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skepticallysound · 3 years

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A short story that I’m taking name suggestions for?

I didn’t turn around, because I knew that if I did all I would see is her face, screwed up in pain. Maybe she’d be on her knees, sobbing. I don’t know, because I didn’t look back. I wanted to. Oh, god, how I wanted to turn around and see her one more time, I recalled how her face dropped when I told her; I know I would cherish that last memory of her face forever. It was senior year and we’d both be going off to college next year, so that was the end. We always talked about spending these last few months together, before I left for Yale and she went to UCLA, but I guess my parents had something else in mind. My parents. That was it, they were the problem. I was angry at them, understandably, but they were still my parents. I needed them. I didn’t need her. Just wanted her really, really, really badly. When I finally got home I called Mick. He picked up right away. “Hey, I was just gonna call you. Wanna go get some pizza or something?” I let out a sob. “Hey, hey, hey. What’s wrong?”, Mick asked.

I tried to explain but I was crying too hard for him to even understand what I was saying. “Ok, it’s ok. I’ll be there in ten.” That was Mick. Reliable. Caring. The best friend I ever had. I can’t even imagine my life without him, we’re basically like siblings. And of course we’ve had the moment where he confessed his love to me - because we’re a boy and a girl, we have to be romantically involved right? It went something like this:

“Jess, I like you. I have for a little while now and I just thought you should know.”

“Mick, I like girls.”

“Oh… Ok. Never mind then.”

And that was that. He was great. Anyway, he came over and found me curled up in a ball in my bed under my covers. “What’s happened, love?”

“I broke up with Alisha.” I cried.

“Oh, honey. Why?” He cooed. He was good like that, supportive.

“Because, because -“ It was at this moment that I realized it was a very stupid reason, probably one of the worst ever, in fact. I started crying even harder.

“Ok, it’s ok, we don’t have to talk about it.”

And like that we stayed for quite some time, him holding me, stroking my hair and me, bawling, unable to speak.

Of course, eventually Mick had to leave. My mom came home and although both my parents adore him, it was also getting late and, like I said, boy and girl. So, no sleepovers allowed - stupid rule if you ask me, especially since I had come out, like obviously I don’t want to have sex with him now, surely you understand that. But no, my parents are very much the “Oh, this is just a phase” type of people. So, no sleepovers. Mick told me to text him if I need anything. He knew how to sneak into my window and he told me that he would bring ice cream or Kit-Kats - my favourite chocolate - in a heartbeat. My mom asked what that was about. I hesitated. I loved my mom, but, she didn’t really get me. She tried really hard, I have to give her credit, but her life was so different from mine and she just really didn’t get what it was like for me. Plus the whole lesbian thing, but we’ve already covered that. I decided to tell her. “I broke up with Alisha.”

“Oh, honey. That’s tough… but I really think this is for the best.” She hugged me. Best my ass. “If you need anything, let me know. I love you.” She let go and kissed me on the forehead. I went back up to my room. I felt like throwing up. I probably grabbed my phone to text Alisha about a thousand times, even typing out what I wanted to say. “Hey, I’m so sorry. It was a huge mistake, can you forgive me?” But I never sent them, it wasn’t fair to her. I break up with her and then a couple hours later change my mind? Bullshit. So, I laid in bed. Eventually, the tears stopped, and all I felt was numb. Right about now, all I wanted was a big hug from my dad and a deep talk from my mom, but my dad wasn’t home yet and my mom wouldn’t really want to get into the depths of my relationship with Alisha. Slowly, the sweet release of sleep came over me as I blasted my music, and I drifted off dreaming of her. Her gorgeous chocolate eyes and dark brown skin. The way she used to straighten her hair everyday in eighth grade because she “thought it looked better” but eventually left it natural most of the time from tenth grade on because she finally started to believe me when I told her it was beautiful. If it wasn’t clear already, Alisha and I were friends. Good friends. Not quite Mick and I good, but good. It’s kinda funny, because normally the two girls are the best friends and the guy and the girl fall in love, but this time the guy and the girl were the friends and the two girls fell in love. So, yeah, we were friends. And I loved her as my friend, but I always thought she was beautiful. Honestly, she was a big part of my sexual awakening, I never really realized that thinking other girls were pretty wasn’t normal, especially because my one girl friend that I talked to about it was also into girls, so, I guess neither of us really realized we were not straight for a while. It took me talking to my sister to figure it out. I remember we were both on instagram and she showed me this picture of this girl and said something like “Ugh, her stomach is so flat. Why can’t I look like that?” Which is total bullshit to begin with because my sister is hot - it runs in the family, I guess. But then I said something like “Holy shit, I’d [Insert sexual comment here]” which got a very strange look from Paige, my sister, and I thought ‘Huh, maybe that’s not normal.’ So, yeah. After that, Alisha and I started dating, we dated halfway through grade 11 through until the end of senior year. At first, I kept it a secret from my parents, and she understood that. Coming out was not an easy thing for me, for Alisha though… lets just say, she had a very different relationship with her parents. They were much more accepting than mine, but also much more strict when it came to some things. Like, for example, when they did find out we were dating, her parents did not let us go into her room, in fact, they barely let us stay at her house alone, ever. My parents, on the other hand, didn’t really care about that as much. Even when my sister brings her boyfriend over, they’re allowed in her room. So, it’s a bit of a different dynamic between her and I. When I did finally come out to my parents, I wasn’t shunned or anything, but I wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms either. I got a lot of “I’m sure you feel that way now,” and “Theres nothing wrong with experimenting.” But it was clear that they either didn’t think this was a lasting thing, or hoped that it wasn’t going to be.

The next day when I woke up, I had a text from Alisha. I bolted upright in bed and opened my phone. “Hey, can I ask you something?” It read. Why didn’t I stay up? I hated myself for a moment, then I looked at the time stamp. 4:32 am. I wouldn’t have been awake anyway, but I felt terrible because I felt like I was the reason she was up that late. Of course, Alisha was always one to stay up late. I, on the other hand, was much more sensible, usually going to bed by 11:00 or 11:30. I texted her back “Of course. Whats up?”. I sat and waited for a minute. Nothing. I felt the tears coming back. Then, a text from Mick came in: “How ya feeling?” Not great. I send him the crying emoji and the puking emoji. “That good, huh? Want me to come?” Theres that reliability again.

“No, I’ll be ok. Thanks though.”

“Anytime, and I’m still here if you need.” I don’t need to reply to this one, Mick and I are very low communication type of friends. I flip back to my chat with Alisha. Still nothing. Then the text bubbles appear, and disappear again. I wait, but they don’t reappear. More tears. I fling my phone across my bed, watching it bounce and then land on the pillow. My sister comes in. I hadn’t seen her since yesterday morning. She understands what goes on in my house better than anyone, even Mick. I guess Mom told her what happened because she didn’t say anything, she just came over and sat with me.

“Was it because of them?”

I nodded. Again, unable to speak.

“You shouldn’t let Mom and Dad dictate your life. I know theres a lot they have control over, Jess, but not this. They don’t get to decide who you love.” She was always more independent than I am, and even though she didn’t quite have this exact problem, she understood. I loved her for that. I gave her a smile and she kissed me on the cheek and left. I felt a vibration through my bed. I sat up and flipped over my phone, Alisha had finally texted. “Sorry. I just need to know why…Did I do something?” I was in shock. I can’t believe I didn’t even tell her why. I am such a horrible person.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. It wasn’t you at all. It was -“ I hesitated. I felt stupid. It was still a dumb reason. “It was because of my parents. And I feel so stupid. I shouldn’t let them control my life.” My finger hovered over the send button, and eventually it fell. My stomach dropped.

“So, what are you saying?” She replied, almost immediately.

“I’m saying that” I sent that first, that way I couldn’t back out of it. “I’m sorry, and it was a huge mistake.”

My phone started buzzing, she was calling me. I took a deep breath and tried to make it sound like I wasn’t crying. God knows why, but I did.

“Hi.” I exhaled

“Hi.” She replied. “Sorry to call. It’s just-“

“You hate texting, I know.” I finished for her. After all, I did know her very well, we had been friends for four years and dated for two of them.

“So, look. I know you and your parents have a rough relationship, but I just don’t understand why you broke up with me.”

“Like I said, it was stupid. I just felt like, I don’t know, they were starting to resent me for our relationship.”

“Oh. Well, how did you feel?”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“I felt like you were one of the best things that ever happened to me.” There was no reply, so I continued, “And I feel like and idiot for ending things with you.” I waited.

“Jess, I-I don’t know how I feel. I don’t know what to say.”

“I get that. I know you’re probably mad at me. I get it if you never want to see me again.”

“No. I don’t want that. I want the opposite, but how can I know that you won’t do this to me again?”

“You don’t, but I can make a promise to you that I have seen the error in my ways, and if you want me back, I’m yours, with the promise that this wont happen again.”

“The point is, Jess, that if you didn’t want to end it you shouldn’t have." “I know! I know I shouldn’t have. So, of course I want you back, but if that’s not what you want then I completely understand.”

“Give me some time to think.”

“Of course!”

“Ok… Bye.”

“Bye.” There was a moment while neither of us hung up and I could hear her take a couple breaths in, then the line disconnected. I took a deep breath and felt, renewed? I just hoped she would understand that I knew how much of an idiot I was and that I never wanted to hurt her like this again.

The next day, Alisha texted me asking if we could meet for coffee. I replied right away. “3 at our spot?” She asked. “Sounds good.” I replied. I looked at the clock, 1:43pm. Only another hour to wait, I quickly hopped in the shower and then picked out my bright yellow top and paired it with my solid light blue palazzo pants. Alisha always talked about how much she loved this shirt. I put on my makeup and got in my car and drove to Liz’s Coffee House. This was “our spot”, where we had our first real date, all our hangouts, we went here all the time. I got there and checked my phone. 2:54pm. Perfect. I went in and walked towards our usual table, Alisha was already sitting there, she clearly made as much of an effort as I had. Her hair was down, the way I liked it best, and she was wearing her green off the shoulder shirt and black shorts. God, she was hot. I sat down and she pushed a coffee cup towards me. “I got you your usual.”

“Thanks.” I blushed, half surprised she did that, but then remembering Alisha, feeling more surprised that I was surprised she did that. “So,” I opened

“So.” She let it hang in the air for a minute. “I still like you.” “I still like you too.” I couldn’t meet her gaze, but I felt it on me.

“Then, as long as you follow through on your promise and don’t do anything stupid again…” I managed to look up at her.

“You have my word.” I giggled

“Good. Then we’re good.” She beamed. I let out a sigh and beamed back at her.

So, Alisha and I kept dating. In my head, it was just a few more months but Alisha said that she felt like it was a few more months she could spend with a girl she had the most fun she’d ever had in her life with, and I had to agree. So, a few more months until we would have to say goodbye again. We weren’t thinking about that, though. We were just focusing on us and now.

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mydarlinginej · 3 years

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read my full review of first comes like by alisha rai here.

The author of The Right Swipe and Girl Gone Viral returns with a story about finding love in all the wrong inboxes…

Beauty expert and influencer Jia Ahmed has her eye on the prize: conquering the internet today, the entire makeup industry tomorrow, and finally, finally proving herself to her big opinionated family. She has little time for love, and even less time for the men in her private messages—until the day a certain international superstar slides into her DMs, and she falls hard and fast.

There’s just one wrinkle: he has no idea who she is.

The son of a powerful Bollywood family, soap opera star Dev Dixit is used to drama, but a strange woman who accuses him of wooing her online, well, that’s a new one. As much as he’d like to focus on his Hollywood fresh start, he can’t get Jia out of his head. Especially once he starts to suspect who might have used his famous name to catfish her…

When paparazzi blast their private business into the public eye, Dev is happy to engage in some friendly fake dating to calm the gossips and to dazzle her family. But as the whole world swoons over their relationship, Jia can’t help but wonder: Can an online romance-turned-offline-fauxmance ever become love in real life?

my review:

Although I haven’t read the first book in this series, I really enjoyed the second, so I was really excited for Jia’s story! I was even more pulled in by the fake dating premise. First Comes Like shows what happens when a fake relationship becomes real.

A beauty influencer, Jia Ahmed is finally about to meet Dev Dixit, the famous actor whom she’s been talking to online for months. Or so she thinks: it turns out whoever Jia’s been talking to was not Dev himself. After a picture of them makes headlines, he agrees to fake a relationship with Jia; for him, it’s to make up to her about the fake messages, and for her, it’s to keep her family from nagging her. However, the lines between fake and real become more and more blurred.

Fake dating stories can rarely go wrong in my book, but I particularly loved this one! There’s also a catfishing aspect to the story, so the fake dating is partially to save face from that. The book feels very evenly paced, both plot- and relationship-wise. Also, while this book is part of a series, you can read it as a standalone without missing anything.

read my full review here.

#first comes like #alisha rai #reviews #mine #link #q

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crackedoutgiraffe · 4 years

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To the Moon and Back

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

A/N: Chapter 6

You had left your phone on the conference room table while you looked through the files. It started ringing unexpectedly. It was Garcia.

“Hey Garcia,” you eagerly greeted her, you hadn’t spoken to any of the team for about 6 hours. They were all out doing FBI things.

“How much do you love me?” she asked

Confused, you answered the peculiar question, “I love you very much, Garcia.” “What would you say if I told you I had the name of the unsub?”

“Wait, you figured it out?” you jumped out of your chair with excitement.

“Sure did,” she giggled, “I believe your unsub is one Robert Adams.”

“Do you have a location, Garcia?”

“His credit card just made a purchase at the Seven Stars Restaurant,”

“Thank you, Garcia,” you said as you ran out the door. “Wait, why did you call me?”

“No one else was picking up,” she replied. “Good luck, be safe,” she hung up after that. The team left one SUV for you just in case you needed to go anywhere. You hopped in and started for the restaurant. You tried to call Hotch, but he wouldn’t respond.

Then you tried Rossi, and thankfully he responded, “Rossi, where are you right now?” you asked frantically

“We’re at the school. Why? What’s wrong?” he could hear how scared you were on the other end of the line.

“Garcia called me and told me that she has the unsub’s identity,” you breathed out, trying to drive at the same time.

“Y/N, I’m going to put you on speaker,” he added. “Alright, you have me, Hotch, Morgan, and Reid.”

“Garcia, she called me and said that the name of the unsub was Robert Adams and that he was at the Seven Stars restaurant, I’m pulling into the restaurant now,” you got out of the car and headed toward the entrance.

“Alright, Y/N, do not engage wait outside we’ll be there in five minutes,” Hotch sounded scared

“Alright. Is there anyt-,” you started but you were knocked out by an explosion from the restaurant.

“Y/N, hold we’ll be there soon,” Hotch calmly said, but you couldn’t respond.

You were knocked unconscious by the blast, you finally awoke to sirens and people surrounding you. You could see all the team members around you.

Everyone stayed by your side for a few moments until Morgan received some news, “Hotch he’s still in there.”

“Ok. Prentiss, come with Morgan and me to catch the unsub,” Hotch started. “Rossi, take Y/N to the ambulance.”

Rossi helped you to stand up while you were holding your head. He led you over to an ambulance, “Rossi, I’m fine, really.”

“I’m sure you are,” he said, “but you may have a concussion.” The paramedic checked your vitals and performed a concussion test. You passed, so a hospital visit wasn’t necessary.

While the paramedic was checking your health he was also checking you out, “Alright Ms. Y/L/N, your vitals are good and you don’t seem to have a concussion,” the paramedic briefed. “Make sure that you visit your primary care physician. Also, do you think I would be able to get your number?”

He wasn’t bad looking, he seemed nice, “Sure,” you smiled. You looked past some of the cops at the restaurant and saw Reid looking your way. It seemed like he was giving the paramedic a death stare. You got up off the ambulance and hobbled over to the rest of your team. Prentiss and Hotch had apprehended the unsub, and they loaded him into a police car.

