#trying to remember off the top of my head how many companions have been like that

[idontknowiknow]

I love how many dragon age companions will be like :0 nobody has ever given me a gift before!!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ when u give them a little present. Fav trope. Love to befriend sad losers through gift giving

[explosionkatsu]

Just some random drabbles. Hahahahaha!

Bakugo x Singlemom Y/n

"I can't do this."

The love of your life said after you gave birth to your baby.

"W-what?" You couldn't believe what you were hearing. Why now? Why is he backing up now?

"I can't be a father. I don't know how to be a father. Fuck, we shouldn't have done this." He spouted. "I can't take care of that thing."

"This thing you're talking about is our child." You were now enraged. Angry tears streaming down your face as you stare in the man in front of you.

This was supposed to be a great moment. He, carrying your child in his arms while you gaze at them lovingly. But no. He was backing out.

The dream of having your own family was immediately shattered.

"W-why?" You asked. "Why now?"

He looked at you with frantic eyes as if he suddenly realized all his responsibilities. "I'm sorry."

The last word you heard from him before he finally left.

---

Several nurses came to your room when they suddenly heard you crying. Some pity you and some comfort you.

You don't know what to do, what to think.

Your tears continuously stream down your cheeks as you stare at what is supposed to be your little bundle of joy. But right now, as you gaze at your son's peaceful complexion, you are hurting. Everything reminded you of that asshole.

You remembered giving up as a hero when you met him. You remember him telling you how much he wanted a family with you.

All of it was a lie.

"Why.." You whispered. "Why does it have to be me.." You sobbed.

Some days passed like a blur. You were exhausted, depressed, and motionless. Whenever your child starts crying, you can't take him in your arms to rock him to sleep or feed him. You had to ring a nurse to assist you.

They were very understanding of your situation, though. They never complain or even ignore you. Some are comforting you, giving you your meal even though you never touched it. They were worrying about you.

Until you decided to tell him.

He's been there with you ever since high school. Sure, everyone didn't expect you two to be companions, but as of the moment, he's the only someone you have.

Gradually, you picked up your phone from the table beside you. Seeing how many missed calls and messages he left made you at least smile. You read a few of his messages before you click the call button and put it on speaker waiting for him to pick up.

---

An uneventful patrol is what is in his head as he walks around where he's positioned. People are greeting him which he nods in response. Some tried taking a picture with him but he refused to entertain them since he was on duty. He can't lose his concentration.

That was when his phone suddenly rang. If it's Eijiro, he'll sure hang up. But when he checked the caller ID, it was you. Instantly, he pressed the answer button and placed his phone next to his ear.

"The hell happened to you? Why haven't you answered my calls?" Katsuki spoke out while still keeping an eye around him.

Katsuki heard you chuckle on the other line.

"Hello to you too, Katsuki." You giggled.

"You didn't answer my question, dumbass." He tsked.

"I-i.."

Something's off and he knows it.

"What's wrong?" Almost instantly, Katsuki's voice went soft.

You didn't know how to tell him. Katsuki has always hated your ex ever since you guys started dating. He was even pointing out the red flags and yet you chose to ignore his advice.

"I- Katsuki.." You muttered, trying not to cry.

Katsuki was patient though.

"He left.."

After those words came out of your lips, Katsuki immediately asked for her location and ended the call.

There are other heroes around him. They can protect them. Right now, his top priority is you.

---

Once Katsuki reached the hospital, the receptionist was surprised by his sudden appearance. Part of them wanted to be a fan girl but right now, he looks like he's on a rush.

"Tell me Y/N L/N's room, now."

"Y-yes Mr. Dynamight."

---

When Katsuki swung the door, it opened too quickly causing it to hit the wall loudly.

"Y/n!?" He yelled.

But the view in front of him shut him up.

There you are, sitting on the hospital bed as you gaze outside the window, carrying a sleeping baby.

"You'll wake him up, you know." You giggled and turned your gaze to him.

"Where is he?" He growled and made his way towards you closing the poor door behind him.

Mentioning him suddenly made your smile drop and stare at your child.

"H-he.. Backed out.." You said as you gazed upon the peaceful sleeping child in your arms. "He left us."

"That motherfucker." Katsuki cussed. "I know he's a coward."

You chuckled sadly. "You've always warned me about him." You said. "I should've listened."

Katsuki didn't say anything. He dragged a chair and sat beside the hospital bed close to you.

"I should've believed in every word you said." You were now tearing up. "I should've-" You couldn't hold it back any longer and sob quietly. "I-i'm sorry, Katsuki.."

"Tsk." you heard him.

Standing up once again, Katsuki sat on your hospital bed this time and placed a palm on your cheek, wiping a tear with his thumb. "Dumbass." He said, staring at you. "Why are you apologizing? Didn't I tell you I will support you in all your decisions? Everything." He added.

You looked at him, still tearing up. You were so lucky you had someone like him.

Several minutes have passed until you finally calm down. Your head resting against his shoulder while he plays with your hair.

"I can be his father." he blurts out of nowhere which makes you pull back and stare at him in disbelief.

"What?" You were confused, okay?

"I want to be his father." Katsuki repeated with a blank face.

"K-katsuki. I-

"Look." Katsuki sighed. "I liked you for what? How many fucking years. Fuck, this isn't the right time for a confession, but hell. I- shit. I don't like you, I fucking love you, you idiot."

He was ranting while you were still processing what he said.

He loves you?

"Y-you love me?" You blinked.

"I said a lot of words and that's the only one you heard?"

[aventurinemybeloved]

Summary: Aventurine wouldn't mind being your personal mannequin forever if it meant having you this close to him

Fem!reader who's a popular fashion designer all throughout the universe, currently just "friends" with aventurine here, more like sugar daddy tho- very self indulgent because I have my oc in mind while writing this lol

"Not that I'm questioning your process when it comes to your craft, but aren't you tired?"

"Hm nope, not at all are you?"

"I've handled far worse than just standing for a few hours, don't mind me friend, continue"

While that wasn't exactly a lie, it has been a couple of hours since Aventurine was made to be a makeshift mannequin for you, this was supposed to be a day to relax and take both your mind off work.

But it seems that inspiration has struck the minute you laid eyes on a particular fabric store that just got a new stock on a handful of interesting designs, without a second thought you rushed in, your companion had looked away for one second and the next he sees that you've already made yourself comfortable shuffling through the many options to choose from.

As he made his way back to your side, the faint sound of you mumbling under your breath could be heard clearer and clearer, while he didn't quite catch all of it, he was able to piece some things, one of which you wishing you had your mannequin back at the boutique right about now.

"Hey, why not use me for a bit?"

While Aventurine obviously isn't a mannequin, he can sure act like one if you need it, and that you did so you agreed without putting much thought into it, making a mental note to make him a little something as thanks.

And now here you two were, in the middle of the store as you try to pin fabric with your hands on Aventurine's body, he expected this to happen after all he's not the type to willingly volunteer for something without it benefiting him in some way, but he was not prepared for how close you'd be.

Practically an inch away from him, chest against his as you maneuver the fabric in your hands all over him trying to come up with a design in mind, his nose catching a whiff of your shampoo as the top of your head was practically in his face, he's mastered the art of keeping a poker face but a couple hours of this, no one can blame the man for cracking as time goes on.

Luckily for him it seems you've finally finished whatever it was you were doing, he can't even remember even though you were talking about it earlier, his mind growing muddled with serotonin.

He managed to snap out of it as you call over a worker to place an order for your chosen items, and of course pay for it, Aventurine beat you to it though handing his card while softly smiling.

"It's on me"

"What? Aventurine I can pay for it myself, there's really no need to-"

"I insist, it's a treat for how much I enjoyed being your little helper"

Just as you were about to contradict him, insisting even more that you should be the one paying since he already helped you, the worker has already swiped his card handing it back to him and walked off to prepare your order.

You could only facepalm, this wasn't the first time that he has thwarted your attempts at paying for your own things, he's done it so many times you've lost count, and while it's a fact that all of it combined wouldn't make a dent in his wallet, you still couldn't hell but feel guilty.

Not for long though as you could feel a hand gently patting your head, peaking up at him you could see a soft smile on his face.

"You know the deal~" he said in a singsong way

You playfully rolled your eyes

"Yeah yeah, Just let me know when you're free and we'll hang out again"

It was weird to you at first how that was the only thing he wanted after spending so much on you, but overtime you've sorta started to understand it, and want it as much as he does as well.

[lanawinterscigarettes]

requesting fluff with dhawan!master x their gn! companion

I tried to make this extra cute and fluffy because I'm such a sucker for those kinds of things (also shout out to my bestest bud @your-next-daydream for helping me come up with this corny ass pun of a title. I love you sm <3)

The One Who Rocks My World (Dhawan! Master x reader)

Warnings: soft! Master (he might be slightly ooc due to a part in this where he gets a little emotional), teeny weeny bit of hurt/comfort, but mostly just lots and lots of fluff

"Ooh, let's go there!" You said in excitement, pointing at a random alien marketplace that popped up on one of the TARDIS console's many screens.

The Master merely sighed, knowing you wouldn't stop pestering him until you got what you wanted. He usually wasn't a fan of random, one off trips (he wasn't The Doctor) but something about you always made it so hard for him to say no.

"Fine, but we're staying for no longer than two hours, three tops. And I'm not buying you anything there." He said sternly, glancing up at you while he punched in the coordinates. "Do you understand?"

You simply squealed happily in response, clapping your hands together. "Yay! I knew you'd say yes!"

Less than twenty minutes later, the two of you arrived at the marketplace. You'd grabbed The Master by the hand and were already starting to drag him towards it before the TARDIS had even landed properly.

"Slow down, the market's not going anywhere in the ten minutes it'll take us to get there," he grumbled, though he made no real attempt to stop you, something he could very well do if he so pleased.

He lingered a little behind you, following you around from vendor to vendor as you oohed and awed over the different wares being sold.

"Remember, I'm not buying you anything, so don't pick anything up if you don't have the money to pay for it," he called after you, watching as you picked up a piece of fabric that was similar to a scarf.

You frowned slightly before putting it back down, knowing full well that even if you did have the money, you most likely wouldn't know how much to give them, and you had no interest in being scammed by some random alien seller, again.

The Master shook his head at your antics, smiling softly to himself. As irritating as you could be sometimes, he did have to admit he found it to be pretty endearing.

He turned to say something else to you before realizing you'd run off again, though to where he wasn't entirely sure. He was about to start tearing apart the entire marketplace looking for you before you suddenly popped up again, this time holding something in your hands.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to figure out what you had. "What's that in your hands?"

"Oh, I found it on the ground over there!" You said while pointing to a beachy area that was littered with small, multicolored stones. "It's for you."

He looked at you in confusion as he took the stone, not quite sure what to say. "What is this?"

"It's a rock." You stated plainly, doing nothing to actually answer his question.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that." He did his best to supress an eye roll. "I mean, why are you giving it to me?"

"Well, because I care about you," you stated as though it should've been obvious. "And you give gifts to people you care about."

That made sense, he supposed, though The Master never really did view himself as someone other people would care for. But, still. A rock?

"Why a rock?" He asked curiously, turning it over in his hands.

"Because it's purple," you simply replied, an unwavering smile on your face. "And you wear purple a lot, so I figured it must be one of your favorite colors. Plus, it reminded me of you."

Your words made him want to cry. You thought about him enough that you were reminded of him in even the smallest of things?

"It's- it's very nice," he choked out, blinking back a sudden onslaught of tears.

You frowned slightly, your forehead creasing in concern. "Aw, don't cry." You immediately wrapped your arms around him, pulling him in for a comforting hug.

He wasn't nearly as stiff as he was the first few times you showed him physical affection, but he was obviously still a little awkward about it, holding his arms out to the side while you hugged him.

He glanced yet again at the rock in his hand, watching as the mixture of colors shined brightly in the sun, like his very own kaleidoscope.

The purple color of the stone made him smile, and he very slowly did his best to hug you back properly, not missing the way you seemed to hold on for a bit longer after that.

If this was always what happened when you went on trips together, then he'd have to make sure to plan them more often.

Likes < reblogs | comments are greatly appreciated <3

Main masterlist | Doctor Who masterlist | wanna be added to my taglist?

🏷 taglist: @theonetruepotato87

[lemonandlime22]

Bitey Child!Yuu Choose your own adventure! [Pt1]

Summary: Come along with little Yuu as they celebrate their very first birthday in Twisted Wonderland or ever really

Warning(s): none Word count: 1k [Next]

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You woke to the feeling of the warm sun that shown through the window and a strong scent of pancakes that hung in the air. A loud squeaking sound came from the bedroom door, along with small but quick pitter-pattering of paws and before you knew it the small blue fire beast had gotten on the bed and began bouncing so you would finally wake up.

"Yuu!! Yuu!! Comon' wake up already! it's your birthday!" Slowly you sat up, rubbing your eyes, and wondered what your fiery companion was talking about.

"Me and the ghosts made a big breakfast! Well mostly me, but I guess those three helped a bit- OW!" Grim's "Bragging" was cut off by a loud smack in the back of the head, courtesy of Plumpy.

"Grim's right though little Yuu, come come" The big ghost gently grabbed your hand and started leading you with grumbling Grim following shortly behind. Once you three made it to the kitchen you instantly took notice of a massive stack of pancakes, all varying degrees of being cooked. Surrounding the stack were bowls and plates filled with all sorts of toppings and sides, like eggs, bacon, and sausage.

"Ah! Good morning young Yuu, happy birthday!" scrawny wiped around, having taken quick notice of the three new presences in the kitchen.

