like This because I was in the circus, not the other way around. Anyway, my instincts were correct, and I found myself gainfully employed, carting crates and also tying and untying knots, another of my many talents. But then two things, or rather two someones made me decide that I needed to hitch my star to this ridiculous pageant. The first, I will admit, was a complete castle in the sky, but what is being an adolescent boy about if not chasing after hopeless dreams?”

Chad frowned. “Well. There’s school.”

“There is no school in Inuzuri, actually, and perhaps that would have kept me out of trouble, but instead, I became absolutely entranced by the glittering star of the show-- a tightrope walker of exceptional agility, grace, and beauty. Her most defining characteristic, though, was her audacity. There was no trick too dangerous for her. She somersaulted through hoops of fire. She juggled daggers. She’d stop halfway across the tightrope, pull out a tokkari, and pour herself a saucer of sake and drink it, while the audience gasped.”

“It was Kuchiki,” Chad guessed, the corner of his mouth tipping up into his shy grin.

“It was Rukia,” Renji agreed, “but imagine Rukia in head-to-toe spangles, with bells in her hair and glitter painted around her eyes, 20 feet in the air. She was unreal. She was an apparition, a spirit. I was desperate to meet her.”

“Did you?” asked Chad.

“Chad,” said Renji.

“What?”

“Did you just… did you just ask me if I ever managed to meet Rukia? Your friend and mine, Kuchiki Rukia? In the middle of this story about how I met Rukia?”

Chad thought for a moment. “It’s two a.m. and I just deadlifted a thousand pounds.”

“That’s fair, and the answer is yes, eventually, I did meet Rukia and she saved me from being eaten by a bear, but we’ll get to that. Are you drinking that protein shake?”

“Oh, sorry! It’s really good, I just keep forgetting because this story is a good one.” Chad took a long sip. “Hey, Abarai?”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry to interrupt again, but I have a question about the bear.”

“The bear is later.”

“Yeah, I realize that, but does the bear die?”

“Huh?”

“I’m just asking up front, because I don’t like stories where animals die, and if the bear gets hurt or dies, maybe could you skip over that part?”

“Oh! No, the bear is fine. Well, he’s probably reincarnated back into a living bear by now, he was pretty old even then. I exaggerated a little to make it sound dramatic, he probably wouldn’t have eaten me in any case.”

“Okay, you can go back to the story now, I just wanted to make sure. Thank you.”

“No, no, it’s cool. I’m glad you checked in.” Renji took a deep breath through his nose and mentally rearranged his story so that Rukia no longer defeated the beast in a dramatic knife fight. “Right. So, as I said, there was a second person at the circus who influenced me greatly and that was the most famous strongman in the entire Rukon, Zaraki Kenpachi--”

“Wait, Captain Zaraki? Big guy? With the bells in his hair?”

Oh, shit. “Uh, yeah. That’s a circus thing, you know. Hair bells. You, uh, know Captain Zaraki?”

“Yeah, Orihime made friends with him, and he broke us out of prison, but then we split up because there was someone he wanted to fight.”

“That sounds like him. Anyway, yeah, he’s in this story, too. I used to be in his squad, you know?”

“I gathered that from the way Madarame and Ayasegawa talk to you.”

“He helped me get in the Gotei, you see. Because of our time together in the circus. That’s a different story, though, we’re focusing on circus times, here. He wasn’t even the Kenpachi, yet, actually. One of the reasons he’s so strong is because before he was a fighter, he lifted things, heavy things. He did all the typical strongman stuff-- bending iron bars, biting through teacups, tearing packs of cards in half, but his most famous trick was balancing bamboo poles on his shoulders and then various acrobats and other performers would scramble up on them and do tricks from on top of him. He was wildly popular, pictured on all the posters. People would come to the circus just to see him. I did not have a lot going for me at this point of my life, but I was strong, and when I saw this guy, it occurred to me that if I could get him to take me on as some sort of apprentice, I might finally be able to use my strength to get out of that shitty town.”

“Seems like a good plan.”

“It did. It seemed like a good plan, except that Zaraki had a very busy schedule of getting drunk and napping when he wasn’t lifting things, and he was absolutely not interested in Inuzuri punks who had been hired to move crates around.”

“So, what did you do?”

“Well, speaking of Inuzuri punks, I may have been a fairly honest and hardworking fellow, but one day, a couple of my reprobate neighbors decided to sneak in and try to get a glimpse of some of the wild animals. The fellow who looked after the menagerie was a little guy by the name of Mameji. Very kind and loved the animals deeply, but not very good at standing up for himself. I barely knew him, but I don’t like bullies, and I owed most of those guys a punch in the nose anyway. Mameji was pretty grateful for the solid I did him and asked if there was any favor he could do me in return. Naturally, I asked if he knew Zaraki, but unfortunately, he was terrified of the guy, so I told him I was just happy to do a good deed and make a friend.”

“You should have asked him if he knew Rukia. Rukia likes animals.”

“You’re very smart, Sado, but remember that this story is about me, not you. It didn’t matter anyway, because the next day, he comes to find me and says there’s someone who wants to talk to me. I can’t imagine who he means, aside from holding out hope that maybe he did know Zaraki after all and was just slow-rolling me.”

“But it was Rukia.”

“It was. Mameji leads me over to the area where the animals are kept, and there, in a blue kimono embroidered with silver stars and crystals in her hair, was The Fearless Rukia.” Rukia’s circus stories were usually at least seventy-five percent descriptions of her outfits, and Renji felt obligated to keep up that detail. “‘You helped my friend out,’ she says to me. ‘I appreciate that.’ And I replied something very smooth and suave, like, ‘I like the way you do cartwheels’ or possibly just “Guuuuuuh.’ And then she says, ‘I hear you’re interested in Zaraki, what’s up with that?’ and as you know, I’m much better at talking about muscle stuff, so I explain about picking up heavy things and Inuzuri and my ambition to join the circus and she just listens carefully, nodding from time to time. She makes me pick up a few barrels and then Mameji, for good measure, and finally, she nods and says, ‘You’re pretty strong and I like your hair. Come back here tomorrow. I’m going to help you impress Zaraki.’”

Chad’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“So, the next day, I came back, like she said, and Mameji was there, too and they’ve got this big sack of yams. I’ve told you before about eatin’ in Soul Society, right?”

Chad nodded and belatedly took another gulp of his shake.

“My initial thought was that they were gonna try to bulk me up. Raw yams may not sound very exciting to you, but after years of living on near-moldy rice and the occasional sad vegetable or bony fish, I was watering at the mouth. ‘You’re gonna feed these yams to Sunny,’ says Rukia. ‘Who?’ says I. ‘His stage name is Brawler,’ says Rukia, ‘But he’s a good boy so Mameji and I call him Sunny. It’s a joke. Because he’s a moon bear.’ Brawler, you see, was the second scariest thing in the circus, right after Zaraki-- the biggest, ugliest moon bear you can possibly imagine, probably 200 kilograms. A lot of circus bears do tricks-- balance on balls or some shit, but Brawler’s only trick was looking mean as Hell. Sometimes they’d throw him a deer haunch and he’d eat it in a real gross way, I guess people like seeing stuff like that. I, like most people growing up on the southern border of the Rukon, had a healthy fear of large carnivores, but I had a much larger fear of looking like a weenie in front of Rukia, and I was determined I was gonna do whatever she told me to. The first time wasn’t so bad-- I just tossed the yams in and he snuffled over and gave me the hairy eyeball before snorfling them up. We did that the next day, too, but the day after that, Mameji took me into his enclosure to give him his yams. I was a little surprised, you see, because I would have expected a bear like that to eat meat or something like that, but he sure did like those yams.”

“Moon bears are omnivores,” Chad supplied. “They like sweet things.”

“You’re right, and I later found out that Sunny did get meat and other stuff at other times of day, but yams were his absolute favorite thing. Again, Rukia did not tell me this, because Rukia often neglects to tell me important things. I found all of this to be absolutely terrifying, and I probably would have given up and stuck to my crate moving, except that Rukia and Mameji were just about the nicest and amazing people I had ever met. They let me hang out with them for a bit and they told me stories about traveling with the circus and I told them about Inuzuri. They introduced me to their other friends, Fujimaru, who could do all sorts of knife throwing tricks, and Kosaburou, who had the most beautiful singing voice you could possibly imagine. By the time Rukia asked me to give Sunny the yams right out of my hand, I was doin’ it, not because I was desperate to get out of Inuzuri, but because I was desperate to do anything to stay with my new friends.”

Renji paused and pretended to be interested in his protein shake. Usually, he tried to fill these stories with a lot of daring-do and badassery, but he’d gotten a little off-track when had to junk his big exciting Rukia versus Bear fight scene. All he could think of was lying around the squat on miserable rainy days, one-upping each other with stories about their ridiculous circus acts. He hadn’t thought about those days-- hadn’t let himself think about those days-- in years. What a sap he was turning into. Maybe it was because Rukia was back in his life. Maybe it was because there was a war coming, a war he might not make it through. Maybe it was because it was two a.m.

“I know how that feels,” Chad said very quietly, so quietly that Renji almost didn’t catch it, and it occurred to Renji that maybe sometimes it helped to hear a sappy story at 2 a.m.

Renji snorted softly. “So, the day before the circus was set to pack up, Rukia explains her big plan to me. Up until now, I’ve sort of been assuming that this is all an exercise in building courage or some gonzo shit like that, but it turns out it’s very straightforward. Zaraki’s dream the whole time he’s been in the circus is to pick up Sunny as part of his act, except that Sunny has zero interest in being picked up and ends up chewing on Zaraki’s head every time he tries. If Zaraki had ever bothered asking Mameji for help, maybe he could have tried the old yam trick himself, but then this wouldn’t be much of a story.

“I wait ‘til the big guy is done with his nap and is prepping for the night’s performance, inventorying his lead pipes and such, and I go up to him and I say, ‘Zaraki the Great, I am very strong, you should take me on as your apprentice!’ Now, Rukia had seen people do this to him before, and she knew that he always came back with ‘Oh, yeah? Do something to impress me, then.’ Of course, I was prepared, and I said, ‘I am going to pick up Brawler, would that do it?’ and Zaraki laughs in my face and says ‘If you can do that, I will definitely take you on, kid.’”

Chad’s face had split into a huge grin and he leaned forward in anticipation.

“We go over to Sunny’s pen, and of course, Mameji’s already given him his dinner and he’s feelin’ real fat and happy when he sees his old yam buddy Renji coming. I slip him a yam that I had tucked in my sleeve and I start rubbin’ his side, which is a thing we’d been practicin’. He leans into it, ‘cause he was a big, itchy boy, and I just… flipped him and picked him up like a baby.” Renji made a scooping motion to demonstrate. Chad’s face absolutely lit up. “He was incredibly heavy and also he did not really like that,” Renji continued, “but I put him down right away and gave him another yam and he forgave me. Zaraki was laughin’ his ass off, but he kept his word and got me signed on as a Strongman-in-Training. We went on to have many more adventures, both me an’ Zaraki and me an’ Rukia an’ Mameji an’ Kosaburou and Mameji.”

“And Sunny.”

“Sunny continued to be a hideous, angry bear for the crowds, but I kept giving him yams and never picked him up again and we were great friends for the time we spent together in the circus.”

Chad sat back, smiling his usual inscrutable smile. “Thank you, Abarai. That was a really good one.”

Renji cocked an eyebrow at him. “Was it?”

“Yes. It had friendships and a nice bear and I felt like Rukia would really appreciate the effort you put into describing all her outfits. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t true, but it was a good story.”

Renji heaved a big sigh, as though he’d honestly thought Chad was gonna buy it this time. He stretched his arms and legs out in front of him. “Let’s go home. I could go for a few hours of sleep before the Shouten Shouting starts. You’re taking a rest day tomorrow, but don’t forget to stretch.”

“The last time I had a rest day, you came over and you taught me some stuff about reiryouku.”

“Did I?” Renji frowned.

“Can we do that again? You said you would try to explain how flash step works.”

Shit, he did remember promising that. He’d just gotten overenthusiastic because it was nice to be the guy who knew things for a change. On the other hand, he also remembered the enthusiasm of going to school for the first time and wanting to know everything, and could hardly fault Chad for the same. “Sure,” he agreed. “After noon.”

