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leaderpinhead · 2 months

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Grim - Walk Another's Path

Prompt: Bodyswap Notes: This went a little longer than expected (which is one of the reasons I didn't finish it in February like I wanted to ;-;), so I'm only posting the first section here with a link to where I've posted the full fic on AO3. I still wanted to show it here because this was written for a prompt challenge I found on here. Full fic can be found here!

Grim snarled and paced back and forth around the bedroom. Every few steps resulted in him slapping his cheeks to make sure he was awake. The slight sting said that, yes, he was indeed awake and not experiencing a nightmare.

The smoothness of his cheeks was also causing his rising panic. “I can’t believe this is happening! This is all Ace’s fault! I can’t believe he threw that whatchamacallit into our cauldron yesterday.”

A light huff came from the bed. “That whatchamacallit was a bundle of dandelions, and it did absolutely nothing but cause enough smoke to earn us a five-page essay from Professor Crewel on the importance of lab safety. Which is due today.”

Grim spun on his heel to face his minion. He didn’t account for his new gangly limbs and noodley torso, which nearly sent him spiraling into the wardrobe. He snarled and batted at the piece of furniture like it had purposefully leapt into his path. Once he had effectively put the wardrobe in its place, he spun to face his minion.

Except it wasn’t his minion he saw, but himself. At least, a doppelgänger of himself. He’d never known his own face could contort into the same deadpan expression his human usually wore when she was tired of tiptoeing around the sensibilities of every boy on campus. She walked a small circle in the center of the bed like a fawn finding its legs for the first time. She wobbled just enough to make Grim offended. “How do you explain all this then? Last I checked, I was still in my own body when I went to bed last night!”

It was weird hearing Yuu’s voice when he spoke. Almost as weird as his own voice, from his own body, but definitely not him speaking. “That’s an even stronger argument for why it wasn’t the botched potion. Some potions can be slow acting, particularly ones distributed in a gaseous state, but in order for that to be the cause of our current dilemma, we would have had to be repeatedly exposed to—.”

Grim threw up his hands to cover his ears. His paws—fingers—found soft tufts of hair. Right, human ears were on the sides of their heads. His hands slipped down his head until they found the fleshy lobes. “I don’t wanna listen to your science talk this early in the morning! I’m having a crisis!”

Yuu sighed. She edged closer to the side of the bed and glanced down at the floor. She backtracked to the center of the mattress. “My point is, this isn’t Ace’s fault. This is your fault.”

Grim sputtered. “My fault? How’s this my fault?”

“Who was the one reading spells he didn’t understand before bed last night?” Yuu snapped back. The blue fire of her ears wavered when her ears flattened against the top of her head. Her head? His head! This was becoming so confusing. “I told you to wait until your next tutor session with Riddle, but did you want to listen? No. Because the Great Grim can do no wrong. Now we’re stuck in each other's bodies for Seven knows how long!”

It was Grim’s turn to flatten his ears against his head. At least, he would if he didn’t have these already flat ears! “I knew what I was doing!”

“You couldn’t even pronounce the words on the page!” Yuu stomped around the mattress until she reached the nightstand sitting beside the bed. She awkwardly stretched across the small gap between the two pieces of furniture and pawed the worn book closer to her. Her tiny grunts of effort were almost insulting. “How do you manage to hold a pen in your paws? I can’t even grip the edge of this book!”

Her efforts made him snicker now. “Do you understand my greatness now? I’ve mastered living amongst humans in ways you’ll never understand!”

“If you wanna brag about holding a pen, then go right ahead.” Grim sputtered at Yuu’s lack of awe. She balanced on the tiptoes of her back paws while she flipped through the book. She smacked a paw against one page. “This is the spell you used! Mark this page so we can show it to the headmage.”

“Crowley?” Grim questioned, but he moved across the room to do as he was told. He still felt a bit wobbly, but he became surer in his stride with each step. Maybe being human wasn’t so bad. “Why we gotta show him? Wouldn’t it be easier to take it to Crewel?”

“Professor Crewel specializes in potions and alchemy,” Yuu argued. She jumped back into the center of the mattress as soon as he marked the page. Grim tucked the book under his arm and waited for Yuu to jump down from the bed. “As irresponsible as the headmage acts, no one on campus is going to argue he’s not a powerful mage. If anyone can break whatever spell you did, he would be our best bet.”

Grim grudgingly agreed and continued to wait for Yuu to jump down. She did the odd circling again, coming close enough to the edge to peek over before jerking back to the center of the mattress. After the third or fourth time of her doing the same thing, Grim finally snapped, “Would you quit wasting time and just jump down already?”

“It’s too high!” Grim gaped at the whiny pitch escaping his body. He’d never made that sound before! And he didn’t go around stomping like a big baby either! “How do you do this everyday? I could break an ankle jumping from this height!”

“It’s not high at all!” Grim argued. He gestured between the top of the bed and the top of his—Yuu's—hips. He knew of Yuu’s extreme fear of heights, but this was ridiculous! “It’s barely taller than half your body size.”

“Which is twice the size of you!” Yuu hopped away from the center of the mattress and closer to him. Grim sputtered when she lifted her arms up to him. “Put me on the floor.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not about to treat my body like it’s a baby!”

“I’m not asking you to burp me. Just put me on the floor!”

“Just jump!”

“That’s like telling me to jump from the highest tower on campus!”

They went back and forth just long enough to attract the attention of the curious dust bunnies living in Ramshackle Dorm. In the end, Grim grudgingly lifted Yuu off the bed and placed her feet on the floor. His efforts were rewarded when he watched her tackle the staircase, the ghosts of Ramshackle joining in on his snickering as they watched Yuu slowly crawl backwards down the stairs.

He completely ignored her snickering at him when he tripped halfway down the staircase because of her weak ankles.

Follow this link for the rest of the fic!

#twisted wonderland #grim #twst yuu #bodyswapping #february ficlet challenge

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leaderpinhead · 2 months

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Rook - Like Fate

Prompt: Soulmates I treated this as a kind of "soulmate" AU. I wasn't very creative with it, but I thought of all the guys who would match with Yuu, Vil would be the most interesting. He totally wouldn't go for the whole "fate" aspect of it while Rook would watch from afar, his bow and arrow poised like a deranged cupid.

Rook spied the small Mark by mistake.

Despite how the others on campus may have perceived him, Rook operated by a polite set of standards. Part of that standard was avoiding another person’s Soul Mark. He knew himself well enough to acknowledge he would try to seek out the other person with the marking that completed that Mark. The idea of uniting a person with their True Love sent his heart fluttering with unrestrained excitement!

So he avoided seeking out those Marks. They were personal—as sinful as stripping a person down to their bare nakedness without their consent. Some Soul Marks appeared in very innocent places where one could easily spot them by accident: a wrist, an ankle, the cheek. Others manifested in very intimate places—places he would very (rightfully) be questioned for knowing. Some people were very open with their Soul Marks; others were not. As much as Rook found all kinds of Soul Marks romantically beautiful, he knew very well that it wasn’t his place to bring attention to them.

But he couldn’t stop himself when he spied the Soul Mark on the prefect’s left elbow. “Trickster!”

Yuu jumped, the jacket she had been shrugging on falling off her shoulder. The fabric bunched in the crook of her elbow just shy of hiding the small Mark again. Rook hurried down the trail to catch up to her.

His eyes never strayed from the Soul Mark. He imagined it could easily be mistaken for a small freckle or mole to the untrained eye. His eyes were sharp enough to catch the elegant curve of a mirror, not that dissimilar in design to the Dark Mirror. It was merely the outline though with Yuu’s pale skin being the only “reflection” in the mirror.

“Don’t scare me like that!” Yuu chastised when he was within hearing distance. She fixed her jacket and pulled it fully up onto her shoulders, hiding the short-sleeved shirt she had chosen to wear with her uniform that day. “I’ve already told you not to stalk me in the morning. What makes you think suddenly jumping out from behind a tree doesn’t constitute as stalking?”

“Excusez-moi,” Rook hastily apologized. His eyes lingered on her now hidden elbow. “I did not mean to startle, but I could not stop myself. Trickster, are you aware of the Mark on your elbow?”

“My elbow?” Yuu twisted both arms to see her elbows. “What mark? I swear, if Grim got his tuna on my jacket again, I’m putting him on a no tuna diet.”

“No, no, no!” Rook waved his hands. “Not a mark on your clothes. The mark on your skin.”

Yuu hummed in confusion and pulled her jacket off once more. She made a small noise when she twisted her left elbow and found the Mark. “Oh, that? Yeah, I noticed it a few days ago. I just figured it was something I got before I showed up here.”

Rook’s excitement curbed itself. Yuu had made herself so at home in Twisted Wonderland, it was almost too easy to forget she was indeed from another world. What he had interpreted as a Soul Mark could have easily been a tattoo she had commissioned herself.

But...no. Rook stared at the small mirror etched into her skin. Rook had seen both tattoos and Soul Marks, and there was a very clear difference between the two. He held out his hand to Yuu. “May I?”

Yuu eyed his offered hand for a moment before shrugging. Rook took the shrug as consent and carefully grasped her forearm just below her elbow. He slightly twisted her arm, and...yes! The difference between the ink of a tattoo and a Soul Mark was sometimes minute, but there was a shimmer to a Soul Mark that not even magic-infused ink could replicate. The outline of the mirror danced with a shimmer of rose gold when the light hit it just right.

His heart fluttered so dramatically, he thought it would fly right out his chest.

“What’s with that creepy grin?” Yuu asked. She tugged against his hold. Rook took the wordless hint and released her arm. She hid the Mark beneath her palm. “You only look like that when you’re about to hunt someone down.”

“Oui! And what a hunt it shall be!” Rook took a step back in order to bow to the prefect with a flourish of his hat. “I shall return to you with a prince!”

“Please, don’t. I hear they’re particularly difficult to care for.”

Rook laughed before prancing back into the tree line from whence he came. He felt the weight of Yuu’s stare on him until she loudly sighed. Rook felt the muscles in his cheeks burn from his wide grin.

The hunt was officially on!

---

One week later, Rook may not have found the Trickster’s prince, but he had certainly eliminated a good portion of the campus population. First to be eliminated was her group of freshman friends. Soul Marks always appeared in the same place on respective partners. A quick glance at the elbows of her friends easily eliminated them, though he had realized in the process that Deuce sported what appeared to be the front half of a blastcycle etched into the back of one knee and Sebek possessed a conglomeration of neon greens begging for an outline on the back of his right hand. The others simply had no markings on their elbows, so Rook quickly moved on.

The natural progression of his search took him through each dorm. He found half of a shimmering heart just above Cater’s left clavicle, and a colorless rose inside the curve of Riddle’s right wrist. He knew from interacting with Trey in the Science Club that his fellow vice housewarden lacked a Mark on either elbow, so he quickly moved on. In Savanaclaw, Leona had tried to cover the shimmering lines of a paw with the ink of his tattoo, and Ruggie showed Rook the small patch of patterned spots on his belly after the swift exchange of jerky. Octavinelle was a bit more challenging, but he eventually learned the Leech brothers sported a coiling pattern on the opposite shoulder of each other after catching them swimming in their mer-forms, and while he never found Azul’s Soul Mark, there was definitely nothing on his left elbow.

Kalim happily showed him the Soul Mark on his right hip, happily comparing the pattern to the one on his magic carpet. He provided Rook with the location of Jamil’s Mark too—two ruby red dots in the small of his back. He breezed through Ignihyde with similar ease, Ortho offering him a very thorough observation of nearly everyone’s Soul Marks in the dorm. He felt a pang of grief when the technomantic boy admitted a lack of his own Soul Mark, but Ortho appeared to accept the fact as simply a reflection of his own unique biology and magic.

He almost hesitated when it came to Diasomnia, but the thrill of the hunt had become too tantalizing not to explore the potential. Unfortunately, Lilia had somehow discovered his intentions and intersected him very quickly. “I will save you time in your hunt and admit now that none of us have a Soul Mark matching the prefect’s. You should avoid the topic with Malleus. He was especially upset when he first realized this little fact, kheeheehee.”

With no apparent leads, Rook found himself debating his next move the following Saturday morning. He tapped the toe of his boot against the floor as he watched Vil and Yuu do their weekly dance in Vil’s room. Vill snapped at the prefect to hold still while he applied her makeup; Yuu snapped at the housewarden to stop plucking her bold. The little dance continued when Vil showed her the line of dresses to complete her Saturday transformation, Vil complaining about Yuu’s abhorrent posture while Yuu challenged Vil to wear the dresses instead.

Rook chuckled at the Trickster’s balking demeanor when Vil accepted her challenge without flinching. He stood and followed his housewarden into the bathroom, aiming to provide assistance without Vil having to ask. Vil mumbled to himself as he shucked the waistband of his dorm uniform onto the counter. “I swear, she picks a fight just to prove she can. She knows full well that she doesn’t mind dressing up every Saturday. Does she think I would put up with this behavior if I didn’t see the potential in her? She is as bad—no worse than Epel.”

Rook chuckled again. It wasn’t the first time he had heard a complaint from Vil on a topic, but there was always an added sense of vivacity when it came to the prefect. If he was asked for his opinion, Rook would say Vil enjoyed butting heads with Yuu. There weren’t many people brave enough or even self-confident enough to challenge Vil. “You know the Trickster merely balks to see your reaction.”

Vil shook his head and slipped out of the top layer of his uniform robes. Rook reactively grasped the edges and folded the robe to place it on the counter next to the waistband. “I doubt she has much thought when it comes to me. Sometimes I think her preemptive decision to keep her gender hidden on the campus may have inadvertently warped her perception of herself. Her femininity is not simply a secret to be kept for the moment, but a dangerous curse that can never see the light of day.”

Rook hummed, knowing Vil wasn’t seeking an actual response. He could see Vil’s genuine concern in the softening of his expression. Because at the end of the day, past their bickering and agitated prodding, Vil genuinely did care for the prefect. Just as he cared for the success of the other students in the dorm or Epel understanding the strength he already possessed. He was the first to push them to their limits, but it was so they could see that their limits were merely a milestone.

Vil tugged at the sleeves of his shirt and eyed the dress he had chosen. Even Rook could tell putting the dress on over the shirt would cause the fabrics to bunch in unflattering places. With a long sigh, Vil unbuttoned the top few buttons and pulled the shirt over his head. “She has likely run off by now. She never misses a chance to flee when you are occupied in some other way.”

Rook’s chuckle cut off abruptly when he glanced at Vil. Vil wasn’t shy when it came to his body, but it was admittedly the first time Rook had seen him display so much skin. Vil always insisted covering himself to avoid any unnecessary blemishes caused by the sun. Rook couldn’t even recall once seeing him wear a casual short-sleeved shirt.

Which was why he had never seen the small Soul Mark on Vil’s elbow.

He didn’t need Yuu and Vil to stand side-by-side in order to see the Marks were a perfect match. While Yuu’s Soul Mark provided the outline for the mirror, Vil’s provided the colors: the shimmering rose-gold of the frame and a rich indigo that mimicked the reflective surface of the mirror. The discovery of the Mark shocked Rook so much, he couldn’t formulate a response. He had imagined—fantasized really—the joy of watching his Roi du Poison and Trickster slowly come together as partners, but the reality of their True Love?