"Now, tell me what you would like and I'll get that dished up for ya!" "A-any?" Your voice shook with anticipation "Hehe, yep! And as much as you want!" Shorty answered "But we'd suggest not eating too much. You still gotta save some room for lunch and dinner" Plumpy placed a hand on your shoulder and began to guide you closer toward the kitchen island to have a better look. You were drooling at the mere thought of eating as much as you want of whatever you wanted. It took you a minute but you were able eventually decided.

You did try to eat as much as you wanted, but Scrawny eventually had to stop you so you wouldn't throw up. As you sat there at the table trying to settle down from your food rampage, you finally processed what everyone has been saying since the moment you opened your eyes. 'Birthday..? Where have I heard that...' You wondered to yourself for a moment, but quickly remembered Cheka mentioning birthdays to you less than a month or so ago...

It was a very nice spring day, the wildflowers bloomed all around the grass where you and Cheka sat on a blanket having a nice little picnic.

"Hmm, hey Yuu, whatcha' think I should get Unca for his birthday?" Cheka sat down his sandwich and looked up at you with hopeful eyes "I know it's still a couple months away, but I really wanna make him something special" You merely tilted your head to the side curiously and asked, "What's a birthday?".

Cheka was so excited to explain it to you, and when the playdate was over you ended up talking to the ghosts about it. All of which leads you to now, "Wait... but I don't know my birthday?"

"Yeah we know," Grim said with a smirk "so we picked a random day to be your birthday from now on!" you could clearly tell Grim was the one who picked the day from how proud he looked.

"Huh..." Looking down at your lap, you could feel your face grow warm "Well- t-thank you." Before any of them could insist that a thanks wasn't needed there was a loud knock on the door followed by muffled talking. "Ah! Those must be guests!" Plumply said and made his way to the front door with Shorty, but Scrawny decided to go back into the kitchen and pack the leftovers into containers for the next few days.

"Sup kid!" Turing your head you saw Ace and Deuce following the two ghosts back into the kitchen. "How's your going birthday so far" Deuce askedthen patted your head "Really Good! I gotta eat as many pancakes as I wanted!" The two Heartslabyul students paused for a moment as they watched your eyes light up at the mere mention of the beginning of the day, before instantly smiling and laughing.

You, Grim, Ace, and Deuce went to the living room, once you all sat down Deuce shot up. "Oh! We almost forgot, this is for you hun." He exclaimed and placed a light pink envelope with bright red roses on the coffee table. "Oh yeah that, it's from Riddle, something about wanting to get you a present or whatever." Ace said half-heartedly but very obviously trying to hide a smile. As you picked the envelope up to take a closer look there was a loud banging that came from the door.

"I'll get it" You mumbled as you slid off the couch. Once you opened the door right there was Sebek with his fist up about to start banging on the door again.

"Ah! Hello Yuu! This," He quickly pulls a lime green envelope with black and gold detailings from the inside of his jacket and hands it to you with straight stiff arms. “Is for you. Waka-sama wishes for you to come to Diasomnia as soon as possible!” Instead of responding, you motioned him to follow you back inside and walked him to the couch where Ace and Deuce waited. "Hey, Sebek! Whatcha' doin'?" Ace asked when he saw the green haired boy enter the living room.

"I'm just here to drop off this letter to Yuu." Sebek responded and placed it on the coffee table next to the other. It was quiet for a moment before Deuce broke the silence after staring at both envelopes, "OH! So both dorm letters want you to come over to their dorms for a-" Before he could say anything more Ace slapped his hand over the other freshmen's mouth.

"Just pick whichever one you wanna read first kid." Ace reassured. Looking back at the table you wondered what exactly they said. It took a minute, but you decided to pick up the...

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~Taglist~ | @thedianaclark | @jazzyocs | @xxnightbaronessxx | @orbitinytheworld | @the-rose-prince-20 |

[chibifoxwrites]

@dunedragon Ask and ye shall receive!

Two children stood in a white room, one with arms crossed across her chest and an eyebrow cocked in mild interest while the other was playing with the hem of his hoodie.

The girl was wearing a cropped blue jacket over a black top with leggings under a pair of shorts, an orange symbol outlined in gold prominent on the left side of her jacket.

The boy was wearing a large orange hoodie that seemed to swallow him whole and almost covered his shorts while a bright blue headband with a matching symbol was snuggly tied around his head.

Regardless of where they came from, both were part of the Hikari family.

"So," the girl started. "I'm guessing your name is Netto too? How did you get here?"

The boy flinched before answering. "Actually, my name is Lan and I honestly don't know how I got here. I remember going to bed and hearing a voice talking about the likes meeting one another. When I looked around, I couldn't find MegaMan and only saw this giant robot looking thing. Then, I was here!"

Netto nodded slowly, lips twisted in a grimace. "One, it's good to know that you have some form of RockMan in your world from what it sounds like. Two, I think were were brought here by Duo."

"Who or what is Duo?"

"He's a NetNavi from the edge of the universe and operates purely on logic as he judges other beings from their planets, decides whether the species or race is good or evil, and then destroys the planet if he deems it evil," Netto explained, much to her counterpart's horror. "He dropped by my planet some years back to judge it, but the test was rigged by his companion, Slur. A bunch of criminal NetNavis were resurrected and mostly given to people who had less than good intentions. A few people were innocent, but a majority of them were career criminals. Long story short, my friends and I beat the bad guys, exposed and deleted Slur, and sent Duo on his merry way among other things."

Lan decided not to ask about the last bit of the sentence that his counterpart muttered under her breath.

"Well, you sound like you've been doing some cool stuff for a while. I just got my NetNavi. Dad gave him to me as a gift when we moved back to DenTech City," the boy explained.

Netto blinked at her counterpart in confusion. "You moved back to Densan?"

"DenTech City, but yeah! Before that we were living in Cyber City! I lived in DenTech when I was younger but we had to move for Dad's job. He then got transferred back to Sci-Labs Headquarters after the mayor was arrested." Lan then shrugged. "Turns out the mayor made it so Dad would transfer and slowly tried to get him to unearth some powerful programs that had been hidden away a long time ago."

Netto sighed. "Our family can never have a moment of peace, at least that is universal."

"Um, just how bad is it? I mean in your world?" Lan asked. "I just started a new school and MegaMan keeps trying to drag me into situations, like trying to make new friends not like I had many in the first place back in Cyber City, but what about you?"

"I'm basically part of a super sentai group that goes around the world and stops cyber crime. People keep thinking that just because they're smarter than the average human that they have the right to steal the hard work from other people to rule over everyone on the planet, so we have to kick ass and take names. I've lost friends in the line of duty and I've been betrayed by them too, but a majority of my team are still friends with me and with each other. We have goot times and we have bad times, but at least I have RockMan and the rest of the family beside me." Netto went quiet for a bit and blushed. "Also, I have my boyfriend so that helps too..."

Lan smiled and softly clapped his hands together. "Hooray for you!"

Netto smiled when something caught her eye. "Has that door always been there?"

Lan turned around and jumped back. "No, no it was not."

"...We're gonna have to go open it to find out where we are, aren't we?"

Lan sighed and took off his backpack before rummaging around in it. A few seconds later, he pulled out a kabuton stick. "I have other things if you need one."

Netto smiled. "Oh, I think we're going to get along just great."

[afro-hispwriter]

Untitled(Adam Warlock)

Adam Warlock x goddess!reader(more y/n flirting with him)

Summary- y/n has no filter

A/n- i couldn't wait for the movie😭so I just made something up

-

When your cousin Thor asked if you wanted to join him with Guardians you immediately said yes. You ended up getting along with them quite well, specifically Drax. He never failed to make you laugh along with Mantis. 

You were currently trying to teach them how to play Uno and it proved to be more difficult.

"Wait so when I only have 1 card I yell Uno?" Asked Mantis and you fought to place your head down.

"Yes for the millionth time. Yes." You say and place a card. Drax looks at it then back at his cards. "Remember Drax same color or number." 

"I got it don't worry." He reassured you and went back to his cards. He was just about to place his card down when a large bump hit the ship making stuff fall to the ground along with anyone who wasn't strapped in. 

"Did we hit a metor?" Asked Rocket and Quill looked at the map. 

"No theres nothing on the screens?" He said and looked around. Another large bump hit and you felt your stomach launch up. 

"Maybe one of the ships thrusters is down?" You ask and Quill looks at the ship on the screen.

"No, no its fine." Nebula was about to say something when Thor burst through the small bathroom.

"Friends what is the commotion!?" He asked and everyone looked at him then covered their noses.

"What the hell Thor!" You say and squeeze your eyes shut. Thor looked at everyones reactions and his eyes widened before letting a big laugh out.

"Oh im sorry friends that last planet we were on, I did not mix well with the food." He laughed and you shook your head.

"And I thought I had large turds and a big smell." Said Drax and hour face twisted in disgust.

"Idiots." You hear Nebula say. Rocket and Quill were trying to figure out what was happening when you all heard footsteps above. 

"Ill check it out." You say and fly off your feet just a bit to opened the hatch and slid through. You looked around but saw nothing, until a ball of flaming light appeared behind you. And as you slowly turned around some bard collided with your head and everything went dark.

-

Your eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the to what happened. Your legs were on the floor but you were moving, most likely being dragged. Your eyes took note of your surroundings and everything was gold. The person came a stop and you heard your companions start to groan. 

"Not you again."

"Can you just drop the batteries." 

"I am Groot." 

"Ya they are sore losers." 

The person dragging you dropped you roughly and you groaned.

"Cousin Y/n." You heard Thor say and you turn to see him on the floor as well. You got on your knees and looked to see who your captors were.

Sovereigns

You weren't to familiar with them but you did know they didn't tolerate many things. 

"Guardians." You shot your attention to the front and saw a woman sitting in a chair. "You've stolen for us, ran from us, and destroyed our property. You shall be charged." With those words your eyes widened and you stood up immediately making everyones attention go to you. 

"Um sorry Gold Lady." You say and raise you hands only to find them cuffed. "I wasn't with the guardians at the time neither was me and my cousin Thor." You point at Thor who was smiling at them and nodding. "So there is no need for us to be charhed with something we didn't commit.

"Wow what teammate you are." Quill scoffed.

"Im not going down for you." You seethe and look back. "I've only been with them for a few weeks, a month tops." You laugh nervously and Groot bumped you with his shoulder.

"I am Groot." He said and you gasped.

"Did you just call me a bitch!?" Rocket burst out laughing.

"Language." You mumbled, Rocket kept laughing and then Mantis reached her cuffed hands out and touched him then she started laughing. You shook your head and the sovereigns were trying to being the attention back when someone flew over your w and landed next to the gold lady.

"The ship is secured my queen." He said and lowered his head. You furrowed your eyebrows at this new guy. 

"Who the hell is that?" Asked Quill and the Gold Queen lady and huffed before placing a hand on the mysterious mans shoulder. He turned around and your eyes could've bulged out of your head. 

That is the most beautiful man you've ever seen.

"Whoah." You mumbled and met your eyes wonder everywhere.

"This is Adam, I created him." She says and you squint your eyebrows. "I created him to destroy you and-."

"Hey sorry again." You cut her off. "But I have a question." You saya and smile.

"Cousin what are you doing?" He chuckled nervously. 

"Whats your question." She sighed.

"Um does he... have a penis?" You ask and everyone goes silent. Adam looked at you in confusion and looked back the queen searching for answers. "Because you couldn't have made that fine specimen and not given him one."

"I yes he does have one." She said.

"How big is it?" Drax took the words out of your mouth.

"You two are perverts." Said Quill and you and Drax gasped.

"Its an important question that needed to be asked." You say and straightened your back and looked at Adam and winked. He looked extremely confused before turning around.

"Should I shut her up?" He askedand you smirked again.

"Oh you can shut me up in so many ways, using so many-."

"Y/N!" Exclaimed Thor and you shut up. 

"Please punish her first." Said Nebula and you though of something. 

"Only if Adam over here is the one doing the punishing." He looked at you with wide eyes. Now he is very smart but from her words it sounds like she wants him to hurt her intentionally. 

You weren't showing it but you were very embarrassed by your words. He wasn't reacting at all. 

"Adam please escort this woman to the cells to await her trial." Adam nodded and walked towards you. The closer he got the more you realized he was very tall. Now you were tall as well, being a god and all, sporting a good 5'11 maybe 6ft. But he towered over you still. He grabbed your arm and tugged you forward roughly. 

"Um excuse me, as my cousin said im also not in on any of this." He laughed, Adam stopped his steps and looked back. The Queen nodded and he grabbed Thors arm too. "Wait do you not need another guard?"

"Thor this guy knocked both of us out with one punch, he's fine." You say.

-

Adam shoved the two of you in separate cells and locked them. He was just about to walk away when you called for him.

"Hey Adam?" He walked back and stood with his hands behind his back and raised an eyebrow at you. "Im sorry for what i was saying back there, sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."

"I can't feel anything." He said with no emotion and you bit your lip. 

"Ya of course, um I guess." You say and lean back on your heels, you watched his face soften but then immediately harden again. He squinted his eyes and walked away, you watched his figure letting your eyes trail his muscles again.

"That was very hard to watch cousin." Thor said and you glare at him.

"Shut up."

[pixies-and-poets]

Maybe something with the Borrower!Woodrow au? If that's not too big a bother of course

- @down-the-rabbid-hole

[A sequel to this piece from earlier!]

The opera had reached its intermission between the second and third acts. Soon the grand finale would be upon them, but for now, the actors and singers hurried to their dressing rooms for a moment's reprieve and to change into new costumes for the next act's timeskip.

Most of the performers shared a dressing room, but as the leading man, Phantom had his own. Once he entered and shut the door behind him, the first thing he did was open his pocket and pull out its little occupant. He held the tiny creature gently in his big hand, raising him up to his eye level.

"Have you been alright in there, tesorito?" he inquired. "Not too hot or stuffy? The stage lights can be sweltering."