“Let’s make it noon,” Chad amended. “I’ll make you tacos.”

“That,” replied Renji, “is a deal.”

[keeptheotherone]

Do You Promise?

Chapter 1 of a new WIP, just for you, my Tumblrers <3

August 1999 the Burrow’s garden Weasleys’ 2nd Annual End of Summer Celebration

Charlie Weasley sat on the fence separating his mother’s vegetable patch from the garden, thinking about the last time he’d sat here, one year ago. Then it had been Bill at his side, not his little sister.

“Knut for your thoughts,” she said, pushing herself up.

“Where’s your boyfriend?”

Ginny raised her brows at the implication of his answer but didn’t tease. “Around.”

“Mmm.” He’d been home for more than twenty-four hours, but he hadn’t seen Potter once. At Christmas, they’d been a package deal, never out of arm’s reach of the other. “I thought he might have had to work.”

Ginny shook her head, pigtails dancing round her shoulders like they had when she was shorter than this fence. “Today and tomorrow, but not tonight. Mum made them promise.”

By “them,” Charlie knew she meant Ron and Harry. But … Mum made them promise? Not Ginny, or even Hermione?

“Well, he’d better show up,” Charlie said, taking a drink of his beer. “He owes me a rematch.”

They had played Quidditch in the orchard last year, he and Ginny and Potter and George and a bunch of kids he hadn’t known. Played past sunset into darkness, until Professor McGonagall ended the pick-up match without a capture of the Snitch.

Ginny muttered something that sounded like “he owes me a hell of a lot more than a rematch,” but Charlie let it slide. Ginny could take care of herself.

He and Bill had made sure of it.

“Shouldn’t you be with your friends?” 

“Thanks, Charlie, that means a lot.” She swiped the bottle from his loose grasp and drank.

Charlie had to remind himself she was of age to keep from overreacting, but even so, his hand twitched reflexively.

Ginny saw it and smirked round the glass, tipping her head back and the bottle up, taking several long swallows just for show.

“Yeah, you can have my beer, Sis. I’ll just get another, no problem.”

She finished with a pop and licked the foam from her upper lip before handing it back. “Thirsty.”

Charlie held the bottle up to the light—there was exactly one swallow left. “Brat.”

Ginny was predictably unfazed, gazing over the crowd starting to assemble round the food tables. “I talked to Angelina. She said Alicia couldn’t make it this year.”

“Who?” Charlie said, right as a picture of a perky brunette, with equally perky … anatomy … popped into his mind. Shit. Alicia wasn’t avoiding the party because of him, was she? The same age as George, she would know most of the people attending tonight. He’d thought they parted on good terms, all things considered….

“I thought you might be watching for Amy.”

“Amy’s coming?” He hadn’t seen Amy Green since he had invited himself back to her room and she politely declined. 

“Fleur wasn’t sure,” Ginny said casually, as if she hadn’t just dangled fairy lights in front of a niffler. “She said she encouraged her to come since she sounded a little down, but Amy didn’t commit. I hope she does, don’t you?”

“Of course. I haven’t seen Amy since the memorial. It would be good to catch up.” Charlie took a subtle deep breath, repeating the mantra he told himself when he occasionally woke with her on his mind. You asked, and Amy said no. It doesn’t matter if she isn’t seeing anyone. She’s still unavailable, Weasley. No benefits, just friends.

“I remember, you know. You think I was too young to understand, but I remember. In Egypt.”

Charlie scoffed. His baby sister celebrated her twelfth birthday the summer his family had visited Bill in Cairo. “Oh, yeah? And what do you think you remember, Gin-Gin?”

“I know Bill was an arse,” she said bluntly.

This reversal of her usual hero worship got Charlie’s attention.

“I know you weren’t. And that you liked her. I know you two went out together, and you’ve both dated other people since … but you’ve never dated each other.”

Charlie sighed. “Ginny….”

“Bill’s married,” she said simply. “It doesn’t matter any more.”

“I never thought I’d say this … but go find something else to do. Even if it’s Harry.”

****

Charlie did not leave his post on the fence rail, content to get quietly drunk and watch his family enjoy themselves. He had wondered why he’d bothered making the trip in—it made three in a month, when you added the party to Ginny’s and Percy’s birthdays—but now admitted to himself it had been in hopes of seeing Amy. After all, she hadn’t refused him, exactly; she’d refused the timing. 

“I think we both know what will happen if you walk me back to Hogsmeade.”

He raised his brows, leaving the challenging “so?” unspoken.

Amy closed her eyes, then pulled her hand from his. “Not today, Charlie.” She waved her hand at the gates and the castle and the grounds beyond, where the first Remembrance Ceremony had just ended. “Not after this.”

“Oi, sleepyhead!”

Charlie opened his eyes to find an object in eminent danger of colliding with his nose. He snatched it from the air in sheer self-defense, then groaned when he realized he’d just crumbled one of the best biscuits he’d ever had in his life—a biscuit he’d been waiting all year to taste again.

Percy laughed. “Nice catch, Captain.”

“Shut up,” Charlie muttered, trying to transfer the contents of his hand to his mouth without wearing them.

“Full of snappy retorts tonight, I see.”

Charlie eyed his next-youngest brother, his cheery demeanor highly suspicious. “Did you just get laid?”

Percy slung one arm around his shoulders. “I, in the utmost gesture of brotherly solidarity, am foregoing my own numerous opportunities to assist you in yours, however few and far between they may be.”

“You’re pissed.” Alcohol did not make Percy more relaxed; it made him more Percy-ish.

Percy squinted one eye closed and looked towards the gate. “Perhaps,” he conceded. “But not so drunk I can’t recognize a certain beautiful brunette.”

It was Amy. She was wearing—well, Charlie supposed it was technically a dress, but he’d seen similar items under a dress or robes more than once. It was black and flow-y, with red flowers and skinny straps made to make a man think of slipping them off, and just like that Charlie saw the garment puddled at her feet. She was taller than usual in thick sandals, and even from this distance, with the cut of the dress and the way she moved—he could tell she was braless. He raised the bottle to his mouth before remembering it was empty.

“Godric, I wish I had a camera,” Percy said wistfully. “George and Ron are never going to believe this.”

Charlie realized he was making a fool of himself, closed his mouth, and turned, shaking off his brother’s arm. “What’s she doing now?”

“Making a beeline for us.”

Charlie spoke through clenched teeth. “Shut up and get the—”

“Amy! What a pleasure. We’re so glad you could make it.”

Charlie turned to find his brother kissing Amy on both cheeks with minimal difficulty, despite their height difference. His heart skipped a beat. She was taller; he could kiss her easily.

No, not kiss. We’re friends!

Oh, who was he kidding? Unless she flat-out declined, he was sleeping with Amy Green tonight. They could figure out the friendship stuff tomorrow.

“Hey,” she said, pausing just shy of kissing distance (cheek or otherwise).

“Hey.”

Her hair was down, as it often was, but she had pulled back the front above her ears, exposing small purple and silver earrings (her house colors) and … a blush?

“I would offer to bring you a handful of biscuits, but something tells me you two aren’t going to be here for long.” Percy smirked. “Take care, Amy. See you tomorrow, Charlie.”

Charlie glanced at Amy to judge her reaction. “I’m sorry. He’s, er—”

“Taking the piss?” She offered the British idiom with a grin.

Charlie returned it. “I was going to say ‘pissed,’ but yeah. That too.”

She laughed.

“I keep telling you, you’re lucky to be an only child.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, brushing her hands over his chest with slow, deliberate strokes that were in direct opposition to her presumed goal of removing crumbs. “Brothers can be useful. I figured even if you turned me down, not all of you would.”

Charlie froze, just for a second, his brain short-circuiting to a night more than a year ago, before Ron had left for Australia. “Well, if she actually says it with words, that’s always a good sign, although if she strips her knickers off, that’s even better.”

Wait a minute … she wasn’t commando under that thing … was she?

It took a few moments for the silence to catch his attention.

“I take it that’s not a no,” Amy said dryly.

“No. It’s not. But—”

Her expression darkened, and she pulled away slightly. 

“The terms haven’t changed.” 

“I didn’t think they had,” she said cooly.

They had been here before, the autumn after Voldemort came back. Grimmauld Place, an unexpected post-meeting raid, high spirits and adrenaline … and the darkened hallway where Amy had turned him down. “I like strings,” she’d said, and walked away.

The staccato drumbeat of the Weird Sisters’ Do the Hippogriff pulled Charlie from the memory.

“Drink?” he asked, indicating his empty bottle in case she hadn’t heard him over the noise.

“Not really.”

He’d already started towards the tables, but her answer drew him up short. “Really, Amy, you could at least buy me dinner first,” he said sarcastically.

She sighed. “Look, Charlie, I don’t want to play the game. It’s why I’m here. Now, am I wasting my time or not?”

For the second time that night he found himself holding on to his temper. He was starting to see how she’d got under Bill’s skin, why he’d had such a hard time letting her go even when Bill had known he didn’t want to pursue a relationship with her.

“So what, you thought you’d just fly in, snap your fingers, and I’d jump?”

“Am I wrong?”

Godric, she was obnoxious. She was also beautiful, confident, and sexy as hell, and Charlie was honest enough to admit he found the balance of power between them as intoxicating as it was infuriating. 

“We could get a room at the Leaky—in magical London—or maybe Hogsmeade?”

“I have a room in the village.”

Damn. When Amy made up her mind, she didn’t mess around.

“All right,” he agreed. “One last thing, though.”

He stepped into her space, close enough to ruffle her skirt with his legs and watch the gooseflesh pebble across her chest and shoulders. He ignored the temptation to follow it down and looked her in the eye. In heels, she was as tall as he, but his wide shoulders and bulky frame dwarfed her. He paused to let her consider this fact, still not touching her, before dropping his voice.

“You will not be in control the entire night.”

Her reaction went straight to his groin—a sharp intake of breath, dilated pupils, a shiver she tried to suppress. Then she smiled, a sly, knowing smile that reached all the way to her eyes and made them sparkle in the fading sunlight.

“Do you promise?”

[justnerdystuffs]

JurassicLock Part two - Sherlock Holmes

So there's fewer warnings on this, thank God! Swearing, bullying, drugs, mentions of crime and addiction, swearing. Manipulative sibling (Eurus is mentioned, and Mycroft forces a case on Sherlock)

1 K words

Sherlock, on the other hand, had been what his less lucky associates called “Raised with a silver spoon shoved down his damn throat”. He didn’t have any major counter arguments to that, really. He, Mycroft and Eurus had been raised in what he used to think of as a castle growing up. His parents were happily married and mind-numbingly mundane. Boring. They had never anticipated their children all being geniuses in their own right. Eurus had been the lucky one, in Sherlock’s opinion. She was the youngest, the only girl, the favourite, and the one who could enter into normal society with most ease. Her area of expertise had become the human mind. Sherlock and Mycroft were more similar in many ways. Neither of them ever really fit as what other (boring, mundane) people called normal. Mycroft was the oldest, the most authoritative, and the one who got all the perks of having their parents not be so bloody up in their business all the time. He fit his role as ‘a minor politician in the British government’ perfectly, with his indifferent demeanor and analytical prowess. Not to mention the man’s power hunger.

When Sherlock was growing up, he’d had a few people he would consider friends. First and foremost his older brother. Though he would never admit such a thing to anyone, Mycroft had been his idol. Everything his brother did, Sherlock tried, too. Which usually led to Sherlock getting in trouble for things he wasn’t allowed to do. (It’s hardly my fault that these idiots refuse to believe that right there is a very dangerous and important experiment, mummy!) He’d quickly discovered his own two biggest skillsets. When he was six, he deduced his neighbours' affairs and told his parents. They’d shushed him. Tommy, their son who was as old as Sherlock overheard it though, and started crying. (Pointless exercise, that. Didn’t make his deduction less true.) Sherlock wasn’t allowed back there. Ever. At ten, he’d set fire to his sister’s favourite doll as an unfortunate victim of an experiment on plastic. She’d screamed her face off until their daddy came and picked her up, not seeing Sherlock’s regret, only Eurus’ fake betrayal. He had been forced to buy her a new one by saving up his allowance for weeks. Eurus had hated that doll. When he was thirteen, Mycroft had gone off to college and left him with his family. Sherlock had never loathed anyone quite as much as he did his brother in that moment. He wasn’t sure he’d ever forgiven him, either.

