#so i would assume hes doing this for victor since so much of victor's happiness is staked on vincent

[homoeroticvillain]

i don't feel like people understand how insane my claudeblake obsession is, they have one interaction in game and we don't even 100% know that its actually victor...

[sery-chan-13]

Better to Run

Ch.12 of “My Sunshine” [TreechxReader]

Warnings: swearing and slightly suggestive content. He reads some of your poetry. You dug your grave bbg 🤷‍♀️

Some small cuts and bruises. He wasn't seriously hurt which was a good thing.

You held his hand as they redid the stitches on his back.

"See with pain meds this isn't that bad," he laughed, squeezing your hand.

You smiled up at him, taking a small towel and wetting it, gently scrubbing off the dirt and dried blood off of his face.

He smiled up at you.

They had him change out of his clothes and into some other more comfortable clothing. You took his clothes and he frowned.

"I don't want them to-"

"I'll take them home tonight and wash them. I'll give them to you tomorrow morning... before leavin'," you said with a smile.

"Ms. L/N... Dean Highbottom would like to speak to you. Privately."

——

"Do you know what these are?" He asked, pointing at the two items on the table.

"A makeup compact and a handkerchief? I'm confused... have I don't something wrong?" You asked, looking at him.

He sighed, it sounded relieved.

"No, sweet child, you have not... Coriolanus however..."

"Coryo? What did he do? What do those have to do with him?" You questioned.

Now that he mentioned it, you had not seen Coriolanus nor Lucy Gray. You would have thought he would be celebrating his victory much like you did.

"This... is Coriolanus's mother's compact.... And this is his father's handkerchief. He used them to cheat."

Cheat?

"I saw what you did to the water do you think I'm stupid?"

The words rang in your head. He cheated... Lucy Gray cheated.

"How?" That was the only word that came out of your mouth.

"The snakes... only attack those whose scent they are not familiar with. Lucy Gray touched that. That's why the snakes did not attack her. Snow slipped it into their tank. Her singing didn't calm them. The compact... he must have given her the idea to put in some rat poison from the zoo in there. She says it was her idea. That he had nothing to do with it. I know the Snows. And I know how much one manipulated by them will do to protect them."

Your eyes widened.

Dill.

Wovey.

Reaper.

They were all killed by the rat poison.

The way she tried to use the snake against Treech popped into your head.

"This makes you the true victor and owner of the Plinth Prize..." he mused, walking around the room. "But someone... a little birdie sang to me... that you were thinking of leaving. Going back home. Y/N, I highly implore that you stay here and continue your education. You are a very bright young lady you could do so much good here as a politician-"

He told. Coriolanus Snow had told on you. He was a liar. A liar. A cheater. A liar. You hated liars more than anything.

"Dean Highbottom... I truly appreciate that but... I'm not happy here. I don't want to continue my education here in the Capitol where they are telling us that killing kids is a good thing because of a war. I know you made the games yet, I... I do not like them. I do not want to be a politician when the people want someone who is willing to keep them going. I... I want to go home."

There was a silence in the room.

"You really do remind me so much of her," he whispered.

"Who?"

"His mother. She was kind. Too kind and he broke her down... the games... yes I fashioned them. In a drunken stupor when Dr.Gaul had given the class an assignment to create something to punish the districts. When I woke up I... I asked Cassius for the papers so I could rip them up. Destroy them. They were horrible... he had put both of our names on it and turned it in. Ever since then, she's kept me doing them... I understand how you feel. So I'm willing to help you."

You looked up in shock at everything he said. He didn't like the games either? He was friends with Snow's dad?

"Tomorrow morning they are sending your boy back. Tomorrow morning, you'll leave too I'm assuming?" He questioned.

You nodded, playing with the necklace.

"Alright... if that is truly what you want."

One question was still on your mind.

"Where's Coryo? Lucy Gray? What is going to happen to them?" You nervously asked. You were upset with them but that didn't mean they deserved to be hurt.

"Lucy Gray was sent back home. She's safe. Coriolanus is expected to join the peacekeepers tomorrow morning. Sejanus... wanted to go with...followed suit, that boy... he better be careful. I set up for him to be sent to six... but something tells me he will go to twelve to look for his songbird... that girl is lucky she survived him. He thinks he can trap her. Keep her in a cage and make her sing for him when he pleases... just like his father," Highbottom sat in the chair across from you. "He will come back. And he will come back with a hatred for those who know about what happened. For your sake... and for Treech's... act like you do not know about his cheating."

——

You went back to the room he was in and whispered everything to him.

His eyes narrowed.

"I saw her with that compact.... I should have called it out..." he whispered, looking down.

"I'm sorry... I should have never asked you to spare Lucy Gray.... She tried to hurt you..." you mumble, grabbing his hands. While you were gone he must have been allowed to take a shower because all the dirt and grime was off, and his hair looked more in it's natural soft curly state.

"Don't worry... you thought you were savin' me by having that alliance..." he said, grabbing your hand and pressing a kiss to it.

"I get to go home with you... I'm packing tonight. And I'm takin' just enough of my things and money to get by without seeming suspicious. Dean Highbottom was able to somehow... find an old cabin in the woods. We can live there... we... um I-" you stammered, meaning to say I, but obviously you wanted nothing more than for you two to be a 'we'.

He blushed and looked into your eyes.

"We huh? I'd like that," he said, quickly adding, "Only if you want that to I mean-"

You pressed a quick peck to his lips.

He smiled and looked at you, lovestruck.

"Well sunshine... that's one way to shut me up."

——

Later, you were both allowed to leave the hospital. You were told that he needed to stay with you, not leaving your sight, which was no problem.

There was a party for the victors, but you didn't want to go. You wanted to spend a quiet night in. So, instead of taking Treech to go to a party that neither of you wanted to go, you took him to your house.

Your father was still out... and your mother was probably still staring out the window.

You took him through the stupidly ornate house, stopping quickly by the laundry room, and finally into your room.

He was mesmerized by the room.

Although you refused to have any extravagant decorations, you guessed the room might have some things you wouldn't find back in seven.

"You never change do you?" He whispered.

"What do you mean?" You asked, following him as he stepped to the window.

His fingers traced the window sill, and his smile widened.

—-

He watched as you used a new stain you'd taken from the factory.

"How did you get that? Seems like something we'd use to stain anything sent to the Capitol," he asked.

It was a green color, and you were using a small paint brush to paint little vines and leaves around the edge of his window.

"Uh... snuck in."

"Oh? Didn't know you had it you," he laughed.

"Hey, I-... I can break the rules every once in a while," you huffed, embarrassed.

"Ok, ok... trouble maker," he teased.

——

He turned to face you with a bright smile. You sighed happily, and took his hands in yours.

"I am going to take a bath... everything hurts from sleeping on the floor," you mumbled kissing his hand.

"Oh, it hurts does it princess?" He teased, spinning you around. "Oh how will you ever survive seven after all this luxury."

You both started laughing and you wrapped your arms around his neck.

"The biggest luxury I have is to be by your side. I have not had it in years and that was a hard one to live without," you whispered, brushing his hair out of his face.

He leaned his face on your palm and smiled, "Such a poetic way of speaking, Sunshine."

Your eyes lit up as he mentioned the word poetic. You let him go and opened up a neatly organized drawer of letters and loose parchment. Then you opened another filled with journals.

"Well how about while I take a bath... you read those," you smiled, looking through your neatly organized basket of vinyls, selecting one to play. "Once it's done could you flip it? And then after that side is done you can pick one to play if I am not out yet."

He stared at the record player in admiration. He hadn't seen one for years. Most people had radios. Radios were somehow cheaper than a record player. But he had always admired the sound of one.

"Well, if you need anything just walk in," you smiled, going through the door into your bathroom.

He delicately placed the record on the turntable, placing the needle softly, and turning it on.

He heard you humming the music in the bathroom. The water was running so he assumed you were drawing up a bath.

He then went to go read one of the letters before you came out of the bathroom in a robe.

"Do you... want to join?"

His face exploded in a fiery red blush at your words.

"I don't mean it like that!" You whisper yelled. "Pervert."

You giggled softly at this and his reaction.

"I'm sorry you-I- im-..." he stammered unable to get his words out.

"You can just say no silly. I was just askin' cause you mentioned your body hurtin' too," you explained, quietly going back to the bathroom.

This time you left the door open a crack in case he needed something. He let out a sigh and rubbed his head.

"That was embarrassing for me... let's see what we have here..." he mumbled, looking through the notebooks, deciding it was easier to read through them first.

——

He could not have been more wrong.

You, much like him, wrote poetry. Some sweet, lovesick things.

And then there were things that were very scandalous.

He blushed as he read through the poems meant for him.

He heard you come out of the bathroom and he smirked in your direction.

"I didn't know you thought about me so much."

[melgbi]

Genshin Childe/Zhongli Fanfic Rec

A list of my fav childe/zhongli fics as I have read many and wanted to share. Fics with a heart (❤) are my all time favs. The list itself is in no particular order and except for two fics all of them are complete.

I’ve included trigger warnings in bold below the title, please read the tags before reading the fic.

❤ basket of knives | Oneshot (1/1) | Rated Teen (Angst, Hurt/Comfort)

TW: Depression, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt

“I just want to be loved,” Childe says to himself, to whoever is listening. “Is that too much to ask?”

They are on the roof once more, this time Childe’s foot touches the edge of the building as he daydreams of something that cannot be. The sky is blank and cloudy and perhaps Lumine fears it’ll all end when he takes a step.

“Not at all,” she says. It’s still the truth.

Contrary to popular belief, Childe hates his family but loves them all the same.

the sister | Multi-Chapter (6/6)  | Rated Teen (Humour)

TW: None

The tragic and unexpected death of Zhongli-xiansheng of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor occurred to the sorrow of many and the deep skepticism of a few.

time flies like an arrow | Oneshot (1/1) | Rated Teen (AU Modern, Reincarnation)

TW: None

He’s tired, tired of the unbreakable loop of watching his loved ones pass on, tired of getting attached only for the connection to be violently ripped away from him. He wonders if the real victors during the Archon War were those who perished, who died long before their godhood turned into a curse that chained them to the land that they were fighting for.

But that is not a problem for Childe to worry about. That is Zhongli’s burden to bear, delivered to him in a pretty package years ago in the form of a gnosis.

His very first contract.

(Zhongli and Childe, across many lifetimes)

A Sight for Sore Eyes | Multi-Chapter (36/?) | Rated Mature (Canon Divergent, Slow Burn, Humour)

TW: Graphic Violence

Childe's purpose in Liyue was to play the part of the fool in Signora's plans, all the while ensuring she didn't completely fuck it up.

Given her idea to "test the people of Liyue" was to release a sealed god on them and call it a day, for whatever reason believing this was an entirely reasonable benchmark to test independence on, Childe had a lot of preparations to do to keep the entire thing from collapsing in on itself like his mental stability in the abyss. Fortunately, there seemed to be enough pieces on the board for Childe to maybe possibly hopefully swing this in a way where everything worked out.

Now, if only they would stop leaving jobs like this to the blind guy.

❤ Lungs full of Roses | Multi-Chapter (9/?) | Rated Mature (Hanahaki, Angst, Humour)

TW: Graphic Violence

Childe had always assumed that he would die young. He had accepted that a long time ago, ever since he accepted the mantle of a Fatui Harbinger. However, he always thought that he would die in a glorious fight, his body broken but spirit relishing the strong opponent that had bested him. He was okay with that type of death.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Fate had decided to add one last insult to injury, because, here Childe was, dying because he had fallen in love with the ex-Geo Archon. The same Archon who seemed to have discarded him like an old toy ever since the Osial Incident.

---

In which divine beings are cruel and a cursed Childe starts preparing for his inevitable death because no Archon could ever love a mortal.

...Right?

(NOTE: The tags promise a happy ending but it updates slow and sporadically so be prepared for the angst)

if i choose not to see it, it does not exist | Oneshot (1/1) | Rated Teen (Humour)

TW: None

Zhongli might as well have just straight up told Childe. He absolutely refuses to think too hard about it.

or

Tartaglia's accidental guide to why Zhongli is most definitely a hundred percent not Rex Lapis. There is nothing suspicious to see here.

[clatoera]

okay but i've been reading your series, and clato??? i've shipped them ever since i got my hands on the book ngl, and you portrayed them exactly how I imagined them :DD

not just that I used to hate everlark because of the way they were so darn fake omg

and then glimmer and marvel, I rlly love how glimmer and clove are friends and she's not just like, slut shamed and how she wanted to be a mother! same thing with marvel, how he's more than just a career

even clato, they didn't want to go back and victory wasn't how they assumed it would be

also love the D2 family <3

and the swiftie titles omgg i love that as a swiftie gosh

Oh my goodness thank you!!! This means so much to me, I deeply hope to do them justice and so hearing things like this just means so much to me 🥹❤️🥰. I love to write then they’re my babies tbh.

I am actually a huge everlark stan tbh like thats been one of my longest running ships. Im a big fan (even if they arent). I find myself on the everlark archive more often than I should admit!

Glimmer and Marvel have been a fun little surprise in writing like I didnt think i’d have enjoyed them as much as I do! Glimmer especially! She’d my girl and she just wants a simple life!! And Marvel is just happy to be here!! They just want their little peaceful house :) in the victors village!! Its not too much to ask!

The whole thing about this, for me, was showing their growth from the teenage careers to adults with more developed brains with a lot more to lose. They don’t want to die but they also don’t want to win alonen

Ah yes. My little core 4 family members. They mean so much to me, and they were so fun to write!!

And if course. It started as a joke but I COMMIT to the Bit and..here we are 11 chapters in, Taylor Swift labelled.

Thank you thank you for your sweet message friend ❤️

[paigemathews]

@hart-kinsella replied to your post “Random thoughts about Victor and Sam, but like. I...”:

So much wasted potential with him and Paige!

​(I’m assuming the him is Sam, but like. Honestly, Paige and Victor’s relationship is too, so if you meant them, lemme know.) I am legitimately so baffled at the way that they wrote Sam. I’ve talked about it before, and my opinion hasn’t changed because I just. 

Could they just not get the actor? According to his wikipedia page, he wasn’t in any films or shows during his time on Charmed, except Charmed, but he was in theater so maybe that was an issue? But the show also could have just. alluded to him off-screen, y’know? (Which is a trait that I think the shows would have greatly benefitted from learning to address the sisters’ complete lack of friends, just pick a name and have them be good friends off-screen and you only need her to show up for like. an episode or two on-screen.)

Alternatively, which may have been the smartest option if they needed him off-screen and unavailable: keep him dead?? The Elders bringing him back doesn’t really make a ton of sense anyways and just feeds into the Elders being. questionable for the forces of good. (Also like. Look, we know of exactly three charges for Sam and all of them died. Two of which were pretty much entirely avoidable and Sam’s fault so like he’s not exactly a stellar Whitelighter anyways.) He could still be summoned for help when you want him in an episode to help and you could honestly probably spin a narrative out of that easier than him just abandoning Paige again, this time of his own free choice. 