Rook didn’t realize he was squealing until Vil roughly slapped a hand over his mouth. “Stop that this very instant!”

Rook vocally protested though Vil’s hand muffled his words. Vil sighed and rubbed the knuckles of his free hand between his brows. He clicked his tongue and turned a caustic glance at his exposed elbow. “I should have known better than to imagine you would not notice.”

Seeing how Vil still impaired his speech, Rook settled for giddily clapping his hands. He was sure Vil could feel his wide grin even if it wasn't visible. Vil tiredly shook his head. “This is why I never showed my Soul Mark. Even before the prefect appeared, I knew you would attempt to find my Mark’s match.”

Rook couldn’t hold himself back anymore, and he grasped Vil’s wrist to free his unbridled joy. “This is merveilleux! To even account for the serendipity of it all! You—born with a Soul Mark that would never match a living soul in Twisted Wonderland. And yet, the Trickster was brought to our world, and she received her Soul Mark the moment she crossed those barriers.” Rook emitted a small gasp, and his eyes widened. “What if she was born with the Mark in her world? The very universe shattered its laws to bring you two together! What an absolutely beautiful romance!”

Vil shoved Rook’s shoulder just hard enough to bring him out of his euphoric state. “Will I have to curse you into silence? You are not to breathe a word about this to anyone.”

Rook’s eyes widened with startled dismay. “Not even the Trickster herself?”

“Especially not her.” Vil pointed a finger at Rook for added emphasis. “Not a single word.”

Rook took a step back to gauge Vil. There was no doubt he was serious, his brow wrinkling with the displeasure flickering in his eyes. Unfortunately, that same displeasure was mirrored by Rook. “I can respect your choice not to tell the prefect you possess the other half of her Soul Mark, but I also find myself in complete disagreement. She deserves to know her fated True Love is already at her side.”

“Fate?” Vil repeated with an exaggerated drawl. He placed one hand on his hip and crooked the other arm to exasperatedly gesture with his hand. Rook’s eyes were instantly glued to the shimmering Soul Mark on his elbow. “You know full well how I feel about fate. I have never been one to believe the magical qualities of Soul Marks. What about those Marks even says two people are compatible? It’s a lazy assumption that breeds lazy relationships. Because the moment people find their True Love, they stop putting effort into making the relationship thrive. If Yuu and I become a couple, it will be because we have both mutually agreed to pursue a relationship. She will be a partner I believe will help me continue to grow just as I will push her to do the same. We may not always agree on topics, but we will enjoy each other’s company for each other—not a magical marking on our bodies that neither of us can control.”

Rook still disagreed. There were few instances when he and Vil so dramatically differed in opinion, but he felt like this would be one of those subjects they would never see eye-to-eye. Because Rook thoroughly believed in fate. There were times in life when nothing else could explain serendipity. Yuu and Vil sharing Soul Marks was one of those times. Finding the person who shared your Soul Mark period was destiny because not everyone had as an easy a time finding their match. Rook himself knew finding the bow to match the arrow on the upper part of his right thigh would be one of the most difficult hunts in his lifetime.

There was a silver lining though. Rook grinned. “So you would not reject the Trickster if your coupling was mutual.”

Vil’s eyes drastically narrowed. “And not based solely on the existence of the Soul Mark.”

Rook happily hummed. Vil wasn’t completely denying his connection to the prefect. He just needed obvious encouragement to outweigh the shadow of his doubt.

“Get that grin off your face.” Vil snapped. He turned away from Rook to pull the dress over his head. The long skirt flowed down to the top of his heeled boots, unhindered by the pants he still wore. “I don’t have the energy today to explain to the headmage why you should be allowed to stay on the campus despite nearly decapitating other students with your bow.”

Rook happily hummed and helped Vil with the zipper on the back of the dress. He let Vil exit the bathroom first. His sharp ears detected the faint click of a camera shutter. Vil’s haughty huff confirmed his suspicion. “I usually charge a hefty price for photoshoots.”

There was another click of Yuu’s ghost camera before she answered. “Consider the eyebrows you just plucked from my face as suitable compensation.”

“Only if you allow the other half of that caterpillar to be plucked.”

“I was about to compliment how pretty you look, but that wrinkle on your forehead makes you look twice your age.”

Rook’s cheeks began to hurt the longer they went back and forth. He quietly played the role of observer as they spend the better part of the day trying on different outfits. Yuu predictably caved into the temptation of wearing the dresses herself, gravitating towards the ones with tulle to give the skirts more volume. Vil wore the dresses that fit his lean figure better, showing more interest in the shoes he pulled out of his closet to complement each design.

Rook quietly slipped out the door when it became obvious Yuu wouldn’t attempt one of her daring escapes today. They remained huddled together at Vil’s vanity, chatting about an article in a potions journal while Vil painted her nails. He skipped down the halls of Pomefiore with a happy hum.

He had found his quarry, but the hunt had only just begun. Vil had ordered him into silence about the matching Soul Marks. What he hadn’t demanded was Rook’s complete cooperation.

He had no doubt the Trickster would successfully draw her own conclusions when gifted the correct tools. Where those tools would come from, Rook would simply feign ignorance. Because he was almost positive there was a sizable collection of academic writings on the nature of Soul Marks in the library. And part of the prefect’s routine was to spend a chunk of her afternoons in the library absorbing as much information on Twisted Wonderland as possible.

What were the odds of a few of those academic writings slipping into Yuu’s stack of research materials? Fate, Rook would concede, sometimes needed a helpful assistant.

#twisted wonderland #twst #rook #twst yuu #vil schoenheit #soulmark au #february ficlet challenge #rooks ships vil/yuu

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leaderpinhead · 2 months

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Leona - Checkmate

Prompt: Only One Bed

“I know we just had to prove ourselves worthy to grace you with our gross herbivore presence, but now we have another issue.”

Leona snorted but otherwise pretended not to hear her. He used the excuse of being in the bathroom. Just like his sister-in-law, Yuu had no issues with continuing to nag him. “Do you think ignoring me will make the problem go away? I have enough experience to tell you life doesn’t work that way.”

Leona clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. When they drifted back down to the mirror, he caught the reflection of the prefect and her pet in the bedroom behind him. Grim circled in and out of the room from the balcony like he couldn’t get over the view of the dorm. The prefect stood at the foot of the bed with her hands propped on her hips and her gaze steadfastly fixed in the direction of the bathroom. Her brown eyes met his in the mirror without hesitation.

Leona quickly glanced away. Not because he was intimidated, but because he had inadvertently dropped the brush he held. Yes, that was his excuse.

“You’re the one who insisted on staying here,” Leona snapped. He tossed the brush onto the counter and prowled around the large bathroom. He moved out of the view of the mirror and tossed a towel onto the floor just because he felt like it.

“Now I see why your room is such a mess. I almost feel sorry for Ruggie having to clean up after you, but then I remember he benefits from it just as much as you do.”

Nagging—why were all women of every species such experienced naggers? “If you have a problem, why don’t you go room with the puppy?”

“I’d prefer Jack, but you know why that isn’t possible.”

Leona huffed, but he didn’t argue on the point. He did understand why. He might have made her fight to earn the right to room with him while Azul manipulated his contracts, but he had known letting her room anywhere else in the dorm wasn’t an option. He’d heard the whispers circulating the dorm as more and more students realized the prefect was a girl in disguise.

He was quick to put those other boys in their places, especially when the whispers made even his stomach churn.

Ruggie’s snickers reminded Leona of the hyena’s presence outside the bathroom. “You three have fun figuring that all out. I’ll be back to see who still alive in the morning. Shyeheehee.”

Leona’s ears flicked when Jack mumbled a farewell too. He heard the obvious click of the bedroom door. Soft shuffling signaled the prefect and Grim moving around his room. Leona fiddled with the tubes and containers he found on the sink counter. His nose wrinkled when he picked up one container. Why the hell had Ruggie bought him a warthog scented candle?

“If you’re planning on spending the night in your bathtub, then I guess our problem isn’t as big as I thought it was.”

Leona grumbled and tossed the offensive smelling candle into the wastebasket. He sighed when he caught the prefect still glowering at him in the mirror. Clicking his tongue again, Leona ambled out of the bathroom. He tipped his chin back and scowled down at the prefect. “You should learn to show some gratitude. I could’ve sent you straight back to your dorm to deal with Azul’s lackeys.”

Yuu’s chin tipped back to meet his gaze. His eyes narrowed. Did she think she could intimidate him? He might—on occasion—bow to his sister-in-law's nagging just to get her off his back, but he certainly wasn’t about to do the same for a little herbivore.

The prefect tipped her head without breaking his gaze. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have thanked you. Your benevolence is second only to Azul’s. After all, had you not given me—a magicless little girl with only her monster companion—the opportunity to fight a group of thugs who used magic more than their fists, I would not only be sleeping in front of the statues on Main Street tonight.” Yuu paused to show him the bandage wrapped around her elbow. “I would also have never earned this new battle scar.”

Leona rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. “Battle scar? It was barely a scrape. You wouldn’t even have that bandage if Howl hadn’t been so dramatic about an infection.”

What he didn’t say was that he was actually impressed by their victory. Yuu had an almost uncanny instinct when it came to dodging magical attacks, not to mention the dexterity to perform the dodges. Grim’s offense was grudgingly impressive too, but his lack of focus would be his downfall. If Yuu hadn’t snapped at him to focus on one boy before moving to the next, they wouldn’t have won the duel. Leona hadn’t given them any handicaps either. Two of the boys were sophomores and the other a junior, meaning they had more experience than the average freshman when it came to a magical duel.

None of which he was about to admit to her.

“The point is that my scar has made me an official badass.” Yuu pointed at the bedding Jack had thrown down in the corner of the room. “As a badass, I refuse to sleep on the floor.”

Leona pointed at the couch sitting in front of the balcony. “Then take the sofa.”

“That sofa is barely long enough to fit Grim. Do you want me to suffer a hunchback?”

“It would add to your badass image.”

“It would also hinder me as I run around campus cleaning up all of your messes.”

Leona snorted. He ambled across the room to stand on the opposite side of the bed from Yuu. He relaxed his posture, and while he didn’t exactly match hers—hands on her hips and chin held high—he made it clear he wasn’t backing down. “My messes? Last I checked, you’re in this situation because your own little friends made a mess, and then you decided to throw yourself into the fire.”

“And as punishment, I frequently remind my friends of their bad decisions. Grim?” Grim made a noise from the balcony. “The sea anemone on your head makes you look dumb. Like a midget unicorn but without the badass part.”

Leona bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking at Grim’s howling displeasure. He took the prefect’s distraction as an opportunity to flop down into the center of his bed. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. “Your problems aren’t mine. Just be grateful I’ve given you a place to stay.”

He was on the very edge of sleep when Yuu chimed, “You know, Cheka wouldn’t be very happy to hear his uncle made his fiancé sleep on the floor.”

Leona cracked open one eye. The prefect still hovered next to the bed, her eyes now wide to mimic some type of innocence. His tail agitatedly flicked to the side. “Seriously? You’re trying to play that card again? The brat has no idea about what he writes in his letters. I doubt he even knows what the word fiancé means.”

“Sade says she’s very excited to one day welcome me into your family.”

Leona’s tail flicked harder. Of course, his sister-in-law was communicating with the prefect too. Sade had probably adopted the girl already. She probably told the prefect to make his school life even more inconvenient too.

“I wonder what she would say about you making me sleep on the floor now,” Yuu continued. She did a little spin and took one step in the direction of the bedding on the floor. “How very uncouth for the son of a king. Making a poor little girl sleep on the hard floor while he sprawls across a bed that could easily fit three people his size. And her son is being so heavily influenced by such a role model? I’m sure she’ll be absolutely thankful when I tell her—.”

With a tiny growl, Leona rolled over to lay on the edge of the bed. He took one of his pillows and plopped it down in the middle of the bed. He turned his back to her and glared out at the balcony. “Stay on your side of the bed.”

Yuu hummed with satisfaction. Leona’s ears flicked as he listened to her drag the blankets and pillows over to the bed. His tail twitched when the mattress jostled to accommodate the new weight beside him. After the prefect called for Grim to join her, Leona made a point of reaching for the light switch on the wall next to his bed. His two temporary roommates continued to wiggle and mutter in the dark. He didn’t close his eyes until the wiggling and mumbling stopped and Grim’s snores started.

“Leona?” Leona emitted a tiny growl. He was starting to question ever entertaining Jack on the prefect’s current living conditions. “Thanks. For real this time. You’re not that bad when you’re not throwing a temper tantrum.”

Leona grabbed one of the pillows beneath his head and whipped it behind him. Yuu yipped when the pillow connected. Leona tucked the pillow back into place and ignored Grim’s yowls about being caught up in “their feud.” “Shut up already and let me sleep.”

Yuu couldn’t stand him having the last word, so she threw one of her pillows at him. More wiggling ensued, and Grim mumbled his complaints before his snores started again. Leona closed his eyes, but for once, sleep didn’t immediately come to him. His ears flicked in the prefect’s direction.

With a quiet huff, he carefully shifted onto his back. With the help of the soft moonlight drifting in through the open windows, Leona could easily see Yuu quietly staring up at the ceiling. Grim slept curled up on her chest, and her breathing had slowed to match the monster’s, though it still wasn’t enough to simulate a natural sleep.

Leona dragged a hand through his hair, his fingers encountering a flicking ear. “If you weren’t planning on sleeping, then what was the point of fighting over the bed?”

“I just wanted to see if Sade was right,” Yuu answered without hesitation. She kept her voice barely above a whisper. “Apparently, you’ve never told her no.”

“Because if I ever did, she wouldn’t stop nagging me.”

“I think deep down, you’re just a big cuddly kitten.”

Leona clicked his tongue. His tail flicked across the pillow barrier between them. “A big cuddly kitten? You have no sense of self-preservation, do you?”

“Well, I could’ve attempted stabbing Floyd in the eye with a pencil and kicking Jade in the shin, but a tiny voice in the back of my head reminded me I didn’t necessarily want to leave the campus the same way I arrived.”

Leona snorted to cover an aborted chuckle. He obnoxiously yawned. His tail flicked back and forth from his side to hers. “How do you expect me to get a decent night’s sleep while sleeping next to a mouth breather?”

“Sorry, but I’m still mastering the art of breathing through my ears.”

Leona flicked his tail hard enough to brush against her arm. “Smartass.”

“Better than being a dumbass, but mediocre compared to badass.” She fell silent, but her shuffling made Leona’s ears flick. Her quiet sigh was inevitable. “Sorry. Aside from the change in scenery, I tend to have a hard time falling asleep most nights. I don’t actually mind sleeping on the ground if it’s too disruptive for you.”

