fun fact 1: the akanidai tag is almost entirely you

fun fact 2: i absolutely adore your take on them!

i sort of get why it's not a popular one but at the same time I think if people loosened their definitions of romance and relationships a bit ...

can't keep away

Genre: Angst, Yeonjun x Reader, Enemies to Lovers au

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Cursing, general toxicity, open-ended ending

Requested?: Yes

Song Rec: Teeth by 5 Seconds of Summer

Synopsis: Being Beomgyu's childhood friend isn't enough to make Yeonjun like you.

Author's Notes: Yeah this took way too long for me to doooo but we move. I have no idea what this is. It's actually a whole mess so sorry in advance. Hope you enjoy this one?? Idk???? Sorry to keep you guys waiting after such a long time. This one has less description and more dialogue in it compared to my other fics, so let me know what you think of it. And yeah, other than that, I hope you enjoy!

He's not someone you could avoid.

You were definitely, unquestionably, with most certainty, trapped. He wasn't good for you; much like poison, in fact. And there was nothing you could do about it. More importantly, there was nothing you wanted to do about it.

Beomgyu had been your friend since childhood. There are no words to explain how you two clicked. You both just... clicked. You got on like a house on fire in some cases, literally, known for being the chaotic pair in school who would always sit at the back making a mess or having practically a banquet during class. You two weren't everyone's favourite duo, that was for sure. But all that mattered was the time you spent together.

And still, to this day, Beomgyu and you were best friends. Even with him debuting in an idol group and becoming the big star that he is. You would wonder if your friendship with him would slowly dwindle, fade away as if it never existed. But he'd make a point to meet you when he could, which is something you are forever grateful for.

Through Beomgyu, you were able to meet his group, the new and famous Tomorrow x Together. Yes, through Beomgyu, you were able to meet the other members.

And through Beomgyu, you were able to meet Choi Yeonjun. And soon, life starts to turn in a different direction for you.

While you found the other member utterly delightful, it was the eldest member that seemed to take a dislike to you from the get-go. You didn't understand it, you didn't know why. And you certainly weren't going to take any shit.

"And how are you today, Yeonjun?" You said in an overly cheery voice. Of course, you were expecting him to grumble something back at you halfheartedly. That's all he would ever do.

"Yeah, good I guess," was all he replied with an uninterested, exasperated tone, as if the whole act of answering you was the biggest burden in the world. He made no effort to raise his head from his phone and clearly cat compilations on tiktok were more important than making a guest feel welcome in the dorm.

You couldn't help but roll your eyes. As the oldest member, he didn't seem particularly mature. You couldn't excuse it down to a lack of social skills because Yeonjun was the biggest social butterfly you had ever met. Seeing the way he interacted so easily with Beomgyu and the other members, or the way he shouted and laughed when talking on the phone to someone. There was no excuse for him to behave differently towards you. And so, the feeling of self-doubt bubbled and crept into the pit of your stomach.

Maybe it's me?

"Heyyyy," Beomgyu's voice sounded from behind you as he emerged from his room, "you ready to go?"

"Yep," you nodded and mustered a smile, trying to ignore the grumpy man laying on the couch opposite you, "let's go."

Beomgyu returned to the dorms at about 10 pm. Chucking his keys on the kitchen counter, he ripped his shoes off with his own feet and flung them lazily by the front door.

"You been out with them all that time?"

Yeonjun's voice sounded from the couch, and as Beomgyu walked into the living room he saw his older member's eyes fixated on the game in front of him, the handset in his hands clicking with each meticulous movement of his thumbs.

"Yeah," Beomgyu sat right next to him, turning to face him and resting his legs on Yeonjun's lap, much to his annoyance.

"Do you mind?" He whined, "your feet stink."

"Your attitude stinks," Beomgyu grinned and raised his foot so that he was blocking Yeonjun's view of the screen.

"Ahhh cut it out!" Yeonjun paused his game and wrestled with Beomgyu. He couldn't help but grin at Beomgyu's playfulness; it was something he was used to by now.

"You never learn do you," Yeonjun chuckled and threw a pillow at Beomgyu's face. Beomgyu stuck exclaimed and stuck his tongue out, and after all of this exchange, his feet still rested on Yeonjun's lap.

"You're so like Y/N," Beomgyu mused, "they always used to throw pillows at my face when I annoy them."

Well, this statement annoyed Yeonjun, and the roll of his eyes at the mention of your name made that very clear to Beomgyu.

"What?" Beomgyu poked his friend's knee with the tip of his toe, "what's your issue?"

Yeonjun stared at the screen ahead, the paused game he had been playing moments ago. What was his issue? Scanning his brain, trying to conjure up a specific moment, an experience, and interaction with you which provoked negative feelings towards you within him. But he found nothing.

"I just-" he cut himself off, face turning serious before shoving Beomgyu's feet off his lap, "I just think you spend too much time with them that's all."

"Too much time?" Beomgyu scoffed at this statement. "I haven't seen them in weeks? You go out with your friends every other night and you're criticising me?"

"They are taking your focus away from the group," Yeonjun is grabbing at straws now, racking his brain for any excuse. However, all these excuses were weak.

"Are you shitting me??" Beomgyu was actually shocked as he stood up from his seat, glaring down at Yeonjun now, "we've just had a comeback, and all everyone has been saying is how well I've improved in my performing. Are you jealous of something??"

Yeonjun didn't know what to say, and the tense feeling in his chest never lifted.

"You're just saying things now aren't you," Beomgyu shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, "you are so petty. And that's coming from me!"

And with that he stormed off, leaving Yeonjun perplexed and exhausted by his own words. The emotions that swirled in his stomach felt so disjointed. So foreign and alien from what he was used to.

What was his issue? What was his issue with you?

Yeonjun woke up to the sound of someone else's ringtone. He had passed out on the sofa a long time ago. Shaking his head to wake up from his daze, he begrudgingly dragged himself off the sofa to see where the noise was coming from.

On the side lay Beomgyu's phone. He had gone out and must have left his phone there; this was quite a usual occurrence with him., Yeonjun shuffled over to the phone, a blanket wrapped around the top half of his body as he leaned over to see who was calling.

'Y/N ☕'

Yeonjun's eyes furrowed at the sight of your name on the screen. It was quite late and night. What could you possibly want?

Of course, a part of him wanted to just let it ring. But what if it was important? Yeonjun decided to pick up your call. Even if it was to say Beomgyu wasn't there, but nothing more. It was the only decent thing he could think of doing.

And so he picked up the phone. Lifting the device to his ear, he exhaled softly, closing his eyes.

Before he even announced it was him, you went off on a tangent.

"Hi Gyu, it's Y/N," your voice. There was a quivering in your voice that Yeonjun noticed. "I'm so sorry to call you so late but someone stole my bike and I have no way of getting home. I'm right outside the mall, you know, where the bike rack is? I'm so sorry for bothering you- I don't even know anymore I just-"

"Y/N." Yeonjun surprised himself with his much softer tone. He envisioned the tears flowing down your cheeks just by the crack of your voice, the sniffs in between your words, the hopeless tone that leaked through the phone.

"Y/N it's me, not Beomgyu," Yeonjun said steadily, "here's not here at the moment but-"

"Oh great," you breathed out, chuckling bitterly at your misfortune. "Of course it's you. What are you going to say? That I'm pathetic? Irresponsible?"

"No, I-"

"Just save it!" You snapped. He could feel the intensity of emotion through your voice, sharp and raw and afraid. "Just leave me alone."

Beep.

Lowering the phone, Yeonjun gazed at the now blank screen. You'd hung up on him.

But he knew where you were.

By the time Yeonjun arrived in his car, it was pouring with rain. Fortunately, you took solace underneath the bike shelter, shivering due to lack of a coat. He pulled up and leaned over to open the door on your side as you resentfully shuffled into the passenger seat. You avoided all eye contact, cheeks rose as you tried to settle your breathing from the terrible stress you found yourself in. Finally, you slammed the car door shut.

Yeonjun didn't accelerate, and you didn't seem to mind.

Both of you stared ahead at the rain. It was softer than before, forming pitter-patter sounds against the windscreen. It was therapeutic, seeming to lull your nerves into something close to calm.

But the tension was still there. The tense atmosphere hung heavily in the car as you both sat there in absolute silence, waiting for something to happen.

"Where's your bike then?"

"I told you," you replied, hacked off by the question alone, "it got stolen."

"How-"

"I don't want to talk about it," you grumbled and faced the steamed-up window beside you, sighing laboriously. Everything felt dreary, and soon tears welled up in your eyes once, "why do you even care anyway."

"I don't care," Yeonjun raised his voice defensively. There was a silence once more.

"I mean," it felt like nothing more could be said, and yet Yeonjun felt the need to speak, "I do care." He looked over at you with sincere eyes, pleading with you to look back at him. "I do."

You turned hesitantly

There was a moment in which all time stopped. The sound of the rain clicking against the glass ceased. The act of breathing was more laborious as your gaze collided with his. Yeonjun found his confidence in this brief connection with you.

"Why would I be here," Yeonjun whispered now, his voice dark and serious, "if I didn't care?"

There was something dangerous and delicious in those eyes of his; lulling you into what felt like a false sense of security. And suddenly you found him to be awfully handsome, all at once. It was quite overwhelming, how his features were bold and clear now as if a different light was cast upon him. At first, you thought him to be remorseful. But the twinkle in his eye betrayed him. Something sinister or deadly? Or maybe something playful and exciting? You couldn't read him, and a part of you didn't want to. But there was a part of you that did.

He intrigued you. Infuriated you. Fascinated you.

And now, you can't keep away.

Okay this is spiers/winters anon. In my completely imaginary self-indulgent universe I think that they became very close very fast because, yes, they are the same person on opposite ends of the rationality/self-restraint spectrum (you Get It). And then maybe they for some reason they got the Not Straight Vibes from each other and bonded further over *that* understanding, and then maybe once or twice made out or hooked up just because they could. And then winters met Nixon and spiers met lipton and they turned to their respective long term happily ever afters the end!

Idk I just saw a gif of them walking together and I was like... they should kiss. But only a few times. And as a side note I feel like irl winters is very praising of spiers in his book, second only to Nixon lmao

Thank you for encouraging and entertaining my silly little homosexuality brain :3

speirs/winters anon! my beloved

the more i think about these two (u are giving me. Brain Worms) the more i'm thinking it's Suchhh an interesting duo bc it seems like opposite to winnix/speirton etc speirs and winters would be more about like. survival

like basically through the lens of ep 2 i can really see it because it's like. speirs taking out the machine gun nest and how winters copes/leads a charge and it's Verryyyy interesting to put those two erlenmeyer flasks of explosives together..........

but u are SO right about the Sensing Each Other May Be Queer thing. survival on two fronts: against the enemy and against a section eight. brilliant brilliant brilliant

and if there is ONE thing that we will be it is Crazy. anon thank you truly for these thoughts, they are like a refreshing can of delightful worms on a fresh spring day

Okay so I just browse through dozens of Backyardigans songs and got punched in the face with how good this show is???

Like the characters' dynamics??? Every duos and trios and quartet are a fucking delight. You can put them with anyone within the group and they will fit?? But even then the show really emphasized how they are different people even though they click with each other; Pablo the slightly oblivious nice guy with a streak of anxiety from time to time, Tyrone the also slightly oblivious nice guy with a streak of anxiety but with a bit more social skill thn Pablo, Austin who is both the helper and an enabler at the same time who is also very very smart, Uniqua who has the leader vibe and-- she's just very cool as a character? She played as a princess once and a knight the next, if that's not your standard of cool then you probably haven't watched this, and last but definitely not least Tasha who is sassy but very sweet and daring too? They're all perfect and their personalities are surprisingly really complex??? Like, they seem humane.

Oh! And I want to add that because all of them get to play the antagonist in different episodes, we can see how different yet the same they can be on the other side of justice. And that's??? Really awesome??? To see that everyone can be good or bad and still be the same person, just different situations?

Also the fact that every episode is literally just them running around in a new make-believe world, having fun and being wild with their imagination with it ... God, I think I love writing stories so much now because of them.

Moreover, the episodic plots man, holy shit they're all so good?

- A fairy tale type story where the knights and other characters try to save the dragon instead of saving someone from it.

- A story about two people losing their head over a runaway train that contains the Tsar.

- An Olympic type story that teaches the audience to be helpful to others and even when your skills are below others, you can still do things and having fun doing them.

- A story about journeying the world to have the perfect tea with your friends ... and making unexpected friends along the way.

And lots and lots more! Every concept is a fucking delight and it always takes unexpected turns that make the story even more fun. And the fact that some episodes are based on famous movies or franchise like Night at the Museum and Journey to the Center of the Earth? That's super cool!

Don't even get me started on the songs. Sure, I don't like all of them but holy shit even the ones that I personally don't like I can admit they're bangers. Some of my favourites are Marching to the Top, Don't Flip Out, I Must be Ready, Go Go Go, and I Gotta Feel. There are more than those ofc.

What is the point of this rambling? Idk man I just want to blabber about them. I love this show so much. I cried hearing I Gotta Feel and cried even more after seeing their dance. God. This show is the best.

