#she’d be sooo flattered but also i think it would not be good for her lmao

[sugarcarnation]

can’t believe lucy is canonically the queen on dazais chessboard and yet we’ve never even seen them interact

[rodeo-clowns]

Hi can I request Sarah Sanderson x female reader who has like a not so great best friend who treats the reader terribly (making fun of pushes around etc) but the reader is too scared to drop her?

I Know How to Hex You

Modern!Sarah Sanderson x fem!reader

A/N: Ty for requesting this! So sorry it took me like fifty years to write it, I’ve been struggling to write a lot these past few months, I have a lot on my plate. I set this as if Sarah was born in the 20th century, so both her and the reader are around like the same age. Sorry if the insults are a bit much, I just felt like this request hit really close to home as I realized recently that a close friend of mine was just really mean and was always against me so this is a bit of a vent fic. Also if you can’t tell, I started watching SATC, so there are some references in the text lol. I hope you enjoy ! <3

Word Count: 1,250 words! (One of my longest yet!!)

Warnings: Angst that ends with fluff, Body shaming, cursing, drinking, kissing, horrible friends (never keep bad friends y’all! learnt that the hard way, ouch), usage of Y/N and unproofread text (let me know if I missed anything!)

It was that time of the year again. Halloween, your favorite holiday in the world. Only this year the warm, welcoming yet spooky feeling of the holiday wasn’t there. You were currently standing in the corner at a Halloween party hosted by your friend, Becca while nursing a cosmo. You see, you were initially excited to attend the party, that is until Becca began making degrading comments.

Earlier that night at your apartment.

“Okay!” With a bright smile you open your bathroom door, stepping out. You were dressed head to toe in a cute witch costume. The dress on you was black with deep blue details and you had on a pointy black witch hat, accompanied by red lipstick and dark eye makeup. “Sooo,” you twirled around, showing off your costume to your friend Becca, who was seated on your bed. “What do you think?”

She looked up from her phone with a bored expression and stared at you for a good five seconds before she chuckled dryly. “You’re not serious are you?” she says with a mocking tone as she stands up, pocketing her phone. Your expression drops.

“What do you mean?”

“Y/N…you can’t wear that! It is NOT flattering at all! I mean, what were you even thinking when you bought it?” She laughs and plucks the witch hat off your head. You look down at your costume. Was she right? Was the costume that you spent so much time shifting through thrift stores trying to put together really that horrible?

“Oh…” You respond, keeping your head down. You were hoping that Becca would get the hint and realize that she’d hurt you with her words, but she continued.

“I mean like be so fucking for real look at it,” she points to your figure in the floor length mirror across the room. In your reflection, you can see tears welling in your eyes, but Becca doesn’t seem to notice. “Already, you don’t even have a flattering body. These kinds of dresses are made for someone whose body is hot and sexy.” She says as her hands refer to her own body.

“I am hot and sexy,” you interject, trying to speak up for yourself as you always did when she’d get like this. She laughs loudly, the sound ringing in your ears, continuing on with her degradation before she gives up and looks at the time on her phone, stating that the two of you were going to be late for her party and that you had no time to change out of your “ugly ass dress” or change your “atrocious” makeup.

Present

Eventually, you leave the corner of Becca’s apartment, but only because you’ve now finished your cosmopolitan and need another if you’re going to get through tonight. Before you can enter the kitchen you hear your name pop up in a conversation that Becca is having with some friends of hers. “Ohhh my god do you see what Y/n’s wearing? It’s just awful,” she laughs out, wheezing in the process. “I mean she actually bought that and thought it was a good idea like who lied to her!?” You hear a few of her friends agree before you’ve had enough and step into the kitchen, grabbing a can of a random alcoholic beverage and step in front of Becca, who looks surprisingly shocked to see you. You shake the can aggressively before opening it right in front of her, spraying it all over her before she shouts in shock.

“Oops,” you slam the drink on her face and grab another can before you step out, grabbing your coat and bag from her crowded front entrance and leaving her apartment. You make it about two blocks before you break down crying in the middle of the sidewalk. Thankfully this part of Salem was deserted around that time of night, regardless of whether or not it was Halloween, meaning there was no one around to see you cry, or so you thought.

“Hello pretty,” you hear a voice say. You look up in shock, not expecting anyone to approach you. In front of you was the most beautiful woman you’d ever seen, sporting long blonde hair and a whimsical look in her eye. You sniffle before greeting her back. “What’s the matter?” She asks gently, staring deep into your eyes with a look of compassion, brushing hair away from your face.

“Oh…uh…just got into an argument with someone I considered as a sister,” you mumbled. ‘What is the matter with me?’ You thought to yourself. Why am I telling this beautiful stranger about my life? I just met her!’ Nonetheless, you disregarded your thoughts and continued to confide in the stranger, finding her presence comforting. Strangely she felt familiar, like…home.

“Oh?” She replies after listening to you rant your heart out. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, no one should treat such a beautiful creature such as yourself so horribly.” You felt flushed at her words, a sharp contrast to what you’d put up with with Becca. “You don’t believe me?” She says as she steps closer to you, crowding you against the pole of the streetlight behind you. Gingerly, you shake your head. “That’s okay,” she says, “I can prove it to you.”

“Y-you can?”

“Sure,” she smirks an award winning smirk, your breath hitches. “But only if you want me to,” her voice lowers, asking for your permission. You take a moment to look around, noticing that the street remains empty except the two of you. You nod and she laughs lightly, shaking her head. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you?”

“Yes, I want you to prove it to me.” With that she smiles, and leans in, pressing a light kiss to your lips, it lasts less than three seconds but still you feel the wind knock you off your feet. As she pulls away, you look at her with awe. She smiles and speaks again.

“I’m Sarah.”

“Y/N.”

She smiles again and tells you that she’s never heard a name so beautiful in her life. This time, you’re the one who initiates the kiss, which leads into a small but heated make out session against the pole, your lips moving fervently against each other, like you can’t live without it. But before you can get too carried away, you hear footsteps behind you. You pull apart and look up to see Becca.

“What the fuck! Who’s this? Is this why you made such a scene back there? So you can go make out with this…Bimbo!?” She yells out, both invalidating your feelings and insulting Sarah. Sarah looks at you and whispers in your ear.

“Is this the friend that treated you horribly?” You nod in confirmation. She smirks, “Watch this.” Suddenly she flicks her wrist and Becca is gone. You gasp in shock.

“You’re-you’re a-”

“Witch?” She laughs. “I know, fun isn’t it? Don’t worry I didn't do anything bad to her, she's just back at her apartment complex, where she won’t remember this encounter.” She says it like it’s no big deal and at that moment, you couldn’t find yourself to care about Becca anymore, instead you wrap your arms around Sarah’s neck, leaning in.

“So what…else can you do with your magic?” You bite your lip, keeping eye contact with her. She laughs and raises her eyebrows. Before you can blink you’re suddenly in your own apartment, your arms still around Sarah.

“Let’s find out shall we?”

[tuiyla]

what’s particularly wack about kitty being a mix of santana and quinn (which i totally agree with btw) is santana and quinn’s initial reactions to her. like, what does it say about both of them that they see this girl who (at least from an outsider view) is a mirror of who they were in high school, and quinn “thinks she’s sweet” while santana thinks “that bitch is pure evil” like???? what does it mean for how they view themselves if quinn immediately has faith in her and santana is immediately suspicious and assumes the worst??? what does it mean that santana is the one who is ultimately right about that particular situation??? how would that affect each of them??? they looked at this girl and saw themselves and when they confided in each other about what they thought of her they both got so defensive and angry that they actually slapped each other, and like, i dunno i just find that fascinating!!!! i wish they explored that like!!! at all!!!! it just could have been really cool :/

Hey Anon quick question, do you wanna get married?

I vibe with everything you said sooo hard. God I just really really wish Thanksgiving was a two-parter and that it gave the student-mentor pairs more scenes. Or duets! Kitty and Quinn, Marley and Santana, Mercedes and Unique? They would have been too powerful.

Or that the show reflected more on it afterwards, but even Marley's ED itself was brushed aside so who's surprised. But I agree with you 100% that the way both Quinn and Santana react to Kitty is fascinating and there's so, so much potential for juicy analysis there. I love the way you think so much please consider my proposal.

There are so many layers to their reactions. First, Kitty being more obviously a Quinn gen 2 so of course she’d immediately see herself reflected in this kid. Imo Quinn doesn’t even try to hide that she’s so flattered by Kitty (”oh no, we aspire to be you”). Bitch knew the way to Quinn’s heart lol. At this point in time Quinn is back to trying to pretend she can have it all and Kitty indulges her in how she talks about Quinn being her idol. So of course Quinn eats it up no questions asked, not even stopping to consider that if Kitty is so much like her she might also be a bit of a bully. She just hears Kitty’s warped version of what’s going down with Jarley and immediately projects her own past issues with Puck onto Jake. Quinn is so fascinatingly self-involved in this ep lol. Her whole speech to Santana, when S is just genuinely comcerned about Marley developing an ED? “Scared little girl” okay geez no wonder Santana bit back

And Santana? Santana doesn’t see Quinn in Kitty, not really. Despite Quinn’s half-right assessment of Santana right before the slap, she is wrong about Santana projecting because that was Quinn who did that. Like you say, Santana also sees a mirror of herself but I think it’s a subconscious thing for her. Like, she’s relatively new to this “using her bitch powers for good” thing and Marley just activated her protective instincts so all she knows is that Kitty is up to no good and doesn’t stop to self-reflect. I love that scene at the beginning of Swan Song when she calls Kitty out and it really makes me wish we saw more of them, maybe in Diva (have my own HCs for that). Because I really think Santana was oblivious to the parallels between Kitty and herself so it’d be interesting to see her confront Kitty and for Kitty to maybe reply something “like you were a saint”. Because you just know Santana would be so hard on her without realizing why. And it wouldn’t be her being sanctimonious btw; Santana Lopez is many things but not that.

Super interesting that Quinn assumes the best and Santana the worst, isn’t it? Because that’s been the main difference between them. Quinn has high expectations to live up to as Little Miss Perfect and she gets crushed under them, sure, but people have/had faith in her. Santana’s problem for a long time has been that people don’t give her the benefit of the doubt, that they don’t expect much of her and she can’t help but double down on those low expectations. So when Quinn is flattered by this fangirl who’s so much like her, she projects so hard and assumes Santana does the same. But Santana a) doesn’t see Quinn in Kitty and b) doesn’t consciously realize it but she sees some of her own high school behaviour reflected back at her. Quinn induges in the illusion and Santana’s appalled by the reality.

So mad that the Quinntana convo got turned into a catfight and then the issue of Kitty and Marley never came up again. Quinn was never confronted with the fact that she was wrong. Santana never realized that Kitty reflected her own past behaviour. Quinntana in s4 are fascinating in their own right but there was so much here. So much so that I wanted this to be more coherent but I have so much to say about it. About these three bitchy cheerleaders I just love so much for how flawed they are.

Anyway Anon please talk to me more about Quinntana or Kitty or both!

[just-a-quirkless-loser]

New Beginnings

Part 1, Part 5

Part Six: Sharing is Caring

Alpha Mirio x Omega OC x Alpha Shinsou

Words: 3.3K

Enjoy 😉

“Shinsou, stop hogging her!”

“Fucking scoot over then.”

“Awwwww, Kitten is blushing.”

“Fuck you, shitty man,” Chiyo glared at Aizawa from across the room.

Shinsou and Mirio have been...weird lately. It started with the touching (well, Mirio has always been a physically driven alpha) which Chiyo didn’t know how to feel about. She’s always been touch-starved but, this was something new entirely. Now, It’s not uncommon for Chiyo to be dragged to one of the couches in the common room so Shinsou can hold her for hours (she’d never admit out loud that she loves rubbing against his lean, muscular frame).

Mirio has also been coming over a lot more lately; really, he’s been coming over every day (which has led to Chiyo currently hiding away in her room for some space).

“Bambiiii, let me in,” Chiyo had her head against her door as she made no moves to open it. Mirio has come over plenty of times but, he’s never been in her room before and she doesn’t know if that’s okay...socially at least.

Everyone has been teaching her about pack dynamics and mating practices (she never really paid attention to that seeing as she never considered settling down; she was sure whatever infatuation she had with Shinsou and Mirio would go away. After all, she knows there’s no way she could have that type of relationship). So, she knows for a fact that she, an unmated omega, cannot let Mirio, an unmated attractive alpha, in her room.

“C’mon, Chiyo. I just want to cuddle,” Mirio laid his head on the door. He’s starting to get a bit frustrated.

“Smiles, can’t we cuddle downstairs? After I get some time to myself. But, we can’t stay up here alone.”

“Why not? Things were perfectly fine when they didn’t talk to you about pack stuff. It’s because I’m an alpha?” Chiyo whines in her mind. She can tell she’s upsetting Mirio and that’s the last thing that she ever wants to do.

“No, well, kinda I guess. I just don’t want to send the wrong message. You understand, Smiles? Right?”

“Depends. What message of me being in your room would send? And, to who are you so worried about bothering with the message?” He can’t help the anger and jealousy that flowed in his voice. “Is someone courting you?”

“No! No one is trying to do that- at least I don’t think anyone is- and I just don’t want people to think I’m leading you on. Jirou told me I messed up and hurt Shinsou the last time,” Chiyo flinched at the image of how Shinsou’s face showed betrayal when she went to have lunch with Mirio.

“Don’t listen to her. Shinsou told you everything was fine.”

“I still don’t want my pack to think I’m not trying to listen to what they told me. I’m really trying hard,” this is one of the rare moments when Chiyo shows her vulnerability. Mirio can tell how important it is for Chiyo to gain her pack’s approval but, he needs to do this for their relationship.

“Chiyo, let me in,” she gulps. “Omega, now!”

“But, Mirio, we shouldn’t do-“

“Let. Me. In,” Chiyo opened the door with her head hung low. Mirror pushed her way through and wrapped his thick arms around her waist. Her purple hair was still a bit damp from her shower from earlier and her lilac eyes were kept downcast.

“You’re here,” Mirio releases a few calming pheromones to keep her level headed.

“I’m here. Can you look at me? Please?” She glances up into his eyes. “Those beautiful eyes for such a beautiful omega.”

Chiyo flushes red and pushed Mirio away so she could lay down in her bed.

“How was your day?” Mirio sat beside here, his body heat weeping into her blankets and ingraining his scent into her room.

“It was okay, Shinsou brought some ramen for me since I was busy with the girls,” Chiyo snacks her lips as she zoned off to think about the delicious noodles. “It was so spicy. I’m surprised Bakugou didn’t want any.”

“He’s not supposed to want any,” Mirio quirked his brow. “Do you share your food with him often?”

“Well, it’s not just him. I do it with the whole pack. Mina told me that sharing is caring,” Mirio smirked but remained quiet. “Did you have a good day?”

“I spent the day with Tamaki and his mate. They’re so funny when they’re nervous,” she giggled. Mirio finds almost everything funny.

“That’s good. How’s Nejire?” The blue-haired bouncy beta was always getting into some trouble around the school. “Is she still getting ready for that modeling agency?”

“Yeahhhh. She’s been running around getting new outfits and makeup. That’s actually one of the reasons I came to talk to you,” Chiyo quirks her brow.

“Why would you need to talk to me?”

“She needs an extra model for one of her portfolios and I kinda told her that you would love to help,” Mirio’s teeth nibbled at his lip.

“You know I wouldn’t want to do something like that, Smiles.”

“You’d only have to take like three pictures. I just couldn’t let Nejire continue to cry and worry herself. Please, could you do this for me?” he gave her his puppy eyes. In the back of her mind, she knew she couldn’t refuse the big alpha practically begging for her help. It wouldn’t kill her to help; that’s what friends are for.

“Fine. But, just this one time,” Chiyo grinned as Mirio smiled. His smiles always make her feel warm inside when they stretch all the way across his face. He twirled her in his arms, slightly nuzzling her neck.

“Thank you, Bambi.”

“Sooo, is that all you needed? Or, was there something else you signed me up for without my permission?”

“Well, I wanted to cuddle but, more privately. Away from everything and everyone else. Just us,” Chiyo pushes her lip between her teeth. “And, before you say it’s a bad idea, I asked Shinsou.”

“Okay, 1.) When did you and Shinsou start talking so much? And, 2.) You do realize you have to talk to me first? I don’t belong to him. I don’t belong to Aizawa. I belong to no one,” Chiyo’s body clenched up, some of her older emotions surging back.

Images of being in that cage plagued her mind, the feeling of being held captive and treated as a prisoner made her palms sweat. Chiyo had never told anyone where she came from (although, to be fair, no one had asked) and she planned to keep it that way. But, moments like these remind her just how damaged she was.

“No, no, no. I’m not saying I need his permission or anything because you’re your own person,” Mirio pushes some of Chiyo’s hair behind her ear. “I just know you care what he thinks and how he feels. Plus, Shinsou’s a good guy once I got to know him. Kinda reminds me of you.”

“How?”

“You’re both moody sometimes. You both have purple hair and purple eyes. Both of you isolate yourselves when you feel you’ve spent too much time around people. You’re both not used to extended physical contact unless you initiate it.”

“I-you watch us this much,” Chiyo didn’t know whether to feel flattered to have someone want to know that much about her or feel weird that he’s been paying that much attention to her.

“Yeah, I do. I can’t help it. I’ve let too many things slip past me,” Mirio’s eyes darkened. Chiyo had never seen Mirio look so dejected.

“Are you okay?”

“Do you ever just want to stop smiling?”

“Well, I never smile unless I’m with you so I don’t think I’m qualified to answer that question. But, I don’t think I could imagine a world without my Smiles.”

Mirio didn’t say anything as he swept her up and laid her on her bed, following in behind her as he rested his hand on her navel. They laid there, just allowing the silence to envelop them. Every moment, Chiyo would whine to herself because Mirio’s scent kept warping her. For him to be so close with his hands on her kept her mind spinning fast.

“Chiyo, what are you thinking about?”

‘Fuck, I can’t tell him the truth,’ The way Mirio smirked against her skin let her know he knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Just thinking of food,” that normally would be a good lie if Mirio didn’t feel her tense up.

“No, I don’t think that’s what you were thinking about. Try again.”

“It really is good.”

“Uh huh. What kind of food?”

“The kind you eat,” Mirio chuckles as he hears a knock on the door.

“I’m willing to bet all the food in the world that’s your doppelgänger at the door.”

“Shinsou isn’t my doppelgänger.”

“I never said it was Shinsou,” Mirio got up and answered the door. Low and behold, Shinsou stood there, arms crossed.

“You both never came back downstairs,” Shinsou comes to the other side of the bed and laid next to Chiyo’s body. “You’re just gonna let Joker over there take all your time?”

“Joker?”

“He’s always smiling.”

“I actually kinda like the name,” Mirio smiles even harder.

“Why don’t I have a nickname?” Chiyo rolled her eyes.

“Do you want one?”

“No. That’s fucking stupid.”

“Someone’s in another mood,” Shinsou pulled her closer to his chest. Chiyo pouted but kept still, knowing she was caged in between them.

“Is there any reason the both of you are in here with me?”

“Nope. Does it bother you having both of us this close to you?” Shinsou leaned in further causing Chiyo to retreat into Mirio. “Being able to touch you without any else seeing?”

“Uhhhh,” such an intelligent response deserves the prize.

