#they're both!! ! warriors but.. . she looks more delicate than him. ...

[sanjoongie]

I wish it was me

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🐋Submission for @thelargefrye Starseed Jam event! 🐋Pairing: Water Bender! Choi San x The Avatar! Kim Hongjoong x Water Bender! Reader (f) x Water Tribe Warrior! Jeong Yunho x ot8 poly 🐋Genre: established relationship, s2l, poly, fantasy au, avatar: the last air bender au 🐋Word Count: 8,674 🐋Warnings: mentions of sex, Yunho's cock, potential poly moments but no actual descriptions of sex, fighting, blood, death 🐋Rated: 18+ MDNI, this is simply romantic angst with world building and character development I cut the smut 😬 rip yunsanjoong foursome with dream

🐋Summary: Song of Fourteen Years au~ What if y/n was born in the water kingdom instead~

🐋Dedication: @downtoamagicalland, my lovely beta and for Smalls also, for helping me bounce off my out-of-the-box ideas on her. It was lovely exploring your universe <3

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"You two shouldn't be doing this," Yunho said, his tone very disapproving.

"Shut it, Yunho," San said through gritted teeth, "I need to concentrate."

"More smoother, San," You encouraged him, "look how my hands are moving. The curves need to be like the flow of water."

San's eyes narrowed, studying your fingers and the way they seemed to be both strong and delicate at the same time. His fingers were not built like that. No wonder you had it so easy as a Water Bender.

Yunho checked his fishing line and then went back to sharpening his spear. "I'm serious! If the elders catch you playing with water…"

You moved a water bubble stealthily over Yunho's head. You were just about ready to release it over the water tribe warrior’s head when San shouted in victory. "I did it!"

Your head whipped back to San to catch his victorious smile before your water bubble dropped on San’s poor head. "Hey!" He shouted at you, a pout pulling his lips downwards. Without another word, he launched himself at you, tackling you to the ground.

"San!" You laughed as he play-wrestled with you, "Stop!"

San giggled as he managed to pin you to the ice. "You may be better than me at water bending but I can still beat you at an old fashioned fight."

The air moved over your head and Yunho's spear tapped San's chin. "Forget about someone?" 

San raised his hands off of you, as Yunho's spear followed the movement of San's head as he straddled your body. "Of course I didn't forget about you, Yuyu."

"Was that water meant for me?" Yunho muttered to you instead.

You laughed nervously. "What are you talking about, Yuyu?"

Yunho sighed. "I really can't win with the two of you, can I? You'll always outvote me."

San stood up and offered you help up with a hand. When you took it, San yanked you tight to his body. You yelped and the heat only barely simmered beneath San's gaze. "Yunho's tent will be empty with the others out on the boats for fishing."

"San!" You scolded him, "if we get caught in Yunho's tents again, they're going to scold us! Besides, you know they don’t approve of--"

Yunho covered your mouth with his large hand and plopped his chin on your shoulder. "She never knows when to shut up, does she?"

San cocked his head flirtatiously. "See Yuyu, you're not outvoted. Sometimes we can be on the same side."

Your protests remained muffled as your eyebrows furrowed. There was still more training to do! You only had time when most of the village was out gathering! You--

A large shadow flew over the three of you quickly. Yunho held you even tighter to his chest in worry and San’s head followed the large entity that was creating the shadow. “Was that a gliding buffalo?”

“The fire nation!” Yunho announced.

There were several sharped-bowed ships chugging towards the shore. Yunho let you go so that he could brandish his spear properly. “You two go back to the village and protect the young. I’ll--”

“Yunho!” San protested, “You can’t protect the entire village on your own. That’s a ship probably full of fire nation soldiers. We need to go!”

A rather large boom interrupted your own train of thought. Whatever had been flying through the air had landed on the ice. It was too close to the ocean opening…the scariest noise you could ever hear on the ice--cracking--began to echo. 

“We gotta go save them! The ocean will take them!” You shouted and immediately began to run towards the crash.

“Wait!” Yunho attempted to halt you but you could not be deterred. You had lost a brother to the ice once. You weren’t going to let anyone else finish their lives with the same kind of fate.

You skidded to a halt when the ‘flying buffalo’ growled at you, as if it was protecting something. You began to coo at it, like it was an injured otter penguin. “It’s okay big fella, I'm not here to hurt you or your friend. The ice is cracking and we have to get out of here before--”

The last thing you heard was a resounding crack that pierced your hearing before you fell into the cold dark depths of the ocean. You panicked as you fell quickly through the ice but you knew you had to keep the air in your lungs. It felt silly, being a water bender, that you didn’t know anything to truly save yourself. All you had ever done was move tiny amounts of water.

As you descended, you felt the pressure of the depths push on your body and the light above slowly faded. You wondered if perhaps this was what your brother had felt as he had perished when he had fallen through the ice. Perhaps you would meet him in the spirit realm once again. 

Just as you could feel black shadows eating at the corners of your vision and your air finally released from your lungs, filling with water, there was a light that seemed to pull you. Was this what it felt like to transition to the spirit world? 

You felt gentle hands under your back and legs and you felt like you were being carried. Perhaps it was your brother ushering you into the spirit realm. You smiled, happy to greet your brother once again. 

When you were slapped with stinging cold, you quickly realized that you weren’t going to the spirit realm--not yet anyways. Your teeth chattered and you clung harder to the body that held you.

The man glowed with inner power that you had never beheld in your entire life. He seemed ethereal and unreal and you felt yourself falling love at first sight immediately. 

Then, like the light failed them, the glow was gone and they collapsed, with you still in their arms. The flying buffalo growled and landed close to where you two had collapsed. Its large tongue came out and wetted you and the man who had saved your life.

"Tiny," the man groaned, "what happened?"

The Buffalo grunted, nudging the man over with his nose. The man opened his eyes and cocked his head curiously. "Uh, hello," he smiled charmingly, "How'd you get there?"

"You--saved--me!" You managed to say between chattering teeth.

"You're the girl who fell through the ice!" The stranger gasped, "I saved you?"

Tiny licked the stranger again and made urgent noises. "Tiny, you're hurt, you can't take us anywhere!"

"M-m-my v-villag-ge," You stuttered.

"Hey! Quickly! This way!" You heard San shout.

"We can't harbor someone who the fire nation is after, San!" Yunho hissed.

The stranger ran toward San and all three men shot straight towards the tented village. As soon as everyone was inside, you whimpered at how you hurt. 

"We gotta get her out of her clothes, quickly!" Yunho instructed.

San scooped you from the strangers arms and started removing your wet outer clothes. Yunho discarded his clothes as well. He sent a glare to the stranger. "I'd turn to the wall if I were you."

"Sorry!" The stranger spun on his heel and all that could be seen was his back and the swinging of his hair against his neck. "Hongjoong, by the way. In case you were wondering."

"I wasn't," Yunho deadpanned.

"Yunho!" San scolded his elder, "He saved her. You could be a little bit more respectful?"

Yunho was out of his outer layers quicker than San could undress you. Your fingers were useless against the ties and stays that held all your many layers together so that the cold didn't harm you. Yunho took over to help you undress, fingers gentle and careful. San began to remove his clothing instead.

"How are you completely dry, by the way?" San wondered out loud.

Hongjoong stared at how his skin and clothing were dry. He wasn't at risk like you were but clearly he had dove in after you and saved you. He still didn't have any recollection of that but he had to conclude that's what his body had done at least. "Well," Hongjoong grinned to himself, "I am the Avatar after all."

"Yeah and I'm the princess of the northern tribe," Yunho scoffed.

San pulled off his final inner layer, broad shoulders now completely revealed to the world. "It would explain why he isn't disrobing with us right now, Yunho."

Yunho was momentarily distracted by San's body. His dark eyes went over the lines of San's muscles and collarbones. San smirked. "My eyes are up here, big boy."

Yunho shook his head and didn't even apologize for his empty-headedness right now. "Under the blankets! Don't waste your body heat!"

"You know, I can't prove to you right now, but I saved your friend--"

"--She's not just our friend," Yunho muttered under his breath.

"Not just your--!" Hongjoong whipped around, forgetting his promise to not watch them disrobe. San's back muscles rippled as he scooped you up. You were in a simple slip now, much of your skin revealed as well. Hongjoong’s cheeks heated up but his eyes greedily ate both your body's up.

"That's not yours to gaze upon," Yunho said with a bite to his words.

Hongjoong met Yunho's eyes, and for a moment, they seemed to glow before Hongjoong smiled charmingly. "That's very greedy of you."

San giggled, high pitch and happy. "Don't mind Yunho, he's protective. Yuyu! Come on, I'm not going to be enough!"

The two of them busied themselves with removing all of their clothes and yours, and were firmly under the warm furs of Yunho's tent. Their limbs encircled your waist and shoulders, pressing their hot bodies against yours. Your shivers tore their hearts to shreds but more importantly, you were alive and here.

"This wasn't exactly what I was thinking when I mentioned going to Yunho's tents earlier," San couldn't help but joke.

"San, we have a guest!" Yunho protested. Now that they were in a vulnerable position, he was feeling less angry-heat and more embarrassed-warm.

"Oh please, don't mind me! I'll be like a fly on the wall!" Hongjoong insisted.

"I'm going to throw my spear through him when we finish this," Yunho promised.

You could finally bend your fingers and attempted to scratch at Yunho's chest. "Don't…fight…" You said with a throat raw from vomiting sea water.

Yunho tucked your head under his chin. "Shhh don't speak, dream," He hummed to you, "Just focus on moving your toes as you start to feel them."

"Can't believe you scared me like that," San scolded you, rubbing his hands up and down your arms. "Next time you try to save someone, maybe try not to become the one needing rescuing?"

"San," You whispered.

"Yes, snowflake of my eye?" San responded in the flowery way he knew you particularly didn't enjoy.

"Shut it."

San laughed and slowly everything started to get better. It got to the point where you could move your toes and fingers. San sat up, wrapping some fur around his shoulders. "Take her against your body and sit up, Yunho. We need to talk to the avatar. If I recall, the fire nation was on his tail."

Hongjoong laughed dryly. "Ah yes about that… sorry to drag you into all of that. But I kinda need some help."

You fit perfectly in Yunho's lap, his legs crossed under your, resting his arms around your body. The blankets covered him from over his head to under your chin, his chin tucked to the crown of your head once again. "What kind of help?" Yunho intoned.

"The fire nation attacked our home. I lost one of my friends while we were fleeing. I'll need help finding him. Yeosang fled as a distraction to the earth kingdom to make sure I had a decent head start while I flew to the water tribes. I have to make sure he's okay!" Hongjoong pleaded.

"Why would you need our help? You're the avatar!" San wondered.