“What did the paramedic say?” Hotch asked.

“He said I’m good to go,” you responded happily.

Reid looked upset from where you were standing, “seemed like he said more than that,” Reid mumbled.

“Alright, go pack up your guys’ stuff and meet me at the airfield in 30,” Hotch continued. You all went to the SUVs. You decided to ride in the back with Rossi driving and Prentiss in the passenger seat. The three of you promptly arrived at the hotel just behind JJ, Morgan, and Reid. Rossi came to help you out of the car, which was quite sweet, but you didn’t need it.

You got to your room and started to pack. Starting with the bathroom then going to the main room, double-checking that you had everything. As you were cleaning up, you made the bed and straightened out the pillows.

Just then your phone rang, “Hello?” you answered.

“Hi, this is Jeremy. I was the paramedic that treated you tonight,” he said gingerly.

“Oh hey, how’s it going?” you giggled while grabbing your bags and heading toward the door.

“We had to take a few people to the hospital, but other than that pretty good,” he commented.

You left your room and started to close the door, “So, a pretty slow night?” you joked. In the hallway, you saw Morgan and Reid waiting and staring at you. “Hey, Jeremy. I’m going to have to call you later, ok?”

“That’s cool,” he sighed. “It was nice to meet you, Y/N. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” you finished and hung up the phone.

“Who’s Jeremy?” Morgan asked, poking you in the side.

“That’s classified, Agent Morgan,” you replied with a smile. “Who’s driving?” you asked, trying to change the subject.

“I’ll drive,” Morgan replied as the three of you got in the elevator.

The drive to the airfield was quiet. You were sitting in the back seat staring out the window, when you did look through the windshield, you could see Reid look at you occasionally. Finally, you got to the plane. You chose a seat at the back, put your headphones in, and pulled out a book. The volume of your music was low just in case anyone needed you. You looked up to see Morgan with a confused look on his face, then he took off his headphones and you could hear screaming coming through them. “Very funny, kid,” he quipped at who you could only suspect was Reid. His phone started to ring and he picked it up, “Hey baby gir-,” he quickly pulled the phone away from his face, more screaming.

You gave up trying to figure out what that was about and went to sleep. When you woke up, you were starting to land. Hotch stood up once the plane landed and told all of you to be in the office at 9 tomorrow. You grabbed your bag and got off the plane, rushing to get to your car and get home and see your cat. The second you got to your car, an immense wave of relief came over you, your first case with the team was done. You had done pretty well. One thing you were less than pleased about was the way you felt toward Spencer. Could you really not fraternize with your co-workers? It’s not that hard, Y/N. Get it together. You got to your house and plopped down on your bed. Checking the time, you groaned. It was 3am. You dragged yourself out of bed to take a shower, you ended up falling asleep wearing only your towel.

You woke up to your alarm at 8 and sighed. Realizing you slept, in a towel, you went to your closet to grab some semi-professional clothes. You put on as much makeup as you could stand, which wasn’t much, and headed to the kitchen for coffee. Checking the clock on your oven, it was 8:30, so you didn’t get to eat breakfast and settled for stopping at Starbucks for another coffee. You were able to arrive at Quantico at exactly 8:50 leaving you just enough time to get up to your desk at 9.

Walking into the office was a nightmare, everyone at their desks seemed so tired. Walking past Reid’s desk, you noticed that he was working away, he didn’t seem tired at all, “How are you so chipper right now?” you asked, sitting down at your desk.

“This is my fifth cup of coffee,” he smiled at you with that lovely smile of his.

Garcia was walking past his desk right as he answered you, “Alright, Dr. Reid, I’m cutting you off for now,” Garcia insisted grabbing the coffee cup from his hand. He looked up at her and frowned.

“Thank you, Garcia,” Morgan added from his desk. “If he would have finished that, I don’t think he would shut up for hours.”

You giggled from your desk, trying not to pass out.

“We have a new case,” Hotch walked out of his office toward the round table room. Everyone groaned as they pulled themselves up from their seats. You all hobbled over to the roundtable room, Reid was practically skipping in front of all of you. “Go ahead Garcia,” Hotch instructed while sitting down.

“Alright, friends, this week you are traveling to the lovely Los Angeles. Four women have all been found in the woods. They were all sexually assaulted, stabbed 13 times, and their hair was burned off. Next to their dumpsite, CSI found the bodies of four men, they were all shot in the heart,” Garcia explained while flipping through the slides on the TV.

“They were all y/h/c-haired and y/e/c eyed in their early to mid-twenties,” Reid added. “Was there any relationship found between the women and the men, Garcia?

“Good eye, Dr. Reid, and yes. The women were all dating one of the men,” Garcia smiled. “Your first victims are 21-year-old Alisha Davis, liberal arts major at UCLA; she was dating 23-year-old Joseph Marin. Next was, 22-year-old Brittany French, chef at a local restaurant and her boyfriend Michael White, 24. Then was 23-year-old Paulette Queen, a nanny for an established family, she was involved with 23-year-old Daniel Roberts. Finally, Jemma Boone, 24, was working at a jewelry store, dating 25-year-old Nicholas Phillips.”

“How far apart were the killed?” you asked.

“The coroner estimates two weeks apart,” Garcia sighed. “Jemma was killed approximately 10 days ago. There also is evidence that he was keeping his victims for about 2 days before killing them.”

JJ spoke up from her side of the table, “The killings seem very ritualistic. They were each stabbed 13 times, they were all y/h/c.”

“The number 13 is considered an unlucky number in some countries. The end of the Mayan calendar's 13th Baktun was superstitiously feared as a harbinger of the apocalyptic 2012 phenomenon. Fear of the number 13 has a specifically recognized phobia, triskaidekaphobia, a word coined in 1911. The superstitious sufferers of triskaidekaphobia try to avoid bad luck by keeping away from anything numbered or labeled thirteen. As a result, companies and manufacturers use another way of numbering or labeling to avoid the number, with hotels and tall buildings being conspicuous examples (thirteenth floor).It is also considered unlucky to have thirteen guests at a table. Friday the 13th has been considered an unlucky day. There are a number of theories as to why the number thirteen became associated with bad luck, but none of them have been accepted as likely,” Reid started to ramble.

“Colgate University also considers 13 a lucky number. They were founded in 1819 by 13 men with 13 dollars, 13 prayers, and 13 articles. To this day, members of the Colgate community consider the number 13 a good omen. In fact, the campus address is 13 Oak Drive in Hamilton, New York, and the male a cappella group is called the Colgate 13. In the Mayan Tzolk'in calendar, trecenas mark cycles of 13-day periods. The pyramids are also set up in 9 steps divided into 7 days and 6 nights, 13 days total. In the standard 52-card deck of playing cards, there are four suits, each of 13 ranks. In a tarot card deck, XIII is the card of Death, usually picturing the Pale horse with its rider. A baker's dozen, devil's dozen, long dozen, or long measure is 13, one more than a standard dozen,” you started rambling too, everyone just stared at you.

“He is focusing more on the women,” Prentiss noticed.

“What makes you say that?” Morgan questioned.

“There is no evidence that the men were held in captivity,” Prentiss continued. “Also, more things were done to the women than the men, their hair was burned and they were sexually assaulted.”

“So it’s more about the women than the men,” Rossi chimed in, “What does that tell us about the unsub?”

You had an answer to the question, “He may have had his heart broken by a y/e/c-eyed, y/h/c-haired girl.”

“I know we just got back but there is going to be another murder in 4 days. Wheels up in 30,” Hotch sighed.

Everyone got up to leave, including you. You headed for the elevator to head home and grab your go-bag. On your drive home, there was one thing on your mind, a serial killer who only killed y/e/c-eyed, y/h/c-haired, and was going to kill someone who was 25, how could this go wrong?

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds fic #criminal minds

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tabloidtoc · 3 years

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OK, March 8

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Bruce Springsteen

Page 1: Big Pic -- as part of Coach's latest campaign Jennifer Lopez posed with a supersized pink version of their new Pillow Tabby purse

Page 2: Contents

Page 3: Contents

Page 4: Chris Harrison gone for good? The Bachelor host's future with the show remains uncertain after his controversial interview with Rachel Lindsay

Page 6: Since the start of his career Justin Timberlake has endured his fair share of scandals but after welcoming his second son with wife Jessica Biel over the summer and celebrating his 40th birthday, he is confessing that he feels immense guilt about the past and he won't be making the same mistakes in the future -- Justin's done some soul-searching and accepts that he's wronged a lot of people over the years with his own terrible mistakes and he says he's still a work in progress, but step one has been to stand up and admit he's hurt too many women -- in addition to a boozy night out with his Palmer costar Alisha Wainwright in 2019 and his part in the now-infamous Nipplegate incident with Janet Jackson at the 2004 Super Bowl, Justin recently came under fire again due to the documentary Framing Britney Spears which showed him exploiting his breakup from Britney Spears to help his solo career -- Justin's learned from his mistakes and has a lot more sensitivity about the impact of his actions on other people and that's the big difference between the Justin of today and his old, immature self and that self-awareness was evident in an emotional statement that he posted apologizing to both Britney and Janet for the errors in his ways -- his words drew praise from his wife Jessica who says he's come a long way as a husband, a father and more importantly, a human being

Page 7: Wendy Williams is on the prowl for a new man and he's got to be husband material and she is ready for a serious commitment -- Wendy's been staying up until all hours of the night checking out guys online and on exclusive dating apps and she wants someone age-appropriate, fun, kind, independent and of course has no history of cheating -- she's feeling very optimistic and even buying new perfume and clothes and jewelry for all the dates she hopes to have once lockdown lifts

* Texas native Matthew McConaughey is seriously considering throwing his hat in the ring to become the state's next governor -- he's been putting out feelers to see if he's got sufficient support and if enough donors are willing to write checks, he'd mount an aggressive run in 2022 -- he's already gotten the thumbs-up from his wife Camila Alves and their three kids -- at this point, he needs to see an actual path to winning because he's not interested in just making a protest statement; don't be fooled by his aw-shucks attitude, Matthew means business

* Now that Keeping Up With the Kardashians is coming to an end, the hunt is on for a new family to replace the clan and one reality pro is poised to nab the prize: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna -- there's already been talk about Lisa picking up the torch and her family is camera ready, consisting of husband Harry Hamlin, and their daughters Delilah Hamlin who's dating Love Island's Eyal Booker and Amelia Hamlin who's dating Scott Disick

Page 8: Things keep going from bad to worse for Armie Hammer -- he was forced to drop out of his upcoming movie Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez after direct messages he allegedly sent to women in which he described himself as a cannibal and detailed disturbing sexual fantasies were leaked online -- Armie was also fired by his talent agency WME and now the disgraced star may get cut from his new film Next Goal Wins which has already been shot -- he's radioactive and everybody knows it and his completed but unreleased work is getting a second look as studios want to do damage control, and that includes another of his finished projects Death on the Nile where his part could end up on the cutting room floor -- he's a pariah now and it's hard to see how he's ever going to come back from this

* Jennifer Aniston has always had a spiritual side but these days she is taking things to a whole new plane -- Jen has surrounded herself with psychics and has been doing Goddess Circles with the same group of close friends for 30 years, but now she's taking courses to learn to heal herself and be her own guru -- BFF Courteney Cox has been a big influence and Jen's learned a lot from Courteney, who's had a long-term interest in mediums, astrologists and horoscopes, and she's trying to fuse it all together into her own brand of spirituality -- Jen's had a lot of time alone, which has only deepened her questions about the universe and how she can make the most of her life and she's determined to find the answers

* Princess Eugenie is over the moon after welcoming her first child, a baby boy with businessman husband Jack Brooksbank but now the new mom is torn about taking time out from her royal responsibilities -- Eugenie would love to take a long break from everything and focus solely on raising her son however she knows deep down how much she's needed, especially since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are showing no signs of coming back -- as she weighs her options, Eugenie is looking to her multi-tasking cousin-in-law Duchess Kate for some inspiration because she's impressed by how Kate is able to juggle her official duties while raising three young kids

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- stars captivate in enchanting puff-sleeve numbers -- Bel Powley, Aubrey Plaza, Lupita Nyong'o

Page 11: Kaitlyn Dever, Lucy Boynton, Margaret Qualley

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Hilary Swank vs. Madeline Brewer, Bella Hadid vs. Devon Windsor, Alison Brie vs. Dua Lipa

Page 14: News in Photos -- Tayshia Adams and her fiance Zac Clark felt on top of the world when the visited the Empire State Building together

Page 15: Chrissy Teigen and John Legend were inseparable while out and about in Beverly Hills, Bill Murray and NFL player Larry Fitzgerald Jr. were among the many stars to shoot their shot during a charity golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Rita Ora performing on an episode of the U.K. show Dancing on Ice in Hertfordshire

Page 16: At the Australian Open Serena Williams came out on top during the fourth round, Bachelorette alum Jordan Kimball and fiancee Christina Creedon couldn't wait until they got home to enjoy Candy Pop popcorn's new Peanut M&M's flavor from Sam's Club in Houston, Heidi Montag spent the day hitting the slopes at Lake Tahoe

Page 17: Hailey Bieber starring in Beyonce's new Ivy Park x Adidas collection

Page 18: Brody Jenner had a blast snow tubing while shooting the second season of The Hills: New Beginnings in Lake Tahoe, Avril Lavigne stepped out with her new boyfriend Mod Sun for a romantic dinner in West Hollywood

Page 20: Justin Bieber looked like he'd just hopped out of bed in a sweater and checkered fleece pants in L.A., Robin Thicke in front of a piano in L.A.

Page 21: Steve Martin doubled up on face coverings on the set of his new project Only Murders in the Building in NYC, Michelle Obama on her new show Waffles + Michi, Cardi B spoiled herself with high-end goods during a day of shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills

Page 22: Brooke Burke romancing with boyfriend Scott Rigsby on Valentine's Day, Lucy Hale accessorized her look with her newest rescue pup Ethel in L.A., Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon masked up for a snowy outing in NYC

Page 24: For Galentine's Day Vanessa Lachey snacked on macarons and sipped on wine in L.A.