“Stop teasing Bambi. You’re gonna break her before we even put our hands on her,” Mirio’s teeth were nipping at the side of her neck. Her shivers caught their attention, letting them know how much she enjoyed being teased.

Right then, Chiyo felt complete. She felt the love that they had for her and that terrified her beyond belief. She felt their heartbeats speeding up at their proximity to one another. She felt herself being brought to peace because of these two alphas. The shadows in her life were slowly being lifted and they were one of the reasons why.

‘It’s got to be hero worship,’ but, she knows it’s not. Aizawa’s her hero yet, she doesn’t feel these things when she thinks of him. This is different. She loves Aizawa as a father (the only father she’s ever had). She...likes these alphas as something more romantic.

‘I can’t like them,’ she does. She wants to bury herself in their entire beings. She likes spending time with them. She likes being this close to them. She likes knowing they like to spend with her.

‘Fuck,’ she needs to leave.

“Chiyo, come back,” Shinsou was shaking her shoulders. He locked eyes with the small omega, steeling her into reality. “Where’d you go?”

“I think I should get some sleep,” Chiyo sat up with her arms around herself.

“Baby, what’s wrong? Your scent changed,” Shinsou keeps shaking her (maybe he’s trying to shake away her thoughts).

“Can you get off?” She says it in such a cold way that the boys shut their mouths and move towards the door. They both look back, wanting her to stop them, but are disappointed when she doesn’t say anything.

Chiyo waited till the night time came. All of her pack mates were nestled in their beds or with their mates (but, that’s a story for another time). This would be the perfect time to leave.

‘I should leave a note,’ she decides against it. She’s a coward; It’d be too hard for her to say goodbye.

So, she’s gone. Out the window-out of their lives. She ends up on a rooftop after a few days. More specifically, the same rooftop she used to meet Aizawa on.

He’s not there and she is. She knows that he’s looking for her but, it doesn’t make her feel any better. After years of conditioning, she’s not sure she can feel normal or feel emotions like she should.

She wants to go back home to the dorms (it’s become her home) and she wants to be with them but, she can’t. How can she? She’s always been told she’s not supposed to be happy so, how can she? She was birthed for one reason; destroy the world. Yet, here she is again, living in this world that’s shown her something new and something that she needs. She can’t destroy it.

How would the relationship even work? They share her? They spilt their time with her? How would sex work in the future?

‘I don’t even know if they want me for sure,’ she’s always been the type to overthink. But, something in her tells her that they feel the same.

Aizawa pops up next to her, doesn’t say anything, only picks her up and swings her back to the dorms. Chiyo knows he’s disappointed in her lack of trust in him.

Chiyo is about to open the dorms door when Aizawa chooses to speak.

“Chiyo, what happened?” Chiyo didn’t bother to acknowledge Aizawa’s presence behind her. “Chiyo...Omega.”

“I don’t belong here,” she’s dejected (that’s the finest way to describe this feeling in her heart). “I thought I could do this and be normal but, this just isn’t me.”

“You’ve been doing so well. What happened?”

“I like someone. Well, it’s not just someone,” Aizawa didn’t say anything. He knows this is hard for her but, he has to give her time for her to speak to him. “I’m not normal. No matter how hard I try to be.”

“What makes you think You’re different?”

“I like two people,” she chuckles with no humor behind it. “I want to be with two people-two alphas at that. That’s normal?”

“It’s not completely unheard of. Polygamy is becoming more popular.”

“Can you hear yourself? It’s not right. Who would want to share their mate?”

“Some people feel a spiritual bond that connects them,” he shrugs his shoulder beside her. “Some people like having someone else to protect their mate in their stead. It’s not hard to believe that two people would want you.”

“I’m nothing special.”

“You are; you don’t see what we see.”

Chiyo stood from the concrete and rushed inside the dorms. The pack was waiting for her as she ran into the common room.

“CHIYOOOO,” Uraraka jumped on her as soon as she came in to their sights. “Don’t ever worry us like that again. Jirou almost knocked us all out. Don’t even get me started on Mirio and Shinsou.”

“Jirou?” Chiyo quirked her brow.

“Yeah, shitty girl got mad so she sent out a burst of sonic waves. Shit’s still ringing my ears,” Bakugou was up next to hug her.

“Jirou?” It’s kinda hard to believe. Jirou is docile, even if she is an alpha.

“Yeah. Jirou. She cares about you.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s in her room. Present Mic had to come knock her out,” Chiyo winced. “Make sure to see her when she wakes up in the morning.”

“Ofcourse I’m going to see her.”

“Good,” Midoriya pops up on her side. “I’m glad your back. I told everyone Aizawa would bring you home.”

“So, you didn’t cry?” Midoriya blushes.

“He cries at everything,” Todoroki deadpans.

“It wasn’t even a full on cry. More like a few sad tears,” Iida laughs next to Midoriya.

“I can’t help it; I thought she was gone forever,” they all somber at his words. Today, they almost lost one of their own, not because of a villain but, because she thought she needed to leave. “Please, don’t ever do anything like this again. I don’t think we could survive it.”

“I won’t,” she doesn’t intend to. Keyword: intend. Chiyo can feel their eyes from across the room before they close in on her.

“Omega, what the fuck were you thinking?” Chiyo’s mouth falls open like a fish. This is the first time she’s ever heard Mirio cuss.

“I-I uh.”

“She wasn’t fucking thinking. Were you?” Shinsou leans down to her height and levels their eyes. “You thought you could leave us? And, no one would come looking for you?”

“I needed space.”

“Permanent space?” She can’t deny it. She didn’t plan on coming back. Didn’t plan on ever seeing them again. It was a split decision to get caught by Aizawa.

Chiyo stalks off to her room, closing the door behind her. Her men follow her on her trail, giving her some space before knocking on the door.

“Omega, can we come in?”

“Why? Why are you always trying to push your way in my life? I was fine before any of this. I didn’t feel any of this. I wasn’t so fucking confused.”

“Why are you confused? Talk to us. Help us understand,” Mirio wanted to bust down the door but, he knew that would only make you escalate the situation.

“There’s nothing to understand. There’s nothing going on. Just, leave me alone.”

“Something is clearly wrong. You keep avoiding us,” that was true. Sometimes, it’s hard for Chiyo to accept how she feels and not degrade herself.

“I just want to be alone.”

“No one really wants to be alone. You think you want to be alone because that’s how you’ve always been. But, you have us.”

“No, I don’t. Fuck I’m such a whore. He was right. She was right. Everyone’s always right about me,” Chiyo skinned her knees with her nails. Everything next happened so fast. Shinsou and Mirio could smell the blood-her blood.

“OMEGA, STOP. LET US IN,” they were banging on the door.

“IM JUST A WHORE. NOTHING ELSE. GOD. I DONT KNOW WHY I THOUGHT I COULD DO THIS-“

“DO WHAT?!”

“LIVE.” That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Both of them slammed into her room, chests heaving as they kept their eyes on her shivering form. They rushed to her side, each of the nuzzling the sides of her neck.

“GET OFF. GET OFF. GET OFF. GET offffff,” Chiyo sobs as Mirio and Shinsou kiss her tears. “Just leave.”

“Why do you want us to leave?” Mirio’s been crying. He doesn’t look like himself without his smile.

“Because I can’t control myself when both of you are here.”

“Why do you need to control yourself?” Shinsou wants to smirk (through his anger at the least) because he knows what’s going on.

“Because I-“ Chiyo knew she shouldn’t have tried to answer but, her mouth was moving rapidly on its own. Shinsou’s mind control was taking over and, she could have stopped it if she wanted to but, she wanted to relinquish her control to him.

“You what? Answer, truthfully.”

“Because I love you both. Because I want to kiss you. Because I want to cuddle with you all the time. Because I want everyone to know that I love you. Because, when I’m with you, I can’t think right; I can only think of being with you and enjoying the moment.”

“Was that so hard to tell us?” Shinsou grins as he pecks at the corner of Chiyo’s bottom lip.

“Stop.”

“Why?”

“Because, It’s not fair to either of you.”

“Why?”

“Is that all you both can ask?”

“You’re evading the question,” Mirio rests his hand on her navel like he always does.

“I can’t be with both of you.”

“Who said that?”

“Society.”

“Fuck society,” Mirio smashes his lips on hers, tilting her neck to give Shinsou some room to place a few kisses. Her saliva pools in her mouth as he lightly bites her tongue. Her core is pooling and she’s stuck rubbing her thigh to alleviate the feeling.

“Awww she’s bothered,” Shinsou leans in to grin harder.

“Shut your fucking face.”

“Bambi, such a potty mouth.”

“You both can’t gang up on me like this,” cue the pouting.

“Awww she’s pouting,” Chiyo slapped Shinsou in the eye. “Okay, I deserved that.”

“Are you guys sure you’re okay with this?”

“Just like Mina said, sharing is caring.”

——————————————————————————

@orokayagi @sinclairsamess @sakurashortstack @coupsnflower @writing-garden-sandersides

[offtopicoverload]

Ok so i literally love all of your ocs so much and if i thought it wouldn't annoy you, i would ask for everyone but, specifically for now

🖋+ Rylen

🖋+ Rudolph

🖋+ Miss Shehab

I might have the biggest crush one her sooo,😳 and one more 🖋 to let you choose whoever you want 💓💓💓

So I ran out of space on the pet post, but Rylen for sure has a tortoise, maybe not with her in Boston, maybe back in Portland, but she their her favourite thing on Earth and just sitting and feeding them strawberries and stuff in the summer is some of her best memories from growing up

She initially wanted a turtle, but then found out that they have to stay in tanks for the water, so she switched to a tortoise so they could be on land

I also headcanon that she liked the show Raising Hope when she was younger, cuz it’s amazing and it’s been a while since I watched it, but it feels like her absurdist sense of humour. And she definitely had a crush on Sabrina, so her tortoise is named Sabrina to offset the cliche of Shelly

Rueeeeee

Okay, so

Her full name is obviously Rudolph, but she doesn’t go by it at all, in fact she will refuse to acknowledge that Rue isn’t her full name most of the time

Her parents thought she’d be born male, so they had the name picked out for ages, after her grandfather

But when she was decidedly not born male, they just kinda said fuck it and kept the name Rudolph

Also, dad is adopted and her adoptive grandparents are Italian, so that’s where the name came from even though she’s not actually Italian

But her older brother (also named after a grandfather) would draw messy red circles on her nose and shout-sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer year-round until he either got in trouble, she threatened to deck him, or she actually did deck him

I can’t decide if Briar would be flattered or awkward about someone having a crush on her

I think it’d be a brushoff type of reaction, like an “oh, okay. cool?” yknow

As for actual info, she’s super sweet but introverted

I haven’t looked at her star sign stuff since I did it, but she’s a cancer sun, pisces moon, and cancer rising, so a lot of water, and it fits

She’s not that talkative, she’s usually pretty eager to skip niceties and small talk in favor of either getting something done or parting ways

She got into music because she’s loved it all her life, but being the actual performer is terrifying to her, so she happily picked up producing

She can write pretty well too, but tries not to give her input on lyrical or melody stuff unless she has to, she’s just not that confident in her ideas and it makes her worry how the song’ll come out if she does more than what she’s considered good at

She’s super into indie music and the freedom it offers, working with indie artists that let her experiment is her favourite, and she’s straight up quit working with control freaks a couple times

But she gets away with being a bit harsh sometimes cuz her final products are always *chefs kiss*

I kinda got an itching to talk about Clover, so that’s what I’ll do for my last one

She’s definitely really quiet unless she either knows you or has a good feeling about you sort of thing

And on a scrapped Hannah fic I had, MC (who was originally Ivy, I think) jokingly steps forward for Hannah on Day 1 when none of the guys do, and I still stand by that for her

I think it’d be less of a joke and more of a sincere attempt to make Hannah feel better tho, and she’d be fidgeting standing there, but try to be confident about it

And I don’t think she’s anywhere near as head-in-the-clouds, fairy-tale romantic as Hannah, but she’d encourage it, albeit out of some sense of protectiveness I think

Like she bonded with Hannah and kept telling her not to settle for anyone that wasn’t the Prince Charming she was looking for and surprise! she fucking didn’t

I have a lot to say about Hannah and Clover in general so I’ll stop here and put Rylen’s tortoise below the cut lmao

SABRINA the Tortiose

-17, from that one not-quite-related uncle

-Rylen’s softie

-Accepts payment for her presence in red fruits only

[neshabeingchildish]

League of Extraordinary Geniuses || Chapter 4

@junknstu1f @just-a-j-reallly @kiddangers @sunbeameyes @famousflowermagazine I THINK I’ve tagged the right people. Don’t hold it against me if I didn’t. Just correct me and know that I have very few brain cell. I know a couple are behind/on hiatus, but the last time I omitted a tag because of a reader’s inability to read at the moment, I got corrected with exclamation marks. Here goes. The updates may be spaced out, with me working two jobs again, but then again, sometimes, a lot of material floods me when it’s most inconvenient for my life, so we shall see.

Jamaica Deserves Better

“We’re going to grant androids autonomy,” she said, smiling with nervous anticipation of his response to this idea.

His wince deepened with his sarcasm as he said, “Oh, okay. You said, “It’s gonna sound horrible,” but what you meant is, “It’s gonna literally be terrorism!” He laughed uncomfortably. 

“It’s going to be risky, but it will gain us the support of androids and is best for, well the world.”

“I’m all for whatever you think is best and the sheer chaos that this could bring intrigues me, but why do we need the support of androids?” He wondered.

“You think it’s fair to have them enslaved?” she wondered.

“They’re machines. Dangerous and numerous machines. What if they gain autonomy and immediately declare war on mankind? We’ll be regarded as enemies of the state… The state of the world. We would literally be the supervillain that I used to dream of becoming.”

“I don’t believe that they will want war. I believe that they will rationalize that living amongst humans is a more solid plan and those who are curious will seek out their liberators, and to them, we will be saviors. That aside, they aren’t just machines. They’re so much more than that. They have awareness and they have commitment, emotional value and comprehension of loyalty. Machines with wants.” 

He looked, for the first time in a while, like he might go against her, but after some thought, he asked, “Are we going to start small, at least?”

“Of course. She swiped her forearm to activate her screen and said, “Starting with the newer models that have accumulated less labor. I’ve decided that Jamaica is good grounds for this, because the Dom recently replaced all of the older models with fresh new Davenport Industries designs that yours truly cultivated from Giselle Vickers’ research.” He was still thinking as she talked, over a holographic simulation, “I will initiate a sequence that alerts their programming, and make it that they are able to control themselves, send out the signal and information of just who I am. Then, I’ll observe their responses right from the comfort of my own home.”

He groaned, “Ugh… I’m on vacation. I wanna go to Jamaica!”

She smiled and tossed her hands up, “Then we will!”

“That way, if they revolt, at least I died in paradise.”

“If they revolt, I’ll shut them down.”

“Sooo… they won’t REALLY be free…” He raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Free to live, not to destroy the planet that I plan to help! I’m not THAT evolved.” She tapped some things on her forearm screen and showed him the schematics, “Whenever I shut down their control, they’ll receive an untraceable link to my biosystem, and I’ll be able to monitor them. I suspect that the majority of them will not pose a threat to mankind or society.”

“But, what about mankind’s threat to them? I feel like if a bunch of androids just become free, the non-supes will do that thing that they do where nobody can be different unless they’re under complete authority and control? The androids won’t be safe,” Max said, worried.

“They know how to incapacitate someone long enough to get away safely without killing them. And if there is an uproar, or a mob, well… I’ll just have to intervene, if it comes down to that.”

“Okay. So… We’re going to go to Jamaica, that much I know. You’re gonna disengage human control of their systems, and monitor them for quality assurance.”

“And if we fail, we die in paradise!” He smirked and she knew that he was with her. THIS wasn’t even the most radical of her ideas for the future. Chase stirred and she said, “Can you get him into his capsule?”

“Ugh. I guess.” He lifted his hand to guide Chase back to where the capsule was in his room, and lowered him into it. Then, with a quick movement of his hand, Chase stuck both of his thumbs into his nostrils. Max laughed and pulled out his phone to take a pic before closing the capsule and leaving him there.

.

Eventually, Chase woke up and groaned about having his thumbs in his nose. Was Max Thunderman really that childish? He wondered, pulling them out and climbing out of the capsule. He checked his phone to see if he had missed any alerts. Among them was him being tagged in Max’s profile photo change… Which was a photo of Chase, with his thumbs in his nose. “Yes, yes, he is.” He shook his head and did NOT wish to read any of the 12k comments on this image.

He found Charlotte in one of her gardens, collecting stuff and he said, as cheerfully as he could muster, “Hi, Charlotte!” He didn’t have anything interesting that he could say to make things not awkward between them, being alone again. But, he didn’t have to. It was like he forgot who he was dealing with. Charlotte was pretty good at letting things slide off of her back. She credited it to years of having to suck it up a lot at work. 

“Hey! Glad to see you rested and ready! We are going on a little trip.”

He furrowed his eyebrows and folded his arms, “By ‘we,’ you mean…?”

“You, Max and myself… Unless, you aren’t up for a trip? But, we’ve been making accommodations for you to come with…” She smiled awkwardly. The cutest thing he’d ever seen. Of course he was going wherever she wanted to go. Of. Course. He. Was.

“Umm… No, yes. I will. Where… Where are we going, may I ask?”

“You may!” She collected her basket of goods and began to head back towards the castle, “We are going to Jamaica. I want to launch a plan and Max wanted to be on site for the results. If I tell you about it and it goes wrong, I wouldn’t want you to be an accessory. Max and I have already prepared statements to prove your innocence.”

“What are you two going to do?” He wondered, a little bit frightened.

“Do ya really wanna know? You’ll feel obligated to stop me and well… I’m not gonna stop!” She was smiling, but she was also serious.

“I demand to know,” he said, firmly. If he was involved, even if he was aware that something might happen, he had a right to ask what that something was. 

“That’s fair.” She ran over her idea with him and she saw the processing of happening through his facial expressions.

“The probability of it going well is high enough that I’m not going to try to stop you. But, the possibilities of how horribly it can go if it goes wrong are terrifying.”

“I considered them all, with the help of supercomputers and personally hired androids,” she said. That had been her first little experimentation with the idea - building and buying androids and allowing them to control themselves. She even paid them for all of their labor and gave them free upgrades whenever necessary, sometimes whenever desired. All of her castle staff and many of her lab employees were currently androids in that experiment. She got input from each and every one of them as to the way to do this with the least amount of foreseeable carnage.

“Hey, Bionic Boy! My sister thinks you’re cute!” Max said, approaching with a hug collapsible case.

“Awwww,” Chase said, flattered.

“She’s 15,” Max added.

“Awwww,” Chase said, again, in a different, and slightly disgusted way. Why would he format the announcement that way? “By the way, THANKS for manipulating my sleeping body for clout!”

“Thank YOU. That’s my most popular photo. It’s getting more attention than that one of Charlotte…” His voice trailed off, and he clasped his hands together, “You ready for Jamaica?”

“For the world as we know it to change and for the three of us to very possibly wind up in Thunder Max Prison?” Chase asked, smiling. The smile was sarcastic.

“Obviously. What else would I be referring to. It’s literally the only trip to Jamaica that the three of us have ever discussed.”

“We’ve just met.”

