#The brotherhood being confused but supportive again
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Mini Mac #7 : When you're emotionally allergic brother have a crush
Let's go for some brotherhood shenanigans! I like writing in Azure pov, it's fun to see them struggling to understand SWK!
“Brothers, what would you do if you wanted to court someone?”
Azure spat his wine and coughed, strangled by his own drink. He saw, from the corner of his eyes, the rest of the brotherhood have similar reactions. Bull King was leaning on the table, folded on himself, his coughs shaking the table itself. Peng threw his glass at the Monkey King, persuaded he was some sort of evil spirit stealing his skin (of course Sun Wukong evaded it easily). Yellow-Tusk dropped his glass on his lap, mouth hanging in shock.
“You're alright, brother?” Asked Azure once he regained a semblance of calm.
“Yeah, why are you asking?” Chuckled the great sage as he stuffed his face with fruits, mainly peaches.
“Because you just asked for advice on courting!?” Answered Peng, indignation strong in his tone.
“What's weird about that?” Questioned the sage with a raised eyebrow.
“Everything!” Shouted the demonic bird.
“Brother, you're interested in someone?” Asked Yellow-Tusk, and this was what they were all curious about. Sun Wukong, the most emotional allergic monkey in the world, the one obsessed with peaches and warfare, the one who never bothered with common demonic traditions before, was interested in someone? It sounded unreal, Azure couldn't even fathom how his brother would be when in love. In all honesty, he thought his brother was the kind who couldn't feel this sort of thing, the kind to not have any sexual or romantic desire in their life.
“Why are you all so shocked? I talk about him all the time! Maybe your old ages are catching up with you, brothers.” Azure ignored the comment about his age (and how it was quite hypocritical of the centuries-old monkey to make jokes about one age) and focused on what was truly important : Sun Wukong had talked about the person he was interested in and said person was a him.
“You did mention someone while drunk, is this it ?” Asked Yellow-Tusk with furrowed eyes. Now that he thought of it, Azure remembered his brother gushing about someone in his drunken hours, but he never took it seriously. Sun Wukong was the type to gush about anything, really. He gushed about a particular shiny rock last week.
“Yeah! Maybe, I don't really remember. But I'm sure I talked about him!” Laughed the great sage with a beaming smile.
“And so you wish to court this person? How long did you two even know each other?” Asked Bull King while serving himself another glass of wine.
“A few months.” Nonchalantly answered Sun Wukong.
“Isn't it soon for initiating courtship then?” Questioned the lion with an indulgent smile, he knew his brother wasn't used to the ways of courtship, so he probably didn't know demons waited for at least a year of acquaintance before initiating any romantic advances. “Are you even sure of your feelings?” In all honesty, if his brother was really serious about this affair, Azure would gladly encourage him. But courtship was no light matter, and the lion wouldn't want his brother to embarrass himself or this mystery person to be hurt if the sage's feelings changed in the middle of the courtship. The brotherhood knew their littlest brother well-enough by now, his interest was usually a fickle thing, never staying in one place, always wandering.
Sun Wukong put down the peaches he was eating, something he rarely did, and narrowed his eyes in thought.
“What do you mean by that?” Asked the golden-furred monkey as he tilted his head.
“What Azure Lion means is that courtship is no laughing matter, brother.” Explained the Bull King. “We never saw you being interested in anyone before, so it is surprising news. You have to make sure you are indeed in love before initiating any sort of courtship.”
“Well then how do I make sure I'm in love?” Questioned the great sage, Azure winced at this question. Love was a rather difficult topic for war-driven beasts like them, he threw a glance at Yellow-Tusk (the most emotionally sensitive of them) and hoped he would have some kind of answer to offer.
“Love can be different depending on the person, it comes in all kinds of forms. You have to question yourself. Do you feel excited around him? Do you wish to see him often? What kind of thoughts do you have about him? Are you attracted to him? You have to sort out your feelings.” Answered Yellow-Tusk, as always the wisest among them.
“Just ask yourself if you like him like any shiny pebbles you always brag about or if you want to fuck him.” Added Peng while he took a new glass of wine.
“Does it really have to be sexual?” Sighed the sage with narrowed eyes, unbothered by the bird's rather crude words.
“Like I said, love can come in many different forms, it doesn't have to be sexual, but it is good to ask yourself if it is.” Replied the elephant.
“Okay, I get it. I mean I don't even know if we could have any intercourse, it wouldn't even fit.” Chuckled the great sage, Azure Lion raised an eyebrow at that, he knew his brother was shameless but this was rather crude compared to his usual humor.
“What, you think you're too big or something?” Snorted Peng, obviously mocking the golden-furred monkey for his outrageous confidence.
“Obviously I am.” Huffed Sun Wukong with the utmost seriousness, Peng choked on his glass and barked a laugh. “Do you even see me, Peng? I'm obviously too big for this.”
“I would prefer if we do not see how big you are, brother.” Winced Azure, not wanting this fest to turn into some dick-measuring contest. “How about you just make sure you're in love?”
“Yeah, I'll do that.” Shrugged the golden-furred monkey as he sat up and stretched. “In fact I'm gonna head back and see if he's still awake, maybe he'll want to see the moon again tonight.”
“Alright, stay safe, brother.” Called Azure as he watched the sage jump on his cloud.
“Who knew the Monkey King could be interested in courtship.” Huffed Peng once Sun Wukong disappeared from view.
“Truly surprising news.” Agreed the Bull King.
“I hope the person he's interested in will share his feelings.” Sighed the lion.
“Don't be such a worrywart, Azure. Even if he's a fool , I can admit this guy didn't gain his title of Handsome Monkey King for nothing, the man he's pining for will be at least intrigued by his good looks.” Replied the demonic bird as he rolled his eyes.
“That is true, in fact weren't you the one who was a bit infatuated with the simian when you first met?” Lightly teased the Bull King with a knowing smirk.
“We promised to never talk about this.” Groaned the lion. “I was young and easily swayed.”
“Fooled by appearances.” Snorted the bird. “I'm more intrigued about what this madman would do for courtship, and if it ends well, what kind of person could even love this chaotic mess.”
“It'll certainly be interesting to see.” Chuckled Yellow-Tusk.
+ memes
++ cut scenes
SWK *at one brotherhood fest* : and I found this gray rock who reflected the light in such a way it made it look as if a rainbow was dancing on its surface! 🤩
Azure *with a tired smile* : That is impressive, brother. 😀
Bull King *at Yellow-Tusk* : how many rocks did he mention in the last hour? I lost count around five. 😑
Yellow-Tusk *at Bull King* : 45. 😐
Peng *after noticing there wasn't any wine left* : Just kill me already. 😩
Young Azure *looking at SWK playing with his monkeys* : He's such a benevolent King, truly responsible, and very handsome too. 🥰
Now Azure *looking at SWK throws up after drinking three sort of alcohol at the same time* : we will never talk about my crush on him ever again. 😩😐
SWK *after considering Peng suggestion of inrercourse a bit more* : But I think that if I used magic I could somehow make it work. I mean magic can do a lot of things, so I'm sure I could shrink myself to the size of a doll to do it. 🤔
DBK *baffled* : Why would anyone want to be the size of a doll during intercourse? 😳🤨
SWK : why wouldn't you be the size of a doll with someone like Macaque? You are weird if you keep your actual size during sexual endeavors. 🤨🙄
Peng : You're the weird one here, what the actual fuck? 😶😨
Azure : I don't even want to imagine what you would do with such a tiny size during sex. 😰
Yellow-Tusk : How about we change subjects? 😩😬
Azure : I didn't know you were gay, brother 🤔
SWK *thinking gay only means cheerful* : of course I'm gay, I'm always the life of the party! 😆
DBK : how is being the life of the party related to you being gay? 🤨
SWK : What are you saying? Of course you're gay if you're the life of the party, that's obvious. 😉
Yellow-Tusk : I wasn't aware of this rule... 😅
Peng : You're homosexuality aside- 🙄
SWK *Who has never felt like this for anyone beside Macaque and thus doesn't thinks himself as an homosexual* : I'm not homosexual. 😀
Azure :?? 🙃
DBK :?? 😐
Peng :??😩
Yellow-Tusk :??😑
#shadowpeach#lmk#mini mac au#shadowpeach fanfic#The brotherhood being confused but supportive again#They do not understand SWK#A lot of people don't tbh#He's unpredictable#SWK dropping bomb like that
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Hey, how are you? could you write something with blackcat!reader? maybe they are in college and after a patrol peter manages to follow her and discovers that she lives in a frat next to his. Peter discovers her identity and is surprised that she went to school with him in midtown but doesn't remember him, just spiderman and the relationship they had before the spell.
(does that make sense? I don't know if it does, but whatever you want to do with it is completely fine✨️)
Oh boy, oh boy I love Blackcat x Spider-man as a couple. Me and Felicia are equally obsessed with Spider-man.
Thank you for the request! I really appreciate it and I hope I do well! University is kicking my ass right now.
pairing: college!Peter Parker x Fem!blackcatReader; Post nwh
word count: 3 k
warnings: It's cringe on purpose; drinking
Peter hated the state his life was in. He knew things were better the way they are now, for his safety, for everyone's. But it didn't mean he hated it any less. All his closest friends were at MIT and didn't even remember him. Not as Peter Parker at least. So, he decided it would be best not to go there after all. The idea of trying to get close to them again was giving him a headache. He desperately wanted to do it but he had to stop himself because it was better off this way. That was what he believed, at least.
If people could remember who he was, they would have been very surprised that he ended up being a frat guy in college. He didn't expect to become one either. After all, he thought these things were lame, propaganda from dumb movies or dream-sellings from romance novels. But Peter Parker was a frat guy. There was something about brotherhood that gave him some sense of security and comfort now that a new leaf was turned. It reminded him of the time he spent with the Avengers, in a way. He liked not feeling alone. The months he spent at college made him feel normal to some extent. He actually enjoyed this period of confusion, he could finally relax for a bit and feel normal. Go to a few parties, do his homework. It was nice, but so goddamn boring.
His life seemed so fucked-up, so different. He hadn't been on patrol for months, the thought of Spider-man was just too overwhelming. Plus, he needed to recover from everything he went through both emotionally and physically. He wanted to put the mask on again but whenever he did, he got vivid flashbacks - almost losing MJ, May dying. It would all come back to him, cold sweat running down his back, tears in his eyes. He just couldn't handle being Spider-man. But when he saw Black Cat running around in the streets close to his campus one night, everything changed.
All of the memories from patrols with the girl in a black suit hit him like a train. She never knew who was behind the mask. And somehow Peter felt like she saw who he really was anyway. The urge to put the costume on was strong now, plus he had added some new upgrades he needed to try out anyway. So, on the most ordinary wednesday night, Peter put on the spider suit again, and jumped out of the window of his bedroom to go on patrol.
He was swinging around the city and it felt like a walk in the park. It seemed like he had forgotten how freeing it could be. Despite all of the negative feelings linked to the red and black suit, he found comfort in it now. The memories were still there, in his mind, and the people he loved were there too. He owed that much to them, to keep their legacy alive, even if they're gone now. With time, he was sure he could heal. Time was all he needed.
Suddenly, his spider-sense tingled, making his head shoot to his left. He was swinging by some old brick buildings around his campus when Black Cat practically tackled him into a wall, wrapping both her arms and legs around his torso. He turned his back to take the hit for both of them, wrapping one arm around her waist for support. Sidey used the other hand to continue swinging both of them around the city.
"SPIDER!" she said, hugging him tightly. "Mi amor, I hate you, where have you been?"
"Looking for trouble, as usual." he said with a laugh. Peter actually enjoyed her warm embrace for once.
He never had anything against the girl, her excessive flirting and implications that she was in love with him could get a bit out of hand sometimes, but he found it charming. Plus, before he was dating someone else and he couldn't really pay her the attention she craved from him. He actually missed that more than he had previously realised.
"You still have a girlfriend?" She asked, her head rested on his collarbone for a while.
Peter landed both of them on a rooftop, letting her step on her own as her limbs untangled from his torso. She placed her hands on her hips, foot tapping on the ground while she waited for his answer.
"Actually, no. I don't."
Her eyes sparkled with his words, throwing herself at him again. Her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Oh, Spider! I'm so happy! And sorry, obviously, why did you two end it?"
Peter usually would reject the affection she offered, but now he needed it more than anything. She was the closest thing to a friend he had left. They finally let go and he still wasn't talking. She tought the break-up was probably still fresh.
"Okay, Spider. Patrols haven't been the same without you, I missed you." she told him, her hand resting against his cheek.
Oh how she wanted to kiss him, like usual. He used to jump and run whenever she touched him, in fear that it would somehow affect his relationship with MJ. But now he didn't. He let her touch his face, smiling softly behind the mask. Even if everything was fucked up, even if everything was different for him now, she just wasn't. She was the only thing that remained like a token from his past life. The Black Cat was the only thing he had left.
---
By the end of their patrol both of them felt really beat up. Fighting crime was not an easy job, especially when your opponents were skilled. No major super-villains were threatening New York right now, but there still were bad guys to fight.
Spider-man and Black Cat were sitting on the edge of a rooftop, swinging their legs as they took a moment to breathe. Cat had a few scratches here and there and Spider-man was probably bruised under the mask as well.
"Spider, this was so much better with you here!" She exclaimed.
The wind blew her hair gently to the side while she looked down on New York. Peter turned his head to look at her, her face showered in the sparkling city lights. He thought about how pretty she actually was, but he never had the chance to notice that before. Maybe it really was the comfort that she gave him that was making his heart beat faster while he stared at the scene. She looked like a Van Gogh painting - vibrant, breathtaking, gently touched by the warm light.
"Yeah." He replied, making her look at him in return.
"You were totally falling in love with me right now, weren't you?" she said with a giggle.
"What? No, no, no, no." he shook his hands in defence, denying her accusation.
She stood up, looking somewhere ahead of her.
"I would love to stay and let you fall deeper in love with me, but I have to run, early morning tomorrow." And with that she left.
Peter lay down on the rooftop for a little while, overthinking her words. Was he actually falling in love with her? Maybe... He didn't want to jump to conclusions, he didn't want to make her a rebound after MJ either. It was starting to mess with him, just as he found some serenity. It was like he couldn't have a single moment of peace in this costume. After a good 15 minutes, Peter decided it was time to swing back to the house, just like Black Cat, he had classes early in the morning.
He had almost reached his place when a familiar figure caught his attention. He stopped, sticking to a wall just to make sure. It was Black Cat, and she was on campus. His campus. Well this was getting a bit too interesting to pass up. He crawled and jumped around the buildings to follow her, stopping when she did. He climbed up a wall to a house next to where the cat stopped, peeking just enough to see clearly what was going on. The Black Cat took her mask off, placing it in a gym bag that was hidden next to the back door. His mouth flew open when he realized he finally knew who she was. Not only was she someone on campus, living a sorority right next to his frat house, but he also knew her personally. Peter hid behind the wall completely, trying to process the information. It was you, the girl that he went to high school with, the girl that took AP history with him. It took him a few seconds, but when he looked again, you were already gone. A room in the house light up soon after, and he started feeling guilty for what he did. He would have hated it if someone did this to him.
"Good going, Spyder-man!" he cussed at himself, finally going home for the night.
He tried not to make things awkward with you for the next few weeks, but oh gosh was he terrible at that. The two of you were never close, the fact that you came from the same school never really meant anything to the either of you. But now that Peter knew your secret identity, it meant everything to him. It felt like he had found a long lost friend in you. He tried to get closer, talk to you more whenever he saw you, even invite you to the latest frat party. If he knew one thing about Black Cat, she loved having fun. And what better occasion to have fun than an actual frat party, at a frat house.
Of course, you agreed. What was one night away from the crime scenes? You deserved that, plus, Spider-man got you covered, right? Nothing could really go wrong, you literally needed seconds to get into the suit and go if you had to. You did find Peter Parker's new attitude towards you a bit peculiar, but it was cute nonetheless. You were only really interested in Spider-man, but you loved attention no matter who was giving it. Outside of the costume, you still had this care-free, very self-assured personality but a little toned down. It wasn't always easy to be the one to fight the battles for yourself all of the time. And you had to do it, every single day. Maybe there was a reason why you liked Spider-man so much, you two felt like a team, like it wasn't just you alone against the world for a change.
----
The time of the party came quicker than you thought. Your "sisters" were already pulling you by the hand out of your room. In true Black Cat spirit, you just had to wear a tight black dress with a slit on the side. And a choker around your neck. It was only normal to make heads turn when you walked in the frat house. Your sorority wasn't one that liked partying all of the time, but when you did party, things just got crazy.
"Y/N!" you heard, turning your head to see an unfamiliar boy.
He shoved a cup in your hand.
"Peter is in the backyard, wanted me to take you to him when you got here."
"Yeah, cute, but that's not gonna happen." You winked at the boy and walked off to mingle somewhere else.
You actually really wanted to dance with your girls tonight. And you did just that, a full cup in your hand the whole time. At some point you couldn't really remember how much you drank, there were some shots involved. You were having so much fun, even dancing on top of a table. A hand grabbed your arm suddenly making you look, it was the guy from earlier tonight, you got off the table with a jump so you could talk. You were obviously annoyed by his interruption, crossing your arms in front of your chest. He scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Look, I'm so sorry to bother you, but it's been 2 hours and Peter was asking me about you-"
"I don't care." you interrupted him, turning around with the intention of leaving him there. He placed a hand on your shoulder to stop you.
"Please, I've been lying to him for two hours, I'll be in so much trouble."
You looked at him over your shoulder, gently removing it with your hand.
"If Parker wants to see me so bad, he should come get me." You winked at him and left.
Dancing on top of tables didn't seem so fun now, and your head was feeling pretty light from all of the alcohol. You overheard some girls from your house mention a pool and you immediately walked over to them, placing your arms on the shoulders of each one of them, standing between them.
"Did I hear pool?" the three of you giggled after the question.
----
Your dress was wet, along with your hair and pretty much everything else on your body. Yes, the three of you really did jump in the pool, which caused a chain reaction of other people jumping in as well. Soon the party had drunk, wet people, running around everywhere. Cats rarely liked water and you were no exception. You didn't mind it as much as long as you weren't in the costume. So, after swimming for a little bit you got out, squeezing out some water from the hem of your dress when you felt something cover your shoulders. You turned around, your eyes meeting Peter's, who had placed a towel on you and smiled. You squinted your eyes at him, letting go of the dress and standing up straight to look at him.
"It's cold." he said
"Yeah, thanks?"
It was so sweet of him to be so considerate, it made you feel very weird things, but maybe it was the alcohol. Peter put his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels nervously.
"So..." he started "How's it going?"
"Are you usually this awkward or...?"
''Yeah, kinda"
"So it's not my stunning beauty, just you?"
"No, well I mean, your beauty does make it a lot worse for me, but no."
You laughed, drying your hair off with the towel.
"If I didn't know any better, I would assume you were crushing on me." you said, giving him back his towel.
"No, what? What gave you that impression?"
"Doesn't matter, I'm in love with someone else."
"Wait, who?" he asked, trying to act confused.
You turned your back to him, trying to hide the blush you had on.
