#sorry i may be annoying by queuing it up a bunch

[megatraven]

Alex Cyprin is a demigod by way of their mother, Aphrodite. They're nonbinary and go by they/them pronouns. They've been in love with MC for longer than they'd care to admit, and though they're MC's boss, they're also one of her closest friends, having known her most of their life.

When their mother's artifact goes missing, there's no one they trust more than MC to help them bring it home. As they struggle with their feelings for MC and the responsibility they feel to keep her safe, getting their mother's stolen artifact back is harder than planned.

If you'd be interested in reading the route that leads to Alex's happily ever after, their entire route can be found on youtube here!

More CGs under the cut:

[prose-for-hire]

Under the Mistletoe

12 Days of Christmas: (kind of) Day Five

Pairing: Rupert Giles x reader

Request: Thank you for letting me know! I didn't want to resend just in case it actually went through. I was curious if a Giles one could be done where the reader has hung mistletoe all over to get Giles to give some kisses, but him being Giles, he either doesn't see it because he has a book in hand or he sees it and panics, so he doesn't "see" it. Finally, the reader just snaps and grabs some mistletoe, walks to Giles and holds it over his head. "For a guy who is pretty smart . . . where are my kisses?"

Requested by: @sword-sings-of-silver​

A/N: It’s gonna annoy me so much that this has been posted after Day six, but I didn’t realise I hadn’t queued it up and my Wifi was down so I’m sorry for not posting yesterday !! ❄🖤

You were in love. He was smart, witty and incredibly attractive. You had been driven wild with emotion whenever he was near. It had been almost two years now and you had yet to make any move. You didn’t know whether he felt the same which h made it hard to reveal your own deep feelings.

What you hadn’t realised was that he harboured such great feelings for you that he thought he may explode. He became nervous when your were around. You were so attractive. When you were in the room, his eyes were always on you. Until you looked his way and he diverted his gaze.

You were an assistant at the library, which meant you had a lot of time in the day with just you and Giles. Talking to him was so easy, so enjoyable. You were sure you had met your soulmate, in heart and mind. It was no secret that you loved Christmas and Giles, or Rupert as he insisted you called him, found it refreshing how enthusiastic you were. He had learnt so much about you, you spent most weekdays together and so he felt like he knew you like the back of his own hand.

At the beginning of December, Giles asked if you wanted to decorate this year for the holidays and you excitedly nodded and started to make a list of all of the items you would need to make it look much more Christmas-y in the room. You were beyond excited and your enthusiasm near made him melt. He adored you, wished he could spend even more time with you. Despite the fact you worked together. Somehow, it wasn’t even enough.

You were, of course, in on the knowledge of demons and the Hellmouth. You would have to, the amount of supernatural activity in that place would have driven you mad otherwise. Luckily, you had been classically trained. You had a degree in demonology and had originally started working there to track down a very rare tome you had wanted to research. However, you had met the man of your dreams and you loved being a librarian too.

You liked the kids that came in to save the world every now and again. They made you laugh although they were very nosy and asked you constantly about your love-life. They saw the way your eyes wandered over to Giles every time they asked.

Buffy, Xander and Willow had gotten tired of you both second-guessing the other’s intentions. So they hatched a plan. Just in time for Christmas. Xander, with a little of his Commando training still in his brain called it: Mission X-mas. Because they wanted to get you both to reveal your feelings by the time Christmas came around.

This was important because they had both found out that you were both spending Christmas day alone. They hoped if they pushed you into each other’s laps before Christmas break, they could enjoy their own holidays knowing that you may make plans together.

It was Monday morning, a day you wouldn’t usually enjoy however you found yourself increasingly enjoying it. Getting up in the morning were easier. It was the anticipation. It was seeing him. It made you smile as you packed the boxes of decorations in your trunk. You made a stop on your way to work and got in just in time. You had to make several trips with your boxes and Xander caught you in the corridor and offered to help. He muttered something about Santa’s grotto but when you asked him to repeat himself he said he thinks there’s a ghost in the room and then he sped off.

“Here, I brought you this” You offered him the to-go cup of tea you had picked up on the way to work. He smiled fondly and thanked you, offering to cheers with your cups. You met your drink with his and your eyes locked. The gaze you shared was so meaningful, so pure. You wanted to kiss him so badly it ached. He looked as if he was about to say something, but shook his head, thinking better of it. He thanked you again and offered to help you decorate. He knew this would make you smile, he loved your smile so much.

