#half the camp didn’t realize they were back for like a week cause they Nap napped
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A Glowing Future
Submission by @satans-little-helper33
This piece takes place right after Nico’s final chapter at the end of Blood of Olympus.
Main Characters: Will Solace and Nico DiAngelo
Solangelo fluff
Nico’s encounter with Eros had cracked him wide open and left him feeling vulnerable and broken, forced to face his own reality and feelings, exposed in front of Jason; he was forced to share his darkest secret for a god’s amusement. Nico now knew he could trust Jason to keep it to himself, though, and he was beginning to realize that in order to crawl out of his self-constructed prison, his barriers first had to be torn down.
The feelings that had haunted him for so long—the shame, the fear, the denial—caused by the mentality of the 1940s he’d grown up in began to fade away.
He was no longer that scared little boy who had been enraptured by the presence of a powerful demigod, and now that he had finally confessed his past feelings to Percy, Nico felt that he could finally move forward.
Hades’s son made his way back down the hill to where Will was waiting for him, wearing scrubs, jeans, and a crooked smile that made his heart skip a beat.
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“Sorry I didn’t come visit you in the infirmary,” Nico said, wearing the hint of a smile.
“It’s alright, I forgive you,” Will Solace said, his mouth set tight but laughter in his eyes, like he was trying to stay mad at Nico and failing.
“You wanted me to stay there--”
“For at least three days. Doctor’s orders.” Will started to lead Nico back toward the infirmary.
“Really, I’m Fine,” Nico began, but then his knees buckled and Will hoisted him back up.
“Uh huh. Right. Let’s get you to a bed.”
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Even after Coach Hedge’s nature magic/sports drink concoction, which had sustained Nico for a while, the arduous task of shadow-travelling the Athena Parthenos across the world had caught up with him again.
When Nico opened his eyes again, he was in the infirmary half sitting, half lying on a piece of furniture that was somewhere between a bed and a stretcher.
“Welcome back to the world of the living,” a familiar voice intoned, “have some ambrosia.”
Will sat on a chair beside the bed; the room of the infirmary he was in was long and lined with similar bed-stretchers, separated by white curtains that shimmered in different colors when they were moved.
Several other beds were occupied with demigods sporting now-relatively-minor injuries left over from the battle with Gaia and the monster army: a daughter of Hecate 2 beds over was glaring at her leg in a cast as if she was insulted by the inconvenience.
Nico turned back to Will, and noticed that beside the bed there was a small table with a baggie of ambrosia squares on it. Nico reached out to pick one up but encountered a familiar problem: his fingers passed right through the baggie and ambrosia, as if he was becoming one with the shadows permanently. His hand appeared fuzzy around the edges, as if he was dissolving.
“Uhh, maybe if I try again--”
Will frowned, then sighed. “This is what happens when you overextend yourself. Here, let me help you.” He picked up a square and held it out to feed Nico.
Nico leaned back. “What are you doing?”
“No arguing. Open up.” Solace said, his tone making it clear that he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Will took none of Nico’s shit. That was one of the things Nico found most endearing and annoying about him; no matter how hard the son of Hades tried to push him away, Will simply refused to let him.
Nico took the ambrosia, and after a few moments they looked back at his hand, which seemed to be coming back into sharper focus.
“You had me worried there, diAngelo,” Will said, smiling, and briefly gripped his hand to check if it was now solid. Day of the Dead skeletons tapped out a jig in Nico’s chest.
“You were worried...about me?” Nico said, still wrapping his mind around the fact that Will had wanted a death demigod to visit him in the infirmary.
“Get some sleep.” he said, closing the ziplock bag.
“I’m not tired.”
“Well you will be in a second. CLOVIS,” he called out. The calf-like son of Morpheus appeared around the corner and Will told him “we’ve got another stubborn one,” throwing a teasing smile Nico’s way.
Clovis yawned. “I’m all over it,” he said, and--despite Nico’s protests--touched his forehead. The son of Hades drifted off into a deep sleep.
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Nico awoke feeling more rested than he had in weeks.
He quickly sat up, suddenly worried, because the last time he’d felt this rested, he’d been asleep for three days.
Nico stopped a passing Apollo healer.
“How long have I been out??”
The healer scratched his chin, trying to estimate. “About 6 hours?” He walked off.
Will walked into the infirmary, arguing with a Demeter camper; something about herbs and supplies? He turned and spotted Nico.
“Well, good evening, sleepyhead! How was your nap? Feeling better?”
“I think 6 hours is slightly more than a nap.” Nico retorted.
“Well, count yourself lucky that Clovis has learned to control his powers better. A while ago he put a camper out for a week by accident.” Will made his way toward him. “Can you stand?”
“Um, let’s find out.” Nico swung his legs over the bed and got up. Aside from stumbling a little, he was feeling much better. Nico marvelled at the healing powers of sleep.
As if he read his mind, Will said, “Oh yeah, sleep has endless benefits.”
Nico twisted his skull ring. “Hey, I came in here at about noon, which means--”
The conch horn signalling the dinner feast echoed across the valley. Will grinned. “I think that’s our cue.”
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The Half Blood campfire that night still carried with it an aura of elation spurred from disbelief, that they had won the battle against Gaia and made allies with the Romans, and a sort of desperation to feel alive brought about by all of those who had died in the process. Nico felt a pang for Leo, though he had a strange feeling that his death wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed.
Will sat by him at the bonfire, the Apollo cabin on his left and Nico on his right, leaving Nico unsure as to whether Will had sat next to him or his cabin. He chastised himself for hoping that it was the former.
The enchanted flames in the brazier blazed brightly with the energy of the campers, and Nico felt the warmth flare in his heart as he cast a glance at the son of Apollo, the light from the fire reflecting off of his blonde hair.
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Nico lay in his bunk that night after the campfire, staring up at the ceiling of the Hades cabin that was inset with precious stones. He quickly realized that there was no way he was falling asleep any time soon, and he climbed out of bed. The whole room was drenched in liquid shadows, and despite his exhaustion after the journey shadow travelling with the Athena Parthenos, Nico stepped forward and became one with the darkness with ease.
He melted from the shadow of a tree, finding himself by the lakeside at the edge of Camp Half-Blood. A full moon cast a pale glow on the night. Nico walked down to the sand and sat down; the silence was intoxicating, and Nico closed his eyes and listened to the gentle lapping of small waves against the shore. Suddenly he felt something nearby, heard the brush rustle, and wondered whether the cleaning harpies had come to eat him for being out past curfew. Nico drew his Stygian sword, which seemed to pull at the darkness like a magnet, and got ready to defend himself. What actually emerged from the brush was Will, who abruptly spotted Nico’s sword and laughed quietly.
“Expecting a fight?”
Nico quickly sheathed his sword. “What are you doing out here?” He noticed for the first time that Will had something in his hands.
He held up two goblets. “Mind if I join you?”
Will was the only one at camp who was not blatantly wary of him; after several years as an outcast, the effect felt foreign.
Will sat down next to the son of Hades and spoke to one of the goblets--“Pomegranate juice”--and handed it to Nico as the cup filled with garnet liquid.
“Are these--” Nico began.
“Glasses from the dining pavilion? Yeah. I snuck a couple out before dinner ended.” He wore his trademark mischievous smile. “I noticed you asked for pomegranate juice at dinner.” Nico felt his face grow warm as Will turned to his own cup and requested ginger beer. Soon the glass was filled with amber.
“It...reminds me of my mom.” Nico said quietly. “Not Persephone, ironically. When Bianca, my mom, and I...” his voice caught on Bianca’s name “when we lived in New Orleans, I was little, but I remember her giving us pomegranate juice on special occasions. It was a tough thing to find where we lived, so she would only have it on celebrations or...when my dad came to visit. I was just a baby when she was murdered.”
He stared down in silence at his drink.
“It wasn’t your fault, you know. Bianca, your mom, none of it,” Will said gently.
“I know,” Nico muttered, his voice nonetheless doubtful.
Will placed his hand on Nico’s, and he tensed, ready to pull away, but then instead turned his palm up to hold Will’s.
Nico turned his head to look up at Will, his pale blue eyes shining in the moonlight, almost periwinkle, an indiscernible expression on his face.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” Will murmured, his gaze taking Nico in. Will looked into his dark eyes as if he could perceive all of him, good and bad, and was still enraptured by what he saw.
Will reached out hesitantly, as if to touch Nico’s face, but stopped before, gaging his reaction, and when the son of Hades didn’t pull away, he brushed the ink-black hair out of his face.
Involuntarily, Nico’s eyes closed and his heart began to race. His life had, for years, been spent more with the dead than the living. No one had touched him tenderly for what felt like eons, not since Bianca, and only now did he realize how starved for physical affection he had been. Not just starved, he thought to himself, afraid of it…
And in that moment he decided that he was not going to be afraid anymore.
Will’s gaze moved from Nico’s eyes to his lips, and he leaned in carefully as if approaching a wild animal. Nico closed the distance, and as their lips met, his life bloomed before him like a chrysanthemum opening layer by layer. Suddenly Nico could see a future before him that wasn’t ruled by death and solitude.
Unnoticed by either of them, a dead mouse at the edge of the forest was brought back to life and scampered off into the trees.
- Alya
@satans-little-helper33
My writing blog: @from-story-to-screen
#submission#not mine#but I love this#I miss this#I miss Solangelo#when I would read infirmary fics for days on end#will and Nico’s dynamic is just so nice#it’s like my comfort zone#nico di angelo#solangelo#will solace#pjo#hoo#toa#infirmary#three days infirmary fic#solangelo fanfiction#solangelo fanfic#fic
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More than Morning Sickness || Matthew Tkachuk
Requested: [x] yes [ ] no
Yoooo I love your writing! Can I request a Matthew Tkachuk imagine where the reader is pregnant but she has severe morning sickness and Matty has Chantal and Taryn come and stay with her while she’s on the road so she doesn’t have to be alone because he wants so bad to stay and help her through it even though he knows he can’t 💕💕 I love your writing omg
Authors Note: So I had an idea for a twist on this request kind of based on current events so after running it by the requester I went ahead and made the changes to write it the way I wanted to. Enjoy!
Warnings: none?
Word Count: 1,670
~~~~~
Nausea. Vomiting. Headaches. Fatigue.
You’d been staying with your boyfriend Matt and his family in quarantine for about two and a half months when those symptoms hit you like a truck, coming completely out of nowhere. You’d gone from messing around with Matt’s family in whatever sport they were attempting to barely being able to get out of bed.
For a couple of days you were able to play them off as a minor bug or your body’s disagreement with something you had eaten. But when they didn’t go away, Matt’s family started asking questions.
Taryn and Brady both suggested that Matt take you to the doctor. Keith didn’t seem to know what to suggest. Matt’s mom Chantal, however, disappeared to the store before returning with a bag full of items. As she pulled the items from the bag, gradually the eyes of her family grew wider. Saltine crackers, Gatorade, B6 vitamins, prenatal vitamins, and finally a pack of pregnancy tests.
“Bro...you knocked her up!” Brady exclaimed.
Keith mumbled something about quarantine babies under his breath while Matt just stood in the kitchen looking completely shell-shocked.
__
When you stirred from your nap, you saw Matt sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. The moment he realized you were awake though, he shifted, leaning in to press a kiss to your forehead.
“How are you feeling?” He questioned softly, fingers gently pushing away strands of hair that had fallen in your face.
“Little less tired.” You murmured. “Still have a bit of a headache and feel like I’m going to puke.” As always, Matt’s face was filled with worry, but you’d learned that lying to him did more harm than good.
“Mom thinks you’re pregnant,” Matt whispered, moving to lay down beside you. “And she’s probably right.” He added. This time it was you that was shell-shocked, your stomach twisting as you thought about it. You and Matt certainly hadn’t been practicing abstinence...and there was that time out on the lakehouse dock where you had gotten a little careless.
Matt pulled you from your thoughts with a gentle kiss to your lips and when he pulled back he sighed.
“She bought a couple of tests, think we should maybe take them?” His fingers rubbed the skin of your hip gently, helping you remain somewhat grounded.
“Yeah...okay.” You agreed.
Five minutes later, Matt was holding your hair back while you once again vomited, the sound of your phone timer going off on the counter. After a moment, Matt stood and the sound of the faucet ran for about 30 seconds. Even still, you heard the clatter of plastic against the counter as Matt checked the tests and silenced your phone. Kneeling back beside you, Matt draped a cool rag over the back of your neck and his hand fell to your lower back.
“This is all my fault,” He mumbled, words of apology spilling from his lips. You didn’t even need to hear the word ‘positive’ to tell you that was exactly what the tests had read. Resting your head on your arm you attempted to send Matt as much of a smile as you could.
“Last I checked it takes two to tango Matty.” You admitted. “So unless you plan on up and leaving me you have nothing to be sorry for.” Matt didn’t pick up on your weak attempt at a joke and instead cursed, promising that he wasn’t going anywhere.
___
Though Matt’s family ribbed the two of you hard for conceiving a quarantine baby, they were all super supportive, willing to get you whatever it was that you needed. While the vitamins Chantal had bought helped a little with the fatigue, they really didn’t do much to stop the constant nausea and vomiting.
Two weeks after finding out you were pregnant, you were being diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum. The same day you got this diagnosis, the NHL announced further information about its return to play plan. You were upset knowing that Matt would be going into a bubble and would miss so much of the pregnancy but you knew it was his job and there was nothing you personally could do about it. Talking with Taryn and Chantal, you knew the best thing you could do was take the medication the doctor had given you, try to intake as many vitamins and nutrients as possible, and put the rest up to a higher power knowing that you were doing your best to take care of yourself and the little one growing inside you.
Because you had decided that return to play wasn’t something you could control, it wasn’t something you ever talked about with Matt. Instead, you spent as much time as possible with him, watching from the outside sofa as he messed around with Brady in the backyard, cuddling him on the couch while a random movie or tv show played in the background. You talked about the things you’d need for the baby, who you hoped the baby would take after more and just other random things that had nothing to do with his impending departure.
As the date for summer training camps approached, you found yourself packing Matty’s bags out of habit, tucking them off to the side of the room ready to go. Though you were feeling a little bit better since starting the medication, you still tired easily and you knew that the emotional strain was beginning to take its toll. You’d cried yourself into many a nap thinking about how much Matt was going to miss and how you were going to do this on your own. It was silly because you had Matt’s entire family at your beck and call and there was no doubt that you’d be taken care of, but it just wasn’t the same. Having your boyfriend’s family around would never be able to compare with having your boyfriend/baby daddy by your side.
Matt was out with Brady and Taryn and you were lounging on the couch with Chantal when your phone rang. Caller ID showed that it was Noah’s girlfriend and while you hadn’t really spoken to any of the other wags recently you answered curious as to why she had reached out. Without even greeting you, she quickly spoke one sentence that sent your mind spinning.
“Noah just told me Matt is opting out.” You froze, your eyes immediately filling with tears. “Y/N.” She repeated your name, but you barely registered it.
“I’ll call you back.” You whispered, cutting the line before glancing over at Matt’s mom almost full-on sobbing. She looked at you with confusion on her face before moving over to your end of the couch wrapping her arms around you.
“What’s wrong?” She murmured, her hand rubbing over your back.
“Where’s Matt?” You hiccuped, trying desperately to calm yourself before you ended up sick once more. She murmured that she would call him and fifteen minutes later you felt Matt’s arms wrap around you, pulling you into his chest as you continued to softly cry.
“Sweetheart...what happened?” He questioned, thumb tucking under your chin to force you to look at him.
“You’re opting out?” The words were barely audible, but it was clear Matt heard them when he let out a soft chuckle.
“All of this is over that?” He breathed in disbelief. “Yeah, sweetheart. I opted out. My only priority is right here. You and our baby.” You couldn’t wrap your brain around that and just stared at him with wide eyes. His thumb brushed over your cheek as he stared at you, a look of fondness and worry in his eyes. “Did you really think I’d leave you?” He murmured. “I promised you I wouldn’t and I intend to keep that promise.”
“But…” Every excuse you’d told yourself as to why Matt was certain to go rushed through your head but before you could voice them he was speaking once more.
“But the cup can wait until next year..when I put our baby in it. But I don’t have to go and I can’t imagine missing all of this. But I know my family would take great care of you but that’s my job. There isn’t an excuse in the book that would justify me leaving you right now. So I’m not going to. This baby...while tiny...is so much bigger than hockey. You both are so much more important than hockey. Okay?” Matt finished, his forehead pressed against yours as you took in the weight of his words.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” The question slipped from your lips immediately and hearing it made Matt sigh.
“I thought you knew.” He admitted. “I talked to Brades and dad, asked them what they’d do. I talked to my coaches and Gio and asked what they’d do and everyone supports me staying here. I didn’t think it was a secret that I was planning on staying.” You didn’t have anything to say to that and seeing how quiet you were Matt pecked your lips. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you directly. I didn’t mean to cause you stress over it.”
Wrapping your arms tightly around Matt’s neck you buried your head against him, the weight you’d been carrying over him leaving suddenly disappearing.
“Are we good?” Matt mumbled against your head, his hands dropping to cradle your hips.
“I love you.” You breathed after nodding against him.
“I love you too,” Matt replied. “I love both of you so much.” As he pulled away he kissed you softly, his smile growing. “Now how about some Italian ice? We brought some home from that place we had talked about.”
Offering out your hand you let him pull you from the couch and as you tucked yourself against his side you couldn’t help but notice that for the first time, even momentarily, your nausea had vanished. Evidently the baby was just as happy about daddy sticking around as you were.
#matthew tkachuk#matthew tkachuk imagine#calgary flames#calgary flames imagine#nhl imagine#nhl imagines#hockey imagines#hockey imagine#cflames#036
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Lost Zephyrs | Bang Chan
summary — you’ve got the worst luck in the history of the world, but it seems as though a miracle has finally been bestowed upon you
word count — 2.4k words
pairing — chan x gender neutral!reader
genre — genshin impact au, fluff, reader is not the smartest person in the world
disclaimer — !! Small mentions of death/injuries !! I’ve been obsessed with genshin impact for the entire week and it stopped me writing. so I decided do make an au out of it to get me out of the slump, please enjoy !! (I explain most of the genshin content for readers who aren’t players :D !!)
tags — @fluffyskzclub
You knew you had the worst luck of them all. You've been constantly reminded of the fact that things didn't go your way no matter how hard you tried, so you think you would have learned your lesson by now right?
Somehow, you were wrong. Excruciatingly wrong in fact. It didn't matter who you told you— your friends, strangers, anyone —you always seem to think that maybe one day something would go your way. If it never did then you'd simply force the world to bend to your knees and allow you to proceed on with life like any other normal person. Most of the time that didn't happen and today was one of those days.
You should have known that traveling across the nations of Teyvat would be a dangerous journey, alone at that. So many monsters, so many evil people, would be out to cause trouble to anyone whose fate crossed their path. But you thought you were fine! After easily skipping across the land of Mondstadt without any help from strangers, slinking past monsters, and quietly napping any interesting treasures along the way, you had gotten too cocky.
Eventually, along your travels you had gotten your map of the world completely blown away in the middle of terrible weather after entering the nation of Liyue, finding yourself somewhere near Wuwang Hill. Then just when you had saved yourself from monsters near the bridge to Wangshu Inn, your sword completely snapped in half. The blade getting cut clean off after a Cryo slime froze it and broke it.
You were lucky enough that you had been able to rush into Wangshu Inn but now you were stuck without a weapon and a map of the landscape ahead of you.
Any sane person would stop their journey to stock back up on everything they've lost, but you didn't want to. You were a rather restless person and desperately wanted to reach the capitol, Liyue Harbor, as quickly as you could so you set off anyways, severely underestimated the distance between Wangshu Inn and the capitol.
That's how you ended up where you are, desperately running in the storming weather as fast as your legs would take you away from the hilichurl camp you had accidentally stumbled upon. It was never easy seeing those masked, primitive creatures armed with clubs and bows and ready for the attack but usually you were unphased. You were a traveler! You saw them all the time in Mondstadt and they are a common monster found throughout Teyvet.
But right now you were an unarmed, feeble traveler with no map and no strength to fight them off. They'd pounce on you the moment you stopped running.
"Why won't they give up!" You yell over the pounding rain, nearly tumbling over your own two feet with a strike of lightning hit the ground somewhere not too far off. You didn't even bother trying to check and see where the lightning was with the thunder roaring across the land and the hilichurl's arrows being aimlessly shot at you. It would be a death sentence trying to take a moment to look at your surroundings at this point.
You would have tried to use your elemental powers to fight back but you couldn't. You spent all that time trying to perfect the element of Ameno back in Mondstadt since it was known as the city of freedom and for its god of the winds, Barbatos, but you had used up all your energy trying to fight to save your life after you lost your sword. Truly, you were in the worst situation and it didn't feel like your luck was going to get any better from here.
Once you finally had a moment to rest, even for a second, you might be able to muster up the strength and energy to send a blast of wind toward the hilichurls. One little gust of your Anemo would send them flying and you'd finally be safe.
Rest, rest. You needed rest, but where? Where could you possibly find rest out away from the rain and hilichurls in this long stretch of land?
"You know what," you told yourself, still struggling to hear yourself as another lightning bolt strikes the ground and thunder rumbles through the air. "I should just try, if I ran fast enough they'll be long behind me and it'll give me enough time to regain my strength and blast them away."
You had to psych yourself up for it, not confident in your strength and not confident in your odds against the world, but you had to try. If the world decided you had enough karma now, maybe you'd be okay by the end of it.
Though it seemed like it wasn't enough, as you were quickly approaching an awfully large cliff that cut off your path to safety. You could climb but in this condition? In this weather? You'd probably fall straight to your doom.
With nowhere else to run, you forced yourself to pick up the page before turning on your heel and facing your opponents. Your eyes grew wide and a scream threatened to fly out your mouth at the sight of the hilichurls running towards you, their clubs swinging wildly through the air and their bows pointing straight at your chest. You were lucky that not a singular mitachurl was following you though, you would have been dead long ago.
"Here goes nothing," you mumble as you hold out your hand, desperately summoning the wind around you to be focused into the palm of your hand. Just when your body felt like it was going to collapse, a blast of wind exploded from your hands and slammed straight into the hilichurls that followed you. The rain was sucked up into your wind vertex and splattered against the already drenched hilichurls, sending them flying through the air defenseless.
You wanted to cheer for your small victory, but there was no chance to do it when the hilichurls that hadn't been blown away were still standing. "Oh, come on!" You yelped, falling to your knees from the strain you had placed on your body, unable to fight against the crossbows that were pointed at you. You shielded yourself as best as you could to save yourself from the oncoming attacks, opting that you'd rather go out seeing nothing and hearing everything instead of the opposite.
Yet inside of hearing the screeching arrows being shot and stung into your flesh, instead of hearing the hilichurls growl and cackle at their victory over another frail traveler, you hear something different. Their yelps of pain echoed through the air as the rain began to let up, their bows crashing to the ground and their cackles going panicked at their sudden change of plans.
Curious over the turn of events, you peered around your arms to catch a glimpse of the fairytale-like scene before you. A boy stood in the middle of the hilichurls with a victorious dimpled smile, soaking wet in the now light rain and swinging a large red and black greatsword like it was the lightest object in the world. His movements were messy and slow but his sword dealt enough damage to frighten the hilichurls into a tactical retreat.