At school the other children would mock him. They’d call him names. They’d throw things at him, or pinch him, or they’d just ignore him completely. Sherlock grew impervious to the vicious glances, the wicked words and the painful bruises. He’d learn to fire back at uncreative insults with deductions they’d rather he kept secret. He developed an equally vicious tongue, hurtling insults and sarcasm at the other students before they could do the same to him. He grew a thick skin, and learned from Mycroft to see himself as above them. He didn’t need to be liked by those idiots. He didn’t even like those idiots. He swore to himself that he was above all their childish notions of feelings, and sentiment. (Caring isn’t an advantage, Sherlock.”).

Eventually he learned not to let the hostility from others bother him. He was immune to feelings. He could keep his (Aching, battered) transport under tight control and nothing would bother him. That was why, when he at 19 started college and got his chemistry degree, he was totally blind-sided by Victor Trevor. Victor, who’d been nice to him, and seemed to like him. Victor, who took interest in Sherlock’s thoughts and ideas, who liked Sherlock’s deductions. Victor, who flirted with him, and who Sherlock flirted back at. Victor, who showed Sherlock the only things that would make his mind shut up and stop screaming at him every second of every day. And that was how Sherlock was introduced to the world of recreational drug use. He was 21 at the time. He had started with weed, then gone on to pills, and then powders. Before he started using cocaine. He got the brilliant idea to make a business of his deductions. The world’s only consulting detective. He started showing up wherever the Scotland yard found evidence of a crime. He’d shout his deductions, and he’d get arrested. It happened a few times, actually. Then he somehow OD’d. He hadn’t thought it possible until he woke up in a private room in a private hospital, Mycroft sitting in a chair that was way too small for him. He was 24.

From there on, Mycroft kept 24/7 surveillance on him. He started his business for real. He solved cases, insulted members of the police. He got through nights of withdrawal, and started smoking. He decided the need for smoking was redundant two years later and decided to kick the habit. He never had found out what happened with Victor Trevor. He had stopped caring years ago. Or so he told himself. He looked into it anyway, just until he could see that the man was very much alive and kicking. After another 2 years of building his business, he was strong-armed by The British Government to look into ‘a possibly dangerous venture into sciences as of yet unexplored’. It was, as Mycroft tended to say, ‘A matter of national security.’ Really, Sherlock didn’t give a shit until he heard what the case was. A paleogeneticist, a Dr. Henry Wu was recreating the DNA of dinosaurs using fragments of DNA from modern living beings. It was possible that he wasn’t doing so on orders of the Masrani corporation, but using them as a cover for something greatly illicit, tied to the machinations of a Moriarty, a man even Mycroft was having trouble finding out. Sherlock took the case. It was at least an 8. And so he spent the next two years working undercover as a superior in the so-called ‘Jurassic World’, reporting to Masrani on the runnings of the park and to Mycroft for his case.

@fandomchaosposts @amazingmilesisnotonfire @pastashouldbeeatenwithafork @slytherinsarcasam

[bnhaclaimedmysoul]

Sero mirio shinsou reacting to s/o playing with eri (maybe eri asks s/o about their relationship and s/o talks softly about it while the boys listen) ☺️💞

this legit took so much of time lmao

Sero Hanta

-it’d be a night where the both of you just wanted to relax to the fullest and just stay in bed after a long exhausting week

-but your plans were interrupted by aizawa because he was called for a meeting late in the night and he couldn’t leave eri alone

-so he left eri in your care and asked you to take care of the two babies

-and sero would just be so confused as you and aizawa chuckle

-in the beginning, eri is just so scared by the both of you 

-sje knew that you were aizawa’s students but she had never met you guys

-and then you jab sero in the ribs to fetch some candied apples 

-it just became a tradition for your dorm to store some candied apples as an ice breaker since she was really shy

-and eri would happen to drop then and there

-as he scurries down the stairs to go fetch some, she stand in the corner, twirling her hair in nervousness

-and when you say “someon e is off to get your favourite snack”

-her eyes light up in awe as she excitedly question whether she was going to get candied apples

-and when you confirmed, she claps in happiness and is excited

-when sero does come with her snack she giggles and takes them from him before softly thanking him

-and while sucking on her sugary treat, you ask her what she wants to do

-and she just looks at you unsure of what she wants to do

-you get up to fetch your special box with hair accessories and place it in front of her

-she open the box in curiosity and when she find sparkly vute hair pins and slides

-she’s overjoyed

-and when you fetch your comb and usher her to come to you

-she squeals and runs towards you and gives the box to sero

-while sitting in your lap as you lovingly brush her hair, she tells sero what she accessories she wants 

-”sero niichan, the pink one!!!!”

-”eri chan, there are so many pink ones :(((”

-”the one with strawberries on them, have you found it??”

-”I found an icecream one, let’s search for the strawberry one to make eri-chan happy :)”

-and she giggles in response

-so sero was put on the duty of providing you all the accessories sero likes as you make her pretty and cute

-and you started to experiment with her hair and bedazzle them in cute accessories

-she leans into your soothing touch and sighs in satisfaction

-and when you ask her if she’s having fun, she agrees 

-”can I ask you a question?”

-and when you reply that she can ask you whatever she wants

-”are you and sero niichan friends?”

-and the question caught both of you off guard, as the both of your faces immediately broke out into blushes 

-and while you were trying to search for the words to explain it to her, her hand touches yours as she asks why you weren’t playing with her 

-and when you apologize telling that you were thinking about something and secure her the stray strands of her hair with some more slides

-you tell her that you and sero were really close friends who hang out a lot because they like being with each other

-”so you’re like besties?”

-”yes”

-”the besties of the besties?”

-”yeeeessss”

-”the besties of the besties of besties?”

-”yes eri-chan, let’s go watch tv now, shall we?”

-and as she dashed off to the common area in excitement, the both of you were left alone in the room and you could feel your heart race at what just happened

-”so y/n-chan, we’re the besties of the besties of besties?”

-you couldn't help but playfully hit his arm while laughing and placing a small kiss on his cheek

Shinsou Hitoshi

-when aizawa just decides to interrupt your time together, he’s just annoyed at him in the beginning

-”you won’t leave me during training and even my free time??”

-”well, child interaction is a skill you need as a hero, so do it”

-and when eri meets the both of you

-he sorta distant because he doesn’t know what to do?

-do you greet a child with a hello or just evade all contact?

-and when you saw his awkwardness, you knew you had to take control before this the atmosphere got too crazy

-and as you were about to approach her, a loud purr broke the silence 

-and it got eri all curious as her eyes lit up in the darkness

-she wanted to search for the source of the cute sound

-”do you want to know where that came from?”

-and upon hearing your question, she enthusiastically nods

-and when you hold your hand, she takes it and enthusiastically goes on a search for it

-and when she sees the white furry cat on the sofa, lazily bathing itself in silence

-she. is. in. awe.

-she lets a squeal out but then holds it in seeing at how the cat just seems to prefer silence

-meanwhile, you sneak away to get some snacks for the young girl and to let shinsou do his “training”

-shinsou chuckles at the sight of eri

-and clears his throat to tell her that she can go a pet the beauty

-her eyes light up the thought of running her hands through the cat’s luxurious coat

-and she doesn’t hesitate to take the offer up

-and when she looks at him, wondering how to comfortably pet it

-he doesn’t really understand it 

-and when she shyly asks him

-he ruffles her hair and shows her how to do it and asks her to do the same

-and when she caresses the cat and it lets out  a purr of satisfaction

-he crouches down and says “see, the cat likes you”

-”really???? are you 100 percent sure????”

-and when he chuckles and lets her know that he’s not lying

-the both of them just spend the longest time playing with the cat by giving it treats brushing it’s coat

-you were soft at the sight of it, so you sneaked your phone in and took a couple of pictures for your memories

-and when you come back with a tray full of snacks and goodies

-she squeals in happiness 

-”y/n oneechan! shinsou oni chan told me that the cat likes meeee”

-and when you pull her cheeks and tell her that you’re happy for her, she just smiles gracefully

-and as the three of your sat, with the cat now in eri’s lap, snacking 

-the cat falls asleep and everybody is just soft at the sight

-and when you ask eri if you she wants you to pick the cat up so that she can sit with ease

-she declines and shhs everyone in the room “because the noise will make the kitty get up and be sad”

-and you look at shinsou and the both of you break in breathy chuckles at the soft sight

-and after a while of petting the cat in it’s sleep, it decided that it was time and jumped off eri’s lap before licking her fingers

-”are you sad that the cat left you eri-chan?”

-”mmmmm. I think so. but you and shinsou niichan are there so....”

-”oh? i’m glad that you don’t feel lonely then”

-”y/n oneesan, a question!! do you like shinsou onichan?”

-and that caught you off guard, “eri-chan what makes you say that?”

-”you guys seem like good friends who take care of each other”

-”I don’t really like him”

-”d-do you hate him?”

-”no, no I don’t hate him”

-”then you like him?”

-”he’s my friend, so I do like him. like I like you eri-chan”

-”well, I like both you and shinsou niichan!”

-and when she said that, shinsou could no longer control heis laughter

-and when you pouted at him, he winks at you and mouths a “I like you too baby”

Mirio Togata

-the moment aizawa literally drops eri at mirio’s house

-eri is excited beyond control

-she’s just so happy to see mirio and immidetaly jumps into his arms when she sees him

-mirio is overjoyed at the sight of eri being so happy

-”eri-chan, I want you to meet someone special”

-and when he says that, she’s just confused 

-when you pop out of nowhere and greet her

-she’s a little bit scared and intimidated

-and asks mirio who you were

-when you see that she is slightly intimidated, you look at mirio to handle the situation

-but this boi pulls out an uno reverse card and says “well, eri-chan ask her, i’m not so sure”

-you legit glare at the boi for throwing you under the bus before looking at eri and holding your hand up for a high five

-she ends up giving you one and you ask her “do you really want to know?”

-and when she nods you look at her and say 

-”mirio is my prince and i’m his princess”

-and at the analogy, her eyes legit light up 

-”so he cares about you and buys a castle for you?”

-”i’m not sure about the castle, but he does look after me and keeps me happy”

-”does he tell you that he loves you and goes to ball room dances with you and buys you all the pretty gowns in the world?”

-”hmmmmmmmm. he’s a bit of a lazy prince so he doesn’t tell that to me everyday and he sucks at dancing, so no”

-he looks at you in disbelief

-”mirio niichan, why do you do this to her?”

-he’s now flustered, trying to convince her that he’s a really nice prince who loves his princess very much and loves young princess eri-chan a lot too

-”eri-chan, should we do something fun today, like make chocolate chip cookies?”

-”chocolate chip cookies????”

-”we’ll force mirio to help us and throw flour on him, want to see his scary face?”

-”yes!”

-and that’s how the day ended with you loads of belly hurting giggles, smeared chocolate around the cheeks, white spots on each of your aprons, frantic running around the dorms because eri didn’t want to be cached by the flour dusted monster

-when she made mirio promise that he’d take care of you as she made the both of pinky promise with your thumbs

-she also placed a small kiss on your cheek, promising that she’d drop by for another fun day sometime where she’d ask you how your life as a princess is

[raindancer2004]

A Cullen / Volturi Christmas

Word Count: 2,744 Demetri x OC Cullen Part One Warnings: Fluff

It’s been nearly a year since the confrontation / investigation into whether Renesmee was an immortal child and the Cullens arrive at Castillo Volterra at the beginning of December to spend Christmas with the Volturi at the request of Aro. “Ah Carlisle, Esme, so glad you and your family agreed to spend Christmas with us here at the castle” Aro greets them with a smile and shakes Carlisle’s hand “Thank you for inviting us. It’s sure to be great Christmas” He replied smiling.

