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wildflower-otome · 7 months

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[Translation] Clover on Kuni no Alice ~White Calling~ - Chapter 5

ACT 5 - Accelerating blue heart beat

Just as Boris had said, once she had experienced one assembly, she now understood all too well what they were like.

Watching Nightmare's flustered chairmanship continue even past the second discussion, she thought to herself that his aide Gray must be having quite the hard time.

The speeches he gave were faltering, and there were many occasions where just when she had thought he was doing a little better, he would vomit blood and end up having to be taken to the hospital.

However, it appeared that the pact was effective, despite the longstanding bad blood between Heart Castle and Hatter Mansion, no one took out their guns, despite being under the same roof together. It did not seem as if either Blood or Vivaldi intended to openly break the rules.

Even so, that strained atmosphere wasn’t good for her health. It wouldn’t be wholly unexpected for someone to say something careless that could become the spark to set off an explosive situation.

Despite her mental exhaustion, Alice did not stop attending the assemblies. Blood and Elliot had said that if it tired her out that much, it wouldn’t bother them if she were to skip out, but for now Alice’s perfect attendance continued.

‘.....I wonder if Peter is alright.’

What was on her mind was the White Rabbit, sitting in the Heart Castle seating area.

About ten time periods had passed since the attack. As she gazed at him from the Hatter Family section, Alice was unable to tell the state of the injuries on his body, hidden as it was by a thick coat.

The time she had spent in this world was not of short duration. She already knew that dirt and injuries would return to normal on their own.

But, even if she knew that in her head, whether her emotions had caught up to that fact was another matter entirely.

Perhaps he had already fully healed. Or maybe he was still wounded, but suppressing the pain.

Attending the assembly as a member of Heart Castle, Peter was having his usual war of words with Ace and Vivaldi. If she judged just from that, he was the same as always.

‘.....Maybe it would be better if I were to go and see him….’

Luckily, the discussion had finished just at that moment. There was still some time until the next one.

Back then, Alice had been in shock, and hadn’t been able to even say thank you. Even though he had protected her twice, she must have seemed so ungrateful. She couldn’t help but sigh with self-loathing, again and again.

Just as she had made up her mind and stood up from the sofa that her room had been furnished with, opening the door in order to go outside-

‘Big sister, big sister-! Where are you going? If you’re going out, come play with us. We’ve just started our break.’

‘Yeah…..we were finally able to see Big Sis, Brother. Hey, come play with us.’

‘-!?’

Just as she had opened the door, two young men had tumbled in, with the same kind of momentum as if they had broken through it. Alice, who had instinctively retreated, ended up backtracking into her room once more.

‘.....? Who are you?’

The ones before Alice’s eyes were two men with similar looking gazes. Both had black hair but eyes of different colours. The black suits they wore were alike enough to be mirror images of each other.

However, it did not appear that they had heard Alice’s question.

‘We’ve been doing nothing but work…..It’s about time we just start ignoring the rules. We’re fiiinally on our break. We’ve been working hard because we wanted to play with you, Sis. You’ll praise us, won’t you?’

The young man with straight hair tied behind him spoke enthusiastically.

The other youth standing next to him listening also nodded his head and continued. His hair was short, his bangs held back a little by some hair pins. Arranged in a cross shape, the pins stood out against the black hair.

The faces of the two young men looked very alike. If it weren’t for their hairstyles and the way they spoke, they were similar enough she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.

‘It’s not fair…..you gotta give us lots of special treatment, or we’ll have worked so hard all for nothing.’

And then, the moment they had finished saying what they had wanted to say, the two reached out their hands towards Alice.

‘Wh-.....wh-what are you doing!?’

The youth with the long hair wrapped his arms around the girl’s waist as the man with the short hair grabbed her hands as she tried to move around.

‘Hey-…..What are you doing?! Let me go!’

As the girl frantically twisted her body around trying to escape from the two pairs of arms that were touching her, the faces of the two men looked surprised. Though it was written on their faces that they didn’t understand why she was reacting this way, the whole situation was too much for Alice.

Two men she didn’t know had appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden and had clung onto her as if it were only very natural…..to fight back was an obvious decision. Considering the attack that had happened not so long ago, it was only a given she would have her guard up.

Nonetheless, it appeared they had taken her reaction in a different way.

‘Eh? Huh? Why are you struggling? Was I too forceful? Sorry, we became adults for the first time in a while, so I haven’t quite got the hang of my strength yet. If I hurt you, I’ll apologise, I’m sorry.’

As the long-haired one apologised, he slowly let go of her.

On the other hand, the youth standing next to him bent his head closer.

‘I’ll be gentle. I won’t hurt you at all. Alright? So don’t flail around so much.’

So speaking, unlike the young man from earlier, he embraced her gently. Although there was no feeling of pressure, it still didn’t change the fact she was being hugged.

‘-! Let me go-! …..Stop it!’

It didn’t appear that he understood the reason why she was trying to free herself. The two youths looked at each other, as if communicating through eye contact that they didn’t get what was happening. Alice couldn’t help but be more mystified by the fact that they were unable to comprehend why she was acting this way.

‘Huh-.....Does it still hurt, Big Sis? But I’m being so gentle…..’

‘I’m not struggling because it hurts-!’

She wondered if they thought she wouldn’t feel anything at all at being embraced by two men she didn’t know. The place she was living at was a mafia gang’s headquarters to be sure, but it couldn’t be anything but humiliating to have someone think her a woman so lacking in pride.

‘What is wrong with you two!? What are you playing at, coming into a person’s room and doing something like this!?’

The attack from that night was still very vivid in her mind. She would like to think that they wouldn’t point a gun at her since they were being all clingy like this, but in this world what Alice thought was common sense wasn’t always the case for everyone else.

She asked her question firmly, but at the exact same time, the two of them opened their eyes wide.

‘.....Big Sis, what are you saying?’

‘Don’t you know who we are?’

Hearing them speak as if she were the strange one, Alice at last snapped. She was exhausted from the assembly and now this unexpected situation and ended up shouting in a louder voice than usual.

‘I don’t know you, of course I don’t know who you are!’

When she yelled in a loud voice that was unbefitting of a lady, the two youths hung their heads, looking despondent.

Before she had realised it, the short-haired youth had let go of Alice as well. Still with sad looking expressions on their faces, they quietly looked down at Alice.

‘............Huh?’

Seeing their completely depressed looking faces, she at last stopped moving around.

Now that she thought about it, there was something familiar about their expressions.

They were faces she had seen any number of times. And when she had seen these faces, it was never just one of them. Always the two of them together, twins she thought of as little brothers—young boys.

In the past, Alice had scolded them whenever they had gone too far with the practical jokes. They were clever children, who could tell the difference between when she spoke to keep them in check, and when she was truly angry. And when they realized they had done something bad, they always had the same look on their faces as just now.

They apologized to her, with faces that looked sad, as if they’d had a shock.

‘Big sister is mad at me, brother…..was I really that rough? She’s mad at me because of that, isn’t she? Did it hurt, big sister?’

The youth with the hair tied up with a blue ribbon asked if worried.

At the same time, the shorthaired youth knelt down, lowering his gaze so that he was at eye level with Alice.

‘Big sister, are you alright? Where does it hurt? Tell me where and I’ll massage it for you.’

Timidly, not with the unrestraint of before…..the youth touched Alice’s body as if he were handling something broken.

‘Could it be…..are you two Dee and Dum..?’

It was impossible, she wondered if this was a good or bad thing in a Wonder World that didn’t follow ordinary common sense.

But, the red and blue eyes she gazed into belonged to the boys that she knew well.

Calling her “big sister” was also one of their habits.

As Alice nervously asked them, the youths again looked puzzled. It was obvious from their expressions that they were wondering why she would ask them such a thing.

‘? What are you talking about, big sister? Why would you ask that now?’

‘That’s right, big sister. Are you asking because you’re mad? Do you hate us now?’

Speaking one after another as they tilted their heads in confusion, they stared at Alice as if to guess the answer from her expression.

However, Alice also wanted to ask them a question in return.

‘…Why do you look like grown ups?’

She spoke so as to enquire the reason, and also to ask how they had done it, but those intentions half-heartedly ending up mixing together.

In Alice’s mind, they should have been shorter than her. With strength that didn’t suit their small bodies, they would innocently cling on to her, or get her mixed up in their dangerous games. A pair of twins who combined cuteness with the cruelty that only children had, that was Dee and Dum.

Seeing Alice’s surprise, the two blinked at the same time, again as if they had pre-planned it. The differently coloured eyes closed at the same time, and then opened again.

‘Why, I wonder why…..Big sister, don’t you know? Don’t you know without having to ask?’

Excitedly, as if enjoying himself, the long haired man opened his mouth, with a look on his face like that of a child planning a prank. From the fact that his tie was coloured blue, perhaps it was correct to see him as Dee.

And if that was the case, that would mean the other person, with the short hair and red tie, was Dum.

‘You see, we became adults so that you would like us, big sister. We thought if we became older, you’d fall in love with us.’

‘So that I’d like you…why?

Alice had already liked them to start with. Even when she got dragged into their dangerous games, she thought they were adorable, and even now she thought that she liked them well enough.

As important family members.

But she didn’t feel that way just towards them. Blood and Elliot, and even the servants who were the so-called faceless, all the people of Hatter Mansion were important existences to her.

‘But…..we heard you often go to the doors in the Forest recently. We were worried. That you might end up leaving…We don’t want you to go anywhere, big sister.’

‘Huh?’

‘If you come to like us more and more…..you won’t go to the doors anymore, will you? Right, big sister?’

Before she had realized it, the hand that had been rubbing her back was now holding Alice’s hand. It was a hand that was bigger than it had been before, and a sturdy looking one. It had once been about the same size as Alice’s, but now had grown large enough to envelop her’s.

‘We want you to like us, big sister, so we grew up. You like grown up guys like the Boss, right? So, what do you think? Do you like us more?’

‘If you like us big sister, we’ll stay as adults forever. Which do you prefer?’

To be asked to make such an important decision right here and now only put Alice at a loss. In any case, to suddenly be looked down on by gazes that up until now had always been at the same level of her own made her feel uncomfortable.

‘More importantly, how did you become adults? It must have been difficult right?’

As she changed the subject in a fluster, the twin gatekeepers answered as if it were no big deal.

‘”How” you ask…..We went forwards. We wanted to be adults, so we just went forward a little.’

‘”Just”…..you’re acting like it’s so easy…..’

As she tilted her head quizzically at Dee’s unconcerned answer, Dum, who had let go of her hand, continued to grin broadly.

‘It’s easy, you know? All we do is just go backwards and forwards. It’s not difficult at all. Should I go back?’

As quickly as he had spoken, he turned back into the form of a child. There were no flashes of light or smoke like there were in fairytales. Even though he had changed form in an instant, he didn’t act as if it were particularly anything special.

‘Simple, right? We can do stuff like this easily. So, we can always become whichever way you prefer.’

And then the blue military uniformed boy appeared. While at the same time Dum returned to adult form, he continued to grin.

‘It’s really easy, and something anyone can do. All of us role holders can. Whenever you wish it, we can change into whatever form you like. Hey, doesn’t that make you happy?’

And then once more the red military uniform wearer returned to boy form. The change was fast, like in a magic show or a slide of film, but without a trick or mechanism to it, just as they had said.

‘Which do you prefer, big sister? Adult form or child form, which is better? We can become either.’

‘…..…….’

‘We’ll become what you like, big sister. What’s most important is having you like us, after all.’

So spoke the twin boys wearing the different colours, as they swapped forms again. She somehow got the feeling that they enjoyed the changing itself.

‘Just as nonsensical as always…..’

Alice murmured her thoughts to herself, but they likely did not hear. They were amusing themselves by repeatedly changing, becoming adults, and then children, over and over.

Seeing that they were still the same whether in adult or child form, Alice’s shoulders at last relaxed.

‘…..But, they were worried for me.’

Even though she had never talked to them about the Forest doors before. She thought Blood had found out because of his good instincts, but she hadn’t thought that even they would have been able to see through her.

The twins were adorable and cruel…..but for all that, kind.

As she fondly watched over their playing, Dee in his adult form ran up to her as if he had remembered something.

‘Ah, and another thing, big sis. Thanks for the pudding you brought back for us the other day. It was really yummy! We ended up not being able to wait until our break and ate it straight away.’

‘Yeah…it was yummy. It tasted even better when I thought about the fact that it was from you. Thanks.’

When they received something, they properly gave their thanks. They likely remembered that Alice had previously said she liked well mannered children. She smiled happily back.

‘Really? I’m glad it made you happy.’

Even if they thought that they didn’t want her to go to the Forest’s doors, they wouldn’t stop her. They would let Alice do as she pleased.

But even so, so that she wouldn’t go away, to tie her here…..she hadn’t thought they would say that they wanted her to like them.

In this world Alice was a rare Outsider and therefore had the qualities to become easily liked. It was because of that she was able to live in this world.

Unable to completely accompany the twins in their games, Alice was powerless and weak. But even so, the two of them had said they wanted her to like them. There was no way that wouldn’t make her happy.

‘Dee, Dum.’

‘Hm? What is it, big sis?’

‘Has something happened?’

Even though they were now bigger, the gazes that looked at her were exactly the same. They sometimes went a little too far with their pranks, but to Alice they were the kind twins that she treasured, and who couldn’t be replaced.

‘Thank you.’

‘? You’re being weird, sis. We’re the ones who received a gift, so why would you say thank you?’

‘Or could it be, we did something to you without realizing it?’

As the two of them tilted their heads as if puzzled, Alice repeated herself while continuing to smile.

‘I just thought to myself what good children you two are. That’s why I said thank you.’

As she reached out her hand to pat the heads of the youths who looked blankly confused, Alice quietly closed her eyes.

***

The assembly period continued on at a sluggish pace, even after that. The event holder was the sickly dream demon after all. And not just that, the gathering was made up of the fiercely individualistic role holders. Unifying them would already have been tough work, but since the man in charge was the kind of person to constantly be coughing up blood, things never seemed to get done.

To begin with, as Blood had said, it wasn’t as if the assemblies had any set topics of discussion. If the agenda was only going to be a hollow one anyway, Alice thought to herself they may as well not hold the event to begin with, but apparently that was something she could not say.

In this area, though the rules of this world might have a compelling force, and though she may want to do something about what couldn’t be changed, there was nothing to be done. The reason why was because the Hatter and Queen continued to attend, with seemingly no intention of breaking the rules, despite declaring that it was fine to do so sometimes.

But there was something else that was bothering Alice much more than that.

‘…..?’

All role holders stayed in Clover Town during the Assembly period. Of course, that meant it wasn’t out of the ordinary for her to meet with familiar faces while in town, but there was something different about this.

Alice felt a gaze on her different from the ones she had felt during the time she had spent walking around town with Boris before the Assembly. Whether it was a malicious one or not…..since it was a distant presence she wasn’t sure, but even so she knew that someone was following her.

It wasn’t the type of gaze she had grown familiar with due to being with the Hatter Mansion group which included Blood. Those gazes were ones of curiosity and fear towards the infamous Mafia. She never felt them when she was by herself.

However…..right now, although she was walking around the town alone, she knew that there was someone watching her.

It was likely she was being tailed.

‘…..…….’

There was no one who would feel comfortable being followed around by someone they couldn’t see. It was simply creepy.

It was likely that Blood and the others would take care of it immediately if she were to say something to them. However….she didn’t really want to think about what kind of result that would entail. If someone was following her with a clear malicious or antagonistic intent, Alice would act decisively, however if they were just sounding her out, she hesitated to be a tattletale.

Given the attack that had taken place not long before, it appeared there was something happening in the vicinity of Clover Tower. Apparently, it was not just a place for influential people to meet and hold discussions with no substance.

It wasn’t as if she had not thought of asking someone from the Mansion. However, Alice wasn’t sure whether it was something that it was alright for her to ask about.

Alice had never before pried deeply into the darker side of the Mafia. The things she knew were only inoffensive and surface-level, however she wondered if it was something that was really ok for her to deliberately involve herself with.

To begin with, she was just a free-loader. It hadn’t taken her long to realise even the fact that she had been welcomed as a guest at Hatter Mansion was in and of itself unprecedented.

Alice was happy that they had accepted her despite her powerlessness. She was grateful for Blood’s kindness in giving her a job, despite not being good with people in general. If she were to tell the man himself that he would likely look disgusted, but to Alice, the job he had given her was even now one of the things she could not lose.

She thought that she liked Hatter Mansion. She wanted to stay there forever.

Her place with them was where she had chosen to stay in this world, they were her family.

Even so—she was conscious of their world of shady dealings as a frightening one. She instinctively avoided it as something she didn’t want to see, and that she shouldn’t see. She was aware that this way of doing things was dishonest, but it was the only thing she could do since it was already too late for her to be able to put distance between them now.

‘If you don’t want to see it, there is no need to force yourself to. It is a normal reaction for a young lady like you. It isn’t necessary for you to feel down on yourself.’

She wondered how long it had been since she had been told that.

At that time, she was still in the Country of Hearts—having just returned from his “work”, Blood had had the usual lethargic looking smile on his face.

He had continued as he took off his coat, which was covered in sticky looking stains that were likely blood splatter from his opponents.

‘If you say that you don’t wish to know, you may stay unaware. For us, having you stay here is meaningful in and of itself.’

The words that the Hatter Mansion boss had quietly said even now whirled around and around inside Alice’s mind.

‘It’s been pretty dangerous recently….’

‘….Yeah. Apparently it’s a feud between rivals. According to rumours, two Mafia groups are fighting against each other…..and one of them is the Hatter Family.’

‘Huh?’

Perhaps because she had been lost in thought, she was slow to react. Hearing the familiar name, her whole body changed direction.

And before her as she turned around were the two women who had been whispering town gossip. They were normal people whose faces were difficult to see, those called the non-role holders.

As Alice drew nearer to them in a fluster, the two of them raised their voices saying, ‘Ah-’, as if surprised. She had walked around this area with Blood and the others before, so they likely knew who Alice was.

Alice did not plan on letting go of this opportunity.

‘Excuse me. Would I be able to ask you a few questions?’

‘Uh-…..um, that is-‘

‘We don’t really….’

Just because they had lowered their voices to a murmur, it did not erase their whispering from earlier.

To push her point, Alice smiled at the two of them and repeated herself again.

‘I’d like to ask you a bit more about what you were talking about just now.’

It appeared that in times like these being labelled as a member of the notorious Hatter Mansion came in handy. The two women looked around them warily before speaking in a wrung out tone.

‘No, we only know the rumours…..not really anything concrete.'

‘I’m fine with that.’

If I was Elliot I might have started shooting a long time ago, you know?

With those dangerous thoughts in her mind, Alice irritably urged them to continue.

‘Please tell me the rest. What’s happening with the Hatter Family?’

‘Um…..’

‘…..That is-…..We don’t know the details but…’

The women looked at each other, then as if they had given up, spoke reluctantly.

‘This is just a rumour, you know? We’ve heard that another Mafia group has started a feud with the Hatter Family.’

‘…..A feud?’

Not only was he a territory leader that vied for land, Blood was also a man who led a Mafia Family as its head. And speaking of Mafia, it was likely not an unusual thing for there to be run-ins with other organizations over material goods and information.

Although Alice had not been directly involved, it was likely there had been many such disputes up until now.

Seeing Alice’s expression look doubtful, the woman lowered her voice and spoke further.

‘Did you know that there have been some bombing incidents in Clover Town recently?’

‘…..Bombings…!?’

Hearing the dangerous sounding words, Alice’s voice naturally lowered too.

As the woman nodded, she continued to speak in hushed tones.

***

‘…..…..’

That night, Alice went to the café that she and Blood had gone to before.

As she was by herself, she was given a seat at the counter, not at a table. However, a certain type of black tea in hand, Alice was thinking about something else entirely.

Ever since the Assembly had begun, she had definitely had a strange feeling that something was off.

Back then, the now grown-up twins had appeared in front of Alice for the first time, but before then, she had never seen them attending the Assembly. This was despite the fact that as role holders, they had a duty to attend.

She wondered where they had been going during that time.

Supposing they had been participating in the Assembly from a spot where Alice could not see them, why would they have done so?

‘…..…..’

They had become adults because they had wanted her to like them. While remembering the blue and red gazes that had looked at her as they had said that, Alice sighed.

Perhaps they had been in the middle of “work” during those times too, and were late in arriving to the venue. As could be seen from looking at the other participants, Alice knew that the purpose of the Assemblies were not the discussions, but the fact that they had participated.

The twin’s empty seats during the discussions. Even since they had become adults, they now occupied them, but what had they been doing before that?

“It’s because the Hatter Family members have made their appearance due to it being an Assembly period. The reason the bombings began…..and pretty frequent ones at that.”

What the gossip loving women had said echoed in her ears.

‘…..…..’

Right now, she was unable to tell even if the steaming tea she had just taken a sip of tasted the same as it had back then.

Though the warm tea should have warmed her body, right now it was the bitterness spreading throughout her mouth that was on her mind.

What Elliot and the Twins had said regarding the Assembly period. The meaning of it had at last sunk in. She wondered why she was always so slow to realise.

The capable number 2 had let slip that things would get busy.

Hadn’t the Gatekeepers also said that they wouldn’t be able to take breaks anymore?

‘I’m such an idiot.’

If she had listened more closely to the information circulating throughout town, she would have been able to realise much sooner that the women’s gossip was not simply something they had made up.

During the Assembly period, though Blood had made it seem he was spending his time in the room allotted to him as temporary accommodation with the same languidness as always, he had secretly been planning his dealings with other organisations. There was surely no man as talented as he when it came to moving dangerous business deals and negotiations in an extremely advantageous direction for himself. She suspected he must be busy in a different way than when he had been at the Mansion.

‘…..…..’

She was the only one for whom it was different.

When she was at the Mansion, she had been able to work amongst the maids, but here at the Tower, there was no work for her to do. There was nothing she could do.

She felt pathetic and frustrated at the same time.

‘..Haah.’

Though they lived in the same territory and went to the same places, it likely couldn’t be helped that she remained unable to do the same things they did.

She wondered if it was really alright for her to leave things at that.

As she took a quick look around her, perhaps because she had come right at a time when not many people came, Alice realized she was the only customer.

Gazing at the cakes in the showcase, she remembered Elliot’s reaction when she had passed out the gifts she had brought back.

‘Wow….is this carrot cake from that cafe!? I’d heard they didn’t make many, so they were pretty hard to get hold of…..so you bought some for me, Alice! I’m so moved-‘

His brown ears standing straight up, he raised his voice, not hiding his happiness. Even so, at least from the fact that he hadn’t crushed the cake through over-enthusiasm, it appeared he still had some reason remaining.

‘What…..what a lucky guy I am…..Blood, look at it! Here, right here, this delicious looking cake! Alice picked it out just for me-!’

‘Uh…..strictly speaking, Blood was the one that paid for it….’

Alice interjected thinking that at this rate, she would be the one made to take all the credit, but it appeared she had made a blunder.

‘Blood…..What…..what a great guy you are!! That you’d give me the delicious cake you must have wanted to eat yourself! You’re the best boss there is-! Nightmare hasn’t got a thing on you.’

His eyes shining like a child’s, Elliot was clearly moved. The purity of his emotion was to a level where it was hard to believe he was part of the Mafia, even if you knew that he was.

‘…..Ugh-‘

It was enough to make even Blood, who had been in a bad mood ever since the gun fight groan despite himself. That was how strong an effect it had.

‘That’s it, instead I’ll give you my carrot cookies! Cake is nice too, but these are pretty good. Here, take them-!‘

‘No, Elliot…..your consideration is actually a real pain in the-….wait, that’s not what I-‘

The strained excuses of the Hatter trying somehow to avoid the heartfelt gift from his trusted confidant went on for quite a while, she thought.