Hongjoong scratched the back of his head bashfully. "I'm not the Avatar yet. I only know how to air bend. I still need to learn how to bend the rest of the elements."

"You want to use them to learn water bending and me to help you rescue your friend then?" Yunho guessed.

Hongjoong made eye contact with you. "I saw you water bending while I was fleeing the fire nation. I know you risked your life for me once but do you think you could help me again?"

"I can help!" San chirped, smiling helpfully at Hongjoong.

"You can't even make water move yet," Yunho's truth rumbled through his chest against your back.

San sent a glare over his shoulder. "It helps when learning with another!"

Hongjoong cocked his head curiously. "You're learning from your…?"

"She's our woman," San announced proudly, "We made her necklace ourselves."

Your hand went to your neck, fingering your tugtupite sky and ocean pendant. San had done the dangerous exploring to find the red mineral while Yunho had done the tedious work of carving a whale in it. "The elders frown upon our union but the necklace shows others that I belong to Yunho and San."

"That's lovely…" Hongjoong said with a sad smile. "Will you help me find Yeosang and complete my training?"

"Yes," You agreed immediately.

"But Dream!" Yunho protested, "You already risked your life for him once! Isn't that enough?"

"Yunho," You said his name with authority and his body wilted against you in submission, "We have to help the Avatar! What are you even saying? Besides, my heart tells me he's a part of our story too."

San grinned impishly, moving his eyebrows knowingly. "Your heart, huh?"

You made a face that told San he should stop while he was ahead. Yunho wouldn't take well to hearing that you and San were interested in Hongjoong. He needed to be dipped into the idea rather than dumped.

"I guess if you and San want to help, I'll have to go with you, to make sure you two don't get in trouble." You could hear the pout in his tone. Yunho knew when he had lost.

 "Good, the avatar will stay in Yunho's tents tonight then," San announced with a clap.

Yunho and Hongjoong protested immediately. San grinned wider. He stood up, wrapping the furs around his slim waist. "Guess that settles it then. I'll take you to my tents then."

Somehow, you figured that was San's intentions all along. "Will Tiny be okay by herself out there?" You wondered.

"If you have anything she could drink, I would be grateful," Hongjoong begged.

San quickly began to dress as Hongjoong turned around for courtesy sake. Your eyes took in San's lean thighs and bulging biceps greedily. Your eyes were always greedy for his body. Yunho, almost reading your thoughts because they were similar to his own, tightened his hold on you, making your squeak by vacating your lungs of any air.

San's eyes swung to you, suddenly dressing slower. "Just remember who let you be the warming furs for her next time, Yunho," San said, his voice gravelly and rough with unbridled lust.

"Next time what?" Yunho prompted San.

"Next time we decide who gets to be where," San said, his eyes shaped like a crescent moon in amusement.

You giggled in Yunho's arms. "San! Just help Hongjoong. We'll see you two in the morning."

San finished dressing. "Oh, I'll be back. Just gotta make sure the gliding buffalo is tucked in tightly."

"Flying bison," Hongjoong corrected San as he followed him out the tent flaps.

"Don't flirt with me, Mister avatar, I have two loves of my life," San gasped as if insulted. He sent a wink and then he was gone.

"Dream," Yunho allowed himself to finally be vulnerable, "You could have gotten killed."

"Yunho, we can't be small minded and only think about ourselves!" You protested. You tried to turn around in Yunho's arms but he wouldn't let you.

"I don't care about anyone else. I love you and San. I can't lose you. We fought too hard to be with each other," Yunho insisted.

"Yuyu." This time Yunho did allow you to turn around and pin him against the bed. His brown eyes shiny from unshed tears wouldn't look at you, however. "I'm sorry. Truly. But we're going to help the Avatar. This is important! The fire nation can't win in this regard!"

"I know!" Yunho whined, "I know. I just don't want anyone I love to get hurt in the process."

"How am I supposed to get hurt when I have you protecting me, Yuyu?" You cooed, bopping him on the nose with your fingertip.

"Let me make love to you?" Yunho begged, "Let me make sure every inch of you is warm and safe and mine."

You pecked Yunho's lips sweetly. "San is going to be sulky we started without him."

"San is going to be glowing when he gets back," Yunho grumbled, "He likes him just because I hate him."

"Jeong Yunho!" You gasped, "You did not just say you hate the Avatar!"

Yunho's ears became red and hot. "I'm just saying! He liked that Hongjoong was checking him out earlier!"

"He also liked when you were admiring him too, Yunho. He loves that. But he likes it even better when you do it because he loves you. You're such a jealous boy," You teased.

Yunho locked his arms at the small of your back. "Please, at least ride me. If you move it'll be better for your body. We'll share food with San and Hongjoong and then sleep soundly."

You raised your arms so they rested on his chest. “You want me to take care of you now, my big strong boy?” You teased again.

“Don’t tease me anymore, please,” Yunho pouted, whining but you could feel his cock twitching against you. He liked when you demeaned him, for whatever reason.

You canted your hips against his and he almost moaned, quickly biting down on his lip. “Dream, please, I need you.”

"Okay, okay, don't abuse your poor lips." You pressed yours to his softly, sensually, and he moaned burying his hands into your hair. His fingernails dug into your scalp, looking to hold you in place.

You rode Yunho to completion and took a nap until San announced it was dinner time and that the two of you better get decent or Hongjoong was going to get another free show. That evening the three of you slept in the same tent, because none of you knew when you would again, partaking in the epic tale that was helping the avatar.

The following morning was interesting, to say the least. Yunho did not want to get on Tiny to fly and locate Hongjoong’s friend Yeosang. With a bit of conjuling on San’s end, and a promise that you would not sleep in his tent tonight if you had to make him get on the flying bison, Yunho was convinced to get on and then it was flying time. 

You adored the rush of being so high, and San hooted that it was the best time of his life. A week passed, and yet there was no sign of Yeosang. Hongjoong continued to have a hopeful attitude and a bright smile but you could tell that it was starting to wear on him. 

One night in particular, when San was snoring after eating and Yunho shared his tent with him, it left you and Hongjoong at the fire. Hongjoong poked at the embers with a stick and you could tell that not being able to find Yeosang was weighing him down mentally.

“We’ll find him, Hongjoong,” You reassured him.

You lifted a hand to put on his leg but wasn’t sure if he would accept the physical comfort or not. Hongjoong smiled but it was stretched and thin. “I know, but I’m worried that it won’t be in time. What if he--”

You decided to put your hand on his knee to cut him off. “My grandfather always had a saying for what if’s. He said they were like tiny fish hooks and if you said too many they’d pull your sanity in too many directions.”

“Your grandfather sounds wise. Sounds like my mentor actually. He used to say to me “Hongjoong, you need to throw those worries in the wind and let them carry it away.”

“I think my grandfather and your mentor would get along very well,” You laughed. 

Except the air of nostalgia clung and you worried even more for Hongjoong. Your eyes shot towards Yunho and San’s tent, San’s whimpering escaping the small opening of the tent. Then you focused back on Hongjoong with his shoulders bent inwards. He looked so vulnerable and…alone. 

“Hongjoong?”

“Hmm?” He answered you back absentmindedly. 

“Do you need someone in your tents tonight?”

Hongjoong’s eyebrows shot upwards in surprise. “What?”

You felt your skin heat up at the implications of your words when you hadn't meant them that way. “I’m sorry--I didn’t mean that--I just--you seem so lonely--and I--”

Hongjoong’s nose scrunched up and he began to laugh. He toppled off the rock that San had lugged over, clenching his stomach and cackling until he was wiping tears from his eyes. 

“It wasn’t that funny,” You mumbled under your breath.

Eventually Hongjoong righted himself. “I’m sorry, but I needed that laugh.”

“I’m just going to go to bed,” You grumbled.

“Wait!” Hongjoong used a brush of air to push you towards him rather than let you walk away. “Don’t go.”

You crossed your arms under your breasts. “Why?”

“Won’t your…” Hongjoong struggled with finding a label that applied to San and Yunho and gave up. “...won’t they get upset?” He motioned with his chin towards their tent.

“San and Yunho trust me. If I tell them that I slept in your tents because you needed a friend, then they’ll believe me,” You replied honestly.

“And if I need more than a friend?” Hongjoong wondered, glancing at you through his eyelashes.

You cleared your throat. “Hongjoong--”

“Didn’t you say the day I saved you that you felt like your heart is telling you I’m a part of your story?” Hongjoong took a bold step forward.

You couldn't deny that. Your heart still told you that Hongjoong was going to be connected to your life, in a big way, perhaps even bigger than the fact that he was the avatar and he had saved your life. 

“Would their trust extend to sharing your body with me?” Hongjoong tilted his head and chucked your chin upwards. 

“Wellllllll, this is awkward.”

Four men entered your camp. Hongjoong shouted and then ran for one of the men. He embraced him heartily, a very happy smile on his face. "Yeosang, at last!"

Your stomach sank but your heart soared. You had yet to see Hongjoong so happy as he was finding his lost friend. Hongjoong held Yeosang's face with both hands as Yeosang struggled to keep his face void of a smile. "Avatar!"

"Yeosang," Hongjoong pouted, "Please. I haven't seen you in weeks and you speak to me formally?"

"Whoa there." The man that had interrupted you and Hongjoong, with an odd mixture of blonde and brown hair, held his hands up in defense. "I come bearing no ill will." Yunho had his spear just under his chin.

Yeosang began to air bend to stop Yunho but you summoned your water from your flask and used it as a whip to stop Yeosang.

"Tell your girlfriend to back off of Wooyoung," Yeosang demanded, his face taking on a cold countenance.

"Yeosang, she's not my girlfriend," Hongjoong protested.

"The avatar!" A man with silver hair said, eye round with stars in his eyes towards the avatar. You understood exactly what he was going through, you had felt the same upon laying eyes on Hongjoong.

"Maybe, seeing as how we didn't kill you while you slept, perhaps you'd consider sparing us, oh great warrior," The brunet of the party said with a dry tone. 

"What's going o--oh," San looked around at the scene outside the tent. 

Stories and names were eventually traded even though Yunho never put down his spear. His eyes wouldn't leave Jongho, the bounty hunter. Wooyoung was a bandit and Mingi an earth bender.

"You'll teach me everything I need to know, right?" Hongjoong grasped Mingi’s hands together within his own.

Mingi couldn't look directly in Hongjoong’s eyes, his cheeks getting rosy. "I-I'll d-do m-my b-best," He stuttered.

"Well, this is cute," Jongho said, sharpening his blades, "But what do we do now that the avatar is found?"

"Yeosang, the fire nation is still pursuing us," Hongjoong told his air bending friend.

Yeosang rubbed his shoulder, badly burned by an errant fire bending flame. "I don't look forward to meeting them again."