Lily Cullen has long blonde hair and blue eyes and is the adopted human daughter of Carlisle and Esme. Lily was also staying at the castle as Aro was curious to see how she had turned out now that she was all grown-up and graduated High School. He also found it fascinating that the girl survived being raised in a house full of vampires for the last eighteen years. Caius lost a bet with his brothers the day they found out she had made it to her first birthday as he was sure the Cullens ‘true nature’ would kick in and the girl would be dead within six months claiming he was being generous given Carlisle’s high level of self-control.  

Renesmee was given a guest room in the East Wing of the castle, along with her parents and Jasper and Alice. Emmett and Rosalie’s room was in the West Wing of the castle, Carlisle and Esme had the only guest room in the North Wing and Lily had one of the guest rooms on the lower floor of the South Wing of the castle near the lower and transitory guards. However, she didn’t feel very safe being so close to the lower and transitory guards especially after she overheard Edward telling Bella that they didn’t always have the best self-control around humans.

After three nights of Lily not sleeping very well Carlisle noticed how tired she looked and asked Demetri for a favour as he was one of the more friendly and reasonable guards, not to mention he had great self-control around humans. “Demetri can I have a word with you please?” “Of course, Carlisle. How can I help?” Demetri replied as they walked away from the throne room “I’m after a favour. It’s to do with Lily… and her sleeping arrangements” Demetri nods “Ahh. Yes I heard she’d been given a room on the lower floor near the lower and transitory guards and I’m guessing you’re concerned about their self-control?” “A little yes and if I’m being honest I thought one of her siblings may have offered to swap rooms with her but…” “They haven’t” Demetri cut him off “No and to make matters worse she overheard Edward telling Bella about the guard’s lack of self-control and it’s made her a little anxious and she hasn’t slept much the past three nights” Carlisle continued “So…how  can I help? Want me to have a word with the guards? Threaten them with the dungeon or dismemberment if they hurt her?” Demetri offered smiling and Carlisle chuckled “As good as that sounds Demetri…I actually had a different idea in mind” This piqued Demetri’s interest “Ok, what’s your idea?” “Well I was wondering…if maybe…she could share your quarters with you? I mean you have excellent self-control around humans and…I trust you with my daughter” Demetri’s face had shock written all over it but he quickly composed himself “Er…Yes of course. Lily can share my quarters…Thank you for trusting me with her” Demetri replied and smiled at Carlisle as he felt pleased that Carlisle trusted him with his daughter, to keep her safe during their month long stay. “Thank you Demetri, I was always amazed by your self-control when I lived here with you…considering your diet” “Well, I figured it would probably be a good idea to work on that early on considering how much time I spend around them when tracking our kind. It wouldn’t do for me to lose control whilst trying to uphold our laws” He chuckled and Carlisle nodded and chuckled himself “Very true. When would be a good time to bring Lily up to your room?” “Give me about half an hour to shower and change?” Demetri replied “Will do and thank you” Carlisle replied and watched Demetri speed off to his room.

Carlisle made his way to Lily’s room “Hey can I come in?” He asked knocking and popping his head around the door “Of course dad” He noted she sounded tired and hoped his idea would be the solution “I know you haven’t really slept much the past few nights due to…the location of your room and well…I have suggestion…” “Dad, I love you but I’m a little old to share with you and mom. Thanks though” She replied smiling and he laughed “Funny. No that wasn’t my idea. In fact that didn’t even come to mind…” “Wow dad. Really? Now I’m hurt” She put her hand to her chest and gave him a sad look “Oh behave. I think you’ll like my idea. I hope you do anyway” He replied smiling “Ok, so what’s your idea?” She asked curious “I’ve spoken to Demetri and…” “The tracker Demetri?” “Yes Lily, do you know another Demetri who lives here?” He responded with a sassy tone “Ooohh get you being all sassy dad” She teased him and he poked his tongue out at her “Mature dad, mature” She smiled “Anyway Lily, I spoke to Demetri and he has agreed that you can share his quarters with him. His room is on the top floor of this wing with the other three elite guards” He paused when he noticed the confused look on her face “You want me to move from a room near non-veggie vamps into a room occupied by a non-veggie vamp? How does that solve my not sleeping problem? You’re basically offering him a snack” She said as she stood up from the bed not quite believing what her dad was suggesting. “I can assure you darling I do not think of you as a snack and my self-control around humans is possibly as good as your dad’s” Demetri said as he stood leaning on the doorframe.

Lily felt her cheeks heat up a little knowing he’d heard her comment “I-I didn’t mean…oh god…I’m sorry if I’ve offended you Demetri…especially as you’ve been so kind as to let me stay with you” Demetri chuckled before replying “I’m not offended, honestly…I’d be more offended if you didn’t question your dad’s idea of staying with me” “Really?” She sounded surprised “Yes Lily really. I mean I’m not a veggie vamp like your family” He replied smirking “Now you two have cleared that up, how about we pack your things and you can move upstairs” Carlisle suggested “I’ll help Lily pack and move her things Carlisle. Go and spend time with Esme, show her the city…it’s rather nice at this time of year” Demetri smiled at Carlisle “You sure…” “Yes Carlisle. We’ll be fine” Demetri cut him off as he crossed the room and removed her clothes from the small closet and placing them neatly in her suitcase. “Thank you again Demetri. I will go find my wife and explore the city, it’s been a while” “She’s in the kitchen…with Heidi” Demetri said without missing a beat “That’s amazing” Lily whispered low but both vampires heard and smiled.  

Lily shared Demetri’s quarters and it was agreed that she’d sleep in his bed whilst he read by the fire of a night, seeing as Demetri only ever used to his bed to relax on after long or stressful missions or sometimes he’d lie on the bed and read. Felix found it amusing that his friend had agreed to let a Cullen stay with him “I can’t believe that you agreed to share your room with a Cullen” “Lily is human and she’s different to her siblings. For one she doesn’t eat fluffy bunnies” “Yet. She doesn’t eat them yet” Felix replied smiling “Shut up. It’s nice to have some company and…unlike her siblings she doesn’t hate us” Demetri stated firmly “Whatever you say my friend. I still think it’s amusing that you’re sharing your room with a human” Felix replied before returning to his own room.

“Everything ok?” Lily asked as she stepped out of the bathroom in her pyjamas “Yes, Felix just came by to tease me for sharing my room with you” He smiled and watched as she made her way over to the sofa by the fire and sat beside him “Sorry about that Demetri” “Don’t be Lily. If I didn’t want to share my room with you to keep you safe, I wouldn’t have agreed when your dad asked” “But still the teasing…” “Lily I’m over 1000 years old I think I can handle a little teasing from my best friend” He cut her off softly “Over 1000 years old. Wow! You’re older than my dad” She said sounding surprised “In vampire years yes but physically…I’m two years younger” He pointed out softly “Huh. That’s interesting. Wish I knew that a few months ago…you could have saved me hours of studying and doing research for my paper on Ancient Greece” “Your dad knew. I mean he did live with us for a few decades before he met Edward. And how do you know I would have helped you with your schoolwork?” He replied “I don’t but I would have asked really nicely and hoped you were nice enough to help” She replied smiling at him “Fair enough. Maybe next time” He replied “Although after repeating High School a few times I’m sure you’ll be able to just turn in past papers” He laughed “That is where you are wrong. I’ve told mom and dad I’m not repeating High School forever. Once was quite enough. I want to go to college and study further not relearn stuff I already know” She answered him “They agreed?” He asked and she nodded “Yep. It pays to be the ‘baby’ sometimes” He nodded “I bet.”

The Cullens helped decorate the castle with the Volturi guards of a night whilst Renesmee and Lily slept. “So you guys really celebrate Christmas?” Jasper asked as he and Santiago were decorating the training room with gold coloured decorations “Yes, maybe not in the way that your family does but we do celebrate it along with Halloween” Santiago replied “We have a Secret Santa every year that way everyone gets at least one gift, although some of us here in the castle also buy for our friends and of course our mates” He added “We don’t do a Secret Santa we buy for everyone in the family, mates included” Jasper replied “Can I ask you a personal question and I don’t mean any offence by it?” Santiago asked and Jasper nodded “I hear you struggle the most with the vegetarian lifestyle due to your newborn years and I wondered how you are able to control yourself around your human sister?” “I’ll admit it was very hard in the beginning and I used to hunt more often just to try and make sure I wouldn’t hurt her. I was never left alone with her either and Alice and Edward would ‘watch’ me constantly. Esme noticed that I had started to distance myself from Lily and she didn’t like it, so she came up with a plan” Jasper paused as he thought back to when Lily was a baby.

“What did she do?” Santiago asked pulling Jasper back into the present. “My siblings all went hunting one night and Esme wouldn’t let me go with them as I had hunted that morning and once Carlisle got back from the hospital she suggested an impromptu hunting trip just for the two of them…” “Wouldn’t Alice or Edward have seen that coming?” Santiago asked “She was careful of her thoughts and decisions that day for that very reason. So she and Carlisle left the house and I was left alone with Lily who was asleep but she woke up 10 minutes later and it was up me to take care of her and although my throat burned as I held her in my arms trying to soothe her I realised she needed me to protect her as I was her big brother and that the extra hunting wasn’t helping with my self-control.  That only improved by spending more time with her and embracing the burning feeling rather than trying to fight it; because even though it was hard to be around her, she needed me far more than I needed her blood” Jasper answered honestly. “Wow, I’m impressed, not sure she would have survived living here as a baby if I’m being honest as the level of self-control varies among the guards” Santiago replied.

The throne room had an 8ft tree that was decorated with lights and blue and silver decorations “Blue is my favourite colour” Jane said as she, Alice and Alec decorated the tree, although they did ask Felix to add the Star to the top as he was the tallest in the castle. The castle hallways were decorated with garlands that had various coloured ribbons on them, depending what floor they were on. A wreath was hung on the door to the castle entrance and Lily couldn’t believe how much effort the Volturi put into decorating the castle.

Lily and Gianna, the Volturi’s secretary were in charge of ordering food as it was just for the two of them and Ness, unless she decided on the day to have a blood bag or two with the vampires. They ordered a small turkey that was to be picked up on Christmas Eve, along with potatoes and vegetables. They decided on mince pies and cream for dessert and made sure to buy quite a few bottles of Buck’s Fizz and bought some juice for Ness.

Carlisle and Heidi were in charge of getting blood bags for Christmas Day as he was a Doctor and Heidi has ‘connections’ at Tuscany General Hospital. “Does your doctor friend know our secret Heidi?” Carlisle asked as he was curious “He doesn’t ‘know’ but I think he suspects something as he seems to notice the sometimes quick turnover of our secretarial staff” She replied trying to hide her amusement. “Yes, you do seem to go through them rather quickly at times” Carlisle replied on route to the hospital. Once there they spoke to Dr Jones and he advised them “I have organised a private blood drive at the local Health Centre and I will deliver the ‘donations’ to the castle myself” “Thank you Doctor, that is very good of you” She replied smiling “Would you like some help on the day? I am a doctor back in the US” Carlisle offered “That would be very helpful yes, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your holiday” Dr Jones responded “Not at all and it’ll probably be easier if the two of us bring the ‘donations’ to the castle rather than just you” Carlisle smiled and Dr Jones agreed “I’ll see you 09.00am on the 21st then.” Heidi and Carlisle returned to the castle and updated the Kings accordingly.

The Volturi guards got used to the Cullens being in the castle; they even got used to Lily and her scent and the lower and transitory guards kept their distance from her as much as possible which she appreciated. What Lily didn’t know was Demetri decided to give them the warning he had mentioned to Carlisle previously. This took place during a training session one afternoon “As you are all aware Carlisle Cullen and his family are staying with us including their human daughter. I will only warn you all once if any of you hurt Lily Cullen you will be dismembered or at the very least you will earn yourself time in the dungeons. Is that clear?” Demetri addressed the room of vampires who all replied ‘Yes sir or Yes Demetri.’ Felix stood at the side of the room smirking as his friend threatens a room full of vampires if they were hurt the girl. “I said to Carlisle that I would keep Lily safe during her stay and this is one way to ensure that” Demetri said low to Felix once he joined him in the middle of the room ready to start the training session. “I didn’t say anything D” Felix replied low.

[lov3nerdstuff]

Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 5.9}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student, blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 6k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

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"Do I have to?!"

"Yes."