"Well, I don't really... know yet." you said, already taking off so you could hide from him.
-----
It was kind of embarrassing to admit that you were in love with someone you didn't really know. It's not like you didn't know Spider-man, you just didn't know who the person behind the mask was. But truthfully, you never felt a need to do that. You were content with the teammate you had, the person who was there to watch your back. You were in love with the person who would put himself in harm's way to save others, the person who always seemed to know what to say. He was so brave and dedicated to his mission, his heart was pure. Sure, you used to be curious about his identity in the beginning but with time it just stopped mattering. There was something bigger, something greater about your love for him because of this.
And you couldn't help but feel conflicted when you started feeling the same things towards Peter Parker. He definitely wasn't the first guy to express an interest in you, or be consistent with said interest but there was something about him that just made you feel warm inside. Maybe it was his nerdiness and how smart he was, or it was the way he would smile whenever he saw you. How he would try so hard to find something to talk about with you and how he would research any topic you would mention. He was so overly-sweet and protective that it brought out a soft side of you, one you didn't really know you had before that.
So, meeting Spider-man and Peter was becoming increasingly difficult for you. It got to the point where you would avoid Spider-man on patrol so you could spare yourself some emotional damage. It didn't take him long to figure you out though.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on finally?" Spider-man asked you one night after probably the worst patrol the two of you ever had. You were so distracted the whole time that the two of you took quite the beating. His costume was torn and so was yours, wounds and bruises everywhere.
"I really don't know." you said, pressing your back against a brick wall in the alleyway the two of you hid. You slid down the wall, sitting on the ground and hugging your knees.
Spider-man sat down next to you, pressing his head to the wall and looking up at the metal fire-escape that the two of you were sitting under.
"Something from your personal life?"
"Well, I'm not so sure."
"How can you not be sure?"
"You know I have this undying love for you, right."
He laughed, turning his head to look at you.
"I know."
"Well, I might have it for someone else too."
"Someone else?"
"Yeah, he's... well he's not as great as you are, not even close, but he has this nerdy charm about him."
You turned to him, cupping his cheek with your hands while you looked at the mask. You leaned in, placing a soft kiss where his lips were supposed to be.
"You're still my greatest, biggest love, Spider."
He looked at you for a while, his hand hesitantly pulling his mask up enough to uncover his lips before he pulled you in for a real kiss. It was a sweet, warm kiss, your lips moving together while your hands were holding onto each other. It was a kiss that the two of you had anticipated to share for so long, dreaming and imagining how it would go. And it went even better.
#fanfiction#peter parker x reader#marvel imagine#peter parker#peter parker fanfiction#peter perker imagine#marvel fanfiction#peter parker x y/n#peter parker x you#spiderman#blackcat marvel#blackcat x spiderman#blackcat reader#spiderman x y/n#mcu peter parker x reader#mcu x you#mcu spiderman#mcu peter parker#mcu imagine#mcu spiderman x reader#tom holland x reader#spiderman requests#open requests
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Heya,
Me again (❤️ anon) and I just read your dream post (funny that after you wish me good dreams about the platonic yanderes that you end up having one 😊) and I was just wondering a few things:
Is the reader part of this story as well? If yes, what “group” are they in? Are they part of the younger kids?
If so, is there anything like inter-personal (not talking about romance more so like, who’s best friends with who? Who knows who since childhood? Just stuff like that)
And lastly, I really like the idea of like the different cliques of people, like the jocks (Scott vibes), theater kids (I kind of get Kurt from that), the "delinquents with a heart of gold” (obviously Logan). Also, I have this scene of reader maybe being a new student at the school and maybe getting picked on/bullied by someone - probably the humans or something if this is also a mutant!au - and Logan or one of the others just being like: “that’s a pup right there, not letting someone walk all over them” and basically taking them under their wing
Feel free to answer or ignore or whatever. I love the idea ❤️ (Also, I’ve started writing the little 🖤 dark au scene)
-❤️ Anon
Yep is rather funny, isn't it, ❤ Anon?😂😅 To answer your questions:
• Yes, Reader is definitely a part of the story as well! And yes, they are part of the younger kids! I'm going to say they are the youngest, actually, and are part of the school due to having higher grades or more potential? compared to most of their old schoolmates/classmates...
• Some of them have known each other since childhood! Victor and Logan are brothers (Logan did get amnesia or his memories blurred, though; Victor is his protective and obsessed older sibling/friend), Kurt and Rogue are adopted/step siblings (it happened a few years ago), Wanda and Pietro are Erik's kids, but are kinda... adopted or were government experiments, they're friends with Lance and Todd and Fred, as well as Evan... Scott and Jean were best friends, and still are, just getting romantic with each other, Kitty, Kurt, and Evan are a friend trio, a qunituplet if you add Pietro and Todd/Toad, the Brotherhood form a small group at times, so do the X-Kids and older X-Teens, Warren and Hank and Bobby are buddies and lab partners, etc. ... So, a lot of them do get along and have little groups and dynamics, it just can get a bit confusing who knows who, and how they know each other😅😊
• And yeah, there are some cliques, they aren't as pronounced, but they are there. It IS a mutant au, good eye! There are a few human students, too, and they can be a bit of a pain... And... there is a dark side to the campus, lurking beneath the calmer school exterior. Look too deep, and you can't go back to how things were... And yep! Reader ends up as a target, being younger (like, fourteen years old or the youngest fifteen year old there) and having a mutation, possibly an odd one or one that isn't really seen or known, paints a target on them... Then they're such a kind and empathetic person to the teens such as Logan or Scott or Storm, and suddenly they're all protective over Reader. That is THEIR emotional support child/pup/gremlin, pick on someone else, or better yet, face THEM-
(If you have any more questions, or if anyone else has questions, please, again, feel free to ask! I am not doing requests right now, but I can do short things like explanations, world-building, character discussions and backstories, as well as backstory and hints as to what is going with the school/campus...😊💛💕)
Thank you for asking, ❤ Anon! (Would you like a nickname?) (We have Bee or 🐝, Honeybee or 🍯🐝, or Hiveling or 🧪🐝)
#honeycomb thoughts#platonic yandere marvel#yandere platonic marvel#platonic yandere xmen#yandere x-men#platonic yandere marvel x reader#platonic yandere#platonic yandere xmen evolution au#📒mutant high🧪 au#go ❤ anon go!#or now known as#go 🐝BeaBee go!
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Stella Plays Matchmaker (For No Reason)
~ or, The Story of How Stella Accidentally Created a Love Triangle Out of Nothing
(Brotherhood Era - featuring Stella, age 16; Noctis & Prompto, 18; Ignis, 20; and Gladio, 21)
[ basically, Stella believes herself to be inherently irresistible to men, so naturally she mistook Prompto's growing crush on Noctis to be directed at her (despite there being absolutely no evidence to support this whatsoever)
...and decided to remedy the (very awkward and very imagined) situation by inviting a very confused Prompto over to her apartment one night so she could gently break the news to him that she only likes him as a friend.
and that's how it all started... ]
Stella: -opening the door- "Prompto! Come on in!" D:
Prompto: -cautiously steps inside and looks around- "Uh...I appreciate you having me over, but...why did you choose 9pm on a Wednesday?"
Stella: "Let's not worry about that." -pulls out a chair for him at the table- "Have a seat." D:
Prompto: .... -hesitates for a moment, then sits-
Stella: -also sits- "Would you like a cookie?" D: -holds out a plate of chocobo-shaped cookies-
Prompto: ...! -very carefully takes one- ... -suddenly blurts out- "...I-is something wrong?!"
Stella: "No no, of course not!" D: -stares at him-
Prompto: ...... -takes a small bite of the cookie-
Stella: -continues staring-
Prompto: "... ...S-Stella...?"
Stella: "Prompto, I need to talk to you." -reaches across the table and puts her hand on his hand-
Prompto: -jumps- ?!
Stella: -sighs deeply- "...This isn't easy..."
Prompto: -on the verge of an anxiety attack- "...O-oh gods, what's wrong?! Just tell me...!"
Stella: -dramatic pause- "...Prompto, I...I only like you as a friend."
Prompto: ....
Stella: ....
Prompto: "...I-I...I also like you as a friend...?"
Stella: -sighs again- "Prompto, you don't have to hide it anymore. I know you like me...I've seen the way you act when we all hang out at Noct's."
Prompto: -genuinely confused- "Uhh..."
Stella: -continues- "But I just don't feel that way about you. I already have someone who I like."
Prompto: -still confused- "...Uh...yeah, I know. You like Ignis."
Stella: -suddenly blushes bright red- "...H-How do you know about that?!" o//A//o;
Prompto: "Stella, you literally stuffed your bra with my socks."
Stella: -covering her face with her hands- "We don't talk about that...!" >//A//<;;
Prompto: "Besides, I..." -sighs- "...Well, I guess I appreciate you trying to let me down easy, but..." -takes another bite of the cookie, blushing slightly- "...I already have someone who I like, too..."
Stella: -looks up at him- ?
Prompto: -catches her gaze and looks away, blushing more- "...I-it's not important..."
Stella: -suddenly grabs his hand with both of her hands- "No, you have to tell me!" D:
Prompto: -jolts- "Uwah!"
Stella: "Tell me! Maybe I can help!" D:
Prompto: -stares at her for a moment- ... -looks down- "...It's...uhh..."
Stella: -waits expectantly- D: ?!
Prompto: "...I...I-I like..." -mumbles a bit- "...I like...Noctis..."
Stella: -practically shouting- "Noctis?!" D:
Prompto: -blushing profusely now- "Ahh, don't say it so loud...!"
Stella: -already in her own little world as she thinks about it- "...Of course..."
Prompto: "S-Stella...?!"
Stella: -looks up at him again- "Does he like you back?!" D:
Prompto: "...! I...well...I don't...know. I mean, I hope he does, but..."
Stella: "Let me find out!" D:
Prompto: -blinks- "...Y-yeah...?"
Stella: -nods confidently- "I can totally find out!" D:
Prompto: -stares at her for a moment- ... -slowly nods back- "...O-okay...just...just don't make it obvious that I like him, okay?"
Stella: "Of course! Your feelings are safe with me!" D:
[ so the next day, Stella headed across the hall to Noctis' apartment after school, determined to discreetly get some information out of her cousin. ...which went about as well as you'd expect. ]
Stella: -settling into the couch while Noctis starts the PS4- "Y'know..."
Noctis: -focused on what he's doing- ?
Stella: "Prompto's a really great guy, huh?"
Noctis: -grabs their controllers and sits down on the couch beside Stella- "Yeah, I guess so. He's my best friend, after all."
Stella: -nods, taking her controller as he hands it to her- "...He's pretty cute, too, huh?"
Noctis: .... -glances over at her for a moment- "...I mean, I guess. If you like blonde guys."
Stella: -with no hesitation whatsoever- "And those freckles! So adorable!" D:
Noctis: ........ -hesitates awkwardly and turns toward the TV- "...Can we just play the game?"
Stella: -nods and watches while he starts the match- ... -waits until they're in a middle of a round before she brings it up again- "...I wonder if Prompto likes anyone?"
Noctis: -jumps and misses his move, causing his character to throw the match- ...! -turns to Stella again- "...Why are you even thinking about that?!"
Stella: -practically oblivious to what's happening on the screen- "I'm just saying...guy like that, he could probably date anyone he wanted!" D:
Noctis: ...... -stares at her-
Stella: -stares back- D:
Noctis: ...........
Stella: D:
[ later that day ]
Stella: -on the phone with Prompto- "I haven't been able to get any information from him so far. ... ... Well, you know how he is. ... Yeah, I know. ... ....No, I don't think it's a lost cause! Just gotta do a little more investigating..." D:
[ even later that day ]
Noctis: -angrily tossing his dishes into the sink just as Ignis walks in the door-
Ignis: -blinks and pauses at the scene- "...I can see you're in a bad mood, so I take it you didn't get to the paperwork I left you?"
Noctis: -continues without even looking at him- "As if I have time for that!"
Ignis: -suppresses a sigh and places a bag of groceries down on the counter- "...What's going on? Did something happen?"
Noctis: -considers talking about it for a moment, but decides against it- "...No. It's fine."
Ignis: -raises an eyebrow- ... -surveys the mess in the kitchen before moving to start preparing dinner- "...Well, your father is waiting for those documents. So if you could at least glance at them before--"
Noctis: -suddenly blurts out- "I think Stella likes Prompto!"
Ignis: ....... -blinks-
Noctis: -staring down at the counter- .... -hesitates before he continues- "...She...she wouldn't stop asking about him today!"
Ignis: ... -chooses his words carefully- "...If she does, would that bother you?"
Noctis: -looks up at him- "Of course it would!"
Ignis: ...! -pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose- ...
Noctis: -looks back down- "...I mean..."
Ignis: ... -quietly starts preparing dinner, giving him time to continue-
Noctis: "...Well six, why did it have to be Prompto?!"
Ignis: -glances up at him calmly as he begins dicing veggies- "...Why does it bother you so much?"
Noctis: -abruptly yells- "Because I like Prompto!"
[ later that night ]
Ignis: -sighs as he unlocks the door to his apartment-
Gladio: -had been waiting for him inside- "There you are. Did Noct give you a fight about the paperwork?"
Ignis: -takes his shoes off and sets his bag down, looking even more stressed than usual- "Not exactly..."
Gladio: -places comforting hands on his shoulders- "You wanna talk about it?"
Ignis: -sighs again as he leans into the touch- "...I think...I think Noct has a problem I can't help him with."
Gladio: -barely suppresses a snort- "Well yeah, that kid has lots of problems..."
Ignis: -ignores his comment and continues- "...He's upset because he found out Stella likes Prompto, apparently."
Gladio: -pauses- ...
Ignis: "He's really distraught about it. I'm not sure what to do..."
Gladio: ... -hides a chuckle- "...So you...you think Stella likes Prompto?"
Ignis: ...? -turns to look up at him, raising an eyebrow in confusion- ...
Gladio: -trying not to laugh- "...No, it's just..." -sighs and leans down to kiss Ignis on the forehead- "...I just think it's cute that you think Stella likes Prompto."
Ignis: ...???
[ and that's the story of how Stella inadvertently caused all sorts of drama by literally being the worst matchmaker in history. obviously Noctis & Prompto eventually did figure out their feelings for each other, but not before several more weeks of this, and with absolutely no real help from Stella.
she's an idiot, your honor. ]
#Stella is a well-intentioned disaster#final fantasy xv#ffxv#prompto argentum#noctis lucis caelum#ignis scientia#gladiolus amicitia#stella maris#my OC#promptis#gladnis (at the end)
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frat star 101
a crash course on all things frat
okay so some of you might be wondering, what the fuck is a frat? well here i am, with three years of being active in the greek community (and a self-proclaimed frat RAT), here to share a bit of my knowledge.
if you have any questions that i did not answer in this post or wanna talk more in depth about my experiences, feel free to DM or send in an ask! and if any of my fellow greek life peeps see that i miswrote something or missed something in general, pls dm and ill make those changes!
-> FAQs
so what’s a fraternity/sorority?
the most basic explanation for this would be that they are a college organization/club. fraternities are exclusively men, sororities are exclusively women. there are co-ed fraternities, but those are more academic/degree/community service based. there are different councils of sororities/fraternities (IFC, PHC, MGC, NPHC), but in terms of this au, that doesn’t really matter.
why do people join?
a multitude of reasons really: making friends, networking, philanthropy, community service, resume building, etc etc! if you take it seriously, you get a lot more out of it than a social life. personally speaking, i’ve grown a lot as a person and it has benefitted me a lot in my professional life.
what do they do?
theres a lot of things that fraternities/sororities do on campus and in their community. philanthropic events are a big one. every chapter has a different charity/organization that they support, and the means of how they raise money and support their org! its a fun way to keep the greek community connected n stuff. and they make it competitive so chapters go against each other. lots n lots of fun
they also host social events. chapters can host date night/parties, socials, & semi-formals/formals! date nights and formals are usually open to invite anyone (with reason), where as socials are chapter to chapter (i.e. lambda chi alpha and alpha delta pi). what they do at these events just depends on the chapter hosting. it can range from mini golf to a movie night. it all depends.
the only thing sororities can’t do is throw parties. it goes against NPC standards & by-laws for sorority women to throw large scale events like that in their houses. i can’t quote the exact rule but its there. fraternities on the other hand… they do whatever they want i GUESS
and then internally we have retreats for sisterhood/brotherhood building and a bunch of fucking meetings. it’s much like a business, except you pay to do it.
what’s the point?
the point is what you make it. sororities and fraternities can cater to an experience that you’re looking for. a thing i always heard as an active is you get what you put in. if you’re looking for a social life, you can get it. wanna network??? gain leadership experience?? plan events?? greek life could help you too. and greek organizations can benefit you post grad too with their alumni network. and also, you’re not limited to your own chapter, but those around you. again, its all about what you put in, and what you want to gain.
-> TERMINOLOGY*
recruitment- its a period in the semester where greek organizations can begin to accept new members. the process for sororities & fraternities differ, as sororities are much more formal and structured while fraternities are more casual and laid back. (informally known as rush/rushing)
chapter- can mean two things, depending on the context. so (1) its a way to differentiate the organizations in conversation. like for example my chapter is ABC and your chapter is XYZ. and (2) its what you refer to a specific greek organization at a specific university. so when im referring to my chapter, i’m specifically talking about sorority ABC at university DEF. confusing but again, its all in the context.
pledging- it’s the informal (and incorrect way) of referring to the new member process. officially, we don’t call it that bc of it’s negative connotations but we also still very much call it that.
pledge- its a new member in an organization, but again we don’t refer to out new members in that way bc that would be demeaning and considered hazing
greek row- refers to the street/area that greek organizations live in.
legacy- an individual who has had grandparents, parents, and/or sibling in a specific greek org.
executive board- student leaders of the organization that work to maintain order and keep up the chapter running (president, vps, secretary, etc etc). the executive board make up and positions vary from chapter to chapter.
honors/standards board- a different set of members asked to make sure that their members are upholding each individual org’s standards and bylaws. its also normally not members already serving on the executive board
dues- what you pay to be apart of the organization (varies from chapter to chapter, school to school)
big / little- it's a mentorship! getting your big bro/sis means getting a person that will guide you through your new member process and see you through to initiation (and beyond!) bigs will always be an initiated member and littles will be new members
*please note that some of these things sometimes are referred to differently on other campuses. this is just what my school uses.
-> EXTRA EXTRA
every chapter is different. . . seriously. not all fraternities/sororities run their orgs the same. and it also differs from school to school. a certain fraternity might be the sexiest most gentlemanly men you’ve ever come across at one university and complete pigs at a another. there are a lot of similarities but when it comes down to the nitty gritty we’re all pretty different.
all experiences are different. . . my happy go lucky good time will not be the same as another. and my misery in it will also not be the same as another. the experience is different for everyone and all comes down to how an individual uses their time in their organization, and on the organization itself.
it is as cult-y as you think it is. . . we have rituals. its different for every chapter, and to be fair i only know my own but i can say that every ritual is pretty fucking culty in their own way.
lots of secrets and lots of lore. . . there are a lot of things about greek life that goes on from chapter to chapter that we don’t speak of. it’s a sacred thing, that only initiated members of each specific organization know. you can definitely google these things but i personally think its taboo to talk about unless youre a member.
finally, let me be perfectly clear. . .
i know that there is a lot of dark shit that has happened and continues to happen in greek life, that theres a lot of work to be done even in this day & age. this au is not meant to glorify all the ugly— the hazing and any type of hatred that certain chapters may have. this is all for fun, to talk about all the good and fun that can come of it.