The boy tried to get in an extra hit by taunting the monsters for their cowardice before he slammed his greatsword into the ground, rocks flying away from the heavy sword's collision. After a moment to himself, laughing at whatever words that had come out of his mouth, he turned to you. His brown eyes flashed from fiery excitement to immediate worry at your condition, quickly giving you a one over before rushing to your side.
"Are you okay?" He asked in a soft voice, falling to his knees and grabbing your hands. Around his wrist jingled a bracelet of some sort, charmed with different and unique trinkets. Though the most notable one being the large, glowing yellow crystal hanging in the center of the trinkets, a swirling symbol of earth inside of the crystal. You knew exactly what that symbol was, the symbol of Geo, the earth element famously found throughout Liyue. "I couldn't help but barge in, it seemed like you needed help."
"I am," you quickly tell him, awkwardly snatching your hands away from him after realizing he was checking to see if you suffered any wounds. "I mean, I'm fine. I definitely needed help though, thank you for saving me."
"No problem," he nodded, his smile stretching across his face and his dimples growing even deeper. "I saw you from over there after you sent that gust of wind toward the hilichurls. Had you not done that, I wouldn't even have noticed you through that thick downpour." The boy told you, pointing across the way towards the cliffs not too far from you.
He must have climbed down from there to reach you, but that would have been a rather tedious process. Maybe he jumped instead?
"Ah, you saw that?" You quietly asked, embarrassed to be caught weak and defenseless by what seemed to be a fellow traveler. When he innocently nodded his head, you let your head fall to your hands. "Gosh... that's so embarrassing... that means you saw me running away from those hilichurl and everything didn't you?"
The boy shrugged, "as I said, I didn't see you until the gust of wind." He explained.
"Did I just out myself on running away?" You cringed, mentally slamming your head with one of the hilichurl clubs. You were just letting anything fall out of your mouth now, huh? And to a total stranger at that! "This is even more embarrassing! I'm sorry, forget I ever said that, erase that from your memory."
He laughed at your words, slicking back his drenched purple hair as the rain finally stopped. "Don't worry! It's like that sometimes, even I've run away from a hilichurl or two once in my life. Especially those samachurls, creepy little things they are, especially with the fact that they can control elements."
"You too?" You gasped, jumping up to attention at your shared fears. "I hate those devils! Hydro samachurls that heal the other hilichurls, they make everything else so... so difficult."
"So you have fought hilichurls before," he teased, tapping the glowing light teal crystal that dangled down your neck in a pendant. Like the boy, you too had a symbol that displayed the element you had been gifted, giving away the fact that you could control Anemo as if the gust of wind from your hands wasn't enough of a dead giveaway. "With the way your knees buckled from sending one meek blast at them, I would have thought this was your first time seeing them."
"It is not!" You defended, jumping up to your feet and feeling energy course through your body once more. All you needed was one quick rest and you were back to your normal self. "I'm a full blown traveler! I had just been running from those hilichurls for a while now, I didn't have enough strength to create a whole tornado or something to save myself."
"What full blown traveler walks across Liyue without a weapon in tow?" The boy pointed out, gesturing toward your empty scabbards hanging around your waist. "Liyue, while very beautiful, is a very dangerous place to go on your own, especially without a weapon or two to project yourself."
You bit your lip, fidgeting with the pendant around your neck as you tried to sugarcoat your situation. "Well... I did have a sword when I first came here from Mondstadt but things... happened... and by the time I reached Wangshu Inn I had no sword."
"Wangshu Inn?" He gasped, "but that's so far away from here, how'd you even make it this far?"
"Barbatos was on my side, I guess," you shrugged, not knowing the answer to his question. It's a literal miracle that you hadn't died. "I was going to try and make my way as close to Liyue Harbor as possible since that was my original destination but I lost my map before I even got into the nation so... I'm kinda... all over the place right now."
"You sure are, you're nowhere near Liyue Harbor right now. In fact, I'd say you're closer to Wangshu Inn than the city." The boy explained, completely catching you off guard. Not even close to your destination? You spent all this time running and fighting through the terrain of Liyue and ended up almost exactly where you started."
"What? But I thought I had been following a clear path before the hilichurls attacked. So if I'm not near Liyue...," you began, twisting and turning in every direction as you tried to make sense of your location. "Then where am I?"
"If you climbed up the cliffs? You'd be standing in Jueyun Kurst, and mere mortals can't just walk into Jueyun Kurst." The boy explained, pointing to a path you could have taken had you not been chased by monsters. "It's going to take a while for you to even reach Guili Plains now, this place only gets more secluded the deeper you head into the mountains."
Had you survived the attack from the hilichurls, you would have gotten lost within Jueyun Kurst. Your luck was absolutely horrendous at the moment, the mere fact that the Geo boy had come and saved you was a miracle.
"If you want, I can take you to Liyue?" He offered, both of you catching each other's eyes almost immediately. After a moment of pure silence, he let out a nervous laugh and anxiously ran his hands through his hair. "I mean, I have friends who live in Liyue! They can help you get a new sword and a map... and I'm also sorta heading towards Liyue Harbor in a sense? So I think it'll just benefit the both of us! Yeah..."
You couldn't help but giggle at his actions, taking note of the evident flushing of his cheek that even the boy didn't seem to notice. "I'd like that very much. I feel a lot safer running around Liyue with a partner instead of on my own. Thank you...?"
"Chan," he informed you, his smile shining as he finally properly introduced himself. "I'm Bang Chan, but usually I just get called Chan... it doesn't matter which one you use though. I'm fine with anything."
"Chan," you repeated, making sure his name and face were permanently engraved in your mind. "I'm Y/N. Thank you, Chan, for being my guide around Liyue. Now shall we get going? It was raining a few minutes ago and we're soaking wet, don't want to catch a cold while we're on the road, do we?"
#stayhavennet#skzwritersclub#fluffyskzclub#kpop imagines#kpop#kpop scenarios#kpop au#kpop fluff#stray kids#stray kids imagines#skz#skz fluff#skz imagines#skz chan#skz x reader#bang chan x reader#bang chan imagines#bang chan#stray kids chan#stray kids x reader#genshin!au
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Rhack Story P 4- Nisha and Spite
That was the part that Rhys was desperately trying to leave out when talking to Moxxie. Hitting on Jack may have been one of the dumbest things that Rhys did out of pure unbridled spite.
When Rhys first started working for Handsome Jack, he’d had hope. Yes, Jack’s P. A. was a disposable list job, but it was given to idiots, people who were nearly fired anyway. Rhys was only there on a fluke. He could make something out of the position. It was still working with the CEO. If he did his job right, he could still get power, and then rub sweet irony in Vasquez’s face.
All he had to do was do his job correctly, and then pick up jobs as they came along until he was too useful to kill. For the first three weeks he let himself believe this delusion. At the time his job consisted of:
1. Cleaning up the remains of the earlier P.A. from the spike pit of Jack’s office. Rhys still remembered the smell.
2. Filling out order forms for new shipments of weapon parts.
3.Taking notes during board meetings.
4. Making fancy presentations for the board meetings using the notes on new developments Jack gave him.
5. Picking up Jack from a bar one time when Jack didn’t feel like getting a shuttle service or teleporting
6. Talking to the freaks in RnD for Jack so that Jack didn’t have to get near them. He was mostly avoiding a scientist named Nakayama who, to be fair, was unsettling, and obsessive when it came to Jack.
7. Looking over code Jack had written to find where Jack had missed a bracket.
All of which Rhys had done to the best of his ability, and the best of his ability was pretty damn good. His robotic enhancements helped him look through code and record meetings. Rhys made sure to be on time and attentive for every random task he was called for. He didn’t even bother Jack with the fact that Nakayama had (pathetically and unsuccessfully) tried to kill Rhys.
But then three weeks passed, and Rhys got to meet Nisha.
It was a hunting trip. A date. Jack and Nisha wanted to go to a hunting reservation on Eden-5 and kill drifters with some high-tech slag rocket launchers. Rhys was brought to take pictures and carry equipment.
Nisha was curvy, had muscles, and could shoot a rocket launcher with frightening precision. Rhys had heard of Jack's outlaw, vault-hunting girlfriend before, but reality was more frightening than concept. She was different then Jack. Jack killed people, put he was also a wise-cracking, nerd with a cheese puffs addiction. Up close, you could forget his aggression, but Nisha wore hers like a high-fashion cloak.
Despite all that, it went well-ish. Jack and Nisha killed three drifters with relative ease and had a good time.
Mid-way through the day their luck ran out and the area seemed to be empty of creatures. So, after consulting with Nisha a bit, Jack sent him to go find a drifter's egg and bring it back to camp to attract more monsters. After all, Rhys hadn’t been hunting. He still had energy, and none of the creatures would be scared of Rhys and hide their nests from him.
The order sounded stupid when it was given. But he couldn’t say that to Jack. Not when he was so desperate to prove he was useful and competent.
So Rhys did it.
He had to bribe a local with a third of his week’s paycheck to get a location of an egg, and then wit another third to tell him how to hide from a drifter. He’d climbed into a cave in the center of a mountain, scratching his body and tearing his clothes. The bugs around had smelled his blood and bit at him. Then, with a tiny flashlight, he’d found drifter’s nest in the darkest corner of the cave and picked up a bowling-ball sized egg.
He heard an adult drifter scream from somewhere in the dark when he touched the egg. He’d run out the cave with it and dove into a mud-pit. The local he’d bribed told him that drifters sensed prey through smell and motion. Staying still in the muck was the only way to hide. So he lay still hours watching the giant spider-looking creature hunt for him, memorizing every detail of its form as he hugged its egg to his chest.
But then the drifter meandered away, lost, and Rhys went back to the car he’d parked at the foot of the mountain, drifter’s egg under his arm.
When Rhys got back to the camp he found Jack and Nisha napping together under a tree with disheveled clothes and hair.
When they realized he’d come back they laughed with shock and amazement.
They hadn’t expected him to come back at all. They didn’t even hide it.
Nisha had said something about Jack’s current stooge being more rugged than the last one.
They spent the next 15 minutes poking at his bug-bites and asking about the drifter’s reaction as he’d stolen the egg. He described it half heartedly as his eyes drifted over to where the rocket launchers were completely put away.
He remembered thinking, “They aren’t even going to continue the hunt, are they? I did all of that for nothing.”
And sure enough, before he could even finish his story, Jack started loading the equipment into the transporter dock for them to go. Jack briefly considered turning the egg into an omelet before deciding it would be gross and throwing it into the air for Nisha to shoot.
And Rhys’s hope shattered with the egg.
He’d done everything right, and he was still as disposable as he ever was. They would have thrown his life away for a joke. They’d wanted to have a romp in the grass together, and instead of sending him away like a normal person, they sent him on a death-near-guaranteed task because they thought it was funnier.
He hated them both for it, but he always associated that revelation with the meeting of Nisha.
_______________________________________________________________
It didn’t get better between them after that.
Nisha sometimes came up to the Hyperion offices to visit Jack and it did not make Rhys like her more.
For one, she ordered him around as much as Jack did, but wasn’t paying him, which got under his skin.
For two, she just didn’t remember his name. She didn’t pretend to forget to belittle him, she actively did not know. To her, Rhys was another Hyperion cog indistinct from all the rest and wasn’t worth remembering. She barely looked at him. It was worse.
Then there was the little issue of the intercom.
Nisha sometimes visited Jack in his office for… conjugal visits. Rhys was all for this. It distracted Jack so that Rhys had free time. It’s just that there was an intercom between Jack’s desk and Rhys’s that Jack used to quickly give his P.A. orders. It turned on and off on Jack’s side, there was a button he’d hold down while speaking, but it couldn’t be controlled from Rhys’s side.
Sometimes when they were together it would accidentally get pushed.
He remembered politely telling Nisha that it would be great if she could just avoid the little green button with INT on it.
Every successive time after he asked the button was constantly on whenever Nisha and Jack were visiting. She must have been sitting on it. She couldn’t remember his name but she could remember his pet peeves.
_______________________________________________________________
So maybe, just maybe, Jack’s attraction to Rhys, wasn’t completely caused by Rhys torturing people. Maybe, Rhys had actively hit on Jack after Jack started showing interest because he’d wanted Nisha to feel every bit as replaceable and disposable as he always did.
He should have been afraid when Jack had started paying attention to him. People who had Jack’s attention died.
But all he could think about was that he’d taken something from Nisha and how after it all was over, Jack would be the one suffering the fall-out from having replaced her with a no-name Hyperion cog.
Rhys would be dead. But he was going to die anyway, so he was going to go out petty.
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Dog Days Part 10: Limited Supply
((After finally getting some sleep, Abe learns a little more about the lack of silver bullets in the city and where someone might go to get a Google of their own, or four.
This one is back to being on the long side, but I think the next few are going to level out and not be jumping between long Abe sections and shorter Y/N ones.
Warning: reference to using alcohol as a bad coping mechanism.
Links to Part 9 and to the whole series here.))
Abe didn’t remember the walk back to his car, but he did at least remember that this hospital charged for parking by the hour before he gave in to the impulse to try and get a nap right there in the driver’s seat. It felt like a minor miracle when he managed to reach his office/apartment without causing an accident, and a major one when he was finally, finally able to pull off his shoes and little else before crashing on top of his unmade futon bed.
It was a hard sleep, the kind that left Abe feeling somehow vaguely worse when he woke up than when he fell asleep. Might have had something to do with the puddle of drool he woke up in, or the vague confusion about when and where he was when he opened his crusty eyes to a dark room with the only light coming from the streetlights outside.
He sat up with a groan and a slightly worrying crack from his back. How long had it been since he slept here and not in some random hotel room or in his car or those couple of nights spent out in the woods that probably didn’t actually count as sleeping, now that he thought about it? He checked his watch, realized it had fallen off somewhere in the sheets, and stumbled his way to the bathroom to try and make an effort to clean himself up.
One shower later he felt slightly more human and awake enough to realize that despite feeling like he had barely closed his eyes, he had somehow managed to sleep for over 12 hours there. Which meant he was a bit late on the ball for another night at the doctor’s clinic, again.
Then again, Abe told himself as he checked the coffeemaker and grimaced at what he found there, chances were high that other doctor clued Schneeplestein in on a hunter coming around asking about vampires. Wasn’t like he had been super subtle, and he doubted Dr. Iplier had enough vampire patients to not be able to narrow down who might need to be worried. Keeping some distance for one night couldn’t hurt, not when he had a few other things to look into.
He dug out the envelope that Google guy gave him and leaned against his desk as he checked the contents again. Pictures of the doc, those could have been taken by anyone, and addresses were easy to get, but the copy of the certificate was another question. Abe had seen a couple of these before, battered smaller versions carried by various non humans to prove that they were registered and, theoretically, as harmless as anyone else walking on the street.
This one though, or at least the copy of it, was the larger version kept on file. The seals looked genuine enough, and there was no sign of blurring or any other kind of alteration even when Abe checked with a magnifying glass. If it was a fake, then it was the best one he had ever seen, but the only place to find this version was either in the city’s official records (and even then you had to jump through enough hoops to make you feel like a prized poodle at the dog show) or theoretically in the Bronson Institute’s files, although Abe had never managed to wrangle permission to get to those.
Either way, not an easy piece of paper to get your hands on without the right connections, which could give him a leg up on narrowing down who was so invested in finding out more about this doctor. Abe didn’t believe that bull about not wanting to accidentally accuse an innocent person, not from someone who had to send a magic doohickey made to look like a person instead of showing their own face.
Google. That guy had to be a lead of his own too, even if there was apparently more than one of him walking around. There weren’t too many people who could be capable of making magitek that could pass for human, considering Abe didn’t know of anyone who could pull that off.
But he did know someone who always knew how to pull off the next best thing if there was even a hint of money to be made.
The rest of the night passed quickly, as Abe made a few notes and tried (and failed) to connect a few more dots before heading out just before dawn.
A drive by the clinic proved the doctor had already headed out, and despite driving the way he saw him walk off yesterday Abe failed to see any sign of the vampire before he pulled up to his favorite coffee stop.
“Look at that, he came back,” Carla greeted him as he walked in. “How do you look even worse than yesterday?”
“It’s called getting old,” Abe answered, but she just clucked her tongue and reached for an empty cup. “Your musician not here today?”
“The Host? Guess not, if you didn’t see him. Not like he has a set time to be here,” Carla said. She poured the coffee and paused to look at him. “Feeling brave enough to try something different today?”
“Maybe later,” Abe answered, same as he did every other time she bothered to ask. Black coffee as strong as it came had served him well this long, after all. When she shrugged and slid the cup of coffee toward him, he hesitated and asked, “You still make those sandwiches here?”
Despite the fact that the coffee shop was completely empty except for him and Carla, the hunter took one of the far corner booths by the front windows so that he could keep an eye on the people walking outside while he ate and drank his coffee. Carla would throw him a question or make a comment out into the air every now and then, but otherwise she let him sit there in a silence that was only broken by the occasional other customer.
Even when the number of customers started to pick up and more and more people took empty tables and booths and filled the coffee shop with talking and laughter and general noise, Abe just sat there in his own bubble of silence, watching the street without really seeing it.
The house. Why had Google told him to go there, what was he supposed to see? Someone had performed a ritual there, or at least tried to, and Abe could only hope there was enough of whatever poor fool thought that was a good idea to walk out of there. No body to be found anyways, but sometimes that just made things worse.
He swallowed, hard, and tried to focus.
What was the connection to the Colonel? Celine had been into that stuff, but Abe somehow doubted the Colonel was the type to have a head or the patience for magic. Then again, neither was he, because when he looked at the symbols he had copied into his notebook, they still looked half a step away from scribbles.
And the next page was a copy of the doctor’s list of weapon shop owners.
Abe chewed on his thumbnail as he stared at that page, his thoughts of that used silver bullet in the doctor’s office shifting to the memory of small, twin piles of gleaming silver bullets in his and the Colonel’s palms. One of which ended up in his own chest, and the other…
Next thing he knew, he was shoving the notebook back into the pocket it came from and hurriedly gathering all of his trash together to throw away.
“Heading out?” Carla asked, like she had been keeping an eye on him.
“Yeah, I’ve got—I’ve got some things I need to look into,” Abe said, avoiding her knowing stare. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“Abe,” she said, so sharply that he had to stop and look back. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just working on a case. You know how it is,” Abe answered. He had maybe camped out here in the coffee shop for an hour or six before, going through cup after cup of coffee while working through a particularly difficult problem.
So it was a little surprising to hear the genuine concern in Carla’s voice when she said, “Don’t let it get to you. You can always turn down a case if it’s not sitting with you, right?”
“Of course I can,” Abe answered, mostly out of reflex.
Because as he stepped outside into the crisp but quickly warming up air, he knew that as true as that was in theory, he really couldn’t. Not when he could feel the edge of a thread, of something connecting all of this that he couldn’t see yet.
The hunter glanced at the bench outside of the shop, but there was still no sign of the Host. Not that Abe was sure he wanted to talk to that guy again anytime soon, but he felt an itch in the back of his mind whenever he spared him a thought, like there was something he was forgetting.
Abe paused at the door of his car and looked back, then all around, but there was no one there out of the ordinary, nothing to explain the fleeting sense of being watched that he quickly put out of his mind.
---
Every weapon shop on the doctor’s list, and a couple more that Abe knew of from his own shopping, had the same response when the hunter asked: no one was buying silver bullets, at least not anytime recently.
“No market for them,” one shop owner explained. “If you want, I can put an order in, but it’ll take a few weeks unless it’s an emergency.”
“Haven’t kept them in stock in three years,” a clerk at another store said after checking their computer. “And that was after not selling them for even longer. Wound up selling our last batch back to the smith who made them.”
Guy at another store outright laughed at Abe when he asked, and he had enough clues to tell he wasn’t the first to ask long before one manager Abe had dealt with before joked, “We had a guy in asking about silver bullets yesterday. You two know something we don’t?”
“That depends. What’d the other guy look like?” Abe asked.
“I don’t know, white guy, brown hair. Wore a red hoodie and didn’t look much like your typical hunter, but that’s about all I noticed,” the manager said with a shrug as she went back to wiping down her glass counter. “Told him I could order him some if he had an ID, but he didn’t care about that. Sounded more like he was interested in telling where a particular bullet came from, and I had to explain to him that you can’t really do that just by looking, you know?”
Abe nodded. If you knew what to look for, you could tell what kind of gun had fired a bullet, but narrowing it down to a particular weapon would require an expert. There were forensics guys with the police and the Institute who could do that, both of which would have a lot of questions for a doctor who showed up with a used silver bullet, starting with just who he pulled that bullet out of.
Werewolves were always the first thing to come to mind whenever silver bullets came into the conversation, although Abe knew they weren’t the only ones to have a weakness for silver. Vampires had a problem with the stuff too, if not as much, but most people were more familiar with the holy symbols and wooden stakes. Really, the only debate among hunters was whether silver crucifixes or wooden ones were better, and even then it usually boiled down to cost and the fact that one version could just as easily become a stake if you were desperate enough. No hunter would bother using a silver bullet on a vampire, since it wasn’t even a guaranteed kill like it was with a werewolf; do it wrong, and you really just ticked off someone who was probably already angling to take a bite out of you.
So, probably only one reason any reasonable person would be packing silver bullets. The problem was, there hadn’t been a werewolf within the bounds of the city in years, as everyone seemed keen to remind Abe today. The District Attorney hadn’t been the last one, with the odd one or two that supposedly ran afoul of the Institute and then were never seen again. From what Abe heard among other hunters and his not quite human contacts, the rumors about what happened to them were enough to keep any sane were from taking that risk.
“You looking to buy some?” the manager asked, in a tone that suggested she already knew the answer before Abe shook his head.
“Still got a few of my own rattling around,” he answered.
Five bullets, to be exact. The five bullets that remained in his gun after that party, the five he had been left with when all was said and done.
Well, that and the bullet the Colonel put in his chest, bit hard to forget about that one.
Abe walked out of the weapons shop and rubbed his face, hand audibly scratching against the stubble on his chin. According to the manager, the guy in the hoodie had come in to that particular shop during the day yesterday, so unless the doctor was topping up on blood and using the hood to keep out of direct sunlight, he had friends to do his day work for him.
Was it one of those friends who had a silver bullet put in them, or one of his patients? Couldn’t be a real werewolf, even a shot that a regular human would be able to survive could kill a were if the bullet was silver. When just the touch of the stuff burned, having it suddenly in your system generally didn’t do a body good. So probably a case of mistaken identity, or just using whatever weapon happened to be at hand, although that second one didn’t sound likely considering the general lack of silver ammunition lying around.
Really, the only ones who would have silver bullets these days would be hunters like him who kept a supply of just about anything that might be useful on hand. Which gave Abe’s mind fuel for his next theory of who might want to send Google to get him to keep an eye on the doctor: a hunter who mistakenly shot someone they believed was a werewolf would have a reason to get rid of the doctor who both treated and possibly saved said victim and possessed the evidence that could track the shooting back to them. Hiring another hunter to dig up dirt on said doctor and discredit him before that could happen would be one way of dealing with the problem.
Or, alternatively, someone really was worried about the doctor and wanted to have someone else on standby and ready to prove his innocence, but for some reason Abe just wasn’t ready to believe his client had the best motives at heart here.
There was also the problem that if someone did survive that bullet, why would they need to risk asking around town about it? Either the victim didn’t know or see their shooter and had another reason not to go to the police without some solid evidence to back them up first, or the victim wasn’t in a position to tell anyone about it afterward.