"Is there anywhere we can go to get away from them?" Wooyoung petulantly threw a piece of fish to the fire.

You and San looked to Yunho who sighed heavily. "No."

"No, what?" Hongjoong questioned, eyes flickering between you and Yunho.

"Hongjoong, we must flee to the northern water tribe," You said.

Hongjoong cocked his head. "What?"

"The gate to the spirit world is there. The northern tribe has a fortress. It would be able to hold back the might of the fire nation!" San said excitedly.

"Why do you say no to this, warrior?" Jongho asked with one eyebrow raised.

Yunho drew inconsequential shapes into the ground with his spear. "My aunt was chosen to marry a northerner. I know the way."

"That doesn't answer the question though," Mingi brought up.

The earth bender stomped his foot and stones moved into the cloth he held out. He wrapped it up and offered it to you, who was shivering in the cool night air. He had a gentle smile. 

"Snowflake of my eye, are you adding another?" San teased you as you took the offered warmth.

Yunho stood up abruptly. "We're not going to the northern tribe!" 

You winced. "Yunho--"

Yunho rushed over to you and jerked you into a hug, arms wrapping around your head. "Don't make me do it. I don't want to lose you."

"Wait, what--what's wrong?" San suddenly realized Yunho was being more than just stubborn with his mistrust of the avatar.

You squeezed Yunho's ribs and then gently unwound his arms from you. "It'll be okay, Yuyu."

You turned toward the rest of the men and Yunho put both of his hands on your shoulders in support. "The reason our elders didn't approve of our union wasn't because of its taboo nature; they didn't want us to join because I was to marry the prince of the Northern Tribe."

"What? How come you never told me!" San protested.

Yeosang's eyes moved at a pace that indicated he was putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. "You're our in. The Northern Tribe is notoriously self-sufficient and protective. They'll let in the promised of their prince without another question. We can explain once we are inside that Hongjoong is looking for a master for waterbending after."

"But…what does that mean for Dream?" San's large eyes swung back towards you. "Dream?"

"We'll get proper training from the Northern Water Benders, San," You smiled through tears.

San's face dropped and Yunho's hands dug into your shoulders. "Why does that sound like goodbye?"

"I'm promised to the prince, San. I'll have to marry Prince Seonghwa. You know how important it is to keep our ties strong with the Northern tribe. And besides, I already promised the avatar that we would do whatever we could to aid his quest. I can't teach him to water bend, I barely have a few tricks I figured out myself and from my memories of my older brother."

San wordlessly hugged you and Yunho. He kissed the top of your head loudly and Yunho's cheek next. "Hongjoong didn't ask you to give up your life though."

"That's true," Hongjoong spoke up, his voice tight with emotion. 

You shook your head. "You don't understand. They'll wed us immediately. The wedding was already pushed off because our elders didn't want to send word to the Northern tribe that their chosen bride was in a poly with two others and didn't want to marry a prince."

Hongjoong's held his hand out and Yeosang begrudgingly held it, pinkies linking cautiously. "I could never ask you to give up your loves when I cannot do it myself."

"You're fucking too?" Wooyoung shouted and then clamped his hand over his mouth belatedly. 

Jongho rolled his eyes. "Are you really figuring that out now?"

Mingi looked awfully sad at the announcement and you couldn't figure out if it was because he found out that Hongjoong was taken or that you were going to lose the loves of your life. "What do we do then?"

Hongjoong stood up resolutely. "We go to the Northern Tribe. We learn from their benders and when we have enough training we leave. If I can't help us escape from the Northern Tribe's fortress-city, fight for the right to love who you want, then I'm not the avatar."

Yeosang finally allowed himself to smile, his eyes shining in happiness, nodding resolutely. San squealed and wrapped his arms around your thighs lifting you up in the air in happiness. "See! I knew we could trust in the avatar. That ass is too fine to be bad."

Jongho choked on his own saliva at what San said. Yeosang frowned heavily, whether disappointed in San's choice of words or the fact that San was flirting with Hongjoong. Yunho's body slumped against you, clearly relieved at hearing the words he needed to hear. 

Wooyoung opened his big mouth too. "I mean, he might be a badass though. He is the avatar." Jongho smacked him behind the head. "What? It's true!"

"Actually, he is pretty badass," You couldn't help but agree with Wooyoung.

Wooyoung glared at the bounty hunter. "I told you so," He grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. 

You entertained the men of your recollection of Hongjoong saving you, Hongjoong smiling shyly as you crowed of his otherworldliness. Mingi hung onto every one of your words, caught up in the majesty of both you and the story you told. Eventually you snuggled into San and Yunho's tent, Jongho promising he would actually watch over the camp and take the first shift.

The days leading up to arriving at the Northern Tribe were filled with happiness, oddly enough. Mingi only fell more in love with the avatar, each moment practicing earth bending cherished as Hongjoong caught on quickly. You and San spent time with Yunho, torturing him with water fights and sexual innuendos enough that Yunho's ears were perma-red. Jongho would send longing glances to Yeosang's statue-esque features, in which Wooyoung would react by acting even more uncouth and drawing Jongho's disappointment but his attention nonetheless.

But before long, Tiny and Yeosang's flying bison Moni, crossed over into Northern Tribe territory. The amazing ice fortress gleamed in the morning light, taking the breath from all of you. No one could deny that the city was beautiful, in both its icy angles and the powerfulness it exuded. That didn't ease the tension in your limbs, the grip Yunho had on his spear, the weight on Hongjoong's shoulder or the sadness in San's smile. 

As per your guess, you and Hongjoong, along with the others, were expedited to the throne room, where you were both introduced to the Northern Tribe's chief and Prince Seonghwa. The Northern tribe were more than happy to teach the avatar all they knew, as soon as Hongjoong proved he was indeed the avatar. 

As Hongjoong was introduced to Seonghwa, who happened to be the Northern Tribe's link to the spirit world, you studied the man you were promised to. His side profile threatened even Yeosang's. Seonghwa was pretty in the way the Aurora Borealis was: unattainable but breathtaking. His long hair only accentuated his pink lips and perfect nose. He truly was a prince in appearance but also in personality. He laughed softly, smile proper and kind, and even offered his hand to you like he was a dainty being who should be handled carefully. 

You were about to lower your head to his hand, as was customary to greet the prince, when Seonghwa brought your hand to his lips instead. He kissed the back of your hand and you had to look at the floor. Because you knew if you met his eyes, you might get lost in them forever. They seemed to sparkle with the essence of the moon and you had known a few other water tribesmen who became moon-sick; you weren't looking to acquire the same fate. 

"Where did you run off to?" Seonghwa inquired, "We have been waiting for your response eagerly."

You giggled nervously and Yunho scoffed quietly behind you. "Your Highness--"

"Seonghwa," The prince corrected you gently. 

"Seonghwa," You adjusted, "Our delay was the avatar."

Seonghwa's eyes swung back towards Hongjoong. "I could see why you might delay."

Hongjoong coughed, masking shy laughter. "I didn't exactly plan to delay your nuptials, Your Highness."

"Please, Seonghwa, I insist," The Prince declined his title a second time.

"If it's not too much to ask," Jongho brought up, looking bored. "It's been a long journey. Perhaps you could bestow us with rooms so that we could refresh ourselves."

"Of course," Seonghwa clapped his hands together and servants appeared. "Show everyone to their rooms."

San had a furrow between his eyebrows, looking like an angry snow leopard-bear cub. Yunho, surprisingly, continued to look over his shoulder to Seonghwa's back. That was certainly not what you expected. 

"I don't like him," San said, exploding into your rooms even after he had been deposited to his own. 

"Hush, San," Yunho put a hand on San's chest, "It doesn't matter. We will be gone from this place as soon as you've learned all you need to know and the avatar finishes his spiritual mission."

San clung to the older man's hips, whining. "But Yunho."

You giggled happily and both turned towards you. "I don't think I've ever seen you jealous, San."

"I'm not jealous," San sulked.

"Our rooms are amazing, how are yours!" Wooyoung burst in without a knock. His jaw dropped at your rooms, fit for…well, a princess. "Wow yours are--" Wooyoung acquired a smug look, "Were you guys going to be naughty in here, because I could round you out--" He barely dodged Yunho's boomerang. "Hey!"

You spent many, many hours with Seonghwa. You were starting to feel bad that this was all a farce because Seonghwa took his nuptials very seriously. During your walks around the city, Seonghwa introduced you to every citizen he knew. He listened attentively as you told him of your childhood growing up in the Southern tribe. Seonghwa was every bit as gracious and respectful as a prince ought to be and you couldn't help but fall for him. Only slightly of course.

But Seonghwa did split his time between you and the avatar. Hongjoong could be seen patiently following the spirit leader's guidance in crossing over into the spirit realm. Hongjoong needed to be in touch with that element as well, as was standard with all avatars. 

There was an evening in which San had fallen asleep, arms wrapped around your waist and head in your lap. You had been combing your hand through his short hair and had lured him into a nap. Seonghwa was the last subject your love would want to overhear. Hongjoong had snuck in to speak to you; you being the only other one of your party that really understood the slow, dangerous lure that was Prince Seonghwa. 

You found yourself confiding in the avatar when you didn't dare say a word to San or Yunho. San had approved of Hongjoong but Yunho was still unsure. And San didn't like Seonghwa but Yunho had started to ask questions tentatively. You didn't know what to do, honestly. 

"Starting to regret our escape plan?" Hongjoong attempted to joke.

"Hongjoong…he's not what I expected," You admitted.

Hongjoong scratched the back of his head. "Not sure what I was supposed to expect, but I know I wasn't sure there was love after Yeosang. But the day I saved you. And met San, Yunho and Mingi. Now Seonghwa? Am I even allowed to love that many people?" Hongjoong chuckled dryly and sighed.

You took your free hand and grabbed Hongjoong's, squeezing it in encouragement. "I think you're the avatar and that you should receive even more love than that."

The night before the wedding soon approached, which coincidentally was also the evening of your planned escape. Seonghwa had asked you to dress in some Northern Water Tribe clothing and meet him for a final dinner before you were to be wed. 

You broke food with Seonghwa and as the evening wound down, Seonghwa took you out to the balcony. The air was cold, nothing you weren't used to, but Seonghwa still used the excuse to tuck you under his arm. 

"You know," Seonghwa smiled serenely up to the moon, "The other nobles pitied me. I was to wed a savage from the Southern Tribe."

You prickled at the mention of the Northern Tribe's pride. You had encountered plenty of that while staying here. They seemed respectful of the earth kingdom guests. Hongjoong was the avatar, so along with the elusive and aloof Yeosang, the air nomads were also gifted with polite kindness. But when it came to the water benders and warriors, the air was tense. The water benders laughed at your attempts with water, which had San in constant glaring mode. And Yunho was put down because of his 'primitive' weapons. 