Page 25: Bella Hadid alongside models Mayowa Nicholas and Heejung Park in Michael Kors' new campaign for the Spring 2021 collection, Hugh Grant stepped out for some fresh hair in London, Sofia Vergara kept it casual during a visit to a pal's house in Beverly Hills

Page 26: Inside My Home -- Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley's Rocky Mountain retreat

Page 28: Marriage isn't easy especially during a global health crisis but for Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard divorce is not an option -- Kristen said she and Dax at the start of the pandemic were at a point in their marriage where they definitely needed a little therapy brush-up and every couple of years they're being very antagonistic towards each other and they don't want that so they go back to therapy and figure out how they can serve their team goal better and it's been incredibly helpful and even in the toughest times they always have each other's back and they're committed to being each other's biggest support systems -- while their relationship may never be perfect, they're happy and love each other and that's what matters most

Page 29: Now that Tom Brady has won his seventh Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has set his sights on the next prize: baby No. 3 with wife Gisele Bundchen -- they've been telling friends they hope to make an announcement by summer at the latest and Tom and Gisele have been super loved-up since leaving Boston and moving to Florida after the QB signed on with the Bucs and the change of scenery has worked wonders on their love life and put them in baby-making mode -- the duo, who recently bought a $17 million spread on Miami's exclusive Indian Creek Island, plan to build a luxury mansion there complete with a nursery and they hope to be all settled in when the new arrival comes -- they've never felt healthier or been happier

* Aaron Rodgers looked positively giddy when he revealed he had a fiancee, Shailene Woodley at the NFL Honors, but the QB is dreading the next step: bringing her home to meet his parents because it's no secret that Aaron's been estranged from them for years and the last thing he wants is for Shailene to get caught up in the drama -- Shailene wants Aaron to clear the air with his folks, but he's not ready to do that and he doesn't want to bring Shailene into a toxic environment

* It's only been two years since Miranda Lambert married Brendan McLoughlin but she's already itching for some alone time -- she's headed to Texas in April for her first concert in over a year and she's told Brendan he shouldn't come because it will be all work and no play but she really wants to get away from him for a while and after the pair's recent road trip together, Miranda is desperate for some space -- sometimes Miranda feels like she's living with a baby because Brendan whines and complains about life on her farm

Page 30: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's romance is heating up fast, so much so that she's practically handed over the keys to her Calabasas estate and she loves having Travis sleep over and sometimes he'll stay the whole weekend -- he gets along famously with her children and Travis has been a friend of the family for years, so the kids have pretty much known him their whole lives and they'll do fun stuff together like hiking or playing video games and Travis loves making breakfast and showing off his pancake-flipping skills --Travis is spending so much time at Kourt's place that he's moved a bunch of his stuff in to make it easier for his kids Landon and Alabama with ex Shanna Moakler to visit him there -- everyone's convinced they'll be living together full-time before you know it

* Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were met with a flurry of well-wishes after they revealed they're expecting baby No. 2 -- the couple decided to wait until Meghan was safely into her second trimester to share the news and they only told a handful of family members before the public and they wanted to cherish this secret for as long as they could -- Harry and Meghan have been nesting at their Montecito mansion and have been busy prepping the nursery and making sure it's eco-friendly with energy-efficient lighting and they're keeping it as plastic-free as possible

* Love Bites -- Clare Crawley and Dale Moss reunited, Kit Harington and Rose Leslie welcomed a baby boy, Paris Hilton and Carter Reum engaged

Page 32: Cover Story -- Bruce Springsteen's private world -- he's an open book in his songs, but here's Bruce's untold story of his struggles with depression and regret -- he still has dark thoughts from time to time but therapy and medication have helped a great deal

Page 36: Stars' Cheating Confessions -- sometimes all you can do is beg for forgiveness; these celebs have all had to plead their case -- Donny and Debbie Osmond, Jude Law and Sienna Miller, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith

Page 37: David Letterman and Regina Lasko, Dean McDermott and Tori Spelling, Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish

Page 40: Interview -- Elizabeth Olsen -- the Avengers star dishes about getting witchy again for Marvel's mind-bending WandaVision

Page 42: Golden Girls -- how these Golden Globes nominees get their award-worthy figures -- Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Lily Collins

Page 43: Kaley Cuoco, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Seyfried

Page 44: Aadila Dosani's vegan recipe for Chickpea and Potato Soup

Page 46: Style Week -- Ashley Graham is the new global brand ambassador for self-tanning label St. Tropez

Page 48: What's Hot Right Now -- create a naturally gorgeous, flushed look with fashion designer Jason Wu's namesake makeup collection

Page 49: Haute hippie retro jeans -- take a trip back to the '70s with Revice Denim's ultra-cool capsule, Los Angeles Lovers -- Delilah Belle Hamlin

Page 50: Flower Power -- floral prints are spring's hottest trend -- rock the pretty blooms for a fresh, boho-chic look -- Kaia Gerber

Page 52: DIY Blowout -- these foolproof finds deliver impeccable hair right at home -- Drew Barrymore

Page 54: Entertainment

Page 55: Q&A with Mary Fitzgerald of Selling Sunset

Page 58: Buzz -- after months of playing it coy, these celebs confirmed their relationships on Valentine's Day -- Scott Disick and Amelia Hamlin

Page 59: Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker, Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, Kendall Jenner and Devin Booker

Page 60: Sound Bites -- Halsey on not conforming to conventional beauty standards, Anderson Cooper on coparenting with his ex, Ashley Graham on the importance of self-care, Kate Winslet on feeling like a fish out of water in Hollywood

Page 61: Tom Holland on the plot of the next Spider-Man flick, Mila Kunis joking about keeping her family entertained during quarantine, Drew Barrymore when asked if she's ever been skinny-dipping, Madelaine Petsch on playing a teen in Clare at 16

Page 62: Horoscope -- Pisces Lupita Nyong'o turned 38 on March 1

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Riz Ahmed

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clarafms · 3 years

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✼:♡*ﾟ✿ ↝ alisha boe . cisfemale . she/her . ／ lucille ‘lucky’ sheridan is blasting bad friend by rina sawayama again … ugh , i swear they play that song every single day ! you’d think they’d learn how to pipe down . oh , you don’t know them ? they live in apartment 2b . i haven’t talked to them much , but i know that they’re twenty-three years old , and that they’ve been living in the complex for two years . i always run into them when they’re coming back home from vinnie’s vinyls , and they seem really piquant and impetuous . maybe you’ll have better luck with the aries than i do .

hiiiii babes, i’m lily ! i’m so sorry this is late, i had to decompress after my very last final of the semester ( she’s a scholar ! ) anyway this is my daughter lucky n i love her very much. here is a stats page and here is a page that i made with some quick social media stuff but you can read below the cut for more about her and hit me up because im always a hoe for plots ! i’m so excited to meet w all your muses so give this a like if you wanna plot ! intro: tw death, tw drugs

lucille aminah sheridan was born on april 12, 1997 in brooklyn, new york to yasmiin ahmed and kieran sheridan. it was a difficult labor, over twenty-four hours, and yasmiin suffered obstructive labor. she died in childbirth, but the baby miraculously made it out alive and unharmed. kieran, in shock, named her lucille aminah after their grandparents, but the nurses were the first to call her ‘lucky’.

lucky’s childhood was an interesting one, to say the least. to cope with the loss of his partner, kieran lost himself in drinking and drugs. lucky was generally left on her own most of the time to adventure around bed-stuy. she was rosy-cheeked, giggling lightning, zigzagging down bedford avenue. their family aren’t exactly well off, not with kieran’s debts hanging over their heads, but lucky finds ways sprinkled throughout her lonely existence to entertain herself: it was the neighborhood store owners and the families in her apartment complex who would allow her to hang around and not go home, the pizza parlor that will let her bum a slice, the skate park where the older boys ruffle her hair, and most importantly music.

lucky is a bright and creative kid, but she didn’t generally excel in school; it’s too much sitting around, too many rules, and lucky has a bit of an authority problem. but she took to music like nothing else -- learning piano, guitar, singing, and music production. when lucky is fourteen, she wins a scholarship to the packer collegiate institute in historic (read: wealthy) brooklyn heights. for the first time, she is suddenly and painfully aware of her well-worn clothes, the way her father shows up to concerts and parent-teacher conferences with scotch on his breath. through sheer drive alone, she propels herself to berklee college of music on a full scholarship. she graduates with a degree in music production and decides to move as far away as possible; after all, she’s always loved an adventure.

she’s now been living in apartment 2b at opal apartments for two years now and she genuinely loves both the apartment complex and vancouver. she has regular dj nights at downtown bars and she’s been able to string together steady gigs and production opportunities to scrape together an existence that she’s happy with.

personality wise, she is a CLASSIC aries -- she’s short-tempered and reckless, will rush into anything she believes is an adventure. impulse control is at a -1000.

she’s also very creative and charming in a witty-mean kind of way. steadfastly loyal to her friends -- if you get into her inner circle it’s for life ! her friends are her chosen family.

she’s passionate about things, but it definitely comes off as a little theatrical if you don’t like her?

her worst trait is that she’s incredibly competitive about everything. she literally will get mad over a game of cards.

she loves to skateboard, she’s definitely more of a tomboy in terms of style and personality. she wears a lot of bright colors. big pants tiny top bisexual energy !!

spends all her time at vinnie’s vinyls ! she loves it there.

you can click here for some connection ideas i reblogged, but here are some more:

ride or die friends: pleaseeeee she needs some people to be crazy with !! let her be goofy and dumb

sibling type relationship: someone who she can just tell everything to !!

frenemies/enemies: someone that just... does not like lucky or vice versa !! definitely love it... plus we could add a lil ~spice~ if you’re interested

fwb: secret feelings ? hate you love you ? :~)

secret relationship: listen i LOVE this type of plot and want it so bad

exes: i could definitely see her being involved with someone especially when she had just moved to vancouver and didn’t know anyone !! maybe they ended on bad terms/good/possible getting back together/fwb ?? choose ur own adventure !!

#opalintro #this is SOOOOO late goodbye #please plot w me anyway

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thekidwantsacoffee · 5 years

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The Storm - Nathan Young X Reader

Summary: After a strange storm that gives people powers rolls through a city in the United Kingdom, six young offenders on probation learn to deal with them in their own special way while serving out their probation sentence.

Episode: Episode One

Series : Series One

Pairing : Nathan Young x Gender Unspecified! Reader

Word Count: 3,034

Warnings : Gore, cursing, sexual innuendos, spoilers for Misfits (UK)

