#the way he looks a her like the rest of the world ceased to exist in that morning

[queenimmadolla]

𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐍𝐄'𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃

(dad!eddie x mom/pregnant!reader)

*NOT Mature, SFW — incorrectly flagged

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏 ─ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐 ─ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟑 • more of the pennyverse here.

Summary: . . . After almost losing you in a scare related to your preterm labor, Eddie is reluctant to meet his newborn son, whose life still remains on the line, until some convincing from you. warnings: angst, a whole lot of angst, near death experience, difficult pregnancy, early labor, preterm birth, talk of loss of infants, birth defects, happy ending.

a/n: congrats on making it to part two! we still have quite a bit of angst to get through but we're almost through the storm! this part (even though i wrote Wayne's World as a whole) was my favorite to write, and i'm sure you'll be able to guess why. word count is 6k. good luck and happy reading! and for the people mad about the long post, sorry, had the 'keep reading' tab on but it kept fucking with the format and eating chunks of it. you're gonna have to scroll. let me know what you think? ◡̈

Hours passed by, Penny had fallen asleep in his lap again and so had most of his friends with the exceptions of Jonathan who looked like he could really use the sleep, Eden and Wayne. Steve would snap awake every once and a while, careful not to jostle his sleeping girlfriend. Nancy was asleep on Jonathan’s shoulder while Argyle used Eden’s lap for a pillow. Barb and Robin were hanging off chairs in the most uncomfortable looking positions, Robin’s snores almost painful sounding. The ‘kids’ (teenagers) had been picked up by their parents, only agreeing to go home if they could come back to wait with him first thing in the morning. 

  Eddie didn’t rest for a single second, mind torturing him with horrible, horrible thoughts. One played in his mind on loop; he was holding Penny as he walked out of the hospital. They were on their own.

  It held him captive, he hadn’t even noticed your doctor approaching him until she gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Mr. Munson?”

  Wayne and Eddie traded quick glances and he handed Penny over, trying not to disturb her too much in his rush but she just curled up to Wayne.

  Eddie stood up, already feeling lightheaded. That voice in his head that had been torturing him whispered something cruel to him, enough to make him want to cease existing: maybe you, somewhere in this hospital, already gone and he didn’t know it. Was she about to confirm his worst fears?

  “I apologize for the fright we gave you. Your wife started hemorrhaging and she lost a lot of blood.”

  Yeah. Eddie’s world was ending. It was over.

  “But we were able to stop the bleeding and get her a transfusion. She’s stable and she’s going to be just fine.”

  The relief was almost crippling, the heaviest weight he’d ever felt on him was lifted. Eddie wanted to cry, he squeezed his eyes shut again, trying to compose himself before he broke down in front of another doctor.

  “We have her in a room, probably hold her for a couple of nights, depending on her recovery. Would you like to go see her?”

  “Yeah, yes, please.” He nodded rapidly, wiping furiously at his eyes. 

  Dr. Eisenberg nodded and began walking down the hall, “If you’ll follow me.”

  Eddie turned, ready to ask Wayne to look after Penny when Wayne cut him off, “Go. I'll let ‘em all know she’s okay and send ‘em home. They probably won’t be able to see her tonight or in the mornin’, but I’ll stick around. Let me know when I can come on up.”

  Eddie wanted to hug him, but he really needed to see you. 

  “Thank you, Wayne. For everything.” Then he was scrambling after Dr. Eisenberg, who had stopped to wait for him.

  The walk to your hospital room had Eddie ready to tear his hair out, he’d wanted to just ask your doctor for your room number so he could sprint the rest of the way because her pace was much too slow. He was desperate to get to you, to make sure you were really still alive.

  “Here we are,” she stated, pushing your room door open. “Hello, again, Mrs. Munson. I brought someone who’s been waiting for you.”

  Eddie’s breath hitched as Dr. Eisenberg stepped to the side and he finally saw you, eyelids heavy from whatever sedation you were still trying to pull yourself from, and a smile on your face that only widened when you locked eyes. 

  “Hi, baby,” you slurred, sleepy little smile not going anywhere. And neither were you. 

  The rush of emotions he was experiencing was too much, he burst into tears where he stood as Dr. Eisenberg closed the door behind her on her way out. 

  “Eddie…” you mumbled out, reaching the hand lacking an IV out to him. 

  Of course you were trying to comfort him, you were the one confined to a hospital bed, having just barely survived a traumatic birth and you were still trying to comfort him because you were perfect. 

  He slowly approached your bed, hot tears—he was surprised his body could even still produce more tears given how much he’d cried in the last few hours alone—streaming down his cheek. Eddie really did collapse when he reached you, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck.

  You wrapped your arms around him, holding him to your chest as best as you could, though you had no idea why he was crying, brain too hazy.

  Eddie didn’t sob, just silently shook as he wet your neck, inhaled your scent, felt your warm skin and pulse beating beneath his lips. He hadn’t lost you, you were still here.

  Ideally, he’d be holding you and squeezing you hard enough to ensure you’d never leave his arms again, but even in his emotional hysteria, he was mindful of your condition.

  Eddie pulled away, large hands framing your face as he pressed desperate kisses all over your face, making sure every inch was caressed with his love before he focused on your lips, mouth meshing messily against yours.

  You could taste the salt of his tears, feel a couple of stray ones catching where your lips met. While he may have been feeling a mixture of emotions, all you could feel right then was content and still a bit sleepy from the anesthesia.

  When Eddie felt he’d conveyed his love for you sufficiently, he pulled away, a wet and hoarse chuckle escaping him when he realized you could barely keep your eyes open.

  “You sleepy, baby?”

  “Mhmm.”

  “Get some rest, sweetheart,” Eddie’s thumb stroked over your bottom lip before resting over the center of it, “just, please wake up.”

  “Okay,” you mumbled, eyes already shut. Still, you managed to press a kiss to his thumb before you slipped into a blissful slumber.

  While you slept, Eddie had one of the nurses phone up the waiting room and sent Wayne. The poor man looked exhausted, but the relief on his face was evident when he saw you sleeping peacefully. 

   He looked like he wanted to cry, too. Instead, he just cleared his throat, blinked to keep the tears away and spoke low so as to not disturb you or the sleeping toddler in his arms.

  “Everythin’ alright?”

  “With her?” Eddie’s red rimmed gaze drifted back to you, focused on the rise and fall of your chest. Still breathing, “Yeah.”

  Wayne nodded once and they both stood there in silence for a few minutes as the world began to turn again. Something still wasn’t right, felt wrong. He could tell by the tension his boy still had, arms crossed as he crouched in the seat next to your bed. 

  “And the baby?”

  Eddie flinched as if Wayne had shot a gun off in the air rather than mention his son.

  “I don’t know.”

  Wayne watched him with a careful eye, Eddie looked almost like he was vibrating from the force at which his leg was shaking, even your hospital bed appeared to be affected by it, though not nearly enough to disturb you.

  As much as he wanted to comfort him, for once, Wayne didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to say and he had an inkling that anything that came out of his mouth wouldn’t be heard by Eddie. He was lost in the dark crevices of his own mind. 

  The most he could do was offer to give him some alone time, he was sure his boy wasn’t keen on others sticking around right now, even him. 

  “I’ll take Penny home, me and Maude’ll watch her.” 

  Eddie shook his head, a look of panic flashing over his face, “No, that’s alright. She can stay with me.”

  Wayne was reluctant, mouth set in a frown. Penny was a good girl, usually, but he didn’t know if Eddie could really handle her along with processing everything going on around him.

  “Really, we wouldn’t mind─”

  “I need her.” 

  That shut Wayne right up, he and Eddie shuffled to exchange Penny from his arms to her dad’s without waking her. She stirred momentarily then shoved her face into Eddie’s neck, her little body falling slack once more.

  Wayne gave his shoulder a good squeeze, ran his hand gently over Penny’s back before he leaned down—and in a rare show of affection—pressed a brief kiss to your forehead.

  As he was walking out of the room, Eddie felt the panic crawling down his throat again. He croaked out a broken, “Wayne─”

  Wayne paused in the doorway, turning to acknowledge Eddie but his nephew didn’t continue, just looked scared. For a moment, Wayne was caught off guard, sucking in a breath as his boy looked young for the first time in a couple of years. 

  Now, he knew you and Eddie were young. He’d been aware of it when you got together, aware of it when you told him you were pregnant with Penny but sometime after that, he stopped seeing your age, stopped seeing Eddie’s as the two of you grew up for her. Now, right then, he remembered with startling clarity that Eddie wasn’t even twenty-five. He looked so young because he was.

  Eddie didn’t have to say anything else because Wayne knew exactly what he wanted him to say.

  Wayne nodded slowly, mouth pressing into a firm line of determination, “Everything’s gonna be alright, kid.”

  Eddie choked up, held Penny a little tighter and Wayne went on his way.

  He found himself settling back into the seat he’d dragged near your bed, cradling Penny as she remained blissfully unaware and drooling on his scrub top.

  Wayne wasn’t wrong, she’d probably be a little too much for him but she was his kid, it wasn't like he could just hand her off to people when life came at him like this and he really did need her right now. Again.

  You were here and whole, but somewhere else in this hospital, a member of his little family was still slipping through his fingers. He couldn’t let the other one out of his sight, couldn’t lose her, too.

  Once more, Eddie remained restless as the hours passed. He sat in mostly silence. He’d turned on the tv near your bed, the volume high enough to drown out the sounds of the hospital outside of the room but much too low to wake you. Rain trilled against the windows, much more gentle than it had been earlier. The storm had also passed, and if there was even an ounce of humor in him, he would have been amused with how this storm seemed to fester like a black cloud looming over him. 

  It’d been a normal day up until he’d gone to Lucas’ birthday party, but he’d been skeptical about leaving you, worried something would happen. The metaphorical little black cloud formed over him, as a result, and so did the actual black clouds, quickly calling for wind and rain at high speeds. 

  And when Eddie had found out you were okay, you were alive, his black cloud disappeared, though it left behind damage and a cold atmosphere. The real storm had also run its course, leaving behind weather that reflected exactly how Eddie felt.

  Penny squirmed in his grasp, and he realized he’d tensed up so he quickly relaxed, shifting her into a more comfortable position in his hold. 

  “Why don’t you give her to me?”

  Eddie’s head snapped over to you, surprised to find you awake, somewhat lucid and watching him with a small smile on your face.

  “Because you just had your insides removed and put back in,” He smirked, another wave of relief washing over him. You’d woken up, you really were okay. You weren’t going to leave him.

  You rolled your eyes, making a vague hand gesture to brush the subject off, clearly the surgeons hadn’t removed your sass.

  “She’s tiny and there’s more than enough room on here for both of us.” You hissed as you slowly shimmied your way to the side of the bed and Eddie frowned.

  “Okay, how about you don’t move so we can limit the amount of heart attacks you give me today, yeah?” You knew Eddie must have been worried so you didn’t take the lack of humor behind his words and the tension on his face personally. 

  A quick glance at the clock confirmed your suspicions, “It’s three in the morning, Eddie. New day, but I’ll keep my antics to a minimum.”

  Insistently, you patted the spot next to you, perfectly Penny sized and high enough to guarantee she wouldn’t accidentally move against your incision.

  With a sigh, Eddie complied, gathering his daughter up. Tensing up disturbed her but full on moving her didn’t, most likely used to being carried into your home after she’d fallen asleep in her car seat or on the couch.

  She didn’t stir when he laid her down, either. You both had to rearrange her limbs into a more comfortable position, one that didn’t make it look like she was possessed. Once Eddie tucked her in, he let out another sigh and cast you an apologetic look, big brown eyes wide, glassy and full of sorrow.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” It was the last thing you deserved after what you’d gone through.

  The sincerity in his voice almost hurt you, it was heavy, as though it carried more weight than just a simple apology for his tone. 

  You held out your hand and Eddie immediately slipped his over it, locking his fingers with yours, squeezing as his breath hitched. 

  Your hand was so warm and soft. At one point in the last twenty-four hours, he’d thought he’d never get to feel it again, never get to hold your hand or see your pretty face. Never get to say…

  “I love you,” he blurted out, the panic he’d felt earlier when he couldn’t remember the last time he’d said those three words to you climbed right out of his belly, trying to claw its way out of his chest. Eddie took in a shuddering breath, head shaking as a hot tear escaped its confinement, trailing down his cheek. He moved to the other side of the hospital bed, so he wouldn’t crush Penny, and took your face in his hands, pressing a passionate kiss to your lips, hoping he was able to convey just how much he loved you.

  He needed you to know.

  “Eddie,” you mumbled as he pulled away, only to hide himself in the crook of your neck again. You could feel his tears against your skin and it alarmed you. “I love you, too, baby. What’s wrong?”

  “I thought I was going to lose you,” he confessed and you felt your heart seize up, “I thought I was gonna lose you twice in the same damn day. I was so fucking scared, sweetheart.” 

  When he’d been driving to the hospital, there had been a moment when he wondered if you’d still be breathing when he got there. It made him want to throw up so he quickly squashed it and forced it to the back of his head. It hadn’t been ideal when he’d entered the operation room, he didn’t like seeing you get cut open but it was comforting to see he’d overreacted. You were getting a c-section, you weren’t on your deathbed.

  Until you had been. 

  And for the second time that day, he thought you were going to die, thought he’d somehow cruelly manifested this for you and himself.

  “I’m alright, Eddie.” You freed your hand, grabbing his to cradle your cheek with. 

  “See? I’m okay. You didn’t lose me, you’re not going to.” Eddie pulls away from his hiding spot to stare down at you, the wounded puppy look still firmly in place so you add a little humor, hoping to get a smile out of him, “There’s no way I’m checking out this early, I can’t risk you moving on when you look this good.”

  Eddie’s hand was so big his fingers were tucked into your hair, his palm alone took up most of your cheek. His fingertips lightly massaged the area of your scalp available to him as the hurt on his face morphed into an earnest look, somehow more vulnerable.

  “There’s no moving on from you, you’re taking my soul, my heart, all of it with you when you go. You’re the love of my life, my everything. And that—fuck, it terrifies me because I’d still have Penny to take care of and I wouldn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t know how to pull myself out of it, if it’d even be possible and quite frankly, I don’t ever want to fucking find out.”

  Eddie was more than happy to have those types of questions remain unanswered for the rest of his life.

  “You’d be able to do it, I know you would. You would be able to take care of Penny and the baby.” You knew he would, your husband would pull himself out of his depression to make sure your children were okay because of how much he loved them, despite his grief.

  Eddie flinched, something you were quick to clock. You didn’t need to ask, he could see the question reflecting in those beautiful eyes of yours. 

  He had to break the news. You were already in a frail condition and he had to tell you the baby you’d almost died to have, your son, might still die.

  “Honey, the baby—he—fuck, he’s uh…there’s something wrong with his heart.”

  The way your face plummeted shattered something inside of him. 

  “What?”

  “He’s got a hole in his heart, the doctor said it was pretty common amongst heart defects but since he was born so early, it’d be difficult to medicate him or perform an operation. All they can do is keep him under observation, he still might not make it because of how young he is.”

  You squeezed your eyes shut, head dropping back to meet your pillow as you tried, and failed, not to cry. Why was this happening? You blamed yourself, why hadn’t you been able to keep him in your belly? Why had your own body betrayed you? Why had you failed your baby?

  “This is all my fault,” you declared, eyes and cheeks growing wet with your tears.

  “No, no, sweetheart.” Eddie was not about to let you take the blame for something out of your control or even allow you to believe any of this was your fault. “You can’t possibly believe this is on you. These things happen, it obviously isn’t ideal, but it’s just circumstance. It’s not your fault and it’s not the baby’s fault. You did everything you could and more. Okay?”

  He leaned in, finger stroking gently across your cheekbone as he caught a tear. You sniffled, nodding once as he pulled you back together.

  “What does he look like?” You asked, snuggling back into the pillow as Eddie coddled you.

  He hesitated for a moment before he answered, “I—I don’t know.”

  That elicited a small frown from you, “You haven’t seen him yet?”

  Eddie swallowed hard, gaze moving away from you, “No.”

  You waited, watching a series of emotions pass over his features. Eddie often tried to keep his internal struggles to himself, a habit you noticed once you became friends with him (ironically, through some trauma bonding) and even into your relationship. You hadn’t expected him to confide everything in you right away, though you had let him know should he ever need someone to talk to, you’d be there.

  Now, it wasn’t a matter of if he would, it was when. It didn’t take him long. 

  “I don’t know—I guess,” he pursed his lips, eyes squeezing shut as he felt the all too familiar burn of fresh tears. How many times had he cried in the last twenty-four hours? He felt ridiculous to be so emotional, then again, he’d never thought he’d find himself in this tragic situation, so he was due for a couple of breakdowns, “I know if I go down there and I—I look at him, I’m gonna fall in love with him and then what? He dies. I can’t do that, not if I’m gonna lose him forever. I can’t.”

  Eddie was leaking tears, not yet sobbing but well on his way as he made his confession. He couldn’t stomach seeing his baby boy if he was going to be taken away from him, if the two of you would have to put a tiny little coffin—a size that should never have to exist—six feet into the ground. He’d been put through the fucking ringer but Eddie couldn’t do that. It would break him.

  Eddie’s confession had you crying as well, you shared his pain. You didn’t want to lose your baby, either. You couldn’t remember what he looked like through the haze of your fatigue when you’d given birth to him, but if you tried to think hard enough, you could remember how it felt to have him in your arms in the passenger seat of Wayne’s truck. The first time you’d held him and you hoped it wouldn’t be the last. 

  Even if it was, you were grateful you’d had the chance to and you knew Eddie would never forgive himself if he didn’t get to see him, didn’t get to meet him.

  “I know you’re terrified, Eds. It scares me, too.” You grabbed his hand just as it slipped away from your face, encouraging him to look at you. “I don’t want to lose him, either. I want to take him home. I want to cuddle with him, nurse him, take tons of pictures of him with Penny and with you, but most of all, I want to make sure he knows I love him.”

  It killed you to imagine your baby in an incubator, small, helpless and with no one but the nurses, who could make the time to check on him in between all their other patients, offering him comfort. Human contact. And if he did end up passing, he could do so alone in there, not knowing how loved he was. 

  “I know you love him, Eddie, and you don’t want to lose him. But you can’t lose him if you don’t have him, baby. I hate that this is even a possibility for us, but I’d rather have held him and lost him than to never have picked him up at all. I’ll be okay with whatever you decide, but do you really want him to die without having gotten to meet his dad?”

  Eddie let out a choked sob as he shook his head. He didn’t want his baby to die at all but you were right, if he did lose his kid, he’d spend the rest of his life agonizing over the same thing Eddie had been upset with himself for when he thought he’d lose you. He’d been unable to recall the last time he told you he loved you. Only, he’d know he never told his son. 

  “I’ll be right back,” he swore and you nodded just as he leaned down to give you a kiss. He wiped away his tears, inhaled a particularly violent sniffle and you watched as he left your room to finally meet his baby.

  Eddie felt almost disorientated as he navigated his way to the NICU. He’d been there once, briefly, to check on Penny when she’d been there for a few hours, but that was a couple of years ago and he’d needed the assistance of several nurses and staff to direct him, but he finally made it.

  The entrance room, where the viewing window was located, was nearly empty. There was a woman further down, gazing through the large window.

  Eddie approached it with caution and his heart racing a mile a minute. It wasn’t too difficult to find his baby. His son was in an incubator, close to the window and labeled ‘MUNSON’. For the first time, Eddie got to take his son in. He had been right, he fell in love with him at first sight.

  He was smaller than some of the other babies, bigger than others as well and surprisingly well developed. Kind of calmed Eddie’s nerves, just a little. He had a couple of monitor pads attached to his tummy with an additional one wrapped around his tiny foot. Other than the nasal cannula, baby Munson didn’t have a whole lot of tubes attached to him like Eddie had imagined and he could see a smattering of hair on his head, somewhat light in shade but he had a feeling it would darken soon to resemble his own. 

  It was hard to tell if Wayne and Penny were right in their description of him, Eddie couldn’t tell if he was still pale since the baby was cloaked in blue light, but he assumed his son had gained some color by then. Eddie also couldn’t make out his eyes, those were covered by some sort of eye cloth, most likely for protection. He looked a little odd, obviously resembled a baby and while his features were almost indistinguishable, appearing a little generic, as his face still needed to develop a little more, Eddie could see hints of familiar features. 

  He looked like newborn Penny, well, so far. Her features had obviously changed since then, and still were, but he was promising to look almost exactly like she had when she was born. And Eddie thought Penny looked a lot like you, so it got a smile out of him, regardless of the fact his son was bound to resemble his family.

  Eddie watched the rapid rise and fall of his chest with concern. Was he supposed to be breathing that fast? Was he okay? 

  “Which one is yours?”

  Eddie turned to peer over at the woman who’d asked him the question, “Munson.”

  Eddie watched as her gaze moved over all the incubators until they found the correct one.

  “Oh, he’s a cute one. And his breathing looks incredible.”

  “Really? It’s not too fast?” He asked, the worry in his voice obvious.

  “Considering it’s his first time pumping those lungs, I don’t think so, no. Looks like he’s breathing real good to me. Mine needs a little help.” She pointed through the glass to an incubator that housed a baby with a tube in its mouth as well as individual ones in each nostril unlike his son’s nasal cannula. Eddie felt horrible.

  “I’m sorry,” he tried to apologize but she waved him off, a smile still on her face. 

  “Don’t be, that’s all mine is here for. As soon as she figures out how to keep doing it on her own, she’ll be back with me and my wife.”

  Right on, Eddie thought. Before he could continue their conversation, a nurse knocked on the window.

  She gestured down to the baby, “Is he yours?”

  Wow, this glass must have been thin, he could hear her pretty good.

  For some reason, Eddie still assumed she couldn’t hear him and only nodded. She disappeared for a minute and emerged into the room through a large pair of doors. 

  “Would you like to hold him?”

  Eddie glanced at the other occupant and she gave him a nod of encouragement. 

  “Yeah,” he rasped out, turning to look at his son through the window once more, “Yeah, I would.”

  Eddie was nervous the entire time as she prepped him with instructions. While they were concerned about the hole in his son’s heart, he was well developed, had strong vitals, good reactions, even for thirty weeks. He was so good that had it not been for his heart, he probably would have been sent home at the same time as you, given your longer than average stay due to your c-section and preeclampsia.

  And when she placed him in his arms, the love he had for his son almost overwhelmed him. He couldn’t believe he almost denied himself this. 

  “Can I touch him?” He asked, after he’d stopped marveling at the small face—eyes still hidden—in his arms. 

  “Mhm, we’d encourage it. Babies, even born preterm, are still very much so human. He craves the contact, it might even encourage him.” 

  Eddie didn’t hesitate, fingers gently stroking over the soft fluff of hair on his son’s head. This close, he could see it all pushed towards the middle of his head, like a mohawk. His baby was already metal straight out of your womb, it made him chuckle. 

  The nurse stepped away to tend to another baby, giving him a little privacy. Eddie maneuvered his son so he was resting on his chest, little head pressed against the spot just over his heart.

  “Hi,” he whispered down to the baby in his arms, “I’m your dad.”

  Much to Eddie’s awe, the baby nuzzled his head against his chest, making him still. He didn’t know why, but he’d believed his son wouldn’t be able to move for some reason. It was nice to know he was wrong.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, too,” he laughed, the sound soft, “I’ve been looking forward to it, you must have, too. You sure know how to make an entrance, huh? Couldn’t wait in your mom any longer?”

  Eddie ducked down to kiss his little head, lips remaining there as he moved to sit in one of the few chairs of the NICU. 

  “It’s okay, though. I’ve got you, daddy’s got you.” Even if the outcome wasn’t okay, right at that moment with his son in his arms, everything felt like it would be. And if his son needed encouragement, Eddie would give it to him. 

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to come find you, your mom had to talk some sense into me. She loves you a lot, you know? Probably jealous I’m down here and she isn’t, but only because she physically can’t just yet.”

  Eddie’s hand went to support the back of his head as he moved the baby down to hold in his hands, staring down at his little face. 

  “I’ll bring her down to see you again as soon as I can, though. So you gotta keep fighting, okay? I know things are hard for you right now, not as easy as the other babies in the hospital, but I know you can do it. I love you so much, your mom and I just want to take you home, so you gotta beat this, okay?”

  Eddie rocked his baby, gentle swaying motions as he pressed kiss after kiss to his head. 

  “I see you’ve made it down for a visit,”

  Eddie glanced up at the face of Dr. Houseman, she didn’t look as intimidating as she had when she’d first approached him in the waiting room.

  “Sorry to disturb you, but I’m very glad I caught you. I heard your wife is doing well.”

  “She is,” he confirmed, with a relieved grin. 

  “Good, I’m glad. Have you been given an update on your little guy?”

  Eddie recounted what the nurse had told him and Dr. Houseman looked pleased.

  “Well, I have more news for you. He’s proving to be much stronger than we’d initially anticipated, and while his vitals were already good on intake, they’ve improved tremendously in the last few hours and so have his responses. I think he’s figuring out what he’s capable of doing; how to breathe, how to move, how to eat—we introduced him to a rubber nipple to check his latch response and it’s good, not quite there yet, we’ll have to get creative with his feedings but I think he’ll be able to latch onto his mom soon.”

  She must have caught the way Eddie perked up at her use of the word soon. That meant his baby had a fighting chance.