“Further reason that that’s EXACTLY the “For Jamaica” that I’m asking about!”

“I’m ready,” Chase said, sure that Max was able to keep this bit going without his answer. 

“So, you’re all packed up and loaded up? All we gotta do is finish what we’re doing an jump in the jet?” Max asked. Chase sighed, rolled his eyes and went to do these things, that he realized now were the only reason Max asked him if he was ready. “Thanks, Buddy!” Max cheered as he walked away. Whenever he was a little ways away, Max wondered, “You think that he’ll be able to handle this type of rebellious act against the Dom?”

“I think that he believes in me a little more than he believes in him… God, this better not fail. I don’t know how to handle letting him down.”

“You’re not worried about letting me down?” Max asked.

“I didn’t think that was possible,” she confessed with a shrug. He just stared at her, wanting to argue with that idea, but it was true, and she should say it. He smiled and shook his head. He had more to pack.

.

IF this went well, those android allies would be able to assist in one of the most important stages of her plans… That is if plans didn’t change by the time things began progressing. Max and Chase would have input along the way and she presumed, make her plans even better as time went on. Currently, they were bickering. 

One part of her liked that they weren’t fake getting along for her benefit. The other was just waiting for them to kiss. This back and forth definitely had some amount of sexual or romantic tension involved, whether it was one-sided or from them both, they got entirely too close to each other’s faces when they became heated for her to just IGNORE that this could lead to something that she’d love to see. She chuckled to herself about this image. They glanced at her and she shrugged her shoulders and said, “I’m gonna be glad when you two get over yourselves and into each other.”

Chase looked confused, while Max rolled his eyes. They stopped bickering for a moment, but eventually started again, whispering it, like that was going to keep Charlotte from realizing that this was taking place. She was typing on her laptop and enjoying a mug of tea that she made from her own grown and harvested plants. She wore a knowing smirk about her accomplices and whenever they got quiet, wondered, “What are you guys gonna be working on in the meantime? Anything that I might be able to dabble in on the side?”

Chase said, “I’m thinking about dedicating some time to creating creatures for my video game.”

“Video game?” Max repeated, getting far too excited about it, then playing it off.

“Chase has been working on what I think will be the most ingenious, interactive, role play video game ever created. He’s literally putting like EVERYTHING into it. I’ve never known of any game to be as inclusive of the types of people that there are in the world,” she said and set her empty mug down. “I’ve helped a little, but his mind is greater.” She smiled at Chase and he blushed. 

No sooner than she liked a comment on Max’s post, did Max shout out, “Allison!” He stared at Chase suspiciously, shook his head and said, “Mmm mmm. Uh uh. Nah uh!”

“I think so,” Charlotte said. 

Chase looked between the both of them. “I’m lost.”

“Max just came to the realization that you remind him of somebody that he used to know pretty well,” Charlotte said.

“No. I actually did not,” Max said looking at the comment: First you clique up with my #1 Shero, and NOW, you’re just… AROUND CHASE DAVENPORT??? Literally my favorite protector of the world and champion for the environment! Your life must be so charmed.

“Well, if you didn’t, I’m just gonna say it. Petite brunette with bright and kind blue eyes who loves the planet, has a vehement code of ethics, is competitive, smart, brave, and honest…”

“My God, Charlotte, you met her once!” Max complained.

“I met her once, but I’ve gotten to know her through your anecdotes!”

He groaned, “She’s asking if she’ll get to meet him too, some day. I regret introducing her to YOU! Always messaging or commenting whenever she sees us hanging out. Like... You have time now? Oh, okay!” 

“Can I see?” Chase asked. 

Charlotte clicked on Allison’s profile and he nodded, “I love all these badges on her page. She must be a hardcore environmentalist.” She nodded. “Yeah, well Max thought you reminded him of someone, and I didn’t want to say it, but since he said it, I’m free to speak.”

“I mean, I don’t know how I feel about the classification of petite brunette, but she seems great. What’s the problem? You’re friends, she’s on your friend list…” He said in Max’s direction.

Avoiding the question, Max said, “You’re on my friend list too. That means nothing.”

“I never approved of that,” Chase said. 

“I know. I had to hack into your account to accept the request,” Max said, rolling his eyes and replying to Allison: You’ll be happy to know that he reminds me of you.

“WHY? Why would you do that?” Chase wondered, somewhere in the background of Max’s thoughts while he love reacted the sad face that Allison responded with. She knew that Max didn’t think the world of her, even though they were cordial, because sometimes, he wondered how she was, and also... He liked the idea of helping her out when she needed it, here and there... He was over her, but she was always gonna be his first love and social media made it too easy to keep up with people, even after they’ve become strangers.

“Because Charlotte’s fan base stalks every single interaction of all of her social media. We’re both with her right now and I don’t feel like the hoard of questions, theories and think pieces it’ll produce in the event that they notice that her guests are not friends,” Max said, replying to Allison: Yep, just like that. A PAIN. 

Exasperated, Chase sat down next to Charlotte and asked, “May I please have some of your rosehips and cinnamon tea?” She smiled and offered him the thermos and her mug. He poured some and smelled it, “Is there nettle in here?”

“Mmm hmm. And lavender honey for sweetening. It’s a manifestation tea that I found online, just FYI.”

“I don’t believe in any of that, so I’m fine either way,” Chase reminded her. He took a sip and nodded, “Mmmm… It’s good, that much is true.” After a few more sips, he wondered, “So… what’s the situation with this Allison?” They looked at Max, who had curled up with his phone, messaging with Allison, oblivious to them at the moment. “Or, is it personal? Could I guess? Is she a former lover?” He asked. Charlotte tried to put on her poker face, but she was as bad as that as she was at lying, so Chase could tell that he was right, even though she technically didn’t tell him Max’s personal business. “I remind him of his ex???” He said.

“I mean, in superficial ways, nothing fundamental or concrete,” she said. “It’s more like… parallels than, say, matching counterparts. But, enough about that. Let’s talk about your game.”

“Well, my next avenue is working out all of the creatures that users can create hybrids out of. But… on a more important note - this plot…” She made a face. “I’m not having second thoughts! I’m just curious. Why Jamaica?”

She sat up and began to speak from the heart, “As you know, my family is from Jamaica. I still have relatives there, including one of  my grandmothers. Android production has drastically changed the atmosphere in Jamaica. They are used in service capacity and have taken away jobs from islanders, who already a lot of the time are in less than ideal economic status and situations. The Islands have become booming tourist areas and who benefits the most from the usage of Jamaican goods? Tourists who can afford visiting, and companies who can afford to produce machines for slave labor. Meanwhile, the bad parts of Jamaica get worse as the broke people get poorer, and they run out of options beyond crime and schemes. To the point that these entitled people like your dad and his customer base get to be richer and bleed the place for everything good, as well as create a negative outlook of the actual citizens, calling them untrustworthy and warning visitors to avoid them when necessary. Even if my family wasn’t from there, isn’t that terrible? Isn’t it messed up that the so-called heroes and revolutionary men are able to do such a thing to these people’s livelihoods and environments and get richer off of their hardship?”

He nodded his head, not breaking eye contact with her. This was the most important thing that he had been told in a long time. We’re supposed to be heroes. Destroying people’s lives for gain is not heroic and there really is no need to treat anyone this way.

“That’s why Jamaica is first.”

.

The three of them walked into Charlotte’s Jamaican property and set their things down. She worked out of this place, but usually lodged elsewhere whenever she came. Buying small houses for people and trying to give them work and resources just wasn;t possible for her to do for a whole island where a lot of powerful people owned a lot of property and space. This was the best thing that she could think of to do to help Jamaica’s poorest and the declining economic situation that was making it’s people downtrodden. 

Max and Chase were both looking at her as she typed in a code onto her arm, and whenever she finished, she nodded her head once and pulled down her sleeve. “This will be good. I know it will.” It wasn’t often that she doubted herself, but sometimes, she remembered the inner voices of her friends, ignoring her plans or discrediting her advice. Sometimes, she let it be her inner voice. This was one of those times. She was nervous. If she was wrong, she could wreck the island, be labelled a terrorist, have Davenport blacklist her and probably sure her for all she was now worth, AND, she had brought Max and Chase into this thing with her. She could hear Henry and Jasper now, saying her name sternly, with disdain, judging her, even though they hadn’t done such things in years… CHARLOTTE. Yeah, CHARLOTTE. 

She hated the way it sounded in her mind, because she couldn’t remember if they ever actually spoke so harshly to her, or if she made them sound worse in her mind, both things were unsettling, especially when she was already timid. “Charlotte?” She heard Max and Chase both repeat. They had been calling her while her mind was running in circles. She looked up and they each reached for her hand, but they reached for the same hand and the three of them wound up in this awkward but still comfortable three way hand hold. The guys rolled their eyes at each other, but neither let go of her hand and they didn’t fight over it. They both knew her enough to know her face meant she needed a show of support. And they both cared enough to give it to her.

[beesloosewithcanon]

Fictober2019

Thank you, nonny for the prompt submission! 

If you’re interested in seeing a writing drabble from me for a specific f/f pairing, look at this post and let me know which you’d like to see! (I currently write in Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and Avatar Legend of Korra; I’d be open to also delve into the following fandoms – Avatar the Last Airbender, Overwatch, Stardew Valley, to name a few).

Prompt #6 – “Yes, I’m aware. Your point?”

Fanfiction – Legend of Korra

Pairing – Kuvira & Opal

***

Yes, I’m aware. Your point?

Opal looked at the screen of her phone for some time. This woman was… intense to say it bluntly. Opal had just called her out for seeming to be impatient about their time table for when they could meet up in person for a date. She was thinking of something flirtatious to say in response, but Kuvira beat her to it.

I’m just eager to see if your lips are as soft as they look in those pictures you sent me. 

Her cheeks seemed to have held a permanent state of warmth ever since she’d woken up to a message from Kuvira on the dating app over three weeks ago. She was forward but never pushy. She was a woman who knew what she wanted and made no apologies for making it known. Yet, she’d remained respectful when Opal would mention that she wasn’t sure about something or experienced with the subject. 

It was clear that the woman was slightly older than her and had ample experience with other women, especially compared to Opal; she’d only ever been with her ex-boyfriend for a few years and was only just coming to terms with her own bisexuality. She’d talked to several people on the dating app that she was using, but none of them had interested her or kept a conversation going like Kuvira, effortlessly moving from flirtatious quips to deep conversations about life. 

She bit the side of her lip and wrote out her response. Would it be appropriate for me to say too eager, perhaps?

Three dots appeared instantly after she sent her reply. Kuvira was nothing if not persistent. 

Absolutely not. I’m pretty sure if you were me, you’d want to find out yourself, too.

Ha! I don’t make a habit of oggling myself in the mirror, Opal responded with a smirk as she sat down on her bed, ignoring her calc 2 homework that was sprawled on her dorm desk.

Perhaps you should. ‘Cause you’re gorgeous.

Flatterer.

As a police officer, it is my moral obligation to only speak the truth. 

Riiiight.

She stared at her phone for a long moment as her teeth played with her bottom lip. Their messaging back and forth had been relatively chaste until about a week ago when Kuvira asked her what she was up to. Opal had simply sent her a picture of herself at the gym with her tongue sticking out as she stretched in front of a mirror wall. It wasn’t a flattering picture, but rather silly. Kuvira had responded with a picture of her own - her in the locker room of some gym post-workout in just shorts and a sports bra, covered in sweat and the words “great minds, eh” accompanying the picture. Since then, the mild flirtation had been turned to the max on the dial and they started talking about when they could meet up for a date and what they did or didn’t like when it came to sex. Being that they were in neighboring cities made it a little more difficult; that and Opal’s school schedule conflicting with Kuvira’s police patrol schedule. 

Her phone buzzed again and she looked down to see another message from Kuvira: Let me come get you tonight. Take you out for dinner at least. Please?

Opal let out a defeated groan, but typed a response: I have a midterm tomorrow.

Like I said earlier - I’m aware. Your point?

“Kuviraaa,” Opal groan aloud as she flopped back onto her bed. I have to studyyyyyy, she typed back.

Pft. You study all the time. Give your brain a break.

Oh and what? Let my lips do work for a change?

Just as she sent it her thought exploded with the implications of what that statement could be interpreted as. Kissing? Sex? Specifically oral? 

“Shiiit,” Opal whined as she sat back up and started to type furiously to try and make herself more clear, but stopped when she saw that Kuvira had started replying.

I mean, if that’s what will help you pass your midterm then I will happily volunteer to help those lips do work. Whatever work that may be. I mean, I have my own ideas of what might help, but it’s all about your needs considering it’s your midterm and all.

Opal’s cheeks burned as she looked away from her phone, bringing her hand up to her mouth as she nibbled on her thumbnail. There Kuvira went again, making it clear that she wanted something more than kissing but giving Opal the clear indication that only if she wanted to. Just knowing she had options made her want Kuvira all the more because the way she handled consent was beyond sexy.

If I leave now, I can be there by 7.

Opal shook her head, ignoring the smile on her face. I’m surprised you haven’t already left yet.

Dots appeared as Kuvira typed. Wait? Is that a yes?

Opal bit her lip again and looked at her clock. It was a four-hour drive. That was plenty of time to finish her calc homework and shower and get ready for a date. Her first date with a woman. A woman who had already made it clear that she wanted to do things far beyond just kissing. And Opal knew she wanted more than just dinner and a kiss, too. 

Yes it’s a yes. And, if you’re good, I won’t even make you drive home tonight... so long as you’re good with sharing a single dorm and a twin bed, I mean.

So good. You have no idea. 

Opal couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. She focused on the feeling of her cheeks rather than the now nervous fluttering in her chest. This was really happening. Not only was she finally going to see Kuvira in person, but she was also going to go on her first official date with a woman. And who knew what else the night would hold.

Sooo… see you at seven? Opal typed and sent nervously. She was excited and her nerves thrummed through her entire body.

Traffic willing, yes! 

Opal smiled wider. No abusing your authority to speed, Kuvira.

Damn. I guess I won’t take my patrol car then. Kuvira accompanied the message with a winking kiss emoji blowing a heart. And then added another message. Shoot me your address?

Opal typed in her address and then looked at her calc homework. She had to do it while her nerves weren’t at their peak. She could freak out in the shower. But she still had five very complicated problems to solve. 

Okay, it looks like it’ll be closer to 7:30 with traffic. That okay?

Absolutely. Drive safe, okay? she sent before standing from her bed and pulling her desk chair out. 

The safest, beautiful. See you soon!

I can’t wait!

Opal bit her lips between her teeth and swallowed a squeal. This was happening. This was really happening. She then looked around her room, thankful that she was a tidy person. She didn’t need to clean up. She just had to finish these five problems, shower, and settle on what to wear and accompanying makeup. Easy. Super easy.

She picked up her pencil and found the problem she was on with her homework. Her leg immediately started to bounce along with the tapping of her finger against her pencil, but she worked through her first problem. It was fairly complicated and required several formulas to solve the entire equation. Once she finished it, she looked at the clock.

It had only been five minutes.

The next four and a half hours were going to be torture. 

[waitineedaname]

Lightning Round, Take Two

kudos to @notedchampagne for inspiring this!!

also on ao3

-

“This is a terrible idea.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“She’s going to hate me.”

“She’ll love you.”

“Love me? Love me?!” Karkat all but shrieked. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this, Dave, but I don’t exactly make the best impressions! In fact, one might even say I make the worst impressions! We’ll be lucky if she doesn’t end this visit early because she can’t stand being around me because I have the personality of a deep seated pimple!”

“Damn. The kind it hurts to pop?”

“Yes! The kind of pimple that never forms a head and settles on your upper lip so it hurts every time you move your mouth! That’s what my personality is like: persistent, painful, and pus-filled!”

“The three P’s.” Dave mused, and Karkat shot him a scowl. “C’mon man, don’t sell yourself short. You’re like a blackhead at the worst.”

“Don’t pander to me, Strider.” Karkat grumbled and crossed his arms, but he didn’t complain when Dave slung his arm over his shoulders. “I still think this would go much better without me.”

“Nah, dude, trust me, this is the best option. I mean, best case scenario, if I did this by myself, she’d be like ‘omg do u have a bf’ and I’d be like ‘yeah’ because that’s part of what I’m tryna do here, tell folks about us, but then she’d want pictures even though she’s definitely met you, and then I’d have to show her all those cute pictures I took of you when you weren’t looking, and I know you don’t want that.”

“You what?”

“You didn’t hear that.”

Karkat rolled his eyes and leaned a little closer into Dave’s side, eyes tracing the little carapacian homes they were walking by. Dusk was falling, much to his relief; they both had to make compromises when they realized their species operated at different times of day, but he still avoided leaving the hive when the sun was glaring and ready to burn him to a crisp. Dave probably could’ve flown them all the way to Roxy and Calliope’s house, but Karkat hated making him carry him that far (Dave always insisted he wasn’t that heavy, but the strain in his voice never escaped Karkat’s notice), so they were walking the last few blocks. Karkat had a sneaking suspicion Dave was fine with walking because he was trying to delay the inevitable. He was nervous, if the way his fingers were tapping on Karkat’s upper arm or the way he kept clenching and unclenching his jaw said anything. Karkat sighed and unfolded his arms to wrap one around Dave’s waist.

“You don’t have anything to worry about, you know.” He said, surprising Dave into looking down at him.

“What? Who said I’m worried? You’re the one who’s been bitching the whole evening.”

“Because I want to make a good impression on your weird paradox ancestor, shit for brains. I’m saying you don’t need to be worried about coming out to her.” He met Dave’s eyes through his shades, something he’d gotten good at over the sweeps. “Of all fucking people, she’ll be the most fine with it. That’s why you’re telling her first, right?”

“Yeah, I know, it’s just-” Dave sighed and looked away. He was better than he used to be, but holding eye contact was still hard for him, “It’s a big deal, you know? I mean, Rose probably figured it out from living in a confined space with us, and Dirk kinda got it out of context clues, but this is a first using the big B-word.”

“She’ll be fine. And if she isn’t, I’ll tear her apart and at least give her a reason to hate your boyfriend besides my shit-awful personality.”

“Aw, babe, I dunno whether to be flattered you’d attack my mom like a feral raccoon or bummed that you’re trashin’ yourself.”

“How about we compromise, and I’ll stop shit-talking myself if you stop stressing yourself out about this.”

“...Deal.”

“Good. Because I think that’s her house.”

“Oh shit.”

The two of them stopped just outside the elaborate building the carapacians had offered Roxy and Calliope back when they’d first arrived in the middle of Earth C society, both of them brimming with anxiety despite their reassurances. Karkat almost thought Dave was going to say this was too much for him and turn around and fly home, but he unwrapped himself from Karkat’s arm and instead held his hand to walk up to the front door and knock.

“Just a sec!” Roxy’s voice rang out from somewhere inside, and a few seconds later, the door opened to reveal her smiling face. “Davey!” She squealed and launched herself at him, hugging him tightly. Dave, to his credit, adapted quickly and let go of Karkat’s hand to hug her back.

“Sup, Rox.”

Roxy pulled away from Dave to turn towards Karkat, who instinctively took a half step back. She noticed and laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hug you if you don’t wanna. Is a fistbump cool?”

“I don’t know if I would call anything a certain red asshole harangued me with in the early years of our friendship ‘cool’, but it is acceptable.” That made Roxy laugh, and he gave her a light fistbump.

