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mintseesaw · 4 years

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harana | jjk

translation: n. the act of wooing/courting someone by serenading him/her

pairing: jungkook x reader

genre: fluff, f2l au, drabble

word count: 3.5k

warning: none // rating: pg-13

requested by bebe athena @rookiegukie. Im sorry it took a while, but i hope you like it hun! You may still submit your requests for the drabble game Paraluman Playlist until the end of August. ✨

note: this didnt turn out as initially planned changing after jk released his latest cover so i highly rec u to listen to 10,000 hours by jjk (cover) while reading it hjfjgdjdkgm also it’s a first for me to delve into f2l trope ljggdhd yall forgive me if it’s too cliche bwahaha

“Hyung! ______-noona is here!” A kid who opened the door for you announced your arrival rather loudly, recognizing him as one of Jungkook’s cousins. You pushed through inside the nostalgic interior of the Jeon’s household. Nothing much has changed in the past two years.

Soon after, Jungkook appeared from the doorway you remember as the door leading to the kitchen. He’s decently dressed and when you say decent, you meant he’s not in his usual attire of anything black and over-sized. Nonetheless, he’s handsome as ever. You’re not gonna deny the fact.

“Hey!” He greets, face lighting up at the sight of you, biting back a smirk as he skims the length of you adorning a cute, yellow dress. He glances down at your hand holding a gift-wrapped present for his mom before draping an arm over your shoulders.

He feigns a frown, “You shouldn’t have bothered. Mom will appreciate you making it on her birthday.”

“Well, unlike someone I know, I’m thoughtful enough to prepare something for Auntie.” You tease, knowing he possibly bought nothing for his mom.

He scoffs, only proving your assumption right. “Yah! Don’t sound too enthusiastic, I’m the son here.”

“So what? I’m your mom’s favorite!” You retorted back.

“No you aren’t!” He snapped, while his mouth unconsciously juts forward in defeat.

Your eyebrow arches. “Is that a challenge I hear?”

Jungkook nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. “Forget the competition. We’re here to make my mom happy.” He quickly dismisses, distracting you as he leads you straight to the garden area which you could already see where the guests are gathered through the glass doors.

As expected, the said small party looks simply classic with a touch of Mrs. Jeon’s sophisticated taste. Average-sized square wooden tables are neatly scattered in the expanse of the garden with uniform vintage table setting that coordinates well with the floral decorations in the vicinity. In front, a makeshift platform was made behind a decorated linen with pinned letters “Happy Birthday Mom!” Behind all the tables is where the buffet table was placed.

You’re actually relieved that your simple puff sleeve dress matches with the theme of the party, forgetting the guilt of having to wear the dress without borrowing it from your sister.

Mrs. Jeon was happily chatting with her guests but when the sliding door breaks open revealing you tucked under Jungkook’s arm, the present smile on her face stretches wide and immediately shuffled towards you and Jungkook’s way.

Mrs. Jeon audibly gushes just as you handed your gift and welcomed you with a warm, tight hug. “Thank you, dear.”

Jungkook took it as his cue to leave you two for a second.

When she draws back, she appreciatively give you a once over. “Oh, you look so lovely on your dress!” Mrs. Jeon clapped her hands. You smiled shyly in return.

“Thank you for coming, dear. It’s been ages since the last time I’ve seen you. Come here and get some food.” She says.

It’s true. After you’ve been in college two years ago, you’ve hardly stayed in your hometown for more than two weeks, hence, you couldn’t squeeze your time here to pay the Jeons a visit. Mrs. Jeon became your guardian whenever your parents were in business trips back in the days, and during the times of your stay at their house, you’ve grown much closer to her just like your second mom.

By the time you reach the buffet table, Mrs. Jeon caught Jungkook in the act of getting a piece of sushi straight from the chafing dish, and his poor soon right away earned a whack on his arm from his mom.

“Use the tongs!” She reproaches which made him flinches dramatically.

Such a baby.

You bit back a chuckle as Mrs. Jeon went on with “Go to the kitchen and refill the dispenser!” Jungkook pouts but obeys his mom without complaining. However, he made sure to shoot a fake glare at you before he disappears from the doorway.

Mrs. Jeon then handed you an empty plate. “Here, ______. I know you like pasta.”

Your eyes widened a little. Perhaps, you have not recovered from the surprise painted on your expression, hearing it come from her that she caught a glimpse of your slight shock state. Why should you be surprised when Jungkook knows it as well? He might have told her or something.

“Oh don’t be surprised, dear. My boy always asks me to cook pasta whenever you come around.”

Isn’t it his favorite food? “It’s… his favorite... right?” You began but ended up questioning the validity of your knowledge.

She laughs, “You know he could eat anything edible but cannot live without his portion of meat every day.”

“Oh.” It was only that moment it registered to you. His mom is right. He’d always make it a point to consume all your stocks of meat whenever he shows up in your dorm in the most unexpected days. His university is not too far away from yours. Yet, this guy thinks it’s worth the two-hour drive just to get to your dorm and pester the shit out of you.

“I’m so happy you’re able to make it on my birthday. Will you stay in town for the rest of your break?”

“Uhh… I was supposed to focus on saving up through my part time jobs this summer but my mom threatened to disown me if I don’t stay here during summer break.”

“Oh she’s being reasonable, honey. Believe me, I’d do the same thing if Jungkook refuses to go home at least once a month, unless of course, if he runs off with you.” She remarks in a teasing manner, earning a profuse blush to appear on your cheeks so abruptly.

Since you left home for uni, you actually believe Mrs. Jeon had forgotten about your shared interactions back then. Yet, here she is, still having faith that his son has actual feelings for you. She told you many times that she’d want a daughter like you or, at least, be her in-law. She always regarded it in a playful tone so you used to get mixed signals whether she was really serious or not. But then, you’d say the overused line: “we’re only friends”. She would then give you a knowing look and insisted that she knows her son well. Fortunately for you, she made it a point to only tease you whenever Jungkook was out of earshot.

By the time Jungkook came back a few moments later, you’re already seated in a vacant table at the farthest back. Jungkook occupied the seat next to yours, taking notice of the half-finished food on your plate.

“What time are you leaving?” He asks the moment he plopped down the chair. Your head cocked to the side to meet his gaze.

“Are you trying to make me leave early?” You prompted suspiciously.

He rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna drive you home, idiot.”

“Well, you don’t have to. I can… walk.”

“It’s not like I have a choice.” He mutters under his breath.

Your eyebrows quirked but you spoke no more. He lifted his shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. Did he mean his mom will force him to drop you off at your house just like the old times?

As the night progresses, the small celebration has pumped up with lively cheers from their relatives, incited by the impromptu program prepared by Jungkook’s cousins which was mostly filled with fun games. At some point of the said program, a small commotion on the side of the makeshift platform started to build up. The next thing you know, his cousin, the mastermind behind the entertainment portion of the party, caught yours and Jungkook’s attention when she announced his sudden participation in the program through a performance.

“Our boy Kookie here recently recorded a cover and he’s here to perform the live version and showcase his talent to our dear guests. Everyone, let’s welcome our very own Jeon Jungkook onto the stage!” His cousin enthusiastically says through the microphone. On cue, everyone in the garden, particularly his cousins, roared in earsplitting screams of cheer.

He blinks, completely perplexed. He was not given a heads up prior, much less told that he would perform a song in front of an audience. Hesitant due to his nerves, he backed away subtly just as he reaches the side of the supposed stage. However, his cousin caught up with his attempt and pushed him not too gently toward the platform, and even placed the microphone stand in front of him, giving him no room to say no. The expectant look of his relatives left him no choice but to just— his eyes suddenly caught your figure at the back when you stood up and went to the buffet table.

His heart thuds so hard against his rib cage that he’s afraid everyone can hear it through the mic, including you. He’s sure he’s as white as a paper by now more so that his nerves are getting the worst of him.

That song is not just any song he simply did a cover of. It was the song he meant to sing for you when the right time has come, when he’s ready to pour his heart out to you.

He sucked a deep breath once more, and slowly breathed out once more. Instinctively, his eyes fluttered closed when he heard the music began playing.

Ready or not, it’s now or never.

Do you love the rain? Does it make you dance

When you're drunk with your friends at a party?

At the sound of his voice filling the air of the summer night, you spun back around to face him. That’s how he missed the look on your face just as how you missed the chaotic cheering of his cousins as they piled up to the side of the platform.

What's your favorite song? Does it make you smile?

Do you think of me?

Hearing the beautiful lyrics wholeheartedly sang by Jungkook, the same one who stole your heart a long time ago, you couldn’t control your heart as it started racing so wildly, tiny specs of heat slowly spreading in your chest. Thoughts began to swirl in your mind – giving you the anticipation. The possibility. The potential love affair. That the friendship would develop into something more.

Before the next verse comes, Jungkook peeled his eyes open, however, he didn’t expect to see you awestruck there across his line of vision from the back, and meeting your expressive eyes. If he didn’t know better, he would have mistaken the glint in your eyes for something else.

Maybe just… maybe you like him too.

When you close your eyes

Tell me what are you dreaming?

Everything, I wanna know it all

You look so beautiful. That the thought of you alone could easily make his heartstrings twist so cruelly in his chest. Oh how he wishes you’d let him spoil you the way he’s been dying to. He’d be the luckiest man to ever live to have you as his girlfriend.

Jungkook didn’t know how he managed to put up the courage to return your gaze, never have you looked at him the way your pretty eyes are staring back at him now with the genuine fondness in them. Somehow, as he gets lost to his emotions, he suddenly couldn’t find the strength in him to take his eyes off of you.

I'd spend 10,000 hours and 10,000 more

Oh, if that's what it takes to learn that sweet heart of yours

Butterflies erupt crazily in your stomach, goosebumps start to appear on your skin and your cheeks heat up as he held you captive under his wistful stare. The longingness and the passion they hold, the twinkle of his orbs as his doe-like eyes are digging straight to your soul, what it is all for?

And I might never get there but I'm gonna try

If it's 10,000 hours or the rest of my life

I'm gonna love you

He’s always been a constant figure in your life since the moment you two became friends. He didn’t miss any important celebrations that involves you since then. And even though Jungkook has been vocal about being overprotective of you dating guys he didn’t know, none of you ever tried to address anything remotely related to romantic love. It gave you the temporary relief, because you’ve been pushing your feelings back in the depths of your heart since the moment you realized you’ve fallen in love with him.

You never had the guts to test the theory, but leaving wondering what if… When have you visited the thought, again? You have long disregarded the possibility because you believed he loves you like his sister. Nevertheless, you’re lucky to have met him and be the only constant in your life.

Do you miss the road that you grew up on?

Did you get your middle name from your grandma?

When you think about your forever now

Do you think of me?

Jungkook’s face stretches in a subtle smile, forgetting about his nerves, his sweaty palms and the guests who kept looking back and forth between him and you in curiosity while he seems magnetized at his view. You.

When you close your eyes

Tell me what are you dreaming?

Everything, I wanna know it all

You smiled, recalling the times you two were inseparable. The times he let you cry on his shoulder, when he used to help you sneak out in the middle of the night, be your chaperone, witnessed you getting drunk for the first time in your life and even that one time a senior stole your first kiss. It was the first time you saw Jungkook that angry, beating the shit out of a poor guy two years ahead of us over a single peck. Your memories with him didnt end in high school for he didn’t stop making efforts to see you, regularly visiting you frequent enough that he’d made himself home at your place.

Ooh, want the good and the bad

Everything in between

Ooh, gotta cure my curiosity

In the midst of serenading you, he recollects the memories he shared with you. The day you two were introduced to each other was still as good as new in his memory bank, or the times that you encouraged him to push through to audition to his dream role that you even learned to play his audition piece just so he could practice with you every day after school. His basketball games with you as his personal cheerleader, the times that he couldn’t hide his jealousy when you dated someone else, the immature fights that always led him to drink his heart out as if you two had broken up, and you nursing him back to sobriety. When you two were separated in college, he’d always make a way to bother you whenever he’s drunk and you’d end up going to his place and ceaselessly irk him while he rotted from hangover.

His angelic voice singing the rest of the song lulls you further into your thoughts, gathering each memory like a missing piece in the puzzle. Why didn’t you see all the signs back then? Were you blinded by your then-infatuation over him that you failed to hint his own feelings? He never gave you a reason to make you think he likes you more than a friend nor tried to hide anything from you, right?

Shortly afterwards, you were pulled back into the reality when you hear the cheers of the guests, signaling the end of Jungkook’s performance. Your eyes silently follow him as he sheepishly walk out of the platform, going onto the same path he took before.

Jungkook didn’t meet your gaze as he strutted toward the ice cooler on the side of the buffet table to get a bottle of alcohol which is just a few steps away from you. Twisting open its cap with such urgency, he took a long swig from the bottle to calm his traitor nerves, then pretends to busy himself on the variety of food laid on the table while feeling the weight of your stare on his back. Nervous that you understood the purpose behind his impromptu performance and that your silence was your hint of your rejection to his feelings, he didn’t try to talk it out to you the entire night. Yet, he feigned indifference when he sat on the same chair in the table next to you.

As the rest of the night rolls, the tension undeniably grows in between you two. Yet bearable enough to have you two stay glued on your seats despite the countless times you caught him staring at you, or you at him all throughout the night.

None of you dared break the silence and somehow, along the way, the tension has particularly become unbearable inside the car while he drove you home. Your house was just two blocks away and you bet it would take him faster to get there should he not intentionally slow down his driving with only a hand on a steering wheel while the other rested on the open window of his door as his fingers anxiously pinch his lips.

You chose to break the tension, feeling the need to speak up before your heart bursts out of your chest. And the moment you did, Jungkook coincidentally started to talk too.

“So…”

“About that…”

You met his eyes when your head jerked to the side to peer at him.

“What?” You immediately ask, curious to know what he would want to say after that, his heartfelt singing.

“Uh—“ He drawls, suddenly losing the words he was supposed to utter the second he made an eye contact with you. He shifts his eyes back to the road, feeling himself cower under the weight of your stare.

He clears his throat, putting up a pretense of a courage. “What do you think of... my performance?”

There was a moment of dead air inside before you manage to form an answer. “It was beautiful… I like it. You know I’m in love with y-you– I mean your voice. I love your voice.” You laugh awkwardly, while you’re incoherently screaming in your head at your almost slipped up.

Jungkook’s face flushes and he could already visualize the sudden boost of serotonin in his system hearing the validation he needs the most, the one coming from you. “Thank you.” He mumbles shyly.

It was that moment when the car arrives in front of your house. You shoot him a look, said your thanks and bid him goodbye before you climbed out of the car. You couldn’t deny the disappointment that was rushing so abruptly into you while you pad the distance across the gate of the house. For the nth time, you have hoped for something that was not even real to begin with.

However, your heart jumped out of almost joy when you heard Jungkook’s voice call your name out just as you’re about to close the fence gate.

“What’s up?”

“Okay before I tell you something, do you promise to remain best friends with me if… if you don’t… if somehow… oh god whatever— just promise me!” He panics, making you frown in return.

“I-I promise?” You say in an uncertain tone.

Jungkook held his pinky out.

“Pinky swear?” He prompts. You raise an eyebrow but let him hook your pinky finger with his to seal the promise of a lifetime friendship.

“What is it?” You say in the most gentle way possible. If this is the moment you’ve been dreaming to happen since you were in high school, you have to encourage him to talk before you could stop yourself from advancing to his personal space just to kiss him without any further ado.

“_____I-I tried my best not to… n-not to see you in a different way. But god you’re always making it difficult for me to forget about it when you keep giving me reasons to want things I shouldn’t have–”

“Jungkook–”

“Please, let me finish before my legs give out.”

You chuckle all the while your vision blurs from the moisture in your eyes. The anxiety on his face gradually dissolves into relief when he saw the smile creeping into your face.

“I can’t keep dating anyone and pretending they’re better than you. I’m an idiot, I know. But it’s always been you, ______. It’s you that I want and I can’t possibly live this life without you–“ You didn’t let him finish when he finally said the words you have longed to hear for years. You lean in to touch his soft, inviting lips with your own.

Jungkook staggered back at the suddenness of your move. Once he had recovered from shock, he cupped your jaw to deepen the kiss. He sighed against your supple lips. And for the first time since he has nurtured his feelings for you, the weight in his chest has been lifted off, replacing it with warmth and relief that only you could bring in his longing heart.

*unedited

#jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff #bayanihanboost #paralumanplaylist #btsguild #goldenclosetnet #btswritingcafe #bangtanarmynet #btsbookclub #cypherwritersnet #jungkook imagines #jungkook scenarios #jungkook fanfic #jungkook drabble #friends to lovers trope

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colehasapen · 3 years

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(ONE SHOT) What is a legacy? DC

A03

When Wally had first met Earth's new Green Lantern, the oh-so great Torchbearer, he'd wanted nothing to do with him. Wally - he'd grown up with Hal, then later John, and even Guy, and now all three were gone. He'd grown up with Hal dipping in and out of his Aunt and Uncles' house like he lived there. He'd grown up coming down to breakfast in the morning and seeing Uncle Hal there too, having just come back from space to crawl into bed next to Uncle Barry. When Aunt Iris had been killed, and Uncle Barry started spiraling out of control, it had been Uncle Hal who had kept everything together, who had promised Wally that he wouldn't let Barry out of his sight, that he'd watch his back. It had been Uncle Hal who Wally went to after Uncle Barry's death and the weight of being the Flash was too heavy.

Uncle Hal had been Wally's Green Lantern.

But Hal had broken too. He'd gone crazy and killed the Corps and then vanished. Hal had caved under the pressure no one had known he was under until it was too late, and when he'd come back he was mad.

Wally hadn't wanted a new Green Lantern, wouldn't give him the time of day, until he'd found himself outnumbered during a meeting discussing Hal - Lord Parallax - and had tried to argue that his Uncle needed compassion, understanding, and help , not a fight. They'd called him too close to the situation, too young to know what needed to be done, like Wally hadn't been a hero since he was thirteen, like he was still the little kid in yellow who followed the Flash around and started at them all in childish awe. They could never separate him from the child he could be, but the new Lantern had never known him then, and had stood up and agreed with him.

It had worked too, because in the end, Hal had taken the hand being offered to him, and died to save the world.

After that, Wally had found himself seeking the Lantern out on his own. They still bickered, but Wally found that it reminded him more of the playful ribbing of Uncle Barry and Uncle Hal than any genuine bad blood. He got to know him, started genuinely thinking of him as a friend. He learned that his name is Kyle Rayner, that he’s two years younger than Wally and an independent artist that struggled to pay his bills now that he couldn’t spend all his time on commissions. He’s told that Kyle was well-liked growing up for being generally friendly and easy-going, but didn’t actually have friends until art college because he was just a little too weird for other kids to want to be around him long enough to actually hang out. He learns that Kyle’s mother is an Irish immigrant, that she was his biggest supporter growing up, and that he doesn’t know his father because the man walked out on them when Kyle was still very young, that the only memory of his father Kyle has is vaguely of him speaking Spanish. He learns that Kyle is multilingual, that he grew up speaking English and Gaelic, and learned Spanish in school. He learns the hard way that Kyle is lactose intolerant, and allergic to nuts. He learns funny little anecdotes about Kyle learning to draw before he learned how to walk, he learns that Kyle loves spicy food but doesn’t eat it often because the right spices don’t exist in space.

He learns a lot about Kyle, and it leads to Wally learning about himself as well.