That time too, Elliot had also just returned from work…..he had just finished up with some complicated looking documents. She had thought they were probably written reports, but they were in the middle of a feud. She was unable to think they were completely unrelated.

‘…..…..’

As she drank the remaining tea, Alice at last began to move.

Nothing would come of it no matter how much she worried. She stood up decisively, paid the bill and left the café.

Her surroundings were enveloped in a pale orange light. It would soon be evening. Before this it had been night, and before that evening as well.

If she remembered correctly, the next discussion was in three afternoons, so she likely still had a bit of time.

She moved slightly away from the café and began to walk.

‘…..Huh?’

It was like a repeat of what had happened before.

‘…..!’

Men she had not seen before stood there blocking Alice’s way. They stood there silently, unnoticed by her until just now.

As Alice panicked and turned away from them, it was the same in the other direction. Except for the wall, groups of them stood side by side in each direction.

‘…..…..’

She was surrounded.

As a horrible feeling rose within her, one man brandished a gun.

The end of the gun was pointed at the left side of her chest.

‘You’re the Outsider from Hatter Mansion, right?’

‘…..What a rude way to address a lady.’

‘You’re coming with us.’

The men did not speak more than necessary. Not reacting to Alice’s provocation, their dispassionate movements as they moved to accomplish their objective seemed almost mechanical.

At the very least, it did not appear they planned on doing anything to her here, but if she were to go with them, she was unable to think it would end well. This world wasn’t the kind of place for such optimistic thinking.

She took a discreet glance at the clothing the men were wearing, but as she had thought, they weren’t the same as any she had seen anyone at the Castle or Tower wearing. The fact that they were black suits was the only thing they had in common with the Assembly participants, but the emblems on them were ones Alice did not know.

‘…..…..’

There was no guarantee she would be safe if she went with them, but if she resisted here, she would likely just be shot. As Alice had not yet answered, the man’s finger was already stretching out towards the trigger.

‘…..Alright. I just have to go with you, right?’

She would likely be causing Blood and the others trouble, but it would all be for nothing if she got shot here. It wouldn’t just be herself in danger, she didn’t want to imagine her carelessness causing the feud with the Hatter Family to worsen.

Bang!

At the moment Alice had reluctantly been about to follow them, a shot rang out.

‘Huh?’

Before her as she turned around in surprise, were several men and women wearing familiar hats and black suits. All of them held guns and were shooting in an offhand manner as they drew near to where Alice and the men were.

Their suits were adorned with monochrome card suit symbols. Their golden hair was decorated with crimson roses, feathers and also…..a black hat.

‘This really won’t do~’

‘You’re right. We cannot allow you to lay hands on our young lady.’

Their attitudes were really just like their master’s. Even in a situation like this, they were shooting in a languid sort of way.

They were Blood’s subordinates, who had accompanied him from Hatter Mansion.

‘This way please, young lady.’

‘Eh…..Ah-‘

Having come close to her before she had even realized it, a single maid grabbed her arm and pulled her along. As she skillfully fended off the men with a gun in one hand, she guided Alice towards the rest of her comrades.

‘Tch-…..Shoot! Don’t let her get away-!’

Taking that as their signal, the men who’d had their encirclement broken before their eyes began shooting all at once.

‘…Kyah-!’

To think she’d be attacked in the exact same place, picking up where they had left off before…..as she ran, her head bent down, bullets grazed the area near her feet.

Perhaps out of fear, or on reflex. For a single instant Alice closed her eyes and stood stock still.

‘Young lady-…’

Noticing the hint of tension in the languid voice, Alice looked up. However, feeling something hard against the back of her head, she stopped moving yet again.

‘Don’t move, or I’ll shoot.’

‘…..…..’

‘Stay right where you are. All of you, drop your guns.’

It was likely an ambusher that had been lying in wait on a road that had been in a blind spot.

The maid turned around to look at Alice who could no longer move, a stiff expression on her face as she also stopped moving.

And then Alice’s bad premonition became reality. In response to his demands, the Hatter group had laid down their guns.

The clatter of the hard objects hitting the ground sounded like toys, but what would happen to them after this— it was plain as day.

Shaking herself out of it as her stiff body seemed about to start trembling, Alice raised her voice.

‘-! You musn’t! Hurry up and get out of here!’

‘If we did that, the Boss would kill us~’

‘That’s right. We couldn’t leave our young lady behind in a situation like this.'

The maid hadn’t been the only one to disarm. The subordinates had all thrown down their guns at once.

They were members of the Mafia. They had likely experienced similar situations before this. They had to know their lives would be forfeit if they were to give in to the man’s demand.

‘You guys!’

‘—Shut up. We want to take you with us, but keep making all that noise and we won’t mind hurting you a little.’

‘-‘

The hard feeling of the object pressed against her head went through her hair, reaching her skin. Biting her lip, Alice’s face twisted with a feeling of helplessness.

She knew that she was weak. And she knew the strength of the organization that she was part of.

However, to become a hindrance to them in this kind of way…..as she experienced bitter emotions, the man behind her instructed his comrades.

‘Hurry up and take the Outsider. The others are in our way. Take care of them here.’

‘Understood.’

And then another person pulled up Alice’s arm. Hard enough that it hurt.

But in this situation she couldn’t voice a complaint. As a small form of resistance, she glared hard at him but the men’s mouths twisted as if mocking her. They were likely thinking that even if she glared at them, there was nothing Alice, who lacked any special abilities, could do anyway. And they wouldn’t be wrong.

All the same—that single instant’s delay was fatal for them.

‘Alice. Please close your eyes.’

‘Eh-! …..-!’

Though Alice turned towards the cool sounding voice despite herself, this time her body listened to her.

As she obediently closed her eyes, a single shot rang out.

‘Bang-!’

‘Wha…..!?’

Despite hearing the sound of something heavy falling within her closed off field of vision, she didn’t open her eyes.

She didn’t even need to imagine what had just happened. There was no longer anyone restraining her arms.

Before her eyes, the dead body of that man was likely there, having collapsed bleeding to the ground.

‘Young lady!’

As if to say now was their chance, the maid closest to her pulled on her arm once more. In her other hand she gripped the gun she had at some point retrieved. Following in the direction she was drawn, Alice continued after her.

‘Looks like the shoe’s on the other foot now.’

‘Let’s hurry up and take care of them.’

The other servants all counterattacked at once.

On the other side, the men’s control of the situation had been disrupted from the suddenness of their attack. Just how much losing composure contributed to their slowed response….the end result told all.

***

‘It’s alright now~’

‘…..Ah.’

‘We’re all done here.’

Sorry for making you wait~, the familiar maids spoke in the same tone as always.

As Alice came out from the nearby storage room she had been hiding in, just as they had said, it was all over. The people lying on the ground were mostly the wounded, and they had been tied up—she purposely decided not to think about the ones that were dead.

The redness of the blood spilt on the ground absorbed the red of the setting sun, gradually darkening in colour.

Doing her best to look away from it, Alice took a breath—and turned to face towards the sound of the footsteps behind her.

‘Ah…..’

‘Alice.’

The figure of the person who had quietly called her name did not belong to one of the Hatter Mansion servants. The golden clock he carried on his shoulder made a jangling noise.

‘Peter.’

The White Rabbit whom she had seen from far away at the meeting place where the Assembly was held was now right before her eyes.

And…..he did not seem to be in a good mood. It was rare for her to see him shaking his head at her as he sighed.

‘You really are-…..did Blood Dupre tell you nothing? It is too dangerous for you to walk around outside alone during the Assembly period.’

‘…..I’m sorry.’

Back then, in that moment when it seemed there was no escape, Alice had realised that the voice that had echoed out belonged to him.

She had been surprised, thinking that there was no way the Prime Minister of Heart Castle would appear when the Hatter Family were in a bind, but the fact he had saved them was the truth.

‘Thank you. Because of you…..we were saved.’

If Peter hadn’t showed up, her colleagues would likely have been in danger, and she wasn’t sure what demands the men would have made of Blood had she been made a hostage.

‘It was not you that was at fault…..it was those role-less cards.’

The glittering red gaze went towards the servants who stood behind Alice. It was the kind of intensely cold red that would never be directed towards Alice. The servants endured it in silence.

Hand on his pocket watch, the White Rabbit icily continued.

‘Really….. though you must have been sent out for her protection in preparation of a worst case scenario, I do not know for what purpose you are following her if you are not able to keep Alice out of danger. You’re all useless.’

‘…..Peter.’

‘No, it’s fine, young lady.’

‘It is as the Prime Minister says~’

‘But…..’

They had tried to protect her. It had gone wrong because she had stopped, it was her responsibility to bear. She could not agree that it was all only their fault.

However, they all shook their heads, as if to say, ‘Please don’t let it bother you.’ Continuing to argue would only be ignoring their feelings.

But Peter’s words of criticism were not yet over.

‘Having self-awareness is well enough, but ineffective guards are unnecessary. Ah, that’s it.’

With a faintly chilly smile…..the White Rabbit swung his pocket watch. The ringing sound of its chain echoed, the golden clock transforming instantaneously into a pink coloured gun.

Watching him, Alice had a bad feeling.

‘Wait, Peter…..what are you thinking!?’

‘Let us be rid of these good-for-nothings, Alice. Instead, I will stay by your side forever and protect you. I will never allow you to be in any danger. So, it's alright, isn't it?’

Seeing him point the gun towards the servants in a single flowing movement, Alice felt a real headache coming on. This man had no idea at all.

‘Of course it isn’t, stop this. Don’t do anything to my coworkers, please.’

‘Wha-! You would cover for these incompetents-?! I will protect you, so you don’t need them, do you-?’

It appeared the White Rabbit was confounded to see Alice step in between them. He hurriedly lowered the gun but did not yet return it to its clock form.

‘What happened this time wasn’t all their fault, it was mine as well. So, you mean to say you’ll get rid of me too, along with everyone else?’

‘Of course not-!’

She had asked the question while certain he would say no, but just as she had expected, he vigorously shook his head. The soft white hair swayed fluffily as if it were snow.

‘Then don’t shoot anyone from Hatter Mansion, please. If you say you’ll shoot even then, I won’t ever speak to you again.’

‘…..Alice…..’

Peter’s head hung despondently, and despite it being written on his face that he didn’t understand why she would say such a thing, at a time like this Alice could not compromise. This was Peter, if she lost focus for even a moment, it was likely he would carry out his plan before Alice could stop him.

‘—Your answer?’

‘Alright….I understand. I won’t shoot them.’

The words were reluctant.

He had not been convinced, but the fact that Alice was in earnest had likely gotten through to him. Once the White Rabbit let go of the gun, a golden clock took its place hanging from the end of the chain.

It appeared he had calmed down for the time being. Feeling relieved, this time Alice turned around towards the servants behind her.

‘By the way…..were you guys following me the whole time?’

Even though just a moment ago she had been backing them up, Alice’s voice now sounded a little severe.

The timing with which they had appeared was too convenient for them to have come across her by chance. Added to the fact she had also felt the presence of someone following her recently.

As she glared at them, while averting their gazes they muttered their answers.

‘…..Well…..During the Assembly period things are particularly unstable, you see.’

‘That’s right…..the Boss was worried too…..’

‘We wouldn’t normally do this kind of stalker-ish thing, you know?’

‘Yeah. Doing something so tiresome is a pain~’

It was a rare thing to see them mutter, without giving a clear answer.

However, Alice knew. To a certain extent, the servants of Hatter Mansion were all assigned a rank in proportion to their abilities. Those who protected the Mansion in its master’s absence, and those who protected him while he was out, they all had different roles.

These people were part of the top class of subordinates, who were allowed to travel together with Blood to the place where the Assembly took place. One or two of them acting on their own was one thing, but for so many of them to be on the move?

There was no way their master didn’t know of it, and no possibility they would act on their own without instructions.

‘…..…..Sheesh.’

They had likely been assigned to her in consideration of the recent attack, but if that was the case, he could at least have said a few words to her about it. The strange presence she had felt whenever she had gone out of late had likely been them. The fact that they didn’t deny it straight out was the proof.

‘Well, I guess it’s fine. I would have been in trouble if you guys hadn’t been there. It’s a bit late but thank you.’

Erasing her air of displeasure, she smiled at them, and they looked relieved.

‘Alice…..It’s not fair.’

‘Huh-…..Kyah-!’

Before she could guess at the intention of that low voice, arms had suddenly reached out from behind and wrapped themselves around Alice’s waist. Her body lost its balance, but whether luckily or unluckily, the arms around her supported her firmly, and she did not fall.

‘It’s unfair, Alice! You’re always so kind only to those role-less people…..why won’t you be even a little bit kind to me!?’

‘P-Peter…..-‘

When she looked down, perhaps because his head was hanging low, she couldn’t see his face, only the pure white hair close to her. Both his arms encircling Alice’s waist, the White Rabbit was clinging on as if stuck to her. The Mansion’s Twins were one thing, but for someone bigger than Alice, it was rather an odd posture to be in.

And not only that, since Peter was embracing her so as to envelop both of Alice’s arms, it did not look as if she could escape of her own power.

‘There you go, clinging on to me again regardless of where we are…..let me go please. I can’t move.’

‘Alice, why are you so cold to me? Ah, I see. You must be embarrassed! What a shy person you are!’

‘That’s not the issue here.’

The White Rabbit’s arms around her tightened to the point that it hurt— his hold was strong enough that it seemed she could almost forget about the injuries he had gotten from the attack from before.

‘Peter, now that I think about it…..how are your wounds? Are you alright?’

After all, his back had been wounded by shards of glass. It must have caused him a lot of pain.

However, separate from Alice’s worry, for some reason when the White Rabbit lifted his head upwards, he was smiling broadly. If Alice wasn’t mistaken, it was the kind of smile that could even be said to look happy.

‘To think that you would worry for me…..Ah, Alice! How kind you are…..You’ve been worried for me, your beloved, all this time! I’m so happy, Alice.’

‘…..Hey…..Listen to people when they’re talking.’

‘I am, I am listening, Alice. You were worried about my injuries, were you not? To have you worry for me…..Ah, how wonderful…..’

‘…..…..Seems like you’re fine already.’

Despite being exasperated by Peter’s tight hug, from the looks of things there really was no need to worry.

Even as she loosened a hand from Peter’s hold and stretched it out over his back to check, he just kept smiling even more, without seeming to be in pain even a little.

Although the amount of blood he had shed back then had been by no means a small amount.

‘You’re really all OK now?’

‘Yes. Injuries of that level are as nothing in the face of my love for you-!’

‘…..…..’

As she had thought, he didn’t listen to what people said at all.

Exasperation aside, it was true that she felt relieved. Blood had said there was no need to worry, but there was a big difference between hearing it from someone else and confirming it for herself.

‘It’s a bit late but…..Thank you, Peter. This time, and the time before that, you saved me.’

As she patted his back in a soothing sort of way, the White Rabbit looked even more pleased, his eyes narrowing. The gaze that had been so very cold and piercing just a moment ago had now softened completely.

‘I’m your White Rabbit, after all. I want to do anything I can for you.’

‘…..…..’

Hearing those words brought back to Alice’s mind the ones Peter had spoken previously in the Forest.

Badump, she had a feeling her heart had beat faster just like it had back then.

He had spoken the same sort of line. He said he would, and could, do anything for her.

But if that meant the price would be repeatedly suffering the same injuries as before…..Alice couldn’t simply agree with that.

‘Speaking of which, as thanks, why don’t we go out to eat together? I’ll treat you.’

‘Wh-…..What!?’

It appeared Peter was wholeheartedly surprised by Alice’s suggestion. The eyes that had been narrowed flew wide open to stare at her, the arms that had been so tightly wrapped around her loosening.

The over-the-top reaction was enough to make Alice smile wryly in response.

‘Alice and I having a meal, just the two of us-…..That is, a d-date!? To think you would invite me on a date, aah, I cannot believe it!’

‘It’s not such a big deal as a date though. What, do you hate the idea of going somewhere with me that much? If that’s the case, I won’t force you then…..’

Aware that he would deny it, Alice purposely questioned him teasingly, but he once again clung on to her and raised his voice.

‘I’ll go-! Of course, I shall accompany you-, there is no way I would not-! A date, just Alice and I…..Ahh-‘

‘…..Yeah, yeah.’

While exasperated at the White Rabbit getting worked up all by himself, Alice suddenly noticed there was a gaze on her, as if someone was wanting to say something, and turned around.

‘…..…..’

‘Young lady~’

‘Um…..’

The suit-wearing servants were standing there, looking as if they weren’t sure whether to laugh or leave.

‘Ah…..!’

As she realised they had been watching their entire conversation, Alice’s face all at once became a bright shade of red.

***

‘Here you are, thank you for waiting.’

A large plate with a steaming pie was placed onto the table.

‘Wah…..It looks delicious.’

As Alice’s eyes narrowed in appreciation as she took in the appetising fragrance, Peter briskly and efficiently placed a serving place in front of her. In his hands he already held a knife and fork.

‘I’ll cut the pieces right now, so please wait a moment.’

‘Huh? It’s fine, I can do it myself.’

Alice spoke in a fluster, but the White Rabbit did not listen. In a mild voice, he refused.

‘I want to do it. Alice…..This is a date after all, won’t you allow me to serve you?’

‘…..But this time, I want to be the one to show my thanks.’

‘Then all the more reason. You even showed me the way here, please allow me to do at least this much.’

The White Rabbit’s hands did not stop moving as he spoke. Skilfully dividing up the pie, he carried the food over to Alice’s plate.

This made Alice, who worked as a maid at Hatter Mansion, feel somehow embarrassed. It was as if she were being spoiled like a princess, or a woman being coaxed by her lover.

They had come to a restaurant close by to the one that Boris had guided her to before. Back then she had only passed by, but the delicious smell coming from it had remained in Alice’s memory.

Apparently, it was a restaurant that specialised in mushroom dishes, mushrooms of all different kinds were on display throughout the shop. The colours of some of them looked poisonous, but luckily the ones that had been taken to Alice’s table were the normal brown.

‘Here you are. Please get started.’

‘…..Thank you.’

‘Not at all.’

Fork in hand, Alice took a single bite—and her eyes involuntarily opened wide.

‘It’s good…-‘

The savoury smell and flakiness of the pie’s pastry, together with the smoothness of the mushroom were a perfect combination. As she chewed, soup oozed out of it, and that was delicious as well.

When she’d heard they served mushroom dishes she hadn’t been sure what to expect, but the menu had been more wonderful than she had thought. Alice continued eating with renewed interest, but suddenly noticing a gaze coming from beside her, she paused.

‘Aren’t you going to eat too, Peter?’

‘No, it’s just that seeing you enjoy what you’re eating so much makes me happy somehow…..I didn’t want to miss the opportunity.’

‘What are you talking about? You should eat too, no need to be considerate. My salary is good enough you don’t have to worry about my being able to pay.’

The master of Hatter Manson was a man who paid his subordinates a salary in keeping with the work they did. And Alice, who never wasted money on things she didn’t need, had a fair amount saved up. She hadn’t hesitated to use it for having a meal with a friend.

However, the White Rabbit quietly shook his head from left to right.

‘I cannot allow you to pay. I will treat you.’

‘…..All the more then.’

What kind of woman would she be, to be the only one eating, though she had asked for food enough for two, and to have him be the only one paying as well? At the very least, Alice did not want to have such a meal.

‘Ah…..could it be that you don’t like mushrooms, Peter? If so, I apologise…..’

‘No, it is not as if I particularly dislike mushrooms.’

‘Then, what do you like to eat? Maybe carrots since you’re a rabbit?’

He said that he didn’t dislike them, but for all that, the White Rabbit’s expression was not a joyful one. Even if he was also a rabbit, he was clearly different from the brown rabbit who lived at the Mansion.

‘I like anything. I can eat anything.’

‘Then you can have some of this mushroom dish, right? —Here.’

Using the serving fork, Alice placed some food on his plate. She was used to working as a maid in her everyday life, so waiting on someone like this was something Alice was more familiar with.

‘Ah, Alice. You don’t need to..-‘

‘It’s fine. Here, eat up, no need to hold back.’

‘…..Very well. It is food that you yourself have served me. I cannot be so rude as to not eat it.’

If he didn’t dislike the food, he would readily eat it. So thinking she had acted, but Alice soon had a feeling something was wrong.

Thank you for the meal, being especially polite, Peter carefully used the knife and fork to begin cutting. He carried one of the cut pieces towards his mouth.

It couldn’t be that he was acting the part of Prime Minister for show. Each one of his movements was refined, the very picture of correct table manners.

But there was something decisively different about the way he ate compared to Alice.

‘? Peter, are you sure you don’t dislike mushrooms after all?’

‘That is…..’

‘But, aren’t you forcing yourself?’

Alice knew well what a person’s face looked like when they were eating something they enjoyed.

It was certainly the case for the group at Hatter Mansion. Blood when he was drinking tea, Elliot when he was eating carrot dishes…..it was a normal thing for anyone with something they liked in front of them to enjoy the taste and be happy about it.

On the other hand, what would happen if they were given something that they disliked. It was something she knew from seeing her master trying to escape from eating orange coloured food. It wasn’t as obvious as Blood’s hatred for carrots, but there was a similar expression on Peter’s face.

‘You don’t need to force yourself if you don’t like it.’

‘It is not as if I dislike it…..’

The hand that been almost mechanically and dispassionately carrying food to his mouth stopped, and Peter looked troubled.

‘There is nothing in particular that I like.’

‘…..Huh?’

‘The truth is, I do not like anything…..after all, food does not particularly taste of anything, does it?’

‘…..…..’

Hearing him speak as if puzzled, Alice completely stopped moving.

Perhaps noticing her response, the White Rabbit let go of the knife and fork and tilted his head.

‘No matter what I eat, there is not much difference. All I need know is if there is poison in it or not.’

‘…..…..’

Hearing him talk, Alice felt as if the atmosphere around them had grown cold of a sudden. Even though it wasn’t as if someone was after her like before.

It was a wonder she hadn’t dropped her knife and fork. The taste of the mushroom in her mouth suddenly felt far away.

No, it wasn’t just the taste of the food. Even the noise inside the shop that had sounded normal until now felt somehow forced.

‘…..…..’

Gulp, she heard the sound of her throat swallowing, but even that…..felt distant.

A world without taste. A living being who, even though they ate, didn’t feel a thing.

There was no way all the rabbits who lived in this world were the same. There was Elliot, who truly loved carrot dishes beyond anything. It didn’t change the fact that he liked carrots the best, but it was not as if he didn’t understand the taste of food outside of carrots.

But—it was completely different for Peter.

‘…..…..’

No matter what he ate, it had no taste. It was simply something he did to take in the sufficient nutrients needed to keep his body moving.

It was probably for that reason his perfect way of eating and his reaction as he ate left an impression of disconnection.

She hadn’t noticed it at all up until now. If they hadn’t talked about taste just now, Alice might never have realised.

Even when he had prepared tea for her at Heart Castle, Peter had often accompanied Alice in drinking tea. He had been as happy as if it were himself when she had nodded saying it was delicious.

She had always thought his reaction was a bit much…..but at last she understood its meaning.

He had never provided her with anything that he himself felt tasted good. Just things that he thought Alice would like, it had been for no other purpose than to make Alice happy.

‘…..…..’

She took a sip from the cup of cold water on the table. It slid down her throat, which had become dry before she had realised it, with a cold and chilly sensation.

He had said things had no flavour, but that did not necessarily mean he had no sense of taste. If he didn’t, it would have been too difficult to judge whether or not something had poison in it.