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I think we can both agree that it is important to view what the author wants for his story—that is also important to me! I've read the manga about as many times as you, the anime about 12 times, and the light novels two or three times each, so I also come from a place of story analysis and not just seeing what I want to see. This is my personal thoughts on the parallels Kagami set up between Guren, Shinya, and Mahiru and Yuu, Mika, and Shinoa, as well as the way he writes love. I think one of the best parts of fiction is how the important parts are often left up to audience interpretation, and how many opinions are valid.
Also, my apologies, it was the animator who said this! However, Kagami himself spoke on that comment in the same interview to further elaborate on the Romeo and Juliet comparison. He also added that Mika being a brother to Yuu was a version of the story he dropped in the early stages! Just some interesting food for thought. ^^ Thank you for reading my replies!
Hello!
It is truly a joy to hear that someone is giving this series so much dedication, trying to see the author's message. Thanks for this effort of yours. This is also felt in the polite and kind way in which you express your opinions. I am grateful for this respect.
Even if we do not agree on all points, it is interesting to learn more perspectives and be able to have a civilized discussion on those perspectives, just like now.
We probably will not change each other's opinion, but the most important thing is that, whatever the author has to offer, to support him unconditionally.
Personally, about the parallel you mentioned, I can say that the struggle between romantic love ( eros ) and family-friendship love ( sorginte - filia ) has been discussed so many times in the series, especially in the case of Guren. I believe that this topic emphasizes the sacrifices you sometimes have to make to have one kind of love or another, how often you can not have all forms of love.
And this comes down not only to this confrontation between love for a lover and love for your friends, but also to the confrontation between love for God ( agape ) and all other kinds of love.
I can say that I see it this way: a human soul needs all four types of love: agape (for God), sorginte (family), filia (friendship), eros (romantic). But can these types of love always exist in a soul, especially in a world like OnS?
That is why I think that the author very clearly delimits these forms of love and further illustrates how a person succeeds or fails to give his dedication to all types of love: for the lover, for family, for friends, for God (see the case of Guren ).
Otherwise, the author has mentioned many times his desire to portray the friendships between his male characters in a family-like manner, his desire to illustrate these brotherhoods. So many times, he referred to these brotherhoods and illustrated them. The series is full of them.
That is why I think it is good, at least in my view, to value these fraternal bonds for what they are. I never believe that brotherhood can mix with eros.
Eros is described very explicitly in this series, without any doubt, as different from all other forms of love. ( see Mahiru and Guren, Shinoa's case ) Actually, eros is different. Each form of love is different and I do not think it can be interspersed with another type of love, because then it no longer remains true to its purpose.
That is why I think that the author is careful in delimiting the different forms of love.
But then again, everyone filters through their own value system and everyone has their own definition of love, right?
Also, do not apologize, we all get confused sometimes.
Ultimately, the purpose of a series is to allow readers to resonate with it, to interpret freely. There must be this right and our discussion proves that the existence of different interpretations and their friendly debate is a possible thing.
Thank you so much for this!
I am sure, however, that the author of OnS will further define the message of his series. All I want is for readers to accept his decisions, that his writings represent a part of his soul, and not to offend him or condemn him if his decisions do not conform to their vision.
I really want that and it saddens me to always see these insults thrown at the author for the decisions he makes.
So thank you for your kindness again.
Do not worry, even though we do not have the exact same visions, it was interesting reading what you wrote.
And it was fascinating that you wanted to share your thoughts with me. I am wodering why. What made you want to write to me?
Very rarely does anyone write to me like this, so I am honestly curious.
Anyway, thanks for the trust. You are always welcome in my inbox.
I wish you a good day/evening!
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another anon with a cross posting request. the one where jgy and nhs are cousins and get their lives switched plzplzplz?
I gotchu.
"Mirror, Mirror"
Tags: Extended Concept/Partial Fic, Unexpected Relatives, Magical Accidents, Role-Swapping, Murder As Catharsis, The Whole World Changed And Only You Remember The Old One
Warnings: Implied child abuse, two very vaguely referenced attempts at sexual assault.
----------
When Nie Mingjue grudgingly agrees to swear brotherhood with the newly-legitimized Jin Guangyao, he tries to make a good faith gesture by introducing his once-aide to his biological brother.
Jin Guangyao isn’t sure what to expect, but it’s definitely not a boy a little younger than him who is the spitting image of his own mother.
He can’t stop himself from inquiring as to Nie Huaisang’s parentage as they get acquainted, and upon hearing about A-Xiu, the dancer turned concubine turned wife Nie Leiyun, he begins to understand the almost ridiculous contrivance of fate that has brought all this about.
Once upon a time, his mother had told him when he was little, there was a pair of sisters who, despite being two years apart, could have passed for twins. They were separated when their parents suddenly found themselves unable to support six children and thus sold their two youngest girls into brothel contracts.
They had never seen each other again.
And now Jin Guangyao is learning that while one had been taken to Yunmeng, the other had been taken to Qinghe, where, in their adult years, each caught the eye of a sect leader… But only one was raised up to the position of er-furen, her child considered legitimate from birth.
And now Jin Guangyao is staring at his own cousin, who has entirely unwittingly been living the life he has desperately struggled for, all because his father was apparently a much more honorable man than Jin Guangyao’s own.
The jealousy hits him sharp and sour and, for the briefest moment, he finds himself wishing their mothers’ fortunes had been reversed.
---
When Jin Guangyao wakes the next morning, the first thing he’s aware of when he wakes is that he feels better than he has in years. To his surprise and confusion, his core is not the fragile, unstable thing he has painstakingly nurtured, but whole and strong, burning bright. His body is healthy and trained beyond what secretive sessions caught in spare moments would do.
The second thing he’s aware of is… this is not the room he’d been given at Koi Tower. This is-
Now even more lost, he lurches out of bed and hurries to dress in robes of Nie sect colors (Huaisang surely won’t mind him borrowing clothing) so he can find out what the hell is going on. He’s just finished pulling his hair back when there’s a light rap on the door just before it opens.
He nearly faints at the sight of his mother, years older than he remembers and clearly healthy.
Things only get weirder from there. Nie Mingjue acts as if they have always been birth brothers, not sworn brothers. People treat him with automatic deference, as if he’s been here his whole life. He has a saber of his own and can feel its presence humming in the back of his mind.
By breakfast, the -still incredibly bewildering but inescapable- realization has dawned on him.
Who or whatever heard that wish that he had thought safely hidden in the confines of his mind has granted it.
He is and has always been Nie Xunyao, beloved brother of Nie Mingjue and second son of the Nie sect. His mother is no longer Meng Shi, but Nie Lianglai, having shed all the vestiges of her old self to become respected er-furen to the late Nie Haoran.
It is… every bit the life that he had always wanted for the both of them.
But, as he watches his mother gossip with some of the kitchen girls, he starts getting a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Meng Shi had gotten sick when he was a child and had died because they couldn’t afford proper treatment.
Nie Leiyun -Meng Xiu- had died in childbirth and Nie Huaisang had only survived through the intervention of fine healers.
If his mother is here, alive and well…
The sinking feeling growing heavier, he convinces his… his brother that he needs to visit Yunping for something important that has come up.
As soon as he lands, he heads straight for the brothel he was originally raised in and, finding Sisi out front, asks for Meng Xiu.
She gives him a suspicious once-over (he reminds himself they no longer know each other) and asks him why, exactly, he wants to know.
He has nothing to gain by lying, so he admits he thinks that Meng Xiu might be his aunt.
At the confession, her whole demeanor softens with sadness. “Oh, I’m afraid you’re years too late, dear. A-Xiu’s long gone. Got pregnant by some rich cultivator and the stingy bastard left her to rot when it went bad.”
He swallows hard as his stomach knots. “And… the baby? My cousin?”
“No idea. Still breathing when they were taken away, but-” she gives an uncomfortable little shrug. “You know how it is.”
Rattled, he pays her for the information with shaking hands, then barely manages to find an empty alley before he has to throw up.
—
Once he’s pulled himself back together, he realizes he can’t leave Yunping without some kind of closure.
The problem is that if even Meng Xiu’s fellow brothel workers don’t know what happened to her baby, certainly no one else would care enough to bother making a record of him alive or dead anywhere… or would they?
Unwilling to leave any stone unturned, he heads to the town’s archives.
The man behind the desk is a deeply unpleasant asshole, but where he might have blown off Meng Yao, or even sneered at the barely-legitimized Jin Guangyao, the respectable Nie Xunyao is another matter. After taking his money and jotting down an allotted time for him to spend among the scroll shelves, the man shouts for “Boy” to come assist him in his search.
Nie Xunyao freezes at the sight of the person who responds to the demand.
Surely… surely it’s not this easy.
And yet it is undoubtedly the Once-Nie Huaisang who guides him into the archives.
They are nowhere near as extensive as those of a sect or a larger city- just four small rooms. “Boy” silently hovers near him as he searches, accepting or putting back scrolls and books and ignoring any attempts at small talk, even the request for his name.
Every time his attention is on the shelves, Nie Xunyao takes the opportunity to look him over.
Nie Huaisang had been just slightly taller than him and, despite his brother’s complaints of how frequently he skipped training, he had a wiry quality to his build. His face had been soft, just starting to lose the last of its childish roundness, and his smile and eyes had been bright.
The young man in front of him, on the other hand, is undersized and clearly underfed… almost gaunt, with tired, shadowed eyes and the hollow expression that speaks of too much work and too little sleep. All at once, he looks both too young and too old to be nineteen.
Even before the war, Meng Yao grew up seeing many other children become what “Boy” is. More privileged people had even described him as such, even though he knew his mother had protected him from the worst elements of their hometown.
After a full shichen of digging, Nie Xunyao has to admit he’s getting nowhere and he’s mostly searching just to search, since “Boy” is right there. Because he’s still within his time allotment, which means “Boy” is still his assistant for the time being, he invites the young man to lunch.
“...Why?”
“Because I’m hungry, and so are you,” Nie Xunyao says, and when “Boy’s” eyes narrow in suspicion, he adds “You can pay me back by telling me how you ended up working for the charming fellow out front.”
The offer of food and the chance to complain without being snitched on wins out.
“There’s actually not much to tell,” “Boy” says later as he eats. Nie Xunyao has seen his way of doing so before: the barely restrained fervor of someone who doesn’t know when his next meal will be, yet has been frequently chided over dining manners. “The orphanage sold me into a servitude contract when I was thirteen. Said I was more than old enough to make my own way and that I should be grateful because being an administrator’s assistant was a better job than I deserved. I mean, they’re probably right, but-”
“Which orphanage?” Nie Xunyao cuts in, though he has a sneaking feeling he already knows the answer.
“Boy” confirms it when he gestures north with his chopsticks.
There are only two very, very small orphanages within the whole town, and the one closest to where his mother had worked had been the one he was most afraid of ending up in when she took ill. It had been common knowledge that they used their “one child in, one child out” policy along with copious other abuses to wring as much work as possible out of the children they took in before they were old enough to kick out, but since city officials didn’t care, no one else did either.
The thought of “Boy” being raised in such an environment makes his stomach knot up so badly he can’t finish eating, so he gives the rest to “Boy” as thanks for humoring him.
When it’s time for him to leave the archives, Nie Xunyao goes straight to the orphanage.
It takes some asking around and more than a little bribery, but he eventually finds a maintenance worker willing to talk to him.
“Yeah, I knew A-Xiu. Not in that sense,” the man clarifies quickly. “We had the same favorite noodle place, and it was cheaper to split, so we’d meet up sometimes to share a bowl. Real nice lady… told the worst jokes you ever heard but could get you laughing every time. Shame what happened to her and the kid.”
“Then you know her son as well?”
That gets him a suspicious squint that he’s used to by now, so, once again, he confesses that he’s looking for what might be his cousin.
“Oh. Well. That’s different,” the man says, leaning on his broom. “The night he showed up was my first night here too, actually. Lady that brought him in wasn’t a local, so she probably didn’t know, you know? And she left some money with him; most of the time people don’t do that. Anyway, she told us A-Xiu had told her his name was Sang. Not that it mattered to the bosses.”
Meng Sang. He’s not entirely surprised, considering his own name change, but it’s a relief to have something to call him other than “Boy. ”
“I tried, you know? I tried to be good to him for A-Xiu’s sake. Soon as he was old enough for real food, I’d sneak him things. I was gonna take him to that noodle place. But the bosses caught me pretty quick. Said if I was gonna play favorites, I should keep him. Like I could afford to raise a kid on what they pay me.”
The man leans in just close enough to be uncomfortable, though it’s clearly intended to be a gesture of conspiratorial camaraderie. “That’s what you’re gonna do, right? Take him home with you?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Good. Good. That kid’s got too much potential to get stuck rotting his life away under old man Shan.” The man claps him on the shoulder, but scurries back off to work when the shutters above them slam open.
—
Though it’s clear he’s miserable working for the archives keeper, Meng Sang is surprisingly difficult to convince to abandon his position.
Though, honestly, Nie Xunyao can’t blame him. He himself had grown up with a similarly suspicious nature towards unexpected good fortune, especially from the wealthy, and that had been with a mother around to fill his head with sweet dreams about kind and noble cultivators.
Still, the younger man gradually comes around to the idea, if only because “old man Shan” eventually crosses the line that makes him decide the possibility of being left dead in a ditch somewhere between Yunmeng and Qinghe is a better option.
“Sang-er. He’s not worth it. Put down the knife and let's leave.”
Meng Sang doesn’t let go of the knife, but he does follow.
The sky is overcast and once they’re away from the lanterns of the town center, Nie Xunyao has to use a small light talisman so they can see the paths.
When he notices that he’s lost his shadow, he turns to find Meng Sang standing stone still, eyes fixed on the little glowing orb hovering above his palm.
“You thought the saber was just for show?” he teases gently.
Meng Sang snaps out of his stupor, then frowns. “You wouldn’t have been the first faker I met.”
Ah.
Yes, he was familiar with those once, too.
Meng Sang looks from the talisman, to the saber, then to the ground, pulling nervously at his sleeves in a way that’s very familiar. “Then… the rest of it… about… About our…”
Nie Xunyao offers his free hand. “Come home with me, cousin.”
Biting his lip, Meng Sang reaches out and draws back twice, as if expecting that the moment they make contact, everything will be revealed as a ruse, or a dream, or something somehow worse.
The third time, he takes Nie Xunyao’s hand.
—
They take the time to travel to Qinghe on foot. Though it would be much quicker to fly, Nie Xunyao isn’t willing to subject his core-less, too-thin cousin to the winds that they’d be facing even if they stayed low near the treetops.
It also gives him more time to observe.
In the -now regrettably- short time they’d known each other, he’d found Nie Huaisang to be at turns frustrating and endearing. At first he’d simply seemed to be the same as every other spoiled gentry child Jin Guangyao had met, entirely ignorant of the luxuries afforded him and expecting those around him to cater to his whims. But it had quickly become apparent that Nie Huaisang knew exactly how coddled he was and had deftly turned to using that to make sure everyone else around him was also given comforts they otherwise would have gone without.
Including him.
Watching Meng Sang quietly nibble at his knuckles and mutter to himself about which and however many chores he’ll need to do to compensate for what he eats at their next rest stop and thinking about the cheerful young man who chattered enthusiastically about catching wild birds and shared his sweets with everyone they came across makes his heart hurt.
“Sang-er.”
“Ehn?”
“Stop worrying. I’ll pay for whatever you want.”
—
Things… don’t go as he’d hoped when they reach the Unclean Realms.
It had only been a few duck buns, and it had been his fault anyway for having forgotten to warn his cousin about the kitchen rules, but by the time he gets the chance to introduce Meng Sang to the rest of their extended family, the young man has already been branded in the minds of many of the sect as a thief.
“He can stay as long as he earns his keep like everyone else,” Nie Mingjue says to the assembly, but Nie Xunyao also hears him mutter to the nearby servants to make sure nothing important goes missing whenever Meng Sang is around.
His mother watches Meng Sang with a stare that he knows all too well from having been the subject of it when it came from Jin-furen; a fear that her son has brought home a koel looking to replace him in the nest.
The irony makes him sick to his stomach, because the only thief here is him, living a life he has, however accidentally, stolen.
It has only been a day since he finally got his cousin to call him “Yao-ge.”
When he gently prompts Meng Sang to follow him to his new room, he is met with a dull-eyed “As gongzi wishes.”
—
It continues to eat at him. Yes, he had dealt with his own unfair burden of mockery and nasty looks, but there had been people like his now-brother and Lan Xichen and Nie Huaisang himself who had been more than willing to look past his parentage and place of raising.
It has only been a week and Meng Sang has more than made up for his sole lapse in judgment. As Nie Xunyao’s assistant, he has proven himself to be sharp and obedient and keeps out of trouble… yet no one seems willing to offer him the same grace that they had once given to Meng Yao.
Not even Lan Xichen, who, on his next visit, gently expresses concern to Nie Xunyao that keeping his cousin so close to his side might be having a negative influence on him.
(He bites his tongue hard to keep from pointing out that Lan Xichen’s own brother is clearly smitten with a man who has done considerably more than steal a single plate of food.)
Gradually, he figures out what the true problem is.
Whatever he had done in his past life, he had always had honeyed words and polite smiles and deferential behaviors to fall back on, just like his mother had taught him. And while the “care” that Meng Sang had been raised with had taught him the same deference to those higher on the social ladder than him, it had also taught him that the only way to protect himself was to keep his words few and sharp and his face as blank as that of a corpse. He doesn't know how to make himself harmless.
Nie Xunyao can’t help laughing at the bitter realization, causing Meng Sang to look up from where he has been quietly copying missives.
“Come walk with me,” Nie Xunyao says as he gets up and holds out a hand to his cousin. “Please.”
Meng Sang’s mouth twists slightly as he eyes the offered hand, then he gets up and moves to Nie Xunyao’s side.
Without accepting.
They walk out to one of his mother’s gardens. It’s one of the very few places in the fortress that seems to put Meng Sang at ease, mostly because there is no one there to watch him.
Nie Xunyao takes down a newly-ripe pear. “For your thoughts.”
Meng Sang remains still, tension lining his entire body. “I’m thinking I should go home,” he says. “And don’t say this is my home. We both know your family can’t stand me.”
‘Your’ family.
Oh. That stings.
Nie Xunyao inhales shakily, barely conscious of the pear falling out of his hand before he grabs his cousin in a near-bruising hug. He feels Meng Sang jerk in surprise, feels hands come up to push him away-
“I’ll fix this,” Nie Xunyao swears softly as he holds his cousin even tighter. “Just… stay. Please.”
-and then Meng Sang sags into the embrace with a small, wounded noise.