The desire to snap at her to do just that died on his tongue the moment he imagined the disappointed glare from his sister-in-law. With a loud sigh, Leona rolled off the edge of the bed. He clicked on the small lamp on his desk. He glowered down at the bed. Yuu squinted back at him, Grim now tucked up against her hip. Leona made a show of kicking out the chair beneath his desk and flopped into it. The prefect leaned up just enough to keep squinting at him from above the pillows.

He shoved the chessboard on his desk towards the corner closest to the bed. He arranged the black and white chess pieces on their respective sides. “You prefer white or black?”

Yuu didn’t miss a beat when she climbed over the pillow barrier to sit on the edge of the bed. She twirled the board around, so the black pieces were on her side. “Do you normally give people the option?”

“It’s a courtesy,” Leona drawled. He slouched into his chair and balanced his elbow on the desk to give his cheek a resting place on his knuckles. “A show of good sportsmanship.”

Yuu snorted. She twirled the board again to regain possession of the white pieces. “Because you're so good at showing sportsmanship-like behavior.”

“I’m not above kicking you out of the bed if you annoy me too much.”

Yuu hummed. She spun the board a few times before letting it rest at an angle where both sides were somehow equally stuck between them. Her head slightly tilted. “I don’t know how to play chess.”

Leona released a loud sigh. He pushed the corner of the board until he gained possession of the white pieces. His ears flicked when he picked up the faint noise of the rowdier students trickling in from the dorms below. “Watch closely then because I’m not about to have a three-hour tutor session with you.”

They were on their fourth game when Yuu began picking up how each piece moved, which wasn’t too bad since each game only took Leona four moves to win. He still beat her with the same four moves for the next three games, but her frustration over him casually checkmating her king made her a quick learner. The next time they reset the board, she moved her knight to intersect his opening pawn. He still won, but she at least lasted three more moves.

By the time Yuu began to yawn in earnest, Leona was begrudgingly enjoying himself. She had become braver with her queen and had attempted several times to use it like some martyr-like sacrifice to somehow checkmate his king. Her strategies were laughable as a beginner, but they were just odd enough to make her less predictable than a veteran. She’d come close to checkmating him once but hadn’t even realized it. He wasn’t about to casually offer her the information either.

On her next turn, she stared at the board long enough with drooping eyelids that Leona couldn’t help saying, “Just give me your king, so we can go to sleep.”

Her eyes snapped up to his. The soft light of the lamp made the golden freckles hidden in her brown irises flicker. “Never.”

Leona firmly checkmated her in the next two moves. She squinted down at the board while he fluidly stood. He reached above his head in a long stretch. “You’re done. Now get on your side so I can finally sleep.”

Yuu huffed, but she complied with his demand with minimum fuss. Leona watched her stretch out on her side of the pillow barrier without bothering Grim, who had somehow wiggled his way down to the foot of the bed. She snuggled up under the extra blanket until only her nose was visible. Her posture, even hidden under the blanket, was much more relaxed than it had been earlier, and her annoying mouth breathing didn’t sound as obnoxious.

Leona quickly flopped onto the bed when he realized he had been staring too long.

“Good night,” Yuu yawned. Her voice was muffled because of the blanket, but he easily detected the slurred cadence of her words like she was already on the verge of sleep. “Chess’s s’more tiring than walking ‘round the campus. You’ll have to play me again. ‘Cause I’m gonna get good ‘nough to beat you.”

Leona snorted and clicked off the lamp. A comfortably dry breeze from the window loosened the suddenly stifling air in the room. “We’ll see about that.”

“Gonna take your queen.”

“It’s the king you have to checkmate.” Leona waited for her snarky comment. He peeked over the pillow when none came. Yuu slept curled on her side facing him. Her mouth was parted, and a gentle snore escaped with each breath she took. Leona huffed and dropped his head on the pillow. He closed his eyes. “Annoying little mouth breather.”

He wouldn’t admit to waking up once in the middle of the night when he couldn’t detect her snoring. He huffed in mild amusement when he found she had somehow flipped herself around and had her face buried in Grim’s belly. He flopped back onto his pillow and didn’t wake up again he until heard Ruggie whining about morning practice.

#twisted wonderland #twst #leona kingscholar #twst yuu #february ficlet challenge

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leaderpinhead · 2 months

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LeaderPinehead's TWST Masterlist (and whatnot)

Hello! I'm becoming more comfortable cross-posting my work on here, so I thought it would be a good idea to make a pinned post with some useful links.

My Ongoing Twisted Memories on AO3

This consists of three different works: The main story is Trails of Memories. Each chapter is a "vignette" from different perspectives and follows the game without retelling it word for word; it started as a fun project to write Yuu attempting to keep her gender hidden from the school population (and everyone figuring it out anyway). It's developed a lot since I started it in 2022, with a growing cast of OCs and drama outside of what the case experiences in the game. Birthday Memories is an excuse to write vignettes for all the boys' birthdays. Birthday interviews for OCs are included along with a little side-plot involving Yuu and Ladnar (an OC). Pocket Sized Memories includes little oneshots for scene that fit into Trails of Memories. I started as an excuse to participate in Twstober 2022, and I've been adding to it ever since.

Twisted Memories Wiki

This is a website I put together for my series. It provides profiles for all of my OCs as well as some worldbuilding tidbits I've worked into my stories, like the Mourning Dove Institute for girls or creatures like the dust bunnies. Everything I write tends to be with the mindset of being set in my Twisted Memories universe, so if you come across the mention of something that's not canon, odds are you'll find it on my wiki (and if you don't, let me know because I can easily add it :)).

Challenges I've Posted Here:

Twstober 2023

February Ficlet Challenge 2024

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leaderpinhead · 2 months

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Malleus - Damsels in Towers

Prompt: Run Away Together This is a direct sequel to Malleus - Pen Pals

“Fear not, young damsel. For I have come to free you from your prison tower.”

Malleus’s first instinct was to smite the intruder. It was not the first time an assassin had so boldly attempted to take his life. It came with the territory of his status and the restless politics of his early childhood.

His second instinct was to smile widely and giggle at the small human straddling the windowsill across the room from him. He gamely conquered the second half of that desire but fell victim to the first. “How bold of you to invade a dragon’s territory. I should incinerate you merely on principle.”

Yuu swung herself into the room without any fear. “Is that anyway to speak to your kidnapping savior? I can still leave you to the drudges of political affairs.”

A soft snickering from just below the window almost made Malleus pout, but he acknowledged the prefect—for all the startling feats she accomplished as a magicless human—would have never been capable of scaling the tall tower alone. His disappointment for having a hidden audience was tempered by the knowledge that it had been quite some time since he had last seen Lilia. Enough for him to have missed the presence of his old guardian.

Malleus sighed as if the idea of being prevented from attending hours of meetings with the council bickering amongst themselves was truly a heinous fate. His grin still stretched his cheeks. “Is there an appropriate amount of struggling one should attempt when being kidnapped?”

“Maybe some desperate pleas,” Yuu answered. She tiptoed around his room as if she was doing everything in her power to avoid detection from the guard stationed outside his room. Malleus’s grin widened. He had an inkling for why Silver had so adamantly insisted on standing guard outside today instead of joining him in his room. The look of concentration on Yuu’s face broke when she was within arms length of him. “If you give me some ugly crying, I’ll let you write your own ransom letter.”

Malleus chuckled. It felt natural to open his arms when she leaned forward to embrace him. The top of her head fit comfortably beneath his chin, and her strangling hug around his waist encouraged him to be a little less cautious when his arms circled her shoulders. Malleus basked in the physical contact for as long as he was permitted.

Yuu’s head popped up from resting on his collarbone, and she squinted up at him. “You have now been captured. Cooperate with your kidnapping, and I’ll allow you to choose which beach we bask on for the next few days.”

Malleus chuckled. He slipped his hand into hers when she offered it and allowed her to guide him across the room back to the window. He caught Lilia peeking over the ledge before the older fae ducked out of sight again with a chortle. “How very polite for a kidnapper. Should I write my ransom letter as you offered?”

“You didn’t give me any ugly crying,” Yuu argued. She paused in front of his desk and dug into her pocket. She pulled out a crumpled envelope and tossed it onto the desk. Malleus saw a crudely drawn black dragon lying on a sandy beach on the envelope before she continued pulling him to the window. “Maybe next time you’ll be a better damsel.”

“I will strive to learn from my mistakes.”

Yuu gravely nodded. She peeked out the window once they reached it. Malleus didn’t even have a chance to lean over her to do the same before she jerked backwards into him. “On second thought, I think we’ll take the stairs. I’ll tell Silver to just look the other way.”

A chuckle escaped Malleus to match Lilia’s snicker. “Does your fear of heights still persist? How did you manage to make your bold climb?”

“You don’t have to look down to go up.” Yuu spun them around to the door. Malleus didn’t budge where he stood. His hand still gripped Yuu’s, so she naturally came to a stop. She squinted at him. “I’m not about to fly off on a broom. Those things don’t have seatbelts.”

Malleus shook his head. There was a lightness in his chest that he hadn’t felt in a while. It was different from how he felt when he received letters from his former classmates, Yuu included. It was a lightness that always affected him when the child of man went out of her way to invite him to join her in whatever occasion she had planned.

The sudden urge to hoard that lightness compelled him to yank her back towards him. With a smirk that made her eyes widen up at him, he said, “I believe I have cooperated enough to choose our destination as was promised.”

He would apologize to Lilia and Silver later if he was compelled to, but the playful excitement on Yuu’s face was worth teleporting them out of the castle to the isolated beach of his choosing.

#twisted wonderland #twst #malleus draconia #malleus/yuu #ffc 2024

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leaderpinhead · 2 months

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Malleus - Pen Pals

Prompt: Letter or Package

Malleus stopped everything when a housekeeper silently presented a letter to him. He plucked the envelope from the gaudy tray and retreated into his room. Flipping the envelope over in his hand, an unfiltered smile stretched across his lips. The handwritten Hornton (Also Known As Lord Malleus Draconia, Prince of Briar Valley and Majestic Fire Breathing Lizard) would have identified the sender even if she had not signed her name above the return address.

After making himself comfortable at his desk, Malleus deftly sliced open the envelope with his silver letter opener. He pulled a thick parchment of paper out along with a small stack of photos. Putting aside the photos, he eagerly unfolded the paper and skimmed the child of man’s scratchy handwriting.

Dear Hornton, Firstly, I have been informed by Sebek that I have grievously offended your sensibilities by mailing my letters at the attention of “Hornton” instead of “Lord Malleus Draconia, Prince of Briar Valley and Majestic Fire Breathing Lizard of Twisted Wonderland.” For that I apologize and hope your sensibilities have been healed accordingly with the correction you have likely seen. (Sebek is currently having a frothing seizure from reading over my shoulder. The next letter you receive from him will probably be an entire rant on my atrocious behavior. I’ve included a photo for your entertainment.) Other than that, we have all been enjoying the last few weeks of our classes. Grim and Ace managed to cover an entire lab room with slime last week after they fought over our cauldron. Something fell in, and Ace still refuses to tell me what it was despite me threatening him with a bucket of fresh oysters. Professor Crewel decided Deuce and I were innocent, so we got to make fun of Ace and Grim cleaning the slime. Speaking of Deuce, he and Jack had a track meet last week against RSA. They totally decimated all the RSA guys’ times! Jack took first with a record-breaking time in the 100m dash, and Deuce was right behind him. The spelldrive game we had last week against them didn’t go so well, but Epel has been walking on clouds ever since he scored a goal from centerfield. It would have won the game if an unfair penalty hadn’t extended the game and let RSA score again. Other than critiquing my letter writing skills, Sebek has been helping me with a few new martial arts moves. He insists I need to master them as quickly as possible because of my weak, magicless existence. My goal is to have him flat on his back by the end of the month. I will send photo evidence of his shock when I succeed. How have you been? Sebek sings nothing but praises (of course), but Silver said in his last letter that he’s found you wandering the castle late at night. Have you been getting enough sleep? You know, spring break is right around the corner. I'll gladly orchestrate an elaborate kidnapping if you need one (and I’ll bring Lilia out of retirement to let me stand on his shoulders while I climb through your window). Kalim could set us up in Silk City for a few days, or we can find a beach to lay out on and pretend politics don’t exist. We can even pop into the Sunset Savana and heckle Leona a bit. I’ll give you the chance to choose while I start drawing out my dramatic siege on your castle. Write back to me soon! Yuu

Malleus chuckled at the small smiley face Yuu had drawn beside her name. Setting the letter on his desk, he carefully spread out the photos she had included. He matched the photo of Deuce and Jack in their Track Club uniforms, both of them grinning widely as they held up gold and silver medallions. The photo of Grim and Ace covered in green slime and glaring into the camera made him chuckle. So did the photo of a crouched Sebek clutching his head, mainly because Yuu had scribbled He’s going into Draconia shock in the corner of the photo. The action shot of Epel sending a spelldrive disc across the field —his expression of fierce determination highlighted by the fiery sparks from the disc—impressed Malleus and reminded him of the three years he had played spelldrive on the campus.

His smile softened when he picked up the last photo. Even when he still attended Night Raven College, the prefect had been averse to having her photo taken. She had preferred snapping photos of everyone else with her Ghost Camera, though Malleus had seen her occasionally give into taking a picture with Diamond using his phone.

Ever since they began their letter exchanges—the year after his internships concluded and he returned to Briar Valley—she had included at least one photo of herself. At first, they had been candid shots taken by another: her caught mid-yawn, her tiredly staring at Vargas, her hovering over a cauldron. After a few months, the photos had become more deliberate. The photos were taken from an angle that clearly indicated she took them herself, usually to show him the myriad of activities she participated in. She had even taken a picture of herself in the mirror to show him her Halloween costume that year.

This photo was a simple self-portrait of her pointing at a cluster of tiny sprouts peeking out of the ground. There was no note written on the photo, so he concluded the sprouts were from the seeds he had mailed to her a month earlier. She had insisted he send them despite him adamantly arguing it was a plant only capable of growing in Briar Valley. She was clearly set on proving him wrong as indicated by her wide eyes and raised brows.

Chuckling at her cheekiness, Malleus reached for a quill and blank sheet of parchment. After dipping the tip into a jar of ink, Malleus began writing with a light flourish in each stroke.

Child of Man, You need not worry how you address your letters. I have informed the staff any letters from Night Raven College are to be delivered to me immediately. I shall reiterate this to Sebek when his next missive arrives. (While I enjoy seeing yours and Sebek’s friendship grow, I must caution you not to push him too far. He will one day be at my side as a trusted retainer, and I require his wits be intact.) I see that your final year on the campus is shaping to be a very lively one. Though I must insist you share with me your current accomplishments as well. Have you attained the proper paperwork to begin your internship with Professor Crewel next year? Are you still enjoying the presence of other students in Ramshackle Dorm? Has Crowley requested your assistance since solving the mystery of Octavinelle’s missing fishes? As for your inquiry, I will simply say learning all I can from my grandmother is quite a feat. She wishes to retire soon, and I understand her desire to wipe her hands of the council. I strive to attain the knowledge and practical skills to take her place. But on the off chance a dastardly human managed to climb through my window and force my departure from the castle for a time...I feel as if I would almost be required to oblige. Awaiting your dramatic kidnapping, M. D.