  “These first few hours after a birth such as his and with his condition are crucial. While he’s still significantly weaker than an average full term newborn, your baby seems to be a fighter.  Should he survive this next night, I believe he’ll make it. He’d just need some time in here while the hole closes up, but it just might not be too much for him.”

  She left him with that news and a parting smile.

  Eddie held his son for a few more minutes before a nurse returned to put him back in his incubator. He hadn’t wanted to leave him, but he’d promised him he’d be back.

  When Eddie got back to the room, his heart was a little lighter and he was able to smile when he saw you giving Penny, who was now wide awake, kisses. He pressed his back up against the door and watched for a few moments as you leaned in and gave her a loud kiss. She’d go into a fit of giggles before demanding another with an again!

  “Daddy!” Penny beamed the moment she saw him and Eddie grinned as he made his way over, lifting her into his arms when she held hers up to him.

  “Hi, pretty one. You sleep good?” 

  “Uh-huh,” it was clear she was distracted and didn’t care about his questions, no, she had some of her own. “You see my baby?”

  Eddie raised an eyebrow, trading an amused look with you.

  “Oh, he’s your baby now?”

  “Ya, he’s—he’s my baby.” She nodded with a grin as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he leaned down to press his forehead to hers.

  “Well, then yes. I saw your baby,” he chuckled, pressing a kiss to her nose.

  “Wha’helooklike?” Penny blurted out, eyes wide as she waited for his reply. 

  “He looked a lot like you.” 

  “Nooooooo,” Penny laughed, shaking her head against her dad’s, “He is my potatoes, not anoda Penny.”

  “It’s true!” Eddie laughed with her as he put her back down by your side and leaned in to give you yet another—he’d never stop giving them to you—kiss.

  “He looks like her?” You asked, after you’d returned his kiss.

  “Mhm,” Eddie fell back into the seat he’d occupied hours earlier. “Looks like she did when she was a newborn. He’s not pale—like a potato,” he directed that part to Penny who just laughed into her little hands, “anymore, at least. I don’t know whose eyes he has, they were covered.”

  Eddie was right about you being jealous, you were practically green with it. 

  “I wish I could see him,” you stated sadly, frown on your lips. You knew, realistically, if he started to decline, they’d most likely let you out of bed to see him or bring him up to you, but still. You’d rather it not come to that.

  “Ran into his doctor while I was there, she said he’s got a better chance.”

  Your eyes lit up, “Really?”

  “I was just about ready to kiss her.” He nodded and you made a face, nose doing that adorable scrunch he loved so much.

  “Okay, well, don’t do that.”

  Eddie snickered, “It was a figure of speech, baby.”

  “I know, I’m just saying it on her behalf,”

  “On her behalf?” Eddie pouted, eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

  “Yeah, I want to kiss her, too, but—uhm, Eds, you might need some sleep ‘cause—you’re hot, you really are, but you also look insane right now.”

  Eddie got up to make his way to the bathroom so he could see himself in the mirror, nearly jumping once he’d turned on the lights.

  His eyes were beyond bloodshot, his eye bags were dark and very apparent, his skin had an interesting almost gray like tinge to it and his hair was a wreck. Eddie looked like he belonged in a psych ward.

  “Jesus,” he shouted loud enough to be heard by you.

  “It’s okay, Eds. You’re still beautiful to me!”

  Eddie did end up sleeping. Turns out the chair he’d been sitting on was also a pull out bed. You insisted that he get some rest, and while he did, you changed Penny’s diaper and got some hospital room service for the two of you, you’d even picked something out on the menu for Eddie to eat once he woke up. 

[eunoia-writes]

Back to you • Felix catton

Summary : After Abruptly ending things a few months ago with y/n Felix sees her for the first time at a party.

As the rhythmic pulse of the music filled the room, Felix’s attention abruptly shifted when y/n walked into the party. Time seemed to slow, and the vibrant chatter around him muted into a distant hum. In that moment, everything faded into the background as if the universe had conspired to spotlight her entrance. The air felt thinner, and each step she took echoed like a heartbeat resonating in his chest. Her presence commanded the room, casting a spell that hushed the clamor of the party. For a fleeting moment, the world ceased to exist beyond the boundaries of their shared gaze, and the gravitational pull of nostalgia lingered in the space between them, leaving Felix breathless and captivated by the memory of a connection that time had failed to erase.

She was in that pretty little dress he loved so much. However the arm of the guy she’d walked in with wrapped around the material tainted the image Felix has of it in his head. He wanted to tare the guy limb from limb for being anywhere near his girl. But she’s not his girl anymore.

And that was his fault.

It didn’t take long for Felix to completely abandon the conversation he was in making his way over to y/n who was just as stunned to see him.

“Hey stranger.” Felix said pretending he wasn’t having heart palpitations from the proximity. He watched as the way her eyes welled up for a few seconds at the sight of him before she blinked the tears back making a point of wrapping herself in the boy beside hers arms.

“Hey Felix, this is Danny.”, She said leaning her head onto the boys shoulder “Danny this is Felix.” She said with a tight lipped smile.

“Nice to meet you.” Danny offered his hand to Felix but Felix just looked him up and down and turned his attention back to y/n.

“Could i steal you for a second?” He asked she hesitated for a second before shaking her head.

“No, we’ve just got here need to make the rounds, I’ll see you around though.” She said before grabbing Danny’s hand and dragging him away leaving Felix stood in the same hurt and shock he left her in all those nights ago.

Felix spent the rest of the night sat sulking while the girl he was currently messing around with sat on his lap trying to keep his attention but he couldn’t take his eyes off Y/n and Danny. God what was she going with that guy, she couldn’t love him. Not how she loved Felix he couldn’t believe for a second that she could share the love they had with anyone else.

It wasn’t until she drunkenly stumbled out to the smoking area that she saw his chance to get her alone. Felix pushed the girl off his lap much to her protest before downing what was left of his drink and making his way outside.

He saw her stood in the corner struggling to light her cigarette, the habit that she’d picked up from him staining her still. Y/n fumbled with her lighter, frustration etched on her face as she shook the lighter before returning to try and light her cigarette. Felix let out a sigh before walking over to her flicking his own lighter without saying a word.

She knew it was him without having to look up, she could tell by the signet ring he wore everyday, the one she got him almost four years ago. Y/n reluctantly let him light her cigarette slurring a thank you.

“Can we talk?” He asked as she leant the wall behind them taking a drag of her cigarette.

“About what?” She said In almost a whisper, she knew when she spotted him walking towards her earlier that this would happen. That he’d somehow corner her and beg to talk about what happened. About them.

“You know exactly what.” He said she was refusing to look at him knowing if she did she’d start crying on the spot.

“I don’t want to talk about that.” she said to him staring at the floor. They both let a few moments of silence go by both silently praying the other would talk first.

“You look really pretty tonight.” Felix said and she finally looked up at him scoffing at his words.

“Oh wow you notice for once.” She rolled her eyes as she took another drag of her cigarette.

“Don’t be like that.”

“I’m not being like anything.” She now had tears welling in her eyes for that second time that evening.

“Y/n.” He said softly but she shook her head not wanting to let how gentle he always was with her affect her anymore than it already had.

“Don’t y/n me.” She said as tears rolled down her cheeks, she hated the way he made her feel. She hated that she still loved him.

“Farleigh told me you asked about me.” Felix said as she flicked her cigarette out and threw it away from them

“So what.” She whispered he hated the look in her eyes. The hurt he knew he’d caused.

“You could have asked me yourself.” He said and she shook her head in disbelief. He ended things with her out of the blue and the thought she’d still be his friend.

“You decided that wasn’t an option when you ended things.”

“Y/n.”

“No stop it, I won’t do this.” She shook her head once again her arms wrapping around herself as she moved away from him. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t walk away from him but this was Felix she could never walk away from him. She’d never be the one to walk away.

“Can we please just talk about this?” He was begging at this point. He needed a reason to keep talking to her to keep her near knowing if he let her leave right now he’d never see her again if she could help it.

“Can you just leave me alone, seeing you hurts Felix, it physically hurts.” She said as more and more tears rolled down her eyes the wind making her sway slightly.

“No,” he shook his head his hand coming to her cheek to wipe her tears away, but she batted him away “I’m not going anywhere.”

“You already did, you already left me remember.” She croaked her voice harsh from the alcohol mixed the the tears.

“I never meant for- why Felix why did you do it?” She cut him off her emotions getting the better of her as he looked at her his beautiful brown eyes glossy now as he fought back his own tears.

“I don’t know.” He whispered

“Oh wow you don’t know, real mature.” She was upset, angry and confused all at the same time. Y/n didn’t understand why he couldn’t just be honest with her.

“I’m sorry okay, I never meant for things to end the way they did.”

“I thought we loved each other.” His chest physically ached at the sadness in her voice he hated himself for it.

“We did, god I still love you.”

“Don’t say that.” She was practically sobbing at this point close to hyperventilating all the emotions she felt the day he left coming back up as well as all the others she’s buried since that day never allowing herself to grieve the loss of the relationship.

“But it’s true, I love you and I don’t think I’ll ever stop.” Felix told her watching the way her bottom lip quivered as she sniffled her cheeks stained with her mascara

“Then why did you throw it all away?” He almost didn’t hear her the thumping of the music from inside almost swallowed her voice but he always heard her. In the loudest of rooms he always heard her.

“Because I was scared okay! I was scared that if I let myself fall anymore In love with you that you’d get sick of me and you’d leave and that would have killed me.” He finally admitted and her response only made his heart break harder

“You leaving killed me.”

“I’m sorry, god I’m so sorry.” He chocked on his own tears “Please.” His hands are on either side of her face “please let me fix this, I can’t keep living without you.”

“I don’t want you to hurt me again.”

“I promise ill Never hurt you again, I need you back in my life pretty girl.” He begged wiping her tears away

“I don’t know if I trust you anymore Fi.” She whispered just as the door to the party opened snapping them out of the moment

“Y/n, there you are… oh.” Danny said as he stumbled over to them y/n took a step back from Felix wiping her own face as Felix let out a sigh “what’s going on here?” Danny asked

“This hasn’t anything to do with you.” Felix barked at him the liquor in his veins taking its effect on his tolerance of others

“I wasn’t asking you.” Danny snapped back at him “I was asking MY girl.” He emphasised the My knowing it would get under Felix’s skin

“She’s not your girl.” It took everything in Felix not to swing for Danny. The idea of anyone else calling y/n their girl made him sick.

“She’s not yours either.” Danny began moving closer to the pair

“Cut it out both of you.” Y/n said shaking her head “I can’t do this right now.” She attempted to walk away but Felix caught her wrist and just like always she was putty in his hands

“Y/n!” Danny snapped at her making her flinch slightly which only served to piss Felix off more “Are you really doing this?” He asked her

“I’m sorry.” Y/n whispered looking over at Danny who just shook his head walking away before shouting, “You two deserve each other.”

Y/n didn’t say anything before she wrapped herself around Felix her head resting on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her petting her hair softly. The pair stayed like that for what felt like an eternity before she finally broke the silence.

“Can we go home?”

“Anything you want.”

[strawberrymochin]

Springtime Fushiguros♪

Context-: exploring the memories of childhood of fushiguros, marking the spring time of you and satoru gojo.

Riverside -: gojo saves Megumi from drowning

After countless days and nights of staying away from home for missions, satoru gojo was finally able to relax as this time the higher ups chose nanami kento to carry out the mission instead.

He wanted to stay at home, cuddling with you, embracing your warmth which he missed for days. He wanted his arms around your small waist, pulling you closer, inhaling your intoxicating scent, kissing you till your lips undress each other into the moment, drawing covers to the rest of the world's existence.

However, as for now, he was sitting in a boat, rowing along with you as the free riders enjoyed the scenary.

You had decided to take the kids for fishing on Tsumiki's remark about some of her friends from school, flaunting about their holidays and enjoying several activities including one of them being 'fishing'.

Gojo was reluctant at first, wanting to be home with you, even proposing the idea of shoko babysitting the kids, and postponing their trip to sumida river for some other day, yet he had no choice but to agree after seeing the excitement in Tsumiki's eyes.

Megumi, on the other hand, was yawning as you and gojo rowed the boat. You were babbling some tutorials on how to fish using a fishing rod, which Tsumiki noted attentively, with eyes glistening in delight.

Megumi had no such enthusiasm in his eyes, he wanted to stay at home, do his homework, and maybe practice a bit, channeling his cursed energy. And the most important task: mentally preparing himself to socialize for school next day. you and Tsumiki pretty much dragged him along like gojo.

If the two boys in your life would have been in harmony with each other, they would have been sighing together sharing their grief, after all even if they ganged up they couldn't rebel against your decision (nor they dare to).

'so, now get hold of your fishing rods and then after attaching the bait to the hook of the rod, you slowly put this down in the water like this,' you demonstrate for the kids, as they watch you along with gojo. After all no matter how livid he might get on you, he could never stop himself from admiring you.

'make sure you don't move much and noise is a big-NO. That would scare the fishes away....' you whispered continuing your fishing session.

A smile crept on his lips at the sight of you teaching the kids, as if you have years of experience in teaching.

Ever since he was born in this world, he was associated with jujutsu. His eyes travelled to Megumi and then back to you.

After all the things he went through, he had realised that he want to change the jujutsu system through teaching, maybe in that way he would be able to save someone he couldn't.

He would graduate soon, and seeing how you teach the fushiguros, made him yearn for something he shouldn't.

What if you could also join him in his journey? What if he could teach along with you? If only you could.

The unwanted memories which flashed through gojo's eyes, were ceased by a sudden severe pull, causing you to gasp.

'MEGUMI!!'

Megumi's fishing rod was pulled by a strong fish that made him lose his balance, causing him to fall off the boat. You tried to grasp his hand to prevent him from the fall but it was too late.

Okay the fishing was a bad idea, you accept. Gojo tucks a dumbfounded Megumi into his arms as he backs his way to the boat again. Megumi looks downwards at the river, his clothes drenched, heart beating fast, as eyes travel up to his saviour, he would have drowned otherwise if gojo weren't fast enough. The thought itself made Megumi tighten it's clutches on gojo's jacket.

He was already in the river, flapping his hands, trying best not to drown. Gojo jumps into the river as the scenario strikes him, catching hold of Megumi's shirt's collar, pulling him up as he levitates in the air.

Though gojo was wearing a calm expression on his face, you could notice his uneasy discomposure, his heart must have sinked into his stomach, even your heart was about to stop at that moment. You pulled Megumi into your arms as gojo brings him back safely. Tsumiki joins you too.

'Told ya' it was a bad idea.' gojo says finally, after its quite for too long. He's back to his stupid self again.

'yeah. Sorry.' you accept as you wrap a towel around Megumi. Gojo's rowing you guys back to the shore. Tsumiki offers her brother a cup of hot tea, which Megumi sips quietly, still shook from the incident.

After you guys reach back to the river side, making your way back to the car, to go home, Megumi slowly, very slowly tucks on gojo's sleeve.

'gojo sensei......'

He looks down to the kid. 'hmm?' You and tsumiki peek at them, curious what the kid might got to say.

'thanks.'

gojo stilled for a few seconds, unsure what to do, while the grumpy kid was all red, gojo's eyes brighten up ruffling Megumi's hair, looking at you. You were already smiling at them.

Fishing might have been a bad idea. But it definitely made the journey less hectic, and Megumi a bit close to gojo.

A memory you and gojo would cherish for the rest of your life.

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Vesuvia Weekly: Things the M6 don't do anymore

~ my little creative drabble for the prompt "How Things Changed" (pre- vs post- plague) over on @vesuviaweekly! Hope you guys like this little hurt/comfort/fluffy train of thought :3 ~

Julian doesn't shout in his sleep anymore. He still gets nightmares, still tosses and turns and mumbles and wakes up with a start in a cold sweat - but his troubled murmurs don't turn into the terrified cries that they used to. He's still working on eating better and sleeping longer and it's taking time. But from the moment you first lay down next to him for the night, some part of his brain understood that the warm, safe weight of you meant he didn't need to scream to be heard anymore - or helped.

Asra rarely makes tea anymore. They still love to drink it - multiple times a day, if they can - but now you're the one who makes it. He never got over his childhood wariness of tea kettles in general after the mishap that involved his magic appearing. While you were recovering, it was one of many duties they happily shouldered to take care of you. Now that you're equal partners again, it's one of the many small ways he's begun letting you take care of him in turn. Besides, yours tastes better.

Nadia doesn't run away to her tower anymore. She still visits it frequently, to think, or nap, or clear her head, or give her introverted nature a break from the constant social pressures of being Countess. But she doesn't run away to it, to sit in the circular chamber and pretend (or hope) that the rest of the world had simply ... ceased to exist. She doesn't like the thought of losing a world that has you in it. Now, her visits range from serene to tumultuous, but they all carry hope and purpose within them.

Muriel doesn't forget to tend the fire anymore. It used to be an easy thing to go without. After Asra moved out, after his tormentor went up in flames, it was easy to watch the light in his hearth slowly dwindle and die. It was peaceful to sit in the dark quiet of a stone hut and slip into another long, deep, chilly sleep. But now you're here. And you deserve to be warm. You're worthy of a space filled with golden light and soft furs and beautiful tapestries and good food and warmth. And maybe ... he is too.

Portia has stopped hiding in the library. Don't get her wrong, she still sneaks into it all the time. (Seriously, what else was she going to do when she was handed one of the only two sets of keys???) The library was her space, with stories only she had read, where the skills she grew for herself hid among the bookshelves. Her achievements are much, much bigger now. They look back at her in your eyes, in Pepi's little voice, in a flourishing Vesuvia. She doesn't hide in the library anymore. She emerges from it.

Lucio refuses to eat breakfast by himself, ever again. As a soldier, it was a hurried affair around campfires - nothing like the fun of raucous dinners the night before - and as a Count, it was brought to him in his chambers. He'd sit and eat the pile of sugary goods and eye the mess of last night's debauchery and try not to feel cold and small and alone. After three years of hell, he's not alone anymore. Breakfast is campfire food, or inn amenities, and missing most of the sugar he loves - but it's portioned for two.

[thebestandrealestever]

~MILES HEARTBREAK!~

reader tries to help miles navigate his feelings . warns : heavy descriptions of grief, suicidal thoughts if u squint, eating problems a lil. reader granny dead not proofread! a/n: i miss my grandmother i’m projecting eat my ass .

how much better, can i show my love for you? and say i do i do i do, i do i do i do .

miles couldn’t. he just could not. he couldn’t believe it, he couldn’t process it, he couldn’t wrap his head around it, he couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t move. his dad couldn’t do any of those things so how could he? how could he exist a world where his dad ceased ? i mean how selfish is that ? laughing or eating or speaking when he wasn’t there to do it with him. so there he laid, in his bed for the fourth day straight. he hadn’t eaten or even changed his clothes since it happened only time he moved was when his eyes opened and closed from being asleep to awoke. mind flooding with memories when things were good, trying to remember every time they spoke and cursing himself in his head when he failed to remember a certain conversation or outfit he wore or when they fought, his family was ruined, he cursed his father for leaving, did he have to save that kid? did he have to be so fucking empathetic and giving that he gave his life? does he even fucking know what he did? how could he exist without him ? why should he…miles mind flickered between thoughts of wanting to up there and be with his father but knowing he couldn’t give his mother another heartbreak. oh! his mother. oh he couldn’t bare to see his mom upset, he hasn’t even seen her since . he heard her sobs at night and her footsteps in the morning, always pretending to be asleep when she entered his room. he knew he was a coward for not being able to see her, he wasn’t the new man of the house. he could never be. he could never be anything without his father. so, there he laid.

you may not know right where you’re going but i do, i do, i do. and all the times you wasn’t chosen, well i’ll make it up to you.

your pov!

you were sad, your boyfriends dad was dead. you tried texting him and calling him but to no avail, he never responded. you weren’t upset, when your grandma passed you did the same thing to miles. mr. morales was kinda like your dad in a way seeing as thought you never really had one. he drove you to school, bought you food. you thought about that one time you both had a heart to heart conversation. he had comforted you at the funeral, you teared up thinking about it. you opened miles text to see a thread of blue messages, multiple im sorry texts and good morning/night ones. you move your fingers to text him again, stopping when you realized he wasn’t gonna answer . so you got up and got ready, he needed you, so you were gonna be there. you drove all the way there just to hesitate knocking, you didn’t know why you were afraid . right before you knocked the door opened, it was mrs. morales . “oh, hello mija.” he said with a sadness that brought her tone down. you looked at her face, it was dark and the slightly purple bags under her eyes seemed to pull the rest of her face down you stared for a bit before pulling her into a big hug . you mumbled “i’m so sorry. i can’t even imagine.” she sighed at your words and just hummed “i’ll be okay, i don’t know about miles though. he hasn’t left his room since. please check on him.” she said as she pulled away from the hug keeping her hands on your shoulders, you have her a reassuring smile, “okay mrs. morales.” your eyes widened as it slipped out and she looked down. fuck. could you call her that still? she just smiled and squeezed your shoulders “im going to the store, keep my mind occupied. i’ll be back soon.” she said walking away and you looked into the house for a little walking in as if you were being drawn to miles room.

all of the feelings you’re not showing, when your rivers overflowing.

you knocked on the door, when you heard no response you opened it, revealing the look of miles lying on his bed low eyed and eye bags forming, the smell of grief and pain filled the room. the person that made the world bright was so dark now, your heart pang with guilt, why couldn’t you take this away from him ? his eyes looked at the door, when he saw you he sat up but didn’t say anything his eyes filling up with tears again just at the sight of you

“i’m sorry baby.. i’m so sorry.” you said with the softest voice you could muster up. “don’t apologize, not your fault.” his low voice croaked out, you can tell it was his first time saying anything in a while. “can i s-“. “please.” his unusually low voice interrupted you, you took your stuff off and sat on the bed. “have you eaten, or showered?” you ask miles as you turn your head to hold his hand, his silence is your answer so you get up and hold out your other hand to him, “come on, you need eat and shower.” he looked at your hand then back at you, before slowly getting up to follow you. as you stood in the shower with him, the water running on both of you as you washed his back you could hear him sighing deeply and see his back falling up and down with a faster pace than before. he was crying. you tap his shoulder and he turns around, the water from the shower hiding his tears. he pulls you in for a tight hug, like it he let go would you leave too. “thank you, i love you so much.” he softly said and you just smiled “i love you miles.”

it’s the truth, swear to you. i do i do i do i do, i do. and all that you are i do.

seeing miles so down reminded you of when you were like this, broken and in desperate need of love and miles gave it to you, the least you could do was make sure he was straight. you took out his braids and washed his hair and rio must’ve came back in the house because you could smell food cooking. “have you talked to her?” you said putting on some clothes. “no, i-i don’t know how.” “you should, you have to. if it’s one thing i know it’s that you need each other right now.” he looked out his door to see his mother with her back turned to the stove. he sighed and called out to her “mami?” he said walking up behind her and she turned to him, they hugged and you smiled at the scene. you retrieved the things you needed to do miles hair, you knew he didn’t want any braids now so you were just gonna detangle and blow dry it . miles sits on a pillow on the floor between your legs as you do his hair, rio setting down 2 plates of food for you and miles as she sits down placing the one for herself on the couch arm beside her. all three of you sit there watching whatever movie was playing, comfortable silence settled upon the three of you. after miles ate he fell asleep, just as you finished and were about to wake him up you look over your shoulder to see mrs.morales asleep too. you got up to clean up, tip toeing to not step on any cracks. you put up the food and washed the dishes making sure all the doors were locked and lights turned off. you returned to the couch and tapped mrs morales arm waking her softly. “let’s get you to your bed.” you said quietly helping her up being careful not to wake miles or fully wake mrs. morales you led her to her room and she got in falling back asleep, as you were about to leave “thank you, (name)” she said sleepily and you smiled twisting the handle to open the door “of course.” you said closing her door softly and walking back to see nobody there.

my single line of stars in noon, reflection of the very moon i do, i do i do i do.

you walk into miles room seeing him sitting up on his bed, shirt off and head in his hands. “does it get easier ?” he asks with a tone that suggest he’s afraid. your face softens and you kiss your teeth thinking about your own grief “yea i think so. the worst thing that could’ve happened already happened, the only thing you can do now is grow. it doesn’t get smaller, but you do grow bigger than it.” you say sitting down beside him rubbing his back, he lets out a breath and looks into your eyes “im so thankful for you, i really need you (name).” you softly kiss his lips then cup his face to kiss his forehead. you get into the bed and he lays on top of you rubbing his face in your neck “i love you.” he says again quieter than before and you frown at feeling his tears run down your neck “i love you too, and i’ll be here. the whole way. always.”

can i show my love for you?

[aheathen-conceivably]

Despite all their struggles since they had arrived in Strangerville, there were moments that Violette would later remember simply as perfect. Even at six, she was wise enough to realize that those moments only came when her father was home and he and her mother were together.

Most days she spent alone with her dolls while everyone worked. At first, her Aunt Jo would come in to play with her or tell her stories, but now it seemed like even she had disappeared. Sometimes it felt like she was alone for so long that as soon as she heard the door open she would rush downstairs to see who had arrived. 

Often it was her mother, her brows furrowed as she tried not to look toward the counter where she would soon have to prepare another dinner from their dwindling pantry. Other times it was her father, his face riddled with defeat before he noticed Violette and hid his suffering. Violette couldn’t quite name their pain, to identify it as the struggle to live, the desperation to provide for the people around them without any security that their efforts would amount to anything. But then she would see him, or he would see her, and whatever emotions had worried Violette a moment before would disappear.

