These two should and will meet in my dreams.

One of a Kind

@amazingmsme I didn't want to post the thing you sent just because of the minor minor spoilers (I hate that we've lost a grip on spoiler culture on the internet so I am overcorrecting to keep my blog safe!) but what you sent was too goddamn cute. Have an unedited thing I wrote in one go. This takes place in the nebulous, non-existent gap between episode 5 and 6! I still haven't see the finale so....this is canon-adjacent-adjacent I guess. Enjoy!

Spoilers for the Loki series under the cut!

Cataloguing variants had always been time-consuming, but somehow Loki was making it take longer. Mobius knew that Loki should’ve gone through his stack already, especially with his reading speed, but he was just staring at one particular file and huffing at increasing volumes.

Alright, I’ll bite.

“I’d ask what you’re thinking about, but I know you’re gonna tell me.” Mobius thumbed through his file on another Loki, one who’d defected from Thanos in 2012 to join the Avengers. They’d pruned him pretty early. Mobius still regretted not being able to pick his brain for a little while longer.

“These other variants are incredible,” Loki scoffed.

“I agree.”

“I don’t understand it.” He stared at Mobius, brow furrowed, and alright, they clearly weren’t getting any more work done.

“Lokis tend to be extraordinary. It’s kinda a thing with you guys.” Mobius slid his files aside.

“Right, but in comparison, I am at the lower end of the bunch.” Loki frowned, gesturing as if this was a matter of grave importance.

“Okay, you lost me.” He folded his hands on the table and squinted at Loki.

“We have an alligator, an illusionist whose powers dwarfed my own, a child who killed Thor, a President--though I can’t fathom wanting to be a part of the American political system--and an enchantress. Those are the variants that we know about. So why am I here helping you?”

“You’re the best of the bunch.” The simplest and truest answer. Loki didn’t seem to buy it.

Mobius dragged his chair around the table and put it in front of Loki, effectively pinning him against the table--well, he could just stand up and walk away, but Mobius knew he wouldn’t. It was part of their thing.

“What are you doing?”

“Just gettin’ closer.” Mobius slotted his knees between Loki’s and pulled his chair as far in as it could go.

“I can see that. Why?”

“I just wanna be close to you, that’s all.” He gave his best convincing grin. Loki visibly softened.

“Loki, you are a genius with a good heart. You’re here because you are, at least in my book, a hero.” Mobius gave his knee a steady pat. Loki puffed with pride.

“Go on.”

“Wow, you are on a perfect swinging scale of narcissism. From self-deprecating to king of the world in no time flat.” Mobius laughed.

“Thank you.” Loki adjusted his tie, missing or ignoring everything but the word ‘perfect’. Mobius bit his lip on a chuckle--he really shouldn’t inflate an already dangerously-large ego, but Loki needed it, he thought. His confidence was all air, after all--smug posturing designed to fill the void of something genuine. Loki could use genuine, for a change.

He looked Loki up and down slowly, deliberately, and an absurd little idea took root in the back of his mind. It had worked in the Time Cell, so maybe...

“Why are you looking at me like that? Wh--Mobius. Mobius. Stop it.” Loki leaned back as much as he could. Mobius grinned and hovered his fingers just over Loki’s torso, dangerously close. Loki sucked in his stomach, looking frantically between Mobius’s hands and his face.

“This r-really isn’t necessary.” The wobbly smile on Loki’s lips told Mobius the exact opposite.

“Nervous giggler, huh?” Mobius twitched his fingers and Loki jumped.

“No.”

“Perfect! Then you’ll hear what I have to say.” Mobius set his fingers adrift, passing languidly over Loki’s spots but never landing anywhere.

“Sylvie’s my favorite because she’s wild and unpredictable. I can never quite figure out what’s goin’ on in that head of hers, regardless of her being a Loki, and it fascinates me. You know I love my puzzles, and cracking open her head like a walnut has been a real highlight of my career.” Mobius’s fingers over Loki’s knee got the first giggles to bubble out, sweet and fluttery, and it took all of his strength not to chase them down.

“But you? You’re incredible. Quick wit, a quicker knife hand, and a will to survive that I haven’t seen in--” Mobius whistled lowly-- “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. Plus, you’re pretty cute. Or, so I’ve heard.”

“You had me wrapped around your finger when we brought you in. I mean, you could talk a desert into bloomin’.” It was the first time in a few thousand Loki’s that he’d genuinely almost been fooled--something about this one, his Loki, just got to him in a way that the others never could.

“I still have you around my finger.” Loki’s smile and rosy cheeks ignited a gentle warmth in Mobius’s chest. Gentle, rolling chuckles flowed steadily from him, walls completely broken down, and if Mobius could keep one memory forever, it would be this.

“Oh, and that laugh. I’m almost jealous. Literal music to my ears. Y’know, the other Loki’s never laughed like this? It was always this fake, snooty chuckle that used to make my skin crawl.

“But not you. You’ve got this damn beautiful giggle. It’s like the old saying goes: every time a Loki laughs, a puppy is born. Or angels get their wings. A little bit of both.” Mobius let his fingers drift upwards to Loki’s ribs and he whined, pitching forward until his forehead hit Mobius’s chest.

“T-That’s not a thing.” The color on Loki’s face had matured into a wonderful shade of cherry, his voice pinching from the sheer volume of emotion--Mobius could actually see him working through it in real time. Another favorite thing that he could never express aloud--how earnestly and easily Loki wore his emotions.

“He speaks!” Mobius swooped his hands in, never touching but threatening, and Loki yelped around some more giggles.

“Stop it.” Loki swiped at his hands, but even at close range, he couldn’t coordinate enough to catch Mobius.

“You’re right, my bad. It’s rude to keep you waiting.”

“Wh--no, nonono, that’s definitely not what I meant--”

“You make it so easy for me,” Mobius sighed wistfully, seeking out Loki’s trick rib as easy as breathing. Loki shrieked, crumpling in Mobius’s arms, and Mobius held him as he deftly took him apart.

“You are a Loki, alright? There’s no doubt about that. But you’re you, and I like ya. Stop worryin’ about the others.” He wormed his fingers under Loki’s arms, then spidered across the backs of his ribs and up towards his shoulders.

“M-Mobius!”

“Excellent point. You also have me. That’s a pretty big deal--I’m one of a kind, y’know. Limited edition. So there’s that.” His hands found solace beneath Loki's jaw, pulling forth jumpy squeaks between...purrs? Huh. He made a note of it as he scribbled his fingers up Loki’s thigh, dodging swatting hands like a stubborn bug. Loki pulled his knee up to his chest, head tilted back in open-mouthed laughter, and Mobius followed him.

“Who’s got an ego now?” Loki smirked, eyes crinkled, and Mobius summoned his best dramatic gasp.

“You take that back!”

one dance || p.sh (atz)

➵ pairing: reader x park seonghwa (ateez)

➵ word count: 1189

➵ genre: royalty au; fluff

➵ synopsis: a prince really shouldn’t be getting on his knees before a maid, but then again seonghwa doesn’t really care when it’s you.

>>>

Crystal chandeliers cast sparkling lights about you in the muted glow of the massive ballroom, red velvet curtains framed gigantic arched windows and elaborate tapestries depicting the King’s many victories lined the walls. The massive grandeur made you feel out of place as you glanced nervously about you, only for your sight to be filled by a multitude of expensive designer suits and exquisite gowns of silk and brocade.

Of course all the attendees would be dressed in their finest. The King might have called it a mere ‘birthday celebration’ on the surface, but on the chessboard of palace politics, you knew that he was edging the Crown Prince towards the selection of a Queen, considering that he was fast approaching marriageable age.

You had grown up in the palace long enough to know about the games that royalty played.

It was the Crown Prince’s twenty second birthday and the King had announced a celebration on a scale you had never seen before, a massive one that had gone on for twenty two days in the capital. As a servant of the Royal Palace, you hadn’t had much chance to celebrate the festivities, but the head of staff had allowed all of you to return home on the last night of the holiday to spend it with your families instead.

But here you were, in the Grand Hall of the Royal Palace, this time as a guest and not a servant. It made you feel strange, some of the friends you had worked with serving you drinks and delicacies while glancing bemusedly at you. Your feet tapped on the floor absentmindedly as you awaited the childhood friend who had given you the invitation, although judging from his busy schedule, he might not have much time to speak to you regardless. But still, you wanted to see him tonight, at the very least.

“Announcing His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince!”

The room immediately burst into applause, polite clapping filling your ears as you turned towards the stage. And when your eyes caught sight of the man standing there, your heart stopped in your chest.

His dark hair was gone, replaced by a striking blonde shade that stood in stark contrast to the navy blue outfit he was wearing. The cut of the suit outlined his body well, drawing your eyes to his broad, strong shoulders and long legs... and dear lord, were those glasses on him?

He smiled politely, raising a hand and the entire hall fell silent at once. The Crown Prince was adored by all his people, a kind, compassionate man who listened to the worries of those under him and strove to better their lives. The townspeople called him a blessing from the stars, for his reign could be nothing other than one of peace and prosperity.

“Thank you all for coming to see me on my birthday, and to celebrate this important event with me. I’m truly honored that all of you are here with me today.” His voice, warm and smooth, carried over to your ears and you found yourself smiling, all nerves forgotten as you gazed upon his face. He did look exceptionally good today. “But as much as I would like to continue standing here speaking to all of you, I’m afraid that there is something I must attend to urgently.”

The audience fell into a stunned silence, every bit as confused as you felt. Even the valet at his side had clearly not expected such an abrupt ending to his speech, but the Crown Prince merely stepped down from the stage, shoes clicking against the floor in the silence of the ballroom.

The crowd parted for him instinctively and your eyes followed him as he moved, graceful as a deer and yet with all the commanding presence of royalty. When he reached you, you prepared to step to the side as well to allow him through, but then you found that you were unable to move.

His hands rested on your shoulders, light but firm. One gloved hand reached up to cradle your chin as he lifted your head to meet his sweet eyes. Your mouth parted in shock to let a gasp through and you weren’t quite sure if your heart was hammering in your chest or if it had just stopped altogether.

Because the Crown Prince himself, Park Seonghwa, was standing before you.

“Your Royal Highness-” You nearly babbled, quite unable to comprehend how he was here, touching you in front of hundreds of nobles and royal ladies, every single one of them as stunned as your were. But Seonghwa merely smiled shyly at you as he glanced over the gown you were wearing, a simple wine red affair that left your shoulders bare and swept down to your ankles, before his eyes returned to your lips, irrevocably drawn to them.

Stained red with lipstick, he thought to himself, pleased.

“I told you the color suits you, but you didn’t believe me.” He whispered under his breath, chuckling at how adorable you looked when you were still gaping at him like a fish out of water. “I’m surprised you accepted my invitation. I was so happy when I saw you from up there, you know?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” You managed, but your tongue still felt heavy in your mouth, confusion running through your mind as you stared at your Crown Prince. What on earth did he think he was doing? “Your Highness, you-”

“You look beautiful tonight.” Seonghwa told you, gently, simply, truthfully, as if he truly believed that. Even though you knew it wasn’t true, you couldn’t help but feel a cherry red flush rise to your cheeks, mind working furiously to find something to say. This man flirted even without realizing intending to.

And for some reason, it just made it a thousand times more genuine.

You somehow managed to shake off some of the shock, the words spilling from your lips before they could fully run through your mind. “Your Highness, this is inappropriate for someone of your station-” Already you could hear the whispering of the dukes and duchesses behind you, but part of your mind just kept lingering on how good he looked tonight, you just wanted to stay by his side, serving him faithfully, always-

“I can’t spend my birthday with my childhood friend?” Seonghwa cocked his head to the side with a shy smile, before he removed his hands from your shoulders. You breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as your eyes widened in horror when Seonghwa lowered himself onto one knee before you.

What was he doing?

The whispers were no longer silent, instead they filled the room like a cacophony of sound, ringing in your ears. But your eyes were only focused on one man, a soft, rosy shade that you could only be imagining tinting his cheeks as he smiled bashfully, raising an upturned hand to you.

The Crown Prince was on his knee before a servant.

His eyes, dark and gentle with adoration, met yours pleadingly.

“May I have this dance?”

Oooh prompts! Fluff number 3! On mobile so I cany copy ahhh but I think it goes like "have you seen my hoodie?" "..." "you're wearing it aren't you?" And with your fave pairing you don't often get to write, or a ship you've wanted to try but haven't yet!

Hey!! Thank for sending in the prompt! I had a lot of fun writing this because I never wrote Anxceit before!! This prompt list so far has been a cool experiment for me, as I’ve been writing ships I don’t usually write about!

[Prompt list] (I’m still accepting prompts at the moment!!)

Hoodie Thief

Rating: Gen

Pairing: Anxceit

Word Count: 910

Warnings: One very brief description of gore

It was clear that everything was not okay when the coffee pitcher was cradled in Virgil’s arms and half-empty. And that Virgil wouldn’t let anyone else have coffee. And that Virgil had taken said pitcher of coffee with him to his room, and firmly shut the door behind him.

Virgil had lost track of his hoodie and now it was nowhere to be found. And he was beginning to get a little restless with its disappearance.

“Have you seen my hoodie?” was the new ‘good morning’ for Virgil as each Side woke up from their slumber.

“Nope! Have you checked the hamper, kiddo?”

“I have not, in fact, seen it! But if you need help on your quest to find it, I would be more than glad to help!”

“I was under the impression that if anyone else touched it besides you would suffer extreme consequences. So, no, I have not seen it either.”

“Yeah, well, no, but I dreamt that I shoved it up my butt.”

And that was when Virgil decided to steal the coffee pitcher and block out everything, at least until he found his hoodie again. As he shuffled through his bedroom—well, it was barely a bedroom anymore as it was a room with all of his clothes making up the floor—he sipped the coffee right out of the container with no remorse. This was his therapy when he didn’t have his hoodie.

He just couldn’t find it and that made him anxious. It wasn’t even in the hamper or drying, or anywhere in his room apparently, as he had just picked it apart like Remus had done with brains and chopsticks once—it was just gone.

Virgil stood in the middle of his room, frowning, tapping the glass of the coffee pitcher, and shoving his clothes on the floor with his toes.

“Where the hell did I put it?”

He thought he remembered putting it on the back of the chair right at his desk slash vanity- Or that he hung it in his closet- No there was nothing in his closet anymore, he would’ve seen it as he was throwing everything out of it. Maybe someone stole it.

Virgil snorted and shook his head.

But- wait- maybe someone had stolen it. Specifically, last night. The culprit being his charming boyfriend, Deceit. They had been cuddling last night, as Deceit was always needy for cuddles, which Virgil thought was adorable, and he didn’t mind at all, because he liked holding Deceit.

He blushed as the memory of the night before returned to him; Deceit nuzzled in the crook of his shoulder, his arms wrapped around him and a gloved hand laying on his chest over his beating heart. And the soft kisses Deceit would press on his jaw and neck, feather-like and sweet. Virgil smiled. Deceit was a sap for softness and love, no matter if he tried to lied to Virgil about it.

But the point was! It was entirely conceivable that Deceit had snatched his hoodie from right under his nose.

Virgil turned around and marched out of his room, still holding the pitcher of coffee, determined to find his boyfriend and hopefully his hoodie, too.

“Virgil, Stormy Knight! Can we have the pot of coffee back now?” asked Roman.

“No.” was Virgil’s curt answer as he rushed passed the prince, duke, dad, and teacher.

Standing in front of Deceit’s bedroom door, he rapped on the wood. Inside, he could hear shuffling and grumbling, evident that the knocks were what woke him.

“Who is it?” purred Deceit’s morning voice.

“Virgil.”

“Mm, come in, love.”

Virgil pushed the door open and stepped in, and took in the sight of his sleepy boyfriend sitting on his bed, hair sticking up and cheeks still rosy from sleep. Upon seeing a familiar patchwork hoodie draped over his boyfriend’s smaller frame, he grinned. Not only because of the relief, but because the sight was so gosh-darn adorable.

“Yes?” Deceit asked.

“Have you seen my hoodie?”

Deceit hummed for a moment, before a lie slipped through his sleepy lips. “Nooo…”

Virgil smirked. “But you’re wearing it, aren’t you?”

Deceit slumped there for a second, then looked at the patchwork design on his arms, and then up to Virgil. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I smell coffee.”

Virgil chuckled and rolled his eyes, making his way to Deceit’s bedside and handing him the pitcher of half-drunken coffee. Deceit stared at it for a second.

“This is a perfectly normal way of drinking coffee,” he remarked with humor in his tone.

“I had a rough morning trying to find,” Virgil poked him in the chest, right where the storm cloud crest was, “that.”

Deceit hummed again and brought the pitcher to his lips and took a sip. “I don’t know what you mean. This is mine. Always has been.”

With another eyeroll, Virgil leaned in and pressed a kiss right onto Deceit’s scaled cheek. “Alright, you can keep it. As long as you let me borrow it from time to time.”

Deceit smirked and shrugged. “Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

Virgil laughed and pressed a his lips onto Deceit’s. Deceit purred happily, tilting so he could kiss Virgil back. Without a word, Virgil snatched the coffee pot from Deceit’s hands and pulled away. He brushed the blush on Deceit’s cheek with the backs of his fingers and Deceit shuddered, leaning into Virgil’s palm.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Snake Bite

Chat log: Alastor learns to dab, Sir Pentious bites Alastor, and a couple of lonely old villains reluctantly talk about feelings and friendship.

If the read more doesn't work for you and you've gotta see this WHOLE LONG CHAT LOG on your dash, 1) you're probably on mobile, and 2) I am very very sorry, it's tumblr's fault and I did what I could.

Sir Pentious

Pentious is waiting outside the Hotel in HIS realm, he's out back in the garden and pacing... well. As well as a snake can pace. He's occasionally slithering in a circle.

Alastor

Alastor's practically scrubbed his skin raw in the shower; he's brushed his teeth until he's numb to the taste of artificial mint; he's picked a bow tie out of the ones Angel gave him—one of the red-and-gold ones designated for "sparkly douchebags" with the matching rose-shaped pin; and he's left something like a will with Rosie, along with a note to put it into effect if she hasn't heard from him by Monday.

He doesn't know what to expect.

He knows biting is going to be involved. He knows Sir Pentious wanted him to clear his schedule, with no indication of how long he was supposed to clear it for. Everything else is a mystery. Interpreting Sir Pentious's words literally, he's going to get bitten, writhe around for a while in excruciating pain, and then go home.

But knowing Sir Pentious—knowing his own—it might be a plot to disable Alastor so Sir Pentious can gloat over him for an hour before taking off his head with an exterminator's blade. And knowing the population of Hell in general, it might all be a euphemism for something far more salacious that he was simply expected to assume. All he knows for sure is that Sir Pentious is going to be very close, and aside from that it's going to be very unpleasant.

He could have asked for clarification. But asking for clarification would imply that his answer would change depending on Sir Pentious's.

It won't.

So here he is. Painfully clean, absolutely clueless, braced for anything, looking around the lobby, and realizing he's actually braced himself for anything EXCEPT the possibility that he might be stood up completely.

A few minutes after one, he sends out a few shadows as espionage—to Sir Pentious's room, to the boiler room, to the hotel's public areas—and finally, relieved, heads to the garden. He wasn't expecting outside. Maybe Sir Pentious wants to show off his big victory over the great Radio Demon.

When Alastor finally sees him, by way of greeting he calls out, "So how DOES one perform a 'dab'?"

Sir Pentious

Pentious awaited him in the garden, merely to avoid the eyes of that Weird Cat and the others who hung around the Hotel. The outside was brighter, and provided much more ominous lighting. Upon seeing Alastor and hearing his voice, he perked up quite suddenly, hood raising.

The question gets a scoff out of him.

"THE DAB? YOU DON'T KNOW??? IT'SSS LIKE THISS!" Stretching one arm out to the right, he bends his left at the elbow, and dunks his head towards the bend in his arm, holding the pose for at least three seconds.

Alastor

"Like this?" He copies the gesture, a mirror image of Sir Pentious's. A new weapon in his arsenal. "Ha. Like Dracula trying to hide from the sun." He plays a sizzling bacon-in-a-frying-pan sound, like vampire skin burning in the day.

Sir Pentious

Pentious claps his hands together, clearly amused.

"YESSS, JUSSST LIKE THAT! THEY HATE THAT ONE THE MOSSSST."

Alastor

The applause sends a jolt through his chest that he studiously ignores. "I'll add it to my catalogue of torture techniques."

He'd stopped walking far enough away from Sir Pentious that they're out of arm's reach of each other but close enough that they can talk at a normal volume—he wants to get so much closer and stay so much farther away, and this is the point where the impulses barely balanced out. Doing his best not to sound as awkward as he feels, he says, "So, speaking of Dracula..." He spreads his arms: here I am, ready and willing. "Were you planning on having this bite out here? Fine weather for it."

Sir Pentious

Pentious eyes him--he's happy with this distance, too. Satisfied, though, he wants to get closer too... his fangs ache a little, watch the other spread his arms. Yes, they had agreed upon that... At the time, he really didn't think that Alastor would agree. And now here they were! His head darts around some, the cobra looking him over.

"YOU AREN'T GOING TO TRY TO SSSLITHER OUT OF THISSS, ARE YOU, DEEREST ALASTOR?"

Alastor

The jolt is replaced by something more like a knife at the punny term of endeerment. He thinks he kept his wince off his face, but he's not totally sure. He lets his arms drop. "If I was going to be a coward, I would have gotten it over with before agreeing to meet and wasting both our time. I even dressed up for the occasion." He tilts his head, calling attention to his new bow tie.

The trophy Sir Pentious is showing off in his own attire hasn't escaped his notice.

Sir Pentious

"AH, I NOTICED. SSO HAVE I."

He pulls on the bow-tie gift from Alastor, truly VERY smug about it.

"THEN HOLD SSSSTILL..." He moved closer, quite suddenly--the rapid and threatening striking of a snake, his tongue flicking as he was mere inches away from the other.

Alastor

Alastor's eyes widen, he leans back, and his hand flies halfway up to his throat; and then he freezes. Damn. So much for acting completely unflappable.

Sir Pentious would enjoy seeing him flinch, at least.

So. Outside it is. Sir Pentious is probably hoping half of Hell will hear him make the Radio Demon scream.

Alastor completes the motion of his hand up to his throat, but only to undo his tie and fold down his high collar. When was the last time he'd been this close to Sir Pentious? Alastor can see individual scales on his face. He forces himself to make eye contact, offers a wan smile, and says, "Ready when you are."