#twisted wonderland #twst #malleus draconia #twst yuu #ffc 2024

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leaderpinhead · 2 months

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Jade - The Cult of Jade

Prompt: Just In Time

Ramshackle’s prefect had impeccable timing when it came to any crisis that befell the Night Raven College campus. Drama barely had time to brew before she was there with her judgmental stare and snippy comments. It was almost as if she had some type of sixth sense for these things.

Or, Jade concluded as he grinned where he sat on the floor of Ramshackle Dorm’s basement, she was just a natural busybody who couldn’t mind her own business.

She blinked down at him from the top of the staircase. Her judgmental stare was critical, but it only made his grin widen. When she didn’t breach the lengthy silence that fell over them, Jade decided it would be his duty to slice through the sudden tension. “Why, good morning, prefect! I wasn’t expecting you to be such an early riser. When Grim expressed his desire to sleep well past noon, I imagined you would be of like mind.”

An inquisitive squeak from one of the dust bunnies surrounding him caused the rest of the colony to voice their curious squeaks. Yuu’s eyes drastically narrowed. She slowly lowered the foot that hovered above the step when she froze upon seeing him. “Jade.”

“Yes, prefect?”

“Why are you sitting on the floor of my basement at this time of night looking like a cult leader corrupting my dust bunnies?”

Jade’s grin widened. “Because I am.”

“Excuse me?”

“I am indeed...” Jade paused long enough to make the prefect carefully step back up one stair, “...very curious about these fae creatures! Were you aware that there is very little research done on the origins of dust bunnies? Researchers are aware they are a type of fae, but beyond that, they simply deduce these small fae collect dust to mimic small woodland creatures. Hence their name. It’s very fascinating. I highly recommend checking out a book from the library debating their existence as mere pests or a viable part of a home’s ecosystem.”

“I already have,” Yuu slowly replied. She stepped down again but with a hesitance that told Jade she greatly questioned her decision. “That doesn't answer the question of why you’re here. At midnight. In my basement.”

Jade pretended to be surprised. “Why, where else could I find such a large colony to observe? You, dear prefect, are the only one on campus who doesn’t immediately exterminate them.”

The dust bunnies surrounding him protested at the mention of extermination. The way the prefect’s nose wrinkled carried the same sentiment. “Doesn’t Azul need you in Octavinelle?”

“As you said, it is midnight.” Jade paused with a smile. Yuu’s delightful scowl prompted him to finish with, “So no. I imagine Azul is tucked snuggly in bed.”

“I swear, if you’re here to farm more of your damn mushrooms in my basement, I’m gonna set the whole foundation on fire.”

“I don’t believe the school’s insurance covers arson.”

“Get out of my dorm, Jade.”

Jade emitted a woeful sigh but stood at the prefect’s continued insistence. The dust bunnies squeaked and chattered but only a few hopped along behind him when he climbed up the staircase. Yuu hurried up before him and stood judgmentally glaring at him from the door.

Jade paused a step below her and turned to address the dust bunny colony. He swept his arm out towards them. Their squeaking silenced. “Fear not, my children, for I shall return bright and early in the morning to bring you the good news of our benevolent Sea Witch.”

“Stop that before I seriously start thinking you’re converting my bunnies into the Cult of Jade.”

Jade’s chuckle was drowned out by the cheerful chatter of the dust bunnies.

#twisted wonderland #twst #jade leech #jade's spirit animal is a gremlin #and his personality is moooooshroooooms #yuu just wants her dust bunnies to have a better role model #ffc 2024

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Idia - Like A Shoujo Cliche

Prompt: Role Reversal Notes: I feel like this could be read as both a romantic and platonic interaction. Personally, I enjoy a more platonic Idia/Yuu pairing, like two siblings.

Idia fiddled with the headphones around his neck. The crowd passed in front of him like a sea of faceless NPCs. Idia clutched his tablet closer and took a small step back to avoid being trampled by a trio of giggling girls.

Why had he agreed to do this? Oh, yeah because Ortho bullied him into it. “This is a once in a lifetime chance, big brother!” Ortho had insisted. “It’s a limited-time offer, and it’s right here on Sage’s Island. Do you really wanna spend hundreds of thaumarks to buy the same Premo merch from a dirty scalper?”

Honestly, Idia hadn’t minded the thought at all. Sure, he hated people who bought fan merch for next to nothing and then sold it for ten times the amount, but it made his life a lot easier. Just click a few buttons and wait a few days for the package to arrive at the Mystery Shop. Easy, breezy.

And not panic inducing like standing here like a complete weirdo taking up space in front of a cutesy cafe.

“Idia!”

Idia jumped. He nearly lost his balance spinning to face the direction he had heard Yuu’s voice. She waved when they made eye contact. The sprint Idia did to reach her would have put his record times in PE to shame, and Vargas would have given him an immediate spot on the track team.

Idia grabbed Yuu’s wrist. “What took you so long? I thought we said ten sharp. You weren’t here at ten sharp!”

Yuu rolled her eyes. She shook her arm, but he refused to let go of her. “Stop acting like I completely ghosted you. I’m literally five minutes late.”

“You’re still late,” Idia insisted. He tucked his tablet into his pocket. He clung to Yuu’s arm with both hands. He cringed closer to her shoulder to avoid a group of normies taking up over half the sidewalk. “Do you have any idea how stressful all this is? I don’t come here on the regular. How am I supposed to blend in with all the normies?”

“The first step is to stop acting like you’re being tortured for just breathing,” Yuu said. She shook her arm again, but Idia clung to her out of sheer stubbornness now. She sighed. “Come on, Idia. We’re here to enjoy something you like. The least you can do is be a bit excited.”

Idia pouted. He was excited...once he got past all the anxiety of brushing shoulders with complete strangers. He enjoyed all the livestreams of Premo’s concerts; he watched all their interviews and was active in all the big fan groups. He collected memorabilia like it was no tomorrow. He just...had never experienced something actually live.

And it seemed a bit silly to be stepping into a cutesy, pastel cafe with him being all “doom-and-gloom" like.

“We’ll even get a few crepes,” Yuu insisted when he stayed quiet for too long. Instead of trying to pull herself free again, she gave one of his hands a friendly pat. “They don’t have energy drink flavor, but Cater said the hazelnut chocolate ones were pretty popular.”

The only response Idia could give was an embarrassing groan. How lame was this? He was giving off NEET vibes like a radioactive zombie in some post-apocalyptic world. No wonder all the girls who had passed him going into the cafe had giggled and whispered to each other while shooting him some major side-eye.

Idia clung to Yuu’s arm as they stepped through the cafe’s door. It was just like he had seen through the window: cheerful pastels and bubbly employees. He liked the little woodland creature mascots pictured on the walls and displayed on the tables, but he figured a noodle with flaming hair cooing over a cute rabbit would earn him more stares.

His eyes darted across the menu hanging on the far wall. A separate board had been placed to the side of it, and the darker colors immediately caught his eye. Premo’s band logo—a stylized eyeball with a golden thread circling it—was pictured beside a parfait with several blue and purple layers topped with a cloud of whipped cream and blueberries. Another treat—a crepe with blueberry whipped cream and a drizzle of golden caramel sauce topped with whole blueberries—was pictured alongside it.

The second treat made Idia tighten his grip on Yuu’s arm. “They’re advertising a crepe with the parfait! No one mentioned a crepe on the message board.”

Yuu chuckled and patted his forearm. “I’ll get that crepe then. Why don’t you go find a table for us? The line doesn’t look too long, and I should be able to get them myself.”

Idia nodded and made a quick beeline to the tiny table in the farthest corner. He tucked himself into the chair facing towards the rest of the cafe. The other tables were occupied with mostly girls, but he spotted a few guys here and there. Mainly with one girl, and the girl was giggling while the guy looked like he took every opportunity he could to put his arm on the back of her chair.

Idia’s nose wrinkled. Talk about a shoujo manga cliche. Idia bet they had some equally cliche interaction, like the girl getting whipped cream on her cheek and the guy wiping it away with his thumb and saying something swoon-worthy. Then they’d continue their date and later have a “will-they-won't-they" kissing moment before someone else interrupts. It was kinda lame to think about it.

Idia’s tablet buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out without hesitation and found a message from Ortho. He was asking if Idia and Yuu had made it to the cafe yet. He grinned and typed out a response before holding his tablet up to take a picture of the limited-time menu options. Ortho would get as hyped as him about the extra crepe option.

Yuu stood at the counter just below the menu. She pointed up at the board just as Idia took the picture. He giggled at the serendipitous moment and shot the pic off into cyberspace. Ortho immediately responded with a happy face.

The next time he looked up, he found Yuu flanked by two guys. She held a tray with the Premo desserts and squinted up at the guys. Her head bounced back and forth as if they were talking too quickly for her to even form a response.

Idia sat frozen in his chair. Was he supposed to jump up and help her? From what he knew, Yuu usually handled her own problems without any issue. She had definitely handled guys on the campus that were twice her size. Idia getting into the mix would just cause more problems. Yeah, he was better off just waiting right here...

One of the guys grabbed her elbow. Yuu immediately jerked to the side in an attempt to free herself. The motion nearly knocked the parfaits off the tray.

Idia had crossed the cafe before he even realized it. He huffed when he reached the trio. “Are you guys some kind of shoujo creeps who can’t take a hint? The girl’s not interested.”

The guys spun on him. From a distance, they had looked to be bigger than Yuu, but up close, Idia actually thought they looked shorter than her, which made them way shorter than him. They blinked up at him like they didn’t know how to respond. Yuu blinked at him in the same way.

Idia widely grinned with false bravado. “Not so tough when you’re up against someone bigger, huh?”

One of the guys stuttered and looked down at his shoes. The other guy, the one still holding Yuu, pointed an accusing finger at her. “She doesn’t even know the names of Precipice Moirai!”

Idia’s grin faltered, and it was his turn to be confused. “Huh?”

“She can’t even name a Premo song!” the guy insisted. He pulled on Yuu’s arm again, but she braced herself to keep him from shaking anything on the tray. She glared at the guy but didn’t say anything. “The limited-time parfait and crepe are for real Premo fans. Not some fake fan who doesn’t even realize how valuable the reusable parfait cup and limited-edition crepe button pin are!”

The turn of events, while still shocking, immediately made Idia cackle. He loomed over the guy still holding Yuu, his grin widening. “For real? You’re really that type of guy. What gives you the right to gatekeep, bruh? Over a buncha sweets too? Premo would legit disown you plebs. They’d be the first to say the threads of fate can guide anyone to them. You’re thinking of clipping that thread prematurely? Lame.” Idia took a deep breath and scowled at the speechless guy. “And FYI, Yuu’s tots a fan. She might not be able to hold a tune, but she’s def jammed to a Premo song or two while waiting to queue into a game lobby. I got the proof right here—.”

“Okay!” Yuu’s abrupt interjection made all three of them jump. The guy holding her jerked away like her arm was a hot iron skillet. She shrugged between the guys to stand next to Idia. “I think we get the point. And they’re not going to gatekeep anymore because they really shouldn’t judge a person without knowing them. Right?”

The two guys picked up Yuu’s scary authoritative vibes and snapped to attention. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” Yuu paused. She lightly gestured the tray at them. “Now, uh, go order your own parfaits and crepes.”

The guys nodded and practically tripped their way back to the counter. Idia snickered. Idia would be the first to admit he was an otaku, but it was hilarious to watch other weebs embarrass themselves.

Yuu nudged his side with her elbow, and Idia followed her back to the table where he’d left his tablet. It wasn’t until they were seated that he realized a good number of the other customers were staring in their direction. Mainly the girls, who immediately started whispering and giggling with each other when he looked in their direction.

His face warmed with his own embarrassment, and he ducked his head into his jacket. Yuu pushed one of the Premo parfaits and the crepe in front of him and took the other parfait for herself. She grabbed one of the Premo buttons, the cellophane bag crinkling between her fingers. “Can I open this or am I committing a Premo sin?”

Idia snickered and temporarily forgot about the girls giggling at him. “I don’t care. I’ll keep mine sealed just for the collector’s value of it.”

“Cool.” Yuu unwrapped the button and swung her canvas shoulder bag onto her lap. She pinned the button to the flap of the bag. The ink used to print Premo’s logo shimmered when she moved the flap. “I’ve never actually seen the band’s logo before, but I like it!”

Idia rolled his eyes and grabbed his tablet to take pictures of the parfait and crepe. “I can’t believe you just admitted that. After I just sacrificed what little dignity I had to defend you against those gatekeeping dweebs.”

“Your sacrifice was greatly appreciated.” Idia rolled his eyes again, but Ortho had already responded to the pictures. Idia quickly responded to his brother’s awe. “By the way, thanks for the save. They were saying things I’ve never even heard from you.”

“How about we just forget that big flub,” Idia said. He grabbed the tiny spoon for the parfait but paused. He squinted and decided to attack the crepe first. “I’m already gonna suffer remembering it later.”

“I don’t see why,” Yuu argued. She didn’t have an issue stabbing the fluffy whipped cream of the parfait. Idia stared in horror as she shoveled the edible cloud onto a napkin to reach the sour yogurt beneath. “I think you made half the girls in here swoon.”

Idia choked on the large bite of crepe and blueberry whipped cream he had just taken. He stared at Yuu with wide eyes. “You’re kidding, right? Girl’s swooning over me? More like they were grossed out.”

Yuu’s eyelids drooped. “I think you underestimate the first impression you give some people. It’s not until you open your mouth that they get second thoughts, though this time it actually worked in your favor.”

Idia scoffed and went in for another bite. He froze when he realized Yuu was leaning towards him. She casually—almost too casually—swiped her thumb across his cheek at the corner of his mouth. She pulled back with a dollop of blue cream on her thumb. “Sometimes I wonder how any of you boys survive with the messes you make.”

She popped her thumb into her mouth, and Idia thought he was going to melt into a puddle of embarrassed shoujo cliche.

#twisted wonderland #twst #idia shroud #twst yuu #tbh idia was more concerned about losing his parfait #he knows yuu's a big girl who can kidney punch a guy if she needs to #ffc 2024

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Kalim - The Great Matchmaker!

Prompt: Picnic

Kalim laughed as he raced up the small incline. He paused under the willow tree at the top and spun on his heel. The blanket on his forearm slipped slightly when he lifted his hand to shield his eyes against the sun. “This is perfect! Right, Jamil?”

Jamil sighed and adjusted the large picnic basket in his hand. Kalim could hear him mumble, but it wasn’t loud enough for him to hear. Kalim ignored the mumbling and whipped open the large blanket he’d brought from Scarabia. If Jamil wanted Kalim to hear what he said, then he would have spoken louder. Kalim was trying very hard to learn that he didn’t always have to ask mumbling people to repeat themselves even if he really wanted to hear what they said. Yuu had said sometimes people just need to talk out loud to themselves.

Speaking of the prefect, Kalim paused straightening a corner of the blanket and turned back to shield his eyes against the sun. He could see Ramshackle from across the small field between the dorm and the woods. He checked his phone. He had said one o’clock, right?