So, possibly a victim out there, who was just as possibly dead or alive at this point, and a doctor who was possibly trying to solve their attempted and/or actual murder, and then there was the hunter who was possibly being setup to do something possibly very stupid and regrettable. Or, possibly, Abe was barking up the wrong tree entirely, which was also something he considered while he groaned into his steering wheel and questioned all of his life choices for a solid five minutes at least.
No matter how many theories he could come up with, they all came back to the same idea: he needed to figure out just who was so interested in this doctor and why, and at least Abe had an idea on where to start there.
---
The next time he parked his car, it was on the seedier side of town. This had less to do with the people living in this area and more the businesses that thought these few blocks were prime real estate, or at least within the range they were willing to shell out for. The kind of places where the abundance of signs about “genuine” and “high quality” merchandise for prices that were low enough to make any reasonable person tilt their head, but it was the stuff that wasn’t advertised that tended to lead the owners to make “charitable contributions” to the local police and to the campaign funds of certain officials. In exchange, the powers that be were willing to look the other way on the sale of the occasional fake designer handbag or charm of questionable origin.
For example, there was a while where this was the place to go for dragon eggs, back when there was a craze going around that the eggs supposedly had all kinds of miracle properties when properly prepared. The government actually had to step in on that one when it turned out the eggs were really coming from an enchanted goose grown to giant size and hidden away in one of the warehouses around here. And even that was only after the gander got out and surprised no one by causing general mayhem and havoc across the city with the simple vindictiveness of a goose with nothing better to do. Took an entire team of hunters and a bread van to lure the fowl out of the city and to a nearby lake, and that was after they figured out how to return it to normal size.
Today though, Abe went into the bargain bin store whose name changed every time he passed through here, same as the strange array of items on sale in bulk. The owner, however, never changed, and it didn’t take the hunter long to find him slapping a box that according to its label contained one hundred rubber ducks and talking to a customer in an exaggerated southern drawl.
“Tell you what, you take these and I’ll give you a 10% discount on that there drowning charm you were checking out. Guaranteed to keep you afloat, in the bath or out on the open seas, your choice.”
“…Do you mean the ducks or the charm?” the customer asked.
“Both!”
Abe took a walk around the warehouse-like store at that, but he didn’t have long to snort at the rack of labeled potion bottles that claimed to cure everything from rheumatism to bad breath before the bell over the door rang and the customer walked out awkwardly holding the massive box of rubber ducks.
“You’re kidding me,” Abe muttered, but the salesman who was already bearing down on him heard him and grinned.
“I know what people need, and I can see you’re checking out our excellent selection of potions. The one to treat baldness is right there on the—” Ed Edgar stopped short and visibly swallowed when he found the muzzle of a gun pressing up against his jaw. “Top row, next to the other jokes, of course. Good to see you again, Abe.”
“Sure it is,” Abe said, lowering his gun but not putting it away in case Ed started the salesman routine again. “What do you know about magitek?”
“Yeah, that’s what I like about you, never a man to beat around the bush,” Ed said, switching gears once again. It was hard to see his eyes behind those sunglasses that he always wore, even inside, but that grin said he hadn’t given up on finally selling the hunter on something. “What are you in for, I’m sure I’ve got it! We’ve got tablets, we’ve got mice—the kind that’ll clean up your place while you sleep, I mean—and we’ve got word-activated lights that never need a battery, boxes that’ll follow you wherever you go—”
“What about magitek that can pass for human?” Abe interrupted. “You ever hear anything about that?”
“Mm-hmm,” Ed hummed, nodding his head like he was just waiting for Abe to ask. “Should have known you’d be up on what I expect will be the next big thing, soon as we can get the kinks knocked out.”
“Kinks?” Abe repeated, even though he immediately wished he hadn’t.
“There’s that whole ‘uncanny valley’ thing that bothers some people whenever you get something lookin’ a little too human that ain’t,” Ed admitted. “Especially if you maybe make one that forgets which way their limbs are supposed to go, but we’ve mostly worked that out at the warehouse. Got a prototype right here in the back, if you wanna see it. Gotta warn you, you might be tempted to put in an order of your own, and you’ll want to do it fast before everyone else catches on.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Abe said, but his sarcasm couldn’t hide his interest.
Ed nodded and immediately yelled toward the back of the store, “Get out here, you bucket of bolts! We’ve got a customer!”
Not exactly the most stellar introduction, but it didn’t seem to bother the man who skateboarded out of the back and came to a slightly uneven stop near them. Said man tried, and failed, to kick his skateboard up and catch it, but he quickly picked it up and tucked it under his arm like that didn’t just happen before flashing them a surfer gesture with his free hand.
“Suh, dudes! How’s it hangin’?” asked the man, who like Ed was wearing a pair of sunglasses inside but otherwise couldn’t look anymore different than the salesman. While Ed was dressed like a wannabe cowboy from his boots to the ten gallon hat on top of his unkempt mullet, this guy seemed to be going more for the sanitized LA skater boy look. “Name’s Bing. Whatcha need to know?”
“You’re magitek?” Abe asked, even though after Google he was quicker to notice the obvious signs. No breathing, not exactly blinking behind those sunglasses, and something a bit plasticky about that grin were the big ones.
“That I am, dude! Perfect blending of that dope magic and some seriously sick technology to create the perfect blend of family-friendly information searching and sweet tricks.”
Bing started to put his board down as if to demonstrate, but Ed shot out a hand with a quick clear of his throat.
“Still working on that last bit, but my guys in the shop are sure the young people today will love this guy,” Ed said. “Nothing else like him.”
“Nothing?” Abe asked. “Funny, cause I’ve run into two magitek men that both called themselves ‘Google.’”
“Well, nothing like Bing on the market,” Ed said. He flicked the brim of his cowboy hat and cockily said, “That ship sailed, and me and Bing-a-boy here are going to be the first to pick up the slack, ain’t that right?”
“Yeah, that old fart Google has nothing on me,” Bing said, his grin growing wider and somehow more unsettling. Abe suspected someone may have added a few too many teeth to that mouth.
“Why did Google never make it to market?” Abe asked, even though he could think of many, many reasons why this whole concept bothered him.
Ed shrugged. “Lab that made ‘em was bought out by the Bronson Institute, and apparently, they’re not interested in making any more for some reason. Not into printing that money, I guess! Rumor is they only made four of those Google units before the Institute got involved.”
“I saw one at the hospital yesterday,” Abe said.
“Yeah, that one was a charitable donation, bit of a pilot project to see about how they’d do in a healthcare environment. Can’t get sick of course, so you can see why that’d be tempting,” Ed answered, although considering that Google had been running the receptionist’s desk, Abe suspected his bedside manner hadn’t matched up there. Or maybe it had something to do with the “incidents” that doctor mentioned. “Scientist who made them kept one to help in the lab, and I hear that big studio downtown managed to snatch one up. The institute probably took the last one, if I had to guess, cause I ain’t heard anything else about it.”
“Impressive that you were able to make your own version so soon,” Abe said, fishing.
But it was Bing who took the bait and said, “One of my creators used to work in the lab, until that bogus institute let him go. But I’m not just a copy of that defective Google, I’m an improvement.”
“Yeah you are,” Ed said, slapping him on the shoulder and then wincing. “Remind me to have a talk about that extra padding on your frame.”
A bright tone came from Bing’s chest and he straightened slightly as he said, “I will remind you to have a talk about the extra padding. Is 2 AM an acceptable time for this reminder?”
“No, why would I—” Ed, remembering that there was someone else there, stopped himself and cleared his throat. “Just remind me next time I’m in the warehouse.”
“Understood,” Bing said, a second tone coming before he “relaxed” into his standard posture.
“Could I meet this creator?” Abe asked, and almost immediately Ed tried to change the subject.
It took a bit more questioning, and managing to get Bing on his own while Ed ran to the other side of the store to grab some gadget he had convinced himself the hunter would love to buy, but Abe gradually gathered that when Bing said his creator used to work in the lab, he actually meant said guy used to take out the trash and may have “acquired” a few copies of Google’s design before he was “let go at ultimate speed,” which meant that he knew pretty much nothing that could help Abe.
Disappointing, but at least Abe was walking out with more info than when he walked in, and with the same amount of money in his pockets despite Ed Edgar’s best efforts. He even had an address for the lab the Google quartet came out of, but considering it was technically Institute property now he somehow doubted he could just walk up and start asking questions without getting more attention than he’d want right now.
It was something to consider at least, as Abe once again parked his car just far enough away from the clinic to not draw suspicion while he kept watch on the entrance. By the time he got there, it was already growing darker by the second despite the early hour, and despite the fact that a full moon tonight meant he should have been looking forward to a bright night to work with. Something that Abe should have noticed, but he was too focused on the settings of his camera to pay attention to the clouds gathering overhead until the first raindrops began to patter against his windshield.
The hunter swore under his breath and hastily moved his car a few spots closer to the clinic to make sure he would still have a clear line of sight through the rain that quickly escalated from a drizzle to a downpour. He turned off his headlights just in time, as a car pulled up in front of the clinic and sat there just long enough for him to roll down his window and get a good shot.
His camera clicked multiple times, catching the license plate of the car and the three men who jumped out and huddled around the front door while the doctor hastily fumbled with his keys. The light came on in the clinic and Abe managed to catch one or two more shots before the door shut behind them and blocked his view.
He sighed and rolled up his window, left arm soaked but hoping that the ambient streetlight plus the light from inside the building would be enough to get at least a couple of them to turn out okay despite the lack of flash.
Before he could take a look, a different kind of flash lit the street.
Seven seconds later, the boom of thunder followed and, despite the warning flash of lightning, Abe still flinched, the familiar pain in his chest a dragging weight against his pounding heart.
Maybe the storm would pass soon, if he could just wait it out—
There was a second flash of lightning, and Abe’s car started in the space between it and the following rumble of thunder.
Not like he could hope to get close enough to see anything tonight, Abe lied to himself as he drove back to his office, accelerating just that much faster with each new round of thunder and lightning. There would always be other chances.
Whether that was true or not was something he could care less about in the moment, as he hurried into his office mere minutes later and immediately shut his blinds to the rain hitting his windows. Never one to bother much with music, he still found a familiar album and turned on his record player loud enough to drown out the noise outside. If anyone was trying to get work done in the neighboring offices, they apparently knew better than to come by and complain, or just weren’t loud enough to make themselves heard.
At least he had plenty of practice in drowning out painful memories, Abe thought to himself as he pulled an emergency drink out of one of his desk drawers and poured the first glass of many. Not as much in actually dealing with them, but taking care of the person who caused them in the first place seemed like as good a place to start as any.
If he could just find a way to get to him.
((End of Part 10. Thanks again for reading, and sorry if this one felt all over the place. I may have written that whole “possibly” bit when I realized I had Abe going down way too many rabbit holes on something the reader knows the answer to already, and I seriously can’t wait until everyone’s finally on the same page and confused together. XD
Link to Part 11: First Moon.
Tagging: @silver-owl413 @skyewardlight @withjust-a-bite @blackaquokat @catgirlwarrior @neverisadork @luna1350 @oh-so-creepy @weirdfoxalley @95fangirl @lilalovesinternet-l @thepoolofthedead @a-bit-dapper @randomartdudette @geekymushroom @cactipresident @hotcocoachia @purple-anxiety-blog @shyinspiredartist @avispate @missksketch @autumnrambles @authorracheljoy @liafoxyfox ))
#markiplier#fanfiction#detective abe#monster hunter au#ed edgar#bing iplier#silver bullets#abe didn't expect this case to throw up so many unwanted memories#it's almost like there's some kind of connection to what happened at the house#but that would just be ridiculous right?
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If requests are still open, May i request a Drabble to where Forsyth is having too much at it with the food in Alms convoy. (Especially during battle) That he soon ends up to a point where he can no longer support his terms of moving and having python sticking around to just rather tease and help him out. Thanks! ^^
War and everything that came with it was difficult enough, but with the Rigelians having collected so much of the Zofian people’s hard earned food for themselves, and the decline of the Kingdom’s lands on account of losing Mila’s protection, it was made even worse by the Deliverance’s lack of rations. It was rare that they didn’t have to limit what people took from the convoy, and more often than not, someone was set up to guard what little they had -- just in case.
Forsyth had served plenty of hours as a guard for the convoy; not just to safeguard their food, but their weapons and armor as well. If they didn’t protect their supplies, and one of their clashes with the Empire destroyed or otherwise lost them, the Deliverance would be dealt a final death blow. It was a job that he took seriously, even if he would have preferred to be on the field of battle with Sir Clive and Alm. There wasn’t much notoriety to be won from staying towards the rear to guard the supplies, but there was still a knightly honor to protecting the continued survival of his comrades in this way.
Python, of course, didn’t share the same views. Whenever it was his turn to play guard, Forsyth often caught him napping or simply not staying vigilant. And, when confronted about his lack of enthusiasm for the work, would blithely state that they had never had their supplies targeted -- and why would they, when they had so little?
It was aggravating, but it wasn’t really anything new. Forsyth was happy to jump to Clive’s or Alm’s orders, and Python was...less so. It hardly mattered, if it came down to him covering for his old friend’s shifts on guard, he would do so for the good of the Deliverance!
It was easy enough at first. Forsyth was determined to show his strengths -- be it in battle, or elsewhere. He patrolled and frequently double checked their supplies, he even maintained the weaponry and armor that they had in reserves when he had the time. It kept him busy and on task for quite a while, but, eventually, the boredom started to get to him. And, what made the boredom worse, was the gnawing hunger that came with being stuck with an unreliable food source and being forced to remain by that food but unable to have any of it. It took a great deal of his willpower to keep himself on task.
However, one day, Forsyth caved -- much to his great shame.
It hadn’t been much, truthfully. Just a bit of dry bread to fill his achingly empty stomach. It had felt good in the moment -- it had been tough to swallow down on its own, just a step above stale, but a drizzling of honey had made it easier to wolf down. Despite it only being a mouthful or two, it felt like the bread took up so much space in his belly -- of course, some of this was due to a lack of regular eating, but also the building guilt of taking something that had not been rationed out to him. It didn’t take long, Forsyth stewing in his guilt for several hours as he stood guard, for him to think of a way to replace what he had taken. A hunter he was not, but he’d read in a book somewhere about trapping techniques, and vowed to teach himself this skill in order to pay back what he had unrightfully taken.
It took him over a week, but he managed to catch himself a rabbit to add to the stock of food they had. It had been scrawny, but it was something all the same. He hadn’t really thought of keeping up the habit of trapping; it was hard to set up and check them when they were on the move, and with the odd changes in the land, there weren’t as many animals around to easily hunt. But, it seemed that someone else had taken notice of what he had done, as when he went to tally up everything one evening, there were some additions. A couple of fruit, a few small birds. It was small things, things found as they marched on from place to place. Still, it was odd, but Forsyth kept it to himself in case him bringing it up to anyone else might scare the mysterious procurer off.
It was more important that they have more supplies than it was to go off trumpeting about this anyway.
And if he swiped one of the fruits, popping it into his mouth easily, it was also not spoken of.
Things went on as such. Every week or so, Forsyth would find more and more getting added to their stores of food -- most notably when he was scheduled to be on guard duty. Whoever was behind this had an obvious motive of getting his attention. Upon first realizing this, he stubbornly avoided any of the food. But, it was hard to avoid the temptation forever when it was right there, begging to be taken and practically gift wrapped just for him. He fought off the urge to sneak food for as long as he could, but once again, the bite of hunger had him nicking some of the smaller morsels that he could quickly and cleanly gobble down without much fear of their disappearance being noticed.
This was, of course, a slippery slope. One or two small things turned into half of something a bit bigger, and then all of that slightly bigger thing, which evolved into him simply taking whatever additional and non-reported food items suddenly appeared when he checked.
It was a guilty pleasure in every sense of the phrase. Guilt for taking more than his fair share, but pleasure from how the food tasted and filled up his growling stomach. And it didn’t take long for that temporary full stomach to start developing into something more…
While Forsyth had never been incredibly muscular, he also hadn’t been scrawny either. However, this very middle of the road physique made it very obvious that all the extra food he was getting into wasn’t being worked off.
His face had filled out a little bit, the hint of a double chin coming in. His shoulders had rounded with soft pudge that lead into pillowy arms, the soft flesh of his upper arms squishing out of his short-sleeved tunic like overstuffed sausages from their stressed casings. His chest had softened and plumped up significantly, giving Forsyth embarrassingly hand-overfilling moobs that would peak out the edges of his breastplate -- at least, back when he could still get his fitted armor on. While he wasn’t as heavily armored as some, his climbing weight made it near impossible to wear most of it regardless.
Even without his growing chest taking up space, Forsyth’s belly had gone from lean to something quite tremendous. The more food he snuck away into his stomach, the more fat accumulated on his middle and the hungrier he got; an endless cycle of stuffing himself with the growing amount of extra food in their supplies. This only caused his stomach to balloon further out as the days wore on. Where it had first started off as just a slight pooch to his middle, it quickly grew large enough to make it impossible to wear his breastplate and severely stressed his clothes, and it only kept growing from there. His gut was marred with angry red marks from his burgeoning growth, his belly button deep enough to sink your fingers in to the knuckle; its sheer mass swayed in a chaotic rhythm whenever he lumbered about, meaty slaps sounding from his underbelly as it smacked against his thighs.
The one thing he could be somewhat thankful for was that his lower half hadn’t been hit too hard by his gorging. While his ass had certainly bumped up in size, it wasn’t anywhere near as noticeable as his middle or even his tits. His thighs were chunky and they brushed up against each other whenever he moved, but their malleable bulk didn’t get too much in the way.
Really, the big problem was simply how heavy he was, and how utterly out of shape he’d managed to become. It was a complete shame, and Forsyth couldn’t even be bothered to hide his embarrassment as he’d practically eaten himself clear out of his dream to become a knight on the same level as Sir Clive. He still did what he could to aid the Deliverance on the battlefield, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. He’d huff and puff at the back of their forces, rarely if ever managing to take out any of the enemy, but still plodding along as best he could for what little was left of his honor and pride.
Honestly, the worst of trying to fight at his size came when he simply hit his limit of endurance, his weight dragging him down to the dusty earth with a gasp and a wheeze. Coming to his aid had been none other than Python, his aim true as ever as he shot the Empire soldier who had been looking to capitalize on Forsyth’s collapse.
“Hey there, big fella, need some cover?” Python drawled as he idly checked to make sure the soldier was down for good, tacking on a slightly snide, “A whole lotta cover, nowadays, huh?”
Forsyth would have argued with him, but he was out of breath and awfully hungry; they’d been marching for some time before this skirmish even broke out, and he’d not had time to fill up on his usual breakfast staples. “Spare me your attitude, Python,” he huffed out, leaning back in order to suck in larger breaths and not feel like his gut was crushing his lungs as he did so.
Python merely gave him a smarmy sort of look, posture lazy as he surveyed the battle pushing on without them.
“Y’know, they probably wouldn’t even notice if the two of us went back to camp. I’ve done...most of my share of the work out here, and you sure seem like you need to sit your fluffy self down and have a rest,” the bowman continued, already sauntering around his porcine friend’s side to shove at his -- soft, plush, squishy -- back like he was some sort of farm animal in need of a little motivation to get up and moving.
Forsyth was beside himself with how that fact wasn’t too far off now.
“We cannot just leave our comrades on their own--” he began to chide irately, grunting and making all sorts of ungodly sounds as he struggled his way back to his aching feet with Python’s less than helpful help. Forsyth was sure the man had prompted all this just in order to watch him flounder about like a ridiculously fat fish out of water.
“Ah, don’t worry about them. They’re totally fine without us,” Python hummed, rummaging around for a quick moment in order to produce something he’d been saving for just the right moment -- which this seemed to be. A sweet, sugar dusted berry tart that he’d haggled for in the last town over. He carefully waved the treat in Forsyth’s face, watching amusement as the green clad man almost started to drool at the mere sight of the little sweetie.
Check and mate. He could spend the rest of the time watching Forsyth stuff his chubby face and not do a lick of work back at base camp while the others cleaned up on the battlefield.
A real win-win in Python’s opinion.
#fattyemblem#male weight gain#male wg#chubby!forsyth#this feels like its probably wildly ooc#but i still havent gotten back into echoes & i barely got to see much of python or forsyth whoops#but i hope its enjoyable regardless!!!
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let me be your haven - chapter 4 [celebration and realizations]
When Natsu runs into five-year-old Sting and Rogue at the Grand Magic Games, he thinks they’re cute kids with a serious case of hero worship. But when it turns out that they’re both Dragon Slayers and they belong to the ruthless Sabertooth Guild, something doesn’t feel quite right. Natsu and Gray quickly grow protective of the two little kids, and they do their best to build a relationship with them to try to keep them safe and figure out what exactly is going on at Sabertooth.
Chapter Summary: Sabertooth and the kids disappear after the Games, and Natsu and Gray search for them everywhere. When they finally find them, they get to help Sting celebrate his sixth birthday.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Relationships: Natsu/Gray, Rogue/Sting
Characters: Natsu, Gray, Sting, Rogue, Lucy, Erza, Yukino
-----
Natsu and Gray didn’t see Sting and Rogue again for nearly six months.
The morning after the ball, they headed back to Sabertooth’s inn, but everyone was gone. The entire team had disappeared overnight, heading back to their mysterious guild hall that Natsu couldn’t find, no matter how hard he looked. They’d spent weeks after the games searching for it, but either nobody knew where it was, or nobody was willing to say.
Natsu and Gray refused to give up, though, and started taking jobs that were further and further from Magnolia, stopping in every unfamiliar town with the hope of finding the guild. Natsu wasn’t sure what he was planning to do once he found Sabertooth, but everything in him told him that he had to try.
~
“Where are we?” Natsu asked as they walked through the towering gates of the latest unfamiliar city. He tipped his head back as he stared up at the enormous marble statues that lined the street. Each of them showed a mage in battle-stance, hands raised to the sky.
“Ciralto,” Lucy said, frowning at the map in her hands. “I think. Either that or Therea. That storm really threw us off track.”
Natsu hummed in agreement as he looked around. Their latest quest had taken them further from Magnolia than any of them had been before, and the trip there had lasted nearly two weeks. They’d completed everything successfully and had been halfway back to Magnolia when a massive storm had derailed their train.
That had been two days ago. They’d decided to walk for a while – it was spring, and once the storm cleared, it was nice enough to make camp in the woods. They’d failed to take into consideration how far west they’d gone, though, and now none of them had any idea where they were.
“If we find an inn, I’m sure they can help us out,” Erza suggested. Her luggage clattered along the cobblestones behind them. She turned to Natsu and raised her eyebrow knowingly, adding, “Or perhaps there’s a guild here?”
Natsu nodded, avoiding her questioning gaze as he continued to take in their surroundings. The road from the front gate lead down a wide street that was flanked on either side by tall apartments. Eventually it opened into a market, with roads branching off in every direction. A large building sat at the far end of the town, with a statue on the roof that Natsu couldn’t quite make out.
“We can ask around at the market,” Lucy said, folding the map and tucking it into her pocket. She hefted the bag on her shoulder and yawned, rubbing her eyes. “I need a bath and a nap.”
“You are smelling pretty—”
“Natsu Dragneel, don’t you dare finish that sentence.”
Natsu laughed, dancing out of the way of Lucy’s half-hearted smack to his shoulder. He drifted toward Gray, brushing the back of his hand and waiting for Gray to slide their fingers together. He could see the slight pink flush on Gray’s cheeks – even after six months together, Natsu knew that Gray still felt shy and uncertain about their relationship sometimes.