"But WHY?"

"Because being better than everyone else comes at the price of studying more than everyone else. It's as simple as that, and if you want to be better, you'll have to practice." Robin replied with a small smirk which she tried to hide though as she placed the apple in her hand back on the book in front of her where she had taken it from moments ago. "Another ten times."

"Sometimes I hate you, Robin. This is boring as hell!" Jorien sighed, but did as she was told anyway. She was sitting across from Robin on one of the otherwise deserted wooden benches in the spectators' stands of the Quidditch pitch, with her legs crossed underneath her just like Robin herself was sitting. Her closed textbooks in a stack in between them made for a makeshift table, a pedestal for the apple which was soon to be charmed.

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon close to the end of May, and Robin and Jorien had decided to move their weekly tutoring session outside for once, onto the ranks of the Quidditch stadium, while the Slytherin house team was having a practice before the last game of the term next week. Cas had made it into the team in the beginning of the year, and while neither Robin nor Jorien understood what she liked about the sport, they had for once come out here today as moral support.

The ranks were almost completely empty, the high towers closed off as always between games, and thus it was merely Robin and Jorien sitting in the spectators' ring surrounding the pitch. Nobody else was stupid enough to be out here to watch a mere bloody practice... Robin was no fan of the game, admittedly, and neither of the stadium as a place to work, but Jorien had wanted some fresh air as a change to the dungeons for once, and thus Robin had let herself be dragged out against her preference. And she had regretted it immediately. The warmth and bright light made her dizzy, the bench she was sitting on had seen better days, and she was only too glad that she only had to give instructions and see to it that Jorien followed them correctly.

Today they were revising the second year charms for the upcoming exams, and Robin actually found herself fairly amused to let Jorien enlarge an apple to the size of a pumpkin and then shrink it down to a pea. Slowly, that is, which was way more difficult than having it just switch size with a start. It required great focus on one's own magic and the object of choice, and she thought it important for the young girl to learn this now instead of in the middle of next year when everyone else would. Focus was absolutely vital, and the sooner she learned that the better.

While Jorien practiced her spells and obviously tried very hard not to throw the apple as far away as she could instead of changing its size, Robin observed the Quidditch practice. More specifically, she tried to observe Cas, because she didn't care about anyone else on the team enough to risk getting her eyes scorched out by the sun for them.

"Robin?"

"Yes?" She answered Jorien, but kept her eyes in the sky to seek out which one of the small black spots could be Cas.

"Why are you so good at this?" Jorien asked in as close to a whine as Robin had ever heard from her.

"Because I'm three years ahead of you. I've simply had more time to study magic. Obviously I'm better at it."

"No, I mean… why are you so good at making us learn things? I hate you for being so strict about it, but it does work."

"I don't know." Robin shrugged and squeezed her eyes together as the sun hit them full force once again. She knew why she preferred rainy weather; perhaps she should consider buying some sunglasses. "I don't try to make you learn, I just like to talk about the subjects."

"Is that why we're basically two years ahead in everything related to potions and herbology, but not in history of magic, for example?"

"Yeah." Now Robin couldn't keep the smirk to herself. "I love potions and everything related to it. Could talk about it all day, every day. I probably do, actually."

"You certainly do. God knows why… I find the class barely bearable, and only because Professor Snape isn’t as mean to us as to the others. Because he likes you."

"I find that hard to imagine." Robin said and found herself glad for the first time that her face was red from the heat anyway.

"That he's nice to us or that he likes you?"

"I know that he likes me, and I expect him to be nice to you if you're nice to him, but I doubt that there is a connection between those two."

"You expect him to be nice?! I don't know in which world you're living, honestly. He is really scary and mean most of the time, and he usually snaps at people for literally no reason."

"Believe me, he usually has a reason." Robin snorted and shook her head as she finally looked at Jorien once again. "But that reason doesn't always make sense to anyone but him. He isn't an easy person to understand, and he sees to it that no one does."

"You do understand him though, don't you? I mean… you spend an awful lot of time with him, so you guys have to get along somehow."

"We do get along. It isn't always the easiest thing, but we're making progress." And somehow, Robin thought, they had simply refused to give up on each other for so long that by now they were at a point where they had adapted to each other's flaws enough for their rough edges to fit together. Very well even, at least in Robin's eyes. Maybe that was just her feelings getting in the way of her judgement, but would they be working together this successfully if they didn't function well together anyway? Robin shook her head to push the thought back into the depth where it had come from.

"But… how?! Can you tell me that secret?" Jorien asked with more curiosity than Robin would've liked.

"You are trying to distract me, and I can tell you that it's not working. The apple, ten times." She said, and gave Jorien a pointed look.

"But I've already done two! You just weren't looking."

"Have you now? In that case, start over. Twelve times. Starting by one again. Now." Perhaps, Robin thought, she was being too strict about this. But if Jorien couldn't focus for the mere twelve minutes it would take to make the stupid apple grow and shrink twelve times, then she would run into serious problems sooner or later. Charms weren't Jorien's problem, they never had been, it rather was her lack of focus when she didn't deem something important enough. So doing a boring task over and over again might seem like a punishment, but Robin was only trying to get her to concentrate. Even if the task was easy.

This time Jorien didn't complain, only sighed, and actually did fifteen times the task just to prove to both of them that she could. Robin didn't say it, but she knew that she would probably have done the same thing if the roles had been reversed, and she felt very much pleased with Jorien for that ambition. But she also believed that they had done enough practicing for today, especially out in the sun like this, and thus they packed up before finally observing the practice game of Quidditch going on in front of them.

While Jorien seemed almost genuinely curious about the fast pace at which their housemates scored points, Robin found her only entertainment in watching someone getting hit by the bludgers. It just made her snicker to see some of the people she couldn't stand get hit by very heavy flying balls. They should make a sport out of that alone, because then Robin would definitely enjoy watching the games a whole lot more. The visual she had of it in her head alone was more entertaining than the current Quidditch game in the real world, and Robin snorted to herself as she watched imaginary people get knocked off their imaginary brooms by imaginary bludgers. That was fun. Snape would love it, even if he'd never admit it, and Robin made a mental note to tell him about it later. She just loved to make him smirk or even smile sometimes, for it always seemed to brighten up her whole world for a while. And he probably did smile more often these days indeed, when he thought that Robin wasn't looking, but she'd caught him often enough to know. A smile was on her lips before she knew.

"Asshole!!!" Jorien's yell snapped Robin out of her mind with a start, but before she had the time to fully register what or who the girl was yelling at, her eyes were drawn to the bludger that came speeding right into their direction.

Robin grabbed her wand from the waistband of her jeans, but Jorien was faster to direct hers at the iron ball with a shaking hand. "Engorgio!"

Robin's blood froze over with a start when she realized what Jorien had said, but the shock sat so deep in her bones that it robbed her of any ability to react. All she could do was watch how the bludger grew to the size of a wrecking ball in an instant, before it crashed straight through the wooden construction below them with a thunder of demolition. Robin's eyes met Jorien's for a broken second of shared panic, then the stand below them gave way as the entire construction collapsed in itself. One last spark of an instinctive need to act grabbed Robin, as adrenaline accompanied her fall, and she threw a blind spell at Jorien without any fathomable thought in her mind about what she did. When everything went black, she couldn't remember anything but fear.

… … …

Pain ripples through her body, piercing her from left to right with heated blades that covered her skin in a layer of cold sweat. Robin felt nauseous to the core when her eyes snapped open.

"I don't know what is wrong with her!" An exasperated yell cut through Robin's eardrums and she groaned. What's going on…?

"But we need to do something before her heart rate drops too low, so think of something!" Someone else yelled back, but the voices were moving away rather than closer to her. They weren't talking about Robin… oh god. Jorien!

Robin sat up with a start, yelping in pain as she did, as she scanned the room with frantic eyes in search for her roommate. The collapse, the fall… it came back to Robin with a start, and she went on to ignore her pain as she struggled to her feet. Jorien had been put into the infirmary bed next to hers, and even though it was surrounded by various people trying to help, Robin saw enough. Oh no… this was all her fault.

"You shouldn't be up!" Someone addressed Robin as soon as she stepped to stand next to Jorien's bed. "You must lay back down in this instant until we have inspected your injuries!"

"Don't bother, I'm fine." She replied with a frown, and had to realize that speaking made her feel even more sick. Gods, her entire body hurt. But she was alive, wasn't she? That was good enough for now. Jorien in the bed in front of her perhaps wouldn't be so lucky. She seemed to be petrified, but also not really… Robin's vision went out of focus for a moment, and she aggressively blinked to get her eyes to function again. She needed to function, damnit! Jorien's eyes were wide open, her lips parted in a silent scream, and her hair floated around her head in slow motion. "What's wrong with her?"

"We don't know, she was floating in the air while we found you lying in the shatters. She was almost motionless, just like this. Frozen in time..." The nurse with the oddly blurry face replied, and tried to push Robin back down onto her own bed. Robin however had no intention to let her do so, and simply stepped around her with a shiver. Her head was spinning… but she knew that she had to help Jorien. She knew that this was her fault, all of this. She had pushed the girl to far in her practice of the stupid charm. She'd failed to protect her from her own mistake.

"I… I did this." She managed to say in a decently steady voice, and the more she focused, the more she could suppress her nausea and even the burning pain. They could deal with that later. "Before we fell."

"And what exactly did you do?!" Madam Pomfrey asked from the other side of the bed, and let her hands drop from Jorien's neck. "Her heart is very close to not beating anymore, so you better tell me right in this instant!"

Robin blinked a few times, and finally felt her mind clicking into work mode. She moved from her position in the middle of the beds to stand directly above Jorien and across from Madam Pomfrey. "You have tried the anti-paralysis potion, yes?"

"Of course, but it has shown no effect! What did you do to her?"

"It should have worked…" Robin frowned and dug through her memory for a moment, but she couldn't remember what she had done, what had happened. There was nothing, her mind was blank from the moment on when she had looked into Jorien's terrified eyes. "But she is definitely paralyzed rather than petrified. It should be working."

"It doesn't, so lay back down and let us try to save her in another way!" The matron snapped at Robin, who however couldn't care less about what the woman said. The stabbing in her side made it hard to breathe and even harder to think, but Robin only had to look at the girl in front of her and her own guilt and fear pushed any haze out of her mind. Focus… she took a deep breath. What was the problem? The potion wasn't working. Why wasn't the potion working? Not because it was faulty. Which means… Jorien must have something in her system that neutralized one of the ingredients of the potion! But what could it be? Geez… there were endless possibilities.

"Perhaps we should-... Ah, Professor!" Madam Pomfrey said in a relieved voice. "Good that you show up at all at last!"

"What is this entire ordeal about that my presence was demanded so insistently?" Snape's deep voice finally had Robin look up from Jorien's floating hair, and the room was spinning again at her movement. But her eyes found his nonetheless, and she could tell that his expression went from annoyance to a brief second of shock, then back to the thickest neutral facade. "What happened?"

"Later. Right now we have to keep Miss Blakeley alive." Madam Pomfrey shut his demand for answers right down and turned back to Jorien. "The anti-paralysis potion had no effect, and if we don't find another solution quickly, then-..."

"No, we don't need another solution." Robin interrupted her with a tone as determined as she could manage. Her entire left side felt like someone had poured liquid fire over it at this point, her throat raw as if cut open and then stabbed her with a million daggers more. "We need Kalinistra."

"Not now, Miss Mitchell, just move aside and let us do our work!" Pomfrey scolded her, and the nurse next to Robin once again tried to subtly get her to sit down at least, but Robin pushed her hands away and suppressed another whine at the harsh movement.

"I am doing your bloody work for you and if you had any sense in you, you would just do as I say!" She groaned, and blinked the tears away that had sprung to her eyes. "Jorien has a substance in her system that neutralises the potion, and we have to get rid of that."

"Good point, go on." Snape replied immediately, before any of the others could even try to put an end to Robin's explanation once again.

"If you look at the… ingredients in the anti-paralysis potion, you see that… that it's mainly based on herbs somewhat related to Pellatium. What neutralizes Pellatium would be something like Mandrake root, and-..."

