#this tournament keeps surprising me every round and that's the great thing about it!

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

It's looking increasingly likely that the semifinals will just be sapphic on sapphic violence. By the way, I'm kind of flattered by "This is so hard! That's an evil poll" comments since it just proves my seeding of the tournament wasn't terrible like I was so afraid it'd be.

It's supposed to be hard, guys! I purposefully did my best to put popular media next to popular media so no one gets swept out of the tournament super early by a hugely popular couple.

[festivalsofmargot]

Blood Sport {Garreth Weasley x Fem!Reader}

Got this pic of Garreth from Rimaeternax on twitter!!!

AGED UP CHARACTERS, 18+ SCENARIOS (Characters are in their 7th year and are 18+)

Introduction: Garreth had begged you not to put your name in The Goblet of Fire. The TriWizard Tournament was known for being so dangerous, it was practically a death sentence to every school Champion chosen. You promised him you wouldn’t, but when you found out your best friend Natty had entered her name, you decided to go against his wishes and enter behind his back. Being as capable as you were and the only person in ages able to wield ancient magic, of course your name was chosen. Along with an overwhelming sense of dread that you could die, Garreth felt betrayal, and has kept his distance from you ever since.

Word Count: ~ 9,900 (I’m gonna be honest, I dunno how it happened)

Warnings: Heavy Drinking, Swearing, Angst, Smut (Sex, Edging, Oral)

Author’s Note: I made this so it could be a standalone, but in case you’d like extra background, this is a continuation of Garreth’s portion in The 3 Boys & The Hogwarts Champion. I couldn’t get his part out of my head and I had to write out the rest of his story. Freckled Serotonin could be a prequel too haha, a fic that takes place during a time where the relationship is only happiness and fluff. Maaaan, I have been obsessing and losing sleep over this fic all week and I’m so happy I finally finished! It’s my longest one yet, so get cozy and grab a snack 🥰 Hope you guys have a great night ❤ 

Songs (if interested):

Blood Sport - Sleep Token (Original Version & Room Below Version)

for forever - EKKSTACY

You Can’t Stop Me - Alex G

you not the same - TileKid

The Love You Want - Sleep Token

Lights Are On - Tom Rosenthal

-

It had been weeks now since you and Garreth last spoke. You knew he needed time and space to forgive you, but your second challenge was coming up soon, and now more than ever you wanted him by your side again. 

The Durmstrang Champion, Maxim Mainka, had caught a few hints at what it could be, and things weren’t looking good if his suspicions were correct. He had been so concerned he wanted to prepare with you and the Beauxbatons Champion, Amelie DuPont. Was there anything more unsettling than something that could put a Durmstrang student on edge?

Possibly facing a challenge you couldn’t overcome within the next week had weighed on you more and more as it approached. So when Professor Weasley announced that the fourth years and up were to meet for dance practice for the upcoming Yule Ball, you were over the moon. You’d take anything that could help take your mind off it all. 

You grinned a bit seeing all the younger years get uneasy at Professor Weasley explaining the proper dance that was required of everyone if they wanted to attend. The seventh years were the only ones who seemed to be at ease with the whole thing, probably because it wouldn’t be the first time touching someone so intimately for most of you. Whereas the younger years had never even held hands with someone and it was written all over their faces.

“Garreth, come up and help me demonstrate please.” 

Your smile faltered a bit watching Garreth walk up. He received some whistles and hollers as he strode up to his aunt proudly, chest puffed like he was about to own this demonstration dance. You couldn’t help the grin that tugged at your lips, of course you still found him as hilarious as ever, despite your current situation.

He blew an exaggerated kiss to the audience and you cackled along with the other students. He then joined his aunt for the dance, keeping the smug look on his face as she talked through the steps for everyone. At one point, he surprised her with a dip, causing everyone to howl with laughter and she smacked him lightly. He said a quick apology and brought her back up.

“That’ll do. Thank you, Garreth.” He stepped back from his aunt and gave a dramatic bow, bringing another round of chuckles from everyone as you all clapped for him.

“Alright, now everyone find a partner and we’ll go through the steps together.”

Most of the students went quiet and still, not wanting to make the first move. The only ones who got up to move were the ones in relationships, heading to join their significant others for practice. You looked down to the ground, suddenly feeling like an unconfident fourth year yourself.

Garreth caught sight of you amongst the crowd. He had been wanting to go up and speak to you these last few days, but he couldn't get himself to do it. There never seemed to be a good time, he started to doubt there ever would be. 

He straightened his tie, more out of bustling nerves than anything, and strode up to you. He held out his hand for you to take and you slowly looked up at him, clearly taken aback. 

He looked down at you with a smirk, hoping you didn’t see through his feigned confidence. “What do you say, oh mighty Champion of Hogwarts?”

You swallowed thickly, your body wasn’t handling Garreth speaking to you again as well as you had hoped, but you’d take this moment regardless. You tentatively took his hand and he tugged you up with ease. He kept your hand in his as he led you to the floor, then effortlessly pulled you into the dance, his hold on you firm and warm. 

“You have horrible taste in dance partners, Weasley.” You tried to jest to hide how anxious you were. Unable to meet his gaze, you looked down at your feet to make sure you didn’t step on his. It was a bit much, not speaking for as long as you had and now you were in his arms like this.

“Just follow the expert, you’ll be fine.” He pulled you even closer to him, getting you to finally look up at his face. His eyes bored into yours, and it wiped your mind clean of any coherent thought you had. You wanted to look back down to your feet but he had pulled you too close to be able to do so, so you settled for looking at your hand on his shoulder. 

“I uh - I thought I’d take this chance to speak with you.” It was Garreth’s turn to feel uneasy.

Well… that doesn’t sound good. “Alright.”

He looked away from you, his jaw tensing, bracing himself for what he was going to say next. Your stomach dropped seeing his face turn so dismayed when he was being goofy and having fun only a moment ago. 

“I don’t know how best to put this, so I’m just going to say it. I think we should just be friends.” He could feel you stiffen and he pulled you in closer, your stance turning more into an embrace. He placed his cheek against yours, your swaying becoming only small steps from side to side. “I’m sorry.” He whispered. “I really do hope we can be friends, I’ll do anything to make that happen. Anything. But, I can’t be yours anymore. I just… I can’t. It hurts too much.”

Your eyes stung with tears, and you hated that one had managed to fall. But you were able to remain standing tall. Unable to speak with your throat feeling so constricted, you settled for a brief nod of your head, letting him know you heard him.

“Whatever you need, it's yours. I’ll help you through the rest of the tournament any way I can, just say the word.”

Quickly wiping away your stray tear before he could see it, you cleared your throat. You shifted in your stance so he could back off of you a bit. “Let’s stick with dance lessons, yeah?”

You looked over his shoulder, focusing on nothing in particular while he eyed you a moment longer. He then nodded his head, looking over your shoulder at nothing in particular himself. “Yeah… Yeah, alright then.”

-

That night you had decided to go to The Hog’s Head. You would go to Three Broomsticks, but you didn’t want to chance bumping into Garreth. You wanted to avoid him like the plague. 

Walking in, you saw Maxim Mainka. He was sitting at the bar, drinking and cheerily speaking with those around him. He noticed you walk in and lit up like you were just the person he wanted to see. 

“Fellow Champion! Come! Come join me!” 

You smiled and joined his side at the bar. 

“One for my friend, on me!” He called to the bartender.

You gladly took the pint placed in front of you and began on a steady stream of gulps.

“That’s the way!” He cheered, patting you on the back and clearly feeling a good buzz in his cheeks. He held up his drink to you and you clinked it with yours. “Let’s enjoy our last few days alive, my friend!”

You stilled and thought on his words for a moment. You knew Maxim had been feeling edgy about the upcoming challenge, but you didn’t think he’d be this convinced none of the champions would make it out alive. 

You started to go a bit numb. The love of your life had asked you to ‘just be friends’ and you might very well die in a few days… 

What better time to drink myself silly? 

You raised your pint, “Here’s to that.” Then you brought it back to your lips for more.

-

Garreth sat at the bar of The Three Broomsticks, barely able to touch his drink; he was so sick to his stomach. He rubbed at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, unable to follow the chatter of his friends next to him.

He knew ending things with you would be one of the stupidest things he had ever done, but he had to. What choice did he have? He couldn’t keep you wondering and waiting on him to forgive you when you had more important things to focus on. 

His feelings were all over the place. He still loved you deeply, but he was also still upset. He didn’t think you’d ever truly know how full of dread you made him when you threw yourself into danger as constantly as you did. 

He thought if he gave you a clear stance on where the two of you were in the meantime, it’d be better for you, give you the chance to prepare for your challenges with a clear head. But asking to just be friends had gone horribly, bringing the exact opposite effect he wanted, making things even worse on you. 

“I think I’m gonna turn in, mate. Not feeling it tonight.” Garreth got up from his seat and patted Leander on the back as he passed. He moseyed out of The Three Broomsticks with his hands in his pockets, kicking the dirt at his feet as he made his way out of Hogsmeade.

The sound of cheering coming from The Hog’s Head caught his attention. He peeked over curiously and had to do a double take. That bar was never bustling, yet there was a huge crowd around it tonight, boisterous about something going on inside.

He was caught off guard when you and Maxim clambered out of the crowd and fell to the ground, laughing hysterically and definitely drunk. The crowd cheered in intoxicated delight at your collapse.

Garreth made his way over as Maxim helped you up. When he saw him throw you over his shoulder, his blood boiled and he picked up his pace.

“This one’s pissed! She’s done for the night!” Maxim called back to the crowd as he carried you away from The Hog’s Head with ease. The crowd whined in unison at your departure.

Garreth strode up to him. “Put her down. I can take her from here.” 

As Garreth approached, Maxim side stepped him and kept walking. 

“Oi, Knobhead! I said put her down!”

Maxim gave your side a quick pat. “You know this one?”

You peeked up. “Ah! It’s alright, I know him. He can take me.” You giggled, and Garreth wanted you down from Maxim’s shoulder yesterday.

With a grunt, he set you down. “If you trust him. I could go for a few more rounds anyway.” He took your hand and kissed it. “Goodnight. Meet with me again tomorrow?” He went in to kiss your hand again while he waited for your answer.

“Appreciate it, mate. Goodnight.” Garreth came up behind you, gripping your shoulders and moving you along before his lips could make it to your hand again. 

You waved over your shoulder lazily. “Goodnight to you too, Maxim.”

When Garreth felt you two were far enough away, he released your shoulders and walked by your side.

You let out a content sigh and looked up at the stars above as you walked. 

“Seems you enjoyed yourself tonight.” Garreth grumbled.

“I sure did.”

Garreth’s jaw tensed at the thought of you having been with Maxim all night. “Couldn’t even give it a full day, huh?”

You let out an exhale, your drunkenness making it sound a little more exaggerated. You glanced over at him. He was facing ahead stiffly, hands in his pockets. “And what do you mean by that?”

He shrugged, putting on a face like he couldn’t be bothered what you did anymore. “Nothing.”

“I can’t enjoy myself if we’re not together? Is that it?”

“I didn’t say that. Enjoy yourself all you want.”

“I planned on it.”

“Good. Glad you had such a great night.” He wasn’t glad.

“I did have a great night.” You decided to get cheeky. “And I’m so happy my good friend, Garreth Weasley, was here to walk me back to the dorms. What a guy.” 

He sighed your name, starting to regret he didn’t keep his mouth shut.

You hiccuped and rubbed at your eyes. You were starting to feel a little sick and groaned. “I think I had a few too many. I just didn’t want to stop. Oh, have you heard? Apparently, it’s going to be suicide walking into the arena this week. No one at Hog’s Head would shut up about it.” You mumbled. “What a way to go, huh?”

Garreth stopped in his tracks and looked at you in horror. “What… What did you just say?” He didn’t recognize who he was talking to right then. You sounded like you were accepting death. You knew this tournament was dangerous, but you’d at least always been determined to fight.

You ignored him and kept walking, humming the Hogwarts anthem and keeping your air of drunken bliss.

Garreth called your name sternly for you to stop walking and look at him. 

He rarely spoke with such a tone, and it seemed to bring you back to reality a bit. Your face hardened when you glanced back at him. “Don’t even start.” You said bitterly as you kept walking.

He raised his brows, incredulous at your behavior tonight, and moved to join your side. “Sorry? Say that again. Start what exactly?” 

You stopped and faced each other. “Why should I listen to anything you have to say when you abandoned me? You left me when I -” You shoved him, “- When I needed you the most.”

“I left you, did I? I could have sworn you were the one that chose a worthless fucking tournament over me but what do I know? I’m just an idiot who wanks over potions.”

An amused huff escaped you and you rubbed at your face, drunk and desperately trying not to crack up. “Dammit, Garreth.” You groaned. “Don’t make me laugh, I'm mad at you.” 

He shook his head and bit back a smirk of his own. He really did need to work on his timing. The two of you were definitely having the worst fight you’ve had since knowing each other, he needed to take it seriously.

He took a deep breath and rubbed a hand down his face. “How about we not be mad at each other tonight?” He said, waving his white flag. With alcohol in both of your systems - more so yours than his but still - putting this conversation to the side for now seemed like the smartest idea. “Let’s save it for tomorrow.”

“That’s -” You lost your balance slightly and he steadied you. “That’s a good idea.”

-

As Garreth stepped into the dining hall the next morning, his eyes roamed the room for you. When he spotted you, it didn’t take long for your eyes to drift up and lock with his. He gestured with his chin for you to step outside and speak with him. You nodded your head, getting up and walking over. 

Out of habit when he got this close to you, he gingerly grabbed a hold of your arm. “I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“I’m fine. Head’s killing me, but I’m fine.” You tried to give him a reassuring smile.

He gave you a weak smile in return, not quite buying it. “To be honest, you scared me. You sounded like you’d given up last night.”

You shook your head. “I wasn’t in my right mind, and I hate that you had to be there for any of it. You shouldn’t have had to hear anything I said in that state.”

He gave your arm a gentle squeeze to help put you at ease like he usually would. But it made him remember that you weren’t together anymore, and he shouldn’t be doing things like that.

When he released you, you glanced down briefly, not even aware he had had a hold on you. Now, it seemed you two had to get used to not touching each other, that was what felt less natural.

“I meant it when I said I still want to be there for you. Whatever you need, it’s yours.” Garreth looked into your eyes, trying to convey how much he meant it.

You nodded your head, deciding to let him help. If this next challenge was as dangerous as Maxim said it was going to be, you needed all the help you could get. “I need potions. All that you can make me.”

-

Garreth was crumbling as he paced back and forth in front of the hospital wing. “Let me in, I need to see her. Please, you don’t understand.” His breathing was uneven, his voice cracking. The latest challenge was the most horrific thing he had ever seen. 

The Beauxbatons Champion had been killed, torn to pieces by the horde of inferi you were tasked to fight. You and Maxim had barely made it through. The both of you had to be carried out of the arena, and Garreth needed to see with his own eyes that you were actually alive.

Nurse Blainey tried to steady him. “I do understand. But she’s resting, you need to leave her be for now.”

Leander had tried easing him away. “Come on, Garreth. She’s in good hands now, we can come back later.”

Garreth shoved him back. “Goddammit, get off me!” He turned back to Nurse Blainey with a fire in his eyes. “I’m not waiting for your permission any more.” He shoved past her into the hospital wing.

He scanned the room for you, walking past Maxim who was rocking back and forth while nurses tended to his wounds. He mumbled something in his native tongue to himself over and over. 

Garreth froze and his stomach dropped sickeningly when he spotted your bloodied and bruised form. As the nurses tended to your wounds, his mind raced, trying to reassure himself repeatedly that he could see you breathing, you were only sleeping, you were still alive.

Leander placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go, mate.”

Garreth nodded his head rigidly and turned away from you. He apologized to Nurse Blainey and Leander guided him out.

When they returned to the Gryffindor common room, Garreth made a beeline to his dorm. Shutting the door behind him, he went and slumped down on the edge of his bed. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Then, all at once, the tears came. He shot a hand up to cover his eyes and his shoulders began to shake with quiet sobs.

-

Garreth returned with Leander later that night. Leander went into the hospital wing first to check if it was okay for him to see you. He didn’t think he’d be able to walk past you and just leave if he was told ‘no’.

Leander came back out with a small smile. “You can see her. But Nurse Blainey said she’s on quite a lot of painkillers. Go easy on her tonight.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry again for earlier.” 

Leander waved him off and turned to leave. “See you later.”

Garreth made his way in towards your bed. He noticed Maxim was out like a rock, and was relieved for the poor man.

“Uh oh, I don’t think I did my herbology homework. I’ll need to get on that soon.” Garreth heard you say and could immediately tell how well the painkillers were working on you.

“No need to worry about it right now, dear.” Nurse Blainey chuckled as she looked over her checklist. She glanced up at Garreth as he approached. “If she wants to sleep, let her. Don’t keep her up.”

Garreth gave her a firm nod, then looked at you and noticed how out of it you really were. You were sitting up in bed and looking up at the ceiling whimsically. He was thankful you didn’t seem to be feeling all the stitched up gashes and harsh bruising on you.

Your eyes eventually landed on him and your face lit up. “There’s my boy.”

Garreth’s chest went fluttery. It had felt like ages since you had called him your anything. Merlin, I’ve missed that.

“Where have you been? I wanted to tell you I beat Leander at Summoner’s Court today. Or… wait… was that yesterday?���

Garreth let out an amused breath through his nose and went to sit in the chair at your bedside. “No, you were right. That was today.” He took your hand in his. No harm in being back with you like this for only a night, right? Especially if you were this out of it, it didn't seem like you’d remember any of it anyway. “And I believe it. Leander’s bloody terrible at Summoner’s Court. Has been since first year, the moron.”

You giggled and brought both of your hands over his, bringing it up to your lips. Garreth’s insides turned to putty. Still weak as ever for you, I see.

“How are your hands always so warm?” You looked down at his hand in wonder.

“How are yours always so cold?” The corner of his lips quirked up. He’d gladly forget everything with you tonight, go back to a better time. 

You released his hand and brought yours up to examine them. “What? You think my hands are always cold? Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I would have… I would… Merlin, what happened to my hands?” Noticing the discoloration and stitches, you brought them closer to your face to get a better look. Garreth grabbed a hold of your hands, covering them with his. He brought them down and began stroking his thumbs over your skin.

“Next time I go to Honeydukes, what do you want me to get you?” It was the first thing he could think of to distract you and it seemed to work wonders. You shifted a bit in the bed to face him more, excited to give him your answer.

“Oh, chocolate frogs. Is that even a question?” 

“You’re right.” He smiled at you. “It’s always chocolate frogs. I didn’t even need to ask.”

Your eyes widened slightly and you gave a quiet gasp. “Oh no, Gar. That reminds me. Did I ever get you your billywig stings?”

He chuckled. When and where is your brain right now? “Yes, you got them for me. Don’t worry.”

“Good.” You relaxed again. “Sorry. My head’s been all over the place today.”

As he nodded in agreement and bit back a laugh, a student came rushing into the hospital wing, getting both of your attention. You looked at the panicked student curiously, and Garreth was mindful to keep your hands covered with his.

“Nurse Blainey, Isaac Cooper fell off his broom! W - We didn’t want to move him -”

Nurse Blainey didn’t hesitate to go up to him. “Take me to him immediately.” She looked back to the both of you. “I’ll be back shortly.”

You watched her leave the wing, then you looked back to Garreth. You raised a brow at him and he raised one back at you. He eyed you as you shifted in bed again, freeing your hands from his and moving away from him, creating space. “Join me while she’s gone.”

Garreth’s throat went dry. He gave a little cough to regain his composure. “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“You don’t want to?” You asked innocently as you laid on your side and looked up at him.

Still beyond weak for you. He exhaled and glanced back at the hospital wing entrance, then moved to lie in bed with you.

You grabbed his tie, fiddling with it as you lied there, face to face. He couldn’t help but feel completely at ease, as if he had gone back in time like you had. He brought his hand up and rested it on your cheek.

Your brows furrowed a bit, and you looked troubled.

“What’s going through your mind right now?” He asked, beginning to stroke your cheek with his thumb, careful to be gentle over your bruising.

“I feel like something bad’s going to happen this year, Gar. I can’t shake it.”

He shook his head. “Nothing bad’s going to happen.” He whispered.

You let go of his tie and met his gaze. “Then why do I feel so uneasy right now?”

He pulled you to him, tucking your head under his chin and you nuzzled into his chest. He stroked your hair as he held you. “N.E.W.T.s probably.”

You gave a soft hum. “Yeah… that’s got to be it. I hate tests.” He noticed your voice was starting to sound sleepy.

“I know you do.”

He propped his head up on his hand and looked down at you as he continued stroking your hair. He watched and waited until your breathing got heavier and you did those cute little snores of yours. Once he knew you were asleep, he kissed your temple, then slipped out of the bed as noiselessly as he could.

Just as he was about to leave, Nurse Blainey had made her way back with Isaac Cooper. He took one last glance at your sleeping form across the room, then left.

-

You didn’t know how long you had been out, but the grogginess and soreness you felt when you finally awoke was unreal. The sun was shining through the windows and you realized you were in the hospital wing. The last thing you remember was being in the arena and... You squeezed your eyes shut and opened them back up, trying to erase the image of Amelie DuPont’s mangled corpse from your head.

You looked up at the ceiling, breathing through the immense discomfort in your body. Then, something bright and blue caught your attention at the corner of your eye. You turned your head slightly to see a chocolate frog box on the bedside table. 

Who would leave a perfectly good chocolate frog lying around?

-

It was probably the first time in TriWizard Tournament history where none of the school Champions attended The Yule Ball. Was that historically accurate? Garreth wasn’t sure. But with how dramatic Headmaster Black was acting, he’d believe it was.

It was common knowledge Maxim Mainka wanted to keep to himself ever since the last challenge. Showing up to a ball was the last thing anyone expected him to do. As for you, Garreth had no idea where you were or why you hadn’t shown up yet. 

He didn’t even know what your plans were for the ball to begin with, didn’t want to ask, truth be told. Why on earth would he open up the opportunity to hear about how the woman he fumbled would be going with someone else? 

He saw how many people asked you. You had turned them all down from what he’d seen. At first, he thought maybe you’d want him to take you, but every time he brought up the ball, you’d change the topic. He could take a hint.

Garreth decided to leave and look for you. He hadn’t brought a date anyway. Why did he decide to go alone to watch the love of his life walk in and dance with someone else? He didn’t know for sure, but it was probably because he felt he deserved it, treating you the way he had this year. And it was all because he couldn’t handle being with someone so inconceivable.

He couldn’t believe he had been as upset with you as he was. It’s not like you had treated him horribly or were unfaithful. You had gone behind his back to save your best friend Natty for Merlin’s sake. You hadn’t betrayed him. You were only doing what you felt was right.

He had been so afraid of losing you forever, he convinced himself you were doing him wrong whenever you threw yourself into danger. And so, he pushed you away like an idiot. He had no idea where to begin when it came to fixing what you two had, had no idea if he even could.

Garreth asked around before he left but no one seemed to know where you were. Not even Natty knew and that had genuinely shocked him. Wherever you were in this castle, you didn’t care to be found.

-

Hopping from floo to floo for what felt like hours, Garreth had finally found you in Professor Sharp’s classroom of all places. 

Putting his hands in his pockets, he leaned against the doorway and watched you at one of the potion stations. It had been a few months since the last challenge, you weren’t fully recovered but all your scrapes and bumps had healed for the most part, only a few bandages here and there remained. 

He kept quiet and let himself just look at you. You were beautiful, all done up for the ball and brewing what looked like an edurus potion from what he could see. You looked like a dream, like you were made just for him.

“Don't you have a big, fancy Room of Requirement you could do this in?” He quipped.

Carefully dropping some more mongrel fur into the pot, you glanced over your shoulder at him. “Evening, Garreth.” You smiled politely, then turned back to your pot. “What are you doing here?”

Garreth’s face dropped a bit. You had greeted him like you were decent friends and nothing more. Isn’t this wonderful? After all, it was his bright idea. Garreth from a few months ago would have been thrilled to know you two could get to this point. And present day Garreth wanted to go back and kick Garreth from a few months ago’s ass. Turns out, he didn’t like being friends with you. Not one bit. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” He pushed up off the door frame and took slow steps towards you. 

“I ran out of mongrel fur.” You said, fixated on the brew before you. “Thankfully Professor Sharp let me take over the edurus potion he was already making.”

“I don't see Professor Sharp anywhere, just go on and admit you’re stealing it. I won’t tell.” He stepped closer. 

You shot him a brief smirk over your shoulder. You were glad to have Garreth back in your life and on such good terms too, but there were times when it just hurt. Tonight seemed especially bad. You had heard through the grapevine he asked Nellie Oggspire to the ball. Putting on a good face was taking a lot more effort than normal.

You cleared your throat, thinking of a way to keep the mood light. “How’s your night been?”

Ah, small talk. Merlin, he hated this.

He rubbed a hand down his face and came up beside you, peeking into your pot. “My night’s been fine. Looks like you need a few more ashwinder eggs.” He turned and went to go grab some for you.

“I was thinking the same thing.” You furrowed your brows and bit your lip as you stirred and looked into your pot, examining it closely to see if there was anything else it needed. 

He returned and handed the eggs to you, wishing he hadn’t caught your focus face. He was always a sucker for it.

“Thank you.” You said appreciatively, grabbing the eggs without looking at him and plopping them in. 

“Looks like that should do it.” He mused. His eyes gradually went up from the pot to your face, then down to your dress, more specifically your body in your dress. He swallowed thickly and made himself look back at the pot. “And you? How has your night been?”

“Pretty busy, I haven’t been able to get to the ball yet. One of our kneazles is having her litter tonight. Deek was going to make sure everything went smoothly while I was away, all he asked for was an edurus potion in case she got too cranky with him. Hence -” You gestured absently to yourself and the pot.

“You would spend Christmas Eve like this.” He smirked. “I thought it was a Yule Ball tradition for the champions to attend.” He crossed his arms and leaned back against the table.

You only shrugged your shoulders in response. You made yourself keep your eyes on your brew, because if you looked his way, you’d get weak at how wonderfully he cleaned up for the ball. 

Garreth… really hated this. He hated that you barely looked at him and that this was how your conversations went now. Your silences were never awkward, if there was a silence between you while you were together it was comfortable.

“Don’t worry, I’m almost done. I’ll be out of here and then you can take over this station.”

He furrowed his brows. “Hmm? I don’t need to do anything. I came to see if you were in here.”

You looked at him then and he met your gaze. Don’t give me hope like that, Weasley. You averted your gaze back to your pot. “Oh, well…” You cleared your throat. “Did you… need me for something?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t need you for anything. You weren’t at the ball and I missed you, that’s the gist of it.”

You glanced his way again. You weren’t going to let yourself have any hope until he told you he forgave you. You needed to hear those exact words, you wouldn’t let yourself jump at anything less.

“Don’t you have a date to get to tonight?” Garreth tried to sound as casual as he could. He hadn’t heard anything about who you’d be going with. But whoever they were, they weren’t with you now. Maybe he could ease himself into the pain instead of getting a full on shock when he finally sees you dance with someone else.

“Would you believe no one asked me?”

“Not for a second." He scoffed. "Even if I hadn’t seen people asking you with my own eyes.”

You chuckled. “Well, no date for me. I uh - I needed to go at my own pace tonight. Didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s Yule Ball just because -” You pinched the bridge of your nose and let out a humorless huff, “- just because my head’s such a goddamn mess right now.”

Garreth eyed you with concern. Then he processed even more of what you said. “You were never going with anyone?”

You shook your head.

“I didn’t go with anyone either.”

You looked at him, surprise evident on your face. “You didn’t?”

Garreth held your gaze and shook his head.

“But… I thought you were going with Nellie.”

Garreth raised a brow at you, genuinely confused. “Why would you think that?”

“Well I - I heard from a few different people you had asked her.” You quickly looked away from him, a little embarrassed your jealousy and hurt were coming through.