"I know they were wrong. I know this now," Seonghwa admitted. "Your warrior and your water bender are people who would go to the ends of the earth for you, wouldn't they?"

"They are the two people most precious to me," You agreed.

Seonghwa offered his hands and waited patiently as you let him take yours. "You are most precious to me, Promise."

Guilt pressed down on you heavily. "Seonghwa--"

"I know you love them. You don't have to tell me. I am sorry for that, I truly am." Seonghwa bit down on his lower lip. "If I'm being honest, I believe I've fallen for the avatar, if that's any consolation."

You knew the prince was, and you knew Hongjoong felt the same, but it was different when actually hearing the words coming from Seonghwa's mouth. You should have known Seonghwa would have picked up on you and San and Yunho; Seonghwa was extremely intuned with the spirits and was emotionally sensitive as well. 

"But, we are to wed. You will become a princess and we'll spend the rest of our lives together. I know I'm not your first nor your second, or even your third choice. But I can promise you, I will dedicate my whole world to making sure that you never regret following your duty with me." He smiled hopefully. 

You swallowed down your guilt and tried to let shine your developing feelings for Seonghwa. "I couldn't ask for a better prince," You joked.

Seonghwa laughed under his breath, his smile breaking your heart even more. "Promise, I know it's the night before our wedding, but can I ask for one favor?"

"What is it?" You asked curiously.

HIs eyes shook a little in nervousness. "Could I beg for a kiss? I don't want our first kiss to be when we wed."

"I don't think…" 

"I know it's forward of me to ask," Seonghwa looked uncertain.

You laughed under your breath. "You're not being too forward."

Seonghwa looked confused. "Then why?"

Your heart felt like it was twisting and turning in many directions. "I love them so much, Seonghwa." You tried to play it off as you didn't want to betray San and Yunho, but at this moment, you knew you were betraying Seonghwa. He didn't deserve to be deceived in this way. 

Seonghwa cupped your face with one hand and you couldn't help but lean into it. His hand was warm but more importantly, you could feel the adoration coming from him as well. Would it really be so bad to exchange one kiss before you left forever? At least Seonghwa could have that. 

"But you also have a deep affection for me too, do you not?" Seonghwa pushed the conversation. 

"What I feel for you, Seonghwa," You let regretful tears fill your eyes, "I don't understand it."

"I know this is an arranged marriage but I'm certain love can come from it." Seonghwa tilted his head and slotted his lips against yours.

The kiss was sweet, tender and kind. Everything that Seonghwa encompassed. You started to cry into the kiss, however. Tears fell down your face. Seonghwa's thumbs moved soothingly along the planes of your cheeks. When he finished the kiss, you could see that Seonghwa too was crying. 

Seonghwa's shoulders moved with his sobs, moved by your emotions. "I know you mourn for them but I believe I love you, Promise. I can't replace them but if you allow your heart to be open to me as well, then I believe you will love me in return."

Once your date with Seonghwa was at an end, you returned to your rooms to help everyone to pack and to leave. You pushed all your emotions aside and did your best. But it was actually Mingi who approached you. 

"Don't push yourself," he put a hand on your hip, his arm pulling you against his body. 

"I'm fine, Mingi," You moved to push him off of you but the earth bender was stronger than that, in both will and body.

"You're not fine," Mingi insisted. "Let the rest of us help."

San was teasing Yunho about how much rope he kept piling into his backpack. Hongjoong and Yeosang were trying to figure out if the rations everyone had squirreled away were enough. But Wooyoung, Jongho and Mingi's eyes were on you. 

"He's right, you know," Jongho mentioned, always sharpening his knife, and preparing for a fight in case the Northern Water Tribe found out of your betrayal.

"We can take some of your burden," Wooyoung said with vulnerable eyes where normally he was always teasing. 

You felt your walls crumbling. "Don't. We need to be strong. We need to leave."

Mingi rubbed his cheek against the crown of your head. "We know we aren't the avatar, or the prince, or even your first loves, but we can help you with this."

You leaned against Mingi and held your hand out to Wooyoung, who took it and squeezed it tightly. But you directed your words to the bounty hunter. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, Diamond," Jongho let a rare smile pull his cheeks up. 

"Okay, I think we're ready," Hongjoong announced with a proud smile. "Let's get out of here and go to the--"

And then the world shook. 

"What the hell was that?" Wooyoung demanded.

Yeosang moved to the window of Hongjoong's room and his eyes tightened in anger. "It's the fire nation."

You all watched in horror as fireballs came flying at the beautiful ice city. 

San's face turned hard. "This is our chance. While the city is under attack, there will be no soldiers to avoid. We can leave in peace."

Hongjoong shook his head. "No, San, I can't. I am the avatar and I am the reason they're attacking. I have to help them."

Yunho's eyes met yours across the room. "Seonghwa," he mouthed to you.

"Hongjoong!" You shouted to get the avatar's attention.

The look in his eyes, big and worried, let you know he was thinking the same as you. "I'll protect the city, you--"

"No!" Mingi cut off Hongjoong immediately. "We shouldn't get separated. We should stay together. We work better as a team."

"He's right," Jongho agreed.

"We stay together, we rescue the prince, and then we mess up the fire kingdom," Wooyoung grinned wickedly.

The eight of you moved quickly through the castle in search of Seonghwa. Hongjoong realized quickly that Seonghwa, as the spiritual connection, was at the north pole, the very place the two of them had been spending most of their time together. 

"Hongjoong!" Seonghwa cried out upon seeing the avatar. He raced up to him and kissed him out of gratitude.

Hongjoong was surprised but didn't break the kiss. Yeosang didn't look very pleased. Neither did Yunho. Nor San. "What do you need from us? From me?"

The benders were the first line of defense. You, Mingi, San and Yeosang stood at the edge of the grass, waiting for the fire nation to come to the spiritual center of the North, the most important place with the most important person, the avatar. Then it was the warriors, Yunho, Jongho and Wooyoung. Finally, Seonghwa was helping Hongjoong oversee his connection to the spirit realm. If Hongjoong could search out for guidance as the avatar, perhaps he could yet save the Northern Tribe. 

The battle was tough. It took all of your bending skills and then digging into your limits to keep the fire nation off of Hongjoong. And when you couldn't bend anymore, the warriors used their skills, protecting the tired benders and their loves. But still Hongjoong was stuck in the spirit world with Seonghwa. Their heads were pressed together, knees touching with their legs crossed, and Hongjoong's arrows illuminating Seonghwa's precious features.

You thought the fire nation might actually be successful in acquiring the avatar and perhaps ending the cycle before Hongjoong could fix the world. The fire nation warriors broke through the warriors and latched onto Seonghwa, pulling him from the spirit realm. 

"No!" Seonghwa shouted, arms outstretched but he was too far from Hongjoong. "I still need to help him! Let go of me!"

"Shut him up, we'll use him against his father later as a hostage!" The leader of the fire nation warriors snapped. 

The soldier who held Seonghwa knocked the prince out cold just as Mingi had summoned enough bending power to shake the ground and knocked Seonghwa into the sacred pond where the ocean and the moon spirit were in. 

"Seonghwa!" You shouted but San kept you from going after him. "San, let go of me!" You clawed at his arms but it was no use. 

"Dream, you can't help them," Yunho rasped, bloody and tired as well from his battle.

"Hongjoong, please wake up," You sobbed, "Save Seonghwa. Save us. Save the world. Please, Avatar!"

All seemed lost in the moment. Seonghwa was floating face down, Hongjoong was not of this world, and the rest of your group were either defeated or out of any energy to aid. You sobbed into San's arms. "Avatar, save us."

Hongjoong's eyes snapped open. He was emotionless as he walked into the pool where Seonghwa was dying. He plunged into the water, which you knew was not deep enough to lose Hongjoong but something else seemed to be going on here. The water seemed to turn a bright white and a dark black at the same time, much like the colors of the fish who had been swirling in the pond. A gentle wave deposited Seonghwa to your arms while a fierce wave took out the fire nation soldiers and swept them to the depths of the water and they never resurfaced.

The water that was a mixture of the deep depths of the ocean and the bright light of the moon moved from the north pole. Hongjoong appeared as a creature towering over the walls of the Northern tribe, a combination of power and greatness, floating in the center of the creation made from water and light. The world went dark and the water of the ocean pulled back. The only thing that anyone could see was the avatar. 

The fire nation's boats collapsed onto the seabed, useless water crafts with no water. With no way to fight a creature made from water and light, there was no fight. Any warriors still in the city were mysteriously swept out with the ocean receding. Once it was clear the city was safe, the mixture of light and water came back to the north pole. The light came back to the moon and the water covered the fire nation's boats that remained at the bottom of the ocean forevermore.

You sobbed over Seonghwa, well aware that you had no energy to save him, nothing left to pull out the water that was clearly in his lungs. Hongjoong had pushed Seonghwa from the water, and saved the city from the fire nation, but Seonghwa…

"Here, dream," Yunho pulled the prince from your arms, laid him on the ground and began to pump his chest, slanting his lips across Seonghwa's to pull the water from his lungs the old fashion way. 

Oddly enough, as Hongjoong came out of the water, the last remnant of the spirits possessing him showing that one eye was fiercely bright and the other inky dark, Seonghwa coughed out water and breathed in deeply. Yunho turned him to his side and Seonghwa rid himself of all the water he had inhaled. Hongjoong came to consciousness and Yeosang was there to catch him before the avatar also collapsed in exhaustion. 

"Did we do it?" Hongjoong whispered roughly.

"Are we safe?" Seonghwa asked, voice hoarse.

"You did it, Avatar," Yeosang answered, silent tears streaming down his face.

"We're safe, sweet prince," Yunho assured him.

"Actually, I'll have you know, if it wasn't for me--" Jongho smacked Wooyoung from behind the head before the bandit could take credit for saving the world. Wooyoung smiled bashfully, "Thank you, Avatar."

That night it was made clear to the Northern Tribe that more important factors were working on the world currently. You were excused from your betrothal, acknowledged as an important member of the avatar's team. Hongjoong needed people close to him if he was going to defeat the fire nation and balance the world as it was always meant to be, all the great elements in harmony, with the avatar exuding all of them. Seonghwa joined your team, not to be left behind, but to be an emissary and representation of the northern tribe. 

"I'm kinda sad we don't get to sneak out of the tribe. I always wanted to see just how hard it was," Wooyoung whispered lowly, so that Seonghwa couldn't overhear.

San was the one to send a frown to the earth kingdom's bandit. "I think the fight was good enough, Woo."