—
He has one set of tiles left that he can play. As his cousin sleeps, head pillowed in his lap, he writes a letter to Sisi, reasoning that if Meng Sang's good behavior isn't enough to appeal to his mother and brother with, perhaps a certain someone's bad behavior will do the trick.
Though their familiar relationship is gone, Sisi is still very much the woman he knew growing up. She is grateful for the money he sends and the news that her old friend’s child lives, and in return is delighted to give him all the dirt she has on the cad who kept visiting his aunt.
Reading over her words leaves anger simmering in his nerves, especially when he can’t help but wonder which of the things he has learned might also have applied to his mother in the lifetime-that-no-longer-is; things that she’d never been willing to tell a child.
It is his mother that he first takes the letters to. He watches her expression evolve as she reads, from cautious curiosity, to surprise, to grief, with the same undercurrent of rage that is still bubbling within him.
She closes her eyes and buries her face into her hands, and he leans against her to support her as she trembles. “This is…” she says, her voice muffled and unsteady. “Do you trust this woman?”
“She has no reason to lie, since she doesn’t know who it is,” he replies, not wanting to give away the actual reason. “But we do, don’t we?”
His mother takes a deep breath, then sighs and tilts her head back, letting her hands fall into her lap where they clench on nothing in lieu of having a neck to wring. “I owe that boy an apology. I owe my sister an apology.”
Nie Xunyao does not verbally agree or disagree -though inwardly, he agrees- and merely reaches out to squeeze her hand. "I'm going to go talk to Mingjue-ge."
He cannot make himself call the man "Da-ge" in the life-that-now-is; the title sticks in his throat like dust and makes his stomach churn in guilt.
"Do you want to come with me?"
—
When compiled into a neat little list, these are the things that Sisi knows about the man who sired Meng Sang:
He only ever gave his name to the madam of the brothel and used a false one for everyone else, even A-Xiu.
He was a cultivator, and an obscenely wealthy one at that.
He always dressed in robes in varying shades of yellow, gold, and cream, sometimes with peonies embroidered in gold thread.
He wore a red mark on his forehead.
He often carried a fan.
He could be very demanding and arrogant towards the non-available servants.
In the beginning, the habit Sisi disliked the most was that he frequently sweet-talked A-Xiu into breaking her personal rules concerning clients or treated her like she was being the unreasonable one if she tried to hold firm. (Sisi suspects this is how A-Xiu ended up pregnant when she had always been so careful before.)
Because A-Xiu's health had never been the best to begin with -her menses were extremely irregular and sometimes skipped one or two months, and she was frequently ill anyway- no one realized she was pregnant until she began to show.
At which time her most ardent customer promptly stopped coming around.
On his last visit, he had given her some excuse and a trinket she could supposedly use to ask for help from his resident sect, only then identifying himself as a member of Lanling Jin, a sect too far away for them to have recognized his clothing previously. But when things took a turn for the worst and she scraped together the money she'd squirreled away and traveled all the way out to Lanling to beg him to at least provide a good doctor if nothing else, he had pretended not to know who she was and had her thrown out.
Sisi wrote with particular anger that in her last two months, A-Xiu frequently lamented the discovery that he had been married all along, as avoiding married men had been one of those cherished rules of hers and she was deeply ashamed of what she considered to be her own foolishness in letting her guard down.
Nie Xunyao closes the letters. "By the time she even knew she was carrying, Meng Xiu's only options would have been either the most poisonous of medications or a more traditional method like falling down the stairs, and she was more afraid of accidentally killing or disfiguring herself with those methods than she was of just trying to wait out the pregnancy. We all know how that turned out," he finishes as he lays the folded papers down.
Nie Mingjue is quiet.
Nie Mingjue is quiet in the way that Nie Xunyao knows means that he is too angry to find the words he wants to yell.
"Does Sang know that Jin-zongzhu is his father?" he finally asks.
Before Nie Xunyao can answer, there is a rattling noise from behind him. He and his mother and brother all turn to find the young man in question and one of the kitchen servants standing wide-eyed and pale at the door.
The rattling is the teapot and cups on the tray in Meng Sang’s shaking hands.
“My what?”
—
It is late, late, late, and they are both still up. Meng Sang is huddled into his side, still dazed from the… discussion that had taken up the entire afternoon and most of the evening.
Nie Xunyao gently strokes his cousin’s hair. “The sects are going to meet again in Lanling in three weeks.”
Meng Sang makes an indecipherable noise. “What does that matter to me?”
“You’ll probably be invited, sort of, since you’re on record as my assistant. Even if you don’t want to meet your father in any personal sense, it would give you a chance to see the place… decide whether you want to- ow!” he cuts off with a yelp at the sharp pinch.
“Don’t be stupid,” Meng Sang mutters into his shoulder. “Didn’t we just go over this in several different ways? Why would I leave you, when you were the only one who bothered to look for me?”
Nie Xunyao knows he shouldn’t find that as touching as he does. The only reason he’d had the wherewithal to go looking was because he still had the memories of being Meng Yao. If his memories had changed to match this new lifetime, he might never have discovered he had a cousin at all, let alone in time to pull him out of such a nasty situation.
Before he can ruminate on the positive or negative ‘maybes’ for too long, a very soft snore distracts his thoughts and he finds that Meng Sang has finally dozed off snuggled against him.
Okay.
This is okay.
He will just keep working with what they do have.
—
His mother and cousin are plotting something.
He should be concerned.
Then again, he no longer has any filial obligation to the man they are angry at, and he finds their anger more than justified. He spent the-life-that-no-longer-is and what little he has experienced of the-life-that-now-exists being angry about the same situation, after all.
Thus, when their group has stopped for the night before reaching Koi Tower and he finds his mother helping his cousin dress in the robes of a female Jin Sect servant, he simply tilts his head. “If or when someone asks, was he with me or you tonight?”
“Me,” his mother replies instantly as she guides Meng Sang into a chair and begins to work on his hair. “Your mother’s hands are getting tired and feeble in her old age and your cousin politely offered to help.”
Both cousins snort at that, considering she is as quick with a comb and pins now as she ever was.
Watching her work, Nie Xunyao can easily read the plan, and finds it fiendishly clever in its simplicity.
Unlike the notoriety Meng Yao had unfortunately picked up, Meng Sang is a ghost to Lanling Jin; nothing more than a name listed as part of Nie Xunyao’s retinue. Even if he wasn’t being disguised, no one would know what to look for. As it is, his undersized body and delicate features mean he will easily pass for one of the many pretty girls Jin Guangshan is known to buy up for these events, especially once the makeup and veil are applied.
"Have you memorized the layout map I gave you?"
"Mmhmm."
"And remember, if anything goes wrong…?"
"Focus on getting out without getting caught above all else."
"Good boy." His mother slides one last pin into his cousin's hair, then kisses him on the forehead, and Nie Xunyao has to bite back a fond smile at the absurdly adorable picture they make.
Tucking a qiankun pouch into his belt, Meng Sang gets up to leave, and Nie Xunyao gives in to the urge to hug him, careful not to muss his disguise. "Come back safe."
Meng Sang gives him a tentative smile. "I'll do my best, Yao-ge."
—
Even with the attempt at reassurance, Nie Xunyao finds he can't sleep, and is watching the inn's side door when his cousin slips back in a shichen after midnight, his hair down, the makeup and veil gone, and his robes a nondescript grey.
He is shaking like a leaf in a windstorm.
Nie Xunyao catches him before he can collapse and half leads, half drags him back upstairs. As they pass his mother’s room, he gives a light double-triple rap, one of their old signals, then pulls Meng Sang into his own.
“Did he hurt you?” he asks his cousin in worry.
Meng Sang presses his lips even more tightly closed and quickly shakes his head, but his expression is the same fragile, blank-eyed mix of panic and rage that had overtaken him when the archives keeper had made a move on him, and he is still violently trembling.
Nie Xunyao suddenly hopes that whichever poison his mother had given his cousin to deliver, it had been painful.
“Shh, Sang-er,” he murmurs when Meng Sang buries his face into his shoulder with a tiny whine. “It’s over now, isn’t it? He’ll never hurt anyone again, right?”
At the nod, he gives his cousin a squeeze and moves to press a heating talisman to the teapot by his bed. The tea is old and over-steeped, but it’s better than nothing, and after three cups, Meng Sang finally calms down enough that the trembling fades.
A soft knock at the door makes him get up to find his mother out in the hall. He lets her in without a word, and the three of them settle in to wait for morning.
—
A messenger arrives during breakfast with the news that Jin-zongzhu expired during the night from a sudden and unexpected illness, and the meeting of the sects will need to be postponed until after the funeral… but of course they are welcome to attend that if they wish.
“You okay?” Nie Mingjue asks Meng Sang.
“I don’t know.”
Nie Mingjue nods understandingly and pats him on the back, then goes to speak more in depth with the messenger.
Still seated at the table, Nie Xunyao offers a reassuring hand.
Meng Sang takes it without hesitation.
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From the Fo4 oc questions - 2, 8, & 14 for Nora?
2. What are their opinions on the factions?
Minutemen:
Good, great even.
She was confused at first, but once she got the gist of things from Preston she sympathised with how it had collapsed and was fully willing to help him rebuild it into something better to help the people of the Commonwealth again, without the problems and infighting that led to it's end.
Her own goals during the time she was General, other than rebuilding, was to ensure that people felt they could rely on the Minutemen again, and that they would be a force of security and assistance, and not necessarily governance.
Brotherhood:
She doesn't think much about them at first. She helped Danse and his group because it felt right to do, and a few lost soldiers couldn't be that bad right? She also saw mutual benefit in being on friendly terms with them, since she was able to combine their strength with her own small group to take out the Corvega raiders, who had been a blight to both groups.
Then the Prydwen marched in. She mostly stuck to doing Brotherhood things up until Blind Betrayal because she wanted to know what they were up to, and see if she could use them to help get her son back.
Overall, she does think they have a point about locating dangerous technology and safeguarding against another apocalypse, but she definitely doesn't jive with their 'rules for thee but not for me' and overly egotistical, separatist, and xenophobic ways. There's also the karma that in following their ideals they tend to become their own worst enemy and are always bound to harm themselves in some way.
Railroad:
There are... problems. But most of which are things the Railroad themselves acknowledge. They have a history with poor leadership, disagreements on what and how they should be doing things, and agents slipping up causing them to lose agents, synths, and safe locations. They're a mess.
But! They are trying to help synths, which is a cause Nora can get behind, and she does her best to support the groups endevours, though the ride is often bumpy. It doesn't help that she rarely gets along with Desdemona.
Institute:
Bad. There's potential for good in their work, but too much of it has some from unwilling sacrifice and cruelty, either directly or indirect.
She spends time with them to dig up their secrets and find knowledge to use against them, and yes her feeling for her son do get in the way for a while, but her goal with the Institute was always to uncover them and stop their rein of terror.
She'd like to do it with as little suffering as possible on all ends, but it has to be done one way or another.
8. Do they like robots?
Yes! Both Nate and Nora had a liking for robots, she even took engineering classes throughout school just to keep up with the hobby, and read magazines. Nate was still more the robot lover between them, but she had a good amount of knowledge and liking for them.
Post-war she comes to believe that robots are capable of having their own thoughts and emotions, even if it's programmed and different from a biological lifeform's experience. She's seen too much with Codsworth, Curie, Ada, and many other robots in the Commonwealth, to think otherwise.
They might not all have reached this state, or even all be capable, but it's certainly something she puts stock into. Creations aren't always limited by the bounds of their creators, in fact they very often aren't. The atom bomb and children are proof enough of that. Once you put something into the world, you can't always control the path it takes, nor is it often right to try to do so.
14. What are their hobbies?
Primarily it's just... learning things. She's a bit of a nerd. She isn't as fast or strong as others, but she's clever and knows it, so she sees it as part of her duty in order to help others to keep bettering her knowledge on any subjects she can.
So mostly she'll spend her time reading or putting what she's learned into practise.
If she was actually trying to unwind she might read something more light, like a novel instead of a manual, or just sit back and listen to some music. She also takes to reading comics after the bombs, since Nate liked them so much and it gives her a connection to him.
She's also decent at singing, since she was taught as a child, and might sing or hum while she works.
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second prompt: AU where ciri, with triss's help, transitioned toward the end of her time at kaer morhen--she's a little older in this AU (also pls ignore how trans girl ciri completely destroys the plot of the books lmao) and everyone is very supportive but she doesn't know how to convince the wolves that even though they now know she's a girl, she should still get to bathe with them and they should still walk around naked when it's warm, bc she remains extremely horny for them and especially for geralt, and all she wants to do with her new tits is show them off so maybe geralt will finally touch them...
hello. this got. very long.
so it's on ao3!
snip below :D
“So, I guess you all have something to tell me?” she says, looking at Lambert.
“I told you she’d noticed,” Lambert says, looking at Eskel, who looks away, clearly a little sheepish. When Geralt and Vesemir make confused noises, he just sighs.
“You know there’s a lot of traditions here that we don’t keep anymore,” he says, after a moment, turning back to Ciri.
“...like beating trainees?” she offers, and Lambert ‘s face twists, but he nods.
“Exactly.” He glances to Vesemir, then hums. “Some of them though, it’s not that they were awful, or ineffective. It’s just that we no longer have the trainees to continue them.”
Lambert pauses, looking at Vesemir again, and this time when Ciri turns to look, he’s rubbing at his chin, clearly considering.
“...we made an attempt,” he finally says, slowly. “Several, really, to make sure that their lives here weren’t just drudgery and pain. The mutations, the training, all of that – it was pain and it was horror. The average chores, the things needed just to keep a castle of this size running smoothly, that was just boring. Tedious. No man can survive on bread alone, and no soul can survive on that kind of monotony and torture, either.”
Ciri can tell he’s choosing his next words even more carefully, so she keeps her mouth shut, even as she feels like she might start vibrating from the anticipation. After a few moments, he takes a slow breath, and continues.
“Some of the traditions served no other purpose than to be. To bring joy, to encourage brotherhood and bonds between all of us, to give a semblance of family when the Path was harsh and unforgiving and most of us were orphans or worse.”
Ciri tips her head, curious. “And…this – why you lot have been so strange, is…because of one of these old traditions? The good ones?”
Geralt chimes in, then. “It was the only one I think all of us were genuinely excited to bring you into.”
The others murmur in agreement, and Ciri huffs. “Well, then, what is it? And what – what about me being a girl made it so hard?”
Lambert snorts, at that, and says, “Well, I think Geralt and Vesemir were just being cautious, but I know Eskel was overthinking if it might offend you – ”
His words are cut off by Eskel lobbing a hunk of dried bread at him and nailing him directly in the forehead. Ciri bursts into laughter, unable to do much else in the face of Lambert looking both deeply vexed and absolutely baffled at once as the bread thuds to the ground. Probably the only thing that keeps it from turning into another wrestling match between them is Vesemir’s low, severe, “Boys.”
Ciri is still giggling as Lambert huffs and picks up the bread to put it back on the counter, and Geralt and Eskel are clearly fighting chuckles of their own. Despite Vesemir’s warning, Lambert does shove Eskel a little before he goes back to guarding the door.
Once she’s managed to control her giggles, Ciri turns to Eskel. “So…what, exactly, might have offended me, then?”
“We didn’t…. I didn’t want you to feel…disrespected. Or like we don’t respect you.”
Ciri gives him a look that she hopes conveys her reaction to that, which she can’t exactly parse into words, because what he’d said would have to make sense for her to do that. Respect is…well, of course they respect her. She’s more of an equal to them than she’s ever been to anyone else in her life, and she can’t really imagine anything they could do to change that feeling, short of just tossing her out to the literal wolves.
Eskel sighs. “It’s…. There are….”
“Look,” Lambert interrupts, after a moment, apparently taking pity on Eskel’s uncharacteristic stammering. “It’s that one of the only things that was actually, genuinely great about growing up a brutally mutated teenage boy was the other brutally mutated teenage boys, and being able to learn from them, and from the instructors, sometimes. Not just with swords and fighting, but with everything else. Specifically, as a counter to how much of our time was spent in pain and monotony: pleasure.”
It takes a moment for it to click, because for a split second Ciri has no idea what Lambert is implying with that single word, but looking around to the others – Eskel, looking like he might be blushing, Geralt looking at her with something like…concern, almost, but also curiosity, and Vesemir looking almost fondly at Lambert – makes it slot into place like a lock tumbler.
Oh. Well.
Maybe the fact that at least a third of the reason she’d been so upset about their sudden lack of casual nudity had been because she’s a filthy pervert wasn’t actually that bad, then.
“And you’re all…what, unsure what to do with…?” She gestures at herself for lack of a better way to say it, and hears Lambert muffle a snort.
“Hardly,” Geralt says, nearly a scoff, and Vesemir chuckles softly, too.
“No,” Eskel agrees, and he’s smiling as he says it but then looks more uncomfortable again. “It’s not that we didn’t want, either, it’s….”
Ciri remembers what he had said in the courtyard, then, the conversation he doesn’t know she heard. “But it’s different than before, because I’m…well.” She just gestures again, mainly to her tits this time, and definitely takes note of the way that all of them look, possibly the first time she’s seen them let their eyes stray past her face since she changed.
Eskel nods. “Women and their bodies are…well, often treated more like objects than anything else. Commodities to be bought or sold and possessed, especially by men.”
“So they thought treating you like one of the sorceresses, as if you might make their dicks disappear for looking at you sideways, was the answer,” Lambert says, and Ciri nearly chokes on the bark of laughter that knocks out of her.
“I don’t think Triss would,” she offers. “...at least not permanently?” Others, though, she thinks, would probably do a lot worse than make their dicks just disappear.
That makes all of them laugh, too, which makes her grin widen.
Distracted by the humor, and the final dissipation of the strange tension that’s been between all of them for weeks, she’s startled when Geralt’s hands land at her waist. He’d clearly been trying to sneak at least a little, having taken a path around Vesemir’s back to come up at her side, but when he tugs to turn her a little so he can slot up against her back, she lets him move her, shifts her leg so she’s not caught twisted strangely where she’d perched.
His hands flatten at her waist and push up, rucking her shirt a little, but stop short of her tits, and she notes how there’s no humor in the air now. It’s tension, again, but of a very, very different kind, Eskel and Lambert’s eyes intense on where Geralt’s hands are holding her, Vesemir’s mouth quirked up into a smirk as he watches, too.
“We were looking forward to it,” Geralt murmurs in her ear, almost nuzzling against her. She shivers and leans back, letting him take her weight against his chest. “Being able to teach you about pleasure as well as everything else we can pass down.”
“It was the one tradition we could all agree on keeping,” Lambert adds, still looking at them intensely, and Eskel just nods, throat bobbing as he swallows.
“Well,” Ciri says, slowly, rolling her shoulders so she’s arching her chest out, both an invitation for the others to look and for Geralt to touch. “I think I agree, too. And I promise I don’t feel disrespected.” I mostly just feel loved, she doesn’t say, because as much as that is a part of this, it feels like too much for the moment.
And it’s probably good that she holds off on that vulnerability, too, because as Geralt’s hands start wandering, Vesemir shatters the tension with a huff.
“Not in the kitchen, please. Keep some things sacred, would you?”