He’d always known he wasn’t straight. He liked and dated girls, of course, he thought they were beautiful, but there was also a part of him that lingered a little too much during training. There was a part of him that looked at certain friends and said, damn I’d like to kiss him. Dick had been the first, back when they’d still been young sidekicks just starting out, and it had continued on wards for a bit too. It had been reciprocated too; they’d messed around together a bit, but they’d ended it on good terms because Wally wasn’t ready to completely come out yet. He’d been happy for Dick, when he’d started dating Kori, then Babs, and then more and more people. After Dick had been Roy, for a little bit, because Roy was the cool, rebellious older boy, but it wasn’t long before that little crush faded away and Wally started looking at him like an older brother. He’d had that really embarrassing teenage crush on John Stewart for a while, the one that had made Hal burst a gut laughing at him for, before ruffling his hair and telling him under no uncertain terms that it wouldn’t be happening.

Well, Wally had known for a while that he liked men too, even if he hadn’t exactly come out to anyone but those he was closest too. His head was filled full of his dad’s hateful words, something he was working hard to shut out. Kyle though, he didn’t hide the fact that he was trans, or that he was pan - he’d grown up in California and now lived in New York, both of which had more of a thriving community than the likes of the small Midwestern Blue Valley Wally had lived in before moving to Central after getting his powers, and then Keystone after he became the Flash and living in Barry’s house was too much for him.

Kyle was - well, he was nice. A breath of fresh air, really. He was a fellow hero, a member of the main roster, so he knows Wally’s identity and understands the demands of being a superhero better than a civilian would. He’s his age, but didn’t grow up with him, and he gets what Wally is going through, standing in someone else’s shoes and being judged as less worthy compared to his predecessor. Before Wally knows it, he finds himself drifting closer and closer to Kyle, to the point where he’s heard older heroes whispering between them of another Flash-Green Lantern team up.

Apparently it brings back nostalgic emotions to see a Flash and Green Lantern dozing off in the rec room, lights dim and some silly movie or another playing in the background. Wally’s just glad he and Kyle have more control than Uncle Hal did, and haven’t been found in a cleaning closet somewhere.

Now, Wally is pretty sure he knows how Uncle Barry felt whenever Hal would stumble into the house at all hours of the night after a long mission in space to pass out in the bed next to him. He’s gotten used to the faint green glow that accompanies Kyle powering down, the faint hum of the Lantern uniform against his skin before it melts away to whatever civvies Kyle happened to be wearing before getting called out. There’s a soft warmth that comes with waking up in the morning to find Kyle sprawled out next to him, lit up by the soft golden light streaming in through the windows as he breathes, deep asleep. There’s a giddiness that comes with finding more and more of Kyle’s things slowly being added to his apartment; it starts with pajamas and extra clothes, but soon Wally is finding art supplies scattered around, or Kyle’s favourite butterscotch shampoo in the shower.

It’s how Wally realizes that he’s in love with his teammate.

He’s staring down at the innocently placed soap he remembers seeing before in Kyle’s shower when it hits him. Nowadays, Kyle spends more time at Wally’s apartment than anywhere else other than the Watchtower when he’s planet-side, and not out rebuilding the entire Green Lantern Corps on his own. Wally isn’t even sure when it started, that he started bringing more and more of his things to Wally’s small Keystone apartment. He thinks back to the sketchbooks and half-finished paintings scattered around the rooms, of the lactose free milk he didn’t think twice before buying when grocery shopping, of the space in his drawers made for Kyle’s clothes and the paint stained shirts in the laundry basket. He thinks about the lack of nut products in his apartment, of the boxes of tampons and pads he doesn't even blink over stocking up on anymore.

Wally moves so fast he’s dry instantly, bursting into his bedroom where Kyle lays among rumbled sheets. His white t-shirt had ridden up in his sleep, and the waistband of his track pants down, exposing a thin line of the packed core muscles that came with the training they all endured in the League. Somehow, his dark hair looks artfully tousled, inky against the sheets, and lashes just as dark are fanned across sun-browned skin and freckles.

He’s unfairly pretty.

“Kyle!”

Kyle jolts, ring flaring green as he stares around groggily, looking for a threat, “Wha-”

“Are we dating?” Wally blurts out, uncaring of his nakedness in the face of his realization.

Kyle blinks once, twice, looking fuzzy, before he groans, long and dramatic as his uniform dissolves into green sparkles and he drops back onto the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes. There’s a long moment of silence, before the Lantern snorts, and then bursts into breathless giggles.

Wally flounders, “I’m serious!”

Kyle slants a look at him from under his arm, brown eyes warm and almost honey gold in the morning light, “I’d hope we’re dating.” Kyle tells him, voice thick with sleepy amusement, “Otherwise I’ve really been overstepping.”

Wally blushes, feeling a little silly, now that he’s thinking about it. They - they really have been dating, haven’t they? “Oh.” Flustered, Wally rubs a hand down his face, hoping to brush away the burning in his cheeks.

Kyle snickers again, expression warm. “You’re adorable.”

Wally groans, “I’m never going to live this down, am I?” He mutters, listening to Kyle dissolve into giggles again.

“Oh, definitely.” The Lantern teases, before sitting up and stretching with a yawn. “Well,” he drawls, amused, “now that I’m awake -” brown eyes rake across Wally’s body, and an eyebrow quirks, “- got a reason for this visit ?” His voice takes on more of a purr, and Wally blinks in confusion.

Then he remembers.

“Oh.” Wally squeaks, red spreading rapidly across his completely naked body. “I - shower - soap - it’s just-” he cuts himself with an embarrassed groan. "I'm making this worse."

Kyle doubles over from the force of his laughter, holding his stomach as he wheezes, hand flapping. “Kidding -” he gasps, “- I’m just kidding.” The Lantern slides off the bed, still snickering, to press a lightning-quick kiss to his lips that, for Wally, lingers for so much longer. “Go have a shower, babe.” Kyle tells him warmly, “I’ll make some breakfast.”

#cole writes #fanfiction #dc comics #dc heroes #wally west #kyle rayner #flashlantern #wally west/kyle rayner #kyle rayner/wally west #the flash #green lantern #justice league

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interrogatormentors · 3 years

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BOOK TWO, EVENT 1: FLASHBULB MEMORY

While the Interrogatormentors as a whole lacked any sense of humor, Sollux found taking command of the BC Starskimmer Arisen after his graduation ironic as all hell. The ship upon which he’d served as helmsman hadn’t changed much in his absence apart from a few personnel changes, and Sollux had to stop himself from heading down the corridor to the helmsblock on more than one occasion. He couldn’t help but wonder if the assignment was just another test from Rapard or another one of the higher ups, giving him a ship to which he had such a fraught history with. He never voiced this suspicion of course and no one ever confirmed it, or so much as admitted Sollux had ever served aboard the ship in the first place. An echo of vindictive pleasure surged through Sollux every time a helming tech scurried away from him, or when Captain Pilthe had to tip his scarred chin upwards in deference to the interrogatormentor he’d once viewed as subtroll.

Sollux woke to a soft buzzing from his palmhusk, and he fished it out from where he kept it under his pillow. The Starskimmer came with two recuperacoons waiting for Sollux and Ophlia, but both had elected for platforms instead. They needed to keep alert, and Sollux felt sharp as anything as he answered the call without slime clinging to his frame. Ophlia sat up from her platform as he did so, looking over at him with vague disinterest. Sollux had to suppress a groan as he saw the caller ID, but answered the message all the same.

Gamzee Makara, the ship’s security officer, grinned all lopsided at him. “Got some motherfucking work for you two,” he said, drawling.

“Next prisoner transfer isn’t until midnight, Makara, tell me why you really called,” Sollux said.

“Nah, nah, I wouldn’t motherfucking dare lie to you.” Gamzee’s smile didn’t shift, and Sollux took a slow breath to enforce calm. He never could get a read on the purple with how all over the place his body language was on a good day. Gamzee kept talking, eyes half-lidded as he bobbed his head as if to some imaginary beat. “Them’s the prisoners yesterday brought in through our doors. I was sorting through their files and wouldn’t you motherfucking know it, clean and clear as a midmorning dewdrop, we got some rebellion criminal records blazing hot on my desk. Dunno how they motherfucking slipped through, but thought you might wanna take a motherfucking gander before they’re transferred away tonight.”

Sollux’s left eyelid twitched. “Get them in isolation rooms and halt their transfer until we perform an interrogation,” he said, and hung up the call. He pinched the bridge of his nose as Ophlia began to get dressed. “Pilthe fucked us over again.” Ophlia raised an eyebrow as she buttoned up her uniform, and cocked her head to the side. Sollux snorted. “Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t expect competency from a tenured seadweller. Wish the news didn’t have to come from Makara.”

Ophlia shrugged, waving a hand. “Serving his time,” she said, voice low.

“He’s treating forced conscription like a fucking vacation, is what he’s doing,” Sollux said. He threw off his sleep shirt, donning his uniform as well. “I don’t know how he passed through an interrogation from Rapard with his head intact, not if the rumors about his rebel ties were true.” Ophlia cocked her head to the side. She didn’t say anything, not really needing to, and Sollux growled as he shoved his feet into his boots. “This entire ship is comprised of weak links ready to snap.”

Ophlia snapped her fingers at him as she approached, right under Sollux’s nose. He inhaled through his nose and out through his mouth, clenching his hands into fists. He stopped only when he left his claws pierce his skin from the force, and blessed numbness flooded him as the pain reminded him to draw back, school his emotions back into a practiced plateau of calm. “Right. Sounded like there were at least two rebels that slipped through the net. One for each of us, at least, so we’ll be done by midnight anyways.” He picked up his earpiece as he headed for the door, putting it on and clicking it once to make sure the channel was clear. Ophlia put her own on, depressing the call button and tapping it once with a nail. Sollux heard the nail tapping loud and clear, and nodded.

Ophlia followed Sollux as they left their shared room and headed down the deserted halls, tall and resolute as ever. Sollux relaxed as they walked, squaring his shoulders and posture straightening to mirror his partner’s as they walked. He always felt better with a job to do, and the long stretch between any fruitful interrogations had put him on edge. Now he had something to focus on, to sink his teeth into, and he couldn’t wait to see the rebel unlucky enough to meet him on the other side of the isolation chamber’s door.

Gamzee waited for them outside the isolation blocks, scrolling on his palmhusk. He glanced up as Sollux and Ophlia approached, not even bothering to uncurl his spine from the terrible slouch he constantly bent himself into. He leaned against the wall, gesturing to the door on his left. “Got a motherfuckin’ rust and a cocktail olive for you, all wrapped up and special. Olive’s on the other end of the motherfucking wing, needed t’grab some motherfucking special shackles. She’s motherfucking feisty. Sent their files out to you like, motherfucking...two minutes ago.”

“Shackles or no, they’re not difficult to install, Makara,” Sollux said. He pulled out his own palmhusk, glancing through. The files didn’t have much apart from age range and names, but their files were flagged with their exact hex codes linked to rebellion activity. “You take the olive then, considering you’ll have to do wrangling, Davrot. I’ll take AA.”

Ophlia and Gamzee both stared at him, and Sollux blinked twice as he registered the error. Aradia Megido. His pan flipped right over in his skull as a memory clamored to be seen, acknowledged, something nostalgic and peaceful and mournful. Both his helming programming and interrogatormentor training fought against the surfacing thoughts, emotions too much to control. So Sollux forced himself to not think, his mind doing the work and blocking the memory off before it could surface and break his calm.

“A stutter,” he said. “I’ll visit the medbay following this interrogation. Aradia Megido.” Ophlia looked him up and down, eyes narrowing an increment in that same analytical way she’d looked at him back when the Reichenbach’s Head Admin had dropped Sollux’s wigglerhood trollhandle. Sollux returned her gaze without faltering even as a headache built behind his left eye at the strain of repressing his own memories, and after a few moments Ophlia bowed her head slightly.

Sollux let out a soft breath as his fellow interrogatormentor retreated down the lengthy hall to the far end of the isolation block wing. Gamzee cocked his head. “You gonna be motherfucking peachy keen in there, motherfucker?” Sollux narrowed his eyes and he laughed, low and rumbling. “Sir Motherfucker, excuse my motherfucking cheek.”

“There is nothing the matter,” Sollux said as his head throbbed. “More lip and I will have you reporting to reeducation in a few hours.” He didn’t have the energy to correct Gamzee on his manners right now. He could almost hear the remaining metal in his pan rattling around from the force. He pricked his own thumb with a sharpened claw, pressing the small smear of blood to the reader next to the isolation block’s door. He entered, and the world faded into nothingness as the soundproofed door slammed shut behind him.

The rustblood sat on the dingy sleeping platform of the cell, crosslegged and alert with her arms propped on her knees. Her face fell when she saw Sollux enter, but her eyebrows knitted together in something akin to pity rather than fear. She wore psionic-suppression cuffs on both wrists that weren’t shackled together by any sort of chain, but her arms looked too thin to possess any threatening amount of muscle.

Her arms. Something about her arms were wrong, they didn’t quite match the soft curves of the rest of her, and Sollux sank his nails into his palm again. He needed to remember, it seemed important, but the emotions roiling just below the thin veneer of trained calm threatened his professionalism.

He took a breath, raising his hand to the thermostat and sinking the temperature down. As a rust, this troll would feel uncomfortable long before he did. “Aradia Megido, hex code A10000?”

“Yes,” the rustblood said. She opened her mouth to say something, chest swelling to fuel some sort of tirade or threats perhaps, but she closed her mouth again and settled.

“They only call me in if you have something to hide.” Sollux folded his arms behind his back, keeping his posture straight and digging his nails into his own wrist where this Aradia could not see. “So make it easier for both of us and explain now why your blood code is linked to rebellion activity.”

“Well, because I’m a rebel,” Aradia said.

“You admit this?”

“I wouldn’t be saying it if it weren’t true. Would I lie to you, Sollux?”

Sollux felt his psionics burning at his own skin, his fingers acting as conductors for the pain that grounded him. He wanted, he needed to remember, but he couldn’t or he’d crack. He hadn’t felt this unstable since his training days, every moment a threat that could shatter his emotionless facade at any moment with Rapard’s voice snarling in his skull. Just turn your emotions off, like a husktop. You’re a piece of equipment, the right hand of the Empire. Act like it, cullbait. “You know of me, then.”

“Sollux, I know you.” Aradia stood then, and Sollux lowered an arm sparking with psionics. Aradia noticed and stopped, although she still lifted her hands up to him as if soothing a fussy lusus. “You look like a daywalker-- Are they even feeding you? Do you remember me?”

“I’m receiving the appropriate amount of calories for my weight and activity level and I don't need pity from a mudblooded excuse of filth.” The words came out of Sollux before he could stop them, harsh and angry and emotional. He gritted his teeth as Aradia inhaled sharply, raising a hand to his earpiece. “Davrot. Switch me.”

“Just reached the cell,” Ophlia said. “Just got the name.” “I don’t care,” Sollux said. “Switch to the rust. She is provoking an emotional response.”

“You--” Ophlia’s voice faded into static, harsh in Sollux’s ear.

Sollux turned away from Aradia an increment, watching her out of the corner of his eye. “Interrogatormentor Davrot. Is your equipment faulty? Repeat your last message.”

The static faded, and Ophlia’s voice returned with the exact same words and tone he’d heard a thousand times before. “All is fine.”

“Are you coming, then?”

A pause. “All is fine,” Ophlia said again, a little louder this time.

Sollux pursed his lips, looking back to Aradia. She took another step forward, and Sollux bared his teeth at her. “Sollux, please,” she said. “You were my best friend.” She held firm even as Sollux’s hand sparked again, his hand balling up into fists. She only spoke louder, faster. “I’d always make you come outside and you complained so much you finicky brat, but you did it anyways. For me. Even after Vriska happened, you still came.”

Vriska. The arms. Everything snapped back into focus for Sollux in one crystalline moment, and he lashed out with his psionics in a wave of force. Aradia braced herself, arms crossed in front of her with an inorganic clank as she sent up a shimmering shield of her own psionics that whispered of the dead. The arms weren’t real. Zahhak had made them after Vriska had bent Sollux's mind into putty, gorging him on mind honey and sending him after Aradia and crushing her limbs under heaps of rubble. His best friend. His moirail. The arms weren’t real. The cuffs weren’t working.

“Davrot!” Sollux gathered his psionics around his arm, sending them out in a solid beam that Aradia ducked under. “Ophlia, come in!”

“All is fine,” came Ophlia’s voice again.

Sollux swore under his breath as Aradia lowered an arm and a hatch opened along the side, and she pulled something out of it. She depressed a button along the side of the slender object and a whip unfurled, and she snapped it against the ground once before slinging it out towards him. The whip curled around his wrist and Sollux grabbed onto it, sending scorching psionics along its length. Aradia pulled the whip back just before the psionics reached her hand.

“Come on, Sollux, are you really surprised it’s a trap?” Aradia threw an arm back and then forward again, the whip snapping and lashing against Sollux’s cheek as he flung himself into the air to avoid the brunt of the attack. “It was super obvious! We didn’t even make fake names or anything. This doesn’t have to be so hard.”

Sollux landed back to the ground on the balls of his feet before lowering himself into a practiced fighter’s stance, clapping his hands together to blow back the whip as it came towards him again. “It doesn’t, you’re correct. Surrender now and you might live.”

He charged forward, coming well within her range to limit her usage of the whip. Aradia closed the gap, head lowered before tossing it back. Sollux sidestepped the horn-gouging attempt, throwing a right hook only for Aradia to dodge again. She threw a punch of her own. Sollux caught the clumsy fist with ease, nails digging into the false skin. Aradia grinned at him. “Surprise!”

The cuff clicked around his wrist from where Aradia had removed one of her own while he wasn’t looking, the light along its side glowing a soft green as Sollux’s psionics winked out of existence. Sollux stared a moment too long at the cuff and Aradia headbutted him again, hard. Sollux felt his nose crack and he stumbled back. Aradia readied her whip as Sollux turned and bolted. He yelled as the whip curled around his ankle as the door opened, sweeping his foot out from under him and sending him crashing to the ground. The whip slid back and away and Sollux scrambled to his feet, shooting out of the room and slamming the button outside it to close the door behind him. The whip cracked against the metal.

Sollux ran his fingers along the psionic cuff as he heard the muffled sound of psionics blasting against the door. He found no purchase, no groove, only a small numpad which he had no time to attempt to crack. He cursed again, looking down the hallway that Ophlia had gone down. He let out a soft breath as he spotted Gamzee jogging towards him. He had his clubs out, a welcome sign considering the whole situation. “Makara, status report on Interrogatormentor Davrot. The rustblood isn’t properly restrained.”

Gamzee slowed down, lips curling into a lazy smirk as he lifted his palmhusk. He pressed on the screen. “All is fine,” said Ophlia’s voice from Sollux’s earpiece.

“Surprise, motherfucker, you just got yourself motehrfuckin’ bamboozled,” Gamzee said, pocketing his palmhusk. “Welcome to your motherfucking rescue mission.” He spun his clubs around in his hands before swinging with frightening speed, and Sollux only just got out of the way in time. The club slammed into the wall, which dented from the force of the highblood’s swing.

“I knew it. I knew something was off about you,” Sollux said. He gritted his teeth as he avoided another strike aimed at his head.

Gamzee laughed, his whole body a dizzying blur that had Sollux’s head spinning. The voices of the doomed were quiet with his currently repressed psionics but something else whispered in his pan, something dark and ancient and hypnotic that made Gamzee’s form hard to track. Of course this fucker had chucklevoodoos. Of course.

Sollux backed up but Gamzee moved faster, slipping past him despite his massive bulk and blocking the corridor to the main ship. The door to Aradia’s cell blew open, still sparking with maroon light as she stepped out. Sollux wasn’t stupid. Without his psionics his limbs were tissue paper. He could fight without them, he’d sparred with Ophlia plenty of times, but the odds were stacking against him more and more. He turned and ran further into the cellblock wing, throwing his earpiece down onto the ground as Gamzee started mocking him with Ophlia’s voice as he fled. The pair followed him, keeping on his heels.

