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personasintro · 5 years

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Next Door | myg [oneshot]

⏤𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬; Your neighbor doesn’t respect your complaints about him being loud, but you don’t let it slide so easily.

⏤𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: mentions of masturbation, strong language, dirty talk, oral sex [female and male receiving], spanking, slight ass play, rough sex, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, creampie, multiple orgasms, forced orgasm

⏤𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: fluff (?), smut

⏤𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 10.3k

m.list / ko-fi

A/N: Yes cats can growl. Also, don’t forget to follow me for more ^.^ and let me know what you think about this one!

A big groan leaves your lips as you cover your ears while shutting your eyes. The sound of loud music echoing throughout your bedroom even through your covered ears. Fucking asshole. You curse at your fucking rude neighbor who blasts his music every night and if not — you can hear some whiny girly moans as the headboard of his bed bangs against the thin wall. You already live here for two months — two months with constant disturbance caused by your neighbor. You check the clock on your phone.

10:05pm.

Another bass echoes throughout the thin walls. That’s it. You angrily put your slippers before tying up your fluffy pink robe. You storm out of your apartment, legs stopping in front of your neighbor’s front door. Knocking, you cross your arms over your chest as you wait for him to get his rude ass over there. As you wait a whole minute for him to open the freaking door — there’s nothing happening. You can still hear the music blasting through his apartment and that’s when you decide to angrily knock on his front door. Over and over again. You’re ready to kick the door when they suddenly open causing you to stop your movements.

The first thing you notice are his sharp eyes glancing down at you. You’ve seen him couple of times, but not so close. Black T-shirt is hugging his torso as gray sweatpants match his whole outfit. “Can I help you?” he quirks his eyebrows at you, looking at you with annoyed expression. That audacity.

You furrow your eyebrows, crossing your hands over your chest once again showing your annoyance towards him. “Yeah, can you turn the volume down?” you ask as he just stares at you.

“Does it bother you?” he asks, as his lips stretches to a little smirk. He sees the annoyance and anger on your face and it amuses him. You standing there in your fluffy robe and ridiculous slides. Who the hell dresses like that?

“Obviously. It’s already ten.” you inform him as he just shrugs his shoulders.

“And?”

“And? Turn the volume down or I’m calling police!” you bark at him loosing your patience. But you only grow even angrier and annoyed when you see the amused expression he holds.

“No need to be so snappy, kitty.” He muses as he sees your face getting red. Red from anger.

“Kitty?” you say through your gritted teeth as you see he has a one big show from this.

“Okay, I’ll turn the volume down. Happy?” he rolls his eyes as your lips twitches in annoyance.

You don’t say anything back, scared you’d probably slap him across his handsome face. As you turn around, you hear his voice. The raspy and sweet voice but at the same time too annoying.

“Oh, by the way... nice slippers, kitty.” he says with smirk before closing his front door. You look at the closed door dumbfounded before adverting your eyes to your slippers. To your very comfortable and fluffy slippers with cat’s plushie head. Kitty. That asshole. You angrily storm inside your apartment — silent apartment.

Thank god.

You smack your lips in delight from the amazing sleep you managed to got. The fresh sheets feels amazing on your body and skin as the scent of your fabric softener fills your nose. Blissful. You’re awake but your eyes stay closed while you're enjoy the sound of birds warbling outside. The soft sound of little ‘meow’ is heard — maybe too close for it to be outside. You open your eyes to see a white cat sitting on your bed looking straight at you. You jump in your bed causing the cat hiss at you as you’ve scared her.

“What the fuck?” you exclaim with your raspy slash morning voice as you stare at the small pet glaring at you. How did it get here?

You knew you should’ve left your balcony door closed. You wouldn’t leave it opened, if this summer wouldn’t be too hot at nights to bare it without air conditioning. Which you don’t have, so the only option was to sleep with opened windows and balcony door. You step on your balcony, sun blinding you for a moment causing you to squint your eyes at the brightness. You’re trying to find where the cat could come from, since you’re living on the third floor it couldn’t jumped in from the tree. You look to your right seeing your neighbor’s — annoying neighbor’s — balcony door opened. Of course it’s his cat. You’ve seen him couple of times with a cat food in his hands as he came from the grocery shopping. Poor cat. Thanks to the balconies being really close to each other, it was no trouble for the cat to jump into yours. You walk in to your bedroom seeing the cat sitting on the same spot.

“Okay, you gotta go,” you tell her as you’re trying to forget the fact you’re talking to an actual cat. You try to pick her up only for her to hiss at you, her nose scrunching as she reveals her sharp teeth. “Fucking cat, even his cat is rude.” you mumble as you’ve jumped in fear.

Reaching for your robe, putting on your kitty slippers your neighbor commented about — you barge out of your apartment. You knock violently against his front door, your morning ruined by him once again. And his freaking cat. Your stomach grumbles in desperate need of breakfast and coffee, but no, here you’re banging on his door once again.

“Jesus Christ, can you stop knocking so much?” he grumbles as he opens his front door seeing you. His hair is tousled as he squints his eyes at you. You woke him up. But you don’t even feel bad about it. Your eyes has mind on their own as you check out his pyjamas. Black T-shirt with some dark blue pyjamas shorts hugs his posture perfectly and you hate him for that. His simple pyjamas looks perfect on him even though he looks tired. Although, he smirks at you as he sees you checking him out.

You blush standing your ground as you quickly advert your eyes away from him. “Your fucking cat is in my apartment!” you bark at him. “It had to go through your balcony to mine.” you explain.

“She.” he speaks as you furrow your eyebrows in confusion.

“Huh?” you look at him dumbfounded, already annoyed with his presence.

“It’s she. Not it.” he informs you with annoyance causing you to roll your eyes.

“I don’t fucking care. Take it,” you demand and he raise his eyebrow at you. “Take it or I’m throwing it out of the balcony!” you say maybe too exaggerated but you don’t care.

“You wouldn’t dare!” he gasps as he angrily shoots you a nasty glare. Of course you wouldn’t. You love animals which includes cats as well — but he doesn’t know that. Plus it seems like that cat doesn’t like you.

“Oh, watch me,” you provoke him as you’re turning around already opening your front door. His loud steps are following you before he barges inside your home completely dismissing you. “Hey! You can’t just walk in!” you call out at him as he ignores you calling his cat’s name.

“Holly!” he calls out as he whistles the sound of loud 'meow' coming from your bedroom. She runs to her owner already rubbing her body against his legs. He picks her up as she purrs loudly. He turns around walking out of your home as you’re following him.

“You’re welcome!” you yell at him but he ignores you as you angrily shut your front door.

You’re in the middle of doing your grocery shopping as you notice familiar figure couple of meters away. He glances at the different cups of ramen as he tosses a few into his little basket. You turn around with annoyance already creeping its way out as you remember his rude trespassing to your home. You’re walking to a different direction, purposely, as you’re taking all of your groceries from the basket ready to pay for it. There’s a kind woman as a cashier, greeting you politely before scanning your items. You glance behind you seeing him standing right there already looking at you. None of you say ‘hi’ while both of you look annoyed as hell. You kindly smile at the cashier as you pay for your items putting it in your plastic bag. It takes you a while as he pays for his own stuff, mostly ramen and cat’s food. By the time you already hid your groceries, you’re both walking out of the store. You stop in your tracks as rain is pouring, the nitrous air fills your nose. And of course, you forgot to bring an umbrella. You didn’t even know it was supposed to rain! You quickly walk squinting your eyes as the rain hits your face wetting your clothes and hair.

“Do you want a ride?” you hear him as he opens his car with the car keys. The look of surprise doesn’t go unnoticed. You really need it but the way he’s looking at you with those sharp eyes like he’s already regretting asking you that.

“No, thanks.” you mutter as you start walking away.

“Fine, then be drenched by rain.” he yells unbothered making you stop in your tracks. He’s right. It doesn’t look like it’s stopping any second and you still have at least ten minutes walk to your apartment building. And you’re already getting drenched up and the last thing you need is for you to get sick.

“Fine.” you say quickly walking to his car, already sitting in it.

He doesn’t say anything simply turning the engine on. The way to your home is awkward, as the droplets of rain are hitting the car but it oddly feels calm. “So, I don’t get ‘thank you’ from you?” he speaks as he stops his car to let people pass by with their umbrellas at crossing.

“You mean the thank you I never got?” you quirk your brow at him as he doesn’t spare you a glance, looking at the road in front of him. You’re looking all annoyed at him but you secretly admire him as the black hoodie looks way good on him with his matching black cap.

“Thank you for what?” he asks confused as you scoff.

“For getting your cat, of course.” you answer while shaking your head in disbelief. Did he already forget?

“The last time I checked, I was the one who got her.” he says and you gape at his rudeness.

“Oh, that’s right. You’ve disrupt my home privacy by barging in like you own it.” you scoff as he chuckles.

“I was trying to get Holly back,” he simply says and you’re quite surprised. No rude response? You almost feel bad for being so rude to him. “And if I were you I wouldn’t go there since you’re the one barging on my doorstep every day.” he adds as he spits those words at you. You take it back. You definitely don’t feel bad about your attitude.

“W—what?” you gape at him in disbelief as you see satisfied smirk on his lips and if he wouldn’t be driving, you would barge at him. Luckily for him, your safety is on the first place. “If you would stop blasting that awful music so loud I wouldn’t be doing that! I’m not even talking about how you should shut up your girl’s mouth!” you bark at him, frustration clear in your voice.

“Maybe I should shut yours,” he says casually and you open your mouth as you gasp. What does he meant by that? Did he think— “That wasn’t what I was planning but I guess it worked.” he adds obviously amused by your frustration. He’s making fun of you and if it wouldn’t be raining, you’d rather be walking for an whole two hours than to ride with him.

Thankfully, he parks in front of your apartment building and you’re quickly stepping out of the car. You think you’ll be able to avoid him and snatch elevator so he’d have to wait for it or go by the stairs, but he easily catches to you and you huff in annoyance. “Where are your manners?” he speaks to you, obviously trying to get some reaction from you. And you wouldn’t give him that pleasure, although your sharp tongue just has to interfere.

“Where your politeness is.” you say as you step into the elevator, hitting the ‘3’ button as he slowly walks in.

“Real classy, kitty.” he chimes as you groan.

“Stop calling me that!” you huff in annoyance.

“Then what should I call you? I don’t know your name.” he shrugs his shoulders and you’re ready to tell him to fuck off — but then he’d be just calling you that all the time and that ridiculous nickname or pet name, whatever the fuck that is, irritates the hell out of you.

“Y/N, my name’s Y/N.” you tell him as he stays silent. You look at him making sure he heard you, but of course he did. There’s no way he didn’t hear you.

You quirk your brows at him as he glances at you. Silent and grumpy ‘what?’ leaves his soft and small lips. His eyes somehow covered by his cap but you still manage to see them. “What’s yours?” you ask.

“I’m not telling you.” he shrugs and you gasp as the elevator door opens. You both walk out as you’re gaping at him with opened mouth.

“But I told you mine!” you trail after him, offended he tricked you. “That’s not fair.” you whine as he looks for his keys.

“Bye, kitty.” He gives you last smirk as he opens his door disappearing in his home. Fucking asshole.

The whole week filled with silence in your home gave you at least some kind of peace — thinking he probably gave up making your life miserable. But then you hear the familiar banging against your bedroom wall. The headboard of his bed banging loudly, waking you up. You’re trying to fall asleep while trying to ignore the awful and very loud moans. Fuck. You sit on your bed violently banging on your wall with your fists. It hurts but you don’t care as long as he gets the message. But then you hear his voice pretty clearly.

“Come on, louder.” he encourages the girl as you can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

The girl suddenly whines loudly as she’s gasping for air. Soon enough you hear her reaching her climax as you can hear their skin slapping against each other. You don’t want it — but you imagine the way he must look as he tries to reach his climax. Soon enough you don’t feel anything. Did he cum? What the fuck? Why do you even care, Y/N? And then you shut your eyes trying to control your beating heart. He knew you heard him. He knew it all but he still continued. What a prick. It takes twenty freaking minutes for you to fall asleep once again. This time your dreams filled with your neighbor fucking you.

You’re about to take your trash out as you see your neighbor’s door being opened. A girl, no a woman, walks out of his door closing it after her. She isn’t definitely much younger or older than you, probably around the same age. Her hair somehow curled, which used to be probably nice curls but after her wild night it’s all messed up now. You sigh as you’re locking your front door. She stops looking at you before coughing awkwardly.

“Sorry for being loud.” she says before quickly scurrying away not waiting for any of your response. At least she has some guts to apologize. When you’re returning back, after taking your trash out you see him. He walks out of his apartment in fitted jeans with white shirt, jeans hugging his ass perfectly.

He looks your way feeling your eyes on him. “Oh, it’s you.” he mumbles and you’re already fuming.

“Yeah, it’s me.” yoou bark at him annoyingly as he rolls his eyes not even trying to do it discreetly. “What the fuck was yesterday?” you exclaim as he thinks about for a moment.

“A Friday, I think.” he shrugs his shoulders as he shows his keys to his back pockets.

“You know what I mean!” you say angrily as his lips twitches in amusement. Of course, he knows what you mean. But it’s too fun for him to stop irritating you.

“I don’t recall.” he acts like he tries to remember and you groan. “You fucking some chick! You know I could hear you! You did it purposely!”

He chuckles as he shows his fingers in his pockets. He looks hot, but you’d never say it out loud. “Oh, so you were listening? Did you enjoy it?” he asks amused as you’re ready to take off your shoes just to throw it at him.

“Fucking prick! What do you think about me? I don’t care who you’re fucking as long as your mouths are shut!” you tell him angrily as you see him looking at you unbothered — like this is not even about him.

“Look, it’s not my fault you’re not getting laid. Stop ruining my fun.” he says as you gape at him like some fish.

“W—what? What do you know about my sex life? Wait, it’s none of your business!” you ramble as he easily got you even more frustrated.

“Oh, come on,” he huffs, clearly not believing you. “Anyway, as much as I would like to talk to you about sex, I have better things to do. Bye kitty.” he waves at you as you give him your middle finger, making sure he sees it as he only smirks at you disappearing in elevator.

You started to think his purpose on this world is to annoy you all the time. You’re watching your television trying to mute out the noises and laughter coming from his apartment. 11:08pm — it shows on your clock. Your eyes tiredly closes but you can’t sleep due to the noise. Are you the only one who hears that? Why isn’t anyone else complaining? Yeah, maybe it’s because there’s an old couple living on the next side of his apartment and they can barely hear. One time you had to scream at that old lady ‘good morning’ because she couldn’t hear you. You’re already tired of constantly knocking on his door like some bitch who’s constantly complaining. But on the other hand — why you should be a bitch? Because you’re trying to have some peace after your whole day in work? Of course, young people like to party and invite their friends over. Or even blast their music, who doesn’t do that? But not every-fucking-day. You sigh already walking to his door — it’s almost like some ritual. The door awfully familiar to you — even though you’ve the same — but his door mat of cat’s meme as it shows its middle finger is definitely different than from your basic beige one. You tiredly knock but still manage to knock louder in case he’d hear you. Soon enough there’s a blonde hair peeking out from the door. He opens the door wider smiling at you with his eye smile.

“Hello, can I help you?” he asks kindly as you’re making sure you knocked on the right door. You look down at the rug — yup, it’s the right door.

“Mmm—“ “Walt? Are we being too loud?” he asks as you only nod. “Aish, I told them to be quiet but Yoongi said it’s fine.” Yoongi?

“It’s okay, I just—“ you wave at him, feeling like he’ll take care of the noise but he cuts you off. “Come in, you probably want to talk to him not to me.” Talk to who? Your neighbor? Hell no.

“No, that’s not really necessarily, I’m actually going to—“

“Nonsense, come in or they’ll continue in being loud,” he says already pulling you in into your neighbor’s home. Surprisingly enough, his home smells nice. The sweet scents of coconut, wood and something you can’t quite put your finger on fills your nose. “I’m Jimin, by the way.” he tells you before leading you further to your neighbor’s home. His interior is minimalistic, modern and very clean which surprises you. He definitely has some taste in house interior. You can already tell his apartment is bigger than yours and even that small fact annoys you somehow. You don’t even know why. There’s a group of guys sitting in spacious living room as big screen television is on the wall.

“Guys, we’ve a visitor.” he speaks loudly so the rest of the group stops chattering before looking at you. Your eyes are already focused on Yoongi as he sits on his sofa staring at you confusingly. Before none of you can say the word, someone beats you to it.

“Y/N?” you hear curious voice as your eyes follow the sound finding your co-worker sitting on the floor staring at you surprisingly. “What are you doing here?”

“Jeongguk?” you ask as you see him already smiling at you revealing his bunny smile.

“Wait, you two know each other?” Jimin asks dumbfounded and you notice his reddened cheeks while he keeps smiling all the time. He’s tipsy.

“Yeah, we’re co-workers.” Jeongguk answers happily as you feel your neighbor’s eyes on you. “But what are you doing here? I’m hanging out with my friends.”

“I live here.” you inform him as his eyes widen in shock. “Wait! Yoongi is your neighbor?” he asks loudly causing everyone in the group watching the scene in front of him.

Yoongi?

So that’s his name. You smirk at Yoongi with knowing look saying something like ‘ha! I know your name now!’. He glares at you while you feel satisfaction.

“So he’s the neighbor you complained about?”

Damn, Jungguk and his mouth. But you nod nevertheless. “Yeah, the one and only.” you grumble giving Yoongi a fake smile and he shows you his middle finger.

“Guys, I told you we’ve to be quiet. We probably woke you up.” Jimin says pouring at you like he knows you for the longest time — except you’ve met like literally five minutes ago.

“No, you didn’t. Don’t worry, I just thought...” you trail off awkwardly. I just thought Yoongi is doing it on purpose — you wanted to say but you stopped yourself. “Never mind. I’m leaving.” you say as you quickly wave them off not noticing Yoongi standing up.

He walks you to his front door little smirk playing on his lips. “What?” you grumble as he leans against his door frame when you’re out of his home.

“I didn’t know you’re talking about me with your co-workers.” he muses as he cocks his head to side enjoying your annoyed face.

“I’m not talking about you. I’m complaining about you.” you inform him.

“Yeah, you complain while you’re talking.” he shrugs and you annoyingly turn around.

“Whatever, leave me alone.” you grumble again.

“You came to my home. I didn’t even invite you in.” he calls out to you, not loudly though.

“Yeah, like you did couple of weeks ago. We’re even, I guess.” you call out to him back as you’re opening your doors with keys.

“Goodnight, kitty.” he says with little smirk on his lips as he looks incredibly hot and like a douchebag at the same time.

But you smirk at him back, waving at him; “Bye, Yoongi.” His name rolls off your tongue smoothly as you don’t wait for his reaction. Simply closing the door with satisfied grin on your lips.

Yoongi storms into his apartment glaring at his friend as soon as he sees his blonde hair and innocent smile. “Did you have to seriously do that?” he grumbles as he sits back to his seat, reaching for a beer.

“Do what?” Jimin asks cluelessly as Yoongi rolls his eyes at him.

“Invite her in.” he answers grumpily as he feels Jungguk’s eyes on him.

“Why? You don’t like her or what?” This time his other friend asks, Hoseok, as he doesn’t understand Yoongi’s reaction. You seemed nice and polite, why does he looks so freaking annoyed and irritated?

“She’s that fucking annoying neighbor who complains all the time, the one I mentioned you.” he explains as he still remembers your little smirk as you said his name. He doesn’t even know why it pisses him off so much. It’s just a name. But it seems like a constant competition between you two.

“Ah, I remember you mentioning her.” Hoseok hums as he clearly remembers Yoongi’s words ‘she’s so fucking annoying’.

“Hyung, I don’t want to be rude but... you’re the one who always blasts your music and is extremely loud.” Jeongguk comes to your rescue, as he sees his friend already glaring at him with those sharp eyes.

“Oh, I forgot. You’re co-workers.” Yoongi says mockingly causing Jungguk to furrow his brows. Well, he definitely understands why you called his friend a ‘fucking rude prick’. Also Jungguk remembers the way he cursed at his friend without knowing he’s the one you two talked about saying; ‘Wow, he’s so fucking rude. You should call police.’

“We are. But I didn’t have any idea you’re the one she complains about.” he shrugs innocently as Yoongi rolls his eyes. Of course you had to complain to someone. Miss Uptight Prude.

“Your place is nice, but don’t you want to have more flowers in here? It’s kind of dead here.” Your mom comments as you’re preparing plates on your dining table.

“Love, this is her home. Let her be.” Your dad comes to your rescue as you smile at him which he gladly returns.

As you’re waiting for your food to heat, there’s a huge conversation between your parents. A loud conversation. Your mom video calls to your older sister who’s on her vacation in America, causing her to speak very loudly because the connection is bad. You massage your temples as your mom yells ‘We miss you baby!’ to your older sister as she tries to hear what she’s saying. This causes your mom to say it, no more like yell couple of more times. You’re ready to tell her something, when there’s a knock on your front door.

“I’m gonna get door, someone’s knocking.” you inform your parents as they’re completely ignoring you trying to hear your sister’s words. You roll your eyes at them not understanding why don’t they just decline the call since the connection is pretty bad.

Opening your door you reveal one pair of sharp eyes looking at you grumpily as you widen your eyes in shock. What is he doing here? “Yoongi?” you ask as you see him irritably inhaling. You almost want to smirk at him but you stop yourself.

“You’re being fucking loud.” he complains as you lean onto your door frame.

“Oh? So what?” you ask irritating him even more. But that’s what he deserves for constantly being so loud.

His eyebrow irritably twitches as he purses his lips. “Mute it down or I’m calling cops.” he says sternly and you loudly gasp ready to throw a numerous amount of curses at him, when you feel hands on your shoulders slightly pushing you away.

“Sweetheart, I didn’t know you’re expecting someone.” Your mom smiles at your evil neighbor.

“I’m not—“ you try to say as your mom waves your hand at you cutting you off with her own voice. Plain rude.

