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autisticlancemcclain · 2 years

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The sound of pounding feet and whooshing fabric startles Keith from where he was staring intensely at the wall.

Aw, shit. Now he doesn’t remember what he was thinking about.

He glances down at his watch, realizing his been Thinking and Pondering for — oh, Jesus Christ, like almost 3 hours. Fuck.

He stands up, and almost falls straight on his face, so he sits right back down. His legs are so numb he doesn’t even feel pins and needles. He rubs his hands up and down his calves, quickly, trying to coax some life back into them. After a few more minutes of rubbing, he finally starts to feel the blood rushing again, so he retries standing and finds it actually works, this time.

He stands up and waits at the door, quietly, wondering if he’ll hear the sound again. Is there an intruder on the Castle? Is this another haunted gladiator bot situation? He reaches over to his dresser, grabbing his bayard. He activates it as quietly as he can, pressing his ear to the door so he can hear any more sounds as quickly as possible. A few minutes go by with nothing but silence, before he hears it — the rapidly pounding feet of someone sprinting, and that strange rustling fabric noise.

He whips open his door, pointing his blade at —

“Lance?” Keith deactivates his bayard immediately, tilting his head in confusion at his teammate. “…What are you wearing?”

“A ball gown!” Lance says excitedly, beam so bright it lights up the hallway.

“No, no, I can see that,” Keith responds, because it’s kinda hard to miss. Lance is wearing maybe the fanciest dress Keith has ever seen, a lovely sky blue with a full skirt and lots of sheer, gauzy fabric. It kind of looks like Cinderella’s dress from the live action movie. “I meant to ask why you’re wearing a ball gown.”

If at all possible, Lance grin gets even brighter. “You know that desperate feeling you get every once in a while where you want to put on the fanciest dress on the world and sprint down the walls of a castle like you’re being chased to your untimely death?”

Keith blinks.

“Uh, no. I can’t say I’ve ever felt that particular emotion.” He pauses, though, fully processing Lance’s description.

Honestly, that sounds like a lot of fun.

“I’ve actually never felt that until right this second. I kind of want to now, though,” he confesses.

Lance opens his mouth to speak, but before he can, Hunk barrels down the hallway, in his own giant ball gown. His is a bright orange, complementing his skin tone wonderfully. It has a similarly gauzy fabric as Lance’s, although the shape is different — instead of a full skirt and sweetheart neckline (or at least what he thinks is a sweetheart neckline, from what Lance has described to him before), it’s sleeveless, with lots of layers and ruffles.

“Keith!” Hunk greets, just as joyful as Lance. “Lance made us these awesome gowns, and we’re running around with them! Wanna join us?”

Keith turns to Lance, eyebrows raised appreciatively. “You made these? Like with your own two hands? From scratch?”

Lance flaps a hand dismissively, looking a little bashful. “It’s no big deal, I’ve been wanting to make ballgowns forever. I was looking for an excuse, believe me.”

“Still,” Keith insists, because it’s really pretty awesome, “these look amazing, Lance. Good fucking job.”

“Wait ‘till you see the one he made for you!” Hunk adds, nearly vibrating in his excitement.

“…You made one for me?”

“I made one for everyone,” Lance mumbles.

Heedless of his best friend’s insecurity, or maybe because of it, Hunk continues to boast on his behalf. “Seven whole gowns!”

“Seven whole — holy shit, Lance, that’s —”

“What is taking you guys?” comes Pidge’s complaint from the somewhere around the corner. “I thought we were all gonna run — oh, hey, Keith.”

Pidge waves at him as she turns the corner, just as fancy as Hunk and Lance. Her dress is a soft pink, long-sleeved, with a ruffly layer like Hunk’s but a similar bustline to Lance. She’s also got a bit of a train on hers, along with several draping pieces of gold jewelry.

“Hey,” Keith responds, waving back. Pidge rocks back on her heels, looking at him expectantly.

“Well? You gonna join us?”

Keith turns back to Lance, finding that he can’t quite hide his excitement. Not that he wants to. “Can I?”

Lance’s grin comes back, making Keith smile brighter. “Duh! I didn’t make that dress for nothing! Let’s go!”

Keith follows him down a series of hallways, Pidge and Hunk not far behind. Lance stops in front of a plain white door, not hesitating before opening it and gesturing them all inside.

Keith gapes as he walks in.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sheer opulence of the room — every wall is covered in hundreds of shelves, some so high they can only be accessed with a ladder, and each chock full of beautifully ornate and colourful fabrics. Tailor’s mannequins are everywhere, standing beside dozens of desks and work stations. Several mannequins already have gowns or suits or fancy clothes or even regular clothes adorning them.

“Are all of these yours?” Keith asks when he regains control of his mouth.

“Most of them,” Lance says idly, walking over to one of those fancy changing walls. “Those fifteen or so on the left we’re here when I got here, but I’ve been working on and off on the rest of them when I have some free time.”

Pidge, Hunk, and Keith speak that the same time: “…Holy shit, Lance.”

“Anyways,” Lance continues loudly, as if he didn’t hear them (but the tips of his ears are red enough that Keith knows otherwise — Lance is bad at accepting compliments). “Your dress is here, Keith.”He pulls over a mannequin wearing gorgeous, deep red gown, with a low-cut neckline, long and light sleeves, and a floor-length, swishy skirt.

Keith gasps. “It’s stunning!”

Lance scratches the back of his neck, flustered but pleased. “I used the measurements from your flight suit, so it should fit, but go try it on in here and I’ll do any adjustments before we leave.”

Lance gently removes the dress from the mannequin and hands it to him, and Keith rushes over to the partition. He can hear Hunk and Pidge’s giggling, and it makes him feel a little whimsy as well. He puts the dress on as quickly and carefully as he can, and gasps again when he sees himself in the mirror.

He looks breathtaking.

The red looks excellent on him, as it always does, making his eyes stand out beautifully. The neckline hugs his chest just right, and the skirt swishes cheerfully around his ankles. He twirls, once, just to see it flare out, and can’t help the giddy laughter bubbling out his throat. He steps out from behind the partition, twirling the whole way, and laughs brightly at the whoops and cheers from the rest of his teammates.

“You look amazing, Keith!”

“You’re stunning!”

“You’re beautiful, Keith, holy shit.”

The last compliment comes from Lance, and it’s breathless. Lance is staring at him with wide, dark eyes, mouth dropped open, and Keith goes as red as his dress.

“Thank you,” he says quietly, tucking his hair behind his ear.

There’s a second of loaded silence, before Pidge breaks it with a curious poke to Lance’s bicep.

“Of the rest of the dresses you made for us — whose is whose?”

Lance clears his throat, some of the redness fading from his cheeks, and gestures to the first dress. It’s a beautiful, shiny gold, simple in colour and design but effortlessly elegant. It has a huge, full skirt, and a sleeveless bust similar to Hunk’s.

“This one’s Allura’s, of course. This one —“ he points to a muted brown dress, with long sleeves like Keith’s and so soft it looks like a cloud — “is Coran’s.”

“So this one must be Shiro’s,” Hunk infers, pointing to the last dress in the row. It is perhaps the most detailed — a pink underlayer, covered with a sheer purple fabric that gives the whole dress a multi-faceted look. It has puffy half-sleeves, with a large and artful swirl of fabric on the back, and what look to be fresh flowers pinned carefully all over it.

Pidge reaches out, running a gentle finger over the skirt of Allura’s dress. “You know, these dresses are far too beautiful to simply sit here. I think we should call the rest of the team down and have some fun.”

Hunk and Keith agree immediately, but Lance looks hesitant.

“Do you think they’ll want to?” he asks, biting his lip.

“Are you kidding? I didn’t know how badly I wanted to do this before, but I feel like a goddess in this dress,” Keith says proudly, twirling again. “They’re gonna love this. Promise.”

Lance shoots him a grateful smile. “Okay,” he agrees, and Pidge doesn’t hesitate even a second before paging them over. The four of them spend the ten-odd minutes it takes for the three oldest teammates to rush over striking various poses and spinning each other around, laughter filling the whole room. It’s some of the best fun Keith’s had in ages.

“We’re here!” Coran announces, the first to burst through the door. “Number Five said something about ballgowns — oh good heavens, Lance, is this what you’ve been using the sewing room for?”

Shiro and Allura step in after him, looking just as awed at Coran.

“This is amazing, Lance. You’ve been working hard,” Shiro compliments, smiling proudly at the boy in question.

“So. Many. Sparkly. Things!” Allura squeals, clapping her hands together.

Lance’s earlier blush returns a bit, but he looks much more at ease than earlier, which makes Keith feel proud. Lance should feel good about himself! Just look at all this awesome stuff!

Lance turns towards the last three dresses, grabbing Allura’s first. “This one’s for you,” he says shyly, “‘cause you mentioned that gold always makes you feel elegant.”

Allura squeals again, running forward to big Lance tightly. Lance grins at her, hugging right back.

“Be right back!” she exclaims, rushing behind the partition just as quickly as Keith did.

Hunk helps Lance with the last two, and they give them to Shiro and Coran at the same time.

“There are two more partitions over there,” Lance says, gesturing to the left, “and don’t worry about moving the flowers, Shiro, I sewed them all on so they’ll stay put.”

The two thank him profusely and quickly go dress as well. (Well, Shiro was more wordless wonder and a breathy ‘thank you’, following weakly after Coran. The gratitude was just as clear.)

A few minutes later, everyone is dressed, and they stand in a large circle in the middle of the room, twirling and laughing and complimenting each other endlessly (but mostly complimenting Lance — the dresses really are magnificent).

“Are y’all ready?” Lance calls, and the rest of the team shouts out an affirmative. He opens the door, and they all run out, skirts hiked up and feet slapping the floor. They race each other down the halls, running as fast as they can, inventing characters to run from and silly little fantasy games to play like they’re children in the schoolyard. They run so fast that air rushes around them, whipping their hair all over and rustling their skirts. It’s silly and ridiculous and childish and so, so much fun.

At one point, as they’re racing across the bridge, Keith turns to Lance, grinning.

“Has anyone ever told you how much fun you are?”

Lance laughs loudly, head thrown back, not slowing down for a second. “It’s my favourite thing to be!”

———

lance’s dress hunk’s dress pidge’s dress

keith’s dress allura’s dress coran’s dress

shiro’s dress

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agentrouka-blog · 2 years

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Falia's character reminds me of Cinderella, with a dark, twisted personality and consequences.

We know that grrm have been using a lot of fairy tales as inspiration, and Falia is a Dark!Cinderella with a little of allusion with D@ny's idea to revenge against her tormentors. The consequences that would be if she decides to use violence against violence as punishment, fire and blood against everyone like she is doing...

And also what would happen if D@ny decides to get help from Euron to get what she wants, as some words in the books suggest she is going to do.

Hi anon!

Falia as a very dark iteration of Cinderella is a very fitting image. The step sisters, the fancy dresses, the prince.

And yes, GRRM certainly creates the connection between Falia and Dany very directly.

"He's to bring the dragon queen to Westeros. I'm to be Euron's salt wife, but he must have a rock wife too, a queen to rule all Westeros at his side. They say she's the most beautiful woman in the world, and she has dragons. The two of us will be as close as sisters!" (TWOW, The Forsaken)

The image she paints is a painful parody of Aegon the Conqueror, and his sister wives Rhaenys and Visenya.

Of course, Euron is no dragon. More like Ramsay on steroids, making Falia his Jeyne Poole or "Arya" (and Aeron her failed Theon), perhaps foreshadowing a future mirrored pursuit by Ramsay of "key to the North" Sansa, "close as sisters" with Jeyne and actual sister to Arya. That's unlikely to end well for Ramsay. Which bedraggled hero returned to life after a quasi death will be the one to save her? Let us ponder. All this will likely be part of the Northern succession drama.

Since we are shown what Euron's plans for Falia truly were, it stands to reason he may have a similar intention for Dany, as well. Sacrificing "king's blood" is supposed to be very powerful, how much more so the blood of the dragon? That's unlikely to end well for Euron, either.

I expect that ending Euron after a stormy alliance may be the truly good thing that Dany does in Westeros, and it's likely going to be a very costly win. All this is likely to be part of the Dance of Dragons 2.0.

Mirrors all around.

#fairytales #falia flowers #daenerys targaryen #euron greyjoy #storm x storm #parallels #jeyne poole #ramsay bolton #sansa stark

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goddivalondon · 2 years

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THE MEANING BEHIND FASHION DURING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

We are now on the 19th day of December, on the verge of entering a whole new year. I can't say that I'm disappointed to see the end of this unusual year 2022 and to be able to sit down, collect my thoughts, and start a new page in both the figurative and literal senses of the word in my Moleskine notebook. I can't say that I'm sad. With Perry Como's smooth voice playing in the background, no, there really is no place like home for the holidays, and when you are home, for a few moments without a care in the world other than whether or not you have purchased any last-minute Christmas dresses, sometimes you just end up daydreaming and reflecting...

This Christmas dress and season, more than any other, has motivated me to truly start pondering what the significance of fashion is throughout the winter holiday season. It is the season for giving gifts, which also happens to be the most lovely time of the year for merchants, but what does it really mean for fashion to be in style during the holiday season? There must be more to fashion than merely getting included in Bazaar's Gift Guide and having an item put to a wish list on Net-a-porter, right?

After giving it a lot of thought, I had to say yes.

At the moment, you may find me in a snow-covered valley in Austria, which is located just to the north of the Alps. The pine trees are lit up with little lights, and the sky is a charming pastel colour that seems like a cross between cotton candy pink and baby blue. This scene is quite reminiscent of the colour scheme that was used at Atelier Versace for this season. It is impossible for me to feel any cosier than I do right now: I'm wearing flannel pyjamas by The Goddiva and cashmere socks by Johnstons of Elgin as I relax in front of the fireplace. If I didn't have this lounge attire, I wouldn't be able to relax nearly as well! Because of the way that these garments make me feel, I would argue that during the Christmas season, the delight and fruits of fashion aren't necessarily what is discovered beneath the tree wrapped up in a red bow. This is because of the way that these clothes make me feel. When it comes to Christmas fashion, we should strive to look and feel our absolute best so that we can do justice to the amazing celebrations and special events that are unique to this time of year.

For instance, the poised and glamorous gala dinner when the guest of honour graces the room in a breath taking sheer Valentino couture gown. A sensation of excitement and grace when all eyes are on you; a Cinderella moment, if you will, in which you are aware that you cannot look any better physically and you feel terrific. Or the cosy Christmas get-together in the neighbourhood, when everyone must wear a Christmas sweater. It took me five years of living in the UK before I was able to fully appreciate the beauty of the Christmas Jumper. Skating at Somerset House or the National History Museum while covered up in a cosy faux-furry Shrimps coat is another option. Or, you might be smoking a toast in the holiday season with your main squeeze while wearing a forest green velvet Saint Laurent dress and looking just lovely while doing so *cue the Mistletoe! *. Or, you could hit the slopes while wearing a plaid shirt and a red Balenciaga puffer coat.

Or, more significantly, when the evening has passed, when not a single living thing has moved (not even a mouse), and you have slept in a silk pyjama set and robe from La Perla. You wake up looking wonderful. It is impossible to put a price on the precious experience of spending the morning of December 25 with one's loved ones, gathered around the Christmas tree with perhaps a latte or melange in hand. It is not about what one wears; rather, it is about how one feels. Taking in all of the joy, love, and laughter that was present in the room. Naturally, you want to look your absolute best in order to feel your absolute best, but the wonderful thing about fashion during the holiday season is that it takes a more supporting role. enabling you to experience the Christmas spirit via your physical body, helping you to physically feel the warmth and excitement. A minute but essential component in the process of constructing lifelong recollections, year after year.

To conclude, I want to take this opportunity to wish you and the people you care about a very Merry Christmas. I pray that it will be full of joy, laughing, and even a stunning fashion moment that takes everyone's breath away. And don't forget what a very astute Green non-Who said years ago, which was: "Perhaps Christmas isn't something that comes from a store." Perhaps the significance of Christmas dresses is a little bit greater.

#christmas dresses #party dresses #cocktail dresses #sequin dresses

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hoseokslefteyebrow · 3 years

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A Royal Love Story || K.NJ

Pairing : Kim Namjoon X Reader Genre : Fluff, a sprinkle of angst somewhere too Summary : Namjoon has often imagined being the prince in Cinderella, yet he never imagined that his version would have horses in it too. Wordcount: 9.3k [ A/N: Sorry for the shitty summary lol. Anyw, Enjoy!]

You're a royal staff member of your country and you're head of the royal horse care.

Namjoon is the second born prince of South Korea.

You two aren't really meant to meet, but accidentally do when Namjoon and his family come over for the coronation of the princess of your country, Jisoo.

Unlike the rest of the royal staff members who come to greet him and his family, you aren't there.

Not because you're sick or anything, but simply because you forgot and were busy with the horses.

Namjoon meets you when he walks off into the fields of the palace, where you let the horses graze.

The first thing that catches his eye is how good the horses look.

They look a lot more healthy than the horses in his palace, he realizes.

"Hello sir, are you lost?"

It’s the first thing you say to him.

It takes Namjoon a moment to realize that you're talking to him and a moment longer to realize that you don't know that he's a royal.

" Ah, no. I went to take a walk around the palace for a bit of fresh air." Is what he finally answers.

He sees you nod and turn back to your own business, which appears to be cleaning up horse tack in the small building near the grazing fields.

He looks at you for a moment before one of the horses in the back of the graze field spots you, and starts neighing.

At first he thinks that the horse is about to charge at him as the animal heads his way in a calm gallop.

But then he's left perplexed as he watches the horse stop near where you are standing, dragging one of his legs over the ground to get your attention.

You complain in your own native language to the horse after a moment as you come out from the tack building, tough Namjoon doesn't know what you say.

He watches in admiration as he sees how you pet the horse and how the horse reacts to you, unlike the horses in his palace, this horse looks a lot happier.

" That's a lively horse." Namjoon comments, trying to start a conversation.

" Yes, he certainly is. His name is Winter." You smile at him.

" I assume you work here?" He smiles.

You nod.

" Yes, I'm the head caretaker of the stables. I assume that you work for one of the royal families who have arrived?"

Namjoon's breath stutters for a moment, you really didn't know.

" Yes, I'm one of the prince's advisors." He ends up telling you.

" Cool. What country are you from? I don't think I've seen you before."

" I'm from Korea."

He watches as you nod along to his words before your expression looks like something akeen to having forgotten something.

" That's what I forgot this morning! The royals from Korea were arriving today! Wait, that means it's the 24th! Excuse me sir, I have to go. There's a new delivery of horse tack waiting and the delivery guy can't get in without a signed paper of mine. Bye!"

And then you're sprinting away.

Namjoon blinks as he looks after your form, that was quite a meeting.

You obviously didn't recognize him, and he's happy with how relaxed you are because you think that he's also part of the staff.

He ends up going to the stables a lot more often in his time off.

He ends up learning a lot about you, and unintentionally about your horse too.

For instance, your horse is a picky horse, and only lets you ride him with little to no trouble.

The black and gray arabian horse is happy to be pet by everyone, but doesn't allow everyone in his stable and certainly not everyone on his back.

He also almost loses his sanity when he gets chased by one of the chickens of the stables and you laugh as he comes running to you while being chased by a chicken, yelling that it wants to kill him.

You laugh and pick the chicken up as she tries to run past you.

" What did you do wrong to Nugget?"

" You named it?" Is Namjoon's only response as he turns to you when he realizes the chicken is now just complaining in your arms.

You smile and nod.

He smiles back evilly.

" The name suits her, she should become a few chicken nuggets."

Namjoon's social skills with women were never really good, but this was particularly terrible, he realizes as he doesn't see you laugh at his joke.

Instead you look at him with a deadpanned expression before putting the chicken down and letting it resume it's hunt.

He does miss the tiny smile that grows on your face as Namjoon is out of sight.

The time after that when Namjoon goes to visit you, he's surprised that Chaeyoung is there too, Jisoo's younger sister.

The both of you are just smiling and talking like normal teenage girls.

You both look like typical horse girls right now while you're both brushing your own horses.

Chaeyoung spots Namjoon before he can turn away.

" Prince Namjoon? Are you looking for something?"

And you look surprised, while Namjoon starts feeling nervous.

" Ah, no. Ehm, I'm just walking by and-"

" Prince?" You ask, obviously confused.

" Oh, right. Y/N, this is prince Kim Namjoon the second born prince from South Korea, Prince Namjoon, this is L/N Y/N. She's our head caretaker of the stables. He's one of the princes you've missed the arrival of." Chaeyoung whispers the last part to you.

" Wait- you're a prince? You told me you're the prince's advisor." You say, now very confused.

Chaeyoung gulps and starts to feel awkward, so she decides to let her horse out in the meadow to give you two space.

" Why did you lie?" You ask, you don't sound hurt, just confused.

Cause' why would he lie over something like that? It's something you're bound to find out.

" I was planning on telling you at some point, but I like the way you treat me. I don't want that to change. I feel like a normal 25 year old. I knew you didn't know who I was as soon as you spotted me that day, so I decided to just lie." Namjoon gulps, feeling like a little kid caught stealing candy.

You nod before turning your back to him, carrying on with brushing your horse.

" So, am I still allowed to call you Namjoon or do you rather have me call you your majesty?" You ask him, and he can feel the teasing edge in your voice.

He smiles and relaxes.

" So, are you going to the ball?" Namjoon asks you a few days later while the two of you are sitting in the stables at night.

You shake your head.

" No, I'm not invited."