Sir Pentious

He certainly does enjoy it.

His tongue flicks again, the appendage briefly touching the other's cheek. He didn't MEAN anything weird by it, but he certainly got a scent of him.

Pink hellish slitted eyes focused on the other, and he opened his mouth, baring those enormous fangs. Not yet dripping with venom, but oh the threat was there... Not allowing for anymore hesitation, he lunged--SINKING his fangs into Alastor's neck, deep and piercing.

Alastor

Alastor's eyes automatically squeeze shut as Sir Pentious licks him, his breath freezing. Before he has a chance to process the what the hell that means—

He gasps in sharply, a noisy crackling sound, as Sir Pentious's fangs sink in; but the gasp itself is buried under the sound of his voice stuttering across several stations, bursts of overlapping songs—a few incoherent notes of "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" and " Snake Eyes" and "Black Snake Moan." The pain from the bite alone is excruciating. Focusing. Focusing him primarily on the fact that Sir Pentious's face is pressed between Alastor's shoulder and his throat.

Sir Pentious

Pentious didn't really know what to expect upon sinking his fangs in, but the radio sounds should have been first on his guess list. It was definitely jarring to hear them so close to his head. Pentious places his hands on both of Alastor's shoulders, now digging his claws into his suit. Just claw him up! Why not!!!

At this closeness, it was all too easy to hear that raspy, human like breathing that cobras made. Like he was going to devour the Radio Demon whole.

Alastor

If Sir Pentious wants to take a strip of Alastor's throat with him when he pulled back—hell, if he wants to take Alastor's whole shoulder—Alastor isn't going to complain. He has to bite his lower lip hard enough to make it bleed to fight the urge to bite Sir Pent back—he's RIGHT THERE, it would be SO EASY to taste his blood—but that would be the end of this trust exercise.

At times it's struck Alastor that Sir Pentious's hissing sounds more than passingly close to a radio's static—and that's even more evident now, hearing his breathing like a rush of wind over a microphone, blowing over his neck. Alastor tries to steady his stuttery station-jumping breath. He leans into the pain cutting up his shoulders and curls his claws into the fabric at the waist of Sir Pent's jacket.

Sir Pentious

He can taste Alastor's blood, and it fills him with madness.

Pentious draws back, blood coating his fangs, as he holds the other up.

"HHMMM.... YOU REALLY DIDN'T MOVE. HAD YOU TRIED, I WOULD HAVE INJECTED YOU WITH MY VENOM!!!"

... But also, the lack of trying to escape, of trying to turn this into some sick broadcast... It resonated with the inventor. Pentious looked over his former ally, and frustration filled his gaze. Frustration and longing.

"... Why couldn't you have ssstayed?"

Of course, this wasn't the same Alastor. Not his own, but... whatever. A moment of vulnerability, just one.

Alastor

Alastor leans longingly after the retreating fangs before catching himself and straightening back up.

At the question, for a moment, his smile almost cracks. His brows draw closer, the corner of his bloody mouth twitches. When he replies, the constant distortion overlaying his voice dies. He almost sounds like a person. "Because I'm a coward."

He didn't mean to say it. He would never have said it under any other circumstances, but he's dizzy and lightheaded and euphoric from the pain and the close contact, and sick guilt he's spent over half a century trying to suppress is buzzing in his chest—and he's said it now.

Sir Pentious

The admission causes Pentious' hood to flare out--whatever he was expecting to hear then, well, just as before, it completely caught him off guard. He couldn't take it at face value, he couldn't trust him. His hand immediate shoots to Alastor's neck, grabbing him and pulling him closer.

"ARE YOU MOCKING ME, ALASSTOR? TELLING ME WHAT YOU THINK I'D WANT TO HEAR??? YOU??? A COWARD??? YOU MUSSST THINK ME A FOOL!!!"

Not that it sounded any which way! But... Pentious was angry to hear it, all the same. It's like he wanted the other to deny it, he wanted him to make up some sort of joke and play him for a fool. He wanted an excuse to tear him apart--but hearing this vulnerability in return put a sense of mortality in him he hadn't known in so, so long.

He'd been betrayed by his only friend, after all, and the serpent struggled so much in trying to make any.

It had been years since then, but still... It hurt him in a way he hadn't thought possible for his old black heart.

Alastor

His hands immediately fly up to the hand around his neck, claws digging into the wrist, prepared to wrench it off—and then, just as abruptly, he forces himself to let go. No, damn it, he's not here to fight.

"You don't want to hear this! I don't think there's a single answer you'd trust out of me but whatever's the cruelest thing I could think of to say—no matter what the truth is." Wasn't that the point of this exercise? To get around the limitation of words, the fact that Sir Pentious couldn't trust and Alastor couldn't be trusted?

So much for that. Hadn't Alastor already known there were no such thing as second chances? Let him be torn apart, it would heal in a few days and he'd learn an important lesson.

Sir Pentious

"CAN YOU BLAME ME!?"

Pentious' voice cracks as he speaks, and he eyes where he'd bit him. He had to think of Valera's words... He seems lonely. She'd compared the two, made them sound so similar... Could trusting him really be a good idea?

... He really did enjoy that visit they had together, eating pasta bolognese and drinking brandy. It had been so... familiar. Pentious frowned, frustration and... distress pulling at every part of himself. His claws flexed, but he pulled them away from Alastor's neck... and he looked down, pulling at his hood like he were considering covering his face with them.

Alastor

"No! I can't!" His voice is thick, a feedback echo whining under his words. "You have EVERY REASON not to trust me! I'd sooner ask Saint Peter for a second chance than ask you." He flings a hand carelessly in the vague direction of Heaven.

And yet, for a moment he'd been stupid and let himself hope. He had to remind himself who he was here to help. "I'm not ASKING for a second chance. Just—don't fight me. And I won't have to fight you."

He feels colder without Sir Pentious within touching distance. He crosses his arms tightly, biting one corner of his mouth to make sure his smile is still up.

Sir Pentious

It stings.

Pentious knows how he's being difficult. His hands open and close, and he grits his teeth, eyes closed tightly. He wishes he could just... move past this and immediately either be fully friends or fully enemies. This was purgatory like no other.

Agreeing to anything felt like giving up and the snake wasn't good at that either.

He glares at Alastor, "DON'T GO ANYWHERE. LET ME THINK."

Alastor

What is there to think about? How hard is it to decide whether or not to keep starting one-sided fights with someone?

But he collects himself. He takes a deep breath, uncrosses his arms, smooths out his bangs, clasps his hands behind his back, corrects his posture, fixes his smile properly back in place, and tries to look past Sir Pentious's visible turmoil and at the garden. Lightly, he says, "I'm not leaving," and immediately regrets as he realizes how easily he could have followed it up with this time.

Sir Pentious

Sometimes he wants to just... grab him by the face and force that smile OFF. But he'll calm himself...

He can't have him as a rival, or as a nemesis. Their paths were too different, and not only that, they were from entirely different Hells!

So close, yet.... Pentious took a deep breath. You're not losing anything, man. You're not. Why was this so hard?

His gaze travels back to the bite, and he flicks his tongue.

"... WHEN WASS THE LASST TIME YOU ALLOWED YOURSSSELF TO BE ATTACKED LIKE THAT?"

Alastor

He blinks, taken aback by the question—and then has to stop and think.

He's always had an unusually casual relationship with pain—and that only increased after he died and no longer had to worry about any damage being permanent. Hell, he's voluntarily been skinned alive so that he could get his own hide tanned—but that wasn't being attacked, that was more like an extreme cosmetic surgery. He's let people who would otherwise never leave a scratch on him get in a stab wound—but that was so he could lure them in close enough to rip them apart. As a child he'd sometimes been too afraid to fight back—but that's very different from consenting to being attacked, isn't it?

"Never."

Will Sir Pentious even believe that? Probably not. Of course not. Alastor wonders why he bothered to ask.

Sir Pentious

He looks at him a long time... studying his expression. Looking for something to pick apart... but it was always that same damn face.

The hum of radio feedback if he stared too long.

Alastor

There isn't much to pick apart. He meets Sir Pentious's gaze when he feels that sharp stare on him, then almost immediately looks away.

He wants to ask whether he ought to be contributing something to the proceedings or if this thinking Sir Pentious is doing is still a solo endeavor, but he forces himself to swallow his nervous chatter and quietly start playing "Snake Eyes" again to fill the silence.

Sir Pentious

The tune is so jaunty, and Pentious twitches... but this was exactly like Alastor, too. You couldn't have a moment's silence with him... The snake groaned, covering his face. Alright. Alright.

".... ALASTOR."

Alastor

The music snaps off. "Sir Pentious?"

Sir Pentious

... You know, it was. Definitely surprising not to hear "Sir Harold". It takes him a moment.

He takes out a GUN, and aims it at Alastor.

"TELL ME AGAIN WHAT YOU WANT OUT OF THISS, AND I WILL NOT QUESSTION IT AGAIN. YOU HAVE MY WORD ON THE MATTER. DO YOU WANT TO BE MY ... FRIEND? OR DO YOU JUST WANT ME OUT OF YOUR HAIR?"

Alastor

Oh—oh, good god, he hadn't planned on being asked directly. (Or with a gun. But the gun was meaningless, the gun was for emphasis. The gun was an exclamation point.)

Being honest had been the biggest mistake of this conversation so far. The closer Alastor got to telling the truth, the less trustworthy he sounded, the less Sir Pentious was going to take what he said into account. The safe answer was "out of my hair." It was the answer that would make sure Sir Pentious was...

... gone, again. Gone and safe.

But, unless Alastor was completely wrong about everything he thought he knew about this Sir Pentious—

—it sounded like he was, impossibly, offering Alastor a second chance.

He croaked, "Friend."

And then, with the dam broken, more tumbled out: "I give you my word that's not what I came to ask for. I'm only here to try to get myself out of YOUR h—hood. But if— What I want— That's what I WANT."

Sir Pentious

Well, he was damned. Valera was right.

This Alastor, much like himself, was a lonely old man. He wanted to be his friend. The snake could only stare, his arm lowering, and with it the pistol too.

"... Really?" This wasn't a voice of accusation or vitriol, or demanding anything. Just, outright, innocent confusion.

Alastor

Alastor had been half expecting a bullet through his pretty new rose-shaped pin. He HADN'T been expecting that look. Perplexingly, it looked like a sort of expression that suggested that Sir Pentious might actually believe him.

A wild panicked voice in the back of his head tried to tell him to yell JUST KIDDING, drop Sir Pentious through a particularly painful portal, and bolt from the scene like a buck out of Hell.

It was the same panicked voice that had gotten him into this mess fifty-fucking-four years ago. He wasn't going to listen to it again.

He looked for something snappy to say, couldn't find anything, and said, "Yes. Really."

Sir Pentious

VALERA WAS RIGHT AAAAAHe put the weapon away, straightening his Alastor's bowtie, and gave a smile... although it was strained. Struggling. "... YOU REALLY ARE FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION, YOU KNOW. THISS COULD NEVER BE MY REALITY."

Alastor

Bow tie. Right, he should—Alastor straightened his collar back into place and retied his now slightly bloodstained bow. "Nor mine," he muttered, his smile sinking toward a grimace. He could have said the exact same words to his own Sir Pentious—but those words NEVER would have been trusted by someone who knew exactly what he'd done when he left. The only reason he'd gotten this far was because that not-knowing meant he could get the benefit of the doubt.

What could he do, then, but milk it for all it was worth as long as he could?

"I can't do anything about my duplicate in your universe. But any time you care to come to mine... well." Well. Friends.

Sir Pentious

Oh, damn. There was that warm feeling in his chest--it felt like he had internal bleeding. It ached and stung, and Pentious clutched his suit some to try to soothe the pain.

He was too expressive for his own food, clearing his throat.

"DON'T SSOUND LIKE YOU'RE ABOUT TO TAKE YOUR LEAVE, ALASTOR. I TOLD YOU TO TAKE THE DAY OFF, AND YOU'RE GOING TO!"

Alastor

"Am I!" His face lit up. "Why? Are we finally going to get to thar part you promised where I'm crying like a baby from pain?"

Sir Pentious

"WHY DO YOU SSOUND SSO EXCITED?"

"YOU WANT THAT?"

Alastor

"Well, you were so graphic about it, you got my hopes up! I set aside the rest of the week to recover and everything." He paused just long enough to get Sir Pentious time to process that. "KIDDING! No, what did you have planned?"

Sir Pentious

.......... NOW HE'S ADVANCING ON ALASTOR, hood raised and eyes glowing red. That menacing long grin.

"OH, NO, ALASTOR, YOU WERE SSSSO EXCITED. I INSSSISSST!"

Alastor

For a moment, he stares at Sir Pentious, eyes wide. Somewhere beneath his usual static, S.O.S. beeps in Morse.

Then he flatly asks, "Do we have to?" But he's reaching for his bow tie again. One final test would be fair, wouldn't it? Alastor deserves at least that much.

Sir Pentious

Oh no. He looks conflicted!!! This man just told him he wanted to be friends!

",,, ALASTOR! YOU CAME HERE WANTING TO BE BITTEN AND POISONED AND NOW YOU DON'T WANT IT BUT ALSO DO?? BE CLEAR, BE CONSISE!!

Alastor

"I was joking about the poison part!" No more masochistic humor in THIS universe. "It sounds a little bit extreme for my idea of a fun afternoon. I was willing to do it to prove my, ah... sentiments—but if we're PAST that, I'd just as happily move on to something less excruciating."

Sir Pentious

He HUFFS. His fangs ache, wanting to bite into something again, but also... He looks strained.

".... SS... SSSSINCE YOU'RE HERE.... DO YOU WANT TO... COME INSIDE???"

Alastor

Is Sir Pentious disappointed? Alastor eyes him carefully a moment, then says, "Sure." After another pause, even more carefully, he asks, "Are you opposed to letting me see what you've been up to in that boiler room of yours?"

Sir Pentious

Little does Alastor know, Penny is suffering from a dizziness spell. It was a side effect of using his fangs like that, even if he didn't use his venom. He had a lot of physicality issues.

Pentious slithered towards the front entrance, "AH, MY RAIL GUN? SURE, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T THINK YOU CAN TAKE IT FROM ME."

Alastor

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Rail gun! Alastor followed after Sir Pentious, just short of skipping in delight. "What would I do with it, anyway—try to carry it around on my shoulder like a bazooka? Ha! No, no—I just want to see what kind of damage it can do."

Then they went inside to play with dangerous toys, the end.

Moon

AN: Hello this is a preview of a multi chapter fic I’ve been working, I’ve posted the rest on AO3. Please check it out and give it some love. 

Summary: All Might has returned from America and has made his triumphant debut in Japan. Protecting and saving everyone with a smile just like his deceased master taught him, until one night he encounters an omega vigilante that makes him question everything even his alpha instincts

."You know what your doing is illegal right?" He asked seriously.

"Honey, the only illegal thing here is you in that spandex." She purred in response.

Heres the link. 

Warning: The Fic contains Explicit smut and violence with ABO elements read at your own discretion. 

-----------Young All Might x Fem OC------------

Yuna watched from afar as the villain dragged the young girl by her arm. Her shrill yells and cries for help echoed in the alley of the 7-Eleven. The clothing the girl wore and the fact she was still strolling in the middle of the night, no doubt she was of the many host girls in the Kabukicho district of Tokyo. Yuna had watched from the moment the girl stepped out of the bar to go home. Unfortunately, she was tailed by a man with a vulture quirk - he was probably a disgruntled customer who overstepped his boundaries. Host girls were only allowed to pour drinks and were paid for their company.

The man wanted more and discreetly followed her before approaching for sex. Yuna watched as he pulled out the money and tried to persuade her. Prostitution was illegal and to be honest as a vigilante, she didn’t care for the law. What she did care for was the fact he was now dragging her despite explicitly saying no.

Yuna readied her stance on top of the building from where she watched. The man readied himself to swing his heavy and bony wing at the poor girl as she continued to struggle. Yuna activated her quirk and a purple hazy portal opened behind the villain. The girl stopped and watched as the mysterious gateway opened revealing a large, eerie violet hand covered in scripts appeared behind the villain, slamming him down. The force of the impact blew the girl a few feet away and she tried to right herself. She watched the hand lifted itself and withdrew back into the portal. She glanced at the man who harassed her, she saw his body squished on the cracked cement floor and an outpour of blood pooling around him. She gagged and held a hand to her face.

Yuna leisurely used the building’s fire escape while her quirk did the work. Her spandex squeaked as she carefully maneuvered in her heels down the building. Yuna approached the girl and pulled her away from the unconscious bleeding villain.

“You alright?” She asked. “You could have been hurt. Next time you leave the workplace make sure no one’s following you ok?”

The girl, now stabilized, nodded shakingly. “Are you a hero miss? Thank you so much for saving me. Your quirk is amazing.”

Yuna smirked and winked cheekily. “I guess you can call me a hero. A hero for the people.” She looked over the girl making sure she wasn’t physically injured and told her to call the police when she was far away from the scene.

“But what about you? Are you going to be here with him?” The girl asked pointing in disgust at the unconscious man.

“You saw my quirk, right? I can handle whatever the moron might dish out if he can wake up with that concussion he probably has.” Yuna replied confidently as she flipped her hair out of her face.

The girl seemed to be convinced by Yuna’s sheer confidence and gathered her purse and jacket that was thrown in the tussle.

Yuna kept a firm eye on her as the girl quickly walked out of the alley and onto the busy streets of Tokyo. She quickly scaled her way back up the fire escape and onto the building surrounding the back of the 7-Eleven.

She wanted to be here when a hero would no doubt come to investigate along with a few police officers. She wanted to flaunt her quirk and rub it in their faces that a vigilante did their job. Most of all, she wanted to flirt with the dangers of almost getting caught before whisking herself away. Yuna privately hoped that the hero would be that prodigy rookie Endeavor - the look on his face as she stole his villain and laid him out before he did was priceless. It’s the reason she laid peacefully at night in her bed nowadays.  She snickered in her hands at the memory.

Yuna waited approximately about 15 or 20 minutes, listening to music on the wireless headphones she brought along with her phone stashed in the pockets of her spandex hero suit. The first thing she put in when she designed it was of course pockets.

Being a Korean by birth, listening to the ballads of her culture always soothed her, she might need to calm her nerves to face off whichever hero might come to investigate.

Luckily for her, this one made quite the entrance by leaping over the 7-Eleven and landing quite spectacularly next to the villain.

And what a spectacle he was. The hero was donned in a white and blue suit with red stripes and a long cape. It wasn’t the design that made the hero so awe-inspiring but rather his height and the way his muscles seemed to ripple in his suit. Even the two weirdo bangs that stood up like wings seemed intimidating rather than being absurd on him.

She licked her lips out of nervousness and quickly stashed her headphones and phone away. This was not what she was expecting. He was going to be an issue. She knew all the heroes who patrolled in the Kabukicho district. Most of all she knew their habits and quirks. Yuna had made it imperative to know who to avoid and who to fight. But this guy made her wish she never came out tonight.

Yuna squared her shoulders and waited as the hero kneeled and checked on the criminal. He took out what looked like a cell phone and put it to his ear and talked for a few minutes. As he was doing that, she noticed what looked like police lights over the 7-Eleven building and soon enough police officers were crowded in the alley.

The police officers signaled to the EMTs and they took over, loading the villain onto their ambulance. Meanwhile, the hero stood around, looking at nothing particular before having a short conversation with a police officer.

Yuna sighed. Perhaps this is for the best, she didn’t need to have amusement every time she caught a criminal. Until she got more information as to who this new guy was and his quirk, she wasn’t going to touch him with a ten-foot pole. She stepped away from the top of the building and slowly made her way across to the other side. Leisurely picked up her pace before running and then vaulting over to the next building.  She continued to jump building to building until she was a good distance away from the 7-Eleven.

What she didn’t notice was the hero that had noticed her take off from the scene. As Yuna stopped for a breather, a strong burst of wind was the only clue before a slam of the hero’s landing made her cover her face.

She opened her eyes and felt her breath hitch. He was even more impressive up close.  She barely reached his shoulders with her height of 5’8 and if she wasn’t mistaken his entire hand could cover her face. She hoped that she wouldn’t have to resort to fistfights with him. She was not about to get a shiner from his mammoth hands.

“So, you’re the vigilante that’s been patrolling this area.” He started.

God, even his voice felt like melted butter. Though he was speaking softly, his entire ensemble felt like he was being lowkey for her benefit. His whole style felt like he was the type to be flashy and totally in someone’s face.

Yuna let a flirty smile come onto her face and confidently walked to the hero as if she wasn’t just contemplating not getting punched by him.

“I am. It’s nice to know that I’m being recognized even by others I don’t know so what’s your name handsome?” She asked as she toyed with the strands of her hair.

The hero straightened as if he was about to deliver something with great importance.

“I’m All Might and I hope you realize that vigilantism despite your good intentions is wrong and illegal and that’s why-“

So, this was All Might. Yuna had heard of another talented rookie quickly rising through the hero ranks. She initially had cackled knowing that somewhere Endeavor loathed to know someone else was being called a prodigy besides him. Even Yuna could deduce how much of an ego he had from the few “encounters” they had. Since then Yuna hadn’t given All Might much thought. To the point she didn’t know what he looked like. Perhaps she was wrong in doing so.

She smirked and interrupted his sentence, “Honey, the only illegal thing here is you in that spandex.”

Yuna watched as the hero opened and closed his mouth several times as if in disbelief that someone about to be arrested was flirting with him. She watched in fascination as his ears and neck turned a violent red. Even his cheeks were a light rosy color.

She couldn’t help but notice how cute he looked flustered by a compliment. Yuna felt her confidence grow further and her nervousness resides, she knew exactly how to handle him, and it wasn’t with fists.

(Read the rest on AO3) Link Here

I want to tell you a little about the undertale project. The game is already dying out, but somehow I should make my own contribution, for the first time in my 4 years in this game.

And its name: Rock and Roll Sympfony. (there may be mistakes, my English is still bad)

Description of AU

Rock and Roll Symphony is an alternative world of undertale, in which time is ahead of ours, but people's mores are sliding into an even greater abyss. People have found a way to enslave their own people through what everyone likes and listens to at the time of the events of the world. Music became a way of enslavement. The only music allowed to be listened to was the classic, in which low-frequency soundtracks are inserted that change the perception of people. Subsequently, people decide to get rid of the monsters that vehemently "propagated" everything that was not pleasing to people. War is unfolding and monsters are imprisoned in dungeons.