“Hello, I’m Y/N’s mom. It’s so nice to meet you!” she says happily. Yoongi looks for a second at her outstretched hand as he gives you a look. The one where he mischievously grins taking your mom’s hand.

“It’s so nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Min Yoongi.” he introduces himself and that’s when you realize he said his full name. Min Yoongi. It sounds too nice for belonging to a devil with angel looking face.

“Are you Y/N’s friend?” she keeps getting more curious as she doesn’t see the warning eyes you have set on Yoongi. He clearly sees them as he smirks at you.

“I am.” he nods and you gasp at him ready to call him out on his huge lie. But then of course, your mom interrupts whatever you’ve been planning as she opens your door wider.

“Come in! We’re just about to have a dinner!” she says and Yoongi casually walks in. He walks in like he’s been there hundreds of time which he hasn’t. Expect that one time when he rudely came in to get his devil cat.

“Honey! We’ve a visitor!” Your mom calls to your dad as he puts his phone to his pocket. Thank god, they stopped calling. It’d be even more embarrassing. Wait, since when do you care about what Yoongi thinks? Your parents introduces to Yoongi as he kindly shakes your dad’s hand. He even freaking bows to your parents. You’re quite surprised to see him being so polite, but of course it’s just his fake side of him.

“Do you want to have a dinner with us? Y/N cooked for us.” Your mom says as you’re gripping the spatula in your hand.

“Actually, I—“

But the devil himself cuts you off, as you hear his soft voice. “Of course.” he nods and is already sitting at your dining table.

He doesn’t see your face, since you’re standing with his back to him, but he knows he just annoyed the shit out of you. And you also know he’s having a victorious grin without even looking at him. When you put food on everyone’s plate you’re silently eating as you feel completely awkward as you sit next to Yoongi. He silently eats the food you cooked and it seems like he likes it, since he doesn’t have some sarcastic remarks. Although, he probably wouldn’t have when your parents are here.

“So, how long have you been living here?” Your mom asks as she takes another bite of the food. He mentioned he’s your neighbor as they introduced themselves. Yoongi gulps as he looks at your mom who sits on the other side of you.

“For a year.” he answers and your brows surprisingly shoots your eyebrows. He lives here for a year already?

“How do you like living here? Both of you?” she asks as she looks at the both of you, trying to make a conversation. Yoongi opens his mouth to answer her but you quickly chime in.

“I mean, there’s this annoying neighbor who doesn’t know what silence is. He’s extremely loud with his music and different... stuff.” you answer your mouth pursing your lips at Yoongi as he glares at you.

“That must be so annoying!” Your mom exclaim as she puts her hand over her heart.

“Then there’s this other neighbor who complains all the time knocking on his door every day.” he tells your mom and you glare at him. It’s very immature for the two of you doing this, but you simply don’t care.

“I don’t like people who complain a lot,” Your mom says as a smug grin appears on Yoongi’s lips. You can see him from your peripheral vision but you don’t give him that satisfaction of looking at him. “First of all, this is an apartment building, so it’s clear there would be some noise.” Yoongi nods to her, loud ‘exactly’ leaving his mouth as you roll your eyes.

“Well, first of all, even though this is an apartment building, there should be still some rules.” you speak loudly causing your mom to widen her eyes little bit.

“Of course,” she nods as you sigh continuing eating because you won’t ruin your appetite because of Yoongi. “Well, at least the two of you get along.” she says happily as you and Yoongi exchange your looks.

The rest of the dinner is spent in silence and as everyone finishes eating, your parents leave. They say goodbye to you and Yoongi also, as he doesn’t leave. You’re cleaning your kitchen as you see him standing there watching you.

“What are you still doing here?” you ask raising your brow at him.

“I don’t even know. Bye, kitty.” he waves at you as he leaves. He didn’t even try to help!

“Asshole!” you yell hoping he heard you, continuing in scrubbing the grease off your pan.

What is better way to wake up than waking up with amazing smell of pancakes filling your home. You open your eyes as sunlight blindes you for a moment. Your stomach grumbles at the amazing smell which definitely isn’t coming from your home. You walk to your balcony seeing Yoongi’s balcony door opened as well. The amazing smell is coming from his apartment. You sigh as you walk to your fridge to find it almost empty. Also, there is no ingredients to make pancakes which you’re craving thanks to your neighbor. But there’s an idea creating in your mind, as you’re already brushing your teeth and trying to make yourself look somehow more presentable. You’re already knocking on his door, the absurd door mat with middle finger making you feel unwelcomed but it doesn’t discourage you as you hear footsteps. There’s Yoongi standing with his hair disheveled, the silver color making him look even more interesting. He’s still wearing his pajamas, at least you suppose as white T-shirt and dark blue pajamas shorts are covering his body.

“What?” he asks grumpily as he sees your face.

You don’t take it personally as you happily smile, ready for your revenge. “Good morning, neighbor.” you greet him pushing him out of way already walking inside.

“Hey!” he yells after you quickly closing his front door before trailing after you. It doesn’t take a long to find a kitchen, amazing and delicious smell leads you. His kitchen is similar to yours, but still bigger and fancier. There’s a plate of pancakes with strawberries, banana and Nutella on the side. Your mouth is already watering as you’re ready to take a pancake. But Yoongi slaps your hand before it can touch delicious pancake.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asks lowly as you look at the pancake. So close.

“I want to eat, obviously.” You answer casually like it’s a obvious thing.

“Nobody invited you.” he informs you as he crosses his arms over his chest, making his biceps buldge out. He isn’t that broad but he still has some muscles on his body and it is proved now.

“I didn’t invite you yesterday either so...” you trail off, wanting to get this argument over with and already eat. Delicious smell is enough to make your stomach grumble.

“I see what you’re doing, Y/N.” he says and the fact that he uses your real name instead that awful nickname he gave you, means he’s too serious.

“What am I doing?” you ask acting clueless.

“You’re trying to get back at me because of yesterday. And I didn’t exactly come uninvited, your mom invited me.” he says as he takes the plate with pancakes away from you.

“But my mom has no right to invite some stranger to my home!” you exclaim as he suddenly smirks at you.

“Oh, are we strangers? I thought we’re already pass that stage, kitty,” he visibly smiles in triumph when he sees your red face. “I think you should leave then, stranger.” he says standing there with plate full of delicious looking pancakes as your stomach grumbles once again.

“Come on! I’m hungry.” you pout reaching for pancakes but he only dodges from your hands.

“Not my business.” he mutters as he tries not to look at your little pout.

“Come on, let’s eat. You’re skinny, you’ve to eat.” you say brightly as he looks at you before scoffing.

“I am skinny? What about you?” he chuckles at you while shaking his head. You look down at your stomach which has some fat in it but it’s covered by your large T-shirt.

“I’m definitely not skinny. I should start working out and eat healthy, but I’m too lazy for that. But it’s okay, I’m comfortable with my body.” you shrug as he just stares at you. Does she really think she needs to work out? He asks himself as he stares at your curves which are placed in the right places. He feels like your large T-shirt is covering your true body and he somehow whishes he would see it better.

“Can we eat now?” you ask as your stomach growls loudly causing you to pat it. He doesn’t say anything as he simply turns around sitting at his dining table. That’s your cue to do the same as you eat in silence. You moan at your first bite, as the flavor of strawberries and Nutella reaches your tongue. Yoongi ignores you the whole time, eating in silent as he doesn’t glance at you — not even once. Holly decides to make an appearance when she jumps into Yoongi’s lap as he starts to pet her. He smiles at the pet as he scrubs her behind her ear causing her to purr.

“What?” he asks annoyed as he feels your eyes on him. You just shrug.

“It’s just weird.” you mumble as he sighs.

“What’s weird?” he asks anyway.

“You being nice.” you answer casually shrugging your shoulders as he gapes feeling slightly offended.

“I’m nice!” he argues and you laugh.

“You’re definitely not!” you still laugh while arguing with him. He bites into his lips to prevent him to smile at the way you laugh at him with your chubby cheeks full of food.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” he raises his brow and you calm down from your laughter.

“Hmm, I am.” you nod still grinning at him. You’re done with eating putting your plate in the sink as you’re ready to wash it.

“What are you doing?” he asks as he puts his empty plate onto yours.

“I’m cleaning after myself.” you answer as he sighs.

“I’ll wash it,” he mumbles as you gasp. “I told you I can be nice.”

Holly jumps onto his counter and you eye the animal as she stares at you. “I think she doesn’t like me.” you mumble as Yoongi continue to wash dishes.

“Who? Holly? Nah, she’s a sweetheart.” he argues.

“Come on, go down. This is very unhygienic,” you tell the cat as you’re patting her butt to jump off. But instead she growls at you making you step back. “See? She doesn’t like me!” you exclaim looking at the devil cat who stares at you.

“Because you’re telling her what to do.” he tells you easily as you furrow your brows at her.

“Anyways, thank you for breakfast, I guess.” you say as you’re turning around.

“Are you leaving?” he asks almost too quickly and you turn back around to look at him with smirk.

“Aw, do you want me to stay?” you coo as he glares at you.

“Of course not, get out and don’t come back.” he says almost too rudely and you purse your lips.

“Asshole.” you say as you send him a middle finger before leaving. Fucking asshole.

To say things got better with Yoongi would be a complete lie. You feel like he started to ignore you even more, this time he wouldn’t even greet you — but you can’t say anything since you’ve never greet him as well. It was just a couple of days ago, when you heard the same banging of his headboard into the thin wall. You somehow felt even more angry than ever. Maybe it was a small amount of jealousy you felt about the woman he fucked. Yoongi sexually attracts you and there’s nothing you can do about it. Maybe his cold attitude should repel you, but it doesn’t. Instead you somehow want his attention. His smirk engraved in your mind as you’re wondering how would it feel to let him fuck you. The sounds you always here is enough to tell you he isn’t about that vanilla sex. He’s like a beast, but you never hear him. You only hear women’s moans and seeing a different woman every time is enough to tell you, that he isn’t in any relationship. Even that should repel you. You’ve always loved men who are caring, loving and are couple type. But then there’s a Yoongi — complete opposite who attracts you so much that you’ve thought about him when you had your fingers burried inside of you. You pretended it’s him inside of you, knowing he’s way bigger than your three slim fingers. But even your fingers inside of you and shower head on your clit weren’t enough for you to please you — something that never happened.

Couple of days passed without hearing any woman’s moans or banging on your wall. However his loud music is completely another story. You knock on his wall with your fist for like tenth time but he ignores you. So you decide to knock on his front door but he still ignores you. You give up feeling how much tired you’re but you can’t sleep because of the loudness he’s causing. That’s when you get angry at him and dial police number. Maybe it’s too immature but you don’t care. You need to sleep and you’re done with his rude attitude. He even started to ignore you completely and that somehow pisses you off even more than his constant disturbing. Soon enough you hear police men coming to Yoongi’s door knocking. He opens the door after a while and you wish you could see his face. But instead you only stand behind the door listening to their conversation silently. “We’re sorry to disturb you, sir but there’s been a complaint about a noise.” One of the police men says.

“Really?” Yoongi asks but his voice somehow amused already knowing who complained. You bite into your lips knowing he knows exactly who called police.

“We have to ask you to keep it down, there are neighbors who wants to sleep at this hour.” they say politely as Yoongi answers with ‘sure’ before they leave. He turns the music completely off and you smile in victory.

You’re happily walking to your bedroom when there is angry knocking on your front door. You already know who is behind it. You sigh as you open your door with annoyed expression.

“Did you just fucking called a police on me?” he barks at you too loudly causing your face scrunch at his loud voice.

“I told you I would if you don’t keep it down.” you answer him as he fumes like some angry bull. Shit, he’s angry. You see him clenching his jaw as he barges inside your home.

“Hey!” you yell at him as you close your door with big thump. “You can’t just—“ You’re cut off when he barges onto you, your back hitting your front door as he kisses you harshly. He holds you face in place as he hungrily kisses your mouth, your teeth clutching against his but you don’t care. He tugs his arms under your thighs, easily pulling you up. You naturally wrap your legs around his waist as you hold onto his shoulders. He continues kissing you hungrily as you moan into his mouth. You’re already feeling your underwear sticking to your heat, getting too much turned on by just simple act. He pulls away to catch his breath but he’s already sucking your neck. “What—“ He shuts you up with his lips once again.

“Shut the fuck up.” he says between the kisses. In other cases you’d tell him to fuck off or something but you feel yourself clench around nothing instead. It’s almost too embarrassing to admit how much does this turn you on. He grinds his crotch against yours — your crotch meeting the material of his sweatpants.

“Fuck.” you moan out as you feel his hardened cock against your thin material of your panties.

“Do you want more?” he asks breathlessly as he keeps grinding into you. As much as it feels good, it’s not enough to quench your thirst.

“Yes!” you moan as he sucks on your collarbones. Thank god you’re wearing your thin nightdress and not your pajamas with unicorn on it.

“Mm, I don’t think you deserve it.” he hums against your skin as he pulls the material of your nightdress, revealing your breast. He dips his head down licking your already hardened nipple.

“You want me to beg, don’t you?” you ask breathlessly.

“You’re smart.” he chuckles as he grazes your nipple with his teeth. You bang your head against your front door causing it to hurt but you don’t care. “I won’t beg, Yoongi.” you chuckle at the thought of you begging. Who does he think he is? He grins into you harshly causing you to whimper.

“Beg, or I’m leaving.” he says too sternly and serious and you know he’s not fucking around.

“I hate you.” you spit as he smirks at you.

“Likewise.” he mumbles but kisses you.

“What do you want, kitty?” he asks as he sucks on your collarbones.

“Seriously? This is the biggest turn off.” you mumble as he laughs, an actual laugh and you’re happy you’re looking at him right at that moment. A gummy smile appears on his smile and it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. He’s so beautiful and mesmerizing.

“But you’re wet, aren’t you?” he asks with raised brow and you shut up.

“Please, just...” you try to speak as he grins gripping your naked ass harshly as your nightdress ride up when he picked you up. You feel his big hands on your ass as he grabs it harshly, causing you to bite your lip. You can’t wait longer. You’ve never wanted someone that bad. “Please, just fuck me,” you beg as he smirks. “I need you.” you continue not even realizing how pathetic you sound.

“You’re so needy.” je says almost mockingly detaching you from the front door, still holding you in his hands. His arms holds you securely as he kisses you roughly again. He already walks into your bedroom, putting you down as you stare at him.

“How did you know where my bedroom is?” you ask him as he strips down his T-shirt and that’s the first time you see him topless. And boy, is that a good sight. His skin is pale as it shines and looks so smoothly. His whole body looks healthy as deep v-line is disappearing into his sweatpants. You clench just from the sight of him.

“We share the same wall, you forgot?” he asks as he hovers over you.

“How could I forgot? I heard you having a sex countless time.” you mutter, the pang of jealously hitting your stomach and chest. Yoongi shuts you up with his lips.

“I’m about to fuck you, aren’t I?” he says with little smile making it sound like he’s assuring you.

“Can I take this off?” he asks softly as his fingers glaze around the hem of your nightdress.

“Yes.” you answer maybe too quickly which he smirks to but doesn’t say anything.

You sit up as he’s already taking it off revealing your naked breasts. You see him lick his lips coating it with his saliva already pushing you to lay down. He’s taking your other nipple into his hands while he grabs the other one with his hand. You’re squirming in his hold as you’re enjoying the feel of his mouth and hands on you. He slowly trails down to your stomach pecking it little before he scoots down — his head between your legs. He parts them so he can fit more comfortably as he takes a inhale of your heat. You blush at him as he smirks up at you. You’re still wearing your panties and he kisses your clit through your fabric. He’s teasing you and you know it.

“Do you want me to eat you out?” he asks as he looks at you with those sharp eyes. The same one who constantly glares at you giving you a nasty look, but this time they’re filled with lust causing them to appear more dark and shiny than usual.

“I... You can.” you say unsurely as he furrows his brows slightly.

“Has anyone ever eaten you out?” His question causing you to bite the inside of your cheek. He asks it casually and straightforward taking you off guard for a moment.

“No.” you answer as you see his eyes widen.

“How’s that possible?” he asks confusingly as you awkwardly cough.

“I don’t know... they never did.” you answer awkwardly thinking about your two and only exes. They were all about vanilla sex, something you like but you still missed some action. Some dominance, someone who would put you in your place and seeing Yoongi — he’s the perfect one for doing exactly that.

“They’re missing out,” he mumbles as he’s pulling your underwear down, sliding it against your smooth legs. Thank god you shaved yourself this morning. He puffs some air onto your revealed heat as he watches you squirm. “So pink and beautiful.” you blush at his shameless words but still clench at his dirty words.

He sees it but doesn’t comment on it as he dips his head kissing your clit. Your fingers naturally grab his silver hair grinding onto his face. He starts sucking on your clit fingers grazing over your hole. He’s only teasing you with his fingers and you’re ready to scold him. Luckily, he trails his lips down to your hole thrusting with his tongue slowly and you moan out loud. You get why those women are so vocal. He’s unbelievable. Meanwhile his fingers move to your clit pinching it as you arch your back thrusting into his face. He doesn’t say anything nor he can, when his whole face is stuffed between your legs. He doesn’t stop, only picking his pace causing you to whimper. You bite your lips trying not to scream at how good he fucks you. Your pussy tightens around his tongue as you feel yourself cumming. You grip his hair harder causing him to moan into your pussy while he helps you to ride out of your orgasm. As you feel your cum dripping down your hole you try to control your breath. But Yoongi isn’t done when he’s licking your cum of you and you whimper at the overstimulation.

“Yoongi..” you beg causing him to pull away with winning smirk. His whole chin and lips are glistening by your cum and the sight is unbelievably pleasing and arousing. Even though you just came, you still feel yourself begging for more. Yoongi sits on his knees as he grabs your nightdress wiping his chin with it. You notice the outline of his cock in his sweatpants and you’re already sitting up.

“Lay down,” you say feeling yourself still wet from your cum and new arousal. You gently push him to lay down and he peacefully obeys. “Can I take these off?” you ask, your fingers already hooked around the hem of his sweatpants and boxer briefs.

“Why didn’t you already?” Is all he says and that’s his approval as you’re already taking it off. His cock springs free and your mouth water at the sight of him. It stands straight from the arousal in desperate need for attention. There is a pre-cum glistening at his tip and you’re licking your lips at delightful sight. He’s thick causing you to feel somehow stressed if he’ll fit in.

“You don’t have to—“ he says after a moment of seeing you looking at his cock. He knows he’s been gifted in this particular area so he doesn’t feel self conscious about it, but he’s starting to think you regret it. He’s been asshole to you this whole time, he knows, but he doesn’t want you to feel pressured or something. You cut him off by gripping him in your hand giving him a teasing squeeze. He groans shutting off his mouth not wanting to be vocal. We’ll see about that. You think as you dip your head spitting on his tip before taking him into his mouth. You suck on him, the rest of his cock which isn’t in your mouth is held by your hand. But soon enough you grip his thighs with both of your hands as you try to take as much of him as possible. Your eyes are starting to water as you feel him getting deeper so you swallow. He moans quietly gripping your hair tightly in his fist as you’re lowering yourself on him. Your nose is touching his small pubic hair causing you to not believe you’ve taken all of him. He unexpectedly thrusts into your mouth as you don’t move causing you to gag and pull away. Your saliva is connected to his cock as you cough.

“Shit, you’re so fucking hot,” he says and that’s your cue taking him into your mouth again. This time you don’t pull away as you feel him hitting your throat. You tighten your throat around him by swallowing and he groans tightening his grip on your hair as you whimper. You squeeze your legs together trying to relieve at least some kind of tension between your legs. “Fucking hell, stop.” He growls as you look at him through your lashes, his cock still in your mouth. “Fuck, fuck!” he groans quickly slightly pushing you away from him as you sit down looking at him confusingly.

“Did I do something wrong?” you ask cluelessly as you’re trying to think about some mistakes. You gave couple of blowjobs to your exes and they never complained.

“I nearly came.” he breathes out as he tries to control his breathing. You open your mouth as he looks at you through his hooded eyes.

“Y-you did?” you ask, surprised by his statement. Were you that good? You’ve never gave a blowjob to someone with big cock like his and it makes you proud somehow — in weird way. But his words makes you happy and proud nevertheless.

“I wanted that bratty mouth of yours wrapped around me ever since you knocked on my fucking door.” he admits shamelessly as you widen your eyes. Even though you stood there in those ridiculous slippers and fluffy robe, your angry eyes with fire in them was all he could think about. But his words are causing you to clench yourself around nothing and you whimper at that feeling.

“Then what are you waiting for? Fuck me.” you tell him as he growls at you, switching your position. You’re looking straight into his eyes as he hooks his arms around your waist, roughly and in one swift move he turns you onto your stomach. Your face hits your soft pillows as you look sideways so you can breath.

“On your hands and knees. Ass up,” he commands you with dominant voice and you listen to him already arching your ass at him. He pulls your ass cheeks apart seeing your tight hole as he leans down and flicks his tongue around it. You moan not even caring that he’s having his tongue on your literal ass hole. “You’re dripping.” he comments as he drawls his finger across your heat, collecting some of your mixed cum and arousal. You look over your shoulder seeing him putting his finger into his mouth sucking on it.

“You’re nasty.” you comment loudly as he grins.

“And you love it.” He quirks his brow and you bite your lip.

“I do.” you admit shamelessly.

You turn your head laying it on your pillow as you wiggle your ass in anticipation. You hear Yoongi chuckle before he delivers a slap on your ass. You gasp at the painfully pleasing feeling as you feel him caressing it right after. He takes his cock into his hands slowly guiding it to your hole. He teases you with running his tip along your slit. “Yoongi,” you whine as he finds it amusing to see you so whiny. He slowly guides his tip in as you widen your eyes. “Stop!” you yell causing him to stop. You turn around seeing him holding his cock and god, the sight is even more pleasing. “Condom?” you ask as he annoyingly looks at you.

“I’m clean,” he says and you quirk your eyebrows at him. “I always fuck with condoms.” he informs you as the look of disbelief crosses your face.