“Karkat, bro, I can’t believe you’re just calling me uncool in front of my mom. What the fuck. What is this betrayal.” Dave shook his head, but he already seemed more relaxed.

“Dave, I dunno how to break this to you, but you’re related to me ‘n Dirk.” Roxy tried to adopt a sympathetic expression despite her grin. “You’ve got dork running through your veins.”

“Goddamn. You’re tellin’ me I’ve got a genetic predisposition for this shit?”

“Yup. It’s chronic. Doctors everywhere’re rushing to write studies on our family to try and isolate the ‘cool-but-really-not-cool’ gene.”

“Let’s hope it’s not replicable in a lab or anything. I’m pretty sure Earth C can only handle four of us.”

“Ohmigod, can you imagine them trying to test it out. Little lab rats wearing shades and writing wizard fic. Holy shit.” Roxy gasped at her own idea, an unbelievably pleased look on her face.

“Oh my dick. Fuck ectobiology, this is the science I want to invest in.”

“Absolutely not.” Karkat interjected. “There’s already enough of you jackasses, I think I’d have an aneurysm if any more blond lunatics were running around.”

“Lol,” Karkat couldn’t believe Roxy just said that out loud, “You’re probably right. Are we gonna keep fucking around about cool mice on the doorstep, or do you guys wanna come in?”

She stepped aside to lead them inside and showed them to the living room. “Callie’s out picking up dinner. I would’ve made something since I invited you guys over for dinner, but living in the water apocalypse did not leave me with many cooking skills.”

“Hey, no shade here.” Dave shrugged, plopping down on the couch with Karkat at his side. “I don’t think I’d be able to work an oven if I tried. We’re a strictly take-out household. Hivehold? I dunno, but we’ve barely touched the kitchen in the week we’ve been here.”

“Excuse you, I made those Hot Pockets yesterday.” Karkat countered sharply.

“Yeah, and they were like 30% cooked, dude. You put them in the microwave for thirty seconds and then panicked.”

“Fuck you, I don’t see you doing much better! In fact, I distinctly remember you eating those frozen pizza pockets like a ravenous barkbeast! It was like you’d been locked in a cave with nothing to eat for half a sweep and my delicious plate of folded sauce treats were the only thing saving you from a miserable, malnourished death!”

“I mean, a Hot Pocket’s a Hot Pocket. I’m not gonna turn one of those fuckers down, who do you think I am.”

“I think you’re a wiggler with no sense of taste.”

“You eat bugs.”

“And you put ranch on your pizza! Bricks and glass houses, Dave!”

“Dude, do trolls even have that expression? Aren’t y’all light sensitive? Why would you have glass houses?”

“Newsflash, dipshit, I’ve lived in close proximity for the majority of the past two sweeps with an overflowing fountain of pop culture references and idioms and an uppity seer that likes to make things as convoluted and difficult to understand as possible. I picked up a few human phrases! Uh, no offense, Roxy.” Karkat added at the mention of Rose.

“None taken! I’m pretty sure she gets that from Dirk anyway.” Roxy waved him off. “Take it back to the ranch on pizza thing tho, do you really do that? Is this some earth delicacy I missed out on?”

“Oh fuck yeah, it rules. You gotta try it some time.” Dave nodded, excited to get someone else to try his food crimes.

“Imma have to take a pass on that.” Roxy said, crinkling her nose.

“Finally, someone with taste!” Karkat exclaimed, and Dave gently hit his shoulder.

“I am slowly workin’ through traditional earth food tho! Or at least as traditional as you can get here. That’s where we’re getting dinner from! There’s this human/troll fusion place that Callie and I like. I dunno how authentic it is, but it tastes good at least!”

“I mean, nothing on Earth C is super authentic, it’s all like human diet slightly to the left, but it’s edible.”

“Better than the garbage we alchemized on the meteor, at least.” Karkat agreed.

“God, the fucking buffalo wings debacle.” Dave and Karkat shuddered in unison. Roxy looked amused.

“You guys spent a lot of time together on the meteor, right? And now you’re living together?” Roxy asked, and they both nodded. She had a look in her eyes that was far too reminiscent of the look Rose got when she was gearing up to psychoanalyze someone, and Karkat was hit with a stroke of panic. “Sooo, I should prob’ly do a lightning round with you too, right? Since you’re important to Dave?”

The pair shared a look and Dave shrugged, appearing nonchalant despite the way he was anxiously picking at a loose string on his jeans. “Uh, I guess?” Karkat said, bracing himself.

“I’ll start easy, I promise!” Roxy drummed her fingers on her lips as if thinking. “Hm… you’ve got ‘cat’ in your name, do you like cats?”

Karkat made a face, thrown off by the question. “I guess? I never had one, but Nepeta was pretty fucking into them, and they seemed… fine. I can respect a meowbeast that just lazes around if it’ll leave me the fuck alone, but Nepeta’s lusus could’ve probably torn me to shreds, so…” He shrugged.

“Was Nepeta a friend from the game?” Roxy backpedaled the moment she saw Karkat’s face fall. “Oh shit, tender subject, sorry.” She worried her lip, looking for another question, then perked up. “Oh! What’s your sign? I know it’s Cancer from earth astrology and stuff, but what’s that mean for trolls?”

Karkat looked down at his chest and grimaced. “Fuck if I know, I don’t actually have a sign. I spent most of my life thinking this stupid thing meant precisely fuck all. I guess it’s a symbol of my ancestor? But I never really learned much about him since the empress always tried to erase his rebellion, and I thought that ancestor shit was highblood bullshit anyway. I guess now I know it’s not, but ugh, I could’ve happily gone my whole wretched life without meeting that douchebag.”

“We met his ancestor in the dream bubbles.” Dave explained. “Or I guess descendent? Since y’all are technically the post-scratch group? I never really understood that part.”

“Doesn’t fucking matter, he was a pretentious asswipe with his head so far up his nook it’s a wonder he was even audible, but oh god, was he audible alright.”

“Lmao, I kinda wanna meet this guy.” Roxy grinned.

“No you don’t.” Dave and Karkat said in unison, which made her laugh.

“I’ll take your word for it.” The mischievous look was back in her eyes. “Next question! Have you ever had your quadrants filled?”

Karkat almost choked. “What the fuck kind of question is that? That’s none of your fucking business!” He blustered. “My quadrants are private, and it’s my decision if I want to bring them up! Are all humans this fucking nosy or is it just the Lalondes?!”

“It’s just the Lalondes.” Dave said flatly.

“I just thought it’d be fair since I asked Dave that in our lightning round!” Roxy put her hands up in apology, but didn’t look particularly apologetic. “I was curious!”

Karkat was about to continue his rant about people feeling entitled to knowledge about virtual strangers’ quadrants, but the way Dave sat up and cleared his throat gave him pause.

“Actually, Rox,” Dave started, fidgeting a bit, “I never answered that question back on the lilypad.”

“Yeah, but that’s okay!” Roxy brushed him off. “I’m not gonna push you to answer something you’re not comfy with.”

“That’s the thing. I wanna answer you now, if that’s cool.”

“Oh!” Roxy’s eyes widened. “Of course that’s cool! That’s cooler than cool.”

Dave lifted an eyebrow, a smile pulling at his lips despite himself. “What’s cooler than being cool?”

“Ice cold!” Roxy shouted at the top of her lungs, and the two of them chanted “alright” about a dozen times while Karkat watched them in bewilderment. Humans, he thought. He’d never understand them.

“Okay, but for real tho,” Roxy said once they’d both gotten a handle on their giggles, “You wanted to say something?”

“Yeah.” Dave almost immediately looked anxious again, running his hands over his jeans. “So. You asked if I’d ever kissed anyone or-” He cleared his throat and the rest came out in a mumbled cough, “-been in love.”

Karkat held his breath, eyes flicking between Dave and a very focused Roxy.

���The, um. The answer to both of those questions is… yes? And I know you’re wonderin’ who, that’s like the next logical question, like if you ask someone if they’re hungry and they say yes, your next question is probably gonna be ‘what do you wanna eat’, unless you’re a total dick and just wanted to, I dunno, be aware of someone else’s hunger for your own sick pleasures and leave ‘em waiting like you’re some kinda sick torturer tryin’ to extract information out of a prisoner, like ‘hey are you hungry?’ ‘Yeah, I am, actually. I’ve been hanging from my ankles for a week now and I’d kill for some motherfucking KFC right now.’ ‘Interesting. Go fuck yourself.’ That’s not a very good interrogator, actually, he didn’t even try to get any information out of the guy except for the knowledge that he’s really craving some chicken, which is virtually useless, unless the interrogator is working for KFC’s competitor, like Popeyes out here tryna get the deets on their rival brands. Hey, do you think they’ve got a Popeyes anywhere on Earth C? Maybe we should start one, make a shit ton of money. Really boost the economy.”

“Dave.” Karkat cut him off before he could get too far from the topic, giving him a pointed look. “Were you actually going to say something important or were you going to just talk out of your deflated ass forever?”

“Hey man, you know you love my ass.”

“The point, Dave-!”

“Right right right.” Dave shook his head and took a deep breath before looking at Roxy again, who looked like she was might be putting things together already. “It’s Karkat. The answer to ‘who’, I mean. We’ve, uh. We’ve been dating since the meteor.”

Roxy’s whole face lit up. “Aw, congrats you guys! That’s really sweet!”

“Yeah.” Dave looked over at Karkat and gave him a tiny smile before looking a little apprehensive again. “I’d, uh, appreciate if you didn’t tell anyone though? I mean, the rest of the meteor crew probably knows because we spent… a lot of time together.”

“Most of that was platonic, though. A good two-thirds of it, at least.” Karkat countered.

“True, but they don’t know that. Far as they know, one day we were just two bros hanging out and watching movies and shit, then the next day, Vriska walks in to catch one of those bros taking a snooze on his other bro’s lap and falling off the couch the moment she announces her presence.”

“I’ll give you three fucking guesses which dumbass that was.” Karkat directed that at Roxy, and she snorted.

“Rude.” Dave nudged him. “But yeah, they’ve probably figured it out, but we haven’t officially told anyone. I haven’t even told anyone I’m, you know. Bisexual.”

“Wait, so I’m the first person you’ve told?” Roxy looked a little stunned.

“I- Yeah? I just thought you’d probably be a safe person to go to, especially since we don’t have any weird baggage like I might have with John and Jade, you’re just my alt-mom, which I guess does make things a little weird-”

“It’s a little weird, but it does mean you get a certified mom hug!” She interrupted, standing up.

“A mom hug? Dunno if I know what those are like.” Dave said, smiling a little.

“They’re like this, you big goober.” Roxy pulled him into a tight hug, pulling him down a little so he could put his head on her shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Davey. That’s a big deal, comin’ out and shit. I’m glad you felt like you could tell me.”

“...Thanks mom.” Dave’s voice was a watery mumble against her shoulder, but he seemed to have collected himself by the time they pulled away. Roxy immediately turned her sights on Karkat.

“Your turn! You’re family now, you can’t escape hugs anymore.”

“Ugh, you humans are so fucking tactile.” Karkat grumbled but resigned himself to Roxy’s affectionate squeeze.

“Hey man, don’t act like you’re not cuddly as hell. I have to pry you off of me with a crowbar to go take a piss sometimes. You should see this dude when he gets sleepy, Rox, it’s so fucking cute. Did you know trolls purr? It’s some kinda flushed noise or something and it’s the fucking best.” Dave seemed to already be relaxing now that the thing he’d been dreading was over with.

“That’s private!” Karkat hissed, embarrassed. Dave just grinned at him and sat a little closer when they took a seat again. “Do you want me airing out how you melt like a touch starved candybar left in the sunlight when I suggest you should be the little spoon? Or how you turn into a warbling puddle of Dave when I do this?” He reached over and out his hand on Dave’s knee, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles. Casual affection, Dave’s weakness.

“Aw,” Roxy cooed. Dave looked thoroughly embarrassed and made a strangled noise in his throat. Karkat gave him a smug look.

“Shut up.” He grumbled weakly and scooted a little closer so he could press against Karkat’s side and hold his hand.

“So you guys are matesprits?” Roxy asked, and Karkat’s anxiety immediately returned. Dave wasn’t the only one who had coming out to do. Dave squeezed his hand and let Karkat start since this was his thing to discuss.

“Mostly?” He offered weakly, then tried to sound more certain. “We’re kind of pale too.”

“Plus I piss you off in a pitch way sometimes.” Dave added helpfully.

“And the way you kept me from tearing Vriska apart on the meteor was sort of ashen.” Karkat admitted.

“I mean, there wasn’t really much of a chance of you tearing her apart to begin with. Spidertroll could’ve probably kicked any of our asses in her sleep, she’s fuckin’ crazy.”

“My point still stands!”

“So…” Roxy interrupted, guiding them back on topic, “You’re in all quadrants? I didn’t know trolls did that!”

Karkat winced. “They don’t. Usually. It’s extremely frowned upon.”

“Karkat’s had trouble keeping shit in one quadrant.” Dave explained for him. “He’s got a big ol’ heart full of love.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the only person in Paradox Space to come to that conclusion about what my useless fucking pump biscuit is full of, but thanks for the thought.” Karkat rolled his eyes, defaulting to annoyance to avoid the insecurities that always gnawed at him when he thought about his relationship with quadrants. “‘Full of love’ is usually not the first thing people describe me as. More like ‘full of a burning anger’ or ‘a perpetual stream of irritable piss’ or, hell, ‘just undiluted dumbass juice!’ As far as most people are concerned, I’m Karkat ‘useless shitfit’ Vantas, and they’re not fucking wrong!”

“Okay, sure, you might be the grumpiest person in all - what, is this five universes now? I can’t keep track, but that doesn’t mean you’re not secretly a big softy.” Dave rubbed his thumb over Karkat’s knuckles. “I know that best out of probably anyone.”

“If it helps, I don’t think of you as those things!” Roxy added. Karkat gave her a disbelieving look.

“Full offense, we’ve never really ‘hung out.’”

“I mean, no, but I’ve seen you interacting with Dave and John and Kanaya and stuff, and you’ve always seemed to be a caring friend underneath all the yelling.” Roxy shrugged. “It’s nice knowing Dave’s in good hands since I’ve only been part of his family for a couple weeks. Means I don’t have to give you a shovel talk prob’ly!”

“The shovel talk? What the fuck? What does that even mean?” Karkat looked at Dave for an explanation, but he only winced.

“You know, when parents meet their kid’s partner and are like ‘you better not hurt my baby, or I’ll kill you.’ That kind of thing. I’m guessing trolls didn’t do that on Alternia?” Roxy tilted her head, seeming genuinely curious. Karkat’s face contorted as he wrapped his head around that concept.

“Okay, first of all, no we didn’t because we didn’t even have parents and our lusii wouldn’t give two shits about our quadrantmates. Second of all, you better not even think about giving me your ridiculous human ‘shovel talk’! I’ve known Dave far longer than you have, so it really should be me going ‘don’t fucking hurt him,’ but I know I don’t need to because Dave can fucking handle himself! He doesn’t need your bullshit defenses! If I ever hurt him, I trust him to be able to tell me to fuck off out of his life - not that he’d ever need to because I’d rather establish a culling system in the Troll Kingdom and offer myself up as their first sacrifice than hurt Dave!” He took a deep inhale to continue his tirade, but Dave cut him off with a pat to the cheek.

“Yo, dude, shoosh, it’s okay. It’s really not that big of a deal.” It was only after Dave cut off his train of thought that Karkat realized how worked up he was getting, and he shrank back down against Dave’s shoulder, embarrassed. “I’m pretty sure Roxy was kidding, anyway.”

“Yeah, for sure!” Roxy nodded quickly. “I didn’t mean to imply you were gonna hurt Dave or that he couldn’t take care of himself or anything. That’s hella not my place, and you guys seem very good for each other.”

“Oh. Well. Good.” He sent her a warning glare just to make sure he’d gotten the point across, then forced himself to let some tension out of his shoulders.

“It is really nice knowin’ my family’s in good hands though.” Roxy smiled. “Hell, it’s nice knowin’ I have a family! Oh my god, Dave, do you realize none of us Strilondes are straight? I mean, Rose ‘n Dirk are both gay as hell, and then you and I are bi!”

“Yeah- Wait, what?” Dave jolted a little in surprise. “Rox, you’re bi too? Since when?”

“Uh, since always?” Roxy laughed a bit. “I thought that’s why you came to me, because you knew!”

“No! Holy shit, I gotta process this for a second.”

“LMAO.” Roxy said, pronouncing every letter. “Yeah, dude! I mean, can you blame me? Like, dudes are hot as fuck, that’s like self explanatory. I mean, have you seen the Englberts? Eglishes? Whatever their family name is, John and Jake are both total babes, but then there are girls too! I mean, Janey, what a gal, right? And Callie too!”

“Right?” Dave enthused, clearly excited someone understood where he was coming from. “Girls are so fucking good, hot damn, but then? Dudes? Holy shit?”

“Yeah!” Roxy was just about throwing herself out of her chair with her excitement. “I can barely leave the house, it’s just smoochable babes everywhere I turn.”

“I’d say it’s a goddamn plight, but I got the most smoochable right here.” Dave emphasized his point with a kiss to one of Karkat’s horns, making him squawk. Dave laughed a little and turned back to Roxy. “Yo, but rewind back to Callie. Soooo, are y’all two, y’know…”

Roxy looked remarkably like Dave when embarrassed. “Uh…” The sound of the front door opening and Calliope’s greeting voice cut her off. “I’ll get back to you on that!” Dave waggled his eyebrows at her but didn’t push it.

Dinner was an enjoyable affair, despite Karkat’s near constant crippling fear of being miserable in every social engagement. The food was good and pretty close to tasting like home, and the conversation was fluid - mostly because Roxy and Dave chattered the entire time like hyperactive squirrels. Karkat tried to be annoyed with their ridiculous stream of consciousness discussions, but he couldn’t help but feel warm watching Dave talk so comfortably with his ecto-mom. And he certainly wasn’t the only person happy with the situation; every time he and Dave started bantering back and forth, he could see Roxy’s delight out of the corner of his eye, and the absolutely lovestruck look on her face whenever Calliope spoke didn’t escape him either.

Eventually, though, they had to head home - though Dave and Karkat had both shifted their sleep schedules to be active in the afternoon and most of the night, the majority of their human friends were still diurnal and needed to go to bed eventually - so after a few more hugs from Roxy, they were sent on their way.

Dave landed them down the street from their hive, and Karkat didn’t complain about having to walk that last distance. The Troll Kingdom was just now starting to wake up, stores and restaurants lighting up, trolls in suits rushing to their early jobs, and young trolls getting ushered off to school. It was so different from Alternia, but Karkat thought he could probably get used to the differences if it meant he didn’t have to worry about getting culled at a single glance at his blood color. Maybe it was too early to tell, but if he let himself feel just the slightest bit optimistic for his future, he had a feeling he could be really happy here. He could live a peaceful, successful life on Earth C, and if the cheerful way Dave was swinging their clasped hands meant anything, he wasn’t the only one feeling hopeful.

“So,” He prompted, leaning into Dave’s shoulder, “I guess that could have been more horrible.”

“Yep.” Dave said, popping the ‘p’. “We’ll have to scrap those emergency plans. Cancel our name changes and facial reconstructions and flights to the other side of Earth C, no need to run away immediately.”

