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rizlowwritessortof · 4 years ago

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Meant To Be - Chapter 1

Dean and Jordan are each trying to escape their painful pasts. Their chance meeting and a dangerous encounter begins a relationship that may give them both a new start. (Tags will be on the fic masterlist post so y’all don’t get bombarded with each chapter.)

Pairing: Police Detective Dean Winchester/Jordan Taylor

Word Count: 3583

Warnings: Abusive relationship and related violence, nothing graphic.

Aesthetic by @editsbymichele on Instagram; Dividers by @firefly-graphics

The sudden stop sent the car skidding a little in the gravel, the dust cloud swirling to dissipate in the breeze as Jordan jumped out, slamming the door hard behind her as she yelled into her phone. “Kiss my ass, Darrel! No, you did this, don’t lay it on me! What?! Like hell I’m coming home! Just go back to your new little drinking buddy-slash-fucktoy and leave me alone. You can’t have it both ways. No, fuck you. Fuck you sideways, buddy. I’m done. Have a nice life.”

She let out a frustrated scream, slamming a fist down on the hood of the car, so pissed off that she was shaking. She whirled around, startled, as a deep masculine voice called out. “Poor car. Sounds like Darrel’s the one you should be punching.”

“Excuse me? That was a private conversation!” she spluttered, glaring at the source. He was standing in front of a beautiful black beast of a car, the hood up, wiping his hands on a shop rag. She could feel the heat in her face, and his appearance slowly filtering through her rage into her brain didn’t help. He was gorgeous.

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Sorry, sweetheart, but the way you were yelling, there wasn’t much private about it.” He dropped his chin a little, his eyes narrowing as he spoke again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to butt in. Are you okay?”

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she turned to the car, jerking the back door open to grab her bag. “It’s okay, sorry I was such a bitch. And I’m not okay, but I will be. I’m gonna be fucking awesome.” She stuffed her phone in her back pocket and fished the key card out of her bag, fumbling with the door. “Thanks for asking, anyway.”

She glanced back at him before going in, watching his little nod of acknowledgment and rueful smile. She closed the door shut behind her and leaned against it, dropping her bag. “Well, that wasn’t embarrassing at all. Screaming like a crazy woman in the middle of a parking lot, in front of the most fucking attractive man you’ve ever seen in your life. Awesome start to your new life, Jordan.” She moved to the window, peeking out the side of the curtains at him as he continued working under the hood of his car. He was tall, solid, in beat-up blue jeans and a well-worn grey t-shirt that was smeared with grease and dark in spots from perspiration. She watched the muscles in his biceps strain as he worked with some kind of tool, stopping for a moment to grab the rag from his back pocket and wipe his face. He was ridiculously good-looking, even with smudges of grease on his arms and face. Actually, somehow that made him even more attractive, a man’s man, a man who wasn’t afraid of hard work and getting dirty. He glanced her direction, and she backed away quickly, swearing under her breath.

She sighed, letting her eyes roam around her room. It was almost like a little bungalow, with a kitchenette and a couch against one wall, and she wandered over to take a look out the back door. Now wasn’t that convenient! Right across the street behind the motel was a little liquor store, and she began to smile to herself. “No guts, no glory, girl. Get over there and buy that fine man a cold beer to apologize for being a hag.”

A few minutes later, she was stepping back out the front door with two icy-cold long necks in her hands. He watched her approach, wiping his hands, a slow smile lighting up his handsome face. “Here. To say I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“Well, no apology necessary, but I’ll be damned if I say no to that! Fuckin’ hot out here,” he rumbled, taking the beer gratefully and taking a long pull from the bottle.

“Fuckin’ hot anywhere you are,” Jordan thought to herself, joining him after a little salute with the bottle in his direction. “Nothing better than an ice-cold beer on a hot day,” she said out loud. “So – what’s wrong with your car?”

“Oh, nothin’, really. Just tuning her up a little. Killing time, actually. I’ve been here one night already, looks like it’s gonna be another couple. Just waiting for my brother to get back.”

“Ahhh, so you just like to tinker.”

“Oh, I just like to make her purr.” Jordan almost choked on the swallow of beer she had just taken. “She’s just like a woman, you treat her right, she’ll treat you right.”

She smiled at him, getting one back in return. “Well, I’m glad there’s a man in this world who knows that. I’m Jordan, by the way.”

“Dean. Nice to meet you, Jordan.” His voice was on her frequency, apparently, because every time he spoke she felt her breath catch. His eyes were green with hints of gold, framed by thick lashes that any woman would die for, and she looked down at her beer, peeling at the label, unable to withstand his candid gaze any longer. They chatted a little longer about how good the beer tasted, how hot it was, how comfy the rooms were. He finished his beer, setting the bottle down and reaching up to lower the hood and close it. The muscles of his back under that damp, clingy t-shirt raised Jordan’s temperature another notch, and she had to mentally prompt herself to close her mouth. She cleared her throat, taking a long, cool drink, surprised it didn’t just come out of her ears in billows of steam.

“Well, Jordan, thanks for the beer. I’d better hit the shower. Maybe we’ll run into each other again.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She smiled back at him, and then watched him walk back to his room, two doors down from hers. Those jeans hugged his body just right, and her eyes followed his bow-legged amble all the way to his door, finally forcing herself to focus on the ground before he could turn and see her staring again. Holy. Shit. She headed back to the room and opened another beer, scolding herself. Not really the best time to be lusting after some stranger, not with all the shit she’d been through the last few weeks. She plopped down on the sofa with a sigh, roaming through the channels on the TV while she finished her beer, then headed for the shower.

Dean dropped the empty beer bottle into the trash and sat on the edge of the bed to untie his boots. He smiled to himself, Jordan’s dramatic entrance into the parking lot replaying in his head. “Little firecracker, that one,” he muttered. She was a little bit of nothing, but what was there was nicely arranged, he had to admit. Big brown eyes, hair short and sexy just like her, kissable lips…

He laughed quietly to himself as he imagined Donna’s teasing voice in his head saying, “Don’t even think about it, partner. Ain’t you had enough?” As soon as he was cleaned up, he needed to call and check on her, see how she was doing. He headed towards the bathroom as he stripped his t-shirt off, pushing the door with one foot to swing it closed.

The bar and grill down the block looked like a good enough place to find some food, and Jordan walked that way, running her fingers through her tousled, short hair. The screen door squealed as she opened it, pushing hard to shove the heavy inner door open and walking into the bar, the air conditioning sending a refreshing chill over her arms. A waitress walking by gave her a pleasant smile and hello, telling her to sit wherever she pleased and she’d be right with her.

There was no one in the place at the moment but a table full of elderly men at the far back corner, playing cards and drinking coffee. She settled herself in a comfy booth by the wall, grabbing a menu.

“Can I get you somethin’ to drink, hon?” the waitress asked, and she smiled up at her.

“Yeah, a glass of whatever you’ve got on tap, please.”

“You got it, be right back to take your order. I’m Molly, by the way, if you need something.” It was a lovely place, simple, homey and welcoming. Small town friendly, which was always pleasant - as long as you weren’t from that small town so they didn’t know all your business. Sometimes being an anonymous stranger was really nice.

Molly came back with a frosted mug brim-full of beer, and she smiled. You don’t get those everywhere. “Awesome, thanks!”

“You ready to order?” the woman asked, brushing a graying lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail away from her face.

“Yeah, I think I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger and fries,” she said, and her stomach grumbled as she spoke. Things had been in such an uproar lately, she had barely been eating.

“Now, there’s a woman with good taste!” Jordan felt her heartbeat stop for a second, and she looked up into Dean’s smiling face, those stunning green eyes crinkling at the corners. “Molly, can I get the same, and a beer?” he asked, giving the older woman his full attention.

“You got it, Dean,” the waitress answered with a smile, and headed back towards the kitchen. He nodded his head towards the seat opposite Jordan’s and grinned.

“Mind if I sit? I mean, if you’re not expecting somebody...”

“No, I’m not, please sit,” she smiled back at him. “It’ll be nice to have somebody to talk to besides myself.”

He took a seat, an amused smirk on his face. “Well, I don’t want to interrupt your conversation.”

“It’s okay. Mostly waxing poetic about the frosted mug of beer,” she grinned back.

“Right? Gotta love that.” He looked up at the waitress as his beer appeared in front of him. “Molly, you’re a doll.”

“Oh, stop. Keep tellin’ you, I’m married,” she teased, turning to go. “And I’m too old for you.”

“Love a woman with experience,” he fired back, and she flapped a hand at him, blushing.

“You are a dangerous man. You watch out for that one, honey,” Molly aimed her parting remarks at Jordan and headed back to the kitchen.

“How long have you known her?” Jordan asked, raising her mug to her lips.

“Just met her yesterday. Why?”

Jordan stared back at him in surprise. “Really? Wow, you’ve got a way with people.”

“A friend of mine told me once that I just like to flirt. She might be right.”

Jordan laughed. “She might be.” His phone went off just then, and he grabbed it off the table.

“My brother. Be right back,” he smiled, swiping the screen as he rose to his feet and headed for the door. “Hey, Sammy,” she heard him say as he went outside.

She ordered them each another beer when Molly came over to check, and she had just taken a drink, focused on reading a message on her phone, when a rough hand landed on her shoulder. “Okay, Jordan. Time to come home.”

She froze, refusing to look up at him. “Darrel. How did you find me?”

“Wasn’t hard. I knew which way you were headed. Now, you’re gonna get up from that seat and come home with me, we have a lot to talk about.”

“We don’t have anything left to talk about, but I’m not making a scene in here. So let’s just go outside and get this over with,” she ground out quietly between clenched teeth. She stood up and winced a little at the brutal grip on her arm, biding her time until they left the bar.

“Miss? You okay?” Molly asked with a frown as they headed for the door, and Jordan nodded.

“I’m fine, Molly. Don’t worry.”

“Just keep movin’,”Darrel whispered behind her. They shoved their way through the door, and took several steps away from the building before Jordan began to struggle. She cried out as he shifted his hold, twisting her arm behind her back viciously. “None of your shit, now. Just move.”

“Hey, Darrel!” Dean’s voice rang out loud and clear behind them, and Jordan tensed at the sound.

Darrel gave her arm another tug as he turned them both around to face Dean. “Fucker!” she spat, her teeth clenched.

“You okay, Jordan?” Dean asked, and she looked into his eyes.

“I’m sure I will be shortly.” Dean nodded, a wicked little smirk curving his lips.

“Who the hell are you?” Darrel demanded. “Who is this clown?” he growled into Jordan’s ear, and she jerked her head away.

“So, Darrel, tell me – is this usually the way you get women to go with you? Because I’m pretty sure she’s gonna cut off your balls first chance she gets.” He frowned a little, then continued. “Wait, that would assume you have balls, which is pretty unlikely, I’d guess.”

Darrel drew in a breath to respond, distracted for the moment, and Jordan jammed her free arm back, driving her elbow into his ribs, then stomped down hard on his instep. Darrel loosened his grip on her, groaning in pain, and she jerked herself free from his grasp, running towards Dean.

“Good girl,” he said, sweeping his arm out to place her behind him. “Well, Darrel. Looks like we have a situation here.”

Darrel pulled a knife from his back pocket, flipping it open. “Yeah. Bad one for you, asshole. You’re not armed.”

Dean nodded in agreement. “You’ve got a point there. So, whatcha waitin’ for, Darrel?” He said the man’s name with utter contempt, muttering, “Go inside” to Jordan as he headed towards the coward. “Bring it on.”

Jordan couldn’t force her feet to follow his command, staring in horror and shouting Dean’s name as he approached Darrel. There was a flurry of movement, punches thrown and Darrel’s swing with the blade blocked, his arm twisted violently until the weapon hit the ground with a thud, followed a few seconds later by Darrel, bruised and bleeding. Dean bent to pick up the knife, flipping it in his hand and standing over the fallen man with a snarl on his lips.

“I suggest you get the fuck outta here before I finish kicking your ass. And you forget about her. Forget her name. Forget you ever knew her. You hear me?”

Darrel scooted away, scrambling to his feet at a safer distance. “Jordan, this ain’t over!” he yelled defiantly.

“What did I just say to you?!” Dean bellowed, moving quickly in his direction, and Darrel’s eyes widened as he turned to run. “That’s right, you fucking coward, get your ass away from here.” Dean watched the man run until he was out of sight, then turned quickly, striding back to Jordan’s side. “Did he hurt you? Are you all right?”

She nodded, her face pale, weaving a little as her knees gave way. Dean put an arm around her waist, leading her to the bench beside the door and sitting her down. Molly stuck her head out the door, concern on her face. “Is she all right?”

“Yeah, just a little shaky. Hey, Molly – can we get those burgers to go?”

“Of course, give me just a sec, hon. Just wait right there.”

Dean hunkered down in front of Jordan, taking hold of her cold hand. “Hey, Jordan? Look at me, sweetheart.” She finally raised her eyes, and he gave her a proud little smile. “You did great. Just exactly what I was hoping you’d do.” Molly came out the door just then, handing their food to Dean, and reaching over to put her hand on Jordan’s.

“Glad you’re okay. Both of you.” With a pat to her hand and a little squeeze to Dean’s shoulder, she turned and went back inside.

“Okay, think you can make it back to your room? Come on, I gotcha,” Dean encouraged, an arm around her waist, the food and Darrel’s knife in the other hand. “Man, can’t wait to dig in. Molly makes a mean bacon cheeseburger.” He kept talking, all the way back to the motel, taking Jordan’s key card and letting them both in before leading her to a chair. “I’m going to my room to grab something, I’ll be right back. Okay?” She nodded vacantly, staring down at her hands.

She looked up, eyes wide as she heard someone at the door a couple of moments later, but Dean called out. “It’s just me, Jordan, comin’ back in, okay?” He came in, closed and dead-bolted the door behind him, and set a bottle of whiskey on the table as he walked by. Soon he was back, two coffee mugs from the little kitchenette in his hand. He poured a generous splash of the amber liquid into the cup and scooted it over towards Jordan. “Drink that, it’ll help.” She nodded, taking the cup in hand and tipping it steadily back, letting the liquor burn its way down her throat. She shuddered a little, then held it out for more.

“One more, maybe,” she said, and he tipped the bottle again. She downed the second shot, then blew out a shaky breath.

“Better?”

She looked at him, the color beginning to come back into her cheeks. “Yeah. I think so. Dean, I don’t know what to say...”

“You don’t have to say anything. Just eat. You can talk later.” He grinned, shoving her food at her, and she dug in gratefully.

She moaned, her eyes closing. “This is amazing!” Dean smiled, watching her wolf that bite down and go after another. She stopped, suddenly looking alarmed. “Wait, I didn’t even pay!”

“Taken care of, don’t worry about it.”

“So it’s not enough that you chase off my asshole ex, now you’re buying me dinner? Where have you been all my life?” she teased, taking another bite, and then blushing at her own words. “Wow - maybe the whiskey’s kicking in.”

Dean laughed softly as he continued eating. “Good. Maybe you can relax a little.” He turned on the TV, surfing until he found an old sitcom, and they watched as they finished their meal. When the credits rolled, Dean stood up, gathering the trash and tossing it before turning back to smile at her. “So – I should get out of here, let you get some rest.”

“Do you have to leave?” She swallowed hard, blushing. He stared back at her, not sure how to respond, and she dropped her gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry, you’ve done too much for me already, I don’t blame you for wanting to get the hell away, like you need...”

“Hey.” He spoke softly to stop her rambling, and she looked up at him, biting nervously at her lip. “I just thought after what you’d been through you should get some rest.” She nodded silently, wishing the floor would open up and swallow her, and he spoke again, concern in his eyes. “Are you afraid he’ll come back, Jordan?”

“I don’t know. I hope not.” She swallowed hard, fighting not to cry in front of him.

“Listen, I’ve got two beds in my room, you’re welcome to come down there and stay if you want.”

“No, no… I’m just being crazy. I’m sure he’s gone. You probably scared him all the way back home.” She tried to sound like she was laughing it off, but her performance wasn’t convincing even her. “Really, Dean, thank you. I appreciate it. But I don’t want to be any more of a pain than I already have been.” She picked up her phone, avoiding eye contact, and looked up in surprise when he took hold of it, pulling it gently from her grasp.

He typed something into it, then handed it back. “There, I put my number in. If you get scared, or if you need anything, call me. No matter what time it is. Okay?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Thank you.”

She felt his hand on her shoulder. “Get some sleep, sweetheart. How about I pick you up for breakfast in the morning?”

She nodded, looking steadily at the table top as he gave her shoulder a squeeze and headed out the door. As soon as the latch clicked shut, she buried her head in her arms and burst into tears.

She climbed into bed a little later, feeling somewhat better. Dean was right, she did need to sleep. The last few weeks had been harder than she’d realized, and then with Darrel showing up… yeah, the tough girl mask she tried to present to the world had slipped a little.

She fell asleep almost as soon as she settled in, the first deep sleep she’d had in days. A loud crash from the parking lot outside her door woke her, and she sat up, groggy and disoriented, trying to get her bearings before climbing out of bed to see what had caused the noise.

Her eyes widened as she peered out the window. Her car was engulfed in flames, and she stumbled back from the window in shock, running back to the bed to grab her phone from the night stand. Her hands shaking, she dialed Dean’s number, surprised when he answered immediately, not even letting her speak.

“Jordan, stay in your room. Don’t come out unless I come and get you, understand?”

Chapter 2

#meant to be #chapter 1 #detective dean au #dean fic #dean x oc #dean x jordan

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bugged13it · 5 years ago

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Lucky Feather Charms - Reveal

Y’all still here for more wing AU!? ‘Course you are! Even though it’s been months :’D (but just in time for AU August, yay?) Anyways, I was fretting over part two so it just started gathering dust. It was originally going to be Marinette’s side of the lucky charm exchange, but that wound up being a rehash of the Befana episode(but with wings)—and that’s a horrible idea so here’s your LADRIEN WING AU/HALF REVEAL.

Check out the first part if you haven’t already! Part One || Part Two(U R Here!)

(Psst! If you like my writing, also check out my works on AO3: (Time Travel Fic) (Mermaid AU) Written before AU August, but hey, this month is all about AUs!)