“Fuck’s sake.” Y/N ran a hand over their face as they looked over the orange jumpsuit, unsure of exactly how clean it was. It smelled godawful, and while they wouldn’t be wearing it all day, it sure would feel like it. Reluctantly, Y/N glanced around the locker room, stripped down to a plain white shirt and a pair of cotton shorts, and then slipped on the orange jumpsuit. They looked at the mirror, giving themselves a quick look over before slipping on their shoes and heading outside to wait with the other offenders on probation. Surprisingly, all of the offenders were young adults. Y/N only glanced over everyone, not wanting to take names or make friends with any of them. They were there to do their community service and then head right back out to society to try and get a proper job. Y/N waited with the others for the probation officer to come out of the building, none of them bothering to make any sort of conversation. After what felt like an eon, he finally stepped out, taking a look at each and every one of them, as if he was trying to figure out what was wrong with them. “This is it,” he began. “This is your chance to do something positive. You can help people. You can really make a difference to people’s lives. That’s what community service is all about.” Y/N looked over at the other young adults, there were six others. All of them were focused on the probation officer, and Y/N knew that what the probation worker was saying was meaningless to them, in fact, it was meaningless to Y/N too. “Some people think you’re scum. You have an opportunity to show them they’re wrong,” the worker continues, to which the tall, pale, and curly haired kid decides to respond to. “Yeah, but what if they’re right? No offense, but I’m thinkin’ some people are just born criminals,” the guy states, jabbing a finger over at the kid with a cap standing beside him. “You lookin’ to get stabbed?” The cap wearing kid responded. “See my point there?” This made Y/N chuckle, making a fist and hold it over their mouth. The black girl standing beside Y/N picked up her phone, taking a call as the probation officer started speaking again. “Doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past,” he says, but pauses to turn towards the black girl. “Hey.” The girl continues to speak on the phone. “Excuse me. Hello? I’m still talking here.” The girl looks annoyed at this point. “Well I thought you were done talking.” A few mere minutes later, Y/N found themselves alone, painting a green bench over with white paint. Since there were seven of them, each got to paired up with another person, except for Y/N. “Man, there’s paint on my cap! This is bullshit!” The cap wearing kid shouts, grabbing the attention of the others before storming off, kicking a bucket of white paint into the water as he walked back to the community center. Y/N sighed, picking up their paint bucket and walking to the bench that the cap wearing kid was sharing with the weird one. Y/N knew it wasn’t right to think of him like that, but they didn’t know any names, so that was the only resort. Another shout came from the kid in the distance, clearly pissed about his hat. “The hell is his problem?” Y/N stated before beginning to paint the bench. The weird kid refused to make conversation, yet the other pairs seemed to have no trouble talking to each other. “What did you do?” Y/N asked, yet the kid didn’t respond. “What about you weird kid? Don’t take this the wrong way but you look like a panty sniffer,” the curly haired boy rephrased the question that Y/N had just asked, just with a ruder comment added, yet it somehow made Y/N laugh again. “I’m not a panty sniffer,” the weird kid responded. “I’m not a pervert.” The curly haired boy started grunting and making weird faces, dicking around with the weird kid. He moved his hand up and down right above his crotch, mimicking jacking off. Y/N couldn’t help but watch, amused. “I tried to burn someone’s house down!” Weird kid let out. Curly boy made a soft noise before dropping his hand away from his crotch. He then turned to face Y/N completely. “What about you, kid who looks normal-ish?” “Stealin’,” Y/N responded. Curly boy was somewhat disappointed by that answer. “Stealin’? What were you stealin’?” “Hearing aides. I’ve got tennitis,” Y/N explained. “What’d you do?” The other girl asked. “Me?” Curly boy turned. “I was done for eatin’ Pick’N’Mix.” “Bollocks.” “What’s going on with this weather?” “How’d that happen?” The probation worker’s voice interjected, pointing towards the bucket of paint in the water. “I mean, you’ve been here five minutes. It’s painting benches. How’d you screw that up? ‘Cause I’ve got no idea.” As the worker finished his sentence, a large crash sounded from behind him as a large ball of what appeared to be ice crashed on the hood of a car. A slew of reactions came around as another ball of ice crashed into the water, sending water up and completely covering Y/N’s back. They gasped, covering their head and rushing forward. More balls of ice fell and without warning everyone began to run back to the community center. The probation worker rushed for his keys, Everyone yelling at him to hurry up. “For fuck’s sake, hurry!” Y/N shouted. As they did so, a bolt of lightning came down, hitting them. They were flung backwards and onto the concrete. The normal ringing in Y/N’s ears were magnified by a thousand, almost turning their brains into mush before ultimately silencing completely. Y/N soon sat up, holding their head, which was throbbing in pain. They couldn’t pay attention to the voices of the others, only to every seething inch of pain throughout their body. ~ Returning home to a loud flat, Y/N rubbed their eyes. Everything seemed to be clearer, their sight, the way things felt, even their hearing. There was no more ringing. No effects of tinnitus. Y/N’s roommate David seemed to want to change that. It was only six in the afternoon and he was as high as a kite, stumbling over everything and blasting psychedelic music. Y/N knew they would be getting a noise complaint soon enough. “David, I swear to god, can you go back to your room?” Y/N asked, setting down their bag. “It’s my flat too, asshole, I can do what I want.” “You’re the one paying me rent! The flat is rented under my name! It’s not yours,” Y/N reminded him. “You’re not even here most of the time.” David rolled his eyes. “You do know you really need me here,” he said, lazily poking a finger into Y/N’s chest. “I’m not the one who’s on probation. I’m actually hirable and I’m giving you the money you live off of,” he slurred, making Y/N scoff. “I can do just fine without renting out to you!” Y/N’s voice has raised by a considerable amount. “I’m actually selling my work now, and I don’t need you here.” “‘Course you do! I mean, without me, you wouldn’t be having any fun!” “This isn’t fun, David!” Y/N yelled. “Get the fuck out of my apartment. Get your shit and go to your girlfriend’s.” David pouted. “C’mon, Y/N-“ “I said get the fuck out!” With that, David left, grabbing his few items and leaving, flipping Y/N off as he left their apartment. Y/N was frustrated, tears briming for no reason at all. Their chest was heavy. Everything felt clearer, but it also hurt so much worse. Unhappy with the outcomes of the day, Y/N went to bed, hoping to ignore the thunderstorm that had begun brewing at the start of the argument. ~ Most of the day after felt like a blur. At some point, Y/N found themselves layed out on the couch, hand under their head, listening to the clear back and forth nonsense between everyone. ‘Dickheads,’ Y/N thought. ‘All of them.’ Y/N peaked an eye at the curly haired boy again. They had come to learn that his name was Nathan. The black girl’s name was Alisha, the black boy was Curtis, and other girl was Kelly and then the weird kid was Simon. Y/N looked at Nathan, who of which was busy dicking around in a wheelchair. ‘He is pretty cute. It’s too bad he’s out of my league,’ They thought, returning to staring at the ceiling. Kelly burst into the room through the doors, startling Y/N and making them fall off of their seat. “Jesus fuck Kelly! What the hell are you doing?” Y/N yelled from the floor, slowly sitting up because of the pain. Everything seemed to hurt far worse. “The probation worker! He wants to kill us!” She yelled. “He’s gone mental, he just attacked me!” “Does he now?” Nathan asked. “Yes! I’m serious! I can hear what he’s thinkin’! He called us ASBO scum!” “Alright, if you can hear thoughts, what am I thinkin’ right now?” “That this is bullshit!” “Because it is!” “Why’re you in a wheelchair?” “It’s the storm. The strange tingling feeling in my anus has spread to my legs.” Kelly stomped her foot before kicking one of Nathan’s. Y/N was curious. “Read my mind then,” Y/N stated. “Y/N, c’mon, you know it’s bullshit,” Nathan said, turning his wheelchair. Kelly stepped towards Y/N. “You’re thinkin’ about Nathan.” “Fuckin’ hell, ‘Course they are. Have you seen me? I’m a god, baby.” Y/N’s faced burned hot, embarrassment spreading through their whole body. “She’s telling the truth,” Simon said. It may have been the first thing he said throughout that entire day. “I can turn invisible.” Nathan tolled his eyes. “Alright then. Do it for us.” Simon closed his eyes and began making a grunting noise, his held tilted up in concentration. “Look, he’s turned invisable!” Nathan said sarcastically, making Simon’s eyes widen in surprise. Nathan then threw up his empty can, hitting Simon square in the face. “You looked constapated, mate,” Y/N said, pulling their legs to their chest. “Look, I’m gonna open the door, and you’ll see it’s bullshit,” Nathan said, standing up, but Curtis yelled. “She’s telling the truth! This already happened once! I opened the door and he came in and he... he killed you!” He said, pointing at Kelly. “Then he shoved that pipe through Y/N’s skull and then he came for me!” Y/N swallowed. “Thanks for sparing all the gory details.” Nathan looked over to Y/N, shrugged and slightly opened the door before slamming it shut again. He locked it, his back flat against it and panicked. “Shit! You were right!” “See? You need to listen to me.” Y/N stood up, backing away from the door, following the others as they began to run, all except for Nathan slipping as they passed the locker room. “What the hell are - oh my god!” Y/N covered their mouth at the sight of the blood, it’s fresh scent making them want to puke. “Get it off, get it off, get it off!” Nathan screamed, wiping his hands against his orange jumpsuit. There was a pool of blood seeping from one of the lockers. Everyone shared the same wary glance before Curtis stepped forward and opened it. Inside was the kid with the cap - Gary, as Y/N remembered. The sight was beyond horrible. He was covered in blood and nasty to look at, but his body had yet to decompose. It was fresh. He must have been killed the night before. In a state of shock, Curtis held onto Alisha’s wrist, but something happened. He began to grip onto her tightly. “I want to shag you so bad!” He said in a low, rough voice, Alisha desperately pulling her hand away. “Get away from me!” She cried out. Curtis stepped back. “What the hell just happened?” “You wanted to shag her really fuckin’ bad, mate,” Y/N stated. Alisha looked around, stepped towards Simon and placed her hand on his neck. His head twitched a little bit before he stared at her, deep into her eyes. “I’m so hard for you, I wanna tip your clothes off and piss on your tits!” He growled out, making Alisha rip in her away in terror. “You sick bastard,” Nathan stated. Suddenly, without warning, the probation worker busted through the door beside the lockers, breaking through the glass and down onto the floor. Y/N jumped away, grabbing onto whoever was closest and pulling them back, who happened to be Curtis. Kelly grabbed a paint can and hit the probation worker over the head. “What did you do?” Nathan asked in a soft, quiet voice. It was the quietest Y/N had ever heard him. “Is he dead?” Alisha asked. “Uh, I’m no doctor, but do you see the way the back of his head it caved in?” A loud heart beat could be heard, seemingly only by Y/N. “He’s not dead,” Y/N whispered. “What?” Kelly turned her head. “He’s not dead!” Y/N shouted as the probation worker shot back up, reaching out for whoever was closest. Kelly then grabbed the weapon the worker had brought in began to beat him again, Y/N turning their head away. They couldn’t stand the sight of blood like that. A few good wacks later all was silent again, and Y/N turned back to face the others. They were splattered with blood. Y/N looked down at themselves. Blood covered them in splatters like a Pollock painting. They gulped upon seeing a clump of grey matter on their shoes. Nathan looked over to Y/N then down to where they were staring. “Is that a bit of brain?” Y/N nodded. “We killed our probation worker.” “He was gonna kill us!” Kelly stated. “It was self defense. They’ll let us off easy,” Simon stated. Y/N felt sick. “We killed our probation worker.” “They’re never gonna listen to us. We’re a bunch of young offenders. Especially you,” Nathan said, pointing at Curtis. “You’re black and you got a profile. Your career is ruined.” Y/N found themselves backed up against the wall. “We killed our probation worker.” “Yeah, Y/N, we know!” Alisha said with her arms crossed. Nathan glanced at Y/N again, who of which was now breathing heavily and filled with pure fear. They were now sitting on the ground, almost in a guilty blown panick attack. He rushed towards them kneeling down. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna fix this.” “No, it’s not! We killed our fucking probation worker! This isn’t okay!” “Calm down, Y/N, stop yelling. It’s gonna be fine. We’re gonna figure this out.” “We killed our probation worker and his brains are on my shoes,” Y/N was on the verge of crying. “We’re gonna clean that up, yeah?” “If there’s no bodies, here’s no crime. We have to bury the bodies,” Simon interjected. “Under the flyover.” Nathan looked at him then back to Y/N, as if he was asking if he could talk to Simon. Y/N nodded and Nathan stood up. “How’re we gonna do that?” Alisha asked. “We give them a little,” Nathan started, walking around the bodies, moving his hand like it was a mop while whistling. “We’ll stick ‘em in the wheelchairs and roll them down, and if anyone asks we’re just a couple of young offenders taking a couple of specials for a walk in the sunshine.” ~ Dumping the bodies proved to be harder then necessary for Y/N, because while the bodies had been cleaned up, the trauma that remained still plagued them. They could only watch and wait while Nathan and Kelly dumped the bodies into the hole that they had dug. Everyone looked at each other once again in silence. Y/N and Nathan locked eyes for a moment. “You know, I’m pretty sure this breaches the terms of my ASBO.” “You think?” Y/N stated before looking back to the bodies. “We don’t tell anyone about this, yeah?” Kelly started. “About the storm, about this, we can’t let anyone know.” “We’re about to bury our probation worker, we don’t need to be drawing any more attention to ourselves,” Nathan gave the follow up. The rest blurred in Y/N’s mind as everyone gave their reasons why they shouldn’t talk about what happened. “Y/N? What about you?” Kelly asked, making Y/N look up as they grabbed a shovel. “I-“ They cut themselves off, trying to think of what to say. They put the shovel back into the ground, holding onto the handle. “You know how I said I had tennitis?” “What the hell has that got to do with anythin’?” “It’s gone. I don’t have that constant ringing. And my vision is better- and my nerves are more aware. It’s like my senses have been heightened,” they explained. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I don’t need these deaths on me. I can’t.” With that, everyone grabbed their shovels and began to dig into the piles of earth that layed on either side of the hole. Y/N glanced over as Kelly gave a disgusted look at Nathan. ‘If she knows what people are thinking, then she knows I like Nathan,’ Y/N thought, as Kelly turned to Y/N almost as equally disgusted. ‘Shit, she heard that. Sorry.’ “You two are weird,” Kelly stated, making Y/N’s face burn with embarrassment. What had Nathan been thinking about? “Hold on,” Nathan started, grabbing everyone’s attention. “All of you have some sort of ‘special power’ except me. He can someth- he can do somethin’ and I can’t. That’s ridiculous! Look at ‘em!” “We don’t know if Y/N’ got anything yet,” Simon spoke up. “Didn’t you hear? Their senses are heightened like some Spider-Man bullshit!” “You think it’s fun?” Y/N stated. “I can hear everything around me! I can smell those bodies a million times more then you guys and it’s godawful. I want to fucking throw up.” Nathan planted his hands on his hips. “If everything’s heightened, you must have some killer orgasms then.” Y/N rolled their eyes. “You’re a twat.”

Tag List : Open!

#nathan young #nathan young x reader #misfits #nathan young fic #robert sheehan #robert sheehan x reader

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heartlandians · 6 years

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Day 71: Friday’s Tweets (21/9/18)

x Day 2 of filming episode 1211 has begun. There are 6 scenes to be shot and 10 characters on set including Amy (Amber Marshall), Jack (Shaun Johnston), Lou (Michelle Morgan), Ty (Graham Wardle), Georgie (Alisha Newton) & Tim (Chris Potter).

x If their first scene was the 3rd scene of the day, most cast would be arriving to work a little later, but it's September, so Alisha Newton has 2 hours of school before she becomes Georgie for the two scenes she is in today.

x This was taken on set today. That's Producer/Director Dean Bennett on the left. Notice how everyone is dressed. The area has been chilly for over a week now. It Definitely doesn't look like the last day of summer.

x In the background of the last production tweet you may have spotted Greg Lawson, who is back in a big way in season 12 as Clint Riley. Greg says he is having a blast this year. Here's a better look at him.

x And that's a wrap for the day, the week, and also for summer filming. Tomorrow, the fall equinox arrives at 7:53pm MT. That means when Heartland's cast & crew return to work on Monday it will officially be autumn.

Extra:

x Yesterday was the last day filming at the Heartland ranch this year. It was cold for summer, and foggy at times. Here are some shots taken around wrap time of the Bartlett-Fleming house. Who doesn't love a wraparound porch?

#heartland #tweets #set tweets #season 12 #block 126

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sheps-shepherd · 6 years

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@aiko-namina

SURPRISE BITCH I WAS YOUR SECRET SANTA AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WOOOOOOOOOOW

You asked for a fluffy epilogue SorMik fic. I give you kinda sorta not that.

I think you’ll appreciate what I ended up doing. I really hope you like it! Merry Christmas!

Also this is a song fic! Kinda! So when you see the ~:~ symbol, click on the link and listen to the song as you read! There are two songs and I very intricately placed them to fit in the story so don’t go past the second symbol until you’re done with the first song! I’ll know if you do and I’ll be offended so don’t.

Kay enjoyyyyyyyy!

The feeling of the room hit Mikleo before he’d even opened his eyes. It felt hot and stuffy, like a blast of dragon breath had hit him square in the face. But instead of a dragon, it was an array of colorful lights, swirling and flashing from the ceiling onto the floor below. He was standing in the shadow of some kind of overhang, protecting him from the beams of blue and pink, but the other patrons of the room weren’t so lucky. Yet they didn’t seem to mind, and moved around in sweaty clusters of people with smiles on their faces. Mikleo didn’t get what there was to be happy about in a room that felt so claustrophobic and disgustingly warm with all its occupants and brightness.

But there was some part of him that did. The aura of the room made Mikleo feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time – so long that he no longer knew the name of that feeling. Just that it made him feel a little more… alive.

“Why did you take us here?”

“I didn’t. I just went for it, and this is where we ended up.”

“Were you trying to go somewhere else?”

“No place specifically other than here.”

It was hard to hear over the music playing somewhere else in the room. When was the last time Mikleo had heard music? Longer than the last time he’d felt anything besides the warped content he’d been living in. But he didn’t recall ever hearing music that sounded quite like this: so powerful and upbeat. Not that he could really recall what music normally sounded like to him.

A group of people on the rainbow-lit floor in front of them suddenly moved away, giving Mikleo a much better view of the rest of the room. It was largely the same as the small piece of it he’d been seeing before, yet his attention was drawn to a group near the middle. At first glance, there was nothing special about them – just another sweaty group of too-happy people. But that feeling was tugging at Mikleo’s chest, and as he watched, a familiar head of snowy white hair bobbed into view.

He inhaled sharply.

“That’s–?”

“Yeah.”

Mikleo dared to glance over. Sorey was looking away from him, presumably at the same group Mikleo had just been watching, and no doubt seeing the same thing. There was a furrow nestled between his eyebrows and a stiffness to his shoulders that portrayed his discomfort.

“I don’t see you, though.”

“I’m in there somewhere.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m never far from you.”

The world proved Sorey right: like clockwork, a just-as-familiar face bounced into Mikleo’s view, a smile so brightly placed upon his face it would put the sun itself to shame.

It made Mikleo feel sick. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sorey’s stance shift.

Sorey looked perfect under the blinking lights, like he was meant to be there. His brown hair was as messy as ever, his bangs slightly curled from the sweat collected along his brow. It looked like he was supposed to be wearing a suit of sorts, but lacked a jacket to match his pants. His dark blue dress shirt was unbuttoned at his throat, and his black bowtie hung loosely around his collar. And his vibrant green eyes were like sparkles, shining brighter than any light in the room, matching his grin as he moved to the beat of the music alongside…. Rose. That was Rose, dancing next to him, her long black dress swishing around her ankles as she matched Sorey step for step.

It was good to see her again. It was good to see her and Sorey together again. Mikleo hadn’t seen that in a long, long time.

~:~

As the thrill of the song faded away, Sorey and Rose high-fived and laughed through a bout of heavy panting. They were swallowed up by bodies as the other people in their group moved around, hiding them from Mikleo’s sight. As they all made a new cluster or walked away, a new song started up, this one much softer and slower. And Mikleo suddenly saw himself standing awkwardly on the floor alone, looking incredibly out of place in his crisp white suit with his turquoise bowtie. He watched himself bite his lip and gaze around almost hopelessly, before he turned to walk back across the room.

“Mikleo!” Sorey appeared again, pushing his way past a few groups of dancing people to get to the open space where Mikleo was. “Mikleo, hey, wait!” His hand closed around Mikleo’s wrist, making him pause in his steps and turn to look at him.

Rejuvenation, Mikleo decided, staring hard at the spot where Sorey’s fingers touched him – the other him. That’s what this feeling is. Beside him, Sorey didn’t move. Mikleo didn’t think he was even breathing.

On the floor, Sorey seemed to be fumbling for something else to say. Mikleo could see his throat working as he tried to wrestle words out of his mouth. The other Mikleo waited patiently for him to finally speak. “Will you…. Will you dance with me?”

“Why don’t you ask Rose to dance with you?” Mikleo replied, with absolutely no hesitation, his words like a whip that took no prisoners. Sorey winced a bit. “She is your date, after all.”

“Mikleo….” Sorey looked ashamed for a moment, but quickly shook his head in protest. “This is stupid. It’s our senior prom. We should have come together, and instead we’re fighting. I’m sick of fighting.”

Mikleo looked away. “You seem to be having a perfectly nice time anyway.” It seemed like he was trying to tug his hand free, but Sorey held onto him, twisting their fingers together defiantly.

“Not as much as I would be if I knew I was here with you.” Sorey’s shoulders dropped sadly. “I know I’m a bad boyfriend and I didn’t handle what happened very well. And I’m sorry. But…. Give me a chance to be better?”

For a moment, as Mikleo watched himself close his eyes and take a long, deep breath, he thought for sure he’d say something he didn’t want to hear. He hadn’t wanted to come here to see himself and the love of his life at a bump in the road – he lived eternally in such a bump. He stared at himself so hard he could feel a strain behind his eyes, willing himself to make the right decision.

But he was pretty sure that had nothing to do with the other him’s eventual response.

“You’re not a bad boyfriend,” Mikleo said, so softly that he could barely be heard even beneath the already-quiet music. He looked back up at Sorey, who was giving him a grateful smile. “I didn’t handle what happened well, either. I don’t blame you for anything that happened. I started it all, anyway.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is.” Mikleo took Sorey’s other hand in his, holding them between their bodies as they stared at each other, Sorey the classic full-head taller. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you with Alisha.”

“I’m sorry I gave you a reason not to trust me.”

“You didn’t.” Mikleo brought their joined hands to his chest. “I…. I was just jealous. Of you and her. And I took it out on you.” Sorey grinned, and Mikleo’s cheeks went pink, bleeding through the tint of the lights. “Yeah, yeah, go ahead and poke fun. I deserve it.”