You sat together, discussing your weekend and the most recent demon problem. You finished off your hot drinks and sat in a comfortable silence together. You were so comfortable with him. You just wanted to tell him, but if you did you may lose moments like these if he didn’t reciprocate.

Suddenly, Xander ran in saying that he saw the demon summoner walking around Giles’ house that morning. Luckily, Giles didn’t ask why Xander had been there and just set off to his home. Not even a full minute after he left and you had barely opened up the first decoration box, Buffy and Willow soon followed by Xander slipped into the room.

“Shouldn’t you be at Giles’ house? With the demon summoner?”

“Ah, well, about that-”

“You were supposed to distract him not scare him!” Willow exclaimed, now worried about Giles who may think he was about to get seriously hurt.

“It got him out of the library” Xander put his hands up in surrender.

“whats going on here guys?”

“It’s Giles”

“What is it? Has he been possessed?” You asked, now worrying about him too. That would explain the draw he had. The effect he had on you. Maybe it was supernatural instead.

“well you could say that...”

“No you couldn’t” Buffy said.

“possessed by love” he said as the rest of you shared an eye-roll.

“Someone please explain” you said, moving your attention back to the box realising the situation wasn’t as serious as you once thought.

“Giles is in love with you!”

“Don’t be-”

“No really! He has a serious jones for you. Totally head over heels territory over here” Buffy confirmed. You squinted between them.

“Really?” you paused from looking in the box again. They nodded seriously.

“He just won’t tell you because he wants you to be comfortable at work”

“That’s so… sweet” you sighed dreamily and they all shared a look.

“So what do I do?” You asked them, really not sure why you were suddenly asking romantic advice from a bunch of high schoolers.

You looked in the boxes, pulling out a whole bunch of mistletoe. Everyone’s eyes landed on it and you all had the same idea at the same time.

You started to wind tinsel around the columns and sprigs of holly on different shelves. You made paperchains and decorated the tiny tree you had brought to sit on the librarians desk.

But the most important part was the mistletoe that you hung from every ceiling and every doorway. You stood with your back against the double doors to take in your handiwork and you did a little silent wish that your plan would work. You were second guessing yourself, getting cold feet. This was stupid. You had listened to teenagers that as far as you were away didn’t even date.

You shook your head at yourself, moving to go and tug some mistletoe down but just at that moment, he had returned grumbling something about Xander as he entered. That was it, there was no time to change it now. So you just let him take in the room. He loved it, mostly because you had done it. He moved to stand beside you and told you this. You shivered slightly as his body was close to yours. But he moved away too quickly.

You had both ducked under a bunch of mistletoe as you talked him through your vision for the decoration. You both looked up and then at each other. He every obviously saw it. His eyes widened as he moved away quickly. This confirmed what they had said to you. If he didn’t feel that way, he wouldn’t have so awkwardly moved away. It gave you hope. It made you smile to yourself softly. He went a bit quiet, pulling into himself to overcompensate for how much he wanted to kiss you.

It kept happening, you met under the mistletoe almost several times each hour. But he avoided your eyes, ducked his head and mumbled some kind of excuse. He was dying inside, he was so desperate to kiss you but he didn’t want to risk losing your friendship. It didn’t cross his mind that you had put them there on purpose.

For the rest of the day, he walked with a book, not looking up much. He desperately wanted to pull you into him, your lips meeting so perfectly. It was almost too much. He was desperate to be with you. To hold you. To be close to you. He wanted to keep you warm through the long winter. Wanted to be by your side.

It took you until almost the end of the day to properly work up the courage. But eventually you watched him start to get up from his office and you quickly got up to meet him in the doorway. The mistletoe hung directly between you. He started to look down at his feet and say something but you spoke first.

"For a guy who is supposed to be pretty smart... where are my kisses?" You smiled, leaning into him. He was surprised you could harbour these feelings.

“Well, ah, yes-” you rolled your eyes, pulled him into a kiss that he quickly returned. Your lips met, gliding over each other. Every move charged with such raw emotion. You both dropped what you had been holding to reach for the other. Wanting to pull each other even closer. To have each others skin against skin. His hand cradled your head and you ran your hands up his back. His lips were addictive, even better than you had imagined. He was an amazing kisser. Made even better because of how much care he harboured.