Frisk escapes from the horror of the human world by complete accident and his own inattention, but the world under the ground intrigues and pleases her much more than the world of people: harmony and freedom reign here, from which Frisk first demolishes the "tower". Frisk, after recovering from injuries sustained during the fall, begins to explore the dungeon, telling the monster the unpleasant truth about people and about the genres of music that she owns. The monsters tell her about what she did not know. I don't want to go back, I want to stay in the dungeons.

But one turning point makes Frisk think about going back. It comes when the Boatman is taking Frisk to Snowland ...

"Half of the way the boatman was silent, the road was long, slow and boring. There was almost no current. Frisk thought about what was happening on the surface, the thoughts of her mother and her friends left to their own devices did not give her rest until now Jos-Lowe takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

—Want to come back? - the Boatman begins the dialogue, as if reading the thoughts of young Frisk.

- Huh? Oh ... I don't know ... I miss my family, friends ... They were left alone.

- And ... What prevents you from returning? When you reach the New House, the King will find a guide on how to open the barrier. And business, nothing at all.

- Yes, just a little ... - Frisk laughs, having already forgotten what a smile is for 18 years in hell. But the smile immediately disappears, she remembers what she had to go through. - It's not even that. I don't want to go back to hell. My society ... Far from being an example of beauty.

- You know, when we were still on the surface, I heard the following phrase from you: “We create our own destiny”. So why don't you follow it? I do not know what exactly is going on there, but I can say for sure - you are not alone in your ideas. And if you start, others will be drawn to you. There may not be many of you, but if you do not back down, if you are full of determination in your hearts, you will definitely manage. And if there are many of you, even more so. You yourself can change your fate, and maybe even the fate of the world and the country .... The main thing is to start.

Frisk doesn't answer, thinking. The boatman stops at the shore. The girl comes out and, having paid, drags into the Ruins. She really wondered what she could do in order to change her own fate and the fate of other people, the fate of her family. "

This seemingly strange and short conversation fills her heart with hope and her soul with determination. She finally decides to act in full force.

Detailed plot and scenario of the world in development

Characters

Protaganist Name: Frisk Jos-Lowe

Race: Human

Location after the fall: Ruins

Soul: Weak Determination *

the soul of weakened determination tends to both fade and flare up. If the owner of the soul loses hope and faith, the soul goes out, acquiring a dirty reddish color, almost not shining. If the owner of the soul, on the contrary, is full of hope, faith, spiritual strength, the soul flares up with blood-wine, pulsating and shining brightly. The soul is not resistant to fusion, the fusion of the souls themselves are fragile, perish and fall apart quickly enough.

Appearance:

(detailed reference in development)

Other main characters

! not all characters have received their appearance yet, some are at the stage of early concepts and are superficial, some do not have an appearance at the moment, the article will be supplemented and updated!

Name: Asriel Dreammoor

Race: monster

Place of residence: Ruins

Soul: white, with a red light inside, inverted. *

* Each monster has a light inside, referring it to a certain type of human soul. Inside Asriel's soul is a red light, determination.

The soul of a monster cannot be completely filled with the power of a human soul, the soul melts under the influence of force, after which it dies

Appearance:

Name: Toriel Dreammoor

Race: monster

Place of residence: Ruins, New House

Soul: white, with a blue light inside (soul of decency / honesty), inverted

Appearance:

(detailed reference in development)

Name: Asgore Dreammoor

Race: monster

Place of residence: Ruins, New House

Soul: white, with an orange light inside (courage), inverted

Appearance: A goat-like monster, 215 centimeters tall, an average physique man without prominent features of the figure. The coat is white, interspersed with orange on the face, near the eyes, cheeks and horns, on the body there are spots on the forearm, shoulder, torso, under the ribs. Fiery red hair, short haircut, small beard. Long, curled back horns. Emerald eyes. The king most often wears two types of clothing: an official classic black suit with black shoes and an orange shirt, a tie with a magnolia image. A raincoat of neutral gray with a bright scarlet image of a magnolia on it.

His second suit looks like soft brown pants and a soft lilac sweatshirt.

(detailed reference in development)

Name: Flowey / Bath

Race:??? (presumably a monster, refers to the type of plant Ipomoea Batat, it is not possible to say for sure if Flowey refers to a monster)

Residence: The root of the flower garden is in the Ruins. It can move around the entire dungeon except for Snowfall, does not withstand low temperatures. "Eyes and ears" in all areas available to him

Soul- -

Appearance:

(detailed reference in development)

Name: Chara Dreammoor (before the fall of Hirsch)

Race: Human

Location after the fall: Ruins

Burial site: Ruins

Soul: Rotten Determination *

* the soul, at first glance, is no different from the usual, canonical determination, except for the huge black spot of obsession, shining from within. Any soul, both human and monster, can rot.

Appearance: not designed, only mentioned in photographs in the Drimmoor family album

Name: Sans (Jonathan)

Race: monster

Place of residence: Snezhnegrad

Soul: white, with a blue light inside (decency / honesty) and small inclusions of rot. Jonathan's rot is laziness and frivolity.

Appearance: A low, skeletal monster, about 160 centimeters tall, in a formal black suit with vertical white stripes, a white shirt with a raised blue collar and a relaxed black tie. A black trilby hat appears on his head in time. The inside of the eye sockets is painted in blue magic. It seems to many that he "tints the lower" eyelid "" because of the appearance of the eye sockets. No pupil

(detailed reference in development)

Name: Papyrus (Ryan)

Race: monster

Place of residence: Snezhnegrad

Soul: white, with a blue glow inside and small blotches of rot. Ryan Rot - Vanity

Appearance: a tall skeletal monster, about 190 centimeters in height, in silver armor, dirty and worn in some places. The skeleton does not deny itself and still wears a red long scarf, frayed at the ends. On the "face" of the skeleton, a "smile" is frozen, which makes his skull seem extremely welcoming. There is a crack on the back of the skull from a blow to the head. White pupils shine in the eye sockets.

(detailed reference in development)

Name: Undyne

Race: monster

Place of residence: Waterfalls

Soul: white, with an orange light inside (courage)

Appearance: (detailed appearance in development) amphibious monster about 175 centimeters tall, athletic build. Both eyes see. There are scars on his face, and Undyne can open his mouth much more than meets the eye. Nice girl face. The nose is present, as are the gills. Hair is collected in a cockle. On the hands, from the hand to the elbow, there are fins, on the fingers there are membranes and rather long claws. Scars and pieces of small scales have been torn off along the body in many areas. She is dressed in a loose hoodie and jeans, buttresses on her legs.

Belongs to the class of the ancients, has quite a lot of power

(detailed reference in development)

Name: Muffet (Rosie)

Race: monster

Place of residence: Hotland

Soul: white, with a yellow light inside (courage). There is rottenness

Appearance: monster spider, about 155 centimeters tall, three arms, one pair of legs

Long, waist-length, soft pink hair, two pairs of sky-blue eyes. A predatory smile with large fangs, the "skin" is pale pink, a pair of sharp horns protrude from the head. She is wearing a long scarlet haori, underneath a T-shirt and white shorts. The fingers on the hands are abnormally long, with a large number of rings. On the back there is a birthmark in the form of a cross. Wears nothing on his feet

(detailed reference in development)

Name: Mettaton

Race: monster

Place of residence: Hotland, Labaratoria

Soul: white, with a faint blue light (patience)

Appearance: not designed

Name: Alphys

Race: monster

Place of residence: Loboratorium, Waterfalls

Soul: white, with a green light inside (kindness)

Appearance: a small lizard-like monster with a height of 163 centimeters. It is a white-colored leopard of Diablo Blanco with red eyes. Alphys has a mutation, due to which soft needle-like outgrowths go from her head to the coccyx, along the spine, from large to small. She has a rather neat and "juicy" figure, hidden under a voluminous black dress and lab coat.

(detailed reference in development)

World locations

Locations are still divided into:

Ruin

Snowland

Waterfall (Waterfalls)

Hotland

Laboratory

New house

Added to them:

New Los Angeles (part of the human world)

Summit Abbott

Lost city (part of the dungeon)

Ruin

The structure of the corridors is almost the same, the traps are removed as unnecessary, one room has been added. The walls resemble brick in color. The room where you can buy Muffet donuts in the game canon now houses a small Muffet art gallery, there is also a table with muffins and tea.

(The spiders offer to buy paintings for a fairly large sum, but when you buy you will be offered muffins and given the painting. When she meets Muffet, she will thank you for your purchase and invite you for tea.) The walls are in ruins in cracks, through which Flowey vines sprout. The ceiling is covered with vines, and there are many fallen leaves on the ground. The paths are paved with stone that has aged over time. The conservation room is in a much better condition, instead of signs with inscriptions, stained glass windows with the symbol of the royal family (Magnolia). In the middle of the hall there is a huge tree up to the ceiling, large branches of which have grown all over the ceiling, and thin branches, like those of a birch, hang down. The leaves are scarlet. At the edges of the room there are bunches of Flowey vines that bloom profusely. There is still a save star between the steps to the exit. Instead of a pile of leaves, there is a small music bench. On the two side walls there are three columns, on which notes are written in a spiral. There is a small vine wall next to Toriel's house. If you move the vine aside, you can see a secret room, dotted with a field of bright blue flowers. There is a tombstone at the wall opposite the entrance. It reads "Chara Dreammoor. Beautiful daughter and best sister. 2040-2067"

The Ruins is home to many small monsters. Froggits and many others, they do not change their appearance. In the Ruins, Frisk still meets with Nabstablook. This is a small ghost of a slightly blue hue, with pink eyes. He reacts to Frisk in a very frightened way. After a little dialogue about who he is, the ghost dissolves with a bell ringing.

Snowland

The difference in appearance is created only by the large number of frozen trees and large flowers, sometimes even higher than the houses. The main square is hung with Chinese lanterns attached to houses and fir trees in the main square. The square is the brightest street in Snowland . On the outskirts of the city there is a bright casino "Golden lake", next to it is a hotel with the same name. Grilby owns both his Grilby Bar and the Golden Lake Hotel and Casino.

Minor Characters:

Grilby's appearance:

The appearance of his daughter, Fuku Fire:

Fuku and Grilby are ancient monsters and are quite powerful. Fuku helps his father at the casino.

Waterfall

There are many tall shrubs and Echo Flowers in the Falls. The corridors are not very different. There are many crystals on the "ceiling", creating the appearance of the stars. There are many reservoirs with water lilies and waterfalls. There is a pier near the mill where you can meet the Boatman or the Monster. Undyne's house is two-story, with a circular roof. There is a small field of echo colors next to it.

Minor characters:

Boatman:

a tall monster in a long black robe with a hood. He has abnormally long arms and a stooped back. His face has never been seen, it is hidden behind a mask of an animal's skull. Branched horns stick out from the head, and the pupils, glowing white from under the eye sockets, always look inquisitively. Many monsters call him the Wendigo, a man-eater who hunts for human sins. Who knows, maybe he is ...

Monster Kid:

a small lizard-like monster with yellow-red scales, wearing a large brown sweater.

Hotland

Not fundamentally altered. There are a lot of Flowey vines on the platforms, in some places, the most dangerous, she created dense railings and handrails. Hotland is almost empty. High temperatures do their trick and it is very difficult to be there.

Laboratory

The laboratory is in much better condition. The laboratory is bright, clean, fully equipped with everything Alphys needs for experiments. Amalgamates look like Siamese monsters. Bodies have a denser structure, when asked about their state of mergers, they vaguely answer about good health and they have all the conditions for a comfortable existence.

New House

The corridors have not been modified. The windows of the houses glow, the panoramic view of the castle seems to be brighter.

Many small monsters live in the New House.

Summit Abbot

Overgrown with plants and grass, rather dark, filled with a large number of stones, it offers a view of the now far from sunny Los Angeles, in which it rains almost all the time.

New Los-Angeles

Frisk's house and the location that the monsters will enter after liberation. Los Angeles is divided into two parts: New and Old. Old Los Angeles resembles the architecture of the 20th of the 21st century, it is considered a poor area. New Los Angeles is a high-tech neighborhood with skyscrapers and flying cars. A huge number of people live in it, who are far from all happy with the release of monsters.

Lost city

The story is told on behalf of the shocked Frisk, who accidentally found this place.

"When Asriel and I got there, the first thing we saw was a large number of cages. It seemed to me cages at first glance, only several hundred times larger than a normal bird cage and made of stone. Some were suspended from above, others from below ... Many more stairs! They connected almost every building!

There is almost no land, all these cells. And, if there is land somewhere, it seems to be suspended on huge chains from the nearest walls. And, which seemed strange to me, it was light there, although I did not see a single source of illumination, it was very windy there ... But, perhaps, we made this wind by opening the passage. Oh, there were still ribbons! Or not ribbons ... As if scraps of something, there were a lot of them ... There ... There was also something like a mosaic with a legend signed under it ... I didn't make out much ... It was looks like Latin ... But ... With some other dialect ... If not for my panic that neither I nor Asriel know this place, I would have been able to try to make out and translate at least something through associations ... "

Trust

Janus yawned, coming downstairs to the smell of breakfast. He rubbed at his eyes before looking at the kitchen before him.

Patton was making breakfast, and-

Ah. Janus’ eyes narrowed. Roman and Remus’ pet was at his feet.

A pathetic little cum dumpster they called “Ethan.” He was wearing a pale pink shirt, open at the front, grey sweatpants, and a light blue collar.

Ethan was designed to help any side with any problem they may have. He was made to satisfy, and most sides used him for sexual purposes. Janus turned up his nose and scoffed. “Ethan, get off the dirty floor.”

Ethan looked up at his master. Patton smiled and gave his hair a pat. “He’s fine where he is. A sub knows his place.” Ethan gave a gentle mew and leaned up into his master’s touch.

Janus hissed with annoyance, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down on couch.

He didn’t like Ethan. Not one bit. He was too… helpful. Too easy. And he made too much noise when he was slamming another side into the mattress. How could the others trust him? He was made by the twins!

He smirked. He could handle such urges on his own.

That night, Janus was feeling a little pent up. He decided a bit of self care was in order.

——————

He traced his hand over his clothed cock and ground up, feeling himself getting hard. He pulled off his shirt, grabbed a bottle of lube and got ready for a good time.

——————

“Cmon, please, please just…” Janus panted, working his hand faster and harder over his cock, pushing his fingers relentlessly against his prostate, letting out a moan as he felt his arousal climb further.

He had been there for two hours. Two hours meaninglessly, hopelessly pumping and jerking his cock, his fingers prodding and searching for any more stimulation, but god he’s been trying for so long it was energy draining. He just wants to cum.

He felt his arousal fall away once again and Janus wanted to scream. His cock softened and Janus furiously punched his pillow.

But he was still frustrated. His hips jerked down onto the mattress below him and he quickly started to hump it, moving his hips faster and faster to get something, anything…

Tears sprung to his eyes as he heard footsteps walking past.

He looked up right as Ethan walked into the room.

Janus froze, his hips stopping their frantic movement as his cock gave an annoyed twitch.

Ethan’s jaw dropped, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “I… I’m sorry, I should’ve knocked, I’ll be going now-“

“No wait!” The words leave his mouth before he even has time to think about them. “Help. Please. Please stay, I’m…” a sob leaves his throat as his hips press down again. His cock aches, he’s so pent up, a burning heat in his groin that refuses to dissipate.

Ethan’s look of shock moulded into a smirk. “Oh? Is someone a little desperate?” He said, making a shiver run down Janus’ spine. God, Ethan really was sexy.

“N-n-no…” Janus lied, his brow knitting together as he let out a soft moan, his hips moving faster and faster over the pillow.

Ethan’s dick gave a sizeable twitch at Janus’ moaning and the sexy way he humped the pillow like a dog. “You need some help, honey? How long have you been trying to cum, love?”

Janus’ toes curl at the nicknames and he finds himself unable to speak. “Um… t-two hours…”

Ethan can’t help the image that passed through his brain, images of Janus riding his own sloppy fingers, begging to cum, covered in his own slick. His cock stiffened.

He clicks his tongue and sits down on Janus’ bed beside the needy boy. “Off the pillow now, like that, good boy.” Ethan can see the dark stain of pre on the fabric and his cock hardens further. Two hours of teasing to get a pillow this sloppy.

Janus’ dick throbs at being called a good boy and he lets out a lewd moan. “Oh? Does someone have a praise kink?” Ethan teased, settling Janus down on his lap.

Janus blushed and turned his head away from Ethan. “Shut up.”

He shifted, getting comfortable in Ethan’s awfully warm and nice lap. He smelled like rain and cinnamon, and despite Janus’ reservations he leaned into his touch.

“Such a desperate baby boy. So good for me.” Ethan’s strong hand wrapped around his aching cock and began to stroke it slowly from base to tip.

Janus shuttered at getting some satisfying stimulation for once. “Uh! You…”

“You like my hand on your cock? Me giving you all the attention you deserve?”

“T-This is a one time thing!” Janus snapped. “Ahh! Mmm…”

“Oh but don’t I make you feel so good? This is what you’ve been missing out on, being so stubborn and refusing my help~” He hummed melodically, thumbing the head of his cock and playing with the underside.

“Ssstop teasing… just help me c-cum…” He whined, fidgeting in Ethan’s grip.

“Do you want my fingers baby? I see your perfect little ass squirming for me.”

Janus gasped as another wave of pleasure ripped through him. “Mmmm! Fingers! Please, want to be filled and fucked! Need to be satisfied, please!” His hole practically ached, clenching around nothing, begging for Ethan’s touch inside him. He had such big hands, they would feel so thick…

“Shh baby, relax. It’s all good, I’ve got you.” He angled Janus so his legs were spread as far as they could go, knees bent, back to Ethan’s chest. Ethan summoned lube onto his fingers and slowly rubbed around Janus’ puckered hole.

Janus bit his lip, breath coming in short pants, fighting to free his hands from Ethan’s grip. The heat inside him was sweltering as Ethan started to press two fingers in. “See, you need my help so bad after trying so hard.” Janus nodded, face screwed up with pleasure as the fingers breached him, the hand on his cock moving just satisfying enough. He let out a short whine as Ethan pushed into the middle knuckle.

“Yessss… need your help. Ssso good to me, to everyone-!” He yipped as Ethan started to pump his fingers in and out at the same wonderfully satisfying pace he moved his cock. Pressing in deep and pulling out slow, easily finding his prostate.

Janus jolted, letting out a lewd moan. “There! R-right there, feels so good.”

“Ah, you’re so tight, my good boy. Want me to keep touching riggghhht… here?” He teased, pressing into his prostate hard enough to make Janus shiver from the pleasure, heat rolling through him in waves, the coil tightening.

“You did so well trying to cum on your own but sometimes it’s not enough, is it? I’ve got a little present I use on really desperate boys.” Ethan gave him a wink and summoned a pink, thick dildo with ribbed edges. Janus’ eyes lit up at the sight of it, his empty hole longing to clench around the slick silicone.

“See baby? This toy will fill you better than fingers ever could, and maybe it’ll tip the scales-“ Ethan tilted the dildo to the side “and make that weeping cock burst.”

“P-please! So big, would feel so good inside me!”

“Of course my good boy. Such a pretty little thing, all wound up and needy.”

Janus whined as Ethan angled him right and started to push in the toy.

He couldn’t stop the moan that burst out his throat. “I’m n-not needy! Ah!” He squirmed, trying to adjust and get the whole toy in faster. He was needy, he was so needy, he desperately needed the silicone cock inside him.

Ethan kept on pushing it in, reviling in the moans and whines of Janus.

When he got it all the way in, Janus openly shrieked. Ethan smirked. “How’s that feel? Are you full enough now, baby? Does that soothe the ache inside you?”

“YESSSS! Oh god, AH! Please, oh Jesus…”

Ethan started to pump it in and out of him, pushing in deep and hard, forcing Janus further into his chest. “Mmmore, ah, god! More! Oh fuck…”

He kept forcing the dildo in and out, Janus’ hole clenching to keep it in for longer.

“I need… ah! I need, please, please I need to cum, ahhhh… I’m so des- desperate-“

“Are you getting close, love? Be a good boy and let go for me. Be a good boy for Ethan.”

“AHHH! Yesss, yesssss Ethan I’ll be a good bOY- so close, so close, please…” He begged, begging his body, begging Ethan, he didn’t know at this point, he just needed some relief.

Ethan watched, starstruck, as Janus jerked his hips, face flushed, sweat dripping from his nose, precum dripping down his cock.

With a loud moan and a powerful jerk of his hips, Janus came. His eyes rolled back as he grunted, toes curling and cum splattering up on his chest. It kept rolling through him in waves, each one more powerful than the last, his hips quaking, feeling so blissed from pleasure, it took Ethan’s gentle petting motions to bring him back down to earth.

“There we go, baby. Are you satisfied now?” He said with a smile, laying Janus down on his bed. He summoned a cloth and wiped off his stomach.

“Yeah… that was… better than expected.” Janus was practically panting like he had run a full marathon.

He collapsed into his mattress, legs going boneless, feeling so heavy he thought he could sleep for a thousand years.

A soft, large hand went and gently scratched at his scales. He whined in satisfaction and leaned up into the touch.

Ethan’s mouth quirked into a smile. This was just like running his fingers through Virgil’s hair after a good orgasm.

“Nice little scale scritches… such a quiet little thing when you’re not desperate or sarcastic.” He hummed, his other hand going to keep his rock hard cock interested. He could jack off in his room later.

“‘M sorry for disliking you… I thought I couldn’t trust you…”

“It’s okay. Just rest. I’ll leave you alone tonight. We can talk more about what you like and things tomorrow.”

“M’kay. Can you turn on heat lamp?”

Ethan giggled, turning on the rosy-coloured heat lamp and pressing a kiss to Janus’ forehead.

It occurred to him that he didn’t kiss Janus the entire time.

Whatever. Trust will come.

——————

Oh my god I actually wrote something. And I’m showing strangers. @felixs-thirst-blog this is for you. -🐬

(Characters and premise by @kingbrickisthelocalcryptid​ story and art by me)

I was built to be a child, a Pinnochio of sorts, with china skin and painted lips, I was his daughter.

He didn’t want me, really, there were no blue fairies to make me the child he really longed for. Despite my rosy cheeks I could not grin, despite my pink lips they couldn’t open into the childish giggle I heard from other kids.

I was incomplete.