Garreth shook his head, wanting to reassure you more than anything it wasn’t true. “I never asked her. I never asked anyone, I promise you.”

“I mean… it’s alright if you did, Garreth. You don’t owe me anything.”

He took a moment to take in your words, and they didn’t sit right with him. “I owe you everything.”

You stilled, your heart rate picked up, and you weren’t really sure if you imagined what he had just said.

“It’s you who owes me nothing.” He stepped as close to you as he could without touching you. “But I’d like it if you called me Gar again.” 

You slowly looked up at him and searched his eyes. “You’ve forgiven me?” You asked in a whisper, your throat constricting as your vision began to blur with tears.

He shook his head. “There was never anything to forgive.” He reached up and cupped your face in his hands. A few tears overflowed out of your eyes and he wiped them away with his thumbs. “Walking away from you was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. And that’s saying something. I’ve done some pretty stupid things.” He tried to jest, and he was elated it got you to smile. “I can be yours. Easily. If you’ll have me.”

You couldn’t speak, and Garreth held his breath while he waited for your answer. After your brain caught up with everything that was happening, you nodded your head. 

Garreth released the breath he was holding and nearly collapsed with relief. He didn’t waste a second more and not so delicately placed his lips atop yours. Your hands moved up to his chest as you kissed him back, fisting the fabric of his coat. This was nowhere near your first kiss together, yet you felt brand new to each other. And you wanted to familiarize yourselves all over again. 

The pot began to sizzle. With his mouth still on yours, Garreth peeked one eye open to check on it. He groaned and tore himself from you, going to stir it. Chuckling, you got the flask ready for him. 

“What a team we are.” Garreth smirked as he scooped the edurus potion into the flask.

You capped it and looked up at him. “Acting like I didn’t do most of the work, are you?”

He smirked. “Tough talk for -” He looked back at you and your amused features sent his insides into a tizzy. “Tough talk for someone who…” His words drifted off and he smiled at you like a dullard. 

You started to laugh and raised your eyebrows at him. “Are you having a stroke?”

“Shut up.” He bashfully looked away from you and hummed, trying to unscramble his brain. “I um - I’m trying to go along and keep the joke going, but you look -” He let out a breathy whew sound. “You look amazing right now and it’s making me nervous.”

Your eyes widened slightly and you went fluttery at his words. It was your turn to feel bashful. You shook your head and playfully shoved him. Then you went up and pecked him on the cheek. “Come on, let’s get this to Deek.” You grabbed his hand and pulled him along.

-

The Room of Requirement’s door formed before you and Garreth. And he couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride. It usually only let you in, but this made it twice now that the room felt he should be in there with you.

You two made your way in and he looked around, confused. “Where would the kneazles be?”

You laced your fingers through his. “This way.” You guided him through the bottom floor vivarium and he was almost getting annoyed at how insane this room was.

“Sweet Merlin, I thought this was a greenhouse or something.” He looked all over, breathing in the fresh air and smiling at all the magical beasts that ran up to sniff and examine him. “Is that a baby puffskein?”

You chuckled. “It is. Could you play with him while I get this to Deek? He’s been extra needy lately.”

“On it.” Garreth released you and knelt down, picking up the tiny creature that could easily fit in one hand. He gave the puffskein some scratches on the head. “How am I supposed to be okay with my girl being around a handsome little devil like you? You could steal her away at any given moment.” The puffskein looked up at him and tilted its head. Garreth let out a little gasp. “And you know it too, you shameless bastard.”

“Despite calling my magical beasts shameless bastards, you seem to be pretty good with them.” You said as you returned, hitching up your dress a bit, and kneeling down next to him.

“What can I say? I’ve learned a thing or two since I started paying attention in beasts class. Had to step up my game when this new girl arrived, you see. Cute thing, adored beasts.”

You smiled at him. “Funny, sounds like how I got so good at potions.”

He glanced at you and that bashfulness returned. You gave him too many butterflies for him to be able to keep his calm. To hide his jittery nerves, he kept up the head scratches on the puffskein. 

A nearby baby mooncalf started to get jealous at the attention the puffskein was getting and ran up to you. You chuckled and picked her up, giving her some scratches behind her ear. You looked over at Garreth, noticing he got quiet. You nudged him with your shoulder. “What are you thinking about?”

He could only glance at you briefly, if he looked at you any longer he’d be a bumbling mess. He cleared his throat. Merlin’s beard, toss out a joke or something, Weasley. “I’m thinking you better not get any ideas from us holding baby beasts.”

You scoffed, but then decided to tease him. “Uh oh. It might be too late for that.”

He slowly set down the puffskein and looked at you with raised brows. “Now now, no need to panic. Just put down the mooncalf, yeah?” 

You let out a shaky breath, playing along. “A - Alright.” You set her down gently, and she ran off to go play with her moon ball. 

Garreth pulled the both of you up to your feet. “Better?”

You fanned your face with your hand as if you needed to cool yourself down. “I think it’s too late. The baby fever’s consuming me. Take me, Gar. I’m ready.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” He took cautious steps backwards to get some distance between you two. “As arousing as that was.”

“Give in, Weasley. It’s our last year at Hogwarts, I think we both know what’s coming next.” You warned. Garreth stepped back even further from you, thinking of an escape plan. Before he could get any further, you bolted after him.

“Get away from me!” He laughed as he ran from you, dodging and weaving through the vivarium to try and shake you. 

“I’m gonna getcha!” 

“No!” You two were laughing hysterically as you ran up and down the vivarium field. “What in Merlin’s name?! How are you so fast in that dress?!” 

“Oh, you’re not escaping the Hogwarts Champion, darling!” You had grabbed a hold of his coat but he slipped out of it, narrowly escaping you.

“Dammit!” You laughed, dropping his coat to the ground.

He left the vivarium and you ran after him. You caught sight of him heading up the stairs. He glanced back at you briefly and realized he hadn’t lost you as much as he thought. 

“Oh shit!” He laughed and picked up the pace. Without thinking he went into the beach vivarium. The sand slowed him down instantly and he kicked off his dress shoes to keep running. 

As soon as you entered the beach vivarium, you kicked off your shoes as well, picking your dress up off the ground and going back after him.

He saw you coming and panicked. He looked back and forth between you and the water. He quickly decided to take off his socks and go to the shore. He saw you slow down and eye him defeatedly. 

“Ha! What’s the matter? Don’t want to get your dress wet? Such a shame.” He looked at you cheekily as he bent down and rolled up his pant legs. He gave you a smug smile and walked further into the water, deep enough to submerge his calves, kicking and splashing tauntingly.

“I can’t believe you’d let me suffer like this.” You meandered up to the water, tentatively dipping your big toe in and nothing more.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and kept the triumphant smile on his face. “Oh don’t pout, this is for the best. We don’t really want little Garreths running around, do we?” His smile faded and his eyes widened when a thought entered his head. “Oh Merlin, little Garreths running around wielding ancient magic… What masochist would want that?”

You shook your head and tried to bite back your amused smile, lifting your dress a little higher and dipping your toe in again. Garreth went a little mad at the sight. Oh no, maybe I’m the masochist who wants that.

Sighing dramatically, your head fell back and you closed your eyes, letting the vivarium's sun warm your face.

Fuck… I really want that. In that moment, there was no doubt in his mind, he was going to get on one knee the second you two graduated from Hogwarts.

“Truce?” You asked.

Garreth could only keep staring.

When he didn’t answer, you opened one eye and peeked over at him. “No truce?”

A small smile tugged at his lips, but it wasn’t a humorous one. It was a simple one, full of love. “Just come here, why don’t you?” He walked through the water towards you and held out his hand. You took it, meeting him halfway and getting the hem of your dress wet.

Garreth couldn’t seem to hold it together anymore. He cupped your face and pulled you in for another kiss, his tongue grazing your bottom lip. He was always amazed at how soft you were, and he wanted you beyond reason right now.

Keeping his mouth on yours, he scooped you up into his arms. 

Your surprised yelp was muffled against his mouth. You pulled away and looked at him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders. You were going to make a joke, but the way his eyes were on you kept your mouth shut. 

He walked the two of you out of the vivarium and his eyes roamed the room. “Direct me to a couch or something. Anywhere for Christ’s sake.”

You pointed across the balcony and giggled. “Over there, you brute.” 

He made his way over with you, leaving a trail of sand in his wake. He set you down and gently guided you to sit on the couch, kissing you all over as he did so. He then placed himself on the ground between your legs and began pushing up your dress. Locking his eyes with yours as he reached under and pulled down your underclothes. 

His member throbbed against the fabric of his pants when he caught a glimpse of your core, but you shut your legs together. He looked up at you in concern. You were biting your lip and looking away from him. 

“What’s wrong?” He went up onto the couch a bit and brought a hand to your cheek to get you to look at him, he pecked the corner of your mouth.

You shook your head and scoffed at yourself, shooting your hands up to cover your face. He smirked when you started snickering and he tried pulling your hands away.

You groaned like you were embarrassed. “I’m really nervous for some reason.”

Garreth chuckled with you and leaned forward to kiss at your neck. “Why are you nervous?” He asked against your skin and you could feel him smiling. “Not to brag, but I’ve seen you naked quite a few times already.”

“I know.” You sighed. “Maybe because it’s been a while or… or…” Your words drifted off as he began to suck on that spot below your ear, he hadn’t forgotten how you liked to be touched. Hopefully he could help put you at ease a little bit more.

He felt your body start to relax and he kissed down your neck. He pulled away to glance at you and you gave him a small nod. He went back to the ground on his knees before you, hitching up your dress again to reveal your heat. His breathing grew heavy and he placed your legs over his shoulders. 

He brought his lips to your folds like an opened mouthed kiss, his tongue tracing along. You jolted a bit at the sensation, feeling a little extra ticklish with it having been a while since he’d last done this, but he kept you steady with a strong hold on your thighs. 

He was starting to lose himself tasting you again after all this time. The wetness of your fluids and his spit mixing together had his member aching. Your breaths came out shallow as you watched him. His eyes were closed as his tongue rediscovered you, his fingernails dug into your thighs, hurting in the best way. He licked up to the top of your slit, and began sucking gently. 

“A - Ah! Garreth!” You whined as your muscles suddenly tensed and twitched at the sensation. He loved hearing you cry his name like that, and he was eager to get more out of you. But a thought occurred to him, and his body stiffened.

He took his mouth off of you and quickly glanced around. “That Deek fellow’s not here right?”

“He’ll be in the vivarium all night.” You said breathily. “Now keep going.” You grabbed his head and pulled him back to you.

“Right, sorry.” He put his mouth back on you and picked up where he left off. 

Your head fell back and you kept one hand on his head, fingers getting a solid grip on his locks. You had started to make the smallest of grinding motions as he kept at you, this was how he always knew you were close. He kept up his tongue patterns and could feel your hips pickup more and more. You let out another whine and gripped his hair with both of your hands then. He held onto your thighs tight when you began to convulse, riding out your pleasure on his face.

You slumped back on the couch, going a little limp, legs sliding off his shoulders. You caught your breath and he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Still got it.”

“Shut up.” You chuckled as you stood to your feet and he stood with you. Your giggles were muffled when he fused his lips with yours. 

You began undoing his buttons, taking off his vest then going for his shirt. You two broke from your kiss and he looked down to help you, both of your fingers shaky and hurried.

He shrugged off his shirt and went back for your lips as it fell to the ground. His hands gripped your hips, turning you so your back would be to him, keeping his mouth on yours until the last second. He then started undoing the back of your dress, planting open mouthed kisses on your shoulder and nipping your skin here and there as he did so. You could only bite your lip in anticipation as you waited for him to finish. 

Once you felt the dress was loose enough, you shimmied out of it and turned to face him, throwing your arms around his shoulders and claiming his lips again. He held you flush against him, making you feel how much he needed you through his pants.

You tore your lips from his and started unbuckling his belt. He didn’t help you this time, and just watched in a carnal haze as you went for the last of his clothes. Once you had undone his belt and pants you pulled them down, going to your knees as you did so. He hissed a breath through his teeth when you took him in your mouth and his hand shot up to get a gentle hold on your head.

As your mouth moved up and down his length, his breathing picked up and his insides felt like a furnace. But he didn’t want to finish yet, he wanted to be inside you again. He let his head fall back, enjoying it just a moment longer. Getting close enough to the edge, he looked back down at you and pulled himself away from your mouth. There was a line of spit from your tongue to his tip briefly. When it broke, you wiped it from your chin and looked up at him, your features flushed. He nearly burst at the sight.

You stood to your feet and took his hands in yours, guiding him back to the couch. He followed, completely hypnotized by you. You laid back and pulled him down on top of you. He brought his mouth down on yours heartily as he positioned himself between your legs. Breaking the kiss, he looked down at the two of you about to join. He took his member in his hand and rubbed it along your folds, coating himself in your wetness. 

He placed his tip at your entrance and slowly pushed in. You gasped lightly, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and he buried his face into the crook of your neck. It took everything in him to keep his hip thrusts slow and not completely lose himself in you just yet. 

“I missed you.” He sighed against your neck. “I missed you so much.”

You mewled softly at his words and the feel of him filling you. Wrapping your arms around him tighter, you wanted to melt into him more than you ever had before. “I love you.”

"Mmh." With a low groan, he hitched your legs up a bit higher around him, picking up the pace and grinding into you at an even better angle. "Say that again…" 

"I love you." You whimpered as his hips picked up the pace, making you unable to speak as clearly as before.

"I love you." He said back. His breathing heavy in your ear as he tried to bury himself even deeper inside you with each thrust.

The noises you were making had his control start to fray at the seams. Grunts began to escape him as his hips pounded into you. He was nearing his climax again.

“Not yet not yet.” You said breathily, trying to push him back a bit. He nodded his head, a little delirious, but his mind still functioned enough to know you wanted to swap positions. The two of you adjusted so that he was the one on his back and you were on top. He caught his breath as he edged away from finishing again. 

You straddled him, careful not to put him back in you yet. You leaned down and kissed him. He placed one hand on your hip while the other had a grip in your hair, holding you to him like this until he felt he was ready to go again.

“Alright.” He whispered against your lips after a moment, and you shifted back. He let out a slow exhale as you sunk yourself onto him, gripping your hips. 

He was in you fully again, and your heat surrounding him as he lied back was bliss. You began to move up and down on him, resting your hands on his chest as you did so. As much as he wanted you to enjoy yourself up there for as long as your heart desired, he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. Not with this view of you bouncing on him as you were.

A throaty groan escaped him. "I’m almost there... Keep going.” He panted, furrowing his brows and looking down at your slit going up and down his length. “Fuck I’m about to -”

You withdrew from him and moved to take him in your mouth, he shot his hands to your head and held you on him as he released in your throat, grunting and spasming until there was nothing left.

You swallowed him as you sat up, then wiped at your mouth. “Still got it.” 

Garreth scoffed and threw an arm over his eyes while he recovered, using his free hand to rub your thigh. “Don’t mock me, I’m too vulnerable right now.”

You adjusted so that you were laying on top of him, he held you in his arms and ran his fingers lightly along your back. He looked up at the ceiling, completely at ease as you traced little shapes on his chest. He was exactly where he was supposed to be.

“Is the ball still going?” You asked.

“I think so.” He answered, his voice a little raspy.

“Want to go back before it ends?”

“Not particularly. Do you?”

You shook your head. “No.”

“Good, I want to stay like this a bit longer.”

You nodded your head and sighed. “Me too. After everything… after that last challenge…” Garreth held you tighter, not wanting you to think about such a horrific memory. “Tonight was everything. Thank you.”

Garreth placed his lips on top of your head. Then decided he wanted to be like this with you for more than just a bit longer. “Let me grab my wand.” You nodded your head and shifted so he could get up and search his clothes. “Ah, it’s in my coat.” He picked up his pants and put them back on. “I’ll be right back.”

You sat up to move towards your dress.

“No. Stay right where you are, exactly as you are.” He picked up his shirt, slipping it back on and only doing a few of his buttons. 

You smiled and laid back down on the couch as he walked off.

It didn’t take long for Garreth to find his coat. He saw the baby puffskein and baby mooncalf napping on it, and decided to just grab his wand and leave it. 

Once he did, he glanced around for the moonstone he thought he saw earlier while running for his life from you. A smile tugged at his lips thinking back on it. 

Turning the moonstone he found into a large, furry blanket, he made his way back to you. 

“Don’t worry this blanket came from moonstone.” He said as he splayed it out over you. “No magical beasts were harmed conjuring this.” 

“Thank you.” You sighed gratefully, wrapping the blanket tighter around yourself.

He shot you a smile as he undid his shirt, taking it off again. As he started undoing his belt and pants, he looked at the couch and furrowed his brows. “The couch wasn’t that big before, was it?”

You stiffened and used the blanket to hide your grin.

“Did you enlarge it?”

“No.” Your voice was muffled under the blanket.

“You had your wand this whole time?”

You turned away from him on the couch.

His eyes went wide at you as he pulled down his pants. “You minx! You just let me go out in the cold like that?” He came up and slid under the blanket behind you, pulling you back against him and closing his eyes. He sighed, exhausted. “To think I could have stayed naked this whole time...”

“I tried to get it but you told me to stay where I was.” You argued, the sleepiness clear as day in your voice.

He hummed in amusement. “I did, didn’t I? I’m such an idiot.” He cackled, sleepiness also coming through in his voice. 

“No, you’re sweet.”

It didn’t take long at all for you two to fall asleep in each other’s arms. Dealing with Deek stumbling upon you two and possibly telling his Aunt Matilda seemed like a morning problem.

[wondereads]

Personal Review (01/02/22)

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Summary

After her mother's tragic death, Bree Matthews starts attending UNC-Chapel Hill's program for advanced high schoolers. She expects her life to change, but she doesn't expect to discover a secret society of the descendants of King Arthur and the Round Table. They work to protect people from demons, the Shadowborn, but their Order hides secrets, ones Bree is more closely connected to than she realizes.

Plot 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

While the idea of a secret society of magic users, one the main character is specially connected to, is nothing new, this execution is so original. The Legendborn and the way their magic works is intriguing and unique, and it immediately pulled me in. On top of the fantastical adventure and magical tournament (sort of) premise, there's a mystery going on in the background as well. It's quite a bit, and it only takes place over a few weeks (poor Bree), but it's well-paced and makes it so that there's never a boring moment.

There are multiple reveals throughout the course of this story as Bree discovers more and more about the world of the Legendborn and her involvement in it. They are built up to, and the plot twist at the end in particular impressed me. It seems so obvious looking back, but it definitely took me by surprise, just the way a good plot twist should. It also really upset the norms of the world the reader has gotten accustomed to by now, changing everything in anticipation of the next book. The plot is just really solid in pretty much every way, and it was a great breath of fresh air for me.

Characters 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

The characters of this story are very strong in my opinion. Bree herself is a great main character. She has the impulsiveness that I associate with YA leads, but she's also clever and knows when to keep her mouth shut. Her journey through grief is nuanced and portrayed very delicately, and her relationships with the other characters are well-developed and subject to change. One thing I particularly loved was her early conflict with Alice. Instead of just an established friendship, which could easily get boring, Bree and Alice fight and make up, the way one would expect from two teenage girls entering a new environment.

The character relationships were just so good in this book. The members of the Order, at least the ones we know, are all very distinct, and their connection to Bree differed from one to the next. Even characters who didn't like her at first weren't automatically portrayed as evil. Yeah, we as readers don't like them, but when push comes to shove, they're loyal to the cause. Even the antagonist, who is pretty much just straight evil, doesn't feel like a cardboard cutout. It's very clear what sort of environment caused them to become this way and what values they have.

I will say that the I felt like the romance was progressing a bit too fast for me. Within a matter of weeks, or really days, Bree and Nick are in what seems like the perfect relationship. Thankfully, Deonn slowed down and brought in some conflict, which helped hold my attention. Also, their instant attunement is explained, very well, and I don't think the romance subplot is anywhere near over.

Writing Style 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

The writing in this book had a similar vibe to a lot of YA fantasy novels, though every once in a while a line or comparison would stand out to me. Bree has a good voice, and despite this book being in first person and from her perspective, I never found myself getting bored with her.

While the writing itself was good, I have to praise the pacing, which is just on point. There's always something happening in this book, but it never feels overwhelming. Major reveals are spaced out to keep the reader interested without making it all happen at once, and the progression feels natural and smooth. I especially appreciated the time skips that gave more realistic time periods to process events or make decisions.

Meaning 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

This book is magical realism about the descendants of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and that's the main focus, but it's impossible to talk about this book without discussing the way it portrays race and class. Legendborn does an absolutely phenomenal job of discussing institutionalized racism without making the whole story about Black trauma, when it's really about Bree's adventures and experiences. Bree faces racism, blatant and subtle in pretty much every aspect of her life. The book starts with her getting picked up by a police officer (while her white friend gets off scot-free), and the Order is a fundamentally white organization. Bree's story is about racism, but it doesn't hesitate to include it, and it's done in a way that will make the reader uncomfortable without putting Bree through unnecessary trauma. Some moments that particularly stood out to me are these very subtle microaggressions that come from otherwise very likable characters, and I think they were a great inclusion. Sometimes white people who are good allies make mistakes, and it's their responsibility to own up. Those characters apologized and did better, but Bree is never expected, especially by the narrative, to immediately forgive them or brush it under the rug. Overall, a very realistic and nuanced depiction of modern racism.

Overall 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

I have heard so many good things about Legendborn, and I'm incredibly pleased to say that it's all true. If I hadn't been so busy, I easily could've finished this book in a day despite it being 500 pages. The plot is engaging and fast-paced with tons of unique worldbuilding, the characters are fleshed out, sympathetic, and distinct, and I really liked the romantic aspects. On top of all that, Legendborn discusses race and class without pulling attention from Bree's story, and it has a crazy plot twist at the end that will definitely have me reading the next book. I highly recommend this one, especially to those who prefer magical realism or have an interest in Arthurian legend.

The Author

Tracy Deonn: American, Legendborn is her debut novel which one the Best Young Adult Novel Ignyte Award

The Reviewer

My name is Wonderose; I try to post a review every week, and I do themed recommendations every once in a while. I take suggestions! Check out my about me post for more!

[multific]

Beyond Houses

Fred Weasley x Slytherin!Reader

Summary: You had enough of the labels! Why can’t your best friend be a Hufflepuff, and why can’t you be madly in love with a certain ginger Gryffindor? 

A/N: GIF’s not mine, credit goes to its owner.

When your studies at Hogwarts began, you actually quite liked the idea of the four houses. They gave a nice aesthetic and you were sure you were in the company of people whom were similar to you.

However as the years passed you began to notice a few things.

You made friends easily, one girl, Nora who was in Hufflepuff was very close to you. You and her always went to classes together and had a lot of fun.

However when other people in Slytherin noticed you hanging out with her, they behaved like she was the enemy. You couldn’t understand why.

“Slytherin are too good for Hufflepuff.” one of the boys said.

From that day on, you hated the group. They were worse than Malfoy. Thinking they were all mighty and great because of the colours they wore and house they were in.

Little do they know that in the outside word, Hogwarts houses mean nothing.

Of course, you continued being friends with Nora. You chose your friend and would do that again.

The group however didn’t like that you ignored their warnings. In just about a few days, every person in Slytherin treated you like an outsider.

But they didn’t break you.

You were proud to be a Slytherin, however you didn’t want to be like them, close-minded. 

But the biggest shock to you was when you realized that it wasn’t just that group, other houses were the same. Gryffindor didn’t like to hang out with Slytherin, a girl rejected a boy because he was in Slytherin while she was in Ravenclaw. 

Of course, there were people who didn’t care about that. Thankfully, those were the majority, however those other cases truly confused you.

And then, it happened to you.

Your eyes were caught by a certain red-head in the Great Hall. Both you and Fred were in year six at the time. The first spark, and it ignited a fire in you.

Nora was thrilled that you finally had a crush. She thought you might not be interested in dating, so when this happened, she already had five plans on how to get you and Fred together.

Especially since it was the Triwizard Tournament, the opportunities were endless.

The only real problem was his twin, George, who was always with him.

“My plan is bullet proof, Y/N. I bet by the end he will even ask you to the dance!” she said, clearly super excited. “All we need now is to get George out of the way. I will ask him to come with me and help me with something and in the meantime, you go over there and score! Now, which one is which?” Nora asked as she looked at you.

You looked over to the two guys who were talking on a bench.

“Fred is on the right, George is on the left.” you didn’t know how, but you could tell them apart, it was a skill you were proud of. You trusted Nora, and you were sitting on your crush for months now, so it was time to act.

Nora easily got George away. Although Fred did try and go with her, she refused. So, there he was sitting on the bench alone, waiting for his brother to come back. 

It was your time to shine.

You let out a long sigh and walked out from behind the pillar, making it look like you just came around the corner. You took the steps down, however slipped on the last.

You tried to keep your balance, but you ended up falling. You were more surprised and embarrassed than hurt. 

“Are you okay?” you head Fred’s voice as he grabbed your arm and helped you up.

“I’m fine, thank you. These damn stairs are so slippery.” you said looking up at him. He laughed a little and helped you to sit on a bench.

“Well, yeah. During our first year George fell too. Thankfully you weren’t hurt.”

“Yeah. Speaking of which, where is your other half?”

“Oh, he went to help Nora with something. She said something about needing someone tall.”

“I see. So, you are all alone? If you want to we could go and have something to eat?” you didn’t know where the courage came from to ask him, but you did.

However the grimace he made, told you everything you needed to know. He will make up an excuse.

“Sorry, but I rather wait for George, I said I would be here.”

“Oh, no problem. Maybe another time?” This is when you noticed people coming and he stood up very quickly.

“Another time.” he said to you before he rushed to sit two benches away from you.

You were completely rejected, and you knew why. It wasn’t you, it was your house.

“I though you would be different you know.” you said a bit louder as you looked at him once the people have passed. You didn’t want to give them a show. Fred looked at you with round eyes. “Everyone is so judgmental, I thought you would be better. You rejected my idea because I’m Slytherin right?” Fred’s mouth opened but no sound came out. “It’s okay, I know I’m the idiot here. Having a crush on a Gryffindor... I just...Ugh, forget it,” you said as you stood up and left. You rushed back to your room and stayed in bed all day.

***

The fact that you were rejected hurt.

It hurt more than you thought it would. You hoped that Fred would see more than just houses. You hoped that he would see you and not Slytherin. Unfortunately, you were wrong.

You didn’t want to leave your room the next day, but you knew better than to not attend Snape’s class.

The whole day went on normal, you ignored everyone especially Fred as you and Nora enjoyed the day.

“We should go shopping. A new store opened at Hogsmeade and I saw some amazing new scarf and thing!”

“Sounds fun.” you said as you two left. You were unaware of a certain boy’s eyes that followed you, filled with regret. 

***

You had an amazing afternoon with Nora.

“The Ball is tomorrow! Can you believe it! I still can’t believe Steve asked me!” Steve was a Ravenclaw, very smart guy, one of the people who didn’t care about houses and he obviously had a crush on Nora for a long time now.  Meanwhile you will go with a fellow Slytherin guy who asked you out just today. 

You decided that this Yule Ball was the worst possible thing you ever participated in.

As it turned out, the guy who asked you to go with him wanted you to go with him so his ex would get jealous, not because he liked you. And in addition, you got to see everyone having fun, while you sat in the corner of the room, mopping.

Well, at least Nora was having an amazing time. 

Just as you decided to go back to your room, your eyes locked with Fred’s. It was only a second before you looked away and stood up. Just as you did, Hermione rushed out of the room, sobbing. You looked back, but no one was following him.

You found her on the bottom of the stairs.

“Are you okay?” you asked, “Silly questions, sorry. Look, I don’t know who broke your heart. But, my grandma always told me not to cry over any man. They are not worth it, the only man who worth the tears is the one you will call, son.” you offered her a kind simple before heading up the stairs. 

“Y/N,” you heard your name being yelled. You recognized the voice and against your better judgement, you stopped and looked at Fred.