You backed into his office, smiling into the kiss. He cupped your face hungrily kissing around your lips and jaw before catching your lips once more. He had been dreaming of this and he didn’t want to ever stop.

However, at this moment Snyder walked in rolling his eyes at your decorations and pulled a large amount of paperchains from the ceiling. You heard this and moved apart quickly. You stepped out of the office to face him. Both of you a little out of breath. He snaps that your Christmas decorations are not regulation. He looks between you and scowls. As if he wanted to say something. To catch you out. But instead he just turns on his heels and leaves.

Which allowed you and Giles to slip back into the office, desperate to study each other’s bodies rather than the books you usually would. Your lips met again as he sat you on the desk, he adored the way you glowed under the Christmas lights you had just installed earlier that day. This Christmas was shaping up to be the best one yet.

[dougiewonderland]

KNK // A Lazy Day With

Request: Hi~ I was wondering if you could write what a lazy day with each member of KNK would be like? (100% have Be Lazy by Day6 going through my head rn lmao)

A/N: I’m sorry this took so long hun! I included Youjin because you didn’t specify if you wanted him or not so all six members are included.  Also I hope it’s ok that it’s in bullet format - if you’d like mini scenarios for each instead let me know!

Seoham:

Cinnamon roll just wants to wake up with you next to him

He’ll just watch you sleep peacefully for a bit

If you wake up he’ll cuddle you until you guys get hungry enough to get up

Otherwise he’ll get up and make you breakfast in bed

Either way baby boy is making you breakfast (though at this point it’s basically lunch, you guys stayed in bed for a while)

You insist on joining him in the cooking but he makes you sit back and relax

A new movie you guys have been wanting to see is finally out to stream so you guys watch that after you eat

Which leads to you guys watching a bunch of cheesy movies

(Imagine just cuddling on the couch listening to his little squeak laugh I’m not Seoham biased and I’m sOFT)

You guys end up making dinner together

You prank him by putting a little sauce on his nose, but eventually kiss it off

Instead of pranking you back he puts it on your lips to kiss it off (smooth amirite)

And guess what!

A new episode of your favourite drama comes out so you guys watch that while eating dinner

Eventually he falls asleep on your shoulder and you just sit there and admire his adorable sleeping figure

You guys just enjoy the cutest homebody day in your pjs

Dongwon:

(Idk that much about Dongwon yet?? He’s kind of an enigma to me, like he looks so hard and tough on the exterior but he’s a giant cinnamon roll??  I wish I knew more about him)

You wake up before him and just appreciate his gorgeous features for a bit

Eventually he wakes up and sees you watching him

“What’re you looking at?” he blushes as he covers his face with the blanket

“You’d think you’d be used to this after us waking up together countless times”

“Not you looking at me every morning no”

(And imagine that deep voice but even deeper because he still has sleep in his voice uGH)

Even though he’s hiding you see his cheeks in a big smile peeking out from the covers so you know he’s flattered by it

You just cuddle into him and lay your head on his chest, enjoying his warmth and the comfortable silence

Eventually he asks you what you want to do today and when you say you don’t have anything in mind he mentions a small carnival that just started not too far away

Thinking it’d be a cute place to go you nod and give him a kiss, making him blush again

“You know you’re cute, right?” you say, making the blush in his cheeks deeper

You guys take your time getting ready

After you guys get ready you head off towards the carnival, taking your time and walking through parks and along the river on the way

You guys eventually make your way to the carnival, mostly just enjoying people-watching

(You do convince him to go on some rides with you though, like the ferris wheel)

You guys grab food and walk around some more with it, watching kids play games and run around with their stuffed animals

He doesn’t say anything because he knows you guys aren’t near that point yet, but he hopes that one day that can be you guys and your kids

Inseong:

This happy virus

Gotta love him but

Lazy day doesn’t mean quiet day

(Don’t get me wrong I love this man, somehow this dork is my bias)

He’ll just quietly lie next to you playing with your hair as you sleep

Until he thinks of something funny then he’s just laying there trying to stifle his laugh

And you wake up to his stifled laugh shaking the bed and him snorting through his hand, just glaring at him