"And Kalinistra would erase any trace of Mandrake." Snape concluded before Robin could, and she started to nod before she had to stop when it made her ears ring and her head feel like exploding. Another wave of cold sweat broke over her skin, and her breathing grew more shallow by the second.

"Miss Blakeley came here yesterday for some Pepperup Potion, actually…" The nurse said quietly, and all eyes flew to her in an instant.

"That's about seventy percent Mandrake, just so you know." Robin huffed, then rolled her eyes, and regretted it immediately.

"And you couldn't have mentioned that twenty minutes ago when she was brought here?!" Madam Pomfrey scolded her young colleague, but then turned to Snape. "So your suggestion would be to give the girl Kalinistra and then another dose of the anti-paralysis potion?"

"It is Miss Mitchell's suggestion, but I absolutely agree." He replied with a glare down at the matron next to him. "Didn't you say time was scarce? I would suggest you get started then."

As Madam Pomfrey and the nurse jumped into action, Snape moved out of their way and instead came to stand next to Robin. She noticed his presence close by her side, but kept her eyes fixed on Jorien while waves of cold heat rolled over her continuously and brought back equal waves of dizziness. If she had looked him in the eye, for just a second even, he immediately would've known that something was up with her. She didn't even dare to brush her hair out of her face, nor away from where the sweat made it stick to her neck.

"Kalinistra was a brilliant idea." He mused after a while, as they both watched how Madam Pomfrey gave Jorien another vial of anti-paralysis potion at last.

"Hope so." Robin pressed out in as neutral a tone as possible, but there was no way he could miss just how fake her entire demeanor was. Every breath hurt like a knife stabbed into her ribcage, and it was hard enough to breathe at all. Talking was worse.

"What happened to her?" He asked another time, clearly addressing Robin, for his voice was too quiet for the other two to hear. She loved that he actually talked to her, but right now she just couldn't keep up with that on top of everything else.

"I happened." Robin whispered, in a new wave of guilt, and wrapped her arms around her middle only to jerk them back when an overwhelming pain rippled through her torso upon a mere touch. She bit her lip to keep quiet; this was not good. But the current moment wasn't about her. This was about undoing what she had done.

A gasp cut through the silence then, and it was followed by a violent quake going through Jorien's body. Then her eyes closed and snapped open again as she started blinking rapidly, breathing hard as if someone had made her jump only moments before. But she was moving again, at a normal speed, and Robin could have cried in relief. The quiet sighs of the others told her they shared that sentiment.

But Jorien for her part looked around with frantic eyes, her features dominated by sheer panic until at last her gaze fell onto Robin. Then, within a second, she sat up in her bed and wrapped her arms around Robin as tightly as she could.

Robin's lips parted in a silent scream that fortunately no one paid attention to, then she bit her lip tightly enough to taste the bitter sting of copper. And yet, the faintest sound must have escaped her, for Jorien let go of her immediately and instead stared up at her with teary eyes.

"I'm sorry…" The girl choked out. "I… I didn't…"

"No, it's nothing. Don't worry." Robin replied immediately, with a small smile and a mild tone she had no idea how she was capable of right now. Ignoring everything else, she sat down at the edge of the bed and allowed Jorien to cling onto her again, while she tried to comfort the girl in return. Robin knew that she wasn't good at this, wasn't someone others came to for comfort. But as it seemed, she was what Jorien wanted right now, and she could never deny her that. Not after what she had done to her. Not even as the taste of copper in her mouth grew stronger, and her pain was fueled by the squeezing arms around her ribs.

"Miss Blakeley, how do you feel?" Madam Pomfrey finally asked, but the voice sounded dull and distant in Robin's ears even as Jorien finally let go of her.

"I'm good." The girl replied with a small sigh, and looked from Robin to Snape, then to the matron at last. "Confused, and my eyes hurt a little, but otherwise I'm good."

"That's amah-..." Robin said as she forced herself back onto her feet with as little swaying as possible. "Amazing."

"I expect an explanation. What exactly led to this chaos?" Snape asked at last, and while Robin wanted to give him an answer to that, she found herself too busy trying to keep the room from spinning. So she simply stared down at the ground with wide eyes while Jorien and Madam Pomfrey explained how the bludger had destroyed the wooden construction and how Robin had somehow frozen Jorien in time and space to keep her from falling, which had resulted in the paralysis. That Robin herself had fallen into the ashes however remained unsaid, and honestly, she barely took notice of it anyway. The voices were a white noise to her own alternating waves of cold heat and pain, a drowning echo in a sea of sound.

"But… I shouldn't be feeling perfectly fine, should I?" Jorien frowned suddenly, and tugged at Robin's hand. "We were falling, and I was paralyzed and…"

"You might feel good, but you still need to rest! You have been through a lot, and perhaps it is best if we continue this discussion at a later point. Try to sleep now." Madam Pomfrey cut in before anyone else could reply, and Jorien reluctantly laid back down as she was told.

"I'm okay though, right?" She inquired before everyone else could move away. "Robin?"

"Don't worry. We gave you a little sip of a potion I made, against the paralyzing charm and now you're all good again." Robin replied with a badly feigned smile that however seemed to suffice.

"Thank you for saving my life..." Jorien offered her a small smile in return, and finally closed her eyes with a surprisingly peaceful expression that squeezed Robin's heart in a death grip.

"You shouldn't thank me." She breathed to herself, far too quietly for Jorien to hear. "Not when I'm the one who almost got you killed in the first place." Then, at last, she let herself be shooed away into the wide aisle in the middle of the infirmary, where she wouldn't stand in the way any longer. Perhaps they had forgotten that she had been part of the accident too, not just its cause… but Robin wouldn't draw attention to it. In her eyes she wasn't the victim, but the one to blame. In her eyes, she deserved every bit of the pain she felt.

So she merely kept standing in the aisle like she was the one frozen in time now, hollow eyes staring at nothing while her own arms wrapped around herself in a vain attempt to make it easier to bear the nauseating waved of cold sweat. But every shallow, rasped breath still hurt like a new knife between the ribs, and made brilliant spots of shadow and light dance across her vision in a swirling haze. She blinked them away, and her focus returned barely when Snape's eyes found hers as he came to stand a mere step in front of her.

"Are you alright? You look-..."

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Robin snapped before he even had the chance to finish the sentence. She didn't deserve concern, or sympathy; she deserved to be yelled at as if she wasn't hurt. In defiance of her own state, she dropped her arms to her sides and turned to look towards the distant windows instead. His eyes were too much to bear, they could shatter her with all the things he would never say out loud.

And yet when cold fingers brushed against the heated skin of her neck, a force beyond her drew her gaze back to his. His touch both pleasure and pain brought the sweetest agony of doubling heatwaves to her body, and her lips parted in both a silent sigh and weeping. His fingers traced over the curve of her neck, barely touching upon her collar bone as he pushed away the strands of her hair that clung to it. Then finally the touch disappeared altogether, all too soon. His gaze dropped from her neck to his hand between them, then he met her startled eyes at last.

"Is this nothing to you?" He asked, in a low tone that was both accusation and inquiry, and finally Robin could pry her eyes away from his to let them drop to the hand he held out to her. The sight of deepest crimson on his fingertips let her shudder while a new wave of cold heat ran over her. The sticky feeling on her skin… her neck and ribs and shoulder blades… it had never been sweat. Her hands rose on their own account to cradle his between them, trembling fingers clawing at his skin in an attempt to steady what she saw. But it was her own vision quivering, not his hand.

"Tell me the truth, Robin." He demanded after a moment, but never removed his hand from hers.

Robin looked up at him then, but her hold on him only tightened as gravity seemed to change by the second. Her stomach was at war with her lungs, was at war with her entire left side. "Jorien-..."

"I understood what happened to Miss Blakeley. I need to know what happened to you."

"I was terrified and I don't know what I did to her... There is pain everywhere, and I feel sick, and... and… your face is getting really… blurry... Maybe I should just-..." Robin gasped, and Snape's features above her turned into a swirling explosion of color before it faded to all black. With a start, all the tension in her body was gone.

… … …

"Why do you have to be so stupid… so stupid and so ridiculously brilliant." The deep voice of her favorite person was the first thing that wrapped Robin in an immediate cloud of comfort as her senses slowly returned to her, rising up from the depths of sleep.

"Why do you do this to me?!" He asked quietly, but it still cut through the silence like a clean silver line. "Couldn't you have cared about yourself at least half as much as you care about the ones you choose as yours?"

"No." Robin replied in the same quiet, and finally opened her eyes to look up at the ceiling of the infirmary once again. A single candle was lit on her nightstand, and it made the shadows dance on the cold stone high above.

For a moment there was nothing but silence, no reply to Robin's answer, and she turned her head on the pillow to look at Snape to her left. He was sitting on the backrest of a chair, and looking at her with an almost startled expression.

"How much did you hear?" He asked at last, but made no move to leave nor to sit down properly.

"More than you would like and less than I would." Robin offered him a small smile, and tried to sit up a moment later with surprisingly little pain. Her ribs ached a little, her neck felt itchy, and her wrist did a weird clicking sound when she moved it, but otherwise she could sit up and even cross her legs without any problems.

"I see you're feeling better." Snape commented in regard to her movement, and when Robin motioned for him to have a seat across from her, he reluctantly obliged to sit down at the far end of the bed.

"Physically, yeah… But it still is my fault that Jorien almost died." Robin sighed in defeat, and quickly scanned her surroundings in the dim light of the one candle. The room seemed to be entirely empty but for the two of them, and she found herself relaxing as her eyes returned to Snape. "I screwed up."

"That you did."

"At least you admit it. But I'm drowning in guilt as it is already, there’s no need for scolding me."

"You screwed up because you were stupid enough to pretend that you were fine. Not because you saved the girl's life."

"No! I screwed up when I was too slow to stop that bloody bludger, and then Jorien mixed up her spells because she was panicked and I hadn't taught her any better, and… I cursed her, in our fall. I remember it now. I studied relative time spells and curses just last night, it was the first thing that came to my mind. Throwing experimental magic at her was fucking stupid."

"Seeing as she is perfectly fine and back in her own room right at this moment, while you are here with two previously broken ribs and a scar to remind you of the events of today, I wouldn't necessarily consider the last part as screwing up." He said, and turned entirely towards Robin in his seat on the bed at last. "It might not have been an ideal reaction to blindly throw a spell at her, but you did prevent the worst. If you hadn't acted, she might still have died from the fall. You might have died either way."

"But I didn't. I'm fine, for real this time. I promise. I only feel like it would have been my job to protect her, and I let her down when I didn't stop the bludger before she did. I'm guilty of that no matter what, and I'm guilty of not teaching her better. I know that it is my fault, no matter what you say."

"I wouldn't dare to disagree. I know exactly how you feel."

"Do you really?"

"Yes." He stated, and at last dropped his gaze from hers down to the wrinkled sheets before he continued. "You feel an oppressing guilt for letting something happen to her while you could have prevented it if you had acted differently. You feel remorse for the pain you caused by not preventing her from being hurt in the first place. And when she still looks at you like you were the one thing saving her, you know that all you deserve is the very worst, but not her thankfulness."

"That's… yes." Robin breathed, and her throat felt too tight, her lips too dry, and she wet them before she spoke on. "So you do feel like that as well? When your students get hurt?"

"Only when it's you." He replied, obviously before he thought better of it, and his honesty surprised both himself and Robin as their eyes met once more. After long seconds of silence, he spoke on. "I do feel responsible for what happens to all of my students, in a general manner, especially for the ones in my house. But of course it just has to be entirely different with you. It always is."

"Obviously." She gave him a small smile in return. How could one single person make her feel so incredibly safe and set so exhilarated at once?! He didn't even do anything but look at her… and say that she was different to him than anyone else. "Perhaps it's not a matter of responsibility. Maybe it's trying to protect someone you care about. And when you fail, it hurts so much more because you didn't just fail a responsibility put upon you, but because you failed the one you care about. The thought of losing someone you care about is always scary… if not straight out terrifying."

"You scared me today. I want you to never do that to me again."

"I'll do my best." Robin said, as both his words and the sincerity in his face melted away the last bit of sadness left within her. Her lips curled into a wider smile at last. "Don't worry, your reputation as the emotionless, scary professor who doesn't care about anyone won't be damaged."