"What do you mean I have too much?" Seonghwa lamented, pointing to his many bags.

"You can only take what you carry, sweet prince," Yunho said with a small smile on his face, clearly amused, and still taken, by Seonghwa.

"It'll be fun, Seonghwa," Hongjoong squeezed Seonghwa's shoulder. 

"Who says it's going to be fun when you plan on invading the fire nation!" Jongho protested.

"The fire nation," Mingi repeated, fear painting his features.

Only you and Yeosang stood a bit apart from your group. You both felt like a fist was slowly closing in your stomach, only making anxiety ride higher. You two may not get along, Yeosang entirely sure that you were slowly becoming the center of Hongjoong's world, where he used to be the only one apart of that pattern, but in this you were in agreement: the fire nation was a dangerous place to be. 

But when Yeosang's pinky hit yours, that shy way that Hongjoong and Yeosang held hands, you thought perhaps, between all nine of you, that you might get through this. At least with each other to lean on, it seemed more likely.

Besides, you were with the avatar. With Hongjoong, anything seemed possible.

[transmortifried]

Regular Show Episode: Bro Job

Rigby and Mordecai convince Skips to set the house up with pirated cable and spend the whole day watching TV and drinking "expired soda". Late at night, they find out to their great delight that Skips' hack also unblocked the "girly videos" channels. They keep watching, flipping through channels until they find the "manly videos" channel. Rigby immediately tells Mordecai to stop flipping channels, that he wants to see the "manly videos". The video is about two bros engaging in the ultimate and deepest expression of manly bro affection, a true celebration of teamwork: The Bro Job. Rigby and Mordecai, in their "sleep deprived" state, start giggling to each other, egging each other on and joking that they should totally give each other a Bro Job, dude, they're the best friends around. They start moving towards each other...

Hard cut to the next morning. Rigby and Mordecai wake up on the couch, draped over each other. They panic a little, wondering how far things went last night, and shuffle awkwardly towards the kitchen for breakfast. Muscle Man is making an eighteen-egg omelette, with High Five Ghost deftly tossing him eggs in a delicate and beautiful synchronized juggling act. With a flourish, Muscle Man finishes his omelette, and it's beautiful. Muscle man is psyched out of his mind at how good the omelette turned out with High Five Ghost's help, and says that for his assistance, he'll totally give him a Bro Job later. Rigby and Mordecai are shocked to hear that Muscle Man and High Five Ghost give each other Bro Jobs, and ask about them. Muscle Man says yeah no, he and High Five Ghost give each other Bro Jobs all the time, that they were the ultimate and deepest expression of manly bro affection, a true celebration of teamwork, some real warrior's bond stuff. Rigby and Mordecai give each other a long look, maybe it's not so weird after all...

Cut to a montage of Rigby and Mordecai giving each other Bro Jobs multiple times during their shift at the park. They clean the fountain, that's worth a Bro Job. They're getting their daily tasks done more thoroughly than ever before through the power of teamwork and positive reinforcement. They look over their work, content and satisfied. Mordecai remarks that Benson will be so pleased with their work and he bets Benson will totally give them both Bro Jobs for it.

On their break, they go get coffee. Rigby cuts in front of Mordecai as Margaret's ringing them up so he can pay for the both of them. Mordecai is appreciative, saying that that totally deserves a Bro Job. Margaret is incredulous, asking if they really do give each other Bro Jobs for stuff like this, saying that it feels kinda cheap and transactional. Mordecai insists that it's not and that Bro Jobs are totally cool and are for bros. Rigby insists that she simply doesn't understand a warrior's bond. They go into how the positive reinforcement really motivates them to do their best, how today was the best work they've ever done. Just today, they cleaned the fountain... they come to the horrible realization that was the only thing they've done today, and that they had a whole list they had to get done. They had spent their whole day giving each other Bro Jobs instead of doing the work they were supposed to reward. They rush back to the park.

Benson's waiting for them, furious that they wasted so much time doing simple things. He gives them an ultimatum: no more Bro Jobs, or they're both fired!

The next day, Rigby and Mordecai are both listless. Without the positive reinforcement, they have even less motivation to do their job than usual. All their energy has been drained, and they lay around in a malaise. They have a heartfelt discussion about how much the Bro Jobs made work fun, how it felt good to be recognized for doing good work, and how unfulfilling their job is without it. They both remark that they miss Bro Jobs. Muscle Man and High Five Ghost roll up on a cart to make fun of them. They mishandled the power of Bro Jobs, giving them when they aren't earned. Muscle Man confidently states that he and High Five Ghost would never, that they understand the true power and meaning of a Bro Job, that they understand a warrior's bond.

Benson is coming to chew out Rigby and Mordecai for slacking even more now that they're banned from Bro Jobs, red in the face and steaming. As he approaches, he walks by the fountain. For all their goofing off, they did do a really good job of cleaning it, even if they didn't get anything else done today. He softens. As he walks up to Rigby and Mordecai, he still looks frustrated but not angry. He talks about how while the pace at which they were working was unacceptable, he sees that Bro Jobs did improve the quality of their work. He makes a deal with them: for every task on their list they get done, they can give each other one Bro Job. The color returns to Rigby and Mordecai, now excited to get back to work.

The next day, Rigby and Mordecai are finishing up raking leaves, and start intimating towards giving each other a celebratory Bro Job. The energy is clearly different. The time spent banned from Bro Jobs has returned them to how they were the morning after they first learned of them, awkward and hesitant. They start to argue about who's going to go first. Rigby eventually lets it slip that he never even liked giving Bro Jobs, saying that Mordecai eats too much junk food and it makes it taste bad. Mordecai fires back, saying that Rigby doesn't shower enough and giving him Bro Jobs is totally gross, dude. They start fistfighting each other on the lawn. As they do, Muscle Man and High Five ghost roll by in the cart, and with patronizing disdain, Muscle Man remarks that they still have a lot to learn about a warrior's bond. He and High Five Ghost ride into the sunset together.

[rainy-circle]

Character and ship ask meme!

As you are the Zora expert, I'll ask a super niche ship that I am pretty biased toward! Laflat/Torfeau!

I'm just going to append the Things that Annoy Me/I Look for in Fanfic to things I WOULD Look For/Annoy Me because I haven't read what meagre amounts of fic DO exist for these two. (Can't believe whoever originally wrote this tumblr meme assumed the things I ship are like, popular. smh.) Obligatory this got long so under a cut it goes!!

when I started shipping it if I did: Oh I do not remember when it was but I do remember coming across just the description of a fic for them and being like oooh that's cute! I feel like it absolutely must've been when I was stalking through loz-rarepair-hell from afar, haha.

my thoughts: INCREDIBLY CUTE. SOFT. SWEET. I LOVE THEM. I know at least one fic exists of them and I've been meaning to read it (along with. every other fic I've been meaning to read) for a very long time.

What makes me happy about them: they balance each other SO WELL. Laflat is polite and patient but if Link plays dumb for too long she absolutely RIPS HIM with her sarcasm, it's absolutely incredible. Someone call Captain Bazz, there's been a murder in the Domain. And Torfeau maybe comes across as this tough, uncompromising girl who's maybe a little too into her training (she's off practicing her spearwork during the night in BOTH games, I think), but then she tells Link that there's a Hinox close to the Domain and she's worried about it getting close and she's actually TRIED to take it on before (possibly by herself??) and it's like. There's an inner vulnerability there that Laflat's inner toughness balances and I love that.

What makes me sad about them: Hmm not much really! Torfeau is one of the main characters of my fic so I've thought about her a lot more than Laflat, and I imagine she has some issues with self-confidence. So I can also imagine Torfeau would hesitate for a long time about approaching Laflat or asking if their friendship could change to something more romantic. But I also imagine that wouldn't last forever and either Laflat would take that step first or Torfeau would gain that confidence!!

things done in fanfic that [WOULD annoy] me: Forgetting about their inner toughness/sensitivity and assuming Torfeau is just like. a big bad hardass and Laflat is a delicate flower, probably.

things I [WOULD] look for in fanfic: Oh gosh. Just from the way I headcanon Torfeau as being part of this group of Sidon's friends, the various romcom shenanigans they would get into trying to cheer her on. They're all..... such morons.... The seven of them thinking they're being SO SNEAKY and Laflat is just pretending not to notice. SILLY FLUFFY STUFF I guess!

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: For Torfeau - I've once had the thought of her/Laissa, one of the Rito NPCs! If I remember correctly Laissa is one of the only lady Rito who's implied to be a warrior/hunter like Teba and Harth and I was like "👀 cool warrior girlfriends maybe?" She's also particularly close with Ledo in my headcanon, so I can imagine them being together in some fashion, though both I and Ledo are unsure of what his orientation is, so whether it'd be romantic or platonic is a mystery.

For Laflat I had to think about it for a bit, but possibly her/Tona? I imagine it'd be kinda spicy where Laflat/Torfeau is sweet because I see Tona as being more flirty/straightforward. Tona being all "I know you want me ;)" and Laflat being like (Ugh yeah I do, but I can't let her KNOW that, y'know).

My happily ever after for them: in my head Torfeau becomes the next Captain of the Guard after Bazz, and I think Laflat is perfectly happy in her life as the royal secretary so, getting happily married in Zora's Domain!!! (Whether or not they choose to start a family of their own is up to the reader to decide because I certainly don't know)

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Torfeau likes being the big spoon and Laflat is more than happy with that.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: I imagine they're both introverts so a quiet evening in is good for them! I can imagine Laflat reading aloud from a book for them both. (sometimes Torfeau just listens to Laflat's voice without really paying attention to the words and Laflat's like, "do I have to start over again." and Torfeau is like "........perhaps." nerds. losers. cuties.)

[incorrectskyrimquotes]

The Thalmor have taken The Rift, Falkreath, and The Reach

Their strategy is becoming obvious. They're hoping to encircle Skyrim and close in on her. It comes to light though that instead of Solitude, they plan to march on Whiterun next. Word of this blazes through Skyrim, and everyone prepares for the battle of their lives.

Eryn is mostly healed by this point, and can move and fight again. Even after waking up, she had to take some more time to recover and heal. And Thieves Guild had been more than helpful and generous (something she finds amusingly ironic). But when she hears Whiterun is next, she decides whether or not she's ready is irrelevant. She has to be ready.

In Whiterun, Ulfric is preparing as best he can. The Thalmor were spotted marching towards the city, some of them on giant birds of all things. Rocs typically don't belong in Skyrim, the cold being too much for the delicate wings, but the Thalmor have decided to not take any chances. With the three holds they have under their "control" all actively trying to rebel and disrupt, they've decided to become even more brutal in their tactics.