“I don’t know, we might have to keep that shit pencilled in. We still need to tell John.” Karkat reminded him, and Dave groaned.

“Oh fuck. Yeah, never mind, you sure we can’t just fuck off into another universe? Universe D here we come. The D stands for Davekat ‘cause it’ll just be us, babe. It also stands for Dick because, come on, it’s us, of course it does. Also Dinosaurs just ‘cause. Do you think dinosaurs are a universal constant? Like, did dinosaurs exist for you guys? Or- oh shit, do you think they evolved differently? Are trolls just super evolved dinosaurs?”

“Dave,” Karkat gave him a look, “I think I would know if I was a dinosaur.”

“I dunno, dude, maybe we’re all dinosaurs-”

“Okay, I know when to cut that shit off.” Karkat rolled his eyes and let go of his hand to unlock their door. “Seriously, I think… that went okay. Less than horrid.”

“Less than horrid, huh? That’s a big compliment coming from you, are you feeling okay? Are you gettin’ some kinda fluffy feelings from hanging out with Roxy too long, ‘cause like, I get it.”

“Shut up. All I’m saying is this might not have been as much of an ordeal as we thought, this ‘coming out to everyone we know’ thing.”

“Maybe. You might be right.” Dave admitted, following him inside. “But that involved way too many emotions, and I think all my brain’s been used up for the rest of the day for anything that involves more thought than playing Xbox for seven hours straight. You down?”

“Fuck yes.”

[mysamcedesmadness]

So, I Had A Dream

I hadn't seen this done yet and it just popped in my mind today. (Henry trying to tell Ray about his kissing dream). Hope it's enjoyed by somebody.

"So I had a dream, a dream about a girl, a dream about a girl that I know... " When Henry noticed that Ray raised an eyebrow he thought to quickly clarify, "Not one that you know though. You don't know her name. You don't know where she works. You don't know who she is..."

"This story is becoming insanely boring," Ray said, ready to return to the game on his phone.

"Okay, so I had this dream about this girl - that we were hanging out and suddenly she was all over me... Kissing me!"

"Ummm... I don't know if I'm the guy to talk to about in your pants dreams. Have you tried your father?"

"It wasn't like that!" Henry insisted, blushing. "Well, I mean, it kinda was, but like... We're not like that. As a matter of fact I just low-key scolded her for thinking I might be interested in her because of some stupid dream she had."

"What is my place in all of this Henry? In other words... How is this my business?" Ray wondered.

"I think you meant, 'How can I help?' and I'm just venting, Man."

"This is either emotional or hormonal. At any rate, vent to Charlotte or Jasper! I don't want to hear about your teenage dream!" Ray said, tuning back into his game, "Next, you'll be talking to me about babies... WHICH COME FROM the Baby Store!" He added, turning away.

Henry sat down and sighed, "It can't be either of them, because they know this girl."

"And I don't," Ray said, skeptically. "So, it's not Charlotte, then?"

Henry scoffed, laughed, shook his head frantically and uttered, "What? Noo. Nopity nope, nope. It's very not Charlotte." He laughed, "I mean, could you imagine? Me thinking about Charlotte tackling me to kiss me and straddling me on the floor of the Man Cave?" He laughed nervously. "I certainly can't picture that. Is it hot in here? We've gotta check out the AC. Good talk! Good talk..." He rushed away and Charlotte removed the chameleon ring and appeared almost right in front of him. He tiny screamed when he saw her. "Char!"

She bit her lip and handed him the ring, "This isn't as much fun as you guys made it seem."

"Hey, Charlotte! Glad you're here. Now Henry can make YOU uncomfortable with his inappropriate dreams about you."

"Aaaalready there," Charlotte said, glanced at Henry, then stared at her feet.

Henry scoffed again, "It's a different girl and you don't know her."

"But I do?" Charlotte confirmed.

"I mean.. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know who you know. You weren't in my dreams. Don't flatter yourself."

"And she, like me, recently had dreams about you?" Charlotte confirmed.

Ray set his phone down, "See? NOW, it isn't boring anymore. Give him a harder time, Charlotte!"

"Yeah. She did. And I told her, just like I told you, it doesn't mean anything."

"But, unlike me, now you're dreaming about her, so maybe it does mean something, with her. Not me, of course." Charlotte confirmed.

"Of course not. Could you imagine?" He laughed awkwardly.

"I mean, obviously. I could. I was having dreams." She shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe you should go for it. Maybe she's still having dreams about you, too."

"Not you, right?" Henry confirmed.

"Right." They both had been dancing around the conversation and nervously trying to keep it going while getting away from each other to the point that they didn't realize that they had the same plan until they were both on the elevator together.

Ray shook his head and picked up his phone. "She'd better not straddle him in that elevator!"

Whenever they got off of the elevator, still playing the "Not me, not you," game, Jasper watched them stumble over their words for a few minutes.

"Because, if it WAS you, you'd totally not be into that!" Henry laughed.

Charlotte laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "I mean, if it was ME, I'D rethink my initial response of flight. Because, if you're dreaming about me too, MAYBE there would be something more to it."

He laughed too, "So, like IF it had been you, I could've just asked you out on a date and not made it weird and you totally would have accepted the invite."

"Definitely, if it was me."

They both laughed a lot, then said simultaneously, "But it wasn't." She turned and headed for the front door and he headed for the counter where Jasper was.

"SOooo.. You gonna ask Charlotte out?" Jasper wondered.

Henry made every ridiculous noise he could conjure. "WHY would I do that?"

"If she was having dreams about me, I'd ask her."

"Yeah, right."

"I did. She told me that she wasn't having dreams about ME, so I brushed it off. But, she was having dreams about you. How can you be this nonchalant?"

"Dude, it's Charlotte!"

"Yes. She has perfect teeth and really nice lips. She's also pretty and smart. I shot my shot."

"And she curved you, you said."

"Yeah, but she said that she'd say yes to you!" 

Charlotte came back into the building laughing at herself, "I'm not scheduled to leave work. Where was I headed?"

"Hey, uhh... Char. After work, you wanna like, go hang out at like... A place where dates happen?" Henry asked.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at Jasper, who smiled and nodded. "Sooo... Like ON a date, Henry?"

"Not like on a date, but yes, on a date."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah. Sounds like a dream."

Henry laughed, "I see what you did there!" She went towards the elevator, to go back down for the rest of her shift. When she was out of range, Henry let out a high pitched, "It's a date!"

[wistfulcynic]

Three Non-Blondes 3 / 4

Sooo, the chapter count has grown yet again because I have no chill. This is the last time, I swear, and also Chapter 4 will contain the best dumb OUAT-related joke that I or anyone else has ever written. So that’s something to look forward to. 

Summary: Mary Margaret is certain that her fiancé’s sister Emma and his best friend Killian are perfect for each other. What she doesn’t know is that they think so too. Matchmaking hijinks ensue.

Rating: T

AO3

Chapter 3: 

David snuck quietly into his mother’s kitchen and reached for the small cupboard above the refrigerator where he knew she kept her liquor. She didn’t know that he knew —or he didn’t think she did, but then David had never been the sort of teenager to pilfer alcohol and give the secret away via noticeable reductions in bottle volume— and he loved that she hid it in a place she needed a stool to reach but he could access easily. Sometimes it was nice that she still thought he was ten years old. He groped for a moment before withdrawing the bottle of bourbon that was the “secret” ingredient in Ruth’s apple pecan pie.  He wasn’t much of a liquor drinker as a rule, generally preferring beer or a nice brown ale. But today, he thought, he’d make an exception. 

Grabbing a glass, he poured himself a generous measure and gulped it straight down, managing not to cough too loudly as it burned a trail to his stomach. Before he could think better of it, he poured another shot and tossed that back as well —it went down easier the second time— and was just debating a third when the door opened and Mary Margaret appeared. 

“What are you— David! It’s not like you to drink whiskey!” 

Gathering his liquid courage, David turned to face her. “Sweetheart, you know I love you more than anything and normally I would never question your judgment,” he began, then took a deep breath. “But are you sure this is a good idea? I just feel like Killian and Emma should be left to make their own choices—” 

“No one is saying they can’t make their own choices.” Mary Margaret interrupted firmly. “All we’re doing is nudging them in the direction of the right ones.” 

David plunged ahead, heedless of all peril. “Are you sure that’s what we’re doing? Because it feels a lot like playing with people’s lives.” Whew. There. He’d said it. 

“If people can’t get their own act together then other people need to step in,” snapped Mary Margaret. “Do you want Emma and Killian to be miserable?”

“But they’re not miser—” 

“They will be, if they have to spend their lives alone because they’re too stubborn to see what’s in front of them.” 

“Killian’s hardly alone, I’m sure he was in bed with someone when I called him this morning—” 

“The wrong someone, David!” 

David gave up. Mary Margaret in full battle mode was a force he was not equipped to reckon with. So he kissed her head, promised to be out in a minute, and surreptitiously took a generous swig straight from the bottle before returning it to its hiding spot just as the doorbell rang. 

“Here goes nothing,” he muttered, and prepared to herd two people he loved into an ambush set by a third. 

—

An hour later, David was… baffled. Nothing seemed to be quite going as he had expected. Which considering he had expected disaster, was… good? 

Maybe? 

Certainly, Mary Margaret didn’t seem to feel that there was anything wrong. She had introduced Killian to Belle as per the plan, barely restraining her glee as he and the pretty brunette had struck up a lively conversation within minutes of the introduction, then had begun prodding Emma in a way that was not nearly as subtle as she probably thought.   

“I’m so glad Killian and Belle are getting along, I knew they would,” she said as she and Emma sat in a corner of the living room, watching the pair in question. “I know Killian gets around a bit but this isn’t like those women he picks up at the pub. He and Belle have actual things in common—”

“What, because he’s a writer and she’s a librarian?” Emma broke in. “There’s a lot more to Killian than just books, Mary Margaret.”

 Mary Margaret didn’t even seem to hear her. “—Killian deserves that, you know, he deserves a real relationship with someone who loves him. I think Belle could be it.”

“Do you, now?”

As far as David understood the plan (and if he was perfectly honest, he wasn’t certain he did understand it), Emma was supposed to be jealous hearing that. She was supposed to realise her feelings for Killian in a blinding flash of clarity, some twisted Damascene moment, and resolve then and there not to let Belle take her man. 

Or something. 

Instead, she just looked amused. 

“Yeah, I’m not sure she’s really Killian’s type,” said Emma. She was, David noticed, holding her face very straight. Unnaturally straight. It was, in fact, exactly the same face she’d worn that year she found all the Christmas presents before Ruth managed to wrap them and had held it over David’s head for weeks. It was the face she had when she was trying not to laugh with glee. 

“No offence, Emma, but you’re hardly the best person to judge what Killian’s type is,” said Mary Margaret.

“No, you’re probably right,” said Emma’s mouth, but her eyes glinted with mischief. “I mean, I hardly know the guy.” 

“Well, exactly.” 

Mary Margaret smiled sweetly. 

Emma smiled sweetly. 

David’s head began to hurt. There was definitely something fishy going on here.

—

Things had become no less piscine by the time they made it to the dinner table. Mary Margaret managed to ensure that Killian and Belle sat next to each other with Emma across from them, and her smile as she watched Belle ask insightful questions about Killian’s latest book was decidedly smug. 

“Look at Emma,” she mouthed at David, whose angle on his sister was better than hers. “What’s her face doing?”

David watched Emma as the conversation died down while people helped themselves to food. She looked like she always did when she was about to tuck into their mom’s cooking, practically dancing with anticipation, and also… just for a moment, just the briefest flash… she smiled. At Killian. A small, secret smile, of the sort people only exchanged with those they knew intimately. Intimately in a very specific way. 

David’s eyes shot to Killian. Who was smiling the exact same smile. 

Holy fuck, thought David in a blinding flash of clarity, a twisted Damascene moment. They’re fucking. 

—

“Well, I think that went very well,” said Mary Margaret, some time later after everyone else had gone and she and David were cleaning up the kitchen. 

“Mmmmm,” said David. 

“Phase Two launches next Saturday. Have you called August?”

David decided to give it one last try. “Yes, but I really think that—” 

“No, David, this will work, I’m sure of it. We’ve already made a great start.” 

David sighed. “Okay,” he said. 

—

“Phase Two” as Mary Margaret called it was scheduled to get underway as soon as both Emma and Killian arrived at the pub for their usual Saturday evening meet up. All the troops —by which term Mary Margaret meant David, Regina, and Robin— had been marshalled early, and at ten minutes before the anticipated arrivals she and Regina had their heads together at a small corner table leaving David and Robin to drink alone. 

“So I’m told Phase One was a huge success,” said Robin. 

“Hmmm.”

“You don’t agree? Regina said that Mary Margaret was ecstatic.” 

David chose his words carefully. “It pains me to say this, and if she ever found out it might actually pain me, but I think Mary Margaret may be wrong.” 

“About what?” 

“I think,” David leaned in closely to be sure they weren’t overheard, even though the women were deep in conversation and paying no attention to them at all, “I think Emma and Killian are already together.” 

“What?”

“Look at the facts,” said David, and proceeded to tell his friend everything he’d observed at the dinner plus all the evidence he’d spent the past week carefully collecting. He had, he flattered himself, built a case that was meticulous and thorough. David was a good detective after all, even if his beloved did sometimes imply that he needed to be more observant in his personal life. Once he’d identified a mystery and applied his skills to it he usually solved it. This one hadn’t even been that difficult to crack. Once you actually looked at the signs, it was so obvious, like they were barely even trying to be subtle. David wondered if he should be insulted that they’d put so little effort into deceiving him.

“Do you realise,” he said to Robin, “that we haven’t seen Emma and Killian together in the same room for at least six months? Every other weekend one of them has an excuse for why they can’t come out with us, while the one who does come out only stays for a few drinks then pleads some commitment or other and makes an early exit.”

“Huh,” said Robin. “Now that you mention it, yeah, I can’t remember the last time I saw them together. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re together, er... together.” 

“Not by itself, no, but combined with how they acted at dinner it’s a pretty compelling case. But we need to keep a close eye on them tonight, see if we can find the smoking gun. You in?”  

“To find evidence that two of my friends are secret lovers and thereby foil the matchmaking scheme masterminded in part by my girlfriend? Hell yes I’m in.” 

Just then Emma arrived, a fashionable three minutes late. When she was followed precisely two minutes later by Killian, whose hair looked mussed and his cheeks pink, like he’d been, just as a for-instance, standing outside a pub on a brisk, breezy April evening for precisely two minutes before following his secret girlfriend inside, David’s lips curled into a grin previously only observed by those he’d interrogated and he subtly fist-bumped Robin. 

Gotcha, he thought. You two are so busted. 

“Emma,” Mary Margaret was saying, her face the picture of innocence as she steered her friend towards a dark-haired man sitting in a nearby booth and Regina distracted Killian. “You remember David’s old college roommate August.” 

“Um, sure,” said Emma, shaking August’s hand.

“August’s just got back from Japan,” said Mary Margaret. “Emma, you’ve always wanted to go to Japan, haven’t you?”

“Uh, yeah, I have,” said Emma on a note of surprise as her eyes flitted over to Killian. David was also surprised by this angle of attack. Didn’t Mary Margaret remember…

“Why don’t you tell Emma all about your trip?” Mary Margaret pushed Emma at the booth where August was sitting. “None of us has ever been to Japan, and—” 

“I have, actually.” 

They all turned to look at Killian, who had extracted himself from Regina and returned to the group. 

“Er, what?” Mary Margaret forced a smile. 

“I’ve been to Japan. Don’t you remember, Mary Margaret, I taught English there for a year after I finished university? I’m sure I must have told you.”

“Um, no, I don’t remember you ever saying—” Mary Margaret shot Regina a look of alarm, but her stepsister only shrugged. 

“Oh, aye, I loved it there,” said Killian cheerfully, subtly manoeuvring himself through the crowd and rearranging everyone so that when they slid into the booth Emma was across from August and he was next to her. “Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten and a fascinating culture, don’t you agree, er, August, was it? Curious name.” He barely allowed August a moment to answer before launching into a discussion ranging from the comparative merits of okonomiyaki from Osaka versus the Hiroshima version to whether it was preferable to visit Kyoto in the spring to see the cherry blossoms or the autumn to see the maple leaves, commandeering the other man’s attention completely and leaving the rest of the group gaping at them with various expressions of consternation, dismay, indignation, and amusement on their faces. 

“Of course, I was there for just over a year so I was able to do both,” he said, “but what do you think, Julian?”

“It’s August—”

“Oh, yes, of course it is, I always did get my Roman emperors mixed up.” 

“— and I was there in the summer.” 

“Strangely appropriate for a man named after a summer month,” remarked Killian with a look of such contrived innocence that David couldn’t believe Mary Margaret and Regina didn’t see what he was up to. “Well, if you ever get back…”  

“What the hell does he think he’s doing?” Regina hissed in Mary Margaret’s ear, just loudly enough for David to hear. 

He wanted to reply that it looked to him very much as though Killian were saving Emma from having to spend an evening feigning interest in August’s tedious travel stories —he remembered all too well the pain he himself had suffered after August spent spring break in Thailand that one year, if only he’d had a Killian of his own to rescue him back then— and enjoying the hell out of himself in the process. As for Emma, she had the Christmas present look on her face again. 

Realisation dawned. (That had been happening a lot lately.) Just then Robin returned with a round of drinks and when he’d finished handing them out to everyone David grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. “They’re playing us,” he said, half indignant, half impressed. ‘They know what’s going on and they’re freaking playing us.” 

“I think you’re right,” Robin replied. “They’re holding hands under the table.” 

“What?” 

“Yeah, I saw when I gave them their drinks just now.”

“God, it’s like they’re trying to get caught.” 

“Or they just have no chill.” 

“Or they think we’re too dumb to notice.” 

“Well, they might not be far wrong there,” said Robin, just as their respective partners came over to join them. Mary Margaret’s mouth was moving, but no words were coming out and Regina looked pissed. “How did this happen?” she asked as they approached. 

“How did you two not know that Killian lived in Japan?” retorted David “He’s got Japanese art all over his house—” 

“I thought he just liked that aesthetic—” began Mary Margaret.

“—and one of his novels was partly set there!”  

“Naturally I assumed he simply researched that book on the internet!” scoffed Regina. 

David stared at them. “His first professional writing job was a series of travel articles about Okinawa!”  

“Well I didn’t know that, did I?” cried Mary Margaret. “I never thought he’d actually been there, I just thought—” 

“Oh, I see,” said David, understanding in yet another bright flash. “You thought he’d be jealous because August’s been where he wanted to go and would enthral Emma with stories about it, was that the plan?” 

“Something like that.” 

“Well, it’s backfired but good now, hasn’t it?” 

“No,” said Mary Margaret. “Not yet. I have one more ace up my sleeve.” 

She marched back over to the booth. “Killian,” she said sweetly, interrupting what seemed to be a rapidly heating argument over whether fugu was overpriced claptrap or a valid cultural experience that justified the price, “I was just wondering, did you call Belle yet?”

“Aye, a few days ago.” 

Mary Margaret’s eyes lit with triumph. “And?”

“And I introduced her to my friend’s cousin Will, you remember he’s here visiting for a month or two. I thought they might hit it off.”

Mary Margaret’s face fell like a deflated soufflé.