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Gotta find a spot.

Adrien’s shoes pounded loudly against the pavement, but any noise he made went unnoticed, quickly drowned out by the frantic screaming of the crowds and the blaring roar of an akumatized victim as it terrorized tourists from the banks of the Seine. Luckily, Ladybug had swooped in fairly quickly, so at least he didn’t have to worry about any unprotected masses.

He would have joined her in a heartbeat, of course, but Adrien had been held up for far longer than usual. Evading his bodyguard was a bit more difficult when the car had gotten stuck on one of the bridges leading to Notre Dame. Even when he managed to slip away, he found no suitable places to hide since any practical space was already occupied by groups of terrified civilians.

“There!” Plagg shouted from his pocket, frantically pointing ahead the same instant Adrien spotted the fire escape on the side of the building. “Get to the roof!” he urged.

Adrien gunned it, sprinting toward the ladder and jumping up with a wild flutter of his wings to neatly grab a hold of the lowest rung. The rusted, flaking metal protested with a teeth-grinding squeal, but eventually gave in thanks to Adrien’s encouraging kick. It slid down from the platform and allowed him to properly scale the building. The clanging of the scaffolding beneath his feet echoed loudly with his every step as he scrambled over the zig-zagging stairway, and Adrien winced at the cacophony, hoping that it wouldn’t draw too much attention.

Any normal person could have easily flown up to the rooftop without breaking a sweat and avoided the mess of noise in the first place, but Adrien knew from experience that he wouldn’t be able to lift off. Thanks to his father’s stupid rules, he wasn’t allowed to fly. As a result of avoiding any wind-blown scruff, his wings were very much out of practice—at least, they were when he wasn’t transformed.

Adrien finally stumbled onto the flat rooftop, unable to help glancing back when another furious roar ripped out across the distance. A gigantic reptile with pebbled skin and slender, flailing limbs crashed through the surf and swung its head from side to side. With a stuttering heartbeat, Adrien realized that Ladybug was no longer fighting against it. As his eyes frantically swept through the clear sky, he saw no signs of his partner.

He was so… so late. Ladybug had spent way too long holding off the akuma on her own. Unable to wait for Chat Noir to show up, she’d already exhausted the use of her lucky charm. Unfortunately, it looked like the monster hadn’t let Ladybug anywhere near its akumatized object, and her time must have finally run out. Hopefully, she was only missing because she was busy recharging her kwami, and not because she was seriously injured somewhere.

Adrien tried not to dwell on that, shaking his head and turning his attention back to the rooftop. It was well secluded, and with a quick scan he spotted what looked like a decent shed, immediately sprinting toward it.

He didn’t even hear the flutter of wings until it was too late, too focused on hiding so he could transform as quickly as possible and help his lady. Tearing around the corner of the shed, Adrien only caught a flash of red before he suddenly collided with another person, their large, white wings flaring up in surprise as they let out a surprised shriek.

“L-Ladybug?” That was the only thing Adrien was able to get out before she suddenly slammed her hands over his eyes and a shrill beeping reached his ears.

“Don’t look!” she yelled desperately. And then, a flare of pink light flashed along the shadow of her palms.

Adrien froze in place, his pulse starting to race when he realized that, rather than the cool feel of her suit to act as a layer between them, the new warmth pressed against his face was from her direct touch.

Oh, his brain absentmindedly hummed. These are Ladybug’s hands…

“Uhm… P-please don’t look.” Her voice wavered, and he could hear the hushed sound of her feathers rustling nervously. He could completely understand why. One wrong move, and her identity would be exposed—not that he would ever do that to his own partner. Even if she was out of the suit… And standing right in front of him...

Stop that, he mentally chided himself. He knew her identity must be kept a secret, despite the pounding of his own heart about the fact that she was right. There.

“I’d never look,” he instead reassured her, just barely resisting adding a, ‘milady’ to the end of that. His voice sounded much more calm than he felt as he gently laid his hands over hers to hold them more securely in place. There would be no accidental reveals on his watch.

Ladybug stiffened beneath his touch and let out an odd noise—something akin to a sharp whine—but she didn’t pull away.

“Got it!” a high-pitched voice cried out, and Adrien recognized the sound of Tikki’s voice.

“H-hurry, Tikki…” Ladybug pleaded nervously. “N-not that I trust you at all—NO! I mean—I trust you completely!” He could feel delicate brushes of wind from all the fluttering her wings were doing. “I just feel better with your eyes covered...”

“Don’t worry, I understand the need to keep your identity secret, Ladybug,” he said.

A stiff, stagnant silence settled between them while they seemed to mentally agree to wait quietly for Tikki to finish off her recharge-snack. Each passing second dragged despite the frantic pounding of his heart. Was it his imagination, or was Ladybug’s pulse racing just as much as his?

It felt like an eternity before Tikki finally let out an energetic, “Ready!”

Ladybug immediately called out to her kwami, and Adrien had to squeeze his eyes shut when the blinding light flashed over her hands. She finally pulled back, and he rubbed at his face, blinking away the spots in front of his vision to focus on Ladybug standing before him.

“Thanks, Adrien.” She lifted her hand in a shy little wave. “I know you—AAH! I knew I could trust you, that is!”

And with that, she turned almost too quickly to spread her wings. Ladybug flapped them once, then ruffled his hair with the resulting gust as she gracefully alighted from the roof and veered toward the akuma still terrorizing the tourists.

Adrien stared after her, a gentle smile tugging up the corners of his mouth as he waved his hand slowly, even though she probably wasn’t looking at him anymore. “She trusts me...” he murmured happily.

“Hel-lo!” At Plagg’s sharp yelp, Adrien jolted out of his daze. “Transform?” Plagg huffed, his feathers angrily ruffling up.

“OH. Yes! Right!” Adrien unfurled his wings, mostly just for his own entertainment as he shifted into a dynamic pose. But before he could call out the words, with his wings fanned out, and his pale feathers stretched out on either side of him, something odd caught his attention.

Despite Plagg’s impatient yowl when he paused, Adrien’s eyes flicked to the underside of his wings where he always kept Marinette’s lucky charm tucked away. It was usually hidden, but with his limbs extended, the blue feather could easily be spotted nestled within his light plumage.

From the corner of his vision, he didn’t see any dark splotch, and the lack of it made him panic for a split second, believing he might have lost it. But no, as he turned his searching gaze, he was instead met with something that took him completely by surprise. Adrien faltered then, not because the feather was gone, but because something had replaced it.

Marinette’s charm was still there, tied where it was supposed to be. Only, it didn’t look the same. The colorful little beads still hung in their place, but a new, sleek feather of unblemished white fluttered beneath them.

“What’s wrong?” Plagg asked, even though his kwami quickly followed his frozen gaze. Upon seeing what he was staring at, Plagg suddenly made a noise that sounded like he was choking on a piece of cheese.

“Marinette’s feather... transformed…?” Adrien whispered in awe, his eyes jumping over it as his heart started racing. It was a very familiar feather that he knew so well, from the shape of its vent down to the pristine color of its barbs. “...into Ladybug’s?”

“Tha-ha-hat’s just the way the magic works!” Plagg stammered as he flew up in front of Adrien’s face, waving his paws wildly.

“Then why didn’t mine change when she transformed?” Adrien demanded, his pulse ramping up and creating a tempo like a furious drumbeat in his ears. It drowned out Plagg’s further protests, and instead of listening to him, Adrien simply called out to his kwami to transform.

In the flash of green light that drew out his protective suit, his wings also changed. They grew and lengthened, shivering and crackling with an energy and newfound power as a darkness bled through their quills like ink.

And there, in the shimmering obsidian of his transformed wings, Ladybug’s feather waved delicately from its string, still as pristine and clear as a snowflake in a void.

“Ladybug is Marinette…” Adrien whispered, folding his wing closer to stroke the lone feather. He couldn’t feel anything through his suit, but he imagined it was just as soft and delicate as it was before.

“Chat Noir!” The sound of Ladybug’s yell in the distance jolted him from his thoughts. “Where are you!?”

“A-a-a-ah!” Adrien cried out as he spun around in a panic, his wings molting a few feathers as he launched awkwardly into the sky. “Here, milady!” He grabbed his baton, adjusted his flight path, and swooped toward the fray.

Marinette! He wasn’t able to hide his excitement as a grin broke out on his face. Just wait!

#ml fics #ml wing au #miraculous ladybug #lucky feather charms #miraculous fanfic #ml #ml fanfic #marinette #adrien #ladrien #lucky charm #short story #wing au #half reveal

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syilcawrites · 5 years ago

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archived memories | 6

Series: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Type: Multi-Chapter Main pairing: Zelink (Zelda and Link) Rated: T Tags/Genre: pre-calamity, fluff (middle chapters mostly), hurt (toward the last chapters lmao), pining Summary: bits and pieces of zelink scenes strewn in between the canon memories in botw! Snippet from Ch 6: “’Oh fish pie, one day you will soon find your home inside my stomach,’ Zelda sighed out wistfully at her drawing, hugging it close to her face.” A/N: Between Memory 7-9 You can also read it on ao3! Click here to see all chapters on tumblr

Chapter 6: people watching

Zelda swung her legs as she sat snuggly inside a tree that faced Castletown, hiding from her citizens. She watched them roam about their day, unaware of her presence, as she observed them curiously. This had been a habit of hers since she was young, and it was a nice break in between praying and studying Sheikah technology.

She quickly shoved the last of her candied apples into her mouth and scrambled for her quill as a group of little kids appeared around the corner, running and scrambling and laughing.

It seems that the citizens of Castletown are quite close to one another, as many of the children that I have seen roaming about are doing so unsupervised. This is pleasantly surprising considering how many outsiders come in and out frequently, but I’m glad to see such safety present in our beloved, bustling town.

Zelda brought a leg up to her chest as she tried to keep the ruffle of her dress down in the process. She would’ve changed into her field attire if it wasn’t for the fact that she wasn’t supposed to leave the castle without some sort of escort in the first place.

She leaned against the trunk of the tree, watching them play tag for a little. She could already hear her father’s reprimanding tone regarding her boorish posture, but that was the beauty in hiding—she could do whatever she wanted to do, and she desperately needed this. She shook her head at the thought of her father, letting thoughts of him fall out in the process. The last thing she wanted to do was to mull over her relationship with him when she finally had some time to herself. With a sigh, she tapped the feather of her quill on her knee as she absentmindedly flipped through the pages of her notebook, mostly paying attention to the noisy, boisterous children.

The longer she watched them, the more uncomfortable she became—it was a sensation she was all too familiar with. Zelda scolded herself as she nipped away a bud of jealousy that had begun to form within her. She wanted to run around in the grass, laughing carefree and wholly. She thought she had dashed away such desires, but watching others do so seemed to resurface those bygone dreams.

As they rounded another corner, disappearing from view, her attention drifted to a bakery a bit further down the road. Zelda brought her ink bottle up and dabbed the tip of the quill into it before going back to her notebook.

The bakery near the east gate always has delicious bread and pastries available—I’ve always wanted to try some, but I would have to disguise myself. I’m not sure if I will have time…

She looked up thoughtfully, watching the leaves sway in the wind, as she tried to scourge up some plans to sneak into Castletown on her own. The last time Zelda tried venturing in, she had taken escorts, and the experience resembled the taste of watered down fruit juice. The escorts took every single thing she tried to eat out of her hands and tasted it themselves first before letting her have a bite out of it. Eating a meal that was already bitten out of wasn’t quite the same and made the experience quite… unenjoyable to say the least.

Zelda sniffed the air—fresh bread. Her stomach growled as she rapidly wrote down her thoughts.

The owner must wake up before the sun even rises to prepare his dough for it to look as scrumptious as it usually does! I cannot wait to see what types of pastries he’s made this week. Two months ago, the last time I was able to take a breath outside of the castle on my own, he had a set of specific assortments. Maybe now, he’ll spruce up the variety that he offers. Will he have more pastries this time around? Does he work alone? It must take hours preparing as much delicacies as he does.

Zelda tapped her notebook carefully as her thoughts drifted to Link. He would eat almost anything, and he probably had already tried every single meal that Castletown had to offer at this point.

She perked up when she saw the bakery owner walk out with a steel plate full of various pastries and breads—from fish pie to plain wheat bread—and all of it looked as delicious as one would expect. She chewed at her bottom lip as she quickly sketched the tray of goods in his hands. Luckily for her, he was setting it down outside on a table to organize it.

Zelda’s eyebrows knitted together in concentration, her hands trying to get down the perfect line and stroke. If she had the Sheikah Slate with her, she could’ve taken a picture, but Impa had asked for it before Zelda decided to go on her rendezvous.

Regardless, her drawings outside of Sheikah technology never ended up the way she wanted them to. She found sketching ancient ruins and tech much more linear and… ironically, more simplified compared to sketching the daily wonders of life itself, which always seemed to prove difficult for her.

“Oh fish pie, one day you will soon find your home inside my stomach,” Zelda sighed out wistfully at her drawing, hugging it close to her face.

She lowered her notebook to see if anything else particularly stuck out, but instead found herself face to face with bright blue eyes. She squealed in surprise and scrambled in her spot, almost falling off the tree. Link released one of his hands that grasped the tree branch hanging above her to catch her by her shoulder before she could fall off.

“Link, you almost scared the Goddess out of me!” Zelda hissed as she composed herself, going back to her snug spot nestled in the tree. She looked him up and down, raising an eyebrow. “When did you even—how did you even get up there?” she asked, her heart still racing in her chest. He looked a little funny just hanging around in front of her, but she was also concerned that the branch would snap off if he hung there any longer.

“I climbed,” he stated simply. He began swinging to a branch on her left, and she lightly hit his shoulder when he swung by.

“Don’t make too much noise or they’ll hear us!” She hissed again. He landed quietly on it, crouching. The branch was thicker and closer to the trunk, easily supporting his weight.

He cupped his hands over his mouth. “What are you doing up here?” He half whispered back, but it was still much louder than she would’ve liked.

She brought a stiff finger to her lips, darting her eyes over to the citizens, but they continued to obliviously go about their day.

“I’m simply…” Zelda waved her hand toward the people. “Observing my people. Sometimes I like to people watch.” She whispered, shrugging. She had been doing this since she was a young girl. Although she certainly stopped coming here as frequently as before, sometimes it was nice to just… watch others go about their day. To be an invisible spectator. It was something that she hadn’t experienced much in her own day to day life, where everyone was constantly watching her every move.

And she was still feeling a bit glum about being unable to accompany Link back to Hateno, so she sought refuge away from everyone else in order to feel sorry for herself in solitude. After her father had found out she was planning to visit Hateno with him, he had explained his disappointment in her for even considering such a thing.

“There are enough rumors about you already, do you plan to add more by accompanying your knight attendant, alone, to his hometown?” He had told her, shaking his head.

Zelda was confused, because they had traveled alone together before, but any word to defend herself simply went in one ear and out the other whenever it came to communicating with her father. She wasn’t sure what was worse though—hearing him explain how unacceptable and foolish it was of her to consider such an activity or the fact that Link remained quiet for the remainder of the week afterwards.

He didn’t tell her when he left for Hateno, and she saw him ride away across the grassy plains early yesterday morning from her study tower. She was glad that he was able to visit his family without any setbacks, if anything.

“When did you get back?” Zelda asked him, still scribbling away at her notebook. She was almost done with the last batch of pastries, and the baker was beginning to bring them all back into the building to put them on display.

“Just now.”

She heard him shuffling around—he did have a satchel around him when she saw him. It was probably food, knowing him.

I’ve also feel inclined to mention that the baker seems to have two children, both quite young, but I have never seen the baker embrace another adult. Perhaps his significant other is ill, or—

Zelda stopped writing, letting the sentence drop off where it was. She used to create scores of stories for random citizens she saw, but for some reason, she found it to be rude the more she thought about it.

Link tapped her shoulder, and she withdrew herself from her notebook.

“I brought these for you,” he stated, shoving a couple of jars filled with a milky liquid color at her. His voice had a sound of excitement that she was surprised to hear.

“Oh—“ Zelda struggled to juggle holding her notebook, ink, quill, and the bottles all at once, but Link was too busy pulling the bag over his shoulder to notice.

“I’m not sure what colors you wanted so I just picked up a bunch of bright flowers and rocks…some monster parts too.” He flipped the flap open, and she saw various colorful materials neatly stacked and labeled. There were fleet-lotus seeds, nightshade flowers, rock salts; there were even some moblin guts in a jar.

“What’s all this for?” Zelda asked, blinking.

“You said you needed to dye some clothes right?” Link asked, tilting his head. He looked down at her lap and noticed all of the stuff piled on top. “Sorry, your hands are already full.” He frowned and reached over for the jars, stuffing them back into the satchel.

“Oh Link,” Zelda laughed lightly, her heart felt full against her chest. “You didn’t have to go out of your way to get all of this.”

“You sew a lot, and Hateno’s dyes are really good.” Link pulled something out of the pocket inside of the satchel—a piece of paper. “The owner of the dye shop told me a list of materials that make really strong colors, in case you’re interested. Just let me know if you want anything and I can get it.”

Zelda’s tongue caught in her throat and she didn’t know what to say. For some reason, it felt overwhelming and her cheeks hurt from smiling.

“That’s awfully sweet of you,” Zelda said, accepting the piece of paper. “Did you draw this?” She held up the list, waving it a little.

Link hummed, nodding his head.

Her smile widened as she rifled through the list—the drawings were simple and crudely colored, but they were carefully considered.

“Thank you Link.” She hugged the paper to her chest. “I’ll keep this close to my heart.” Zelda hummed happily as she shifted through the objects that Link still held out to her, his arms stiff. She looked up quizzically when she didn’t hear a response from him, and froze. He was staring at her, his cheeks tinted a warm red—and now she was blushing because he was. She looked back down at her journal.

“Anyway, h-how did you even know I was up here?” Zelda said, her hands fumbling as she tried to be quick, but careful not to crumple the papers, as she shoved the list into her notebook. “I know that no one can see me from town.” She was too far from the castle for anyone to see her with the naked eye.

He let out a quick exhale, as if he was relieved she had changed the topic. “I asked Impa,” he jabbed his thumb behind him, back toward the castle. “Apparently she’s been watching you with the Sheikah Slate since you left.”

