#the dice just happened to wait to pick a lot of the prompts I had A/C ideas for

[ineffable-kelpie]

And I would like to spend...

Rating: G

Wordcount: 1,511

Prompt: A clinging hug

Characters: Crowley, Aziraphale

-

That was it, then. Everything was settled. The party was over, and the guests had left—the angels back to Heaven, and the demons back to Hell, Jesus to some unspecified Earthly location to “find himself” without his mum’s expectations to live up to. Which just left Aziraphale and Crowley, standing uncomfortably on the plains where there hadn’t actually been a battle, looking around to make sure they were alone. They were.

Crowley didn’t know how to begin addressing all that had happened between them. Where did they go from here? To the Ritz, for their usual celebratory lunch? To the back room of the bookshop, which was now occupied by another angel? How could they do that when they didn’t even know what they were to each other anymore?

They’d barely had time to breathe, much less talk, in all the panic of saving Earth from destruction (again). Some things had been settled since that disastrous conversation before Aziraphale left, yes. Aziraphale understood now what Crowley had tried to tell him about Heaven, because he’d seen himself how deeply, systematically entrenched the problems he’d thought he could fix were. And the aborted Final Judgement had demonstrated, so clearly that even an angel couldn’t miss it, that the problem with labeling people as “good” or “bad” wasn’t the specific people you applied those labels to. He’d finally grasped what Crowley had been trying to tell him for millennia. He’d been forced to rethink his worldview, and came out firmly in support of shades of gray.

It was just…Crowley didn’t know how he fit into that new world, for Aziraphale. And he couldn’t exactly ask. If he did, Aziraphale might tell him.

“Crowley.”

Aziraphale said his name so softly. A lump formed in Crowley’s throat as he looked up. Aziraphale had worked with him these past months, yes, but Aziraphale had an interest in saving Earth, too. He’d stayed here, with Crowley, after the battle, but…well, it wasn’t as though he had anywhere else to go. It might have nothing to do with Crowley. Crowley couldn’t get his hopes up, not again.

Aziraphale stepped towards him, his hands fidgeting. “Um…Back then, when you…before I left.”

Crowley stiffened. Oh, fuck. Okay. They were doing this.

“You started to say something, and you stopped.” Aziraphale paused. “Er, do you remember…?”

And I would like to spend…

Of course Crowley remembered. That fragment had haunted him ever since then. He’d been so close to getting the words out, to actually telling Aziraphale how much he meant to him, and then he just…couldn’t. He’d seen from the confusion on Aziraphale’s face that it was a lost cause, and he’d given up. He’d known that if he didn’t say it then, he was never going to say it. And he couldn’t say it.

Crowley didn’t answer, but the recognition must have been clear on his face. Aziraphale took another tentative step towards him. He was close enough to reach out and take Crowley’s hand, although he didn’t. “What were you going to say?” he asked gently.

I would like to spend…

Crowley’s throat closed up. “You’re clever. M’sure you can figure it out.”

“I’d really prefer to hear it from you.”

Crowley backed away. He couldn’t look at Aziraphale. “Doesn’t matter anymore, does it? That was ages ago.”

Crowley couldn’t see Aziraphale’s expression, but he could hear the small, ragged breath he let out. “Crowley, please—”

“Stop it,” Crowley burst out. “I couldn’t get the words out then, what makes you think I’d be able to now? Besides, you already said no. I’m not asking again. Learned that lesson the hard way.”

He hadn’t meant to be so harsh about it. Maybe that was what came of not talking for four years, and then forcibly putting your differences aside for a common cause. Now all the messiness came out at once. The thing was…the thing was, Crowley was tired of always doing the asking. Tired of putting his heart on the line and getting shot down. The last time he’d done it, it nearly broke him. And now Aziraphale wanted him to do it again. It was too much.

“I just,” he started to say, and then realized he didn’t know where the sentence was going. He shook his head. If Aziraphale had nothing else to say to him, it was probably best they just go their separate ways for a while. “Sorry, Aziraphale, I should head home. You know where to find me.” He turned to walk back to the Bentley.

He got four steps away before Aziraphale called after him. “I would…” he said, his voice trembling. “I would like…”

Crowley froze, his heart in his throat. Was Aziraphale actually…No, he couldn’t be. But it sounded like…

He turned, forcing himself to look at Aziraphale. The angel was standing stiffly, his hands clasped together in front of him so tight that his knuckles were white. He looked like he was about to come apart from fear, but held himself together with sheer willpower. “I would like to s-spend…eternity, by your side,” he choked out. “If you’ll have me. I mean, if…if that’s what…Did I get it right?”

Crowley couldn’t speak. He couldn’t breathe. He could only stand there and stare at his angel—His angel, who had been so brave, and said what Crowley could not—His angel, who still wanted to be with him even though he would never be an angel, even after everything that had happened—

Aziraphale’s resolve was crumbling. He dissolved into tears. “Unless,” he managed to get out, “unless you’ve ch-changed your mind—”

Crowley was not aware of stepping forward, or moving at all, but suddenly his arms were around Aziraphale, and Aziraphale was clinging to him and gasping for breath like he was drowning. “Yes,” said Crowley, his voice thick with tears. He was crying, now, too. “Yes, angel, you got it in one. And yes, I still…Yes.”

Aziraphale squeezed Crowley so tightly that he couldn’t have kept talking if he wanted to. “I’m s-s-sorry,” he sobbed. “I didn’t know how much I hurt you.”

It’s okay, Crowley wanted to say. You came back. We’ll have forever to apologize to each other, don’t worry about it just now. Except there was no air in his lungs, so he just patted Aziraphale on the back instead and hoped that would communicate at least part of what he meant.

Aziraphale didn’t seem inclined to let go anytime soon. Crowley could relate. It had been such a long and difficult road to get here, and now all he wanted to do was hold his angel for as long as his angel wanted to be held. Which could be a very long time. They had eternity ahead of them, after all, and no angels or demons or sons of God or Satan would be coming to disturb them anymore. The sun went down, and they were still standing there. The sun came back up, and they hadn’t moved. They’d both worn themselves out sobbing, and had stopped crying, but still leaned into each other, basking in the love they could finally let themselves have.

What finally broke them apart was a low, unearthly growl that set Crowley’s teeth on edge. He pulled away from Aziraphale to look around for whatever had risen out of Hell to bother them. Then he caught sight of Aziraphale’s embarrassed face, and the hand on his stomach.

“Do you know,” said Aziraphale, “there isn’t a single decent café anywhere in Heaven?”

Crowley laughed. The relief of having survived, and the Earth not being destroyed, and having this wonderful, ridiculous angel back in his life bubbled up and spilled over. He was cackling so much he had to brace himself against his knees. Aziraphale was laughing too, one hand on Crowley’s shoulders for support, the other hand wiping his eyes. Crowley loved him so much.

“Alright,” Crowley gasped, when the laughter had petered out enough for him to speak. “Shall we do the Ritz?”

Aziraphale smiled at him like he was the whole world, like he needed to make up all the time he’d spent not smiling at Crowley over the past few years. Like it was a privilege to get to smile at Crowley for as long as he wanted. It made Crowley’s knees weak, getting smiled at like that. “The Ritz would be wonderful,” said Aziraphale.

Crowley snapped his fingers to clean them both up a little, get rid of the snot and tearstains on their clothes, and smooth out the wrinkles from hugging for almost a full day uninterrupted. “I think someone’s just cancelled a reservation for two.”

“How lucky for us.” Aziraphale glanced at Crowley’s hand, then shyly reached out and took it. Crowley squeezed his hand back, which made Aziraphale’s smile somehow even brighter.

He was right, Crowley thought, as they walked back to the Bentley, hand-in-hand. They were extremely lucky to have made it here, together. Unbelievably so. And even luckier to have the vast expanse of eternity ahead of them.

[highly-opinionated-ramblings]

Sanji usually got up an hour or two before the rest of the crew- it gave him time to prepare a decent breakfast for everyone. It was also a nice little piece of alone time, which was sometimes hard to come by when at sea. He kind of liked the quiet moments before dawn, just him and his thoughts alone in the kitchen. It was a nice way to start the day.

But today, something was different. As he approached, he made out the silhouette of someone sitting against the door to the galley. A few steps closer, and he could make out the additional silhouettes of three scabbarded swords at his side.

At first, Sanji thought he was just sleeping. It wasn’t unusual for him to fall asleep in strange places, after all. But when he got within a few feet, Zoro raised his head.

“Hey.”

“Hey. What are you doing? Go back to bed, and breakfast will be ready in a little while.”

“I need to talk to you about something,” Zoro said, unfolding his limbs and getting to his feet.

“Does it have to be now?”

“It’s important.”

Sanji sighed. “Can you talk while I’m cooking?”

“Fine.”

“Alright, fine. Come on in, then.”

Zoro stepped aside and allowed Sanji to move past him into the galley, then followed him in, closing the door behind him.

“Since you’re here, I’ll give you a choice,” Sanji said, heading for the fridge. “Omelets, or fried eggs on the side today?”

“I don’t care.”

“Pick one.”

“Omelets, then.”

“Ok.”

Zoro took a seat at the counter and waited quietly for Sanji to gather up his ingredients and the tools he’d need to turn them into a delightful breakfast.

“So,” Sanji prompted as he started in on the vegetables on the cutting board. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Zoro actually hesitated before answering. That wasn’t something Sanji was used to.

“Yes,” he said finally, “and no.”

“...What the fuck kind of answer is that? Did something happen or not?”

“Look, it’s stupid. But I just need you to listen for a second. Ok?”

Sanji frowned. He did not really like where this could be going. “Ok. So talk, already.”

Zoro took a deep breath.

“I had a dream last night. Everyone died, and you and I were the only ones left.”

Sanji blinked. That was not what he’d been expecting to hear, frankly.

“There was a really bad storm,” Zoro went on, avoiding his gaze. “The whole ship was, like, breaking apart.”

“It was just a dream,” Sanji said quietly. “There’s no storm that could take us out, let alone the Sunny. Especially while we have Nami.”

“I know that. I mean, I have those kinds of dreams often enough, I know it’s not real.”

“You dream about everyone dying, just, all the time?”

“Doesn’t everybody? Don’t you?”

“No,” Sanji said firmly, moving over to dump his diced vegetables on the griddle. His nightmares were a much more colorful variety of horrors. A lot of them involved his father in some way or another. Not that he would ever admit to that out loud, though, especially not to Zoro.

“Well, I do,” Zoro shrugged dismissively, apparently unbothered by that part. “But this one was different. Usually, everyone dies. But this time, you were there with me, after the storm.”

“Ok.” Sanji cracked the first of the eggs against the lip of his silver mixing bowl. “And?”

“And…And…”

Zoro paused, apparently struggling to put his thoughts into words.

“And, I feel like I have to ask, ok? I just wanna know-”

“What?”

“-if it was, just you and me…would you let me stay with you?”

Sanji froze, hand hovering in midair over his bowl. For a moment, the only sound was that of the vegetables simmering on the griddle.

Zoro still wasn’t looking at him. Sanji stared at him, sitting there across the counter, as he stared determinedly at the floor, clearly trying to pretend that having to ask that question hadn’t hurt.

God, it hurt Sanji, too, to think that he even had to ask.

The pieces were beginning to fall more clearly into place. Zoro had woken up from a bad dream and immediately went out and put himself in front of the galley, waiting for him. He could only assume that the Sanji in Zoro’s dream had said no, and it had spooked him enough to swallow his pride and sit there and ask-

He thought Sanji might say no? That he would really abandon him like that? After everything…?

Zoro was the protector of the crew first, and a human being with his own goals and ambitions second. Sanji had known that since they first met. Learning that he had recurring dreams of not being able to protect his crew- and that it was a storm that killed them off, not a person he could go out and take revenge on- made a sick kind of sense for him.

But it was another kind of gut-wrenching altogether to imagine him imagining the only surviving member of his crew in a situation like that wanting nothing to do with him. It was like his brain was challenging itself to come up with new ways for Zoro to fail.

Zoro, who had quite literally stabbed Sanji in the back at Thriller Bark, just to be the first in line to throw himself in front of Kuma. Zoro, who had come to Whole Cake with the rest of them to bring Sanji home. Zoro, who put his neck on the line for his crew all the time, to the point that he had shown up to their two year reunion with a missing eye, and thought next to nothing of it.

“Don’t be stupid,” Sanji said, and it came out a little harsher than he meant it to. Zoro glanced up at him, looking like he was preparing for the worst.

Sanji shook his head, finally reaching out for the next egg to crack. “Don’t be stupid,” he repeated, softer this time. “Of course I’d stay with you.”

“Oh. You would?”

“You’d get lost without someone around to show you the way.”

“Hey-”

“And you wouldn’t eat properly. Or take care of yourself. Don’t be a fucking idiot. We’re nakama, aren’t we? You know what that means, don’t you?”

“Well, I-”

“It means you’re stuck with me, that’s what.”

Zoro rolled his eyes, but even as he did so, Sanji watched him visibly relax.

“Hah. Thanks. I don’t know, I just…I guess I needed to hear that.”

“I’m sure everyone else would say the same, too.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am right. Now get out of my kitchen, go back to bed. Get some rest, and don’t let those dreams get to you, ok?”

“Ok, ok, I’m going. Thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll wake you up when breakfast’s ready.”

[baronessblixen]

I know you have a lot of prompts to answer but this one was on my mind so I’ll give it : M&S have to leave William with her mom for the first time for a case but Scully (and/or Mulder!) has a hard time leaving him ☺️

Canon divergent: Set after season 8, Mulder didn't leave and William wasn't given up.

Fictober Day 22 | Tagging @today-in-fic @xffictober2022 | Wc: 1,362

The Birds, The Bees And The Mulders

Mulder pretends to be busy getting dressed, struggling with his tie, when in reality, he’s watching Scully giving herself a once over in the mirror. Her hand is on her skirt, picking at invisible lint. It’s been over a year since she last donned her work clothes. Back then, she was still wearing her maternity clothes, this particular skirt hidden away in her closet because there was no way she fit into it.

“Think they’ll remember us at the FBI?” Mulder asks her, wrapping his arm around her middle and resting his head on her shoulder. He catches her eyes in the reflection of the mirror. He’s known her long enough to recognize the conflict in her expression.

“We were there a month ago,” she says, putting her hands over his. “Remember? We talked to Skinner. We had William with us.”

“I remember,” he says, kissing her cheek. “You know Scully, we don’t have to do this.”

“Do what? Wear clothes? I think it’s a requirement, Mulder.” He chuckles, kissing her cheek. Living with him has rubbed off on her; she, too, makes jokes when there’s something she doesn’t want to talk about. For days he’s been waiting for him to start this conversation, but she hasn’t. He’s been patient with her, waiting. But they can’t ignore it any longer.

“Go back to work. Leave William with your mom. We don’t have to do it,” he says gently.

“We have to go back to work if we want to continue paying rent.”

“There’s still enough money left,” Mulder assures her. “You can stay home.” In the mirror, he sees her bite her bottom lip. She tries to wriggle out of his embrace and he reluctantly lets go of her.

“I don’t even want to stay home,” she admits, turning away from him. “I miss work. I love William, and I wouldn’t trade the last few months for anything, but…”

“You miss the slicing and the dicing.” Mulder smiles at her.

“Does that make me a bad mother?” Another lip bite.

“Come here, Scully.” She walks over to him, having to crane her neck to look at him. There are still moments when Mulder is surprised by their height difference, even after all this time. It just slips his mind until they’re face to face like this. She takes up so much space in his mind that he can’t think of her as being small.

“You’re a wonderful mother,” he tells her, his head close to hers. “You can love our kid and your work. Is that what’s been bothering you the last few days?”

“You noticed that, huh?” She says, sounding dejected.

“I’m a profiler, aren’t I?” He gives her a grin to ease the moment. “Also, I know you and I love you. You’ve been worrying about this ever since you talked to your mom about watching William.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“I didn’t want to push you.”

“I know my mom will take good care of Will,” Scully says. “I know Will loves her. He probably won’t even miss us.” She says the last bit with tears in her eyes. “I just don’t… what if something happens, Mulder? It’s not like it was before. But I miss work. I miss – you’re gonna think I’m crazy.”

“Hey, I have decades of experience being called crazy. You? You are not crazy, Scully, no matter what you’re gonna say.”

“I miss the autopsies. I miss the dissecting, finding the clues, the reasons. I want to get to the truth of what happened to these people. Still think I’m not crazy?”

“Not even a little bit,” he says, kissing her to prove his point. “You’re brilliant at your job, Scully. I know you love it. You shouldn’t have to choose.” She nods, playing with his tie, straightening it.

“But what if… we’ve been shot, abducted, placed in quarantines. Sometimes we barely made it out of these situations alive. How can we do this to William, Mulder?” She’s sobbing and he pulls her into his arms, holding her tightly against him. She smells like William’s baby shampoo and he closes his eyes against the onslaught of emotions it brings.

“We’ll only take on cases we deem safe,” he whispers into her hair.

“That never works, Mulder. What about all your little nice trips to the forests?”

“Then what’s the solution? We give up our jobs?” They had talked about it shortly after William was born, cocooned in their bed with their sleeping son right next to them. Every breath he took seemed like a miracle. Mulder couldn’t imagine ever leaving their son for longer than a second.