One night he rolled over and pushed me to the floor, my ball-jointed legs caught me so I could stand before slumping back into a sit.

I knew I could move but I never did in case I’d break his heart further through my lack of a voice.

Instead, I stood once more and climbed onto his windowsill and watched the stars go by, all I heard was the ticking of the old grandfather clock and the sounds of night creatures; I longed to be with them.

When the sun turned the sky blue I climbed back onto the foot of my father’s bed and returned to my lifeless pose, waiting for him to wake.

I loved my father despite the fact that I could not satisfy him, in the night I took his pens and wrote him letters.

He named me Polly and that’s what I signed them.

I don’t think he believed they were mine, but the smile they brought him was enough for me.

One day his niece came over, he loved his niece, his niece loved him less so.

She filled boxes with his toys and put them in the attic, she put me in a box of books and placed me next to some other dolls like me.

I thought father would come back but he never did, and I could never open the door to the attic.

I found a kerosene lamp and enough kerosene to last me for years, every night I spent reading the books I was placed with.

These books were about lands far far away, adventurers, pirates, knights, princesses, inventors, scientists, every one enthralled me.

I’d show the sea to my china brothers and sisters but they never saw, glassy bead eyes not glinting with life like mine.

I showed the swallows a desert and they brought me a beak full of sand each, I touched it, it was cold, I wished I could feel how warm it was wherever they got it.

The mice read the stories with me, one of them brought me a pendant and told me it was fit for a prince, I swore that like the princes in my story I would give it to whichever knight saved me from my tower.

The dust bunnies swarmed me excitedly when I read about an adventurer and his dog who walked through challenge after challenge to find a home together, I wished I could read it for them but I thought they could do it fine themselves.

But my favourite story was one about an airship, I wanted to soar the skies like these adventurers. Feel the wind on my face and watch the world fall away from me, it was all I wanted.

One day the trapdoor up to the attic opened, a young man in a tailored vest was opening it for a young woman in skirts much longer than seemed practical to be climbing stairs who was carrying a box.

“My goodness, Patsy! It’s a gold mine up here! Look at these beautiful dolls!” The young man said with childlike glee, I saw him pick up one of my brothers and examine him. “You know how my father works at this museum? He was saying they wanted some dolls for an exhibit! He’d be ecstatic.”

The woman, Patsy, placed down her box before she walked over to me and picked me up. 

“Now little girl, why aren’t you with your friends? Why isn’t she just beautiful William? The detail! We have to show your father,” She held me gently, examining my joins before cradling me like a baby.

“She is quite incredible, and look! It appears she likes to read!” William laughed, going over to pick up my books. “We can hardly take her away from her stories now can we?”

“She must be getting terribly tired of them I doubt she’s read anything new for ages!” Patsy laughed. “You could tell us both one of your stories while I make us dinner tonight, we’ll pay your father a visit in the morning and let him look them over.

My home had changed a lot since when I went to the attic, I missed my father but I simply watched as the couple danced around their kitchen with a loving glint in both their eyes.

William told us stories about a clockwork dragon, and a cowboy who fought a demon train, and a navy man turned pirate who saved his crew from pirates by lighting their rum ablaze, and a couple who were almost killed while at a ball, then they sat for dinner and left me in the kitchen to go to bed.

I snuck back up through the open attic door and took my princes pendant and hid it in the layers of my skirts by tying it around my waist in between my skirt and petticoat, then I went back downstairs, I found a sepia photo of my father, old and grey with a boy who looked like William on his lap. I would have smiled if I could. Father got his son after all.

I returned to the table with the green pendant against my hip, knowing it was safe.

Patsy held me like a child all the way to Williams father’s house, I was excited to see my father again, but when William greeted the unfamiliar middle-aged man with “Hello, Father.” I knew it was a bust.

I saw his wife and knew it was my fathers niece immediately, the same orange-blonde hair and beauty mark beside her lip, and she laughed when she saw me.

“Why this was my uncles! I haven’t seen you in a while, sweetie I’ll write something up about my uncle for the museum, I think he would have wanted her to be remembered for others,” She said, running off to write that.

I spent the day in Patsy’s- or Martha as Williams father called her- arms. I watched quietly as he examined me and said I was perfect, then as they left she placed me carefully on the table and kissed my head.

“You’ll like your new home, I hope,” she said with a smile and took Williams hand to leave out the door.

My new home was loud.

Loud in the day as kids ran around and parents talked about me and people stared at me, one time when it was quiet I just turned myself around and no one fixed me until the night.

I broke the glass case around me one night and explored the museum.

There were the bones of giant lizards, and swords from real pirates, there was a boat that I climbed in to pretend I was sailing but most amazingly, there was a decommissioned aircraft.

The N.S.S Zephyr the plaque read, it was outside and looked like it hung from the sky, I scaled the stairs into it and looked around.

It had two long wings and looked like a giant bullet-shaped balloon was attached to a pirates ship, there was access to the lower deck which was full of automatons who were designed to look like Pirates, they were all powered off and I couldn’t reach the button to turn them on.

The upper deck had a captains cabin with books, I found a small enough one and opened it up. Madam Grimms Tales of Fae. I carried it awkwardly to the steps up to the top part with the steering wheel, where I placed it down so I could climb up.

At the wheel, I felt the night breeze push my long hair behind me and my bonnet begin to slip off. I truly felt like I was flying.

I stayed there until it started to get blue, the point before the sun rises where the birds sing to me. And I got my book and returned to my case, I hid the book under the stand, expecting that the owners of this museum would take it away if they saw it.

They took away my broken glass case, leaving me without it until they came back with a new one, for those days I snuck my book up and a few more from around the museum which I hid under the blankets and pillows I sat on.

When I got my new case I spent my nights reading about faeries and swan princesses and the adventures of princes.

I felt, more than ever, like one of these princes trapped in a tower, waiting for his knight, longing for the world away from my captors.

I pictured my knight, a china doll like me, or a human who would hold me against his chest, or a child who’d take me on adventures.

I waited every night for my knight in shining armour to appear, praying he would.

One night a door opened, I felt cold as I hid my book back under my pillow, but it was too late to get back into a sitting position before a brass robot with an aviator cap with goggles pulled down over his eyes, he had a long red scarf and a bushy brown moustache and he grinned when he saw me.

“Aren’t you beautiful, hello there little lady,” He greeted, taking off my case. I shook my head aggressively. 

“Not a lady?” He asked; I nodded.

“Okay then. I heard about you and I was wondering if you’d like to go adventuring with me? How did I hear of you? Well, the little porcelain doll who steals books and breaks their case is pretty talked about.”

I sagged my shoulders in a sigh and pulled out all my hidden books, I had hoped they wouldn’t be noticed at all.

“I’d say you’re itching to go see the sights, I have a hot air balloon and I wanted a travelling companion.” I stared up at him in shock before nodding my head very fast. 

“Well, come on pretty doll, let’s go adventure.” I cocked my head at the word pretty.

The bot laughed, pulling out a handheld mirror from his pack.

The brass robot gave me the mirror, I peered into my face as my father had wanted me, still just like I was painted, I did not change like my father, I was simply an eternal child, despite my age.

I had rosy cheeks and bright red lips in a slight smile, I had clear blue eyes with large painted eyelashes and long blonde hair with a brown bonnet.

“What are you staring at so intensely?” The brass robot asked with a robotic chuckle.

 I raised my hand to my hair and tugged at it, peering up at the robot. He nodded and pulled out a pocket knife. Carefully he chopped my hair short and took away my bonnet. 

“You must be cold now…” he murmured, he took the bright red woollen scarf from his neck, it was far too long for me and wrapped around my chin and neck and shoulders easily, but I wasn’t cold.

“Come on, before someone sees.”

The balloon was huge, big and green made of a patchwork of fixed holes so much I could hardly tell what the original balloon looked like.

It was tethered down with a rope and the brass robot pulled it down, helping me in before jumping in himself and closing the gate that opened up the basket.

He tugged up the peg out of the dirt and began to tug on the string which raised us higher.

When we were high enough he lifted me up and held me so I could look out over the basket over onto the slowly disappearing ground.

The stars shone brightly as we flew, he made a set up to let me peer over the edge while he worked on steering us.

He began to sing a song about a girl who loved to fly and her adventures, I listened happily before hopping down into the basket and dancing around his feet, playing with my skirts happily as I danced.

He picked me up and rocked me as he continued to sing and span me around. 

He couldn’t see my face change, but I was happier than I’d ever been, and he knew.

“Come on my tiny prince, I’m gonna show you the world,” he whispered, kissing my cheek. And I knew I’d found my knight.

Taking the green pendant out from my skirts I held it up to him and he took it with a grin, tying it around his neck.

My knight in dull brass armour.

And held close to his boiler to stave off the chill of the wind I knew I was finally free.

I'm so pleased to see a lot of people liked my drawing of what I assumed Marianne and Bog King's daughter would look like. I honestly thought I would get a lot of hate or hear criticism since Moriganne(their daughter's name I provided) looks more fairy than goblin.

Well, I just wanted to add some more information about her, and soon, whenever I'm not busy, I would bring more drawings of her. The sketch I uploaded is just a concept sketch, and I thought of keeping it as her final outlook because I, too, am in love with her design.

Moriganne is a balance of goblin and fairy genetics. And I assumed this shouldn't happen since goblins and fairies are entirely too different. But I have the assumption, as to what most theories believe, is that Bog King could possibly have fairy blood in him. Why else would he be the only one with wings and looking more like a fairy than any other goblins in his kingdom?

And so I thought it is indeed possible for him and Marianna to bear a child. Hence, having Moriganne having the appeal more of like a fairy, but her behavior is that of a goblin.

She has Marianne's fair, maiden skin, with the same rosiness on her shoulders and cheeks. She inheritted Bog's luminous, soulful blue eyes which Marianne oh so adored. And her hair is like a mix of Marianne's auburn locks and Bog's somewhat ash brown scales that enact as his hair slash crown slash helmet, gaining that ombre effect.

With contrast to Marianne's dramatic purple smokey eye, Moriganne wears a thick eyeliner and a bright blue smokey eye.

Moriganne's armor is of the same shade as her hair. While Bog's scales resemble that of a decayed or dry tree bark, Moriganne's is like the autumn leaves.

Her wings are from a blue morpho butterfly(and I'm still torn on keeping the owl-like pattern on the underside of the wings or not, like having the wings appear blue from front to back or have the owl-like pattern remain so she has a defense mechanism).

Interestingly, Moriganne walks on barefoot, on a similar way like her father's without the hand-like footing, but she has her own extra toe on the heel of her foot, resembling a bird of prey's sharp talon. The talon curves inwards that enact as a stilleto heel and whenever she desires to hold on to a branch with more grip and balance, the talon hooks on.

Oh, an addition to her armor-like exoskeleton, the shoulder-plates are placed lower like that of an off shoulder top. Similar with Bog, the plates rattles when she's displeased, frustrated, threatened, or angry.

And lastly, with her eyes, she possess the ability to see through the dark. Pupils formed into a cat-like, sharp shaped pupils when light source is minimized.

Jane Eyre - 1934 - 4/5

Vodka-less and tired and very cold, we begin our journey to the very first talkie version of Jane Eyre.

ow my bra hurts. I wish I had vodka. this is so sad. wait i have a rokerdelig brb. depression strikes syet again - i drank it earlier. alright lets get started in the 30s whoop. wow audio quality 10/10 lolol. opening with john reed hunting her down and she's blonde oh no she's been found.  holy fuck he's throwing shit at her - SLAP BITCH GET HIM. nooooooooNOOOO why is it errored. okay fixed. aunt mary? oh damn she collapsed cause he pitched that cup at her what an ass - bessie is reading to her naw. she's cut out of a lot of them and never shown so kind at the time she's actually. oh shit. ahaha 'they're bad and i hate them.' 'since you hate us so much i bet you'll be happy to know i'm sending you to an orphanage.' 'yes i am happy' looool. 'go away! GO AWAY! goodbye!" hell yeah lil Jane you stand up to that bish. not quite the snappy shebang she says in the others but very satisfying nonetheless - a lot braver and more obstinate love it. oh no her curls snip snip. ohh her hair is cute af. and very 30s ahaha what a coincidence. wow she talks back like hey ahah. she's looking down at lowood preacher dude down her nose ahah. didn't say hell? ahahaha omg this is great so far. she's the best lil Jane I think I've seen. ohh interesting way to show passing of time - the flipping book pages and the showing of the top of the next chapter - skipping quite a few ahead. skipped helen? straight to her ahah oh shit -- teaching. she's standing up to brocklehurst like no ones business. 'you're dismissed! get out!' 'I'll get out - gladly!' ohmygod she's great she's so great none of that simpering and passivity she's taking the world by the balls.  'you cruel dingy childbeater!' 'you ought to be tarred and feathered you ugly old crocodile!' lmao im in love with her. she walks off laughing and happy about being dismissed. miss temple loves her and gonna miss her so sweet, brocklehurst was like holy damn wtf. ahaha her drivers a drunk, fukn flying across the road she's like bye m8. she's proud and above him and annoyed she has to walk rather than die in a carriage crash. oh damn now she meets no? yeah she's not even made it --oh fuck that horse FLIPPED. she helps unprompted and isn't hesitant in talking back and speaking up oh my god she just stalked off after helping him up ahaha. ahaha oh shit the drunk driver works at thornfield and when they asked why she walked instead of taking the carriage she covered his ass and said she just wanted to walk through the meadows and he's like oh thank fuck thank you jesus she just rolls her eyes with a smile. she speaks 3 languages and draws and plays - very accomplished. he's adele's uncle? Samuel Poole ey what a g m8. and he warns her out of the blue to keep her door locked at night. that 30s makeup is crazy awesome. round face, rosy cheeks, long brows and dark eye makeup and lips. short hair. Adele gives her the tour. she's proud and self-assured. poh damn they're only allowed on one side of the house - sam is married to grace poole. just dunno why she's blonde? probs cause she's supposed to be like angelic? anyway she's gorgeous and the angles are nice and the lighting is good--andw what era are these dresses jfc there's no way she could afford that dress fuck. and who curled her hair and that's a low bow whats happening it looks like a southern gone with teh wind situation. he's smaller than she is. he's bathed in darkness - the light is dimmer on him than her. she's even got a necklace. they're not sitting by the fire. he was too busy looking at her to notice her giving his tea. awkward sips ahaha. it's got like a diamond on the necklace. he looks like he's squatting on that tiny chair. oh shit she's gonna sing instead of play. yikes i hope she can--she's literally taller than him. oh she's gonna play and sing. she looks like blanche is supposed to look? and of course she can sing - all framed by candlelight and hanging crystals. the audio is crackling ahah wow incredible they can do it at all - one of the first talkies damn. 'lovely' wow she a mary sue? please don't be a mary sue.sings and yeets outta there not even finished her tea. far out that dress is not doing it for me. what world would a governess be dressed like that? she wears nothing but white. and journalling is never a good idea. but my god she's gorgeous---lots of SCREAMINGGG. and they're telling Jane that its just a servant and its clearly not grace poole doing the screaming? Fairfax knows? Jane can't blame Grace? Jane's like not freaked about it - i suppose she's journalling about it. Adeles a 'mischief' lol nice. she's ran from her lesson and climbed a tree and now she's stuck up there and Jane like doesn't hesitate just scales that tree after her 'uncle edward help! my foot's caught!' 'her foot's caught' 'her foot's caught, so i gathered.' he seems so gentle and kind and pleasant. gets adele out of the tree - 'and where would you like this package delivered, miss eyre?' ahaha cute ooh they know when rochester is leaving to london. he's handsome i'll give him that, it's better --wait when was blanche introduced. asking him when he's getting married and he says next month and adele asks if he's gonna marry blanche and he avoids the question and she starts on but is interrupted by a frantically gesticulating Jane shaking her head, and she cuts herself off and skips away all innocvently lol til she slips moron kid hit her knee ahahaha what a dumbass. Jane's helping clean the chandelier? and Adele is helping as well, that's cool. wtf this kids a moron getting herself headdown stuck in a vase and JAne smashes that shit and snaps at Rochester's amused quip at breaking his shit and blanche laughs and Jane turns on her lol what a savage and storms off. dancing around her room to the sound of the music downstairs that's nice and cute I'd do the same thing ahaha. she's all petulant cause brought blanche who hasn't been introduced properly? is she gonna put her fancy dress on? no? i hope not. damn they're in a ball room? nice. blanche has dark hair and looks much older than any other, not a bad thing just different. they call her beautiful and pretty - not even trying to pretend she's plain and simple. he's suddenly all over her staring intensely and accompanying her into the room and now they're dancing no way? no? no. governesses and landowners don't dance? she's down here without adele. he's sad she didn't dress up - she didn't want to appear as anything than what she is : a governess! at least she's proud of it. he's amused. and charmed. she thinks he's mocking her. now they're being introduced - an interesting way of doing things but rather natural compared to immediately knowing each other. Adele's sitting here with some old guy talking shit about people wow that's mean. fkn kids and this lord ingram is encouraging the hell out of her ahaha. but when she taunts him suddenly its not so funny ahaha. blanche is nice but sarcastic? it's a wedding party ooooh? adele m8 letting things slip? it's 2am and she's dreaming of him - and damn she's going straight for the curtains with that candle and its not lighting? then we see an altogether put together lady return with teh candle to the room upstairs before crazy cackling. god Jane is pretty. oh shit the house is on fire. nah just his room. there's no dramatic music - yes! she's the one to tear down the curtains and open the window - she's legit the most assertive main character i've seen - he's woken up and the fire is like already out. she's got this sorted all he has to do is give her a blanket 'why didn't you call for help?' 'I didn't think it necessary...' noice. here have some alcohol - from the same cup: might as well kiss. she burnt her hands and HE KISSED THEM. she's like bye. she is outies not taking any of his affections like she got better things to do, like sleep. he's in her room? he brought her a book. they're standing very close. he wants her to help redecorate the west wing - he's quite sure he's getting married in a month and that she'll have things to suit the lady's taste. eyeyeyeyyy. its a pupppppppppppyyyyy. oh it's adele's room. ohmygod so fuckin cute rochester is putting adele to bed and she's saying that she wants an aunt that she can choose and she wants it to be miss eyre and he says she wont have them and she says he has to ask her and she'll make sure she says yes. 'that'd be very nice'. cute af ma8. 'don't forget to ask her!' he grins happily. she chooses a cutain (?) and rochester jumps in 'we prefer this one!', and ol mate says 'i congratulate the lady on her discerning taste - the room will look delightful!' what a thing to say. she looks fkn miserable lolol she thinks she's choosing shit out for blanche - they're choosing out jewels now. she's fkn despondent. she flees the jewellers, he follows her and she cries and tells him she's off on holiday. he's not happy like did you think that would go well?? she's not even saying goodbye to him ahaha bye adele and fairfax nevermind here he is marching up the stairs weren't you gon' say goodbye????? tajes her bags and back upstairs to show her the room she designed? she loves it and he's happy and taking the coat off - 'it's incomplete' 'incomplete? everything seems to be in its proper place - what's missing?' 'you.' ohmygodddddddd. 'can't you see i've been falling in love with you all of this time?' rochester yaaaassss. she's not about to argue lol. whoops - 'you must never decieve me again' she chides lovingly and he laughs and shakes his head. like duuuuude i haven't forgotten this is Jane Eyre. okay he's very handsome and she's gorgeous what a lovely couple. now she's dressed in enormous dresses and jewels much more fitting now I suppose, though she did just say she didn't want to be lavished and pampered. oh what the fuck lol what 'edward my husband!' ahaha oh shit bertha just popped nicely out of nowhereeeee -'you can't separate me from my husband again! no one shall!' oh shit. oh shit. wow that was so brushed over - 1930s sensibilities??? Jane's like uhhhh what was that explain yourself he's like I love you you make me so happy i didn't want to tell you I was married to a psycho that I keep in the attic and take care of. she almost forgave him then he rushed off to help with his violent wife - what she gon do?? she waiting forever surely not she's better than that. yas ohmygod is she gone? SHES GONE AHAHAHA YAS DAMN GO GIRL. she wrote a goodbye note to Adele but not him ahaha savage I love her. ohh a star wars cut noice. he's just gon sit in his library? took mrs fairfax to be like yo dude she couldn't have gone very far ahah she's hiding from him in the shadows all misery and rain. searching for her in the dark- thornfield's on fire! oh yikes it's seriously on fire.  get out of there ya;ll. it's so odd not to have any action music oh damn he's going into the house to get bertha he's in his tophat ahaha fire effects! fire effects! fire effects! whoo. she's found herself in a soup kitchen very nice Jane you're an angel. she's going to india huh oh damn we speeding through this bit - 30 seconds after we meet Rivers he's proposing ahaha. she looks insulted, thanks him and storms out. she's pouring soup an hour before her wedding to Rivers and Sam's just popped up looking fucked uppp. i think he's just drunk tbh. bertha burned to death. Jane's frantic and upset m8 and yeah Sam's drunk af. so JAne went to him - he's blind and angry and an't see her and she's crying and he's shocked my god he's in the light and he's in the dark and he's reaching toward the light and touching her face - lol she raced back to thornfield in a day. lol you want some tea Eyre, it's nice for you to call. he's convinced ---ohhhhh--- "strange, you pity me when I'm blind and yet when I was worse than blind you had no mercy.' he's sending her awayyyyy noo he literally just told her they never belonged to each other and they never did like damn son that is fuckin colldddddd. she's so emotional and he's like yep I guess. She was awesome, he was handsome and had his fine moments. It was cute af m8 noice.

(SFW...here’s the promised collab that I had promised not hours ago :3  Really enjoying doing collab drabbles of sorts with @shirtlesslizard, seems to go a bit better than long Tumblr threads.  Plus, considering how things will go with Tumblr, well, this seems to be the better option for fun parts of their story.  Of course...seeing as this is actually 6 pages long in Word...I guess it’s a short story at this point...but I’m still gonna label it as a drabble...not that I can search my own tags on my blog thanks to Tumblr’s bullshit. Anyway...enjoy the first part of what we have planned for these two :3  The second part [the second ‘twelve hours’] will come on Christmas...one way or another.)

                          Starlight Comes Early (Part 1)

Utai groaned softly as his want to wake up was very much nil.  The man had been up late with the twins, and having finally gotten them to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. He could have sworn he had only been asleep a few hours, cuddled up on his mate to enjoy the warmth and protection the larger half-breed always gave off.  Though feeling the pillow instead of familiar scales… It was obvious he’d been placed on the bed – Korekaze was already up.  With another sigh, he sat up, letting the sheets shift and rest at his waist as he rubbed his eyes.  Opening them and brushing his hand along his face, he blinked blearily as things were quite blurry. Blurry…?!