" Oh, and if I'd manage to get you in, would you come?" He asks hopefully.

" Probably not, sorry. I have nothing to wear to an occasion like that and that's really outside of my comfort zone." You smile a little embarrassed.

Namjoon nods, unaffected.

" And if I get you a dress? A real pretty one. And I'll stay by your side the whole night, would you then come?" He tries.

You chuckle and shake your head.

" Nope. Why are you so set on getting me there anyway?"

He bites his lip, pondering if he should tell you the truth or tell you that it's a suprise and that you could only know if you show up.

He decides to go with the truth.

" All royals are attending the first dance during the ball for the coronation. I wanted you to be my dance partner."

He doesn't look at you while he's telling you, instead staring at the mare who's just eating hay.

You blush, touched by his answer.

" I'm sorry, and although that does sound nice. I'll just end up feeling uncomfortable at the ball anyway. But we can have your first dance of the night right here if you want?" You smile at him as you get up, holding out your hand.

Namjoon usually isn't a dancer, but he doesn't see why not, and so he takes it.

That night he really feels like a guy his age, as he dances the most random and awkward dance moves with you.

One thing was sure, you both suck at dancing.

And even tough th both of you did, the moment was still very precious for Namjoon, and though you're not aware of it, the moment is precious for you too.

The day of the ball is boring for Namjoon.

His dad, the king, tries convincing him into dancing with the Italian princess who will be present tonight, but Namjoon really doesn't want to.

He goes to visit you in the early afternoon, but you're very busy, because there will be even more people than there already were, so you were supposed to have all your chores done by the time the first guests arrive.

He decides that he'll look for you later.

The main part of the afternoon is spend with dance practice, and him trying not to step on his dance partner's toes.

Which he does several times, but he doesn't really find it in himself to care, she was getting paid to put up with him after all.

By the end of dance practice, his instructor Hoseok is thinking about just breaking one of his legs and using that as excuse to not dance at all.

When Namjoon looks in the mirror that evening, he realizes that he's not really happy.

He's not depressed either, just not happy.

He doesn't want to be put under all these social standards of looking good and acting good and just being perfect.

He takes a deep breath before entering the ballroom.

He ends up dancing with a random princess from China.

She is pretty, he admits. And nice too, but she's not...... You.

His breath stops for a moment when he realizes he's got a crush on you.

After the dance he excuses himself saying that he isn't feeling too well.

That's all a lie however, and he's really just going to you.

He hopes that you're still at the stables, but he's feeling disappointed when he sees all the lights turned off.

At first he thinks you're already off to bed, but then he hears hooves and he knows that you never leave the horses outside at night.

He goes to the meadow meant for riding and he's surprised to see you riding your horse without any tack.

He ends up watching you ride for a while.

Until the moment the moment is ruined and someone else approaches the meadow.

In the most chaotic way possible.

Yelling while sipping wine and barely walking on his two legs.

Namjoon feels his heart stop for a moment as Winter raises his front hooves in the air, leaning heavily on his behind legs, the horse spooked by this new stranger

He calms down when Winter's front hooves touch the ground again, and you're still seated.

" Prince James, why are you here instead of enjoying the party?" You ask, not dismounting your horse.

" Realized the pretty girl wasn't there. Decides to come look for her. Aren't I cute?~" James, one of the two princes of England, must know you to talk to you like that.

Namjoon doesn't like it.

You cannot disrespect a woman like that, that's just, wrong.

" No, you're disgusting, honestly. Please go back to the ball." You ask him, and Namjoon sees that look in your eyes and knows the meaning, you're afraid of the prince.

" I don't think I want to-"

He spots a rope halter lying on one of the fences and decides to try and help you out.

" Hello, fancy seeing you here. I assume that there are no troubles?" Namjoon rolls in smoothly, wordlessly handing you the halter.

You seem relieved at his arrival and slip off your horse, gently putting the halter on Winter.

James seems a little less pleased with Namjoon's arrival.

He mumbles out an excuse before leaving, almost falling in the bushes as he walks off.

" I thought you went to the ball?" You asked once James was out of sight.

Namjoon shrugged with a dimpled smile.

" I was, but it was boring there. Decided to come here instead."

You smiled at his answer.

The both of you went to lead Winter back in his box and walked a little bit around the stables, just talking.

" You know, it seemed as if you knew James. Have you met him before?" He asked at some point.

You shrugged and nodded.

" Sort of. My parents used to work for his stables until I was born, the court here was impressed by how good the horses look and promised my parents a finer stay on the royal grounds, they agreed to go here instead."

" So, you're born in England?" Namjoon asked.

" Yeah. And I used to be friends with James, but he became too spoilt." You answered.

Namjoon nodded in understanding, he knew more royals like that.

" So, are you coming to the coronation?" Namjoon asked.

You nodded with a smile.

" Of course I am, everyone is invited."

" That's great! Than I'll probably see you there tomorrow, right?" He asked with a shy smile.

You nodded.

" Definitely."

For the first time in what felt like forever, Namjoon cared about his outfit.

He wanted to look good in front of you.

He knew he had a bad taste when it came to clothing, but luckily his younger brother Taehyung didn't, and so he decided to bother him.

" Oh, what do I owe this pleasure too, your dear royal highness." Taehyung dramatically bowed as his older brother stood in front of his door opening.

" Stop being so dramatic, drama queen. And I need your help with something." The elder rubbed his neck and looked at the ground, feeling shy.

" Let me guess, you found out that stable girl of yours is coming to the coronation and you want to look good?" Taehyung teased with a smile.

Namjoon looked at him in suprise.

" How do you know that?"

" Know what? Your little crush on her or the reason why you're here?" Taehyung smirked.

" Both."

" Well, I'm pretty sure everyone knows about your little crush because you spent more time with her than you ever did with me or anyone else, and I knew she was coming to the coronation too and my genius brain managed to get that all together and came to a conclusion." Taehyung said proudly.

" Wow, I didn't think your two brain cells could manage." Namjoon teased him.

Taehyung let out an offended 'hey' before getting to work and going to Namjoon's closet.

Because they weren't at home, they had a limited amount to choose from, but Taehyung was determined to let his brother look handsome.

He was supposed to look good after all, especially since he wanted to impress a woman.

Meanwhile you were in your little house trying to decide on what to wear.

You too wanted to look good, your crush was also coming to the coronation and last time you checked, you were kind of unofficial dating.

You two haven't spoken in a while as other royal families had stayed over and you were busy, but you hoped he didn't forget about you just yet. ( He also works in the palace, but he's a butler.)

For some reason, you also found yourself hoping to look good in front of Namjoon.

Whenever you thought of him, you felt shy and warm.

The gentleman has certainly charmed you for sure, but you did not know him well enough to consider him as a romantic interest.

You shook your head and focused back at the task at hand.

You decided to go with a simple red dress, with thin straps and off shoulder ruffles.

It was innocent, but sexy.

The coronation was beautiful, and you couldn't believe how your best friend was now a real queen.

" Your majesty." You curtsy with a teasing smile as she approached you.

" Aish, stop it you." She smiled as you giggled in response and hugged.

" I can't believe you're a queen now." You told her proudly.

" I know, I can't either. I'm really afraid I'll mess something up." She said honestly.

" That's understandable. I don't know the feeling of standing in your shoes, but I'm sure you'll do great. Besides, even the greatest people make mistakes sometimes. They'll just have to learn to not stand still by it." You reassured her.

" Thank you for being my best friend." She smiled.

" Also, pretty butler at 5 o' clock." She winked before slipping away.

You bit your lip nervously and turned around, happy to see him after so long.

You smiled as you spotted him and approached him.

" Hey, long time no see, huh?" You greeted him.

" Yeah, hey. Certainly a long time yeah." He smiled awkwardly back.

Was something wrong?

" I assume it's been busy in the palace?" You try to start a conversation.

" Yeah, indeed. Not like you understand." He muttered the last part.

You raised your eyebrow at his attitude.

" Is something the matter?" You asked him.

" Yeah, no.- Look, I should apologize. I know we had something, but I have a girlfriend now. And I honestly don't want to deal with you." He huffed bluntly.

Ouch. Now that's a pang in your heart.

" Oh. I'll be go-"

" Hey baby, who's this?" A woman approached the two of you, most likely his girlfriend.

" Just a horse girl." He said it as if it's a bad thing.

You couldn't believe him right now, you felt the need to cry, but refused to cry in front of him.

" You're pathetic." You chuckled while shaking your head with glossy eyes before walking off.

" Spotted her yet?" Jin whispered in his younger brother's ear as he was still searching.

" Yah! Don't scare me like that." Namjoon huffed.

" Isn't that her?" Jin asked, ignoring his complaint, while pointing to a direction.

Namjoon followed his hyung's finger to see where he was pointing, and indeed there you were.

He watched as you chuckled while shaking your head before walking away from a couple.

You looked beautiful, he didn't know just how good you looked in a dress, and coincidentally, the dress was his style too.

" Y/N!" He called, hoping to catch up with you.

" Yah! No thank you for your hyung?" Jin complaint from behind him.

" Thanks hyung!" Namjoon yelled back over his shoulder.

Jin shook his head smiling, his brother was whipped.

" Y/N, wait up!" Namjoon yelled, hoping that you heard him, but you kept walking.

" Y/N?" He asked as he finally reached you, and put a hand on your shoulder.

You jumped at the contact and turned around, only now he noticed your glossy eyes.

" Oh, Namjoon. Hey. Sorry, my head was elsewhere." You showed his a forced smile.

" Hey, are you okay? Your eyes are glossy." Namjoon asked.

" Sorry, it's not everyday you find out that your crush turns out to be a dick." You smile bitterly.

Namjoon didn't know how to feel when hearing that.

He was obviously not the person you were talking about, because he didn't ( and would never) break your heart, but now you were sad and he didn't like that.

On the other side of it, he now knew that there would be a free spot in your heart, and he's willing to fight for it.

" Let's take a walk. I'm here for you." He said as he wiped a tear that fell from your eye, moved a lock of your hair behind your ear before eventually taking your hand and leading you through the market whitin the palace grounds.

You told him everything.

From the part where you started gaining feelings for him, to where you two kind of had something, to where he turned out to be a dick.

And Namjoon listened patiently to all of it.

" Honestly, I just wish that I could leave this place but I have no guarantee that I will ever get a job half this good ever again." You groaned at the end of it.

An idea clicked in his mind.

" But what if you can?" He whispered, stopping with walking.

" What?" You asked confused.

" Come with me. We have stables too, and the horses back at home don't look as happy as they are here. So I'm sure my parents will be fine with it." He suggests.

" I don't know." You think.

" Just think it through for a few days, the pay won't be as great as here and instead of a house on the castle grounds, we've got an apartment building for staff, but if you really want to leave, just come with me. I know my stables need improvement anyway." He smiles.

" I will." You smile back at him.

After another moment of walking peacefully in silence, the two of you resume walking in the market.

You spent the next few days without Namjoon, and end up thinking a lot about what he said.

By the end of the third day, you made up your mind.

You will go with him.

Not because you're not on good terms with your ex crush anymore, but because you want to.

You want to work somewhere different, somewhere with a challenge.

And you want to stay with Namjoon.

Going with him is easier than you had expected, sure you'll have to learn the language, but finding a replacement was pretty easy as you had all the routines written down for when you were on a day off. One of your most trusted employees will take over your work, while you'll take the same position in Korea.

Your goodbyes were a little teary, but you knew that this wasn't the last time when you'd see your friends.

Your ex-crush's face was incredibly amusing to see too.

According to Namjoon, you were just as important as he is, and so you ended up in a seat on his private jet to Korea.

Winter was on another plane, but will arrive as the same time as you. ( You had to admit that you were a little unhappy with having your horse on a plane, but the drive to Korea was much longer and would be likely less comfortable for the animal anyway.)

During the plane ride, you were sat beside Namjoon in a luxe plane chair, treated as if you were royalty yourself.

Namjoon was all too happy with how you easily got along with his parents and brothers.

Once you're there, you're instantly out exploring, for the first few hours with Namjoon, and a few hours without.

You note on how bad the horses look. They look a little underfed, and unhappy too.

You're happy to know that you'll be properly taking care of them now.

The next day is directly off to work.

Where you talk with the head caretaker who's apparently very inexperienced in taking care of horses.

You're surprised that he even managed to land a job here, this high up.

Namjoon doesn't manage to talk with you for the next two weeks, as you're both pretty busy.

He's busy with classes and formal stuff, while you're busy with creating a different diets for all horses in the stables.

Some horses had too little power food, and some too much.

You have to replace a lot of horse tack too, and some horses actually need some medical treatment.

For instance, the crown prince's horse, RJ, needed quite some medical assistance. ( Which is obviously scandalous, considering it's a royal horse.)

Some of the horses the King and Queen have for guests are already too old to be riding, yet they're very high spirited, and so you choose to send them off to a horse pension.

After the second week, Namjoon tries to visit you in some of his breaks and free time, but you're still very busy.

It's around another two weeks later when things have finally calmed down for you and you visit him in his office.

The stables aren't too far off, and so you manage to locate yourself in the castle.

Though you don't really know how to go from there.

After 20 minutes of walking around aimlessly, you turn around to find someone who's able to lead the way.

" Y/N dear? Is that you?" The voice of the queen sounds from behind you.

You turn around in surprise, quickly bowing in respect before properly greeting her.

" Your majesty, how good to see you." You smile at her, talking to her as if she's an aunt of you.

" My dear, it's good to see you too. I haven't seen you in a while. Is there too much work on your shoulders to be able to breath?" She asks as she starts to stride alongside of you.

" No your majesty, things were just a bit messy but now that everything's sorted out, I can breathe again." You tell her calmly.

" Ah, I see." She smiles gently.

" How are you your majesty? Had it busy yourself too?" You ask her.

She glances at you before answering.

" Ah, it's been a little stressful. But nothing I can't handle." She tells you honestly.

You nod along to her words.

" I can only imagine." You tell her.

" Are you busy right now?" She asks you as the two of you stop in front of a door.

" No your majesty, is there something I can do for you?" You ask her.

" Would you fancy talking to me over tea? You don't have to of course." She asks, obviously curious.

You smile and nod.

" Sure your majesty."

And so the two of you chat for another 30 minutes. Sure, you were originally going to Namjoon, but talking with his mother is certainly not bad either. Unlike the queen of your home country, Namjoon's mother is a high spirited and curious woman.

" Mother." Someone walks in and nods in greeting to the woman across from you.

"Y/N?" The same voice asks with a surprised, but gentle tone.

" Hey Joon, I was actually on my way to you before I bumped into your mother. " You smile at him.

Namjoon takes in the pleasant sight in front of him with a surprised smile. One that reaches all the way to his dimples.

It's the first time he has ever seen his mother so comfortable to be talking with another woman, not even a princess could bring her in this deep of a comfort zone.

" I assume you want to steal her away from me?" His mother smiles at him before he can actually think of a reply.

He nods.

" Yes, but I can wait if you're having fun together." He tells her.

She shakes her head with a happy smile and shoos the both of you out of the room.

" Nonsense. Have fun together."

You and Namjoon look at each other before the both of you start chuckling.

" I don't think I've ever seen my mother this comfortable around other people." He tells you with a smile.

" How so? She's a pretty fun woman." You tell him honestly.

Namjoon shrugs and holds his elbow out for you to take as he starts walking towards his office, not that you know what it means, as you are a non royal.

You walk alongside him, oblivious to the look he's giving you by not linking your arm in his.

" Not sure." He takes it upon himself to link your arm trough his.

You blush at the contact, and look puzzled at his action.

" It's a way royals usually walk together. You might've seen my parents do so before." He smiles nervously, hoping you get the hint.

He was already crushing on you, hard. But now that he sees how you get along with his family, he's sure of it. He doesn't need a princess to be happy, he needs you.

" Oh, so like this is how you'd walk with princesses and noble women?" You ask.

Namjoon wants to facepalm at your response.

" No, no- Royals walk like this with they're- You know what, nevermind, I just like to walk with you like this. Also, I don't walk like this with a lot of people." He ends up getting flustered at his own answer.

" So, how's the work at the stables going?" He asks, changing topic before you can say something about his behavior.

It works, and the two of you end up talking for the rest of the day in his office, snacking away at his secret snack stash and at some point actually having dinner there too.

" Damn, you're whipped." Are Hoseok's words the next evening.

Namjoon is currently sat with his friends ( his brothers Jin and Taehyung, the royal advisors Jimin, Yoongi and Jackson, dance teacher Hoseok and stable boy Jungkook who they grew up with)

" Yeah I know. But she only just got off an unofficial relationship, I think I need to wait before I can ask her out." Namjoon tells the rest.

" Woah, hold up, my last braincell can't understand this. Unofficial relationship?" Jungkook asks.

Namjoon nods.

" Yes, her crush turned put to be a dick-"

" Joon, I'm sorry to point it out but I get paid for it- don't cuss-" Jackson butts in.

" - they were her exact words tough." Namjoon mumbles.

" If those were her words than she'll move on pretty fast right? I mean girls cuss out their ex when they're officially done with them do they not?" Jimin wonders out loud.

" I think Joon's right, he should be patient-"

" Yoongi, do you actually know stuff about romance?-"

" Shut it brat." Yoongi cuts off Taehyung with a good natured glare.

" I can't wait to see if she stands out to the public." Jin says randomly.

All eyes turn to him, confused by his words.

" The parade is in a two weeks. Considering she's head of the stables, she'll probably be there too right. " Jin points out.

The parade which Jin was talking about is once a year every year, it's a parade in traditional style meant to not forget where the country's origin lies.

Usually Namjoon didn't really like the parade due to the old traditional music and having to sit still for hours, but if it meant that you were there too, it might be a little more bearable.

The rest of the week goes by in a wink. Everyone is mostly busy with preparations and stuff alike. You and Namjoon only have little moments in between to talk and meet up, despite living on a two minute distance.

It isn't until two days before the parade that he has a free spot in his schedule to meet up with you. You don't have a spot free, but he's bothered you enough to know that you're usually able to talk while working.

" Hey Kook' seen Y/N around?" Namjoon asks Jungkook who's cleaning up one of the horses' their stable.

" I think we just had some stuff for the decorations on the tack in, so I think she's working with it in the tack room." He tells the elder with a smug smile before turning back to work.

And so Namjoon walks towards the tack room. While he walks by the stables, he can see the change of the horses. They look healthier, and his very own horse Koya was actually happy to see him for once ( the mare was usually in a bad mood). Winter recognized him too, and happily greeted him and both horses happily accepted the treat he had brought for them.

" Hey. Things look better here." Namjoon greets you as he walks into the tack room.

You look up from the mess you've made on the table, where an array of white, yellow, black, blue and red decorations are spread out.

" Hey. Long time no see." You smile as you greet him with a hug.

He returns it all too easy, his nose greeted by your gentle body mist.

" So, what's this all about?" He asks, motioning to the huge amount of traditional styled tack decorations lying about.

" Decorations for the horse tack. I'm currently sorting everything out." You smile at him.

He blinks at the mess on the table.

" This is sorted out?" He asks.

" Some of it. There's the stuff for Koya by the way, the only thing missing is her norigae but I've heard that she's supposed to wear the same one as you. I was planning to go by your office to ask you for it later, but since you're here anyway...?" You tell him, pointing to the white and red tack.

" Yeah of course. Is this winter's tack?" He asks you, motioning to the yellow and black tack which is lying beside Koya's.

" Yes. I'm only missing a norigae, so I might go to the market later today." You tell him.

Namjoon's eyes shine with an idea as he hears that. Maybe he can sneakily get you to wear his custom norigae too? That way you'd both be matching in a way too.

" Hey, if you want, we can go and get the norigae right now?" He asks you, bringing his idea to life.

You look at your work in tough before nodded.

" Sure, that way Koya's tack is all complete." You smile at him as he holds out his arm to you.

This time you don't look confused, you take it.

You miss the way Jungkook's eyes widen when the two of you walk by him, you also miss the vibrant smile on Namjoon's face as he looks at Jungkook.

Instead of leading you to his office like usual, he leads you to a different part of the castle, where the royal' family's personal chambers are.

" Hey, um, are you sure that I'm allowed in here? I don't want to cause trouble." You tell him.

He nods, unlocking his door and stepping aside to let you in first.

" Yeah, it's me who you're with, so it's all cool. Also, you're allowed here always. I'll give the guards a heads up so they'll know it too. If I'm not at my office, you'll most probably find me here." He tells you as he lets go of you arm and instead laces his fingers with yours, leading the way with a gentle smile.

His quarters are bigger than your apartment in the staff building, there's a hallway, a door to the bedroom, a door to his walk in closet, a door to the bathroom and an opening to the livingroom.

" Quite a big apartment you have Joonie." You tell him as you look all over the place.

He doesn't even realize what you're saying, the only thing that reaches his ears is the nickname you've just called him by.

" Joonie?" He asks with pink ears.

You smile with a blush.

" Oh, I'm sorry, your royal highness." You tease him.

He laughs with you, and shakes his head.

" I think I like Joonie better." He winks at you before opening the door to the walk in closet, pulling you in with him.

In the room there are rows upon rows of clothing, each sectioned. There's casual, nightwear, outdoor activities, formal and traditional.

He opens one of the doors of ( what you geuss to be) a closet full with accessories.

You're not wrong, and he pulls out a wooden box with elegant carvings, putting it down on one of the dressers and opening it.

" Pick which one you think looks best by Koyas'." He tells you as he motions to the norigae in the box. Unlike the rest, there isn't a lot of it.