“We shouldn’t be away from Scarabia for too long,” Jamil said. Kalim heard the hinges on the picnic basket squeak followed by the hollow pop of a lid being removed from a dish. “I know it’s the weekend, but there are a few tasks around the dorm we need to complete. The elephants need to be taken on a short walk to the oasis to exercise them and...”

Kalim stopped listening when he spotted the figure coming out of Ramshackle Dorm. He swayed back and forth with energetic impatience but made himself wait until Yuu was at least halfway across the field before he frantically waved at her. He waved with both arms when she waved back. “Yuu! You made it!”

He could hear her giggle even at a distance. Kalim realized Jamil had fallen silent and turned back to his friend. Jamil watched Yuu approach them, his face flat of any expression. He slowly blinked when Yuu greeted them both by name. He didn’t say another word as he continued unpacking the lunch from the picnic basket.

Kalim giddily bounced in place and waited for Yuu to reach them under the willow tree. Jamil was just as excited as he was! He could tell by the way he carefully rearranged the colorful dishes to make space for Yuu. Kalim had known that this was a great idea!

Kalim couldn’t contain his excitement any longer, and he launched himself at Yuu as soon as he could. She laughed and thumped his back, returning his tight squeeze with the same amount of enthusiasm. “It’s good to see you too, Kalim! Sorry I’m a bit late. Azul was trying to renegotiate child support to get a cheaper deal.”

Kalim thought he heard Jamil mutter something like “Of course he would.” Kalim simply laughed. “No worries! We just got here too. Jamil was just finishing laying everything out. We’ve got all kinds of picnic foods. I even packed the fruit myself!”

Kalim happily accepted the shoulder pat Yuu gave him. “Good job, Kalim! Did Jamil let you dice them up this time too?”

Kalim’s excitement wilted for the first time today. “No. He said we were already running late, and he could prepare everything faster himself.” Kalim perked again. He pointed at the bowl of red pepper hummus sitting next to a small platter of pita bread. “But I helped prepare the hummus last night! I added extra peppers just for you!”

“That won’t make it too spicy for you, will it?” Kalim hummed at her concern and shook his head. He grabbed her hand and pulled her around the blanket to sit right next to Jamil. Jamil stiffened, but Yuu’s gaze remained focused on Kalim. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to suffer just because of my preferences.”

“It’s totally fine! I hadn’t planned on...” Kalim clamped his mouth shut. His eyes darted between Yuu and Jamil. Yuu tipped her head and stared up at him in confusion. Jamil focused on piling various pieces of the picnic food onto one plate. He didn’t look up at Kalim, but Kalim noticed his darkened cheeks when Jamil snuck a glance at Yuu.

Kalim’s grin returned twice the size as it had been. He dismissed Yuu’s concern with a casual wave. “No worries! I might not like curry as much anymore, but I can still eat spicy things.” Kalim casually checked his phone. He gasped and stuffed the device back into his pocket. “Actually, I’ve gotta go, uh, meet someone else right now. I totally forgot about it until just now. You two should still enjoy the picnic. Together. Alone. K’bye!”

Kalim sprinted down the hill and across the field before Yuu’s confused voice registered in his ear. He gasped for breath, but he didn’t stop until he reached Ramshackle Dorm. He spun around and looked back up at the willow tree. Yuu and Jamil seemed to be talking now (or they were at least looking at each other; Kalim couldn’t actually hear anything). He grinned when Jamil offered the prefect the plate he had prepared.

The plan had worked! What better way to make them realize their feelings for each other than to set them up on a romantic date together? It was absolutely genius!

“Is that Jamil and the prefect up on the hill?”

Kalim hummed and turned to answer his fellow housewarden standing just outside the door of Ramshackle Dorm. “It sure is! They’re having a picnic together. Don’t they make a great couple?”

Azul hummed. He took his glasses off and gave them a quick wipe with the small cloth he pulled from his pocket. He still squinted when he replaced his glasses on his nose. Kalim wondered if he might need a stronger prescription to help him see. “A couple? I was under the impression Jamil was abstaining from romance. He appears so steadily dedicated to attending to you that he just doesn’t have the time for it.”

Was Jamil not dating because he was spending so much time helping Kalim? It was a question Kalim would have to investigate later. He had to let Jamil know it was perfectly okay for him to date!

“Perhaps I should pop in on them,” Azul continued with a happy smile. He took a step down from the dorm’s stoop. “Yuu and I were just discussing the current rates to care for the creatures Ramshackle has accumulated. I’m sure Jamil would staunchly agree with my—.”

“No!” Kalim lunged forward to cut Azul off. He threw his arms out to stop Azul. Azul’s eyes dramatically widened. “I’m sorry, Azul, but you can’t interrupt them right now. They’re on a date!"

Azul’s eyes widened even more. “A date?” A short laugh followed his question. “You were being serious? I actually thought...” Azul laughed again. “I suppose you would play matchmaker for those two.” Azul pointed behind Kalim. “Unfortunately, it would seem their date is at risk of being interrupted.”

Kalim whipped around. He gasped. Leona must have looped around the dorm because he was lazily sauntering across the field to the tree. Kalim sprinted after him, almost missing the chuckle from Azul. Kalim launched himself at Leona’s back. “Leona!”

“What the…” Kalim clung to Leona when the older student spun around. An unhappy snarl rumbled through Leona. A large hand landed on the top of Kalim’s head. “Kalim? You’ve got five seconds to explain yourself before I punt you across this field.”

“Leona!” Kalim repeated. He tightened his arms around Leona’s waist when Leona tried to shake him off. “You can’t go up there right now!”

“And why not?” The hand on Kalim’s head applied more pressure. “I take a nap under that tree every weekend.”

“Jamil and Yuu are having a picnic right now,” Kalim insisted. He dug his heels into the ground when Leona tried to wiggle out of his arms. “Please don’t interrupt them!”

Leona froze. “A picnic?” His angry rumble was replaced by a low chuckle. “Is that so? Now I’ve gotta see that.”

Leona dragged Kalim for a few steps. Kalim yelped and tried to dig his heels in deeper. He buried his cheek into Leona’s shoulder and tightened his grip. “Please don’t! I’m trying to help Jamil!”

Leona abruptly stopped. Kalim sagged against his back without the forward motion of Leona’s steps. Leona spun around, dragging Kalim around with an involuntary yip. Kalim heard Leona make a dismissive noise. “Forget it. None of this is worth the hassle of attracting Hunt’s attention.”

Kalim let go of Leona and stumbled to a stop. Leona continued stomping back on the path he had come, his tail agitatedly flicking behind him. Confused by the older boy’s sudden departure, Kalim blinked up the hill at Yuu and Jamil, who seemed to be having a great conversation filled with laughs and smiles between bites of red pepper hummus and fruit. He scratched his head. What had Leona meant by having a hunts attention?

No sooner had Kalim began his pondering did a head pop out from behind the trunk of the willow tree. The feather from Rook’s hat danced playfully in the wind while Rook beamed at the happy couple. He ducked behind the tree when Jamil’s and Yuu’s heads snapped in his direction. There was a pause in their date before they slowly returned to their previous conversation.

Rook reappeared on the other side of the tree trunk. He caught Kalim’s wide eyes and winked with a huge grin. Kalim didn’t realize he was sprinting up the hill until Yuu waved at him. “Kalim! Did you meet—?”

“Don’t worry about me!” Kalim shouted. He rushed right past them without pausing. “Just pretend I’m not here!”

Kalim rounded the tree. Rook was still smiling, but Kalim didn’t give him a chance to say anything. He grabbed the upperclassman by the forearm and jerked him away from the tree. He pulled Rook deeper into the woods until he was sure the others wouldn’t hear them. He sighed in relief. “Rook!”

“Ah! Young love!” Rook gushed. He threw his hands over his chest and sighed. “Like a field of flowers blossoming in spring! Comme mon cœur s'évanouit!”

Kalim grabbed Rook by the shoulders. He gave the older boy a shake. “Rook! You can’t ruin Yuu and Jamil’s date!”

Rook’s eyes widened. “Pardon moi, Roi d’Or. I came in search of the great Roi des Lions. He regularly naps under that tree. I was simply swept away by the playful banter I found instead.”

Kalim sighed. He rubbed his face with his palm. “Sorry, Rook. I’m just trying to make sure Jamil gets his chance to show how he really feels. I know Yuu likes him, but I think Jamil might be too shy to tell her he feels the same. So I made up the whole plan to have a picnic, so they had a chance to be together!”

Rook hummed, and his serious frown told Kalim his upperclassman understood what he was saying. “It is healthy they experience young love to the fullest. They should be encouraged to experience the full natural course of first love, whether that flame flourishes or later dims.”

Kalim blinked at Rook’s smile. He frowned. “You think Jamil and Yuu won’t stay together?”

Rook smiled, but Kalim didn’t like the way it looked. “I can only attest that Jamil is not the only one the Trickster has met beneath that tree.”

Kalim’s eyes widened. Yuu was meeting other guys under the tree? That meant Jamil had competition! He would have to rethink the other dates he had planned. Maybe he should suggest they meet off campus next time. That way, they would have less interruptions.

It was genius!

“Thanks, Rook!” Kalim grinned. Rook’s smile faltered for a brief moment before returning. This smile looked like the one Kalim usually saw from the upperclassman. “I’ll make sure Jamil and Yuu experience love completely!”

Kalim could still hear Rook chuckling behind him when he sprinted back to the willow tree. He whipped around the trunk of the tree and paused next to the picnic blanket. His energetic greeting/farewell died on his tongue. He found only half-eaten pitas with red pepper hummus on the blanket.

“Oi, Deuce! How about you try hitting the little birdie straight next time?”

“Stop trying to distract me!”

Yuu’s snorting laughter made Kalim spin around to face the field. Ace and Deuce chased a small ball with feathers, hitting it back and forth with small rackets. Yuu and Jamil held similar rackets, which they used to hit the ball back at the Heartslabyul students.

Kalim pouted. He had thought Ace and Deuce would be busy in Heartslabyul today. Riddle had even said they would be doing their monthly dorm cleaning!

Yuu laughed when Ace and Deuce ran into each other in an attempt to hit the birdie. Jamil grinned, but he was obviously looking at Yuu instead of the other boys. He said something that made Yuu laugh harder, a snort occasionally punctuating her laughter. Jamil’s grin widened.

Kalim hummed and placed his hands on his hips. It wasn’t exactly how Kalim had envisioned the picnic date, but he couldn’t really be disappointed. Jamil was obviously having fun, and Yuu was still giving more attention to him than the others.

But the next date he set up for the two would definitely be off campus.

#twisted wonderland #twst #kalim al asim #picnic dates #Kalim is a great matchmaker #and he totally ships Jamil/Yuu #even if he's the only one in their fanclub #ffc 2024

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Jamil - Sweatbands

Prompt: Nonverbal Communication

Jamil focused his gaze on the basketball. Its echoing bounce against the floor was a familiar beat in his ear. The cheering crowd in the bleachers was the background noise.

He fluidly snaked his way around the opposing RSA team. They were focused completely on Ace, who taunted them by bouncing the ball under his legs and out of their reach. Floyd’s cackle from the other end of the gymnasium made the opposing team flinch even knowing they had successfully benched the mer for an invalid foul.

Jamil steadied his breathing and weaved his way into position. Sweat dripped down his cheek. He caught Ace’s eyes.

With a wide grin, Ace flicked his wrist. The basketball bounced under his legs. Jamil swept in between the RSA players flanking his teammate.

The brush of leather against his palm was as familiar as the handle of a knife in the kitchen. His legs locked once he was in place. The ball smacked against the floor once. It was like time temporarily stopped while the ball smoothly rolled off his palm.

The whine of the buzzer punctuated the soundless swoosh of the net.

The gym exploded into a cacophony of cheering and shouting. Jamil didn’t guard his wide smirk as his teammates gathered around him cheering. As he was jostled around—shoved in the shoulders by a shouting Ace and lifted into the air by a cackling Floyd—his eyes flicked to the bleachers for the first time since the game began.

He found the small group of freshmen midway up the bleachers. Jack and Sebek stood on both ends of the row like two tall bookends, Sebek looking vaguely impressed and Jack’s tail furiously wagging to match his smirk. Deuce, Epel, and Grim wildly jumped and waved as they rowdily shouted with the rest of the students. Yuu stood in the middle of the boys with a wide grin and a flushed face. Kalim, standing on the bleacher behind her, leaned forward to shout something in her ear. He shoved his cheek right up against hers.

Before Jamil could feel the heated bolt of jealousy in his chest, Yuu caught his eyes. She jumped in place when she had his attention, dislodging Kalim, and energetically waved at him. She wore the burgundy sweatband she had stolen from him before the game. The one that matched the other one he still wore.

Jealousy immediately flipped into something equally warm but with no temptation to strangle Kalim. He didn’t have a hood to pull over his eyes, so he chose to quickly look in any other direction. He hadn’t understood why she had wanted the faded old thing. Not until he’d spotted an RSA student give his sweatband to a girl who was obviously his girlfriend.

Floyd abruptly dropping him onto the floor saved him from any further embarrassment.

#twisted wonderland #twst #jamil viper #twst yuu #jamil x yuu #repressed boy finds dating #and has no idea how it works #meanwhile yuu's plotting how to steal his hoodie next #ffc 2024

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Vil - Flawed Perfection

Prompt: Sparkle Notes: Takes place just before the SDC.

Vil wasn’t ashamed to admit he was a perfectionist. He had standards. If a skin product didn’t provide the moisturizing effect he expected, then it was subpar. If an apple didn’t produce a crisp crunch when he bit into it, then it was mediocre. If he didn’t perform a scene to his upmost ability, then he was flawed.

If Ace didn’t stop lingering a beat behind everyone else, he would be strangled.

“Stop!” Vil snapped when the song ended. His voice was on the edge of sounding hoarse, and he could feel beads of sweat trickling down the small of his back. He felt the muscles in his calves and lower back protest. Still, he glared at Ace’s reflection in the floor length mirror of Pomefiore’s ballroom. “Ace! You are a beat behind everyone. Do it again.”

Ace glared right back at him. “I’m a beat behind because I’m exhausted! We’ve been at this all day, plus I had basketball practice this morning. How do you expect anyone to keep up when you won’t even let us have a ten-second break?”

Vil scoffed. His eyes darted across everyone’s reflections. No one would meet his eyes in the mirror. A tiny frown was Rook’s only response, and Jamil silently stared at the far corner of the room. Epel and Deuce found more interest in their shoes. Even Kalim quietly fiddled with the sweatband on his wrist instead of energetically interjecting.

Vil couldn’t feel it, but he could see his face slowly redden in the mirror. A tight pain in his chest made his throat constrict. “I take the silence means you all agree? Do you believe I have pushed you too far? We have a mere week and a half to have this routine perfect. If you believe a half-hearted performance will lead us to victory you may as well qui—.”

“I think this is a good place to call it a night.”