His gaze quickly went to his right arm, still very much aware that the gold runes of his contract were still there.  Was he dead? Was he dreaming?  Had something happened to Xavier?

Xavier?  Where are you? What’s going on?  What’s happened?!

The panic could be heard loud and clear, the Xaela having been sound asleep in the back of the Keeper’s mind considering his mate had deemed it necessary to hunt before this… Starlight Celebration as well as her Nameday.  Though the Dark Knight didn’t seem too worried, he was rather entertained that the catte was panicking considering his usually calm demeanor.  Though there was a considerable reason as to why the Au Ra did this now instead of his true intended date.  Consider it an… Early Starlight gift, koneko. Though don’t consider it all at once. You’ll have roughly twenty-four bells… Twelve now, twelve later.  Do you understand?

Utai continued to sit on the bed, listening to the Xaela and staring at his hands.  You could have at least fixed my vision…

I can only return what was lost to its original state… I am no miracle worker.  It is already taxing enough to restore your sight, stop complaining…

There was a soft chuckle from the catte as he smiled softly… He could… see.  Flicking his wrist, he summoned his shadows, the familiar small calling to pull out his small gold box of past possessions.  Opening the box, he pulled the pair of blue rimmed glasses that he’d long discarded when Xavier had taken his sight upon the completion of their contract.  It was a very foreign feeling to have his glasses on his face, to be able to see clearly, hell, to even see.

Placing the gold box back within his shadows and dismissing them, he pulled the sheets back to climb out of bed… Though he paused seeing the magitek prosthetic.  It was unnerving to see the limb… having been used to having both legs… having been blind when he had lost it.  His excitement was short lived as he rolled up his pantleg… Seeing where it connected, the scars… the memories.  This is…so different despite having not seen it properly…

Frowning and shoving his pant leg back down, he stood, glancing over the scars on his torso… The stories he could tell… and it truly made him wonder if this was truly a gift… or merely a curse considering how long he had been blind and only seeing aether. Though hearing the sound of an upset child, he instantly burbled, his gaze going to the crib.  My kits… The man was quick to move where he was standing to the crib, his tail swaying erratically as he burbled again and purred.  He hadn’t seen his children since his first batch… and to actually see the pair… the fluffy ears, the soft hints of scales… They were beautiful.

Hearing the pair burble back and coo, gazing up at him, the Keeper was quick to pick them up, holding them contently in his arms and feeling them relax.  “Now, now, little ones… Papa’s probably got your bottles… Uncle is resting so he can’t feed you with him today so you get mama.” Chuckling softly, he’d carefully head downstairs, slowly glancing around to take in the home… His mate’s house.  So, this is what it looks like…

Reading aether was so much different, difficult… but it seemed to be so much more difficult to actually see, considering how long he’d been without his sight.  Smiling and seeing the Namazu, watching them clean and listen to their squeaking feet, his gaze found the long tail… and he just paused as his gaze trailed upwards. “Oh…”

“Hm?” Out came the soft hum of the Half-blood, his eyes focused on the bottles in his hands as he could hear the soft burbles of his sons. “[You’re up early, Saran.]” The natural Xaelic slipped from his lips as he turned with both bottles in hand. Korekaze’s eyes noticed the Keeper wearing glasses, an odd change knowing his mate was blind. Though the blue rim did make Utai appear cute, a soft purr as he smiles at his mate and twins.

“[Never seen you in spectacles before… Just trying something on for a change?]” He approached the small family, his red haori gently brushed by his movements to show the form. His height was definitely noticeable by the Keeper, those lips slight gaping at the closeness. This warranted a confused expression from the Au Ra, his hands still focused on taking hold of one of their boys. “[Is… Something amiss of my person, love?]”

The catte was unable to pull his eyes from his mate, listening to the other’s words and almost seemingly zoning out as it was clear by Korekaze’s last words.  Amiss?  Oh no…not at all…  “I…” He knew his mate was tall, the aether signature he was familiar seeing and telling him that, but to physically see it…was certainly something.  Shaking his head, he felt both boys shift in his hold, knowing full well that papa had the goods despite him placing them down to grab at one of the twins.  “I need them or… or everything is blurry, Naran.” His own thoughts were a jumbled, rushed mess as he purred loudly, his natural response with how close his mate was. I’m…engaged to this…this is mine…father of these two…

As he handed off Taize, he knew his mate was no doubt confused, but his now free hand would brush over Korekaze’s bare middle, along the scars he knew without his sight…reaching to brush the scales he knew by the explanation his mate had given him.  There were tears welling up in his eyes as he purred – a mix between being immensely overwhelmed and happiness to see his family. “You’re so handsome…”  The two-toned eyes…his long hair…his two-toned scales…

“[Ah… Wh-]”

Korekaze took hold of Taize firmly, the hungry little ball of fluff and scales taking hold of his bottle to drink. Giving the other bottle to Oktai, the larger twin immediately began to feed himself as his short tail sways. The tall Auri was indeed confused at the answer he was given, but before he could respond, the touch to his abdomen made him purr softly. A slight shiver down his spine as he gave a low exhale, his cheeks showing a rosy hue. Gazing down he noticed Utai beginning to tear up, a slight panic as he knelt down with Taize in a firm hold. Oktai was burbling and purring, sensing the tears from his mother as he nudged. “[Saran… Don’t cry, I’m here…]” He gave a smile as he pulled the Keeper into a hug while the twins coo and burble. “[We’re here.]” Korekaze had yet been able to process that his mate could see him, very much used to him being blind. He pressed his nose against Utai’s, smiling and staring into the mismatched eyes behind those glasses. Those eyes he would say had stars in them flickering each time. A low chuckle parts from him as their children purred while feeding in their respective arms. “[And you’re beautiful as ever…]”

Utai listened and felt Oktai shift and burble as he sensed his tears, the change in his mother’s mood and instantly tried to comfort as he suckled on his bottle.  Even with Korekaze kneeling down with Taize, feeling and seeing the nuzzle from the other.  Though the Keeper was clearly noting that his mate was…well…missing the point of things, he wasn’t even upset as he listened to his children purr and Korekaze chuckle and speak.  “Naran…please…”  Naturally, his cheeks turned pink even with his own anxiety getting him, but even he kissed his son’s cheek before a heavy sigh escaped as he shifted and pressed his forehead to Korekaze’s. “[I can see you, Naran.  The change in your scales…the length of your hair…my mark.]” When Utai slipped in Xaelic to match his mate, it usually meant that he meant business.  He was determined to have Korekaze understand that he could legitimately see, especially since it was easy to know the length, where his scales were when he was blind – that was too hard to prove that he wasn’t blind…but to see the mark. Sure, Utai knew of the aetheric signature, it was his, but to actually see the design.  His fingers brushed over his mate’s neck where he had originally marked the taller male, brushing his fingers along the runes that he had learned properly marked the other as his – the tradition he was allowed to partake in even though he was an outsider.  He was the rare exception…and he had worked so hard.  There was a smile as he brushed over the small flower design…the additional symbol that seemed to follow the catte due to how many flowers he truly wore. “[Please…do you understand now?]”

Korekaze’s eyes changed from normal to wide, his smile becoming one of awe. “[You…can see…me?]” His voice was a near whisper as he stared at his mate in wonder – his scales, the hair, but as soon he mentioned the mark, he was in disbelief. The painted markings that were embedded by his mother to his right side at the start of the shoulder, the true brand by his tribe. As the Keeper’s finger traced along the design, his gaze narrows to see that digit mark every single line perfectly. “[Oh…Azim…]” He spoke, smiling and gazing back to his lover, quickly leaning into a kiss as the twins burble once more. He could scarcely believe the gift he was given, but to see that connection did he truly find himself joyful of the occasion. But to how the Keeper was able to see…he had a guess. Pulling back, he chuckles with a grin as he finally realized it all. “[My moon can see me…you can see us…our little ones…]” Korekaze almost sounded as if he could cry as well, knowing when he proposed to Utai he wished he could see the things that those eyes could not. His wish to have him see their family and much more even though it would be temporary.

“[I better thank him later for this…]”

Utai was purring loudly as his mate finally realized that he indeed could see him, nodding in reassurance that he could indeed see him, his two sons…even himself – how much of a wreck he had become with scars and his additional handicap outside of his normal loss of sight…but that didn’t matter, especially as he heard Korekaze’s words to thank Xavier later once pulling from the kiss.  “It won’t…last for too long…twenty-four bells at most, Naran…some today and some at a later date according to Xavier…”  The Dark Knight had been somewhat loose with his description…though Utai assumed he was being kind considering staying up for twenty-four bells straight was a bit…well, tiring. “But that is…more than enough time…even two bells would be enough…”  His voice was soft as he again leaned to nudge against his mate, chuckling softly as his glasses tilted with his nudge – something he very much wasn’t used to as his vision blurred briefly before he leaned back to adjust them correctly. Hearing Oktai squeal happily, squirming as he had finished his bottle, the catte removed the bottle and nuzzled against his son in his arms.  “Look at how cute you and your brother are…if I didn’t know you by weight and size, I’d get you two mixed up being able to see.”  His ability to sense aether was skewed, though not entirely impossible to manage, but he knew it’d be difficult to manage both with what little experience he had with his sight.  Of course, with him leaning down, Oktai was quick to latch onto the blue frames and remove them from the Keeper, causing him to blink and squint before gently grabbing the glasses.  “Ah ah…mama needs those…or mama can’t see.” Placing his glasses back on his face, he hummed softly as he caught glimpse of the ring adorning his finger…the gift and proposal coming to mind as he looked at it…able to see it instead of the amount of aether his mate had poured into it with crafting the band.  “This is beautiful, Naran…”

“They both look very much like their father… But have the habits of their mother.” He muses as their twins were squealing and cooing. He takes the bottles from their sons and place them down on the ground to focus on later. Korekaze grins watching his mate happily reacting with their sons, Oktai quick to grab those spectacles. His eyes continued to watch in his own joy, seeing every glance and interaction with their children. Chuckling, Korekaze gently wiggles his tail in front of Oktai to have him play. Though once those eyes fell onto the ring, the Au Ra smiles genuinely. His left hand which showed the ring he bears from his lover reach to touch at the silver band. This action allowing Utai to see their bonds as his thumb brushed along the silver filigree and engravings. “Our rings… Our bond. Now you can see them too.” A soft sigh parts as he looks to the Keeper, “A bonding that you have gladly accepted.” His hand then interlaced with his mate’s to give a firm squeeze, pressing his forehead to the other as he kept his grin. “Quite an early starlight gift… I’m surprised he’s being very generous.” A small jest but one he can’t help but appreciate that Xavier gave this temporary present to Utai.

Nodding in agreement that the boys very much took after their father in looks outside their fluffy ears and tail, he knew that they were both like him within their habits. Watching as Oktai happily played with his father’s tail, he watched his mate’s hand move to his, brushing over the ring to see the gold one he had made for him…one of which he never thought he’d end up giving to the larger Au Ra…not bad for a blind man.  “A bonding I’d gladly accept be I able to see or blind how I truly am.”  He knew this wasn’t permanent, it was lingering in the front of his mind even with the gentle press distracting him as he returned the gentle squeeze. “He’s…changing, Naran.  It’s slow…but it’s apparent even if he tries to hide it.” Smiling, he knew Xavier was early…the reasoning he thought of rather sound.  “He…heard me panicking when I woke up…thinking something had happened. I guess it’s because he didn’t want me panicking…or perhaps testing how much energy it expends…”  He did notice the tiredness in Xavier’s voice…perhaps an aftereffect for giving the Keeper his sight.  “I’m not sure if he’ll be present the next twelve bells…or even within the time I have left…” His tail curled behind him as he nuzzled against his mate, watching his boys wriggle and play with their father’s tail. Of course, out of pure curiosity, with Korekaze at his level, he nipped at his horn, burbling softly…and ending up getting the twins to burble back as they still played.  However, he was merely testing and wanting to see the reaction – sure, he knew what it did, knew the aether shift well...but to see it…

“No matter if you can see or not, I am glad to have you as my future.” It was an agreement as Korekaze nodded, he indeed was changing…either from having to deal with him daily, or the obvious truth was that his eldest daughter had Xavier’s interests very high. It did not matter to the half-blood, he was thankful for what the Xaela decided to bestow for a time. “Well I could understand why you would panic, something unbelievable happened after all.” Though at the mention of not being present for the time, he did have some concern. Hopefully he would be present for his daughter’s nameday, would be the best thing he should do since he was that engrossed with her time. However, the thought would not linger nor would it show in his expression, he still was smiling for his mate as his tail curled. Though once Utai leans close to suddenly nip at his horn did his gaze narrow. A low purr vibrates in his throat as he kept his gaze focused on the Keeper, those mismatched eyes watching him closely.

“[Attempting to rile me, Saran?]”

Utai purred as he heard his mate’s pick up, noticing his gaze narrowing…and Utai’s tail actually thumped on the ground.  Oh, Halone what a reaction…

Giving another nip to Korekaze’s horn, he stepped away, playfully baffing the half-breed with his tail and rocking his son as he headed for the stairs.  “[I want to see your passion, Naran.  Come.]  With his mate catching the hint, Korekaze chuckles lowly as he quickly placed the bottles on the counter for the Namazu to take care of. With a quick nod, he carries Taize close to him as he followed the Keeper back to their bedroom. Of course, they’d have to do a little work with getting the boys down for a small nap since Xavier wasn’t able to watch them… But it’d be well worth it.

“[You will see, my love…]”

contra mundum, ch. 2

Word count: 3,731 Pairings: Ignoct, Nyxnoct, Ignyxnoct Rating: PG Warnings: N/A Summary: An exploratory story into what Final Fantasy Versus XIII may have been like, this story follows Noctis and his friends on his journey to not wed Luna, but to bring the war to Niflheim's door. Driven to be far darker than the source material, this tale seeks to give a dark, twisted tale based on reality.

The beginning is set in motion. Before everything fell apart, they were once close together.

( READ ON AO3 )

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.

In caverns weathered by time, in a place forgotten by all but one, is a boy.

The boy was completely and utterly alone.

The room he is in is as high as a cathedral with a great dome in its center with mosaics of chipped heroes, valiant, charge into an endless race around the mosaic ring in pursuit of a demon, lost to the ravages of time and sits dejectedly among piles of rubble. The walls once held beautiful crystal sconces of unimaginable color are now dark with encroaching mold, their light stolen from them in ages past, like a speechless man. A rift in the ceiling is held steady by creeping roots with massive proportions, streams of light filtering through.

There is a massive wall of rounded stone, slate, and its base is an abyss that was once a contained well but the embankments of stone were lost lone ago and sits at the bottom of the shimmering, almost florescent abyss. The gluttonous roots have grown sporadic down the wall, creating a foothold on which the boy desperately clings to, like a feline to a tree.

Particles of dust dance the beams of light that manage to seep through, around fluted columns that bloom like lilies into the stone ceiling, in the wide center, and in the path of the hero of valor. The gnarly roots placidly hold the boy as he assiduously works, hair matted by sweat and brows creased in determination. He is perhaps in his eighth year, nearing the end of his boyhood, not yet ready to embrace the future.

His hands clench a stone with the fervor of one driven mad, soft skin torn and bleeding, but he is unaware. His long hair gleams like strands of metallic thread, halo moving in time with his rocking movements. His eyes like blood dart back and forth, studying this and righting that. Why is he working with such desperation?

This symbol is the key to your survival; remember it so that when the time comes, you will know. It shall protect you and lead you to greatness, an omniscient voice murmurs in that dream, that dream like a prophecy. The voice of a goddess, like a mother.

In that dream, he saw so many disconcerting things; ruined buildings corrugated by steal, shards of glass littering the streets. A horizon of complete and utter ruination plagues this familiar place, a restive moon donning a nauseating, bloody glow sickens the survivors of the mass destruction. The contemporary city would be lost to tragedy if it would not be stopped. But there is more to the dream; faces he's never seen, places he's never been, and a person familiar to him gazing at him with such reluctant antagonism.

There is a woman as well, who is very precious to him, whom he knows now and she is poised to fight, sad reluctance holding her back. And yet that brandished gold rapier goads his Engine Blade to action and they stand off.

No matter what, this cannot be avoided.

The boy weeps. It has yet to pass and already he is overwhelmed by emotion. He thinks of his friends, people so dear to him, and of that blonde girl, so precious to him. Must they be lost to an inevitable future?

He shakes away those thoughts and continues working, his carving and scraping making a dissonance in the abysmal place. This place is one filled with memories, of happiness and anguish, and yet he can see them as vividly as if it were happening now.

People strangely garbed flow in and out of the walls, luminous specters of the past. A time reel continuously flows and the boy is overwhelmed.

This is but a taste of what you will come to possess, the voice soothes, trying to quell his fears with company. You will find the strength to resolve the future. Why doesn’t he believe her?

Throwing down the worn, white stone, skittering into a dark place, the boy jumps from his perch. He furiously wipes his eyes, set with resolve, and gazes upon the symbol he has drawn.

A gyro of a language unknown to him swirls around a faded, curled wing. Many other symbols can be seen, but even the boy is unsur. In the pale light it takes on a celestial, fluorescent blue glow, but natural light shouldn't be able to do that. He gulps, unsure of what he has just scrawled upon the ancient wall.

Did I not tell you what it was?

The boy shakes his head, trembling. Dropping the stone, courage plummeting, the boy dashes from this grand room, down a narrow hall, charging deeper into the darkness more welcoming than an ominous future.

*

Hours later, Luna Parvulus, the Dukedom of Caliga, Galahd

"Prince Noctis! Oh bless my heart, I worried terribly about you! Where have you been? Come, come, let's get you all cleaned up."

Noctis, the boy, was trembling despite the warmth of the upper world. He had desperately bandaged his hands with old cloth in order to hide the wounds, but his keen-eyed guardian, Rosarum, had immediately caught on. She knew this boy from birth and she knew him well. At her side, his oldest and dearest friend, Ignis, waited with a pensive and worried look in his green eyes.

She was dressed in what looked to be a nun's habit, white and tan, although it was by no means for religious purposes. Her face was kindred with age, but her emerald eyes always had an intelligent gleam. She was fiercely protective of Noctis, who had become something of a son to her, and as thus she saw to it that he never stepped out of line. Rosarum glanced down at Ignis, placing a hand on the older boy’s shoulder. “And you worried dear Ignis, my dear.”

Noctis took Ignis’ hand, small fingers curled around like a lost child. He kept his gaze to the floor, eyes darting between the shoes that flicked out from under her long dress whenever she took a step and his own stumbling feet. “…Sorry for disappearing like that, Iggy.”

“It’s okay. As long as you’re safe, Noct.” He sounded so gentle.

The halls they walked through were high and narrow, rich white marble paving the floor and columns that blossomed into high domes were avoided. Between the recesses the columns made were large portraits of the rulers of old, people Noctis was related to, as well as entryways into similar halls, each containing a plethora of rooms. Clear windows overhead let in an azure sky while massive crystal chandeliers spiraled downwards like Turritella shells. Natural light made them sparkle every conceivable color of the spectrum, casting orbs of color on the floor and walls like playful faeries.

Caliga always had been a beautiful place. The seat of House Izunia, the precursor to the Lucis Caelums, its capital of Luna Parvulus was like something out of a fairytale and built exactly in style of Tenebrae, especially its own Fenestala Manor. A place founded a sort of wedding present to the first Oracle, Gentiana Fleuret, from Somnus Lucis Caelum, it had been the ancestral place of peaceful conventions between House Caelum and House Fleuret for generations.

At least, that’s what his grandmother, Aellai Izunia, had told him years ago before she’d passed away. Grandpa Mors had never really cared for history, she’d joked, but Noctis knew she missed him greatly.

“Hey, Noct?”

“Yeah, Iggy?” Noctis replied when the trio took pause, both training gazes on the older boy.

“Um…I’ll wait until you’re done, okay? I think Rosie wanted me to lay out some clothes for you, while you bathe and stuff.”

Noctis smiled at his friend and reached out to poke Ignis’ cheek. “Okay, Iggy! I’ll get done really fast, then!” He couldn’t help it; they were inseparable, after all.

“Oh, we hope you get done in time, little prince! I know how much you enjoy the bubbles!” Ignis gave a small laugh and Noctis made a face, embarrassed, but feeling happy.

Shoes echoing resoundingly, Rosarum briskly walked into a set of open, lacquered wood doors inlaid with curling iron designs with Noctis and Ignis in tow. Opening a secondary set the three of them entered the young prince's bedroom.

The room was circular in shape, domed like many others, hewn from warm beige marble. A cathedral ring of columns arched gracefully to touch the sky. There were recesses between each wall bound column that held in their depressions statues of the Archaean deep in thought and Shiva clothed in flowing robes in delicate pose, something out of the Genesis painting. The four poster canopy bed stood at the center, black curtains bound to their posts. The extravagant silk sheets were of muted cream and spared no expense of the young prince's comfort.

Ignis detached from them and began digging through the dresser and wardrobe for the prince’s clothing, leaving Rosarum and Noctis to the task of bathing.

Rosarum skirted around a large desk and wardrobe and flung open another set of elegant doors into a bathroom as large as the bedroom.

It, too, was circular in shape. A rounded, inlaid bath more like a fountain pool lay in the center, steaming and embanked by warm stone. A light fixture hanged from the zenith of the dome, metal and orbs of light twisting beautifully together and casting a warm glow on cordial marble. A ring of stained glass above was in the forms of inky fishes and rippling water of frosty blue glass, the sunlight casting scales of blue light below.

The marble in here was of a dull burgundy veined by white that seemed to grow warmer in light. A large mirror sat in one corner while a large sink, too large for normal use, sat in another. All was made from stone or marble, a trait overly common in what was supposed to be a modern utopia.

"Alright, m' prince, why don't you take off these ruddy clothes and get yourself bathed? I'll take them to the laundry quarters. If you don't take a bath, I'll know," she said, kneeling down to look Noctis at eye level. “Don’t keep Iggy waiting too long, hm?”

Complying, Noctis walked over to a hidden changing room and closed the door before removing all of the soiled clothes. He pulled on a long bathrobe and girdled it tight, then stepped out with the bundle of soiled garments in his arms. Rosarum gladly took them, smiling warmly at Noctis.

