#why is writing so hard orz

[wrymbloods]

SIX SENTENCE SUNDAY tagged by @arklay - thank you so much!

She proceeded to pull her camise over her head and toss it to the side, pulling her arms up just a breath away from covering herself. This wasn’t the first time she had exposed herself in front of another person and yet, something about it felt different. The nervousness she felt turning in her stomach as his eyes trailed over her figure was not something she was used to and she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She felt his hands before she saw them, her breath getting caught in her throat as they landed on her hips, his left thumb gently running over an old scar.

“You needn’t hide from me, love.”

She looked up to find him intently watching her, her face heating up as she realised that once again, he was able to see past any wall she tried building.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

in which this story comes to an end. (fucking finally.)

part eight of the post-marineford portion of the near miss fics! (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) if you have no idea what i’m talking about but would like to read a shanks/buggy story about kissing in disguise and then having to deal with the emotional fallout of doing that, click on this link, that’s the tag for the whole thing in chronological order. (plus a fair bit of complaining about writing, one inspirational improvised musical number, and a snippet of shanks pov) if you do know what i’m talking about: it’s done! it’s done!! i wish i could say i planned to end this on 3/8 but lmao, did not know the significance of the day until, like, this tuesday. but it’s done. i’m taking a break from the world of this story to work on some gift exchange fics, but i will be uploading the first few fics to ao3 soon, and should start posting the shanks POV post-marineford story in late april. if there are scenes you’d especially like his POV on, let me know! i’ll do my best to incorporate them.

Buggy spent a very cathartic half-hour shouting at a bunch of guys who ate up his words with a spoon.  Always eager to please, the men obediently found themselves disembarkation buddies, cleaned up the messes they’d made, and started gathering their things (mostly weapons they’d stolen off the guards at Impel Down).

It was nice to be respected, Buggy thought as he watched them scurry around the ship.  However misplaced the respect, it made people listen to him, something Buggy had wanted for as long as he could remember.  He’d never been able to get enough.  Probably never would, if the hunger that grew every time these men cheered his name was anything to go by.

He wandered up to the room he shared with Galdino—thankfully empty, he didn’t want to end up in another slap fight over details—and took care of his own possessions. (It wouldn’t do to have any excuses to delay or hang back when they got to the meeting point.) With the modified Marine jacket and hat back on, Buggy could fit everything else in a small satchel that he strapped around his waist, neatly hidden by a twist in a sash and the way the jacket fell.  He left the room… more or less the way it had been when he arrived—there was no way to hide that dent in the wall, and Galdino would have to be the one to deal with the smear of wax across half the bed—and exited the room for the last time, taking in the view of the deck below with a contented sigh.

The Red Force was a well-run ship—a compliment Buggy would never voice aloud, but in the privacy of his own mind he allowed himself to think it.  Even with hundreds of strangers aboard who couldn’t help but get in the way, she was clean, well-equipped, and sailing smoothly.  Buggy didn’t know if he’d be able to say the same in a few hours, when all these men would be trying to squeeze onto the somewhat smaller Big Top.  Buggy rubbed a hand across his mouth to hide his involuntary grimace at the thought.  Maybe the island they were meeting up on had some industry he could put them to work at?  A farm would be fantastic, if he could get paid for their labor and get the produce at a discount as well… 

Buggy looked over the deck in search of one of Shanks’ senior officers.  He didn’t know most of them by name, but those cloaks and capes they wore were distinctive enough that he thought he should be able to identify them on sight, and surely if the one he found didn’t know anything about the island, they could point him to someone who did.  The navigator?  Roux, who seemed to know a little about everything?  Beckman, whose job it was to know something about everything?

And, think of the devil, one of the doors to the interior of the ship opened to reveal Beckman, speaking with a few of those cloaked men.  They each went their own way, and Beckman crossed to the railing, taking up a pose not dissimilar from Buggy’s a few levels above him.  That was a first mate for you, always keeping an eye on things, one way or another.

Buggy sent his feet down the stairs and the rest of him took the shorter path, swooping down to Beckman’s side like a giant white bat.  To his credit, Beckman didn’t react to this unusual approach. Instead, calm as anything, he said, “Whatever you said to those men, it seems to be doing the trick.  Thanks.”

Buggy waved the praise off.  “If they’re so eager to be under my command, they’ve got to start learning to behave themselves sooner or later.  Might as well be now.”  Leaning an elbow against the railing, Buggy looked Beckman over.  He sure did seem a lot more relaxed now than he’d been outside Shanks’ rooms.  Relaxed enough to share intel?  “Tell me something.”

Beckman glanced sideways at Buggy.  “Hm?”

“What do you know about this island where we’re meeting up with my crew?  Is it populated?”

“Ah, I don’t think so, no,” Beckman said, tilting his head back, recalling the facts.  “Snake picked a jungle island that’s a bit out of the way of normal trade routes.  There’s some ruins, but no signs of recent habitation.”

Buggy tried not to visibly wilt.  “Ah.”

Beckman’s eyes lingered on Buggy.  “We didn’t want to risk a naval presence on the island getting word out to the rest of the Marines.”

“No, no, it makes sense.”  Buggy sighed, shoving a hand under his hat to scrub at his hair.  “Just trying to figure out how the hell I’m gonna feed all these guys in that case.”  No way had anyone thought to tell Alvida that Buggy was bringing new guys with him, let alone a lot of new guys.  She’d have gotten the ship supplied with their normal numbers in mind.

Well, the new guys were a tough bunch, maybe they’d see hunting for their dinner as a fun challenge.  Assuming there was anything safe to hunt and eat on this island… Buggy dug his fingers into his scalp, biting back a frustrated groan.

Beckman laughed.  “Yeah, I don’t envy you that job. At least we were expecting to take on passengers.”  He whistled to get the attention of someone up in the crow’s nest and flashed a hand sign at them.  After a few exchanges, he stopped signing and rolled his eyes.  “Stubborn, overworking little—” He cut himself off and glanced at Buggy.  “Was that all you wanted from me?”  Buggy nodded.  “Then I’ll see you when Shanks finally gets up the nerve to talk to you… or when we land.  Whichever comes first.”  With that, he walked over to the mast, got the attention of a young man who’d been leaning against it, and grabbed onto a low-hanging rope.  The two of them pulled themselves up into the rigging—to harass whoever was up in the crow’s nest into taking a break, probably.

Buggy watched them climb for a minute, a frown crawling its way across his face.  When Shanks finally gets up the nerve to talk to you… so there was something Shanks was hiding that he didn’t think he should, huh?  Buggy had figured the feeling he was getting off Shanks was about one of those topics he’d had private conversations with Roger about way back when, not something that Shanks would consider any of Buggy’s business.  But apparently that wasn’t the case.

Buggy’s frown deepened.  He could come up with a list of topics Shanks wouldn’t want to broach but would still feel obligated to bring up, no problem.  But that list was short, and Buggy didn’t like the thought of discussing anything on it.

Unsettled, Buggy leaned back against the mast, arms crossed.

“Look out below!!!”

Buggy looked up and shrieked at the sight of a man falling head-first out of the crow’s nest.  He scattered—it wasn’t like his body would soften the blow enough that the guy would live—and then blinked, as a rope he hadn’t noticed went taut, and the falling slowed to a gentle, somehow mechanical motion.

“The hell is wrong with you?!” he demanded, floating up to be eye-level with the slowly descending man.  This was, if Buggy remembered correctly, Shanks’ sniper, Yasopp, of the infamous years-long tempting out to sea.  Someone with good aim, and a keen eye, but not particularly decisive—or, at least, he hadn’t been back then.  He was also apparently someone with a shitty sense of humor; he wasn’t answering Buggy’s question because he was too busy laughing and pointing at Buggy.

“Your face!  Oh, my stomach hurts,” he said, clutching at his waist.  “Oh man, that was almost worth getting kicked out of the nest.”  As they approached the ground, he shifted his weight so his feet would touch down first, and untangled himself from the rope with practiced ease.  “Phew.  Sorry, uh—Buggy, right?  Yeah, sorry about that.  The crew knows better than to stand so close to the mast when the watch changes, and I didn’t think to check before I jumped.”

“Jumping from the crow’s nest for fun.”  Buggy shook his head.  “And here I thought you people were almost respectable.”  Yasopp, the maniac, cackled.  Beckman, drifting down to the deck on his own rope mechanism, in a much more orderly fashion, chuckled a little.

“It’s possible we’ve been on… well, not our best behavior.  Let’s call it better behavior than usual, these last few days,” Beckman admitted.  “Except for Yasopp, who doesn’t know the meaning of the concept and so stays up in his nest.”

“You haven’t been on your best behavior, you’re as mean as ever,” Yasopp said, putting on an over-the-top pout.

Beckman rolled his eyes.  “Because I need to be, to get anything done around here,” he said.  “And you need a break.  Drink, talk to someone, tinker with one of your ridiculous trick bullets, I don’t care, just—let someone else keep an eye on things for a few hours, okay?”  He nudged Yasopp in the side with an elbow.  “Or are you gonna say you didn’t train your juniors well enough at their job?”

Yasopp crossed his arms, sulky.  “No,” he conceded.

“Good,” Beckman said.  Giving Buggy an apologetic grimace as he untied himself, he said, “I trust he’s apologized to you already?”  His tone suggested that if he hadn’t, Yasopp would soon regret it.

What a mother hen of a first mate, Buggy thought, fighting down a smile. “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” he said, shrugging off the incident like it hadn’t carved a decade off his lifespan.  “I should’ve known you people had to be at least a little crazy, since you run around with Shanks.”

A small smile crossed Beckman’s face, and Yasopp muffled a snort of laughter in a fist.

Someone called out in a panicky tone for Beckman from a far corner of the ship, and the smile fell off his face.  “If you’ll excuse me?”  Not waiting for a reply from either of them, Beckman walked off.

“So mean,” Yasopp said, fondness creeping into his voice.

“That’s first mates for you,” Buggy said, unable to keep a similar fondness out of his own voice.  Shanks had done a good job finding this guy.  When you grew up with the gold standard first mate (or, heh, the Silvers standard?), it was hard to find someone who could measure up.  “Keeping things in order when your captain’s lost his head.”

Yasopp chuckled.  “Ah, the boss isn’t that bad off.”  When Buggy gave him a skeptical look, he smirked.  “Lost his heart, maybe, but he knows where his head’s at.”

“I—uh.”  Flustered, Buggy cleared his throat.  He’d really just gone and said it.  “You’re a lot less subtle than your crewmates.”

Yasopp shrugged.  “I leave subtlety to subtle men.  I’m not built for it; I’m built for getting to the heart of the matter, and doing it fast.”  He extended two fingers towards Buggy, lifted his thumb into the air, and twitched his hand like it was a gun recoiling.  “We both know where things stand.  What’s the use in dancing around it?”

“Sure,” Buggy muttered, his thoughts going back to what Beckman had said.  What was it Shanks both didn’t want to tell him and needed to tell him?  What was there left unsaid, besides the sort of thing Buggy had already decided didn’t need saying?  He crossed his arms.  Damn it, he’d been trying to avoid thinking about this shit!

“Hey,” Yasopp said, snapping his fingers to draw Buggy’s attention.  “You work with bombs, right?  You make them yourself?”

Welcoming the change in topic, Buggy scoffed.  “Of course,” he said, “only an idiot trusts the kind of weapons manufacturers who are willing to sell to pirates to make explosives that are good, reliable, and cheap, and I have better things to spend my money on.”  He narrowed his eyes at Yasopp.  “Why?”

“Because Beck just gave me permission to tinker with my trick bullets, and if you make your own explosives you might be able to figure out what I’m doing wrong with this one.”  Digging around in one of his oversized ammunition pouches, Yasopp presented Buggy with an unusually lightweight cartridge.  “Here, what do you think?”

Buggy cracked the cartridge open, curious.  Inside was a pool of silvery-black gunpowder and a thin-walled hollow bullet, which proved to have some other kind of powder inside.  Buggy pinched that powder between two fingers, rubbing them together to feel the grit and then sniffing at the residue left behind.  He stared at his fingers, baffled, and smelled them again.  “What is that, aluminum and an ammonium salt?”  Yasopp nodded.  “Are you trying to make a cartridge that explodes in the barrel?”

Yasopp sighed, running a hand through his locs.  “What I want is a smoke bomb I can fire out of a gun.  What I’m getting is… that, more or less.”

“Yeah, of course you are, a big velocity change ignites this stuff easily.  With a different catalyst, though, or maybe a better sealed chamber…” Buggy trailed off, considering the bullet.  A miniature smoke bomb, huh?  Something that could stand up to the initial shock of gunfire, and turns to noise and powder on impact… “Do you have a chem lab around here somewhere?”

Yasopp grinned.

The two of them didn’t emerge from Yasopp’s workroom until the bell rang out announcing last call for lunch.  Buggy wasn’t sure he’d ever get the metallic burnt smell out of these clothes, but he didn’t care; this had been fun, the kind of idle experimenting with explosives that he hadn’t had time to do in years.  Buggy hadn’t realized how much of a man’s free time it ate up, captaining even a smallish crew, until he’d gotten a fraction of that time back.

“Too bad we didn’t figure out a solution for your smoke bullet problem,” he said, dusting the last of the gunpowder off his shirt sleeves.

“Eh, I’ve been working on this on and off for months, it wasn’t gonna be an easy fix,” Yasopp said, shrugging his star-spangled cloak back on.  “But it got both of us out of our heads for a few hours, so I’d hardly call it a waste.”