<!—— cr c3 dynamic dumping/>

OKAY SO i lovelovelove the different dynamics between the pcs so i’m gonna be dumping my thoughts here!

spoilers up to c3e5 ahead!!

dorian and laudna are so funny together!!! marisha and robbie sitting next to each other have the funniest side-by-side reactions and in-character interactions by far, especially in episode 2 with the roof-floating fiasco and episode 5 with dorian killing dugger and laudna reacting to his bewilderment

fcg being ashton’s immediate emergency contact was gold, and the fact that is WASN’T questioned by yash?? that whole interaction was hilarious actually. i hope taliesin continues to let ashton build a deeper trust and companionship with fcg, lord knows this dude needs some real friends

laudna and ashton have planted little seedlings of a very interesting dynamic! similar to fearne and ashton except less mischievous and more so a bit of a “freaks club”? i really enjoy their little side comments to each other and i’m looking forward to seeing how this relationship unfolds

i really like laudna’s check-ins with imogen. i think the rest of the group knows about her tendency to get overwhelmed, but so far laudna is the most doting and observant. obviously they’ve known each other longer and care deeply about each other, but it’s just a really lovely detail about their relationship to have laudna be so protective

bertrand and orym at the inn was a whole ordeal, truly. travis and liam improvised marvelously, and this scene will forever be one of my favorite bertrand interactions (granted, he didn’t have too many to begin with, but you know what i mean), man i’m gonna miss bertrand

FEARNE AND ASHTON NEED MORE DUO MOMENTS!!! STEAL THE EARRING BACK!! these two have a concerning amount of potential to be an unstoppable reckless duo if they so chose. the world isn’t ready for their headassery if they ever put their heads together to mess with some poor innocent people

dorian and imogen have very comforting vibes i think? they both seem to enjoy each other’s company a lot, and it seems like out of the 3 groups (dorian/orym/fearne, laudna/imogen, ashton/fcg), these two seem to be the ones that have reached out the most in terms of trust and willingness to form new friendships (other than fcg, but he seems to be interested in making new friends with most people). idk how to describe it but i love their interactions so far, and laura and robbie make for a great comedic duo!

speaking of the need for more interaction, i feel like fcg could really open up orym to the idea of self-care? there’s been several instances where orym has just volunteered himself to be the sacrificial lamb, and it’s clear he values everyone else’s lives a lot, but i think fcg’s funny little therapy service would do him some good with balancing priorities

BERTRAND AND FEARNE!! i’m going to choose to ignore the nickname. bertrand and anyone was such a delight to be honest, travis plays the disgruntled older gentleman very well. fearne’s comment about jazz at his funeral had me so sure that bert would have been cackling and trying to recompose himself to defend his opinions were he still alive!

i have yet to watch exu but fearne and orym are a very heartwarming duo, something like a mischievous younger sibling and their older, more responsible sibling? i don’t know their ages, my bad! this isn’t to say orym doesn’t make unpredictable choices too, because him grabbing that sending stone and running with it caught me completely off guard, but he’s very caring towards fearne and knows when to draw the line with her antics? in turn, she demonstrates a deep affinity for him (that line about not wanting to be separated from orym during the sending stone shenanigans was very sweet!!) and keeps him close as well

some other potentially cool pairings i noted but don’t have much to elaborate on were ashton and imogen, laudna and fcg, and fearne and laudna

oh! and of course i had to save the funniest dynamic for last, but i really do think it can be summed up in a single sentence:

“try not to look like you’re… hitting on me”

SO I FINALLY FINISHED 5D’S! And what better way to celebrate than to go through my favorite characters as…briefly as I can

Slight spoilers I suppose?

Let’s work it up from 10 to 1

10- Jack

Was gonna go with lucchiano but who am I kidding Jack’s great. He’s a drama queen with an even more dramatic wardrobe. Never afraid to express himself and just bluntly blurt out what he thought.

His obsession with Cup ramen is on another level but what can I say? Love is love, Jack x cup ramen for life *wipes tears*

But seriously speaking he’s great. His very first line was enough proof of that. He just… apologized for being late then declared “I AM KING” like the…king he is.

My favorite Rival character still remains Manjoume… and… Yeah I still prefer Kaiba over Jack but damn was he a good rival.

Like he has to be the only Rival so far with an actual past with the Main character, no? That was pretty interesting because usually, the protagonist meets the rival somewhere during the first season and we go off from there. But here we had to go through their backstory to know what their relationship was fully like. Nice touch.

9- Aki

Hands down my favorite female protagonist so far. I adore Anzu and feel neutral enough about Asuka but Aki? NAH MAN AKI’S AMAZING. I think 5D’s just does the best job with its female characters. Like it actually gives them big enough roles. I loved how Aki got her own episodes…be it the D-wheel ones or just… fillers.

Her crush on Yusei was justified, at least it seems so to me, and honestly never got obnoxious. Sure she had a moment here and there but it was honestly never a bad thing. Hell faith shipping in general isn’t exactly a bad Idea.

Speaking of shipping, is anyone going to talk about her little frienshipmaybemore moments with Crow? No? Ok…

But anyway, overall, SHE’S AMAZING AND I LOVE HER. There was more to her than some boring pining love interest and it shows with each episode. So when people say she has a great personality, they’re actually talking about her personality. AKI RULES

8- Mikage

Would’ve been way WAY higher on the list if the thing with Jack was thrown out the widow.

That being said I think she’s the more mature of the Jack-crazy trio. Like sure she was just as into him as the other two, but in some scenes she was a lot more tolerable.

But that honestly might just be my bias towards this amazing woman speaking.

She’s devoted to her work, gentle, caring, gorgeous and just all around a wonderful character to see.

I loved most of her scenes in the series, and the fact that there was more to her than just the jack part. She actually had an important part to play in many episodes and honestly proved herself to be a very fun character. I just wish they gave a her little more screentime than what she got.

A lot of lost potential there- I mean come on.

7- Rua /Lua

He reminds me of Judai WAY too much. LIKE WAAAAY too much not to be on this list. The guy’s adorable. And I love how they made him the emotional one. Like they could’ve gone with the “the boy is always rowdy and tOUGH” stereotype, but they didn’t. Sure, ruka (who I don’t like as much) was much more gentle, but it was much easier to see Rua cry than it was to see her do so. It’s just fun is all.

I also adore his deck and that little theme that played whenever he dueled… Plus his relationship with Jack and Yusei…GOLD GOLD.

6- Ushio

I made a whole post about Him, You think he wouldn’t be in my Top 10? Well think again. Great development would see through again.

5- Sherry Leblanc

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SHERRY.

What you just witnessed in the line above is my internal reaction to literally any scene this beautiful badass woman happens to be in.

She’s just amazing. She has this really… tough energy IDK HOW TO DESCRIBE IT BUT SHE’S A REALLY INTIMIDATING WOMAN. But not in a bad way, oh nonononono in a REALLY REALLY GOOD WAY OKAY.

Her character arcs and episodes somehow felt…really separate from the whole team 5D’s shenanigans even though they were basically connected…

Like she had her own motivation that didn’t particularly rely on bonds, but was still willing to accept and even form a bond with the whole team.

Revenge is kinda hot ngl.

Okay no it’s not. But seeing a vengeful character that WASN’T played off as evil or particularly wrong amidst a bunch of friendship is magic ones was pretty refreshing.

The moment she took her helmet off when dueling yusei I was HOOKED and so was Aki but shhhhhh.

But damn I love what they did with her at the end, Rushed as it may have been. It took her joining with Z-one briefly and dueling Aki and Crow ( a very underrated duo btw) to realize that maybe thinking of the past and only the past was not a very good idea.

Anyway love her. And her duels are always a delight to watch.

4- Placido

Before he showed up, sherry was supposed to be 4th but here we are. Placido Placido Placido. I want to make it clear that…I really couldn’t care less about Aporia as a whole. But Placido and Lucchiano were pretty fun characters.

Now I finally get to talk about my beloved.

This dude was…the biggest mood. EVER.

He would hang up in that third one’s face like it was nothing and constantly ignore his boring ass. Oh. You have a plan? Ok. I don’t care. It’s boring. I’m placido and I’ll do what I want. Kiss my D-wheel ass.

He has a lot of hilariously sassy lines, which include and I quote:

“I don’t know what god wants you to do.”

“But I won’t accept it!”

The guy just does not care and I’m living for it.

Not to mention his bee analogies which- Why have I not seen anyone point out????? BEE ANALOGIES COME ONNNNNNNN

aNYWAY PLACIDO’S GREAT

3- Kiryuu

Edgy dude with pretty hair. Also gay. Also the crash town arc. Need I say more?

I will anyway.

Honestly dark signer Kiryuu was pretty fun to me with all the crazy laughter and stuff…

Then past/ flashbacks Kiryuu was just as interesting but in a completely different way. Sure he didn’t get as many episodes or screentime as the rest, but what I saw of him was more than enough for me to care about the Character. Like unlike the old satellite gang (Rally and the other two whose names I can’t even remember) I actually gave a shit about this guy when bad stuff happened to him.

Not to mention his growth. Like…He went through reverse/ negative development, then uphill by the end of the signers’ ark with all the…dying in your hands gayly stuff, then downhill again by the beginning of the crosstown arc….aaaaand back up and higher than ever by the end of it. Basically the fact that his development wasn’t always constant just added some spice.

Plus his dynamic with his ex-teammates…team….satisfaction (Try saying that with a straight face) was always pretty entertaining, especially his with Yusei.

Speaking of which...

2- Yusei

With all my talk about him…and…my profile picture…and URL, it may come as a surprise that he’s not number 1 here, but honestly it’s so close you could call it a tie.

As for why I love him….Have you- Have you seen my blog????? Do I even..need to say anything????

1- Crow

Now there’s a lot I have to say about Crow honestly hE’S JUST THAT COOL, but I’m saving it to talk about later still. All I’ll say for now is this:

Flashy guy with an amazing sense of style, an earring and an incredible amount of cockiness and charisma. What’s not to like?

Crowbar (Alternate First Meeting)

Hi guys! This here short story is my first participation in Adrigami Week! I was planning on posting it yesterday, seeing as it’s following the “Alternate First Meeting” prompt, but the time got away from me. Idk if it’s still eligible for the official reblog or not, but I still had a blast writing it all the same. Enjoy! (Contains very mild profanity)

\\\\\

Her lip was bleeding. For whatever reason, Kagami chose to focus on this minute aspect out of all the other injuries she’d sustained. She dabbed it with a paper towel.

Kagami couldn’t recall how she’d gotten like this. There was so much she couldn’t recall, and the staggering immensity of all her forgotten experiences had weighed down on her for so long that when she found herself in a bathroom without a clue as to how she’d gotten there, she was able to handle the newfound situation better than someone who hadn’t been through what she had.

The only thing that confused Kagami was that her clothes were in perfect condition, despite her face being bloody and streaked with dirt. In fact, they looked as though they’d just been sewn by a master tailor. 

She brushed the puzzlement aside - she couldn’t linger here in this mysterious bathroom. Lingering got you killed.

The door opened easily at her touch, and Kagami examined the bedroom that it led into. The walls were painted in an eye-catching shade of purple, but the bed itself was small and plain. Kagami also noticed that there was no furniture other than a small nightstand and that the window was broken. It framed the outside world in jagged glass.

This aforementioned outside world was cloudy and bleak. Based on how damp the street appeared, Kagami concluded it must’ve rained recently. The buildings matched the clouds in their shade of gray, with windows just as broken as the one Kagami was using as an observation point. No street signs were visible. No vehicles, no animals, no people. Not even wind.

Kagami couldn’t care less about the lack of other individuals; her attention was pinpointed on the crowbar leaning casually against the building opposite. Without a second’s hesitation, she kicked away the rest of the glass and crawled expertly out of the window.

She didn’t know how she knew there’d be a fire escape, but resolved not to ponder on it, because every second she didn’t have the crowbar was a second where it could fall into the possession of someone else. Crowbars were tools; tools were extremely helpful.

By the time Kagami had raced down the stairs leading to the ground, she could notice how old and rusty the crowbar was. In retrospect, it probably wouldn’t be much use against some of the more contemporary weapons others owned, but in times like these, Kagami would take anything she could get.

In no time, she had dashed across the street and grasped the crowbar in her right hand. Flakes of deceased metal fell to the ground like rotten snow as she twirled it experimentally. Even if it fell apart in combat, it was nevertheless pretty maneuverable. 

“Drop it.”

Kagami turned around instead, searching for the voice’s master. She found the man in question stepping out the adjacent alleyway. His face was hidden under an old halloween mask, but Kagami could see he was wearing a green rain jacket and pointing a pistol in her direction.

Was it a pistol? Further examination led Kagami to realize it was no such thing; it was a water gun, and she almost pitied the hopeless idiot who brandished it at her.

“I said drop it!” the man shouted, though not very loudly.

“You know that’s not a real gun, right?” Kagami asked nonchalantly, deciding to break the truth to him.

The man lowered the toy firearm and hung his head. “Damn it.”

“Wait, you already knew?” said Kagami in disbelief. “Why on Earth would you use a water gun instead of, I don’t know, an actual one?”

“I’m a pacifist,” admitted the man, sounding guilty. “I’m a believer of nonviolence.”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but nonviolence fell out of fashion a while back,” said Kagami, not knowing where she’d heard it from.

“Well, I always favored the old styles over the new,” the man said. “You hungry? I’ve got some food.”

Kagami’s mouth fell open in spite of herself. Who did this airhead think he was? You didn’t just go around offering people food. But before she’d even responded, he started walking over to her, removing his mask in the process.