After a couple of episodes with the sisters summoning spirits, and Paige summoning at least one, Piper and Phoebe confront Paige about how she hasn’t summoned Sam. Paige tries to deflect, but Phoebe points out that she’s summoned mom and grams before. Paige continues to deflect, so they reluctantly let it go but we see the “this is gonna be the emotional plot this episode” look between Piper and Phoebe as Paige leaves. They’re struggling to figure out the evil the week and they send Leo off to figure out how to vanquish it or what it is, whatever. eventually Leo comes back from the Elders and is like 😬😬 and Piper just goes what?? Leo, with a look at Paige, admits so the (insert evil of the week) is (something to do with sam). look, man, this isn’t a fleshed out plot yet!

but there are a couple of ways to spin this in relation to sam: the evil used to be one of sam’s charges, who turned. the evil killed one of sam’s charges. one of sam’s charges bound or vanquished or something to the evil being/same species (and then died later so they can’t just call them up and be like hi! so my name is phoebe, i’m a charmed one and i need to know how to vanquish this seemingly unbeatable demon, thanks :) hello?) but basically: they need sam’s help. piper and phoebe look at paige and paige looks back and goes what?? 

piper and phoebe just go nothing!! and paige squints her eyes at them but they do the spell together to get it over with and sam appears and sees paige and just goes with the most loving, lost look on his face and broken hearted voice paige... and cut to commercial.

andddd we’re back! paige is Not Doing any emotional conversations, thank you, and is doing pretty much Anything to avoid being alone in a room with sam. piper says that a potion needs some weird ingredient from some swamp land and paige says i’ll go! and piper just looks at her and says since when do you play happy errand girl? you hate having to get those ingredients. (which is fair bc uhhh, i did say swamp land) and piper tries to do an emotional conversation and paige pretty much zips out of there.

phoebe and piper are like so we agree that she’s - absolutely avoiding sam? yeah pretty much anyone can tell. meanwhile, sam is just. vibing with leo and they have a little whitelighter-y conversation where sam is like i’m proud of you two. you did it, you made it. and leo awkwardly mentions that piper is pregnant or something and we basically get sam being happy that piper and leo will get to keep their little girl but still devastated that he had to give up his own.

blah blah blah, piper or phoebe eventually manages to get paige into an emotional conversation and go why do you hate him, sweetie? and paige just stops. what?? i don’t hate him!! but she’s just. upset because if she hadn’t been half-whitelighter, she’d have been raised with her sisters instead of being just a replacement for prue. if she hadn’t been his daughter. and he never even looked out for her (we’re gonna say that she sometimes just felt patty’s presence and so it’s like patty did!! even though she was dead!!) and basically paige having abandonment issues (even though she loved her parents) and also: he was a Whitelighter!! she should have been innately good and yet, she was this horrible person and can’t live up to it and emotions! 

but then the demon attacks (who i’ve now decided was a charge of sam’s and like. he failed her!! he was supposed to be there to help her, guide her, and he abandoned her!!) and obviously parallels to paige’s feelings right now. and sam tries to talk her down after she knocks the sisters on their asses, but it’s not working and then paige is like you’re wrong and they fight and vanquish her. (or if she’s not too far gone, redeem her, dealer’s choice, whatever.) and then sam and paige have this conversation at the end of the episode where paige talks about her abandonment issues and sam is like i watched over you, y’know. while i was still here and after. you’re a good person, paige, and i am so proud of you. and paige is lowkey teary eyed and they hug and then sam fades away in a golden light and paige goes downstairs and her sisters ask are you okay? and paige is like yeah. yeah, i am. and sisterly hugging of course.

and then like. there are other episode ideas! like paige gets her first charge (who is not sam in this obviously) and is like freaking out and leo’s given her advice and stuff but she’s still freaking out and leo finally sighs and says paige, why don’t you talk to another whitelighter? and paige is like who?? and leo just gestures towards the book and paige says ohhh and sam visits for the episode!! and helps pass on knowledge about being a whitelighter. you could definitely come up with more, the show really didn’t give sam much of a personality or storylines besides the same one in s5 and s8 but there’s potential here man!

but I mean, bringing him back as a Whitelighter also could have worked! they just didn’t do anything with it!! you could have had him teaching her about her powers or trying to connect or about dealing with charges for a magicy reason. you could also sketch out her issues further and let her and sam take a crack at it. (also, unrelated, but it is a tragedy that we didn’t get to see victor and sam on screen together because they would have been a dynamic to see. but there’s so much potential with sam that they just wasted, relating to paige and not.)

[falloutstasis]

They went that-a-way Part 2

Vikkie and Vance Casino

After equipping themselves with brand new armor for them, the Merc Adventurer Outfit, that they won off of a gun fight against a Escaped Convict, June went inside Vikkie and Vance Casino and was immediately greeted by Johnson Nash.

"I don't know what it was that brought you to Primm, youngster, but you might want to rethink your plans. Town's gone to hell."

"So I've heard." June responded. They knew who this man is. The man was the one who ran the Mojave Express outpost, who June is currently working for.

"Wait a second. I think I recognize you." Johnson tried to recall who June was. "Weren't you the Courier that was suppose to deliver a chip of some sorts? June wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Key word is 'suppose to'." June, once again, sighed. "Some jackass in a checkered suit shot me in the head and stole the chip."

"Well, damn. Do you have a delivery order you can show me? I might be able to help you out since you came all the way back here."

June nodded and handed Johnson a sheet of paper with the information of the delivery order of a 'Platinum Chip''.

"Ah, this one." Johnson tapped his index finger on the paper a few times. "This job had strange written all over it."

"What was strange about it?" They asked.

"That cowboy robot had us hire six couriers. Victor, he said his name was. Each was carrying something a little different. A pair of dice, a chess piece, that sort of stuff. Last word I had from the office, it looked like payment had be received for the other four jobs. Courier Five is just in the process of finishing hers. Five's was weird too."

Huh, Courier Five's delivery was weird?

"How weird?" June asked.

"Well, for one, she was to deliver blueprints for the cowboy robot I mentioned before. Didn't know what was those blueprints were about and I don't want to know." Johnson explained.

So Victor wanted some blueprints? He didn't really mention any type of blue prints to June when they first meet him.

"Can you tell me the name of Courier Five?"

"She didn't give me a full name, but she called herself 'Valentine'."

It wasn't nothing to major, but she'll make a mental note of remembering Valentine later on.

"Anyway, I'm sidetracking here. First deadbeat we hired to do the job canceled. I hope a storm from the Divide skins him alive."

June squinted their eyes at Johnson. "You don't sound to happy."

"Of course not." He crossed his arms. "He had this look when he saw you next down on the Courier list. His expression turned right around, asked me if your name was for real. I said, sure as lack of rain, you were still kicking. Then he turned down the job, just like that."

"Weird. Anyone would have taken that job with that kind of money as payment."

Johnson nodded. "That's what I said, too. But no. He said, let 'Courier Six' carry the package- like the Mojave'd sort you out or something. Then he just up and walked out."

June felt like there was some...unknown grudge between them and this Courier stranger they barely even knew. The only information they've been given by Johnson is that this person is a Courier. That's it.

"Do you have any idea where he went?" June asked.

"No idea. It sounds like you two had some kind of history between you. I assumed you would know too. But from the looks on your face, you have no idea who this person is do you?"

All throughout this conversation with Johnson and how this unknown Courier with no name was first brought up, all June had this confused look on their face. "I have no idea who the fuck this person is."

Johnson chuckled at their response. "Well, sorry if I wasn't much help with that. I do have someone who knows about the men in the checkered suit. His name is Beagle. Last time I saw him, he was eavesdropping around the Powder Gangsters."

If June had to put two and two together, they figured that Beagle was the one who gotten himself in trouble with the Powder Gangers. And the prison was just in front of the entire town! If they were going to get their information about the man who shot them, they were going to make their way to the prison.

"Oh, I have a favor to ask. If you don't mind that is." Johnson had stopped June at their tracks, their hand humorously almost at the door.

"I was wondering if you can stop at my home. It's front of this casino." He pointed out the door. "There's this busted up eye bot that needs repairing. So far I haven't been able to get it fixed. Could you, maybe, get it out of my home? It's yours if you can get it working."

What an odd request.

June wasn't sure how to answer other than a, "Uh, yeah, sure."

And with that, they quickly headed to Johnson's home, beside the dead body slumped against the wall. They knocked on the door once and when no one answered, they let herself in. No one was home, but the damaged Eye-Bot that was laying on the front desk.

"Hm. Poor guy."

This is an advanced model robot with a reinforced frame. It is well weathered and appears to have seen a good bit of action. There is very little in the way of serious damage.

June did their best to get the Eye-Bot back up and running, with the scrap metal, sensor modules, and scrap electronics she had left over during her trip to Primm and her experience into repairing robots and other Protectron Robots. It took about at least thirty minutes to get this bot up and running. Not a minute longer, the Eye-Bot zoomed upward and made direction attention towards June.

<Curious beeps.>

"Oh, uh, yeah. That was me. Nice to meet you." June didn't think this Eye-Bot would be up and running this quick.

<Informative beeps. It seems to be giving it's Eye-Bot ID number.>

June blinks twice at the Eye-Bot. "Uh, Eyebot Duraframe Subject E? That's a long name, friend. If it's alright with you, can I give you a different name?"

<Conforming beeps.> The Eye-Bot moves its entire body up and down once, like if he was nodding at her.

"Alright! Let me call you..."

June had noticed the car plate that was stuck on the Eye-Bots left side. ED-E59.

"Is ED-E alright with you?"

He did the same motion. <Conforming beeps.>

"Alright, ED-E! We're about to go a prison to rescue someone! Want to come with me?"

<Confident beeps.>

He places an old school cowboy tune as he follows June out of the building.

[votestaynight2]

15th Day - limited. (Scene 2)

Bit of a short update today.

"――――Of course…! What about the match is decided!? I can't back out now…!!!!"

"That's the spirit. It seems there is no need for hospitalization." "Eh――――――Kotomine…?"

"…That is my line. You and Rin were abandoned at the door. I wanted to leave you two, since you made a rather ugly pair as abandoned children go, but you were also dead on your feet. Had I done nothing, there would have been two dead bodies in front of my church. A church cannot afford that image, so I had no choice but to treat you."

"――――――――" …I figure out the situation I'm in. This is the chapel. There's nothing wrong with my body. The energy that was swallowed by Sakura's shadow has recovered. I lost consciousness back in my yard. It must be the same for Tohsaka. Rider probably carried us here.

Rider has no means of healing wounded people. Kotomine was probably the only one she knew that could heal us. How long has it been? The time is――――

"It is three in the morning. You have been sleeping for about twelve hours since you were carried here." "――――Twelve hours!? That's half a day…!" I get up from the chair I was lying on. I can't lie around like this…!

"Kotomine, where's Tohsaka!? She was there too, right!? Where is she!?"

"I have Rin resting at her place. You only had your energy taken away, but she had her magical energy taken away. It would normally take seven days to recover, but the land of Tohsaka is good for her. If all goes well, she should regain consciousness by tomorrow afternoon."

"―――I see. So her life's not in danger?" "No. The soil of that land is special. It is a ley line that is said to have been home to vampires. Rin is her family's heir, so she will be back to her impudent self if I keep her buried for a day."

"……" I think I heard something I'm not used to hearing, but I decide not to ask about it. Let's hope he doesn't literally mean "bury".

"――――I see. Thanks for the care." I leave the church.

I know what I have to do. Follow Sakura. Bring back Ilya. Bring back Sakura. Protect the one I love. So what if the fight's outcome is already determined? I still have the power to fight. So this is no time to be hesitating.

"――――――――" There's no time. I can't waste time going back home to find a weapon. …No, these people can't be fought with weapons from my house.

Sakura and Saber. Zouken and Assassin. If Zouken is after Ilya, I have to assume all my enemies are at my destination.

"So, where are you going, Emiya Shirou? I do not know the situation." "…? It's obvious. Ilya went with Sakura to protect us. She said to go to the castle if Sakura wants her formal dress. I don't know what this formal dress is, but they're likely heading to her castle."

"Formal dress…? No, never mind that. Matou Sakura has become your enemy? Then the victor of this Holy Grail War is decided." "…………" It's irritating, but Kotomine's right.

Zouken and Sakura. Sakura is obviously the superior Master, but she can't disobey Zouken. …I don't know what she's trying to do with Ilya, but it'll end once she meets Zouken. No matter how much Sakura refuses him, the crest worm in her body will control her.

"――――Hey, more importantly! Why are you following me!?" "It will be too much for you alone. If Ilyasviel has been kidnapped, I cannot just watch quietly."

"Wha――――" I stop at the unexpected reply. What did he just say――――?

"Too much for me? So you're going to help me…!?" "Are you discontent? You will be fighting against the greatest force. Now that Rin cannot help you, my powers should be of assistance."

"――――――――" There's no way I'm discontented. I'm happy for any help, but――――

"Why? There's no reason for you to help me." "Of course not. It is just this one time. Do not consider me your ally after we rescue Ilyasviel. We can never understand each other." "Then…"

"It is simply for mutual benefit. Furthermore, they defeated all my Servants. Is that not a good enough reason?"

…There's no lie in his words. A lot has happened between us, but he has never lied to me. I――――

[vampiresdontbelonginfairytales]

Original posting date July 28th 2014.

Victor assumes Aurelia is a blood donor because she's one of Tyrian's best friends, and this would rule her out as one for him because there's a safety limit on how often people can get bitten.

Aurelia has been living with vampires since she was six and knows a thirsty vampire when she sees one.

Anyway have a book excerpt:

--

Victor tiptoed down the corridor. For once, he didn't avoid the maids. But neither could he bring himself to ask them the vital question. He had no idea where else to head, so he followed the now familiar path to the throne room.

“Master Tyrian isn't back yet,” Aurelia told him. She was sat on the floor, leaning against the doorway. “Don't rush off,” she said, as he turned to leave. “Let's wait for him together.” She patted the floor next to her. Unable to think of a decent excuse, he obeyed.

“Wh-where is he?” Victor asked.

“He's off being an idiot somewhere with his cousin,” she replied. “Something to do with you.”

“W-with m-me?” Victor repeated.

“Yeah, something about what way of being a vampire is best for you, yadda yadda, you know, idiot stuff,” she explained.

“Oh.” Victor sat himself down and hugged his knees. After a little while he asked, “Why is it 'idiot stuff'?” The cat woman tilted her head to one side.

“Because the only one who can decide what kind of vampire you should be is you?” she replied. “They can prance about as bats or whatever as much as they like and it won't help you decide.”

“M-maybe it can . . .” he said. “I'm g-glad he's trying.” The yokai shrugged.

“I'm not saying it's not helpful to them, but in the end no-one else can decide who you are,” she explained. “Now, if they'd taken you out with them . . . but perhaps it's a little early yet, eh kiddo?”

“Mmm.” He shuffled backwards a little and tried to balance his head on his knees. He blinked in an effort to keep his eyes from closing.

“You know, if you want blood, you can have mine,” Aurelia told him.

“H-how did you . . ?” he stuttered. “D-doesn't Uncle Tyrian . . ?”

“I've lived with Master Tyrian for almost as long as I can remember, so I know a thirsty vampire when I see one,” she explained, “and no, he's never even asked me.” There was a pause. “Jerk. Probably. I don't even know any more.”

“Jerk?” Victor asked. “Probably?”

“I dunno, maybe you can shed some light on that for me.” She shrugged. “He's never asked me ever and I am his best, oldest friend and his biggest supporter. I never used to think anything of it, but then along came Will. They're bestest buddies to the max and frankly, I'm surprised that boy has any blood left.”

“He was probably too scared to ask you,” Victor answered, surprising himself. “He was scared that'd you'd say no. That you'd be scared and start to hate him.”

“Ha!” the yokai blurted out. “I've got one over on that little pipsqueak then. I never thought of that. I mean, I did, but I dismissed it. Didn't think he was too scared to tell me anything.”

“Do you not like Mr. Will then?” Victor asked, trying not to sound too happy about the prospect.

“Nah, Will's great. He's a laugh. But he sucks up all Master Tyrian's attention.” She stopped suddenly and her eyes flicked down the corridor. Far too loudly she continued, “Gets annoying! If he stays another year like he said he was planning to, I swear I'll kick him through the nearest Otherworld door!” There were footsteps and Will appeared around the corner. Victor felt his blood vacate his face.

“Yeah yeah, I've heard your little lecture before,” he said. He put his hands on his hips but he was grinning like a maniac. “I told you I'm only thinking about it. And even if I'd decided, you wouldn't have changed my mind.”