In those moments she could see that the world ceased to exist for the two of them. She was old enough to recognize love but not quite wise enough to comprehend how struggle intensified it, to know that the feeling of only having each other to cling to was born in pain, or to realize that her parents had walked through their own fire to reach that point. She could only see that they were happy, and in turn their happiness infected her.

Suddenly the meager pantry didn’t seem so intimidating, and her mother’s fear of the surrounding kitchen melted away into the fact that the three of them were there to cook together. It mattered little what they ate or that Violette had spent much of her day alone. For her it all coalesced into those moments, and the memories overshadowed the way she had seen her mother that afternoon, or the glimpse of defeat she had caught on her father’s face the day before.

And then there was music – music just the way she remembered coming through the floorboards below her room or the colorful streets outside her window. All day alone in the quiet, she missed the music, longed for the liveliness that had once surrounded her. But after dinner, she forgot to reminisce on what her young mind remembered only with nostalgic longing. The radio played as loud as the music from below and here, her father was there to dance with her. She needn’t sneak to see him play or imagine what they might look like; he was there, smiling down at her as her mother contentedly drank her after dinner tea, seemingly at peace after a day of work.

As she danced in those moments, Violette decided that as long as her father was there, her mother could never be unhappy again, and maybe, just maybe, if she had someone like him one day too, she would be just as happy for the rest of her life.

[rodricksfilipinagf]

Rhysand x Playwright! Reader (Enemies to Lovers)

  “You’ll regret it, darling…” The voice reverberated in her head, but Y/N batted it away. The last thing she needed was Rhysand’s phantom voice today haunting her. Especially today. Because today she’d be unveiling her newest creation to the High Lord of the Day Court, Helion, his court, and all of his people. 

         The Night Court weren’t necessary enemies with the Day Court, but Helion and his people certainly got a good laugh at her plays poking fun at the brooding High Lord. Best of all, if Helion liked her play, then she would get the Helion Award for Playwriting Excellence. Maybe then she could use that clout to write about whatever she wanted. 

         The Day Court had a rich culture, and history, and Y/N yearned to write plays about those. Unfortunately the only way in to the world she loved so much was to create works honoring Helion, and making sure he came across the best out of all the other High Lords. 

         Surely Rhysand’s threats at the ball meant nothing, she thought as she straightened the jacket of the actor playing him backstage, just for something to do. He just wanted to seem scary. Which was entirely the point of tonight’s play. To take the wind sails out of him. Once people laugh at something, they cease to fear it. She hoped it would work on her too. She’d paced the rooms of one of the Day Court’s many libraries in anticipation of this night. She’d be damned if Rhysand found a way to ruin it. 

                                                        ~

         Thousands of miles away, Rhysand primped in his bedroom at his well-lived in townhouse in Velaris, the City of Starlight. A city that the rest of the Night Court, and the rest of Prythian in fact, including the part Y/N lived in, did not know existed.

         Aside from a whole city, the rest of the world had no idea of the genuine friendship Rhysand had with his tight knit group of friends he called his Inner Circle. They weren’t afraid of him. Not in the slightest.  

         “Please let me come along,” Mor said with a grin, settling on Rhysand’s bed as he got ready for his not-so-welcome guest appearance at Y/N’s play.

         “Mor,” Rhysand began, but then Cassian poked his head in too.

         “An entire play devoted to making fun of you? Tell me again why I can’t come,” Cassian drawled, barely containing his laughter. 

         “I won’t look as intimidating if I come in with other people,” Rhysand said unconvincingly. 

         “It works for the people of Hewn City,” Mor protested, twisting her long blonde locks. “What about if we go in through the back, and Cassian pretends he’s in costume, or something?”

         “People don’t usually go in costume to watch plays,” Rhysand replied, brushing invisible lint off his jacket.

         “Rhys, have you been to a production of Rocky Horror in Velaris?” Mor asked, shocked. 

         “Oh, he’s a Rocky Horror virgin?” Cassian grinned. “As soon as you kidnap that girl, we should take both of you. Rocky Horror is the place to hook up.”

         Rhysand tried to laugh off his best friends’ comments. “What makes you think I want to hook up with her?”

         Morrigan gave Rhysand a knowing look. “Anyone else you would have killed. Well, in the Court of Nightmares anyway. Anywhere but here. What’s so special about this girl?”

         Rhysand thought about it for a second. “We met at one of Helion’s balls, and when I threatened her with certain death to stop, she still didn’t back down.”

         “Seems like theater is very important to her,” Mor noted. “That or pissing you off.”

         “I like her already,” Cassian crowed. “Promise we get to meet her soon? We can give her some new material for her next plays? Azriel and Amren too once they get back from that mission.”

         “No,” Rhysand insisted. “She can’t meet you guys right away. Especially not you and Azriel. She has to be scared of me and think she’s coming here to be punished.”

         “Well, we can,” Cassian began, but Rhysand interrupted, “No,” firmly. 

         “Don’t be too hard on her,” pleaded Mor. “You should know what it’s like to love something so much you’d do stupid things for it.”

         “I do,” Rhysand admitted. “You know, I still don’t have a mate yet.” Cassian clapped his back at this and chortled. Rhysand continued, “If she’s willing to make an enemy of me, the most powerful High Lord in Prythian, over this, then she can be just brave enough to be High Lady of the Night Court.”

                                                        ~

         Backstage at Helion’s Theater, Y/N joined hands with her actors. She did not tell them about the threat she got from Rhysand, or mount even more pressure on them by mentioning the award they might possibly get. That way, she decided, they would perform their best and not be nervous. She passed the energy to the male next to her that she got from the female on her other side. It was a beloved, time honored tradition that Y/N was eager to partake in. 

         Her heart was in her throat as the play started, but as it went on, she started to relax a little. The roof didn’t cave in from shaking mountains so close by. She didn’t get any jump scares backstage.

         Then Act 3 came. Everyone was laughing at the actor in the Rhysand costume talk about feminism as if he’d only taken a freshman year womens’ studies course at the local university. It was to poke fun at how behind womens’ rights were in the Night Court compared to…at least the Day and Dawn Courts. Y/N was grateful that since Helion was queer himself, everyone in his court was made to feel comfortable to be their true selves publicly. Rhysand would probably have them hung up and shamed publicly. So he deserves this, she thought. 

         Suddenly a huge thunderclap sounded through the theater. Then came a swirling black cloud onstage. Oh fuck, Y/N thought. There was only one person who could make an entrance like that. The actors were frozen with fear. Hmmm, maybe in hindsight I should have told them that Rhysand threatened me, Y/N thought.

         Rhysand didn’t say anything for a while, drinking in everyone’s fear. He’s probably loving this, Y/N thought, rolling his eyes. 

         “Helion,” he announced. “I’m surprised at you. If you wanted war, you could have just said so.”

         Helion scoffed from the balcony. “Come on, Rhysand,” he shouted from the balcony. “Can’t you take a joke?” But there was a tremor in his voice. 

         “I let this go on for much longer than you deserve, Helion,” Rhysand said steely. “I demand retribution, if you really don’t want war.”

         Helion sighed as if this was a big favor, probably to look good in front of all his people. “I suppose. What do you want?”

         “The writer of this play,” Rhysand said simply. “Or everyone here will die.”

         Oh shit, he was serious about that? Y/N thought frantically. 

         “Oh good,” he said as if reading her mind. “She’s here. Come on out darling. I won’t bite...here.”

         I could run, she thought. I could make a run for it. But then he’d catch me since he could hear my thoughts. 

         “You’re right,” he chuckled, to the confusion of the audience. “Should I give you until the count of 3? I could kill three people as I do so.” He surveyed the audience of now frantic theatergoers. “Will that be funny enough for you?”

         Fuck, she thought as she reluctantly stepped out onstage. She could see Helion with his head in his hands in the balcony, narrowly avoiding a political disaster. She guessed she would be the sacrificial lamb for that. And to think doing the plays for Helion was going to be a way to catapult me into a better life of creative expression and freedom and making change through art.

         Now she would be sentenced to torture in the Night Court, all because Helion wasn’t brave enough to take on Rhysand. But she was. “So what?” she demanded. “You’re going to kill me? Go ahead. Then everyone will see how horrible you are and how right I was.”

         She closed her eyes, bracing for impact. The she felt something horrible. Her mind being cleaved open and something creeping in. 

                                                        ~

         You’re really not afraid of me, are you? Rhysand thought, and it echoed inside her head. 

         No! she shot back. But then she thought about the legendary Court of Nightmares and it took everything in her to keep from trembling. She couldn’t live like that forever.

         So you are scared, Rhysand taunted, raising an eyebrow.

         Please don’t take me there, Y/N relented. Just kill me now. Make an example of me, or whatever. Please just don’t let me-

         But Rhysand merely said, “I warned you, darling.”

         Y/N’s heart started beating faster and she started looking for a prop dagger, hoping if she stabbed it into herself hard enough, she could take herself out of this. It would look bad for both Helion and Rhysand. But Rhysand wrapped an arm around her, whispering “Oh no you don’t” and the black cloud that circled him before started circling both of them. When they were out of sight of everyone else, he whispered, “It won’t be that bad. There was no need for you to try that. Not that it would have done anything.”

         “I hate you,” Y/N said, truly dreading her time at the Night Court with this monster. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt swirling winds. 

         “I know,” Rhysand replied as Y/N stopped feeling the whipping wind against her face and her nose was engulfed with, rather than burning flesh, notes of jasmine and freesia. 

(1642 words.)

[xaphrin]

Anyway I just spent all morning plotting out my next long fic, and uh... wow that outline is something. Hope it doesn't suck? Have a taste?

(Actually trying to see how people feel about this)

-

When Trigon finally conquered Earth it felt like the world had become a strange, tilted reflection of itself. Warped like the mirror in a funhouse, but somehow still the same. On the surface things continued as normal, people went to their jobs, the public transit system continued, and the stock market miraculously stayed stable. The conquering felt less like an ending, and more like a blip in the timeline. Most people assumed that after a few months it would all clear itself up. 

But, underneath that facade of normalcy, there was a wound festering. 

Dissenters quietly disappeared overnight. World leaders vanished on their way to summits. Pacifists simply ceased to exist. Slowly, like a small leak in a boat, little bits of civilization disappeared, letting more and more horrors fill the space until the boat started to sink and there was nothing left but accept the inevitable truth:

There was no saving what Trigon had destroyed.  

And here stood Raven, at the edge of it all. She wasn’t supposed to exist. After her body had been used as a portal for Trigon, she had been left to die and decompose into the earth. Even her soul wouldn’t have found rest anywhere, since it was welcome nowhere. 

“You good?” 

Raven turned and looked at Dick as he stood next to her. “Not sure yet.” She gave a one shouldered shrug and stared out into the skyline. 

The city still looked inhabited, but there was a soft quiet that rumbled in and around the buildings. Look closer and you could see shattered windows and the rust-colored stains of long-dried blood. Everyone ignored it. If someone had died, they had it coming. Keep your head down. Don’t stir up trouble. Those were rules, and they were meant to be followed. 

Dick sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “I got a message from my brother.” 

Raven lifted an eyebrow. “A Robin?”

He nodded. “The last one, actually. He was there the day Batman was…” Dick trailed off, unsure of what to call the death of the last man he considered a father. 

“Taken,” Raven supplied. The word didn’t feel like an end. It felt like a book with the last pages ripped out, so you never really knew the ending. “I thought he disappeared. Your brother, I mean.”

“He went back to the League of Assassins.” 

Raven lifted an eyebrow, surprised. They were the one group of people who had managed to resist all of Trigon’s control, walking a very fine line of neutrality. She huffed out a soft breath. “And what does he want?”

“To join the cause.”

[ohtobeleah]

Bloody Mary // Natasha Trace

Summary: Phoenix can’t remember why she has a headache, or why she’s covered in blood.

Warnings: Mentions of death/suicide. Blood. Mentions of relationship stress. Mentions of assault/manslaughter. Platonic!Phoenix x Jake Seresin. Jake Seresin x F!reader

Word Count: 2.2k

Author Note: This Drabble is associated to the Series Bruises & is apart of its spin-off series Life After Death.

Main Masterlist | Bruises Masterlist | Life After Desth Masterlist

The luscious fields that expanded far beyond the horizon were, as you laid with your head resting in the nook of your husband's shoulder, just beginning to feel the light layer of morning dew. 

The sun was barely rising above the horizon that forever seemed to expand with its growing light. It was truly the picture perfect world of which you never thought could exist. Even after life had all but ceased to exist.

“This all feels too perfect—“ Jake sighed as he laid on his back looking up at the ceiling fan that twirled around on a low speed above your bed. Round and round the blades turned as his eyes struggled to focus. “Being here, with you, sometimes I feel like I’ll wake up and it’ll all be a dream.” Jake knew how odd that sounded given the circumstances. “That I’ll wake up and I’ll be back at the Hard Deck, and you’ll be looking right through me like you don’t even know my name.” Jake continued on as his fingers danced along your scalp and through your hair. He could feel the rise and fall of your naked chest against his side. “Or worse, I’ll wake up and we’ll be back in that prison, in the dirt, listening to each other's pain.” 

“Jake—“ You mumbled softly against your husband’s shoulder. Your cheek was squished right up next to him. 

“Yeah?” Jake questioned softly, he knew what was coming his way. This wasn’t the first time Jake had mentioned how he worried that even in death he’d lose you forever. 

“If you weren’t already dead I’d kill you.” Jake had to smile and a low rumble erupted in his stomach. The two of you had just finished up an early morning sexcapade. The post coitus realisation that this was in fact Jake’s version of a forever home with his forever girl didn’t exactly come out the way he’d intended it to. 

“All I’m saying, Hotshot, is that I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else on earth or in the afterlife, than right here, with you.” Jake was quick to roll over, suddenly the comfort of Jake's broad shoulder was nowhere to be found until you opened your eyes to see your husband hovering about you. A forearm on either side of your face. “Let’s go for round three?” 

“You are a menace, even dead Jake Seresin.” You teased through a coy smile but ultimately pulled the love of your life down by his neck to press your supply lips against his. 

“But you love me all the same.” Jake mumbled into your mouth as he deepened the kiss, his tongue searched for yours desperately as his hips shifted against yours. “Heaven or high wat—“ 

“AHHHHHHH!!” Within a millisecond, or what felt like it anyway, Jake was shooting up out of bed with panic and shock laced between the lines etched on his face. 

“What the hell was that?” He asked as he turned back to you to see you were still lying completely exposed on your bed looking just as confused as he was. Sounds like that weren’t often heard around the farm. 

“AHHHHHHH!!” “AAAARRRGGGHHH!!” 

When you saw a figure ghost past your bedroom window your heart sank. No. No it couldn’t be. It felt like a few years had gone past since Bob had first stopped by, he’d been the first to go. But as you sat up to see if you could see the figure outside once more? Your suspicions were confirmed when none other than Natasha Phoenix Trace turned around and screamed at the top of her lungs. Right in the very direction on your bedroom window.

“AHHHHHHH”

“It’s Nat Jake.” You sighed as you got out of bed to cover yourself up. “I’m gonna go check on Ellie, you should probably go see if she’s alright.” Jake wasn’t placing bets on who’d come through and when, but he thought Phoenix would surely outlast Fanboy. 

As Jake made his way outside in the early hours of the morning, it was only then when the sun just started to creep over the hills did he notice the blood that stained the back of Natasha's head. How her hair was a knotted and bloody mess. The dress she wore was stained with deep crimson red. 

Oh. This wasn’t good: This wasn’t good at all. When Bob came through he was still in one piece. For Phoenix to show up like this meant her death must have been—

“AHHHHHHH!”

“Nat!” Jake shouted as he raced down the small set of porch steps in just his boxers. “Phoenix, hey—what’s all the screaming about?” 

Not a lot shocked Natasha Trace these days, she’d seen enough and lived through enough to say she was comfortably desensitised. But when Phoenix turned on her heels to see a man she hadn't seen in years standing before her not a day older than the last time she saw him, she froze. 

“You alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Jake teased as he took a few tentative steps toward the wingwoman Jake claimed to love like his own sister. “Nat?” Okay maybe the ghost joke was a little too soon. 

“You aren’t real.” Jake could see the tears welling in Natasha’s eyes as he crept closer and closer, the only sound he could hear in the deafening silence was the crunch of the gravel beneath his slippers. “No—no you aren’t real, you’re dead, I’m dreaming—“ Jake had seen this play out before, from what he could tell of time these days it wasn’t too long ago either when the WSO had come through. “You’re dead, you died in—“ 

“Hey—“ Jake cooed as he reached out to touch Natasha’s shoulder. The second Jake’s fingertips grazed Phoenixes skin? Her knees crumbled. 

“No no no!!! You aren’t real!!!” 

“Woah! Easy easy Nix, I got you—“ Jake fell with the woman he admired and wished he could have been even half as good as in the sky. “I’m sorry, I'm so sorry.” 

“You can’t be real, you're dead! You died!” Natasha whaled as her knees dug into the gravel. Jake tried his best to control one of the best aviators he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. 

“I know, I know I did, I think you did too—“ It was a harsh reality but the only way Phoenix could be here right now was because she wasn’t living. The afterlife was pretty strict on its terms of entry. “Nix—what happened huh? Hey, it’s alright I’ve got you.” 

The only thing Jake’s question was met with was more inconsolable tears. He’d never seen Phoenix in such a state before, hell Jake wasn’t even sure Natasha was capable of working herself up to such an extent. 

When Jake looked at the palm of his hand that had been rubbing small consoling circles against, he saw what appeared to be the crimson hume of his friend's blood staining the entirety of his hand. 

What on earth had happened to Phoenix? 

“You’re covered in blood Nix, we should get you inside—“ Jake tried to get through to the woman who was clearly distraught, he knew this was a lot. Even if he was just a dream it was clear he’d done irreparable damage with his untimely departure from reality that he had to accept the consequences of those decisions. 

“I helped Rooster clean your bathroom after he found your body—“ Phoenix sobbed as she finally looked at Jake. Still crying, Phoenix shook her head in disbelief. “I flew with your body back to Texas, I consoled your family.” Jake never thought about that before, who did what after he died. “I slept on your lounge for two weeks while we all did our best to pack everything up.” 

“Nix—I don’t even know what to say.” Jake tried his best to interject, but Natasha kept going as the two sat kneeling in the gravel of the main road that led around the property. 

“And the worst part is I can’t be mad at you because I know why you did it.” Phoenix sighed heavily through a sob. 

“He’s never claimed to be a good decision maker has he Trace?” You smiled softly from the front porch as Phoenix looked up at you. “For the record I never wanted Jake to follow me, not until his time was up.” 

“Hollywood?” Phoenix sobbed again as she let Jake help her up. “You’re here too?” 

“We live here, or reside here, I think being alive is an important element of living somewhere.” You shrugged as you walked down the stairs. “What happened to you? You're covered in blood Phoenix?” 

“I uh—“ Phoenix wasn’t sure what had truly happened as she reached up and around to touch the back of her head. When she pulled her hand back to see the fresh blood on her fingertips, the sensation came flooding back. “I was arguing with my boyfriend Ryan.” 

Jake looked at you with fire in his eyes. Fuck. 

“We were supposed to be heading out for dinner, I even took the next day off so we could relax and enjoy the night.” Natasha explained as her head began to throb. “I remember being mad that he was running late, something about work and by the time he got home we’d missed our reservation.” 

“Tash—“ You cooed softly, it was a harsh topic to discuss. “Did Ryan hurt you?” As you asked, the back of Phoenix’s head began to throb, the memory was on the tip of her tongue. 

“I—I can’t remember, no—no he wouldn’t, he loved me.” The tears began to flow once more as you looked at Jake and he looked at you. Bob fell out of the sky and still made it to the ranch in one piece. Why had phoenix showed up covered in her own blood and with the back of her head cracked open like a hard boiled egg. “My head hurt so bad, the memories all fuzzy.”

“That’s alright, here—why don’t we get you inside, have a shower, take some time and hopefully it’ll start to clear up?” Jake nodded as you offered Natasha a place to stay for however long she needed. “I’ll make you some coffee.” 

“You two.” Phoenix asked as she linked her arm with Jake’s, he’d offered her a hand up the stairs knowing her legs were still properly shaking. “You changed everyone’s lives, you know that right?” It was a harsh reality to have to live with, but both you and Jake knew that your deaths affected your closest friends in ways you’d never fully understand. “Rooster, oh god Rooster—“ Phoenix sighed. “He’s just gonna be a mess, I was on the phone with him when Ryan came home.” 

“Would that have been an issue?” You asked cautiously as you opened the front door for Jake to lead Phoenix in. 

“No—no but I think he wanted to stay on the line, we’d been having some issues and you know what Bradshaw’s like, overprotective.” 

Jake couldn’t imagine what trauma Bradley would be carrying on his shoulders right now. He knew his wingman had been the one would found him in the Bathroom: 

So as Jake watched you lead Phoenix down the hall towards the bathroom, Jake couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain in Roosters chest when he ultimately found Phoenix too. 

***~***~***~***~***~***~***

“AHHHHHHH!”

The sound of Phoenix screaming at the top of her lungs echoed out throughout the house. Beside you, Jake groaned into his pillow. 

“She’s going to destroy her vocal cords—“ He mumbled as you leaned over to turn his bedside table light on. “Every single time.”

“She’s lost Jake, you can’t hold it against her.” It had been a week, or at least that's what it felt like time wise, since Phoenix had shown up on the ranch. 

“AHHHHHHH!”

Everyday it began the same. Phoenix would up the driveway screw out in pain as she tried to figure out where she was and why her head hurt. You and Jake had been having the same conversation over and over with the aviator. 

“She needs to remember.” Jake nearly growled. 

“She needs empathy and emotional support, Jake I’m sure when the times right she’ll remember.” Hopefully that would be sooner rather than later. 

“Yeah, and until then we get to wake up every morning to a bloodied and screamed Phoenix.” It was now your turn to groan in slight annoyance for the early wake up call. “I’ll go get coffee started, you go collect Bloody Mary.” Jake sighed as he sat up in bed. 

“Thanks, two sugars please.” You smiled back at your husband as he padded out of the bedroom and down the hall. Jake was all but awake when a knocking at the door into his new found routine. 

“Phoenix?” Jake cautiously greeted the bloodied woman at his doorstep. “You alright?” Jake knew that Natasha wouldn’t remember him from the countless conversations they’d had over the past week. It was like her mind reset whenever she fell asleep. But this time? Phoenix remembered—

She remembered everything:

“Ryan shoved me.” She cried with painful heartbroken tears in her eyes as you came up slowly behind Jake. He felt your hand on his hip as you stilled yourself behind him. “I fell back and hit my head on the edge of the kitchen bench—“ The realisation was as heavy as her heart felt. 

“The love of my life accidentally killed me.” 

***~***~***~***~***~***~**

Tags 🏷️ @americaarse @blindedbythelightt @tayl0rhuynh @athenabarnes @imaginecrushes @whyareallnamesgone @mjmaximoffbarnes @amiets2 @mads-weasley @gabbyella @ephemeralninon @xoxabs88xox @pedrohoe04 @starkleila @je-suis-prest-rachel @clancycucumber230 @maisie-rebloging-blog @callsign-barbell @obiwankenobis-lap @some-lovely-day @paperbag333 @callsign-magnolia @jhiddles03 @hardballoonlove @shanimallina87 @seitmai i @abaker74 @missemrose @starset21 @kmc1989 @phoenix1388 @emma8895eb @tsofo26 @itsmytimetoodream

[pagesfromthevoid]

Lessons in Mando’a | d.d.

Din Djarin x princess!reader

In which Din and his Princess learn two languages

A Cowboy Like Me Drabble

Word Count: ~700

Warnings: None; might need to read Eight: The Dress for context

Author’s Note: Surprise, I love Din and his princess so fucking much.

Series Masterlist | Talk to Me

“Dancing is a dangerous game,” he pointed out, though he took her hand anyway.

“Not anymore dangerous than what we’ve been doing,” she countered, pulling herself close to him. “Do you know how to?”

“No, but if I’m gonna teach you to shoot, I’m sure you can teach me to dance.”

Feeling a bit more bold than he would usually in a situation like this, he sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist. His other held her hand, letting her lead for a few minutes as he figured out the steps. The feeling of her dress against his fingers was amazing, and he wondered briefly how it would feel to pull the pastel fabric from her body. But now would not be the time for that.

Looking into her eyes, he felt a sense of connection that he had never felt before. He wanted to see her eyes –catch the twinkle that they held –and memorize everything about her. Their routine had become so normal, so domestic –and Din didn’t care anymore if it was dangerous. This was what he wanted. This had to be the Way. 

While there was no music, they began to move carefully with one another as Din took the lead. His steps were hesitant at first, but gradually became more confident as he got the hang of it. As he held her close, he felt a rush of emotions flood over him. He knew at that moment that she was someone special –that he was going to live the rest of his life keeping her just as safe as he promised to keep Grogu. 

Din leaned in, pressing his forehead against hers as they swayed to music that didn’t exist. She had closed her eyes at the touch, smiling to herself as her arms wrapped around his neck. 

“Ni kar’tayl gar darasuum,” he whispered, voice soft behind the visor of his mask.

“You can’t speak another language and not expect me to ask what you’re saying,” she teased, opening her eyes to look up at him.