Based off his recent actions, Kagami was expecting him to look innocent and tame, and she was not disappointed. However, she hadn’t foreseen blond hair and green eyes. She hadn’t expected him to look this... well, attractive.

“I’m Adrien, by the way,” he said, plopping his butt on the pavement and taking off his previously concealed backpack. “What’s your name?”

“I’m not about to tell you my name!” Kagami cried exasperatedly. “I know nothing about you!”

Adrien, who’d previously been busy unpacking, looked up at Kagami closely for the first time. His eyes widened after locking with hers and he dropped the box of Ritz crackers he’d been taking out.

After a few uncomfortable seconds, Kagami demanded, “What?”

Adrien flinched violently and faced the ground, blushing. “Nothing.”

“Why were you staring at me for so long?” persisted Kagami.

“N-No reason!” Adrien stammered embarrassedly. 

“Then why were you doing it?”

“I don’t know!”

Kagami decided not to push the topic and begrudgingly sat down; she hadn’t realized how hungry she was until now.

“So...” began Adrien slowly, seeming to regain some of his previous placidity. “I never did learn your name.”

“We’re not there yet,” Kagami grumbled, snatching a plastic-wrapped sandwich out of his hands.

“Well, what are you doing ‘round these parts?” Adrien asked curiously, putting his chin in his hands.

“None of your business,” snapped Kagami, losing some of her intimidation skills to a mouthful of grilled cheese.

“How’s the food?”

“Awful,” Kagami replied, even though it was delicious.

Adrien laughed hard. “You’re funny!”

“No, I’m not.”

“Oh, but you are!” 

“What’s your problem?” asked Kagami sternly. “You know nothing about me, I could’ve killed you without hesitation as soon as you came over here!”

“And yet you didn’t!” Adrien pointed out cheerfully.

Kagami took a deep breath, trying to keep her temper in check. “Adrien, wasn’t it?”

Adrien nodded and smiled, seeming delighted that she’d remembered his name.

“Adrien, I don’t know what miracle allowed you to survive for this long, but in our society’s current state, you might not be around much longer. I suggest you drop this puppy dog attitude and learn to fend for yourself.”

“Why learn to fend for myself when we can fend for each other?” asked Adrien earnestly.

The sincereness of this question, contrasting with the playfulness Adrien had exhibited, caught Kagami off guard for a moment, though she soon regained her bearings.

“Adrien, no offense, but you’d be dead weight,” she stated. “Even if I wanted to stick around with you, my memory kinda wipes itself clean every six hours or so, only holding on to the most treasured information - my name, my personality, how to speak, how to read and write, knowing what stuff is, and the like.”

“No way!” exclaimed Adrien, before Kagami could continue. “I have the same thing! That’s why I started a diary!”

He zipped open his backpack again and retrieved a worn leather-bound book. Adrien opened it and showed Kagami its messily written contents.

“I originally didn’t remember how to write,” he explained, flipping through some pages to get to the beginning, “but I was able to relearn! It took like a year, though.”

Kagami peered at the even messier scrawl of a younger Adrien. She was shocked to see his name spelled incorrectly with crayon.

“How long’ve you been on your own?” she asked uncertainly.

“About twenty years, I think,” Adrien answered dismissively. “I can’t know for certain, I didn’t relearn how to understand a calendar until someone took me in when I was... fourteen, maybe?”

“Someone took you in?” inquired Kagami.

Suddenly, Adrien’s face began filled with sorrow and loneliness. “Yeah... yeah, I don’t like thinking about that.”

Noticing how sympathetically Kagami was gazing at him, Adrien quickly plastered his old smile back on. “That doesn’t really matter. Now I’ve got you!”

Kagami hesitated. One of the instincts her memory’d held onto was avoiding people, but Adrien seemed different. He in the same situation she was in, and he’d shown her kindness. Besides, it’d be nice to have a companion, and Adrien’s diary probably contained scores of valuable information to help the duo survive. 

Even if not for all those reasons, there was something else, though Kagami wasn’t sure what it was yet. For whatever reason, Adrien made her feel relaxed, happy even. She didn’t know why, but he did.

“Okay, Adrien,” she said resignedly. “You can stick with me.”

Adrien’s face lit up with gratitude, and before she knew it, Kagami found herself buried in a hug. It was warm and comforting.

“Thank you so much!” Adrien said happily. 

“No problem, Adrien,” sighed Kagami, already having her doubts.

Adrien released her and scooped up his backpack. They both stood up.

“Where are we headed?” he asked.

“West,” responded Kagami mechanically. “It won’t make too much of a difference, but we need all the sunlight we can get.”

The two started to walk. After trekking for about a minute, Adrien spoke again.

“You never did tell me what your name is.”

Kagami smiled softly and rolled her eyes. “It’s Kagami.”

“Kagami,” repeated Adrien thoughtfully. “I like that name.”

\\\\\

@adrigamiweek

Ace Attorney case tier list

so, in the past year, i finished replaying games 1 through 5 for the first time in forever, and also played game 6 for the first time ever

so here’s where i ruthlessly rank each of the cases based on that most scientific metric of all, My Opinions:

OPENING CASES

S-tier: Turnabout Trump (4-1).  I already knew this case, and I still gasped with surprise when Phoenix showed up, and when Kristoph showed his true colors, and when Apollo realized OH SHIT OH FUCK I REALLY AM ACCUSING MY BOSS OF MURDER HUH... what a wonderful, splashy, shockingly concise case to open up the post-O.G. trilogy world.  Marvelous.

A-tier: Turnabout Memories (3-1).  Seeing Mia Fey (finally!) in action is a long-awaited delight; seeing Phoenix being a total dumbass was an unexpected-yet-perfect and fitting delight.

B-tier: The First Turnabout (1-1).  Solid lil’ case with some conventional-but-well-executed humor.  I’ve got a soft spot for Larry Butz.

C-tier: The Lost Turnabout (2-1), The Foreign Turnabout (6-1).  The former’s fine but a little forgettable; the latter has some fun gags (Payne’s ridiculous new outfit, dude absolutely shredding on the mandolin, etc) but is marred by how uh... kinda silly the game’s core conceit is, lol

E-tier: Turnabout Countdown (5-1).  The context surrounding this introduction is just sloppy (badly handled in media res + let’s lowkey retcon game 4 isn’t a great setup), and also the case itself is just. irksome. ted tonate is just fundamentally irritating to look at

FINALE CASES

S-tier: Bridge to the Turnabout (3-5), Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4).  No explanation needed.  God they fuck so hard

A-tier: The Cosmic Turnabout + Turnabout for Tomorrow (5-4 + 5-5), Turnabout Succession (4-4).

The former two cases are what makes AA5 worth it, and they make for a tremendously fun ride.  It fumbles the execution in some notable ways (Apollo’s sudden j’accuse moment feels a little forced/awkward/inadequately foreshadowed, and damn it sure would’ve been nice to know Clay Terran at all before he died, and also The Phantom’s final meltdown could’ve used a bit more emotional heft)... but okay let’s be real, I’m here for Simon Blackquill, and this case gives me so much of him so who gives a shit.  (And Aura!  Condescending obnoxious engineering queen!  I love her!)  

As for Turnabout Succession... while I earnestly wish the game had explored more of Klavier’s feelings about this whole setup, and some more emotional beats for Apollo, the case still makes for such a satisfyingly twisty and fun investigation overall (the poison stamp! what a ridiculous murder method! I love it!) that it’s a more-than-worthy finale.

B-tier: Turnabout Revolution (6-5), Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4).

The former does some cool stuff—I particularly like the opening half, where Apollo’s being real snippy and coping with Frankly Bizarre Dad Feelings, and giving Apollo a chance to finally throw down against Phoenix is a blast.  The latter half of the case starts feeling a little... ridiculous? cramped? idk? like, they didn’t do nearly enough foreshadowing about Nahyuta’s whole deal for me to care about his drama, this justice system is so obviously silly and the manner in which the revolution is playing out strains my already-suspended-sky-high disbelief... fun, and flashy, but more noise than signal in the last part, I guess.

As for Farewell, My Turnabout: of course I love Edgeworth rolling back into court goin’ through SOME kind of bizarre emotional arc of Hey I’m Totally Healed Now and obnoxiously preaching about Truth TM.  And it’s cool that the game set up a case where you want to lose.  But the net result is a bit strange tonally—it’s trying set up some kind of message about It’s Not Just About Winning, It’s About Pursuing The Truth, but it feels really muddled when that’s combined with Okay But Maya’s Literally Being Held Hostage Like Right Now, Surely A Reasonable Justice System Has A Process For Dealing With This Obviously Complicated Situation, Right?

but also Franziska takes a fucking bullet (how did I forget about that) and then gets to roll in like Ms. Save The Day so, really, lots of good shit here

FILLER CASES

S-tier: Reunion, and Turnabout (2-2), Turnabout Beginnings (3-4).  Look, the first one gives me all the Fey family drama a girl could ask for, and the latter gives me young Edgeworth being a total shit in an obnoxiously shimmery outfit.  The whole enchilada is here

A+ tier: The Magical Turnabout (6-2).  DELIGHTFUL!  MAGICIAN!  SHENANIGANS!  Like you get to guess the trick behind a magic act as part of the case, how fucking fun is that, and also the Apollo & Athena duo’s chemistry is perfect, the villain is a FANTASTIC bastard, and even the bit characters you meet during the investigation are total delights... Probably the best “standalone” case in the series, in that it doesn’t rely on any emotional connections to previous cases (unlike 2-2 and 3-4) to still totally and completely rule.

A tier: Turnabout Samurai (1-3), Turnabout Reclaimed (5-DLC).

For Turnabout Samurai, I remembered before this replay how delightful the TV SHOW STUDIO investigation and actor-fandom stuff was; I had TOTALLY forgotten Vasquez calling in her mob connections to try and wreck you.  What a fantastic villain; what a fun case.

Turnabout Reclaimed is just good solid goofy nonsense.  Probably receives a boost for me in particular because, yeah, Simon Blackquill.  But then again who isn’t giving cases a boost on that account; they are MISSING OUT

B tier: The Stolen Turnabout (3-2).  Ron and Desirée are so great sighs into hands

C tier: Listing roughly in order of preference: Turnabout Academy (5-3), Turnabout Serenade (4-3), Turnabout Sisters (1-2), Recipe for a Turnabout (3-3), Rite of the Turnabout (6-3), Rise from the Ashes (1-5).

Four of these (5-3, 4-3, 1-2, 3-3) are perfectly solid cases; I just don’t love them quite as much as “thievery hijinks” or “Hollywood hijinks” or other such particularly delightful flavors.  Everyone has a favorite flavor of Jolly Rancher and all that.

Rite of the Turnabout is interesting and connected with the larger themes of the game in a cool way, and makes good use of the divination mechanic.  However, the last bit gets twisty enough to actually be kind of confusing, and said larger themes of the game are... kinda hard for me to take seriously... which, yeah, leads to it feeling a little stilted when it really should be singing.

Rise from the Ashes landed awkwardly for me.  I know it was added well after the first game’s release, and it does a good job of continuing some of the cool stuff from that game—it’s neat, in isolation, to see Phoenix and Edgeworth working together (while still sniping at each other!), and some of the DS-specific mechanics are neat.  However, I just didn’t feel like I learned quite enough about Ema and Lana to care about them like I should, and retconning “(almost certainly true) rumors that Edgeworth was involved in Shady Shit TM” into “actually Edgeworth was totally ignorant of Shady Shit TM, like at worst his crime was willful ignorance / incuriosity, he was just been manipulated by the Police Chief”... makes Edgeworth less interesting to me!  Like, it’s cool to see Edgeworth caught off-guard and under pressure, but I wish the circumstances had been different?  Also Gant’s theme song is annoying as shit, which is petty but hey this is my blog post so

D tier: Turnabout Storyteller (6-4), Turnabout Corner (4-2), Turnabout Big Top (2-3), The Monstrous Turnabout (5-2).

Turnabout Storyteller has some fun gags with My Dude Simon and also Taka, but was heavily marred by Everyone Talking Down To Athena The Entire Fucking Case Oh My God Can You All Just Shut Up.

Turnabout Corner has... lots of fun elements but... look the fucking stolen-panties setup just grates ok

I don’t think I hate Turnabout Big Top the way most people seem to, but I did find the final murder setup more annoying that I remembered this playthrough—bro you were really sure the dude was going to conveniently stand right there and the heavy statue was definitely going to strike a killing blow and not just give the guy a concussion?  ok lol

The Monstrous Turnabout suffers mostly from poor puzzle/investigation design, being too hand-hold-y, and also having a core gimmick/setting that just wasn’t really my thing.  Alas!

catching up

rules: answer the questions and tag nine people you want to get to know better/catch up with!

thank you for the second tag today, @vishcount 💞 since i dunno what to do with myself anyway, these are very welcome 

i am tagging @cortue , @intyalote, @the-cloud-whisperer (yes two tags in a day, i am sorry, please don’t feel pressured!!) @sassyassassy, @isabellaofparma

my ramblings under the cut: 

Three Ships: am going with the ones that have been giving me The FeelsTM  recently

WenZhou [Word of Honor] - if you’ve been following me, i am evidently going through it. they are just so good. i’ve been considering if i should read the novel because it seems quite different and i want to know the dynamic there? but do i have the attention span for it? idk. let’s see. all that matters here is that they hurt me in the best way possible

Lin Shu/MCS & Xiao Jingyan & Mu Nihuang [Nirvana in Fire] - after my rewatch of NiF, the emotions i have over these three people (and honestly, the rest of the characters as well), just crashed over me again. they love each other so much? and each time i curse MCS for doing what he did, but at the same time i know where he is coming from. it just hurts so much, seeing Nihuang embracing him and hoping for a future where they could be together, seeing Jingyan going through all that and then? ending up alone once again. they just hurt me. and honestly i like all interpretations of their relationships, but my personal take on it is that Xiao Jingyan is head over heels in love with both Lin Shu and Mei Changsu, while Mu Nihuang loves him as her dearest friend, as a platonic soulmate that she could spend her entire life with - and Mei Changsu? honestly, he is so torn inside i don’t think he knows himself what he feels, except fear and overwhelming love for his friends that he doesn’t want to face. In my mind, i see Nihuang and Jingyan supporting each other, sharing the burden and the heartbreak. (also at this point i want to mention Lin Chen because god, does he care for Mei Changsu and that last episode just broke me all over again) thanks for coming to my ted-talk, i don’t think i will ever be done with it.