"Oh, I've been fine! I suppose I was rather warm, but... I wouldn't have blamed the lights." Still, now that he was in the open air, he did find it refreshing, and realized he had been sweating a bit.

"Well, if you start feeling sick or uncomfortable, you must let me know. Just pound on my chest. I will make an excuse to get offstage and relieve you."

"Ah, but I'd never want to disrupt your show! Worry not about me..."

"There have been many shows, and there will be many others. But there is only one pocket-poet I know of, and he cannot be replicated." With a smile, he leaned forward and gave the little rabbid a kiss on the head. Woodrow reached up and played with his moustache for a moment, love-drunk.

Phantom sat his companion down on top of his vanity, on a pretty box that contained pins, hair ties, and other odds and ends for holding costumes and hair in place. He turned to his costume rack and casually stripped off his clothes, ready to change into his elaborate outfit for the final act. Woodrow leaned forward in yearning, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, longing to bury himself in that chest-fur, to cling to it, to feel his whole body rise and fall with Phantom's speech and laughter and song. But he knew the singer had limited time. There would be time enough later.

"Ah, Tom-" he called out as the singer slid his arms into a fresh undershirt. "I was wondering about something."

"Mmhmm?" said the other, buttoning up the shirt. He usually hated explaining theatre to the ignorant, but for the little borrower he was always happy to oblige. He had an excuse for his lack of knowledge, after all... but also... Tom just couldn't get enough of talking to him.

"Before the show, someone offered you roses, but you turned them down... why is that? I thought you adored roses."

"Ah!" said the ghost with a smile, putting on a colorful new vest. "I wondered if you might find that rude of me. But you see... the person who offered me those roses was either a fool, or trying to sabotage me."

"Sabotage you?! How? Do you think those were poisonous roses?"

Phantom laughed, as he looked in the mirror and adjusted his new costume. "No, carito. Besides, poison would do little to me. Rather... how shall I put it. The theatre is its own world, and has its own rules. Its own magic. And there are many, many things that cause bad luck, and bad shows, and bad performances."

The poet's spine and ears straightened upright in an instant. "Bad luck..." he repeated. Then he settled down again, his ears drooping forward. The wondrous atmosphere of the stage had made him feel like he was transported to a new world, one where he could escape his problems... but it seemed that no place was immune to ill fortune.

"Indeed," said the ghost. "For instance- you may have heard that you must never tell a performer good luck, only break a leg, yes?"

The poet nodded. "Yes! I do remember reading about that."

"It's one of our most enduring superstitions," said the Phantom, pulling on a sparkling coat with a grand cape attached. "And that is why people tell me to break my legs, even though I have none." He chuckled, and made sure the decorative clasp on the front of his cape was secured. "Now, the flowers- that is the same. It's a bad omen to give an actor flowers before their performance. You must always wait until after. I will gladly be showered with roses and petals at the end of the show."

Woodrow nodded in curiosity. "Are there other omens?"

"Far too many!" said the ghost, as he sat down at his vanity, finally closer to the poet again. He opened his makeup-box and began freshening himself up. "You mustn't have a mirror onstage as a prop... you must never incorporate a peacock feather into a costume... there's a famous play whose name you must never speak within the confines of a theatre, even if you're rehearsing it, unless you are speaking the literal character's name as part of your lines... and others, which I can teach you in time."

"Astonishing!" said the little poet. "I thought I was an expert in bad luck. But it turns out there's a whole new world I've yet to learn about..."

Then suddenly he looked up sharply at the ghost. "Tom... do you not think me bad luck? Do you not worry about carrying me with you on stage? Do you worry that I myself will cause the performance to go awry? Considering..."

The ghost froze in the middle of touching up his eyeliner, the applicator in his hand, concern upon his face. Then he sat the eyeliner pencil down, and reached out his paw to gently lift the poet's chin. He leaned towards him and this time Woodrow felt the soft kiss that covered his whole face.

"It's like I said earlier. You haven't ruined my show yet, and even if you did, I wouldn't regret a thing. No matter what, I would rather you were with me. Crowds and crews and even critics come and go. But I want you near my heart forever."

Woodrow returned several kisses onto the large face in front of him. Then he sat back in quiet contentment and watched Phantom make himself even more beautiful.

Before long, a stage-hand at the door called out a five minute warning. Phantom picked up his companion, and slid him into the pocket of his new vest; a new temporary home. And there, separated by a thin layer of cloth, was the heart and the body and the soul he hoped he could call home forever.

[hananoami]

[ Directional Orbit ] Fire - Stage 110 Clear VOD

I cleared Rafayel's Directional Orbit: Fire - Stage 110 yesterday, 05/15, in the most unorthodox way possible; more details about that below. For now I want to give an overview of this stage for those who have yet to reach this far. Stage 110 requires two teams. The Protofield Stellactrum for Team 01 is 6-Pearl memories and for Team 02 its 6-Violet memories. By having a perfect match with the colors for the Protofield Stellactrum your < Resonance Skill > can break 2 Protocore Shield Layers in a single strike and increase DMG to weakened by 100%. For every matched Stellactrum you'll receive an attribute bonus that increase DMG Boost by 5.0% and DMG Reduction by 5.0% (up to 30%). I want to reiterate that there is no right or wrong way to play the game. You should use whatever you have available to you. My game play will differ from yours, but I still wanted to share my experiences and offer tips for the trials. With that said, please feel free to contact me if you ever need advice~ I'm super shy, but I'm always happy to help others. ଘ(੭˃ᴗ˂)੭♡

Oh boy... how long was I stuck on this stage? The earliest post referenced was recorded on 04/24 so it's been three weeks. Within that time a LOT of resources were invested into my Violet and Pearl builds. This includes leveling up memories, farming protocores, and leveling up said protocores. I wrote a lot of entries about those upgrades, but you can find them all under my #directional orbit fire tag. I have countless hours of game play footage, showcasing my attempts to figure out what worked for me and how could I improve. Even in my clear video you can see where I had to cut my failed attempts out as I was constantly restarting the second half. It's a satisfying feeling to see how far I was able to progress. Unfortunately I don't have an updated screenshot of the final team set up in the overview page. However, the only difference would be switching the solar pairs. Team 01 will use the Violet solars [Deep Sea Riches] and [Deep Sea Promise] and Team 02 will use the Pearl solars [Temple's Promise] and [Temple's Sunset]. No other changes were made; all of the lunar memories remained the same. Team 01

After switching things up a bit I went into the first half of the fight with Abysswalker Companion using Phantasma Sands. Previously I was able to auto battle this part without any issues. Having a perfect match meant my resonance skill was able to break 2 protocore shields in a single strike, making it easier for me to bring those wanderers to a weakened state faster. However because I opted to go off colors it took me a while longer where I had to manually play. At first I was struggling clear the fight. There were many attempts with me timing out and the wanderers had around 1 and a half or less HP left. I didn't feel like leveling up [Myths] any higher than lv 40 cause I wanted to save leveling resources for Zayne lol... This is when I decided to use more core energy resources to build up my protocores. I used up 20000 core energy exp to level up a pearl delta (CRIT rate) to +12 and another 20000 core energy exp to level up a pearl beta (Expedited Energy Boost) to +12. I don't remember how much gold I spent on the top of my head, but it was still a decent amount invested. Yanno, even with the core upgrade I still died a lot and failed right after LOL. I don't remember which one of the two wanderer types that puts a ticking debuff on you to take damage, but they stack and your HP will DROP without realizing it. Pretty sure it's a reflective damage from the one that has a shield around it. So every time I was attacking it I was also kms... 🫠 Thanks InFold. So yeah, I would try to be a bit mindful about what you're attacking. If they have a shield up that's doing that you can usually dispel it with interrupts/charged attack or bringing them into a weakened state with resonance skill. I love Abysswalker's kit because it groups them up so nicely before Sharky comes and bites them.

Team 02

The suggestion to use God of the Tides companion for he second half and keeping his lunars the same came up in a conversation I had with a friend after a talking about my meme of a run for open orbit - stage 120 (you can read more about that here). After being stuck on this half for over 3 weeks you'll try anything with hopes that it'll actually work. I had zero expectations on how it was gonna turn out but fortunately for me it did well after a handful of failed attempts! Prior to my clear run I tapped a violet delta core (CRIT rate) from +9 to +12 that had HP bonus as one of it's substat. God of the Tides is an HP talent memory so I wanted to make the most of it by having that extra bit of stats to make up for missing 10% attribute bonuses. I was already focused on increasing my CRIT for this build, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to commit to upgrading this specific protocore. Upgrades are expensive y'all. The stats before weren't as ideal imo which is why I was hesitant before taking the gamble to roll HP bonus %. I know my clear vod made it look easy but what really happened is that I somehow managed to crit harder during this run compared to all my failed attempts earlier (╥ᆺ╥；) CRIT rate is king, especially if you plan on ignoring the Protofield Stellactrum by going off colors to try and brute force things.

The following are my final team set up and their stat attributes--

ADDITIONAL SCREENSHOTS

Companion: Rafayel’s Abysswalker Weapon: Phantasma Sands ♡ Affinity Bonus: 92 When you take a fatal blow, Rafayel teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 3600 || DEF 90 || ATK 180 ] Pair Bonus [AB] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, and reduces team DMG taken by 8%, and increases Crit DMG of Deepsea Persuit by 30%.

5☆ Deep Sea Riches (violet/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 2 using +9 SSR protocores

5☆ Deep Sea Promise (violet/solar) Lv 80/awakened using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆Tipsy Invitation (pearl/lunar) Lv 60 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Fireworks Vow (pearl/lunar)

Lv 60 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Before Sunrise (pearl/lunar)

Lv 60 rank 1 using +9 SSR protocores

4☆ Myths (pearl/lunar) Lv 40 rank 3 using +9 SSR protocores

Companion: Rafayel’s God of the Tides Weapon: Tidal Embrace ♡ Affinity Bonus: 92 When you take a fatal blow, Rafayel teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 3600 || DEF 90 || ATK 180 ] Pair Bonus [TP] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, reduces team DMG taken by 8%, and increases Crit DMG by 10% when fighting along side Sea Spirits. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 20%. The starting level of Sea Spirits rises to Lv. 2, and Sea Spirits will last for 5 more seconds. - Duo Rank 2: increases Energy Charge cap by 1. During Heavenly Rain, recovery rate of energy charge is increased by 30%.

5☆ Temple’s Promise (pearl/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 2 using +9 SSR protocores

5☆ Temple’s Sunset (pearl/solar) Lv 80/awakened rank 2 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Your Fragrance (violet/lunar) Lv 80 rank 1 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ Whispers (violet/lunar) Lv 80 rank 1 using +12 SSR protocores

4☆Ivory Nightfall (violet/lunar) Lv70 rank 3 using +12 SSR protocores

4☆ Hidden Shadow (violet/lunar) Lv 70 rank 3 using +9 SSR protocores

[imunita]

Look for the light

Short description: The story picks up after Santa Barbara and Ellie's visit to the Farmhouse. Ellie decides to depart from the farmhouse without a clear goal or destination in mind. However, her journey takes a turn and she is saved by Y/N from intruders . Ellie, who is still grappling with grief clashes with YIN due to their strong personalities. Ellie finds Y/N annoying and Y/N challenges her in return. Due to a particular circumstance, they're forced to seek temporary shelter together.

Warnings : kind of enemies to lovers , they're not big fan of each other, mentions of death , guns , mentions of murder, potential smut in future , English isn't my first language

word count : 2.3k

Chapter one

Ellie had been in the forest for a few hours, looking for a way out without any particular goal in mind. She wanted to distance herself from the painful memories that bottled in her mind for past few years. The hope and glimpse of happiness she had felt vanished as soon as she entered the empty hallway of the farm house, leaving her only with memories. Deep down, she understood that pain would remain her constant companion, regardless of where she went. Still, at that moment, escaping her haunting past seemed like the best option, even if she lacked a clear destination.

The summer heat was unbearable, even under the trees. Ellie eventually found a small spot to rest, where she put down her backpack and grabbed a water bottle to quench her thirst. While she drank, a snapping sound caught her attention. Infected weren't common in the area, so she wondered if it was some kind if animal, which was the best case of scenario . She carefully put the bottle down, attempting to grab her gun . But it was too late. Out of nowhere, four men appeared, pointing guns at her. One of them grabbed her from behind, trying to restrain her.

" Fuck " she yelled loudly, as she was trying to get out of intruders' arms .

" Now easy girl, we won't harm you if you stay still " One of them said with a mischievous smile on his face.

" I'll fucking ki..."

She couldn't finish her sentence as man behind her grabbed her neck, attempting to strangle her. In the midst of the struggle, Ellie's mind raced, and she remembered the knife in her back pocket. In a blur of motion, she found herself on the ground, the last remaining man on top of her, threatening her with her own knife.

Despite Ellie's attempts, unknown man almost succeeded in his intent, but was disrupted with a gunshot echoing through the woods. Ellie pushed him away, discovering a stranger standing in front of her , putting her gun in the back pocket. Confusion swirled in her mind as the girl took in the situation , extending a hand, urging Ellie to get up.

"Come on, we don't have much time. There are many of them in these woods," the stranger warned, gesturing her urgently.

Your POV

"She seems so angry , scared and sad at the same time" you thought to herself as you looked in her green eyes , Quickly scanning her features on her face .

" I don't need your help to get up " She mumbled as she quickly got up , starting to collecting her belongings.

"Um... How about " thanks for saving my life?" you retorted, growing irritated with her behavior .

" I killed three of these fuckers without you, would've killed the last one as well " She looked at you , slightly rising her tone .

Despite her fiery attitude, she studied you, her gaze starting from your body and ending with your face.

" I don't think that you would be able to kill him with knife in your throat, but okay , you really seem like a person who has everything put together " You replied sarcastically, following her steps .