Buggy blinked at him, frozen with one arm in his jacket.  “Both of us?”

“You were fretting, I don’t know what about.  Shanks, at a guess.  And I’m… not good at letting other people take on my responsibilities.”  Yasopp grimaced.  “Beck doesn’t always have to toss me out of the nest, but…”

Buggy frowned, sliding the jacket up his other arm.  “I wasn’t fretting.”

Yasopp gave him an unimpressed look.  “Sure.  And what kind of concealer do you use to hide the frown lines you must have, if you make that face every hour of the day?”  When Buggy scowled at him, Yasopp said, “I’m not a subtle man, remember?  If you want somebody to pretend to believe your lies, you’re looking at the wrong guy.”

Buggy sighed.  As Yasopp locked the workroom up behind them, he admitted, “It… was good to get out of my head for a while.”  Yasopp gave him a squeeze on the shoulder, and they left it at that.

Lunch was a bit less exciting than the past few days had led Buggy to expect: the fried rice with pickled cabbage and ham that had been served with Shanks’ breakfast was the main dish on offer, with other repurposed leftovers making up the rest of the meal.  When Roux wasn’t looking, Buggy gave him a curious look.  The rest of the crew had been on their best behavior, according to Beckman… so, had Lucky Roux been showing off?  If he had, it had worked on Buggy; he still wanted to poach Roux for his own crew, even if this less impressive offering was his usual fare.

Eating his bowl of rice with a couple promising-looking toppings—all well-spiced and delicious, of course—Buggy made his way out onto the main deck.  A few Red-Haired and Whitebeard Pirates glanced Buggy’s way, but most of them had gotten used to Buggy over the last few days and returned to their meals without paying him any mind.  He peered down at the lower deck, crowded with men in worn prison uniforms standing in surprisingly well-organized clusters of twos and fours, finishing their lunch.

“Afternoon, men!” he called.

“Captain Buggy!” they cheered.

“Let’s see,” Buggy said, and on a whim set aside his bowl to chop off his feet and swoop down, close enough to excite his men but just out of reach.  “Aren’t you arranged all nice and orderly?  It looks like you did as I asked.”

“Of course!”

“We’d do anything you asked, Captain Buggy!”

Buggy grinned.  Music to his ears.  “Then I suppose I should reward you, shouldn’t I?”  A few excited sounds rose from the crowd as Buggy returned to his spot on the deck above them.  “Hm… I’ve told you a few stories of the old days with Captain Roger, and a few more adventures of the great Captain Buggy’s crew.  But there’s someone I’ve yet to introduce you to, a captain who’s been allied with me and mine these last few months.”  Someone who might need some convincing to cooperate with the sudden appearance of all these guys… and who was more eager for praise than even Buggy.  “Let me tell you how the strong, beautiful Iron Mace Alvida saved my life.”

A hush fell over the crowd.

“Yes, I know what you’re thinking: the great Captain Buggy, in need of rescue?!”  The wide-eyed stares Buggy received confirmed this.  And by the look of it, some of the men were mentally tacking on the phrase by a woman? to that question, as he’d suspected they would.  Yeah, best to nip that potential problem in the bud.  “Well, I’d been through a terrible trial in the days leading up to our first meeting.  Separated from my crew, from my body, alone on a half-wrecked ship, starving, a vicious sea monster rising out of the waves before me, his many-toothed maw dripping with drool, eager to eat me—when suddenly!  A great iron mace came down on his skull!”  Buggy slammed his lunch bowl against the railing, the crash of metal on wood drawing the eye of every man below.

Buggy grinned.  If they hadn’t been hooked before, they sure were now.

He fudged some of the details, of course—no need to reveal exactly who had put him through that terrible trial, or how his crew had behaved in his absence.  But the broad strokes were true enough, and the changes he made were in support of his reason for telling the story: to convince these guys to respect Alvida, to flatter her as they did him, to make this joining of forces go as smoothly as possible.  Sure, it didn’t put Buggy in the best light, at least not at first, but he didn’t want Alvida taking a perceived slight out on a man who might be able to stand up to her mace.  If revealing one of his weaknesses was how he avoided that disaster, so be it.

He was just reaching the ‘rescuing his crew from cannibals’ climax of the story when a cry rang out from above: “Land ho!”

Finally.  The relief that rushed through Buggy nearly made him cry.  After all the many hells he’d been through since being arrested… things could finally start getting back to normal.

“We’ll continue this story after we disembark,” Buggy announced, to a few disappointed groans from his men.  “Find your buddy if you lost track of him during lunch!  Make sure you both have everything you’re taking with you!  Stay out of the way of the Red-Haired Pirates while they’re get us to shore, but be ready to leave the second we’re docked!”

“Aye, Captain!”

But of course, it wasn’t quite that simple.

Buggy found Galdino sitting in the empty mess with Lucky Roux, making polite conversation over a pot of tea.  Though, with these two, it might not actually be the conversation it seemed to be—something about the island Roux sourced his tea from?  Apparently it was a distinctive blend, and hard to acquire.

“Did you need something, Buggy?” Galdino asked, an undertone of irritation to his voice.  Because of course Buggy needed something, why else did he ever seek Galdino out?

Well, if Galdino didn’t want to be used, he shouldn’t have made himself so useful.

“The dock’s gone,” Buggy said.  “Either rotted through or swept away in a storm.”

Galdino glanced up at him, and set down his teacup.  “Well, at least it’ll be a challenge.  Lucky Roux, it’s been a pleasure.”

“It’s sure been something, having you people aboard,” Roux said with a wide smile.  “Hopefully not for the last time.”

Buggy snorted.  “In your captain’s dreams.”

Galdino muffled a laugh in his fist; Roux didn’t bother concealing his amusement.  Buggy realized how his words had come off, scowled, and stormed out of the mess with a mutter of, “Come on, Galdino.”

The two of them joined Beckman and the Red-Haired Pirates’ navigator at the bow of the ship, and considered the space where a dock clearly used to be.  A ship this big, an island with such a sharp drop from shore to sea?  They wouldn’t be able to land without a dock. 

“Can you do it?” Beckman asked.

“I’ll need to begin from the shore,” Galdino said, thoughtful.  “If it isn’t well anchored from the start it’ll drift away.”

“That’s no problem.” Buggy chopped his feet off and leaned forward, letting Galdino sit cross-legged on his back.  He flew them to shore, where Galdino made some long wax spears that Buggy wedged into place.  When they were securely dug in, Galdino melted the tops of the spears and, starting from that spot, created more wax to mold into a floating dock.  Nothing that would be any good at anchoring a ship the size of the Red Force long-term, but they didn’t intend to be here any longer than necessary.  So long as it could hold firm while the men disembarked, that was all they needed.

While Galdino worked, Buggy hovered above the canopy, looking for any kind of promising location to settle his men.  He quickly spotted the ruins Beckman had mentioned—several of the old buildings were tall enough to be seen well above the treetops, the gray of the stone standing out against all the greenery of the jungle.  There was one with a large paved area around it, not far from the shore, which seemed promising.  Buggy took a moment to fix the spot in his memory, then went back to tell Galdino about it.

Galdino barely paid him any mind. He was focused on his work, and confident enough in it to stand on the dock as he was building it, a foot or two of wax all that separated him from the awful, helpless death that awaited any Devil Fruit user in the ocean.  It was bold of him; Buggy preferred a nice, reliable boat any day.

“Any messages to pass on to the men?” he asked, hovering at Galdino’s shoulder.

“They’ll need to be light on their feet, and should stick to the center of the dock,” Galdino said.  He was starting to sweat; extruding this much wax in one go must take a lot of effort.  “If their weight isn’t balanced right, one wrong move could capsize this whole thing.”

Buggy blanched.  Yeah, he could never.  “Noted,” he squeaked, and flew back to the Red Force to convey these instructions.

Despite Galdino’s warnings, the disembarkation went well.  Buggy watched with no small amount of pride as the buddy system worked beautifully, each pair of men walking down the gangplank, across the waxen dock, and onto the shore without any signs of a bottleneck developing.  Being listened to was nice—it was very nice—but being listened to, having your orders followed, and seeing them work exactly as you imagined, now that was heaven.  Buggy might not be the strongest pirate the world had ever seen, but damn it, he was good at this shit.

As the last dozen pairs prepared to leave the Red Force, Buggy felt a gentle weight press down on his foot.  He frowned, tried to remember where he’d left his feet, and only then noticed a presence on the main deck that made his hackles rise.

Shanks.

“Are you holding my feet hostage?”

“That depends,” Shanks said, giving Buggy an unreadable look.  “Are you leaving without saying goodbye?”

Oh, this guy.  On his own ship, surrounded on all sides by his most trusted officers, and still managing to look like some kind of miserable wet cat, terrified of being left alone.

“And how was I supposed to say goodbye to someone who’s been hiding from me?” Buggy asked, instead of the dozen meaner things he wanted to say.

Shanks glanced away, suddenly awkward, and Buggy took the opportunity to look him over.  The shower had done him good, gotten him clean of all that secondhand makeup—though it had not, Buggy noticed with a quiet little thrill, removed the bruises that had apparently been hiding underneath some of that makeup.  His hair looked nicer, almost healthy, even pinned back by the sunglasses Shanks had propped up high on his forehead.  “Are these the shame glasses I’ve heard so much about?”

Shanks’ hand rose to fiddle with the temple of the glasses.  “Ah, yeah.”

“I thought your crew was supposed to laugh at you while you were wearing them?”

“They’ve been laughing at me, all day,” Shanks said, tired.  “And they’ve been right to, given… everything.”

Well, that was ominous.

With a sigh, Shanks said, “There’s something I should have told you earlier, Buggy, but there never seemed to be a good time, and… I didn’t know how to say it.”  A sheepish smile pulling at the corner of his lip, he said, “I still don’t, to be honest,” and pulled the sunglasses down over his eyes.

It took Buggy a moment to put it together.  Shanks’ discomfort, the way the large mirrored lenses took up so much space on his face, the nervous twist of his lips… then Shanks ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his forehead, and it clicked.  All the blood draining out of his face, Buggy caught Beckman’s eye; he nodded, ever so slightly.

(Fuck.)

Buggy got up in Shanks’ face, looking past his own wide-eyed reflection to confirm that spark of recognition.  Shanks leaned back, Buggy reconnected to his own feet, and at this angle… yeah, he knew that face.  He’d kissed it, once.

(Oh fuck, he’d pickpocketed that guy, too.)

Fighting down a hysterical burst of laughter, Buggy said, voice high-pitched from the strain, “Well, uh, thanks for the ride, Shanks!  I’d say I owe you one, but I’m pretty sure you still owe me another two or three dozen favors before we’re even.”  He backed up, hands brushing along the railing as he inched towards the stairs, and beyond them the gangplank, the dock, the island, freedom.

(Somewhere he could have a little breakdown about this revelation in private.)

“Buggy…” Shanks cautiously held out a hand.

Buggy pulled back out of reach.  “I’m not saying goodbye to you, Shanks!” he snapped.  Shanks faltered, his hurt visible even past those ridiculous sunglasses, and Buggy sighed.  Did he have to spell it out?  “Stupid.  I already told you.”

Confusion wasn’t a much better look on Shanks.  Well, either he’d figure out or he wouldn’t.

Buggy rolled his eyes, spun around, and ran off.  Over his shoulder, he promised, “Until next time, Red-Hair!”

[akalionax]

Finally going through my wips and was like "I should probably post this" but then reading it and being like "nope, too embarrassing lmao"

[shiki-jin]

YOUR CELESTIAL MAJESTY • SAGAU

(part 0 here)

was listening to TruE on loop while writing the last part of this, it's genuinely such a good song ugwvdya

also can you spot the contradiction ;D it's plot relevant i promise

not proofread, dont bully me ill write a thesis on why youre a meanie

—

you had long deleted genshin, since you had other things to do. you had wanted to go back to the game for a while now, now that you were less busy, but there was just one little problem.

it was now taking up nearly triple the amount of space that it was when you uninstalled it. around 300 whole gigabytes.

jesus christ, what phone can even handle this???

your phone, apparently. because as you opened the game to see if maybe a miracle would happen and that if maybe they would just, like, remove half of the things in the game, it just… kinda loaded?

no installing new files, no checking for anything, no nothing…. just an immediate pan to the gates of celestia.

you decided to check if it was the right genshin since this was just way too weird, but countering your judgement, every link you found led you to the same game, leading you to believe it not to be a bootleg or an illegal version.

guess i’ll trust it then.

you clicked on the gates which opened smoothly, and your screen turned white. then, the symbols of the seven elements appeared in gray.

and then the game just… opened. no loading time, once again. no getting stuck on the geo symbol, nothing. nada. just a smooth entrance into what you had to assume to be teyvat — but your surroundings didn't really support that claim.

the grass was brown and just looked off, the sky was gray. a darker shade than, say, mond’s walls, but it was like one of those game crashes.

well, except you could still move around.

you moved your current character around (the traveller? since when were they the only one in your team?) and decided to open the map after not figuring out where you could possibly be.

hold on, this is springvale? since when?

eveything looked dead, like it had been rotting for a century. you tried to ignore it though, and teleported to the inside of mondstadt. surely this was just some glitch, right? one that would fix itself if you teleported?

maybe the world loaded incorrectly, maybe the fact that nothing took time to load meant that it couldn't load, maybe this or that, maybe…

maybe this really was how the game looked normally. you hadn't done any quests though, so you wondered if it could be restored.

you took a screenshot of the your surroundings — the stone, worn down and dirty. the houses which looked to be in a horrible state, and… the npcs, all sickly and pale, like they were starving.

you went to reddit (yes, reddit), and posted the screenshot, asking if it was normal.

you closed the game and decided to take a nap, too tired to really deal with this shit any further.

while you slumbered, people replied to your post.