Cha Cha/ Li Jia/Shi Cheng [The Journey Across The Night] - another very good trio, and Vishie could talk about them with more eloquence than me, but i just? love their dynamic so damn much? please just let them be in love with each other? i think it is one of my favourite friendship groups in any drama. they are such a delight and go through ups and downs, have fun together and there is just so much love radiating from the screen when i watch them. it’s a shame there is barely content for this drama because i need more people to appreciate it and i want to thank Vishie again for recommending it. chacha my beloved, you’ve never left my mind ever since

Last Song: SHILLET HAMAL بشار مراد - شلة همل (Bunch of Bums) by Bashar Murad - this song has been a bittersweet companion to my life for the past month. please go check out this artist! he is amazing and i hope he will publish more music in the future.

and as I was writing this 盲—王晰 from the WoH OST came on which I’ve been absolutely obsessed with. It’s probably my favourite song from the OST? 

Last Movie: Honestly I can’t remember the last movie i watched because i don’t watch that many? So i decided to list some video essays on youtube that i watched recently: 

Meghan and Harry by Khadija Mbowe

Race-baiting, queer-baiting, colorism, featurism, and performative diversity by Khadija Mbowe

What is *Good* Queer Representation in 2020? by Melina Pendulum

“Killing Stalking” and The Romancing of Abuse by James Somerton 

Other than that i’ve been watching AvenueX’s livestreams on WoH, which are a blessing because i miss this stupid drama. 

Currently Watching: The Sleuth of The Ming Dynasty - after the ending of WoH and finishing my NiF rewatch, i’ve been in a slump and don’t really feel like watching a new show? so am slowly continuing TSoTMD - so far it still needs to grab me properly but it is a solid and entertaining drama so far? i love my cutie Tang Fan or course, but honestly right now i just want to get properly into Wang Zhi because he??? i love this shady bastard. and my Oirat duo are my absolute faves, if anything happens to them i will kill everyone in this room and then myself. 

Currently Reading: i’ve talked about my native nations poetry anthalogy often already, so am not gonna go into that again. but hey, i got back to slowly doing research for my course on materiality in viennese modern design (1880-1930). currently i am reading Dagobert Peche by Max Eisler which is hilarious, because when i started reading this i was wondering why it was written so fairy-tale-like and subjective, until it dawned on me that this Dr. Eisler was a friend of Mr. Peche? So he just wrote a biography on our boy Dagobert and he has a...questionable way of describing him; don’t we all just describe our bros as a ‘gothic countenance of anguish made of ivory’ as said bro lies in his bed being sick with a fever? idk, you do you, dear Max. but please stop talking about his godly hands and elegant demeanor, if you really wanna convince me y’all are just guys being dudes. am here to learn about ceramics, damnit.

apart from that i am rereading War of The Foxes by Richard Siken because i finally ordered the physical copy and i love it more than ever. 

thank for the tag dear 💞

God help ur followers bc this ask is going to be huge,,, but oh man mr. gaming was absolutely a gem! I never watched jimmy streams before but I sure will now, it was surprisingly wholesome the interactions with him we love to see! Who do u usually watch the mcc pov? I usually go for techno bc he matches my level of anxiety but after watching tommy on the last one I've been looking for his vods right after as well! He did so well I'm still sad abt it but man the sportsmanship techno's stream always has is insane I love. Today was extra good and idk if it's because they didn't add points to their mcc scores or they just have a good chemistry but I just love it! Even phil who joining for like one game had a great chemistry with everybody ugh such nice team. So nice to watch too!!

And yeah I never liked the idea of sbi family being cannon bc it messes with their backstories so much and man,, the found family trope is meant to be not blood related most times and I LOVE IT! But yeah they are not in the best of terms but tommy didn't ever gave up on ppl easily so it's understandable that he still cares abt techno. I don't think he ever did let go of anyone now that I think about it which is SO RISKY bc he has such a supportive personality even with c!wilbur who's obviously trying to manipulate him now. It's weird bc I fully support c!tommy's attempt to be always there for him but man,,, he really needs to think more of himself. It's hard to think he ever will tho bc, like he said "family comes first" and even before himself ig. The one time he was really selfish he said the disks were worth more than his family (c!tubbo) and immediately regretted it so yeah, I just think it's hard for him to go out of this again (even tho c!wilbur is far different to c!tommy now than c!tubbo was) but man, he needs a break, he really do.

And just searched the baby crow, you're absolutely valid. No further questions, your honor. The thought of phil being like 300 yo man MAN. Techno is another character we know he's like oldish but not OLD like phil, it's so weird not being able to tell like a number tho. But still, knowing they have been around each other for so long,,, man. Emerald duo my most beloved. Wilbur being able to be the only company to phil's long ass life but not being there for him not even for 30 years, man. Olwolo giving me too many feels today that's not even fair. And PLEASE. Possessed by schlatt...that makes so much sense. I can't believe u said horns and possessions and my first thought was demon!dream or something like that lol yes that actually makes sense and him hiding the horns makes the character design much more interesting, we support it.

Btw, the brief sketch u did of wilbur's wing being damaged, you're more than welcome to share if u want to! I think it's a bit visible in ur last post with him so you're probably talking about that or maybe I'm just seeing things but olwolo art is ALWAYS welcome here in this house! 🧨

jimmy is great!! i first watched him in scott's 3rd life series and he was a delight! and the nicknames in general in this mcc.. . it's so nice to see people from like. 'two sides' of the mcyt interact and get along! i always try to watch a team that i find interesting and with at least one person that i watch and somehow it ends up being a team with wilbur most of the time. he is always put in teams that just appeal to me sgdjks and they are always fun too!

and idk if it's because i started watching dsmp with absolutely no knowledge about people involved (besides watching wilbur's arg and few vids a while back) so i had like no idea about sbi family being a thing kdjd but now it just kinda makes me annoyed when it comes to the dsmp canon (and how it always seems that others are reduced to just being tommy's dad/brother) and people still reach for them all to be related. i believe in found family supremacy. and god i'm really hoping that what comes out of this arc is c!tommy realizing that it's okay to let c!wilbur go for his own good.

and man c!techno being Old. unless confirmed otherwise i choose to believe that man has a relatively normal age but just fucking forgot. for comedic purposes. but yeah. emerald duo spending such a long time being friends *holds gently* i care them. and what can i say. i very often make myself sad coming up with headcanons hence the wilbur and phil one. it's a very common occurence unfortunately. and yupp the damaged wing is visible in the comic i posted a while back!

meg !!!!!!!! i believe you said ur taking days off so i hope you are enjoying the off time and also for the kisses thing i would love to see "running their thumb over the other’s lips" w my babes lashton (or any of them that you want i just reread ur meeting at a gig lashton today and they make my heart happy SO) ok ily bye <3

sam babe!!! okay this got away from me a little but here is a some fluffy lashton wedding au??? with photographer ash??? and a whole lot of side malum??? idk what happened here but hope you enjoy! Love you!!!

It’s already gotten dark when Luke wanders outside the wedding venue for a bit of fresh air. He finds a bench to sit on, closing his eyes for a second and resting his head back on the wall. The day had been about as chaotic as he’d expected from Michael and Calum’s wedding, and he was ridiculously happy but extremely drained. The ceremony itself had been absolutely beautiful; Luke knew he'd be emotional watching his two best friends getting married but had almost overtaken him during their vows. It had always been "Calum and Michael" as long as Luke had known them, Luke just happy to be a third part of their duo, soaking in a bit of the love they could help but emanate whenever they were together. Watching the two of them marry and confirm "Calum and Michael" for as long as they would have each other was something that had always been inevitable, but also filled Luke with an emotion he couldn't describe, fizzing through his veins from his heart to his fingertips. 

The day had continued in a hazy mess of laughter, love and champagne, Luke even managing to get through his best man speech with as little trauma as he would have thought possible, especially having the added pressure of being a double best man for both grooms. He’d started by launching into a story of the first time that the three of them had gotten drunk and Michael had accidentally admitted he thought Calum had "really nice hands" and it had all gone swimmingly from there, Michael even having to wipe his eyes on Calum’s jacket sleeve surreptitiously at one point, something Luke will definitely be bringing up with him later.

"Hello," He hears a voice behind him and jumps, sloshing a bit of his champagne over his knee. 

The photographer — “Ashton” — as as he had introduced himself earlier, stood leaning against the wall next to him with a slight smile. 

He was the honestly the most gorgeous man he'd ever seen, light brown hair curling slightly on the top of his head, glittering hazel eyes and a dimple in his chin that appeared anytime he encouraged any of his subjects to smile more or turn this way or that. That wasn't even mentioning his hands, long fingers clutching his camera as he snapped away. He had been distracting Luke all day, drawing his eye whenever his mind wandered for a second, and he wasn’t sure whether it was his own wishful thinking that most of the time Ashton seemed to be looking back. Michael had told him offhandedly before the ceremony that he was apparently a friend of Calum’s from college, and Luke was going to kill him (after his wedding day maybe) for not introducing him to Ashton sooner. 

"Uh," Luke said intelligently to Ashton. "Are you here to take a photo of me? Because I’m not being very interesting right now."

Ashton laughs freely, "Sorry for making you jump, can I sit for a second?" He said gesturing at the empty space next to Luke. “No photos, promise.”

Luke nods, blushing. "Of course, sorry.”

Ashton laughs again, sitting down and scooching slightly closer to Luke. "Do you want to know a secret?"

Luke cocks his head at Ashton and smiles at the man talking to him, "Go on then, what secrets do you have photographer man."

"I've not been a very good photographer today," Ashton says, with a glittering look in his eyes.

"What do you mean, you look great to me?" Luke says then turns even redder. "I mean you look like you're doing a great job to me." He amends, rubbing the back of his neck.

Ashton positively grins back at him. "Because I've been taking too many photos of one subject, bad form, should be covering everyone here."

"What of the happy couple?" Luke scoffs, "I think that's allowed."

"No, too many photos of someone else," Ashton says, smiling even wider and giving Luke a significant look.

Luke chooses an unfortunate time to take a sip of champagne from his glass and almost chokes, and Ashton laughs again and smacks him on the back as Luke tries to get himself under control.

"You're not serious," Luke says, biting his lip slightly, a habit he can't seem to break, even several years after removing his lip piercing. He's not too upset about it now though, watching Ashton track the movement with his eyes before coming back up to meet Luke's with a smirk.

“Do you want to see?" He asks, holding his camera up towards Luke.

Luke pauses before nodding slightly and Ashton slides even closer to Luke, pressing their arms together and turning the camera back on. He begins to flick through the photos, and Luke can immediately tell that they are going to be beautiful, even the raw images in the tiny viewfinder are gorgeous, capturing the almost loving glow the whole night has glittered in.

"Wow you're incredible," Luke breathes out and he hears Ashton make a little embarrassed noise next to him.

"Thank you," Ashton says quietly, before continuing to scroll through the photos rapidly.

Luke's blush deepens by the second as he notices himself show up more and more often, waiting for a drink at the bar, making his best man speech, dancing with Mali's daughter, and even more of him at the ceremony, the unmistakable look of love and emotion in his eyes as he watches his best friends in the whole world get married.

"You're a great subject," Ashton murmurs, so close to him now he's basically whispering in his ear. "Could be a model with those legs actually."

Luke goes red again and ducks his head to hide his smile. "Fuck off," he pinches Ashton's knee.

"I'm serious, you're a dream to photograph, those eyes, these curls," Ashton lifts a hand from his camera to pull a loose piece of Luke's hair between his fingers, Luke turning his body slightly towards Ashton. Luke slides the hand that he pinched Ashton's knee with up his thigh slightly and rests it there, looking up from the camera to look at Ashton properly from under his eyelashes.

"That nose," Ashton says, sweeping his index finger down Luke's nose, a barely there touch. "And these lips," He adds, pulling Luke's bottom lip down slightly with his thumb, before brushing his thumb gently over them. 

Luke smiles underneath Ashton's thumb, takes a deep breath and leans in slightly, eyes meeting Ashton's, and Ashton pulls his hand away and replaces it with his lips, pressing gently at Luke's. He kisses him softly, and then pulls away slightly.

"This okay?" He asks Luke in a murmur.

Luke just responds by slotting their lips back together and kissing Ashton with purpose, slipping his tongue between his lips, and hand coming up to hold the back of his neck.