Koya's accessories are white and red themed, like all royal horses' are, and just to your luck, Namjoon owns one which would suit it, the design actually much the same as the Koya's actual tack.

" This one looks nice." You tell him as you point to the white and red one.

" You can take it with you, I know you're a neat person anyway." He smiles, nervous for his own question.

" Anything which you like?" He asks you, the tips of his ears turning pink once again.

You turn to look at him with wide eyes.

" What? I'm not allowed, you know?" You tell him, your eyes holding a sadness he can't explain and turning your head away from him.

" They don't need to know." He tells you softly, lifting your chin up gently.

You blush. Hard. At his actions.

You don't make a move to look at the norigae either, and so he takes it upon himself to do so.

He takes a yellow and black one and shows it to you, the decorative accessory more of an art work.

" What about this one?" He asks you.

You shake your head.

" It's too extravagant.... If you're really okay with it, can I borrow this one?" You ask him, motioning to a minimum decorated yellow one.

" Of course." He smiles as he takes that one off and the same one in black, handing both to you.

" One for your horse, and one for you." He smiles cheekily, not looking into you eyes, but instead putting both of them into your palm.

When he looks up at you again, there's a soft look in your eyes, filled with something he can't explain.

Suddenly the room's a little hot, and his hands start to feel clammy.

Were you two going to kiss?

However, he's left a little disappointed when you clear your throat, clearing the tension with it.

" I should get back to work." You say.

He snaps out of his trance and nods.

" Yeah. Same." He responds lamely.

You look at him again before making your next move.

" Thank you." You say softly as you kiss his cheek before walking away.

The small kiss on his cheek is all Namjoon can think about for the next few days, up until the day of the parade.

The day of the parade starts off hectic as per usual.

There's Jimin and Taehyung being serious for once ( which makes them very suspicious.) There's Yoongi looking for Seokjin every five minutes, the royal advisor tired of chasing after the future king every day. And then there's Jackson who let Namjoon sleep in for a bit.

Jackson ( Namjoon's advisor) has always been able to balance everything perfectly. Today is no different. Though Namjoon wakes up fairly early, and therefore decides to start the day by himself, he does inform Jackson of where he is and what he's doing.

He knows in the back of his mind that he doesn't really need to, about everyone knows that he's at the stables if he's not in his office or private chambers.

The stables are a mess and very busy. In fact, it's so chaotic that Jungkook doesn't even realize that Namjoon's standing there, who's standing outside and readying the carriages.

It takes around 10 minutes before Jungkook actually notices the prince, who's leaning against a stable wall.

" Oh. Morning hyung. How long have you been standing there?" Jungkook greets him, bowing his head.

" Not too long. An-"

" Y/N's at the main stables, she's was working on getting Mangs' mane braided last time I checked." Jungkook smiles at his hyung who's speechless.

" Thanks." He says puzzled.

A few minutes later he's at Mang's stable, and you appear to be working on Chimmy's braids now. There's a Bluetooth box in the corner of the stables, playing one of the many songs you've let him hear before.

In comparison to the rest of the stables, it's pretty chill here. It's just you, and a few of your coworkers, who're preparing the tack of the royal horses. Namjoon can spot the norigae you've picked out for Koya standing proud on his bearing strap.

" It seems you've got the situation under your control." Namjoon tells you, making you turn around.

At the sound of his voice, your coworkers immediately greet him with respect, and Namjoon nods his head back to each of them.

You smile and greet him with a hug.

" Yeah, we've been preparing for a week now so we didn't have to do everything last minute for a reason. How're things going in the castle?" You ask him as you move back to Chimmy, going back to braiding.

" Pretty good actually-" He's cut off by the vibrations of his own phone, and he barely excuses himself as he takes it.

" Namjoon, Where are you? I have called you six times already. Your stylist arrived ten minutes ago. Hurry up to your closet!" Jackson's voice screams trough the phone.

" Oh, um, it appears I have to go. I'll see you at the parade?" He asks.

You nod at him, and as he leaves, one of your coworkers turns to you with a silly smirk.

" So, you and prince Namjoon, huh?" He hears her teasing voice, which causes him to leave with pink ears.

The rest of the time passes by in a heartbeat, and before he knows it, he's standing in front of the castle, waving at the press and citizens.

Soon after he's with the rest of the royal family in the royal carriage, and he can see you on Winter on the side, ready to ride off with him.

He secretly wishes that you're seated right beside him, though he knows that that's for now a lot to ask.

Winter's norigae is also proudly displayed, as is yours. He's surprised at how neat Winter's posture is. The horse's head is usually held high with his ears forward, ready to explore the world. Right now his head is bent like the dressage horse he's supposed to be.

Then everyone is setting off as scheduled.

Taehyung's eyes catch someone looking rather suspicious to the side after about an hour or two.

The male was wearing all black, standing out from the colourful festive. He wasn't smiling or cheering, just stood completely still.

He looked at the figure more carefully, not wanting to create drama out of nothing.

He changed his mind as the suspicious male catches his eyes, and smirks at the prince.

He turns to Jin, who's sitting beside him, but before he's even fully turned, there's suddenly a loud bomb going off.

Everyone sets into panic, especially the horses.

Namjoon is worried about not only his people now, but especially his staff and more important to him, you.

He can only watch as the person who's driving the carriage sets the horses loose, and is left perplexed when you run after it with Winter.

And then he's demanding to get off the damn carriage because he wants to help you.

There's the distinct yelling of his title trough his mind, but he doesn't pay any mind to it. All he can focus on is helping you.

" Prince Kim Namjoon! Listen to your king and-" His father's sentence is cut off as he closes the carriage door behind him and walks off into the forest he's seen you disappear into.

He doesn't make it far into the forest before one of the guards is pulling him back to his family, who're now sitting in a bulletproof car.

"Namjoon, what are you thinking?! You've not only put yourself in danger by stepping out of the carriage but us too! Not to mention the citizens. What's wrong with you?!" His father screams at him in anger.

Seokjin and Taehyung are worried upon looking at the panicked look on their brother's face.

"She's out there."

His mother understands what's happening by hearing that sentence.

He's in love with you.

His father gets it too, and sighs before looking at his wife, both of them sharing worried glances.

His father panics, and decides that Namjoon is to stay in his chambers for the rest of the night.

Instead Namjoon sneaks out, making his way to the staff dorms. He halts at the door, not sure on which number to ring.

After all, he's never been at your place.

Luckily for him, one of the maids who just finished her shift spotted him, and asks him if she can help him.

" Any idea what Y/N L/N's house number is?" He asks her sheepishly.

She smiles and nods.

" Yes, but if you're looking for her, She's still at the stables, inspecting the horses." She tells him.

He blinks at her before thanking her and running off.

It's around 23' at night now, and the incident was around 17' in the afternoon.

Worry fills his eyes as he spots you in the stables.

You're now talking with the horses' vet, but your clothes have blood on them.

He's got no idea if it's yours or the horses, but he just hopes that it's neither.

He hears you and the vet greet each other a goodbye and rushes to your side.

" Hey, are you okay?" Is the first thing that he asks you.

You jump as you turn around, your tired eyes making contact with his.

" Woah, you scared me there. And yeah, I'm fine, just a few scratches." You wave him off, though the blood on your shirt tells him another story.

It's not seeping through dramatically, it's mostly dry, but Namjoon can't help but worry as your undershirt is matted with dirt and there's lines of blood on it too, as tough You've been cut.

" Are you sure that it doesn't hurt? We can take you to the doctor in the castle? I'm sure he won't mind-"

" I'm fine Joon, honestly. The cuts aren't something I can't treat myself." You smile at him tiredly yet in a reassuring way, something that touches his heart.

" Thank god. Also, why're you still here? Are the horses injured?" He asks you.

You sigh and nod, walking over to Rj's stable.

" Some yeah. Especially Rj, he's always been a bad jumper, especially today when he ended up stuck on a fallen tree trunk. And it was about 19' when I had managed to get all the horses with the rest of the staff. I dismissed them all after that and decided to help the vet myself." You tell Joon as you look at the white horse who's leaning heavily on three of his legs, the fourth being stitched and bandaged.

" You didn't even eat dinner yet?" He asks, eyes wide.

You shrug and nod.

" Yeah, but it's fine, don't worry about it. Now if you don't mind, I really want to go home. So I'll be locking up the stables, if you still want to talk, feel free to come with me to my humble home." You tell him as you collect your stuff and turn towards the entrance.

He's quick to catch up to you, wordlessly taking your stuff for you.

Moments later he's stood in the kitchen, exploring your cabinets on what to make you while you're in the shower.

You've told him to make himself comfortable while you'd freshen up, but he wants to make you something so you didn't have to make yourself dinner.

However, Joon can't cook, as he has never been taught. From the three princes, only the eldest knows how to.

And so he ends up following a recipe, which doesn't turn out great either.

And so when you step out of the shower, you hurry to the kitchen due to the smell of fire.

You're very surprised to see the prince just standing there, in front of the stove, looking more confused than panicked.

He's scratching the back of his head and you hear him mumbling "Is it supposed to smell like this?"

His question is quickly answered by you hastily turning off the stove and turning on the extractor.

" You don't cook very often do you?" You ask him dryly, folding your arms over one another.

He's lowkey disappointed by his failure of being husband material, and it shows on his face.

" Sorry. I wanted to make you dinner so you wouldn't have to after such a long day." He tells you guiltily with a small pout, which turns you soft.

You smile at him due to his antics.

" That's real sweet, but I was planning on simple ramen." You tell him.

And so the two of you end up making ramen together ( as he's very set on letting you do as little as possible.)

About thirty minutes later, the two of you are seated on the sofa, each a bowl of ramen in your grasp as he's looking for a good movie, and a blanket thrown over your laps.

The distance between you two is smaller than it's appropriate for a prince and his staff member, and you both love it.

Moments later, the two of you are done with dinner, and Namjoon watches worriedly as you sleepily blink at the screen and keep switching positions, unable to find a comfortable one.

" You know, if you're uncomfortable, you can lean on me, I don't mind."

The words leave his mouth before he can think about it twice.

No words leave your mouth before you're snuggling against him, legs thrown over the couch, folded sideways, blanket pulled up to your chin and your head resting on his shoulder.

He's only too happy with your reaction, and wraps an arm around you in response, pulling you even closer.

The two of you watch most of the unimportant movie in silence, until Namjoon hears your light snores.

The sight that greets him makes him just realize how deep in he is once again.

You're literally drooling on his shirt, yet he still finds your visuals pleasing to the eye.

He's whipped and he knows it.

He turns off the tv before moving you to the bedroom.

He really didn't plan to sleep over, but once he's dropped you off on your bed, ( literally, almost falling on top of you himself) you don't let go of him.

And so he just sleeps over, and he's happy he came in sweats and a sweater.

The next morning, you wake up without an alarm, you wake up in the prince's arms.

Which leaves you very flustered.

Because as far as you're concerned, you're supposed to take the morning shift at the stables today.

The first thing you do is check your phone, something you haven't done since you called the vet for the horses.

You're greeted by kind messages of the other staff from the stables, and they let you have a day off as you were working from 6 am to 11 pm yesterday.

And so you set on making breakfast.

Meanwhile Namjoon's slowly waking up in your room.

Luckily for him, he's off duty until around 15', and it's now about 10'.

Pleased with the time, he reaches out for you, only to realize that you're not there.

He's not really in the mood to stay lazy in bed, and so he comes to join you in the kitchen.

The sight that greets him there makes him feel fuzzy, again.

You're not even doing anything specific, just flipping pancakes while you're wearing this huge shirt and sweats, your hair pulled up in the most unorganized bun he's ever seen.

But he loves it. He really does.

" Morning." He murmurs lowly in your ear as he hugs you from behind in greeting.

You jump, but relax soon after.

" Morning sleepyhead. Slept well?" You ask him.

He smiles.

" I did but when I woke up you weren't there anymore." He pouts.

Meanwhile his parents were figuring out on what to do.

" Well, what do you suggest? Our boy is in love. And what's wrong with that? She's a nice woman." The queen tells her husband as they're talking in one of the yards, enjoying the weather.

"Of course there's nothing wrong with that, but she's a peasant. He'd be breaking tradition, and I don't want anyone using that against him, nor do I want someone to use the woman's former title against her." The king tells her.

His wife looks at him in surprise.

"You don't have anything against her?"

" Of course not honey, why would I?" The king asks her.

" You didn't really seem to like her in the carriage ride." She tells him pointedly.

" I admit, I had to think about it, but she's indeed nice. and Namjoon's obviously in love with her." The king said with a small smile.

" Then I suggest we let it be up to him."

When Joon came back home, a fortunate surprise was waiting for him, the 'okay' of his parents.

When he heard so, he was shook, but happy out of his mind.

Soon his group of friends knew it, and not too long after, his staff too (though they lowkey were already).

Next up he started planning everything out, and with everything, I mean like too much.

He's starting to think about on how to ask you, and on what to wear, whenether to take you on a date or straight up ask you out.

It's not until a few days later that he admits his feelings.

The two of you are simply cuddled up together, doing absolutely nothing, simply talking about life and complaining about Yoongi's horse riding skills.

It's already late at night, and it only settles the mood.

It doesn't go according to plan though, instead of being cute and asking you out with a fancy sign and everything, the two are laid on the couch, you in his arms as the two of you lay saggedly against one another. And he literally goes;

" Did you know that I have the biggest crush on you?"

It's not planned, he didn't even mean to say it.

It just happened.

All you did was laugh at a really bad joke he made, and it just came out.

He blushed hard, as you now get up to face him.

" Wait, are you serious?" You ask him, eyes wide.

He swallows, and stays silent, not entirely sure on what to say. It takes him a moment before he answers.

" I, uhm, yeah. I do."

He says it so cutely you have to keep yourself from chuckling at him.

He adjusts his position, now sitting up too, except he's leaning his back against the couch.

You don't take too long to respond, instead being pretty quick.

" You mean, I could've asked you out a whole while earlier, and you would've said yes?" You ask him.

He nods, at first normally, softly, then suddenly vigorously.

" Of course I would! Have you seen yourself? You're one heck of a woman!" He exclaims.

Now it's your turn to blush.

" Okay, uhm, wait- I know this pick up line and- I think you got your pronouns wrong, instead of he/him it should be you're/mine." You pop suddenly adding to the moment.

Joon laughs at that, throwing his head back.

He bites his lip once he's calmed down again.

" I mean, I guess you're right. In a way.- Mind if I kiss you?"

The two of you are suddenly moving fast, very fast, but neither of you are bothered.

The two of you have been good friends since a while back anyway, and this really didn't bother either of you.

You've simply waited way too long for each other either way, it appeared.

" Oh, yes. Please do-"

You can barely finish, before he's pressing his lips to yours.

#bts #kim namjoon #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hobi #park jimin #kim taehyung #jeon jungkook #x reader #bts x reader #bts royal au #bts prince au #kim namjoon x reader #idkeitherman #bts ff #bts fluff #lil bit of angst

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missdawnandherdusk · 4 years

Text

Tale As Old As Time

Draco X Gryffindor!Reader

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four

Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight

Part Nine Part Ten

Summary: The Yule Ball is finally here and maybe just once you get to be the princess in a fairy tale.

A/N: Guys, guys, this chapter IS SO SWEET AND SOFT AND I’M ASDKJDADGAD anyway. Hello to those of you who are new! I love you all so much (and if anyone would like context or a visual for this chapter see Cinderella or ya know your favorite Disney princess dance sequence... there are so many) I love you all! Please let me know what you think! Also catch this on AO3 soon!!

Tags: @un-limiteddd @geekysimmerthings @coffee-addicti @ilikestuffproductions @msmcsmutt @ravn-87 @artemismohr18 @whygz @crazywritingbug @dolphincommander @bisexualbumblebeesstuff @fuzzy-panda @bitemebro522 @zombiesnips-blog @jillanaholland @shookyungsoo @savingdraco @welcometomyworldwithoutrules @akari180 @slytherin-emerald @chaotic-good-gemini @memalfoy-spidey @theres-a-dog-outside-omg @queenfeatherwings @fanficflaneuse @go-whovian-universe @spicyshenanigans @darling-im-not-okay-i-promise @dietkiwi @katsukink @takemetothekingdom @strangerr-things @tmnt-queen @mccloudchloe @hxneybgb @justsomerandomgur @belcvayelena @moviesbooksandfandoms @howdycharlie @littlethingsinmymindla

Christmas Eve and it seemed like the week had passed faster than the week before. Between finding a last-minute present—and a letter to Mrs. Weasley to see if a miracle could really happen—and wrapping the ones I already had, I was exhausted come Christmas Eve, so I did what I did every year: I read a book.

“So, do you have a dress for the Ball?” Hermione asked as we lounged in the Common Room watching the boys play chess.

“Yeah, my mother sent me one, it was the parcel I got the other morning,” I noted, my eyes not leaving my book—A Christmas Carol.

It was the evening before the Ball as well, and we were enjoying the buzz of the common room as Christmas approaching in the morning had everyone in a stupor. I had seen Draco at dinner, but Hermione stole me back for the evening, well, she tried.

Penelope swooped in and a letter landed in my lap.

“Oh, come on, I just got you back in here,” Hermione groaned. “Doesn’t he have his own party at Slytherin?”

“Maybe he’s invited her. I’ve heard so much about how good Slytherin parties are,” Ron looked up hopefully.

I smiled and rolled my eyes, breaking the seal and opening the letter.

Meet me at the Astronomy Tower as soon as you can, dress warm.

Draco

Three pairs of eyes were on me.

“I... have to go?” I offered sheepishly.

“A party?” Ron asked.

“No, just... never mind. It’s not a party.” I shrugged as I got up and stretched.

Grabbing my winter boots, scarf and fur lined jacket—that my mother also sent—I headed own the drafty halls and up to the Astronomy Tower.

“Draco?” I called as I reached the top step. He turned, a smile making its way to his face.

“Hey,” He helped me up the stair, taking my gloved hand in his. “These are new?” He mused, eyeing the black leather fur lined gloves.

“Mother sent them; someone must have told her that I was cold.” I gave him a side eyed look. He chuckled and pulled me close

“So, the ball is tomorrow,” He began

“Yes, that is how time works,” I mused. “I believe it is Christmas as well,”

“Yes, I haven’t forgotten,” He scoffed with a smile. “And I assume, since you weren’t... here growing up, I assume you have no idea how to dance,” He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, and you do?” I scoffed.

“Yes,” He answered simply. “This isn’t my first Ball Y/n,”

“So, you’ve danced with other girls before?” I raised an eyebrow. I wasn’t as jealous as I let off, it was just fun to watch him scramble over something so simple.

“Yes,” He sounded strained.

I smiled and pulled him to the center of the walkway, pulling him close.

“Teach me then,” I took his hand and he pulled me close, into first position. “You’re right, I have never danced before,” I confessed.

“I know,” He mused. “This is going to be horrendous,”

A laugh escaped his lips and mine. I sighed and took his hand as his other rested on my waist and mine on his shoulder. Music came from somewhere, but I didn’t question it, I was too focused on not stumbling.

“It’s a pattern,” He told me. “One, two, three, four,” He instructed.

It took a few—hundred—tries, but Draco was persistent. Soon I was tripping over my own feet less and spinning around the Tower laughing as I danced almost flawlessly in sweatpants. Now only if I could do it in heels and a dress.

Draco pulled me in and be began to speed up the pace, leading me into new steps before his hands moved quickly and he easily dipped me.

“Draco!” I exclaimed and gripped for him as he righted me.

“Did you think I was going to let you fall?” He teased as our dance stilled, the two of us closer than ever.

“Haven’t you already?” I asked, my hands drifting to their familiar place around his neck.

“Have you fallen for me then, Miss Lupine?” He asked softly, the electric current growing stronger as the distance between us closed.

Staring into blue eyes, I felt the coolness of a river, and the gentle waves of the ocean, comforting me with their chill. An entire world laid behind them, one that I yearned to explore and know every part of.

“I think so,” I whispered the confession. “A Lupine and a Malfoy,” I scoffed softly.

“What an idea,” He pondered. “To fall for someone like you,”

I smiled and pressed my lips softly to his, basking in his warmth. Now that we had stopped dancing, the winter air began to seep through my clothes. When I shivered, he pulled away and chuckled.

“You know, with all the spell and potions and charms out there, you would think there would be something to keep you warm,” Draco baited.

“I have you, don’t I?” “I suppose you do,”

Draco walked me back to the Gryffindor portrait in comfortable silence. Another fleeting goodnight kiss and I was far from being cold.

“I’ll meet you here tomorrow then? Seven forty-five?”

“Are you sure about this Draco... your father and the Ball...” I looked down, still worried.

“Stop it Y/n,” He chided. “It will be fine. We’re safe here.” He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “Now go get some rest.”

“Goodnight Draco,” I whispered. “And Merry Christmas,”

He eyed me and an amused smirk played at his lips.

“Happy Christmas,” I couldn’t tell if it was a correction or if he had meant it. “Goodnight Y/n,”

Again, we exchanged a glance, three words unspoken between us: I love you.

_____________________________

Draco woke early Christmas morning to Penelope fluttering annoyed at his side, cooing for attention. He had half the idea to shove her off the bed and go back to sleep, but you couldn’t really push a bird anywhere and expect it to stay away.

Groaning and sitting up, he saw that Penelope was sitting upon two parcels, and a letter accompanying each. It dawned on him that it was Christmas morning, not just any morning, and these must be from you.

Taking the one that had your letter attached—marked by your red wax seal—he opened the letter.

