aria0fgold · 8 months ago
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Looking at my old drawings is so... I'm so happy for my own improvement but also ououououghghghgh....
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avoxrising · 11 months ago
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The Feral One • Chapter 7
Finnick x Y/N
Series Masterlist Link
Trying to balance good writing with getting out chapters quickly so bare with me!
Content warnings - violence and death, cursing
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“It’s a clock!” Katniss exclaims. “Wiress, you’re a genius!”
Katniss explains to the group how the arena works, making you realize that you running into the tribute during the lightning was just a coincidence, and the lightning didn’t always mean danger.
The group decides to go to the cornucopia to survey the arena and test their theory. You would like to grab a weapon but you don’t know if that’s allowed. Katniss already confiscated the arrow she shot you with so all you have is a weak arm and an injured arm.
Finnick walks between you and Peeta, with Katniss behind him. You really need to earn her trust back if you’re going to stay with the group, although, you don’t know how much she trusted you to begin with.
Katniss and Peeta warily eye you as you look through the weapons, trying to find a knife or two. Too many large weapons will just slow you down. You’d rather just have a few knives on you.
“She’s fine,” you hear Finnick tell the pair. “It’s safer for us that she is armed in case we get attacked. She’s already told me she doesn’t want to kill you so I doubt she’ll throw any knives your way. She knows the difference between doing damage in a fight and killing. Just give her space and don’t act so on edge around her. She’s doing her best.”
Katniss lowers her bow but doesn’t make any move to distance herself from you. It seems like the guarding followed you from the capital to the arena.
The group sits down as Peeta draws a map of the arena. Wiress goes down to the water to clean off some wire Beetee got that you assume is for his big smart plan.
“Did you see anything where you went?” Finnick asks you. You shake your head and just point at the lightning Peeta drew on the map.
“Just lightning?” he confirms and you nod your head. Looking at the map, you’re glad you only ended up with lightning. The rest of the jungle looks terrifying.
The group begins chatting about birds in mines when you hear a sudden gasp. You all turn to see Gloss slitting Wiress’ throat. If the capital wanted you to act feral, they were about to get a show.
It happened so fast. Katniss shot Gloss before Johanna threw an axe into Cashmere, killing her instantly. You noticed Brutus and Enobaria going for Finnick and Katniss but you were too far away to stop the knife Enobaria threw from sinking into Finnick thigh. She’s dead.
You charge at her, screaming like a wild animal. She seems ready for your attack, however, and positions herself for your oncoming blow. You collide with her, sending both of you to the ground.
There’s no time to reach for the blade tucked into your belt. You claw at her face, drawing blood, as she attempts to push you off her. She’s successful in rolling the two of you over, putting herself on top. You go to grab for a knife when her teeth sink into your wrist, shooting pain through your whole body. It’s a shock she didn’t bite your whole hand off.
That’s when the cornucopia starts spinning. Enobaria leaps off of you and tries her best to escape with Brutus while the rest of the group is caught off guard by the movement. You clutch onto the rocks with your good arm but you can feel yourself slipping.
Katniss falls off the same time you do, sending both of you into the water. Even with your bad arm, you’re still a better swimmer, so when the water calms you’re able to orient yourself.
You spot Katniss struggling to find the surface a few yards away from you, so you dive back under and swim to her. Bracing yourself for human contact, you grab her arm and start propelling her to the surface. It takes her a second to realize you’re helping, especially with the amount of blood you’re releasing into the water, but she swims with you till you reach air again.
Peeta helps her out of the water, checking to make sure she’s ok. You do your best to pull yourself up but you’re in too much pain. Finnick takes notice and grabs onto you, yanking you onto the rocks.
He doesn’t even have to say what you’re thinking. The bite looks bad. It’s hard to tell if Enobaria punctured the vein in your wrist but you think she did due to the amount it’s bleeding.
“Johanna,” Finnick calls. “Do we have any bandages left?”
“Nope,” she shouts. “The only ones we had went to Volts.”
“Shit,” he mutters, trying to figure out what to do. He uses your knife to cut the arm off your wetsuit, apologizing that he had to cut yours as his was destroyed by the fog. He wraps the fabric tightly around your wrist, trying to stop the bleeding.
“This should work until we can get some sponsors to send us something better,” he states. You shake your head at him. Sponsors wouldn’t send you anything. You were on your own.
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pampushky · 3 months ago
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Foot of the Gallows
trafalgar d. water law/reader - chapter 5 - 3.2k
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ao3 link | masterlist | series masterlist | next chapter
5.) lion's bane
A powerful sedative once dried and powdered. When picked fresh, it can be pickled and then eaten to help children sleep before significant procedures. Legend says it was once used to make a fierce mountain lion sleep, so that it could then be put into the royal menagerie.
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You’re on your way back from foraging for a certain mushroom that only grows deep in the forest when you see someone leave your shop, which is interesting. Because your shop was always closed during this specific time, on the same day every week, it makes you freeze before you sprint back to the shop, fearing some version of a robbery only to find…. a clinic.
Lined up around the first floor of your shop are dozens of people staring at you while you stand there with your chest heaving, your harvesting sickle held out like a weapon. And sitting behind the counter, in your stool that has always been your stool since you could walk, is Law, focused entirely on the swollen wrist of a mink-hybrid child. Tiny little cat ears flattened to their head while a doting father hovers, a bushy white tail twitching back and forth as Law murmurs and draws a shimmery black string of mana a centimeter or two over the child’s wrist. The string flashes, sinking into the child’s skin, watching as the wrist stops swelling, while Law scribbles down something on a piece of paper— your paper! 
He blinks at you as you stand there and give a little wave as you look at the line of people. They’re mostly peasantry, the same people who you would have ended up writing prescriptions and waving the payment, though you do see a few nicer-dressed folk, who look rather embarrassed to be sighted alongside the lowborn seeking Law’s care. 
“You were gone, so I opened up my clinic here.” Law gestures to the line and how he’s set up at your counter. Using your pens and paper. Offering the younger patients sweets you saved to keep off your hunger during rushes.
“You’re in my stool and using my paper,” the words come out before you can stop them. And you feel your face heat up. Because that’s not what you’re really mad about, but you still want to let him know that you’re mad about them. 
So you turn right on your heel and go upstairs to start to dry the mushrooms you’d foraged, but it’s not right, because you’re supposed to be downstairs when you do this. After all, that’s the best place to do it. It’s not too humid, and the light around this time of day is perfect even when you’re an hour late or early from coming back. But it’s too loud down there, and the floors will be covered in mud, and you’ll have to clean it all again before you can start, meaning that the mushrooms will take longer to dry, or they may not dry correctly at all. 
It’s ridiculous. You know that. They’ll dry fine on the kitchen counter as long as you cut them the same way and use the same spells to help wring the moisture from them. But downstairs was where your mother had taught you how to do it. Where your Uncle had helped you learn the spell to pull the water from it, and it was always where you had done it.
Downstairs is where Law had become your husband now, too. 
With matching embroidered cuffs and necklines, as was standard for the couples that could afford it, it was your fault for not clarifying to the tailor that he didn’t have to do that. You look down at the thread around the cuff of your sleeve. The serpentine body entwined with the ivy. Constricting, tightening around the neckline of your dress, and by instinct, your hand goes to your throat as if to ensure nothing is there.
Why do you keep having to remind yourself that Law had never choked you on that day? You place your hands flat on the counter, counting down from ten as you had learned to do when your mind got the better of you in these moments.
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Law can feel the prickle of annoyance and anxiety trickling down his back as he helps the next person in line. Your mana makes a prickling noise, almost like a Geiger counter, in his ears (not that Law knew what a Geiger counter was or could even comprehend the idea of nuclear waste). And continues to feel it, crackling in the back of his mind until there’s no one left in the shop. He’s well aware it’s yours, but he’s not sure about what. It’s been a week— the pattern you two have set out has worked thus far. 
Or, he thinks it has. You don’t talk to him unless it’s absolutely necessary. But the anxiety says otherwise. And just when he’s about to start sweeping, he can feel a jolt of rather violent anxiety spiking— enough so that he sprints upstairs just to see you with your palms on the countertop, staring at a pile of neatly-sliced mushrooms on your drying rack. He can hear you mumbling, one of your hands clenched in a tighter fist than the other. 
The mushrooms are dried now, or close to it, but you still seem frazzled. Eyes squeezed shut as you count your way down from fifty. 
“Are you alright…?” Law stays at the top of the stairs, not wanting to get too close. Your hunched form leaning against the doorframe of your bathroom haunts him still. 
“Fine.” You gasp out as if it’s painful to do so. “Perfect. Amazing. Stupendous. What are other synonyms, you were always better at the languages than I was,” you trail off, and he can see how labored your breathing is as you start to count down from sixty. 
“...You don’t sound it,” Law speaks hesitantly. Weighing your symptoms in his mind, practiced eyes taking in your entire body. Anxiety attack. You need grounding, and fast. You’d never been good with more practiced methods– he recalls that much, or rather, has had those details committed to memory forever. So, he walks briskly to your side, pulls you to the kitchen sink as you briefly protest, only to plunge your hands into a stream of icy cold water. “Five seconds. Then I want you to go from cold to hot.”
“What—”
“Do you have any ice?” Law rustles through the cabinets, knowing that you had at least oneenchanted one to keep produce and meats fresh, and then another to keep things frozen, he just can’t recall which one it is. 
“Yes— top right–”
You shriek when he pops an ice cube rather forcibly into your mouth, and the anxiety that had been trickling down his back pops, as though it never existed to begin with. 
And then you cuff him in the ear while trying not to drop the ice cube from your open mouth.
“Law Water D. Trafalger—!” You screech, and he can’t help it. He starts to laugh, dodging your clumsy swipes at him, easily blocking them. This seems to enrage you even more. “What the hell were you thinking—!?”
“A way to stop your panic attack,” Law laughs, grinning so widely as you pause, as if you’re still processing what he’s said, before scowling at him. “C’mon, give me some credit. I’ve known what your panic attacks look like since we were kids.” 
“You also once shoved a pill bug in Luffy’s nose when he was sleeping.” Your tone is so dry as you turn off the faucet and leave the ice cube in there to melt. “Shanks was pissed,”
“He bit me!”
“He was like, seven!”
“I didn’t bite when I was seven,” Law sulks, leaning against the counter. “I just watched my parents die.”
“.... By the gods above and below, you’re still such an ass,” You mumble, bracing yourself against the counter, turned away from him. But he can still see the little smile on your face. Good, he’s distracting you. Forcing you not to think about whatever had upset you so much. 
The mushrooms catch his eye again. Lion’s Bane. He’d always needed more of that— it helped him to sleep when he’d first moved to the southern continent when the pain of the curse had really started to kick in. Before that, he’d spent most of his nights passing out from exhaustion when he finally couldn’t take it anymore, and asked Doflamingo if there was anything that could help him. Anything. 
And, of course, there was. But it came with a price. Everything that was given to him came with a price: another tight wire coiled around his neck to keep him under control. 
“Hey— these look good,” Law plucks one of the thin slices from the drying rack, carefully examining it. “You really have gotten better. With your earthen magic, I mean.”
The anxiety immediately comes back, and it nearly knocks Law over. Okay– one question answered, but now another presented itself to him. Why were you so anxious over the Lion’s Bane? These were perfect— he wasn’t joking about that. You were one of the best apothecaries he’d ever worked with. Yet your anxiety said otherwise. It was making him feel nauseous. 
“No, they’re terrible,” You sound so certain. So utterly devastated. “I wasn’t as fast with drying them, which means they won’t be as effective when powdered.”
“That’s… a thing that happens?” Law puts the mushroom back down. “How much does it affect it?” 
“It takes five and a half minutes longer to kick in,” You mumble, and he hates how tears are threatening to spill over onto your cheeks— 
But he laughs. And you look utterly startled. 
“Then they’re just fine for doctors,” Law does mean to, but he takes your hands. They’re clammy and shaky, and he worries about your circulation for a brief second before he snaps back into gear. “I promise. How many minutes do yours normally take to kick in?”
“Ten minutes,” you whisper, still with tears threatening to spill, “They’re gonna take fifteen and a half—” You stop speaking when you notice how baffled he looks. “What?”
“Your Lion’s Bane powder. It only takes fifteen and a half minutes?”
“Ten normally,” you pull your hands away from his and start to wring them nervously. “Why?”
“They take about forty minutes on average. From every other apothecary I’ve gotten them from. How— what are you doing to them? Whatever you’re doing to them, you’re making them so much more effective,” Law looks at one on the drying rack, then at you, and then back at the drying rack, snapping one up as he makes his way over to the couch. “Time me. I— I need to test this, this is remarkable if you’re right—“
“You shouldn’t eat an entire dried slice—“You make a grab for his hand, but he’s already dangling it above his mouth and drops it in, chewing and then swallowing quickly. He looks at you, and suddenly, you’re both fifteen and seventeen again. “Oh my fucking Gods, Law, I’m gonna kill you.”
“Are you timing it?” He grins at you, and you have half a mind to have Gertrude smack him in the back of the head or reach down his throat to pull it from his throat.
“What— no— I should be shoving charcoal down your throat right now—“
“Well, there goes the experiment!” Law slumps onto the couch. “Where are you even getting them from, I can already feel the effects— yes, slight blurriness around edges of my vision, slowed reaction time,” he adds when you pitch a pillow at him, and he doesn’t even dodge, letting it hit him square in the face, pulling it to his chest. “This is remarkable!”
“They’re just in the woods outside the city wall! It’s where my family’s been getting them from for centuries—“
“You need to show me.”
“Excuse me?”
“These could be…” he yawns and blinks sleepily, “…a huge breakthrough for… for chronic insomnia…”
Law is slumped against the wall before he can even finish his sentence, drooling onto his tunic as you watch him. There’s gentle shuffling behind you as Gertrude comes to set a leaf on your shoulder. You pat their leaf gently and plop down onto the opposite side of the couch, rubbing your forehead. Gertrude wordlessly starts to get you a glass of water while rifling through the cabinet to find the charcoal you’d mentioned when Law first ate the mushroom. “Thank you,” you mumble, taking the charcoal from the plant, along with a glass of water. The charcoal is already crushed, meant for emergencies with your customers. In this case, just for your idiot of a childhood friend and now husband. Law snores as you mix the powdered charcoal with the water and doesn’t even flinch as you pour it into his mouth, tilting up his throat and having him swallow, keeping his head tilted forward so he doesn’t choke. It’ll be a bit late to help him wake up, but you just sigh, leaning back against the couch. Gertrude brings you a cup of milk tea, gently patting your head with one of their leaves before going back to being nestled around the top of the cabinets.
Your eyes close softly after you finish the cup of tea, still caked in mud from your four-hour hike through the woods to get to the lion’s bane.
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When you wake up, Law is looming over you. You do the natural thing and scream, kicking him immediately in the place you’ve learned is the weakness of most men, regardless of if they were born as one or not. You kick him straight in the balls, watching as he topples nearly instantly, clutching his groin while holding in several groans as he bites his lower lip.
Gertrude is laughing, the little shit. They’re laughing, and you’ve just kicked Law in a very sensitive area. Rustling their leaves from the top of the cabinets until you shoot them a stern glare. 
“G’mornin,” Law’s voice is several pitches higher. Still holding his crotch and looking at you with a very shocked expression. “That hurt.”
“Why were you hovering over me,” you steady your breathing. You still have your leg outstretched to kick. Your hands brace on the couch. “Like a fucking weirdo?”
“You’re getting mud on the couch.”
Your eye twitches. And you stand, even when you want to sit back down and rub mud into the fabric just to spite him. But you know you’ll be more upset in the end if you do end up doing that. The mud feels so wrong against your skin when you’re in your casual wear. It would stick to your skin all day, even if you’d washed it away.
“It’s my couch.”
“Our couch.”
“Fuck off, you literally ruined my day yesterday,” Your voice is venomous, and he seems shocked by the anger. 
“How?”
“You— ugh— you wouldn’t get it,” 
Because he probably wouldn’t. You’d tried to talk to your parents about it, especially when they still worked with you. You liked things done a certain way. There was always a proper way to do things and a certain place to do it all. When trying to tell your mother that, while she was turning the orange roots of a fire bush into a paste, she just quirked an eyebrow at you and told you, albeit lovingly, to get over yourself and that any place in the shop was the right place to work, so long as it was clean. She didn’t understand that while it may be that way for her, you liked your rhythms. The specificity. It had taken years to develop these routines and patterns for harvesting and processing all of your medicines. Along with finding the perfect materials to label and write your detailed notes. 
Kizaru had somewhat understood. But he also was in a very different profession than yours. Yet he understood nonetheless.
“Why not?”
Why not? Because he would likely tell you to get over it like your mother had and would make you work out of your comfort zone. Sometimes, it helped. Other times, it made it worse. She hadn’t meant anything by it. She just didn’t understand.
“Because— because I’m weird about my shit, and I don’t like it when people use it,” You blurt out, “Like my paper! That paper is resistant to most degrading compounds, so it’s safe to not only label but use as a packaging thing, and I really, really hate when people sit in my stool because it’s my stool and—“
“Calm.” You feel a wave of ease roll over you, with Law pressing his thumb to the center of your forehead. 
You feel like the world is moving much slower. Or your brain is. The prickling under your skin is gone. “I do actually understand that,” Law says, pulling his hand away from your forehead and kneeling so he can look you in the eyes. His hands are warm, cupping your face, making sure you’re looking at him. “And I’m sorry I invaded your space like that. You’d been gone for two hours already, so I figured it would be alright if I opened my clinic down there.” “It takes me five hours to get the lion’s bane, and then I dry it downstairs. That’s how I’ve always done it.”
He hates how tired you look. How soft your voice is. He knows exactly why you’re like this, too. You’d always had… peculiarities about doing things your way. It’d make you cry if you couldn’t do them the way you’d always wanted to do them, sending you into a quivering mess. Your mother had accidentally triggered one of these when she’d been drying out thunder root and had nearly panicked when you couldn’t voice why you were so upset. 
“I didn’t know. But I won’t do it there, or at that time, again. Okay?” Law pulls his hands away, and he thinks he’s imagined the way you almost chase after his touch. “... do you normally panic when things like that happen? It… hasn’t changed?” “Yeah,” you pull your knees to your chest. “I think. It’s just been piling on. All the stuff from the past three weeks.” Law nods, rocking back on his heels. 
Just the two of you. Law on the floor, you on the couch, both of you with your knees to your chests, looking at each other. It’s painfully familiar and foreign at the same time. 
“...I never apologized. For….” “Don’t,” Your voice quivers. The fight and anger are gone. You just sound defeated. And he can feel the weight of the sorrow on his soul as you tuck your head into your arms, hiding away your face. “Please.”
The sorrow gives way to fear. Of the wetness of mud caked on your skin, slinging to your hair and eyelashes. How it weighed down your clothes, your skin, your hair. How cold you’d felt as you trudged back to your home. 
You hate mud. Yet you’re still in the mud-caked clothes from your hike to forage for mushrooms yesterday. “Alright.” Law chokes, unable to handle just how heavy everything feels from your side of the bond, “Alright.”
You don’t know how to feel when there is an unfamiliar twinge of guilt and longing that is not your own. The door down the hall shuts as Law shelters himself away in his room. And you just cry into your arms, your tears turning the dried dirt on your sleeves to mud again. 
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empressgeekt · 7 months ago
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Trolls - Accidental Knight Branch AU (Field of Forget-me-nots part 1)
My hyper fixation continues and for some reason I got this idea while watching a Bug's Life. And i"m thinking of linking this to my Keith and Branch Brother hood Au (link to that post if interested - https://empressgeekt.tumblr.com/post/744629825487126528/trolls-branch-and-keith-brothers-au). I think I'm going to re-name it A Field of Forget-Me-knots Au. If they end up linked that is.
The Au would start before the first movie. Branch is still grey and on his own, with the exception of his little stalker. Keith had been following him for the past year, and branch had taken a reluctant liking to the kid. Pretty much becoming a big/little brother duo that no one in the village gets. Keith's habit of story telling, is encouraged by Branch, who buys the kid notebooks to put his idea on paper. During the summer evenings, Branch would help edit his grammar and spelling, while working on a latest trap as Keith read his latest chapters. The trolling's current story fixation, being one about a trolling knight who protects his village and wears a suit of armor in the brightest green leaves. Branch askes Keith where he found the inspiration for it, and Keith explains that it came to him when he was helping Branch with the alarm systems and predator preventions he made for the village. Branch is flattered when he learn that the kid thinks of him as a hero, but doesn't admit it.
When Keith's birthday rolls around. In addition to another note book, and some custom made drawing pencils, Branch decides to bring Keith's character to life. With all the mechanical know how, he learned from making traps and weapons, (and sewing skills thanks to Grandma), the grey troll can pretty easily fashion together a suit that is both functional and how Keith described it. With room for all the Gadgets that Keith gave his character. Which on the weapons side Branch kind of cheats due to him already having multiple back up bows and spears. He just paints those to match the suit. Keith is ecstatic to see Branch in the suit, and insists on Branch wearing it while they check the traps that day. Branch allows it, partially because it makes the kid happy, and partially because he wants to show off his gadget re-creations. Keith even calls Branch, "Forest Guardian" all through the walk. At some point, Branch falls into a flower patch, and pollen gets all over his hair making it turn into a maroon color.
Their on the last of their safety checks, this one just outside of the village borders, when suddenly the alarm strings go taunt and screaming is heard in the direction of the village. Branch tells Keith to run back to the bunker using their escape tunnels, and keith says that, "Forest Guardian is needed". Branch rushes off, completely forgetting that he's in a ridiculous looking suit, finding a rabid wolf charging through the middle of the village. Most the pods are too high for the predator to reach, but the trolls on the ground are done for...Branch grabs hold of the spear tied to his back.
Poppy is on the ground, trying to get as many trolls away from the wolf, but she's at a lost of what to really do. A predator like this had never gotten this close to the village, so she's scrambling. All she knows is that everyone is screaming and running, their afternoon song is ruined, then suddenly out of nowhere the wolf is taken down. Poppy looks up, and finds a troll with maroon colored hair, clad in armor of the brightest green, their hands gripping a spear that was impaled in to the base of the wolf's skull, killing it. In the corner of her eye, she sees one of the trollings, Keith, Call out "It's Forest Guardian!"
Branch is very uncomfortable with all the people suddenly staring at him, once the wolf is down. Then he hears Keith call out, and suddenly remembers he's in the costume. They don't know who he is. Still he doesn't like being the object of all there attention. Branch rushed back into the woods before Poppy has the chance to thank him.
Keith meets Branch back at the bunker. Branch immediately takes off the suit, and confronts Keith as to why he was in the village and not safe in the bunker. Keith said he wanted to see Forest Guardian in action. Branch retorts he's not Forest Guardian. Keith said he could be, and gets upset, because he based a the character off of branch, but the grey troll doesn't want to be a hero. Branch said he wasn't a hero. Keith says that he is, and recounts all he does for the villages protection and no one sees it! And they are all mean to branch. It makes the trolling frustrated, and this way they can be nicer to branch without Branch having to deal with them invading his personal privacy.