“Hi Fred,” you said looking right into his eyes.

“I realize I behaved like a bloody moron the last time we spoke. It was just like you said. But I should know better that to judge people like that. You opened my eyes, I would like to apologize and to ask you on a date.”

You weren’t expecting him to be so upfront about this. But you sure didn’t mind that he wasn’t wasting your time. 

“Umm. I don’t know if I should believe you. Is this a prank?” you asked looking around, trying to see if anyone was there but the hallway was empty besides you and Fred.

“No, no prank. I’m serious. And before you think I’m only doing this to help my guilt, yeah, partially, but I also do like you. I had a crush on you since second year.”

You squinted your eyes, trying to see if he was joking or not, but you decided to give him a chance.

“Fine. Tomorrow, meet me at the Great Hall, let’s have lunch together.”

“Perfect! Thank you so much.” he rushed and gave you a hug. He tried to pull back but you didn’t let him go. This is when you noticed just how much taller he was compared to you.

After a few minutes he started swaying the two of you, the music from the Ball could be heard faintly.

“You are beautiful in this dress.”

“You don’t look too bad either.” you said with a smile and a little blush, still swaying in his arms as you hugged his torso, listening to his heart beat.

This was the exact moment you could finally feel free, free of houses, free of labels and in love.

You just knew, finally your life can begin, with Fred Weasley.

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[whatifxwereyou]

The Oncoming Storm Part 3: Earthrealm

Fandom: Mortal Kombat 2021

Liu Kang x Reader or Kung Lao x Reader

Summary: You meet the mythical Lord Raiden. He reminds you of your dad, but nicer, oddly enough. Liu Kang might also be your new best friend.

A/N: Thanks again everyone! This has been such fun. I meant to say earlier that this takes place a couple years prior to the film (also that I know a bit about MK as a game series, so I will include tidbits here and there if I can). ALSO! I am open to any suggestions that you may wish to see throughout this story- either for Liu Kang or Kung Lao. I can't guarantee I will use them but I will consider them. I am delighting in writing this!! EDIT:: lol why did no one tell me there were so many errors in this one. All fixed!

The Beginning << Previous Chapter Next Chapter >> Chapter Index

The days that followed were a struggle. Monks would visit and care for your wounds at all hours of the day. You were in and out of consciousness. When you did manage to stay awake, you would meditate and do simple exercises to keep your body strong. That was a struggle in itself. Wounds needed rest to heal but you refused to become weak to them in the meantime. You were ready to fight.

Without fail Liu Kang would visit every evening. He brought books for you to read together. On his second visit he gifted you with a crudely bound leather journal and a pen to take notes with. You were inquisitive and Liu Kang was a wealth of knowledge. On nights where you finished a book or a lesson early, you would meditate together. Other nights you would chat and often times those chats would end in swapping personal stories. You had become fast friends.

You kept a calendar in the back of the journal. Liu Kang helped account for the time that you’d lost to unconsciousness. A week had passed since you’d woken up in Raiden’s Temple. You circled the x over the day and wondered where Kung Lao was. You’d asked around about him but had been told that many of the Earthrealm warriors were often absent. Apparently, he was frequently gone for long stretches of time. Many of the monks left on lengthy errands. Mortal Kombat and the protection of Earthrealm extended far beyond China. You wondered how much of the world Kung Lao had seen. You’d barely ever left your hometown for anything other than martial arts tournaments.

“Miss Y/N?” A monk pulled aside the sheet that had been pinned around the doorway of the small closet-sized space that had become your semi-permanent dwelling. You offered the monk a tired smile and gestured to allow him to enter. The monk bowed politely. “Your presence has been requested by Lord Raiden.”

“Oh?” You had known that you would meet with the man who the temple belonged to eventually. Liu Kang had told you that you would be summoned only after you’d been deemed well enough. You hadn’t passed out in exhaustion for the last 48 hours so you supposed this was as good a time as any. “Give me a moment to change, if you will.”

“Yes, of course Miss Y/N.” The monk bowed and left you with some privacy. You’d grown accustomed to the dressing gowns. They were comfortable and since you didn’t move around much, they worked. You’d been given several lightweight gi for future training and several hanfu, traditional Chinese garments, to wear if you desired. You wished, more than anything, that you’d gotten to pack some of your things before everything had gone to hell. No t-shirts or tank tops. No jeans or leggings. Not even any cute summer dresses. But you were grateful to have anything.

You changed into the soft blue and white hanfu that had become your favorite. It was simpler in design than the others but still long and flowing. You didn’t need anything terribly fancy to have a conversation with someone. You were sure that if Lord Raiden expected you to dress up then you would have been warned. Considering that Liu Kang rotated through the same three tattered gi and was almost always covered in soot, you doubted there was a strict dress code.

After you changed, you pulled your hair up lazily with a set of chopsticks. Then you returned to the monk who was waiting for you in the hall. The monk bowed again and then led you through the halls of the temple. The floor you’d been on had very few windows and only in the hallways. You followed the monk up several ramps and flights of stairs. Endless halls branched in every direction making the whole place seem labyrinthian. You were certain that you could spend weeks exploring the halls and still manage to miss things.

If the monk hadn’t been leading you then you wouldn’t have been able to resist your curiosity. After a good thirty minutes spent walking, you were led into a dark hallway with a rounded ceiling. It disappeared into the distance lit only by odd white statues that stood in a line along its center. The monk bowed and gestured down the hall.

“Good luck, Miss Y/N.” The monk then left you alone. You approached the glass statues in the center of the hall and found their insides sparking with electricity. They were funny in that they reminded you of a sophisticated and silent Tesla coil that fired constantly. Below the frosted glass you could see currents of electricity flowing almost as you imagined lightning would through the clouds. Your fingers brushed curiously over the glass.

“Miss Y/N?” A commanding and deep voice called from the end of the hall. You felt like a child who had disobeyed your teacher and winced. You hurried down the hall as quickly as your legs would allow then bowed before entering the room at its end.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t seen much outside of the infirmary. I was fascinated.”

The man who stood before you was of average build and height, his face mostly obscured by his hat. You grinned in surprise and recognition but then quickly fought to hide your glee. Raiden’s expression was severe, reminding you very much of your father and the way he’d glare at you when you’d said something un-lady-like as a child.

“There is much to discuss.” He gestured for you to take a seat on the floor in front of where he was seated with his legs crossed so you did. Much to your surprise, he was floating several inches off the ground and while you tried to hide your shock, you were sure your eyes had gone wide. “I am Lord Raiden; the protector of Earthrealm.”

“It’s an honor to meet you. Liu Kang has told me a little about you.”

“I am not surprised.” Raiden had a commanding voice as well as presence so you listened attentively. He explained the nature of other realms though he didn’t go terribly in depth with their origins or existence. Outworld was their greatest opposition with the desire to control earth and humanity. They were brutal warmongers from how Raiden described them. He then explained the tournaments and how if Outworld won a tenth tournament they could lay claim to Earthrealm.

Shang Tsung, a powerful sorcerer, would lead his armies there and take humanity as slaves. You didn’t ask but you wondered if Shang Tsung was the ruler of Outworld. You figured that if it were important then Raiden would tell you. He went on to tell you that Outworld had done this before with other realms and they had been devastated into waste.

Raiden spoke in a way that made it seem as though he had lived through countless lifetimes. While his tone often sounded severe, he also spoke with great purpose. “Our next tournament will not be for a few more years. You are one of Earthrealm’s chosen warriors.” Raiden’s lecture was winding down. “Do you have any questions?” You had known much of what Raiden had taught you that day but still sat patiently through it.

“I think I understand. If I have any questions later then I can ask Liu Kang. It’s difficult for me to wrap my mind around this craziness, for lack of a better word. He’s been very patient with me. The idea of arcana and how I’m meant to fight warriors from another world is still wild to me but I understand the concept. I think with time and practice I will be better off.” You stifled a giggle and then cleared your throat to stop any further giggles from escaping.

“Is there something you find funny?”

Guilt again. The kind you’d felt exclusively around your parents.

“You’re the man with the funny hat.” Your cheeks burned when he seemed affronted by your description of him. “I don’t mean to come off as rude! Forgive me. My shop is on the edge of town and there are many travelers passing through. I remember you from one of those visits. You chose your words carefully and spoke very little. You required precious stones and, as I often do, I made polite small talk. I asked what you needed them for and you said in the protection of Earthrealm which you quickly corrected to the protection of nature. You opened my eyes long ago to the secrets of the world though I was doubtful there was any truth to it until now.”

Raiden’s expression shifted and he seemed pleased but he was also difficult to read. You hoped he was pleased. Despite his severe and intimidating presence, he seemed well meaning.

“I don’t recall this instance but am happy to learn that there are those who learn the truth without panic or dismissal.”

“So, I have to fight then.”

“More than fight. You must find your arcana so that you may stand a chance against the warriors of Outworld. They are ruthless and possess skills that may seem impossible to you. Without your arcana you will not stand a chance.”

“How do I do that? Find my arcana, I mean.”

“Through trial and adversity. Everyone is different. Your arcana is unique to you.” Raiden stood and so you did the same. “Your training will begin tomorrow.”

You weren’t sure you were ready for that but you bowed respectfully. That was tomorrow’s problem. “Thank you. I promise to work my hardest.”

Raiden said nothing but didn’t look as though he quite believed you capable. You had long ago stopped seeking the approval of others. Actions spoke louder than words and you would do as you promised. Raiden turned from you without another word. You waited for an awkward moment to be dismissed then turned and left. You chose not to linger in the hall with the pretty lightning sculptures that had distracted you earlier.

The path back to the infirmary wasn’t easily found and you wandered aimlessly for a time before asking a monk to help you back to the infirmary. You were exhausted. Upon arrival you closed the curtain to your tiny room and sat on the edge of your bed. Your arms were aching. You were sore and tired. Gravity didn’t agree with your healing wounds. Training was going to be a bitch but you would be better for it.

Retrieving the journal Liu Kang had given you, you made yourself cozy after rekindling the flame of your lantern. You went over the notes from the day before and smiled. Your handwriting was often sandwiched between his. You’d had a difficult time holding a pen for the first few days and your handwriting was atrocious. There had been times where you’d been too dazed with exhaustion so Liu would take over and explain what he was writing down. He was incredibly considerate.

You drifted to sleep leaning against the wall behind your narrow bed, book in your arms. In your very brief dreams you’d been seated with a young Kung Lao in the field outside of your grandparents’ farm. The more you remembered of him the more you could see the man he’d grown up to be.

A knock against stone startled you awake and you jumped upright. Standing in your doorway, peering through the curtain was Liu Kang. He seemed surprised.

“Did I wake you?” He stepped inside and closed the curtain behind him for privacy. How long had you slept? Crap.

“What time is it? Did I sleep through training?”

“No.” He laughed and it was a welcome and comforting sound. “It’s quite late but I was busy today and had no time until now. I wished to see you before bed.” He spoke of you with such fondness that if you hadn’t been half asleep then you probably would have blushed. You adjusted yourself and made room for him to sit next to you on the bed as you often had while reading. He joined you gratefully. You watched as he brushed his thumb over the prayer beads that often went from wrapped around his wrist to his palm and back again. “Tomorrow is going to be difficult, Y/N.”

You guessed that he would be the one training you. He was one of the only warriors with the marking that stayed in Raiden’s Temple besides Kung Lao that you knew of.

“Promise not to pull any punches, okay?”

“I knew you would say that.” He nudged your shoulder with his.

“I mean it, Liu. It’s been over two weeks since this happened. I’m ready to fight. If I’m going to survive all of this… otherworldly supernatural nonsense then I have no choice. Besides that… I want to do this. I want to fight.”

“I need you to promise to be safe.”

“That’s very sweet, Liu, but I’m a fighter. I’ve been fighting for years. I’m ready to help and more importantly, I’m ready to feel strong again. This thing with the poison and my arms? It’s taken a toll on me. I need to be okay.”

“I understand, I think.” He slipped the beads back around his wrist and caught a glimpse of the journal that you’d fallen asleep holding. Then he looked back toward the door. He was nervous. You could feel it.

“Are you okay, Liu?”

“I’m fine.” He picked up the journal and tapped the pages. “Would you like to study?”

“Can’t sleep, can you?”

“Oh, right. It’s late. I apologize. I woke you. I should let you rest.” He stood, bowed, and then turned to leave. Without thinking, you grabbed his hand. If your arms hadn’t been aching, you would have pulled him back to you. Liu Kang was very aware of the strain that it would put on you to pull so he stopped dead in his tracks. He was always aware of what was going on around him and your aching arms appreciated that more than ever.

“You can stay. We can keep reading. I’d like that.” You insisted. Liu Kang smiled and so you let go of his hand, realizing that you’d been holding it for perhaps too long. He grabbed a hefty book that had been resting beneath your side table. You’d made your way a quarter through it over the past few days. Then you sat together, leaning against the wall. He read to you and his soothing voice nearly lulled you back to sleep. It provided you with a sense of security you hadn’t felt in a long time. Studying with him, even in your worst moments of pain, had become a fond memory.

The words were familiar and so you snapped one eye open. “We already read this.” You waited for a pause in his natural cadence.

“No, we did not.”

“We did, look.” You pointed to your journal and the scribbles in it from the night before. Your handwriting really was terrible. You could make out bits and pieces of it. Liu had the patience of a saint for trying to decipher it. He squinted at the letters.

“I can’t read that. No one can read that, Y/N.” He tapped the page you had pointed to. “That could say almost anything. Are you bored with the history of the Wu Shi Academy?”

“No! We were just further along than this, that’s all. Look, just…” You shoved the journal in front of the book and he laughed. His laugh was sweet and filled with warmth. “I think that this is highlighting this passage here about the foundations and the energy wells beneath it…”

“You can’t possibly read that. We have established that it’s gibberish.”

“I wrote it! I can sort of make out little bits…”

“We have to work on your penmanship, Y/N.”

“I got all sliced up where the tendons and stuff are. They’re still healing!” You whined and then pouted. Liu took the journal and set it on the bed just beyond your feet. You reached past him and turned the pages of the book, searching for the next chapter. “At least get to the part with the arena. You promised that we would learn about that next. You went on and on about it.”

“I did no such thing. You can admit that you’re bored.” Liu teased. You flipped the pages again without his permission so he tried to tug the book away and you jolted to the side with him, hair falling into your face, chopsticks now useless. Much to your surprise, as you righted yourself, Liu helped you and pushed your messy hair away and tucked some of it behind your ear. Your laughter subsided and you avoided his eyes as his admired you. You swore your heart skipped a beat. “Your hair.” He brushed a few strands between his thumb and forefinger.

“Oh?” You dared to look into his dark eyes that were rivers of thought and emotion. You had no aspirations of unraveling them. You liked their mystery.

“The color.”

“Oh, yeah… I uh… I haven’t been able to keep up with dye here and it’s naturally white.” You pointed to the roots that had begun to show.

“White? That’s peculiar.”

“Wow, thanks. Yeah, I know it’s weird.”

“I didn’t mean any offense. It looks nice.” He seemed to realize that his hand was very much still in your hair. His tongue ran nervously over his lower lip while he was lost briefly in thought before he pulled his hand back. “We’ll read about the arena but only because you have chosen to entertain me at a late hour instead of turning me away.”

“And because you realized I was right.” You joked but your stomach was very much in knots. This was no time to be feeling butterflies in your stomach but there they were. Liu Kang made you feel butterflies. Literal butterflies. You hadn’t understood that idiom until now.

“There will be a test, Y/N.” He joked and smoothed out the pages of the book. You retrieved the journal and pen but had given up on writing notes for the night. Your arms were still aching and you were drained. Liu delighted in sharing a map of the ancient arena and reciting battles that he’d won and lost there. His voice was a soothing and familiar drone and before you realized it, you were falling asleep, head falling against his shoulder.

Instead of leaving you there to sleep, Liu Kang continued to read. Sometime later you woke up and the flame in the lantern had gone dim. Liu was still seated next to you, his head now rested atop yours. From his soft, slow breaths, you guessed that he had fallen asleep too. The book was rested neatly on top of your journal as if he had made the decision to put it aside and stay. You should wake him and send him back to his room. He would be more comfortable there. Selfishly, you wanted him to stay. He’d chosen to stay so you decided to let him have his choice.

For the first time since you’d woken up in Raiden’s Temple, you went to sleep feeling secure and comfortable.

Next Chapter >>

[shotofire]

Number 9

Kageyama x F!Reader

Overview: You’re a student at Aobajosai high, and during a tournament a setter for the opposite team catches your eye

Warnings: Cursing

Season: 2

I got a request that said “Just give me some Kageyama” 🤣 So here it is anon, hope it meets your standards.

-

The sound of boys yelling and sneakers squeaking the floor can be heard from every point in the gymnasium. The stands were full of each teams supporters, letting out chants and shouting ‘nice kill’ every so often. Taking the floor now was your school, Aobajosai, and Karasuno. Volleyball wasn’t a sport you ever got into, but it was still entertaining to watch. Mizu, a good friend of yours, basically begged you to come here with her.

The girl has an obsession with Oikawa for whatever reason and feels the need to come to every single one of his games. He didn’t even talk to her all that much, and is kind of a stuck up jerk in your opinion. There’s no denying he’s a powerhouse when it comes to volleyball. “This whole thing decides if they go to nationals!” Mizu’s excited voice breaks you from your thoughts. “That’s a lot of pressure.”

You can only imagine how they feel down there, especially the third years. Some of the players look like they could pass out any second from pure adrenaline. Mizu made you stand at the bottom of the dozens of perfectly suitable chairs instead of sitting. She wanted to be able to make out Oikawa facial features, and hear his voice. Yep, she’s totally whipped.

“Is Karasuno any good?” Sure it was known that your school has a great team, but you’d never kept up with others. She only shrugs her shoulders at your question, eyes fixed on Oikawa as he starts to serve. Of course she didn’t know, all her attention was on one person every single match. “Did you see that serve?! It was amazing!” She jumps up and down with glee, jeez, shes down bad.

As time goes on it becomes apparent that Karasuno is in fact a good team. Better than just good, they’re incredibly talented and continue to surprise you. Every single boy has some sort of secret move that no one sees coming, it’s impressive. Number ten was lightening fast and your eyes have trouble keeping up with him. Then there’s number nine, obviously the setter, who has grabbed your attention as well. He’s kind of... cute.

He has this determined look on his face, and has been making some impressive plays. The boy seems to work pretty well with the small redhead, they even give each other goofy smiles whenever a great play is made. Deep down you wanted Karasuno to win, it seems like no one believes in them.

Number ten slams down and spike and you can’t help but cheer out. “We’re the blue and white team, you know that right?” Shit, you forgot Mizu was here. She was so in-depth looking at her dream boy that you’re surprised she even heard you. “Yeah but that was a killer spike, you gotta admit.” Her face turns into a frown and she huffs, “If you’re gonna cheer for the other team you can go to their side.” Was it really that deep?

Honestly you didn’t care where you stood, either way you’d probably still cheer for Karasuno. The team continues to surprise everyone and it’s crazy to witness. You’d heard someone call them the ‘wingless crows’ once when describing their volleyball team. These boys have definitely put that name six feet under. “Oh shit, they won!” You say and Mizu’s face is on the verge of tears.

“I can’t even imagine how my baby feels.” Yep, he’s totally her baby. “He did good, he’ll be okay.” It’s a bit heartless to say but it’s true. Oikawa gave all he had and scared the shit out of everyone with his spikes, but the crows are just too strong. They were underestimated and it caused your school’s team to loose. They may have lost but they sure didn’t fail, their fight kept up to the very end. It’s crazy to see the passion people can have for a sport.

“We have to go see the team!” Her voice was urgent as she grabs your wrist snd begins dragging you out of the stands and down the stairs. “Are you sure they’d want us in their business right after a loss?” It wouldn’t even change the matter if Mizu was actually dating Oikawa, the guy needs some space. “Well you can go do that, I need to use the restroom.” Really, you didn’t. But you didn’t want to see their annoyed expressions when your friend runs up on them with too much energy.

Number nine creeps his way into your mind. The guy was good, and showed so much passion. It’s enough to catch anyone’s eye. To put that much effort into something is so admirable, you wish you could care for something as much.

Right as you round the corner, you have no idea where you are going, you see him. Number nine. Him and his team are jumping on another with hugs and hard pats to the back. The boy looks happy, and once again.. so cute. Maybe I should talk to him, you shook your head at the thought. There’s no way he doesn’t have a girlfriend with that pretty face. Well if he did have a girlfriend wouldn’t she already be here congratulating him?

The voice in your head keeps telling you to take the chance. The worst he can do is turn you down, and then you’ll never see him again. You’ll never know if you don’t try. But him being surrounded by his teammates would be hard if you were to ask him for his information. It’s one thing to get rejected, but infront of a group of guys, that’s terrifying.

Should you just follow them and pray he separates from them at some point? Then if that doesn’t happen you’re going to have to suck it up and take the chance of being embarrassed. You trail behind the team as they shout and man handle one another, it’s weird how boys celebrate.

At this point you had no idea where you were, and would have to ask them for directions anyway. Then again they were most likely heading towards the exit. A different volleyball team, that you can’t name for your life, passes infront of you blocking your vision of the crow’s. What the hell? These guys nearly bumped into and didn’t say a word. All you got was a few winks, boys will be boys.

As they move from infront of you, he’s right there. beautiful number nine is leaned over drinking from the fountain while his team walks ahead of him. Shit this is your chance! You practically speed walk to him, not even caring if you look a bit crazy. As he stands up you’re right infront of him, and his eyes widen. Your presence scares him, then nerves grow in his stomach. Why is there a really pretty girl standing so close to me?

You didn’t mean to be so close, you were just determined to get to him before he could possibly walk away. “Hi,” is all you manage to say. Holy shit you look crazy right now, no doubt. “Hi?” He didn’t mean for it to come out rudely, but it definitely did. The boy is just confused is all. He watches the way your face falls a bit and immediately wants to slap himself. “S-Sorry, the tone was an accident.”

“You’re fine. I wanted to congratulate you on your win.” The air is a bit awkward and anxiety is radiating off the both of you. “Oh thank you.” It’s silent now, the awkwardness only intensifying. His team watches from afar, eyeballing you.

“I can remember any hot face, that girl was in the Aobajosai section!” Nishinoya says with a scrunched face. “A cute girl is a cute girl,” Tanaka shrugs. Hinata pushes through his friends so he can see better, and almost laughs at how tense his friend is standing. “Yeah but why is a cute girl talking to Kageyama?”

You take a deep breath and lean back on your feet. It really hadn’t occurred to you what you’d say beyond that, but you had to come up with something. “This may be a weird thing to ask, I don’t know cause i’ve never gone up to a guy like this. I also didn’t think about it as much as I should have-“ you abruptly stop, of course you just had to ramble. He didn’t know what to say, your beauty was intimidating but you can say the same about him.

“I’m y/n by the way, I should have said that first.” You hold out your hand for him to shake, and he takes it. His touch sends electricity through you, and makes your legs weak. One touch and you’re already going crazy, cute guys can be a curse sometimes. “Kageyama.”

You blush once you realize you’ve been holding his hand for way too long. “Sorry if this is weird to ask, but would you wanna, uh, maybe,” gosh you sound crazy, “meet up sometime?” Your immediate thought is he thinks you’re weird. Just now learned of his name and already asking to see him again. But this was your only chance, hopefully he understands that.

Kageyama chokes on the air a bit, totally not believing what’s happening. A pretty girl wants to hang out with him? Make time for him? Yep, this is a dream. He’ll be waking up any second now. His eyes are stuck on you, wide, and his mouth is slightly parted.

“Oh, nevermind. I’m sorry.” He’d been in his head too deep instead of answering your question. Pure embarrassment is on your face. “No, No! I’m sorry, I was just, uh,” he takes a deep breath and puts on a smile, “yes, i’d like to do that sometime.” There’s a huge smile on your face as you pull your phone out, “Well here, put your number in my phone.”

The team nearly yells when they see you hand Kageyama your phone. “I bet he’s giving her his number!” Sugawara says with a smirk on his lips. As soon as Kageyama tells you his goodbyes, he sees his friends nearly jumping up and down. “Did you give her your digits?!” Hinata yells, and you can hear it from where you stand.

A blush creeps onto the setters face, but tries to hide it with an annoyed look. “Mind your business,” is all he says. The boys ruffle at his hair and push him around a bit, making kissy noises all the way to the bus. It doesn’t let up until a few minutes into the ride when everyone’s knocked out. Kageyama’s phone vibrates in his pocket, waking him from his half-asleep state.

Hey, it’s y/n

[writesowhatnext]

please don’t touch the artwork // fred weasley

Summary: Beauxbatons!reader has a thing for Fred – something their friends won’t let them forget.

Request: Hi, I’m not sure if you’re taking requests right now. But I have an idea for a Fred Weasley x reader where this takes place in the goblet of fire, and the reader is from Beauxbatons. Her friends keep teasing her whenever Fred flirts with her. Again I apologize if ur not doing requests rn ahhh

A/N: It took me forever to start this because I couldn’t decide whether French would help oml

Reader: female, Beauxbatons

Warnings: swearing I suppose

You had absolutely no intention of putting your name in the goblet of fire. All you wanted, if not just a holiday and a break from all the schoolwork Beauxbatons threw at you, was an English boy. Your friends, who were more enamoured with the French offerings of romance, thought you were crazy. Whilst you had to admit that French people did tend to be extremely attractive, and you were inclined to include yourself in that bracket, there was something about British guys that attracted you beyond belief. It was hard to explain to your friends why you wanted someone witty and funny; it was harder to explain why you thought Fred Weasley might be just that. And for your complete inability to explain, you were teased mercilessly.

Fred, as you learnt his name was, had caught your eye. When you first danced your way into Hogwarts’ great hall, you looked over the four tables of students with an excited nervousness. The nervousness seemed to fade away when you made eye contact with a ginger boy at the table with a red banner above it. He had a twin opposite him, who was hooting and clapping along with the rest of the students. He wasn’t clapping though; he just stared at you with a handsome smile. You bit your lip, looking away from his stare. When you looked back, though, he was still staring, completely unabashed. To say you were intrigued would’ve been the definition of an understatement.

“George,” Fred said, loud enough for George to hear over the music and his own cheering.

“Yeah, Fred?”

Both brothers stared at the Beauxbatons students. George’s eyes flicked from girl to girl; he made a face as one student he focused on turned out to be a boy but continued with his admiring anyway. Fred’s eyes, though, remained solely on you.

“There’s a girl over there-“

“There’s a lot of girls over there.”

“-And I’m going to make her mine.”

It took him less than twenty-four hours to come and find you. You’d been at the breakfast table with the other Beauxbatons students. Granted it didn’t take a detective to find you, but you were still surprised to see him saunter over, the shouts of his friends, and twin, behind him. Your friends’ chatter and laughing stopped when he got closer, all of you confused. You wondered why he was staring straight at you, remembering him from the day before.

“Bonjour,” he said smiling with his hands held behind his back. He seemed to be both aware and indifferent to how awkward and extremely British his French was and you couldn’t help but smile. Your friends laughed and you were glad when he didn’t seem offended by their giggling, he didn’t seem to even notice.

“Salut,” you replied, biting your lip to hide your smile. He nodded and then quickly looked down at the palm of his hand before looking back at you.

“Vous êtes belle.”

You felt your face heat up at his words, your friends’ giggles not helping. Somehow his clunky pronunciation and cheeky grin made the compliment even sweeter and you found your heart swelling a little that he was trying to impress you.

“Je suis Y/N.”

He frowned for a moment as if unprepared before his red eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. They drew downward again as he tried to figure out how to respond.

“Fred,” he nodded, hoping you’d understand – Hermione had only taught him how to compliment and he was frankly surprised he that he’d even got that far.

“Alors, merci, Fred.”

When you smiled at him, he swore he fell for you right there and then. His cheeks felt like they were going to burst as he mirrored your grin. He only snapped out of it when your friends started laughing at the both of you, with you grinning at each other like fools.