“Sorry~~” he mumbles into your shoulder as he envelopes you in a hug, still trying to contain his laughter, now from your face when you woke up

You’re just too cute, he can’t help it

“Ya, what’re you laughing at now?!” you say when you see him laughing again

“I know you’re annoyed but you’re just so cute~ I can’t help it.  Now love meeeee” he says as he plasters any part of you he can reach with kisses

You guys eventually get up and change out of your pajamas into...more pajamas

At least it’s a clean pair

Inseong suggests a movie marathon which honestly sounds great to you

Y’all binge movies and popcorn all day until you decide it’s time for real food, so you guys get dressed and head to a nearby cafe/bistro place that sells salads and sandwiches you guys love

He just stares at you lovingly during your little date, blushing and smiling every time you catch him

But it’s ok, you keep stealing your own glances

He may be a butt that wakes you up, but he’s your butt and you love him

Jihun:

I feel like even on a lazy day off Jihun wouldn’t want to stay home all day

It’s one of his rare days off with you, he wants to enjoy it and take you out

He wakes up a little before you, and watches you sleep peacefully for a little 

He likes chatting with you in bed before getting ready for the day

Once you wake up you cuddle into him while you chat a little

“Good morning jagi, how’d you sleep?”

After chatting a little, you guys get up and get ready to head out to breakfast together at a local place you both love

As you guys get ready next to each other he gives you little pecks and smiles at you in the mirror

He holds your hand as you guys walk to breakfast

He giggles and plays with your fingers as you guys wait for your food

Boy just loves the subtle affection of holding your hand

You guys just have a really fluffy soft breakfast time together

You guys just wander around and do some window shopping

He gets you a sweater he thinks you’d be really cute in that you liked

You guys pick up some ingredients to make dinner together on your way home

You enjoy feeding each other parts of the dinner as you make it to taste test (and because you guys are getting hungry as you prep the food)

When it gets dark you guys sit on your balcony together and watch the city lights

Jihun sings to you and runs his fingers through his hair as you cuddle in bed because he knows it calms you and puts you to sleep

Heejun:

Wakes you up with a tickle fight

“Ya, sleepyhead!  I miss you, now wake up and spend time with me!”

You try to resist to no avail, there’s no resisting the tickle master

You may lose at all the tickle fights, but you could have the upper hand in, let’s say

A pillow fight?

Pillow discreetly in hand, you take the first chance to take a swing at him

“Ya!  Ok, you win! So mean~” he says as he cuddles into you

“That’s what you get for not letting me sleep in”

“You had all night to sleep, now it’s time to spend the day with me~”

“And what is it you want to do on your day off?”

Instead of answering you he just clicks on the TV with a movie queued up to play

He clings to you like a koala bear as you guys watch the movie, occasionally grazing your sides to let you know you didn’t really win before

You guys pause the movie to order takeout

As it’s his day off you let him pick what to eat and he picks chicken

At least it got you guys out of bed, even if it is in the afternoon

Eventually you guys are just chilling in the living room with a show on in the background

You’re reading a book as he starts strumming on his guitar, humming along to something

You join in the humming and he flashes you his gummy smile because he rarely gets this side of you (you insist he’s the singer not you after all)

Youjin:

One of the things he’s most proud of in your relationship

Besides asking you out of course

Is that he got you into video games, especially ones he likes to play

Any day off you guys get, you guys play together

You might even be more into it than he is

Honestly it kinda scares him a little

When you get into stuff you get SERIOUS about it

But that’s something he loves about you at the same time

But everytime one of you wins a round, the other gives the winner a kiss

Eventually you guys get hungry and you’re both craving that new food truck down the street

So you guys head down and get some, as well as some snacks and drinks from the local convenience store

And that’s your big excursion for the day

You guys eat your food outside because it’s a beautiful day and you don’t want to lock yourselves up all day

After you eat you take your convenience store haul back home and settle back into playing games, this time opting for some cooperative gameplay

After several successful rounds, you guys decide to turn in for the night

Instead of going to bed you guys just lay there and talk about anything and everything for hours before finally drifting off to sleep

[nautilusopus]

sorry this is a lot but I enjoy your opinions. G, P, U, W, X, Z

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

Nah. I’m aggressively boring and uninvested in general in most romances so I usually just go with whatever’s canon and call it a day.