Zelda raised her head, peering past Link’s shoulder. “And to think I could avoid the gaze of the castle,” she mumbled. If she was alone, she would’ve stuck out her tongue and hoped Impa would’ve caught it. She was constantly watching out for her. Sometimes Zelda wondered if she ever slept. She was hoping at least one of her hiding spots would remain safe, but apparently that was too much to ask for. Feeling exposed, Zelda let out a small, frustrated sigh.

“Shall we head back then?” she asked stiffly, already moving herself from her position. She hoped that the various flora and shrubs would block her from anyone’s sight. Link looked at her curiously, but began to climb down as well.

“Is something bothering you?” Link asked as Zelda patted down her skirt, making sure it was free of dirt.

“I’ve been up there before the sun rose up, so I’m just feeling a little winded down.” Zelda tried to keep her voice light, but she knew it came out strained instead. She flipped through her notebook quickly, ensuring that everything was still in its place.

“Nothing else is wrong?” Link pressed again.

“What isn’t wrong?” Zelda huffed out, shutting it with both of her hands a bit more forcefully than she intended. She stood there for a moment before letting out another small sigh. “I apologize. I’m not angry… just frustrated." She stared up blankly at the castle. "I simply want to unlock my sealing powers,” she admitted tiredly.

She turned to face him when she felt his hand press against the top of her head. He drew his hand back with a small cherry blossom flower in between his fingers. He twirled it a little by the stem, looking at it thoughtfully.

“Just know that you’re not alone,” he said quietly. Zelda smiled at him, but it did not linger for long. Even though she knew he meant it, it couldn’t erase the sense of loneliness that was ever-present in her life. She followed his movements as he looked up to the sky, raising his hand, about to release the little flower into the wind.

“Wait—“ Zelda held out her hand, staring longingly at the flower pinched between his fingers. “May I?”

He placed it in her palm, and Zelda watched the petals flutter lightly against the gentle breeze. She softened at the sight of it and glanced at Link.

“It’s just for research.” She declared swiftly, when she saw him eyeing her with an unreadable expression.

“Using a cherry blossom?” Link asked. The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he was trying to keep a laugh at bay.

“Yes!” Zelda insisted, drawing her hand back to her chest. “Just for research,” she quietly said. She glanced down to make sure the little flower was still safely in her palm before she turned around so he couldn’t see what she was doing. She tucked the flower into an empty page, pressing her notebook shut firmly and tightly to ensure that it wouldn’t slip out.

She told herself that she always pressed flowers and all sorts of vegetation for documentation. This wasn’t any different.

“On a more important note,” she started, mostly to remind herself, “I want to get the Sheikah Slate back from Impa. I still have a multitude of tests to run through with it, and there’s a shrine that I want to visit with Robbie and Purah before we head to the Spring of Courage.” It was going to be one of the last shrines she would be able to visit in months, and she wanted to get the most out of it before then.

Zelda raised an eyebrow when she noticed his eyes flit to the left, which was a habit of his when he was thinking.

“Thinking about something?” she inquired curiously.

He parted his lips slightly, but just as quick they sealed back together and he shook his head. Zelda narrowed her eyes.

“Come on, tell me?” she asked, poking his chest. “You can’t just not tell me after looking so thoughtful!”

He smiled at her—but it was a smile filled with mischief.

#zelink #botw #breath of the wild #botw fanfiction #zelda #link #archived memories #hope u all like this chapter!!#my fanfics

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vannahfanfics · 5 years ago

Note

If requests are open again could we see that fic where they keep the chopper clones.

Here you go, Anon! Who knew that my knowledge of science and medicine would become useful in a One Piece fanfic, LOL. Also if I go AWOL just assume the FBI has arrested me for Googling cyanide poisoning and its antidotes…

Before you read, here’s Part I!

Look at All Those Choppers! Part II

About one week after the infamous clone carp incident, Chopper was once again perched on his little barrel with the tiny fishing rod in his hands, humming the latest of Brook’s tunes as he carefully watched the bobber drift up and down in the gently sloshing waves. This time his regular fishing partner Usopp was also in attendance, sitting on the railing of the ship with one leg hanging lazily over the side, so Chopper didn’t need to bother anyone else with having to supervise him. They were still moseying about in the same stretch of sea that the clone carp populated (according to Robin’s investigation) and so they had memorized a photograph of the silvery fish to ensure that a harrowing incident such as Chopper’s cloning did not happen again. No more clone carp sushi, nuh-uh, no way! He thought with a small chortle to himself.

“It’s such a shame, though,” Usopp sighed aloud suddenly, causing Chopper to look at him quizzically. The sniper gave the reindeer a contemplative look. “Just think how useful it would be to have more than one Zoro or Luffy, or even an army of you, Chopper!” The Zoan doctor was caught between being amazed that Usopp had read his mind and upset that Usopp had implied that an army of him equated to only two of the more beastly members of the Straw Hats. “I just wish we would’ve had more time to study it to see if we could use it,” he sighed while tugging on his pole to entice something from the deep.

“Luffy would eat it before we even had a chance to do anything with it, and that would be much worse than an army of Choppers,” Nami snorted as she walked by with a basket of aromatic, fresh tangerines; she knocked Usopp upside the head as she did, knocking him off balance and nearly sending him overboard.

“Watch it, Nami! You’re lucky I don’t have a Devil Fruit or I woulda drowned! Drowned, ya hear me?” Usopp shouted after her while shaking his fist. She just ignored him. “It doesn’t matter much, anyway,” he shrugged once her returned his attention to Chopper. “The odds of us catching another one of those clone carps is one in a million, probably.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Yep. It’s a clone carp,” Robin confirmed as she looked from her encyclopedia of local fish species to the suffocating silver fish that was lying in a puddle of seawater on the deck. Usopp was crouched down next to it, jaw against the wooden deck with a disbelieving, drawn out “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?” stuck in his throat. Chopper grabbed his horns and rapidly shook his head from side to side in dismay.

“We have to throw it overboard before Luffy eats it! We stopped in port and stocked up on apples just to be safe, but we all know he won’t eat it!”

“Shhhh!” Usopp hissed and slapped his hand against Chopper’s furry mouth with a shift gaze toward the front of the ship. Chopper had reeled in the fish without much fuss, so Luffy had not had the care to abandon his perch on the lion figurehead. Even now, he was still blissfully unaware of the discovery and was leaning into the wind with his tongue hanging out like some kind of slobbery hound. Chopper scrunched up his face in disgust when he saw blobs of spittle being carried away by the brisk breeze. “This is what I was talking about, Chopper! You’re a doctor. You can study the cells and see if we can make them into some sort of weapon or tool!”

“I don’t know, Usopp… I feel kinda bad… I mean, for their part, those clones had feelings too… I would hate to just create and destroy them at will,” he murmured as he looked at his shiny reindeer hooves. Although at first he had been overjoyed that his crew cherished him and him only, but after he had really gotten to thinking about it, it wasn’t fair to the clones to disregard their feelings and experiences, even if they were limited. Had they really been identical to Chopper after all, or was it only at the cellular level? What about their souls? “It doesn’t feel right…”

“Well, Chopper, maybe by studying the interaction between the clone carp cells and the cyanide antidote, you can find a way to halt the cloning process without reverting the clones back to fish,” Robin pointed out reassuringly. At such a suggestion, Chopper rubbed his chin thoughtfully while staring at the fish, whose eyes had glassed over and was presumably deceased.

“Hmm… That doesn’t sound so bad!” With a contented hum, he flung the fish over his wee shoulder; because it was nearly as large as himself, it disbalanced him a bit and he had to wobble back and forth to get his bearing. After he finally righted himself, he exhaled confidently and gave Robin a toothy grin. “Robin, I’m sure you have books that’ll be helpful; can I borrow them?” The dark-haired woman smiled sweetly and used her Devil Fruit powers to bring down helpful tomes from her voluminous collection, piling them into her arms.

“Shall we, Chopper?” came her wine-smooth voice. Chopper nodded eagerly and whirled on his hoof to totter off to his private study, with Robin walking languidly alongside him. She graciously opened the door for him and allowed him to enter before walking in after him. Chopper tossed the fish onto his work desk before clambering up into his spinning doctor’s chair, rotating it before standing up in it to get a good look at his project. He prodded it a few times to make sure it was really dead, as he didn’t want to needlessly make the fish suffer through the dissection process, before he retrieved his sharp tools from one of the shells.