Ralof and Hadvar are leading the defense. Many former imperial soldiers had decided to fight under the banner for Skyrim. It's not about Ulfric, it's not about the Stormcloaks, it's about defending their homeland. They both invoke a silent prayer for, at the very least, Whiterun's safety. Neither of them pray to the gods, though. Hadvar asks Rikke's spirit to please watch over them, and Ralof asks Eryn's spirit to be right there when he dies. So he can at least see her again.

Only one of their prayers is heard and answered.

The Thalmor attack. The battle is bloody and messy and brutal and dark. Their mages have called upon storms, trying obscure the battlefield. But the defense is strong, too. It seems almost every capable warrior who could answer the call has, and is pushing the Thalmor back.

One particular Thalmor is on a Frost Roc, carefully weaving through the raging sky. He rains down ice and electricity onto every poor soul under him, his great bird screeching as he does so. But the echo of the cry returns... wrong.

Ralof looks up. "Dragon." He says simply, knowing that noise by heart. He tries to find the beast in the clouds, seeing only shadows of wings. He doesn't see what the dragon is carrying. But he does see the brilliant flash of purple. The bird seems to stumble, falling backwards before righting itself, barely missing the ground.

"That's the last thing we need." Ulfric grumbles, before giving a heavy sigh.

In the clouds, a different conversation is going on.

"This is it, Durnehviir."

"Geh, Qahnaarin. Dilon daar nuz." (Yes, Vanquisher. But this is dangerous (dilon literally translating into "fatal".))

"Oh, I know." Eryn slowly stands up from her position on his neck, even with the undead being still soaring through the air. "But what are we gonna do? Die again?" For the first time in months, since waking up, she actually smiles. She looks up at the storming sky. "Lok vah koor!"

The clouds dissipate, the rain fades in the air, the battlefield is left illuminated by the brilliant blue of the sky. And everyone now has a clearer look at the dragon... and he's not like any other dragon anyone has ever seen.

"That's like if a draugr fucked a dragon." Galmar spits, taking the blade of his axe from the face of a battlemage.

"Eloquent as always, my friend." Ulfric replies with a bit of laugh, sending some poor Thalmor flying into another.

"I know that dragon." Ralof whispers, staring up at it. "That's... That's hers."

A small figure suddenly comes flying off of the undead, sickly dragon. The person has jumped from dragon, directly onto the thalmor frost roc, deciding to fight the rider up close. The bird spins around, trying to shake her off. The woman only ends up clinging on, but throws the rider to the ground, allowing him to fall to his death. She then runs her elven rapier, the red glow shining even from the sky, through the bird's skull. As the bird goes down, she becomes translucent.

She lands on the ground, just seconds before the effect seems to wear off. But she doesn't even seem tired, nor hurt, she's as alive as she's ever been.

Even in the middle of battle, of war, almost everyone seems to freeze. She's dead, she's supposed to be dead. Scouts from all sides had reported on her being dead, even with her body being absent from the site of her demise. She looks back at them.

She could have made a snappy, witty comment. Something like "Sorry I'm late" or "Started without me?", but she can't. She's silent as she locks eyes with Ralof, tears streaming down his face. And then he runs at her.

She catches him, but they both collapse to the ground in a combined mess of sorrow and joy and relief and fear. They cling onto each other, both absolutely terrified the other will fade away if they let go.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Eryn whispers, she can't even imagine what she put him through. "I'm sorry, I'm right here, I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize, don't ever apologize for being alive." Ralof sobs back, holding onto her impossibly tighter. "Just stay, stay with me, please. Don't ever leave me again, don't ever go where I can't follow. Even if this is a dream, just stay with me."

"Always, forever." She pulls back, just so they can see each other's faces, both awash with endless tears. He simply nods, and she pulls him back in, holding him as close as she can. She looks up at the people now surrounding the two of them, trying to give her and her husband space, but also overjoyed that Eryn is alive.

"Hadvar..." Eryn whispers, his presence surprising her the most.

He smiles at her, and kneels down, putting a hand on Ralof to offer his own comfort. "Someone had to look after this one while you were gone." Slowly, she and Hadvar both help Ralof back to his feet, and he finally seems able to let go over her. Though he never takes his eyes off of her.

"Eryn!" Of all the people Eryn had expected to be tackled by after coming back to life, it wasn't Galmar. Galmar Stone-Fist lifts her up in a huge bear hug... and it's kind of hurting. A lot.

"Great to see you too, Galmar," She wheezes out. "But you're gonna rebreak my ribs if you don't put me down!" After he does so, she gasps in a bit.

"You're alive." Eryn looks up to see Ulfric Stormcloak crying... it's only two small streaks, he's not outright sobbing as Ralof had been, but he's clearly also quite happy to see her. "Thank the divines. You're alive."

Eryn wants to respond to the overwhelming love she's being shown, to now seeing these people after so long, but the sound of war snaps her out of the moment. She turns to face the war, Redwing gripped tight in her right hand, a swirl of flames in her left.

She doesn't say anything, nothing heroic or funny or determined. As she always does, as she always has, she simply rushes into the battle, and fights with the knowledge that Skyrim depends on her.

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

thousand autumns donghua, episode 16~

HERE WE GO FRIENDS IT'S THE LAST EPISODE OF SEASON 1 i am both excited and sad ;A; so let's DO THIS 💪😤 we are at the border!!! idk which one, but we are at A border, and shen qiao is here to kick ass and go :) RIGHT SO in the previous episode, shen qiao killed a man called kunye and it was really hot. this kunye also warned shen qiao that yan wushi is in MORTAL PERIL!! so he's come to the rescue, even tho yan wushi BETRAYED him lol BAI RONG IS HERE!!! HI SWEETIE!!! she's so sweet, warning shen qiao that he doesn't need to help the man who treated him like rubbish but he insists!! he is polite but FIRM!! and he says that bai rong is better than her sect peeps, which is TRUE hulan gu?? somethinggggg valley??? idk lol ok we're here at hulan gu. idk where it is but it looks pretty cool!! sweet masonry bro. looks great!! AH DUAN WENYANG IS HERE TOO he searches for the scary monk--who STILL has yet to say emítuó fó‎, and i'm super sad about it ._. nice outfit mr monk, ur looking good!! OH NOES THE BEIMU WARRIORS SHALL MARCH SOUTH!!! toward the central plains and-- YOINK THE OLD MAN APPEARS!! HE STEALS THE SPECIAL RING and angers the monk lol monk: yws i am a nice man but u are pushing me past my limits OH SHIT NOW THEY ARE ALL FIGHTING TWO AGAINST ONE AND YAN WUSHI IS DESTROYING THEM god these fight scenes are incredible, i love them so much ;A; COME ON LAO YAN DON'T SCREW IT UP oh my goddddd they're so cool OH NOES YAN WUSHI IS WOUNDED THE OLD MAN TOOK A SWORD TO THE TIT NOOOOOOO NOT HIS TIDDIES oh look shen qiao is here 😊 yan wushi: damn!! that idiot almost took off my nipple!!! OH BIG JGY'S BACK!!! i wish he would treat his instruments more carefully ;A; do u know how much work went into crafting that. do u even care. big jgy get ur priorities straight OH MY GOD HE SCRAPED THE STRINGS SIDEWAYS WHAT AN AWFUL SOUND!! 😫 OUCH OH IT'S it's yu ai??? i forgot what he looked like lmao, he's the one who almost de-nippled the old man ok this is hardly sportsmanlike this is like four dudes against one, it's not fair at all OH NOOO DOnN'T YOINK OUT THE SWORD!! IT WAS KEEPING UR BLOOD IN!!! YAN WUSHI U DUMBASS oh shit he MAD. BIIIIG MAD damn wow ok he's a fucking badass motherfucker 💪😤 never seen anything like it!! GET EM KING lol they all are running after him like it's a game of rugby aww poor old man hobbling away…..oh hey weird beard man is back as well!!! and he shoved yan wushi down the stairs. is this big jgy's revenge??? lmao beard man celebrated a bit too early did he??? DON'T LOOK AWAY FROM UR QUARRY U IDIOT wait why am i helping him, i don't care for him at all LMAO YWS POKED HIM IN THE FOREHEAD 🤣 OWO WHAT THIS??? WHO ARRIVES LIKE A GENTLE BREEZE IN THE NIGHT??? WHO IS SO DAINTY AND DELICATE AND BEAUTIFUL LIKE HAITANG BLOSSOMS ON THE WIND???? IT IS HE!!! IT IS SHEN QIAO!!!!!!!! he's so cool omg ;A; ok yu ai u NEED to stop calling ur shixiong 'a-qiao' that is. SO disrespectful. u lil bitch >:V 'a-qiao a-qiao' go fuck urself yu ai >:( OH SHIT SHEN QIAO JUST RENOUNCED THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND SAID THAT YU AI DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE THEIR SHIZUN'S DISCIPLE!!!!! OHHHH SHIIIIIITTTTTT OH MY GOOOODDDDD SHEN QIAO U ARE. THE MOST AMAZING PERSON LOOK AT HIMMM HE'S BARELY EVEN FUCKING TRYING YU AI CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO COMPARE SORRY I'M YELLING SO MUCH BUT THIS IS HONESTLY SO AWESOME :DDD HAAAAA!!!! SHEN QIAO BROKE YU AI'S SWORD BROKE HIS FUCKING SWORD IN HALFFFFF HAAAA GOT EMMMMMM SHEN QIAO MARRY ME SHEN QIAO PLS MARRY ME AT ONCE he knows who he IS. he knows what he can DO. i am. SO IMPRESSED. SO PROUD. I LOVE HIM. SO MUCH ;A; yan wushi: lol why didn't u kill that dumbass?? shen qiao: ….shut up :) oh uh yu ai and beard man left, big jgy and dwy and the monk are still here tho duan wenyang: 'yan wushi give me the golden flower fingering!!' << actual subtitle in this donghua. AMAZING. HAAA SHEN QIAO WHACKED HIM AND DUAN WENYANG MADE THE FUNNIEST SOUND like 'AAAAAAAAAAA' omg i've replayed it like four times already it's so fucking funny

shen qiao: u run ahead, i'll follow in a bit :) yan wushi: ……am i having an emotion lol stupid monk thinks he beat shen qiao?? ok sure giant glowy hand vs giant glowy sword, who will win???!!! oh crap big jgy's helping the monk!!! …..bUT NOW YAN WUSHI IS TRYING TO HELP SHEN QIAO??!?!?! NO WAIT DON'T USE ALL OF UR EVIL SPIRIT!!! OLD MAN WHAT ARE U DOING omg are they just gonna die together??? that's so romantic ;A; 💔💔💔 PFFT he hit the ground real hard, it was a bit funny, sorry 🤣 yan wushi: *doing his best impression of a corpse shen qiao: …fuck :( i'm sad now :( AWWWWW HE'S TAKING THE OLD MAN AWAY WITH HIM IS HE LITERALLY FUCKING DEAD??!?!?! he walks very competently for a dead man awww flashbacks of their memories~ their uhhhh happy???? times together??? like shen qiao dying and yan wushi yelling at the forest!! i assume they didn't feel the need to show the wild passionate sex they had in the inn bc we already know about it lol WHY IS IT TRYING TO MAKE ME SAD 😭 I KNOW HE'S PROBABLY FINE BC THE BOOK IS LONGER THAN THIS SO. SO I'M NOT SCARED OR WORRIED. AT ALL. IT'S FINE. I'M FINE ;A; god the theme music is gorgeous btw i don't think i've mentioned how much i love it, it's so poignant and sweet ;A; and as we all know, birb LOVES a poignant tune, yes i do yes i do 😌👌 OH now they're by the river!! it's a good place to die :D AND it's where that other dude died last time!! :D OOH HIS FINGIE!!! IT TWITCHED I SAW IT duan wenyang is so sad!!! his shidi kunye is like super dead ;A; oh boy shifu's mad at him lmao. AAAAA AND THAT'S IT THAT'S IIIIIIITTTTT UNTIL THEY MAKE THE NEXT SEASONNNN AAAAAAAAAA ;A;

SO!!!

my thoughts overall???