Gradually, things changed with Scully being more open to handing William over to her mother, or to Skinner. But Mulder always stood guard, ready to turn the whole world upside down to keep his son safe and within his reach.

“I’m not sure I’m ready,” Scully says with a sigh. “I can’t- I think one of us should stay with him. At least for another while. I’m going to let Skinner know that he needs to find a new pathologist.” There’s defeat in her voice, a loud sadness.

“Wait a second,” Mulder says. “How about I stay home with William? We both know I’m more likely to jump on a moving train than you.” They smile at each other.

“You love your work,” Scully says, sniffling.

“Not as much as I love you and William. And not as much as you love your job. Honestly? I didn’t even miss it. I quit before Will was born, remember?” She nods. “I’m not saying I want to do this forever. We can give it a shot. You go to work, bring home the money, and I’m gonna stay here with Will. What do you say?”

“My mom is going to be so sad she doesn’t get to watch William,” Scully says after a moment of consideration. “Mulder, I really-,” he silences her with a kiss.

“I want to do this,” he says. “Do you know the southern cassowary, Scully?”

“The large bird from Australia?”

He nods, continuing, “In cassowary families, it’s the dad that builds the nest and raises the offspring. Let me be a southern cassowary, Scully.” She laughs, wiping away a few tears.

“You do know that the female goes off after laying eggs and has more kids with other birds, right?”

“We don’t have to be exactly like the southern cassowary,” he concedes, taking over to wipe away the tears from her eyes and cheeks. It’s a good thing she hasn’t applied her make-up yet. He knows she wants to make a good expression on her first day back.

Today will be her first day back and he won’t be there to witness it. He will change out of his suit, hang up his tie for good, and go pick up William from her mother’s. Excitement spreads in his chest in a way that going back to work never did.

“Good cause they’re very aggressive birds.”

“I will defend you and our son against everything,” Mulder says.

“I know you will.” Scully gets on tiptoes to press a long kiss against his mouth. Yeah, he will miss being able to kiss her all through the day. But he’ll get to kiss her goodbye every morning. That’s something, too.

“Do you think I’m being ridiculous?”

“I could never think that. Not about this, anyway,” he adds. “Let’s give it a trial run. We do this for a month and then we reevaluate the situation. Deal?”

“Deal.” She gives him another kiss. “I love you, Mulder.”

“Hmm, love you, too. Now let’s get ready, I don’t want you to be late on your first day back at work. I’ll drop you off before I pick up Will from your mom’s.”

“What will the two of you be doing all day?” She asks, walking into the bathroom. Mulder follows her, loosening his tie.

“Oh you know,” he says, grinning. “Teaching our son about the birds, the bees, and government conspiracies.” Scully throws him an apprehensive look.

“You think it’s too soon to teach him about the birds and the bees?”

[arrowflier]

Ian growing his first tomatoes and being proud of himself really excited to share them with Mickey and cooking with them everyday. But what he doesn't know is that tomatoes don't agree with Mickey. They upset his stomach and make him feel sick. He loves seeing Ian so happy and proud of himself so he doesn't tell him and eats everything he makes him. Ian eventually realizes what's going on. A prompt if you'd like to write it

Content Warnings: food, vomit

The first time it happened, Mickey assumed it was a coincidence. 

Ian had been so fucking excited for his first tomato crop; he'd spent ages looking up recipes, running ideas past anyone who would listen, and scrounging through old boxed from the house to look for weird cooking shit.  He had beamed when the day of his first harvest finally came, carrying those little red fruits in his big hands so carefully that you'd be forgiven for thinking them infants, or puppies, or some other fragile living thing.

So after an hour of Ian washing, slicing, and cooking up his new pride and joy, there was no way in he'll Mickey was going to ruin his husband's happy smile by telling him that just the smell of dinner was making his stomach churn.

It was probably nothing, he told himself, choking down bite after bite, letting out agreeable little hums after each one just to add to the sparkle in Ian's eyes.

Maybe lunch wasn't sitting well; he should have known not to eat anything offered by the Alibi, even under new management (especially under new management).  That had to be it.  There was no way it had anything to do with the dish Ian had painstakingly made from ingredients so fresh they had still been on the vine just hours before.

So Mickey swallowed his bile with the last bite on his plate, asked for seconds, and ate that too.  Then he made his excuses, ran down to the little restroom off the gym, and threw it all up where Ian wouldn't have to see.  He ignored the visible seeds and flecks of red tomato skin as he flushed the evidence away.

Just a coincidence, that was all.  Next time would go better.

The second time it happened, Mickey thought that maybe Ian was just a bad cook.  Ian's courage had been bolstered by his "successful" first attempt, apparently, because this time he went all out.  He'd even traded one of his precious tomatoes for some fresh herbs from the plot next to his in the community garden, just to make it special.

And special it was.  A special he'll, more like, when Mickey nearly voided his bowels an hour later on their new sofa.  He leapt up and made it to the bathroom just in time, and spent the next thirty minutes trying to quietly take care of things so Ian wouldn't hear.

Of course, Ian did hear, and he just had to ask about it.  They were getting ready for bed, Mickey tugging on a too-large sleep shirt from a pile of Ian's laundry, when a hand landed lightly on his waist.

"Feeling better?" Ian asked softly, rubbing soothing circles into the stretched skin of Mickey's sore belly.

"Uh, yeah," Mickey hedged, not wanting to reveal his lingering discomfort.  "It's nothing, really."

"You sure?" Ian asked, pressing closer against his back as his hand migrated to rest over Mickey's chest.  "You can tell me if something made you sick, you know," he said.  "I won't take it personally."

If he wasn't used to Ian hitting close to home while having absolutely no knowledge of what he was talking about, Mickey might have wondered then if his husband was catching on.

But it was an innocent enough question, after all.

"Nah, man," he said, pulling away to sit on the bed.  "Probably picked up a bug on our rounds or something."

Ian looked unconvinced, biting his lip, and Mickey rushed to reassure him.

"I'm be right as rain tomorrow," he promised.  "Just you watch."

Ian hesitated, but ultimately nodded, and joined him in bed.  He curled just a little tighter around Mickey than normal, hand resting carefully on his stomach.

It wasn't a lie, Mickey figured as he waited for sleep to claim him.  He would be fine by morning.  And next time, he'd do the cooking himself, just in case, and then this couldn't happen again.

By the third time, just the next morning, Mickey finally had to admit what he dreaded all along: it really was the goddamned tomatoes.

He’d made the omelets himself, using normal ingredients they got from the store, all things he had eaten before.  He’d mixed in some diced tomato, just for flavor, and because he knew Ian would like it.

And like it Ian did.  His husband was chowing down like someone might take away his plate if he didn’t eat fast enough, barely stopping to sip at his coffee, while Mickey sat silently across from him.

The first bite of his eggs had already almost done him in, the taste of the tomato now forever associated with stomach cramps and bile and bloating.  He knew there was no way for it to be effecting him already, but his stomach clenched when he tried to lift another bite to his lips, and he set down his fork with a clatter.

Ian stopped eating.

“Everything okay, Mickey?” he asked, concerned.  “You’ve barely touched your breakfast.”

“What are you lookin’ at my breakfast for?” Mickey deflected.  “Eyes on your own fuckin’ plate, you’ve got yours.”

Ian obediently ducked his head, but still managed to catch Mickey poking a chunk of tomato away from everything else on his plate.

“You don’t like the tomato?” he asked, ignoring Mickey’s exasperated sigh at his interference.  “I think they really add something.”

“Love them,” Mickey answered with a forced, toothy smile.  “Just saving the best for last.”  He stabbed at the tomato with his fork, spearing it, and lifted it to his lips to make a point.

“Yum,” he said around it as he chewed and forced himself to swallow.  “See?  Delic--”

Then he was up, away from the table, and running to the kitchen sink as it came right back up.

“Mickey, what the fuck?” Ian yelled, his chair sliding back with a screech as he hurried to join Mickey at the counter.

“Sorry,” Mickey managed, head still down, as Ian rubbed his back.  “Think something’s wrong with me; didn’t mean to waste it.”

Ian’s hand stilled.

“Waste it?” he asked.  “Mickey, what are talking about?”

“The tomatoes, Ian,” Mickey sighed.  “I know you’re fuckin’ proud of ‘em or whatever, but I just can’t keep ‘em down.”

“Can’t keep them...” Ian started, then stopped.  His hand fell away, only to reappear on the back of Mickey’s neck, forcing his to lift his head and look at him.

“Mickey,” Ian said firmly.  “How long has this been going on?”

Mickey didn’t answer.  Ian shook him, just lightly, then winced when it set him retching again into the stainless steel sink.

“How long have my tomatoes been making you sick, Mickey?” he asked again, quieter, and Mickey finally gave in.

“Few days,” he muttered, and Ian let go of him completely.

“A few--Mickey, it’s only been a few days.  And I’ve been putting them in everything.”

Ian sounded worried, almost distraught, and that was exactly what Mickey had been trying to avoid.

“No, it’s fine,” he insisted, pushing away from the sink.  He forced himself to swallow past the burning bile in his throat.  “I’m not some fuckin’ pussy-ass kid, Gallagher, I know how to work through a fuckin’ stomach ache.”

If anything, that only made Ian look more concerned.

“I know you do, Mick,” he said.  “But why the hell did you think you had to?  Terry’s gone, we’re doing good; you know you don’t need to do shit like that anymore.”

Oh.  

“You’re not upset?” Mickey asked, just to clarify, and Ian rubbed a hand over his face.

“Of course I’m upset, Mickey,” he sighed.  “You lied to me for days because what, you didn’t want to look weak?”

“No,” Mickey said.  “Cause I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Ian took a deep breath.

“Mickey,” he said slowly.  “I promise my feelings aren’t hurt just because you can’t stomach tomatoes.  It really wouldn’t have been a big deal.”

Mickey shrugged.  “I should be able to, though,” he said.  “Ketchup, soup, fucking pasta--I eat all that no problem, and we just had extra sauce on our pizza last week.  It’s just...”

He hesitated to say it out loud.

“Just my tomatoes,” Ian finished for him.  ‘Right.”

Ian took a step forward, and took Mickey’s hand.  He guided him back over to the table, sat him down--moving his plate away so he didn’t have to look at it--and joined him there.

“Mickey,” he started.  “Maybe it’s not just that.”  Mickey bit his lip, figuring that Ian cared more than he let on if he wanted to find some other excuse, but what his husband said next surprised him.

“I mean,” Ian continued, “it’s not like either of us had a lot of fresh ingredients around growing up.”

Well, he was right about that.

“And really fresh stuff, not processed, none of the preservative shit we’ve been eating our whole lives...well, it’s not your fault that your system doesn’t know what to do with it.”

“Still wish I could eat it,” Mickey grumbled, feeling a little better in spite of himself.  “It makes you so happy, man, and I had to go and ruin it.”

Ian laughed.

“You didn’t ruin anything, you idiot,” he said fondly.  “But next time I want to try something new, maybe we’ll take it a little slower, yeah?”

Mickey nodded.

“And maybe,” Ian added, “You’ll tell me there’s a problem before you puke all over our dishes.”

Mickey looked over to the sink, where sure enough, the majority of their dishes were piles and waiting to be washed, now needing it more than ever.

Oops.

“At least they were already dirty?” he said, and Ian smiled.

“Yeah,” he agreed.  “At least there’s that.”

He leaned forward, and pressed a kiss to Mickey’s head.  Then he grabbed up Mickey’s unfinished breakfast and a fork.

“Really, Gallagher?” Mickey asked.  “You still wanna eat after that?”

“Why not?” Ian answered, mouth already full.  “Besides, if you don’t like it,” he added, a stray piece of egg clinging to the side of his mouth, “then all the more for me.”

It was Mickey’s turn to grin, even as he watched the gruesome show that was Ian trying to eat.

Tomatoes or not, table manners or not, he really loved that man.

[fantasy2739]

Prompt jamie and Ted father/son bonding please. 🥺🥺 Whether playing video games, watching a movie idk just wholesome lol

Ted Jamie father son??? Sign me up!!

Also I am currently emotionally wrecked after 2x08 so if anyone needs me I will be crying over hug and phone call (iykyk)

Anyway, enjoy!!

Jamie isn’t entirely sure what he’s doing at Ted’s. Only that he’s there. He feels like he missed a trick somewhere. Maybe he was lured here. Like by one of them mermaids. Wait no, sirens. Yeah like a siren call. Point is, he’s here. In Ted’s flat. On the fucking couch. Ted’s pottering around the kitchen.

“Tea?” He calls.

“Nah, that’s an old person drink.” Jamie says. “It’s gross.” He refrains from cracking a comment about how much Roy drinks it. Fucking senior citizen.

“Finally, someone who understands.” Ted says. “Garbage water. Coffee?”

“Yeah.” Jamie agrees and a steaming mug is placed in front of him. Ted sinks into the chair next to him with his own mug. He’s smiling at Jamie, like he’s waiting for him to start talking. Jamie thinks he’d rather not. Because he’s got no clue what to say.

“Now I know you didn’t come all this way to enjoy my coffee.” Ted says when it’s clear Jamie isn’t going to say anything. Jamie shrugs. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.” Jamie admits.

“Should you talk about it?” Ted asks, which is oddly comforting. Jamie shakes his head in the negative.

“Can we just talk, do something else?” He asks, his voice coming out slightly cracked. Something in Ted’s face softens.

“Sure thing mr bling.” He says. He pulls a face. “Oh I do not like that. Hmmm. Thing. Thing. Sing? No that makes no sense. Ooh king, huh. Sugar king, little king?” Jamie snorts at that. Ted grins like it was his intention all along. Probably was the sly asshole. “Now let’s see, something to do, something to do. Hmmm ooo I have some board games. Y’all got Ludo over here?”

“With like the dice and meeple and shit?” Jamie asks. He realises that it might be a little vague given how many games include dice and shit. Ted’s understood though, and scarpered off to unearth the board. He places the board on his coffee table.

“Alright now we both know the rules?” He asks, all polite. Jamie just nods. “Good, but I should warn you I am a champ at this game. And I won’t go easy on you.” Jamie gives him a look that says ‘try it’ and it’s on.

Jamie’s always kind of sucked at board games. He never really played them, far too invested in sports, tv, dating. His mum had played a few with him, usually mercilessly wrecking him and telling him he was a sweetheart for letting an old gal like her win. It’s not that he doesn’t get the rules or anything, it’s just not something he’s invested a lot of time in. Or thought really. So sitting cross legged on Ted’s floor, eagerly leaning over the game of Jenga that Ted brought out, is a new kind of feeling. It’s a happy one. Ted had, as expected, beaten him at Ludo. He’d been super encouraging the whole time though.

“Uh I believe you touched that one.” Jamie points out, watching Ted like a hawk. “House rules.” Ted scrunches his nose but agrees and begins the task of trying to work out his best to pull the piece out. Ted closes one eye and manages, by some kind of miracle, to get the single piece neatly out of the Jenga tower.

“The laws of physics salute me.” Ted says with a grin. Jamie almost wants to grump but watching the tower drop neatly down was kind of fucking impressive. Jamie plays it safe. Taking a piece from a row that still has three.

“Go on then, dazzle us.” Jamie teases. Ted pulls of another insane move, leaving Jamie to feel the pressure. Unfortunately, he picks the wrong piece and the whole thing tumbles.

“Fuck!” Jamie yelps, more in surprise at the pieces flying everywhere than annoyance. Ted laughs a little.

“Alright, loser takes some punishment.” Ted says, still chortling. Jamie freezes slightly, because this was just meant to be fun. Fuck he hadn’t actually been bothered by losing. Fuck. “You ticklish Jamie?” Jamie stares at Ted like he just asked him streak around Richmond or something.

“What?” He asks.

“Ticklish.” Ted repeats. Jamie flushes slightly because he is. He’s just never really admitted to it because it’s embarrassing. Who the fuck wants to be ticklish? Ted raises his hands and waggles his fingers expectantly. Jamie’s off like a shot. They’re sprinting around Ted’s appartement, with Jamie at one point diving over the bed to escape. They’ve definitely pissed off Ted’s upstairs neighbour, Mrs Ship or whatever. They’re back in the living room and Jamie is leaning against the couch, moving side to side to avoid Ted like he’s got a fucking chainsaw.

“Can’t I just, do like a shot of cinnamon or something?” Jamie asks. Ted drops his hands, waggling fucks, and stares.

“No that’s disgusting. It’ll dry your mouth out faster than the Nevada desert.” He says.

“I could shot tea.” Jamie offers, raising one eyebrow and pointing at Ted. Ted thinks about it.

“Garbage water it is.” He agrees and Jamie sags in relief. He doesn’t hate tea and the cup Ted makes him is more sugar than tea.

“You trying to ruin my sexy body?” Jamie asks as he takes a sip.

“I figured it would taste better with more sugar.” Ted says. “Don’t all y’all kids like sugar.” Jamie shrugs like he doesn’t mind either way. Ted shrugs too, ambling off to tidy up the mess they made. Jamie sits back on the floor, sipping at his tea and grimacing. How the fuck Roy drinks this shit, he doesn’t know. Just as he sets the mug down a blanket appears at him. He flinches slightly but picks it up.

“What’s this for?” Jamie asks, like Ted’s handed him a fucking book again or some shit.