However, Alice could not even imagine what his world, one where nothing had any flavour, was like. No matter what he drank, or ate, for it to simply slip down his throat into his body like the water she had just had…..she could not understand it all.

‘Alice, is something wrong? It can’t be, there was poison in the-…..’

‘N-no! That’s not it…..’

As she held back the White Rabbit who even now seemed about ready to brandish his gun and start shooting at the restaurant workers, inside of her chest was a jumble of questions.

—Is that not hard for you, Peter?—

Forcibly swallowing back down the questions rising towards her lips, she changed them into a sigh.

Eating was a necessary act for life to continue on. She thought that for it to just be a duty, something about which you didn’t feel anything at all, was just too sad.

She could understand it if he said that he disliked eating. But that he neither liked or disliked the action itself…..she thought that it must be a very lonely thing.

‘That’s not it. I was just…..a little surprised, that’s all.’

Restraining the White Rabbit from changing his golden watch into a gun, once Alice settled the bill and left the restaurant, the colours of the sky had changed yet again.

***

‘I think I put them in here, if I’m remembering right…..’

In her room at the Tower. Having returned to the room she had become completely used to living in, Alice was slowly digging around amongst the small amount of hand luggage.

And, having taken out a single case from the pile, she opened the lid.

‘…..…..’

Inside were the snacks the maids she was friendly with had wrapped for her when she had left the Mansion. Because they would last for a long time, it was mostly candy and chocolate that had been packed in.

She took into her hand a single small snack that had been wrapped in silver paper. Unwrapping it silently, she popped the small block of dark brown that appeared into her mouth.

Along with the snapping noise as she chewed, a familiar flavour spread throughout her mouth.

It was sweet. And also, bitter. It was chocolate. A person who had had chocolate before would know what it was immediately.

‘But….maybe Peter wouldn’t.’

As he had said himself, he was a clever Rabbit. He would definitely be able to identify that it was chocolate.

However—the taste alone was something he surely wouldn’t understand. If his basis for judgement was only whether or not something had poison in it, he would likely just decide that it was not poisonous and leave it at that.

And that….somehow felt lonely to her. She thought that perhaps one of the main reasons she felt that way was because Peter himself accepted it as a given.

‘….There’s something wrong with me.’

Their first meeting had been awful, no matter how often she recalled it, it should have been bad enough for her to wonder how they had even become friends.

But now….she was thinking about him so much.

Because she thought she was such a fool for not noticing in all the times they’d had tea together until now that nothing had flavour to him.

It had to be because she was worried for him as a friend. She would have liked for that to be the reason, but the emotions that were moving her now did not at all seem to be that of friendship.

Was it truly just that causing this stirring in her chest?

‘….Peter….’

I love you. You are the only one I love.

If you are happy, that is all that matters to me.

—Because I love you—

The White Rabbit’s love confessions were always one-sided. They did not desire an answer from Alice. Even if she were to answer, it wouldn’t be unusual for it not to reach those long ears. Only taking up what was convenient, in a certain sense, those ears were highly efficient.

‘You’re….so unfair….’

She had not planned on changing. Even when she had come to this world, she would always remain as she was….her cowardly, pessimistic, grey-coloured self, who was the furthest thing from pure white. Though she had planned on staying as the half-hearted Alice Liddell who was unable to become anything, right now she was wavering so much.

Over someone she couldn’t help but think about….Why did the man who did not understand what things tasted like say that he loved her?

Alice hadn’t done anything for him.

Even though she hadn’t done anything to make him fall in love with her. Even though she wasn’t the kind of person people fell in love with.

Why did you fall in love with me?

‘We’re friends, so that’s why it bothers me. It can’t be anything else….of course it isn’t.’

The more they come to know you, the more they will love you.

The words the dream demon had once said sprang back into Alice’s mind.

Their first meeting had been the absolute worst. A rockier beginning she could not imagine.

However, since their relationship had begun on the worst possible terms….she had been made to realise now that there was no way it would have become worse.

It would seem the relationship that should have begun from hostility had revised itself in a more positive direction before she had realised it.

‘It’s because….we’re friends. That’s the reason I can’t leave him alone….’

She was unable to hate him. On the contrary, there were aspects to him that she even found likeable.

His actions were one-sided, and many of the things he did were a bother. He would sometimes say stalker-ish things with no shame whatsoever.

She wondered how much he knew about her.

And, conversely, she wondered how much she knew about him.

She had lived at her place of residence for an amount of time that was no longer of short duration. But even there, the place she had decided was where she belonged, she remained unable to delve into the side of them that was Mafia.

The courage to draw near to the closest possible place to the White Rabbit….there was no way she had such a thing.

‘….-‘

Tightly.

She pressed her hands to her chest, to calm a heartbeat that seemed about to accelerate out of control.

—I hate this.

When it came to romance, Alice couldn’t help but become a foolish child again. Even while thinking she didn’t want to become conceited, another part of her thought that she didn’t want to be betrayed, and she became selfish.

‘No….that can’t be….why.’

Let it be something else.

The wrapper in her hand made a crinkling noise as she crumpled it into a ball.

She thought she had already had enough of love. Romance was a pain, and for all the effort it took, it was never guaranteed that things would go how you wished them to.

—You don’t necessarily want to be loved by everyone—

What came into her mind was the dream demon’s smile when he had appeared in her dreams in the country of red.

As if to say that he saw through her completely, there was a faint smile on his handsome face as he spoke.

—You just want to be loved by someone.—

Even now she could vividly recall Nightmare’s voice as he made that declaration as if it was only the obvious truth.

‘I won’t fall in love. Wanting to be by his side, is something I would never….’

As long as they could be friends, she was fine with that. She would not wish for anything more.

Peter had problematic aspects to him, but Alice had already let down her guard, and at this late stage, she would likely even feel sad if distance were to be put between them.

But….what if they ended up becoming even closer?

And when they did, what if he were to grow distant from her?

“Alice, I’m so sorry, I-….”

“I’m sorry, Alice, I’ve-….”

Phantom voices overlapped with the voices of the past that remained in her memory.

Just like back then.

He might grow distant, too.

‘….….’

Wordlessly, her mouth twisted faintly.

The bitterness that continued to remain as if stuck to the inside of her throat wasn’t just because of the chocolate.

Alice purposely pretended she hadn’t noticed it.

#heart no kuni no alice #translation #hnkna #alice in the country of clover #otome game

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dozing-marshmallow · 8 months

Note

If requests are open... Chris and reader watching Heathers the original release together?

Ooo! I haven’t actually watched it until today, and it was worth the watch! I hope you have a good time reading this as I did watching the film! This took me the entire day to write since there was so many good scenes to choose from.🥲

Spoiler warning to those who haven’t seen it!

WATCHING HEATHERS: ORIGINAL RELEASE WITH CHRIS MCLEAN

“Yo Chris.” You approached him one evening,“You wanna watch a fun nostalgic movie that involves childhood trauma as a plot point, the idiocy of teenagers in love and girl power?”

“As innnn?”

“Heathers!”

He recognised the film, but his response didn’t demonstrate that,“You know I can never see that name the same way after meeting Heather.”

You knew it wouldn’t,“I don’t think anyone can, but lucky for us, this film isn’t about her.”

“Of course it isn’t, no one with a brain would centre a movie around something like her.”

“Chriiiis.” You pout, setting the disc into the DVD player. You weren’t on tv so there was no need for him to be so destructive.

“What? Can’t I tell the truth?” He asks in a sassy manner,“Producers don’t want someone controversial leading their movie, the public would tear it down before it’s even released! Then again, it is a good way to ensure people will watch, even if it’s not for the reason they were hoping for.”

The film opens with a blonde girl tying her hair back in a red scrunchie with a feminine song elegantly lacing the girls’ beauty and image. The clothes, the hair, the camera quality pull Chris in to reminisce.

“I remember those times! All the gals loved keeping their hair fluffy and in scrunchies!” A shot of the girls stepping on the flowers brings him to ponder,“Can’t remember if they loved mallets though.”

“I thought they would have the colour coded everything.”

“What do you mean?”

You explained,“As in, they were gonna wear the same thing just in their colour, and have their hairstyles identical too.”

“Ohh, yeah, I think that was in the musical.” He recalled,“Speaking of which, if I end up liking this movie, we’ll totally go watch that too.”

Hearing that potential chance to see it made your heart skip a beat, disguising it with,“It’s crazy coincidence that all three of these girls happened to be named Heather.”

“I for one hope they end up like Heather.” So in other words, he wanted them to suffer tremendously.

You’re introduced to the sore thumb protagonist, Veronica, who was being ordered by red Heather to forge hot and horny, but realistically low-key note Kurt’s handwriting and we’ll slip it onto Martha Dumptruck’s lunch tray. The note will give her shower nozzle masturbation material for weeks.

Chris’ eyes ran corner to corner,“How did she say that with a straight face?”

“Welll it’s clearly not their first ploy, and you’ll be surprised to know that’s how teenage girls talk.”

“I have experience, (Y/N).”

The camera pans on an unconventionally attractive girl in sweatpants and a pink hoodie getting her lunch tray. Must’ve been the Martha the girls were planning on upsetting.

“Beth? I didn’t know she was in this film.” Chris chirped.

Your mouth drops at his attempt to slander another one of his contestants,“Chris, you know that’s not Beth! Beth has longer hair and she wears glasses!”

“Scissors and contacts exist, (Y/N).” He pats your back, treating you like a simpleton,“Wouldn’t be surprised if she did them herself for the film.”

Heather pulled Veronica with her on a poll protocol, featuring a question about five million dollars given two days before an alien explosion. She began the poll by a table with a girl named Courtney sitting there.

“Oh, great.” Chris groans,“It’s already a nightmare that three girls are named Heather, now there’s someone called Courtney? Who’s next, Harold?”

“Huh? Chris, Harold is a complete anomaly with Heather and Courtney. I thought you were going to say someone like Tyler.”

“My badd.”

There was a montage of teens from different cliques having individual screen time to answer Heather number one’s question.

“This scene has to mean something, right? I am betting you a hundred bucks that these question protocols are some sort of motif and have a deeper meaning.” Chris confidentially proposes.

“Alright.” It was pointless, but whatever made him happy.

“Uh.” He pauses the movie,“You’re supposed to hedge now.”

“What?”

“Y’know, if I end up being right, you give me a hundred dollars instead.”

What is this man on,“No? If you end up being right, you get to keep your hundred bucks.”

“But whyy? Come on (Y/NN)...it’ll be fun! Live a little.” He rested his head on your shoulder. If that was meant to convince you, it backfired.

“I’m good.”

“Booo! You’re boring! Bo-ring!”

“Chris, a hundred dollars doesn’t even equate to a dollar in your eyes, why are you so bothered?”

The movie focuses on Martha again, clearly in a trance from the letter she was misled into believing was written by her presumed crush. Chris waved at the screen,“Hi Beth!” As music in the background played, with the enhancement of a woman breathing like she was having an orgasm.

You pre-flinched at the motion of Martha getting up and appearing to be walking over to the Jock table, forged letter in hand, anticipating the next few seconds to be nothing, but ripping insults and a confused girl with her heart broken, returning sulkily to her table in confusion and tears. Meanwhile, Chris was sitting up in his seat, smiling.

And your guess was correct: the second that guy, Kurt saw the letter, the dreamy music was replaced by a jagged cruelty of laughter escaping him as he passed the letter to his mate, where he also started laughing. The Heathers were gracefully infected by it too and so was Chris. Feeling humiliated, Martha stomps out of the cafeteria.

“Oh dear. Poor girl.” You verbalise your pity, leaning more towards Veronica’s reaction.

“She’ll be fine.” Chris coughs,“As far as Beth knows, he’s just trying to deny how much he loves her.”

You don’t try scolding him anymore,“Let’s hope she doesn’t turn out to be a yandere.”

“A what now?”

The guy you and Chris questioned the relevance of was revealed to be named Jason Dean. You didn’t pay attention to the problem those jocks had with him, but you couldn’t connect the reason to the utterly random choice on Jason’s part to take a gun out and fire it. Twice.

“What the hell!” You exclaimed.

“What’s the big deal? I do that all the time.” Your boyfriend shrugs lightly.

“Not funny.”

It transitions back to the scenery the Heathers were in the beginning, with their mallets, their balls, the grass and statues.

“God they won’t expel him, they’ll just suspend him for a week or something.” The one in yellow claimed.

“He used a real gun. They should throw his ass in jail.” The leader Heather levelled more logically.

“So it actually happened?” You thought aloud, seeing that Veronica was now not only on the same ground as the others; she possessed her own mallet in blue,“In the beginning, I thought this was place was meant to be a metaphor.”

“A metaphor for what, (Y/N)?”

“...Sisterhood?”

He shakes his head in disapproval.

No way, they were actually plotting on killing Heather Chandler- After the disastrous party at Remington university where Veronica blows it and potentially foreshadows the bad dust forming between her and the rest of the Heathers, Jason crawls in through her window and stayed the night with her, topless. In the morning, they mixed something together with cleaning liquid and orange juice to bring for Heather, Jason’s “family recipe” for her hangover.

After indirect peer pressure, Heather takes the cup from Jason and right after consuming it, the damage instantly kicks in. To Heather’s horror, her gagging became more and more tyrannical to the point of her clasping her hands around her neck and gluing her eyes shut. She wheezes out an incoherent statement, before she falls face first unexpectedly into her glass table, motionless pink robed body landing on a bed of broken glass shards and her flowers, magazines.

Where that scene was meant to be silent, Chris revived an equal reaction of Kurt’s in the beginning- Hilarity.

You were still processing it. You didn’t think they would kill the leader off so early. You thought it would be one of those things where the protagonist would have started off with the lower ranks, saving the leader for last. Not in this story.

“Ahahaha!” In your partner’s fit, he shakily grabs the remote,“I’ve...I’ve got to see it again!”

He rewinded it a few seconds back. Since he knew what was going to happen, his relentless laughter ran in prematurely and lasted longer.

“Chris, come on.”

“One more- one more time.” He repeated, readying to hold onto his stomach again.

You rewatch Heather fall into the glass table. How did he not get bored?

He rewinded it again.

That’s where your patience ran too,“Enough, Chris!” You asserted, trying to grab the remote from him.

He still had that large smile on his face as he holds it away from you,“Wait (Y/N), maybe she won’t fall down this time.” You both know that’s not possible, as she disproves his statement for the fourth time,“Nope!”

“Can we move on now please?” You screech.

“Augh, fine! Let’s have it your way then.” He throws the remote to the floor and latches his arms folding,“Remind me to never watch anything with you again.”

“I won’t.”

“Uh uh...” Chris chuckled, watching the note Veronica forged as Heather’s suicide note be present in the teacher’s hand to be shared around the class so they can “feel its pathetic beauty for yourself”.

“Isn’t that like...a major piece of evidence at the crime scene though? How did she get a hold of it?” You were thinking too deeply about it.

“I don’t know dude, but it seems that no one really liked Heather to take her death personally.” His enthusiasm profound,“Isn’t that similar to the situation for our Heather? Chick was so despicable, her own parents wanted her gone!”

“Do you see how everyone else is dressed in black and she came in navy?” You pointed out Veronica’s standing out funeral attire.

“I’d have done the same.” Chris retorted,“You won’t get a dime of respect from me.”

You scoffed at the prayers Heather’s guests made over her death bed, most of them not even being about her,“The amount of disrespect at her own funeral.”

“Could never be me. The world would die with me.” Of course Chris needed a time of the movie to stroke his ego.

Two days after an atrocious “double date”, Kurt and Ram were coming to school early for some promised fun with Veronica; in reality, they were going to mask a double suicide. They? Why, yes! Jason was waiting behind a tree, with his gun loaded and the two notes Veronica forged the night before, confessing their dying sorrow of the love they felt for each other, that could never be revealed to an uncaring and ununderstanding world.

“Hi Veronica.” Speaking of the devils, they had smugly arrived to the told meeting spot, behind the school.

Chris rubs his hands together deviously, the performing girl requesting them to strip,“Ooo here we go!”

“You do know she’s not actually going to-“

“I know (Y/N), I wasn’t talking about that. I was referring to the part where their bodies fall to the ground helplessly in blood. What kinda sicko do you take me for to think I’d want to see high schoolers have a sword fight with their dicks?” God, he was actually offended.

“Sorry.”

“You’re forgiven.”

“I was kind of hoping you could rip my clothes off me sport.” Veronica flirtatiously played.

“Girl’s got serious game!”

“She’d have to, to be able to fool those guys.”

Baam! After Jason’s chasing steps terrified Kurt to return back to where he once successfully fled from, Veronica finally pulled the trigger to send his nearly naked body falling to the ground. Despite Chris getting what he wanted, he was unamused,“So he had enough sense to run the first time, but was paralysed the second time? Seriously? She didn’t even have the gun ready!”

“One more dead body to add to your collection.” Gruesome words, but it cheered him up.

Unnecessary to inform, but they were real killer bullets used on Kurt and Ram that day. When Veronica wrapped her head around it, Chris made it known that he took much pleasure in her screaming at her boyfriend in his car that she never wanted to kill them, while he was trying to unveil the intention that she did. The start of their crumbling relationship.

You shake your head in disbelief when the movie cut to their funeral and how their corpses wore football helmets.

Who names their child Kurt or Ram...?

“It was chaos, fucking chaos!” Veronica ranted, distressed from the next day event that happened in school. It was bad enough that teacher Pauline was attempting to use the second tragedy that week to liven things up as a positive thing, it was broadcasted.

“What are you talking about, huh? I mean today was great! Chaos is great. Chaos is what killed the dinosaurs, darling.”

“I like him. He gets it!” Chris too acknowledged the similarity he held with the male protagonist.

He started laughing from shock when he blew up his radio with his gun. That was the breaking point for Veronica to furiously get up and declare the end of their relationship.

...You know when you’re uneasy seeing something, but your mind forces you to keep watching to see the end of it? That’s what was happening to Chris when Jason grabbed Veronica back down and tried to convince her to stay by forcefully kissing her.

“Oh jeez...I am highly uncomfortable.” Chris lets out, turning his head away from the screen.

At least Jason could manipulate Heather Duke into taking the place of leader to carry out some petition (which Chris bragged that he knew the poll in the beginning would be significant to the plot) that would need all students to sign. After failing to persuade Veronica though, Heather leaves, not before taking pride in how ruthless she’s become.

“You know, I really love the colour symbolism here. That one started off as jealous of the first Heather’s power, so she wore green, cuz green is like a symbol for envy, and now that she’s embodied Heather Chandler’s position, her change of colour to red symbolises how her character developed for the worst.”

“Good observation.” The closest Chris will get to complimenting you.

Out of nowhere, Jason descends from the stairs, in his signature waistcoat.

“He’s back.”

“Or rather, she’s back.” Chris appropriately clarified as Jason took Veronica into his arms, fooling you into believing they were rejoining as a couple.

“So... Are they back together?” The second Chris asked that, Veronica hastily rejected his embrace and stood her ground otherwise,“Haha, guess not.”

Chris huffed in annoyance when Jason kneeled by Veronica’s bed, with Moby Dick in his hand.

“I’m super confused, do you like this guy or not?” You called out on him, not noticing you were taking some of his annoyance as yours.

“I do! But it’s nagging me that he’s everywhere!”

After snatching the largest kitchen knife you’ve ever seen, Jason sprinted to Heather Duke’s room where said girl was asleep in her bed and locked the door shut to prevent any witnesses (i.e. Veronica) from interrupting his ploy.

“That’s why you don’t leave your bedroom door open at night!” Chris raised his voice at the tv like the characters could hear him.

By this point, the priest is fed up with leading these constant funerals for popular teens. No one was taking it seriously anymore either- Hell, the guests were wearing lab coats and 3D glasses.

“Out of all the death beds, I think I’d rather die in her one.” Chris trivialised her funeral with his liking to her unusual coffin of a replica of green gunk in a bathtub.

Veronica stands at the back of the ceremony, a Heather dressed in all black joins her. It wasn’t until she sneered about the smaller number of people at this Heather’s funeral that you’re alerted it’s the former leader Heather.

“Plot twist!” Chris declares, downing his entire glass of wine.

“No way...” You’re stunned,“Do you think she actually survived or Veronica’s hallucinating?”

“No idea.”

Turns out it was all dream.

“Oh good because she can’t be going to sleep in tights.” All that Chris was concerned about, Veronica writing her last entry.

“She’s dead!?” Chris regurgitated on his popcorn at the sight of Veronica’s body hanging from the ceiling,“Duuuude! I thought she’d have main character armour!”

You yell when Jason theatrically talks like his ex girlfriend could see,“Look at how he’s reacting to it! He’s acting like she’s not dead! Deraaaanged!”

“That’s probably the most relatable scene yet.”

You flip your head to him,“Sorry?”

“Ohhh listen listen, he’s going to take right after his old man!” Someone regained their composure,”Blowing up the school. Respect. Only so little of us could pull that off.”

“No, what did you say just then?” You probed him, refusing to let him off the hook so easily.

“Huh? That Veronica’s dead?”

“After that.”

“...He’s going to blow up the school?” You can’t tell if Chris genuinely forgot or was playing dumb, but never mind, you lost motivation to interrogate further. Attention is his life source.

Jason reads and reveals,“We students of Westerberg High will die today, our burning bodies will be the ultimate protest to a society that degrades us.”

“So the entire time, they were signing up to die?”

“Sound familiar?”

“You’re kidding. So he went through the difficulty of planting the bombs in the boiler room, just to blow himself up outside the school?”

He’ll finally be with mommy. Chris’ whining disappointment didn’t stop an ashy, bleeding, wild haired Veronica(who by the miracle of God didn’t actually die that scene) to go back inside, like she didn’t witness her crazy ex kill himself moments ago. She stumbles upon Martha, in a wheelchair and as the rest of the school leaves, the both of them decide to stay together, inside, smiling, marking an implication that they may bloom into something tender.

What a bittersweet hour and forty three minutes.

“Oh! That’s it. Well... That was dark.” Chris firstly begins his thoughts by underlining the conspicuous theme of the movie,“No joke, it was really messed up. But you know my vibe.” He sniffled, flicking a teardrop from his eye,“I loved it! See, this is a perfect example as to why the eighties were the best! You don’t get a lot of dark colourful movies like these nowadays, everybody’s so boring and sensitive and unoriginal.”

You added onto that, from another aspect,“I think we were desensitised to a lot of things that happened though. Still can’t get over how Veronica’s mom thought she’d off herself because she couldn’t get some job at the mall.”

He sighs,“What can I say? We were bound to see it one way or another. A fine film that shows a stupid world that’s still accurate today.” That pessimism didn’t go well with Chris gaining satisfaction from stretching his stiff arms out,“Overall, it was sick! Ten outta ten, would watch again. It just feels a tad bit weird watching it all happen as a grown man. I would literally close my eyes at some points, and every time, I would be confused if it was still the movie playing, or if you switched it to Total Drama.”

On the topic of his show...“When you think about it, Jason is the alternative Trent and Veronica is the alternative Gwen.”

Lightbulb moment. Uh oh.