“What about those women?” you ask even though you don’t want to even think about them. You don’t want to ruin this moment.

“I didn’t fuck them raw.”

“Why?” you ask curiously and he wants to roll his eyes at your curiosity as his cock is starting to hurt. He just wants to fuck your brains out.

“I don’t know, I never wanted to.” he shrugs as he waits for you to tell him to continue.

But it just has to be you to annoy him some more. “Why do you want to fuck with me raw?” you ask and he groans.

“I just do, okay? I want to feel all of you and I don’t want that fucking condom between us. But if you’re not on pills I can—“

“No, I’m on birth control.” you cut him off as he feels relief. “And I’m clean.” you add as he looks in your eyes for question.

“Let me fuck you raw.” he says instead as you bite your lip.

“Yeah, okay.” you add as he already guides his cock to your hole. He slowly enters you as he penetrates you. The burning sensation causing you to shut your eyes as you’re trying to relax.

“You’re taking me so well, fuck.” he growls as he slowly keeps entering you. He fills you to your brim as you gasp at the feeling of fullness. You’re so full. He penetrates your walls amazingly as you clench around him. He squeezes your ass letting you some time to adjust before you start to wiggle your ass at him. He chuckles slapping it before thrusting in and out. He doesn’t start slow, already thrusting in and out in animalistic pace. You grip your sheets tightly as his hands grips your waist to hold you in place.

“Fuck, Yoongi.” you moan out as he finds your g-spot hitting in repeatedly.

“Fuck, you’re so tight. How long has it been since you’ve fucked with someone?” he asks through his gritted teeth but something is telling you he doesn’t really want to know the answer. So you shut your mouth as he keeps thrusting while growls are leaving his mouth. You’ve never heard him being vocal while having sex but fuck, the sounds are causing you to clench uncontrollably as you’re cumming around him.

“Fuck, are you already cumming?” he mocks you as he slows down letting you ride off your orgasm. He pulls out as he slaps his cock against your slit as you moan. He’s entering once again and you gasp, too sensitive.

“Yoongi, I can’t...” you whimper as he starts hitting all the right places once again.

“You can and you will. You will take everything, you bitch. That’s what you get for calling police on me.” he snaps at you as his thighs are hitting your ass while his balls are hitting your clit. You feel the amazing arousal already, too close to cum again. His words should’ve made you angry that he’s talking to you with disrespect, although, it turns you on as he slaps you once again. He pats your ass in caring manner before gripping your waist once again. You thrust your ass against him meeting him in the middle causing him to moan. His moves are getting sloppy and you know he’s getting close as he starts to loose his rhythm.

“Come on Yoongi. Cum.” you purr breathlessly loosing your control, cumming for the second time.

“Ow, holy shit, fuck, can I— I’m cumming!” he growls loud as he’s spilling his load into you, coating your walls with his cum. You moan at the feeling of being full. He fucks into you his cum before pulls out slapping you ass with his cock. You lay down, your knees too weak to hold anymore. You turn onto your back seeing Yoongi sitting on his knees. His eyes follows the way his cum is spilling out of you and he licks his lips at the sight. Amazing.

“You’re so fucked out.” he chuckles as he looks at you while you’re grinning at him like some lunatic. You see some movement in the corner causing you to sit up in shock.

“What the fuck?” you exclaim as you see his cat staring at the both of you.

“I must’ve left my balcony door opened.” Yoongi mutters as he sees his cat jumping onto your bed.

“Put her down!” you say as the cat growls at you. Is she jealous?

“Come on, go down.” he says as he pats her butt as she jumps off your bed.

“You should really close your balcony door.” you mutter as Yoongi lays down beside you pulling you onto him. It surprises you but you gladly accept it putting your head on his chest. You watch his pale hands laid in his stomach, veins visible on his arms and you bite your lips.

“Mmm, I’ll consider it after this.” he hums as you jokingly slap his chest.

“I’m serious.” you laugh as he chuckles.

“So am I, kitty.” And this time you slap him harder on his chest.

7K notes · View notes

altarflame · 4 years

Text

On Aging While Female

I’ve always felt pretty strongly that it’s ok to get old, that old women are beautiful in a really valid and striking way, blah blah blah. I still feel this way, but I am also 39 now, and I have some, uh, insights that I did not have yet when I was spouting this shit in my 20s.

For the record I don’t feel old. At all. I don’t feel like I look old, either. I have a lot of enthusiasm and energy and my sex drive takes up a massive lot of my consciousness for having so much else going on. I still get mistaken for my daughters’ sister pretty regularly, still have my patients assume I’m 10 years younger than I am fairly often. I’ve got a wide sense of possibility and of having a lot of life ahead of me, and I’ve got some perspective on 39 not even BEING old anyway, even if I 100% looked and felt it. I know too many hot, dynamic, interesting women in their 40s. They make it look good. They’re inspiring. I hope to do the same.

But ALSO. I didn’t use to get it, that like, YEAH OK being 80 and looking 80? Fine. Wondrous even. I am all the way here for the Iris Apfel, the Baddie Winkle, the Burning Lotus. Screw plastic surgery etc etc. ....but what about the transition? What about the starting to shift? This is the weird part, the struggle I didn’t really contemplate, the in between phase of like, appearing middle aged??? It involves things like, just looking tired to people. Someone assuming you’ve been sick when you haven’t. People thinking you look grumpy in a picture because of new lines that don’t go away. Realizing particular things that used to go away after being awake for awhile (like eye puffiness), are all-the-time things now. For instance, I’ve always thought long white/gray hair was gorgeous. Fuck, it’s a trend now for younger people to dye their hair that way. What I didn’t grasp was that one of my favorite things about how I look, historically, is the contrast between my very dark hair and my much lighter skin, and that with all the white clustering right at the very front, I lose a lot of that contrast. It kinda washes me out, at least comparatively. And the white hair is like, wiry wild, and goes all over the place of it’s own accord, which sounds great except that I’m trying to be a professional at least some of the time, now - one who doesn’t wear makeup or go to a salon and who still bites my nails and will only wear flats. So the fuzzy white hairs framing my forehead are not helping anything.

And so I started thinking, man, it would give me some polished cred, and it would bring that deep contrast back, to do something about this. Which is how I ended up slathering dark purple overtone on the front of my hair every few weeks - which works great by the way, all my white hairs turn dark purple and my still-dark hairs (which is the vast majority of my hairs) aren’t effected. It blends together invisibly indoors, but then the dyed hairs shine purple in sunlight. This has been going on for about a year now. It’s a good bridge between my personal aesthetics and my “part of a company” role, as a solution. The indian grandmother down the street from my last house? STUNNING with her brown skin and white hair. Truly. She had a Noxzema commercial kinda glamour that always struck me as she worked in her yard. It’s a different kind of contrast and one I can imagine rocking decades from now. Again, though, that is like.... finished? It’s not the in between place, of having 1/6 (or whatever) of dark hair be white, having them loose and randomized throughout and each bending away from the rest at odd angles. My (younger, did I mention) boyfriend is super into salt and pepper hair, he acted a little disappointed (in an encouraging, “it’s your hair” way) when I started the purple thing, and that’s something I appreciate but also I ACTUALLY RECOILED against the term “salt and pepper” and had never applied it to myself before it came out of his supportive mouth? God love him? That’s a Nana and Pa term, way back in my memory. Did I mention that my 33 year old boyfriend (not THAT much younger) works with a bunch of 19-22 year old women (....)? I’m secure enough that I’m objective, I talk about who’s hot with him, I feel like they seem young - to both of us - much more often than I feel like I seem old.

But it still makes me think about all of this more often than I would otherwise, which even in a neutral way, can turn sigh-worthy. Like his coworkers don’t have anything to do with me, but if he worked with people our ages (or older coworkers, like I mostly do) I wouldn’t be pondering all this so often because it just wouldn’t come up. Most of my friends are either exactly my age or 5-10 years older than me. And then there’s the one who’s in her 70s ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Like the other day one of his coworkers told him about a local 35 and under kink group, and luckily he automatically feels like he’d feel predatory being part of some fetish scene where he’s 33 and a bunch of the women are 18-25. But I was still double-taking inside myself for a moment, like excuse me, there are local kink groups I am too old to be a part of? Excuse the fuck out of me?

Note: I do not want to participate in local kink groups anyway.

It’s weirdly difficult to be comfortable with The Middle Part. Personally. That I can still look just like I did 7-10 years ago, IF I’ve been eating all the right things, getting plenty of sleep, it’s late in the day, and I’ve had sex recently; BUT that nobody at my job has ever seen that version of my face, because what I look like when I have to get up early and show up to print something is real goddamned different. And not what I want to be like, stuck with all the time, soon? But it is what it is. And it isn’t TERRIBLE, it’s just, thought provoking enough that I’m making this post. While glops of purple overtone sit on my head. FYI this stuff is great, it smells like mint and is deep conditioning, I really recommend it. It’s expensive if you have to wash your hair often, but I only wash my curls every few days anyway - and I’m really only using the overtone on the front - so it works out fine for me.

It’s strange to try to OWN a transitional time, to try to identify as a stage that signifies certain losses, and tends to make most people feel like they’re trying to “hold on” to various things. I’m pretty good about taking one day at a time. Being where and how I am. But I’m also gonna be, like, real sad when my titties drop. It’s almost a source of stress that they’re still amazing, because, you know, one of these times that my weight fluctuates they’re not gonna bounce back the same way. I assume. I have known a lot of moms who accepted and even promoted the normality of saggy post-nursing boobs, and that’s cool, but mine never sagged, and I’m real spoiled about it. It’s been a tepid surprise, that I think I look waaaaaay older in my business casual clothing, than I do in my personal clothing. It makes me not ever want to be seen out in work clothes unless I’m working. And that’s partially about struggling with “professional identity,” in general, but still.

Anyway - thus concludes my pondering, for today. Feel free to weigh in with messages or submissions if you feel so moved.

#personal #aging #feminism #aging while female #beauty

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edenfalling · 4 years

Text

[Fic] “Between the Saltwater and the Sea-Strand” - Naruto

Summary: Yukiko and Kakashi run an undercover mission in the coastal port of Asase during monsoon season. Rain can make anyone philosophical. Part of the Apartment Manager AU, set after The Guardian in Spite of Herself and before An Unorthodox Pedagogical Approach. (3,515 words) Note: Written for warriordrgnmage, in response to the prompt: Naruto: Hatake Kakashi/Ayakawa Yukiko set in the Way of the Apartment Manager Series Timeline. For the Bingo card: Monsoon. It is also a fill for the genprompt_bingo square monsoon. For obvious reasons, Yukiko and Kakashi are using fake names while undercover. Yukiko is Aoi, and Kakashi is Hyoujin. Also, you may notice that this is gen! See, while I am perfectly cool with people shipping Yukiko with Kakashi, that is 100% never going to become Apartment Manager canon, for many, many reasons. If anyone wants a shippy AU, you are welcome to write it yourself, because I flat-out CANNOT. Seriously, even if I tried, you wouldn't want the results. They would be awful. Trust me on that. --------------------------------------------- Between the Saltwater and the Sea-Strand --------------------------------------------- Kuwa Natsume looked up as Yukiko slung herself in through the office window in a spray of rain, raised one eyebrow, and then looked back down to her account books. "Misplaced your shadow?" "Does anyone have a shadow in this weather?" Yukiko said wryly as she shut the window, reducing the sound of rain from deafening to merely incessant and inescapable. "I thought I was used to rain, but coastal monsoons are something new, yeah?" "We get that a lot from inlanders," Kuwa-san said as she drew a sharp line under a column of numbers and wrote a sum. "You get used to it, and it's easier for shinobi -- you have all that fancy ninpou and whatnot. But in all honesty, Aoi-san, where is your partner? I can't finalize your supply contract without both of your signatures." Yukiko made a face as she combed water out of her black-dyed hair. "Is it that important to be fussy when this is all ninety percent illegal anyway?"

"The more illegal, the more important to nail down all the details," Kuwa-san said. "What court would adjudicate the case if you sign alone and Hyoujin-san decides next week that he won't pay for his share?" Yukiko personally agreed with Kuwa-san's caution, but her cover persona would probably make one further push. So, "Oh, don't worry about him. Hyoujin trusts me completely--" Kuwa-san raised her eyebrow again. "--nearly completely when it comes to contracts. What's the point of having a partner if you can't split your responsibilities?" "I would say partners split focus, not responsibility. If you don't maintain some degree of joint liability, what's to stop one of you from turning on the other?" "Ethics?" Yukiko said with a winning smile, and allowed herself to laugh at Kuwa-san's carefully calculated answering smirk. "Fair enough. Let me look over the terms and I'll drag him over here to pretend he knows how to use a brush sometime before-- when do you close today?" "Six." "Before six. Actually, let's say before five, yeah? He's not that hard to track or sweet-talk if you know what you're doing." Yukiko held out her now-dry hand for the supply contract and wiggled her fingers until Kuwa-san passed it across her desk. She retreated to the broad windowsill and began flicking through the pages. It wasn't complicated, just a dead drop of miscellaneous dry goods in neutral territory that would hopefully establish her and Kakashi as reliable clients and Kuwa-san as a reliable supplier -- a standard way for missing-nin and gray market merchants to feel each other out. If the goods wound up as a cache for a long-term Leaf-nin mission, well, nothing in the contract specified that Yukiko and Kakashi had to be the ones to make the pickup. And their cash was perfectly legitimate Fire Country tender, so as far as Kuwa-san was concerned, there was nothing to worry about. (Yukiko was fairly certain there was nothing to worry about on Konoha's end of the bargain either. Kuwa-san had a rock-solid reputation for following through on her contracts. Nobody survived twenty years in the gray market without either keeping their word almost religiously or spending a fortune on bodyguards, and Kuwa-san barely bothered to pay for warehouse security.) "Where do you source kunai?" she asked as the rain's intensity kicked up a notch, beating against the windowpane in a nearly solid sheet of water. "Wind Country," Kuwa-san said without looking up from her accounts. "Earth Country's metallurgy is better, but the border tariffs aren't usually worth the slight increase in quality. I could change that if you're willing to pay the difference." Yukiko feigned consideration. "I don't care, but Hyoujin can get picky about steel composition. What would the increase be for this number of kunai and senbon?" Kuwa-san named a figure. Yukiko made an exaggerated expression of disgust. "No thanks! He can whine and make do. I'm not paying that much more for what, a half percent less chance of flaws? It's not like anyone expects kunai to last anyway. Use 'em and lose 'em and buy some more, that's what I say. Or steal whatever's left from your targets! That's economy, yeah?" "Officially, I can't encourage any behavior that would reduce my chance to sell you more equipment, Aoi-san. Unofficially? Yes, that's very economical. If only all my clients were equally practical." "Eh, there's all kinds of ways to be practical. What we're good at is mostly spying and killing -- it's more efficient to hire a ninja than do that stuff in-house, yeah? Just like you're good at moving stuff around to where we need it, so it's more efficient to hire you instead of us trying to figure all that stuff out from scratch. It's win-win, is how I see it." Yukiko tapped the papers to shuffle them into a neat pile, then handed them back to Kuwa-san. "That looks fine on my ends. Me and Hyoujin will be back sometime this afternoon to sign and pay the next installment." "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Aoi-san," Kuwa-san said. Yukiko grinned and dove backward out the window, into the pounding rain. --------------- Kakashi was lurking in one of Asase's numerous quayside bars, most of which were run out of the back doors of warehouses and also did a brisk side business in assorted seafood dishes. Rain pelted down on the roof tiles in a clattering racket that Yukiko found personally soothing but professionally irritating -- it was a lot harder to eavesdrop through the constant noise, not to mention the complications it added to genjutsu. She and Kakashi had spent their first night in Asase mutually grousing about the unpredictability of electric ninjutsu in waterlogged conditions and the difficulty of filtering ambient sounds out of illusions. Today Kakashi was sipping a bowl of lobster broth through a long, curved straw that vanished into the deep blue folds of the scarf he'd used to shroud his face. To the casual eye he was staring out an open window toward the rainswept harbor, his oversized gray hood restricting his range of sight and hearing, but Yukiko followed the combined angle of his feet and chopsticks to their targets: a trio of young missing-nin drinking in the far corner, defaced forehead protectors proclaiming their renunciation of Kiri. They were small-time, only a few months out on their own each with barely a name and one line of description in the latest bingo book editions, but anyone willing to go against the Bloody Mist was worth a second look. Whether this particular investigation would conclude in a job offer or an assassination was still up in the air. "Heya, Hyoujin. Thinking of roping in some new blood for larger contracts?" Yukiko asked as she dropped into a seat across from him (back to their targets) and set her ramen down on the unsanded wood of the table. Kakashi shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Three's better than two for flexibility, but more than four on a mission gets awkward without ranks and a chain of command. Nobody who leaves a village wants to go back to those kind of restrictions." Yukiko tilted her hand. "Eh, there's assholes on power trips and there's division of labor -- not necessarily the same thing. I let you take the lead in a fight and you let me take the lead on retrievals. That's just practical, yeah? But we wouldn't throw each other away. Shinobi are tools, sure, but if you don't look out for your teammates, how can you trust they'll look out for you?" Kakashi shrugged again and continued sipping his broth. Targets hear? Yukiko signed under the guise of snapping apart her chopsticks. Yes, Kakashi signed back as he lifted his bowl and drank the last of his broth under the shadow of his hood and scarf. No bite. Yukiko slurped a mouthful of noodles and nicely salted broth. "Grouch. Well, whatever we do for future contracts, today we have to sign off on the supply contract with Kuwa-san. We'll need the goods for that thing in Tea Country and she wants both of our names in writing." "Sign for me," Kakashi said "Tried that. She won't bite." "So fake it. Illusions are your thing, Aoi; pretend I'm there and forge my seal." Yukiko slurped another mouthful of noodles in her best imitation of Naruto's sloppy manners. "Oh, sure. Lying is the best way to establish trust for future contracts, yeah?" "She's a civilian, how would she know?" "Not the point. C'mon, Hyoujin. You won't melt in the rain. Let's go make nice with Kuwa-san and I'll make it real worth your while." She ran the edge of her sandal up the side of Kakashi's shin and gave him her best imitation of her cousin Yura's flirtatious smile. Kakashi twitched. Yukiko slapped the table and let her smile shade into a more genuine grin. "Ha, I win." "Fine. Finish your soup and let's go drown ourselves. Again." "Eh, getting soaked's not that bad. Especially when you've got a partner around to help you peel out of all your soggy clothes and warm up when you get home, yeah?" Kakashi twitched again, then rallied and let a tiny arc of electricity jump between two raised fingers. "And then get wet again?" Yukiko held onto her cover persona by the skin of her teeth. "Now you're talking my language. All right, I'm done. Let's go give a little now so we get more back later." --------------- Signing the contract with Kuwa-san took all of twenty minutes -- half of which was entirely for show, as Kakashi lived up to his cover persona and whined about the kunai quality until Yukiko overruled him -- after which they had the afternoon and evening entirely to themselves and a conveniently established reason to retreat to their rented room and lock themselves inside Yukiko's best privacy genjutsu. "We can't stay longer than another day now that the contract's signed," Kakashi said as he flashed his hands through the seals for a quick and subtle bit of ninjutsu that left their clothes and skin completely dry without spilling any excess heat. "Do you think the targets will be receptive if we approach them openly?" Yukiko shook her head, grimaced at the awkward motion of her still-tangled hair, and began working the tie out of her ponytail. "No chance. I don't know if they'd even be open to a joint mission with Aoi and Hyoujin at this point. Sumire wants security and Kenichi likes profit, but they're still raw enough to see tigers in every other shadow, and Eriko's almost too paranoid to make deals with someone as solid and non-threatening as Kuwa-san. On the bright side, they're wildly unlikely to join up with anyone else." Kakashi slumped back onto the futon with an annoyed set to his eyebrow. "And since they haven't moved against Fire Country assets, there's nothing to justify an assassination without a contract. I hate leaving loose ends." Yukiko dropped down to sit cross-legged beside him, fingers slowly working through her tangles. "Think of it as a guaranteed vacation in a few months. Our agents will send word the next time our trio pass through Asase, Aoi and Hyoujin turn up to sign a new contract with Kuwa-san, and we sound them out for a joint mission. They ought to be the right balance of calmer and hungrier by then, and we'll get a better reading after a week or so of close contact." "Ugh." "Yeah, yeah, talking to people is terrible and scary." Kakashi rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in his arms, the soft, voluminous fabric of his hood blocking all apparent lines of sight. "Only the living." Yukiko froze, then sighed and flopped onto her back with her arms above her head. "Yeah. The dead talk back just as much, but it's still so much easier." "Sometimes I wonder how many people in Konoha would qualify for a 'Lone Survivor of My Genin Team, Including My Teacher' club," Kakashi said into the futon. "Then I stop wondering because the math is too depressing. But we could start a private chapter just for us." "Sometimes I hate that you trust me enough to say things like that," Yukiko said to the ceiling. "Then I tell myself not to be an idiot, because it means I get to say equally horrible things to you. Like that I'm pretty sure if we recruit our targets, at least one of them will be dead within two years, and I'm not sure that balances the odds that all three of them will die within one year if they keep working as missing-nin. After all, there's always a chance they might retire and start a farm." "Says the woman who got so bored with civilian life she jumped into a chuunin exam the minute Sandaime offered her a chance." "Says the Anbu assassin." Kakashi snorted. "We're all so fucked up." "Yeah." "Might as well be fucked up with other people who understand." "Yeah." They lay in silence for some time, listening to the steady thrum of rain on the roof tiles above. The air was warm and sticky, and the breeze eeling through the open window smelled faintly green beneath the ever-present fish-salt-rot odor of the sea. "Let's accidentally-on-purpose bump into the targets tomorrow morning, buy them breakfast, and float the idea of a joint mission later in the year," Yukiko said eventually. "Might as well plant seeds when the ground is soft." "You pay." "It's all mission funds in the end." "To clarify: you handle all the human interactions. I'll stand behind you and look vaguely menacing so they'll think at least one of us is competent." "To clarify: you'll look vaguely constipated, while I impress them with my social competency. Networking is an important skill for missing-nin." "I object to that assessment." "Which one of us has experience making business deals directly with civilians instead of through the mission office?" Kakashi flicked a gust of wind at her, re-tangling her hair. Yukiko pulled out Aoi's grin as she kicked Kakashi gently in the ankle. "Ninjutsu isn't a valid argument, which means I win. Your forfeit is fixing my hair." "Having teammates and friends is a terrible choice and I should never have made it a second time," Kakashi grumbled, but he sat up and tapped Yukiko's shoulder. "Turn around and hand me your comb." --------------- They hadn't been able to slap any chakra tags on the targets -- Eriko's paranoia was too thorough for even the subtlest of genjutsu threads to make it past her guard longer than a couple hours -- but Yukiko had gotten a decent sense of their chakra signatures over a series of not-quite-encounters during the past week. It helped to have rooms in the same lodging house, of course. Kakashi took first watch, leaving Yukiko to spend the back half of the night with a manual on steam heating systems and the interminable patter of rain. Eventually the sky began to lighten from matte black to flat gray and her spider-light sweep across the building and surrounding streets caught movement from their targets. "Time to go," she said as she stood. Kakashi remained unmoving until she nudged him with her foot, secure that he was actually awake and wouldn't strike her in reflexive defense. "I remember pretending to be a morning person when I was too young to know better," Kakashi grumbled into the futon. "It was a terrible idea then and it's a terrible idea now. Nobody should be awake before the sun is halfway up the sky." "Unfortunately the targets set the schedule," Yukiko said as she tucked her book away into a holding scroll. "Come on, put on your face and let's get to work." Kakashi flicked a minor wind jutsu in her direction as he rolled to his feet, but Yukiko had braided her hair so this time it stayed secure and untangled. "I wonder if I should switch to bulky scarves as an off-duty option. It's easier to eat and drink through the gaps between layers than to yank a mask up and down very fast or while people are looking away, and people have been much less interested in Hyoujin's face than they tend to be in mine." "That's because Hyoujin doesn't have a reputation. There's no glory in pulling down some random missing-nin's scarf." Yukiko grinned at Kakashi's affronted eyebrow and slipped out the window ahead of another wind jutsu. It wasn't hard to find their targets today: apparently Sumire's morning grumpiness had won over Eriko's paranoia and the trio of former Mist-nin were huddled near a breakfast yatai, half-sheltered from the incessant rain, and haggling over prices with the male half of the married couple behind the counter. Yukiko couldn't have asked for a better opening if she'd tried. She eeled her way up to the counter and grinned at the woman scraping down the stove from whatever she'd last been grilling. "Two miso and two fish on rice -- salmon for me, mackerel for my partner," she said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at Kakashi, who was standing, smugly dry, under a wind jutsu shaped into an invisible umbrella. "Oh, and how much extra for nori with the salmon?" The woman named a price. Yukiko rolled her eyes. "I hate bargaining on an empty stomach, so I'll just pay nine tenths of that and we'll all pretend you're not robbing me blind, yeah?" She glanced sideways to where the three young missing-nin were still arguing with the other cook. "I hate listening to arguments on an empty stomach, too, so how about I cover these loudmouths, too? Or at least the difference between what they're willing to pay and what you're asking." "Deal," the man said, interrupting the mockery of persuasion Kenichi was currently attempting. "Pay up and thank the nice lady for making sure I don't turn you away unfed." Eriko slapped her hand over Sumire's wallet. "No. It's poisoned." Yukiko rolled her eyes again. "There's a difference between reasonable caution and paranoia, yeah? I want a peaceful breakfast and our last mission went well, so I'm willing to pay a little extra to smooth things over. It's not like it's that much money. And hey, if it'll make you feel better, consider it a-- a-- Hyoujin, what's the word I want?" "Why would I know? You handle contracts," Kakashi said as he slipped a bite of mackerel through the folds of his scarf. "Ugh, why are we still partners?" "Because I'm very good with knives." "Point!" Yukiko slapped the yatai counter and turned back to the trio of missing-nin. "Anyway, breakfast. You're right that nothing comes free, so let's say that I'm paying for you to consider a joint mission sometime in the future, if me and Hyoujin have a line on a job that needs more than three people and we're kicking around the same market, yeah?" Sumire blinked. Kenichi looked like she'd slapped his face with a whole salmon. Eriko scowled and said, "That's not how contracts work." "Yes it is. It's called a-- a-- it's an option, that's the word! You can ask any of the suppliers in town, they'll tell you. I'm paying for the chance to run a job past you, because anyone who makes it out of Hidden Mist is worth a trial run, yeah? You don't have to accept. You just have to listen. And now I'm done with this conversation because I don't like having arguments on an empty stomach any more than I like listening to them. Don't die, and me and Hyoujin will see you around." She grabbed her rice bowl, her cup of miso, and her disposable bamboo chopsticks and kicked Kakashi's ankle to make him turn around and stop staring creepily at the trio of missing-nin through the folds of his scarf. Bite? she asked in handsign masked by a low-level illusion -- the chakra for which ought to be covered by Kakashi's own completely explicable umbrella jutsu. Maybe, Kakashi signed back, then added aloud, "What do you want to do for our next vacation, if this job goes as well as the last one?" Yukiko shrugged elaborately as she swallowed a mouthful of fish and rice. "Eh, there's worse places than the ocean. And by then, the rain should be over for the year. I like water a lot better when it stays flat on the ground than when it's trying to crawl up my nose and into my ears, yeah?" "That's because you have no imagination," Kakashi drawled. Yukiko considered countering with her own innuendo, but no; they were leaving Asase. They could leave Aoi and Hyoujin behind with the rain and introspection and return to more familiar ground. So she poked Kakashi with her chopsticks instead, and laughed when he neatly dodged the strike. As they walked past Kuwa-san's warehouse, bickering companionably, a watery ray of sun pierced briefly through the clouds over the storm-wracked sea and laid a path west to the green reaches of home. --------------------------------------------- End of Story --------------------------------------------- Well, that took significantly longer than it needed to, but I won in the end. \o/ Also, Kuwa Natsume (from Whose Allegiance Is Ruled by Expedience) is now officially part of Apartment Manager continuity. You're welcome. :D