How long they stay like that Luke doesn’t know, the summer breeze ruffling Luke’s curls, the sound of laughter and music drifting out the open door and Ashton underneath his lips. He can’t quite work out whether the warm feeling bubbling up inside him is from the champagne or from Ashton himself, leg pressed against his and a hand cradling his jaw as they kiss.

“Oh my fucking God!” Luke hears a voice exclaim and he pulls his face away from Ashton’s to glare at the interruption, to see Michael staring at him, a look of glee on his face.

“Calum get out here now!” He shouts inside, “Luke’s making out with your photographer friend!”

“Michael!” Luke protests, dropping his forehead on to Ashton's jacketed shoulder.

“What the fuck, are you joking?” Calum half jogs outside, a delighted look on his face which only grows bigger when he sees Luke and Ashton, still half wrapped around each other on the bench.

Luke goes to extract himself from Ashton, but the other man just slips a hand into Luke’s, leaving their legs pressed together. 

“I fucking knew it!” Calum crows. “Didn’t I say Luke would be all over him like a rash?” 

Michael howls with laughter, dragging Calum closer to him and sliding a hand around his waist. 

“I hate you both so much,” Luke whines into Ashton’s shoulder, feeling it shake slightly under his forehead with suppressed laughter.

“Anyway,” Michael says, “Hate to break it to you both but we’re about to cut the cake and this is something that we might want a photo of down the line.”

Now it’s Ashton’s turn to blush, he mumbles out an apology as he gets up, pulling Luke up alongside him. Calum just shakes his head at the two of them and smiles. “We’ll see you in a minute,” He says, tugging Michael back into the building, both of them giggling.

“See I told you, not a very good photographer today, too distracted,” Ashton says with a small smile, tucking Luke’s hair behind his ear where it had been ruffled by the wind, and then leaving his hand resting loosely against Luke’s neck.

“Well I personally still think you’re doing a great job,” Luke says with a small smile, leaning in to peck at Ashton’s lips again.

“Well duty calls now, but maybe I could persuade you into a dance later?” Ashton rubs Luke’s cheek slightly with his thumb, grazing his cheekbone.

Luke’s smile grows wider, “See you on the dance-floor, photographer man.”

Ashton laughs and tugs him inside by the sleeve of his jacket. Luke follows him giggling, feeling a bit too much like he’s floating on air.

Unexpected Surprise

Prompt: Reid is a regular at his local bookstore, and also has a very good acquaintance with the young storekeeper there. When she turns down his date very last second, he finds a secret about her that can’t help but make him fall harder for her.

Warning: idk man I’m just tryna write fluff lmao I got hella carried awayyyy

We all deserve happy Reid

—————

The cold October air whizzed by, as Spencer walked into Pages And Pages, his local bookstore, with a large smile on his face, and two steaming coffees in hand. He’d made it a part of his schedule to try and drop by at least once a week. Sure, the books were very captivating, but so was the receptionist.

He thought, from the moment he laid eyes on her, that she was a beauty. Her hair was always loosely tied in a bun, her make up close to minimal, and her sense of style almost mirrored his- sweaters. Lots of sweaters.

He found it fairly easy to talk to her, because, although at first he stumbled with his words, her kind and soft spoken demeanor drew him into a safe space.

Y/n was very well aware of Spencer’s occupation. If he didn’t come by on his weekly visit, she’d figure he was out saving the world, as she liked to put it.

The little bell on the large oak door of the bookstore rang as Spencer entered, and headed straight for y/n’s desk. He was very punctual. 12:15 every Friday. Y/n didn’t even have to look up to know that the shadow covering her table was him.

She had a smile etched on her lips before she even looked up, “You realize I’m seeing you in less than 48 hours right?” She joked, taking the cup of coffee he handed to her.

“I do,” he smiled, just as stricken by her beauty as the last time he saw her, “but, I didn’t want to skip out on meeting with you today.” He tucked a strand of loose hair behind his ear.

She takes a sip of her drink, humming at the delightful taste, “Why won’t you just tell me what you order?” She has her eyes closed, having every taste bud tingle in happiness, “This is delicious.”

He laughs slightly at her happiness, “Becuase, if I told you, then you could get it yourself, anytime. And, I want these coffee meetings to be special.” He says, shyly shrugging.

Y/n’s cheeks filled with a rose blush, “Dr. Reid, you are over the top.” She laughed softly, shaking her head.

“Just wait until Sunday,” Spencer sips his own coffee, “I’ll pick you up from your place, by 8 o’clock, you said, right?” He double-checked. He didn’t need to double check. He had it memorized down to a T. Her address. The route. The time to pick her up. The restaurant he was planning on taking her too. The walk that he planned on them taking from said restaurant to a small ice cream parkour.

He didn’t need to double-check anything.

“Mm-hmm,” She hummed, sipping her drink this time, nodding slightly, “he should be down by then,” she mumbles to herself, quickly scribbling down something on paper, “I’ll be ready by 8, waiting for you.” She smiled.

-

“I’m so sorry.” Y/n apologied for the hundredth time. “I really feel awful. I promise, I’ll make it up to you.” She sniffled over the phone.

“No, I-its fine,” Spencer spoke into his cell, trying so hard to mask the disappointment that was dripping in his voice, “I understand.” He was pacing back and forth in the break room at the office, “We couldn’t possibly know you’d be getting down with bronchitis. It’s not your fault.” Spencer says, scratching the back of his neck.

Y/n had called Saturday afternoon, the day before the duos scheduled date. She had been coughing and sniffling, saying she went to the Urgent Care near her earlier that morning because she was feeling off, and they said she had came down with a pretty bad case of bronchitis.

She kept apologizing and saying she’d make it up to Spencer as soon as she felt better.

Spencer tried not to take the date-canceling to heart. Y/n really was sick, she wouldn’t lie about that- would she? No, of course not. She wasn’t like that.

“Listen, don’t worry about it.” Spencer stopped pacing, “Just rest. That’s what you’ll need to feel better quicker.”

He heard her giggle lightly, causing him to smile, “Thanks, Doc.” He snickered at the nickname, “Hey, Spence,” he hummed in response, “I really do like you.” She said, causing his stomach to turn, “Please, don’t think I’m turning you down or anything. I really was looking forward to our date. And, I really do mean it when I say we’ll go on another one.”

He smiled to himself, putting one hand in the pocket of his jeans and swaying slightly, side to side, “Promise?”

“I promise.”

-

It had to be the right address. Spencer checked his phone for y/n’s previous message and confirmed it for the third time. He held his breath for a second, and licking his lips, he rang the doorbell again.

He felt bad that y/n had gotten bronchitis that just didn’t seem to go away for almost 5 days now. His first priority of Wednesday morning was to stop at a small Chinese spot and grab some soup.

Surprising her would be a small little thing he was hoping would make her happy. So, there he was. At y/n’s doorstep, soup in hand, ringing her bell, awaiting for her to open up.

He checked his watch again, and shuffled his feet. His stomach fluttered as soon as he heard shuffling from behind the door.

“I’m coming!” He heard her voice from inside. He played with the box of soup in hand, and bit his bottom lip anxiously. That’s when he heard a faint cry. Not her cry, though. A cry that seemed to belong to a small child. A baby, maybe. Spencer furrowed his brows, confused. “Baby, please, you have to lie down.” He heard y/n’s voice from a distance.

After some more shuffling around, the door before him opened. Y/n distractedly looked up at Spencer just to do a double take, shocked. “S-Spence? What- What are you doing here?” She asked, barely in frame of the open door.

He looked at her, unable to speak for a second. She fully came into view of him. She adjusted a small sleeping baby in her arms, the child’s head resting on her shoulder.

“I-um, I came to see you.” He spoke slowly, and quietly, “I bought soup.” He held up the box in his hands.

Y/n smiled, and just as she opened her mouth to reply, the baby she was holding began stirring causing her eyes to widen, “Come on in.” She whispered hastily, nodding to Spencer before going into her abode.

Spencer followed behind her, unsure of what exactly was happening. Questions were running through his head, but it was as if his body was working before his mind could catch up.

Y/n went straight to a small couch, and sat down, pulling her legs up, and cuddling the small child in her arms, wrapping the both of them up with a nearby shawl. Spencer’s heart warmed up at the sight, and he unknowingly smiled to himself.

He slowly walked towards the two when he heard a small but gruel cough come from the baby’s mouth.

“You’re... not the one that’s... sick?” He slowly pieced together, sitting on a couch opposing from the one y/n was on.

Y/n sighed quietly and licked her lips. Shaking her head, she stroked the small child’s hair, “No,” she looked up at Spence, “I’m not. They’re calling it bronchilitis, because he’s so young. It should be gone in about a week total, so at least 2 to 3 days left.” She swallowed hard. “It’s the first time he’s ever gotten sick, and I couldn’t just leave him with a sitter, which is why I had to stay back on our date. Im sorry,” she apologized in the midst of her ramble, “I just...” she paused before breaking eye contact with Spencer, “we don’t have anyone but each other.”

Spencer stayed silent for a moment. He watched y/n hold the baby close and his heart felt all heavy. It was a sight he didn’t think could affect him at all. But, something about a girl he was already infatuated with, being so protective and loving made him fall even deeper for her.

He just couldn’t form any words to express this to her, so he stared at the mother-son silently. That is, until the baby started coughing again. Y/n cringed at the way her son shook as he forced the cough out of his small body.

“I understand if you want to leave,” y/n spoke up, feeling Spencer’s eyes on her, “I shouldn’t have hid the fact that I’m a mother. It’s just, I know that some people would have seen it as,” she shrugged, “extra baggage, so I just refrain from saying it at all. I apologize.”

“You apologize far too much.” Spencer spoke without thinking for once, shocking himself and y/n. He stood up from his seat, and wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans, “Does he, uh, drink soup?” Spencer asked nodding to the child.

Y/n cracked a small smile, “Adam,” she said, “and, yes, he actually is very fond of soup.”

Spencer nodded, before finding his way into the kitchen. As quietly as possible, he emptied the soup into a bowl, and plopped a decent looking spoon into it. Filling a small glass with water, he brought it out to y/n, who was now standing, pacing with a very upset looking Adam.

Spencer’s brows furrowed in worry.

“He’s fine,” y/n assured him, “just a little fussy. Don’t worry.”

“It’s tough, huh?” Spencer spoke, not sitting down until Adam had calmed, “Being a parent, I mean.”

Y/n had seated up the small one year-old next to her on the couch. She was slowly feeding him the soup, and although he was dozed off on meds, he slurped it up happily.

“Being a single parent is something I wasn’t ready for,” y/n admits, wiping some soup of Adams chin, “but, I love this monkey so much,” she scrunched her nose to her son, who gave a very sleepy smile in return, having Spencer laugh lightly, “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

-

Spencer answered the third FaceTime call he had received in the past 5 minutes, “Hey, sorry I was in a meeting with Hotch, is everyth-” he cut his sentence short when he saw his girlfriends face tearstreaked on screen. “Oh, my god,is everything okay? Are you hurt? Is Adam okay?” He quickly rambled, his mind thinking the worst.

Y/n sniffled, “I’m fine, we’re fine,” she quickly answered, “just, wait-“ she quickly runs into a different room and Spencer can hear Adam babbling in the background. He smiles hear the child’s voice. “Watch this.” Y/n tells Spencer. She pulls up a photo, and shows it to her boyfriend first.

It was of the two of them on New Years Eve, happily smiling. Spencer was holding a very giggly Adam, and had his free arm wrapped around y/n’s waist.

She turns the photo to Adam, “Sweetheart,” she tries to grab her sons attention, “hey, Adam,” He looks up to her wide eyed, “you know who this is, baby?” She points to herself.

Adam starts clapping and smiling, “Mama! Mama!” Y/n starts tearing up all over again.

“Yes!” Spencer encourages the child, “Hey, good job!” He gets shushed by y/n quickly.

She points to Spencer in the photo and asks Adam, yet again, “Okay, sweety, and who’s this?” She ask, already ready to cry again.

Adam starts laughing and jumping in place, “Dada! Is dada!”

Spencer gasps, covering his agape mouth with one hand. “Did you teach him that?” He asks a very ecstatic y/n who shakes her head.

“No, he just started to point to the picture all by himself and talk.” She sniffled, leaving the room her son was sitting in.

“Well, one things for sure,” a very smiley Spencer admits happily, “he’s smart, just like his Mama.” He attempts a wink, causing y/n to laugh.

-

It was early. Y/n could feel the December brisk air seeping into the apartment, making her pull her duvet up to cover herself further. She felt a tug, as her boyfriend pulled her covers back from her.

“Hey,” She grumbled, “no hogging.” She whined causing Spence to turn to face her and snicker sleepily.

The two heard their bedroom door open slowly, and the slight pitter patter of small feet tip toe in.

“He’s awake.” Spencer whispered to his girlfriend, peeping one eye open.

“Brace yourself.” Y/n groaned, just seconds before the three year old attacker jumped on the bed. He bounced and he jumped and he laughed loudly, inevitably causing him the grown ups in bed to groan and slowly sit up in bed.

“Mama, Daddy! It’s Critthy Time! It’s Critthy time, now!!” He pumped his tiny fists into the air.

Spencer smiles, still trying to open both eyes, “Did Santa even get you any gifts? You’ve been been pretty naughty lately.” Y/n groans, covering her head with a pillow.