(Sorry if it feels incomplete, there was a lot of things I had to take out to avoid it being too lengthy 😞 If anyone’s interested, though, I’ll publish some of the things that didn’t make the final post, but would have been great to have :))

#td chris #request #chris mclean #chris mclean x reader #total drama chris mclean #tdi x reader #heathers 1988 #heathers #td chris mclean x reader #total drama island chris #total drama

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kristiani13 · 11 days

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Hello, finally a character information, yes, welcome.......... Yay

Main Profile

Name : Макари Лисицын

Nickname(s) : Fox, Foxy, Jester

Age : 22

Gender : Male

Height : 5'7ft (170cm)

Sexuality : Heterosexual

Date and place of birth : 30 October 2001, Russian, Kasimov

Nationality : Russian, Japanese

Eye colour and hair colour : Pale blue, Brown

—————

Blood-type : O+

Status : Alive, Stable

Rank : Contractor

Native language : Russian, Japanese

Other language(s) : English (Not very fluent)

Relation(s) : Snezhkov Volkov (close friend - incoming ref), Andrei Nolan (close ally), Ivan Alexxeve (close ally) - Deceased

—————

Family -> Russian mother & Japanese father, little brother and little sister - youngest (REDACTED IDENTITIES) - Status : Alive

Personality and Trait

MBTI : ESFJ - The Caregiver

- Makari is pretty friendly and bubbly, always active, talking nonstop and helping around tirelessly. He also always being supportive towards the other Konnis and even Makarov himself, which is pretty much made him as a known happy-go soldier amongst the Konni soldiers. He also did a very good job with his work. (Extraversion)

- Makari is extremely observant, a quick observer and he could remember the slightest detail of something, even the unimportant details. His senses of surroundings were quite sensitive (But not to the point where he just started to run away), and he would check if he was right about his senses - if not, he just brush it off. (Sensing)

- Makari likes to make people feel at their best, always supporting and cheering them up, making them at their spirit and happy, he forgave people easily he would got a bit panicked when someone's stressed, but would try to ease them up - slowly, he doesn't want the person to feel overwhelmed with him talk too fast when the person was down. Surprisingly, Makari could get sad pretty easy. (Feeling)

- Makari rarely fail with his job, once he failed he might get sad and can only surrender, prepared to be punished (hoping he doesn't get killed), he's always in time when doing missions or other things, good at making decisions and plans as he always help on mission briefings. Makari is organised with his plans and ideas, also likes to follow instructions and orders despite the pressure. (Judging)

Skill and Ability

Skills : Problem solving, Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership, communication.

Abilities : High agility and strength - Makari was able to run fast and jump high up to 2-3 meter, the weight of his combat uniform does not affect his speed but strength to jump, he'll run faster without vest or such. — Short range combat - Makari could get pretty brutal and swift when it comes to close combat, hand-to-hand and meele for example.

—–—–—–—–—–

Personal Profile

Hobby : Reading, writing, planting.

Other interest : Listening to music, watching films, animals, drawing, singing, close range combat training, rifles, knifes.

Love interest : None.

Favourites

Books : Yotsuba&!, Geronimo Stilton, Russian Fairy Tales.

Plants : Daisy, lily, aloe vera.

Animals : Silver fox, ravens, blue tongue skink.

Music : Playlist

Films : Chainsaw man, All Quiet on the Western Front, Oppenheimer.

Food : Sata Andagi, dark chocolate, Chicken Kyiv.

Preferred Weapons

Firearms : Kaztov-74u, M4.

Meeles : Dagger, hatchet, folding combat knife.

Explosives : Flash grenades, smoke grenades.

Personal facts

- Makari is secretly a mischievous and cunning person, despite his innocent appearances and behaviours, he would occasionally doing some harmless tricks to other Konni members, he's pretty much good at lying and tricking people - which mostly makes him go to undercover missions (which he got the nickname Fox/Foxy). He can be sarcastic at certain times, but he also likes to make puns, also some sarcastic comments or jokes with the other Konni members, they never got into fight don't worry, they just laugh it off and play along (which he got the nickname Jester).

- Makari doesn't like other chocolates besides dark chocolate.

- Makari could get upset easily over certain things, and he also would get distracted easily by small thing such as when seeing small animals or any plants that he had never seen throughout his mission, or just simply some useless trinkets.

- Makari's never understand English very well, though his English words pronunciations are quite okay, but his grammars and wordings are bad, that's why he only speaks two to four basic words he knew to try to make the english speakers understand him - he tried his best to speak and learn English.

- Makari had wrote 5 short story when he was still in elementary school until middle school, joined literary festival at high school, ranked 10th to 5th in the top 50.

- Makari only learn to speak English since he joined the Konni group.

Background

Born in 30 October 2001, Makari lives a happy life with his parents and two siblings as a regular young civilian in Russia, Kasimov town.

By the age of 18 in 13 November 2019, Makari leaves Russia by himself and move to Japan via visa, he went to Tokyo to get a job which he finally got a job as a delivery man and got a pretty good salary for good work. This went by for 2 years until Makari is 20 years old, 10 December 2021.

Makari planning on travel to Russia again to visit his family, after he finally arrived in the Russia airport, he was accidentally met by [REDACTED], he just seems to be interested in making friends with Makari, and so they talked throughout their walk out of the airport, as the conversation went on, [REDACTED] suddenly switched off their conversation to military subject.

Makari actually was pretty interested in military because of the story of his late grandfather being a soldier and had learned much about military stuff, so he wasn't really experienced in military, [REDACTED] won't force Makari into joining military but strangely insisted him to join the military life, telling him to try new things, Makari find it weird but he just brush it off, he seems to be contemplating whenever to join or not, he was unsure if he was fit for it. But then, he decided to agree before he went back to Kasimov to pack up and saying farewells to his family, and leave with [REDACTED].

—— Military life ——

Times went by until 2022 as Makari started to realise that now he's the part of the Russian private military, making him feel drastically anxious, but he just try to adapt himself to his environment and went along with the missions and other works, which gave him slight pressure but eventually finally adapting and get to used to his surroundings, getting close to few other Konni members, especially Ivan, Andrei and Snezhkov - but mostly to Snezhkov. He didn't know who the leader was because every soldier he asked says "Ты увидишь его позже.", which made him confused.

Until 2023 finally arrived, and he's 22, finally seeing Makarov with his own eyes, and seeing Ivan get killed for his mistake, which made Makari getting nervous and scared, trying not to make any same mistakes as Ivan did, but also upset that Ivan died. Though, he got mixed feelings as he also glad that Andrei had become Makarov second-in-command. Eventually, he moved on from his own grief and just continued his life as a soldier works in this private military organisation.

Despite the occasional pressure he felt, he fortunately able to adapt himself to his new life. And [REDACTED] was never seen again since then.

—–—–—–—–—–

Trivia

The name Макари means "Blessed" or "Happy", Лисицын has a meaning fox for Russian masculine surname.

Makari doesn't like other chocolates besides dark chocolates.

The Konni Group never knew that Makari was half Japanese, except Snezhkov and Makarov who had his personal information file.

Bonus

- Makari could get extremely hostile towards a foe — when he knew how bad the foe is, but surprisingly he can also just be cautious and alert around the foe — when he knew the foe wasn't so bad, he observed the foe based on their attitude and personality, so yeah, he could be merciful at this point, but orders are orders.

Important Note : This character takes universe in Call of Duty Modern Warfare - Especially in MW II and MW III

#original post #original drawing #original character #digital drawing #artists on tumblr #original art #ibispaintdrawing #call of duty #call of duty oc #Makari Lisitsyn #My first time making this reference hhhhhuwhewuhewwww....#Please let me know if I made any mistakes in any information or anything #I don't want to make military misinformation.....#I cringed while making this hhrheuegrheu #thank you #Original character profile #oc profile

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celestialstar3 · 1 year

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Prompt: Colours (but Xiaoven ver.)

realised that i could post ficlets here LMAO i always had no idea where to post my short stories HAHAHA

this is a random prompt that i got and i made it my challenge to make it xiaoven :D

Xiao was terrified of colours.

It was pathetic, really, how he was scared of something the world perceived as beautiful and alluring, something that would be stuck to him for his entire life, something that painted every single corner of the world in its brilliant hues.

And while he could admit that colours could be beautiful at times, it was not, for the most part. He spent more time fearing and avoiding it instead of admiring it, finding comfort in neutral shades of black and grey. Many of the different hues were too bright, too radiant and sharp, always pricking and stabbing pain into his eyes every time he did so much as stare at it. While others marvelled, he always felt panic setting into his veins, igniting a command that ordered him to pick and choose — flight or fight.

He always chose flight.

It was made even worse when he could see colour along with the sounds in his life, colour that no one else can see except for his cursed eyes. He never understood why it was always so overwhelming, so suffocating. He could feel a boiling hot scarlet spilling over him every time someone screamed in anger. A dark, navy blue coiling and tightening around his neck every time someone cried in despair. Purple that closed in fast into him every time he heard disgust in judgemental whispers, even if the judgement was not for himself.

“He has visual sensory overload, along with synesthesia, which is what I suspect that made it worse,” he heard the doctor tell his parents once, the murky pink of pity lining his words. But those words and explanations for his condition did not even begin to cover the pain that he felt, the suffering that he had to live with forever. That diluted pink with barely a tinge of sincerity or actual sympathy could not help him at all.

The most the doctor could do for him was get him a pair of sunglasses, to turn his world from a bright, messy, and colourful world into a dull one. Of course, it never prevented the colours in his mind from appearing, but at least the world he saw was duller. Calmer. Comforting.

Of course, there was always talk surrounding him at school because of this, and it was always with that same dull pink that he saw back at the doctor’s. Some were upset for him because he would never experience the world’s full beauty. Xiao himself, however, felt that it was just fine and not a really big deal.

It was better this way. It wasn’t like he could ever understand the concentrated colours of this world anyway.

But little did he know, he eventually did.

It started with a boy named Venti.

It was the explosion of yellow in his mind that woke Xiao up from his morning slumber. When he slowly lifted his eyes, he could hear the excited, buzzing chatter that shattered fragments of bright gold around him, unforgiving of their assault on his eyes. He quickly closed them shut again, but even in the darkness he could see them like the unwanted rays of sun.

“Exchange student?”

“Oh my god, a new student? I wonder how they look…”

“You got to be kidding me!”

In the end, Xiao chose to clasp his hands over his ears instead, shutting the rest of the world out. The yellow soon faded away, returning him the comforting black that he yearned.

It was easy to slip back into his slumber, being unable to see or hear anything, but just as he was about to drop back into the depths of oblivion, something poked his hand, making him instinctively move his hand away from his ear.

“Hi?” was the first thing he heard.

Xiao immediately sat right up.

It was soft, the colours of the voice swirling slowly into his sight instead of forcing its way into his vision, forming the gentle hues of curious sea-green and friendly cerulean. It was unlike the way colours used to splat forcefully into his mind. Surprisingly, he felt as if the colours were pulling him into a hug, instead of a suffocating choke like it usually did.

He turned to his side to see a completely stranger face, smiling at him, the brightness of his grin bypassing the shade of Xiao’ sunglasses.

“You are…”

“The exchange student! I introduced myself in front of the class just now, did you miss it?” His cheerfulness would have imploded a wave of colours into Xiao’ senses by now, but the yellow that came with his voice was neither sudden yet painful to watch.

“Sorry. So, what is your name again?” Xiao asked absent-mindedly, staring at the almost foreign colour that hovered right by him. When was the last time he could ever look at bright yellow like this?

“Venti.” Xiao slowly widened as the other said his name. In that moment, he could see a mix of hues tied to his name that went together perfectly, for the first time in his life. Most of the time, colours crash. Yet here, his name incited a deep oceanic blue, a soft green emerald, swirling and intertwining with each other to make a shade that he could never name.

Jade? Greenish-blue? Or azure, like what people described the sky to be? Maybe he never came close in justifying its hue, but all he knew in that moment was how those colours enveloped him in its beauty. Beauty that he would have never thought he would ever experience.

“Venti,” Xiao repeated.

Being his deskmate, Venti slowly became his closest friend. Over the weeks, he slowly learned about Xiao’ condition, and understood. Not only that, he always went out of his way to describe to him how beautiful things looked — like the sun, the stars, the moon, the sea — everything that was worth him knowing.

There never was once he saw the dull pink of pity, only a light shade of blue for his understanding, concern, and his sympathy. There never was once he felt hot red anger, devastating dark blue, or the disgusting purple of disdain and impatience from him. There never was once he failed to see the beauty of his colours, of emerald green and sparkling blue, of pastel bright yellow that did nothing but bring him warmth.

It was the first time Xiao ever yearned for colour.

Sure, there was still unwashed fear lingering within him, but he found that he wanted to hear Venti speak and laugh, so that he could watch colours seep into his bleak life. Venti helped him add a stroke of life into his unassuming, dull palette, opening him up to yearn for the world that he used to be unable to bear.

And he had a daring thought one day, while walking home with Venti. He was busy describing the way the autumn leaves looked.

He wanted to be able to take off his glasses one day and see the world without flinching or squinting, without running away. He wanted to see the world through Venti’s eyes, to experience the same beauty that he experienced, even though it might be painful for him. To see the bright rays of the sun. The relaxing, warm colours of autumn. The light azure of the clear sky.

It was the first time Xiao wanted to try.

“Venti,” he called out his name, tasting the green that swirled on his tongue. The boy turned around to face him, confused.

Xiao reached up, and pulled the dark glasses off.

The moment he did, colour assaulted his eyes from every corner of his vision, and he stumbled back, instinctively shutting his eyes. He could feel hands gripping his shoulders to prevent him from falling, Venti shouting his name in the soft orange of worry.

He peeled open his eyes, just a little bit, to find Venti’s face right in front of him, in full colour.

Jade green twinkled in his eyes, the same hue as the one associated with his name, and cerulean poured down the tips of his two braids, the very same colour that always wrapped his vision with comfort.

Xiao laughed. He never felt so happy before seeing colour.

“You’re right,” he breathed. “Colour is beautiful.”

(should I put this on AO3? 👀)

#xiaoven #venxiao #venti #xiao #genshin #genshin impact #genshin fic #genshin fanfic #ficlet #fic #fanfic #colour #synesthesia #one shot #fluff #no angst

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lackadaisydreamer · 9 months

Text

Midnight City pt 6

((Ms. Paint is already breaking him in the best way possible, I know I've made y'all wait))

Warnings: bad dreams, fluff, cuddles wholesomeness.

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The door was shut behind her and the room that was always so familiar felt sinister, with smiles that were just a little too wide hiding in the shadows. The leftover remnants of ash ghosted her senses and her wrists still ached as Ms. Paint gently rubbed them. Her soft silk sheets were comforting but felt so thin.

Empty halls stretched at either of his sides as Slick leaned on the door. His head was pounding and he could feel his eyes burning from exhaustion. As he slid to the floor with a familiar blade twirling between his fingers he was starting to regret offering to keep watch. After all he had been the one kicking ass and getting shit done. He took off his hat again, leaning his head back. “Who am I kidding? I’m used to this...she isn’t.” He cursed, closing the switchblade. Explosions, threats, and blood stained carpets. That was his world, not exactly by choice but it had become home and she had been unlucky enough to get mixed up in it. “Someone like her isn’t for this world...”He thought. Kindness and selflessness were worthless in Midnight City, they were regarded as naïve and foolish. His world didn’t deserve someone like her and as his blood ran cold and numb Slick deduced he would save her from this if it was the last thing he did. He didn’t need any other reason, other than the fact that she was the one light he would not let the cities true colours -or rather lack thereof- tarnish.

He was unsure when exactly he fell asleep, but Slick supposed even he had his limits when he found himself being aroused from slumber. Spades pressed his ear to the door, his heart sunk. She was crying out in her sleep, no sobs or violent screams but she was in discomfort. Slick could hear her tossing about, her voice growing slightly louder. He grit his teeth. "Dammit she could hurt herself..." Slick opened the door slowly, peeking in hesitantly.

Her room was as soft and pink as everything else about her. A large four poster bed was in the centre of the room, a wall of mirrors on one side no doubt hiding a luxurious walk in closet. Her vanity was covered in an assortment of expensive perfume and makeup. Then there was her, he saw her quickly turn kver in her sleep. Ms. Paint was shaking, her breaths ragged. "No...no, leave me alone..." She kept muttering under her breath, her teeth clenched tight. He couldn't catch most of what she was saying as he quickly crossed the room to her side. His hand found hers, his eyes fixed on ms. Paint. He remembered what the doctors had said, not too long after the war...he and the others had experienced similar episodes. Intense nightmares, sometimes even sleepwalking. Boxcars would wake in the night thinking he was back in the operating rooms. Spade's had grown so fierce at one point he would wake them all in the night barking orders at them to get down, crouching under tables like they were under fire. The doctors had told them, don't wake them...if they work through the episodes on their own it was best. Sleeping through it or waking on their own they were more likely to forget.

So he kept his voice low, like he had a hundred times before. When she thrashed or tossed and turned he was gently take hold of her arm. He would only wake her if she was a danger to herself but she was okay. When Ms. Paint's voice began to grow louder and panicked, he leaned closer. Telling her over and over that she was safe. He would tell her her name, where she was, and described things in her room. It didn't take long before she sat up, her eyes fluttering open as she took deep shuddering breaths.

Ms. Paint rubbed her eyes, her hands trembling as her chest ached from how fast her heart was beating. "Slick...I...oh dear...." She couldn't recall the dream, only bits and pieces that were already escaping her memory. "I've...I haven't had a dream like that since I was a child..." Ms. Paint attemoted to laugh but every inch of her was still violently shaking.

"You don't have to apologize...you had one hell of a night." She shook her head.

"I cannot allow one night to undo me..." She muttered, reaching for her robes. "It's so silly..." He took her hand, his eyes locked on her as she turned to face him. Tears were rolling down her face. Those soft, kind eyes were brimming with fear. His heart shattered, and something in him snapped.

Forget business.

He had a new target, and that was making Jackpots last few breathing minutes a living hell.

"Ms. Paint...you know I've seen you in the papers, time and time again..." He spoke so gently. "You really are the one person that stands between this city and complete chaos...you're the only person in this godforsaken shit hole that actually gives a damn." Spades took a hold of her hand as he sat with her on the bed. "You wear your heart on your sleeve, care with ferocity, and you have the courage to do something I've never seen before." He found his grip tightening ever so slightly. "You don't give a damn, you don't wear any mask or live life with any pretenses..." He finally met her gaze. "I don't know why, or if you will even want this but...make no mistake I promise that me and my men will do everything in our power to take Jackpot down, I'll wipe that fat bastard off the face of this world."

the tears fell freely, a mix of fear and relief sweeping over Ms. Paint as she wept bitterly. She had been at a loss, unsure where to even begin or turn to. Spades offered an open arm, an embrace she received as she cried into his undershirt. "I...I more than accept...thank you...I really don't want to see you or anyone else get hurt....but he must be stopped...." His touch was an anchor as he rubbed her shoulders. Ms. Paint looked up at him, her tears slowing down. "I've read about you too you know...I thought you were myth." She added with a laugh, "I'm not a child...I know you've lived a life that came with decisions no living being should have to make." She lowered her eyes. "You've done things...you've hurt people...but you've never gone out of your way to hurt people, and...he is." She covered her face as he slowly pulled her close once more.

"We don't know a damn thing about eachother...do we?" He thought, but that didn't matter. Slick would burn the world to ash if she said so, this power she had over him...it was enough to drive him mad with fear yet die from bliss all at once. It was jarring how quickly of an addict she was turning him into. He looked down, a stern alluring gaze that made Ms. Paint feel weak at the knees.

The sight of her soft angelic face pressed into Slick's chest was a sight he would take to his grave. This couldn't last, he knew that but he would enjoy it while he could. "I have...but those things will be nothing compared to what I will do to him" He tried to come across as reassuring as possible. "I...don't want to be forward but would you prefer if...I stayed here so you can get some sleep?"

Ms. Paint nodded slowly, her face burning a soft pink. "Yes...yes please do." Her voice trailing off as her whole body shut down, his arms still wrapped around her as he lay beside her. Slick hoped she wouldn't feel his own heart racing as he held her close. His one metallic arm felt cold on her exposed skin, but his touch was delicate and strong. Slick couldn't help but feel embarrassed, his own face now warm.

"Is...this alright?" He asked slowly.

"Yes..." she murmured, her eyes finally shutting as her body gave in to sleep. "Thank you Slick...goodnight."

#homestuck #homestuck fanfic #midnight crew #slickpaint #spades slick #clubs deuce #diamonds droog #hearts boxcars #homestuck trash #fanfic

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delicatebluebirdruins · 1 year

Text

RE: Infinte Darkness Rewatch

under a read more it got long and slightly rambly

- ugly ass puss coloured filter... going against orders is always fun

- weird hand statue... poor kid

- theme song slaps (most of the tracks slap but there is no official Claire and Leon theme so *blows raspberry*

- Claire just seems so uncomfortable like stone in her shoe? label in clothing? or just good old fashioned don’t want to exist because everything feels wrong

- Ace of Spades? nice. Monkey Suit? not so nice

- Patrick has a grudge against Leon and we never get any explanation

- the glare Shenmai give Patrick is so funny

- the texturing is so nice on the walls and everything... fuck off wilson

- flashy torches why?... would you like some hole in the face?

- Spacer looks so young... that was some kick... *see’s Spacers legs* ouch... Hi Leon

- Leon’s suit has not seen the light of day in years. it does not fit him at all does it?

- yes Shenmai the portraits look shifty... the torchlight made Jason’s eyes look really cool

- Claire’s expression at seeing and recognising Leon is so fucking funny... is blue Leon’s colour? I can’t tell... can we get a Cleon hug at some point?

- fuck off wilson... Ashley is so cute and i feel sorry for her

- Yeah Netflix Subtitles heroic music IS playing... can’t spell classified without ass can you?

- back to the hand and escalation of events

episode 2

- this opening bit is so pretty: bright with birds singing. And the detail of the reflection in the mirror? lovely. But this is a resident evil production so it goes horribly wrong

- Alien Coffee?... Claire looks so good with the tank and (way too clean) glasses

- Back to chaos: Shenmai is interesting and I don’t know what to make of her... Leon is great but personally listening to Jason’s tangent right now I would be calling it in and asking for a therapist and expecting bad things coming

- I hate Shenmai and Jason killing the crew. zombie rats, zombie rats doodoodoo... Icky rats... Lots of rats to get on small sub... how did they get on?

- electric blue eyes... underwater explosion looks strange... the grass looks so nice

- Pocket Knife couldn’t have Shenmai cleaned the blade off? I always think of Narnia when I notice this shit

- Yeah Leon treason is fun and you shoud do it in this instance because fuck Wilson... I didn’t realise jason actually got shot

episode 3

- cabin? in the woods? at night? what could go wrong?... another person from the mad dogs unit gone

- ohhh look at the moon... the water looks really nice as well and I love it

- lovely reunion of siblings... it is sad though the hope grandfather and Shenmai have for Junsee to return to health for them because a part of it is futile... the grandfather covering Junsee as the building falls hurts me

- where’d that random breeze come from? just to make Claire cover her face briefly?

- Fuck off Wilson... damn we don’t get to see Shenmai being carried by Leon wow that’s a lot of damage...

- where’d the other guy come from? I hate seeing Claire hurt

Episode 4

- hi Patty Cake (what is his and Leon’s relationship)... I love his reaction to the call and I wonder what Leon said

alternative version of the scene

P: Leon is that you?

L: No this is Patrick

- that outfit kinda looks like her RERE2 outfit

- Me and Clarie: fuck off Wilson or more appropriatly “you’re just fucking nuts“

- do the opening credits change from epsisode to episode?