#liz writes stuff #mini ficlet prompt meme #naruto manga #apartment manager au #ayakawa yukiko #hatake kakashi

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cagestark · 5 years

Note

Ok here's my prompt: college winterironspider, established winterspider and they want to do a trio costume with Tony as a way to show him they want him 💕💕

A late Halloween Prompt whipped up in thanks for boosting my friend’s rpg. Thank you! (Also you all say that Halloween is a 365 day event so 3 days late shouldn’t stop you right? ;)

Warnings: homophobia including slurs, some mention of smuttiness but nothing explicit, foul language. WinterIronSpider. 3.6k.

Tony flings open the dorm room door, already toeing off his sodden shoes. New England weather could turn on dime, and it had a habit of turning unfavorable on the 15 minute trek from the Chem labs back to his dorm room. His shirt is sticking to his skin, jeans heavy with rain. He can feel his hair, getting just this side of too long for how Howard likes it, dripping down the back of his neck.

Mother Nature hates him, and she’s not the only one, because Peter Parker is lounging on Tony’s roommate’s bed. Bucky is nowhere in sight, but the bathroom door is closed, so deductive reasoning is barely required. They’ve probably been fucking; the room has that musty scent that makes him twitch in his wet pants. Parker lays among the mussed sheets and blankets like the pillow princess he must be, curls riotous, beaming at the sight of Tony.

“Hey, Tony,” says Parker in the softest, cracking voice that Tony’s ever heard come from a nineteen-year-old. He blinks dazed, whiskey-colored eyes. “Y’re all wet.”

“I know. Where’s Barnes?”

“Bathroom.”

Tony hums. Barnes liked to take ridiculously long showers, conditioning his ridiculously long hair, moisturizing his ridiculously huge and attractive body. The guy was the antithesis to his boyfriend, large where Parker was small, dark where he was light, brooding where Parker was a goddamn ray of sunshine sneaking in through a crack in the curtains and blinding Tony. With Barnes in the shower, Tony is stuck shivering in his wet clothes, wishing he’d stayed out in the downpour and smoked a cigarette. Instead, he just sits on his bed—his sheets have seen worse than some rainwater. Opening up his bookbag, he sees that his textbooks are unscathed. Thank fucking God.

All the time, he feels Parker’s eyes on him. The kid is too pretty for his own good—both he and his boyfriend. When he came to MIT, he had envisioned dozens of nightmare scenarios regarding roommates. Maybe they’d steal his clothes, eat his food, leave their hair in the drain. Instead, he’d gotten a goddamn Calvin Klein model and his twink. Sometimes, Tony had to lay awake facing the wall on his side of the dorm room, pretending he didn’t hear the breathy giggles and dirty, foul whispers as the two fooled around while their roommate was ‘sleeping’. It left him unbearably hard, determined not to rut into the mattress lest they find out that he was still awake (and stop, God, please don’t stop—).

It was all very, very fucked up: how much Tony liked them; how much it made him hate them.

“You’re gonna catch pneumonia,” Parker says.

“What do you want me to do about it, kid?” Tony asks. He’s only three years older than Parker, but the kid seems so young—the enthusiasm, the naivete, the buoyancy. Tony can’t help but call him kid.

Parker raises his eyebrows. “It’s your room. Take off your clothes.”

Tony stops where he’s flipping through his textbook. He lets it fall closed with a thud, assessing Parker’s gaze. He looks innocent enough, maybe a little sleepy, but he wasn’t dumb by any means (a full ride to MIT proved that). Surely he had to know how that sounded, for him to tell his boyfriend’s roommate to undress in front of him.

“In front of you, Parker? I’ll take the pneumonia.”

The kid just grins, shaking his head. “Whatever. Are you going to the Halloween Party at Delta Psi?”

“Everybody is going to the Halloween Party at Delta Psi,” Tony answers flatly.

“Are you going to wear a costume?”

“Fuck no.”

“Because you have no idea what to wear, right.”

Tony rolls his eyes. “You’re a shit, Parker. So, what if I don’t? I’m an engineer; what do I need to dress up for?”

“I’m dressing Bucky; I could dress you too.”

“Yeah,” Tony snarks. “That’s just what I want.”

The bathroom door opens. Bucky appears in nothing but a towel around his hips. His abs violate state and federal laws—or at least if they don’t, they should. His hair is wet and up in a bun. Eyes like the ocean iced over drag up and down Tony’s body, making him feel heated despite the goosebumps on his skin. Tony is keenly aware of how his nipples have hardened, somewhere between the icy downpour and the sight of Parker looking fucked out on the twin-sized bed.

“Took you long enough,” Tony mutters. He grabs some clothes from the drawer and disappears into the bathroom, cranking the shower (and the drain is spotless because Barnes is a fucking good guy who cleans up after himself, the asshole) up to hellish proportions and peeling his wet clothes from his body. On the other side of the door are warm voices that are easy enough to tune out, or to tune into when he’s standing under the burning spray with a hand on his cock.

When he gets out of the shower, Parker is gone back to his own dorm. Bucky is eating a bowl of cereal, still shirtless. The words come out of Tony’s mouth before he can stop them: “Barnes, I think your boyfriend hit on me when you were in the shower. I just thought you might want to know that.”

Barnes stops chewing. He’s got the best poker face Tony has ever seen, no hint of anger or jealousy or surprise. His jaw closes again with an obscene, sugary crunch. After he swallows, he says, “Thanks, Tony. You’re a good friend.”

The first package arrives two days later. It’s for Tony, with no return address. He rolls his eyes—that’s just like his mother to be so dramatic as to not even say she’s sending him anything nor leave her mark. When he opens it though, there are no deliciously baked treats, no heartfelt (maybe a little distant) cards with carefully crafted handwriting, no trinkets that are hideous which he will be forced to cherish. Instead, it’s the ugliest pair of pants he’s ever seen: straight-legged and a size too big for him and a dirty gray.

“The fuck, mom,” Tony mutters. He tosses them aside. “Really off your game, crazy old bat.”

But when Barnes gets out of class and spots the box sitting on Tony’s desk, he points to it. “Did you get the first part of your costume?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your costume?” Bucky enunciates more, the fucking asshole, like Tony didn’t hear him the first time. “Peter told me that you said you were cool with him getting you a costume. He gets really fucking into Halloween. I saw this picture of him up in his Aunt’s apartment in Queens—”

Tony holds up a hand. “Stop. Rewind. I in no way told Parker he could dress me up for Halloween. Period.”

Barnes just raises his eyebrows. “That’s not what Peter thinks.”

“I couldn’t care less what he thinks, I’m not some doll for him to play with.”

“Next time he’s over, you can tell him so.” The guy’s pale eyes fucking glitter—glitter—like he knows that’s not going to go over well for Tony. And maybe it won’t, maybe Tony’s going to have to break some fucking hearts, but there’s no chance in hell he’s going to be caught dead in a costume, especially not one picked by a doe-eyed little twink like Parker.

But when Parker arrives for his date with Bucky two hours later, pink-cheeked from the windy cold, he’s got another little box tucked under his arm that he thrusts into Tony’s hands.

Tony thrusts it back. “Nope. Don’t want it.”

Parker frowns, looking up at Tony with those flat brows curled in confusion. “What do you mean? It’s for your costume.”

Barnes watches everything through the reflection in the mirror he keeps by his bed. He’s currently combing his hair like a schmuck (fuck, he looks so handsome), mouth pressed into a flat line, though Tony suspects that it’s more from holding back laughter than expressing any discontent. Tony chooses a point on the wall above Parker’s head and stares at it. The kid’s got eyes like vortexes, and Tony isn’t getting sucked in, no sir, not today.

“No costume. I’m not wearing a costume.”

“Sure you are, I’ve already bought the stuff. It’s started to arrive—did you get the pants?”

“Pants? Is that what they’re called? They’re hideous—” Barnes makes a noise in the corner that has Tony throwing a fuming glare his way. “I’m not going to wear them, or anything else. So return the stuff, kid.”

Parker stares down at the small package in his hands. “I—I can’t. I had it expedited so that it would get here in time for Halloween. No returns.”

“No re—? Well, fuck. That’s not my problem. I didn’t ask you to buy me stuff for a costume. What the hell were you going to dress me up as, anyway? A corpse from the 80’s?”

When Parker looks up, his eyes are a little misty. He rubs at one with his forearm, probably scratching himself with the wool from his coat. “It was gonna be a surprise.”

And yep. There it is. That does Tony in, because as much as Tony wishes he was the no good cruel piece of shit that plenty of people around MIT and the New England area like to label him as, he’s a sucker for tears. He’s seen his mom cry too many times, it just—it gets to him.

Tony snatches the package out of the kid’s hands. He points a finger at him. “No cartoon characters. No cross-dressing. No dorky inanimate objects, like a fork or a wet floor sign. Got it? Swear to God, kid, if you embarrass me in front of the whole school, I will never forgive you.”

“Why would I want to embarrass you?” Parker asks. He holds out a pinky. “It’s not embarrassing. Promise.”

“Fuck your pinky, man. Go on your date. Get out—you too Barnes, I don’t want to see either of your faces for like, two hours or something. Swear to God. I’m at the end of my rope, do you hear me? The end of my fucking rope.”

In the box is a scarf, long and plain and red. Tony rolls his eyes and sets it with the pants.

That night when he returns from his evening class, he finds that Barnes and his boyfriend have dragged all the blankets off of Bucky’s bed and onto the floor creating the warmest, coziest looking nest Tony’s ever seen. It looks like a slice of Heaven after coming in from the brutal cold. The best spot of all looks to be somewhere in between Barnes who is sprawled on his back, one arm behind his head and the other outstretched, and Peter who lays with his head cushioned on that ridiculous bicep. The size different between the two of them makes Tony’s mouth go dry.

On the wall, a Star Wars movie plays: The Empire Strikes Back.

Parker leans his head up, blinking at the sight of Tony in the doorway. He smiles, so soft and sweet that it hurts. “Hey Tony,” he says. He pats the blanket beside him. “Want to join us? There’s room.”

Tony hasn’t the slightest idea what to make of that. Not even a little one. Doesn’t Parker know how awkward that would be? For Tony to just cuddle in a pillow fort with Barnes and his boyfriend? Doesn’t Parker know how much that would hurt—

“No, I’ve got somewhere to be,” Tony lies. He steps out the door he had just came through and shuts it behind him. The library is always open on campus, and Tony falls asleep bent over the table there, cheek pressed into a book about the latest breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence.

The next day arrives a plain white t-shirt in a plastic bag. Begrudgingly, Tony tries it on. It clings to his chest and the gentle six-pack he sports (nothing like Barnes who spends five days a week at the on-campus gym and drinks protein shakes in the morning). Turning sideways, he eyes himself in the mirror. At least this doesn’t look bad, certainly not with the way it clings to his biceps, but he will be fucking freezing.

Barnes comes in and catches Tony checking himself out in the mirror. For a moment, Tony thinks that maybe Barnes is checking him out, too, but—

“Looks good,” Bucky purrs. Making fun of Tony, surely.

Tony flips him the bird, but the guy just laughs.

“What is he dressing you up as?” Tony asks. Purely out of curiosity. Knowing how whipped Barnes was, Peter could dress him up as anything and he’d take it. Even something embarrassing or emasculating.

Barnes just rolls his eyes. “You know him. It’s a secret.”

The comradery with which he says it, like of course Tony knows how Peter is—something about it itches at the back of Tony’s brain, a mosquito that has landed and started to suck at his blood. But it’s no surprise that Barnes and his boyfriend are weirdos who like to spend more time having ‘dates’ in their dorm room with Tony rather than at a restaurant or the movies or any fucking where else.

But, like all things that Tony doesn’t want to wonder about, he pushes to the back of his brain.

The next day, it is a denim jacket and hideous combat boots.

“Fashion homicide,” Tony mutters.

The day before Halloween brings Tony a red flannel shirt.

“Goddamnit,” he says, holding it up so Barnes can see. “What is he dressing me up as, a lesbian?”

It isn’t until he’s assembling it all in the bathroom that he puts it together—and okay. It’s not bad. Bender was easily the coolest character in the Breakfast Club, though his fashion sense was nothing like Tony’s. The layers—white shirt under flannel under denim—are a little stifling, but out in the cold fall air, it would be perfect. He even combs his hair back.

All in all, Parker could have done far, far worse.

But when he comes out of the bathroom and finds the two of them in the dorm room, he sees that Parker has done worse.

Matching costumes.

Parker is Brian through and through. He looks like a total scrub in his khakis with Nike sneakers on, the long-sleeved sweater that clings to his thin frame. A ballpoint pen is tucked behind his ear, wrist-watch circling the delicate little wrist, and to top it off, a pair of sunglasses are looped over the collar of his sweater.

And Barnes? Forgone are his goth threads. He sits on his bed wearing blue jeans that hug his broad thighs, the whitest shoes that Tony’s ever seen, and a goddamn blue wifebeater that shows off his arms, both heavily muscled. Folded on his pillow is a letterman jacket, and Tony doesn’t even like jocks, but his cock twitches at the sight, thinking of slipping it down off of Bucky’s bare shoulders.

“No—we match,” Tony says.

Peter lights up. “Yes! You got it! The Breakfast Club is a classic.”

“I should have said no matching costumes. We look like—” like boyfriends, Tony thinks, “—like queers. I’m not going out like this.”

“Watch the slurs you throw around,” Barnes says, his mouth an unhappy, flat line.

Tony winces. “I—I didn’t mean it like that. But this is taking it to a whole new level that I’m not comfortable with. Not to mention, three gays all going out in matching costumes? Isn’t that a little suggestive?”

“Suggestive of what?” Parker asks. He’s holding fingerless gloves—the last part of Tony’s costume. It’s the cherry on top. With the cigarettes that Tony plans to be chainsmoking thanks to the stress of this whole event, he’ll be method acting his character all night.

“Come on. Suggestive, suggestive. Like we’re all—” Tony mashes his hands together.

Barnes reaches out, hand flat, arm flexing nicely. He doesn’t even look at Parker and Parker doesn’t look at him, but they slap hands in a high five.

“Am I speaking in tongues? I’m not fucking leaving like this; I’m not going to have the whole campus thinking I’m your loser third wheel.” It would be too painful, when there’s a shameful part of him that would gladly be the third wheel to them, that’s desperate to be between them. This feels like the crudest parody.

“You wouldn’t be,” Peter says.

“Pete, maybe we shouldn’t do this right now,” Barnes interrupts.

“No, Bucky, this was supposed to—supposed to be cute!” Parker turns away from them, towards the wall by Tony’s bed. He drops the gloves there and crosses his arms. It would be petulant if it wasn’t so heartbroken, the curve of his shoulders, his head drooping down morosely. Instead, the kid just looks like he’s trying to hold himself together.

Tony sighs. It takes Herculean strength not to roll his eyes. “Kid. I’m sorry. Clearly this meant a lot to you. Fuck knows why, but—”

Peter turns around, eyes tearful and flashing with anger. He reaches up to his ear, fiddling with the lobe with trembling fingers. Grabbing Tony’s wrist, he puts a little diamond earing in his palm, just like Claire did with Bender.

“What’s this?” Tony says, shoulders hunching. “My ears aren’t pierced.”

“Yes they are,” Peter says through his teeth. “You probably got them pierced five or so years ago, but your dad was an asshole about it and made you take them out. It’s been ages and the holes are hard to see but they still won’t close.”

Tony blanches. He can still hear the way Howard demeaned him, spent the whole dinner talking his Tony’s mother about how ridiculous the boy looked, how it gave people ideas about him, because pierced ears are for women and the only men who have them are faggots. “How the fuck do you even know that?”