“I said…,” He teased gently, taking her hand once more and twirled her carefully. The train of her skirts pulled behind her, and she laughed too before he pulled her back in. “That I love you.”

For a moment, she simply stared up at him with wide, surprised eyes. He had never been one for grand declarations of any kind, but in this moment, with this woman –he couldn’t help himself. 

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, and she threw her arms around him, holding him close. "I love you too," she said, her voice choked with emotion.

“Gar're Pal'vut,” he murmured again, and she giggled at her own lack of knowledge. “I’ll have to teach you Mando’a.”

She nodded eagerly, arms winding around his neck once again. “I would love to learn it. What did you say that time?”

“You’re mine.”

“And mesh’la?” She asked, brow raised. “You’ve called me that before. You never told me what it meant, though.”

“Beautiful.”

She watched him for a moment, a soft, adoring smile coming to her face. Maker help him, Din wanted to be the reason she smiled every day. 

“Where’s that blindfold?” She asked suddenly, pulling away. Din chuckled as she lifted her skirts to hurry over to the bedside to pick up the fabric. “I want to kiss you so bad right now.”

“Is that so?” He asked, taking the fabric from her hands gently.

“Mhm,” she hummed, turning around to face away from him. Din chuckled again but did as she asked. When her blindfold was secured, he lifted his helmet off his head and set it on the bed. Without hesitating, she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck again and pulled him into a heated kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him, and he melted into the kiss.

He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss, and they both felt the intensity of their love for each other. The world around them ceased to exist, and they were lost in each other's embrace. The kiss lasted for what felt like an eternity, but eventually, they pulled away, their foreheads still touching.

It was this kiss –this moment –that Din decided he was going to marry her.

———

Taglist (CLOSED): @r4iner @sgt-morgan @mingeniee @darling1darling @teriolan-blog @venusfalling @double—take @sunshine96 @demisexuallover @mxtokko @ellesvoid @waddafaknik @c-ms1ut @kokoirne @sl-ut @munsons-queen @intense-sneezing @geekrenaissance @dilf-din @tizylish @ruleroftides @aheadfullofsteverogers

[fever-fluff]

Home V

Word count: 3.2k (Not Proof Read) Azriel is butting heads with his new companion, being forced to recognise some hard truths...

Part IV , Part VI

The waves crashing against one another was a sound she hadn’t realised she’d missed so much in her time away. Brien had taken up post beside her, finally moving away from their guest for the first time since that night. She had felt his reluctance to carry out their journey after she had woken him for the terrors that had plagued his mind. It wasn’t the first time he had dealt with them, she supposed. But the undiluted fear that had come off him in waves was unlike anything she’d ever felt before.

So, she had silently requested Brien to accompany him when she couldn’t. And now that they’d made t to the swelling ocean, his anticipation to slip away had turned into a desire to run from what he’d promised. She’d smelt the shift so intensely that she almost felt bad for keeping him here. But their work was more important than running from inner demons, at least to her anyway. Besides, there was no telling whether he’d return to Indere to Mor, and she couldn’t allow someone a new friend held so dear decide to disappear into his shadows.

She moved away from them towards the cove they’d need to complete the journey from, walking down the steep rocks she’d passed so many times she didn’t need to follow Brien’s lead anymore, but his presence in front of her was a welcome one. They’d spent centuries together, sometimes it only being the two of them, and he had become apart of her just as much as she for him.

Aodhan was talking to Azriel behind her, explaining how they’d cross safely without fear of the swallowing waves beneath. “You’ll have to fly on the currents, making sure to take the ones sweeping up and avoiding those that’ll push you towards the swell. It gets easier as you do it, but winnowing is out of the question. There’s wards up that haven’t been broken longer than I’m alive.”

“And another reason Mor wouldn’t be able to cross regardless of whether she was allowed to or not.” He’d already pieced together that it was too dangerous to carry another fae as you navigated the currents. Aodhan nodded in confirmation, “We’ve had sailors and other fae try to cross before, whether they knew the islands were inhabited or not, we don’t know. Their secrets went down with them to the bottom of the sea.”

She was still looking towards the sound of the sea when she’d heard his next question. “Which still doesn’t explain how you’re crossing…” She smiled, not straying from her position, but pulled a sharp whistle to Brien who was preoccupied with sniffing around something to her right. Her voice cut loudly to the howling wind that had picked up as if it sensed the oncoming flight, “I can’t let you in on all my secrets just yet Shadowsinger.”

Brien moved to her feet, his physical body shifting into something else, something entirely magic. It swirled around her, climbing from her legs upwards and taking whatever was physical of her with it. There was no sign of her feet beneath her, not feeling of them either. They ceased to exist, as did the rest of her body as Brien climbed and climbed. It was always terrifying, feeling everything she was and is being turned into what felt like nothing. Brien had reached her neck as she bid her goodbyes, “I’ll see you both on the other side,” and the very last of her body was engulfed.

There was never any memory of what had happened once her consciousness was consumed. She had been something, then wasn’t, and until Brien decided to place her back in the physical world she did not exist in and shape or form. She always thought maybe one day, if Brien ever decided to, he could just allow her to be that way for eternity. She didn’t know if he could form his physical body without bringing her back, and never thought it necessary to find out. 

The return of her was always more tedious than the consuming, taking longer as if Brien wanted to make sure he didn’t forget to form a toe or a finger on the way back. Azriel and Aodhan hadn’t made it over yet, and she wondered if he’d actually attempted to make a run for it when she had disappeared. But the beats of two pairs of wings from the sea was enough to confirm her thoughts wrong. She sat perched on a rock, Brien wrapped loosely around her shoulders, purring loudly. He always craved the closeness of it after, as if he missed her presence in the short time she wasn’t there. Aodhan and Azriel were panting from the exertion it took to cross over, she wondered if either of them had gotten close to being swallowed on the way over.

She stood as the caught their breath, moving to greet the two of them on home soil. Home. It felt good to be able to call the ground she stood on that. The chieftains were right to call her, it had been far too long.

“Azriel” his body turned to her attention, “welcome to our home.”

    

Azriel never, never, wanted to agree to a race like that again. After he had gotten over his spluttering about how Brien had practically eaten her in a wave of pure magic, Aodhan had insisted that it was the best way to cross, that it would take his mind off the sheer force that would be beneath him. But it had done no such thing, and he’d nearly toppled through the rough wind too many times and fell straight into a watery grave. Dancing with death had always been easy for him and his brothers, but that was sheer stupidity.

But, looking at where he’d be stationed for the next while, he understood what that graveyard beyond the cliffs was hiding.

Peace.

He felt it in the wind, soft and warm unlike the ones he’d just flown through. Lush green covered the sloping sides of the tops of the cliffs above him, a colour so inviting he felt the itch to roll in it like he were a dog. Trees of every kind seemed to guard him on both sides, and the sounds of running water filed his ears from somewhere. There was a quiet here he had never felt before, there was no inkling of being alert for oncoming dangers from somewhere. This place was a land that felt like he had passed on, but the aches in the muscles holding his wings and the tightness still filling his chest from a lack of air grounded him from thinking he had truly died going over the water.

They had begun to walk inland, passing floral and fauna that had gone undisturbed for centuries, unperturbed by their trek and seemingly unaware of the predators they could be. Azriel had never seen the likes of it -even Velaris, the city which held an imaginable number of dreams and hopes couldn’t hold a candle to the utter surrealness of this place.

Even watching her as she walked among paths long trodden into the earth, her steps were lighter than before. Like she had nothing to fear behind the bends ahead or the treeline to her side. Brien didn’t walk as closely to her either, shifting between prancing legs and swift wings as he basked in the afternoon sun overhead. The stopped slightly as they came to a dip in the land, the expanding view of her land filling his vision. She nodded towards Aodhan, “Fly ahead and let everyone know we’re back.” His arrival with them a silent command between her words was not lost on him as Aodhan unfurled his wings and split through the air, the gust he left behind making Azriel plant his feet more firmly in place. Before he had even looked to the sky, Aodhan had flown out of sight.

“Sometimes I forget the strength he has until he takes off.” The fondness in her voice was contagious and Azriel found himself smiling along. “You must be proud.”

Her face had tilted towards the sun to take in the heat as she sighed, “You have no idea.”

“When he was fifteen, he’d crash landed into the roof of our home, falling into where I was sitting trying to enjoy a glass of wine after a long day. It took him a week to repatch the hole. But the entire time all he could talk about was how fast he had flown and how he’d become faster and faster.” They were walking side by side now, his attention raptly on the joy she seemed to light up with as she gave him a laugh, “I couldn’t even be mad about the roof, or that he could have hurt himself. He seemed so happy in that moment that all I wanted from then on was to keep it that way, that he’d never feel bad about being who he was.”

“His happiness meant your happiness” Azriel thought back to Nyx, already noting the familiar feeling he had for his nephew brewing in his chest. “My brother, he has a little one now with his mate. I’m certain the whole family would tie the stars on strings for him if it’d make him smile.”

“It’s terrifying, thinking what you’d justify to bring them happiness. Everything is fair game when it comes to them.” her sentiment was horrifyingly true for Azriel. If anything -or anyone- ever got in the way of Nyx, not only would Feyre and Rhys burn the world, the rest of them would destroy whatever ash was left over in their wake. The air had turned tense around them for a moment until she spoke again, “It’s the reason I’m doing this, pushing to open the boarders that is… Aodhan, like many of the younger ones, is restless. He’s never truly seen the rest of the world. And this peace we’ve created, it’s become suffocating for them.”

She made to grasp his hand, gripping his fingers with hers stiffly, as if it would convey how much resolve she had in her to make this happen. “Children of peace are so different from children of war, Azriel. He – they – need the freedom we’ve kept from them for too long.”

He wanted to believe her, truly. But he’d seen so much of the ugly side of the world that he couldn’t bring himself to stop the words spilling from his mouth, “The world isn’t as welcoming as you think. It’s not as beautiful as here, the wounds are still so fresh from everything that I doubt even the next few centuries can fix it. Too much blood has been shed…”

“And yet your sister tends to those wounds not far from here, doing the work so many before have been too scared to even consider a possibility.” Something hard had entered her tone, and he felt himself wishing to take back his words if only to remove it as quickly as it had come, but he persisted. “She’s creating trade routes, what you’re implying is opening up a world, an unknown world, to the rest of us. You can’t possibly think it will end in peace…”

“She’s connecting worlds, how is that so different from what I want?”

“You know damn well how different it is. You’ve been cut off from the rest of us for centuries! You hid during wars that the rest of us bled for, how welcoming do you think our world will be to yours once they realise you have come out of everything unscathed while the rest of us clawed our way out of hel to rebuild what was left?” She’d ripped her grip from his at that, eyes hardening and levelling him. Even though he knew she couldn’t very well see him, Azriel had a mind to take a step back. “Do not try to educate me on political matters I am damn well aware of Shadowsinger. I see now I should have let you slink off in your fear instead of having Brien watch you like a dog.”

Azriel bristled at her admission, “Fear? Do you think that was what that was?” the distance he created closed instantly as he matched her stance a hair’s breadth away, “I have come here, an unknown territory with unknown fae, unguarded and you believe I am afraid?” His wings had spread wide, shadows pouring from them steadily as if to snuff the light that surrounded the two of them forever in a sea of darkness. But the female in front of him didn’t cower, didn’t balk at his act of dominance as so many others had.

“I have been alive for over seven hundred years; I know fear when I smell it. And the stench of it smothers you Azriel, whether you realise it or not.”

The hitch of his breath seemed to pull her from the fight she seemed so wound up to have, and she sighed when he answered her with a growl. “Azriel, I am not ignorant to what fae outside these islands may think. But this is the only step forward. If you do not want to help, then that is your choice, and you may leave whenever you want. But do not shut a door you haven’t properly opened yet.”

As she stepped away from him and the wave of shadows around them, turning to begin the walk again, Azriel felt himself torn in two. He was still angry, her implication still stinging fresh, but he hadn’t lost himself enough to forget the rest of her words. So, begrudgingly, he made to follow. Brien had flown back in between it all probably to ensure his masters safety and now slunk in between her steps, chuffing at him as if it was his fault the mood had turned sour. He growled back lowly at the disrespect, but the familiar had already taken to ignoring him in favour of watching a butterfly in the nearby brush.

  

Azriel wasn’t sure what to expect with his arrival, newly announced as it was. For somewhere so disconnected, surely a newcomer would warrant some type of wariness in the form of unchecked violence should the need arise. But, as they reached as small town that she had told him was one of many that sat on the outskirts of the main part of the island, he was met with very much the opposite.

Fae with wings very much like Aodhan’s had come out in groups to get a glance of what they’d heard to be an emissary of the known world. Small children, more than he had ever seen in one place his entire life, huddled in groups or at the legs of who were most likely their parents as he passed through beside her. Their whispers reached his ears quickly.

Gods, look at his wings…

Mom, why do they look like that?

Dad, why does his wings look different to ours?... He’s not fae like us son, he’s a foreigner. What’s a foreigner? Ahhhh, it’s someone who comes from a different place than you do… Oh….

Do you think he can fly in the rain?

Wonder where he’s coming from? Probably the continent, it’s where Danu was last visiting.

He looked to her in question of the last whisper he listened to, “Danu?”

“An honorary title, it’s what most fae will use instead of my given name.” He hummed his understanding, “So should I be using it as well?”

She threw him a shrug as they entered one of the buildings, “If you want, it makes no difference to me.”

The building turned out to be a tavern of a sorts. Bottles lined the shelves behind a counter, and tables with precarious looking stools littered the rest of the floor. But she made for the back of the room, pulling back a piece of fabric to reveal a better looking table and chairs made for those with wings more private than the rest of the place. Danu, he supposed it would be best if he honor her name here for the good graces of the rest, motioned for him to sit while she went to grab the bottle and two tumblers the barkeep had left on the counter without a word.

Pouring what looked to be whiskey for each of them, she lifted her glass in cheers to his and downed it in one go. It burned his throat as fire would going down, hitting the base of his stomach far harder than any liquor in Rita’s ever had and he found himself staving off a cough.

“Uisce thine, one of the best things to ever grace the world of drinking.” Azriel didn’t really agree with her sentiment. If either Cassian or Nesta got their hands on the likes of this, well, there wouldn’t be much to keep the chaos that would ensue from happening. “Perhaps you should keep this on the island.” Their spat from earlier on seemed to be a matter of the past for her as she laughed in understanding. Pouring a second round, she began to tell him more of her home and how to navigate it. “Muintir na Lasrach are an old race, they predate even some families of high fae and our customs are much different to yours.”

He listened closely to how they didn’t believe in the mother creating the known world, and how the phoenix was one of four gods who had given up a single feather to create them from fire, wind and clay. “Like the phoenix, they’re incredibly selfish down to their very nature, so I’d be careful if you decide to venture outside of political connections and who you choose to do that with. Male and females alike are extremely territorial if they’ve claimed someone for themselves, and because you’re an outsider death wouldn’t be too harsh a punishment if you put a foot wrong.” Azriel felt his stomach drop as the memory of Rhys swearing him off Elain resurfaced. He’d made the mistake of coming between fate once before, he wouldn’t do it again. “No mates. Noted.”

Her brows pulled together in rebuttal. “There’s no mates on the island, at least not in your knowledge of the term. Everyone here chooses their partner of their own accord, no fate involved. They’re just extremely territorial is all I’m saying.”

Azriel didn’t know how to comprehend what she’d admitted. Regardless of whether they believed in the mother or not, how could there be no semblance of mates anywhere. “How is that possible?”

She made to pour one last drink for them before they’d go to an inn for the night, “A story for another time. Drink up, and I’ll tell you the rest of what you need to know after we’ve had some stew.”

Pronunciation of words

Muintir na lasrach —> mwin-ter na lass-rock

Uisce Thine —> ish-kah chin-a

Aodhan —> a-dawn

Taglist @mis-lil-red, @justdreamstars, @florencemtrash

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What if, after dying at the end of Death Note, Light Yagami woke up in the body of Bella Swan just as she’s arriving in Forks?

"Ah, so this is Nothingness," Light muses to himself, having been told by Ryuk already that there is no afterlife for humans, that we each instead enter Mu, the great nothingness, and cease to exist. It's a lot more American and feminine than he expected.

Slowly, Light realizes he's actually been reincarnated. His ID tells him he's an American girl named Bella Swan, seventeen years old, from Phoenix Arizona. The year is also 2006, which oddly puts him back in time several years (Light died in 2010).

Even odder yet, he sees no signs of Kira, when Light was very much active during 2006 and had been for a few years by that point. While he knows Japan was very central to the Kira case, given it was confirmed he was in the Kanto region and thus likely Tokyo by L to the national public, America had been paying attention as had everyone else.

There wouldn't be no sign of him.

Light reluctantly has to conclude he's in a kind of parallel reality or perhaps a dream world (this dream world theory growing stronger when he learns that Bella Swan's father is the chief of police, who has similar qualities to his own father).

He's not sure how he feels about this.

Towards the end of his life he'd purposefully alienated himself from his family and then Kira had done the rest.

His father, who had always been a workaholic, became even more of one with the Kira case and then died believing Light was innocent.

Sayu was kidnapped by Mello and never the same afterwards.

His mother was left to deal with the aftermath of both his father's and now his own death. Leaving him to wonder, of course, what the task force decided to tell them of why Light didn't come home.

Now he's living someone else's life, and she's estranged from her family as well, having left the mother she'd always lived with and moving in with a father she appears to barely know.

"Am I being punished?" Light wonders to himself.

He gets to school and he's certain of it. There's some kind of yokai there, the Cullens, who look in their own way more inhuman than Ryuk. In Biology he's confronted by one and becomes certain it's intent on killing him when he has no access to any notebook and is in a much weaker, clumsier, body than he'd ever been in life.

When, however, instead of dying painfully he finds out Edward ran away...

Light finds himself mildly intrigued. Alright, this universe is annoying, his work was wiped away, he has no means of becoming Kira again, and it appears ayakashi/yokai/mononoke are pursuing him, but something here is happening and it could give him a clue as to what this world really is.

And Light finds himself playing a familiar game he played with many women before, charm Edward Cullen.

As Light's very quickly able to pinpoint what it is Edward wants in a woman, he avoids an untimely death, and canon proceeds unhindered until Light realizes. Oh no. This demon actually really does want a relationship with him while hungering for his blood. Light's read those folk stories.

Light takes the Paranoid Bella route until the Volturi alternative presents itself, and while hating the idea of being subservient to these warlords, he does appreciate the cause of murdering man eating demons and it gets him away from Edward.

[ro-is-struggling]

Hi!! I was thinking that 6 (song) would go amazingly with Steve like maybe he’s still hung up on Nancy but like reader is in love with him? ASDFGHJKL if you could make this possible I’d dieeeee. Thank you so much

Hi beautiful! thank you so much for participating in the celebration and I'm sorry it took me so long to get to your request, I'm going through stuff lol but despite that I had a great time writing this fic even though it's pure angst with no happy ending. I hope you're ready to cry!

One Last Time || Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary: You knew Steve was still in love with Nancy, but you didn't care. All you cared about was holding him in your arms one last time. 

Warnings: angst, unrequited love kinda, jealousy, no happy ending

English is not my first language 

Word count: 1700

This fic is part of my 600 followers celeration

Sitting alone at the table with dinner served, your gaze traveled from the clock to the door passing by the phone as you waited for a signal from Steve. You were supposed to have a date. You cooked for him, put on a nice outfit and styled your hair, only to have him stand you up. Again. It wasn't the first time Steve had been late for one of your dates and you knew it wouldn't be the last, not as long as she was still in his life. 

Nancy Wheeler was the reason behind all your problems, fears and insecurities. She was everything you weren't —pretty, smart, charismatic, popular— and even though her relationship with Steve had ended a long time ago, she still held the key to his heart. He was still in love with her and it seemed there was nothing you could do to change that. No matter how hard you tried to push her out of his heart, to replace her, it was all in vain. He would never look at you the way he looked at her.

Of course Steve wouldn't admit that out loud. When he was with you he would shower you with gifts and compliments, telling you how happy he was to have you by his side and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you. But you knew those were half-truths. He did love you, but not like he loved Nancy. You didn't need to hear him say it to know it, you could sense it in his kisses and the way he looked at you. That special sparkle in his eyes when he looked at her disappeared when he turned his gaze to you. 

You were his consolation prize, his second choice. He was with you because he couldn't be with her, you knew that from your first date. You knew he didn't love you but still you stayed by his side, keeping the naive illusion that someday things would change. You hoped you could make him fall in love with you over time, show him that he had nothing to miss about his relationship with Nancy. Unlike her, you did love him and you hoped that would be enough to make him forget about her.

Still, your relationship wasn't terrible. Most of the time you didn't even remember Nancy and all that she entailed since Steve didn't mention her very often. All of your friends agreed that you were a wonderful couple. You two loved each other and spent most of your free time together. Steve loved to take you on dates and give you gifts, although your favorite times with him were when you would lie on the couch and watch a movie cuddling, enjoying each other's warmth and company. You forgot all your worries when he wrapped his arms around you and held you close to his body, finding peace in the soft sound of his heart beating against his chest. The world around you ceased to exist in those moments, there were no fears or insecurities, just you and Steve.

The memory of those moments was what made situations like the one you were going through now more tolerable. You knew that Steve was with her while you were saving the leftovers from the dinner you had worked so hard to prepare. You knew that Nancy was once again the reason your boyfriend missed one of your dates, but you also knew that she didn't love him, not like you did. They didn't share those special moments you had. She didn't hug him tightly or talk to him as lovingly as you did. She didn't hold him at night, stroking his hair tenderly until he fell asleep in your arms. She didn't leave a little bit of her heart in every single thing she did for him. You did all those things. You and only you. Steve was dating you and not her. Nancy might still hold the key to his heart, but it was only a matter of time before she lost it to you.

When the phone rang you rushed to pick it up, hoping to hear your boyfriend's voice on the other end of the line. You smiled when you discovered that it was indeed him, momentarily forgetting all the pain you felt as you listened to his voice.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, I lost track of time." Steve apologized, sounding genuinely sorry. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

You were ready to forgive him and forget the whole thing, like you used to do when these things happened, but then you heard her voice in the background and jealousy took over you again. Nancy laughed in the distance, happy, while you climbed the walls of your house imagining what Steve could be doing with her for so long. It felt like she was taunting you, like she knew you were being killed slowly by uncertainty and it amused her. Your jealousy-blinded mind felt attacked by her, further aggravating your temper. 

"It's fine," you said in a dry tone that denoted the complete opposite of your words. "Just get home soon."

He told you he loved you before he cut the call short, but you were too hurt and angry at the time for his words to soften your heart. You dropped onto the couch, defeated by the storm of conflicting emotions swirling inside you. You didn't know what to do, what voice to listen to. You loved Steve, but you honestly didn't know how much longer you could go on like this, missing him even when he was by your side, dreading every time she was near, competing for his heart.

You knew that he didn't love you yet, you could live with it as long as there was a possible future for you. You needed to know that all the effort you were making now was not in vain, that you had a chance at happiness. You needed Steve to assure you that he wasn't going to leave you for Nancy at any time. You were willing to keep working on your relationship, to bet on a future together if he was too. You wanted to think that you knew he did, that asking him something like that was silly since it was obvious that Steve wanted to be with you, but the truth was that you didn't. You knew he loved you and was happy with you, but you weren't sure he was as invested in his relationship as you were. And you needed to make sure you weren't wasting your time with him. You needed to know if Steve wanted to put his past with Nancy behind him, because nothing you did would matter if he wasn't willing to forget her.

So in the heat of the moment you decided to give him an ultimatum. Steve would have to choose between Nancy or you because you couldn't go on living in doubt. Jealousy and uncertainty were eating you up inside at all hours, slowly transforming you into a version of you that you didn't recognize. You didn't want to let your insecurities get the best of you, it was time to do something about it. 

You had to put an end to your suffering, even if it meant ending your relationship with Steve. You knew it would hurt if he rejected you, but at this point you were convinced that anything was better than the damn uncertainty. 

Part of you felt bad about your decision, thinking it was unfair of you to attack Steve with an ultimatum like that. But it was also unfair to live the way you did, so you tried your best to stick to your decision. You paced back and forth as you waited for your boyfriend to arrive, your mind full of fake scenarios about what might happen. You tried to stay calm, to not let your nerves get the better of you as you imagined the worst outcome, ignoring the voice in your mind that told you this was a bad idea. You decided to focus on what you would say to him, planning your words carefully so as not to sound too harsh but still remain firm. You wanted Steve to know that you meant business without coming across as overbearing since you understood that this was a difficult situation for him as well. 

You had your speech all prepared by the time you felt the sound of the door. You jumped to your feet, approaching the entrance to greet Steve as you went over the words you had prepared over and over in your mind. ‘Stay strong, you got this' a voice in your head encouraged you, trying to calm the nerves storming inside you as the door slowly opened, revealing your boyfriend on the other side.

You tried to stand your ground, but all your anger disappeared as soon as you saw the remorseful puppy expression on Steve's face. He was looking at you with guilt in his big brown eyes and a pout on his lips, hiding part of his face behind a bouquet of red roses. He looked adorable, enough to make you forget all the words you had been memorizing for the last half hour. 

"I'm so sorry, baby. I know you had a big date planned and I fucked it up, I'm sorry." Steve apologized, the regret clear in his voice. Suddenly, the anger and jealousy you felt minutes before was replaced by fear. Fear of losing him. Fear of never hearing him call you 'baby' again. Fear of never feeling his lips on yours or his arms around your body again. You couldn't lose him, not now when he looked so adorable and apologetic, willing to do anything to make up for his mistake.