- funky running animation

- how the hell did you see Leon from where you are Claire?... also why doesn’t Claire actively try to escape when Wilson was distracted with Jason

- “doors clonking“ thanks Netflix subtitles... cut it a little close there Claire

- Poor Shenmai x2

- saving Claire is one of the best scenes in the whole show

- Well done Pat you can breathe now you got the message through

- start mashing buttons Claire

- “hey sexy“/ bazooka clanks” will never not be funny... I love them continuing to fight

- much speech very wow... Jason is not wrong though considering the world as a whole like how many outbreaks have there been? it would be hard to find someone who hasn’t been affected by B.O.Ws either directly or know someone who has

- I do love the music... Leon silhouetted by the sunset is great - oh fuck off Wilson... tricell (vaguely rings a bell)

- this conversation between Leon and Claire is interesting and I love them (meta I read and love what they had to say about it)

I really wish they went for a meal together link to a lovely slightly nsfw comic I found

#resident evil #cleon #resident evil infinite darkness #claire deserves better #this show could have been longer #should have been #claire redfield #leon s kennedy

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redwizardofgay · 1 year

Note

Ok but high key an MTG (TT)RPG would be so fun so thank you for trying to make one!!!

Also, if you want a suggestion for how mana works (if not then just ignore this paragraph), maybe something similar to like how mp/pp works in JRPG’s? Where like each ability costs X mana but you gain back Y mana each turn?

Howdy there anon!

That's pretty much what I landed on! The challenge I ran into though, was how to manage there being five distinct colours, of which someone can use only one or all five. I didn't want trivialise mana as a resource by saying that you just get mana of the colour you want each turn, nor did I want to do what MTG video game adaptations have done, where you start with no mana and get mana back each turn, as while that IS how the card game works, it doesn't play as well in RPGs --- namely because it means encounters take FOREVER to get to the good part.

So what I did was bake the colours of magic you use into character creation. You choose your colours of magic at the same time you choose your tribe, class, and background. Unlike these other elements you can change your mana affinities later, however, doing so is *supposed* to be a big deal.

In actual gameplay, you begin each day with an amount of mana equal to your magic score. Magic is a score like Strength or Dexterity, though I'm retiring the idea of score vs. modifier for this d20 run, so it'll range from -3 to +5. (Sidenote; this assumes you can play a non-magic using character, even though I'm not really planning on write rules for them). Note: that as you gain levels you can increase your magic score to get more mana, but that as this is an RPG magic isn't everything (so be wise when deciding how much of your energy to sink into magic).

Whenever you use a spell or magical ability, you expend mana. Mana costs are written in the same way they are in the card game, calling for a certain amount of coloured mana and (usually) a booster of mana that can be any colour. Lightning bolt, for example, might cost 1 red mana but fire ball might call for 2 red and any amount of other mana to increase the size of the explosion.

Once you spend mana, it regenerates rather slowly. At the start of each turn that you don't have a full mana pool, you can roll to get mana back. Do this, you roll a d20 for each colour you have access to, in an order you choose. The DC is equal to a base, set by the number of colours you use, minus your magic score (so that the more powerful you are, the more likely you are to get mana back)

The base table is:

Use 1 colour = get mana back on 12 or higher.

Use 2 colours = mana back on 16 or higher.

Use 3 colours = mana back on 17 or higher.

Use 4 colours = mana back on 18 or higher

Use 5 colours = mana back on 19 or higher.

You roll until you have a full pool of mana again or until you've rolled once for each colour, whichever comes first. If you roll a natural 20 you get 2 mana back instead.

If you need/want more mana than you would regain by this method, what you can do is use one of your 3 actions each turn (Pathfinder 2e style) to try rolling again. This is called a channeling check. You can gain more mana than your normal maximum by channeling, though you can only ever have mana equal to twice your magic score, and mana in excess of your magic score is lost at the end of each encounter.

And that's mana! I've also figured out the rules for spells (cause by GOD I am not using Spell Slots) but this post is long enough!

Thanks for the ask, friend! ☺️

#asks #mtg rpg #this is the first not creepy ask I've gotten in a hot minute!

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dragon-heisters · 2 years

Text

Session 12, 9 Jul 2022: "Tits to that."

We’re running a little late this week, as Nuri and BWJ are upstairs - one of them is refusing to put his PJs on and go to bed. Hazel declines to mention which one is causing the trouble, but we all know who it is. Giles has Covid, so another good excuse. We shall have to muddle through without him.

Vervain has bathed enough that the purple has washed off, so the DM switches their token back to regular skin colour. We throw a few names around but can’t come up with anything for now.

We’ve had a few big names like Volo and Renaer show up in our first ten-day. Pfenig rolls a d100 to see how the week went - a 54. DM: “It’s not great, I’ll be honest.” We’ve covered expenses and Guild fees, but no profit. We’re just starting out, so that’s not bad. Could be worse!

We pick up at the end of the ten-day. The date is the 3rd of Marpenoth, 1492. Early in the morning, none of us have really started our day yet. Nuri is in the library, ticking off monsters we’ve encountered in Volo’s Guide. Vervain is in the kitchen experimenting with vegan dishes, and Pfenig is chatting with Jodd about the proper use of compost vis a vis when it is, and is not, okay to use manure.

All of a sudden the roar of an explosion rattles our windows - bodies go flying past. Pfenig dashes to the window to see what the racket is…

Pfenig identifies the source as a Fireball spell! He looks hard at Nuri, who puts on his most innocent look.

“I was in the library with the candlestick.”

We rush out to have a look. People are emerging from houses and businesses. Eleven people are dead. Nuri knows if he wants to Investigate, he will have to do it fast before the Watch arrive. Some of the smaller stalls have been burned, though none of the shops seem damaged. There are supposed to be wards to prevent this sort of thing…

Pfenig wants to know if he can discern the target. After a quick scan, he sees that most of the victims are human, with a half elf, a gnome and a few halflings.

There don’t seem to be any injured - all those caught in the blast are dead. One of the dead male humans has a winged snake tattoo. We've seen that before - the Zhents, the bad ones.

Pfenig notices that one of the dead, the gnome, has dried sewage on his boots and a bag on his belt. Rifling through, Pfenig finds five gems, worth 500gp each. The city Watch arrive just as he is deciding he probably can’t snatch them without being noticed.

There is a sergeant that Nuri recognises, who takes watch over the bodies, and a griffin rider is circling overhead.

The Fireball seems not to have been thrown at a building, but perhaps at one of the now dead people.

Someone from the Watchful Order arrives - Nuri recognises them. This is Barnibus Blastwind.

He sends Watchmen to start asking questions, and goes over to the corpses to make notes.

Pfenig sidles up to the urchins, who he spots in the crowd. They say they missed it, and all they heard was a bang. They came to have a look. Do they recognise any of the dead? They haven’t been close enough to have a look. Pfenig asks them if they hear anything, will they come and tell us? They want to know what it’s worth - he offers them a sip of beer. Apparently this is good enough, because they agree.

One of the sergeants comes over to us - this is Seath Cromley. He recognises Nuri, who is a Watch wizard.

He says that it seems as though some of the victims were on their way to our pub when the Fireball hit. Do we know anything about that? Did we see anything? We tell him no, we heard it and rushed out to see what happened.

The target appears to be the gnome. He was running from armed pursuers, Saeth says. He was apparently running for our tavern. Is he known to us?

We didn’t recognise him at first glance, but the Watch offers Nuri a chance to have a closer look at him. He still doesn’t recognise him, even though his face wasn’t hit in the blast. There are no visible tattoos, just the bag of gems and the shit-crusted boots.

The entrance to the sewers that the gnome presumably appeared from is not one that we’ve used. Were the pursuers killed as well? The gnome and two of pursuers seem to be, but one might have got away - there is a blood trail.

As the watchman leaves, Renaer comes running up - are we all alright? He thinks he might be to blame, again.

What did you do…

He tells us the Lords of Waterdeep (one of whom is his father) have sent spies to watch him, one of them a gnome. He was on a mission to retrieve some stone for Neverember senior. He got it, but fled, pursued by Zhents. Renaer inspects the dead gnome - it’s him. Pfenig tells him the gnome had gems, but no stone. Vervain tells him that one of the pursuers got away - he might have the stone.

Will we investigate this? Renaer says he will pay us.

Vervain sees Fala talking frantically to people outside their shop, and approaches. Hazel sees a woman dressed in normal clothes, but by her bearing she seems wealthy. She goes over to her. Pfenig spots a young boy who is watching. He looks sad, but he is hiding something. One arm is up under his cloak; he doesn’t seem to want other people to see.

Hazel starts. The woman is talking to another well-to-do woman; both seem to be trying to appear less well off. They seem agitated. Hazel sidles up and eavesdrops. The woman tells her friend she was in the Tiger’s Eye - the office of a private eye known as Vincent Trench. She went there to have her philandering husband tailed. This is Jezrynne Hornraven:

“It was not a man, more a puppet shaped like a man. On the roof. Hurled something into the crowd that caused the explosion.”

Hazel asks about this puppet. Has she told the Watch? The woman sniffs at her. She didn’t see where it went.

Vervain asks if Fala saw what happened. They are relieved to see Vervain uninjured, and ask after the rest. Some of the windows blew in as they were watering their plants, and they rushed out to see what was going on.

Fala saw someone take something from one of the bodies and limp away towards the Bent Nail. Wearing a dark cloak. Hard to say race; stocky for an elf but that sort of height. Have they heard anything else? No.

Pfenig approaches the kid, Martem Trec:

He can play nice (Persuasion) or be authoritative (Intimidation). He plays nice, since he’s equally bad at both. He gets a 14 - good enough. Martem was coming to meet his friends, and then all this happened. Right after the explosion he ducked behind a rain barrel, and heard a plop. He reached in and fished out a necklace…

Two of the beads are missing. He thinks they might have been used to cause the explosion. Pfenig tries to persuade Martem to give him the necklace, for evidence. He will sweeten the deal with a few coins…? A 12 is enough to persuade him. He hands it over.

We meet back up in the tavern. On the door is a note from Blastwind. The gist is that we will have to close until the culprit is found. We are not to worry - it shouldn’t take longer than a month.

Nuri, ripping the note off the door: “Tits to that, we’ll solve it ourselves.”

Pfenig shows us the necklace; Nuri is immediately interested. There is fire energy coming off it for sure.

Nuri, eyes glowing with lust: “I… I want it.”

Pfenig underarm throws him the necklace - carefully. Can Nuri identify it? Well, we could get a scroll of Identify, or ask a colleague at the Order to Identify it. Wait - Pfenig has a scroll of Identify! He hands it to Nuri. He rolls good on his check - it is a Necklace of Fireballs.

Hazel and Vervain share what they’ve found out as well. It seems that this puppet threw a bead from the necklace and then discarded it.

We decide to pursue the blood trail first, and maybe put our heads into the Bent Nail on the way. Pfenig leads the charge. The trail goes past the Bent Nail, but the blood trail is fading as if the wound was being bandaged on the way.

Vervain, side-eyeing Pfenig: “If only we had a dog…”

Pfenig Wild Shapes into a dog, and makes a Perception check at Advantage with his awesome sense of smell. He doesn’t roll high enough to follow it, so he changes back. Nuri awkwardly stops patting his head.

We see signs as we go back, on most of the shops. They are almost all closed, the proprietors having gone to have a gander at the scene. We know Tally from the Bent Nail, so we could look for him among the crowd.

The roof where the puppet was seen is that of Fala’s shop. They lead us up to it. Pfenig and Hazel both roll really well. Caught on the iron railing, Pfenig finds a scrap of fabric from a cloak or coat - it has a cog symbol embroidered on it. Xanathar? No - it’s a toothed cog with four spokes.

Vervain recognises it as a symbol of Gond. Within the last month there has been a parade or march by the followers of Gond, to show off their creations. There is one held every autumn. This puppet might have been some sort of invention made by one of Gond’s followers, perhaps.

Nuri goes back to look for Tally. He finds him talking to the gay blacksmiths, and Tally spots him and waves. Nuri waves back and goes over. Embric, a fellow fire genasi, is quite excited by the whole affair - even though people died. Nuri tells him in a hushed voice that he might tone it down, or people might start to point fingers. At fire genasi, and such. You know. (This seems to do little to dissuade Embric.)

While Tally was on his way here, he didn’t happen to spot anyone leaving the scene, quite badly burned? He doesn’t remember seeing anyone like that. Could anyone be hiding in his shop? He hasn’t had anyone come in this morning.

Wait - were there any sewer entrances near where the trail went cold? Tally offers to take Nuri back to his shop and they can have a look around. There is a sewer entrance further down that road. The suspect could very well have been heading that way. In the shop it is neat and tidy, and there is no sign of anyone having been there when they shouldn’t. He makes a bad Investigation check and gives up.

He asks Tally to keep his eyes open and let us know if he sees anything that might be related. As he heads back to the tavern he spots Renaer waiting outside for us. He has been spending the morning talking to the City Watch. Have we found anything, Renaer asks him? Not out here; let’s head inside, Nuri says quietly.

Nuri explains what we’ve found so far, and says he’s waiting for the rest of us to come down off the roof of Fala’s shop.

We arrive back and explain our part. Renaer will reach out to the Harpers (he mentions Mirt by name) and see if they can find anything else out and report back tomorrow.

Didn’t some of us work with the Factions, he asks? Well... we joined some. Nuri did some actual work, at least. Renaer says the Watch have moved the bodies to the temple. If any of us have contacts we might be able to petition them to cast Speak with Dead on the bodies…

It is now afternoon. Vervain offers to go to the Order of the Gauntlet and ask to have Speak with Dead cast on the bodies. They Persuade them to cast it for free, since it’s to do with the gang warfare tearing the city apart - something everyone wants stopped.

We now need to persuade the Watch to let us have access to the bodies so the clerics can cast the spell. Nuri steps up, one City Guardian to another.

We go to Barnibus, and offer to share information (even the necklace…) if we can give the clerics (and us?) access to the bodies. Nuri storms into his office shouting “We have information pertinent to the case!”

18 Persuasion; Barnibus hears us out. He says he can’t have us getting involved, however. But since we’ve brought him information, and since Nuri has done his part as a Watch Wizard well, they will grant him access. After that, we are to leave them to their jobs.

We can have the spell cast twice, so we should choose the gnome and one of his pursuers.

We have five questions per casting, but the corpse is under no obligation to tell the truth, the cleric warns us.

For the gnome: Why was he heading for our tavern, why is the stone important. who was trying to take it from him, why would a religious group (Gond’s lot - or one of them) be after him to blow him up?

Nuri asks the questions, after Hazel warns him not to blurt out something like “Do you want a cup of tea?” "How are things going?"

For the Zhents: who is your boss, why are they after the stone... Some other stuff.

Should we put a temporary tattoo on the question asker, to fool the Zhent into thinking he’s one of theirs? It shouldn’t be necessary, as we haven’t run into these individuals before this; they don’t know us, and have no reason to lie to us.

The gnome’s eyes are milky and dead, but they start to twitch as the Cleric casts her spell. Nuri steps up and says he’s from Trollskull Manor. Why were you bringing the stone to us?

He heard about a group of adventurers who rescued Renaer and thought the stone would be safe with us. He planned to retrieve it later.

Why is the stone important?

The stone of Gollor is the key to finding a hoard of Dragons (gold coins).

What organisation was pursuing you to take the stone from you?

He was pursued en route to Trollskull by the Zhentarim.

Did he see who shot the fireball?

No.

Can you think of any representative of the Church of Gond who would want you dead?

No.

Okay, on to the Zhent.

Where were ‘we’ taking the stone or Gollor? (Having decided to pretend we are fellow Zhents)

The stone was on the property of a gnome. (He likely didn’t know the plan.)

Do you know the identities of the people you're working with? Who is your boss?

Urstal Floxin. (sp?)

Where does he hang out?

Currently resides at Gralahund (?) Villa.

Does Urstal have any special powers?

He’s got a mean backhand, but no magic. He’s very gifted at brewing poisons.

Who arranged the fireball?

The corpse’s face turns angry. Buggered if I know.

Hazel, as the corpse sinks back into death: “Well you are buggered, aren’t you.”

So there are potentially two factions after the stone, or one might have employed the other. Well, we have some leads, and Renaer might have something to add when we meet up with him tomorrow.

Oh, and there’s a PI living near us as well, we could ask him if he knows anything about this.

We will reconvene on Sunday next week rather than Saturday, as the DM has other obligations. Well, fine.

#dnd #dragon heist #dragon heist spoilers

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gingersnappe-9 · 2 years

Text

In a Crowd of Thousands: Prologue

Din Djarin/Mando X Fem!OC ; Star Wars/The Mandalorian Universe

Series List || NEXT

3.5K words

Warnings: Star Wars Canon spoilers/events

Note: Chapter image created by @followwhereshegoes & co-written with @ronnieiswriting

The swelling sound of the gathering crowds seeped through windows and doorways; the people of Alderaan were alive with anticipation to celebrate their beloved monarchs. It was a welcoming noise -- at least to someone accustomed to it -- The young princess, Aurelia, was not as visibly emboldened by the noise as her parents were.

“Ready, Love?” The Queen asked the girl while kneeling next to her to fix the hairpiece that had started to droop to one side.

“Leia loves the parade…” Aurelia mumbled to her feet, “Can’t we wait until she’s back?”

Queen Breha sighed. It was no secret to how much Aurelia loved her older sister nor how much she missed her -- Though Leia was not the Organa’s biological daughter, they loved her all the same. They adopted the child after they believed Breha’s body could not handle giving birth to a child of her own. Breha’s husband did not speak much about the circumstances of how he acquired the baby, but it did not matter to them. The child was loved. And several years later, a little miracle in the embodiment of the young princess Aurelia was brought into the world -- Aurelia’s hair had been styled in the twin buns that Leia wore often and around her neck hung the older sister’s gold necklace, a wordless promise that she would be back soon. But it was not enough to satisfy little Aurelia, nor the sizable hole that Leia’s absence had left in all of the Organas’ hearts. The eldest daughter was away on a diplomatic mission, with tension growing in the galaxy, the Organas did all they could to foster peace and make sure things found their way to the rightful hands.

With the hairpin back in place, Breha turned her attention to the necklace. It was an odd pendant in an abstract shape with carvings that Breha could never truly make sense of; but it was special, and that was enough to make it beautiful. “If we waited I think that would disappoint Leia more.” At that, Aurelia’s eyes shot up in confusion. The queen continued, “She loves the parades because the people love them.” Then her mother smiled, “Why don't we have another when Leia comes back from her mission?”

Her mood lifted slightly, Aurelia nodded. She still doubted her ability to enjoy the parade without her sister but she wanted to prove that she could be mature. The frown didn’t remain on her face for too long as she was scooped up into the air from behind by her father, Bail.

Any other time, he would have hefted her up onto his shoulders or swung her around in the air, but the king, more commonly referred to as Senator Organa, had his official parade robes on and they were quick to wrinkle.

“Ready, my dearest Aurelia?” He smiled, already carrying her in the direction of the parade with Breha at his side. Her smile felt a little more true this time.

The Royal float wasn’t as festive as some of the others in the parade, it was beautiful though, covered in blue, while and yellow flowers and on it stood three thrones for the family. Senator Bail led the way onto the float platform, Aurelia still in his arms, and took his spot in the middle seat once he’d placed his child on her own to the left.

Once they were all seated, and Bail had given the order, the parade began with an explosion of grand music that stirred the crowds once again. The royal float led the line and was set to leave the Alderaan castle and make a loop around the city. The energy in the air was palpable and it rose like smoke with the cheers of the spectators. There were dancers too and performers that moved freely around the floats and interacted with the people -- for a place known for being blue and white from terrain to citizen, it was undeniably alive with all the colours of life and joy.

And yet, not ten minutes into being at the centre of it all, Aurelia was growing restless. Her arm was tired from waving and she was even more aware of the impact of her sister’s absence. Something about having Leia beside her gave Aurelia a sense of peace. They balanced one another. Still, the young princess was determined to uphold appearances and kept her back straight with a smile on her face. Aurelia found it hard to focus on the sounds of the crowds or the tune of the music, her unfocused gaze shifting from the dancers to her father beside her, then to the buildings around and back to the masses, but was caught by a flash of red.

Stark against a sea of blues and white it was impossible to lose as it flickered through the crowd of thousands, weaving in and out. It didn’t take long for Aurelia to realize that the red flash was actually a small boy clad in red with a matching scarf that whipped out behind him like the tail of a comet; and then she noticed he was running.

The boy in red dodged the Alderaanians, ducking between their legs and slipping around them with a fluid confidence. Behind him, chasing him, were two troopers that navigated the thick crowd with much less ease. Aurelia was captivated by the scene that would be easily missed had the boy not worn red, her eyes eagerly following the action. At one point, the two locked eyes. Even if it was only for a moment, Aurelia felt breathless. However, the boy was moving faster than the float and she lost sight of him altogether when he turned into an alleyway. The troopers continued past on the main street, none the wiser.

Aurelia fell back into her chair when she realized that the small flash of action was over, and had drawn her forwards. She resisted the instinct to frown with disappointment. The parade continued and would for some time longer so she gathered her will to endure it, counting the strips of confetti in the air as a way to occupy her mind.

Suddenly, the clones flanking the royal float stopped in synchronisation along with every single float in the parade. Aurelia saw her father’s head snap to the side to look at her mother.

“Why have we stopped?” Whispered Breha to her husband, turning to look at her daughter, her hand moving to cover her husband’s. Bail stood up, grabbing his daughter’s arm and pulling her up from her chair and pushing her behind him. Aurelia hid behind her father’s leg and under his cape, curious and wary eyes looking around everywhere as the crowd quieted down. Murmurs were heard as the Organas stood in place, eyes searching for the captain of the royal guard.

“What is going on?” Bail asked the clone commander, to which the man in white armor kept quiet. Aurelia felt her mother holding her while her father kept both of them behind him, mother and daughter starting to tremble.

“I asked you a question, General.” Bail said in a firmer voice, dark eyes fixed on the clone. The general kept quiet, his back to the Royal Family. The man snapped his fist in the air, making the king and the people of Alderaan quiet at once.

The whole squad of troopers turned around, the ones on the sides turned to the crowds while the ones in the middle line turned to the Organas, all of them pointing their blasters at the people surrounding them. Gasps were heard, no one daring to move in fear of setting the troopers’ trigger into action.

The general walked through the troopers, slowly making his way towards the float where the Organa family were huddled together. His steps were quiet as a good soldier’s must be, yet Bail could hear every single rock shift under the general’s boot as stalked towards them. The crowd gasped when he lifted his blaster and pointed it at the Organas.

“What is the meaning of this?” Bail whispered loudly, pushing Aurelia farther behind him. She could feel how much her body was trembling and she couldn’t take her dark eyes off of the general in front of her, his helmet with orange stripes, chest plates and gloves on an otherwise white armor; silently pleading him to not hurt her family.

“I’m sorry, Your Highnesses,” He said with a nod, as if mocking them, his voice sounding robotic through the modulator in the helmet, “but the Empire no longer requires your services.” Shots rang through the air around them. The troopers were firing on the crowd. Breha screamed and hunched over Aurelia’s back. The princess cowered into her father’s leg, when she felt someone pull on her arm. She screamed and struggled to get the hand off of her, tears forming in her closed eyes and running down her cheeks.

“Come with me!” A modulated voice said as Aurelia opened her eyes to see a trooper holding her and signaling for them to follow him, another trooper with his blaster smoking and pointing at the now fallen general. Bail took Aurelia’s hand in his and pulled her down with him and his wife, the family getting off the float as the troopers started shooting at the crowds, chaos erupting. The family followed the two rogue troopers as shots were now directed at them.

“Come on, we have to move quickly. We’ll get you to safety, Senator!”

Aurelia’s hand was clasped tightly in her father’s as they ran behind the troopers, people running and screaming around them as the Empire’s pawns chased them through the streets. Shots and cries of anguish were heard all around, Aurelia trying to run as fast as her little legs and the weight of her dress allowed her to.