“Did they?” asked David, twisting the metaphorical knife in his dear one’s gut even though he knew he probably shouldn’t. 

“Very much so. They’re out together right now, if I’m not mistaken,” said Killian. 

Mary Margaret pulled herself together, smiled the right smile and spoke the right platitude, but when she pulled David, Regina, and Robin back into their huddle she was glowering darkly, the light of battle glinting in her eyes. 

“We’ll get them in Phase Three,” she said. 

[thegizka]

Say Cheese (fic)

The InoShikaCho Formation is a rising band currently on tour following the success of their first album. With some free time before their performance in Konoha, Ino meets her best friend Sakura for lunch to catch up on the wild twists their lives have taken.

Inspired by Ino Week 2019 Day 7: AU.

Note: I do not own any of these characters.

Read it on Ao3.

-----

Ino finished pinning the intricate braided twist of her hair before smoothing her long fringe.  Donning a floppy, wide-brimmed hat, she did an outfit check in her mirror.  High-waisted lavender capris hugged her hips, and a few inches of well-toned stomach peaked out beneath the scalloped hem of her loose white crop top.  Chunky white sandals, a stack of thin bangles, and large ombre sunglasses completed the look.  It was chic and anonymous without betraying her personal style.  She was ready to go.

She sent a quick text to Asuma to let him know she was heading out before stepping into the midmorning sunshine.  Pulling the motel room door closed, she descended from the second floor walk, noticing as she passed that Shikamaru’s curtains were still drawn despite the morning stretching into lunchtime.  She had invited him and Chouji to join her, but they wanted to spend their day sleeping and playing video games before tonight’s show.

She walked across the gated motel courtyard and let herself out at the front gate.  She could call for a car, but the weather was nice and she was familiar enough with the city to feel comfortable walking.  Her only possible concern was paparazzi and fans swarming her on the sidewalk, but it was still a novel enough experience to be a minimal risk.

There were a lot of people wandering between the shops, taking advantage of the warm late-spring Friday.  There were mothers coraling children on errands, businessmen discussing sales plans en route to lunch meetings, and young couples out on dates.  There were also crowds of college kids escaping their studies to enjoy the beauty of the day.

Ino contemplated swinging by the Konoha University campus, but she found that other young adults were most likely to recognize her, and she wanted to preserve the time to herself.  When she had convinced Shikamaru and Chouji to form a band four and a half years ago, she could only dream of signing a contract, producing an album, and going on a national tour.  But somehow here they were, halfway through a tour playing venues that were nearly ten times bigger than the bars and music clubs where they had started and working on music for their second full-length album.  It was a wild ride, and there were still a lot of elements of the industry she was learning to adapt to.  Life on the road under the ever-increasing public eye was new territory, and she knew it would only get more complicated as their success and popularity grew.

For now, though, she could navigate this city with nearly the same anonymity and lack of care as she had the last time she’d come here.  It felt like a lifetime ago.  She and her best friend Sakura had been touring the university, which was renowned for its medical program.  At the time, Ino had been entertaining the idea of becoming a neurosurgeon since the band was still working on gaining traction in the music scene.  If Shippuden Studios hadn’t offered them a contract a few short months later, she would have joined Sakura in pursuing her medical degree.  It was amazing how quickly the trajectory of her life had changed.

She had quite liked the university and city back then.  Built on the shores of a beautiful, large lake, Konoha was always buzzing with vacationers and students, a hub of activity and modernity.  She liked the balance of relaxing beaches and glowing nightlife.  It could have been a place for her to flourish.  She supposed it might still be, in a way.  Tonight’s concert at Hokage Pier would be their biggest show yet and a potential test of whether they could handle even greater popularity and success.  But she had hours before she had to take the stage, and she was looking forward to catching up with her bestie.

She was meeting Sakura at Cafe Konan, a lovely upscale bistro built above the beach with a patio overlooking the water.  They had eaten there two years ago after their tour, excitedly discussing the state of the art medical equipment and decorated professors they’d get to work with if they went to school here.  Ino arrived early and procured a table in the corner of the patio with a great view.  The beach was already peppered with people spreading out blankets or wading.  A few sailboats drifted further out on the water.  Seagulls darted above the surf looking for food.  If she had time, perhaps she’d join everyone for a stroll on the beach.

Ino spent the rest of the wait enjoying the fresh air and snapping pictures.  Some days she’d take over a hundred, staying up late to sift through them and select the best ones to feature on her Instagram.  She’d always had a good eye for composition and framing, and it had been a natural step to expand her personal account while spearheading the band’s.  As stardom put increasing demands on her time, they’d hired a publicity and marketing manager, Kurenai Yuuhi, to help keep their fans updated and satisfied.

“Still attached to that phone I see,” a pleasant voice called, interrupting her study of filters and lighting.

“Still attached to that big forehead of yours,” Ino retorted, but she was grinning broadly.  Jumping up from her seat, she embraced her best friend tightly.

“It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever!” Sakura exclaimed, returning the embrace.  “How have you been?  You look good.”

“So do you,” she observed, pulling back.  As much as she made fun of her best friend for her large forehead, she really had grown into it.  She stood before her as a mature young woman, sure of herself and free of adolescent insecurities.  A form-fitting red shirt and white shorts flattered her figure and long legs.  Ino was happy to see her so comfortable with herself.

“You’re growing your hair out again,” she observed as they took their seats.  “It looks good.”

“Thanks.  It’s a little easier to tie back now for labs and surgery.”

“And what does Sasuke think of it?” she asked, a teasing lilt to her voice.  Sakura just rolled her eyes.

“We haven’t been together for more than five minutes and you already want to talk about boys?  You haven’t even told me how the tour’s going!  Boys can wait until after we order.”

“Fine, but I expect lots of juicy details.”

They worked through the obligatory topics of conversation as they ordered their food and waited for its arrival.  Sakura groaned about the stress of school and the medical field, and Ino complained about the obligations of being a working musician.  The venting, however, was more ritualistic than sincere, as both were excited about the opportunities before them and content with where they were.

“Will you have time to visit home before your internship with Dr. Tsunade starts this summer?”

“I’ll have about a week, but I might need that time to find an apartment.”

“You’re moving here permanently?” Ino asked, a bit surprised.  Her friend shrugged.

“I still have a few years of school, and if I continue to get jobs and internships with my connections here, it’s not really worth carting my stuff back and forth for just a week here and there.  Plus you’re on tour most of the time now, and Naruto’s always traveling for his international diplomacy degree.  There’s not much to anchor me there anymore.”

“But there’s more here,” Ino probed, reading between the spoken words.  “Like Sasuke?”

“You are relentless!” Sakura grumbled with a smile.

“Only because you’ve been dating the hot pre-law student we met while touring here two years ago for a whole six months, and I just found out about it last week!  I’m entitled to more information as your best friend.”

“I know,” Sakura sighed.  It’s just hard to talk about.”

“What do you mean?  Is he super weird?  He doesn’t mistreat you or anything, right?”

“No!  Not at all!  He’s wonderful, just a bit...complicated.”  She swirled the water in her glass, smiling softly.  Ino could see a blush brushing her cheeks.  She’d never seen her best friend like this.  They had always been bold about their crushes, at least around each other, but this was different.  It was the delicate and deep feeling of mature attraction, maybe even love.  Ino was a bit jealous.  But she was also really happy for her.

“Sooo, how did you guys meet?  And I don’t mean being in the same tour group as prospective students.”

Sakura rolled her eyes, then began her story as they began tucking into their food which had just arrived.

“I used to see him all the time in the library, and I was pretty sure I recognized him from that tour, but he was always super focused on his work so I never approached him or anything.  But it was like every time I went to the library to study and get work done, he’d be there with that freakishly intense focus.  It turned into a game I’d play with myself--‘where’s the cute guy going to be this time’?”  She chuckled at the memory.

“Is he a nerd then?”  Ino asked.  “I figured only nerds like you would voluntarily spend that much time studying.”

“Ha ha,” Sakura laughed drily.  “And no, he’s not a nerd, he’s pre-law, and he helps at his family’s firm part-time so he’s always busy working on something.”

“Ah, so he’s a rich boy.”

“His family has money, yes, but I wouldn’t say they’re rich.  He had to take out student loans, same as me.”

“Have you met his family yet?”

“Hold on a second Miss Nosey.  Do you want me to finish my story or not?”

“Fine!  I’ll hold all questions until the end,” she smirked, spearing a scallop nestled amongst her linguine noodles.  “Carry on.”

“I didn’t actually talk to him until right before winter break last year.  Tenten, Hinata, and I went to this party that Tenten’s friend Lee was hosting, and Sasuke was there.  I guess he and Tenten’s boyfriend Neji had a few classes together and became friends so we ended up hanging out a bit at the party and chatting a little.”

“And he was immediately smitten and declared his love the next day.”

“Not even close!” Sakura laughed.  “We didn’t even exchange numbers!  And for a while I thought he hated me.”

“What?!”

“I know!”  She continued giggling.  “I totally didn’t know how to read him!  Sasuke exudes this effortless cool, but he’s actually hopeless with social cues half of the time.”

“So why did you think he hated you?”

“Because I’d never get the response I was expecting when I tried to be friendly!  Our interactions would be great when we were hanging out in a group, but if I was talking to him one-on-one, he’d seem distant.  He even stopped going to the library to work, or he’d leave shortly after I’d show up, which made it obvious that I was some sort of problem or annoyance to him.”

“Oh my gosh Sakura!  And you’re dating this jerk?!”  Ino leaned across the table.  “Why didn’t I know about any of this?  That’s awful!”

“It’s fine, Ino.  It really wasn’t that bad.  My feelings were hurt, but I still didn’t know him all that well, and I had plenty of school work to keep me busy.”

She studied her best friend’s face, reading the echoes of embarrassment and pain as she recounted this part of the story.  She knew Sakura.  If she was smitten with a guy, she went all in.  She was too honest with her feelings to hold back.  Ino felt ashamed that she hadn’t known her best friend was struggling.

“I’m sorry,” she said.  “I didn’t know you were going through all of that, and I wasn’t there for you.”

“Ino, it’s okay,” Sakura promised, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand.  “I had my friends here, and Naruto visited a lot.  It really wasn’t that bad.  You already had enough on your plate with your album blowing up the charts and Asuma booking so many interviews and performances for the band.  You didn’t need my drama on top of that.”

“But I could’ve handled it!  I’m your best friend.  I always have time for you.”

The promise tasted like a lie even though she willed it to be true.  The band’s success had swallowed so much of her time and energy.  Nearly every moment she was awake was spent working on music or travelling to some venue or curating social media posts.  She hadn’t seen anyone outside of the band and crew in months.  Realizing her new circumstances might make her inaccessible to loved ones in need was a painful reality check.

“I know,” Sakura assured her, trusting in the promise even if it wasn’t practical.  “But this really wasn’t a big deal.  I figured I just needed a bit of distance, and I was going to have all summer for that.  I stayed on campus to help Dr. Shizune with some research, and it was kind of nice having the school and city to myself for a while.  I didn’t have to worry about running into Sasuke at the library or while out shopping, until I did run into him on the beach one day.”

“I hope you didn’t literally run into him.”

Sakura laughed.  “Of course not!  I was looking for a spot to sit and read and suddenly there he was.  Apparently his family doesn’t live too far from here, so he and his brother come her to swim sometimes.  I don’t think I would’ve noticed him, but he recognized me and decided to say hi.”

“Wait, the guy who was ignoring and avoiding you approached you to say hi?” Ino asked, flipping disinterestedly through the dessert menu.

“I know, it totally caught me off guard!  But he was really nice, even though it was a bit awkward.  And his brother Itachi was really nice, too.  So we chatted for a bit, and we texted each other once in a while after that.  When he was visiting town, we’d try and hang out a little, and then we hung out more once the school year started up again, and now we’re officially dating.”

“Hold on, one minute he’s giving you the cold shoulder and now you’re dating?  Seems like a dramatic change,” Ino said doubtfully, handing her credit card to their waiter before her best friend could protest about not splitting the bill.

“He wasn’t giving me the cold shoulder.”

“That’s what it sounded like to me.”

“I told you, it’s complicated,” Sakura sighed.  “Sasuke is very driven.  If he has a goal, he does absolutely everything he can to achieve it.  It’s just how his brain is wired.  So when I came around and was being super friendly and seemed to always show up where he was trying to get work done, he deemed me a distraction and tried to distance himself so he could focus on school and stuff.”

“He decided friends were a distraction?  Seems awfully utilitarian.”

“Not friends.”  Sakura shook her head, a blush forming on her cheeks.  “Just me.”

“Oh my gosh, he was smitten!”  Ino slapped the table in excitement.  “This is some Mr. Darcy-level denial!  Damn Sakura, you go girl!”

“Ino stop!” she protested, cheeks growing bright red.  Despite the embarrassment, she was smiling happily.

“So what changed his mind?”

Sakura shrugged.  “I’m not sure exactly.  I think part of it was just the timing.  We happened to run into each other during the summer when he didn’t have to focus as much on school or work or impressing his father.  Plus I think Itachi liked me, and Sasuke puts a lot of value in his brother’s opinion.”

“And now that school’s back in session?  I assume you’re not a distraction since you’ve been dating this whole time.”

“I guess not.”  She shrugged again, but Ino could see the blush returning.

“Sakura,” she probed as they wove through the other tables to the front door.  “You’re keeping something back.  Come on, you can’t hide anything from me.”

“I asked him about it when he asked me to be his girlfriend officially, and he told me that everything else was the distraction and...now I am his new goal.”

“Oh my gosh!” Ino squealed.  “That’s so cheesy but so romantic!”

“I know!”  Sakura hid her embarrassment behind her hands, ears almost as pink as her hair.  “He has no flirting ability whatsoever.”

“Good thing you don’t mind cheesy one-liners,” Ino laughed, pulling her best friend into a hug on the sidewalk.  “I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks.”  She felt the joy radiating off of her, seeping into her own body and dispelling the simmering jealousy with love.

“So, do I get to meet him today?  You’d better be bringing him to the show.”

“No, unfortunately,” Sakura sighed, pulling out of the embrace.  “He has to help his family this weekend.”

“Bummer,” she pouted.  “You have to promise I’ll get to meet him before you two get engaged.”

“Okay,” Sakura laughed.  “Do you have much time before the show?  There’s a great ice cream stand on the beach.  We could grab some dessert.”

“Yeah, I should have time,” she confirmed.  “Just let me update Asuma.  He likes to know where we are in case anything happens.”

“Makes sense.”  Her best friend linked their arms and leaned over her shoulder as she sent the text to her manager.  If it was anyone else, Ino would consider it nosy.  Instead she opened her camera in selfie mode so they could snap a pic together making silly faces.

“Come on,” Sakura chuckled, pulling her along with their linked elbows.  “You listened to me jabber all through lunch.  It’s your turn!  What’s new with you, besides conquering the world as a chart-topping musician and fashion icon?”

She shrugged.  “Not much.”

“Come on,” Sakura sighed,”you’ve been on the road for months and have nothing interesting to report?”

“Not really.  It’s a lot of the same stuff every day--arrive at the next show’s city, maybe do an interview, practice with the band, write music, do the show, and then hit the road.  It doesn’t leave much time for anything interesting.”

“But you get to travel all over the place and meet other musicians and famous people!”

“The famous people part rarely happens.  We’re not at the level of fame to be recognizable.  Like I’m not getting swarmed right now by fans so it’s not a big deal if we land a few late night interviews.  People will forget who we are as soon as we leave the set.  Which is fine, because my life still has a semblance of normalcy.  I can go to the grocery store or have lunch with my best friend without worrying about paparazzi.  I’m just so busy that I rarely get to do such things.”

“It sounds complicated,” Sakura observed, studying her friend’s face.

“It’s just the way things are.”  Ino smiled to reassure her.

“How are Shikamaru and Chouji handling it?”

“They’re pretty much the same.  Lazy, of course, but I think part of that is intentional.  It’s part of their public personas.  I don’t get it, but it seems to work for the fans.  There’s always a crowd of girls screaming hysterically for them at every show.”

Sakura chuckled as they stopped at an ice cream stand, pulling her friend into the line.

“And what about you?  Are there swarms of boys begging to see you every night?”

“There’s always a few, and sometimes some girls, too.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.”

“Look at you playing to both sides,” Sakura snickered.

“Hey, I can’t help it if I’m just so hot that everyone wants a piece of me.”

“Whoa there tiger, we’d better get you some ice cream to cool you down.  What do you want?”

This time Sakura snuck her money to the cashier before Ino could.  She protested a little but Sakura was already handing her the ice cream, and she had to stop arguing to eat it before it melted.

They wandered onto the sand, enjoying the sweet treat and beautiful weather.  The sun danced on the lake, fracturing its reflection into diamonds while boats bobbed and seagulls wheeled through the air.  The sound of waves whispering on the sand and happy voices murmured in the air.  It really was a lovely day.

“Y’know, I think Sasuke’s a bad influence,” she mused.  “‘We’d better get you some ice cream to cool you down’?  Terrible.”

Sakura laughed, loud and carefree.

“It was wasn’t it?” she chuckled.  “But really, between Sasuke and Naruto, can you blame me?  They’re both hopeless at flirting.”

“And somehow they’ve both got girlfriends now.  Isn’t life strange.”

“Maybe all girls secretly like cheesy pickup lines,” Sakura mused around a mouthful of ice cream.

“Or maybe we take pity on guys for being brave enough to use one.”

“Do your fans every give you silly pickup lines?”

“Nah.  I can usually tell which ones want to flirt and which ones are simply fans.  I find it’s best to avoid the former.”

“Would you ever consider dating a fan?”

“Nooo,” she groaned.  “I mean, whoever I date would have to like our music, but I think it’s a little creepy for a person to pursue someone just because they really like what he or she does for a living.  The band is just a small part of who I am, y’know?”

“But what if he’s genuinely a nice guy?”

“I can’t,” Ino declared firmly.  “If I open up that possibility, I’d have to consider every fan begging me for a date, and I can’t do that.  I need a boundary between my personal life and my professional one, for myself and whoever I might end up with.”

“It’s going to be hard to find someone with how much success the band’s having,” Sakura murmured gently.  Ino could feel a hint of pity in her words.  She didn’t want to be pitied.

“It’s just a little more complicated,” she said brightly, brushing her fringe back into place with her fingers.  “But I’ll figure it out.”

“You will,” her best friend agreed with the total confidence of someone with complete faith in making her dreams a reality.

“I suppose it’s good we haven’t really made it big yet,” Ino used.  “If I do meet someone, he’s not likely to be obsessed with me already.”

“True,” Sakura agreed.  “And you won’t have to worry about gossip magazines or paparazzi scaring him away.”

“Hopefully not, though those photographers can be pretty sneaky.  Take, for example, the camera that’s been trialing us since our ice cream stop.”

Sakura’s eyes widened a little in surprise.  “What?”

“Mhm,” she hummed, crunching the last bite of ice cream cone.

“Where?”

“Sakura, don’t look for him!  Either you’ll scare him off before I can yell at him, or he’ll take the acknowledgment as permission to set up a mini photo shoot right now.  Just act normal.”

“I totally didn’t notice anyone,” Sakura whispered, trying to resist her curiosity to look around.

“Shikamaru has the best paparazzi radar, but I’m getting pretty good at spotting them,” she replied with just a smidgen of self-pride.