Merry Christmas Draco,

We had these sweets (we called them candy) in America, I had my mother send me some, and thought you might want to try them. Sour Patch Kids are my favorite, I’m not one for chocolate, but I did include some for you to try. If not, I’m sure Crabbe or Goyle wouldn’t mind having them.

Mother also sent all of my Latin books to you because you seemed interested in it the other night. Please be careful with them, they’re worth more than you can imagine, they belonged to my great great something grandfather. I will kill you if you ruin them. Though I suppose they are yours now... still.

And, from me... well, I got you a fountain pen. It was my grandfathers, a gift from a Muggle. I know, I know. But, it’s so small, and very useful. You use it like a quill and ink, but it doesn’t splotch or smear and dries instantly. I rewrite all of my class notes with a pen so that they’re neat, and I thought you might appreciate one as well. If you don’t want it, that’s fine too...

I hope you have a merry—happy Christmas morning. I await our dance tonight,

Yours,

Y/n

P.S. I sent a letter to Mrs. Weasley as well and I do believe that she sent you one of her hand knitted sweaters, so don’t be surprised if you get one. It was me. Again, if you don’t want it... it’s okay. I know it’s a lot.

Draco tossed the letter aside and tore open the package that accompanied it. Inside, as you had said, was a few thick books, come colorful plastic wrapped candy, and a long black velvet box.

Taking the box, he discarded the lid and nestled inside was a sleek silver cylindrical object. Removing it, Draco stared at the small thing, wondering what use it had and how had Muggles ever used this when ink and quill worked just fine.

Pulling of the cap as he would an inkwell, a small golden tip greeted him, similar to the ends of his quills, but less fragile. Taking your letter, he leaned it against one of the books you have gifted to him and he wrote his name with the pen.

It glided easily across the page, leaving dark ink in its wake, spelling his name delicately. There was no need to dip it back into an inkwell, and running his finger over it, he discovered that it didn’t smear or stain his fingers.

As much as he wanted to hate it and dismiss it, claiming that nothing smart logical or good came from Muggles, he couldn’t. This pen was something else. It was useful. And he hated it. But he also loved that it was from you and that you had clearly spent a lot of time trying to figure out what would prove worth to him even though it was Muggle.

He set the pen back into the box and placed it on his desk. Having a good idea what was in the other package and who it was from, he begrudgingly opened the letter attached.

Mr. Draco

I was quite surprised when I got a letter from Miss Y/n asking for her to make this for you, but I couldn’t say no to her—she is quite persuasive and truly seems to care about you having a good Christmas this year and who was I to refuse?

Have a Happy Christmas Draco, because someone out there really cares for you.

Mrs. Weasley

Dreading opening the package, knowing exactly what was inside, Draco opened the parcel and found an emerald green and grey striped knitted sweater. There was no sign of the god-awful initial of his first name. No, it was just a normal sweater, as if you knew what to ask for and what he would wear.

A smile touched his lips as he slipped the sweater over his head and picked up the book you sent: Wheelock’s Latin. Flipping through a few pages he could see you steady writing in notes littering the margins and little bookmarks placed in odd places to him.

The room around him started to come alive as the others around him awoke, and began to tear through their presents, but he remained on his bed in his own little bubble, leafing through the books and making his way through the American sweets you had sent—particularly enjoying something called Mike and Ikes.

Because of you, he had one of the best Christmas mornings that he had in a long while. He hoped that you were as well.

___________________________

The excitement of the morning had me awake earlier than normal and I saw that Hermione was already awake. Smiles spread across our faces as we wished another a Merry Christmas then began to open the presents that laid at the foot of our beds.

Hermione had gotten me a book—the same book that I had taken from Malfoy in the library— “so that you can have your own” she explained. Harry and Ron had joined together and gotten me a new set of inkwell and quill and a bound book of parchment in emerald and gold. Mrs. Weasley went above and beyond as normal with snacks and the usual sweater; this year it was a deep red with a forest green trim and gold accents. There was another set of graphite pencils and sketchbook from my mother and new diamond earrings from my grandparents.

On its own, on my bedside table was a small package in silk green wrapping and a letter with a matching green seal. My heart fluttered as I picked it up, knowing that it was from Draco. I hope that he had gotten what I had sent and that he had accepted it.

Opening the letter, it was short and unbearably sweet:

Dearest Y/n,

For you, to remind you that we are more than names and houses.

Happy Christmas. I’ll see you tonight,

Yours,

Draco

Smiling I opened the small box and inside cushioned was a necklace. It held neither an emerald nor ruby, instead a sapphire, the color of the sea, the color of his eyes, the feeling of Animi Amoris. On a delicate silver chain and lain in a diamond encrusted heart the sapphire sat, smiling at me.

“Oh Draco,” I murmured softly.

“What he get you?” Hermione asked, grinning, coming over to my bed in her Weasley sweater.

I showed her the necklace, not letting it leave my hold.

“He really is a sap, isn’t he?” Hermione sighed

“Yeah, he is,” I smiled, putting the necklace on. “He’ll never admit it though.”

Harry and Ron met up with Hermione and me in the common room, and we went down to breakfast together. I didn’t catch sight of Draco at breakfast and I wondered where he was. Deciding not to fret too much I spent the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents—as I was, starting to sketch with my mother’s present.

Lunch was just as extravagant and featured so many turkeys I wondered exactly how long it had taken for them all to be cooked. I did see Draco at lunch, but other than a wave and a smile, there was no time for a proper hello in the fervor of the festivities, not that we didn’t try.

Time flew and soon Hermione and I were up in the Gryffindor Tower getting ready for the Ball. I had to help her with her hair and makeup, knowing a bit more in the area.

“He asked you out last night to teach you to dance?” She squeaked. “That is the cutest thing, I honestly don’t believe it,”

I rolled my eyes and pinned her hair into place.

“I think he’s been so worried about keeping up his reputation that he doesn’t know who to be, ya know? He doesn’t have the parents we do... or the friends. He’s just...” I trailed off.

“I understand, it’s just odd.” Hermione smiled.

“Yeah, but he’s still himself... just good.” I placed the final pin. “There, that should stay for the rest of... well forever.” I grinned. “No one will know it’s you Cinderella,” I teased.

“Oh, and who does that make you?

“Your fairy godmother of course,” I mocked a bow

“I’m pretty sure that makes you Belle and you’re living Beuaty and the Beast,” She pointed out mischievously.

I laughed and started to work on her makeup. She then helped me curl my hair and place it into a plaited bun. It was great fun. I teased her about Krum, and she teased me right back about Draco. We finally had time to sit and talk without anyone prying and without a deadline.

The time came and we both got into our dresses, doing finishing touches. Hermione held herself higher as we looked in the mirror, her periwinkle dress playing off of my crimson red one. Draco’s necklace hung at the hollow of my chest.

We both left the fray a bit early, I had to meet Draco and she had to meet Krum. Just as he had promised, Draco met me outside the Common Room, looking nervous and very handsome. His suit was well tailored, the stark black and white playing off another.

“Wow,” He breathed out, making me look down, blushing the color of my dress.

“My mother does have a dramatic flair, doesn’t she?” I asked, running my fingers through the layers of tulle and speckled diamonds that danced in the candlelight.

“I don’t think she has anything to do with how breathtaking you look right now,” Draco offered his hand.

I took it, taking careful graceful steps in the heels that my mother also sent me.

“You look quite handsome as well,” I complimented. “Quite a change from school uniforms is it not?”

“One that I rather enjoy,” He smiled as I held onto him, descending the stairs toward the Great Hall entrance.

Everyone in the hall stopped with the sight of us, gawking. A hush fell over the crowd as we entered the mass of students, all dressed for the occasion, all gaping—or glaring—at the two of us. I tried to not let it bother me, but I couldn’t quite let it go.

“People are staring,” I whispered.

“Y/n I’m sure you’ve seen yourself in a mirror, you are more than worth staring at.”

I looked down, suddenly very focused on not tripping. When the Great Hall doors were opened, I caught sight of Harry and Ron with their dates, the Patil twins, and gave him a small wave as we were ushered out into the lawn.

It was captivating, the sight of it all. I leaned against Draco, marveling at the fairy lights and enchantment of it all. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.

“Like a fairy tale,” I whispered, letting my eyes wander.

“Shall we then,” Draco asked, leading me to one of the front tables where my—our friends were sitting.

“If he’s the Slytherin Prince then no doubt tonight you’re the Gryffindor Princess,” Fred muttered in my ear.

I let out a small laugh and looked to Draco, who raised an eyebrow in question, but I shrugged and shook my head, taking his hand in mine. With the Triwizard champions having sat and Dumbledore beginning the feast, the Hall was filled with talking and laughter and merriment.

It was comforting, watching it all. Draco fit in with the crowed around us and Hermione and Viktor were having what seemed like the best time at one of the head tables. I was happy for her; she finally was seen on the outside who she was on the inside.

Dinner had come and passed and with a wave of his wand, Dumbledore transformed the Great Hall into a dance floor. Anxiety fluttered in my chest at the thought that I would have to dance in front of people soon.

“I can hear you worrying,” Draco murmured softly, as he stood behind me his hands at my waist.

“I have to dance,” I fretted. “I’m going barefoot, I hope you know that,”

He chuckled and nodded, whether in acknowledgement or permission, I wasn’t sure. Soon other couples began to join the champions. I broke from Draco’s hold and discarded my heels under a nearby table. When I went back, I couldn’t find Draco. My eyes scanned the crowd until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Relaxing I turned and saw gentle blue eyes.

“May I have this dance?” Draco bowed slightly, offering his hand out again.

“You may,” I grinned and took it as he led me to the dance floor.

“I won’t let you fall,” He promised in a soft voice as we fell into a familiar pattern, learned only the night before.

The world faded around us as he guided me on the dance floor. My eyes never left his and a smile never left either of our faces. It was our own little world as we waltzed across the floor.

The moment held another sort of magic, one where we didn’t have to do anything but fall into step with another and dance upon the notes left by the music around us.

“Ready?” He whispered and I nodded.

Gently, as the music ended, he dipped me, father than before, but I wasn’t afraid.

He wasn’t going to let me fall.

Part 12?

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rosepetals-flyingbirds · 4 years

Text

The Simple Warrior.

With: Hvitserk x Reader.

Word Count: 3.770

Some sort of Cinderella story, but not really.

“Y/N! Where is my new dresses? The seamstress said he gave it to you.” You stepsister said, her annoying voice cutting through the house like a rusty knife.

“It’s in the box near the new furs.” You answered, petting the yellow cat. “If you looked for it instant of meddling in other’s people’s lives you would have found it.” You murmured the last part and smirked at the cat.

“Y/N, have you seen Dumble? She isn’t- Oh, there she is.” Your other stepsister held the cat taking her away from you. The poor animals tried to stretch her, cats didn’t like to be squeezed. “Cel asked about our new clothes. Are they pretty?”

Rolling your eyes you had to take a deep breath before nodding. “Yes. And the new shoes arrived too.”

“Great. But you’ll have to change a few things.”

You rolled your eyes, they could have shoes made of pure gold! And they still would find something to complain about. “Why is that?”

“The princes are throwing a festival.”

“Uhum.” You hummed not fazed, after all, they adored to show their wealth.

“Andddd, you know what they say, that if they like someone, the lucky girl can be lucky.”

“They are princes, and can have anyone they want. They won’t fall in love like in the fairy tales.”

“Well not with that pessimism! Now fix my shoes and I’ll make my dress.”

Your stepmother arrived at home and was holding new jewels. You weren’t interested in the princes, actually you only saw one in your whole life, the older called Ubbe.

And as gossip fly, he and his brother shared their bed with slaves, shieldmaiden, any girl around would be under their rampant gaze. But the idea of leaving the cabin and being able to have fun made you hopeful.

You glanced at your stepmother and gathered the courage. “Midra, Cel spoke about the festive the princes are throwing and I was wondering if I could go.”

“You? Why?”

“Well, because I don’t go out much and it would be nice. And since everyone is invented… why not?”

She looked around the place to make sure everything was perfect, since you were basic her slave. “I don’t see why not.”

You smiled surprised bu her answer and ran to your small room to make new arrangements in your dress, you grabbed your golden bracelet with your initials on it and placed on your wrists. It was a gift from your father before he died, and you made sure to keep it safe from Midra’s egoistic’s eyes.

As you waited to get ready, your spot sisters made sure to leave everything for the last hour, they bathed almost in the time of the feast. They complained about the dresses and when they were ready to leave you weren’t ready it.

Midra faked annoyance and couldn’t stop mumbling about being late. In the end, they went to the great hall and you stood alone in the cabin.

Not ready to go.

You cried in frustration, you pondered in running away uncountable times, but you would end up working as a whore and you didn’t want that.

As your tears fell you prayed for a miracle, prayed to go to the feast and have a good time. You deserved it.

Dumble came meowing to your side and you petted her, lucky animal, didn’t have to suffer like you.

You took clear water inside to the cabin and while you did so you heard someone mumbling.

You grabbed an axe and looked at the woods, someone came out of this and his bald head with a sole lock of hair in the nape of it. “Stop there!”

The man looked you up and down and looked confused. “What do you want?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do you bad. I’m just pissed.”

“Who are you?”

“Floki, the Boat Builder. Who are you?”

“Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Y/L/N? As Sygun’s Y/L/N?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I didn’t know his daughter was alive. I thought… well I’m happy you’re okay.”

You gave him a polite smile and got back to your chores. Floki didn’t walk away, but was quick to approach you. “Why do you cry?”

“My stupid stepmother didn’t allow me to go to the prince’s festival. And I wanted to, but they left without me.”

Floki nodded and spoke under his breath, was he crazy?

“Let’s go then.”

“To the feast?”

“Yes, I’m a close friend of them. Well, I was the best friend of their father.”

“King Ragnar?”

“Yes. I have known him way before he was a king.” You looked unsure, afraid even. “I thought you wanted to go.”

“I do! But my life will get worse if they see me there.”

“Why do you keep living here?”

“Because I have nowhere to go, Midra took all the gold my father had and… and I don’t want to become a whore. And I’m not very good at fighting so I can’t be a shieldmaiden either.”

“Listen, come to the feast, have fun and then you can leave here. I have a free cabin where you can stay in.”

“Is this a way of you asking me to be with you?” You tried to not sound offensive.

He laughed. “No, don’t worry. Your father was a good friend of mine, and if I have known his small Y/N was alive I would have made something about it.” You looked at Dumble and back at him. “You can take the cat too. After all the cabin will be yours.”

You pondered about his words, leaving sounded scary, but living alone was better than being a slave.

You smiled at Floki and got inside to get ready, he waited patiently as you took a quick bath and grabbed your belongings.

You placed the gold bracelet on your wrist, and left with Floki.

Of course a dagger was under your dress, if he tried anything.

Luckily the cabin you would reside in was very pretty, not big as Midra’s one but for a person alone it was great.

You placed Dumble in the place and placed fish for her to eat while you stood out.

In the Great Hall everything was beautiful, flowers and light adorned the place. “Uau.” You gasped and smiled widely when you heard a song being played.

People danced, and you ate all the fruits you found.

You grabbed a plate and filled with fruits and some warm bread, probably it just got out of the fire.

You went outside and sat facing the ocean, Vikings were known from raiding, how would it be like?

“Uh? Why did you grab all of this?” You jumped startled and looked behind you finding a man with long braids. He laughed and you didn’t know if you would be punished from eating. “Oh gods, I’m joking you can eat all you want.”

You let a relieved smile and relaxed, he pointed at the sandy floor beside you and you smiled at him. He sat near you and grabbed some items from your plate.

“Why you aren’t inside?”

“Too many people, I didn’t feel… comfortable. You?”

“Same, I guess. I got tired.”

You laughed at the thought. “Tired? Of enjoying a nice feast in a great hall were literally princes live in?”

He looked confused at your mention of the princes, since he was one. “Well, call me crazy.”

You smiled and ate your grapes looking back at the waves. “Do you come to a lot of feasts?”

“You could say that.” You glanced at the sword on his waist and knew he was probably a good warrior since his sword was very pretty. “You?”

“It’s my first time here.”

“I imagine since I never saw you before. Are you a slave?”

“Slave?” You looked hurt, looking down at your dress you wondering if it was hideous, okay that your fabric wasn’t the best but a slave?

Seeing how you took the question he was quick to apologize. “No, no, no. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Is because slaves came today and since I haven’t seen you around I just wondered, it was stupid, I’m sorry.”

“Is my dress that ugly?”

“No, it’s very pretty. The prettiest I have seen tonight.” You rolled your eyes at him but chuckled at his attempt. “I’m serious.”

He smiled and you wondered with how many women he had been with, since he was very pretty, had a nice sword which meant he probably was a warrior or someone near the princes, and how charismatic he was.

“What is your name?”

He smiled seeing that you really didn’t know who he was. “Hvitserk. Yours?”

“Y/N.”

“Do you live in Kattegat?”

Remembering how Floki helped you out of Midra’s household you nodded. “Yeah, I could say that.”

You and Hvitserk spoke for what seemed like hours, and when your plate of fruits finished he went inside and brought chicken and ale. You’ve never tried drinking before so you went slowly.

Hvitserk told you about his life, but didn’t mention that he was a prince. He spoke as he was a warrior that traveled a lot.

“My stepsisters came with the idea of conquering one of princes’ hearts. Stupid uh?”

“Why?”

“Well, they are princes. They can have all they want, anything and anyone. Why they would fell in love with them? And if they did, they would be stupid because they are terrible people. I guess they would like to be princesses, since they love to be pampered.”

“You wouldn’t like to be one?”

“A princess?” He nodded. “Not really, I mean the idea of having enough gold to have whatever you want is nice. But I don’t know how I would deal with people around me all the time. Making my hair, my clothes, my chores.”

Hvitserk was nice, you told him about Midra and how a man named Floki helped you and took you to a place where it would be yours. Hvitserk was surprised by the idea of Floki helping her but his uncle was a nice person.

When sleep found you two, Hvitserk accompanied you home, you didn’t invite him, after all, you have never been kissed so not need to hush.

“Good night, Y/N. I hope you’ll like your new home.”

You looked inside and crossed your arms. “Yeah me too, I’m afraid Midra will coming yelling.”

“If she does, call me.”

“And where will I find you?”

“Uh, I’m always around, in the hall, in the docks. Not hard to find.”

You kissed his cheek and cuddled Dumble, Hvitserk in your mind.

The next day, you walked around town with some gold Floki gave you and bought some food so you wouldn’t starve. Living alone was a new thing, you hope everything will go smoothly.

In the marketplace you saw prince Ubbe walking by, he was very handsome, no wonder why girls fell for him.

You felt his eyes on you but avoided any interaction, you wouldn’t feel for a prince’s trick.

On your way home you saw Hvitserk, his braided hair hitting his back and he looked very pretty with dark blue fabric.

He was speaking with a bearded man and you were confused when prince Ubbe approached him and hugged Hvitserk.

Maybe they were friends, since Hvitserk had traveled a lot and brought a lot of pride for his people.

Later the day you heard knocking on your door, you held your breath imagining that was your stepmother or stepsisters.

“Y/N?” It was Hvitserk.

You tried to fix your hair and make sure you looked presentable.

“Hello.” He smiled and you realized he changed the blue tunic for a simpler one. “How are you today?”

“Great. How are you? Everything is okay in the new house?”

“Yes, I’m still getting used to being alone all the time, but its better than being a slave.”

Hvitserk felt happy to be around you, maybe the simplicity, maybe because you didn’t know who he was. Whatever it was, he liked you a lot.

“Do you need help with anything?”

“Hmm, no, but thank you.” Hvitserk looked out of the place, maybe because he wasn’t used to be so… reserved. “But, could we maybe… uh.”

“What?”

“Go out, I need new fabrics to make dresses. And, do you know someone where I can work in? I need coins.”

“Sure, I can ask around.”

“Thank you.”

Walking through Kattegat a lot of people looked at Hvitserk nodding at him in greeting, it was nice seeing so many people that appreciated him.

When you found the right fabrics your coins weren’t enough, the merchant looked at Hvitserk and back at you.

Hvitserk pulled some coins out of his pocket and bought the fabrics. “No no no, you don’t have to.”

“I want to, is okay. They are pretty right?”

His smile was bright but it was too much. “They are but you don’t need to buy it to me, I can easily make two dresses with that one I bought.”

“Y/N, I want to give it to you.”

He held the fabrics and you were worried about his intentions.

Midra was always very loudly when it came to men, she loved to say their intentions were always the dirtiest. And even if new in town, you weren’t naive.

He offered some jewels but you didn’t give him time to buy them since you rushed back home. When you were further in town and there weren’t so many people around you stopped your steps and looked at him. “Hvitserk.”

“Uh?”

“Why you bought me fabric?”

“Because you need new clothes, right?” He shrugged.

“Yeah, but do you want something in exchange? Is that why you’re helping me?”

“Something?”

You avoided his eyes and looked at the trees around you. “Yeah, you know… sex. That is why men help women, right?”

“Sometimes but not me, at least not with you.”

You were relieved but pondering if he was being nice to other women.

“Alright. I just, I really like your friendship. I never had a friend before.”

“Honestly? I think I never had one either.”

“Speaking of such I saw you with the prince today. You two seemed close.”

His face closed. “Yeah, I have known him since I was born.”

“Did you two trained together?”

“Yes, we did. He taught me a lot of things.”

Hvitserk kept going to your house every day for a whole weather station. Your new house was looking brighter and everything was great.

…

Hvitserk was inside helping you to prepare some bread, when someone knocked in the door.

You opened it and your face fell, it was Midra and her daughters.