Eventually Branch gives in, after all the armor stopped him from getting hurt by the wolf, and it would make it easier to carry needed essentials. So when ever he goes after predators that get too close to the village he wears the suit. Keith promises to be Branch's man on the inside and reports to the grey troll on all the rumors that were spread about them. They have a good laugh over it.
Meanwhile, the village is set on fire with news of their new hero. People are gossiping and word of the "Forest Guardian" is spreading fast. And one troll in particular has become engulfed by the flames. Poppy has become obessed with the Forest Guardian. She wants to thank him, know who he is, and become his best friend. No she is totally not fangirling over him, like the twins tease. The snackpack is equally enthralled with the new village hero. Cooper, Biggie, And GD are impressed with how cool he looked, The twins have been making fan wear based on eye witnesses on the armor, Fuzzbert and DJ Suki want to know who his gear works, and Smidge wants to know where he learned how to take down a wolf. They are all willing to help Poppy find the Guardian. Creek is grateful for the new hero, but he is a little apprehensive about Poppy wanting to find him. After all he could be dangerous, and what kind of troll would use violence before friendship.
Nothing could stop Poppy's hunt. She askes everyone in the village what they know about the Forest Guardian. She sadly doesn't get much information. Until she asks Keith. The little trolling tells her all about how the Guardian lives out side of the village in the forest, and that he's been defending the village from predators for years, the wolf had been a rare instance when they snuck passed his defenses.
Poppy: Keith how do you know about this?
Keith: I see him. I go into the woods sometimes, he's always looking out for us.
Poppy: And no one knows? No one's thanked him!
Keith: He's shy and a little different. He doesn't think the village will accept him.
Poppy: He's our hero, we'd always accept him
Keith: he doesn't think so. He's seen how you treat other people who aren't like you.
Poppy: We aren't mean.
Keith: not actively.
Poppy: Look Keith Sweetie, you think you can get me meeting with him?
Keith agrees and leads poppy out into the woods. And calls out to the "Guardian". Branch and the trolling had come to an agreement that if he was refered to Guardian or Forest, then someone was with th trolling and Branch needed to play the part. Branch just didn't think Keith would bring the princess of all trolls. Poppy excitedly begins to ramble, until Branch clears his throat. In a deeper voice he sends Keith home, and asks what Poppy wants.
Poppy: We'll first to say thank you
Branch: I don't do this for thanks your highness
Poppy: Well, we're going to give it to you now that we know about you! Especially since you've been protecting all of us for so long.
Branch: How do you know about that?
Poppy: Keith told me.
Branch: Of course.
Poppy: Now, to show you how grateful the village is for all your work, we're throwing a party for you and officially inviting you-
Branch: Pass.
Poppy: WHat?
Branch: Apologizes for my brashness Princess, but I do not enjoy big loud parties.
Poppy: Why not?
Branch: You're larger celebrations attract a lot of attention from Predators your highness. Any part you through means a lot of work and stress for me. After years of this, I've lost my taste for such gatherings
Poppy's thrown by this, but in some form understands. The Forest Guardian's work is dangerous, he could've gotten hurt many times over while they partied. She had no idea that their parties attracted predators. She asks if their was any way to prevent that
Branch is shocked, all he had to do was save the village and put on a mask and suddenly people wanted to listen to him?! Taking advantage of this new found respect. Branch takes Poppy around the forest explaining how he keeps everyone safe from the forest, and just how vulnerable they all are. And that he deosn't want them to stop their fun, he just doesn't want anyone to get hurt or worse.
Poppy takes all this information, back home to her father, and suggests a few changes to make life better for both their guardian and the village. Peppy says that some of these suggestions would need to be consulted by the council however one of them they wouldn't need approval for. When talking with Keith the trolling had offered a less explosive way of thanking the Forest Guardian. Peppy agrees to knight the hero.
Word spreads quickly as troll village hadn't had a knight since before bergen town was established. So everyone is really excited. When keith tells Branch about the knighting thing, it's really surprising to the grey troll. After all he only took down one wolf their acting like he conquered the sun for them. Still the kid talks branch into going to the ceremony.
The ceremony goes smoothly although branch doesn't stay very long at the after party. Keeping up appearances is hard. Not to mention Poppy is all over him wanting to dance and find out his real name. He doesn't give it. Still some how rumors fly about hiw the princess and the new knight are smitten with each other. Keith teases branch about when ever they meet up. Branch is just worried about Poppy getting too close to him. After all in reality he isn't the hero they all think he is.
Life goes on, Poppy tries to reason for more safety measures but the council won't allow them. She goes to branch as the forest guardian for help. Shockingly its easier to standup and reason his ideals while in costume. He gets them to think about it, and Poppy offers lunch as a thanks. She disappointed that he won't take off his mask to eat, which leads to a conversation over why he hides his face. Once more rumors about the knight and princess pick up pace.
When the 20th freedom anniversary rolls around, Poppy trie to invite the knight but Branch declines saying that such a party 2as too big of a risk during predator season. Poppy doesn't head his word as Guardian or normal branch and goes trhough with it. You all know how this ends. Poppy goes to the bunker and asks Branch if he has seen Forst Guardian any where worried about if the Bergan had already gotten to him as he didn't show up to fight the bergen. Branch said he didn't know. As in canon Poppy stuffs the village in his bunker. Keith tells Branch to go after her as Guardian. They both know Poppy has 0 to none on survival skills, and this way no one will stumble onto his secret while in the bunker.
Poppy is at first thrilled when Forest Guardian joins her, however her excitement dwindles as she realizes that he's more of a grump then she thought their hero was. He doesn't join in on her songs and she's desperate to hear his voice. So also probs him on his back story, which Branch lies and says, "I don't have any."
Poppy: what how?
"Leta just sya that the story of the escape isn't as happy as everyone makes it out to be princess."
Cloud guy pissess him off as usual. And they can't spare Creek from getting "eaten". When freeing the snack pack, some of them ask for his autograph which, branch thinks their crazy for. Not the time and who has a pen on them at the moment anyway.
Branch still refuses to sing, with Bridget, and when cornered all he can say is that it tore his family apart. With a mix of truth and lies forest guardian says that he used to sing all the time with his family, but that made them prime targets for bergens. He became silent that's what saved him. "So forgive me if I'm not comfortable with singing in bergen filled town. I stay silent so that others don't have to."
The date goes the same, only Poppy is more giggly than in canon when Branch says she has a nice smile.
They both choke creek
True colors happens
then when confronting the chef, she doesn't react for Branch when she tries to for feed gristle. She reaches for Poppy. Branch jumps in and stabs the chef in the hand protecting the princess. Chef would then pull out a knife and with it smach brnahc into the far wall. Severally injuring him. Gristle orders for Chef to be captured. While Poppy runs over to Branch. She pulls off the mask and reveals the identity of the village hero. Shocking everyone.
Brnach remains unconscious for weeks afte the event. Poppy and Keith at his bed side. The village is rebuild. Peppy announced his retirement. And Poppy planns to create a team of well trained trolls to help bench protect the village.
When he does wake up, Branch is welcomed back home and offered the position of head of village security. If he wants it. With peace with the bergen established. Branch accepts the job. Creating the Forest Guardian's. Pop villages own defences force.
--'
Not sure what will happen in the othe movies yet, but branch is definitely sporting a new scar that JD will freak out about.
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athenamgh · 1 year ago
Text
Watercolour blue
a/n: it was supposed to be only the dance scene but now I have three more chapters in mind...
paring/s: Tanya Denali x fem!Reader
summary: reader meets the Denali Clan for the first time and their eye catches no other but the Coven's leader.
warning/s: some tension and fluf, a lot of mystery , vampires, humans, werewolves, etc
word count: 6k
links: AO3
Tanya Denali MASTERLIST
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People, or if I were being super precise: humans, vampires and werewolves, started slowly filling the forest avenue. Carlisle with Esme welcomed the guests at the entrance suggesting to them, I should note a very expensive, glass of champagne.
Your own glass of bubbly drink was twisting in your hand as you stood leaning against one of the wrapped in what seemed like dozens of lightbulbs tree. You didn't particularly enjoy the champagne but it was a day for celebration: so one glass couldn't damage my taste buds too bad.
In the meantime, the rest of the Cullen family's women were stuck adding the last touches to their outfits and Bella, of course, while Emmet was finishing his last quest of perfecting the wedding scenery that Alice requested. Who would have thought that from all the Cullens precisely Emmet would be the one who, as Alice phrased, had a vision of how this place was supposed to look like. And, of course, Edward and Jasper were attending to the already-arrived guests enchanting them with talks, or what I like to call chitchats, about the weather, the duration and the success of their trip here.
Eh, I dreaded the small talk.
That was one of the few reasons why you were instructed to stand somewhere in the back during the reception, trying not to draw too much attention to yourself. I won't lie that it didn't make much sense as if somebody would ever give more attention to anyone but the golden-eyed supermodels that walked and moved so gracefully it seemed like they were practically flowing through the forest scenery.
All of a sudden a light shiver bites washed over your shoulders, that feeling only visited your body when somebody was watching you, intensely and secretly. As unnoticeably as possible you wiggled your shoulder blades trying to shake the sudden sensation.
As you were pretending to make yourself more comfortable against the hardwood of the tree, your eyes scanned the forest scene and its already gathered guests. Your sight stubbled upon Jasper, who was standing across the alley from you, deep-dived into a small talk with a group of people.
Your eyes started to frame the group members person by person and it became more and more clear what those pale faces were. As your eyes finally settled on the blonde curly-haired woman, who unnaturally quickly turned their attention back to Jasper, it made the shivering sensation in your shoulders almost completely fade.
"What are you doing?" Emmett's voice pulled you out of a trance, you shook your head realizing you were stuck staring at the golden-eyed vampire for what you hoped was only a breath of a moment and not an embarrassing few minutes.
"I-... Emmett is that what I think it is?" you asked him, hardly breaking your attention from even back here incredibly stunning light-haired woman.
Not even glancing at the muscular vampire you could feel him smirk as he followed your gaze to the vampire clan. "Oh, Y/n, that's a forbidden fruit for you, my friend" he chuckled putting his hand on your shoulder.
His words confirmed your already pretty strong suspicion. "That's Denali Coven.."
"Mhm," an even bigger grin crossed Emmett's face as he clearly knew to who this whole conversation was turning. This was one of the few things that you liked about Emmett. He enjoyed mischief, teasing and sometimes even breaking the rules. So wasting no time he feed your curiosity and faded all your doubts by stating, "The woman that you cannot stop staring at is their leader, of course"
Before you could even realize that the words were escaping your lips, you heard yourself say, "Tanya Denali".
"You still gawping, you know" he added leaning into you.
You shook your head," No, I am not... I am just admiring"
"Whatever you call it, buddy" he chuckled pushing off you ready to continue his duties, but you grabbed him by the bicep stopping him in his tracks.
"Wait, what are they talking about?" you asked.
"I thought you do not like chitchats," Emmett teased while you just ignored his comment, "And by the way, can't you like," he wiggled his fingers in the air, "read their lips or something?"
You gave him an unimpressed look, "Even if I can, I can't read the back of Jasper's scalp, can I? Could you just please listen?" you asked nicely.
He chuckled at your courtesy, "Okay, let's see." He concentrated his attention on the group, "They are exchanging pleasantries and..."
For a split second, those golden eyes of Tanya's Denali's met yours as she mouthed a question you couldn't concentrate enough to read of her, what you imagined were incredibly cool and soft, lips as Emmett released the "Oh, damn it.." sound.
Before you could even ask what happened he speed-walked away leaving your attention running between the group and the walked-off Emmett not concentrating on anything in particular. Until your eyes met not Jasper's honey-blonde curly crown anymore but his covered with slight surprise eyes.
Jasper lazily parted the answer to Tanya's question, looking straight at you, clear for you to read 'This is Y/n,' the unnecessary slow response gave you a nagging feeling that with his thoughts he was searching for Edward.
Your heartbeat quickened with your gaze slowly slipping from the Cullen to connect with Tanya's Denali's, even from here, mesmerizing amber eyes. You swore you felt the air vibrate around you as Tanya spelt your just learned name. You noticed how her eyes shadowed, that one emotion that Cullen's family hoped to avoid, intrigue.
Keeping eye contact with you she lifted her champagne glass into the air like greeting you. You imitated her gesture leaning your head slightly to the right, you could not neglect the basic courtesy, after all. Even if that decision was one of the most dangerous and yet one of the best I made that night.
Your essence probably would have been glued to Tanya's face for all eternity if Edward hadn't interfered by suddenly appearing in front of you, blocking your figure from the crowd.
"I thought I taught you, that it's not nice to ears drop on conversations and especially ask somebody else to do it for you," Edward commented giving an all-knowing smile.
"I guess I am very persuasive," you bit back. ''And you are the one to talk... reading everyone's minds 24/7'' you pointed out.
Edward chuckled and signed simultaneously, the combination of emotion only he could do. "You always were.. sometimes it makes me wonder if venom would gift you the ability of compulsion because of it".
There was hardly anything ever left unsaid between Edward and I. Of course, it wasn't that we shared absolutely everything with each other or that we didn't avoid particular topics. No, it was that we said what we were truly thinking, fighting off the filters and the sugar coatings. That's why quite some time ago we made a pact, that as long as we stayed truthful to each other, he will try his best to pretend that my thoughts to him were just a white noise, though he wasn't particularly successful 100% of the time at it.
"Ahh, you need to get out of my head, Edward, you know I can feel you digging," you wrinkled your nose at the sensation.
"I apologize," he said seriously, for a moment glancing at the vampire clan across from him, "But what did I tell you about Denalis..."
"Which time?" he rolled his eyes at your comment. "Edward, what do you want me to do? You wanted me to be here, but you also seem to want me to magically combust too."
Edward shook his head looking down, "That's not-"
You ignored him continuing, "I get it, my presence is dangerous wherever I exist", his eyebrows narrowed disapprovingly at you as you emphasized the word 'exist'. You turned away from him to stare at Carlisle and Esme standing next to the "white palace" house not wanting to see his eyes cross glints of sadness.
That word 'exist' didn't bother me anymore. It described exactly how I lived my life these past years, I could almost feel that it probably summed up my whole existence on this earth. Luckily there were a little bit more than a few moments where I did feel alive, like I was truly living and not just surviving. So I didn't complain, no, I wouldn't dare, I treasured those memories and I kept pushing.
You tensed your jaw taking a deep breath, "But it never stood between us," you looked back at him meeting his attentive gaze, "It never stopped us from protecting this family," you gestured to the house as an example.
"But now", you noticed how his eyebrows once again narrowed at your words, "I get it, now with Bella in a picture, you have so much more to lose. So I will step away-"
"Stop," Edward cut you off, grabbing you by the shoulders. "Are you done?" he asked or more stated, his eyes filled with frustration. As you expected he did not wait for your answer before declaring, "You are not going anywhere..."
Edward closed his eyes like collecting his thoughts, and when he opened them again, his look was soft and with flickering glints of guilt, "I don't care about the danger that you bring," he shook his head, "No, that's not true, I do care, but that risk never stood between you and me. Between our family, because you are right we always fight for the people that we love," he clenched his fingers holding you tighter in a place like trying to indicate that if you didn't listen to his words before you should really listen to these ones. "You are part of this family, Y/n, it was never the same without you here. And for that-" He fossilized in the middle of his sentence, you only saw how his eyes suddenly filled with so much apology and sadness.
After a moment Edward came alive, narrowing his eyebrows, "For that I am sorry, Y/n," you looked at him confused. "You have been away from home for too long. I am sorry, I didn't find you earlier, as an older brother I should have, I should have gotten you back sooner. Forgive me-"
Before he could finish his sentence you cut him off by embracing him. You could tell Edward was shocked by your action, it was incredibly rare that the two of you showed any type of physical affection to each other. But he hugged you back just as tight.
"It is not your fault," you whispered to him and gave him a tight squeeze to affirm your words. "It is not, it never was," it was your time to place your hands against his shoulders making him meet your eyes, "Please, do not suffocate yourself with this guilt." he nodded giving you a small smile.
"Okay?" you asked not settling for his inaudible answer.
"Yes," Edward said, a little grin reappearing on his face.
"You know, officially, I am an older sibling'' you pointed out teasingly.
Edward laughed, it seemed to brighten the mood and bring the light of joy back to his eyes. "But only officially," he smiled, you just rolled your eyes chuckling.
"Now, could you please help me with something?" he asked.
"Of course, oh brother of mine" he chuckled shaking his head at your phrase. To this day I couldn't say if this comment annoyed him or not.
Wasting no time, Edward grabbed you by the forearm dragging you with him. Not leaving any chances for you to stare at the Denali coven's leader any more than you already did. Which, even if I would never admit it out loud, was probably for the better.
*later that evening*
It wasn't people that were filling the forest avenue after the ceremony anymore, it was the music. It slowly mixed in the air and with the help of the alcohol or just the buzzing emotion of joy, it started to loosen up the guests. That made the scene in front of you fill with more and more dancers with every passing song.
One of the rules, Alice's rules, was that every third or so song had to be slow and romantic or totally heart-wrenching, her words, not mine. I won't lie the creation of that soundtrack was so deeply engraved in my brain that I am afraid it will take more than a couple of months to erase it from the memory.
As you heard the trembling, loud and pumping song come to its climax, your eyes spotted no other but Tanya Denali, hidden from you by the crowd. She stood in the back of the dancefloor across from you with her sister Kate. As you believed, she was seemingly overlooking the stage and its dancing partners: Carmen and Eleazar, Alice and Jasper and so on, with the sign of longing and some light-hearted innocent envy desire.
You downed your drink in one gulp and stood up finally making up your mind, or maybe more courage. You took a step towards Denali's leader and your mind flooded with memory from last night's family 'meeting'.
*flashback*
"Okay, I let or more like made, Bella go home and get some sleep", Alice said entering the kitchen. "Y/n, are you done with the music?"
You sat in the chair next to the kitchen island, making the last changes in the playlist, "A second," you pressed the saved button twice just in case, "Yes, I am done," you said looking up at her. "Please, don't make me go over it again... I can barely remember what is like to listen to a song for pleasure."
She laughed at your wrinkled from displeasure nose, "I believe you."
In a matter of seconds, all the Cullens appeared in the kitchen, ready to listen to tomorrow's agenda, "So the guests should start to gather around five, " Alice informed.
"What about Denalis?" Carlisle asked.
"They will be here just before the first guests," she answered, 'human guests' you pointed out in your mind, which made Edward chuckle, you looked up at him narrowing your eyes and added, 'get out of my head, brother dearest', he lifted his hands in defence apologizing.
"So they wouldn't drag amm-" for a breath moment Alice stopped like she was thinking what kind of words to use. But you got a sense that she saw a vision because, from the corner of your eye, you noticed Edward's jaw tighten for a split second, but then like nothing happened Alice simply continued, "as much attention while entering".
Alice shooked her head smiling walking towards the window, "Now, let's move to the garden I wanna go over some parts of the ceremony," everyone except Carlisle, Esme and Jasper grunted while the three of them giggled at the other vampires' responses, but all of the Cullens followed the raven-haired woman outside.
You caught Edward by the arm before he could leave, "What was that?"
"What do you mean?" he asked with a completely clueless expression, you could tell he was faking it.
"Do not play dumb, what did Alice see?" you asked him narrowing your eyebrows.
Edward was quick to answer, too quick like he was revising it beforehand like he was expecting this whole conversation, "Nothing, just some last checkups on the weather tomorrow by the look of things it could be more sunshine than we expected".
You gave him an unimpressed look, "You serious right now?"
"What's? It's nothing to worry about, we are lucky that the ceremony will be held in the forest shade," you rolled your eyes at his nonsense. You had a feeling there was no way to get Edward talking today, ahh he could be soo stubborn sometimes, so you just let it go, for now.
*later that evening*
You collapsed onto the couch exhausted after listening to Alice's full briefing about tomorrow's wedding. There was some good news, you were given a green flag not to get involved in unwanted small talk topics in exchange for saying 'yes' to any Alice request that may or may not occur during the wedding. There was no way this won't come back biting me in the ass with something much worst, but I had a slight hope that Alice would just forget it or there wouldn't be any need for my possible talents.
Rosalie interrupted your train of thought as she settled next to you on the couch while Jasper took a spot on another couch to your right.
"Okay, I have a few suggestions", stated Edward standing in front of the TV so everybody could see him but he looked directly at you.
"So you have rules for only me," you re-phrased.
"It's suggestions," he corrected giving you a pointed look.
"Right..." you glanced at Rosalie mouthing 'rules' to her, making her chuckle, from the corner of your eye you even noticed Jasper's lips ghost a small smile.
You heard Edward sigh, "Please concentrate".
"I am listening brother, shoot it," you turned, giving him your full attention.
"First, it'd be better if you wear contact lenses," Edward suggested waiting for your reaction.
You sat silent for a moment, may or may not purposely making them wait, "It's for obvious reasons of course," Jasper added because even with the ability to sense emotions in a room, you got a feeling that he couldn't particularly decide if you were surprised, confused or absolutely unaffected by the suggestion.
Finally, you nodded your head simply saying, "I was going to either way, the less people notice, the better". Edward and Jasper nodded approvingly.
"Second, there are gonna be a lot of "eyes" during the wedding and some of them could possibly notice you. So it's best to avoid any type of suspicion," Edward continued his bullet point list, emphasising the word 'eyes'.
"You will be like fresh meat for them" you heard Emmett joke as he entered the room taking a seat on the armchair to your left.
"Thanks, dude, not creepy at all," you shook your head at his comment.
"No, Emmett has a point. Edward, do you really think it is wise for Y/n to keep away if we want to avoid intrigue about her?" Rosalie pointed out the obvious.
"People are gonna talk either way," Edward shook his head, "but humans will be too intimidated to approach her on their own when they find out she is a Cullen", Edward explained.
"Werewolves will stay in their own circle and only interfere if provoked or in danger," Jasper added in his observation.
"What about Vampires?" Emmett questioned, a silly smile settling on his lips.
"Excuse me, I am still here, you know..." you waved your hand trying to get their attention, "The one yall are talking about", four pairs of glowing gold eyes that belong anywhere but in this mundane world of ours, pierced at you.
You narrowed your eyebrows feeling like you have been treated like a total child since the beginning of this conversation, "All of you know it's not my first rodeo, right? It's literally my life. I know how curiosity for mystery works. I know how to handle it. How to handle myself". You didn't even need to look at each of their faces to know that as the last sentence left your lips, they shadowed worry of the past, what Carlisle liked to call, 'interference' flashbacks. "Look, I learnt how to break them off "
Everyone in unison leaned forward at this new information suddenly presented to them, but Rosalie was the first to talk, "It's an anchor, isn't it?" as she seemed to realize, on some level identifying your 'interferences' as vampire's thirst for blood.