The closest thing I got to ever shipping in the past was being mildly surprised that people saw Link and Zelda as an item in Twilight Princess because they don’t really talk much in that game (they have maybe two conversations? Three if we count any presumed dialogue they might’ve had during the last boss battle when they’re on a horse together). I wouldn’t say I’m actually invested in it one way or another though. Link didn’t really have much of a personality until Wind Waker came along. 

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

FFXV AU where Noctis asks literally any questions at all about anything and interacts with the plot as an active participant in it instead of a copypasted emotional beat from FFX and thus doesn’t die at the end due to lazy writer caveat. (spoilers i guess) 

I am so so so so tempted to write this and the urge has been growing stronger over the last few weeks. I imagine fans of XV wouldn’t be too thrilled I’m writing fanfic specifically because I hate everything about XV, but y’all keep circulating posts about how writing fanfic to fix canon is totally valid!!! so I fully expect everyone to walk the walk after talking the talk. 

On another note, AU where Cloud never actually makes it to Midgar after Zack gets filled with lead, thus never meeting Tifa at and least screwing his head on semi-straight, and just wanders around in the wilderness as a weird amnesiac murderhobo in a perpetual fugue state. Hijinks ensue I guess.

Shit, I should write that. 

And now I have 48 fics queued. Look at what you’ve done. Are you proud of yourself?

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

alright let’s get the obvious one out of the way

Cloud because I used to fucking despise him and over time he really grew on me after I was exposed to his genuinely moving character arc and narrative that actively trampled every expectation I had about what it would be. Dumb asshole that unabashedly loves his friends, which is something that you rarely if ever see in other protagonists of his mould which is why it infurates me as much as it does when people (Square or the fanbase, it’s annoying either way) try to downplay it. That was one of the things that made him unique and compelling in the first place and you’re actively discarding it? Fuck you. 

It’s genuinely refreshing to see someone try as hard as they can and fail catastrophically in every possible respect, and then that’s just the result and he has to come terms with that pain as something shaping who he was instead of just learning a lesson and then getting over it. There are a lot of matter-of-fact moments like that with regards to loss and pain in VII but Cloud’s arc actually took one of said moments and made it extremely cathartic. 

I have a lot of fukken feelings about Cloud, man. That character analysis essay is officially four years old and the ETA on it is “whenever I guess”.

Azula from ATLA. I mean, I adore basically everyone in that series so I don’t even know which one I’d call my favourite, but I do think I ought to highlight Azula since a lot of who she is kinda gets overlooked. She’s like a family-friendly Eva character. 

It’s genuinely fascinating to watch her break down, and on a second rewatch you can sort of tell which beats fell into place where. Ironically, she considers Zuko the “favoured child”, and part of the reasons she utterly despises/loves/despises him as much as she does is because she tries to earn his approval in her own weird, sociopathic way. Then, when he inevitably bails, he not only rejects her, he goes and shacks up with even more people that consciously chose to love him, and for all her talent, after all her hard work, all she has is Ozai, who’s probably never loved anything in his life. The unfairness of it all. 

The breakdown she has at the end isn’t even anything new, really. It’s just the first time other people get to see it. 

Speaking of Eva, Shinji. DISCLAIMER: YES SHINJI MASTURBATED TO COMPLETION OVER ASUKA’S COMATOSE BODY IN A BLATANT DISPLAY OF NOT ONLY HIS GENERAL DISLIKE AND FEAR OF WOMEN BUT IN AN EXPRESSION OF HIS REFUSAL TO PROJECT AFFECTION ONTO PEOPLE BECAUSE PEOPLE CAN REJECT HIM, PREFERRING TO SEE ASUKA AS A PERSON-SHAPED OBJECT INSTEAD. THERE I HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED THE PROBLEMATIQUE ™ BIT NOW. CAN I LIKE THIS CHARACTER YET?