“C’mon,” Natsu said, giving Gray a small smile and tugging on his hand. “Let’s go find Lucy her bath.”
The market was packed. Vendors shouted from all around them, advertising everything from magic trinkets to exotic cheeses. People from all across Fiore were milling about, talking and eating and shopping.
“Maybe that way,” Erza suggested, pointing down one of the roads that looked like it led to an area with pubs and restaurants.
“Wait a sec,” Lucy interrupted, shading her eyes from the sun as she peered through the crowd. “I think that’s Yukino.”
“Really?” Excitement flared up in Natsu’s chest – if Yukino was here, maybe Sting and Rogue were, too. He squeezed Gray’s hands as he stood on his tiptoes, scanning the crowd for Yukino’s silver-white hair.
“Yukino!” Lucy shouted, waving over the crowd. Natsu didn’t see her, but he almost immediately heard an answering shout.
“Natsu!”
All Natsu had time to register was a flash of blond curls barrelling through the crowd before a pair of arms were wrapped around his waist. Then Sting was looking up at him with his bright blue eyes and a gap-toothed smile.
“Look! I losted a tooth ‘cause I’m six now and big!” Sting opened his mouth wider to show Natsu. Then he turned and grabbed Rogue’s hand, pulling them closer. “Rogue didn’t yet but they’re still five. Orga saided my sharp teeths was fangs and they’re gonna fall out too but I tolded him no ‘cause that’s my dragon teeths.” He poked at one of his pointy incisors and grinned at Natsu proudly.
“You’re right about that,” Natsu reassured Sting, crouching down in front of him. The anxiety he’d been carrying around since the Games lifted a little when Sting threw his arms around Natsu’s neck and hugged him tightly. He pressed a kiss to Sting’s curls, holding him tightly for a second before reaching out to Rogue. They sidled up for a shy hug, then shuffled back to Gray and leaned against his leg.
“I was six yesterday,” Sting said proudly as he pulled back from Natsu. “It was my birthday.”
“Wow,” Natsu said, “You’re getting super big! Did you do something fun?”
Sting’s expression darkened for a second as he shook his head. Then he looked back at Natsu with a small frown and asked, “Did you come visit ‘cause it was my birthday?”
Natsu froze, heart aching at the tentative hope in Sting’s eyes.
“Of course we did,” Gray interrupted, crouching down next to Natsu and holding his arms out. Sting threw himself into Gray’s arms for a hug.
“How did you know?” he asked when he finally let go.
“Magic,” Natsu said quickly. “Just like how we knew where to find you.” He looked up to see Yukino giving him a soft, grateful smile from where she was standing next to Lucy. “You ready to go do something fun?”
“Yeah!” Sting bounced up and down. “What we can do?”
“That’s up to you, bud,” Natsu said. “We can do whatever you want.”
~
Yukino was happy to help them find an inn.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said to Natsu once all the bags were settled into their rooms. “I wanted to take him somewhere yesterday, but Jiemma insisted on training.” She gestured to Sting, who was busy telling Lucy an animated story about bumblebees while Rogue sat on one of the chairs, kicking their feet back and forth. “They missed you. Sting hasn’t stopped talking about you since the games.”
“We missed them too,” Natsu admitted. Part of him wanted to ask why Yukino hadn’t tried to contact him and Gray, but the mix of exhaustion and uncertainty on her face made him change his mind. “Are you okay?” he asked her. “At Sabertooth, I mean. I know it’s not my business, but it just seems...” He hesitated, not sure how to word his question.
“Like I don’t fit with the guild?” Yukino suggested with a small smile. Natsu nodded and she sighed. “I needed something – need something – that they can help me get. And then...” She looked over at Sting and Rogue with a fond smile.
“They’re lucky to have you,” Natsu said. He chewed his lip. “When did they join the guild? What happened?”
Yukino shook her head. “They were there before I joined. About a year ago.”
“They were four?” Natsu asked incredulously. “Where are they from? What happened to their parents?”
Yukino shook her head sadly as she watched Sting climb up on the bed and start to bounce on it. Gray, who was standing nearby, raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head. Sting pouted, then immediately launched himself at Gray, who dropped the clothes he was folding and caught Sting at the last second.
“They don’t talk about it,” Yukino said. “Well, Rogue doesn’t talk about much as it is. Sting talks. A lot.” Natsu laughed. “He won’t talk about them, though. He just says they’re gone. I don’t know where Jiemma found them, and neither does anyone else. And there’s no way I’m going to ask.”
She shivered and rubbed at her arms. Lucy appeared beside her and touched her shoulder.
“You look exhausted,” Lucy said. Yukino laughed and gestured to the kids.
“Let us take them,” Natsu said. He turned to watch Gray, who was making faces as Sting poked his cheeks. “We’ll keep them safe and give you a bit of a break.”
Yukino looked hesitant but eventually nodded. “Sting, Rogue,” she called, crouching down and motioning for them to come over. Sting squirmed down from Gray’s arms, grabbing Rogue’s hand as he scooted over to Yukino. She smiled and wiped at a streak of something on his cheek. “I want you to behave when you’re with Gray and Natsu,” she said, sternly but not unkindly. “What does that mean?”
“Use our manners!” Sting shouted. He immediately looked embarrassed and added, quietly, “Use calm voices, an’ say please and thank you, an’ ask for things before touching them, an’ hold hands when we have to, an’ look before crossing the street. No running.”
Yukino gave Sting a fond smile and ruffled his curls, then turned to look at Rogue.
“No disappearing,” they said quietly, fidgeting and looking at the floor. “Shadows aren’t to play in.”
“Good.” Yukino leaned in and kissed both their foreheads, then stood up and gestured at Natsu and Gray. “Off you go,” she said as Sting bounced excitedly, grinning at Natsu. “Be good and have fun.”
~
“There is no way in hell that I am going on that thing.”
Natsu stood at the entrance to the fairground, staring at the tilt-a-whirl with a nauseated expression on his face. “I just about died on the last train we took.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Gray said, rolling his eyes as he shifted Rogue on his shoulders.
“Please, Uncle Natsu?” Sting said, looking up at them both with wide eyes. The casual addition of ‘Uncle’ to Natsu’s name felt more important than any title he’d ever claimed. “I never beened to here before.”
“We’re not supposed to,” Rogue said, shaking their head. “Master said it was for babies.”
Sting’s expression suddenly turned serious and he took a step back from the gate. His grip on Natsu’s hand tightened as his excited expression turned to a frown.
“I’m not a baby,” he said, staring at a puddle on the ground. “I’m strong.”
Natsu shared a quick glance with Gray, whose jaw had tightened in anger. He bit down his first instinct – which was to storm over to the guild and punch Jiemma in the face – and crouched down in front of Sting instead.
“You’re right,” Natsu said. “You are strong. Stronger than me, even.” Sting gave him a dubious look. “I’m too scared to go on those rides,” Natsu said, pointing at the tilt-a-whirl. “But you’re not. You two are both super brave.”
“You’re scared?” Sting asked, eyes wide.
Natsu nodded. “Yup.” His stomach churned as a rollercoaster roared overhead, filled with screaming children. “It makes me sick. But if you wanna go with Uncle Gray, I can go get us some snacks. How’s that sound?”
Sting brightened again and he looked up at Gray. “Really?”
Gray nodded. “Sure, bud,” he said. He held out his hand to take Sting’s. “C’mon, let’s go get in line.”
Natsu gave Gray a grateful look, then leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Thanks,” he said quietly as he ran his hand down Gray’s arm. “I’ll get you a snowcone.”
“You’d better,” Gray muttered, tipping his head and kissing Natsu quickly before nudging Sting toward the rides.
~
Natsu spent the rest of the afternoon on the sidelines, watching Gray as he took the boys from ride to ride. There was a surprising ease to his movements, and Natsu couldn’t help the small smile that stole across his face as he watched the three of them interact. For as long as Natsu had known him, Gray hadn’t been particularly interested in children. He had a theory that it was because Gray hadn’t had much of a childhood and didn’t know how to interact with other kids, but watching him with Sting and Rogue made Natsu’s heart happy. Gray looked so comfortable with them – all smiles and silly faces and forehead kisses.
Luckily, Sting and Rogue seemed like they were too young to have inherited the Dragon Slayer’s motion sickness, which meant that they wanted to try every ride. It was almost two hours later by the time they reconvened with Natsu for lunch.
“Where do they get all this energy?” Gray asked as he slumped to the ground and leaned back against a tree. Sting and Rogue were playing tag, with Sting shouting at Rogue for cheating whenever they appeared behind him from the shadows. “Were we this rowdy when we were kids?”
Natsu settled down next to Gray. “I lit the guild on fire when I was like… a year older than Sting. And when you tried to put it out, you froze Erza to the wall.”
“Oh shit, I forgot about that.” Gray laughed. “I guess we were trouble, too.” Natsu snorted as he tipped his head against Gray’s shoulder. He nudged Gray’s hand with his and felt his cheeks warm as Gray’s fingers laced with his.
“This is nice,” he said softly as he watched Sting scramble up the stairs to the playground slide. His blond curls were wild, and half of his face was sticky with the snowcone he’d devoured in seconds. “They both seem happy.”
“So do you,” Gray said softly. “I know you were worried about them.”
“I still am,” Natsu admitted. Sting yelped in surprise when Rogue pushed him down the slide, then burst out laughing when he tumbled off the end into the sand. “What kind of asshole won’t let a six-year-old celebrate his birthday?”
“One that’s obsessed with power.” Gray’s voice was bitter. “They talked a little in the lineups – he makes them spar. And I know we fought when we were little but not this little. Plus, that was ‘cause we wanted to, not because we had to. It’s fucked up.”
Natsu nodded. They both fell silent for a while, watching the dappled shadows from the afternoon sun creep across the grass. Eventually, Sting and Rogue ran back over to them, both out of breath with pink cheeks and wide smiles.
“I’m hungry,” Sting announced, plopping himself down in Gray’s lap.
“Already?” Natsu held out his arm to Rogue, who settled in between him and Gray. “We just had lunch!”
“I’m always hungry,” Sting said seriously. “’cause I’m growing so I can be big like you!”
Natsu laughed. “What about you?” he asked Rogue, who ducked their head as they snuggled closer to him. “Are you also a bottomless pit?” They nodded.
“What’s a bottoms pit?” Sting asked.
“You are,” Natsu said, poking Sting’s stomach. He giggled and curled up against Gray. “Should we go get another hot dog?”
“And some ice cream?” Sting asked hopefully.
“And some ice cream,” Natsu said, leaning in and kissing Sting’s forehead.
~
They met Yukino outside the Sabertooth guild hall just before sunset. Rogue was snoring softly, fast asleep in Gray’s arms, and Sting was trailing behind Natsu and rubbing his eyes.
“This place is pretentious as hell,” Gray muttered as they both looked up, taking in the enormous statue that dominated the roof of the building. Each tooth in the snarling maw of the tiger was almost as tall as they were.
“What’s tenshus?” Sting asked sleepily.
“Nothing you have to worry about,” Natsu reassured him.
“’kay.”
Natsu waved as soon as he saw Yukino. She was standing just outside the gate that enclosed the guild hall, occasionally looking over her shoulder toward the door. The anxious energy that seemed to follow her everywhere was evident.
“Were you good?” she asked, smiling when she saw Sting.
“We did all the rides,” he said, looking up at Gray. “Uncle Gray comed with us ‘cause Uncle Natsu gets sick and didn’t wanna puke, and then we got ice cream and played tag at the park, but Rogue cheated ‘cause they kept using the shadows and it’s not fair.” He looked up at Rogue’s sleeping form with a small pout on his face.
“Did you say thank you?” Yukino asked with raised eyebrows.
“Thank you!” Sting said quickly, hugging Gray’s leg. Gray shifted Rogue onto one hip, then reached down and ruffled Sting’s hair.
“You’re welcome, bud.”
“Thank you, Uncle Natsu,” Sting said, turning to Natsu with a sleepy smile. “An’ thank you for Rogue ‘cause they’re sleeping but they always say to use manners ‘cause it’s polite.” He hesitated, looking over at Yukino, then back at Natsu. “Are you going away again?”
The words were laced with disappointment and Natsu’s heart nearly broke. He knelt down in front of Sting and pulled him in for a tight hug.
“We do have to go back to Fairy Tail,” he said regretfully, stomach twisting when Sting hugged him even tighter.
“I don’t want you to go.” Sting sniffled but didn’t let go. “You leaved for a long time and I missed you. You can come back for Rogue’s birthday?”
“Of course, sweetheart,” Natsu said, glancing up at Gray, who looked as heartbroken as he felt. “We’re gonna come back and visit as much as we can, okay?” He kissed the top of Sting’s head and held him close.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“’kay.” Sting pulled back and rubbed at his face with his sleeve. His expression was so solemn for someone so little, and Natsu suddenly felt a desperate need to see him smile again.
“Guess what?” Natsu said, reaching into his pocket. “I have a present for you.”
“A birthday present?”
“Yep.” Natsu pulled out a smooth metal ring that fit neatly in Sting’s palm. In the center was a dragon carved from pewter, well-worn from Natsu’s thumb rubbing over the small indent in the middle. The dragon spun inside the ring, catching the soft moonlight and giving it a silvery glow.
“Whoa. It’s for me?”
“Yep. My dad made that for me when I was really little.” Natsu’s throat tightened, but the soft ache of grief was tempered by the bright joy in Sting’s eyes. “I use it to help me focus when my brain is messy.”
“I have a messy brain too.”
“I know you do.”
Sting gripped the ring tightly in his hand and threw himself at Natsu again, hugging him tightly. “I love you,” he said in Natsu’s ear.
Natsu bit the inside of his cheek to keep back the tears that suddenly threatened to spill. “I love you too,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. “We both do, very, very much.”
Rogue, who had woken up when Gray had handed them to Yukino, mumbled a sleepy, “Me too.”
“We should get you two to bed.” Yukino said gently. “It’s pretty late.”
“The moon is awake so we have to sleep,” Sting agreed, pointing up at the sky. Then he looked at Natsu sadly as he whispered, “Bye.”
“It’s not goodbye,” Gray reassured Sting, crouching down next to Natsu and hugging Sting. “My grampa used to tell me something whenever we visited him and I didn’t want to go home.”
“What he said?” Sting asked, frowning at Gray.
“Instead of saying goodbye, in my language we say tsak’hasen. It means ‘see you soon.’ And we will, because we’ll be back for Rogue’s birthday, right?”
Sting nodded sleepily, then let go of Gray and reached up to take Yukino’s hand.
“Rogue’s birthday is next month,” she said quietly as Sting shuffled closer to her. “So I guess we’ll see you then?”
Gray and Natsu both stood up, sliding their hands together as Natsu nodded. “We’ll come back as much as we can,” he said.
“Thank you,” Yukino said softly as she turned to head back to the guild. “You mean so much to them.”
Yukino and the kids were in the doorway to the guild when Sting turned back around and waved at them, still clutching the dragon talisman in his fist. “Tsak’hasen!” he shouted. “Tep kse go ka’en te.”
Gray stared as the door swung closed, then turned to Natsu with wide eyes. “That means ‘I’ll miss you,’” he said slowly.
Something clicked in Natsu’s mind. He leaned into Gray, pressing his nose against Gray’s neck and inhaling the familiar blend of fresh snow and winterberries – the same scent that blended with Sting and Rogue’s, that he’d been trying to puzzle out for weeks.
“Holy shit,” he murmured as he pulled back and stared at Gray. “They’re from Isvan.”
#fairy tail#gratsu#stingue#gray fullbuster#natsu dragneel#sting eucliffe#rogue cheney#lucy heartfilia#erza scarlet#yukino agria#ft fanfic#fairy tail fanfiction#fanfic#new chapter#update#let me be your haven#my fic
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Start Over- Julie Ertz Imagine
(Y/N) POV:
“I am not doing this.” I said firmly as my agent stared at me.
“You’re not really in any position to say no.” she said as I shook my head.
“Look, I will do literally anything else. Just don’t make me do this.” I said swinging my arms around to put full emphasis on my words.
“You haven’t left us with many options. I told you months ago that if you didn’t calm down then something like this could happen.” I rolled my eyes as I shook my head.
“You do realize what you’re asking me right?” I asked her as she sighed.
“I realize how uncomfortable this might be, but I am telling you that there is no other option right now. You need to do some serious damage control on your image, and this is the fastest way.” I looked down as she started going into the details for the arrangement.
“How long do I have to do this?” I asked feeling exhausted from the emotional overload I was going through.
“Until things have got a little better.” She said as I nodded my head. “It won’t be that bad. There was a time you guys were friends.”
“Yeah well…that was before.” I said as she shot me a sympathetic look. I left the meeting feeling the anxiety begin to set in as I considered what the next couple months would look like for me.
I got back to my apartment and immediately collapsed onto my couch deciding that a nap would be great right about now. The knock on my door a few minutes later told me that a nap was not in the cards as I stood and headed over to answer it.
I felt my blood run cold and my heart clench in the most painful way as I stared at the blonde in front of me. She shot me a sad smile as I turned and walked back in my apartment.
“I brought you some doughnuts from that place down the street. I know how much you like them.” She said setting the bag on the counter. I laid back down on the couch as I watched her stand there awkwardly for a few moments. She then moved to sit in the chair that was placed next to the couch. “I know this situation isn’t ideal but I-”
“Why did you agree to it?” I asked as she stared at me for a moment.
“They said it was the fastest way to fix things for you and I wanted to help.” She admitted as I nodded my head. “I do care about you.”
I scoffed at her words as she shot me a painful look. I didn’t want to hear this as I closed my eyes trying to focus on anything else other than her.
“I do.” She said after a moment as I shook my head.
“This is literally the last thing I want to hear.” I said as she looked down.
“So, let’s talk about something else…how about we discuss this arrangement?”
“sure.” I said unenthusiastically as she sighed.
“You do realize you’re going to have to pretend to like me right…” she said as I stared at her. There was a time that I never had to pretend to love her. It came so naturally that I couldn’t imagine living in a world where I didn’t love her. “Let’s talk boundaries.”
“What did you have in mind?” I asked deciding that I would cooperate to the best of my ability because I wasn’t really looking to fight right now.
“So…you know maybe usual couple stuff. We could just play it day by day and if either of us gets uncomfortable or anything we can just talk about it.”
“That sounds fair.” I said as she gave me a small smile. I nodded my head as she bit her lip.
“I know I am the last person you want to be doing this with…but I hope that we can get through this as friendly as we can.”
“Me too.” I mumbled as she nodded her head. She stayed for another few minutes before leaving my apartment. I felt a little relief at finally being alone. I don’t know how I am going to survive the next few months.
The next time I ran into the blonde was at practice two days later. She smiled at me as I approached her, Moe, Casey, and Danielle.
“Don’t you just look chipper…” Moe joked as I scowled at the midfielder. She chuckled as I grabbed JJ’s arm pulling her to the side.
“We have to go out tonight.” I said as she nodded her head.
“I know. I was thinking we could go to that Mexican place that’s like two blocks from my apartment.” She said as I nodded my head.
“Okay that’s fine.” I said as we both then focused completely on practice.
The rest of the day seemed to fly before I was on my way to meet Julie. I could feel the nerves start to settle in just a little. I shouldn’t be nervous at all, but this felt like a really big deal. My heart was pounding as I entered the restaurant and saw the blonde. She looked absolutely stunning as I sat across from her. She grinned at me causing my heart to skip a beat.
“You look great.” She said with a smile as I nodded my head.
“Yeah you look good too.” I said taking a sip of water. The night was filled with mostly light conversation about nonsensical things.
“If I didn’t know we were going to have to do this again, I would say we should.” She joked as I smiled a little. This night wasn’t awful, but I still felt super tense. I don’t think that’s gone unnoticed by her. It wasn’t long before we left the restaurant and started the walk back to her apartment.
“So, what day are you leaving for camp?” she asked as I glanced at her.
“Two days. You?”
“Same.” I nodded my head as I thought about the upcoming camp and how interesting it would be now that I was back to being involved with the midfielder.
“Do you think we will ever be friends again?” she asked abruptly as we stopped by her building.
“I don’t know.” I said honestly as she gave me a sad look. “I wish I could tell you I was over what happened but I’m not.”
“I know. For what its worth, I am sorry.” She said as I nodded my head.
“No offense. That doesn’t mean anything to me.” I said as she looked down at the ground.
“That’s understandable. Goodnight (Y/N).” she said turning and walking into the building.
Luckily, I didn’t have to have any interaction with her until we got to camp. I walked into the room we would be sharing dropping my bags immediately and collapsing on the bed. We hadn’t spoken to each other for entirety of the trip mostly due to the presence of Alyssa and Moe. I’d never been more thankful for the pair than on this trip.
“I am going to go see Crystal.” JJ said as I nodded my head. I laid there for a moment until I sat up and set out on my own journey for my friends.
“That’s ridiculous.” Kelley exclaimed as she and Tobin were in a heated argument about something. Allie was laughing hysterically as I placed myself down next to Alex who gave me a smile. I listened to the two friends argue until Christen finally scolded them both and told them to let it go.
“What’s got you so down?” Kelley asked as I shrugged my shoulders.
“Same old bullshit.”
“Is it JJ?” Christen asked as I nodded my head. She gave me a sympathetic look as I looked away from her.
“Don’t you have to do that fake relationship thing with her?” Tobin asked as I nodded my head.
“I don’t know why you agreed to that.” Allie said as I glared at her. “I mean…if someone told me I had to do a fake relationship with the person who left me at the altar…”
“Allie…” Alex said as I stared at the midfielder with a half-glare. The midfielder shot me an apologetic look as I turned away from her.
“Sorry.”
“For the record, I didn’t agree to it. I wasn’t given a choice.” I said as they all nodded.
“I mean…your image is super important. JJ has one of the best ones out of all of us.” Kelley said as I nodded my head.
“I am very aware of that fact. I just…I don’t know how to pretend that everything is okay when all I want to do when I look at her is cry.” I admitted as Alex soothingly rubbed my back. “My life was much more uncomplicated before this.”
“When you were sleeping around and building more and more of a bad reputation.” Christen said as I rolled my eyes.
“Staying out late and showing up late to practice.” Kelley added as I groaned.
“What do you expect?” I asked looking at all of them. “I was left at the altar. She left me out of nowhere. I was alone. If you know what the proper thing to do in that situation is, then please tell me.”
“I think we all just worry that you are letting it ruin the life you could have.” Tobin said as I nodded my head.
“I know.” I said as Allie then changed the subject which I was grateful for.
The next couple weeks continued much the same. When I wasn’t at practice, I had to spend my free time with JJ. Though as time continued, it seemed to get a little easier fake dating her. We had yet to really speak about what happened between us before though I wasn’t too eager to talk about it. I could tell she wanted to though. I don’t know if I am ready for it though.
“Where do you want to go now?” JJ asked as I took another sip of my coffee. I shrugged my shoulders as I looked at my phone. My agent had been texting me about how things had already seemed to be getting better for me. “We could go to the zoo. Remember when we went there last?”
“I almost fell into the otter exhibit.” I laughed at the memory as she laughed along with me. “I just wanted to pet them.”
“You were trying to climb the glass.” She said in between laughs. I smiled at her as we started sharing more memories.
“Remember when we to try the cake and you almost threw up from the carrot cake?” she asked me as I shook my head.
“Why you let them bring me carrot cake I will never know…you know I hate it.” I said as she grinned at me.
“It was funny at the time. It wasn’t so funny when you weren’t talking to me the rest of that day.”