“Alright, well,” he tongued his cheek, wiping his leg with his hands. “See you later, then.”

“Bien sûr,” you muttered, biting your lip, smiling as the whole Beauxbatons table descended into hysterical laughter. As Fred raced back to his friends, you saw smudged black ink on his hand and you found your smile growing even wider.

You had a habit of seeing Fred in the corridors that next week. Nearly always from far away, you’d meet each other’s eyes and wave, sometimes he’d wink, and every time, your friends would giggle. He’d grown accustomed to their teasing; it didn’t bother him at all. He would’ve liked, though, to see you on your own – seemingly an impossible task. It wasn’t until before the champions announcement that he actually spoke to you again. You were stood by your table, talking to your friend, debating who would be picked for the tournament. You didn’t see him approach but familiar laughing from some of the girls sitting down gave you an inkling; you looked up to see Fred, smiling.

You excused yourself to your friend, crossing your arms loosely as you turned toward him. He cleared his throat, sending you a smile before fishing a ripped-up piece of parchment from his robes.

“Je pense-“

“Fred,” you said, stepping closer with a breathy laugh. Your hand hovered over his forearm. He didn’t seem to mind that you interrupted him, a smile lifting his cheeks at your closer proximity. “I speak English.”

“Oh, brilliant,” he sighed in relief, scrunching up the paper and throwing it over his shoulder. “Thanks for that; I bet your friends would’ve loved my little speech. Probably think I’m a right muppet.”

You couldn’t argue with him there.

“Ignore them. They are- how you say- arseholes?”

His smile grew at your words and it wasn’t long until you were both standing there, grinning at each other, again.

“You just get better, don’t you?”

You felt your face heat up and you hoped he didn’t notice how nervous he made you. Looking up at him to see his shit-eating grin, you realised he definitely did.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Yule Ball?”

You raised your eyebrows.

“With me, I mean.”

You let out a chuckle, pursing your lips at his slightly flustered expression.

“Avec moi-“ you heard your friend mimicking him behind you. With your mood souring slightly, you whipped around to face her, hitting her on the back of the head with your outstretched palm.

“Ta gueule!” you hissed, earning a teasing ‘ooh’ from the other students. You rolled your eyes, turning back to Fred.

You expected him to be put out by the mocking or your rudeness, but instead, he was staring at you with wide eyes, his lips parted in awe.

“Sorry,” you said sheepishly, running your hand up your arm nervously.

“Blimey, don’t be.”

Fred wet his lips with his tongue, smirking as your eyes widened and you remembered what he’d asked you.

“Oh! Yes,” you nodded. “I would love to go with you.”

He nodded, too, and you noticed his eyes flick down to your lips. You couldn’t help but smile.

“Sorry,” he crossed his arms cockily and you had to enjoy how confident he was. “I’m just enjoying the view.”

A laugh escaped your throat as a strange murmur filled the hall and people began to rush to sit down. You looked around, your mouth opening as you turned back to Fred. He was still staring at you.

“Oi, Fred!” his twin yelled from his table. Fred didn’t reply and you couldn’t help the amusement that twitched at your lips.

“I just need another minute,” he said, more to you than his twin.

“Y/N,” your friend pulled on your arm.

More and more people began to take their seats, with their headmaster, Dumbledore, walking to the front of the hall. And still, you and Fred stood there, staring at each other. It became more of a joke the longer you stood there; with both lots of your friends calling you to move. When nearly everyone was sat down, he huffed, tutting before walking backwards to his table. You sat down, still facing him.

“See you,” you said, wiggling your fingers in a wave.

“Oh, definitely.”

When he sat down, George nudged him with his shoulder.

“You stared at that poor girl for about ten bloody minutes-“

“Boy, is she worth staring at.”

The other Gryffindors set off in a round of laughter and jesting before Dumbledore began his speech and the whole hall fell silent. Whilst the tournament champions should’ve been interesting, Fred was much more interested in your profile. Throughout the announcement, he watched you with a smile, his grin growing when your eyes met his.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hello Steph! First, thank you for everything you do for this fandom!! I don’t know what we would do without you!! ♥️ I am looking to start my first novel length Johnlock fic. I found your list, and was wondering if you had a specific one to recommend to start off with? I’m looking for something that won’t make me too sad (the world does that on its own), and of course, lots of Johnlock!! Any recommendations would be appreciated, thank you!! Sending love!! *hugs*

HI NONNY!

Hmm, this is tough, because Novel Length is anything over 50K words, but some people don’t want to read “novels that short”. So I get a lot of requests for Epic novels over 100K, so like WOOO HOO LOL.

Hmm. How about I give you a few recs varying lengths, based on your requirements, and you can decide how long you want to go, since I list all my word counts on my recs?

First off, for when you become obsessed with the lengthy fics like I am now LOL:

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K (Nov. 2018)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K Pt 2 (May 2020)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. (May 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. Pt 2 (Aug 2020)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. Pt 3 [MFL’s] (Dec 2020)

Next, here’s something for each range between 50 and 100K+ <3

BUT BEFORE I BEGIN: honourable mention because it IS my fave fic ever, and it fits your criteria minus the length so SORRY but please check it out:

A Promise Made to Be Broken by PlantsAreNeat (E, 37,018 w., 7 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Pining, Slow Burn, RST, Eventual Relationship, POV Sherlock) – A young John makes an ‘if we’re still single at 40, we’ll get together’ pledge to a woman who ends up all wrong for him. She keeps reminding him of the promise, and won’t let go of it. John asks Sherlock to pose as his boyfriend at a family wedding, so as to dash her hopes permanently. Sherlock, who has at last acknowledged his feelings for John, reluctantly agrees despite knowing how painful it will be to ‘have’ John, but not keep him.

--------

Okay, now the main event, of more-fluff-than-angst:

NOVEL LENGTH NOT-SO-ANGSTY FICS FOR NEWBIES

Spare Change by Ermerness (E, 51,966 w., 14 Ch. || Rich Holmeses AU || First Kiss / Time, Holmes Family, Virgin Sherlock, Anal, First Meetings, Bossy Bottomlock) – The Holmes family is one of the richest and most powerful in England. Sherlock spends his time flying around the world on the family's private jet drinking a lot and shopping at expensive boutiques as a way of trying to alleviate his endless boredom. His mother decides it's time he settles down with someone powerful, wealthy and well connected. John Watson happens to be none of those things.

Guilty Secrets by Ellipsical (E, 55,086 w., 16 Ch. || Post-TRF, Drumsticks, First Kiss/Time, Love Confession, Self-Sexual-Discovery, Anal, Rimming, Orgasm Denial, Butt Plugs, Cooking, Furniture Sex, Bath Sex, Rimming, Double Penetration, Prostate Massage, Anal Beads, Dancing, Romance, Tantric Edging, Internalized Homophobia, Case as Foreplay, Anal Beads, Tickling, Dancing, Dry Coming, Romance) – John has a prostate exam and discovers something surprising about himself. Experimentation follows. Sherlock wants to help. They're in love. You know the drill.

Bridging the Ravine by SilentAuror (E, 58,887 w., 3 Ch. || Post S4, Couple For a Case, Bed-Sharing, First Times, Confessions, Awkwardness, Sex Trafficking, Massages, Wet T-Shirt Contest, Group Therapy, Past Loss of Child) – Sherlock and John go undercover at Ravine Valley, a therapy centre for same-sex male couples in an investigation into a possible human trafficking ring. As they pose as a couple and fake their way through the therapy sessions for the sake of the case, it quickly becomes difficult to avoid discussing their very real issues. Set roughly six nine months after series 4.

Perdition's Flames by i_ship_an_armada (E, 63,435 w., 21 Ch. || Treklock AU, Est. Rel, Genetic Engineering, Angst & Fluff, BAMF!John) – Sherlock would do anything to save him. Risk anything. Give anything. His money, his life. His soul. What he does, though, is change both of their destinies forever. Genetic re-engineering is the only option left. It turns out researchers underestimated the life expectancy and potential abilities of genetically re-engineered subjects. The British government and what would eventually become the United Federation of Planets, however, had not. Part 1 of PF Universe

A Cure For Boredom by emmagrant01 (E, 81,665 w., 8 Ch. || Dirty Talk, Threesomes, Light Dom/Sub, Sex Club, Experiments, Anal, Mildly Dubious Consent, Rimming, Cheeking, Double Penetration, Mild Kink, Porn Watching, Voyeurism, Masturbation) – They’d never talked about sex in the year they’d known each other. Well, that wasn’t quite correct: Sherlock had never said a word about sex; John had bemoaned his personal dearth of it on many occasions.

Uphill by scullyseviltwin (E, 84,945 w., 18 Ch. || Olympics AU || Sherlock POV, Skier!Sherlock / Medic!John, Rivalry, 2014 Olympics, Happy Ending) – Sherlock Holmes is striving for gold in this, his fourth and final Olympics as a downhill Alpine racer.

A Study in Winning by Jupiter_Ash (E, 106,658 w., 11 Ch. || Tennis AU || John POV, Dirty Talk, Mutual Pining, Misunderstandings, Happy Ending, Sherlock Speaks French, Switchlock, Wimbledon) – John and Sherlock are professional tennis players and it’s Wimbledon. One is a broken almost was at the end of his career, the other an arrogant rising star tipped for greatness. It should have been a straightforward tournament. It really should have been. How were they to know that a chance encounter would change everything? Part 1 of Tennis

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Facial Shaving, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose... is it a pirate's life for him?

The Horse and his Doctor by khorazir (T, 129,003 w., 13 Ch. || Horse / Vet AU || Magical Realism, Horses, Vet John, Horse Sherlock, Implied Alcoholism) – Invalided after a run in with a poacher in Siberia, veterinary surgeon John Watson finds it difficult to acclimatise to the mundanity of London life. Things change when a friend invites him along to a local animal shelter and he meets their latest acquisition, a trouble-making Frisian with the strangest eyes and even stranger quirks John has ever encountered in a horse.

The Bang and the Clatter by earlgreytea68 (M, 137,049 w., 37 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Baseball AU || Slow Burn / Dev. Rel., Possessive/Obsessive Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Body Appreciation, Depression, Closeted Sexuality, Family, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Ogling Each Other, Anxious Sherlock, Panic Attack, Drunkenness, Talk of Forever, Big Feelings™) – Sherlock Holmes is a pitcher and John Watson is a catcher. No, no, no, it's a baseball AU. Part 1 of Baseball

Midnight Blue Serenity by BeautifulFiction (E, 151,907 w., 19 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Gay Bar / For a Case, Drugs, Pining, Case Fic, UST) – When Sherlock infiltrates a club in order to track down a serial killer, his altered appearance is enough to make John question his assumption that Sherlock is beyond his reach. However, is he the only one who appreciates his flatmate's charms, or is Sherlock at risk of becoming the next victim?

Gimme Shelter by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (E, 159,368 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || 70′s Surfer AU || Period Typical Homophobia, Hawaii, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Professional Surfers, Gay John / Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, John was a Sailor, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining) – All John Watson wants is the feeling of a freshly waxed surfboard under his feet and the hot California sun baking down onto his back. To finally go pro in the newly formed world of professional surfing and leave the dark memories of his past behind him as he rips across the face of a towering blue barrel. To lounge beside the beach bonfire every evening with an ice cold beer tucked into the cool sand beside him and listen to Pink Floyd and the Doors while the saltwater dries in his sun bleached hair. That's all he wants, that is, until the hot young phenom taking Oahu and the Hawaiian shores by storm steps up next to him in the sand in the second round of the 1976 International Surf Competition. (PUBLISHED AS ‘The Sea Ain’t Mine Alone’)

Mise en Place by azriona (M, 161,004 w., 28 Ch. || Restaurant (Kitchen Nightmares) AU || Sherlock is Gordon Ramsay / Celebrity Sherlock, Restauranteur John, Harry Plays Prominent Role, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, Cranky Sherlock, Bed Sharing, Slow Burn) – John Watson had no intentions of taking over the family business, but when he returns from Afghanistan, battered and bruised, and discovers that his sister Harry has run their restaurant into the ground, he doesn't have much choice. There's only one thing that can save the Empire from closing for good – the celebrity star of the BBC series Restaurant Reconstructed, Chef Sherlock Holmes. Part 1 of Mise en Place

-------

Hope you enjoy those!!! <3 PLEASE read them all, though, and THEN READ ALL THE ONES ON THOSE LISTS. Because once you start long fics, you get REALLY INTO THEM. Hah hah <3

[ktheist]

1 | friend in me.

“don’t confuse your party friends with your real friends.” (x) 

muses. party friend!jungkook x reader ft. bestfriend!taehyung ft. ex-boyfriend!namjoon

genre. university au. fwb. f2l.

words. 6.1k

warnings. mentions of break up, mild exhibition, alcohol use, future mentions of joint, future smut, mature content

alternative title. to my dear friend.

final part. exclusives only (x)

note. this fic hasn’t been showing up in searches no matter how many times i repost and it’s got a special place in my heart so i really want it to reach the audience, that’s why i made a few changes in hopes to beat the odds lol. enjoy!

x

striking up an unlikely pact to look out for each other’s backs at parties, is the last thing you expect to do with jeon jungkook. sure, you may or may not find a reason to laugh at his lousy antics and corny pick up lines - he’s also a great kisser but that’s besides the point.

the point is, you’d like to keep him as that - the friend that you meet at parties and parties only. so when you see him on your campus grounds, naturally your first instinct is to stop, turn the opposite way you’re heading and where he’s coming from - and start fast-walking to the other end of the campus like the devil is after you.

except that devil comes in the form of denim jacket, white undershirt and wavy dark hair that easily falls over doe eyes that seem to sparkle when you freeze at the sound of your name and turn around to face him with an awkward smile.

he breaks into a mini jog, leaving his friends that you’ve never seen before, behind. your own friends who you’ve been walking with and ditched at the sight of him, gawping at you and the new face from the spot where you decided to leave them at.

why couldn’t they have gone on their merry way - regardless if you’d paused and trekked to the opposite direction you were heading to?

jungkook skids to a stop in front of you, pretty pink lips quirking after he tilted his head to shift his hair out of his eyes instead of pushing it back with his hands.

“hey,” he greets, glancing down at his scuffing vans before meeting your gaze again, the tip of his tongue running over his bottom lip before retreating back into his mouth, leaving a sheen of moistness on his lips, “i didn’t know you went here.”

willing yourself to smile, you push your hair to the back of your ear before wrapping your arms around your chest, “yeah,” you drag out with an awkward chuckle, not as oblivious as he is of the stolen glances coming from the people passing through the walkway.

“what are you doing here though?” you notice his own friends that he ditched waiting for him several feet away - a group of attractive men and women who clearly belong to the equally high place group from your own faculty.

and yet here he is, talking to you - the ghost with rounded glasses sitting atop her nose and faded chapsticks on her lips. out of all the days you could have looked more zombie-esque, jungkook had to show up at your faculty today.

he’s nice enough not to point it out though as his lips turn into an ‘o’ shape. if you focus, you’d probably see the light bulb going off in his head as the answer to your question hits him. though at this point, you’ve already been hit by your own realization of the reason for there being more people walking around with mechanical appendages and remote control of every kinds. it must be-

“we’re here for the robocup tournament,” he grins, excitement apparent in the way his eyes seem to widen as you can almost hear the screws in his brains working before the question tumbles out of his mouth-

“what about you? are you joining?”

you want to laugh.

and that’s the thing about jungkook - he’s so good at reading you that he knows something’s up. brows knitting together, “what’s... up?”

the shaking of your head is purely reactionary - you’ve made a few friends who came around to compete at times your faculty was the one to hosted it, like now. it’s not as serious as it seemed to be but it’s not entirely something you joke around either since it involved someone’s blood, sweat and tears to make the cut but-

“guess you haven’t heard about the long standing tradition of the circuit breaker’s string pulling. the competition’s rigged.” despite your too willing trip down memory land, you still let your eyes dart around in case anyone’s listening. after you’re sure no one was, only then do you finally go on, “every year, they pick a judge’s kid as part of the team - even if they weren’t enrolled in seollyu and were in some other non-robotics related university, they’ll get close to them and keep them around until the competition. one year, one of them even went as far as dating a judge’s daughter when they couldn’t recruit her into their team.”

swallowing down the bile, you pretend not to notice the complete downturn of his lips as you roll your shoulders in a shrug out of the need of having something to do that doesn’t require focusing on the conflicted, purse lipped frown on jungkook’s face.

“oh wow, we never heard anything like that in beongju.” he murmurs, eyes drawn to the grass a feet away as he contemplates.

“it’s okay, what matters is you guys have fun.” you wave a dismissive hand, smile more natural but still sporting its awkward tucks.

“yeah,” jungkook nods before he meets your gaze, smiling in a half-hearted attempt to ease his own mind, “who knows? maybe this year, beongju will come out victorious.”

you nod, chest blooming with hope - a wishful thinking perhaps, “maybe.”

it’s when his eyes twinkle with a different kind of excitement that you know the matter of the competition is past him, and that’s your cue to go.

“hey, are you-“

“i have a class to-

you both stop at the same time, staring at the other for the longest moment before jungkook offers for you to continue, “you first.”

“um,” you would have deflect it back to him out of politeness. that is, if you didn’t know that he was going to ask you if you were free. possibly to grab lunch or a smoothie somewhere. but that’s the thing, outside of parties, you’re a completely different person altogether. right now, you’re the all-work, no-play study-hard. none of your equally study hard friends are aware of how you are at parties - none of the people you know, know how you are at parties because you made sure to attend only those you’re sure you wouldn’t run into acquaintances. of course it’s difficult and there are a few familiar faces you can identify as people from your faculty at every party but barely which is a safe amount. so it doesn’t make sense to break the unspoken, mutual understanding of the core you and jungkook’s friendship is built on. he might have forgotten how important it was for you that you were strictly ‘fun’ friends, so it’s your job to remind him, “i have class right now.”

you take a step back in preparation to bolt towards said nonexistent on-going class, “but hey, good luck on robocup. oh yeah, what were you gonna tell me?”

jungkook’s “oh - uh,” shouldn’t have sent waves of relief to you the way it does, but when he mumbles a “nothing - it was nothing.” you couldn’t help but suppress a grateful sigh.

on any other occasion, with a person completely separate from jeon jungkook, you would have pressed on - encouraged them to say what they initially wanted to say. but instead, you shoot him a smile, “oh -okay. guess i’ll see you around?”

“uh,” it’s clear as day that he doesn’t want to just leave it up to chance to bump into you in this big building with at least a thousand occupants coming and going everyday throughout the competition but the way smacks his lips shut tells you he there’s something holding him back, so he settles with a, “yeah... see you around.”

x

“you know,” you pause, tendrils of reluctance forbidding you from relaying the tale of how you and jungkook met in hopes it was indicative enough but judging from the way jisoo has her eyebrows raised, lisa with her knowing smile, taehyung and jimin expectantly waiting but with the first actually shooting you an meaningful stare - it seems like you have no choice but to say it-

“we spoke a few times at different parties and realize we have the same party mutual and get invited to the same parties so... we decided to hang together... at parties.”

“hang,” lisa echoes, underlying tone couldn’t have been more obvious as she grins from ear to ear.

“please, no way in hell do you just hang with jeon fucking jungkook when there’s booze and a dozen of empty rooms involved.” jisoo comes barreling through like a bulldozer, hands in the air as she squeals at whatever scenario her mind is cooking up in her head.

laughter trickles out of your mouth as you hide your face in your palms in an attempt to avoid jisoo and lisa’s eyes and the things that they’re hinting at with a mere gaze.

“why?” taehyung’s baritone finally hits the air as he leans back against the recliner. once the silence settles in a second later and all eyes turn his way, he adds, “not that it’s any of our business but,” he shrugs, “he’s not really your crowd - not any of our crowd.”

that’s the million dollar question. taehyung hates beers and crowded places - which is a surprise given his social butterfly-ness among all five of you. jimin, jisoo and lisa do go parties - those that your closest friends would be at. otherwise, they aren’t adventurous as you.

maybe jimin has a another side that you don’t know - it’s a known fact that he has other friends. dance friends, drinking friends, and whatever type of people with similar interests who flock a certain direction.

just like how you had jungkook and the group of friends you hung out with at parties.

“i mean, my dance friends aren’t exactly your kind of crowd either,” jimin interjects from the floor, head lulled to the back to look at taehyung, “remember how you wanted to avoid hoseok at all costs after i brought you to a practice once?”

“yeah,” you instantly second, hand gesturing to the man in a ‘exactly what he said’ manner before turning to the taller guy, “everyone makes friends where their usual friends aren’t.”

“i guess,” he cedes after what felt like the longest pause in your history of friendship.

it is that moment, just as your muscles begin to relax, that your phone dings with a notification. unbeknownst to you that you still command the attention in the entire room, you cluelessly let check out the new text message.

koo: we lost ):

“it’s him.” lisa announces, the bed shaking as she scoots away when you try to swat her thigh.

“and she has him saved as koo,” she - without any trace of intentionally constructed pun, coos, hands clasped together next to her tilted head as she bumps it with jisoo who’s mimicking her gestures.

“he just texted to say he lost,” you clarify, shaking your head at the two girls’ antics.

not that it changes anything as jisoo leans her whole body against lisa, an arm on her forehead in a troubled manner, “now i wish i had a boyfriend.”

lisa hums in agreement, her long limbs extending to wrap around the older girl’s torso as she rests her chin on top of jisoo’s dark brown tresses.“me too, sweetie. me too.”

typing out a ‘i’m so sorry. it’s okay they don’t deserve your talent anyway ):’ with a mixture of emojis, you hit send just before turning to what jimin is saying.

“...go to one. i heard alpha sig is having one tomorrow,” then he turns to you, as though you bear an abundance of knowledge about which place is having a party and on what day, “right ____?”

it takes you a moment to piece together what he said. you didn’t hear the beginning but you’re sure it’s something along the lines of jimin setting the two lonely singles to break their 2 month no-party streak and maybe get that boyfriend they wanted.

“jimin, i’m not sure,” you say shortly before turning to the two girls,“not that that many good, upstanding citizen of men go to the parties i went to though but maybe there’s a miracle waiting for you girls,” you smile in genuine hopefulness while referring to an entirely hopeless place. but it turns into an emphatic one as the two girls fake cry about the minimal chance they have to get a - in what you could make out of  jisoo’s fake bawling - hot, sexy party boyfriend. whatever that meant.

you don’t have the time to confirm it when your phone dings again.

koo: thanks i can always count on you to be real w me 🥺🥰

another grey bubble pops pushes the text you’re reading upwards.

koo: you coming to alpha sig’s party?

koo: we have to be here for the closing ceremony tmr anyway

koo: help me make good memories before i leave seollyu 🥺

you suppress the urge to roll your eyes at that. he’s only been here for one day and he got invited to one of the most hard-to-get-in parties on the campus.

naturally, you and jimin were invited from your underlying reputations. and naturally, whoever you bring is invited too.

except you’re not a fan of going to parties that you know you’d meet the exact people you didn’t want to meet.

lisa peeks at your phone the second time - and you didn’t even notice until she screams, “___’s going to alpha sig’s!”

“oh my god, will he be there?” jisoo leans her entire body over lisa in a reckless abandon to get a peek of what the younger one saw only to have you hold your phone away.

“um? privacy? anyone?” you offer while jisoo pouts.

“duh, she’s going because of him.” lisa says im a matter-of-factly, “otherwise, she wouldn’t even entertain the thought of going to any party infested with people we already had to see sober.”

“am not.” you counter, the matter of replying already long forgotten as you cross your arms over your chest, phone tucked in between the side of your boob and hand, “if i’m going, it’d be because i want to!”

“so you’re going?” jisoo blinks, eyes twinkling with hope. so are lisa’s.

you have no choice but to turn your cheek to a laughing park jimin on the floor. his pupils disappearing behind his lids. clearly, he’s not going to back you up. so you turn to the only other person who you thought would.

“if tae’s going then i’ll go,” you declare, already feeling the triumph of what the man would choose from his precedent choices. “not that you guys need me to get in since jimin’s already-“

“sure.” the taller man announces.

you’re forced to make a double take while your jaw drops in your lap along with jisoo and lisa’s while jimin blinks in surprise from your periphery.

completely conscious of the gazes boring into his skull, taehyung attempts to casually shrug it off as a- “since you guys are going, you know.”

jisoo yelps in celebration before going “great, who’s up for some chicken?” shooting up and sending the mattress shaking as she takes big steps over your legs and hops off the bed. hands planted on her hips, she glances around the room with the residue of a pleased smile from the decision of all five of you finally going to a party together.

“me!” lisa follows suit with the exception that she’s crawling on her hands and knees to get off the bed.

“me but i don’t want to get up.” jimin whines, unmoving from his spot which is lying on the fluffed pink carpet as taehyung’s birthday present to his otherwise creme themed room.

“come on, park. get your ass off the floor and to the parking lot - get it, park jimin goes to the parking lot?” jisoo begins tugging on his wrist, the sight rather comical considering how she’s trying to make a man twice her size sit up, let alone move to get to the car seeing as he’s the only one with one.

lisa shares a doubtful look with you and taehyung at the poorly made pun, questioning why jimin seems to be the only one chuckling but then again, he’s always been the easiest to entertain.

after huffing and puffing, jisoo finally plucks the boy off the floor. but getting him to walk the distance from his apartment to the car is another feat.

it’s when their voices echo in the hallway, and you and a certain taller man is left in the room, do you notice the difference in this silence compared to the rest as he pushes himself up.

“are you going for real?” you finally ask, throwing your feet over the bed.

taehyung’s lips pucker as he contemplates the pros and cons, “what’ll i do if i don’t go? binge watch maze runner and be reminded of the fact that all third movies suck?”

maybe he doesn’t hate parties as much as you initially thought. after all, it’s been a year since he vomited all over kim sowon while making out on the couch at alpha sig’s.

you grin, elbowing the man as you both make your way out of the room, “hey, maybe you could find yourself a girlfriend while you’re at it.”

taehyung’s laugh doesn’t reach his eyes but you chalk it up with the jitters of the thought of having alcohol course through his veins and surrounded by bodies on the dance floor, “huh, yeah.”

x

the day fly by between getting to classes and getting lunch - it was a feat to convince everyone to go to dumpling place just a little bit off campus but you’d managed and subsequently successfully avoided running into jungkook for the day.

“bih, what the fuck?” lisa gawks, jaw descended to the ground as she stares at your mini black crop top that stops a few inches above your high-waist ripped jeans.

if you didn’t show up to classes in sweats and oversized sweaters, round glasses and hair always up in your laziness to make them look presentable - every day, maybe your ability to throw on some eye make up and highlights over your foundation wouldn’t have been so much as a surprise.

unlike you, your friends have always been on top of their game when it comes to appearing like functioning members of society. the clothes they have now have also been worn to class before - that’s how you know their confidence is sky high while yours require a little bit of help depending on what you wear.

why they decided to adopt a munchkin like you into their otherwise perfect clique, you’ll never know - but maybe it had something to do with you looking like a lost puppy in your first year with your round glasses and the thick books you carry around. it was a matter of time you ran into someone and drop them - that someone being jisoo.

after that, the rest was history - your prejudices towards groups of attractive people have never been so diminished.

your hair bounces gently as you hop into the passenger seat, giggling shyly at the attention you’ve garnered with your otherwise usual getup for a fun time.

“if i knew you won’t have any problems surviving off skinny jeans and cute tops, i would have burned those baggy clothes a long time ago.” jisoo confesses, red lips curled into an impressed ‘o’ as she takes in your appearance.

you gasp, truly offended to know your day-to-day choice of outfit has never been any of your friend’s preference yet only now do they make it known - talk about fake friends! “don’t you insult my comfy clothes like that!”

a light bump on her shoulder forces her to tear her gaze away and turn her cheek to the grinning girl next to her, “maybe she has a reason to dress cute.”

and just like that, the two breaks out into coos. sending you signals with their entire face muscles as jimin chuckles from the driver’s seat.