“Do you think I’m dumb?” This is the loudest Peter’s ever been, his usual fragile voice replaced by this one that is sure and angry and doesn’t crack. “One: I spend every moment that I’m not looking at Bucky looking at you. I’ve got eyes; I know what a hole in an ear looks like, thanks. Two: your dad is an asshole about everything. He’s probably the reason why you don’t drink mixed drinks, why you call us queers even though you’re bi, why you lie and say you’re going to spend the whole holiday break at home but then come back and spend it here alone in the dorm. Because your dad is an asshole.

“He’s probably the reason why you’re such a fucking dunce too. A thick skull must run in the family, because Bucky and I have been hitting on you the entire semester and even though you go into the bathroom to jerk off every time you come back to the dorm and catch us making out, you won’t make a move or, or let us make the move, and—”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Tony says, his own voice rising to a shout. “You’ve been doing all this bullshit on purpose? Blowing Barnes when you know I’m awake? Skipping around here in your underwear because, what, you know it turns me on? Because you want to out me? Am I a fucking joke to you?”

“No,” Peter shouts, slapping a hand flat on Tony’s chest. “We like you, fuckface!”

The force of Peter’s tiny hand barely makes Tony sway, but the words—those might as well knock him to his knees. He feels like the scarf around his neck is on too tight, like there’s not enough air in the room. He licks his lips, his eyes moving between Peter’s red-rimmed eyes and nose (he’s an ugly crier) and Bucky who is still sitting on the twin bed watching them, his face white and afraid.

“You like me?” Tony asks. “What does that even mean? You two are together.”

“It means,” Peter says, taking Tony’s fist, coaxing open the anxious fingers to wear the diamond stud earring still rests, cutting into his palm. Peter presses his thumb against it, tenderly. “That we like you. We want you. To get to know you. You—and not your hang-ups.”

Tony shakes his head, taking his hand from Peter’s burning grip. “I—I can’t do that. My dad—”

“—is an asshole,” Bucky mutters.

Tony snorts softly. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re not wrong.”

“We don’t have to go home with you at Thanksgiving or Christmas or ever, if you don’t want,” Peter says. “We just want a chance. We want you to do something for yourself. Not your dad. Does that make sense?”

The silence lingers around the room. Somewhere in the distance, Halloween music is playing, ghoulish noises and moans and witch-like cackling. Mouth dry, Tony takes the backing off of the stud earing and reaches up, feeling for the holes in the lobes of his ears. It’s been years since he wore them, and his hands are trembling so badly that he can’t even find them—

“I’ll help you,” Peter says tenderly, taking the earring. He has it in in a moment and leans back, taking Tony in from head to toe.

“Well?” Tony asks. He clears his throat—there’s something stuck in it, some lump that he has to swallow away. He holds out his arms. “How do I look?”

“Gay,” Bucky says from the corner, smiling.

“That’s it!” Tony shouts. “I’m not going! Thanks for nothing! I’m out!”

“Tony,” Peter groans. “He was just joking, he’s—”

But Tony is already stalking to the dorm room door and pulling it open. He stops to glance over his shoulder at Bucky and Peter who are watching him with wide eyes. “Well?” he says. “I’m all for being fashionably late, but if we don’t get going, there’s not going to be anything left of the keg—”

The two scramble for their jackets and follow him out the door.

#winterironspider #tw: homophobia #tw: f slur #tw: q slur #college!winterironspider #Halloween prompt #cagewrites #longfic

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theartofbeinganeldar · 5 years

Text

The Art of Being an Eldar: Legolas x Reader Chapter 4

Summary: After discovering that you were stuck in the fantasy world you had no recollection of, your memory was jogged after weeks of depression: this land was Middle-Earth. A council of wizards and Elves was summoned, and Thranduil expressed his wishes of wanting you gone. Elrond agreed to take you in and Gandalf was excited to share in his adventures with someone who knew nothing of the world, quite like a Hobbit, but you wanted to stay in Mirkwood, with Legolas and Tauriel, of which you'd made friends with. Legolas leaves in three days to locate the orcs who enroach upon Mirkwood's northern flank, and the council sees this as a chance for you to prove your worth. If you fail, you are to leave Mirkwood...

Chapter No.: Chapter 4

Key: [Y/N]=Your Name [F/N]= Friend's Name [B/N]= Bro's Name [S/N]= Sis's Name [M/N]= Mom's Name [e/c]= eye color [h/c]= hair color [s/c]= skin color

Notes: I want to thank all my readers for their feedback, likes, and reblogs! I'm only on Chapter 4 and all of you combined have made me feel really good about my writing. I've gotta admit, I was a little scared of going through with this multi-chapter fic at first, because while a few people really liked and enjoyed my stories on DeviantArt, they never got the reception The Art of Being an Eldar has. I just thought my writing sucked for the most part. Thank you all so much!

Warnings: Fluff, angst, graphic depictions of gore and violence (Cuz of orc battles y'know?), more angst, slow burn, some light depression in the first few chapters, some amnesia about Middle-Earth because the Valar say you're not supposed to have foresight, hard-core language, feels, lots and lots of feels, mentions of NSFW content, maybe some eventual NSFW content, LGTBQ+ characters, Thranduil being a jackass at first because he's fabulous, Legolas being a hot edgy prince that nobody can handle, Kili being an innocent bean, Hobbits being smol innocent beans, except for Bilbo 'cause he's been through some tough shit, Bard being dad of the year, Thorin being one dumbass boi, The fucking Silmarillion, awesome dragons, awesome Nazgul, awesome scenery, awesome stuff in general, Elrond isn't listened to by anybody, confused Aragorn is confused, Denethor's a bitch as always, brace yourself for creepy as fuck Cream of Wormtongue Grima Wormtongue, Boromir lives, Gandalf. (yes these are all legit warnings don't judge me.)

Pairings/Ships: Legolas x Reader, Legolas x you, Aragorn x Arwen, Faramir x Eowyn, Thranduil x Elvenqueen, Galadriel x Celery Celeborn, Boromir x OC, Thorin x OC, Fili x OC, etc. general LoTR standard shippings plus some of my own cuz I can't stand my boys being lonely

Word Count: I try to keep my chapters short, under 2000 words. Rating: Teen (14+) for now

"You what?"

Apparently Leggy didn't comprehend the concept of being accompanied by a suddenly Elvish human from another dimension.

With a sigh and a roll of your eyes, you repeated, "I said, I'm coming with you when you leave for your orc-hunting mission."

Legolas narrowed his eyes. "And who gave you permission to do this?"

"The council, that's who. So suck it up buttercup, I'm coming with your sorry ass."

Legolas rolled his eyes. "Very well. Tell me, aside from randomly swinging a sword, do you know anything about weaponry?"

You raised an eyebrow. Shit, you'd have to fight? "No, but I can say a mouthful of greetings in Elvish."

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Nin ista, Sairen, but words are not mightier than fighting skill in battle."

You scoffed. "I can think of a pretty famous phrase from my world that totally contradicts that..."

Legolas shook his head as he sauntered past you, down the stairs of the bridge you'd found him on. The sounds of his bows and knife sheaths clanking together as he walked relaxed you. "Of course you do, mellon." He paused to look at you. "Are you not coming? We leave in three days. If you are intent on coming with me, surely you cannot believe I will let you go without even so much as learning the proper way to stab an opponent?"

You made a face, but followed him anyway. "I know how to stab."

"How, then?" He gestured to you pointedly and crossed his arms.

"Um..." You mimed the gesture you'd probably use while stabbing an orc in the guts. "Like... This? With a twist?"

"That may work if your enemy has the weak skin and flesh of a human, or even on an Elf," He pointed out, "But we are fighting orcs, Sairen. Their hide is as thick as that of a boar, and their flesh is equally so." With a flourish, he flipped out one of his long knives. He paused in handing it to you. "I am not letting you keep this, mellon. My mother gave them to me."

You froze in reaching for the weapon. "You have a mother?"

Legolas chuckled at your wide-eyed expression. "You thought I did not?"

You stiffened before hurriedly turning away. "No! Of course not! Why would you think that?!"

Legolas laughed as he followed you. "Well, I do have one. She has been away on the other end of the palace-city. I should introduce you to her."

"Is she as fabulous as your dad?" You ran the tip of your index finger along your eyebrows. "And maybe even with the same super dark eyebrows?"

Legolas smiled. "No, no. She is perfectly beautiful."

"So you're saying your dad's not?"

"What?"

"Nothing." You waved a hand. "Where's the training grounds again?"

Legolas grinned evilly. "Well, your training begins now, Sairen. See if you can actually get to said training grounds without killing yourself on that blade."

Your jaw fell. "Are you fucking kidding me?! That's child's play! Don't you think I already know how to not do that?!"

"That is a double negative sentence, but no, I do not believe you already know this skill." Blue-Eyes shot you another grin. "Besides, we are not taking the average path to the training grounds. They are outside of the palace, after all. We will go out and around, on the hardest path imaginable. For a human, they would be entirely impassable."

You stared up at him dumbly. "Uh... Do... Do you even realize I spent the last nineteen years of my life around people with the mindset of shit water I might die because I'm a-- I was a-- human? Also, I was never agile. I won't be able to make it over a log, if it's big enough."

Blue-Eyes gave you a disapproving look. "Do the humans of your world never traverse nature?"

You pretended to think about that

"Hm... Let me see... Uhm... Yeah, nope, pretty much never, unless you're one of those super outdoorsey kinds of people, and the true ones of those are rare. For instance, most usually wear really tight clothes and walk through parks with stone paths and everything primped to perfect condition so that nobody even gets grazed by a dandelion, and everything's sprayed to keep the bugs away and animals are limited to squirrels and bunnies, then they wanna act like they just walked the fuckin' Sahara Desert without water. Real outdoor people are rare. Steve Irwin? Real. Bear Grylls? Real. Josh Gates? Real. Hell, when I was a very tiny little girl I used to watch a kid's show with two brothers who pretty much lived in the jungle. But out of everybody, those are the ones I can think of right off the top of my head. Them, and the few tribal races still out there."

Blue-Eyes made a surprised face. "Well... I am glad you got a chance to experience what real life is like."

"Thank you, Blue-Eyes." You'd reached the front gates of the palace, which were opened by a couple of those ninja Elf guys. You and Legolas walked on through, and into the forest, with its pink and amber leaves, down here, nullified into black and gray, piling up in the muck of the forest floor.

You'd been surprised when you'd seen this part of Mirkwood. Apparently, only the northern half was unaffected, but the rest of the once-spectacular Greenwood the Great was now victim to a strange plague, orc attacks from the north, and giant spider infestations from the south, from an ancient ruin called Dol Goldur. Animals no longer lived here, the rivers had mostly gone thick with filth, and the trees rotted and groaned in agony. The forest would confuse you, threaten to swallow you up and make you lose your way...

If you weren't an Elf.

Luckily for you and ol' Leggy, the two of you were Elves, and he had been raised here. If you stuck close to him, you'd be fine, even if the forest did manage to confuse you. He could hardly remember a time when the slow-acting plague hadn't been part of some region of the forest, and Tauriel had told you that he was 2, 371 years old. That was a long time for a forest to be sick.

"What even caused Mirkwood to get sick? Do you even know?"

"It is a nameless malice," Blue-Eyes replied, stopping all show-offy on a thick, low-hanging bough that precariously hung over a small gorge. "The darkness stems from Dol Goldur. Now, there are rumors; rumors of a necromancer, who resides in the ruins of that ancient fort."

"Necromancer?" That hardly sounded good. In anything where it was used, necromancer usually meant one who raises dead. "That doesn't sound good. Have you investigated it?"

"Of course not," Blue-Eyes gave you an odd look, like you'd just suggested he drink out of the toilet or something. You struggled to get up the side of a log he'd just casually hopped onto. "Why should we? They are merely rumors, and the forest has been sick for a long, long while. Still... This darkness unsettles me, as it does to all Sindar whom reside here."

"Dude, then maybe you should check the fuckin ruins," You mumbled, but he ignored you and continued hopping around from flowertop to flowertop. You just trampled noisily and clumsily along behind him. "Don't you guys like, live for light? So shouldn't you see if the ruins really do have a necromancer now? Especially since this dark ooze comes from it?"

Blue-Eyes shook his head. "King Thranduil does not wish for time to be wasted on rumors when we have other matters to deal with."

"Oh, so you mean he's too busy having everybody vote on which crown of berries goes best with his eyebrows."

"What?"

"Nothing. You Elves are just stupid."

Legolas grinned. "Well, humans are equally intellectually challenged."

You paused in chasing after him, stunned. He turned to face you when he didn’t hear you following. "Did you seriously just do that?"

"Do what?"

"You literally just used big words to sound smart." You laughed theatrically. "Oh! Pardon me, fine companion, I meant to implicate that you utilize gargantuan idioms to fabricate intelligence."

He smiled slightly as you finally made it up beside him. "I suppose you are not so daft," He relented teasingly, "Otherwise you would not even have those words in your vocabulary."

You made a face and rolled your eyes. "Whatever, blondie."

The training grounds were closer than you remembered, even taking the roundabout route. Along the way, though, you'd fallen into a bog, got your face scratched up by evil tree branches, and tumbled head-over-heels down a steep ravine, getting battered and bruised all over your body.

Apparently Middle-Earth-- Mirkwood specifically-- was prone to give previously non-Elvish members of other worlds injuries.

You made quite a show; barreling through a thorn bush and landing flat on your face right on the edge of the training grounds. You heard all the Elves turn their weapons on you, in case you were an orc, but then they seen your sorry ass, and Leggy casually coming down the steep ridge as if it was just a flight of stairs.

"Mae govannen," Said Legolas cheerfully to the Elves. Casually, he picked up his knife, which you'd thrown away from you halfway down so you didn't impale yourself at any point during the fall. Still, it'd skittered down alongside you. "Sairen, it seems you've failed this test."

"I dropped it on the goddamn border..."

"Nevertheless," Blue-Eyes ignored your response. "We are here now, and forfeiting other forms of training for the sake of redoing one failed task is pointless. You will learn as much as you can here, until I say we stop."

You finally moved, trying to at least sit up on your elbows. "It's only noon. We've got till nightfall, yeah? I can do that. No problem."

Legolas grinned down at you. "Mellon, you are of the Eldar now. You are stronger than before and do not need sleep unless you wish to dream."

"I don't what?!"

"Elves do not sleep unless we have been injured and need to heal," He replied, and grabbed you by the underarms to help you up. "We are stronger and more resilient than the race of Men. You are no longer imprisoned by the necessities of the human body."

Instant headrush slammed into you. "Apparently not all human body shit..."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you speak of?"

"Headrush, dammit."

"Oh," He grew amused. "Do you mean the Blackness? Unfortunately, that befalls us all."

You glared daggers at him.

Another Elf approached, with a slender face and long brown hair. "My lord, most of the training grounds are taken up. You may yet have mine, if you wish so."

Legolas smiled. "Ah, my thanks. [Y/N], this is one of the Elves that accompanied Lord Elrond here, Lindir."

You extended your hand. "Nice to meet you."

Both Blue-Eyes and Lindir looked at your hand in confusion. Lindir, with a glance to Legolas, slowly tried to hand you his bow. With a roll of your eyes and a shake of your head, you realized they didn't even understand what a handshake was. "No no no, sorry; that's called a handshake. It's what two people do when they meet each other where I come from. I didn't mean to confuse you. SO." You bowed in the Elvish way. "Mae govannen, Lindir of House Elrond."

Lindir and Blue-Eyes smiled. Lindir returned your bow. "Mae govannen, [Y/N] of House Thranduil."

"Lindir will be accompanying us to trace the orcs, and Erestor of Rivendell," Said Legolas, "As will another of our own house, Elros; I believe you have met him already. He was the Elf who lead you to the councilroom. From Lothlorien is a friend of mine, Haldir, and of course, with the other Elven Lords aiding us, Mithrandir feels he should send his own aid as well..."

Lindir's eyes widened. "Do not tell me..."

Blue-Eyes nodded seriously. "He is sending Naughrim to accompany us."

"Naughrim?" You asked. Of all names, that didn't sound familiar. "Who's that? Somebody not well-liked among Elves?"

Blue-Eyes fought a smile. Lindir answered you. "Mellon, Naughrim is our tongue for dwarves."

Your mouth formed an 'o' in recognition. "Ohhhh, now I get it. Elves and dwarves hate each other for no explainable reason. Got it. Who's he sending?"

Blue-Eyes shook his head in exasperation. "They are all of Erebor. Balin and Dwalin, two are named, and of the other, he is the most insufferable of dwarves; Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain. Mithrandir believes that this will be a good experience for him as it is for us, but he refuses to come himself. He's all but forcing the situation."

You looked from Blue-Eyes to Lindir and back. "How can he force you? Dwarves and Elves are both stubborn beyond all reason, and none of you seem to take him seriously."

Legolas shook his head and pursed his lips. "Unfortunately, Dwalin is as good a tracker as any, and Ada is not permitting many of the Sindar on this journey for the reason that we are merely meant to find where the yrch dwell, and go no further. We will need all the aide we can find, even if it is in the form of unwilling dwarves. As for them, he has promised treasure, the details of which I know not; I can only hope it is not any of ours he has promised them." He smiled at you. "Shall we?"

Before you could follow, he walked off; you glanced to Lindir questioningly. "...Ada? Who's that?"

Lindir smiled softly. "It means father. He is referring to King Thranduil."

"Oh. Now I feel stupid."

"Do not, mellon, for the language of the Elves is not easily learned unless you were born speaking the tongue."

With a roll of your shoulders, which ached, you followed Leggy.

***

"Ow, goddamn it, and goddamn you, you stupidly perfect Elf."

At the end of the day, you'd been cut, pricked, whipped by a bowstring, nicked, dinged, and all kinds of other small injuries that added up to one big mess of drying blood and bruises.

Blue-Eyes had had you train deep into the night, until the silvery waning moon had all but left the star-filled sky. Now, as the sunrise approached, you both sat on two convenient boulders, and he bandaged your bloodied hands. In the eerie half-dawn light, he looked ethereal, and his pale hands and silver tunic sleeves compared to your now dark-with-blood-and-mud-and-bruises hands and black sleeves was a huge contrast. Your hands shook slightly, aching and stinging and pained on various sorts of levels, while his were perfectly steady as he wrapped them in soft green leaves.

"Stop shaking, mellon," Legolas told you gently.

"What was that?" Your head snapped up. "Are you feeling sorry for me? Don't feel sorry for me! This is nothing! I've been shot in the calf by an orcish arr--OW!"

The leaves had drawn too tight and released some kind of juice that stung like hell. His hands hovered over yours. "My apologies, but it draws out the infection."

"What infection?!"

"You are not yet used to your Elven body yet," Blue-Eyes replied, looking into your eyes. "Since you are the equivalent of a newborn, I would say you are very susceptible to infections, sickness, and injuries."

You looked off dramatically into the distance. "That explains why I can't stop fucking getting hurt..."

"That it does," He smiled at you, and something pulsed in your chest. Da fuck... You fought a flush. He stood, then held out his hand to you. "Shall we return to the palace? You may rest until sunhigh, and then we will continue your training." You took his hand, and he helped you up; you stumbled into his chest, and backed up quickly. He took no notice, but patted your shoulder before going to retrieve his bow and quiver. "You did well today, Sairen, even if you frightened off half of the other Sindar and Silvan training here."

You made a face. "Pfft. They just can't handle my awesomeness."

"If you say so, mellon," He said, and started to take the easy way back, to your relief. You followed closely behind him.

You looked up at the stars as you walked in silence for awhile, until finally, you broke it. Of course, you broke anything, really... "Where I come from, they say there's a star for every soul that's passed away."

Legolas glanced to you, then followed your gaze wistfully. "That is something our two worlds have in common."

"Scientifically," You added, "They're spheres of hot air and gaseous materials wound up tight by gravity that glow and put off heat, but the idea always felt nice to me... But where I come from... You also can't see the stars."

Blue-Eyes halted in his tracks as if you'd just said someone murdered his mother. "I... What? You can't see the stars?!" He actually looked genuinely horrified by that idea.

You shook your head. "No. Humans... They've polluted the atmosphere too much. Filled it with trash, and man-made lights and even remnants of smoke... You can't see them."

He watched you even as you watched the stars. "I've never seen them like this... They're beautiful." You could see bands of galaxies and clouds of distant nebulae, and the small silver fires glittered in the billions, even as the pink-orange glow of the beginning of dawn was starting to show in the east. You were in awe.

You jumped when Legolas took your hand. "What?"

He smiled at you. "Come with me. I will show you one of the best stargazing places in all of Mirkwood."

"Thranduil's pavilion?"

"Better."

"Whoa. Dude, count me in."

He lead you off of the trail, deep into the woods, through the easiest ways that probably were a pain for him, but he did it anyway. Finally, you stopped at the base of a massive tree, stretching so far up you couldn't see its top. Its trunk was pockmarked with holes and vines, and after slinging his bow onto his back, he threw you a smile over his smile. "Come, Sairen."

You couldn't help but smile back. You climbed, quickly, all the way up, past the canopy, into the uppermost branches of the tree, where the copper-gold leaves thinned out to allow for one thick branch to get a view of the night sky. The branch was thick enough across to allow for two or three people to sit side-by-side against the trunk, and Blue-Eyes sat quickly as he helped you up.

Here, no branches obscured any part of your field of view. You got a perfect view of the sunrise, and the starry sky. "Holy shit..."

You felt him put an arm around you, and you stiffened, just before he breathed in your ear, "I will not let you fall from this tree, Sairen. You've only just arrived in this world, and should another portal be below that is activated by a beautiful sunrise, I am loathe to let you go, for there is so much I want to show you..." The sun burst over the distant mountains beyond Erebor, sending fiery orange and red across the sky. "Such as this. Your world does not sound as if it could have any sunrise as wonderful as this one."

A warm feeling blossomed in your chest as you watched the sunrise, jaw slack. "No... Not like this."

Legolas smiled, and finally turned his focus to it himself. Your eyes slowly dragged off of the beautiful scenery to look at the Elf beside you, and the warm feeling worsened; your heart started fluttering. Eldar only fall in love once... Galadriel had warned you.

...Shit.