“Yeah…” I said as the reminder of our almost wedding creeped up on me. “Too bad we never got to eat that cake.”
“(Y/N)…” she said softly as I looked at her. She had a sad look on her face as I shook my head.
“No, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” I said as I stood up and moved to exit the building. The ride back to my apartment was silent as she followed me into the place.
“Are we gonna talk?” she asked me as I shrugged my shoulders.
“I don’t know.”
“(Y/N) please let me explain…” she said as I looked at her. I crossed my arms and motioned for her to continue. “I can’t say I am sorry enough for what I did. I know what I did was wrong, and I wish I could take it back, but I can’t.”
“You left me looking like an idiot in front of everyone.” I said as she gave me a pained look. “How could you do that to me? I loved you. I was ready to spend the rest of my life with you and you left me.”
“I was afraid.” She admitted as I stared at her. “I didn’t doubt that I loved you or that you were the one I want to be with. I was afraid you would change your mind though. It doesn’t make sense I know, but it made sense at the time. You weren’t exactly the most loyal person in relationships before I met you and I was scared you were going to hurt me.”
“So, you just thought you’d hurt me before I could potentially do it to you?” I asked as she nodded her head. “Well congrats….you broke my heart Jules.”
“I know. I wish I could go back and do things differently.”
“If you had these fears, why didn’t you ever thing to just talk to me about it?”
“I don’t know. I wish I had all the answers for you, but I don’t…” she said as I sighed and turned to face the window of my apartment. “I am so sorry. I don’t know it probably doesn’t mean anything, but I do love you. I have never once stopped loving you.”
I stood there staring out the window trying to gather my thoughts. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and pull her into my arms. To tell her that we would be okay, but I felt frozen in my spot. Could I trust her when she couldn’t trust me? This whole thing could have been avoided if she had just talked to me…but could I live my life without her?
“I love you too.” I said quietly as I turned towards her. Her head had snapped up to look at me with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “I can’t forget the past though.”
“I understand.” She said looking down and turning her body to walk away from me.
“Wait…” I said as she stopped and stared at me. “I can’t forget the past but maybe we could start over.”
“I would like that. A lot.” She said after a moment with a small smile on her face.
“I’m (Y/N).” I said holding my hand out to her as she smiled and took it.
“I’m Julie.” She said as I stared at her for a moment. Fuck it.
I pulled her towards me as our lips met for the first time since she had left me. Her hands got lost in my hair as mine tightened around her waist. We stood kissing for a moment dumping as much emotion into it as we could before air became a necessity.
“I think we’re going to be okay.” I said breathlessly as she gave me a small smile.
“I hope so.”
The End.
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Solangelo Fanfiction
This piece takes place starting at the end of Nico’s scene at the end of Blood of Olympus.
Main Characters: Will Solace and Nico DiAngelo
Nico’s encounter with Eros had cracked him wide open and left him feeling vulnerable and broken, forced to face his own reality and feelings, exposed in front of Jason; he was forced to share his darkest secret for a god’s amusement. Nico now knew he could trust Jason to keep it to himself, though, and he was beginning to realize that in order to crawl out of his self-constructed prison, his barriers first had to be torn down.
The feelings that had haunted him for so long—the shame, the fear, the denial—caused by the mentality of the 1940s he’d grown up in began to fade away.
He was no longer that scared little boy who had been enraptured by the presence of a powerful demigod, and now that he had finally confessed his past feelings to Percy, Nico felt that he could finally move forward.
Hades’s son made his way back down the hill to where Will was waiting for him, wearing scrubs, jeans, and a mischievous/crooked smile that made his heart skip a beat.
“Sorry I didn’t come visit you in the infirmary,” Nico said, wearing the hint of a smile.
“It’s alright, I forgive you,” Will Solace said, his mouth set tight but laughter in his eyes, like he was trying to stay mad at Nico and failing.
“You wanted me to stay there--”
“For at least three days. Doctor’s orders.” Will started to lead Nico back toward the infirmary.
“Really, I’m Fine,” Nico began, but then his knees buckled and Will hoisted him back up.
“Uh huh. Right. Let’s get you to a bed.”
Even after Coach Hedge’s nature magic/sports drink concoction, which had sustained Nico for a while, the arduous task of shadow-travelling the Athena Parthenos across the world had caught up with him again.
When Nico opened his eyes again, he was in the infirmary half sitting, half lying on a piece of furniture that was somewhere between a bed and a stretcher.
“Welcome back to the world of the living,” a familiar voice intoned, “have some ambrosia.”
Will sat on a chair beside the bed; the room of the infirmary he was in was long and lined with similar bed-stretchers, separated by white curtains that shimmered in different colors when they were moved.
Several other beds were occupied with demigods sporting now-relatively-minor injuries left over from the battle with Gaia and the monster army: a daughter of Hecate 2 beds over was glaring at her leg in a cast as if she was insulted by the inconvenience.
Nico turned back to Will, and noticed that beside the bed there was a small table with a baggie of ambrosia squares on it. Nico reached out to pick one up but encountered a familiar problem: his fingers passed right through the baggie and ambrosia, as if he was becoming one with the shadows permanently. His hand appeared fuzzy around the edges, as if he was dissolving.
“Uhh, maybe if I try again--”
Will frowned, then sighed. “This is what happens when you overextend yourself. Here, let me help you.” He picked up a square and held it out to feed Nico.
Nico leaned back. “What are you doing?”
“No arguing. Open up.” Solace said, his tone making it clear that he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Will took none of Nico’s shit. That was one of the things Nico found most endearing and annoying about him; no matter how hard the son of Hades tried to push him away, Will simply refused to let him.
Nico took the ambrosia, and after a few moments they looked back at his hand, which seemed to be coming back into sharper focus.
“You had me worried there, diAngelo,” Will said, smiling, and briefly gripped his hand to check if it was now solid. Day of the Dead skeletons tapped out a jig in Nico’s chest.
“You were worried...about me?” Nico said, still wrapping his mind around the fact that Will had wanted a death demigod to visit him in the infirmary.
“Get some sleep.” he said, closing the ziplock bag
“I’m not tired.”
“Well you will be in a second. CLOVIS,” he called out. The calf-like son of Morpheus appeared around the corner and Will told him “we’ve got another stubborn one,” throwing a teasing smile Nico’s way.
Clovis yawned. “I’m all over it,” he said, and--despite Nico’s protests--touched his forehead. The son of Hades drifted off into a deep sleep.
----------------------------------
Nico awoke feeling more rested than he had in weeks.
He quickly sat up, suddenly worried, because the last time he’d felt this rested, he’d been asleep for three days.
Nico stopped a passing Apollo healer.
“How long have I been out??”
The healer scratched his chin, trying to estimate. “About 6 hours?” He walked off.
Will walked into the infirmary, arguing with a Demeter camper; something about herbs and supplies? He turned and spotted Nico.
“Well, good evening, sleepyhead! How was your nap? Feeling better?”
“I think 6 hours is slightly more than a nap.” Nico retorted.
“Well, count yourself lucky that Clovis has learned to control his powers better. A while ago he put a camper out for a week by accident.” Will made his way toward him. “Can you stand?”
“Um, let’s find out.” Nico swung his legs over the bed and got up. Aside from stumbling a little, he was feeling much better. Nico marvelled at the healing powers of sleep.
As if he read his mind, Will said, “Oh yeah, sleep has endless benefits.”
Nico twisted his skull ring. “Hey, I came in here at about noon, which means--”
The conch horn signalling the dinner feast echoed across the valley. Will grinned. “I think that’s our cue.”
The Half Blood campfire that night still carried with it an aura of elation spurred from disbelief, that they had won the battle against Gaia and made allies with the Romans, and a sort of desperation to feel alive brought about by all of those who had died in the process. Nico felt a pang for Leo, though he had a strange feeling that his death wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed.
Will sat by him at the bonfire, the Apollo cabin on his left and Nico on his right, leaving Nico unsure as to whether Will had sat next to him or his cabin. He chastised himself for hoping that it was the former.
The enchanted flames in the brazier blazed brightly with the energy of the campers, and Nico felt the warmth flare in his heart as he cast a glance at the son of Apollo, the light from the fire reflecting off of his blonde hair.
Nico lay in his bunk that night after the campfire, staring up at the ceiling of the Hades cabin that was inset with precious stones. He quickly realized that there was no way he was falling asleep any time soon, and he climbed out of bed. The whole room was drenched in liquid shadows, and despite his exhaustion after the journey shadow travelling with the Athena Parthenos, Nico stepped forward and became one with the darkness with ease.
He melted from the shadow of a tree, finding himself by the lakeside at the edge of Camp Half-Blood. A full moon cast a pale glow on the night. Nico walked down to the sand and sat down; the silence was intoxicating, and Nico closed his eyes and listened to the gentle lapping of small waves against the shore. Suddenly he felt something nearby, heard the brush rustle, and wondered whether the cleaning harpies had come to eat him for being out past curfew. Nico drew his Stygian sword, which seemed to pull at the darkness like a magnet, and got ready to defend himself. What actually emerged from the brush was Will, who abruptly spotted Nico’s sword and laughed quietly.
“Expecting a fight?”
Nico quickly sheathed his sword. “What are you doing out here?” He noticed for the first time that Will had something in his hands.
He held up two goblets. “Mind if I join you?”
Will was the only one at camp who was not blatantly wary of him; after several years as an outcast, the effect felt foreign.
Will sat down next to the son of Hades and spoke to one of the goblets--“Pomegranate juice”--and handed it to Nico as the cup filled with garnet liquid.
“Are these--” Nico began.
“Glasses from the dining pavilion? Yeah. I snuck a couple out before dinner ended.” He wore his trademark mischievous smile. “I noticed you asked for pomegranate juice at dinner.” Nico felt his face grow warm as Will turned to his own cup and requested ginger beer. Soon the glass was filled with amber.
“It...reminds me of my mom.” Nico said quietly. “Not Persephone, ironically. When Bianca, my mom, and I...” his voice caught on Bianca’s name “when we lived in New Orleans, I was little, but I remember her giving us pomegranate juice on special occasions. It was a tough thing to find where we lived, so she would only have it on celebrations or...when my dad came to visit. I was just a baby when she was murdered.”
He stared down in silence at his drink.
“It wasn’t your fault, you know. Bianca, your mom, none of it,” Will said gently.
“I know,” Nico muttered, his voice nonetheless doubtful.
Will placed his hand on Nico’s, and he tensed, ready to pull away, but then instead turned his palm up to hold Will’s.
Nico turned his head to look up at Will, his pale blue eyes shining in the moonlight, almost periwinkle, an indiscernible expression on his face.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” Will murmured, his gaze taking Nico in. Will looked into his dark eyes as if he could perceive all of him, good and bad, and was still enraptured by what he saw.
Will reached out hesitantly, as if to touch Nico’s face, but stopped before, gaging his reaction, and when the son of Hades didn’t pull away, he brushed the ink-black hair out of his face.
Involuntarily, Nico’s eyes closed and his heart began to race. His life had, for years, been spent more with the dead than the living. No one had touched him tenderly for what felt like eons, not since Bianca, and only now did he realize how starved for physical affection he had been.
Will’s gaze moved from Nico’s eyes to his lips, and he leaned in carefully as if approaching a wild animal. Nico closed the distance, and as their lips met, his life bloomed before him like a chrysanthemum opening layer by layer. Suddenly Nico could see a future before him that wasn’t ruled by death and solitude. Unnoticed by either of them, a dead mouse at the edge of the forest was brought back to life and scampered off into the trees.
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Hiii! I’ve never done a fic rec before but I read a ton so I figured why not! Please don’t forget to give kudos and comment on fics you enjoy! Also, I reblog a lot more fics on my fic blog @verylarryfics so please check it out!
📚 All I Do Is Want You by lovelarry10 / @chloehl10 (Harry/Louis, 31k)
“Lou, if he knew how you felt, he might change how he feels?”
“And that’s the last thing I want!” Louis threw up his hands as he spoke, exasperated as he always was when it came to this particular topic of conversation. “I don’t want him to feel like he owes me something, or that he has to reciprocate my feelings, Zayn. He doesn’t feel that way towards me and I’ve come to terms with that, okay? You need to as well.”
“I would if you actually meant it,” Zayn mumbled in reply, barely ducking in time as Louis lobbed a cushion at him. “You know this isn’t healthy, right? That you can’t just keep fucking him because you’re scared you’re gonna lose him?”
Harry loves his best mate Louis. He especially loves the casual sex they indulge in. Trouble is, Louis’ in love with Harry. Surely it’s destined to end in heartbreak…
📚 Charisma by lululawrence / @lululawrence (Harry/Louis, 5k)
Harry was smiling, and maybe blushing a little as well, as he accepted the phone back. “Thank you,” he glanced down at his phone and then said, “Louis.”
Smiling happily at the way Harry had said his name, Louis watched him leave the room. The further away he got, the more confused Louis was. Yes, Harry was gorgeous, but how the hell had he forgotten that Harry was also the man who had caused him to almost have a major accident earlier because of his haphazard driving? How had he allowed Harry to distract him with his charm to the extent that instead of giving the man a lecture, Louis accepted the offer of a date?
Well. Whatever the reason was, Louis wouldn’t forget when Harry called. Louis would give him a piece of his mind then and see if Harry still wanted to go out with him at that point. Because yeah, Louis was not mad enough about his overreaction to Harry, both on the road and at the event tonight, to turn that opportunity for a date down. He wasn’t stupid.
Or the one where Harry feeds on awesomeness (possibly literally). Louis is awesome and also angry. They’re probably going to fall in love
📚 Come to My Window by gettingaphdinlarry / @gettingaphdinmomo (Zayn/Liam, 4k)
It had become their joke, ever since Zayn had come out. One of them would do something stupid—burp or trip or slosh their pint of beer—and the other would say, “You could’ve texted me” or “that wasn’t worth texting me?”
When Zayn got a full scholarship to college, he sent Liam a message. Need to talk to you. Call me. When Liam said to text it, Zayn said no.
That’s how it was, and they both knew it. You can text me was for easy things, nothing serious. If it was serious, it got a phone call.
But an hour ago, Liam had texted back.
-Zayn and Liam were best friends for years — and then things changed.
📚 don’t care if you’re too loud by disgruntledkittenface / @disgruntledkittenface (Liam/Nick, 2k)
@grimmers did you take inspiration from @liampayne? Is that his workout secret?
📚 Enjoy The Ride by 2tiedships2 / @2tiedships2 (Harry/Louis, 11k)
Or the one where Louis, an omega more than tired of being treated as lesser than alphas, is forced on a road trip by his beta besties only to meet Harry who might just be the alpha he never knew he wanted.
📚 (even when I messed it up) There You Are by rosegoldhl / @rosegoldhlfics (Zayn/Liam, 9k)
“It’s so cold,” came a deep voice from his right.
Zayn snapped his head towards the source of the melodic sound, his heart wildly rabbiting in his chest. Liam Payne, firefighter.That’s all he knew about the boy with the kind brown eyes and pretty lips, who had moved to the apartment next to Zayn’s a few months back. He had dug that info from the mailbox downstairs– it was a low moment, he could admit that, but he didn’t do anything illegal, just slightly creepy.
“Maybe you ought to wear something then,” Zayn remarked, nodding towards Liam’s bare chest as he let out the smoke he had inhaled.
📚 going live by jaerie / @jaerie (Harry/Louis, 15k)
Harry has only done this cam thing a handful of times when another camboy pops in to view his stream and unintentionally stirs things up a bit.
Or Louis and Harry are both camboys for some extra cash and meet each other in an unconventional way
📚 I don’t want a taste (I want it all) by thedaggerrose / @thedaggerrose (Harry/Louis, 3k)
What Louis really needed was a fat fucking nap.
What Louis got instead was some hipster-looking wannabe arguing with him over the validity of avocado toast.
Or the AU where Harry tells Louis to go fuck himself, Louis tells Harry to fuck him himself, and Harry follows through.
📚 it started with you and started with me by thearcherballet (Zayn/Liam, 11k)
It starts like this: you love a boy more than you love your own music, until he becomes the song your heart sings.
Solo artist Zayn Malik is recording his third album when he finds himself working with a new music producer, the amateur talent Liam Payne. Liam is saddled with the task to prove that Zayn can be the greatest musician of the 21st century.
Zayn’s musical barriers start melting away as things get heated up in the recording studio.
📚 Life Saver by objectlesson / @horsegirlharry (Harry/Louis, 30k)
Nerd Boy’s giant, dorky, adorable hand shoots into the air. Louis notices he has chipped red polish on a few of his nails and some tattered friendship-looking bracelets, like the sort you make in camp, and he might hear the distant chime of wedding bells. He thought he didn’t even believe in marriage because it’s, like, oppressive and heteronormative or whatever, but that was before Styles, Harry (Harry Styles!!! What an absurd, wonderful name! What a perfect thing to scrawl in the margins of all his notebooks surrounded in hearts!) appeared in the bio lab at his new school and ruined all his principles forever.
or Louis is a sweetheart punk with a theater background and a heart of gold, Harry is an inexperienced nerd who plays by the rules. Classmates, lab partners, and eventually friends, what happens when Louis knows he’s in love, but doesn’t know how tell Harry?
📚 my favourite colour is you by velvetnoodle / @velvetnoodle (Harry/Louis, 2k)
Harry and Louis have been best friends for decades, and practically attached at the hip the entire time. Harry would scoff whenever the people closest to them would question their lack of an actual relationship, because the idea of the two of them being anything more than friends is the most preposterous thing he can think of.
Until, one day, it isn’t.
📚 Of the Earth by angelichl / @angelichl (Harry/Louis, 24k)
Harry embarks on a backpacking trip in West Virginia to figure his life out after breaking up with his boyfriend. He meets Louis along the way.
📚 Superhuman Tonight by anonymous for @popularryculture fic fest (Harry/Louis, 23k)
A group of young offenders doing community service get struck by lightning during a storm, and begin to develop superpowers.
📚 the little things i’d do to lose you again by larrymaybe22 / @larrymaybe22 (Harry/Louis, 11k)
Louis wishes he could erase the look of defeat and regret painted over Harry’s face from his memory.
“I think maybe we just found each other at the wrong time.”
“No,” Louis shakes his head, “There’s never been anything wrong about us. You can’t just call the last two and half years wrong.”
Or, the one where being in love isn’t always enough the first time around.
📚 There’s Nothing I Can Do (I Only Wanna Be With You) by chaoticallyyours / @hazzaskilt (Harry/Louis, 6k)
Roommates Harry and Louis both consider themselves matchmakers. Louis’ latest crusade is finding the perfect match for Harry, despite the admittedly disastrous results. With just a little bit of help from their friends and a lot of whining, Louis realizes that the best match for Harry might just be the person already sharing his flat.
OR: Louis is a dumb gay who doesn’t realize he’s in love with his best friend. Until he does.
📚 to the brim with fright by hereforlou / @hereforlou (Harry/Louis, 14k)
The only reason he’s here is because it’s tradition. And also, Harry said it’d be fun to make Liam wet himself in fear and Louis agreed. It’ll be hilarious. He’s not an insecure new transfer anymore, thank you very much. It took him no more than a week to insert himself into a group, to get invited to his first party, and to start crushing on someone—he’s not what anyone would call socially impaired. He doesn’t need validation.
(Or, the one where Louis’ high and scared and Harry’s…also high and scared.)
📚 two loves have i by wreckingtomlinson / @humhalleloujah (Harry/Louis, 2k)
“So, hang on a minute.” Niall puts the pen down. “You’re really trying to tell me that you think two people who look alike moving into the same building around the same time makes more sense than Louis cutting his hair and changing his clothes in the four days since you last saw him?”
~or, Harry is convinced the new guy who’s just moved into his apartment complex is not only hot, but has an equally hot doppelgänger.
📚 What I’ve Been Waiting For by styleandsin / @styleandsin (Harry/Louis, 14k)
“Have you checked your twitter mentions lately?” Liam asks, almost hesitantly.
“‘Course not, I’ve been busy relaxing.” Louis gives Liam a smile, “Besides, isn’t that your job?”
“Well, I mean… Kind of, but you should check them.”
Louis sighs, “Fine.”
He picks his phone up from the table and takes a scroll through twitter, finding that apparently the book he was carrying on the way out of the airport was visible enough to see in the pap shots, and now his fans are excited. From about three minutes of scrolling and reading tweets he gathers the following: he and Harry share an overlap in fans, a lot of people are thankful for the book recommendation, some people say they ship him and Harry, whatever that means, oh and Harry Styles has seen the photos.
Or, Louis is famous for his singing. Harry is semi-famous for his writing. They’re both fans of each other.
📚 Whirlwind by sweetums / @darlou (Harry/Louis, 5k)
“Noisy boys over at that table there, yes, you two, would you like to share something with us?”
“I was just saying that you’re probably the only person who’s ever literally taken my breath away”
AU inspired by Phoebe and David from Friends.
📚 (you and me are) the difference between real love and the love on TV by hipsterchrist (Niall/Shawn, 20k)
Some pap photos spread like wildfire across the internet, published frantically on braindead celebrity gossip sites with headlines like “SHAWN MENDES AND NIALL HORAN: MORE THAN FRIENDS?” and poorly written articles full of puns on their song titles. His Twitter mentions are flooded with fans, both excited and distraught, and he clicks away from the trending topics tab as soon as he sees that he and Shawn have their own Twitter Moment. It’s all been thoroughly planned and carefully orchestrated - they all knew this is exactly what would happen - and it’s still fucking disarming as hell.
Or: a coming out story, a fake relationship, a realization of what everybody already knew.
📚 you’re the song stuck in my head (every song that i’ve ever loved) by hipsterchrist (Niall/Shawn, 13k)
the thing is: niall is sure of shawn.
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Cross His Heart -Day 8 | Candlelit Dinner- (Aizawa x Reader)
Summary: When you first started seeing each other, Aizawa had more time. It was summer and he didn’t have students to teach, aside from during training camp. But once classes were back in session, he got busier, and circumstances kept coming up and changing so he’d have to cancel and reschedule. Over a month went by without seeing each other. Just as you were beginning to lose hope, the hero rose to the occasion, keeping your heart as he held you in his arms.
Note: To the anon that requested this, I will actually respond to your ask with the response for your second request- which will be nowhere near as kind or fluffy as this one. ;)
Theme Song: Save Tonight - Eagle-Eye Cherry
Reader: Gender Neutral
Words: 2741
Go on and close the curtains, ‘cause all we need is candlelight…
“Oh.” You tried to disguise the lack of surprise and mild disappointment you felt, but he could hear the soft drop in the tone of your voice when you said it. Oh. Was this something you were beginning to expect from him?
“That’s okay, Aizawa-san,” you quickly followed up. Your tone was chipper again. “Do you want to try for next week?” The sound of optimism was long gone, but you were still trying, which was more than he would have expected from anyone who was cancelled on so often- especially five times, now.
But still, he didn’t want to let what you two shared go. After all, you had opened his eyes to how unhealthy his lifestyle was. Sure, he was tired all the time, but that was manageable. It wasn’t until he was struggling to find time to spare for you between teaching, training, patrolling, and parenting that he realized something had to give. He couldn’t always be on duty like he was before, and that was incredibly hard for him to accept. In fact, he still hadn’t fully accepted it. However, after cancelling for the fifth time in a row, Aizawa was beginning to stretch himself thin. Flowers he bought to surprise you, and then to apologize, and then to apologize again, and again, wilted away in his room before inevitably ending up in the trash, and he could sense you were beginning to drift from him. You weren’t even surprised when he had to reschedule anymore, and despite how you always seemed enthused to, he noticed the excitement gradually fading from your voice the more you spoke.