#celus writes#dead dove#dead dove: do not eat#celus wrecking ciri#celus transformation cw#celus trans characters cw#celus pseudo incest cw#someone please tell me if i missed any tags my brain is soup
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I - Inventor - How creative is their thinking? Do they seek out the opinions of others or rely on their own ideas? What’s their problem solving approach? ( and is punching involved lmao )
@daywalkwithme
Headcanon A-Z meme
(To quickly answer that last part- punching is almost ALWAYS involved, let's be honest lmao)
Seriously, though? Her thinking, when it's called for, can be pretty damn creative. I mean, she's lead a few teams of her own for that reason- she's got the skills for strategy and also good on-the-spot decision making, including the capabilities to scrap a plan and quickly replace it with a new one on the dime if needed. (Though in the case of "creative" meaning something more artsy- she'll leave that up to other people. She likes to read, she enjoys her share of music and media too, but she's not inclined towards making it herself. She's got too much other shit to do and not enough time to hone a skill like that. Though in her adolescence, as a teenager, she did have a phase where she really wanted to take up learning to drum and/or play guitar (during her more punk/emo phase lmao). It never went anywhere because, again, lack of time and, though Raven and Irene were generally actually fairly supportive of plenty of her interests, they didn't want her wasting time on that when she had more "important" things to be doing.)
Do they seek out the opinions of others or rely on their own ideas?
She tends to lean towards being as self-reliant as possible (though, in all honesty, she's generally more of a follower than a leader, especially when she's younger and still learning about herself and her place in the world), so it should come as no surprise to hear that she relies mostly on her own ideas. She will, in times of distress, confusion, or just "weakness" (it's not an actual weakness, but she perceives it as such- at least in relation to herself), however, more subtly seek out the opinions of others. Again, as she gets older, she realizes that's not something she needs to feel embarrassed or hesitant about doing, so she gets better about asking for help or asking about the ideas/thoughts/opinions of others when she's unsure of something. But generally speaking, she tends to rely on herself. It's a trust thing, mostly. Her issues with trust are rooted incredibly deep, after all.
What's their problem solving approach?
If it's something that can be hit? Then hit it until the problem is solved! Easy as that! lmao
Seriously, it's worked out for her well in the past and she's a damn good fighter- especially in hand-to-hand combat (and even more so after she has the strength of Carol Danvers and, later (post losing Carol's powers), Simon Williams).
But if she CAN'T simply fight her way out of it? She's smarter than she lets on- she's the kinda girl to look at things from as many angles as possible and work out a plan that way. She's pretty good at laying out the ways a plan might go wrong and preparing to curb the chances of failure in whatever ways possible. And if that's not gonna work? Well, she's usually equipped with a back up plan. Of course, in the superhero game, things don't usually go as planned and it's impossible to prepare for every outcome, obviously. But, as I said before, she's quick at improvising or just winging it lmao
Much to her detriment, however, is the fact that she's spent a good portion of her life learning to fight ALONE. That's not to say she didn't have a team when she was with the Brotherhood, but there were plenty of times that they were split up and she was left to fight by herself. Not to mention, it wasn't always a "look out for each other" kind of thing. In fact, she was used to focusing more on herself than worrying about other team members. So, at least when she's younger, a lot of her spur of the moment planning is focused on herself and what she can do as a centerpiece. Not because she's self-centered or anything, but because that's how she was taught. So it's something she's had to learn to overcome- to not put the brunt of it all on her shoulders when there are other people who are fully capable of helping and doing their part.
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A Heart Made Fullmetal (FMAB AU) Part 1
Table of Contents
Part 2
Part 3
Disclaimer:
Edward Elric: The following is a non-profit fanbase series. PJO, HoO and ToA are owned by Rick Riordan and Disney Hyperion. Please support the Official release.
Author: Even you?! God damn it, Nappa! Anyways, this story is dedicated to @winryofresembool on Tumblr. Thanks for making an amazing Caleo story AND being a Fullmetal Alchemist fan, keep up the good work. Some of the backstory is even inspired by her fanfiction, Things We Lost In The Fire. Do check it out if you are also a fan of Caleo.
Warning: Spoilers to Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. If you have not seen this anime yet, I really recommend you watch it. It's really good.
Summary:
Our story takes place after the events of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. The Elric brothers are exploring other regions to understand other concepts and ideas about Alchemy, hoping to prevent another tragedy the boys once went through. Edward is now a husband to Winry (His childhood friend and first love) and a father to his two children. Meanwhile, our main character, Leo Valdez, is an engineer in the Amestris military and was summoned to the Fuhrer's office. That was the day his life made a big change. And maybe for good?
Story:
Alchemy: The Science of understanding, deconstructing and reconstructing matter. However, it is not an all-powerful art. It is impossible to create something out of nothing. If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. This is the Law of Equivalent Exchange, the basis of all alchemy. In accordance with this law, there is a taboo among alchemists. Human Transmutation is strictly forbidden, for what could equal the value of a human soul?
[Insert Anime Opening: Again by Yui]
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Part One: The Mechanic and the Flower Girl.
"Corporal Valdez! You are being summoned by the Fuhrer!"
Leo sighs heavily, he believes the meeting is going to be about his last "incident" at the engineering department. He made one simple mistake and his latest invention nearly blew up an entire street at Central. How was he supposed to know that a single miscalculation would result in destroying an entire block?
And I, the narrator, am still wondering how he became an engineer with that train of thought?
Leo Valdez, an Amestris citizen who joined the military to do some good for his country. Of course, he was still young when the whole coup d'état occurred at Central City. Afterwards, the military was reformed and is slowly returning power to the people of Amestris. Leo joined the military for several reasons, several mostly for financial values and personal career growth. But there was one reason above all else.
One that he never told anyone in his life.
As Leo walked toward the Fuhrer's office, a voice spoke out to him.
"Corporal Valdez."
Leo looks up and spotted Riza Mustang. The Fuhrer's assistant AND wife. He stands up straight and salutes.
"Ma'am!" Leo said.
"At ease, Corporal. I was just out looking for you since I'm going to the Fuhrer's office."
Leo followed.
"Is there a reason why he wishes to speak to me, ma'am?" he asked.
"It actually involves the incident at the Engineering Department."
Leo sulks. He was right.
"Figures, I'm probably going to be sent to the East or West for some hard labor."
"I doubt that's on the Fuhrer's mind," Madam Mustang replied.
Leo was confused but didn't ask as they arrived at the office.
As they both entered the office, there was a man with black hair and a small thin mustache on his lip.
Roy Mustang, The Flaming Alchemist.
Tales of Mustang were told all throughout the military personnel; including the deeds he did in the Ishvalan Civil War. Despite that, he went far and beyond for his country and to fix the damages his higher-ups have made in the past. He was even one of the people who led the Coup in Central and prevented a mass genocide to the country.
"Sir, Corporal Leonidas Valdez is here."
Mustang looked up from his paperwork and noticed Leo.
"Ah, thank you Lieutenant," he said and flinched at his mistake. "Sorry, force of habit. Still trying to get used to it."
"Of course, sir," Riza replied with a smile.
"Now, Corporal Leonidas Valdez. I assume you know why you are being summoned?" Mustang asked.
Leo saluted to the Fuhrer and answered, "Sir! You summoned me regarding the incident I made at Engineering, Sir!"
"That's right," Mustang replied. "I read the reports, Corporal. And despite your disastrous results, you created quite a fascinating idea involving automail."
"Sir! I accept any punishment given to- huh?" Leo just took in what Mustang just said.
"While the results were not what you were expecting. It really shows great promise for automail rehabilitation as well as using it for combat. What were you trying to achieve, Corporal?” Mustang asked.
Leo managed to collect himself and stand at attention to answer Mustang’s answer.
“Sir! I was trying to create a suit of armor that can help a common soldier achieve superhuman abilities! Such as: Flight; superhuman strength and many more! Sir!”
“At ease, Corporal. You’re not in trouble,” Mustang reassured. “But the concept of a ‘super suit’ seems a bit far-fetched. Maybe dial it down for Automail engineering and you can make a big change in that department, especially for disabled soldiers and wounded refugees. The concept of your work will be greatly essential for the rebuilding of Ishval civilization.”
“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Leo asked.
“Granted.”
“Sir, what's an automail?”
Mustang and Riza stood there, confusingly at Leo’s question.
“Corporal, do you not know about Automail Engineering?” Riza asked.
“No ma'am.”
Mustang laughs, “You’re serious?! Have you ever seen Automail in your life?!”
“Uh, no sir. I have been living in Central my whole life, never leaving the city. Sir.”
Mustang sighed, realizing what he must do.
“Well then, I know a great Automail engineer who can help you with that. I can transfer you to that area and have you learn about Automail. But before I do, I have to ask. Do you wish to learn about it? While your mechanical engineering is extraordinary, I think you can save more lives by learning Automail engineering.”
Leo was about to hesitate about being transferred until he heard Mustang’s advice.
You can save lives.
And so, Leo answered honestly.
“Fuhrer Mustang, when I was young, I lost my mother in a fire. I was saved because of a young State Alchemist, yet he couldn’t save my mother. I don’t blame him, it was my fault for not being able to save her. Since then, I vowed to save anyone and everyone I can. That’s why I joined the military. Not for financial aid, not for gaining power and authority. But, to help people, prevent another life lost to this world. But, I’m only good at making stuff as a mechanic and I refuse to take a life, even if it’s for my country. I know I swore an oath to, but I just can’t do it. So if my skills can be put to saving more lives, I’ll gladly take it! Sir!”
Roy’s eyes widened when he saw the eyes of Leo Valdez. The determination to save people.
“Heh, just like him,” He thought.
“Alright then, report to the Train Station by Noon. I will have an escort with my letter of orders to a State Alchemist that lives in Resembool. He will help you get accustomed to the area. You’re dismissed.”
Leo saluted and exited the office.
“He’s a lot like him, isn’t he,” Riza said to Mustang.
He sighs, “That’s what I’m afraid of. But something has been bothering me about him.”
“Oh? What’s that?” Riza asked.
“He never told us how that fire started.”
_______________________________
“Ugh,” Leo sighed, “I didn’t think Resembool was this far!”
“Come now, young Leo Valdez. We shall be there momentarily.”
The escort that spoke was none other than Major Alex Louis Armstrong himself. The cunning, dashing, incredibly strong alchemist with incredible valor and such respectable muscles that men STRIVE for. A spectacular mustache with sparkles that’s been passed down the Armstrong line for generations! He is also a State Alchemist and was given the title, “Strong Arm” using the alchemy that has also been passed down the Armstrong line for generations. Truly, this man is one of the many embodiments of manliness. A pillar that ALL men should-
AHEM
Sorry about that, I got carried away. Anyways, Leo was looking out into the distance and can see the country-side. He remembers how his mother always talks about visiting this part of Amestris just to get away from all the noise in Central.
“Something the matter?” Armstrong asked.
“Nothing, Major. Just looking at the country-side, my mom always wanted to visit here for vacation. She’d love the view.”
“I see, perhaps you can have her visit you sometimes. I’m sure she’d love that.”
Leo gave a sad smile, “That won’t be possible.” He explained to Armstrong about how his mother died from a fire many years ago and that he has been an orphan for most of his life. Bullied for it and how he struggled to survive until he joined the military.
Then Armstrong took off his shirt.
“FORGIVE ME, YOUNG MAN! ALLOW ME TO HEAL YOUR BROKEN HEART WITH MY COMFORTING EMBRACE!”
Leo shivers and tries to calm the Major down.
“It’s okay! Really! I’ve been managing just fine, I had a rough life sure; but I’d gotten used to it. I’m managing!”
Leo managed to convince Armstrong to settle down before he could give a manly grizzle hug from him.
“By the way, I never saw actual State Alchemists during these few months in service. What's it like, using Alchemy I mean?”
Armstrong explained to Leo about the fundamentals of Alchemy and how State Alchemists use it in combat. During the Ishval Civil War, State Alchemists got their hands dirty and killed many innocents to suppress the rebels. Afterwards, they were given the unofficial name of being the “dogs of the military”.
“Wow, I’m sorry to hear that.”
Armstrong nodded, “Indeed, it was something I can never forget. I couldn’t even fulfill my duties there and was forced to be relieved. There was too much blood on my hands that I couldn’t move forward.”
“Until Mustang took control, right?”
“That’s right, shortly after the incident at Central, Mustang dedicated himself to rebuilding Ishval to its proper self and reconnecting the Ishvalan natives to Amestris. It’s been a slow progress, but it’s moving forward.”
“Is the State Alchemist we’re going to meet fought in the war too?” Leo asked.
“No, Corporal. He became a State Alchemist later on. He started at the age of 12 and became the youngest State Alchemist in history.”
“A 12 YEAR OLD STATE ALCHEMIST?!” Leo asked. “How did that happen?!”
“That’s… something you’ll have to ask him yourself… if he’s willing to,” Armstrong responded with a sad look. As if he knows something about this State Alchemist past.
Something too tragic and horrible for him to explain himself.
“What’s his name?” Leo asked.
“The State Alchemist we’re about to meet is none other than, The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric.
_______________________________
The train finally arrived at their destination.
Resembool.
A small country-side town just south of Central City. It’s quiet, peaceful and calm. Different to the vibing streets of Central.
Leo took a deep breath of the fresh air.
“A new opportunity has finally arrived!” Leo yelled. “Look out, world! Leo Valdez is gonna change the world once he masters the art of Automail Engineering!”
Leo yells as he exits the Station while Armstrong goes to get their luggages.
Didn’t even seem to notice the small wagon that was in front of him.
He bumped into it and managed to bring a couple pots of flowers down and break them before falling down himself.
“You idiot! You broke my pots!” Says the sales woman.
Leo looked up and was about to tell her off, until he saw a good look at her.
Bright caramel-blonde hair, dark brown eyes and skin so glistening tanned from the sunlight and seems to be around his age. Leo was awed at her looks until she spoke.
“Do you have any idea how long it took for these flowers to grow?! Or the cost of replacing those pots you broke?!”
The girl’s shouting snapped Leo back from his thoughts.
“Oh I’m so sorry” Leo replied sarcastically. “I’m sure the pots and flowers are WAY more important than my health and safety!”
As the two argue, Armstrong intervenes.
“Corporal! That’s no way to treat a lady!” Armstrong bows to the flower lady. “I’m terrible about that Ms. Calypso. He’s new and doesn’t know much about the area.”
Calypso huffed. “Just keep that mangy mutt out of my way! Are you here for the Elric’s?”
Before Leo could react to her, Armstrong spoke first, “Indeed we are, Corporal here has been transferred here from Central and will be learning about Automail Engineer for his career.”
“Ah, so you’re here for Winry. She is the best Automail mechanic there is,” Calypso says with a smile. She then looks at Leo and frowns, “You better mind your manner.”
Leo scoffed, “Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine.”
Calypso pointed her gardening trowel toward Leo’s neck.
“You better pay for the damages you caused to my wagon!”
Armstrong tries to calm the situation.
“D-don’t you worry, Ms. Calypso. I shall pay for damages.”
“It’s fine, Major,” Leo interuppted. “I’ll pay for the damages myself. Happy?”
Calypso lowered her trowel and scoffed, “Just be more careful next time. Otherwise I won’t be as nice as today.”
Leo snickered, “Sure, whatever you say Sunshine.”
Calypso walks off with her wagon, fuming with anger.
“You should apologize to her later, Leo Valdez,” Armstrong suggested.
“I could’ve gotten hurt because of her! Besides, I hate girls like her, beautiful with an attitude thinking they own everything. Who does she think she is? A rich princess?”
“An orphan,” Armstrong answered.
“Huh?”
“Calypso is an orphan, Leo Valdez. No parents, no siblings, all alone. Because of that, she puts anyone and everyone at arm’s length. For she fears losing another person dear to her.”
Guilt flooded over Leo’s heart.
“Damn, now I really have to apologize. But I still hate her attitude, she should've been a bit nicer,” Leo grumbled.
The two soldiers kept walking down a path to reach their destination. By the end of the road was a big house, colored in lime green and stone foundation, along with a red mailbox and big wood sign saying: AUTOMAIL.
“I’m guessing that’s our stop,” Leo said.
As they reach the house, Armstrong knocks on the front door. Suddenly, they hear two childish voices coming. The door opened to reveal two small children, a boy and a girl. As the little boy opens the door with his little sister behind him, he looks up and recognizes Armstrong.
The two kids grinned and jumped forward to hug him.
“UNCLE ARMSTRONG!” The kids yelled.
Armstrong gracefully grabbed the kids and hugged them gently while screaming (and crying), “MY, YOU TWO HAVE GOTTEN SO MUCH TALLER! OH HOW DELIGHTFUL IT IS TO SEE YOU BOTH ONCE AGAIN!”
The kids laugh as Armstrong lifts them high into the air, making them think they were flying. Then, another voice spoke from inside the house.
“Major Armstrong! It’s good to see you again.”
A young woman with long blonde hair and dark blue eyes and light pale skin has emerged from the house, wearing a simple dress with an apron.
“When we got the call from Riza, I had to make something for the long trip you had to take.”
“SUCH GENEROSITY WARMS THIS MAN’S HEART, MS. WINRY!” Armstrong yelled as he played along with the kids. While the three were playing, Winry looks at Leo, “You must be Leo Valdez. Riza told me about you.”
Leo nodded.
“I just transferred here because I was told one of the best Automail Mechanics can teach me about Automail.”
Winry smirked and gave a proudful remark, “One of the best, huh? I wouldn’t say I’m THAT good but-”
“But you won't find anyone better than her!” Said another voice. It came from behind Winry. A man with golden blonde hair tied into a ponytail, golden yellow eyes, wearing a simple suit and a trench coat.
“Major Armstrong,” The man spoke. “Don’t tell me the colonel brought you!”
Armstrong put down the kids and answered, “It’s Fuhrer now, Edward, my boy. You must show some respect to the title.”
Edward scoffed, “I’ll show respect to him whenever he gets rid of that mustache!”
Ed and the kids laugh until Winry hits a wrench at her husband.
“What the hell, Winry?!”
“Be quiet and be civil, Ed. They came all the way from Central and must be starving.”
Ed pouted and invited the soldiers in.
As everyone was eating in the dining room, Ed asked about their reason for visiting. Armstrong handed him the letter from Roy.
It says:
Dear Fullmetal,
I am transferring this mechanic to Resembool. He is talented in the engineering department but has no knowledge of Automail. I would like for your wife to teach him everything she knows about Automail Engineering. I believe this young man may make excruciating changes that will benefit all of Amestris. As such, I am transferring him as your temporary bodyguard.
“Bodyguard?!” Ed yells. “I don’t need another stinking babysitter!”
Winry groans, “Just keep reading it, Edward.”
Ed grumbles and continues.
You may say something about not needing a bodyguard or babysitter. I certainly hope so, I only transfer him there to learn about Automail, not to be dragged along in your shenanigans.
Everyone except Edward giggled at the comment while Edward was about to blow a fume. Instead, he kept reading.
As such, do keep an eye on him. Despite his many talents, following orders is not one of them. The last incident with his invention nearly destroyed an entire block in Central.