EXCELLENT DONGHUA. really lovely animation!!! sometimes the models themselves were a bit odd or stiff, but the actual MOTIONS were smooth and pleasing to the eye!!! the music was GREAT, really well done!! and i love shen qiao and yan wushi and bai rong and shiwu!!! i LOVED IT!!!! 💚💚💚 9/10, WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND!!! they lost one point for not having a SINGLE emítuó fó‎ however smh 😔 thanks for joining me on this lil journey~ hope u've had fun as well!! 😊

[phoenix-manga]

Okay so imagine this; Posie is getting tired and she wants uppie, so she goes to the closest person and extends her arms out and ask for uppie. How would everyone react? Also I can imagine Lilia using this opportunity to stea- I mean run off and adopt Posie

Long answer below!

Heartslabyul

Riddle is flustered at first, he's an only child so trying to be the big brother is new for him. Not to mention he's struggling to pick her up with his twig arms. If Posie wants to be carried, he will do so when he's sitting down to make it easier for himself.

Ace and Deuce always find themselves giving her a ride on their shoulders. They don't know why but it just felt like it wasn't enough to carry her in their arms. Deuce though, walks cautiously and slowly because he doesn't wanna lose his balance and send the poor child onto the ground.

Ace on the other hand, he will zoom through crowds and is yelling at the others to make way because he's got a child on his shoulders.

Trey is used to carrying his little siblings so with Posie, it's no problem at all. He'll carry her in one arm while mixing batter in the other. He's a multitasking man, probably give Posie a spoon with leftover batter for taste testing.

Cater is vlogging himself giving Posie a piggyback ride. Though someone has to video him first, last time he did that by himself, he nearly toppled over.

Savanaclaw

Leona... no, just no. Posie may be quieter than Cheka but he's not a babysitter.

Ruggie though, he would do this thing were he puts Posie on a large piece of cloth and drags it all over a smooth floor. He thinks it's much more fun this way than just riding on people's backs.

Jack would definitely jog with Posie on his shoulders with no problem. Heck, maybe even have her sit on his back while he does push ups. His siblings do that to him all the time so this was nothing at all. Imagine the Pokémon join Posie though, it's a cute image.

Octavinelle 

Azul... well his human arms are noodle weak. If he was on his octopus form then it'd be a merry-go-round not just for Posie but with the Pokémon too. But he would do it in private because he has an image to maintain.

Floyd causes heart attacks by running all over the halls so fast that he bulldozes his way through the halls. Seven have mercy on poor Posie and Mr. Sweets.

Jade of course, carries her on his arms. He's much calmer than Floyd as he points to her the different mushrooms he was growing.

Scarabia

Kalim doesn't carry her... they're both on a magic carpet riding through the clouds. 

Jamil carries Posie in his arms but it's more of a cradle kind of carry because he needs to make sure she doesn't fall off and get injured.

Pomefiore

I would like to think that Vil has a soft spot for children, he has her sit on his lap instead and she gets her hair fixed with nice ribbons and pretty hairclips. Then Vil would carry her so delicately yet secure, the students thought they were like siblings at one point.

Rook would carry her to a field of flowers and through a nice walk in the woods. He'd point out an animal or two for her, telling her all about what he knows.

Epel may look weak but he's probably helped carry hay bales in the farm. He gives Posie a shoulder back ride and would try to look tough. Pretending to be a steed being riden on by a warrior who is Posie.

Ignihyde

Idia... i can't see him carrying her but she will sit on his lap as he plays games. She'll probably doze off an hour later and Idia doesn't know what to do, it's like the situation when a cat falls asleep on you but with a baby.

Ortho becomes a jet ride for Posie... not literally but he zooms around the halls going "whoosh".

Diasomnia

Malleus is like that situation with Maleficent and little Aurora except Malleus gladly gives her a shoulder ride. Posie just grabs on his horns to keep her from falling but Malleus doesn't mind it a bit. Anything for the little child of man.

Lilia can only carry her if there was a supervisor to make sure he doesn't whip out the adoption papers again. He's acting like a child when the others tell him that Posie has to go back to the main building and he just whine like, "Nooooo! Don't wanna"

Silver doesn't carry her but she does fall asleep on him. Its very cute, all the animals all around the two, sleeping under a tree ina perfectly good day.

Sebek is kinda stiff when it comes to handling kids. He doesn't know if he was even carrying her properly, it ends up in an awkward hold

[rottenprincessshura100]

Thinking back aaaaalll the way, when Satan says the seven archangels names to open the gate. Do you think that in the aoex universe the other six exist? Even if they're actually demons it would make more sense than for samael to be the only one ever mentioned/existing. Or! Do you think it's possible they existed once in the universe but are long gone in the time of our storyline? Love to know your thoughts!♥️

Hi there! Thanks much for the question!

I’m not sure this one has a definitive answer, but I’ll give it a whirl.

Do angels exist in Kato’s world? Maybe....? I'm going to argue that angels exist in a different realms than demons and humans.

The fact that Satan names the other six archangels to open the Gehenna gate is very interesting, and I’d like to think that heaven does exist. We just haven’t seen it as of yet.

When Kato created her manga universe, she sampled liberally from various lore of demons from different cultures and religions. All of this is woven together into a rich narrative tapestry. 

We know in Kato’s world there is a hell, which is Gehenna. Gehenna is a realm mentioned in the Kabbalah. It is a holding place of the wicked and considered a temporary purgatory for all souls. 

Assiah is used to describe earth “the place of action” where all living things (such as humans), reside. The Kabbalah, from my rudimentary understanding describes three different additional higher realms in which a spirit must traverse to get to spiritual enlightenment and the divine. So, if Kato’s world is loosely based on the Kabbalah this alone makes me believe that Aoex universe must be bigger than we think it is. If higher realms exist, then so do angels.

Also the highest ranking demons are named after fallen angels. Satan, Lucifer and Samael. If these guys really are fallen biblical angels that could also prove that archangels exist. But have the demon kings actually fallen?

I’m not sure if this is the case. So far, Kato’s universe explains that the Demon Kings and the Emperors of the Sol are like the building blocks of Assiah. 

We have demon kings representing Time, Earth, Light, Fire, Insects and Rot. 

 There is however, one demon king we know piss all about....and that is King of Spirits, Azazel. This guy is obviously the gatekeeper to another dimension. Because where to human spirits go? Spirits are only temporarily contained in Gehenna, its a holding place. They are obviously sent someplace else, and it ain’t Assiah or Gehenna. So there must be a heaven, right?

(Was Yuri actually crushed by Satan in Gehenna or was she just there temporarily until she was sent to another realm of spirits? Your guess is as good as mine!)

Now...back to Mephisto.  He is the King of Time/Space and Death. Mephisto  most likely works closely with Azazel as the caretakers of human souls. If other realms exist Mephisto must know of them. After all, death and spirit go hand and hand. They help humans transition from the land of action to realms of spirits.

 Mephisto’s real name is Samael, and his personality fits well with the traits of his biblical counterpart. Samael is considered a fallen angel, but it is still assumed that he has a connection to god and works for him. 

He is considered both good and evil, and one of the warrior angels that defends Assiah and humans against evil. (Maybe he’s like the ultimate super spy? Shima learned from the best, right?)

Samael is also not angelic in the slightest. He does the dirty work the other angels won’t do. Most likely the distasteful and unsavory stuff that maintains the delicate balance of Assiah. He reminds me of Crowley in Good Omens. He was an angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards.”

Plus, Samael a horny bugger and has no problem having relations with both humans and demons. When Adam’s first wife, Lilith decides to leave him, Samael is right there for the rebound. After that, he seduces Adam’s second wife Eve as the serpent in the Garden of Eden. (Sounds like something tricky Mephisto would do...just for the fun of it.)

Corrupting humans and allowing them to know how fallible they are seems to be a side hobby of Mephisto’s and who knows maybe it’s god’s work he’s doing. He’s trying to see which souls move on and which do not.  One thing that’s for certain, don’t ever make a deal with this guy. (I’m looking at you Faust...)

But I do admit, if Mephisto was a dark angel. I wouldn’t be surprised. His entire personality is like unravelling a ball of string, it will take forever to get to the truth of who he really is. And if Mephisto indeed turns out to be the biblical Samael then hopefully we learn about the rest of the angels too. 

[boliv-jenta]

I saw a Lilo and Stitch gif set the other day that reminded me of this...

So I had to write this...(apologises to both The Mandalorian and Lilo and Stitch fans.)

Family

It wasn't often they got to visit a planet like this. It was so beautiful. The sun was low in the cloudless sky. The sky itself was pink on the horizon but bled into purple then blue before opening up to the swirl of stars above. A cool breeze occasionally took the edge off the humidity. She happily worked on her project. After an hour of gathering all the things she needed she sat crossed legged in the thick grass. The kid and Din were asleep. No one else was around for miles. It was utterly peaceful. Until it was anything but.

The ramp hissed as it opened. It had barely made contact with the ground before the sound of heavy boots came bounding down it. Between the solid armour and the weapons, Din cut a threatening figure at the best of times. Add in the strong set of his shoulders, the laser like focus of his vizor and the effect was truly terrifying as he barrelled towards her. Or it would be to anyone else. "What the hell?!" He practically snarled. "Where are we?!" she didn't even have time to open her mouth before he continued. "Did you put me in my bunk?!". This time she actually got her mouth open before his next question cut her off "How did you even get me back to the ship?!". She decided to just let him keep going. He'd started pacing now, rambling angrily as he moved. As he ranted she carefully finished her work threading each delicate blossom together.