"It's fine," you said, letting out a sigh, taking the flowers he offered you and bringing them to your nose to smell the scent.

"I love you," he declared, taking your face in his hands and joining your lips in a kiss. You knew his words were not true, not entirely at least, but you decided to ignore him for the moment, allowing yourself to get lost in the kiss. You decided then that you would let the fantasy continue for one more night. You could talk to him about your feelings in the morning, but right now you didn't want to fight. All you wanted was to hold Steve in your arms as you slept for one last time.

[queenimmadolla]

𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐍𝐄'𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃

(dad!eddie x mom/pregnant!reader)

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟏 ─ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐 ─ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟑 • more of the pennyverse here.

Summary: . . . After almost losing you in a scare related to your preterm labor, Eddie is reluctant to meet his newborn son, whose life still remains on the line, until some convincing from you. warnings: angst, a whole lot of angst, near death experience, difficult pregnancy, early labor, preterm birth, talk of loss of infants, birth defects, happy ending.

a/n: no, you're not seeing things, again. my anti went ahead and took it upon themselves to flag something that is SFW as m*ture so tumblr has forcibly labeled and hidden it. i've already put in the appeal, but tumblr has yet to remove the community labels from the appeals i've won; therefore, i have no faith in them. reposting so hopefully it find the people who loved it. the original can be found on my masterlist, not likely to pop up in the tag. reblogs, likes and comments are greatly appreciated. let me know what you think? ◡̈

Hours passed by, Penny had fallen asleep in his lap again and so had most of his friends with the exceptions of Jonathan who looked like he could really use the sleep, Eden and Wayne. Steve would snap awake every once and a while, careful not to jostle his sleeping girlfriend. Nancy was asleep on Jonathan’s shoulder while Argyle used Eden’s lap for a pillow. Barb and Robin were hanging off chairs in the most uncomfortable looking positions, Robin’s snores almost painful sounding. The ‘kids’ (teenagers) had been picked up by their parents, only agreeing to go home if they could come back to wait with him first thing in the morning. 

  Eddie didn’t rest for a single second, mind torturing him with horrible, horrible thoughts. One played in his mind on loop; he was holding Penny as he walked out of the hospital. They were on their own.

  It held him captive, he hadn’t even noticed your doctor approaching him until she gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Mr. Munson?”

  Wayne and Eddie traded quick glances and he handed Penny over, trying not to disturb her too much in his rush but she just curled up to Wayne.

  Eddie stood up, already feeling lightheaded. That voice in his head that had been torturing him whispered something cruel to him, enough to make him want to cease existing: maybe you, somewhere in this hospital, already gone and he didn’t know it. Was she about to confirm his worst fears?

  “I apologize for the fright we gave you. Your wife started hemorrhaging and she lost a lot of blood.”

  Yeah. Eddie’s world was ending. It was over.

  “But we were able to stop the bleeding and get her a transfusion. She’s stable and she’s going to be just fine.”

  The relief was almost crippling, the heaviest weight he’d ever felt on him was lifted. Eddie wanted to cry, he squeezed his eyes shut again, trying to compose himself before he broke down in front of another doctor.

  “We have her in a room, probably hold her for a couple of nights, depending on her recovery. Would you like to go see her?”

  “Yeah, yes, please.” He nodded rapidly, wiping furiously at his eyes. 

  Dr. Eisenberg nodded and began walking down the hall, “If you’ll follow me.”

  Eddie turned, ready to ask Wayne to look after Penny when Wayne cut him off, “Go. I'll let ‘em all know she’s okay and send ‘em home. They probably won’t be able to see her tonight or in the mornin’, but I’ll stick around. Let me know when I can come on up.”

  Eddie wanted to hug him, but he really needed to see you. 

  “Thank you, Wayne. For everything.” Then he was scrambling after Dr. Eisenberg, who had stopped to wait for him.

  The walk to your hospital room had Eddie ready to tear his hair out, he’d wanted to just ask your doctor for your room number so he could sprint the rest of the way because her pace was much too slow. He was desperate to get to you, to make sure you were really still alive.

  “Here we are,” she stated, pushing your room door open. “Hello, again, Mrs. Munson. I brought someone who’s been waiting for you.”

  Eddie’s breath hitched as Dr. Eisenberg stepped to the side and he finally saw you, eyelids heavy from whatever sedation you were still trying to pull yourself from, and a smile on your face that only widened when you locked eyes. 

  “Hi, baby,” you slurred, sleepy little smile not going anywhere. And neither were you. 

  The rush of emotions he was experiencing was too much, he burst into tears where he stood as Dr. Eisenberg closed the door behind her on her way out. 

  “Eddie…” you mumbled out, reaching the hand lacking an IV out to him. 

  Of course you were trying to comfort him, you were the one confined to a hospital bed, having just barely survived a traumatic birth and you were still trying to comfort him because you were perfect. 

  He slowly approached your bed, hot tears—he was surprised his body could even still produce more tears given how much he’d cried in the last few hours alone—streaming down his cheek. Eddie really did collapse when he reached you, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck.

  You wrapped your arms around him, holding him to your chest as best as you could, though you had no idea why he was crying, brain too hazy.

  Eddie didn’t sob, just silently shook as he wet your neck, inhaled your scent, felt your warm skin and pulse beating beneath his lips. He hadn’t lost you, you were still here.

  Ideally, he’d be holding you and squeezing you hard enough to ensure you’d never leave his arms again, but even in his emotional hysteria, he was mindful of your condition.

  Eddie pulled away, large hands framing your face as he pressed desperate kisses all over your face, making sure every inch was caressed with his love before he focused on your lips, mouth meshing messily against yours.

  You could taste the salt of his tears, feel a couple of stray ones catching where your lips met. While he may have been feeling a mixture of emotions, all you could feel right then was content and still a bit sleepy from the anesthesia.

  When Eddie felt he’d conveyed his love for you sufficiently, he pulled away, a wet and hoarse chuckle escaping him when he realized you could barely keep your eyes open.

  “You sleepy, baby?”

  “Mhmm.”

  “Get some rest, sweetheart,” Eddie’s thumb stroked over your bottom lip before resting over the center of it, “just, please wake up.”

  “Okay,” you mumbled, eyes already shut. Still, you managed to press a kiss to his thumb before you slipped into a blissful slumber.

  While you slept, Eddie had one of the nurses phone up the waiting room and sent Wayne. The poor man looked exhausted, but the relief on his face was evident when he saw you sleeping peacefully. 

   He looked like he wanted to cry, too. Instead, he just cleared his throat, blinked to keep the tears away and spoke low so as to not disturb you or the sleeping toddler in his arms.

  “Everythin’ alright?”

  “With her?” Eddie’s red rimmed gaze drifted back to you, focused on the rise and fall of your chest. Still breathing, “Yeah.”

  Wayne nodded once and they both stood there in silence for a few minutes as the world began to turn again. Something still wasn’t right, felt wrong. He could tell by the tension his boy still had, arms crossed as he crouched in the seat next to your bed. 

  “And the baby?”

  Eddie flinched as if Wayne had shot a gun off in the air rather than mention his son.

  “I don’t know.”

  Wayne watched him with a careful eye, Eddie looked almost like he was vibrating from the force at which his leg was shaking, even your hospital bed appeared to be affected by it, though not nearly enough to disturb you.

  As much as he wanted to comfort him, for once, Wayne didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to say and he had an inkling that anything that came out of his mouth wouldn’t be heard by Eddie. He was lost in the dark crevices of his own mind. 

  The most he could do was offer to give him some alone time, he was sure his boy wasn’t keen on others sticking around right now, even him. 

  “I’ll take Penny home, me and Maude’ll watch her.” 

  Eddie shook his head, a look of panic flashing over his face, “No, that’s alright. She can stay with me.”

  Wayne was reluctant, mouth set in a frown. Penny was a good girl, usually, but he didn’t know if Eddie could really handle her along with processing everything going on around him.

  “Really, we wouldn’t mind─”

  “I need her.” 

  That shut Wayne right up, he and Eddie shuffled to exchange Penny from his arms to her dad’s without waking her. She stirred momentarily then shoved her face into Eddie’s neck, her little body falling slack once more.

  Wayne gave his shoulder a good squeeze, ran his hand gently over Penny’s back before he leaned down—and in a rare show of affection—pressed a brief kiss to your forehead.

  As he was walking out of the room, Eddie felt the panic crawling down his throat again. He croaked out a broken, “Wayne─”

  Wayne paused in the doorway, turning to acknowledge Eddie but his nephew didn’t continue, just looked scared. For a moment, Wayne was caught off guard, sucking in a breath as his boy looked young for the first time in a couple of years. 

  Now, he knew you and Eddie were young. He’d been aware of it when you got together, aware of it when you told him you were pregnant with Penny but sometime after that, he stopped seeing your age, stopped seeing Eddie’s as the two of you grew up for her. Now, right then, he remembered with startling clarity that Eddie wasn’t even twenty-five. He looked so young because he was.

  Eddie didn’t have to say anything else because Wayne knew exactly what he wanted him to say.

  Wayne nodded slowly, mouth pressing into a firm line of determination, “Everything’s gonna be alright, kid.”

  Eddie choked up, held Penny a little tighter and Wayne went on his way.

  He found himself settling back into the seat he’d dragged near your bed, cradling Penny as she remained blissfully unaware and drooling on his scrub top.

  Wayne wasn’t wrong, she’d probably be a little too much for him but she was his kid, it wasn't like he could just hand her off to people when life came at him like this and he really did need her right now. Again.

  You were here and whole, but somewhere else in this hospital, a member of his little family was still slipping through his fingers. He couldn’t let the other one out of his sight, couldn’t lose her, too.

  Once more, Eddie remained restless as the hours passed. He sat in mostly silence. He’d turned on the tv near your bed, the volume high enough to drown out the sounds of the hospital outside of the room but much too low to wake you. Rain trilled against the windows, much more gentle than it had been earlier. The storm had also passed, and if there was even an ounce of humor in him, he would have been amused with how this storm seemed to fester like a black cloud looming over him. 

  It’d been a normal day up until he’d gone to Lucas’ birthday party, but he’d been skeptical about leaving you, worried something would happen. The metaphorical little black cloud formed over him, as a result, and so did the actual black clouds, quickly calling for wind and rain at high speeds. 

  And when Eddie had found out you were okay, you were alive, his black cloud disappeared, though it left behind damage and a cold atmosphere. The real storm had also run its course, leaving behind weather that reflected exactly how Eddie felt.

  Penny squirmed in his grasp, and he realized he’d tensed up so he quickly relaxed, shifting her into a more comfortable position in his hold. 

  “Why don’t you give her to me?”

  Eddie’s head snapped over to you, surprised to find you awake, somewhat lucid and watching him with a small smile on your face.

  “Because you just had your insides removed and put back in,” He smirked, another wave of relief washing over him. You’d woken up, you really were okay. You weren’t going to leave him.

  You rolled your eyes, making a vague hand gesture to brush the subject off, clearly the surgeons hadn’t removed your sass.

  “She’s tiny and there’s more than enough room on here for both of us.” You hissed as you slowly shimmied your way to the side of the bed and Eddie frowned.

  “Okay, how about you don’t move so we can limit the amount of heart attacks you give me today, yeah?” You knew Eddie must have been worried so you didn’t take the lack of humor behind his words and the tension on his face personally. 

  A quick glance at the clock confirmed your suspicions, “It’s three in the morning, Eddie. New day, but I’ll keep my antics to a minimum.”

  Insistently, you patted the spot next to you, perfectly Penny sized and high enough to guarantee she wouldn’t accidentally move against your incision.

  With a sigh, Eddie complied, gathering his daughter up. Tensing up disturbed her but full on moving her didn’t, most likely used to being carried into your home after she’d fallen asleep in her car seat or on the couch.

  She didn’t stir when he laid her down, either. You both had to rearrange her limbs into a more comfortable position, one that didn’t make it look like she was possessed. Once Eddie tucked her in, he let out another sigh and cast you an apologetic look, big brown eyes wide, glassy and full of sorrow.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” It was the last thing you deserved after what you’d gone through.

  The sincerity in his voice almost hurt you, it was heavy, as though it carried more weight than just a simple apology for his tone. 

  You held out your hand and Eddie immediately slipped his over it, locking his fingers with yours, squeezing as his breath hitched. 

  Your hand was so warm and soft. At one point in the last twenty-four hours, he’d thought he’d never get to feel it again, never get to hold your hand or see your pretty face. Never get to say…

  “I love you,” he blurted out, the panic he’d felt earlier when he couldn’t remember the last time he’d said those three words to you climbed right out of his belly, trying to claw its way out of his chest. Eddie took in a shuddering breath, head shaking as a hot tear escaped its confinement, trailing down his cheek. He moved to the other side of the hospital bed, so he wouldn’t crush Penny, and took your face in his hands, pressing a passionate kiss to your lips, hoping he was able to convey just how much he loved you.

  He needed you to know.

  “Eddie,” you mumbled as he pulled away, only to hide himself in the crook of your neck again. You could feel his tears against your skin and it alarmed you. “I love you, too, baby. What’s wrong?”

  “I thought I was going to lose you,” he confessed and you felt your heart seize up, “I thought I was gonna lose you twice in the same damn day. I was so fucking scared, sweetheart.” 

  When he’d been driving to the hospital, there had been a moment when he wondered if you’d still be breathing when he got there. It made him want to throw up so he quickly squashed it and forced it to the back of his head. It hadn’t been ideal when he’d entered the operation room, he didn’t like seeing you get cut open but it was comforting to see he’d overreacted. You were getting a c-section, you weren’t on your deathbed.

  Until you had been. 

  And for the second time that day, he thought you were going to die, thought he’d somehow cruelly manifested this for you and himself.

  “I’m alright, Eddie.” You freed your hand, grabbing his to cradle your cheek with. 

  “See? I’m okay. You didn’t lose me, you’re not going to.” Eddie pulls away from his hiding spot to stare down at you, the wounded puppy look still firmly in place so you add a little humor, hoping to get a smile out of him, “There’s no way I’m checking out this early, I can’t risk you moving on when you look this good.”

  Eddie’s hand was so big his fingers were tucked into your hair, his palm alone took up most of your cheek. His fingertips lightly massaged the area of your scalp available to him as the hurt on his face morphed into an earnest look, somehow more vulnerable.

  “There’s no moving on from you, you’re taking my soul, my heart, all of it with you when you go. You’re the love of my life, my everything. And that—fuck, it terrifies me because I’d still have Penny to take care of and I wouldn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t know how to pull myself out of it, if it’d even be possible and quite frankly, I don’t ever want to fucking find out.”

  Eddie was more than happy to have those types of questions remain unanswered for the rest of his life.

  “You’d be able to do it, I know you would. You would be able to take care of Penny and the baby.” You knew he would, your husband would pull himself out of his depression to make sure your children were okay because of how much he loved them, despite his grief.

  Eddie flinched, something you were quick to clock. You didn’t need to ask, he could see the question reflecting in those beautiful eyes of yours. 

  He had to break the news. You were already in a frail condition and he had to tell you the baby you’d almost died to have, your son, might still die.

  “Honey, the baby—he—fuck, he’s uh…there’s something wrong with his heart.”

  The way your face plummeted shattered something inside of him. 

  “What?”

  “He’s got a hole in his heart, the doctor said it was pretty common amongst heart defects but since he was born so early, it’d be difficult to medicate him or perform an operation. All they can do is keep him under observation, he still might not make it because of how young he is.”

  You squeezed your eyes shut, head dropping back to meet your pillow as you tried, and failed, not to cry. Why was this happening? You blamed yourself, why hadn’t you been able to keep him in your belly? Why had your own body betrayed you? Why had you failed your baby?

  “This is all my fault,” you declared, eyes and cheeks growing wet with your tears.

  “No, no, sweetheart.” Eddie was not about to let you take the blame for something out of your control or even allow you to believe any of this was your fault. “You can’t possibly believe this is on you. These things happen, it obviously isn’t ideal, but it’s just circumstance. It’s not your fault and it’s not the baby’s fault. You did everything you could and more. Okay?”

  He leaned in, finger stroking gently across your cheekbone as he caught a tear. You sniffled, nodding once as he pulled you back together.

  “What does he look like?” You asked, snuggling back into the pillow as Eddie coddled you.

  He hesitated for a moment before he answered, “I—I don’t know.”

  That elicited a small frown from you, “You haven’t seen him yet?”

  Eddie swallowed hard, gaze moving away from you, “No.”

  You waited, watching a series of emotions pass over his features. Eddie often tried to keep his internal struggles to himself, a habit you noticed once you became friends with him (ironically, through some trauma bonding) and even into your relationship. You hadn’t expected him to confide everything in you right away, though you had let him know should he ever need someone to talk to, you’d be there.

  Now, it wasn’t a matter of if he would, it was when. It didn’t take him long. 

  “I don’t know—I guess,” he pursed his lips, eyes squeezing shut as he felt the all too familiar burn of fresh tears. How many times had he cried in the last twenty-four hours? He felt ridiculous to be so emotional, then again, he’d never thought he’d find himself in this tragic situation, so he was due for a couple of breakdowns, “I know if I go down there and I—I look at him, I’m gonna fall in love with him and then what? He dies. I can’t do that, not if I’m gonna lose him forever. I can’t.”

  Eddie was leaking tears, not yet sobbing but well on his way as he made his confession. He couldn’t stomach seeing his baby boy if he was going to be taken away from him, if the two of you would have to put a tiny little coffin—a size that should never have to exist—six feet into the ground. He’d been put through the fucking ringer but Eddie couldn’t do that. It would break him.

  Eddie’s confession had you crying as well, you shared his pain. You didn’t want to lose your baby, either. You couldn’t remember what he looked like through the haze of your fatigue when you’d given birth to him, but if you tried to think hard enough, you could remember how it felt to have him in your arms in the passenger seat of Wayne’s truck. The first time you’d held him and you hoped it wouldn’t be the last. 

  Even if it was, you were grateful you’d had the chance to and you knew Eddie would never forgive himself if he didn’t get to see him, didn’t get to meet him.

  “I know you’re terrified, Eds. It scares me, too.” You grabbed his hand just as it slipped away from your face, encouraging him to look at you. “I don’t want to lose him, either. I want to take him home. I want to cuddle with him, nurse him, take tons of pictures of him with Penny and with you, but most of all, I want to make sure he knows I love him.”

  It killed you to imagine your baby in an incubator, small, helpless and with no one but the nurses, who could make the time to check on him in between all their other patients, offering him comfort. Human contact. And if he did end up passing, he could do so alone in there, not knowing how loved he was. 

  “I know you love him, Eddie, and you don’t want to lose him. But you can’t lose him if you don’t have him, baby. I hate that this is even a possibility for us, but I’d rather have held him and lost him than to never have picked him up at all. I’ll be okay with whatever you decide, but do you really want him to die without having gotten to meet his dad?”

  Eddie let out a choked sob as he shook his head. He didn’t want his baby to die at all but you were right, if he did lose his kid, he’d spend the rest of his life agonizing over the same thing Eddie had been upset with himself for when he thought he’d lose you. He’d been unable to recall the last time he told you he loved you. Only, he’d know he never told his son. 

  “I’ll be right back,” he swore and you nodded just as he leaned down to give you a kiss. He wiped away his tears, inhaled a particularly violent sniffle and you watched as he left your room to finally meet his baby.

  Eddie felt almost disorientated as he navigated his way to the NICU. He’d been there once, briefly, to check on Penny when she’d been there for a few hours, but that was a couple of years ago and he’d needed the assistance of several nurses and staff to direct him, but he finally made it.

  The entrance room, where the viewing window was located, was nearly empty. There was a woman further down, gazing through the large window.

  Eddie approached it with caution and his heart racing a mile a minute. It wasn’t too difficult to find his baby. His son was in an incubator, close to the window and labeled ‘MUNSON’. For the first time, Eddie got to take his son in. He had been right, he fell in love with him at first sight.

  He was smaller than some of the other babies, bigger than others as well and surprisingly well developed. Kind of calmed Eddie’s nerves, just a little. He had a couple of monitor pads attached to his tummy with an additional one wrapped around his tiny foot. Other than the nasal cannula, baby Munson didn’t have a whole lot of tubes attached to him like Eddie had imagined and he could see a smattering of hair on his head, somewhat light in shade but he had a feeling it would darken soon to resemble his own. 

  It was hard to tell if Wayne and Penny were right in their description of him, Eddie couldn’t tell if he was still pale since the baby was cloaked in blue light, but he assumed his son had gained some color by then. Eddie also couldn’t make out his eyes, those were covered by some sort of eye cloth, most likely for protection. He looked a little odd, obviously resembled a baby and while his features were almost indistinguishable, appearing a little generic, as his face still needed to develop a little more, Eddie could see hints of familiar features. 

  He looked like newborn Penny, well, so far. Her features had obviously changed since then, and still were, but he was promising to look almost exactly like she had when she was born. And Eddie thought Penny looked a lot like you, so it got a smile out of him, regardless of the fact his son was bound to resemble his family.

  Eddie watched the rapid rise and fall of his chest with concern. Was he supposed to be breathing that fast? Was he okay? 

  “Which one is yours?”

  Eddie turned to peer over at the woman who’d asked him the question, “Munson.”

  Eddie watched as her gaze moved over all the incubators until they found the correct one.

  “Oh, he’s a cute one. And his breathing looks incredible.”

  “Really? It’s not too fast?” He asked, the worry in his voice obvious.

  “Considering it’s his first time pumping those lungs, I don’t think so, no. Looks like he’s breathing real good to me. Mine needs a little help.” She pointed through the glass to an incubator that housed a baby with a tube in its mouth as well as individual ones in each nostril unlike his son’s nasal cannula. Eddie felt horrible.

  “I’m sorry,” he tried to apologize but she waved him off, a smile still on her face. 

  “Don’t be, that’s all mine is here for. As soon as she figures out how to keep doing it on her own, she’ll be back with me and my wife.”

  Right on, Eddie thought. Before he could continue their conversation, a nurse knocked on the window.

  She gestured down to the baby, “Is he yours?”

  Wow, this glass must have been thin, he could hear her pretty good.

  For some reason, Eddie still assumed she couldn’t hear him and only nodded. She disappeared for a minute and emerged into the room through a large pair of doors. 

  “Would you like to hold him?”

  Eddie glanced at the other occupant and she gave him a nod of encouragement. 

  “Yeah,” he rasped out, turning to look at his son through the window once more, “Yeah, I would.”

  Eddie was nervous the entire time as she prepped him with instructions. While they were concerned about the hole in his son’s heart, he was well developed, had strong vitals, good reactions, even for thirty weeks. He was so good that had it not been for his heart, he probably would have been sent home at the same time as you, given your longer than average stay due to your c-section and preeclampsia.

  And when she placed him in his arms, the love he had for his son almost overwhelmed him. He couldn’t believe he almost denied himself this. 

  “Can I touch him?” He asked, after he’d stopped marveling at the small face—eyes still hidden—in his arms. 

  “Mhm, we’d encourage it. Babies, even born preterm, are still very much so human. He craves the contact, it might even encourage him.” 

  Eddie didn’t hesitate, fingers gently stroking over the soft fluff of hair on his son’s head. This close, he could see it all pushed towards the middle of his head, like a mohawk. His baby was already metal straight out of your womb, it made him chuckle. 

  The nurse stepped away to tend to another baby, giving him a little privacy. Eddie maneuvered his son so he was resting on his chest, little head pressed against the spot just over his heart.

  “Hi,” he whispered down to the baby in his arms, “I’m your dad.”

  Much to Eddie’s awe, the baby nuzzled his head against his chest, making him still. He didn’t know why, but he’d believed his son wouldn’t be able to move for some reason. It was nice to know he was wrong.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, too,” he laughed, the sound soft, “I’ve been looking forward to it, you must have, too. You sure know how to make an entrance, huh? Couldn’t wait in your mom any longer?”

  Eddie ducked down to kiss his little head, lips remaining there as he moved to sit in one of the few chairs of the NICU. 

  “It’s okay, though. I’ve got you, daddy’s got you.” Even if the outcome wasn’t okay, right at that moment with his son in his arms, everything felt like it would be. And if his son needed encouragement, Eddie would give it to him. 

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to come find you, your mom had to talk some sense into me. She loves you a lot, you know? Probably jealous I’m down here and she isn’t, but only because she physically can’t just yet.”

  Eddie’s hand went to support the back of his head as he moved the baby down to hold in his hands, staring down at his little face. 

  “I’ll bring her down to see you again as soon as I can, though. So you gotta keep fighting, okay? I know things are hard for you right now, not as easy as the other babies in the hospital, but I know you can do it. I love you so much, your mom and I just want to take you home, so you gotta beat this, okay?”

  Eddie rocked his baby, gentle swaying motions as he pressed kiss after kiss to his head. 

  “I see you’ve made it down for a visit,”

  Eddie glanced up at the face of Dr. Houseman, she didn’t look as intimidating as she had when she’d first approached him in the waiting room.

  “Sorry to disturb you, but I’m very glad I caught you. I heard your wife is doing well.”

  “She is,” he confirmed, with a relieved grin. 

  “Good, I’m glad. Have you been given an update on your little guy?”

  Eddie recounted what the nurse had told him and Dr. Houseman looked pleased.