Now it was Leo’s turn to feel embarrassed.
But, despite his explosive results, he truly shows great potential for the future of Amestris. Just like I saw it on you, Edward.
Good luck, Fullmetal.
Signed, Fuhrer Roy Mustang.
P.S.
You still owe me 520 cens.
“OH COME ON! THAT WAS YEARS AGO! HE STILL REMEMBERS THAT?!” Ed yells as he slams the paper onto the table. He then grumbles, “That stinking, penny pinching, money groveling bastard.”
As he grumbles, Winry spoke to Leo.
“So, you wish to learn about Automail?”
Leo nodded, “That’s right, to be honest, I never seen Automail before. I’ve been living in Central my whole life.”
“Well I hope you’re ready. I learned so much about Automail thanks to my grandmother and my teacher, Atelier Garfiel. I hope you're prepared.”
“That reminds me,” Leo realized. “I never knew that the State Alchemist I’m supposed to meet was gonna be THE Fullmetal Alchemist! I heard so much about you, Mr. Elric!”
“Oh really?” Ed says.
“Yeah, though, from the stories I heard, I thought you’d be shorter.”
And just like that.
Edward snapped.
“WHO’RE YOU CALLING A MINISIZE PINT SHRIMP?! I HAVE YOU KNOW I GREW TALLER THEN, SO DON'T CALL ME SHORT AGAIN! YOU GOT IT YOU LITTLE ELF?!”
BONK
Winry hits Edward again with her wrench.
“Sorry about that, Ed tends to get emotional whenever someone mentions his… height.”
“Uh… S-sure,” Leo says as he watches Winry force Ed to calm down.
Leo gotta admit, after hearing the many wild stories about Edward Elric back in Central, he never thought there’d be anyone that can tame such a man.
He wonders if he’ll ever find a woman like that himself.
“Anyways, since you’ll be staying here for a while, you’re gonna need a place to rest. Unfortunately, we have no rooms at the moment, but I know someone you can stay with. She has rooms that she can spare at her flower shop.”
“Oh dear,” Armstrong said. “We just met her recently.”
“Wait,” Leo went pale when he realized. “You don’t mean…”
_______________________________
“You have GOT to be kidding me,” says Calypso. Owner of the flower shop that was near Elric’s home.
“I have to spare a room for this,” Calypso says, gesturing toward Leo with a disgusted look. “boy?”
Everytime she spoke poorly about Leo, he started to get irritated and was about to yell at her. But, despite that, she’s the only person in town with room for Leo to stay.
“Look, I’m sorry I offended you and broke some of your pots. I’ll pay it all back, Sunshine. I promise.”
Calypso looks at Leo with anger.
“Call me Sunshine again, and I’ll make a flower bed with your dead body.”
Leo has never been so scared yet attracted to a lady who can most likely kill him in his whole life.
“Please, Calypso?” Winry asked. “I understand how men can be. But he was given orders to learn about Automail from the Fuhrer himself. Please?”
Calypso thought about it and sighed.
“Fine, Leo Valdez can stay in my spare room. But,” She points toward Leo. “You are to obey my house rules and avoid each other’s life. Understood?”
Leo grumbled but nodded.
“Good, just know that I’m only doing this for Edward and Winry because of everything they've done for me. So you best behave.”
“Sure, sure, I will.”
Calypso huffs and shows Leo to his room.
Already, Leo is starting to think that coming here was a mistake.
_______________________________
And so, days have passed and Leo was learning a lot about Automail thanks to Winry. Though when he comes home to the flower shop, he tends to avoid Calypso’s wrath as best as possible. Though it was hard since the shop was on the main floor and the rooms were on the second. He tries but only manages to make the situation worse every time he goes to the kitchen to grab a snack or use the bathroom.
He has watched himself from making Calypso even more mad.
Sometimes, he’d work on some side-projects in his room and would end up annoying her with the noises. The last time he worked on something, Calypso knocked on his door.
“Can you turn that ruckus down?! You’re scaring the birds away.”
“Oh we can’t have that now, do we?” Leo said sarcastically. He notices the basket of food in her arms.
“What’s that for? Giving food to your boyfriend?”
“I don’t have one. This is for you, you've been in your room all day and haven’t eaten anything.”
“What?” Leo looked outside and realized it was already night time. “Already?”
Calypso nodded. Leo grabs the food basket and apologizes.
“Sorry about that, I’ll keep it down. Next time.”
Leo closed the door and ate a bit of the food in the basket.
He looked at his work table, where a bunch of cleaned gardening tools was laying on.
“I guess she’s not THAT bad,” Leo thought.
When he noticed that her gardening tools were getting rusty, he thought it’d be helpful to sharpen them up for her since she does a lot of gardening in the back.
During his stay, Leo learned a lot about Automail Engineering; though he still does not have any proper experience with them just yet. He does, however, observe Winry in work whenever she gets customers or just to maintain Edward’s leg.
“How did you lose your leg, Mr. Elric?” Leo asked. “Was it from battle or by accident?”
Ed was reading a book when he asked, he closed his book and sigh.
“It wasn’t in battle, Leo…” Ed replied. Leo noticed the look in his eyes when he answered.
The answer is something he’s not ready to talk about.
“Oh, I see. Well, you don’t have to tell me,” Leo said, grinning. “I get it, it’s something you don’t like to talk about.”
Edward nodded.
“Thank you Leo, I appreciate- OW!” he screams as Winry continues maintaining his legs. “I SAID WARN ME WHEN YOU’RE GONNA DO THAT, WINRY!”
“Yeah, yeah, you big baby. Just hold still, will you?”
Leo chuckles. Despite these two bickering, they show so much trust and love for each other. Leo would tend to ask the Elric family about their past.
Apparently, Edward and Winry were childhood friends and got married shortly around their 20’s. Ed has a younger brother named Alphonse who’s traveling in the East.
The Elric Brothers were traveling the world to understand more about Alchemy and hope to combine their discoveries together to find solutions that can save more lives.
“A long time ago, there was a girl who became an experiment from her father. Al and I couldn’t save her. And we have lived with that guild since. That’s why we’re traveling, to prevent any more incidents like that. Though, the only reason why I’m back here in Resembool is because I had some… issues with my leg.”
WHAM
Winry hits Ed with her wrench.
Again.
“ISSUES?! You wrecked my masterpiece! Wires were sticking out! Pieces were missing! Just what were you doing out there?!”
Once again, the two bickers once again.
But that’s how they are.
_______________________________
As Leo enters the flower shop, he greets Calypso and starts heading upstairs until she stops him.
“Wait, Leo. Here.”
She hands him his military uniform and some clean clothes.
“What? You cleaned my uniform? And what’s with the clothes?”
“I… I figured you were gonna be busy learning about Automail so I figured I would make you some clothes. And your uniform was dirty so I had to clean it up.”
“I see… So, you’re really warming up to me aren’t you?” Leo smirked.
Although it was late, Leo couldn’t see the blush on Calypso’s face.
“I was only being nice since you fixed my gardening tools!”
“Oh that, it's just my way of saying sorry for being a jerk when we met.”
“And the curtains on the front window?”
“It was crooked and bothered me.”
“And my small fountain?”
“That was an easy fix, nothing I couldn’t handle.”
Calypso smirked.
“Oh yeah, you’re really warming up to me, aren’t you?”
Now it was Leo’s turn to blush.
“W-whatever! I’m going to bed,” Just as Leo was leaving with the new and clean clothes, he stopped and said, “Thank you… for everything, Sunshine. I really appreciate it.”
“Of course, have a good night, Leo.”
As Leo headed to his room, Calypso thought to herself, “Maybe he’s not THAT bad. But I really hate his guts.”
And so, Leo’s new life in the country-side with a beautiful flower girl begins as he learns about Automail Engineering and continues to achieve his dream. What’s his dream you ask?
No one knows, only Leo himself.
Perhaps someday he’ll tell us what his dream is.
Maybe he’ll tell it to a certain flower girl?
[Insert Anime Ending: Uso by SID]
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Next time:
Finally making progress on his learnings of Automail, Leo Valdez is almost ready to create his own. However, he must face his ultimate challenge yet. Will he be able to face his darkest secret? Or will he forever be held back because of it? Perhaps, the flower girl may help this mechanic face his greatest challenge yet. Will the two finally confront their biggest struggles, And perhaps find something they both truly yearn for?
Next time on Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood:
Part 2: Sins of the Past.
In order to leap toward a brighter tomorrow, we must confront our darkest yesterday. Only then, can we move forward.
A/N: Okay, so I decided to make this a 3-part story because as I wrote this, I knew I had to do a lot of explanations and some philosophical wisdom that I just HAVE to write. Also, some of the plot is largely inspired by @winryofresembool fanfiction, Things we lost in the Fire. Do check it out if you are a Leo x Calypso fan, it's on Tumblr in her profile or at Archive of Our Own. It's really amazing and very interesting.
Also, I will be doing monthly updates on my Percy Jackson/Spiderman fanfiction, Estelle and the Mark of Arachnid: The Trident of Poseidon. I hope you get the chance to read it, it has been a project I wanted to do for a long time now.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story. I will post part 2 next month. Until the next update.
#Caleo#leo x calypso#calypso x leo#Leo Valdez#calypso#percyjacksonandtheolympians#Heroes of Olympus#trials of apollo#pjo hoo toa#fanfiction#edward elric#winry rockbell#edward x winry#Fullmetal Alchemist#fmab#fullmetal alchimist brotherhood#Youtube
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Commander Buir
Follow-up to this post. Not in any particular order, just spitballing ideas, with contributions from several friends on discord.
Like presumably it takes long enough for them all to meet up again that Anakin and Cody do, in fact, end up treating each other like family, just so I can have that good good "well, guess I'm Dad now" energy. Shmi isn't entirely sure what's going on but she's not a slave anymore and her kid seems to like this rando mando, so.
Anakin gets to have a mom and two dads, though one of the dads is arguably younger than him.
Also when they all meet up again and Cody explains the "General Skywalker got shrunk" thing, there are three reactions:
(General) Obi-Wan: Oh, Anakin.
Obi-Wan: [gestures to take him, ends up with an armful of clingy padatoddler]
Anakin: You can't blame this on me, Obi.
Obi-Wan, a little teary, because babies cause emotions: Of course I can, you absurd human being.
------
Rex: That's... my general.
Anakin: I am, Captain.
Rex: Cool cool cool I'm gonna go stand where I can't, uh, break you.
Anakin: I'm not THAT fragile!
------
Ahsoka: [gasp] Skyguy is SKYKID!
Anakin: Padawan, this is--
Ahsoka, grabbing him and cuddling: Oh my goodness you're adorable this is the best day ever.
Anakin: This is humiliating, Snips, put me down.
Ahsoka: Never.
Anakin hates being a toddler because of the lack of independence but Cody keeps picking him up when he's cranky and just holding him until he falls asleep and that's... nice.......
- The brain limitations aren't quite as bad as the situation with Sokanth and Ylliben in the other AU, but
- Even if his brain is mostly adjusted he’s still got a tiny body with different needs that he’s not used to. Like, he needs to sleep more but he’s got more energy than usual when he’s awake and it’s all weird.
Cody carrying around toddler Anakin like "God you give me ulcers but you're adorable, you little shit."
Inconveniently tiny body aside, Anakin has a pretty great time in this au. His family are all together and safe and within reach. His wife isn't around, but toddler brain means he doesn't have the Romance Drive, so that's not as bad as it could be
It could be significantly worse.
@atagotiak asked: Does Anakin get annoyed about being called cute?
- To which I say, He bites the first few times but Shmi tells him that's Naughty so he stops.
- Babies are cute so you packbond with them before they’re annoying, Anakin is cute as a self defense mechanism
- He’s extra annoying so he needs to be extra cute
You know how you need to keep an eye on toddlers so they don't, like, fall down the stairs or put something toxic in their mouth?
- They need to keep an eye on Anakin specifically so he doesn't rewire the ship they're in while they're in hyperspace.
- He has less self control on account of being smol. He still has all the mechanical knowledge! Just less comprehension of y’know, consequences.
Anakin, with a sippy cup: This is demeaning.
Ahsoka: Your hands don't work great enough to avoid accidents yet.
Anakin: It's still embarrassing.
General Kenobi can't just kill Maul, not when Maul is baby right now (sixteen, which is baby enough) so he just. Kinda. Kidnaps a baby Sith.
(It's fine. He's fine.)
General Kenobi (not to be confused with Padawan Kenobi) decides to declare Maul his new padawan because someone has to deal with this teenager, and Plo already claimed the rest of Ahsoka's training. And Anakin's three, so.
"What do we do with Maul?"
"Eh, I can handle him. I dealt with teenage Anakin getting arrested for illegal pod-racing twice a month, I can work with this."
Maul bites, but only slightly more often than Anakin, it's fine
Ahsoka definitely bullies Maul whenever possible
Consider: Rex holding very still because Anakin wanted to be tall, so he climbed Rex. Being unexpectedly climbed is better than being unexpectedly yeeted. It's still extremely nerve-wracking.
- Cody is perfectly capable of running around with a backpacking toddler General, but Rex freezes like a statue.
- Ahsoka finds this hilarious
You know how little kids like to be thrown around and swung in circles and stuff like that? This must get even more ridiculous with force users. Can throw a child real high and catch them safely.
- Rex panics whenever Ahsoka throws her chibified Master
Literally everyone except Rex loves being yeeted. Even Maul can appreciate a good tactical yeet no shut up he's not having fun this is TRAINING
- Rex is Suffering
- Cody, a very Tired Dad, deserves to mock his vod'ika a little, as stress relief
- Rex, a certified Little Brother, shoves Cody off something tall. Jokes on him, Cody thinks freefall is fun too.
Tia asked: So the people who didn’t exist yet got flung bodily back in time and Anakin did the mental time travel. Why did Obi-Wan not become Padawan Kenobi? (I mean “because I want it that way” is def a good enough answer I’m just wondering if there’s any reason.)
- Which, well, it really was mostly "I want to" but here's two options, both of which come down to Blame Daughter and Father.
1. They figured a responsible adult Jedi Master was needed to convince people.
2. Nobody was supposed to get de-aged but Daughter figured they needed to make Anakin less liable to kill things for a few years.
- Also IDK the Force God-Manifestations also took away any risk of rapid aging and early death from the clones because uhhhhhhhhhhh I said so
Rex and Ahsoka are fumbling their way through a relationship where ages are just really confusing and awkward, so they're keeping it to just kisses and cuddles for a bit.
Cody is so tired he doesn't even realize anyone's hitting on him until it's been three years of co-parenting with Shmi and his General.
- Somehow Anakin knows Cody is in a relationship before Cody does. Cody has never been so embarrassed.
- How did he manage to be less observant than Skywalker?
-- it was sabotage; all his brain cells were taken up in managing said Skywalker
-- Because Skywalker was up at three in the morning whacking a training droid with a stick so he didn't have the energy for Relationships
Also Shmi's come-ons are super subtle, while the General's are... well, Cody's gotten very used to ignoring anything ambiguous on that end because fraternization rules, and also because Obi-Wan flirts a lot with everyone. So.
Please imagine Cody and General Kenobi walking around with Anakin tucked into a toddler sling while they do whatever work they've ended up with at the Temple.
- Yes, Cody is helping the Jedi figure out the best plan of attack to take down this slave ring because his grasp on tactics is phenomenal and he knows how to deploy people at greatest efficiency, but also he's got a nosy toddler on his hip who keeps offering his own insane-but-competent ideas.
- General Kenobi ends up with a Council Seat just on account of, like, being the kind of person he is. As often as not, he's got Anakin tucked into his robes, chewing on the ear of a stuffed tooka or something.
IDK what Shmi's doing but apparently Legends had it that some of the administrative and support positions in the Temple were held by non-Jedi civilians? So probably something like that.
GENERAL KENOBI LECTURING PADAWAN MAUL WHILE ANAKIN'S BALANCED ON HIS HIP AND GLARING AT MAUL FOR STEALING HIS DAD
General Kenobi: Ahsoka's babysitting.
Anakin: I'm her master, I don't need babysitting, this is--
General Kenobi: Fine, then you need supervision, so that you don't blow up a training salle again.
Anakin: And you think Ahsoka would stop me?
General Kenobi, eye twitching: Fine, I'm leaving you with Plo.
Even if he’s mentally an adult Anakin always needs supervision
Look at canon! Anakin was left without supervision for like two days and he became a Sith
Quinlan gets distracted by how attractive General Kenobi is and tells Obi-Wan "dude, you're gonna be so hot once you can get rid of the stupid haircut" and Obi-Wan pushes him into the nearest pond.
They end up with this weird "Uncle Jango" situation (uncle to Anakin, via weird brotherhood-ish to Cody) because Rex and Cody are just like "Uhhhhhhhhh yeah okay" about him eventually, and Jango just like. Drops by. Trying to Earn Affection Of Blood Kin by bringing weird gifts for them and their (ugh) Jedi.
"Okay, Rex'ika, I stopped by Shili--"
"What?"
"--and apparently this is a delicacy there, so just... your girlfriend will like it."
"She's not my girlfriend."
"..."
"Okay, I can't call her my girlfriend. Jedi have rules about that sort of thing, and--"
"This will make your Jedi happy, probably. Just take it, kid."
Baby Anakin got his arm back but for some inexplicable reason still has The Eye Scar.
He matches Buir.
#disaster lineage#Anakin Skywalker#CodyWan#Commander Cody#Obi Wan Kenobi#Ahsoka Tano#Captain Rex#Shmi Skywalker#Maul#Darth Maul#Rexsoka#time travel#de aging#baby characters#Quinlan Vos#Phoenix Posts#Commander Buir
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hey!! Your fic recommendations are always elite–I was wondering if you had any kid fics, thank you <3
Hi anon. I have plenty of kid fics for you. Since you didn't quite specify what kind of kid fic you wanted I decided to divide it into fics where Charles and Erik are kids or get deaged and fics that involve kids. This is kind of a long list so I hope that there are plenty of new fics for you to read.
Cherik Kid Fic
--They are kids or get deaged--
Conspiracy of Kisses - Alaceron
Summary: Seven-year-old Erik needs to keep his telepathic best friend Charles from finding out that he wants to kiss him. But that's okay, because he has a plan - he'll put on a tinfoil hat.
Chasing After You - Alaceron
Summary: Charles isn't very good at tag. Erik helps
We’ll be the sum - afrocurl, ninemoons42
Summary: In between bouts of blanket burrito-ing and vegging out on movies, Charles and Erik figure out how they currently feel about each other.
Of course, they're schoolboys and they're on a sleepover and also Edie dotes on them both excessively, so things work out just fine.
Growing pains - ikeracity
Summary: Twelve-year-old Erik Lehnsherr is an angry, closed-off foster kid with trust issues and a bad temper. Ten-year-old Charles Xavier is a lonely kid in boarding school who just wants a friend.
Logan pretends he doesn't think they're both fucking adorable.
Valentine’s day – ikeracity
Summary: Kid fic! Erik waits impatiently all day at school to give Charles a card for Valentine's Day. Maybe Charles has something for him too...?