He almost barreled a troll over in his haste, but had the mental fortitude to jump to the side as the olive clawed at his face with knives jutting out from her gauntlets. He saw Ophlia lying on the floor halfway out of the cell, bleeding from a nasty head wound.

Sollux whirled around, and a club met him in the face. He took the blow at full force and flew back a few feet, slamming into the wall. Sollux pushed off from the wall despite the way his whole face throbbed from the blow, using the momentum to twist his whole body and roundhouse kicking another club away from his face. The olive to his side crouched and then sprang up into the air, swinging down with her clawlike knives. Sollux dodged the obvious attack, catching Aradia’s whip again. He tugged her forward, punching her in the jaw before she could react. She fell against the wall with a thud. Gamzee kept swinging his clubs at near-lethal speeds, and Sollux felt sweat dripping down his nose at the effort of bouncing away from them and ducking as the olive charged him again.

Finally Aradia’s whip cracked in the air and then wrapped around his neck, and Sollux fell backwards as she yanked the whip tight. Sollux tried to find purchase in the whip as it cut off his airways, tucking his chin in a futile attempt to find air. “Sorry, Sollux,” Aradia said, and her voice came to Sollux from the end of a tunnel as his vision went black. “Get well soon!”

Sollux snarled, but even with his interrogatormentor training he couldn’t hold his breath forever. His eyes rolled back as he gasped and choked, vision blurring. He gripped onto the whip, trying to tug Aradia down and forward, only for Gamzee to scoff. Another club smashed against the side of his head, and Sollux saw no more.

#homestuck #homestuck au #interrogatormentors #sollux captor #aradia megido #gamzee makara #nepeta leijon #ocs #interrogatormentors book 2 #chtmty

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futurewriter2000 · 3 years

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' There are a lot of things that remind me of you. More than things should make another person nostalgic, literally everything makes me nostalgic for you.

It's odd because I got over you but the bus rides remind me of you. The day you bought me a bus ticket and the way you laid your head on the bus window. Your hair were so greasy and you closed your eyes meanwhile I talked. The scene was like picked out from a movie and I remembered it since then. Every time I ride the bus, I sit on our designated seats and for one person, four seats are too much. It almost makes me feel selfish but I just grew attached to it. I remember you sitting across me or two seats next to me. I remember your ripped jeans, white and black, both pairs that you wore. I remember the bus station you waited on, and the path you walked me home on and your block... and the bus station near my block where we met to go out and the bus station I walked you to... and the bench we sat on... and I just remember so much of you that it still makes my eyes tear up.

I remember the conversations we had about horror movies and anime... and I remember how other conversations we had made right triangle and Pythagoras' theorem a thing for us. I remember conversations about having trust issues and when you had told me about your ex and a random girl, who stole your favorite bandana hoodie. I remember the water that you bought us that morning when we got high on the meadow and my shoes were covered in drawings of your cat you named Snow and the triangles, flowers... I cannot wear the grandma jacket I wore that day. Every time I spray myself with Dolce Gabbana The One parfume, it reminds me of you because I wore it for you. I remember how I couldn't climb the stupid wall because it was too high and we just spent laughing for five solid minutes. I remember you telling me that you loved my energy. That morning you sent me your plushie with wack eyes, your favorite hoodie, your plant... I came home with such a smile on my face- God, I told so many people about that day because it was like a movie. With you it was always like a movie.

I didn't know what was going through your head since then but something did because when I was working morning shifts, standing there completely asleep as I had no time for my coffee, you scared me half to death and laughed. People thought you and me had something... we did, actually. We did have something but nobody knew what, not even us. I don't know why but since that moment you started to push me away and I remember that so clearly for some odd reason.

I could say that it felt like a summer fling but it happened from November till March. Then in April... you just started disappearing and how can somebody just disappear? I beat myself sensless since then. Crying and crying and crying and crying because I lost somebody special but it wasn't just that. I believed that somehow you thought I wasn't good enough to be in your life... or funny enough or that I was just too weird for you- I don't know. I just felt I was losing my mind over you. That you just left without saying anything... not even a goodbye. You just disappeared.

I worked those night shifts without you and I sat at the same table we sat, we met, we talking about pencils, us drinking red-bulls (some days you bought them for us, some days I bought them for us), you trying coconut chips and judging me for it, me getting you pistachios, me making no sense with a story because you just listened and I got lost because nobody listened that much to me... I didn't know where to eat because we spent time everywhere in that place. The stupid heater and you standing there looking at it like you had seen God. The bench where I sat and you stood, smoking. Some days I woke up and even though you weren't there, I smelled it and I took such a deep breath of it because I missed you so much. You making no sense by asking me why I don't smoke. Which is saved in my drawer of our weird conversations about how to fall asleep if you cannot sleep, how some scenes in horror movies are actually funny instead of scary, throwing up while high- which reminds me of the day we went to get burgers for us three and I paid and you looked at me and were like so confused of why. Well, I like to give to my friends and that is who I considered you to be for all those months.

I should have seen the red flags thought. The mood swings you got out of the blue, the tired eyes and the way you snapped at me sometimes, the hot and cold energy, the way you invited us to spend New Years but bailed, the invite to your birthday party and you bailed even though all of us got you a birthday present already... you said only pistachios from me would be fine... I didn't take that at all. Some people told me to get you a ring and I thought that was a bit too weird. It might look like I was proposing to you and you always were curious of what I got you for your birthday. I feel like you still are at some point. I got you matching Rick and Morty bucket hats... and pistachios because you don't eat sweets.

God, there are so many memories that place me back in that time. You telling me to must watch that show... my mask getting stuck to my brand new piercing and you helping me get it off... every time it got stuck to my hair. It got stuck just this week again and I thought of you and a rush of memories came with that but I just brushed it off. They don't affect me like they would... like they did when you left, I was working the same place where I was that day we were by ourselves. You drew on my shoes, every time we went on a break, Maria- I hope you still remember her because I do and she was the sweetest person. The grandma sweater that I adore, now it always hangs in my closet. My parfume- and the duck tape- OH! And my uniform that I drew on that same day. The cereal that sucks by the way. You have a terrible taste in cereal, which reminds me that you promised me a chicken burger and I had never recieved it from you.

And then I quit because I was so lost without you. I quit and I spent a month and a half gathering myself together. And the first night after I quit there, I met a great guy but by the end of the night I still thought of you. That was when I needed to start the whole letting go of you process that was going quite well... up until I thought of you out of the blue when I was blending strawberries and banana. I have no clue how you popped into my head like that but you did at times but this time making a smoothie had no connections to you- so I thought that maybe you were heavily thinking of me. Since then, you had been on my mind all the time. I went back to work and it was weird at first but I was okay. I wasn't crying on the bus back home, that's for one. Which meant that I was a step further than I was before but I still wanted to see you. I still wanted to see just a peek of you that you were alive. Maybe at the bus station, maybe at the path, maybe somewhere in my town but... the only day I didn't take the bus, my co-worker said she saw you. And I was shocked at first and I was mad that the only time I didn't take the bus, I could see you. Then she said you didn't really look well and I got upset because if I hate something more than sea food, it's hearing that somebody I used to care for a lot isn't doing well. I cried that day for you, after a long time but also decided that day that you're not my problem anymore. You're not a burden, you're not something I have to think of all the time... and I was glad I didn't see you that day because if I would, I'd be stuck again. I don't want to be stuck again... ever... because you mean a lot to me but not seeing you made you mean less to me. I know the moment we see each other again, you'll mean a lot to me again but I won't be emotionally attached like I used to be.

I moved on. I got over you. Something I didn't think I would. Back then when I was moving on, I was crying because I was moving on and I didn't want to. I loved memories of us, us in general. I missed your laugh and your smile and your eyes, your hair, your jacket, your jeans... just you but that's all they were becoming. Memories. All the people from my past start coming back to me and when they did, I just put you among them. You're behind. You're the past but a great yet complicated past.

And now there is somebody new in my life and I don't know where this will take us but he's great. He's stable and honest... and great. He sort of talks like you, which reminds me of you but he's not you and I like that about him. He's funny and smart and he likes books. He's got a really nice smile and he's interested in the same things I am. He keeps asking me questions and he listens to my answers. He's sweet and he also made me realise that I should really stop missing out on good things because of you.

You were a good thing in my life... up to a point you weren't anymore.

But now he's a good thing in my life and he makes promises he can keep. I love that about him...'

#this is my coping mechanism #Love #friendship #friends #strangers with memories i guess #stranger #moving on #Heartbreak

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flipomatic · 3 years

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Internship Chapter 31: Day 25-26 - Edric

First Chapter Previous Chapter

___________________________________________________

When he got home from the coven, Edric was exhausted.

He had flown back to the coven with Frederick, and then reported that the house was old and crumbling, but abandoned. As promised, Frederick didn’t report the second floor collapse. The dispatcher asked if they had anything else to report, likely noticing the dust relentlessly clinging to their uniforms, but Frederick kept his word. He just said it was dusty from being empty for so long.

As soon as Edric made it to his room, he changed out of the uniform into his casual clothes. He only had to wear it for one more day; he wouldn’t miss it. Especially the mask, which he had no intention of returning.

No, he had other plans for it.

That would come later though, once all of his other business was settled. Now though, Edric settled down to plan. He had started to form a loose plan earlier, as they flew towards the coven, but now he sat at his desk and wrote it out. He crossed out and redid a few steps, wanting to make sure it would go smoothly.

By the time he heard Em getting home, the plan was almost done. As expected though, he wasn’t going to be able to do it alone.

Edric folded up the paper and put it in his pocket, then stepped out of his room and into the hallway. Em had gone into her room, so Edric cast a small spell to call her to the attic. He didn’t wait to see if she sent an illusion back, just went to climb up the ladder.

He used an illusion ladder, not trusting the real one and not wanting any unpleasant eight-legged surprises. When he looked over the edge and into the room, a small illusion trap activated. A polka dotted image of a spider scurried across the ground in front of him.

This was likely so Em would be alerted if someone came up here, but when the light flashed all Edric could see was the floor collapsing beneath Frederick’s feet. A flash of panic surged through him, his hammering heart screaming to drop back down, to get away.

Edric quickly climbed the rest of the way up, assuring himself that nothing like that was happening now. He dusted off one of the boxes and sat down on it, trying to calm himself. It was just an illusion spell, nothing bad was going to happen here.

By the time Em’s face appeared over the edge of the hatch, Edric had composed himself. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She jabbed at him as she climbed all the way up. Well, maybe he hadn’t completely recovered.

“It’s been a rough day.” Edric admitted, sagging further against the box. “A building almost fell on me.”

“No way.” Em leaned against a different box, eyebrow raised in disbelief.

“Seriously.” If it hadn’t happened to him, Edric wouldn’t have believed it either. “But I know who did it, and I have a plan to catch them.” He took the paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Em opened it and skimmed over the words quickly. Her mouth was drawn in a firm line, unchanging as she read. “I’ll help you.” She replied to a question Edric hadn’t even asked when she reached the end, and then handed the paper back.

That brought a smile to Edric’s face for the first time since that morning. “Tomorrow’s the day.” He said, folding the paper back up. “We’ll do it at the jail, after the internship ends. Bring your scroll with the camera.”

“Got it.” Em nodded. “I’ll signal when I’m there.”

The two continued to discuss the plan, making sure they had all of the details ironed out. If it went well, then Edric would catch the culprit for sure. If it turned out he had the wrong suspect, then there wouldn’t be any harm done.

The twins ended the meeting when they finished, splitting up to head back to their rooms.

They had a big day tomorrow.

_________________________________________________________

The morning felt like it came too soon, snapping Edric out of a peaceful sleep. His arms were still sore from yesterday, but they didn’t hurt quite as much.

He grabbed a quick breakfast and walked to the coven, following the now usual routine for the last time.

Frederick was waiting for him at the locker room, his uniform completely clean of the dust from the day before. He brushed a speck of dirt off Edric’s shoulder before the two went to the dispatcher for their post.

“You’ve had a busy week.” The dispatcher said, once they were inside the office. “So you’ll be training today.”

That made sense, since they had assignments outside of the jail all week so far. This was good, since it would make Edric’s later plans easier. Still, it made for an underwhelming last day of the internship.

Frederick seemed happy though, after yesterday he was probably still tired. “Thanks, let me know if you need us.”

“Of course.” The dispatcher nodded, then waved them out of the office.

The walk to the training room was a familiar one, and Edric criticized himself for feeling nostalgic. It was his nature to not like change, but he really wouldn’t miss coming here.

Maybe though, he would miss Frederick. The witch had really grown on him, despite his protective streak. His efforts to teach Edric new spells had been valiant, if foolhardy, and he had done his best to train him. He even made him passable at the sword.

Today would be their last day together. When they reached the training hall, they went to the same corner they normally used. Frederick brought a wood sword with him, probably for later use.

“Let’s see that plant spell.” Frederick said to start, causing Edric to remember exactly why he disliked training.

“If I must.” Edric said, drawing the spell circle in the air. After a month, he was able to complete the circle without issue. Once it was cast though, it still had minimal effect. A couple roots poked out of the ground, sticking up a couple inches in the air.

Frederick leaned over to look at them, shaking his head. “As good as it’s going to get, I guess.” He then laughed, a deep ringing sound. “I won’t ask about the healing spell.”

Edric smiled at that, unseen beneath his mask. “Thank you.” They both knew how that would go.

“At least you learned how to use the sword.” Frederick said with a chuckle. “Let’s work on blocking, so you don’t forget the minute you’re back at school.”

Edric didn’t really want to do that either, but as he had learned there was no getting out of it. “Alright.” He lifted the sword off his belt, holding it out in front of him in the correct defensive stance.

Frederick lifted his sword as well, and then lunged in to strike. For a while, they practiced. Frederick trying to land a hit while Edric deflected his blows.

After a while, Frederick changed it up. “Try to strike back, you can use spells like the one from before.” He was referencing the anti friction spell Edric had used to trip him.

This would take more focus than just blocking, but Edric was confident he could do it. The next time Frederick lunged in, he quickly cast the spell with his left hand. Surprisingly though, Frederick didn’t slide. He just kept coming, smashing his wood sword against Edric’s.

“Surprised?” Frederick sounded smug, like he was smirking beneath his mask.

Edric drew another spell circle, this time creating an illusion clone that lunged at Frederick from the side. Frederick stepped out of the way masterfully, leaving Edric off balance from leaning against their crossed swords. The clone vanished a moment later.

“How did you do that?” Edric had to ask, even in the middle of sparring. Besides, this could distract Frederick and let him get a hit in.

“Coated my shoes with anti slip potion.” Frederick replied without letting his guard down.

He’d been planning this then. Edric changed his tactic, abandoning the anti-friction spell. Instead he cast another illusion circle, creating a rope that was tied around his sword. This wasn’t as well planned as his first strategy, but it maybe it would work.

Frederick watched as he completed the spell, then lunged in for another attack. This time, when their swords crossed, Edric used his left hand to sling the rope around them. He caught it on the other side, and then stepped to the left and pulled.

Initially, this had the desired effect. It pulled Frederick off balance, as he refused to let go of the sword. Unfortunately, Edric couldn’t take advantage of the opening. By using his own sword as the base, it left him unable to use it. If he brought it back to swing, he would bring Frederick’s sword back with him.

This would only work if the opponent dropped their weapon. Edric frowned as he released the rope, allowing Frederick to retreat.

“You almost had me.” Frederick admitted once he was out of reach.

The two continued sparring for a while, with Edric unable to land a hit. When they took a break for lunch, Edric insisted it was a draw. Frederick initially said it wasn’t, but he gave in.

For the afternoon, they went back to magic training. Edric took the chance to show Frederick some more illusion magic, and helped him pick up a couple of the easier spells.

After they finished training, there was another task Edric needed to accomplish. It related to his plan for the evening.

“Do you know where Nick is assigned today?” Edric asked casually, while resting between spells, hoping Frederick wouldn’t find the question odd.

Frederick paused to think, clearly picking up on the strange vibe, but answered it anyway. “I don’t keep track of things like that. The dispatcher could probably tell you.”

“Hmm okay.” Edric mulled that over; he guessed it didn’t really matter, so long as Nick came back to the coven later. “Have you seen him today?”

“Not since yesterday morning.” Frederick hesitated before answering, and Edric could practically see the gears turning in his mind. This conversation was not going as intended. “You don’t think… What are you planning?” The question was accusatory, as if Frederick already suspected what was going on.

“Nothing dangerous.” Edric tried to mitigate the damage. “I’m just going to find the truth.” He hoped it wouldn’t be dangerous.

“I don’t think you’ll find anything.” Frederick said with a shake of his head. “But be careful.”

“I will.” Edric promised, despite making only the bare minimum arrangements.

The conversation died out, though Frederick still seemed concerned, and they practiced magic for a couple more hours.

When the end of the day came, it was time to say goodbye. They were still in the training hall, near the exit. Edric handed Frederick the sword he’d been carrying for the last couple weeks; he wouldn’t need it any longer.

“You should keep it.” Frederick gave it back to him. “You never know when you might need it.”

Though Edric despised the wood object in question, he still felt touched to be offered it. “Won’t they miss it?” He slid it back onto his belt, where he’d grown accustomed to having it.

“We have plenty.” Frederick replied, gesturing to the rack full of swords on the wall.

“Okay, thanks.” Edric wasn’t going to argue against it any further. He might need it later today, if things went south with the plan.

“You know,” Frederick said, then paused for a moment. “Even though you didn’t want to be here, you did a fine job. When you graduate, I’d be happy to work with you again.”

Edric was one hundred percent sure that Frederick didn’t have the authority to offer him a spot in the coven, but it was the thought that counted. Besides, even after a whole month there he still didn’t want to join the Emperor’s Coven.

“Thanks for looking out for me.” Edric said in response, thinking back to the times Frederick had saved his skin and all of the training he put him through. “I’ll see you around.”

“Absolutely.” Fredrick extended a hand to shake, which Edric accepted.

Soon after, they parted for the last time. Frederick went to the locker room, while Edric stayed in the training hall for a bit longer. He cast a spell, to start the first part of the plan.

Soon Em would join him, and the next phase would begin.

Next Chapter

#the owl house #the owl house fanfiction #edric blight #two in a row for him #he has a lot going on #flip writes

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kenkamishiro · 5 years

Text

zakki:re translations Part 1 (pg. 10-29, Vol. 1-2 illustrations)

Hello and welcome to the zakki:re translations post! It took a bit of time to think about how I’d have to structure these translations, but I’ve figured it out for the most part.

What this series of posts will be is a text translation of Ishida’s comments accompanied by the art he’s referring to (the actual art itself that’s been available online, not a picture taken from zakki:re. It’ll make more sense once you start going through the post, I promise). It will also include some commentary from me for some additional context, which will be marked as “T/N” for “translator notes”.

What this will NOT include are photographs of the book. If I take pictures of the book, they will be contained in a different post since I don’t want the translations posts to be more cluttered than they already are. I also won’t include any illustrations that don’t have commentary attached to them unless they’re somehow relevant to it.

They will be posted every 1-2 days depending on my schedule, and have roughly 10 pieces of commentary each which I found was a good length.

And lastly, some terminology before I begin. TG = Tokyo Ghoul (overall, like the fandom tag), OG = the first Tokyo Ghoul series, :re = Tokyo Ghoul:re.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy!

[T/N: This illustration was a magazine cover that included the blurb, "Justice has now been commenced." Presented this way since this is how it appears in zakki:re.]

zakki:re has now begun. Just like zakki, the comments on the paintings and such will be referred to as accordingly. I hope you enjoy.

This is the first cover on which :re began.

It gives off a certain vibe, hence the "Justice, commence!" blurb. At least that's probably what my editor thought.