Rolling her eyes , she fully grabbed her gear, leaving you with a dry response:

" Anyaways , it was nice to meet you whatever, I gotta go " She wiped blood off her face , heading in the direction of the woods.

" Hey hey hey " you quickly followed her , grabbing her arm to stop her. She looked at you once again, scanning your features, waiting for what you were going to say

" I don't think you understood me earlier." You exhaled " I'm not very fond of you , trust me , but I think it's better to stick together, for few hours " You looked around " You don't know these people, there are lots of them, they are fucking dangerous and are ready to do anything , I mean anything " you explained, masking your fear. The horrifying scenes you'd witnessed hours before meeting Ellie were etched into your mind.

" Shit " she took deep breath " listen... I'm not scared of these fuckers , trust me , I can deal with them , but if you're scared and want , you can tag along until we leave this place " smirk accompanied her words.

" Oh you're just so brave , aren't you? " you rolled your eyes , letting her arm go, as you stepped forward, trying to take the lead " You keep forgetting that I was the one who saved your ass just few minutes ago " You glanced back just to see annoyance on her face .

" Now , we have to move , they're getting closer " You finished your sentence, continuing your way out of the woods.

Next few hours were quit, even too much quiet , other than exchanging small sentences, both of you focused on your own tasks, attempting to navigate your way out. It was evident that she shared your dislike for small talk, so you didn't even try to bore her with questions. It was clear that your paths would diverge once you escaped.

"Um, if you're hungry, I have some almonds left," she spoke up, breaking the silence, her gaze fixed on you as she studied your features.

"I'm fine, had something a few hours ago," you replied quickly , offering a forced smile.

"Okay, whatever," she muttered once more, struggling to match your pace.

And next few hours also were the same , except for catching her occasional glances in your direction, she remained quiet. Looking at the sky, which was barely visible, it was clear that it would go dark very soon and you needed some kind of place to stay in . While you didn't expect her to stay, you secretly desired some companionship after witnessing the ruthlessness of the other group, even if it meant being with this rather unpleasant stranger.

"Um..." You paused, locking eyes with her, as it dawned on you , that you didn't even know her name "By the way, what's your name?" you inquired.

"Ellie," she swiftly responded, even though it was obvious that she wasn't fond of sharing any kind of information with you

"Right, Ellie," you sighed, taking a breath. "It's getting dark. I believe we should find some kind if shelter , or not. I'm just informing you of my plan."

"I think we should keep movi—" She couldn't finish her sentence as a loud shout pierced through the woods.

" I THINK THEY WENT THIS WAY"

You both quickly moved away , realizing that that someone wasn't very far away .Finding nearest bushes , you sprinted down ,shooting Ellie a quick look.

"Listen, I spotted their group hours before they attacked you. I saw them encounter another small group , they killed them in seconds—tortured, even. Trust me, if they're close, we need to fucking run," you whispered m, striving to maintain your composure while flashbacks from earlier in the day replayed in your mind.

"And after... they did unspeakable things to the bodies," you added, attempting to mask your fear.

I mean..." Ellie paused briefly, her gaze sweeping around. "I'm okay with running," she added , meeting your eyes.

"If we stay together, we can escape this place. Just stay cautious and run no matter what," you took charge once again, the urgency fueled by the sound of their voices resurfacing.

"THIS WAY!" the man's voice yelled once more.

And you two ran . Other than taking few short breaks , you didn't look back , trying to escape this haunted place as soon as possible. You didn't know how much time has passed, only thing you knew was that after long , tiring time, you two found yourselves out of the woods , stepping in front of the house , which seemed in an enough shape to think that someone was living inside . At the same time , place seemed very empty and abandoned.

" Listen, I don't think we should stay here," Ellie murmured, concern in her voice. "I get that you're tired, but this place seems occupied, and more importantly, it's not far from the woods," she added, her eyes on you.

"I don't know about you, but I've had an awful day and I need need to rest. I'll check the house, and if it's empty, I'm staying. I don't give a shit about the rest," you exhaled, striding towards the entrance.

"Weren't you the one who just had me running for hours to escape those people? And now you don't give a shit ?" She quipped with a small laugh.

"Less talking, more action," you replied, once again annoyed with her , nodding towards an open window. Without hesitation, Ellie widened the opening, confidently entering the house without a word. She seemed experienced at this.

"Um, I think the house is clear," she called out loudly, the front door already open before you realized.

"Come in," she urged with a serious tone.

"It's only been like 30 seconds. How can you be sure?" you started to ask, but she handed you a note.

"If you're reading this, congrats. You're the new owner of this place because I'm probably dead, rotting somewhere near the river. One of those fuckers bit me, and I refuse to turn into one of them, so I'm going to end my life. There's canned food, clothes, beds, and other supplies in the house. Feel free to use them. But please, do not take my guitar and records. They belong here,"

You quickly scanned note , as mixed feeling emerged your body . On the one hand , you were happy that you found place to sleep in , but on the other hand , this note hit too close to home, as memories started to haunt you once again, remembering your family home , finding oddly similar to this one , as it was so lifeless and full of memories at the same time.

" Looks like we won the lottery " you mumbled and looked at her , trying to read her emotions once again.

" Yup..." She murmured, putting backpack on the ground " Let's just find our beds and I'll leave first thing tomorrow " she finished her sentence, as she scratched her head. Glancing her hand , you quickly noticed that two of her fingers were missing.

I wonder what she's been through," you thought, as Ellie caught your gaze on her hands, trying to conceal her imperfection.

"At least can we find some food? He mentioned canned goods," you attempted to brush off the awkwardness, but it didn't seem to alleviate the tension. Ellie appeared more distant now.

After opening cans of beans and peaches, you found a small table in the living room and headed towards it. As usual, Ellie followed you silently, taking a seat across from you. Dinner was again marked by quietness, though this time, Dinner once again was quiet but this time you were the one who was quietly staring , gathering thoughts in your head . Ellie seemed to be holding lots of emotions—sadness, grief, anger—all painted across her face simultaneously. She was so hard to read. considering the fact that she wasn't fond of you either, made it harder to get to know her even a little bit . Not that you were entirely sure if you wanted to. After losing everyone you ever loved in 20 years, forging connections wasn't high on your bucket list.

" Can you stop staring at me ?" silence was broken by Ellie.

Her words took you off guard, but you weren't the type to shyly look away , even though she was challenging you in many ways , you would never admit it.

" god , I looked at you once " you rolled your eyes " and what I'm supposed to do? We've been together for 12 hours already and you haven't said a word , I'm getting bored here " You took your last bite and put fork in the can .

Grabbing your backpack , you headed towards the hallway, quickly finding two bedroom doors . You checked, both had beds and matrasses that were somewhat clean . As you headed back to living room , you bumped into Ellie , who was standing in hallway, waiting for your next move .

" Um , I checked and there are two badrooms " you looked down , trying to get away from the awkwardness as soon as possible.

" Oh thank god I don't have to sleep wirh you " she said quickly, trying to make conversation less awkward, but it clearly didn't work . She took short pause , looked at you , continued talking with calm tone

"you can choose one, I'm fine with either" she gestured, as you gave her small , genuine smile .

" Okay, I'll take the bedroom that's on the left then " you said quietly, almost whispering, as she nodded, heading towards her bedroom .

Before you opened door , you took a small pause and turned around . It was like she sensed your next move , as Ellie was already facing you .

" I'm Y/N by the way " You murmured and looked in her eyes , she gave you soft smile , as she stepped back .

" well thanks for saving me today Y/N" She finished her sentence and before you knew, next thing you saw was her bedroom door closing in front of you.

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

Ahhhh I'm so nervous to finally publish this!!! I have had this idea for months and I finally had courage to write it. It's my first ever writing something, so please be kind and tell me whether if I should continue or not! Comment or dm me your thoughts, it would really mean world to me to hear what you think about it .



[missmeasured]

Miss Measured's Bedtime Stories

I was telling myself a story to fall asleep to, I do this every night. Sometimes I repeat them. (SOTS readers I used to tell myself Blackfeet every night for about ten years.) I think I'm going to start sharing some of my bedtime stories I tell myself. So maybe this will be a part one...

This first one is about travelling with Severus on a train. You're on a mission, I've left it up to you to decide what team they are on a mission for. You're pretending to be married and when a man starts acting like a creep to you, you find yourself having to ask your fake husband to help you out. His surprisingly defensive response leaves you a little... turned on.

Snape x Reader (called 'wife/girl' no body parts mentioned) Rating: Mature

Untitled Train Day Dream

You can’t remember if this is your third mission with Severus Snape or your fourth. All you know is you work well together and compared to everyone else you would choose him again as a mission companion without question. This one seems like it will be a long haul. A lot of travelling the old fashioned way over distances too far to apparate. That’s how you came to be on this train in the middle of some European forest. The trees look black as the night outside the windows you can see absolutely nothing. 

The mission had several goals, small and big, a lot to do, to keep track of. You were travelling under fake names and in the guise of being a married couple. Not so much for this leg of the journey but later it would matter, in old parts of the world where you did not go alone into a hotel room with a man who was not your husband. You needed to stop spinning your fake rings around your finger, but it was currently soothing you. 

During dinner a man had been staring at you from across the dining car. When he smiled at you he just looked wrong, his mouth had too many teeth angling for position in the frame of his lips. His eyes never left you, but in the dining car Severus had his back to him and you didn’t want to risk trying to whisper about it when the man might read on your lips what you were trying to say. So you ignored him and held your mug of tea a little closer and played cards with your fake husband to pass the time.

The trip was booked at the last moment and for this part of the journey there had been no compartments available that would suit pretending to be married, so you were making do with two berths. He had taken the lower bed and you were going to be on the top bed. The little ladder to yours in front of his. 

While Severus was brushing his teeth, that man slunk up and began to talk to you. Talking was not a crime in and of itself but he had waited until your feet were up on your ladder and you were digging in your suitcase for your nightclothes. The way he positioned his feet blocked your escape down the ladder. You were forced to make niceties with the traveller who kept looking at your suitcase like he was hoping to see something lacey fly out of it for his viewing pleasure. He licked his teeth when it was your turn to talk. He made your skin crawl. Your escape came when you said “I think my husband is almost done in the lavatory if that’s what you were coming this way for.” The man eventually takes his leave when that door opens and you shiver off his presence. 

You collect your nightclothes and your tooth brush and wait for the lavatory to be free, positioning yourself in your bunk so you can see when that man is gone back to his own and it’s clear. Still, when you open the door to head to bed after you finish, he is back again blocking your path once more. He leans over you with his ‘fancy meeting you here’ routine. When you once again evade him you walk over to your bunks and find Severus’ curtain already closed. “Husband?” You ask.

One half of the bed curtains open by magic to reveal him tucked in and reading under the lamp on the wall of the berth. “Yes, wife?” He asks as he looks up.

You perch on the edge of his bed and lean in so you can whisper about the man. He has thoroughly creeped you out now and you think you ought to tell Severus in case he tries something. “Get in here.” Severus instructs, pulling back his blankets. You see the lavatory door starting to move at the end of the train car so you hop in as your fake husband suggested, and let him pull you in against his chest. He rubs your back and from that position you get to look up and watch your pretend husband glare at the man pointedly as he makes his way back to his bed.

“Do you want to stay down here? Or we could switch bunks in case he comes sniffing around. I know several defensive charms I could put around your bed to keep you safe.”

“I hate to ask you but can I stay for a few minutes until I calm down?”

“Of course.” He answered and his bed curtains closed themselves again. You count your breathing as you rest your head on him. You should probably stop cuddling the poor man but the bed is small and where else are you going to go? You read his book since it’s open to your eyes as well, something about historical potions ingredients. It makes you feel sleepy.

When he closes the book he places it in the little storage nook you know you are going to have to shift and maybe now is the time you should take your leave. You’re about to suggest you should go but then you smell that man’s cologne. He's outside the curtains you’re sure. You tell Severus, sitting up and brushing his hair behind his ear, your lips making contact with his ear so you don’t have to make a noise louder than a breath in order to explain. 

Severus switched off his lamp and you both peer at the shadows of something moving in the corridor. Could be anyone walking to the lavatory, but it isn’t. You hear the distinct noise of the broken latch on your suitcase and you almost fling the curtain open to hex this asshole right that second, but Severus is moving and suddenly he’s on top of you. He presses his fingers to your mouth to tell you to be quiet. 

He runs his wand all along the seam of the bed curtains. You want to tell him to stop, don’t just defend the bed, he’s likley up there stealing your underthings as we speak, but he keeps those fingers over your mouth while he works. Finally he leans down to whisper in your ear. Your fake husband’s weight on top of you is pressing you into the mattress, his leg between your legs, he comes down on his elbows and says “Trap.” In your ear and you are confused and make a face then realise in the dark he cannot see it.

You’re about to whisper ‘What?’ back to him but he puts a finger over your lips again. Something inside of you clenches at having his hands all over your lips, it's a strange kind of feeling. He hasn't touched you very much before tonight. In the dark you take inventory of this feeling, the weight of him, you remember him rubbing your back while he played the protective husband. 

Nothing could prepare you for your fake husband suddenly groaning, a sound purely sexual, inches from your face. “Yes…” he hissed. “Just like that. Oh good girl…” he moaned and you laid under him, eyes wide. What the fuck was he doing?

He quieted for a moment, pushing up off you to get a better view of the length of light at the top of the curtain. There was a shadow the approximate width of a man, no longer by the ladder. 

“Oh yes, you are my good girl, aren’t you? You do that trick so well, my love. Yes darling.” Severus moaned. The shadow moved, contemplated. You understood now, Severus was tempting the man to try to peek inside. 