“It gets cold round this time.” Ted says simply. “C’mon now budge up, I’m thinking it’s time for a movie.” Jamie does as he’s told because when in Reno right? Ted’s moving back and forth between the kitchen and suddenly there’s popcorn, hula hoops and crisps. Ted grabs another blanket (fuck there’s a lot of blankets floating about) and settles down next to Jamie. Jamie tugs the blanket (Richmond fucking blue of course) and wraps it round himself. Ted’s talking and moving his hands, discussing the pros and cons of the movies on Netflix. Jamie settling his back against the couch and listens half heartedly. The control lands in his lap and he sort of stares at it. Ted’s smiling at him. Jamie has no clue what to watch.

So he sticks on fucking Toy Story.

At some point, he dozes. Maybe because he’s tired, or because he’s seen Toy Story a thousand times, or because he just feels like he can. He ends up smushed against Ted, eyes heavy, before his body just caves and he’s out. It’s warm and cosy, and there’s an arm reaching round him to cuddle. He’s almost missed cuddling. And most of the men he grew up around weren’t exactly… well they weren’t the cuddling type. Ted clearly is because he’s tugged Jamie close, soothingly rubbing his arm up and down.

He wakes up the next morning on the couch, wondering when the fuck that happened. He’s a light sleeper usually. He doesn’t have time to ponder it as Ted pops into view.

“Morning Jamie, cereal?” He asks, like this is the most normal thing in the world. Like players regularly crash on his couch.

As Jamie stretches and drags himself out of the makeshift bed he realises.

It feels right to him.

[queercore-curriculum]

Hello! Honestly I'd love to hear your answers to all of the questions in this RQG ask game, but if I have to choose, 2, 4 and 15?

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING! And thanks to @kindofwriter for the fabulous prompts.

2. What’s your biggest ‘I would’ve played that so differently’ moment, and how would things have panned out if they’d done it your way?

When Zolf apologized to Sasha in Paris after snapping at her for wondering if Brock was still alive, I would’ve had Zolf reveal his backstory about Feryn. In retrospect, that was clearly on Ben’s mind when he was talking about “not all of us have the opportunity to say goodbye”—I remember thinking the first time I listened that Zolf was being weirdly evasive, like he was trying a little too hard not to reveal a secret while making it clear he obviously had a secret, and I don’t really understand why Ben played it that way. I get that Zolf is emotionally constipated, but that was a natural moment for the reveal to happen. It fit well into the momentum of the narrative, and I would’ve loved to see Zolf open up to Sasha, the PC he cares about the most. And when Zolf revealed the story like a million episodes later in a kind of offhand way, it wasn’t terribly impactful for me. I don’t know how much that would’ve changed the narrative, but I think it would’ve deepened the bond between Zolf and Sasha and opened up more opportunities for Zolf’s character development earlier on.

4. Pick a moment from the show that you think would have to change dramatically if it was a fluid story rather than TTRPG. How would it be different?

Kind of a bundle of moments, but Helen’s consistently terrible dice rolls, especially early on. It made Azu come across as incompetent when she is so clearly not, and that drove me bananas. I don't have a ton more to add to that, other than the fact that so much is left to chance in D20 systems is infuriating sometimes as a listener.

Also, I don't know if this would have to change, but I think we missed out on a LOT when the they didn't get captured and taken to Eiffel's Folly in Paris. The Paris chase scenes are probably my favorite combat sequences from the show, and I would've loved to see the team get to work more closely with Wilde, especially before he lost his magic. We still haven't really had much of a chance to see him casting, which sucks! And of course I want more onscreen Zolf/Wilde time, particularly while they're still in their "enemies" phase, but I'm also such a fan of his interactions with everyone in the party (the pun-off with Sasha is another favorite scene) and would love to see their relationships develop earlier in the series.

Ok, last one—this is related to my first answer, and again, is more of a bundle of moments (many of which never happened), but Grizzop, Zolf, Azu, and Wilde would all need to reveal their backstories earlier in the story, and much more organically. Backstories are not secrets to be hoarded, they are opportunities for character development and insight! Why don't we know about Wilde's scar yet?? Now that it's gone and he's not so damaged anymore, do you really think the reveal, if it ever comes, will have the same emotional impact? No! It will not! At least not for me, anyways.

15. What’s a headcanon you think about all the time but feel you’ve never had an opportunity to share?

Wilde’s love language is acts of service, but he expresses it very differently than Zolf “Acts of Service” Smith. Since Wilde is a spy that almost certainly relies on his charisma to get information, it makes sense to me that he’d have extremely high emotional intelligence and would be exceptionally good at intuiting people’s wants and needs, even those they may not fully understand themselves. And I think that Wilde quietly attends to the needs of those he cares about, often without anyone realizing what he’s doing. For example, with Zolf’s conversation with Wilde in the “waiting room,” Wilde already knew that Zolf needed him (I don’t even think that’s really a headcanon, the way that Wilde said “And there we go, an honest answer from Zolf Smith” strongly implies that that was exactly what he expected Zolf to say). But Wilde knew that Zolf needed to hear himself say it to understand how much their relationship really means to both of them. So Wilde engineered the conversation to force Zolf to acknowledge that Wilde wasn’t coming back to save the world; he was coming back to save the world with Zolf (and for Zolf, whatever, let’s make it shippy).

I think of this as acts of service rather than words of affirmation because it’s about Wilde understanding how Zolf processes his emotions, and then intentionally adapting how he communicates with Zolf to accommodate this process even though he finds it occasionally infuriating. And I think that’s really compelling, how much goes unspoken when Wilde notices that Zolf is tired and quietly cancels their plans for the evening, or wears the jumper Zolf bought him that doesn't really fit properly because he knows Zolf spent so much time picking it out, or pretends he wants a cup of tea so he can fill Zolf's hot water bottle to soothe his aching legs without Zolf feeling like a burden. If everything goes to plan, Zolf will be a little more relaxed, a little happier, a little more comfortable, and isn't that just a lovely coincidence?

[forgotten-envies]

For prompts-- lan wangji teaches wwx how to do something new! ❤️❤️ Thank you for the food 😊

Oof. I’m sorry this took so long. Still, it’s done! Soft and sweet! Thank you for the prompt and I hope you like it!

Oh and I Think This Is the Best Day of My Life

It’s late, probably, when Wei Wuxian stumbles toward the kitchens. It’s hard to tell when the sky is dark and he’s just waking up after a nice nap (he’d call it sleep, but he reserves that term for the peaceful rest he gets when Lan Zhan’s in bed with him.) Anyway, the Lans aren’t out and as far as he knows, he’s never woken up naturally before chenshi.

He can see some light in the building brushing the stones outside its windows a homely orange. He hopes this means there’s someone in there and not that a fire’s been made for overnight baking. Fires, unlike people, don’t respond to his natural charisma and furthermore can't fold dumplings. He’s really craving dumplings.

His stomach growls and he nearly growls back. It’s gotten far too comfortable as Lan Zhan’s husband. There was really no need to be woken from sleep just to eat.

He reaches the door, but can’t smell anything baking. Hopefully there’s a person, then, a generous Lan willing to feed the spouse of their Chief Cultivator. Wei Wuxian’s face molds easily into a pout and he slides open the door.

On the other side, Lan Zhan tilts his eyes up from the cabbage he’s chopping for a brief moment to meet Wei Wuxian’s surprised gaze. He’d expected him to be stuck in a late meeting or finishing letters where his husband could be sure he wouldn’t disturb Wei Wuxian’s sleep. Honestly, he’d prefer that Lan Zhan stay near him, even if he’d be kept up, but he appreciates the consideration.

Instead, Lan Zhan is standing in the kitchen still wearing the Chief Cultivator getup, sans outermost robe, but it’s trailing sleeves are tied back and his face is relaxed in a way it never is while performing his duties. Deft, calloused hands gather a bundle of onions and begin dicing them.

Wei Wuxian pulls the door closed behind him and drifts over, confused. Had Lan Zhan been so focused that he missed dinner? It must be. They hadn’t been able to see each other today, as occasionally happened, and Wei Wuxian hadn’t been there to use his Lan Zhan charming skills to get him to put off his duties long enough to eat.

"Is this a late dinner, Lan er-gege?" He can't help the teasing tone. He's impressed that Lan Zhan's awake at whichever hour it is.

Lan Zhan only gives him a pointed look.

"What? You should've eaten earlier. Just 'cause I'm not there to nag doesn't mean the Chief Cultivator should fast. You need food in you!"

Lan Zhan's gaze slips briefly to the side and then back down at the dark, reddish liquid he's mixing, likely a dipping sauce or glaze. It's the Lan Zhan equivalent of an eyeroll. Wei Wuxian just laughs and leans forward, picking up another finished bowl of liquid and swirling it around.

"So what'cha making? I came in here for a snack but the aunties already left, so I'll have to bother you instead."

"A snack?" His husband's voice is low and unimpressed, but teasing.

"Sure! I woke up and this weak stomach won't leave me alone, so I came to beg for some dumplings. What? Are you worried I'll eat out my welcome in midnight snacks?"

"Was your dinner not sufficient?"

He waves a hand dismissively. "Oh no, it was great! Though not your cooking, of course. I much prefer the chili oil and spices you add to whatever it is they teach Lans to make. Only you can fulfill my needs so well!" Honestly, Wei Wuxian can't remember having dinner, or really much of the last day at all if he tries to think about it, but it's not like that's entirely uncommon. And he usually remembers to eat! So he must've at some point. The disciples know to deliver his meals to the jingshi.

"So when will it be done? And what are you making? I hope you know I'll steal some, Lan Zhan. What's yours is mine!"

"If you are impatient, you may have that." He points to further down the table where a tray of food sits. It's disappointingly gray in tone; he'd much rather wait for whatever it is Lan Zhan's making.

"What's this? Your dinner? You really should have eaten it when it was still warm. Most of those people don't deserve your time, anyway!" Wei Ying is toeing the line, close to hating his husband's position. Sure, it's fulfilling and impactful, but Lan Zhan's really worse off for it and those chirping Sect Leaders monopolize his time which means that Wei Ying can't.

"It is not."

"Ah? Not what? It's definitely cold by now!" He pokes it to prove his point.

"It is not mine."

"What, did someone else refuse to eat, too? You Lans may not act human, but you are! Food is important! Though really, how could the Chief Cultivator lower himself so? Let the poor disciple get his own food!"

Wei Wuxian hears a conspicuous huff. A tiny smile sits on Lan Zhan's face, the crooked one that means he's laughing at someone and Wei Wuxian is the only other person in the room.

"It is yours."

That... makes a lot of sense. "It is?"

"You were asleep on the floor when I came in at xushi. The food was uneaten."

Well. That explains why he couldn't remember most of today. "You moved me to the bed? Aww that's so sweet! Oh! And your cooking! You stayed up to feed me?”

"Mn. Wei Ying needs to eat." Lan Zhan is tossing a bowl of chopped-up greens now. They are covered in a promising orange, though.

Wei Wuxian laughs, a little sheepishly. "I guess I do."

"Do you know why you were unconscious?"

"Uhh... no? I don't really remember anything past breakfast." He'd planned to spend yesterday in his little workshop close to the jingshi (separate so their house wouldn't be destroyed by a stray talisman) but he didn't know why he would've..."Wait! I-" He clears his throat. "I do. Remember that transportation talisman I made? For Jin Ling? Well, I think I tested it, and apparently the amount of energy it uses isn't much different from the traditional version, despite the shorter distance. It worked though! I got to the jingshi!"

The talisman was a joke, meant to transport the user only a short distance away. It would be a perfect escape from a wall, though. Jin Ling might refuse to speak with him for a week after he gifts it, but in his opinion it's worth it to give Jin Ling's friends material to tease him with.

"Mn. Your spiritual energy is not sufficient to use them." He's pouring oil on his creation, now.

"Well I know that now!" He wasn't planning to use it again. At least not before making a few tweaks. He couldn't endanger his nephew, after all! "Soooo... what'cha making?"

"Dumplings."

"What, really?! Oh, when will they be done?"

"I am almost ready to fold them."

"That really doesn't answer my question. Will it be soon? And how soon is soon? I don't want to fall asleep right here!"

"If you cannot wait, you may help." Lan Zhan says, holding out a thin circle of dough.

He's about to protest. After all, the juniors all say he can't cook without making a victim of the intended recipient, but if he is the one it's for... he rinses his hands off in a nearby water basin and takes the dough. He's never had a problem eating his own cooking.

Lan Zhan motions him over to his side of the table and picks up another circle. There's a dozen of them, perfectly shaped and ready to be made into dumplings. Wei Wuxian had seen Shijie and the servants make these many times. Even though it's been a lifetime since then, he still gets the basic theory.

He spoons a generous helping of the filling into the middle of the dough and brings the edges to the center, so it looks like a lumpy ball with a strange flowery part at the top. He grins and looks up at Lan Zhan.

His husband looks horrified.

Still, he moves slowly and carefully takes the overflowing ball of goodness, gently prying it open. "What, no! Put it in the steamer, Lan Zhan!"

There's a heavy sigh that speaks of the many hours of headache Lan Zhan has lived through today. "Wei Ying, no." He separates the ball back into a circle and removes some of the filling. "Do it like this. Only use a little." When there's what Lan Zhan has deemed to be a perfectly sized pat of filling, he brings two opposite points on the rim of the circle together and folds the ends so that they nearly, but not quite, touch this middle point. "Do not make it like a ball. It should lay on its side." Then he presses the lined up edges together so that they're sealed. At this point, he takes Wei Wuxian's limp, empty fingers and runs them along the edge. "If they are not sealed, the filling will come out." He hands the completed dumpling to Wei Wuxian. "Now you may put this in the steamer."

Wei Wuxian is thankful he remembers to brush oil on the bottom of the steamer before putting Lan Zhan’s dumpling in it. He’s trying to prove he’s not a hopeless cook, after all.

When he turns back, Lan Zhan hands him a slip of dough and picks up his own. Wei Wuxian gets the message and goes to stand beside him. His husband is a great teacher, but typically he’s instructing disciples in the best method to banish spirits or giving lectures on boring topics like the Lan ancestors. Here, though, he’s simply teaching Wei Wuxian how to fold dumplings. The domesticity of it brings a smile to his face

Together, they add the filling and fold the dough, Lan Zhan adjusting his technique with warm hands around Wei Wuxian’s own. In this way they work for several minutes, each revelling in the peace and intimacy of being here together, working together. He thinks of Lotus Pier’s kitchens, a nighthunt’s campfire, and the warmth of an oven, a little cabin rising behind it. He thinks the feeling would stay the same, no matter where they might be.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan.” Contentment fills him, and suddenly he’s tired, eyes heavy in this comfortable atmosphere.

“Mn.”

Wei Wuxian adds filling to the last bit of dough and leans into his husband’s side as he folds it, resting his head on a broad shoulder. The dumpling doesn’t look like Lan Zhan’s, still a bit uneven, but he lays it in the steamer and laughs a little at the difference between his and Lan Zhan’s.

“Lan Zhan’s are perfect.” His voice is happy, blissful.

His husband puts an arm around his waist and puts on the steamer’s lid. “Wei Ying’s are unique.”

That startles a laugh from Wei Wuxian and he nudges Lan Zhan’s side, urging him to get the dumplings cooking and soothe his rumbling stomach. He settles by the table, chin resting on one hand. The fire, newly started by his husband, warms him.

Note: Chenshi is the shichen or two-hour block after maoshi, the Lan wake-up time. Chenshi goes from 7:00-8:59 am. Xushi goes from 7:00-8:59 pm. This is using the traditional system instead of the Song Dynasty system, which starts on even hours.

Title from “Little Amens” by David Hodges.

[javier-djarin]

eep congrats on 1000 followers! this is so exciting! could i get prompt 50 with max lord?🥺💕

Do Not Pass Go

A Maxwell Lord One Shot

Ship: Max Lord x Reader

Rating: E

Word Count: 1,467 words

Warnings: Soft!Max

Masterlist

Summary: Date night plans changed and now you’re having a games night with Max and Alistair.

A/N:  I’m so nervous about this one, since this is my first time writing for Maxwell Lord. I hope you enjoy it!! Thank you for the support and love!!! Please let me know if you want to be added to my taglist!

Prompt 50: “I thought you loved me!” “Get over it, it’s just Monopoly.”

You put on a comfortable sundress and a sweater before running downstairs to meet your date. You lived in an upscale apartment in D.C., but you didn’t want to make him come all the way upstairs, only to turn around and leave. He’d been over to your place before, but you wanted to get going before the rain hit. 

After the fiasco that happened a few years ago, you were hesitant about going out on a date with this man. But, just like everyone else, he’d hit rock bottom and lost everything, except his son. You’d met him in the most cliché place, a coffee shop. You both were in line, waiting for your order when he accidentally bumped into you.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” he apologized.

You smiled at him. “It’s fine. They have us packed in here.”

You heard the barista call your name and you grabbed your coffee. You hadn’t even realized who he was until the barista called his name next. You paused for a moment and glanced at him with wide eyes. “Like the Maxwell Lord?”

He sheepishly smiled at you. “I am.” He was pleasantly surprised you hadn’t turned and run in the other direction. You walked out with him, he held the door open, and you paused to continue your conversation. 