╰┈➤ lol me too anon, me too

╰┈➤ isn't the game closed or wtv? how'd you get this wtf

╰┈➤ they're trolling

╰┈➤ o makes sense oops

╰┈➤ So we’re all still mourning huh

╰┈➤ jokes aside that's a super impressive edit ngl

you remained unaware of the truth, but you'd find out soon enough.

actually, you'd find out now, apparently…

what the fuck?? why is my bed so hard now?

you groaned and forced your eyes open, seeing a dark, nearly black sky.

the only light was a single star, lingering right above you.

“since when was i outside...?"

a voice spoke to you, answering your question.

“you always have been, have you not? but would you like to head inside, my lord?”

... huh? i recognize that voice...

—

p.s. place your bets on who it is, i’m thinking of one specific character but if there's a fan fav i'll make it them instead since i haven't written anything beyond this point (⁠・⁠_⁠・⁠;⁠)

p.s.s. don't expect updates to this series too quickly, i wish i could write as quick as i think of ideas but sadly that's not the case orz

[merakiui]

Can we talk about Azul being a big baby?

https://www.tiktok.com/@saltypinacolada/video/7361631572765871406

Throwing a tantrum as if hes not a grown ass man… I believe he wouldn’t want to show his darling this side of him cause he considers it his gross icky lil tako self, BUT HE DESERVES TO BE IMMATURE AND GROSS FROM TIME TO TIME. LET THE BABY TAKO OUT

Brat taming scenario or straight yandere tantrum 🤔 which would be better i wonder

(link)

AAAAA I LOVE HIM. ૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა that's my beloved tako!!!!

I suppose (in his defense) he has every right to have a harsh meltdown like that, considering this is years and years of bottled negativity, insecurity, avarice, etc. Leona destroying the (large collection of) contracts and Azul losing at his own game were just the straws that broke the camel's back.

I think it's also important to note that Jade and Floyd (Azul's two closest friends) are unwilling to side with him this time and maybe Azul saw that as a threat to his own mental well-being. Jade and Floyd are usually easygoing and often on board for all of Azul's schemes, so this is one of the first times they're openly opposing him and telling him he can't do something (i.e., take everyone's magic or else he'll overblot). When Floyd tells him he's much lamer now than he ever was before Azul can't recognize their genuine concern for him. In Azul's mind, it's probably something along the lines of: if he loses the two people he's closest to, alongside all of the contracts he spent years amassing, then he truly doesn't have anyone or anything; he'll be back where he began: the lonely outcast everyone made fun of in his youth.

Additionally, he's on the verge of crying and Azul (who was bullied ruthlessly for being a crybaby) doesn't like showing any sort of weakness or vulnerability, especially when it comes to crying. But what else can you possibly do when the floodgates burst? When so much has been built up and held in, it's only fair that the breakdown is just as frightening and strong. Thus, he screams and cries; he reacts in extremes.

I really adore how volatile he is when he has his meltdown. Azul is emotionally vulnerable by default (which is why he masks all of that with his pompous theatrics), but in that moment he truly believes that if he doesn't have everything (powerful magic, good singing abilities, an endless supply of skills and talents, etc) he is nothing but the "dumb, clumsy, crybaby octopus" from his youth. He can't accept his past self, which is why he's always working tirelessly to be the "best version" of himself because he's afraid of going back to who he once was, as he wholeheartedly believes that version of himself is terrible when it never was.

AAAA FORGIVE ME. OTL I rambled too much about tako, but I love his tantrums and I agree!!! He deserves to be gross and icky and immature from time to time! A yandere tantrum....... orz orz I love writing Azul breaking down at minor and major inconveniences whenever his darling is involved, but I especially love it when he's tried so hard to get you to reciprocate his feelings and nothing's working!!! The type of yan with a mindset of "I really dislike having to act so callous, but it's for your own good." Azul putting you through sensory deprivation to break your mind a little so that, eventually, the next time he visits the dark, soundproofed room you're kept in you'll reciprocate with open arms, desperate to be loved and feel connected with someone.

[kazinsblog]

Thank You for Participating

With that! Yuma month has officially come to an end! *⸜(* ॑꒳ ॑* )⸝*

Thank you for all your hard work \(❁´∀`❁)ﾉ𖤐´-

I had to wait an extra day to post this due to timezone reasons XD and this post is also the reason why I didn’t say much in my Day 31 post as well, I tried to keep it a surprise.

Thank you to everyone who participated and for the kind words as well ;w;. I'm truly grateful, I didn’t think a lot of people would want to participate since monthly challenges are quite daunting. I love seeing all of your works and various interpretations of the prompts as well. It made me look forward to seeing them the next day!

I hope Yuma month was fun and everyone also had the chance to try something new! 

If you still want to draw or write prompts or give it a try some other time, you can tag me and I’ll still reblog it! I’d love to see more entries! :3 

This is also the first time I’ve held this kind of prompt challenge event as well. If there’s anything you’d think that could improved or be changed please let me know~! You can leave a comment, ask, or DM me here on this blog or on my main blog. I’m always open to suggestions :D If I were to make another Yuma event next year I’d probably change it to a Yuma Week. A monthly challenge may have been a bit too much XD (I apologize if I stressed anyone out ;w;)

Long post on the Thank you art itself and other stuff I wanna talk about

I designed this Yuma Month Thank You art based on all the prompts and elements everyone showed in their pieces. Sadly I couldn’t include all of the prompts due to the image being overly cluttered but I did squeeze in most of them.

The NDA and Makoto plushies stand out a bit because I noticed they were featured a lot in some prompts throughout Yuma Month so they get their own little spotlight as well :3c

And I thought Yuma doing a little bow is a nice way to end Yuma Month~ the design was also based on my Makoto Month prompt too XD I thought it would be a nice contrast to my last entry for Makoto month and the thought of Yuma bowing and thanking everyone is a nice way to end the event in my opinion :3c

Once again I’m super grateful to everyone who participated ;w; it really makes my day when I see you post a Yuma Month prompt. I also apologize (again) if I caused any stress or pressure to you during Yuma Month orz…

[yaekiss]

꩜ Room Content: Dom! GN! Reader x Sub! IL Dan Heng, no gendered terms for reader, reader has a cock, blowjob (reader receiving), lmk if I missed out anything ! ꩜ A/N: I'm supposed to be sleeping rn but I kept thinking about IL Dan Heng and an anon's ask that this idea gripped me so hard that I just had to write it out b4 I forgot about it orz...

Upon closer inspection, IL Dan Heng does in fact wear more stunning red makeup around his eyes. So what's stopping him from wearing rouge on his lips?

(Especially when he's sucking you off.)

He's not particularly vain but he does enjoy it when you compliment him on the colour of rouge he applies on his lips. (If anything, he looks forward to you noticing it and praising him for his choice in the shade, preening slightly when he hears the sweet words that come from you.)

And he knows that you love it when he leaves pretty kiss marks on your dick before he gives you head. You groan when you feel his soft lips against your length, and as his forked tongue traces a sensitive vein on the underside, you have to restrain yourself from grabbing onto his horns and pushing his head down. He coyly peers up at you, and for added effect, he flutters his eyelashes, further highlighting the matching shades of his eye and lip makeup. It's mesmerising how he takes you into his mouth and every time he detaches with a loud pop!, you can see the bright ring of ruby he leaves encircling your hard cock. It's difficult to tear your eyes away from the display before you as he gulps you down to your base, choking and gagging when you hit the back of his throat.

When the two of you are finally done, all the makeup he painstakingly applied in front of his mirror in the morning is completely ruined. His eyeliner? Smudged by all the tears collecting at the corner of his eyes, rolling down his cheeks as you ruthlessly fuck him. His lip rouge? Smeared all over after screaming your name and drooling over how fucking good you're making him feel all night long.

When March 7th asks you why Dan Heng needs to buy so much rouge, you just say that he's really putting it to good use ♡

Thanks for reading! Consider supporting me on kofi if you enjoyed this or check out my other works hehe ♡

[love-is-a-pearl]

Watching Pokemon mezamas for the first time because I can't binge DP rn orz

If you wanna see me ranting and reacting, I'll leave things under the readmore >w<)b

Starting with ep 1 and 2! Cause I dont have as much free time as I wish I had so I'm doing 2 episodes per day till friday.

Winds of Beginning! The Endless Road!!

It's just me or the music at the beggining was Alola music? If yes.. That's just the cutest. Alola music as Ash's music QAQ

The best part of the episode was the 5 minutes we spent with Ash and Pikachu before the stupid Latias appeared. Add that one to the pokemon I now hate because of the anime..

Man, I'm still bitter those 10 episodes weren't focused on Ash and his Pokemon only. It would've been the absolute best way to use those 10 episodes (and still reach the same conclusion Mezamas as it is reached), why couldn't Ash ever be alone with his mons? He can be enjoyable if the writers tried. Sigh

At least Buizel is here ♥ Also it was adorable to see Noivern and Sceptile in security duty while everyone else slept! Babies! However I'm sad Buizel and Donphan didn't go to cuddle with AshPika and Latias ù3ú

What was the point of all the drama about "Ash's pokemon not being able to attack TR because it could hurt him" when... Pikachu just went and... did just that? (also, Noivern going there and breaking the glass would've hurt Ash less??????) I get they needed "Ash suicidal tendencies make him likeable" moment but gosh, it could've been done better, for sure.

And you know, mandatory Dawn mention, but it's kinda poetic that both Ash and Dawn got done dirty in their final moments because of some stupid legendaries. They're trully one and the same. Even in shitty writing decisions from anipoke staff LMAO

Satoshi VS Kasumi! Seaside One-on-One!!

I know that Misty's metaphor about how her and Clauncher are meant to be is an obvious Pokeshipping hint, of course it is! I know that! but...

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist but the fact Pikachu ignored Psyduck for Misty, and Clauncher didn't seem at all to reciprocate Misty's feelings is... interesting... Added to that how Ash just replaced her lure with Cilan's is.. Almost like adding to her own metaphor, that while Misty still has feelings for Ash and believes that they're meant to be, because of fate, because she is the "OG twerpette" like TR called her, Ash himself is like.. Pikachu to Psyduck and Clauncher to her. Neutral at most, and with someone else having their favoritism.

And y´know, it's even more interesting that at the beggining of Sinnoh Ash still had her lure (and was protective of it) and immediately after Sinnoh he changed her lure for Cilan's. I sure wonder what happened between those events for him- It's Dawn! its Dawn that happened!

Dont judge me I can make anything be about pearlshipping if I try hard enough.

Shipping aside, I adore seeing episodes with the general same plot but with different characters. Compare this to the Buneary catch and it's really interesting to see just how different Ash acts with Misty and Dawn about the same thing. Him and Misty have a battle about who is gonna get it, which does makes sense, they will resolve all their arguments with battles instead of actual talking and I adore that trait of their relationship~

And even Misty's disappointment at the end, that Clauncher still likes hanging with Corphish is very different than Dawn bringing up her closeness with Ash to win Buneary over. I love those sort of similar episodes, it's great to understand how each character thinks.

Gosh, even comparing to Totodile's catch shows how Misty and Ash themselves have become closer and more understanding of eachother! In here they make rules about how to catch Clauncher instead of fighting the whole time, it's a nice showcase of how they've grown! I'm just sad that Totodile was in this episode and no one mentioned the similarities :T

Also I will never get tired of Pikachu's "Pikachupi"! Ikue Otani does it in the cutest voice and I just want to squeeze the rat's cheeks every time he says it!!!

Speaking of Pikachu, I love that at the very least in those 10 episodes he went back to having some hint of a personality since he hadn't shown much of it for... a long time before it (and remembered the names of the people he cares for. I was so angry at the lack of "Pikapi" in Alola).

Same goes for TR, is nice to see their motto being animated instead of some re-used footage. One of the things that made their apparitions enjoyable in OG-DP was that they always added some personality to it. That was fun to see again.

---

And that's it for today.

[mintytealfox]

So we have Survivor Nort Decucts... And now we have Hunter Nort deducts... Put them together and what do we get?