“Jog on, pipsqueak,” she told him, grinning back and thumbing down the corridor. Victor stared at her in horror. He wasn't sure how offensive the words were exactly, but the gesture was unmistakeable.

“So he's not back then?” was the jester's only reply. “Tch, too bad. I'm dying to know how he got on.”

“Me too,” she said. “I'd pay money to actually see it.”

“He was trying out some amazingly cheesy vampire lines on me last night,” Will told them. “I couldn't stop laughing, so he had to give up.”

“Pfft,” Aurelia sniggered. “I wish I'd seen that, too. I'm sure he'll go to bed once he gets back, you should probably just wait for him there.”

“Yeah, you're probably right,” Will agreed. “I mean, I thought I'd come and keep you company while you're stuck with guard duty, but I see you've already got some.” He gave Victor a smile.

Victor smiled weakly back. “I c-came to see if Uncle Tyrian w-was back,” he explained. The jester gave him a curious look before glancing at Aurelia.

“I'd best be going then,” he said, putting his arms up behind his head. “I'll just go grab something to read while I wait.” When his retreating footsteps had well and truly died away, Victor turned to the yokai, incredulous;

“You told him he annoys you!” he gasped. “You s-said it r-right to his face!”

“Well, yeah,” Aurelia replied. “How else was he supposed to know? Did you want me to draw him a picture?” There was a pause. “Although, actually I have done that-”

“And he doesn't m-mind?”

“Of course not,” Aurelia replied. “We're friends.” Victor's mouth dropped open.

“You've got a lot to learn about this 'relationships' thing, kiddo,” she replied, smiling. She pulled back her sleeve. Offering him her arm, she added, “Now that's he's gone and before you keel over, let's get this done shall we?”

--

from Magic and Other Things in Bottles by Alicia L. Wright

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[slashingdisneypasta]

Gotham Villains x Hotel Owner!Reader || Headcanons

Explanation / Topic: You run one of the cities dingy hotels except this one, in all of its glory, is only ever visited by bad guys. Your hotel is well known as the place rogues hide away in when they're planning or they're just out of action for a while because you refuse to give up information to the police no matter what (Its proprietor-client confidentiality! Ha ha) and you're treat them fairly (Although- on the kinder side of course)

These are the many ways they show their gratitude, no matter how small.

Character involved: Most, if not all, of Fox Gotham's rogues. Except Ra's Al Ghul because he bores me. Nevertheless, not just the Legion Horrible's like the picture might lead you to believe- that's just the picture with the most villains that I could think of.

Warnings: Probably too much fluff. I'll make a sequel to this with the less-then-pretty, nitty grotty details of this hotel too probably XD

Barbara likes to invest every now and then, "Just making sure my affairs are in order baby- gotta make sure my hidey hole's still there when I need it." but she always adds a little something for you to buy yourself 'something pretty' (Since your style is SO plain, according to her but then again who isn't plain compared to her XD). This little something is always upwards of a hundred dollars. She's such a sugar mommy you cant convince me that she isn't-

Butch (Or Cyrus Gold, or Grundy. he has too many names) has made it clear that if you ever need help, you can always call him and he'll be there. Very gangsta about it. He's such a big, tough guy but such a softy on the inside XD When he had Grundy brain, he still had some kind of tracker in his mind like dogs do that took him 'home' (To your hotel), dragging Ed along with him. He gave you a big, bone crushing hug when he got there.

Dr Strange is not allowed in as he'll steal your guests and experiment on them.

You don't know Ecco too well yet and vice versa but when she turned up with Jeremiah and Jervis- you definitely appreciated her presence more then that of Jeremiah's. You were still sore over Jerome and didn't trust this new brother. Still, you complimented the bullet in Ecco's skull, saying it was pretty cool, and now she loves you XD When she's in the neighbourhood she occasionally likes to pop in and say hello; Spread a little chaos, you know the deal.

Honestly you probably new Bridgit long before Strange forcing upon her the heat resistance thing and her becoming Firefly. She of course didn't remember you but soon *warmed* up to you after you gave her one of the few rooms with a fireplace and easily forgave her when she accidentally set the couch in her room on fire (I mean its for sure not the worst thing that has happened within these walls- no worries). She has been known to go around lighting the fireplaces for you under the pretence of having fun (Which is true) but also so that you can worry about one less thing. Firefly is also one to come chat with you if she's bored.

Fish Mooney obviously doesn't stay with you very often at all, because this lady can find better dwellings (As, no offense but your hotel is kiiiiinda dingy. What can you do about it, though? You house rogues and a lot of them don't have a lotta money) but she still absolutely appreciates what you do. She'll send bad guys that she does business with that have deeper pockets then your usual client, your way. She's also kind to you, which to me is even better honestly haha XD

Headhunter stays with you a lot when he's on business and often reminds you that you get a discount from him if you require his services. Hey, you keep him in milkshakes! He's gotta repay you somehow.

Okay, the twins. You knew Jerome first and got off to a bad start with Jeremiah due to that. Still, we aren't talking about relationships; We're talking about nice things. So moving on. Just assume that you warm up to the brainier twin.

These two are hard XD Cuz their 'good' and 'bad' sides kinda blur together as they're so unpredictable and don't really care about anyone.

Still, I can see Jerome being pretty light with you and valuing the fact that you can keep up with his banter- so he keeps you alive. You're basically his mother actually, despite the possible lack of age difference. Like, he wants to show you stuff he does and tell you about chaos he's created.

And Jeremiah honestly appreciates that you'll listen to his long speeches (You've gotten pretty good at just sitting and nodding your head and you've perfected the art of the well placed understanding noises like 'Hmm' and 'Ah!' and 'Oh dear' in your line of work)- so obviously, you're invaluable to him. Must keep you around. I mean, Ecco listens, but does she really understand? That is the question.

When he's around, Jervis is very polite and gracious. He'll duck into the kitchens after dinner and start helping you with the dishes and clear dining tables, he'll ask you how you are and mean it (Like, he'll stand there and discuss it with you), he'll try to keep Jerome from barging into your room in the early hours of the morning, etc. Just nice things like that ^^

Magpie tries not to steal from you... Haha XD Like, she'll pick up a pretty clock off a mantle piece and then go to leave with it... then realise that this is yours and go 'Oops!!' and put it back, giggling nervously.

... When she leaves you still find various items from other places in the hotel, in her room, but still. The fact that she tries is enough!

Mr Freeze is a pleasure to have around, of course!! He's quiet, he nods to you when he passes, and he's there to freeze assholes that harass you (And then take them outside so they don't melt all over your carpet). A respectful dude. He has frozen Jerome multiple times... particularly when Jervis has been unsuccessful in persuading him not to wake you up at 3 in the morning.

Ivy gets so happy whenever she sees you. Lots of hugs and telling you all about how she's been. Her energy is enough to cheer you up, and on your birthdays she always brings you a new plant that has meaning to her. Like, a sunflower for how kind you are, a Ficus for abundance, etc. Always in a pot of course, never dead. So of course, you have to take care of them but its a small price to pay for the sweetness ^^ And the not being murdered thing.

Like Mooney and Barbara, Oswald doesn't stay often due to having that mansion from his father but he remembers your kindness from when he would fall on hard times before that (And after the fact, too of course) and whenever he's making some kind of mafia deal he always ensures your and your hotels safety in the contract.

Pyg / Lazlo (I cant decide which name I like best XD) is just very polite, like Jervis. Gentlemen. Also his impressions- God. Have fun with that. He might just do your favourite Looney Tune character if he's in a good mood.

With Ed... look, if you even try with his riddles without being prompted, he'll do anything for you. It's well documented. I'm not sur about nice deeds, cuz Riddler's kind of a dick, but he'll for sure send you a birthday card every year! Christmas probably too ^^

Scarecrow: I will not spray you today. You: Gee thanks. // No but seriously, he's quiet about his gratitude but he is definitely once of the good ones ^^ Would absolutely take it upon himself to come save your ass if you got abducted.

Tabitha... well, you know how Headhunter will you get a discount if you want someone killed? Tabitha will do it for fucking free.

Hey, if you feed Victor (Zsasz), you have a friend for life. He will bring pizza and just hang out together. He is also willing to murder someone for you.

[slytherinnbitch]

Day 30: Pride

"So who all are going tomorrow?" Harry asks his usual friend group. Everyone responds with a yes and how is that possible?

"Uhm, I'm sorry did I miss something?" He asks incredulously.

"Maybe our coming outs," Pansy comments from beside Blaise and he looks at Draco for confirmation and he shrugs.

"Maybe we all can come out to each other? I don't think we ever did that properly." Neville suggests and everyone agrees and so it begins.

"I'll start then?" Pansy suggests and before anyone can respond she is talking again, "I'm a raging lesbian, if there was ever doubt to my homosexuality then I would like to apologise." She smirks at them and all of them laugh loudly at that.

Blaise goes next, "Pansexual!" he declares proudly.

"You mean anyone who even shows a slight interest?" Draco quips and gets swatted on his head for that.

"As if, darling. It's the other way round, everyone falls over their feet for me." Blaise preens and Pansy shuts them both with two mild stinging hexes.

"Okay me now!" Draco squeals and Harry shakes his head fondly, "I'm bi. And ready to die." Draco smiles cheekily at his own joke and Harry shakes his head. What did he do to get this bloke in his life?

"Oh, I always thought you're gay." Ginny comments and many of them nod agreeingly.

"Nah, bi." Draco waves them off and it's Harry's turn.

"Well I'm gay." Harry rubs his neck as he looks around.

"Was I really the only one to think that Harry was bi and Draco was the gay one?" Theo asks and by the looks of most of his friends, no most of them thought the same thing. Well, it's not like he ever came out properly or anything. He just started dating Draco and let people assume whatever they wanted to. Maybe it was a bad decision to not include their friends. Maybe.

"Girls nah!" Harry exclaims and Ginny frowns and exclaims, "Hey!"

"Gin, as much as I love you. You are a lesbian yourself and in love with a mysterious blonde. Much like me, so shut it." Harry says goodheartedly and Ginny makes a face at him but shuts up.

"Well, you all know I'm Trans and probably a demisexual. Not really sure about that," Neville says next and then adds as an afterthought, "I like boys though."

"Really, darling? No one would have guessed via how you are in a relationship with a bloke, now would they?" Theo quips and the rest of them chuckle.

"Well I'm gay through and through," Theo says next and kisses Neville on the lips as if to show that.

"Agender and asexual." Luna declares next and this is someone all of them knew since Luna was the only one to officially come out to everyone of them.

"And mine." Ginny says possesively beside her and kisses her cheek. "I'm lesbian, as my dear ex just pointed out not five minutes ago." She smirks at him and he flips her two fingers.

"Gay,"

"Gay." Seamus and Dean say one after the other. It's not like they ever looked at anyone else since Dean and Ginny's breakup. He still wants to know the actual story behind that one.

"Well, so," Ron starts and everyone looks at him in unison, he looks a bit red but that can he the light as well. "I uh recently discovered that I am bisexual." And everyone looks shocked. Harry is pretty sure he is staring with his mouth open, but he can't make himself look away.

When was his bestfriend going to tell him this? He sorta feels betrayed but how-

"I came out to Hermione a few months ago and well that's it I guess." Ron states, and Harry thinks he is missing a vital part somehow.

"So who was it?" It's Pansy who breaks the silence.

"Yeah that's right, Ron. Who was the bloke or non binary person who finally made opened your eyes towards the other genders." Blaise inquires as well.

Ron is now red in embarrassment so it's Hermione who answers, "Well, love can I then? Since you don't seem like you can talk in the next hour?" Ron nods his head resigned and Hermione smiles her cat-ate-the-canary smile. Oh this is going to be good.

"Well, it's the same person who might have instigated it years ago but Ron had been quite oblivious that time. Much like you and Cedric, Harry." Something in her voice tells Harry that she is giving a clue, to maybe Harry exclusively because the others still look clueless as ever.

And then clicks and holy shit-

"Victor Fucking Krum!" Harry says out loud and it makes sense with all the obsession and everything that he say in his fourth year.

"That's right! Ron saw Krum a few months back, he was in Berlin for the new shop there and he came across there and I got a floocall taht very evening, he came through and told me through his haze." Hermione smiles at her husband and messes his hair slightly, "Just imagine my shock-"

"You thought it was Krum he was jealous of at the Ball but it turned out to be You!" Harry joins in and both of them stare at each other before bursting out loud at the situation.

"Alright, both of you. Stop laughing at my expense. I know the irony of the situation." Ron says at last.

"But Weasley, just think about it! We might have had Krum with us tonight as your partner and not Granger." Draco says and scrunches his nose in mock disgust and the couple sends a stinging hex each and Draco yelps.

"Harry, baby! Your friends are abusing me!" he whines and Harry tuts mockingly which gets him a glare.

"Aww, sweetheart. Maybe don't mess with these two then. One of the most successful business man who is so accomplished in hexes and jinxes and our Minister of Magic. Deadly couple these both."

"Oh come off it, as if you both aren't deadly as well. Head of DMLE and Head of Unspeakables. I think that makes you both more dangerous." Hermione replies and he shrugs in response.

"Yes, yes. All of you are bigshots and we are grateful for so much security among us. Can we proceed then?" Pansy asks and Harry blushes slightly at the implications.

Just Hermione is left.

"Well, I'm just going as an ally. Mostly for Ron but all of you are going to be there anyways so I took a day off." Hermione says and wow, Hermione and off days. That's almost unheard of.

"Wait, so almost all the heads of the Ministry are not going to be there tomorrow?" Blaise asks and six of them turn to glare at him but it's Harry who replies.

"Don't worry, Blaise. Our best officials will be handling everything in our stead. And it's not our fault that all of our friends have such a good role in the Ministry and outside as well." Harry gives him the look he gives the hitWizards when they tell him a basic criminal slipped from their hands. Blaise looks mostly unbothered by it.

"Was planning on making a attack on the Ministry tomorrow. Would definitely be successful." Blaise replies instead.

"Shut up, Blaise." The six of them, him, Draco, Hermione, Neville, Theo and Luna say in unison and it's a pictureworthy moment.

They steer back into what they will be wearing and which type of makeup would look the best.

In the last, Draco agrees on a goth look with a short dress and mesh slacks. Harry with golden eyeliner which Pansy says would look godlike on his brown skin, so Blaise is going to do the same. He decides on wearing just his flag colours, with clip-on earrings and everything.

Blaise agrees on full black, as usual. Just the make-up would be his highlight, according to him. Luna is going in a fairy dress, Ginny in shorts and a sleeveless camisole.

Pansy in her signature heels and dress but make it pride colours. Ron, after a lot of coaxing decides on blue trousers, a pink and violet custom made sweater which apparantly Hermione had ordered almost three weeks ago. That makes him beam at her.

Neville is going in his usual wool sweater and trousers and his flag around his shoulder. Theo is matching with him.

As Harry looks around the table at the end of the night, and sees the happy faces of his friends who has somehow become his chosen family. He just feels one emotion. Love.

Endless love.

Day 29: Coming Out || Day 31: Unashamed

[cheri-translates]

Headcanon - When you’re angry and say “Don’t touch me”

Original title: 当你生气地说 “你别碰我”

Original writer: 池离子 (chi li zi)

[ VICTOR ]

You’re seated on the sofa, staring at the hour hand of the clock as it points to “1″, trembling with anger. 

Victor! He promised that no matter how busy he was, he’d return by 11pm. Yet, even now, he hasn’t even called to give you an explanation. His phone is turned off, you couldn’t find him at the office, and all the employees had already knocked off.

Feeling upset, you think about heading to bed, but your immense worry causes your hands and feet to turn cold, and the blanket is unable to keep you warm. As such, you have no choice but to send message after message to Victor. 