Shaking his hand, you gave him a reassuring smile. His life had been a mess the last two years with very public court cases for his crimes. But his lawyer was able to get him off with surrendering all of his assets and doing community service for the foreseeable future. He managed to start a non for profit organization that helped people who were heavily affected by his actions, which you found so endearing. Your company just happened to be one that was partnered with his, but you never met him, only dealing with his assistants. 

You had a hard time believing the man you saw on TV, confident and determined, was this humbled man standing in front of you. You introduced yourself properly and said, “You work closely with my company, Powerhouse Symmetry,” you grinned.

“I believe I have a meeting with their CEO this afternoon to discuss the new housing project,” he added.

You chuckled and nodded. “Well good luck, I hear the CEO is a ball buster, but don’t tell her I told you.”

He smiled, and you swooned a little. “I hope to see you when I stop by.”

“I’m sure you will.” 

“Maybe I can take you to dinner afterwards.”

“We’ll see.” You gave him a small wink and walked to your job, which was only a few blocks away.

Much to his surprise, when he walked into the CEO’s office that day, he saw you sitting there waiting for your meeting. You managed to keep it light, fun, but also professional. Once business was over and the committee members left, he had asked you to dinner. That was a year ago. Now, as you waited outside your apartment complex in your sundress and sweater, you smiled to yourself at how much your relationship with him had evolved. He was nothing like the Maxwell Lord of Black Gold Cooperative. He cared about exactly three things: His son, helping others, and you. 

He pulled up in his car, helping you in before climbing back in the driver’s seat. He held your hand in his, kissing your knuckles as the two of you drove away. “You look beautiful,” he said, glancing at you when you reached a stoplight.

You smiled. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Mr. Lord.”

He chuckled.

“What’s on the agenda for tonight?”

He sighed. “Plans changed,” he said, “My ex is leaving out of town with her new boyfriend for God knows how long. So, Alistair…”

You frowned. “Oh my gosh!” you exclaimed, “are you sure you want me to go with you to go get him? I can just meet you somewhere.”

He nodded. “Alistair loves you, and my ex deserves to see how happy you make us,” he said, his thumb running over your knuckles.

You smiled and squeezed his hand. He pulled up to the front of her house, and you both climbed out. Alistair came out, by-passing his father and running straight for your arms. “You’re here!” he exclaimed. You hugged him and glanced over to Max with a grin. 

His ex-wife walked out with a man behind her, she glared at you with her arms crossed. “This your newest one?” she asked.

Maxwell straightened, glaring at her, “She’s the same one since last year, Claire.”

“Well, he’s broke,” she spat, “if you’re looking for money, find someone else and leave my son out of it.”

You stood up and crossed your arms. “I have plenty of my own money.”

“Explains why he’s with you, then.”

You and Maxwell both tensed. You didn’t owe her an explanation of your relationship. She really was a vile woman, that held nothing but contempt for her ex. And poor Alistair was caught in the middle. “We aren’t doing this in front of Alistair,” Maxwell warned.

She huffed. “I don’t know when we will be back,” she continued.

“We can take care of him,” you piped up, “right, Alistair?”

He grinned up at you. “Can we go out for pizza tonight?”

Max smiled at his son. “Of course,” he said, “anywhere you’d like!”

His ex rolled her eyes and walked back inside. Thunder rumbled across the sky as dark clouds started moving in. Alistair hopped into the back seat. You hurried into the front, waiting for Max to start the car and drive you towards your family date. Rain started pouring from the sky as you pulled into the parking lot of a small family pizza restaurant. He said he’d go inside and pick up the pizza and take you back to his place for dinner and games.

You always loved spending time with Maxwell and his son. Alistair brought out another side of him that you couldn’t get enough of. So, when you walked into his house with the father and son, you beamed at them as he picked out his favorite board game to play: Monopoly. You smirked at him and rolled your eyes. “Of course this is your favorite game,” you chuckled.

“I happen to be very good at this game,” he chided.

“I bet I’m better.”

He raised his eyebrow at you. “This might be a big test for our relationship.”

“Daddy doesn’t lose at Monopoly,” Alistair said, crossing his arms, “except one time I beat him. We didn’t play for a month.”

You laughed. “Bring it on, Lord boys.”

“Alistair, I think we need to school her in who runs this game.”

He smiled and instantly grabbed the dog playing piece. You picked the top hat, and of course, Maxwell picked the sack of money.

Right off the bat, you bought six properties. Before you knew it, you owned all Pink, Orange, and Green properties and had houses on each. “Are you going to turn them into hotels any time soon?” Maxwell asked, glaring at you.

You grinned. “I wasn’t planning on it,” you replied, rolling the dice. “Oh, yay! Free Parking!” You landed on the spot and collected the money in the middle of the board. “I don’t want you to break your bank if you land on my hotels.”

“I can’t make money on my properties without houses,” he replied.

“I guess you could say I’m monopolizing the housing market.” You and Alistair broke out into a fit of giggles and Maxwell rolled his eyes at both of you.

He gazed at you with sad eyes. “I thought you loved me.” 

You gave him a pitying stare while resting your hand on his cheek. “Maxwell, I do love you. So, get over it, it’s just Monopoly.”

He couldn’t help but smile at you as Alistair giggled. He leaned across the board and kissed you softly. “I guess I get some of the perks of being with the most powerful woman in the house,” he mumbled against your lips.

“Blehhh,” Alistair gagged, “Do you have to do this in front of me?”

Maxwell ruffled his hair and grabbed another piece of pizza. “Yes,” he said, “so you know how to properly treat a woman.”

Alistair gagged again. “Can we play another game now, since Daddy lost?”

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. For the first time ever, he was happy with losing at his favorite game. He leaned across and kissed you again. You walked back into the kitchen to fix yourself another drink, when you heard Maxwell ask Alistair what other game he wanted to play. “Uno!”

You chuckled to yourself. It looked like your relationship was bound to be tested multiple times tonight. 

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[thewarriorandtheking]

The Bargain

For the @writersmonth challenge...

Prompt 4. Play

The King Under the Mountain’s daughter gets herself in trouble while playing explorer and finds some unexpected help.

(Still working on Prompt 3...) 

Warnings: None 

Find The Warrior and The King MasterList here

*******************************************

Freya flattened herself against the stone, willing the guards not to see her. She breathed a sigh of relief as they turned into the other corridor. Now her way was clear, she sprinted down the hall, under the carved archway that led to the mines and into a little-used side tunnel. Her mother was away in Dale, and her father had a day full of meetings. She could play explorer for hours before anyone missed her. It was one of her favorite games, to picture herself as Kaylea Wolf, her father’s Woman, the golden-haired warrior, off on an adventure.

She paused to put on Thorin’s magic glasses, a gift from Kaylea’s land. They were special spectacles, feather-light with wide lenses, you hardly knew they were there. But when you put them on everything was bright as day, even in the deepest shafts. Thorin guarded them closely, she knew she was not supposed to take them without permission, but she planned to have them back before the King noticed they were missing. She would only need them for a few hours.

Freya picked her way through the old tunnels. The rock was solid, but there was a lot of old equipment and debris in this part of the mines. She loved to examine the rusty machines and wonder what they were once used for. As the princess of Erebor she had learned a bit about the business of mining, but her tutors were always more interested in teaching her the latest dance steps. She had persuaded her father to take her on a tour, but that had been in the working mines. Techniques had changed since her great-grandfather’s time.

She found a wide tunnel that led steadily downward, found herself imagining she was traveling through the great mines of Moria. She had once heard Kaylea describe a journey through those mines, it had sent shivers up her spine. To think of traveling under the Misty Mountains, with dangers on every side! She knew there were no orcs or goblins here, even in the deepest parts of the mines, but she could pretend. Freya came to a place where a shaft had been sunk right across the tunnel. It looked deep, but narrow. She was confident she could jump the gap. Freya backed up to get a running start and leaped across. She easily made the distance, but landed on a loose stone. The floor gave out from under her, she grabbed for anything to hold onto, felt herself falling.

Freya awoke, aware some time had passed. She had lost the magic glasses in the fall and all around her was pitch black. She felt panic rising in her chest, and tried to calm herself as Kaylea had taught her. Three short breaths, three long ones. She felt her body, bruised but nothing broken. She folded her legs and closed her eyes, concentrating. No one knew where she was, it might be days before any search party came this way. She had a miner’s helmet in her bag, the light should last ten hours, but she would have to be careful only to use it if she heard searchers nearby. She had some apples and a bit of bread, enough to last a few days. Freya opened her eyes, now adjusted to the dark, she could just see the walls of the shaft stretching up to the tunnel, about thirty meters away. The walls were smooth and damp, a current of air caught her hair, she could hear dripping water. Moving carefully, Freya started to feel the stone around her, she found she had landed on a ledge in the shaft, maybe four meters square, past that was open space. Something moved under her hand and she jerked back, then realized it was her father’s glasses. Gratefully, she put them on, looking around curiously. The shaft continued on past the ledge, she could not see the bottom. She had hoped to find a way to climb out, but there were no handholds in the stone. She started to feel panic again, but told herself that her father would come. Once he found she was missing, Thorin would tear Erebor apart to find her, of that she was certain.

Freya knew she could do nothing now but wait. She moved close to the wall, away from the open shaft and tried to make herself comfortable. She chided herself for not bringing more supplies, for not telling her handmaids what she was doing. Her mother would never let her hear the end of this. She rummaged in her bag, rechecking her supplies and realized she had her dice with her. Hoping it would pass the time, she brought them out and played a game with herself. That one where you shook them in a cup and then tried to guess what you had rolled. Her father had told her there was a pattern to it, but she had never been able to find one. She had been playing for awhile before she suddenly realized she was not alone, something was watching her. She took her hand off the cup, reaching for her knife as she looked up.

There was a little creature sitting at the edge of the ledge watching her. He wasn’t a goblin, or an orc, in fact he didn’t seem threatening at all. He was about half her size, dressed like a miner, with pointed ears and sharp features. His skin was the color of the stone.

“What is this game you are playing?” The strange creature asked. “Can you teach me?”

“Who are you?” Freya asked, curious despite her fears. “Where did you come from?”

“This is my home.” He moved closer, Freya drew back. “We have lived here longer than your people.”

“Why didn’t the dragon eat you?” Freya asked, without thinking. She scolded herself, hoping she hadn’t offended the stranger. He didn’t seem dangerous, but she did not want to provoke him.

“Dragons don’t bother with us,” the creature chuckled. “And we don’t bother them.” He put his hand on the dice cup. “How do you play this game?”

Freya swallowed hard. “If I tell you, will you show me the way out?” Her hand tightened on her knife.

“Ah, a bargain!” He smiled, showing pointed teeth. “Very well. But I will have to take you, the way we travel you cannot follow.”

“Maybe I should wait for my father.”

“It will be days before he finds you down here, your highness.”

Freya gasped. He knew who she was, but how? “You know who I am.”

“Of course, everyone knows the King’s daughter. The one so careful to follow the old ways.” The little creature smiled again. “It has been a very long time since I learned a new game. Shall we play?”

Freya was afraid, but she did not feel that he meant her any harm. And he knew a path to the ledge. She nodded. “Yes, let’s play.”

For long hours they sat in the dark, the princess of Erebor and the strange grey-skinned creature, playing dice. They traded wins, using little bits of stone to place their bets. Freya had accumulated quite a little pile before she found herself becoming very sleepy.

“I’m sorry,” she said, yawning. “I’m suddenly so very tired. I can’t play anymore.”

The creature stood up and bowed. “I think you know that I will not harm you if you sleep, princess. I have enjoyed our game very much.”

“I had fun, too,” Freya told him. “You may keep my dice. You can teach the game to your friends.” Her eyes were so heavy. “Remember your promise to take me away from here.”

The last thing Freya saw was the little creature giving her a look filled with compassion, a smile of his pointy face, she felt the touch of his hand on her arm. It was cold, like stone. Then she had the strangest dream. She was moving through the stone, she could feel it around her, the ores, the layers. It was flowing around her like water. And then all was dark and quiet.

 When Freya woke, the first thing she felt was hard stone. She was no longer on the ledge, but in one of the mine tunnels, close to the active works. She could hear the hammers, the rumble of the ore carts. She barely had time to get to her feet before she heard shouts, iron-shod boots running toward her.

“Princess! Thank Mahal, you have been found!” The miner was staring at her wide-eyed, he moved to help her but then drew back, remembering he should not touch her. “Are you in need of a Healer, your highness?”

“No, thank you,” Freya drew herself up. “But if you could show me the way out, I would be grateful.”

“Of course, of course,” the miner bowed. “At your service! The King will be very relieved to see you, we have all been searching high and low.”

Freya felt embarrassed. “I’m sorry to have caused such a fuss. I was only gone a few hours.”

“A few hours?” The miner turned to stare at her. “Your highness, you have been missing for three days!”

 As they came closer to the palace, Freya screwed up her courage to face her parents. She knew the trouble she was in. And she really didn’t have a good explanation for where she had been. Playing dice with a strange creature in an abandoned mine shaft! Her mother was going to tear her to shreds.

The miner turned her over to the palace guard. As they led the way to her father’s office she regretted not asking the man’s name, he was certainly due some kind of reward. Freya took a deep breath before opening the door, hoping she only had to face her father. Thorin was standing at the hearth, hands behind his back. When he heard the door open he turned, then rushed forward to fold his daughter into his arms.

“My girl, you will be the death of me!” He told her, hugging her close. “Where have you been? We have been searching everywhere!”

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Freya answered, pressing her head against his chest. Her father always smelled so good, she always felt so safe when he put his arms around her.

“Let me decide what to believe, daughter.”

Slowly, Freya told him all that had happened. Thorin listened intently, asking many questions about the creature she had encountered. He nodded when she told him of her dream about traveling through the stone of the mountain.

“I didn’t know there were any of those left,” the King smiled.

“Of what?”

“They have a lot of names. Kobolds, nisse. Men call them tommyknockers,” Thorin said. “They’re a kind of spirit, harmless most of the time, but they can be nasty if they are wronged.” He smiled at some old memory. “I thought I saw one once, when I was about your age.”

“I would still be in that shaft, if not for him.”

Thorin nodded. “Yes, you did very well!” He held out his hand. Freya stared at it for a moment before reaching into her tunic to hand him the glasses. “You are not to take these again, not ever. And you are not to be exploring without telling someone where you are going.” He frowned at her. “Am I understood?”

Freya gulped. “Yes, father,” she managed to answer in a small voice. “I am sorry I worried you.” She curtsied low. “May I be excused now?”

“Yes,” Thorin couldn’t keep himself from pulling her into another hug. “Go get cleaned up before you see your mother.”

Freya quickly hurried away to her apartments, already planning her next adventure.

[polar534]

Slumber Party... OF DOOM!

So. Here is my submission for @johnnysfire ‘s TOH Prompt challenge. For anyone who doesn’t know the prompt chosen was “Evil.”

I asked my lovely friends from discord whether I should go emotional or lighthearted with this and they said lighthearted, so here we are. It was actually really really fun to take a topic like evil and twist it to something fun and hopefully fluffy. I had to keep a lot of things shorter then what I would’ve liked to meet the word count (spoiler alert, I still went a little over), so one day I do plan on fixing this up and making it an actual one shot, detailing the game and everything. Until then, enjoy the read! My idea going in? 

Haunted Boardgame:

(EDIT: Um so Tumblr ate and spat out some paragraphs at random the first time I posted... so hopefully everything is in its correct order. Yikes.)

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"Pillows?" 

"Check."

"Blankets."

"Check!"

"Hot chocolate?"

3 sets of eyes turned to the green-haired witch sitting in the corner. Amity Blight was currently too busy staring at the glow that inexplicably seemed to surround Luz as she sounded off the ingredients for her perfect 'Slumber Party' to notice her companions all staring at her.

"..."

Amity's eyes shifted only slightly to the left as her ear twitched, finally noticing the silence and the fact that everyone was staring at her.

Wait.

Everyone was staring at her.

"Oh um..." Amity looked around panicked, flushing red as she realized she had completely zoned out. She quickly analyzed the scene. Willow had wrapped a fluffy blanket around herself as Gus clutched a pillow excitedly to his chest.

Right. The checklist. Refusing to look at Luz (to avoid any further embarrassment or lapses in attention), Amity quickly reached out and snatched her sound-off item. Only barely remembering what it was at the last moment, Amity somehow saved herself from the splash of scalding liquid that flew out of her mug.

"Hot chocolate, acquired!" She grinned forcibly and altogether too nervously.

Finally risking a glance up to her crush she realized that Luz was giggling, the human's eyes closed as she snicked softly against her hands.

Amity's ears pressed flat against her head as Willow chuckled to her left.

"Well that would be Amity for 'check.'" The plant witch giggled, shifting her body to face Luz excitedly. "So. What happens now?"

"Yes, what new human traditions are you going to show us? I'm so excited!!" Gus squeaked happily, crushing the pillow in arms.

Luz grinned. "Just a little more patience my friend. We've got to start this off correctly. So… if everyone would grab their cocoa, probably a little more gentler then Amity over there, then I'll begin the toast to make this the best slumber party ev-"

THUMP THUMP

Luz stopped short as all those in attendance whipped around to face the door. Amity was finally able to unhunch her shoulders and stare with the rest of her friends at the mysterious knock at the door. The human was inquisitive herself.

"Luz, I thought you said there was supposed to be no one home tonight?" Amity questioned her curiously, cocking her head slightly to the side.