"I'll be back in a jiffy, alright?" she said before turning around, robes swishing as she closed the door softly behind her.

Glaring at the water, Noctis timidly stepped to its edge, frowning and testing the heat with his toe. Recoiling at the spike in temperature, Noctis frowned and his glare deepened.

"Why do I have to take a bath?" Noctis groused softly, swirling the glass-smooth water with his finger. Remembering the taunts of his immaturity from a close friend, Noctis puffed his chest exaggeratingly. He sat and submerged his legs up to his calves; he gritted his teeth in resolve. Slipping off the edge into the fairly deep water, Noctis splashed resoundingly, flailing his arms until they rested on a submerged ledge. Gasping for breath, hair limp and blocking his eyes (which he quickly moved aside), he took deep breaths, trying to calm his fluttering heart.

Finally calm, Noctis removed the heavy and wet robe, having accidently dragged it in with him. The water cleansed his skin well enough as well as his hair, though he still went through the whole routine. Clean of all dirt, blood, and grime, Noctis heaved himself from the tub and toweled himself as dry as possible, hair still a little damp. He found another robe to wrap around himself and proceeded to the mirror.

Availing himself before it, he could see that his hair was still hopelessly spiky, springing back into place. It was a strange metallic blue, unusual from the browns and blondes of other people. His face wasn't sharp and angular like his friend, or more…developed like Ignis’; instead it was soft and still rounded, but was beginning to lose that trait.

"Oh, good, you're done, m' prince!" came Rosarum's jovial and warm voice. Noctis whirled around, a smile alighting his face. He ran to her and clamped on to her arm, face colliding with her shoulder.

"You've become very handsome; I can't believe you're not that sweet little baby anymore. Ah, you're such a treasure." Noctis looked up to his beloved nanny. “I’m certain little Ignis agrees, hm?”

"Please call me Noct, like you used to," Noct said, smiling warmly. “Like Iggy does!”

She burst into laughter. "Oh, you little rascal! I'll get in trouble if I do."

Noct looked thoughtful for a moment. "Prince Noct?" he reasoned. “Iggy does that sometimes, too!”

"Alright, I'll call you 'Prince Noct.'" Noctis let go of her arm, beaming.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Lord Ravus and Lady Stella are here. Aren't you excited? Come; let's get you all polished up."

Noct froze; Stella was here. His heart began thumping loudly at the thought of seeing his best friend who he recently began having a crush on. She was twelve to his eight and positively radiant. He adored her kind smile and lively personality. There was something else, like they had a deeper connection, but he couldn't reason why. Though he’d always been so close with Ignis, Stella was different. And he was going to see her, again!

Urging himself to calm down, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

Older Stella brandishing a gold rapier.

Noct shook his head, pushing away that awful thought.

"Prince Noct? Time to get dressed."

Noctis opened his eyes, and to his abject horror, Rosarum held a flowing, long emerald dress coat, stiff looking matching pants and a complicatedly designed shirt. He swallowed; he hated dressing formally almost as much as he hated taking bathes.

Ignis looked a little sheepish, having been the one to choose them in the first place. “Sorry, Noct, but your father wanted you to wear them.”

It was always his dad! Always so stuffy, even though he wore suits all the time! Why didn’t he have to wear the ceremonial robes?

Reluctantly taking the clothes into the changing area, closing the door, he removed the bathrobe and put on the appropriate undergarments before hauling up the suede pants, pulling over the long shirt and finally pulling on the ankle-length robe which wasn't supposed to be girdled. He tied on a pair of starchy black boots and laced them, toes being mashed together.

Exiting the room he groaned loudly, bemoaning the restrictive clothing.

Rosarum clapped her hands in delight and ushered Noct again to the mirror. The outfit made him look older, sure, but he wouldn't be able to do much. Ignis stood beside him and helped tug down this, tighten that, and brush away stray wisps of hair.

"You look even more handsome!" she squealed, soothing creases and invisible wrinkles with obsessive care.

Noct gave her a look of comic anguish, a shadow of despair hooding his eyes. Ignis looked paologetic, sincerely. Then again, he’d always had a superbly soft spot for his friend.

"You want to look nice for Stella, don't you?"

Noctis quickly changed his outlook, imagining Stella gushing over how cool he looks and immediately changed his outlook on the snazzy clothes. Well, almost immediately.

Rosarum laughed at his sudden change of heart, always seeming to know how to change Noctis's perspective on things. That, or the task fell on ignis. Barely keeping secrets from each other, Ignis almost always anticipated what was needed for Noctis. He was so, so reliable like that.

"Come along now; don't want to keep them waiting."

Noctis gladly acquiesced and flew from the room, Rosarum struggling to keep up.

“Oh, Noct?”

Noctis stopped dead in his tracks, skidding to a halt when his friend addressed him. He was always bound to listen where Ignis was involved. “Yeah, Iggy?”

“Uncle Jovian wanted to see me today. I’m sorry, but I can’t come with you to see Lord Ravus or Lady Stella.”

Ignis looked apologetic again, especially when he caught sight of the disappointment on his face.

“Oh, okay. I’ll tell them you said hi. It’s okay. Luna couldn’t come, either.”

Ignis looked grateful, if a little crestfallen. “Lady Lunafreya has her Oracle training to attend to. I’m pretty sure she’d love to be here with us, Noct.”

Rosarum smiled gently at the pair. “Don’t you either worry about anythin’. I’m certain today will lovely for all of you, regardless.”

“You’re right. Thank you, Rosie. And see you later, Iggy!”

*

The day was as beautiful as it looked through the windows.

The sky was a beautiful turquoise color, clouds floating aimlessly like leaves swept along a river. A massive lawn spanned before him, gardens of flowers of every variety planted and hedges trimmed with the utmost precision. Beyond the gardens was the border between lawn and forest, both kept immaculately in line. Cobblestone paths cut through the maze of flowers and small trees; the odd sculpture of some prominent figure of old standing in defiance to the sky.

The emerald leaves of the interminable number of trees chattered in the many warm breezes while dappled shadows rested on the forest floor below. The grand presence of the castle loomed before all, a sentinel of sentinels watching over wood and city. Luckily the sun's position in the heavens provided that the castle's shadow didn't overshadow the delightful gardens or the three young children who wished the gambol among the scenery.

Beyond even that, the Sea of Galahd scintillated on the horizon, reminding them they were still a ways from the Crown City of Insomnia.

Noctis descended the wide stone stairs, ignoring Rosarum's warnings to be safe. He practically ran down, eager to meet his friends below.

As soon as his foot touched green turf, the padding of feet over grass flew in his direction.

"NNNNoooooctiiiisssss!" came the stream of his name, sourcing from a pretty preteen girl, a mane of billowing gold in her wake as she ran. Launching herself to the young prince, Stella latched her arms around his neck, smiling childishly.

Noct, unable to speak coherently, gulped. He returned the embrace shyly.

"Oh, hey Stella,” he stuttered at last, patting Stella's back. Beaming, the older girl, already a bit taller, quickly released Noct so that he could regain his composure.

"I'm so glad to see you again, Prince Noctis! " she said, smiling genuinely. Her violet eyes caught the sunlight beautifully, entrancing the young prince for a moment. Today she wore an almost identical outfit to his, only it bore the colors of her kingdom, Tenebrae, and instead of pants she wore a skirt. “Luna says hello. She was sad she couldn’t be here, but she wishes you well.”

Aside from the fact that she was Luna’s fraternal twin sister, they looked almost exactly alike, save for her ash blonde hair and violet eyes that contrasted to Luna’s blonde hair and blue eyes.

Raucous laughter broke the silence, emanating from a a platinum blond youth. Ravus Nox Fleuret was prince from the kingdom of Tenebrae and Noctis's other best friend, and the girls’ older brother. His choppy, short hair was buzzed down, stormy grey eyes dancing in delight. He wore an outfit identical to Noctis's, again with the colors of his beloved forest kingdom.

He was the oldest of them at sixteen. Already his face was beginning to sharpen and become angular, voice not yet deep. He was a head taller than Noct and towered over Stella.

Yet that never deterred Stella from showing off her vivacious spirit.

"Ravus!" Stella cried, stamping her feet and crossing her arms. "Leave Noct alone!"

Noct waved his hands, as if trying to placate the fiery girl, only she proceeded to stomp over to Ravus and give him a piece of her mind.

"Sorry Stella, it's just that Noct—" he choked out between bouts of laughter "—he's really hilarious to me now for some reason!"

Stella scowled, hand reaching to grab a tuft of hair and yank it. Ravus yelped loudly, eyes locked with Stella's fierce ones.

"I'm sick of you bullying and teasing Noct! Go say you're sorry," she ordered, still clenching his short hair.

Awkwardly bent over, Ravus's grey eyes locked with Noctis's. "Stella, it's what friends do. We always—"A yank "—Okay! I'm sorry, Noct! You happy now?" his last words directed at Stella. She tossed him away, unsteadying Ravus, and smiled smugly.

Prancing over to Noct, she grabbed his hand. "Let's get away from him and this place," she whispered conspiratorially, glancing towards the forest.

"What are you doing?" Ravus.

"Now!"

Before Noctis could even blink, Stella was off him a shot, towing Noctis at breakneck speeds. They tore through the gardens and out to the border and into the darkening woods. Noctis could hear Ravus shouting after them to stop, but for once he was glad to be alone with Stella.

They ran quite a way until the castle receded and faded completely from view.

"Ah, alone at last." Stella ambled around a tree with great roots, humming delightfully to herself.

Noctis looked around nervously. The trees here were thick enough for several people to hug, hands touching. Long and wide branches thickened and split like a river delta, umbrage nearly blocking out the sun entirely. The canopy was thick with a ceiling of leaves that let in only fragments of sunlight, the rest of the ground cloaked in shadow. Massive roots spurt from the ground, interrupting the surface like coiling snakes, providing for unsteady walking ground. Noctis carefully picked his way around brambles and jutting roots, making way to Stella.

A deafening crunch suddenly filled the forest.

Stella clung to Noctis who put a hand to her back.

"I think we should leave, Stella." Her head pumped up and down in agreement.

A scuffling of weak roots heaved inwards, creating an abyssal drop. Noctis' arms flew around Stella and her's around him.

Both screamed with terrific might in the quiet forest as the ground gave away and they were swallowed by the black maw.

Crossdress Bet

“Well, looks like you lost the bet Yugo,” Yuto said with a smirk. The banana-haired duelist groaned,

“Gah! Fine! Pick your punishment then.”

Yuya patted his synchro counterpart on the back, “There,there Yugo.” Yuto's smirk turned devilish, “Now then, for your punishment. You have to model Yuri's designs all day and you have to let him take you out this afternoon.”

Yugo's face turned pale at the mention of 'Yuri' and 'model'. “Ugh. Fine. This is the worst day ever,” the synchro user grumbled.

Yuri, the fusion user, was know to design clothes, but very specific kinds. Yuri was a crossdresser and a very convincing one at that. He liked to design outfits that suited 'his kind' as he put it. His clients could be any kind, but his taste in models was very specific. Fortunately, or unfortunately in his case, Yugo fit those tastes perfectly; slender body, cute youthful face, and a hint of attitude. Yugo sighed as he resigned himself to a horrible afternoon.

The bell on the door sounded a pleasant chime as Yugo entered Yuri's studio.

“I'll be with you in just a moment,” the fusion user's voice sounded from deeper in.

The sky-and-sunshine haired boy followed the sound of the voice to find Yuri in his work zone. Violet locks pulled back into a low ponytail, mulberry eyes focused on the design adorning the mannequin before him, Yuri sat primly with a pair of pins tucked between his full lips. Yugo leaned against the door frame, watching in silence as the piece slowly took shape under Yuri's expert hands. The first thing that jumped out at Yugo about the outfit was that it was in his colors. A long sleeved, light blue Chinese style blouse edged in darker blue on the cuffs and a ribbon on the collar blossomed out into a sunshine yellow, mermaid-scale patterned skirt that stopped at the knees. Yuri gave the ribbon one final tug then sat back to admire his work with a satisfied smirk on his face. Then those magenta eyes came to rest on Yugo.

“Well this is certainly a surprise,” Yuri smirked, a knowing lilt in his tone, “Usually the only thing that gets you to visit me here is if you've lost a bet with Yuto. He does know how I simply adore your company. So to what pleasure do I owe this unexpected visit today my dear Fusion?”

Yugo bristled at the mistake on his name, “It's Yugo! And from your tone, you already know damn well why I'm here!”

Yuri giggled daintily into one hand, in a manner Yugo would have found adorable if it had been anyone else. This time, Yuri relented his teasing. “Very well. I'll have you start with this one then,” he gestured at the outfit he had just finished. Yugo sighed but nodded, “I didn't have anything better to do today I guess.”

The morning went on with Yugo trying on dozens of Yuri's designs. Some were okay but others were just downright embarrassing. Like the latest one that Yuri had to practically force Yugo into.

A sleeveless white blouse that ruffled down the front and a white jacket that flowered at the cuffs, a short, mid-thigh deep blue skirt with vertical thin stripes of red and yellow that ruffled at the hem and had three buckles at the waist. Deep blue gloves covered his hands and pale white stockings crept up his legs, ending with lacy garters at his thighs. And a pair of dark blue, almost black Mary janes completed the outfit. Yuri came over and fixed a little white top hat, decorated with a pale blue rose, into Yugo's hair. Then he stepped back to give him a once over.

“Yep that about does it,” Yuri crooned at him, “And what a lovely sight you are.”

Yugo stood before the mirror, twisting this way and that.

“I can't tell if you really mean that or if you're just teasing me again,” he muttered, half to himself, but Yuri heard him anyway. The plum haired boy walked over and took Yugo's face in his hands, forcing him to look Yuri in the eyes.

“I do mean it,” he cooed at his counterpart, stroking his thumbs over the other boy's cheeks, “You look absolutely radiant. The sun itself can't compare to your splendor.”

Yugo was silent for a moment, then his cheeks burned red as his mind grasped what Yuri had just said. His crystal blue eyes flitted about, trying to look anywhere but at Yuri's face,

“T-That's embarrassing you idiot!” Yuri giggled at Yugo's flushed face, “You really are too cute. I'll go change and we'll head out for a little bit.”

The sky-and-sunshine haired boy's face paled at the prospect of going out dressed like this but he had no choice in the matter.

“Alright,” he sighed, “Let's go.”

After a while Yuri came out of the changing room and Yugo's jaw dropped open. Yuri wore a full-on dress. The top was ruffled and basically sleeveless with lavender ribbons making a corset-like pattern. A short expanse of lavender fabric circled Yuri's waist before blooming into a gray plaid skirt that fell to his knees. The gray fabric was dotted with dark purple roses and light purple carnations. The skirt was split at the side with another purple ribbon. Another ribbon was tied in the fusion user's violet locks, just above his ear. Yuri's stockings were the same pattern as the skirt, extending up to his mid-thigh before ending with a pair of lacy garters. A pair of simple white flats covered Yuri's dainty feet. A final purple ribbon was wrapped around his left arm from his elbow to his wrist, accentuating how slender his limbs were. As he walked across the room Yugo saw that his eyelids were darkened by lavender eye shadow and his full lips were shiny with gloss. It gave him the appearance of a porcelain doll. Even is hair had been curled slightly.

“Are you ready to go now?” Yugo asked.

Yuri snickered behind one perfectly manicured hand, “I am but you're not.” Yugo blanched as Yuri sat him down before a mirror with make-up in hand.

“Now hold still and don't move,” Yuri ordered, “If you struggle then this will take longer. So close your eyes and let me work.”

Yugo sighed and did as he was told. Yuri fussed with his hair for a while before leaving one side in what felt like a curler. Then he turned his attention to Yugo's face. Yuri's touch on Yugo's skin was surprisingly gentle, tenderly brushing over his eyes, his cheeks, even his lips.

Then he patted Yugo's shoulders, “You can look now. You did very well for your first time with make-up. Most boys put up a fight.” Yugo opened his eyes slowly and his jaw dropped, which Yuri closed with a hand under his chin. The person in the mirror couldn't be him. The right side of his bangs was curled into a perfect spiral. His eyes were accentuated by light blue eye shadow. His cheeks were a rosy pink.

“How did you even manage this?” Yugo breathed, completely in awe.

Yuri basked in the praise, “I'm just that talented I suppose. Now shall we head out on the town my dear?”

Yugo looked up to see Yuri with a single hand extended to him. He took the offered hand and stood up next to Yuri. The plum haired boy latched onto Yugo's arm, hugging it close to his chest. Yugo blushed at the proximity between them.

“W-What are you doing?” he stammered, looking down at the other boy. Yuri looked back with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, “I'm making sure no one else tries to steal my beautiful date from me. You make quite the catch.”

Yugo flushed deeper at that comment. “Don't joke like that you jerk,” he growled, “There's no way any idiot is going to flirt with me.”

Yuri smirked at the sky-and-sunshine haired boy, “Oh I beg to differ my dear Fusion. As far as any guy on the street is concerned, they'll be all over you as soon as they lay eyes on you. Such a naive young lady would be easy prey for them. But don't you worry your pretty little head. I'll fend those brutes off for you.”

Yugo gave his companion a worried look, “I hope you're being serious and not just yanking my chain.” Yuri's eyes turned sharp and dangerous. “I'd like to see them try to get anywhere near you,” he snarled, “I'll show them that it's the prettiest flowers that hide the sharpest of thorns and the deadliest of poisons.” Yuri then fished out his phone, “But first, a picture to commemorate this occasion.” Yugo rolled his eyes as Yuri pressed himself against Yugo's side.

“Smile~,” he cooed.

Yugo let a shy smile cross his lips. Then, all of a sudden, Yuri pressed his own lips to Yugo's cheek in a kiss. As Yugo's expression morphed into one of surprise, Yuri quickly snapped the picture and pranced a few steps back. “Yep,” he sang with a smile, “That one's a keeper for sure.” He turned the screen to Yugo, showing off the picture. The moment of realization was evident on Yugo's face and Yuri's lips were still pressed to his cheek.

“What was that for?” the synchro duelist yelped, holding his burning cheek, as if Yuri's touch had burned him. The fusion user simply snickered, “I was only laying claim to what's mine.”

Yugo's blush darkened to abysmal crimson, “What do you mean 'lay claim to what's yours”?” Yuri smirked and snaked his arms around Yugo's waist, reeling the stuttering boy flush against him. “It's just what I said,” he whispered huskily, “I'm claiming what's mine.” The plum haired boy planted another kiss to Yugo's nose, sending the flustered boy into another sputtering fit.

After he had a chance to calm down, Yugo stared into Yuri's mulberry eyes. He was startled to see the depth of affection in those eyes. He sighed and mirrored Yuri's hold on him, putting his arms around the other boy's waist and holding him close.

“Let's go Yuri,” he said, moving toward the door and holding out his arm for Yuri to hold onto. Yuri's eyes sparkled as he hugged Yugo's arm to his chest once more,

“Okay. I promise I'll show you a good time.”

Yugo looked thoughtfully at the smile on his companion's face. Then he leaned over and captured Yuri's lips with his own, thoroughly startling the other boy. Yuri relaxed into the kiss, shifting his arms around Yugo's neck. They stayed like that for a few moments before the need for oxygen overpowered them.

“Personally, I think the guys are more likely to go after you rather than me,” Yugo panted after he caught his breath, “After all, you're much better-looking than I am. Since you know how to act in this sort of outfit and I don't.”

Yuri shook his head, “You're more of a natural in that outfit. Plus, your first reaction if someone flirts with you is to get shy and embarrassed. Mine is to flirt back.” Yugo let one hand rest on Yuri's hip, “Then I guess we'll have to look out for each other.” That got Yuri to really smile, “I think Yuto took Yuya out today as well. Shall we see if we can find them?” Yugo nodded and followed Yuri out the door.

The outing wasn't all bad. Though Yugo wasn't sure what to make the hungry looks guys were giving him. He'd seen them look at Yuri like that before but it was rather uncomfortable for him. But Yuri kept his promise. Whenever one of the boys tried to approach Yugo Yuri would send the unfortunate soul a searing glare, daring them to try to steal the blond-blunette from him. And when they tried the same thing with Yuri Yugo would pull the plum haired boy close to his side. The pair found Yuto and Yuya sitting at a cafe. They both walked up behind Yuto, motioning for Yuya to keep quiet. Then they threw their arms around the dark duelist shoulders. Yuto let out a startled yelp, indicating that the pair had successfully surprised him.

“Gotcha,” Yuri whispered into the onyx eyed duelist's ear.

Yuya snickered along with Yugo and Yuri at Yuto's reaction. Then the entertainer's attention shifted to Yugo. “Wow!” he said with a smile, “You look really good in that outfit Yugo. Stylish.” Yugo blushed at the compliment but Yuri beat him to answering.

“Of course he looks good. I wouldn't settle for anything less,” the plum haired boy huffed, sidling up to Yugo and latching onto his arm once more. Yugo sighed but curled his arm to give Yuri a little squeeze.

“Looks like you two are getting along better,” Yuto smirked, “I was sure that you would be at each other's throats by now.”

Yugo shared a knowing glance with Yuri, who then shared one with Yuya. Yuya snickered slightly and nodded. The tomato haired boy held up a single white sphere. He bowed with a flourish and threw it at his feet. A plume of white smoke obscured Yuya from view. As his silhouette came into view he moved over to Yugo and Yuri, hiding behind them. Yuto seemed confused, trying to look around to see why he was hiding. But the other two blocked his view. Then all three of them approached him at once. Yugo settled behind Yuto, holding him in place. Yuri stood before him, giving a dainty curtsy. Then he stepped aside and took a spot next to Yugo on Yuto's other side. But Yuto's attention was focused solely on the boy before him. Yuya was clad in a sundress. The top was ruffled around the collar and the sleeves were slightly puffy. It had a sort of corset-like waist with a white rose on the side. Then it blossomed out into a crimson plaid skirt that only fell to mid-thigh and had a single strip of white lace near the hem. Yuya wore a pair of pale white socks that cut off at his ankles and white flats decorated with red ribbons. The socks exposed a generous expanse of Yuya's creamy thighs to Yuto's eager eyes. A white headband with a large white rose sat atop the boy's scarlet and emerald locks. As he walked, Yuto could only watch as those slender hips swayed before his eyes, enticing and alluring. Though Yuto wasn't the only one who thought so. From the corners of his eyes Yuto could see almost ever other male's eyes lock onto the adorable entertainer. But Yuya remained oblivious to this fact. He was more interested in Yuto's reactions. Yuto abruptly stood up, shaking off both Yuri and Yugo's grip on his shoulders. Then he strode over until he stood only inches from Yuya. He gripped his long, black cloak and wrapped it around the pendulum duelist, holding him close to his chest and hiding him from all the stares of  other males in the area.