I thought at the time that I was seriously going to fail to hand in my manuscript in time. It almost became, “Justice, commence (starting next week)!”

Weekly Young Jump 2014, Issue no. 46, Cover illustration

Volumes 1-4 of :re were prefaced with colour pages. Hinami was a member of Aogiri Tree, and Kanae was distressed over Tsukiyama.

Shirazu’s character looks kinda dangerous here for some reason, doesn’t he?

Weekly Young Jump 2014, Issue no. 46, Opening colour page

An image of a sky, as if it’s connected to the sky from the last chapter of OG. A certain three people from the final chapter are also standing here.

Weekly Young Jump 2014, Issue no. 46, Opening colour page

The cover illustration for volume 1 of :re. I used up all my energy drawing Haise. But he turned out quite well, don’t you think? He’s holding a Kitahara Hakushuu book in his hand.

I thought I should draw the story from the CCG perspective, so I introduced the character known as Sasaki Haise, an investigator who is a half-ghoul.

Before :re began I also created the Qs characters all at once for the shock factor. I took a break in between OG and :re, but it was only 3 weeks if I recall. I remember at the time I was working on the setting and drawing, so I ended up busier than usual during that writing period.

When OG ended, one of the staff asked, “Is it really over?” in confusion, and I answered, “Yeah, it’s really over.” It wasn’t really a lie since it was OG that had ended.

2014, Volume 1, Cover illustration

[T/N: The quality of this illustration isn’t good since I took it from the table of contents in Volume 1. But the neat thing is in zakki:re, the quality is so good that you can clearly read the words in the book that Haise is reading. Right now he’s reading Hakushuu’s poem “Blue Dragonfly.”]

Ui-kun has risen the ranks. Looks like he’s gone through a lot.

2014, Volume 1, Frontispiece

The exterior of the pinup, I think. From the series of mysterious outfits. Seems it’s based off a military uniform?

Weekly Young Jump 2015, Joint issue no. 6~7, Special long pinup

This is an illustration I drew using CLIP STUDIO. I’ve always used Sai for drawing, but when I was drawing the ending cards for the 2nd season of the OG anime (the ones that moved along with amazarashi’s “Seasons Die One After Another”), I decided to try drawing using CLIP STUDIO on a whim, and I kept using it for a while. Later I also drew the Trump card illustrations using CLIP STUDIO. I don’t use it anymore but looking back, the end product has a really distinct look to it, which makes me wonder if I should try using this program again...

Weekly Young Jump 2015, Issue no. 12, Cover illustration

[T/N: Couldn’t find the raw version of this illustration. This page was scanned by Imperial Scans (RIP).]

At the time it seems I pressed my editor, “What’s ‘On Christmas Eve the Qs bell is ringing’ supposed to mean?” for answers. But hey, doesn’t “Qs bell” sound kinda cool?

Weekly Young Jump 2015, Joint issue no. 4~5, Center colour illustration

[T/N: Not completely raw, but close enough. Scan for this illustration done by Twisted Hel Scans (also RIP).]

You’ve probably realized it by now, but the opening pages and the center colour illustrations from the YJ magazines were printed as they originally were back then.

Since the magazine design would be lost for those who didn’t buy the magazine back then, it would’ve been a shame since L.S.D. (the design company) worked extremely hard to make it look good. I also think the blurbs that my editor came up can be considered a work of their own (such as ‘Qs bell’).

Of course, I’m sure there are people who want to see the paintings in their original state. I felt the same way which was why I was conflicted about it, but I’ve accepted it in this form for this time.

The volume illustrations and the magazine illustrations have been arranged in chronological order as much as possible. I hope you can enjoy it together with the circumstances of my editor’s work.

If I ever get another opportunity, I’d like to have an art book with just illustrations only.

Weekly Young Jump 2015, Joint issue no. 6~7, Opening colour page

[T/N: The version of this illustration in zakki:re doesn’t include any text.]

Colour pinup from the appendix of YJ magazine. I added in Scarecrow who hadn’t appeared in the story yet (I didn’t know when I would add him in). I had fun drawing the 4 people above. I really like Nutcracker in particular.

Weekly Young Jump 2015, Joint issue no. 6~7, Special long pinup

The character popularity poll illustration contest (I think it was with Nico Nico Seiga). I drew some shikishi and gave them as gifts to those who submitted illustrations. This illustration itself feels nostalgic.

Weekly Young Jump 2015, Issue no. 12, Opening colour page

[T/N: Updated with HQ scans from TG_Hub. Thank you!]

The cover of :re volume 2 featuring Touka.

I chose something relaxing for the off-centre composition while still following the general flow of the OG volume, conveying that she has become more cunning. A reference to "zakki", so it'd be great if you could compare between the two.

Haise looks good in shades of brown.

This is the interior of the Chateau where the Qs resided, and it was designed by a good friend who I’ll call J-chan. A luxury home with the Qs’ bedrooms, common room, kitchen, Haise’s room, and the training room, fully furnished. I got the data from him so that I could preview it and look around in 3-D, so I included it in the instructions for drawing the backdrop as a reference. Thanks!

[T/N: If you want to see the comparison to OG zakki, click here. Also, the Qs chateau that Ishida’s friend designed...is ripped from The Sims 4. No, I’m not kidding.]

Weekly Young Jump 2015, Volume 2 cover

I took a bunch of my scribbles and reused them for the colour pages in the volume.

At the very beginning I drew Mucchan (Mutsuki Tooru), and moved on to other characters from there. As Saiko hadn't appeared in the story yet, her face isn't shown here. "Saiko absolutely won't show up for an entire volume," was my iron will.

2015, Volume 2, Frontispiece

#Tokyo Ghoul #zakki:re #Ishida Sui #Translations #my translations #zr translations #first part done!!#please be excited with me!!#also tfw the hardest part about making these posts is the formatting

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kitsunebi-chan · 4 years

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IDOLISH7′s ninth ichikuji, Ayakashi Kaleidoscope.

This is my first time translate such a long script like this. To be honest I have zero confident on my skill but, better try than regret it later. I love this event too much that I can’t help myself.

English is not my main language so please feel free to tell me if you find any miss in my grammar. And it’s more that welcome for you to give your critics. Well, happy reading~

(DM me if you want the Indonesian version)

Event Part 1

[???]

‘what a small hands. Momiji, look.’

It was a nostalgic voice, that I heard somewhere long in the past. Just like being woken up by a sight of vivid crimson, and let it continuously smoldering inside my chest. Since that day, I feel like searching for something. Something I have lost, something precious. What is it that I lost, whose voice is it, was everything just a childish dream from my younger self. While still, doesn’t remember a thing…

[Katanashu’s headquarter. In front of the reception office.]

??? (Sogo) : Hey, paper doll.

Shikigami : ----

???(Sogo) : For someone who come early, this is quite a funny way to do greetings, huh. Does attacking all of sudden then push down human into bedridden is some kind of Shikigami’s hospitality? And, why are you stand on my belly? Get down from there, right now. Laying in the hallway and watching the ceiling is not my hobby at all.

Shikigami :-----

???(Sogo) : Oi, Are you hear me? Who is the person in charge here? I have waited long enough, but there is no one come to get me.

Shikigami -----

???(Sogo) : …. No reply….. could it be, it can’t understand my word? I think it can’t be helped then.

*-----sound of opening door*

???(Yamato) : Oh my, What are you doing laying here in the middle of hallway? Were you playing with the Shikigami? What’s more, with that look like you will draw you sword at any moment despite having such beautiful face, what dangerous combination.

???(Sogo) : A person...? Where did he….

???(Yamato) : I entered just now. From that big gate near the hallway. Did you too absorbed into your game with the Shikigami that make you lost your surrounding?

???(Sogo) : This situation is unavoiable. Because nobody seemed to come for me no matter how long I’m waiting at the reception office.

???(Yamato) : Hmm…And then, you want to search for someone and go to the hallway but ended up in this kind of situation, huh. Do not miss any suspicious person who roaming at the office, as expected of our excellent Shikigami!

???(Sogo) : Suspicious person…? I properly carry on my duty, from imperial capital…

???(Yamato) : Hm… It just getting more fishy. You suspicious people always say the same thing.

???(Sogo) :………From the uniform and sword that attached on my waist, you can tell that I’m part of Katanashu’s group too. I don’t want to say this on our first meeting but please stop smirking when you looking at me. It’s unpleasant.

???(Yamato) : Ahah, what a scary face. Relax for a bit, will ya? Even though you are now laying upside down just like a frog that was about to dissected, quite a bossy fellow, aren’t you. I’m sorry ‘kay. Looking down at someone’s face from above was lot of fun that I cannot help myself.

???(Sogo) : You are not very popular, don’t you?

???(Yamato) : To suddenly put it like that, you are really not cute.

???(Sogo) : It’s enough. More than this will just waste of time. I will deal with this myself.

*---Klak* (door open)

???(Nagi) : Aaaa… Wait a minute! Stop! Stop!

???(Sogo) : There is another one….

???(Nagi) : ---Captain Kasane, stop teasing him, would you please dispel the shikigami now?

Kasane ; Oh, Madoka, you came?

Madoka : I was behind you this entire time. So troublesom-…I mean, as a subordinate, at least I refrained from saying that it would be a good idea. Anyway, he is the new member who had just arrived today, isn’t he? There were talks about him will come to our second corps, right. Look at his uniform.

Kasane : Aa-… right, right, there were talks like that, I’m completely forgot.

Madoka : even though you were the one who told me about it yesterday.

Kasane : Sorry, I just cannot remember something I don’t care with.

???(Sogo) : The second corps captain? That’s mean this man is my superior….

Kasane : --Oi.

???(Sogo) : …! The Shikigami….

Kasane : I have dispelled the shikigami, with this you can move again, right? So hurry, get up from there. Or do you want to say you need a hand to help you up now?

???(Sogo) : …….. No need. I can stand up myself. Sorry for showed you this unpleasant sight.

Madoka : Uwaa… even though a while ago he was pressed under the shikigami and turned upside down, he stand up like it was nothing.

???(Sogo) : I’m really sorry for my insolent behavior earlier. You are the second corps captain, right? Here, my enlistment letter.

Kasane : Oh, thanks. Till your way to bow is so polite, showing such respectful attitude is more than enough.

Madoka : Uwaa… he look like a serious-type.

???(Sogo) : I the one who will assignment here from today. Katanashu’s second corps affiliation, Momiji.

Kasane : Ng? Momiji? So your name that written on the enlistment letter here is not read as ‘Kaede’ but ‘Momiji’ instead? Isn’t the way to read it a bit off?

Momiji : I wish for it myself. Because I heard when you assigned as a swordsman, you will work under a given name.

Madoka : Beside being a serious-type, you are also a weird one……usually, the upper ups will decided for the member’s name by taking one character from their real name. Because there may be a chance for youkai* to steal your mana* if you keep your real name. It also said if you got your name stolen, your enemy can take control on you.

Momiji ; Actually, it is still took after my name. I just change the way it read.

Kasane ; Hmmn… you have some nice hobby there.

Momiji : …..

Kasane : Well, nevermind. I’m Kasane. The second corps captain. I’m the boss of myself. The man with pointed nose over there is Madoka. He is our most reliable man, the shining ace. Your rank both are the same, so please get along.

Madoka : ….Thank you.

Momiji : Nice to meet you.

Kasane : Well, then. Since we finished greeting each other, it is okay for me go now, right? I will leave the task to guide the newcomer in your hand okay, ace.

Madoka : …huh?! But my duty hours will end this afternoon…

Kasane : That is a good news! That’s mean you still have some time.

Madoka : No, no, no, I really just have a little…

Kasane ; Okay, I’m counting on you Madoka~ Everything include our facilities, mission, till the meaning of become a swordsman, make sure to give him all the lecture perfectly ‘kay~

Madoka : Wa-…, captain!

Kasane ; Aa…,so busy, so busy~

*krieekkk.....blam*

Madoka ; He really gone…I’m sure it’s just an excuses….he always push all the job on me. Moreover, you, please read the mood. Momiji, right? Why you have to come before me off duty.

Momiji ; Isn’t it you own fault? If you guide me right after my arrival, it must be all over now.

Madoka : Uh.. about that… as a newcomer, to talk back at your senior like this, aren’t you being impudent?

Momiji : Even if you are the senior, we have the same rank.

Madoka ; Uwa… you are really not cute. But you really must have that kind boldness to be able to speak like that, either way you can’t do it with the fellow swordsman. *sigh*…. It’s troublesome but, since this is a superior’s order then is nothing I can do about it. I will guide you now so follow me.

Momiji ; okay…

Madoka ; We will start from the imperial capital. Since you are send to this neighborhood as a swordsman, I think you already understand about it but, as you see this place is no longer a human’s world.

Momiji : …hmm.

Madoka ; Actually, the existence of human’s world and youkai’s world are like a bunch of mirrors that overlap one to another. To put it simply, you can say this quarter as their ‘entrance’. And, to management all the youkai living here, is the mission that has entrusted to us, the swordsman. Behind this gate is what we called Katanashu’s inner citadel. Then, I will start from the explanation of our facilities here.

Momiji : Behind this….

*krieekkk....**sfx :opening door*

Madoka ; Welcome, newcomer-kun. To the place where no human lives, to the city of light and shadow—

***Naration

In the past, in place that was governed by samurais, there were they that performed a mysterious power. There was he whose body covered in flame, there was one that destroy a village in shape of wind, or a god who swallow a mountain like hand of water. Beast, monster--- again those are named as youkai. They are feared, despised, respected, used, and worshiped by humans. However, together with those who leave the land of samurai, they choose to hide themselves in land of immortal on the other side of mirror, as they entrusted the ‘Gate of Daimon’ to connect with people between two world.

And now, as the time passed, it will be told in the present days, about a story that may have existed, the story from Hinomoto’s land.

___________________________________________________________

Transltor’s note :

-I use Katanashu (刀衆）to refer their group's name as I don't know anymore how I should call them :’) but I decide to keep them refer theirself as ‘swordsman’ so please forgive me for the confusing word. :’’

*Youkai : Japanese, mythology ghost and monster.

*Mana : Human’s life force, youkai’s source of power

#i7 #idolish7 #ousaka sogo #nikaidou yamato #rokuya nagi #translation

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mewmewchann · 5 years

Text

Danganronpa Despair From the Heart (prologue) - Nostalgia

Every end has a beginning.

Shocking, I know. I’ve actually started a fic for this. Wow, it’s such a surprise. XD

Sarcasm aside, this was a long time coming. And I’ve finally started it! Yay!

What do you guys think? (please send me asks!)

“O-oh, is it on already?”

“Yes. Please state your number and name.”

“...Number 45. My name is [REDACTED].”

“What is your reason for applying?”

“Well...This sounds dumb, but... I-”

[REDACTED]

“Ah, so that's your reason?”

“I guess...It's pretty stupid, I know...”

“It isn't. And...I think that's all we needed to hear.”

“Really?”

“Yes. you will get a letter within the next week regarding your result.”

“Oh...Thank you.”

“No problem. And good luck.”

The girl clicked the remote, and the screen turned into a flurry of static.

“Really?” She said, turning around to face the only other person in the room with her. “THAT’S the one you want? REALLY!?”

The man nodded. “Of course. Do you have a problem with that?”

The girl pouted annoyedly and tapped her foot on the ground. “Multiple.”

“Well tough. We’ve made the choice.” He folded his arms. “The character designers already have an idea of what to do; costume and makeup department are already making sketches, writers already have backstory drafts up; you got a problem? Too bad.”

“Why didn’t I get to choose who it was!?”

“You already had a say in who got the callbacks.”

“Yeah, but that’s different!”

The man’s eyes narrowed, as if the teenage girl was a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Of course it is. You’re just lucky we haven’t fired you.”

“Fired me? HAH!” The girl laughed. “You can’t fire me!”

“Either way,” He continued, turning to leave the room. “That’s the choice we’ve made. Stick with it or leave.”

The girl rolled her eyes just as the man closed the door behind him.

“Want me to work with this?” She said, clicking the remote a few more times to reverse the footage on the screen, before pausing on a single frame.

“I’ll work with this.”

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

A voice suddenly cut through the dark silence.

What…? Ugh, my head hurts...What’s going on?

“Heeeeey, are you awake?”

Huh? Who’s…Who IS that? What-

“Hey, I’m talking to you, guy with green hair! Rise and shine, buddy!”

...I guess I should try to…

He reluctantly forced his eyes open. His vision was a little blurry, but from what he could see, a girl was standing over him.

“Ngh...” He put his hand to his head and slowly sat up.

The girl’s eyes widened as she shot backwards. “Whoa, okay!”

He blinked a few times to get his vision clear.

This definitely wasn’t his bedroom.

From what he could tell, it looked like he was on one of the beds of a school’s nurse’s office.

“Huh?” He rubbed his head in an attempt to get rid of his throbbing headache. “Where-”

“Honestly, I don’t know either.”

He stopped at the girl’s voice and turned to face her.

The girl had long blue hair – which faded into a lighter colour – which was secured with a star-shaped hairclip. Some of it draped over her right shoulder and a rounded spike had been styled at the top. She was wearing a sailor-style uniform with a blue collar and a dark navy bow underneath a light blue hoodie, as well as a blue skater skirt with a white stripe, white stockings and dark shoes.

She was looking directly at him with bright blue eyes.

“I woke up here as well,” She continued, gesturing towards another bed on the opposite side of the room to him. “I didn’t really know what was going on, and you were knocked out too, so...” She shrugged. “Yeah.”

He focused his gaze on her.

Something about this girl made him feel...Nostalgic.

He shook those thoughts out of his head. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you hear the part when I said I woke up here too?”

“...Good point.” He slowly eased himself off the bed.

The girl looked at him, a little concerned. “...Are you...Okay?”

“Well my head still hurts...” He replied. “I still have no idea what was going on, everything was black for a long time and-” He gestured towards the general area around him.

“Ah. Good to know we’re in the same boat.” She fiddled with her hair a little.

It took a few moments before some of his memory came back.

“Wait a second.”

The girl stopped and looked back over to him.

He continued. “Did…” He pointed in her direction. “Did you get scouted by Starlight Academy?”

“Uh...” The girl nodded. “Yeah.”

“That means...You’re an Ultimate student, right?”

“Oh! Yeah!” The girl smiled a little. “Somehow...Ehe...Wait, are you one too?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I got a letter from Starlight Academy a while back saying that I’d be doing my next few semesters here.” “Ooh! Me too!” She replied cheerily. “Maybe that’s where we are!”

“What, the academy?”

“Yeah!” The girl gestured to their surroundings. “I mean, this does look like the kinda nurse’s office you’d find in a school.”

“Well yeah, but...Why?”

“Hm?” She spun back around.

“Why would they do it like this instead of, y’know...A proper induction?”

The girl shrugged. “I dunno, maybe they just have a really weird perception of trust building exercises.”

“Yeah, evidently.”

Neither of them said anything for a few seconds.

The girl cleared her throat a little. “I think it’s about time we introduced ourselves.”

“Oh. Right.” The boy nodded. “Well...My name is Rantaro Amami. And I’m the Ultimate Adventurer.”

The girl’s eyes lit up. “You’re an ADVENTURER!? THAT’S SO COOL!”

Rantaro laughed it off. “Hehe, not really...”

“Well it is compared to mine...”

“Speaking of. It’s your turn.”

“Oh yeah! Well, uh...” She paused for a few seconds. “I’m Kokoro Hikari, and I’m the Ultimate Lucky Student. Nice to meet you!” She offered a hand to him.

He shook her hand. “Likewise. So, uh...” He started to ask. “Ultimate Lucky Student? What does that mean, exactly?”