Luz's brow furrowed as she got up.

"There isn't anyone home tonight."

The entire room seemed to hold it's breath as Luz approached the door and pausing for what had to be dramatic effect, opened it sharply.

"HAH! GOT YOU… absolutely nothing…"

Amity peered around Luz's body to see exactly what was going on only to be met with the same sight and disappointment. An empty hallway.

Glancing both ways in the doorframe, the human shrugged nonchalantly as she went to close the door.

"Wait!" Gus cried from behind all of them. Flinging the pillow away from him and into Willow's stomach, he jumped up and dived underneath Luz to swipe something up from the ground.

Holding it proudly over his head both him and Luz marched back into the room, the bedroom door closing softly behind them. Willow and Amity leaned in close as Gus dropped the mysterious object to the ground with a soft and dramatic thump.

"What… is it?" Willow asked curiously, inspecting what looked to be a black rectangular box that lay before them.

"Is this part of the slumber party?" Gus asked curiously as Luz picked up the box and gave it a small shake.

"Not that I'm aware of. Let's open it!" The human said excitably, turning the box over to rip it open.

"Wait!" Amity yelped, grabbing Luz by the arm to stop her. Realizing what she was doing, Amity immediately dropped the contact, blushing profusely as she pointed to a small piece of paper that had fluttered to the ground.

"A note!!" Luz's eyes twinkled, causing the blushing witch to somehow go even redder. "Amity, you should read it for us!"

"What?!" Amity choked in surprise. "Why me?!"

"You found it! Besides you have a nice voice!" Luz explained casually, shaking the box slightly and holding it up to her ear.

Amity found it difficult to breathe as she shakily grabbed the note and held it in front of her, Willow and Gus scooting forward in excitement. Trying to ignore the thundering of her heartbeat in her chest and the full attention of the room, Amity glanced down at the note.

"Dear Sleeping Party attendants! You have been called upon to vanquish the evil from within this board! Inside you'll find what seems to be a normal board game, but is actually a prison for a very powerful and evil spirit! The only way to keep it's villainy contained is to play and win the game. The world is counting on you. Good luck! Mwehehehehehe."

Amity frowned and reread the note to herself. The world? That seemed farfetched to say the least. Where did this box even come from? Who sent it to them? Looking up Amity saw the stars dancing in Luz's eyes. Her crush was sold. Gus was practically buzzing beside her.

"I've heard of objects that could be bound with spirits before, but never like this!" He babbled excitedly.

"I have! You know how many human stories are filled with things like this? How long I've been wanting to do this?!" Luz grinned, finally figuring out how to open the box.

As the top lid slid off, a cheap and busted old board fell to the ground with a cloud of dust. Flipping the box over, a pile of cards, dice and one rather large hour glass spilled out as Luz gave it one final shake. Willow automatically went to organize everything and flipping the board over Amity saw a long and complicated maze pattern. The entire board seemed to be black, with the path cutting along through it a dull, brownish red. It seemed like each square had one of 3 icons sprinkled randomly throughout. In the very, very center of the board there was some sort of design. Amity reached forward and brushed the dust and dirt away from it as Luz and Gus talked excitedly above her.

The chatter quickly faded as everyone's eyes slid to the symbol that Amity had just uncovered. It was carved into the board itself, the deep grooves of the design painted in a faded and chipped white. Luz stared curiously while Gus, Willow and Amity all exchanged a concerned look. The design was simple, a small circle, with 4 tight loops surrounding it in all 4 cardinal directions, connecting in a diamond pattern in the very center of the circle.

The Witch's Knot.

Luz looked up at the plant witch curiously, one eyebrow raised as Amity swallowed the lump that was quickly growing in her throat.

"Oooh. That's elegant." Luz cooed.

"It's not elegant Luz…" Willow breathed quietly.

"That's," Amity pointed at the symbol, "a witch's knot. It's a symbol used to ward off evil."

Luz turned her head down to the board game and nodded. "Oh I get it, because of the evviiiilll theme this game has going on right?" She chuckled lightheartedly. When no one responded in kind, the human became quiet, her grin slowly slipping off her face.

"No. You don't understand. The Witch's Knot isn't just some superstition or tradition. In the Boiling Isles it had been used as a spell, carved to literally seal away evil. It hasn't been used in centuries though." Amity explained further, staring at the ancient white symbol. A cold feeling crept up her back.

Maybe there really was something to this game.

"Well, that makes what I'm about to say next, something that I have wanted to say forever by the way, a little more somber…" Luz gulped as she grabbed the dice Willow had set aside. The human tossed them into the air, and as they all watched the cubes crash down, she spoke again.

"Let the game… begin."

***

Despite the incredibly dramatic and powerful gesture, Luz had no idea how to play the game, none of them did. Luckily for the companions, Willow eventually found the directions taped to the inside lid of the box Luz had tossed aside. They were scribbled out in child-like handwriting but they were detailed enough to understand:

- Rolling the dice will move your character that many steps forward. On the board there are 3 different symbols. These represent your obstacles, fail to complete them and you lose your life. The only way to reverse this death is for a living player to revive you by taking a detour off the fastest route. Be warned, choosing this path will waste precious time and you will be risking your own life. You may only revive one player per game.

- Each player must choose a small token to represent themselves on the board. You will work together with those around you to overcome each obstacle in your path to the sigil. The goal is to reach the end with at least one player still standing to revive the The Witch's Knot protecting us from the evil.

- You may not begin the game until you have flipped the hour glass. If the last grain drains from the timer and you have not reached the end, evil will be unleashed.

-The Board itself is enchanted to tell if the players are worthy. It will be the judge and jury for the challenges you complete.

[ ~ ] Draw a blue card and cast the correct type of magic listed on it at the board. If you fail to cast the correct spell you lose your life.

Below are the symbols you will encounter on your quest:

[ + ] Draw a pink card and complete the challenge listed upon it. If you fail to meet this challenge you lose your life.

[ * ] Draw a green card. Answer the question on it correctly to move forward. If you get it wrong you lose your life.

Now having read through the rules, everyone seemed a lot more hesitant to start.

- When your token reaches the end, the correct lines to reseal the evil will appear. Read them aloud in a strong and clear voice.

"This seems like a bad idea." Amity echoed the thoughts of everyone in the room. Her amber eyes flicked up and caught Luz's warm brown ones. The human gave her a shaky smile.

"Come on Ami," Amity had to remind herself to keep breathing at the idea of her nickname. "It will be fun. Besides… I'm not exactly itching to find out what happens if we don't play." The human admitted quietly. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the dice.

They had all chose board pieces to represent themselves from Luz's large collection of knickknacks. Luz was a small figure of Azura while Amity was Hecate. Gus found himself a tiny rubber chameleon toy while Willow fittingly found a small plastic flower. Each kid seemed to fidget with their tokens as Luz looked at them each in turn. Nodding, the human set her figure down on the start square. Immediately a buzzing sound filled the room and the dull red path illuminated itself. The symbols now glowed their respective card color.

"Well. That seems ominous." Luz laughed nervously, her eyes growing wide as the light from the path traveled towards the Witch's Knot, as it reached the chipped white paint, the symbol flashed, changing it's paint to a bright angry red. "Scratch that. That is just ominous. Is my soul about to be consumed? Did I just sell my soul to a board game?"

Willow set her piece down next, a small ring of light forming around it as the board recognized yet another player.

"Well, I wasn't really using my soul for anything important at the moment. Let's do this." The plant witch grinned and Amity watched as Luz's confidence swiftly returned.

Gus whooped and set his own piece on the board earning him a wide smile from both of his friends. Soon all sets of eyes drifted to Amity who was staring down at the note that had been originally taped to the box. She couldn't shake the horrible suspicion that someone was setting them up. Looking down at the now glowing and obviously magic board, it was clear they were already too far into the trap to back out now. Taking a deep breath she placed Hecate down right next to Azura.

"Alright. Let's do this." Amity nodded, swiftly grabbing the hour glass sitting next to her. "Is uh, everyone ready?"

"Oooh! Can I say it? Amity pleaaaseeee?" Luz jumped in suddenly, startling the green-haired witch into nearly dropping the time piece. Resetting her heartbeat, Amity handed the hourglass to Luz who grinned widely.

"Alright. This time for real. Let the game begin." The human announced as she flipped it and begun their countdown.

The dice magically floated over to Luz as soon as the first grain of sand hit the bottom of the glass. It was clear who was going first. Tossing them out in front of her Luz rolled a 3 and 5. As she reached to move her figure, it zoomed away from her hand, darting forward 8 spaces by itself. The symbol beneath it glowed a bright pink. A challenge space.

Luz grabbed a card, and the race against time began.

Gus was the first to die, his token being swallowed by the board itself after he lost his balance 2 seconds into a 5 second handstand.

Amity was the next to lose to the game. Her concentration on a fireball spell having been completely shattered by Luz's supportive hand laying on her shoulder. Amity knew it wasn't her simply being startled like Luz apologized profusely for, but there was NO way she would be explaining that today. Not over a stupid board game at least. Fate of the world or not.  

Luz and Willow were about 3/4th through the path leading to the sigil when just a few spaces ahead the path split in two. Written in very faint lettering was the words: "Forest of Revival" by the detour path. Looking down it, the companions saw every single square through the 'forest' was lined with knowledge cards. The path itself eventually weaved back to the sigil, but was easily twice as long and packed with symbols.

If they wanted to revive someone it would be a struggle. Deciding to move forward Willow rolled her dice and landed on a spell square.

"Summon a small abomination to pick up your token off the board."

The group fell silent. Willow had never been good at abominations. She slumped in defeat.

Amity had to speak up, the painful memory of her teasing hanging over the entire room.

"You've got this." She said quietly, looking anywhere but Willow.

Luz's eyes flicked worriedly towards Amity, before they turned back to Willow.

"Amity's right. I've seen you do much cooler then a little abomination." Luz cheered helpfully.

"Thanks you two, but I think we both know what happens now." Willow admitted holding a hand up and drawing a pristine circle.

The resulting pile of barely sentient goop unsurprisingly earned a negative reaction from the board and Willow's token disappeared.

Luz wasted no time grabbing the dice for the next turn. They only had about 20 minutes left.

"I'm going to revive someone." She announced, rolling the dice and moving her token into the empty space before the forest.

"Wait, Luz! The forest is full of knowledge checks. Chances are you're going to get something you haven't learned yet. And we won't be able to help you." Amity spoke up quickly.

"Yeah, well you can't really help me if you all are dead right? Look. I'll be fine. There's 12 spaces to the revive square. If I roll double sixes, I'm there."

"That's a pretty big IF Luz..." Willow said worriedly, glancing over at the hourglass.

Turns out they didn't have to be worried at all. As double sixes appeared on the dice, Azura shot forward safely through the forest and landed directly on the revive square.

"I'm reviving Amity." Luz announced decisively as the square began to glow a bright yellow and Hecate appeared beside Azura.

"Me? Why?"

"Because statistically you are the most obvious choice. Top Student and well versed in multiple different magic tracks." Gus nodded, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Good choice Luz!"

Willow merely looked away in shame and Amity felt guilt twist at her heart.

"Well that's not exactly true, but I figure since all of us are always getting up to magic mischief that Amity should get to be a bigger part of this adventure. Plus, historically we have made a pretty good team." Luz beamed, somehow melting the tension of the entire room with her words.

She practically melted Amity face too as heat rushed to the witch’s cheeks at the compliment.

They resumed the game, getting further and further through the forest. As the sand ran down in the hour glass, Hecate and Azura inched closer towards the sigil and the evil within the board.

"1234...5...6... and 7. Nice! Just enough!!" Luz counted excitedly as the board moved her token into the final square before the Witch's Knot. She glanced worriedly at Amity who was still several spaces away and then at the hour glass with just a sliver of sand left.

They were running out of time.

Luckily the board seemed to recognize Luz's finish as a team victory and Hecate was pulled straight to the end, standing alongside her friend/rival Azura.

Two white cards appeared in front of Luz and Amity.

"Ok. So... now we just read whatever's on this card and the evil gets re-sealed?" Luz asked uncertainly, fidgeting with her card.

Amity simply stared at the white card still laying in front of her, dread building in her chest. If there was ever a time for the trap to spring... it would be now. Haunted objects like this often came with a curse, especially here in the Boiling Isles. The ancient symbol currently pulsating red in the center of the board reminded Amity that there was a chance that whatever 'evil' this board contained may be far too old and powerful to simply be sealed away by two witches in training...

"Yep. And hurry! There's not much time left!" Gus's panicked voice jolted Amity out of her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, Amity snatched the card up and flipped it over, almost completely in sync with Luz.

"To defeat the evil within in this board, I hereby announce that-" The two read off in unison.

"... King is the greatest of all time."

"... Luz is a buttface."

The entire room fell silent as the two finished the 'spell' causing the Witch's Knot in the middle to flash a bright, blinding blue before the entire board went dim.

From the doorway the companions could all hear a malicious cackling.

Amity turned around slowly, only to see the resident demon of the Owl House rolling around on his back, laughing.

"YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN YOUR FACES! Oooooh. Oh nooooo! The evil of the board is going to get usssss. Wheeeeheheehehe."

"King!!" Luz reprimanded angrily, but the smile on her face gave away her true feelings. "You know, if you wanted us to play a board game you made, you could've just asked!"

The little demon pushed himself off the floor and wiped his eyes. He walked to the center of the board and kicked over the hourglass, seconds away from running out of sand.

"Psssh. Like I'd want to be involved in your silly little 'Sleep Party' thing anyways. Not that I got an invite or anything..." King grumbled.

Amity felt bad for the little guy, even if the game had them all stressed over nothing, he just wanted to feel included. Reaching forward hesitantly, knowing she didn't have the best relationship with the demon, Amity gently scooped him into her arms and coddled him.

And to both of their surprise, The King of Demons let her.

"Besides, it's not my game anyways. I just wrote those last two cards." King continued, crossing his arms defiantly from his position in Amity's arms.

Luz frowned. "But if you didn't make it then... who did?"

"I don't know. Eda just had it laying around. I found it a couple of days ago and planned this spectacular and amazing prank to pull on you guys for not inviting me. And it workkkeedd! Hah!"

Amity tensed. Nobody knew who made it? A board this enchanted had to have been made by someone.

"No, that's not right. There has to be some sort of clue, right?" Luz frowned, looking around at her friends.

"I don't know, I didn't look." The demon king shrugged before stretching out and curling tightly into Amity's chest.

"Try flipping it over? Maybe there's a name or something. That's what my dad's always do to our stuff in case it gets lost." Willow suggested helpfully.

Everyone nodded as Luz tentatively reached over and flipped the board over. On the back, faintly scratched into the cheap cardboard, were two initials and a small inscription. They had found their answer.

L + E - Vanquishing evil together. Forever.

The End

[kyberled]

SENTENCE STARTERS: LET’S PLAY CYBERPUNK RED, EPISODE 1 PART 1

A collection of prompts and starters taken from the first episode of Polygon’s Cyberpunk Red campaign series: [x] 

Content warnings for death, strong language, and mentions of violence and drug use. 

Feel free to change names and pronouns as needed!

“We’re recovering from several man-made disasters, and kites are popular again.”

“Oops, that’s too much armpit.” 

“I don’t know who you know.” 

“You will be remembered.” 

“You’re not allowed to say that word on here, my dude!” 

“Boop, banned!” 

“Headshot! ... Sorry.” 

“There is maybe a job down there for us, and I could use a lift.” 

“Do you want me to come up and meet you up there, or  do you wanna come down here?”

“Doc, these guys gonna be okay?” 

“He was sliced and diced and blown apart.” 

“Saw a really sad thing today.” 

“I’m not sure how we’re going to get paid for this, actually.”

“Sometimes, you get paid in other things, like trust or friendship.” 

“Exposure!!!” 

“Let’s mop up these two dipshits and figure out who did it, then hit their head several times.”

“I just realized I called these dead people dipshits.” 

“I know all of this because he was saying it in Alf roleplay.” 

“They’re very fast, but they’re faster the wealthier you are.” 

“And they’re all like, armed, right?”

“Yeah. They’re super armed.”

“Work up a gentle demeanor, if I can.”

“This one? This one? That one? This one?”

“I’ve got a lot of cool.” 

“I promise you... You will not die.” 

“I mean, everyone dies, [NAME]. You shouldn’t promise that to someone.”

“But what I’m saying is it won’t be my fault.”

“I am so sorry for this situation.” 

“Just gonna pretend that didn’t happen.” 

“I don’t think they were looking for [NAME].”

“I think they were looking for SOMEBODY.” 

“You guys are really fuckin’ bad at this.” 

“I’ll admit, I can be a little bit bad bad at comforting folks who need it. But I’ll tell ya’, I’m really good at pounding peoples’ skulls into concrete over and over again, until they tell me exactly what I would like to know.” 

“Did you mean to threaten this guy?” 

“All I wanna know is what happened here, so we don’t have another mess to mop up. And that mess I’m talking about is potentially... You.” 

“I mean, steal from the rich, no harm done!”

“And snort what you get.” 

“It is what you said, it’s what you implied. Are you going back on your word?” 

“If I knew, I’d have blackmail, and I wouldn’t be here.” 

“Reach out if you ever need anything.”

“Reach out if you ever need anything, and I was mostly kidding about the head bouncing stuff. But I will do it! But I was mostly kidding.” 