The audible, loud sigh that emitted from everyone made Vil clamp his jaw shut. Vil turned towards the one person in the room he couldn’t see in the mirror. Yuu frowned where she stood next to the ballroom’s large doors. Grim stood at her knee, his paws wrapped around the textbook they had been studying during practice.

Vil felt irrationally judged by the prefect’s unwavering stare. “Last I checked, you didn’t have the authority to make that decision.”

Yuu’s frowned deepened. “And last I checked, you were the one who named me Manager. And as manager, I think that gives me the authority to end practice. Especially when I feel like someone’s exhaustion may lead him to hurting himself or others.”

Vil bit the inside of his cheek. He had plenty of experience when it came to handling the prefect. He had been subjected to her ire; deflected her sarcasm; redirected her apathy. He had encouraged her curiosity; challenged her intellect; and combated her self-doubt. Save for their somewhat embarrassing introduction, he would argue he had maintained an air of poise and grace with her.

Yet here he stood now feeling like a scolded child.

Vil didn’t say a word as one-by-one the others left the ballroom. Rook paused just outside the door and glanced back at him. Vil turned away and sauntered over to the audio player. He jabbed the power button with more force than necessary. The ballroom fell silent when the droning buzz of the silent speakers died.

Vil tensed at the soft squeak of Yuu’s shoes against the floor. He focused on disconnecting his smartphone from the cord connected to the player. He skimmed through the notifications he had received during practice. He tapped on the notification for Magicam. His app opened to a beaming picture of Neige and an offhanded text post about practicing the special performance his team had planned for the Song & Dance Competition.

Vil’s fingernails scraped across the screen of his phone.

“What do you think about taking tomorrow off?”

Vil spun around to glare at Yuu. “Did you not hear what I just said? We have less than two weeks now. Two weeks. We haven’t even reached the point where we can practice in our uniforms.”

Yuu blinked up at him. Her silence made him more agitated than if she would have argued with him. He spun on his heel and quickly stepped across the room where his gym bag lay in the corner. “Here I thought my biggest issue would be taming Epel, yet Ace is the one testing my patience now!”

He threw his phone into the open flap of his bag and pulled out a small hand towel. Dabbing the sweat from his face, he spun back around to face Yuu. She had silently followed and now squinted up at him. Her silent stare made him snap. “What?”

“I’m debating my best angle of attack,” she answered, her deadpan stare pinning him in place. “Do I slap you or use your mud masks for fertilizer?”

Vil snapped his towel in the direction of the door. “Why not run like the others? For all the supposed bonding our tribe has done over the past three weeks, there was no hesitation in the quick shift in their alliance.”

“Ace was right though,” Yuu countered. Her tone remained even as if she was simply citing a passage from a textbook. “We’ve all been given a little bit of leeway to focus on the SDC, but we do still have other responsibilities. Responsibilities that sometimes conflict with practice. Jamil and Ace are picking up more club time because of the interscholastic competitions they’ll be entering after the culture festival. The others have their clubs too, and we’re all struggling to keep up with our grades because our study time is cut in half with how late practice goes. A break would help everyone catch up and not feel as stressed.”

Vil shook his head. “The headmage agrees about the importance of the SDC. Our performance must be flawless and leave the audience in absolute awe. The only thing that matters is our team blowing away the competition.”

“Not if it means sacrificing your health!” Yuu’s deadpan expression finally broke with her angry shout. It was enough to make Vil pause. “I’m not just talking about the others. I’m talking about you too! A week ago, you would have given anyone at least a ten-minute break if they said their legs were cramping up. You would’ve gotten down on the floor with them and helped them stretch. You would’ve offered a soothing cream or made them drink more water or something. Now you’re so overstressed, you don’t even realize you’re pushing yourself to the verge of collapsing. Who was the one who told me resting was just as vital as rigorous practice?”

The question was rhetorical, and Vil immediately felt childish for answering, “That’s because I’ve caught you staying up late playing video games every night since we moved into Ramshackle Dorm.”

“And who’s the one I've caught doing yoga in my lounge at three in the morning?”

Vil’s only response was to glance into the mirror behind Yuu. He visibly winced when he saw the noticeable bruises under his eyes. The towel had not only absorbed the sweat on his face but also the thin layer of foundation he had used to cover the bruises earlier.

Yuu sighed. Her shoulders slumped. “I get the SDC is important in a lot of ways. I just don’t think it’s the most important thing. All this stress and animosity—I don’t see it ending well if it keeps growing like it obviously is.”

Vil matched her sigh. He combed his fingers through his hair and let it fall where it liked. The mirror reflected back a hot mess now, but he had the feeling that another layer of makeup wouldn’t be much help to him. He thought of the perfect picture of Neige on Magicam and immediately wanted to throw something heavy enough at the mirror to shatter it.

“You leave me no choice.” Vil’s eyes bounced back to Yuu. She stared up at him through narrowed eyelids, and her mouth puckered. The expression was extremely unflattering, but it also made Vil’s lips involuntarily twitch with humor. “I’ll just have to bring out my last resort.”

“And what is that?”

“A full spa day.” Vil blinked and quirked a single unamused brow. Yuu wasn’t swayed by his lack of enthusiasm. “There’s a little spa down in the town. I’ve done plenty of research on it, and all the reviews online say it’s worth it.”

“I know, “Vil drawled. “I have used their services plenty of times in the last three years.”

“Wonderful. That means I can use your name and get a discount.” Vil rolled his eyes, but that still didn’t dissuade her. “I’ll join you, and we’ll get the whole nine yards. Facials, massages, nails...” She paused. Her nose wrinkled. “I’ll even...let them wax me.”

The concession made Vil’s other brow join the first at the top of his forehead. “Wax? The very thing you’ve absolutely refused to allow me to do? So much so that you would rather risk contracting rabies from a rabid bat by climbing halfway up a ventilation shaft to avoid Rook discovering your hiding place in the dorm and drag you back to my room?”

Yuu framed her face with both hands and pulled her cheeks apart, stretching the corners of her eyes and mouth. “I’ll even let them wax the peach fuzz mustache you hate so much.”

Vil threw back his head and laughed. He continued laughing until he gasped for breath, and at least one tear escaped the corner of his eyes. He grasped his stomach, which had cramped from the force of his laughter, and wiped the wet trails from his cheeks. When he was able to focus his blurred gaze again, he found Yuu staring at him. A small smile softened her face.

It wasn’t as if everything he had felt earlier—the stress, the agitation, the impatience—had suddenly disappeared, but he could admit to the lighter feeling in his chest. Vil sighed and dabbed at his face again with his towel. “I was a bit of an ogre earlier, wasn’t I?”

“Yes.” Yuu’s quick answer made him glare at her. Her smile widened. “But we’re all stressed right now. We’ve got the SDC, and clubs, and classes, and every other little thing in-between.” Yuu’s grin wavered into a soft frown. “We need a break before one of us completely loses it.”

“You mean before I lose it,” Vil corrected. He waved her off when she tried to argue with him. “There’s no point in denying it because you’ve basically admitted it.”

Yuu poked her tongue between her lips. “You just don’t sparkle as much as you used to.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means the sweat is melting away all the anti-aging products you use.” Yuu pulled her cheeks down, pulling down her eyelids in a grotesque manner. “Your sparkly youth is melting!”

“I’m signing you up for a complete wax from head to toe.”

“Don’t you dare! I’ll catch that rabid bat and release him in your room if you do.”

Vil laughed again, and for the next week or so, he was able to effectively manage the stress broiling inside him. Then the day of the culture festival arrived. And so did Neige.

#twisted wonderland #twst #vil schoenheit #book 5 #february ficlet challenge

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Cheka - Costume Catastrophe

Prompt: Partner Costumes

Cheka hated his costume.

Mama had said he looked handsome, and daddy had agreed when Cheka showed him. Baba gave him a bundle of extra leaves to attach to the hood of the costume. Kifaji had just started arguing with mama again about him going to daycare, so Cheka had taken mama’s phone and called Unca Leona to show him too.

Unca Leona laughed.

He laughed so hard, he dropped his phone so Cheka could see the flowery tree he was underneath. Ms. Yuu picked up the phone and cooed when Cheka sniffled. “Don’t listen to him, Cheka! I love the colorful mane you made. You’ll be the most handsome tree in the play!”

Cheka heard Unca Leona laughing even harder.

Cheka glared at his teacher now when she hovered over him. He actually liked her despite the fact she wouldn’t let him, Timmy, and Pupa climb the large rock on the playground. How were they supposed to know who was king of the rock if they weren’t allowed to climb it?

“Cheka, please.” Cheka’s eyes narrowed, and his ears twitched at the whine in her voice. Unca Leona had told him only the weak whined. A Kingscholar didn’t bow to the weak. “The play will start in ten minutes. Can you please put your costume on?”

Cheka huffed and stomped his foot. “No! I don’t wanna be a tree!”

“But you were excited when I gave you the part earlier this week.”

That was before Unca Leona laughed at him! If Unca Leona laughed, then it wasn’t cool! “I don’t wanna!”

His teacher sighed, but another teacher called her name. Cheka puffed his cheeks when she left him standing in the corner alone. Timmy and Pupa were already in their costumes and running around with the other kids. Cheka didn’t think it was fair. How come they got to be bugs, and he was a tree? How was a tree supposed to be so important for the savanna?

“Are you gonna pout the whole time or put your costume on?”

Cheka huffed at the little girl when she stepped into his corner. Cheka didn’t know who she was, so she must have been in one of the other daycare classes. She wore a brown sheet with a corded belt around her waist, and two sticks with tiny green leaves poked out from beneath the sheet. Her dark blond hair was tightly braided around her twitching ears, and her darker skin drew Cheka’s attention to her light blue eyes.

Cheka stared at her eyes. He had never seen eyes so blue. They looked like the two shiny shells he found on the beach when he’d gone to visit Unca Leona at school.

Her eyes narrowed but didn’t look any less bright. “Are you listening? Put your costume on.”

Cheka shook his head. His cheeks expanded. “I don’t wanna, and you can’t make me!”

The little girl looked as angry as mama did when she caught two lionesses fighting over a hunted wildebeest. She flung her sticks to the ground and snatched Cheka’s costume from the chair next to him. She bunched it up in her hands. “My nana came all this way to see me, and I'm not gonna let a spoiled brat ruin it!”

Cheka’s eyes widened when a few of the leaves Baba gave him crinkled to dust beneath her fingers. He lunged forward to save his costume. “Stop it! You’re breaking Baba’s leaves!”

The little girl’s eyes widened. Cheka yanked his costume out of her hands. A lot of the orange leaves he had glued to the hood of the brown sweater were broken. More pieces fell off when he shook the hood. It made his hood look less like a big lion’s mane and more like a wild dog with patches of mange.

His eyes stung, and he sniffled. The little girl took a step back. Cheka ignored her and laid the sweater flat on the chair. He gathered as many of the leaves from the floor and tried to stick them back to his hood. Cheka tucked his tail around his ankles when the leaves just crumbled more.

“I’m sorry...”

Cheka angrily rubbed his forearm across his eyes. He tried to give the girl the same kind of growl Unca Leona gave people when they said bad things about him and daddy, but it didn’t sound as mean. “Go ‘way! You’re a big meanie!”

The girl’s ears flattened against her braids, and her pretty blue eyes shimmered. Cheka didn’t care. He turned back to his costume and tried to stick the leaves to the hood again. How was he supposed to look like the handsome tree mama and Ms. Yuu said he was now?

“Move!”

Cheka yelped when he was shoved to the side. He angrily growled at the little girl. She ignored him and gripped a small tube between her hands. The top came off the tube with an audible pop! She wielded the purple glue stick like it was one of the spears the Lioness's Guard used. She stabbed it onto his hood with the same fierceness of one of those lionesses.

Cheka yelped and tried to grab her elbow. “What’re you doing? You’re gonna mess it up more!”

“I’m gonna save it!” Cheka blinked. The little girl swung her arm in a tight circle to get the glue everywhere. Her fierce blue eyes snapped to him. “Don’t just stand there. Give me all the leaves!”

Cheka gasped but did as she said. Daddy never hesitated to do what mama told him when she had the same tone. Even Unca Leona listened to Ms. Yuu when she ordered him around. He gathered the leaves that were the most whole and stuck them to the hood when she commanded him to.

The hood still looked really patchy when they finished. Cheka sniffled again. The little girl popped the top back onto the glue stick and ran to the other side of the classroom where the arts and crafts bins were. She returned quickly with scissors and thick orange construction paper. She shoved one pair of scissors into his hands along with half the paper. “Here! Cut them to look like leaves. Like this.”

Cheka followed the girl’s lead and slapped the crooked ovals onto the hood. She found a marker and added little lines on the paper to make them look more like leaves. It didn’t look as good as it had before with all the real leaves, but it didn’t look like a mangy wild dog either.

When they finished, Cheka took the sweater and pulled it over his head. The hood fit snug around his head. He turned to the girl and waited. She hummed. “Hold on.”

She ran across the room to dig through the arts and crafts bins again. She came back with a long length of twine, which she tied around his waist into a crooked bow. She smiled when she stepped back again. “There! Now we match.”

Cheka looked down at the twine. One of the paper leaves flopped onto his forehead. “Do trees wear rope?”

“Some do,” the girl said with confidence. She picked up the sticks she had abandoned on the floor and shook them at him. He realized the tiny green leaves were paper too. “The tree by my house has a rope. We made a swing with it and a tire!”

Cheka’s ears wiggled beneath his hood. “Really? That’s cool! I’m gonna ask daddy to make me a tire swing too!”

Cheka’s teacher appeared again before the girl could say anything. She put a hand on her chest. “Oh, thank the Seven! You’ve got your costume on now. Did Zahara help you? I’ve heard from your teacher you’re quite the helper. Now, come along children! All of your parents are eagerly waiting for your performance in the auditorium.”

Cheka perked. Daddy and mama said they would both be here to see him in the play. Unca Leona was even gonna watch through a video call! Knowing everyone was watching him made him sing extra loud and shake his leafy mane harder from his spot on the stage next to Zahara.

Later, he excitedly told his mama and Ms. Yuu, who had put Unca Leona in “timeout” for laughing too much, all about Zahara fixing his costume and her pretty blue eyes.

#twisted wonderland #twst #original characters #cheka kingscholar #he is a precious bean #and i will protect him always #february ficlet challenge

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Silver - Meet In a Dream

Prompt: Time Loop (I cheated and made it a "dream" loop) Notes: This is technically the first half of this little fic.

Silver was startled when he found himself in the same dream as the young blonde girl again. It had been a long shot, but he had hoped Meet In A Dream would reunite them. Something about the girl, with her proficiency wielding her thin sabre and abrupt departure, had spawned a deep desire within him to see her again.

When he had closed his eyes to sleep that following day, he really hadn’t expected to see her again so soon. She had been equally startled because she ran before he could get out a single word. They had both tumbled over the same cliff, and Silver had abruptly woken to Sebek shouting at him not to randomly fall asleep in the forest.

Several days passed with the same results. When Silver dozed off around mid-afternoon, he would awaken to find the girl in the same glade. She would run; he would chase after her.