Since you once made a promise with him not to head out at night, you wait for him to return home obediently. With this thought in mind, you climb into bed, covering yourself up before breaking into tears.

Click.

Although separated by the bedroom door, you can still hear the sound of the main door opening gently, followed by the soft sound of leather shoes stepping on the wooden floor. You know that he has finally returned, but you have no intention of forgiving him for breaking his promise and not returning your calls.

You hear the rustling of clothes being removed, followed closely after by the sound of the bedroom door opening gently, the familiar footsteps nearing you quietly. The space beside you on the bed dips slightly, and you can feel Victor pulling the blanket from your face.

"Dummy... why are you covering yourself up? It’s so stuffy.”

He speaks softly.

When Victor's hand is about to touch your face, you suddenly grab the blanket and turn over, your back facing him. He’s clearly stunned, and then realises that you weren't asleep, and are even a little angry with him. So he shakes your shoulder and says a soft “I'm sorry”.

"Don't touch me!" You shrug his hand away roughly. Curling yourself up, you begin to sob again.

Victor wants to pull you up, but you avoid him with equal determination, before dropping a cold “don't touch me.”

Victor sighs, then explains himself in a fatigued voice. “Sorry. I returned very late, and it’s my fault. When I drove past the park after work, I saw someone selling the taiyaki that you like, so I bought one. I didn’t have a firm grip on my phone and it fell into the water, so I couldn't turn it on.”

"I was going to buy a new phone along the way, but Goldman suddenly rushed over, saying that E Company requested to terminate our partnership due to contractual issues. Because we were pressed for time, I drove to E City with Goldman to hold a meeting, and only managed to rush back at this time... I’m sorry."

After listening to these simple words, you can’t help but feel an ache in your heart. You sit up with guilt. Despite how tired Victor was, he still had to deal with you being angry when he returned home. This... is really sad.

You turn over to look at him. Realising that your eyes are red, he reaches forward to hug you gently, leaning against your ear to say another “sorry”.

There’s a paper bag sitting at the corner of the bed, and you’re able to see half of a cold taiyaki.

"I'm so tired... let me hug you for a while..."

He embraces you tightly, and you reach out to pat his hair, as if touching a helpless child. 

-

[ GAVIN ]

"Sis-in-law, he really doesn’t take advice. I already told him not to rush ahead, but he did it anyway. Now, he doesn’t even dare to step into the house, and it’s really difficult for us...”

You’re listening to the voice message sent by Eli. Gavin was injured during a mission, and was caught red-handed by you. Eli is the spy you’ve arranged to be by Gavin’s side.

“Eli, tell Gavin that I’ve fallen sick, and that I haven’t told him about it because I don’t know what illness it is yet.”

"Sis-in-law... is this... a good idea?"

"Trust me. I can give your team a brilliant tomorrow.”

"Thank you, Sis-in-law!”

Turning your phone off, you lie down quietly. Thirty minutes later, you hear Gavin opening the door while shouting your name. You listen as his footsteps draw nearer, finally pausing at your bedside.

“Wake up, are you okay? What happened? Are you okay?” Gavin reaches out, wanting to pull you over to himself. Enraged, you slap his hands away and yell at him. “Don't touch me!”

Sure enough, he stops, and you hear him sitting down. What follows after is a protracted silence.

Your thoughts: I’m doomed. Does he find me annoying?

Gavin’s thoughts: Something’s wrong. I definitely did something wrong. What did I do wrong? Anyway, I should admit my mistake first.

"Sorry... I was wrong..."

You hear him saying this softly.

"Why were you in the wrong?”

Gavin is dumbfounded.

"I don’t know...”

Despite your anger, your heart aches. As you sit upright, you hear him asking with concern, “Are you sick? How are you feeling now?”

"I'm not sick. I asked Eli to call you home. He said that you were badly hurt and was afraid to see me. Am I that fierce?"

Gavin shakes his head.

"I'm not afraid of you being fierce. You can scold me however you like, but I'm afraid that you’d get tired after scolding me, and feel sad when you see my injuries, so I didn’t dare to return."

Pearl-like droplets of tears fall again, and he hurries forward urgently, wiping them away.

"Don't cry..."

"Where did you get hurt this time... don't be afraid to let me see. What I’m most afraid of is not knowing anything. Don’t refuse to come home..." You’re held in his arms, sobbing as you finish your sentence in bits and pieces.

He coaxes you while rubbing circles on your back.

“Okay, okay... next time, I’ll come straight home. I promise."

[ A few days later ]

"Sis-in-law, didn’t you say there wouldn’t be a problem? Us poor kids had to carry weights on our backs while climbing up a mountain...”

-

[ LUCIEN ]

You dislike that bunch of female students! You! Really! Dislike! Them!

Under the pretext of the lecture, they’d look for Lucien. Once Lucien finishes his class, they would surround him, and Lucien would be in the middle, explaining the questions to them patiently.

It annoys you to death!

You’re nestled in the sofa watching a show. Having finished his shower, Lucien steps out of the bathroom, wiping his hair dry while walking towards you.

“MC, the bathroom is already warm and I've filled the tub with water. You can take a bath now.”

As if you couldn’t get angrier, you notice that the tone of voice he uses with you and the female students is obviously the same! So you purse your lips, ignoring him.

Thinking that your lack of response was because you couldn’t hear him over the sound of the TV, he sits beside you on the sofa, leaning in closer.

"Little Butterfly?”

You turn your head away, unwilling to give him any attention.

Assuming that you’re feeling shy, he reaches out to hug you, but is pushed away. He even hears this:

"Don't touch me!"

Lucien's hand stops in the air. For a long time, neither of you speak.

Just when you decide that you’re causing unnecessary trouble and turn to glance back at him, it’s as though you see the ears of a large canine drooping, its tail swinging slightly.

Why does he look wronged? Also, he's a fox, not a dog!

"MC... do you no longer like me?”

You watch as his handsome brows furrow. His movement of leaning over causes his bathrobe to reveal his neckline, and you’re cornered by him on the sofa.

"Don't touch..."

Before you manage to finish speaking, Lucien buries his face into the crook of your neck, his damp hair rubbing against your shoulder and earlobe gently. His hand reaches out to hug you tightly, and you can hear his muffled voice from the side. 

"Are you leaving me? Don't leave me..."

Huh? You heart aches instantly, and you pat his back. 

“Okay, okay... I’m not leaving you. I was just angry because those female students like you so much! I’m sorry for just now...”

"Next time... I’ll pay more attention... So MC, shall we take a bath together?”

"?"

Today has once again been part of Lucien’s plan.

-

[ KIRO ]

As you stare at the black circles underneath Kiro’s eyes, a certain thought drifts to your mind. 

He must have accepted too many job offers, then failed to get proper rest! 

You’ve already told him several times to reject work if he’s able to. After all, he should give himself a break. The last time, he was so tired that he fell asleep on the sofa in the makeup room and was caught red-handed by you. Now, the situation is not only worse, but he spends his free time accompanying you.

This is outrageous!

"Miss Chips! Let's watch a movie tonight! I starred in it! You’ve seen the trailer and poster, right?" Kiro picks up the cap which he uses as a disguise, then hops around you excitedly. But you just can’t ignore the blackish hue underneath his eyes.

Seeing that you’re ignoring him, he grins and steps forward, tugging on your hand. Fuming, you slap his hand away.

"Don’t touch me!”

Kiro’s hand pauses in mid-air. In just a few seconds, you hear the sound of sobbing. 

"Miss Chips..."

Turning your head to look at him, you see that tears are flowing down his cheeks. His eyes are red, and he’s wiping his teardrops with the back of his hand.

Is this the prowess of an actor? Being able to summon tears at will?

His sobbing turn even more aggrieved, and he carefully reaches out to tug on your hand again. Your heart aches, and you don’t fling it away this time.

"Miss Chips... do you hate me? Don't hate me... I work hard because I want you to lead a life which is worry-free, at least in terms of money... I love you so much..."

Ah! Stop talking! I’m a sinner!

You quickly give him a hug, patting him on the back.

“That will never happen! I like Kiro the most, but I’m very worried about your health. You’re still so young, but you’re this tired every day, so of course I’m distressed and angry. I don't hate you...”

He nods, planting his chin on your shoulder.

"I’m already very happy! I haven’t had to worry about money at all. You’ve worked so hard that I’ve got a surplus of wealth now! I want you to turn down a few projects and stay at home with me for a while, okay?”

You feel some movements on your shoulder. He’s nodding.

"Miss Chips... I like you so much..."

"I like you too!"

"Then you should kiss me now!"

He says with a grin.

?

(Did he follow Lucien’s study plan?)

-

[ SHAW ]

“Spring Thunder! Spring Thunder! You! Spit it out right now! Give it back to me!”

[Regarding the nickname] The CN version of MC’s “Mary Sue” alias is 刘春梅 - Liu Chun Mei (“Spring Plum”). Meanwhile, the CN community likes calling Shaw 刘春雷 - Liu Chun Lei (“Spring Thunder”)

Amid your blood-curdling screeches, Shaw dolidges your flailing hands and successfully chomps down your final strawberry cake.

...

With no intention of speaking to him anymore, you stagger a few steps, collapsing onto the sofa.

Shaw opens a bottle of Cola and a bottle of Pepsi in the kitchen, mixing his favourite, unique drink happily.

When Shaw returns with a large cup of mixed Cola and sees your current condition, he calls out to you twice. However, you have no intention of paying any attention to him considering your enraged and depressed state.

He sits beside you, patting your head. 

Your eyes are sharp, and you slap his hand away, saying the cruel words:

"Don’t touch me!”

In Shaw’s heart, he knows that something bad is about to happen. You didn’t call him “Stinky Brother” this time, which meant that you’re genuinely angry.

“No way, what’s up with you? You have such a reaction just because I ate your cake?”

You’re in no mood to argue with him. Your favourite strawberry cake no longer exists. Without it, you will crumble. 

"Spring Plum?”

"..."

He sets down the Cola, attempting to wrap an arm around your waist. But he’s slapped away once again.

"Don’t touch me!”

"..."

You watch as Shaw retracts his hand, gets up, grabs the keys, opens the door, then leaves. All in one swift movement.

? 

Stinky Brother! He was obviously in the wrong, so why is he the one throwing a tantrum!

You close your eyes, missing that sweet and wonderful strawberry cake. Your mind has no room to think about Shaw.

After some time, you hear the sound of the door opening, followed by Shaw’s footsteps, then something being placed on the table. He sits beside you quietly.

Opening your eyes, you see that Shaw is seated, giving you a piteous look.

The scene before you resembles a world famous painting.

"Sister... I'm sorry... I went to buy a new cake..."

On the surface, you seem engrossed in your thoughts. However, your heart has long since been doing flips.

"Forgive me, okay...? Don’t give up on me just because of the cake...”

As though you’ve just survived a huge bloodbath, you sit up with a “hmph”, then pull the cake box over. Sure enough, there’s an entire cake, decorated with strawberries. 

Placated, you wrap Shaw in a hug and give him a kiss.

"What are you talking about, my beloved Shaw? Why would I not want you! I want you more than cake!”

Shaw's eyes darken.

"In that case... let me see just how much you want me..."

–

More translated and original works: here

–

[ Permission to translate ]

池离子: OK! Just state that the source is LOFTER池离子. Also, if you’ve posted it, could you also take a screenshot for me? No need for the whole thing - just a little will do!

[gins-potter]

Casting Thoughts

Yes, I did a long post when the rumours first dropped but hey now it’s confirmed plus we have characters descriptions, and I’m bored so let’s do this all over again people.  Under the cut because it got long

Sisi Stringer as Rose Hathaway

I said this in my other post but I’m pretty happy with Sisi as Rose.

Visually I think she’s a great fit, I love that they casted a WoC in the main role, and I think if she can bring Rose’s humour and sarcasm to the role, she’s going to do great.

The character description mentions Rose being “fiery and outspoken”, happy to jump into the action, and the strongest fighter in her class but struggling to toe the line, which is all very Rose-esque, especially in the first book.  It sounds to me like they have a good grasp on her character.

I’m a little disappointed we didn’t hear more about Rose as a character since she is the lead - it felt like the descriptions for Lissa and Dimitri both gave us a little more to go on - but it is only a very preliminary description so I’m happy to wait for more.

Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir

Daniele is another one who I was happy with straight away.

She’s probably not what I imagined for Lissa visually but that’s not a bad thing either; I will be interested to see if they dye her hair a lighter colour (like a caramel-blonde) but personally that’s not something I need to see for her to be a great fit for Lissa.

I think she has a very sweet face which works well for a character like Lissa but I think she’s also going to be able to stand up in Lissa’s more fiercer moments which is nice to see as well.

The character descriptions mentions her as being “carefree and kind-hearted” who “coasts” through life until a death in the family thrusts her into a new role.  That sounds a lot like pre-series Lissa so I wonder if we’re going to see a bit of that in the show before Andre (and her parents??) die and see that change.  

It’s curious though that she’s described as the younger sister of the heir apparent - which would be Andre - so it sounds like they’ve changed it so Andre was supposed to be King.  Obviously a deviation from the books but I don’t hate it?  I don’t think it would change Lissa’s arc all that much because obviously she was always going to grow up to be an influential royal figure, this just slightly changes the dynamics of it.

The description also specifically mentions that she’s uninterested in “political machinations” and the “hypocrisy of the moroi royal society” which sounds very accurate to book!lissa as well.

All in all I’m very happy with what they’re doing with Lissa.

Keiron Moore as Dimitri Belikov

This is one who’s really grown on me since the rumoured cast list started circulating.  At first I was kind of eh about him but I can really see him as Dimitri now.

I will be curious to see if he grows out his hair or not though.

As far as I know Keiron is not Russian, there’s not a lot about him online, but there’s some instagram activity on his account linking him to UK based companies so that would be my guess as to where he’s from.  They’ve kept Dimitri’s incredibly Russian name so I guess we’re to assume Keiron might be doing an accent and they’re keeping Dimitri’s backstory relatively the same?  I’m not gonna be super mad if they change it just because I think it’s doable for him not to be Russian (I know, I know a whole book is set in Russia but lbr here they could make him from anywhere and just send Rose there in that book).

The biggest thing for me will be his chemistry with Sisi, Danila and Zoey had great chemistry (imo anyway) which saved the move a little for me, so it’ll be important that Sisi and Keiron do as well.  They’ve interacted a few times online which is cute so I’m hoping they were able to do some chemistry reads and that will translate on screen.

The character description mentions Dimitri as being “lethal, disciplined, discreet, and totally committed” as well as living by “a deep moral code” but with more going on “beneath his stoic, watchful surface” which sounds exactly like book!Dimitri to me.

They don’t really specify what his role at St Vlad’s is going to be but they do mention that he is a guardian so I’m assuming they’re keeping some sort of age gap between him and Rose.  They also don’t mention anything about their relationship in the description, be it student/teacher, platonic, romantic, whatever, but they do say he has “an expansive spirit that could threaten to expose the underlying tension between his sense of what’s right and his formal duty to the Moroi.” which seems like a nod to their relationship.

Andre Dae-Kim as Christian Ozera

This was one of my favourite casting choices from the original rumoured cast list and I still love it.

The idea of a non-white Christian makes a lot of sense to me and I think Andre could do a great job of Christian’s aloofness (in the first book) as well as his sarcasm and growing confidence across the other books.

His character description confuses me a bit though: “Intelligent and thoughtful, Christian is the pariah of the school and royal court, due to his parents’ unforgivable societal sins.” sounds accurate enough to the book (although idk if thoughtful is quite the word I’d use for Christian - maybe they mean it in the sense that he’s quiet and keeps to himself?).

Even “Well-read and hungry for knowledge” doesn’t sound that far off, idk if he was *that* particularly studious in the books, but it doesn’t necessarily not make sense either you know?