Now You Know You Know it Now – luninosity
Summary: Erik’s not sure why he keeps glancing at the other boy. Not as if Erik likes other kids, or other people in general, for that matter. But still—he finds himself looking. Again.
This Family Comes with Batteries - Fishwrites, lynneh
Summary: An orphaned Charles Xavier goes to live with his Godfather: Tony Stark. This story is a tale of what would have happened to the events of MCU, if Tony was raising a six year old telepath in Stark Tower. There is also the matter of Charles' robot AI manny/bodyguard/tutor/only-friend, David.
You’re Not Doing This Alone – flightinflame, Lynds
Summary: What's meant to be a simple recruitment mission leads to both Erik and Charles being de-aged back to thirteen years old. Terrified and out of their depth, the boys try to hide their situation and help each other until they can work out what is going on.
Charles Xavier, A Retelling – Extra_fried_noodles
Summary: An attempt to reverse his paralysis goes wrong, and Charles is de-aged into a 2 year old toddler. While Hank scrambles to fix the situation, the whole gang is here to help. Through a mix of selective memory, they watch Charles relive his childhood, revealing some deeply hidden and painful truths.
Protective Instinct – Groovyhornbill
Summary: Charles and Erik were testing Cerebro’s new prototype when things went very wrong.
Divergence – Lynds
Summary: Universes and timelines collide, dropping two younger versions of Charles Xavier into the midst of the hunt for Sebastian Shaw. Now the newly formed X-men have to deal with a strangely quiet and self-reliant six year old, and a sixteen year old covered in bruises.
Erik, in particular, has to accept that the man he loves hasn't had the kind, happy upbringing he wished for him. But these children are here now, and Erik's not going to let anyone hurt them this time.
--Where they have kids--
Sink or Swim – endingthemes
Summary: Erik is a struggling single dad of three kids with a burning hatred for Sebastian Shaw, the man who wronged him years ago. He’s tried to move on with his life, but a run-in with Shaw’s rude, spoiled omega, Charles, drags up old anger. When Charles ends up in the hospital after an accident, Erik goes to confront him only to find that Charles has amnesia. In the confusion, Charles mistakenly assumes that Erik is his mate.
Erik knows he should clear up the misunderstanding, but how can he pass up this perfect chance for a little revenge?
(An Overboard AU)
Rumor Has It - blueink3
Summary: "Did I hear the doorbell earlier?"
"Yeah, but I'd steer clear if I were you. It seemed a little tense. I don't know what's going on, but there's a kid out there who looks freakily like the prof."
Nearly six months after Cuba, Charles' life is turned upside down for the second time. Though he's slowly learning to adapt to the first, he's not sure he can handle the second. Luckily for him, there are a few people out there more than willing to help.
Words and Pictures – pocky_slash
Summary: When Lorna's powers manifest early, Charles Xavier's mutant picture books are the perfect teaching tool. Erik just hadn't expected the author to be so young. Or attractive. Or available.
Write this number down (you can call it anytime) – pocky_slash
Summary: When Erik upsets his children, they have a habit of running away from home--and straight to Charles' school for cookies and consolation. Charles doesn't mind the visitors, but as they appear more and more frequently, he realizes that sooner or later, he and Erik are going to have to talk about what happened on the beach and what it means for their future and the future of Erik's children.
Dress Your Family in Plaid and Skinny Jeans – cygnaut
Summary: Erik and Charles meet at the mutant playgroup/parenting support circle and they instantly hit it off. And so do their kids, Lorna and David.
Not What I was Expecting (So Much Better) – lazulisong
Summary: Erik, the single father, hires Charles, the grad student with the slightly shady past, to be his manny.
Heli Cases – Black_Betty
Summary: "Heli Cases" is a program on PBS whose aim is to educate on the rapidly increasing occurrence of genetic mutation in the general populous by breaking the complex science down into palatable, easy to digest pieces.
It is also the only thing that helps Erik get his fussy daughter to fall asleep.
(Featuring Dadneto, baby Lorna and the struggles of single fatherhood, and Charles as the host of a late night show about genetics.)
Doing Something for Yourself – Pookaseraph
Summary: Erik is a hard working engineer and single dad, Charles runs a local Community Center where Wanda and Pietro spend their time after school. Erik accidentally makes Charles' acquaintance one Wednesday evening when he's running late from work. Erik has no idea if he stands a chance with his new acquaintance, but that isn't going to keep him from falling for the guy.
A Good Dad – listerinezero
Summary: Ten years later, Magneto has left the Brotherhood and Raven asks Charles to help her find him. Charles discovers that Erik is the single father of five year old twins Wanda and Pietro, and he is doing everything he can to keep them safe from his former enemies.
Take a Chance (On Me) – Ook
Summary: In which Charles, terrorised by his abusive ex, takes his young son to a small town in America, where they both settle down and make friends with their neighbours. Particularly the town mechanic, Erik, and his foster son, Alex. Requester stated they wanted to "drown in H/C. "
Can’t Buy Me Love – niniblack
Summary: Erik's a single dad struggling to make it work and nab the promotion he's been waiting for. The last thing he needs is to get involved with politician and notorious playboy Charles Xavier.
(The Maid in Manhattan pastiche that no one asked for.)
Ohana – royal_chandler
Summary: Erik's children are absolute hellions. If by hellions, one means children who are incredibly protective of their new family unit and won't let a few household mishaps get in the way of keeping it together.
One Second and a Million Miles – magneto
Summary: Between being a parent to the best baby in the history of man-kind and co-running a Mutant Center in Hell's Kitchen, Erik Lehnsherr has his hands pretty full. Too full, certainly for romance; something that has never really been on his radar to begin with.
All that changes, however, when he meets Dr. Charles Xavier. Handsome, intelligent, capable, kind, an Omega level telepath, and one of the best pediatricians in the state, he's everything Erik didn't know he was looking for. But he's also Lorna's pediatrician which means, of course, he's off-limits. Except how is Erik supposed to try and forget his crush when he and Charles keep running into each other as if fate is trying to tell them something? When, as Charles says, they seem to want the same thing?
Her Only Mutations Were Her Blue Eyes and Her Auburn Hair – Pookaseraph
Summary: While sneaking back out of Russia, Erik and Charles stumble across Anya, Erik's presumed dead daughter, and it changes quite a few little things along the way. Fluffy, self-indulgent, fix-it.
Despicably Yours – Cesare, veryorangecat
Summary: Erik Lehnsherr, AKA Magneto, is a supervillain without equal... except maybe one: Charles Xavier, AKA Professor X, AKA Erik's next door neighbor. When their competition heats up, Erik decides the only way to get ahead is to adopt four mutant orphans to infiltrate Charles's mansion.
Things don't go as planned.
The Wrong Impression – Rosawyn
Summary: Charles is trying to balance the responsibilities of his career with his responsibilities as a single father to a tiny baby. It's not something he ever thought he'd have to do, and it's not as easy as those women on the internet make it look! He does't have much of a social life (unless talking to his sister on the phone and attending a parents' class where he's the only guy count), and he doesn't even have time to think of dating. He's just trying to keep his job - and keep his son fed and healthy.
Marrying a Mob – Ook
Summary: Charles is a teacher at a very exclusive school. When armed men burst in on the trail of two children, of course he stands up to them and gets hurt. The children are Erik Lehnsherr's children (of course); a "prominent businessman" or, less politely, "mobster".
Erik is grateful to Charles for saving his children's lives at the cost of his kneecap. So very grateful.
Naturally he tries to reward Charles for his actions. Equally naturally, Charles will be having none of that.
Azazel finds the whole thing unspeakably hilarious. Naturally.
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Fallout New Vegas companions react to taking the Courier's place in Dead Money.
Arcade Gannon: Following the obligatory panic attack and subsequent state of dejection, Arcade would suck it up and start trying to get the heist done with as quickly as possible. He’d roll his eyes at Dean Domino, set aside Dog and God’s identity crisis for later and check Christine over for basic first aid purposes before trudging along toward the various goals set by Elijah. I think he’d opt for stealth over combat when encountering the ghost people out of a sense of self-preservation, but he would probably pocket some clothing and blood samples from any that Dog took down along the way to the casino. The story of the Sierra Madre would fascinate him, particularly the bits and pieces left behind by jaded treasure hunters and Elijah’s previous teams of victims. Arcade would see it as a microcosm of what’s happening in the wider world, a stellar example of partners turning on each other in pursuit of some perceived bright future attached to the hidden treasures of the old world. Vera’s desperate graffiti in her hotel room would speak to him most powerfully: LET GO. He would probably try to argue with Elijah about the viability of the former Brotherhood Elder’s plans, throwing some Latin phrasing in for good measure. No matter his level of success in this, Arcade would stow away as many gold bars as he could to lug home and use to sparingly and anonymously fund the efforts of the Followers of the Apocalypse.
Craig Boone: During his first encounter with one of the ghost people popping up again after being downed by his sniper rifle, Boone would grunt in annoyance, swap his ammo for hollow points and switch from aiming at chests to aiming at heads. Ghost people bob and weave admirably, but Boone has a gift, and up until he actually got inside the casino, his main obstacle would be avoiding the noxious cloud. The holograms, on the other hand, would probably strike some fear into his heart. After all, how do you destroy something that bullets can’t touch? I don’t think he would put two and two together about the emitters until Christine or Dean pointed them out: From there, it just becomes a scavenger hunt to find the next piece of wall-mounted tech to shoot. Dean, Dog and God would annoy him, but he’d find a kindred spirit in Christine, and would appreciate her ability to convey meaning without words. Hell, he’s pretty good at that himself. Upon finding Elijah, Boone would immediately put a bullet in his head, look at the pile of gold for a few seconds, then walk away and out of the Sierra Madre without looking back. He’d never breathe a word of the place to anyone, but he’d track down all of the Sierra Madre broadcast systems one by one and destroy them, letting the desert swallow the place and its dangers for good.
Lily Bowen: Grandma Lily wouldn’t understand why the angry man was so desperate to get inside the casino, but she’s more than familiar with being a forced follower of doomed causes. As such, she would be kind to her fellow captives, assuring Christine that she would be able to talk “when she’s ready,” admonishing Dean for his rude behavior and telling Elijah that he would catch more cazadores with honey mesquite than with vinegar. A trail of wrecked ghost people would follow her to the casino itself, but dealing with the holograms would be beyond her expertise: That part would have to be left to Christine or Dean. Elijah would receive a lecture once she made it into the vault, but she would probably let him live unless he attacked first. Dog and God, however, would earn the most care and compassion and even cause some introspection. Ultimately, I think she would help the two become one through intense conversation and shared understanding about what it means to be nightkin with no master, and once freed, she would take him to find a home in Jacobstown.
Raul Alfonso Tejada: Upon waking up from being kidnapped by Dog on Elijah's behalf, Raul's immediate reaction would be something like "Again?" followed by "Carajo." Elijah’s insistence on pulling off the heist would annoy him, but Raul is constantly looking for something to occupy his unnaturally-long time on earth, and what is the Sierra Madre if not the Mojave’s most deadly time-waster? He would be sarcastic and exasperated for his entire time wearing the bomb collar, but would find ways to be tender and understanding with Christine, and patient and supportive with Dog and God - after all, he knows what it’s like to struggle with two sides of yourself. Dean, on the other hand, would vex him. Here’s another pre-war ghoul hung up on the promises and mistakes of the past, driven to the point of obsession where he can’t break himself out of the cycle. He can’t let go, and I think that doomed state of being would speak to Raul personally. I don’t think he and Dean would get along, but I don’t think they would have a final showdown in the Tampico either. Instead, I think Dean would watch Raul exit the vault’s elevator, flip one souvenir gold bar in his hand with a wry smile, then pocket it before walking out into the wastes, and the pre-war lounge singer would feel a twinge of kindred sadness before going back to rummaging through the casino’s secrets.
Rose of Sharon Cassidy: Following a tense standoff with Elijah while refusing to do as he says, Cass would eventually relent and start dragging her feet around the villa to assemble the ragtag heist crew. She’d hold each of them at a distance, intent on getting herself out alive and refusing to be responsible for anyone else. Nods of sympathy for Christine, dry comebacks for Dean and a quizzical comment or two for Dog and God would be her limit, at least until they all encountered their turning points inside the casino. Each of them would grow her disdain for Elijah and his methods, but, like Raul, I think she would be most personally affected by Dean’s story. She might find herself arguing with him like the courier did with her, about moving on from failed pasts and striking out into something new. I don’t think she’d take the time to argue with Elijah, though, and would take the first chance she got to lock him in the vault forever. She’d make off with as much gold as she could, of course.
Veronica Santangelo: The Sierra Madre would make Veronica's head explode, though whether or not Elijah could stand her mouth going a million miles a minute once she wakes up would determine whether that would happen literally or figuratively. Tons and tons of pre-war tech lying around! But it's all under a haze of collapsed support beams, toxic gas and ghost people that can jump around like grasshoppers. Father Elijah is alive! But he's trying to break into a casino to build an army of holograms, and he imprisoned Christine. Christine is here! But she's been maimed and abused horribly, and is trying to kill Elijah. I think Elijah would try reasoning with Veronica before threatening her into obeying him - though she would probably figure out how to get the collar off or render it useless within the first 24 hours in the Sierra Madre - but I don’t think he would be able to convince her that his plan to get inside the casino’s vault would benefit the Brotherhood of Steel. The revelations that Christine would bring - the Circle of Steel’s orders, Elijah’s crimes against travelers and treasure hunters, his orchestration of their breakup in order to bring Veronica to the Mojave with him - would probably leave her feeling confused and empty about the man she considers a grandfather figure. She would probably do her best to free Elijah from the casino, but would offer him a choice if she succeeded: Leave the treasures of the Sierra Madre behind and walk away from his accursed quest for power, or remain trapped with what he’d sought. Whatever path he’d choose, Veronica would part ways with him once the vault’s elevator ascended. She’d bundle up Vera’s dress, sigh heavily, then take Christine’s hand and walk away from the Sierra Madre forever.
ED-E: Ironically, I think ED-E would be a good pick for Elijah to use as a pawn in his heist game, though it would be kind of hard for Dog to hook a collar onto the little robot. If Ulysses can speak to the courier through an eyebot’s speakers, then Elijah can probably do the same to his already-assembled team. ED-E doesn’t have a whole lot of personal motivation, so I think the bot would just beep and go along with whatever it was ordered to do. Christine or Dean would probably take the lead, and ED-E would zoom around the villa, dodging throwing knife spears and trumpeting his location without a care. Once inside the casino, ED-E would again defer to his leader’s orders, with the added benefit of being a robot keeping him from the holograms’ notice. If allowed into the vault, ED-E would diligently pick up exactly six of the gold bars and carry them home to the Mojave, where he would deposit them at the bewildered courier’s feet with a triumphant beep.
Rex: While much easier to slap a collar on than ED-E, I don't think Rex would fare better than the little robot in terms of leadership abilities. As an ally to whoever gets put in charge, though, he would also be invaluable at sneaking around the Sierra Madre’s various threats, particularly the ghost people. He would take a special shine to Christine and God, who would recognize the canine as a fellow being exploited by powers out of his control. Rex would absolutely hate the holograms, who smell of nothing, and Elijah, who smells of desperation and indifference. He would completely ignore the gold bars. Once freed, he would whine and beg and nudge Christine until she relented and left the city of the dead, leading her home to the New Vegas strip and another woman whose scent told him of metal bunkers and longing.
#fallout#fallout new vegas#fnv#fnv companions#fallout new vegas companions#fallout reactions#fnv reactions#fallout new vegas reactions#honestly I could write a whole fic about Veronica taking the courier's spot#ed-e#rex#veronica santangelo#rose of sharon cassidy#cassidy#raul tejada#lily bowen#craig boone#arcade gannon#christine royce#dean domino#dog/god#father elijah#dead money#sorry about the delay#this one took some soul-searching#sierra madre
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Valueable Moments
A story in which you are a male Lieutenant working directly under Roy Mustang.
FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BROTHERHOOD PART ONE SPOILERS!!
Though it always seemed that the man was stressed, you couldn't stand to see Roy in the state that he was currently in: hair pointed outwards in every which way, deep circles beneath his jet black eyes, and his overall sluggish demeanor.
The broken man took his seat at his desk, groaning as he laid his head in his arms for a moment. He didn't care about his appearance around you at the moment, knowing you'd excuse his current behavior. "Good morning, Sir." You chimed, attempting to forecast a bit of your energy towards him. A slightly less painful groan was left in return, causing the edges of your mouth to twinge in sympathy.
Today was a rather slow day, which would work in Roy's favour. It was a Friday morning, with most work being completed already from the previous four work days. There were a few papers that he needed to sign, however they could technically wait until the following week.
Roy didn't seem to move after he uttered that groan, which could only mean that he had fallen asleep. You couldn't help but smile, quietly placing your pen back in its holding cup. You stood from your seat and pushed in the chair carefully, walking over to the Colonel. The position that he was in didn't seem right for his back, so you decided to try to lift him. The man didn't seem like he weighed too much. With a height of 5'8" and a lean muscular composition, he was bound to be within your carrying capabilities. This was where your theories fell flat.
You placed your arm around his two legs, and another behind his back, ready to lift. However, Roy was much heavier than he seemed. He must be carrying more muscle weight than you anticipated. You huffed and removed your arms, gazing back at the man before you. He was still fast asleep. The poor man must not have slept last night. Who could blame him after losing Maes…
You sighed and placed your hand on his head, gently moving each strand of hair from his eyes. Normally he'd never let you do such a thing, but there was no opposition when he was this exhausted. The corners of his mouth moved upwards in a sleepy smile, eyebrows moving from furrowed to relaxed. You heard a quiet noise escape from him as he moved his head slightly, as if he wanted more.
You felt a small ping of excitement as you brushed your thumb from the bottom of his front hairs to the root. Your hand left his head as you removed your jacket, draping it over his shoulders to act as a blanket. You left a final pat on the top of his head as you quietly stepped away.
As you reached your desk you picked up your phone, scrolling the wheel to dial Armstrong's extension. Of course he’d be able to lift the Colonel. Plus, he seemed like he’d help the man. He proved to be an extremely compassionate individual. You tapped your foot quietly as you waited for him to answer, fingers grazing against the curled telephone line. Your mind drifted to what excuses you could make for Roy in the event that someone called. You bit your bottom lip as you brainstormed, nearly jumping out of your skin as you heard Armstrong pick up.
The thoughts that were once invading the weather of your brain were now scattered, like a few calm clouds in a serene evening sky. “Hello?” Armstrong greeted, seeming a tad confused. “Hello, Major Armstrong, this is Lieutenant L/N. I require your assistance in the office if that is all right.” You explained, keeping your tone quiet. “YOU REQUIRE MY ASSISTANCE? OF COURSE! I WILL BE THERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! THE ARMSTR-” You felt bad for hanging up abruptly, however even the voice in the telephone was too loud for the sleeping Roy across the room. He grumbled a grumpy noise and buried his head further into his desk, returning back to his immobile state. You sent a swift grin his way and made your way to the door, not wanting the Major to wake him up.