Shinji and Cloud have a lot of the same character arc, as I’ve mentioned probably more than a few times because I repeat myself a lot. Where Cloud is a more optimistic take on defining oneself on one’s own terms and as a result accepting that they can be someone worthy of love, Shinji’s side of that concept is waaaaaaaaaaay more cynical, in that Shinji kind of… doesn’t learn to do that in the end. Refuses to, in fact, to the point where it gets everyone killed. Also Kaworu is Zack if Zack actually had character development and if C//la/ck was actually canon. Where Cloud overcomes his fear of rejection by learning he is deserving of existence on his own merits, otherwise why would he have people that care about him in the first place, Shinji is crippled by it and spends most of the series screaming at anything that remotely resembles responsibility. For a guy that repeatedly tells himself “I mustn’t run away” his reaction to everything is almost exclusively to run away. 

Now, I’m not necessarily implying that if things had gone worse, Cloud might have masturbated to completion over Tifa’s comatose body, but like… I’m just saying.

(Though Aeris and Tifa were admittedly a lot more stable than poor Asuka or Rei ever were, as low of a bar as that may be.)

In case it wasn’t obvious, I clearly have a Type. And that type is a maladjusted child soldier screaming VALIDATE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE from the top of the lightpole they climbed up to avoid their feelings, and they all deserve a good hug and a firm shove down a flight of stairs or two, in either order. 

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

Love triangles. If I wanted to see a bunch of assholes do a bunch of petty bickering fueled by hormones and poor communication and pitting two people against one another for extremely asinine reasons, I’d lurk outside a high school. 

X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

Apart from the aforementioned Type ™ I have, people getting overwhelmed by gestures of basic human decency and the implications of that. 

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

God they did poor Luna so dirty. You could have replaced her with another fucking crystal or something and it would affect the plot about as much. Man, didn’t the selling point for FF used to be its rich, inventive storytelling? 

Come the fuck on, Square, you had female characters figured out in fucking 1992. This isn’t hard. 

[intheemyart]

Another Book Fight

It was again the famous chemist in the world of today, Sesera Brooke, who released her research into a book this week and the sales are pretty much demanding. So demanding that even a woman like Frederica couldn’t find the copy all over Singapore somehow.

Plus, now that she needs to fly to Indonesia for helping her father with the hospital’s business— she was pretty much pessimistic about having the book as soon as possible on her hands. Nevertheless, her secretary found some information regarding the stock of that newly-made best seller book in Indonesia and despite the wealth and power she has, Frederica will hunt down the book by herself all over Jakarta’s bookstores.

After getting some ‘proper’ rest at her apartment, the lass rushed to the nearby biggest bookstore where she received the information regarding the very last stock of the book. Now or never.

People may thought that Frederica will not be the same as her family members; her father and sister who’s pretty maniac with health issues, laboratory, illnesses, and the hospital. Frederica was actually, the nerdiest out of them. She may not be a doctor like them, but she’s involved in those things too. Chemistry, to be clear. She learned it in the past for her work as an art conservator— especially solvents use for painting conservation.

Look at those books and list of educations she had in her home or her CV, probably the longest one may ever seen in the entire life. This book by Sesera Brooke is one of the prove of her being crazy towards new studies.

“Uhm… buku karya Sesera Brooke yang baru?” she asked the staff of the bookstore in a very thick Melayu accent as she’s a foreigner. Finger crossed, she would be able to get a copy of it today.

────────── 

The new release by Sesera Brooke is crazy! Unfortunately, the preorder thingy is absent in this kind of book; unlike the other book, such as: a novel. Her latest experiment requires some information regarding the chemical used in the future.

And, the information--are written in the new release by Sesera Brooke. At least, the decent reason for Dan being crazy over a book is reasonable. One thing left that makes Dan so irritated and fidgety is that--her secretary is taking her hiatus. Damn it.

Dan must go to the bookstore-- and here is she, looking at the monitor while her hand keeps moving the mouse in order to search the new release by Sesera Brooke. “Mana sih?” frowning--her habit when she is annoyed, “Jir, tinggal satu, gila.” curses a lot, that’s Dan. She turns her body to start looking at her ‘target’ but--her eyes meet someone, “Permisi?” their gap is deadlocked, Dan needs to make her move first before anyone else.

────────── 

The staff decided to take her to the nearest computer to help locate the newly released book. Frederica was more than excited to be able to found the copy here. “Thank you,” she said to the young woman before she stood on the queue of one in front of her.