“but you know, this is how ___ usually dress up for parties even like before she met jungkook.”

you send praises to the gods for sending you this blessing of a friend as you fix the two girls a smirk, posing like a model as much as the cramped space allows you, “nah, i got it from my momma.”

an onslaught of protest - denials - mixed with cheers erupt as you begin to poorly mimic that of models with your limbs pointing in every direction and body bending in weird angles. it doesn’t take long before laughter tumbles out of everyone’s mouth, the front seaters included - taehyung had achingly turned in his seat to attend your fashion show while jimin stole glances in the rearview mirror.

x

yoo jeongyeon is the first to wave you over. if there’s a grey area where party friends and real friends merge together, it’ll be her. you’ve gone to parties together and had fun - though the last time you did, you ended up waking up on the same bed with some guy on the floor.

jin? jun? jeong? j-something grinned when he woke up to the sight of you two, “so... can i get you girls’ number?”

jeongyeon didn’t bother to hold back her grimace and you’d strutted into the bathroom as if you didn’t hear him.

“kim taehyung, lisa manoban and kim jisoo.” she studies each one with an impressed, “how did jimin and ____ manage to haul your asses out and over here?’

“the single life they’ve been walking has finally slapped them in the face and they finally want-“ you get cut off by lisa’s fake chuckle that sounds every bit forced.

“-wasted.”

“-boyfriends!”

they end up saying at the same time. while jisoo is finds no fault in her confession, lisa’s face is heating up - coming second next to you when it comes to shying back into her shell when topics like these come to light.

“taehyung too.” jisoo hooks her hand around the aforementioned man’s arm, stopping him from slowly disappearing into the crowd like a certain park jimin has, her other one around younger girl.

“jeongyeon, you have introduce us to cute guys or we’ll end up dying from all this single-ness!”

at that, the woman burst into laughter, hand on her stomach as she tries and fails to suppress it.

“i don’t know,” she wipes a tear from the corner of her eyes, “isn’t that more of ____’s specialty?”

“uh,” it takes a heartbeat for you to register what jeongyeon is saying before the same heart in your chest crashes against the ground at her next words.

“everyone knows,” a meaningful smile quirks on her lips, “about you and-“

“i- uh, i think i heard jackson calling me - something about a group project.” you quickly say, cursing yourself for the less than plausible excuse to get away.

and the three girls think so too as they call you out for it but you don’t stop until they’re out of earshot and out of the spotlight, ending up at a table full of booze.

you pop a can open, letting the bitter taste wash over your suddenly dry throat. the alcohol hasn’t got to you yet but you know it will and maybe that’s the only thing you have going on as you walk around, waving to people you know and lingering to talk with some, noticing that most of them are halfway to getting drunk.

some time later, you spot jisoo, lisa and jeongyeon dancing with some of your close friends. beer in their hands. you wonder how they’re going to find a boyfriend or even a hook up if they just keep to their circle - that was the clear as day distinction between you and them.

where they feel the most comfortable surrounded with familiar faces - regardless of whether they like them - you find comfort on a room full of strangers and the knowledge that you wouldn’t see them anymore after that.

but that wasn’t the case for jungkook. after one too many parties and several ‘hey, i was hoping i’d see you’s, a sense of camaraderie starts forming. of course, rules don’t apply where it would in a normal, socially sober setting.

you were friends as much as you were fucking like rabbits. finding comfort in mornings where you wake up without a sense of recollection, a throbbing headache and a lump of body underneath the sheets only to sigh in relief upon finding out who it was as though to say ‘oh thank god it’s you and not some rando i won’t know how to politely kick out while emphasizing that i have class in like 5.’

you embark on a visual searching journey to look for the same boy who wouldn’t mind if you had to shut the door in his half-awake face on mornings you had to get ready for class and still smiled at you later that night when you meet at a different party - until your gaze lands on a pair of brown eyes.

instead of wide and doe-like, the one that captured yours are hooded and heavy, boring into the windows of your soul. all of a sudden, you’re brought back to the same time last year. back when you were just a freshie with a stomach full of butterflies as you shyly look away from those piercing eyes.

but now, all you feel is your stomach rearranging and bile almost rising to your throat as you take a swig of the beer before melding into the crowd.

alpha sig is known for their closeness with circuit breaker, having been been sponsored by your own faculty for those with outstanding achievements to stay on-campus.

but none of the circuit breakers ever come to these parties - or at least, he never did.

almost as though the stars and planets aligned to manifest your only thought, a familiar voice wraps around the syllables of your name. and you would have continued on your merry way and pretend like you didn’t hear anything, if only you’re not in a hallway where there’s least people and subdued music compared to the dance floor you just escaped from.

“i heard you’ve been around,” kim namjoon stands at the end of the hallway, decked in plain gray t-shirt underneath a leather jacket and black pants. he takes easy, casual steps towards you with a dimpled smile that couldn’t have been more vain, “but i couldn’t believe my ears,” his shoulder line jolts as he shrugs, “well, until now, at least.”

“who would’ve thought? the cute ___ who blushed from a simple peck would have this side to her.” he stands a good half a head over you, his cologne’s changed from the last time you’d come in such a close proximity like you are now.

“yeah,” you drag out in a half-singing voice, face schooled into an unfazed expression, “i mean, it’s better than going around tricking girls into sleeping with you, right?”

at that, his smile instantly drops into a hard set frown as he lowers his voice, “i didn’t ‘trick’ you into having sex with me,” his lips quirk up at possibly a recollection of that night, “as i recall, you begged me to take your virginity.”

“that was before i knew your shitty motives to get brownie points from my dad just so you could win a stupid competition,” your voice is equally low and threatening, body heating up from the remembrance of those unreplied texts and the look in his eyes when you approached him that monday after the tournament - like he didn’t even know you.

namjoon laughs - the sound dripping with mockery as he throws his head back slightly, “come on, that was like a year ago. get over it.”

that’s it.

that’s when your mind is the clearest. no amount of beer could tell you otherwise - that this man right here doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt on the occasions that your friends begin spilling hot tea about the leader of circuit breaker and the things the members have done to win. they didn’t know about you and namjoon - nobody really does. you should have known those late night meetings and nothing but a polite smile when you pass in the hallways - were all red flags.

ones that you willfully ignore in the guise of ‘i’m not ready to tell everyone yet’s and ‘it doesn’t matter, if nobody knows, right? as long as i know you’re my girl’s

“you’re a dick.”

you push past him, cursing internally when he doesn’t budge and you’re the one who ends up with an almost dislocated shoulder.

it is only when you’re pushing a through the sea of bodies and swatting hands that try to grope your ass, does a certain doe-eyed, bunny smile enter your vision.

almost instantly, the urge to pinch the hand on your lower back disappears after knowing who its owner is. you’re pressed up against each other - the dance floor doesn’t allow much room for personal space and you’ve shared your personal spaces with each other far too many times to need that kind of distance from each other.

“i was looking for you,” the alcohol in his breath doesn’t feel all that repugnant as he nears his mouth to the shell of your ear, igniting a fire that kim namjoon had set up with the previous exchange.

he stands straighter, lips puckered sulkily as he swayed your bodies together, “we lost and everyone in my team had girlfriends or boyfriends to comfort them-”

your hands that cup his face and digs into his messy tresses make him clamp his mouth shut. the gentlest protrusion of his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows in anticipation.

he asked and you shall grant it.

girlfriend. fuck buddy. what difference does it make?

“i know, koo. i’m sorry you wasted your time on that dumb competition.” you purr, noticing how his gaze becomes glazed as he steals a glance at your lips before meeting your eyes again.

a heartbeat later, you’re pressing your mouth against the softest pair of lips you’ve ever known. mentally, you make a note to ask what he uses to keep them smooth and kissable.

he snaps out of his stupor a moment later, hands snaking down to grab your ass like he’s done this a million times before and knows just how to get you moaning into his mouth. almost as natural as breathing, he slips his tongue past your lips tasting you.

another moan escapes you when he begins kissing down your chin, trailing sloppy kisses on your neck and suckling on the one spot that gets your heart palpitating on your chest. hands tucking on his pleated outer shirt for the sake of having something to hold.

you bring jungkook’s face to yours, noticing the sheen on his pinker lips before pressing another deep kiss. he doesn’t to think twice to react. one hand on your free hand slipping underneath your crop top. when someone shove into jungkook, almost sending you tumbling backwards and ending up doing the same to another person - jungkook curses. “fucking drunktards.”

a giggle escapes your lips, “pot calling the kettle black? we were probably bumping into people on nights we were shit faced drunk.”

“probably.” he shrugs, fingers lacing around your wrist as he guides you off the dance floor and into the kitchen where he doesn’t waste a second in hoisting you up onto the counter and slips in the space between your legs.

“hello.” you murmur, resting your forehead against his, cheeks hot and body aflame.

“hey, beautiful.” he fixes you a lazy grin, lips drawing closer to your mouth but before he manages to close the hair breadth’s distance, he stops.

“wait.” he murmurs against your lips, eyes glued to them as though he’s picturing another part of him on them.

“what?” you whisper, just as enticed by his own lips as your try to pull him closer with your arms that’s wrapped around his neck.

“are you drunk?” are his next words and you’re well aware the basis of where it spurred on.

once upon several parties ago, you’d included stopping you from putting on a risque show if your drunken self ever abandoned your self-restraint. jungkook, on the other hand, doesn’t love attention per se but he doesn’t shy away from it either.

“i’m not,” you assure, drawing closer to his lips by the second like moth drawn to flames. but you have enough sense to tilt your head to steal a glance towards the direction where you’ve been feeling a hole being drilled into your skull. your heart skips a beat when you catch namjoon’s eyes - he’s leaning against the wall with his friends either standing or sitting on the couch, beer in one hand.

“but i need your help to make someone jealous.”

jungkook follows your gaze towards namjoon and his friends a few feet away. it doesn’t take much for him to piece two and two together - especially after your a apparent animosity while telling him about the competition being rigged.

“ah,” he hums - you could just hear the smile in his voice. your knees weaken at the touch as you begin kissing the patch of skin closest to your lips which is his jawline. “i don’t know if i should be sad or happy that you’re finally agreeing to have sex in public with me because of some what’s-his-face guy.”

“not have sex sex,” you correct, delight filling your chest when he shivers - whether it’s from your touch of the image your words are painting in his head, you’re not sure, “but make out with me like you’re a kiss away from fucking me senseless?”

“i thought that’s a given?”

not needing to be told twice, you find yourself being devoured like a little rabbit in the arms of the beast. the background around you blurs together as you inhale jungkook’s scent, feel the warmth seep from his body to yours. your hand snakes down in between your bodies with one goal in mind: the gentle protrusion brushing against your own crotch.

“fuck a show,” jungkook hisses harshly against your mouth, breathing becoming labored as you caress him over the layer of his jeans, “where’s the closest room we can get to?”

you nod in agreement, hopping off the counter and tugging on your top to keep your nipples from being exposed after jungkook’s hand fall away from your breast at your retreat.

“they might have empty ones upstairs.” you tug on jungkook’s hand, making your way to the staircase and trying not to step over drunken bodies making out on the ground or simply passed out.

it’s when you get one foot on the stairs, that a clamoring thud erupts from somewhere on the dance floor - the air that was once blaring now pin drop silent. jungkook’s cheek presses against your back as he wraps his arm around your torso, a peck landing on your shoulder, not telling you to move but not really interested at the reason you paused to peer through the gaps of bodies that seemed to be looking at something just around the corner.

“shut the fuck up, dickhead!” a voice thunders against the walls after another thud that sounded like heavy equipment falling against the ground - and possibly breaking.

“must be those football guys fighting over a girl.” jungkook comments, uninterested.

on any other occasion, you would have agreed and gone on your merry way but it’s the unsettlingly familiar baritone that made you freeze in your spot in the first place. it’s with a rattling realization and the sight of jisoo among the throng of people, calling out “taehyung, leave it!” that gets you to trudge back to the floor, vaguely aware of jungkook trailing from behind with a “what’s wrong?”

eyes bore into your skull as you finally push through the throng of people and burst onto the scene. jisoo has her arms around taehyung’s while jimin appear miniature as he stands between the taller man and an unnervingly calm namjoon. the latter wipes a trace of blood from his busted lower lip as chills run down your spine when the man’s eyes falls on you, lips curving into a vain smile.

“why don’t you ask her yourself?” his voice drums against the walls - loud and clear to those who are watching which is basically everyone here.

“come on, ___, everyone wants to know if you begged me to be your first and how we fucked in the back room of the student lounge.”

[harrylee94]

The Tournament - Chapter 3

You can find this on AO3!

Summary: “I wish I could choose my own Protector.”

“You know why you can’t.”

“But how will I know if I can trust them?”

Notes: TW: VERY brief mention of stillbirth. Skip the paragraph beginning with “Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc” if you’re not comfortable with this.

Chapter 2

——————————————————————

“Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum ” - Din

The man in the mirror looked like a stranger. The armour he wore was almost like a mirror itself from how polished it was (his hands still ached from buffing), and yet it still only covered the most vital of areas. The tunic beneath that and the necessary padding was uncomfortably embroidered, the bronze and gold trim scratching at his neck and wrists and bringing attention to his rank, even though he’d much rather have hidden away. His boots were polished within an inch of their life as well, though, thankfully, familiar; not exactly new but not old enough to merit calling in a cobbler. The tabard was completely new, the tailors having worked through the night to complete it; grey with red trim and detailing, to emphasise that he had recently lost the last person he could call family.

Din took a deep breath as he met his own sallow eyes. He felt like a doll, about to go on display.

Mourning was something that he wanted to do on his own terms, in the quiet privacy of his room, or out in the fields, able to allow the rain to hide his tears. If he had been any other man in the kingdom he would have been able to, would have been able to honour his buir’s memory in the way he wanted, but it was not only him who would mourn her, and he could not be selfish.

“Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum,” he muttered quietly, rubbing his thumb over a swirl on his cuff. “Vod’ika.” His little sister had been taken from them before she could draw her first breath. She had never been named. “Ren Djarin.” His father had marched on only a handful of years earlier, and in some moments the wound felt fresh. Today was one of those days. “Kovra Djarin.” He had hoped he would have many years more to wait before saying his mother’s name, but today it would be on thousands of lips.

He sniffed and quickly wiped away his tears, reaching for his belt and sword to strap them to his waist.

“Knock knock.”

Din paused, looking over his shoulder at the door. “Marshal Dune.”

The Marshal of castle town smirked at him from where she was leaning against the door jamb, arms folded across her chest, her leather armour oiled and brushed. She must have been waiting for him to finish.

“Prince Djarin,” she replied, pushing herself up. She gave him an exaggerated look up and down and raised an eyebrow at him. “You look like a peacock.”

Din snorted and turned back to the mirror as he buckled his belt. “I feel like one; roasted, stuffed and decorated, ready for the court’s pleasure.”

“Sounds about right,” she said as she stopped just to the left of him. “You ready for this?”

“No,” he said, “but I have to. This is the Way.” He met her eyes in the mirror, taking note of her position. “You’re sure you won’t join the Tournament?”

She snorted. “Fuck no! Din, I love you, but can you imagine me in court?”

Din winced. He could imagine it easily. He could also see what a terrible idea that would be; Cara Dune had no patience for fools, no matter their rank or status. As much as he would have loved to have had someone he knew, someone he trusted, at his side, it would be a political nightmare. Plus it would likely be viewed as favouritism should she win with how close they were. Their friendship was well known, almost infamous depending on who you spoke to, but they had grown into their responsibilities, separate branches of the same tree though they were.

“I wish I could choose my own Protector,” he bemoaned, fiddling with his scabbard to untangle it from his tabard. Ridiculous thing. He never wore them outside of ceremonies.

“You know why you can’t,” Cara replied with sympathetic eyes.

He sighed and nodded. It was a chance for the Clans of Mandalore to show their prowess, and for him, as the new ruler, to show his trust in his subjects. It was an important ritual, an essential process, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying.

“But how will I know if I can trust them?”

“You won’t,” Cara said, and rested her hand on his shoulder, “but you can trust Saruk, and they won’t let an idiot replace them.”

He hummed. It was a nice thought, but he would still have to endure the new Protector for the first few months of his reign so he didn’t step on any toes. He hated politics. “I have to make the announcement first.”

“Then I suppose you’d better get out there.”

“Is that why you came here?” Din asked, turning to face her.

“One of the reasons,” she said with a shrug. “That, and I knew you needed the company.”

He smirked and grasped her shoulder in thanks. “Let’s get out there then.”

With a slap to his shoulder, Cara left, glancing back over her shoulder as she vanished from sight. It only took him a few moments more to convince himself to follow, heading out the door without a pause, knowing that Saruk would be a step behind him as he headed towards the hall.

The castle was quiet, only the faint murmurings that echoed from the hall down the corridors to be heard, and those were too indistinct to make anything of. His footsteps were quiet, as were Saruk’s, who stepped in tandem with him, but as he rounded the last corner and the guards ahead of him straightened, the whispers fell silent.

A great crowd had filled the hall, standing before the stacks of logs and planks that lined the edges, and leaving only the raised dais where the throne sat, a path for him to get there, and the very centre clear. Everyone was in their finest, varying colours among them, but red was predominant among them. Honouring a leader. It sickened him to know that some only wore it to curry favour with him, as their next King, but he couldn’t think of that now.

His buir’s body lay in repose in the centre of the room, resting on a wooden stretcher and her hands clutching her sword to her chest. She was wearing the armour she had died in, the reason she had worn it in fact; the only difference was that her helm was in place, the visor down to cover her face. She looked ready to do battle, as all good leaders should. As Din stepped up to the dais, he hoped he could follow her example.

He stopped before the throne and turned, though he did not sit down --- for he had not yet been crowned and was still only a Prince in the eyes of the world, despite his vows the day before -- and looked over the crowd. His magic thrummed through him, urging him to sit, but he resisted, determined to pass this test.

"The Witch King is dead," he said, projecting his voice so that all could hear. "Nu kyr'adyc, Shi taab,echaaj'la."

"Aay'han!" came the reply of a hundred voices as one.

Din briefly bowed his head in thanks, wishing he could be wearing the royal helm so he wouldn't have to struggle with keeping his emotions from showing on his face.

"Today we mark the end of Mand'alor the Beloved's reign, and we prepare for the beginning of her son's, long may he reign," Saruk cried, their voice booming in an enviable manner. "Let it be known that the Trials for the new Protector shall begin two weeks hence."

There was some muttering and shifting amongst the crowd, the excitement that had been carefully hidden away bubbling to the surface.

"The Witch King is dead," Din proclaimed again, bringing their attention back to where it should be. "Nu kyr'adyc, Shi taab,echaaj'la."

"Aay'han!"

He saw Cara in the sea of faces, the familiarity of it a balm to his battered nerves, and he set his shoulders.

"Today we send this Verd to her rest," he continued. "With fire shall she be revered. I shall light the flame.” He stepped forward, his magic building within him, but he pushed it down. Not yet.

“We shall carry her,” Saruk proclaimed, moving to one of the four corners of the stretcher. As she did, three others stepped forth from the crowd; the captain of the castle guard, a man still in his prime by the name of Veronar, moved to stand at the front right, next to Saruk’s position. A second man, Greef Karga, whom had served in the wars that Mandalor had faced at the Witch King’s side and acted as a close friend, took another corner. The third and last addition to the Protector was the Armourer, a woman of great mystery and even greater skill. She would be the one to forge Din’s royal helm, and there was none other whom he would trust with such a task.

As Din stepped around the body, he kept his eyes forward, the movement of the crowd only a blur as the guards moved into place around them and the doors opened.

The ward was lined with servants, each of them bearing their patches of red, and each and every one of them bowed as he passed. Most of them hadn’t the fabric or wages to spare for full garments, but a sash about the waist or around the neck was still a greater honour to the Prince than the pageantry he’d witnessed within the keep. There was one figure that wore more red than he’d expected though.

Cobb Vanth, the stable hand, was stood to the right, his shirt a deep burgundy and his scarf a bright blood red. He bowed, just as all others had, but not before Din had managed to catch his red rimmed eyes. The sight caught him by surprise, and it brought him a sense of comfort. He knew that the loss of his buir was a harsh blow to more than just himself, but he hadn’t seen it, not even in Saruk. He knew that it was what was expected, that they had to remain strong until they could pass on their duty to the next, but it still made him feel like he’d been grieving alone. To see tears in another’s eyes was a balm to his broken spirit.

The thought remained with him as he led the procession on, his pace slow as he walked out of the castle and up to the hill upon which a pyre had been prepared. The people had followed him, the old aided by the young, the rich alongside the poor, and as Mand’alor the Beloved was set upon her pire and he stood watch, many of them set items beside her. They set herbs, flowers and cloth. Carvings of animals and armour. Scrolls and stones. Din watched with some confusion as Cobb set a broken shovel handle against the bundles of kindling, but could tell its importance from the hesitant reluctance he bore at parting with it.

It was the moments like these that told him just how loved his mother had been by her people, and as the last of the gifts had been deposited, he drew himself tall one more time.

“Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum, Kovra Djarin.”

With that, he drew upon the power within him, and set a spark in the dry kindling deep in the pyre.

The fire caught easily, the wood having been treated and readied especially for this moment, and soon Mand’alor the Beloved was consumed. The heat of it was intense, but it would be many hours yet before she was gone. It wouldn’t be until the embers were smouldering, as the sun was kissing the horizon, that Din would look up to see who had remained.

Each of the four pallbearers remained, stoic and staid at his sides. The guards, of course, were still stationed at their posts around them all to protect them, and Cara stood nearby. There were a few other nobles, though not many, and a small handful of smallfolk and servants, but across from him, fresh tears running down his cheeks as he stared into the embers and ashes, was Cobb Vanth.

——————————————————————

Mando'a Translations:

Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum -- "I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal"—Daily remembrance of those passed on, followed by the names of those being remembered

Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la -- "Not gone, merely marching far away"—; Mandalorian phrase for the departed

aay'han -- bittersweet moment of mourning and joy; "remembering and celebration"

Verd -- warrior or soldier

Chapter 4

[set-spike-and-win]

“Dad look, it’s Y/n!”

The excited clapping of the young child who sat on one of the bleachers let a smile appear on my face. I waved to them, laughing when the child hid behind their father in embarrassment.

“Look it’s Y/n!” Jennie mocked in a slightly higher voice after she appeared behind me. I rolled my eyes before I put a hand on Jennie’s shoulder,

“At least I have some solo fans Ms. Kim.”

“Can you stop your nonsense for five minutes and get your asses over here?” Chaeyoung called over, careful not to attract any attention of her use of words.

Intrigued by Chaeyoung who normally had a very clean mouth in public, Jennie and jogged over to the bench where the rest of the team prepared for the next part of the match. We had one the first round, scoring 25:17 and for now, it seems to be an easy win for our team. One of my favorite things about volleyball though, is how fast a game can turn around. Especially as the team’s captain and ace, I would call myself cocky and even pretty arrogant sometimes but that doesn’t change the amount of respect that I have for any of our opponents.

“Before you get out on the field again, I want you to remember not to underestimate them,” the coach started, his eyes focused on the fans on the bleachers behind us. “We may have higher standards which can guarantee us an easy win but we also have our weak points. Don’t go out on that field if you think you’re superior because in the end…you’re nothing without your teammates.”

His words sounded harsh to anyone who didn’t know about our team’s story but we knew better. We knew how fast G-Dragon and his team lost their title as best Highschool volleyball team of their generation. They lost to their arrogance against other teams. I didn’t want that to happen to us, I want to play in the best team of my time…but I want to archive that through hard work and the necessary respect for other teams and players who know better than I do.

With all of these thoughts on the back of my mind, I stepped back onto the field. My teammates got into their position as well while my eyes were piercing into those of the opposing captain, she was a setter like Chaeyoung and Soyeon, a very talented at that but I couldn’t help but notice how she always seemed to hesitate before the ball touched the palm of her hands. A whistle got my attention just seconds later, the second part of the game began.

Most of my senses seemed to be sharpened as my eyes chased the ball in search of a good attack. Our opponents played right into our hands, the left corner of the field. Though, it wasn’t unknown that hitting from the left corner was one of my specialties, almost every hit I got collided with the ground.

My eyes met Chaeyoung’s for a split second, making me immediately realize what she was up to. In a few fast steps, I managed to get ahead of the blockers on the other side of the net. It might’ve been the first game in the tournament but I already felt different as my hand came in contact with the ball. Almost like time had slowed down to give me the perfect moment to attack. The ball thundered to the ground, much faster than any of the players could dive after it.

It was only one of many points to come but I already felt special. If everyone on the team gives their all throughout the games, I’m sure we’ll have more than a decent chance to win, just like every newspaper in the city predicted.

I stepped back to my position and with a quick nod from Chaeyoung and thumbs up from Minnie, everything went blurry. Well, not blurry, in fact, my vision was even more focused than before. It gave me the chance to see every single detail around.

How some fans were focused on a particular player and just how loud it was in the stadium. Some call these sharpened senses some players get while playing, insanity. Others prefer to call it talent. I would call it a mix of both. I’ve heard how people called me insane for keeping up with my training even when a few parts of my body worked against me but also heard how people praise my dedication, saying I would make it far. Insane or talented and perhaps even both, I couldn’t bring myself to care what people called me behind my back. Every time the ball connects with my hand, I feel a spark and this spark alone makes playing worth it, now matter the consequences.

“Unfortunately we weren’t able to see much of the praised captain Y/n Lee until now… The last games were surely exhausting for the Wing Spiker… Maybe we’ll see more in the future.”

A reporter’s voice briefly caught my attention while I was waiting to get back into the court. I didn’t hear much, only the disappointment lacing his voice as he spoke about not seeing any of my special attacks in this game. What does he think I’m doing the whole time? Standing in the way?

“Y/n!” Shuhua muttered. She was standing next to me, a hand immediately wandering to my shoulder when she caught me watching the reporter from the corner of my eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid, we only need three more points.”

“I know and I won’t trust me,” I answered quickly before I took my position on the field.

The game kept its exhausting atmosphere. Our opponents weren’t bad, of course they weren’t, they did make it to the nationals after all. I just felt that the game was too slow with only two points left for the win. Deciding to take things into my own hands, I silently made Chaeyoung understand that the last two points were for me.

The blockers were slightly unfocused, a perfect opportunity for a softer spike, something they won’t see coming. Not only could a softer spike manage to throw them compl out of their mind, it could also mean match point, the point where the game comes to an end. Once again, I rushed towards the net, on the left side. I didn’t focus on my speed but on the height I was able to jump. 275cm, a record I set for myself a few months ago, would be high enough to get a good ankle of the the side of the court.

One side of the crowd began to cheer as I jumped higher than I intended, effectively surprising me. Still, I spiked the ball through the blockers on the other side and stumbled backwards, panting as I realized how high I actually jumped. 3 meters or even higher? I couldn’t keep thinking about it as our match point was announced.

The last point to win this match which I thought should’ve been mine, went away to Shuhua who had ultimately proven herself for a first year in one of the best teams right now. I excitedly cheered and clapped as I knew how much Shuhua had dreamed of this. I was on the same position two years ago, nervous and anticipating whats to come after I spiked the last ball of the game over the net. Sure, when I look back on it now, I would laugh at how bad this spike actually was but that’s how I knew I had grown since then.

“What a great game ladies and gentlemen, once again the volleyball club of South Bay High defeated their opponents of Oakwood school for girls. We hope to see for the next game…”

The reporter who announced our win kept talking as our team went into a hug. All of us were panting and laughing at our win. Surroundings faded before we slowly left the field, thanking and cheering at our fans.

“You were amazing.” I smiled at Shuhua who had my arm around her shoulder as she took a sip off her water bottle.

“Weren’t you the one who had all eyes on them?” She asked, ignoring my compliment.

I rolled my eyes before answering, “Well yes but this was your first game in the nationals. When I had spike my first match ball in the nationals, my knees were trembling from my nervousness so I wouldn’t have been mad if you fucked it up.”