You get a hella tragic story oh my GOSHHHH 😭😭😭😭

The set up will be: 1-Surv!Norton 1-Hunt!Norton -Then my thoughts 😏

1-Kindness: Is that an Olive Branch you just threw or... (A Good Deed: Norton, a Miner, Always visited the hospice and cared for all of the homeless old miners) 1-Shrewd 'Each step requires long-term planning' (Shrewd: An old, folded letter: Yellow and brittle. It was once abandoned in a dust corner. Signed, Benny.) -This is interesting 👀 These are both the first which automatically makes me think they are connected. I wonder if the Olive Branch thrown is from Benny? Or if its from Norton with the helping out with the people around Benny? Either way Benny ends up sending a letter to Norton. Maybe it saying something like 'want to meet up? I have stuff that might interest you' or something. Which adds to my -squinting- at Benny. Sounds like Norton was alone even though Benny was around all that time? hmmm

2-Diligence: The more effort, the more rewards? (Work Record: Norton Campbell is always the first to go down into the mines and the last to leave it.) 2-Lonely: 'The loneliness of separation must be endured on the climb up' (A coin: Stained by ash, footprints, tears, and dirt from the slums.) -Brings up the whole 'he had nobody' not even Benny vibe again -squints- Where was Benny during all of this? Seems like Norton would work and work and work so he couldn't feel or notice how alone he is. Like work was his only constant and 'friend' to keep himself from going nutty, but in the hours where work couldn't be used as a distraction he was miserable 😿Crying as he clings to what little he has...my gosh. That coin was so important to him man, I wonder if it was the last thing he got from his dad or something, cause he takes it everywhere and it pops up all the time in the trailer orz which means he never spent it just held onto it enough where you see TEAR STAINS ON IT! I CANNOT-- 😭😭😭😭

3-Efficiency: We need more trials. (A stack of Recommendation Letters: It can be seen that every one of Norton's previous employers appreciated his hard work and expressed their regret at being unable to keep him for long.) 3-Sophisticated 'wear a mask for the sake of survival' (A note on the back: What a detestable Person! Wagging his tail like a dog in front of the overseer!) -This one I can’t quite grasp yet -squints- is this referring to the back of the letter from Benny? Why write that there? Is Benny talking smack about Norton being so good at wearing a mask and pleasing the employers? Or is Norton talking smack about himself? Or is Norton pissed about others doing what he is doing? Wearing a mask to just survive or what the heck? 🤣 This one is still baffling me fr fr Oh wait a min....Seems like he had to jump job from job cause employers kept needing to fire workers, unable to keep him on as an employee. Likely becoming more jaded that him working hard and being good isn't working much for him since he keeps getting let go. Then seeing some fresh faced bushy tailed worker beside him would likely piss him off lol 'Why are you acting like that we are all getting fired anyways' Yea I super don't know with this one, I am juggling so many possibilities for this one.

4-Persistence: People won't be unlucky forever, right? (1-Page Note: There are 13 items listed. The first 12 appear to be names of places, and the last one is crossed out.) 4-Willful 'Those who persist will encounter more opportunities' (A page from a diary: I found that old man's notes. Now, it belongs to the one who lives long.) -He doesn’t sound all that fond of Benny pff like there is a hint of a dig there and/or him trying to convince himself that he is going to break out of here and live. Did he decide to set a plan in motion after getting the letter from Benny? Or was it after meeting with Benny?

5-Patience: Next time... (Diary: Tomorrow, I will go to the last place recorded by the old man. If there's still nothing, then I hope he...) 5-Gloomy 'The other side of Kindness and affability' (Abandoned junk: A tattered quilt, a chisel, an unsent letter, and a small piece of wrapped and hardened white bread) -This one I don't see much of a connection other than reference to old man and then there is that QUILT that could have possibly been the one Benny had made for Norton when the Dad was still alive. 'Then I hope he...' sounds hella ominous now lol -squints- Then Is this stuff found with Benny or was it found where Norton abandoned everything? Did Norton not send a letter? Maybe he meant to go back to get his things but never got to cause of the damage the explosion deed had on his mind ah. This one also gives me more questions than answers lol

6-Courage: The more dangers, the more opportunities. (A Geological Report: Part of the tunnel had been blocked by an unidentified object. One small mistake could cause the inner structure of the mine to collapse.) 6-Greedy 'Merely retaking what the heavens owe' (A map: Several crossed-out mines and a red circle.) -I am thinking Greedy and Gloomy should switch here cause Greedy goes well with the Patience with reference to 'go to the last place recorded' BUT what the frig is that 'unidentified object' -squints- Did Norton set that up?? Was that in the red circled mine? Was the place just found like that and Norton was like -cough cough- "whatever nothing is stopping me". Is this all just setting up how Norton was willing to go anywhere to find what he is looking for? hmmmm Willing to go where no man has gone before. Smash Greed and Courage together and ya thats what you get lol A desperate dude that has nothing to loose and only to gain if this all goes right. aahh

7-Alert: You need to be more cautious. (News: Due to the use of gunpowder and detonators, the era of simple rock drilling is coming to an end. 7-Arrogant 'Only by being bolder can you challenge destiny' (Torn paper: Record the blasting's depth, distance between holes… and the amount of explosives used.) -He uhhhhh, yea he definitely ends up using explosives lol. And its interesting that he made sure that everything was measured and counted in every way. Bro knew what he was doing 1000%. He had it all down to the second, the inch! He was careful alright, careful to make sure this goes perfect AH

8-Share: You need more helpers. (Mining Precautions: Theft of explosives is illegal and will be reported to the police once discovered.) 8-Hypocrite 'Important moments must be witnessed by companions' (A memo: Two bottles of the cheapest whine for those drunkards to wet their throats. And toss some fatty meat to the guard dog.) -BRO STOLE THE HELL OUTTA THEM EXPLOSIVES LOOOOOOOL AND HE DID IT IN THE MOST CLICHE WAY EVER AND IT WORKED IIMMMMM--LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL Like How many laws did he end up breaking by the end of all this?? LIKE GEEZZ And people are so used to him being kind and caring, none were the wiser! This Duddddeeeee!! He played the LONG GAME GOLLY

9-Wisdom: Smart people know when to hold on and when to let go. (An Accident Report: An explosion collapsed a mine on the outskirts of the city. It's suspected that the miners had mishandled the explosives, and the police expressed that there's little chance for anyone to survive) 9-Ruthless 'Exploding from deep within like an ignited explosive' (A page from a diary: Those journalists and policemen are gone. So it's just that simple?) -Bro played everything! The people, the system, the science, the math?? LIKE DUDE! If it was an accident, he wouldn't have survived. Norton had this planned to the T! Every 'i' was dotted and ever 't' was crossed, he knew he was surviving that explosion if everything went perfect like he was planning for OH MY GOSH. Bro playing chess while everyone else was LEARNING CHECKERS

10-Luck: That's only because the rest are just unlucky. (1-Page Case: Moderate burns to the face. Suspected to have been caused by direct exposure to excessive temperatures) 10-Numb 'Forget them and stay away from the dark underground' (A magnet: "Maybe it can keep me away from misfortune and darkness.") -He really didn't get much out of this did he. Like, all he got was trauma, burnt up, and a magnet. And boi is he clinging to that magnet with is all. His new coin; his new thing to cling to orz He really lies to himself a lot 😿He keeps finding out far too late that what he thought would change everything just made everything worse 🙃like yes everything changed, but changed for the worst. That tunnel vision hitting him so hard he never stops to go 'huh, this is a horrible idea, how would this possibly change my fate??' Its like he is trying so hard to convince himself that it was all worth it cause he got this crazy magnet orz gooooossshhhhhhhhhhhh Instead of using this as a wake up call it seems he is pressing on that sigma grind. Nothing like a plague doctor bird man monster to set things right LOOOOL

[midknightwritings]

"I Like You, I Love You !!"

Synopsis : Confessing your love for a certain orange-haired knight was a struggle in itself as you constantly backed out at the last second in nervousness. Noticing your struggles, your friends recommended that you should confess with a song instead !! With their support, what could go wrong ??

Era : Basic !

Warning/s : Swearing, mentions of feeling anxious / slightly panicked

Mentioned Character/s : G/N!Reader [ Main POV ] / Leo Izumi / Arashi / Ritsu / Tsukasa / Anzu [ Supporting characters ]

A/N : "I like you, I love you" IS SUCH A CUTE SONG I COULDN’T RESIST !! So... *offers you a oneshot* The inspiration was too strong for this one wahaha~☆ I tend to struggle a bit when it comes to dialogue so I hope I was able to portray them decently orz

I mainly used the english lyrics from the wiki !! :)

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

“Hey Leo! Sorry for disturbing you but do you have a moment?” you smiled at the orange-haired knight, who was currently shoving his music sheets haphazardly into his bag in order to get ready for practice, causing the papers to crumple due to the force. “Ah~ [ Y/N ]! Why are you here so early~?” he asked, but when you opened your mouth to reply he immediately cuts you off, “Wait!! Don’t say anything otherwise our ever expanding fantasy will crumble before the cosmos~” With a hand on his head and a pondering expression, your heart couldn’t help but skip a beat at how adorable he currently looks.

Internally psyching yourself up, you took a deep breath in to calm your nerves before you finally answered. “I finished the paperworks early and was wondering if... If... You wanted to play a game while waiting for the others! Yeah...” you shyly explained, a light blush dusting your cheeks as Leo looked at you with a curious gaze. He immediately smiled and nodded in agreement, “Very well! This king shall dedicate his time to you until his fellow knights return~♪ So what game do you want to play~?”

“Wha-what about ‘Shiritori’?” you answered instantly without thinking, earning a curious, and slightly confused, expression from the said king. ‘Seriously [ Y/N ]?! Out of all the games out there, why did you pick the one that focuses on word play?!’ you internally scolded yourself; “I... I just thought that maybe it could help with writing lyrics since you know… S-Synonyms and stuff…?” you stuttered in an iffy tone. That seemed to convince Leo enough though and with a big smile he agreed.

“Uuu… [ Y/N ], you're sneaky! Giving yourself an advantage since you know my weakness? Well, you’re mistaken because as king I will rise victorious in this battle! Wahaha~☆” “Oh, my dear king~ It is I who will stand victorious on this battlefield today! Ready~? Shirito"ri"…”

“RITSU !!” you both exclaimed at the same time, earning a confused “Huh~?” from the studio door. As Leo looked past your shoulders, you spun around to be greeted with the sight of Ritsu, Arashi, Tsukasa, Izumi and even Anzu carrying towels and water bottles.

“Jeez, while we were out here busting our asses off to prepare for practice, you two lovebirds are playing a game? That’s so~annoying.” Izumi rolled his eyes as he placed the towels on top of an empty table.

“L…Lovebirds?!” you exclaimed in embarrassment but Leo just laughed cheekily at Izumi’s comment, seemingly unbothered by the nickname. “Sena~ If you keep your face scrunched up like that you’ll get a ton of wrinkles way~y before becoming an old man!”

Ever since you transferred to Yumenosaki, you've gotten close to the members of Knights after closely working with them after the DDD incident. Then, upon Leo’s return, you started getting close to him as well. The more you two hanged out, the more your feelings started to grow and eventually, you ended up falling for him… Hard…

Your ‘crush’ on the said king was so obvious to the other members that they would often tease you whenever they could. Offhanded nicknames and comments such as these were common at this point but they never failed to make you blush and internally cuss them out. You’re honestly surprised that Leo seemingly didn’t notice but you just assumed that he thought this was all platonic since he often says “I love you~!” to his friends anyways. This kind of upsets you but, at the same time, you’re very grateful as your feelings were still a secret.

• ━━°⌜ Timeskip ⌟°━━ •

After practice, Leo immediately jumped up and grabbed his bag before dashing to the door. “I’m heading off now! I gotta help my family with dinner~ Bye-be~e~☆” and with that, Leo was out the door in the blink of an eye. You waited for a minute or two and, when you were 100% certain that he was gone, you groaned loudly and sank into the desk.

“Your efforts are so pathetic that they’re comical at this point.” “Now now Izumi-chan, there’s no need to rub salt on their wounds... We all know [ Y/N ]-chan’s trying their best...” “Yeah Secchan, it’s not their fault their brain seemingly turns to mush every time they see anything remotely orange~”

“Guys, I get it…” you groaned again, grabbing your water bottle and taking a sip; “I just can’t help it! Every time I see him, I can’t seem to think properly!!”

“[ Y/N ]-san, this may seem quite bold, but have you ever thought about finally confessing? You’ve been pining over LEADER for quite some time now, and I believe that telling him your feelings can finally give you some CLOSURE.”

“I’m trying!!” you dramatically wailed, “Every time I think about finally confessing, I back out at the last second and come up with a super dumb excuse! Just last week, I planned to confess but got so scared that I ended up asking if we could play rock-paper-scissors instead!!”

A scoff caused you to turn to the silver-haired knight who was seemingly holding back his laughter. “Izumi seems to think that was hilarious…” you sarcastically called out, causing him to raise an eyebrow with a small smirk on his lips. “At least I don’t go around asking people if they want to play rock-paper-scissors~” he teased, making you huff in embarrassment. However, just before you could retaliate, a quiet voice spoke up.

“[ Y/N ]-san, if you struggle with words then why don’t you confess to Tsukinaga-senpai with a song instead? Singing and talking are two very different things, so maybe that could help you.” Anzu recommended, making you stop and think about it. “Well if I sang, then maybe I wouldn't get so embarrassed...” you quietly mumbled to yourself; “Do you think it’ll work?”

“Don’t overthink it [ Y/N ]-chan~ That’s the perfect way to confess to ou-sama!”

• ━━°⌜ Timeskip ⌟°━━ •

A few days passed since then and, with the help of Anzu and the other members of Knights, you were able to come up with the perfect confession song! It wasn’t too complicated, as you decided to poke fun at your previous confession attempts as a way to shed light into how you truly felt at the time. The song was both light-hearted and serious, and you hoped to build up those emotions for the climax, which was at the end where you would actually sing your confession.

Anzu was kind enough to book a recording booth after class on Friday and, the moment the bell rang, you immediately hopped out of your seat and ran to the studio. Throughout the week, you spent time with Leo as if everything was normal. It was quite hard, because Leo is surprisingly quite observant, but you somehow managed to pull through.

Once you entered the recording studio, Anzu was already there, setting up the recording devices as you went inside to set up the microphone itself. Once you were both done, Knights, excluding Leo of course, entered the studio. They wanted to help guide you through the vocals since you weren’t used to singing for an audience.

Once everything was in place, the recording session began.