But “he searches for faith-based answers and discovers a kindred spirit who is also looking for the truth” ??? My cynical, irreverent asshole Christian is now a man of faith? I’m assuming Lissa is the “kindred spirit” (again weird word choice but maybe they mean she’s feeling lost because of the death of her family?) but I just cannot see Christian as being particularly religious.

I’m trying to keep an open mind about these changes because you never know they might play out totally different on screen, but I really hope they didn’t make these changes, particularly that Christian is studious and religious, just because they cast an Asian actor as him (because they feel a little like Asian stereotypes).

J August Richards as Victor Dashkov

This is one that didn’t appear on the original rumoured cast list (as far as I saw) and it’s so different to his description in the books that I kind of don’t have an opinion about it as a casting choice.

I’ve never seen him in anything before so purely on a visual level I think he could be a great fit for Victor, I just think it’ll really come down to how he plays it.

As for this character description: “Victor is a Moroi noble vampire with a heart of gold who’s highly regarded for his role as advisor and political strategist to Moroi dignitaries.” as well as mentioning that he has intelligence and influence, sounds pretty accurate to the book.  Obviously if Andre was the heir to the throne, Victor had to be shifted out of that role, but I think his book 1 arc could still work if they wanted it to.

The “heart of gold” bit obviously made me chuckle and I really hope they threw it in there as a kind of decoy to throw non-book-readers off the fact that he’s actually the villain in book 1/s1.

As for giving him a husband and two daughters, my thoughts are: why the fuck not? He didn’t have a love interest in the original books and I’m always down for more lgbtq+ rep.  My only concern is it maybe playing into the trope of evil/villain characters being queer-coded.  And as for having two daughters, well as long as one of them is Natalie I don’t mind.

Anita-Joy Uwajeh as Tatiana Vogel

Okay this is the most bizarre one imo, not because of the casting, but just the character description.

I mean “Tatiana is a Moroi vampire and political underdog who slowly takes the royal court by storm. Motivated by love and a sense of justice, Tatiana has a unique skill of making herself seem of no consequence until we realize much too late that she was always the one to watch.” sounds extremely Tasha Ozera to me, so like why not just make this character Tasha?  Nothing about this sounds like Tatiana, and Tatiana wasn’t even a Vogel anyway (well Vogel wasn’t even one of the 12 royal families), she was an Ivashkov.

In terms of Anita-Joy herself, well I mean we don’t really have a character to compare her to, is she supposed to be more like Tasha or Tatiana?  She looks fairly young, so my guess is actually on Tasha, but we’ll have to wait to see I guess.

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Mia Karp

This is another one that I was instantly a fan of.

I was so not a fan of Mia’s casting in the movie (I can’t even remember who played her tbh but I really didn’t like it) so this Mia is a lot closer to how I imagine her.

I think she’ll be able to carry Mia’s transformation from bratty social-climber to badass fighter really well.

The character description is interesting though.  “Witty, cutting, and just the right kind of ruthless when necessary, non-Royal Mia has a long-term plan to social climb her way into the ranks of royalty, with all the privilege and freedom that entails.” sound pretty bang on to Mia in the first book.

“A plan complicated by her instant chemistry with Meredith, a Guardian-in-training, as Mia struggles to reconcile her attraction to Meredith with her lowly status.” is an obvious deviation though, and one I kind of love???  Give me all the queer rep, and if we get to see Mia confront the issue of comp-het I’m so here for it.  

It’s kind of funny though because I’ve seen theories that Meredith is a replacement for Eddie and Mia/Eddie has always been my sort of rarepair ship.

The last name Karp is weird af though.  Is she supposed to be Sonya’s daughter?  And if that’s the case I wonder if we’re going to actually see Sonya turn Strigoi in the show’s first season or something and that triggers the change in Mia?  Interesting concept but I’m not sure how the timeline will work.

Rhian Blundell as Meredith

So this is another new one, and tbh I hadn’t given Meredith *that* much though in the past but she’s probably close to how I would have pictured her which is cool.

The elephant in the room with this casting is that Meredith’s role in the books was relatively minor - she was just kind of that character that got brought up whenever R.M needed a dhampir who wasn’t Rose/Dimitri/Mason/Eddie.  So clearly she’s going to have a bigger role in the tv show which I don’t mind but I do wonder if we’re going to lose a character - probably Eddie lbr - in order to have her.  They haven’t casted an Eddie yet as far as we know, but I have seen it pointed out that Eddie’s role in book 1 was pretty small so maybe they just aren’t announcing it.  But there’s also the possibility that maybe Meredith will sort of replace Eddie and be the third part of Rose and Mason’s friendship.

I’m very interested by this part of her character description though, “She has little patience for Rose’s volatility or Mia’s elitism, and regularly calls both of them out.”

Jonetta Kaiser as Sonya Karp

I don’t necessarily dislike Jonetta as Sonya but I am confused by this choice.  She looks fairly young, which tbf Sonya was young-ish I guess, but if Mia is supposed to be her daughter she doesn’t look old enough to have a teenaged daughter.  So maybe Sonya and Mia are sisters? Cousins? Just have each other’s last names for no reason? I really don’t know.  They also look nothing alike.

Other than that, I don’t really have an opinion about Jonetta as Sonya.  Obviously looks nothing like how Sonya was described but that’s not new nor a massive concern for me.  

I can’t really tell just from looking at her, and I haven’t seen her in anything, if she would play a good Sonya.  I think with a lot of the characters it’s going to come down to the personality they bring to the part and the writing.

I looooooove her character description though:  “Quiet, careful and decidedly odd, Sonya is not of royal bloodline and sits out on the fringe of Moroi society, preferring to spend her time in the library or her gardens. Not a person who likes a scene, nonetheless she has a quiet but profound power of her own. She is taken by surprise when a Dhampir Guardian named Mikhail shows interest in her, a relationship that will expose both the brightest and darkest parts of her heart.”  It’s everything I would probably want from a description of Sonya and I’m more and more convinced that we’re going to see Sonya’s descent into madness and transformation into a Strigoi play out in maybe the first season which I am so curious how they’re going to work into the timeline.

Andrew Liner as Mason Ashford

Our last one and another one who doesn’t look remotely like his description but again? Not a surprise and not a problem for me.  He looks like he could play Mason’s goofiness really well as well as be a solid contender for a love interest for Rose.

“Charming, loyal and popular, Mason is Rose’s main competition in the quest to become the No. 1 Guardian-in-training. Though their relationship is casual on her side, he is hopeful she will finally look at him and see him as something more.” His character description makes a lot of sense, maybe him being Rose’s main competition is a bit of a deviation? But I think that’s more an indication that he’s supposed to be a strong fighter which isn’t inaccurate to the books.  The rest sounds great.

Other Thoughts

Descriptions of the show specifically mention friendship and classism as major themes which I am very happy to hear about because those are the two parts of VA that I love the most.

Am a little more worried about it being described as “sexy” though, if they shove a whole bunch of meaningless sex scenes in it just because it’s a YA show I’m not gonna be happy.

Seen the show compared to “Game of Thrones” and “Bridgerton” which at first had me like oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck not good not good not good.  But thinking about it more and trying to understand where Plec’s coming from with that description I wonder if means similar to GoT as in the cut-throat nature of the Moroi/Dhampir society cause I can kind of see that.  And as for Bridgerton I wonder if she’s referring to the kind of social-climbing aspects of it, because again that makes sense and it seems like a theme she really wants to concentrate on.  I hope that’s what she means by those comparisons, or that she just wants to compare it to popular shows to get people to watch it.  The worst would be if she tries to throw in a lot of unnecessary sex scenes to make it like those shows, because I hate when they do that, especially when the characters are teenagers.

Interesting to hear that Plec has known about the series since before Twilight or TVD - not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Seems like it’s actually mostly (or all??) written by Marguerite MacIntyre which is interesting because I know people were worried about Julie Plec - I’ve never watched anything by either of them so I’m neutral at this point.

[plus-size-reader]

Engaged

Not Really Goodbye pt.2

Peeta Mellark x Plus size!reader

Word Count:1692 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Peeta having to explain his engagement to you, the woman he loves

Part 1

——————————————————————————————————

Marrying Katniss hadn’t been Peeta’s idea.

Quite frankly, none of this was his idea to start with; not pretending to be together, lying to everyone he cared about, not getting engaged, not going on the tour. It was all stuff he’d been dragged into without even meaning to.

Unfortunately though, that didn’t make it any easier to explain the whole engagement thing to you.

This whole thing was too complicated to just break down, too dangerous to get out of, and even if he wanted to try, Peeta knew the truth. It was too late to get out now, no matter what he did.

Still, it would break your heart, just as it was currently breaking his.

Ever since the two of you were children, you assumed that you would end up being together. You had been inseparable all your lives, never going too far without the other, and your mother often joked that there were no better friends in the world.

That much had always been true.

It wasn’t until you got a bit older that you started really thinking about the possibility that there may never be no two people better suited for one another than you and Peeta were.

He understood you in a way that no one else ever had and being with him was as easy as breathing. By this time in your lives, you were sure that you would end up married, living on a farm somewhere.

Though, clearly, you’d been a fool to believe that.

News of the engagement reached you and the rest of the districts before Peeta and Katniss could even make it back, which meant that he couldn’t explain. All you could do was listen to the broadcasts and try to put the pieces together yourself.

Naturally, it hurt to imagine that everything you’d come to believe was a lie. However, you weren’t shocked that he would rather marry her.

She was incredible.

In all this time since he’d been whisked away to compete in the games, you could see just how much they had bonded. The games were broadcasted all over Panem and you would have had to have been blind to miss it.

Not only was Katniss a fellow victor, and the only other person who had shared experiences with him, but she was also stunningly beautiful and wonderfully strong.

It was something you could have never hoped to compete with.

You only wished, in your wildest dreams, that you could be like her if not for yourself than for his affections.

You wanted nothing more than for Peeta to look at you in the way that he looked at her, like the world started and ended with her, like every action from her could halt his existence entirely.

She had a power of him that you foolishly thought you had, before he went off to the Capital, but that was never going to happen.

You knew Peeta well enough to know that.

That was exactly why, when he did show up at your door trying to explain, you turned him away. If he loved her, and she made him happy, then you wanted him to be with her.

You didn’t want him to feel the need to apologize, which you assumed he was trying to do when he showed up outside your house.

Knowing Peeta, he just didn’t want to hurt you, didn’t want there to be any hard feelings between the two of you. If that was all he needed, there was no need for you to talk it over, you understood exactly what was happening.

You knew a man in love when you saw one, and you didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

For whatever reason though, Peeta was adamant over what he wanted. He wanted to explain himself, and he needed to talk to you. This was all a huge misunderstanding, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he didn’t tell you the truth.

...And, at a certain point, you knew that you were going to have to hear him out. At the end of the day, you cared about Peeta and whatever it was that was so important, you knew that it wouldn’t hurt to hear what it was he needed.

“Peeta, I already told you, I get it” you huffed, opening your door to find him standing there again, waiting for the off chance that you would come out.

You had no idea what he was thinking, but there was one thing you knew for sure. He was going to freeze to death if he stood out here any longer.

“No, you really don’t. Please just let me explain” he begged, hoping that for the third time, you would hear him out. He just kept coming here, asking to see you, and each time he was met with the same answer.

Either you weren’t home, or you weren’t going to answer.

“Come in” you sighed finally, opening the door wide enough for him to pass through. It was clear that he wasn’t going to let this go anytime soon.

You were doing your best to just save face, to keep him from seeing how much it had upset you, but you had started to accept it. You were coming to terms with what it would mean, with the fact of the matter, Peeta was going to get married.

Peeta was going to get married, and he wasn’t going to get married to you.

That was just what was happening and there was no use fighting it. If you could understand that, you didn’t get why it was so hard for him.

It seemed simple enough.

“Katniss and I are getting married, but it isn’t because I want to” he grumbled, rubbing his hands together lightly as he started to explain, doing his best to gather his thoughts. It wasn’t until he was in the heat of your home that he realized just how cold it had been, the warm air nipping at his skin.

You nodded, having heard this all before. You felt like you knew, felt like you understood what was going on, but Peeta was far from finished.

This wasn’t about him and Katniss, it wasn’t about a wedding, this was about the two of you and nothing more.

“What are you talking about? Why would you be getting married if you don't want to?” you asked, sitting down beside him on the couch, trying your best to wrap your head around what he was saying.

It didn’t make any sense to you.

For what reason, other than the fact that you loved someone, would you get married? Besides, you saw the way he looked at her while they were in that arena, you knew that he must love her.

That was all you needed to be married.

That was more than most of the people of twelve had and they made it work. Your relationships were formed mostly for survival, and in a desperate attempt to form some kind of life with what you’d been given.

“This is bigger than it seems, but I promise I can explain” he tried, gingerly resting his hand on your knee as he tried to make this work. You weren’t sure that you believed it, but it wouldn’t kill you to give him a chance to make you believe.

So, you settled in for one of the most complicated stories of all your life. Evidently, the events of the games, and what had happened in the capital, was bigger than you could have ever assumed.

It was bigger than both of you.

The more Peeta explained, the more you put together in your head, the more you understood. Of course he had to marry her, if he didn’t, there was no telling what Snow would do.

He had already threatened all of Katniss’ family and you were sure that he’d done the same to Peeta.

There was a chance they would kill you, if this didn’t go the way they wanted, and for Peeta, that was the worst thing that could happen. In all your lives, he’d only ever really had you and if something happened to you, he’d have nothing left.

You were the one. You were the one who came to check on him the night before the reaping, who combed his hair on the day of so he would look nice. You were the only one to come see him before he left for the games.

Every time he needed someone, it was always you there, waiting for him.

If he didn’t have you, Peeta didn’t have anything.

He hated the idea of doing this, of getting married to a woman who wasn’t you, of putting you through this but in the big picture, it was better than losing you. It was better than having to go through life knowing that you died because of a choice he made.

Having to do that would kill him.

It was difficult enough that the two of them had to lie to the world, that he and Katniss didn’t really care for one another in that way. Adding another element, or another person, in your case, would be far too much.

He hated this, but if it was what he had to do to keep you safe, Peeta wasn’t going to apologize for that. You were too important to risk, for any reason.

“I’m so sorry Y/N, I really am. I just don’t have a choice” he huffed, using up all his breath in a hurried attempt to get everything he needed to get out before you started drawing your own conclusions.

...But you didn’t need him to say sorry.

You understood why he was going to do it.

Backing out of the wedding could end all of your lives and as much as you loved him, nothing was worth that. Similarly to Peeta, you figured that a life without him, knowing that he was alive, would be better than one where he died trying to be with you.

It was hardly a fairy tale, but real life rarely was.

[randomfandomimagine]

I Love You Too (Barry Allen x Reader)

Characters: Barry Allen, Bruce Wayne, Arthur Curry, Clark Kent, Diana Prince, Victor Stone

Fandom: Justice League (Snyder) / DC

Tags: Angst with a happy ending, fluff, hurt / comfort, no spoilers

Warnings: Slight angst

Word Count: 2,1k words

Summary: Barry must make a great sacrifice, but Y/N wants to tell him something before he does. Unable to tell him, Y/N deals with the result of Barry’s sacrifice and wonders whether or not he reciprocated those feelings.

A/N: To no one’s surprise, I fell in love with Ezra’s Barry when I watched the Snyder Cut (he’s just so cute!), so here’s a ficlet based on an idea I had when watching the movie. Enjoy, and give this some love, please!!

Link: AO3

GIF CREDIT

Barry Allen x Gender Neutral Reader

Your world had turned upside down in just a second. Not too long ago, you were joking and laughing with Barry, playfully pushing each other. You had been having fun together like you had known each other all your lives despite having met for the first time a few days ago. You had been there to comfort each other during that insane and frightening mission, like you could read each other’s minds and recognized how scary it was for the other and how much you needed that comfort.