“Okay! Let’s begin, Robin!”

~~~~~~~~~~

Chopper, with the aid from Robin, conducting his experimental medicinal research in secret for about one week with no progress. He had been sneaking ice from the freezer in Sanji’s kitchen to keep the fileted fish meat on ice in his room until he had made enough cell plates to last him through his research. Once he had the brain cells cultured so that they could continue giving instructions to the body cells, he had set to his research. He had figured out how to get the clone carp cells to convert to his own cells by using some cheek swabs, but he hadn’t figured out how to negate the clone toxin without killing the parent cells and making the other cells turn back to clone carp cells. With an agonized, frustrated groan, he slammed his forehead down against the desk, making all his tools and cell cultures and sample jump up from the force. “This is hopeless! I’m not getting anywhere, Robin! No matter how diluted we make it, the cyanide solution just keeps reverting the cells!” he wailed in distress. He looked up at her with tear-filled eyes, disappointed in himself.

“There’s no need to fret, Chopper. Science isn’t an easy process. None of the greatest scientific achievements have happened overnight!” she responded encouragingly from her seat on the bed. She had several of Chopper’s medical textbooks spread out around her, and had been scanning the passages for useful biochemical or cellular physiology information that may have been relevant. His bottom lip stuck out in a pathetic pout. He was less than reassured. He slunk down from his office chair to scamper across the room and climb into Robin’s lap and hug her midriff sadly. She laughed lightly as he buried her face into her belly, and she wrapped her arms around him in a motherly embrace.

“I’m a failure as a doctor.”

“No, you aren’t, Chopper. We all think you’re a fabulous doctor. Think of how many times you’ve saved us from our wounds! The Straw Hats couldn’t ask for a better doctor.”

“Ah, shut up, you bastard~!” he giggled as her kind words finally seeped through his depressive aura to send a fluttery, blissful butterfly of joy flapping around in his little heart. He looked up at her with a grateful grin which she returned with a soft smile. He spun around to sit in her lap, feeling quite contented perched on her pillow-soft thighs, and picked up one of his toxicology textbooks to begin flipping through the pages. He then screamed and brought it close to his face, as if the passage that had caught his attention would be more significant if it were literally right in front of his eyes.

“What is it, Chopper?”

“How could I miss this? Of course! We shouldn’t have been diluting the cyanide! We should’ve been converting it into a related but less toxic substance! Sulfanegen sodium; do I have any sulfanegen sodium?!” he screamed as he dropped the book and jumped off of Robin’s lap. With how fast his little hooves were whirling, he probably ran on the air across the room to frantically clamber onto his desk and begin rifling through the various bottles shelved in his desk. Cyanide poisoning wasn’t exactly something that pirates had to worry about, as it was mostly used in assassinations performed by elite bounty hunters (and the Navy, probably) but Chopper kept a stock of random antidotes to all kinds of things just in case. It had been a habit after his beloved mentor had perished thanks to his ignorant gift of a poisonous mushroom. Chopper knew much better now, but in the back of his mind he was always afraid that one of his beloved crew mates would suffer some kind of intoxication and he wouldn’t have the antidote for it.

He squealed in glee when he found the labelled bottle reading “Sulfanegen Sodium.” As he sat down on the desk, not even bothering to use the chair, Robin crossed the room to lean over and watch his experiment, hands on her knees. He drew up a small amount of the liquid into the dropper before transferring the little droplet to his current diluted cyanide solution, mixing the two together. He then took one of his cell plates and scooped up a bunch of them to re-plate them on a fresh media plate; they immediately adhered and began rapidly dividing, slowly spreading out in a circular fashion. Before they could fill the plate too quickly, he aliquoted a drop of his new solution and dropped it onto the cells. He awaited a reaction with bated breath. In all his trials previous, the parent cells would shudder and die, while the others changed color to a silvery hue which was indicative of their reversion to clone carp cells as a result of the toxin being negated by the small amount of cyanide from the crushed apple seed solution.

Instead of the aforementioned result, the cells quivered before their division slowly came to a stop and remained the salmon hue that was indicative of human (or in Chopper’s case, human-reindeer) cells. Chopper crowed triumphantly and held the plate over his head as he did a happy jig. “Robin! I did it! I did it!”

“Yes, you did. I told you that you could do it!”

“Hey, what’s with all the noise in here? You woke me up from my nap…” Came a sleepy third voice. Chopper turned around to see that Zoro had opened the door and was scratching his stomach while he stifled a yawn with the other hand.

“That’s what you get for sleeping literally in front of his door,” Nami chimed as she shoved him aside to poke her orange-haired head into the room. “What’re you so excited for, Chopper?”

“Go on, Chopper. Why don’t we tell the entire crew your monumental discovery?” Robin mused. Chopper nodded eagerly and hopped down from the desk to skip out of his study and out onto the main deck. It only took a short moment to assemble all the crew members, and soon they were all looking with expressions of confusion and interest at the little cell plate in his tiny hooves.

“Robin and I have been working with clone carp cells to see if we could find a way to stop their transformation without reverting them back to the fish!” he announced proudly. Sanji stopped his scientific revelation reveal with a startled gasp.

“Chopper, you what? But we agreed that the clone carp was bad news. We don’t need two of Marimo or Captain Idiot!”

“Hey!” the two insulted parties chimed in irritated unison.

“Shut up; you know I’m right.”

“Yeah…”

“I just felt bad about what we did to all my clones,” Chopper admitted with a deep frown. He looked down at the plate of unassuming cells. “Sure, I’m the real Chopper, but all the other Choppers still had feelings, too! It makes me feel sad that we just disregarded that…”

“Are we really debating the morals of getting rid of clones produced by a dumb fish?” Nami asked uncomfortably, but from the look on her face, the moral dilemma was affecting her too. A discontented murmur rippled around the group.

“But with this new solution I made, we can stop anyone who eats the fish from dividing indefinitely! The host cells live in the main host and the other cells that are the clones communicate by quorum sensing to conduct their cellular operations!”

“What the hell does that mean?” Luffy asked while picking his nose. The scientific jargon was rapidly making him lose interest.

“The cells talk to each other,” Robin clarified.

“Whoa! That’s so cool!”

“Yep! The cyanide in the apple seeds killed the parent cells, which are slightly different genetically from the clone cells. It’s not actually reproducing by budding, me and Robin figured out, but a very complex process in-between asexual and sexual reproduction! The daughter cells are the ones that are direct clones and produce identical cells.” By the blank stares, he could tell that he was losing his audience. “A-anyway, with this solution I made, the parent cells don’t die, but the toxin is destroyed and the daughter cells get a signal to stop dividing so fast, but instead probably undergo the cell cycle at the same speed as our cells do instead! That means that the division stops but the clones don’t turn back into fish and are free to live their lives!” he finished with a big grin.

“Wow, Chopper. You’re brilliant!” Nami praised while patting him happily on the head.

“I understood none of that but it sounds important, but good job! That’s my doctor! Shishishishi!” Luffy laughed with his arms crossed. The rest of the crew similarly showered him in proud, appreciative remarks and Sanji even graced him with a celebratory cookie. He munched on it elatedly, careful that the crumbs didn’t fall into his cell plate, while answering questions about the process. Sanji had forgiven him for stealing the ice since it was such important research.

“So, are we gonna test it or what?” Usopp asked suddenly. Chopper swallowed his last bite of cookie before looking uncertainly at the plate. Sure, it worked in cell-level trials, but an organism was complicated. Would it really work?

“I wanna eat it! I wanna it eat!” Luffy cried and shot towards Chopper’s room to abscond with his frozen fish samples, but thankfully Zoro and Sanji were able to muscle him back. All it took was Robin telling him that two of him couldn’t be Pirate King for him to consent to never, ever eating the clone carp. “I ain’t competin’ with me…” he grumble with his arms crossed as he sat cross-legged on the deck.

“I think Chopper should have the clones,” Nami suggested, which threw the little reindeer for a loop.

“Huh? Why me?”

“Because you’re our most important member, duh!” the navigator beamed brightly down at him. If a reindeer could blush, he would be. “You’re always running yourself ragged trying to heal everyone at once. How many times have you wished there were more than one of you? When they aren’t doing doctor things, they can do other things you like to do too, like helping me water my tangerines.”

“-and helping me and Franky repair the ship and build new things! We always love your help, Chopper!”

“Yeah! It’s superrrrrrr!” Franky agreed with Usopp, striking his signature pose with a flashy smile.

“I always enjoy you helping in the kitchen, too,” Sanji mused while taking a drag from his cigarette.

“And you always make a good audience for my performances! Yohohohoho!”

“Imagine how many fish tons of you could reel in!” Luffy hollered with his fists in the air. “Meat all around!”

As they listed off the so many helpful things that Chopper did on a day-to-day basis, he began to sniffle and cry, so overwhelmed by their appreciation of him.

“Y-you guys… I love you so much!” he wailed and jump forward to hug the nearest pair of legs to him, which happened to be Sanji. Even though he was staining the cook’s black pants with tears, he didn’t seem to mind, only leaned over to loving rub the top of his head through his hat. “But… But… With all those other me’s… Will I still be useful?”

“Of course,” Robin smiled gently at him. He rubbed his eyes while looking up at her. “Those other Choppers will be like your brothers. They might know the same things at first, but in time, they’ll evolve their own personalities and skills- but you’ll still be our ship’s doctor, and they can never replace you in that.” A fresh wave of tears flooded his eyes and he buried his furry face into Sanji’s legs again.

“Wahhhhhhh! I love you all so muuuuuuuch!”

And so, that’s the story of how the Straw Hat crew sort of got bigger. The Chopper clones were an existence only known to the Straw Hats, as they were never taken along in the fighting (to protect them, as it turns out they couldn’t actually use Chopper’s Zoan powers like he thought they would be able to) and lived in the bowels of the ship, all seven of them occupying a cozy little bedroom that Franky had added on. Like Robin had said, they soon developed their own interests, styles, and personalities. Timmy Timmy Chopper was even shyer than Chopper was but took a liking to Robin, and loved it when she told him bedtime stories. Tommy Tommy Chopper was rambunctious and adventurous like Luffy, and if they had no hint of danger on islands they stopped at, the captain would tote him along; if there was danger, they always made sure to bring him back little unique gifts. Terry Terry Chopper had a culinary talent and Sanji made him his apprentice. Tama Tama Chopper had a penchant for gardening and looked after Nami’s tangerine trees whenever they were gone and even has a little garden of his own growing flowers which they sold in port for income. The two they liked to call “the twins” because they were so alike, Tippy Tippy Chopper and Tappy Tappy Chopper, were little shipwrights in their own right and loved to help Franky go to work on the Sunny’s never-ending repairs and improvements or test out Usopp’s newest inventions. Tappy Tappy was a little different from his twin in that he was musically inclined; he enjoyed learning about it from Brook. Finally, there was Tavi Tavi Chopper, who was rough and gruff and looked up to Zoro like an idol. More than anything, though, they loved their big brother Tony Tony Chopper and always made sure of one thing…

That they all went fishing together, because it was what bonded them as siblings. Sometimes, Chopper wouldn’t even sleep in his own bed but would slip down to where his brothers slept, and they would abandon their bunks to all dog-pile in a pallet on the floor. Every day after that, he was so glad he pulled that clone carp out of the sea, because his family just got that much bigger.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to perusemy Tableof Contents!

#you go you funky little scientist man #one piece #tony tony chopper #straw hats #straw hat pirates #fluff #general fluff #friendship #oneshot #oneshots #oneshot collection #fanfic #fanfics #fanfiction

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gilbertblyth · 7 years ago

Text

behold your certainty

Writing an essay seemed exciting in Anne Shirley’s eyes. However, being accused of writing someone else’s were not exciting. A Soulmate AU where their handwriting matches their true loves handwriting. (ao3 link)

It was more of a myth, or at least people thought. It certainly wasn't something you saw every day, not even as a teacher. Rarely you found soulmates within a class, seeing as most people have previously found their soulmates later in life. However, this must have been an exceptional case, because Miss Stacy found something very unusual within two of her students.

Even Anne had heard about the myth before - thinking it was a beautiful way for someone to find their soulmate. She had longed to see something such as miraculous herself once in a lifetime, but when it suddenly happens right in front of her, it doesn’t sound as wondrous and endlessly romantic as it should be.

“Here,” Miss Stacy said, handing out pieces of paper to her scholars. “This is going to be your very first essay. At least, I hope it's your first.”

Miss Stacy was right. Earlier, when Anne wrote an essay about gossip, she had asked Diana for some minor help. She didn't have much to offer as she never had written one before. The class had just learned about them and how to compose one, which didn't come as a shock to Anne as their previous teacher, Mr. Phillips, clearly wasn't fit for the teaching job. Thankfully, Anne already then knew how to write one and had aced that essay. She now had that advantage, and hopefully she could use it against Gilbert.

Miss Stacy started at the boys’ side, enlightening her students more about their first essay.

“I got my hands on some fine paper, just enough for everyone.”

Anne leaned over to Diana, gently putting her hand on her arm with the biggest smile on her face. “I’m so excited for this!” Anne squealed. Diana answered with a polite smile. Miss Stacy arrived at the two girls' desk and as she was handing Anne paper, she couldn’t help but count how many pieces of paper she got.

One. Two. Three.

She furrowed her eyebrows, that couldn't be right. “Miss Stacy, I’m gonna need more than three pieces of paper.”

“I’m sorry, Anne. That’s all you get.”

“But I have ever so many words on the matter of electricity!”

Miss Stacy found it only fitting that their first essay was on something modernistic, like the first thing they studied together.

“Then I suppose you’re just gonna have to manage like the rest of the class.” Those were Miss Stacy’s last words on the trouble. She had always been fair to each and every one of her students, something Anne was grateful for. However, when it came to matters like this she wasn’t quite fond of it anymore.

Miss Stacy handed Diana the same amount of paper before she turned her back on them and continued handing out papers to the desk in front of the two girls.

“How can I write my true feelings on just...” Anne stopped, took a deep breath and sunk a bit in her seat before she continued. “Three paltry pieces of paper?”

Diana put a reassuring hand on Anne’s shoulder, paired with a slight smile. "Just write tiny letters."

Anne was about to respond, but their teacher, standing in front of the class again had taken word. "I expect that you'll all be thorough on this paper." She said. "There's no need to fill every inch of the papers, but I hope I've taught you everything you need to know about electricity to make me proud."

They had a due date of two days, but Anne wanted to get finished as soon as possible. When Anne made her way home that day, she was met by an ecstatic Jerry just in front of the barn. He claimed that he had, in fact, mastered how to write the letter W, and every word with W in it. He invited her up in the barn to see, but Anne politely declined before she stormed into the house.

"Anne!" Marilla exclaimed as she ran through the kitchen and stomped up the stairs, still with muddy shoes on.

"Sorry Marilla!" Anne yelled back with the biggest grin on her face. She took a quick grip on the door handle that lead into her room and pushed it down, swinging the door open. Her slate and books were quickly thrown onto her bed as she dragged her nightstand to stand more efficiently by the side of her bed.

"Anne!" Marilla tried again from downstairs. "Come downstairs and help me with supper!" Anne didn't quite catch that she might have needed help, so when she was on her way down the stairs, she apologized again.

"Now, take off those muddy shoes, come clean up and help me finish."

A bit later that evening, supper was finished. Matthew had been called in for food and at the table he had asked Anne how her day went. She always found it nice when Matthew, or even Marilla for that sake - asked her about her day. After all those years being in the orphanage, there was finally someone who genuinely engaged in her and what she did. She would always tell them anyway, no matter if they asked or not, but the thought of asking was so delightful and favorable in her mind.

So that was what Anne did, she told Matthew and Marilla everything they had done at school that day. Even the horrifying events of just getting three pieces of paper for an essay.

"Sometimes it's not about length, but quality." Marilla huffed as she was cleaning up the table from supper.

"Oh, don't I know, Marilla. It's just not fair when I have so much to say."

"Now, the paper won't do itself, Anne," Marilla said and gestured for Anne to hurry along upstairs.

The next day went quite the same. It was a normal school day where Anne stayed behind to ask Miss Stacy a few questions. Questions she'd love to answer, actually. She was too busy asking her teacher so many questions, that she didn't notice any other student hanging back in class as well.

"I know one or two things about coal if you'd like, Anne."

Gilbert Blythe. The very well-known voice of Gilbert Blythe. It even annoyed Anne how he said her name - teasingly, something she had come to terms with, as he rarely said it any other way. Still, it wasn't pleasing. She had just asked Miss Stacy about coal as a source of energy, and as she feared, he had to intervene.

Anne didn't want to accept his offer, mostly because she didn't need his help, but when Miss Stacy said she had some important errands to run before the evening, there wasn’t much else to say.

“Fine. Only because you were on a boat driven by coal for eight months,” she sighed.

"Best get to it then," Gilbert said whilst grabbing his slate and books before he wandered off to put his coat on. Anne was watching him by his every step. She asked Miss Stacy a simple question, and now she was put in this situation. And why did they have to go somewhere else, couldn't they just stay here?

"I'll see you both tomorrow!" Miss Stacy said, reaching for her coat and then seconds later disappearing behind a door. Anne sighed.

"Where shall passion lead us today, Miss?" Gilbert asked just as they closed the school doors behind them. Anne was walking down the stairs when she said that they should go to her house.

"Probably for the best. Mary and Bash are clinging onto each other no matter who's near. They probably won't realize I'm gone," he chuckled. Anne couldn't help but to smile a bit herself. Imagine giving someone your love for eternity, promising to love them unconditionally. She wanted to experience that one day. A mutual feeling of admiration.

Jerry, who was up in the barn moving hay, suddenly heard a bit of laughter approaching. He shoved the pitchfork into a ball of hay and peeked out. In the distance, he could see Anne, but beside her was a young man. He wasn't quite sure who yet, but as they came closer to the gate, he could see that her company had dark hair - something almost every boy in Avonlea had, but the smile that was radiating from Anne meant that she wasn't with anyone but that Gilbert boy she never shut up about.

When Anne and Gilbert opened the front door and were met by Marilla, they both immediately had to reassure her that they were just going to do some homework.

"Well, calm down and sit then," she huffed and gestured for them to sit down in the kitchen area before disappearing.

After what was maybe an hour they had been sitting, the two had not even shared a glance. Gilbert would tell Anne what he knew, and Anne would quickly scribble down on her piece of paper.

He rubbed his temple as his elbow leaned casually on the table. His gaze was fixated on a concentrated Anne who was intensely writing on one of her last pieces of paper. He didn't realize how fast she had been writing until she suddenly looked up at him. He tried to run his gaze quickly over at something else, but for Anne it was clear as a sunny summer day. He had been looking at her - staring actually, and the fact that his cheeks turned into a light pink just confirmed it all.

"Don't you too have something to write?" she asked.

"Yeah. No, I mean no," he stuttered. "I already finished."

Anne pursed her lips and nodded lightly before she gathered her papers and put them in a nice manner.