The session went without a hitch as you sang through the choruses and verses with ease. With the feedback you got from the knights, you were also able to fine-tune all the melodic and harmonic details! However, your heart started to quicken the further you were in the song because you knew the inevitable was coming. With that, you finally reached the confession section.

It was a simple line! All you had to sing was, “You know, the truth is that I like you! I love you!!” and you’ll be done! That’s what you initially thought, but your hands started to shake with nervousness as you held the lyric sheets tightly.

“Just one more line [ Y/N ]-chan and you’ll be done! You got this!” Arashi cheered from outside the booth as Tsukasa smiled and nodded in agreement. “Let’s just get this over with alright?” Izumi huffed, but you’ve been friends with him for long enough to decipher that he was also cheering you on. Ritsu lazily gave you a thumbs up and a soft smile, indicating that he was rooting for you as well.

“Alright [ Y/N ]-san! Whenever you’re ready.” Anzu smiled as she moved forward and pressed the "record" button on the large device. Taking a deep breath in, you saw the light inside the booth change from red to green, indicating that the device was now recording. Mustering up all your strength and against the loud, rapid beating of your heart, you started to sing the final line.

“You know, the truth is, I, ah-” you stuttered out immediately, your hands seemingly shook with such force that you couldn’t even see the lyrics anymore! Your mind started to spin as you began to imagine Leo in front of you, looking at you with his shining green eyes that held an excited, yet curious, glint within them; wondering what you were going to say next.

At that moment, you became a complete mess.

“I, um, um, you know… You, aah… I, sorry, wait, um, you know-”

You were so caught up with your internal struggle to, ‘Just sing the damn line [ Y/N ]!’ that you failed to notice everyone outside the booth watching you. Some in surprise, others in slight amusement. Seeing that you didn’t want to stop, Anzu signed at the others to stay quiet as she decided to continue recording. All they could do was watch from the outside as you kept trying to push yourself;

“Uuh, I… About you…! You know, I, you… You know, I, you- I, you… Li, li, li-li, li-li, li… li-”

At this point, you weren’t looking at your lyric sheets for guidance anymore, but rather, you were staring at them to avoid the gazes of your friends. You could feel them watching you with confusion? Maybe pity? Who knows because you sure as hell didn’t want to know either!

“Li-li-li-li, li, li, li, li… Breathe in, out…” you muttered to yourself as you tried to psych yourself up, but the moment you looked up at your friends, you finally saw their expecting gazes and just sighed in defeat.

“Sorry, just forget it…” you languished, waving your hand in defeat and signaling Anzu to stop recording. She looked at you with empathy, and understanding, as your gaze was down at your feet. Your mind started to fill with various thoughts running at once.

‘Am I really going to back down now after all the help they gave me? Am I really gonna allow myself to give up just like that...?’ you thought as you subtly glanced up at your friends once again.

You didn’t want to read into their expressions too deeply but you could tell that they were more worried about you. Anzu saw your gaze and gave you a small smile and a nod, but just as she was about to click the "stop recording” button, a wave of determination seemingly engulfed you. Izumi noticed this and quickly grabbed Anzu’s wrist, causing her finger to hover just above the button as you yelled out, “Wait!” at the same time.

As they all looked at you with encouragement, you took another deep breath in and tried again;

“Li, li, li-li, li-li-li-li. Li-li-li-li, li… li… li… li… Li, li, li-li, li-li, li… li… Like you, I love you!!”

The blush on your face was now a deep, deep shade of red as your heart was beating so hard that you genuinely thought that it’d break through your ribcage at any point now. Looking at your friends once again, you can see Arashi silently clapping with a smile, Tsukasa giving you a thumbs up, Izumi with a small smile and Ritsu mouthing “You did it~” as Anzu stopped the recording.

“I don’t think this is gonna work out after all…” was the first thing you muttered out when you exited the booth. “Don’t say that [ Y/N ]-chan! You were finally able to say it in the end! Plus, I personally find your stuttered singing to be quite cute, you know~” Arashi comforted you but it only caused you to sigh even more. “There’s no way it was good enough though…” you mumbled, fumbling with your thumbs as you started to feel self-conscious.

As the others tried to comfort you, their voices were drowned out by the negative thoughts that started to plague your mind. ‘Leo deserves better than this…’ , ‘This wasn't a good idea after all…’ , ‘I’m going to make a bigger fool out of myself with this after all, huh…?’ were just some of the ideas that clouded your thoughts. Finally packing up your bag, you turned to them all with a sad smile.

“Sorry for dragging you all into this and wasting your time… I think it’d be best if you just pretended that this never happened…” you choked out as you left the studio before anyone could say a thing.

• ━━°⌜ Timeskip ⌟°━━ •

That night, you started to overthink the entire situation, causing you to drown in self-loathing at the thought of wasting your friends' precious time. You spent so much time thinking to yourself, that the weekend seemingly passed by in the blink of an eye. Luckily, you were able to come to terms with the whole situation when Monday rolled around.

‘I’m ok with pining from a distance as long as we're still friends... It wouldn’t be that bad, right?’ you thought to yourself as you got ready for school once again. With this newfound sense of acceptance, you decided to find Anzu and the other knights to apologize to them; and that’s exactly what you did.

You entered the school gates and greeted everybody as if you totally didn’t have a mini breakdown during the weekend and, when you ran into Anzu and the others, you greeted them as usual before apologizing. You were glad that they accepted your apology, as they completely understood your perspective but, at the same time, something seemed off about them all.

You first noticed this from Anzu. She seemed excited about something. When you asked, she said that she got to mix a really important song during the weekend and she was super happy with the results! Listening to her happy ramble eased any worries you had so you moved on.

When you went to Tsukasa, you noticed that he was a bit jumpy but you didn't question it because Knights’ next live was coming up and you just assumed that he was nervous about that.

Ritsu was surprisingly more awake than his usual morning-self. When you teasingly asked why, he just said that he had to give something important to "someone" and moved on. He never told you who this "someone" was but you just assumed that it was a classmate.

Arashi was quite giddy and cheerful, but the wording of her teases made you do a double take. Subtle remarks such as, "[ Y/N ]-chan don't worry about a thing! I still ship you two so hard! Ah~ You will be such a cute couple~" in combination with her playful winks never failed to make you blush. Once again though, you thought that this was her way of making you feel better because she was acting like the recording session didn't happen in the first place.

Last was Izumi. He didn’t seem any different compared to the others when you went to him to apologize, but what caught your attention was the fact that he kept checking his phone every minute or so in rapid succession. You just thought that his schedule was packed so you didn't mind.

However, something else was off… Normally, you’d see Leo composing in the halls and greet him on the way to class but today... He wasn't there?

Furrowing your eyebrows in confusion, you entered your classroom wondering where he was. Taking a seat on your desk, you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket before opening the message;

Izumi : oi, can you help me find ou-sama? class will start soon and his stuff isn't even there yet! So now I’m the one tasked with hunting him down this is so annoying… You : huh that’s strange… shouldnt he be finished vandalizing the hallways by now? Izumi : did you seriously think I didn't check?! jeez, I'm not stupid [ Y/N ] he must be somewhere else go check our studio and I’ll check the halls again You : you can count on me o7

Shoving your phone into your pocket, you hopped out of your seat, left your classroom and started your search. Looking around the halls curiously, you wondered why Izumi asked for your help in the first place. 'The studio huh...? Leo usually isn't in there in the mornings so why should I check there?' you thought to yourself as your eyes scanned the halls for a familiar shade of orange.

As you continued your way to the studio, you started to lose hope as the halls were seemingly void of any scribbles. ‘Where could he be?!’ you thought to yourself as you tried to rack your brain for any possible leads. Just as you were deep in thought, you suddenly stopped dead in your tracks as you heard a familiar voice humming a very familiar tune.

‘Oh fuck…’ was the only thought that crossed your mind as your heart sank. Turning towards the direction of the voice, you were met with the sight of Leo laying on his stomach on the floor in Knights' studio, holding an IPod and wearing earphones.

Quietly making your way towards the opened door, you slowly leaned in from the side of the doorframe and peeked in, trying to hide yourself. This seemingly worked as Leo didn't notice you and continued humming, even bopping his head to the beat of the song. Your song.

All you could do was quietly watch in horror as you even caught him humming a recognizable rhythm. Tensing at what you heard, you instantly knew that those were your stutters. Trying to hold back your tears, your mind was racing with so many thoughts.

‘Why is the stuttering there?! Didn’t I tell you guys to forget about the song-’ your thoughts were cut off by a surprised, “Ah!” from inside the room. You stared at Leo for a few seconds before your mind finally processed that he was looking at you too, with an unreadable expression. So, you gave him a small smile to try and hide your nervousness.

“Hey Leo… Izumi’s looking for you, he said that you need to go to class…” you explained in an uncharacteristically hushed tone as you tried to fight back your tears. You didn’t want him to see you cry, especially since the damage was already done with the song. ‘I don’t want to make things worse…’ you thought to yourself but, just before you could run away, Leo gave you playful pout.

“Uuu… [ Y/N ]~ Forget about classes! I-Aah, wait!! I cannot allow myself to forget~ This is su~per important so listen~☆”

‘Here it is…’ you thought as you braced yourself for the inevitable rejection, but you jumped in surprise when you felt Leo hug you tight. Without his smile faltering in the slightest, he pulled you in close and nuzzled into your face like a cat. A deep blush covered your cheeks as you stood there frozen in shock, your mind going blank due to the situation you're currently in.

“L… Leo?!” you were able to stammer out in confusion, causing the orange-haired knight to look at you with a happy glimmer in his eyes. Without breaking away from hug, he gave you a quick kiss on the cheek and, with the same melody you know all too well, sang;

“I like you, I love you too~♪”

[ryuichirou]

I know you said you won't rant about Vil anymore BUT YOU ALSO SAID YOU DIDN'T WRITE _EVERYTHING_ THAT YOU WANTED TO

sooooo... can you please still do this? I'm begging you on my knees orz You are literally one of the very few people here who engage with Vil as a character thoroughly whithout dumb him down or seeing him as one dimensional egoist (wich is an extremely weird take)

Dear Anon, I am super super super SUPER late, I’ve received your ask a couple of weeks ago already… I really hope that both Vil and you will forgive me lol Thank you for enabling me to talk about him more though!

Also, I am very happy to hear that you think my perception of Vil is thorough; he is a great character, and the fact that he is so misinterpreted only makes him more interesting to dissect and explore.

I’ll start with a hot take: I think that Vil is the nicest housewarden after Kalim, despite also being one of the super strict ones. I briefly mentioned it in my previous reply, the rules he sets for his students make much more sense than the ones in Heartslabyul, and as a housewarden he isn’t driven by his own gain (like Azul, for example). He also isn’t manipulative or backstabbing, not because he wouldn’t be able to pull that off (like Kalim, for example), but because he just has no interest in it. Vil genuinely wants people around him to better themselves, and not only in a physical appearance sense.

Which, of course, could lead to conflicts, like the one he has with Epel: Vil believes in his own principles, he is certain that he knows better because it’s his lifestyle and his perfect work ethics that gave him everything he has in life. And since all of this is pretty normal to him, he might have it difficult to adjust to other people’s pace, or might not even want to do so.  

Vil is amazing, but he isn’t absolutely flawless (shocking), but this is exactly why his character works so well. His better traits lead to his negative traits; they’re tied together, like it always is in any human being. He is super hardworking, but he also expects others to be ready to work as hard as he does. He is very focused on achieving his goals, but by doing so he might ignore the fact that others are overwhelmed with his pace and intensity. He knows his own worth and is very self-confident, but he also has very high standards for himself and is his own worst critic. He is creative and inspiring, but he also can overthink things in search of this perfect artistic expression that he wants to achieve.

I also find it fun that the idea of Vil being misunderstood comes up several times: he really seems to be perceived as some sort of cold-hearted elitist, at least by Epel. Like in the book 6 (..spoiler warning?), when Vil kisses Rook and Epel (and Yuu), there is this vibe of “what, you thought I wouldn’t be happy to see you and want to kiss my boys who came to save me?”, and yeah, why wouldn’t he? To Vil, showing affection isn’t an unnatural thing, he just doesn’t do it when it’s inappropriate: i.e., when he’s acting as a housewarden. In fact, just before he kissed the boys, he scolded Rook for being a horrible vice-housewarden and leaving Pomefiore unattended, but still, showed his gratitude in a gentle and loving way right after that.

Since we watched Harveston's Kelkkarotu event, I also wanted to mention something about it. Long story short, Epel didn’t want to ask Vil (or Rook) to come with him, because he really didn’t want Vil to boss him around and force him to act politely and cutely in front of his grandmother. Now, I am more than happy with the team Epel ended up with, god it was a fun event, but I can’t help but feel a little bit bummed out because we didn’t get to see Vil’s and Marja/Maruya’s interactions. The thing is, I actually disagree with Epel. I think it makes perfect sense for his character to think that Vil would’ve acted this way, but I feel like Vil is the “When in Rome, do as the Romans do" type of person. Why would he force Pomefiore standards on Epel while he is in his hometown? They aren’t in Pomefiore anymore, and Vil wouldn’t be a housewarden at that moment: he would’ve been Epel’s upperclassmen and (hopefully) a friend who is visiting him in his hometown. Vil’s told a bunch of times that one needs to behave according to their position, circumstances and occasion, so there wouldn’t be a point for a strict housewarden Vil to boss Epel around: he has no authority there, Epel and his grandmother do.