You glanced at her giving her an approving smile, "Yes, it's a unique sensation. Could be a touch, a voice or a simple memory... It's a reminder of reality," You turned back to Edward who seemed to be deep in thought, "I know how to do it, you saw it yourself".
Edward shook his head. You could read from his face that he was doubting the efficiency of your method. You couldn't blame him, you didn't completely trust it too. "I believe you, it is not you that I do not trust, it's the others I worry about," he explained.
Emmett's little smirk didn't go unnoticed by you as Edward added, "And that brings us to the last point. Denalis"
You narrowed your eyebrows in confusion, Jasper definitely should have felt that surprise emotion blast from you, "Beware of the sisters" Jasper translated.
"Or beware them of you," Rosalie casually suggested the alternative, which may or may not was closer to Edward's thoughts but we will never know.
"So basically you already decided that they are going to draw my attention, but I can't theirs," you mumbled hardly believing the words of your technical and not siblings.
"Oh, they will capture your attention," Emmett seemed to particularly enjoy this rule of Edward's, possibly because he had a pretty good feeling you will be searching for a plothole for this one, looking back he was right, "And knowing you, Tanya would be drawing a lot more than just glances from you," Emmett teased.
You rolled your eyes, "I swear, if yall going to make a bet about this... I will remind to your vampire ass's what nausea feels like", Emmett lifted his hands in defence chuckling.
"Look, just stay safe," Edward said. "You better than anyone know that humans are humans, werewolves are werewolves and-".
"Vampires are vampires" you finished his sentence.
He nodded, "Desires, nature and especially curiosity win over logic and common sense too often".
One thing that really bothered me about Edward's words was his sudden awareness of Denali's coven. Even if I have never met them, to my knowledge, the Denali clan was the closest vampire coven to Cullens. Their family was the next thing Cullens trusted after their own and that was an incredibly huge deal. They had a history and a particularly strong bond. Both families shared too many similarities in how they saw the world and what role they wanted to play in it. That's why for Edward to refer to them so suspiciously was alarming. Something was happening in the bigger picture and I needed to find out what it was.
You were starting to get annoyed with only half the information presented to you. And Edward noticed that but to his relief, Alice suddenly burst into a room, "Hey, I need your help." Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper stood up clearly knowing it was them that overly-excited vampire referred to. "Y/n, you need to go get some rest, I need you bright and smiley tomorrow and Edward do not dare to peek outside."
"Yes, ma'am" Edward and you reported in unison.
*end of the flashback*
"Hello, ladies," you said approaching the two Denali sisters with a welcoming smile, but your eyes lingered on Tanya Denali just a little longer, unconsciously earning for her to stab her eyes at you.
The moment Tanya looked up settling her golden eyes upon you, you felt how the air was knocked out of your lungs. 'Whoah..' was all your mind could comprehend at that moment. She was even more stunning up close.
Tanya returned you a sweet smile that dulled your senses even more. Even for a vampire, she was breathtakingly beautiful and you couldn't help but wonder how magnificent she probably looked in the sun.
You were brought back to earth by Kate's comment, "Ahh, finally the mysterious, Y/n," she said excitedly. You could feel Kate's curiosity brewing by the seconds as her eyes ran between you and her sister analyzing this new and divine atmosphere between the two of you.
You just nodded your head approving that it was indeed you. You mentally scrunched your nose, there wasn't really anything mysterious about me, just unwanted secrecy.
As unnoticeably as possible you took a deep breath, powering up the courage that you had stocked up, hoping your voice wouldn't fail you, "Tanya Denali, would you dance with me?"
Your senses weren't as fast as vampire's, so you could never be 100% sure if the sudden cover-up question of hers was to hide the shock that ghosted Tanya's face because of your question or if it was just your imagination, but what you could state for a fact was that Kate was wearing the biggest grin on her face.
"Didn't Edward warn you for some bizarre reason not to interact with us?" you heard Tanya say. The melody of her voice mesmerized you and yet somehow it didn't feel like it was the first time you heard it, it felt so familiar, so comforting, so senses diminishing. You believed she could sweet-talk you into anything and everything. And those were not good news, not for a person like you, not with so much to hide.
You didn't realize you were holding your breath before the chuckle escaped your lips, Cullen's weren't exaggerating about how attentive Denalis or at least Denali's leader was. You smirked at her, "Well, he is no boss of mine, is he now?"
That made both of the sisters laugh, leaving Tanya's lips spread an enchanting smile that you just had to innocently add, "After all, it's just a dance, isn't it?"
"Tanya if you won't go dance with her, I will", Kate said jokingly, you could sense that she was already starting to like you.
You laughed at the comment, only for a split-second glancing at the vampire, not wanting to leave Tanya's eyes unattended. "So what would you say?" you lifted an eyebrow in question, stretching your hand towards her to take.
You would be lying if your heart was listening to your brain screaming at it to calm down, at that breath of the moment before Tanya's lips spread the most charming smile as she took your hand and said "Yes".
You led her a little bit further into the dancefloor. You could feel multiple pairs of golden eyes piercing every part of your body as shivers ran through your spine. But you didn't care about any of those looks, the only iris eyes you were curious about were the ones secured on your face so close to you.
"How are we-" before Tanya could finish her sentence the fast-pumping song came to an end and its place took a new track perfect for a slow dance.
She saw a satisfied smile appear on your lips at her surprised expression. "Just trust the process," you whispered, bringing your right hand to Tanya's back while her's settled on your shoulder and your other gently gripped her left hand bringing it into the air.
You danced like that for a moment, slowly swinging in the scene. Enjoying the sensation of electricity surrounding both of your bodies due to closeness and touch.
That enchanting smile engraved on Tanya's lips, which some part of you wished was only reserved for you, made you fall for it more and more with every passing second.
"So tell me about yourself?" you broke the comfortable settled in silence, minus the music, of course.
"What would you like to know?" Tanya asked so simply as if she would reveal anything you'd wish to know but only if you knew how to ask it.
"I want to hear everything you'd like to share... Your thoughts and your dreams. Your favourite era, art form, sex position, blood group-" you started naming.
"A what now?" she interrupted surprised but a little smile played at the corner of her lips.
"Yeah, you're right, I do not really care about your favourite blood type," you joked shaking your head slightly.
She laughed at your answer, making your heart swirl at the sound. You unnoticeably gulped at the feeling, Tanya was moving mountains in my heart quicker than I thought possible.
"You're so different," another enchanting smile crossed her lips as she stated.
"Ahh, am I doing a bad job at keeping a mystery of me," you teased trying to hide the fact that Tanya's smile kept dulling your senses.
She chuckled, "Can I be honest?".
"Always," you said more seriously, truly wishing to know what was happening in that mind of hers.
"There is such a thick fog around you, Y/n. Every time somebody looks your way you can feel Cullens hold their breath. And yet you are the one suffocating from that mist, from that, what seems, unwanted secrecy," Tanya stated. It took all of your strength not to tense your body at her words and betray that she was actually pretty accurate.
She continued, "You are so charming and sweet and I believe the list could go on and on, but?"
"But?" you asked your eyes narrowing at her sudden cut short sentence.
"But as far as I noticed tonight, people that you love are incredibly important to you," you nodded approving her words, but not completely understanding what she meant. "So that intrigue that is following you like a magnet everywhere you go is your biggest asset and yet your biggest downfall. That is my thoughts", she smiled genuinely technically answering your first question.
Tanya was starting to read me like a book with those attentive eyes and an incredible mind of hers. But I couldn't tell her that she was right and yet I didn't want to lie to her either. I couldn't tell her the truth and damn her for a lifetime of holding her breath because of who I was. So I played it off like I do, like I always do.
You looked at her absolutely amazed, "Hmm, so you think I am charming," you joked narrowing your eyes at her, only to be met with Tanya's chuckle.
"Well, you are incredibly spellbinding yourself," you said with a charming smile clearing the air, receiving an intriguing look from her that only could mean you were given a green flag to continue.
You tightened your hand around Tanya bringing her closer, just to start leaning her back, "And incredibly insightful and intelligent," you whispered with your lips nearly touching the smooth ice skin of her neck, making her eyes flutter shut for a moment from your hot breath.
As you slowly began to return both of you to the previous position, you continued "And yet I feel that behind that serious leader mask is a playful soul."
She lifted her eyebrow at you, "So you think I am spellbinding," she imitated your playful answer earlier.
You laughed and just let yourself get lost in her bright amber eyes, believing that you could admire Tanya for all eternity.
"What are you thinking about?" she suddenly asked making you come back to the planet Earth.
"Being honest?" you imitated her question
"Always," she said with your favourite enchanting smile.
"What colour your eyes were before your transformation," you said simply as if it was the most casual thing to wonder about. Tanya looked a little bit taken aback by the question. And with that a terrifying feeling washed over you, "I am sorry, I didn't mean to-".
"No," she cut you off. "It's alright, I- Just nobody ever wondered about it, ever," she explained looking away from you to the crowd of people.
Your heart melted and at the same time stung at her words. How could possibly nobody ever wonder that?
"I don't even know that I remember it myself," you saw her smile shyly still not meeting your eyes. All of a sudden you got a feeling that nothing really takes Tanya aback, that nothing really makes her shy. And you couldn't help but grin to yourself like a maniac for it.
You freed your left arm from Tanya's soft grip and gently lifted her chin with your fingers so the two of your eyes would meet again. "I imagine them as the deepest ocean. The watercolour blue," you said having her full attention back to you.
You wrapped your left arm around her fully trapping her in your lap, making Tanya melt against your warmth. "That freezes you to your bones when they are angry and surrounds you like the warmest embrace when they are in love," you spelt it firmly to make sure she knew that you meant every word. "They are the colour blue that makes you get lost in them and still makes you feel at home. And yet I think it is in general your eyes that make me feel this way. That is what I think''. The softest look flashed on Tanya's face as she brought her free hand to touch your cheek.
She suddenly gasped realizing that with her action she was starting to free half of your face and tried to remove her palm. But to her surprise, you quickly caught her hand bringing it back to your skin. The touch did chill your face muscles and made electricity settle in and yet you loved every part of it.
You could tell she enjoyed the warmth slowly spreading into her palm. "Who are you? Who are you to them? Where have you been hiding all this time?" Tanya whispered to you her eyes filling with adoration, relief and may or may not hope. The kind of hope that you buried deep inside yourself long ago.
You were about to say something, completely unaware of what was about to leave your lips when Alice appeared in your peripheral vision, "Sorry, to interrupt, but I need that favour, Y/n" You quietly signed frustrated by the interruption but a promise was a promise.
The two of you released one another from each other's grips and just before Tanya could move further from you to make some space, you caught her right hand in your own.
From the corner of your eye, you saw a slight surprise at first settle on Tanya's face as she looked down at your interlocked hands but then a bright smile spread her lips
"Yes, what will it be?" you asked Alice. You didn't really give much thought to your last action you just didn't want to let go of Tanya just yet but it seemed to stunt Alice for a moment, that's a first, shocking raven-haired vampire was incredibly hard. "Alice?" you re-asked.
She shook her head, "Ah, yes, I need you to sing this," she handed you the papers that you just now noticed she was caring.
You sighed worriedly looking down at the notes. "Wait, you can sing?" you heard Tanya's shocked voice.
You looked up at her but before you could answer, Alice beat you to it, "She does, Edward isn't the only one with a musical gift. Y/n has a really great voice."
"She is exaggerating," you protested giving Alice a pointed look.
"No, I am not," Alice said, brushing away your warning look.
Like sensing that you were about to protest again, you heard Tanya say, "I love to hear you sing," you turned to her as you felt her squeeze your hand in support.
You smiled at her softly, but teased, ''You should really reconsider".
Tanya chuckled, giving you that enchanting smile of hers, "Not a chance".
You laughed lightly but sighed too, "Alright, then," you turned to Alice reporting.
As Alice happily jogged away, you felt Tanya's intoxicating scent fill your lungs as she leaned closer to whisper "Find me afterwards".
You gulped turning to her, "With pleasure" you said feeling completely out of breath.
She smiled at your answer winking at you and turning to walk towards the crowd of people that was ready to settle to their tables again.
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robthegoodfellow · 1 year ago
Text
I Just Wanna Cheer
Crying, Creampie, Virginity Kink for Days 21/22/23 of @harringrovekinktober additional incidental use of sex toys, praise kink, orgasm denial, dom/sub dynamic, role playing, you know the drill—now with emerging feminization kink
(roommates in love, kink experimentation, billy gets boinked, nsfw)
Handy Links to Previous Chapters: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 (kill me)
.
It was his own fault for trying to cancel on Robin again—having assumed, now that she knew about his and Billy’s fledgling thing, that she’d be more understanding of his needs.
But no.
Eyeroll audible over the phone, Robin had offered a different option. Just bring your boy toy along if it’s that much of a burden to leave his side. There was a loaded pause during which Steve scrambled to recall whether he’d told her that particular part of their fledgling thing, then she continued, blithe and cavalier. That is, if you can stand to keep your hands off each other’s dicks for a couple hours. Speaking over Steve’s choked bluster: It’ll be a struggle, I know. But I believe in you. Stay strong.
So he’d called Billy up after, risking Madam Manager’s ire for lingering too long on his lunch break, and caught him right before he left for class. Billy had gone quiet, digesting Steve’s rushed explanation—drinks at the Taproom around eight; you, me, and Robin—and then cleared his throat. Like, us all hanging out as friends? he asked. Or…? And Steve froze, wrongfooted. What—uh, whatever you want, he said, clumsy. She knows. I mean, not everything—just that we’re… uhm. Sorry? he added, wincing, and Billy mercifully jumped in, put him out of his misery. It’s fine. I’ve been talking to Heather about us. I needed someone to… He trailed off, and Steve breathed a sigh, grinning with relief as he nodded. Yeah. Me, too.
Billy had already showered and eaten when Steve got home—tilted his cheek for a drive-by kiss as Steve passed him huddled in the corner of the couch, psych notes open on his lap. Hadn’t moved even after Steve had finished stuffing his face, washing up. What should I wear? Steve called as he emerged from the bathroom, towel around his waist, and Billy glanced over—locked on Steve’s hand, the fisted terrycloth at his hip. Understandably, it took Steve a moment to absorb Billy’s reply: I was gonna ask you the same question.
And Billy—never asked Steve for fashion advice. Which meant he had something else in mind.
They were late meeting Robin.
.
“You live literally down the road,” she exclaimed when they arrived at the Taproom, flushed from power walking and also other things. Steve’s buttons were misaligned on his shirt, and Billy’s hair gave off the distinct impression of having just rolled out of bed. Distinct and—accurate.
“Couldn’t find my wallet,” Steve lied, gentle arm at Billy’s waist to guide him into a chair. 
Billy sat. Carefully.
“Well, I hope it turned up,” Robin said, unconvinced and unimpressed. “Because first round’s on you.”
“Long Islands for everyone?” He stooped, arms looped around Billy from behind, and—lightly pressed on his abdomen, encouraging him to lean against the chairback, relax from his prim perch. “Okay?” he basked, when his boy swallowed a whimper, red flooding his cheeks. Billy nodded, and Steve kissed his neck, the skin feverish under his lips. “Good.”
They explained away Billy’s spacey distraction easily enough—big psych test on Monday—but by the second round, with Billy shifting every minute, rocking in his seat ever so slightly, his eyes glassy, lips parted, Robin was growing concerned.
“You sure you feel alright?” she checked, then squinted. “Or feeling too alright?”
Steve cut in, scooched his chair alongside Billy’s, their legs flush under the table.
“He hasn’t been sleeping well,” he said, drawing Billy to slump against him, corralling with the comforting palm on his shoulder. “You need to go home, babe?”
Billy huffed, hearing the subtle taunt. You give up? Give in?
“M’good,” he insisted, wagging his head. Unseeing, unblinking, he fumbled for his glass. Tossed back the rest, ice cascading toward his mouth. He slouched into Steve’s touch, crunching cold loud between his molars. Hidden, insinuated a hand around Steve’s thigh and underneath—cinching him close. If he traced upward not too far, he’d bump the bulge straining Steve’s zipper. One glance at Billy’s lap revealed he was in even worse shape: a patch of wet seeping through pale blue denim. “Robin’s turn to buy.”
.
Lucky for them, Robin caught the eye of the Gina Gershon type behind the bar—got her number, the promise of a good time after her shift—and around the fifth or sixth round, Robin went to fetch tequila shots and never came back. 
Sloppy steps to the exit, clinging to each other’s waists, and the muggy summer night welcomed them to the sidewalk, chatter and cheesy pop muffled beyond the door. 
They cut a crooked path toward the apartment, breathy silence broken by the odd chuckle or hum, speech smothered by the pulsing weight of expectation that had settled all around.
They were going home, and Steve was gonna fuck him. Shove inside, push to the root and hammer his hips until he spilled, until the swollen hole oozed white, until he—
Billy was whining in short throaty bursts by the time they reached the stairwell, stumbling now and then, relying on Steve to half-haul him up the last flight. Please he mumbled, the moment their door clicked, and Steve wasn’t sure where the surge of macho muscle came from, but next thing he knew he’d hefted a clinging koala into his arms, gripping just below the ass, striding to his bedroom, wet lips mouthing Steve’s neck with every step.
Part of him wanted to throw Billy down, watch him bounce on the mattress, but he didn’t—or he would, but not now, not when his good boy had been squirming for so long, desperate to wring some relief from the toy wedged snug. No, he lowered him gentle onto his back, lovely legs hugging Steve’s hips, dangling off the bed—Billy’s hips lifting the moment fingers fumbled at his button, tugged at his zip.
The lube was within reach, right where they’d left it, when they’d overindulged before rushing out the door, Steve slicking up the small plug and working it in, pulling a new pair of pale pink panties up long, bronzed legs, then selecting a pair of jeans, a tank cut so low around the neck, hanging loose about the ribs, that it barely covered his nipples. 
Steve had taken it upon himself to carefully tuck the front of the tank into the waist of his jeans, the way Billy liked, and now took it upon himself to untuck, pushing the tank up as he yanked the jeans down, fingers hooked in a back pocket. 
He left the jeans balled below Billy’s knees, allowing them to part wide and meanwhile keep his ankles tied. Bending low, Steve ran his nose along the obscene jut of cock beneath sticky satin, breathed heat through the fabric—pressed his face into Billy’s crotch when he writhed, moaning.
“Here’s what I want,” Steve said, peering up—a strange vantage point: the heaving hills and valleys of Billy’s abs, his pecs, the underside of a tilted chin, the shifting rise of biceps, arms flung above his head. “I want to pull down the back of your panties. Check my good boy is ready for me.”
“Ready,” Billy panted, hardly more than a wheeze. “M’ready, ready. Please.”
“Haven’t gone past the middle plug,” Steve told him, all regret—as though breaking it to him gently, and Billy sobbed. “But,” he went on, shushing, sneaking to fondle the base of the plug through silky smooth pink, cup the shivering curves of his ass. “You promise to tell me if you want to stop, and I’ll fuck you now. Fill you up. And if it’ll make my good boy happy, we’ll plug him up after. No leaking.” Billy was begging under his breath, babbling yes, please—please, yes. “Promise?” Steve prompted, reaching for the lube as he sat up, propped against the edge of the mattress.
Billy promised, tears already eeking down his temples, wetting his hair. Steve watched them drip as he slicked his fingers—used his dry hand to inch the panties down, the front drawn taut as the back pulled, clearing the rise of Billy’s ass to sit bunched below.
He didn’t tease his boy too much: traced up to stroke the stiff heat straining satin, brush the twitching length with his thumb, then drifted back down to caress the protruding flat of glass. One mild tug, and it slipped free on a gasp. He let it thunk on the carpet at his feet.
The hole that kissed blind fingertips was still fluttering from the sudden loss��seemed to suck him in, inflamed greed, taking two easy, then three. Billy’s face was twisted, eyes closed, his lashes wet, hips grinding into the touch as though searching, feeling his way in the dark. A whine puffed past slack lips, desperate—almost forlorn.
“Okay,” Steve breathed. Withdrew, grappling clumsy for the lube, slicking his cock where it bobbed by the bedspread, trailing drool. “Okay, baby.”
His forearm hooked shaking thighs, dragged Billy closer, ass almost hanging off the bed. Steve gripped himself mid-shaft, thumbing the crown, and nudged forward, catching on the rim that still seemed too small, impossibly small.
Billy sighed, set one hand on Steve’s forearm, the cross bar holding him steady—coasted down the arm to link their hands, and Steve bowed his head, suddenly swamped. Just—overwhelmed.
He pushed, steady pressure, and it was like with the plug, where resistance caved to a gobbling grip. Pushed and the slicked crown was swallowed up by clenching heat. Paused to breathe, a returning squeeze to their linked hands, then sank further—this stuttering plow that deepened with the duet of stuttering breaths.
Steve was lost in it, so consumed by the sensory influx—the salty musk of sweat and precome, the lungs bellowing in his ears, the thundering throb of his pulse where they were joined, where they were holding on, nerves alight, a smolder about to catch and roar—so consumed that when he bottomed out, flush with Billy’s ass, he kept going, rocking into him, lifting, Billy’s knees curling toward his chest, where the flimsy tank still lay, askew.
“Good?” Steve asked, throaty, and Billy’s eyes rolled in his head as he laughed, weak, lips barely hitched. Slowing, Steve circled the rim that clutched him, as though measuring—assessing. Feathered his touch from thin skin smooth and slick to the peach fuzz of Billy’s ass check, tickling, and grunted as the convulsive clench. “Fast or slow?”
His boy didn’t answer with words—maybe couldn’t—just a bobblehead, like Fast? Yes. Slow? Yes. Yes. Yes. So Steve gave him both, grinding into him torturous slow, adjusting until he nailed the spot that made Billy squirm and mewl, then let loose. Jackhammered, and when Billy's blushing wet cockhead peeked from the pink frilly waistband, smearing his abs, Steve smirked, mindless except for one driving thought: I want to feel him come on my cock.
Reaching down, unsteady, Steve tucked him back out of sight. Stroked him lightly as he said it: “Cream your panties for me, Billy.”
And god, Steve loved to watch him lose it beneath him, give in, crack open, but to feel it from inside...
Milking me, he thought, jaw slack, launched into sweet blue nothing. Fucking milking me.
Barely caught himself from faceplanting with an arm made of noodle, panting fit to die. The sweet blue nothing blinked at him—so pretty, heavy-lidded.
All Steve could do for the moment was blink back.
.
You knew you had it good when waking life was indistinguishable from a wet dream. The hazy cloud of ecstasy that lured Steve from sleep in the wee hours of the morning resolved into recent memory as he squinted, absorbing the smells of Billy embedded in the sheets—registering the absence of Billy’s sounds. His warmth. Steve pawed at his eyes, unsure whether the emerging snapshots, burning to the touch, were real or fantasy.