The pattern had only changed when his long sigh made her pause long enough to glance back at him. He gave what he hoped was a friendly smile. “Can we please not jump off the cliff again? It’s upsetting knowing I can’t catch you even if none of this is real.”

Her face became a bright red, but she only took one step as if to leave before pausing again. Her eyes darted around the glade bathed in soft sunlight. Her hand fiddled with the handle of the sabre on her hip.

Hoping to disarm her nerves more, Silver lifted the sword the dream equipped him with every day. “Would you mind if I issue another challenge? I would like to see if I have corrected the flaws I noticed in our last match.”

His attempt worked. She drew the sabre from her hip, and they danced around the glade to the rhythm of their clashing blades. She inevitably broke through his defenses, lightly stabbing his right shoulder, but it was a match that elevated his heart rate more than usual. He could still feel it thudding in his chest every time he woke.

A few more dreams made her comfortable enough to answer Silver’s questions after their usual spar (which she always won, much to his chagrin and awe). He asked about her training regimen (she practiced without fail for at least two hours every day) and when she began her training (when she was four years of age). Whether it was his genuine curiosity or the few animals that appeared in the glade, the girl slowly relaxed until she was willing to sit down with him after their matches and talk the remainder of the dream.

It gave him a sense of joy Silver had never felt, and he couldn’t even begin to describe it to father whenever his father caught him smiling during his chores. Sebek was the only other person his age he regularly interacted with, so perhaps this was how it felt to be around others their age? Still, Sebek’s loud laugh didn’t make his heart skip like the girl’s soft laugh did.

He had been shocked when she admitted her parents weren’t pleased by her interest in fencing. “How could they not be? You’ve bested me in every match, and I have been training with my father since I was a small child like you.”

The girl had a pinched expression on her face. Silver drew in a breath to backtrack, but she spoke before he could. “My parents are divorced. I think the last time I saw my father in person was when I was still a little girl. My mother is more invested in making my career as a model and actress successful.”

Silver’s eyes widened with shock. He felt the small squirrel on his head grip his hair when he shook his head. “You model? You look so young to be a model.”

The pinched expression didn’t completely disappear, but she did release a small laugh. “I’ve done small modeling jobs most of my life. My mother has even landed me jobs with people like Neige LeBlanche and Vil Schoenheit.” She ducked her head to pick at the grass between them. “She wanted me to be a child star like them, but I’ve never been very good at that. My acting tutors would say I was better suited for the male leads than the female ones.”

“Because your fencing skills are impressive enough to earn you a position on the Royal Guard,” Silver said earnestly.

Her cheeks reddened. A few strands of her hair had been knocked loose from her ponytail, and she tucked the strands behind her ear. She gave him a shy smile, which he returned with a crooked one. She ducked her head and continued plucking at the blades of grass. “Well, my mother probably wouldn’t agree because she can’t stand the thought of her daughter playing a male role.”

The thought was so ludicrously irrelevant to her skill, and it compelled Silver to argue. “My father once wore a dress.”

She laughed again before quickly slapping her hand over her mouth. She had done the same in other situations, yet Silver hadn’t figured out why. Was it rude to laugh where she lived? How strange. Perhaps he could ask father if he had ever traveled to a land where laughing wasn’t allowed.

Personally, Silver would rather her not be so stiff around him. He caught another squirrel pulling at his trousers and transferred the small animal to her head. She froze for a moment, allowing the tiny creature to burrow into her hair. He smiled and imagined he didn’t look much different with the squirrel on his head. Her smile slowly returned, and she relaxed once the squirrel settled.

“He’s told me he was deep undercover,” Silver continued after the pause. “There was a rumor of a political plot to oppose the royal family, but there was nothing substantial to support the rumor. He was tasked with determining if the rumors were true or false. He took on the role of a handmaiden and spent a few months living in that role. He became so intertwined with the political family that they have never suspected his true identity even to this day.”

The blonde girl squinted at him. “I thought you said your father was once some kind of knight. Why would he be undercover?”

Silver shook his head. “The point is it didn’t matter that he was a male pretending to be a female. He attended to his duty in the way he felt best and successfully completed his task. He has taught me and my younger friend the roles society places on us is unimportant if they hinder us from achieving the goals we set for ourselves.” He placed a hand over his sternum. “To the fae court, my human blood is a black stain on my character. I don’t qualify for a position to protect the royal family. But I will become a knight who protects his lord even if the court rejects me. Because that is my goal, and I will one day achieve it.”

The girl gawked at him, her squirrel companion making her look more comical than she intended. Silver wasn’t sure why she appeared so shocked. He had made it known that he trained with the intention of one day becoming Malleus’s retainer.

Her mouth slowly closed. She shifted to sit with her legs outstretched. She frowned down at the ground and tore apart a few pieces of the slender grass. He could sense her silence was one of contemplation, and he remained silent despite being curious as to what had suddenly made her look so upset. Father had taught him silence was just as important as speaking, maybe even more important. Whatever she was thinking through wasn’t something Silver could help her with.

Not in this dream at least.

The girl sighed and rolled onto her feet. Silver blinked but followed her lead. She stood a few centimeters taller than he did, but he didn’t mind having to look up at her. At least she didn’t brag about it like Sebek occasionally did.

For some reason, a darker flush painted her face, and her dark eyes darted away when he looked directly at her. He blinked at her sudden aversion to meet his gaze. “I suppose this is goodbye for now.”

The abrupt dismissal triggered the gloom that fell over him at the end of all their meetings. “Will you tell me your name this time?”

The girl sighed, and her shoulders slumped. She glanced around the glade. The edges of the trees were already blurring. The animals that always flocked to him had departed too, and only the squirrels in their hair remained.

He always asked her the same question before they woke. And she always gave him the same answer, “If we meet outside a dream, maybe then I will tell you.”

Silver slowly nodded. He would respect her wishes. Even inside a dream, he didn’t believe in forcing a person to reveal more than they wished. His eyes drooped with a sudden fatigue, and he knew their time was rapidly approaching the end. “I’m not sure how much longer I will be able to visit. Even now, I’m surprised I’ve found this dream as many times as I have.”

Her brow dramatically furrowed. “What do you mean?”

He gently smiled at her. “Nothing. Perhaps one day we shall find each other when we are awake.”

The blurred edges of the dream rushed upon them before she could question him more. Leaving her this way wasn’t as bad as diving over a cliff after her, but Silver still couldn’t help feeling a bit of resentment. Why did his signature spell have to connect him with this girl he had never—and may never—meet outside a dream? Silver’s eyelids rapidly fluttered open.

Father blinked down at him with a severe frown. Silver squinted up at him. He could hear Sebek complaining not far from them, but the other boy quickly quieted at the rumble of Malleus’s voice.

Father abruptly smiled. “Welcome back! I’m sure you enjoyed your short nap. If only the firewood had chopped itself while you dozed. What a pity it’s still sitting there whole.”

Silver blinked but didn’t need to be told twice to return to the chore he had begun before dozing off earlier. He didn’t mind the sound of Sebek’s voice complaining about having to search for him, hearing the concern buried deep in the cracking tenor of his maturing voice. As he chopped the wood and later carried it back to the cottage, he couldn’t help but linger on the memory of the blonde girl and her dancing sabre.

The next night, he didn’t meet the girl in his dreams. Nor the next night, or the night after. Nearly two years would pass before he (literally) bumped into her again on the campus of Night Raven College during Halloween. Her face had lost all traces of whatever was left of baby fat, and her body had gained a few additional curves he didn’t remember seeing before. His breath stuttered when their eyes met.

She squeaked and ran from him just like she had in the first few dreams they met. Despite losing her in the crowd, Silver wasn’t able to stop smiling. He had found his dream girl, which meant she had to give him her name.

He could wait until she was comfortable speaking to him again.

#twisted wonderland #twst #silver #original character #silver is a cinnamon roll #and phyllis doesn't really know what to do with him #but he's good for her anyway

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Floyd - Date Break

Prompt: Break

“I think we should break up.”

Floyd hummed and glanced up from the carrots he’d been chopping out of boredom. Shrimpy stood right at his elbow. Her tomatoes looked more like soup than the diced shape Azul had demanded. He could tell she was serious because of the deep crease between her eyebrows.

Floyd jabbed the crease with the tip of his finger. “Naw. I’m good.”

Shrimpy huffed, but Floyd had already turned back to chopping carrots. “I’m being serious! I don’t think this is working out at all.”

“I don’t have a problem with it.”

“We shouldn’t be tied down to one another if we want to see other people.”

“I don’t wanna see nobody else.”

“And what if I want to see other people?”

Floyd huffed. His knife came down harder on the cutting board. “This is about Sea Snake, isn’t it? It’s not my fault he’s so slow. He shoulda asked you out before I did if he wants to pout about it.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Jamil!” Another knife came down onto his cutting board, bisecting a whole carrot. Floyd scowled at the red tomato juice on his carrots now. He turned his glare on Shrimpy, but she just glared back up at him. “This isn’t fair to you either. What if you found someone else you wanted to date?”

Floyd rolled his eyes. He clicked his knife against hers. “Why would I be interested in anybody else? Everyone on campus is boring.”

“You could meet someone down in the town.”

“Also boring.”

“There could be a cute mermaid back home just waiting for you.”

The thought of any of the mermaids back in the Coral Sea wanting to date him made him snicker. Shrimpy had no idea how those girls were. They were way too boring and prissy to be any fun. They squealed like annoying seagulls when they saw his shadow.

Now, if he could find a shark mer that might be a different story. Even another squishy cephalopod like Azul would be more preferable. At least then he’d have some fun when he went in for a squeeze.

Shrimpy chopped done on another one of his carrots. Little tomato seeds flicked onto his cutting board. Floyd’s humor disappeared. “You better watch it, Shrimpy, or the next squeeze I give you won’t be so easy to slip out of.”

“Your grumpy moods don’t scare me.”

“I’ll just give you something to be scared of then.”

Shrimpy stabbed her knife into one of his carrots. Floyd had her flung over his shoulder before she even realized what was happening. A delayed squeal followed them as he stomped across the Mostro Lounge’s kitchen. He flung open the two-way swinging door and ignored the startled looks shot in their direction.

He scowled when Jade popped up in front of him just as he was about to exit the Mostro Lounge. “Move it.”

Jade simply grinned. “Now, Floyd. You know better than to bring raw shellfish into the dining room.”

Shrimpy’s offended “Hey!” was cut off by a sudden squeal when Floyd shifted her on his shoulder. “Shrimpy’s trying to break up with me, so I’m gonna go toss her in a fish tank.”

A sharp knuckle dug into his hip bone. “Don’t you dare!”

Jade chuckled. “I doubt Azul will be very happy to have a shrimp in the tanks.”

“So?” Floyd yawned and ignored Shrimpy snapping the suspender strap of his uniform. “I don’t care what Azul thinks.”

Jade hummed. He leaned to the side to look around Floyd. “I was under the impression you had only asked the prefect on one date.”

“Yeah,” Floyd answered. He was getting really bored, really fast. “And she stood me up.”

“I was kidnapped.” Shrimpy snapped his suspenders again. He jostled her until she squealed. “Just like I’m being kidnapped now!”

“So,” Jade said, ignoring the wiggling Shrimpy on Floyd’s shoulder, “technically, you can’t have a breakup without having actually dated, correct?”

Floyd frowned, not liking the smarmy tone Jade had. Jade widely smiled. Shrimpy wiggled on his shoulder.

Floyd suddenly grinned to match Jade’s smile. “You’re totally right! Shrimpy you can’t break up with me ‘cause we never went on a date.” Floyd patted the back of her thigh, earning a harder punch to his hip. “We’re gonna go on one now so we can breakup!”

Jade snickered into his knuckles. “Oh? And where will this date take place?”

“In the fish tank!”

Shrimpy shouted some kind of protest, but Floyd completely ignored her. He left Jade snickering in front of the Mostro Lounge and ambled through the dorm to the large tank big enough for him and Jade to swim around in if they wanted to. She wiggled, huffed, and cursed the whole way, but Floyd’s grip was stronger than her wiggling. He giggled as he climbed the steps connected to the open top of the tank for easy access for feeding the fish. “In you go Shrimpy~.”

Floyd threw her into the tank. Or he would have had she not grabbed him by the top of his pants. Floyd wasn’t able to keep his balance with her yanking on him and went tumbling into the tank with her.

Azul was not happy when he found them splashing around the tank later, but Shrimpy didn’t bring up the whole “breaking up” thing again.

#twisted wonderland #twst #floyd leech #ffc 2024 #they're not really dating #but he's the first one to ask her out so...#step up your game jamil

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Azul - Sunken Treasure

Prompt: Drift Notes: Baby Azul & Leech brothers mischief!

Floyd found the chest caught in a current on the surface. They shouldn’t have been anywhere near the surface, but he had only cackled when Azul had said as much. Azul scowled at the chest while the two Leech brothers clicked at one another and attempted to break the large padlock keeping it sealed.

Azul huffed, little bubbles frothing in the water. He spun away from the brothers and glided back into the grotto. If the brothers wanted to get into trouble because they were too curious about the land junk they had found, then so be it. Azul had clients he needed to make potions for...and he didn’t need any distractions...and his mother would be furious...

Azul spurted back out of the grotto when Floyd’s incessant whining rose to a horrible pitch. “Move!”

The Leech twins scattered without further prompting. Floyd swam around Azul and the chest in tight circles, coming close enough on some turns to smack Azul on the side of the head with the tip of his tail. Jade grinned from the rock outcropping he had latched onto, his sharp teeth peeking between his lips the only sign of his genuine excitement.

Azul huffed and maneuvered the chest with the help of his many arms. He found the padlock and fiddled with it for a moment, tracing his fingers around the locking mechanism. He found the source of their problem—a severe amount of rust inside the mechanism caused by the salty water of the ocean.

He huffed again and flitted around to sit directly on top of the chest. Using the suction cups on his arms, he latched firmly onto the chest. He wrapped another arm around the latch and gave it a firm yank while pulling the chest in the opposite direction. The padlock easily popped open, particles of rust slowly drifting away in the current.

Before Azul could detach himself from the chest, Floyd shot back towards him. He yelped when the Leech brother gave him a firm shove. With his arm still suctioned to the top of the chest and his backwards momentum, the chest fell open without further difficulty.

Azul sputtered around, kicking up sand and small shells to regain his balance. One of his arms suctioned onto Floyd, much to the moray’s distress. They both struggled for a bit to detach Azul’s arm, Azul yelling at Floyd for pinching his arm and Floyd yowling every time he tried to yank off a suction cup.

By the time they were separated—a sniffling Floyd rubbing at the new red spots across his belly and an equally sniffling Azul rubbing his sore arm—Jade was already pilfering through their treasure. He clicked at them when they tried to peek into the chest and shoved them away. He grinned when they both glared at him.

With a dramatic pause that made Floyd hiss and growl, Jade pulled the treasure out of the chest and waved it in the air. “Dinglehopper!”

Azul and Floyd gasped. “Dinglehopper!”