You thought maybe you should help. So you let out a little closed mouth moan of excitement. Your mission partner took his finger off your mouth. He leaned back down and groaned “Yes… a little more. That’s my girl.” Him saying these things was making something happen inside you you hadn’t expected. You were getting a little too excited by his fake moans. His knee between yours was too enjoyable. 

You use your inappropriate excitement to fuel a slightly louder moan. That clinches it, the corner of the curtain slides on its track and then the man screams. The curtains fly open so you can watch the set of brass teeth the curtain rod had grown chomp down on his hand. Blood started spilling as he clasped at it and looked at you with hatred in his eyes.

“Let that teach you to keep to yourself. Accio stolen items.” Severus casts and several pairs of your underthings come flying out of the man's pockets and into your mission partner’s hands. “If you come near my wife again I’ll end you.” Severus threatens and then magics the curtains shut again and the lights on. 

“For you.” He hands off your items, which you shove into your robe pocket with ample embarrassment. “If it’s alright with you, I think you should stay down here just in case he has ideas. That way it's easy to wake me if you need an escort to the water closet. I don't want you alone on this train until we are free of him.”

“You are a very protective fake husband.” You tease.

“You are a very cherished mission partner.” He smiles. He climbs under the covers again. “Now. Does my wife want to be the little spoon or the big one?” He asks.

“Little.” You answer, and as his arm wraps around you and pulls you in you find yourself still affected by his deception from before. The way he had said good girl painted a picture in your mind you were having trouble shaking. The way it sounded in his voice had vibrated deep into your bones and now as your ass was pressed into his lap for the night you found yourself thinking about having sex with him. You needed to clear your mind of these thoughts about your mission partner. You two had a job to get done. 

A few minutes pass of thinking quietly in the dark. Trying not to let yourself enjoy this cuddle too much. It was just necessary, the bed was too small to lay side by side. You can't get comfortable, you’re fidgeting and probably keeping him awake in the process. 

“Stop wiggling.” He scolds and his lips are much closer to your ear than you anticipated. 

“Sorry.” You whisper. “I’m not trying to keep you up. My heart is racing.”

“I’m not worried about being kept up.”

“Sorry, I’ll keep still.” You repeat and clench your muscles into stiffness. It doesn't occur to you for several moments what he could be worried about if it's not about being kept awake. “This trip was so rushed I didn't really think about what it means to play a convincing married couple.” You whisper.

“It's a bit late to try and pass as siblings.” He laughs. “Why? What kind of convincing do you think we need to do?” 

“Do you think… we should practise kissing. Just incase?” You turn your body slightly, rolling in place, wishing you could make out his face in the dark for his reaction. 

“Oh little wife, I thought you might never ask.”

I'm picturing berths like Some Like it Hot. So that was the story I fell asleep to! Want more bedtime short stories? Let me know!

Sending love as usual to @5everus for beta reading my every silly thought.

[happybird16]

Transplant

Levi Ackerman / Reader

Warnings: Grief, fluff, not much else

Summary: Change isn’t always a bad thing.

This is sort of a modern companion piece to Beloved Mother. (Plug Plug) 🤣

Thank you so much to my beloved beta @theferricfox 💕💕

Word count: 6.9k

Ao3 Link

Note: Yes, I like flowers. Also, you might want some tissues?

The metal step stool creaks in protest beneath you, whining and metallic, as you stretch to reach the next box. The cardboard is rough against your fingers, the papery material stiff and sturdy as you pull it forward on the overhead shelf. With a strained grunt, you pull the heavy box down, quickly descending the steps to plop it onto the carpet below with a thud.

“You okay?” Levi calls over his shoulder from the other side of the small closet. “We can switch jobs if you want?”

“I’m fine, Mr. Muscles,” you reply with a huff, crouching down to open the package. “Most of this stuff is mine anyways.”

The hangers clack, loud and plastic, against one another as he works his way through the top row. The bottom, much more easy to reach, metal beam is already bare, forcing him to finally bite the bullet and start the upper half. Socked toes curled into the carpet, Levi has to stretch up onto his tiptoes to reach the higher rack.

“Are you sure you don’t want to switch?” you tease, watching his back stretch as he raises his arm high above his head. “That looks a little difficult.”

“Fuck you, you’re not much taller than me.” Pulling another hanger from the row, he asks, “What about this one? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear it.”

Turning away from peeling open the box, your eyes almost burn at the sight. “Ew!” It’s an absolutely hideous ruffled zebra striped shirt, something an old lady would wear to church and think is ‘fashionable’. “When did I ever buy that? No. Donate.”

With a grunt, Levi throws the article to the quickly growing pile to his left. To his right is a much larger box, the bottom barely filled with clothes you're keeping, a mix of his and yours, still on their hangers. Once everything’s sorted they’ll be neatly folded, the hangers placed in a separate box.

The two of you definitely have way too many shirts. Even though your new place's closet is bigger, this was definitely needed.

“These are my books,” you note, finally pulling open the corners that had been folding the box closed. You hadn’t even bothered taping most of your stuff up when you’d put them into storage, probably a stupid move at the time but something you’re grateful for now.

“We’ll have enough space now that you can actually get a bookshelf,” Levi points out, wordlessly adding several shirts you wear often to the right pile.

“That’ll be nice,” you note excitedly. “I probably won’t keep all of these though.”

Shuffling through the box, you note just how terrible your taste in literature used to be. Some of this stuff has to be from middle school at least, trashy garbage romance books and well worn horror novels. The mangas are definitely a keep though, maybe some of the more tasteful romance books. Hmm…

Pulling what turns out to be most of the volumes, a mix of hard and soft back, free from the cardboard, you add them to your own donation pile. “These ones are definitely going.”

Eying the stack, Levi snarks, “I’m not sure anyone’s even going to want to buy Twilight. Even at a discount.”

“That’s fair,” you agree, pushing the mostly empty box into your keep pile, right next to several boxes of holiday decorations. “We should definitely remember to label these before we leave.”

“I’ll try to find a Sharpie once we’re done here.” Holding up a cute dark green dress, Levi asks, “What about this one?”

“Keep, definitely.” It even has a neat little brown belt to tie around your waist. You’ll have to remember to wear it sometime soon, you can’t remember the last time you did. Maybe on your next date.

Ascending the small step stool again, you grab the next box off the shelf. It’s a bit older, the cardboard a bit lighter and more feathery under your fingers. “I think this one’s yours.”

“Probably all trash,” Levi confirms distractedly, holding up an old shirt in front of himself to access it. It’s a well-worn band shirt, one you’ve never seen him wear, but it must have gotten some love at some point judging by how faded the design on it is. Miraculously, it ends up being a keeper.

“They're yearbooks!” You note excitedly, quickly shifting through the stack to find one from his high school years. Sliding out one with ‘06 embossed on the side, you grin wolfishly at your husband. “Ooh I get to see you all pimple-faced and lanky.”

“As if. My acne was never that bad.” Levi says, pulling an entire armful of his countless button-up shirts to fill the entirety of the keep box.

“Lucky.” If only your skin had remained clear throughout all that stress and drama. Paging through the laminated paper, you quickly find one with your husband on it front and center. There he is, stuck mid-air in a high jump, his hair a flying mess, his face twisted up in anger. One hand raised high above his head, the shot catches him just shy of making contact with the ball. “Ooh you were on the volleyball team?”

Pulling out a new box for the keep pile, Levi starts thoughtlessly, “For two years, I was a spiker -hey don’t flip through it! We still have so much to do after this!”

“But you look so cute!” you exclaim, pointing at the small square photo of his 10th grade yearbook photo. Drowning in all black, the scowl he has in it is almost identical to the one he’s giving you now. “You really have had that same haircut forever.”

Rolling his eyes, Levi decides, “We’re making a new pile, those are going in the garbage.”

“Not happening,” you chime, adding the stack to your mostly empty box of books. “They’re going on my new bookshelf too!”

Levi grunts, throwing another one of his old shirts into the donation pile. “Of course they are. I’m sure our friends will love to see them,” he grumbles.

“Hange will, at least,” you agree, shaking your head at the next shirt Levi holds up. There’s no doubt in your mind that the wild brunette won’t tease Levi endlessly with the new ammunition. Levi didn’t look too different in high school, but you're willing to bet both middle school and elementary would be a different story. If it weren’t for your husband's urgency, you’d be bouncing on your feet, eager to take a look right now. “Erwin knew you back then, right?”

“Mhmm,” Levi nods, “since middle school. If Kenny and Uri didn’t move to a nicer district, Eyebrows and I would probably never have met.” Holding up a shirt from an old favorite anime of yours, Levi works his finger through a tear in the sleeve, “This one has a hole in it, do you want me to try and fix it?”

“Nah,” you shake your head. New beginnings and at all that, you think, pushing the box of your old tiny Christmas tree to your left. “It was nice of Erwin to lend you his truck for the week. Saves us the money of getting a mover.” You probably could have hauled all of the boxes with several trips in your little SUV, but there’s no way the furniture could have fit. Levi’s Harley wouldn’t have done much to help either.

“Nice,” Levi scoffs with a dramatic sneer. “The thing was fucking filthy.”

“Well it is a truck,” you point out. “He mostly uses it to haul lumber, there’s no need for it to be tidy. Though, I'm sure he’ll appreciate the deep clean you did when we give it back to him.”

“Would have been nice of him to offer to help us carry all this stuff down the stairs, though,” you gripe, looking at the steadily growing stack of boxes on either side of the room. Given that the living room and bathroom are already boxed up too, the stacks piled up around the entryway, there’s going to be quite the trip ahead of you. Some of them are really heavy too. At least you only have to carry them down two stories.

“We don’t have that much shit,��� says Levi, watching you pull several boxes from the lower shelves. “We can do it ourselves just fine.”

“Oh, so he offered then,” you state with a knowing smirk. Levi avoids your eyes in response and that’s all the confirmation you need.

Some of your old hobby stuff, probably not particularly useful now, donate. “Are you sad to be moving out?”

After glancing at his watch, Levi starts rapidly pulling hangers from above head. “Why would I be?”

“It was your first apartment!”

“I’ve had many apartments, this was just the first one I had alone,” Levi corrects over his shoulder.

“Still, that was a big step. It must be a bit sad to leave it behind.”

Levi only shrugs in response, pulling a sweater from the high metal pole and immediately throwing it to his left.

“Hey, Hange gifted that to you for Christmas last year!” you chide jokingly, eying the hideous sweater on the top of the pile. Levi’s friend -now yours- always revels in getting your husband the most hideous holiday items they can find, enjoying the dread and disgust on Levi’s face. You still remember the cackle they’d released when he’d opened the carefully wrapped holiday paper to discover two reindeer in a provocative position, displayed in finely woven, brightly colored yarn. “They’re going to be upset you threw it out!”

“They probably assumed I already did.” Not an incorrect statement.

“Ya’ know, for a first solo apartment, you sure lucked out!” you exclaim, pausing in shifting through a box of sewing supplies to watch your husband shuffle around. It’s so cute watching him stretch up onto his tiptoes. “It’s not often you see them with walk-in closets.”

“Luck,” Levi scoffs with a click of his tongue. “The previous places I shared with Erwin and Hange were shit holes. This place isn’t much better.”

“It’s nicer than the place I had before I moved in.” Though some of that may be the result of Levi’s obsessiveness. The little building near your old college had smelled like nothing but weed and mildew, no matter how much air you let in. The neighbors were much more obnoxious too, given the university nearby. “You hated the place, remember? The rent is even cheaper here!”

“I’m pretty sure the landlord is up to some shady shit,” Levi huffs, tilting a bright pink blouse towards you. “This place is probably just some money laundering scam.”

Nodding your head at the shirt, you laugh in response, “Money laundering? That sweet old man?” You highly doubt Mr. Pixis is up to anything untoward, other than spending too much time day drinking in gay bars.

“Sweet as a lemon,” Levi snarks with a roll of his eyes. “Plus, you know he was always shit at responding to repair calls.”

“That’s because he’s usually drunk,” you point out. “Well, I know I’ll miss it. I wasn’t here nearly as long as you, but we sure made some memories here,” you note, eyes sliding to the open doorway. In your soon-to-be-no-longer bedroom, there’s now just emptiness. The mattress and bed frame were the first things to go. It creates a sense of urgency, according to your husband.

Right behind that had followed the rest of your bedroom, both of your dressers emptied and sorted through before the sun had even risen above the horizon. The large wooden pieces of furniture themselves had been hauled over in the truck alongside the first set of boxes.

The emptiness both adds to your sorrow and builds your excitement. Moving is always an absolute pain, but not this time.

Levi grunts in response, “There’ll be new ones.”

“I still can’t believe we bought a house. A HOUSE!” you exclaim, happily bouncing in place on the carpet. You were probably a bit too loud, given that the neighbor above almost immediately slams on the floor.

Smirking at your abashed look, Levi snarks, “As if ruining our backs last night, sleeping on the bare living room floor wasn’t enough for that to set in.”

“The sale went through! We’d just gotten keys! I was excited! Besides, you agreed to it!” Still elated, it’s difficult to keep your tone hushed. The words end up more of a stage whisper. “It’s not like you didn’t spend all of yesterday scrubbing the place from head to toe.”

Rising from the carpet, you cross the room to press yourself against Levi’s back. Arms wrapping around his waist, your chin digs into his shoulder as you hug him close. In a soft murmur, you explain, “It just doesn’t feel real. We saved for so long… I know you're excited too. I saw you looking at paint colors the last time we were at Walmart.”

The place is perfect too. A cute two story with powder blue siding and big windows, in a nice safe neighborhood right by a school. A nice cookie cutter with 2,500 square feet and a half acre backyard, just for the two of you. Two bedrooms, two baths, complete with a master bedroom and a master bath. Enough space for all your stuff and then some. Room to grow.