…Billy, after Steve had emptied into him, placidly rolling onto his stomach, presenting his ass for inspection upon request—humming long and low at the probing touch where he was swollen, pucker red and shining. A more insistent prod, and a pearl of white bloomed.
Distantly, he heard water running in the pipes. Billy—in the bathroom?
Middle of the bed, Steve had murmured. Lay on your tummy. And Billy army-crawled to obey, his ankles shackled by the mess of denim. Steve opted to leave them for the time being.
Billy had dropped flat with a whooshing sigh, head fenced by sprawling arms, legs akimbo, and Steve crawled to lie alongside, propped on an elbow. For a while, he just studied that face—the rosy cheeks, the pink lips gently curled in blissed satisfaction, eyelashes dark and clumped from tears. 
Need anything? Steve asked, quietly mesmerized, brushing back a lock of tawny hair. Or want? One blue eye had cracked open, bleary, exhausted. And yet—his hips twitched, bare ass still exposed, satin shoved low. He wanted Steve to keep his promise: no leaking. 
Steve’s bedroom door creaked open, and moments later the mattress dipped under a heavy form, blankets shifting as Billy settled.
“You okay?” Steve asked, voice scratchy. Half-awake, he rolled, slinging his arm around Billy’s back.
Billy yawned an incoherent confirmation. “Took care of business.”
Steve traced to the base of his spine, absently curious, and ran a finger down his crack. No plug. “All clean?”
“Mhmm.” Arching, Billy pressed into his touch, then resettled with a tired chuckle. “So you can mess me up again.”
Steve snorted—gripped an asscheek, meaning to claim a squeeze before he withdrew. But then… he forgot to do that last part. Drifted off still fondling Billy’s butt.
.
To make up for the delayed festivities due to socializing the night before, they’d resolved to shack up all of Saturday. A few hours of drinks sets us back, what—three or four orgasms? Steve estimated, and Billy had scoffed, let out a loud Hah! For you, maybe. At which Steve had swooped in, herding him against the wall to nip at his throat. I’m sorry—was that a complaint? Shivering, tilting his chin for more, Billy clung to his ribs. No. No complaints.
Which is why Steve was a little put out to realize he’d slept until nine—that Billy had let him, moreover, because the rest of the bed was cold and empty.
And then the buttery cinnamon sugar hit him upside the head, beckoned him upright, nose in the air. Heard the telltale clinks and thunks of Billy puttering at the stove, and couldn’t help but smile. 
Smiled while he pulled on some sweatpants, a worn tee. Smiled as he brushed his teeth, took a piss. Washed his hands. Smiled as he wandered to the kitchen, itching to wrap his good boy up tight, kiss his neck, his cheeks—
The smile didn’t slip, but it… froze solid, along with the rest of him, at the vision that greeted him: Billy halted in front of the fridge, limned in morning sunlight.
Billy with his hair piled atop his head in a messy bun, wearing one of those close-fitting crop tops that he knew drove Steve crazy. His gaze dropped to the rumpled tube socks, trailed up the bronzed curves of his calves, his thighs—to the green pleated hem. Of the skirt.
The cheerleading skirt. The cheerleading skirt that Billy was wearing, in the kitchen. That he had worn while baking cinnamon buns. And making coffee.
Steve had completely flatlined, but all it took was a puff of sound—a nervous muffled squeak of a thing—and his attention swung to Billy’s face. To Billy’s bottom lip, drawn between his teeth. To Billy’s big blue eyes, slanted brows. Hopeful, but—uncertain.
“What—?” Steve tried, shaking his head, and at least tacked a grin to his bafflement. “How…?”
“Borrowed it,” Billy said, fidgeting. Cautious smile. “From Heather.”
Bless Heather for all eternity. Forever and ever. Amen. 
“You look—” He couldn’t seem to move, but that was fine. Billy was coming to him—a certain slink to his stride. Steve rallied. “You look—so good. So, so, so—”
Billy set his hands on Steve’s waist, toying with the thin cotton. “I was thinking we could play… like we did that time with the spies? Only…”
His good, good, genius boy.
“Only… jock and cheerleader?” Steve finished, and Billy ducked, bashful—except not his usual bashful, but extra bashful, like he was putting on a show, like he was… a blushing, bashful, virginal little—
Billy leaned up. Kissed the corner of his mouth, soft and sweet. Instinctive, Steve palmed the back of his head, fingers buried in blond, and pulled him flush.
“You wanna be my good girl today?” he whispered, lips brushing Billy’s cheek—pressed a kiss there when Billy nodded. “Whatcha wearing under that skirt, babe?”
Billy giggled—quiet and flirty. “Breakfast first.”
Steve nipped his ear. “And then a snack?”
“Down, boy,” Billy scolded, swatting his arm. He turned and walked away—the sway deliberate, as confirmed by the cheeky wink thrown over his shoulder.
.
Now with next chapter: He Loves Me, Loves Me, Loves Me
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mooniekive · 1 year ago
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Slow Burn | five (preview + link)
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Pairing: min yoongi x reader 
AU: neighbors!au | producer!yooongi and teacher reader | they both identify as bi, and reader is aspec (grey-sexual/demi-romantic)
Genre: slow burn, kind of slice of life | fluff, smut
Word Count: 645 words (preview) | 13k (chapter)
Warnings: (edited)Yoongi is woodworking and he's very hot doing it, a little angst, a certain parent being kinds of phobic, lots of fluff, smut in the form of hand sex, not extremely descriptive but there's usage of some smutty terms, reader is expressing slight dom behavior, Yoongi is being a soft sub, and perhaps he has a praise kink hehe, lots and lots of kissing of course
Synopsis: 
When one of your best friends and neighbors moves in with his partner, you’re surprised to have a quiet (and attractive) man move in next door. His protective nature intrigues you, and his looks pull you in with a magnetism so unfamiliar to you.
Min Yoongi is so used to being on his own that when he moves into a new place, and into an existing little found family, he’s forced out of his little box. He has no other choice but to finally allow himself to want. To want what he always desired — a place and people to comfortably exist with. 
Preview under cut, or read on ao3
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Yoongi wasn’t sure you would enjoy the activity he had planned. When he picked you up this morning he’d started to second guess his plans. Maybe he should have planned something a little more romantic. It’s not that Yoongi can’t, he certainly has tact for the romantic when he needs to, but he figured a date with you doesn’t always have to be romantic. He approached this as a way to get to know each other’s tastes more, and he really wanted to share this hobby of his with you. 
Woodworking is not something he gets to do as often as he’d like, especially when he doesn’t often have hours upon hours to give to the woodworking projects he’s had in mind for months. Still, it’s something he enjoys doing when he can. 
To his relief, you became very excited when he mentioned what you were going to be doing.
“Am I going to sweat in this?” You ask as you take your spot next to Yoongi and take his hand. He looks down at the baby blue turtleneck under the puffy jacket and corduroy pants.  
Perhaps he should’ve told you beforehand what you’d be doing. “Well, maybe. I’ve never been here during winter but I do think the heater is on. We can always ask him to turn it off if it gets too hot.” 
You eye Yoongi’s shirt, move his jacket away to check his shirt, making him chuckle at the way your hands tickle. “You’re wearing a t-shirt, you’ll get cold.” 
He squeezes your hand and stops outside the workshop. “Don’t worry about it too much, sweetheart, we’ll figure it out.”
Turns out Jae-nim does have the heater on so the workshop is quite toasty when you both step inside — jackets off and aprons on. 
“Do we have to get you to turn down the heater?” 
“No, I’ll show you where to change the temperature.” It’s relatively easy, and Jae even leaves some cold bottles of water nearby just in case. 
“Let me know if it gets stuffy,” Yoongi leans into you to whisper. 
After Jae-nim leaves the slabs of wood you both picked out — soft wood so it’s much easier to work with for you, and him to be honest since he’s a little rusty — you’re finally left alone. Yoongi is a little too excited to teach you. 
After picking and drawing the shapes of the cutting boards onto the wood, Yoongi instructs you how to use the cutting machine but he can tell how nervous you are. 
“Okay, don’t think too much about it, alright. First we’ll cut the excess and then I’ll help you cut along the shape — remember to leave some space for sanding like I did.” 
You’re relatively quiet but very attentive as you watch him cut his board, and now you turn to study it once more before you cut down the excess with Yoongi’s help. Once you get into the shape itself, Yoongi lets you guide, putting less pressure on the wood as you get more confident. 
From where he stands, Yoongi smells your perfume, and that quintessential you scent. That smell he can find in your room, your hair, even your skin. It even overpowers the strong wood scent in the room. 
When you pull away the now elephant shaped wood, you give Yoongi the biggest smile. “I did it!” 
“Knew you could, isn’t it fun?” 
You lean into Yoongi and kiss his cheek. “It’s more than fun, it’s rewarding when it comes out right. I’m not going to lie though, the sanding machine looks terrifying.” 
Yoongi can’t help it and he pulls you in as you stare at the machine. He wraps his arm around your waist and squeezes your soft skin as he pulls you in to kiss your temple. “It’s a bit scary but very easy to use, I’ll show you.”
read more on ao3
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Text
Stepping Stones: Chapter 9
Vee walks into school on her first morning the same way she returned to the Isles: with Camila’s hand in one of hers and Luz’s in the other, the three of them shoulder-to-shoulder as they trudge through the snow to the enormous green doors.
“It looks bigger up close,” Vee whispers, and Luz squeezes her hand. 
“Make yourself taller,” she suggests, and Vee laughs a little, stretching out the legs of her human form until she’s as tall as Camila. It does make it less scary when Camila opens the door.
There’s a man waiting for them on the other side— taller than Vee and Camila both, with dark skin and bushy gray hair— and Vee quickly shrinks back to Luz’s height, praying he didn’t notice anything. It doesn’t seem like he did; he smiles when his eyes land on Vee, and he offers her his hand.
“You must be Vee. I’m Principal Hal. Welcome to Gravesfield High.”
Slowly, tentatively, Vee lets go of Luz’s hand to shake his. “Thanks.”
“We’ve enrolled you in all the same classes as Luz to make your transition easier. As long as there are no… disruptions, I think you’ll enjoy your time here.”
Principal Hal rubs a faint scar on his chin. Vee casts Luz a questioning look, and she mouths, tell you later.
Realizing the principal is waiting for an answer, Vee thanks him again, and he nods. “We’ve moved things around to give you a locker next to your sister’s, to make your adjustment easier. She can show you there so that you can put your things away before first bell, and then you two can head to your first class.”
Luz beams at the word sister, and even though Vee has had two sisters all her life, the word feels magical to her too. Sister meaning Luz. It’s sort of incredible.
“Thanks,” she says a third time. She feels a bit foolish repeating herself, but it seems to be what the principal wants to hear, because he gives her a nod. 
“Good to see you, Mrs. Noceda,” he adds to Camila, and disappears into a room marked Principal’s Office.
Camila turns to Vee, placing her hands on her shoulders. “I’ll have my phone on all day. Don’t hesitate to call if you need me, okay?”
“I won’t.”
“Good.” Camila pulls her in for a hug, kissing her head. “I love you. I’m so proud of you.”
Vee leans into the embrace, holding her tightly for a long moment. “I love you too, Mom.”
Even after two months, the word, more powerful even than sister, fills her with sparks of warmth. It took a few weeks after the adoption papers were finalized for her to stop stammering over it, and even though it comes out smoothly now, it still fills her with awe. That awe makes her brave enough to step back, squeezing Camila’s hands and giving her a smile.
She smiles back, then embraces Luz and heads for the door. “See you after school,” she calls, waving at them both.
They wave back, and then Luz turns to Vee. “All right, follow my lead. The crowds in these hallways can be dangerous, so you have to navigate carefully.”
“Got it,” Vee says, matching her solemn tone. Luz links her arm through Vee’s, leading her through a sea of kids, all of them laughing and shrieking, the sheer number of voices making Vee want to slam her hands over her ears. Thankfully, Luz leads them to a hallway that’s far less packed than some of the others, and she only has to nudge one person aside to get to her locker. 
She nods at the one beside it, the only cubicle without a lock already hanging from it. “That must be yours.”
She pulls her own locker open at the same time Vee does, and Vee’s stomach sinks a little as she glances between the two. Luz’s locker is crammed with books and crafts, photos and drawings, and Vee’s is an empty wall of gray.
Luz follows her gaze and smiles, reaching into her backpack. “I asked Willow to make copies of these in case you wanted to put them up,” she says, handing Vee an envelope, “and then I added a few more.”
They’re photos from Willow’s scrapbook: Vee, Luz, Willow, and Amity squinting at the TV during a late-night movie; Vee tickling a sleeping Willow’s forehead with a leaf as Luz and Amity muffle their laughter; Vee and Camila making empanadas; Vee making bunny ears over Luz’s head as Amity kisses her cheek and Hunter, Willow, and Gus beam at the camera; the whole group of them clinging to a raft, their faces ranging from excitement to terror; Vee, Willow, Gus, and Amity grinning in front of the map at the Gravesfield Historical Society. Below those are a few more recent pictures: Vee, Luz, and Hunter clutching gaming consoles and yelling incoherently; Vee and the gang from Cabin 7 sitting on the Nocedas’ porch and laughing at something on Masha’s phone; Vee arm-in-arm with her basilisk siblings on the day they all decided to try human form. Just looking at all those images, all the people she can now call family, makes the corners of Vee’s mouth turn up, and by the time she’s taped them all to the door and walls of her locker, she’s beaming.
“Looking good!” Luz says approvingly. “I can draw you some stuff later, if you want to—”
The bell cuts her off with an earsplitting ring. They exchange a look of horror and slam their lockers shut simultaneously, shoving their locks closed and running for the main hallway. It’s empty— they must have missed the warning bell entirely.
“It’s okay!” Luz gasps. “It’s not far!”
She sprints to the end of the hall with Vee on her heels, the two of them stopping in front of a door on the left. Luz pauses, glancing back at Vee.
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
Luz nods and pulls the door open and Vee follows her inside the room. And now there are twenty human children and a full human adult, all staring at her with unblinking eyes, and she’s positive she has just made an enormous mistake. 
The adult— the teacher, he must be— recovers first. “Everyone,” he says, “this is Vee Noceda. She’s new to our class this semester.”
A wave of whispers like the hissing of a nest of snakes rises up from the assembled students. Vee swallows hard, nearly choking on her own dry tongue, and only Luz’s hand in hers keeps her from fleeing the scene. 
The teacher looks at her with pitying eyes. “Would you like to say anything more to introduce yourself?”
The only justification Vee can come up with for what she says is that the introduction played well with Camila. Camila’s face had warmed, and she’d spoken with a laugh in her voice, and that’s the reaction Vee wants from these kids— so she opens her mouth and says, “hello, fellow humans. Skin’s sure weird.”
The whispers die within a split second.
“There’s two of them,” a blonde girl in the front groans, and the class dissolves into laughter. Vee isn’t sure whether she should feel relieved or even worse, but at least they’re not looking at her like she’s as much of an outsider. 
One laugh in particular, more dry and knowing, gets her attention, and she follows it to find Masha cackling to themself in a desk at the back of the room. There’s two of them, Vee repeats in her head, and gives a snort of laughter of her own. If only that girl knew. 
The two desks next to Masha are empty, so Vee takes a seat in the one beside them, and Luz comes to sit on her other side. She glances at the teacher for approval, and he gives her a nod.
“All right,” he says, blissfully taking the focus off of her. “Before we get into the course outline, I’m going to give you all a test to see how much you remember.” The class groans, and he holds up a hand. “It’s nothing new, all stuff you learned last year, and multiple choice. You’ll survive.”
He starts passing out booklets and scantrons, and Vee’s heart rate picks up. She’s spent every spare moment of the last two months studying Human Realm curriculum— but while she was fascinated by the literature and history, math always tripped her up. There’s just so much of it, and so many ways of doing it, and there was no way to cram all that into her head. She studied what Luz said she’d need to know for grade ten and barely managed that much— how is she supposed to know everything these kids learned in grade nine?
The teacher lays the papers on her desk, and she flips through the booklet, nausea rising. This is it. They’ll wonder why she doesn’t remember any of this, and discover she’s an imposter, and put her in a zoo, or—
Tap. Taptaptap.
The sound is quiet, but it interrupts Vee’s spiral nonetheless. She glances at the desk to her right to see Masha, their eyes trained on their booklet, one manicured black nail tapping against their desk.
Tap. Taptaptap.
And suddenly Vee’s mind isn’t in the classroom but back in Cabin 7, lying on her bunk above Masha’s in the darkness after lights-out, tapping messages back and forth on the walls. It took exactly one week of camp lectures for Masha to decide they were dead boring, and another week of everyone in Cabin 7 gathering around their phone under a blanket and memorizing the dots and dashes on the screen to become fluent in a language they could converse in without any of the speakers getting them in trouble. Vee hasn’t used it in months, but that doesn’t mean she’s forgotten. 
Tap. Taptaptap.
Dash. Dot, dot, dot.
B.
Vee fills in the circle and taps out t-h-a-n-k-s. She glances over at Masha to find a smile on their lips.
They tap out the next answer, and Vee fills it in. It only takes half the class, but the teacher spends the other half droning on about everything they’re going to be learning, so she doesn’t get to actually talk with Masha until the bell rings and they can disappear into the stream of students heading for their next classes.
“Call me crazy,” Luz says, once they’re out of the teacher’s earshot, “but were you two talking using morse code?”
“I know, I know, cheating is wrong,” Masha says, waving a hand, “but I felt like these were special circumstances.”
“Are you kidding? That’s so cool!”
“Thanks,” Vee adds, glancing at Masha. “I really owe you one.”
“Why yes, you do, and I know exactly what I want.”
“Wait— no—“
“Come on, Vee! You have to show me at some point!”
Luz glances between them. “Show you what?”
Masha lowers their voice. “Her true form.”
“She hasn’t shown you yet?”
“She has shown you? Do you have any pictures?”
“Okay, okay!” Vee cries, throwing up her hands. “If you come over after school, I’ll show you.”
“Finally!” Masha bounces up and down, clapping their hands gleefully. “Okay, I should really get to Bio, but I’ll see you at lunch. Luz can show you where we eat.”
They press a kiss to Vee’s cheek and darts for the stairs. A wave of heat floods her face, and she trips, almost plowing into a line of students before Luz grabs the back of her shirt and pulls her into a blessedly empty bathroom. Vee catches her eye, expecting to see the excitement dancing in her stomach reflected in her face, but instead, Luz’s expression is carefully gentle. It calms the flush in Vee’s cheeks, leadens her limbs, and she leans against a wall.
“I know, I know. I should have shown them a while ago.”
“Vee, they clearly like you, and they really don’t seem like the type to be weirded out by much.”
“I know. It’s just… when you grow up surrounded either by people who are like you or afraid of you, when every teacher in every school teaches every kid that you’re a monster, when you can count every member of your kind on one hand because the rest were all hunted down— part of you always expects that you’ll make people afraid. I know Masha’s probably not like that, but there are so many other voices in my head, and they’re all louder than mine.”
Luz wraps her arms around Vee, leaning her head on hers. “That’s really tough, Vee. I know there’s nothing I can say to make it better, but for what it’s worth, I think you’re doing the right thing.” She steps back, squeezing Vee’s hands. “The only way to quiet those other voices down is to let other people talk back to them. Masha will. I know it.”
Camila drives them all home after school, but when they get to the house, Luz convinces her to go get pizza for dinner. She rolls down the window of the passenger seat just to give Vee an exaggerated wink as she and Masha get out of the back, and Vee shoves her head back into the car with the palm of her hand. The car drives away, and she unlocks the house with shaking hands. 
She follows Masha into the entryway. Closes the door behind her. What now? Does she offer them food first, or try to give some kind of disclaimer or—
If you don’t do it now, a voice in her head warns, sounding suspiciously like Luz, you never will.
And she changes. Just like that. 
Ta-da, she opens her mouth to say, or here I am, or I’m ready, but nothing comes out, and so Masha turns around and sees her without any warning, her mouth open with an explanation that’s never going to come. 
They don’t scream. That’s something.
But Vee can’t bear to see their expression shift, and her eyes dart to the floor, her heart slamming against her chest.
“Hey, Vee.”
Masha sounds casual, but they sounded casual when that slime-covered rat waddled into Cabin 7 in the middle of the night. Brace yourself, Vee—
“Do you want to go out with me?”
Surprise makes her nearly snap her neck with how fast she looks up. She expects them to be laughing, but their expression is bright, if a little nervous.
“What?”
“I mean, like, on a date.”
“No, no, I got that part. But— why?”
“Vee, you’re cool! In any form, you’re cool! I couldn’t care less what you look like. I like you because you’re you. Because you get flustered talking to people but will pick up spiders with your bare hands, because you’re so happy when you learn things it can make me enjoy learning about taxes, because you have enough power to drain the magic out of an evil emperor but have never once threatened someone who didn’t deserve it. That’s what I care about. And if you want me to care about you as my friend— great. We can just be that. But I feel, like, a lot for you, and I want you to know that, too.”
Vee’s chest is tight again, but for the first time all day, she’s not terrified— she’s so happy she feels like she could burst just by inhaling. She’s grinning so hard her face hurts, and yes, part of her wonders if Masha is creeped out by that expression on a basilisk’s face. But they’re beaming too, and Luz is right; that doubtful voice gets quieter and quieter under the onslaught of their attention.
“I’d like that,” Vee says quietly. “I really would.” Glancing over to the clock at the end of the hall, she adds, “we’ve got like an hour until dinner, and I’m sure Luz will stall our mom until then. We could go now, on a walk or something? I know that’s not the most romantic, but—“
“Anything with you will be romantic.” Masha nudges her, and Vee flushes, burying her head in her hands as Masha laughs.
“Is this okay?” They ask, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
Vee wraps an arm around their waist, beaming into their shoulder. “It’s perfect.”
She returns to her human form, Masha’s hold on her easy no matter what shape she takes. Her hands are steady, this time, as she opens the door, and as they walk out hand-in-hand into the winter sun, she can’t recall why she was ever so afraid. 
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beautifulsnake2162020 · 6 days ago
Text
We have it all (Hualian adopted daughter fanfic) Chapter 9
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Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I only do this for fun.
Premise: Not long after comforting a bullied girl named Meng Ai, Hua Cheng and Xie Lian find themselves adopting her and together they form a family they didn't know they had needed for awhile.
Story/Genre tags: Slice of life-ish (mainly), Family focused, Hua Cheng's houses finally become homes, there may be an overarching story but that's not the focus, Hualian being parents, Fengqing being uncles, Lang Qianqiu falling in love with someone who was raised by the Xianle squad, technically post-canon (though I haven't read the books so if there are some ooc moments please forgive me).
AO3 Link
Chapter 1, Chapter 2 , Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8
Follower tags: @anonimgato1507
AN: I finally read the entire TGCF/HOB book series (including the extras) during my post midterm academic break - I'm still crying right now at how good it is (Also I can't believe how a certain heavenly rockery was defiled hahaha).