“It took me long enough to find you, you little rat! How could you leave us? After everything I gave you?” She walked inside the cabin and her monsters of daughters walked in checking the place and laughing at how small it was.

Midra kept shouting but then she gasped and bowed to Hvitserk. “My prince.”

You were confused and walked to his reach, facing the venomous snake and her prole.

“This is my house and you don’t have any power on me or my life. So leave.”

The stepsisters started to smile and fix their dresses so their breasts would look bigger. “Y/N, if I knew you were being so close to a royalty I wouldn’t have been so worried, darling.”

Darling?

“What?” You looked back at Hvitserk and he was avoiding your eyes. “Wait, what?” Midra pulled your arm hugging you and you were quick to push her away. “Do not touch me!”

“Oh, my daughter. Don’t act like that.”

“Daughter? I’m not your daughter. And why are you calling him a prince?”

Hvitserk touched your hand but you flinched from his touch.

“He is prince Hvitserk Ragnarson. Hvitserk Whiteshirt nowadays.” Cel answered and held Dumble.

Hvitserk tried to pull your hand again. “Y/N, listen-”

“No! You are a prince? One of the princes? Why you didn’t tell me?”

Midra was confused by your naivety but kept her fake smile pretending that she liked you so she could win the prince’s liking.

As if you haven’t told him everything.

“Leave! All of you.” You pointed at Midra’s face. “Don’t come to my house ever again, you never liked me and treated me like a slave! And you two!” You pointed at your old stepsisters. “Learn to deal with your lives, and stop treating people so badly. Now leave!”

When they didn’t flinch you pushed them to the door and closed the door on their noses.

Looking back at Hvitserk, you were hurt. “You too, leave Hvitserk. If that is even your name.” He looked hurt and tried to muster an apology. “Leave!”

Hvitserk walked away and you cried of your stupidity.

A prince?

How you didn’t figure that?

All the gold he has, all the fighting skills, the way he was always in feast and so close to Ubbe.

Your first friend, and he lied to you.

…

Hvitserk tried to speak to you but you avoided him as he was a disease.

He wondered about writing a letter but you told him you didn’t know how to read and he even proposed to teach you.

Everytime he approached you in a public place you walked away doing your best to get away from him.

But he got angry and almost burst your door open with a kick, you looked at him incredulously of why he kicked the door, he said he would send someone to fix it and that it would be fine.

“Listen I’m sorry.”

“Why you lied to me?”

“I didn’t lie. Maybe I omitted the truth but I didn’t lie.”

“You did! You told me you were a warrior.”

“But I am. Y/N, please. What difference does it make?”

“That I cannot trust you, you lied to me and I believed you were a totally different person.”

“Is not that, is something deeper. Tell me.”

You avoided him and tried to leave the small house, but he held your arms and made you look at him. “Because if you’re a prince, we cannot be together.”

“And why is that?”

“Because things aren’t like that. You have to marry a princess.”

“Y/N we are Vikings, such diplomacy isn’t needed here. We are not Saxons.”

“Still.” You pulled your arms back. “Just go, Hvitserk. Please. I want to be alone.”

He touched your cheek, his touch was so soft. “You’ve been alone for a long time. Forgive me.”

You walked away from his touch and tried to control your tears, it was stupid.

Hvitserk closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I didn’t tell you because for the first time someone was real with me, people like to approach me because of what I can do for them. And you treated me like I was a common guy. And that meant a lot. But you know the real me, Y/N. You do. So try to see my point of view in all of this. I like you very very much, and I don’t want our friendship to end because of a title.”

He walked away and you glanced at him getting farther and farther.

A couple of days later, you found yourself near the great hall, it seemed less attractive like the first time you saw it.

What should you do?

Enter and ask about the prince Hvitserk?

Stupid idea, stupid, stupid, stupid-

“Hey, Y/N right?” You looked behind your shoulder and saw prince Ubbe.

“Hi, yeah.”

“Hello, my brother told me about you.” Of how naive you were, probably. “He is not here, if you’re looking for him.” He gave you a known look and you shook your head negatively.

“Do you know where he is?”

Ubbe nodded and lead the way, he was so much taller than you.

Hvitserk was in the training ground, he was giving his soul in the training, hitting his opponent as if he was in a war. “Brother.” Ubbe shouted.

Hvitserk didn’t turn, he kept moving his sword expertly. “I’m busy, Ubbe.”

“Even for a pretty lady?”

Hvitserk scoffed and kept moving, you held your breath when his opponent’s sword almost cut his side. “Is Y/N!” Ubbe shouted.

Hvitserk looked over his shoulder, making his braid go to the other side.

His opponent knew the training was over but his the back of his sword playfully in Hvitty’s head.

“Ouh!”

“Never give your back to your enemy.” Sognýr said and they touched the swords signaling it was over.

Hvitserk walked to your and Ubbe’s reach, Ubbe turned on his feet leaving you alone. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

You kept quiet and Hvitserk looked at his feet.

“Listen, I just wanted to apologize. I was rash with you and I thought about what you said, about people being false with you because they try to take advantage. So, yeah, I’m sorry.”

A smile grew on his face. “I forgive you. And I ask forgiveness too, I wouldn’t change the way we met nor the way our friendship grew, because if i told you about my title on the very first time you would walk away from me.”

He was right.

He gave you his hand and shook yours. “Hi, I’m Hvitserk, son of Ragnar.”

“Nice to meet you.” You smiled at his words, he was so sweet. “So, now that we are okay, can we be friends again?”

“I would like that very much.”

He hugged you quickly and went back to training grounds to drink water, he taught you archery and at the end of the day he went back to your home.

Dumble loved Hvitserk, but how could he not? The prince let a lot of fishes bites go to the small animal.

A few days later, a feast was thrown, a new weather greeted Kattegat and that time you stood inside the great hall with Hvitserk.

You met his brothers, his mother and tried to look pretty, after all you were accompanying a prince.

Everything was great, the songs, the food. But it got a moment where you needed to breathe. So when Hvitserk excused himself to speak with his brother, you sneaked outside.

You sat in the sand facing the ocean, you smiled knowing how much has changed.

“Hey.” Hvitserk found you and smiled seeing you were sat exactly where you were the first time you two met. “I thought I would find you here.” You saw one of his hands behind his back and he sat near you.

“You were right.” He pulled a plate of fruits and you laughed.

Yeah, it was nice meeting Hvitserk.

…

#hvitserk x reader #hvitserk x you

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gofancyninjaworld · 5 years

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OPM manga chapter 119 Review: A Conspiracy?

Buckle up, this review gets long. I was away on family business for a few days so I missed this one’s drop. It’s meant though that I’ve had longer to ponder my thoughts.

Core take away for me is that like Hellfire Flame and Gale Wind trying to recruit Sonic set us up to better understand the Ninja arc when it showed up in the webcomic, this ‘glimpse behind the scenes’ at the conspiracies brewing sight unseen is foundation for what will burst into the open later, apparently from nowhere.

Anyway, onto the review. Much more under the cut. First though, One-Shotter is still alive! Looks like his mechanised parts are much more extensive than initially appeared.

I tell you, it doesn’t pay to be a cyborg hero in OPM. It’s just inviting gratuitous cruelty into your life.

Soon Gets Sooner

This chapter, I honestly expected Drive Knight to just leave with Nyan and stay the international Cyborg of Mystery he'd been to date. But he stuck around to talk to Sekingar and what we got was a glimpse indeed to the mystery plot that has been brewing from the very start.

We find out just why Drive Knight has a 100% win record: he never, ever fights unless he has carefully studied and formulated an excellent battle plan. Even if it means sacrificing his fellow heroes like pawns.

And then things get weird. After offering data on the strong monsters in the MA, Drive Knight changes the subject to asking Sekingar about the state of the Hero Association, being very interested in just which capable heroes were left available to respond and whether or not Blast was likely to attend if the Hero Association were attacked. And then Drive Knight went into full tin-foil hat conspiracy mode, painting the loss of the Metal Knight as a deliberate action by Dr Bofoi to gift the Monster Association with the way to take out the Hero Association.

When Sekingar spoke of not expecting the support heroes to carry out their mission without injury, I’m sure he couldn’t have imagined ending up a casualty. When he tries to call the Hero Association to check, none other than G5 shows up to shoot his hand off. As G5 approaches, Drive Knight makes no move to either attack G5, claiming lack of power, nor to protect Sekingar. Even in extremis though, Sekingar is still thinking about the support team, the hostage, and what action he could yet take. Truly, a hero is being forged before our eyes. He just has to survive the experience.

‘Why not me?’ That’s the central question heroes ask themselves.

Fee, Fi, Do, Fum, Cinderella's At The Ball

We'd seen Garou, who I'd dubbed Sleeping Beauty awaken from his unconsciousness. With a roar, he pummelled PPP into the ground.

Cyborg Cinderella, whom we'd left vacuuming and washing dishes while the others went ahead, may be attending the ball late, but his entrance was no less spectacular. With timing worthy of Saitama himself, just in time, one mighty kick all but split G5 in half, arriving so fast the robot barely had time to register his presence. It's interesting what summoned him; Saitama's punch may have gotten his attention, but it was G5's energy signature that really got him on scene.

Insane kicks, flips -- and upgrades

Kuseno magic extends to clothes: the last time he used Jet Drive Arrow, he ended up naked. Now Genos isn't just very fashionably dressed, but his raiments are fire-resistant and wonderfully form-hugging. Until the clock strikes twelve (or ten in his case), he is here to cut some terrifying shapes.

And now all the pieces are in play.

The chapter ends suddenly and ominously. On one side, we have Genos asking, looking about as cunning as a newborn lamb, what’s going on:

On the other, if it’s possible for an expressionless face to look unamused, then the very cunning Drive Knight looks most unamused:

Meta: “The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less.”

-- from the webcomic ‘Schlock Mercenary’ (more here)

I’d wondered why ONE had split Genos off from the rest, in difference to the was he’d gone together with the rest in the webcomic. It was definite that ONE intended to test Genos in a situation where he had no support, bu the potential for him to discover something new and relevant to his quest is the last thing I expected.

A peek behind the scenes indeed! Where from and why Genos came to fetch up at Saitama’s door in chapter 7, telling a tale of evil cyborgs and total extermination, we know not. It’s seemed increasingly far-fetched as nearly nothing happened with that storyline and the monsters we meet have nothing to do with the sort of intelligences behind any such cyborg. It’s led to some, too many, fans claiming that in that absence the ‘mad’ cyborg must be Genos himself -- in a twist of logic too stupid for real life [Then again, the typical SF story seems to be written by an individual who never met an actual human being...]. I don’t know about the veracity of 90% of what Drive Knight said, but there is a conspiracy indeed.

So, now we get to understand a bit more about Drive Knight. It’s something I’ve long wondered about:

The thing about Drive Knight is that he hasn't told us who he is yet. At present, he's a blank slate for whom many alignments are possible without betraying who he is. He could be entirely a hero, just acting in ways that are more independent than most would appreciate. He could be a member of The Organization, acting as a mole in the Hero Association. He could be an entirely amoral person, aligning himself to one group or another as suits his goals and all would be consistent with what we don't know about him. Once he declares who he is, we'll be down to many fewer possibilities. -- myself, Reddit post

“Everything that can be used must be used.” With that, Drive Knight has finally told us who he is. He is highly calculating and will use anything he can to achieve his ends. At the expense of anyone and anything.

What to make of all of this? One thing we can be certain of. Drive Knight really hates Bofoi, considers him a threat and reads the worst possible motives into his actions. He wastes no time in trying to sew suspicion about Bofoi whenever possible. Why? We don’t know.

At its most benign, Drive Knight may be like Zombieman and the House of Evolution, seeing evil in Metal Knight and a grand conspiracy where none actually exists. A less benign possibility is that Drive Knight may be projecting his ambitions onto Metal Knight and describing what he fears Metal Knight has in possession in order to thwart them (whoever ‘them’ is).

Since we as readers have a quasi-omniscient view of the story, we know that quite a lot of what Drive Knight said about Metal Knight is factually wrong. We know that he is wrong bout the circumstances under which Bofoi lost the Metal Knight. We know that he is wrong about its fate. We know most of all that he is absolutely wrong about Bofoi wanting the capable heroes scattered or defeated. Dr. Bofoi has been furious with the Hero Association executives for risking the lives of any heroes raiding the Monster Association precisely because he feared what might happen if the ranks of the heroes were thinned.

Interesting that G5 is definitely its own entity! Once I realised that the tactical transformations formed around Drive Knight, I’d started to entertain the possibility that the two of them were the same. That said...

I could well understand Drive Knight having done his own work to understand the nature of the strong monsters actually in the Monster Association base. However, there is one piece of information G5 has that it could not have reasonably obtained without Drive Knight sharing it.

When they ran off a second time, they ran off separately. More pertinently, there’s no reason for G5 to show Sekingar this information: it puts psychological pressure on him, but if G5 just wants to kill him, there’s no point to it. Instead, Drive Knight drawing attention to the support team and G5 drawing attention to the hostage act as a double-team interrogation to see if Sekingar has some way yet of reaching Blast in time of most extreme need.

We’ve also learned that Blast is all but retired. It falls into line with what we've gleaned from the webcomic and suggests that he's quite old.

He's just a poor boy from a poor family: spare him his life! (and limbs)

Dr Kuseno's occasionally prodding Genos to not forget his primary task of finding the 'mad' cyborg, as well as his warning not to fight it alone both make great sense. In OPM, you get good at what you actually practice. Fighting monsters as a hero has been very useful for Genos developing raw fighting prowess. It has done nothing to prepare him to face the cruel, conniving, and creative people that the not-quite-mad cyborg and those behind him are. Watching Genos ask straightforwardly what the situation and contrasting it to Drive Knight's complicated narrative was to realise how painfully naive Genos is.

It's all very well to counsel non-engagement, but you deal with the monster before you: situations aren't neat and don't wait until you feel prepared. I'd hoped for another conversation between Genos and Drive Knight but this looks far more dangerous. I've no doubt that Genos won't die, but his participation in this battle could be VERY short.

So many ways this story could wend. A few that come to mind:

The most tragic:Drive Knight convinces Genos of his predicament, perhaps offering data on the cadres as a sweetener and Genos escorts him and the fallen heroes out of the war zone. As soon as Drive Knight is sure Genos is safely underground, he'll kill Sekingar... and probably the support heroes into the bargain. If he burns them, the only fire-wielder known is Genos. If he's really clever, catching up with Waganma and Food Battler, dragging them back and burning them too creates a compelling narrative of Genos (already suspected of colluding with the monsters) waylaying the support heroes as they tried to retreat and killing them all. Drive Knight can show up at the Hero Association and continue his activities. No witnesses, a convenient scapegoat, and near total freedom to carry on his agenda.

Mortal combat. No matter what changes to the webcomic ONE has planned, Genos isn't about to get killed, so Drive Knight is either going to have to run for it or else get killed. Knowing who Drive Knight is, there is no possibility that he would defeat Genos and leave the latter alive -- even if he were that careless, Genos announcing that any enemy that gives him trouble will find that he comes back very quickly and very much stronger would put paid to that. (yes, he’s so naive!) Either way, Drive Knight won't be working as a hero any longer. For Genos, victory is likely to be expensive -- he runs the risk of sustaining critical damage, which will force him to retreat, or of wasting precious, precious energy that he could really use later. Very interesting repercussions will definitely follow.

Hit him in the heroism. Drive Knight could use the heroes and Sekingar as hostages and get Genos to allow him to leave unmolested. He won't be coming back to the HA but it looks like he knows all he needs to. Genos won't like it, but as a person who has long established his willingness to take incredible punishment to protect others from harm, he won't have any other course of action. I suspect that this is the most likely outcome.

Whatever actually happens! Only ONE (and Murata) know. I know I need the next instalment!

Bonus question. Where is the cat? Drive Knight dropped it when G5 showed up and it hasn't been in evidence since.

#OPM #manga #review #meta #long #Drive Knight #Sekingar #Genos #heroes #yay Genos is back #and ominious #wah ending on such a tense moment #please be a little cunning Genos #just a little

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imnotcameraready · 5 years

Text

chivalry is dead (20)

A/N: BIG YEEHAW HOURS TODAY Y’ALL ITS BALL TIME!!!!!!! AND WE CAN’T HAVE A BALL WITHOUT A PRINCE *stars bawling*

costumes will come in another post bc i. got really excited and then drew them all like, last month (most of them, some were finished last night y e e et)

WARNINGS: remus mention, heist details, wound descriptions, sword mention, scar descriptions, threats of violence, thoughts of dying — alright, im pretty sure that's it, but this chapter has thicc details so if i missed anything pls pls pls lmk

Words: 4550

AO3 link!

MASTERPOST! <– look here!! for the longterm warnings!! including sympathetic Deceit and cursing/swearing!

enjoy !!! <3 <3 <3 ,3 <3

Deceit really was right, Patton thought while he looked around at the town. His arm was linked around Logan’s as they walked down one of the town’s side streets, from Dr. Picani’s office, and he was taking the time to admire how intricate all of the architecture had gotten. It was intricate and worn and every building seemed unique now, something that he hadn’t realized was missing during their first pass through.

There were arch ways, bridges between doors on the third floors of buildings. There were seemingly hand-woven canvases shielding some of the streets from the sun and, if Patton squinted hard enough, he could see actual detailed stitching and some stains of age. They passed buildings that had scratches and chisel marks, and Patton could clearly see that it was made from stone bricks that had been painted over. Twice, actually. Once with a very old and faded blue, then with a lighter cream that still let the blue show through in spots where the paint was gone.

He wondered a little what had caused those spots. Was it because you weren’t supposed to layer house paint? The spots were different sizes — how many memories were made here?

Patton stumbled, tripping over his thoughts and heels, and leaned more into Logan’s side.

Logan tugged at his arm. “Don’t ponder too hard, Patton,” his voice was soft, hushed to not draw attention.

They’d figured that the best thing to do was to not think about the world around them. Thinking too much about the world and specifically the things that they would affect about it made their focus wander onto fixing those things. Logan would get a headache, Patton would space out, and Deceit would….well, okay, Deceit hadn’t disclosed how and if he’d been affected. But Patton noticed he’d been sweating like a sinner in church, and how his fist would clench every so often, so it was clear that something was happening with Deceit. He didn’t want to force him to talk; honesty wasn’t Deceit’s strong suit.

The four Romans had agreed that that was the smartest decision; none of them nor all of them together were able to limit the Imagination enough. The Playwright had argued that, had Dragon and Damsel known that it was hurting the other Sides, then they would probably all have a unified thought enough to close up the unused worlds. But that would require discussing the entire matter with them, which, as the Thief pointed out, is “pretty fucking useless where they are now.”

So the focus thing was their current strategy. Patton grinned at Logan. “Thanks for the reminder, Octo-cutie-pie,” he smiled wider as Logan blushed.

“I–I’m–Octopi is the plural for octopus and there is only one of me,” Logan bit his lip, then patted Patton’s hand gently, “Thank you.”

Patton giggled, snuggling against Logan’s side briefly as they kept walking. They hadn’t actually talked about the whole love thing, hadn’t really established boundaries, but that seemed like a problem for tomorrow.

Right now, they were all going across town, invitations in hand, to the ball. And, at the very specific right now, Patton was admiring the Playwright and the Artist’s handiwork. They’d worked together to make everyone’s outfits and he’d be a liar if he said they weren’t handsome and beautiful.

Patton himself was themed after a cat — a grey cat, but a cat nonetheless! His dress had a long train for a tail, made of shimmering silver tulle, the same as his poofy sleeves. The skirt went from his waist to the ground, with a built in flair in his corset at the waist. Like, all of it was sparkling, all three tiers of his skirt, which went from grey to black with an inner layer gradient of blue to grey. His favorite part were his gloves, though. Silver for the most part, but with soft circles on his palms and the tips of all his fingers. His own lil’ toe beans!

Logan’s outfit was one of Patton’s favorites. His was themed after an octopus (“Known for their intelligence,” the Playwright had explained, face bright red as he tied Logan’s necktie into an Eldritch knot) with a dark blue blazer and slacks. He wore a vest that shimmered royal blue, with a white button down underneath. There was a piece of coral in his lapel where a flower would usually go, and his coat tails seemed to spiral in shapes that resembled an octopus’ arms. There were even rhinestone bubble decals on his shoulders, or suckers, if you wanted to interpret it that way. The Artist and the Playwright had a small argument about that.

He was dashing, in summation. Patton leaned his head against Logan’s shoulder. “Who knew the town was so big!” he said.

“That’s actually on purpose,” the Playwright said from behind them, “It’s actually not so big as the castle is small, using the same foreshortening techniques used at the Disney theme parks to make Cinderella’s castle, or Sleeping Beauty’s castle depending on which park you’re at—”

“I think he means how far Picani’s office is from the castle, God Mod,” the Thief responded.

The Thief and Deceit were walking in front, swords drawn on the chance that they ran into any guards, and so that the Thief could critique Deceit’s sword fighting skills. Surprisingly, he’d taken to the weapon, something about it being good to have at his disposal while dealing with the Others. The Thief offered to make him one once this escapade was over.

Or maybe it was an excuse for the Thief to keep touching Deceit’s hand. Because that was happening every so often. A lot more often than would be considered normal.

It wasn’t like Deceit was complaining about the touching. It was more the other way around. The yearning for physical contact was frustrating, but neither of them were going to admit that they wanted to hold hands. Even though they’d confessed to at least caring about each other.

“Oh,” the Playwright hummed.