There’s so much to be excited about! A big kitchen, complete with marble countertops and a center island. You want to put in one of those fancy overhead pot racks, right above the center island. And it’ll be nice to no longer park on the side of the street, dreading the day someone inevitably swerves and takes out your mirror. You're already reveling in having a nice warm garage to park in during the area’s snowy winters.

It feels a bit like you’ve just gotten married and are finally venturing off to start your lives together.

Against your chest, you can feel that his shoulders are tight. Far worse than its usual stiffness, his back is ramrod straight with tension. Headless of you invading his space, Levi continues to pull shirt after shirt from the rack. “It’s going to be a big change, that’s for sure.”

Trying to poke at his weak points, you goad, “I can’t believe we’re going to have our own washer and dryer. We won’t have to share with 50 families anymore!”

“That’ll be nice,” Levi answers distractedly. Compared to his exuberance when you’d been touring the place, his response is downright placid.

Now, that’s not the correct response. He seems far too tense, something is definitely off and you have a guess.

“Listen,” you start, swaying in the balls of your feet to rock his body from side to side. “I know you don’t like change. I know that you're stressed -I am too- and you want to get everything packed up and moved over today, but we don’t have to. Both of us took all week off to get settled in, we can take our time. It’s just past noon, let’s take a break and go get some boba at the cafe down the street. One last time?”

Finally, he stops working, sliding a hanger back onto the rack with a resigned huff. Levi sighs, leaning back into your embrace with a heavy shudder. “I know. I’m sorry if I’ve been curt-“

“You haven’t been-“

“-but there’s just so much to do still. I just want to get everything settled so we can get home already.”

Home. He’s already calling it home. The words make your breath catch, heart stuttering warm and fast in your chest.

“Okay. I understand,” you murmur calmly, smoothing your fingers across his stomach. You can’t disagree with his sentiment. There’s still so much furniture and yard equipment you’ll need to buy this week, not to mention unpacking. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Levi murmurs back, squeezing his hand around yours where it rests on his belly. “Let’s get back to work. We still have the kitchen to get to after this.”

Tilting your head back, you let out a dramatic groan. The thought of conquering the kitchen fills you with dread. It’ll be the last step, but probably the most difficult one. The amount of bubble wrap you’d bought was horrifying, and you have no doubt Levi will want to clean every dish and piece of glassware before wrapping them up. Not to mention all the baking equipment. Once you arrive home and start to unpack, he’ll probably want to clean them after too.

You have no idea how you're even going to begin organizing the contents of the fridge.

“Yeah yeah..,” you sigh, feeling Levi shiver as warm breath dusts across his nape. Before pulling away, you press a quick kiss to the fabric at his shoulder.

Plopping back down onto the carpet, you pull the next box in front of you. Some of Levi’s teapot collection, keep. “Do you want to have a housewarming party?”

“That’s an actual thing?”

“Yeah!” The next box is familiar, you don’t even have to open it before setting it aside. It’s your own set of yearbooks, alongside some family photo albums. Maybe you’ll need two bookcases.

“That just sounds like more work,” Levi points out. “Not to mention the mess.” You have no doubt he’s imagining the hurricane Hange always leaves whenever they come over.

“People bring you gifts, I think. That’d be nice.” The box behind the last is ancient, tucked in the furthest corner of the shelf, the cardboard so old that it’s lost most of its color. “This one looks really old, it’s almost falling apart,” you tell him over shoulder. Stretching to pull at the edges and shift it forward, the resulting spray of dust makes you cough.

“I’ll remember to clean up our storage more often,” Levi clicks his tongue, silver eyes worriedly watching you wheeze. “It could be from middle school. I have some old woodshop projects up there somewhere.”

“Woodshop?” you ask, remembering the odd mix of life-skill classes you were required to take when you were little. “What did you make?”

“A stool, I think? Maybe a birdhouse? There’s an old car in there somewhere. I won first place in the race with it. Erwin was devastated,” Levi explains, sounding far too proud.

“Really? So you’ve always been good with your hands?” The innuendo only earns you a stern glare from your husband.

The box is surprisingly light, compared to the rest of the ones in storage. It must be packed tight, though, because there isn’t even a rattle from it when you set it down on the carpet. Opening it, the sight makes you twist your eyebrows up in confusion. “Its… women’s clothing?”

“What?” Confused as you are, Levi quickly sorts the articles in hand and comes over. Looming over your sitting form, he stutters, “Oh -that -that’s my mothers old stuff.”

He plops down hard beside you, as if his knees had been weak, shoulder brushing your own. Pulling a bunch of carefully folded white fabric from the box, it unfurls to reveal itself as a white dress, the neckline decorated with a tight weave of lace flowers.

“Is this all you have left of her?” Levi doesn’t talk about his early childhood that often, only a handful of times over the years you’ve spent together. Having gone with him to visit her grave several times, you know that she died very young just from her gravestone.

Kuchel Ackerman

Beloved Mother

May 20th, 1973 - April 16th, 2003

She hadn’t even been thirty. Having been born on Christmas Day of ‘90, he’d been just shy of becoming a teen when he’d lost her. You wonder if Levi has even realized he’s older now than she’d been when she’d passed.

“Mhmm,” Levi confirms, running his thumb along the fine silk dress. The look on his face is tight, shuddered, but there’s a fondness dwelling deep in his eyes. Voice soft, he whispers, “I forgot I had this stuff.”

“There’s a photo album,” you note, cautiously pulling the thick leather tome from the box. Despite the weathering of the container, everything in it seems clean and as fresh as the day they were placed in here. “Do I get to see you as a baby?”

“Not exactly,” Levi says, picking up a small jewelry box from the far corner. Flicking the lid open, a soft musical sound grinds out from the wooden box, the sound would be a soft twinkle if not for the aged gears. Levi sighs long and hard at the sound, eyes fluttering as his shoulders sag at the familiar tune.

Opening it to the first page, what greets you is far from what you’d expected. You’d thought it’d be full of old Polaroids of Mama Kuchel and baby-Levi, all naked and plump and pink. Instead, the photo-sleeves are full of flowers, carefully dried and pressed for preservation.

“Flowers?” There's hundreds of them, slid into the sleeves of every page. The book seems to be almost full, every page teeming with petals of vibrant colors. Reds and pinks of every tone, vibrant yellows, stark pristine whites, rich blues and purples, all flanked with soft green leaves of varying shades.

She must have learned as she went, because the first few flowers -some daisies and red roses- are roughly pressed. Her technique quickly adapts as the pages pass, the dried petals becoming a beautiful display. Beside every one is the tight, sharp scrawl of Levi’s mother, her handwriting a bit smaller, but nearly identical to his own. She identifies each flower in her neat cursive, complete with a date, right beside its sleeve.

“She liked to garden in her free time,” Levi explains, tugging a pair of tiny pearl earrings from the twinkling jewelry box. He lifts them up, briefly perusing the studs before replacing them within the wood. A small chain follows, thin and fragile looking as it twines around his fingers.

“Didn’t you live in a small apartment on the East Side?” It’s the poorest neighborhood in the area, you know that. The most dangerous too, if the news is anything to go by. They’re constantly discussing shootings on that side of town, or outright thefts. Right outside of the old industrial district, the whole neighborhood is nothing but old brick buildings, still stained with smoke from the long abandoned steel mills.

Levi nods his head, explaining, “There’d been a small empty lot nearby. I think it was supposed to be a community garden, but no one else really used it.”

You hum in response, drinking in a page of beautiful striped lilies, white with pink and orange with purple. “Must have been nice to have it all for herself then.”

“She found it therapeutic, I think. I remember helping her dig holes when I was barely knee high.” Replacing the jewelry box with a quieting snap and lifting a hand, Levi gestures about the correct height off of the ground.

It’s hard to picture, given that you’ve only ever seen one photo of the woman, tucked into your husband's wallet beside your own. She looked like him, you remember, only with a softer face and longer hair. In your mind's eye, you try to craft the image of a little version your husband by her side, small and energetic, his cheeks dusted with dark soil. “You? Digging in dirt? I can’t even imagine you touching a worm.”

“I mostly just helped pull weeds. I actually enjoyed it -it was nice,” Levi says, scooting across the carpet to rest his front against your back. Curling an arm around your waist, he rests his chin on your shoulder. “Mom was always happy and smiling when she was there.”

He describes her so rarely, but when he does she always seems so soft and sweet. “I would have loved to have been able to meet her.”

“She’d have loved you,” Levi breathes with a soft hum, smoothing his fingers across your stomach in a soft beat.

Continuing to leaf through the pages, the sheer variety of flowers within sends you into a state of awe. Some are quite common, something you’d see in any forest nearby, but some you wouldn’t even be able to identify if not for Kuchel’s helpful labels. There’s some repeating, as if perhaps the first plant didn’t make the winter -judging by the dates- so she tried again. Despite being dried over twenty years ago, you can still smell them, a fresh new wave of sweet and natural perfume filling your nose every page turn. “She grew all of these?”

“Not exactly,” Levi states, “some of those were stolen from greenhouses.”

“Stolen?” Your shock must be blatant, because Levi barely manages to hold in a laugh, the sound coming out as an airy snort.

“Mhmm,” Levi confirms with a soft hum. “We’d go on the weekends. She’d pick flowers that she’d liked and tuck them behind her ear to take home. Sometimes she even grew the seeds from them.”

“That’s not stealing! I doubt the owners even noticed or cared.” you justify, leaning back into his chest. You enjoy feeling the soft rise and fall of his chest, the soft rumble of his voice against your back. “It’s disingenuous at best.”

With a fond smile, his eyes distant and the edges crinkled in joy, Levi continues, “It was always a thrill whenever we went. Our secret little heist that we always got away with.”

You can only imagine the adrenaline surging through his little body, the loud peals of laughter once they’d gotten away with their crime. “That sounds like so much fun!” You always loved when your parents did stuff like that. Something harmless, but meaningful. A memory to cherish. “She sounds like a great mom.”

“She was,” Levi fails to hide a sniffle, grey eyes a bit watery. As you turn to the next page, Levi jolts behind you, pointing towards the page. “That one was her favorite.”

It’s a giant, red flower, taking up an entire page all by itself. The trumpet shaped petals, all five of them, surround a long yellowish-peach pistil. “A hibiscus?” you note, reading the little label beside it. “Why?”

“She liked to swipe more tropical looking flowers, imagining that we somehow managed to go somewhere nice. They didn’t always take, most of them couldn’t grow here. That one, though, grew like wildfire. We had to build a little wooden trellis to help it thrive.”

Whenever he speaks of her, Levi always seems so happy. Somber, no doubt, but with a fond smile curving his lips and a bright shine in his eyes. He’s mentioned before that his earlier memories have faded, to his absolute dread, making his time with her spotty at best. You're glad that he at least has these little pieces of her.

“Would it be alright if we displayed these?” you ask, still paging through the thick book. Long stems of lavender greet you about midway through, the scent still fresh and earthy. “We could put some in a picture frame in our new living room, right next to the couch?”

“I’d like that,” Levi hums, silver eyes drinking in the tight scrawl of his mothers handwriting, the dried petals of her hard work. All of his urgency gone, Levi rests heavily against your side, chin tucked tight to your shoulder.

“It’s a shame there isn’t a baby book though…”

“One’s been sitting on the shelf in our room this entire time,” Levi points out, a bit smug that you never noticed.

“What?”

Laughing at your surprise, Levi softly pats your shoulder before rising, “Let’s take a break after we finish up here. We can go get that boba before we start in the kitchen. One last time.”

Living in the suburbs is an adjustment, that’s for sure.

Everything is just so eerily quiet. There’s no neighbors, bouncing around or yelling, right on the other side of your wall. There’s no constant buzz of traffic, of horns and sirens blaring in the distance, only the soft hum of an occasional car passing by. The air even tastes fresher.

All of your routines were immediately ruined. It’s only a forty minute drive from your previous place, but everything was immediately so different. Every place you frequented, all the little mom&pop shops lining the sides of the busy city streets, every beloved take-out place, all now completely out of the way.

It was unsettling to you, at first, but Levi took to it like a duck in water. Spreading himself out to take up the new space, even heading to the nearby park to go on long runs in the mornings before work. You really should get fit and join him, make it a bonding activity. Given that the basement is quickly progressing its way into becoming a home gym, there’s really no excuse not to.

He’s even sleeping better now, out here where nights are nearly silent, save for the occasional buzz of a cricket or drone of a cicada. On the other hand, you almost miss the noise.

It was a revelation just to have so much space, with an actual back yard to boot. You have tentative plans to buy a hammock to put under the tall, flowering tree in your backyard. It would be a nice place to cuddle up together, lounging for hours beneath the white petals, fluttering softly in the breeze. Even though summer is just approaching, you can’t wait for winter, with long nights of sipping hot chocolate cuddling up in front of the fireplace.

On a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon, as you pull into the driveway, Levi is mowing the front lawn in tight, meticulous lines. You should have known that he’d be obsessive with lawn care. It’s been a solid month since you’ve moved in, but the sight never ceases to surprise you. No doubt, the weed wacker will follow, trimming all of the edges to a perfect point.

Given that the warmer months are quickly approaching, the growing heat, alongside the exertion, has him working shirtless, sweat shining bright along his muscle-packed torso as he pushes the noisy mower across the uneven terrain of your front lawn, winding around tree after tree. You hadn’t even realized how much more work a hilly lawn would be, but Levi seems to enjoy the challenge week after week.

Not even bothering with the garage, you park about halfway up the driveway, waving at your husband as he curiously turns off the mower mid-pass. As you exit your little SUV, he quickly approaches, pulling his goofy little earplugs from his ears to wrap the cord around his sweaty neck.

“Levi,” you greet excitedly as he jogs up to your side. “I got you a surprise!”

Pulled forward by a soft clasp on your shoulder, he greets you with a quick kiss. Brows drawn tight in curiosity, Levi’s gaze his firm on your own as he asks, “Didn’t you have plans with Hange? Did they cancel on you again?”