CW: There will be a blood draining scene in this chapter and it involves the inflicting of wounds and drawing out blood. I personally don't think that it's too graphic but I'm putting this up just to be safe. If it makes you uncomfortable it is a skippable scene (just go to the next scene i.e. the next scene after my line barrier).
Chapter 9
"Happy 14th Birthday Guzi. It's quite exciting having your growth spurt begin isn't it?" Xie Lian says as he gives him a recipe book on various meat dishes. It was going to be winter in a few weeks and this was one of the last few chances that Guzi could spend outside before snow began to cover the lands. His last visit with Guzi was during the weeks leading up to Meng Ai's birthday when he was at most just above Lang Qianqiu's waist, and now Guzi had grown taller by several cun.
"Thank You Scrap Collector Gege. Will you give me martial lessons soon?" Xie Lian and Lang Qianqiu have been talking of arrangements on giving martial arts lessons to Guzi.
"If you'd like, I'll come here three times every week after every a couple of days for your training." The room lightens up at Guzi's smile. He had been seen admiring Lang Qianqiu's martial arts practices whenever it was by himself or when it was sparring with others. While some would argue that Pei Xiu was stronger and more powerful than Lang Qianqiu, there was no question that Lang Qianqiu had the skills that showed everyone why he was even considered as the martial God of the East. When it was revealed that Xie Lian himself had trained him, there were now less questions among the heavens on Lang Qianqiu's skills in martial arts. It was when Guzi had asked him to teach him the martial ways that he found himself not only praising his Guoshi but also reflect on what has happened between them.
"When do we start Scrap Collector Gege?"
"You'll begin after the winter." Lang Qianqiu says before Guzi runs of to take his culinary lessons. An unusual choice of education to any outsider. But this allowed Guzi to mitigate his taste for human flesh while slowly coming to terms with his previously abusive life. And this became beneficial for everyone and Guzi enthusiastically prepared many of the dishes served for his modest birthday celebration. All under the supervision of his chef turned mentor who had a wide and deep experience in handling various meats and protein.
"I've heard you've taken another in - is that true?" Lang Qianqiu asks once they were alone.
He remains silent but his expression confirmed Lang Qianqiu's question.
"Hm? How did that happen?"
"I didn't say anything."
"If there's nothing wrong then why can't you tell me?" Lang Qianqiu asks earnestly.
"Not here Qianqiu. Please."
There was silence - neither a denial or an admission.
"You really can't say anything to me now?"
"Not here Qianqiu, that's all I can say for now."
He could tell that his Guoshi wanted to say more but he can't. And so he decides to drop the issue for now. They bid farewell to each other. Closer than they were last time but not close enough for Lang Qianqiu to comfortably give him a hug. It was still too awkward and no matter how much he wants to, Guzi has become his priority right now.
"Did I hear right? Hua Cheng and Xie Lian has a daughter now?"
"General Pei."
Pei Ming emerges from his spot just around the corner.
"Perhaps I should stop by personally."
"She's too young for you."
"I wasn't going to do anything to her."
"Then why do you want to see her?"
"No need for that suspicious tone Tai Hua, I'm just curious that's all. It seems Qi Ying and I are the only ones who aren't informed of this news."
Lang Qianqiu became concerned that he might have accidentally shared what was supposed to be a secret. Throughout all these years he could admit to himself that he wondered how he managed to rule Yong'an and get around in the Upper Court on his own. He may not be good in politics but he will do what he knows is right. And right now that is to try to persuade the more popular General Pei from spreading the implied secret around.
"And if you know what's good for you, you won't spread it around."
"Oh? Why not?"
"It involves some of Jun Wu's worshippers."
Lang Qianqiu and Pei Ming turn around at the new voice that had startled them.
"General Xuan Zhen, I was wondering when either you or General Nan Yang would join us."
"And if you know what's good for you then you wouldn't say anything to anyone here. It's a delicate situation which dated back to the days of Wuyong." At this Pei Ming became serious and Lang Qianqiu was stunned.
"Let me guess - it's not safe to discuss the details here because of Ling Wen? I could take care of that."
"It's too big of a risk, you'll understand why when we see you both to discuss this." Pei Ming raises his eyebrow and Lang Qianqiu couldn't help but be suspicious.
"How come Guoshi didn't say anything to me earlier while he was here?"
"There were eyes and ears on him. He couldn't be as detailed as he wants. And Guzi was still within hearing shot, we couldn't take any chances." He tosses a pair of dice to them.
"He made an exception for now. Wait a couple hours after I leave. The third toss will bring you to where we are. You know what to do."
______________________________________________________________
"Hmm."
"Is it bad?"
"It's clumsy." Ji Huifan says as he looks at the latest translation attempt of the Butterfly Lovers Meng Ai made. Once again they were speaking in the Daxian language to help her practice it. In the study room Hua Cheng had gone tired practicing his calligraphy and with Xie Lian's permission had began painting an image instead. A skill which was far better than any character that would come from his calligraphy. Xie Lian was by his side reading Ji Huifan's notes on the Daxian language for beginners who were learning from the Han tongue.
"What do you mean? I translated every word and made sure it's in the correct grammar and syntax."
"Yes, you did a direct translation which is still good. But it is still clumsy." He takes a seat beside her as he points out lines in her work.
"This is a good direct translation of a Han figure of speech."
"Thank you Baba. But why is it clumsy?"
"Imagine yourself as someone born and raised in Daxia or within Daxian culture. Do you remember the various stories and myths they like to tell and spread?" She nods as she recalls everything she could about Daxian culture.
"Now with that in mind, do you think anyone would understand this saying?" Her face shifts once she realizes this.
"Oh."
"Exactly."
"Then what do I do?"
"Use something from their culture that is the closest to what this Han saying wants to convey. That is how you elevate a translation away from simply translating words."
"But wouldn't that remove what makes it beautiful in the Han language?"
"It's inevitable that it would happen, which is why translations also include notes providing context for certain sayings. This is why translators are still prized along the silk road since they have a hard task of connecting two different types of cultures into understanding each other. The best translations convey the intended meaning while also retaining the beauty of it's context in it's own original culture as much as it could. Isn't that right Dianxia?"
"Certainly Ji Huifan."
"Did you translate things too Baba Lian?"
"A little bit, not to the same degree that your Baba is teaching you now, but I used to be fluent in the language of the Banyue kingdom."
"The kingdom who kept fighting with Yong'an?"
"Yes, I used to be a soldier for Yong'an and would sometimes translate their language to Han. I'm not as fluent in it now since I haven't practiced speaking or reading it in awhile I'm not as good as I was back then."
"Still Gege you were able to get an idea of the cultural differences between the two kingdoms."
"Honestly, it's part of the reason I believe that the negotiations were going nowhere. Neither side was willing to listen and consider why the opposing side held the perspectives they had."
"It could be, or they simply didn't want to understand each other."
"So as you can see Aiai, translation is more than just simply saying the same words in another language: it's about doing your best to translate the meaning from one culture to another."
Ji Huifan sets aside her work and opens his notebook in a section which showed figures of speech from both Han and Daxian.
"While these aren't all figures of speech of either language this is a good starting point for you to understand how Han and Daxian expresses love between star-crossed lovers. Study them, read the stories from both cultures. Afterwards you'll make your next translation attempt."
"Yes Baba. Just wondering when can I translate a story into Han?"
"Which story did you have in mind?"
"The story of King Midas and his golden curse."
"Hmm not bad, alright I'll let you translate that into Han once I'm satisfied with your translation of the Butterfly lovers."
"Oh? What's this story Xiao Ai?"
"It's about a King named Midas who wished that everything he touched would turn into gold. At first he was glad because he became wealthier the more things turned into gold. But then he realized that he couldn't drink water and became thirsty, he couldn't eat because when he touched his food it would also become gold and he became hungry. Then finally his little daughter reached up to hug him and to his horror she also turned to gold. Afterwards it depends on the story teller Baba Lang."
"Hmm why?"
"Some versions let him live out the rest of his cursed wish till he dies. Other versions makes him do some sort of sacrifice or an act of humility to remove the curse. The only thing that all versions agree on is that he made the wish to turn everything he touched into gold and he later regretted it when he couldn't drink, eat, or embrace his daughter. Which version do you want me to translate Baba?"
"Since you want to translate it from Daxian, then we'll do the version wherein Dionysus, the God who granted him his wish undoes it in the end after he shows him that he now understands the consequences of his wish."
"Alright Baba."
"Xiao Ai, would you like to take a break and visit Qiandeng Temple? We haven't shown you what it was like on the inside."
"But isn't that where you and Baba Lang do the married couple thing?"
"Ma-married couple thing?"
"That's what Baba Lang said."
At this Hua Cheng couldn't help but laugh as Xie Lian blushes with embarassment.
"She asked and I didn't want to lie to our daughter."
"Why is Baba Lian becoming red?"
"San Lang please tell me you didn't actually tell her what it is."
"Huh? What's the big deal?"
"We'll tell you when you're older little one."
The new family of three headed out, each father holding one hand of their daughter as they head to Qiandeng Temple. The crowds parted and lingered for awhile before Hua Cheng told them to mind their own business.
"Why do they do that?"
"They admire your Baba Lang, he's the one who made and runs this City."
"Ignore them little one, if it makes you uncomfortable I'll tell them to stop doing it."
"I was just asking Baba Lang! Hehehe."
He smiles at her when he is assured that she doesn't mind the attention the ghosts were giving them. She never had this treatment before being just so used to fleeing from one place to another when there was any sign of danger to her or her family.
She's curious about them, don't worry San Lang.
All she needs to do is ask Gege.
We both know that, but she's fine, she's just curious about the ghosts who live here. This is her first time seeing them since you had Yin Yu escort her and her parents by using the dice whenever they travel around. They don't mean her harm.
Even without their private channel Xie Lian knew what to say to get him to relax a little bit. Xie Lian had a strong instinct in detecting killing instinct towards either himself or to the people he loves. As much as the citizen ghosts could be annoying at times, his beloved was right in saying that he can relax a bit more lest he might alarm Xiao Ai.
Once they were inside the temple Xie Lian notices some prayers that he needs to address.
"Hmm this is a strange one."
"What is it Gege?"
"This prayer is from a new family. They recently were given a new house by a rich merchant. But there seems to be sentient objects that would harm anyone who entered. There's no Daoist priest nearby and so they sent a prayer to me."
"May I come?"
"Xiao Ai it could be dangerous."
"I promise I'll behave Baba Lian, I want to go somewhere new."
"We can go somewhere new later."
"But how can I exercise my powers in talking to different ghosts if you won't let me?"
"This isn't a game Meng Ai, I don't want anything to happen to you."
"Gege let's go together, that way one of us will be with her."
"Please Baba Lian. I promise I'll be good. I want to know what you do as a God."
"...Very well. But stay close to us alright."
"Yes Baba."
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she takes his hand and Hua Cheng throws a dice. A part of him couldn't believe he had let her join them but a part of him had a feeling that she might try to find a way to sneak herself to watch this new mission. At least if he and Hua Cheng are there he could at least be comforted that she will have supervision and protection should anything happen.
They arrive at the outskirts of a city and Hua Cheng puts a disguise on himself and Meng Ai. He shapeshifts into his San Lang appearance while he gave Meng Ai violet eyes upon her request and a glamour to make her blend in with them.
You made them similar to Banyue's
She's curious about her. When things are a little more secure perhaps you could invite Banyue so that she could ask her things only she could answer.
And I thought you knew everything San Lang.
He couldn't help but chuckle mentally as he feels Hua Cheng mentally stick his tongue out to him.
There are some things that only Banyue could answer - such as what does she see in Pei Xiu.
Point taken.
"Stay close to us."
"Yes Baba Lian."
Holding tightly to both of her fathers they go into the city and were lead into a modest house in a dense area nearby the impoverished areas of the city.
"Maybe it's a scam! A scam I tell you! Those Wu bastards just wants to kill you two!"
"Mama please, it's still a good price! We just need to find someone who could cleanse the space."
"You and your wife are better off here! It may not be much compared to what the Wu gave you but you grew up here, we could make a new room for my grandchild. This place isn't cursed like what the Wu gave you."
"Mother perhaps they didn't know that it was cursed."
"My dear trust me those Wu have it out for everyone who is better than they are and they know it! Your husband had beaten their son in the recent civil exams and this is how they are taking their revenge!"
Xie Lian takes this chance to knock on their door. A young scholar with a short beard opened the door, his look was exasperated from the argument they heard from outside.
"Hello there, we came to help with the cursed house?"
"Oh Daozhang, thank goodness come in! Mama! See someone came to help with cleansing our new house."
Later just after sunset, the three of them find themselves in a grand house in one of the more affluent part of the city. It was both accessible enough to anyone and yet because of the energy surrounding it, the house became isolated with it's nearest neighbors being at least half a kilometer away on both sides. From what the young scholar said, he was able to buy this house from the Wu family who offered it to him at an affordable price. He couldn't waste such an opportunity to provide better living for his wife and mother with more space than their current house. When he and his wife inspected the house to see if it needed any repairs or if things needed to be bought before they moved in to it, objects would move out of their place. It was benign at first but then it's as if the objects were forcibly putting themselves on front of them on their own.
And then when they turned their backs on them after not using them the objects hurled themselves at them which chased them out of the house. They made several attempts but the last attempt nearly lead into a miscarraige of their unborn child in the early stages of his wife's pregnancy.
"Xiao Ai, stay close to Baba Lang okay?"
"Yes Baba Lian."
They enter the premises, the rooms were filled with ghostly qi. Not necessarily so malevolent as a savage, but it was more dangerous than a simple malice.
"It's everywhere Baba Lang."
"I know, what do you see?"
"It's as if everything is cloaked in it's presence. It's everywhere all at once."
A Menace then?
Yes, it's not powerful enough to kill an entire city. But the ghostly qi is powerful enough that I could detect it everywhere in this house.
Enough that Xiao Ai could see it everywhere.
Just then they heard a movement. A vase meant to hold flowers moved closer towards them from it's previous spot at the center of the table.
"Hmph at least it's not shy."
"Babas, is it me or do you hear something like wind chimes? It sounds like something from a hair stick with those long fancy tassels."
Then they hear it. It was soft but once they both listened closely there was the soft sounds of metal bumping into metal. It was so soft that it wasn't noticeable beneath the sounds of other objects moving towards them. But now that Meng Ai mentioned it, the soft ringing was present all over.
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian shared a look.
"Xiao Ai go to Baba Lian and duck."
She ducks as she scurries to Xie Lian's side as Hua Cheng catches an incense burner that was aimed at her head. The once soft sounds of metal tassels now noticeably louder.
"We want to talk, whomever you are please come out."
A lifted teapot in one corner and in another an ink stone. Both objects were prepared to be hurled towards them.
And yet Xie Lian did not feel any killing intent.
"We prefer not to force you, we know you don't want to harm us. You just want to drive us away. Right?"
The teapot and the inkstone were still hurled towards them but at a far enough spot that didn't actually hurt them.
"Let us help you, please let's talk."
Suddenly a lot of ghostly qi was focused on one object, the sound of metal ringing accumulated there. Xie Lian bends down and carries Meng Ai to prevent her from stepping on any of the broken objects on the floor. Hua Cheng lights up the room as they go towards the ghostly qi.
It was focused on a blank paper on the wall, but as they go nearer and the metal ringing became louder, the paper slowly shows a painting of a teenage girl wearing a half bun secured by a hairstick with metal tassels. She was dressed in wedding robes with the veil on her hands. Her expression upon first glance was stoic, but her eyes showed a mix of fury and frustration.
"Who are you?"
"Who are you?! How dare you come to my sanctuary?"
"Sanctuary?"
"It had been mine for the last three years."
"Is this where you died?"
"No! I would never violate this place with a rotting corpse. Not even my own."
"But this is where your ashes are."
Hua Cheng says and the ghost girl's mood shifts to one of fright.
"Cooperate with us if you don't want them destroyed. Go ahead Gege."
The ghost girl let's out a sigh as she gazes at them in frustration.
"Let's start again. Who are you and why are you here?"
"My name is Chen Bingxue, this place used to be my private garden before my husband Wu Shuai stole it from me after I died."
"He killed you?"
"Yes Daozhang, he only married me and gave a high bridal gift to my father just to get his hands on this land. When I went here to dwell in it for the last time, do you know what I found? Wu Shuai destroying everything I cultivated and gave life to just to build this structure over everything I had worked hard for."
"There's more isn't there."
Hua Cheng says in a tone that left no room for disobedience. Chen Bingxue looks down, forcing herself to not shed tears as she continues.
"I'll admit, it pained me that he was destroying my garden. But I already expected it when my mother told me that I was to be betrothed to him."
She takes a breath before she meets their gazes.
"What hurt me the most was seeing my father give him the very tools he needed to destroy the garden. The very garden that he had given me...I...I knew that I was nothing more than a tool for him. My mother was his concubine after all...but I had thought...I had thought that he loved me enough to not destroy the only place where I felt needed as a person."
"Your sanctuary."
On Meng Ai's words and hearing the sincerity in them, Chen Bingxue could no longer hold back her tears.
"Yes, this was the only place where I didn't feel like I was less than human. Nature may not care who cultivates it, but it always made me feel at peace...only for it to be destroyed by everyone who saw me as nothing more than an obstacle to get this land."
"Is that why you keep throwing objects at everyone? So that you'll be alone here while you also destroy everything here?"
"Other people destroyed my sanctuary first, why shouldn't I destroy everything here so that nature could claim this land once again?"
Her response was daring Meng Ai to answer. But both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng knew that Chen Bingxue was not in a state to listen.
"Little one she's not in the mood to listen."
"Baba may I try? Please."
After exchanging a look with Xie Lian he nods reluctantly. She turns to the Chen Bingxue.
"Because even when it was your private garden and sanctuary it didn't belong to you."
"How dare you! You little -"
"It didn't belong to you because you and your family were borrowing from nature!"
When she got her attention and that she was now listening to her Meng Ai continued.
"You are still want to be here because it was your sanctuary. It was your sanctuary because you cared and loved everything that grew in it and those memories made you happy. But before it became your sanctuary it first belonged to nature. And it continues to belong to nature even now. A house on this land does not make that false. It's not the place itself that made you happy, it's because you cared and nurtured what you love that made you happy."
"You sound so sure little girl."
"I'm sure because up until a few months ago my family and I had to keep moving from place to place just to survive."
Chen Bingxue looks at her in shock.
"We lived in plenty of interesting places, and there were some when I had so many happy memories. But I was happy because of what I was doing with the people I love. It's not the place that matters but what you do in it that matters."
Out of her sight Hua Cheng and Xie Lian shared a smile.
"You don't have to stay here just to be happy again."
"I...I'm not sure I'm...I don't think I could move on."
"You don't have to. You're a ghost now so you can take as much time as you want. I'm still mortal and I sometimes wish I had as much time as you do now."
"Yes...you're right...I do have time."
Chen Bingxue fades away from the paper leaving it blank again. The paper fell and behind it was a shelf that contained a jewelry box with floral embellishments and motifs.
"Baba Lang is that..."
"Yes little one."
He picks up the jewelry box and brings it to them.
"These are her ashes."
______________________________________________________________
On the docks by the ports in Panyu the group of mage mercenaries had an undercurrent of confidence. After years of searching, their leader Ji Lihua finally found a bloodmatch. External reports confirmed that their target in question was now dwelling in Panyu. Together with him was a woman and a little girl who shared his blood.
It was them, finally they could get the rest of their reward once they deliver to King Ji Huifan their heads and the little girl who will now finally be within their group.
"Baba there's a pretty hairstick with pearls -"
"It's too expensive Aiai, and you haven't beaten anyone in Go yet."
"I didn't say I want to buy it!"
"We know you Aiai." The woman chastizes the little girl.
"Once something pretty catches your eye you want to know if we'll buy it for you. The answer is still no."
Ji Lihua chuckles.
"Finally we found them. All these years of being away from Fu Dao will finally end."
"Is it really them?"
"It's him, my pathetic brother."
"They're not clones your highness?"
"No, they're not. That's why I'm finally glad that this will be over soon."
"Do we attack them now?"
"No, but have the assassins tail them and keep them in their sights. And when the time is right we'll corner them."
Ji Lihua then turns to her subordinates.
"Start summoning your creatures now. They shouldn't escape us this time."
For four weeks they observed the trio, their routines, habits, and interests. They resided in Xiwangmu's temple not far from the port but it was located in a secluded enough spot that would offer peace and tranquility to anyone seeking refuge in her holy grounds.
As the sun set on the tenth day of the fourth week Ji Lihua gave the signal to begin the attack. Her assassins begin to go to any expected route that they could possibly escape to. The only way the three of them could possibly escape them now is if Ji Huifan opened a portal going elsewhere. And the spells used to open such a portal could be manipulated to be kept open for them to follow wherever they fled.
There was a high chance of success.
And to ensure that her mission would finally end she'll finally stop being lazy and follow them through the portal once it opens. Her mage of a brother may put up a fight but now that he is mortal it's quite clear that he would be no match against a mediocre fighter like her. She admits reluctantly that her advisers were right in saying that she needs to get involved to finally end their years long pursuit. And she could go back to sleeping in silk sheets and eating Anxian dishes from Fu Dao's royal kitchens.
The family of three made their way back to the temple of Xiwangmu as the sun sets and darkness begin to emerge. As per their usual routine they took the route that was more crowded. Possibly thinking that the likelihood of a magical attack or a kill by either assassins or mercenaries would be unlikely in a crowded area that cloaked their targets. A commotion suddenly happened. What it was, none of them wanted to know. Making sure that no one was missing, they hastened their steps toward the temple.
And in the semi-secluded route emerged the assassins and some mage mercenaries with their creatures.
"Surrender her to us now and you will live."
"Never."
"Are you sure about that A-fan?"
Her voice scratches his ear as they turned around to face her.
"Lihua."
"Have I finally impressed you A-fan? You are surrounded. If you'll hand the little thing for the sacrifice then I'll let you and your bitch free to make another. You're capable of making one, there's no reason why you can't make another."
"She is your niece!"
"You of all people should know that blood alone does not make one family."
Tension arises in the air.
"Still blind as ever."
"I could say the same about you. You claim to be the enlightened one after A-jie and yet you are the one who flees and evade. You can't outrun the inevitable brother."
"And what makes you think you are inevitable?"
"Aren't you a priestess? A bitch who could see the future."
"Even I know that no paths are bound."
Ji Lihua gives a hand signal and both assassins and the mage mercenaries prepare to attack.
"Last chance, give the girl to me now!"
"No, dear sister."
With her free hand Jing Mei throws a smoke bomb as Ji Huifan quickly opens a portal and the three of them flee inside it. Before the portal could close several mages uses spells to keep it open as assassins, mages, and the creatures they controlled follow inside. When she deemed that the number of mages and assassins were sufficient she herself enters the portal before closing.
Upon entering the sight before her makes her shocked and confused.