“Well, it’s kinda dumb...” Kokoro replied with a shrug. “The academy does a country-wide lottery or draw thing and picks a random high school student to attend. And...” She gestured to herself.

“You won that draw?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “It’s not really an Ultimate talent, though. They probably just hand out the title out of pity...”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly do anything to earn my title. A lot of the students here get their titles by excelling in their craft, right? I mean, look at you!” She gestured towards him. “You’re an adventurer, for crying out loud!”

Rantaro shrugged. “I guess.”

“Point is, you actually did something to get your title. You earned it.” Kokoro sighed. “All I did was win a draw.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence.

“Actually,” Rantaro said. “I...Think I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

Kokoro stopped. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s just...Your name, your face, your voice, I just...” He turned around to think. “I just remember it from somewhere, but I can’t quite put my finger on it...”

“Hm...” Kokoro said. “I do idol work I guess.”

Rantaro turned back to face her. “Idol work?”

“Yeah!” She nodded. “Y’know, stage idols and stuff? I initially picked it up as a summer job, but it’s kinda a part of my life now.” She laughed a little. “I mean, I’m not as popular as a lot of the idols you see, but I would rather have gotten into here for that than just a lucky draw...”

Rantaro slowly nodded. “...Yeah, that’s probably where I know you from.”

But part of him was still skeptical of that really being the case.

Kokoro shrugged. “Maybe.” She stopped. “Hold up.”

“Hm?”

“Well, you’re an Ultimate student and I’m an Ultimate student, right?”

“...Yeah…?”

“Well, there might be more Ultimate students here!”

“Really?”

“Going by the fact that both of us were scouted for this year, I think the rest of the class might be somewhere around.”

Rantaro put his hand to his chin. “If that’s the case...We should try to find them.”

Kokoro nodded. “Yeah, good call.”

Rantaro headed over to the door and walked out, with Kokoro following behind him. This lead them to a hallway with some other doors apparently to different classrooms appearing at random on either side.

“So, where should we start-?” Kokoro started to ask, but was cut off by a voice from behind them.

“Why not start here?”

The two of them spun around to face the source of the voice.

The boy behind them was about Rantaro’s height. He wore a pair of glasses over his violet eyes and had long purple hair that was tied into a ponytail. He wore a light royal purple shirt – partially tucked into his grey shorts – under a dark purple short sleeved thin jacket with two breast pockets on either side, and wore grey fingerless gloves on both hands. He had semi-transparent purple tights and grey boots, and it even looked like his skin had a slight lilac hue.

He smiled a little. “You wake up here too?”

“That was quick...” Rantaro said to himself, before turning to the stranger. “Yeah, we woke up in that nurses office a few rooms down.”

“Huh.” He replied. “Looks like everyone here’s the same, then...”

Kokoro’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, everyone?”

“Yeah, I asked everyone. They all woke up somewhere here with no memory of how they got there.” He shrugged. “Pretty weird, huh?”

“Understatement of the century...” Kokoro shook her head and put her hand on her hip.

Rantaro shrugged. “At least we know now there’s more people here.” He looked over to the boy. “How many were there?”

“Well...” He tilted his head a bit as he thought to himself. “Counting myself and you two...Fourteen.”

“Fourteen people?” Kokoro asked.

“Don’t look at me, the school board were the ones who decided on the class’ numbers.”

“Hm. So, uh...” Kokoro continued. “Why don’t we get introductions outta the way? I’ll go first. I’m Kokoro Hikari, and I’m this year’s Ultimate Lucky Student.”

“And I’m Rantaro Amami.” Rantaro followed. “Ultimate Adventurer. And you are…?”

“Jasper Shion.” The boy extended a hand to him. “It’s a pleasure.”

There was still some air of mystery about him, so Rantaro was a little cautious when he shook his hand.

“Uh...Yeah.”

“Wait,” Kokoro said questioningly. “What about your talent?”

Jasper looked over to her. “What about my talent?”

“You, uh...Never said what it was.”

Jasper nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, Rantaro and I both said ours.”

“Mm-hm. And your point is…?”

“I think what she’s trying to say is,” Rantaro decided to ask himself. “Aren’t you going to say what your talent is?”

Jasper paused for a few seconds, staring at Rantaro questioningly. “...Why should I?”

Rantaro and Kokoro looked at each other for a few seconds.

“Uh,” Kokoro asked. “Do you...HAVE an Ultimate Talent?”

“Of course I do.” Jasper answered. “I mean, why would I be here if I didn’t?”

“Good point...”

“I do have a talent.” He continued. “I just don’t want to say what it is.”

“Why not?” Rantaro asked.

“I have my own reasons.” Jasper replied cryptically. “But I don’t have to say it if I don’t want to.”

Rantaro flinched back a little. Jasper’s seemingly mysterious aura had almost forced him to instinctively step back.

After that the boy in question immediately snapped back to normal.

“Anyway,” He said. “Why don’t you continue searching?”

“Huh?”

“For the rest of the class. I’ve already met them, but you two evidently haven’t.” Jasper pointed towards Rantaro and Kokoro.

Kokoro looked up to him. “…The man’s got a point.”

“Right...” Rantaro nodded, before turning back over to Jasper. “It was nice meeting you.”

He smiled. “Likewise.”

Rantaro quickly turned back around on him and Kokoro’s initial course and continued walking.

“Any idea where anyone else could be?” She asked.“I mean, it’s not like they’ll all be gathered in one place or something, huh?”

“No clue...” Rantaro shook his head.

“I could help you if you want.”

Rantaro stopped and turned around to see that Jasper was trailing after them.

“...Are you following us?”

Jasper shrugged with a deadpan stare. “I have literally nothing better to do.”

“Good point-”

“Hey,” Kokoro said from up ahead. “What’s this over here?”

Rantaro immediately headed over to the source of her voice, with Jasper following behind. Kokoro was standing in front of a red door.

“To answer your question,” Jasper said, very matter-of-factly. “...It’s a door. It’s also red.”

“Yeah! I figured!” She said. “But it has no doorknob!”

“Yeah of course it- wait it has no what.”

“Look!”

Rantaro and Jasper took a closer look at the door.

There was a large grey circle with the shape of what looked like a large chess pawn carved into the middle. And other than a decal of another chess piece – a king – Kokoro was right.

Rantaro looked over to her. “...Are you SURE that’s a door?”

“Of course that’s a door, dumbass.” A voice said from behind the three of them.

A girl was standing behind them, with blue hair tied in a ponytail and secured with a hairclip shaped like a pink wrapped candy, and fake-looking golden baby-doll eyes. She was wearing a white sailor shirt with a baby blue collar and a pink bow, a white and blue pleated miniskirt and blue boots with stockings with pink candy stripes.

She was glaring right at Rantaro.

Jasper rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. “Oh, god...”

“Huh. Polite introduction.” Kokoro said sarcastically.

“I don’t care.” The girl replied.

Rantaro sighed.

This will evidently be a fun one…

He decided not to rise up to the girl’s rude remarks. “Are you an Ultimate student too?”

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here, would I? Don’t ask stupid questions.”

He was finding it very hard not to rise up to the girl’s rude remarks.

“Well then...I’m Rantaro. Ultimate Adventurer. This is Kokoro, Ultimate Lucky Student, and this is Jasper, Ultimate…...Uuuhh...”

“Don’t bother.” Jasper quipped.

“Could’ve said that earlier. Anyway,” He turned back to the girl. “And you are…?”

“Tsumugi Shirogane.” The girl introduced. “Ultimate Confectioner.”

“Ultimate Confectioner?” Kokoro asked.

“What, do you need your ears cleaned out or something?”

Well, Rantaro thought. Makes sense given her aesthetic. But you’d think someone who makes candy would at least try to be sweet or something, right? But with her…

He looked over to Tsumugi, who just scowled.

...She’s more sour.

“Anyway as I was saying,” Tsumugi continued. “Of course that’s a door.”

“There’s no doorknob.” Jasper replied, pointing at the door.

“Just because it doesn’t have a doorknob doesn’t mean it’s not a door.”

“There isn’t a keyhole either.”

“There is.” She replied smugly. “You three are just too dumb to see it.”

Jasper groaned. Rantaro decided to take the helm again.

“Well then, where is this keyhole?”

Tsumugi scoffed. “Why should I tell you? I mean, you’re not the kind of person I’d associate with.” She pointed at him mockingly. “With your tacky jewellery and your fake green hair.”

He growled a little. “It’s not fake you bi-”

“O-KAY!” Kokoro said loudly, detecting the rising intensity of the situation. “We will look at this door...Later!” She suddenly grabbed Rantaro by the arm and started dragging him off.

“Wh- hey! What’re you-”

She continued dragging him away as Jasper had started to also make his leave.

“It was nice to meet you! BYE!”

Kokoro stopped and released him after rounding a corner.

“Okay,” She said, just as Jasper casually arrived after them. “Looks like we’re out of earshot.”

“Um.” Rantaro turned over to her. “Why did you do that.”

“The situation was escalating and I panicked!”

“All she did was insult his hair.” Jasper replied. “And his jewellery. And practically all three of u- oh I see what you mean now.”

“Exactly! I didn’t want it to turn into a full blown screaming match!” Kokoro turned around and started to look down the hallway in front of them.

Jasper turned to Rantaro. “You didn’t need to introduce me to her, by the way. I’ve already talked to everyone.”

“I was just trying to be polite.” He replied. “Doesn’t seem to register with her, though...Was she the same way when you talked to her?”

“Tried to talk to her.” He corrected. “She kept saying something about me looking like the ‘edgy one’ from a knockoff anime.”

“Damn.” Rantaro said, sighing. “I don’t really watch anime. Some of my sisters do, but-”

“Sisters?” Kokoro perked up, turning back around. “As in...Plural?”

Shit. That slipped out without thinking.

“...Uh......Yeah.” He confirmed.

“How many?” She asked.

Oh god, here we go...

“………...Twelve.”

Rantaro could practically hear Kokoro’s eyes widening.

“TWELVE!?” She exclaimed.

“Yeah, twelve?” Jasper added.

“Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot...” He sighed. “My dad remarried a lot after I was born, and two of them were adopted, so...”

Jasper raised an eyebrow. “...Huh. Sibling rivalry must be hell.”

Rantaro shrugged.

“Twelve younger sisters!? That’s awesome!” Kokoro squealed, jumping up and down a little. “Tell me about them! Tell me about them! Tell me about them!”

“Ahahah...” Rantaro laughed it off nervously, already guessing her and Jasper’s reactions if he did. “...I’d...Rather not...”

“Aaawww, pleeeeaaaase?”

“No.” He affirmed bluntly, before brushing off his tone with a slightly forced smile. “I’ll...Uh...Tell you about them at some...Point...Later.”

“Pleeeaaaa-”

“Kokoro.” Jasper said firmly. “He said no.”

Kokoro pouted.

Rantaro was just about to say again that he was going to tell her at some point (which he wasn’t actually planning to), when the three of them heard something from a nearby room.

The door was marked “stage room” with a sign. The three of them headed inside to investigate.

The room inside was like a typical stage room you’d find in a school – only without sets of chairs on the floor in front of the stage. Said stage had two sets of red curtains; one opened set at the front, and a closed set at the back, as well as a door nearby the stage to get to the backstage area.

There were also two people inside.

One was a girl, with silver hair tied into a messy ponytail. She wore a light lavender-pink jacket with a collar and the sleeves rolled up, with darker trousers and light grey shoes. Her easily most notable features were a medical eyepatch over her left eye, and a bag – holding a bow and some arrows – over her shoulder.

The other was a boy. He was very short, so he almost looked like a middle schooler. He had bobbed pink hair with a fringe styled with a diamond-shaped emerald hairclip. He had a short trench coat and two chunky bangles to match the colour of his hairclip, salmon-coloured trousers and light pink shoes, and an almost coral-coloured bead necklace. He had emerald green eyes and a 4-pointed star-shaped symbol under his left eye.

The boy cheerily smiled at them, while the girl closed her eyes – well, eye – and looked away.

“Okay,” Rantaro asked. “Let’s be real here. What on earth would we need a stage room for?”

Kokoro shrugged. “If one of us was the Ultimate Actor or something. Or Ultimate SFX Artist. Or Ultimate Anything to do With Theatre.”

“Well, there’s something close-” Jasper started, but was cut off by the other boy walking over to them with his shoes clicking on the ground, almost like they could be mistaken for tap shoes.

“Hey there!” He said with a smile. “It’s good to see some other people.”

Kokoro discreetly leaned over to Rantaro. “Hey Rantaro, who let a third-grader in here-?”

“I’M NOT A THIRD GRADER!” The boy snapped, causing Kokoro to jump back in surprise.

“Aah sorry!”

He sighed, pouting a little. “It just REALLY gets on my nerves when people do that.”

Well, he IS really short.

“Anyway,” Rantaro said. “Let’s just do introductions. I’m Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Adventurer, and this is Kokoro Hikari, the Ultimate Lucky Student.”

“I’m Yuuma Todoroki.” The boy introduced. “The Ultimate Jeweller.”

A jeweller, huh? Rantaro thought. He is wearing quite a few accessories, so it makes sense.

“So does that mean you, like,” Kokoro asked. “Make jewellery and stuff?”

Yuuma nodded. “Yup.”

“Actually,” Jasper asked, looking to Rantaro and Kokoro. “Ever heard of the company The Velvet Box?”

“I guess.” Rantaro replied. He had heard of the company from TV adverts and such.

“Yeah,” Kokoro said. “Some of my friends at school wear their stuff. Why?”

Jasper nodded towards Yuuma.

It took a few seconds for the two of them to realise what he was getting at.

“Wait, that’s YOUR company!?”

Yuuma shrugged. “Kinda. I mean, it’s my dad’s, but he got sick so I had to take over.”

“A lot of the jewellery The Velvet Box sells is his designs.” Jasper added.

Rantaro was impressed. “Nice.”

“Oh, it’s nothing!” Yuuma replied casually. “I’m honestly just glad to see other people here.”

“What about that girl there?” Kokoro asked, briefly signalling towards the only other person in the room.

“I tried.”

“...You...Tried?”

“Yeah, not much of a socialite I don’t think.”

“Hm...” Rantaro said thoughtfully. “Well, it was good to meet you.”

“Same here!”

Rantaro turned around and started to walk over to the other girl, with Kokoro and Jasper following not too far behind.

She barely reacted when Rantaro walked over.

“Uh...Hey.” He said.

The girl didn’t say anything.

“...Hello?”

The girl didn’t say anything at first, but then sighed before finally responding.

“…...Hey.” She turned to look at the three coldly. “What do you want?”

I think I can see what Yuuma meant now.

“We’re just introducing ourselves.” Rantaro answered. “We haven’t met you-”

“I have.” Jasper corrected.

“Well, Kokoro and I haven’t.” Rantaro refuted, before turning back over to the girl. “Anyway, I’m Rantaro Amami, and I’m the Ultimate Adventurer.”

“And I’m Kokoro Hikari.” Kokoro introduced. “The Ultimate Lucky Student.”

The girl looked at the three of them for a few seconds before saying “...Can’t we just skip this?”

“What? No!” Kokoro argued. “We’ve literally just met you-”

“Already met her.” Jasper corrected again.

“Zip it, you’re not helping!”

“Ugh, fine...” The girl said with a groan. “Ahmya Aika. Ultimate Archer.”

Rantaro wasn’t surprised, given the fact that she carried a bow and arrows on her back, but then realised something.

“Wait.” He said. “Do I...Know you from something?”

Ahmya blinked. “...What?”

“Wait a second!” He realised. “You were on the news a while ago!”

“She was?” Kokoro asked.

“Yeah,” Rantaro continued. “She’s a respected archer despite her young age, but someone shot her eye out during a competition.”

Kokoro took a step back in shock. “What!?”

Ahmya didn’t respond for a few more seconds.

“...Oh yeah.” She replied. “One of the competitors really didn’t want me to win, so they hired someone to shoot me in the eye.” She shrugged. “I still managed to win, though. It’s how I got my title apparently.”

That explains the eyepatch. Rantaro thought. And her aloof nature I guess...I mean, she lost her eye. If someone lost a part of themselves, it would make sense for them to turn cold.

“H-how can you say that so casually!?” Kokoro exclaimed.

Ahmya just tutted.

“Did you do any other competitions afterwards?” Jasper asked, slightly shifting the subject away from her injury.

“Some.” She replied. “But not the large-scale ones I used to do. I didn’t want the news coverage all up in my face.”

Jasper shrugged. “Makes sense.

“Well, um,” Rantaro said, sensing that Ahmya didn’t want to talk for much longer. “It was...Nice meeting you.”

Ahmya nodded every so slightly. “Hm.” She turned away from them to stare vacantly at the wall, twirling a lock from her messy ponytail with her finger.

I think she’s more comfortable in her own company. Rantaro thought. We should leave her be for a few minutes.

“Well I dunno about you,” Yuuma said from behind them, catching their attention; well, aside from Ahmya, as she wasn’t paying attention to them. “But I’m getting kinda bored of this place.”

Kokoro briefly looked over to the door to behind the stage. “We haven’t checked backstage yet.”

“Don’t you think I would’ve done that already?” Yuuma smirked. “There’s nothing really there, aside from some sandbags, crash mats, some kinda area where people would get changed for a show I think, I don’t really watch theatre so I don’t know.” He turned and headed towards the door. “I’m gonna explore to see if there’s anywhere that’s interesting.”

He left the room, the clicks from his shoes getting quieter as he got further and further away.

The room was silent for a few moments, when surprisingly Ahmya broke the silence.

“Some kid.”

“Oh, uh, indeed.” Rantaro was a little surprised by the fact she said anything at all. “I guess we’d better make a move too...Do you want to come with us?”

Ahmya said nothing, but eventually shook her head.

That’s a no…

“Let’s just head.” Kokoro said, pointing towards the door. “We’ve still got places in the academy to check out.”

“Okay.” Rantaro said, briefly nodding towards Ahmya as if to signal a farewell.

Ahmya nodded back, before turning back to the wall, prompting Rantaro, Kokoro and Jasper to leave.

“I’m still not getting the point of having a stage room,” Kokoro said as the three of them walked through the hallway.

Rantaro shrugged. “Every school has one, I’m pretty sure.”

Jasper nodded. “Yeah, the high school I used to go to had one.”

“Yeah, it’s a mandatory thing I guess.”

“Looks like it-”

They were stopped by what sounded like a bang from somewhere they just walked past.

Kokoro froze. “What the hell was that!?”

“I’m no expert,” Jasper replied. “But I think that sounded like someone punching something.”

“We should head in.” Rantaro said, Kokoro nodding in response.

The three of them headed into a room, which appeared to be some kind of open-plan dining hall, with a few tables and chairs and an empty doorway to a kitchen. There were two vending machines – one dispensing snacks and the other dispensing drinks – against a wall, and a girl was angrily pounding her fist against the drink dispenser.

They couldn’t see her face, but the girl was short and had long dark hair tied into a braid with a golden tie. She was wearing a dark jacket and a white skirt with white semi-transparent stockings and black heeled boots. She was carrying what appeared to be some kind of katana in a bag over her right shoulder, with a golden dragon design on the back.

“Dammit…!” She hissed, punching the machine again. “Why won’t this damn thing work!?”

“Um, hello?” Rantaro said, trying to get the girl’s attention.

“Okay,” The girl completely ignored them and prepared to kick the machine’s glass in. “Fuck it.”

“WHOA, WHOA!” Kokoro ran over in a panic to stop her. “CALM DOWN, PLEASE!”

“Huh?” The girl stopped and turned around as the three of them approached.

She had dark skin and golden eyes with some dark eyeshadow, and a small scar below her left eye. Her hair was styled in a messy fringe over her right eye, and some areas had been dip-dyed gold. She had a white shirt under her jacket with a faded blue ribbon tied in a droopy bow underneath the collar.