“Hey, did I say anything? Besides, what I think you deserve….” He took their joined hands back, guiding Mikleo’s to lay on his shoulders before resting his own over his hips, “….is a proper dance at your senior prom with your awful boyfriend.”

“I told you, you’re not awful.”

“Mediocre, then.”

Mikleo giggled and shook his head. He curled his arms further around Sorey’s neck, and Sorey curled his arms further around the small of his back, bringing their bodies closer together. Sorey rested his forehead against Mikleo’s.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“We should go.”

Mikleo blinked out of his trance and looked back over at his Sorey, who had stood silent beside him until now. “What?”

“If I’d known it was going to send me to a place like this, I wouldn’t have brought you with me.” Sorey’s already-crossed arms tightened across his chest. “You didn’t need to see something like this.”

“Why’s that?”

Sorey didn’t answer. Mikleo didn’t need him to.

“Let’s go.”

Rejuvenation.

“Dance with me.”

For the first time since they’d arrived, Sorey looked over at him. His red eyes flashed even in the dim lighting of the overhang.

“What?”

Mikleo pointed to where their other selves held each other and swayed, eyes closed and completely in love.

“Dance with me.”

“Don’t be stupid. We have to go.”

“I want to dance with you.”

“We’re going.”

“No.”

“Mikleo–!”

Mikleo reached out and grabbed Sorey by the front of his cloak, gripping the black fabric tightly in his hands. He pulled on him, hard, forcing Sorey to take a stumbling step closer to him. Their gazes met in a stalemate: Mikleo’s full of determination and Sorey’s of annoyance.

Mikleo knew full well that he really had no control over whether or not Sorey took them back – it was his power, not Mikleo’s – but the fact that he hadn’t done so already gave Mikleo some kind of hope.

He brought his hands up and wrapped his arms around Sorey’s neck, glancing sidelong at his other self for a reference. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d held Sorey so innocently, without the promise of lips on skin or hands groping flesh. Mikleo was jealous – jealous of the other him who got to hold Sorey whenever he pleased. It made him feel guilty: jealousy was a feeling he still knew quite well.

With a start, Mikleo realized the song had ended, and their other selves had ceased their dancing as a voice boomed through the room. “All right, Glenwood High! It is now officially time to announce this year’s prom king and queen!” Cheers and applause of excitement rang out, and with a defeated sigh, Mikleo stepped back.

Only to be caught around his waist and prevented from moving any further. Mikleo looked up in surprise, but Sorey’s face was the blank slate it normally was, revealing none of what he was thinking. His red stare bore into Mikleo, so intense it sent a shiver down his spine.

“The ballots have been counted! I am pleased to introduce your king and queen…”

With the arm around him, Sorey pulled Mikleo close again, until they were chest-to-chest. His other hand came to rest on the middle of Mikleo’s back.

Mikleo had forgotten what it felt like to be held so tenderly by the one he loved.

“There isn’t any music playing now.”

“Do you care?”

“No.”

Mikleo laid his head on his shoulder, cheek pressed to the curve of Sorey’s collarbone, his hands coming to rest back on his chest.

“….Sorey Shepherd and Alisha Diphda!”

~:~

More cheers. More applause. Mikleo could still see their other selves, and watched them – watched Sorey’s bright green eyes go wide as he double-taked between the Mikleo in his arms and something Mikleo couldn’t see. The other Mikleo laughed and shoved at him, yelling over the roar of the crowd to go. Sorey grinned and made to bolt away, but Mikleo was quick to grab his wrist.

“Wait! Fix your bowtie!”

Sorey looked down at himself, quickly bringing his hands up to hastily attempt to redo the buttons on his shirt. Mikleo’s hands went to his throat and fumbled with his bowtie. Through giddy laughter and knocking fingers, they managed to get Sorey looking presentable. Only then did Mikleo allow him to run off to the other end of the room, and out of sight.

“You’re stupid, you know that?” Sorey’s voice came from over his shoulder, his voice practically a whisper to Mikleo’s ears with all the background noise. He shrugged in response.

“So are you.”

“I know.”

“This isn’t dancing.”

“It’s what you wanted.”

“I know.”

Mikleo closed his eyes. Everything else around him became white noise. Nothing mattered, nothing but the way Sorey’s cloak felt against his cheek or the way Sorey’s arms felt around his back or the way Sorey’s chin felt pressed to his hair. For a moment, Mikleo could almost trick himself into believing that he and his Sorey were no different than the him and Sorey they’d come to see. That there was no game, no power, no other home to return to, and he would pull back and look up and Sorey would be smiling at him with that sun-shaming smile of his that made his bright green eyes sparkle–

Mikleo opened his eyes. Their other selves were back in their spot on the dance floor, Sorey with a big and gaudy, red-and-silver glitter-covered crown now on his head. His black jacket that had been missing before was now on his shoulders, starkly contrasting Mikleo’s white sleeves. The music was upbeat and playful again, and they shook each other around as they danced, hands interlocked, wide grins on their faces.

And suddenly, Sorey tugged his hands free, brought them up to cup Mikleo’s cheeks, and pulled him into a kiss. Mikleo’s fingers caught the fabric of his jacket, holding onto him as he rose up onto his toes to better return the kiss without disturbing the crown atop Sorey’s head. Watching them, Mikleo couldn’t tell when their kiss turned from a real kiss to them just smiling against each other’s lips like complete and utter dorks.

Rose appeared from somewhere Mikleo couldn’t see, and shoved her way between the two of them, wrapping an arm around each of their necks and dragging them into a hug. Then Alisha was there at Sorey’s side, grabbing the rim of his crown when it threatened to topple off following Rose’s assault. She had a matching tiara nestled in her blonde curls, just as gaudy and glittery as Sorey’s. When Rose released them, she stepped up to Mikleo, wringing her hands together at her chest, and said something that was lost among the music. But whatever it was that she said made Mikleo smile, and he pulled her into a hug of his own. Behind them, Sorey and Rose exchanged relieved grins.

Sorey reached up and took the crown off his head, holding it high in the air as he shouted, “To senior year!” Whooping repeats of the cheer echoed through the room, and Sorey laughed. The crown went back on his head, and he picked Mikleo up, bent down and wrapped his arms around his waist and actually picked him up. And Mikleo was so happy he didn’t even scold him for it. He just laughed and squished Sorey’s cheeks between his palms and shook his head adoringly. He said something that made Sorey’s grin widen all the more, and he dipped his head down just as Sorey was craning his up–

A cloud of purple suddenly filled Mikleo’s vision. He blinked, lifting his head from Sorey’s shoulder as he watched it dissipate before his eyes. Gone were the bright blinking lights, the blues and pinks and yellows all replaced with shadowed corners and dingy stone walls. The loud music abruptly stopped, replaced with a bone-chilling silence. And the people – there was no longer a single person in sight. No groups of dancing friends, no Rose, no Alisha, no other him, and no other Sorey.

Nothing but the ubiquitous scene of a ruin wall that had made up his life for so long now that he’d forgotten what it felt like to see something new.

Mikleo stepped out of the embrace and looked up at Sorey, his mouth hanging open. But before he could utter any words of protest, Sorey was there again, taking him by the chin and pulling him back in and pressing their lips together.

It was soft and sweet, not hungry and desperate like the kisses Sorey usually gave him. It made Mikleo gasp in surprise, and Sorey held him almost painfully tightly, and Mikleo didn’t pull away from him. He didn’t even mind the harshness of his grip, because it had been ages since Sorey had kissed him so chastely, just because he loved him, and not because he wanted anything else along with it.

He reached upwards with the intent to loop his arms around his neck, but Sorey broke the kiss before he could. Mikleo looked up again, into his love’s glowing red eyes.

“Sorey–”

“Don’t ever ask to come with me again.”

Mikleo reeled back, and this time, Sorey let him. He ignored the shocked expression on Mikleo’s face, instead turning around to slink off down one of the ruins’ many hallways, to disappear somewhere and stay there until he felt like coming back out.

He stopped at the threshold of the hallway. His black cloak helped him blend into the darkness of the room, even its gold accents faint. But his eyes were bright as he looked over his shoulder, cutting through the dimness and staring right through him.

Mikleo couldn’t help but think about how the brightness in his Sorey’s eyes was so different than the brightness in the eyes of the other Sorey. So different from the way his Sorey’s used to be.

“It’s easier this way. If you just stay here.”

“Why do you go?” Mikleo asked, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “Why do you go if you don’t care?”

Sorey didn’t answer him. He turned back around and disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

Mikleo brought a hand to his mouth and touched his fingertips to his still-burning lips.

He had no idea how long it would be before he saw Sorey again.

The bright multi-colored strobe lights had been turned off in favor of turning on the brighter overhead lights of the gymnasium. Large sheets of construction paper and piles of streamers littered the floor, as did the rest of the student council staff as they flittered about, removing decorations.

Mikleo was taking down the last of the balloons taped along the bleachers when that odd feeling dripped down his spine again. He pulled off the last red balloon and turned to glance over his shoulder, to the other side of the gym. Specifically to the shadow of one of the basketball hoops, the only one folded down from the ceiling that had been used to help suspend strings of paper stars. Mikleo wasn’t sure what it was, but the need to keep checking that particular spot for something kept niggling its way through his head. And every time he looked, there was nothing. Nothing but a crumbled napkin someone had missed when clearing the nearby tables.

He was probably just tired. And upset that that napkin was just sitting there. He should just go pick it up.

“Mikleo?”

A hand touched his elbow, and he looked over. Sorey was still wearing his ridiculous prom king crown, and had once again shed his jacket and tugged off his bowtie. Both were bunched up and stuffed under his arm, and Mikleo half-heartedly noted he’d have to stop by Sorey’s house at some point before his rented suit was due back to spiff both items back up.

Sorey smiled at him, and Mikleo forgot to make a sarcastic comment about his lack of clothing etiquette.

“Hey, Rose offered to take our picture outside, while the building’s still all lit up. Since, you know, we didn’t exactly get to the photographer earlier. Her new phone is probably the next best thing we can get.”

“You’re drenched in sweat and already half-destroyed your suit. You really want your picture taken right now?”

“Do I really want a picture with my boyfriend to commemorate our senior prom? Yeah, I really do.”

Mikleo rolled his eyes, but felt his lips twitch into a smile. “Fine. We did take a picture at your last soccer game anyway, and I guarantee you can’t smell worse than that.”

“At least I’m in a suit this time.”

They both laughed. Sorey took the balloon from him and bopped it towards the middle of the gym floor for someone else to take care of. Mikleo watched it float to the ground before looking back up at Sorey, surprised to find him staring rather intently across the gymnasium. He followed his gaze, but couldn’t figure out what he was staring at.

“Sorey?”

“Who’s in charge of raising the basketball hoop back up?”

Mikleo blinked. “Alisha. She’s the student council president, she should have the key.”

“She’s outside with Rose. I bet she forgot. C’mon, we can have a photo shoot while we wait for her to finish up.”

Sorey reached down and took his hand, lacing their fingers together as he began to lead the way out of the gymnasium. Mikleo went willingly, falling into step beside his boyfriend without even needing to think about it.

That feeling slipped back down his spine, though, and Mikleo cast one last glance at the shadow of the basketball hoop before they crossed through the doorway of the gym and it vanished from his sight.

“Everything okay?”

“I love you,” Mikleo said instead of answering. Sorey beamed at him, and as he lifted their joined hands and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Mikleo’s, he couldn’t help but think that Sorey looked like a true king, ridiculous crown and all.

“I love you, too.”

Mikleo’s heart fluttered. Being with Sorey always made him feel so wonderfully alive.

#talesoffanfic #tales of zestiria #sormik #soremiku #suremiku #sorey #mikleo #merry christmas babe i hope you like it

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teefa85 · 6 years

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So here’s the tentative planned party lists for Tales of the Eclipse. Complete with my inane reasoning. I try to go with the most relevant characters when possible, although sometimes it’s not 100% possible when every character below the main two has almost equal billing, or I have to go down a bit to fill the quota and I need to get characters I feel would work best with the plot I have...

Phantasia...Cless/Mint/Chester/Arche/Klarth The OG 5! Really...that’s the main reason! Suzu and Rondoline were added in later revisions, so I went with the characters in the plot from the start. Besides, you’ve got the two main pairings and the Summoner. We will need a few Summoners (who will probably get their Summons in-story by having some sort of item that any Summoners in the party can use...either having a few basics usable by all and you equip a ring that lets you use a major spirit for a Mystic Arte, or just allow any Summoner to call on whatever rings in your possession).

Destiny...Stahn/Rutee/Leon/Philia/Woodrow Swordian Masters! Who else would be the most important characters in the story? Besides...I have a few skit ideas (crossover or otherwise) for the first three, while the last two tend to get skipped.

Eternia...Reid/Farah/Meredy/Keele/Ras The Main 4 need to be in there! While Ras is more there to be involved in the group of royals. As I could think of less ideas for plot with Chat and Max (even if they’d be funnier). Though if I could think of ideas, the fifth slot might change. Prolly just stick with this, though.

Destiny 2...Kyle/Reala/Loni/Nanaly/Harold Mostly to avoid trying to figure out what to do with Judas and Leon in the same place. The first three are already here via a time traveling accident while the last two are gonna be represented by alternate present-day versions ala the first Radiant Mythology. And since the story isn’t going to be the same as original Destiny, Leon wouldn’t end up in a situation that would lead to him becoming Judas.

Symphonia...Lloyd/Colette/Genis/Zelos/Sheena Yeah, one of the more debatable as I go back and forth as whether or not I want to trade someone out for Raine. However, we have the Iselia Trio represented and Zelos can act as one of the nobles there for the conference with Sheena as his unfortunate bodyguard (as she can handle his shit). Besides...Zelos can get into a lot of trouble with his flirtatious ways and the many strong girls in the party!

Rebirth...Veigue/Eugene/Mao/Annie/Hilda Hilda’s mostly there because she tends to get shafted so at least she can be in this. Hell, she can converse with Genis and Arche about the trials of being a halfbreed. While we can’t leave Cat Dad and his two adoptive children out!

Legendia...Senel/Shirley/Will/Chloe/Norma Yeah, the first characters that would be in your party. As poor Moses tends to be comedy relief outside his Character Quest, Grune would be the same without her in-game story, and I don’t think I could use an info broker like Jay. Plus, Will can join Keele as the Only Sane Men in the research facility, Norma can get into treasure hunting antics with Rutee, and Chloe can converse with the other Knights or the other Swordswomen.

Abyss...Luke/Tear/Natalia/Jade/Guy Luke and Natalia act as nobles going to the conference, while Tear and Guy are acting as bodyguards for them (Guy due to his connection to Luke, Tear just hired). And we can’t miss out on Jade and his epic trolling! Also...going with Short Haired Luke because I’d go crazy trying to do Long Haired Luke!

Innocence...Ruca/Ilia/Spada/Ange/Hermana The first three are a power trio so they have to be together. As for the other two...I just liked them the best! I wanted to again avoid the new characters since I don’t want to figure out dimension hopping (we already have to get time traveling to work with the Destiny 2 cast).

Vesperia...Yuri/Estelle/Rita/Judith/Raven Really wanted to put in Repede, but eh...as I’m working with a RM style class system the series’ only animal character wouldn’t really fit into anything. Plus, I really wanted to include all the girls (as I really love them all). While Raven is mostly there because of the ohmygod mess that would be him and Zelos teaming up and getting blasted by a few of the easily irritated members of the female cast!

Hearts...Shing/Kohaku/Hisui/Beryl/Chal Yeah, Chalcedony is only in the Remake. But unlike the other Remake characters, he travels with your party even in the Original! And he could represent his beloved Paraiba-sama in the delegation! Plus I want to see him and Leon interacting since I swear he’s an expy of the little brat! While the first three are almost a trio at this point (with all the comedy that comes with it). Beryl also plays off all three of them well so yeah...