“So many! Daddy, there’s like,” Adam puts up 3 fingers carefully, “this many boxes with my name!!”

Spencer fake gasps causing the child to have a giggle fit, “Honey, Adam has been such an angel, I’m sure all of the gifts under the tree are his.” Spence pulls the pillow off y/n’s face receiving a groan from her. “Long night?” He smirks to her, causing her to stick her tongue out. Her cheeks slightly blushed as she remembered the... eventful night the two shared.

“I’m exhausted.” She sighed, sitting up and rubbing her tired eyes. Adam jumps out of the bed and runs to the living room. Spencer can’t help but smile at the little ones pajamas.

They were a mom-dad-child set. So all three of them were wearing the same red plaid winter pajamas. Spencer and y/n had gone to sleep in just the pants of the set, so before they went out to the Christmas tree, they made sure to put on the shirts as well.

Y/n groggily made her way to the sofas, and sat by the foot of one. Spencer made his way to the kitchen to put the coffee on before he sat beside y/n, his arm draping around her shoulders, and her resting her head on his chest.

Adam came up to y/n, putting his face a mere centimeters from hers, as grabs her shoulders by his small hands. “Can I open, now? Please?” He pouted to his mother.

She laughed and kissed her nose, “Of course, monkey. Let’s see what Santa got my big boy.” Adam cheered before running to the small pile of boxes under the decently lit tree.

He help up a box, and took it to Spencer first, having him nod in indication that it does in fact have Adams name on it. Happily he plops down right in front of y/n and starts to tear open the wrapping paper. The smell of coffee starts to fill the apartment, and Spencer gives y/n a kiss on the forehead before getting up to go to the kitchen.

“Mama?” Adam whispers to his mother, who simply hums at him in response, “You know, Daddy opened presents not asking you.” He said to y/n innocently.

She furrowed her brows, ruffling his hair, “What are you talking about, Pumpkin?”

“Daddy,” he repeats, “he took a small box and hid it in his jacket. He don’t want you to know. So, you can’t get mad.” He explained, although causing more confusion to his already confused mother.

Y/n had suspicions for a few months now. She once overheard Spencer on the phone with his colleagues, saying something along the lines of yeah man, I knew she was the one a while ago. Any day now. I’m just deciding on when.

Then, she was borrowing his phone once when Adam has dropped hers down the toilet, and when she opened Safari, she saw 2 tabs open. One that had been searching for unique and special rings, and the other that was searching, children’s tuxes and suits.

But, what really put the icing on the cake for her, was when the three of them were coming home late after one Spencer’s teammates wedding. Y/n had been tired so she was resting her head, with her eyes closed. Adam was already fast asleep, snoring lightly. Spencer has put his hand on y/n’s thigh, and when her being to tired to respond, translated into she’s asleep for him, he said the words that had been tugging at y/n’s heart since then.

“I can’t wait to marry you.”

Y/n unfolds her legs, and slowly gets up, “Mama’s gonna go check on Daddy,” she informs her child, “I’ll be right back.” She kisses the top of his hair.

She goes into the kitchen to see two mugs with steaming coffee in them, but no Spencer in sight. She furrows her brows, and turns to head into the bedroom, looking for her boyfriend. Glancing over her room she fails to see him again. She frowns slightly, and turns around on her heels, almost falling over her own feet when she bumps into Spencer right behind her.

“You scared me.” She frightenedly giggles, putting a hand over her heart. “I was looking for- What... are you doing?” She narrows her eyes at him when he takes a step back, and gets down on one knee. She sees a paper and a small box in his hand.

Her breathing fastens, watching his every move, “I was planning on doing this on New Years, at Rossi’s house party,” Spencer started off, “but, my surprise seems to have been foiled.” He nervously laughs. “Y/n,” him saying her name causes her eyes to start tearing up, “You came into my life unexpectedly,” he says, “but, I decided a long time ago, that you were definitely the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.” He looked over his shoulder to Adam, then back to y/n, “Both of you.” He inhaled as y/n’s bottom lip trembled, “Y/n,” she whimpers in response, biting her bottom lip, “will you do me the honor of making me your husband, and the official father of Adam?”

Y/n in the midst of her crying, sniffles and cocks her head, confused. She walks closer to Spencer, pulling him to stand up. He hands her the piece of paper and opens the small box in his hands.

A beautiful ring shone brightly in Spencers hands, and adoption papers shook in y/n’s hands.

1 very cold wedding, 2 additional siblings to Adam and a kitten later; and still, Spencer refused to tell y/n what type of coffee he would get for her when they go out.

-

I kinda like this mmm we’ll see my opinion change in a few days lol

mai for the ask game?

Why I like them

she’s got a good sense of humour - so deadpan, and she’s almost dramatic in how dreary she finds everything. i like how mean she is like she’s a spoilt brat

she’s one of the bravest characters imo - how many times does she defy azula? and then is gonna fight to the death over it? i just wish we knew more about her. like is it arrogance? does she finally just wake up? is it love? i always want more from mai! not fair!

i also think she’s very miserable and depressed and i dont know what she needs but she’s not getting it at any point in the show

i like that she and ty lee seem to have a good relationship, but i get the feeling mai might feel like ty lee is azula’s and so she holds her at a distance. i also think its very funny how they take shots at each other during the beach- mai doesnt say it in a particularly cruel way but it obviously gets a reaction

also i had a big crush on her when bk 2 first came out! i think it was her husky voice...

Why I don’t

i guess bc she is so reserved it is hard to get into her head. so i don’t not like her, there is just less material to work with when engaging with her character. especially when in bk 3 her actions are centered around zuko, but i dont find their relationship particularly compelling. it fits into the story but it doesn’t make me feel very much (except that goth portrait of them)? like, she’s so repressed and he’s so angry and confused they make a very unsatisfied couple, even if it has nothhing to do with each other.

also.. she would treat workers like shit lol

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

boiling rock for sure

Favorite season/movie

bk 2 - we get to see her taunting enemies and the focus is more on her and the dangerous ladies rather than her man

Favorite line

when she laughs at the dai li guy peeing his pants in fear. also - i love him more than i fear you - way to twist the knife! brutal but justified

Favorite outfit

she is always the epitome of style and grace so ..

OTP

i dont think i have an otp for her. maiko fits easily w the fics i wanna write (for plot reasons), and i kind of love maizula in a messy kind of way. i would kind of love to see her get with some ember island frat boy but she only uses him for his body and disappears in the middle of the night never to be seen again. would love to see her w more female characters but i think she needs to open up a little more before that could happen (she’s repressed ). if anyone has bi/les mai recs pls hmu

also that mailee fic you recommended was really good! i could get down with that

Brotp

honestly? zuko. but also maybe sokka? i think they would be really funny together. can you imagine how awkward it would be? sokka would be so intimidated and mai would scare him so much. i would love to see that. he would probably find him funnier than she found him bc she’s used to all ty lees bizarreness. also ty lee (but see ty lee ask for a couple more thoughts)

Head Canon

mai dissociates on the regular.

mai had a secret notebook or diary in which she writes her innermost thoughts/draws zuko in love hearts and one time azula found it and showed it to ty lee and she hated her from that day . now she doesnt keep a diary or anything that anyone could find :(

au where she would eventually leave home and form an alt/postpunk synth duo . she really likes amping up the distortion and heaps of girls fall in love with her

she really takes to a lot of courtly activities but like toph she chooses not to engage in them

when she drinks she gets awful red blotches on her face. she’s more vain than she lets on so she doesnt say this is why she doesnt drink. 

in some ways she understands azula more than anyone - they did bond over hating their mothers and their mothers favoritism of their brothers - but they never spoke about it openly. it was just mutually understood.

she kind of loved torturing her parents by falling for the banished prince but they couldnt really say anything openly about it because it would be seen as treason

unlike ty lee (who really doesnt know who she is in many ways) mai knows exactly who she is, she just doesnt know how to be her in her current situation

Unpopular opinion

idk if i really have unpopular opinions on mai? guys, you tell me if you hate my opinions lol

A wish

more dangerous ladies content. i just want more. i wanna see her hang out w ty lee alone and bond and i wanna see her and azula clash horribly

let mai date a beefsteak frat boy and confuse the fuck out of all his dumbass friends, let mai hook up w a chick and realise what has been missing......... let mai live her goth gf life to the fullest - get a studio and start making some art or smth

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

hmm ... im not sure? maybe don’t make her go swimming i feel like she would hate going swimming? although it would be funny  so maybe let it happen?

5 words to best describe them

repressed,  elegant, crude (a delightful paradox), blunt, dry

My nickname for them

i always pronounce her name mai (rhymes with high) not mai (rhymes with day) so mai

The Music, the Moon, and my Love

Genre: Romantic fluff

Ships: Romantic Demus, platonic Anxceit, platonic Dukexiety

Word Count: 1431 (somehow?? This was supposed to be a shorter story but I got carried away??)

Trigger Warnings: Remus, Deceit, sympathetic sides (idk that’s all I can think of. Tell me if I’m missing anything)

Authors Note: I’m sorry that there isn’t a cut like where it says “Keep Reading”. I post on mobile and idk if you can do that on mobile. If you can, please lmk!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The dark sides weren’t necessarily welcome in the light side of the mindscape. They did have their own part of it, which had everything they wanted, but it got lonely sometimes. Ever since Virgil left, it had been quiet, which is odd, considering that he was the quietest of all the dark sides. But there would often be the echo of music in the hallways, the distant sound of laughter, or sometimes even the soft voices of movie characters from the television. Not to mention that the light sides had much better food, since Deceit and Remus weren’t the best cooks.

The dark sides didn’t go to the light side of the mindscape often; usually only if they were invited. However, after much begging, Remus was able to convince Deceit to at least go check out the place. Deceit knew Remus just wanted to steal some of the others’ deodorant, but he decided to let him have some fun.

The dark duo silently made their way through the hallways, trying their best not to wake any of the sides. It was about two in the morning, and they knew that even Virgil would be asleep at that point. Once they got to the living room, Remus flashed an energetic smile to his friend and quickly and silently went to one of the bedrooms. Deceit, alone in the dark room and with nothing better to do, sat down on the couch to wait for Remus. As he was waiting, however, something shiny caught his eye. When he got up and approached the object on the table, he found that it was a CD that was labeled “Ballroom Music” in marker, probably Roman’s doing. Picking the disc up carefully, Deceit traced his gloved finger around the outer edge of the disc.

Deceit perked up at an idea he’d thought of. It was risky, for it could wake up another side, but they weren’t in this part of the mindscape very often, so he concluded that he would risk getting caught. Looking around the room, he found the radio and placed the CD in carefully. When it began playing, Deceit fiddled with the volume dial so it would be loud enough to hear, but quiet enough as to not disturb anyone. Just as the music started, Remus came trotting down the stairs, a wide grin stretched across his face and arms full of different types of deodorant. Deceit took the containers from Remus’s arms and set them on the table. He then took Remus’s hand.

“Remus, I want to do something with you,” Deceit said softly, “ I know that you’re very hyper right now, but could you try to calm down for just ten minutes?”

The dark prince looked up at him curiously, hesitated for a second, but slowly nodded his head. He didn’t know what to expect from Deceit, but he was at least certain it was going to be great.

Deceit, still loosely holding Remus’s hand, led him into the living room. The music played softly behind them as Deceit positioned Remus’s free hand onto his shoulder and his own hand on Remus’s waist.

“Just follow my lead, okay?” Deceit have a soft smile when he looked at the other.

“Okay!” Remus whisper-shouted in return.

The two started swaying along to the music, syncing their steps perfectly. Deceit had assumed that Remus didn’t know how to dance, but the way he was so natural at it was impossible to ignore. Remus would glance down at his feet from time to time, but mostly would look out the window at the night sky. It was obvious that Remus was flustered by the situation. Deceit, however, couldn’t take his eyes off of the one before him. Yes, Remus was insane and demented at times, but he knew how he could be so comforting and reassuring when he knew that something was wrong. He actually trusted someone when it came to Deceit, and he was so grateful for it.

After some time, when the music softened, Remus seemed to ease into the flow of their movements. He stopped looking at his feet, he would sometimes return a glance into Deceit’s eyes, and was much less tense. They could both see, even in the darkest of the night, that they were both blushing. Once again, nothing changed for a few minutes. Remus eventually leaned his head into the other’s chest. Deceit smiled, happy to see Remus simply stopping for a moment and enjoying himself. They danced until the song ended, and once it did, neither side let go of the other. They stood in the shadowed living room, moonlight streaming in from the windows, in each other’s arms.

Deceit didn’t know how much time passed before he found that Remus was nearly asleep leaning against him. He readjusted his hands and slowly maneuvered them both onto the couch. When they sat, Remus remained in Deceit’s arms. Deceit looked down at the duke before him, who was snuggling into his chest. He could already hear Remus’s soft breaths, indicating he’d already fallen asleep. Deceit took off his hat and gloves.

“I love you…” Deceit mumbled sleepily. And only a second later, both of them were sound asleep on the couch.