“Ah yes.” Shuhua grinned, “I was better than you and now you want to play it down, got it.”

“I would never, believe me,” I said. “But you’re right, you were better than me and I’m proud of you for that.”

Laughing filled the halls as we celebrated our win. The coach was happy and thanked us for the great performance. My own thoughts however, always went back to Soyeon, I had left her alone with a message that gave me mixed feelings but we would visit her father in half an hour.

———————————————————————-

“So…you’ve won?” Soyeon asked as I drove the car along to the streets to the hospital.

“We won.” I corrected her, “25:17 and 24:26 which I think isn’t bad but we could have played faster in order to keep the others more occupied.”

I saw Soyeon fidgeting with the flowers in her hands as she let out a laugh, “You won two sets in a row and still think about going faster?”

“Yeah, you know I always think about doing things better.”

“You’re a monster Y/n.” The woman next to me smirked before we pulled up in front of the hospital.

The halls were filled with patient and crying people, both tears of joy and pain. I was holding the flowers in my arms as Soyeon asked for her father’s room.

“Come on,” she nudged me a few seconds later before taking the flowers back to her.

I trailed behind her, my mind nearly blank as I took in everything around me. Every hall we passed was coloured in the same dull white and the floors were painted a light blue, overall it looked like a normal hospital. We stopped at one of the doors at the end of what seemed to be the third floor.

Soyeon immediately rushed to her father while I silently closed the door and leaned against the wall. The atmosphere was almost suffocating.

“Thank you for getting her here.”

Soyeon’s mother stood next to me. I was startled as I didn’t even realize how she got there, my mind focused on the woman who silently talked to her father. The flowers lay on the table next to the bed, forgotten the moment their eyes had met.

“It’s the least I can do for her,” I answered before I ran a hand through my hair.

An quiet sigh left her lips before she continued, “Not every friend would do that Y/n, I think both of you need to realize that before it’s too late.”

Then she left. My gaze was still focused on the scene in front of me but my mind was long gone. What did Soyeon’s mother mean? Wasn’t it normal to be there for a best friend like this?

I closed my eyes as I finally noticed how exhausted I actually was after the match. The room went silent, for me at least. Reflections of the match took over my vision and left me in a deep state of thinking.

This match let me fly high…but perhaps the next will give the chance to go even higher.

Next Game in: A Week

Previous <> Next, Masterlist

[alovesongshewrote]

Almost A Thousand Years - Battle Royal | Hisirdoux Casperan

Plot:  You’ve known Hisirdoux Casperan for almost a thousand years.  You’ve hated him for almost a thousand years.  And for almost a thousand years, you’ve been cursed to feel each others pain.  But somewhere in that time, things changed.  [Hisirdoux Casperan x Mostly Gender Neutral but Probably Female Presenting Based on How Historical Men Treat Them!Reader]

Word Count:  2,975

Warnings: (Y/N) is traumatized, but you knew that already

A/N:  IT’S B A C K, SHE’S HOME

Taglist:   @furblrwurblr​ @rainningdoom​ @fluffydmonkey @blondie0458​ @sitherin-mxschief​ @jinxedleo @lawlesshedgehog @einahpetsyarcip​ @dolphincommander​ @sorrels-scribbling​ @anxious-stitcher​ @alive-and-afraid​ @animedweeb333​ @douxiesdamsel​ @saroski05 @justarandomhoman​

You were very pleased to finally get a nap.  

It took a few minutes of answering questions, and by the end of it you’d basically told Claire and Steve every secret you’d ever had, but it was worth it.  You’d answer all of their questions and a million more if it meant you got to take another nap in the corner of Douxie’s room.

Waking up to general panic, however, was not as good.

“Morgana’s alive and coming for us!”

You sat up just in time to see Morgana’s hand reach through a shadow portal, only for Claire to shut the thing before any real damage could be done.

“Well… that’s not good,”

“Douxie, what do we do?”

Your wizard turned to face you, then Claire, then the empty space where the portal had been.

“Merlin?”

You nodded, “Yeah, Merlin,”

It took you less than a minute to wake up from your nap, and five minutes to get to Merlin’s workshop.  After that, it only took you an eternity to convince him that Morgana had really returned.

“I swear, Morgana’s not dead!”

“Rubbish,”

“It’s true, master.  She saw her in the shadow realm, which is great for saving history,”

“But she’s coming to attack the kingdom any second!”

“Which is less great,”

“We are all in grave danger,”

“And what were you doing in the shadow realm, hmm?  Its dark mirrors trick you, sozzle your mind.  Morgana is dead, and no magic can change that.  I haven’t time to chase ghosts.  We have more immediate threats,”

Typical Merlin, unwilling to listen to anyone except Arthur.  But something he said struck a chord with you.  No magic could bring Morgana back, at least no magic Merlin knew of.  You, however, had some experience with a different kind of magic, one that had some alarming potential.

“Morgana is a threat!”

“Listen well, girl, even if she had cheated death, we don’t stand a chance if Gunmar attacks before I finish the amulet,”

Past Douxie kicked down the door.  He was talking, they all were, but you were very lost in thought.  The Arcane Order had mentioned something about being older than the stars, and that meant they were round now.  If their magic could possess you, and create the green knight, then-

“I know you think we’re just a bunch of dumb teens, but we have to defend Camelot from disaster,”

“Hey, guys?  What if we’re thinking of the wrong disaster,”

You had Douxie and Claire’s attention, but not Merlin’s.  What else is new.

“Think about it.  Morgana had to be brought back by extremely powerful magic.  Maybe Gandalf over here can’t think of anything that could do that, but I think I have a good idea of we might be facing,”

Your wizard and the sorceress watched you with anticipation, but Merlin had no time for this.  With a wave of his hand, half-masks appeared, covering the bottom of your face.  The same thing happened to Claire and Douxie. 

“Silence!”

“Wizard got your tongues?”

You couldn’t speak, but with the limited knowledge of morse code that you’d picked up in the wars, you told Archie that you would fight him in a Denny’s parking lot whenever the opportunity arose.

“If you truly believe the kingdom’s in danger, then go protect it… outside.  I’ve an amulet to finish,”

Green magic surrounded you, lifting you, Douxie, Claire and Archie out the door and away from Merlin.

As much as you hated being silenced, it was kind of fun to watch Douxie struggle to remove the masks.  It took a few minutes for the green magic surrounding you and Claire to turn blue, and when it did, you were thankful enough to help your wizard with his gag.

“No sign of Morgana anywhere,”

“Nothing but unwashed plebeians stuffing their faces, eh, Steve?”

If you looked into the crowd, you could see Steve, an unwashed plebeian, stuffing his face.  

You turned your attention from the teenager, who was now running towards your small group, to watch Arthur give his little speech.  To be honest, you weren’t actually that focused on what the king was saying.  In fact, you had zoned right out until he mentioned Bular. 

At the king’s command, the troll was brought out into the shadows where the public could see him.  The Gumm-Gumm prince roared, and you heard screams echo out through the crowd, one of which came from Steve.

You, on the other hand, didn’t scream.  Instead, you took a few steps back, clenching your jaw and your fists.  Seeing the face of the troll who had stalked you for a century, gotten you tortured, and tried to kill you and your friends was not something you’d been looking forward to.

Douxie noticed your discomfort and grabbed your hand, “You alright, love?”

“Not really, no,”

Your wizard looked around, forming a plan, “Ok, guys, come this way,”

You followed his lead and found yourself in a shaded alleyway discussing the plan.  It wasn’t much, but it was way better than being anywhere near Bular.

“Right, we know Arthur’s the main target.  I’ll draw stasis traps around the perimeter, put up defensive wards-” Steve cut him off, not with words, but with food, “I forgot how good these tasted.  The ones in the future aren’t the same,”

You may have been viscerally upset by the fact that the Gumm-Gumm prince was anywhere near you, but you weren’t heartless.  The sight of your boyfriend enjoying a part of his old home brought a smile to your face.  Claire, however, had no time for this.

“Guys, this is Morgana we’re talking about.  We can’t just wait for her to slice our throats,”

“Why not?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, Steve, but I’d rather not die horribly this week,”

“She’ll find a way in, she’s not just powerful,”

Archie flew down, perching on your shoulder in his dragon form, “No sign of any sorceresses, but then again, all you humans do look the same,”

“She is crafty.  She’ll try to infiltrate the tournament,” your gang, minus Steve, started to walk down the street, “We have to go on the offensive, root the witch out,”

“You do that. We’ll secure the castle,”

Claire looked between you and the wizard.  You gave her a nod, Douxie gave her a high-five, and the three of you ran off, Archie flying behind you.

You wanted to avoid Bular as much as possible, so you followed your wizard, placing your own protective warding around his.  It didn’t take too long for your mood to improve greatly.  Spending time with your loved ones just kinda does that sometimes.

“And there.  The king’s chambers and Merlin’s tower, completely warded.  No evil sorceress getting in now, eh?”

“Oh, you’ve done it alright.  Overdone it,”

You cringed as a bypasser found himself trapped in one of Douxie’s sigils, and you walked over with him to free the poor dude.

“Well, at least the castle’s safe,”

“As safe as it can be when an evil sorceress is breathing down your neck,” you crossed your arms, looking around at your work, “I really hope we never have to use these,”

Douxie wrapped an arm around your waist and placed a hand on the side of your face, turning you to look at him, “You never know, love, but whatever comes next, I promise I will keep you safe.  I won’t let anyone, Arcane Order included, hurt you again,”  the emotion in his voice almost surprised you.  

You knew that what the Order did to you had caused damage, both physical and mental, but you’d never really realized that had done the same to him.  Obviously, you were worse off, but you just now realized just how much guilt Douxie felt over this, and it made you feel a lot worse.  You already knew that he would blame himself and that it would just add to the guilt he already felt about messing up time (which was not his fault), but you had miscalculated just how much remorse the man you loved would feel.

You didn’t say anything.  How could you say or do anything other than pull him towards you and bury your face in his chest?

“Thank you, Douxie,” you looked up into his hazel eyes, “And uh, just in case you were wondering, I’ve got your back also,”

He smiled, letting out a small laugh, “I know.  Thank you, darling,”

“Ay, no need to thank me,” you said, a lazy grin on your face as you kissed your wizard. 

Your hands moved from his back to rest on his neck.  Maybe it wasn’t the most romantic thought, but you were really glad that you weren’t driven to strangle him.  You broke the kiss, still grinning.  He turned his face, taking one of your hands and kissing it.  

“I love you,” his words were a little muffled by your hand, but that didn’t take away any of the meaning.

If possible, your smile got bigger, “I love you too,”

Externally, everything was quiet and peaceful, but internally, you were screaming and thinking, “Fuckin finally!” over and over again.

This might have been a bad idea for a future you, but screw it.  You’d been waiting for this for long enough, and the same went for Douxie.  You had been through a lot in the past few decades, and you both deserved a goddamn break, and to spend some time with each other.

But clearly, the universe did not agree.

“OI, the king summons you!”  oh wow, and it was Gallahad specifically ruining the moment, which is, what, the second time he’s done that?  He grabbed your boyfriend and shook him around a little before continuing, “Come with me at once!”

“What-”

You and Archie shared a glance of mutual confusion before following the knight and the wizard.

“We have reached the time that’s not the beginning, but not the end!  A half-time, if you will.  Enjoy this match of misfits, my lord!”

“Ugh, I thought the king was in danger, not looking to use my friend as a sideshow,”

“Well, that’s Camelot for you,”  

While the crowd watched Archie burn a gnome to a crisp, you watched Bular, who sat looking extremely bored, in his corner.  Technically speaking, he hadn’t sent spies after you, ordered your torture, or tried to kill your friends yet, but you knew he would one day, and that was enough to set you on edge.

Douxie slipped a hand into yours, squeezing it reassuringly, and you smiled.  You may have been a ball of nerves and edges at that moment, but you still had a heart.

“Now, the formidable Knight of Skulls and his challenger, Sir Clairee of the House of Nuñez!”

Now, you were always down for a good scheme, but this was a little too unexpected.  Your jaw dropped as you watched Claire enter the field dressed in her purple armour.  Without a second thought, both you and Douxie had thrown yourselves over the stand you’d been in to get closer to the girl.

“What is she doing?”

“I think she’s Mulan-ing it,”

Whatever the hell Claire was doing, she did it with style, fighting with grace and elegance in a swirl of purple and black.  She was doing well until her opponent grabbed Steve’s drink and threw it in her face.  The girl fell back and the Knight of Skulls raised his axe above her head.  With no other option, Claire used her magic to throw the guy against the wall.

“Sorcery?  That is forbidden!”

“Yeah, but you have to admit it’s pretty epic,”

Claire didn’t give a shit about what Arthur had to say, something you respected.  The girl got straight to business interrogating the fallen knight.  You didn’t know why she was doing it, but you assumed she had reasons.

Or you did until she flipped the guy’s helmet off revealing a very confused red-haired dude.

Lancelot and another guard grabbed Claire, removing her helmet and revealing that she was, in fact, a woman.  This mattered to no one.  What did matter, was that she had used magic.

“The witch is disqualified!”

“You both fight with no honour!  Begone!”

“Well, that isn’t the worst thing that could have happened,”

“Hail, Morgana!”

“But that is!”

A man with a green glowing blade appeared behind Arthur, prepared to stab him.  Before he had the chance, Claire portaled the assassin out onto the field where he transformed into a troll.

“Oop, changeling,” you muttered, earning a half-smile from Douxie.

The creature laughed as it drew more green knives, one for each of his four hands.  Lovely.

“Yep, changeling.  Protect the king!”  Douxie yelled as said changeling threw two knives.  The blades hit their marks, turning two guards to stone.

The situation somehow got worse as the king entered the fray, jumping in front of the creature.  The changeling, however, did not attack the king, instead, he elected to make your worst nightmares come true.

“Run free, Gumm-Gumm prince,”

“At last!”

“(Y/N), run,” Douxie said before he, too, threw himself right into danger.

As Bular pounced on the king, Douxie created a shield around himself and Arthur.  Upon impact, the sphere-shaped defence rolled away and out of the courtyard.  Bular wasted no time going after them, not even giving you a second glance.  You supposed you should be relieved, but you could feel the hits Douxie was taking, and suddenly relief was out of the question.  

You went to follow the king and your wizard when the kingdom exploded.  You braced yourself for a moment before continuing on your course.  Bombs or not, you were going to protect your wizard.  And also the king.  That was probably important.

You made it out of the yard just in time to see Bular jump through the flames and over the now crumbling walls of Camelot to his freedom.  Cool, dope, the threat to your life was gone.  Now all that was left was the threat to Arthur’s life.

Speaking of, you darted in front of the king, creating a shield just as the changeling attacked.  It bounced off the force-field you’d created, giving you enough time to draw your sword.  Your friends and Lancelot stood tall, protecting the king, weapons at the ready.  It probably looked awesome, but you couldn’t tell.  Fortunately for you, I can tell, and it did look awesome.

“Stay back!”

The creature growled, “Fools, I’ve already won!”

Your eyes widened as you watched explosions surround the castle, each one contained in a force-field of its own.

“Merlin’s tower!”

“Good call with the defences, guys!”

“Yeah, but they won’t last long,”

“Oh no, Douxie,” Archie warned, flying towards you.

“What?”

“The other Douxie!  With the man-bun, in the tower?”

“fUCK!”

“Ohhhhh fUZZBUCKETS!”

You, Douxie and Claire bolted to the castle, but your speed did not stop your snark, “Still not gonna say it?”

“Be patient, love!”

By the time you got to the castle, green smoke was everywhere.  True, it was surrounded by shields, but that didn’t make it any less horrifying.

Douxie was equally horrified, if not more so.  This was his home once, and watching it go up in flames was not a pleasant experience.  It also put the thought of Claire, or worse, you going up in flames into his head, and that made him feel sick.

“(Y/N), Claire, stay here, help the civilians,”

“Are you kidding!?”

“Douxie, we can help!”

You looked around.  The civilians were, in fact, in need of help, and as much as you wanted to help your friends, the people needed you more.  But that didn’t mean Claire had to stick with you.  She was good in a fight, and you were more of a doctor.  It just made sense for them to do this.

“Ok, you guys go, I’ll stay,”

“(Y/N)-” 

You cut off Claire’s protests, “Ah, ah, no, we don’t have time for this, just-” you took a second to kiss Douxie, because you did have time for that,  “Come back to me, ok?”

They both nodded, and you ran off in separate directions.  

Healing calmed you.  Sure, you could fight and whatever else, but healing was your passion.  You hadn’t studied medicine for centuries for nothing.  Taking on your role as a doctor cleared your mind.  You were able to direct people to the safest places, protecting them from falling debris and fixing whatever wounds they had.

Then there was another explosion and your mind went fuzzy again.  You didn’t feel any pain, so Douxie was probably fine, but you were still concerned.  You ran back to where you’d left Steve and the knights, just in time to see the kid get himself knighted.

Everyone was alive, thank god, and they all appeared to be in decent condition, except for past Douxie who was passed out in a barrel.

“Do you have an explanation for that, or should I just assume you’re trying to give your past self head trauma?”

Douxie just laughed, and you hugged him, sticking with the head trauma theory because no other answer had been provided.

You relaxed into his hold, returning the hug, “Hey, can you do me a favour and never run into an exploding building again, please?  Thank you,”

“I don’t plan on it, love,”

You smirked a little as you pulled away from his embrace, your hands remaining intertwined, “Good,  would be worried if you did,”

Douxie laughed again, slinging an arm around your shoulders as you went to check on Claire and Steve.

It was just then that Merlin finally fucking noticed that his two apprentices were getting along.  Even the old wizard had to admit, it was nice seeing you two not trying to murder each other.  It really looked like that binding spell paid off.

A win for team Merlin.

[rwby-diaries]

Fair Game Weekend 2020!

Day 1: Confessions

We couldn’t participate in the entire weekend, but we couldn’t help ourselves with this prompt! Our favourite uncles have been in love for a very long time~

Line Art by: @bosiphas

Colour by: @data-plays-viola

Ficlet by: @bosiphas

Ficlet edited by: @data-plays-viola and @lameclub

Ficlet under the cut!

Qrow wasn’t sure how to go about it. There was a tightness in his chest and a pit in his stomach. The thought of being so vulnerable, even in front of Clover, was unbearable. He’d changed since his days in the tribe. Before, he’d never have even let himself feel anything for Clover let alone tell him his feelings. But he was different now, and as much as it made him scared, he was happy. But that thought scared him even more. What happened if that happiness left? What if Qrow let himself be vulnerable and share the most private parts of himself to someone that sparked such joy in him, and that’s what drove him away? And in the back of his mind, he could hear his sister. We’re here to learn how to kill huntsfolk. Despite the connections they’d made with Tai and Summer, Raven would still try to remind Qrow, and by extension herself, that they weren’t staying. Her words had been a dreadful reminder for the past 3 years anytime either of them got too close to someone. He’d had a hard time admitting to her that he would never want to go back. Not after everything, after Summer and Tai, and… Clover.

Qrow swallowed hard, his palms clammy, as he stood in front of Clover on the helipad, ready to depart for Vale. 

“So…” he muttered, trying to hold eye contact with him but failing miserably. As much as he wanted to stare into Clover’s beautiful green eyes all the time, right now they were heavy on his heart. Qrow scratched the back of his head awkwardly as Summer squealed a goodbye to Lucy, Clover’s teammate, a few feet away. Raven and Tai were just beyond the pair, saying their goodbyes to the remaining two of Clover’s team, Rayne and Vivian. It would’ve been easier if Qrow had been alone with Clover.

“I wish the Vytal Festival was longer,” Clover admitted, pulling Qrow’s attention back to him. “Would’ve given us more time together.” He took a step forward to Qrow, reaching out his hand and gently taking his.

Qrow looked down at his hand in Clover’s, then back up to meet Clover’s eyes. He could feel a slight warmth in his cheeks as Clover smiled softly at him. Gods, how could he ever have the guts to say this? What if it was too soon? He would scare Clover off—no, that didn’t sound like him, Clover was more forward than anyone he’d ever met. What if Clover wasn’t there yet and he made him feel uncomfortable? They’d only been together a few months. Spent almost every day together since they’d fought in Round 1 Team Fights of the tournament. Qrow clenched his jaw, trying not to smile too much, thinking of the stupid way they’d gotten tangled in Kingfisher’s line and Clover, gods Clover, smirked and said, “Lucky me, huh?” 

Clover squeezed Qrow’s hand, noticing him tense up. He was anxious about something and getting distracted. “I’ll message you every day,” Clover declared, trying to sound practical by saying “message” instead of “call”. He’d already fallen so in love with the boy, but he could tell Qrow was someone not used to being so open with people. He wouldn’t ask—Clover didn’t want to pry—but he could surmise it was something to do with his family. His twin sister Raven was even more closed off, save for the rare moment with her team. And Clover didn’t think she liked him very much.

Qrow looked down to his feet, gathering his thoughts for a moment. He had to say it, he didn’t want to leave without saying it. Letting out a shaky but calming sigh, Qrow looked back up to Clover once more, determined. “I…” Qrow’s voice cracked slightly and he hesitated. His head was swirling with what if’s. “Y-you… have my number…” Fucking dumbass. Qrow cursed himself, defeated. Chickening out at the last minute, gods he felt pathetic.

Clover could tell Qrow was holding back, but in the interest of not pressuring him, he only chuckled in response. “I have it memorized, so, no chance of losing it.” Clover hesitated himself, wanting to follow his instincts to lean in and kiss Qrow, but he didn’t seem ready for PDA yet.

“Uh…” Qrow went to scratch the back of his head again, something he’d realized was a bit of a nervous tick, but he’d gone to do it with the hand Clover was holding. Qrow froze before he let go of Clover’s hand, but unfortunately, it was too late as Clover let go of his hand in response. “Oh, no… I–”

“Qrow! C’mon! We gotta get going!” Tai yelled from behind him on the airship that was taking them back to Vale.

Qrow tensed up his shoulders, annoyed. As Clover turned around and waved at his team that had called to him as well, Qrow turned to his own team that was waiting on him, Summer giving Tai grief for interrupting him and Clover, and Raven standing there, arms folded across her chest, unimpressed with a sour look on her face. He sighed heavily, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to say it now, but he’d be damned if he didn’t show some sort of affection to Clover. He had to, Clover couldn’t always be the one to close the distance. 

As the two boys turned back around to face each other to say the final goodbye, Qrow leaned in hurriedly and placed a small peck on Clover’s cheek, and just as quickly pulled away. “Call me.” Qrow didn’t mean for it to sound so demanding, but he didn’t have time to correct himself, he was sure he looked ridiculous, his entire face was on fire. Without waiting for a response from Clover, Qrow turned around and hastily boarded the aircraft.

Clover watched Qrow run up the ramp of the aircraft, lifting his hand to touch his cheek where Qrow had kissed him. A wide smile spread on his face and he called out a goodbye to Qrow. He needed to give him more credit. Qrow wasn’t as closed off as he thought, and Clover knew that kiss took a lot of effort on his part.

Qrow turned around as the doors of the aircraft started to close, unable to help himself, getting one last glimpse of Clover’s face. He had the biggest smile on his face since they’d had their first kiss; Qrow could practically see the shining aura of happiness around his face as Clover waved him goodbye.

Qrow turned back around, let himself fall back against the closed door as the aircraft took off, and slid to the floor. He put his hands in his face, trying to ignore Tai’s laughter and feeling his sister’s piercing gaze on him.

“You look a little embarrassed, Qrow!” Tai teased, still thunderously laughing.

Raven moved her hands from her hips and crossed them in front of her chest. “More like he looks like a child.” She threw the insult at him, knowing he’d know why she was not happy.

Qrow dropped his hands from his face and snapped his head up to meet his sister’s gaze, giving her a warning glare. 

Tai interrupted their staring contest, putting an arm around Raven and pulling her to the seats on the other side of the cabin. “C’mon, Raven! Haven’t you ever been in love?” He added an affected dramatic tone to the words “in love.”

“N-no! Of course not!” Raven tried to elbow Tai off her, but she still walked to sit with him.

Qrow watched his sister be a hypocrite with a look of disdain on his face as Summer took a seat next to him on the cabin floor.

“Do you love him?”

Qrow was surprised by the question, looking to Summer who could read his emotions almost as easily as Clover could, maybe even better. She was his best friend. The only thing she didn’t know about him was why he and Raven had enrolled at Beacon in the first place. He’d never admit to Raven how much he’d told Summer over the years–including but not limited to their upbringing in the Tribe. When he met this little girl in the forest 3 years ago, he never thought they’d turn out like this: Qrow wouldn’t know what to do without Summer.

Before he answered he looked back over to Raven and Tai, making sure they, or rather she couldn’t hear him. Qrow sighed looking at his hands. “More than I ever thought I could,” he answered. 

Summer smiled, noticing herself how much Qrow had changed since she’d met him, but she wished Raven had made the same progress he had. “Then I’m sure it’ll all work out.” She adjusted her position that had been slightly turned to Qrow and placed her back flat against the door and rested her head against it. 

Qrow smirked, looking over to Summer, ready to put the heat on her this time. “What about you and Lucy?”

Summer’s shoulders tensed and her cheeks lit up. “What about me and Lucy?” She sputtered, embarrassed.

“You’re not going to date her?”

Summer pressed her lips together, feeling dejected from Qrow’s question. “Lucy’s great, I like her a lot… but…” She peaked past Qrow and down to Tai who was teasing Raven by messing up her hair. She paid him back with a small jab in his side with Omen’s hilt.

Qrow followed her line of sight but already knew who she was looking to. “Sorry.”

Summer shook her head, equal parts an acknowledgment and a way to keep herself from crying. “It’s okay.” She rested her head on Qrow’s shoulder, who rested his head on Summer’s in return. After a long pause, she spoke again. “I’m sure you’ll be luckier than I am with love.” She grinned.

“Hey.” Qrow reached over with his hand and pinched her cheek as she giggled, chuckling with her. “Brat,” he sneered jokingly, but he knew she was deflecting to make herself appear okay. He wouldn’t say anything else though, knowing it would be better to leave it at that and sit with Summer in comfortable silence while he kicked himself for not saying what he wanted to Clover. Next time. Qrow promised himself. ~~~ When they finally got back to Beacon, it was late. Everyone was dragging their feet, walking back to their dorm rooms. Summer had fallen asleep during the flight and instead of waking her, Qrow opted to carry her. Tai had offered, but Qrow thought it best for him to carry her instead, considering certain feelings. As they were walking through the halls, Tai yawned dramatically and stretched his arms above his head.

“Imma go hit the showers before bed.” Tai split off from the other three, taking a hard right down to the co-ed bathrooms. “G’night…” He waved behind him to his teammates as they continued on down to their room.

Raven sighed heavily. “Such a child.” She shook her head and grimaced.

“You? Yeah, I agree,” Qrow spoke in a pointed but hushed tone.

Raven glared at him. “No. Shut up. I’m talking about our teammates.”

“Quiet, Raven,” Qrow warned his sister, not wanting her to wake Summer. “Don’t start. You always do this, when either of us is getting close to someone you -”

“I don’t get close to anyone,” Raven denied, stopping in front of her younger twin and crossing her arms.

Qrow rolled his eyes, stepped around her, and continued down the hall. “Okay, edgelord.” Raven started to retort his jab but Qrow continued. “Stop lying to yourself, Raven. You don’t have to. If you think I’m going to judge you for liking Tai,” Raven tried to interrupt once more at Qrow’s claim, but he continued still, ignoring her denials. “Or for being friends with Summer, I’m not.” Qrow turned slightly to look back at her and decided to take a chance. “We don’t have to go back.” He paused at Raven’s expression after finishing his daring suggestion. He’d expected her to deny such an option and penalize him for even thinking about it, but he could see it on her face: she’d considered it already. Her eyes fell from his face to the ground, and her eyebrows arched up. It was rare for Raven to show such a… vulnerable expression. “Raven, you-” Qrow began, but she quickly cut him off.