Graces...Asbel/Sophie/Cheria/Hubert/Pascal The first three are a trio and ohgod after their scenario in Rays is full of amazing family fluff! Pascal’s there because I want to see her and Harold explode shit. And Hubert plays well off her, as well as his brother.

Xillia 1+2...The six Xillia 1 characters/Ludger/Gaius/Muzet/Julius Because there aren’t enough new characters in Xillia 2. Still get 10 characters for two games. Julius is here because A) he tends to get invited to these side games alongside his brother and B) like with Leon and Judas, I’d rather not give myself a headache dealing with trying to reconcile two Millas!

Zestiria...Sorey/Mikleo/Rose/Dezel/Alisha I figured I’d limit the Seraphim just to not have to go with trying to play with how they’re being seen (some characters are magically sensitive enough that I could buy them seeing them, but not the entire cast). So the three humans, and the two Seraphim connected to two of those humans! There! This was easy enough to deal with! Even if I like Edna and Lailah better than some of the characters I did add in! Alisha also works well for the delegation while I can see Rose (as she’s a noble assassin) getting involved due to the intense danger the situation involves.

Berseria...Velvet/Laphicet/Rokuro/Eleanor/Magilou In a similar vein, let’s just go with all the humans and one Malakhim connected to one of those humans! Err...I’ll think of how I want Velvet and Rokuro to have been daemonized at a later point!

I do debate adding in Escort Title mainstays with Emil and Marta to represent DotNW and Caius and Rubia to represent Tempest. Or the Link Main 5 (Lippy wouldn’t cause problems like Repede due to being a spellcaster). And maybe some Rays characters once it ends in Japan and people translate enough for me to do shit (though I can take early game Ix and Mileena if not)!

#tales of the eclipse #brainstorming

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birbleafs · 7 years

Text

[fic] a series of CATastrophic incidents

Series: Tales of Zestiria Rating: T Genre: Game-Canon, Humour Characters: Dezel, Rose, Sorey, Mikleo, Lailah, Edna, Zaveid, Alisha Diphda, Sergei Strelka, Original Characters Warnings: None, unless you’re violently allergic to cats, bad puns, and unhinged utensils Summary: He shouldn’t have been surprised, honestly. Still, nothing quite prepared him for this; he was more of a dog person, after all. Or: in which the party encounters a witch and the seraphim are turned into cats.

A/N: This started out as a joke fic an excuse to write more cute/silly party shenanigans but kind of spiralled out of hand, lol. So I guess it’s now the equivalent of a side-quest… oops? I may or may not have mixed up some events in the game timeline very slightly for creative liberties, but it’s nothing serious. Takes place in the time after the party’s arrival in Lastonbell and before the incident with Forton in Pendrago.

Fic can also be read on AO3

i. He shouldn’t have been surprised, honestly. Incidents like these—they were a norm and he should really be used to them by now. Being part of the Shepherd’s posse brought both irritability and absurdity. He was aware of this even before Rose had decided to take on the role of Squire; before she had risked her own life to save the brat from certain death after his brush with the Lord of Calamity in Glaivend Basin.

Still, nothing quite prepared him for this; he was more of a dog person, after all.

“But why cats, though?” Rose finally blurted out, incredulous. Hell, Dezel wanted to know too—who would come up with such a sick joke anyway?

“I’m not a cat!”

The small silver creature standing in the grass was scowling up at them with narrowed, violet eyes. His mouth was open, as if he were attempting to speak. But the only sound he managed was a very indignant and kittenish mewl.

“W-What?” The silver kitten crinkled his nose, tail waving back and forth in confusion. He glanced over his shoulder, gazing at a second cat—a female with a silky white coat and a long, red-striped tail. “Why can’t I… Lailah, what’s going on?”

“Huh,” Sorey said from where he was crouched low to the ground. There was a contemplative look about him as he swept his gaze from the silver kitten to the white cat. Skulking beside his right knee was a smaller, calico-patched kitten with sky-blue eyes and a foul temper, her short tail fluffed up. And draped casually over the Shepherd’s shoulder was yet another cat—a sleek, muscular tom, grey-striped and wearing a languid amber stare. Sorey watched the cats surrounding him for a bit longer, before he reached out tentatively to let the silver kitten sniff his fingers.

“Well, at least he didn’t turn you all into frogs,” he added unhelpfully. “Ow!” He yelped when the silver kitten nipped a finger.

“This isn’t funny, Sorey!” the kitten said, ears twitching irritably.

Before Sorey could reply, the grey tom leapt down from his perch to the grass below, splaying his claws as he stretched his long limbs out easily.

“Better a cat than a frog, eh, Mikster? Though I suppose it might have been easier if we had been turned into frogs. A kiss from one with the purest of hearts should do the trick.” The grey tom glanced up at Rose, a mischievous gleam in his eyes now. “No harm trying it out with cats too, right? How about it, Missy? Sheps here would actually be the obvious choice but since Lailah probably won’t risk sullying his purity, I’m sure we also can make do with a kiss from a fine lady such as yourself. Besides, the kid has probably reserved his kiss for that special someone.”

“Um, actually—” Sorey began hesitantly at the same time the calico kitten growled softly in her throat. Bunching up her paws beneath her, she sprang forward and aimed a swift paw-jab to the grey tom’s face that had him yowling in surprise and backing away.

“As lewd as ever even in this form,” the calico hissed as she swished her bottle-brush tail in contempt. “Just because you’re a fuzz ball now doesn’t mean you’re allowed to be gross, Grossveid.”

Rose rubbed at her nape, still confused, as she stared at the gathering of cats. “How are these cats even talking to us? It’s like I’m hearing their voices in my head and that’s creepy, just like how... Whoa, hold on a sec...” She stiffened, eyes widening as she finally caught on. “Is this kitten Edna?” She flicked her gaze back at the grey tom, who beamed and twitched his whiskers proudly up at her. “And Zaveid?!”

Dezel was already internally groaning at Rose’s slow uptake. But Sorey, ever the sunshine of their dysfunctional little band, only let out a chuckle.

“So you can hear them too, huh? And this one here is Mikleo!” He reached for the silver kitten who was still puffed up indignantly, holding up his now fluffy best friend for Rose to take a better look. “Doesn’t he look like the cutest bundle of fur now?” “Ugh, Sorey!” Mikleo the kitten groaned, struggling to bat Sorey over the nose with a paw. This time, it was Rose’s turn to laugh. “More like an overpriced fur stole, really.” “R-Rose!” Before the two could continue with their good-natured teasing, the white cat with the red tail purred, amused. She bounded up to balance herself easily on Sorey’s right shoulder, looking over at Rose and Dezel with bright eyes.

“And I take it this one here must be Lailah then,” Rose said.

“That is correct,” the Prime Lord (Prime... Cat?) nodded. “It seems that what we’ve heard from the villagers aren’t mere rumours, after all. With their apparent skill in transmutation artes, perhaps this person really is a witch.” “Great,” Dezel muttered under his breath. “This just means more work cut out for us.”

ii.

The trouble with old geezers—with old people in general, Rose thought somewhat unkindly—was how they never minded their own business. Things would’ve been simpler if he had ignored them, had left them to their own devices. But no, the old man just had stick his nose in, throwing a wrench into their plans.

(To be fair, she’d considered that perhaps he might’ve been yet another unwilling victim coerced into it. But she had also spent weeks tracking and chasing down their target, dammit. So nope, he didn’t get a free pass, unwilling victim or not!) In any case, even if the man wasn’t completely to blame, Rose felt at times the odds just weren’t in their favour. After all, Sorey—and now Rose, by association—tended to have the odd luck of attracting unwanted attention, from both meddlesome and honest humans alike.

She groaned, placing a hand at her hip while the other pinched the space between her eyes. It had to be the darn Shepherd’s cloak—of course Sorey was going to stick out like a sore thumb everywhere, clad in such conspicuous designs. That and probably that ridiculously boyish but radiant smile, over-bright like the sun. Sorey’s earnestness didn’t always impress unctuous politicians and battle-hardy soldiers like it usually did with civilians. But they’d always assumed the Shepherd to be an ingenuous young man at first, only to realise belatedly how discerning he could actually be.

Unfortunately in this case, the old geezer wasn’t too quick on the pickup. Sorey wasn’t quite ready to dismiss the old man’s pleas of There you are, I’ve searched all over for you!, but he’d realised something didn’t quite add up when he exchanged a brief glance with her.

“Oh,” Sorey said, looking back over at the old man, who was now bowing fervently before them. “Do you both know each other?”

Rose didn’t miss the flicker of uncertainty in those grey eyes, or the way the old man fiddled nervously with the hem of his tunic. She sighed, before meeting Sorey’s gaze once more with the tiniest of smirks.

“A-ah, yes! We do!” the old man stuttered, a little too quickly and too loudly. “Yes, of course we know each other—why would you think otherwise?! I-I mean, he’s my grandson, who’s now the blacksmith’s apprentice! We had a… fight and he went missing and…” He faltered, staring blankly first at Sorey, and then at Rose. As though he’d abruptly lost his train of thought.

Or as though he’d forgotten the rest of his scripted lines.

Rose stifled back a chuckle. She flicked her gaze back at the boy she and Sorey had chased through the streets earlier, down to the corner of this alley. The blacksmith’s apprentice, huh? Now she was sure the old man was lying. She was no stranger to Coram and his forge; the blacksmith traded regularly with the Sparrowfeathers for metal and coal. And being the loquacious sort, he never had any qualms filling her in with the latest village gossip and updates in his life. So she would have heard if Coram had gotten an apprentice. And even she hadn’t, the boy’s hands were too smooth, his nails too polished for one who supposedly laboured for hours with fire and metalwork.

“An apprentice?” she said, eyebrows raised in feign surprise. She made no attempt to move from her spot however, keeping the boy cornered against the brick wall. “Never heard of Coram taking in someone new. But let’s just assume you’re telling us the truth and that you’re able to describe ol’ Smithy and his forge. If you can do that, then I might just buy it and let you go.”

There was a tensed silence and— Rose caught a flash of movement from the corner of her eyes. The old man lunged clumsily forward, hands flailing out in an attempt to grab her, but Rose was already sidestepping away nimbly—only to realise too late that the old man hadn’t been trying to pin her down, and was instead attempting to divert her attention.

Oh, crap, the kid!

She turned and saw Sorey rushing to her side, sword raised.

“Rose, Sorey—get back!” was the last thing she heard before she felt a gush of wind surrounding them. There was a loud rumbling noise and they were both knocked off their feet by a fierce blast of magic.

Rose skidded against the ground, coughing as dirt and dust settled around them. Blinking, she saw Dezel standing tall before her, his arms outstretched to keep the shield he’d raised with his artes intact.

“You all right?” he snapped. “Alive and kicking,” she said, wincing when she felt a twinge from a bruise on her arm. “Where’s Sorey?”

“I’m okay,” Sorey managed, after a fit of coughing. He was struggling back up to his feet, using his sword as a brace. Rose blinked again, rubbing the last of the dust out from her eyes with her hand. She swept her gaze around, before letting out a choice curse.

“ Can't believe they got away so easily. Dammit!”

“That’s not the only problem we have either,” Dezel growled stiffly, ten times more grim-faced than he normally was. Which was really saying something. Just as she was about to ask what he’d meant, she felt something brush past her shins. She jumped, one hand already curled around the hilt of her dagger, only to pause in confusion when she saw a smallish calico-patched bundle dashing away from her.

“What the heck?” she gaped, as the creature (a cat?) hid itself behind Sorey’s ankles and scowled back at her with bright blue eyes. It was then Rose noticed three more cats clustered around Sorey.

When she’d finally cottoned on to what exactly had happened—the boy who was the rumoured “witch” causing trouble all around the village, had struck out them with a cloud of arte, effectively transforming all the seraphim (save Dezel) into cats—all Rose could do was to stare blankly at her companions.

An awkward pause, and then—

“You’ve got to be kitten me, right?” was all she could manage, confounded as she were. To which Dezel only visibly winced, while somewhere from within her mind, Rose heard Lailah chuckling gleefully, “Aw, Rose, you’re getting to be a-meow-zing at these!”

iii.

“And so that’s how it went!” Rose said, almost too cheerfully, hands placed firmly on either side of her hips.

“Oh, I-I see…” Alisha said hesitantly. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, as she tried to make sense of what had just been shared with her. Mikleo couldn’t really blame the Princess Knight for any doubt she might harbour at their story. After all, it wasn’t every day that humans—let alone human-like seraphim—were transformed into talking animals. Mikleo waved his bushy tail, his poise graceful as he balanced himself on Sorey’s left shoulder. He met Alisha’s gaze with sombre eyes. “I know it sounds really out of it, especially when coming from Rose—” “Hey!” Rose scowled.

“—but that’s honestly how we ended up as cats,” Mikleo finished. Alisha only continued to stare wordlessly at him, still frowning slightly. Before Mikleo could speak again, she abruptly reached forward with both hands and lifted him away from Sorey’s shoulder. “H-Huh? Alisha?!” Mikleo yowled, surprised.

“Oh, but aren’t you just the sweetest looking kitten!” Alisha cooed, pulling Mikleo closer into a crushing embrace. “Your coat has such a brilliant shine to it. And your tail! It’s the fluffiest tail I’ve seen, it’s oh so adorable!” She stroked her hand over Mikleo’s soft pelt, marvelling at the silvery sheen.

“Well, I totally did not see that coming,” Rose said, as she nudged Lailah (who was curled around her shoulder) gently. “So I guess Princess Alisha isn’t quite able to hear you guys speak, now that you’re stuck as cats?”

“Well, it probably isn’t simply because we’ve been transformed into cats per se,” Lailah said. “But just as humans with low resonance cannot perceive or speak with seraphim, it seems our voices in cat-form cannot reach them either. For some reason, they are only able to perceive us visually in our altered-forms, hence why to them, we’re perhaps no different than your average alley cat...”

“I’m not an alley cat—mmr-ow-ow!” Mikleo protested heatedly, before dissolving into kittenish squeaks when Alisha delightfully embraced him once more.

“And due to their lower resonance, it’ll only sound like a normal cat meowing when you try speaking to them—is that it?” Sorey asked, his eyes bright with understanding now.

Lailah nodded. “More or less, yes.”

At Sorey’s words, Alisha paused in her fervent cuddling of cute furry things. “Cats trying to speak? What do you mean…?” She echoed, looking over the cats around them. “Are you saying these cats are actually cat seraphim—oh! Is that cat Lady Lailah?” Her eyes widened and her face flushed a bright pink, confusion quickly turning into mortification as she held up the silver kitten before her again for a better look. “And is this kitten Seraph Mikleo?! Oh, I-I’m so, so sorry for my unforgivably rude behaviour!”

Sorey could only offer a weak laugh by way of explanation. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag then. Um.”

Dezel grimaced, his expression twisted into equal parts exasperation and resignation as he folded his arms. “Dammit, not you too.”

(Mikleo could’ve sworn though, that Lailah was bursting with motherly pride for her Shepherd as she said, “Oooh, it wasn’t as punstatic but good try, Sorey—six points for effort!”)

iv. “We appreciate the help, but you don’t have to escort us all the way, Sergei,” Sorey said, offering an apologetic smile to the burly knight walking beside him. “I don’t wish to add to your troubles when you already have so many responsibilities to see to.”

The Captain of the Platinum Knights only shook his head in a dignified manner. “Oh, but I must insist, Shepherd Sorey. After all, I cannot ignore these disturbances that have been repeatedly brought to our attention—it is my duty to see to the source of the people’s worries. Caladan is located in a very rural area bordering the forest and news beyond that of daily trade and domestic grievances from the village seldom reaches the Capital. So it’s a cause for concern when we hear talk of suspicious behaviour outside of the norm, especially when there’s been talk of serial murders in Lastonbell as well.” Rose grinned, beaming at Sergei. “Spoken like a true knight of the people! I can already see you and Princess Alisha getting along well enough.” She nodded at Sorey. “And it might actually do us good to have additional help. This one’s been a pretty slippery case, being a witch and all.”