And now…

The others’ voices became but a muffled mumble to your whistling ears. The sudden weight that had settled in your stomach made you nauseous as you turned to them.

“What…?” You asked Bruce in a daze, even if you had heard him loud and clear.

“Are you serious?” Arthur muttered, staring at him as well.

“That would kill him!” You reply in outrage, turning to Barry. The speedster didn’t say anything, only reciprocating your gaze with a neutral expression that you knew hid his fear.

“It’s the only way...” Bruce looked down, clenching his jaw.

A loud silence hung over the group. None of you broke it until Barry himself spoke up. Much to your horror, it was to agree with Bruce’s plan.

“I’ll do it” He replied, bearing a grin on his lips but heaviness in his dark eyes.

“Barry...” You began, knowing him well enough to realize he would not hesitate to do the right thing. He would not hesitate to sacrifice himself to save the world.

“It’ll be okay” Barry smiled at you, even if you could tell it was a fake one.

“Wait, no! I have to...” You reached out to hold on to him, but he was already gone. “Tell you how I feel...”

You closed your hands into fists so tight that your nails painfully digged in your palms. A hand gently squeezed your arm, so you looked up to Diana. She showed you a friendly yet sad smile.

“He knows, Y/N” Were her only words, which didn’t bring you as much comfort as any of you’d hoped.

Contradictory feelings created a lump in your throat. You knew he had to do it, and you knew Victor needed his help. It was selfish of you to not want Barry to do it. You wanted him to, to fix everything, but… you didn’t want to lose him. Tears reached your eyes, so you averted your gaze from your friends. Arthur sighed in resignation next to you. Bruce swore under his breath. You knew Victor would try to come up with a different plan if he wasn’t inside. If Clark wasn’t so focused on keeping Steppenwolf busy, you know he would have some objections himself.

Just when you felt the tears started rolling down your cheeks, a sudden presence made you jump up in startle. Before you could even turn around, you felt something against your cheek. By the time you met face to face with Barry, you had realized what graced your cheek were his lips.

“Be right back” He muttered, even though his voice cracked.

“No, you won’t” You saddly replied, staring into his eyes. “Barry, I...”

He lingered for just a moment before running off. A sob escaped your throat. None of you spoke, and that awful silence was making your heart race. A blue streak illuminated the surroundings as Barry caught speed.

Diana suddenly held your hand, so tightly that you could almost read her thoughts as she made them so palpable. You squeezed back, joining her in what you assumed were mental prayers for Barry to make it back alive.

“C’mon, kid...” Arthur whispered, barely loud enough for you to hear.

The atmosphere became strange around you as Barry reached maximum speed. You grimaced, waiting for the inevitable. Chaos ensued for a moment when Barry managed to achieve his mission, creating a loud commotion that created enough energy to save the day. A pause lasting only a second followed. It was the longest second of your entire life.

The breath hitched in your throat when the electric blue streak passed before your eyes and stopped just a few meters away from the group. You gulped when it dissipated and a reddish blur became a familiar figure. The silence had returned, albeit awed this once.

“I made it” Barry gulped, heaving something between a chuckle and an exhalation. A second after, his eyes rolled into his head and he was limply falling to the ground.

“Barry!” You let go of Diana’s hand and ran to help him, faster than any of them. “Barry, no!!“

You threw yourself to the ground with such force that you scraped your knees. That pain was nothing compared to the one that held your heart ransom. You repeatedly called his name, desperately shaking him. No response. Trembling from head to toe, you then went to hurriedly take his helmet off. The sweaty dark hair stuck to his forehead. His eyes were closed. He looked terribly pale. When you held his face in your hands, he still didn’t move.

“Y/N...” Arthur miserably said as he approached the two of you. The pained word brought a sob to your throat. You knew what he meant when he called your name like that. Barry was gone.

Bruce kneeled by your side. Diana stood on her foot, hovering behind you.

“He’s alive” Bruce suddenly uttered, causing your heart to race. For the first time since you joined the team, it was a good sign.

“He’s alive?!”

“He’s alive...”

_

Your eyes closed, but you didn’t give in to sleep. He needed you.

Thoughts plagued your mind, so many and so varied that your head hurt. You were mad at him for being so reckless. But proud that he didn’t hesitate to save everyone. At the same time, you were sad that he had exerted himself like that, if only because of how dangerous it was. And you were worried about his health. Your temples throbbed.

“You haven’t moved in two days” Clark’s sudden voice scared you. Nonetheless, you didn’t have the strength to flinch. “Get some rest, Y/N”

“No, I have to stay here with him” You watched Barry as he slept peacefully in his bed, hooked to the machine that tracked his vitals. Fortunately, it kept beeping with his heartbeat.

“We’ll tell you if he wakes up”

“I’ll be here when he does”

Returning to focus on Barry, you squeezed his hand. You had been holding on to it for so long that your hands had seemed to fuse together. It had been your only comfort these days. You had to keep reminding yourself that he was still alive.

“You’ll get sick too” Clark lingered on his gentle tone, empathizing with you and being worried himself despite not really knowing Barry like you did.

But he could tell. Anyone could tell Barry had a heart of gold. That he was kind and warm. Still, Clark didn’t know. He didn’t know how much Barry made you laugh. Not him not anyone knew how much you treasured his reassuring presence next to you as you fought to save the world. How much you appreciated his light-hearted jokes and efforts to relief the tension. No one knew how especial Barry was to you.

No, you refused to get up from that chair. You only stared at Barry still, mentally begging for him to wake up like you could will that thought into existence. Your throat began to hurt from how fiercely you fought the tears. Seeing your resolve, your friend shook you a little.

“Y/N, you...” Judging by Clark’s tone, you saw a soft reprimand coming. You were too tired to put up with one, no matter how well-intentioned it was.

“No, Clark!” You stood up, something you didn’t do in days. “I... I…”

You had moved so quickly that you got a headrush. Clark held you by the arm when you wobbled, but you angrily swatted him away.

“I’m not leaving him! I need to be with him, because...” Your confident and loud voice grew lower and sadder. “If I’m not…”

Clark’s own eyes looked watery. He frowned and nodded his head, silently providing you with the understanding you so badly needed. It didn’t help with the burden of guilt and remorse that filled your chest, though.

The beeping of the machine filled the stillness, followed by a different sound.

“Can you... keep it down?” A groggy voice muttered. “I’m trying to sleep”

You and Clark gasped at thet same time, quickly turning to your friend lying on the bed. Barry’s eyes were open, even if heavy with weakness, as he slowly turned his head in your direction.

“You slept for two days, buddy” Clark grinned, fondly looking at him.

“That’s a long nap” Barry smiled, tiredly closing his eyes.

“You’re so stupid!” You softly punched him in the arm, forcing him to look back at you.

“Ow” He barely had the strength to reach out to hold the spot. “Easy, I’m convalescent”

“You scared me half to death!”

Barry’s prior small smile vanished in favor of a concerned frown when he got a good look at you.

“You look exhausted…”

“We kept telling Y/N to get some rest” Clark piped up, looking from one to the other.

“And I kept telling you I wasn’t going to leave him!” In response to your reply, Clark only smiled fondly. Shaking his head a little, he scooped you into his arms and carefully laid you down on Barry’s bed next to him.

“There, you can look after each other now” He carefully patted Barry’s arm. “Everyone’s happy”

You barely paid any attention to Clark anymore as he muttered he was going to tell the others that Barry was awake. Instead, you were far too busy tightly hugging Barry and hoping you weren’t hurting him. When the door closed, signaling Clark’s departure, you were nuzzling Barry’s shoulder.

“Wow, hey” He chuckled, playfully patting your back. “Missed me, I see”

“Shut up”

“Were you worried?”

“Was I worried”

“Yeah”

“If you pull something like that ever again, you better believe I won’t need your speed to catch up to you and kill you myself, Barry Allen!”

Barry weakly laughed at the stupid line you had just said. Realizing the silliness of it yourself, you joined him in his chuckles.

“I love you too” Barry playfully replied, bearing a joking grin.

Your eyebrows arched in surprise, and then he gawked at you.

“N-No... I didn’t mean...” Barry corrected himself. “I didn’t mean I love you as a... It was a joke! I-I mean, it’s not that I don’t love you, but... but... uh..."

When everything stilled, however, you realized how truly close you two were lying down together. There was barely enough room in that small bed to fit the two of you even as you were on your sides. Being so close to him, you wonderred how you hadn't realized how beautiful his eyes were before. You took his face in your hands, chuckling again. His lips suffocated your laughter as well as his babbling when they connected with yours. It was a slow and delicate kiss, nearly a peck. You both were still very tired, and that wonderful exchange made you so calm that you felt your eyes close both in exhaustion and happiness.

When the kiss ended, you both lingered in that closeness. Barry tenderly pressed his forehead against yours, leaning into your touch. Your hands were still on his face while his had clumsily found their way to the small of your back.

“Thanks for looking after me” He whispered, dedicating you a tired smile.

“Thanks for coming back to me” As you said it, you wondered if the smitten way he was looking at you was the same way you were looking at him without realizing.

“I told you I would” Barry reached out to press his hand against yours, caressing your skin with his thumb.

You melted in a loving embrace, and everything was alright with the world again. As you rested against his chest, Barry’s heartbeat under your ear brought you peace. Linger in the hug, that you wished you could stretch out forever, you gazed into each other’s eyes.

“How about we actually listen to our friends and get some rest?” You mumbled, slowly reaching out to hold his hand.

“That sounds great” Barry intertwined his fingers with you, smiling wide.

Finally feeling like you could relax after days of being on edge, you fully lied down with him. Barry was beaming, his smile never faltering as you got comfortable beside him. Your hands were linked together like they had been for days now. This time he squeezed yours back. You felt the slumber take you as you groggily repeated the words he had said to you first. I love you too.

Tag list: @call-me-harley-quinn / @wonderlandfandomkingdom / @locke-writes / @emmacata / @galactic-magick​ // If you want to be added or taken off the tag list for these fandoms or characters, send me an ask!! 

[killing-all-joy]

Sometimes Having Terrible Aim Is Worth It

Pairing: Analogince Word count: 4,492 Logan uses he/they pronouns cw: swearing, snowball fights, mentions of murder, implied bad parents, i might have made lore for this at 1am while bored whoops

Overall, Roman and Logan were happy with their neighborhood. The location was convenient for both of their works (the theatre and the high school) and the environment was very lax. It was a low-crime, middle-class neighborhood with people who seemed very nice.

Roman, the sociable one, had made friends with many of the people on their block, only leaving a couple of houses alone. He had told Logan that all the people he had talked with were amiable people worthy of their friendship. So, Logan had accompanied his boyfriend during conversations with their neighbors on occasion, despite being an introvert with a general disappointment in the human race.

It wasn’t with ease that Roman was able to leave the house on their right alone. He had been warned not to bother the man who lived there as soon as he had moved in and started to make friends with his new neighbors. A blonde woman who Roman guessed to be about twenty years older than him had knocked on the door the evening after the two had moved in and given them the gist of the neighborhood. Her name was Janet, and she had told them about which houses had kids (as well as which kids were the best or quietest), how many people lived at each house, what each resident was like, and finally, about the man who lived next door.

Apparently, he was introverted and creepy, didn’t have friends, had the scariest Halloween decorations, worked at an age-old psychiatric hospital, and was rude and disagreeable. Janet had sufficiently discouraged Roman and Logan from interacting with him, but even if she hadn’t, the reports from their other neighbors would have done the job.

One kid said she had knocked on his door on Halloween, and he had opened the door and snarled at her with a realistic vampire outfit on, laughing evilly as she ran away. One mother said she had gone to his house to ask for a cup of sugar, and he had given her a cup of salt instead. Three kids all said they had seen him near the haunted house on Fridays. There was a rumor going around that he had killed the previous owners of the house Roman and Logan now resided in because their cat had made a small scratch on his car (Logan and Roman were less inclined to believe that last rumor; it was evidence-less, unlike the others).

But, other than the next-door neighbor they were both terrified of, Roman and Logan liked their living situation very much.

It was January, right in the middle of winter. The weather refused to let their area forget this fact; the week had started out with a snowstorm and after one day of pause, it had snowed every day for the next four days. It was now Friday, the fourth consecutive day of having snow, and the neighborhood kids had calmed about the state of the weather. Earlier in the week, Roman and Logan would often look out their window to find kids playing in the snow. Now, the excitement had dialed down and the kids were exhausted. The couple figured that sometime in the middle of the next week, the kids would be back to causing snowy chaos, but there was still almost a week until that hypothesis would be put to the test. At the current time, the block was quiet.

Roman appeared next to Logan, who was reading. He perched himself on the armrest of Logan's armchair and put an arm around his boyfriend.

"Hey, Logan?" Roman asked, taking a lock of Logan's hair and twirling it between his fingers.

"What is it you want, darling?" Logan replied, not looking up from his book.

Roman frowned. "I never said I wanted something."

"You called me Logan," he explained like it were obvious, "so, you want something."

Roman rolled his eyes, wishing his boyfriend wasn't so observant. "I want to have a snowball fight outside."

Logan raised an eyebrow, keeping his eyes on the novel in his hands. "I assume that you want me to join?"

Roman nodded. "Who else would I fight?"

"I also imagine you will annoy me about this subject until I acquiesce, or the snow melts?"

Roman nodded again.

"What's in it for me?"

Roman furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Well...maybe, after the fight, we can curl up next to each other on the couch in our blankets, hot chocolate in hand, and we can watch Doctor Who or whatever while we snuggle."

Logan bit his lip.

"You know you want to."

Logan rolled their eyes. "I most certainly do not."

Roman grinned at him cheekily. "Bullshit," he said sweetly, "now come with me."

He took the book from Logan's hands and set it on the table. He grabbed a receipt from nearby and put it on the open pages, before slamming the novel shut and pulling his boyfriend to his feet.

Logan made a noise of surprise as he was dragged to the door by his boyfriend.

"Roman, wait!" Logan exclaimed, putting a hand on Roman's arm. "Let me get my gloves and hat on first."

Logan, who was already in a blue patterned sweater and dark purple scarf, dashed to his and Roman's room. He opened his closet and picked out his navy blue beanie and red gloves. He put them on quickly, not wanting to have to deal with Roman's manhandling once again.

He raced back to Roman who was waiting for him at the door impatiently. When he saw Logan, his expression brightened to one of adoration.

"Oh my gosh, mi querido, you look adorable!"

Logan huffed. "I am not adorable."

Roman laughed. "Yes, you are."

Logan knew that arguing was hopeless.

They took the accusation to heart for a moment. "What if the neighbors see our fight and it ruins my reputation and they never take me seriously again?"

"One, they will be too far away from us to recognize you. Two, they won't care. Three, I'm going to be annoying you for the next two months about a snowball fight so if you refuse, they'll judge you for choosing someone as loud and annoying as myself as your boyfriend."

Logan nodded. "Fair enough."

The two exited their house. Logan put his arms around his torso and shivered, the sudden change in temperature shocking his body, but Roman ran ahead. He immediately crouched down to the ground and formed a snowball, aiming directly for Logan’s stomach, and missing by a couple of feet. Logan gave him a disappointed look.

Roman huffed and returned to building a snowball. Logan shivered again, watching the small flecks of white flutter down from the clouds above and land on their suburban neighborhood. Logan was removed from their thoughts when a snowball collided with his stomach.

He stumbled back half a step, but steadied his stance and glared at his boyfriend. Another snowball was thrown his way, but Logan dodged and watched it disperse against the door.

“You might want to join me in the yard, Specs, if you don’t want me to break a window.”