“Whatever, I’m going for a walk.” She turned on her heel and walked away from him, any vulnerability she was showing just seconds ago was now gone.

Qrow pressed his lips together and took a deep, tired breath. He wouldn’t bother her anymore; if left on her own, Raven would surely come to the same conclusion he had. Hopefully. He had to admit he was still surprised, though. His sister was many things, but stubborn was probably one of her most obvious qualities. Tai’s shitty flirting must’ve been doing something then. Qrow continued on to take Summer and himself to bed.

As he finally reached their dorm room, he felt Summer stir on his back. “Hey, Petals. We’re home,” he said and opened the door to their room. As Summer mumbled sliding down his back, he guided her to her bed and tucked her in.

“You should tell him, Qrow,” Summer mumbled out while lazily plopping herself onto her bed and laying down. She opened her eyes to meet Qrow’s, barely able to keep them open.

He stared at her for a moment, not sure what to say. “Just go to sleep,” he instructed.

“I forgot to give you the picture,” Summer spoke softly, digging around in her sweater pocket. After a moment of tired grumbles, she pulled out a polaroid and handed it to him.

Qrow felt his chest tighten as he looked at the photo. It was slightly bent around the edges from being in Summer’s pocket, but it was a picture of him and Clover. Last night, when their teams ended up just sleeping in Clover and his teammates’ dorm room instead of going back to their own. Qrow had fallen asleep next to Clover, and—he didn’t remember how—it seemed he’d made Clover’s chest his pillow. Clover was hugging him in and also sound asleep. 

“You took this?”

Summer nodded, her eyes still lidded. “Raven told me to.”

Qrow paused, noticeably shocked. “Raven did?” 

Summer nodded once more, stretching her back, and arching up. “Mhm,” she hummed. “You know, you both get much more relaxed when you think the other isn’t paying attention…” She opened her eyes a little more to properly meet Qrow’s gaze. 

‘Cause we’re both not saying what we’re feeling. Qrow told himself. 

“Night…” Summer sighed and turned over.

Before Qrow could respond to Summer, his scroll buzzed in his pocket. As he took it out and saw that Clover sent him a message, he’d returned the goodnight to Summer. He glanced back at her, sound asleep, then turned around to read the message.

Have you gotten back to Beacon yet?

Qrow replied: Just got back

A few seconds after his reply had been sent, his scroll started to ring with a call from Clover.

Qrow quickly walked out into the hallway to leave Summer in peace, before answering it. He closed the door with a light click and answered the call before he’d even realized this was their first conversation on the phone. His mouth became dry as he lifted the speaker up to greet him. His scroll felt heavier than normal, and his hands weaker. “H-hey,” Qrow stammered, trying to be aware of his voice and how he sounded.

“Hey! Did you make it back safe?” Qrow could practically hear Clover smiling, his voice was… different on the phone but it still sounded like him: almost unbearably chipper.

Qrow chuckled and leaned against the door. “What? Did ya think my bad luck would take down the plane?”

There was a slight pause on Clover’s side. “That’s not what I meant…” He replied, a nervous tone streaking his voice. Ever since they’d met Clover could tell that Qrow’s semblance was a sensitive subject. He would make small jokes about it sometimes, usually in contrast to his own semblance, but he didn’t want to upset him. Another thing, besides his past and childhood, that he didn’t want to pry about. There was an unmistakable desire to help Qrow be okay with his semblance, even if it was gradual.

Qrow tensed up, realizing his tone wasn’t clear that he was joking. “No, I know! I was just… kidding,” he explained, pausing at Clover’s soft “Oh” then continued. “Yeah, I made it back safe. I’m okay…”

“That’s good,” Clover replied. There were a few seconds of silence, and for Qrow, it felt like an eternity. Since when was speaking on the phone so nerve-wracking? Clover was the first to speak up. “I miss you,” he spoke softly. And with those simple words, Qrow’s heart felt like it could burst at the seams.

  “I miss you too,” Qrow mirrored Clover’s soft tone. It wasn’t something he was prepared for, getting so attached to someone so far away. And before he’d met Clover, he had never imagined being so in love with someone. He and Raven were taught that love was a weakness, which even put a wedge between them, despite being twins. It was something so foreign to him when he first got to Beacon. He thanked whatever gods there were that Summer and Tai came into his life. And now he also had Clover, and the thought of losing him—losing that absolute fool that radiated sunshine—terrified him more than any monster he would ever fight.

Clover smiled sadly at Qrow’s response. He was happy he also missed him, but in a perfect world, they wouldn’t have to miss each other. “Maybe I’ll transfer to Beacon,” Clover half-joked.

Qrow gave a defeated laugh, knowing that Clover wanted to but wouldn’t. “You can’t. You have your heart set on joining the Atlas Military.” That also baffled Qrow. An ex-bandit falling for the Golden Boy who wanted to be a cop to do good and bring peace to the world. Personally, he couldn’t see the correlation between Clover’s ideals and his career choices, but he felt it wasn’t his place to question him anyway. Besides, it’s not like he could judge as an ex-bandit. He’d done plenty of bad in his life before he was even 18.

Clover chuckled. “Maybe you could transfer to Atlas and join with me,” he said smugly.

Qrow scoffed. “Fat chance. You aren’t going to get that lucky, Cloves.”

Clover hummed. “Lucky enough to know you.”

Qrow froze and his cheeks felt warm. Clover could be so cavalier about small comments like that: almost always luck puns. Those used to bug him to no end, luck jokes at his expense. His bad luck was just another reason for him to never be truly close to someone. Now, it was a connection to him, and the jokes were just a part of their love language. He still had a… difficult relationship with his semblance, but knowing his opposite—his other half—was around made it better. “You’re such a nerd.” Qrow listened to Clover’s tired laugh, unable to stop from smiling.

“You know you love me!” Clover retorted. However, the two boys instantly froze on either end of the call. “I-I mean… I didn’t mean-” Clover stuttered out frantically, worried the comment would put Qrow off.

Qrow’s entire face was glowing as he listened to Clover stammer and trip over his words trying to take back his teasing joke. In the back of his head, he could hear his own voice. Say it now. “Yeah.” Without giving himself another second to think about it, he jumped into the deep end. “…I do.”

Clover’s stutters had ceased, but Qrow could hear a shaky breath on the other side. “What?” Clover hoped, prayed Qrow would elaborate. He wanted clarification. He wanted to know he wasn’t misunderstanding, and if he wasn’t, he wanted to hear it again.

Qrow bit his lip, mentally pushing himself to talk. “I… love you.” Qrow gripped his scroll in his hand so hard his knuckles turned white. He swallowed hard, feeling a giant pit in his throat. His courage ran out though, he couldn’t wait and hear Clover’s response. “Bye!” Qrow yelled, hung up his scroll, and watched the screen as the call disconnected, hearing Clover call his name as it cut off. 

“Qrow! Wait, Qrow!” Clover tried to call out to him but the line was already disconnected. No, no, no, no! Clover froze for a moment, his mind processing what had happened. I love you. The words echoed in his head, and it took another moment again to process that Qrow had said them…to him! Clover let out a shaky breath, feeling overwhelming happiness. It was being overshadowed by the anxiety of not having said it back yet, though. He couldn’t not say it back! He had to call Qrow back, and he needed to say it to him. Gods, he was over the moon, but he couldn’t even think about that as he frantically tried to dial Qrow’s number in his scroll. It felt like he’d lost all control in his fingers; he fumbled so many times. “I need to say it back,” Clover whispered under his breath, tears of frustration stinging his eyes.

Qrow watched the screen of his scroll for a few seconds before letting his arms fall to his sides. He let his head fall back, hitting the door and sinking to the floor once again. His breath trembled, hands shaking. His heart was racing, and somehow, he was out of breath. He felt like he could throw up. And all of these afflictions heightened instantly when his scroll started to ring again. He lifted it to read Clover’s name on the screen. He was calling him back. Fuck. Why didn’t I turn it off?! Qrow watched his scroll ring, unable to move to answer it, only feeling his heart thump against his chest. Gods he couldn’t answer; he didn’t know what Clover would say. But as he decided to pretend to be asleep and let it ring, a message came through, also from Clover:

Please answer!!

Qrow felt his chest tighten, an unbearable weight made him unable to ignore the feeling. Impulsively he jammed his finger on the screen, answering the call. It took a solid few seconds for him to lift the speaker back up to his ear, but when he finally did, Clover’s voice flowed through the receiver. “Qrow, are you there?” Clover hoped he’d respond, he had to know he was there on the other end listening.

“…Yeah.”

“I love you too!” His voice was high and cracked slightly, but he didn’t care. He just needed to make sure he’d said it.

Qrow sucked in a breath, a million thoughts overflowing his head. Had he heard Clover right? It felt like his ears were ringing so loud just from those words. His entire body felt hot, his chest felt heavy and light at the same time, and his fingertips went numb. Qrow almost dropped his scroll when Clover called out to him again.

“Qrow… Did you hear me?”

Qrow exhaled and closed his mouth that had been agape. He licked his dry lips before biting the bottom one and focused back on Clover’s voice. “Yes… No. I - Did you-” He stumbled through a few words, unable to form a proper sentence.

“I love you too,” Clover repeated, less frantic to get it out. He let out a strangled breath, trying to get his breathing back to normal, and rubbed his eyes to get out the tears that had built up. 

“You do?” Qrow curled his legs halfway up to his chest, setting his free hand down on his thigh.

Clover hummed happily. “Very much,” he answered.

Qrow teared up, a big smile on his face as he let out a few happy sighs and patted his legs excitedly. 

Clover chuckled in response to hearing Qrow’s reaction, only wishing that they were face to face so he could embrace him and give him an overwhelming amount of kisses. But the thought was cut short when Rayne threw a pillow at Clover’s face.

“Clover I’m happy for you and your boyfriend but please be quiet,” he implored, and Vivian and Lucy mumbled tiredly in agreement.

“Okay, Rayne,” Clover responded flatly. “I’m sorry, I have to go. Is it alright if I call you tomorrow?” Clover asked in a hushed voice.

“Yeah!” Qrow answered eagerly but cleared his throat when he realized he was being too eager. “…if you want,” he corrected himself.

Clover chuckled lightly. “I want,” he paused, “Goodnight, love you,” Clover spoke softly—so quiet Qrow could barely hear—but held his breath after saying it again. He waited to hear the words repeated back to him; he wanted to hear Qrow say them again.

“Love you too.” Qrow sighed happily as the line disconnected, and he let his hand fall beside him. He tilted his head back against the door, looking up to the hallway ceiling. He couldn’t think of a time he’d been this happy. Ever. He continued to pat his legs with his hands eagerly. The emotions were overwhelming, but he felt like he could fly just from hearing Clover return his feelings. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all, getting close to people. He’d always have those reservations in the back of his mind. It was hard to unlearn everything the tribe had taught him, plus, his semblance was always hard to manage. Maybe Raven could also be happy here, and with Tai, if she wanted that. Both of them could have a great life and never have to think of the tribe again.

At the very least, Qrow found himself hoping he’d have these important people in his life for a long time. ~~~ The shrill ringing of Qrow’s scroll pulled him out of his half-asleep daze. It was early—too early—which meant he knew exactly who was calling him. He rolled over from his back to his side, reaching to his scroll that was almost buzzing itself off the side table. Knowing who it was, he answered the call with a quiet, “G’morning, babe.”

“Good morning, my Pretty Bird. Happy Anniversary.” 

The smile on Qrow’s face grew wider, but his eyes stayed shut. “Happy Anniversary.” His voice was croaky in contrast with Clover’s bright and awake voice. He’d likely been up for a couple of hours already.

“Late start?” Clover smiled smugly. “Early bird gets the worm,” He teased.

Qrow scoffed while rubbing his face. “Shut up,” he teased back but then sighed heavily, and Clover picked up on the exhaustion in his tone. “Long night…” Qrow paused. “Wish you were here.”

Clover felt a tug in his chest but opted to be positive. It sounded like Qrow needed it. “I know, I wish I was there too. I wish we could’ve been together for our anniversary so I could call you from the living room.” He listened to Qrow’s quiet chuckle, a loving soft smile creeping onto his face.

“You’re such a dork… If you were here you could just say it to my face.” Qrow rolled his eyes, but the fond smile stayed. Clover had always insisted on calling Qrow even if they were together for the anniversary of their first ‘I love you’s’, he’d call Qrow and they’d say it because that’s how they first said them.

Clover hummed. “I’d do both.” Clover paused and looked to the gold ring on his finger. “I can’t wait to marry you next month.”

Qrow’s mood picked up thinking about how the date had gotten closer and closer. He spun his own silver band with his thumb and prayed nothing happened that would cause any delay or sour the service in any way. His luck, even with Clover to balance it, sometimes had perfect timing. “I can’t wait to marry you either. Going to make you my Lucky Charm for life.”

“I love you,” Clover said confidently.

“I love you more,” Qrow retorted, mirroring Clover’s tone.

“Not possible.”

“That’s what you think, Lucky Charm.”

[fishylife]

Street Dance of China Season 4, Episode 5

- I love practice montages! I was surprised that we got to see the process of each of the captains (of the competing teams) choosing dancers to their teams. Ibuki and Ma Xiaolong were speaking English to each other, and I don’t doubt that English was probably the main mode of communication across borders for these dancers.

- Okay Ibuki leading Huang Xiao by hand and then Huang Xiao cackling in glee and hugging Ma Xiaolong....very cute.

- So...is Huang Xiao baby?

- Huehuehue love Poppin’C’s laugh

- Ibuki said that Ma Xiaolong helped her a lot with recruitment. I think that’s for two reasons. One is that Ma Xiaolong (and Huang Xiao) are choreographers, so they have a better idea of what styles look together. The other is that Ma Xiaolong knows the Chinese dancers better than she would.

- Moony was saying how Ibuki is the captain but she is the youngest, and is definitely very cute haha.

- Yang Kai was very worried about dancing to a rap song so he recruited as many choreographers as he could. But the issue was that they all had different approaches to choreographing so they spent a lot of time discussing before choreographing and rehearsing.

- Yang Kai deadass brought his laptop to the hotpot restaurant because he was going to turn dinner into a lesson on Three Kingdoms for Boris and Kenken lol. The name of their song was Chitu, which is the horse of Lv Bu. Basically Chitu was just a great super capable horse and that’s why it was so famous lol. Yang Kai was trying to compare their battle to the Three Kingdoms lmao. Kenken was Zhuge Liang, Ibuki was Cao Cao (LMAO), and Chitu Ma was a Ferrari lol. Not gonna lie though, the stories in Three Kingdoms are pretty iconic lol.

- In terms of the performances, I liked them both! I think that Team Ibuki’s performance was very fun in the sense that it was like a story. I don’t think songs like that are popular dance songs, so I really liked seeing how they choreographed the dance and I felt that it was done in a very creative and fun way. I think where it may have fallen short was the cohesion. I like Poppin’C, but I wonder if it was difficult to fit him in because his skill set was so specific. As well, because all of the dancers were wearing different clothes, it was a bit difficult to see their synchronization during the group dance parts. For Team Yang Kai’s performance, it definitely was extremely hype. Whereas Team Ibuki wore different clothes, Team Yang Kai had a dress code so the cohesion was easy to see. But I feel like Team Yang Kai’s performance was being propped up by the fact that it had a very hype song, one that easy to dance to.

- Rochka continues to be the biggest fanboy of every single person on this show. I love him!!!

- Y’all have no idea how much I love hearing Boris speak Chinese. Yes, he has an accent, but he is also very easy to understand. You have no idea how difficult it is to find non-ethnic Chinese people who speak Chinese this fluently. Iunno, he just makes Mandarin seem so much more approachable. Boris said that he’d been in China for 7 years so it makes sense that he feels so confident speaking. A lot of people who are learning languages have to get over that hump where they stop feeling embarrassed about their accent because they have to go out and live their life and buy groceries and go to the doctor and stuff and it’s really interesting to hear Boris expressing himself.

- Henry feeling so pressured when he had to choose which team to pick lmao.

- Yixing went “We’re looking at you because you’re cute!” So bold, Yixing XD

- And Henry went “I feel pressured because you guys are handsome.” XD Two can play at that.

- Then Han Geng went “Henry’s Chinese is so good now!” XD My mom says that to me when I make a good joke in Chinese.

- Yixing has to talk behind his clipboard because he’s so nervous lmfao.

- So the rule is that one judge gets two votes for each matchup. In addition to that, that judge has to cut three members, two to enter a battle and one to be eliminated immediately, not including the captain.

- Ibuki was so upset when she returned to her seat :(

- Ye Yin had his team draw out their feelings as they listened to their assigned song. I thought it was a bit gimmicky, but this visual is cute.

- I thought Team Ye Yin’s performance was cool considering this was a song that would be difficult to choreograph for. I was surprised with how the incorporated breaking and locking elements, as there are breaking and locking experts on their team. But overall I thought the choreography was so nice. It told a story, and it suited the vibe of the song. Props to Bunta for the awesome choreography.

- Han Geng said that their performance reminded him of his youth, and then Henry said that he felt the same, that the performance reminded him of Geng-ge. He was like “ge, do you remember?“ and Geng-ge was like of course! Han Geng said he remembered their romantic days X’D So unnecessary. At one point the director was like did Han Geng and Henry used to have their arms around each other’s shoulders? And both of them were like uhh yeah all the time dude.

- George was asked about his rivalry with C-Lil because they keep getting stuck together lol. Apparently C-Lil became a tea enthusiast which was cute.

- Yuwan clapping his hands while his arms around C-Lil :3

- Team Liangliang’s performance was cut because apparently it was not very good, and the editors cut it out to prevent them from getting haters. I think Liangliang’s Sun Wukong headgear had obstructed his vision, and Yixing said that the performance wasn’t very in sync. A pity :(

- Gogo Brothers’ team is stack af.

- Gogo Brothers + Hilty & Bosch hotel room conference lol.

- AC went for a waacking + krump combo which is cool! Their performance was extremely aesthetically pleasing. Even though the fire power is perhaps less explosive, they worked together as a team very well. I definitely thought the waacking and the krump complemented each other very well.

- AC bought snail noodles for his team members, and apparently it’s one of those very polarizing foods, but Chika really liked it haha.

- Ohh, you know this is gonna be good.

- Team Gogo Brothers’ performance was good, but at the same time...there wasn’t anything new about it? Since there were five lockers on the, most of the performance was going to be high quality locking, but at the same time, the locking kind of overshadowed any attempt to try anything new. It was still good though, I just felt that it had limitations compared to AC’s performance that did something new with combining styles, both in terms of dance and aesthetics (costumes).

- Love to see the baby smile v.v

- Lmao Xiao Jie said that Xiaohai was the good luck charm of their team XD His good luck charm name is Jr. Baby, aka Haibaobao lol

- Yibo and Yixing voted for Gogo Brothers, and Han Geng voted for AC, so Henry, who had two votes, had the final say in who would win this battle. Then we got the theatrics where Han Geng, Yibo, and Yixing went into the audience because their job was done lol.

- Then Henry was like “ge~~~~ didn’t you say you would take care of me?” And Han Geng’s like, I’m letting you have the SDOC experience bro.

- Even though we all know it’s a joke, Han Geng is still so caring and affectionate lol.

- Anyway, after all that shenaniganery, what Henry said was right. It feels so tough eliminating any single member of the team, because it was all of them who helped deliver such a beautiful performance. I know AC had a tough time going up against Gogo brothers but dammit I actually super loved their performance. So cruel!!!!!

- Han Geng felt bad because Auju had said he wanted to be in a solo battle in the 3 vs 3 challenge, but he was put in the 5 vs. 5 battle and then this group performance, so Han Geng wanted to let him have the stage to perform his best. I thought it was a nice gesture, to let him have the stage to show off in the way he was most confident with, to let himself show himself at his best.

- Then Henry was like “what if we had Auju AND Yixing????”

- And then Boi Marble joined!!! Krumptastic

- Yixing said that even though krumpers look really fierce, that aside from the krump, all of them are lil cuties uwu.

- Team Nelson having fun with Hanfu was so cute! :D Sometimes with the non-Chinese contestants, I worry that they find the Chinese culture stuff tedious, because SDOC does try to fit as much culture in. So I’m glad to see that they’re at least finding a way to have fun. I wish I had such pretty hanfu to dress up in v.v

- I’ll be honest though, I don’t think Nelson’s team was very synchronized. He had a lot of very good individual dancers (Bouboo, Zyko, Lil Kev, that firepower is undeniable), but there were parts when I felt like all of the dancers were doing their own thing. Maybe the choreography was too subtle, or maybe the dancers themselves had slightly different rhythms.

- Acky-san giving red pockets to his team, but instead of money, he wrote them letters in different languages T_T

- A full popping team is risky move, but it paid off. Everybody was popping so everybody was dancing to their strength. Compare that to some of the other teams, where there were some dancers who clearly were lagging because they were dancing to a style they were very comfortable with. In addition, the visual style of the performance was fresh and fun. Their costumes were very wacky and fun to look at, and their performance exuded the kind of fun vibes where you felt like you wanted to join them.

- Out of the captains who’d lost their challenges, they would have to battle each other in a round robin style tournament. First place would get to keep two of their "pending” members, and second place would get to keep one.

- Yixing got up SO FAST when Tell Me started playing. I didn’t know this song before so I looked it up and it is a bop haha.

- Yixing dancing along uwu I don’t know the name of this song but it was the second song in the Ibuki vs. Liangliang battle.

- AC vs. Ibuki dancing to It’s Raining Men was A LOT of fun, particularly because everybody including the spectators knew the song haha.

- The first place winner was Nelson who was able to save Tengzai and Lil Kev and the second place winner was AC who could only choose one person to save, and AC chose Fanfan.

- Ma Xiaolong and Huang Xiao comforting Ibuki because she couldn’t save her team members :(

- Ahh I’m going to miss Yuri because she was so cute and fun. AC apologized for not being able to save her :( Gonna miss u bb ;(

- I liked Latrice too T_T Hated to see her go :(

- Brats playing with the microphones. They basically disassembled their standing microphones and waved the part around even after Han Geng already told Yibo not to lmao.

- So this section was supposed to be the captains’ opportunity to tell the dancers what kind of team they were looking to put together. Yixing was so surprised because Han Geng and Yibo had very simple and short statements (though it took a while for Han Geng to get to his point), because the boy deadass prepared a speech. Of course he did.

- Yang Kai said that his speech sounded like a motivational speech from a boss at work. That’s exactly what it is.

- Apparently Henry also prepared a speech XD

- So from what I understand, the captains will recruit a team that they think represents their style. Afterwards, the dancers who have not been chosen will get to choose their team based on which captain’s style they like. I think that’s how it works, we’ll see if I’m right lol.

- Henry trying to gleam information X3 Yibo just deals with the pressure by smiling and shaking his head. Dare I say this is the first time I’ve seen Yibo look shy??????? It’s cuuuute.

- Since the cubicles don’t have ceilings, Henry was like someone could be watching me!

- Nosy housecat in training

- Yibo and Henry and Han Geng were playing mind games being like “oh, you picked Poppin’C? And Yixing fell for the trick ^^;; Luckily he was not allowed to change his answer so at least he’s not going to make a change he regrets lol.

- All of the dancers Yixing picked were not picked by anyone else so he was quite lucky.

- Han Geng had three of his choices matching with Henry or Yibo.

- Henry has no idea how to recruit dancers so he just ends up singing love songs. Of course.

- Zyko’s loyal dude XD I can see why Han Geng is a safe choice though. Han Geng is low on the theatrics, so if I was a low key guy like Zyko, I’d probably feel less pressure being on his team. I could just focus on dance and not on entertaining the cameras.

- I can see why Nelson would go with Yibo. Yibo is quiet but he’s serious and focused and more importantly they both confirmed that they are competitors.

- Henry and Han Geng both chose Ibuki. Here Han Geng is patiently waiting/spying while Ibuki and Henry have their interview.

- Then he was offered a ladder and Geng-ge became the biggest gremlin lmao.

- Yixing the good little helper.

- C U T I E

- When Han Geng was having his interview with Ibuki, he locked the ladder in his own room and kept the key. Then he stole the keys from all the other rooms and gave them to Henry XD Actual troll-ge.

- Ibuki chose Han Geng in the end.

- So all of the people Henry chose picked other captains. This frame lmfao.

- I think last season Yixing had tons of trouble recruiting dancers to his team. In the hotpot preview he said he was super lax about this year and it worked in his favour.

[terra-sprout-imagines]

S/O Surprises them at a game they said they couldn’t be at headcanons (Tanaka, Hinata, Bokuto) Part 2

Fandom: Haikyuu!

Written by: Sprout

Request: How would Suga, Tanaka, Bokuto, Kuroo, Daichi and Hinata react to their S/O surprising them by showing up to a game that they had previously said they couldn't make it to? - @myheroesaretired

Warnings: hinata’s may be kind of angsty. spoilers up to season 3

Author’s Note: This is my first piece of writing for Haikyuu, and my first shot at headcanons! If you have any critique I would love to hear it!:) Terra did a great job on her half, and I’m glad it’s getting the recognition she deserves! Requests are open, so please take a look at our rules and send something in!

read part one here (Daichi, Sugawara, Kuroo)

Tanaka Ryūnosuke

It had been the second day of the Miyagi Prefectural Qualifiers.

After their victory against Johzenji High the day prior, Tanaka was on a high. The ‘rip your shirt off and wave it through the air’ kind of high. 

(also the ‘i got to make out with my s/o after winning two games in a row’ kind of high)

You had told him (in between the victory smooches, of course) that you couldn’t make the matches the next day due to your own team.

You were on Karasuno’s soccer team, and due to you having your own tournament coming up, the coach is making you all throw in extra practice.

But you’d be checking the live coverage as often as you could.

He pouted, but eventually relented. He couldn’t help but be a little sad about it, though.

Which would mention why he seemed to be a bit off his game.

Not only were they close to having their fated rematch with Aoba Johsai, but his good luck charm is also absent.

He knew you were watching from work when you could manage it, which made him feel a little better, but it wasn’t the same as physically seeing you cheer him on in the stands.

Hinata and Nishinoya took it upon themselves to make kissing faces towards him on the bus.

Cue Tanaka glaring at them with a sharp frown.

“We’re just trying to make you feel better!”

(they were not. they both got punched once the team arrived at the gymnasium.)

(which then resulted in a stare from Daichi, immediately making Tanaka back off)

What can he say? The captain is scary when he’s angry.

The match against Wakutani South didn’t start out great, for Tanaka at least.

Though seeing Hinata get amped because a powerhouse school took notice in him had the same effect on his teammates. 

He found himself continuously looking up at the stands between plays, used to seeing your goofy faces and hearing your loud cheers.

And when the match began to get more tense, he started to lose his cool.

It’s no wonder that he ended up running into Daichi and causing the team to lose their captain for the match. 

When they ended up bringing in Ennoshita to take his place, none of his team would hear his apology. 

“We’re just glad you didn’t get hurt!” Asahi’s sincere honesty made Tanaka tear up. His determination to do right by his team lit the fire back into his eyes.

It only got brighter when Nishinoya pointed to the stands.

There you stood, right next to his sister, out of breath and still in your uniform. A large smile on your face and slight worry hidden your eyes. 

“YOU’VE GOT THIS, BABE!” your shout echoed throughout the gymnasium, causing players and spectators alike to stare up at you with curiosity. 

You hid behind Saeko, making her cackle.

Tanaka, with a fierce blush on his cheeks, shouted at the top of his lungs in return.

“LET’S DO THIS!” His teammates shouted along with him, glad he was starting to get back to normal.

It wasn’t an easy match, but the team ended up winning in the end. Daichi was incredibly proud of them, and soon enough they would be heading towards their rematch with Seijoh.

As soon as he exited the gym, he got tackled by you.

“You absolute dumbass. I’m glad you’re okay.” You met him with a kiss, to which he immediately responded back. 

“I thought you had practice?” His grin was infectious, and you couldn’t help but smile in return.