The portal opened to a beach, but it had an air of isolation. The waters were dark and it seemed only half of those who entered the portal had their corpses on the beach. And as the water reaches the shore she noticed just how dark it really was.
"Where the fuck did you escape to A-fan? Are you this desperate now?"
She closes her eyes and hones in on his blood, they weren't far from here and were in the midst of running somewhere in this island with his bitch and his spawn.
"You can't escape me now."
She uses her inhuman speed to go to where they are and appears on front of them.
"Think it would be that easy? Hahaha!"
"Lihua, please, it's not too late."
"Save your breath brother, you are mortal now. Better think of what's more important. Your life? Or the spawn's?"
"Mama -"
"No - don't listen to her Meng Ai. How dare you?!"
"Because I can Mei. Do you know how you have kept me from the joys of life back in Fu Dao just to be able to bring this little brat to Ji Bocheng?"
Ji Huifan's hands begin glowing.
"Lihua, don't make me do this."
"Really? When you know that you are weaker than me now?"
"If that's what it takes. Meng Ai don't let go of your mother! Run."
"Ah ah ah not so fast."
With ease she appears before them as Ji Huifan manages to blast energy her way. Successfully pre-empting where she would go.
"Just because I'm mortal now doesn't mean that you will win."
"And I want to go home now!"
Thus begins their fight. Or rather Jing Mei and the little girl finding anywhere to flee to while Ji Huifan keeps Ji Lihua distracted. What he lacks in strength and power compared to his sister, he makes up for in knowing how predictable she could be with new room to adjust to any new movements.
But even he knew that he could only have enough stamina for so long.
"Tired A-fan?"
"You haven't seen anything yet."
"You're right, I'll finish you later. I've got a brat to capture."
"You won't get her."
"Oh?"
She gives him a sarcastic look.
"Then how come I could sense three things?"
"What?"
"One, she's still wherever this shithole is; two, she and your bitch ran but got separated; and three, she's over -"
She quickly runs to a spot behind Ji Huifan as she now carries a struggling little girl.
"Baba!"
"Here."
"NO - Lihua, please - it's not too late."
"Fuck your bitch and make a new one. It won't be a big loss."
She was about to make a teleportation array when suddenly everything went dark in her vision. And before she knew it she was unconscious.
When she awakened she finds herself chained to a wall in a filthy dungeon. That's not the part that alarmed her. What alarmed her was the presence of multiple deities.
And a familiar face.
"What the fuck - you're a God?"
"So you do remember me."
General Pei crosses his arms as he raises an eyebrow at her.
"What - but how? She could detect divine aura and when it's a clone."
"Which is why we were lovers in her dreams. Give me more credit Nan Yang even I wouldn't take that risk."
"At this point who haven't you slept with."
Mu Qing says rolling his eyes as he turned to face Ji Lihua.
"No matter - I can't be killed. I'm immortal!"
"Good, we're not trying to kill you - should I do it or would you like to do the honors?"
"She's your former lover you do it."
Feng Xin quickly says as he gives Pei Ming a knife as Mu Qing reinforces her restraints.
"Just know - this is for your own good."
______________________________________________________________
Meanwhile in Paradise Manor, Chenxi and Shi Qingxuan were helping Meng Ai with the seamstress that happily served Shi Qingxuan for the past years. They were a good assistant and because of their personality, she was able to have more customers and was able to give back to Shi Qingxuan for their good eye in trends and design. In exchange she happily mended or redesigned their robes to keep up with the times.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to wear these colors A-xuan?"
"As long as it's not yellow or anywhere near the Emperor's embroidery designs on his robe you should be fine."
"But how come I see other people wear yellow?"
"Because they are part of a group - and that group has special permission to wear yellow. Now young lady let's show your elders." Xiang Li the seamstress says as she steps back and go beside Shi Qingxuan and Chenxi.
Meng Ai was wearing a rich dark blue dress with a crimson red outer robe that matched Hua Cheng's crimson red. It was still a basic fitting since white or cream embroidery will still be added to add harmony to two bright bold colors.
"What do you think Meng Ai?"
"I like the colors but I feel my sleeves are too big and the skirt is too long."
"Wouldn't you like to have more space for the embroidery?"
"But I also want to move around. I want to dance with my Babas for their wedding anniversary."
"You're in luck, their incoming wedding anniversary will be in the same week as the Shangyuan Festival this year."
Chenxi says as she holds up a few hair accessories against the dress.
"Yu Yingtai?"
"Yes Meng Ai?"
"Do you think Chen Bingxue will be okay? She still doesn't want to emerge from her ashes and she keeps telling me to not waste my time on her."
Chenxi sighs as she gives Shi Qingxuan the hair accessories she was contemplating on which suited Meng Ai better.
"Give her time Meng Ai, she's reflecting right now and you can't force someone to rush through that. Alright?"
"Yes Yu Yingtai."
"Good, now let me check your wound."
Meng Ai sits down and lifts the deep blue fabric enough to show her lower leg. What used to be a large gash because she tripped over a rock when she got a little too excited to arrive home in their cottage; was now reduced to scarring. That incident while painful was a blessing in disguise since her mother needed a sample of Meng Ai's blood in order to recreate its unique signature with the blood Ji Huifan and Jing Mei have been donating for this project. Once she finished her work she gave the vial of the recreated blood mixed with a potion for He Xuan (or one of his clones) to drink. This is one of the few crucial steps in order for their deception to work. The potion retained the reconstructed blood in the body for a week. In order to keep the blood and Meng Ai's blood signature in He Xuan, the same potion needs to be ingested regularly per week. So her mother gave six batches of the potion disguised as medicine that He Xuan acting as Meng Ai needed to drink.
"It's going to scar - which means it's healing. I'll give you something to reduce the scar leaving a mark."
"Thank you. By the way, do you know where my parents are?"
"Which ones?"
"All four of them. Did something happen to Baba and Mama? How about Baba Lang and Baba Lian?"
"Oh they're just busy doing something."
"Adult things?"
"Don't phrase it like that!"
"Huh?"
"Ignore them Meng Ai. Yes, they are doing adult things. You're not yet ready to know what yet."
"Is it married couple things?"
"Think more along the lines of getting rid of a pest."
______________________________________________________________
"How much blood does she have?"
Mu Qing asks as he restrains Ji Lihua's left arm while Feng Xin does the same with her right. Lang Qianqiu has recently joined in to restrain her legs while Pei Ming restrains her torso while silver butterflies continues to draw blood out of her body.
"This is barely a dent. Ji Huifan! How long did yours take?"
Feng Xin cries out as he was able to dodge a scratch from her nails which he holds against the wall and reinforces the energy in her bindings. Black water's chains while strong enough to keep her on the wall, its length still allowed her movement which she used to inflict any injury she could while she was currently bled out.
"Hold still Lihua, this is for your own good."
Pei Ming says as he makes another clean cut to an area that would allow her to still live but will have a large amount of blood poured out.
"Fuck you!"
"You already did. But if you want to try again outside of your dreams once this is over -"
"Really Pei? Right now?!"
"You're one to talk Nan Yang. We have had to endure you and Xuan Zhen flirting."
"Tai Hua I didn't say I minded it. As the God of Love I think it's refreshing for these two."
Even more silver butterflies enters the dungeon as Ji Huifan makes his appearance.
"My bloodletting took the entire night and I fell asleep at dawn. Brace yourselves, this isn't even much blood."
"How do we know when it's over?"
"When she starts experiencing grief. Or when her energy is so depleted that her body has no choice but to become unconscious. At that point the body will cure itself and will restore her mortality."
"How dare you do this to me!? A-fan do you hate me this much that you would deprive me of my power!"
He doesn't respond but instead casts a spell to help keep her wounds open so that more blood could be drawn out. Her spiritual energy was still high and they have only made a surface level dent to the energy she has. If she allows herself to grieve then it would make this faster. But his dear sister is too stubborn for that.
This was going to be a long night.
_____________________________________________________________
"Baba Lian! Mama!"
Meng Ai runs to the entrance of Paradise Manor greeting them with a hug.
"Wheres Baba and Baba Lang?"
"They are still doing their work. Now have you been a good girl to Yu Yingtai and A-xuan?"
"Yes Baba Lian. They are still here because they want Mama's opinion on the embroidery of my new clothes."
"Speaking of embroidery, would you like to practice tomorrow? Since Li Shuyue won't be coming tomorrow."
"Okay Mama. I'll do my best not to get pricked this time!"
"That's the spirit, now wash up for dinner."
As they get themselves ready for dinner, this time prepared by the Chef ghost of Paradise Manor who has become good friends with Jing Mei. He finally allows himself time to contemplate what the future might hold for Meng Ai.
Or to be more specific, what the future holds for Meng Ai and either Lang Qianqiu or Guzi.
After Pei Ming and Lang Qianqiu finally arrive at their location for their meeting on how to deal with the cursed immortal family of Fu Dao, Xie Lian finally starts feeling the weight he didn't know he was carrying lift a little bit.
"To answer your question." He feels himself relieved that he can finally speak in confidence to his former pupil.
"I can't tell you all the details out of respect for her parents but let's just say we did it to save her life."
"Is that why you're not in heaven as often?" He nods at his former student.
"Let's just say this involves a group of Jun Wu's worshippers hunting her down." He sees his eyes widen in concern.
"Guoshi, if you need any assistance please let me know - wait is she the six year old whom you wanted to introduce to Guzi?"
"She's seven now." He says with a smile.
"Perhaps they aren't exactly peers and I was being a little to generous."
"You were, friendship is not something you can force Guoshi."
"Not force but merely an introduction. Her true personality came out once she knew she was safe with us."
"Hmm I think Guzi hasn't come out of his shell yet. He's just starting to, but he's not there yet."
"Still if you ever change your mind or if you just want to speak to me..."
"I know Guoshi."
"Speaking of her parents, here they are right now. Lang Qianqiu, Pei Ming, this is Ji Huifan and Jing Mei. Huifan, Mei, these are Generals Ming Guang and Tai Hua."
After bowing before Lang Qianqiu Jing Mei's eyes begin glowing and suddenly had a rather lengthy vision. Once it was over she takes another look at his former student, this time discerning him for awhile.
"Hmm...you'll do."
"May I ask for what?"
"I sadly cannot tell you since I don't mind these visions of mine coming true. If I tell you, there is a high chance it won't come true."
"Wait visions?"
"I get them every now and then Dianxia Xie Lian. It's not always a singular vision."
She clearly wouldn't say more than that but it didn't escape his notice that she was observing Lang Qianqiu. Not with suspicion but more with discernment and consideration. What she saw must be something fortunate or at least something she wouldn't mind happening.
"May I ask what you saw which involved Lang Qianqiu?"
"You've been slowly telling him about Meng Ai?"
"Every now and then. Sometimes I worry if he might be jealous of the difference between how I mentored him and how I'm treating her."
"You know him better than I, but I will say to remove any doubts and show that you still care for him and that there is no reason to be jealous of her. He still calls you Guoshi and it seems your relationship is slowly being repaired. From what I understand you two are now talking more than before, yes?"
"Yes, but what does that have to do with what you saw?"
All she offers is a smile.
"Normally I wouldn't mind telling those not directly shown in the vision but considering what I saw I'm afraid I also couldn't tell you."
"It involves Meng Ai?"
"Let's just say, you'll know why I can't exactly tell you directly once you notice some things."
"Notice what? Is it because of San Lang's reaction?"
"Perhaps. That's all I could tell you Dianxia."
"Very well."
Xie Lian says with resignation.
"Should I introduce them?"
"Wait until she's older. That's the only clue I'm giving you."
______________________________________________________________
Lihua awakens after a tumultous ordeal. This time she was in a bed, but still in some other part of the dungeon she was in. A little bit more pleasant than where she was last time. She sits up and immediately she feels it.
She's mortal again.
No longer invincible.
No longer constantly thirsty for blood.
And she doesn't know how to feel about it.
"It takes awhile to get used to. During my early days I also sometimes missed a few things about being an immortal."
"Am I really that obvious A-fan?"
He stays where he is on the doorway. He has lived long enough to know that grief is expressed differently to many others and his sister is no different.
"Lihua, just because I don't find value in what interests you, does not mean I look down on you."
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"I've been a horrible brother to you."
Silence ensues as he now settles himself beside her bed. She keeps her head down as she takes the cup of water he gives.
"I didn't check up on you and disregarded the impact of my opinion on you."
"You left me when you are the last person - my last reminder of our mother before she died centuries before. Our father quickly moved on but neither of us did. And yet the moment the opportunity to leave arrived, you took it. Left me in the place wherein no matter what I did, no matter where I went to, it was never enough."
"What made tracking us and giving your niece to him any different?"
"...He said that if I did it will be my greatest achievement."
"...You are more than that."
"Easy for you to say. The bright star among the spawn of our father."
Her sarcastic tone was like a stab to him. He was used to it, but it didn't mean that it hurt any less.
"You don't need his or my opinion on what your achievements are. You are smart enough on your own to know them."
He stands up and make his way out.
"This may be obvious, but now that you are mortal spend the rest of your mortal life on what you actually want to do."
"And what if that means still pursuing her?"
"Then you shall suffer the consequences. Simple as that. But do you really want to spend your remaining mortal days simply chasing after her?"
"..."
"That's what I thought."
______________________________________________________________
The day was bright, and outside of their cottage just after her calligraphy and philosophy lessons with Hua Cheng and Xie Lian, Meng Ai eagerly searched for her hiding spot. She wanted to climb the trees but the bamboo stick that her Baba Lian would use to practice his forms, might probably be broken or hinder her climb. And she didn't want to get wounded again so soon.
They were playing hide and seek. But to make things more interesting if she could defend herself or do something to evade their grasp then as long as they didn't catch her she could still hide.
"Go anywhere in Mt. Taicang. It's within the wards so don't limit yourself."
Baba Lang tells her cheekily before they start their game. He and Baba Lian equipped with their own bamboo sticks. E-ming and Ruoye will not be used in today's game much to their mutual disappointment.
"Behave you two, this is also training for her."
Baba Lian says appeasing the two sentient weapons. And so the sword and the silk band became markers for their starting point. Baba Lian begins counting as the seeker for this round.
She decides to hide in the bushes. And keep still, ease her breathing.
Meanwhile Xie Lian and Hua Cheng were watching her from afar.
"Should I give her a few more moments?"
"Hmph she could handle it."
"Maybe a little bit more San Lang. Now go back to hiding."
"What if I don't want to hide?"
Xie Lian chuckles as he pulls him down for a chaste kiss.
"Keep yourself hidden from her sight then."
Xie Lian makes his way to her and raised his stick with ease in quick defense.
"Good."
"Thank you Baba."
He let's her run before pursuing her chuckling.
Looking back from now it was as if time flew fast.
As she grew and under their guidance she was able to excel.
One opponent gradually became two.
Bamboo sticks became practice swords.
Practice swords were supplemented by Ruoye and Eming.
He shares a smile with Hua Cheng before they both move in. He commands Ruoye to put her in a blindfold.
She evaded by dodging and stabbing Ruoye with a stick.
Hua Cheng then made his move and made a crimson mist surrounding her. He enters the mist and she dodges his attack by a hair and quickly engages.
"Mind your feet - you wouldn't want to be late for your performance later."
"Oh stop it Baba!"
She advances and their practice swords dance for awhile before he disarms her and E-ming enters from her blind side. She ducks and quickly gets her twin Sais out. Hua Cheng attacks with a practice sword since E-ming refuses to be used to spar against her no matter how much Xie Lian and Meng Ai ask. A compromise was that E-ming will be limited to distractions while Hua Cheng uses a practice sword.
She finds herself crossing her Tie Chis stopping Hua Cheng's sword from hitting.
"I think she should mind her fingers not her feet."
"Baba Lang you just don't want to see me dance with anyone!"
Hua Cheng smirks.
"You don't need to dance with anyone just to enjoy dancing."
"Really? Is that why for the past few years I've never had any suitors ask for me?"
"You're acting as if your life is over at sixteen."
She pushes against him and quickly evades an incoming attack from Xie Lian. Simultaneously she blocks Hua Cheng's attack, then twisting to the side and clashed with Xie Lian's sword. One Tie Chi was disarmed and she quickly thrusted her other Tie Chi which was quickly dodged by Xie Lian.
"Can you blame me?"
"Focus Xiao Ai. Don't worry you have time."
"Says my Baba who ascended at seventeen."
"The key is timing."
She twists then jumps to the side. She jumps from the swing of Hua Cheng's sword and evades him.
But she twists right into Xie Lian's arms as he held his practice sword against her neck.
"See, do you yield?"
"...Yes Baba. Happy Anniversary to you and Baba Lang."
They both chuckles as she lets out a whine, the Crimson mist disappears and Xie Lian lets her go. He removes the stick that pinned Ruoye in place and E-ming goes back in it's sheath by Hua Cheng's waist. Hua Cheng bends down and hands Meng Ai back her disarmed Tie Chi. The family of three make their way down Mt. Taicang.
"Thank you, Xiao Ai you don't need to stay for the entire celebration. Whatever you have composed on the Guzheng we'll love it."
"If you want I could make them cheer for you no matter what happens."
It was her turn to laugh.
"Baba Lang what would be the point of that? If they don't like it then I'll study why. But I can't do that if it's not a genuine reaction."
"And just who would dare critique your work?"
"Li Shuyue my music teacher, Mama, General Xuan Zhen -"
"Just say the word -"
"Baba!" "San Lang."
"Just teasing."
They reach the bottom and Hua Cheng throws his dice in the air and a door opens transporting them to Paradise Manor.
"Qing Jinjing! You need to get dressed." Li Shuyue says as she clacks her tongue disapprovingly.
"Shuyue-laoshi, you can still call me Meng Ai."
"You chose Qing Jinjing as your courtesy name and in a few moments you will be publicly performing. Unless we are in our lessons I'll be using your courtesy name. Now go wash up and get changed."
"Yes Shuyue-Laoshi, I'll see you later Babas!"
AN:
Sixteen year old Meng Ai/Qing Jinjing finally arrives! There may be some flashbacks to kiddie/pre-pubescent Meng Ai. I think this is my most random assortment chapter to try to makeup for the more late updates. And also I was trying to think of a way to transition from kiddie Meng Ai to teenage Meng Ai who was whining in my head how it seems that she will have to wait forever before making an appearance and so this is me appeasing her.
I made Guzi have his 14th birthday since I realized that since he was already quite young in their wedding (which is more or less when the canon story takes place) and I realized I accidentally placed "Little boy" when I intended to place "Young boy" since he is in his teens now. I'll probably fix it once I finish the story in it's entirety. Having him at around 7 years of age when he attends the Hualian wedding on the 1st Chapter I think is a good compromise on his canon age of being 10 and him having a growth spurt at that age.
Cun is an ancient Chinese measurement and is more or less about 1.3 inches or 3 and 1/3 cms.
Ancient china had a ten day week before adopting the seven week based on the Gregorian Calendar.
I'm basing their appearances from the donghua since that was my main obsession with tgcf/heaven official's blessing.
As confirmed in the footnote number 8 of Book 1 in Chapter 9: Dallying Hualian - the main language spoken by most of the characters is the Han language which is the dominant language of China.
Chen - To spread, Bingxue - Ice and Snow
Xiang - Towards, Li - Beautiful or graceful
Laoshi - Teacher. This is what my college mandarin teacher told us to address him as (I'm sorry Laoshi but I have already forgotten a lot of what you've taught us.). I used it just to be safe because "Shifu" seems to be more specific to martial arts in the Wanxia/Xianxia setting.
Qing - Blue/Green/Black (In this context it means Blue), JĪn - Gold/Money/Metal (In this context it means Gold), JĪng - clear/crystal. Jinjing (On its own) - Golden bell/Bright and Shining/Sparkling spirit. Altogether I was trying to make a name which means "Sparkling Lapis Lazuli" or "Bright Lapis Lazuli" since Qingjinshi is the mandarin term for Lapis Lazuli.
While canonically it's never mentioned when Hualian got married, based on the last chapter of the main story and their reunion in the Shanyue festival, my headcanon is that they got married shortly after. Within the same week if not within the same month that the Shanyue festival seems to fall into. Since they first met in the Shanyue festival, and their reunion was in the Shanyue festival I think they would want to also have their wedding close to it because of what it signifies to both of them.
EDIT: (I forgot to add this)
I know that the Sais are a Japanese weapon, but I also recall reading somewhere that Ancient China had a similar weapon. I'll edit this chapter later when I find the Mandarin term for it (I was more focused on the story part)
EDIT 2:
I finally found the term it's Tie Chi (铁尺) or "Iron Ruler". If you are reading this after my edits this is a similar weapon to the Japanese Sai wherein it is a weapon that is made for defense and disabling weapons and not made for killing.
Source:
https://swordis.com/blog/chinese-weapons/
As confirmed by wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sai_(weapon)
Don't worry she will have a Duan cha in the next chapter. But the Tie Chi is more practical for her since it doesn't have the three pronged style and is still mainly a defensive weapon.
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ninhaoma-ya · 1 year ago
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Chapter 1086 — The Five Elder Planets
What a great chapter to leave off on a break for! The theorizing will go wild…
First, Igaram's concern for Vivi is touching:
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…while Pell and Chaka are looking out for their king, as the guardian deities of Arabasta should.
Something is in the air, if the faces of the other royals are anything to go by. They don't look like a happy bunch; rumours from the last leg of the Reverie?
Second, have I already said how much I love the WE HQ? It's a flying kettle! That shoots out News Coos!
I love it.
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I wonder at what point Wapol caved and told Vivi what had happened to her dad. They said she'd been crying when they arrived at the WE HQ, so before current day events, but here he's still trying to deflect her questions. Maybe she figured it out from his denial? Maybe he just told her? Who knows (I want to know).
And then, totally unnecessary fandom speculation!
About a ship!
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(Poor lil' Bonney. I'm sure being pint-sized helped her get aboard the ship easier, but it also underlines her quest: she is literally a child on her way to save her father.)
(By the way: in our universe, Tajine is a North African dish, also known as maraq or marqa.)
The drawing order and perspectives makes it look like Sabo is lying in the stem/front. Normally the sides mainly bulge outward from the keel, but here the planks curve distinctly up. However, when looking at traditional sailing ships, the shape doesn't work that way there:
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(Link)
It can look like that in the aft:
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(Link)
The other explanation might be an assistant's perspective mistake when drawing the bilge, or Lulusia's ship has a quite rare inward-bulging bow.
One of the few examples I found is the dhow, an Arabic ship:
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(Link), although the 3D model can give a better view of the keel and curvature:
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(Link)
So either Lulusia has a really, really cool royal ship, or there's some perspective shenanigans going on.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled analysis.
So.
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…the floor is so horribly at odds with the rest of the room. Just sayin'.
Presenting: the SECOND tangent of the post.