"Oh, I suppose we're done here then," she said, getting up from the table. If they started talking she would most likely end up laughing for some reason - then Marilla could think she didn’t take her assignment as serious as she had stated that it was the other day. Something she did. The assignment was important and very serious. They were now done, and Gilbert should get home to Bash and Mary. He wouldn't have wanted to stay anyway.

"I suppose." Gilbert looked down at the table as he started to gather his things as well.

When they both were finished packing up he paid his goodbyes to Marilla, grabbed his coat with one arm, and wrapped his scarf securely around his neck while Anne followed him out.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Anne said, clinging onto the door. She couldn't help but form a smile when the wind took a hold of Gilbert's scarf, flapping it in his face. He tried to put the ends of it down in his coat as he waved.

Anne watched him walk away, step by step. She couldn't wait to get back in and write the last part of her essay. She wanted a perfect finish, but somehow she couldn't find herself thinking clearly enough for a perfect end with Gilbert sitting there, staring at her. She just had to make sure Gilbert got safely past Jerry, and that they didn't throw in a french conversation, like Diana and him usually did, and then she could hurry back.

But all of a sudden, Gilbert turned around. He seemed unsure, but he opened his mouth, and said with a smile tingling on his lips, "Hey, Anne! This was nice." Anne nodded with a weak smile.

"It was," she said. It was indeed nice, and she didn't dare to say otherwise. The best part of it was that she actually had learned something.

The next morning at school, Miss Stacy gathered all of the assignments with a bright smile on her face. She had already told the class that she was extremely excited to read all of their works.

Diana in particular, was also very excited for Miss Stacy to read her essay. After she had founded The Story Club with Anne and gotten a lot of good insight, she felt pretty confident about her own writing. Maybe not about this specific topic, since electricity wasn't that interesting in her eyes, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

"When do you think we will get them back?" Diana asked as Miss Stacy passed them.

"About a week, I hope."

And so, a week had gone by. To be honest, Anne had forgotten about the essay being handed out that day, so she used a lot of time on her way to school.

She picked lots of flowers from all over the forest, kindly paying apologies to every stick of flower she dragged up from the ground. "Tomorrow I shall make my fox a beautiful and radiant bed of flowers," she promised herself.

Her smile went from cheek to cheek as she arranged the flowers by colors and wandered between trees. She also promised herself not to throw away any flowers she had picked - even if they looked ever so unpleasant amidst the other beautiful colors. It kind of reminded her of herself. An unpleasant flower in the middle of a field full of other glorious flowers.

As she entered the school yard with flowers tucked in her straw hat, some in her hand, and some others tucked in-between her books she could see a waving Diana, about to walk into the school house with Josie, Tillie, Jane and Ruby. Anne ran towards them and was greeted with a big hug by Diana and some polite nods from the other girls, except Josie who just kept walking in.

"This reminds me of your first day," Diana said. "You had flowers in your hat then as well."

The girls chuckled and continued their walk into the school house, meeting face to face with the loud boys who was throwing different things across the room. Diana huffed and took a grip around Anne's wrist, leading her to their desk.

Miss Stacy eventually came in to the classroom as well. There was something unfamiliar with the way she walked, and the way she behaved. She put the papers on the teacher's desk, a frown on her face.

"I'm sorry to say that we have a conflict regarding someone's essays, whom the writers I need to have some words with," she said, crossing her arms.

The students sat still, arms on their desks, trying to figure out what their teacher was trying to say.

"When the day gets to an end I'd like to talk with the people who hasn't received any specific comment."

Everybody in the room kept a close eye on every student Miss Stacy handed out papers to. When the student who received it let out a sigh of relief - they knew those didn't lack any comments on their papers. When Anne received hers, she couldn't help but to check every inch of every paper for something. Sadly enough, she couldn't find anything, and Diana noticed too.

"I'll see you all next week!" Miss Stacy announced. Anne was quick to get up from her seat when everyone started packing up their things.

"I don't understand this," Anne said while walking towards her, the uneasiness in her voice too clear than what she wanted it to be. A body came up beside her. She could easily sense the figure of Gilbert just by his chilled posture and relatively average figure, plus his dark, curly hair that sprung out in every direction.

"I have enough evidence to believe that you, Anne Shirley, have done Gilbert's essay."

"I certainly have not! Gilbert, tell her."

Neither of the two students who were standing in front of Miss Stacy could see the girls and the boys standing outside of the school house, holding their hands up against their heads, shielding out light and trying to look in through the windows.

As Gilbert was just standing there, saying nothing — Anne could feel a cold dribble of sweat start to form down on her back, her dress sticking to it. Her left hand went up behind her neck, scratching it for a while before she had to breathe in and out a couple of times. It was something Matthew had taught her, steadying her breathing.

Her favorite teacher had just accused her of doing someone else's homework. It was bad. It was really bad in her eyes, but even though she looked at it as bad - she couldn't help but feel a bit of worry towards Gilbert. It must've felt horrifying to have someone accuse you for having someone else do their homework. Anne knew she would've felt awful at least.

"It was my fault, Miss Stacy," Gilbert apologized.

"You can't take blame for something we didn't even do, Gilbert!" Anne bursted out. Gilbert caught her by surprise, and for a minute she thought she might as well could just as well have been knocked out.

"Stop, you two. Here we have Anne, who wanted more paper, so she could write everything she wanted to say." Miss Stacy interrupted the two who had just turned to face each other and started raising their voices. "Then, Gilbert helps you, and suddenly I have two essays in almost two completely different fields, still with the same handwriting! A handwriting I recognize as yours from your last essay, may I add!"

Miss Stacy was looking mostly at Anne by now, who was trying to defend herself, with little help from Gilbert. "You can't possibly believe I could do a such thing!"

First of all, Anne hated to be humiliated, but secondly, and one of the most important things of all - she hated to be accused of things she didn't do. It happened often, too often. However, she didn't quite know how to handle those situations. As she turned around, grabbed her books and slate, she stumbled out to where she usually hung her coat, yanked it from the hook and hurriedly swung it around herself. She took a firm grip on her hat and placed it on her head, holding onto it as she trod her way out of the school house. At this point she didn't care if she lost some beautiful flowers along the way. She just wanted to get away from humiliation and lies.

She marched (with difficulty, as the grass seemed to have shot up over the past few weeks), through the field, taking a shortcut. She wanted to go straight home and tell Marilla and Matthew about this outrage. Miss Stacy, a kindred spirit, should've known better than thinking such a thing.

What Anne did not know, somehow, was that Gilbert stayed behind to talk things through with their teacher. He apologized for saying an abrupt thing, like it was his fault - something it wasn't, because they hadn't been near each other's essays, and Gilbert had finished his before he offered to help Anne.

He tried to persuade Miss Stacy into believing that this was completely coincidental, and that he had no idea why she would think their handwriting was alike, identical, indistinguishable or whatever she thought.

And maybe, just maybe she had seen something like it before — but it possibly couldn't be. She felt a stick of deja vu as she showed Gilbert both of their works side by side. Miss Stacy told Gilbert about that one time, years and years ago when she, herself went to school and the same thing had happened. The exact same thing, and how she maybe should have caught onto it before it got this far, because after all they might have been better off without knowing.

She just had a difficulty with using the right words to Gilbert, as he was standing there, both of his arms leaning on the teacher's desk. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he couldn't exactly comprehend any of Miss Stacy's words. Neither could he believe them. They sounded absurd.

"There was a couple in my old class." She started. "It was years and years ago, and they were in this exact position you and Anne are in right now."

Gilbert was now standing up, facing Miss Stacy again, his eyebrows still furrowed and there was still a red line missing in-between all of this.

"It's rare, at least not often you see them together in the same class when they're so young. You know, since almost everyone goes on and meets other people when leaving for further education."

"I'm still not sure where you are going with this, Miss," Gilbert said, mirroring Anne's earlier actions, scratching his neck, taking a few deep breaths.

"I believe it's almost extraordinary, phenomenal almost," she continued, "Soulmates have the same handwriting."

"Gilbert Blythe-" she spat, as if a bug flew into her mouth. Anne was clearly annoyed by everything that had happened. "- made Miss Stacy think I, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, wrote his essay."

Well, that wasn't exactly true, but it certainly wasn't a lie either. It was Miss Stacy who thought so — at first. Then Gilbert had contributed to the thought. It always seemed to be Gilbert's fault, or too often anyway.

The day Anne had come home after this event, she wasn't even hungry. She went straight up in the barn and laid down with a good book in her hands. It was somewhat comforting.

On Saturday, she snuck down the stairs, again with a good book in her hands. Only, that day she was caught by Jerry who once again, had to move hay.

"Surprising, seeing you here. Of course!" she had uttered, then walked away.

On Sunday, she tried the same, only this time she was caught by Matthew who also actually tried to catch her. He made her a big breakfast, and even Marilla was shocked by the sight. She had no idea her brother could make such a great meal. "Matthew! What do you think you're doing?" She had yelled when she saw him, cracking Anne's egg.

On Monday morning, she met Diana on their way to school. Anne told her everything about the outrage, and Diana only said she knew, and that also the whole school knew. She had to prepare herself for the ugly looks, mostly from Josie, but also Tillie and Jane as they never really knew where they should stand when it came to matters like these. The two girls had no idea where Ruby would stand, as it was something between Anne and Gilbert — and mostly, about a romantic myth. Josie would most likely drag her onto her side, and tell Anne how horrible of a friend she was.

Something that proved to be right. The minute Anne stepped into the school house, the girls had given her the look.

The day went somehow quite fast for Anne, without even looking the slightest at Gilbert Blythe, or not much at Miss Stacy either. She really thought she would pick it up again today, but as she hadn't heard anything regarding it yet. Miss Stacy would probably wait until the end of the day.

After all, it was an incredibly serious matter, and Anne needed her teacher to know the truth. She just didn't know how she would tell it.

I'm sorry for running out on you, Miss Stacy. I know I’m not very good at handling situations, but I consider you a kindred spirit, and would therefore never lie to you. Ever. I think you're an exquisite teacher, but you might have it all wrong, no matter what you believe from what Gilbert have been saying.

As the end of the day caught onto them, Anne was ready. She told Diana to just go ahead without her as she needed to speak with Miss Stacy. Diana offered her the best of luck, and gave her a strong hug.

"Anne, could I have a word?" Miss Stacy asked, walking ever so casually towards Anne who was putting her books perfectly on top of her slate, about to bind them in.

Anne looked up, and could see Gilbert also walking towards her. "I- I don't want more lies," she stuttered. She had a tendency to stutter when nervous. She even had a little speech to say, but she wouldn't dare say it with Gilbert anywhere near them.

"Anne. I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have said anything. It just slipped out."

"Slipped alright," she mumbled, earning a furrowed eyebrow from Gilbert.

Miss Stacy couldn't bear to hear them start an argument again, so something that really slipped out then was, "You're soulmates." Something that sounded stubborn, weird, scary, confusing — but mostly, immature.

Deep, real deep down Anne wanted to believe in soulmates. It would give her hope. Characters in books found their soulmates — but they were just made up stories as would Marilla say. However, that was just what Anne wanted her exceptional love story to be. Something so beautiful and unbelievable that people thought it was just a made up story. Something unreal.

Anne let Miss Stacy continue talking about the so-called soulmate significance, sending some glares to Gilbert ever so often.

"I should go," Anne said, picking up her things, throwing once again on her coat and hat before trotting out of the school house. It had become too much of a regular thing to do, but when else to do it? It seemed dramatic — running out of her own soulmate story just then.

That wasn't exactly what she did. She needed to get back home. How had she never realized? Long ago, she had gotten a note from Gilbert once in class, asking for equations.. She kept it in a box, under her bed. Hidden from the immediate eye.

As she arrived at Green Gables, she ran inside, up the stairs and fell down on the floor just beside her bed. Her arm reached under, trying to locate the very small box of hers, but it was nowhere to be found.

She got up again, leapt over the bed and fell down again. She shoved her arm straight under, and there it was. The box. She wasn't sure why she kept it, and especially not why she kept it under the bed , yet there it was.

Anne got up, sat down on her bed and found a piece of leftover paper and an ink pen. She wrote the exact thing Gilbert had written, and there it was. Right before her eyes. It was unbelievable.

Everything was shaped the same. Every messy curl here and there were identical, the lines and every curve scattered over the note.

On his way home, Gilbert couldn't think of anything less than Anne. She truly must have been freaked out by all this. Everyone knew how much she valued her own future love story, a true romance.

He wasn’t even quite sure if he believed in such a thing himself. It seemed weird and was most likely just a coincidence. Maybe they had held their pencils alike, or the pressure and angle of their arms had been the same.

“Gilbert!” a familiar voice shouted as he was about to open the front-door to his house.

He turned around and was met by Bash, with an axe in hand. He had most likely been out back, chopping wood as winter was soon to barge in on them. Last winter when Bash arrived in Avonlea, he had used all of their wood, keeping the furnace hot every second of the day, (and night for that matter.)

“How did it go?” he asked. “With Anne.”

“She ran out while Miss Stacy was explaining things,” Gilbert said with some pressure on the last word as he pushed open the front door. He was immediately met by a gush of warmth,realizing Bash already had started to fire up the furnace for this year.

“You can’t let this man burn us to death,” Gilbert said with a light chuckle, walking into the kitchen. Mary was standing in front of the stove. From the smell that surrounded the house he could only predict that she was making stew for supper.

“How did it go with Anne?” she asked, earning a simple huff from Gilbert who sat down at the table, taking off his outer clothing.

"I need to change my handwriting," Gilbert said, pulling out some paper and an ink pen from his shoulder bag.

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert couldn’t possibly be his soulmate.

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert-Blythe.

Anne Shirley-Blythe.

Anne Cuthbert-Blythe.

Anne Blythe.

It did, however, have a nice ring to it.

“Weren’t you supposed to change your handwriting?” Bash said, leaning over Gilbert’s shoulder. “Because I only see a lot of name combinations on that piece of paper with the exact same handwriting.”

Gilbert’s head shot up when he realized what Bash had just said. His ink pen slipped through his fingers and hit the table as Bash chuckled.

He had no idea how to respond to that, and as his mouth was thinking faster than his brain he blurted out one of the stupidest sentences till this day, “It’s for science.”

But also, in his defense it did look even nicer on paper than just in his head.

“Sure, loverboy,” he said.

At Green Gables, however, the atmosphere wasn’t nowhere the same. Anne had gone straight up to Jerry in the barn.

“I have delicate news, but first I wanna say that I am sorry for being rude to you and walking past you the other day. I also snapped at you something that wasn’t fair,” Anne started saying as she climbed up the ladder that lead to the top part of the barn where she could hear Jerry sing to himself.

When she had gotten to the top part and now stood safely, she continued. “I would love to see the letter W and every possible word you could form with it!”

Jerry’s smile got bigger, his teeth sticking out while he nodded. He lead the way to their little “teaching-corner”, as Jerry would call it. He picked up his slate and started off by showing off the letter W.

“Have you ever heard of a such thing as soulmates?” she asked. Honestly, she didn’t expect a serious answer, or one at all. But, weirdly enough, she got one.

“I think some people are lucky enough and have one out there,” he said, concentrating on his slate and the word he was currently writing. He turned his slate towards Anne and revealed the word jewelry.

“That’s impressive, Jerry!” she responded. “Gilbert, is supposedly mine.”

“Your what?”

“My soulmate,” she said, as if it was something she could just brush off, when in reality her stomach had dropped multiple times that day. Every time someone said the word soulmate.

“Gilbert, the boy we met in Charlottetown? The boy you brought home with you the other day?” Anne was surprised by the tone of his voice. It didn’t sound pleasant, yet it wasn’t angry either. He sounded doubtful.

She wasn’t quite sure if she could even think clearly anymore, because - needless to say - Gilbert Blythe could never in a million years be her soulmate.

Anne slumped down in a bunch of hay, grabbing one of the books she had left here for Jerry to read whenever he wanted. She flipped open the book and started reading as Jerry continued moving hay and singing in French.

As the dark sky approached, Anne thought it was time to get back inside. Jerry had left not very long ago, but now it was hard for Anne to see the letters in her books - even with a lamp by her side.

She got up from the hay, using her free hand to brush off the hay that had stuck to her dress. She gently put down the book by Jerry’s teaching corner and took a quick look at his slate. He had scattered words with W all over, not leaving any open spots. Anne couldn’t help but to chuckle. Jerry was really trying, and she liked that he was determined. She couldn’t wait till he could read flawlessly so they could sit up in the barn and read and share their thoughts with each other.

Just as Anne was climbing down the ladder and walking out of the barn, she could see a rather lean figure approaching. She waited until he came closer before saying anything.

“Who’s that?” she said loud and clear.

“It’s me, Gilbert,” he answered. When he came close enough he stopped right before Anne. It was hard to see in the dark, but something she could see clear as a day was that little smirk of his.

“Why are you here so late, shouldn’t you be home with Mary and Bash?” she asked.

“Look, I tried changing my handwriting,” he said, getting to the point right away. “It didn’t work out well.”

“Oh,” Anne nodded bleakly. She wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this, but she kept nodding until he decided to keep talking.

“I’m sorry we’re stuck with this burden, or what you would like to call it.” Gilbert’s smirk wasn’t anywhere to be seen anymore, but rather a serious face had come.

“It’s not a burden, truly. Rather, it’s a destination,” Anne reassured him. Gilbert was her friend, whether she liked to admit it or not - it just wasn’t that easy looking at him in a romantic way, but perhaps one day.

She spent most of her childhood wanting a soulmate love-story, and suddenly as it was standing right in front of her she quickly changed her mind. She was in a good place with Gilbert - and wouldn’t miss out being his friend for the world. He was one of the greatest guys she knew, he was truly exceptional.

Anne saw a smile on Gilbert lips, and so she took a step closer, breaking the distance between them. Her arms went around his neck as she pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer, gently running his hand up and down her back.

"I do not want the constellations any nearer,

I know they are very well where they are," he said, quoting his father’s favorite poem.

She caught on quickly - he didn’t desire to be any closer to her than he already was, because everything was fine the way it was, and Anne agreed. Destiny may take them even closer one day, but for now, it was best they kept it one way. As friends. However, no matter what happened, Gilbert would wait for her, that was certain.

And in a way, Anne was glad that Gilbert had been her chosen one. She didn’t know anyone who was smarter or more ambitious than him. With Gilbert by her side, and Anne by Gilbert’s side, they both knew they could make it far in life. They would make an amazing team.