The world seemed to stop when the ground began to shake. Buildings trembled, people fell to their knees, and the bright blue sky slowly started to turn a dark red like a stain seeping onto cloth. Aurelia looked up and saw with wide eyes as a ball of light expanded in the sky, darkening her beloved planet’s atmosphere. The world around her became dark. Everything was slowly covered in red.

“Maker help us…” Breha whispered under her breath, hand rising to cover her mouth as tears ran down her cheeks.

“We don’t have much time,” the trooper said, signaling for the Organas to follow him. “Move!”

They continued running through the streets, when they ran through the crowds to try and lose the troopers following them. As Bail rushed through the people with Aurelia’s hand in his, pulling her behind him, she tripped and fell to the ground, her hand slipped out of the protection of her father’s. When she finally managed to stand up and look around, her parents were nowhere to be seen. Aurelia couldn’t hear their voices among the shrieks and screams of the crowd.

“Papa!” She cried. “Mama!”

Locks of hair fell out of the buns it was styled into, Aurelia’s face flushed in contrast to her blue dress. Fear held her captive as she helplessly sobbed and cried out for her parents. The shouts of the people eventually were drowned out by the blood pumping in her ears as she looked around desperately for someone, anyone who could help her.

“Hey!” She heard a voice say, making her turn around startled, hoping to not see the troopers chasing her. To her surprise, she saw the same boy in red that looked at her during the parade running right at her. To Aurelia, it seemed as if he was moving in slow motion making his way through the crowd and past blaster shots.

“Come with me! I know where to go!” The boy shouted when he reached her.

He gripped her hand tightly as they wound their way through the mob. Panic descended on all of Alderaan as the two children scrambled to find their way to the nearest ship launch. Mass evacuations were happening simultaneously across the city, and planet. The pair ran towards the nearest one, the boy careful to duck into alleyways and dark corners to avoid being spotted by the troopers.

Aurelia couldn’t help but cry. Her parents were nowhere to be seen. The bodies of the guards who swore to protect Alderaan with their lives lay motionless on the ground everywhere she looked. Her entire body trembled so much so the boy looked back and saw her grief stricken face. Aurelia had never witnessed anything like this before, and it was clear that the boy understood this.

“What’s your name?” He asked suddenly.

Aurelia’s voice broke as she could barely manage her reply of, “Wh-what?”

“Tell me your name.” He gently squeezed her hand, the same one he’d yet to let go of.

“Aurelia.” Was all she could squeak out.

“My name is Din.” He kept fierce eye contact. His eyes were brown. A warm, and deep brown. His face was soft with round cheeks. He couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Aurelia, but he managed to stay as calm as a trained soldier, “I’m going to get you out of here. You will be safe.”

There was not an ounce of doubt in his voice. She believed his words.

Once the coast was clear they managed to find a spaceship. Dozens of people scrambled up the ramp which allowed the children to sneak on board undetected. The boy named Din led Aurelia to a quieter corner of the ship where there were lots of boxes and small pod doors lining the walls. The two stayed huddled together, when Aurelia heard a familiar voice.

“We have to go back and find her. I’m not leaving without Aurelia.”

“Papa!” The young princess yelled out.

Din immediately hushed her. He forced the two of them to crouch down even further into the shadows of the crates. “I’ll go and see if it’s safe. Stay here. Do not move until I come back.”

Aurelia nodded meekly before Din made his way between more boxes and crates, then out of her sight. Any more noises she heard were muffled and far away. She strained to hear her parents' voices. Panic settled in further as the ship’s engines roared to life. The massive shift in gravity pushed Aurelia into the floor as the ship made it ascent into the atmosphere. Thunderous noises mixed with the sounds of the engines. Something was happening back on the ground, but there were no windows for Aurelia to look and see what it was. Whimpers and cries from the other passengers echoed through the packed ship. People began slowly coming into the area Aurelia was hiding. Their faces were covered in soot, some with blood, and nearly everyone was crying.

A hand suddenly placing itself on Aurelia’s shoulder causing her to yelp. When she turned back it was Din. A breath of relief escaped the princess’ lips.

“I found your parents, I’m going to take you to them.” Din’s voice was low, trying not to alert any of the new refugees of her whereabouts. He took Aurelia’s hand once more, and a sense of hope washed through the young princess. As they began to move, Aurelia’s hair began to fall entirely out of its once neat style. Her hairpin clattered to the floor. Din swiftly picked it up to avoid drawing further attention to either one of them and quickly wrapped his red scarf around her head.

They walked calmly and quietly passed a wall of pods. Din never wavered in his hold of Aurelia’s hand. The children reached a corner when they heard yelling. Then a series of blaster shots. They could see shadows being cast on the floor from beyond the corner. Din had them duck down low towards the wall.

“This is madness. The Empire will destroy the galaxy!” It was Senator Organa’s voice.

Aurelia tried to surge forward, but Din held her back shaking his head. He silently brought a finger to his lips, urging her to keep quiet.

An unknown voice spoke as hazy shadows moved across the floor. All Aurelia could do was watch and listen in silence. “The Empire will return balance and order to the galaxy. You, Senator, are standing in our way.”

A single blaster shot illuminated the corridor. Someone fell. A hand dropped across the floor and Aurelia’s heart sank. She recognized the sleeve’s cuff and the metal bands adorning the wrist.

“Papa.” She whispered. Tears welling in her eyes as her heart seized.

A woman’s scream cut through the air like a siren. Aurelia knew it was her mother as she helplessly listened to her heartbroken cries and wails. The voice from beyond the corner dryly called for someone to shut her up. Another blaster shot rang out and the sound of a limp body hitting the ground was all the children could hear. Aurelia had a death grip on Din’s hand. Both children wore looks of horror on their faces. They knelt there frozen. Unsure of what to do when they heard, “Make sure the little brat is dead too. If she makes it off-planet there will be hell to pay.”

Din suddenly surged and pulled Aurelia with him. He led her to a pod in the farthest corner of the ship and pressed random buttons until the hermetically sealed door opened with a hiss. The limited amount of supplies reflected reality: there was only room for one.

“Get in.” Din whispered hoarsely.

Aurelia looked at him. The fear and pain trickled from her eyes. The king and queen were dead. Her mother and father were dead. They died only a few feet away from her. The sounds of their bodies hitting the floor, her mother’s screams echoed in her mind like phantoms. The blaster shots seemed to reverberate even louder in her head. How she was able to speak, Aurelia didn’t know, but she managed to say, “Please don’t leave me.”

There was a ruckus behind them in the cargo area where they first hid. Whoever was looking for her was making their way through the ship, getting closer and closer.

When Aurelia looked into Din’s eyes again, she saw a similar fear reflected back at her. All Din could do was gently guide her to sit back in the seat of the small pod. Neither broke eye contact or let go of one another’s hand. Din knelt before her, something Aurelia was accustomed to being a princess… well… a former princess now. Alderaan was gone. She knew it and so did Din.

Aurelia began to cry again, her eyes stung and her throat felt raw as the gravity of the situation settled in.

Witnessing the poor girl coming undone, Din’s next words were quiet, “I promised you that I would keep you safe,” He gently swept his thumb across her knuckles with the one hand, and tucked a stray hair behind her ear with the other, “But I promise I won’t leave you.”

There it was again. The sincerity.

“No matter what happens,” He drew closer, gently grasping both of her hands as he touched their foreheads together, “I will find you.”

Something changed. His words seemed to absorb any ounce of fear in Aurelia’s body. No one in the entire galaxy could comfort her the way this strange boy could in that very moment. Her heart slowed. Her jaw unclenched and she leaned into the gesture. She squeezed his hands back as her eyes fell shut. Reality was suspended for those moments the two sat there together. Aurelia’s hair fell to frame their faces, like a curtain designed to further block out the outside world. It was as if they were their own little solar system. A perfect balance of push and pull, content to float together.

Aurelia let out a shaky breath, “How will you find me?”

Din slowly began to pull away. He stood up as best he could in the cramped space. A compassionate smile spread across his lips. “You don’t have to be told where to look for stars. You just know.” The yelling and commotion grew far too loud of them to ignore. A single tear fell down the side of Aurelia’s face as Din stepped out of the pod. “I will find you… you’re a star too bright to miss.”

With that, Din pressed a button to seal the door. Aurelia was startled by the silence. She didn’t realize how loud and chaotic everything had been. The sudden lack of anything nearly drove her mad. She could still see Din’s face through the small window. Then came the sounds of the space locks releasing.

What exactly happened next she wasn’t sure of. The force of the pod ejecting from the craft was enough to knock Aurelia’s head onto a metal sheet.

Everything went dark as the stars streaked by and the silence of space witnessed the disappearance of the young princess of Alderaan.

Series List || NEXT

IACOT Taglist: @luxmundee @deepknightclod @niall7inches

Din Djarin Taglist: @elinedjarin @mcueveryday @wander-lustbabe @phandoz @deepknightclod

General Taglist: @rosiefridayrogersunday @phandoz

@tanzthompson @littlemisspascal @radiowallet @athalien

#anastasia au #the mandalorian #star wars #star wars au #fanfic #mando #star wars anastasia

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raggaraddy · 3 years

Note

hello if you want you can ignore this of course but I was wondering what would vampire Hoseok do if he found out someone turned oc? Your fics are amazing by the way!

Bitten to death

A/N: Thank you for your request :) It was fun to write. However I took it less as a reaction, and more of a story prompt. So it's not exactly a conclusive answer to your question. I hope you still like it, though ^-^ 💜💜💜

Summary: You thought you knew everything about Vampires but when you wake up one you learn there are some important things you did not know. And it's only going to let worse once you learn why you were turned.

Trigger Warnings: Blood, death, maiming, choking, violence, mind control, abduction, yandere themes.

Vampire! Hoseok

It was like a horror story within your already horrific story. Some man you've never met before broke into Hoseok's house when only you were there. While you screamed and fought and instinctively called for Hoseok, he covered you in bites unlike any other you had felt before. Ones that made you suffer as if fire was coursing through your veins. You wish that you could say you were strong enough that your fight had some kind of impact. But in truth, it was over after only a few seconds. And it was in those few seconds that you felt your chest burning and your breath fill your lungs for the last time.

Waking you're met by the stranger hovering above you. Your head aching and your body throbbing in ways you had never experienced before. With a quick glance, you can see everything around you, and that does mean everything. Every single little detail. And the information is overwhelming.

Your mind feels as if it's breaking from everything you're taking in. For as far as you can see there are pallets and long isles of shelves lined up, the contents on every rack crystal clear. You can hear the sound of his shoes on the concrete and the dirt gritting underneath, and how each peak of sound travels and bounces off the farthest point in the warehouse. Even the smells, there are hundreds of them all hitting you at once. A few you know like the fragrance of the treated wood or the oils stain, but others you couldn't guess at. It's as if all of your senses are on high and you have no way to focus them.

Despite your panic, no matter how much you want to run, you can't. Laying on your back with your arms spread out to either side of you and your legs held together, you're being bound by the thinnest most delicate length of silver chain. Though, it's not tied. It's only draped over you, but still holding you as if it were stronger than any steel. Burning you as if it were touched by the sun.

You may have only seen a few newly made vampires before, but you have still been around them enough and know enough about their existence to recognize how and why your body feels wrong. And absurdly you can't help but feel betrayed. This was not supposed to happen to you. It was the only safety you got from belonging to someone who was called The Immortal King, and The Origin of Cruelty. No one was supposed to be foolish enough to steal from him, and most importantly, no one was supposed to be able to hurt you. But now because Hobi didn't keep you safe, he's now lost his blood supply and you've lost your humanity.

The stranger snaps his fingers, the sound bursting in your eardrums making you groan and wince as he repeats it. "Focus your attention on just this one sound. On just the sight of my hand. Feel the air around it." He coaxes you, snapping again. The noise echos dozens of times, ricocheting off every wall. The dull thud of his fingertips hitting his palm only sounding the once though.

Opening your eyes your concentration goes to the hand held above your face as he said, the space around it blurring. On the back of his pointer finger on an otherwise porcelain complexion, you notice a small patch of dry skin just below his knuckle. Clear blue-black defined veins wrapping the back of his palm. He clicks his fingers again and you catch the sound of friction from the way his finger rubs down his thumb, feeling the most minuscule shift in the air created by his motion.

The pinpointed attention helps for a moment, but then you shift your eyes to his face and the explosion of information overpowers you again. His hold comes around your neck keeping your head from turning. The tight pressure on your throat while stifling your movement, nearly makes you smile. There's no airflow to restrict. Your chest isn't heating, your body isn't convulsing trying to breathe. Even in this tense moment, you can't help but find it humorous, thinking how many times over the years had you wished for this exact thing when Hobi had squeezed the air from you.

"Watch my eyes," on his words your vision becomes immersed in them. They're piercing blue. Made up of streaks of white interlacing with a clear sapphire shade, like thousands of threads made out of the purest tropical ocean. A transparent irregular line encircling his pupil, and beyond that every distinct strand blurs together with the others until it reaches the shadowed grey edge that holds the circular shape. Slowly his jet black pupils dilate, stretching and filling his entire iris till every trace of colour is removed. As if transfixed, you're unable to close your own eyes, a flooding of bright light filling your field of view. The strength of it is so intense that the tendons in your sockets ache and your eyes begin to water. Tears rolling down the sides of your face, cresting in your ears.

"Apologies, you are only my second." He confuses you with a vague explanation you did not ask for. The black finally receding into its natural size. Your own eyes scrunching as you try to blink away the soreness. The bizarre occurrence leaving you feeling drained of strength, filling you with anxiety caused by the uncertainty, which is only worsened by the glimmer of triumph in his gaze.

Searching past him to the ceiling your brain is again processing the whole image instead of the sum of its parts. The strain in your head slowly fading, your tight held muscles releasing as everything begins to normalize. You don't know what he did, but it seemed to help.

He doesn't back away, continuing to invade your personal space. Although, the way his fingers are trailing along your skin while you're restrained on the floor is still not the worst thing he has done to you. Seeing as he killed you.

"I had almost given up hope that Jung Hoseok would love." His hand daintily caresses along your neck and up your jaw. Your eyes shutting as his fingertips run over your lips. "I began to fear it might not be something possible for him." He divulges, his touch still aimlessly wandering.

The way he speaks you can feel his vailed anger. Despite his soft words, this is not someone who cares about Hoseok's wellbeing, this is someone who hates him deeply.

"However, you restored my lost faith. And for that, I would like to thank you, Inamorata."

He thinks Hoseok loves you? Is he crazy?. He's possessive of you, that is all. Even in moments of deception or weakness when you had told him that you loved him, he's never said it back with any sincerity. And he has never said it of his own accord.

"Sir," your eyes reopen. "I think you've misunderstood. These," you weakly gesture to the silver, each slight movement searing the links deeper into your flesh. "aren't necessary. We are on the same side. I hate Hobi, more than anyone."

"Truly?" He asks tilting his head to the side. His white hair messily hanging across his forehead.

"Yes," you nod trying to insist your point. "He's kept me locked up for years." you chuckle dryly. Finding it nearly risible that all of this is because this man believes in a fantasy.

"Well then, you are free to rise," he nods resolutely. Plucking the chains out of your melted skin as you grit your teeth. The sound of the sizzle on his own skin baffling you as to how he can even lift them.

Sitting up you gently pull your limbs in, inspecting the blistered and bloody marks. The skin on your wrists already starting to intricately knit itself back together.

"Come here." The stranger calls from a rested place on one of the pallets to your right.

Standing, it is a bit hard to walk with your ankles still cut up but you make it to him decently. Looking around you, you can see the sun streaming in from the high windows that line the whole length of the warehouse. It's enough to light up the otherwise dark space, but with the sheer size of this place, the beams of sunlight do not get close to the two of you in the centre. Still in the middle of the day, it means Hobi can't get to you. Not easily at least. So you're on your own for now.

"Kneel." He instructs plainly. And you follow, lowering onto your knees in front of him. Your only thoughts are of escape. You may be in your first minutes as a vampire, but it should be simple to move quickly. It always seemed like something that came easily to them. "Inamorata, you will call me Master." he declares abruptly.

"Yes, Master." You smile confusedly. Inamorata? Why does he keep calling you that? You're unsure if it's a name or a title, but it's weirding you out.

Your face drops, your heart thumping, realizing what you said. The words you just spoke replaying in your head. You hadn't meant to say that.

Why did you say that?

In fact, why had you knelt? Why were you doing what he said at all?

With a gaped mouth you climb back to your feet. "Look, I think-um." You start not knowing what you want to say.

"Kneel." He orders again more forcefully yet with a knowing, jovial smirk. You shake your head hard, staying upright. You're not going to let him order you around. He has to be kidding.

Your brows furrow, your mouth drops open, and your forehead tightens as your knees bend against your wishes. You drop back into your knelt position. Grunting as your jaw clenches, your fingers digging into your legs, doing your best to resist without success.

Your eyes go wide in shock.

"Good. Now stay there," his voice makes your stomach drop. But your muscles relax, your shoulders dropping and your bottom lowering on your calves. Your body resting in this position.

This is nothing you have ever seen before. It's nothing that you knew was possible. It shouldn't be possible. On top of all the horrible advantages they already have, you're sure you would have known if mind control was one of them!

"How?" You gape, shaking your head in disbelief. "Why?"

"Why?" a smile fills his face, "What you have told me is far different than what I had heard." He stands and turns, tapping his foot against the top pallet sending it and its boxed contents flying. He grabs at the bottom slats of wood underneath and drags them closer to you with a horrid screeching on the concrete. Sitting back down he is now much lower and much nearer to you. So much so that his legs spread straight out on either side of you. "See, I had heard stories of the self-proclaimed King of Vampires, who had fallen in love with his human pet. That he kept her close, kept her safe, and drank from her exclusively."

"That's not love." you interrupt with a scoff, "That's imprisonment."

"Well, let us see what the truth is. Tell me honestly, Jung Hoseok's little Inamorata, do you love him?"

"Yes." You're mouth answers before your mind has time to think. "No!" you instantly correct.

The smile grows larger on his face "And what do you feel about him?"

"I'm scared of him. But I care for him." The words are pouring out of you uncontrollably, your face placifying as you speak. "and I miss him when he isn't home."

"And does he love you?"

"I think so, yes." You wish you could make yourself shut up! Your calm tone drops and you bite your jaw trying to take back your own body, growling as you do. "No! He doesn't." you snarl in a rapid shift.

"You think so? Then my last question; Do you want him to love you?" He asks satirically.

"Yes," The word slips out. Being accepted joyously from him. "You can't just make me say anything you want!" you shout. Your body is rigid and stiff as you think to stand with nothing happening.

"I did not," he chuckles, "I made you say what you believe is true."

"No, you didn't! Tha-" his finger raises to his lips shushing you, cutting you off like your voice had disappeared.

That is not how you feel! Hobi may have gotten better as time has gone on, but he is still cruel and malicious and heartless. The only thing this man is doing is speaking to your primal brain. The part of you that gave into its survival instinct and it's the part that you fight every day to repress so that you stay in control. You can't love him, it's not possible.

"Ha, you are far more amenable than my last. I can hardly feel any resistance." He mocks, tapping his temple. "And I recall Jung Hoseok trying to move heaven and earth to break free. Even Mansueto struggled to contain him. But you," he reaches down holding out his hand and you follow his gesture, your body moving independently to accept it. "You are a broken little thing."

You don't understand his ridicule. You're not moving consciously. Your own mind isn't connected to your actions. So you can't fathom how your body is even reacting, let alone how you should be able to fight it.

"Stop." You complain, your voice coming out with far less strength than you had intended. "Look, Hoseok doesn't have my blood anymore, okay. So just leave me out of whatever fucked up feud you have you have going with him."

"No, that is not enough." his tone becomes suddenly harsh. He lifts his hand and you stand as he raises it. "He stole someone precious to me and he must feel the same agony of loss."

"You're wrong." you swallow, working to overcome your nerves, "I'm sorry, but you just are. He doesn't love me. I'm not precious." You try to reason, seeing your pleas falling on an unreceptive man.

"We will see."

The sun has barely set before you hear commotion beyond the metal walls.

You had tried over and over to pry information from this man, to convince him to let you leave. But you were unable to gather so much as a name from him, and clearly, you failed to be let go. After a certain point of ignoring you, he stopped you from speaking altogether. Not allowing you to say a word until he permits it. More than that though, he filled your head with many instructions. Telling you how to behave in anticipation of Hoseok's arrival.

100 meters in front of you the locked doors are ripped off their hinges, a dozen men and women pouring into the warehouse with inhuman speed. But as if time slows down your eyes adjust and you can see them, see their movements with full clarity. Hoseok comes in last and straight down the middle into the open square that you all occupy. And you must admit, you are genuinely happy to see him. Now you just want him to hurry up and get you out of here.

The man steps forward to meet them while you are sat on the stack of pallets behind him. Your only instruction at this time is to sit quietly and wait for him to call you. Hating the feeling of being restrained by your own body.

Watching them all lineup versus a single man, you find it comical how outmatched he is.

Hobi always said that when he got tired of playing with your human body, he was going to turn you. And he was furious if anyone robbed him of even your smallest reactions, so clearly, he was going to be beyond pissed that someone sped up his plan, and took your death away from him.

"That's mine," Hoseok puffs up his chest, looking past the man's shoulder to you.

The only thing that's confusing you, though, is if this man knows who The Vampire King is, why he didn't expect to be met with hell on earth, and why he didn't prepare better.

"Jung Hoseok, always so impolite. Do you not think you should greet an old friend after so many years?"

"We can talk all you like, Kol," Hoseok snarls, finally giving a name to your killer. "Once I get my property back."

"I think you'll find this is my belonging now." he chuckles in a brief pause. Hoseok's expression darkens, his eyes becoming murderous. The fury around him actually making you shiver. "Do you like the modifications I made? She is much more durable now."

Supposedly, Hobi's already noticed your change, because he doesn't look at you again. Instead, the two men have an intense staredown. All of the vampires on his side looking ready to kill on a word.

"And far more obedient. Come here," Kol calls you, holding his hand out at shoulder height for you to take. Moving automatically, you jump down from the stack of wooden pallets placing your fingers on his palm.

Unable to stand the rage on Hoseok's face you look down, just missing the exact moment he charges. But you see an instant later as he is thrown back like a paper doll into four stories of shelves, his weight bringing the metal, the shelves, and the products down on top of him as the whole structure collapses. His men looking as startled as you to see Hoseok so easily discarded.

Before the toppling construction settles, Kol breaks from your side and an incredible, horrible scene breaks out. His speed is something you can't follow, even now. You only see the trail of destruction when he stops. One after the other, he made his way through half of the vampires, ripping them apart. Literally tearing some in two halves. Decorating the square with blood and innards.

The others are as belated and overwhelmed as you, only just having the sense to react as his blurred image stops. When he advances again, this time he doesn't use his quickness for an advantage and simply ploughs through them. They attack all at once, and still as they grab and strike at him, their forces barely move him. And his response is terrifying.

You can only bear to watch the first one. Kol's fist driving through a woman's chest, the horrid cracking of her ribs as he tears it back out making you want to scream. But his orders have you completely silent. Instead, you close your eyes, sealing your hands over your ears. Trying to block out the violent sickening sounds of his destructive rampage.

There's a last thud before it falls quiet again. Your eyes springing open to see as horrific of a sight as you had imagined. He's dripping in blood. Drenched in it. And Hoseok's people are strewn in every which way. Not a single one having survived.

Sauntering through the sea of dead bodies, he makes his way to the side where Hoseok is unmoved, tossing away the beams and panels as if they were nothing. Grabbing him by the ankle, he drags him from the rubble into the clear space in front of you. The man you once thought of as the most powerful in existence, and his troupe of vampires, was completely demolished in mere seconds of work. And you can only watch on with your body shaking. Your hopes of rescue decimated. Your chest aching with worry, even for Hobi's sake.