“A witch?” A contemplative crossed the Captain’s face. He cast a furtive glance over his shoulder and at the herd of cats trailing after them. “I caught brief mentions of it from the aides of a diplomatic party passing through the village this morning, but I had not given it much thought then, thinking it was only fantastical rumours. So, if I understand it right—the, ah, feline cortège that’s accompanying you now? Are they actually your seraphim partners, Milady Rose?”

“Feline cortège?” Zaveid snorted, flicking his tail. “Ol’ Cap here sure is the very model of an upstanding citizen, isn’t he? Guess it’s a good coincidence we ran into him when we did.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Edna huffed. “What brings you here? A lone seraph wandering in a place teeming with foul humans? Seems too much of a coincidence that you’d happen to be in the same run-of-the-mill village as we did.” “You think I had planned to get turned into a cat with the rest of you? I may be many things but I ain’t that crazy!” Zaveid could hardly stifle back a guffaw, lips curved into an ingratiating smirk. “A man has his reasons, all right? Maybe I’d just wanted to stretch my legs a little. Or maybe I just needed some fresh air and fresh sights, so to speak.”

“Do you ever give a straight answer?” Mikleo sighed, his fur already prickling with irritation. It was hard not to feel vexed, especially when Zaveid seemed all too keen on being as vexing as possible. “Or do you just enjoy speaking in riddles?”

And true to his needling nature, Zaveid only chuckled, his whiskers twitched in utmost amusement. “What’s the matter, Mik-boy? I thought kits like you adored riddles.”

Mikleo bristled and would have retorted back with something rude, but Dezel abruptly moved then. The wind seraph darted past the bickering seraph-cats, growling sharply, “Cut the chatter! We’ve got company!”

There was sudden shift in the atmosphere around them; Mikleo felt his whiskers tingling with danger.

Rose was already falling into a defensive stance beside Sorey, daggers drawn and ready. Sergei swept a narrowed gaze around them, sizing up the surly-looking bandits—all eight of them—who had silently appeared from all sides of the deserted path to surround them in a tight circle.

“What is the meaning of this?” the knight demanded. “As Captain of the Platinum Knights, I command you to put away your weapons now.”

The bandits didn’t flinched, but only raised their axes higher as they stepped closer, their eyes wide and glazed as if mesmerized.

“We have no quarrel with you, Captain,” said the leader, his weathered face a network of jagged scars. “But the lad and the girlie? Cursed by the gods, they are. He said they would come and stir up trouble. Said we needed to stop them, foretold as it were by the gods.”

“This isn’t good. There are traces of an arte imprinted upon these men. Someone has woven illusions or tampered with their minds.” Sorey could hear Lailah’s worry as she spoke. “Already I can sense a strong domain coming from somewhere ahead and I’m almost certain it’s the witch. We need to act quickly.”

“You’re saying that their minds have been somewhat possessed and they were sent here to stall us?” Rose clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Great, just what we needed. First talking seraph-cats and now zombie bandits!” She turned towards one of the bandits—a youngish lout with a patch over one eye—who had crept up from her right flank. She frowned, holding up a dagger so that the serrated blade would be angled right across his face if she’d chosen to strike him then. An effective warning. “Back off, kid, if you still want to be able to see out of that remaining eye. Do you seriously think you guys are a match for a captain of the military and the Shepherd’s posse?”

The one-eyed youth curled his lip into a snarl, revealing rows of crooked teeth. “You don’t scare us with your fancy words and titles. All we see here is an old fogey, a wench who runs her mouth, and a boy playing dressed-up hero!”

“We don’t wish to hurt you,” Sorey said, even as he kept his guard up. “So please, stand down and let us through or we will fight you.”

The man with the scarred face let out a raspy laugh, before he spat at the ground inches away from Sorey and countered derisively, “Says you and what army, laddie?”

“He does not need an army for one as disrespectful as you!” Sergei cut in, heatedly drawing his sword now. “Allow me to fight alongside you, Shepherd Sorey! With your beloved wife and your seraph team!”

“Wife??” echoed the one-eyed youth, flicking his gaze incredulously from Rose to Sorey. “You mean you’re married?”

“Well—” Sorey began, looking as nonplussed as he did.

“Congratulations, then! When’s the baby due?”

“Oh! Um, thank… you?” The Shepherd paused and frowned, head angled in confusion. “Wait, what baby?”

“WHAT team?” Scar-face roared, glowering angrily at the one-eyed youth for derailing the conversation. He stared past the trio, his eyes searching before he spotted four furry creatures glaring up at him from where they stood clustered around Sorey’s heels. He snorted. “What, you mean these wild cats? Seriously?”

“Well, you guys do still have Dezel,” Zaveid murmured to no one in particular, “who fortunately isn’t a cat—”

“We’re wasting time like this,” Dezel snarled, his patience finally snapping. “Sorey, armatize with me!”

“Huh? But we don’t really need to...”

“We’ll go easy on them—don’t look at me like that; I swear, nothing too brutal. Come on! Or are you just going to dawdle and let the witch get away again?”

Sorey considered his options, exchanged a quick glance with Lailah and then nodded at his wind seraph.

“All right, let’s go. Lukeim Yurlin!”

Clad now in a raiment of white, embellished gold and green, Sorey leapt to the sky. With a twist of his body, he conjured up a blast of wind to sweep over the bandits, effectively stunning them and knocking them off their feet.

The sun was already hanging low in the dim orange sky by the time they had put enough distance between themselves and the bandits.

“Is it really all right to leave them as they are?” Sorey asked, his expression set in worry and a touch of guilt. “Those men were only acting viciously because they’d been mesmerized—shouldn’t we try to break the witch’s spell first? They might cause trouble for the other villagers too.”

“It seems they were only mesmerized to fight and stall us specifically. If that were the case, then I doubt they would cause any real harm to anyone else.” Edna yawned languidly, flashing a pink tongue over razor-sharp teeth. Now that she was stuck as a kitten, she (and to an extent, Mikleo, even though he loathed to admit it aloud) had trouble keeping up with the humans’ wider strides. So she’d decided it was easier to hitch a ride instead—with a smug grin at her intended victim and three easy leaps, she had settled herself comfortably on top of Dezel’s hat. The wind seraph had protested vehemently at first, but made no real attempt to remove her.

“Edna’s right,” Lailah said. “And the sooner we get to the witch’s domain, the sooner we can stop him and break his spell, both the ones he’d casted on the bandits and us.”

The party trudged on, guided by Lailah as she scented the air for signs of the witch’s domain she had felt earlier. She couldn’t find any lingering trace however, even after they had scouted around for an hour.

“I apologize, Shepherd Sorey, Milady Rose,” Sergei said at length, bowing deeply to the pair. “But I’m unable to continue any further with you. I’m needed to supervise the patrol at the south eastern borders outside of Caladan tonight. I hope you will not begrudge my leave and I pray your quest still goes well.”

“Hey, it’s no biggie, Captain!” Rose said cheerfully. “Duty calls, after all. Just leave the witch-hunting to us. We’ll take care of it in no time.”

Once Sergei had taken his leave, the party continued their search. The hustle and bustle of the day soon faded; the villagers were slowly retreating into their homes for the night. Sorey pressed forward, however, not ready to give up just yet. They ventured away from the village centre and out to a clearing near the wooded area. The path was barren, with weeds peeking out under a stone slab or two.

And just beyond them was what looked to be a large, abandoned house. Glass shards and broken wood littered the front porch where the windows had been smashed in and there was a gaping hole in the roof.

“Okay, no, no, nope,” Rose declared flatly, digging her heels firmly into the ground. “There is no hecking way am I stepping anywhere near that building.”

Sorey swallowed, dread nestling within his gut. But there was another familiar sensation there as well—an unsettling weight pressed painfully against his chest.

“I can sense malevolence seeping out from within.” He studied the dusty path before them again and pointed. “Look, there are footsteps leading inside; that may be where the witch is hiding out.”

Rose wrapped her arms around herself and visibly shuddered. "Are you kidding me? This is a legit set-up for the worst possible scenario. Dark ominous clouds ahead? Check. Full moon hanging right above us? Check. Bats screeching to the backdrop of eerie canine howling in the distance and my hair standing on end? Check, check, and check."

Lailah bounded up to Rose’s shoulder, brushing against her face gently in reassurance. “It’s likely there are only hellions lurking inside. This domain isn’t immensely strong, which might explain why this atmosphere feels more like the frightening sort that humans would associate with haunted buildings.”

“Or it could, you know, just actually be ghosts too,” Edna added unhelpfully. “S-So ghosts are real?!!”

Mikleo stared reproachfully at the calico kitten. “Stop scaring Rose already; it's not helping at all.” He ignored Edna’s smirk as she stuck a petulant tongue out at him, and turned towards the Squire instead. “Think of it this way, Rose: the sooner we purify the witch hiding inside, the faster we can break the spell and turn things back to normal. And if any… uh, paranormal monster attacks, just... well, just get stabby like you always do. We may be cats now, but you can still count on us to back you and Sorey up—we promise.”

“Okay, fine. Now you're speaking my kind of language!” Rose gave a weak but relieved laugh, even as she kept her daggers within easy reach. “I-I can roll with that, yeah! All right, let's go kick some hellion butts.”

The gloom within the house was far more daunting once they’d entered. Rose paled for a moment but pressed on, jaw set in grim determination. She and Sorey flanked each other, with Mikleo balanced on Sorey’s shoulder and Lailah on Rose’s. Dezel kept close behind them, while Edna and Zaveid took point and led the way as they moved cautiously down the dark hallways and past empty rooms.

It wasn’t long before they encountered the first wave of hellions—dusk bats and dirt leeches—which they easily made short work of. Sorey had purified the last bat when there was a scuffling noise ahead, the sound of scrambling footsteps.

“Over there!” Dezel growled, swinging his pendulums out towards the sound. Lailah conjured up a ball of flame to illuminate the way and they caught sight of a huddled form crouched in the shadows. The figure—the same boy they had cornered earlier that day— glared at them from under his hooded cloak, his eyes the icy-blue of frost and winter gale. He clasped his palms together, murmuring a string of spells.

“Ncewmevb Boks!”

Abruptly, Lailah’s conjured flame flickered and fizzled out, and the party was plunged into complete darkness. There was spine-chilling rush of wind, the disembodied whisper of a voice right beside Rose’s ear and—

"GYEEAAH!!" Rose shrieked, jabbing her fists forward on instinct. She felt her punch connect with something furry at the same time as she elbowed someone else in the gut beside her. “Yeoowwch—!” “—Hyeargh!”

Both Dezel and Zaveid grunted in pain just as Lailah quickly conjured another ball of flame. “Brace yourselves, everyone!” Sorey warned, raising his sword to counter another rush of attack—only to glance down in surprise at what looked to be a demonic porcelain tea set lunging towards him. A tea cup flung itself forward, smashing and breaking pathetically against his chest while he batted his sword at a screeching teapot hell-bent on scalding him with boiling-hot liquid.

"What are these things?" Mikleo hissed, swiping his claws at a particularly stubborn tray with a fanged maw. “Lailah, are these even hellions?!”

Beside him, Edna only let out a resigned sigh, and very casually dodged a set of dinner knives flying her way. "Well, they sure are a pathetic excuse of a hellion, if that’s the case.” “Oh dear,” the Prime Lord mused, seemingly unperturbed by the possessed crockery assailing them now. An oversized cauldron hovered before her, threatening to ooze a sickly purple mess over its brim. “It has just been a series of CAT-astrophic incidents, hasn’t it? And now with KIT-chenware too!”

A collective groan sounded from her companions, but Lailah only giggled, a glimmer in her eyes. “Nothing a little spring-cleaning can’t fix!” She sidestepped the cauldron and released a burst of fiery spheres back at the marauding utensils.

“Ugh, this is even freakier than those floating bison heads!” Rose whined, whirling as she and Zaveid parried blows from a giant, spiked rolling pin trying to flatten them all like dough while Dezel wrangled it down with his pendulums.

“This is getting ridiculous!” Mikleo yowled, avoiding the snapping jaws of a deranged goblet before it crashed into the wall. He was backed into the corner and hadn’t noticed the figure hidden in the shadows...

“Mikleo, look out!” Sorey leapt ahead, pushing the silver kitten to safety just as the witch moved. There was a blinding flash—they dodged swiftly, the force of the witch’s arte only grazing Sorey’s shoulder. The blaze of magic rebounded off a pillar in a wild arc and struck the rafters above them instead. The crumbling wood would have crushed the witch then—who stood rooted in fear as he stared upwards—but Sorey was already lunging forward again, twisting his body to shield the boy from the falling debris, before a number of stray pieces caught him sharply by the back of the head.

He gasped as white-hot pain shot down his spine and crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

vi. His head was still throbbing when Sorey finally came to, the edges of his vision slowly coalescing into focus. Mikleo and Lailah—still bewhiskered and feline—were peering over him anxiously, sparks of healing artes trailing from their stretched paws over him.

“Look, it’s not my fault he got knocked out,” a child’s voice said from a little way off. “What kind of Shepherd is he anyway, keeling over so easily?”

“You dropped practically half a ceiling on him!” Rose countered hotly.

“Two wooden planks and half a brick, actually,” Zaveid corrected, only to falter when Rose shot a dark look his way.

“Is everyone okay? O-ow...” Sorey winced as he sat up, carefully rubbing the sore bump at the back of his head. “What’s going on with Rose and the others?”

“We’re fine,” Mikleo assured him, before heaving a sigh. “Still stuck as cats though, as you can see.”

“And it seems that we have mistaken this source to be malevolence from the witch, but… Perhaps you can explain it better, Almanakh.” Lailah nodded at the small blue normin who had approached them.

“I owe you some thanks, Shepherd,” the normin said as she bowed stiffly, “for protecting Atreides earlier. But all the same, you ought to stop bullying him too. Hmph.”

“Bullying him? Your little witch boy is the one causing havoc around the village!” Dezel growled tersely.

“Atreides might be a handful at times, but he’s still only a child,” Almanakh continued. “One doesn’t have many companions when living on the streets; he was abandoned by the orphanage who’d housed him as a toddler for possessing ‘the Sight’ and was shunned by other street urchins as well. He himself did not understand at first why other humans couldn’t see us, the spiritual beings that periodically crossed paths with them.”

“So he has the resonance to perceive seraphim too,” Sorey mused. “Did you also form a pact with him? That’s why he’s able to cast spells and artes, right?”

“Hey, don’t pick on Almanakh,” Atreides abruptly cut in. Sorey turned, meeting the haughty gaze of the raven-haired boy; he did not sense any trace of malevolence in the child.

Atreides fingered the hem of his cloak nervously, but still jutted his chin out in slight defiance. “Almanakh’s the only one who was willing to teach me things whenever I asked. I’m not so illiterate either that I can’t pick up a thing or two about magic from the books she’d stole—um, shown me.” He paused, his lips curved into the tiniest of smirks as he crouched to pinch at the normin’s cheek. “And you stuck around because you actually like me, don’t you, Almanakh? Can’t blame you—I am rather charming for a street-urchin.”

Almanakh shrugged, swatting her paws at Atreides’ casual prodding. “Nonsense. I just really like meat-pies and you’re great at stealing them. Ours is simply a bond of mutual convenience.”

“Mutual convenience, right.” Rose shook her head, before grinning back at Sorey and the others. “Not so different from your standard friendship then. In all seriousness though, can you please remove the spells you’d put on my friends and on those people you’d mesmerized?”

“Why the bandits though?” Atreides said breezily. “If they’re mesmerized forever trying to fight you all, that’ll keep them from preying on innocents.”

“...And what kind of rationale is that?! Mind-control without permission isn’t any better!”