Virgil smiled at the sight of his old family so peaceful and happy. Earlier, had awoken when he heard the music from downstairs. Assuming that Roman was playing soft music because he couldn’t fall asleep, Virgil silently walked down the stairs and, to his surprise, saw Deceit and Remus dancing in the living room. It was truly beautiful, seeing that they were still happy, even without Virgil being there. When he left them, he was scared how they would cope without him there. But after seeing them sleepily swaying around the room, he knew they were okay. He decided to watch, amazed at how calm Remus was. It was something Virgil had never seen, and he loved it. Once the couple fell asleep on the couch, Virgil walked back upstairs, grabbed one of his blankets from his room, and returned to the living room. He cautiously wrapped the blanket around the two, smiling. They were all finally happy together. Virgil stepped back, and with one last glance, he climbed back up the stairs and to his room.

Deceit and Remus knew the blanket was Virgil’s. Deceit made it for him as a Christmas present many years ago, after all. When Deceit awoke, it was morning, and the rest of the sides were having breakfast at the kitchen table.

“Well, look who's finally awake!” Patton piped. The smell of freshly cooked bacon and buttermilk pancakes filled the air.

“Yes, I too am surprised that you slept for this long,” Logan added, “The time is 10:37, if you need to know.”

Deceit got up from the couch to see the usual breakfast scene when all the sides are there: Patton had made pancakes shaped like everyone’s logos, Roman and Remus were playfully arguing about something, and Logan and Virgil seemed to have been having a conversation before he woke up.

“Thanks, Lo. What’s for breakfast?”

“Pancakes!” Patton said cheerily while placing down a plate of snake-shaped on the table in front of an empty chair. Deceit smiled and sat in the chair. The normal discussions resumed, but Deceit and Virgil caught eyes. Virgil gave a sad smile, while mouthing the words “I’m sorry” from across the table. Deceit smiled back. “I’m sorry too, V”, he mouthed.

After breakfast, Remus and Deceit volunteered to clean up the plates. Once everyone left to their rooms, there was silence. Deceit noticed Remus was slightly more relaxed than when they first went to the light side of the mindscape last night, but he didn’t have much time to think about it before his thoughts were interrupted.

“I love you too, Dee.” Deceit was startled at the voice. He looked up to see Remus standing across the table wholesomely smiling at him. “You told me you loved me last night, but you fell asleep before I could respond.”

Deceit was surprised that Remus was still awake after all that and could still hear him, but didn’t think much of it. He smiled back.

“C’mon, if we put these dishes away fast enough, I’ll let you have a stick of my deodorant.” Deceit said. Remus, delighted by the offer, quickly rushed to the kitchen with a pile of plates.

They loved each other so much, no matter how crazy they could both be. They were both happy.

Especially Remus. He got lots of deodorant.

Hyuuga and Izuki for character thing please? 🙃

Oh sweet, thanks for sending some more! This may be long bc there’s two again.

Hyuuga

How I feel about this character

A+ captain 👌. He puts up with so much shit and loves his team so much and he’s such a good character okay, so much respect. That whole arc where he quits basketball and Kiyoshi has to convince him to play and you can just Tell he still loves the game he’s just been severely discouraged (”I know that! that’s why I’m so bored every day!”) that was *chef’s kiss*. I also love the bit where he asks Riko how he can make shots under pressure and she threatens to break his shit for every one he misses and he Actually Agrees like goddamn. That’s dedication. Also this absolute NERD collecting army general figures (people pass it off as him forcing a new hobby when he’s quitting bball but he actually does seem to love them and know a lot about them and I love that). He’s so good. His relationship with the whole team is so good and his ability to lead them and keep even the uppity freshman duo in line is perfect. Quality organic senpai material.  

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Riko (100% canon team parents and that one valid straight ship. I love how they can be this terrifying evil duo and still so sweet with each other, how they support each other and get on each other’s nerves and still have each other/the team’s back at all times. wholesome af) 

Kiyoshi (their whole relationship is amazing, from the way they meet and Kiyoshi’s pestering and Hyuuga refusing to acknowledge that he’s right and they work well together, and then finally getting his shit together and that Promise he makes when Kiyoshi is injured?? good shit good shit. I also like him, Kiyoshi and Riko as a poly trio.)

Mibuchi (I MEAN. Mibuchi’s interest in Hyuuga is canon and the way he’s so flirty with him is actually pretty adorable. I’d love for them to actually be a couple with Hyuuga trying to be the stoic unfazed cool guy and then Mibuchi opens his fucking mouth and he turns into a blushing stammering mess) 

Izuki (what can I say I love ships that come with banter. these guys have got some long-standing history too, and I’m always a sucker for that. Izuki would drive Hyuuga up the fucking wall but they’ve also got some major camaraderie and obviously care for each other a lot. it’d def never be boring when they’re together)

Sakurai (get that apologetic mushroom. the dynamic between these two is so odd but it kinda just works for me, esp Sakurai’s sulkiness trying to prove he’s better that he doesn’t really show anyone else)

Kasamatsu (give me them good captain ships hells ye. I feel like Kasamatsu’s really come to respect him by the second Kaijo/Seirin game and they’re both such tough unyielding characters I’d love to see them get to be soft together)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Kiyoshi (I can’t have a non-romantic OTP without it also working as a romantic ship can I) what can I say, the reason they work so well as a ship is also the reason they work so well as friends. The history and mutual trust between them, the determination and the promise that binds them together, they’re just such a good pair no matter how they fit together. They’ve also got a healthy dose of exasperated teasing banter about them and you know I eat that shit up. 

My unpopular opinion about this character

Blond Hyuuga is valid. *braces self* 

LISTEN my kink is long hair ok and even if he’d gotten it cut again I kinda wish he’d kept the color the bleached blond works with his eyes. Fight me.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Guy wears rimless glasses and plays basketball and you’re telling me he never gets them broken even once? It’s not so much a suggestion for improvement as much as a nitpick for realism’s sake, but it was the first damn thing my roommate pointed out about him and now I can’t stop thinking it.

Izuki

How I feel about this character

ALL HAIL THE PUN MASTER. Tbh I kinda wish I spoke some modicum of Japanese just so the majority of this guy’s jokes wouldn’t fly over my head, but still, even from what my ear and the subs have been able to gather, game recognize game. Izuki’s just an enjoyable character tbh, the way he puts his all into basketball with the rest of his team, the way he’s been playing the longest out of all of them and polished his skills over time, his intellect, his good jokes and absolutely TERRIBLE jokes and the way he harasses/bonds with Hyuuga, he’s such an all-around good egg and I don’t see him get enough love.  

All the people I ship romantically with this character

This list will be pretty short bc there aren’t all that many people... he interacts with one-on-one in canon? Which is kinda a shame tbh.

Hyuuga (As I said above, they’ve got history, they poke each other and get up in each other’s space and still have a rock solid foundation of support and trust for each other they’re a pure ship)

Kiyoshi (who on this team wouldn’t love this big lug to pieces? these two seem to be the only ones in Seirin with any common sense [at times they’ve also both got their fair share of nonsense to be sure] and have their own respectively odd personalities that would probably mesh really well together)

Takao (I talked about their birds-of-a-feather dynamic before in my list for Takao and I stand by it. they’re a good match with lots in common and the sass would be Endless)

Hayama (the ONE PERSON he gets to laugh at his jokes. they’re such an unlikely fit but I love the idea of the two of them just wreaking havoc as a couple)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Koganei (say whaat at last a purely platonic relationship for this question). They’re such good bros tho, idk if I could see them as a couple, per se, but the way they play off each other is always hilarious and the way they each do their part to work together and support the team is fuckin wholesome. The arc of them working with Kiyoshi to form Seirin’s team in the first place is quality, and the shenanigans they get into over the course of the show never fail to delight me. Just a solid, good friendship that I’m here for.

My unpopular opinion about this character

LET HIM MAKE PUNS. This is more a disagreement with the characters in the show itself than with the fandom, but this guy is fuckin witty (even if his jokes are often groan-worthy, the wordplay itself, from what I’m able to understand, is really clever and that shit’s not easy to come up with on the spot). I respect his efforts and enthusiasm, at least, and as someone whose personality also revolves around lame jokes I will defend this guy to the grave.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

We get the briefest, barest mention of him being the one who’s played basketball since way back in grade school and therefore being the most experienced player, but it’s way in season 3 and is never really explored in any depth. Can we get some more backstory/growth for this guy, please? He doesn’t suffer from a lack of screentime (none of the Seirin guys do really) but I think a few of them do suffer from a lack of character development, and this guy’s got the foundation for something great I’m just not sure it was followed through on as well as it could’ve been. 

Tbh considering how well all the characters — even minor ones — in a show like, say... Haikyuu!! are fleshed out and given time and ways to grow and change, I just wish some of KNB’s supporting characters got the same love. It’s one of the show’s main weaknesses and while it doesn’t necessarily detract from the experience, there’s definitely some room for improvement there and I’m just kinda sad we didn’t get it.

Okay so IDK if I will continue this as an actual fiction exploring this, maybe but I just wanted to get one specific scene  out so I wrote some context for the scene so uh YEAH enjoy this concept. new to writing for this fandom sorry in advance.