"Now that it's a more intimate number of us, should we talk?" Kol releases him, brushing past you as he sits where you had before. His action triggering an instruction he provided earlier, forcing you to follow him and kneel at his feet.

Sitting up, Hoseok rubs the back of his hand against a large gash under his eye. The ferocity not having left his mannerisms. "You disappear for 90 years, and you show up to what, gimmie a blood bath." His laugh falls into a grimace as he stands himself back up.

"I was created in the 13th century and you brought infants to a fight with me. What did you think would happen?" Kol asks scornfully.

"I was hoping they would do a little better," He smirks, shrugging off their deaths. "Okay, that's my bad. But still, that doesn't tell me what you want. Or did you just want to remind me that you're still alive?" He taunts, his sardonic nature returning, "Remind me that you're still pissed and you can kick my ass. Good job. You put on quite a show." he smiles, his tongue running over his fangs as he gestures around at the gruesome display. "But she," he points to you with two fingers, bitterness lacing his next words, "is worth nothing to you."

"Oh, she is worth everything to me," Kol slides forward, his hand brushing down the back of your neck, "because she is worth everything to you."

On those words, you get the most heart-wrenching sight. A pang of insecurity shows up in Hoseok's eyes. Uncertainty and something so close to fear. The smile fading as he looks him up and down.

"I am curious, though, Vampire King, do you think she will detest the Sire bond as greatly as you did?" he punctuates the question, tugging your head back by your hair. "If I treat her as Mansueto treated you, how long do think until she breaks?"

With immense speed, Hoseok splinters one of the wooden crates near him, lunging at Kol, aiming to drive the shard into his heart with a roar. But he's caught before his hand ever plunges forward. Instead, Kol takes the sharp wood and spikes it into Hoseok's stomach. Continuing to dominate him with a solid blow, knocking him off his feet, smacking him into the concrete in front of you. Stepping down, he swings his foot punting Hoseok in the chest hurling him back among the remains of his fallen creations.

You had thought if you ever saw Hobi being handled as roughly as he treated you, that you would enjoy the Karma of it. But seeing him so easily immobilized is making you sick with fear and mostly sadness.

With Kol having stood, you're no longer bound on your knees and you scramble to your feet. You want to run to Hoseok's side but before you have the chance Kol drags you into him, his hand wrapped around your waist, his other crudely brushing the hair from off the side of your face.

"Call out to him. Tell him your every feeling." He hushes the order in your ear.

"Hobi!" you yell, not sure you would have even needed to be compelled to want to shout for him. "Get up, please. I'm scared. I wanna go home!"

"Go to him," Kol releases you and you sprint to his side, hardly able to slow your sudden frantic speed.

Doubled over Hoseok is bleeding profusely. He needs your blood- but you can't do that anymore. And you have no idea what to do. You don't know how to help him or how to get out of here. He's the one that is supposed to keep you safe.

Coming from behind you, Kol bends down shoving you out of the way to lift Hoseok by the throat. "Stop!" you follow their movement, hanging on Kol's arm. "Stop! Please." But you have no effect. Instead, he jerks the wood dagger out making Hobi yell in pain.

"Do you recall what you said as you killed our Sire?" Kol whispers maliciously. "You told me that 'I will get over it'." Releasing him, he lets Hoseok plummet to the floor and you drop with him trying to catch his weight. "In 100 years from now, I'll let you see her again and you can tell me if you were able to take your own advice." he smiles spitefully.

"Hobi," you whine lowly. Brushing his hair from his sweat and blood wet forehead. "I don't want to go with him. Rather the devil you know, right," you softly chuckle, trying to pull his energy back.

Even though you know the both of you have no chance at the moment, you guess you're just looking for an affirmation that he isn't going to let you go and let this other man keep you for the next century.

"Please," you whisper, your waterline filling with tears.

Reaching towards you, Hoseok's hand constricts around your throat, pulling you into him like he has countless times before.

"You're mine," he growls through pained grunts. His anger lessened, distress replacing it. But he gives you the answer he could see you searching for.

"Yes," you nod subtly. Closing your eyes as you lean further into his hold.

"Get up," Kol orders, interrupting you.

Despite his tightening grip, you pull away from Hobi, standing as you were told. The elder vampire taking your arm leads you away through the bodies to the open doorway.

"Say goodbye Jung Hoseok," Kol calls back, leaving him injured and alone, making you wish more than ever that you could pull back. "And do not worry, I'll take very good care of her for you."

#bts #yandere #jung hoseok #j hope bts #yandere hoseok #yandere hobi #yandere bts #yandere bangtan #bts scenarios #bts fan fiction #bts requests #bts reactions #vampire! jhope #vampire! bts #bangtan reaction #bangtan fanfic

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ickle-ronniekins · 3 years

Text

black & white

request: from nonnie: ASDFGhjkl. Why are your fics so CUTE? 😭 Can I request a cute and cheesy George proposing to the fem!reader—and they’re wedding? 💜

desc: a love story unfolded via a timeline of events and colors. based on the song ‘black and white’ by niall horan

pairing: george x fem!reader

word count: 5.5k

warning(s): lil bit of angst, alcohol, some sexual content if you squint but it stops before things ~heat up~

A/N: this is just pure fluff. may or may not have cried at the cheesiness. idk. i’m a cheesy gal. can’t help it. i’m in love with a fictional character. sorry i went a tad overboard with this. also let’s pretend ~voldy~ doesn’t exist in this k? reminder that my requests are currently closed, i am merely working through the requests already in my inbox. i do not give permission for my work to be posted on any other platform.

Red

Red, hot fury swept through your bones as you watched him laugh hysterically alongside his brother. You balled your fists together, ready to throw a punch, but you knew your mum would lock you in your room until you were forty years of age if you even thought of throwing hands.

George Weasley was a pretentious little git. It was bad enough that he was your neighbour and you had to see him and his equally annoying twin in the village nearly every day, but what made it even worse was that for whatever reason, he’d chosen you to be on the receiving end of all of his pranks. His mother, Molly, was not for it -- she often gave her sons a solid tongue lashing, but it clearly never made an impact, for each and every day they were back to their normal mischief, seeking out ways to make you shake with anger.

“Weasley!” you squeaked as he and his brother ran back across the field toward their home. You loathed the idea of being in the same school as him in just two years time. At least here, at home, you could escape to your own house and your own room, far away from the boy who teasingly threw a red paint balloon all over you and your new dress. But at school, well -- the castle was only so big, wasn’t it? You weren’t sure how far away from him you’d be able to get.

You watched as he and Fred ran away, their giggles echoing through the air on top of the hill. You looked down at your ruined dress and screamed. You reckoned you’d never be able to love the colour red ever again -- not when it had ruined your beautiful purple dress, and especially when it was the colour of his annoying, messy hair.

Yellow

“I’m really sorry.”

He was standing across from you in the field. You thought about telling him that you needed to take four showers in order to get all of the red paint from your hair, and that your dress was permanently stained, but instead you folded your arms across your chest and huffed a bit. Not even magic could salvage it.

“I promise, I mean it,” he squeaked, as if he could read your mind. He seemed sincere, but he was always getting into all types of trouble, wasn’t he? Perhaps he was as good a liar as he was a pranker.

You kicked at the dirt, unsure of what to say. “You ruined my dress.”

“I know, I’m really sorry,” he said again, “it was all Freddie’s doing! I know he normally takes charge of pranks, but blimey, I told him it wasn’t a good idea.”

You arched your eyebrows up in surprise. “You did?”

“Yeah,” George told you. The wind ruffled the leaves on the tree next to you both, and you watched him tentatively as a big smile split his face. He wandered over to the tree trunk and picked at the flowers that were growing at the base. Then he turned around, marched right over to you, and handed them to you.

Yellow dandelions. You peered down at them, and then looked up at him in surprise. This wouldn’t fix your dress, but he was trying, at least. You noticed the dimples that appeared on his cheeks when he smiled. “Pretty flowers for a pretty girl.”

You couldn’t help it; you blushed and looked toward the ground. You picked a bit at the flowers and met George’s gaze once again. “You still owe me, Weasley.”

You both heard Molly calling him for dinner. “Okay, mum!” he called back, his voice echoing against the wind. He turned back toward you. “Promise. I owe you. I also promise to kick Fred’s arse since it was his idea anyway.”

A squeak of a giggle emitted from your lips and you watched as George Weasley skipped all the way home.

Blue

All of Ravenclaw house erupted into cheers as the colours of the Great Hall changed to celebrate the momentous occasion of your house winning the Quidditch Cup. It had been a neck to neck match against Gryffindor, but had you not caught the snitch before Harry, they would have had it in the bag for the third year in a row.

“At the risk of sounding like I’m pro Ravenclaw, I’ve got to say, you guys put up a great match,” you whirled around in the crowd and saw George standing in front of you. He had his hands in his pockets and he shrugged, clearly upset at a Gryffindor loss, but at least they hadn’t lost to Slytherin, right? “You really are a wicked Seeker.”

“Thanks, Weasley,” you said triumphantly, both pleased with yourself for winning but also feeling a little bit guilty for beating Gryffindor.

“When did you get so good anyway?”

“Hmm,” you placed your hand to your chin and pretended to be deep in thought, “do you mean, how did I get to be so incredible? I don’t have an answer for you, truthfully, reckon I was just born with it.”

Students filtered around you both, and you watched him laugh as blue confetti fell around the both of you and the rest of the Great Hall. Personally you thought it was a little much, but the captain had insisted. You met George’s gaze again though, and rolled your eyes.

“Oi, mate,” you heard Fred call. He reached his twin and threw an arm around his shoulders, “what’re you doing over here, conversing with the enemy?” You rolled your eyes yet again, something you found yourself doing quite often with the two of them, and Fred just grinned obnoxiously at you. “Only joking, Y/N. I suppose if anyone had to beat us, we’re glad it’s Ravenclaw. But if you repeat that, we’ll deny it, I swear to Merlin.”

“My lips are sealed, Freddie.”

You bid them both adieu before turning back to your house, celebrating and clinking your goblets of pumpkin juice together, and through the yelps and the cheers, you missed George say to Fred that he actually quite liked the way the Great Hall looked, all decorated in blue.

Orange

“How about you get to work on the ground Unicorn horn, and I’ll try and get this water crystalized?” you offered.

Today’s lesson was to brew the Oculus Potion, in the event any of you ever needed to restore someone’s sight. In an attempt to separate them, Snape had paired George with you and Fred with another Ravenclaw who didn’t look happy at all at the prospect of having him as her partner. You peered over the cauldron at George and said, “No worries. We’ve only got thirteen steps. I reckon if we keep at this without any distractions, we’ll be finished before the rest of class.”

“Better get cracking, then,” George replied.

The two of you worked in comfortable silence; you tensed a few times when Snape meandered by your table, peering down into your cauldron and scoffing, for you were certain that an attempt at any type of potion would never live up to his unrealistic expectations of two sixteen-year-olds.

A little while later, you realized that the heat emitting from all of the cauldrons was making the entire classroom incredibly warm. “Blimey, could he open a bloody window, or something?” you asked, ignoring the fact that there were absolutely no windows in the dungeons. George laughed and continued to add the crystalized water into your cauldron as you pulled your sweater over your head, leaving you in your white button down and blue and grey tie. You pulled your hair back off of your neck and said, “Alright, be sure to only add the water until it turns indigo, George.”

The poor lad hadn’t been paying attention, because your potion was far past indigo at this point. In fact, it looked as though it had turned a deep, navy blue, bordering on black, as George peered at you with soft eyes and continued to pour in the crystalized water, not realizing that he was messing up your carefully brewed potion. A snapping noise pulled him from his thoughts, and a slight explosion erupted from your cauldron and caused black smoke to cover George’s face and hair.

Most of the class began to laugh, but Snape angrily shushed them and sauntered over to the two of you, clearly giddy beyond belief that he was able to deduct points from both of your houses for causing such a ruckus in his precious dungeons. George wiped a bit of the soot from his forehead as you poured in the antidote and giggled.

“Merlin, I’m sorry -- didn’t mean to get points taken from your house.”

“Eh, it was bound to happen sooner or later.. don’t worry about it. Look! Good as new,” you clapped your hands together as the potion turned to the desired shade of orange before the final two steps. You met George’s look through the orange haze over your cauldron and asked him, “What had you so distracted anyway, Weasley?”

“Oh, erm -- nothing,” he replied a bit quickly. It didn’t go unnoticed how he’d stumbled over his words and immediately went back to looking rather intently at the directions. You bit back a smile and looked back down at yours too, unable to rid yourself of the nerves bubbling up inside of you as George looked up once again, stealing glances at you through the orange mist as nerves overtook him, too.

Green

“You had no right to do that! What the bloody hell were you thinking?”

George was standing across from you on the empty dance floor; the Yule Ball had ended abruptly and each and every student had filtered from the Great Hall and back to their respective dormitories, per the teachers. The two of you had managed to stay somehow, now more than ten feet away; you looked at one another with envy as a dramatic scene unfurled between you both.

The entire night had been nothing but a dream, up until that one dance. You’d waltzed in, your light green dress swaying beautifully near your ankles, your hand wrapped around your date’s arm. You waved to your friends, who stood with their respective dates as well, and promised yourself you’d catch up with them at the end of the night when you’d undoubtedly have stories to tell them of the most magical evening of your life.

Except that wasn’t how it worked out, had it?

“He was all over you!” George called, and you noticed how prominent the veins in his hands were when he threw them up in the air. “You said no, didn’t you? He asked you to come back to his dorm and you’d said no. Did you expect me to stand there and do nothing when he grabbed your wrists and tried to pull you there?”

George was right. You had said no, and truthfully, the way your date had grabbed you and attempted to drag you back to his room had really frightened you. You reckoned it was the firewhisky he’d drunk earlier that evening -- he wasn’t violent or anything, but he seemed desperate to get you there. All George had done was step in and stand up for you, so why on earth should you be angry at him?

You didn’t want to give George the satisfaction of letting him know that he was right. You were mad at him for other reasons, anyway. It should’ve been you that he asked to the ball, not that other disturbingly annoying Beauxbatons girl. It’s like he’d picked her particularly because he knew her annoying, bubbly personality and thick French accent would get right under your skin.

You softened a bit as you took a deep breath. “I appreciate what you did, George, but it wasn’t your place. I can take care of myself. He nearly knocked you right out!”

George winced at your words and brought a hand to his black and blue eye. He hadn’t even had the time to grab some ice and place it to the injury, and it was now rather swollen. “I don’t care if he knocked me to the bloody ground, I wasn’t going to let him do that to you!”

You couldn’t help it; anger took you over and you were saying things you shouldn’t have before you could second guess yourself. “Well you know what, George? Perhaps he wouldn’t have had the chance to try anything with me if you’d just bloody asked me to the ball first instead of that stuffy Beauxbatons girl!”

You knew your words hurt him, but you didn’t care. He looked as though he’d gotten the wind knocked out of him; he stepped backward and faltered a bit. His breathing became heavy and irregular. “You already had your date when I asked her, Y/N -- don’t you dare try and pin this on me.”

He was right, yet again. You couldn’t help it. Big, fat tears were falling down your face now and you reckoned you wouldn’t be able to salvage the rest of the hideousness that was this evening. You wiped your tears with the back of your hand and noticed the smears of black mascara and eyeliner on your skin. He inched forward now and opened his arms, but you backed away, still not ready to show him any affection.

You were being a git, but the truth was, you’d waited until the very last possible second for George to ask you to the ball. So when he didn’t, you begrudgingly agreed to the Hufflepuff who’d stepped forward and asked you himself. And as you walked swiftly passed George and up the steps to your common room, you realized that though you’d said yes, your heart had been with the Weasley boy you so adored the entire evening.

In truth, what he’d done was brave and full of love and passion. But you were still filled with hurt.

The green monster of jealousy that you’d felt when you’d watched him dance with his date was such a vice, but you just couldn’t help how you felt.

You left George alone in the desolate Great Hall as he let his head fall into his hands, pushing down his fury and tears.

Grey

You hadn’t gone back to him, that boy from the Yule Ball. You thought about it, but you figured you’d spare George more anger.

He’d approached you, your date, the day afterwards, apologizing profusely for his behaviour and how embarrassed he was at the whole ordeal. He’d asked you for lunch, only if you were okay, and you politely declined. “Friends,” you’d said, and he smiled pitifully, but gratefully, and took your hand in his to shake it.

It was so stupid, wasn’t it? Fighting with George over this. So he hadn’t asked you to the Yule Ball, so what? It wasn’t the end all, be all, was it? And he’d stood up for you, hadn’t he? When things had gotten a little out of control. He hadn’t been your date, but he had been your saviour.

It had only been a week since the dance and you two hadn’t said a word to one another. Fred had begged you too. “Come on, Y/N, you know he’s real sorry. Can’t you just forgive him? Blimey, it’s a right difficult thing to do, splitting my time between you both.”

You merely pressed your lips together and huffed. “He can come apologize to me himself, Fred. He doesn’t need you to do it for him.”

But later that afternoon, you figured, why wait? This whole thing was so dramatic and stupid. And so after rereading the same page eight times due to your lack of concentration, you jumped up from your chair in the Ravenclaw common room and made way toward the Great Hall, as fast as your legs could carry you. You were just going to tell him exactly that -- that this entire thing was dumb, and that you were thankful for him, and that bloody hell, you missed him. Perhaps it was a bit dramatic -- it had only been six days, right? You couldn’t help it. You missed him. You missed him a lot.

The thought of finally speaking to him after a very dramatic week apart made your heart flutter, and a very wide smile split your face just as you were about to round the last bend before the Great Hall.

And then you saw it. Them. Tucked away in a corner near a deserted classroom -- tangled together, George’s hands on her waist, hers in his long red hair. Her lips nearly on his. Smiling, giggling. Kissing him.

That bloody annoying Beauxbatons girl.

You stopped short and nearly tripped over your own two feet. You opened your mouth to speak but just let your mouth tremble in silence as you watched them snog one another. Her laugh was so painfully sugary sweet, you felt as though you’d like to rip your own hair out.

You were surprised how quickly the sight of them had sent your heart plummeting into your stomach. Somewhere in the few moments when you stood there in shock, your vision had become blurry and your face had become wet. You wiped at it with your sweater sleeve and sniffled quietly so they wouldn’t hear you. You spun on your heel and sped back toward your common room, wondering what the bloody hell had come over you when you thought of apologizing to him. You just wanted to get back to your dorm. Or perhaps back to your house in Ottery St. Catchpole. Stupid, silly girl you were.

If only you knew that George had spotted you before you’d left and froze solid in the spot he was standing, ignoring the forwardness of the Beauxbatons girl attached to his arm, his heart and mind chasing you all the way home.

Purple

The Ravenclaw common room was completely empty except for you. You always did this, though -- each and every year, you were always the last to finish packing. Not because you were a procrastinator, but because you hated admitting to yourself that another year was over, and you were another year closer to impending graduation.

Someone popped through the door and said your name softly. You turned and saw George standing there with a small smile on his face. “Hey,” he said, “train’s here. You almost ready to go?”

You groaned and looked back down at your trunk, now fully packed. “If I’ve got to be.” You felt like an absolute idiot that those few words brought tears to your eyes so easily. “Oi, here I go again.”

George laughed lightly and pulled you into a hug. “We’ll be back in no time, you’ll see again how quickly the summer holidays go.”

“But George, it’s our last year!” you cried. And then you took a deep breath to calm yourself down, because you didn’t fancy the idea of boarding the train with smudged makeup and a red nose. “Anyway, shall we?”

When you grabbed your trunk and headed toward the door, George gently took your hand in his and turned you around. “I’ve got something for you actually.”

You wiggled your eyebrows at him and clapped your hands together. “A present? It’s not even my birthday.”

But then you wondered if it was actually a present he wanted to give you, because he took your other hand in his and squeezed them, a serious look on his face. Your features twisted into that of confusion, and you’d be lying if you said that your heartbeat didn’t increase at the sight of him looking at you so earnestly. “What is it?”

“I’ve been a real git this year. Specifically, the Yule Ball. And a little while after that.”

You laughed and playfully shoved him. Though you still felt the sting of those few weeks, you two had managed to patch things up. He hadn’t lasted that long with that Beauxbatons girl anyway. “George, we’ve been over this, c’mon -- you were only doing what you thought was right. I’ve forgiven you, you know.”

“I know,” he smiled, and you could tell that he was equally as glad as you were that you two had placed that argument behind you. But what you two hadn’t touched on since then was what you’d said to him in a fit of fury: Perhaps he wouldn’t have had the chance to try anything with me if you’d just bloody asked me to the ball first instead of that stuffy Beauxbatons girl!

Of course he’d wanted to ask you. He’d wanted to ask you more than anything in the entire world, but each and every time he’d opened his mouth to say something, he couldn’t. Bloody nerves, and all that. Then he went and acted like a prat, making you cry, and he vowed to himself that he’d never make you cry again, unless it were happy tears.

“I realized I’ve never properly made it up to you -- not asking you to the the Yule Ball in the first place, and that time when we were nine.”

You raised your eyebrows suspiciously. “When we were nine? What the bloody hell happened when we were nine?”

And then he pulled from his pocket the most beautiful lavender pendant you ever did see. The circular stone was outlined in the same silver as the chain, and the sun flooding in from the windows made it sparkle more than anything you’d ever seen in your life. Your breath caught in your throat and you looked back and forth from the necklace to George, and back again.

“I ruined your purple dress, remember?” he asked you. He laughed a bit, probably thinking about the ridiculous way you’d looked with red paint splattered all over you. You couldn’t believe he remembered that. “Now, it’s not a dress, but seeing as we’ve grown up a bit since then, I reckoned you’d prefer something a little nicer.” He swallowed over a lump in his throat before continuing. “I never fancied her, you know. That girl from Beauxbatons. I just...” he trailed off, searching for words he couldn’t seem to muster up. You wondered if he could hear the dramatic thump of your heart, beating loudly in the heavy silence. “It doesn’t matter. It was you I wanted to be with that night, and long after. I still do.”

Then he brushed aside your hair and placed the pendant around your neck. You peered at him through blurry vision, and surprised yourself that you were now crying due to the tenderness of his touch and the emotion in his gift and not that you two were about the board the train and leave school, no longer the same two people you were just a few moments ago.

You did the only thing you could think of and you threw your arms around his neck and kissed him. You felt his shock, but it took him only mere milliseconds before he was kissing you back. In truth, you’d been wondering what it would feel like to kiss him -- the taste of him, the feel of your limbs entangled together, exactly how high your heart would soar. It was exactly the way first kisses were meant to be -- slow, and easy, and warm, the way it’s supposed to feel after having swam all day long -- your body limp and muscles de-tensing. You moulded perfectly with him, and when gravity (or rather, the first signal of the train’s departure) pulled you from one another, he peered at you with such affection that you felt as though you might explode.

You grabbed the pendant and held in gently in between your fingers, already having memorized the outline of the silver and the different shades of purple within it. “I am so bloody happy you threw red paint at me that day, Weasley.”

He laughed haughtily, throwing his head back before swinging an arm around your waist and pulling your trunk toward the exit of the Ravenclaw common room. “Merlin, me too.”

White

You were sitting at your kitchen table, ignoring the massive amount of work in front of you to admire your other hard work. Your cozy little flat looked just as you always imagined it would, with the added bonus of your boyfriend in the corner of the front entrance, fixing a loose coat hanger on the wall.

Never in your life did you imagine that things could be as perfect as this.

You couldn’t help but wonder if it would be a flat you two would share one day.