During the 15th to 17th centuries, so covering reneissance, baroque and rococo, intricate decorations were the thing to have. The exact style and execution varied, of course, but you still were supposed to have so much detailing all over the place, both due to structural reasons (hiding those load-bearing columns and beams and servants and such) and style (look at all the money I have to put on this stuff).
Pangea Castle looks quite a bit like the Château de Chambord, so smack dab French reneissance architecture. Normally, you'd do parquet floors in the fancier parts of the castle, which means geometric and rectangular, like so:
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(Link)
Of course, you could do circular, but then it'd probably be inspired by Roman mosaics, and thus geometric and repetitive, like so:
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(Link 1, Link 2)
The floor in Pangea Castle is… just weird. I know there's probably art-related reasons for it (looks interesting, not as boring as a grid, etc), but the polka dot pattern really sticks out.
End of second tangent, s'il vous plaît.
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Oda truly is a master storyteller.
The readers have been going bonkers for a few months now, trying to figure out what Devil Fruit powers Imu has based on the complete eradication of Lulusia. Is it star power? Is it nuclear? Is it pure light? Is it something completely different?
And then it turns out to be the One Piece-version of nuclear weapons, completing the parallells between Vegapunk and Einstein: both brilliant scientists who wanted to work for peace and the good of humanity, but whose insights were quickly weaponised.
It i also interesting to see how quick the Five Elders are to accept that Imu wants to eradicate a whole kingdom who is part of the World Government. I figure this might lead to more rebellion. After all, what is it worth to be a member of the WG if you're still not protected against horrible acts of violence? The only reason shown so far for people want to join the WG is based on pirates and the navy: they get protection and pay for the Celestial Dragons upkeep. I can't see this continuing much longer when the news about Lulusia get out – because at least Vegapunk will put two and two together. It was his invention being used, after all.
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We have names!
Which might change when the official translation comes out!
But still. Interesting selections. Finance might comprise all financial activity, but why is then agriculture (food production) separate from environment (nature itself)? Mercantile activity is quite far from macroeconomic theories, which makes the lumping of all economic stuff under one heading quite interesting.
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THERE IS A S-FLAMINGO!
My life is now complete.
I wonder why S-Croc looks so sad, though. S-Gecko and S-Flamingo looks like they're having the time of their lives, after all.
Also: what powers do they have? All the possibilities!
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I wonder what Dragon is wondering about. He has a lot of ellipses this chapter and few words to spare. Does he agree with Sabo's decision to keep silent and live the lie? Does he disapprove? What does Iva-chan think about it all?
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Ancient weapon, my old friend? The Arc Maxim 2.0? Something Completely Different?
(Also: traditional European-style ship depicted here as Lulucia's vessel. Yet the dream for a dhow still lives on!)
Jumping a bit, but Iva puts all our thoughts into words here so neatly:
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In Egghead, Vegapunk says it's his dream to create the ultimate energy source. However, he doesn't say he's managed to do so yet: he's still working towards it. Therefore the thing Sabo saw probably wasn't an ancient weapon – or if it was, it wasn't at full power. Or then it was a "fire once and find another mother flame"-solution.
Whatever it was, it was horrible news for the people of Lulusia.
And then: the identity of Imu.
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There's so many theories going on, tying Imu to the Roman emperor Nero or the city of Verona or the small coastal village of Nerano , also in Italy. From where we get to another Roman emperor, who is actually called Nerona: Tiberio Nerone, also known as Tiberius, an able politician who spent his last years on the island of Capri.
I'm sure we'll see where Oda draws his inspiration from sooner or later.
And the other big reveal of the chapter: the Figarland family.
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(I don't think Oda will kill off Mjosgard. He is sentenced, he is not dead yet. Will the solution be banishment, a figurative death? We'll see, I'm sure.)
(I like the moon hair!)
(Edit: The cake line had me wheezing. Seriously. Scared the cat.)
I haven't seen Film Red yet, but as I gather from others, it's revealed that Shanks is a Figarland. He was also found on God Valley by Roger, so putting two and two together, we get a family connection.
However, what I'm interested in is the rankings of Celestial Dragons.
a) Saint Figarland Garling was a king
b) He is a Celestial Dragon
c) He has the power to be both judge, jury and probably executioner
How does it all fit together?
CDs are hitherto shown to just laze around in Mary Geoise and sometimes descend into the plebeian world for their own amusement. None of them is shown to be involved in the world as kings – that's the thing they specifically abdicated from 800 years ago. So why was Figarland a king? What was his role on God Valley – and what was God Valley?
So interesting! Much to think about.
I give the chapter thumbs up for lore drops and the chance for a well-deserved rest.
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nuagederose · 8 months ago
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Dark Roots of Earth | Chapter Ten: Since I’ve Been Lovin You
ao3 link
Christine was more than eager to have her sketchbook open for them, and her heart pounded at the mere thought of putting the graphite down on the fresh sheets. All she could hope for was the most perfect drawings that she could show to Alex if and when she had the chance. Valentina kept her hat on as she perched herself on the stool before the window: a warm breeze wafted through the screen behind her, and her hair fluttered about over her shoulders as if she was a model of sorts. Chuck and Eric were both on the couch, the latter of whom had propped up his chin in the palm of his hand and leaned against the arm as if he belonged in the centerfold of a magazine. The former let his curls, the same color as freshly-brewed molasses.
Christine gripped onto her pencil as if she was holding onto a magic wand, and she let the graphite find its way onto the grains of the paper. It was trickier than she had imagined, given the lighting in her apartment and the fact that she was drawing three different people, one right after the other. 
Chuck held still with one hand rested upon the arm of the couch, and she was amazed that he kept still for as long as he did as she added texture to his curls and the crests of his shoulders. She raised her gaze to his face and locked onto his eyes, luminous and striking even with his sun-kissed complexion. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eric with his legs knitted together at the knee, again like a centerfold.
Something told her to draw him in the style of a magazine when she got to him, but she had to finish the shading on Chuck’s squarish face and stout neck first. The graphite was soft enough that she could go dark enough with the underside of his hair, but she only let the graphite glide over the paper for the highlights at the crown of his head. She held the paper back a bit, and all the while, she flashed a glimpse up at Chuck to ensure that she had drawn him well enough.
She then turned the book around for him to see, to which his face lit up. Eric gaped at the sight of it as well; Valentina leaned towards the book for a look herself.
“Oh, my god, Chris, that looks just like him,” she declared in a hushed voice.
“Yeah, I’d put like… some kind of fixative on that so it never smudges,” Chuck suggested with a running of his fingers through his hair. “I can move now, can I?”
“You sure can!” Christine assured him as she carefully turned the page for another clean one. “Onto Mr. Peterson now.”
All the while, she wished that Alex was there. She wished that she could talk with him about all manner of things, especially pertaining to the drawings on her lap. She kept on thinking about him even as she made Eric into a cartoonish drawing straight out of Playboy magazine with the bold outline and the thick shading on his head of fine, smooth black hair.
She drew Valentina in a similar fashion, especially with her back to the window and her black hair billowed over her shoulders. Once Christine reached the brim of her hat and the shading on her bangs, she fetched up a yawn.
“What time is it?” Eric asked right then, also with a yawn.
“Almost midnight,” Chuck replied after a quick glimpse to his watch. Christine signed her name at the bottom of the page and then closed the book.
“What, you’re not going to show us the one of Valentina?” Eric teased her.
“In the morning during our cup of coffee,” Christine assured him with a wink. She padded down the hallway with Valentina behind her, although she wanted to have all the privacy to change her clothes. She glanced over at her phone resting upon the desk, right next to her lamp, and she thought about calling him.
It was late, and there was no way that he could even be willing to talk with her about just anything. As she put on her shorts and her camisole, she never lifted her gaze from the narrow little strip of a screen on the face of the lid facing her. She peered over her shoulder to the hallway behind her, and she spotted the golden glow of the bathroom light across the way.
Valentina would tell her to go for it. Nelly would tell her to do it as well. Chuck and Eric were unknowns to her, however. She had no memory of the last time she had a late-night conversation with someone, and thus, the thought seemed crazy to her. But she picked up the phone and tucked it into her back pocket.
She returned to the living room and right as Chuck lay down on the couch with Eric down on the floor. Valentina surfaced from the bathroom, changed into her pajamas, right when her phone rang.
“I’ll get that,” she assured the three of them. “You guys can turn off the light and sleep tight for me—don’t worry about what happens to me.” She then looked on at the little sliver of a screen on the back of the phone itself. Alex’s number appeared, and her heart skipped a few beats. It was as if fate had known all along and it nudged her towards him.
Christine ducked into the safety of her bedroom and closed the door. She cocked her hip out to the side a bit as if flirting with him despite his absence, and she opened the phone. She licked her lips, and she wished that she had some cherry lip gloss right then.
“Hello, my dear Christine,” his voice crackled on the other end; he sounded exhausted, as if he had done so much over the course of the day.
“Hi,” she greeted him, and she couldn’t resist the smile on her face. “Never thought I would be hearing you ring me up at such a late hour.”
“I’m just kind of… bored right now,” he confessed with a slight cracking noise on his end. “I’m alone here at my place and I’ve got no one to talk to, either.” She moved her fingers underneath her top to feel the softness of her skin: his voice was gentle and husky, as if he breathed the words right into her ear. She pictured him laying there next to her with his shirt lifted up to show off his skin to her, and his hair spread out from the sides of his head. His hooded eyes and parted full lips, and she couldn’t resist the touch of her own fingers. “What’s going on? Is this a bad time?”
“Well, the gang just went off to bed and I don’t feel like sleeping, so… let us have a little fun after dark,” she suggested with a clearing of her throat. She turned behind her to the door right as the living room light switched off and the apartment engulfed in darkness. The gang had gone off to bed after all. 
Christine kept the phone close to her ear as she took her spot on the edge of the bed; she leaned back towards the pillow and the wall, and all the while, she kept her legs open. She was alone in the room with nothing more than the phone up to her ear: the boys were quiet, and Valentina seemed to have had fallen asleep with haste as well.
“A little fun of sorts… you know I am always down for that sort of thing without any kind of strings attached. And more so with it being so late at night as well.” 
She pictured that little smirk on his face as he said that. It was almost unfair that he was all the way over there and she had no way of heading out of her place to visit him, at least not without a lot of questions from Chuck and Eric.
“I think it was last night when I started thinking about getting together with you again,” he started. “Thinking about treating you to something special. A few glasses of wine and I could potentially put my hand up your top.”
“Hey, now, you don’t get to touch my chest until I say so, big boy,” she teased him.
“You say ‘big boy’ as if you have your hand on me,” he retorted.
“I wish I did have my hand on you right now,” she confessed with one hand down in between her legs. Her fingers crept over the crotch of her shorts as if she was tempting herself.
“Christine… I wanna take you to Coney Island tomorrow,” he said with another clearing of his throat. “I wanna take you there and then take you to your dad’s place. I want you to go and visit him while it’s nice and sunny tomorrow. You know, not like last time.”
“There was something so romantic about all that rain, though,” she recalled. “You and me getting all wet like that. You were so wet…” Her voice trailed off.
“We stand in a sweet shower of the sunshine,” he suggested. “And you know, right as I say that, I just wish I was with you and Eric out in California.”
“I wish you were, too,” she confessed. “I remember thinking about how you would have loved it out there.”
“I do love it out there,” he said with a clearing of his throat. “I mean, I love New York, but California has always treated me well. Did you guys go to Santa Cruz?”
“We thought about it, but Eric saw it was too expensive,” she recalled. “He promised me next time, though.”
“And next time, I want in on the fun,” he insisted. “I don’t know as to how I’m going to pay for it but I promise you that when there’s a will, there’s a way. There is always a way with me.”
“Always a way to go out and feel all of the things in your heart,” she told him.
“All of the things in my heart and…” He cleared his throat. “…somewhere else.” He almost breathed the words, such that a wave of warmth swept over her, and she thought about undoing her shorts just to feel herself. She resisted the urge given she didn’t know how the three of them in the next room were sleeping on such a short notice.
“So… go to Coney Island and lay down in the sand at one point?” she suggested.
“Lay down in the sand and feel the ocean on our faces,” he continued. “Feel the sweetest caress of the ocean on our faces as I kiss you with the feeling of a thousand butterflies in my stomach.”
“Where is all of this coming from?” she asked him in a hushed voice.
“It’s late. I’m drinking a small glass of wine right now, too.”
“You’re drinking?” She raised her eyebrows at that.
“Not a lot. It’s enough to loosen my bullets a bit. It’s like taking off my belt and letting my pants hang off my hips a little bit.”
“Ooh, you just put a really sexy image in my head,” she confessed. “Your pants hanging off your hips and letting your little belly out loose for me.”
“You tempt me, Christine Sixteen,” he breathed. “You tempt me the way the devil would tempt me with an apple. You gave me an idea of sorts.”
“You wanna do that for me when we get together tomorrow?” she asked him with a little smile on her face.
“Maybe not tomorrow,” he said, and he hesitated for a moment, and she realized that he was in fact drinking from a glass of wine. “But I do wanna do that for you, though.”
The wave of warmth continued to sink over her as she relished the full, husky timbre of his voice.
She began to wonder as to how much he was willing to do for her.
“I’m gonna put on one of my button-up shirts and I’m going to let my chest hang out in the open,” he told her. “I know how much you love seeing my chest.”
“Would you wear that white shirt?” she asked him.
“That one silk shirt that I have? It might be a little bit tight but I’d love to wear that for you, though.”
“I’ll wear that pearl necklace you gave me,” she said. “I haven’t been able to wear it much because I have to admit that it gets pretty hot this time of year. I wore it out to California, though. A lot of people told me it looked really cute on me. And now, I can come and be with you, and I’ll wear it and… let it shimmer in the summer sun.”
He made a sound that made her think of laying in bed next to him after a night together.
“I wish I was there with you,” he confessed. “There and… laying in your bed next to you.”
“And I wish you were here with me, too,” she said, and she let her fingers dangle down over her crotch again. “I could cuddle up next to you and hold you. I could have my hands down the shape of your body to feel how gorgeous you are.”
“And I could have my hands on the shape of your body, too,” he added. “I don’t know if it’s the wine talking or the fact that it’s late at night, but I really, really want to touch and feel you.”
Christine curled her fingers once again. That time, she undid the button of her shorts and let her hand glide down under the thin veil of fabric. Because her legs were wide open, she was able to let her fingers creep down over that delicate skin. The feeling rose up almost immediately, and she slithered her fingers in under her hood.
“I want to kiss you,” she whispered to him. “I want to kiss you and love every inch of you. I want to give you everything that she could never give to you.”
“Phew…” he breathed. “Mmm. Oh, my dearest Christine, I hate to tell you this but I’m starting to nod off. But… you know. Thinking about all of that and I’m gonna go to sleep feeling really sexy. I want you to go to bed feeling that way, too.”
“I have my hand down my shorts,” she confessed with a lick of her lips.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I—I can’t stop thinking about very slow lovemaking with you,” she confessed.
“Oh, my. Very slow, you say?”
“Low and slow. We don’t just feel each other but we feel each other and come so close to one another that we become one another.”
“Wow…” Alex breathed out. “Should I light some candles as well?”
“Please—” Christine gasped as she gave herself a little climax. “Light some candles and then flirt around with the hot wax. You did say I tempt you like the devil, after all.”
“Man, you’re good,” he remarked with a yawn. “God, I can barely keep my eyes open. Wanna do more at Coney Island tomorrow?”
“Please,” she said as she slipped her hand out from under her shorts. “Alex?”
“Hm?”
She pursed her lips and swallowed, her face still warm from the feeling.
“I love you,” she whispered to him.
“I love you, too,” he whispered back to her. “You are the love of my life. I want you to go to sleep and I want you to wake up with the sun.”
“I want the same for you,” she whispered to him. “Good night, baby.”
“Good night, my sweet,” he once again nearly breathed the words, and he hung up right then. Christine followed suit, and she sighed through her nose. She set her phone down on the desk again, and she switched off the light as well. She rolled over onto her side with the bedsheet over her body and the gentle sounds of Chuck and Eric snoring in the next room acting as an impending wall of white noise.
“Please let me feel him again,” she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes. She kept that on her mind even as she drifted off to sleep.
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colossusrhodes · 7 months ago
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How I Got Myself Unstuck: A Message for Writers
As some of you well know, I've been struggling to finish a lengthy chapter for almost 2 years now and it got to the point where I didn't know how to untangle the mess of plot notes cluttering my page. I had so many ideas, a beginning and an end, but saw no way to link them all together.
It got so bad that I even printed out all my lonely scene snippets, cut them up, and put them on the floor of my apartment to try to piece them together, all to no avail. It was incredibly disheartening. So many ideas stretched before me and here I was with no idea what to do with them.
Recently during another day of failing to write, I grew frustrated and no longer wanted to look at my computer screen, was in too foul a mood to draw or play violin, and sought something else. I rummaged through my travel bag and found a little book of Sudoku I used to pass the time on long plane rides. I sat in my chair and opened to a random page.
I failed the first few, forgetting the rules of the game, but then I slowly began to get better. There were tricks to this, you see, and over time the patterns became easier to see. I began to know what to look for up/down/across and ahHA, YES--that one goes there! Fuck yeah, dopamine! Embolden by my success, I flipped to the back where the more difficult puzzles lived. Again, I struggled but these puzzles were not impossible, I knew, I just had to know what to look for.
But it was getting late, I was tired, stuck on a puzzle I was determined to solve but knew I didn't have to figure it out tonight. I would try again tomorrow.
The following morning I picked up the book again, flipped it open to my pen-marked page... and immediately saw the answer. It was so obvious I wondered how I wasn't able to see it before.
Thus began a new daily routine of puzzle-solving where I would do a page or two of Sudoku in the morning and a few more again at night. A week or two of this went by and after finishing a puzzle in personal record time I put the book down... then grabbed my computer. I opened the chapter I had been dreading looking at for so long and scrolled through my snippets... and suddenly saw the way forward. This part connected to this part and THIS part goes more towards the end and suddenly everything started to make sense. They were all puzzle pieces, I realized, and now I could see where they belong.
I share this with you, my fellow writers, to show you that if you are stuck, like I was, that there is always a way forward. Should you find yourself in a situation like me where you have all the pieces to a scene but don't know how to arrange them, I encourage you to put the computer away and try a puzzle. You might be surprised the insight it reveals when you turn to the pages of your story again.
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umbra-borealis · 10 months ago
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TLDR, Elements of Chaos, a massive Sonic AU I've had for years will be in production, meaning most my spare time will go towards that. C0mms might still be open but I'll be more picky because I want to make sure I can actually deliver quality without overworking myself. It's just me, one singular guy, working on this passion project and while I'm okay with that, keep in mind that things might move slowly. I don't have the mental capacity, free time or funding to work on it full time. I'm still excited though and I hope you guys are too.
And of course, here's that ko-fi link I mentioned.
Transcript:
Umbra's 2024 look-ahead
Hello everyone!
2023 was a rather slow year for me as an artist but eventful for me mentally. Because of this I wasn't able to do as much as I had planned and that, not going to lie, hurts. But I'm also ready to leave that in the past and perhaps just push the pause button on some things to return to later because certain things (like the tarot card project) still live rent free in my head. These big long term projects are most impacted by the small amount of folks interested in them besides myself and before you think I'm complaining, this is actually a bit of a blessing because this means I can put a pin in that and things like it to instead focus on something more important to me...
ELEMENTS OF CHAOS.
This is a Sonic AU, yup. Lets get that out of the way first. I'm far from the only one to have an AU and turn it into a full length fic or comic but the thing is, I'm doing neither. Sonic has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It was a comfort during my most traumatizing years as a child when I had to navigate abuse on the daily, it was a reason for me to not commit sewer slide when I was at my lowest and I cannot begin to express the many ways it affected me as a writer and artist. Together with it's less well known sibling NiGHTS, the Sonic series is the reason I draw/write at all. But as we all know, the Sonic series isn't without it's flaws and just like so many others, I started re-writing bits and pieces I didn't like to form a new narrative.
This is a long haul passion project. The format has already been decided on and I plan to keep 'dev logs' for folks to keep up with if it interests them because I can't promise the release of it's first chapter any time soon. This project only has one person doing all the work and that person is me so if you're interested in supporting me I have a ko-fi link I'll attach to this post (and hopefully more options to come soon) They come with perks too so I don't feel like I'm just e begging, lmao.
Here's a little list of things I'm doing/have to do in order to start publishing.
Character references (Sonic is done already). This is because this story will also feature illustrations.
Website building. Yes, I plan to host a website on Neocities specially for Elements of Chaos.
Actual writing, doi. It's true that I have already worked on the first chapter and gotten positive feedback on what I have so far, but it's far from done!
Cover/page illustrations. This is a storybook type thing. I want to experiment and learn as an artist. This project will be my playground for that and hopefully you'll get to see that growth as the story progresses.
Development will happen in that order, so you can expect references before anything else.
For now, happy new year everyone! I'll share more fun stuff such as a synopsis, world building, stream news etc. in the near future. For now I'm going to enjoy what's left of the holidays before going straight back to work. I look forward to taking everyone along on this creative journey. Thank you!
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neko-naruto · 1 year ago
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Like your jacket
Summary: During the first chance to die in this twisted killing game, Detahs foot gets caught in a pothole.
Warnings: Broken bones (?), minor blood, panic, near death experiences, check tags for further warnings.
Authors Note: *busts down door* this is the first Kenikari fic right? I think I got to it before anyone else did, anyways, @sobredunia, @thekenikaridevblog, @h3xt0r and @beetroot-merchant please look at this, I put him through it, and this is merely, chapter one, anyways, Ao3 link:
Right foot in front of left.
Left foot in front of right.
Repeat.
His heart clambered in his chest, his breathing was short, he could barely take in enough oxygen to stay focused. All he knew was the grinding sound of the giant rock rolling towards him, and the potholes he had to avoid. He should've grabbed a bike, he should've known better, but he didn't, and now run for your life has never been more real.
Somehow he's ahead of Lare, Bee, and Mako, but not by a very large margin. Not by a comfortable amount in the slightest, he's never ran this fast in his life. Actually, that might be a lie, he went to school, there might've been a track and field day. He probably ran really fast for that and-
Everything comes to a screeching halt all at once.
The breath in his lungs drains entirely, he swears he can feel his pupils blow open. His ankle strains on the pothole it caught in, his arms spread out before he can stop them. Something cracks a little bit and the pain shooting through him is beyond believable. He would scream but he's still out of breath and the sudden impact on the ground only pushes more out of him.
Disorientation hits him full force, the world goes blurry for only a second as he grasps mindlessly at the ground. He can barely force himself back up onto his feet and when he does he bites his tongue so hard it nearly draws blood in an attempt to stay quiet. All of his weight drops onto his crooked ankle like an anvil and his pace is gone in mere milliseconds.
So much agony is shooting through him, but he stumbles onward despite that. Each step he's sure he's making it worse, but what does that matter anyways, he'd rather end up broken then dead. Adrenaline barely outdoes the pain, he almost feels delirious, blood trails behind his steps. And then he falls again, he isn't sure if he's in or out of the death chamber, but he's on the ground.