Anne felt a flutter in her stomach just thinking about it, and a big smile formed on her face. She sunk a bit and landed her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat. Them, standing there, holding each other for a long while felt warm on a cold night mid-fall.

And all of a sudden, Anne realized that she didn't need a knight in shining armor when she had a prince. Maybe they could make a great love-story after all.

#anne shirley #anne shirley-cuthbert #gilbert blythe #anne with an e fanfiction #shirbert #shirbert fanfiction #shirbert fic #anne x gilbert #gilbert x anne #finally finished and i just wanna say a big thank you to tessa!!#thank you for reading over and helping me lots #to make this fic even better!!#kudos to you my love!#mine

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legendofzeldaalinktothepast · 5 years ago

Text

Pathetic, Clinging Poetry - Chapter 23 (of 25)

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

A while back, I shoved a little shoe box Into the furthest corner of my closet. It's probably covered in a layer of dust, now. The spiders probably wove a web around it, Which I wouldn't dare demolish. And if I remember correctly, It was atop the highest shelf I own! And I'm not sure where I left my step stool...

Who needs shoes, anyway?

Pearl ran her fingers through Amethyst's silky lavender hair; she was half focused on the intricate fishtail braid in her hands, half focused at the cooking show they were watching on TV. Amethyst, seated on the floor in front of her, was sucked into the video game she was playing on her phone, tapping away at her screen with her thumbs. So when Jasper suddenly appeared in the doorway of the living room, it took a few moments for either of them to notice she was there.

"Oh -- hey there!" Pearl greeted, slightly startled.

"Hey, uh, you got a phone call." Jasper said, holding her cell phone over to Pearl. "And I swear it's actually a job thing this time, heh."

While that should have gotten her excited, Pearl couldn't ignore the fear rising in her chest. Job stuff in and of itself was nerve-wracking enough -- and while she trusted Jasper, she was still a little... shaken by what'd happened last time she'd gotten a phone call.

"Ah, alright! I can multitask." she finally responded. Pearl took the phone from Jasper's hands and held it up with her shoulder, turning her gaze back down towards Amethyst's hair and going right back to working on the braid. "Hello, this is Pearl!"

Jasper sat down on the other end of the couch, reaching for the remote so she could mute the TV. Amethyst paused her video game and set her phone aside; feeling a little bit nosy (and maybe even a hint anxious on Pearl's behalf), she listened to the conversation to the best of her ability, but struggled to make out what the person on the other end was saying.

"Let's see... I'm free any time after two, any day of the week. I volunteer at the library around noon, but -- oh, that's alright! Yes, four is perfect." She tied up the bottom of Amethyst's braid with a little scrunchy, letting it flop down against her back. Amethyst flipped the braid over her shoulder so she could get a better look at it. 'Damn, she's good at this.' she thought. Whenever she braided her own hair, there were always little pieces sticking out here and there, and it was often crooked and uneven. Maybe Pearl's skinny little fingers and long nails helped make it easier... or maybe it was the fruity smelling mousse that kept everything in place.

"Oh, absolutely! I wouldn't mind that at all! ...Yes, okay, I will see you tomorrow! Thank you so much, bye!" Pearl let out a sigh of relief when she hung up, dropping Jasper's phone on the couch so she could flap her hands. "Oh my goodness, I'm excited!" she exclaimed.

"Which place was that?" Jasper asked, reaching for her phone and shoving it back into her pocket.

"That was the zoo!" Pearl squealed. "In all honesty, I didn't even think I had a chance at this place -- I had assumed I'd get a call from one of those fast food places or retail stores before anything else -- but this is so much better!" she said.

"Holy shit, really?" Jasper said.

"That's so cool, babe!" Amethyst cheered. "What are you gonna be doing?"

"Well, I'm going to start out working at the gift shop... Nothing too exciting, but I'm thankful for that, regardless." Pearl said. "But -- and this is where it gets exciting -- they said there might be a chance I'll get to work as a tour guide later on! A-assuming I get the job, of course... I still have to go to the interview before I can get too excited." Pearl clarified. "But... If all goes well, this would be an amazing opportunity!"

"That's awesome!" Jasper pulled Pearl into a tight hug. "I told you, you just had to be patient. These things take a while, but it ended up being worth the wait, huh?"

"Yeah! I'm so proud of ya, cutie!" Amethyst said, giving Pearl another hug once Jasper had pulled away. "So uh... Not saying you shouldn't totally jump on this awesome opportunity, but do you think you'll still be able to do our library thing?"

Pearl's expression fell. "Ah... That I'm not quite sure of. I had applied for a morning shift... So unless they end up giving me an evening shift for some reason, probably not." She let out a little sigh. "But hey, we still don't know for sure if I'm even going to get this job, anyway!"

"Still, though..." Jasper said. "Don't beat yourself up if you can't volunteer there anymore."

"I guess you're right, but..." Pearl smiled sadly. "I've grown kind of attached to Mrs. Fluorite and all those adorable little kids... And they really do need my help sometimes, so... I hope they'll be alright without me."

"Hey, uhhh..." Amethyst gave Pearl a nudge. "You know I'm still gonna go there even if you're not, right?"

Pearl's heart leaped. "Wait, really? I had no idea you liked it that much!"

"Hell yeah I do!" Amethyst said. "I mean, it's fun, you know? I was a little hesitant at first, not gonna lie, and I do wish I didn't have to be up and wearing pants before noon, but I like being around the little munchkins. And the old lady really likes when I draw the coloring pages, so I think it'll work out just fine."

"Oh my goodness, thank you so much!" Pearl squealed, pulling Amethyst into a tight hug.

"Hey, I'm doing it because I like it. You don't need to thank me for that..." Amethyst blushed, but returned the hug anyway.

"Ah, yes, of course, it just... you know, lifts a weight off my shoulders knowing you'll be there. Especially since you're so good with those kids." Pearl let out a sigh of relief as she released Amethyst from her grip, straightening herself up again. "By the way, Jasper... do you have any advice? Anything to keep in mind during my interview tomorrow? Since you probably have quite a bit of experience with jobs..."

"Well... Employers tend to like when you make eye contact. As much as I know you hate it." Jasper said.

"Ugh, that's true... But I can do it when necessary." Pearl said.

"That's good. And I can write down a list of questions they might ask you, so you can be a little more prepared." Jasper continued. "Oh, and as for clothes, you really just gotta use common sense. You don't have to doll yourself up like you're going to a wedding, but don't wear sweatpants or some shit, either."

Pearl chuckled; at least that was one thing she knew she'd nail perfectly. "That part I know very well!" she said, pulling herself to her feet. "In fact, I'm going to pick out my outfit right now. I'm already getting antsy, so I might as well do something to prepare..." Before either of them could say anything else, Pearl skipped up the stairs and towards Amethyst's room.

She filed through her basket of clothes, humming in thought as she tried to find something charming, yet professional... Part of her instincts were still telling her to wear a skirt, and while she wasn't quite opposed to wearing one... she felt a lot more confident when she was wearing literally anything else. But on the other hand, most of her pants were stolen from Jasper, which were slightly baggy and mostly sweats -- certainly not appropriate for an interview.

'Ugh, am I really going to have to go shopping tonight? What a nuisance...' Pearl thought. Her expression immediately brightened, however, as she pulled out her favorite white-and-grey striped button up blouse. It matched just about anything, so at least it'd be easy to find a pair of slacks to go with it!

"Hey, Pearl?"

Pearl flinched, yet again surprised by Jasper's sudden presence in the doorway. She folded her blouse back up as she turned around to face her. "Hm?"

"So uh..." Jasper shyly rubbed the back of her neck, shoving her free hand into her pocket. "I know this is weird timing, but there's something I gotta show you. Or, well -- I don't know if you want to see it or not, but... I couldn't bring myself to delete it without asking you first."

"Oh...?" Pearl raised an eyebrow, not quite sure what to make of the vagueness of her question. She wasn't sure whether to feel more nervous or curious, in all honesty.

"Shit, that sounds bad when I put it like that." Jasper clasped a hand over her face. "Look, it's uh... A voicemail from your mom. I got it like... a month ago, maybe? I just wasn't sure when it'd be the right time to show you, but... Now that you're doing a little better, I thought it'd be a good time to ask? It's totally fine if you'd rather I delete it, though... I just thought since she's your mom and all..."

Pearl smiled softly. "Aw... That's so thoughtful of you. I... I think I do want to listen to it... Would you mind listening with me?"

"Not at all. I mean, I've already listened to it, but if it'll make you more comfortable, I'll listen to it again." Jasper said, finally pulling her hand out of her jeans pocket and bringing her phone with it. She unlocked the screen and went through her voicemails, scrolling for a moment before finding the right one. "There we go... ready?"

Pearl quickly smoothed out the blankets on Amethyst's bed before sitting down (no matter how silly it seemed, she refused to sit on an unmade bed), and once Jasper seated herself beside her, Pearl nodded. "Ready." she said, and Jasper pressed the play button.

"...Hello, Miss Jasper?" The recording began, and Pearl couldn't help rolling her eyes already; but regardless, she listened on. "I know the chances of you even listening to this are slim, but... I'm getting desperate. I've... I've come to the realization that Pearl doesn't want to speak with me anymore... And I'm sure you aren't very fond of me yourself, either, but... If you don't mind, I have one small request to ask of you. Next time you speak to Pearl and Peony... Could you please tell them that I love them very much?"

Pearl's heart sank. Hearing those words from her mother certainly wasn't anything new; yet it brought back a sickening, regretful feeling she hadn't experienced in quite a few months.

"And that if they ever want to come back home... I will welcome them with open arms, as if they never ran away in the first place. I pray that you'll make the right decision and pass this message on; God bless."

Once the message came to an end, Pearl flopped down onto the mattress and groaned.

"You alright?" Jasper asked.

Pearl nodded. "She doesn't do a very good job selling it." she said with a pained smile. Jasper smirked. "Yeah, I thought so too."

"And yet... For once, I don't think she's lying." Pearl said as she sat upright. "I really do think if Peony and I went back there, she'd act as if this whole thing never happened..." Pearl clenched her fists. "And that's exactly why we're both staying right where we are." She wiped a tear from her eyes, and Jasper pulled her into a hug.

"I really do love her..." Pearl whispered, her voice muffled against Jasper's shoulder. "And I do want her to know that... And... And I'm going to make sure she knows, while still drilling into her thick skull that we are not coming back... At least not for a very, very long time."

Jasper gently rubbed Pearl's back. "You're really strong, you know that?" she whispered in return. "You've come so far ever since you moved in with us... I'm really proud of you."

Pearl hugged her even tighter. "Thank you... I'm so proud of you, too."

"Pfft, for what?"

"For working on your relationship with Amethyst. And everyone else, honestly." Pearl said. "You two have been getting along so much better, now... I-I know that, as sisters, you're always gonna have your fights here and there... But I'm still so relieved that, for the most part, you've been treating each other so much more kindly than you were a few months ago."

"Ugh, sap." Jasper rolled her eyes. "But, uh, thanks... I still gotta long way to go, but... It's still nice to be reminded I'm doing something right."

Pearl smiled warmly. "You know... Perhaps I've even... underestimated how much you've grown. I mean, I never even told you I was dating Amethyst... Just thought it'd be easier to drop hints, and have you put two and two together, just to avoid the awkwardness of it all... But perhaps that wasn't right on my part." Pearl turned her gaze up towards Jasper's.

"Whoa... Wait, you guys are dating? Why didn't you tell me?" Jasper gasped, her eyes wide with shock. For a moment Pearl's heart stopped, but when Jasper burst into laughter, she let out a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that!" Pearl said.

"That's what you get for not telling me." Jasper teased, giving Pearl a little noogie. "But nah. It's really not a big deal... That's how things kinda are with sisters, you know? You're not always straightforward about these kinds of things, you just kinda pick up on what's going on, and you roll with it... So it's really fine that you didn't flat out tell me, but... Thanks for caring anyway. You're a good friend."

"Alright..." Pearl let out a sigh of relief, hugging Jasper even tighter. "I'm relieved to hear that. You're a very good friend, too...”

As Pearl made her way into the entry room, shut the door behind herself, and tossed her shoes onto the rack, she spun around in a circle like an overjoyed ballerina. "Amethyst? Jasper? I have some wonderful news!" she declared, unsure if either of them were even home.

"Oh?" Jasper called from the kitchen, her expression brightening as she made eye contact with Pearl. "Someone's in a good mood."

"I certainly am!" Pearl exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "Where's Amethyst?"

"On my way." the latter yawned, making her way down the stairs. "Just woke up from a nap... Did you go to your interview yet?" she mumbled.

"I sure did!" Pearl giggled. "And it went wonderfully. So wonderfully, in fact, that I'm going to start my training next Monday!"

Amethyst went from sleepy to wide awake in a split second. "Aww, congratulations, babe!" she cheered, running up and giving Pearl a hug.

"Nice job, Pearlie!" Jasper smiled warmly, ruffling Pearl's hair. "I told you it'd all work out."

"Ah, thank you so much!" Pearl beamed. "I'm going to be working quite a bit, you know... I hope you two will be able to function with me out of the house." she continued with a wink.

"Damn, now I gotta take on the housewife duty." Amethyst snorted. "So you should show me how to make those special brownies!"

"Special... brownies?" Pearl raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know, those amazing brownies you made when you first moved in here." Amethyst clarified, biting back a grin.

"That's not what special brownies are." Jasper said.

"It's a joke, butthead." Amethyst playfully elbowed her.

"Well, at long as cannabis isn't involved, I will gladly show you how to make my brownie recipe!" Pearl clasped her hands together. "Perhaps after dinner, though; what are you making, Jasper?"

"...Oh, shit!" Jasper suddenly turned and darted into the kitchen, slipping on her oven mitts. She pulled out a slightly-burned veggie quiche and placed it on top of the stove. "That's what I get for winging it and not setting a timer." Jasper grumbled, turning off the oven.

"Hey, I dunno about you, but I like burnt stuff. Kinda reminds me of toasted marshmallows." Amethyst said.

"That's true! I'm sure it'll still be delicious." Pearl said, peering over Jasper's shoulder at the quiche.

"Alright, good.” Jasper reached for a spatula and cut off a corner piece. “‘Cause I’m not making anything else!”

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fearofaherobrine · 8 years ago

Text

Roleplay Server Log #213

“The Coronation, The Uninvited Guest...”

-HerobrineCP has entered the server-

[Doc] Ah, Cp's back. Hopefully with the food.

[Ruby] Is hanging out at the bar with Sam, the two of them are playing cards because it's quiet.

[CP] Arrives in the bar- Hey, I got the stuff you asked for, just wanted to go over it with you before I took it over to my server

[Sam] in his native tongue- Oh! Is it almost time for the coronation? I know it's been a while.

[Ruby] So do I need to throw some bones around?

[CP] - We'll find out when we get there... He starts tossing a large amount of food onto the bar counter

[Sam] Pulls up a chest and starts organizing and stowing it.

[Ruby] Are we going now?

[CP] - No, it may still take a couple days before everyone is ready, I have to let them know as well

[Ruby] I'll be around.

[Sam] Makes a smart little salute.

[CP] - Sam, is everything to your standards?

[Sam] Yes. I'll add a bit here and there. I have some spices to dress up the blander dishes and do you want finger food type stuff as well?

[CP] - Wouldn't hurt

[Herabrine] Walks in - There you are! I need a real world expert here! What is this? - holds up a bucket with a lot of little things swimming in it. The resolution is low but they're pink and mostly tail.

[CP] Frowns- Looks like shrimp

[Herabrine] They're breeding like bugs!

[CP] Thinks about it- Must have happened when we let Basil in...

[Herabrine] Basil?

[CP] - The monster Doc and I let in that's been swimming around

[Herabrine] Stares at him - It's name is fucking Basil...? Whatever. Are they good for anything?

[CP] - Eating

[Herabrine] Good I'll bring lots. The fucking things are everywhere.

[Sam] How do I prepare them?

[CP] - You can boil em like the lobsters. or fry them

[Sam] Boiling I can do.

[Ruby] Do you drop them in live? - a little too eager

[CP] - No

[Ruby] Looks slightly disappointed

[CP] Over chat- Oi! Coronation, two days assholes!

[Herabrine] I'm going fishing. BBL

[Doc] WOOO party time!

[gem] yay party

-the next day-

[Steve] Knocks on Lies door a bit urgently-

[CP] With a grumble opens the door- What?

[Steve] Oh! Hey, is lie home? Or maybe Endrea?

[CP] - Endrea is up in her room with her kids, why?

[Steve] nervous- I thought I could help out somehow?

[CP] - Do what you want, I have to go smooth out the area today since this things happening tomorrow

[TLOT] Comes whistling up the path, there's a foggyness around his form.

[Steve] NOOOOO - With a tortured squeal Steve squeezes past Cp and darts into the house-

[CP] - The fuck?

[Lie] Is down in the work room making some food-

[Steve] Darts into the room - Quick Lie, run while you can!

[Lie] - What? Why? What's going on?

[TLOT] Gives a bit of a chuckle as he comes closer

[CP] - Fuck off asshole!

[TLOT] Oh, don't be like that. My husband doesn't like my newest experiment. It's more geared towards brines then humans...

[Steve] If you value your nostrils run! - Darts out the back door-

[Lie] - Really Steve, I deal with literal poop from my animals, how bad can it be?

[Steve] I warned you! - door slam

[Lie] Shakes her head and makes her way to where CP is-

[TLOT] Pulls out a rather odd block, it's a pale yellow and dotted with tiny glimmers of gold, it smells so strongly there's waves coming off of it like heat-

[CP] - Sniffs- Huh...

[Lie] Backs away quickly- The hell is that!?

[TLOT] My newest work, I call it Steelton Gold. Isn't it exquisite?

[CP] - Eh

[Lie] - NO! It smells revolting!

[TLOT] Not you too! It's wonderful! - He pulls off a morsel and holds it out to her-

[Lie] Sneezes because the smell is so strong and teleports away-

[TLOT] Holds it out to Cp instead. - Everyone's a critic....

[CP] - Takes it- I would try it but judging by my wifes reaction to the smell, she may just try to murder me for it...

[TLOT] Come on, just a bite. It has alcohol in it too. Kinda like... Sam called it Goldschlager?

[CP] Takes a small amount and pops it in his mouth- Not bad

[TLOT] Great! I was feeling a bit put upon. It smells wonderful to me. I crushed it myself with a bedrock weight. Really good milk too. I used some of the rennet Doc brought in to make it.

[CP] - Hands the rest of the cheese back- Good for you, now I should probably go find my wife

[TLOT] mischevious smile - Should I bring some to the party? And some crackers?

[CP] - Again, my wife may try to murder you if that happens

[TLOT] Just offering. I presume you don't want a block yourself? You can always seal it up in a chest.

[CP] - Fine, give me a copy

[TLOT] Hands him a couple of blocks. - Have fun! See you at the party- departs cheerfully

[CP] Tosses them in a chest and then heads off to find his wife, which he does... In a tree-

-The next day-

[CP] Is pacing around outside his home, waiting for others to arrive so he can open the way to his server-

[Doc] arrives first in hir dragon shape with Yaunfen and Deerheart on hir back-

[TLOT] Is walking with Steve, who still looks annoyed from the cheese incident.

[gem] - arrives with her guardians eddy and Edward who how little bow ties on for a change-

[Deer] Slides off in a gown inspired by a few different styles-

This message has been removed.

[BEN] Rides up with Aven and Hyrule-

[Mix] -Walks up to the group, fixing her hair quietly and humming-

[Yaunfen] - BURP! BURP!- Wiggles excitedly

[Doc] Turns to nuzzle Yaunfen, the little dragon is wearing a tiny bowtie in a pastel purple-

[Endrea] Comes around the side of the house in her dragon form with her children as well-

[GK] Flaps down from above with a big grin - is it party time?

[Ashe] - Uncle GG!

[Endrea] - I suppose it is

[Flux] Inside Notch's place with him- Are you sure you don't wish to go?

[Notch] He said no, and I don't want to push it.... I know he's already having trouble with his mobs. I feel like.. part of being a father is knowing when to let them be grown -ups, you know?

[Flux] - Not entirely, but I trust your judgment

[CP] - Is this everyone? The skeletons are already on the other server

[Doc] Prances in place a bit-

[TLOT] I think so?

[willow and oak] -try go over to yanfen-

[Doc] Mix? Is Flowey still grounded? NK might like to go too.

[Endrea] - GK? If you don't mind herding Willow and Oak for a few moments, there's something I'll have to do

[Yaunfen] Jumps playfully at his fellow baby dragons-

[Gk] Sure! - He scoots over to the babies and nuzzles them a bit-