All three of the mer-children dove into the chest at once, their heads knocking against each other. Floyd shoved them both aside and gathered as many dinglehoppers into his arms as he could. He swam away from them with a high-pitched giggle and started combing his hair with one of the dinglehoppers.

Azul pulled out a few more and frowned at their smooth, rounded edges. They weren’t like the ones they had seen pictured in the storybooks of the Mermaid Princess. Jade found a thinner one with a smooth edge and tried to comb his hair to no avail.

Azul put the broken dinglehoppers aside and pulled out some of the other things inside the chest. He recognized the porcelain flat dishes, their painted designs chipped and faded, because his mom used similar ones in her restaurant for decoration. The odd little cylinders that came with them didn’t appear to serve much purpose though. Jade took one of the wider cylinders and placed it on his head like a helmet.

Setting the dishes aside, Azul looked once more into the chest. A small bag on the bottom of the chest caught his attention. A faint jingle came from it when he yanked it out. It took a little bit of tugging on the tight drawstring, but he was eventually able to pull the lip of the bag open.

He pulled out one of the flat silver disks he found. It was barely the width of the tip of his finger, and both sides were engraved with mysterious symbols. He fit the disk into the palm of his hand and pulled out another. The second one was bigger, almost the length of his thumb, and a shiny gold color. He peeked into the bag and found more disks of similar sizes and colors. Some of the disks were more misshapen than others, but they had the same mysterious symbols.

Floyd, who had grown bored with his dinglehopper, peeked over his shoulder. When he saw what Azul had, he impatiently clicked, “Bo-ring!”

He flitted over to his brother, and they began fighting over the new helmets. Azul shook his head and searched through the disks more. They made a pleasant little clink! sound when they slid against each other.

Azul grinned and yanked the drawstring to close the bag. He felt a giddy excitement as he planned to ask his mom’s boyfriend about them later since he knew a lot about the land. He’d just blame the Leech brothers for finding them so his mom wouldn’t suspect he had wandered so close to the surface too.

His mother didn’t buy his story at all and didn’t hesitate telling Jade and Floyd’s mom either. The Leech brothers had to scrub algae off the outcropping of their cavern home for a week, and Azul had to tend to his grandmother’s coral garden.

#twisted wonderland #twst #azul ashengrotto #floyd leech #jade leech #and the dinglehopper #because my hc is all mer children believe in the dinglehoppers #i love writing the kid versions of these characters

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

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Deuce - Blastcycling & Crushes

Prompt: Dusk

Deuce revved the engine of the blastcycle beneath him. The ocean flew by him on his right side; to his left was Sage’s Island town. The cliffs where Night Raven College sat loomed in front of him.

Deuce sighed beneath his helmet. The shadows of dusk already loomed around him, and he was sure the Ignihyde student who had asked him to test the blastcycle he rode now would be looking for him to show up any minute. Still, Deuce couldn’t help but make a sharp turn onto the road heading towards the beach instead of back to campus.

There was something about just coasting around on a blastcycle that made him relax about the rules he tried so hard to abide by nowadays. It wasn’t the same kind of delinquency he used to run around committing but more of…a reward for how well he had been behaving. Even Riddle had complimented Deuce on memorizing ten more of the Queen’s Rules!

The engine of the blastcycle revved louder. Deuce took his eyes off the road for just a second to glance down at the bike. It hadn’t been making such a loud noise all afternoon. Maybe he should’ve taken the turn back to Night Raven College after all. He was sure the Ignihyde student wouldn’t be happy if he accidentally burned out a motor or something.

Deuce throttled down to a slower speed, but the revving only grew louder. Just as he was about to pull off to the side of the road, another blastcycle zoomed past him. Deuce swerved out of surprise and nearly flew off the road. He gawked at the back of the mint green blastcycle and its rider. Did he even realize how reckless that had been?

The other blastcycle noticeably slowed down. The rider looked over his shoulder. Deuce didn’t need to see his face, which was covered by a full-face helmet, to know the rider was staring straight back at him. He revved his blastcycle and jumped forward before lagging back again.

Deuce wasn’t a professional blastcycle rider, but he knew a challenge when he saw it. Heart thumping in his chest, he revved his engine and leaned forward on his blastcycle. The mint green bike in front of him dangerously wiggled, but the rider maintained complete control. He mimicked Deuce’s posture, and the blastcycle shot off like a lead ball from a cannon.

Deuce gawped at the speed, but it only pushed him to go just as fast. Maneuvering right behind the other driver gave him access to the other bike’s slipstream, and he quickly caught up to the other rider. Deuce noticed the colorful vinyl stickers adhered to the blastcycle’s body, making it almost look like a mint ice cream with sprinkles. He couldn’t help but compare it to his and thought the sleek Ignihyde colors looked ten times cooler.

Deuce edged his blastcycle to the left with the intention of passing the other rider on the next bend. The rider let him edge closer before suddenly cutting him off with a perfectly timed drift. Deuce gawked at the maneuver and moved to the right.

The other rider matched him without glancing back at Deuce, like he already knew what Deuce would attempt to do. They did the same back and forth dance for a stretch of the road. Deuce saw the beach looming up on them quick, and he instinctively knew that was their finish line. He gritted his teeth. He didn’t have much road left.

His eyes flicked down to his handlebars. A small green button flashed just below the ignition key. The student had said it was a new feature, and Deuce was supposed to be testing it so…

Deuce flipped the switch. For a brief moment, it felt like the engine had stalled, and Deuce slightly panicked. The next second, the entire bike lit up with blue LEDs, and he shot past the other rider. The blastcycle roared beneath Deuce with enough power for him to feel himself shaking all the way down to the bone.

The wheels hit the sand and kicked it up in an uncontrolled mess. Deuce didn’t know if it was a kind of failsafe or simply the engine giving out, but the blastcycle slowed to a stop just before he made it to the water. His foot whipped out just in time to keep himself from falling over.

His heart barely had time to recover when he heard the other blastcycle revving to a stop beside him. Adrenaline pumping, Deuce snatched off his helmet and snarled at the rider, “What do you think you’re—!”

The other rider pulled off his helmet with a loud, husky laugh. “Holy guacamole! That was insane!”

Deuce gawked. The other rider wasn’t a guy but a girl. A very…pretty girl with a nice smile. She even wore a cute hairpin like Yuu usually did, only hers looked like a big piece of candy that matched the stickers on her blastcycle.

“Dude,” she continued. Her voice sounded hoarse like she had just spent the last few minutes shouting. “That was sick. How’d you make your bike do that? I’ve never even seen anything like that in the Circuit!”

Deuce opened his mouth but nothing came out. He couldn’t stop staring at her eyes. They were big and looked green and brown at the same time. Yuu’s eyes were brown too, but they didn’t make him suddenly feel like his tongue had grown ten times its usual size.

“I didn’t even think I would see another blastcycle in this place,” she continued, apparently not needing his input. Which was fine because Deuce suddenly couldn’t find his voice. “My cousin tried to make me keep mine on the mainland, but seriously? I can’t go anywhere without this bad boy. I’d probably die of absolute boredom here if I couldn’t go out cruisin’ every afternoon.”

“Cou…sin?” Deuce managed to stutter.

“Yeah,” she confirmed. She leaned over her handlebars to check the front tire of her blastcycle. The break in their eye contact allowed Deuce to whip his head in the direction of the water. He barely even registered the purples and yellows dying the water as the sun slipped farther past the horizon. “Raphael just doesn’t get it. Sure, I’m here for vacation, but blastcycling isn’t just work, right? It’s my passion.”

Deuce whipped his head back in her direction. “I know Raphael! He worked on Ramshackle for Azul!”

The girl blinked at him. Deuce felt his face grow hotter. Before he could sputter something else, her laughter broke the silence. “Oh, yeah! He told me about that. The weird guy my age who was supposed to be setting up a café or something, right? I thought it was crazy, but the check didn’t bounce, so I guess that’s all that matters.”

The girl sat up on the blastcycle again and extended a hand towards Deuce. “By the way, I’m Val. In case you didn’t know.”

Deuce’s hand shot out to grasp hers. He fretted for a moment that his grip was too hard, but she didn’t have an issue vigorously shaking his hand. “D-Deuce! I’m Deuce.”

“Cool.” Val gave him a final shake before letting him go. Deuce rubbed his palm against his thigh when he realized how sweaty it had become. “I’m guessing you’re a student here, right? Ben took me around town to meet most of the people he knows, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of kids our age running around here until the weekends.”

Deuce nodded. “Yeah! I attend Night Raven College.” Deuce turned on his bike and pointed towards the cliffs behind him. “Right up there.”

“I thought so.” Val’s grin widened. Deuce stared at the dimple in her left cheek. “Those Royal Sword Academy guys are as interesting as a soggy sugar wafer and about just as bland. I tried talking about blastcycling with a couple of them, but they all acted like it was beneath them.”

Deuce felt her indignation as if it was his own. “Royal Sword is pretty stuck up. That’s why the rivalry between the schools is so strong.” He paused and backtracked. “Not that all of them are bad. I have a few dorm mate’s who’re close friends with some RSA guys.”

“You’ll have to introduce me to the non-soggy sugar wafer guys then because I’m not convinced.” A chime from her watch made her glance down at it. Her tiny nose wrinkled. Deuce couldn’t help picturing a cute little chipmunk’s face…why was he picturing cute animals? “Sorry to cut this short, but I’ve gotta go. Raphael gets all responsible adult on me if I’m not back at his place by dark. Maybe we can meet up again. You gotta Magicam account?”

Deuce nodded and gave her his info when she pulled out her phone. She grinned and tapped on the screen of her phone. Deuce heard his phone ding in the back of his jeans. “Sweet! That’s my account. If you wanna meet up and race again, just give me a ding! I’ll be on the island until the end of the summer.”

Val put her helmet back on, and her blastcycle kicked up a mound of sand when she turned and sped away. Deuce gaped after her, not even fully realizing dusk had given way to full night until the blastcycle’s LEDs automatically kicked on. Checking his phone for the time, he found the Magicam notification from Val’s DM. Heat flooded his face when he clicked on her profile and saw her wide smile again. The message she had sent read simply Hit me up sometime, bro!

Deuce barely even heard the Ignihyde student complaining about all the sand on the blastcycle later when he returned it.

#twisted wonderland #twst #deuce spade #original characters #ffc 2024

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leaderpinhead · 3 months

Text

Crewel - Father Figure

Prompt: Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow Notes: Takes place pre-Twisted Wonderland story.

“Are you gonna be my new father?”

The scissors gliding through the fabric swerved sharply off course. Divus scowled at the crooked line. When his glare didn’t magically mend the fabric, he directed his ire at the little boy standing at his hip. Maddox slowly blinked at him from beneath the brim of his oversized top hat.

When the boy didn’t expand on his question, Divus snapped, “What are you prattling on about today?”

Divus bit the inside of his cheek. Monique had just scolded him that morning for being too snippy with the boutique’s customers. He could easily imagine her indiscriminate temper for snapping at her son.

Maddox barely flinched. He took a step closer to Divus. A little hand reached up to grasp the loose fabric of his pants. “I don’t mind you being my father. Your colors are pretty.”

Divus stared simply because he didn’t know how to respond. Maddox was...strange didn’t sound like a strong enough word to describe him. The boy was only five years of age, yet he gazed up at Divus—who was nearly triple his age—like he had already lived a full life twice over.

Wisdom, Divus had learned in just a few short months, could be found in the most startling places.

“Don’t spout such nonsense,” Divus snapped. Maddox blinked again. He took off his hat and placed it on the edge of the table Divus worked at. His wild curls were as untamed as his mother’s. “I have no desire to be a father.”

“That’s okay,” Maddox said slowly. His dark blue eyes flicked around Divus’s general vicinity. His mother always did the same thing. “Your colors are more like a daddy. Harry’s daddy has the same dark blues and greens.”

Divus’s eyes steadily narrowed. Maddox slowly blinked again. His grip didn’t loosen on Divus’s pants.

Divus clicked his tongue. He dropped the scissors he was still holding and crouched down to the boy’s level. “I’m not becoming your new father. I’m only here to complete my internship. You won’t see me again after I leave in six months.”

As if he hadn’t heard a word Divus said, Maddox lightly slapped his tiny hands against Divus’s cheeks. He solemnly said, “You’re more a papa.”

Divus mimicked Maddox’s gesture, his gloved hands practically swallowing the small boy’s head. “I’m not your papa.”

Maddox squeezed his cheeks together. “Daddy D.”

Divus sighed. He released Maddox to rub the tic at the corner of his eye. He knew he could be a stubborn guy—that bastard Trein had told him so the three years he attended Night Raven College—but trying to reason with a child was like convincing a tree to move to the other side of a forest. Maddox was especially stubborn, and Divus blamed his mother.

“Papa Spot.”

The tic at the corner of his eye spasmed. His palm engulfed the top of Maddox’s head. He exerted just enough pressure to make Maddox’s head bow. “Don’t use that ridiculous nickname your mother created.”

“Puppy Spot.”

Divus applied more pressure to make Maddox bend over. “Definitely not that.” Maddox released a tiny whimper. Divus relented with a short sigh. “If you insist on calling me anything aside from my given name...then call me Uncle Crewel.”

Maddox popped up so quickly, he nearly clocked Divus right in the chin. His dark blue eyes shimmered with an almost crazed glint. “Uncle D.”

Divus sighed. Maddox made a tiny noise when Divus grasped him under the arms and lifted him up onto the table. Maddox scooted to the very edge, grabbing his hat and shoving his head inside it. Divus tapped the brim of the top hat, and Maddox emitted a tiny growl when it covered his eyes. “Are you finished now? I need to complete this coat before I leave today.”

Maddox’s head bobbed up and down. Divus allowed the boy to sit with his legs swinging over the edge of the table while he snipped the fabric into the pattern he desired. When Maddox became impatient with just watching, Divus gave him a few pieces of excess fabric to fiddle with.

He was instructing Maddox on how to properly pin the fabric with short grumbles when he felt a light pat on the back of his head. He turned just enough to glower at the woman standing behind him. Monique’s eyes flicked around him in the same manner her son’s did. Divus glared and ignored the funny flip in his gut. “What do you want?”

If Divus was a more romantic man, he would say Monique’s lighter blue eyes twinkled under the light of the boutique’s workroom. She reached up to pat the top of his head. “Good boy, Spot. You’re starting to understand your bark doesn’t always need a bite.”

Divus snorted and turned away from her, ignoring the room’s sudden change in temperature. When Maddox called him by his new nickname—Uncle D—Monique giggled and gave her son a pat on the top of his hat. “Good boy.”

Divus clicked his tongue and turned away from the giggling mother and son duo. Stubbornness made him ignore the light touch against the back of his shoulder when Monique breezed out the room as suddenly as she had arrived. Later, he swore, he was going to reiterate to Monique his dislike of casual touching. It was unprofessional between an intern and mentor, and it was giving her son the wrong idea.

Besides, this whole scenario they danced around could easily be gone by tomorrow, and he didn’t need the warm fuzzy feeling in his chest haunting him for the rest of his days.

#twisted wonderland #twst #divus crewel #original characters #pre canon #ffc 2024

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