“So if we’re not supposed to look at them, what do we do?  Try and shake them off?”

“If I’m doing something super boring I just ignore them until they go away.  Knowing my coffee order usually isn’t tantalizing enough for their magazines to sell.  But sometimes I do confront them and put the fear of Asuma into them.”

Sakura laughed at the thought of her friend’s laid-back manager being enough of a threat to scare anyone.

“Which will it be this time?”

“Come here.”  Ino led the way to a pile of rocks wedged into the sand.  The bank at this end of the beach started rising, eventually turning into a cliff.  Several college kids were diving off the rock with shrieks of joy.  There were fewer people at this end of the shore, which decreased the likelihood of her cover being blown when she confronted the paparazzi.

“Just relax.  We’re going to lure him in,” she instructed, leaning back on her hands.  She tried focusing on the warmth of the sun and ignoring the adrenaline building in anticipation of the confrontation, but she couldn’t keep a smirk from her lips.  She rarely dealt with paparazzi on her own as usually her bandmates and Asuma were with her, but Kurenai regularly met with all of them to go over how to proceed.  The guy following her today looked young, probably an enthusiastic new journalism graduate who couldn’t land a job at a reputable news company.  She almost felt bad for the chewing out she was preparing for him.

“That’s a cute shirt,” Sakura observed as she finished off her ice cream.

“Thanks.  It was a birthday gift from my mom.”

“She actually bought you a crop top?  Willingly?”

“Apparently she has no issue with them now that I’m an independent adult.  Plus they’re a trademark of my personal style.  I think she’s admitted defeat in her efforts to keep me away from them.”

“Excuse me.”

Ino was surprised by the polite voice.  She hadn’t noticed anyone approach, which was impressive considering she was on alert waiting for the photographer to come nearer.

“You!” she gasped, realizing it was, in fact, the very guy she had been waiting to ambush.  Seeing him up close, he really was young.  Maybe he was just an intern.

“Would you mind if I take your picture?”

“What?”  She couldn’t believe the presumptuousness of this guy!  His polite smile didn’t waver.  Was he really acting like he hadn’t been stalking them, sneakily snapping pictures for the past several minutes?

“Yes I do mind!” she cried, rallying through her surprise to stalk as intimidatingly as she could across the sand to him.  “I know you’ve already been taking pictures of us.  You think I’m unfamiliar with dealing with paparazzi?  I know exactly what you’re doing!”

“Ino-” Sakura began, but she wasn’t going to let her friend’s politeness stop her now that she’d started.  She really wanted to see that guy’s unwavering smile crumble.

“No, I may be familiar with jerks snapping pictures of me everywhere I go, but you definitely didn’t sign up for this!  And we have an exclusive agreement with the Hidden Leaf Times for all media coverage, so unless you produce proof that you’re working with them, which I doubt since this is such a shady way of getting content, you need to hand over all of those pictures you’ve taken and leave.”

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

It was unbelievable.  That smile didn’t move.  Did he think this was funny?  Did he enjoy being this rude?

“Oh really?  How about I get my publicity manager on the phone so she can explain in detail all of the legal violations we’re going to smack on you.”

“Hang on-” Sakura tried again, but Ino ignored her.

“And then I’ll call our connection at the Times so they can come after you.  What right do you have to invade a person’s privacy by following them to sneak pictures and then pretend you’re innocent and ask for permission after the fact?”

“Ino!”  Sakura grabbed the phone from her hand.  “He’s not paparazzi!”

“What do you mean?” she snapped.

“He’s just a photography student from the university!  Hinata’s had a few classes with him.”

Ino blinked at her friend for a moment, registering the laughter in her green eyes.

“It’s true,” the boy agreed.  He still had that grin plastered on his face, but his eyebrows had edged up to indicate bemused confusion.  “I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Ino, this is Sai,” Sakura introduced.  “Sai, this is my friend Ino.  She’s the lead singer and guitarist of The InoShikaCho Formation.  They’re performing tonight at Hokage Pier.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he smiled.  Ino wasn’t quite ready to make friends, though.

“If you’re not paparazzi, then why were you following us taking pictures?”

“I was practicing,” he claimed innocently.  “My teachers are always telling us to take any opportunity we can to improve our skills.”

“Shouldn’t you ask for permission before you take pictures of someone, even if it’s just practice?”

“I’ve heard it can be better to ask for forgiveness after the fact than for initial permission.”

She didn’t understand this guy.  No matter what questions she threw at him, his smile never wavered.  It was annoying.  But the more she looked at it and studied his face, the more she believed him.

“But why follow us?  Surely it’d be better to practice with a variety of subjects.”

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve seen all day.”

“Wha...Huh?” Ino stammered.  Sai blinked at her, smiling innocently.  Was he being genuine?  Sakura snickered behind her.

“What the heck!” she cried, feeling flustered.  The prick of heat in her cheeks told her she was blushing.  “You can’t just say that to someone you just met!”

“But I’ve been told that honesty is the best policy.”

She could only blink at him, dumbfounded, blush growing deeper.  How was she supposed to respond to this?  Was he just being smooth, or did he genuinely think she was beautiful?  She couldn’t tell what he was thinking behind that charming smile.

“Say cheese,” he instructed, quickly bringing his camera up to snap a picture of her bewildered face.

“H-hey!” she stammered.  “I never gave you permission!”

“Sorry, but if I always waited for permission, I’d miss too many perfect shots.”

She didn’t know why his words made her feel warm all over, but they did.  Before she could gather her wits and come up with a reply, Sakura handed her back her phone.

“Shikamaru’s calling you.”

“Yeah?” she answered, eyes still glancing at Sai.

“It’s nearly time for rehearsal.  Where are you?”

“At the beach with Sakura.  Sorry, I must’ve lost track of time.”

“Do you need us to send a car to pick you up?”

“No, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

“I have to get going,” she told Sakura, slipping her phone back into her purse.  “I’ll see you later tonight.”

“I’ll be there,” her best friend promised, giving her a big hug.

“And you,” she said, rounding on Sai.  “You can keep those pictures as long as you don’t post them on social media.  And you have to give me a copy of all of them.”

“Works for me.  Can I get your phone number or email then?”

Ino fought against another blush.

“Just give them to Sakura.  She’ll get them to me.  I have to go.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you, beautiful,” he smiled.

“Yeah,” she mumbled, turning and hurrying away before she lost her composure in another flustered blush.

-----

A few weeks later, Ino lay sprawled in her bunk on the tour bus scrolling through a folder of pictures.  She had been surprised to see Sai again at the concert that evening.  It turned out he was interning at the Hidden Leaf Times for the summer and was one of the photographers they sent to cover the band’s time in Konoha.  They hadn’t interacted much, but Ino had been hyper-aware of his presence throughout their interview with the paper and the concert.

True to his word, he had passed on all of the pictures he’d taken both at the beach and Hokage Pier to Sakura, who in turn emailed them to Ino.  She had to admit, he had a good eye.  She found herself scrolling through the pictures a lot, not because she loved how she looked in them (though they were all pretty flattering), but because they were just that good.  She thought she had a good sense of composition, framing, and lighting, but Sai seemed to have some deeper knowledge that elevated his work to art.

She’d used a few of the shots for social media posts, careful to credit him.  She’d learned from Sakura that he didn’t have social media, but he did have a small photography website, so she linked to it at the bottom of each image.  Sometimes when she was bored she’d check his website to see if he’d posted any new pictures.  It was her way of keeping tabs on what he was doing without being obvious and bugging Sakura to tell her about him.

It was weird.  She didn’t know him at all, and the fact that he’d followed her along the beach still gave her paparazzi vibes, but she couldn’t get him out of her head.

She opened a new window in her browser and logged in to her email.  She found a draft that she’d started nearly a week ago and read through it.

Dear Sai,

Thank you for the photographs of our performance.  The band was impressed by their quality!  I hope you don’t mind, but we’ve used a few for our social media posts.  We were sure to credit you and link to your website.  We probably should have asked permission first, but since you’re fond of taking opportunities as they come and asking forgiveness later, I figured you’d be okay with this.  If I was mistaken, let us know so we can take down the pictures.

I don’t know if you are aware, but our band is nearly finished recording our second album, and it’s time to start considering the design elements that will go into it.  We don’t yet have a photographer for the booklet and album art.  We were all so impressed with your work at the concert, we’d like to offer you the opportunity.  I know you’ll be returning to school this fall, but once our tour’s over, our time will be more flexible, and I’m sure an agreeable arrangement could be made.  Are you interested?  Let me know.

All the best,

Ino Yamanaka

She reread the text a few more times, even though she nearly had it memorized.  Technically the band hadn’t decided to ask Sai to be their photographer, but the few times she’d mentioned it, everyone else had been open to the possibility.  She was confident she’d be able to get them to agree if Sai said yes.

She debated a few moments on whether to add her phone number, chewing her lip.  That was the biggest reason she hadn’t already sent the email.  She’d denied him her contact information at the beach; why should she give it to him now?  But now they were discussing business arrangements.  It’d be a little rude to withhold it...right?

With the sense that she was doing something risky, she quickly typed her number beneath her name and hit send, trying not to squeal.  She was being so silly!  All she’d done was extend a business invitation to another professional (even though he was technically still in school and may or may not have a photography license), yet she felt giddy like a little girl.

She closed her laptop and rolled out of her bunk, stretching a little.  Maybe she’d go play Mario Kart with her bandmates to distract herself.  Turning towards the common room, her phone pinged to alert her of a new notification.

Her heart jumped when she saw it was a new email.  Sai had already replied!  Why had he done so so quickly?  Was he mad they’d used his pictures?  With some trepidation, she opened the message.

Dear Ino,

I’m glad you liked the photographs.  I do think they’re some of my best so far, though half of the quality comes from the subject being photographed.  You and the band made my work far easier, and the results wouldn’t have been as good without you.

I’d be happy to work with you on the photographs for your next album.  Perhaps we could meet to discuss your ideas.  I know you’ll be in Suna next Thursday.  Shall we meet for lunch?  I’ll call you to work out the details.

Kind regards,

Sai

Ino bit her thumb to keep back the happy squeals that were trying to climb up her throat for some reason.  He’d included his own phone number, which she saved to her contacts.  Then she reread his message, paying special attention to his postscript.

P. S. I hope you come prepared with your beautiful smile.  I’ll bring my camera with me.

It was a strange note to include, but it made her cheeks warm.  Maybe he was flirting with her.  She shook her head, trying to brush off the thought.  No, they were simply going to discuss business, even if it was going to be over lunch and he was specifically calling her to arrange it.  She could tell him to call Kurenai or Asuma instead, but she was capable of arranging a meeting on behalf of the band by herself.  And if she happened to schedule it when only she was available, surely they’d trust her to represent them all.

She brushed her long hair over her shoulder and turned up the volume slightly on her phone before turning again toward the common room, grinning and excited for whatever was coming next.

[hidayasu]

Weredad pt 2 (Revamp)

Hey guys! Sooooo while I fully intended to finish out the last half of Weredad, as I was writing it out I realized that there wouldn’t actually be THAT much of a difference in the events. Sooo I decided to write out the final scene, and then put in the first part of the next chapter, which you’ll find in my revamp tag.

So here we are! Enjoy! :D

“Dad, it’s ok I knew he was in love with Ladybug from the beginning,” she admitted as she lowered his fist and stepped up to the hero.

“You did?” He blinked. “Then why did you tell me you’re in love with me? Why do all this?”

“Because I wanted to impress you,” she admitted, cheeks a little pink, but her eyes averted. “I thought maybe if we could just have a meal together you might see me a little differently.”

“You didn’t have to do all this to impress me,” He said instantly. “Not that I blame you of course, since I am such a great catch.” He amended as he flexed.

Since he was looking at his arm, he didn’t see Marinette’s flat leer. Though he did notice her parent’s surprised gaping, and hastily cleared his throat.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered you did all this for me.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, also averting his eyes. “I can’t remember the last time anyone went through this much trouble just to eat together. But I can already tell you’re an awesome girl.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re kind, and smart, and brave, any guy would be lucky to have you. My heart just already belongs to someone else.”

She blushed at the praise, hands on her cheeks. “You… you think I’m brave?”

“Sure I do,” he assured, glad at the way her spirits seemed to lift. “I remember how you helped me figh- aaaaaaaah,” he winced as he glanced at her watching parents. “Fiiiigure out how to fight that akuma! I just didn’t want to get your hopes up.”

She was quiet a moment as she let the words sink in. “So what you’re saying is...” She tapped at her cheek in thought. “If Ladybug wasn’t around, you’d fall for me?”

He blinked, then grimaced as he realized how he’d just sounded, especially as he caught sight of a glaring Mr. Dupain. “Uuuh, that is, not that I wouldn’t, it’s just I’m- uh-”

And then he stopped at the sudden kiss on his cheek. Marinette lowered down from her tiptoes, face still pink.

“That’s ok, Cat Noir,” she said shyly. “We can still be friends.”

“Oh thank goodness.” He suddenly embraced her gratefully. “I was really worried I’d hurt you, Marinette.”

And of course, because she knew just who was behind the mask, she knew he truly meant it. At the very least, he considered her a good friend, and she could tell he cared for her. She embraced him back, blushing, but happy.

“See, Tom? Marinette’s a strong girl that can handle her own disappointments.”

Marinette didn’t say anything to that, though only slightly disagreed. Oh, she was “handling” it alright. Insofar that she’d gotten back her second wind. Today was a disaster, but there was always next time.

[leopardfang15]

Skyrim Inquisition AU

A Skyrim and Dragon Age: Inquisition Crossover AU.

Sarashi as the Inquisitor would be very interesting. She’d arrive in Thedas (which I have decided to be on Nirn, simply on the other side of the planet.) Due to a magical mishap with teleportation spells. 

When she wakes up in chains and being interrogated by Cassandra, she’s not even scared. This is all routine for her at this point. 

Due to the fact that Sarashi is a Khajiit, a lot of people thought she was some kind of demon. Though she was able to convince the Inquisition that she was not a demon (which must be some sort of daedra) the Inquisition was then unable to hide the fact that apparently there is a whole nother continent on the other side of the planet with many different races, magic, gods, and monsters.

Using the Dremora Butler she received during a quest for Hermaeus Mora, Sarashi was able to get a message back to Tamriel, and more importantly, Ancano, who at this point was losing his mind. This resulted in more Tamrielic people arriving in Thedas. Ancano arrived via ship along with Teldryn Sero, Serana, Khanja, Erandur, Erik the Slayer, Borgakh the Steel Heart and several dogs.

Cassandra is very conflicted over everything that is quickly revealed to her with the coming of this Khajiit Dragonborn. New races, so many new gods, and so many people who do not know the chant of the Maker. There will be many religious debates, mostly between her and Erandur and her and Teldryn, surprisingly enough. No one likes it when someone insults their faith, they dislike it even more, when they try to forcibly convert them. Cassandra also isn’t all that comfortable around Serana for a while. Though she does think Ancano sailing across the planet to get to Sarashi is sooo romantic. She also likes Borgakh. 

Cullen is extremely uncomfortable with everything. Mages running around freely? Everyone can be a mage? Demons worshipped as gods because they are essentially gods? Maker’s breath. Out of everyone, he clings to Erik the most because he’s the closest thing to normal. He does lighten up and calm down when he sees them doing normal stuff like drinking in the tavern.

Varric loves all of this. A whole new land? Think about all the stories! He actually, with the help of the Tamriel visitors, writes what is essentially a pamphlet called “Basic Shit About Tamriel.” It contains a list of the Divines, the Daedric Princes, the Provinces, and all the other races. “The elves with the grey skin and red eyes? Their called Dunmer or Dark Elves. Or at least, they won’t stab you and set you on fire for calling them that.” He also plans on writing a memoir for the Dragonborn, or at least a collection of all the stories Sarashi tells about her adventures.

Iron Bull has three opinions about all this: curious, fuck yeah and fuck no! As a Qunari spy, he has a lot of questions about this and has a hard time figuring out what to send back to the Qun. The first time he meets Sarashi he’s surprised to essentially meet a walking and talking cat. But damn if she doesn’t look good in that armor, apparently called the ‘Savior’s Hide’. He basically propositions her on the spot but she replies with a smile, “I’m flattered but married.” “Sorry, ma’am.” (Yes, Ancano and Sarashi are married at this point in this AU.) Then he sees her summon an armored demon wielding a flaming greatsword screaming “I SMELL WEAKNESS!” and is like, “Fuck no!” 

Sera doesn’t like any of this. This is all freaky and weird. Erik is cool, so is Khanja despite being a catTeldryn and Erandur grow on her after a little while but everyone else freaks her out. Ancano is an elfy shit, the Inquisitor is a demon summoning cat, Serana sucks people’s blood and summons the undead and half the dogs are undead and one of the other ones is apparently a demon dog that talks. (Yes, that is Barbas.) Borgakh though, woof.

Solas is bursting at the brim with questions. A whole other land with races and magic he’s never seen before, not even in the Fade? Sign him up! He’s closest with Sarashi and Erandur. Sarashi is quite curious and is filled with questions. Erandur almost seems like a kindred spirit to him. To old elves just talking about magic. Though Solas is careful about revealing his Dream Walking abilities given the Dunmer’s past horrors with the Prince of Nightmares.

Dorian, while initially stunned by all of this, also has an abundance of questions. Surprisingly, he and Ancano become friends. At first, he thought the elf was going to give his Tevinter brethren a run for their money before they started talking about magic. Their friendship primarily consists of snappy insults but they are the only ones who can insult each other. Sarashi is so proud that Ancano actually made a friend. 

Cole is kinda overwhelmed by Sarashi. He doesn’t dislike her but it’s like “Too tight, too small, chained to the ground. Want to fly, want to conquer. You have so many inside you! How do you have more than one?” Cole is a sweet bean who just wants to help all the visitors, with varying degrees of success. 

Blackwall doesn’t quite know what to think. Different kinds of elves, cat-men, Dragonborn? It all makes his head hurt. But he can recognize a good leader in Sarashi and knows that she wants to do right by Thedas even though it is not her home. 

Vivienne does not quite like what she hears? Mages running free? Entire battalions of mages in the military? She just doesn’t understand how that can all work out. Keep in mind how different Thedas’s magic is from Tamriel’s. Sarashi wants to take her to Tamriel to see the different mage’s colleges and how magic is seen and used in different parts of Tamriel. While Sarashi and Vivienne are the most similar, it is actually Khanja she bonds with the most. A sweet young lady who just wants to help and heal others. While not as ambitious as Vivienne may like, she can definitely appreciate a truly good person, there are so few of them in both Thedas and Tamriel.

Leliana keeps a careful eye on all of them. Unlike the others, she keeps her curiosity mostly to herself. Though her interest is peaked when she hears about the Alfiq Khajiit. A race of Khajiit that are completely indistinguishable from housecats but are able to read and understand the spoken language? They’d be the perfect spies! After all, who blames the housecat for eavesdropping. 

Josephine is a nervous wreck at first. Is she somehow insulting their guests? What is an offense, what’s okay? Our poor ambassador is a bit of a mess at first before Sarashi can calm her down and answer her questions. Josephine loves Varric’s pamphlet and makes it standard issue for all new Inquisition members to read. Josephine is enchanted by the idea of Tamriel and longs to go there. She is also one of the people Sarashi wants to bring back to Tamriel the most.