[willow] -boops gk snout with her foot-

[Gk] Snuff!

[Mix] Nk said no, because he doesn't really know either well. Flowey's not very social either, so I doubt he'll come. -plays with the silk like part of her dress a bit- Firebird wanted to, but didn't know if he could. -Gestures at the circling bird far above-

[CP] - Honestly at this point I don't care

[Doc] I didn't know he was a NOTCH. Can anyone else here tell?

[Endrea] - No, I cannot

[TLOT] Nope.

[Ashe] Is kinda playing with GK's tail-

[GK] Just bring the featherball! Let's go!

[Mix] Alright! -Gives a wave of her hand and Firebird swoops down and lands delicately on her shoulder, resting his head ontop of hers-

[CP] Get's a malicious look as he opens a portal- Endrea, go ahead

[Endrea] Reaches over to TLOT and grabs him by the cloak, picking him up and carrying him through the portal, into CP's office in the Nether-

[TLOT] Feels the heat and freezes, his eyes go wide with panic-

[Steve] Races after them, not understanding what the problem is-

[Doc] Charges in after them with hir passengers-

[Yaunfen] Sniffs the air curiously-

[TLOT] Has basiclly balled up in her paws and is rocking back and forth-

[gem] -notices everyone leaving and follows-

[Mix] -Follows them in-

[Steve] WHY?!

[Ashe] Follows after his mom-

[willow and oak] -follow ashe-

[GK] Ushers the rest of the little ones in-

[CP] - What? You two were the ones who wanted to come

[TLOT] Isn't seeing anyone-

[Steve] YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT!

[CP] - I don't think we could have gotten the two of you in any other way

[aven] -is amongst the others-

[Steve] YOU ASSHOLE-

[BEN] Carries Hyrule through-

[TLOT] Is making a low whine as if he's in pain-

[CP] Once sure everyone is through he closes the portal and Endrea puts TLOT down-

[BEN] - Ah, higher resolution

[TLOT] Stays where he's put-

[Steve] HE'S FUCKING CATAONIC IN THE NETHER-

[Doc] I think you might have to send them back Cp....

[GK] Fucks sake, I thought he'd calm down now that his NOTCH is dead...

[CP] - I figured he'd freak out some, there's some of Lie's calming flowers in the desk drawer

[eddy and Edward] -look more like stuffed animals in this resolution-

[Mix] -Marvelling at the higher resolution and how Firebird looks in it. She's already been at a higher resolution so it's nothing special-

[Firebird] -adjusts on Mix's shoulder and watches the freak out-

[Steve] Is just rubbing his back trying to get his attention, it's not working at all- YOU'RE PSYCHIC! CAN'T YOU SEE WHATS GOING ON IN HIS HEAD?!

[gem] -is trying to keep her hoofs off the ground- I have ice would that grab his attention?

[CP] Grabs some of the calming flowers and throws them at Steve- Maybe if he were to calm down a little

[TLOT] Is breathing very hard, as if trying to get as much of the flowers scent in as possible-

[CP] Reaches out mentally for TLOT-

[TLOT] Immediatly sucks Cp into the painful vision that's playing over and over in his head like a looping nightmare. Cp feels himself torn apart, barely a ghost, trying to sustain himself on scraps of fear from the scary stories passed on Testificate lips. He's dragged away from the light and air down into a sucking darkness that steals his very will to exist. He looks down and cannot move, everything he needs to heal is just out of reach and he's pinned like a flitter with ruined golden swords through his arms, his life's blood forever creeping away, but not hurt enough to die. Drained of hope and forgotten.

[CP] Forces a surge of his own energy out so he can find TLOT-

[TLOT] Is nowhere. He's alone in a void of blackness and holding his knees as he cries softly-

[CP] Finds him and nudges him with his shoe- Oi, your being an idiot

[TLOT] Doesn't answer-

[CP] Nudges harder- Are you really this weak?

[Steve] Is trying in vain to use their connection to reach his husband, Cp can hear his voice calling faintly from afar-

[CP] - Are you really going to ignore your mate? I thought you were stronger than this, being ripped apart at your code is no reason for fear like this

[TLOT] Whispers- Steve...

[CP] - Yeah, your idiot husband is creating a sobbing mess in my office

[TLOT] ....

[Steve] The calls are a little bit closer-

[CP] Sighs- I swear, in this Nether you'll come to no harm, your eyes alone will guarantee that

[TLOT] Blinks a little-

[CP] - Finally coming around?

[TLOT] You saw....?

[CP] - No shit sherlock

[TLOT] I thought you of all people... would understand...

[CP] - I'll admit, it was something similar to what I went through, but unlike you, I did not let it cause fear of an entire section of our world

[TLOT] I can't let it go... and I keep it from him. He freed me the second time, but the first...? I don't want my mate to know that pain.

[CP] - I think it's time for you to get over it

[TLOT] You know it's not that simple...

[CP] - Is anything amongst our peers simple?- Offers TLOT a hand

[TLOT] Hesitates before taking it, as they contact he comes out of his fugue state.

[Steve] Is basicallly crying on him and shaking his shoulders lightly-

[Doc] Just take the calming flowers my friend. Eat them if you need too.

[CP] Steps away and turns towards the door as Winston enters-

[Winston] Is in his much more human form- Master, your mate and her friend are almost ready

[CP] Thanks Winston, will you check on Sam?

[Winston] - I just did sir, they are well into cooking and have only had a few minor disturbances from a few pigmen. My men have kept most of the others at bay

[gem] -ends up hugging packed ice-

[Doc] I think I can help you Gem, I was worried about this - Xe takes out a pair of diamond boots, they're shimmering with the frostwalker enchantment- try these-

[gem] -put them on and lands- oh thank you doc this is much better

[TLOT] Munches up must of the calming flowers and Steve makes a small crown of the remaining ones to put over his helm and around the wings on the back-

[CP] Turns towards his personal chambers- I'll be right back

[TLOT] Kisses Steve- I'll be right back. - He follows Cp softly-

[CP] Enters his chambers and once alone there's a slight hint of nervousness to the air-

[TLOT] Quietly- Cp...

[CP] Is surprised and quickly turns around- Fuck!

[TLOT] Watches him to guage his emotional state-

[CP] Scowls a little and turns towards the far wall where there's a cleverly hidden button. Once the button is pressed the wall slides aside to reveal his obsidian armor. In the higher resolution much greater detail can be seen revealing small patterns and designs on the inky blackness-

[TLOT] Makes a small gasp - It's beautiful...

[CP] - And almost dead, rather disappointing that the last thing it will be used for is a fucking ceremony instead of battle...

[TLOT] A fitting end I suppose... Swords into hoes.

[CP] - I believe I told you before that this was made by one of the only testificates that I respected, correct?

[TLOT] Yes, you did. He must have been a master of the craft.

[CP] - He enjoyed the challenge to, he had to continuously coat his hands in magma cream so the lava wouldn't burn him as he used it to soften the obsidian into something malleable

[TLOT] That's brilliant. I've made things out of lava before, but only crude sculptures. I'm better at assembling then carving.

[CP] Grabs the armor and starts putting it on, leaving the helm behind on the stand-

[TLOT] Thoughtfully takes the helm from the stand and follows after Cp, he has a notion growing in the back of his mind and thankfully it's distracting him from the fear he still feels.

[Lie] Opens the door from the hallway, she's dressed and her hair is in a series of intricate braids done by Enderbro- CP?

[Doc] Hey guys.... I know that cp is going to yell, so I want to show you before he gets back.. oh hi Lie!

[Lie] - Oh, hello- She enters the room- I'm glad all of you could make it

[Herabrine] Is following Lie-

[gem] lie you look great

[Lie] - Thanks

[Mix] You look nice, Lie!

[gem] what do you have doc?

[Herabrine] Bro is suprisingly good with hair. Deft fingers-

[Doc] Giggles mischeviously- Deerheart can you get down with Yaunfen first?

[Deer] - Yes- She gets down, encouraging their child with her

[Doc] Transforms and steps smartly against the office floor with a double click of heels.

[Lie] Barely holds back her laughter- CP is going to be furious

[gem] he will but you look fabulous doc

[Doc] I think it looks nice. Kinda punk to go with my hair. Thank you guys.

[Gk] You are such a dork.

[Ashe] - Why would he be mad?

[Doc] I think he doesn't like it when I'm female...? He's always irritated with me. It's just a premonition.

[Ashe] - Oh, okay

[Steve] You look lovely Lie. You ready for this?

[Lie] - As ready as I'll ever be, I'm... Really nervous

[CP] Enters, adjusting his gauntlets a little and freezes when he spots Doc- No

[Doc] Looks at Ashe and points at Cp- Told you so.

[Lie] Approaches CP- Hey, it's okay, it isn't for very long

[Doc] Come on, it's too hot to argue.

[CP] Sighs- Endrea? You should probably join the other generals

[Endrea] - I understand, GG? Would you like to accompany me?

[Gk] Flaps his wings a little - should I change?

[Endrea] - As you are is fine, there's more than enough space for both of us

[Gk] Lead on then-

[Doc] Offers hir elbow to Deerheart-

[Endrea] Pushes open the doors. herding her children with her wings as she leads GK through the hallways out to where the ceremony will be happening-

[Herabrine] at Cp- So what's next, tall dark and gruesome?

[TLOT] Is there a crown? Tiara? Whatever?

[CP] - Er... No?

[gem] should I make one?

[Doc] Flower crown!

[Lie] - I can provide flowers if you need me to...

[Steve] I can do it-

[Mix] -Playing with the silk of her dress while she watches them talk about crowns and tiaras.-

[gem] -makes a planet crown with planets in the shape of flowers with the mix of reds, yellows, and oranges- will this work?

[Lie] Hands Steve a bunch honesty blossoms and lilacs- I think that's a bit too much Gem

[gem] ok -puts away the crown-

[Steve] Twists them up into a circlet-

[TLOT] Goes to add a few blue orchids but looks to Lie first to see if that's okay.

[Lie] - That's fine

[TLOT] Helps his hubby twist everything up -

[Steve] want me to carry it? Or will you just wear it?

[CP] - I don't know...

[Lie] - I'll leave that up to you Steve

[Doc] I know what we need! - Xe runs into Cp's room and comes back with a copy of one of his pillows-

[CP] - WHY ARE YOU STEALING ONE OF MY PILLOWS!?

[TLOT] Mix can I have a few pixels from your shawl? Just to copy?

[Doc] Trust me!

[Mix] Sure, Here. -She bunches some of the fabric in her hand before holding it out to TLOT to take pixels from. It's shimmery. Nice.-

[TLOT] Perfect! He takes a skim from the fabric and forms it into a bag -

[Doc] Takes the bag and slips it over the pillow before passing it to Steve

[Steve] Puts the crown on the shimmery pillow and holds it proudly - Ready!

[CP] Groans- Might as well

[CP] Heads for the hallway- I made sure there was plenty of space for all of you up where my generals will be

[Doc] Reaches for Yaunfen and then remembers - Come on sweetie, stay beside me.

[Yaunfen] - Burp!

[TLOT] Trembles a little but maintains an air of gravitas and holds Steve's hand tightly-

[Lie] Takes a few calming breaths as she goes-

[gem] -is making sure to follow the group-

[Doc] Whispers to Deerheart- you look ravishing my dear...

[Mix] - smiling nervously but seems comforted by Firebird nuzzling her hair-

[Deer] - Perhaps I'll let you strip it off of me later

[Doc] Rowr....

[CP] Approaches a large set of doors and pushes them open, it's a massive balcony where the generals are lined up on either side. Below and before the balcony are hundreds upon hundreds of mobs from all area's, Nether, Overworld, and End-

[Lie] Hangs back so CP can address the mobs-

This message has been removed.

[Mix] - finds place to sit and does so, letting Firebird move to her lap-

[CP] Takes a moment to look at all his mobs- My loyal mobs, I have gathered you here today to introduce you to someone of great importance and who's standing is equal to my own. I want all of you to witness her glory as she is my mate, Lilinthia

[gem] -her guardians sit down and she sits on vin's lap to avoided extra heat since they can handle it-

[eddy and Edward] -are on gem's shoulders-

[TLOT] Takes Lie's elbow and steps up smartly beside Cp, His cloak flaps a bit in the blast of heat from the open Nether. He offers Lie, as a father would a bride, to Cp-

,[CP] Takes his wife's hand and his expression softens briefly at the contact with her before .turning back towards his mobs-

[TLOT] Nods and steps back -

[CP] - My mate is of equal standings with me, when she speaks, it is with the same authority as I , disobeying of her commands carry the same consequence, disrespect of her will bring you nothing but death, to me she is my queen, my world, and I will never allow harm to come to her

[BEN] Bounces Hyrule a little to keep the baby distracted-

[Steve] Steps up next to CP with the pillow and holds it up with the flower crown resting on top-

[CP] Takes the crown and places it on her head gently before having to fight the effects of the honesty blossoms a little- My mate brings with her allies, others of my kind with different powers. These other brines may occasionally visit and they are to be shown respect as well. I will ignore any objections to this so I wouldn't bother submitting any complaints about it

[Endrea] Gingerly steps around those before her, urging her children closer towards GK- Sir...

[CP] Turns, confused as to why Endrea of all his generals is stepping forwards- Yes

[Endrea] - I would like to gift your mate something

[CP] Motions for her to go ahead and steps away a bit-

[Gk] Encircles the little ones with his wings and tail-

[Endrea] Faces Lie completely before bowing low before her- I wish to grant you the one thing the Master cannot obtain from me, a contract, and with this contract I will be released from the last of NOTCH's hold over me for you will become my Mistress and you shall hold control over the entirety of the End-

[Lie] - Endrea...

[Endrea] - Do you accept my gift?

[Lie] Can only nod-

[Endrea] Closes her eyes and the swirl of void which enters the area is strong, Lie feels a shift within her own powers-

[Endrea] Pulls back after a moment and returns to her space next to GK-

[CP] returns to Lie's side and address' his mobs one final time- You will spread the word to the others, my mate is not to be harmed and her power is equal to mine- Not really knowing what to say next takes Lie's hand and begins leading her back inside

[TLOT] Picks up on the energy of the crowd and sends a bit of a nudge for the mobs to think about applauding-

-Some mobs hesitantly clap-

[Doc] Does a little queen wave nervously-

[CP] Motions for the others to follow him as he leads them towards the ballroom where the smell of food is wafting from-

[Lie] Smells the air- Seems like Sam outdid himself

[Doc] Well that went decently well.

[Lie] - That was absolutely nerve wracking

[TLOT] Is thinking seriously about turning into an Endermite and just riding in Steve's shirt for a bit-

[gem] even so you did great

[Lie] - Thanks

[CP] - There will be a bit of mingling in the ballroom, in other words, there will be food

[CP] Opens the door to the ballroom, the elegant room is well lit and a set of tables has been set up where Sam is putting out the last of the finished food. There are already a few mobs in there and the generals are following the group as well

[Ruby] Is standing by the wall keeping an eye on the entrance to the kitchen-

[Doc] Trips a little in hir heels - blast it!

[Deer] - This is why hooves are better~- Immediately trips

[Doc] The points are smaller in this resolution! They were chunkier at home! - sighs- Are you okay?

[Deer] - Oh yes, you know how clumsy I am anyways

[Yaunfen] Is chasing their own tail-

[TLOT] Takes a few steadying breaths and turns a bit to see the generals following them -

-The mobs present are giving weird looks as they notice Steve, they aren't sure whether to attack or not-

[Blake] Has the most sour expression imaginable-

[Herabrine] Takes some cooked shrimps from the buffet and brings some to Lie- Your hubby had a good idea, these actually came from our server.

-A young pigman approaches Gem-

[Lie] - Shrimp?- She tries one- How did they end up on the server?

[eddy and Edward] -wave at the pigman-

[Babypigman] Confused noises, not sure what it's looking at-

[Herabrine] Apparently some washed in with the water when the sea monster was let in from irl-

[Sam] Breaks off for a moment to motion to Eddy and Edward-

[Lie] - Well, at least they're good shrimp

[gem] -see the motion and brings eddy and Edward over worried about there feet getting to hot-

[CP] Is stalking around the room, keeping an eye on everything to make sure that everyone is behaving-

[Sam] Offers each one a huge lollipop and pats their heads in turn-

[eddy and Edward] -take the lollipops and speak in ender- thank you

[Lie] Spots Sam- Excuse me real quick Hera- She approaches Sam- Sam? Thank you so much for cooking all of this

[Doc] Tries a crumb from a cookie to make sure it's sweet enough before offering the rest to Yaunfen-

[Yaunfen] Eagerly takes it, quickly eating it and then giving Doc puppy dog eyes-

[Sam] Oh! You're welcome Lie! It was an interesting challenge. Though I think i got a bit bossy with Steve's brothers in the kitchen.

[Lie] - I'm sure they'll forgive you

[Doc] Gets more for the baby and feeds them tenderly-

[Yaunfen] Tries standing against Doc as if that will get them the cookies faster-

[Sam] Motions at Gem assuming she can't understand, for her to help herself-

[Ruby] Breaks away to speak to BEN and Aven- She signs asking if they need anything special to feed the baby

[Lie] Is approached by a few mobs-

[gem] -takes some of the cookies-

[BEN] - He could probably use some milk... Don't you think Aven?

[Doc] Sam? Can I have some of that candy too?

-The mobs are glancing at the baby, wondering if it's CP and Lie's-

[Sam] Produces another striped lollipop for Yaunfen, it's too big to go fully in hir mouth-

[aven] yea it would be good I hope this heat isn't to much for him

[Ruby] Nods and goes off to get some milk-

[Yaunfen] Doesn't stop them from trying to fit the entire thing-

[Endrea] Nudges GK- Are you doing alright GG?

[Sam] Notices Mix standing awkwardly with Firebird and makes up plates for both of them as well-

-The generals are mostly talking amongst themselves-

[Gk] Hmm? Oh yeah! I mean, normally I don't like the Nether, but it's mostly an accomdations issue. And there's food. That's usually lacking as well.

[Endrea] Laughs a little- Yes, CP has always made certain that I could fit in his builds once we came to our agreement

[Gk] Trots delicately around part of the crowd- It's appreciated-

[Ashe] Is running around-

[Sam] Waves to Gk and holds up a bottle of amber liquid-

[Gk] Waves a hoof so it sucks into his inventory- thank you.

[willow] -is trying to get on the food table-

[oak] -is helping-

[Sam] Panics a little and tries to shoo them down

[Endrea] Now now you two... Here, have some void energy- She offers the substance to her children

[willow] -stops and takes some of the void energy-

[oak] -also has some-

[TLOT] Accidently makes eye contact with Blake-

[Blake] Huffs and turns away in a snotty manner-

[Steve] Mentally- I bet Giselle is pissing him off....

[TLOT] Still not sorry-

[CP] Stops a few mobs who had drawn their weapons upon deciding to attack Steve and tosses the weapons out a window-

[Steve] Notices- Thank you Cp.

[CP] Grumbles-

[Lie] Is starting to get overwhelmed by a few mobs who have decided to bring her complaints-

[CP] - OI! KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF! THAT'S NOT HER JOB!

[Doc] Moves to help Cp shoo them away-

-The mobs disperse-

[Lie] - Thanks

[Eliza] The spider general is passively watching the group of brines, her lower half is the body of a spider while the upper is human-

[TLOT] Notices her - You have really interesting mobs Cp...

[Steve] This resolution is so tiring... Stevie must be strong as an ox. It's like walking through soup-

[CP] - That's Eliza, my spider general. Only my generals have more human like appearances, makes them easily distinguishable. They revert to being more mob like on the other seed because it's a lower resolution

[gem] -is eating a lot of sweets-

[Doc] Found the sandwiches and is eating something with a ton of little leaves poking out of it-

[Yaunfen] Has joined in on playing with Ashe-

[Sam] brings Deerheart a plate with a little yellow square on it that's covered with cherry sauce-

[Deer] - Ooh! This looks so good Sam

[Gk] Loafs by the wall and takes a nip from the bottle, he's just happy to watch the kids play-

[Sam] Takes a little bow-

[TLOT] So do you think they got the message Cp?

[Endrea] Lays near GK-

[CP] - Time will tell...

[TLOT] If you need me again...

[CP] - Yeah yeah, whatever- His shoulders are a bit slumped, and his sarcasm doesn't have it's usual bite

[Samuel] The skeleton general gives Gem a strange look- And just what are you?

[gem] I am both a space angel and a brine

[Samuel] - A space angel?

[TLOT] Takes a ladle and pours a tiny bit of punch in a cup before spiking it with a health potion and swirling it. He presses it into Cp's hand - Here. This isn't the time to look so exhausted-

[gem] yes

[CP] - I'll be fine

[Doc] Scoots over by the two. - Herobrines vary by seed. Nice to see you under better circumstances.

[Samuel] - Same to you, but I'm afraid I'm not aware of what a space angel is

[TLOT] Fine, Be difficult - he bites his thumb and smears the blood on Cp's lips-

[CP] Jumps back- FUCKER!

[Ruby] Comes back with milk and snacks for BEN and Aven-

[TLOT] Shush, you'll make a scene

[BEN] - Thanks- Takes the milk and starts feeding Hyrule

[gem] a species that lives in the void of space in the real world normally identified by the white angel like wings on there back and the hearts of there chest.

[CP] Grumpily licks his lips- I hate you

[hyrule] -happily drinks the milk-

[Samuel] - Ah, so the place the Master will go to then, the real world

[gem] yes I died then ended up in Minecraft before becoming a brine

[Samuel] - A strange set of events then

[Steve] Has wandered close to Eliza, he's just nibbling on a shrimp and has a few in a bowl as well.

[Eliza] - You are not the Master's Steve, are you...

[gem] yea I have died a lot to get to the point I am now

[Samuel] - Your kind is lucky, you can live again once you've died

[Steve] No, I'm Father Steve. I'm from a totally different seed. It's not nearly as detailed as this one.

[Eliza] - You look so much like him though

[gem] I would say luck was involved in it as well a lot of it

[Steve] We're apparently a common spawn. Besides, Stevie is taller then me.