"I am not concerned about my reputation. And it seems that people are already well aware that you are my favorite."

"Your favorite nuisance, perhaps." She laughed, and yet the uproar of her heart couldn't be fooled by humor. "But any kind of favorite will do, really."

"If nuisance is the word you would like to go with, I will not stop you." He replied with a small smirk, which only made her smile even more. "But anyone else who dares to say so would make an enemy."

Robin bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from grinning like an idiot. Perhaps it wasn't such a good change that he was getting better at saying nice things to her… it only made her love him more.

A spark of electricity started in her heart, and then crawled through her body in an expanding wave that gained momentum with every fiber it consumed. She really did love him, quite desperately so even, but her mind had never dared put that term to it before now. Before it was finally absolutely impossible to deny. Bloody hell… one stupid term for what she felt changed everything, and yet it changed nothing at all. She still wouldn't do anything but keep it as a dark secret in the shadows of her mind. Perhaps it gave her the permission to dwell in those shadowy places more often… and it definitely would make it harder to leave them again. But she'd never quite minded such a sweetest kind of torture.

"You should rest now. It is three o'clock in the morning and I know you better than to assume that you won't want to study and work as soon as the sun is up." He finally said with a sigh and stood up from the end of the bed.

"Don't go." Robin said before she could convince herself not to. "I'll lay down if you insist, but I can't sleep. Not right now. Can we just… talk? Like always?"

"Do you seriously believe I have nothing better to do at three in the morning than that?"

"Well, seeing as you have been here even since before I was awake, I would dare to say no." Robin raised an eyebrow at him with a smile, and when he rolled his eyes exaggeratedly but sat back down anyway, she knew that his entire protest was merely for show.

"In fact, I do not." He sighed, and quirked an eyebrow at her in return. "What would you like to talk about then?"

"How about some defense against the dark arts revision? OWLs are in two weeks, and I could use some help."

"How fortunate for you that I am well versed in the subject."

"How very fortunate indeed."

____________________________

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[so-i-dont-forget-again]

So I Don’t Forget Again: A Breath of The Wild fanfiction

Entry 170: Rito Village

 Even though I can’t fly and most of their techniques involves the intricacies of flying and shooting at the same time I’ve still learned a lot. Teba said we were going to take a break today; he had noticed my arm started acting up yesterday and thought I needed a break. Yesterday he thought I just might not have stretched enough before training but seeing me this morning he thought I might have pulled something and suggested I ask Saki to take a look at it.

I guess I’ll have to visit the Domain soon. I’m not even near finished with the medicine I have now. Feels like a waste to have not finished this stuff before getting new medicine, but I was given an excess amount since they didn’t know how long I was going to be gone for.

Bossa Nova kept nudging my arm and side, I think he’s noticed too. That or he just wants scratches and pets. After getting here he practically had been getting them nonstop from just about everyone. With no one petting him I guess he now wanted me to pet him, and he nudged me less after I pet him. There’s also plenty of foliage here. I think Bossa Nova is getting spoiled here. I hope he’ll be okay with leaving when I’m done here.

I found Amali calling out for Kheel. She had gone missing and Amali was searching around the whole village. Though things are much safer, the Yiga have been around attacking people.

Teba and I had been using them in training as targets. I understand it’s to protect everyone in the village, but… I feel nauseous seeing the bodies pile up.

I offered to search outside the village for Kheel.

She was at Warbler’s Nest. She wants to finally have singing practice with her sisters but they refuse to go and she refuses to leave till they join her. I told her that if she had to practice here I or some other warrior should be there. It seems she doesn’t know about the Yiga. I thought about explaining the situation to her but I shouldn’t scare her, what if she becomes too scared to leave the village even when it is safe. I tried telling her there were other dangerous creatures around like wolves, but she still refused. She didn’t need to practice here every day, but it had been so long she at least wanted to sing here just once. I told her that I wanted to hear their singing and didn’t want to miss a thing, so I asked her if she’d please come with me to find her sisters so I could hear their recital practice.

First Kheel and I checked back home and found Genli at the cooking pot, she wanted to do some cooking and had sent some of the others to help her collect some missing ingredients while she prepared. She did tell us where she thought some of the others would be at like the store and such.

When we were searching Amali spotted us and was relieved to see us back safely. She told Kheel it was still too dangerous to be out. I explained I’d be there to look after them, but Amali wasn’t happy. Apparently Teba had told her we were taking a break and told me I was to be resting, not fighting still. I explained the situation with my arm but that only got her to say that was even more reason to rest. She then sighed, saying I am an adult who could make choices for himself but she highly recommended that I return to the zora before my infections get worse and become more permanent, maybe even stay with them till I’m fully healed since all the Divine Beasts had been appeased now.

Even if I’m still fighting, for me, just staying here is a rest. Amali paused for a moment then so softly told me that whenever I needed a break I could always come back here. She then told me to go back to playing with my sisters as Kheel seemed to be getting impatient. She then got flustered noticing what she had said and apologized. In a lot of ways I am rather similar to Kass and with how I’m always with her daughters, playing with them and such whenever I returned from training with Teba I was like a big brother to them. Kass had spoken much of me before Amali and I had actually met, and the tales were so accurate, she felt like she had known me for much longer than we actually had, so in a way I felt somewhat like her own child as odd as it may sound. Especially with how Kass spoke of me in a similar way he had of their daughters.

When Amali and I were hugging Kheel joined in, confused but didn’t want to be left out. I promised her I’d be more careful and that I’d go see the zora doctors soon and return better than ever. Amali said that when I come back, I should bring my boyfriend so she and everyone else could meet him, though with Kass’ many tales of Sidon he sounded like a great person. I think Sidon would like that and I told her I’d see what I could do.

Cree was buying goat butter. Notts was supposed to be helping but seems she wasw slacking off and Knotts was out fishing. I had to do a bit of climbing to reach her, but we found her on her stone perch and she joined us in our search. Knotts was very close to the village, on one of the pillars which were connected by bridges, there’s a little lake on one of them and there we did some spear fishing to get a hearty salmon. They said I fish funny; I didn’t think spear fishing could differ so much from zoras and rito but I suppose like fighting it can surprisingly be very different.

We all returned to the kitchen to cook with Genli. We made Salmon Meuniere, and it’s delicious! They wanted to make seconds but I convinced them not too so we wouldn’t spoil our appetite for dinner.

On they way to Warbler’s Nest they rode on Bossa Nova’s back, constantly giving him pets which I think he was very pleased with.

After some practice they asked me if I sang too. As far as I could remember I didn’t think I ever tried. They… didn’t seem too pleased with the result. I’m now their pet project of sorts. They want to teach me so I can become a great singer and serenade “The fish prince”. It’s common practice to sing to win someone’s heart and they wanted to help me with my relationship with Sidon. They said cooking was good but since I travel so much, I need to do more like their dad who sings a lot for their mom and them. They then got the bright idea of getting Kass to teach me, since we both have deeper voices than them and maybe someone with a slightly more similar range to me could help more. They pushed and pulled me all the way back to the village and demanded that Kass teach me. This whole affair was kind of embarrassing, but… the thought of singing for Sidon is nice.

After practice I assisted Amali in the kitchen again. Many of the Rito dishes involve a meat of some kind and I think many of them would be good for traveling, maybe not the fish meat pie, but many of the other ones seem like they could work like the Salmon Meuniere.

Kass and I did some chatting after dinner. He asked me it this is what it’s always like when in stay in a place after appeasing the Divine Beast, all the training I had been doing. I told him it differs from place to place, but this time… all I have left is finding the Master Sword and Defeating the Calamity and I want to make sure I’m ready. I told him staying in places is more like today, learning something, entertaining children, just… living here, and training to be a warrior is a big part of living here, though I had been training to excess lately and I told him I’d probably be letting up on it. Kass told me it was a good idea, I did so much fighting already and even if the art was my one true love, too much of anything was never good.

We just chatted, I’ve just chatted with others before, but this just felt especially nice. I wonder if it’s just Kass being Kass or what Amali had told me before, but I just really liked this. Maybe it was the soft playing of his accordion when we hadn’t talked for a while, just watching the sunset.

I asked Kass what he was going to do if I defeated the Calamity. Kass told me he’d still be searching for ancient songs. Even if I completed my task, that didn’t mean his job was done, and being a bard is his life, he’s not just doing it because of a dead man’s wish, like me and my journey.

Kass paused for a moment telling me he still didn’t have a song for Revali but he did have a song for someone else, the hero from a hundred years ago. Kass told me that though I can’t remember much his master was there when the Calamity had struck and met the old, dead me. Kass told me of how his teacher had loved Zelda but she had clearly fallen for someone else, the dead hero, and that likely colored this song, but even with jealousy he believed the hero would return and poured that belief into a song. It was still something that could possibly shed some light on my fogged memories even if heavily warped by another impression of that man.

“An ancient hero, a Calamity appears, Now resurrected after ten thousand years. Her appointed knight gives his life, shields her figure, and pays the price. The princess’ love for her fallen knight awakens her power/And within the castle the Calamity is forced to cower. But the knight survives! In the Shrine of resurrection he sleeps, until from his healing dream he leaps! For fierce and deadly trials await. To regain his strength. Fulfill his fate. To become a hero once again! To wrest the princess from evil’s den. The hero, the princess-hand in hand-Must bring the light back to this land.”

Kass asked me if the song had helped any. I… feel something tugging at the back of my mind, but I can’t seem to quite reach it. I know there was something bright, but… nothing else. But the song, I died protecting Zelda? Kass told me his teacher had witnessed it. And it was as Kass had explained before, his Teacher wanted to help and seek out the ancient songs of the hero long past to help me, and after he died Kass took on his wish. Kass said that it was too bad the hero would never return. After all he died saving the princess. He knows, he learned of my past when I had my panic attack, when he had me read through my journal with him. He knows, but… it’s like back in the Zora’s Domain now. He did however tell me that should I meet the princess I should give her my condolences for being a different person, her knight gone, and if she lives, to try to let her down easy about Sidon and I. I asked him if it was a shock to find out when I was panicking. He told me he had a suspicion ever since we solved that deer puzzle together, so he wasn’t surprised. He then started giving advice. Talking about grieving, how he had tried to deal with his feelings about his teacher passing, someone like family to him. About working with your worries, being so scared about the people you care about when traveling. About getting stuck in your head when you have no one else to talk too, one piece of advice that really struck me was speaking aloud to yourself, even just hearing the words not just in your head can make quite a difference. About how to deal with the deathly loneliness all that plus traveling through such barren landscapes on your own can bring.

Kass asked me if I could do a favor for him. He just wants to see me one last time before I set off to fight the Calamity, share a day with him and Amali and his daughters if I could. He said it might be a selfish wish, but to place his own heart at ease before I go fight the thing, he wanted to see I was prepared and felt ready to do so, maybe by then he’d have a song all of his own for me, he had a lot of material to work with after all.

Kass just pulled me into a hug when I started crying. I thanked him and told him I’d be happy to and that I was just happy to be here with everyone. He told me he was happy too.

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[ficsilike-reblogged]

Sunshine City: Four

A/N: We are nearing the end of this little story, my loves. Thank you to everyone who read, liked, and/or reblogged the last chapter. I adore you.

Pairing: Agent Whiskey x F!Reader (No Y/N)

Word Count: 2.8k

Rating For This Chapter: T for blood, injuries, a K*ss or two, my undying love of tropes and cliches

Catch up on previous chapters here!

London was a beautiful mix of sparkling skyscrapers and bygone brick and mortar. It reminded her of New York on one street and some sort of historical romance novel on the next.  The Tube was much more proficient than the subway and Bela was fond of the fact that Harry let her take him along to the office whenever she wasn’t on assignment.

But it still felt…like she was just visiting. 

“Mordred!”

She pivoted in her chair to see Roxy—Agent Lancelot—walk into her office. The young agent had been thought dead for a handful of weeks after Kingsman’s old headquarters had exploded, but she had survived. A little injured, more than a little confused, but quickly back to normal after Eggsy discovered her in the nearest hospital. She couldn’t remember her name but she did remember how to throw men over her shoulder like it was nothing. (The nurses were not a fan.) 