You exited the office and waited patiently for Major Armstrong, humming quietly to yourself. Meanwhile, Armstrong was running down the halls, elated that someone needed him. As you saw the Major, you put a finger to your lips, causing him to slow down in his tracks. He stopped in front of you and whispered… Rather, spoke in a normal tone for average beings. You weren’t sure if he was capable of legitimately whispering. “What do you need help with, Lieutenant?”
You pressed your pointer finger to your lips once again as you opened the door to the office, letting the Major in. His eyes opened wide as he whispered “Is he dead!?!?” You immediately closed the door and rolled your eyes, shaking your head. “The Colonel is asleep, and I’d appreciate it if you kept this between the two of us, Sir. Would you mind helping me lift him to the sofa? He seems quite exhausted and truly deserves the rest.”
Major Armstrong immediately melted and babbled about how kind of you that was, and how noble it was for you to ensure that he rested. You swore you could see hearts appear, framing his head as he continued to gush. When he was finished, he easily lifted the Colonel. Roy stirred a bit in his sleep but didn’t move much, as he was truly exhausted. The Major grinned ear to ear and giddily brought Roy to the sofa, placing him gently down. He gave the Colonel a light pat to the head and retreated back to you, nearly skipping due to the overall joy he was feeling.
You shook your head and let a crooked smile slip as the Major gushed to you. He swore that the Colonel leaned into him, like a small child. Armstrong was shaking with excitement, thanking you again for choosing him. You insisted that you should be thanking him, but he just seemed too damn happy.
As the Major finally exited the room, you rubbed your eyes and began to walk to your desk, stopping in your tracks as you heard your name. “Y/N…” Roy mumbled, eyes just barely open. You immediately turned around, walking over to your superior. You bent down so you were eye-level with Roy. “Yes, sir?” You asked, making sure to keep your voice down. “Why am I here… I n-” “Colonel, you need rest. I was quite unsure if you were even alive a few moments ago. Please do not argue with me, you deserve this rest. I’ve already taken care of everything else.”
He began to protest again, but his arguments were nearly as weak as his ability to stay conscious. You sighed and stood up, adjusting your uniform. “Rest well, Colonel.” You stated, turning back to face your desk. “Y/N wait-” You turned back around. Roy had a hand extended out, mumbling quietly: “Nap with me?” You immediately shut him down. Flirting? In this state? He is too persistent. You couldn’t even tell if he was being serious, due to his tone of voice, as well as not knowing his sexuality.
Roy gazed at you and sleepily smirked. “What if I told you that was an order?” You knew this had to be a joke, but for some reason the delivery of it felt off. You couldn’t help but catch the bit of yearning behind his fake demanding tone. How were you supposed to say no to that? Especially when there was a chance that he was serious. If anything, you could simply state you were following orders. There was no way you could be outed… right?
The thought of doing so made your head spin. You couldn’t tell his intentions and it was a bit overwhelming. The possibility of being outed, and having Roy disgusted with you, caused a wave of anxiety to hit. You began to sweat beneath your shirt, still looking for any sort of social cue. Roy groaned and placed his left hand over his eyes. “You are no fun…” He grumbled. For some reason he sounded genuinely upset, and that was all you needed to hear. Now, you were sure he was serious. “Okay.” He uncovered his eyes and sat up slightly. “Okay?” “Okay.”
You removed your uniform boots and sighed, awkwardly lying next to Roy. For some reason, knowing he was serious made it even more anxiety inducing. Though he was half asleep, Roy noticed your stiffness and wrapped an arm around you, laying his head on your chest. This caused your cheeks to warm. He smirked and closed his eyes, placing his other hand on your abdomen to rest. You moved your arm to support Roy’s head and placed your hand on his shoulder, fully holding him.
You took a few breaths and attempted to calm yourself, oblivious to the fact that Roy could hear your heartbeat. Deep down Roy was as smug as ever, but he decided to keep that to himself, not wanting to add to your anxiety. “Is this… okay?” You mumbled, unsure of how exactly this was supposed to work. Being in the closet caused you to avoid relationships, fearful that someone would harm you, or worse, your partner.
“Yes, Y/N. This is fine.” He stated reassuringly, holding in a chuckle. You exhaled in relief and lifted your right hand, threading your fingers through his hair. Though it seemed spiky, it was surprisingly soft, which was a pleasant surprise. Roy hummed and let you comb through his hair, feeling a bit generous today. Especially since you did agree to comfort him as he slept. Though, he’d never admit this.
You closed your eyes and continued to card your fingers through each strand, feeling the fatigue begin. After a few minutes you opened one eye, peeping down at Roy. He was fast asleep, right arm hugged tightly around your middle. You grinned ear to ear, feeling grateful that you were allowed to see the Colonel in this vulnerable, precious state. You adored seeing his head move slightly upward with each breath you took, and back down when you exhaled.
Was this what relationships felt like? Was your fear causing you to miss out on these moments? You shook these thoughts away, not wanting to ruin this valuable moment. You closed your eyes and held Roy tight, unsure when you’d ever be able to do this again. Even if you couldn’t, this one moment would satisfy you for a lifetime.
Sorry if this is considered too similar to the last! I’ve been going through a lot lately, and comforting others is really just... stress relief to me. I usually write depending on my mood and I’m sorry if this gets annoying! Any constructive criticism would be great as long as it isn’t too harsh! Thank you for reading!
PS: All my works are unfortunately unedited. I do not have the patience to reread my longer works. Apologies!
Word Count: 1776
#roymustang#roy mustang x male reader#roy mustang x reader#FMA#Fullmetal Alchemist#fmab roy#fullmetal alchimist brotherhood#Roy Mustang
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Spilled Pearls
- Chapter 9 - ao3 -
Lan Qiren was groggy with lack of sleep the next morning, but an evening’s contemplation of the Lan sect’s rules had put him back into the right mindset.
As a disciple of the Lan sect, he was entitled under the rules for his elders to remember do not disrespect your juniors just as he was required to respect and obey your elders. Pursuant to the rules, he should have the protection of his sect and their support, and if what he had was imperfect, it was at least something; for every Lan Ganhui that mocked him, there was a Lan Yueheng that encouraged him, and there were plenty of teachers that preferred him over all the others.
As for his brother – Lan Qiren should not hold his anger against him. He had been acting in the best interest of the sect, seeking to obtain benefits for what had been lost; he had thought throughout the trip that Lan Qiren had given up more than just his word of honor, but had refrained from punishing him accordingly. In the end, even his father had assigned him only to kneel, which was a milder punishment by far than he deserved for all his mistakes and insolence.
More than that, his brother was right: Wen Ruohan would be bound by his own word of honor and public reputation to treat Lan Qiren with dignity, and by endorsing the relationship rather than rejecting it, his sect was indicating that they would hold Wen Ruohan to his word. His father had appropriately expressed concern on Lan Qiren’s behalf, his brother had refuted those concerns with well-reasoned logic; it was inappropriate for Lan Qiren to take such an intellectual discussion to heart.
That he had – and that he had forgotten, even temporarily and in the privacy of his own head, the rule do not argue with family for it does not matter who wins – was merely evidence once again that Lan Qiren was inferior to his brother, who through keeping a cool head had enabled their sect to turn what could have been an embarrassment into a victory.
As for his father…Lan Qiren shouldn’t have been surprised, that’s all. Hadn’t years and years taught him that fathers only gave what they chose to give and no more? He had long ago learned that his father was kind and noble and equitable, concerned with all the Lan sect disciples (but for his dearly beloved eldest) in the same way and the same manner; being disappointed to receive that and nothing more was only his own foolishness.
(He only wondered, in passing, why it had been his father’s glacial voice that had scared him so, compared to the familiar warmth of his brother’s anger.)
So fortified and reassured, Lan Qiren returned to the regular flow of daily life at the Cloud Recesses.
It was not easy. As his brother had predicted, rumors about his sworn brotherhood with Wen Ruohan sprang up at once, and many of his fellow disciples were prone to staring at him when they thought he wouldn’t notice. The teachers handed out many punishments for breaking the prohibition about talking behind people’s backs, although with a certain leniency that made Lan Qiren suspect that they themselves toed the line of that particular rule behind closed doors.
The rumors themselves were split between those that theorized that Wen Ruohan had used nefarious means to entrap Lan Qiren and force him to agree to brotherhood – the Fire Palace was mentioned often, as were various theoretical misapplications of cultivation techniques of dark and unsavory natures – and those that skipped over the how of brotherhood and went straight to speculating as to the why, which typically also involved a variety of references to misapplied cultivation techniques, this time of the sort most often found exclusively in certain types of low-brow spring books.
Someone even suggested that Wen Ruohan intended on taking Lan Qiren to bed as a cauldron, which was the stupidest idea out of the whole lot.
“Of course that can’t be true,” Lan Qiren patiently explained to Lan Yueheng, who had come to collect his geometry book. As a gesture of thanks for his support, Lan Qiren had read the whole thing and sent an annotated list of questions and comments; Lan Yueheng had practically turned pink with excitement when he’d seen it and then secluded himself for two days to write a response. Lan Qiren still didn’t see the appeal of geometry, but he’d managed to coax Lan Yueheng into a discussion of the mathematics of music theory, an area in which their particular interests overlapped, and he had hope of a fruitful dialogue continuing into the future. “At least traditionally, cauldrons are individuals with high cultivation potential that has yet to be developed – raw natural talent, in other words, which can then be refined into strength for another. My inborn talent is only moderate, even low, and my progress is primarily due to good resources and hard work. So even if someone put in the work to make me a cauldron, they wouldn’t get much out of me.”
Lan Yueheng nodded, his brow wrinkled thoughtfully. “So your brother would’ve been a better cauldron than you.”
“…that is correct, but please don’t say it.” Lan Qiren quietly pitied Lan Yueheng’s etiquette teachers, and spared a thought to hope that his cousin’s children, should he have them, would take more after whoever he married than him. Even if only because Lan Qiren hoped to become a teacher himself one day, and he was sure that Lan Yueheng’s particularly brash and un-Lan-like bluntness would make for a terrible future student. “Perhaps it would be more helpful for you to think of it in the sense of energy transfers of heat? I’m already cold, so to speak, so he wouldn’t be able to draw out much heat from me.”
“Wait, if you’re cold and Sect Leader Wen is hot, would that make him the cauldron? Assuming you ever did dual cultivate.”
Lan Qiren pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s...not how that works, Yueheng-xiong. At all. I was merely attempting to use a metaphor to clarify the issue. Clearly I failed and only confused things further.”
Lan Yueheng shrugged. “At least you try,” he remarked. “And when you fail, you try again, doing something different. It’s better than the teachers who just do the same thing every time and blame you for being as bemused on the seventh repetition as you were on the first.”
Lan Qiren felt his ears go red at the compliment. “You’ve been here too long,” he reminded his cousin. “Your parents won’t be happy to see you spending too much time with me.”
“My parents don’t care. It’s my aunt and uncle who don’t like it. They say that people might start asking if I cultivate as a cauldron too –”
“Your parents listen to your aunt and uncle, so if they don’t like it, you shouldn’t disobey them. The rules say Be a filial child.”
“They also say Do not form cliques to exclude others, but that isn’t stopping the other disciples from playing favorites, is it?”
That was definitely one of the rules more honored in the breach, Lan Qiren thought with a sigh. But what could be done, when their elders did the same? The sect followed the example of its leader, and his father’s tendency towards favoritism were well known, albeit one that was widely indulged as a quirk rather than condemned as a serious flaw.
“I will remind the teachers of that one,” he said. “Perhaps a refresher would be suitable, to remind people. But the rule are meant for your own discipline, not others, and – ”
“Just because other people aren’t following the rules doesn’t mean I shouldn’t, I know,” Lan Yueheng said with a sigh of his own. “I’ll go…oh! It’s getting late. Weren’t you supposed to go to the guest’s pavilion by the western watchtower already?”
Lan Qiren blinked. “I don’t have that patrol route in my schedule until the end of the week.”
“No, no! I was supposed to tell you! Lao Nie’s come to visit, and –”
There were rules against running in the Cloud Recesses, so Lan Qiren was slightly late despite his best efforts, but true to form Lao Nie didn’t admonish him: he only turned from where he was sitting in the pavilion and smiled, calling out, “Qiren! There you are!”
“Forgive –”
“Forgiven,” Lao Nie interrupted before Lan Qiren even got the first word out. Lan Qiren was relieved to see that there was neither food nor tea already prepared; he would have been mortified if it had grown cold while Lao Nie was waiting to see him. “And don’t bow, either. How have you been? Tell me people aren’t harassing you over the nonsense with Hanhan.”
Lan Qiren opened his mouth, then hesitated.
“Do not tell lies,” Lao Nie observed, grimacing. “Ah, Qiren! Sometimes your brother’s worse than useless. It’s a pity, really, I hadn’t realized – well. At any rate, I’ve been bothering him for weeks to tell me about you and he wouldn’t say a word.”
“He was angry at me for messing up the conference,” Lan Qiren explained.
Lao Nie’s eyebrows arched. “You mean the conference where the Lan sect got first place in both major events and then extracted serious concessions from the Wen sect in a completely unexpected and nearly inexplicable political coup that got the whole cultivation world talking in awe at your political acumen? That conference?”
“I lost face for him. He thought – well, he’d thought it was worse than it was,” Lan Qiren hesitated. “He’s not the only one.”
Lao Nie huffed. “People are, by and large, stupid,” he declared. “Don’t let them get to you. They’ll change their tune soon enough.”
Lan Qiren wasn’t so sure. “They say a reputation is like a porcelain vase,” he said, unable to conceal his worries in the face of someone actually expressing concern rather than curiosity. His dream was to be a traveling cultivator, and that would be much easier with a good name, which he had always had before – good, or at least boring, which was just fine with him. He preferred to be boring! It had never occurred to him that he might do something that would render him the subject of gossip; it had never happened before. “Once cracked…”
“Right now, there’s only some bored people speculating that there might be a crack,” Lao Nie said. His confidence was contagious; Lan Qiren couldn’t help but relax a little in the face of it. “No one’s actually sure about it, and they’re willing to hear otherwise – things aren’t yet so bad. Don’t worry. I’ve spoken with Hanhan about it already.”
Lan Qiren felt his ears burning in shame. “Lao Nie! You didn’t!”
Especially since that would undoubtedly only make Wen Ruohan even more angry…
Lao Nie laughed and put his hand on his head, rubbing it lightly. “I did. Not in your name, but rather his own – do you think the Wen sect wants to get a reputation for being led by a man with an unhealthy interest in noble-born children? It’s in his interest to get this cleared up as much as you.”
Lan Qiren felt the tension rush out of his shoulders all at once. That hadn’t occurred to him, but now that Lao Nie had pointed it out, it was clear enough.
After all, for all the talk going around about Lan Qiren, it was widely agreed that he was clearly the victim in whatever scenario they’d thought up, whether through having his oath extracted under torture or by force; even among those who theorized that Wen Ruohan intended to use him as a cauldron, the reputation Lan Qiren might get would be, at worst, that of a seductive flirt who couldn’t be resisted. Lan Qiren’s brother had scoffed audibly the first time he’d heard that, saying that such a rumor would naturally be dispelled the moment anyone came in contact with Lan Qiren for more than a moment, and in all honesty Lan Qiren agreed with his assessment. He had the classic Lan sect looks, yes, but so did many others, and he had a demeanor as stern as a schoolmaster, giving off the feel of an old man even though he wasn’t even of age.
Meanwhile, for Wen Ruohan, the consequences were undoubtedly more dire – if he was said to have a taste for boys, especially noble-born ones, the other sects might be afraid to send their sons around him. It was a different reputation by far than his taste for torture, or his supposed use of dark and forbidden cultivation; those would make people fear him, while lusting for children would only make people disdain him.
Still, Lan Qiren wasn’t sure how exactly even someone of Wen Ruohan’s cunning would go about fixing such a mistake – and that was putting aside why he would make such a mistake over Lan Qiren in the first place. He hadn’t had a chance to explain to his brother his theory that Wen Ruohan had acted just to irritate Lao Nie, and in the end he’d decided it wasn’t worth drawing his brother’s attention back to the subject.
Besides, if Lan Qiren could figure it out, with his notorious inability to understand interpersonal affairs, then surely his brother was more than able to do the same. It wasn’t as if Lao Nie were being shy about it…
“Hanhan said he had something in mind,” Lao Nie was saying, shaking his head. “He usually does, I find, and each idea’s more awful than the next.”
Lan Qiren shifted a little from one foot to the other. “If you know he’s awful, why do you…” he hesitated. “I mean, you call him – an endearment.”
“Oh, he’s a little awful, no doubt,” Lao Nie said, sounding rather fond. “But as long as it’s not my sect, what do I care? Anyway, Qiren, you shouldn’t worry. If there’s one thing you can trust with Hanhan, it’s that he takes care of anything associated with himself.”
Lan Qiren didn’t really like the fact that he was now counted among that number.
It didn’t seem all that safe.
“Though of course that doesn’t protect him from you,” Lao Nie added, suddenly smirking, and Lan Qiren blinked owlishly at him. “Apparently, you’re a very talkative drunk.”
Lan Qiren’s face burned red.
“And effusive, too! According to Hanhan, even after you forced him down in his seat to keep listening to you, you kept waving your hands around while you were talking and knocking things over; he had to pin you down to keep you from destroying things by accident.”
That would explain the marks on his arms.
“Apparently, you didn’t appreciate him doing that and kneed him right in the –”
“You really think he can make the rumors go away?” Lan Qiren hastily interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck a little as if it would make the heat of hideous embarrassment go away. That tallied up a little too well with the physical evidence to be anything other than accurate. “There’s – a lot of them. And I’d like to have a clean reputation.”
“You will,” Lao Nie said, thankfully distracted from his mortifyingly plausible story. “Anyone who meets you will know at once that you’re a righteous and upstanding person.”
Lan Qiren liked that better than the way his brother had put it.
“It’s just that you haven’t had a chance to make your name in the cultivation world,” Lao Nie said. He sounded sure of himself. “You’ll do wonderful things one day, Qiren. I’ve no doubt.”
“I don’t want to do wonderful things,” Lan Qiren said, scowling. “I just want to travel around and help people.”
“Yes, I know,” Lao Nie said, and he sounded fond again, just the way he did when he was talking about Wen Ruohan, or even Lan Qiren’s brother. Truly, Lan Qiren thought to himself, the Nie sect had no idea how lucky they were to have him as sect leader. “Really, Qiren, it’s like I said: don’t worry about it. Now come, tell me what you’ve been studying recently.”
Lan Qiren had promised himself that he would reduce the amount of time he spent with Lao Nie on his occasional visits to the Lan sect, not wanting to risk inciting Wen Ruohan’s unreasonable anger and jealousy any further.
He would need to assign himself an appropriate punishment for breaking that promise, he thought, and sat down to start telling Lao Nie all about the work he was doing with one of his teachers on comparing the origin points of the various Lan sect rules, as well as his experiments on arrays to enhance open-air acoustics that would, he hoped, eventually be inscribed on all Lan sect instruments to increase the range and impact of their spell songs.
He even mentioned the possibility of a joint project on the mathematics of musical theory, and for whatever reason he thought Lao Nie looked especially pleased about that.
He didn’t think about Wen Ruohan at all.
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