“Cheer up, butter cup, I love hearin’ bout the forced perspective! The Disney parks are so~o~o fun,” the Bard sang out. “When’s the next time we get to go to California? Are we making a trip down to Anaheim? Can we PLEASE take a trip down to Anaheim!”

One of his arms was looped around the Playwright’s, while the other was looped around the Artist’s. They had settled on outfits that complemented each other’s, pulling from the same red and black color palette.

The Artist was the only of the trio in a suit, though his outfit could be considered the loudest. Buttoned down the middle with a high collar, half of his shirt was a solid black, while the other half was a diamond checkered pattern. All of the accents were gold, and his pants were half solid red and half checkered as well. Tonight, the Artist would be a jester.

An improvement on his self-esteem, the Bard had thought. The Artist had said so, too, saying he’d be dressing like a joke. It...was nice to hear.

The Playwright had also gone with a more light-hearted outfit, pun completely intended. He was dressed as the queen of hearts, with an A-line skirt that skimmed the ground and was almost entirely a replica of the skirt worn by the Queen of Hearts in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland animated movie. His corset had a low scoop neckline with a long heart that stretched down from the neckline to the bottom of the waist. His sleeves were poofy, black with red stripes between.

It was a deck of cards theme between the three of them. Honestly, they took a bit of solace in their three Musketeers situation. The Bard was dressed like a harlequin in a ball-dancing dress. His entire dress was checkered, a stiff corset traded for a looser fit bodice that was sinched at the waist by a thick black belt with a heart clip. Bits of tulle were attached to his wrists, ideal for dancing in, which was perfect for the plan. He and the Playwright had matching heart chokers, too.

As he’d said earlier, “We cute.”

Neither the Artist nor the Playwright had argued, and they had yet to pull away from him holding their arms. Maybe they didn’t hate him.

They didn’t! They were moving beyond all that!

Because they had to get the Child back, and Virgil back, and save the Damsel and they had a plan. Actually, they should run through the plan again, because the Bard had already forgotten most of it.

“Thief?” he called ahead.

“Mhm?”

“Can we run through the, uh,” they had a code word for it, shoot, what was it? Oh! Oh, right, “The waltz again?”

“Great Mona Lisa, Bard, how the fuck did you forget how to waltz?” the Artist groaned. “We’re going to a ball.”

“No, no, no, THE waltz,” the Bard nudged the Artist’s side with his elbow.

The Artist shot him a small confused glare, but realization struck his face quick after. “Oh. Oh, that waltz. Yeah, uh,” he turned to the Playwright, who also seemed confused, then to the front again, “Before we get in, we should go over the waltz again.”

The Thief and Deceit both stopped as well, fingers brushing once again. The Bard saw the motion and chuckled to himself. Sweet Chopin, they needed to just hold hands already. He could envision the love birds flying around their heads.

He felt a smidge bad, though. After all, he was the lucky Roman who got to kiss Patton.

Logan and Patton both turned back to them. Patton let go of Logan, then looked around. They weren’t quite at the castle yet; a side alley, wide enough for all of them to stand in and with ample trees, barrels, and an open door beside it would provide good cover.

“Let’s go over there,” Patton grabbed Logan’s arm again and led them all into the alley.

They grouped up into a small but tight circle, the Thief pulling them together. He was in a suit, and an ironic one at that. Originally his costume was intended for Deceit, but he suggested switching them, so that the Dragon would think he were Deceit while being less suspicious. He was themed after a snake, though the theming was less noticeable than the color palette; there were yellow sequins arranged in scale patterns across his black blazer’s forearms, and his vest was black as well, undershirt yellow, and bowtie black. It looked a little like a snazzed-up version of Deceit’s lawyer suit and, though he’d tell no one, the Thief loved the look.

Deceit had said it looked nice on him, too. The bowtie, specifically, but also the entire outfit, and also the Thief simply looked good — yeah, they were both kind of messes. Gone was the ability to seamlessly flirt, apparently.

Still, it was nice to see Deceit in something other than yellow for a change, too. He was dressed as a peacock, with no blazer but a side-cape that shimmered iridescent purple and green. Part of it had blue and green rhinestones inching up the shoulder, and his vest beneath was teal, while his undershirt was mint green. There were bands on his upper arms, keeping his shirt bunched back, that were dark blue. Even his ascot was an iridescent purple and blue.

They leaned against each other in the huddle. Brown eyes trailed all around the group, meeting similar expressions of steely determination.

They could do this.

“Alright,” the Thief started, “For the first hour, we’re gonna scope out the room and surrounding rooms. Meet wherever the snacks are in pairs, alternating pairs, and spread details. Patton and I will go twice.”

“Because you and I are gonna peel off after the first hour to go get Virgil and the Child,” Patton said, meeting the Thief’s eyes.

The Thief nodded. He looked around at everyone — Deceit and the Bard had both been fairly defensive about that choice, but he argued that they needed people who were good at causing distractions on the floor. Patton would be the best at comforting both Virgil and the Child, and the Thief was the only one who had any inkling of what the inside of the castle looked like.

He continued. “Right. We’re gonna try to get out and—”

“Say, what d’ya think that’d make us?” Patton asked, a tiny grin on his face.

“Oh, no,” Logan groaned, “Not—”

“Cat burglars!” Patton exclaimed with a giggle.

The Bard immediately broke out into a fit of giggles, leaning into Deceit a little as he did so. Deceit just rolled his eyes and patted the Bard’s back, letting him cling to his side.

The Artist stifled some chuckles of his own, and the Playwright grinned. Oh. Oh, no, not the idea grin.

“I think Dragon will be hard pressed to find flaws in our purr-fect plan,” he said, eyes shining as Patton laughed as well. “We’re just gonna have to distract him with our adorable kitty-Pat.”

Logan groaned again, in good humor this time. “I thought you were supposed to be on my side, Playwright,” he grumbled.

The Playwright immediately sobered up, mouth pressing into a line. “Ah, Logan, darling, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

“Hey, but,” the Bard raised a finger at the Playwright, smile wide and mischievous, “If he catches wind of anything, you, Artist, and I can pull a wild card and deck him.”

That got the Artist and Patton to both laugh aloud, and even Logan smiled a tiny bit at the Playwright, if only to reassure him that his frustration was not directed at him.

The Thief seemed actually annoyed, though. He snapped his fingers in the center of the circle. “C’mon, focus here. Patton and I are going to get Virgil and the Child, then we’re going to come back up to the ball room at the second hour. At that point, Deceit—”

“I’ll be dancing with Dragon and, once you’re back, I’ll be distracting him enough for you to get out,” Deceit waved his hand, also slightly exasperated. He wanted Virgil back immediately and, as the time to pull off their hest approached, he grew more nervous.

“Right. Then, Playwright will take you backstage once everyone else has filed out,” the Playwright nodded to the Thief regarding his involvement, and the Thief looked around the group once more, “All of that sound good? Everyone else, be on the look out for Damsel. We don’t know where he’s gonna be. If he’s out on the ball floor, Logan, you—”

“I will approach him and explain that we are here to get him out,” Logan grimaced, “If he is not on the ball floor….”

“Then I’ll be on standby to head into the dungeons,” the Artist said, smile deflated, brow furrowed in thought.

“Good,” the Thief patted his shoulder, gripping reassuringly, “And if Remus is there, then Bard is going into the dungeons with Patton and I’m staying in the ball room to kick his ass.”

“This all sounds like a plan, Thief,” the Bard said, smiling at him, “Logan, thoughts?”

Logan huffed, frowning at the ground. He’d rolled the details over in his mind a few times, so he’d already worked out some of the issues, such as the irrationality of the original plan’s “jump out the dungeon’s windows, really, how large are the windows, and how do we know it’s not underground.” For right now, it seemed as though the plan were efficacious, but they couldn’t be certain until it was enacted.

But at that point, it’d be too late to change the plan to any degree of impeccability. They would have to wing it. And Logan wasn’t a fan of that.

But what choice did they have?

“It is as detailed and as faultless as we can arrange for it to be currently,” he said.

The Thief’s mouth twitched into a slight grimace, but he nodded all the same. That was as optimistic as he would be. “Once this is all over, we meet at the tree as fast as we all can get there,” the Thief said, casting one more look around, “If we pull this off right, no one’ll be leaving alone. If your partner gets injured, you carry them to the tree.”

“I don’t think….” the Artist said, frowning a tiny bit as his voice trailed off.

The possibility of injury was very high, actually. Death for the Romans, at least. And they didn’t know if the Dragon had injured Virgil or the Child. To be honest, they didn’t know if the Child was alive. Oh, goodness, what if Dragon had killed him?

“It’s gonna work,” the Bard said, “It’s gonna.”

He squeezed the Artist’s arm and gave him a nod. It was going to be okay. Roman was optimistic by nature, and the Artist did crave that sort of positivity.

“It must,” Deceit affirmed none too positively.

“It will,” Patton said, smiling at them all again before clapping, “And break!”

Everyone stood up on instinct. Then, they all shared slight laughs, small smiles.

The Bard leaned over and hugged Deceit with an arm, reciprocated a little. Patton leaned against the Artist, who didn’t hug back, but also didn’t flinch finally.

They were getting somewhere. It was going to be okay.

It was going to be okay.

….Without Virgil, they all felt as though their optimism was naively placed. But that was why they were going to get him back!

Once he was back, Deceit thought, he was never letting go again. If he was back. No, no, once he was back. He was coming back soon.

“Let’s go,” the Thief pulled his mask out from his coat, a black half-face mask covered in yellow sequins arranged like scales.

Everyone shared looks, nodding to each other as they slid on their own masks. Logan, Patton, the Artist, and the Playwright all had special masks that mimicked their glasses prescriptions so they wouldn’t need contacts, too. With faces obscured, they nodded once more, squeezing arms in reassurance and patting backs and giving smiles, and hurried out of the alley.

The Playwright walked at the front of the group, the only one not paired to any Side. He looked up at the sky. A storm had grown, clouds angry and grey above the castle, which was only a few blocks away now. Perhaps it would thunder during the ball.

He wondered vaguely what had caused the sudden shift in weather. During their week alone, it was all sunny skies.

Was it….

No. No, no part of Roman was that desperate, to have gone to Remus. Right? He’d been telling himself that ever since they’d begun this game, but the darker their future seemed, the more he worried about the Duke’s involvement.

The Thief seemed to think it was very real, enough to have a back-up written into the plan. C’est la vie. Such was life, he thought, the show must go on.

They walked quietly for only a few minutes. The closer they got to the castle, the more Imagination inhabitants they saw walking around them, some in pairs, some in groups, some alone. Everyone was in costume, most intricate. Good. This would be good, for coverage. The Thief had been a little worried that the ball would be sparsely attended, but this was good.

It was going to be okay.

They approached the drawbridge. Patton leaned against the Artist, gripping his arm tighter as the wind picked up. The Thief and Deceit were stoic behind them, and Logan and the Bard were simply quiet, though their hands were interlaced tight. It was going to be okay.

A line had formed on the bridge, in front of one man in a suit, perhaps the medieval equivalent of a bouncer. The group shuffled into the line, looking around at the castle, at the moat (“I think it’s filled with alligators,” the Bard murmured to Logan, who shook his head and was about to respond that that didn’t make sense, until an alligator’s maw jumped up and snatched a low-flying bird) and at the sky.

Angry, angry clouds.

It took an excruciatingly long eleven minutes for the Playwright to finally reach the front of the line, but when he did, he immediately grinned. He had to hand it to the Dragon.

“May I see your invitation?” Zac Efron asked, dressed in a black butler’s outfit.

Bless the Imagination’s castings. The Playwright handed over his invitation, and Zac looked over a list in his other hand before handing back the invitation and checking off a name. “You may enter to the ball room,” he motioned to the door.

The Playwright curtsied and hurried in. Behind him was the Artist and Patton, both of whom gasped a little, becau se holy shit, it’s Zac Efron.

The Dragon was really out here casting Thomas’ celebrity crushes as butlers. It was the first thing that the Artist had wholly agreed with the Dragon on, actually. Once they were Roman, they were going to have to look into that as a possibility.

One by one, each entered, walking down a grand hall with a ceiling so high and so vaulted that there seemed to be a sky inside. But, then again, there probably was. This was the Imagination. It looked somewhat like the Great Hall from the Harry Potter movies, this time shining with stars and constellations.

Logan could identify Aries and Pieces. That was actually accurate for the season and hour, so he gave a mental kudos to Roman for his design, then considered if it were his knowledge that had been used to perfect the stars. Well. That was inconsequential, I guess?

The hall was also lined with suits of armor, and bannisters adorned with Roman’s full crest. Though, Deceit noticed while he walked through, the entire crest was outlined in gold and the castle in the center was colored with grey and brown and black. He thought the Dragon was only supposed to be the outer tower and walls. If the Dragon called all of the shots around here, then why was the center tower also colored?

The walk was long, heels clacking against the stone. They turned with the carpet to the left and entered through a pair of double doors that had to be at least two floors high.

Inside was life. The room was massive, stretching almost the size of a football field. There was a stage near the entrance door where there were musicians (with undetailed faces, Deceit noticed) were playing loud enough to echo across the room. The dance floor seemed to take up about half the room.

Farther away from the entrance were some circle tables, arranged around with some citizens already sitting down. Further back were some long tables, food stacked atop them, and even further….

The throne was elevated so the Dragon could see across the hall to the dance floor. The Thief’s fists clenched immediately upon seeing him wearing the Prince’s attire, white uniform a stark contrast to the black he was typically adorned with. It was a jarring difference.

He was taunting them. By Doc Holliday’s pistol, they were gonna take him down.

Beside his throne was a large Ottoman seat, where there was another figure. The Damsel, most likely, though his face was obscured by a sheer red veil and distance. He was wearing a large dress, which had a triple-tiered skirt that seemed to flare out orange, then red, then black. His corset was decorated with red and orange and yellow rhinestones, and raised behind his head. It almost looked like flames.

Burned. The Damsel’s scars were also entirely visible, scabs on his arms angry and red, clearly not fully healed. They weren’t openly bleeding, but the Playwright could tell that they would start bleeding at some point in the night.

His nose scrunched as he examined the pair. They didn’t seem to notice him, the Damsel leaning against the throne’s side and not moving, the Dragon stroking his chin and looking across the hall absently. He had a sword sheathed beside the throne, too, with its handle sticking up in an easily accessible manner.

He was waiting for them, he realized. Of course he was, this was a trap, you fool. You knew this. You’d planned. It was going to be okay.

The Playwright turned back to the group just as the last pair, Logan and the Bard, entered.

“Okay. I am going to move toward the snack table,” he nodded toward the thrones, “Octopus, would you like to join me?”

Logan let go of the Bard, who curtsied and stepped back, and then offered a hand to the Playwright. “It would be my pleasure,” he said, “How about we acquire a table, Hearts?”

The Playwright nodded, then shot the Thief a look. “Snake,” he said, a promise, a warning, “Let’s waltz.”

“Let’s,” the Thief responded, squeezing Deceit’s arm.

The Bard and Patton had already taken each other onto the dance floor, hoping to not be conspicuously waiting in a group by the door way, and the Artist was meandering around — nope, no, he just asked an Imagination citizen to dance. Blending in well.

Operation save Virgil and the Child was a go.

Virgil could hear the faint music from above. He squinted up, then closed his eyes and exhaled. What’d that matter?

His side was throbbing. It seemed that just wrapping a bandage around a wound did fuck all to stop it from hurting, or bleeding, especially if it was just wrapped once and around the front. Virgil would have to remember that for the next time he got stabbed by an evil Dragon, he thought snidely.

He and the Child had relocated themselves to the bed. Pretending to not be panicking was tiring, but luckily for him, the Child had fallen asleep.

He sniffed quietly, rubbing his eye with the butt of his palm. For the past half an hour, ever sine the Child fell asleep, Virgil had been silently crying. And there was no Damsel to conjure him a glass of water or tell him it’d be okay. Because he knew it wasn’t going to be okay.

Even if he didn’t die in the Imagination, he’d be exiting it alone. And that was fine!

The Child snuggled closer to his chest, tiny arms wrapped around him. Virgil sniffed again and hugged him tight.

If he did nothing else, he’d at least protect this Roman.

He wished he’d at least told Roman how he felt.

Maybe he’d never get the chance.

Gosh, this was really fatalistic, even for him. It wasn’t like he was gonna die in the Imagination.

Virgil shielded his eyes with an arm and, as illogical as it was, wished that he could use that one arm motion to block out the sounds of the ball going on above. Shit, he was gonna die in the Imagination.

….Usually that’d freak him out a bit more. Maybe he’d bled out to the point where he was too tired to be worried. And, maybe it was childish, but he really did want to dance with Roman.

taglists!

chivalry taglist: @starlightvirgil @forrestwyrm @daflangstlairde @marshmallow-the-panda @askthesnake @k9cat @patromlogil @theobsessor1 @ninja-wizard101 @fandomsofrandom

general taglist: @jemthebookworm @okay-finne

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millard-nullings-shoulders · 2 years

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I had a sensory overload today and cried on my boyfriend chest, so you're all getting headcanons so I can make myself feel better! Don't pay any attention as to how late it is!

Jacob:

-He has so little confidence in himself that it's actually sad

-Cannot be stopped from making self depreciating jokes, no matter how many times people tell him it's not good

-If this boy had a tiktok it would be blank. Maybe a cartoon pfp, but not a single video (Same bruh same)

Emma

-Out of everyone in the loop, she's the best at makeup. Doesn't mean she wears it all the time, but when she does good shit

-If she's in a bad mood, she can destroy you with words if she wants to. Luckily, this doesn't happen often, especially not to her friends. Random men that don't leave her alone on the other hand...

-For a while she had a "I'm not like other girls" thing going on, especially whenever Noor first came around. Not really there anymore though

Millard

-Do you ever get sensory overloads and cry? Then boy, do I have the cure for you! Cry while he hugs you. Automatic cure, I can confirm this right now from personal experience

-Sometimes he gets a little too focused on something and won't realize just how late he's said up until someone has to actually drag him to bed

-Gives the best and most thoughtful gifts. Oh? You collect pinned bugs? He's finding out where to get a rare pinned bug and giving you that on Valentine's day! Yes, that's what he did for me, I love him so much #justfictivethings lol

Hugh

-Out of everyone in the loop, he has the most...complex feelings about his gender. Being so tied to bees, he's beegender, but with that comes some strange feelings. Most bees are female, so he does feel a strong connection to femininity. But at the same time, he still feels tied to drones/male bees.

-He tries not to think too much about it, and maybe keeps it bottled up a bit too much. Maybe it's because it stresses him out to ponder too much. Maybe he's embarrassed to talk about it. No matter what though, he does feel a lot of gender euphoria wearing skirts and confusing people about what gender he is.

-His sexuality is probably just as confusing to find an exact label, but it's not something he worries about. He just ends up using the term queer and calls it a day

Fiona

-Fiona being plantgender surprises no one, and it never will. Same with her being bi. She just...you can just look at her and tell

-She's probably the least happy in a modern setting. Everything is just...too much for her. She likes the whole cottagecore thing, but she'd much rather keep to her usual ways. So still stuck in the late 1800's

-She has a way to talk to Hugh with just...looks. Slight facial expressions, body language, they just know each other that well. More often than not, they're flirting with each other like this out in the open

Enoch

-Was put on kitchen duty once....Once. The peculiars don't talk about this often

-You can't pay him to play sports with the other boys. He'd sooner pull teeth

-I am voting him as most likely to have filled his homework with doodles

Horace

-He's not a fan of many things in the modern day, but he does appreciate a few things. Easier tools for cooking, Google, and easy access to fabric to name a few things

-What he isn't a fan of though? Fashion (obviously), dance trends, and the modern humor

-His scream could break glass

Bronwyn

-HATES it when people call her a man for whatever reason. On bad days, it makes her cry

-She has a bit of hyper empathy with animals, especially baby ones

-A boy hit on her ONCE and she felt physically nauseous about it for a whole WEEK

Claire

-Says her favorite Disney princess is Aurora because her dress is pink, it's actually Cinderella because of the song "so this is love"

-She sees everyone in the loop as her siblings, but especially Enoch

-In a modern setting, she is addicted to those dress up flash games, bonus points if they're princess themed

Olive

-Sometimes she rolls her ankle in those big shoes, there are a lot of tears from that

-Has stepped on toes before! Brones were indeed broken!

-Master at finding lost items. No idea why

Bonus Victor!

-Horrible about confessing his feelings

-Makes horrible decisions when he gets nervous. It's like all critical thinking goes out the window

-Seems like the type with pencil graphite stuck in his hand permanently somewhere

#miss peregrines home for peculiar children #ransom riggs #jacob portman #emma bloom #millard nullings #hugh apiston #fiona frauenfeld #enoch o'connor #horace somnusson #bronwyn bruntley #olive elephanta #claire densmore #victor bruntley

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kevintor · 5 years

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I Watch a Movie I Should Have Seen: “Moonstruck”

What did I know? I knew Nicolas Cage was in it. Normally Nicolas Cage is enough for me but I also knew this was Early Nicolas Cage. Back when he was still cutting his teeth. Learning how to chew scenery. Figuring out that the Nicolas Cage way of acting is to always make the unexpected choice in a scene and, usually, that unexpected choice is the wrong one. But, when done with conviction as he always does, it’s fun wrong. Also, I knew Cher was in it.

My thoughts:

You have to start with “That’s Amore” or we wouldn’t think a movie with Danny Aiello in it dealt with Italian people. Although, I will say this is his least Italian character. He’s probably playing someone who’s only 94% Italian.