“Call me if you need to know anyone.” 

“We’re not best friends, but I just thought it would give that parasocial relationship to people.” 

“Guys, don’t say other things.” 

“You’re making it sound like there’s more than one person-- There’s only one person in the bathroom, and it’s me, [NAME]!”

“I just needed a little bit of help in here. It’s nothing to worry about.” 

“And we WILL wash our hands.” 

“Can you wait until we’re out of the bathroom to talk about this?”

“It wasn’t even weird!”

“It was very weird.”

“And wash your hands!”

“This one’s zooted.” 

“Leaving it a little open-ended, there, [NAME].”

“Soft touch.” 

“Your eyes are so gentle.” 

“... That’s a good argument.” 

“I got some papers, don’t worry how I got ‘em.” 

“I’m sorry, that was really defensive. I came at you with all that defensive energy.” 

“I can get one, if ya’ need!” 

“I’d like you to remember that I helped you, and someday, maybe, when I need you...” 

“That’s not what I’m gonna need you for, but, thank you.” 

“What’s up everyone, I just walked into a locked room.” 

“Wow, special treat for you guys today!”

“Wow, special treat for you guys today: It’s two locked doors.”

“I guess it’s a bust for today.” 

“Your... Co-dependent.... Thing, is very strange.” 

“Is this like a riddle?” 

“Do you like to pick your own lock?”

“I sometimes pick my own lock, like, to practice.”

“Your lock’s been picked.” 

“My door’s been picked?!”

“I’m old school, what can I say.”

“If they just wanted to destroy it, why wouldn’t they just destroy it?”

“You’re blowing my mind, here.”

“We can stop it.”

“You don’t need to hate [NAME], you just need to love money.”

“I was already in the van-- I wasn’t in the van, but I got in the van because I wanted to come see you.” 

“I think you got, maybe one of those three is right.” 

“I ain’t never heard of him, no.” 

“Shit. I could’ve done this my fuckin’ self.” 

“I’ll look it up for you, you’ll owe me a favor.” 

“[NAME], this guy’s dead.”

“[NAME]’s dead, he died six years ago.” 

“You’re asking the important questions, [NAME].”

“Privacy is nonexistent.” 

“I don’t wanna meet a ghost.” 

“Forsooth! We’re here.” 

“I don’t see any problems with the plan.” 

“It is striking me as very strange, now that I’m thinking about it.” 

“We both drive. ... I also drive. It’s a-- Two-person... Driving... Car.” 

“I have trouble with the break and the gas at the same time.” 

“He just sits on my lap.” 

“And you shouldn’t! And you don’t.” 

“It was like on the news.”

“It’s really hot out in the van, can I get a CapriSun?”

“I already peed.” 

“Put your smart thoughts in my dumb head.” 

“It’s a very strange slogan.” 

“I’m so glad we’re sitting down for this drink.” 

“This was, like, a decade ago, which is like 100 years ago.” 

“You guys aren’t cops, right?” 

“We’re not cops.” 

“We split a paycheque.” 

“The ol’ waitin’ game.” 

“Let’s use our two braincells.” 

“If honesty if cool, let’s be honest.”

“Fuck yeah, come on! Shoot it into my fuckin’ veins, baby!”

“Thanks a lot, buddy. Thanks a fucking lot.”

“Welcome to this most righteous cafe.” 

“Garcon! First, I would like you to tell me what an egg cream is, and then, I would like an egg cream.” 

“I brought a juice box from the car.” 

“This fuckin’ rules!” 

“Is he super hot?”

“We did it! We heisted! We killed some people! Could we be any cooler?”

“I hope it’s the fucking cast of Friends!” 

“I’m not gonna stop you from doing that.” 

“Who the fuck is this jabroni?” 

“Name’s [NAME]. Just passing through, looking for a bit of information.” 

“I don’t wanna be too forward here, but unless you’re willing to talk with me on this particular topic, your love life ain’t gonna be the only thing that’s D.O.A.”

“That’s really good shit talk.”

“You’re gonna badmouth me and my besties?”

“You gonna come in here and sass us?”

“Well, you can bully [NAME]. He’ll just fuckin’ sit there and take it.”

“I will toss your salad and scramble your eggs.”

“You’re gonna talk right now, or you’re cancelled.” 

“This is our town!” 

“How you doin’?”

“Fuck you! Thank you.” 

“No, not that - why did you shoot people?” 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to escalate.” 

“I don’t live on the streets, I have a perfectly adequate apartment.”

“I’m sorry, that’s on me.” 

“You guys know the person you’re trying to blackmail is dead?”

“I guess it isn’t your day, your month, or your year? ... Or your week?” 

“Hey, okay! I mean, where the fuck did you come from, but yeah, this guy gets us!” 

“I did just say that your blackmail’s useless.” 

“And that’s where you should stop that sentence!” 

“In the shipping business, that’s what we call... I don’t know what we call it.”

“It’s a goof-’em-up.” 

“The problem with trucks, is, uh... Have you ever seen a bird?”

“Have you ever seen a bird that just really scared you?” 

“I’ve seen a video of a bird.” 

“If you have to steal, I don’t give a shit. Steal from somewhere else.” 

“So fuck you, I guess, fuck you.”

“I’m so sweaty, it’s so hot in here.”

“I’ll delete your accounts!” 

“You think you’re a big man.” 

“You mother fucker! I can’t believe you’d do this, to ME!”

“You just killed a man! In cold blood!” 

“I wish somebody had told you it was gonna be this way.” 

“Well, I hate to see people leave the forum.”

“I’m a moderator, this is just physical moderating.” 

“I did do that.” 

“And now we’re fighting back to back!”

“Aw, we’re the real besties.” 

“I’m very proud of all of you.”

“I’m very proud of all of you, and I’m certain that will last this whole time.” 

“I feel like I shouldn’t have a shotgun.” 

“Ba-bum bum ba-da-ba-da--” (gunshot)

“I can’t fucking follow that up!” 

“So I don’t fuckin’ care.” 

“What now?! WHAT NOW?!” 

“You guys need to leave!” 

“Way ahead of ya’, mac!”

“Way ahead of ya’, mac!” (smashes through the window)

“You did a great job of just destroying this woman.” 

“I hope these people never see me again, I don’t want to come back here.” 

“Make sure to like and subscribe!” 

“We haven’t killed anybody, have we?” 

“Let’s wrap this up right now, or I’ve got a feeling there won’t be a reunion show.” 

“Okay, okay, you guys are not cool.”

“We being chill about this?”

“I don’t know what we’re gonna do with this thing, it’s useless.”

“You keep saying that, and I keep not believing you.”

“Find somebody else to rob.”

“Find somebody else to rob. Rob somebody with money.”

“Did any of you see the thing that I did where I put the guy’s head on the counter and I hit him with a stool two or three times?” 

“[NAME], if you can promise to fight that well, I can get a lot more jobs for you.” 

“I’d also love to just hang out, if that’s a thing you would be interested in.” 

“You guys had to be there.”

“[NAME] jumped through a window.” 

“Avast! Above, I see... [NAME]!”

“Let’s just say we had to wine and dine ‘em.”

“I hit a guy in the head with a stool.”

“Let’s just say we had to wine and dine ‘em. ... I hit a guy in the head with a stool.” 

“That sounds about right, yeah.” 

“The only reason you’ve been surviving this long is because of the philanthropy of others.”

“I’m too smart for this.” 

“I think we took care of them.”

“If I were them, I wouldn’t come back around here.”

“But they are still alive.”

“If you decide that you do want them dead, you know who to call.” 

“And thanks again for everything you do. ... Oh, by the way, [NAME] died.” 

[youwerenevermeanttofeelalone]

Belated Celebration

I reached the astounding milestone of 1.1k followers back in October which also marked a year from when I started this blog and put a celebration to the side in order to do kinktober because I had plans to do this in November. Health issues got in the way so this will be a belated celebration.

Again, thank you so, sooooo much for putting up with me. The fact that you lovely people want to read what I have to offer and are willing to share pieces of yourselves with me through your requests and comments means a lot to me.

I’ll accept as many entries as I get from today (December 6th) until December 13th at 11:59 pm CST. All of them will be filled throughout January and —if necessary— February.

FAQ | fandom/character list

Rules:

Send me one or two AUs/situations, up to five prompts, and a character (you can send more than one character if you want me to write a poly relationship or a threesome/orgy and in that case, you can send up to eight prompts.)

If you’re not interested in any of the AUs or situations, you can tell me to pick those myself or send me a song and I’ll write a fic based on that song with the prompts you’ve chosen.

Please specify gender. If you don’t, I’ll write the fic with a gender-neutral reader by default.

When it comes to smut, I always write the reader as a person with a vagina. If you want me to write the reader as an intersex person or a person with a penis, please specify.

You can send in as many requests as you want, but please do it in separate asks.

prompts and AUs/situations under the cut

AUs & situations

AUS

✳︎ soulmate AU ✳︎ roommate AU ✳︎ neighbor AU ✳︎ modern AU ✳︎ fake dating AU ✳︎ college AU ✳︎ baker AU ✳︎ artist AU ✳︎ fairy tale AU (specify which one) ✳︎ library AU ✳︎ bookshop AU ✳︎ CEO AU ✳︎ Hogwarts AU ✳︎ arranged marriage AU ✳︎ royal AU ✳︎ bodyguard AU ✳︎ teacher AU ✳︎ bartender AU ✳︎ rich person AU ✳︎ actor AU ✳︎ model AU ✳︎ photographer AU ✳︎ movie AU (specify which movie) ✳︎ omegaverse ✳︎ canon universe

Situations

✳︎ there’s only one bed ✳︎ dating app ✳︎ secret admirer ✳︎ at a wedding ✳︎ accidental marriage ✳︎ wedding date hire ✳︎ locked in a room/closet together ✳︎ love triangle ✳︎ game night (truth or dare, love dice, never have I ever, etc.) ✳︎ secret relationship ✳︎ oblivious sexual tension ✳︎ break up/makeup ✳︎ age gap ✳︎ frenemies with benefits ✳︎ friends with benefits ✳︎ frenemies to lovers ✳︎ friends to lovers ✳︎ childhood friends to lovers ✳︎ enemies to lovers ✳︎ friends to enemies to lovers ✳︎ enemies to friends to lovers ✳︎ finally home after a hard day ✳︎ stuck in a place together for a long period of time ✳︎ seeing each other for the first time in a while ✳︎ meeting for the first time

Prompts

Angst & hurt/comfort

A1 - “My heart hurts when I look at you.”

A2 - “Don’t blame it on the alcohol, you tasted like you wanted me.”

A3 - “If anything ever happens to me, remember that I’ll always love you.”

A4 - “Darling, your heart is too pure for me.”

A5 - “Don’t pretend that you don’t feel the same way.”

A6 - “Don’t leave me like that again, you scared me.”

A7 - “I can’t be without you.”

A8 - “Don’t tell me you love me unless you mean it.”

A9 - “They told me that you’d break my heart, but, holy shit, they never said it would hurt like this.”

A10 - “We need to talk.”

A11 - “Surprise! I have feelings and you just hurt them.”

A12 - “The worst thing is, that even after all of that, I’m still in love with you.”

A13 - “You look beautiful in your wedding dress/attire, I’m happy for you.”

A14 - “Choose me or lose me. I’m not a backup plan, and I’m definitely not a second choice.”

A15 - “Did it ever occur to you that you’re hurting me too?”

A16 - “You’re right, I did love you, I just don’t know if I can say the same now.”

A17 - “I wasn’t the one who walked away from us. You were.”

A18 - “I fell for you without even knowing it and, Jesus, does it hurt that you can’t see it.”

A19 - “Please don’t love me the way you loved your exes.”

A20 - “I know you think we’re not right for each other, but we’ve run into each other too many times for you to tell me this isn’t fate.“

A21 - “There’s always a place in my bed for you, I will wait no matter what.”

A22 - “Do you even still love me?”

A23 - “I told you not to fall in love with me.”

A24 - “Don’t leave me.”

A25 - “I can’t pretend anymore.”

A26 - “Tell me I’m wrong.”

A27 - “Don’t you dare walk out that door.”

A28 - “There was never an ‘us’.”

A29 - “Do you really think I’m happy?”

A30 - “I don’t want your apology.”

A31 - “Stop pretending like everything is fine.”

A32 - “What the hell were you thinking?”

A33 - “I didn’t believe you cared.”

A34 - “You’re jealous.”

A35 - “You may be attractive, but I’m not sleeping with you.”

A36 - “The bed is cold without you.”

A37 - “When did you stop loving me?”

A38 - “How do I make you love me again?”

A39 - “Shouldn’t you be with him/her/them?”

A40 - “I wasn’t lying when I said I loved you.”

A41 - “They don’t deserve you.”

A42 - “I never meant to fall in love with you. I just did.”

A43 - “Please tell me this isn’t what it looks like.”

A44 - “Shit, is that blood?”

A45 - “I think we need a break.”

A46 - “Are you even listening?”

A47 - “Just leave me alone.”

A48 - “What’s wrong with me?”

A49 - “We don’t/wouldn’t work.”

A50 - “You had me! And you ruined it on your own.”

Fluff

F1 - “You look beautiful in anything.”

F2 - “I can’t believe I got the first date, let alone a year.”

F3 - “I have so much love for you. I actually never thought I could feel like this, but you proved me wrong.”

F4 - “I don’t care where I’m sleeping as long as it’s with you.”

F5 - “God, I’m never leaving your side again.”

F6 - “Every inch of you is breathtaking.”

F7 - “Why do you have to look at me like that? It’s making me weak, please stop.”

F8 - “Is this the moment that we kiss?”

F9 - “The more I look at you, the more I think we need to leave.”

F10 - “Look at me. I love you.”

F11 - “I—I think we should go for dinner first.”

F12 - “I love you more than coffee.” distant gasps

F13 - “I’m asking because I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

F14 - “I’m tired and my bed feels so empty without you here.”

F15 “Are you going to kiss me or will you just keep staring?”

F16 “I think you need to tell me the truth about how you feel towards me.”

F17 - “You keep saying we’re friends, but you look at me for a moment too long for that to be true.”

F18 - “Not only am I deeply in love with you, you’re my best friend.”

F19 - “I know you haven’t done anything, but can you please stop looking so goddamn kissable? My parents are here.”

F20 - “The things I would do just to see your face right now.”

F21 - “You’re the only person I’ve ever actually wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

F22 - “Please come home, this doesn’t feel right.”

F23 - “You look like you could use a hug.”

F24 “Why do I feel like I’m home whenever you’re near me?”

F25 - “Oh my God... you’re in love with him/her/them!”

F26 - “Do you want to make out as badly as I want right now?”

F27 - “Are you flirting with me?” / “You finally noticed?”

F28 - “I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re beautiful.”

F29 - “I don’t think I’ve ever loved someone this much before.”

F30 - “Take my bed tonight, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

F31 - “I could kiss you right now!”

F32 - “You’re cute when you’re half asleep.”

F33 - “You should sleep in my bed more often.”

F34 - “Have you always been this beautiful?”

F35 - “Apparently all our friends have a bet going that we end up together.”

F36 - “I know I’ve kissed you like, ten times, but can I kiss you just like another ten, please?”

F37 - “Oh, wow, holy crap, wow... you’re so pretty.”

F38 - “Can you please... uh... I don’t know, put a shirt on?”

F39 - “I’m so madly and deeply in love with you, please meet me so we can discuss this.”

F40 - “I would’ve waited an eternity if I knew you were what I’d get at the end of it.”

F41 - “Thank you for loving me, I couldn’t have been luckier.”

F42 - “Every morning you kiss my forehead before I leave for work, why was it my lips today?”

F43 - “You keep that photo of us in your wallet?”

F44 - “I’ve fallen for you and it’s becoming difficult for me to get anything done.”

F45 - “All I can think of is your lips on mine.”

F46 - “I fought so hard to get you and thank God I can finally rest.”

F47 - “I never thought we’d end up together, but here you are confessing everything to me.”

F48 - “You were never the person I wanted, but you were the only one I ever needed.”

F49 - “That night you kissed me and I thought I might melt.”

F50 - “From the moment I saw you, I knew I was in love.”

Smut

S1 - “Do you like it when I touch you like that?”

S2 - “Want to head back to my place?”

S3 - “What a pretty sight.”

S4 - “You have no idea what you do to me.”

S5 - “I’ve wanted this for so long.”

S6 - “You look so good with my hand wrapped around your throat.”

S7 - “I don’t care how good it feels, you better not come until I tell you to.”

S8 - “Look, I’m not into choking but I wouldn’t mind if you grabbed me by the neck every once in a while.”

S9 - “You better be quiet or everyone’s going to know what a naughty little slut you are.”

S10 - “Maybe If I punish you it’ll help you remember who you belong to next time.”

S11 - “If you keep making those sounds I’m not going to be able to stop myself.”

S12 - “Such a needy little thing, aren’t you?”

S13 - “Pushing back against my fingers already? How pathetic.”

S14 - “When we get home I’m cuffing you to the bed and I’m going down on you all night until my jaw is sore.”

S15 - “Did you touch yourself while I was gone?”

S16 - “These walls are pretty thick, you can be as loud as you want.”

S17 - “Come sit on my face, let me show you how much I missed you.”