  “Well, I have more news for you. He’s proving to be much stronger than we’d initially anticipated, and while his vitals were already good on intake, they’ve improved tremendously in the last few hours and so have his responses. I think he’s figuring out what he’s capable of doing; how to breathe, how to move, how to eat—we introduced him to a rubber nipple to check his latch response and it’s good, not quite there yet, we’ll have to get creative with his feedings but I think he’ll be able to latch onto his mom soon.”

  She must have caught the way Eddie perked up at her use of the word soon. That meant his baby had a fighting chance.

  “These first few hours after a birth such as his and with his condition are crucial. While he’s still significantly weaker than an average full term newborn, your baby seems to be a fighter.  Should he survive this next night, I believe he’ll make it. He’d just need some time in here while the hole closes up, but it just might not be too much for him.”

  She left him with that news and a parting smile.

  Eddie held his son for a few more minutes before a nurse returned to put him back in his incubator. He hadn’t wanted to leave him, but he’d promised him he’d be back.

  When Eddie got back to the room, his heart was a little lighter and he was able to smile when he saw you giving Penny, who was now wide awake, kisses. He pressed his back up against the door and watched for a few moments as you leaned in and gave her a loud kiss. She’d go into a fit of giggles before demanding another with an again!

  “Daddy!” Penny beamed the moment she saw him and Eddie grinned as he made his way over, lifting her into his arms when she held hers up to him.

  “Hi, pretty one. You sleep good?” 

  “Uh-huh,” it was clear she was distracted and didn’t care about his questions, no, she had some of her own. “You see my baby?”

  Eddie raised an eyebrow, trading an amused look with you.

  “Oh, he’s your baby now?”

  “Ya, he’s—he’s my baby.” She nodded with a grin as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he leaned down to press his forehead to hers.

  “Well, then yes. I saw your baby,” he chuckled, pressing a kiss to her nose.

  “Wha’helooklike?” Penny blurted out, eyes wide as she waited for his reply. 

  “He looked a lot like you.” 

  “Nooooooo,” Penny laughed, shaking her head against her dad’s, “He is my potatoes, not anoda Penny.”

  “It’s true!” Eddie laughed with her as he put her back down by your side and leaned in to give you yet another—he’d never stop giving them to you—kiss.

  “He looks like her?” You asked, after you’d returned his kiss.

  “Mhm,” Eddie fell back into the seat he’d occupied hours earlier. “Looks like she did when she was a newborn. He’s not pale—like a potato,” he directed that part to Penny who just laughed into her little hands, “anymore, at least. I don’t know whose eyes he has, they were covered.”

  Eddie was right about you being jealous, you were practically green with it. 

  “I wish I could see him,” you stated sadly, frown on your lips. You knew, realistically, if he started to decline, they’d most likely let you out of bed to see him or bring him up to you, but still. You’d rather it not come to that.

  “Ran into his doctor while I was there, she said he’s got a better chance.”

  Your eyes lit up, “Really?”

  “I was just about ready to kiss her.” He nodded and you made a face, nose doing that adorable scrunch he loved so much.

  “Okay, well, don’t do that.”

  Eddie snickered, “It was a figure of speech, baby.”

  “I know, I’m just saying it on her behalf,”

  “On her behalf?” Eddie pouted, eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

  “Yeah, I want to kiss her, too, but—uhm, Eds, you might need some sleep ‘cause—you’re hot, you really are, but you also look insane right now.”

  Eddie got up to make his way to the bathroom so he could see himself in the mirror, nearly jumping once he’d turned on the lights.

  His eyes were beyond bloodshot, his eye bags were dark and very apparent, his skin had an interesting almost gray like tinge to it and his hair was a wreck. Eddie looked like he belonged in a psych ward.

  “Jesus,” he shouted loud enough to be heard by you.

  “It’s okay, Eds. You’re still beautiful to me!”

  Eddie did end up sleeping. Turns out the chair he’d been sitting on was also a pull out bed. You insisted that he get some rest, and while he did, you changed Penny’s diaper and got some hospital room service for the two of you, you’d even picked something out on the menu for Eddie to eat once he woke up. 

[redbirdandbluebird23]

Posterity - Chapter 1

@jaydick-week 2024

Masterlist

Damian has formed an unhealthy attachment to you. My Father and I believe it is time to put your plan into action in Gotham. You will be leaving immediately.”

“Alright, I’ll just grab my stuff and say goodbye.”

“Your belongings have been packed and Felix here will escort you. There will be no time for goodbyes.” 

“No, you can’t do that. He-”

“If you wish to protect him from requiring a dip in the Lazarus pit, you will leave immediately and cease all contact with my son. The same warnings stand if you have a change of heart and decide to tell his father of his existence before the League is ready for him to know.”

“Dick was right, you are a bitch.”

“Felix.”

“Fuck off, I’m going.”

***

Jason had fled Gotham as fast as he could following news of the arrival of Bruce’s biological pup. Dick called, frantic upon returning to find Jason missing from the penthouse, but Jason made the excuse that Roy needed his help with an emergency and Dick had let it go as long as he kept him in the loop. Roy hadn’t pried about what was going on, just let him crash in his spare room, reassured Dick he was fine and reminded him that he was here if Jason wanted to talk about what it was that was bothering him. 

Then, just as he’d worked up the courage to go home, Dick had called in tears to tell him that Bruce was dead. 

Jason and Bruce had come to a tentative truce in recent years, but he still wasn’t prepared for the way the news seemed to steal all the air from his lungs. The green had come flooding out from where he’d buried it and by the time he came back to himself, he was standing in the ruined remains of Roy’s living room. 

Roy had been rightfully pissed off, but he’d put it on a back burner when Jason broke down on him instead. Dick showed up the same night and Jason hadn’t had the heart to be pissed off at Roy for calling him. 

Dick took one look at the state he was in and bundled them both into Jason’s nest in Roy’s spare room. He’d buried his face in the alpha’s throat and let himself break. Dick hadn’t held it together long after Jason started crying and they’d spent the next day just curled up together in a pile of blankets. But they were both too aware that they couldn’t ignore the rest of the world; especially now. 

Dick had shifted first, softly asking if Jason would come home with him, like he knew Jason hadn’t been on a mission and something else was going on. Jason knew if he went back there would most likely be screaming (maybe a murder attempt if Talia had sunk her claws as far into Damian as he suspected), but he could deal with that. What he didn’t think he could deal with was the possibility that his pup -  because no matter how much Talia and Ra’s had tried to prevent it, Damian was his - that his pup, instead of kicking and screaming and demanding to know why he left, would simply pretend he had no idea who Jason was. Jason knew that would kill him a second time. 

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[yunarim]

ಇ. broken melodies | chapter 4

⇢ ⁺ THURSDAY'S CHILD HAS FAR TO GO ˖ Yuu's about to make her first visit to NRC.

— PREVIEW (read for tags and synopsis) — MASTERLIST (open to read previous chapters) — AO3

⁺ w.c : 13k+

Dazzling morning’s light was gliding aside Yuu’s features, and she snapped her eyes open.

It was already morning, and even in spite of not getting quite used to them, Yuu realized that the new day had indeed started. She blinked away all the sleepiness that suddenly washed away her usual consistent and firm liveliness as someone’s steady breathing next to her was heard, while she was staring absently at the plainly white ceiling of the infirmary.

She abruptly turned her head, witnessing a very familiar silhouette, though surrounded by seven other bodies, and gaped, her breath hitched.

Neige was lying on the bed, sheets artificially clean and neat, his face radiating nothing but tranquil peace and calmness as of a deadman. She shivered, her hands started trembling slightly as she managed to get up from the bed, and didn't notice concerned gazes upon her startled figure.

“Yuu?” 

She ignored one of the dwarfs' noise, and went straight up to the bed Neige was lying at, and couldn’t resist touching his cheek white as snow. 

His serene entity, depraved of former worry and anxiety he was surely trapped in, reminiscent Yuu of the Snow White. He wasn’t surrounded by flowers, nor was he covered with a glassy lid, yet Yuu stared as if the world was about to cease its existence. 

“Yuu.”

She hasn’t succeeded in rescuing him, has she?

Yuu chuckled to herself rather hysterically, nervously clenching a piece of cloth in her hand, and sucked air. No, it can’t be…

“Yuu-san!!”

“H-huh?”

She only turned when one of the dwarfs hit her slightly on her leg, finally managing to gather her attention, and frowned at her, sighing in displeasure.

“I don’t know what you are thinking about, but he is fine.”

“He is?!” Yuu regained the brightness of her emotional specter and bent down enough for her eyes to meet the dwarf’s, Dominic. “Oh I’m so glad…”

“You’re an injured party, too. You should rest a bit more,” Dominic put his hands on his hips, pouting at her. “Neige’s fine, but please remain quiet. He’s finally sleeping normally.”

“S-sorry…” She muttered under her breath and took a seat on the edge of her bed. “Were you here all the time? I remember we both fell asleep at night…”

“We came an hour before you woke up!” Hop smiled at her sheepishly. 

“Thank you for coming here,” Yuu nodded politely. “But you too should get some sleep, I believe it’s pretty early for anyone to come.”

“It’s nearly six in the morning,” Dominic explained. “No need to worry. Besides, we wanted to thank you.”

“Me? For what?..”

“For rescuing Neige, you fool,” Grum scoffed at her before getting scolded by Dominic. 

“Forgive Grum for being rude,” Dominic sighed. “But he’s right. We all are really grateful.”

“I did nothing…” Yuu mumbled, lowering her head.

Indeed, she did nothing, and it was almost humiliating. She could have protected him from being hit! She could have prevented him from crossing the line and going overboard with his emotions, could have helped him in many other ways, or at least just talk his soul out of it, she could have—

“...Zzz… Looks like… Worries too much…”

Yuu turned to the sleepy dwarf with ginger hair, which slightly reminded her of Elias, and blinked, turning to the next dwarf, who was playfully patting Neige’s head.

“Mm?” He looked up at Yuu. “Ah! Thank you!! Oh, but why did you worry in the first place?.. I can’t remember…”

“Toby can be rather forgetful,” Dominic elucidated. “But he’s right. There’s no need to worry anymore, alright?”

Yuu gasped at his statement in bewilderment, but had no other choice than to bite her lips and accept their point of view. “Understood…”

“Nice nice!!” Hop giggled and covered his mouth with his hands as Dominic put his finger to his lips and mumbled quiet ‘shh!’. “Sorry!”

 “Doctor Wyn said that Neige will recover in no time,” Dominic reassured her, placing his little hand above her own, to which Yuu shuddered slightly, being rather unfamiliar with touches. “You all did your best, thanks to you, Elias and Che’nya-senpai, Neige is alright. He just needs proper rest.”

Yuu nodded, returning her gaze to Neige’s beautiful face, relieved from worries in the sleep. 

“Y-you should sleep… t-too…” Blue-haired dwarf with bangs covering his eyes mumbled, causing Yuu to smile slightly. “W-wha!..”

“Thank you,” she replied, standing up. “But I’m okay. I’ve rested enough. Besides, I… think I miss the clocktower.”

“Right, you spent all night here,” Dominic nodded. “We’ll see you later then!”

Yuu’s smile turned slightly vague and apologetic, but seemed to go unnoticed by the dwarfs.

“Yes, indeed. See you later.”

Yuu bowed to everyone and bid goodbye before closing the door. Only in the hallway did she notice that her uniform was neat and clean, though instead of boots she was wearing light slippers, to which she giggled softly. 

Apparently, the academy seemed to be free of students, and once she felt tender sun rays playfully touching her skin through the windows, yet light freshness bordering on chilly coolness, she realized that it was early in the morning. Around five or six am, probably?

Yuu went out of the building, meeting a slight breeze filled with autumn’s coldness, and stretched out her hands to the sides, inhaling deeply, and exhaled slowly, enjoying how pleasant it was — to be able to stop for a while and just… breathe.

The road to the clock tower accompanied her with morning dampness, drops of dew from the small blades of grass under her feet playfully tickled her ankles. Yuu waved her hand, summoned a pink butterfly, and greeted it.

“Morning, little one,” she smiled in relief, noticing that everything was alright. “How are you doing? I was worried that something might have happened to you all yesterday…”

The butterfly whirled around her, then landed on her head.

“I see…” Yuu muttered, nodding. “I’m glad you’re all okay. Come to think of it, do you think that… a red butterfly would come if I summoned it?”

The butterfly remained silent. 

“I also think so… But it’s concerning that it didn’t disappear. I can feel the connection formed between us. It hasn’t disappeared completely, I can slightly feel it resonating on the back of my mind.”

Yuu continued mumbling to the pink butterfly until she made her way to the clocktower, and took a deep breath.

“It’s time to bid farewell.”

She stepped in the clock tower, releasing her magic wand and changing soaked slippers into boots, then took a deep breath. Every step on the ladder radiated anxiety and fear, shuddering with the feeling of wretched omen upfolding soon. The butterfly appeared to fly away somewhere (Yuu had no idea where to they always return after being summoned), and she squeezed her shirt in the fist. 

Reaching the clockwork, she stared at the reddening sky in its sunrise, and felt her heart growing with smoldering heaviness. 

Neige was rescued, he was fine, he started recovering, and with proper care and support he will definitely become happy, just like Snow White did. He will follow her steps, one day will turn into the fairest one of all, and probably won’t even remember Yuu, ever. There was nothing to remember, to be exact — she just happened to appear in a place, in a time, talk to someone, do something, and then is supposed to cease to exist in the minds of those who met her.

A wave of something oppressive, heavy and viscous passed through her, as if a chopping rod, and Yuu winced, hugging herself. Was bidding farewell to princesses just as hard? She couldn’t remember, her memory sinking in a fog of scattered pieces of bonds, acquaintances, events… 

I must go now, she thought, ignoring the shiver that fettered her, and shook her head in denial. 

“Ha… Let’s do this.”

She threw a quick glance to the papers Prospero studied here, chuckling to the Solar Return chart and Pluto in 8th house, and thought that maybe it wasn’t even interpreted in a right way, and there were no significant changes in the life of the chart’s owner. Brushing off her silly thoughts that maybe her appearance here was about to be the change, yet ha! Hardly it was.

Yuu’s grip tightened on the magic wand asshe closed her eyes. 

Heartbeat increased rapidly, her breath inconsistent. Yuu was imagining the mansion she has lived in for who knows how many years, every crack on the brick walls, every flower in her garden. Slowly, memories started enveloping her, bringing back to her usual holistic life. Playful dances with butterflies, chores in the kitchen, starlight gazing and viscous ardent desire to rip the loneliness off her skin and soul.

She almost felt how prominent was the fragrance of flowers, its bewitching aroma surrounding her gently, covering all the worries and casting a strong spell of bringing tranquility, and yet…

Yuu felt her vessels encaustic, burnt with poisonous flames, and gasped, breaking down to the painful yell, and fell on her knees. 

Her magic wand left long forgotten on the floor, ferocious zips of magic flashing in the air. “I… What?..”

She no longer paid attention to her heartbeat, ignoring how it was beating with loud thuds in her ears, and stood up once more, biting her lower lip and shaking off her thoughts.

“No, it can’t be,” Yuu muttered to herself, grabbing the wand in spite of it still crepitating. “I must have made a mistake in spell casting, right…”

Closing her eyes, Yuu once more tried imagining the place, yet to no avail — the magic wand abruptly got almost incandescent in magic flames to the point it was painful to hold, and another shock wave pierced Yuu through, causing her to drop the item and scream in a painful wail.

“But why!!” She appealed to the reddening sky leaking through the glassy walls of the clocktower with its gentle rays. “I have already helped Neige! He is fine!”

But everything remained silent.

She inhaled sharply, trying to calm herself down. “Alright. There’s still a way.”

She will play by the rules of this capricious, whimsical world with all the diligence she has got.

Yuu made her magic wand disappear and decided to head out to where it had all started.

It was still very much early in the morning, no students spotted in the halls of the main building. The heels of her boots echoed with every step, and when she reached the doors, the heaviness crumpled on her shoulders, causing breath to hitch uncomfortably. 

She opened the doors, now seeing this hall once again, with a whirl of memories having her mind flooded with fragments of images of her landing here. She made her way to Excalibur to make sure he wasn’t paying much attention. It was still a question if he could sleep or just put his ‘mind’ to slumber until being summoned, yet the slight soft glow he was radiating the first day was gone. 

“It was nice meeting you…”

Silence was the only answer.

She stood up in the centre of the hall, trembling hands not holding the magic wand properly, Yuu’s whole stance was questionably steady, breath inconsistent and shuddering in worry. Yet, she tried again. 

“Argh!!”

She yelled, but pressed further. Air started crackling with green zips flashing around her small figure, her fingers turning blue, then white until she couldn’t feel them anymore. 

“I demand!!” Another scream passed her lips. Her eyes snapped open, little nets of blood veiling in the corners due to pressure rising up. “To bring me back home immediately!”

Yet to no avail. 

She knew if she yelled louder, someone might have heard, so she continued pushing it forward, ignoring how her whole body started boiling with magic within, causing a few huge sweat drops to fall and get carried away with a storm that formed from magic currents. Yuu couldn’t take it any longer, butterflies trying to resist the amount of magic leaking out of her uncontrollably, and surrounded her. She dropped her wand at once, falling on her knees, pulsations beating in her whole body, heart wincing in anguish. 

“Ah.. Ha… Ha-ha…”

Sweat drops rolled down her cheeks, falling on her fists she clenched while staring at the marble floor. It wasn’t Yuu who appeared here on her first day, dressed in ceremonial robes of RSA. It was pathetic, unwise Yuu who was scared to admit she failed.

Little iridescent butterfly landed on her nose, glowing with a tender warmth, healed her slightly, helping her to regain composure.

“I am so foolish,” Yuu tried standing up and swallowing the thoughts that started piling up in her head. “Truly, what a fatuous, ungraceful being!”

If the mirror can’t take her back home, then there is still someone who needs her help. Just how simple the formula is!

Yuu picked her magic wand up, making it disappear in the air, and headed out to the exit. She needed to sort all the thoughts out, make a plan, decide what the next step would be, and, most importantly, figure out who needed help this time. Or was it still Neige? Right, defeating, or rather admitting his other self was valid, didn’t make his worries go away. The depression he drowned in, the pressure and the thoughts hunting him were still crawling under his skin, and being an excellent actor he is, he still preferred to conceal his true feelings and—

“W-woah!!”

Yuu touched the doors’ handle only to realize that it wasn’t her who opened the doors in the first place, and couldn’t orient herself at once, swimming in the depths of her mind with splashing questions, and squealed. 

“W-what??”

“Oh?! Yuu!” 

“Elias-san?!”

Yuu recognized the familiar gingerhead and was about to ask what was happening, but she was confronted with professor Emery’s annoyed voice reaching from somewhere behind Elias’s back. 

“There’s no time!” Elias yelped when realized he basically almost smashed Yuu when he entered the hall, and grabbed her shoulders, causing the girl to shudder. “Sorry, you’re about to have a real quick retreat operation here!”

“W-what do you— Elias-san?!”

“Down the Rabbit Hole!”

And with that he pushed her towards an upfolding hole under their feet, making Yuu disorient slightly until Emery’s voice was distancing and fastly disappearing.

Yuu slightly pushed Elias off, realizing he still had his hands on her shoulders to somehow steady her while they were falling, and blinked away an unfamiliar feeling of being touched by someone. A chair wasn’t long in coming, catching Yuu and causing her to plop in it, now being opposed to Elias, who also appeared to be in the middle of taking a seat. 

“Sorry!” He said, smiling at her when a table also came, flying between them. “Didn’t expect you to be there so early!”

“I can say the same thing about you, Elias-san…”

Yuu finally could study his features, now sitting in front of him. Elias, in all his fidgeting glory, actually appeared to be an extremely beautiful person. 

His copper-colored hair almost touched his shoulders, and now, in the bizarre lighting that worked according to principles inexplicable to Yuu, she could notice long light, almost blond eyelashes. His hair seemed to have been scorched red by the blinding sun, to which the young man apparently was often exposed. The sun's reflections, caught in his brightest blue eyes, danced joyfully at the bottom. But what stood out most was his wide smile, causing Yuu to involuntarily smile back, taking in the boy's mood. It seemed that he himself was the epitome of everything bright and inspiring that existed in this world.

Two cups flew to the table, remaining in the air hanging just slightly above the table's surface. Elias parted his lips slightly, taking his cup between his fingers covered in small scratches, and glanced at Yuu. The way her fingers elegantly embraced the cup, her firm gaze fixed on the teapot made Elias startle for a moment, but he was instantly brought back to life when he smelled the tea that poured in her cup.

“Huh?!” He exclaimed, leaning slightly closer. “Isn’t it tea with lavender and orange zest?!”

“Your sense of smell is incredible, I must say!” Yuu’s lips turned upward, but then dropped when she saw him frowning. “Is something the matter?”

“Ho-hooo~ Aren’t you a sly girl, Yuu?”

“Excuse me?.. I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“Oh you do!” He clapped his hands and giggled. “Why didn’t you mention earlier that you’ve already been here!”

Ah. 

Was there any point of concealing the truth? She, indeed, had a miraculous chance to experience portal traveling, but what put a serious weight on her heart was the very fact she did it without any warning, sneakily entering Elias’s portal uninvited and unwanted. Her gaze lowered, almost incarnating her reflection in the tea cup. 

Elias’s little chuckle made her gulp and confront his blue eyes, and Yuu hesitated to follow the conversation. Yet, an unsettling feeling underneath her skin was quickly soothed by the boy’s swift jump from the chair. Elias tapped her shoulder, giving it a gentle shake right after, so as to wake her up from that concerning self-soul-searching.

But hey, wait a moment. How did he figure out that it wasn’t her first time here?

“Elias-san, how did you know?..”

“Mm, your tea flavor,” he nodded coquettishly, pointing at her teacup. “The portal always serves black tea with lavender and orange zest for the guests arriving for the second time. Next time, you’ll be served hibiscus and honey!”

“O-oh…”

“Hey,” he tilted his head. “You know, it’s very easy to read you when you frown like that. I’m not blaming you!”

“You… really?” Yuu’s eyes lit up slightly at his statement.

“Girl, why would I?” Elias giggled, sipping the tea. “I see you’ve got that adventurous spirit! I mean, I noticed that during the… uh, fight with Neige’s counterpart. Still,” he gave her an uncertain look, emotions on his beautiful face kept on changing with every second. “You seemed kinda way too serious.”

“Yes, so it was a serious matter demanding appropriate reaction.” Yuu concluded, allowing herself to enjoy the tea. 

“It indeed was,” Elias nodded. “I mean… You carry that kind of look like you’re about to disintegrate from distress any minute.”

“I’m sorry?”

“The portal seems to be quite curious about your case,” Elias chuckled again. “We’re having a long ride today. Perfect for story telling!”

Even if Yuu thought of herself as a fool for not being able to accomplish her task, she understood what he was hinting at. Elias clearly pointed out how odd her case was, and wanted just as clear answer. 

“Mmm…” He ruffled his hair, realizing that he probably came off as demanding, and sneakily glanced at Yuu, trying to analyze her reactions. Nothing beside her usual facial expressions, unable to be read, caught his eye. “You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to. It’s just…”

Now he was the hesitating one, darting his eyes between Yuu and his cup of tea. 

“It is quite alright, Elias-san,” her voice came in almost a whisper. “Forgive me for the confusion I caused. I’ll tell you everything I can, but please do bear with the fact I’m in no position to tell you absolutely everything.”

“Sure, you have my word!” He nodded eagerly. “In fact, I can also drop a thing or two about myself in return, if you’d want that.”

“I won’t deny, you’re quite an interesting person yourself…” She said slowly, as if trying to digest the words that flew off her lips. “Alright then. Ask me a question. What do you want to know exactly?”

“Okie! Well, here’s a small detail about myself: I’m good at magic. Not to mention I’m rather creative, hence I can understand what kind of forms magic can take. It’s the first time I see someone casting a spell in the shape of butterflies.”

“Ah, yes…” Yuu blinked twice, feeling panic rising within slightly. She didn’t want to lie, but just as well she hesitated whether she should tell him the secret behind her magic spells. “I cast my magic not in the way you do…”

“I noticed that,” he giggled, leaning forward. “Although, we, RSA students, and almost every well-known magician prefer no magic-shaping as it takes a lot of concentration and extra resources. I mean, why bother and spend more magic required than it’s originally needed?”

“I see…” Yuu hummed, abruptly snapping out of her thoughts as she noticed Elias winking conspiratorially at her, and realized he was quick to read her. 

“No normal magician usually says ‘I see’ when speaking about their magic,” he said and jumped in his seat as he noticed Yuu frowning. “Ah, I don’t mean you’re abnormal in a bad way.”

“That is alright,” she shook her head. “My magic is… Not quite like yours, there’s no denying. As I noticed, it doesn’t take much energy and concentration for me to cast spells. Plus, my butterflies have bits of consciousness of their own. They tend to react differently from butterfly to butterfly. I never considered them the form of my spells, but rather… friends.” 

She returned her gaze at him, probing if he was confused with her explanations, but Elias only flourished in excitement, leaning forward and slamming his palms against the table as his smile only grew wider.

“You can befriend magic?!” His eyes were almost sparkling in delight. “That’s insane!! Can you summon a butterfly?! O-oh, I mean,” he steadied himself, realizing Yuu was slightly at a loss of words. “If it’s okay.”

“Hmm… Okay. Come, little one.”