“Coach let us all leave early! Shocking, I know. But apparently we’re showing promise and deserve a break.” The two of you stood close, arms wrapped around each other. “Now, time to get revenge on those Aoba Johsai brats!” 

He nodded, a determined glint returning to his eyes.

Nishinoya and Hinata took this moment to start making kissing faces at him once again, ignoring Sugawara’s ranting.

Tanaka laid a kiss on your forehead, winking as he ran off to chase his teammates. 

You laughed as you heard Hinata’s high pitched scream, signalling that Tanaka had caught him.

Hinata Shōyō

You had met Hinata in middle school, though you didn’t start dating until the summer before the both of you started at Karasuno.

You were in the art club, which met after school. When walking to your bike to make your way home, a burst of orange entered your vision at a startling speed.

“Hey! You’re in my class, right? Will you set for me?” His hopeful smile seemed to brighten the darkening sky, forcing you to turn away in a shy manner.

“I don’t really know how..”

“It’s easy! You just toss it up and then hit it with your hands!” A moment of silence passed between the two of you, and soon you saw his feet turn, as if he was going to leave.

A dejected sigh left his lips. “Sorry for bothering you.”

Your face shot up, and soon you found yourself reaching out for him. 

“Wait! I- I can do it!” He turned back towards you in shock. “You’ll just have to show me how. No promises on how good it’ll be, though..”

His gleeful laugh rang in your ears, “I’m sure you’ll do great!” He ran back to meet you, having you set your bag near your bike. “Now, just position your hands like this..”

From that moment on, the two of you were as close as can be. You met every afternoon, sending the volleyball his way and watching in awe as he jumped to heights you didn’t think were possible.

When the two of you had started at Karasuno, he had tried to get you to sign up for a manager position on the volleyball team- but art took up too much of your time. 

“You have your dream, and I have mine. We’re still going to spend a lot of time together! But I can’t follow you everywhere forever, you know?”

Though you still came to practices whenever you could, helping Kiyoko if you had the time.

Learning that their underclassman had an s/o before them shocked Tanaka and Nishinoya to their core.

You and Hinata would just laugh at their antics. 

When Hinata had told you about the Interhigh tournament, you felt awful. 

Of course, it had to be scheduled on the same day as your art showing. 

The two of you met for meat buns the day before and walked through the town until you absolutely had to head back home.

He felt bad that he couldn’t make it to your showing, and you felt bad for not being able to make it to his games. But the little date the night before helped calm both of your nerves. 

You kissed his cheek when he had walked you home, wishing him good luck.

He blushed in return, hugging you and wishing you the same.

The Art Show went well! You had sold all of your works fairly quickly, and after you had done a courtesy run through the hall, checking out your classmates' work and sending them praise, your teacher allowed you to leave.

Checking your phone for the first time since you had arrived at the showing, you realized that the team had made it the third round of the tournament and would be facing Aoba Johsai right about now. You sent Hinata a text, telling him that you were on your way. He didn’t respond so you figured that the match had already started.

You had never really had much of a chance to come to his games, as he hasn’t played in many yet, so the fact that you weren’t there didn’t throw Hinata off too much.

Seijoh was a tough opponent, and he knew he had to remain focused for his team. It wasn’t easy, though.

Each team had won one set, and this was the deciding match between the two schools. They had been at match point for a while, and neither team was backing down anytime soon.

You, meanwhile, had just rushed into the gym, standing near the entrance to watch the rest of the match. Your fingers were crossed, and all you could do was hope that the team could pull through these last few points and take the match.

Alas, some things were not meant to be.

Your heart raced as Kageyama and Hinata prepared their special quick attack, and you let yourself relax just a bit, thinking they were safe.

How could you have known that they were going to be able to block it?

The world seemed to go numb as the ball hit the court, and Seijoh’s victory cries were dull as you took in Hinata’s face. Upset. Broken. If you knew your partner, and you did, he was beating himself up right now. 

Tears streamed down your face in the following moments, and you hurriedly wiped at your cheeks during the thank yous and final moments of the match. 

As soon as Hinata walked off the court, you tackled him in a hug.

He froze for a moment, before clinging onto you with all his might.

“I just wanted to stay on the court and keep playing.”

“I know. You did your best.”

Bokuto Kōtarō

You were one of the manager’s for Fukurodani’s Male Volleyball Team.

Every year, you looked forward to the Tokyo training camp. It was great for you to see the interactions between Bokuto and Kuroo. 

However, this year, your parents had decided to plan a visit to your family in America. Meaning that you would have to miss out on the camp, unfortunately.

Bokuto tried to convince you just to stay home. You were old enough to take care of yourself for a week, after all. He didn’t want you to miss out on their last one.

But he also understood that it had been years since you had seen this side of your family, and he didn’t want you to miss that either.

In the end, your parents and yourself made a deal. You would leave two days early so you could at least be there on the last day or so. 

Bokuto was still sad that you’d be gone for a bit, but he was happy that you were coming back earlier than usual.

He made sure to send you off with some of your favorite snacks.

“I was going to get them… but I forgot so Akaashi bought them!” Cue the biggest smile from your favorite himbo and an amused eyeroll from yourself.

You made sure to text Akaashi ‘thank you’.

The time spent in America was fun. You hung out with your cousins practically the whole time, happy to see them after so many years of being apart. They introduced you to their friends, showed you all the best places to go to in their area. All in all, it was a great experience that you wouldn’t have traded with the world.

Even though you two were in completely separate time zones, you still found the time to send memes back and forth. Through discord, of course. Neither you or Bokuto could afford to pay for those outrageous international fees.

Before you knew it, it was time to head to the airport and take your flight home. Your parents were worrywarts, and made you get there five hours before your flight. Anxious of being late.

It was a miracle in disguise, you soon realized. They had overbooked your flight home, and since you had gotten there so early, the staff asked if you’d be willing to take an earlier flight.

You jumped at the opportunity, eager to get back to Japan and your boyfriend.

The flights back were a bit rough, and you were jetlagged, but you immediately took the train to Shinzen to meet with your team. 

As soon as you got there, you received odd looks from various students and coaches alike. Your ragged look from being on such a long flight didn’t help. 

You entered the gym and found your place by the coach, who greeted you in surprise. 

Looking onto the court, you made eye contact with Akaashi. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders forward, pointing towards your boyfriend.

You couldn’t help but sigh in return as you took a glance at Bokuto. He had went into ‘emo mode’. The only thing to help at this point was to get him to make another spike. Luckily for everyone on the team, that was Akaashi’s speciality. 

Soon enough, Bokuto had spiked the ball onto the opposing team’s side of the court. He immediately cheered up. 

“HEY, HEY, HEY!” His arms shot up as he did a little dance. His younger teammates shouted back at him half-assed and disinterested, making you laugh.

At the sound of your chuckle, Bokuto turned to see you, happiness clear in his eyes as he shouted once more.

“I thought you didn’t get in until later, babe!” 

“I had to make it back to see Akaashi take the win for us!” 

He deflated a bit at that, and both you and Akaashi laughed at him. His frown turned into a mischievous smile, and you paled at the sight.

Knowing he was about to tickle you, you squealed and ran out of the gym with him hot on your trail.

“Take it back!” 

“Never!”

You ended up taking it back, with him sitting on your stomach, tickling you until you relented.

[solartranslations]

AF2 Common 12/28: A Long Night

Even if they’re somewhere new, what doesn’t change is the time they spend at the bar. …It’s the start of a long night

~*Scene: Nordia Bar*~

Pace: So gooood! I’m so glad Nordia has lasagna too

Debito: Ahh, that hits the sport…Nordia has the best drinks

Luca: I can’t believe you two…a client is coming to meet us soon. Be professional

Debito: What for. I thought this was a friend, not a client

Pace: *eating*…Debito’s right! Wouldn’t she actually get mad if we acted that way?

Luca: Maybe, but…

Felicita: Who is it? A friend of yours, Luca?

Luca: Yes. You met her the other day. It’s Agata

Felicita: Agata is…

Debito: Don’t worry, Bambina. She is strict, but she won’t do anything while over a meal

Pace: Huh? She’s scolded me while I was eating before. Agata’s whip sure is painful

Agata: That was because your behavior required discipline. I don’t raise my hand to others without reason

Pace: Uwah!? Agata, when did you get here? Don’t scare us like that

Debito: Our guest of honor is finally here. You’re late

Luca: Sorry for calling you out here when you’re so busy

Agata: I don’t mind. I wanted to talk with you all too

Agata: It’s been so long since we were all together. Debito, Pace, Luca, have you all been well?

Pace: Of course! You still got your whip, Agata?

Luca: Pace, don’t be rude! That’s no way to greet someone

Debito: You could show us if you wanted. It’s been a while after all

Luca: Debito! I said not to be rude!

Agata: Haha, you really haven’t changed. They sure must be a handful for you, Luca

Luca: Yes, dealing with these two certainly is

Pace: Really? I thought Luca was the handful. Right, Ojou?

Felicita: Um…

Debito: Yeah, Bambina’s definitely had it the hardest. You tell her how much of an airhead your attendant is

Luca: Are you trying to say that my head is filled with nothing but air?

Luca: It’s not true. I think a lot about Ojou-sama, but not air…

Pace: Same thing, isn’t it?

Debito: Yeah, it is

Luca: It’s not!

Felicita: You all need to settle down…

Agata: You all are causing trouble for your lady. Pay more attention to those around you

Debito: Wow~, nice one, Agata. You haven’t lost your touch at all

Pace: Your whip sure is quick, Agata. …It’s scary though

Felicita: Um…thank you, Madam Governor

Agata: Agata is fine. No need for titles. I regret that we couldn’t talk more the other day

Agata: So I was excited at the chance to talk to you now. There’s no need to be humble, just act as usual

Felicita: Thank you, Agata

~*Scene: Nordia Bar VIP Room*~

Felicita: [There was a room for special guests in the back of the bar]

Felicita: [We were able to talk freely there]

Agata: So tell me, why did you call me here?

Debito: Well we had to say hi to you since we came out to Nordia after all this time. It’s a courtesy, right?

Agata: You’ve got guts to talk about courtesy. There’s more to it, right?

Luca: Ah, it’s nothing too important…we just wanted to see you, that’s all

Agata: —Let me put it this way then. Are you curious about the contract with Vir that I mentioned the other day?—

Pace: Why are you bringing that up? Didn’t you say you couldn’t talk about it?

Agata: I just thought it’d be a dull and pointless topic to end things on

Agata: Anyway, I have things I wanted to ask you too

Agata: If that girl with Vir really did hurt Sumire, then I can’t stay quiet about it either

Agata: It won’t sit right with me until I hear the whole story

Luca: Agata… you don’t need to worry about Mama

Luca: Though she did suffer some shock and will need to recover with rest

Felicita: We don’t know why Mama got hurt. But…I don’t think Neve is the kind of person who would do that

Agata: Right, Neve. I know of her too

Agata: Sumire is like a little sister to me. I understand why you’d blame Vir, and I have no intention of sticking up for him

Agata: But for Nordia, Vir is—

Agata: Someone we need. The basis of our contract is that Vir lends us his power

Agata: So we can’t lose him, no matter what…

Agata: I’ll say it again. I won’t get in your way. But I can’t help you either

Agata: I’m under that contract. It’s to protect Nordia—

Felicita: If it’s to protect Nordia…. Can we help with that in any way?

Pace: Yeah. If it’s something Vir can do, we might be able to help you instead

Agata: No, it’s…

Luca: You can’t talk about the details of your contract then

Debito: Any more talk is pointless. I have an idea. How about we play a game?

Agata: A game? What kind?

Debito: Chess. We used to play it a lot, right?

Agata: Hmph. Looks like you’re all quite desperate to get information out of me

Debito: As you know, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t do anything without a good reason. And I’d still only do the minimum

Agata: Huh, interesting

Agata: The masquerade is soon. We should have a match for the tournament on its last day

Debito: Then let’s make a deal. The loser will have to do one thing that the winner wants

Pace: Huh!? Should you really promise that? Every time we played against Agata before…

Agata: I’m surprised you’d bet with such high stakes against me…

Agata: Hm… did you forget our games in the past, or are you that confident you’ve improved?

Luca: Debito…are you sure? Do you have a plan?

Debito: No I don’t. It’s just the only way I can think of to get any information

Agata: Having the loser listen to the winner’s request is too obvious. You just want information on Vir, right?

Agata: How about this. The loser will tell the truth about what they’ve been hiding. You’ll be witness, Felicita…

Agata: We’ll use “The Lovers”

Felicita: You want me to use “The Lovers” to see if you’re telling the truth…

Luca: I see. Even if it was a lie, Ojou-sama’s powers will see through it

(*smirk) Debito: I’m fine with that. Let’s get started

—And then—

~*Scene: Nordia Bar VIP Room*~

Pace: Yay! Haha, I won!

Felicita: Amazing, Pace! Even Debito and I couldn’t win…

Luca: It must have been his animal instincts

Agata: I truly didn’t think I would lose. I underestimated you

Debito: Since we won, we’ll be asking the questions then. Pace, what have you got?

Pace: I’ve been curious about something ever since we started playing

Felicita: Curious…?

Pace: Yeah. We never told you about Ojou’s powers, right Agata? So how did you know that she can use “The Lovers”?

Felicita: Right

Luca: Can you tell us, Agata?

Agata: That’s simple. I heard about them from Vir. That’s all

Luca: It was from him? But we never told Vir about her powers

Felicita: Yeah, I don’t remember saying anything

Agata: You didn’t have to. He knows everything about the Tarocco…

Pace: Huh? Is Vir really that smart?

Debito: That’s not what you should be impressed about

Agata: He knows about the Tarocco you all host too

Luca: …Just how much does he know?

Felicita: Who exactly is Vir?

Agata: Vir has formed a contract with “Agata” to protect Nordia for generations

Debito: Protect it from what?

Agata: A great storm that occurs once every 100 years, “Acqua Tempesta”— (TN: storm water)

Agata: It causes much greater disasters than when a normal acqua alta raises water levels (TN: when high tides cause flooding in Venice etc.)

Agata: And Vir protects Nordia from that threat…as is our contract

Pace: But that doesn’t make sense. Vir still looks so young…

Debito: Don’t be dumb, Pace. She said it was for generations

Debito: She just means he inherited the name “Vir” like she did with “Agata”

Luca: He’s right. Even if we don’t know how old he is, a person can’t live for hundreds of years

Luca: Probably, I think…

Agata: …Yes. You’re right

Debito: So the contract you made with Vir was that he’d protect the city from the Acqua Tempesta…now it all makes sense

Felicita: So that’s why Agata says she can’t help us

Agata: I had no choice but to keep it a secret. But it’s just as you say

Agata: The next Acqua Tempesta is in January…when the New Year comes, the whole town will be washed away. We can’t stop it on our own

Agata: I will protect Nordia no matter what. It’s my reason for being “Agata”—

Felicita: Your reason for being “Agata”…?

Agata: If we survive this Acqua Tempesta, the next one will be in a hundred years

Agata: In that amount of time, I can persuade my people to move elsewhere to safety

Agata: And if technology advances enough so that we don’t have to, all the better

Agata: Time brings change and progress. But, time makes people forget as well

Agata: I wasn’t able to get my people to believe me in time

Agata: The burden I carry from my ancestors is heavy—

Felicita: Agata…

Agata: People are like pawns in God’s game

Agata: And right now, I’m a failure at carrying out my duty as a pawn

Debito: Saying that’s not like you

Pace: Yeah, it’s like you’ve gotten old, Agata

Agata: Idiot, just say I’ve matured. I’m only old enough to be your sister

Luca: You’re older than Mama though

Agata: …I thought you were a genius when you were younger, but now I know you’re just normal. Well, maybe not. I see you have a one-track mind with your Ojou-sama

Luca: Um, why am I the only one you’re saying that to?

Pace: Why don’t you like hearing that? Being obsessed with Ojou is something to be proud of!

Felicita: Pace, I don’t think she means it in a good way…

Luca: It definitely isn’t praise!

Felicita: [Agata shoulders the responsibility of Nordia and its people. No matter how hard it is, she doesn’t give up and tries to find a way]

Felicita: [Agata is strong…that’s clear to me. I want to protect Regalo too, so I send my thoughts out to its people…]

Agata: Isn’t there anyone besides Pace who can challenge me?

Luca: You’re just too strong, Agata. Strategy games like this are your forte

Agata: You’re not wrong. I couldn’t be governor if I wasn’t

Felicita: Agata…I want to play another round with you

Agata: We’ve already seen the outcome, so no. Maybe another time

Felicita: …Please?

Agata: *sigh*… Children are so tiring. If you were my son, I’d have brought out my whip

Pace: You did that to us too before

Debito: Yeah. No mercy at all

Luca: Then, how about you play against me next? Is that alright?

Agata: Yes, let’s give it a go

~*Scene: Nordia Bar VIP Room*~

Luca: It’s been so long since I’ve played chess with you, Agata

Agata: Yes, it has. And just like before, only Pace would be able to win out of the three of you

Luca: I think I’ll be joining him this time. I will win

Agata: I can’t believe you can say that while looking at the board now. Your king and queen are cornered

Luca: This is where I turn things around

Agata: Haha, very interesting

Felicita: Luca’s good at chess?

Pace: Hmm, he could get pretty far but…

Debito: Yeah, but he could never finish it. Neither of us have ever won against Agata

Luca: If I take this pawn next…

Agata: That won’t work, unfortunately

Luca: Wha?

Agata: Checkmate

Debito: Oh well. Luca lost

Luca: Another loss… You certainly are strong

Agata: Those who think too hard about their actions won’t win against me. But people who act on instinct are harder to read

Agata: I’ve won this time…but you were the ones to ask questions during the last round

Agata: I know. I’ll give you an opportunity

Pace: What opportunity?

Agata: You can do it when I’m not around, but answer one of Debito’s questions

Luca: We’ll answer Debito’s questions…?

Debito: Huh? What’s that about? I didn’t ask for you to give me your prize

Agata: Luca, you are a very stubborn man. You try to maintain balance even while fooling yourself. It’ll be easier if you break that just once

Luca: ……

Pace/Debito: ……

Agata: I will take my leave then. You all can do as you wish

Felicita: I should probably go too…

Debito: …Yeah, let’s go. I’ve got nothing to ask anyway

~*Scene: Nordia Street*~

Pace: Wow, it’s totally dark out. All the shops are closed too

Debito: It’s not that late. And isn’t this when grown-ups really start having fun?

Luca: Only for you. And if that causes you to stay in bed until noon, I think you need to reevaluate your priorities

Debito: It’s not your problem

Luca: It is. The Coins are always…

Felicita: !?

Luca: That person getting off the gondola is…

Pace: It’s definitely Vir

Debito: Perfect. We’ve got business with him after all

~*Scene: Nordia Waterway*~

Vir: Hm?

Luca: Haaah!

Vir: *laugh*…

Luca: He knocked away my attack!?

Vir: It looks like alchemy hasn’t advanced one bit

Vir: It’s the same as it was 400 years ago. No, it’s actually gotten weaker

Luca: …!

Debito: I guess Agata meant what she said literally

Pace: You mean when she said she’s known him for 400 years?

Vir: You really thought such a small flame could capture me?

(*click) Debito: Nope. These are the real goods

Vir: That’s quite the greeting. Hm? Your right eye…

>Debito Route

>Pace/Luca Routes

Vir: What a nice gem. It should last you the rest of your life. Perhaps I should sell some in my store

Vir: But, that amethyst won’t last much longer. Do you have a replacement ready?

Luca: Why would you know…we don’t need your concern. I have a replacement

Debito: Tch, you really do know everything…

Vir: That gem was made with alchemy. Is it your creation?

Luca: …

Vir: You’re even better than your teacher. You couldn’t have made that if you hadn’t watched him for so long

Vir: I’d love a gifted student too. Will you join me?

Luca: I humbly decline

(Luca: Because I have Ojou-sama) (This line is Luca route only)

Vir: Unfortunate. But, it seems those two do need you too. Now then

(*shing) Felicita: You aren’t getting away

Debito: We came all the way from Regalo to capture you

Pace: Yeah. Finding you here makes things a lot faster

Vir: Didn’t Agata tell you? You can’t touch me yet. This is Agata’s city. You aren’t the law here

Vir: And I’m not someone you can catch that easily

Vir: Haaa!

Dodge!

>Hit

(+10 Amore)

>Miss

(-20 Amore)

(*dodge) Felicita: Hah!

Felicita: Ah…

Luca: Ojou-sama! Watch out!

Luca: … L’Armonia della Luce!

Vir: Haha, you can run if you like. I’m not in the mood to fight you today

Felicita: Well I am!

Vir: Stubborn aren’t you…fine then

Debito: You’re fighting me too. So don’t turn your back!

Felicita: Debito! I’ll cover you!

(*whish) Felicita: Yah!

Attack!

>Hit

(No Amore)

>Miss

(-20 Amore)

Vir: Guh…

Vir: That’s all you’ve got?

Vir: You have to mean it if you’re going to attack me. And you won’t catch me anyway

Pace: If you’re just going to run away, doesn’t that mean you’re actually weak?

Vir: I’m running for your sake. If you hit me with your powers, punishment will befall you

Felicita: Punishment…

Debito: You’re not going to trick us with a joke like that

Vir: Is it really a joke?

Pace: If you won’t attack, then I will!

Pace: Hyaaah!

Vir: Hah, that won’t hit me…

Debito: Didn’t I tell you already? You’re not just fighting one of us!

Debito: Hahaha!

Vir: Those bullets won’t work on me. I’ll just erase them

Felicita: No you won’t!

(*whish) Felicita: Haaah!

Attack!

>Hit

(+10 Amore)

>Miss

(-20 Amore)

Vir: Guh…Right. You’re here too

Vir: Where are you aiming?

Vir: …So tiring. This is all the time I have for you today

Vir: Haaah!

Luca: All of you, get away from Vir!

Luca: I’ll block his attack, so get behind me!

Felicita: Right…!

Luca: Guh…

Vir: See you tomorrow then

Felicita: Luca! Are you alright?

Luca: *panting*…Yes. I’m sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve fought that hard…

Debito: I am interested in one thing he said

Luca: ……

Debito: He said “You couldn’t have made that if you hadn’t watched him for so long”

Felicita: …

Debito: If this hadn’t happened, I never would have asked…

Debito: Back then…who’s side were you on?

Pace: Debito…

Luca: I…

Debito: Honestly, I don’t care what the truth is though

Pace: It feels late bringing this up now, but I’ve been hiding things too

~*Flashback: Back Alley*~

Pace: Um, because of a special trait of my Tarocco, I––

Pace: I can only live until age 30

~*End Flashback*~

Pace: I guess Debito’s been the most honest out of us

Debito: Shut up, Pace

Pace: I guess the best thing is for Luca-chan to come clean and for us to give him one good hit for hiding it?

>Luca, I want to know too…

>I think you should tell Debito and Pace

Luca: Ojou-sama…

Luca: Right. I never was good at keeping secrets

Luca: And I didn’t plan on hiding it this long either

Luca: It might make things easier if I just told the truth…

Luca: I don’t know if hearing this will help them

Luca: But I think it will be better for me

Luca: It hurts to keep this a secret. …I just want to tell you

Luca: This is the opportunity that Agata gave us

Luca: I’ll tell you…about the secret I’ve been keeping

Luca: Back then, I had a lot of feelings that I had a hard time putting into words

~*Flashback: Bedroom*~

Debito: Uw, ahhhhh!

Pace: Debito!? Where are you?

Luca: I can’t see him…but I can hear him. Are these Debito’s Arcana powers…?

Debito: *panting*…

Pace: Ah! There’s blood near the bed… Debito, are you there?

Debito: Uaa, Pace…

Luca: If I could see you, I could neutralize your powers with mine, but I can’t touch you like this

Pace: Ah! I see him! Debito, can you hear me? Debito?

Debito: ……

Luca: He’s not conscious. And his right eye is bleeding…he hit himself on that pillar…

Luca: Hurry, Pace! At this rate, Debito will…

Pace: But where should we…

Luca: We’ll take him to Jolly

~*Flashback: Alchemy Room*~

Pace: Jolly! You have to help Debito!

Debito: Guh…ahh…

Jolly: …What happened

Luca: Debito’s powers are out of control. He struck his eye against a pillar…

Luca: He settled down after losing consciousness, but he hasn’t woken up yet

Jolly: His powers…

Pace: Jolly, what’s going to happen to Debito?

Jolly: He’ll die if we don’t do anything. He must not have the emotional strength to handle his powers

Luca: …No way

Pace: I don’t want Debito to die! Since you experiment all the time, can’t you save him!

Jolly: …I have an idea. But I can’t guarantee that it will work

Jolly: Do you still want to save Debito?

Pace: Of course we do!

Luca: Yes…

Jolly: Good. I’ll get started

Jolly: We’ll put this gem in Debito’s right eye. It will amplify his emotional strength to make up for what he lacks

Luca: An amethyst…

Pace: You’ll stick that in him!?

Jolly: He won’t be able to use his eye anymore either way. This is better than dying

Debito: Ahhhhhh….!!!

Jolly: This should last for a while

Pace: Thank you, Jolly

Luca: Thank you

Luca: Jolly…

Jolly: Pace already left. Was there something else, Luca?

Luca: I know you saved Debito…but will he really be alright like this…

Jolly: Hmph, I don’t plan on leaving this be. You’ll be paying me back for saving him

Jolly: …How about this. From now on, you’ll have no contact with Debito or Pace

Luca: Wha…

Jolly: Or you’ll help me with my experiments again. It’s an equivalent exchange. You’ll pay me back one of those two ways. The choice is up to you

Luca: …I…

~*Flashback: Bedroom*~

Pace: Don’t worry us like that, Debito. I told you not to push yourself

Debito: Yeah, but I had to. I’m not good at staying put

Luca: Calm down, you two. Debito’s awake, and that’s all that matters

Luca: I’ll be going now. I’m doing a little favor for someone

~*Flashback: Alchemy Room*~

(*knock knock)

Luca: It’s me

Jolly: Come in…

~*End Flashback*~

Luca: My…heart was always with you two, but I was acting on Jolly’s orders

Luca: I stayed to protect you. But, it’s true that I was still observing you as directed by Jolly too

Luca: I wanted to protect you, but still felt guilty. I thought protecting you was my duty

Luca: And it’s why I feel so conflicted into inaction now

Luca: And then, Ojou-sama’s powers went out of control

Felicita: …!

Luca: I was ordered to live with Ojou-sama, and went to that small house with her and Sumire-sama

Luca: I had a peaceful life there. And that’s when I realized that I was making up for what I did to you two…

Luca: It’s because of Ojou-sama that I found the strength to accept myself

Luca: It’s thanks to Ojou-sama…that I realized what I should protect

Luca: I’m the weakest one out of us. I just couldn’t live on if I lost even a single one of you

Felicita: Luca…

Luca: ……Is that all you wanted to know?

Felicita: Luca…!

Luca: Wah! O-Ojou-sama…

Debito: You shouldn’t be crying at your age

Pace: Yeah. You’ve hit a milestone so you really should grow up

Felicita: Luca, how could you keep smiling before now?

Luca: Because…you all…were with me

Debito: Oh get a grip! Pace, let’s throw Luca in the canal!

Pace: Okay! Heave-ho!

Luca: *bubble bubble*…

Felicita: Luca, are you okay!?

(*splash) Luca: *cough*…

Debito: Yeah, he wouldn’t drown

Pace: Yup. That’s his punishment from us instead of getting hit

Debito: Yeah I figured

Luca: You weren’t going to let me get washed away, right!?

Debito: Okay, let’s head back

Pace: Oh wow Luca, you look just like Dante. Let’s go, Ojou

Felicita: O-okay…

Luca: Can you at least pull me out of here!!!

~*End of Scene*~

(Continue to Common Route December 31 (Pace Route)) Coming Soon!

(Continue to Debito Chapter 4)

(Continue to Luca Chapter 5)

(Back to Directory)