What pained him most about these unfortunate circumstances was that he wanted to see you. He wanted to take you out again and to build on the relationship you two were starting to create. And he couldn’t. There was little that Aizawa actually pined for and wanted, and in truth, the feeling was very much foreign to him, but he still knew exactly how to label it.
“Unfortunately, I can’t next week.” He paused, his lips pursed tighter than usual as he realized it seemed like he wasn’t even trying anymore. “1-A is taking a training trip,” Aizawa added, attempting to redeem his efforts.
You didn’t respond immediately, and there was a silence that lingered until you broke it.
“I hope that their training goes well; you’re a really devoted teacher and they are very lucky to have you,” you began in a soft voice- one with intonations he hadn’t heard before. It was sweet and he could tell your well wishes were sincere, but there was something else to it that he wasn’t sure of. “It sounds like things are especially busy for you right now. If things settle down at some point, let me know?”
“Yeah. I will.”
“Thanks, Aizawa.”
The phone beeped twice, and the connection ended. It was the first time you hung up without another date in mind, and for the first time in a long, long while, the pro hero, teacher, and parent felt an emptiness in place of the equally new feeling of hope. He held onto the cellphone for a moment, just staring at the image he had assigned to your contact information. It was from your first date, when he had more free time and before classes began. The sun kissed your hair and shoulders in just the right way to add a glow to your outline, and he asked you to pause and smile his way when he took the picture because you looked heavenly to him. It was rare for him to bother with taking pictures, but that was one he could not pass on.
At the end of the day, your phone vibrated in your hand as you took the train through Tokyo to your home district. A small icon of Aizawa looking away from the camera, his chin in his palm and his expression vacant, as he leaned over a patio table blipped onto the screen, and then was followed by a small text bubble. Even if some people thought he looked bored or uninterested all the time, you saw handsomeness in his features, and catching him looking off somewhere never bothered you. You were never shy about admiring him, and always felt like he unintentionally gave you plenty of chances to. Adoring him so much made it easier to hope that you’d see him again soon, and all the harder to give up on him.
“Tonight?”
Reading the text bubble, your brows furrowed. It was unlike him to plan something so last minute. Normally, you two were scheduling at least a week in advance. You stared at his icon and question, wondering what you should do. If you said you were free tonight, would it seem like you were desperate or lame? If you didn’t, when would you finally get to see him again? The question remained unanswered until you got home, and was met with an equally simple response: “When?”
“18:45?”
“Dinner at my place?”
“Yes.”
And that was it. You hoped that these plans wouldn’t fall through as you set your phone down and changed. From the last message, you had about an hour and a half before he was supposed to arrive, so you wasted no time in looking through your kitchen for a quick meal to cook. From what you had and were in the mood for, it was going to be stir fry, which seemed fun dish for a Friday night.
As you finished cooking, you left everything on a low simmer and began to tidy up. There wasn’t much that needed to be fixed and cleaned, but you did have to close some windows since it was starting to rain. Looking outside, dark and heavy clouds obscured the sun, hiding it beneath their gray and greenish hues. A frown pressed onto your lips as you worried slightly. Would he be alright in the rain? Would he cancel? The forecast mentioned it would storm tonight, but you completely forgot about it when you were texting him.
Just as the concern was getting to you, a rapping against your door stole your attention. You pulled off your apron and hung it in the kitchen before checking to see who it was. To your surprise, Aizawa arrived early. Immediately your cheeks were warm with a blush, and you shook your head as if that could dispel it. Without further hesitance, you opened the door and greeted him with a bright smile.
“Aizawa-san! I’m glad you could make it despite the r-”
Before you could say more, he brought his hand out from behind his back, making your words trail off. The hero looked to the side while offering you a bouquet of half a dozen roses arranged to give the appearance of a spiral that went from white in the center to deep red at the tail end, roses of varying pinks and creams creating the gradient in between. Long blades of grass and baby’s breath accented the flowers, and you were speechless, the blush you tried to shake away returning. When you lifted your eyes from the roses in front of your face, you saw that Aizawa had his other hand on the back of his neck.
“Thanks for being able to meet me with such short notice.” His words sounded like a low grumble, despite the sweet intention behind them. “...and I’m sorry for all the times I’ve had to reschedule.” He hoped the six roses- one for each time he canceled, and one for tonight- could ask for your forgiveness where his voice didn’t. You weren’t sure, but for a second it looked like he was pouting, and you couldn’t help but smile at the thought of such a serious man making an expression like that. Your hands came up and took the bouquet, gently touching his in the process. He looked to you when he felt your caress, met with that sweet and kind grin he was surely smitten with.
“It’s alright,” you accepted his apology, guiding him into your home with a soft pull. “Come in. Let’s enjoy the time we have tonight.” Your voice was incredibly reassuring to him- as sure and calming as the sound of beach waves- and he gave you a smile. A clap of thunder echoed behind your words, startling you as it boomed. You both chuckled a bit as you came down from the minor fright and brought the flowers into the kitchen, placing them down on the counter for the time being.
This was his first time inside, despite walking you home on a handful of occasions when you two were seeing each other more regularly. The dates ended at the door with a soft kiss, and the chastity of it was endearing and even exciting in its own ways. It was part of that something new that made him want to spend his free time with you over taking a nap. Instead of looking around, the hero stepped into the kitchen and hugged you from behind, placing a familiar kiss on the nape of your neck after brushing your hair away to reveal it. You closed your eyes at his touch, all movement coming to a pause as you focused on that one point of contact.
“Even after more than a month, this feels natural to me,” he whispered softly, kissing the ridge of your ear afterwards. Keenly, you noticed that the time apart made him act bolder than before. It had been rare for him to initiate intimacy or romance, but now he was holding you from behind and placing soft kisses and sweet nothings against your skin
“What’s this?” you asked coyly as you turned around, leaning back against the counter and placing your hands on his chest. Dark eyes gazed down into yours as you smirked up at him, playful and impish as he tried earnestly to pick up his courtship where it was left off. “Did a bit of absence make you grow bolder, Aizawa-san?”
“Fonder,” he corrected you with a soft smile, his hand coming up to cup your cheek and tilt your head face towards his. “May I..?” His gentleness made you blush lightly, and you nodded, keeping your eyes on his until they slowly shut.
A ripple of crackling thunder tore through the romantic atmosphere, interrupting the kiss before it began and making you jump into his arms. Instinctively, he held you close, a hand on the back of your head as he kissed your hair. Your hidden cheeks were warm with a deep blush as you silently chided yourself for your skittishness. It wasn’t like you to be so on edge, but during unusually bad storms, an exception was made. Typhoons terrified you- they always had. As the thunder faded out, the lights began to flicker and you pulled back from the safety of a secure and warm hug. Winds howled as they drove raindrops into windows and walls, the stormy concerto hardly muted despite being inside.
“Ah- excuse me,” you gently pushed him away, turning to the stove and turning off everything that was on a simmer in the flickering light. He watched you for a second before stepping to your side.
“Do you have any candles? I’ll light them just in case.”
You paused from your task, looking at him with a hint of surprise. His calmness and rationality were always so attractive to you, and especially so right now. Your lips closed into a smile and you nodded. “Thank you. There’s a lighter in the drawer next to the fridge, and there are some candles already out in the living room. I think I have some tea lights in one of the hallway closets, too.” He nodded at your words, placing his hand on your lower back and giving your cheek a soft kiss before retrieving the lighter and leaving to light the candles as the electricity fed in and out.
Left alone, you got two bowls ready for dinner, finishing just in time as the electricity buzzed low before it cut out altogether. As you stepped into the dining area, you could see the soft glow of the candles Aizawa already lit, his silhouette moving around as the last of the smaller, circular ones came to life. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself, admiring the hero as warm yellow light illuminated his handsomely rugged face. Once the fire caught onto the wick, he put out the lighter and looked up from the candle, catching you staring, presumably, at him.
Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the sky behind your shutters went white with lightning, another deafening cut of thunder following. Whatever he said was lost to that moment and didn’t return as he noticed you trembling. It only took a second, and he was at your side, taking the bowls from you and placing them on the dining table so he could pull you into his arms.
“It’s alright…” His voice was so gentle and soft, you wondered how you even heard it with the storm. You closed your eyes and wrapped your arms around his waist, focusing on the way his fingertips brushed through your hair and how his heart beat just a bit harder than you were used to. In his steadiness, he grounded you and made you feel safe. As he felt your shakiness calm, he leaned back so he could glance at your face in the candlelight and smiled. It was everything you needed right then and there, and you smiled back at him, relieved he was so caring and didn’t shame you for how the storm terrified you. Leaning into him as you rose onto your tiptoes, you pecked his lips.
“Thank you.”
You stepped out of his arms and disappeared back into the kitchen, returning with a bottle of wine and two appropriate glasses. He picked up the bowls with a smile, and instead of sitting at the table, Aizawa suggested cuddling up together on the couch because it’d be more relaxing (but you knew it was so you were close together for the coming claps of thunder). Even with the power out, you two managed to enjoy yourselves. It wasn’t much of a surprise since neither one of you relied on electronics and media to hold a conversation or pass the time. In the candlelight with the soft scent of berries blending into the air, you told him about why storms like the one today were so jarring, and he promised that he’d keep you safe. Dreams were exchanged, some smaller secrets uncovered and confessed, and your relationship deepened to a first-name basis.
With the bowls stacked on the coffee table, you laid with your back against his chest, comfortably between his legs as he reclined with his head using the arm of the couch as a pillow. Your forehead pressed against the crook of his neck while you idly played with his fingers, hands coming together only to part, continuing in a sweet back and forth. He rested his free hand on your stomach, holding you in his embrace as if he could shield you from the bright bursts of lightning and the roaring thunders that followed. You pressed your fingers between his and held his hand on your stomach, locking yourself away in his safety.
Slowly, you stopped playing with his hand and brought yours back to touch his cheek, turning your face to gaze up at him. The smaller candles had died, letting the room grow darker and darker as hours passed together. His hand joined yours on his cheek, and he softly kissed your palm before looking down at you.
“Stay the night. Please,” you whispered to him. Aizawa brought his hand to your chin and tilted it just a bit more, placing a soft kiss on your lips in response.
“Of course, (Y/N).” His lips befell yours once again. “Anytime you need me, I’ll hold you through the night.” The words were sincere, but he could still see the hesitance in your expression, so he hooked his pinky with yours and kissed the knuckle of his index finger as he stared into your eyes. “I promise.”
...You and me, and a bottle of wine- gonna hold you tonight.
#ask evo#anon request#anonymous request#aizawa x reader#aizawa#eraserhead x reader#eraserhead#eraser head x reader#eraser head#bnha#bnha fanfiction#bnha fanfic#bnha fic#bnha x reader#mha#mha fanfiction#mha fanfic#mha fic#mha x reader#valentine's day#valentines day#valentine's day countdown#bnha valentine's day#bnha valentines#pinky promise#thunderstorm romance#thunderstorm#writing prompt#valentine's writing prompt#valentine's day writing prompt
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More than just a friend (a seaycee oneshot)
Writing date: september 2018
Genre: fluff
Warnings: none
**********************************************
"Would you look at that, the lovebirds finally decided to join us!" Julian's voice brought a color to Kaycee's cheeks. He wasn't entirely wrong. Her and Sean were late for their camping weekend. A few weeks ago, she, Tahani, Tati, Josh, Bailey, Kenneth, Sean and Julian decided they needed something to look forward to, other than their dance classes. So, they agreed upon going camping this weekend. Everything was settled: where they were going, what they were going to eat and who would bring what. She'd looked forward to this weekend so much that she couldn't get it out of her head. But when Sean called her this morning to ask her if she could come over and help him bake cookies before they went to their camping place, she just couldn't say no. After all, every moment they spent together was a moment to cherish. So, she packed her stuff and went to Sean's. They laughed, took funny pictures of each other and ate dough till their stomachs hurt.
When they were together, it was easy so forget the time.
"I'd shut your mouth if I were you, Julian. If you stop embarrassing Kaycee right now, I'll think about giving you one of the cookies we baked today." Sean's deep voice shook her out of her thoughts. She sent him a thankful smile. After Sean's 'threat', no one made fun of them anymore, who would risk not getting Sean's famous cookies anyway?
***
It was one of the best nights of her life. One filled with old stories, laughter, dancing and singing (everyone sang off-key, except Sean of course). Right now, they were sitting around the huge bonfire they'd built. While she watched the flames of the fire reflect in her friends' eyes, it occured to her that this was the happiest that she's ever been. All those emotions made her shiver.
"Hey, are you cold? Here, put on my sweatshirt." Sean said in a worried tone.
"Oh no, it's n-"
"Nonsense. Here, the fire will warm me up, it's no problem for me." And before Kaycee could comprehend what was happening, Sean had pulled his 'Lewser'-sweatshirt over his head, leaving him in his T-shirt, and gave it to her. Smiling, Kaycee took it and put it over her head. Of course this whole thing didn't go unnoticed by their friends, who couldn't help but tease them a bit. Kaycee couldn't care less. Sean's sweatshirt felt nice. It smelled like him.
***
"Don't be surprised if you can't wake me up tomorrow, I'm exhausted!" Bailey's jawnes were contagious, and Kaycee couldn't hold hers back anymore. "Yeah, me too, I'll sleep like a baby tonight!" Suddenly, all the boys except Sean began grinning, while the girls looked a bit guilty. "Oh, I'm sure you'll get a good night sleep, Kayc", Julian smirked. "Yeah, very cosy!", Josh agreed with his friend. Kaycee raised an eyebrow.
"What exactly are you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing Kayc, just saying you look really tired."
" I don't believe a word of what jou guys are saying, you're acting way too mysterious for it just to be 'nothing'. Seriously, what's going on?"
This time, Tati began speaking: "We're really sorry Kaycee, Sean, but, well, we uhm..kind of forgot about you guys while we arrived and immediately began stuffing the tents with our sleeping bag and things like that. Bailey, Tahani and I are sleeping in one and Kenneth, Julian and Josh are sleeping in the second one. That means there is only one tent left for you two to sleep in. Only when we were done unpacking, did we realise our mistake, but then the boys didn't want to rearrange everything that we'd done, saying we put too much work in it already and they wanted to take a nap. And, well, we figured jou guys wouldn't mind, because you've been best friends for ages..."
Tati fell silent, not really knowing what else to say.
'Well, it wouldn't have been awkward', Kaycee thought, 'if I didn't have feeling for my 'best friend' and if we wouldn't have been flirting for at least six months. But there's nothing we can do about it now. Time to quit being a baby and face the facts!'
"I guess that's...okay...of you're okay with it of course, Sean." Julian snorted, but Kaycee decided to ignore it.
"Yeah, that's n- I mean, I don't mind."
"Great! Now that's settled, can we please go to bed?" Bailey asked. Agreeing murmurs filled the air, and soon everyone had gone inside their tents, leaving Sean and Kaycee standing beside eachother awkwardly. "Well...shall we go to our tent then?"
"Oh, yes, of course." She followed Sean to their tent. The awkward tension between them stayed while they arranged their sleeping bags beside eachother. Suddenly, she heard a zipping sound behind her. She turned around to look at Sean, who was zipping open his sleeping bag.
"What're you doing? Aren't you going to get cold?" She knew that of the situation hadn't been so awkward, he probably would've said something along the lines of 'you can keep me warm then', but they both felt way too awkward to flirt right now.
"Nah, I can't sleep in a sleeping bag, I always feel...trapped, I think. Trust me, it's better this way."
"If you say so..."
"Look, Kayc, I don't want things to be awkward between us. Let's just sleep back to back and then wake up tomorrow and forget about this. I don't want it to destroy what we have, Ricebowl."
"What we have, huh?", Kaycee said with a smirk. Sean's little speech had brought back her confidence a bit. Sean just ignored her statement, but Kaycee could've sworn she saw him blush.
"G'night, Kaycee"
"Night, Shamu"
***
When Kaycee woke up, 3 things immediately came to her mind: 1, she wanted to eat something 'cause she was hungry. 2, she didn't want to go get it 'cause it was way too early to get up and 3, she was also way too comfy to ever leave her...where actually was she? She was definitely not in her bed, this was way comfier. But then what was it that she was laying on? Then she remembered: they went camping, she and Sean came too late and that's the reason she had to share a tent with him. It had been awkward 'cause it'd just be the two of them. They'd agreed to lay back to back and she'd snuggled in her sleeping bag, but that was definitely not what she was laying on right now. So that could only mean...startled by her sudden realisation did she open her eyes. What she saw made her eyes go wide in shock. While she slept, she'd somehow gotten out of her sleeping bag. Now she was laying partially on top of Sean, while her head was nuzzled in the crook of his neck. One of her arms hung beside her, while the other one laid on Sean's chest. She could feel his steady heartbeat. Realisation hit her, and it occured to her that while her heart screamed to just keep still and enjoy the moment, it wouldn't be fair towards Sean. He wasn't in control of his actions right now. So with that in mind, she began carefully peeling herself off of her best friend. She didn't get very far, however, 'cause soon a strong arm wrapped itself around her waist and forced her to her original position.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Kaycee thought that this was her dream and she could wake up any moment, in her own cold sleeping bag. She wanted to stay like this forever, pressed against Sean while his raspy morning voice made her insides tingle. She got goosebumpes just thinking about it. Sean apparently felt that, 'cause he said: "Are you cold? Here, get under the sleeping bag" and with that, he opened his eyes and saw Kaycee laying incredibly close to him with a face that was half confused, half super happy. Her face triggered his memories, and he realised that he'd only dreamed that they were dating and he didn't have any right to wrap his arm around her like that. He immediately let go of her, and started to apologize: "I-I'm so so sorry Kaycee, I didn't mean to-" but Kaycee cut him of: " It's alright Sean. Actually, I should apologize. After all, I'm the one who laid on top of you, not the other way around. I wanted to get off of you, I didn't do it on purpose and I'm very sorry for waking you up like that so early."
Sean was shocked by her sudden change of attitude. Normally, his Kaycee (as he secretely called her in his head) was always cheerful and never afraid to speak her mind and be 100 % herself. The girl he was facing right now was so different: She was flustered, had a guilty expression on her face and was apologizing for something he could've only dreamed of happening, someday. She couldn't feel guilty for laying close to him, he decided. In fact, this was the perfect opportunity to tell her the truth. It was a win-win situation, he realized. He could finally get his feelings out of his system and, regardless of her returning those feelings, she'd at least feel not as guilty about what she did.
"Kaycee Caitlin Rice, I sincerely hope you're not going to hate me after what I'm going to say. I didn't mind you laying so close to me at all. In fact, I really, really liked it. I- God Kaycee, you make me feel things I didn't even know I was capable of feeling. When you're next to me, I feel so much happier, so much more alive...you're the only one who can let me feel that way, and I couldn't imagine my life without you in it. That's also the reason I won't ask you what you think of me. I'm not asking you to go out with me or to date me. The last thing I ever want to do is pushing you in a relationship you don't want to be in. You'd feel unhappy and I could never live with myself knowing I made you unhappy. I just want you to know what I feel for you. I'm done beating around the bush. I won't ever ask you anything in return, I just want you to know that you're the most incredibly girl I've ever known, and I'm extremely thankful to be able to call you my friend."
As cheesy as it was, Kaycee couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face. She knew her parents loved her, and her siblings and her friends, but never in her entire lifetime had someone told her their feelings for her so passionately and sincerely. It made her whole body go warm and her heart swell with adoration for the guy who was so close to her right now, both litteraly and figuratively. He deserved to know how she felt. He deserved to know why she always stopped flirting at some point, like there was some invisible line she never crossed. He deserved to know why she was so distant one minute, and so attached to him the other. He deserved to know how important he was to her.
"Sean, I need to tell you how I feel too, 'cause I don't think you understand how much you mean to me. Isn't it obvious that I have feelings for you too? I'm just so scared Sean. Scared of what the whole world is going to say about us...you know, dating. I mean, they're already shipping us like crazy. And while I don't mind that, there are also a lot of people who think we're way too young to date someone. People who think we should focus on our career. I'm still working on not caring about their opinions. If I were to have a relationship with you, wich, believe me, sounds like heaven, I wouldn't want the relationship to suffer because of my insecurity. I just want jou to know that it's something I know I need to work on, and I'm going to do just that. Because believe me, I love the prospect of showing how we feel about eachother to the whole world, without being afraid of what they're going to say. And I'm incredibly grateful that you want to give me the time I need for that."
Throughout her speech, Sean had gotten a wide smile on his face. He finally understood her now. And she had feelings for him too! He litteraly couldn't be any happier right now.
"I'll gladly wait for you. A million years if I have to. I'm happy that in the meantime, I get to be your friend."
"Oh Sean"
Kaycee snuggled even closer to him, enjoying Sean's hand gently rubbing her back.
"You're already so much more than just my friend."
**********************************************
Thanks for reading! I wrote this a pretty long time ago and I feel like my writing has gotten better since then, but it still holds a special place in my heart for being the first English story I ever published (this is originally from my wattpad account)
Rune xx
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Sent From A Goddess (Ch.6)
Pairing: Demigod! Tom Holland x Demigod! Reader
Summary: (Y/N) (Y/L/N) is the daughter of Poisedon, and for twelve years she was all alone. Growing up at camp without any family and watching people she is closed to come in and out of her life has caused her to close up. So she made a rule, the only people she is allowed to be truly close to is her brother, his family, Chiron, Tyson, Annabeth, and Grover. When Tom in his brothers come around, will he be able to break that rule?
Word Count: 1 203
A/N: I just realized that the timeline makes no sense in my story, so I am just going to clear things. (Y/N) and Tom are 17 years in 2018, so they are born in 2001. I made a mistake in the first chapter because I am horrible at math and didn’t know where I wanted this story to go just yet back then, so from now on they are born in 2001. BTW, sorry this was so late, I was just really busy and had really bad writer's block. I am planning on updating every week from now on.
*For the previous chapters check the tag sent from a goddess or my masterlist*
“Tommy, did you find the bracelet that turns into the sword?” (Y/N) asks Tom as she packs some clothes into her suitcase. Tom looks up from her laptop, which had been made by one of the campers so that it cannot be tracked by monsters, “Yeah, I had to ask Clarissa for it. I didn’t think she would give it to me, but surprisingly she did.” (Y/N) nods her head and continues to pack more of her stuff into her blue suitcase. “Here (Y/N/N), I got the money and drachmas. I got a little extra just in case you need it. Is there anything else you need me to get you?” Percy inquires while putting the wallet in her backpack. “Thanks. Yeah, could you get me my stuff in the bathroom, please?” asks (Y/N). “If it means more space in the bathroom then yeah. I will get right way for you little sis,” Percy tells her. “You know we were born on the same day right!” she calls after him. Tom chuckles from beside her, “Now, that you finished ordering your brother around, let me show you what I found.” (Y/N) finishes what she was doing and goes to sit beside Thomas on her bed. “What did you find Detective Holland?” she interrogates him. “Well Detective (Y/N), I think this might be about you. Look at this article that I found,” Tom turns the laptop towards her and she reads the title of the article.
Margret (Y/L/N), the heir of (Y/L/N) Enterprises, just gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl.