“You shouldn't carelessly expose yourself like that Yuya,” Yuto whispered, “You might give someone the wrong impression. Even I'm having a hard time restraining myself right now.”

Yuya cocked his head to the side curiously, “Restraining yourself? From what?”

Yuto held Yuya closer and leaned down to whisper in his ear, “From dragging you back home and into the bedroom. You're very tempting in that outfit. Even my resolve has its limits.” Yuya's face flushed red all of a sudden,

“Did you maybe consider that perhaps that was my intention?”

Yuto's onyx eyes widened at that comment. Yuya looked up at the boy holding him, like a knight defending a princess, “I'm not as innocent and naive as you think.” He pressed closer to the amethyst haired duelist. Then he pulled his shirt open slightly. Yuto's face burned at the sight before him. Through that tiny gap, black, silky fabric edged with rich purple lace peeked out at him. Yuya's crimson eyes were playful and hopeful as he smiled up at Yuto.

“And just in case you were wondering, the curtains do match the drapes,” he smirked suggestively, “Care to come and see for yourself?”

Yuto didn't answer. He just simply scooped Yuya into his arms, earning him a surprised yelp from the tomato haired boy, and proceeded to carry him down the street towards their shared flat. He waved over his shoulder at the other two and left.

“Well then,” Yuri snickered, “I think that went rather well. Yuya's in for a long night it would seem.”

Yugo tilted his head, “What do you mean by that?” Yuri sighed at Yugo's naivety. He tapped a finger to his chin in thought,

“Hmm. How to put this? Well, Yuto has been pining after Yuya for ages. I figured at this rate his patience would run out eventually. I just...helped them along.”

Yugo smiled at the plum haired male beside him. Then he wrapped his arms around the shorter male, “Are you satisfied with your meddling now?” Yuri smirked and curled up under Yugo's chin,

“Did you have something more entertaining in mind?”

Yugo's grip slid down so his hands caressed Yuri's slender hips before circling his waist tightly, “I may have a few ideas.” Yuri smiled gently, holding out his hand, “Then will you take me home then my brave prince?” Yugo smiled gently as he took the offered hand, bringing it to his lips, “I do believe I will my beloved flower.” Yuri giggled as he wrapped his arms around Yugo's bicep,

“Well then lead the way my love.”

Yugo smirked, “ I think I can do better than that.” He tucked his arms under Yuri's knees and back and lifted him off the ground, being mindful not to give anyone around them an up-skirt peek. Then he strutted off down the street, cuddling the adorable plum haired boy in his arms.

Night of Spectacular wonders

Part 1 Part 2;

Mature themes- 18+? Yeah suppose it would be better to label that for this party, drinking, having fun.

The sea king twitched his snoot as he brought the crew members up on his head, as they finished placing the plastic sculptures. "How's it lookin' Cap?" Skull called down, as he steadied the head piece, ace stood back admiring their work, "Looks good from down here!" The thumbs up was a sign for the drake to lower him back down to the shop, leaping down, he patted the black scale drake, who was grinning as Ace tossed him the half bitten fish he was munching on, Loki wasn't pleased at sharing but he did fry the fish for him so he hummed pleased before diving back into the water. "Is there anything else we need?" Finamore asked Mihar who only shook his head, "No we just are waiting on Deuce to get back." Turning back favor shined within his eyes, as the crew began finishing up preparation, the spade was now fit for a celebration of great compacity, a large table for a feast, a wooden deck for the orchestra, now no one was filling Ace in on what was happening he just knew they were setting up a great party in his honor. Banshee hands the pink hair lady the telescope, "Think that them?" , "Well if a large boat that was unflagged heading our way was an enemy they picked the wrong day to do that." Ray handed back the scope, they waited for everyone to board, so in the meantime she was going to need Ace to get out of view, turning, looking around he was up talking to Koshi, she signaled him to take their captain somewhere else, hearing the list of complaints as the lynx brought him to his quarters.

- "How much where you able to bring back?!" Ray wasn't exactly bouncing on her feet, but she had placed far to many orders last minute and today was her deadline before they departed from the island.

"Everything besides the matching colors, reluctant to say they the cloth wouldn't have been enough for everyone on board." He pulled out a suitcase, and pointed to the rest being carried up from the boat, "I didn't make it out short handed, a few different costumes, suits, random hats and jewelry." "That will do, guess we'll need to get everyone to change." A reluctant groan came from behind, they thought it was over, no outfit changes. Deuce grinned, he wanted to get back at the crew for making fun of his journals, this was his chance, and he believed the fruits of his labors would be worth the outcome.

"Alright time to get serious everyone!" Ray clapped her hands, "This is the captains one, and yours-" she took both from his hands, "Thanks, I'll make sure he gets in it while you mange the rest."

Masked Deuce nodded in agreement as he turned his attention to the crew, "Alright the cooks have already set up and place the food courses out orderly."

"You all will only be able to eat once Ace sits, and everyone in a suit," His green hues loomed over to Banshee who was raising an eye at him, "And a dress I believe." He prayed he did, for the smile she gave him said if he forgotten that his ass would be hearing about it soon. Gulp. Let hope Ray has an easier time getting wrangling one instead of eighteen crew members. -

Skull took out as he began handing out black suits as all the men huddled in deck, to Mihar, Saber, Aggie 68, Finamore, Ganryu, Ducky Bree, Ossamondo, Barry, Wallace, Kukai, Leonero and Hublot. Some modifications needed for

"Hey, they even have one that fits me!"

-

Cornelia, Banshee went to the ladies bedroom to change into their outfits, corn went for a shirt and tie, with a black vest, as ban went for a pink dress, twirling around, "How do I look?" "Absolutely Breathtaking."

-

"Thanks Koshi, go join the rest." "You sure you won't need my help?" He questioned, tilting his fuzzy lynx head, she smiled shaking her head, "Nope, now go get ready!"

"I can't wait, the food smells soo goood and I am straving!" Kotatsu cheered as he walked out of the bedroom. -

"Speaking of food, when can I eat, and what are in those cases?" Ace questioned, sitting in his chair, boots on desk as he cocks his head at her, ushering his finger for her to open them. "The rest of the crew fought me on even getting dressed up tonight, but I promised them it was just for a few hours." He nodded his head, lifting the cases she opened the one showing a leather bound black jacket, with infringed orange laced flames going up the bottom and arms. Along with a white button up shirt and dark dress pants. "And the other one?" "Oh, that will be my dress." "I want to see it now." "Let me put it on first." Ray looked hopeful, was he not going to fight her in tonight's dress code, he took out the trench coat and studied it, getting up to put it on he make an approving face nodding his head, tugging at the collar, turning over as a smirk graced his lips. "I take it you like the fit?" He nodded his head, walking over to her, "It all making sense, the odd body measurement," a wild ray would appear with measuring tap at all aspects of the day and shout for science before letting him questioned further. "Of course it fits swell, I wouldn't mind wearing it on other nights," This caused her cheeks to brighten, now it was a shoot in the dark if he would like the design she came up for him, "It's my gift to you, Ace, wear it however it pleases you."

Not realizing how close he was, taken back by his arms latching around, pulling her into his embrace, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, you deserve to know how grateful we are to have you around-" he kissed her temple, causing her to look up at him, shocked as a smile lingered along her lips. "Take it, you deserve the praise." "Oh, how kind of you captain!" She held her heart, speaking in a sweet tone, batting those eyelashes. Rolling her eyes the next moment, "I did it for you, the crew and myself, so if anything this was my way of getting you all to see an elaborate water show of mine." "I am eager to see how you will bring those plastic statues to life, having them set up on deck is nice, but the whole clear tube look won't due, suppose you will need to paint them." She let out a scoff, "No, have you seen loki's monument? He spent hours helping me gather up davys jones treasure to just get it built." He gave her a pouting look, "I said no," He leaned down, frowning. "Okay, I'll give thoughts to it, but that will be very stress inducing, he is so finicky at the slightly mistakes. Drawling his fins sloppily caused him to eat one of my new sketch books." The mermaid couldn't imagine what would happen if she spilled paint down the side and forgot about it till a few hours later when she comes back to see it torn and thrown into the sea. "Well we will just have to see won't we," He brushed the rosy pink locks behind her ear, "I assume these will be a far grander scale of what you have shown me in the past?" nodding her head, "You will be seeing me but I will be the conductor as I bring aquodic life around the ship. Both alive and waterized!" "I can't wait!" "I know, which is why I want you to go out and eat to your hearts content while I prepare everything, slightly nervous on how much mana I will be using tonight, but I've been practicing to do longer extended when working with water, so that means I need to mentally prep for everything-" she was rambling, her face heating up the longer he held onto her, she tried to pull away, needing to get ready. "I want to stay like this longer." He whispered in her ear, kissing her neck softly, they weren't officially sure what they were to one another, that didn't stop them from being private about their affection towards one another. Seeing her give in, muttering a small "Fine." wrapping her arms around him tighter, leaning in, he always reminded her of the sun, his warmth was so comforting it was hard to leave a simple request.

- "Alright, I do need to get ready now, plus I can hear poor Deuce and Mihar struggling to keep the hungry beast quelled for much longer and I can hear your stomach as-well mister." She poked his stomach, pulling away, grabbing her case, "Now get dress and head out." "I'll see you out there." "Doubt you'll miss me." - "Hey Rita!" She waved seeing her friend in semi human form, as she wore a black, blue flower embroider dress. "Took you awhile, I need help zippering the back." Ray fumbled to get it on, making sure not to snap her fur as it closed shut. "You look amazing!" "Thanks, I was deciding on wearing flats or just go wear foot." "I'm going Pawling out" Rita pointed to her feet, gaining a chuckle from her friend, "And mine are telling me to hurry on out there, I'm famished." "No worries." waving her off as she opens the case, slipping out of her clothes to snug into a short mermaid dress, black fabric top, that lowered down to a sparkly light and dark red, gold laced through the fabric, masking a swirl design on the breast and lower cut of the dress, the bottom had the same sparkly ruby red fabric underneath with mixed in glowing red gems, it made her looked like a jelly princess. Taking the time getting ready, admiring her own reflection, placing the rainbow gem crown on her head, it looked nice and helped channel her powers better, only wearing rarely due to the overwhelming effects it has on her body. -

Coming out to the main deck, everyone was eating, the band was playing music, well a whole orchestra of 5 people came to perform and that was less than what she was expecting, maybe they didn't get enough to cover all of the budget, or her wild dreams aimed far to high and a town only has so many people that play instruments. Ray stomach ached, wanting to eat the delicious being served at the table before them, watching as they all tore in quite savagely, no one minded their manners here and nor did they have too. Quickly hurrying past, seeing her sea companion waiting her arrival, "Hey loki!" she patted his head, gaining a low purr as the water splashed around, he was excited, and so was she, "You ready to wow their hats off?" Speaking of hats, she wondered which ones the lady had come up with, she sent off loads of designs, well knowing the amount of berries she spent on this party had already distraught Deuce, and forbidden her of speaking of apprehending such wealth. But the people rejoice and consider her the blessed fortune goddess that came and funded a whole new era of opportunities, the people had booming business, she bought out caterers for a few days of preparation along with the serves tonight. Also paying everyone here to not speak of events that shall take place, for it wasn't exactly your normal party, but why have normality when you can throw some extra flare into the mix. Ray summoned forth the sea to her command and began her meditation, sitting on the edge of the rail, flowing the water into the tube containers, filling them all, every great artist has some form of reference and this was her way of being able to hold so many bodies of water without losing focus and turning it into some deformed version. Which has happened. That is why the outline is here to as a guideline.

This will take awhile, so let jump back down to the lively main deck; "This is a number you all should know," Indeed it was a tune they all knew, Blinks brew, getting up drink in hand, dancing all, singing merry,

"Yo-hohoho Yo-ho-ho-ho Yo-hohoho Yo-ho-ho-ho Yo-hohoho Yo-ho-ho-ho Yo-hohoho Yo-ho-ho-ho" Koshi and Skull danced arm in lynx arm, as they shouted the song, oddly enough not as drunk as they were acting, yet most of the crew drank freely, smoking ablaze, singing out of key, but enjoying every moment of this- "Gather up all of the crew It's time to ship out Bink's brew Sea-wind blows To where? Who knows? The waves will be our guide. O'er across the ocean's tide, Rays of sunshine far and wide. Birds they sing Of cheerful things In circles passing by. Bid farewell to weaver's town, Say so long to port renowned, Sing a song, It won't be long, Before we're casting off" Sweet violin, piano, cello, voices of happy men and woman singing passionately to a song they loved. "Cross the gold and silver seas, A salty spray puts us at ease, Day and night, To our delight, The voyage never ends. Gather up all of the crew, It's time to ship out Bink's brew, Pirates we, Eternally, Are challenging the sea. With the waves to rest our heads, Ship beneath us as our beds, Hoisted high, Upon the mast, Our Jolly Roger flies. Somewhere in the endless sky Stormy winds are blowing wide, Waves are dancing, Evening comes, It's time to sound the drums. But steady men, and never fear, Tomorrow's skies are always clear, So pound your feet, And clap your hands, Till sunny days return. Yo-hohoho Yo-ho-ho-ho----" Rita danced along the table top with a few other crew members, kicking, clapping, cheering to the skies above, she noticed some of the crew had hats with her feathers on them. "Gather up all of the crew, It's time to ship out Bink's brew, Wave good-bye, But don't you cry, Our memories remain. Our days are but a passing dream, Everlasting though they seem, Beneath the moon, We'll meet again, The wind's our lullaby. Gather up all of the crew, It's time to ship out Bink's brew, Sing a song, And play along, For all the ocean's wide. After all is said and done, You'll end up a skeleton, So spread your tale, From dawn till dusk, Upon these foamy seas. Yo-hohoho Yo-ho-ho-ho.~" Switching between songs, this was a fan favorite, since everyone knew how it went so well, if anything it was a pirates anthem.

"Tonight couldn't possible get any better than this-" Ace muttered as he shoved his face full of food, awake, dozing, munching all in-between musical numbers. Banshee and Cornelia were sorting out the hats, "I like the one with the shells on it, and the one with Rita's feathers on you, even has a cute bone." placing the hat down, brushing the light blond hair out of corns face, receiving a blush, was all she needed before pulling her back over to the table to have an extensive conversation about a story involving how she got her first tattoo and how it nearly killed her in the process, long story short, she went into a ex pirates shop, who was hiding from the marines, it was just on the day she wanted to set off and become a pirate so she got herself a tattoo to mark the special occasion and was nearly gun down for being next to a man with a 30million bounty. "Truly a man in his natural habitat." Ray documented, still filling, loki was taking a long time to finish up and the food was smelling far to good to resist any longer, just a small bite. But seeing ace sleeping soundly, ham in hand. Taking fake pictures with her with her comment, as skull grabbed one of the skull hats and took his off placing his on rays head, and switching his, with his own skull mask, "Perfect harmony," soft snores could be heard, "You would assume the man went through a sport Olympics daily the way he sleeps." "Maybe I do-" He muttered, bring the meat up to the mask, gnawing on bone, gaining a rupture of laughs from the crew as he whined the meat was gone it his sight gone dark, pushing the mask off he glared behind at skull, "What the meaning of this?" Ray then plucked the meat from his hands, taking bites from it as he turned around, "Hey who said you could take mine??" "There plenty more." Innocence lingered the air as she pointed over to the now many plates now being yanked over to the other side of the table, the growing concern was real, a huge feast he already consumed half of was now being taken from him and all that was left was the juicy meat in rays hands.

"No this is mine now-" he scooted closer on the bench, as she went back, swinging her legs over getting up, taking another bite, "MMmmmm" she teased, running away, now he could have asked for the plates back but she was to tempting for him not to follow after up the stairs to the upper deck, she nibbled on his meat, causing him to narrow his eyes, stalking after her, "You won't get away with this!" "But I am eating it, so I am in a way?" Ace shot playful little flame balls, that she deflected with her water waves, swirling around the air above him, he looked up at the massive water mass lingering in the sky, "Now if we are playing this game, I can match-" He began forming a flame ball that she ran over to him quickly, making him put it out, "No, it for the finale, I need extra water to manipulate streams around the ship, You'll see-" she took another slow bite, knowing he was watching, "Here, I just wanted some, can't get full till after i'm done anyway." handing him the bone he gladly took what was his back, "I knew threatening to make a flaming ball of doom would work!" Scoffing at his comment, "I would crush those puny flames with my sea." He stepped back offended, "Then I would create more, and run on land, you only have so much water." He stood confidently, she pointed to the purple gem on her crown, "I would call forth lighting and zap you? Gently." She smiled meekly at him with a shrug, "Yes, and in the process almost get stunned yourself." "That only happens because I'm inexperienced with the power of these gems." blushing at the memory, gaining these gems didn't mix with her natural flow of energy, which was the sea itself, she preferred it like that and so did the other elements but they conceded to her will. "Why not try dispelling my flames?" He asked, looking over to the ruby gem on the side. "Well-" vivid memories of her setting herself on fire, and diving in the ocean for safety and even then the flames wouldn't leave till she removed the gem. "It hard enough wearing it, let alone using it full abilities." She spoke, raising her hands up, beginning to set up streams from the swirling circle, too the sea and above the ship, it was roadways for the sea, slowly fish began swimming up to make their way exploring the new water channels. "I am the perfect teacher if you are interested." winking at her, watching in awe as she flowed effortlessly with the sea, her gems sparkling with mana, the more she used her abilities she appeared to be a shinning star in human form, or the moon, was she his moon? "I'll keep that in mind." Smiling back, "I did just acquire this recently so I will need time, to get adjusted." "Take all the time you need, I am amazed at how you can even-" He paused seeing loki dart through the channels above, guiding a line of sting rays, dolphins, jelly fish, turtles, tropical fish the list goes on for awhile. "I know I'm brilliant!" He rolled his eyes, munching as he watched in wonder, the stars in the sky, as night rolled in, fit the mood perfectly to the sweet melody of music and laughter in the background. "As I think the world of my crew, you are the one that manages to take my breath away." His grey hues admired fondly of the outfit she choose to wear, she looked beautiful, watching as she nervously fumbled around to his comment, he could see her straying from concentration as small water hearts floated in the air around them. "You can't hide what I know you feel around me." He finished the bone tossing it aside, walking up behind, leaning in to place his head on her shoulder, arms wrapping around her waist. "What gave it away?" She faked a gasp, as he pointed up to the swirling hearts, meaning she took some fish out of some of the streams to form them. "Ops, I can put-" "Keep them," she leaned against him, hearing him hum in approval "Only for a little while." Water droplets leaked down on the ship, a light rain as she was getting her bearings of how everything should hold up, and it wasn't helping she was having someone keep kissing her neck, the water was

filled, all she needed was to capture the essence of each of the water bases. "It almost time, I can only hold this together for so long-" she let out a shaky breath, he pulled away, to take her hand, spinning her to the sound of the music. "Afterwards I want to dance with you." "I think that can be arranged Ace." Kissing her hand he pulls away, eyes looking longingly at one another, he wanted to stay but the lure of food was calling him back, yet her siren call was to captivating to leave, one more glance, watching her move in rhythm of the music, swaying the sea to her will. One day she with her by his side, he would witness the dawn of a new age, her powers were untold of, he desired to find her home island and see where it all originates. A story waiting to be discovered. Ace was also glad she was on his crew, for her power with that of a over protective sea king make a deadly force to be reckoned with.

-

Lowering a stream down to the ship, she switched into her alter form, a ruby pink tale sprouted from underneath her dress, swimming up into the massive water floating in the sky, loki guided the portals in the skies above, she began to follow the melody of the music, waving the streams above the eating party, letting them get a closer look at the marine life now swimming inches from their faces. Now was the fun part, as a eight foot sphinx shook it water body to life before it took flight to dive in and out of the water streams. Next were letting the dolphins dance around the skies above, small ones swimming along the outside next to the real ones in the waterways. Currently there was 4 channels, they all connected into one, but they were viewable from all sides of the ship, they were surrounding by the sea, they just could contently touch and view without having to down to their devil fruits or swim in dangerous waters. Kotatsu was batting at the fish with ray, some of the crew were petting the sea life, Ace was being surrounded by fish as he stuck his head inside, to only be pulled back by a concerned deuce, "It still sea water."

"Woah, look it me!" Rita waves at herself, who returned the favor, before flying off, next to come down was loki who dove up next to his counterpart as they raced through the skies, performing leaps in the air, traveling stream to stream, scaring the crew into thinking if he misses, that hunk of mass would crush them in a second. Skull stood near ace who jumped at his sudden arrival, such a large man, moves gentle like a breeze, "Hey cap, you got that goofy smile on your face." "What wrong with that?" "The matching red skin not the best look, the fish are staring at you like a target to munch on." He wasn't wrong, a group of fish kept circling and staring at him, teasing him, laughter erupting, as he took a swig from his mug. Scoffing as he pushed him playfully, "Yeah, I'm having a good night, let me enjoy myself." "Won't stop you from trying." Mihar stepped in, "This took far to much work but I am glad to see you are enjoying yourself." "Why not, good music, even greater company, with the added benefit of a show and never ending food." What more can a man ask for? Music in combination to the dancing water spirits above sent chills down their spines as they couldn't help but join with the water wonderland ray was creating for them, a miniature spade ship floated past them, roars from the king in the sky above as he lost the race, to only demand another. "It strange how life like her water creations are," Deuce comments, "well she is controlling them all simultaneously, before letting them roam around on what she calls auto piolet." Ace chomped down on more food, as he watched his blue hair friend in awe over the little pack of sea horses dancing to the music in front of them. This had lasted for another twenty minutes before Ray had enough and sent the water ways packing back to the sea, lowering herself down, switching her form as she abruptly dropped down to the main deck below, causing Ace to turn his attention over. "Nice of you to finally drop in." "Yeah the air was getting a tad chilly up there." "But you were in that water sphere?" Saber questioned, "Still doesn't mean I can create a heater in mid air." "How about bring some coals with you?" Aggie suggested, as she rolled her eyes, "To have them go out within minutes." "But we want more." Kotatsu and Skull demanded. "Maybe later, I'm hungry." The whines only meant they loved her performance all the more, it warmed her heart seeing everyone in such high spirits.