This is purely a speculation based on my perception of Vil, of course. But still, I would’ve loved to see Vil (and Rook!) there with Epel lol

Also, I can’t write a post about Vil without mentioning Rook, so I’m sorry, I’m going to talk about the end of the book 5 again.

I really love the fact that despite feeling hurt enough to cry when he found out that Rook had voted for Neige, Vil wasn’t petty or even angry about it. And for someone who’d literally tried to poison Neige like an hour ago, he accepted Rook fanboying over him quite easily, because he knows Rook and trusts him enough to know that he wouldn’t backstab him just because he is a Neige fanboy, and that he (Rook) probably has other reasons. Which is surprisingly mature for someone who just went through an emotional roller-coaster, if you ask me. I don’t think anyone would’ve blamed Vil if he got angry and even more upset with Rook, but the only thing Rook got was “what a cruel man you are” or something among those lines.

I actually think about this line a lot. Imagine being so un-petty that even when your closest person and biggest supporter (seemingly) backstabs you and exposes himself as a fan of a boy who’s pretty much ruined your entire life, instead of saying “yeah fuck you too, asshole” simply out of emotions, you just say this. “I know this isn’t why you voted this way, I am not an idiot”. The trust he has in this man, god their relationship is good lol

(OtomeAyui translation and official translation)

So, yeah. All I’m trying to say is that Vil isn’t stupid or egotistical: he is in fact quite wise and mature, also respectful when he needs to be.

Sigh…

In case you haven’t noticed yet, I love Vil a lot lol

[trainingdummyrabbit]

18, 7, 2 and 25 (ahehehe ohohoho)

HWEHE HIHI HAIIII YIPPY !!! ^_^

18. Who is your least favorite OC?

ouhhgggh ok this one is hard bc . if i dont like an oc they dont become an oc dkfjgndkf;; so on some level i like all of them a lil too much t call em a least favorite.. orz.. at best i just kinda cycle em around until they become something else i Do like. if i had to pick Least Liked th closest ihave is This Motherfucker solely bc hes giving me a hard time re: writing >:// (he shrimply hasnt had th time to Be yet.)

7. What things in real life make you think of an OC?

so so many things but most frequently. i have this lotion ive been using lately that smells really nice but its labelled Radiant Cocoa and every time i pass by it i just have to go. :] hehe.

2. Who was the first OC you made?

OHH OK SO. NOT A PM OC (obvi) BUT. when i was little my favorite pkmn ever was riolu, to like. an Absurd amount. so when i was little i would always imagine little stories around a riolu doing things whenever i went to bed; called her The World's Cleverest Riolu, and it became this super long Thing that i loved to death. it kinda grew n morphed over time but i still love her dearly. her name is aura she makes me happy :]

shes significantly chilled out and is now just kinda baby. shes been through a lot of iterations but th core stays th same. ^_^ though she might be getting another iteration soon, imnot quite sure though.. /shrugs

25. Are there any two characters that are like a dynamic duo/group?

lilli and inigo!!! i havent talked abt them very much bc theyre still in the exposition process but mannnnn. MANNNNN. augh. i dont know if id define them as a Dynamic Duo but they sure are Two Of Them and you Should Not Separate Them they will get SEPARATION ANXIETY.... a lot of the cast has it, but they are the very peak of If Only They Met When They Were Kids.

by all means they should be enabling each other into being worse (and maybe they kind of are) but they also happen to be fixing each other inadvertently bc ":( wait if i do that itll make them sad nooooo". they r like the glass cannons of character dynamics. theyre trying their best.

. also because they mean the world to me and ill cry if i dont talk about them they COUNT in my HEART nobody look at me ok. these dorkasses.

YES theyre my silly swap au guys YES ive pretty much shaken them around till theyre new characters dont LOOK at me ok. everything 2 me. literally their entire thing is "im super not supposed to be a relevant character i Cannot fucking handle this" mixed with "this death flag is starting to look like a death quilt" mixed with "why are you bothering me i dont like you." mixed with "if you die im going to fucking kill you."

a bunch of stupid motherfuckers miraculously avoiding death solely because they keep tugging each other along because youre not letting me deal with this shit alone fucking get it together. trainwrecks, the lot of them. haunted me for like a fucking year straight. No I Still Havent Expanded On The Amount Of Bullshit They Have Going On bc im SHY. if yall KNEW. grabs and SHAKES U ALL

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

in which buggy admits something (if only to himself), shanks is hiding something (though who knows what), and they start to catch up.

part four of the post-marineford portion of the near miss fics! (1, 2, 3) if you have no idea what i'm talking about but would like to read a shanks/buggy story about kissing in disguise and then having to deal with the emotional fallout of doing that, click on this link, that's the tag for the whole thing in chronological order. (plus some complaining about writing, one inspirational improvised musical number, and a snippet of shanks pov) if you do know what i'm talking about: welcome to the not-date! given how long this part took, i'm expecting at least two more. orz

Buggy slept poorly, and woke before the sun was even above the horizon, let alone high enough in the sky to bother him.  He stayed in bed, staring up through that window into the gloom of night, and told himself he wasn't nervous.  That it was stupid to be nervous.  That this wasn’t a big deal.  A day with Shanks, what was that next to all the shit he’d been through lately?

It wasn’t working.

And the reason was so stupid, which might be the most infuriating part.  Was he nervous about being alone with Shanks, his old rival?  Shanks, his old friend?   No, of course not.  And he wasn’t nervous about being alone with Red-Haired Shanks, Emperor of the Sea, though he might be one of the only guests on the ship who wasn’t.  But Shanks, a person who’d unknowingly kissed Buggy once, and Shanks, a person who all evidence suggested was interested in kissing Buggy now… that guy scared him.

That was the truth Buggy had been fighting so hard not to realize, ever since he’d seen Shanks again: the thought of kissing Shanks wouldn’t leave his mind, and it scared him.

It had been a long time since anything about Shanks scared him.

At first, watching from around a corner as Shanks trained with swords and blossomed beautifully under Roger’s praise, Buggy hadn’t understood what he was feeling.  His heart racing, his breath growing short, sweat beading at his brow—he’d stared, confused, until his instinct kicked in.  The instinct, which had saved Buggy’s life a dozen times over at this point, which Rayleigh would later call hypervigilance, told him that he felt like this when he was afraid.  That he must be afraid of Shanks.

But that was ridiculous, he’d thought, the first time he ever challenged that instinct.  Why?  Shanks would never hurt him.

Oh, he would never mean to.  But how could the crew ever care for Buggy half as much as Shanks, when he wasn’t even a quarter as good as him?  What kind of legacy would Buggy be to the crew of the future king of the pirates, compared to Shanks?

His instinct had set him on the wrong path that day, Buggy knew now—Shanks hadn’t given a damn about that legacy, though he’d’ve been able to fulfill it without even trying—but at the time, it had seemed the only way to survive.  If he stayed as close to Shanks as he could stand, if the legacy was Shanks and Buggy, not Shanks and Buggy… soon he’d realized he didn’t even need to work at it, that Shanks was happy to have Buggy at his side.  Shanks’ arm flung casually across Buggy’s shoulder had made the queasy feeling in his stomach worsen and then ease, proof that Shanks was very capable of hurting him, and never ever would.

(Well, he’d been half right about that.)

Thinking back on that time made Buggy want to curl up into a ball and die.  Fear?  Burning up inside watching Shanks smile—had he really thought that was how fear felt?  How he hadn’t seen those feelings for what they were—well, Buggy could grant himself a little leniency there.  It had been his first time.  And, as one small upside to the whole mess, the way Shanks had eventually, inevitably hurt him had stripped him of all power over Buggy.  No more queasy stomachs, no more racing hearts.  Just misery, and anger, and disgust.

Until now.  Now, Buggy was facing both that old “fear” and the real deal, because this, this was—

Buggy took some deep breaths and told himself none of it mattered.  They were just going to catch up.  Buggy would find out what really happened to Shanks’ arm.  He’d learn a bit about what Shanks had gotten up to and where he'd been.  They’d gossip about Rayleigh.  Maybe Shanks would have questions of his own, and Buggy would… probably lie through his teeth, honestly, but Shanks would be expecting that.  They’d find somewhere to eat, and Buggy would get wasted on Shanks’ dime, and a good time would be had by all.

There would be no talk of (or acts of) kissing.

Unless…

Buggy smacked himself across the head.  No!  No unlesses!  There would be no kissing.

Dawn was beginning to make herself known when Buggy gave in and got up.  He dressed, considered the Marine jacket and hat he’d stolen and rebranded, and decided against them.  Despite what the ex-prisoners had said yesterday, this wasn’t going to be a conversation between captains.  If anything, this was going to be a conversation between former pirate apprentices, and to Buggy that meant no symbols of higher office.

But this left Buggy in the worn shirt of his prison uniform, which he was not wild about, even paired with the white Marine pants.  The stripes were alright, but the ragged sleeves didn't exactly scream “ordinary guy” or “capable pirate.”  He wasn’t about to go begging Shanks’ quartermaster for clothes, though—that could only lead to Buggy wearing something embarrassing from the Red Force’s lost and found.  Given the things Shanks and his crew wore willingly, their idea of embarrassing must be excruciating.

Ah, well.  Shanks never wore anything but that old salt-crusted cotton shirt anyway, Buggy wouldn’t look that weird next to him.

He considered himself in the mirror.  The small smudges and imperfections he’d noticed yesterday were still there, of course, along with some new ones.  Something had really fucked up the lower half of his crossbones, they were barely visible past the shadows under his eyes.

He didn’t feel good about leaving it like that.

He felt worse about caring how he looked today.

While he was fussing—and hating himself for fussing—something struck him over the back of his head.  Buggy spun around to see Galdino squinting at him from the bed, hand outstretched from throwing... some kind of wax stick?  Buggy picked it up, surprised at how little it weighed.

“Don’ squeeze it,” Galdino mumbled.  Buggy’s hand flexed in spiteful reflex, and he realized the wax was stiff and porous.  “Isn’t perfect, but it’ll strip most kinds of makeup off.”  He laid down, tugging the blanket back up, and said, “If you wanna try and reapply it I can’t guarantee it’ll work, but I can make it softer and concentrate the pigment into a small point.”

Buggy considered this.  Probably not worth the effort, he decided, starting to scrape the lower half of the crossbones off his face.  The upper half was solid enough it wouldn't look too unbalanced.  It might even seem intentional, like his eyes were meant to represent the lower knobs of bone.  Yeah, Buggy thought, scraping the smudged corners of his lips to sharp points, this was a halfway decent look.

“Thanks,” he offered, as much of a white flag for yesterday’s… behavior… as Buggy was willing to offer.  Galdino let out a vaguely agreeable grunt.  “How’d you learn to do that?”

Galdino sat up and rubbed at his eyes, resigned to being awake.  “You met Mr. 2.”  He shrugged.  “We fought sometimes, and I learned by accident that my wax could do similar things with his makeup that I’d already learned to do with paint.”

“Well, it's impressive,” Buggy admitted, tossing the crayon back to Galdino.  “Better than I could've hoped for without my special makeup-removing solvents.”

“You’re welcome,” Galdino said, letting the crayon melt away until he was left with a smear of black and white powder on his fingertips.  “Now.  I have a feeling you won’t want to answer me, but I’m going to ask anyway: having slept on it, do you know what you’re doing with Red-Haired Shanks?”

Buggy grimaced, crossing his arms.  He should’ve seen this coming.  “No.”

Galdino sighed.  He put a hand to his temple.  “Do you know what you want to be doing with him?”

Face going warm, Buggy turned away.  He wanted to say “nothing,” but somehow Galdino was a person he couldn’t convincingly lie to, so he snapped, “No!”

“Well, at least you’re somewhat self-aware about it,” Galdino muttered.  “Okay then.”

Buggy spun around to stare at Galdino.  “‘Okay then?’” he repeated.

“Yeah.”  Yawning, Galdino said, “Having slept on it myself, I’ve realized you were right, Red-Haired Shanks isn’t going to strand us in the middle of nowhere because you refuse to put out.  So I’ve decided this doesn't concern me anymore.  Good luck, or whatever.”  And with that, he laid down and went back to sleep.

Baffled, Buggy stared blankly at the back of Galdino’s head for a minute.  Well, that was a turnabout.  He told himself he was glad—he hadn’t wanted anyone bothering him about Shanks in the first place—but couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it.  Which was stupid; Galdino had said from the start his interest was entirely one of self-preservation.  But a part of Buggy had still thought he’d found a real friend in these bizarre circumstances.

A soft knock at the door distracted Buggy from his thoughts.  He chop-chopped an eye to secretly put it to the window, and immediately ruined any hopes for subtlety when he spat out an incredulous, “Shanks?!”

“Hey.”  Shanks gave the eye at the window a quick smile before Buggy threw open the door to gape at him more directly.  “Sorry, I know it’s early, but I heard you talking so I didn’t think I would be disturbing you.  We never decided when to meet yesterday—is now a good time?”

“I…”  Lost for words, Buggy stared at Shanks.  He wasn’t wearing his usual ratty, half-buttoned shirt of cheap white cotton.  Under a hooded cape (of course he had more than one), the blue button-up (left unbuttoned, of course) patterned with white lilies was the kind of shapeless fit that must have been bought from a mass-market store… or a tourist shop, knowing Shanks’ interests.  It had, sometime in its recent history, been ironed.  And Shanks’ hair looked like it had seen a comb this morning.

It was barely light out.

Shanks was eager.