Below the title shows an adorable newborn baby, who was sleeping peacefully in a hospital bassinet. “That definitely looks like me when I was a baby,” (Y/N) whispers to Tom. “You were so cute as a baby what happened?” Percy teases from beside (Y/N) while looks over her shoulder. “She’s not cute anymore because she is now sweet and pretty,” Tom breathes under his breath. That made her cheeks heat up and made her feel so nervous. She looks away from him in a shy manner and continues to read the article. She had finished reading it when she said, “Can you book the next flight to LA?”
(Y/N) held a passport in her hand as she waited in line for check in with Tom. “Have you ever been on a plane before?” Tom inquires. “No, but once Sally was planning on taking Percy and me to Disney world. We never got to because she got busy at University, so we had to cancel the trip,” she replies. They finally got to the beginning of the line, checked in, and then went through the security check. After they went through all that process, Tom and (Y/N) found themselves sitting in the terminal waiting room, 3 hours before the plane was meant to take off. They talked for a while before Tom realized that they should have already been boarding the plane. “That’s strange. We should have already boarded the plane by now,” he ponders out loud to himself. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to inform you that flight 346 to Los Angeles has been delayed by 6 hours,” a voice says over the PA system. A wave of groans is heard throughout the terminal waiting room. (Y/N) looks around, “What should we do now?” Tom thinks for a little bit before he responds to her. “We could go get some food. I saw a Nando’s on our way over we could go get some.” (Y/N) had never tried Nando’s before, so why not? “I guess, I could try it,” she says as she starts grabbing her stuff.
“Can we please have medium spice half chicken, some pita bread, fries, olives, and two bottomless drinks?” Tom orders. The waiter nods his head and goes to place their order. “The medium spice chicken isn’t that spicy, is it?” (Y/N) questions with worry in her voice. Tom puts his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring way, “It’s not spicy. You will be okay.” Once the waiter places their food in front of them, they both dig right into the hot chicken. After she bites into the chicken, (Y/N) started fanning her mouth to show that whatever she just ate was spicy. Tom finishes chewing then starts laughing at his friend, “It’s not that spicy.” All she can do is glare at her friends as she continued to fan her mouth. “Can you please get me some milk?” (Y/N) requests to a waitress who is passing by. The waitress comes back with the milk and as soon as it was set on the table; (Y/N) grabs the milk and starts chugging the milk as fast as she can. Tom’s eyes widen in fear that she might drown in the milk, “Slow down, (Y/N/N), you might drown.” She set the empty glass of milk on the table and just continued to glare at Tom from across the table.
They had paid for their meal and decided that they were going to get some snacks from the convince store. “Aww, look how cute this stuffed bear is. It looks like Winnie the Pooh,” (Y/N) comments as she puts the bear back onto the shelf. She goes to get something else in another while, so she didn’t notice that Tom was standing behind her looking at the bear she had just put away. They both walked out of the store with their purchases. They found their back to the seats they had been sitting in before they went to go get their lunch. “I got some sprite, some kit-kat, pretzels, a donut, and some gum,” (Y/N) list as she pulls each item out like she is at a show and tell in Kindergarten. “Well I got a twinkie, which I’ve never tried, a box of Jaffa cake, Starbucks cold Frappuccino, and the stuffy you found adorable for you,” Tom list off just like (Y/N) did. She couldn’t have felt more excited and bashful at that moment. She had never felt butterflies in her stomach until that moment. “Aww, Tommy, that is so sweet. I think I am going to call him PJ for Winnie the Pooh Jr,” she says. She takes the adorable stuffy that he was handing her and gives him a peck on the cheek.
They still had three hours to kill, so they went back to having a nice conversation together. “I think I am going to take a little nap for a little bit,” (Y/N) informs Tom. She puts on her sweater and rests her head against his shoulder. She has only been asleep for a few minutes when Tom had decided to lay her head on his lap, so she can be more comfortable. He gently plays with her hair with a small smile on his face. He knew that she is probably not ready to be in a relationship with him, but he didn’t care. As long as he could be friends with her, that is all he wanted because if she is happy then that is all that matters. He would always be there for her so that she will never feel the need to shut herself out ever again.
*TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT!*
SFAG Taglist: @tmrhollandkay @embrace-themagic @whereartthouwakanda@smexylemony@bookgirlunicorn@mysteriouslydelightfulwolf@thequeensardine @mildlybad @loxbbg @superheros-and-others @yellowcanarys@allofthebitters @3blue-dreams3 @oceantostars @leelee–thebaek @awkward-record @escapetheshackles @youtubehelpsmesurvive@spideypancakes@greenarrowhead @nuyapudding@deadass-fandoms @cutiepiemimi13 @lilahdinhh@kittycake574 @spiderrrling@hollymollymomsravioli@nightwingbunny @justanotherfangirl2015 @everything-s-comin-up-aces @wayfaring—-stranger @crazyfreaker @majalissa @mountainsforwords
Tumblr won’t let me tag you, sorry 😕
#sent from a goddess#percy jackson#Camp Half-Blood#demigod! reader#demigoddess! reader#demigod!tom#demigod! tom#demigod!tom holland#demigod! tom holland#demigod! tom holland x demigoddess! reader#demigod! tom holland x demigod! reader#tom holland#tomholland#tom holland imagines#tom holland imagine#tom holland fanfiction#tom holland fic#tom holland x reader#tom holland x you#tom holland x y/n#tom holland x yn
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Do 'em all 🤣🤣
You jerk rofl. Okay, this is gonna take a while..
also under a readmore cuz long.
1. describe yourself.- Mel, 32, mom of two, mental health issues, and no idea of who I am or ever was.. lover, fighter, spiteful, friendlier than I’d care to admit. I think that about does it?
2. if you could go anywhere for a week all expenses paid where would it be? I’d be willing to go to a lot of places, honestly. Scotland is top of the list if I can count a wedding as an expense haha.
3. do you have siblings? On my mothers side, no, I’m an only child. On my fathers side, I have a half brother, and two step brothers. I haven’t seen them since I was 11 though, but they’ve been added to my fb and now ignore my existence there.
4. what is your favorite constellation, why? Don’t think I have a favourite.
5. favorite color. Don’t have one. I like different colours for different things, and even that can change with my mood.
6. what kind of music do you listen to? Pretty much everything. My workout music (basically the only time i have time for music) ranges from the 50′s cowboy and love songs all the way to more current EDM and some metal. You introduced me to Mongolian metal, and I’ve come across and Indian metal band that has a song about fighting depression, and I love them so much. I’m still sad to have missed both Babymetal and Alestorm (Scottish pirate metal) when they came to town. Alestorm actually offered me free tickets if they could name Matrim when I was pregnant rofl.
7. favorite flower. (you can name as many as you want cause flowers are awesome) Wild flowers. I have violets that grow wild in my back yard and I love them.
8. if you could do magic, what is the first spell you would learn? I think at most, I’d like to learn minor healing, or something that would attract goodness to people.
9. favorite childhood memory.The memory of Pat getting in the baby swing and yelling “push me on the swing, mommy!” and me pushing him as high as I could and leaving him there when he got stuck roflrofl. We were 9, and it’s basically how this relationship started. I was annoyed, he was in love. I’m still annoyed but now we’re both in love.
10. have you ever been cheated on? Not that I’m aware of, but that might not have been for a lack of trying. WORD ON THE STREET WAS one of my ex’s was trying to get with someone else while with me and was turned down.
11. if you could describe your perfect room, what would it be? Big and spacious. Super comfy bed, plenty of pillows. But also a little corner with a fort that I can be little in. Close proximity to both bathroom and kitchen for obvious reasons. Big window with cute curtains. and all the thing my current room has, but less unfolded laundry rofl.
12. favorite animal. Don’t have one, but it for sure isn’t a fkin slug I’ll tell you that. Pete the peeper ruined that for all slugs.
13. what was the last photo you took of? Luke’s new pokemon cards so I could show Pat while he was at work.
14. do you believe in soul mates? I do. I believe that soulmates aren’t just lovers, but that you can have many people that your soul resonates with. I had one, or thought I did, until I was dropped like hot garbage and shit was said behind my back like I’d never find out. The fucked up part, if I got an apology, I’d probably believe them and let them back into my life like I did last time. Because I’m a fucking sucker and a slave to my heart. But the more you hurt me, the harder you have to work for my trust so I’ll probably never get one. Too much work.
15. do you hang toilet paper over or under? I have a toddler, so under so he can’t just unravel the whole fucking thing into the toilet by slapping his hand on it.
16. your go to place to eat & your favorite thing to get there. Greenstop and Poutine. They have this killer brown gravy omg.
17. do you believe everything happens for a reason? yeah. Everything is either a consequence to our actions, or a lesson to be learned. Karma, my friend. And sometimes, bad shit just happens so you have room in your life for better things. That’s how I got you and Kay.
18. guilty pressures? You mean other than 80′s and 90′s one hit wonders?
19. favorite mythical creature, why? Dragon. Cuz...dragon?
20. something most people don’t know about you. Uh.. not everyone knows me to be as friendly as you tumblr peeps do. Truth is, I’m kind of known as a bitch in person. I don’t socialize well because of my crippling anxiety, and have RBF, so people just assume. Others know it as fact because I treat people the way they treat me.
21. where did you grow up, what was it like? at 8, I moved across the street from where I live now. Before that, I lived in ‘The Point’ but most of my childhood memories are of here. A lot of my neighbours are the same people. I grew up in the 90′s, so we use to play in the street day and night and there were no worries. I’d go from park to park, house to house, just wandering from place to place with my friends. No parents, just us, as long as I got everyone back out front by the time the street lights came on, and then it was hide and seek in the dark while all the parents drank on one of the balconies and watched. It’s not like that here anymore.
22. do you believe aliens exist? You’d be an idiot to think that we are the only lifeforms anywhere.
23. what was your last google search? Big Iron by Marty Robbins.
24. what did your last relationship teach you? You really wanna get into that? It taught me that no matter what I know about a person, I don’t know them. If they talk shit about other people to me, they are talking shit about me to other people. It taught me that just because they earned my trust once, doesn’t mean they should get a free pass on it for life, that I should make them keep earning it. And finally, than when they say “I’ll understand if it doesn’t work out” it’s bullshit. I’ll end up tossed aside and forgotten while I break. And when I realize I deserve better and move on, everything becomes my fault.
25. would you relocate for love? depends where. Example : I love Kay, but I ain’t moving to Florida roflrofl.
26. do you hold grudges or forgive easy? Forgive far too easily the first few times. After that, fuck you.
27. favorite book. uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
28. do you consider yourself an extrovert or introvert? Introvert.
29. have you ever kept a journal, do you now? I have attempted to a few times. Didn’t work out. so no.
30. top 5 favorite movies. Porky’s trilogy. Ginger Snaps trilogy. uhhhhhhm.. fuck.. idk, why do you do this to me, I can’t pick favourites.
31. do you believe that everything happens for a reason? We already went over this.
32. what is your greatest fear? Falling.
33. favorite alcoholic beverage. Jack, disarono, Fluffed marshmallow vodka. UPPERCUT. legit, go into a bar and order an uppercut.
34. most embarrassing thing you’ve done. If i could think of something, I wouldn’t tell you guys muahahha.
35. do you believe in ghosts? not sure.
36. what is the best and worst part of your personality? That I’m nicer than I’d like to be. I’m mush. I’m forgiving and kind, and loving and sometimes I hate it.
37. should you split the dinner bill? Who am I at dinner with?
38. are you a good liar? Fuck no roflroflrofl. I’m the worst at it.
39. what keeps you up at night? these days, story ideas.
40. would you rather go without your phone or music? bye bye music.
41. do you believe in god? Nope.
42. how do you relax when frustrated? Mindless game on my phone, nap, or binge something.
43. what’s something that offends you? people. People offend me.
44. favorite food I’m a sucker for a good lasagne. but also cheesecake. I can never have too much cheesecake. I mean, I can, I’m lactose intolerant, but shush. Something are worth it.
45. if you were on a 10 hour flight and could sit and talk to any person the entire time, who would it be? If there’s booze on the flight, anyone. if not, literally no one. I’ll just pound back some Oxazepam and nap. wake me up when we get there.
46. when do you feel the most confident? never. ROFL.
47. what do you do on your free time? What is free time?
48. is there anyone who has completely lost your respect Oh yeah. If you’ve read this far, you might have an idea.
49. have you ever broken someone’s heart? Probably not, no.
50. did/do you play sports in school? In gym class. Oh, and I did that one summer to Tball and hated it.
51. when are you happiest? when I'm asleep.
52. coffee or tea? Tea. fuck your coffee.
53. what is one possession you own you wouldn’t want to live without? internet.
54. what is the first thing you notice about a person? Height.
55. what is your favorite season, why? I love winter, because I love everything looking so white and clean when the snow is fresh. But I also love spring because of the rain, and summer for storms and fall for colors and good weather.
56. what makes you laugh? What doesn’t.
57. are you a clean or messy person? I was given the nickname ‘Messy’ at 10 for a reason. It still applies.
58. what is important for a successful relationship? Be it friendship or romantic relationship, my answer is the same. Trust and Honesty.
59. what was your upcoming like? Do you mean upbringing? I had a single mom who worked all the time. I was pretty independent.
60. favorite holiday? Christmas.
61. what is the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery? pay off debts.
62. what’s the best pizza topping combination? Bacon crumble and cheese. Not bacon bits, fuck that shit. Bacon fucking crumble. its like, little balls of bacon or something and not many places have it anymore *sad panda*
63. favorite outdoor activity. meditation. Does that count? I just like to be barefoot outside.
64. how are you? honestly. It’s 9 am, and I’m already getting frustrated with kids. And I have a soccer game and medal ceremony coming up soooooooooooo.
65. would you rather go camping in the woods or stay at a beach resort? how about cabin in the woods, ooooor a beach resort with woods backing it. yeah.
66. what is the most beautiful thing in nature? everything.
67. favorite type of candy? Don’t got one.
68. if your life was a book, what would be the title? something super depressing, I’m sure.
69. what movie quotes do you use of a regular bases? “Later masturbater” (The Pest)
70. what was cool when you were young but not cool now? Frosted tips, mesh shirts, and snap away track pants on men HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,. Oh, them early 00′s. I legit saw someone wearing them a few years ago and almost died.
71. what’s the craziest conversation you have ever eves dropped on? dunno hombre.
72. what’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched? uhhhhhhh
73. what’s the worst hairstyle you’ve had? again, 90′s. Mushroom cut with a nike check saved in the back HAHAHAHAHA. Oh man, everyone had that way back when.
74. what do you like to cook? most things.
75. what’s the coolest animal you’ve seen in the wild? wild beavers make me happy.
76. what’s the funniest tv show you’ve ever seen? Japanese game shows. nothing is as funny as japanese games shows. Human Tetris for example is fucking hilarious.
77. do you usually follow your heart or your head? Heart. Unfortunately.
78. what is your favorite quote? I’m not sure these days.
79. what’s the weirdest crush you have ever had? I’m not sure..
80. what’s your love language? I dunno. I legit just had to google what they were, and I’m not sure which.
81. do you ever feel alone? Always.
82. ever been bullied? Far too many times.
83. are you usually early or late? Early, thanks anxiety.
84. what kind of art do you enjoy most? these days, written. But I love paintings the most, i think.
85. what do you wish you knew more about? Everything. If I could, I’d go to school and learn everything that interests me even the slightest.
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Autoimmune disorders- Alopecia and Underactive Thyroid: Friends/Enemies Since Forever
I'm on the rollercoaster of trying to love myself while Alopecia is in complete control and deciding how fast new bald spots are popping up. I want to tell my story.
When I was in preschool, I started showing signs of thinning hair, but my mom didn't take much notice because I was constantly growing it back relatively quickly. She did notice that parts of my scalp were extra tender, and when messed with enough, caused redness and tiny bits of swelling to occur. She chalked it up to me being rough with my hair and her braiding my hair a little tight (which was never the case in reality).
Kindergarten: I started to complain of always being hot, being so incredibly tired, and quarter size bald spots start popping up. This is when my mom takes notice and starts bringing it up with doctors. Doctors say I may have a slow metabolism, causing my tiredness, I was a little bit bigger than most kids my age (but definitely NOT fat when looking back at my flat stomach and not touching thighs), so I retain heat easier. The doctor said I could be pulling my hair without my mom knowing, and said to come back for my next yearly checkup with concerns if it gets worse.
1st grade: the exhaustion hits me like a truck. I can barely make it through a full day of school without falling asleep in class. As soon as I get home, I sleep until I need to wake up the next morning to go to the babysitter's house. Most of the time, I sleep through dinner and breakfast, leaving only lunch as my actual meal of the day. My teacher, nurse, and mom come together and make a plan, I take a 20 minute nap towards the end of the day if I need it, the class gets more time to do homework in class, and I only am graded on the work I complete, even if I don't actually finish assignments. My dad was still alive at this time, and did not like that I was asleep all the time, but no matter what they did to wake me, it never worked. He then dubbed me his Sleep Beauty. My mom only recently told me that the school started questioning if I was being hurt outside of school, and apparently did involve a caseworker, in which I was interviewed during a play therapy session (which I don't remember) and my mom had medical records sent to show that the doctor knew the symptoms I was having and that they weren't from abuse.
2nd grade: The year my doctor realizes my diagnosis of Alopecia, but knows that something else is going on and refers me to a specialist, refusing to see me as he didn't feel qualified for my case since I was so young. This is when I was diagnosed. I met with a team of specialists from all over my state at a Children's Hospital an hour away from my hometown. They immediately know what it is what they walk in the room, but require blood testing to back up the diagnosis of Underactive Thyroid, which would take a few days after the visit to receive. They then tell me that my Alopecia isn't a stand alone diagnosis, and that I don't have a primary diagnosis with a secondary diagnosis. My alopecia is stand alone, but also entwined with my underactive thyroid. They hoped that the alopecia would only last a year, and that if they got my underactive thyroid under control, that it would help reverse the effects of the alopecia. I got to meet 3 endocrinologists in the state, and fell in love with the one that worked in the hospital that the meeting took place in. We made our first appointment with her, were given a wide variety of pamphlets, and sent on our way. The specialists did make one mistake, though. They thought my alopecia had just popped up, but I had it for at least 2 years at this point, which they would later realize when their theoretical year ended. This was the year that I lost A LOT of hair. I had to cut my long, straight locks to a short bob cut to help my hair look fuller. This was when I started asking questions about my hair dying, what an autoimmune disorder was, and if I would be able to beat it, whatever it was. This was also the first time I got to break a school rule: by wearing hats in school. My mom met with my principal and teacher, and I was allowed to wear a hat in school and would be encouraged to wear one outside during recess and outdoor activities to protect the fragile skin on my head. By the end of the year, I didn't have much hair left, but I had my baseball hats and bandanas, so I was okay. This was also when my class/school was told of my diagnosis with my mom and I's consent, because it was easier to explain it once and know what slightly new expectations there were.
3rd grade: This was the year I started the process of getting on the right medication and medication levels. It was determined that I was not a candidate for the shots in the scalp, which would have been once a month for me, and the only alternative at the time for me was medication. I had never had to take pills before, so my mom had to get creative in crushing pills for my crying self to be able to take them. This was also when I lost all my hair the first time. I felt a little naked sometimes, but I always had a color coordinated bandana or hat at the ready, so it was an easy comfort blanket at the time. My teacher spent a lot of one-on-one time with me, helping me with anxiety, self-esteem, and body perception issues. She also kept me inside when UV rays were high, because even through a light hat, my skin would still burn at times. 2nd and 3rd grade were the years that I learned to write out feelings through assignments for the first time, any way I could.
4th grade was a big year, in a good and very bad way. I gained about half my hair back, then lost my father in March of that school year. I almost instantly lost all of my hair from the stress and grief, but my teacher, class, and school were so incredibly supportive. I missed a week and a day of school, for the passing, viewing, and funeral of my dad. My teacher was also my first male teacher, and helped me learn to express myself to people other than women and feel comfortable doing it. He instantly became a pseudo-uncle for me, and helped me through the few bouts of grief that I experienced in his room. This was also the year we went on a camping trip to conduct science projects. An anonymous donor funded my trip, and all of the supplies I needed for the trip, as no one wanted me to miss out on the BIG school field trip because of the passing of my dad. I got to learn what family meant in every sense, and knew I was in a supportive community. This was also when my friends started answering what my diagnosis was for me whenever someone asked. It was uncomfy for me to say the same thing over and over whenever someone new met me at school, so my friends took over, and whole classes talked about what it was so that they didn't have to ask me, which I greatly appreciated.
5th grade was rough for me emotionally, and to be honest, I don't remember much past my emotional breakdowns, frequent visits to the counseling office, and regularly getting sick from medication changes that required me to miss a lot of school. A lot of good things happened that year, and my teacher (another male), was super supportive, and was okay with me randomly crying in class, or darting out to cry in a stall for a few minutes before returning to class with freshly dabbed eyes. He owned a floral and decoration shop downtown at the time, and ended up getting a stuffed animal from his store that I particularly loved and having everyone sign a card from the store to give to me during Feb/March in the school year, the first anniversary of my dad's death, which was one of the hardest. This was also the year that I became a library ambassador, so I got to spend lunch/recess in the library reading to kindergarten kids and helping them learn to love reading as much as me! (Tbh, I honestly don't remember how much hair I had that year, but I know I did have some growth, but lost it at least once during the school year). This was also when my endocrinologist realized I was not going to outgrow the Alopecia, and changed her perspective on my diagnosis. I was moved from a mild-moderate diagnosis to moderate-severe, which I have stayed ever since.
6th grade: I lost my hair yet again, but also became eligible for my first wig. This was also the first year that new kids arrived in my grade and didn't know what I had or what it was about, but everyone in my grade and below knew, but wanted me to be the ones to tell them. We actually gained the new classmate(s) the first week I had my new wig, and my teacher had to miss that week, so they couldn't help with making those connections as well. This was also the first time I lost friends because of my hair loss, as when I told these new people, they were shocked, but processed it and continued to be friends with me for a while before telling me that they didn't want to be around me anymore because I was bald and "had holes in my head." Most of my class didn't support them in these actions, but continued to be friends with them because of other connections and similarities. This was also when I had anxiety of going to middle school and having to explain my hair situation all over again and being judged. My teacher had a lot of conversations with me about this worry, and it was noted in my records so that I had "proper supports" in middle school.
7th grade: the year from hell. I was bullied from the few friends I had from elementary school, as I went to the other middle school than most of my elementary school friends. I had a plan ready, but knew that I would do it at school if I did it, because my mom had just gotten comfortable in living at home without dad for the first time that year. My exhaustion got worse, I lost a lot of my hair growth from the summer, and my symptoms were all over the place no matter the medication changes due to the amount of stress and anxiety I was under going to and attending school. Classes and the library were my escape, as those bullies were not in the honors classes that I was, and were mostly too loud for the library in the morning and during lunch. I had break downs every morning going into school, and my mom would have to drag me into the wrong door of the building to meet the principal and nurse at the doors, then have me wait with staff until the counselor came in to talk with me about what was going on. No one believed me that I was being bullied, and all thought I was grieving my dad's passing, but the librarian offered me a position in opening and closing the library every day with her and joining her during lunch hour after I finished my lunch. This is what saved me, and this kick started my hair growing back, and my stress levels dropping, which helped with my underactive thyroid.