But Roxy was now back on her very-capable feet and usually out in the field. 

“Lancelot,” she replied with a quirk of an eyebrow.

“Your cowboy has arrived in that atrocious car.” But a teasing smile was pulling at Roxy’s lips as she said it, letting Sunny know this would not be the end of their conversation. Roxy had almost instantly become aware of the strange relationship between Whiskey and the former Statesman agent and found it endlessly entertaining. While Eggsy was tending to his new duties as a prince of Sweden, Roxy had readily stepped into his role of friend to Sunny when Ginger was busy.

“He is not my cowboy.” She rose to her feet and Bela poked his little head out from under the desk where he’d been napping on an embroidered pillow, a Boxing Day gift from Merlin last year.

Roxy laughed, a full-belly laugh that had the other woman frowning. “You might want to tell him that. When he saw Tristan at the door he said, and I quote: ‘tell Sunny her cowboy is here.’ So, I do not believe he knows he isn’t your cowboy.”

She was able to keep her face neutral as Roxy’s smirk continued to grow but that did not mean her stomach did not flip and fill with butterflies. “I’ll let him know, Lancelot.”

Roxy laughed and nodded before excusing herself.

“At least he didn’t honk this time,” she muttered to herself. The pair had been assigned a mission and she expected him later that day.

The stately manor house just an hour outside London was the newest headquarters for the agency and usually agents and their American counterparts would use the underground bullet train under the (also recently rebuilt) tailor shop. It would take only a handful of minutes.

But apparently Whiskey had to be…different.

She straightened her shoulders and walked toward the door and Bela followed, matching his short stride to her longer one as she made her way out of her office, through the ornate and marble halls, and out toward the manicured lawn and front courtyard.

And there was Whiskey in his Bronco. His head was tilted back so it could catch the warmth of the infrequent sun and his stupid cowboy hat was still on his head. Her stomach tightened at the sight of the stretch of his neck. God. She still had it bad, didn’t she? Would the sight of someone’s neck make anyone (aside from her pathetically-in-love self) short of breath?

Their relationship hadn’t really changed since Tilde and Eggsy’s wedding. Well, that is what she told herself anyway. Their emails had progressed to whispered telephone calls about their days and missions and she had lost count how many times she had fallen asleep to the sound of Whiskey all-but crooning in her ear.

But…friends did that. Right?

They were friends.

The scratching of Bela’s little paws against the stone of the front steps grabbed his attention and his head lazily turned to the side as a familiar smile pushed up his lips, displaying the one dimple on his right cheek. “Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes, Sunshine?”

She tried halfheartedly to hide her smile as she slowed to a stop and leaned against the passenger-side door. “I’m Agent Mordred here, Whiskey.”

“Nope. You’ll always be my Sunshine.” He opened his door and Bela leapt up into his lap just long enough for the older agent to scratch behind his ear and then into the back seat where the corgi promptly made himself at home. Whiskey leaned over and opened the door for her and patted the leather of seat, smile never fading. “C’mon. We can talk on our way back to London.” 

She rolled her eyes but slid in. As she pulled the door closed, she said, “we could have taken the train.” 

“It don’t like it. The darn thing moves too fast.”

She scoffed with another smile. “I don’t believe anything moves too fast for you.”

As Whiskey started the engine he looked at her, head dipping so he could pin her with his stare over the edge of his gold-rimmed aviators. “On the contrary, Sunny. I like going slow.” He enunciated each word with that southern drawl and let his fingers slide around the worn leather of the steering wheel, nice and slow as they trailed over the stitching. “Take my time. Make it worth it when I finally reach a destination.”

Her head snapped toward the windshield as heat curled in her stomach and then strangled the next breath from her lungs. “Inappropriate.”

But he laughed and reached over to pat at her thigh and squeezed just above her knee before gravel spit beneath his tires when he pressed down on the gas.

The pair did actually speak about the mission as the unusually clear autumn day provided a perfect backdrop for their drive. “Why do we always get put on the nuclear waste missions? It is like Champ and Harry don’t like us.” She said with a huff.

“Maybe it’s our specialty, Sunshine.”

She reached out and smacked at his arm. The mission was a little more involved than Vegas. It involved a pair of couples from blue blood families who had turned to buying and selling anything and everything a would-be terrorist or dictator would need in order to keep their luxurious lifestyles. Merlin had managed to uncover the plans of an American couple about to meet with the dealers at a gala at one of the privately-owned castles in Scotland. While Tequila managed to neutralize the American couple, she and Whiskey would be taking their place, hopefully to stop them and uncover where they were getting their supply.

She gave him directions toward the tailor shop (where they could pick up a few gadgets and supplies) once they reached the right borough and laughed when he had trouble parallel parking. But after finally managing to squeeze the Bronco into a space definitely designed for something smaller, he darted around to open her door as she pulled Bela from his napping spot in the back.

She murmured a thank you as she let Bela lick at her cheek. Whiskey hummed and scratched behind Bela’s ear before placing a hand at the small of her back as she led them up toward the gleaming glass door of the tailor shop.

It was all very…domestic, in a stereotypical “southern gentleman” sort of way and she hated how much she liked it. But she had given up on actually hating anything he did. Especially when he smiled at her like that.

                                                    **

Edinburgh was magnificent. And Kingsman had made sure their agent and visiting Statesman were comfortable in a luxury hotel room and an extra agent to act as their chauffeur for the evening, solidifying their image as a well-to-do couple with nefarious intentions.

The past handful of hours were spent going over the plan before separating to get ready. Her dress was from some Italian designer Roxy insisted would look good on her and fit her like a black, silk glove. The thigh-high slit just barely covered the holster she’d strapped around her thigh but hopefully the dangerously low neckline would distract anyone away from her legs. The false eyelashes gave her pause for a moment—and a few tears as she stabbed herself right in the eye a few times—but she managed to put on a face full of makeup and finished with a berry-tinted lip and a heavy hand of jasmine and leather perfume.

Missions like this always made her a bit nervous. No matter how many times she’d completed them easily, they always made her feel like a kid playing dress up and waiting for a scolding. She took a few breaths and then stepped out of the bathroom and into the suite. Whiskey was there, fixing the silver cufflinks in his classic and sharply cut, dark blue suit. The dying light of the sun was framing him and the next exhale stuttered in her lungs. It was going to be a long night.

Whiskey turned at the sound of her red-soled shoes on the floor and smiled. And, of course, his eyes dragged from her toes, up her legs, her stomach, her chest…and then stopped.

“My eyes are up here, boss,” she said with a snort.

His dark eyes finally lifted up to hers as his smile slipped to a smirk. “I ain’t your boss, Sunshine.”

And her stomach actually clenched at that and she had to take a moment to clear her throat and remember that they were on a mission. “That’s good. We’re supposed to be lovesick newlyweds, right?”

Whiskey’s mouth—god, how many times was she going to stare at his mouth tonight?—twisted to the side with a frown as he took a few steps toward her and gently grasped her left hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing the diamond-encrusted band on her finger before pressing her palm against his cheek with a sigh.

She let her thumb slide against his cheekbone for a moment, smelling his expensive cologne tickle her nose and the warmth of his hand over hers settled the nerves she felt.

“You look beautiful tonight. Truly.” He leaned forward to press his lips to her forehead before he squeezed the hand he had in his grasp and intertwined their fingers as he brought them down to his side. “An easy cover.” His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as his watch beeped, letting them know it was time to go. “Let’s get these guys.”

And she let him tug her along with her heart in her throat.

                                                  **

The gala was luxurious in every sense of the word and the targets were so ostentatious that it was easy to spot them even if she hadn’t memorized their faces. Whiskey made easy work for introducing them as Mr. & Mrs. Jameson and making the targets laugh and trust them. She played the part of doting newlywed with no trouble and let herself enjoy it—as Whiskey seemed to be doing with how many times he deemed it necessary to hold her hand or press a kiss to her cheek or forehead, avoiding her lips with a joke, “she always hates it when I mess up her lipstick.” She would let her hand slip under his suit jacket as she leaned against his arm at the dinner table, feeling his steady heartbeat beneath her palm or push a smile to her lips whenever she had to lean in to whisper something in his ear about the security stationed around the room or how her Geiger counter, disguised as an opulent diamond tennis bracelet detected traces of radiation on the targets’ hands and feet. Especially on the woman’s—Alice—hands.

“Shall we talk shop in the gallery? I have heard they have a wonderful display of Mucha,” the man—Allan—said with a smile.

“I do adore Mucha,” she answered in return, tapping twice against Whiskey’s hand as it rested on her leg. Show time.

The pair of couples rose from their table and walked through the ball room and down a dimly lit hall toward the castle’s art gallery without much fanfare. In fact, she noticed that this whole ordeal didn’t have much fanfare at all. It was a wonder this couple had lasted this long without being taken down with how blatantly they spoke about their intentions. It was easy.

Too easy.

As soon as they stepped into the gallery, she noticed the ‘closed for maintenance’ signage. She was nearly leveled with a crack of a gun against the back of her head. The room swam for a moment and she stumbled but kept her footing and turned just in time to duck, dodging Allan as he tried to hit her again. She took a step back just enough to gain momentum before kicking out and slamming her stiletto heel into his chest.

It barely registered that Whiskey was busy handling Alice who had somehow produced a knife from god-knows-where and had managed to at least get him once with the amount of blood spilling across his white shirt.

But her attention was quickly brought back to Allan who was coughing, blood slipping from his lips as the he struggled to get to his feet. Her heel had punctured his chest. Oops. But the struggle was getting too loud. They couldn’t afford to be caught like this. It would ruin everything.

She stomped forward and grasped the sides of Allan’s head as he tried to stand and yanked. His body thudded to the ground just as Whiskey managed to sink a needle full of some yellow-tinted liquid into the side of Alice’s neck and she collapsed in his arms almost instantaneously.

The sound of approaching footsteps had them both scrambling. To hide the bodies (both of them were stuffed behind a statue in the corner). To clean up the blood (she grabbed Whiskey’s pocket square and made quick work of it all). There wasn’t time to make an escape. The thin beam of light from a flashlight was making its way down the hall, she could see it and tugged Whiskey toward her with steady hands.

“Don’t hate me.”

And then she pressed her lips to his and threw her arms around his neck, dragging him ever closer to hide the blood on his shirt.

Whiskey…could kiss. That was made abundantly clear with how easily he coaxed her lips apart to lick into her mouth, tasting of thousand-dollar-bottle champagne and mint. His warm hands grasped at her silk-covered hips and his face angled just the slightest bit so he could truly kiss her. Her hand shot into his hair on its own accord and mussed the carefully coifed locks. He groaned against her lips.

She could kiss him forever-

“Hey!”

They broke apart to see a disgruntled security officer standing in the gallery’s doorway.

“This area’s closed to the public.”

“Sorry man,” Whiskey drawled, keeping her close with a hand on her hip and her angled to keep his wound concealed, “just had to kiss my wife-”

“Do it somewhere else,” the man all but snarled before walking away.

She listened to his footsteps disappear before pushing out a soft laugh. Her heart was still racing. Her lips seemed to pulse in time with her heart and she licked them before she could stop herself, still tasting him. She quickly shot a message to the agent waiting outside that they had one body and one unconscious target to take care of before she stepped around the room, scrambling the security camera feeds with ease with the help of a small device Merlin had been particularly proud of.

She heard Whiskey walk up behind her but still jumped when his hands settled over her shoulders, a finger dragging under the strap of her dress and down her back. She shivered when she heard him chuckle against her throat, nose pressing against her pulse. Turning in his grip, she offered a small smile but didn’t pull away. She wasn’t sure when she would have him so close again. “Alice’ll be taken back to headquarters. Alan will be disposed of. Whoever set us up doesn’t have much time left.”

But Whiskey didn’t reply. His hands travelled up to carefully grasp at her face and he pressed a kiss to her lips—slow and sweet and perfect.

She pushed out a shaky breath as he pulled back and patted at his chest, mindful of the blood. “We are about to be in trouble if the guard comes back, Mr. Jameson,” she said, trying to save face.

“M’name’s Jack, Sunshine.”

“Jack,” she whispered back and she’d never liked a name more.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think!

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