A pink butterfly appeared before Elias’s eyes with pinkish sprinkles, causing a ticklish feeling at the tip of the boy’s nose, and he carefully studied it. 

“You mentioned they have consciousness,” he mumbled, sticking out his finger, and smiled when the butterfly landed on it. “How do you know that?”

“I can speak with them,” Yuu said. “Although, apparently, others can’t hear their voices.”

“Marvelous…” Elias whispered, his eyes glued to the butterfly. “And there are different colors, right?”

Yuu hesitated, thinking that she was already providing quite a lot of information, but continued after a short pause. “Yes.”

“The butterflies you used… no, summoned that day, were yellow.”

“Golden,” she corrected him. “I summon pink butterflies more often than the others.”

“Because they possess different abilities?” He guessed and hummed after Yuu’s approval nod. “Incredible!! But, Yuu…”

“Yes?”

“Where in the world did you learn this kind of magic?”

Yuu lowered her gaze once again, avoiding Elias’s inquisitive eyes, and took a deep breath. Once she reveals the truth, it may be over. She already risked it enough with school staff, she couldn’t afford failing her mission if she puts trust in the wrong person. Elias seemed nice and genuine, but given her uncountable experience and long life, she knew how devious some people could be, and how easily trust could be lost. 

Still, they fought together. Elias was ready to risk his life for her if something went wrong that very moment, and if she knew she would prevent it, it felt… odd. Trust was a foreign concept for her — the only trust she had knowledge about was her Godmother’s kindness and wisdom. She took her when no one else did, she taught her everything, never letting down, never abandoning. Godmother’s presence was always lingering in the air, even if Yuu knew exactly well that she was somewhere far, far away, and it gave her strength and will to go on and never give up, no matter how unbearable the situation might seem. The Fairy Godmother was the only one she could rely on, believe in and follow her lead, she needed no one else, and yet…

The situation she appeared to be trapped in was unprecedented. Who knows how much longer she needs to stay here, so maybe — just maybe! — it was okay to try putting her trust in someone else?

“Not in the world you know,” she finally breathed out her words. “As I do not belong to your world.”

“Your world, you say…” Elias continued after a short moment. “That makes you a transdimensional traveler?”

“You may put it like that,” she nodded. “Putting it plainly, I’m not from your world, so I don’t possess your magic. And I’m sorry, but I believe I can’t reveal anything more than that.”

Elias smiled at her, shaking his head. “It’s alright. I’m very grateful you shared it with me. And I’ll keep your secret, you have my word on that.”

“I can’t thank you enough,” she bowed slightly and raised immediately as Elias asked her not to. 

“Your magic proved very helpful in, eh, battle with Neige? If I may put it like that. Especially given no one really knows what the hell really happened.”

“Right, I wanted to ask if you know anything about that… counterpart of his,” Yuu dwelled deeper in her thoughts. 

“No,” he said firmly. “I know nothing at all, and it’s concerning. Buuut~” 

“Hm?..”

“I know someone who does!”

Elias put his teacup away, grabbing Yuu’s hand much to her surprise and incomprehension, and jumped on the floating armchair, pulling Yuu after him. 

“Okay, off we go!”

As only Yuu managed to detect annoyance — could it even be said about unliving being?? — coming from the portal, Elias already held her hand tight enough so she didn't trap her foot when the portal closed. 

Unfamiliar warmth on her hand radiating from Elias’s skin made her shutter slightly and draw her hand closer to her heart, releasing from Elias’s hold.

“Whoops, sorry!” He smiled. “Jumping off the closing portal might be quite the experience, even if you know when it’s closing.”

He giggled, hinting at the time Yuu couldn’t predict the time that portal was closing and had to orient herself without any hints, so she only shook her head. Touches felt foreign, alien, yet… not unwelcome. 

Yuu studied her surroundings as she noticed a familiar dusted smell, which usually only books could possess, and blinked, realizing they indeed ended up landing in the library. 

“We didn’t travel far from the main hall,” she commented, watching Elias jumping on the staircase’s railing and sliding down. “Ah, wait!”

Quick on his feet, Elias gracefully jumped off the staircase, turning to Yuu, who was hurriedly descending along, glancing with hints of childish menace, much to his amusement. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself, heh!”

“Elias-san, this is dangerous! Descend normally next time!”

“‘Kay, mom.”

“Mom? I’m not your mother, Elias-san.”

He poked his tongue out of his mouth, giggling afterwards, and Yuu only sighed at his shenanigans. 

A pile of books met them right at the reception desk, and Elias was about to call for Aell when the librarian appeared from behind the pile just in time the second-year opened his mouth to speak. 

“Oh, Aell, hellou-hellou~ Being busy since early morning, hm?”

Yuu glanced at her companion with a hint of disbelief, trying to make an apology for his rude behavior, but Aell only shrugged it off.

“You as well. And good morning, Yuu-san.” 

She bowed, receiving a little approving hum in return, and greeted him. “I’m deeply sorry for disturbing you so early in the morning.”

“Nonsense,” Aell shook his head, dark chocolate curls of his hair swaying mesmerizingly. “If anyone is disturbing, it’s Elias.”

“Eyy you old man!”

“Elias-san!”

“Don’t worry, Yuu-san,” Aell raised his hand, stopping her from being harsh on her companion. “That little gadabout is always like that. Much to Emery’s chagrin.”

“That is me~ “

“So,” Aell leaned on his elbows, tilting his head, his eyelashes trembling ever so slightly. “What caused you to bring Yuu-san here?”

“She came willingly!”

“From your portal, yes, I assume.”

“In fact, you really brought me here, Elias-san,” she chuckled and turned to Aell. “Still, there’s something we wanted to ask… There’s almost no information regarding one topic we… might have been stumbled upon, and for educational purposes we would like to gather more information, if that is alright by you.”

Elias secretly showed his thumbs up, though Yuu had no idea what the gesture meant, and only tilted her head when Aell spoke.

“You speak very… cautiously,” he noticed, narrowing his eyes in query. “What kind of topic are you about to bring up?”

“We don’t know the exact name, if there’s one, that is… What we know is that a person produces, uh… their other self? Which is quite the opposite of their original side in terms of personality, but not exactly drastically opposite?..”

Yuu tried to draw a solid conclusion while speaking, and realized how messed up she sounded, but Aell seemed to understand her to the fullest, reacting in a way she didn’t expect.

The corners of his lips twitched, pupils trembled for a moment before he quickly dismissed his emotions, remaining unreadable. 

“No.” His answer was outright. “No, as I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Oh come on, you certainly do,” Elias probed, meeting with Aell’s strict look.

“I do not. More to add, you won’t even find any books on the matter you speak about. Which, by the way, sounds absolutely absurd. You kids read too many whimsical little novels these days.”

Albeit not wanting to insist, Yuu gulped and tried pressing on a little bit further. “We’re sorry for bringing it up and disturbing you then… But if you don’t mind me asking, maybe there’s magic allowing one to create their replica?”

“I believe I made myself clear, Yuu-san,” Aell stood up, turning his back on them and grabbing a book so harshly that his fingers turned white from the pressure. “Now, is there anything else?”

“Nothing,” Elias replied, nodding to the exit and receiving Yuu’s silent ‘okay’ at his move. “Sorry for asking. We’ll go.”

“Just…” Aell sighed, knitting his brows together and taking a deep breath. “Focus on your current studies instead.”

But we experienced something much exceeding our current studies program, Yuu thought to herself, but nodded nevertheless. 

“And,” Aell raised his voice slightly when Yuu and Elias headed out to the exit. “Promise me you will think about yourselves and tell us adults if something’s on your minds.”

Yuu and Elias exchanged confused looks, then turned to Aell and nodded to him in agreement. 

“Good. Now, have a good day.”

“See you later,” Elias dropped before opening the door for Yuu and throwing one last heavy glance at Aell, who had already disappeared between bookcases.

“He seemed angry…” Yuu whispered, frowning. “It appears this case with counterparts is much deeper than we originally thought.”

“I’ve never seen Aell reacting like that,” Elias added. “I mean, I thought I knew him well, but this is something new and unexpected. Which means… we need to investigate it on our own!”

“But we promised we—”

“Come on, aren’t you curious? That old man clearly hid something from us,” Elias chuckled. “We will be careful. Plus, it’s not like you’re about to leave this all and forget everything that happened to Neige, right?”

Yuu sighed and massaged her temples. Of course she wouldn’t forget. Yet, she was on her mission, everything happening connected to her task, and Elias happened to be dragged in it. She couldn’t afford letting him get hurt!

“Yes, well… Alright.” She sighed in defeat. “But please, Elias-san, be careful. If you notice anything strange and out of place, tell me immediately, so I can protect you.”

“What an adorable knight in shining armor you are, Yuu!” Elias smiled at her, little freckles on his cheeks shining slightly more prominent in lights scorching through the windows. “You too remember that you can rely on me.”

“Thank you, Elias-san,” she bowed. 

“Alright then, I’ll get going, need to check on someone before the lessons start!” He exclaimed, stretching and yawning. “You go back to the clock tower, you’ve got a well-deserved rest for today, after all.”

“I could say the same about you!” She protested, looking at him with reprimanding eyes. “You need to get some rest, Elias-san. I’ll be just fine. I can’t skip lessons just because of little scratches.”

“Girl, I literally wasn’t affected in any way thanks to you,” he bent over to her. “I’m very grateful, but spare me, how could I sit around doing nothing when it's broad daylight?”

“Okay…” She took a deep breath. “But if you feel exhausted, return to your dorm immediately and get some rest.”

“Yeah, mom.”

“I am not your mother, Elias-san.”

But Elias already disappeared, jumping off the staircase railing again, and waved his hand, bidding his goodbyes to her. 

Despite being quite exhausted herself, Yuu couldn’t let herself skip lessons. Sun rays were flowing on her skin when she stretched, sitting at her desk in the classroom where students were partially present. Accompanied by their yawns, she opened her copybook, alas letters were floating, becoming an incoherent mess, and Yuu sighed. She was visibly tired and confused by everything that happened this morning. 

If the mirror was still blocked, it meant there was someone who needed her help. Was Neige really alright or should she pay more attention to his state? Or was there a completely different person, silently crying for help, while Yuu was sitting here, doing nothing? How foolish it was of her — to think she’d accomplished her training in princess rescuing. The Fairy Godmother possessed great intuition, allowing her to detect those in need in one moment, she always knew what was right and what was wrong. She knew exactly how to help and provide one with her assistance, and when one should have done something by themselves. 

Yuu took a deep breath, trying to gather her thoughts and detect what would come next, when she sensed a rather familiar fresh fragrance from her side and turned left to see Luan jumping on his seat.

“Mornin’!” He greeted her, his brightest smile making her reciprocate. “Man, you look…”

Luan frowned, leaning slightly forward to get a closer look at her face. 

“I look?..”

“Exhausted,” Luan concluded, his features softening. “Damn, you look like you haven’t slept in ages. No offense tho.”

“It’s alright,” she shook her head. “I just… Have a lot on my mind, but don’t worry.”

“Nah girl, you’re not getting away with that from me, got it?” Yuu blinked at him blankly. “I’m here and you’re not smiling genuinely? That won’t do.”

“Haha,” a small laugh escaped her lips, and she wouldn’t lie, it came off really sincere. “No, really, I’m quite okay. Just a bit tired.”

“Tat tat,” Luan stuck out his index finger and clicked his tongue, lecturing her. “I’m not buying it. You’re a bad liar, Yuu.”

She laughed sheepishly, averting her gaze and hesitating, whether she should have taken that as a compliment or a comment to think about thoroughly later on. She, in fact, couldn’t lie at all, but if it was that easy to notice, well… 

“Sorry…”

“Girl, I’m not angry at you, chill,” Luan clapped his hands and fished out of his pocket that peculiar device called phone, waving his hand at Yuu to bend forward. “I know what could brighten your mood. Say, do you like cats?”

“Cats?” Yuu blinked, certainly not expecting that kind of question all of sudden. “Yes, I do find animals adorable. Cats included. Why?”

“Great, no one could resist cat videos! Come ‘ere.”

She stared at the phone, narrowing her eyes and trying to follow Luan’s quick moves, his fingers floating above the surface, letters splashing under his touch. What a marvelous little device!

He gave his phone to Yuu, galaxies flashing in her eyes due to excitement mixed with fear she might break something, but Luan just giggled it off and said it’s okay. Yuu took the phone, grabbing it clumsily, and stared at the screen as Luan pressed a button, and a video started playing.

Little kittens were playing with each other, their fluffy paws hitting the screen, as if trying to reach Yuu, and small squeaky meows made the corners of her lips grow wide in a beautiful genuine smile.

“See! I always keep my promises!” Luan giggled, yet appeared to be very proud of himself. 

“They are so cute!!” Yuu exclaimed, her eyes filling with pure joy and delight, seeming much more alive then they were a minute ago. “Waa… Thank you for showing it to me. I will treasure this moment forever.”

“We must get you a phone one day,” Luan said, taking the device from Yuu’s hands when the video ended. “I’d send you a ton of such everyday.”

“I don’t mind, if it wouldn’t distract you from the lessons.”

“Hey, you’re no fun!!”

“That I am,” she smiled. “Thank you once again. I appreciate it.”

“Maybe you should just join the equestrian club if you love animals. They’ve got horse riding there.”

“Hm…” 

Yuu found herself lost in thoughts again. Luan has mentioned clubs before, as well as Chenya, encouraging her to join one. Even if it sounded like fun, was it the right moment to try though? Now that she was certain her job here wasn’t done, maybe she could allow herself a little moment of enjoyment and find out what her interests really were?

“Do you know anyone who’s in that club?” Yuu asked, justifying it innerly in a ‘it’s just out of curiosity, nothing more’ manner of speaking. 

“Neige,” Luan said instantly. “Oh, also that funny guy called Elias. You might not know him but-”

“I do know,” she said. “Oh, sorry for interrupting!”

“You’re doing great! See, you already know that Chenya dude, Neige and even Elias! Though I don’t think the equestrian club is really your cup of tea.”

“Huh? Why would you think so?”

“I’m not sure, it's just… Uh, vibes aren’t really yours. Anyway, I haven’t told you I also joined a club, have I?”

“Oh! Which exactly?”

“School broadcasting!” He announced proudly, smirking at Yuu and giggling. “Sounds cool, huh? Don’t be shocked if you hear my voice while walking around the school. Oh and I’ll make sure you hear me in every corner of these grounds!”

“I’m looking forward to it!” 

As teacher Emery entered the classroom, making it clear that the lesson was about to start, Luan opened his copybook and spoke softer, but still loud enough for only Yuu to hear.

“Let me give you a tour after classes end,” he said. “Then you’ll choose which club you find most fitting for yourself!”

“Splendid idea,” she nodded, returning to her copybook.

And catching Emery’s worrying gaze on her before he started the lesson. 

Luan found Yuu brooding in the hallway after lessons ended, and appeared before her, his smile wide as always. 

“We’re off on our journey to find you a club fitting your interests!”

“You’re making it sound quite adventurous,” Yuu noticed, taking Luan’s lead and passing through students, apparently not so cautious of her presence as they were just a few days ago. “Again, thank you for helping.”

“That’s my pleasure,” Luan replied. “And to prove my good self being a wonderful tour guide and not make it boring, let me tell you that you can find most of the club rooms in another wing. Aside from those which involve outdoor activities, ofc.”

“Oh, alright. What would be our first stop?”

“It’s a surprise!”

Yuu smiled. Luan was pretty quick on his feet, just like Elias, and following him was quite a process, given she herself preferred no rush as she walked, yet she noticed that Luan slowed down just enough for her to not run and walk in a comfortable space. Perhaps all of her acquaintances she happened to have got accustomed to this kind of attentiveness due to her short height and it was simply more convenient for them to walk slowly, or maybe they were just considerate — she, in the first place, was thankful. 

It was four in the afternoon when the classes ended, and colors of the sun iridescent from scorchingly bright and light to warm orange, bringing comfort and coziness. Yuu could never get used to it — walking freely under the sun, watching days pass by, colors changing their palette with each hour. Uncountable years, half of which Yuu simply forgot as they failed to imprint memories into her heart, remaining dim and plain, brought eternal night to her life. 

The garden in her mansion glimmered in starlight each day and night, and she could never imagine those flowers in shades beside slightly touched by moonlight, silver and cold. She, of course, witnessed countless sunrises in her lifetime while rescuing princesses, and yet… Has she ever stayed in one world longer than for one day? The touch of the sun on her pale skin was extraneous and inappropriate to the point that it brought more sadness than delight. 

And now, with every day filled with the alien warmth of the sun and its colors, she bathed in it, enjoying every moment with every fiber of her soul. 

She didn’t notice as they already arrived, Luan stopping right before her.

“A~aalright, here we are! Allow me to introduce you to the art club!”

Luan was just about to open the door, but two distinctively loud voices were heard up ahead.

“LUAAAAAAAAN!”

Yuu winced at how exceptionally loud they were, reaching her very core and shaking it with their sharp yell. Luan, in his turn, wasn’t shaken by them at all, looking rather… Playful?

“Whoopsie-daisy!” He said, turning around and getting almost smashed by two bodies.

Yuu tensed, ready to defend, attack, or maybe everything at once, but Luan’s only burst into soft giggles. 

Luan was quickly pulled into some sort of a greeting hug, and when two unfamiliar people let him be, Yuu studied their features. 

The first young man turned out to be quite tall and strong. Thick pitch-black hair casually fell onto the tanned skin of his shoulders. Yuu had to lift her head high to peer into his dark, bottomless eyes. His strong, large palm rested on Luan's shoulder. A light shadow of a calm smile stretched across his plump lips. His animalistic features reminded Yuu of a warthog.

The second young man turned out to be much smaller in stature compared to his companion. From under his shirt, carelessly unbuttoned at the throat, a scattering of moles could be seen on the golden skin. The sleeves of his uniform were rolled up, exposing his sinewy arms, which were also not lacking in moles. With a slight wave of his hand, he brushed a strand of tousled ginger hair from his forehead, allowing Yuu to look at his bright chocolate eyes, aimed straight at Luan. His rounded ears and ginger tail reminded Yuu of a meerkat. Both of the students wore yellow brooches attached to their shirts, revealing that they were from Kifurijua dorm.

“Tim, Boo!” Luan greeted them, pulling into a hug. “Wassup?” “We finally found ya,” the black-haired one spoke, his voice deep and strong. 

“You’ve got the company,” another one noticed, nodding to Yuu. “Hey there!”

“O-oh, yes, good afternoon,” she startled for a moment, mesmerized by their appealing appearances, and bowed.

“This is the first time someone bows to me,” black-haired student said. “No need to go that far, girl.”

“You meet her next time and get used to it instantly, that’s just how she is!” Luan explained and turned to Yuu. “Yuu, meet my best friends! This is Tim,” Luan pointed at the ginger-haired student. “And here’s Boo,” black-haired boy nodded shortly. 

“Pleased to meet you everyone,” she nodded politely. “I am Yuu, Luan’s classmate.”

“Ey, aren’t we friends?” He tilted his head to her but let the matter be as he noticed her confusion and frustration, clearly not comfortable with answering. “Anyway, Yuu, they’re also my clubmates. So, guys, did you need somethin’? I was giving Yuu a tour on our clubs!”

“You’re needed in the club,” Boo said. “Right now.”

“Really? What happened?” 

“Leader’s got a sore throat, and the broadcast starts in half an hour.” 

“Oh,” Luan turned to Yuu at once, realizing that he couldn’t have skipped the club activities, yet he also gave her a promise. “Uhm, Yuu.”

“I understand,” she shook her head, as if telling them not to worry. “Please proceed without me, it sounds important. I will go further on my own.”

“Ayy, but I promised!”

“That is quite alright, please don’t worry about me,” Yuu smiled, seeing how Tim and Boo relaxed as they realized she understood that Luan was needed. “I appreciate you led me here, I’m sure I’ll manage to go further on.”

“Promise me you’ll ask for help if you get lost or somethin’!” 

“I promise,” Yuu nodded shortly. “Good luck in the club! I hope to hear your voice again today when I’m exploring.”

“Oh that’s for sure, wait for me, heh!” Luan waved her goodbye. “See ya later!”

“See you again, Yuu,” Boo said.

“Bye-bye!” Tim followed.

After bidding goodbyes, Yuu watched them distancing until they disappeared in the end of the hall, and Yuu turned to the art club door. 

“Okay,” she took a deep breath. “Let’s see… Hello?”

She opened the door, throwing a quick glance and examining the room, but her only companion was silence. Yuu proceeded into the room, dust particles floating around, caught in the sun rays sliding through the windows. 

There were easels placed throughout the auditorium, some covered with cloth, some empty, and others with pencil sketches. Dried splatters of paint decorated the floor, brushes were carelessly scattered on the windowsill or in small drawers along with other painting tools. Yuu slowly walked around the classroom.

She never really gave a thought if she enjoyed painting or drawing. She studied art under the Godmother’s thoughtful guidance, because it was what princesses did. Choir, art, dance, embroidery, etiquette — lessons flashed within her mind with a rapid speed, changing one another. She was quite skillful and knowledgeable in all those spheres, but did she really find herself enjoying the process, with the world stopping while she was drawing or singing?.. 

Brooding as she were, Yuu found herself abruptly distracted by a certain painting, and gasped, almost crushing the easel behind her. 

“W-what in the world…”

An exquisite portrait of Neige appeared before her eyes, and under other circumstances she would just appreciate the beautiful and flawless technique, but this? What in the world was this?

Neige’s counterpart, drawn so astonishingly perfect as if it was alive, was hugging himself, staring at the crumbling skies. The same luxurious robes of the character Neige was playing, the same mask, same burning red eyes with a touch of pure sadness, and the very same rings on his gloved fingers. The very same disheveled hair, halved in black-and-white color scheme.

An absolutely perfect replica. 

Yuu stared at the painting for a moment before hesitantly making her way towards it, her fingers brushing over it, but sensing nothing outside of the aquarelle texture. Calm down, she demanded of herself, but mind was tangled in various thoughts. 

Alright, she thought, maybe someone saw the pamphlet showing Neige’s character? Yet, he didn’t possess that hair color scheme. If one hasn’t seen that desperate look in the eyes of Neige’s replica, one couldn’t depict it so painfully beautiful. So oversensitively flawless.

Yuu frowned, studying the portrait. No sign, no date, no memo left — nothing. Just perfection of the artist and the agony of the character. 

“I need to ask if someone knows where art students are at this moment…”

With that, Yuu threw one lingering glance at the painting and headed out of the room, hoping she might find someone from another club and gather information. From what she knew, Neige himself didn’t attend the art club, and it’s unlikely he would draw himself in that state. She didn’t know what club Chenya attended, but he also most definitely wouldn’t make this art piece. Leaving Luan in the broadcasting club and Elias in the equestrian one, that meant someone else also saw Neige’s counterpart.

All of her thoughts left her mind with a sweet voice somewhere down the hall flowing around, reaching Yuu’s ears. 

“Is someone… singing?”

She proceeded further, reaching a classroom and throwing a glance at the board on the left. 

“Choir club,” she read. 

She knocked twice, but no one answered, apparently being too involved into singing, but she peeked in, noticing a familiar silhouette. 

“It’s a tender rain… May this song reach you, no matter how far apart we are.”

Yuu parted her lips, melting into the softness of the voice, and recognized the pink silky hair. That was the boy she saw during PE class the other day! She decided not to interrupt, and somehow felt how her mind settled in peace after hearing some lines, and with a gentle smile on her face she made her way to the other classes.

As much as she enjoyed visiting different clubs, a variety of which left her speechless — natal charts & transits study, really? Really? — apparently no one could help her navigate where art club students might be at the moment. Internally making a note to investigate the matter later on, she decided to focus on the initial plan, which was to define what club would suit her. 

After exploring everything within the school walls, she went outside and made her way to the grounds where PE class was held that day, remembering Qian words that she may find him after 4 pm. Throwing a quick glance on the clock tower indicating already six in the evening, she gasped at how much time it took for her to visit every club she could find inside. 

Still, she approached teacher Qian’s silhouette, finding him teaching students some broom flight techniques. 

“Isn’t that Yuu-san?” Qian performed an elegant, yet strong jump from the broom, landing on the ground gracefully, and smiled. “Good evening! Here to train?”

“Good evening, Qian-sensei,” she bowed, also nodding to the others in a greeting manner. “Not exactly at the moment. I’m just observing club activities as I want to join one.”

“Great idea! We’ve got two here in the yard,” Qian pointed at the broom he was holding and approached a stand to his right. “First is broom flying, second is archery.”

“Archery?” Yuu’s eyes glowed with unconcealed interest. 

She tried archery once or twice in her life, with Godmother deciding it was very unlady-like, so she dismissed these activities, focusing on mastering simple magic spell-casting. Still, Yuu wondered if she would succeed or not.

“Take a bow and try on!” Qian encouraged her.

“Thank you.”

She did as he suggested, and the weight of the bow felt so familiar and just right in her hands, that she had to question herself on the matter. Humming to herself, she pulled the bowstring, her muscles tensing, eyes focusing on the target that Qian pointed at, and let the arrow hit the target with an unsurpassed precision.

“Marvelous!” Qian exclaimed, clapping. “Take one more!”

Yuu tried once again, the result remaining as flawless as it was the first time.

“Have you ever practiced archery before, Yuu-san?”

“Once or twice,” she admitted, smiling sheepishly at the praise she received from the teacher and other students. 