S18 - “I wonder what your girlfriend/boyfriend/partner would do if they knew what you’re doing right now.” (the story would contain cheating if you pick this one.)

S19 - “I bet all our neighbors can hear what a dirty little slut you are.”

S20 - “Come here, baby, let mommy/daddy take care of you.”

S21 - “Scream my name, I want everyone nearby to know who’s making you feel this good.”

S22 - “You look real pretty when you cry out.”

S23 - “Tell me what you like.”

S24 - “Shhh, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you.”

S25 - “Think you can handle that much?”

S26 - “Call me selfish, but I don’t want anyone else to touch you.”

S27 - “I’m gonna fuck you so hard that you forget you ever even met that asshole.”

S28 - “Are you trying to turn me on right now or are you really just that oblivious?”

S29 - “Baby, I know you’re not trying out the new shower head without me.”

S30 - “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you moan... it was like a fucking melody.”

S31 - “I know for a fact that you can be a hell of a lot louder than that.”

S32 - “God damnit, now all I can think about right now is you licking my cock like it’s that ice cream cone.”

S33 - “Just let me finish this level and I swear I’ll go down on you until you come at least three times.”

S34 - “You’re virgin? How?!”

S35 - “Are you going to eye fuck me all night or are you going to do something about it?”

S36 - “If you don’t stop looking at my lips without doing anything about it, I will take you right here on this counter.”

S37 - “Shall we— shall we go back t—to my place?

S38 - “You don’t know half the things you do to me.”

S39 - “I’m aggressively thinking about having sex with you and trying to keep a straight face at the same time. Do you know how hard that is?”

S40 - “You’ve been giving me bedroom eyes for the past half an hour — time to show me what, exactly, was on your mind.”

S41 - “Bite your lip one more time, I dare you.”

S42 - “God, I love your hands.” / “Let’s put them to good use, then.”

S43 - “I don’t care what you do as long as you also do me.”

S44 - “I’ve never wanted to fuck somebody so badly.

S45 - “Just shut up and fuck me.”

S46 - “I might have seen this very moment in a wet dream once.”

S47 - “I know we’re just friends, but you’re sitting on my lap so I’m sorry if I get hard.”

S48 - “You know, there wasn’t a single thing to eat in the kitchen until you walked in.”

S49 - “I didn’t wanna say anything because we’re such good friends, but I would totally fuck you if you asked.”

S50 - “What are you doing?” / “Hopefully you.”

Miscellaneous

M1 - “I desperately want to take you out for dinner and slow dance with you until the sun comes up, but I also want to grip your hair as I watch you writhing underneath me.”

M2 - “You’re very attractive. Therefore I will stare at you.”

M3 - “Somebody’s cranky.” / “Somebody needs to shut the fuck up.”

M4 - “You’re not short. You wouldn’t understand.”

M5 - “(Character/Your Name) NO.” / “(Character/Your Name) YES.”

M6 - “You’re cute when you’re angry.” / “Yeah, well, I’m about to get really fucking adorable.”

M7 - “I’m not arguing, I’m simply explaining why I’m right.”

M8 - “Do I look like I give a fuck?”

M9 - “What are you doing?” / “Hiding.” / “Hiding from what?” / “Everything.”

M10 - “You’re really cute and it’s ruining my life because I think about kissing you all the time.”

M11 - “Not to dictate your life, but dump your asshole boyfriend/girlfriend/partner and drop your shitty friends.”

M12 - “If anyone can do it, then someone who isn’t me can do it.”

M13 - “Man, how many eye contact until we date?”

M14 - “God has a favorite TV series and it’s called my life.”

M15 - “It’s a beautiful day to stop wasting my time, honey.”

M16 - “Women aren’t complicated. You’re just dumb.”

M17 - “I’m actually pretty cool if you give me five tries to get it right.”

M18 - “Well, this social situation isn’t going the way I acted it out in the shower.”

M19 - “Do the dark circles under my eyes and my unwashed hair turn you on?”

M20 - “My opinion is no.”

M21 - “Are we gonna hold hands or what?”

M22 - “True love is having a crush even when they get a bad haircut.”

M23 - “Be prepared to add a cute emoji next to my name in your contact list because you’re gonna love me.”

M24 - “Was that just awkward eye contact or were we checking each other out?”

M25 - “His/her/their use of common sense is so fucking hot.”

[flyinbanachab]

Comfortember 11: Board Game

(note: this is a wildcard substitute for the prompt PTSD)

(also note: Twilight Imperium is an extremely real board game.)

---

11:03 AM Hughes slammed a briefcase down on the conference room table with a wicked glint in his eye. Breda raised his eyebrows.

"This game needs a whole suitcase?"

"You didn't read the rules, did you?" Hughes gave him an exasperated look as he popped the latches. Inside was a carefully packed mass of cards, counters, tiles, and colorful pewter spaceships.

Keep reading on AO3 or...

"Yeah about that. I was gonna, but it's the size of a goddamn novel and I had actual work to do."

Hughes straightened up and crossed his arms. "No playing unless you've read the rules. That's the first rule."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. Get started. If you're a fast reader you'll finish before I'm done with setup, though you might forfeit your choice of species."

"...my what."

"Twilight Imperium is a game of galactic conquest!" Falman jumped in. "Each player is a different alien faction, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Your strategy should change depending on which species you play."

Breda, pretending not to be intrigued by this, picked up one of the instruction manuals and retreated to a corner. He grumbled, "Aliens. Sounds like a real thinkin man's game. Yessir, a real grownup game for grownups."

Hughes started laying out a starfield of hexagonal tiles. "I figured we'd use one of the tutorial layouts, since there's so many new players."

Mustang began pulling stacks of cards from the suitcase and sorting them into piles; he's clearly played before. "I can't believe this is really how you want to spend your free day out east."

"Hey," Hughes gave him a sheepish smile. "You know how hard it is to get an eight-player game together! Plus, this way I don't have to feel guilty about asking Gracia to keep Elicia out of the way for a whole day."

At this, Hawkeye looked concerned. "Is this really a twelve-hour game?"

Hughes shrugged. "Can be. There's a lot going on, and a lot of players. It's faster," he added pointedly, "if everyone reads the rules first. Don't worry, we'll take breaks."

Rebecca Catalina leaned over Hughes' shoulder, pulled a piece out of the suitcase and holds it up for inspection. It's a pewter spaceship, painted yellow. "Wow, look at the guns on this thing. Nyyoooom pew pew pew!"

Hughes plucked it from her hand and returned it to the pile of yellow pieces. "Please do not separate the pieces."

Catalina pouted. "Riza said this would be FUN."

"This will NOT if pieces go missing. Okay everyone-- time to pick your your faction." He handed a pile of dossiers to Mustang, who flipped directly to one, setting it in front of him and passing the rest. Hughes looked at him over the top of his glasses.

"The Embers of Muaat? Really?"

"What?" Mustang sounded defensive.

"You know what."

Rebecca elbowed Falman, who she’d determined to be the non-Hughes person likeliest to give her answers. "What was that about?"

But Hughes answered first. "They're literally made of fire. A little on the nose, don't you think?"

Mustang scowled. "I want my war sun, dammit."

Havoc chose next: "The Nekro Virus? Fuck yeah, that sounds badass!"

"Are you sure? That's a pretty advanced play style..." Hughes cautions.

"E-vil ro-bots, e-vil ro-bots!" Havoc chants.

"Fine, have fun. Fuery?" 

"Uh, I think I'll take the Arborec."

"Oh, space fungus? Interesting choice. Falman?"

"The universities of Jol-Nar."

"Oh good, someone's playing the nerds. Can't wait to see how your tech stacks against Roy's war suns. Hawkeye?"

"Hmm..." She flipped through the remaining choices. "The Federation of Sol."

Havoc is aghast. "All these cool aliens and you pick human? Booooring."

"Hey, let the lady play who she wants. Sol's a great choice. Catalina?"

Catalina held a dossier in the air labeled Xxcha. "The ChaChaCha!"

Hughes scowled. "It's pronounced "Shhhcha."

"The reverend ambassador of the ChaChaCha respectfully disagrees, and would appreciate it if you'd take the time to learn their name."

"You're going to be like this all day, aren't you."

"Obviously!"   

Hughes sighed and pulled a dossier for himself. "I'll be the L1Z1X Mindset. Slightly less evil robots. Breda? You're done with time out, come pick your faction." There weren't many left.

"Mentak," he announced with a smirk. Hughes groaned.

"You would."

Catalina elbowed Falman again. "What's wrong with Mentak?" She stage whispered.

"The Mentak Coalition are space pirates. They steal trade goods from other players."

Catalina considered this for a moment, then batted her eyelashes at Breda. "You won't steal from ME though, right? We are but simple space turtles."

Breda just looked at her. “Never,” he deadpanned.

"Alright alright, everyone find your home worlds on the board and take your seat accordingly. Pick a color and get all your pieces..."

2:42 PM Hughes dropped a token onto Mustang's home world. Gasps and whoops erupted from around the room.

"Ohhh shit, it's happening!" Havoc howled.

Hughes glared daggers at Mustang. "Yeah, it's happening." He began moving his ships onto Mustang’s tile from all over the board. There wasn't enough room on it, seeing as how it was already overflowing with Mustang's ships--though, notably, crucially, not a war sun-- so Hughes lined them up on the bare wood of the table, each one very deliberately pointing its guns toward Muaat. Mustang jumped to his feet, angrily snatching dice off the table. Hughes stood to match. The rest of the table scrambled to their feet and gathered in behind them to see how the rolls would land.

"Space cannons," Mustang growled, flinging dice onto the table. 4:12 PM Havoc deliberated over which strategy card to pick.

"Mustang's going for Mecatol," Breda growled. "We gotta stop him."

"What? I'm not stupid," Mustang protested. "Look, you're all within range. No way you'd let me keep it. Not worth trying. I'm just sitting NEAR Mecatol for a little bit, for a different objective."

"Bullshit. Everyone knows that's bullshit, right? You can see it in his eyes."

"I'm not, I swear!"

Havoc looked back and forth between them and picked up Warfare, passing the pile of open options to Hawkeye.

Breda crossed his arms. "Then you won't mind if I take Imperial this round."

"Wh-what?" Mustang looked around the table, pleading his case. "This is a setup! He just wants to claim two objectives this round! Look, he's already ahead a point, we can't let him gain a lead like that."

Hawkeye, the barest ghost of a smile on her face, quietly placed the Imperial card in front of her and passed the remainder to Falman. Mustang and Breda both gasped.

"Hawkeye, no!" Mustang pleaded.

"Yeaaaah, get em Riza!" Catalina cheered. "All hail the queen!" 6:35 PM "Come on Fuery. What'll it take for you to vote for me?" Hughes asked. "Here. A promissory note-- a victory point in exchange for your influence."

"That would definitely decide the vote," Falman said, quickly doing the math in his head.

Catalina leaned in on an elbow, causing the v-neck of her blouse to puddle in a very interesting way. "Hey, I'll give you a promissory note AND 3 trade goods if you vote for me."

Fuery looked from Catalina to Hughes, unimpressed. "There's still another agenda after this," he said, adjusting his glasses. “Why should I spend all my influence now?”

"Don't give it to Hughes," Breda groaned. "He doesn't need an advantage."

"What are you talking about, I only have six points!"

"Uh huh, and I intend to keep it that way. Fuery, vote for Catalina and I won't steal from you, rest of the game."

"Give it to Becca and she's going to destroy me next turn," Havoc pleaded.

Fuery turned to Havoc and gave him a slow smirk. "What's it worth to you?" 8:49 PM Time to score the round. Breda, Mustang, and Falman all had 8 points; Hughes and Fuery had 7; Catalina had 6; Riza and Havoc trailed at 5. This could be the end of the game; first person to ten won, and it was technically possible to score 3 points right now. The room held its collective breath as Hughes proctored the scoring in its appointed order.

"Havoc?"

"Yeah, I can spend the resources," he said, doing so, gaining one point.

"Any secret objectives?"

"I wish."

Hughes moved on. "Catalina?"

She nodded, a tense smile on her face. "I'm spending my tokens for 2 points."

"Secrets?"

She flipped over a card with a smile. "Yes."

"Fuck," Mustang said. Suddenly Catalina was in the lead, one point from victory. Of course, she couldn't possibly win for another round.

"Falman?"

All eyes were on him. This could be it. They could see he didn't have enough resources, tokens, or influence to claim any of the open two-point objectives, but what was in his stack of secret objectives?

"Yes, I control 3 planets with technology specialties."

"What?" Hughes was surprised, looking at the starfield. "Oh, sure as shit. How'd we let that happen?" That was only worth one point though; now he and Catalina were tied at nine.

"Any secret objectives?"

Falman wordlessly turned over a card.

The room burst into a mix of curses and cheers. Mustang pushed back from the table hard enough to knock his chair over.

"Dammit! I had the points!" Breda groused, throwing his secret objectives onto the table.

"Good game, Falman," Hawkeye congratulated him.

"Yeah," Hughes grudgingly agreed, "Well played. This was really close though, look at that board." He then pulled a sheet of paper from the depths of the suitcase: a record of dates, players, and final scores. "Anybody got a pen?"

The players began sorting the mass of cards, tokens, and pieces back into their starting piles. Some hands were still shaky with adrenaline.

"Thanks for bringing this!" Fuery said. "It was a lot of fun."

Hughes grinned. "Yeah, it was. Same time next year?"

[hopeful-despair-imagines]

Byakuya, Nagito, Gundham, Kokichi, and Gonta reacting to their S/O getting picked on.

I shortened the title a bit, but here is the full prompt:

How would Byakuya, Nagito, Gundham, Kokichi, and Gonta react to an S/O who has autism, and makes animal noises when happy? And one day they're out in public and someone makes fun of them so much they start crying?

I had a lot of fun writing this, it was a super sweet request!

- Mod Ri

Byakuya:

He’d do anything in his power for you, it didn’t matter how big or how small the task was, Byakuya would do anything to make his dear S/O happy.

When you were happy, you make sweet little animal noises. In turn, this made Byakuya truly happy, since he knew when you were happy and got to hear your pristine voice.

If someone ever made fun of you, oh boy. Byakuya wasn’t one to start a verbal argument in public, but he didn’t hold back when it came to his famous ‘rich boy glare’™, and the aura he radiated was extremely formidable, yet you felt safer than ever stood behind him.

But it could all be too much sometimes, and the jeers and insults would get to you, causing you to break down and cry.

How dare someone make his S/O cry!

With one last glare, he’ll take you out of the situation and back to safety.

Once you get home, his cold façade drops almost immediately, as he holds you close and whispers sweet words to you.

It genuinely irks him when people make fun of you. Can’t they see just how perfect you are?

He’ll pamper you for the rest of the day, making sure to remind you just how wonderful you are.

“You shouldn’t listen to those people; they have no right to talk about you. I’ll always be here with you, so you have no need to worry.”

 Nagito:

Where to even begin? Nagito adored you, every single detail about you. You were his shining hope and he’d defend you until the bitter end if he had to.

In his eyes, you were basically a goddess and he was ecstatic that someone like you would spend time with him, let alone be in a relationship with him.

He couldn’t comprehend why some people would make fun of you and he often found himself wondering if their minds were tainted with such powerful despair that blinded them to the obvious hope standing in front of them.

If someone where to ever make the mistake of making fun of you in front of Nagito, they’d better be prepared for one long and tedious conversation.

It was perfectly normal for Nagito to monologue about hope and not giving into despair by picking on his S/O. He’ll get lost in the moment and is normally pulled back to reality by someone getting physical with him or the person he was talking to just walking away.

Now, be prepared to be spoilt for the rest of the day. If you want to stay out, Nagito will take you anywhere you’d like and buy you everything that catches your eye.

He’ll keep your hand held tightly in his as you both walk around, but if you want to go home, he totally understood.

At home the white-haired boy will take you straight to your shared room and cuddle with you on the bed, all the while making a point of telling you how perfect you are.

In return this made you extremely happy and you’d let out a few small mewls, which made Nagito very glad.

“Ah, I love you so much S/O! You’re the light of my life!”

 Gundham:

Gundham could be quite… odd at times, but all his talk about otherworldly beings didn’t stop him from loving you in the slightest.

He referred to you as the “feared demon queen”, which you loved. You knew he had somewhat of an obsession with the occult, so being equivalent to the demon queen in his eyes surely meant he cared about you to a great extent.

Whenever you were happy, you’d make a variety of animal noises, ranging from a small bark to a soft squeak. Sometimes the Devas would respond with their own exited squeaks, much to Gundham’s delight.

He was glad you could get along with his beloved Devas and was even happier that they’d communicate with you, it was just more proof that his S/O was the true demon queen!

All hell was bound to break loose if anyone dared speak ill about you. It was if Gundham had literally opened a gate to the underworld, his aura switched from sweet and gentle to fierce and intimidating in the blink of an eye.

One time, Gundham had left you for a few minutes to go and grab something from a nearby store, you agreed to wait for him since he told you it was a birthday surprise for you! What he didn’t expect was to find you in tears upon returning.

You’d explained everything that has happened in his short absence and obviously the demon lord himself was enraged, but for now, he had to focus his energy on cheering his precious S/O up.

He’d take you home and sit you down on the sofa, letting you hold the fluffy Devas for comfort.

A hot drink and many cuddles with Gundham (and the Devas!) later, and you’ll be back to your cheery demeanour in no time.