The funeral home owner gets butter on his tie. Cher tells him to take it off so they can clean it. AND HE DOES! It’s so hard to tie a tie. I have to do it twice a year and it is brutal. This scene stayed with me more than any scene in the movie.

Danny Aiello says, “A man who can’t control his woman is funny.” Maybe this is why people think I’m funny. Let’s say, as an experiment, I wanted to control my wife. Let’s allow this experiment to include alternate universes. That gives me infinite versions of my wife which would result in infinite failures at control. Even Stepford Loly, after my order, would scratch her perfectly-powdered nose with her middle finger.

Cher is a widow. Her husband got hit by a bus. She’s 37 and, to reflect the difficulties of her life, they made her look like a 60-year-old high school math teacher.

Danny Aiello asks Cher to marry him at a restaurant. He doesn’t want to get on a knee. He not only doesn’t have a ring, he doesn’t seem to realize he needed one. The man is a catch. It’s understandable why Cher would say yes.

Danny Aiello goes to Sicily to be with his dying mother. This should give Cher some time to ponder what a pile of garbage he is.

Cher lives with her parents and grandfather and FIVE DOGS! Dogs should never outnumber humans in a house. Maybe this is why she said yes so fast to Danny Aiello - to get out of the dog house.

She toasts her dad over the engagement with champagne and two sugars. I’ve never thought to put sugar in champagne. Would that make it better? I know when I have sugar in the school parking lot at pickup, it makes that better.

Cher’s father is a lot. He’s a cross between Rodney Dangerfield and Ralph Kramden but not the good parts.

Cher calls Nicolas Cage (Danny Aiello’s brother who has not spoken to in years) to get him to come to the wedding. He hangs up on her. The tension is already palpable.

Nicolas Cage is so passionate. He yells. He throws things. He’s like a toddler if a toddler had an absurd amount of chest hair.

Cher’s dad is having an affair. That feels like an unnecessary wrinkle for the movie. Why do we need that too? To give Olympia Dukakis an Oscar?

Nicolas Cage flips the table after Cher cooks him dinner and they get it on. I hope Cher made him clean it up after sex. Even chest haired toddlers have to learn responsibility.

Nicolas Cage invites Cher to a night at the opera. Nicolas Cage has two loves: the opera and being moody.

Strong foreshadowing as Cher passes a dress shop that has two dresses in the window: a wedding dress and a going out dress. I feel sorry for the employee who has to change the window display every time a woman walks by. “Jennifer, a nice woman named Helen is walking by next. She just lost her uncle but she was also invited to a luau the night of the wake. Work your magic!”

Cher goes to “Cinderella Beauty Shop” to get rid of her greys. It may have taken all the hairspray in New York City but the “Fairy Godmothers” turned her into an 80s queen. Or Mother Gothel after Rapunzel sang her rejuvenation song.

Nicolas Cage thanks Cher for getting pretty. Real smooth.

SINCERE THOUGHT ALERT: I could watch the scene with Olympia Dukakis and John Mahoney eating dinner together for a long time. I’d want it to be the whole movie. Two great actors.

Danny Aiello returns to reveal his mom miraculously recovered but decides he can’t marry Cher because he thinks his mom will die if he does. I’m not sure I follow the logic but Cher doesn’t want to marry him so it works.

Nicolas Cage cuffs his dress shirt sleeves up to the middle of his biceps and asks Cher to marry him. She says yes to a life of flipped tables and yelling, followed by sex.

This movie was fine. I don’t know why it won so many awards.

#i watch a movie i should have seen #moonstruck #cher #nicolas cage #danny aiello #olympia dukakis #80s #The 80s #80s movies #Movie Reviews #comedy #funny #italian #rapunzel #tangled

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oh-so-scenarios · 5 years

Text

damn but, you is amaze..♥| Part 10

damn but, you is amaze… ♥

↠ Prince Jungkook ends up meeting his Cinderella, and he tries to find her before the clock strikes 12 and the fairytale magic fades.

Waring: None really, just some angst. lol

◀ last|part ten|next ▶

•Masterlist•

** A/N: Short on purpose. Next few parts will be filler parts. Please ignore any errors :)

THIRD PERSON POV:

Jungkook paced around the nearly empty walkway of the mall, ignoring the looks of shock from people who recognized him.

He can’t count how many times girls have approached him with such lies, and to have it happen again? He was on the edge and was proud of himself for not blowing up even more on that poor girl. He stopped walking, the sad eyes of that girl flashing in his mind.

He shook his head as if to chase the thoughts away. He sighed and reached into the pocket of his over the head hoodie. He pulled out his phone, checking for any messages from Y/n. None. He opened up Instagram and went to their message conversation.

He froze for a moment, not sure what to say. Just speaking to her over text made him so nervous. How he is gonna see her again? His girl. His future Queen...hopefully.

[10:54 AM] Jungkook: Good morning sweetheart, I hope you slept well. What are you up to today?

He pressed send and placed the phone back in his pocket. He spun around and headed back to the food court, pushing the mouth mask up onto his face. He kept his head down, avoiding the eyes of people who passed by.

He didn’t want word to spread that he was here. It wouldn’t take long for his fangirls to gather and cause chaos. He returns to find more people gathered around his table of friends. He freezes for a moment, thinking it’s fans who have found him, but soon recognizes Jimin, Taehyung, Hoseok, and Mina who is Namjoon’s sister.

“The whole crew is here,” Jungkook calls out, catching everyone’s attention.

“Look who has returned.” Jin teases, “Have you calmed down?”

Jungkook nods, turning to greet Mina kindly.

She bows slightly, “I heard we were all getting our fittings down today.”

“Yup,” Jungkook answers pulling his mask down to his chin again, “I want it done so I don’t need to worry about it.”

“He already has a lot on his mind.” Namjoon teases, hitting the youngest’S arm.

“I haven’t seen Jungkook so stressed before.” Hoseok chimes in.

“Or youngest is ready to find his Queen.” Jimin teases, picking Jungkook’s cheek. Jungkook looks down embarrassed. The hype around Jungkook finding his mystery hasn’t died down like he expected.

Rather rumors are flying that he has indeed found her, and she’ll be making her appearance at the Spring Gather ball. He’s not sure how that information leaked to the media but it is indeed true.

There will be more media at the ball than expected, all of them hoping to catch the first glimpse of the future Queen.

“Oh right, that girl you’ve been so eager to find,” Mina says matter-of-factly. She doesn’t speak again, her face scrunching up as though she’s lost in her thoughts. Jungkook doesn’t ponder on it long, checking his phone for a reply from Y/n.

Nothing. His brows furrowed as he notices the small check showing that Y/n has read it.

He doesn’t have time to think about it as everyone gets up to head toward the tailor. Jungkook grabs the stuff he recently purchased, cursing himself for not waiting till after the fitting. They head up to the highest level off the mall where the biggest brands reside.

“Your Highness! Dukes!” The shorter woman calls out as they approach the storefront.

“Hello, Hayoon-shi.” Jungkook greets and bows. She chuckles, hitting Jungkook on the back.

“There is no need for any of that! Let’s get started, shall we? It’ll be a long session.”

“It always is,” Taehyung teases.

“But my work is the best!” Heyoon chimes, making everyone giggle. She is, in fact, the tailor that the family has been using for years now. The royal family won’t go to anyone else. The short middle-aged woman practically lived in her shop, always working to give her customers the best results.

“Your Highness, you’ll be going first.” She says, grabbing Jungkook by the wrist. She brings him to the changing room where his suit was already hung up for him to wear. He left the items he bought in the changing room and swiftly put on all three parts of the outfit.

It was a bit baggy, but it was nothing Hayoon couldn’t fix. He wasn’t how long he was standing there for while Hayoon made marks and stuck pins in the fabric he was wearing, but he knows he was itching to check his phone.

He stretches his arms out for Hayoon again, throwing a look towards the closed door of the dressing room.

“What do you keep looking at?” Hoseok askes from his seat against the wall. Everyone sat in the various couches and chairs set behind Jungkook. They were all waiting for their turns, being distracted by their phone.

“My phone.” He answers softly.

“Oh I see, you’re probably eager to speak to her huh?” Hoseok stands up from his seat beside Jimin and walks towards the dressing room. There is some shuffling and the tossing of clothes before Hoseok emerges with Jungkook’s phone in hand.

“You have snap notifications, texts from your mom and IG likes but that’s all.” He informs, heading back to his seat. He unlocks Jungkook’s phone, knowing the code.

“Oop, it’s already opened to the conversation.” He mutters. Jungkook stares at Hoseok from the reflection of the three-panel mirror in front of him.

“She already read it,” Jimin says leaning over to peak at the screen.

“Maybe she’s busy?” Yoongi chimes in, “I’m sure she has a life of her own.”

“But the online icon is there...so she’s clearly on Instagram?” Jimin argues.

“She probably has nerves about meeting you. It’s a big deal, you know?” Namjoon says when noticing Jungkook’s distraught expression.

“All done Jungkook!” Hayoon exclaims, “You can go slip back into your casual clothes. Taehyung, you’re next!” Jungkook goes back into the changing room, taking the suit off and hanging it back onto the hanger.

He changes back into his regular clothes and steps out the changing room with his things. When he walked over to the couch, his phone was in Mina’s hands.

“What’s going on?” He asks, reaching for his phone. His face turns up in annoyance when Mina leans away, refusing to give him the phone.

“Jungkook, this is the instagram account of the girl you’re looking for?” Mina asks, looking up from the phone.

“Yes, what about it?”

Even Hayoon stopped what she was doing, now watching the quiet scene unfolding in front of her.

“I know who this is!” She chimes, setting Jungkook’s phone on her lap.

“W-what?” Jungkook stutters, “H-how?” Everyone’s attention turns to Mina. She digs into her purse, pulling out her large iPhone.

“I was introduced to this channel by my friend Sunny! She’s a gown designer and told me the account was her friend’s. I thought it was nice so I started following it...umm I think her name was...Y-Y/n?” Mina speaks casually.

Jungkook rather stands there shocked and frozen. No one seems to notice Jungkook’s unmoving figure as Mina clicks around on her phone.

“I don’t have a picture of Y/n but I have a picture of Sunny! You might have seen her around. Her father is a congressman!” Mina clicks around on her phone a few times before turning the screen around to Jungkook. He stares at the light blonde female in the picture.

She doesn't look familiar. No one seemed to recognize her till it reached the older guys.

Namjoon threw a glance a Jin who looked on in question. Jin took a look at the phone screen before his eyes grew dramatically wide. He starts to giggle, making Jungkook jump out his daze.

“What?” He asks.

“Oh Jungkook, this is funny but I don’t think you’re going to laugh.” Jin replies shaking his head.

“That girl, Sunny or whatever, was with the girl you yelled at earlier today. You know the one that came up to you…”

Jin’s words began to fade into the background. Jungkook felt his whole body grow cold with fear and he could hear his heart beating in his ears.

“Yoongi, I’m not crazy right? This girl was definitely there.” Jin shows the phone to a quiet Yoongi. Yoongi stares at the screen for less than 5 seconds before nodding softly.

“She was with the girl shopping for camera lens earlier.” Yoongi added.

“That makes sense,” Mina says, “I think Sunny said she’s a wedding photographer”

“Damn,” Namjoon mutters, “It really was her.” Everyone’s eyes fall onto Jungkook who’s eyes stayed wide. It was hard to tell what he was really looking at, but his thoughts were running a mile a minute.

“Am I missing something? Why does Jungkook look like that? Shouldn’t this be a happy thing?” Mina inquires.

“I am also confused.” Taehyung says as Hayoon starts dragging him to the dressing room.

“We ran into her at the tech shop earlier then we saw her at the food court. She came up to us and was trying to tell Jungkook who she was...but Jungkook kinda freaked out and yelled at her.” Yoongi explains.

“Jungkook!”

“Dude! Why would you do that?”

“Ugh you totally messed up.”

There were shouts of protest from others, even Taehyung who Hayoon was trying to force into the dressing room.

“Guys, it’s not Jungkook’s fault. He’s had so many girls come up to him on some bullshit. He was just tired of it.” Namjoon defends.

Jungkook wordlessly grabs his phone, unlocking it to the message he sent, still no reply.

[11:59 AM] Jungkook: Y/n? Hey. umm please reply to this when you can? I wanna talk to you?

Jungkook pressed send and before he could close the app, the check mark showing that Y/n has read the message appeared. He stared and wait. No response.

“S-she’s not answering me?” Jungkook stutters.

“She might be hurt? It was kinda harsh.” Jin chimes in.

Jungkook runs his fingers through his hair, “D-do you think she’ll still come to the ball?”

Everyone shrugs, not knowing what to tell the young man.

[12:12 PM] Jungkook: Y/n? Please answer? I’m so sorry. It’s come to my attention that it was you I met at the mall today? I came off so rude. I promise I’m not usually like that. Its been a stressful week.

Jungkook: sweetheart?

A heart-broken Jungkook flops onto the couch, taking Taehyung’s seat. He throws his head back, his eyes burning with tears of frustration and anger at himself.

“Jungkook, don’t stress too much, just apologize and explain yourself at the ball.”Jimin encourages.

“If she’ll even show up.” He replies, his voice cracking slightly.

“I’m sure she will.” Jin joins in.

Jungkook sits there with his eyes closed for a while, lost in his thoughts and thinking of ways he could apologize. He could get Sunny’s number from Mina and try to get in contact with Y/n? Or would that freak her out?

The others thought he fell asleep, so they didn’t bother him. Everyone else was getting their fitting done while he silently beat himself up for his rude behavior. She was so hesitant to even talk to him via messages.

She worked up the courage to approach him in person and was shut down. She definitely isn’t gonna show at the ball.

Jungkook opened his eyes and sat up, grabbing his phone.

He opens the direct messages with Y/n and writes on the last sentence.

[12:43 PM] Jungkook: Y/n, I hope I will still see you at the ball. Have a wonderful day sweetheart.

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journeysintowebcomics · 5 years

Text

Girl Genius Liveblog #200

UPDATE 200: Monster Train

Last time Tweedle and Agatha had an encounter, and Tweedle says he’d willingly help Agatha get to Paris. Agatha doesn’t get much time to ponder why Tweedle would offer this, because there are urgent matters at hand. Namely the crazy train trying to eat everything. So let’s deal with that.

Apparently Tweedle’s first move is to manhandle Agatha.

I imagine knowing he had made the whole chemical thing happen is like half of the reason she immediately went for the knee to the groin strategy instead of just pushing him away or something. The other half must be the rather obvious ‘geez, Tweedle, don’t be a creep, don’t grab anyone like that’. Luckily for him, he can still make himself useful even while he’s presumably rolling around in pain. He can contribute theories and ideas.

Because that’s what’s going on right now, they’re actually thinking of some potential ideas to trap the train and force it to stop. Magnetic fields! Given the train is, you know, a mobile chunk of steel and other magnetic materials, immobilizing it with magnetism is a good idea. That has to be easier said than done, I bet they will need some potent magnets and I don’t think there are a lot of those around here.

Looks like the preparations are done offscreen and some time passed, because the very next page is them getting lifted towards the yards, weapons in hand. Maybe they did have very potent magnets here! Okay then! It’s going to be dangerous, though, there’s molten metal raining on them, and that can’t be good at all. I wonder if that’s some sort of weapon the train has, or if the monks trying to keep it under control are using molten metal to do it.

Agatha has different plans, apparently.

Well, her track record so far is decent. I’m not certain it will work, but it’s worth a try, if only because it’s her family’s horrible train and therefore maybe she’ll have a measure of control over it. Still, if it’s anything like what happened with the Castle, it’s going to be very complicated and will require some sort of test. I doubt everyone else will just stand around while such thing is done, so a test will go badly, and they’ll have to fight the Beast.

I wonder if I got any of that right. Won’t lie, I’ll be disappointed if I managed to guess what will happen!

The plot is stopped by a rather adorable image.

I love this, I absolutely love this. I really missed Girl Genius during the time I was busy and writing a Worm update every moment I got a bit of free time. I’m excited to be reading this story again, seriously!

Speaking of fun images, what comes next is the first glimpse to the evil train in its entirety. Bask your eyes in this!

Look at that! Pretty cool, eh? I really like this train. And wow, it definitely looks like something the Heterodynes would make. This is great! This is the last page of the volume, I think, so that’s one volume more finished! Like six more are left.

I wonder how many volumes will be needed for this storyline. The last one filled several volumes, so there’s a possibility this one will as well. The earlier storylines covered like two or three volumes, but that was so long ago and the storylines have gotten so filled with stuff and details I don’t think the Foglios will manage to cram everything in two or three volumes. Part of me is kind of expecting all the volumes that are left to be about the train in some manner, really.

Well, if it’s not due to length, it will be due to intermissions. Since the volume is over it’s high time for some extra stuff! Such as paper dolls. I wonder how popular the paper dolls are? They must be decently popular, if more are made every once in a while!

It seems these are a reward for a Patreon goal, and they will be all about the Cinderella interlude from ages ago. Ah, I still remember that faintly. Fun times, those were. One day I should reread it, just for fun.

I see all the outfits I remember are here. The tattered clothing when inventing, the rather yellow dress that had like eleven clocks on it...yup, they definitely are aiming to bring back ever outfit from back then. I don’t think there was any other.

Ahaha, there’s that thing! The wind-up moon! I love that thing. Anyway, there’s Gil and Tarvek, both of them with their gaudy golden costumes and crowns, as well as small references to some moments of that interlude. Zeetha is in the page that comes next. Fairy ensemble, and also this:

‘Does thou even lift?’ Okay then! She certainly does, I say.

There are the three ugly stepsisters – or more like the two ugly ones and the one that wasn’t so ugly, because that one was the only one to get decent clothing and also a ridiculous hat. Kind of disappointingly, those are the only new elements for Da Boyz. Oh well.

Also, I’m convinced the costuming department ran out of money when it was time to give Oggie a wig. I didn’t remember that was a mop, haha.

...I have so many question, Foglios. What’s up with this. While part of me is tempted to crank up the Photoshop and overlay this over the Krosp paper doll, I won’t bow down to my curiosity.

I surrendered to my curiosity and I have banished the results from my sight. I feel both puzzled and oddly pleased. But really, what was up with that, Foglios, haha

Niiice. I think it’s no secret I like hats, so I’m enjoying what I’m seeing here, hah! Excellent.

That was the end of the paper doll intermission. Back to the story. That was a fun one!

As Agatha proclaimed he would do, he tries to talk to the train, immediately informing she’s the Heterodyne and that she wants to know what the train wants. Well I sure can imagine what the train wants. I mean, it’s a Heterodyne creation, so I’m pretty sure it will involve the widespread destruction of something. Given it’s a vehicle that can go wherever it pleases, said destruction will certainly be widespread. I don’t think the train believes her, anyway.

While Agatha talks, it seems to me the rest of the group is getting ready for the catch-the-train-with-magnetism plan for when/if Agatha’s conversation attempt fails. Given how the train thinks her question was colossally stupid, the odds of this ending without a fight are almost zero. At least it answers what it wants, and given it’s a train, the answer is more or less what you expect, I suppose.

Also there’s the widespread destruction. Of course it is.

Not only it wants to consume everything in its path, it hates what the monks would like it to do if they had their way: stops every once in a while, follow the rails, don’t consume everything. This train was made to go against everything the monks want. Truly, this is a Heterodyne creation.

I mean, the other trains don’t have sentience or will of any kind. Makes me wonder if they would reject the monks too, if they did. At least one can take solace in the knowledge they won’t ever dare to do such a thing because the Beast is a tremendous cautionary tale on why not to do it!

Discussion over, time to trap it. The monks use their rods and turn on the magnetic field, trapping the train. That went smoothly! More than I expected, at least. While it’s in disbelief about this, Agatha tells it it can’t go around destroying and eating everything in its path. While that’s true, the Beast begs to differ, and decides to show just how useful eating everything is. Well! That sounds dangerous! And something for next time, given how likely it is this will lead to further developments. I shall stop for now!

Next time: in four updates

#girl genius #girl genius liveblog #webcomics #liveblog #webcomic liveblog

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thej13579 · 5 years

Text

Big Princess 6

Every Halloween, one of the nerd crew gets to pick out what the crew will wear for the occasion. This year it’s Honey’s turn.

“No. Just no.”

All Honey did in response to Hiro’s complaint was to give him a smile that showed she couldn’t be more pleased if she tried.

“I don’t know, Hiro. I think you look adorable. I knew Snow White would be the perfect costume for you.”

And it was. Hiro had to admit that Honey put a lot of work to make his costume look authentic. The dress consists of a dark blue bodice with a high white collar, the short puffy sleeves were a lighter blue color with bits of red cloth poking out of it. The bright, yellow ankle-length skirt had a white petticoat on it, making the young boy feel rather girlish. His shoes were tan pumps decorated with bright yellow bows. Covering his spiky hair was a black-haired wig with a red bow tied on it, completing the look.

“Okay, I want you to sit down so I can work on your makeup.”

Hiro sighed as he grabbed the nearest chair and sat down.

“Nope!” Honey quickly grabbed Hiro by the arm and dragged him out of the chair.

“What did you do that for?”

“You can’t sit down like that. You’ll wrinkle your dress.” Honey criticized Hiro’s deportment. “You have to smooth your skirt from behind whenever you sit down. Try again.”

Hiro rolled his eyes as he did what Honey said. Smoothing his sunny yellow skirt as he sat down on the chair.

“Perfect,” Honey brought out her makeup bag, a huge thing in an extremely bright shade of pink. “Now, time for a little makeover.”