8th grade: I had a whole new group of friends through the connections the librarian made naturally with me, and I was so happy and supported. A lot of personal stuff also happened in middle school, so this helped tremendously in me living a better life as a fully functional student with natural supports built in. My teachers were aware of my diagnosis and my loss at this point, and whenever I struggled, would encourage me to write out my feelings, walk me to the counselor personally, or have me complete assignments in the library with my now pseudo-aunt, the librarian. I also gained most of my hair back, and for the first time, it was shirley temple curly! Everyone was astounded, and the endocrinologist was excited at how much growth I had in one year's time, as no one in the midwest had seen that in cases similar to mine.
High school: my hair came and went a few times more, but I never hid anything except maybe wear a hat outside during marching band. I had a completely new set of friends because of band, and fell in love with the peer tutoring program in the special education department, so I had support in all forms. I did have some bad autoimmune flareups in which I got very, very sick very, very quickly. But living with a chronic illness, I was sick most of the time and wouldn't say anything about it because it was/is my normal. So the nurse knew that if I went to her office, something was really wrong, and most of the time ended up with me leaving school immedoately for a hospital or emergency doctor's visit. I wore my hair all natural from my memory, and I only grew my hair all of high school, except for one cut (which was one bigger trim of about 6 inches taken off in total). My senior year, I did have a little more thinning in my hair overall, and was afraid I'd lose it all at the end of high school, but my hair never had the straw-like consistency that it did in my younger years whenever I lost all my hair.
Freshman year: I grew it out more, to almost my butt, when I chopped it off to about collar bone length during spring break. That was so freeing to feel like I could do things with my hair again.
Sophomore year: I had my hair cut again right before I moved back to school for band, and the hairstylist was one I had never been to before but at the same studio I went to, and cut it to my ears. For a while, I was worried that it was too short. Everyone told me it would grow out, but I'm not guaranteed the time for it to do that, and explained that to people. The time I had in high school and the start of college was a gift, but the doctors always tell me that if I lose my hair, there is no guarantee I will get it back at all. Looking back at my band pictures, I was cute as hell, and didn't have to put my hair up under my shako, just pin back the front part of my hair to keep it out of my face.
Junior year to now: oh boy, I noticed spots popping up that I hadn't had in a really long time. I was always used to having at least 2 small spots now, but the spots started popping up all over, have joined into bigger spots, and now I currently have about half my hair with about 9 spots taking my hair away at different rates. It'll grow rapidly in some areas then randomly slow down. I am actually getting married next year, and I want my hair so I can have a fun hairdo, but I'm preparing for being patchy, in which I have agreements with people I trust that if it gets to a point in which I can't cover everything anymore, I'll shave it and do alternative gemstones on my head in place of a veil and hairdo for the wedding. I did all natural in childhood, and looking back at the pictures, I don't have the confidence to do long patches of hair again. I'm trying to accept the loss of hair again, but also love myself in my current state, as I may never be in this spot ever again in my hair journey.
I have been completely baby-butt bald, peach fuzz bald, patchy halos bald, full head of hair with minimal spots, and a fullish head of hair with major spots. My hair has been perfectly pin straight, wavy, curly as heck, and for the past several years, an exact 50/50 of either wavy and curly or straight and curly. The split is literally one half is on texture, and the other half is a different texture.
My doctors have told me I would never get my eyelashes or eyebrows back again, and that's mostly true. I have very faint eyebrows that are very thin that may or may not randomly grow in more full/darken in color, and I actually prefer no eyebrows for myself, as I actually raise my eyebrows in all pictures as a natural response to open my eyes more, and I don't look as crazy compared to penciled in eyebrows doing the same reaction in a picture.
I have never had and mostly never will have hair on my armpits, and I constantly surprise myself in how much hair some people have on their armpits, but support all the armhairs or lack their of!
I only recently learned how to shave my legs, because up until then, I would mostly lose my leg hair in the summers due to more exposure to elements and gain more of it back in the winters.
I have "thyroid syndrome of the eyes" in which my underactive thyroid affects my eyesight in not only blurriness, but also double vision and other visual impairments that have just recently finally started to be corrected with added prisms in all directions to my glasses that I had to first start wearing in 7th grade when I suddenly couldnt see much at all.
I get migraines and headaches easily, mainly because of the part of the brain that works with the thyroid and when my medicine is off, it affects that part of my head. I also have been way more light, sound, and motion sensitive in the past couple of years, but much more compounded in the last year.
But it is who I am, and whenever anyone asks me if I ever want to take my autoimmune disorders away, I confidently say no. Why? Because it makes me who I am today. I matured and still mature within myself which helps me accept others' differences as well. I connect with the individuals I work with in the special needs community that my coworkers, peers, and typical individuals cannot. I'm upfront with those I interact with about my disorders once we have an established connection and I feel safe telling them the information.
Yes, I do have problems with anxiety, trust, self-esteem, and body impressions of myself. But my alopecia and underactive thyroid know when to kick me in the pants a little bit to get me to realize different life lessons. It's made my heart so much bigger because of my struggles that I've gone through, am going through, and will go through.
I've been on the same medication since 3rd grade, with varying levels of prescription. But my tolerance is high, yet I can't change prescriptions due to me having horrific reactions to the other medications. There will most likely come a day in which my thyroid will stop working and I will have to have surgety to remove it and be on hormonal medication the rest of my life, but I'm always going to be on some sort of hormonal medication for the rest of my life anyway.
Also, I've struggled with getting the help I needed medically with anxiety and depression and being on a hormonal medication. My doctors wouldn't put me on any depression or anxiety medicine until I started college because they didn't want to effect my thyroid medication. So I have been in and out of counseling almost all of my life, and most likely will continue throughout my life when I need it. Now, I have the help I need with supportive and safe network, a counseling program, and the medicine I need to be my best. I also have connections to social workers and other specialists that can make immediate arrangements if my needs are not met ever again.
This isn't even my full story, but the thread of consciousness that I wanted to share right now about my autoimmune disorders. Thanks for reading all of it!
#alopecia#underactive thyroid#hypothyroidism#autoimmune disorder#mental illness#life story#my life#no armpit hair#prefer no eyebrows#stream of conscience#stream of conscious writing#stream of thought
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Days 165-167: More Munich (Food, Beer, & Art)
After two long and draining day trips out of Munich--and a short but even more daunting trip to Dachau on the horizon--we decided to sleep in and take things slow. Apart from the aforementioned Dachau trip, we'd be spending our last three days in Munich experiencing its sunnier side of food, beer, and art.
For the first day, we had booked a guided tour of the Viktualienmarkt, the city's world-famous outdoor food market that we'd visited on our introductory walking tour. We’ve seen plenty of old food markets in the towns and cities we’ve visited, but they tend to be a little intimidating to enter as a tourist--especially if you're like me and don't know much about cooking to begin with.
Now, we would get shown around the food market by a knowledgeable local and experience a curated tasting of some traditional Bavarian fare.
We met our guide at the New Town Hall in Marienplatz, and he turned out to be a friendly college student doing tours as a side gig. We learned that we were actually the only two people booked for the tour. We held out hope that someone might join us at the last minute, but nope--we'd be getting a private tour.
Some people might have loved that right off the bat, but we weren't those people. Remember how glad we were to have just missed the same fate on our trip to Connemara back in Ireland? We were a little nervous that it would be awkward with just the three of us, but our guide seemed a little awkward about it too, so we all just gave ourselves a break and rolled with it.
Our first stop was for a traditional Bavarian breakfast of white sausages (weisswurst). They're thick, pallid, rubbery, and frankly a little intimidating. But they're also absolutely delicious. The key is that you have to slice through the casings and peel them off the sausage before you eat them. This does nothing to improve the visual aspect, but such petty concerns evaporate with the first bite.
Weisswurst aren't smoked or seasoned, which gives them a delightfully fresh and delicate flavor. That's also why they're considered a breakfast food--before refrigeration was invented, they had to be eaten right after they were made.
Keeping with Bavarian tradition, we ate the sausages with sweet mustard, fresh pretzels, and a tall glass of weissbier. (I've never been a big fan of mustard, but this sweet mustard was a revelation.) It was a rich, heavy meal, and our guide told us that this is mainly eaten on special occasions--like Sunday brunch or an early get-together with friends.
Thankfully, the rest of our stops weren't nearly as filling.
Our next stop was for some fresh-squeezed juice. They had a fairly normal range of tropical fruit juices like mango, grapefruit, and peach, but they also had some more intimidating options like avocado juice.
Next, our guide took us into a stall run by a local biodynamic farm, where we chatted with the proprietor and sampled some of their wares. A lot of the biodynamic stuff is based on astrology and other weird mysticism, but there was some interesting things as well. They grow their crops from "ancient seeds," which are strains of fruits and vegetables that haven't been breed into bland homogeneity. Their produce came in all sorts of weird shapes and colors that would immediately qualify them for rejection at a typical supermarket. But I wouldn't be surprised if the proprietor was right in her assertion that they are more flavorful and possibly even more nutritious.
According to the proprietor, "stronger foods make stronger people."
The stall also sold a variety of preserves, sauces, and even ointments. To be honest, it felt a little like being back at an argan oil "pharmacy" in Morocco. But I was still suffering from bug bites I'd gotten in Prague, plus the wasp sting in Nuremberg the day before, so I bought an ointment advertised for bites and skin irritation. I don't know if it actually helped, but it smelled nice.
Next was a stand selling an intimidating variety of olives and pickles. Jessica and I both decided to try a "pepper pickle," which was surprisingly spicy but extraordinarily juicy and flavorful--genuinely one of our most memorable food experiences of the entire trip.
Our penultimate stop in the Viktualienmarkt was a dairy goods stall, where we sampled a cheese platter. The first three cheeses were local: one fresh cheese, one aged cheese, and one floral cheese with various herbs and flowers mixed in. The young cheese tasted a bit like gouda, the aged cheese tasted more like a chewy, crumbly cheddar, and the floral cheese had an earthy, nutty flavor.
The fourth cheese was a Dutch wasabi cheese, which I didn't hate quite as much as I'd expected to. The fattiness of the cheese cut most of the wasabi's spiciness, but I just don't like the flavor of wasabi.
The last sample was a Bavarian cheese spread called obatzda. Along with the weisswurst and pepper pickle, the obatzda was one of the stand-out discoveries of the tour. Everyone has their own signature recipe, but it generally involves mixing soft cheeses like camembert with paprika and other spices, plus a softener like butter, cream cheese, or even beer. Like many traditional foods (such as Lebkuchen), it was invented out of necessity for finding a way to turn scraps into something tasty and nutrient-dense.
As we left the Viktualienmarkt, we made our final stop for desert at a local bakery just across the street from the market. There, we got to try a local delicacy called a schmaltznudel--a big flat sugar doughnut with a thin layer of crunchy dough stretching across the middle. Predictably, it was delicious.
All throughout the tour, we couldn't help but noticed the swarms of bees everywhere. In the pastry shops, they were literally piling up in the display cases.
When we asked about them, we learned that bees and wasps are protected in Germany, and it's illegal to kill them. Thanks to the unusually wet spring and hot summer Europe had experienced this year, the bee population had exploded along with the flowers. And there was nothing anyone could do about them except ignore them and hope to not get stung. With the welt of yesterday's wasp sting still throbbing, I was not especially enthused to learn all this.
Since we were already nearby, we decided to stop for a drink at the Schneider Weisshaus. As we'd learned on our first-day walking tour, Schneider Weisse has over half a dozen different types of wheat beer on tap. Most Bavarian beerhouses only have three beers on tap at most: a pale lager, a dark lager, and a pale wheat beer. Schneider has pale wheat beers, dark wheat beers, filtered and unfiltered wheat beers, and even a 12% ABV wheat beer. We only had one each, but they were both very good.
Wheat beers were the first beers that Jessica realized she actually liked, but I had never been a fan. I could stand a few sips of Blue Moon with orange juice, but mostly they tasted gritty or dirty to me. But all the Bavarian weissbiers we tasted were really good. They can still get a little gritty as they warm up, but they're super smooth when chilled and have an amazing banana-like flavor. It's funny to imagine the first Bavarian to taste a banana and discover that it tasted like beer.
In reality, as we'd learn later, very few historical Bavarians actually got to enjoy weissbier. The traditional Bavarian beer purity laws (Reinheitsgebot) banned the production of beer from anything other than malted barley. Wheat beers could only be made by special permission of the government, and they were extremely exclusive. While researching Schneider back home, I learned that it was the Schneider family that pushed for broad legalization of wheat beer production in the 1800s. And were it not for a relentless, century-long push to popularize this amazing brew, Bavarian weissbiers may have gone extinct out of sheer obscurity.
It was threatening to rain, and we were still quite tired from our last few days, so after a little bit of souvenir shopping we headed home for a nap and an early evening.
I finally bought that Bavarian flag mug I'd been eyeing earlier, and we drank the fume blanc we bought in Schwangau.
Our next day started with a trip to the Dachau concentration camp. But like Auschwitz, I will save that for its own post.
After recuperating from that ordeal, we headed out for our much-needed evening entertainment–a tour of traditional Bavarian beer.
The tour started with a bottle right in the Radius Tours office at the train station–a 33cl bottle of Hacker-Pschorr helles pale lager.
As we drank, our guide asked the group if we could name all six Munich breweries. After nearly a week in the city, Jessica and I were able to immediately rattle off four: Hacker-Pschorr (that one was easy), Paulaner, Augustiner, and Hofbrau. The rest of the group was eventually able to get the last two: Spaten and Lowenbrau.
To be a Munich beer, it has to be produced, cellared, and bottled entirely within the city limits of Munich, and some aren’t available anywhere else. Augustiner–the one locals generally consider to be the best–doesn’t spend a dime one exporting advertising. And because they’re technically a church organization, they don’t have to pay tax and give almost half their income away to charitable causes within the city. So Muncheners can drink all they want with an easy conscience.
One member of our tour group seemed perplexed by the notion of the beers being made entirely in Munich. To our guide's mild but steadily increasing perplexity, the man kept asking, "but where is the beer actually made?" I guess it says something about globalization that our ideas of where a company is located and where its product gets made have become so totally separated.
Beers finished and bottles stowed away for recycling, it was time to set out. Our guide--a friendly if slightly haggard Brit--lead us down to the underground metro platform, where we caught a ride over to the other side of the Old Town. There, we'd be enjoying a visit to the Beer and Oktoberfest Museum.
Though nominally a museum, the place is also a first-rate beerhouse and restaurant. The mayor himself frequents the establishment, or so we heard, and regulars keep their personal steins in rented lockers near the bar.
In a tasting room, we got to try samples of the three main types of Bavarian beer: light helles lager, dark dunkel lager, and weissbier. We learned some of Bavaria's beer history, some of which we've already shared--such as the origin of beer gardens.
Our guide told us about the medieval Bavarian beer purity laws of Reinheitsgebot. Of course, we'd long been vaguely aware of them through our uncle Doug, a master brewer trained in strict Bavarian tradition. Jessica and I had never been especially interested in beer before the trip, but finally, after nearly 10 years of legal drinking, we had seen the light. Better late than never.
Under the Bavarian purity laws, only barley, hops, yeast, and water could be used to make beer. No fruit or other additives were allowed. The reason wheat beers could only be produced by special permission of the government was to reduce competition with bakers. Wheat and barley could both make good beer, but barley bread wasn't nearly as desirable as wheat bread.
Our guide also talked about beer's role in Bavarian culture, which can be neatly summarized in the popular catchphrase "Beer is food." Beer is full of energy for fueling farmhands and factory workers, and for most of its history beer was much safer to drink than water. Pretty much every successful civilization before the advent of effective water purification was fueled by some form of alcohol or tea.
When safe drinking water finally did become common, governments in Europe and America suddenly started treating beer like a luxury adult good. In other words, they could start taxing and regulating the heck out of it. But Bavaria proudly resists this tradition. If you want to drink a beer in Munich but don't know if it's allowed, simply ask yourself if you would feel comfortable eating a sandwich. Anywhere you can eat a sandwich, you can drink a beer.
Upstairs, we got to see pictures and artifacts covering the history of Oktoberfests past and present. Thanks to our first-day walking tour, we got to impress our guide with our guide with our knowledge of the celebration's origin as a wedding/anniversary celebration.
We also learned that the popular British and American image of Oktoberfest, at best, only a small part of the picture. I've always pictured it as a gaudy celebration of raucously inebriated tourists drinking gallons of beer served by oversexualized beer maidens, with real Bavarians staying as far away as possible. That may describe the Hofbrau tent, but there are still five other Munich breweries that each have their own tents as well. And those tents are filled almost entirely with locals.
In the rooms dedicated to beer in general, we learned more how Bavaria became such a mecca for beer. The purity laws were a big part of the equation, but another part was a combination of geography, technology, and politics.
When Europeans discovered the American continents, they brought back all sorts of treasures, from precious gold and silver to the even more precious potato. And--without even realizing it--they also brought back a new species of yeast. This new yeast could be used to make a cleaner, more quaffable beer than anyone in Europe had ever tasted before. But it only worked in cold, strictly controlled environments, and most of Europe lacked either the climate or the skills to take advantage.
For Bavaria, however, with its cool alpine climate and exceptionally well-regulated beer industry, it was practically a gift from God. For a good three hundred years or so until the invention of industrial refrigeration, lagers were the uncontested domain of Bavaria and its neighbor Bohemia.
In fact, at least according to the museum and our guide, it was France's envy of German beer that spurred their chemists to finally invent refrigeration. At the very least, French breweries were among the first and most enthusiastic adopters of the technology. By the 20th century, Bavarian-style pale lagers--or at least mediocre approximations thereof--were being mass-produced around the world.
The night culminated with a dinner at the Hofbrau Keller on the eastern end of the city. Unlike the infamously rowdy Hofbrauhaus, the Keller is a more relaxed, family friendly establishment. In general, we learned, a beer "house" is big and boisterous while a beer "cellar" is smaller and (relatively) peaceful, with a beer garden outside.
Our guide had prepared us for placing our beer orders. We could have either a half-liter or the full mass--a one-liter pitcher of beer that constitutes a Bavarian's idea of a single serving. Not wanting to miss out on the full cultural experience, Jessica and I both opted for the mass. Our guide seemed impressed--only one other person in the entire group did the same.
One liter of beer is no joke. After thirty minutes, we had barely dented them. But somehow, it seems to get easier the deeper into our glasses we got.
For dinner, we enjoyed a mountainous "vesper" board loaded with local meats, breads, and cheeses. And accompanying the board was a steaming pot of weisswurst. Internally beaming at our good fortune to have been shown the ways of weisswurst on our Viktualienmarkt tour, Jessica and I got to be the experts of our table, enthusiastically digging in while the others were still perplexed by its variously off-putting physical attributes.
Despite our guide's perfectly sufficient explanation about how to skin a weisswurst--as well as the exemplary performance of Jessica and myself--one of our tablemates didn't deem to have gotten the memo. The woman, who may have been the wife of the man so confused by the concept of urban breweries, began to fork-scrape the fillings of her sausage into a shredded horror on her plate. Visibly dismayed at the atrocity, our guide quickly stopped her, showed her again how to correctly peel her weisswurst, and didn't leave until she vowed never to do it the other way ever again.
Catching a tram back towards Marienplatz, our tour concluded outside the doors of the Hofbrauhaus. We could hear the sounds of oompah music and three-thousand drinking tourists. We peeked inside just long enough to take a couple pictures and make badly needed use of the facilities. It wasn't something we'd normally do--using the facilities uninvited without being a customer--but with the amount of business the place was doing, I don’t think it was much of an imposition.
After stumbling our way back home in the blissfully cool night air, we of course capped the night off with a taste of Jessica's Little Bay.
On our last full day in Munich, we found ourselves with plenty of things we could do and little energy to do any of it. There was the Residenz, the Nymphenburg Palace, a Nazi Documentation Center, and a host of museums--including the BMW world headquarters. And that's ignoring all of the other things there are to see in the surrounding Bavarian countryside. I could happily spend another week or two back in Nuremberg alone.
We already knew that we both wanted to visit the city again someday, so we decided to take it easy and do just one more thing--the Alte Pinakothek, the city's main art gallery of old European masters.
It was a nice day, so we decided to walk over to the museum quarter after catching a tram to the station. Along the way, we passed through the Karolinenplatz, which is really more of a roundabout than a square. It is dominated by a stark black obelisk. With our translation apps and a bit of Googling, we learned that it was erected in honor of the thirty thousand Bavarian soldiers that died in Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Apparently, the metal used to build the obelisk came from melted-down Turkish weapons captured during Greece's war of independence from the Ottoman Empire.
Past the square, I led us on a short detour to see the Königsplatz, a square surrounded by classical monuments and museums. Outside the museum of ancient sculpture, we were pleasantly enthused yet somehow not surprised to find our old friend Laocoön, this time sporting some serious ink.
Finally, we made it to the Alte Pinakothek. It may not be a match for the Prado or the Louvre, but it is still a fantastic collection--especially for anyone into Renaissance and Baroque art.
One of the museum's signature pieces is a 16th-century painting by Albrecht Altdorfer of a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia in 333 BC. We'd probably seen hundreds of battle paintings by this point, but this one was utterly unlike any other. Epic in scope and perspective, it zooms from individual soldiers in the foreground to a curved Earthscape of the entire eastern Mediterranean Sea in the background. Overhead, the sun and moon seem locked in a showdown between light and darkness amidst a rippling, cloud-filled sky.
It actually had a lot more in common with paintings we'd seen of the apocalypse than of other historical battles. And that was very much intentional. Tensions between the West and the Middle East were perilously high, and many believed that the end times were close at hand. Some things never really change.
We also saw some works by Albrecht Dürer, including the famous self-portrait where he depicted himself as a Christ figure. But Jessica and I were more interested in a somewhat subtler but no less provocative pair of paintings.
In this two-panel painting of The Four Apostles, Dürer shows John, Peter, Mark, and Paul huddled together in an open circle. The painting is immediately unusual for its unidealized depiction of the four men as ordinary figures--aged, wrinkled, and not especially attractive. But more than that, and true to Dürer's Franconian roots, the painting is actually a powerful piece of Protestant propaganda.
John holds the Bible open as Peter--the saint so deeply associated with admission into heaven--reads it closely. Meanwhile, Mark and Paul--his sword at the ready--look challengingly outward. The anti-Catholic sentiment is clear: read the Bible for yourself if you want salvation, and stand guarded against anyone who would try to stop you.
There were plenty of Italian Renaissance paintings as well, including masterpieces by Da Vinci, Raphael, and Lippi.
Another highlight of the visit was a massive room filled with epic works by Rubens. Or rather, works by Rubens' students. Rubens was a master of churning out high-priced commissions, and many of these paintings were done almost entirely by his students based on quick sketches by Rubens himself. Delightfully, the museum actually had one of these sketches on display in view of the final product.
We also saw some more landscapes by Claude Lorrain, a recurring favorite of our museum trips. On our own, we each noticed his paintings from across the room and recognized them instantly by his style. They were hung amidst a collection of other similarly styled paintings, and their placards confirmed that each of these artists were deeply influenced by Claude's techniques.
This is just a sampling of everything we saw. We had just about exhausted our museum chops at this point, but I made sure to go back to another room that had previously been too crowded to enter. On loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was Vermeer's Woman in Blue Reading a Letter.
When we visited the Rijksmuseum less than three weeks later, the painting was still on loan, and a simple "Sorry" placard was hung in its place. But we had nothing to feel sorry about, since we'd seen it already.
And that's about all there is to say about our stay in Munich. Apart from our visit to Dachau, of course, which will be coming later. It was one of our favorite cities of the entire trip--right up there with Florence and Edinburgh. The culture, architecture, food, drink, and access to nature are all top-notch, and I can't wait to go back someday.
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