She sighed and put her hand on her hip annoyedly. “What the hell do you want?” She then took notice of Jasper alongside the two. “...Oh. It’s you again.”

Jasper shrugged. “I have literally nothing better to do.” He pointed at the machine. “You DID try putting money in that thing, right?”

“Tch. Would if I had any. The bastard who kidnapped me stole my cash and my phone.” She folded her arms. “Which is a real pain in the ass right now...”

“Wait, what?” Rantaro asked. “You don’t have any money on you? Or your phone?”

“Didn't you hear a word I said?” The girl replied bitterly.

Rantaro stopped to think for a few seconds, before holding his finger up to signal the group to wait.

“Hold on.”

He quickly searched both of his pockets.

Both of them were empty.

“Wait, what the hell!?”

He suddenly turned over to Kokoro, who was looking at him in bewilderment.

He gave her a determined look. “...Check your pockets.”

“Huh?” She asked. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Okay, fine.” She put her hand in the left pocket of her hoodie. “But I don’t see why you-”

Her expression suddenly shifted to confusion. She stopped and checked the other pocket, also coming up empty.

She started to panic. “Wait, where the hell is my phone!?”

Rantaro put his hand to his chin. “Just as I thought...”

Jasper narrowed his eyes, bemused. “...Shouldn’t that have been the first thing you checked when you woke up?”

“Zip it punk, you’re not helping.” The girl snapped.

“Wait,” Kokoro asked, pointing at the vending machine. “What would be the point of having vending machines if we weren’t gonna have any money?”

“Maybe it’s a card-op thing.” Jasper suggested. “Some schools have cards you can swipe for this kind of thing.” He mimicked swiping a card against a scanner. “They might give it to us at some point later or something.”

“I checked.” The girl replied. “It’s coin-op. Not only that,” She pointed at a small sign next to where you would put your coins. The sign had a picture of a coin, but with the shape of a bear’s head that appeared to be split into two halves.

“It says it only takes...Whatever this means.”

Jasper shrugged. “Then I’ve got no clue.”

“I think the real question is why the academy would take it in the first place.” Rantaro said. “I mean, they don’t have a real reason to take our phones and money off of us.”

“Because they're authoritarian fuckheads, that's why.” The girl replied.

“I’m...” Kokoro started. “Not sure that has anything to do with it.”

“Whatever. Whoever the fuck is running this place, I already hate them.”

“Okay...” Rantaro couldn’t shake the unease this new revelation had given him, but decided not to focus on that for now.

“That aside, we should get introductions out of the way.”

“Why? I already know him.” She pointed over at Jasper. “And I don’t know if I can trust either of you.”

“Well, we haven’t tried anything yet, have we?” Kokoro asked.

The girl tutted. “That doesn't prove anything to me.”

“Whatever...” Rantaro said. “Anyway, I'm Rantaro Amami. I'm the Ultimate Adventurer.”

“And I’m Kokoro Hikari, the Ultimate Lucky Student.” Kokoro added.

“Tch...” The girl folded her arms and sighed. “Fine...Sachiko Akahana. Ultimate Delinquent. There, you happy now?”

Kokoro froze, suddenly taking a slight step back.

Rantaro couldn’t help but be a little shocked either.

...Did...Did I just hear that right?

“What the fuck are you two staring at me like that for?”

“Sorry, I just, ah...” Kokoro stammered. “Don't think I heard that last part right.”

“You did.” Jasper answered.

Kokoro’s eyes widened in shock. “E-eh!?”

Ultimate Delinquent? Rantaro thought. I guess that explains the sword and her confrontational attitude…

“If you don’t mind me asking,” He started to ask. “How did you get your-”

“Don’t even think about it.” Sachiko snapped.

“Huh?”

“I'm not gonna tell you how I got my talent unless I know I can trust you.”

Rantaro sighed in resignation. “Okay then...”

“Hey, it isn't nice to be so distrusting!” Kokoro objected.

Sachiko’s glare narrowed on her. “...What was that?”

“Bad idea.” Jasper said from the side.

Kokoro ignored him. “Well, I think you're being really rude!”

“I don't give a damn what you think about me. Now fuck off before I have to hurt you.”

“Please don’t antagonise her-” Rantaro started, only to also be ignored.

“I know you're not exactly the model student type,” Kokoro argued. “but you could stand to be a little nicer to people!”

“Who the FUCK do you think you are!?” Sachiko snapped angrily, grabbing the handle of her katana. “Get out of my way before I break you!”

Kokoro froze and took a step back.

“Okay.” Rantaro said, swiftly grabbing onto Kokoro’s arm. “We’re leaving now.”

“Wait what-” Kokoro started, before Rantaro sprinted off with her in tow.

“SORRYWEGOTOFFONTHEWRONGFOOTTHEREHOPEFULLYWE’LLBEABLETOTALKAGAINATSOMEPOINTBYE.”

The door slammed shut, leaving Jasper and Sachiko in the room together.

Jasper clicked his tongue. “Well. That was a thing.”

“Was that REALLY necessary!?”

“Hey, you did it to me earlier. And you were pissing her off. It was pretty necessary.”

Rantaro had dropped Kokoro off in what he assumed to be a safe distance away from the dining hall.

“Well she WAS being rude!”

“She’s literally called the Ultimate Delinquent. I don’t think making her angry is a good idea.”

“Hey!” They heard someone say. Both of them looked up to see Jasper walking over to them.

He shot an annoyed look at Rantaro. “Thanks for leaving me in there.”

“I’m sorry, I panicked. How is she?”

“Well she hasn’t broken the glass on that machine yet, so that’s a good sign.”

“I guess...”

“Hey, guys!” Kokoro suddenly said, running over to a nearby door. “I found another weird door!”

Rantaro and Jasper immediately followed over to see what she was talking about.

The door in question was painted a dark lilac colour, with a white decal resembling two band-aids crossing over each other.

“Another one?” Rantaro asked. “It’s like that one we found earlier.”

“At least it actually has a doorknob this time.” Jasper pointed out the door’s silver knob, with a similarly coloured keyhole underneath it.

Rantaro tried the door.

“Damn. It’s locked.”

“What do you reckon is in there?” Kokoro asked.

Jasper shrugged. “The symbol is of two crossed band-aids, so I reckon it’s probably some kind of nurse’s office.”

Kokoro shook her head. “No, Rantaro and I woke up in a nurse’s office when we arrived here. And that was all the way down the hall.”

“Then I have no clue.”

“Well, we can’t get inside...” Rantaro sighed and stepped back from the door. “So there’s no way of knowing right now.”

“That’s a pain...” Kokoro agreed, before something else caught her eye. “Hey, what do you think is up there?”

“Huh?” Rantaro turned to look at what she was looking at.

Not too far away from the door was a staircase leading upwards.

“Oh yeah.” Jasper recalled. “There’s another floor to this building.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” Rantaro asked, irritated.

He shrugged. “Neither of you asked.”

“Would’ve been pretty good to know!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kokoro brushed both of them off, already walking towards the staircase. “Looks like the next step is this way.” She stopped once she got onto the first step and laughed to herself a little. “...Pun not intended.”

Rantaro smirked a little, starting to follow her. “It totally was.”

“It wasn’t!” She argued playfully. “Let’s just go.”

Rantaro nodded as him and Jasper followed after her to the next floor.

#danganronpa fanfiction #drv3 au #fanganronpa #danganronpa 52 #fanfic #danganronpa #rantaro amami #danganronpa oc #Kokoro Hikari #Jasper Shion #tsumugi shirogane #DFTH!Tsumugi #Yuuma Todoroki #Ahmya Aika #Sachiko Akahana #Despair From the Heart

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warrior-of-the-skies · 5 years

Text

An Event in the Depths of Moscow

Embers flew up into the dark concrete above as soft cracklings filled the ears of the dying man.

A once crisp uniform now hung on his body in tatters. Blood stained and torn. The man’s face was filled with painful nostalgia. Tears fell down his unshaven face but he kept smiling. The unholy creatures that had done him in lay several feet away. Dead.

“We sure showed them didn’t we, Alder?”

Another man sat across the fire from the dying man. His head in his hands, black hair spilling through his fingers.

A pistol lay in the dirt by his feet. The slide locked back. An empty brass case lay in the dust next to the gun.

“Those were great days. Remember them like yesterday, don’t you Alder?”

The black haired man shook his head. His gloved hands shaking.

“I do.”

“Better days. Better days.” Muttered the dying man as he tossed a photograph into the fire. The image of a group of friends climbing over each other to get into frame in front of a historic surface building cracked and fell to ash.

“I’m so sorry...”

“It was bound to happen someday Alder. There’s no need to feel sorry for me.”

A bloodstained satchel lay next to a slowly growing pool of blood. The dying man reached into it, drawing another photo.

“Oh Alder. Look at you in this one. You were so young. Your hair was so short back then.”

Alder gripped his hair, trying to pull it out.

“So it was... I... I’ll keep that one.”

“No Alder, it goes into the fire too.”

The dying man’s hand flicked the portrait photograph of a smiling young man posing in front of a tall white building into the flames.

Alder flinched, almost trying to grab it out of the fire.

“You aren’t that boy I once knew anymore. You’ve changed so much. I almost couldn’t believe that you were the one who came out of the shadows to my aid. Ah, too little to late eh?”

Another photo was drawn from the satchel. This one showed the same group from the first picture. This time there was no pushing and squeezing necessary to get into frame.

“Didn’t care for the cold up on the surface. Still, we all had each other back then.”

The dying man tossed the photo into the embers. His nostalgic smile never failing.

The next photo he drew from the bag was another group photo. This time there were only a few friends in the center of the wide photo.

“We still had each other even then.”

The man sighed, his life pooling around him. He then dumped the rest of the satchel into the fire. Hundreds of photos burning up as tears ran down his face.

“It’s just you now Alder. Isn’t it?”

Alder was crying with the dying man. He looked into the man’s fading eyes.

“Yes...”

The dying man grinned. He reached into his pocket, pulling out an ornate revolver. Intricate geometric engravings inlaid with gold wrapped around the barrel.

“Here, I want you to take this.”

The man said softly. Alder crouched next to the dying man. He cradled the gun in his hands.

“That pretty thing got me through the tunnels when I was young. It’ll get the job done with only one shot. No need to watch a friend die from hungry nosalises again, eh?”

Alder stood, wiping tears from his face. He held the gun out, aimed at the dying man’s head.

“I’ll make you proud. I promise.”

Alder turned his head away as he spoke.

“Good.”

A small flash of fire ended the dying man’s suffering. A thunderous echo rattled through the dark tunnel. The light of the fire slowly faded into the night as the sound of soft footsteps faded just the same.

#metro #metro 2033 #ocs #story #metro last light

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mythicamagic · 5 years

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Terracotta Teeth - Chapter 8

During a long drive to Tokyo, Kagome’s car is totalled by a monstrous silver dog. She now finds herself stranded in a remote village, where the residents appear kind, if slightly distant. However something or someone seems a little too keen on making her stay, permanently.

Rated M for later chapters

Horror/Romance/Drama

You can read this story on Ao3, Fanfiction.net or Dokuga

Chapter One - here Chapter Two - here Chapter Three - here Chapter Four - here Chapter Five - Here Chapter Six - here Chapter Seven - here Chapter Nine - here

Purgatory ~

Treading the nostalgic path down to her old school in a haze, Kagome walked amongst the sea of students. That uniform that she'd worn almost every day only made more memories resurface. She glanced behind her dimly, seeing an afterimage of a boy struggling to keep up, a football tucked under his arm.

'Hurry up, squirt. I don't want to be late for my exam again.'

He just smiled sheepishly. 'Sorry! But hey, it's not like you want to go in the first place. I'm doing you a favour.'

Kagome blinked slowly. The image was suddenly gone. Turning, she continued on, still dragging her feet. Souta always made her late, it felt only right to do so.

Of course, she was much too old to be going to school. Kagome walked there for an entirely different reason. As the school bell sounded, signalling the start of first period, she walked across the courtyard. Opening the door to the archery range, she stepped inside like she belonged. It almost felt like she did. Taking a bow and lifting out an arrow from a quiver, Kagome tested it's weight on her fingers.

She'd used to practice all the time.

'I'm not too shabby with a bow, if I do say so myself!'

'Don't puff up with pride so much, girl! Only pigeons strut like that!' Grandpa huffed fondly, turning a page of his newspaper.

Kagome's lips curved up, the action hurting her face. Exhaling, she notched the arrow, taking aim. Letting it fly, a soft 'thunk' sounded out as it met it's target.

A little off bullseye.

She turned, shouldering the bow and taking the quiver of arrows with her. It would do. She wasn't going hunting.

The scenery passed by in a series of blurred images. Kagome barely noticed them, staring straight ahead. Brain on autopilot. Sitting like a passenger in her own body, she tried to suspend her mind free of all thought. To not think about how stupid this was. About her family. About burning shrines or silver demons. But the memories she'd pushed away for so long refused to leave, sinking inside her insidiously. Kagome's grip tightened on the steering wheel.

She was almost grateful when something thudded onto the back of the truck. Kagome gasped, lurching forward and slamming her foot on the break. Slowing to a crawl, she whipped her head around, glancing behind her through the window. In the open topped cargo bed, silver caught her eye. Fur danced in the breeze. The inuyoukai sat down, staring at her as she slowed, pulling the truck to a stop on the side of the road.

She watched him through the murky window, swallowing. Her pulse jumped at the sight of him. Red eyes stayed locked with hers, until he quietly huffed, shifting down to lay his great head on his paws.

Kagome's lips thinned, and with a sigh- opened her door. Climbing out, she walked around the side of the pickup truck, the road completely silent. Opening the latch to lower the back of the storage side revealed his large form.

"…You may as well come and sit with me in the front," she murmured.

His ears pricked, tail sweeping out. The dog demon lifted his head and tilted it slightly.

"Let's not make this a big deal," she turned, walking back to the drivers side. Returning to her seat, she shut the door. I hope he didn't notice the bow and arrows...

She'd hidden them under a cover. Of course it was pointless to hide them if he'd followed her to the school as she'd suspected.

"You are not as frightened as I'd expected," came a velvety voice at her ear.

Kagome turned to look at him in the passenger seat. "Should I be afraid?"

"Perhaps normal humans would be," he uttered, shifting. She noticed he wore normal attire, rather than his old traditional red and white clothes. In the small space, he felt that much more real and close. Thinking back to her conversations with Souta, and how clear his voice had been over the phone, she sincerely hoped the demon was not imaginary.

She started the engine, glancing at his deceptively handsome, calm features. "You've been following me," she murmured. "Why?"

"I like following you."

Kagome didn't have it in her to be alarmed as she pulled away from the side of the road. He said it like it were a natural occurrence. "Normal girls don't appreciate getting followed, you know."

"We established just a moment ago that you are not a normal mortal."

She touched her neck. Normal. She certainly hadn't felt like it since the graveyard. "Koga…he told me everything," blue eyes shifted to him carefully. "Is Rin alright?"

Silence flooded the small space, before she was rewarded with the rich cadence of his haunting voice. "She is well. Is that why I have found you heading towards my village? You are returning for her sake?"

Kagome focused on the road, biting the inside of her cheek. "Sort of. I'm guessing you followed me out here to drag me back?"

He nodded, intent gaze never leaving her. He had no interest in the world outside when she was the only sight he wanted to gaze upon. "At first this one intended to take you before you found out about what happened to your family. But Rin's condition detained me longer than anticipated. I was too late to prevent you knowing," he inclined his head slightly, as though apologising. "This one could only observe afterwards."

Kagome's eyes widened, tears stinging her eyes as something slammed it's fist into her abdomen. It made her nearly buckle with the onslaught of emotion. She quickly blinked, trying to restore her suddenly blurry vision. "You knew the whole time, didn't you?" She murmured faintly. "About my family. I guess you would if you've been following me for a good year," she laughed, the sound strained and pathetic in her ears.

She summoned her bravery and looked at him, hot tears running down her cheeks. "In your own way, I think you were trying to be kind by not telling me."

His palm closed over her shaking hand on the steering wheel. "Pull over," he said quietly.

Kagome only did as asked because her body was shaking too much to do anything else. Stopping the car, she closed her eyes against the onslaught of tears, trembling.

Feeling his hand shift to her shoulder, sliding behind her to pull her closer- she jolted and slapped it away. "Don't touch me," she grit out, shying away. "Please don't, I don't have anything left. I can't afford to latch onto you just because you're being nice right now!"

Sesshoumaru stared at her silently, clawed hand still outstretched and hovering uselessly in the air.

Kagome looked away and gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "You want to know why I'm really going back to the village? It's not for any honourable reason- it's not to save people or help you. I just need something. Anything, to distract me right now. I'm just looking for the next thing that can function as my pills. Something to make me stop thinking about them, picturing them!" She sobbed, continuing to hear the phone call. The sound of the authorities telling her to sit down, because the news might be a shock.

She remembered her friends faces at the university, slowly becoming more concerned as Kagome heard the words scramble over and over in her mind.

'There was a terrible accident…'

"I'm alone…" she realised quietly, tears dripping off her chin to land on her knees. Her aunt had taken her in, but the older woman was practically a distant relative. It was more like sharing a house with a room-mate.

"You are not alone."

Kagome numbly turned to look at him.

The gold of his eyes glowed fierce and bright. "You are not alone," he uttered again in a viciously low tone. "The humans who took you in after your families demise failed you. They didn't seek to help you. But this one is here. I have been here, and will continue to be."

She sniffed, holding her arms and drawing her knees up. "Why…?"

The demon looked away slowly, as though he loathed to do so, gaze clouding with remembrance. "Perhaps it is not for any honourable reason, but I remember first laying eyes on you."

Searching with single minded intent may have sounded obsessive or serious, but the process of finding Rin a priestess did not feel so to Sesshoumaru. He took his time travelling, keeping in contact with the village and making certain Rin was well. Aside from that though, he flew across the country at night, travelling to the nearest shrines and then moving on from there. Sometimes he found priests instead of holy women, or mikos that were too old to be his companion. Some that had too little spiritual power to strengthen the barrier of the village.

Other times were far less easy to explain away why they were unsuitable. A young woman had been sweeping the steps of a shrine outside of Tokyo. She had desirable features, a quiet baring and kind demeanour. For all intents and purposes, Sesshoumaru could have approached her and set out to take her to the village.

Could have.

Something made him continue on, renting a car once he got to Tokyo and travelling from shrine to shrine by day. Sometimes it was the same, and he had no discernible reason for passing over them.

He stopped at a burned down shrine. The once proud structure had been reduced to ashes and waste. He walked around it's ruins, taking in the quiet devastation that was so like his own fallen home.

Learning what had happened, he'd focused on the headlines of the newspaper article on his laptop while sitting in a coffee-shop one afternoon. Apparently a woman and her son had died in the fire, an elderly relative of theirs passing away a mere few days later. Some suspected he'd died of heartbreak, but the old man had been sick in hospital for a while.

A daughter remained alive, the sole survivor of the Higurashi shrine. She'd been staying onsite at university when the accident had occurred. Sesshoumaru stared at the picture of the young woman with dulled blue eyes in the article. Obviously the press had taken it without permission.

She looked how he felt. Something unnamed had stirred within him.

Sesshoumaru set out to find her the next day.

It took some time to track down Kagome Higurashi. She'd been taken in by her aunt that lived many hours away, and Sesshoumaru had to do some digging to find out exactly where. When he finally arrived the sky had dimmed into bursts of lilacs with the chilled dusk. He kept to the garden, looking through the large dining room window while in a smaller version of his true form. He hunched low but listened keenly, hearing scraps of conversation.

A middle aged woman was seated at the head of the table, an air of awkwardness about her. "How are you enjoying the soup?"