And scared as he was, Buggy was… not unaffected.  He didn’t let his eyes linger on the full length of Shanks’ chest, but even a glance was enough to make Buggy see the truth.  However complex his feelings towards Shanks as a person were, Shanks’ body evoked a very simple reaction: a desire to touch.

“Something wrong?” Shanks asked.

Buggy huffed a sigh.  “It’s stupid.”  When Shanks looked earnestly at him, he rolled his eyes and said, “I thought you were going to be in that same old shirt of yours, so I wasn’t bothered about being stuck in this prison uniform, but… you almost look nice.”

Shanks smiled at this backhanded compliment, and Buggy lost track of the point he’d been trying to make, distracted by the curve of that mouth.  It opened a few times, and Buggy realized he’d been so distracted he hadn’t heard a word of what Shanks said.

“Uh, what?”

Shanks’ smile went a little wider.  Ah fuck, he’d noticed.  “I said, you could always borrow something of mine?  I think we’re still about the same size… on top, at least,” he added, glancing down at Buggy’s waist.

Buggy thought about attempting to squeeze into the sunflower-patterned capris Shanks was wearing and snort-laughed.  Yeah, they were definitely not the same pants size anymore.  “Do you even own anything I would wear?”

Shanks pouted.  “What, don’t you think this is a little flashy?”  He gestured to his outfit, comprising four entire colors and two floral patterns.

Buggy shook his head.  “A little, maybe.  But I’m never anything less than 100% flashy if I can help it.”

Shanks jerked his head to the side.  “Come check out my wardrobe, then.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Buggy raised an eyebrow.  Would he, now?  “We’ll see about that.”

He stepped out of the room, and before he could close the door found it slamming shut behind him, a faint trace of wax bulging around the frame before disappearing.  Buggy’s face went hot.  So Galdino hadn’t fallen back to sleep immediately after all.

Voice shaking with laughter, Shanks said, “Shall we?” and led the way.

The wardrobe wasn’t bad—sure, Shanks had a lot of basically identical white cotton shirts, but there were a dozen exceptions that did surprise Buggy—but the real treat was getting a peak at Shanks’ rooms.  He still had the messy habits of their childhood, Buggy was delighted to see, dirty clothes and empty bottles on the floor.  The furnishings were beautiful, and hand-carved to fit the ship, if Buggy wasn’t mistaken.  The bed—Buggy didn’t look at the bed.

Buggy’s hands lingered over a few locked drawers—Shanks had seen how long Buggy was going to take and wandered off, foolishly—but there wasn’t any point to breaking in.  That rubber brat had reminded him of Shanks for a reason: the things he called “treasure” didn’t have any shine or value to them at all.  If Shanks did have treasures hidden away, they wouldn’t be anything Buggy could sell.  They would be sappy in context and meaningless without it—like the hat, given to Shanks as a gift and no doubt given to Monkey D. Luffy for similar reasons.

No, he’d best do what he’d come in here to do.

Most of the flashier shirts were floral patterned.  It seemed to be a recurring thing for Shanks, which was all well and good—if you found something you liked, why not stick with it?—but it wouldn’t do for Buggy.  They wouldn’t literally be matching, but if they were both in florals it would appear all too well-coordinated for Buggy’s comfort.  But, digging into the very back of the wardrobe, Buggy found a shirt that made him smile.

And after yesterday, how could he not?

He strode out of Shanks’ rooms with a smirk sharpening the corners of his lips, wearing an orange button-down (left unbuttoned because they weren’t quite as close in size as Shanks had thought) decorated in a pattern of skewered fishcakes and konjac.  He was a walking, talking pot of oden.

Shanks rounded the corner, spotted him, and grinned.  “I’m not going to say I was hoping you’d pick that one, because if I do you’ll probably go back and change—”  Buggy scowled, ignoring the sudden impulse to do just that.  “—but that is one of my favorites.  And orange looks good on you.”

“Everything looks good on me,” Buggy said snidely, walking ahead, not letting himself read anything into that comment.  Or the glance up and down Shanks gave him after he said this, or the little nod of agreement Shanks made as they left the ship.

“What’s that?” he asked instead.  Shanks was holding his arm at an odd angle—hiding something behind his back?  For a moment, Buggy was struck with the awful thought that Shanks might have gotten him flowers.

“Breakfast,” Shanks said with a grin, bringing his arm around to reveal a pair of rolls, one fruit- and cream-filled, the other stuffed with—

Buggy gasped.  “Is that a hot dog?”

“Close!”  Shanks let Buggy snatch up the second roll, which on closer inspection was holding a breakfast sausage, sandwiched between two thin lengths of egg, and drizzled with—Buggy dabbed at the sauce with a finger to get a confirmatory taste—some of the porridge syrup from breakfast yesterday.  “I asked Lucky Roux to put something together that would be easy to carry and eat one-handed, and he thought you’d like this.”  Looking impressed, Shanks said, “I guess you do.”

Buggy blinked.  Half the sandwich already eaten, the rest shoved so far into his mouth he couldn’t fully close his jaw… yeah, no shit he liked it.  Easing off the sausage, Buggy said, “If I thought I could steal him from you, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Shanks laughed.  “Sorry, Roux’s been with me nearly twenty years now, I don’t think he’s leaving for love or money.”

“Too bad,” Buggy muttered, attention back on his breakfast.  It was stupidly good, sweet and savory and greasy all at once.  “How’d he know, though?  The syrup, sure, I had that yesterday, but the roll?  This specific shape?"

Shanks, mid-bite, smiled a little sheepishly.  Licking cream from the corner of his lip, he said, “Ah, that one’s on me.  Roux asked if I remembered any of your old preferences or allergies, and I mentioned your obsession with cheap boardwalk hot dogs.”

So the chef wasn’t a mind-reader.  That was a small bit of comfort.  Shanks remembering Buggy’s favorite food was… something else altogether.  “Well… thanks.”

Shanks smiled like Buggy had lavished him with compliments, instead of barely managing two words of gratitude.  “I’m just glad you like it.”

Buggy had assumed Shanks knew this island, maybe even this specific town, pretty well, but the ease with which he led them out of the dockyards proved it.  They went south, which didn’t seem to be particularly busy at this hour—that honor went to the docks themselves, with workers wheeling crates and rolling barrels up to the side of the Red Force and the handful of other ships in dock.

South was… just beach?  Well, it was early, maybe whatever sights there were to see in town weren’t open yet.  A walk on the beach, though, that was a bit…

Buggy told himself to stop thinking about it.

As they finished off their rolls, they came upon a little shack with an “OPEN” sign hung out front.  Shanks spoke familiarly with the proprietress, who handed him a steaming paper cup of pale green tea in exchange for a few coins.  He offered it to Buggy, who wrinkled his nose at the vegetal smell and interrogated the woman about what else she had.  The list wasn’t long, but it included drinking chocolate, which Buggy didn’t get to indulge himself in too often, so he made Shanks get him two cups.

The bittersweet taste lingered deliciously on Buggy’s lips.  Definitely the right call.

Shanks had walked in silence the whole time Buggy was drinking, which he’d pretended didn’t bother him.  Shanks being quiet, being contemplative, wasn’t totally out of the ordinary.  Shanks contemplatively watching Buggy was, just a little.

“So,” Buggy said, breaking the silence.  “How did you lose that arm?”

Shanks blinked, coming to a halt.  He huffed a tired little laugh.  “You’re not gonna like it.”

“My first guess was that Whitebeard cut it off, and my second was that you were dumb enough to let a Sea King eat it,” Buggy said dryly, staring out at the ocean with his arms crossed.  The sun glinting off the waves made his eyes hurt.  “How much worse can the truth be?”

“…well, you know Luffy, right?”

After a deranged moment of thinking the rubber kid had eaten Shanks’ arm, Buggy put it together and sighed.  “It’s not enough that you gave him your hat, you lost your arm for him too?”

Shanks smiled.  “I said you weren’t gonna like it.”

“Of course I don’t like it!” Buggy fumed.  “I hate that kid!  He’s so—”  Making a strangling motion with his hands, Buggy yelled wordlessly.  “I can’t believe people still go around talking like that!”

“Like our captain, you mean?”

Buggy hissed, “Yes!”  Spinning on Shanks, he asked, “Wait, did he say—?”

“—the same thing Captain Roger always did?”  Shanks raised an eyebrow.  “Why do you think I gave him the hat?”

Buggy rubbed a hand across his face.  “I really couldn’t believe it.  Wearing that hat, saying those things, it was like I was a kid again!  Who’s that naive anymore?  We’ve seen what happens to people who talk like that.”

Shanks nodded thoughtfully.  “And that’s why you tried to kill him at Roguetown.”

Buggy started to nod, then froze up.  “You, ah… you heard about that?”

“I’ve talked about Luffy to… a lot of people over the years,” Shanks said, a wry smile on his face.  The breeze that came in with the tide grabbed at his hair, tossing it back from his face.  “They like to bring me news about him, when they can.”  Cocking an eyebrow at Buggy, Shanks said, “Including newspaper articles about freak lightning strikes that burn down the execution platform famous for hosting Captain Roger’s final words.”

Buggy sulked silently.  That stupid lightning…

“But yeah, it was for Luffy’s sake,” Shanks said easily.  “He was just a kid, and he’d eaten a Devil Fruit that was in my possession.  Even if I didn’t care for him, I’d’ve still felt responsible.  He was tossed into a Sea King’s hunting grounds, and I got there too late to scare it off.  It was my arm, or Luffy’s whole body.”  Shanks shrugged.  “Not much of a choice.”

Buggy looked at Shanks, staring out to sea and remembering that moment.  For all the lightness of his words, his expression looked heavy.  “You have bad luck with Devil Fruit users, huh,” he said at last.

Shanks smiled at him, a sad little wrinkle by his eye the only sign he wasn’t perfectly content.  “No worse than I deserve.”

Buggy stared.  That almost sounded like Shanks had accepted responsibility for what had happened to Buggy.  Maybe being responsible for someone else eating a Devil Fruit had put things into perspective for him.

“Is it my turn now?” Shanks asked, the sort of cheeky tone in his voice that he used to pull out when he wanted to pretend everything was fine, and draw attention away from how he was really feeling.  Buggy was surprised to find he still recognized it.  He’d’ve thought Shanks would have less obvious tells by now.

Buggy rolled his eyes.  “I guess it’s only fair.”  Gesturing dramatically at Shanks, he added, “But I reserve the right to refuse to answer!  If you think you can get me to reveal my deepest secrets this way, you’ll have to think again!”

Shanks chuckled.  “What deepest secrets?”  Before Buggy could start to sweat, or sputter out some kind of non-answer, he said, “Anyway, I’m not interested in that.  I want to know about your crew.”

“My crew?”

“Yeah, what are they like?  The only one mentioned by name in that article was ‘Iron Mace’ Alvida, and it sounded like she’d been a captain in her own right before you met.  Are your crews allied or merged?  What are your goals?”

Buggy blinked, thrown by this line of questioning.  What did Shanks care for the personalities and interests of an above-average East Blue pirate crew that had gotten in over their heads after entering the Grand Line?  But the way he was staring expectantly at Buggy, it was undeniable that Shanks did care.  “Ah—Alvida and I are allies.  At first it was just because she also had a grudge against Strawhat, but we’re both interested in finding Captain John’s treasure, so…”

Shanks smiled fondly.  “You’re still after that one, huh?”

“Damn right I am!  I never give up on a treasure hunt!” Buggy insisted, raising a triumphant fist in the air.  “I even—” Buggy cut himself off.  He wasn’t stupid enough to reveal to another pirate captain that he’d been given acquired an important lead on a treasure hunt, not when he was still technically in that captain’s custody.  Smiling slyly, he said, “Well, let’s just say I’m getting closer to finding it all the time.”

“And the rest of your crew share that interest?”

“Of course!  We’re all greedy, treasure-loving pirates at heart!”  Buggy went on to tell Shanks a few stories of his crew’s successes—maybe a little exaggerated, sure, but who did that hurt?  So the treasure chest Richie had dug up at Mohji’s command hadn’t really been full of priceless gemstones, he’d still found it!  That was impressive to Buggy, and he wanted other people to feel just as impressed.  If he had to twist the truth to get that reaction, so be it.

Shanks was still smiling when Buggy got tired of bragging about his men.  “I’m glad,” he said.  “I remember how much you wanted to have a crew that loved treasure the same way you do… I’m glad you were able to find one.”

“I—” Buggy stuttered.  He—had Shanks just wanted to know if Buggy was happy with his life and his crew as it was?  Face hot, Buggy paced down the beach, ignoring Shanks calling after him.  This fucking guy.  How was Buggy supposed to behave around him, acting like this?

Shanks caught up to Buggy a pace from the wet sand that marked the highest point the tide had reached.  They stood in silence for a moment, watching the water ebb and flow, Buggy inching backwards when progressive waves made it clear high tide was yet to come.  Quietly, Shanks asked, “Was that all you had to ask me?”

Buggy glanced sideways at Shanks.  Had he imagined that disappointed tone?  Shanks’ face certainly didn’t look disappointed.  It didn’t look like much of anything, though; he was hiding his feelings again, but behind a casual interest instead of a careless smile.  Why?  What did Shanks have to hide?

Buggy lifted a hand to hover next to Shanks’ left eye.  “I could ask about these scars, but I think I know how you got them.”  There were only so many weapons that used three blades set so close together, and only one person who used them that Buggy could think of who was good enough to get at Shanks with one.