Now and then one of his comments would catch her attention. She would mentally reply to it, thinking it better to just let him go off until he calmed down. 'The kid was safe, I put on the ground defences.' 'I came to do recon, if we were unsafe I would have left.' 'You were both unconscious from the explosion.' 'I cuffed him and hid him while I took care of you.' 'I wrapped your arm around my shoulders, braced you against me to guide you then had your jetpack take the strain of your weight, clever huh?' 'The quarry was awake when I got back, I threatened to shoot him if he didn't walk.' 'Yes, it was risky, our whole lives are risky Din.'

Once she had finished, she silently rose to her feet. His pacing had stopped. Now he stood with his hands on his hips, weight on one leg, shoulders back, chest heaving. "Why would you do that?!" he demanded. Ignoring his question she placed the flowers over his head letting them drape around his shoulders. Without question he'd dipped his head to allow her to do it before continuing to grumble for a few more minutes. Soon his angry ravings began to lose to their momentum"...a-and..." he finally sputtered, "...w-what would I do if I lost you?" There is was, underneath it all, the real reason for his anger, fear.

Without a word she took his hand and lead him back to the ship. "You'd do it again, wouldn't you?" He finally asked defeated. "Oh yeah." she smiled. Once they boarded the Crest she came to a stop directly in front on him. His hands came to rest at her waist as she lay hers on his chest. "We're a family." she felt his chest rise as he sighed contentedly at her words. "Family means no one gets left behind." Pulling gently on the flower garland until it was taut on his neck, she encouraged him to tip his head towards her. As her forehead met his she closed her eyes, taking a moment to enjoy the intimate gesture. Grogu's babbling and the scurrying of his tiny feet pulled her from her reverie. "Or forgotten." she laughed scooping up the tiny, green child and nestling him between them. Shifting towards Din the kid buried his face in the sweet smelling flowers flowing over his shoulders. "I think he likes the smell." she grinned running her finger tips between his large ears. "The smell is..." for someone who spoke a good few languages Din some times struggled with words he didn't have much need for. "...soothing." Before Din could ponder if that was the right word any further, Grogu began to stuff the flowers into his mouth.

"Grogu! No!" He barked. Turning to her as she tugged the garland away he asked "Are they edible?!"

Wrestling the rest of the blooms from his tiny fingers she replied "Edible is a relative term to this kid."

"Cyar'ika." Din warned frantically checking the baby over.

"They're not poisonous. He'll be fine."

Din proceeded to give the kid the same lecture about not eating random things. Grogu tilted his head and moved his big ears around as if he were actually listening, like he had done the previous dozen times. She stood looking at the family she had found all on her own. The heroic warrior with the flawless armour that hid all the cracks within. The unteachable child, who was older and had seen more than both of them. Their clan was little and broken but still good. As Din finished his stern words with Grogu, he placed him into his pod. Once Din's back was turned the kid promptly shoved the few petals he had managed to ball up in his tiny fist into his mouth and cooed triumphantly. 'Yeah, still good.' she thought.

[his-lost-horn]

unifyingspark: But oh gosh that little tiny in Cyclonus’s arms when she’s all painted and decked out, maybe at a rare formal function that Galvatron orders Cyclonus to attend with the babies to show them off. Gorgeous Cyclonus with his baby, in a crown his mate wove of things to protect her and keep her aura clean, painted with crimson shiny paint to match her optic and claws, dripping in jewels from conquered worlds of black and red. Just gorgeous and delicate and perfect. (Now /that/ I’d like to commission shitssssss). His darling little baby could not be cuter.

unifyingspark: Galvatron giving one of his speeches (and he is a fantastic public speaker). Jealous glances at Cyclonus, the cherished mate and bad tempered right-hand of the Empire. Then he can read mouths and sees someone lean towards the helm of another and say, ‘doesn’t matter how hard they try, he and his sparkling will always be hideous, what does Lord Galvatron see in him? He still has his birthing scar on his chest from budding, why polish your armor and leave that front and center? Primus pity that femme, awful thing, she sends a chill down your spinal struts, doesn’t she?’

unifyingspark: ‘Maybe he’s one of those weird bots who thinks its attractive to reproduce like a disgusting organic’

unifyingspark: ‘The little mechling is very handsome but a beastformer, did you know?’

unifyingspark: ‘Maybe Galvatron will have other offspring though I could bow to a beastformer, times have changed. Careful, the right-hand is looking at us.’

unifyingspark: ‘No he has a trained military stare, he looks broadly so it seems like he’s looking at you, he’s not trust me. Everyone in power learns to look into a crowd like that. He’ll go back to his ship, Camadal told me he’s afraid someone will try to hurt his babies so he moves about constantly. Coward.’

unifyingspark: ‘The femme moves abnormally.’

unifyingspark: ‘Twitchy.’

unifyingspark: ‘He’s looking, I swear, we should move further into the crowd.’

unifyingspark: // and then the after dinner meet-and-greet turns into "Little ones, would you like to have fun with Papa?"

unifyingspark: Cyclonus being a gossip favorite is prolly normal, I bet another reason he never wants to go to any of these things esp when the children are small, just sucks.

vxtum: Oh my god.. That is going to hit Cyclonus something cold - suddenly New Cybertron isn't so new after all

vxtum: Memories of his youth flooding back full-force

vxtum: But this time, he's got a horrific temper

vxtum: And he has no issues gutting people, even in the middle of Galvatron's speech

unifyingspark: LMAO really in the middle of the speech

unifyingspark: Oh god please, Galvatron would be trailing off watching Cyclonus slide into the crowd like water in a stream

vxtum: Watching Cyclonus on a hunt, having passed Tetta to Scourge, kissing her helm and murmuring that he will be back shortly.

unifyingspark: But Galvatron won't punish that kinda thinking -.- as insane as it is since he has a beastformer in his family and a little son with a beastmode, he doesn't make the links Cyclonus does... Galvatron longs for the old world. He means no malice, and if Cyclonus pushes him (and well Cyclonus has power, he can prune and lay down the law with an equal hand, he can help shape things to run the way he wants)... I know he'll protect his babies

unifyingspark: but oh god you know how scared shitless most everyone must be of Cyclonus, he must love when he catches someone who needs to die in one of those meetings

unifyingspark: standing in the back, silent, watching, waiting, hoping someone is fucking stupid enough to reveal themselves

unifyingspark: and sure as shit, always an idiot in Cyclonus' sight

vxtum: Galvatron smirking from the stage, watching Cyclonus track two or three of a group always making a point to keep distance between him, "Would seem someone has upset Lieutenant Cyclonus tonight. How.. /ordinary/. Run, you fools. He is just going to kill you." and then goes back to his speech

unifyingspark: Scourge hissing at him as he starts, "Cyclonus must you?"

vxtum: "Yes."

unifyingspark: Galvatron would enjoy it though, knows Cyclonus knows how to weed a garden har

unifyingspark: Near everyone hates little Tetta, I love it though it's horrible, because she's so cute and others see and feel the voidthing and are repulsed. Cyclonus must want to keep her away from that when she's small, no Carrier wants to feel his child feeling happy and thinking she's pretty because her parents told her she's pretty, then those outside their family are turning away to make a face, commenting she's hideous and creepy.

unifyingspark: Gravitas would get a little dig here and there about the beastformer shit but I think before the twins are grown Cyclonus has killed those bots (or Dinobot has as well), same with the ones who don't like mini-bots and such, that old world racism Cyclonus so hates.

vxtum: I mean, honestly. He can't and won't try to make it a thought crime to talk shit about his children, his family, and himself.. but if you're fucking stupid enough to do it in his proximity, then you're not intelligent enough to be a part of their empire.

unifyingspark: Galvy won't kill for those things either, he doesn't give a fuck what anyone is saying as long as they obey his orders and get the job done the right way.

unifyingspark: But Galvatron also lets Cyclonus do whatever the fucking fuck he wants (as always)

vxtum: Gravitas doesn't fucking care either, not when he's a teen and onward

vxtum: But he'd kill anyone who said anything about Tetta

unifyingspark: I don't think most mean it, they can't see her. They feel the Void and they're afraid, as they should be. Or whatever bad emotion, perhaps not everyone feels fear. If she didn't have a voidtaint, I bet many would think she was a cute little thing.

unifyingspark: Prolly, in the end, is good she has the taint. It makes her scarier than she is.

unifyingspark: Kind of an extra protection, I'm sure it starves trouble more than causes it

unifyingspark: Dinobot picking Gravitas up, showing him the crowd and saying loudly, "Look Prince, herd animals. What do we do with herd animals?"

vxtum: Gravitas' large optics brightened with excitement, surveying the surrounding individuals who had turned to look at them curiously, warily, and he tried to make a fierce, scary expression, baring his dentae and leaning forward, tiny servos bracing on his sire's arms. "EAT THEM! RAHH!"

unifyingspark: Dinobot snored loudly, proud of his beastformer quirks. "You are every bit as smart as your twin," He said, finding no fault in the young one. "Perhaps your Carrier will allow us to eat the idiot of the group, that is only fair..." He bent, long fingers fully encasing the boy's upper body, snug, safe. He set Gravitas down. "But you could sniff out the weakest link, you will not tolerate weakness in your pack. I am sure your Sire would appreciate you identifying a drain on his inner circle.”

unifyingspark: Scourge trying not to pass Dinobot an outright evil eye as he listens to the cranky old beastformer encourage Gravitas to sniff out weaklings for eating. I’m sure Dinobot let Gravitas eat a ton of sweets beforehand too, make sure the little one is extra jazzed up to fuck with Galvatron’s most loyal of New Cybertron. Really Dinobot wants to see if Gravitas picks out the same dickhead he wants to eat because that would make him so proud.

unifyingspark: god everything asshole about adult Gravitas is fucking Dinobot's fault *laughing

unifyingspark: Pushing instinct and wildness, yammering on about “his pack” and he being the big mech alpha wolf, rewarding individuality and selfishness and aggression, excusing bad behavior/defending him from Cyclonus’ cane, telling Gravitas he is just the most fucking special little fuck that has ever graced the universe and everything he does/thinks/wants is perfect, and then actually teaching Gravitas a shitload of very solid skills and skills most bots do not have, lost things, old world rule, survival, how to be both Cybertronian and animal and warrior--- but not enough to take away his individuality, never making it law, setting it all out and letting him pick

unifyingspark: You have the right to the universe and everything in it.

unifyingspark: Then Galvatron seals the final blow, that the mighty rule and make the laws.