“You should definitely consider joining the club then. We’d be honored to have such an incredible archer.”

“Thank you so much, Qian-sensei,” Yuu bowed. “I’ll think about it thoroughly. Now, if you excuse me, I’ll get going.”

“Yes, goodbye, see you next Thursday!”

Yuu was smiling as she walked away from the sports grounds, exposing her face to the fresh evening’s breeze.

A thought of visiting infirmary and checking Neige on crossed her mind. A whole day passed, and she wondered if he woke up, how was he feeling, if everything was alright. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest at the quick reminder of the battle of sorts that upfolded yesterday, but she made it wither in her mind just as quickly. 

“Little one,” she summoned a pink butterfly, greeting it. “Let’s go visit Neige, shall we?”

The butterfly danced around in approval and followed Yuu. 

The path she took happened to be unrecognizable. Yuu took a look around, thinking. Apparently she went in the wrong direction, which led her to an unfamiliar place, the infirmary building remaining unseen from this point. The only building that was caught in her sight was a rounded construction with transparent glassy walls, sweet aroma lingering nearby and luring the butterfly closer.

“Oh, little one, wait a moment!”

She followed her butterfly and stopped before the entrance.

“Is that a… greenhouse? Never knew there was one.”

The butterfly already flew inside, enchanted by the sweet fragrance, and Yuu sighed in defeat, knocking twice on the door and receiving no reply.

Opening the door, she felt a bizarre sensation piercing her through, serving as a precaution. Don’t go any further, it screamed, reaching her mind, stop right here. 

Strange, Yuu thought. At the first glance, the greenhouse appeared quite common, with nothing out of ordinary. She took a deep breath, ready to deal with everything that she might face right now. She carefully studied the vines crawling on the floor. Average green leaves gradually changed their color to dark blue on the edges, and Yuu brooded at the sight of it. What a peculiar plant it was, but what name did it possess? 

“My sweet one, please come,” she whispered just in case, and a virid butterfly appeared.

Unlike the pink butterflies, which were accustomed to travel to far distances, virid butterflies were nature’s true incarnations, possessing its gifts in magic. 

“Can you please put some farina on them?”

The butterfly flew above the vines, white sparkles surrounding the plant, and the dark blue edges subdued, turning into bright yellow, resembling sun. 

“Thank you, sweet.”

Vines cleared the path for Yuu, who managed to relax for literally one second. 

If they were what she was thinking, then she could be trapped the second she stepped on them. Vines of that kind were more of a nettle, burning the skin with their grasp, and depraved one from moving forward. But were surprisingly fond of farina.

She proceeded, now facing a wall of giant buds glowing in bright purple. Huh, how curious… Yuu hummed, summoning her magic wand this time, and accepted the challenge, her lips curving into a small smile. Nature was her very best friend, the one she grew up with, her gentle companion, the one who helped her develop her instincts. Hearing nature singing every day after watering flowers in the garden, playing in the heavy rain, sleeping in the snow — she knew how nature behaves like no one ever could imagine. 

“Aren’t you from the Caryophyllaceae family, dear ones? Quite huge for a baby's-breath though,”  Yuu waved her magic wand and parted her lips to whisper an incantation. “Á lohtar!”

Buds stopped glowing for a mere moment before sprouting into huge beautiful flowers and pulsating with passionate pink. Sudden coquettish feeling radiated from them, and Yuu genuinely giggled at such a cute reaction, proceeding further, the virid butterfly following her lead.

Suddenly the whole world lost its light, warm sun touches through the walls stopped at once, and freezing waves surrounded Yuu, her hair disheveling from sudden strong winds, and she slowly opened her eyes she closed once it started. 

“Fungi?..”

Myriads of small fungi were the only light source, pale blue waves coming from them. 

“You can’t trick me out of all people,” Yuu chuckled, letting her muscles relax. 

It was a mere illusion. Fungi of that kind were infamous for their incredible ability to create surroundings that appeared the most unexpected for the one who encountered them. Yuu was bathing in the sun all this time, so it was no wonder fungi produced a whole ice storm for her specifically. 

“Now, dear one, let’s calm it down,” she nodded to the virid butterfly, and it performed a pirouette, following Yuu’s magic wand wave, and lights returned to the greenhouse, temperature returning to normal. “Wonderful!”

Yuu dismissed her magic wand when she finally saw the one that — or rather who — was behind all those little schemes.

A plant with dark green leaves, red buds and purple-pinkish flowers with their centers glowing in bright blue. An elegant, luxurious and very dangerous flower spread its branches in front of her, twitching as if in an approving dance.

“No way…” Yuu mumbled to herself, falling on her knees before the flower and gasping in surprise, eyes sparkling with pure joy. 

“What, blinded by my beauty? No wonder, heh.”

Playful voice reached her ears, unusually low-pitched for a flower of that kind, Yuu thought, but admired it nevertheless. 

“Hey human,” the flower twitched, its branches raising in the air in an intimidating way. “Ah, shit, you’re no human it seems.”

Yuu stared at the flower. Cursing flower! The day suddenly turned absolutely wondrous. 

“I can’t believe it,” Yuu mumbled, leaning forward, her eyes shimmering with an unprecedented bright red hue. “I haven’t seen Auleum nocturnus in ages!”

“Now wait a moment, you cheeky fae!” The flower reached for her with its branches, leaves tickling her nose. “You know what I am?”

“Auleum nocturnus, in other words nocturnal tapestry,” she started her explanation, letting the flower touch her skin, not minding the way it spoke. “Dangerous, yet insanely beautiful creatures. How could I not know?”

“You must be ancient old to know,” it noticed, causing Yuu to pout.

“I’m not that old,” she justified. 

“Yeah, as if. But girl, you certainly know a thing or two about my kind, huh!”

“Beautiful times as they were, I had little experience with talking to your kin. My Godmo-… Ahem, let us say, I couldn’t bring them to my home, as there were many diurnal creatures your kind don’t really like sharing one place with.”

“Diurnal bastards never know their place, heh,” the flower chuckled, as Yuu thought, and nodded nevertheless. “Still, it’s always fun to fool around with ‘em.”

“As much as I admire diurnal flowers and their beauty, I couldn’t agree more. Seeing you all bittering and chattering was quite amusing for me as well.”

“You’re quite an imp yourself, huh?” The flower snorted. 

“I’m no imp at all!” Yuu protested, feeling rather annoyed. 

“Yeah yeah, sure. But man, finally someone who knows the thing or two! You might want to talk to Ivy then.”

“Ivy?” Yuu asked, tilting her head. “Who is that?”

“That would be me.”

“Ah!!”

Yuu was so entertained by her little conversation with Auleum nocturnus that she failed all her perception skills at once, not noticing a huge figure appearing from behind. 

She fell and released a surprised gasp, but managed to calm herself down when the boy outstretched his hand and helped her stand up.

“Apologies… Are you okay?”

Yuu parted her lips to reply, but found herself at a loss of words, so the only shocked breath escaped her throat.

The boy before her appeared to be insanely tall, so she had to raise her head so that her neck almost ached in response to the action. 

Her gaze immediately locked onto his, and she didn’t know how to handle this situation. His right eye portrayed the setting sun breaking through the forest thickets — a brown eye, like caramel interspersed with herbal splashes, as if it represented the personification of nature.

The left one absorbed the rainy sky, covered with clouds. The deep blue seemed to Yuu like the concentration of a storm on a cool summer day.

Blonde curls flowed over his pale skin, falling lightly over his eyes and curling behind his ears. Plump lips, as if filled to the brim with life, were slightly parted. He carried a fragrance of something floral, to no one's surprise, yet very refined, sophisticated — a brief touch of orchids, gently held by juniper and a hint of vetiver. 

But the most outstanding detail was his tired, ephemeral gaze, hidden behind gold-plated glasses. The frame was difficult to trace in a complex design, most of which were... flowers.

Various flowers were inserted into the slits of the glasses' arms. Small decorations filled with water hung from the edges of the eyepieces. And, what is most remarkable, on one of the glasses’ arms there was a small flower of Auleum nocturnus itself.

Come to think of it, wasn't he the one she saw with Elias in the library and also just right before they jumped into the portal?

“I… yes, I’m quite alright, I’m sorry,” Yuu finally managed to mumble, mesmerized by the boy’s ethereal pristine beauty. 

“Don’t worry,” his voice, shining in its divine radiance, was absolutely enchanting. “I am Ivy Splendide, third-year student, dorm leader of Florevel. Pleasure to meet you.”

Yuu bowed deeply, surprisingly receiving a slight bow in return, which was extremely unusual, given modern humans’ customs, and smiled. “The pleasure is all mine. I am Yuu, a first-year student of Sidhery.”

“Quite the pronouns choice.”

“You don’t seem really surprised.”

“Hm,” he pressed two fingers to his chin. “Let’s say I am quite familiar with the way you speak. Anyway, it’s quite the time we finally meet.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’ve heard of the only female student here, moreover, Sidhery dorm… You’re quite the topic for gossip, Yuu-san.”

“Oh no…” She frowned. “I hope there’s nothing bad…” “Don’t worry,” his reassuring half-smile made Yuu calm down. “In any case, this is pretty surprising to see that Florence has acknowledged you. My best friend can be rather… meticulous.”

“When was the last damn time you saw someone pronouncing the name of my kind in such an upbeat and flawless way, huh? The girl’s certainly interesting.”

“Ah, so your name’s Florence!” Yuu instantly switched her attention to the flower. “Nice to meet you!”

“Yeah yeah,” Florence chuckled. “Congrats on passing my tests. What a performance you did!”

“I, oh…”

“Be proud of yourself,” Ivy said. “The only person who managed to pass his ridiculous tests was Elias, but Elias is… Wait, do you even know him? It’s hard not to, though.”

“Ah, yes, we’re acquainted. I can imagine, given his very optimistic nature.”

“Very true, indeed. And with Elias being Elias, that makes you the only one knowledgeable person on this whole campus. I must say I’m curious, where did you even get to know about Florence’s kind…”

“The girl’s ancient as aeons,” Florence said, disappearing in sprinkles of blue from the flower bed he was sitting in, and the flower on Ivy’s glasses twitched. “No wonder.”

“I must admit,” Ivy nodded. “You do feel… familiar somehow.”

Yuu couldn’t help but nod as well. She too felt something within this boy, something beside his ethereal radiance he was carrying, but more… familiar, close. 

“Florence-san, I’m not ancient!” Yuu protested, smiling apologetically. “I’m sorry. Although, I, too, feel that we have something in common.”

“Passion for gardening, I assume,” Ivy chucked. “Are you here because you’re curious about our club?”

“Oh, you have a club? I thought you were just gardening here all for yourself, for maybe out of habit.”

“Thank you. I planted everything here all by myself.”

“You did?!”

“Yes, there was nothing before I just… thought I needed to do some gardening,” Ivy explained.

“This is incredible, Ivy-san!” Yuu stared at the amount of beautiful and healthy flowers. 

“Glad to hear praise from my fellow gardener.”

“Ha-ha,” Yuu smiled, not denying the truth. “I like it there. The place feels very tranquil.”

“Come join us then. Florence makes it impossible to join for everyone else with his ridiculous tests.”

“Ow come on, can’t a man have the time of his life? Besides, what would those dudes do if they can’t recognize my good self?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure…”

“I will think about it,” Yuu replied. “But your club seems most fitting for me by far. Plus, I’m very pleased that we met.”

“The same goes for me. If anything, you can find me here. Or just find Elias, that little devil always knows where I am.”

“Alright! I’m sorry for leaving early, but I must go now. See you around, Ivy-san, Florence-san.”

“See ya, girl! Bring somethin’ to eat next time, okay?”

“Come now, Florence, behave yourself.”

“Oh come on man!”

“See you later, Yuu-san.”

Yuu bidded goodbyes and went outside peacefully this time, her butterflies dismissed themselves already. What a meeting it was! 

With her heart finally slightly at ease, she made her way to the infirmary, holding a hope of finding Neige there, but right after she entered the room he was resting in just this morning, she found only Chenya and Elias, surprisingly.

“Good evening, everyone,” she greeted them. “And where’s Neige?”

“Good nyavening~ Seems like all of us got the very same idea, mm?” Chenya replied, his body reminiscent of a fluid as always as he jumped off the windowsill gracefully. “Apparently he’s not here.” “Obviously,” Elias nodded, turning to Yuu and waving at her. “Hello again!”

“Say, but how about we visit Neige’s dorm, given we’ve gathered here already with one purpose, hm?” Chenya suggested, his tail waving playfully.

“Great idea!” Elias concluded. “Portal room is nearby, let’s go.”

Yuu felt her eyelids turning lead with tiredness, but Neige was far more important than anything. As the company walked through the main building, Yuu silently observed Chenya and Elias exchanging lines regarding rather mundane activities, and was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as Elias spoke of the tasks remaining for tomorrow with Chenya.

“Forgive me for interrupting,” she intervened when Elias opened the door to the portal room and looked at Yuu. “Chenya-san, you and Elias belong to the same dormitory, correct?”

“Indeed,” Chenya nodded, his hands behind his head. “I'm the vice dorm leader of Pandora Charm, after all.”

“You are?” Yuu raised her head, meeting with Chenya’s cheeky smile. “You both are so admirable.”

“Just say we’re funny,” Elias chuckled, leading Yuu forward. “That's what they always say about our dorm. We’re rather animated guys out here.”

“Which is absolutely wonderful.”

“Hehe,” Elias giggled at her statement.

The familiar book floating above the majestic pedestal, that the headmaster had shown Yuu on the very first day of her stay here, appeared again before her eyes. Elias approached it, his fingers carefully moving over the worn pages, the text on them began to quietly glow red.

“Ready to experience another kind of portal traveling, Yuu?” Elias asked her, receiving a small nod. “Great! Now, take us to the Edelwiese.”

A huge mirror appeared in the center of the room, just like it did when Ambrose took Yuu to the Sidhery dormitory. But, unlike that time, the mirror was framed with apple tree flowers. How very interesting, Yuu thought, smelling the fresh natural aroma lingering in the air. Birds chirping hummed their sweet song, and beautiful red fog rippled on the mirror’s surface, so very welcoming and charming.

“You first,” Chenya suggested, waving at Yuu so that she took a step closer to the mirror. 

One day I’ll manage to summon the mirror back to my own home, she thought when her body slipped through the mirror, and she allowed the current to carry her to the destination point.

She slowly opened her eyes right when Chenya and Elias jumped at her left, and gasped in surprise. 

Yuu frowned as she studied her surroundings. Many wooden houses, connected by openwork bridges, towered over a small quiet pond, where swans swam slowly while sparrows flew playfully above them, singing their simple songs. In the courtyard near each of the two-story houses there were flower beds with bright, rich flowers. The sun lazily stroked the forest edges behind the houses, disappearing at last and giving way to the evening darkness familiar to Yuu. Still, even the night landscape of this place seemed different from everything else — the darkness of the colors was soft and gentle, rather soothing and even warm.

“Everyone reacts the same way you do when they first visit Edelwiese,” Elias chirped, stepping forwards but noticing that Yuu remained still. “Hey, everything ok?”

“As, yes, sorry, I just never noticed these buildings while exploring school. Where are we exactly? I can’t see anything familiar.”

“Right, you don’t know!” Chenya noticed. “Dormitories are pocket dimensions, hence you can’t normally see them until you willfully travel into them. Yours is an exception, nya.”

“Pocket dimensions?” She tilted her head, following her curiosity. 

“How do you think they managed to build seven freaking dorms on such a small island, mm?” Elias snorted, smiling at her. 

“This school is full of wonders…” 

“It is! Now, let’s go visit Neige.”

“Where does he live though?” Yuu asked, catching Elias and Chenya’s pace, her head constantly turning to the sides to appreciate the beauty of this place. 

“See the house in the center? Normally Edelwiese students have their own rooms located in these houses, but maybe you know that Neige’s case is quite special, so…”

“He lives with dwarfs in that house,” Chenya continued. “He has a separate room though.” 

“Is that so…”

They ascended the staircase leading to the house in the center, and suddenly a hard wall slam was heard, pulsating, and confused everyone at the spot. They exchanged frustrated looks and Elias knocked on the door, but to no avail.

“How peculiar,” Chenya said. “Let’s just come inside!”

“But, Chenya-san, wait!—”

Aaaand he was already inside. 

Inside the house greeted them with warmth and comfort. Soft ottomans in large quantities were randomly scattered here and there. The bookcases were filled with a variety of books, and cleaning supplies were placed everywhere: brooms, buckets, and dusting rags hung on the dryer. Various kinds of plants in pots warmly greeted visitors with their freshness and were pleasing to the eye.

What was really out of place was the sound of someone screaming, music smashing the whole house down with its insanely heavy beats. Yuu noticed Dominic wincing as he was cleaning the dinner table, other dwarfs frowning with visible discomfort while engaged in their own activities. 

“Dominic-san!” Yuu yelled through the music, but he apparently couldn’t hear her. “Dominic-saaan!!” 

“Wait!” Elias yelled in unison, pointing at the earplugs tacked in his little ears. 

Chenya had another strategy: he swiftly jumped over Dominic, landing on the chair before the dwarf's eyes and causing him to blink. 

“Ah!” Dominic exclaimed. “Chenya-senpai!” He turned back after Chenya pointed at the others with a short nod. “Yuu-san, Elias-senpai! Good evening.”

“Hi Dominic,” Elias greeted him, exchanging a high-five, much to Yuu questioning glare as she didn’t recognize the gesture. “Care to explain what the hell is happening?”

“Better to see yourselves… We just got used to it when it happens… Well, at least we’re trying. Neige’s upstairs, as I assume you would want to visit him.”

“Thank you!!” Yuu replied, and the group went to the second floor of the small house with its tranquility wavering at the music.

They were quick to find Neige’s room since apparently both Elias and Chenya had already been there. The door was shut, the cute little sign written in cursive saying “Neige LeBlanche’s room” was shaking to the music, as the loud shouting was heard.

“THIS SPECIAL NIGHT OF MY FIFTEEN, I’LL NEVER FORGET!!!!!”

“F-fifteen?” Yuu blinked, recognizing Neige’s voice and meeting just as confused stares of her companions. “I.. I thought he was seventeen?”

“He is,” Elias confirmed, grabbing the door handle and turning it to the right, making the door swing open. 

“I… wow.”

Chenya’s surprised breath died out as everyone saw in what kind of state Neige appeared before their eyes. 

“ALL THE CRYBABIES, GET OUT OF HERE!!!”

His jet black hair was disheveled from how often he jerked his head. His cute sweater was carelessly thrown somewhere on the bed, but due to the intensification of the frantic music beats, it apparently slipped to the floor. Neige was dressed in dark blue uniform trousers, the sleeves of his blouse rolled up to his elbows, his collar undone enough to reveal his tense, pale collarbones.

He was moving quickly throughout the room, his movements erratic and harsh.

“Uhm, Neige-san—”

“IT’LL NEVER COME BACK AGAIN AND IT’S SO SHORT PERIOD!!”

“Dude completely lost it,” Elias laughed, hugging himself and wiping out tears accumulating in the corners of his eyes. 

“I ETCH IN MY HEART THIS SPECIAL NIGHT OF MY FIF— Oh shit.”

The music stopped at once, with Yuu finally taking a relaxed breath as this all ended, pain releasing her from its strong grasp. Neige covered his face with his palms, his ears reddening to the point one could fry eggs on them with how hot they turned due to the embarrassment.

“Uhm… uh… Well…” He mumbled,his gaze slipping through the fingers and studying others’ reactions. “I, ehm… You see…”

“Dude, I never knew you enjoy heavy metal!” Elias was the first to speak. “This is absolutely real.”

“Stop, please, arghh…” Neige mumbled, his knees betraying him as he fell on the floor. “I thought I hid it well enough…”

“With music smashing every corner of this house to the ground?” Chenya chuckled, placing his hand on Neige’s shoulder. “Relax, we’re not judging you or somethin’, yeah?”

“I must say I’m surprised,” Elias added, gently taking Neige’s hand and moving it to the side. “But don’t worry really, it’s just funny we found it out this way.”

“Haaa, I suppose so,” Neige finally relaxed, replying with a small smile. “Forgive me for a ridiculous display. And Yuu-san,” he stood up, approaching her and bowing slightly in an apologetic manner. “I’m sorry, it seems you don’t like loud music very much.”

“It is fine,” she shook her head. “I’m just not really accustomed, but I must say this is quite an unexpected choice… I’m not judging you, of course.”

“Thank you, everyone. Please, take a seat. I’ll make some tea.”

Neige was quick to return with a wooden tray, four teacups on it. Everyone sat on the floor in the center of the room, thanking Neige for the tea, and glanced at each other for a second.

“Well,” Neige broke the little silence that hung between them. “I suppose I owe an explanation…”

“You don’t owe us anything,” Yuu shook her head, taking a teacup in her hands. “We just wanted to check if you’re alright.”

“Yeah, we all met in the infirmary and you weren’t even there,” Elias said, taking a sip. “You should take a proper rest though.”

“Right they are,” Chenya nodded, taking a teacup with the tip of his tail. 

“Ah yes, I believe I must,” Neige let out a soft sigh. “Doctor Wyn said it’s alright and that I can return to the dorms. Although he didn’t mention letting my rage out while listening to heavy metal, of course…”

“Still, it’s nice to see you all alive and kickin’,” Elias hummed. 

“Are you feeling better now?” Yuu leaned forward, her gaze fixated on his deep eyes that seemed certainly richer and brighter than they were yesterday. “You slept so peacefully today when I woke up, I almost thought— No, nothing…”

Neige replied with a silent glance that only Yuu could understand, and smiled at her genuinely.

“Don’t worry, Yuu-san, everyone. I’m certainly better. Plus, we arranged meetings with Prospero-sensei, so I’ll be fine. How are you all feeling? Are you alright? Sorry I couldn’t visit you all…”

“Come on, we’re not the ones attacked by Vil’s crazy fans,” Elias said.

“Vi-kun is not one to blame,” Neige replied with a hint of protectiveness in his voice.

Yuu watched their conversation going silently for a moment. Should she just straight up ask them about Vil to find more information on Neige’s case and finally make some progress?

“Are you two friends, Neige-san?” Yuu probed cautiously.

“Oh,” he let out a little disappointed laugh. “I wish we were. I don’t think he’ll ever see me as one. So! Don’t think badly of Vil. He’s an incredible person who I admire the most.”

“Never knew he was your role model of sorts,” Elias added. 

“Well, Vil is certainly admirable, no doubt,” Chenya agreed. “His fans though…”

“You know…” Neige almost whispered. “This is how all of the fans are. Not just his. Mine are like that too at times. And both me and Vil feel responsible for their actions. What happened to me happens to Vil as well. No one is immune to this kind of attention. This is the very first thing you come to realize when you step into the entertainment sphere.”

Yuu gulped, lowering her gaze. She saw that maturity in him, not the one that comes with age, but with experience. And she admired him for that.

“It’s as if you’re turning us into Vil stans,” Chenya joked and Elias snorted. 

“Ha-ha! But please do stan him, Vi-kun is very hardworking, wonderful person and—”

“Easy, easy,” Elias giggled at how hyped up Neige turned. 

“Right, sorry. Can’t help myself when it comes to Vil. Maybe one day we could become friends…”

The rest of the conversation changed its direction to the more relaxed one. They discussed the battle, the recovering, then switched to more mundane things and casual conversations engaging their school life. 

Night fell as they finished nearly six cups of tea in a row, and all agreed it would be best for them to get going. Curfew already came into its rights, with Elias as Pandora Charm’s dorm leader and Chenya as his vice being absent, much to Yuu’s silly indignation.

After bidding goodbyes to Neige and receiving thanks from dwarfs for ceasing this awful music flow, the company returned to the portal room in the main building.

Yet, Yuu’s head was still full of thoughts of Vil that Neige mentioned. 

If all of the popular people underwent such a cruel attitude for their hard work, maybe… Just maybe, could that Vil be the one suffering and in need of Yuu’s help? She winced at the idea of another broken young boy struggling and being in pain, and snapped out of her thoughts as Chenya and Elias were about to bid goodbyes to her.

“Is something the matter, Yuu?” Elias asked her, noticing how prominent the frown on her face was. 

“I, um..” She started carefully, still not sure if she should pursue this opportunity. Moreover it was late at night already… “I’m just curious what that Vil looks like. I trust Neige’s judgment, of course, just wondering what kind of person he really is. That is all.”

“Oh!” 

A familiar cheeky and playful smirk on his face made Yuu tense, already sensing that something was about to happen just at the moment. And with Chenya giggling and nodding to Elias, then disappearing into the portal made her glare at her companion cautiously.

“Wait, wait, Elias-san, you—”

“You ask, I provide!” He stated, grabbing her hand and ignoring her annoyed yelps. “You want to see Vil Schoenheit with your own eyes? No problems at all.”

“Elias-san, no, wait, I!!—”

“Down the Rabbit Hole!”

And with that Yuu held onto Elias for her life, falling straight into his portal, her distancing “Waaaait!!” dying out as they fell.

★﹒﹒NOTES

✧˖ Á lohtar! — Sprout!

✧˖ Auleum nocturnus (lat.) — Nocturnal tapestry/Nocturnal curtain.

✧˖ The song pink-haired boy sings is 'それでも世界は美しい — Tender Rain'

✧˖ The song Neige sings is 'BABYMETAL — Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!!!'

© yunarim 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.