He can't stop the pain, he can barely register the footsteps around him, and then someone is crouching down beside him. The second whoever it is touches the wound, the crack, whatever happened to him, he yowls in pain. He's on his back again, kicking at whoever touched him in less than seconds. He glares up at Murasaki, shock plays out on the tallers face as he steps back.
"I was trying to help," Murasaki spoke quietly.
"Help? Being helpful would be the opposite of trying to strand Bee, Chuyo and Mako to their death in the first game! Being helpful would be being a team player! You're zero help at all!" Detah snapped, words falling out of him alongside hisses of pain, the sheer agony in his ankle (it was crawling up his calf) tossed his mental filter to the side.
Murasaki stayed silent for a moment, Detah doesn't apologize.
"Go find some gauze if you wanna be helpful," Detahs practically snarling at Mursaki who simply turns to leave.
Detah gives a groan of annoyance as he leans back, he props his wounded leg over the other. What a day, what a day, wake up in a heap of trash, get locked in a freezer, and now this. A broken ankle to top it all off, he wouldn't be shocked if today was a Monday given how bad things are going.
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libellule-ao3 · 2 years ago
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Life Links
9. Annie Thorn (MC)/ Brother
Summary: An impromptu visit interrupts Annie's final preparations before the battle.
⚠️Warning: Alcohol use. ⚠️
Chapter index - previous chapter (Jae Kim) - next chapter (Diego Caplan)
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Alone.
Her boyfriend is safe in Ireland. She sent her partner to France, and her brother has abandoned her... Again.
Annie checks her equipment and buckles her bag. Through the window, her gaze wanders over an indistinct horizon in the night. Indistinct. Like her future.
When was the last time she asked herself what would become of her?
The answer that comes to her clenches her heart. It was at the beginning of her Auror training, after she had known passion. The one that consumes you until you leave only a heart in ashes.
The witch had to rebuild it, piece by piece. During this time, Annie and Jae were everything to each other. In turn, partners, lovers, friends, a bit of all of this at the same time and so much more... He has always been there, never letting her storms and shipwrecks push him away, and for seven years, they experienced everything together.
Jae deserves to be happy, to embrace a companion more joyful than loneliness. That’s why Annie did everything she could to ensure him a bright future with Penny, regardless of the outcome of the Battle.
Her mind drifts to Sam, her boyfriend whom she learned to love deeply after having given in to his advances out of spite. When she asked him to leave England because she could not fight without being sure of his safety, he obeyed without complaining about being left out. Because he believes in her, and that confidence is worth its weight in gold.
After the war, maybe she could talk about marriage... By making sure that the idea comes from him, of course!
“I miss you,”
But not as much as Jacob. They haven’t seen each other for months and he’s already disappeared. As usual. He disappears, she looks for him; they find each other and he runs off into the unknown. Oh, never for the sake of hurting her. A goal always justifies his actions. A goal more noble and ambitious than staying by her side. Always. She exhales her tension with a sigh and pours herself a glass of Firewhisky, which she drinks in one gulp, alcohol burning her bitterness.
She’ll kick his ass when they win.
The witch clenches her fists. Projecting herself into the future will strengthen her resolve to survive in a succession of battles where every wizard who falls under her spells will ensure her survival and everyone else’s. She hopes not to have to fight Barnaby or Ismelda.
A cracking sound startles her. She turns around, drawing her wand and putting it away. It’s Jacob. A shower and clean clothes, and he is back at his best. Only his face keeps the watermark of the last ordeal he endured.
“I haven’t been here for a long time...” he says, his eyes staring disapprovingly at the couch that moved here along with Sam. Jacob never liked him.
“Yeah!” Annie confirms, her voice heavy with reproach.
“Pip... It was too risky. I was undercover!”
Annie has a small incredulous laugh.
“I didn’t see an undercover wizard. I saw a guy we had to get out of a jam! That said, it’s becoming a habit...”
“Your nerves are on edge! Don’t take it out on me, Pip!” he says in a tone that commands respect.
The witch winces. He is right. This is not the time for a brotherly joust. She pours two glasses of Firewhisky and they toast to a ceasefire.
“So you and Merula... Since when?”
“Never mind, it’s over... She betrayed me, tortured... I hate her!”
It is rare for Annie to see Jacob bare his soul. The years of separation because of the cursed vaults have seriously marred their complicity. They tried to find it before they realized that time lost could not be made up for.
Unconsciously, Jacob had wanted to pick up where he left off. But during his absence, the little girl who saw him as a hero had given way to an accomplished witch, an adult before her time. Disillusionment, bitterness… Guilt.
“I bet she didn’t use the Cruciatus Curse?”
A stubborn silence answers.
“She said she would never have succeeded in using that magic against you... Probably because you have to enjoy the suffering of your victim to cast it,” Annie says with a falsely innocent look.
“Stop it! You’re not Mum!”
“She would tell you to listen to me!”
“Of course! You’re the heroine! Me, I’ve gone from child prodigy to the poor, undesirable bastard who is constantly reminded that he was saved by his little sister!”
The lack of recognition and the inability to forget that their parents did not look for him, or so little, after his disappearance in the cursed vaults, eat away at Jacob’s insides like acid. Bruised by these years of absence, Annie’s heart tightens. She remembers all too well the time when the world treated them as outcasts, and when their mother took calming potions to overcome each day without her son, one after the other, so much the pain of having lost him was a torment. As for Dad... Whatever! Nothing was the same after Jacob’s disappearance. Her brother can’t understand.
“They tried to turn the page,” Jacob says, sipping his drink. “it’s a lot easier to do it over a dead body than over a ‘missing’ person who might turn up at any moment! So they did nothing, while turning a blind eye to your research out of cowardice. You were a child! Do you think that’s normal?”
Jacob’s gaze pierces her, so sharp is it. Annie shrugs.
“The question never arose... I looked for you because it was the only thing I could do. Point... Don’t blame anyone for my own choices,”
An impulse pushes her to hug him. This may be the last time, after all.
“And stop blaming yourself too,” she says as he hugs her tightly. “You can’t spend your life blaming yourself for mistakes you made trying to protect me, my brother.”
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thebladeblaster · 9 months ago
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Digimon Tamer ZERO -Earth Arc-
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Chapter 4 Nightmare Fight Part 2
“That’s impossible!”, Kai gasped as he backed away.
“That wasn’t just me making a convenient costume change to mess with you. You’ve seen what’s been happening to the rest of me in reality. He’s losing and being devoured. That’s why now I am Aichi because I’m being assimilated by the Void.”, Void Aichi explained.
“No…”, Kai growled.
“I know more than anyone that you’re too late. I’m perfectly aware of the condition of the rest of me. As I said it’s only a matter of time.”, Void Aichi replied with a content smile and closed eyes.
“I won’t allow it…I’m going to save you!”, Kai declared.
“That explains his extreme shift in behavior. When he was still mostly Tatsunagi he was taunting and playing with me but as he’s become more Aichi…he’s become more serious and cold…”, Kai thought as he met Void Aichi’s gaze.
“You can’t. Just give up. The Void has already taken near complete control of my body twice at this point. Maybe if you hadn’t proven yourself so untrustworthy recently I could have confided in you but it’s too late for that.”, Void Aichi replied.
“Don’t you dare give up, Aichi! I’ll attack! Burn it all away Overlord!”, Kai declared.
His damage had now exploded up to five as well but he wasn’t alarmed in the slightest even as he stared down a double critical.
“I guard.”, Void Aichi countered as he guarded with multiple grade zeros.
Kai gritted his teeth as he saw that no matter what he drew during his twin drive that he wasn’t breaking through. His turn ended and Void Aichi put his hand on his deck to draw his next card.
“I’ve really been such a fool. Since I was in grade school I knew the truth about people but I blindly ignored it because of this card you gave me. The moment I received it I became blinded by that false hope.”, Void Aichi explained.
“It wasn’t false. You’ve made friends. There’s countless people who have come to treasure you and couldn’t live without you.”, Kai objected.
“Friends…? Having them has just been painful…It’s only created a vulnerability which people have used to twist knives into my heart.”, Void Aichi replied.
Kai gritted his teeth as he looked down.
“That WAS my fault…because I unleashed Link Joker onto everyone. That’s not something that would normally happen. Besides, I doubt that’s how you REALLY feel. I thought that my actions under the reverse were completely my own but it had influenced me. That’s not to say I wasn’t responsible. I definitely was. I subconsciously knew and let it happen. I didn’t care as long as I continued to win.”, Kai explained.
“It’s all a pain…It hurts…It hurts too much. I’ve been in so much pain I just feel numb to it all now both physically and mentally. I WILL tear down those bonds chaining my heart!”, Void Aichi declared as he drew his card and started his turn.
This intensity…
It was definitely the kind that Aichi would give out but it was heavily distorted by the Void.
Void Aichi rode Gancelot’s break ride and filled his field with Gold Paladins effortlessly replacing the units he destroyed. Kai staggered back as he could just barely stand up to Void Aichi’s assault.
His hand was left nearly empty as Void Aichi looked down at Kai with disappointment.
“Is this how you felt when you used the reverse against me the first time? This resistance…it’s pathetic. It’s such a letdown. I haven’t fought in weeks yet you’re here on the ground barely clinging on.”, Void Aichi questioned.
“This fight hasn’t been decided yet! I’ll show you my true form! I crossride! Dragonic Overlord the End!”, Kai declared.
Void Aichi didn’t seem intimidated by the End’s presence unlike the previous time he faced it. He had to admit that Void Aichi had been playing absolutely perfectly and efficiently but he wouldn’t let something like that stop him. One thing he found odd though was that Aichi was messing around with the soul which he’s rarely done before. He would have to keep his guard up.
Kai was determined to wipe that expression off his face. That hopeless, empty expression…It was like he had been reverted to how he was before receiving Blaster Blade.
Aichi needed him again.
He needed him to save him.
And he would stop at NOTHING to do so. It was the least he owed Aichi. He would pull him back into the light to be with his friends kicking and screaming if that’s what it took. Most importantly…he would restore that hopeful smile and that pure optimism that could warm the coldest hearts. The one that melted his…even through the reverse.
Kai threw everything on the table without restraint. He was going to burn away the Void and its hold over Aichi. First in this illusion then in reality.
He burned away Void Aichi’s forces without mercy once more. Then he was battered with attacks.
Again and again…
He attacked, determined to burn the Void to ashes. No matter how many times he had to restand he would do so.
He snickered when Void Aichi threw down a perfect guard.
His whole assault was stopped cold.
“That’s it? That was boring, Kai. You think I don’t know how to deal with the End by now?”, Void Aichi questioned.
In reality…
Crusadermon easily scared off anyone in their path as they carried Kai back to Card Capital. Misaki and Emi instantly ran in when they returned with Kai and Dracomon.
“What’s going on with Kai?!”, Misaki questioned.
“We don’t know. We were hoping to find that out after getting him out of that mess outside.”, Kourin explained.
“It’s another Digimon. Is that Kai’s?”, Shin questioned.
“I’m Dracomon.”, Dracomon replied as he waved enthusiastically which made everyone sweat drop.
Any fears those inside had about the juvenile dragon melted away at its friendliness. It was quite ironic considering who his tamer was…the mostly unfriendly member of their group. They expected this out of Aichi’s partner, not Kai’s.
“Let’s lay him down.”, Shin said as he looked for a futon.
Heiressmon came out with his tail wagging at seeing another rookie.
“Oh! Friend! Friend! Wanna play?”, Heiressmon asked Dracomon as they sweat dropped.
“Children…”, Crusadermon grumbled.
The others focused on Kai as Dracomon looked over to Kai.
“Maybe later. Kai needs it. I can feel it.”, Dracomon replied.
Dracomon looked worried when he looked over to his partner. He had this ominous feeling like he was fighting for his life and there was nothing he could do to help.
With the Cardfight…
“I’m not done!”, Kai declared.
“You are. I’ve known how this fight was going to go since the beginning. My Psyqualia has been active after all. That’s why when I noticed that this fight wasn’t straying from my image I got bored.”, Void Aichi admitted.
“What?!”, Kai questioned.
“This is why I didn’t use my Psyqualia against you then…Kai. You weren’t worth it even while reversed. None of the reverse fighters were.”, Void Aichi explained.
“That’s not why…”, a voice that sounded like the normal Aichi echoed in his mind. It was very quiet and distant.
“As I told you before…I SHALL sever those bonds. The ones between me, you, and everyone else. It will all be reduced to nothingness. Just as you have…I crossbreak ride!”, Void Aichi continued.
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Kai’s eyes widened in shock.
“That’s not Gancelot Zenith…”, Kai commented.
“No, it’s not. You know what it is, Kai. Descend, wayward knight stained with betrayal! With your blade you shall strike down your former Vanguard along with your former allies! Alter Liberator of Madness, Gancelot Яeverse!”, Void Aichi chanted.
Gancelot grabbed his head as he was engulfed in the darkness. A dark ooze appeared under him swallowing him whole. There was suddenly an explosion of power that sent Kai off his feet and shook the space around them. There was wind surging and converging on a single point.
Out from it emerged a shadow with glowing red eyes. He had black rings around his arms and legs. The horse was nowhere in sight. Instead the figure was on a demonic winged unicorn clad in white armored and black rings clearly, a Star Vader. It’s horn was a jagged blade. When the darkness cleared Gancelot’s armor was revealed to be pitch black like the Shadow Paladins. His glowing blue line on his armor and clothing turned red. Over his armor was a tattered black cloak. The most noticeable change was that his helmet now covered his whole head. The helmet now resembled a demon.
Kai’s eyes were wide as he drank in the sight of a Gold Paladin reverse unit. It felt…wrong.
“This isn’t right…an evil card like this doesn’t suit you, Aichi.”, Kai commented.
“You say that as if I care for your opinion.”, Void Aichi replied dismissively as he replaced his decimated front row.
Aichi had only two cards left in his hand.
That was some hope.
He just needed a heal trigger.
“It won’t come against Gancelot and it won’t matter regardless. Now…I attack!”, Void Aichi declared.
Kai took the hit knowing it was best to get a heal trigger sooner than later. He needed a heal trigger to survive this barrage.
He sweated as he slowly revealed his damage. It was a heal trigger which meant he had some hope to survive this turn.
From there Kai guarded with everything he had. Gancelot struck him harshly and his whole body ringed with pain but he was fine.
“Counterblast.”, Void Aichi said as he flipped over two damage.
All of his other Gold Paladins had suddenly become locked by their own ally. Truly a knight stained with betrayal…
“It’s good that you guarded my attack. Otherwise I couldn’t show you this. Be яeborn, Gancelot…from the depths of hell! Superior ride!”, Void Aichi declared as Kai was agast.
He superior rode another Gancelot яeverse.
“My Vanguard gains +5000 power and for every Gancelot in my soul my Vanguard gains a critical!”, Void Aichi explained.
“That’s…!”, Kai gasped.
After Aichi’s soul shenanigans he had two extra Gancelot’s in soul along with his other two. To his horror Gancelot restood ready to attack him again.
Alter Liberator of Madness, Gancelot Яeverse POWER 13000 + (4x5000) = 33000
Critical 1->4
“Drive check! No trigger! Second check…”, Void Aichi said as Kai was sweating bullets.
The reborn Gancelot was already more than enough even with his heal trigger. He had no more cards left to guard with. He only had three heal triggers left. It was already impossible for him to survive this attack.
But even then…
Void Aichi wordlessly revealed a critical trigger.
That made five crits.
Gancelot shot towards him at rapid speeds. He pierced through the End’s chest with just the air pressure of his thrust. Kai clutched his chest as he separated from the End who faded into nothing. His limbs felt heavy as his body was soaring in pain.
No amount of heal triggers could save him as he received his final damage. Void Aichi stood above him with that unempathic and cold look that creeped onto Aichi’s face in their last meeting. Kai struggled to make his body move through the soaring pain.
“Aichi has been through worse…He’s been through worse…”, Kai thought as he tried to reach his feet.
Void Aichi knocked him back down with a kick, making his pain worse. His boot was planted onto Kai’s chest. His clothes he had been wearing had changed as the Link Joker aura waved across him. It had been replaced with a black tailcoat with the same colors of the reverse: black, red, and white. It was as if the Void intended to lay its claim over Aichi by making him dawn its colors.His shoes were now boots and under his jacket was a white dress shirt.
It seemed like clothes FAR fancier than anything he could imagine the bluenette wearing in reality. Void Aichi looked over his new attire.
“I suppose it’s more fitting for what’s coming. I wonder…”, Void Aichi commented.
Kai’s eyes widened in shock when the same sword he brandished against himself appeared in Void Aichi’s hands. He raised the blade over Kai as that twisted smile finally returned.
“Through attacking an image of me you surrendered yourself to the Void. I wonder if striking an image of you would have the same effect on me. Removing any lingering resistance against the Void…”, Void Aichi continued as he met his gaze.
He could see a flicker of scarlet in Void Aichi’s eyes as he said so that along with the wicked smile made him believe that he was dealing with purely the Void again.
Kai caught the blade as he stabbed down. His hand bled as he struggled to keep the blade away from his chest. He found his hand slipping and smearing his blood down the blade. Despite him pushing it back with two hands, Void Aichi used one hand which was pushed down with unnatural strength.
He was toying with him again.
He’ll make it regret it.
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In reality…
The others had gotten Kai laid down on a futon with a blanket over his.
“G-gah! Is that blood?!”, Kamui questioned.
“What…?”, Misaki gasped with a stunned expression.
Blood was dripping from Kai’s hands in real life. They had the cuts from grasping the blade.
“Kai!”, Miwa called out as he ran over to him.
Miwa ripped off his sleeve without hesitation to wrap it around Kai’s wounds.
“Do you guys have any alcohol for disinfectant?!”, Miwa questioned in panic.
“I’ll get it!”, Shin replied, practically sprinting to get a hold of some.
“We need to apply pressure to his wound.”, Misaki said as she held out a hand.
Shin nearly slipped as he handed her the bottle. She poured it over Kai’s cuts and Miwa quickly wrapped the ripped sleeves around the cuts tightly. The others looked anxious as they watched.
“Come on, Kai! Wake up!”, Miwa called out.
Dracomon stayed glued to his side and tried licking him awake.
“Wake up, Kai!”, Dracomon called out.
In the image…
“A-Aichi…! You can’t…let the Void win!”, Kai barely got out as his breaths were heavy.
“With this my heart will return to being empty just as it was before. So…when you think about it me and the Void are a perfect match. This isn't corruption. This is simply returning things to their natural order.”, Void Aichi replied.
Kai summoned all of his strength to grip the blade tightly. His hands were shaking as the blade neared his chest.
It was getting so close.
“K-Kai!”, he heard the concerned voice of Dracomon through the illusion.
“Dracomon…”, Kai thought.
A static filled image filled Kai’s mind.
“Kai…do you think we’ll meet again outside the Digital World?”, a voice came from a young boy whose face was obscured.
It sounded like Aichi.
“We definitely will. With Dracomon and Kotemon too.”, he heard himself say and then he smiled at the boy.
Kai gritted his teeth as he felt the fire inside him stirring up again. He didn’t understand what that image was but it made his resolve grow. Within his pocket a tiny device glowed. It was that of the V-pet which morphed into the Digivice and was emblazoned with a red symbol. The brunette pushed back past the pain.
He DEFINITELY won’t let the Void win.
Not like this!
Void Aichi’s smile dropped looking unamused at the interference of the Digivice.
Kai unconsciously reached for his pocket as he tried to tilt the sword away from his heart. The Void had suddenly decided to stop taunting the brunette and thrust the sword downwards.
However Kai was not greeted with more pain. He had stopped mid thrust and the hand holding the sword was now shaking.
“Aichi…”, Kai said.
The bluenette’s eyes were shadowed as sweat rolled across his face.
“W-what…? I won’t…”, Aichi muttered as his eyes were revealed to have light in them for a moment.
Kai wasted no time and aimed his Digivice at Aichi as he seemed to drift in and out being under the Void’s influence. A light erupted from Digivice hitting him. The bluenette hissed in pain as he dropped the sword. The reverse suddenly completely returned as Kai was knocked out of the image.
In reality…
Aichi shot up from his bed breathing heavily as his skin was caked with sweat. Dynasmon sat by his bedside silently guarding him like a century. He seemed to be back in his house. The royal knight must have brought him there after he passed out.
Why was he so tired…?
The bluenette wiped away the sweat from his brow.
“Was that a dream…?”, Aichi thought.
When he woke up his memory of it seemed to be rather foggy and lacking details. He felt like he was there kinda…or was he in the background? Was he fighting? Was he a spectator? His mind was spinning again as he felt very confused.
Did he try to stab Kai?!
He thinks remembers something vaguely involving a sword.
He couldn’t recall…
Dynasmon was close to his side wiping away the sweat with a towel.
“Thank you, Dynasmon.”, Aichi said.
“I believe you had some sort of nightmare. You seemed very distressed.”, Dynasmon replied.
“I did. It was scary from what remember…I hardly can though. You shouldn’t worry about it.”, Aichi admitted.
He felt himself checking his deck just in case…A few Link Joker cards had materialized out of nowhere but there was no Gancelot яeverse.
“So, that was just a dream…more like a nightmare.”, Aichi thought as he laid back.
“That lowly virus is scheming isn’t it?”, Dynasmon questioned.
“Yeah…I don’t know what it is but…I really can’t be around my friends. I think it wants to hurt them…”, Aichi replied.
“What shall our next move be?”, Dynasmon questioned as Aichi pulled up the covers.
“We’ll try to find…Gatomon, Barbamon, or…Daemon…I’m just…”, Aichi murmured before he passed out again.
Dynasmon grumbled as he put a new towel over Aichi’s head.
“That damn virus…First it’s Beezlemon now that damn thing is stalling us.”, Dynasmon grumbled.
Of course he was WELL aware that it was running out Aichi’s clock intentionally and he couldn’t exactly leave Aichi alone in good conscience in this state to fight. So, their mission would be delayed until the Void was done messing with them.
With Kai…
“Kai!”, Dracomon squeaked as Kai shot up covered his sweat.
Kai needed to wipe his face as he felt that his face was covered in salvia. Miwa pushed him back down gently.
“Kai, you’re injured. Lay down.”, Miwa said.
Kai looked down at his wrapped up hands.
“What happened?!”, Misaki questioned.
The gang was huddled around the brunette. He was not a fan of crowds…
“I think I found a way to save Aichi.”, Kai replied.
Everyone looked shocked at Kai’s words. Kai looked down to his pocket. Without him saying anything Dracomon brought out Kai’s Digivice and put it in his lap. Five of them froze when they stared at the Digivice. It looked eerily familiar as they were hit by a strong sense of deja vu.
“This thing was able to affect the Void. If we have more we might be able to completely purge it from Aichi.”, Kai explained.
To be continued…
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