“S/O, my cherished Demon Queen! This was intended for your birthday, but I’d like to bestow it upon you in this moment if you’d allow it.”

He pulled out a glimmering silver box which contained a magnificent silver band for your wrist. Apparently, it would connect your souls to one another, to keep each other close, even when apart.

With a high-pitched squeak, you flung your arms around his neck.

He held on to you tightly as the Devas squeaked back in happiness, thinking that you were communicating with them.

 Kokichi:

He found you super cute, like super high school level cute.

He’d fuss over you often, and people liked to joke about him being surgically attached to you. The reason he stayed so close to you, was that people had hurt you emotionally in the past, and there was no way Kokichi would allow that to happen whilst he was around.

You were walking hand in hand through the mall, just having a good time. Holding Kokichi’s hand made you super happy, so you would quietly mewl and squeak in delight every now and again.

One time when you did this, a random passer-by just happened to hear you mewling and smiling and Kokichi. Let’s just say that passer-by wasn’t a nice person and began to make fun of you, completely ignoring Kokichi’s presence – big mistake.

Kokichi’s way to get people to leave you alone was to threaten to ‘get dice to come after them’. However, nobody had the faintest idea what ‘dice’ was, so it was a pretty ineffective tactic.

The person being confronted by Kokichi would often just leave on their own accord, being unable to take the furious purple-haired boy seriously.

“S/O don’t cry. That’s lame, silly!”

When Kokichi realised that you were genuinely upset, he grabbed your hand and whirled you home.

Plan: ‘Make Happy’ was in full swing. He sat you down on the sofa and put on his favourite comedy for you to watch.

He sat down with you and pulled you closer to him, hoping you'd lay down and cuddle with him.

Truthfully, you needed a good cuddle, and who better to receive them from than the ultimate supreme leader himself?

He was glad to see your mood lift when you started quietly humming along to some of the songs featured throughout the show.

"Hey, S/O, wanna go prank Kiiboy?"

An excellent idea. You both got up and devised the perfect plan together.

This was going to be one fun day!

Gonta:

Gonta didn't fully understand the concept of autism, but he loved and treasured you nonetheless. You were extremely precious to him.

Truth be told, he found your way of expressing happiness to be absolutely adorable.

Whenever you were both together, people never seemed to pick on you. It was likely that they were intimidated by Gonta's large and muscular figure.

However, when Gonta wasn't around, people would normally pick on you if you were to express your happiness.

Tears streaming down your face, you'd run home to Gonta, collapsing into his loving embrace once you'd arrived.

He'd quickly take to comforting you. Caressing your hair, cuddling with you, or just sitting with you, Gonta would do anything if it meant you'd cheer up.

When you'd eventually cheer up, he'd offer to take you out for a picnic. You both lived together beside a beautiful forest, which was the perfect location for romantic picnics.

With a quick nod, you'd jump up and go prepare. You liked to help Gonta cut up little sandwiches, savouring every single second you spent together.

Upon arrival, you'd rather hastily plop down on the checkered blanket Gonta had brought, and began taking in the gorgeous surroundings.

Getting to spend time with Gonta was always the highlight of your day, and usually overshadowed anything bad that had happened previously in the day.

"S/O, look! A butterfly, it reminds Gonta of you!"

You watched happily as a petite Chalk Hill Blue butterfly danced through the air, until it decided to rest on a nearby flower.

A mewl of happiness escaped your lips as a few more flew past, their enchanting blue wings fluttering in the breeze.

Carefully, you moved closer to the insect and reached your hand out to it. It made its way onto your index finger, as another mewl of delight left your lips.

Then you slowly turned back around to show your beloved boyfriend, a wide grin present on your face.

"Gonta thinks S/O is the perfect partner!"

[jolinar]

A Very Starwars Fictober, Day 13!

Prompt number: #13 “I’ve missed this”

Fandom: Star Wars 

Rating: Teen and up

Warnings/Tags: FinnRose, Stormflower, unrequited love 

Word Count: 1423

Summary: Rose and Finn catch up for the first time after Crait

Read it on Ao3

---

Rose had worked through lunch. Again. And then worked through dinner on top of it. She was exhausted and needed her bunk, but her stomach growled. She’d never fall asleep unless she ate something, and short of raiding one of her bunkmates’ stash, she'd be going to bed hungry. 

Like most of the Resistance’s makeshift base, the canteen was a series of tents set up against a small transport. Miraculously, there was still a light on in part of the tent. 

Standing at a countertop island in the middle of the tent was Finn. The very last person she wanted to see when she was tired and gross from a long day's work. He was working at a cutting board, a pile of vegetables on his right, and a bowl of neatly diced ones on his left. 

Rose was just about to let the tent flap fall again and scurry away when he looked up, he looked up, squinting over at her. 

“Hey, that you, Rose?” 

Rose froze. Busted. Face suddenly flushed, she took a step into the tent. 

“Yep! It’s me! I mean, obviously, it’s me, I’m standing right in front of you," oh goodness, she was babbling, she needed to rein this in. "What are you doing here?”

He gestured down at the cutting board and pile of vegetables beside him. “Duty rotation. I drew the short straw and ended up in the kitchen this week.”

“At,” she consulted her watch, “11 pm?”

Finn shrugged. “I got distracted earlier, so I got asked to help prep for tomorrow. What about you? What are you doing here so late?”

“Oh! I missed lunch and dinner. Just a lot of work. I was hoping to scavenge some food, but if it’s too late --”

“No, there’s probably something around here, hold on --”

He turned to start opening refrigerators and cabinets, trying to scrounge for her. She settled down at a seat across the long island from him, watching him.  

Though their time together had been short, it had been intense. They had schemed together, escaped the First Order together. She had saved his life, then...nothing. When she’d finally woken up, he’d been away with Poe. She wouldn’t admit even to herself that she waited for him, expecting some kind of message...but all during her recovery, whenever someone walked by she’d look up, hoping it was him. 

He produced a sandwich of unknown origin out of a fridge and placed it in on the island between them like a peace offering. She looked up at him and smiled as cheerfully as she could muster. She watched as he returned to cutting up the mound of produce in front of them. There had been so many things she’d wanted to say to him over the past month. But now she found she couldn’t find the words. Instead, she picked up the sandwich and started eating. 

“What have you been doing lately?” she managed after a few bites.

“When I’m not cutting up vegetables? I dunno,” he was slicing methodically, the knife sinking into the cutting board with dull thuds. “Been spending a lot of time with Poe.”

“And Rey?”

The knife paused. “Rey, she...she’s got her own stuff going on. I don’t understand a lot of it. Comes from being a Jedi, you know how it is. She's doing really important work for the Resistance, though, of course.” He said it over-confidently, and Rose wondered who he was trying to convince. He resumed chopping and continued: “Rey was my first friend outside the First Order, you know?”

“I wouldn't let Poe hear you say that.”

“I met Poe first, but he...Poe was a dream. My ticket out, then he was gone. I thought he was dead, remember? But me and Rey had each others' backs for longer. When I woke up after Starkiller I was so focused on making sure that Rey was safe. You know that better than anyone.” She nodded, remembering how he’d been willing to desert the entire Resistance rather than risk Rey returning to a doomed fleet. “The whole time on Canto Bight, all of that pushing was to make sure she had somewhere safe to come back to. And now that we’re all together again…” he abruptly stopped cutting and put down the knife. “Sometimes it feels like everyone around here is so driven and they’re all fighting to get something back, reclaim it from the First Order. But me? I’m fighting because that’s the only thing I know how to do. And lately, it hasn't been fighting." He stared down gloomily at the task in front of him. "Following orders, that’s all a stormtrooper is good for.”

Rose shook her head. “Finn, that’s not true at all. You’re not a stormtrooper.”

“I know that. But it’s what I was raised to be, it was all my training.”

“You can be more. I know it."

Rose wanted to reach out and squeeze his arm reassuringly, to try to transfer some of the confidence she felt for him. But after Crait, after all this time, to be talking like this again was such a gift. She didn’t want to break the spell by overreaching. So she settled for looking into his face, trying to transfer everything she couldn’t express by touch into her gaze. Now that you’re out, now that Rey is safe, what do you want to do?”

"Well...I've thought about it a lot, but haven't told anyone. I want to find the stormtrooper training camps. When I was little, they took me to this place. They conditioned us, raised us to fight, to work for them. I never questioned it until that night on Jakku, when Kylo Ren made us torch that village. And once I did start questioning it, it was like something unlocked in my brain.” he was talking more animatedly now, his eyes lighting up. “And I just thought, maybe there are others who would do the same? I know not every stormtrooper is good, but I want to give them back the choice."

“That's such a good idea!”

“You really think so?” Finn asked, incredulous. Then he brightened, a touch of his usual swagger coming back. “Yeah, I guess it’s not bad, right?”

“Yes! It would solve our problem of numbers for one thing!”

“But there could be some double agents mixed in --”

“ -- But if we vet everyone who comes in, keep their units siloed off we could help mitigate that.”

“So all we have to do is find them..." Finn deflated, shook his head. "And there's the dead-end.”

“You don’t remember where they took you?”

“It was all secret. And it was so long ago."

“Finn, the Resistance has the best spy network in the galaxy, how else do you think we’ve survived this long??”

“So if we get General Leia to let us leverage that network --”

“--then we can liberate these stormtrooper camps!”

“It’s not much --”

“But it’s the start of a plan and you know it.”

“It is.” Finn grinned. “I feel...better. Thanks, Rose. 

“What can I say, we make a good team,” Rose said, grinning back. He laughed and she felt suddenly bold. This time she did reach out across the island and gripped his hand. He looked down at her hand, brow furrowed and she pulled away again. 

“Oh, I didn't mean --!” She’d stepped in it now. She grimaced, trying to think of how to explain this without sounding like an idiot. He was still staring at her, perplexed, but not unkindly. “I didn't mean anything by it. Look, what happened on Crait, that was an impulse. And if you're not...then I’m not -- what I'm trying to say is, it's okay! That I'm not expecting anything. If you want, you don't have to talk to me anymore. But I hope that you do because...I missed this." Rose said, gesturing around, including herself and Finn and their surroundings. "I missed this so much."

“You missed...watching me chop vegetables in a cooking tent?” Finn deadpanned. Rose glared at him, then shook her head. So much for a serious conversation. She picked up what was left of her sandwich and hopped up, headed for the tent's entrance. Finn put out a hand to stop her. 

"Hey -- it’s okay. Look, Rose, there’s still a lot I’m trying to figure out. But, just so you know…” he looked over at her with such sincerity and openness that it made her heart skip, “I missed this, too." 

[all-might-blog]

Playing Monopoly

Summary:

Some of the students just decide to play monopoly. Let's just say that it doesn't end well...

Notes:

Helooo! Missed me?

First of all, thanks to all of you who left kudos on my previous works in this series! 10 KUDOS IN A DAY! I couldn't believe it! Thank. You. SO. MUCH!!!!!! Second is that if you have any requests of fanarts that you made/came across with about a scene containing the characters or prompts that would last a chapter (or two, deoending on it! Also counts for the fanarts!) I would love to write a story inspired by it! Just put the link in the comments and I will check it out and see if I can come up with any ideas! (Since I have lots of time, I think that I will be able to do it!) Third is that this fanfic was inspired by a fanart I came across on pinterest. Basically, it's a shot of some students from class A playing monopoly. Um... Deku looses and Bakugou wins and the rest is absolute chaos. I won't say anything else, but I will be posting it on Tumblr along with the fanart (I've also done that with "Haven't we met yet…?" and "Give those two a push, Class 1A!" which you can find in this series!) (my tumblr is The All Might Blog, in case you wish to see the fanarts) I hope you enjoy the read!

Here is the fanart: 

XD I know, right? Just look at Todoroki’s expression and poor Izuku’s (but I changed some things in the fic....)

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

All Might stood in front of Class 1A's commom room, his hand on the doorknob. He didn't dare open it yet. Why were his students shouting so much? He slowly twisted the know open and opened the door.

Bakugou was lying on top of what seemed to be a monopoly board with a very grumpy look on his face. Midoriya was being showered with bank notes from the game, looking both pleased and scared. Iida and Urakawa were shouting and showering bank notes down on Midoriya. Kirishima hadthrown his arms up and was shouting "WHY, CRUEL WORLD?!". Denki was laughing on the couch, Present Mic and Eraserhead seated beside him (the latter rolling his eyes and saying that he wanted to take a nap). And Todoroki was inside a carboard box with the word JAIL written on it with what All Might thought to be bars. All Might stood at the entrance for a few moments later before closing the door. "I will come back later..." he muttered, walking back the way he had come.

AN HOUR EARLIER...

"Anyone wanna play Monopoly?" Urakawa asked, showing them the box (it was a game of thrones edition). "Oh, Kachan, do you remember when we used to play together?" Midoriya asked. "And how I used to beat you over and over again? Yeah." Bakugou said, flipping the page of the magazine he was reading. "That doesn't ask my question!" Urakawa said, "Does anyone want to have a round?" "I think I will. I haven't got anything to do." Todoroki said, raising his hand from the couch he was sitting at. "I will, too!" Midoriya said. "Count me in as well," Iida said, adjusting his glasses, "I consider myself a formidable player." "I am bored. I will be an expectator." Denki said. Soon enough, Urakawa had set up the game board on the floor- and there was a turn of events as well. "You guys have to be kidding. A jail." Bakugou said (he had joined in to prove that he was a good player). The "jail" was a large cardboard box big enough to fit a person, with the word JAIL written in marker under a bunch of crudely cut out bars. "Yup!" Urakawa said with a bright smile. She handed out the pieces and the bank notes as they sat around the game board, their pieces set at start. "What are you guys doing?" They all turned their heads to see Present Mic and their homeroom teacher, Eraserhead, enter the room. "Playing monopoly!" Denki said from his spot on the couch (a small sign had been stuck to it saying EXPECTATORS). "I can see that it won't end well. We will see how it goes." Eraserhead sat next to Denki. Present Mic sat next to them. "Let's all throw to see who starts," Iida said. The order was soon determined: First Todoroki, then Kirishima, Iida, Urakawa, Bakugou and Midoriya. Todoroki landed on one of the properties and bought it, paying 100 bank notes for it. And so on it went. I will mention the most important parts, else it would just drag on for some time.

"Ha ha, Idiot! You have to pay me for landing on my property!" Bakugou said when Midoriya was unfortunate enough to land on his property. "Right. How much is it?" Midoriya asked, leafing through his bank notes. "Fve hundred notes." "What? It says here it's fifty-" Iida began to say, but Bakugou cut him off. "It's my property, you dingus." "Bakugou, have you ever read the rules?" Five minutes passed by with Iida and Bakugou arguing over the manual. "Did he do that while he played with you back when you two were little?" Urakawa asked Midoriya. "Yeah..." "No wonder he kept on wining…!"

"You keep on buying all the property," Todoroki said as Iida paid notes to the bank for his fifth property. "It is helpful for wining," Iida said. "Why do you look at him? It's Bakugou with the seven properties!" Urakawa said. Bakugou smirked at them. "Good luck with not landing on my properties," he said.

About ten minutes after that, it was Todoroki's turn to roll the dice. He did and- "YOU LANDED ON JAIL!" Kirishima shouted. "Poor Todoroki," Denki said as the other boy got in the box with a are you kidding me? look on his face. "The stakes are growing," Eraserhead mused. "And it looks like Bakugou or Iida might win..."

"Deku, why aren't you buying any property?" Urakawa asked. "Just wait and see." He said, rolling the dice. The number was six. Midoriya's grin grew even wider when his piece landed on the most expensive property on the board and he bought it. "Midoriya has tricked the other players!" Present Mic cried. "Good grief, Midoriya," Iida said, "If we land there..." Six minutes passed by before that happened. Bakugou pulled at his hair. "NOOO! How the-" he said. "Pay the land's owner." Iida said. Bakugou reluctantly handed over most of the money he had left. What Midoriya did in his next turns was buy all the property around that last one.

It was Todoroki's turn again. He rolled the dice... and landed himself in jail once more. "The game obviously hates me." he said, getting back in the box with a sigh.

Urakawa landed on a box in which she had to pick up a card. She read it, her eyes growing huge. "What is it?" Kirishima asked. "I lost." she said, paying the last of her money to the bank. "Oof." Denki said as she joined them at the couch. Present Mic patted her shoulder. "You tried."

Several more minutes passed by before it became obvious thatbthe one who would win was Mirodiya. Iida had lost all of his money after landing on one of his properties, and so had Kirishima. Only he, Bakugou and Todoroki remained seated at the board. Todoroki rolled the dice. "Well, at least it's not jail again!" He said, moving his piece. However, the hox was one of those in which you have to move back a few boxes. He landed on jail again. "Yep. The game defenetely hates me." he said, crawling back into the box.

"I'm gonna win, Deku!" Bakugou growled as he purchased another property. "Oh really?" Midoriya chuckled. Minutes passed before Bakugou landed on his prooerty, paying what little money he had left.

BACK TO THE PRESENT...

"Hey, All Might!" Midnight said with a wave. "Have you seen Eraserhead?" "He's in the Class 1A commom room. But don't go there yet. It's... scary."

Notes:

My next work might be an origin story about All Might. Still dodn't know. Between that and this, there will be another update! I hope you enjoyed the read!