A blush crawled up your face, and you tried your hardest to focus on the sky rather than the Elvish princeling pressed close against your side.

***

"Mae govannen, [Y/N] of the Woodland Realm," Greeted Lindir kindly as you approached the group of Elves gathering in front of the front gates.

"Mae govannen, Lindir of Rivendell," You replied with a smile. The Elvish greetings rolled off your tongue easily now. After the sunrise you and Blue-Eyes had watched together, you'd spent the last two days training at obscene hours and resting. Now, finally, the group of Elves leaving to track the orcs were gathering-- there were only about fifty in total, of which there were those wearing Woodland garments, the red-and-gold of Lothlorien, and the greens, purples, and browns of Rivendell. Apparently Galadriel, Celeborn, and Elrond didn't agree with Thranduil sending what would've only been a dozen to track some very dangerous orcs.

You heard several of them muttering to each other about Naughrim, something all of them had in common.

You swung your light traveling pack off of your shoulders and by your feet, scanning the crowd for a certain platinum-blonde head-- unfortunately, most of the Elves from Lothlorien had blonde hair. You looked at Lindir. "Where's Legolas?"

Lindir glanced around. "He is on his way, I am sure. After all, it is he and Haldir whom are leading this journey."

You nodded. "I've never packed for something like this before... I hope I didn't pack anything weird or forget something."

Lindir looked confused, then recognition flashed across his face. "Oh. Forgive me, I had forgotten you do not have this experience. Tell me, what did you pack?"

You shifted your weight nervously, and lowered your voice. "Uhh... Two extra pairs of clothes in case these get ruined, some extra food, even though I've noticed I don't have to eat as much as before, and some water. Then there's these," You gestured to your back, where a quiver and longbow hung from your back. You felt its weight all too strongly, and that of the sword on your hip and the knives on your thighs. "And some of those special leaves that're used for bandages."

Lindir smiled and placed a hand on your shoulder. "Mellon, you have packed what we all have, and lightly, as well."

You smiled. "Thanks. Just consider yourself lucky that I don't know how to read Elvish, or I would've packed a book or two to keep me company."

Lindir chuckled and stepped back. "Well, for now, I am glad of it. On this journey you will learn much, hopefully, and by the time we return, you may be able to speak more of Elvish. It is harder to learn to read it, I have heard, much harder."

You ran a finger over your chin in thought. "I wonder if Thranduil would let me go to Dale or Laketown to get some books in English..."

"Forgive me," Lindir looked confused. "I do not know what that is."

You realized what you'd said a second too late. "Oh! Sorry. Where I come from, Common is just referred to as English."

"Oh, I see now. I am sure he would, and if he does not yet, then perhaps one of the Woodland Elves could bring some back for you. What of Legolas? Are you not friends?"

You blushed. "Yeah, I hope so. I've never been very good at making friends, though. Nobody's ever really liked me." You realized Lindir was staring at you with an absolutely terrified expression. Your own eyes widened in alarm, and you frantically patted your face. "What?! Is there something on my face?!"

Lindir shook his head. "I-I am not sure. Your skin has suddenly gone red, as if burned. Are you ill?"

"Uhhh..."

You were spared the embarrassment of explaining blushing by all the Elves gathered suddenly gasping and bowing in the direction of the stairs. Lindir saw the cause before you did, and his jaw fell. "By all the Valar..." He bowed deeply, and you followed his motion, but not before catching a glimpse of who it was. Thranduil, of course, and Legolas, following a she-Elf in a tunic that looked as if it were made of starlight itself, with flowing white hair and alabaster skin.

"Ui!" Shouted Thranduil irritably. "Ni telima lume, autauva!"

You leaned closer to Lindir. "What did he say?"

"He is forbidding her to join us," He answered quickly.

The she-Elf whipped around, generating a power almost as strong as Galadriel's. Legolas stepped forward. "Amal... Mecin."

She shook her head. "Yon, venno, nin carindo ier nin indo. Alye uva pusta ni."

"What did she say about pasta?" You whispered.

"Sh!" Lindir said quickly.

The woman looked at Thranduil and Legolas lovingly, before approaching Thranduil and placing both hands on his face. Thranduil closed his eyes in regret, and the woman kissed him; you looked away, embarrassed. That was the Elvenqueen.

That was Legolas's mother.

"Melinyel, Thranduil, alye ista si."

Thranduil sighed. "Melinyel, mela... Mecin ea girthonwed."

With that, Legolas reluctantly took his mother's hand and lead her down the stairs. They disappeared in the crowd, until you heard the Elvenqueen's voice. "Rise, all of you." Unsure, the Elves rose one-by-one. "Which of you hail from far places, whom rescued my son Legolas Greenleaf from the fate of an early death?"

The Eldar glanced to one another, realized it wasn't their neighbor, and slowly, like somebody who'd gotten called out in class, you were being stared at, and a path was made between you and her majesty, while Legolas stood beside her.

You swallowed hard, suddenly terrified. Lindir patted your shoulder. "You have been summoned, mellon. Go, I will make sure your pack does not get swapped with someone else's."

You tried to look and walk confidently, but you were terrified. She was beautiful and indimidating, and you had to admit, you were definitely intimidated. When you reached her, you bowed as deeply and respectfully as you could, a fist over your heart. "Elen sila lumenn omentielvo, your majesty." You didn't know what else to say. What you'd said to Galadriel and Celeborn was the most respectful thing you knew in Elvish, and you'd never been in the presence of royalty.

"You come from another world," She looked down at you indifferently, and you suddenly felt very small and very weak with everybody's eyes on you. This was nothing like Thranduil's fabulously indifferent look. "Yet still, you saved my son's life. After, you make the presumption that you can live and walk among us as one of us, freely, unburdened, merely because you came here by happenstance and you were allowed the reward of living. Do you feel as if this is the correct course of action for you to take?"

You glanced to Legolas, absolutely horrified. "Y-your majesty..." Your hot-headed tongue, a lot more toned down, popped into existence. "I saved your son's life because he didn't deserve to die. I was given the freedom to live, and to repay that, I mean to make the most of my time here by helping in whatever ways that I can. King Thranduil has given me the chance to prove myself worthy of living here by allowing me to join in hunting for the orcs. If I fail, I will leave Mirkwood, and go with Lord Elrond to Rivendell."

Legolas's eyes widened a fraction of an inch, before going back to their normal selves; he looked to you with almost a sadness, but you couldn't figure out why. Elvenqueen smiled, as if proud. "Then you are not what the rumours of your world have made you out to be. You are humble and grateful, qualities I did not expect from one of this Earth. You possess a unique personality, [Y/N]. Tell me, who are your parents, so that I may refer to you properly?"

"I have no father," You said quickly, relieved that she was just trying to scare you. "None I care to speak about. But I do have a mother, who I love very much. Her name is [M/N]."

Elvenqueen smiled. "Very well, [Y/N], child of [M/N]. Here, we, all of us, have a secondary name, such as my son; Legolas Greenleaf. During this journey, you may earn your own."

You smiled back, relieved beyond relief that she'd decided not to kick your ass for existing. "My thanks, your majesty."

She sailed away regally, and Legolas shot you a glare. "Why did you not tell me you would be leaving us?" He demanded.

You balked. "I-I said if I failed..."

"And you are most likely to do so," He snapped, sending your heart and soul plummeting to roughly the center of Middle-Earth. Without another word, he followed his mother.

"Mellon?" Said Lindir from behind. You turned around; He held his bag and yours, which you gratefully took from him.

"Thanks," You said, but your eyes followed Legolas's back as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Is everything alright?"

"Just fine," You shrugged. You were used to being abandoned.

Lindir looked doubtful. "Very well, if you say so. May I introduce you to those you will be most judged by?"

"Sure."

He took you through the crowd, to the guy who helped you find the councilroom. "Ah, [Y/N]. Mae govannen."

You bowed your head and returned the greeting to Elros in a monotone voice. "So your name is Elros?"

"Yes," He replied. "Son of Elrond."

If you were taking a drink of water, you'd've spewed it everywhere. "Huh? But isn't Rivdendell like, waaay over the Misty Mountains?"

Elros chuckled. "Yes, but those of the Eldar cannot always remain in one place. We yearn for far places, and even farther shores. Long years I have spent in the halls of my father, but I left for Mirkwood when my sister, Arwen Evenstar, left for Lothlorien, to spend a time with our mother's mother, Galadriel."

Your eyes were wide. "Galadriel is a grandma?! Your grandma?!"

Lindir and Elros looked at each other in amusement. "Elves," Said Lindir, "Live forever, so long as we are not killed by injury, or the wounds of the heart."

"Wounds of the heart?" You echoed.

"When love remains unrequited, it is sometimes too much to bear," Replied Elros, "And the victim suffers long before dying of a broken heart. Oftentimes, it is when a wife perishes during childbirth, or when war or battle takes the life of a beloved, and their souls pass into the Halls of Mandos. I still worry for my father, even though my mother has long since passed due to child-sickness."

Your eyes widened. "I'm so sorry."

Elros raised a hand. "She is at peace now. She resides in the halls where her mother lives, and many of my kin who have long since passed on."

"Is Elrond gonna be okay?" Now you were worried. You didn't even know the guy (Even though you probably knew him before your amnesia.) but you didn't want him to die of heartbreak. He was being nice to you, and offering you a place to live if Thranduil decided to be more of an ass.

"He is strong," Lindir assured you, and partially Elros. "He is stout of heart and fierce of soul. He will live long yet, that I can assure you with the utmost certainty."

Together, Lindir and Elros took you to where another dark-haired Elf in the Rivendell attire spoke with a Lothlorien Elf in red-and-gold armor. White hair was braided away from his stern face. Elros said something in Elvish, getting their attention, and they both bowed to you. "[Y/N], child of [M/N], may I introduce you to Erestor, Chief Counselman of Elrond, and Haldir of Lothlorien."

"Mae govannen," They both said.

Haldir regarded you warily. "I have heard you come from far lands, one beyond even Arda."

You tried not to look stupid. "Arda?"

"This world upon which we live," Haldir clarified.

"Oh!" Now you knew what they were talking about. "You mean this whole planet? Mine never had a cool name; Earth, that's it, with a bunch of different countries on it. Are there countries besides Middle-Earth here?"

Erestor chuckled. "Yes. There is Beleriand, just the remains of it, to the farthest west. Also in the west lie the Gray Havens, and across the Sea are the Undying Lands of Aman, far from Endor-- that is to say, collectively, Middle-Earth and Beleriand."

"Oh, cool! Where I come from, nowhere has cool names anymore, except for maybe Dubai, Greece, and Rome. In the past, there were hardly ever cool places, except for Egypt and Babylon."

The four Elves around you glanced to each other in amusement, as if you were a child just learning new things; and you pretty much were...

"Haldir," Said a familiar voice, and you perked up as Blue-Eyes stepped through the crowd. Your heart sank as he completely avoided your gaze. Damn, you should be used to this kinda shit by now. One small thing and someone abandons you. "We go to meet the dwarves. You have told your party, yes?"

"Of course, mellon."

"As have I," Added Erestor as Blue-Eyes went to ask. "None of us may like this, but it the word of a Maiar, of which the Noldor still yet revere. Worry not, Legolas."

Blue-Eyes nodded, glanced to you, and walked back through the suddenly-departing crowd as the doors opened. You hefted up your bag further onto your shoulder. "Mmkay, Lindir?" You fell into step with the purple-clad Elf.

"What is it?"

"Questions. Lots of them. What the hell is a Mayan and a No-door?"

Lindir chuckled. "Maiar, and Noldor. The Noldor are the oldest of the Elves. The Maiar are wizards, servants of the Valar; such as Saruman, Mithrandir, and Radagast."

"They met gods?"

"Yes," Said Lindir doubtfully, eyeing you. "Do the people of your world not know of their gods?"

You scoffed dryly. "You kidding me? Almost everybody believes in some bearded guy in white floating through existence and pointing to a random spot, then saying 'Let there be light!' Bam, universe created. Others have much more gruesome stories; like in Norse, Odin and his two brothers cut up a giant to create the world. Then there was Egyptian, where two godly people representing the earth and sky consummated and BAM, universe created again. They all say the gods came from the sky, which others believe to be aliens-- people from other planets entirely-- but I've always been an atheist."

"And what does that mean?"

"That I don't believe a goddamn word of any of that 'god' shit."

"You should not speak of them so, for they hear all."

"Yuck. Let's hope they don't find somebody on their wedding night."

Lindir's eyes bugged out of his head. "That was... Sudden."

You grinned. "I'm like that. Get used to it, Lindy."

He frowned. "My name is Lindir."

"I know that," You laughed. "It's a nickname. It's a sign of friendship."

Lindir smiled. "Oh. Then we are friends, then?"

"Sure! I've never been friends with so many people before!" You looked ahead excitedly, waving when you seen Legolas glaring at you. So what if he was pissed? You'd make him un-pissed.

Lindir gave you a sad look. "But you have only befriended Legolas and myself."

"And Tauriel."

"Still, that is only three people." He looked genuinely confused. "Do the people of your world not believe in friendship either?"

You sighed. "Not really. They're more interested in betrayal. Me, personally, I've had it all. Betrayal, death, abandonment... I've gone through some shitty times, that's for sure. One catastrophe after the next. One painful step at a time through it. I've been through hell and back, been shattered like glass and looked death in the eye, and somehow, I'm still standing. Sometimes it feels like I've lived a thousand lifetimes in only nineteen years." You gave him a sideways smile before looking back ahead of you, trying to block all of the flashbacks...

Lindir regarded you with newfound admiration. "I can... See it, in your eyes. I believe all of us can. The things that you have endured are marked on your stride, and not many could recover from what you have recently gone through so quickly. A human with your strength is... Unheard of."

You laughed. "Yeah, 'cause now I'm an Elf!"

Lindir laughed too then, as did a few other Elves and she-Elves near to you-- as you walked out of the doors of Mirkwood's palace, you got this strange, tingly sensation in your core... The odd feeling of people laughing with you, not at you. The feeling of not being judged. Of people realizing you've been through hell. Of people not automatically striking you onto their enemy list because you're different.

As you moved into the north, the light filtering through the leaves was golden, and everything seemed at once surreal and ethereal. But aside from those two feelings, you felt one stronger than any other. You smiled as you looked around at your new friends in this new world, which still felt so familiar. You were happier than you'd ever been. Even though you'd miss your family, you were glad the portal had been closed.

And there are many paths to tread...

Through shadow, to the edge of night...

Until the stars are all alight...

You passed Blue-Eyes, who'd climbed a tree to scout, and when he seen your awestruck, childlike expression, even he, who was currently pissed at you, couldn't help but smile at down at you. You smiled back. That warm feeling returned.

Finally, I'm where I belong.

I'm...

I’m...home.

Tag List: @tesserphantom @thedragonghostofmordor @hauntedsiriel @reclusive-chicken-nugget @naryamirie @legolasdeserveslove @escapingthoughtsandsecrets @sagabriar @brushwood-souls @taurlel

If anybody wants to be tagged, just let me know!

Extra Notes: Elvish is SO FUCKING HARD. And yes I put the Elvenqueen in this. And dwarves are inbound. Don't guess the plotline, just DON'T.

Fun Facts: In Old Nordic mythology, there was a forest known as Mirkwood. There was also a dwarf called Durin, who created the line of the most power dwarfs, some of which, just to name a few, were Thorin, Fili, Kili, Dvalin, Balin, Oin, Oakenshield, and Gandalf. There were also many types of Elves-- Ljosalfar were the Light Elves, and Dokkalfar were the Dark Elves. In general, Elves were known as Alfar, and they lived in Alfheimr, "The Land of the Elves." Supposedly, Alfheimr had shining trees of silver and gold, like Lothlorien. Also, there was a dragon called Fafnir, a cursed fire-drake, coppery-red, who laid atop a mound of gold and guarded his wrongfully-taken treasure with his life. The original owner of this treasure was a dwarf, reduced to a husk of his former self, called Andvari, who, out of all of this treasure, loved most a golden ring, inscribed with runes. He cursed this ring, so that all who wore it would soon come into misfortune...

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ask-rijus-ocs · 4 years

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[ Carly was resigned to the fact that she has both not told Twilight about his weird lens flare, and that she is not going to. ]

[ The old book on sheikah translations in her hand meant nothing, absolutely nothing. She's sure it's nothing. It's fine. Twilight is just some edgy swordsman. It's fine, she repeats again. She was just curious. Damn her and her curiosity.....this is far too much to handle. Twilight has that flap that leads to the basement locked for a reason. She's sure it's nothing, though. After all, what could a simple brunette teenager have to hide?]

[ Oh, she's being a hypocrite, isn't she? She's only sixteen, and yet, here she is, replacing the Hero of The Wild, Master Sword still in her possession. Twilight hasn't noticed - after all, she's a pacifist, and so she doesn't really have it out, it's still in her sheikah slate. She still doesn't understand the strange messages it receives from time to time, but then again, Carly is just a kid, so she can't be expected to know everything. Everything about this seems so - adult-y. She isn't cut out for this. And yet, here she is, in all her 5 foot 5 glory, inside the man's wack as heck basement, holding a centuries old translation book, writing down the meaning word by word.]

[ Twilight had to go out for work, as he often does. He took the bag with his journal with him - he's not that stupid, unfortunately. He herds the goats, that's his job, she reminds herself, just a farmer, just a farmer, it's fine. Luto was kind enough to give her this book once they made up, and though she would prefer the Sheikah boy himself to translate, she knows that it'll be a while before they meet again. And Luto isn't chaotic enough to give her a faulty book as a prank. He is, at least, somewhat honorable. ]

[ Carly's sketchbook is laid out beside her- the picture of Twilight is hastily put together, and certainly not her best work, but she had to work quickly on the translation. "The hero of." Hero of what? Hylia above, she needs to know. Hero of farming? Of goats? What the heck? Why did her Sheikah Slate even recognize him? It's only ever done that when.....when.....]

[ Princess Zelda. When she took a picture of princess Zelda.]

[She gasps lightly. "It - recognizes historical figures. Hero of, hero of...T. Okay, and this one is W and that's I. T, W, I. Twi." Why did she have to choose that as his nickname? It makes it so much worse. She feverishly checks the rest of the word. "Hero of Twilight."]

[ Just a farmer, mhm, yeah right. She still isn't telling him, but ooh, the fact that he wasn't upfront about it kind of makes her mad. She's starting to wonder about that green tunic and the facial markings and the strange wolf hairs that just happen to appear on him at random intervals. It takes a few minutes to check the next sentence. "Trained by the Hero of Time." She reads off, flabbergasted. The huh? She doesn't even know who that is! And she's still mad at him!]

[ Then, a noise, but she brushes it off. The lantern here makes weird sounds all the time. "Capable of transforming into a b-" "Beast," he corrects. Wait, he? Oh. Oh.]

[ Twilight is right in front of her, in the same pose as he is in the compendium picture, still entirely composed, but something's not the same. Carly almost wants to check to see if fairies are still in the slate, because the something is the fact that Carly can tell that he is most certainly pissed off.]

[ "May I see the screen, please?" Well, even though he's pissed, he's being quite polite about it. "Uh, one second." Carly holds up her index finger, closing her sketchbook. She only trusts Mama Nadetta, Mama Eshana, and Luto with that thing and no one else. He's patient. "Am I dead?" She whispers, raising an eyebrow as she hands the slate to him. ]

[ "No, you're fine. Honestly, I kinda expected me to be dead at this point with how you handled the lance," He shrugs, looking through the entry. "Sorry about breaking it, again," Carly replies sheepishly. How foolish. A sheep in the wolf's den.]

[ "It's okay." There is no hatred in his voice as he sighs. "I got home early. Epona was really energetic today. You're pretty loud, so it wasn't that hard." He sees the picture. "Ah. Yeah, that. So, uhm, if you have any questions or wanna cuss me out, now's the time." He rubs the back of his neck. Is he apologizing?]

[ "Okay - I - what the hot footed frogs does the 'turning into a beast' part mean?" Carly blinks. "It means I turn into a beast. Simple as that," He nods. "So - so you can just - do it? Like, anywhere? And you can turn back anytime?" Carly puts down the other book, confused. Another nod. Okay, so now she's even more confused, if that's even possible. And then another thought crosses her mind, coming out slowly and carefully - "....can I see?".]

[ "I suppose there's no point in hiding it now, after all, you figured out my biggest secret in record time." He smiles. Twilight reaches into his tunic to tug on the strand of a necklace, at the end of which is a small, pointy crystal with orange engravings. He clasps it into his hand - how does that not hurt? - and there's what she assumes to be a flash of black particles, who knows with the low light, and finally, left in his place is a huge, gray wolf, biggest heckin' wolf she's ever seen, dear Hylia, and the boy - man - wolf- whatever he is has some sort of broken chain attached to his front paws. In the exact same place that she always sees those heavy arm guards or that cloth, she notes. Oh. Oh, that's why.]

[ "You -" Words evade her. There's this weird marking on his head, the same that she sees on his forehead when he's human. Oh, that's why. The fur is the same color as the hairs that magically end up on his clothes. Oh, that's why. Everything, strangely, makes sense. "Are there any other animal forms I should know about?!" Carly throws her hands up in the air, dumbfounded. He transforms back. "No, I'm afraid," Twilight shakes his head that totally didn't have wolf ears two seconds ago. ]

[ "And the hero thing?" She ventures, and realizes that this is apparently a touchy topic, because he flinches at the word hero, as if it's some taboo. "That's why I can do - well, that." He confirms. "Nothing else about that you wanna explain?" Carly has a rising tone now, unsure if she wants to pursue this line of questioning. "Actually, I'd rather not, but if you want to ask, then that's okay. I only have one condition, really." He sighs, almost as if he's ashamed with himself. ]

[ "And that is?" "To please, not tell anyone about this. Mi - my companion told me that I have to keep this secret. I would've been upfront about this otherwise, but my life hasn't been the greatest, and if people knew that I was some alter ego demon beast then - well, there'd be problems. Do you understand, Ms.Callisto?" ]

[ Companion? What? Honestly, that could've been formed as a threat and still worked, but somehow, Twilight is sincere and almost seems like he's pleading to her. "Who else knows?" She asks, curious. "Only Rusl. I believe he's told Uli as well- there are no secrets between lovers- but Colin and pretty much everyone else in Hyrule doesn't know." Twilight explains, fixing the lantern to where it's on the actual hook that it's supposed to be on. Oops. "Okay. I get it - but - and here's the kicker -" Carly sees his eyes light up as she agrees, and then he gets pale as snow as soon as he hears "but". She doesn't believe she's ever seen him actually get scared. Before this she was convinced that this man has absolutely no fears whatsoever. "You also have to be honest to me from here on out, alright? Friends aren't supposed to tell lies, friend," Carly brightens, getting up from her seat. Twilight doesn't say anything, but she can physically feel the sigh of relief that flows through him at that.]