“Atreides,” Almanakh admonished. “Remember, favours should always be returned for karmic luck.”

The raven-haired boy grimaced, puffing his cheeks out but didn’t protest. He turned to Sorey again, staring owlishly at the Shepherd for a moment, and asked, “Why did you protect me when the arte rebounded? I turned your seraphim into cats, and the villagers have already branded me a witch. I’m one of the ‘bad guys’, after all.”

Sorey brushed the side of his jaw with a finger as he considered his words. “To be honest, I’m not too sure myself. But you had looked terrified when the rafters collapsed. You’re just a kid, like Almanakh said, so I couldn’t just stand by and watch.”

“You could’ve easily stopped me and broken the spell if you had let the debris hit me.”

“Maybe. But even so, I didn’t want to judge you based on rumours alone—I wanted to hear your side of the story too.” Sorey offered the boy a sheepish grin. “And in the end, we still managed to stop you this way too.”

Atreides frowned, ice-blue eyes still narrowed suspiciously. “...You really are a strange person, you know?”

“Er—” Sorey began, but Atreides’ lips were pulled into a wry half-smile now. He held a hand out, helping the injured Shepherd climb shakily back to his feet.

“My skills in transmutation and mind-charming artes are rudimentary at best; the effect usually wears off in a day or two. So your seraphim will return to their usual forms by sundown tomorrow and the bandits back to whatever it is that bandits do during their spare time when they aren’t terrorizing wayward travellers.”

“And the hellions here?” Rose asked, glancing warily around them.

“Merely illusions that I had conjured to fool the senses—the demonic kitchenware, the malevolence. This is just your regular abandoned house with regular ghosts, I suppose.”

“S-so ghosts are real then?!”

“This chit-chat’s been nice and all,” Edna cleared her throat suddenly, her expression flat and signalling extreme boredom. “But what are we going to do about the boy? Do we just let him be as he is? He’s not corrupted by malevolence now, but life on the streets is tough and he has been troubling many of the villagers.”

“Even if you guys don’t do anything, the esteemed Captain of the Platinum Knights might someday be forced to,” Zaveid added.

“A kid’s got to eat,” Atreides said defensively. “And it’s easier to steal using artes.”

Sorey sighed, feeling a sudden twinge of sadness at a fleeting memory of a girl and her dog; at how sometimes resonance could easily be as much a burden of loneliness as a gift of camaraderie. Edna and Zaveid were right of course, but Atreides had a point too. “It’s true we can’t just leave him like this, but Atreides has only been trying to survive living on his own too…”

“Oh, that’s right!” Rose chimed, hitting her fist into her palm, blue eyes bright with an idea. “All right, leave this to me—I know exactly who can help.” She grinned widely at the boy. “You guys like money, don’t you?”

Atreides exchanged a glance with his normin, brows quirked questioningly. “I’d like to feel rich sometimes, yes.”

vii. “I have to say, Rose, you really do come up with some of the best solutions,” Lailah said, seated comfortably around Rose’s shoulders.

They had visited Coram the blacksmith in his forge first thing in the morning. After some convincing and the promise of free batches of the Sparrowfeathers’ mabo curry buns, Coram agreed to take Atreides under his wing as an apprentice.

“He’ll never admit it, but ever since Coram’s lost his Emery to the sickness all those years, he’s been a little lonesome.” Rose explained, slowly making her way up the steps to the inn room they’d booked for the day. “So I thought having Atreides around as his apprentice might help with that. It’s not exactly a get-rich-quick scheme, but Atreides will at least have a place to stay. And if he’s serious about making a change, Coram’s willing help with Atreides’ education too.”

“All in all, a happy ending,” Lailah purred. “Let’s hope things will work out well for both of them.”

“I wonder if Sorey’s feeling better,” Rose said, carefully pushing the door open to peek inside their room.

The soft wooden creak stirred Sorey from his sleep, and he blinked, turning towards the sound. “Is that you, Rose, Lailah? How did everything go?” he said, yawning. His head was wrapped in bandages but it didn’t ache as much as it had before. Dezel was standing by the window, gazing at the scenery outside, but the other seraphim—still in their cat forms—had curled up around their Shepherd, dozing lightly: Mikleo was curled into a ball over Sorey’s chest, his long, silvery tail covering his nose, while Edna had draped herself comfortably on Sorey’s pillow just above his head; Zaveid was all stretched out on his side and snoring noisily over Sorey’s knees.

It was a sight enough to draw soft laughter from Rose. She shook her head when Sorey made to move slightly, as though to offer her the bed instead.

“I’ll be fine here, really,” she said, settling into the couch by the bed. It was a bit dusty, but she’d rested on harder surfaces before while on Scattered Bones missions. “And yup, things are all settled between Coram and Atreides, so we’ll just hope for the best. We’ve done all we could, after all. So don’t worry! You just rest that head of yours and we can be back on our way searching for more of those shiny orb thingamajiggies.”

Sorey laughed, green eyes bright despite the fatigue lining his face. “Thank you, Rose. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you sometimes. I’m grateful to have all of you with me.” He turned towards the dozing seraph-cats sharing his bed, lifting a hand to brush gentle fingers through Mikleo’s soft fur.

Rose only snorted, rubbing a knuckle playfully against Sorey’s cheek. “Likewise! I’m glad I have you guys around too,” she said, beaming first at Lailah’s bashful smile and then at Dezel, who merely grunted, his back still turned as his resolutely kept his gaze out the window. She yawned then, exhaustion finally catching up to her and stretched back against the couch for some much needed rest.

“The Shepherd taking down a witch and berserk kitchenware with only a Squire and an army of seraph cats,” she murmured with a sleepy grin. “Now that’s a side to the legend you don’t hear about every day.”

—End— ________

- Ncewmevb Boks: “Whirling Gust” in Ancient Tongue, an arte that sends a strong rush of wind in circles. It forms spiralling wind blades that can injure foe, but Atreides being young and untrained, is still unable to control and fully utilize it yet.

- Listen, all the side-quests involving kids in the game left me emotionally compromised, okay. Let me have ONE silly, cracktastic side-quest with a kid who got a happier ending at least aghdjjhsdkg.

- Thanks for reading and #sorey not sorey for the crack/bad puns I GET WEIRD IDEAS IN THE SHOWER.

#tales of zestiria #sorey #rose #dezel #mikleo #fanfic #hi i'm not dead #remember all those snippets i shared for cat fic #yeah i finally kicked myself to finish this

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vanuiwrites · 7 years

Text

Family

Roseali Week 2017 Day 2 - Family

Rating: T for Trying My Best and Tired

A/N: Set after canon. They’re dating already. Also, forgive me in advance.

Like every other important conversation they have, they have it in the middle of battle.

The whole thing starts like this: the hellions they're fighting aren't particularly tough, but there are a lot of them, and the sheer numbers are almost overwhelming. She and Lailah are armatized and throwing flames everywhere, Mikleo is trying to keep everybody healed up, and Edna is shielding her and Lailah from attacks in the rear. Zaveid's somewhere in the crowd of hellions trying to figure out where they're all spawning from, but there's no way any of them can see him from where they stand. They swarmed around his body as soon as he went in, and the only indication that he's still alive are his yells and the occasional arte that blows a few of them up into the air.

It's not even like there's that much malevolence in the air. Well, okay, that's not necessarily true, but she feels like her judgment for what's a lot of malevolence has been skewed ever since fighting the Lord of Calamity himself. In any case, the hellions are themselves are definitely weak, going down with one or two hits each, but the problem is that they don't stop coming. Rose has gotten powerful since she first started her role as the Shepherd, but even she can only hit so many things at once.

Panting, she jumps back from the horde with a big swipe of her sword and wipes a bit of dried blood off her cheek. "God, it's like they're breeding in the back and popping out kids left and right," she complains, jumping back in and purifying four or five with one swing. Unfortunately, another handful replaces them immediately after and force her on the defensive. "Seriously? It's like one big nasty family over here."

"You're not far off, actually," Zaveid shouts, appearing in front of her and skidding to a halt. He swings his weapon around and eliminates another handful, his hair flying wildly around his body and revealing a few injuries on his shirtless torso.

"I'm not?" Rose asks, mouth contorting into disgust at the mental image of hellions actually breeding. "Oh that's gross."

"Zaveid!" Mikleo calls out. In a second, the wind seraph's body is encased in a flash of white light, and the shallow cuts and bruises are gone.

"Thanks, Mikky boy!" he grins back at the water seraph. Ignoring the other's protests at the nickname, he turns to Rose and Lailah's armatized form and jerks his thumb at the crowd of hellions. "Turns out the source are two hellions in the back doing some weird sort of fusion thing. I tried to get close but a whole bunch of these small fry swarmed me."

"How pleasant," she hears Edna comment.

"Well, at least we know what to do now," Rose grins. She separates from Lailah who immediately brings up a whole bunch of paper and incinerates it in the faces of a few approaching hellions. Rose herself sidesteps another group of hellions and cleaves them through cleanly in two. Nodding at her friends, she twirls her knives in her hands and bounces on the balls of her feet. "Everybody ready?"

Everybody nods back at her. Zaveid, however, also decides to shout, "We'll show 'em who the superior family is!"

Everybody collectively pauses their movement and turns to stare at him. Even the hellions also seem to cease attacking at the declaration, up until a new presence breaks into the clearing and turns all heads their way. Rose doesn't even have time to blink before a familiar spear is piercing through the thick horde of hellions, and the owner of said spear charges right into the fray, yelling, "It's over! This is my time! Light Blast!"

A good portion of the hellions vanish into nothingness as the spear cuts through them all in rapid thrusts, and once the dust from the mystic arte clears, the form of the Hyland royal crest stares Rose down, clear as day on the back of one notable presence. Her mouth falls open. "A... Alisha?!" she squawks out.

She's so shocked that she half expects the person to turn around and be somebody else, but no, those green eyes and that bright smile can only belong to one person that she knows. "Hello Rose," Alisha inclines her head, hefting her spear up. She looks strong and healthy as ever, no trace of malevolence on her person, and Rose does her best to concentrate on that fact and not on the fact that her heart is beating heavily inside her chest at the mere sight of her girlfriend.

"Whoa, don't I get a hello from the cute babe too?" Zaveid cuts in, serving as a reminder to Rose that this is not the time to be distracted.

"Oh, excuse me. I didn't mean to be rude. Hello, Zaveid," Alisha greets. "Hello to you as well, Lailah. Mikleo too! And Edna of course. Hello to both of you."

"Alisha, what a pleasant surprise!" Lailah beams back at her, clapping her hands together. Mikleo agrees, and Edna kind of hums in agreement as well. Zaveid's about to open his mouth and say something else when Mikleo thankfully cuts him off.

"Zaveid, can we save it for later?" Mikleo sighs. He blasts an approaching hellion with a gush of water and eliminates it. "We should really take care of this first."

"Heh, alright. That's our little bro for you! Always on top of things!" The wind seraph leaps forward and starts blasting at the hellions once more. "I'll lead you right to the source, boss."

Rose pries her eyes away from Alisha long enough to nod back at him and follow his lead. "Alright, then lead the way. You coming, princess?"

"Of course!" Alisha salutes and charges right after. "This is an awful lot of hellions though. What happened?"

As Rose begins to explain the situation to the newcomer, Mikleo trails after Lailah and Edna, his expression bewildered as he goes, "Did he just call me 'little bro'?"

"Oh, boy. Here we go," Edna deadpans.

"It's quite accurate though, isn't it?" Lailah excitedly begins, even as she wields her flames with vicious force. The hellions shy away from the flames, almost as if they're terrified of the fire seraph. "Just like Zaveid said, I'd like to think we're all one big family, and you certainly seem like the responsible little brother type."

He flushes in response to that, unsure of whether or not it's a compliment. He decides to take it as one. "If I'm the little brother, then the only one here smaller than me should be the youngest, right? So Edna would be our-"

"Don't."

"Ow! Hey, swing that thing at the hellions, not me!"

Edna lowers her umbrella, stares at him, then launches herself forward into the battle with one push of the earth and sails straight into a group of hellions. "I guess this makes Zaveid the uncle that none of us wanted to have around but still shows up to every family gathering uninvited and causes a scene," she dryly says right next to the wind seraphim. She mercilessly crushes the hellions he's fighting aside and clears a pathway by putting up two walls around the group. "Hurry and go, these walls won't last."

Cackling, Zaveid darts forward with a wicked grin. "I'm glad you think of me so fondly, you little squirt! Thanks for the help!"

"Call me little squirt one more time and I will drop these walls on top of you."

"Please don't! You'll mess up my beautiful bangs," he cracks back. Dashing past the safety of the walls, he finds the two humans of the group far ahead of them, back to back, methodically cutting their way steadily forward through the black crowd. The sight is as impressive as it is scary, and he's almost tempted to just step back and let them handle the rest.

"Zaveid?" he hears, and Lailah steps next to him, her form shimmering after having just finished casting an arte. "What are you doing?"

"Why hello there, beautiful," he winks. Her face remains impassive. Oh well, Lailah's always been a tough customer, he remembers. "Just wondering which one of those two is the sister and which one is the sister in law."

Lailah makes a noise that's somewhere between a gasp of surprise and a small laugh. "Oh dear. I hope they didn't hear that."

By the way both of the humans in question stiffen up, however, it's evident that they did. Alisha's ears have even gone a little red. Instead of acknowledging the conversation though, the both of them firmly continue clearing out hellions and refuse to look back at the seraphim.

Lailah giggles a bit. "Considering they're not married yet, why not just have both of them be the young sisters of the group?"

"Ugh, then wouldn't that make the whole thing between them incest?" Edna speaks up from behind. The scandalized gasps of everybody save for Zaveid and Edna leaves a small smirk on the earth seraph's face. "What? I'm not the one who declared the both of them to be related."

Zaveid practically roars with laughter at that. Rose finally chooses this moment to stop the conversation from deteriorating any further, summoning Edna to her body with one shout of "Hephsin Yulind" and charging to where she can now see the abomination spewing out the hellions. "Alright, cut the comedy routine people. Focus and cover me, everybody!"

And that was the end of that.

Later, once everything is purified and they're all settled around a campfire, Alisha explains that she'd been investigating attacks in the area when she received a report of the Shepherd fighting what appeared to be dust clouds by herself in the forest. She'd come running after that.

Rose pulls Alisha into her lap while she tells the story, much to Alisha's embarrassment and Zaveid's hooting, but the knight doesn't make an effort to leave either. Once she finishes, Rose hugs her even closer and beckons the seraphim over, even telling Mikleo to "stop cooking for one second and come over, it's important".

"Okay, guys, listen," she starts, staring into the eyes of each seraphim seriously. "I know we usually kind of joke around like that when we fight, but today you all went a little too far."

Alisha makes a little sound of surprise at that and squirms in Rose's lap to face her. "Wait, Rose, there's really no need to admonish them for earlier. I must admit, I found the whole thing somewhat amusing as well, despite the embarrassment, so really, there's no need to..." She trails off when she sees that familiar glint of mischief in Rose's eyes, and a sense of uneasiness settles into the pit of her stomach. "...Rose, where are you going with this?"

Rose's lips curl into a wide grin, the widest Alisha has ever seen on her face before. "I just wanted to say that you're all wrong. I'm the one housing this family in my body, so I'm the head honcho of the house, got it?" she states as seriously as she can in tone, even though her facial expression cannot control the amount of amusement she currently feels. "So forget all that sister and sister in law stuff, and make sure you pay Mommy Alisha here the right amount of respect as well."

...

Despite the punch Alisha gives her immediately afterward and the weeks following where none of the seraphim will stop calling her "Daddy", Rose believes it was all worth it just to see Alisha turn a shade of tomato that she hadn't thought was possible up until that magical moment.

#roseali week 2017 #roseali #rosali #tales of zestiria #zestiria #I regretti so much #this entire thing is just a shitpost #fanfiction

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