[Eliza] - Yes, now that I think about it he probably is

[Steve] He's a decent guy though. I've talked to him plenty of times. He's had a rocky time of it with his brother. It's kinda sad.

[Eliza] - I came long after their fued started

[Steve] Almost to himself. - Thankfully they've got Notch trying to pull them back together...

[Eliza] Eyes narrow having heard what Steve said- What did you say?

[Steve] His dad. Well, not his actual dad. The real Notch. Markus. The other NOTCHs are a type of AI. Some of them are total bastards.

[Eliza] Is becoming confused- I'm not sure I understand...

[Gk] See's Steve flailing and decides to throw him a bone because he was listening intently- There's more then one NOTCH.

[Steve] Markus is from the irl. Like Lie. But the NOTCH AI's look like his avatar.

[Eliza] - I see... I'm sure some of the other generals would try to exploit such information so I will keep it to myself for now until the Master decides to tell us himself

[Steve] It doesn't matter. Our brines will beat them. They're so much stronger when they fight side by side.

[Gk] Kinda wish I got in on the last fight... See the brine in the purple and gold? A group from our server annihilated his NOTCH.

[Eliza] - They can be killed?

[GK} Darkly- Oh yes.... You can rip up their coding with the right kind of assault.

[Steve] My husband sort of, vomits bad code when he's really stressed. It burns them like a flower falling into lava. The brine with the green eyes is Doc, they can do a version of the same trick.

[Eliza] - I see, no wonder the Master introduced his mates ally's along with her...

[Steve] Well you guys met Doc before right?

[GK] I think that was just the Nether generals...

[Eliza] - No, that one came along with the other female brine during one of our meetings

[Steve] Giant yellow dragon? Epic hair?

[Gk] Probably staring at everything and everyone like a fucking tourist?

[Eliza] - Very much so

[Steve] They can also be a dragon-

[Doc] Slips up behind Steve and whispers in his ear to startle him- I hear you talking about me...

[Steve] EEP!

[Endrea] Suddenly stiffens-

[CP] Easily picks up on the malevolent energy which had just entered his server. It's his NOTCH-

[GK] Sniffs the air and growls- I don't like that energy...

[CP] Turns towards Lie, fearing for her safety-

[TLOT] Picks up on Cp's distress-

[Deer] Notices the others distress- What's going on?

[TLOT] At Cp - Do we fight?

[CP] - No, gotta get Lie to safety... He can't know about her...

[gem] what's happening?

[CP] Opens several portals as he rushes towards Lie-

[Doc] Um? Is it time to go?

[GK] Glances at Endrea-

[Endrea] - Nods at GK as she stands up- Yes- She gathers her children and makes an opening to the End

[Gk] Got it - He grabs Steve and slings the miner onto his neck-

[Herabrine] Snags Gk's tail As he picks up TLOT as well-

[gem] -grabs mix and is paniced at firebird on his shoulder-

[vin] -grabs ben who is holding hyrule-

[William] -grabs aven-

[BEN] - Hey!

[Doc] Transforms quickly and scoops up Yaunfen and Deerheart. Xe rushes at Cp and knocks him and Lie onto the top of hir head- Grab my hair!

[Lie] Is holding onto CP-

[CP] Grabs tightly-

[Doc] Shoots through the portal with Gk hot on hir heels

[gem] -drags mix and firebird though the portal with her-

[vin and William] -carries ben aven and hyrule though while the rest of the guardians are right behind them-

[Stevie] Yelps in surprise as Gem and the others end up in his house- The Nether!?

[Alexis] Pokes her head out of the bedroom- I'm not cooking for this many people

[gem] we kind of just ate you don't have to

5 notes · View notes

ryik-the-writer · 8 years ago

Photo

CHAPTER 5: Choppy

A03

-,-,-,-

Belle sighed as Ariel drug her down the docks. She would never understand how her friend could walk around all day in four-inch heels and not slow down while her feet where numb from wearing flats.

“Come on Belle!” Ariel shrilled, her shopping bags flapping against her sides. They had spent the day exploring the shops of Storybrooke. The town was small but had a variety of things to buy, and Ariel was a sucker for homemade things like soaps and jewelry. Belle was more practical had only bought lunch for the two them, as Storybrooke didn’t have a bookstore. She was thankful the town had the library, even if it was ill-stocked.

As much as she wanted to have fun with Ariel, her mind kept wondering to Rumple. Was he mad that she didn’t show? Hurt? Relieved?

“Here we are!” the redhead grinned.

Belle lifted her hand to block out the sun so she could look up at the thing Ariel was smiling about. Before her was an ancient ship, well-maintained and bustling with sophistication.

“It’s gorgeous.” Belle commented. “But something tells me you didn’t bring me all the way down here just to admire an ancient relic, now did you?”

“Indeed she didn’t lass!”

The girls followed the call to a man perched on the mainmast, his face shadowed by the afternoon sun. Suddenly he dropped down and Belle jumped away just in time for him to land right in front of her.

Belle blinked back the white dots and whiplash blinding her vision. When it cleared, she saw the gleaming smirk of the rugged man in front of her.

“Hello.” The man greeted, all charming smiles and sparkling blue eyes.

“Hi...” Belle returned politely, though she wanted to give him an earful for nearly landing on her.

“Belle,” Ariel said as she wrapped her arm around her shoulders, “this is Captain Killian Jones.”

“Of the Jolly Roger!” the captain shrilled with an exaggerated bow.

“Charming.” Belle deadpanned. “Ariel, could I talk to you for a second?”

Before the redhead could respond, Belle drug her a few feet away.

“Not that this isn’t completely interesting,” Belle said through a forced smile, “but why did you bring us to this showoff?”

“Okay!” Ariel gasped. “Yesterday during the intermission at the town meeting, I met someone.”

Belle glanced at “the Captain”. “Him?”

“No…well, yes, but he came later.” She pointed just behind him to a man in a white turtleneck coiling rope.

Belle arched an amused eyebrow. “I see.”

“You and me both!” Ariel giggled. “Anyway, he’s third mate on the Jolly Roger and his boss gave him permission to invite us for a boat ride.”

Belle physically blanched. “We? How do I fit into this?”

“Come on Belle! I can’t be on a ship full of hot guys alone! It’s…unlady-like.”

“Ariel, no!”

“Please Belle! We’ve both been stuck in Merlin’s basement for weeks! I want to get out, meet people, maybe have an epic romance! And you deserve the same…and a tan. Please?”

It was on the tip of Belle’s tongue to turn her down, but Belle couldn’t deny Ariel the chance at companionship just because she wanted to be with her sea creature.

“One trip around the bay and then I’m done.”

Ariel squealed, pulling Belle into a bouncing hug. “Great! I’ll ask the Captain where we can change into our swimsuits!”

“That piece of string you bought does not qualify as a swimsuit; and I’ll stick to my shorts.”

“Suit yourself!” Ariel shrugged, turning and waving to the men. “We’re ready!”

Belle reluctantly followed her friend, sparing the sea a longing look before she boarded The Jolly Roger.

Though she tried to stick to Ariel’s side, her friend eventually wondered off with the third mate—Eric, as he introduced himself as—thus leaving Belle with Captain Showoff.

“Comfortable, m’lady?” He inquired as Belle situated herself near the head of the boat where he was steering.

“Yes, thank you.” Belle returned, flipping open the book she had brought with her.

“Could I offer you a drink?”

Belle sent him a look over the pages. “I rather the man who’s steering us in the ocean not be intoxicated, thank you.”

The Captain roared with laughter and Belle briefly wondered if she could swim to shore from the distance.

Luckily, the Captain became blessedly quiet, focusing on steering the ship in to calm waters. Even with the newfound peace, Belle found it difficult to focus on her book or relaxing. Her mind kept returning to thoughts of her sea creature friend. She kept seeing glimpses of him in the waves that brushed along the ship and mistook the sound of the gulls as his tale slapping the water.

“Love, is it?”

Belle looked up at the Captain who was watching her with an amused smirk.

“What did you say?”

The Captain stepped away from the wheel and took a seat on the barrel across from her.

“Only love can put a lady is such a mood.”

Belle glared at him. “I’m not in a mood. Or in love.”

“You are the first woman who hasn’t been completely giddy to be on my ship. And since I know I am the perfect host who can charm a woman into a good time, it must be you.”

Belle scoffed in disgust at the man’s cockiness.

“Perhaps I’m the way I am because I’m in such undesirable company!” Belle shouted at him, jumping from her seat and preparing to find Ariel.

“Are you talking about me or about the poor sap who broke your heart?”

Belle paused mid-step at the Captain’s proclamation. She shot back around and walked towards the smug man.

“Mr. Jones, was it?”

“Captain Jones, if you don’t mind.”

“Well, Captain, know this: I am here as a favor to my friend. I have no interest in getting to know you or talking to you. So if you would please just get us back to the docks as quickly as possible, I would quite appreciate it!”

Jones was still, looking over Belle’s flushed cheeks before smiling.

“It’s not love at all, is it? It’s heartbreak.”

Belle’s heart clenched. It was true, as much a she didn’t want to admit it to herself or the man who suggested it. Her heart hurt for her sea creature, to see him and deplete her conscious of the guilt she felt over him.

The captain wordlessly circled her and pulled out a cooler with his foot, pulling out two bottles of beer and holding one out to Belle.

“I’m not much on relationship advice, but perhaps talking about it will ease the pain the foolish bloke inflicted on you.”

Belle took the beer from him, leaning over the wood and looking into the water.

“He didn’t hurt me. I…think I hurt him.”

Jones moved beside her, following her gaze to the waters.

“We always hurt the ones we love without meaning to.” He shrugged and took a sip of his beer.

Belle glanced uneasily at Jones. The comment did not sit right with her, and she hoped he wasn’t on the receiving or receiver end of a bad relationship.

“If he truly loves you, he’ll forgive you.”

Belle snorted humorlessly. “I asked something impossible of him. I asked him to lay down a piece of himself for me, and now that I’ve thought about it I was so wrong to do it. I just…hope when I find him to apologize that he’ll want to hear it.”

“He will.” Jones confirmed. “Lovely lass like you, he’ll probably give you the world.”

Belle rolled her eyes. While Captain Killian Jones was not the wisest when it came to advice, just having someone unsuspecting to tell her dilemma to.

And perhaps there was truth in his word. Maybe Rumple would forgive her, and they could begin anew.

Jones raised his half-empty bottle. “To forgiveness?”

Belle lifted her mostly full one. “To hope.”

Out in the distance, a school of sting rays scattered when the ancient ship blocked their path.

Rumple emerge from the calm waves, glaring at the offending mass that disrupted his sea friends schedule. He recognized the heap of wood. It one of the very few ships on the harbor that didn’t leak the sticky black ink into the waters. However, the humans who boarded it often through their glass bottles and other garbage overboard, sometimes accidentally or intentionally.

Rumple shuddered at the memory of all the turtles and dolphins he’d just barely saved when they got ensnarled in the strange waxy rings or ropes.

No such objects were being thrown overboard today, so Rumple saw no reason to sit and dwell on the despicable creatures above. Just as he was about to dive back into the waters, a movement on deck caught his eye. He sunk down until just enough for his nose-up to be exposed and then eased back slightly.

He gasped when he caught sight of Belle, beside her a man. He couldn’t see Belle’s face, but he knew from experience with every imaginable sea creature that body language was the deciding factor. And Belle’s stance looked tense.

Rumple growled through is sharp teeth, his instincts kicking into full gear. That…creature was the reason she didn’t appear this morning? Had it forced her aboard his ship? Is that why she looked so miserable? He would not tolerate this! With a plan in mind, he dove back into the waters.

Belle felt the jolt before it made its presence known. It was the way the liquid in her bottle began to shake violent before the ship stopped so suddenly that Belle and the captain lost their balance and flew to the ground.

Belle was the first to recover. She grabbed hold of the deck and pulled herself up, her head spinning. She looked out into the ocean, looking for the reef or the bolder that must have caused the crash.

She didn’t quite believe what she was seeing at first, didn’t quite recognize the creature exiting from under the boat until the setting sun hit the golden scales on Rumple’s tail and spine. She gasped, looking around to make sure she was the only witness. By the time Jones finally pulled himself to his feet, Rumple was deep enough to go unseen and Belle relaxed.

“It must be the hinged rudder.” Jones groaned. “Old blasted thing must have gotten caught.”

Belle nodded, turning away from the water. “Did you hit your head?”

The Captain smirked at her concern. “Fear not, I’m very stable.”

“I’m sure.�� Belle smiled through twitching lips.

“There’s a radio in my cabin. Come, we’ll call for help.”

Belle glanced back one last time at the waters and followed.

As they reached the cabin, Ariel and Eric were running to them, Ariel’s bathing suit slightly obscure Belle noted amused.

“Belle are you alright!” Ariel panicked, throwing herself into Belle’s arms.

“I’m fine.” Belle assured with a pat to her warm, slightly oily back. “The hinged rudder is jammed. We’re getting help.”

“I need to warn the rest of the crew.” Eric said.

“And I need to grab my things.” Ariel added.

Belle nodded and watched as they scurried off together. She then cautiously entered the captain’s quarters. He was giving a message into the radio so Belle looked around at the maps and outstanding number of books on the shelves. For the first time that day, Belle was impressed with the Captain.

One stack of books caught her attention. The spines read titles such as Merfolk of Myth, Creatures of the Deep, Legends of the Deep. She pulled the top one from the smiling, running her hand lovingly over the ancient cover. She looked around for more books of the nature but didn’t see any. She did however see a slight ajar door just behind the table holding the stack of books.

She stepped closer, intent on opening it. Maybe there’d be more books. Just as she was pulling at the door, the Captain’s hand slammed over hers, closing the door.

Belle’s gaze shot up to meet his blue eyes. There was a look them Belle couldn’t quite place, but his smile was large and bright.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, love. Lots of dangerous fishing gear in there.” He gave her hand a warm squeeze.

Belle snatched her hand from under his. “I’m a marine biologist; I’m more than capable at handling “fishing gear”.”

The captain cleared his throat, obviously looking for an escape on the situation.

He nodded at her hands. “Bookworm, are you?”

Belle clutched the book. “These are…interesting subjects.” Belle commented.

“Much of the world’s ocean is still undiscovered. Who’s to say these books aren’t miscategorized.”

Belle turned to him. “So you believe? In…the existence in these types of creature.”

“Don’t you?” he inquired, that look in his eyes again.

Belle thought about Rumple, about how meeting him had redefined everything she’d ever been taught, everything she had ever known about the ocean she studied.

“I believe…that anything is possible.”

The Captain smiled in appreciation. “Would you like to borrow a few?”

“Really?” Belle returned.

“Well I have to have some way to see you again. How about we go for a drink when you’re done with the books.”

Belle gave him an amused smile. While he was hardly her type and cocky beyond reason, she had honestly been in worse company.

“How about I return the books, and put maybe on those drinks?”

Something on the captain’s face changed, but still he smiled and did a slight bow.

“I’ll endeavor to be patient.”

-,-,-

Within the next hour, a rescue crew came and took Ariel and Belle back to the docks, leaving the crew of the Jolly Roger to discover what had stalled the ship. As it turned out, the hinged shudder was indeed jammed but Jones nor the rescue crew could figure out how such a well-managed ship would suddenly act up.

By the time Ariel and Belle were back on the docks, Belle’s tongue was throbbing from holding it so long.

“Well that was an adventure.” Ariel commented enthusiastically as they walked back to the town.

Belle shrugged. “At least I got some books out of it.” She said, patting her bag.

Ariel waved a piece of paper in her friend’s face. “And I got a number and an upcoming!”

Belle smiled at her friend’s good fortune and guiltily hoped that her new infatuation with Eric would keep her distracted. She needed to see Rumple now more than ever.

As they reached the end of the beach, Ariel yawned and stretched, shifting through her shoulder bag to find the flip flops she bought earlier that day.

“I’m beat.” She said as she kicked off her heels. “You want to go grab dinner in town, take Merlin back something?”

Belle quickly searched for an excuse. “I would but…I promised our guy I’d give him a call about the filters.”

“You can call him when we get back.” Ariel whined.

“I would, but it’s already,” she spared a look at her phone, “after 8 there so…”

Ariel nodded. “Got cha. Burger and fries?”

“And a sweet tea!” Belle said, her stomach growling with guilt rather than hunger. She hated that she was still lying to her friend, but Rumple almost put them in danger today and she did not want to introduce him to her friends until that business was taken care of.

She waited until Ariel was halfway down the street before she made a mad dash back down the docks towards the secluded beach where she and Rumple always met.

She stalked down the sand dunes, muttering curses under her breath until she reached more stable ground.

“Rumple!” she called out as she stalked into the water up to her ankles. She saw a slight movement behind the cluster of rocks.

“I know your there, come out!”

After a moment, the sea creature moved out from behind the rocks, only his head down to this nose showing.

Belle shook her head and dropped her bag onto the sand, wadding through the water towards him.

“What were you thinking!” she called out to him. “You could have caused a wreck! Someone could have gotten hurt!”

Rumple growled under the water, little bubbles sputtering on the surface.

“Don’t do that.” Belle demanded as she reached him. “Now come up!”

Rumple denied her at first, not liking the look in her eyes. It reminded him of an aggravated. As Belle’s glare intensified, he reluctantly came up to his shoulders.

Belle sighed, her anger diminishing now that she had yelled some.

“Why?” he muttered.

“What?”

His gold, reptilian eyes shot to her, filled with betrayal.

“Why were you with that shark!”

Belle was taken aback by his sudden wave of temper. “Captain Jones? I wasn’t there by choice, trust me.”

“You said you’d come back.” He growled lowly.

“I said I’d try.” Belle fought back. “I didn’t make any promises. But my absence doesn’t excuse what you did today. I saw you swim out from under the ship. You stopped the boat even after I asked you not to.”

“I didn’t make any promises.” Rumple sneered.

Belle gasped at his spite. “Yeah but…” she gaped, trying to find the words to exert her anger. But as he smirked, her frustration overloaded her calm and she screamed, splashing him as hard as she could.

Rumple stared in shock at Belle’s flushed, outraged face. Glaring, he splashed her back just as hard.

Soon, they were splashing back and forth, yelling over the sound of the water.

“Trouble maker!”

“Shark!”

“You could have gotten someone killed!”

“I knew what to do! That ship is full of filth!”

“I was on there; are you saying I’m filth!”

“Maybe I am!”

Belle stopped splashing, slightly hurt.

Rumple felt his anger evaporate like water on a seagull’s back the second he saw her face. “Belle…I didn’t mean it.”

Belle shook her head, letting her arms float in the cool water. “Look, I’ve been eating myself alive all day because I didn’t come and see you. I hated that I asked so much of you yesterday. I just…wanted to help you and Storybrooke and…everyone I could. I guess I was hoping one solution would solve a whole slew of problems.”

Rumple moved to her side, not able to meet her eyes. “You found something? To stop the ink?”

Belle smiled gently at him. “I have someone back home who can fix the oil problem. It’s up to the towns people now.” She reached out and gently lifted his chin, meeting his wide eyes.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Rumple.”

The sea creature nodded, smiling at her gentleness. “I’m sorry too, Belle.”

Belle shrugged. “I think we both jumped into this too fast. How about we start fresh?”

“Start…fresh?”

Belle giggled. “Start new? Reintroduce ourselves, so to speak.”

Rumple pondered the saying and then reached out his scaly hand. “I’m…Rumple?”

Belle laughed and took it in her own; it was so warm. “I’m Belle.”

“Belle.” Rumple sighed. The name still sounded so beautiful, like the breeze on a gentle day at sea.

Belle released his hand after a moment. “Well, I do have to go. I kind of fibbed to my friend to come here.”

Rumple frowned but nodded, following her until she was back on the sand.

“Will I see you again?” he asked quietly.

“I promise.” Belle announced with certainty. “I’ll be here early tomorrow morning. I’ll bring more pudding cups.”

Rumple perked up at the promise of the delicious treat.

She smiled at him one last time. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

He watched her trek up the sand dune, each step lifting the weight that had weighed him down all day. As the moon began to rise, Rumple returned to his den with new thoughts and plans for Belle ran through his head. Maybe he’d bring her a treasure tomorrow.

It wasn’t until he was lying down that night that another thought struck his mind and made his gut turn in anxiety.

That man on the ship…the Captain Jones…there was something about that name that made the scales on his spine stand on end…

But he couldn’t remember what it was.

#rumbelle #rumbelle fic #foxmurphy #@foxmurphy #Ryik's Fics #ouat au #rumbelle au #mermaid #mermaid!rumple

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