[ "That's fine with me." He nods. "Friends also call eachother decent nicknames! Quit it with all the 'Ms.Callisto' stuff." Carly laughs. "I'm sorry, Ms.Call- Carly." Twilight offers awkwardly. "Hylia, you're hopeless. Okay, I don't actually mind your weird formal stuff, as long as it doesn't get awkward." She sighs. "Promise?" "Promise." ]

// Story development time!

- Mun Riju

#loz #zelda #a chance encounter // beginning arc #carly callisto #twilight princess link #a wolf in sheep's clothing // halloween arc #linksona #botw #tp

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telesthisia · 4 years

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|| The Basics ||

Name: Zelda of Hyrule Nickname(s): Zel, Zellie, Elle, Ellie Age: 19 Species: Human or well Hylian

|| Personal ||

Religious Belief: The three golden goddess + Hylia but... she’s known as the forgotten goddess in her timeline since certain legends faded away from the public’s knowledge but not at all the royal family’s. Sins: Lust / Greed / Gluttony / Sloth / Pride / Envy / Wrath Virtues: Chastity / Charity / Diligence / Humility / Kindness / Patience /Justice Primary Goals In Life: To create a brighter future for her people for generations on end, leading to the eventually famed Golden Age before the Hero of Time’s downfall... though Hyrule has recovered once she’s born there are still remnants of ruin from that era as such she wants to protect her people as well as make Hyrule safer, while she doesn’t do it within her lifetime because limited lifespan her dream does still come true years later aka LOZ and LOZ 2 don’t be fooled by the plot, Hyrule was in its prime during those games! Languages Known: Hylian Secrets: Well... it’s no secret among her staff but outside the castle, she keeps her poor health (heart condition and undiagnosed rare anemia problem) and near lack of magical stamina a secret since that can put her at a pretty bad disadvantage. She has plenty of enemies, namely those who align themselves with Ganon and the resurrection of him is still possible provided the person is a powerful mage with knowledge of doing that sort of stuff in the first place. And then there’s also court drama she has to worry about but that’s for another long lengthy headcanon post I should have out... soon... ish. Also while obvious with partners and in a meta sense and if you’re super observant but her guise Elle is, in fact, her, the princess of Hyrule so... ye... Quirks: Her birthmark of the Triforce is... certainly unique. But if we’re talking mannerism rather than physical then allow me to just ramble because hoo boy! When nervous or worked up, she often tucks her stray hairs behind her ears, even when she’s not feeling those emotions she’s always fiddling around with it (in her royal wear) often flipping it out of her face or trying to make it look a little neater. She has the Pendant of Courage, a gift from Link and often clutches on it when she feels the need to summon her courage if she’s feeling not that brave, often trying to recall Link’s courage during his many adventures. When using any of her PSI powers she tends to have a nose bleed, as such, she often carries around a handkerchief and tries to cover it up before going off somewhere to stop the bleeding. When laughing, she likes to hold her smile behind her hand... and when yawning she tries to cover her mouth. SHE IS THE WORST COOK TO EVER EXIST holy crap but can make mean cookies. When flirting (more like embarrassed flirting pft) she looks away to the side and twirls her hair around her finger trying to hide her red cheeks. Her romantic out view on life stems from the fact that she was constantly surrounded by death and history and art so there’s morbid beauty in the melancholy... this girl gets excited over Friday the 13th and samhain ok like... there’s a lot to unpack with that. THERE’S MORE BUT I’VE RAMBLED FAR ENOUGH!!! Savvies: Well... she bakes pretty good cookies BUT UH!!! YEAH she’s pretty proficient with her light magic! While she can’t do the amazing things other Zeldas can do because of limitations she’s not someone you would want to mess around with. She’s learned to work around those limitations and has great control over her powers. On top of that, she somehow knows how to use a crossbow so :’) while not the light arrows (she’s too weak to wield a bow) and it was a lucky shot she at least knows enough about how it works to fire it in the first place. She reads a lot, even as a kid she’d sneak off to the library to read the history about Hyrule or read maps and well she’s pretty knowledgable about her nation as a whole! And thanks to sneaking out she knows how to sneak past the guards and knows all of the secret passages in her castle like the back of her hand! Can’t forget her amazing political insight and ability to think outside the box! She has pretty innovative ideas for her times esp when concerning the common folk, but sometimes they don’t always go through because well... nobles.

|| Physical ||

Height: 5′0″ Weight: you never ask a lady her weight! >:0 Scars/Birthmarks: Has a cat scratch scar on her right palm which is also where the triforce is located! Abilities/Powers: Light magic, as the descendant of the mortal goddess she has been blessed with the Light Force. On top of that she’s come from a line of sages and has the Triforce of Wisdom so as you expect she has so much magic. She can heal, bless your weapons, smite away darkness, sense darkness (As a matter of fact she’s pretty sensitive to it and it makes her lowkey sick if it’s too much) and then there’s her PSI abilities which includes clairvoyance and telepathy! And then... her connection to the spirit realm. Restrictions: AHAHAHA SO MUCH, she’s a glass cannon which is why she’s so, so, so easy to kidnap in the first place. She may put up a fight but not for long, as such her tactics are always to make a distraction and then escape. But she has poor stamina and just a poor heart, she can’t really overexert herself without a) causing pain and b) passing the hell out which was common in her younger days. Using magic takes up a lot of stamina as shown in ALTTP esp with the more powerful spells, you need an amazing reserve to cast all of that and sadly while she has good control she doesn’t have good reserves. SOOOOOOO to fix this she always has to take medicine of magic. Mana blockage is a thing that can happen, more often than she’d like to admit which causes pain once again and makes using magic pretty hard. Now onto her telepathy and clairvoyance. While they sound useful there are restrictions on those as well, for one with telepathy while she can contact anyone so long as she finds their signature subconscious she doesn’t have to worry about distance too much so long as they are within her range which is... maybe more than 200 meters? I need to think about the range more because there are certain places where she can reach you and cannot but there’s def a range limit. She tends to get nosebleeds and headaches from using telepathy. Her clairvoyance is where she can see bits of the future, but they are very vague and hard to decipher and there’s always a chance of the future changing or not changing. As for her connection to the spirit realm, pretty much she can see dead people... in her dreams and there’s no way of shutting this power off she’s gotta deal with the horrors that is this realm. Now seeing spirits isn’t anything new in LOZ but contact to the spirit realm is something that’s implied that only royal family members can do... as implied by Zelda’s words in BOTW where she said her mom (or grandma??) could hear the voices of the spirit realm.

|| Favorites ||

Favourite Drink: Rose tea Favourite Pizza Topping: Basil... Favourite Color: Blue! Favourite Music Genre: She pretty much likes slow and relaxing music, piano comes to mind but *kayne shrug* Favourite Book Genre: Romance aHEM as a princess she doesn’t have time to read cheesy romance novels and fantasize about the day where someone riding on a white horse will sweep her off her feet and they ride off into the sunset never having to bear the burden of her heritage and responsibilities hahaha..... but history and folklore. She likes tragic stories that have bittersweet endings. Favourite Movie Genre: Fantasy, tragic tales, suspense, romance flicks Favourite Season: Spring Favourite Butt Type:

Favourite Swear Word: "Goodness me!” Favourite Scent: Forest scent, the fields, that ancient scent you smell when visiting old places, the smell of book pages Favourite Quote: “Time has stopped for me long ago.”

|| Fun Stuff ||

Bottom or Top:

Sings In The Shower: Yes!!! Well... rose soaked bathwater because she’s spoiled stupid by her castle staff and Impa but she’ll hum a tune here and there! Likes Bad Puns: Of course! She has the playfully innocent attitude so puns is right up her alley! Morality: Lawful / Neutral / Chaotic / Good / Gray / Evil Build: Slender / Scrawny / Bony / Fit / Athletic / Herculean / Babyfat / Pudgy / Obese / Other. Favourite Food: APPLES!!! Namely baked apples and more importantly apple strudel! Her nation is famous for having delicious apples that can help cure fatigue and even rise up stamina a bit! She’s very much a follower of “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” esp if that doctor keeps giving her bitter medicines. “Boss” Theme Music : Excuse me for using a sad track... but... sAD MUSIC HONESTLY SHE’S DEPRESSION PERSONIFIED!! It reflects her hidden melancholy for like everything. I feel like if you have to fight her as a boss it’ll be more of a beautifully sad moment than something epic like that boss fight with puppet zelda which slaps honestly. Their Opinion On The Mun: “Does she thrive on my pain?”

Was tagged by: no one

Tag 15 People: wHO EVER WANTS TO DO THIS

#OK THIS TOOK LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE #because i ramble so much listen i have a lot of headcanons #dash games.#about.

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roksanas · 4 years

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ROKSANA SIRSK - CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

BASICS -

1. Height?

Roksana is 5’4.

2. Eye colour?

Dark brown.

3. Do they need glasses?

Nah baby this human has 20/20 vision and can see in regular and magical darkness for 120 feet. It’s an invocation, but she will claim she’s just more evolved than most humans.

4. Scars and birthmark?

She has quite a few prominent scars on her hands from burns and cuts when she was training as a blacksmith. She also has a long, vertical scar beneath her ribs from a job that went sideways. She almost died before getting to a cleric; she doesn’t talk about it.

5. Tattoos and piercings?

On her right ear she has 3 lobe piercings, an industrial and a forward helix, and on her left she has a helix, a tragus, and 3 lobe piercings. As for tattoos, she has the symbols of Dol Arrah, Milil, Lathander, and the Raven Queen down her left forearm, and the symbols of Dol Dorn, Tymora, Malar, Sune down her right forearm.

6. Right or left handed?

Sana does most things with her right hand, but she’s trained herself to be useful with both in battle.

7. Any disabilities? Physical or mental.

Sana has lost most of the hearing in her left ear, and as such is hard of hearing.

8. Do they have any allergies?

Roksana is allergic to dogs and NO ONE is allowed to talk to her about it.

9. Favourite colour?

Black, or navy blue.

10. Typical outfits?

Sana likes well-made clothing, and most of her spending is on clothes. She wears mostly black and white. A lot of her tops are blouses, often sporting either lace, embroidery, or flowy sleeves. She loves elaborate dresses, corsets worn in untraditional ways, and interesting belt buckles. If she’s on a job, she wears a breastplate underneath a cloak or a powerful-looking coat. She’s also a fan of leather gloves.

11. Do they wear any makeup?

Sana rarely wears makeup, but she can’t resist a bit of eyeliner here and there.

12. What weapon do they use, if any?

She almost exclusively uses Obit, which is both her pact blade and her spellcasting focus. Obit likes to call itself Darthranok, and speaks to her telepathically.

PERSONALITY -

13. Are they more optimistic or pessimistic?

Sana considers herself a realist, which is to say...she’s mostly pessimistic. If she has any optimism left, it resides in Zari, who does her best to see the light in every situation when Sana is focusing on solutions. She doesn’t waste a lot of time on pessimism, but she certainly doesn’t expect anything good from others or from any situation she walks into.

14. Are they introverted or extroverted?

Introverted. Definitely charismatic and a skilled socializer, but she only gains energy when she’s alone or only around people who are close to her.

15. What are their pet peeves?

Most of Sana’s pet peeves are exhibited by her clients. She hates when people explain things slowly when she didn’t ask them to, she hates when people aren’t punctual - particularly with their payments - and she hates when people act like they know her. Above all, she hates being pitied, and even annoys herself when she gets caught up in the habit of self-pitying. Some smaller pet peeves include loud chewers, Zari wearing her clothes, and people standing too close to her.

16. What bad habits do they have?

She picks at her nails, leans back in pretty much every chair she sits in, and leaves loose strands of hair littered about the house. She always thinks she’s right, she consistently asks too much for the jobs she undertakes, and she tries to get to know people without letting them know her.

17. Do they have any phobias?

The most constant fear she has, the one that gives her the most nightmares, is losing Zari. When she’s away from Khaggon, it often keeps her up at night and she’s considering bringing her sister along on all her jobs again.

18. How do they display affection?

Acts of service all the way. She doesn’t get close with many people, but when she does choose to let someone in she’s very all-or-nothing. She will go out of her way to get that person what they need, and loves to provide for the people she loves. She’s not especially physically affectionate, but when she’s exhausted she can’t deny that she likes to cuddle.

19. How competitive are they?

Oh, god. You don’t wanna know. If she gets even the slightest idea that someone’s coming for her job or for her money, she will go to extreme lengths to make sure they never try that again. She also tends to swear and yell a bit too much when playing card games.

20. If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

She’d like to be a bit softer, a bit more trusting, a bit more open-hearted - if she could manage.

21. Do they have any obscure hobbies or routines?

She loves making her own knives, especially ones that are just for display with elaborate handles. For the past five years, she’s had an omelette for breakfast every morning that she hasn’t been in the wild or otherwise incapacitated. She reorganizes her closet and jewelry once or twice a month, just for kicks. She likes to gamble.

BACKSTORY -

22. What are the names and ages of their close family members? Parents, siblings, etc.

Zari, her sister, is thirteen. Esfir, her mother, would be fifty-two, and her father, Ashkin, would be fifty-one. Roksana was also close to her maternal grandmother, Shirin, who would be eighty-five now.

23. Is their family alive and are they still in contact with them?

Esfir and Ashkin have been dead for almost three and thirteen years respectively, and Shirin has been dead for eight years. Her sister is very much alive, and very much in contact with her.

24. Where are they from? City, nation?

Runswick born-and-raised, though she currently lives in Khaggon.

25. Did they have a childhood best friend?

Ever since she can remember, Sana’s best friend has been a girl named Evangeline. She’s a wealthy merchant’s daughter, and has recently started a family in Runswick. They rarely see each other anymore, but they do still write to each other.

26. Have they had any pets?

The only pet she had growing up was a cat named Stinky. She found him as a stray when she was ten, and he had an incredibly pungent smell. Since then, she always wanted a dog, but their fur gives her hives and their dandruff stuffs her up - so, instead, she got Zari a gray tabby. (Zari’s always liked cats better, anyway.) Her sister named him Quincy, and though Sana is sure he’ll never be as great as Stinky, she is glad that Zari has company when she’s away.

27. Did they grow up rich or poor? What were their living conditions like?

Sana lived in a small home, and had very little excess in her upbringing. Her parents were both righteous and honorable, and usually found that justice was all the payment they needed for their adventures. They did, however, provide Sana and Zari with what they needed, though some months were pretty tight.

28. What is their educational background?

Sana was taught by Evangeline’s governess until she was fifteen.

29. As a child, what did they want to be when they grew up?

Until her father died, she thought perhaps she would be a paladin just like her parents. Then she wanted to be a blacksmith, of course.

30. What advice would they give to their younger self?

Honestly, she’d probably try to dash her hopes earlier in life. She’d tell herself to get used to things not going right. She’d probably be a badder bitch if she let go of childish dreams earlier on. This, however, is far from any advice she’d ever give to Zari.

31. Growing up, were they ever bullied or were they the bully?

She probably made fun of a boy here and there, but she was never bullied. In fact, after her father died, she was treated with so much pity that it makes her gag thinking about it. Even the children in her neighborhood acted like she was fragile.

32. Who do they look up to/who is their role model?

Herself, tbh. But also Zari, because she’s extremely emotionally intelligent and good at a lot of things that she struggles with.

PRESENT -

33. Do they currently have a place of residence?

Yes, she has a small home in Khaggon that she paid for in coin.

34. What is their most treasured possession?

If not Obit, then this particularly sharp and rad dagger that she made herself with a raven’s head as the hilt.

35. What is their drink of choice?

Any sort of liquor. She likes shots.

36. Which king/queen are they loyal to, if any?

Rolland, if she has to choose. She surely doesn’t trust him, but Hegaehend is her home, and she won’t side with anyone who’s trying to invade it.

37. Have they ever killed anyone?

Oh, yeah. She’d never call herself an assassin, but she has been paid to kill specific marks, or paid to finish jobs that had no restrictions on who was left dead or alive. Her sword also feeds on life force, and she doesn’t want to know what will happen if it gets too hungry.

38. What was their last promise and did they keep it?

She promises Zari that she’ll be safe every time she leaves, and she hasn’t died yet, so she considers that a promise kept.

LOVE -

39. What was their first kiss like, if they’ve had one?

Sloppy, gross. She was thirteen and had a crush on the guy for an entire year, and then everything good she’d ever thought about him disappeared when he shoved his tongue down her throat. He tasted like ham.

40. Are they in a relationship/have a love interest?

Nope. She has friends with benefits scattered here and there, but she wouldn’t consider them love interests.

41. Have they ever been in love?

Yes. When Sana was twenty-one, she fell head-over-heels with a half-elf named Mikas. They’d grown up in the same social circle, and he had a tendency to flirt with everyone in that social circle. But after a long night out and a talk under the stars, things were different between them. They were inseparable for a year, and it was a good year, but after that year came two more years that were much less enjoyable.

42. Have they ever had their heart broken?

Of course. She gave her all in the relationship with Mikas. It was the most vulnerable she’d ever been with someone, and he probably still knows her better than anyone. But he still didn’t want to be with her. After that one good year, he stopped trying. He stopped finding time to spend with her, stopped making her feel heard, and then he left her for some girl he hardly knew. Now, she won’t accept anything less than 100% effort from a romantic partner - not that she particularly wants one.

SPIRITUALITY -

43. Do they follow a god, if so who?

Nope! She has those religious symbols tattooed on her mostly as a joke. Probably insensitive, but she likes to keep people guessing about what her religious background is. She’s also still pretty bitter about gods and what they expect of their champions.

44. What do they think happens to them after death?

Regardless of her religious beliefs, she likes to believe in an afterlife. She’s seen ghosts and other kinds of spirits, and she likes to believe that if someone deserves to live on past their mortal life, then they will. It helps her sleep at night to think that the people she kills will live on if they deserve to, and that if they don’t deserve to, then she did the world a service.

45. What is their spirit animal?

Listen I know I said lion for Avi, but she’s a Leo so how can I not say lion…….otherwise maybe a raven or smth.

#romtask #about #( i wrote this extremely quickly and i feel like very few of these are well thought out so just....#take it with a grain of salt )

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searchingwardrobes · 5 years

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Review 1 of 2

I don’t normally post about a book when I’m only halfway through, but I just have so many conflicting emotions about this book that I poured words into my journal the other day about it. I’m going to share those thoughts with you because this book is making me FEEL things.

This is a novel (ie fiction) about Joy Davidman, most famous for marrying CS Lewis. His intense grief upon her death resulted in the book A Grief of Observed (which I have read and . . . there are just no words for the raw emotion of that book!)

I thought about re-writing and revising what poured out of me the other day, but I decided just to give you my raw emotional response so far to this book. This is gonna get long, so there’s more below the cut. I’m also going to include some excerpts from the book that have blown me away so far. Those will be at the very end. So here goes:

This book I’m reading about Joy Davidman has me thinking a lot. She longed to be known. She wanted someone to love and appreciate her mind, her intellect. CS Lewis did. {from now on, I will refer to him as “Jack” because that’s what Joy called him} I struggle because . . . was their letter writing wrong because she was married? The author had to imagine their letters because Jack and Joy destroyed them before she died. Why did they destroy them? Was this an affair?

Yet at the same time, I so identify with her as I read! I know it’s fiction, but much is based in fact. She WAS a writer, like me. I’m not as opinionated as she was, not as brash and bold (okay, not brash and bold at all), and I’m definitely not as brilliant. (She graduated from high school at NINE! Had a college degree at SIXTEEN! She spoke like four or five languages, including ancient Greek and Latin.)

So yeah, I admire her. Despite history throwing her under the bus. Like she was a crazy stalker or something. But Jack INVITED her to Oxford, first of all. Secondly, she was there for her health for a month before she went to see him. Plus, you can’t tell me historians aren’t biased when she was SO counter cultural to how women were supposed to act in the 1950s. Plus, she had a husband who was an alcoholic, prone to violence, who verbally abused her, and cheated on her constantly. But yeah, she was a crazy stalker seductress for escaping to England to befriend a man who was kind to her and admired her intellect.

All of Lewis’s friends hated her, too, except for his brother, but she was a loud, opinionated American divorcee with a heavy New York accent. Not to mention seventeen years younger than CS Lewis. (He was in his fifties, she her thirties - not that scandalous age wise, seriously!) Why would his male, academic, British friends like her? Of course they wouldn’t!

While I don’t understand, as a mother, how she could leave her children for so many months and not be with them at Christmas or their birthdays, in other ways I do get her as a mom. She was considered a poor mother by 50s standards. She was awful at keeping house and keeping up with the mending. But she read to her boys constantly, she dug in the dirt with them, went “adventuring” with them in the woods, and laid on a blanket under the night sky to look at the stars. I’m the same way. I’d rather be with my kids than just take care of the house. And, like her, when I get a spare moment, I choose to write, not do housework.So, like her, my house is usually messy. But for me, that’s socially acceptable. For her, it wasn’t.

Jack thought she was a great writer, but I can’t say that for myself since I’ve never read her stuff. I had no idea she wrote so much! Sadly most of it is out of print now. I already looked for her novel Weeping Bay with no luck, but I’m going to try to find her other stuff. She apparently also helped Jack write Till We Have Faces, which I’ve been meaning to read and want to even more now. (Some say she should have been listed as co-author.)