"Oh, it's great, thank you."

Spoons clinked against the sides of bowls, and he heard the tell-tale blow of lips on steam.

Her voice sounded kind. Sesshoumaru couldn't see her clearly from the angle, so decided to focus only on listening.

"I suppose you're used to better cooking at home- ah! Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's fine." Kagome cut in gently. "Mom's a great cook. I wish I'd inherited her skills, my dishes are always either too bland or too strong."

The awkward air surrounding her aunt only seemed to double. "Yes...she was a great cook."

Sesshoumaru's ears pricked when Kagome's spoon paused. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but distress fanned briefly into her vibrant scent. He inhaled and blinked, feeling it be smothered. The miko seemed to fold her pain neatly, smoothing over the crinkles and tucking it away.

"May I please be excused?"

A chair scraped back and footsteps took her to the kitchen. Paws shifted as Sesshoumaru padded closer, changing into his humanoid form and taking to the trees when she made her way upstairs.

The first time he truly set eyes on the miko, she was laying on her side. Knees drawn up to her chest, she held a phone up beside her pillow. She had doleful blue eyes, and hair that spilled chaotically in long tumbles of dark waves. She pressed something on the device and held it to her ear.

'Hi there, I'm not here at the moment. Um- could you leave your name and number and I'll phone you back as soon as possible? I think that's how it works- Kagome, how do I-'

Full lips tugged up into a pained smile. Sesshoumaru watched while the girl pressed the return call button again and again, listening to her mother's voicemail. He did not think himself a man of feeling. He was not a man at all, but demon. However in those minutes, his instincts roared to life, having remained dormant for years.

Something recognised her pain as an experience long ago felt. He remembered standing in the crumbled foundations of his own home. Recalled the scent of blood soaked ash that had festered in his lungs and never really left.

Her distressed scent called to him, to the point that his claws sank deep into the branch of the tree, splintering. He wanted to look at her. Face to face. Wanted to see what that agony looked like reflected back at him like a mirror. And yet a part of him knew their experiences were not the same. He should not steal away a woman just because he felt a connection.

"You did it right the first time, mom."

Sesshoumaru's gaze turned back to the girl lying on her bed. She stared at the phone, a hazy smile on her lips. The call button was pressed once more.

'I think that's how it works- Kagome, how do I-'

"I explained it before, just talk when it prompts you and hang up when you're done," an airy giggle escaped the miko. Her blue eyes had strayed far away, a faint, tenuous tone to her voice. "No, you're not getting better. You're allergic to technology. Souta, tell her."

Gold eyes flickered as he watched the girl carry on a conversation with herself. She only seemed to get more emboldened the more she continued. Soon she was happily comforting herself with their imaginary voices.

And then it clicked for the demon. He didn't need to look her in the eye, face to face, in order to know. This girl was just like him.

Kin.

There was kin in that room. She lay alone and isolated, but he would not let things remain so. He would find a way to forge their bond in blood and flesh so that neither would be separated and lonesome again.

Sesshoumaru sat for the remainder of the night, listening in silence. He did the same many nights after.

After finishing an abbreviated version of the story, Sesshoumaru's gaze slid back to Kagome's shocked features. "This one has not wanted to leave you since, illogical though it is."

Her mouth opened and closed. Wide blue eyes continued to stare. "But I-" she swallowed, eyes lowering. "I don't even know what's real anymore…"

She inhaled sharply when her chin was seized, tilted up by a warm, firm hand. Slit pupils bore into her. "This one is real, flesh and blood. Just as you are."

His thumb strayed, sliding up and smoothing over her bottom lip. Kagome made a noise, frozen stiff. A long, sharp nail pried in-between her teeth, forcing her mouth to part. "I will not be parted from you again- no matter how you choose to run," he uttered in a hushed rumble. His claw scraped over her tongue lightly, dragging his thumb over the blunt of her teeth.

"You will have to destroy this one first if you intend to escape again. Be it with teeth and claws...or bow and arrows, miko."

Kagome jolted, heart stuttering in alarm and hammering in her rib-cage. She remained frozen even as his face drew nearer, until all she could see was magenta lids and burning gold. And then his mouth was on hers, stealing a searing kiss that left her mind reeling.

The demon pulled away after a moment to rest his hand on the steering wheel, looming close. "You walked willingly into my jaws tonight, Kagome." He reminded her quietly.

Kagome glanced in the mirror, seeing herself in the drivers seat. That's right, she had. And without much of a plan. She really was a dumbass.

"Jerk..." she whispered, breath halting.

"Hello again, Kagome."

The faint greeting had instantly given her pause. Searching Rin's gaze for any judgement, she instead found an empty, placid look. It was almost as though the girl had expected her return. Kagome glanced at Sesshoumaru as he exited the truck. No doubt it would shock the girl if she knew the decision had been Kagome's.

"Hi Rin," she greeted softly. The drive into the secluded village had certainly been...strange. She hadn't thought she'd be returning under any circumstances, let alone free will. The little girl stared up at her, lingering in the threshold of Sesshoumaru's house.

Kneeling down, she gestured to her own cheek. "You okay?"

The little girl nodded mutely, a melancholy look in her faded brown eyes. Kagome's brows drew together. Reaching forward, she clasped her small, freezing hands in her own warm ones. Unlike before, she forced herself to push past the instinct to rip her hand away.

"You don't have to worry. I'm going to...make things right. What do you think? Can we be friends again?" Kagome asked, looking into her eyes to try and convey her meaning.

Rin's eyes gained a little more life to them, and she nodded eagerly. Kagome followed her gentle tug inside, glancing behind her to catch Sesshoumaru's interested gaze. She inwardly winced.

Strangely, the days eerily slipped back into a routine. Sesshoumaru continued to chaperone her around the school, though not as intently as before. Kagome remained calm, suspending her mind when it wasn't needed.

She hadn't been able to find her pills in her bag.

The first thing Kagome worked on in private was drawing up a map of the village. In the late hours of the night, she crept to Rin's room and asked for any possible locations Sesshoumaru may have hidden the sword Tensaiga.

"Obviously it's planted in the earth somewhere no one ever goes," Kagome mused in a hushed voice. The map was spread out over Rin's bed like a cover. The little girl crossed out various locations with a red marker. "Only Sesshoumaru knows where it is right?"

Rin nodded slowly, "I think since a few of us...wanted to break ourselves for good, he knew not to tell us it's location."

Wincing, Kagome looked at the map in the faint night light. Placing her hand on her stinging neck, lithe fingers brushed the bite marks. Frowning, she felt her attention be tugged towards the marks of raised land. The hills thickest with trees slightly beyond the school. Kagome tapped her finger on the unmarked area.

"I'm guessing nothings over here?"

"No. Some of us have tried to go up there in the past, but Sesshoumaru says the ground is unstable. Lots of landslides."

Kagome scoffed. "Convenient," she prodded it. "I'm heading there next chance I get to check it out. See if you can buy me some time by distracting your father."

"What if you're caught?"

"I'll just say I'm trying to escape again," she shrugged. Pausing, a guilty look flitted across her expression. "Rin, this is what everyone wants. Isn't it?"

Unfathomable apathy gazed back at her. Rin nodded slowly, sighing and wringing her hands. "I've spread the word over the past few days. Everyone is in favour of it and will help in any way they can. Even Sango."

"R-really?" Kagome paused. The burning embers of a shrine wafted over her nose briefly. She breathed in and viciously pushed down the swell of feelings. "She...wanted to bring her brother back, didn't she?" Her voice wavered, becoming fragile.

Rin nodded, folding up the make-shift map. "Kohaku was one of us. But sensitive, almost too full of emotion. He was a wonderful friend, but...he couldn't take it anymore. He fled outside the barrier and became dust. The wind carried his remains away before Sesshoumaru could bake them into clay again."

The miko shivered and rubbed her arms, hearing Souta's carefree laugh resound in her mind. Rising, she took the map and turned. "Right. Good thing we're gonna help everyone so that they don't have to worry about that again!" She forced cheer into her tone.

Saying a hasty goodnight, she stepped out of Rin's room and slid the door shut. Bringing a hand to her pulsing heart that throbbed with little squeezes- she quickly padded to her room.

Rummaging roughly through her bag again, Kagome threw it down when she predictably found nothing. She needed something. Anything. She couldn't stand the memories. They kept trickling in without warning, triggered by stupid things. How was she supposed to guard against them when the mere mention of Sango made her remember her own little brother? Even a cringe inducing pop song over the radio made her recall Mama swaying around the kitchen, spatula in hand.

Kagome held her arms, bowing forward. She began to tremble, teeth clenching-

"You are not alone."

She blinked slowly, exhaling. It felt...underhanded. Slowly rising, she walked with fragile steps to a certain door. Knocking on it gently, she couldn't bare to raise her head when it slid open.

Kagome's hands squeezed into fists. "I'm sorry," she murmured. I'm sorry I'm such a coward.

"Did I ask for an apology, foolish woman?" He uttered quietly.

Feeling a warm palm settle on her cheek, Kagome blinked away her tears. It felt nice. Real.

Please hold me.

She followed Sesshoumaru into his room and tried not to feel despicable doing so.

All Hallow's Eve arrived.

Sesshoumaru made no mention of any plans to strengthen the barrier. Kagome attended to her duties as a cleaner that day just as always. She figured if he was going to try something, it would be that night. Her heart continued to flutter like a caged bird in her chest. Her body hummed with new aches, particularly in-between her legs. A few fresh bite marks lined her shoulders and lower back.

They didn't feel unpleasant.

Kagome glanced at him while dusting the shelves. He sat at a desk, reading calmly. She bit her lip, considering.

Just as she opened her mouth- Rin burst into the classroom, panting wildly.

"Father!" She gasped, eyes wide. "It's Sango!"

Sesshoumaru looked up, raising a brow. The book shut with a sharp snap. "What is it?"

"Sh-she's uh-" Rin glanced at Kagome, swallowing, before turning back to him. "She's on the school roof. I think she's going to break herself."

The chair lurched back with a distraught scrape of it's legs. Sesshoumaru strode to the door, glancing at Kagome, who remained frozen. "Remain here. Do not leave under any circumstances," he rumbled.

She could only watch, swimming in confusion while he left. Rin glanced back at her and nodded firmly, before hurrying after him.

Snapping out of her state of worry over something clearly false, Kagome automatically left the room. Peering around the corner into the hallway, she checked it lay empty. When it remained quiet, she speed-walked away. Taking the stairs two at a time, she continued until she were sprinting to the back exit and further still into the cover of the trees.

Picking up a pack, along with her bow and arrows Rin had stashed for her in a tree trunk the day before, Kagome hurried up the forest trail. Autumn tinged leaves scraped and lashed at her exposed knees. She cursed her penchant for skirts. Damn comfy clothes would make her catch her death before she found the stupid sword.

Oddly, the bite marks on her neck kept throbbing. Every time she stepped a certain way, the feeling would either fall faint or grow into a fierce ache. It felt much like when she'd looked at the map. Letting it guide her, Kagome poured everything into sprinting until she felt herself move uphill. Her ears popped after awhile of trekking upwards and Kagome breathed out, catching herself from falling.

Holding a stitch in her side, she stopped, panting hard. Glancing behind her on the incline, the village peeped out through the vast trees, somewhere below her. Spying the school, she felt mild worry. Had Sesshoumaru given chase already?

Turning on her heel, Kagome decided to keep pushing on-

Something slammed into the back of her head.

Pain assaulted her senses. Yelping, Kagome lost her footing.

Someone scooped her up, a cold hand supporting her legs as she felt herself be jostled. Resting her cheek against something, her vision swam. Closing her eyes helped. Kagome tried to regain her bearings even as she sank further and further into the comforting waters of darkness.

Tasting something metallic on her tongue, Kagome dimly realised her mouth must be bleeding. Coming to slowly, she groaned. Groggily opening her eyes, blurry shapes of dark murky browns and a single blaze of harsh orange made her wince. She blinked rapidly, squinting. The room came into focus slowly.

The bright orange turned into a single light hanging from a hook in the ceiling. Dark browns and shadows made up the strange circular walls of the room. There were no windows or other sources of light in the claustrophobic room.

Kagome's stomach dropped the moment she lay eyes on them. Clay pots lined the walls, some sloppily made. Something else was covered by a white sheet, propped up against the wall, but she couldn't make out what. Sitting up, Kagome noted the bed felt like a normal house bed, not the slab she'd seen Rin lay on in the workshop. In fact, the whole room looked different from the workshop. It felt like the time her class had gone caving. Sweat pricked the back of her neck. Was she underground then? Judging by the circular structure of the uneven, earthy walls, it could certainly be a cave or cellar. She didn't know, she wanted out.

Kagome made to move off the bed- only to feel a harsh tug yank her in place. Looking down at her wrist, she found a plastic cable tie had been tied around it, binding her to the bed.

Her breathing was starting to pick up now, chest rising and falling quicker. Tugging, realised both hands were bound to either side of the bed.

"S-sesshoumaru?" She tried calling out weakly. "H-hey, where are you? Let me go, please. I didn't even do anything yet!"

Glancing behind her, a long passageway stretched from the room, down around a shadow drenched corner. Figuring that to be the only way out, Kagome yanked her wrists up, tugging at the ties and trying to find a sharp object to rub the binds against.

Lifting her legs revealed them to be unbound, and she shifted onto her knees, gritting her teeth. Tugging with all her might at the strong ties, the material dug harsh red rivets into her skin. Kagome tried sliding her hand gradually out of them but the cable wouldn't budge around her wrists. Gasping out in pain and exertion, she whipped her head up.

Footsteps were drawing closer, echoing down the passageway. Kagome sat down, heart thundering in her chest. Sesshoumaru had never gone this far before. For some reason, she hadn't thought he would. He'd never locked her in a room, in fact her escape attempts never seemed to vex him. So why now? Why imprison her like this?

Kagome glanced at the clay pots with wide eyes.

Dark strands of hair caught the light first, before red overalls were bathed in the orange glow. Kagome stared at him in surprise.

"Inuyasha?"

#sesskag #sesshomaru #kagome higurashi #sesskag fanfiction #inuyasha fanfiction #sesshoumaru x kagome

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the-everlasting-dream · 5 years

Text

Playing Hooky - Drake x MC

Summary: Why go to work when Drake can spend all his time playing with his three adorable kids?

A/N: SEE I CAN WRITE HAPPY I’ve given you a LONG fluff fic in case anyone thought I was only able to write angst and sadness. Most of its dialogue but worth for the toothache you’ll get from all the sugary sweetness.

See if you can spot a little cameo from someone familiar later on...

NB: Khoobsurat refers to a Bollywood movie starring Sonam Kapoor, the fc for Elizabeth. Trailer linked (ps there’s a broody prince whos super hot too!)

Word count: 8k its worth it I promise

Warnings: Slight implied NSFW at the very end.

Darcy Rhea Walker: Top right, Avery Sonam Walker: Top middle, yes i poached random people’s kids as my fc okay dont judge Cameron Ishaan Jackson Walker: Bottom via our very own DDT’s wife’s ig.

Permatags: @chantelle-x0x , @choicessa, @meeraaverywalker , @drakewalkerwhipped , @quartzandarrow , @mfackenthal , @srawesleyghuewrites , @topsyturvy-dream , @enmchoices , @gardeningourmet @debramcg1106 , @alesana45 , @meladoridarcy, @blackcatkita , @tmarie82 , @annekebbphotography , @lizk77 , @jayjay879 , @tornbetween2loves , @akrenich , @theroyalweisme , @likethetailofacomet , @sleepwalkingelite , @littleblossom-18 ,

TRR only: @speedyoperarascalparty , @carabeth , Drake: @fairydustandsarcasm

Monday

The first rays of sunlight had barely filtered through the curtains lining the master bedroom of the duchy of Atlantea when Drake Walker felt something soft and squishy collide against his chest. Or rather two somethings. One set of chubby hands grabbed at his face while another shook him vigorously.

‘Daaaaaddy… Daddy wake uuuup.’

Fighting a smile, Drake feigned a huge snore and as he intended, soft giggles immediately filled the bedroom.

‘Daddy you’re faking.’

‘No I’m not,’ he answered, eyes still closed.

‘Daaaaa.’ That was the sound of a hungry two year old on the brink of throwing a whiny fit.

He sighed internally, hoping for a couple moments more of sleep, before running a hand down his sleeping wife’s arm. ‘Your son is awake.’

Elizabeth barely moved. ‘Before 8am, he’s your son.’

‘Daaaadddyyyy we’re hungwy…’ That was his daughter now, she barely whined unless she was really hungry.

Forcing a grin onto his face — he didn’t really have to force it at all— Drake opened his eyes to find two dark heads perched on his chest. ‘Why I think a couple of monkeys found their way into my bed this morning,’ he began slowly, sitting up and creeping his hands towards his children. ‘Guess I’ll have to… catch them!’

He lunged forwards grabbing his two year old son Cameron and four year old daughter Avery in his arms, showering down a barrage of kisses and tickles onto their giggling faces. They were only interrupted by Elizabeth’s loud grunt of protest.

‘Let’s leave Mummy to sleep and I’ll fix you two some breakfast hmm?’ Drake suggested, getting to his feet and taking his children by the hands.

Cameron glanced back at his mother’s sleeping form and stated as-a-matter-of-factly. ‘Mummy gwumpy.’

‘I heard that.'

Drake bit back a laugh. Elizabeth Richmond-Walker wasn’t known for her affinity with mornings but he didn’t mind. He was the one that usually got them ready for the day so she could get a few extra minutes of well deserved sleep. He loved having this special time with his kids, this bubble of calm before all the craziness of the day could begin.

‘C’mon little man,’ he tugged on Cam’s pudgy hand. ‘Let's go check on your big sister.’

Darcy Rhea Walker was in almost exactly the same position as her mother, spread out eagle flat on her tummy in her bed, eyes fastened shut. Drake took a moment to savour the sight, feeling a little nostalgic as he thought of the day they'd brought her home. She had been so tiny back then and look at her now… They’d have to get her a new bed in a few months, her legs would be hanging off this one soon, thanks to Liz and his tall genes.

Hoisting Cam onto his hip, he gently shook her with one hand, ‘Darcy.’

His first born remained motionless so he tried again, this time eliciting a groan of protest not unlike her mother’s earlier.

‘Come on Darce,’ he cajoled, ‘Don’t make me let Cam at you. You know he’s just gonna jump on the bed until you wake up.’

‘Ugh Daaaaaad.’ His eldest child glared up at him. ‘Five more minutes?'

‘Hah, I’m not falling for that one again squirt. Come on up, up. You’ve got that project today remember.’

She finally relented, inching her way out of bed. ‘Ugh fine.’

Drake dropped a kiss on her head as she shuffled past him towards the bathroom. ‘Good. I’ll be downstairs making breakfast. Pancakes, your favourite. And don’t even think about getting back in bed young lady!’ he called over his shoulder.

‘Here you go Avie,’ Drake smiled, passing a plate of freshly made pancakes to his daughter, flicking her nose as he did so.

Avery had been their miracle baby. She’d been born premature with cleft lip and palate and for while things were touch and go with her. Thankfully it certainly helped when your godfather was a literal king and Liam had kindly seen that she’d received the best medical care possible. Four years later and one corrective surgery later, all that was left of the surgery was a small scar where they’d fused her upper lip together, she’d probably have that for the rest of her life.

It was all the more appropriate that her middle name, Sonam, meant gifted because she certainly was a gift to them. And she was quite gifted herself. At four years old, her drawings constantly littered the walls of her bedroom, playroom and both her parent’s offices and he could tell that the quiet, gentle girl had talent for music unlike anyone else her age. Drake couldn’t help but count his blessings for the most perfect little girl sitting before him

‘Thanks daddy,’ she chirped before digging in.