Her eyes couldn’t help but to accidentally and unintentionally read the name of the book the figure in front of her typed in and looked for. The name of the author she’s looking for. Big chance; they were looking for the same book. Their eyes met for sure— realizing that both were really into the same book. Frederica’s competitiveness burned her at the moment. Whatever was the reason, she needs to get it first. Frederica needs the book now.

Her legs quickly took their pace towards the aisle of the bookshelf where the targeted book was located. It’s now or never, a matter of seconds only and her effort to look for it would gone to waste.

That book is her’s and no one is allowed to take it. At least, have a mercy on the mother of two.

────────── 

The gaze of the stranger eagerly knocks her out, “What--??” Her voice was strident. But, Dan won’t give up easily. She even skips her meal time to search for this new release, and a stranger snatches her from her? Luckily she uses her glasses today--Dan can easily skim and spot the right book from the aisle of the bookshelves, “Errh!” but she doesn't know the color of the cover or even the visualization of the book.

Astaga,” she searches the book in a different aisle from the stranger, depending on her luck--but, maybe today is not her lucky day. A long deep breath--sigh is emitted by Dan as her eyes spots the stranger with the book on her hand.

“Congratulations,” Dan approaches the girl. 

────────── 

It’s not easy for the old woman to find the book between the others. But thank God, being an art conservator helps her with skimming those shelves quickly and correctly. The only book on the shelf— at least that’s what the eyes saw. Actually, there’s another copy of the book hidden between the other books on the side of the print that Frederica took. Perhaps, the other woman needs to look for it. “I’m sorry. I got it first. I’ve been going around to have this copy, even flying from Singapore.”

Yes, she felt guilty but Frederica hoped that the lass would understand that she took it first and she has gone this far just for a copy of Sesera Brooke’s new publication. 

“Good luck with finding another copy. I’m sure you’ll find another one around or in other bookstore,” she added.

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A change will occur in her plan--experiment plan if she is not able to bring the new release to the lab as she already promised to her professor, a total disaster. A disappointment is visible in her gaze, but she only responded with a nod to the stranger. 

“Thank you, Singaporean,” 

But Dan keeps looking at the bookshelves because of the stranger’s hints or maybe simply a motivation. The black cover, she needs to find the black cover, “Eh?” a book catches her attention, “Is it the same with that?” Dan looks toward the stranger--not so far, “EH!” 

The excitement brings her to run, accelerating her pace to catch up with the Singaporean stranger, “Hei! I got it,” Dan pats the stranger’s shoulder gently. 

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“Thank you, Singaporean,” 

Well, she wasn't sure how to respond to that so the lass could only nod her head while her legs started to walk towards the nearby cashier visible to her eyes. What an amazing day!

After days of hunting down the book across Singapore and in the midst of that, needs to fly to Jakarta to help her papa with some matters, she finally found what she has been looking for. Alverstoke's ears could bleed after this to hear how excited Frederica would be after she finally managed to find the book she has been talking about for months already. The conservator couldn't even hide her excitement, everyone could see her cheeks blushing in joy.

A shouting voice was later heard and also a pat was landed on her shoulder. Frederica turned her head to see the girl that was 'fighting' with her over the book minutes ago founded another copy. What a lucky day for both of them, indeed! 

"Hei!" she responded. "Congratulation on finding another copy of the rarest book in the world right now!" she added while a giggle was heard too. This was a hard thing to do so to congratulate her, it's a must, right?

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The plan for the experiment won’t be changed after this! 

The new release is in her embrace; as she walks closer to the Singaporean stranger, “Thank you!” Her voice is high and sounds exciting.  Dan could not be more happy than this, her struggles during writing the proposal will be worth it. Dan offers her hand for a handshake, “I am Dan, the researcher in the biotechnology and medical fields, nice to meet you!” 

She knows if every person that looks for this book, will be a science geek like her. “I think we have the same interest,” They walk together to the cashier, Dan with her smile. Maybe if she could get her business card for further--maybe a collaboration?

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“I didn’t offer much help earlier but then… you’re welcome,” replied the mother of two. A little bit confused but she’s trying to let it slide away. Nothing big to be considered. Frederica extended her hand for the handshake.

“Frederica. I’m an art conservator specifically in paintings and also a director of the National Museum of Singapore. Pleasure to know and meet you here,” she introduce herself in a friendly manner to the stranger. “In fact, I think we do. I work with chemicals everyday and I’m guessing that you are working far more busier and in a greater amount,” Frederica added, reminded with the job she mentioned before.