Anyway, it just makes you wonder - would she have been such a controversial figure or so hated if she had lived in a different era? There is so much more to her than I ever knew! There’s so much gray in her relationship with Jack, and it’s challenging me. Yet it also makes them more human.

Some of my favorite passages so far (the book is written in first person from Joy’s point of view):

“Dr. Cohen, the gray-haired family doctor with glasses as thick as windshields, visited the house one afternoon and sat at my bedside with his stethoscope dangling and his weedy eyebrows bending toward each other. He directed his words to Bill as if the illnesses had left me invisible. ‘Your wife must get some rest now.’

His wife. My definition now. I was the object of someone else’s life now instead of the subject of my own.”

“The sticky, primordial aroma of sex overwhelmed my senses, making me dizzy. If only the pain meds could dull the pain of betrayal. ‘Where have you been?’ My voice rose, exhausted but steady.

‘Hey,” he [her first husband Bill] said softly, ‘don’t be angry. This has nothing to do with how much I love you, Poogle. Can’t you see that? A man’s needs must be met, and you’re in no condition to meet those needs. I’m just trying to be kind, give you a chance to heal while I recharge my batteries.’

‘Who was it this time?’ My question was a whisper, a last breath.”

“Must I settle for the trouble that was mine? A life of disappointment and anger, alcohol, and despair with Bill.”

“He can’t hear me, Jack. When I get upset, he asks if I’m on my period or if my shoes hurt. And then he launches into his ten million excuses.”

There was another passage I love where she’s trying to tell Bill how her writing is going, but he barely listens then asks her for what’s for dinner. She says “I don’t know” and drops her head to the table “weary of it all.” I forgot to mark it - but I felt that passage to the depth of my being!

#melanie reads #becoming mrs lewis review #part one #feminism #women in the 50s

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365daysoftododeku · 5 years

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21st May 2019

Author: Kenyoda

________________________________________________________________

Izuku carefully picked his way through the trash. He needed an intact fan, several if he could manage to find them. The mini ones would be best. If need be he could disassemble some larger ones and take them up to the beach wagon he bought. The easiest place to get them was from here, so many electrical things had washed up and been tossed onto the messy beach. He had started coming to Dagobah Beach a few months ago after his ninth birthday. His mother had gotten him a small Raspberry Pi set and several tools and scrap to tinker with. No doubt she was hoping to take his mind off of his hero obsession. Everyone had long sense written him off since he was diagnosed as Quirkless. But Izuku was stubborn and he was going to be a hero, Quirkless or not.

His mother had sparked a new interest in him, but not in the way she wanted to. He had mostly played with the set in order to appease her. But then he noticed something as he was looking through his notebook. There were heroes that relied on gear to use their Quirk to its fullest or help them capture villains! Eraserhead had his scarves… and even All Might’s suits protected him from the potential backlash of his powerful attacks. If heroes with Quirks still needed gadgets to be heroes, then what was stopping him from being a hero using his mind and gadgets?

So, he began to pay special attention to heroes that used support items. He took a crazy amount of notes and began studying relentlessly. He switched from watching Superhero cartoons to watching educational tv shows when he was not following hero news. He quickly discovered that HeroTube had a ton of education videos and even instructional videos. He began to devour them.

His mom didn’t always have the money to buy him scraps and parts. But the resourceful little boy always found ways to get what he wanted or needed. The day he had read about all the junk at the abandoned Beach Park, he was ecstatic! He began salvaging what he could carry and cleaning it up. So far he has managed to make a simple remote control car and pulleys and such. But they were all programmable.

He was working his way up to more complicated things. Today he wanted the fan parts to try and make a propeller boat and then maybe later something that could put out tunnels of air to blow things out of his way or distract villains. At least that was the idea. He got the idea from the hero Air Jet. He wanted to give it a shot, but the boat would be easier to put together.

Finally, he managed to find a couple of mini-fans missing their front covers and in a few fans and bases. Hopefully, they weren’t from the water and that they were just junk someone threw here. He quickly made his way over to his wagon and placed the items in it. He wiped his hands on his pants and continued to dig around the smaller, less dangerous piles for more materials.

A strange noise then drew his attention. It was the sound of voices. A spike of panic went through him. Were they adults? Would he get in trouble? He raced to hide, circling around the trash pile he had been searching. He belatedly realized that he had left his wagon out in the open to, but the sound shifting sand told him that whoever was coming towards him was getting closer. He just hoped that they would ignore it.

“What if he finds us?” asked one voice. They sounded young, like him. Suddenly, his curiosity overrode his fear.

“He won’t… he can’t see us behind all the trash… besides… you know he doesn’t actually care what we do as long as we come back. We will just take a look at the water and go back.” Reasoned another, also childlike. Izuku was confused but relieved. It sounded like there were other kids headed his way. He cast a glance at the water. It was kind of sad, it was very pretty, but it couldn’t be seen because of the trash.

Suddenly, there was a great commotion on the other side of the trash pile. Izuku quickly peeked around it and his eyes widened. Sitting on the ground, at first glance, were two boys. One had a head full of snowy white hair and the other a deep red. The redhead’s bright blue eyes widened when they landed on Izuku while the gray of the other narrowed. What had given Izuku pause, however, was the fact that the two were actually joined together at the waist. While they each possessed their own heads, arms and torsos, they shared a single wide waist and a pair of stocky legs. He had never seen anything like it before. He briefly wondered if it had to do with a Quirk when the white haired one spoke,

“What are you staring at?” he demanded. Izuku blushed. He opened his mouth to apologize.

“Shou… be nice,” pleaded the redhead. “I am sure we just scared him. Is that your wagon?” Izuku nodded.

“Yeah! I come here to collect things to build with. A-Are you o-ok? Do you need help?” he asked as he stepped out from behind the trash pile and made his way towards the two… brothers? He held out his hand, smiling gently.

“Ummm… that would be nice… this sand is a bit…” started the redhead as he reached for something shiny in the sand.

“bothersome,” finished Shou. Izuku blinked at that. Shou was also reaching for a gleaming rod in the sand. As Izuku got closer, he realized that they were a pair of crutches that the two must use to hold themselves up. There were a bajillion questions moving through his head as his hand dropped back to his side. But he knew it was impolite to pry about people’s conditions. He definitely did not like it when people did it to him about his Quirklessness.

“Ok! Umm… maybe I can help lift you up?” Izuku suggested as he went around behind them. The two nodded. Between all of them, the two were back on their feet and leaning on the canes. They were metal with gray armrests that wrapped around their arms.

“Thanks for helping us. Sorry I was mean earlier. Most people…” Shou said.

“Aren’t so nice,” finished the redhead sadly. Izuku nodded.

“Yeah, people aren’t always nice,” Izuku agreed.

“Why?” asked the redhead.

“I’m Q-Quirkless,” he said hesitantly. The boys’ eyes widened.

“Ooh! Why would people be mean about that? I mean, we look weird… but you look fine to me,” said Shou. The redhead nodded eagerly. Izuku shrugged.

“Dunno really. No one wants to be my friend. It just makes me sad,” said Izuku, staring at his shoes.

“Uh huh,” said the brothers. The children stood in contemplation for a moment. Then Izuku grinned as an idea came to him.

“Do you guys wanna be friends?” he asked. The two boys perked up and looked at each other wide eyed.

“Really?” They asked in stereo. He laughed.

“Yeah! I’m Midoriya! Midoriya Izuku!” he said, smiling. Both boys grinned back.

“I’m Shou! He’s Tou!” said Shou while pointing at his brother.

“Well... our father named us Shouto. He didn’t realize that we two people not one, I guess,” said Tou as an afterthought. Shou muttered something under his breath. Tou gave him a look and Shou rolled his eyes. Izuku was ecstatic! He had two new friends! He ran to his wagon and dug around. He dug out his notebook and a pen.

“Maybe if we exchange numbers or addresses we can call or write each other! Little Heroes is fine, too!” he rambled as he wrote down his info. When he looked up the two were staring at him with perplexed expressions.

“Little...”

“Heroes?”

“Yeah! It’s a website where you can make your own hero n’ play games n’ stuff! I’ll write it down for you!” Izuku did so before ripping the page out and handing it to them. He watched in fascination as the two worked together to fold the paper and then stick it the pocket on the front of the shorts they were wearing. Tou then recited their information and Izuku wrote it down.

“We should…”

“Go. Our minder will be looking for us soon.” They said before turning to look at the water.

“Ooh…” Tou gasped softly, his blue eyes glittering. “It’s pretty, nii-chan,”

“Yeah, too bad there is so much trash…” said Shou. Izuku made a noise of agreement. Maybe one day it could be fixed. The three days watched the waves from a few moments before parting ways.

“Bye, bye Izu-chan!” they chorused before they left.

“Bye, Bye Shou-chan, Tou-chan!” he had called after them. He went back to work with a small smile on his face. He couldn’t wait to finish so he could go home and tell his mom all about his new friends!

________________________________________________________________

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#Story #ebonyphd #TodoDeku #365DaysofTodoDeku #TodoDeku365 #365 Days of TodoDeku #tddk #Shouto Todoroki #Todoroki Shouto #Izuku Midoriya #Midoriya Izuku #Boku no Hero Academia #BNHA #My Hero Academia #MHA #Todoroki x Midoriya #Shouto x Izuku #TodoIzu

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teamvnla · 5 years

Text

Cutscene : Reunion Bouquet

When Van, Kash, Russ, and Lye had first arrived in Mistral the concern of where they were going to stay didn't have time to cross their minds, Van had assured them he had it covered something about a friend owing him a favor. It was a furnished loft apartment, with how dusty it was the group figured it hadn't been used in a while. The boys insisted on Lye having the bed, she had gladly accepted. It wasn't often where she would get up and not find the boys piled up together on the pull out couch, they seemed used to it. It was her first time seeing them like that but her gut was telling her it wasnt their first time.

They had quickly made work of getting settled, not having really discussed what they planned to do. However, it was unspoken among them that the point of of going to Mistril was to wait for what happened with Amorette to die down some, they had to regroup and make a plan. They had to get stronger, so they started taking up different jobs with people who would turn a blind eye to their lack of liscense if it came down to it they could forge a thing or two.

A few weeks of this routine passed before the team gathered into the bedroom, it was a day off they all shared which meant the best time for a meeting.

"You want to go after Bruno?" Kashmere's brows furrowed at what had just left Van's mouth. "I thought we came here to get away from him?"

"Yeah, but we both know Bruno and we both know he's angry. He going to send people after us so I figured we go after him first." Van began running a hand through his hair. "I'm not sayin' we go tomorrow, I'm not even sure when yet."

"I get where you're comin' from, but we aren't exactly in the best position. Like you said, we know Bruno's angry. That limits out connections and what strings we can pull around here." Russ pointed out, his left ear twitched as he spoke, a good amount of their connections that were in Mistral were originally through Bruno. Sure they knew there were probably people they could trust, but now wasn't the time to risk it they had to be careful.

"We could hop around some more? Farther, with the towers how they are it'll take longer for any info on us to spread. It would buy us more time at the very least." Lye suggested sitting up.

"That's an option...we just don't have to means right now. We need to figure out where Bruno is first. Russ could figure that out easy."

"Yeah, if I had a computer. All I've got is a scroll and theres only so much even I can do on it." Big purchases weren't in the groups radar at the momment, they already had to get Russ and Kash new scrolls since they had to abandon their previous ones.

"Aren't you guys buddy-buddy with that clothing heiress?" Kashmere had gone quiet from thinking before speaking up, they had done research about the members of Van's Beacon team when he had first been assigned.

"Nava?" The twins spoke in unison, neither seemed to have consider her as an option, both for different reasons. Lye was so focused on their current team and her current condition that she hadn't thought of bring the brunette into the fold, Van on the other felt a bitterness at Nava's sudden departure after the fall. He felt that way about both the missing members of VNLA, he could mask it well but he knew it was there in his chest.

"I dunno, it might be hard to get around her folks. They're pretty strict the last we heard." Van tried to dismiss the topic with a nonchalant shrug.

"Then we just have to find a time when they're not there, they're bigshots I doubt they're always watching her. Plus it's Nava, she's the perfect person to ask for help." A smile tugged at Lye's lips as she talked about their teammate.

"It's a connection not tied to Fang in anyway so I don't think it'd hurt to try." Russ backed up the idea.

"You guys could even try going tomorrow, to scope out the place. You could disguise yourselves as staff to get in." Kash began to propose possible ideas of entry.

"Why don't we just try a head on approach? We could just ask to see her?" Lye suggested earning a doubtful look from Russ and Kash. "Just me and Van, we could say it has something to do with our team and some paperwork we need Nava's signature on." She added, they three of them continued planning giving Van no room to protest. He sat back in silence, red eyes watched on as the optimist and pessimist in his head fought it out.

------

The following day the twins station themselves nearby the Lavender estate watching the main gate for staff that would come and go, with the staff scurrying in and out of the estate it seemed that an event or something along the lines was being prepared. They had done some research about the staff the night prior to figure out who they should target, yet the staff that they saw didn't appear to be the ones who worked under Nava.

"Sitting around is what I planned when I started the meeting." Van commented under his breath idly thumbing one of the chains connected to his outfit, the pair had dressed up in their civilian clothes to blend in more.

"I don't get why you're so butthurt about it, Russ and Kash are looking for other options anyways." Lye responded rolling her eyes, her rabbit ears had picked up on the comment form her twin. Van looked to Lye and scrunched his nose making effort to continue the topic.

"Excuse me.." The new voice grabbed the twins attention, the turned and were met with a short women with round amber eyes, long brown hair. A pair of round mouse ears sat atop the women's hair, the deep wine uniform she wore only further confirmed who she was to the twins.

This was Nava's personal caretaker, Cinnamon Laveau.

The twins looked to the women expectantly.

"This might be a but presumptuous of me but, are you Van and Lye Marigold?"

The twins were surprised to say the least, they had a whole plan about how to "coincidentally" bump into one of the staff. They hadn't expected one of the higher up staff to approach them first.

"Yeah, that's us how do you..." Lye trailed off looking curiously at the mouse Faunus, but instead Van answer her.

"Nava reports." He stated as Cinnamon nodded confirming.

"Being her personal caretaker I was also granted access to them, she always wrote fondly of the two of you." She smiled warmly, the pair looked different than the pictures she had previously. That was expected with what happened at Beacon, she knew from seeing Nava that the toll wasn't just physical. "What brings you two to Mistral? You two originally hail from Vacuo, dont you?"

"Well we were actually hoping to see Nava." Lye begin, before being able to go along with their original script Van cut in.

"We were in town and we figured it wouldn't hurt to try to see her to catch and stuff, it's been a while." He gave a smile and brought a hand up scratching the back of his neck, he could see that Cinnamon actually cared for Nava and knew an emotional angle would benefit them more than a technical one. He had been on enough grifting jobs with the White Fang to know how to adjust the dialogue to get what they wanted.

Cinnamon's eyes practically lit up, this was perfect. She had seen how hard it was for Nava to readjust to being home under the strict regime her parents had. She remembered how heartbroken the young girl was the night she returned and her parents had confiscated her staff and any other training equipment, Cinnamon found she had no other power but to hold Nava in her sorrow.

"That sounds great, the staff is preparing for an event tonight, but Nava should be free. Come with me." She smiled gesturing with her free hand for the twins to follow her, she led them to the main gate and into the vast estate.

------

They had followed Cinnamon who traversed the winding halls with ease, soon they found themselves in a tea room with a large window and balcony overlooking the garden in the back. The pair took a seat, despite the casual demeanor he presented Van felt uncomfortable in the chair. Lye on the other hand was visibly excited at the chance to see their friend.

"Can I get you two anything, tea? Coffee?" Cinnamon offered.

"Oh, tea please." Lye answered polite with a soft smile, this was the most at ease and happy Van had seen her in a while. It would've been nice had he not been so focused on the thoughts that crawled over his shoulder and into the back of his head.

"I'm good, thanks."

"Alright then I'll be just a moment." She quickly left the room, she quickly made her way to one of the smaller kitchens to prepare the tea and a few pastries. She grabbed three cups, two for the girls and one for if Van changed his mind. As she was setting up the tray a familiar figure enter the kitchen.

"Oh, you're back already. How did it go?" A tall man with black hair and gray blue eyes, looked down at the mouse Faunus. He wore a similar deep wine uniform. Slate was also Nava's personal caretaker, however he managed more of Nava's schedule and saw her to and from where she needed to go.

"Pretty good, I delivered the last requests so they should be done far before the party. Is Nava done with lesson?" She asked as she placed the tea to steep.

"Just about, I was just about to prepare her tea. Though it appears you already have that covered...do we have guest?" He quirked a brow taking note of the number of teacups on the tray.

"It's a surprise, just bring Nava to the tea room with the white leather chairs." She picked up the tray and began to make her way of the kitchen.

"Which one?"

"The one overlooking the garden." She called over her shoulder.

------

When Cinnamon enter the tea room Van had been walking around the room examining the decor, he was mainly trying to see what information he could get from it. Lye on the other hand, still sat in her chair patiently waiting for the mouse Faunus to return.

"I brought some pastries as well, everyones preparing for the gala but these are still made fresh by the house's pâtissière." She informed as she set the items from the tray down onto the table, she poured Lye a cup of tea. As she took a step back, the door to the room opened.

Slate opened the door for Nava, usually he would tell her why he chose the particular room for her break but this time he didn't. Instead their idly small talk stopped at how her lesson went. When the door was fully opened fully she saw why.

The shock was visible of the brunette face, faster than she could cover it up with her usual calm demeanor. She recovered her stood straight.

"What are you two doing here?" She questioned, her gaze looked the pair over, they hadn't been separated for that long. How had they changed so much?

That wasn't the reaction they had expected to say the least, they had expected a bit more excitement at their reunion. Even Van did, but upon seeing Nava's appearance as she stepped into the room made him feel something was off. She was well put together, not that she wasnt put together before. This felt more meticulous, but not in Nava's sort of way.

"We were in the neighbor hood and thought we'd stop by for a visit." Van stated taking a seat next to Lye as Slate pulled out a chair for Nava across from them, Cinnamon stepped forward filling a cup for her.

She gave a small hum in acknowledgement as she went about adding milk and sugar to her tea.

"How have you been, it feels like forever since we last saw each other." Lye spoke softly, a soft smile resting on her lips.

"Busy, there had been a lot of catching up to do." Nava gave a short and to the point reply.

"I would assume so, huh?" She laughed lightly. "Are you able to manage your business studies with your Hunteress ones? You were always really smart, so I bet it's not a problem."

Nava paused bring the tea cup to her lips. "Oh dear, of course not." She shooks her head, Lye was surprised but what followed surprised her more. "All the Hunteress nonsense went out the window the moment I returned home, after what happened at Beacon?"

"Nonsense?" Lye's ears wavered as her brows furrowed, Cinnamon seemed surprised while Slate's stoic expression shifted with only a quirk of his brow.

"Nonsense. Here, allow me to put it in layman's terms. Someone of my status and position has no reason to run amok trying to play hero. I should be focusing on where a belong, I'll be the head of the Bundles of Lavender soon enough."

The long white rabbit ears atop Lye's head wavered, slowly falling as Nava spoke down to her.

"..what do you mean? This doesn't sound like you..." She spoke softly, she set down her teacup as a snicker came from the brunette across from her.

"Doesn't sound like me? Since when do you know that?"

"Nava, we lived together for four years. We've been friends for four years!"

"You didn't truly think we were friends did you?"

The shock and hurt on Lye's face was all the answer she needed.

"Oh my! You did! I was someone of higher status in a completely unfamiliar environment. I need atleast someone willing to take the blame if I ever got into trouble, you were just the easiest to cozy up to. You took to it so easily, desperately really."

Lye could felt as though she had been stabbed through her chest as her ears fell to lay against her head curling to her chin.

"Aryl was far too stoic, it'd take too much work. With all the resentment and anger Van practically vibrated with, I knew better than to try. You were the perfect groundwork for the both of them, you were just the most convenient at the time." She glanced to Van for a moment, his expression surprised her. Her expression nearly faltered.

Van sat back in his chair, head tilted to one side a lazy smile on his lips. He seemed absolutely unfazed by every of hers that dropped with that condescending tone. However, when she spoke he unconsciously scratched at his forearm. He was completely unaware of this tick, and unaware of what was triggering it.

Lye having taken reigns of the conversation made it easier for Van to sit back and watch Nava as she spoke. He had seen conversation similar to this, the whole 'big reveal' after all the set up and tricks. This wasn't it though, it didn't sit right in the bottom of his gut. He should've been able to take what she was saying and use it as validation for his bitterness towards her, but something just wasn't right. Had he just gone soft? Had his senses dulled?

"Ah who knew the Lavender heiress was such an actresses." He clapped his hands though his tone presented sarcasm. "Well I guess we were too presumptuous with this vist. I think it's the right time to get outta here." He stood up, walking around Lye chair before grabbing her hand. He pulled her out of the chair and began to lead her to the door.

"I'll see you out."

"Nah, I got it. I've got a good memory don't trouble yourself with us." Van called over his shoulder, Slate looked to Nava who simply continued to sip her tea.

A tension remained in the air even after the door shut. Slate took out his scroll notifying the front guards to tell him when the twins were seen leaving the premises.

"I thought you'd be excited, I'm sorry I didn't know..." Before Cinnamon could finish Nava's familiar soft voice spoke up.

"Don't apologize...it's better this way. I have to let go of the hope I could still be a Hunteress, it would've been impossible with the two of them around. I made a deal with my parents." She stared at the reflection in the teacup, her grip tightened on the handle.

"I'll cancel your lessons for the rest of the day. You should rest up for the gala tonight." Slate laid heavy hand on Nava's head who nodded silently.

#cutscene #[Muse;Van Marigold]#[Muse;Lye Marigold]#[Russet Bron]#[Kashmere]#[Muse;Nava Lavender]#[Cinnamon]#[Slate]

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