-

"I got what you asked for," Deuce started opening the box of rolled blunts, she grinned happily taking them "Ahhh, you got them! Thank you! I was running low, such a life savor!" bouncing over to Ace, "Look!" she took one out, closing the box, putting on in her mouth making a flickering motion to him, lighting his finger with a snap.

Taking in a puff of air, exhaling a joyous sigh, "I'm not a lighter." "Good because a life size you is tantalizing enough." This caused him to pause, his face reddening as she blew smoke at him, he smelled the air, "Oh, no wonder your excited." "They packed it specify for me.~" She hummed in delight, he plucked it from her hand, enjoying the sensation as it calmed his body, "Yeah, which means you share it with me." "It a mutual benefit." "Oh no this one mine now." She pouted at him, leaning her arm on the table, chin in hand, giving him a look, "Nope, get another one." "After all I did-" he raised his hand up, "I will for a price." "Name it." "Give me something to replace what I desire." "Aye captain!" She perked up leaning to kiss him slowly on the cheek, taking back to pull away, inhaling her wonderful bliss. Sitting back, noticing a few eyes on them, smiling their way, as he leaned over, taking her chin, and planting a savior kiss. Taking her by surprise, smoke escaped as she kissed back, only to whine when he pulled away with a satisfied smirk, as he held the joint triumphantly in his lips. Letting him win for now, she began pilling her plate with food, she was starving, after all that mana consumption and the mixture of a high she needed to eat now. = Barry and Ganryu were holding a drinking contest between fishman and longarm man. They were both still in the running as Finamore was sleeping like a baby, snuggled in the sand below. At the other end of the table another contest of whom defeated the strongest enemy ensued between half the crew, Ducky Bree and Ossamondo spoke of their time at little garden. Wallace, Kukai and Dogya told their own tales of sea kings, gaining a staggering look from the sea drake that loomed over in the distance. "We don't mean you big fella, just saying not all kings are as opening minded to not slaughtering every human they come across." Ducky shouted, waving his drink in the air, "Yeah," a hiccup followed as they all agreed. - "Follow me." Ace leaned over and whispered, causing chills to run down her spine, looking up to see him head towards the back of the ship, taking a seat down on the cushion, she follow him, drawling a small heart in the sand next to them, he made a flaming heart before kissing her softly. "Promise to always stay by my side," he didn't dare to ask but the words slipped from his mouth, those purple hues shinned with glee, as her heart skipped a beat, "Sorry to burst your bubble but you are stuck with me, know to much, so it this or I'm going to have to off you." She made a slit throat impression, he shook his head laughing at her. "No bubble burst here." He whispered, capturing her in a kiss once more, he wanted to get her alone, to show her how much he truly appreciated her kindness. "Ace-" she mumbled against his lips, he pulled back, grey eyes awaiting her next words, "You are my sun, the warmth I yearn to embrace, a sweet lullaby waiting to be written." Now the drums began stirring in his heart, "My mother wrote in her journal of how she wanted to sing a song to her daughter, I had always cherished the lyrics, and you have become apart of them." "Can I hear how it goes?" he leaned against her chest, as she leaned back against the cushion, letting out a nervous chuckle, "Well, just don't laugh at the cheesiness of it all." "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you only know dear how much I love you, so please don't take my sunshine away." He hummed against her chest, kissing her skin, smiling to her words, "Short and simple." "Not bad right?" "No, I found it adorable when you sung it." "So how would you add me into that?" This puzzled her, "You mean make up a whole new song just for you?" He nods his head, "It simple, just go for it." No it wasn't but she just listened to the music in the

background and sang what flowed through her in that moment, as she played his with hair, massaging his scalp. "The sun is the only one I see, he as strong as the bucking storm, tearing down athers door, today he comes to seek the mighty lad, taking what he needs to pass, to come and see his darling lass, today she his at last-" she paused, her brain not able to finish the tune, pouting as the words slip her mind. Ace hummed, "The one I see, comes from the sea, to save me for last. Tonight I am a lucky man, who aims to keep this energy going, so won't you stay with me till tomorrow past." He tried to continued in a singing tune, looking up, caressing her cheek "As we share our sunny days~" "Come one, come all to see, my love for you is brighter than the sea~" He sat up, to see the grinning face, he held her hand in his, happy than can be, tonight was more than he could have asked for and to have her join him was making it even better. "Together we make a great team~" she added in a questioning tune, "No one has been able to stop this feat?" They both shook their heads, laughing, "I love you, Ace." "I can tell." He smiled, "Oh is it so clear to see?" "Don't be so modest, you haven't been able to keep your eyes off me either sir." "I have admire your irresistible," he pulled her closer, "voluptuous" his hands trailed over her hips, as hot kisses stamped her neck, soft moans escaped her lips "Daring," biting at the soft spot on her neck, making her whine with delight, "Adventurous," fingers slipped underneath her dress, well knowing she never wore anything down there it would just get ruined when she transform so why bother destroying cloth. "Creative," she was practically melting to his words, his touch ignited a spark only he knew how to awaken. "Alluring Siren, whose stolen my heart." Meeting her face to face, he couldn't hold back, "My love is only meant for you and the thrill of the high seas." "Makes us the perfect match, huh?" It was her turn to hold his cheek in her soft hand, he leaned against, kissing her wrist. "I made it clear to the crew not to come back here and bother us." "Why that?" "The next events that shall transpire here will make even the sea gods blush." "And what about me?" "Preferable would want you begging for more." (Part 3? c: I will write it but how many want to see it is the question. somehow fell in love with this ship, and now *fingers crossed* more come help me in keeping this ship afloat.)

Have A Little Faith: Chapter Ten

“Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.” 

- J.K. Rowling

I woke up hours later with a gasp.

I’d slept like a rock���my mind had shut down and allowed me to get the rest that I needed, but as soon as I woke up my entire body was sore and I could tell that I had been tensed the entire time I slept. I could still FEEL the tension in my arms and thighs, and it was so bad that it hurt. I rolled over to glance at my phone screen and check the time.

11:34 PM.

I also noticed that I’d received a text from Harry.

I hope you’re doing okay. Thinking of you. I’m still here if you need me.

My heart sank as I read the message. I felt bad that he was completely in the dark, but this was my burden to bear.

I decided that I was going to go out for a run to loosen up my body, and as soon as I did I began moving on autopilot. I had never been a huge runner, but I needed something to do other than sit in bed and think about all my fucked up experiences, and running was the most mindless thing I could do. I was disassociating. I didn’t even notice when I changed into a pair of running shorts and a t-shirt, nor when I slipped on my running shoes and walked out of the door.

The night air was cool and there was a slight breeze that touched my cheek, the refreshing chill causing me to relax a bit for the first time in hours.

I ran aimlessly and without direction, uncaring of the fact that I was most likely going to get lost and not have a single clue as to how to get home. The pain in my body paired with adrenaline was exactly the distraction I’d been looking for all day, and if I had to get lost as a coping mechanism, I’d get lost.

I spent about twenty minutes of alternating between running and a slow jog before stopping to look up at the landscape in front of me.

Mount Vesuvius.

I was about to continue running, until something in my body told me to stay.

What’s something you want to do that you’ve never done?

I wanted to be content. I wanted to feel powerful. I wanted to kick Elijah’s ass.

I wanted to climb this fucking mountain.

I dug through my pockets and pulled out my phone, scrolling quickly through my contacts before pressing the “call” button.

“Rosie?” I heard Harry’s voice on the line, hopeful and worried all at once.

“I’m climbing a volcano tonight. Are you coming?”

***

Harry was there in half an hour. I watched as he got out of the car that he’d rented earlier that week, his face confused and worried as he lurched towards me.

“Are you okay, love?” He asked. I nodded my head and adjusted my ponytail as I flashed him a small smile, which was a lot easier to do currently than it was hours before. The endorphins from my run were kicking in.

“Never better. I’m sorry…” I started saying, but I really didn’t know how to finish. I still was a mess and I knew it. I then realized that I should probably be worried about Harry and what he’d think of me—we’d recently met and I was already falling apart in front of his eyes. This definitely wasn’t what he signed up for when he met me. “Listen, if you don’t wanna do this…”

“Are you kidding?” He interrupted, his features breaking out into a lopsided grin as he glanced up the mountain we were about to climb. “I wouldn’t miss it, Ro. I bet I can beat you to the top, even.”

I laughed shakily, and even though it wasn’t quite like my laughter normally, it was something.

Even riddled with worry, I was grateful to have Harry there.

We set out towards the top of the mountain side by side, and he didn’t try to force me to talk even though I could only assume he had tons of questions. The nighttime breeze sent chills up and down my sweaty limbs, and the smell or dirt filled the air as we made our way up the mountain. Harry walked right beside me even though he could probably go at a much faster pace, and every so often (every thirty seconds, really) he would look over to check on me and make sure I was okay.

The beginning wasn’t too bad. The dirt pathway up the mountain made it difficult sometimes to get a good step, but the cool breeze that now begun to tickle my cheek was refreshing, and there was something reassuring to how Harry put so much thought into making sure I was okay. I put one foot in front of the other, slowly travelling up the steep pathway, and I began to breathe deeply.

That’s where the pain kicked in.

I felt it in my shins first, a sharp twang in the back of my leg that struck every time I took a step, like the chord of a guitar being plucked and broken. It then spread like fire to my

thighs and the pit of my chest, making it harder to breathe steady. I began to struggle, and Harry could tell.

“You okay, love? Do you wanna take a break?” he asked, and I shook my head in response.

“I’m okay. It’ll hurt more if I stop,” I reasoned, growing slightly out of breath but still managing to offer him a slight smile. If he was feeling any sort of pain he wasn’t showing it at all.

“Alright, let me know if you need to. Don’t push yourself too hard, Ro,” he requested, and I simply replied with another nod as I took another step.

For the next five minutes I kept going, my pace steady but slow, and the pain grew exponentially. Even though it was only five minutes it felt like half an hour. The pain crept up my thighs, my entire legs sore with every inch I moved, and I had to bite my lower lip in order to keep from whimpering from the pain as I continued to scale up the winding path. I began to feel nauseous, and I knew it was quite possible that I could throw up at any second. I was beginning to regret asking Harry to come with me.

“How are you doing?” I asked almost breathlessly, glancing over at Harry. He was keeping up fine, but I could tell that his movements were slower and there were beads of sweat forming on his forehead and shoulders. Still, he looked at me and gave me a grin.

“Working through the pain,” he reassured, reaching to press the back of his hand to my clammy cheek for a moment before allowing it to drop. “Don’t you worry about me, beautiful.”

“Worry? I’ve gotta make sure you’re keeping up,” I teased halfheartedly, and he exhaled a soft snicker due to my words. We both knew that he could probably get there in twice the speed if it wasn’t for me, but he was polite enough not to say it.

We walked for what seemed like forever (but probably was only another five minutes).

And then the damn endorphins kicked in.

It was about fucking time.

It felt like flying. That’s the closest thing that I can compare it to; I took one step after the other, and with every step I felt myself getting stronger. I looked over the railings and out to the landscape that grew smaller and smaller; the twinkling houselights and the ocean became a portrait of all the pain that I’d experienced…a collage of all the tears I’d shed.

Harry must’ve noticed that I was picking up my pace because he began to speed up as well, and I could hear his breathing become more labored. We kept going for I don’t know how long – it could have been hours for all I knew, but all I was thinking about was that I

needed to get to the top. With every step that’s all I could think about, and eventually I felt nothing in my body—it was all in my mind, and I felt my heart pounding louder than it ever had before. This mountain killed thousands of people just by doing what it was designed to do. I was going to make it to the fucking top.

And then I turned the corner, and I saw it.

I saw the crater.

We’d made it.

***

I stood still for a long time.

“Ro? Rosie, are you okay?” His voice sounded faint, as if he was a world away, even though he was standing right behind me. Tears prickled in my eyes as I stared at the large crater in front of me—I’d climbed all that way and all of my problems were still very much alive. I didn’t know what I was expecting at the end of this workout, but it wasn’t this emptiness.

“I’m fine…” I replied, even though I knew that I was anything but and I knew that Harry would be able to tell. He circled around to stand right in front of me, and I could sense he was about to prod some more. “Harry…I’m fine, look I’m really s—”

I was interrupted by his arms wrapping around my frame, pulling me flush against his chest.

I stayed frozen for a moment, taking in the feeling of Harry’s embrace. I could feel the muscles in his arm press around my torso firmly, as well as the feeling of the sculpted curves of his chest against my front. Harry wasn’t usually so forward about his physical advances, because he knew I needed him not to be. But somehow in that moment this is just what I needed.

I eventually allowed myself to melt into his touch, slipping my own arms around his torso and hiding my face against his shoulder. It didn’t solve everything, and I could still feel the stress in my muscles, but the feeling of being tucked inside of Harry’s hug made me feel a little bit safer and maybe that’s really what I was looking for.

Harry allowed me to cry softly into his shoulder, staining his white t-shirt with my tears. He didn’t say a single word, he simply rubbed my back every once in a while and occasionally hummed a soft song in my ear. He let me be. He let me do whatever I needed to do to compose myself.

So there we stood, in the cool Italian night on the top of a volcano that had been dormant for centuries.

We stood as I fell apart, and somehow the physical bind that he kept me in allowed me to put my own pieces together again.

And as I erupted, maybe a gentler piece of me would be able to emerge from the ashes.

***

“What’s something you’re scared of?”

We’d been sitting by the railing at the edge of the mountain for half an hour, talking about nothing and everything all at once. He hadn’t mentioned my breakdown yet, which I appreciated because I didn’t think that I could handle being triggered like that again just yet. I sat with my head resting against his shoulder and he lay his hand on my knee, occasionally brushing the skin with the pad of his thumb.

“I’m scared of losing myself,” he answered quickly, which meant that he’d obviously thought about it before. I tilted my head up a little bit to look at his features, curious as to what he meant.

“It’s hard sometimes, when you’re surrounded by millions of people who claim to know who you are and what you want. When you’ve got girls throwing themselves at you left and right, or when there are grown adults tossing money at you trying to get you to work with them over the other. I’ve done things I’m not proud of, and I know it…it all just makes me feel like I’ve got a price tag on me sometimes…also, clowns. Clowns give me the creeps.”

I chortled softly when he finished speaking, thinking about his words for a long moment. I constantly forgot that he was Harry Styles, that everyone knew him, so when he spoke of things like this it brought perspective to my mind that I’d never considered before. It was one of the things I liked most about him.

“What about you, Rosie?” He asked. He sat up a little straighter which caused me to lift my head up off of his shoulder altogether, and I looked straight at him as I anticipated his question. “What’re you scared of?”

I pursed my lips lightly as I thought about his words, and I knew what he was getting at and what he wanted to know. What I didn’t know was if I was ready to tell him.

“I’m scared of my past,” I offered, looking out into the valley that was illuminated by the houses down below the mountaintop. “I’m scared that it’ll come back.”

“Are you running from something, love?” He wondered, looking at my features. I exhaled a soft sigh and looked back out at the landscape below us, wishing that I could freeze this moment and live in it, never having to move forward and face it all.

“I think that might be what brought me here,” I answered, hugging my knees up to my chest and tucking my chin in between them. I waited for a long moment for Harry to say something, but instead I felt his hand on my back. He ran his palm along the length of my muscles softly which caused me to shut my eyes, and he continued by tickling my skin with the pads of his fingers lightly, tracing patterns and drawings onto me as if I was a blank canvas. My eyes remained shut and I exhaled a soft sigh.

“Maybe you’re here because it’s exactly where you’re supposed to be,” he whispered.

I thought about that for a minute, and for some reason the possibility of it brought a smile to my lips. I settled back against Harry’s shoulder and he pressed a kiss against the top of my head, and we stayed there for a long time, neither one of us willing to climb down just yet.

***

Harry walked me back to my hotel. I tried to tell him that I would be fine, but he insisted on seeing me safely to my door. In all the days that we’d been travelling together he never asked to come in past my front door, even though most guys would. But I knew since the very first day that Harry Styles was not like most men.

He walked with me up to my room on the second floor and when we reached my door we stopped. I turned to look at him, nibbling on my lower lip nervously before speaking.

“I’m really sorry about today…”

“Hey, you’ve nothin’ to be—”

“No, listen, I want to say this,” I interrupted, looking into his eyes firmly. I think that I caught him a bit by surprise, but he simply nodded his head and waited for me to begin speaking again. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tucked my hands into my pockets before continuing.

“This…you have been amazing. You really have. You’re kind, and hilarious, and you make me laugh and smile and you’re just…God, you say these THINGS sometimes that take words out of my mouth and just make me wonder how someone like you can exist…What I’m trying to say is, you’re amazing, and you need to be with someone else who’s amazing, someone who isn’t running away.”

I immediately felt like an idiot for even speaking. Harry and I weren’t even DATING, I didn’t know what the hell we were doing but I knew that he couldn’t want anything to do with me after the shit I pulled today.

“I think it’d just be easier to stop now. It’s been amazing but now we can go our separate ways and you can find what you’re searching for and I can…I can try to get myself together,” I choked out, clenching my hands into fists. I didn’t realize how hard this would be.

“Ro…” He began, his brows furrowed tightly and his hands at his sides. There was a long pause and for a minute I thought he wasn’t going to say anything, but right when I was about to open my mouth to speak again his voice began to fill the air.

“You talk as if you’re broken. As if you were something in pieces on the ground that needs to be put back together. But the woman I’ve spent this week with…she’s whole, and amazing, and loving and she’s everything but broken,” he mused, taking a step towards me. My lower lip trembled slightly as I listened to him speak, and my heart was doing something it’d never done before but I had no intention of stopping it.

“If you don’t want to spend time with me anymore, if you really just don’t wanna see me, I’ll leave,” he stated, and there was a hardness in his gaze as he spoke. “But if you’re trying to push me away again because you’re scared of what’s gonna happen, I…Rosie, I’m not going anywhere.”

He said it simply, as if it was as easy as breathing, as if it was just a logical step for him to take. And it amazed me that after slamming the door on him earlier that day, after making him climb up a mountain, after falling apart in his arms when he definitely wasn’t asking for it, he still wanted to be around me.

It amazed me that someone so whole and so sure of who they were wanted to be beside me even after seeing how much of a mess I could be.

“Ro…” He said quietly, and he took another step towards me so that his face was about five inches away from mine. He lifted his hand to cup my cheek in his large palm, and I felt his lips press against my forehead for several seconds. It wasn’t until after he’d pulled away that I heard his voice again. “What’dya say?”

I looked straight ahead at the crease of his neck, my mind racing with endless thoughts and doubts, and it didn’t help that I was surrounded by Harry. Harry’s smell, his voice, his touch, his skin. I slid my hands out of my pockets to take his hands in mine and wind my fingers through his tightly, as if he could ground me. Except it only made me feel fuzzier, because Harry held my hands as if I were a butterfly, because he stroked my skin with his thumbs with such care that the delicacy of it alone could break me.

I released his hands only to run my fingertips up the length of his arm, occasionally stopping as I really focused in on a tattoo, paying special attention to the rose. It made me smile and I traced it with my index finger, declaring it my favorite for obvious reasons, and I knew he was thinking the same because I could sense him chuckling inaudibly as he watched me perform my actions. There were goosebumps on his skin where my fingers had touched, and it made my lips twitch with a hint of a smile.

Eventually I lifted my gaze to look at his features which were still hovering dangerously close to mine, and my hands made their way up his biceps and across the broadness of his shoulders to rest on either side of his face.

My gaze was attached to his lips—they were pink and perfect. The second he realized what I was looking at I heard his breathing become slightly more labored as his heartrate picked up, and I was glad that it wasn’t just me…I had to hold back a gasp when the tip of his tongue slid out from between his lips as he glided it across his lower brim.

I retaliated by lifting my own finger and running the pad of my thumb across his lip where his tongue had moistened it already, and I felt him suck in a breath of air as I did so. He stood perfectly still, his hands on my hips as he allowed me to become acquainted with bits of him. I used my own tongue to lick my lips softly in a subconscious effort to moisten them, before I croaked out.

“H-Harry…”

“Mm?” He responded, unable to form proper words.

“Can…Can I kiss you?” The question spilled from my lips clumsily and not at all seductively, and I was surprised that I was able to get them out to begin with.

There was a pause before he lifted his head in a slow nod, and it wasn’t until then that I looked up into his eyes and realized that he had been watching my lips as well. I exhaled inaudibly, standing up on my toes a little bit in order to close the distance between mine and Harry’s lips. I counted a total of two seconds before I brushed my lips against his softly.

Oh...

My lips trembled against his for a second, only stopping when I felt his hands squeeze my hips gently. After that I melted against him, the crease of his lower lip pressed in between mine. It was soft, and it was sweet, and his lips reminded me of a strawberry taste and it caused the butterflies in my stomach to flutter and my heartbeat to speed up to a degree I’d never before experienced.

So that’s how it’s supposed to feel…

It lasted about ten seconds before he pulled away, and the second he did I felt my heart drop.

I was about to open my eyes, but I was caught off guard by the feeling of his lips once again—this time they collided against mine, pressing firmly against my mouth and it ignited something inside of me that I had no recollection of feeling ever before.

Not only that, but his hands came to life, his arms slipping around my waist and picking me up off of the ground so that I didn’t have to stand on my toes anymore, bringing me up so that I was level with his features. My arms slid around his neck so that I could support myself against him. I swear, I could probably kiss Harry forever and never grow tired of it. His lips danced against mine with tenderness and care and desire and it made my head swim with thoughts of Harry and only Harry.

Eventually he pulled away, and I could sense the reluctance in the action. He set me down on the ground and I unconsciously whined a little bit, which caused a raspy laugh to escape from his throat, something I’d never heard before. He reassured me by pressing several soft pecks against my lips, as if he couldn’t get enough of them either.

When he finally pulled away properly he cupped my features in his hands, his piercing green eyes watching every inch of my blissed-out expression. There was a content smile on my lips and I couldn’t help but giggle softly at his moistened lips as well as the slight red tint in his cheeks.

It made me want to kiss him all over again, but I knew that if we started we might not ever stop.

“I’ll…I’ll see you tomorrow?” I croaked out softly, and the smile that he gifted me was enough to take my breath away if he hadn’t already.

He leaned in to press another soft kiss against my forehead this time, reluctantly releasing me from his hold as he prepared himself to leave for the night.

“I’ll be here, love.”