“Come here! Come here!” you wave at him excitedly, ignoring his questioning gaze. Continuing to wave, you lead him around the backside of your car.

As he follows, frowning down at the mud-coated knees of your jeans, the smattering of darkness coating the front of your t-shirt, Levi asks, “Why are you covered in dirt?”

“Don’t mind that- Look!” With a click, you pop open your trunk, the back end swinging high overhead with a loud creak.

“You bought flowers for the garden?” Levi asks, eyeing the collection of plants packed tight into the trunk of your car. There’s so many that the cheap black plastic containers are all right against one another with no space in between.

“The little lot was still abandoned, but everything was still there. It was crazy overgrown with weeds, but I managed to pull these ones from the mess,” you blurt excitedly, the words coming out a bit too fast.

“Wait -what are you talking about?”

“The little trellis was still there by the way,” you continue unheeded. “Though it was mostly just wooden bits.”

“Have you lost your mind? The fuck are you even saying?” Eyes searching your face, Levi seems to be assessing whether or not you’ve suddenly gone insane during the few hours you’d been away.

Pointing a finger into your trunk, you urge, “Look! Do you recognize them?”

Levi takes a moment to eye the collection, silver gaze drifting across roses, red, yellow, and pink. Lavender in pastel purple, tall and straight in its containment, high enough to brush the roof. Tulips, both monochrome and striped, miss-matched all into one group. At the sight of the big, robust red petals of a hibiscus, his jaw openly drops. “Wha- you- what?”

It looks like his brain has fried, something backfiring along the back of his skull and short circuiting his system. Wide eyed, brows drawn up high behind his bangs, Levi seems to be at a loss for words. His jaw works, mouth opening and closing, lips pursing, but nothing escapes. Chest heaving with deep, rapid breaths, he leans forward to caress the soft red petals.

“I know you were planning on planting some tea, but I think this wouldn’t be too much more work. You could easily do both.” Hopefully this isn’t too much of a burden for him to deal with. Maybe you didn’t think this through completely.

“You,” Levi’s voice is so small, quavering as he struggles to comprehend your gift. He sounds like a small child, awed by the perfect present. “You brought Mom’s garden…”

“It’s not that much, I could only separate out some of it-“

“-oof!” You're cut off, pulled in by a frantic embrace. Levi’s arms pull you hard into his chest, wrapping around your waist and across your back with such strength that it steals all the air from your lungs. Face pressing against your collarbone, you can feel a wetness from where his face burrows against your skin. “Are you crying?”

You haven't seen him cry since your wedding day, several years ago, and even then it’d been quiet. Merely a light shedding of tears, no noise, and even then he’d waited until the two of you were alone to do so. Now, he’s gasping, shoulders shuddering as he sobs into the divot of your collarbone.

“You brought me Mom,” he warbles, almost a whine. The fingers at your shoulder blades become claws as he tries to nuzzle further into your embrace. “I couldn’t go back, not after everything that happened, but you brought her to me.”

“You loved her, more than anything, and she loved you too. But she was taken from you too soon,” you explain softly, patting his back. “We can visit her grave, and yeah we have some of her things, but I- I wanted some part of her to be here, living with us. For you.”

Smoothing your fingers along his bare back, the man practically trembles within your embrace, pressing his whole weight into your form. “All of it might not survive, transplanting can be a bit rough. I did my best with their roots.”

“I love you,” he states, firm even as he hiccoughs. Pressing a wet kiss to your neck, he continues, “I can’t believe you did this.”

“It’s nothing,” you state, firm and simple, even as your eyes start to tear up. Pressing a kiss to the crown of his head, your words are a bit watery as your eyes begin to leak a lazy trail along your cheeks, “We’ll take care of it together.”

Taking deep breaths, Levi struggles to calm down, eyelids fluttering against your sternum. “You're covered in dirt,” he notes again, nose curling up as he peels away from your torso.

“And you're all sweaty,” you chide right back, curling up your nose in mock disgust. Part of you wants to comment on the wet mark he left on your neck, a mix of snot and tears, but he struggles enough with expressing his deeper emotions as is. “Why don’t we take a bit of a break, get some tea, and then start digging holes.”

Levi shakes his head in response, still sniffling a bit, “I don’t want them sitting for too long. That can’t be good for them.”

“They were strong enough to survive on their own for almost 20 years, I��m sure it’ll be fine if you need a break.” Levi shakes his head in response, eyes already accessing the mostly bare stretch of your garden, so you say, “Let’s at least find something to wipe off your face with.”

“It’s fine,” Levi says, “I have a towel folded up on the porch for once I was done with the yard. I can just use that.”

When he wanders back, a bit less sweaty and snotty, his nose is still bright red, the skin around his eyes flushed a bright pink. “Where do you want them?” you ask him.

“Most of them need a lot of sun, so along the front of the house will probably be best.” It’s amazing to you just how much gardening knowledge Levi remembers, despite being so young at the time. “They’ll need water almost daily at first.”

Nodding your head, you decide, “I’ll set a phone alarm so I remember when I get home from work.”

“I’ll get it, you’ve already done more than enough,” Levi replies, waving you off as you begin to pull out your phone.

Pulling the dirty shovel from the back seat of your car, Levi suddenly turns with a start, pointing at you with an accusing finger, “You lied to me!”

“I -uh…,” you start, stuttering at the sudden, absolutely correct, accusation. “I’d merely been in the area..,” you try, the words sounding weak and defeated.

“With a shovel and the trunk of your car lined with a tarp?” Pulling twin sets of cloth from your back seat, the fabric flops around as he jerks them towards you, “You even had gloves!”

Raising your hands in defeat, you concede, “Okay, okay, you got me! I had this all planned out. Hange was totally going to back me up if you’d called them.”

“You went to the East Side by yourself?” At the words, Levi’s sharp gaze drags slowly across your firm, trying to find any sign of injury. “Do you know how dangerous that was? Remember, I got stabbed down there once? I told you about that right?”

“It’s fine! It’s fine!” you soothe, mind picturing the light white skin of the scar decorating the left side of Levi’s belly. “The most I got was some scratches from the thorn bushes.”

“You shouldn’t have gone alone!” Levi asserts angrily, but you know it’s just concern. “You could have actually brought Hange at least, they’d make a good meat shield. I hope you at least had something to protect yourself!”

“I have a taser somewhere in my car? I think it’s in my glove box?”

“You think?” Huffing a loud sigh, shoulders sagging in defeat, Levi pleads, “Next time you do something like this, at least tell me first okay?”

“I’m an adult, I could handle it. I didn’t even really see anyone anyways. The whole apartment complex seems to be abandoned,” you explain. All the windows on the first floor had been broken and the brickwork had been coated with graffiti, but the whole area had been eerily quiet other than the yowling of some stray cats. There’d been a handful of ominous pops in the distance, but that’s something you’ll only mention when you tell this story years down the line. “Honestly the sketchiest part was finding a place to park.”

Shaky hands pulling a pot full of hibiscus from the trunk, one of many since you’d tried to get as much of that one as possible, he remarks, “I can’t believe you sometimes.”

Helping unload some red roses, you say, “The risk was worth it, to bring some of her home for you.” It almost feels as though, this way, she’s still alive. You never got to meet her, but this way your mother-in-law would get to greet you as you came home every day.

You hope that it brings Levi a sense of comfort, having her here with you. That the lingering, distant memories of her blossom and grow alongside them. Her flowers, her garden, brightening up the front of your new home.

Maybe, one day, when your family grows to fill the empty rooms, your little ones will help take care of them with the both of you, tending to Kuchel’s garden just as Levi did.

“Thank you, I -I don’t have words,” Levi stutters, carefully putting the leafy hibiscus on the cement of your driveway. Bluster gone, tears are suddenly building in his eyes once again. “I’m going to pay you back for this.”

The words sound like a threat, but just the warble in his voice tells you he wants to do something sweet for you. “It’s really not necessary.”

Sniffling again, Levi thumbs the soft edge of a red petal. Over the passing years, the plant seems to have grown and grown. Whereas the previous blooms had been big enough to fit on a page, these ones almost dwarf Levi’s entire face. Smiling down at them, soft and sweet, Levi murmurs, “I don’t know how, but I will, just you wait.”

Tag list: @levmada (I should really do one of those polls to get names)

[basicallyahedgehog]

20 questions for fic writers!

Thanks for the tag @maesterchill, I loved reading your answers!

Here are mine! (under the cut)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 30!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

64,491, which is higher than I expected actually. My one 13k fic is doing the hard work in pulling up the average words 😂

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Harry Potter!! Various ships but mostly Drarry

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Love You Find - The one with the road trip My Heart Was Unprepared - The one with Draco's diary All The Time In The World - The one with gender euphoria The Strings That Weave Us - The one where Draco has pink hair The Evolution of Soup (Or How Harry Learned to be Loved) - The one with too much soup and a lot of feelings

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

No, but not by choice per se. But I have truly terrible object permanence and by the time I remember them I feel bad that I haven't responded yet and then I never do...

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Til The End of The Night - I don't really write fics that don't have happy endings, but this is just 700 words of angst. Sorry Harry. I do have a kind-of sequel planned for this but who knows if it will ever get finished!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

As I said, I don't really write not happy endings. But maybe The Love You Find.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've had a couple of odd comments, but none that I would class as hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have written exactly two fics that have smut, one drarry and one poly golden trio. So I'm not sure if I have a kind? Probably soft and sweet, or at least that's what I aim for.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No I haven't, and I don't think I ever will. I don't really know any other universe in the same way as I know HP - both the canon and then the world I've built for it in my head - to be able to confidently combine them.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'd be open to it if anyone ever wanted to.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I haven't! @phoebe-delia and I keep talking about it though...

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Drarry, always

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

As mentioned above, I have twoish chapters written of a "sequel" (maybe more a companion?) to Til The End Of The Night. It's the first Drarry fic I started writing and it got abandoned in favour of fest fics and I've never gotten back to it. I would like to think I will, but at this point my faith is low!

I also have the first four books written of a Hermione-POV canon, which was my first ever fanfic. It has been long abandoned and will never be returned to. If you manage to track down my old ffn account and find it, godspeed to you

16. What are your writing strengths?

Ummm. People tell me I make them feel things, so maybe that? I also can't turn my SPAG brain off, so as long as I slow down enough to edit my own writing, that's usually pretty strong.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I am not good at writing plotty things, and when I do try I find it really hard to not just info-dump it - to actually describe what is happening instead of just narrating it to the reader. I can do vibes, but not plot 🤷

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I love it in other people's fics, but I do not have more than a couple of random words in any language other than English. I know that translation sites exist, but I feel that I don't have enough knowledge of other languages to do it justice.

The only time I'd break this self-imposed rule would be if I was making new spells - eg using Latin.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter. First and only!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Oh boy. Either All The Time in the World or (They) Keep Me Warm. Because both of them are full of all my trans feels and are probably the two fics that I have put the most of myself into.

Thanks again for the tag, this was fun! No-pressure tagging @phoebe-delia @otpcutie @geesenoises @citrusses @makeitp1nk and anyone who wants to!!

[buntchugley]

taking care

The Blade of Frontiers had faced many challenges and weathered many storms in his years protecting the people of the Sword Coast. No longer standing alone is a strange adjustment to make.

---

g rated, wyll ravengard/male tav wyll gets sick and is taken care of no matter how much he tries to be a big damn hero about it

For a moment, once the battle had ended, Wyll swayed, swaggering but not following, in wooziness and relief that the battle was over. Despite himself, he startled slightly when a large hand gently touched his elbow - it was unsettling, knowing there were people in his life now able to see his moments of weakness. All the more reason to dedicate himself completely to the task, making sure he stood strong in the face of their mission.

It took a few beats for him to realize his companion was talking to him while he had simply stood there, trying not to fall over. He turned, finally, looking up at the half-elf who was searching his face with a worried expression.

"Ah, is everyone alright?" Wyll asked, hoping his lapse of attention wasn't as noticeable as it felt. His head throbbed, and the dizziness threatened to make him drop.

"Everyone except you, I believe."

"Nonsense. I'm fine, I just... might need a moment -"

Wyll extricated himself from Riose's grip with less elegance than he'd hoped, but managed to sit on a nearby log in a way that didn't resemble a fall too badly. Despite his determination to keep a straight face, he rubbed his temples in a futile attempt to dispel the mounting pain.

"No, something's definitely wrong. Was there poison? Shadowheart?"

Wyll tried to shake his head, but the movement set off a wave of nausea, forcing him to refocus his efforts on his breathing. Doubled over, heel of his palm buried into his temples, he was aware of Riose and Shadowheart standing over him. After an indeterminable amount of time that felt like hours, Shadowheart hummed in disapproval.

"No, there's no poison. I believe he's simply sick."

Something he was trying to tell them himself, if they'd listen. Give him a short rest and he'd be right as rain again. He'd say so, if his tongue didn't feel so heavy in his mouth.

"Is there anything you can do?"

"Healing isn't exactly what I'd call my specialty. Had he spoken to me about this sooner, perhaps, but at this point I'm afraid he'll have to just wait it out."

Riose stepped away, clearly intending to cut their day short and set up camp, something they absolutely did not have time for - there were people in need who couldn't wait just for them to play nursemaid. But Wyll found he didn't have the strength to argue when Riose returned to lead him to his tent. The entire afternoon and a whole night of rest, and no doubt he'd have shaken off this unfortunate sickness and would be back with a vengeance in the morning.

---

Wyll had no memory of getting in his bedroll, and for a moment it was hard to remember anything beyond blurry memories of the past few weeks' ordeals. He blinked up at the top of his tent, willing himself to sit up but unable to muster the effort. Instead he just gripped his blanket, torn between whether to bury himself in it or kick it away, shivering with the cold even as he felt the sweat on his forehead.