Shanks smiled, a forced little thing.  “Ah, yeah, that…”

“When I saw them the first time, I thought to myself, I wouldn’t have let that happen!”  Buggy laughed; Shanks’ face was frozen in surprise.  “Yeah, stupid, right?  Like I could’ve gotten between you and Teach.  Like I would’ve wanted to.”  Buggy shrugged.  “Still thought it.”  Giving into the impulse, he pressed forward, tracing his thumb down the line of the outermost scar.  It was rough, a sharp-edged divot in Shanks’ face.  Unnatural, especially on someone like him.  “It’s weird, seeing proof you can actually get hurt.”

Shanks’ eyes had fluttered shut; they opened at these last words.  “Buggy…”

Stepping back, Buggy shook his head, hair swinging wildly behind him.  “Which is why I’m not asking any more questions like that!  It’s bad enough thinking about all the shit that just happened, I don’t want to think about other bad times.”  He glared at Shanks, daring him to push back.

Shanks just nodded.  “Okay, Buggy.”  He stood there, letting the tide flow between his toes, waiting patiently for Buggy’s next question.

If only he’d had something in mind.  Scrambling for one and coming up blank, Buggy went with the easy option and threw Shanks’ own question back at him: “What about your crew?  Who’d you pick up first, the first mate?”

Shanks grinned.  “Well, technically,” he began, and Buggy let him go on, hardly listening, satisfied by that easy, real smile.

[procuder]

He he he I am not an author so I don't think there will be a continuation besides even if I want Javier and Lloyd to get together in a fluffy way... It all leads to angst orz...

See what if Lloyd and the guy continues to write to each other and occasionally meet up with Javier having always witnessing Lloyd getting happy with this guy and him still not understanding why he wants to slice up the guy especially if he was a bit too touchy feely with Lloyd. Until a few more weeks/months with these he gets an 'Oh I am in love with Lloyd, but I might be too late' as he sees the guy confess and Lloyd accepts it...

And so pining Javier happens and for some reason angst still keeps piling up with the more I think about this is... if the guy is actually a horrible person who only wanted to get revenge on Lloyd and he did the 'I am going to make you fall hard for me and break your heart in the most cruel wayj those letters were all fake and not true at all' while Lloyd was actually genuinely happy and maybe likes the guy...

Yep I seriously don't know how to make this fluffy even if I want to 😅

It's my honor to be able to read another 5 star dish before anyone else. God. I love pining!!!!! And the idea of the guy being actually a horrible person and just wanting to get revenge on Lloyd and kills me. It's so good that I hope someone will write it (I love seeing Lloyd suffering after happiness hahahaha)

This is cool...I love this....

[altairs-little-world]

Hi~~ May I request a scenario where the reader has been avoiding Kohaku due to the fact that they (the reader) are kinda unsure if he returns their feelings, so Kohaku actively tries to seek them out to figure out whats wrong :) (The reader hasn't confessed or anything, but they're afraid of their own feelings getting in the way or whatevaaa) So ya! maybe a teeny weeny bit of angst :D! Personalitywise maybe a somewhat quiet and reserved, but also kind and helpful reader? Hmmm yeah i think that's about it! No pressure and take your time~

-🐏

Kohaku Oukawa x GN!reader - Confrontation

Characters: Kohaku Oukawa 

Genres: Angst (it’s like. Very little. Teeny, even.), Fluff

Smaller “tags”: Kohaku POV(? Like it’s third person but focused on Kohaku), confessions, overthinking, someone tell me how to write Kohaku please orz, GN!reader

TW: None!

Word Count: 1628

A/N: This was actually the first request I received, thank you 🐏 anon! Sorry for taking so long (ノ_<。) It’s still a lil’ hard for me to write one-off scenarios without going mad on the backstory /sobbing/ This used to be… 2-3k words? Then it was cut down bc I think the backstory might’ve been unnecessary, and then I had a looong time of going back and forth on whether I wanted to keep the backstory- and finally settled on ~1.5k words orz 

I’m not sure if I wrote Kohaku’s character properly either?? A little confused on how to go about this boy, sorry if I mischaracterized him! The title is kinda weird too… At time of posting, it’s nearly 12 am and my brain is sneepy, I can’t think of anything better for now, sorry! orz

Please, enjoy!

KOHAKU OUKAWA ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

It’s been weeks. Close to two months now, where he barely had the chance to speak to you or even see you. Kohaku was going to go mad. 

He had taken every chance he could think of to interact with you - eating at the cafe where you worked as a part-timer (he had picked you up from the entrance of this very cafe to go play several times), visiting your favourite shops (both of you frequented sweet shops, often together instead of alone), even near-spam texting you and sending pictures of the scenery around him (he missed going to the park with you, where you’d worry and fuss over him whenever he climbed a tree). 

Yet he was met with no results. Every time he tried to reach you, you turned away, leaving him to grasp blindly at the space you left behind in his heart. Why? Were you sick of him tagging alongside you all the time? Had he wronged you in an unforgivable way? 

Kohaku seemed cold and aloof at times, but he truly cared for the people around him, cared about what they thought of him, including you - or maybe especially you, with how much he enjoyed hanging out with you, making you laugh, hearing you ramble on in that hushed voice of yours when you both came across something interesting. He missed you. 

And what would he, Kohaku Oukawa, do when he missed someone? That’s right - seek them out to no end (A first time, but this was apparently what he did).  

And perseverance is rewarded. 

“Wait!” 

He finally, finally manages to catch you one day, quite literally too. Kohaku had reached out and grabbed your arm the moment he saw you again, your body already turning away in an attempt to escape, but his hold on your arm was firm and unyielding. 

“Why? Why are ya running away from me?” Words pour out of him, afraid that you might go before he hears an answer, a conclusion, an explanation for your actions. His grip on your arm tightens in his panic, making you wince slightly. He doesn’t notice, desperation clouding his mind. “Please, talk to me. Did I do something wrong?”

You hurriedly land your other hand over his, trying to loosen the pink-haired boy’s grasp, prying his fingers away. “Kohaku, let go!” 

Lavender eyes widened with shock and remorse, and your arm was suddenly free. His gaze left you, teeth nibbling away at the inside of his mouth. He couldn’t look at you. How could he have done that? He hurt you. You had every right to hate him, run away, lash out… 

Kohaku blinks when his hovering hand is held, fingers wrapping around his palm. Then after a moment, another hand follows, surrounding his hand and heart with warmth. He stares at your collapsed hands for a moment, before lifting his head. This time, you were the one avoiding his eyes, choosing to fix your gaze on your hands as he’d done earlier. 

“... I’m sorry.” 

He also didn't expect to hear that. 

What were you sorry for? Why were you sorry? He was the one who should apologize, not you. But his mouth refused to open, throat still constricting with guilt. 

“I’m sorry,” You repeat, voice so soft the Kohaku would have missed it if not for his yearning to simply hear you for the past weeks. “I shouldn’t have… I…” 

Were you looking for an excuse to make him feel better? Kohaku would rather have the cold, hard truth. If you were truly sick and tired of him, he would accept it. At least, that was how he hoped he would react. 

“Do ya hate me?” A straightforward question - he hated beating around the bush. 

“What-?” Your teary eyes finally meet his - you were close to crying. But why? Why, why, why? He wants to hold you, to comfort you in the only way he knew, learnt from his younger years on the internet. But the male couldn’t bring himself to tear his hand away from yours, so instead, he reaches up with his other hand while you shake your head furiously. “No, no, never - I don’t hate you. Not at all-!” 

You fall silent when he makes contact with the side of your head, awkwardly stroking and messing up your hair. Kohaku’s heart practically melts when you let out a small sob and nuzzle your head further into his palm, closing your eyes as you did so. He had missed you so, so much. And it didn’t look like you had avoided him because you hated him - a relief, but why had you been avoiding him, then? 

“I…” It’s only when your mouth moves again that he realises he had spoken his latter thoughts out loud. You lifted your head away from his touch, much to his disappointment, but your hands stayed firmly around his. The male feels little taps on his hand, from your fidgeting thumbs. Were you nervous? Scared? Why? 

He had so many questions, but no answers. Not yet, at least. 

Kohaku awaits your response, bringing his other hand to join your already-linked hands, eyes fixed on you and you alone. Something bubbled in his chest, an unfamiliar feeling, but he ignores it, deeming your answer of more importance at this moment. 

“I…You.” 

“Hah? I can’t hear ya. A little louder?” He wonders why your face has become a shade of light pink like his hair, colour becoming more intense with every passing second. “... Hello?” 

“I like you!” 

“Eh?” 

Did he hear you wrongly? He must’ve. There was no way- How- And him, him of all people? 

Mind still reeling from your confession, he nearly misses your following words. “I’m sorry.” You say, looking down. That only confuses the pink-haired boy even further. What were you apologizing for, now? For avoiding him? For having just confessed? For liking him? 

Something blooms in his chest. Kohaku quickly pries his hand out of your grasp, instead engulfing you in a hug. He finally releases the breath he’d been holding ever since weeks ago, tense shoulders sagging as he holds you close. 

“Don’t apologize. Ya got nothin’ to say sorry for,” His voice is nearly muffled in your shoulder, but he was close enough that you could hear him anyway. A long sigh is dragged out from him, fingers curling around the back of your clothes. “Ya seriously avoided me for so long because ya liked me? What kind of backwards logic-” 

He cuts himself off with another sigh. Kohaku was just so relieved, so happy, so satisfied right now, being able to hold you like this without you pushing him away. He never knew he needed this, but he never wants to stop hugging you now. 

“Sorry… I- Just forget what I said,” Your forehead rested on his shoulder, voice wavering, nearly pleading with your next words. “...Can we still be friends?” 

Friends? Kohaku didn’t think that was the next step after one confessed to another. Was he missing something here… Oh. He was so caught up with everything happening at once that he forgot the most important, and possibly most embarrassing part. 

“I, um, I like ya too. Like, a lot,” His voice lowers to a mumble, almost embarrassed to say the words he had only read in his comics. The male wasn’t one to express his affections so blatantly, whether with words or actions - but with you here, already in his arms, perhaps he could show some weakness. 

“...Really?” He feels slightly hurt at the disbelief in your soft voice, pulling back to grip your shoulders and look you dead in the eyes, violets staring into you. 

“When have I eva’ lied?” 

Your gaze shied away from his, blinking off to his left instead as you gave an answer. “...Never?” 

“That’s right. So do ya think I’m lying now, of all times?” Kohaku tilts his head to the left to catch your eye again, voice dropping to a shaky whisper as his brows furrow. The male’s hands leave your shoulders, finding your limp hands again to cup them and hold them up as if he were praying to you. “Ya know me better than anyone, I would think. If ya don’t know if I’m lyin’ or not right now, who would?”

You were his friend, his confidant, his respite, his… Everything, basically. This feeling in his chest was close to overwhelming him at this point - a first, he thinks. Or maybe not. Maybe he had always felt this way around you, but was too utterly distracted by your presence and how much joy it brought him that he had never realized. 

He was happy to have you around. He was happy to have you. You made him happy. 

Such simple logic, and Kohaku had never noticed until he was deprived of your company for a month or so. Sigh, how stupid he was, Kohaku now realized. He should know to cherish you more. To cherish the ones he loved more. 

“If that’s the case, then… What does make us?” 

“I think... Lovers?” He couldn’t stop himself from the sheepish grin spreading across his face, saying that word, even more so when he sees your face turning into various shades of pink again. His face right now probably matched his hair too, a whole palette of cherry-blossom pink displayed for your eyes only. 

He watched intently as several emotions flashed across your face at once - surprise, bewilderment, embarrassment, and finally, settling on joy. The smile he had wished to even catch a glimpse of in the past month was in front of him, cheekbones hiding a sliver of your eyes. 

“Lovers, then.” 

Kohaku swore he’d never felt more like a giddy, honey-drunk bee than that very moment.

“But seriously, don’t ya go avoiding me like that again! Ya scared me…” 

[merakiui]

i hope this doesn't sound too pushy, but i'd love to see more sapphic twst from you!! of course, i'll read anything you put out either way o(^▽^)o

It's not pushy at all!! (⸝⸝ᵕᴗᵕ⸝⸝) I would be happy to write more sapphic twst! I'd like to write more with the Boyfriend universe because it's always fun writing fem Riddle, especially one who is so in love with you. <3 although I'd also like to write something where fem Riddle thinks Jade isn't a good fit for you and she drives herself near mad trying to prove you're better off without him. Meanwhile, Jade has too much fun tormenting her and continues to drive a wedge between you and her. It would be interesting to explore a dynamic in which Riddle is so emotionally codependent on you, so when you start dating Jade (or even Floyd) she feels as if she'll lose you. You're the one and only light in her dark life; she needs you.

I like the idea of Riddle getting drunk at your birthday party and she stumbles upon some secret thing on Jade (or Floyd's) phone and perhaps it's something incriminating. But because she's drunk her memory is foggy and it's the perfect excuse for everyone to use in order to diminish her claims. She just thinks that Leech guy is bad news and totally unsafe, and she's trying so hard to convince you that you should consider other people.

AAAAA and Jade would have so much fun with it, too. Adding more fuel to the fire by saying things like, "Aren't you a little too attached to (Name)? I understand the both of you are close friends, but even this is a little obsessive." And you're stuck between the both of them, wondering what's gotten into your friend and why she seems so distrustful of your boyfriend. >:D

Of course I'd also love to write for other fem twst characters as well, but Riddle has me in a chokehold. She's so cute. I love her lots. orz