Logan followed his suggestion, running to the front yard and immediately forming a snowball. They threw it at their unsuspecting boyfriend who was in the process of making another snowball. It hit him square in the chest, making him fall backwards.

“Oh, you’re in for it, mi luz.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “You’ve hit me twice, I’ve hit you once. I’m hardly the-”

A snowball to the lungs effectively shut them up.

---

Roman and Logan were hiding behind their respective walls of snow. Throughout the fight, they had been creating their own walls to hide behind to avoid getting hit. The fight would continue until either surrender or unconsciousness occurred, and both knew the former would be the hardest to achieve.

Since the two were both overachievers and never half-assed anything, their respective snow walls were two and a half feet high, roughly four inches in thickness, and approximately two feet wide. Roman had drawn an ‘R’ into his for dramatic effect, and Logan had hit the ‘R’ purposely with a snowball twice.

Neither knew how much time had passed, nor could they sense just how cold they were. All they could think about was demolishing their beloved in a violent war of snow, where only one could be crowned victor.

They were so unfocused that they didn’t notice a door opening and closing. Their eyes were so zeroed in on each other that Logan couldn’t see anything but his weapon and his target.

Logan knew the second the snowball left his hands that he would not land the shot. They were off by at least a couple of feet. They paid it no mind, however, and focused on evading Roman’s next attack.

The snowball landed with an audible smack.

That was unusual; dodged snowballs normally landed soundlessly on the ground.

What was also unusual was the yelp accompanying the sound.

Two shocked heads turned and watched as an unfamiliar man was thrown off his balance from Logan’s ruthlessly packed snowball. He didn’t fall to the ground, no, he was too scary and intimidating for that kind of humiliation to ever befall him. But, he was inconvenienced just enough so that Roman and Logan were terrified for their lives.

Logan hadn’t hit any old neighbor that lived on their block. He had hit the man who lived to their right.

The man who was evil, scary, probably a serial killer; the person that even the adults were scared of. He overdid Halloween, had no friends, and worked at a psychiatric hospital. He could probably kill them if he wanted to. According to the rumors, he had killed for lesser motives.

His eyes locked with both of the men at once, and Logan and Roman had never been more scared in their time together. He was terrifying.

With a black shirt, black jeans, black and purple hair, and a black hoodie, the man next door with tattoos creeping up his neck and black eyeshadow under his eyes looked very much the part the rest of the street had cast him as.

Logan and Roman were truly and undeniably fucked.

When the neighbor stopped glaring at them and walked to his car, Logan and Roman simultaneously craned their necks back to face each other, a terrified look in both of their eyes. Suddenly, all their competitive fire was extinguished and they looked at the snow on the ground with fear and regret instead of devious fun.

Their neighbor got something from his car and returned inside, casting sideways glances at Roman and Logan as he passed them. He slammed his door shut, causing both men to flinch.

From day one, the couple had been warned by kindergarteners and middle-aged women alike that they were unfortunate to be neighbors with the man next door. It was today that this was proven. All they could do was wait for their demise.

Roman threw a snowball at Logan’s face in anger at his actions and bad aim. For the first time in this fight, he wished he had been hit by that snowball.

There was a four minute period where the two were internally debating their options of either going back inside or apologizing to their fearsome neighbor. Occasionally, they would make eye contact with each other, but no words were actually spoken. Roman, the extrovert, considered knocking on his door to make a quick and hasty apology while Logan, the introvert, thought about writing an apology letter and sliding it under his door.

Neither of their ideas needed to be put to action, however, since the neighbor exited his house once again.

The two resisted the overwhelming urge to cower in fear. They had never seen him before, and now they had seen him twice in less than ten minutes? Clearly, they had ticked him off.

In an effort to not make it look as though they were staring, Logan and Roman stuck their gazes on each other. Each could tell that their partner was resisting their instincts telling them to run as far away as they could as fast as possible. But they couldn’t be rude—not when that man lived right next to them and could approach their house at any time. The serial killer rumors suddenly seemed more plausible.

What greeted them (or rather, Logan) instead, was a snowball to the back.

Logan, who was tenser than a taut rope, stumbled from the harsh impact. When he was able to regain his stance, his head whipped around to look at his attacker.

The neighbor had on, of all things, a smile.

He had discarded his hoodie for a fluffy black sweater with purple bats on it. He was now in a black beanie and had on midnight blue gloves. While his winter attire was surprising considering he already had a hoodie and didn’t seem to leave his house much, the mischievous smile was the most perplexing of all new things about their neighbor. Neither Logan nor Roman could make sense of it, except that it let them see the infamously creepy stranger in a new light.

Logan huffed out a bemused laugh, staring at the neighbor (who looked to be similar in age to them) like he was a gripping plot twist in a novel that unexpectedly ended happily. He shook his head a bit, but crouched down and formed another snowball. He made sure not to throw it as hard as the first one he had thrown at the stranger.

The man dodged it with ease, running closer to the snow-covered couple’s house. He swiped some snow off the porch rail and quickly packed it before throwing it at Roman, who was too busy being bewildered to do anything to dodge. He gasped in offense and coughed when the snowball collided with his sternum, and directed a playful glare at his attacker. He threw a snowball at him in return.

The neighbor easily dodged that one, but wasn’t able to dodge the snowball Logan had thrown his way. His attention switched over to the bespectacled assailant, looking at them just in time to see him throw another snowball at his boyfriend.

“How the hell did you make a snowball that quickly, cariño?”

“I have a snow wall, Ro. What do you think I put behind it? Action figures?” Logan retorted sarcastically.

Roman rolled his eyes and formed another snowball, sending it through the air and smack into Logan’s wall. “Every man for himself!”

The neighbor laughed at that, and the snowball fight continued.

---

As it turned out, Logan and Roman were at a disadvantage from already being out in the snow before their neighbor joined in. He was able to make them both surrender eventually, but not before Roman had aimed a snowball at a precise place on the back of his neck where the snow fell down the back of his shirt.

Logan was the wiser out of the couple and had surrendered first (not without a fight, though). He figured he deserved it; he had been the one to disturb the stranger, after all. This made him able to watch as both Roman and the stranger started to shiver more and more as the fight had continued.

When Roman finally did surrender, Logan laughed in his face and then put an arm around him. Logan took one hand in his and was able to tell his fingers were numb.

“You just never know when to quit, do you?” they sighed fondly.

“I did eventually!” protested Roman indignantly.

The stranger chuckled from beside him. “Would’ve been easier for your poor body if you’d surrendered when you knew you were gonna lose.”

It was the first time they’d heard him speak; snowball fights weren’t exactly the best place to start a conversation. His voice was low, about as deep as expected from a scary man in all black. However, it didn’t hold any fearful qualities or scratchiness like the kids had described. The couple thought it sounded like coffee on a cool winter’s morning (which didn’t make sense since coffee wasn’t a sound, but it was all that they could use to describe it, nonetheless).

“And when would that have been?”

“The second I joined in.”

Logan hid a laugh behind their hand. Roman glared at him for encouraging their neighbor.

“No idiot surrenders the second another person joins,” Roman muttered.

“Exactly,” the man said with a wink. Logan was able to spot him curling his arms around himself, probably from being cold.

Roman gasped loudly when he finally realized what the stranger was saying. “How dare you!”

He stumbled out of Logan’s arms and collected more snow off the porch railing, making it into a large, messy ball and chucking it at the stranger.

It hit his face. Not hard in any shape or form; no harm would be done, but it was still a bunch of cold water shoved in his face and falling into the front of his sweater.

The stranger furiously batted at the snow on his face.

“Serves you right,” Roman mumbled.

Logan rolled his eyes. “Sorry, that must’ve been freezing.”

The man nodded.

“Come on in,” Logan invited, opening the door. “We can make you some hot chocolate.”

Roman rushed inside, running to the storage closet that had extra blankets.

“A-are you s-su-re?” the stranger said, syllables separate and repetitive from his shivering. The snow in his face caused his teeth to chatter.

“Of course,” Logan said, “it’s our—well, mostly my fault, that you got cold anyway. I’m Logan. He/they pronouns.”

Virgil chuckled. “L-log-an, h-uh? Was st-st-starting to thi-nk y-you were j-just gi-v-ven a b-bunch of p-pet names at b-birth.”

Logan blushed furiously, but laughed. Roman referred to him with Spanish terms of endearment more than he did his legal name.

“At this point, I might as well have been. I tend to respond to any unfamiliar word that vaguely sounds like Spanish now.”

They ushered the freezing stranger inside. Roman had returned from the storage closet with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and another under his arm. Logan took the blanket that wasn’t shrouding his shivering boyfriend and wrapped it around the stranger’s shoulders, who tugged it tighter around himself eagerly.

Logan went to the kitchen, putting three mugs of milk into the microwave and setting it for two minutes. They then returned to Roman and their neighbor who were shivering in silence.

“Thanks for joining us,” Roman said, “that was fun.”

“It was,” he agreed, shivering starting to calm down. “T-thank you for letting me p-participate.” Not fully, however.

“Of course,” said Logan, putting an arm on Roman’s shoulders. “I totally meant that snowball as an invitation. Fully intentional.”

The other two laughed, knowing that was a lie. The microwave beeped, and Logan left them to take the mugs from the microwave. He put the hot cocoa powder in and stirred the mugs, before picking them up.

He entered the living room to see that Roman had sat on the left of the couch and the stranger in the middle. Logan put their mugs in front of them and put down a mug for themself. He sat down next to the stranger.

“Might I ask your name, oh Master of the Snowball?” Roman asked.

The stranger snorted. “That’s much better than my name. My name’s Virgil. He/him.”

Logan smiled to himself. “Not at all, that’s a very nice name.”

Virgil choked on the hot chocolate he was sipping. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Fits your aesthetic,” Roman remarked.

Virgil opened his mouth, looking offended. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

It was obviously a joke, but Logan and Roman knew they had to tell Virgil of the rumors and his reputation. Especially now that they saw him as a good guy.

“Halloween,” Roman started to list, “everyday-is-spooky-season aesthetic, seems like the type of guy to work at a haunted house.”

Virgil scoffed. “Those places are stupid; not scary at all. If you want to go to a haunted house, make your house the haunted house.”

Well, now they had the Virgil-goes-to-a-haunted-house-weekly theory debunked.

“You do have ghosts on your sweater,” Logan supplied, taking a sip of the hot chocolate.

“They’re cute ghosts, though,” Roman said as soon as Virgil opened his mouth to argue. He pointed at one on his sweater. “See? Look at the lil’ faces.”

“My sister got it for me for Christmas.”

“If I knew your sister, that would probably explain the cute faces.”

“Oh, believe me, it would.”

Logan chuckled as he watched the two exchange conversation. He took another sip of his hot chocolate.

“So, um, I heard moving trucks outside your house about a month ago. Was that y’all? You new here?” asked Virgil.

“Affirmative,” Logan confirmed.

“Yeah, it’s our very first house together!” Roman said happily.

Virgil smiled. “That’s sickeningly adorable.”

“I am sickeningly adorable,” Roman said like it was a badge of honor.

“I agree,” Logan said.

A comfortable silence befell the group.

Virgil fidgeted, looking at Roman nervously. “Bit awkward question this far into the conversation, but I never caught your name-”

“Roman~” sang the man in question. He would have held the note out for an impressively long time if he didn’t take a sip of hot cocoa.

“Cool,” said Virgil awkwardly. “And I suppose, Roman and Logan, oh wow y’all’s names rhyme that is so romantic, anyway-”

Roman gasped, covering his mouth. His eyes lit up. “They do!”

“Are you just noticing this, Roman?” asked Logan.

“Of course!” Roman exclaimed in reply. “If I knew our names rhymed, I would have already written many a rhyming poem about our love.”

“That’s very nice, Love.”

“Don’t be snippy, mi cielo, you know you’d love it,” Roman huffed. “Virgil, don’t you think he’d love it?”

Virgil just rolled his eyes fondly, not wanting to get caught up in the middle of a lover’s spat.

“Don’t bring Virgil into this, Roman. You should put the subject aside, considering he was in the middle of saying something before you interrupted.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask. Did our neighbors happen to...um...tell you what they thought of me? Ruin first impressions? It would explain your terrified expressions when we first saw each other.”

Roman and Logan looked at each other worriedly.

“...Maybe?” Roman asked quietly.

“There’s a small possibility...” Logan whispered.

“Y’all, I’m not mad if it happened, I just wanna know.”

Logan sighed. “Yes, yes they did.”

“What’d they say?”

“Multiple people said different things,” Logan began. “Janet talked to us first. She’s the blonde, short-haired, blue-eyed-”

“-Used to be a soccer mom, baby blue house?” Virgil asked. Logan nodded. “Met her when I first moved in, and once after that.”

“Her, yes. She told us, quite frankly, to not come near you.”

Virgil started to close in on himself. “Like how?”

“Said you were creepy, rude, introverted, no friends, freaky-as-all-hell Halloween decorations, apparently knew where you worked,” Roman told him, then noticed Virgil’s shrinking and stopped with the accusations. “I doubt almost all of that now, since you’re obviously not creepy and definitely have friends with that personality, but she may have been accurate with Halloween decor.”

“She was,” Virgil confirmed. “Go big or go home.”

“I believe you are normally home during Halloween, are you not?” asked Logan, confused.

Roman laughed. “Of course, mi amor.”

“Where do I work, in Janet terms?” asked Virgil, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Some old psychiatric hospital out of town.”

Virgil doubled over in laughter. He put his mug on the coffee table so it wouldn’t spill and held his head in his hands.

When he regained himself, still giggling, he replied.

“That’s inaccurate,” Virgil said plainly. “I don’t have a degree for that. See, there’s an old abandoned psychiatric hospital two miles away from the airport that is on the same road as the airport. It’s out of use, so that’s a stupid assumption to make. I guess I could maybe see why she made it though; I work at the airport.”

“Oh?” asked Logan, intrigued.

“Yeah, I’m an air traffic controller,” said Virgil with a shrug. “It ain’t that interesting. I recently got fully certified, though, which is cool. It pays well, I’m good at paying constant attention to things that could potentially end badly, and the high-stress comes from having to give my unwavering and full attention, which is something I can do well.”

“Less stressful than home and college, I guess, huh?” Roman guessed.

“Exactly, it's a spa compared to my parents,” Virgil said with a laugh. “But yeah, that’s hysterical. I definitely do not work at a psychiatric hospital.”

“I suppose what the kids said is untrue if what the adults said is false,” Logan mused.

“Oh dear lord, what did they say,” Virgil groaned.

“One girl told us about the rumor that you killed the people who used to live here,” Roman said, and Virgil immediately laughed. “Her mother said she asked for a cup of sugar and you gave her a cup of salt instead.”

“I hadn’t slept in five days and realized my mistake two hours later,” Virgil explained immediately. “I remember that one.”

Logan snorted. “One boy said you go to the haunted house on Fridays, which is obviously untrue.”

“Yeah. One, they’re stupid, two, that one’s only open in October and November, three, that one ain’t even scary. It has a good and free parking lot, though, and I volunteer at an at-risk youth center every Friday a couple blocks down that has really shitty parking.”

Roman shook his head. “Wow, we really got you wrong.”

“You were misled,” Virgil corrected. “It’s not your fault.”

“You know what, you’re right!” Roman agreed. “We were robbed.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Of what?”

“Of friendship,” Logan said, taking a sip from his drink. “Roman would have been banging on your door two days after moving, wanting to get to know you. But, after a momentous amount of ‘rude’ and ‘disagreeable’—” Virgil frowned, “—he was persuaded not to. Our loss, especially considering you are neither of those two adjectives.”

Virgil smiled. “Thank you.”

Logan looked into Virgil’s chestnut brown eyes, and was able to spot the specks of gray in them. They gave Virgil a warm smile. “For what? It is our pleasure to be given the chance to know you.”