It was a Sunday. Don't let the name fool you, in fact today wasn't a particularly nice day. The sky was cloudy and it was cold enough to need a proper jacket. London had seen better days, but of course, this kind of weather wasn't unusual either. It just wasn't anything to celebrate. No plans to be made to spend the day with the family at the park. Perhaps it was even threatening to rain later on in the day, or maybe the wind could shift just enough, that the tiniest glimpse of the sun would peak out at the times when people wouldn't even be looking to notice it. Other than that one could say that today, was just as ordinary as any other day. Just as ordinary as any other day, only if you were mortal, that was. There were two men in London just finishing up with a late lunch who couldn't be more thankful for Sunday. Sunday was a wonderful day to each of them, there wasn't a better day to be had. The weather to them could be considered perfect. Sure, it could turn at a moments notice but what was a bit of rain water among good friends? It's not like they'd expect to end up completely soaked today, the probability of that happening was highly unlikely. Especially not on a Sunday, nothing bad could ever, possibly happen to them on a Sunday. Sunday was their favourite day, for it was the first day of which the rest of their lives began. And perhaps, sometime in the far future, Sunday would also be the last day, of which their rest of their lives would end. “That was perhaps one of the better lunches I've ever had.” “Yeah well, they burnt your starter course, but given the circumstances I'd say the rest of it turned out well.” “...If you've done what I am assuming you've done, I do hope you've remembered to return them to normal and leave a hefty tip.” “Yea- Right. About that, uh. Lovely weather, huh?” A Demon and an Angel, a most unlikely duo are found leaving a quaint restaurant off the far corner of main street. The tall and brooding one who held the door open upon exit was known as Crowley. The slightly shorter, polite gentleman that thanked him before stepping ahead of him to leave was known as Aziraphale. Crowley snapped his fingers while Aziraphale glanced upwards to question the overcast sky, and suddenly the waiters and staff at the restaurant they just left had worked the best shift of their lives and found themselves with a worthy tip. “Right. So, you enjoyed lunch?” Aziraphale glanced over his shoulder back at the restaurant before he smirked, turning back to Crowley. “Yes, thank you.” “'Course.” Crowley nodded and extended his hand forward to gesture in a direction down the street for which they could start walking. “Also, weather's a tad off, don't you think? Could be better.” “What? No, the weathers lovely.” “For you maybe.” “Oh please, it's just a bit grey. But it's not too warm! Or too cold, just  right if you're dressed properly.” “Yes, but what about the rain?” “It's not going to rain.” “But-” “It's not going to rain.” Crowley stopped for a moment, standing in front of Aziraphale, making sure he heard what he had said, or would he have to repeat himself for a third time. “Fancy a bit of dessert?” Aziraphale raised a  brow at Crowley, almost knowingly, before smiling and walking past him again. “Oh, how you tempt me, Crowley.” “It's what I do.” Crowley chuckled. “Is the parlour open on Sundays?” “It can be.” Crowley suggested. “Oh, but I feel terrible having them work on their day off.” Aziraphale replied, frowning slightly at the thought. “It's just not right to force them to do that because I'm craving some vanilla whip.” “You have any better suggestions?” Crowley questioned. “Actually yes- I tried a new recipe from the many cookbooks I own, and I've discovered quite the fitting recipe-” “Do I dare inquire what it is?” Aziraphale chuckled to himself before speaking. “Angle cakes.” “Oh dear lo-” Crowley cut himself off, rolling his eyes. “Oh! And they have another delightful dish I'd love to try as well.” Aziraphale continued. “A chocolate cake called 'Devils Food' cake. Funny, isn't it?” Crowley inhaled sharply through his nose as he grinned, it wasn't exactly a laugh but he did find it amusing. “Wonder where the mortals come up with things like that?” “Beats me,” Aziraphale shrugged. “But I do find it ironically fitting in a way.” He clasped his hands together, picking up the pace and leading Crowley down a different street. “You have to try them! We are stopping by the shop right now, I'll whip some up for you.” “Sure, and then you can boil the kettle and we'd have a spot of tea and discuss the evening news.” Crowley replied, willingly following the aspiring baker. “When have we ever-” “It's a joke, Angel,” Crowley sighed, shaking his head as the reaction didn't surprise him. “I'd love to try some.” “Oh! Right, haha.” Remember when we talked about how sometimes the sun would show up today, at the most inopportune times when people couldn't truly appreciate it? Well, funny enough something that seemed exactly like this started to take place, except someone was witnessed to it. Two of them, in fact. As the pair walked a gap cleared in the sky above, allowing the slightest bit of sun to come through, shining down on to them. It almost seemed like the beams were following them as they walked. “Well that's rather strange.” Aziraphale stated, looking up at the clear sky. “You mean you're not doing that?” Crowley questioned, squinting as he gazed up in to the sky as well. “No, you said it wasn't going to rain, I saw no need for there to be sun.” Aziraphale “...That is rather strange.” Crowley agreed, and the pair stopped, taking a moment to look around. “Aziraphale!” “Oh good Heavens!” The Angel flinched as a familiar voice boomed from above. “Uh- Yes? Hello? It's been awhile hasn't it- uh, I trust you're doing well?” “Ah, that'd explain it.” Crowley mumbled, stepping back a little bit. “I'll just, I'll wait over there.” He motioned behind himself to the other side of the road, starting to slowly make his way there. “You too, Crowley.” Another voice boomed, this one the Demon knew all too well, as the gap in the sky widened to hover over him as well. “Ah, Shi- Yes, Hi.” Crowley turned around on his heel, looking up in to the nothingness of the sky. “Pardon me, but uh, didn't we have an agreement with you lot to leave us alone?” “Come.” The voices boomed together and suddenly the pair were swept up in a sudden flash of supernatural powers. What was only mere seconds could easily have been eternity as the duo landed on the strange ground. The sky was always clear in this location, and the ground felt familiar, grey, and fluffy. “Oh. Uhm.” Crowley was the first to speak, looking around and realizing where he was, a natural flap of his wings as he saw the figures in the distance approach them. “S-Should I be-” He gestured to himself, then looked at Aziraphale to his side, questionably. “Relax, it's just a cloud top.” Aziraphale confirmed, being more familiar with the landscape than his demonic companion. “It'd have to be something really important, or bad, to actually bring you all the way up there.” He chuckled slightly. “Ah, good, right then.” Crowley mumbled, shifting in place, glancing over Aziraphale and his wings quickly before looking back at the ones who summoned them here. “Gabriel?” Aziraphale questioned the first figure whom stood across from himself. “Beelzebub!?” Crowley accused the second figure whom stand adjacent to the first. “Now, Just hold on a second, there best be a good reason you're interrupting our day like this.” “Mayhaps they are expecting another Armageddon and need the best men for the job?” Aziraphale suggested, grinning a bit when Crowley did in fact chuckle at this joke. “Oh haha, I'm sure you two would enjoy that, wouldn't you?” Gabriel questioned as he stood firmly, hands pitched against one another as he spoke. “We have been discussing many things since we last spoke.” Beelzebub picked up. “Thanks to the stunt you two pulled, there's been much communication between both sides as of late.” “I take it that means a peace treaty is in the works and you wanted witnesses?” Crowley suggested. “Aight well lets make it quick-” “No.” Beelzebub cut him off sternly, making sure to shove him back in place with a force when he tried to start walking past her. “Actually, the war between Heaven and Hell has become more than heated since you two ruined the Divine Plan.” Gabriel sneered, collapsing one hand as it caught his fist. “Oh, but what about the ineffable pla-” “Shut your face!” Gabriel cut off Aziraphale. “The Divine Plan has been... Reworked.” Beelzebub stated, glancing over the pair before continuing. “We are waiting for the big one, before we strike now, and as such work has resumed as normal for both parties, if not perhaps increased since you two got in put in to the mix.” “Right, so that's wonderful, I'm glad. Would be a shame to see 20 million supernatural beings out of a job, eh?” Crowley rolled his eyes as he took a look at his watch. “So what's that got to do with us?” “Oh well you see, we've been doing some talking with the... Higher, up.” Gabriel explained, taking a step closer as did Beelzebub. “We've been working closely to better understand the so called ineffable plan, that you two seem to regard so highly.” Beelzebub added, steeping now and having Gabriel follow. Crowley and Aziraphale wanted to back up, they very much disliked the thought of getting too close to those who ranked this high in their own respective divisions. The funny thing was though, that they couldn't. It was only as if they were frozen in place, by a force much stronger than that of their own. “Now, I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation that you're going to expose to us any minute!” Aziraphale stated nervously as he glanced quickly over to Crowley. “Like, oh, I dunno, relinquishing your positions to ones better suited for the carrying out of the ineffable plan?” Crowley asked, trying to keep calm and play things off as he normally did. “I think I know of a few worthy candidates, like dear Aziraphale here, and perhaps, my self-” “Shut up.” This was said in unison as there was little to no personal space between both sets of Heaven and Hell now. The Angel and Demon did so, but not because they wanted to. “Did you really think we wouldn't of caught on to your little 'magic trick'?” Gabriel questioned them. “Clever, but unfortunately not clever enough.” Beelzebub commented. “The only way a Demon could survive Holy Water and an Angel to defy Hellfire, would be if they swapped places...” “Or, if they were- Well, why don't we let you figure this one out yourself?” Gabriel finished. Suddenly, at the same time, both higher beings gave a quick flick of their wrists. Gabriel's summoned a small whirlpool of liquid, twisting and turning in his grasp, and the same could be said for Beelzebub, though this was the hot searing of an open flame. “Holy Water?!” “Hellfire!?” Crowley and Aziraphale stammered out as they desperately tried to back away. “C-can we perhaps, talk about this?” Aziraphale asked, tilting his head slightly as he stared back at the Archangel. “Oh c'mon, you're not still mad about this, are you?” Crowley complained at the Prince. “Misbehaviour must be punished. Justice needs to be served.” Gabriel expressed as he stepped aside to swap placements with Beelzebub. “Don't act so surprised, this is all within the ineffable plan.” Beelzebub grinned wickedly, already reaching towards Aziraphale with the Hellfire. “Wait-” Crowley instantly reached to try and protect Aziraphale, only to be pushed back again by Gabriel's threats. “Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted.” Gabriel laughed. What happened next, wasn't exactly what one would expect to be done. Simply put, they could have spilled the tiniest drop on any part of Aziraphale or Crowley's body and instantly the pair would have been wiped from existence. This would be the most quickest and effective way to dispose of the trouble makers, and would save a lot less paper work for both head offices in the long run. However, as the Archangel and Prince of Darkness mentioned,  this was not how the ineffable plan was supposed to go. Instead, something different took place that neither Demon nor Angel could have predicted.  Perhaps the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of a certain with could have prevented this from happening, but not even the future could change what is to be decidedly fate. The pair both braced themselves expecting the worse, and their minds it was. A searing pain, that burned them through to their core, feeling like they'd live with the scars it left forever, even though they wouldn't be alive at all. The higher beings reached a hand out each, and purposely avoided the bodies, instead reaching behind them. In a swift motion they attacked the duo's wings. In a flash they had gone up, as quickly as the pair were summoned, burning long and hard, causing the Angel and Demon to cripple over in pain. Screams so loud and desperate that they weren't ever sure if they'd even feel pain again after this moment. And then it happened. The ground from under them dissipated, exposing them back to the Earth below them. A split moment of time felt like it was frozen for eons as the pair processed what exactly was happening. Instead of pain, it was now quickly replaced with fear. The minute time resumed again was when they were already plummeting to their doom. Watching them from the clouds above, Gabriel and Beelzebub smirked proudly, before turning and taking their leave. The wind rushed past them feeling like knives cutting through their skin. Lord knows how high they were or how long it would be before they finally connected with the ground again. Would they even end up in London? Did they even have time to question things like this. They were falling, uncontrollably at that. Crowley reacted as he glanced at the ground approaching closer and closer, he'd figured they'd only have about fifteen seconds or so. Aziraphale was hoping they'd have much longer than that, or perhaps thinking if they could keep falling forever, surely it wouldn't be that bad? It would, in fact, be leagues better than finally contacting the ground. He'd already been discorporated once, he'd hate to have to go through all of that again. “Angel!” Crowley's voice was barely audible above his own screams and the passing wind, but it was enough to catch Aziraphale's attention. Crowley was scrambling in the air to re adjust himself, trying to close the gap between himself and Aziraphale. He was desperately reaching a hand out for him. It didn't take long for Aziraphale to catch on, returning the gesture, stretching as far as he could to just barely make contact with Crowley's hand. Now, anyone could tell you that normally anyone travelling towards to surface of the Earth at this speed would have a rough landing. Sure no one had conducted experiments on the exact height a Demon and Angel are dropped from a cloud, but there were enough failed sky-diving attempts to give a pretty accurate estimation. Directly below the pair is a large lake, the same lake they visited multiple times in central park to feed the ducks and discuss a matter of things throughout the years. Yet, throughout all those times, none of them knew how deep the lake really was. Not that it mattered, because any normal human hitting water as such a high velocity would surely expire upon impact. There's a little thing called surface tension that would lead to prove all of the Sunday morning cartoons false. However, it would simply take a miracle to survive the impact. The pair crashed down, scattering a large wave that upset quite a large amount of ducks nesting nearby, and perhaps drew the attention of a few onlookers who didn't exactly know what they saw, but knew the end result – Two men, splashing about in the local lake, something that very much was probably illegal, and would be attracting the local authorities soon enough. Crowley surfaced first, looking around as he struggled to stay afloat. His anxiety calmed a bit as Aziraphale breeches not too far from him. To be quite honest, he wasn't exactly sure if the Angel could swim, and right now was probably the worst way to have found out about it. “We're alive!?” Aziraphale exclaimed, splashing around frantically as he tried to get his bearings, glancing back over at Crowley. “Yeah, unfortunately.” Crowley huffed, starting already to make his way to the shore. “But, if we're not dead then-” Aziraphale followed suit behind Crowley, and shorty the pair were able to drag themselves out of the considerably cool waters, perching on walk path as they shook off the extra water. “What happened back there!? What was all of that about!?” Crowley questioned, cough a bit as he spat the fowl water from his mouth and nose, taking a moment to catch his breath. “Why didn't you teleport away?” “I couldn't!” Aziraphale responded, also winded and just as confused as the Demon. “I-Why didn't you just make us fly?” “I wasn't able!” Crowley hissed back, standing up straight now and wiping hands through his hair. “It's a wonder we survived that fall!” “Probably a joint effort.” Aziraphale noted, before he then froze up, realizing that he was able to just blink and remove the water from his clothing. “Oh good lord-” “What? What is it!?” Crowley questioned, stepping closer to the Angel as he noticed his body language change to one of fear and worry. “I-Oh my I've...” Aziraphale could barely get the words past his lips before he piratically broke out in a sob. “T-The fall! My Miracles, I can't... No they wouldn't... I... What have I done to deserve this? I've always done the greater good, even the- Oh my Heaven's divine! I've fallen! Crowley I've fallen!” Crowley instantly stepped back from Aziraphale, looking completely astonished, perhaps a bit disgusted. “Oh you haven't, trust me you haven't!” He then raised his voice a bit, pointing at himself as he addressed Aziraphale. “I should know if you've fallen, I've bloody well experienced it first hand! That was not, falling! Christ, I wish my fall was that fucking pleasant!” “W-well I just, you know I- Maybe they went easy on me?” Aziraphale stammered out. “Pah-” Crowley shoved off from Aziraphale, turning away as he took off his jacket, starting to manually strain it off the water. Aziraphale observed this for just a second before it clicked. “Wait, why can't you just-” He paused again. “You too? You can't do Miracles now either?” “O-oh no I can I just, prefer to do things the hard way, y'know? Keeps me grounded.” Crowley wasn't at all confident in his claims. “I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this.” Aziraphale frowned as he gazed down at his hands, taking a moment, before looking up and examining demon closely. “Crowley.” All it took was his name addressed to get the Demon to look directly at the Angel, questionably. And one glance was all it took to make Aziraphale's heart nearly jump out of his chest. “My God-” Aziraphale gasped bringing a hand up to his mouth and staring back at Crowley in shock. “What now?” Crowley rolled his eyes as he groaned in annoyance, the surprised reactions really starting to irritate him. “Have I got something on my face? Bit of bloody lake grass?” “Your eyes.” “What about 'em?” “...They're...” Aziraphale took a good long moment, staring back as if he wasn't actually believing what he was seeing. He wasn't really, not fully anyway. There was no possible way this could be happening. “They're... Normal.” “Normal?” Crowley shook his head, not completely sure what the Angel meant by that. “What do you mean, normal? That's good isn't it?” Aziraphale just shook his head, scrambling to check his pockets, suddenly pulling out an old dated pocket watch, it was polished almost to perfection though, reflecting whatever came in to view. He handed to Crowley. Crowley snatched it instantly and quickly held it up to his face, staring back in to the little section of his own reflection, and then suddenly he saw, or rather it was what he didn't see. Looking back at him was normal, human eyes. They were coloured brown if he were to describe them in detail. It wasn't what he was expecting to see, that was for sure. A far cry from the serpent slit's he'd had his whole existance. “What does this mean?” Aziraphale asked, stepping closer to Crowley. “A-Are you...Human? Did they-?” “Worse.” Crowley acknowledged, tossing the watch back to Aziraphale, already starting on a game plan it seemed as he started to stroll out of the park, Aziraphale quickly following up behind him. “Worse? What do you mean worse?” Aziraphale continued to question him. “What could be worse than what's already happened? They've taken our magic, and changed your eyes. What could be worse than what's already going on?” Crowley suddenly stopped again, looking back over his shoulder at Aziraphale. “Do you want the short explanation or the long one?” Aziraphale went to speak his reply, before catching himself, pausing then changing his mind. “Short.” He stated. “Lay it on me, then.” Crowley sighed, shifting in his spot as he rubbed his tongue on the inside of his mouth before replying. “We're mortals.”