Frederica walked side by side to the cashier with the lass before she gave her book to the staff and pull out her black card. “Dua buku, ya. Buat yang di belakang juga.”

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True if the stranger did not help her that much, but it was still a help though. The handshake lasts a short time, “Nice to meet you, Frederica,” by looking at her gesture and appearance, Dan knows; she should behave in front of this woman.

Frederica must be her senior, knowing that she is the director of the National Museum of Singapore, what a dream job. “Not much, I only handle the DNA or RNA thingy with PCR or sequencing,” she replied. Dan waits at Frederica’s back, queuing for the cashier, but her sentence is beyond Dan’s expectation, “Mbak, gak usah, pakai yang ini aja, ya,” Immediately Dan talks to the cashier to reject Frederica’s black card.

Then, Dan hands her card, “Ini aja, Mbak,” Dan also gave a gaze to Frederica, “Pakai yang ini aja, my apologize to the previous one,”

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“Working with DNA and RNA along with a whole bunch other stuffs feels like something big and great. I might not able to do the same.” Frederica replied to her. She may not know how it was working with those stuffs, but it sure was cool. 

As they payment was about to be made, the lass interrupt with her card on her hand. Letting the cashier to use her card instead of Frederica’s. “Eh,” she paused while she turned her head. At the end, the cashier took Dan’s card and returned her’s. “You should’ve just let me pay. How much should I pay you? I might pay in SGD since I don’t have any rupiahs,” she said to the lass with a smile on her face. Putting back the card into her wallet while looking for her cash.

Frederica rarely have cash in her wallet. She used the two black cards she has more often.

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“I always have the protocols with me, it isn’t that big to deal with genetic materials, Ce,” the suffix -Ce is casually added if Dan knows if she talks to older women. The cashier then returns the card to Dan, “Terima kasih,” she gives Dan and Frederica the paper bag.

Dan asked about the business card with a doubtful tone, she bet, Frederica would be unpleasant--to give her the business card as they are still strangers right before doing the payment. “But, if you’re uncomfortable, that’s okay,” 

“Anyway, where do you live, Ce?”

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“Still—“ Frederica paused as she listened to her answer regarding the protocols on being involved with the two matters that the plain eyes couldn’t and won’t be able to see. Only with the help of special devices mostly seen in the laboratory. 

“It sounds like you’re being involved in a serious and exciting project too at the same time. I would be very-very excited to be in your shoes,” said the lass honestly. She then bowed to her when Dan refused to receive any kind of payment from her. Expressing her thanks and gratefulness through her polite gestures that was taught by her mother and grandmother— a Korean. “A business card? Sure…” she quickly responded as she put her hand inside her bag, trying to grab her wallet without looking inside.

Frederica managed to find it and took out her black colored with gold accent business card and gave it to the younger woman.

Frederica Esther Biancardi Art Conservator and Director of the National Museum of Singapore.

A simple explanation. Not to be missed, her contacts written on the piece of card to let those who received it knows where to find and contact her. “Here’s mine. I live in Singapore but for today, my apartment in Kuningan,” she answered.

“I’m guessing that you’re an Indonesian living here?” Frederica asked, she giggled at the end as she realized how stupid her question was. The answer was pretty obvious. “I’m sorry.”

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“It wasn't that serious If I deal with genetic materials, sometimes it involves the living things which makes it so big, I admit if it's the case,” hoping an explanation would Encourage Frederica to change--her perspective towards Dan’s job.

“Thank-you,” Dan bowed to Frederica as she took the business card, “Thank you once again,” they walk into the entrance of the bookstore. Dan skimmed the business card once she got it, then, a smile was formed, ‘This is so cool,’ 

“I barely visit Singapore, but If you need something during your stay here, call me, Ce,” getting a smile from strangers is exciting--that's a lie, Dan finds another her who is dabbling in chemicals. “Yes, I'm Indonesian, but half Korean,” once Dan finished her sentence her phone rings, a reminder if Bobby is waiting her. 

“I'm sorrry, Ce, I need to go,” Dan pats Frederica’s shoulder, then bows to her once again, “I'll contact you soon!”

End of Another Book Fight.