Roman groaned. “I try 24/7 to be dramatic and you do it without trying.”

Virgil, blushing, giggled. “You’re both good at it.”

Roman beamed at him. “I’m thrilled you think so, Nico di Angel-o.���

“Nico’s surname can be interpreted to mean ‘of the angels’ already, Roman, I don’t think you need to emphas-”

“Shhhh, Specs, let me shower our guest with compliments.”

Virgil’s face was on fire. “Do y’all have any movies?”

~

Taglist: @somehow-i-got-an-account @justanotherhumanstuff @fander-fic-recs @neo-neo-neo

~

I wrote most of that when I went into a blur for three hours and looked at the time after I finished the draft to see that I had wasted all the time I had to do homework. It was worth it. I don’t know why but I’m really attached to this AU? If you want to see more of it please tell me. I hope you liked it!

[texanredrose]

Look Before You...

Blake took her seat, sweeping her gaze over the field currently filled with ‘knights’ from all over Menagerie. While they’d operated as a kingdom for years, only recently did they begin matching the other kingdoms of Remnant in certain ways and first came the overwhelming vote for the Belladonna family to become the ruling family. Her dad had tried explaining that that wasn’t how it worked, you couldn’t be voted into kingship, but it became one of the few arguments he lost during his tenure as Chieftain of Menagerie- a title he continued to hold, with the wider understanding being that he was their king and just had a unique title, which most people accepted enthusiastically. It seemed to be the widely accepted logic that, since they were exiled and driven away from the rest of Remnant, they didn’t need to strictly adhere to the other kingdoms’ precedents. When they did, it was with a bit of cheek, as evidenced by the array of ‘knights’ preparing to fight in the grand melee.

In other kingdoms, knighthood came after years of testing or with the proper bloodline. In Menagerie, anyone willing to challenge Ghira to a duel would become a knight after. The challenge came in the fact that her father was a moving mountain who spoke softly but hit very hard. Alternatively, prospects could challenge Blake’s mom, Kali, but even fewer would dare attempt that challenge. It was common knowledge that Chieftain Ghira, although strong, would simply beat you and leave it at that; Chieftain Kali, on the other hand, would usually leave you with a scar- not out of malice, of course, but because her opponents underestimated her and she sometimes couldn’t pull back her blows in time.

Blake shifted, one ear flicking back to hear the metallic tink of her sword’s scabbard hitting her chair. This would mark the first time Blake would be challenged as well for knighthood, which would be after the grand melee; the reasoning being that, those who felt well enough to continue fighting after the melee would be just as taxed fighting the relatively young Chief as they would fighting fresh against the more experienced Chieftains. Blake, for her part, looked forward to the tests to come; faunus all over Menagerie had taken up combat arts in the past year, starting the moment the tournament was announced. It would be an important, historic moment for them as a people.

Not least because the other kingdoms were becoming nervous about how easily the faunus thrived on the desert island they’d written off as being uninhabitable.

“You look bored.”

“I’m impatient,” she replied, sparing her best friend a glance. “I’m surprised you didn’t join the tournament. Isn’t the grand melee exactly the sort of fun you’d be dying to have?”

Sun shrugged, leaning on his bo staff as he stood next to her with a wide grin. “Yeah, but I’m already a knight. There’s no real benefit to me joining in, except fighting you at the end, and we do that enough when we’re training.”

“Well, I think it would be fun to fight in the melee,” she said, picking out the specific styles of weapons and matching them to the different regions around Menagerie. But then, her attention was caught by one figure specifically. “Is… that…”

“Something wrong, dear?” Her father took his seat behind her, awaiting the signal to officially begin the grand melee. When he followed the direction of her gaze, he saw what she did and muttered a curse under his breath. “An Atlesian knight.”

“A high ranking one at that.” Her mother mused, cautiously intrigued. “You can tell by the helmet.”

Blake didn’t know the different Atlesian knight ranks well enough to be able to discern much more but she did know that the closer the armor resembled the late King’s, the higher the rank, and this one matched the description she’d heard and read to the smallest detail, even the plume down the backside of the helmet. If not one of the Royal Knights, this one was close to the top of the order, despite seeming so… small and slim, standing there among the other warriors. The armor added bulk but it didn’t match up to the farmers turned warriors surrounding the knight. “What an Atlesian doing here?”

“I don’t know… but they haven’t started any trouble yet. Keep an eye on them, Blake.” Ghira rose to his feet and bellowed out that all might hear him. “Welcome, all, to the first annual Unified Menagerie Tourney! As a celebration of overcoming our struggles thus far, the first event will be the grand melee. Those arranged before you will fight until only one stands and, then, whoever can muster their strength may face Chief Blake to earn their knighthood. Then, we look at the advancements we’ve made…”

As her father continued to explain the three days’ worth of events, Blake watched the Atlesian knight, who seemed to hardly acknowledge anything aside from the details regarding the grand melee. It annoyed her, to some extent, because she felt like the knight might be there as some sort of statement, as if to prove that an Atlesian knight could best anyone in Menagerie. Then, she noticed something else. “That knight doesn’t have a shield.”

“Isn’t that a big taboo in Atlas?” Sun leaned towards the edge of the elevated box they sat in, tilting his head. “Everyone uses the same style; only the royal family can go without a shield, because their knights are their shield?”

“Maybe it’s not an Atlesian at all?”

“That might be worse.” Sun cringed. “Don’t think Atlas will be too happy if they hear someone wearing their armor got their butt kicked at our tourney.”

Blake pressed her lips into a thin line, watching the knight’s posture.

“As a reminder, all events are in the spirit of celebration and community; as such, killing blows are strictly prohibited during the grand melee,” her father said, impressively not allowing his gaze to linger on the Atlesian. “With that, contestants, assume your positions and prepare for the fight to begin!”

As the contestants moved to make a large circle, Blake watched the Atlesian’s movements with all her attention. However, the longer she watched, the more she noticed that the knight appeared to be… supremely uncomfortable, or at least unaccustomed to wearing the armor; their movements were sluggish and they turned awkwardly, as if they lacked any sort of awareness as to their size and expected to bump into something they couldn’t see at any moment. In fact, the more the knight moved, the less alarmed Blake felt; if anything, she worried that Sun might have a point and the person in the armor wasn’t Atlesian at all. That would be a diplomatic headache if word got back to the royal family of Atlas.

Her parents exchanged a look of concern but remained silent until the circle had formed. Then, her mother stood up and shouted. 

“Begin!”

A horn was blown and about forty people shouted in response and charged forward. Metal clashed as weapons crossed, but in the hectic melee, Blake watched the Atlesian knight’s movements closest and… well, there was skill there, somewhere, but the person beneath the armor obviously had never worn it before during combat. Their left arm rose, a thin blade- so unlike the universally larger swords favored by Atlesians- blocking or deflecting errants attacks, but it seemed… sluggish. They certainly weren’t used to the limited view of the helmet, unaware of someone swinging a giant hammer at their back until it smashed into their backplate. No matter who was in the armor or what their attentions were, Blake winced when the blow landed; it looked painful.

The knight was sent sprawling in the dirt and essentially forgotten about; while many grand melees operated under the idea that a contestant either died, ran away, or won, and no one cared how many fell into the first category, this one was different. As long as an opponent stayed on the ground or only crawled, they would be left alone; the last person standing would be crowned victor, and each was in charge of gauging whether getting back up would be a wise idea. The knight got back up.

“Tenacious,” Ghira said. “I would’ve stayed down.”

“Only in a contest,” Kali replied, a lilt to her voice. “If something was riding on it, though, you’d get back up.”

He nodded. “True. They must be fighting for something.”

The knight- perhaps because of their weakened defense, perhaps because they were the only one fully armored, perhaps because they had the audacity to wear a foreign kingdom’s armor, who could really tell the motivation- became the favored target of those closest to them. Hammers, maces, mauls, swords, clubs, axes: every weapon on display turned against the knight, who met or blocked most but couldn’t be quick enough to block them all. When a battleax struck the knight in the head, a cascade of sparks indicating the killing edge of the ax had penetrated the helm, Blake thought the knight would stay down. It would be safer. But the knight got back up.

“Why won’t you stay down?” Blake leaned forward as the knight stumbled back a few steps, their right hand reaching up and roughly pulling off their helmet.

If possible, many mysteries were solved by the act, only to be replaced by a plethora more as an uproar began rising through the crowd. The entire Belladonna family jumped to their feet and leaned forward, each disbelieving what they could plainly see before them. Blake leaned against the banister, straining her eyes and ears for any hint of deception- because, surely, what she was seeing couldn’t be what was actually happening.

Yet, as the helmet fell to the ground, the visage of the mysterious knight became visible- piercing blue eyes, a scar across the left just a few weeks’ healed, and long white hair like an unbroken line of moonlight. In other words, a member of the Atlesian royal family, and a very prominent figure at that: Princess Weiss Schnee. She was busy fumbling with the straps to her chestplate while Ghira tried to call an end to the melee- the last thing they needed was a royal heir of another kingdom being seriously injured during the tournament- but the roar of the crowd drowned him out. Blake held her breath, unsure of what she expected or what she wanted to happen next.

Then, the Princess tossed aside the breastplate and all its attached bits- the heaviest part of her armor- and raised her sword, bellowing something at the opponents who surrounded her. Whatever she said, it moved a few of them, and three stepped forward to meet her. Three weapons sought to strike at her, without the bulk of her armor.

However, without the bulk of her armor, she was quicker than anyone expected. Without the helmet, she had her full field of vision; without the breastplate, she could twist and turn easily; without the pauldons, she could lift her arm with ease. Her sword flashed, knocking aside two of the three weapons turned against her- a scythe and a battleaxe- while meeting the third- a sword- which she batted away. She was akin to a dancer gliding across the battlefield now, twisting and turning to keep her blade between her and her enemies, even when they surrounded her. The wise ones, those who had battled previously, chose now to weed out some of their opponents, fighting off to the side, while those who had little experience attempted to best the Atlesian.

“Stop the melee!” Ghira took a deep breath, preparing to bellow the words when it became apparent that he couldn’t be heard over the raucous excitement below. But Kali put a hand on his forearm.

“Wait… she wants to fight; let her fight.”

Blake could see it, too. Doffing her armor hadn’t made her invulnerable; she still seemed to be at a disadvantage and a few blows managed to land anyway. Yet, she kept getting back to her feet. One didn’t submit to this sort of punishment for no reason. Blood ran from an open wound on her head on the opposite side of the scar and she was clearly having difficulty breathing- perhaps a bruised or broken rib from the hammer blow earlier.

The veterans had nearly thinned out all the other contestants and the Atlesian had done her part to discourage the rest from continuing to fight. 

But everyone had their limits, and the Princess found hers when one of the veterans wielding a giant hammer took a swing from her blindside. The blow sent her sprawling and though she obviously struggled to try and regain her feet, another defeated contender nearby lifted his head just enough and seemed to say something to the Atlesian. Whatever he said, it convinced the woman to simply lay down until one of the tournament’s attendants hurried in to whisk her and the other defeated combatants away.

Blake turned immediately.

“Cub.” Her father’s voice held equal parts a warning and concern. 

“I’m just going to make sure she’s alright.” She was already halfway down the stairs by the time she responded, searching for where the disqualified contenders were brought. She could see some tents where people limped about and the occasional cry from wounds being tended drew her towards them. A few people acknowledged her- attendants who had no interest in watching the melee, competitors awaiting one of the later events, and those who left the melee but had recovered enough to move of their own power- but no one stopped her as she searched through those wounded during the melee to find the Atlesian. She eventually found the woman struggling to pick up her dirty and discarded breastplate, stringing together words in what Blake thought was Old High Atlesian but could’ve easily been an eldritch curse. “Well, at least you’re standing.”

Those piercing blue eyes landed on her with a force similar to one of the hammer blows she suffered earlier but softened almost immediately as her expression shifted from fury to embarrassment. “Your Highness, you needn’t worry about a- a lowly warrior-”

“You’re the Princess of Atlas.” Blake crossed her arms over her chest. “I think you underestimate how recognizable you are or how intelligent I am. Hopefully, it’s the former.”

Although her lips twisted into a sour expression, she nodded. “It is, I assure you. I intend no disrespect, Your Highness.”

Blake’s eyes narrowed, unsure what game the Princess might be playing at, seeing as they were of equivocal rank as far as Blake could see: both daughters to ruling monarchs. If anything, Blake might be positioned slightly higher, as she was an only child and Weiss was second born, but hardly enough to warrant the constant, stiff formality of the Atlesian aristocracy. Then again, she would expect an Atlesian to disregard her rank entirely simply to snub her. “None taken… Your Highness.”

They held each other’s gaze for a moment longer before they were interrupted by a tourney attendant entering the tent bearing a tray with a tea set.

“Ah, Chief Blake, apologies for intruding-”

“It’s fine.” Amber eyes fell on the tray, noting the single cup. “Could you bring a second cup?”

“Of course.” A low bow after setting down the tray preceded the attendant- a ram faunus, if she didn’t miss her guess- ducked back out of the tent.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said, taking the teapot and pouring the cup. It had to be some sort of Atlesian tea, dark and pungent, as no tea leaf in Menagerie was that dark brown color. Then again, Atlas sat high in the mountains amid snow and ice while most of the tea shrubs they cultivated in Menagerie were surrounded by dirt and desert; it seemed there was some sort of inverse relationship between the color that surrounded a tea bush and the color of the liquid it produced. “But I find myself curious as to what a member of the Atlesian royal family is doing joining a tournament in Menagerie.” She picked up the saucer and held it out to Weiss, making it clear that she’d poured the cup for the woman and not herself. “Perhaps you can indulge me over a cup?”

Weiss looked at her as one might regard a snake poised to bite before relenting, sighing heavily and letting the breastplate drop unceremoniously to the floor so she could accept the saucer. “I suppose.”

Her ears canted back. “I don’t want to twist your arm about it.”

“It’s… not that.” The woman sighed, frustrated, and trudged over to a chair, setting down the saucer on a nearby low table as she eased herself into the seat, her greaves creaking with each step. “I’d hoped to earn a knightship as a means of proving… something.”

“Something?” Blake grabbed a chair and brought it over next to Weiss as the attendant returned. She poured herself a cup from the teapot and sat down next to the Atlesian. 

“Yes, something- if I could articulate it-”

“That wasn’t me prompting you,” she said, settling into her seat and grabbing her saucer. “It was… I suppose a bit of camaraderie. I know what it’s like trying to prove something you can’t explain… and you aren’t sure if you’re proving it to someone else or yourself.” A small smile. “To put your mind at ease, you can still attempt to earn your knightship; you don’t need to defeat me to earn the title.”

Weiss narrowed her eyes, pride bristling. “Are you implying I couldn’t defeat you?” Blake pointedly looked over the woman’s battered form. “I don’t mean right this moment, damnit.”

“I’m not sure but I’d like to see you try.” As she took a sip from her cup, Blake paused, then spat the whatever it was out of her mouth as her expression twisted up. “What is this? This tea is horrible!”

“It’s not tea; it’s coffee,” Weiss said, barely concealing her amusement behind her cup as she took a long sip without flinching.

Blake threw her a baleful look while setting down her saucer. “You knew.”

“I knew that I’d given her coffee grounds and told her how to make coffee and that she brought me back what smelled like coffee; you were the one who thought you knew what was in the teapot. You could’ve asked.”

The attendant from before- either anticipating the fallout or hearing Blake’s reaction- appeared with a second teapot that poured blessedly green tinted tea. She almost burned her throat trying to wash out the taste left in her mouth. “I hope you realize this is even more incentive to make you regret applying for knightship in my kingdom, Princess.”

“Then my impending knightship will be all the sweeter once it’s won, Chief.”

As much as she should be annoyed by the flippant response, Blake found herself smiling before taking another sip of her tea.