You got up and brought with you his half empty glass of wine and handed it to him. Gratefully he took it and sipped before pressing a feather light kiss to your forehead. But then you gently traced his jawline with your finger, down his neck, across his collar bone until he followed your move and leaned in to kiss you. It was soft and chaste and everything like your first one had been. But as the alcohol worked its way through your veins, you found yourself pressing yourself harder against him.

A moan of content escaped him as you bit down on his lip and slipped your hands underneath his shirt, hands pressed against his chest. Unashamedly, you pulled him toward your bedroom, and he placed his empty wine glass next to yours on the table as he kicked the door closed.

The two of you fell backwards onto the bed in an entanglement of limbs. He hovered above you, dropping down a bit to press light kisses to your neck, in between your collarbones, behind your ears, against your jawline. You so desperately wanted to feel his weight on top of you, and so you yanked him firmly against you and kissed him in a way that there was no aching way that he wouldn’t be able to tell exactly what you wanted.

He began to undo the buttons on your shirt, taking time to press kisses into your chest at the exposed places before he stopped himself and gently ran his hands across your hips, and then your cheek. His voice was merely a whisper in the deafening silence, “Are you sure?”

He gazed at you with such tenderness and love that you knew he’d stop, if you’d asked him to. He wouldn’t go another inch further if you weren’t ready. And for you, that was more than enough.

“I’m sure.”

He sucked in a breath and dipped down to press lips to yours gently before continuing to make light work of your clothes. He explored every inch of you, and the sensation of his lips gently grazing your skin caused you to arch your back in pleasure. You could feel him smiling against you, wildly in love, handling you with such care as if you were a tiny glass figure he was afraid of breaking. He held you so delicately and worked his way through each and every single one of your wants with slow and gentle hands.

You’d known it was love with him; maybe not consciously, but you’d known it long before now. Love, filled with intensity and desire and longing, in its most vulnerable and fragile form -- pure, and blinding white.

Pink

The summer air wafted in through the open window in the kitchen, and you listened to Mrs. Weasley hum some Muggle song as she set the table for dessert. You placed the finishing touches on the lemon meringue pie you baked, special because it was George’s favourite and Mrs. Weasley had insisted.

You had to admit, he’d always had the outside exterior of a tough guy, but owning a business did absolute wonders for his confidence. You noticed the way he stood up a little straighter, smiled a little bigger, and most of all, just how much he gushed about all the plans you two would be able to act on, now that you were both making income of your own.

“Merlin’s beard, Y/N, you’ve absolutely knocked it out of the park with this pie, if I do say so myself.” Arthur’s praise was nothing short of wonderful; you felt the tips of your ears turn pink at his compliments. By the way Ron slouched back in his chair, looking rather chuffed indeed, you could tell he felt the same exact way. Especially when he reached for the last piece, but Hermione slapped his hand away.

“Oh my!” Molly yelped suddenly. You jumped in surprise in your seat. “Oh, Georgie dear, would you mind wandering into the field before dark? I’d love some wildflowers for the table,”

“Sure thing, mum.” George replied before turning to you and squeezing your hand. “Want to tag along?”

You said, “Of course” at the exact same time Ron said “I’ll come along too, I could use a good walk” and if you hadn’t been so focused on George’s tender gaze, you almost would’ve missed Fred silently hissing at Ron and Hermione slapping his hand yet again. “On second thought,” Ron swallowed thickly, “I’d better stay here and help you clean up, mum.”

“Atta boy, Ronniekins,” Molly said. To you and George, she continued, “You two better get going -- not long now before it turns dark!”

George stood and pulled you to your feet. “You coming, love?”

“I go where you go.”

About twenty minutes later, as the setting sun had blended with the light purples and pinks of the sky, you’d found yourself with a rather beautiful bouquet of wildflowers for Molly. You turned to George, who was leaning against the tree and smiling at you, and asked, “Shall we get going darling? Don’t want to be too late. I reckon your mum will come out here searching for us if we spend an evening among the stars.”

“Doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea, actually.” His grin deepened, and then he said, “you’re lucky I don’t have any pranks up my sleeve right now.”

You look up at the tree and recognized the place where he’d infuriated you all those long years ago. You rolled your eyes and shook your head before twirling in your dress. “I am lucky. I was able to get a new dress after the one you so lovingly ruined. Though I will admit -- I wasn’t all that big of a fan of those puffy sleeves. This one’s much more adult.”

George arched his eyebrow in surprise before wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you close. “Oh yes it is.”

You slapped him playfully and pointed your finger at him. “Alright you prat, calm yourself, you’ll have to wait until we get back to our flat for any funny business.”

But then you realized, as George’s features turned from mischievous to genuine within the matter of seconds, that there was definitely more pressing matters than funny business on his mind.

And then he was telling you how he’d only teased you back then because he’d found you so bloody cute, and how he should’ve asked you to the Yule Ball and regretted every single day that he didn’t, and how he’d never met anyone who could play Quidditch quite as well as you, and how bloody happy he’d been when you’d kissed him that day in the Ravenclaw common room. And then knelt down and he asked it, the words you’d imagined since you were a little girl, strung together with such fondness and emotion and tenderness that you weren’t quite sure how you were standing upright.

You’d already begun to nod quickly through your tears before he finished, but would he really be George Weasley if he didn’t tease you, just a little? “Say yes,” he laughed, “say yes and marry me and be my wife for as long as you’ll have me.”

He slid the ring onto your finger and kissed you and picked you up and whirled you around in the field and held you gently in his arms as though you were a precious glass figurine and he was doing everything in his power to hold you delicately.

“Yes. I say yes.”

Black & White

You asked, When did you first know?

And he answered, I always knew.

You both ran back up the aisle, your white dress fluttering around your ankles, his black suit hugging the curves of his arms, and into the field and away from the party, momentarily, to celebrate your first moments as husband and wife in the place where he’d figured it all out.

He’d known since that afternoon when he’d handed you those yellow dandelions that he would bring you back here one day, to ask you to be his wife. He’d known, in the Ravenclaw common room when he gave you that purple pendant, still dangling from your neck, that one day he’d also give you a ring. He’d known, all those long years ago, that he wanted to marry you, and that you would say yes, when he’d finally ask.

And now, in front of your friends and family, he’d vowed to love you -- love in it’s purest and simplest form, love -- with all it’s sentiment and emotion and vulnerability. He vowed to love you and only you for the rest of his life.

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#george weasley #fred weasley #fred and george weasley #weasley twins #george weasley reader insert #george weasley x reader #george weasley x you #george weasley fanfic #george weasley fanfiction #george weasley imagine #george weasley imagines #weasley twins fanfic #weasley twins fanfiction #weasley twins imagine #weasley twins imagines #hp fanfic #hp fanfiction #hp imagines

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astralpenguin · 3 years

Text

@transnaturalweek day 4: characters of colour

1.2k, ao3 link

“Are you changing your name?”

“Huh?”

Channing glanced back down at her notebook, which was sitting dead centre of an explosion of paper, textbooks, and writing utensils. “You don’t have to, obviously.”

“I just told you I’m a guy, and that’s your only takeaway?”

She put her pen down and looked up at her friend. “Of course not,” she said. “I just don’t want to get your name wrong. It’d be pretty shitty of me to deadname you immediately after you came out to me.”

Her friend smiled nervously. “I guess,” he said. “It wouldn’t really be deadnaming if you didn’t know an alternative.”

“Dude,” she said, shaking her head, “trust me on this. Hearing my deadname pisses me off so much even when it comes from people who literally don’t know any better, and because they don’t know any better there isn’t even anyone I can direct my anger at. No way do I wanna do that to you.”

His smile looked more genuine now. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me,” said Channing, leaning forwards. “Answer the question. What should I be calling you?”

He shrugged. “I do want to change my name, but I don’t know what to yet.”

Channing looked down at her study materials. Her history notes were still incomplete. She’d been halfway through a sentence when her friend had interrupted their study session to come out to her.

She closed her notebook.

“Let’s brainstorm.”

He blinked.

“We’re supposed to be studying though?” He tapped the end of his pen against his open notebook.

Channing shrugged. “We’ve been at it for a couple of hours already, and we’re both gonna ace this class anyway. We can afford to take a little bit of time out from studying to look over some name options for you.” She gently elbowed him in the side. “Besides,” she said, “you helped me with picking out my name. I wanna return the favor.”

He looked at her. Swallowed. His eyes looked suspiciously wet.

He closed his notebook and pushed it to the side.

“Thank you,” he said. “This means a lot.”

Channing dragged her laptop over and pressed a key to wake it up. “Again, don’t thank me for this. It’s bare minimum stuff.”

He put an arm around her middle and pulled her into a hug. “Maybe,” he said, “but I was kinda freaking out about this, and you’re making me feel loads better.”

She hugged him back. “Yeah, I remember the feeling. Even when you know it’s gonna be okay, it’s still scary.”

Keeping one arm around him, and with him keeping one arm around her, Channing opened a browser and brought up three different baby name websites.

Now her friend rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”

“This was my first step too,” she said. “I didn’t get you involved in my name selection process until I had a shortlist ready. Have you got that far?”

He admitted that he had not.

One of the baby name websites got disregarded in its entirety after five minutes of browsing told them that it considered ten different and increasingly baffling spellings of the name Sebastian to be ten distinctly different names.

“I haven’t told Mom yet,” he said as they scrolled through the J names on website number two. “You’re the only one who knows.”

Channing squeezed her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m honoured you came to me first.”

He laughed softly. “Yeah, well. You’re basically my favourite person, so.”

“I thought your mom was your favourite person.”

“Okay, you’re tied.”

“If anything I think that’s the greater honor here.” She grinned. “Like, yeah I’m the first one you’ve told about being a guy, but to consider me to be as important in your life as the great Linda Tran? I don’t think it’s possible for you to say anything nicer about someone than that.”

He sighed, but it sounded fond. “Why am I friends with you again?”

“The answer to that question is lost to time.”

He shook his head and scrolled down.

“I’m going to tell her soon, I think,” he said. “I’m not planning on doing it tomorrow or anything, but...”

He trailed off into silence and stopped scrolling.

Channing waited a few moments, but when it became clear that he wasn’t going to continue talking on his own, she sat up and pulled slightly away from him, taking her arm back. He turned to face her and she looked him in the eye.

“But?”

He picked up a stray pen and clicked it once, twice. “I want her to know the real me,” he said. “I know she won’t have a problem with it. She’s a good person, and she loves you, and she’s told me so many times that she’ll love me no matter what. I’m not worried about any of that. But this is big, you know?”

Channing nodded.

“And things will be different after I tell her. I do want to do it, and I want to do it soon. Just. Not yet.”

“That’s fine,” said Channing. “It’s up to you who you tell and when you tell them.”

“I know.” He looked at the computer screen and sighed. “She’ll probably expect me to have a name already picked out when I do it, though.”

That did sound a lot like Linda. “She just wants you to be the best at everything.”

“Yep,” he said, a bubble of laughter escaping in his voice. “Even at being trans.”

“If anyone can possibly find a way to be the best at being trans, I’m sure that it’ll be you.”

He hummed in thought and smiled at her. “Unless it’s you.”

“Unless it’s me,” she agreed. “But I think this is the one occasion in which I’m willing to concede the crown if it’ll keep Ms Linda Tran happy.”

His face and voice filled with mock disappointment. “But then I won’t have truly earned my victory, and what’s the point in that?”

Channing shook with laughter.

“Hey,” he said. “Pick a name for me.”

Channing stopped laughing.

“What?”

“Pick a name for me,” he said again. “If I don’t like it or don’t think it fits then I won’t keep it, but all these names are blurring together and I can’t tell which ones sound good anymore.”

“You don’t have to make a final decision today. We said we were brainstorming, that’s all this has to be.”

“I know. Pick a name for me.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “If you’re sure.”

She looked at the website.

She scrolled down.

“Matthew?”

“Matthew Tran,” he said aloud. He scrunched his face a little. “No, I’m not a Matthew.”

She scrolled some more. “Neil?”

He shook his head. “I’m definitely not a Neil.”

She scrolled down even further. “Sam?”

He actually laughed at that one. “Absolutely not. It’s way too close to a rhyme.”

“Yeah,” she said, “you’re right. I always think that the parents of kids with rhyming names must’ve hated them, so you really don’t want to do that to yourself. Self respect is important.” She scrolled back up so that she was looking at the upper middle section of the list. “What about Kevin?”

For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.

Then...

“Huh.”

“Huh?”

“Kevin Tran,” he said. “I think I like that.”

“You want me to call you Kevin?”

He nodded. “Just for now,” he said. “I might change my mind about it later, but for now I’m good with using that.”

“Okay then, Kevin,” said Channing. She closed the baby name websites and pushed her laptop away. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. Let’s order food.”

Kevin practically beamed.

#transnaturalweek #spn #supernatural #kevin tran #channing ngo #fanfic #el creates

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ficforce · 3 years

Text

Handle With Care

Shinmon Benimaru x F!Reader

SFW

No set timeline

Established relationship

The weather was particularly hot and on days like this, the Town was quieter during the afternoon. People were content to stay in the shade to drink and talk, even the children were willing to wait for the sun to move a little in the sky to cool things down before they played again. Y/N hummed softly to herself as she continued to knit a new blanket for the Guardhouse’s supply. It was an unfortunate fact that sometimes people’s homes got destroyed when someone turned Infernal but the Hikeshi always did their best to provide for their people.

She looked up when a shadow crossed over her and smiled at the man stood in her light, a bored-looking expression on his face, “You’re in my light, Benimaru.” She pat the space beside her on the raised walkway of her friend’s home and the Captain dropped down beside her, “I was going to come home as soon as I finished this blanket, my friend came back early so I wasn’t stuck babysitting all day.” Y/N watched as Benimaru picked up the corner of the blanket to take a closer look at her handy work, “Were you passing by or looking for me?”

“Looking.” Benimaru next picked up one of her needles and gave a small grunt as he accidentally dropped it onto the ground where it seemed to simply vanish, “…Shit. Sorry, Y/N.” He knew she hated when he messed with her tools, he glanced at her face and her soft sigh felt as bad as being told off, “I’ll make sure to pick some new ones up.”

Shaking her head, she finished off the row and put everything down on her lap, “It’s okay, they were getting a little blunt for needlework.” Benimaru watched her reach to the side and hold up her flask, the outside was cracked and the handle broken, “Could you get me a new one of these?”

He blinked at it in silence; wasn’t that one only a few weeks old?

Then he realised that she probably hadn’t had enough to drink, he’d watched her prepare the tea the previous night so that it would be perfect for icing but it seemed her effort had gone to waste.

“Sure,” it was then his crimson gaze caught sight of the tea stain on her favourite yukata, “Did you drop it all over yourself?”

“I was drinking it and then someone walked into me… it was just an accident.” She didn’t dare tell him that the guy who walked into her called her a klutz and gave her a shove - it wasn’t worth the man being beaten to a pulp over a flask and her clothing.

“Tch, they could have offered to replace it for you” He sat up straighter, “Who was it?” he knew Y/N was too kind to make a fuss; she was always letting things like this slide even when it wasn’t her fault. Benimaru wished she would get mad sometimes, she wasn’t weak in the slightest and nor was she shy. She was just too damn nice.

It meant that, sometimes, she was taken advantage of.

He had hoped that maybe it would stop once they became an official couple but it was just the same. “Benimaru, It’s okay, it was just an accident.” She reached over to stroke his cheek and he huffed, “Did you fix the bar you broke last night? I went and apologised for the mess this morning, the owner was still sweeping up glass.”

“Y/N?!” The man she has walked into rushed to help her up and began apologising for knocking her down, explaining that he had been wrestling with two of the other guys there. “We were just messing - you okay?”

“It wouldn’t have happened if that guy hadn’t have touched you…” She should have been firmer in telling the drunk to get lost but she had asked so nicely the man laughed and grabbed her again. “You’re too forgiving, Y/N. If I didn’t know you could handle it I would worry all the time.” Benimaru leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek, “I’ll get you a new flask whilst I’m out with Konro. The Twins found something suspicious so we’re gonna check it out.”

Once the hottest part of the day was over, Asakusa bloomed back into life and Y/N headed to the butcher to pick up something a little special - the Hikeshi had been working flat out and she figured they deserved a little something. Not all of the Hikeshi lived in the guardhouse; some of them had their own homes and families. They only stayed on the nightshifts, if there was a party or if Benimaru had totalled their house. Most of the time everyone liked to meet in the evening and share a meal; this often included wives, girlfriends and children. Dinner was often loud and fun but it meant the kitchen was always busy during the day.

Removing her shoes at the genkan and stepping up into the main room Y/N walked straight into another body. She let out a surprised yelp and fell backwards onto the floor.

The other laughed, “Not if he’s gotta refer to that cripple, Konro. If you can’t fight then just die, ya know!”

Smiling at the three grown men who looked like scolded kids, she shook her head, “It was an accident, don’t worry about it, okay?” Her elbow throbbed a little but it wasn’t worth mentioning, “I’m going to get changed then help out with dinner. You three make sure you don’t hurt each other.”

“Y/N, you’re too nice! Waka woulda kicked our asses.”

“You can have a free hit, we’re men, we can take it!”

Y/N waved them off, “You’ll have to do far worse than knock me down to get a reaction, boys.” It wasn’t that she wasn’t annoyed or that she didn’t want to knock their heads together - she just didn’t like to lose her temper over small things. Maybe she was too forgiving and maybe she was a bit of a doormat but she had people who liked or loved her to get mad on her behalf.

Placing the shopping down at the doorway of her shared room with Benimaru, Y/N removed her yukata and tossed it into the laundry basket before pulling out a fresh one from the drawers. She liked the colour of this one; she also liked that the twins had picked it especially for her to do chores in. It wasn’t like she had to help out around the Guardhouse but she liked doing it… she couldn’t slack just because her lover was the Captain.

Grabbing the shopping on her way toward the kitchen she hummed quietly to herself, grabbing the sliding door to enter she paused when she heard her name from the other side.

“Do you think she’ll notice?”

Another male voice scoffed at that, “Even if she does she’ll not do anything, she’s such a wet blanket - why’s Shinmon even with her?”

“Maybe she’s just a really good lay?” It was only two voices, surprising as the kitchen should have been busier but she recognised the voices as two of the new recruits. They didn’t know her… they had no right to be talking about her this way.

She had heard it before, people made fun of her, they tried to take advantage of her too but she could usually ignore it. Once she got in there she knew they’d be too cowardly to say it to her face.

“She suits him, Shinmon is pretty pathetic - sure he’s strong but he’s not cut out to lead.”

Y/N’s hands were shaking as anger coiled low in her belly, her usual calm demeanour cracking as they mocked the people she loved most. They could say what they wanted about her but that was her family and she couldn’t just ignore that. “Well, the poison I picked up should be enough to see the Lieutenant and kids off. Just gotta hope if weakens Shinmon enough for us to handle him - then we get the old gang back together and take the town. Fucking Hikeshi think they run the place.”

Her eyes widened as she heard their plan, her mind going blank as she dropped the bag she had been carrying and slid open the door to the kitchen.

x - -

Hinata and Hikage both sneezed at the same time and Hikage complained loudly, “Someone’s talking about us!” Hinata nodded and then they both let out a surprised squeal as the ground shook slightly. Running to Konro, they each grabbed his pant leg and looked up at the smoke rising in the distance.

“An Infernal?” Konro looked at Benimaru whilst placing his hands on the girls, “…The alarm isn’t sounding though.” They were already on their way back from investigating what they had thought was a White Clad hideout but turned out to be a secret club for a bunch of kids playing ‘gangs’.

“Not an infernal.” Benimaru answered and squinted at the sky, “There’s a lot of heat and I didn’t hear any explosions…”

“Y/N!” Konro yelled as he got through the crowd and started shouting orders to have everyone moved back, “You’re gonna hurt someone! The fire is already spreading out of control!” She didn’t seem to be able to hear him and he knew she’d never forgive herself for causing this much destruction, “We’ll fix it, Y/N, just stop!”

Benimaru and Konro seemed to realise at the same moment what was happening and Benimaru called up one of his matoi, “What set her off?”

From above it was easier to see that a large crowd had formed outside the Guardhouse, smoke billowed off the burning blue flag that hung by the entrance and he could see part of the wall of the Guardhouse was blown out into the street.

There were a few Hikeshi trying to stamp out the sea of blue flames before they jumped from house to house and in the middle was Y/N.

Benimaru hopped off the matoi once he was close enough to the ground, standing between her and two cowering men, “Y/N.” He hadn’t seen her like this before, he had heard she could get angry but he had never once witnessed it; the bottom of her yukata was burning from the intensity of her ability and her eyes blazed. The way her face contorted in rage was so different from her usual calm expression, all of her anger was on the men behind him, “Whatever they did I’ll handle it - you need to cool down before you get hurt!”

Her ability had one of the highest temperatures on record, she had burnt him on occasion and Benimaru knew that she could burn out fast, he could see her chest heaving already as her oxygen ran low. “Y/N!”

Benimaru approached her after getting a few of his guys to grab the two battered men Y/N wanted to cremate, he reached for her shoulder and just before he could touch her he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and stumbled back a few feet.

She sent two tendrils of flame towards the men behind Konro, they skirted past Benimaru and Konro to catch the clothing of her targets. They screamed in fear as their clothing burnt and the heat started to break through their resistance, the Hikeshi holding them let go immediately. Her hand raised to deliver the finishing blow - she’d lost her senses. All she wanted was for the two men to vanish, to stop existing so that they could never hurt her family again.

“Enough!” Strong arms wrapped around her, Benimaru’s clothing began to smoke within seconds - her yukata was turning to scraps the longer she used her ability, “Stop,” he said into her ear, “This isn’t you, this isn’t my sweet girl - you gotta stop.” He didn’t want to knock her out but he also didn’t want her getting tephrosis.

He was hugging her too tightly for her to finish her attack and instead she increased the heat around her to force him to let go; the buildings on fire nearby lit up more violently than before. “Let me go! They were going to kill you! They were going to poison your food! They didn’t care that they’d kill Konro and the girls too!”

“And you’re gonna burn down the town to punish two cowards.” He felt her stiffen and then her body relaxed against him, the air around her began to cool rapidly and the fires on the buildings began to shrink. “We’re safe, you kept us safe but this is enough.”

“B-Beni…” The man didn’t say anything as she hid her face in his neck and clutched at his coat, “I’m sorry, I… I just- I can’t lose-!”

“I know,” He murmured. Earlier he had wished she would get angry more often but not like this. Not to the point of destroying property and losing her mind, “It’s done… leave the destroying to me from now on.”

“I’m sorry…” She whispered, “I thought I was better than this.” Y/N really thought she had a handle on her anger; it had been years since she had reacted like this. She had lost her family as a child, her mother had infernalised and killed her father before she could be put to rest. Y/N had been angry afterwards, hating that people could burst into flames, hating that the Hikeshi couldn’t get there in time to save what she had left; when her ability came in she could hardly control it and caused fires whenever she got angry. It had taken nearly killing another family to make her stop and change.

To start forgiving people and letting things slide. “D-did I hurt anyone?”

“No one important.” Benimaru picked her up into his arms and turned his head to catch Konro’s gaze, “They were gonna poison us, I’ll leave them to you, Konro.” The Lieutenant nodded and Benimaru headed inside to look after Y/N.

The twins ran after the couple to help, grabbing Benimaru’s clothing whilst occasionally glancing back, Asakusa didn’t treat traitors well and the hearing how they planned to use poison didn’t go down particularly well. “Konro looks real mad.” Hinata giggled.

“They shouldn’t have made Y/N angry first.”

#fire force #shinmon benimaru #enen no shouboutai #enn enn no shouboutai #reader

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