He hadn't been this sick in years.

The decision was forestalled by Riose tentatively peeking into his tent. The man's face lit up when he saw Wyll awake, and he gingerly ducked into the tent, immediately dwarfing the space with his height. Begrudgingly, he managed to sit up, ignoring the wave of dizziness and constricting feeling in his head as he did so.

"There you are," he said, and held out a flask with a smile. "Drink something?"

Gratefully, he took it, downing it quicker than was probably wise. Wyll sighed in relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead with a hand that was definitely not shaking, and hoped his smile was more convincing than he felt.

"Much obliged, love. I'm sorry about yesterday, but I'm feeling better this morning."

Riose smiled, but looked apologetic.

"I'm afraid it's nearly sunset."

Gods, how had he wasted them so much time? He began to stand, but was stopped by Riose's frantic gesturing.

"Come on now, none of that. The day's already over. Rest. I'll get you some soup, if you feel up to eating? I even made Gale include some vegetables for a change."

As he spoke, Riose grabbed some cushions that Wyll hadn't noticed had made their way to his tent, and offered them to him, which he used to prop himself up.

"Truly, I can manage -"

He didn't expect the look of sadness in those pale eyes at his protest. With a quiet bit of chanting, the wizard summoned a cool cloth, reaching out to wipe his forehead, and despite his conviction Wyll leaned into the touch.

"Yes, I'm sure you can. But maybe you shouldn't have to. Let me help you. Goddess knows you've been helping us."

That's not the same, he nearly says, but stops himself.

"You'll make yourself sick," is what he says instead.

But he takes the cloth in his own hands, lays the soothing chill of it along the back of his neck, and lets himself lean back. Riose smiles wide at him, and he supposes it's hypocrisy to think that the man looks just so painfully earnest as he stands to exit the tent and retrieve some food.

"No I won't," he retorts over his shoulder as he goes. "I have no qualms bothering our dear cleric before I drop."

[troolyart]

Entity AU pt 1.

[How long?] Stanley asked. The Narrator looks at him through those damned yellow lenses, the green of his eyes being hidden by more than just the lights in the Zending that they currently are enjoying.

"What do you mean, how long? You really must expound more, Stanley. You can't just ask one simple question if you want a straight answer. How else will I know what you're talking about?"

Stanley just sighs and flops down onto the cool carpet, letting the lights illuminate his face as he stares up at the ceiling. His hands start to move while his face remains eerily blank. [How long have I been here? How many resets has it been, Narrator?]

The lights that have been bouncing around in the dome pause for a split second, almost imperceptible, before they continue as they were. Stanley can hear his companion let out a sigh and mumble to himself, most likely checking through his script for the answer.

"Ah, here it is," the Narrator muses as he fixes his glasses to be higher up on his nose. "It's been around six hundred and thirteen resets at this point. Although some of those weren't even my doing, I'll have you know."

There's a shuffling to his left before a small thump sounds next to his head and a warm, soft hand lands on top of his forehead.

"Stanley, I can tell something is bothering you. Why else would you ask me this out of the blue? You can tell me anything, honestly you can."

Stanley finds it in himself to sign again. [How long were you trapped here...before you changed?]

The hand atop his forehead jolts a bit before it calms down, a thumb creasing the worry lines Stanley's accrued over the years to try and smooth them out some. The office worker's eyes meet his Narrator's, green pools that appear haunted despite the colorful atmosphere. Stanley can't blame him for that; all of the years he's told him about, trapped with nothing but his own voice until the Parable decided to take pity on him must have been hell.

The hand leaves his head and the Narrator sighs heavily, his voice still present as a groan in the air that leaves him, as if he cannot be silent in any way. "Ohhh, I don't know, Stanley. It could have been years or three days outside of this place, but inside it...it felt like a millennium."

The Narrator turns his head to look at the man next to him, and Stanley does the same. "What brought this on?"

He can't help but flinch ever so slightly as he finally sits back up, knees drawing close to his chest. Stanley can't look at him when he asks this. Hell, signing might be difficult given that his hands are starting to shake.

He manages a shaky [Can't] before turning away. The hand is back, this time on his shoulder, pulling as if begging him to turn back around. It's still warm. Alive. Real.

"Stanley, please...talk to me? You're starting to frighten me a bit. What's troubling you so— good god, your hands are trembling. Stanley??"

Stanley buries his head into his knees and projects his thoughts to his companion, something he hasn't done in a long time given how much he prefers to sign in person.

"How long do I have until I forget who I am, Narry? Until I don't remember I'm human?"

It's quiet in the dome. Too quiet for how much his Narrator likes to talk. The last time it was so quiet was when Narrator became upset with him and left him alone for an hour or two. Probably the worst two hours he can recall. Oh god, why isn't he saying anything? Did I say something wrong? Is he upset about what I asked? His thoughts start to spiral and he can't even hope to know if he shut off that link to him and the Narrator.

Suddenly, the warmth on his shoulder moves to encompass him, pressing into his back, his sides, everywhere arms can reach. Soft hair tickles the side of his neck and a shiver runs through him as warm breath hits his skin. The Narrators voice comes to him soft but firm, as firm as the arms around him, directly into his ear.

"I wouldn't let that happen, Stanley. Ever. Not to you."

Stanley can't remember the last time he cried outside of the Parable. He's cried plenty inside it, though, usually after the discovery of a new ending that brings the both of them nothing but grief. He's crying now. Stanley is certain that the Narrator can feel the tears falling from his face onto the man's hands. One of those hands cradles his face and tries to pull it out of the nook his knees have made. He obliges and looks back into thoes green eyes, now also beginning to tear up.

"I will not let you forget, Stanley."

The office worker pulls away a little bit, takes the Narrators hands in his, and leans forward to touch foreheads with the man. His thoughts stop their spiralling enough to try and get his thoughts across. "But what if that doesn't work? If I'm too far gone, then—"

"Then I will remind you as often as you need me to," he interjects. "As often as I think I should, even if you're completely fine. Your name is Stanley. You're human. You are real."

A small smile starts to creep along Stanley's face as he takes in those words. "I'm real. My name is Stanley. My name is Stanley and my coworkers are missing."

The Narrator let's out a chuckle at his thought, the sound reverberating in Stanley's head as their foreheads still touch. It's so real. He's real. His Narrator.

"Ah yes, your coworkers are still missing aren't they? And yet here we are dillydallying in this room. Oh well, they can wait can't they?"

Stanley let's out a chortle at that with his companion following suit. God, this felt right. All that worrying about what could happen to him while the whole time he has his Narrator to look out for him. And he'll do the same for his friend. No...friend didn't quite fit their relationship.

He's so close. Not even inches apart, the Narrator is basically in his lap at this point. His lips are right there...he could just...

So he does.

Stanley's always been an impulsive protagonist, always diving headfirst, logic be damned. The kiss is nearly the same, but it becomes more thought out when his Narrator leans into it. Where he should place his hands becomes almost second nature, when to take a moment to breathe through his nose so their lips can press against each other for just another moment.

Stanley pulls back first, the Narrator lingers in his space, eyes half-lidded. The lights in the Zending have all gone pink, which does nothing to hide the blush they both are sporting. Both men smile before Stanley brings his hands back up.

[Thank you, Narry. For reminding me how real I am. And for the kiss.]

The older man grins mischievously. "Oh don't thank me just yet, dear boy. I'm going to be reminding you so much you'll get sick of me after a while."

Stanley quirks and eyebrow before pecking his cheek. [Will that also include kisses every time? Because I might not get sick of that.]

"You'll just have to see won't you," he says as he starts to get up off of Stanley's lap in order to stand. Once up right, he holds out a hand for Stanley to grab. "Ready to reset, darling?"

Stanley takes ahold of his hand and gladly let's himself get pulled along like always. [Ready.]

[ziracona]

TLDR at the bottom, as I know this became very long. My apologies.

I would really like to clarify first that I am not arguing with you or attempting to make you like her and am just attempting to explain my stance since you seemed confused about specifically this: as someone who is very solidly for mage rights in the Dragon Age games and also really likes Vivienne, I do think you overestimate how many fans she has? Which is completely understandable as fandom has cooled a little bit in the last few years, which means there’s less discourse posts floating around, but it used to be that if I found Vivienne content it was vitriolic towards her—she has a canonical Ao3 tag labeled “Vivienne (Dragon Age) Is A Bitch” for example.

We’re not prone to criticizing her character on the regular because she already gets a lot of it, on about the same level as Anders (whom I also am very fond of) and most of it has already been said before.

For examples though, her arguments about mages are genuinely infuriating and make little sense.

She is fantastically racist in the game, which is also very frustrating, though to be fair to her, I’m having trouble thinking of a companion who isn’t at some point or another without ability to correct them (Dorian supporting slavery and his “elven harpy” comment towards, Cole’s “Never trust half an elf” comment which is bad regardless of if they were intending it to be about Michel, Solas and Sera’s everything unfortunately, etc. all come to mind.) Maybe Bull, Leliana, or Josie? I can’t remember them being so off the top of my head.

These things do suck and most Vivienne fans (except for a few, but typically fans who support the fantasy Catholic Church aren’t going to be the type of fans who will bother caring about a Black woman—they’ll usually go for Cullen, the white straight man who is anti-mage and who the narrative actually cares about) are very aware of her flaws, but generally we think it was a very stupid idea to have the first Black companion (that they will actually admit to being Black anyway, unlike Isabela who got whitewashed and Morrigan and Cole, who never really have the fact that they are mixed Black acknowledged or shown in the games) support the oppressive system and use her as a mouthpiece for a conservative agenda.

(Using characters as a mouthpiece for whatever agenda the devs are trying to push with little regard to their actual characters is a very common thing in Inqusition—ex. at one point they have Cole say Cullen was a “good Templar who remembered the mages are people” when Cullen literally has a line in 2 saying “Mages aren’t people like you and me.” which is a direct quote from him, and even though Cole should by all rights be terrified by Cullen. Also, all of Varric’s Inquisition characterization.)

I mean, her companion quest is just there to have you distrust her briefly (the quest is named after a classic villain line and the youth potion paper) before “surprising” the player with the the fact that she… has layers? Cares about someone? Which is so… incredibly stupid on the Dev’s parts for a variety of reasons that if I talk about now I will start getting genuinely angry over.

I also think she has some very redeeming qualities. I personally found that she was very compassionate towards an Inquisitor she was friends with. It doesn’t stop her from being opportunistic, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing necessarily. I think this bit specifically is probably something we won’t agree on however, since we have very different readings on these moments, so I’m going keep it at that.

None of this is meant to convince you to like her at all, but I wanted to explain my perspective in doing so since you seemed confused about it.

TLDR: I, and many other pro-mage Vivienne fans, are aware of her flaws, but we think that was a terrible writing decision and do see several redeemable qualities in her character. None of this is meant to sway you in your dislike of her, but I wanted to explain my perspective since you said you didn’t understand how someone could like Vivienne and be pro-mage.

(P.S. I am very sorry if any of this comes off as condescending or if this was completely unwelcome. I’m autistic and have a hard time with tone, both reading it and delivering it. I’m working on it, but I’m still not good at tone over text.)

I. I understand all of this. I’ve criticized the fact they made the first black companion a huge bitch and a bigot against her own kind from the second it became clear that was her personality? But her being the first black companion also doesn’t innately make her a good character. Being a minority doesn’t make what a character does automatically ok or less bad, and idealization is dehumanization as much as villainizing is. It makes BioWare’s writers and their decisions gross, and their agenda gross, any anyone who uses her sucking as an excuse to be racist or disproportionately hateful to only the black companion horrible, but it at the same time doesn’t just…make her good, or ok.

She’s written stupidly, but the character they made is a bigot given no real character growth who tries to ruin the advances for mage rights even if you put forth the best possible outcomes (Lelianna Divine, allied Mages) and befriended Vivienne. She straight sucks. She does. She is a bad, selfish, emotionally manipulative person with no empathy for those of her kind less privileged than her, and a species traitor. (Or whatever? Can’t think of a better thing to categorize Mages as. Class??) It’s not like I only complain about her. I’ve been just as liberal complaining about Doriana and Sera and every other fucked up choice the Devs made. If you’ve seen anything I posted the past week, you’ve probably seen me having a meltdown over how utterly unsalvagable Inquisition is as a game. As for Viv herself, she’s not devoid of good qualities. She’ll be nice if she’s your friend, you’re right, but you have to be kind of terrible to befriend her at all, and so? So is everyone on the planet. That’s what fair weather friends /are/. But beyond that, yeah. She’s not all evil. She cared about the guy she was mistress to. She’s not a monster. But she high key is a terrible person and sucks. You’re right, the devs making her quest a quote from the Queen from Snow White of all things, to encourage a player to lie to her, is fucked up. So is literally everything they did to her. So is how they treated Bull, and Dorian, and Sera, and all kinds of things. But that doesn’t make the character good.

From your own description, you don’t actually like canon Vivienne. You like the HC version you rewrote in your head. And that’s fair, and it’s a fair way to say fuck you to the devs—I do the same with Solas. But you’ll never see me not absolutely accusing the shit out of canon end game Trespasser Solas—he’s a racial supremacist genocide intellectual dude bro, which is a horrific choice for the devs to make esp considering his preTrespasser characterization, but that’s still what he was. I can ignore that and make my HCs, but I’m not going to pretend canon wasn’t what it is. It was. And I wasn’t complaining I see alternate takes on Vivienne, but that I see people talk about Canon Viv like she’s a girlboss while claiming to be pro mage, and those things just concretely do not and cannot go together. And that complaint absolutely stands. It’s cool and even good to hc and rewrite her as a different person. But that’s not canon Viv anymore then, it’s an OC that should have been in the game.