She first took out a tube of red lipstick. “Lips red as the rose.” She ran the cosmetic over Hiro’s lips, rolling it across until it was even.

“Please bite down.” Honey had Hiro bite down a piece of tissue to remove the excess lipstick; a perfect imprint of his now red lips were left on it.

“Now a little blush.”

As Honey was doing his cheeks, Hiro pondered over how he ended up in this situation in the first place and it was then he remembered. Back when Tadashi was alive, the Nerd Crew agreed that every Halloween, they’ll take turns deciding who gets to pick out what they will wear for the holiday. With Fred, it’s Marvel heroes. With Gogo, it’s famous race car drivers. When Tadashi died, the tradition still continued, just with Hiro taking his place. However, this year is Honey’s turn and her theme is Disney Princesses.

Hiro couldn’t help but ask the question, “Why do I have to be Snow White for Halloween? Couldn’t I have at least dressed as Mulan? She’s a Disney Princess too.”

“Gogo’s going to be Mulan. Besides, you make a better Snow White, especially since you’re so young. Now hold still, I need to do your eyelashes.”

Hiro reluctantly complied, allowing Honey to roll a tube of mascara over his eyelashes, making them dark and thick.

“And… done!” She turned the chair towards the mirror, allowing Hiro to take a look at himself. He gasped as he saw how girly he looked with his dress, wig and makeup. While still recognizable to his friends and family, Hiro knew that anyone who never met him would just mistake him for an ordinary girl who wanted to be Snow White tonight.

“Doubt you could even recognize yourself, huh?” Honey was gleeful at the work she has done. She made sure that everything was perfect; the costume, the wig, makeup. If there’s one thing that Hiro could Honey credit for, it’s that she can go the extra mile when it comes to detail.

“Alright, let’s show everyone.” Hiro sighed as he reluctantly followed Honey downstairs.

“Looking good, Hiro!”

Hiro blushed at the compliment as he walked downstairs, making sure not to trip on his skirt.

He stared at Fred who gave him that compliment. Much to the teenager’s surprise, none of the members were laughing at him or even snickering at him. It was kind of a relief to the boy.

Of course, Honey had to continue with costumes and she knew who she should pick next.

“Alright, come on Gogo! You’re next!”

Two hours later, everybody was all dressed up with each of the group going down dressed as a different Disney Princess.

Gogo was the first one to go down and her attire made Hiro doubt that dressing as Mulan really would’ve been better than Snow White. He was expecting Gogo to wear Mulan’s warrior outfit from when she was pretending to be Ping, but she was instead in Mulan’s matchmaker outfit. She was wearing a pink hanfu that went down to her feet. Her face was covered in makeup like a geisha with white makeup, red lipstick and blue eyeshadow. She was also wearing a wig that was tied up in a bun.

Wasabi was up next with him being dressed as Tiana. Out of all of them, he was the least convincing which everyone expected with his more muscular body. Honey decided to go with some creative liberties with the outfit to make up for his lack of womanly features by adding sleeves and a top to the dress.

Fred was third with him as Belle. While not as bad as Wasabi, Honey also took some creative liberties with Belle’s dress to help accommodate for his lack of breasts with sleeves and a top.

Last but not least was Honey and she was the most beautiful of them all as Cinderella. Her sparkly silvery-blue dress worked well with allowing her natural beauty to shine through. Her hair was tied up in an updo just like Cinderella’s.

The only one who wasn’t dressed up for the occasion was Baymax as it could compromise his ability to be a healthcare companion. Hiro somewhat envied his situation but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. But there was a question that he needed to ask Honey.

“Okay, now that we’re all in our costumes, what are we supposed to do next? I doubt we’re going to spend the holiday sitting around like this.”

“Of course not,” Honey said. “We’ll just walk around the area, see the sights and we’ll go to SFIT for the Halloween party. Maybe we can find your prince while we’re at it, Hiro.”

Hiro could only roll his eyes as Honey giggled her way out the door, his three costumed friends following suit. He was the last to make his way outside, his skirt swishing against his shaven legs.

#big hero 6 #my fanfiction #hiro hamada #honey lemon #gogo tomago #bh6 fred #wasabi #baymax #crossdressing #halloween #disney princesses

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papipopsicle · 6 years

Text

AFTERTASTE PART TWO

Pairing: Archie Andrews X Short!Reader

Summary: In which two best friends since childhood test whether friendship and can co-exist without causing conflict. Including my OC’s Flick & Cherry, a lesbian couple and best friends of Y/N. Set Pre-Veronica.

Warnings: FWB, swearing, mentions of sex and oral but no actual smut

Words: 3.9K

MASTERLIST

feedback is always appreciated

One week passed with nothing said between the two best friends. Whilst their teasing way of life carried on, they completely avoided the subject matter of last Friday night. Saturday morning shone through the parted curtains of Y/N's grey and pink bedroom, waking the pair from their dreamy states, and a meaningful conversation began as quickly as it ended.

Y/N let out a groan and tightly shut her eyes after daring to open them, and suddenly a soft hand, that didn't belong to her, unwrapped itself from her stomach. After scrunching her brows together in confusion, the girl processed the sight her eyes caught; the view of her window and dressing table blocked by bare skin. She sighed and nestled into the warmth of a broad chest, the soft arm lacing back around her waist as a groggy voice cut through the air, "Morning, Tiger."

She groaned again in response, not having the energy to speak, and Archie couldn't stop the chuckle falling from his lips at that. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and Y/N was glad at that moment that her head was buried in his chest, because the confidence she had last night wore off like a Cinderella spell and now she was sure her cheeks matched two cherry tomatoes.

"You feeling all right?" The redhead asked, and finally Y/N raised her head to meet his eyes, smiling at the calming effect they had on her. She simply nodded, her hand that wasn't trapped under the pillow now drawing patterns on his upper arm. Archie took this as a chance to ask another question in his gravely morning voice she wouldn't admit she found a little too attractive, "Wanna talk about last night?"

Y/N kept her gaze fixed on his arm and her fingers, searching her mind for the right words to a difficult answer. She yawned and nodded once more, flicking back to the attitude only he could bring out of her, "It was fun, Andrews, I like that side of you."

"What's wrong with the other side of me?" The boy pouted watching her from above as her hand now lay flat against his chest and she wriggled to lie on her side fully.

She smirked up at him devilishly, "Absolutely nothing, pretty boy."

"You have absolutely no idea what kind of affect you have on me, little girl." He matched her smirk and tightened his grip on her waist to bring her the slightest bit closer, her side of the bed left completely vacant.

"You need to stop calling me that." Y/N grumbled slapping his chest lightly, and Archie furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. She rolled her eyes at his stupidly adorable face, "It makes my mind think dirty things, dirtier than last night. Things that best friends probably shouldn't think about each other."

He was quiet for a while after that, but then a thought popped into his mind like a bubble and his smile returned. "What if," he began, morning voice wearing off much to the girls dismay, "we're something more than friends? I know you don't wanna be in a relationship right now and you know I'm the same, but what if we're something in between?"

"Friends with benefits?" She perked up and pondered for a moment before her grin suddenly mirrored his, "Okay, I'm in. Just us plus sex, like ice cream and extra sprinkles."

Archie chuckled, "Exactly. Do you have any ground rules? You know, so if we do this it actually works."

"No fucking other people, that's just rude." The petite girl said almost instantly. He rolled onto his back as she spoke and Y/N rest her cheek against his chest as she continued, "And we keep it a secret as best we can. If we decide to tell anyone then give the other person a heads up first or straight after. You got any?"

"How about saying no at any time is perfectly fine? Neither of us should feel forced to do something if we aren't comfortable with it. And it can be stopped at anytime, circumstances don't matter." Archie said with a kind smile, one arm running up and down her back as the other absentmindedly played with her hair.

Y/N grinned, "You've got yourself a deal there."

"So this is actually happening?" The redhead asked almost not believing what had just been agreed to him and his best friend of eight years.

"Yep," She popped the 'p' and snuggled back into his chest, one leg wrapping around his lower torso and an arm lightly draped over his muscular chest, "can we go back to bed for a bit? I don't care what the time is, it's too early to get up."

Now it was his turn to grin, "Of course, Tiger."

And just like that, their deal was struck.

It was the norm for people to comment on how close Y/N and Archie were, but by now the entire school (teachers included) could predict the response of 'we're just friends' even after being caught in each other's arms. Their change in behaviour wasn't picked up by anyone, although when the short y/h/c girl suddenly squeaked out a moan she'd been trying so hard to hold back, sat next to Archie late Thursday evening with the usual suspects surrounding them at Pop's, it raised a few eyebrows.

The weekend rolled around soon enough, and after spending all of Saturday procrastinating and finally getting some work done in the evening, Y/N felt it was only necessary to have a well-earned day off. She planned to stay in bed for the evening, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cape, cookies on hand whilst Agent Carter ran on repeat from her near-dead laptop. But, those plans were smashed to smithereens when her sister decided that would be the day to invite half of her year over and drink from dawn until dusk.

Coincidentally, their parents had gone down to San Antonio to visit Y/D's brother since his niece had just gone into labour with a baby boy on the way.

Once again, this left Y/S in charge of her younger sister, meaning whatever happens over the two days stays between them and their parents would get the story of lounging around trying to annoy each other all weekend. Y/N had spent the morning with Cheryl at the gym, afternoon with Betty baking cookies and lounging in her room, and now, she didn't know what to do with herself.

She lay on her stomach in bed, scrolling through Instagram whilst her legs kicked at the air in boredom. Another half an hour past until the banging of EDM and thoughts of drunk teenagers trashing the house became enough to send her wild. With it now being Spring Break too, nothing would stop that party until everyone of them were passed out somewhere. Y/N groaned to herself and grabbed her pink backpack, shoving a few necessities in it and picking up her phone.

Tiger 😸💞 Guessing you're awake/home rn?? x

Flame Crotch 🔥 Ofc I am I don't have a social life, you wanna come over? x

Tiger 😸💞 Yep, Y/S has terrible taste in music and I'm pretty sure if I don't make a break for it now I'll be dragged into a very non-consensual orgy :/

Y/N slid her bomber jacket on and picked up her bag; she wore a bubblegum plaid skirt with a ribbed cream turtleneck jumper tucked in and a pair of grey ankle boots. Her hair had been pulled up into a messy bun, and nothing but freckles covered her skin. She and Betty decided to dress all cutesy for an afternoon of baking, and Y/N was sure Archie would appreciate her short schoolgirl-esque outfit too.

The girl let herself out through her side door, luckily an unknown area to party-goers, and locked it after leaving. With her backpack slung over one shoulder, Y/N went incognito through her own garden and avoided the gaze of intoxicated minors. She crossed the quiet street and sent two soft knocks to the door of 113 Elm Street.

Silenced enveloped her until it was shattered by rushed footsteps, barking and a whole lot of indistinct clatter before the door was answered a minute later by the eldest Andrews. He put his body between the door and the free space created by it being opened, not looking too comfortable in the position as he attempted to keep Vegas from attacking the girl with slobbery wet kisses.

"Hey Freddo, heya Vegas buddy." Y/N beamed, and before he knew it the Labrador had broken free to be fussed over. Although she grew up with cats and was therefore the designated 'crazy cat lady' of her clique, the petite girl adored all animals, especially her best friend's 11 year old dog who was still a 2 month old puppy at heart.

"Thought you would've had a key made by now, kid." Fred greeted the girl with a side-hug and chuckled to himself, stepping aside and pulling the bundle of energy with him so she could step through the door.

"Must've left it at home." She shrugged and sent him a lop-sided grin mirroring Vegas's current expression.

Then, a loud crash from upstairs startled the two, and a few seconds later Archie stumbled out of his room whilst fumbling to get his shirt over his broad shoulders.

Y/N furrowed her brows, but happily drank in her friend's perfectly disheveled appearance, she let her head rest on the railings of the stairs and peered up at him, "Did you just fall off your bed?"

"N-no. Definitely not." Archie responded almost instantly, his lack of hesitation proving the statement to be false. Y/N simply shook her head and followed the boy back up to where the noise had come from just moments ago. She slung her bag onto the floor nearest his mess of a wardrobe, the patch being claimed as her spot whenever she came over.

Y/N huffed, and in one step she face planted the boy's unmade bed, finding conflicting emotions within the musky smell of his duvet that usually only brought her comfort. Archie chuckled dryly, mimicking her movements to flop down next to her with their noses now touching, "What's up, Tiger?"

"Nothing." The girl pouted a little but it soon softened into a smile when she noticed his frown, she lifted her head ever so slightly and pressed a light kiss to the bridge of his nose. "I'm just happy, full stop."

"So..," Archie mimicked her movements and quickly pecked her nose before continuing, "what's made your nonexistent heart suddenly start beating?"

Y/N shrugged for the second time that day and answered simply, "Everything. There's been no fall-outs with the girls, Josie hasn't said anything to me recently, my cousin's baby boy is perfect and happy and healthy, and then there's you, obviously. You, Archibald Andrews, on top of all the good that's happening right now, you're what makes me the happiest."

"Ah, we're playing this game now?" He asked with a smirk, one hand finding its way to her shoulder and he began to twirl strands of hair between his fingers aimlessly. "Well, I'm sure your main reason for coming over here was to see Vegas and that I was just an afterthought, but you're what makes me the happiest too."

This wasn't exactly a game, more like a reoccurring conversation over the past ten years. At their brightest, darkest or most boring moments throughout their lives, the answer to whatever made them the happiest would always be each other. It made no sense most of the time, and was just a strange little phrase to the outside world, but to them it was a promise.

Out of the blue, the girl shot up. Archie jumped up at her sudden movement, but watched curiously as she rearranged herself to sit cross-legged with her head in her hands. "Written anything new recently?" She asked hopefully, then before he could answer she added, "Don't you dare say no, your guitar's not in its case and your good luck pen's on an open page of Lola. I don't need to be Sherlock to see that you were writing before I arrived."

The redhead rolled his eyes playfully at her antics and reached for his lyric book, easily handing it to her. He normally didn't share his songs with anyone, but in the sweetest way possible Y/N would pry it out of him eventually so there wasn't any use fighting her, not that he would keep it hidden from her for long anyway. Archie stood to grab his guitar before sitting at the side of his bed, propping the instrument up against himself and looking back at the girl as a smile made its way to her face. He watched for a moment, mesmerised by her concentration on his work; the way her lips quirked up at the lines she liked, or the pout that appeared when she couldn't work out what something meant due to his scrawled handwriting.

The redhead finally decided to interrupt her thoughts, "It's not finished yet, and I'll probably change a few things, but this is what I've got so far- and before you ask, I'll tell you what it's about after you've heard it."

(song is When You Can't Sleep At Night by Of Mice and Men)

He began strumming his guitar and settled for a mellowed rhythm, and just as he began to sing Y/N leant back against the wall with her eyes closed to fully appreciate the lyrics she read just moments ago.

He breathed in deeply, "Here in this world I'm awaked with mistakes, but it's love that keeps fuelling me, fuelling me."

"Pretty little lady with the swollen eyes, would you show them to me? I know I'm not that perfect, but you stay awhile, baby, then you will see."

There was a pause, and Y/N opened her eyes to see Archie with his closed, deep in thought as he began to sing the next few lines, "Miles away I can still feel you, lay your head down on my embrace, my embrace. Far away."

"Pretty little lady with the swollen eyes, would you show them to me? I know I'm not that perfect, but you stay awhile, baby, then you will see."

"Don't give up, baby. I know that it's shaky. Just let love consume us, consume us..."

As she realised the song was coming to an end, Y/N quietly sang along matching the boy's pitch perfectly, "Here in this world I'm awaked with mistakes, but it's love that keeps fuelling me, fuelling me to love you."

"Miles away I can still feel you, lay your head down on my embrace, be not afraid to love me."

Archie repeated the chorus one last time and the song finished as the last strum of his guitar ricocheted through the room. A moment of silence past before the petite girl let out a gleeful squeal and began clapping to hide the fact that hearing him sing such reassuring lyrics brought tears to her eyes.

"That was beautiful, Arch. Like I know I say that every time you play me something new, because it's true, but that may just be one of my new favourites." Y/N sighed contently, "So, what's it about then?"

The redhead placed his guitar back down and leaned back against the headrest of his bed to get comfy, but this only prompted his best friend to lean against him. So, there was a moment of awkward fumbling as they shifted to get themselves comfortable, but in the end Archie settled with his arm protectively around her as she lay against his chest with her legs over his.

"It's about everything really." He admitted with a hidden but faltering smile, "Life isn't perfect or the best in any way, it can get really fucking rough at times, but love and positivity will always beat that. All that cliché kinda mushy stuff. The bond between family or two people who love each other can overcome any of those difficult obstacles. Originally, I wrote it as a sort of lullaby, it's been ripped out of Lola and rewritten so many times I couldn't ever get it right. This is so stupid- I was meant to send it to you last year after what happened, because I knew you were having trouble sleeping, but something stopped me every single time."

Y/N didn't respond straight away, she snuggled into his chest more whilst processing the words. Her best friend didn't find confidence in his work easily, but she never saw anything but pure talent in its rawest form. The fact that he wrote for and about her was something she treasured, it meant the world to her that he'd spent so long trying to find the right words to help her.

"I think it's perfect just as it is, I might be a year late hearing it, but I love it just as much." She sniffled, using the sleeves of her jumper to wipe away her tears. Archie's expression changed in a split second when he heard the noise; before he was frowning, thinking he'd left it too late to show her that he was there for her, but now he was just downright confused and concerned.

Sniffling again, Y/N twisted in his arm and raised her head ever so slightly, pressing her lips against hers softly. It was completely unadulterated, only lasting a few seconds before she pulled away with a smile.

"I loved it." She affirmed, gazing up into his doe eyes with her wide ones as he relaxed instantly with the words. And with that, she wrapped her arms around his torso in a bear hug and let her head rest on his shoulder as he rubbed her back on instinct.

Archie shook his head and chuckled slightly at his own thoughts, "You know, I lied, I did fall over before, and it hurt real bad, I'll probably have a bruise in the morning."

This got the girl's attention, rather unintentionally though. He just wanted to hear the laugh that made his stomach do somersaults again, but the devil on Y/N's shoulder had different ideas. She eagerly sat back up, to the side of Archie this time, with her legs over his and her arms around his neck, then she grinned out the most wicked of smiles.

"Can I add to those bruises?" She temped, one hand weaving its way into his bright hair as the other settled on his shoulder.

Archie groaned in response, his head falling back ever so slightly, "How the fuck do you do that?"

"Do what?" The small girl asked innocently, her bottom lip jutting as she batted her eyelashes. She knew exactly what he meant, but needed the satisfaction of hearing the words leave his lips.

Archie held her by the shoulders in his tight grip, staring at her with darkened eyes now, "How the fuck do you go from the girl I play GTA with three days straight without showering to the sexy little girl you are right now? It's driving me insane, you parade around in these tiny mini skirts. I can't cope, you're meant to be my best friend but all I can think about is fucking you 'til the sun comes up."

"I can safely say I want nothing more than that right this second, and I'm not saying I'd stop you either. But from what I know, I'm not exactly quiet and it would be oh so unfortunate if your dad walked in to see you neck deep in my pussy, now wouldn't it? Because that would end this before it's even begun, and that's the last thing I want to happen." Y/N all but whispered into his ear, her breath hot against his neck making him tighten his grip on her.

"Fine." He sighed and knew she was right, but that didn't mean he was alright with it. "Want a top to sleep in, Tiger?" The redhead asked in vein, by now he knew if the option was ever there she'd take his shirt over anything. He never got why exactly, but went along with it anyways.

Y/N chuckled, tapping his chest a couple times before leaning against the wall and away from the warmth of his body. She knew he wasn't happy with the situation, and truth be told neither was she, but knowing his unsettled reaction was only a joke made her feel safe. She trusted him with everything.

The girl smiled up at him as he began to get off the bed, predicting her next words before they'd even left her lips, "Yours, pretty please."

Seconds later, Y/N sat up and drew her knees to her chest, only to have Archie throw a black t-shirt in her face. It was one he didn't wear very often, since helping his dad and going to the gym more now meant it showed more abs and biceps than it covered. But that wouldn't stop it from drowning the petite girl like all of his tops.

She stood up and grabbed her bag with the t-shirt in her other hand, and turned to Archie one last time, "I'mma go change into this, could you close the curtains? You know, so if anything does happen, Betty doesn't find out about our little agreement by randomly looking out of her window."

So, that's exactly what they did. Y/N changed out of her cute ensemble and into the boy's shirt, and as predicted, it sat just on her thighs. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, smiling with satisfaction at her fresher appearance. Taking off her underwear, she put on a pair of Calvin Klein's and packed everything back away again. With one last look in the mirror, the girl unlocked the bathroom door and made her way back to Archie's room.

The sight she was greeted it made her core twist and tighten, but she ignored that and focused on putting her bag back down. Archie had been leaning against his desk scrolling through something on his phone, in nothing but his boxers. It was something only two other people had been graced with, one of those being his father and the other Betty through the safety of her window. He was hot, and the Y/L/N girl couldn't stop her mind from flashing images of him on his knees, tufts of orange hair gripped in her hand as he brought her to the brink of cumming over and over again until she was screaming his name.

Reluctantly, she pushed those thoughts aside for another night and plonked herself down on his bed again. The night went on for hours as they talked about everything from alien invasions to the newest Stranger Things episode, and had a small game of would you rather somewhere in-between. But now, around three in the morning, Y/N was fast asleep curled up against the wall with Archie closely behind her in his own happy little dream.

It was nothing less than bliss.

PART THREE

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