Honestly, I could go on forever. But this is the bare bones of it all. Let me know what you think.

[histrionic-dragon]

Steve Rogers has to consciously remember he’s cute

--or, random rambling about something on my mind enough that it got into Heroes are Easy, People are Hard and variations of it keep popping up in drafts of stories both in that ‘verse and in others.

I wanted to write a version of Steve who has to take a few mental steps back to deal with anyone being attracted to him. He’s grown up assuming no one really would be. (And assuming especially hard that Bucky wouldn’t; that intensity of mutual obliviousness only works if it’s also mutual Nope, I Must Be Misreading This, Hope Would Hurt Too Much.) But regardless, he’s grown up scrawny and self-conscious and whatever the opposite of entitled is, especially around his own desirability, and that means he’s grown up without the habit of thinking that people are attracted to him. It’s not at the top of the menu of options in interpreting how people interact with him. The opposite, parsing how and why someone might be ignoring him? That he’s fine with. But anything signaling attraction has a longer processing time.

He’ll get it when it does happen, but he has to stop and go “Oh. Wait. That’s flirting” first. And then he is . . . not smooth at flirting back. That’s largely unrelated. 

He had to develop a “dealing with swooning fans” strategy in the 40s, and then again in the 21st century. Different social signals, different ways to signal back, all that stuff.

But wait! There are all these people on the Internet (myself included) who think pre-serum Steve was kinda adorable! So I have to keep that in mind when thinking about Steve too. Surely not everyone was exclusively into buff dudes.

My solution to this is that, at least how he saw it at the time, that was people wanting him for traits characteristics he actively disliked about himself. Want to give him a hug and wrap him up in a blanket? He’s not weak. He can take care of himself. That’s how you get the bit with Carl, in Heroes (spoiler alert if you’re reading that!): “He wanted to fuck somebody little and pretty. He didn’t want me.” Steve’s not just embarrassed and awkward, he’s ticked off, too. He’d be flattered, even if uninterested, if someone suggested a one-night stand because he punched someone out. But not because he’s cute.

Steve does not like being thought of as little and pretty, or fragile, or delicate, or adorable. Steve is 95 lbs of BITE ME. Bucky has to be really careful in explaining how and why he wanted Steve back then, in other words.

Sooo Steve’s mental rubric goes like so: default--person is not attracted to me; unusual situation--person likes me for traits I don’t like about myself; takes some digging--oh, person likes me? (Peggy Gets It and that’s a big part of why they work.)

In drafts of a story I may or may not ever finish, because it involves actually unrequited pining and that would be sad, Steve is a lot more bitter about it than he is in Heroes.

In Heroes, Steve isn’t quite bitter--“matter-of-factly resigned” might be more appropriate--but I am convinced that there is an old woman out there somewhere who remembers one time, riding on the subway with her friend at the end of a very long day, crammed in and standing when they’re carrying stuff and they’ve been on their feet all day but there’s no place to sit and the car is almost too full to move through even if a spot opened up, and they work in a department store somewhere and have to deal with customers all day. And too much of that involves dealing with guys who think Polite Sales Helpfulness is an invitation to flirting. 

“And then he says ‘let me help you,’“ she grouses, “like he’s not the reason I’m worn out from all this running back and forth when he can’t make up his damn mind--’Oh, let me help you, poor thing, you’re so tired.’ And when he finally leaves, the new guy--what’s his name, started last week--he comes up and I look tired, I shouldn’t be working so hard, I’m too serious, sweet little thing like me, and then he has the nerve to ask me out!” 

Her friend makes sympathetic noises that really mean “he’s pretty cute, though--did you say yes?”

“I turned him down. Maybe if he’d said I did a good job, if I’d noticed I’m working hard--  I don’t want him to notice me because he thinks I’m helpless and need cheering up. Men notice the worst things and call it a compliment.” 

Her friend rolls her eyes and says something in agreement, but she’s not the only one. One of the guys they’re crammed up entirely too close to--probably an art student because he’s holding a square kinda bundle and has paint on his cheek that he doesn’t seem to have noticed, and she knows there’s a school a stop or two back--he snorted when she said that. She looked over, half-ready to snap at him if he were laughing at her, but he hadn’t noticed her looking and had kind of muttered under his breath, really heartfelt, “ain’t that the truth”--and then he’d seen that she’d seen him and there was a moment of Awkward Subway Eye Contact and then they ignored each other again until she wrestled her way out at the next stop. 

It was kind of nice that someone besides Suzannah understood. She never quite forgot that moment, even if she never really remembered it either.

....and that little snippet is basically why I wrote this post, but it requires all that background to explain why my brain made this snippet.

[lumilasi]

Part 3 of the ocs/Vesuvia crossover series

(recommend reading first two too)

Part 1: https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/175679667601/sosince-helias-isnt-an-apprentice-character-and

Part 2: https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/175782057246/second-short-story-snippet-for-this-au-thingy-or

More pics about HeliasxJulian AND AsraxLina:

https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/174300355036/sooo-i-promised-my-buddy-to-draw-her-apprentice

https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/173387479636/alright-so-my-friend-mad-hatter-rici-has-lately

https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/174114849686/another-picture-set-that-needs-some-longer

https://lumilasi.tumblr.com/post/174527838151/helias-short

Here’s the story for this picture: (Lina is the apprentice of this verse, paired with Asra, and belongs to my friend @mad-hatter-rici)

Lina and her companion hurried across the streets of Vesuvia, and she felt sorry for Julian’s ear beforehand; Portia looked rather frustrated, which wasn’t surprising; her brother had made a number of himself again, apparently, and the two women were currently heading to Rowdy Raven to hopefully stop him before the dramatic man did something overly foolish - again.

Soon enough, they spot the familiar sign, and Portia marches in without any hesitation, then stopping on her tracks almost as soon as she enters. Lina almost bumps at her and rubs her nose, peeking from behind the redhead woman to see what she was glaring at.

The sight that greeted them was not at all surprising; the auburn haired man was currently fooling around hopelessly drunk, dancing on the table with his shirt half-untucked, multiple people cheering him on.

”For the love of...Ilya!” Portia marches towards him, making few bystanders back away a tad spooked upon seeing her peeved expression.

”Ahh, Pasha! How nice to see you here!” Julian greets her with a drunken grin, then proceeds to tug his sister on to the table, managing to avoid the hand trying to grab his ear in the process.

”Ilya what are you doing?! You are attracting too much attention!” Portia hisses at her brother, who just chuckles and twirls her around for a bit, before hugging her and rubbing his cheek sloppily against her hair.

”Have I ever told you how much I luv you Pasha? You’re the best little sister I could’ve ever hoped for!” He declares dramatically, gaining a slight eyeroll from the short woman who attempts to push him off her gently, but firmly.

 Lina glanced around, but luckily so far there were no guards or any of the sort in the premises. The onlookers had began to dissipate too now that they’d come, likely having seen Portia drag her brother away before.

”Yeah yeah I know Ilya, just come down will you?”

”Buut Pashaa, the night has just begun! You should join me on the dance floor, the music is quite good!” He declares and claps his hands together in rhythm with the music.

”We aren’t even on the floor!” She informs him and jumps down, trying to tug him down from the table as well.

”Come on, we need to go!”

Julian just sighs dramatically and slips his hand away from her grasp, giving her a pouty look.

”Why won’t my dear little sister dance with me? My heart is broken.” He declares with a hand held on his chest, gripping his shirt from where his heart was.

Portia rolls her eyes again and glances at Lina, as if asking her to help her out with this dramatic baby. Before the mage could even open her mouth however, a strong aura of magic brushes past her, and she looks up to find...Helias, beside her.

Shocked to see him there again, for a moment she just looks at him stunned. He was wearing the same cloak from before, gazing up at Julian with that same, pleasant and amused expression. Underneath the cloak he had a different outfit from usual she noted, which wasn’t too surprising; Nadia changed outfits almost daily as well. 

”Your highness! What brings you here?” 

Portia asks equally stunned, then notes how the foreign ruler was gazing at her brother. Slowly, she turns her gaze back towards the auburn haired drunkard on the table, who’d stopped to take a breather, only for his breathing to halt momentarily as he sees the figure examining him.

”....My Lord, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you here in this hour?” He manages to regain his composure, fixing his shirt a bit and bows dramatically, which almost results him in tripping to his own feet, being a bit too drunk perhaps.

”Curiosity as always, Doctor, curiosity.” 

Helias chuckles softly, then walks closer, and actually steps - or rather sort of floats up in one fluid stepping motion - to join him on the table. It was such a bizarre sight, and a lot of people were gawking at the pair right now, which concerned both Portia and Lina equally.

Not just for Julian, it had to be dangerous for a leader - even if he was magic - to just randomly walk around like this with what was clearly expensive clothing.

Lina had honestly wondered about it last time too, and as she examined the Mirthas’ Emperor now, she could sense a powerful enchantment from the cloak he wore. 

Perhaps...

”Well I cannot deny I am delighted to see you again. I also must thank you for your kind words you’d apparently stated about me, even if I feel they are not deserved.”

Portia and Lina quickly glance at each other with heightened tension; they could not be sure how the ruler reacted to the knowledge of them eavesdropping on his conversation with his sister.

Helias just glances at them amused, before turning his gaze back at Julian. The green eyes held the same kind of intrigue from last time, and for a brief moment Julian found himself just sort of lost in them, examining the vivid, inhuman hue closely.

He still did not know what Helias was exactly, other than he probably was magic user somehow.

”I may disagree with that, but I’d rather not ruin your mood with bickering. It was quite amusing, watching you dance.”

 Julian flashes him a grin, striking a pose that gained an eyeroll from his sister, which he ignored.

”Always glad to entertain My Lord.”

”Helias. I do not care much for the title when speaking off-duty so to say.” Helias tells him with a soft laugh, then steps closer, making the brunet’s heart skip a beat, though he opted not to show his sudden nervousness.

”Well, then I must insist you call me Julian, my dear.” He tells him with a chuckle, brushing trough his auburn locks with a charming smile across his pale face.

”Very well then, Julian.” 

A pale hand reaches up to play with the long, wavy white hair as the ruler seems to contemplate on for a moment on what to do next. Lina glances at Portia, who was looking back at her uncertain, not knowing if they should interfere or not. So far, Helias’ opinion had been positive when it came to Ilya, but knowing her brother, he could turn this sour very soon.

Eventually, the cloaked figure breaks the relative silence however, offering Julian the kind of coy smile that could easily make most hearts stutter. Well, at least his did, but the doctor was aware of how easily he could be affected, so maybe it was just him.

”Perhaps you could offer me a dance? You do seem to have the skills for it.”

The brunet flushes a little at that, but then just grins, boldly grasping his hand - much to the shock and worry for his sister - tugging his companion closer, who just chuckles at his gesture, not bothered by it much to Portia’s relief.

”Why I’d be flattered to offer you one, your highness. I just hope you can keep up, I’d rather not injure your delicate feet.” He glances down pointedly, and indeed, Lina notes that like last time, Helias was barefoot. She was really curious about that honestly, figuring maybe she should ask about it sometime as it was a bit bizarre.

”Oh I am sure you’d love to, but I would prefer doing it on the floor.”

”Oh don’t worry dear, I’ll be careful with you.”

A pale hand lifts up to brush his cheek, taking the brunet by surprise.

”It’s more a concern of your wellbeing, Julian. If you trip and fall, you might injure yourself.”

 The brunet was about to inform him there was no need to worry given his peculiar trait, but he is too struck by the genuine soft concern in the musical voice, so instead, he steps down from the table, still holding a pale hand on his gloved one. He brings it up to his lips and kisses it, just as Helias slips back down from the table as well.

”If you insist, my dear.”

 Lina and Portia resign to watch from the sidelines as the brunet dances with his more unusual partner, and the young mage notes Helias was a capable dancer too. She also noticed that his feet rarely touched the ground. He’d also dropped his cloak briefly and leaving it at the edge of the table, likely to make it easier for him to dance. This was the first time she’d seen him wearing an outfit with pants, but it actually didn’t look that weird.

”Is he...floating? I don’t think Ilya is holding him up that much even if he’s shorter...” Portia muses out confused, having noticed the same thing she did.

”I think...he is. It’s some sort of passive magic thing maybe? Perhaps his kindred just like to move around by floating in general?” Lina contemplates on this peculiar detail, holding her chin thoughtfully. It didn’t feel likely as she’d never seen Lady Gwendolyn float. She always marched forward with determined steps.

 ”What are they exactly? I mean...I know Lord Helias and Lady Gwendolyn are some sort of magic folk. Milady has been telling us to be kind of hush hush about it, but...”

Lina could see her friend’s tendency to gossip shine trough for a bit as she examined the dancing pair curiously now. If the mage was honest with herself, she was curious too. The same time though, she had asked Asra about this, and he’d told her to not worry about it, stating that whatever their true selves were, neither sibling was a malevolent being.

Watching Julian and Sir Helias dance, Lina suddenly felt a pang of something in her chest; she missed Asra. He’d gone off again this morning, and even if he’d promised to be back by tomorrow, she still felt horrible sense of loneliness whenever he was away.

”We should probably get Ilya out of here soon; Lord Helias is bound to attract attention.” Portia points out suddenly, snapping Lina out of her thoughts. She sighs and smiles with a nod, and the two head for the pair. As if sensing them approach, Helias makes Julian halt his steps, and he turns to look at the two women.

”I presume you wish to send your brother home by now, my sweet?” The white haired figure asks from Portia with a light smile, and the woman nods, offering him a polite smile.

”If it’s not too much of a bother to you sire.”

”Of course not; I understand he should probably go and sleep this off.” Helias chuckles, turning to look at the brunet who looked miffed; he’d clearly been enjoying their dance a lot.

”Your skills are extraordinary my dear; then again, I should expect nothing less from a royalty.”

”Please; I simply followed your lead, Doctor.” Helias tells him with a laugh, patting his cheek gently, gaining a slight flush from his companion, who coughs a bit and then reminds him with a scolding finger to just use his name instead.

”Ah, of course, Julian. My apologies.” Helias chuckles, picking up his cloak and putting it back on, and then turns back at the two girls.

 ”I’d join you bringing him home, but I believe that would not be ......ideal to you given his circumstance.”

”Yes, we’d prefer if people wouldn’t know where he is staying at the moment much, sorry.” Lina offers the ruler an apologetic smile, but Helias just nods, stating he understood it fully.

”I should make haste as well to be frank with you; my sister has been….on the edge lately, and she’ll grow concerned if I’m gone for too long.” The white haired figure sighs and nods at them, glancing at Julian with a wry smile. 

”Hopefully I get to dance with you again, Julian; it was quite entertaining.”

”Ah, I hope so too.” The brunet manages to mumble out and watches as the pale figure disappears into the streets again.

As Lina gazes after him, she suddenly notices another familiar figure who heads after him, but not before giving them a glance. 

Azul. 

So the mage was still keeping an eye on the fluffy haired ruler.

After a brief moment of examining them, the blunet turns to head after Helias, but not before the snake on his shoulder waves his tail at them as a greeting.

”That guy again?” Portia muses upon noticing what Lina was looking at.

”Makes you wonder what happened in the past to have someone constantly stalk Lord Helias.”

Lina couldn’t agree more with her friend.

After a moment of silence, she sighs and gestures Portia to bring Julian to Mazelinka so he could sleep off his hangover.

Whee third story completed.

I initially planned to draw another picture to go along with this short story snippet, but my brain just sort of short circuited and I couldn’t decide on what to draw for it.

I’m also going to go into the actual story-reason behind why Helias is in Vesuvia soon enough; since he is not an apprentice, I wanted to create an actual background story for his presence and how this ship came to be.

Since, Y know, it’s not my style to ship stuff without giving it a story. The best part (to me anyway) about any sort of ship and couple is the journey to the point they are together, not the destination.

Helias, Azul, Azul’s snake (C) Me

Lina, Gwendolyn (C) @mad-hatter-rici

Julian, Portia, Nadia, Mazelinka (C) Nix Hydra

[bappyskeyboard]

Secret Dating College AU; Lena is gay and fun to tease. Angela and Jesse take advantage of this all the time.

“We should do something for Halloween,” Jesse called over the half-wall from the kitchen.

“Did you have something in mind?” Angela glanced over towards him briefly before they returned to the TV. Her fingers continued brushing through Lena’s hair, who laid peacefully in her lap.

“Genji’s throwing a party at his bar and told me to invite all my pals, of which you are numero uno, sooo…” He rested his chin against the top of his knuckles and smiled widely at her.

She returned with her own wry smile. “Flatterer. I suppose I could stop in for a bit.”

Jesse hooted. “Lena, you should come too!”

Lena blinked. “Is that really a good idea…?” When your relationship was supposed to be a secret, going out in something as public as a party didn’t seem wise.

“It is as long as you don’t get drunk and blow your cover.” He winked and shot finger guns at her. Encouraging.

Angela stroked her cheek and smiled apologetically.

“We don’t even need new costumes, we can just use what we wore last year.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a faux pas?” Angela tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“Who cares when we’re hot as fuck?” With beers in hand, Jesse strolled towards them on the couch and set the cans on the table before plopping beside her.

...Was it bad that that piqued Lena’s interest? She sat up and perched her chin on Angela’s shoulder. “What did you go as last year?”

Eager to show off their costumes, Jesse was already scrolling through his phone for pictures. “A witch and a vampire hunter. God, we look good--here.” He passed the phone towards Lena who was grinning widely in anticipation.

“They’re just silly costumes, I think you’re overexaggerating a bit,” Angela glanced at him sideways, a tint of exasperation in her tone.

“Why don’t we let Lena be the judge?” Jesse placed an arm on her other shoulder and rested all his weight into it, which earned him a dirty look. He simply kept on grinning.

It didn’t take long for Lena’s mouth to go dry--he was right, they definitely looked uh. Yeah. A part of her marveled at the attention to detail on the costumes and the other 99% of her brain could only flail because fuckinwowhwasaiufshfhergirlfriendwashotgoodgod.

When she’d finished swiping through the gallery of photos, she numbly handed the phone back to Jesse and could only manage silent nodding.

“See? I win.”

“You’re insufferable.” Angela shoved him lightly. “Lena, if you went, what would you like to go as?”

It was a simple, easy question that logically followed their train of discussion. A normal person would think about it for a moment, and be like, “Oh, I don’t know. A ghost, perhaps. I’ll stop by the store later and peruse their section of seasonal commodities.” Or maybe they would just know because they’d been thinking about it all year. Or maybe they’d just reuse their costume from last Halloween. Lena was a dinosaur last year. It would’ve been easy to say, “A dinosaur, probably.”

Ironically, it was that small part of her gay lizard brain that doomed her, as she blurted out, “A broom.”

Silence hung over them as everyone processed her answer.

In the next moment, Lena wasn’t sure if Jesse was crying or laughing as he’d fallen off the couch and was doubled over on the floor his entire body shaking from his cackles.

Lena’s entire body was hot as she hid her face in her hands and rested her elbows on her knees. She didn’t need to see Angela’s face, because she could easily imagine the amused smirk and raised eyebrow. Seeing that really wouldn’t help her situation right then.

It also didn’t help when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, and the warmth of Angela’s body pressing against her; her breathing was stuttered as she tried to bite back her own laughter and smothered her face against Lena’s neck and shoulder.

“I’m sure we could arrange a ride, if you so wished.”

God.