‘My pleasure jelly bean,’ he couldn’t help a smile. ‘You’re getting better at that. I guess those visits to the speech path are paying off huh.’

Avery had barely nodded when Cam decided to spray his apple juice all across his high chair. In the time that he took to clean that up, Darcy materialised at the table, dressed in her uniform and Drake immediately set to doing her hair as she dug in to her breakfast. Despite Elizabeth's braiding lessons, he still had a way to go and had just secured her ponytail with a matching ribbon when his wife waltzed into the kitchen, dressed for her day of meetings.

‘Morning babe,’ he greeted his wife with a grin. ‘You’re looking well rested.’

She leaned in to give him a quick kiss. ‘Mmm no thanks to you last night.’

‘Hey you weren’t complaining at the time!’

‘Maybe,’ Elizabeth returned his grin as she stole a piece of pancake from his plate. ‘Are you ready Darcy girl? Your solar system project is already in the car and if we don’t leave in,’ she checked her watch. ‘2 minutes ago, we’re gonna be late.’

Darcy let out a yelp of surprised and shot up to get her shoes as Drake watched Liz shower kisses on her other two children.

‘Good bye kiddos I’ll see you later. Drake babe, Nita will be here soon to bath Avery and Cam. I’ll pick up Darcy from school and bring her home.’

Drake caught his wife by the hips and pulled her close for a kiss. ‘You know I could stay at home and do all that.’

‘You could,’ Liz replied. ‘But you’ve got those meetings with Liam about the developments today remember?’

He groaned. ‘Yeah how could I forget.. I’m sure I could get out of them'

‘Drake Walker don’t even think of playing hooky from work..’ His wife gave him a look before grabbing her bag. ‘Darcy! Car’s leaving in 30 seconds!’ She glanced back at Drake as she walked off. ‘I’m serious, don’t even think about it..’

Drake sighed and looked down at his kids currently having a mini food fight with bananas and syrup all over their face. ‘But you guys are adorable...'

Eventually he had to leave for work and throughout the full day of meetings Drake couldn’t for the life of him get the image of Cameron and Avery attached to his legs, begging him not to go as he made to leave that morning.

‘Say Liam,’ he caught his best friend as they exited the meeting room. ‘You guys can manage without me for the rest of the day right?’

The king of Cordonia frowned a little. ‘I mean I guess we could. After you secured that deal, I’m sure Bertrand’s got the rest of it handled. Something wrong at home?’

’Nah,’ Drake rubbed his neck sheepishly. ‘Its just… Cam and Avie looked so sad when I left this morning since I barely got to see them last week so I was thinking…'

His best friend nodded, understanding shining in his blue eyes. ‘I get it. Go on. We’ve got this.’ Throwing a thank you across his shoulder, Drake took off in the direction of his car.

‘- know baby but Daddy will be home late today. He’s got a very important meeting today.’ Drake heard his wife’s voice echo from their lounge room as he walked down the hallway.

‘He worked all of last week,’ Darcy’s voice replied.

‘An he’s neva home to play wif us!’ That was Avery now.

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ Cameron gurgled.

‘I’ll see if we can call him to talk to him later okay,’ Liz tried to placate them as she entered out into the corridor almost colliding with her husband. Drake planted a deep kiss on her surprised lips and stepped into the lounge room. ‘Did someone call?’

‘DADDY!!’

Three bundles came rushing at his legs, wrapping themselves firmly around him as he let out a loud laugh. There was no meeting worth attending would ever replace the rush that he was experiencing. He heaved all three of them into his arms and spun them around as wide grins split their giggling faces.

‘But Mummy said you were at work?’ Darcy queried.

‘I know but I missed you munchkins so much I just had to come back early,’ Drake replied, setting them onto the floor again. ‘Now who wants to go on a picnic?’

They ended up having dinner out in the open wide estate of Atlantea, having ridden the horses down to the riverside. In the light of the dying sun, Elizabeth leaned into her husband as they watched the kids chased each other across the field.

‘Do I wanna know what excuse you gave to Liam to be here?’ She asked dreamily, tracing lazy circles on his arm around her waist.

Drake’s chest rumbled in laughter from where it was pressed against her back. ‘I told him the truth.’

’Sure.’

He shifted to look at her. 'Did you really think I’d lie to my best friend?’

‘You’re taking advantage of his fatherhood and Liv hasn’t even given birth yet,’ she quipped before snuggling in more. ‘But I’m glad you did.’

‘Daddy! Mummy! Look the fireflies are out!’

‘Guess that’s our cue to join them?’ Liz asked.

Drake pulled his wife to her feet. ‘Come on Mrs Walker, I bet I can catch more fireflies than you.’

She grinned. ‘You’re on.'

Tuesday

ACHOO!!

A loud sneeze shook Drake out of sleep and his eyes flew wildly around the room to land on his wife who was currently in the bathroom, rubbing her nose furiously.

‘I thig Ib sick,’ she mumbled, lowering the tissue to reveal her watering eyes and red nose. ‘My head hurds. Fuck I should hab listened to you bout wearing a jacket last night.’

‘I’d say I told you so but I have a feeling that would get me in even more trouble,’ he replied, coming up to her and receiving a glare.

‘And Ib got that impordand meeding wit dhe artist’s guild doo ugh. I’ll be fine,’ Elizabeth reasoned, sniffing loudly. ‘I’ll take something and I’ll be fine.’

‘Nuh uh Liz you’re sick. You need to rest babe,’ he replied, stepping into her path and giving her his best dad look. ‘You’re staying home today.’

‘But whad bout dhat meeting?’ She began to protest but allowed her husband to lead her back to bed.

‘I’ll get Hana to send you the minutes later.’

‘The kids?’

‘I’ve got them. Avery’s playdate at 10 til 3 at Penelope's then Cam’s baby gym at 11.'

‘The charity dinner?’

Drake chuckled, tucking his wife back into bed. ‘I’m sure Atlantea will last one night without their beloved duchess. I’m gonna get you something for that headache then I’ll drop Darcy off. You just relax.’

‘Hmm okay..’ Elizabeth grumbled and was about to close her eyes when something else occurred to her. ‘Wait aren’t you going to work?’

‘Just relax babe! I’ve got this.’

Within the hour he had all three kids dressed, piled into the car and ready to go. Drake was just about to back out of the garage when Darcy suddenly yelled, ‘WAIT!’

He hit the brakes and they all jerked forward. ‘What?! What the hell Darcy!’

‘Daddy, Mummy said that’s a bad word,’ Avery put in.

‘Its Tuesday,’ Darcy exclaimed, eyes wide and expectant as if that was supposed to excuse her sudden outburst.

‘And?’

‘Its sports day,’ his eight year old burst out, wrenching the door open. ‘I’m in the wrong uniform!’

Moments later she was back in the car decked out in her sports gear and exactly 19 minutes later they'd pulled into the car park of Greenacre Private.

‘Bye Dad!’

‘Have a great day squirt! I’ll pick you up later,’ Drake made sure that she got safely inside the gates before turning back to the two in the backseat. ‘How about another joyride kids?’

Before Avery and Cameron could make their enthusiastic replies, a loud honk and a burst of colourful language erupted from behind them.

‘Jeez, we’re at a school for gods sake’ he shook his head.

‘Come on you two,’ Drake urged. ‘Quietly now.’

Realising he’d had a bit of time before dropping Avery at her playdate, he’d decided to pull by the palace to pick up his work laptop and together they tiptoed down the hallway to his office, in hopes of getting in and out unnoticed until-

‘Drake buddy! There you- You brought Cameron and Avery!’

‘Uncle Max!’ His daughter ran up to the other man who picked her up and spun her around.

‘Man why didn’t you tell me it was Bring-Your-Kid-To-Work day!’ Maxwell Beaumont exclaimed before setting down Avery and picking up Cam.

‘Its not,’ Drake replied. ‘And you don’t even have kids of your own Maxwell...’

‘Like that’s gonna stop me!’ His friend exclaimed, swinging Cameron around while making rocket noises. ‘What are you guys doing here anyway? Besides coming to see their favourite Uncle Maxwell?

Drake rolled his eyes. ‘I’m pretty sure the whole point of it is to bring your own kids. And we’re not staying long. I just came to pick up my laptop then we’ve got a full day ahead.’

‘I didn’t know you were working from home today. We’ve got that meeting with the finance committee-‘

‘Yeah.. about that, but Liz is sick today so I’ve got the kids today.’

‘You know there are babysitters for that kinda thing right?’

Drake rolled his eyes. ‘Can you cover for me or not Beaumont?’

Maxwell’s face lit up with a grin. ‘Are you playing hooky Drake?’

‘Daddy play with us,’ Cameron put in, his little brow creased in confusion.

‘Ahh I see little man. I’ll cover for your dad so well they won’t even know he’s gone,’ He winked conspiratorially . ‘Maybe I should get a disguise? Or even better a decoy!’

‘Do whatever you want Beaumont,’ Drake replied, laptop now in hand. ‘Just don’t get me in trouble for it.’

His friend raised his hand in a salute. ‘Aye, aye sir!’

‘Looks like it's just you and me now Little Man.’

Drake glanced in his rearview mirror after dropping Avery off for her playdate to where his son was happily munching on rusk.

He took a moment to marvel at how amazing the last two years had been since Cameron Ishaan Jackson Walker came into their lives. After two girls who he loved to death, he didn’t think he could be happier until the day Elizabeth told him she was pregnant again. That had been a surprise because unlike with Avery they hadn’t been actively trying and to be honest he’d been a little nervous about having two children within three years.

That all changed when the ultrasound results came through saying that they were having a boy. Drake had teared up at all the first ultrasounds — there was nothing like seeing the little life that he and the most amazing woman in the world has created together, growing inside — but from that moment on there was a special place in his heart for him.

When he came into the world, Cameron had certainly made his presence known with an ear splitting shriek befitting his middle name Ishaan — meaning master or lord. Everyone quickly learnt who was in charge the day Cameron came home, as coupled with his powerful cry and big hazel eyes he had everyone wrapped around his little chubby finger, Drake included.

Though Cam was still developing, Drake couldn’t help but see so much of himself in his son. His stubbornness and hardiness were especially highlighted during baby gym where he’d manage to manoeuvre himself up onto the most complicated structures. Drake couldn’t help but watch with pride as his son quickly outpaced the other kids his age in both size and abilities and for a moment wished he could slow down time just so he could savour the time with him more.

At this rate, I’ll never be going back to work, he thought wistfully to himself as he strapped the two year old in before doing the school run.

Once everyone was home, after dinner it was time for his favourite part of the day: bath time.

‘Mr Shark is coming closer, closer, clooooooser,’ Drake quipped, inching the shark toy towards Cameron and Avery who were pressed against one side of the tub.

‘He’s coming to eat your TOES!’ He lunged the toy at them, pretending to munch on their tiny digits as squeals of laughter filled the bathroom.

‘Having fun you three?’

Drake turned around to see his wife standing in the doorway, wrapped in her dressing gown, smiling down at them.

‘Mummy!’ The kids cried in unison, reaching their little hands towards her. ‘Daddy’s got Mr Shark on us!’

‘Is that so?’ She knelt down beside the tub. ‘Good thing I have the magical protection dolphin!’ Elizabeth whipped out another toy from the basket on the ledge and thus began an epic battle between the two.

‘Feeling better babe?’ Drake asked after the magical protection dolphin’s triumph.

His wife gave him a grateful smile and kiss on the cheek. ‘Much better. How were they today?’

He couldn’t help but grin in return. ‘Absolute angels. Avery’s play date went well and Cam dominated at baby gym today. You should see him Liz, I swear he goes for the biggest obstacles on purpose. I picked up Darcy from school - she’s in bed reading now. Helped her with maths. I told you I got this,’ he affirmed with a kiss on his wife’s head.

‘At this rate you’ll be a better housewife than me!’ Elizabeth chuckled as they each picked up a child to put to bed.

Drake took a moment to ponder her joke. ‘You know I wouldn’t mind it all that much… I mean you’re way better at all the courtly stuff than I am...'

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him. ‘ Nah uh Mr Walker. You’re not leaving me alone against all those crazy nobles. Who will I sneak out with?’

Wednesday

‘Morning babe!’ Elizabeth’s cheery voice filtered through the earpiece of his phone, filling their shared ensuite.

‘It must be a really good morning because for once you’re awake and out of the house before I am,’ Drake chuckled as he reached for the shaving cream.

‘Laugh it up,’ she replied sarcastically. ‘I’m calling to let you know that Darcy’s school rang. They’re pupil free today, apparently some pipe burst so they’re closing the school to fix it up.’

‘Heh she’ll be glad to hear about that.’

‘Tell me about it.’ He could practically see her rolling her eyes. ‘Hana sent me the minutes from yesterday,’ she continued, her voice taking on a serious tone. ‘And it looks like I might have to stay back late to prep for our trip tomorrow. Will you guys be okay to fend for yourselves tonight?’

‘Sure can,’ Drake replied as he jogged down the stairs.

‘Okay but just in case I’ve got some dhaal in the fridge that they can have for dinner tonight or you could whip something up?’ Elizabeth said before sighing. ‘I knew I should have made something for you guys this morning, I was up early enough.’

‘Don’t worry about it babe,’ he reassured her. ‘I’ve got this.’

‘Yep, yep, house husband of the year,’ she chuckled. ‘Nita will be there at 1 so you can have the morning with them then actually go to work for once. I’ll see you later. Love you.’

‘Love you too.’ Drake clicked off the call then stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, deliberating with himself. In less than 20 seconds, his phone was ringing again and this time it was a very apologetic Nita sorrowfully admitting she had to cancel today because she’d caught a cold.

‘Its alright,’ he placated her, trying to hide the grin that was growing. ‘Something must be going around... You rest up. I’ll take it from here.’

‘Morning munchkins.’

‘Hey daddy,’ Avery gave him a sleepy smile while Cam cooed from his cot. ‘You gonna work today?’

Drake knelt down beside her bed, pressing a kiss to her soft cheek. ‘Would you like it if I stayed home again today?’

‘Mmhmm,’ she nodded, wrapping her chubby arms around his neck and he nuzzled her gently with his nose, earning a little giggle.

‘What do you say we go fishing today hmm?’

His daughter’s face clouded over as she shook her head. ‘Daddy I’m scared…'

‘I’ve got you jellybean.’ He reassured her, gently patting her hair. 'I’ll be with you the whole time and we’ll all be wearing life jackets. I won’t let you fall.’

Avery fixed her big brown eyes on him in a serious stare. ‘Promise?’

‘I promise.’

‘Dad! Dad! I think I got one!’

‘Reel it in Darce! You’ve got this!’

Decked out in matching life jackets, all four of them were seated on the jetty over the small river that ran through Atlantea, Darcy’s shrieks of excitement echoing off the valley surrounding them.

Watching the intense look of concentration on her face, her tongue protruding out from her lips a little, Drake marvelled at how quickly she’d picked this up. Darcy held a special place in his heart — he’d say that for all his kids because it was true, they did — but with Darcy he’d become a father, something he’d never thought he’d get a chance to be.

For a long time, he’d resigned himself to a lifetime of solitude but that all changed the moment Elizabeth had walked into his life. He thought he’d never be happier than the day he married the love of his life until the moment he’d his daughter's first cry in the delivery room. She’d looked so small and fragile in his big arms and he swore on his life that he’d do anything to protect her.

Although she was a lot like her mother, in so many ways right down to the looks she gave him, Drake could see so much of himself in Darcy. She had inherited his love for the outdoors for one, and he was more than happy to indulge it - she could already put up a tent faster than he could, she was mastering fishing right before his very eyes and of course, in true Walker style, make the perfect s’more. He’d happily taught her everything he knew and he was proud to see her surpass him in no time. Darcy had recently taken up soccer, to his delight and most days after work and school were spent outside with him teaching her all the skills his own father had taught him. Drake had a feeling that wherever he was, Jackson Walker would be smiling down at them and he only wished he could have been there to see it for himself.

‘Hah!’ Darcy’s cry of triumph brought him out of his reflection and he glanced over to see her holding a small but impressive fish wiggling on the end of her pole. ‘Look!’

‘Great job squirt! Avie, Cam come see what Darcy caught,’ he beckoned the other two over.

Cam happily toddled up, barely able to keep his balance wearing the life vest while Avery inched her way forward, her own rod untouched, keeping a wary eye on the water flowing beneath them.

‘Come on Ave, its not that scary,’ He reassured her, reaching behind him to stretch out a hand to his daughter.

No sooner had the words left his mouth there was a small splash and he whipped his head around to see Darcy shrieking out her brother’s name and pointing to the water below them. Drake immediately jumped in after his son and in a matter of seconds had scooped him out. The current was pretty slow and the water wasn’t very deep but it must have been quite a scare a scary for the toddler as he began to yell loudly as soon as he was back in his father’s arms. He immediately raked him over for any cuts or bruises and when he found none, hugged the little boy to his chest, relief throbbing in his veins.

‘You’re okay little man, you’re okay,’ Drake soothed, unsure if he was talking to his son or himself. ‘Pass me a towel Darcy and lets pack up. I think we’ve had enough fishing for one day.’

That afternoon as the little boy slept on his chest, Drake gently ran a big hand over his back. If anything had happened to Cameron, he would have never forgiven himself. That was the same for either of the girls too. He glance at their sleeping forms tucked up next to him in his and Elizabeth’s bed. He’d gotten so caught up in the moment, that he’d lost focus and little Cam had almost paid the price for his mistake and he vowed never to be so careless again.

‘Daaaad did you find it?’

'I think we’re out of naan bread squirt. Will regular bread do?’ Drake replied, riffling through the contents of their fridge, Cameron hoisted on one hip. The toddler had seems to have recovered from his earlier shock and was happily tugging on his father’s hair.

‘Ugh I suppose so,’ his daughter replied with a tone far beyond her age. Paired with an exasperated look and her freshly washed hair bundled up in a towel, Darcy looked a picture of Elizabeth. ‘And its just naan, not naan bread.'

He spun around to regard her. ‘Hang on missy I think I’ve got a few years before the terrible teens get here.’

‘I really want naan Dad. Can’t we just make it? Mum does so it can’t be that hard.’

Drake laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘I think that’s a little above my skill level Darce.’

‘Please Dad. We gotta at least try. You’re always saying we can’t give up so easily.. Pleaseee,’ she pleaded with him, her big brown eyes taking a pathetic look before pointing to her brother in the high chair. ‘Even Cameron wants naan.’

‘Naan!’ His son announced happily, completely unaware that his oldest sister was taking full advantage of him.

Drake thought for a moment then conceded. ‘You kids… Alright Darce you find Mum’s recipe and I’ll get the ingredients. Avie watch over Cam.’

Forty-five minutes later, they were no closer to achieving their task than when they started.

‘Easy on the mixing Darce!’ Drake cautioned but it was too late and their third attempt at making the Indian bread exploded in a powder cloud that filled the air. He took a moment to survey the flour and yoghurt stained countertop utensils and more ingredients strewn around the kitchen. He looks down at their first attempt, a sorrowful bowl of stringy dough that was supposed to have been cooking on the iron skillet but had disintegrated on first touch. Avery and Cameron were perched on the high chairs, giggling as they played in the remnants of the flour with little dough people they’d made while Darcy… Darcy would need another shower as her damp hair was covered in the snowy powder as he was sure his was and Drake knew he had to admit defeat.

‘On second thought, I’ll just get you guys takeout. But on one condition..’ he looked each of his children in the eye. ‘We do not speak a word of this to your mother.’

‘You got it Dad.’ Darcy even had the gall to wink at him.

Thursday

‘I’m calling Hana and telling her I can’t go.’

‘Babe we’ll be fine, I promise.’

Elizabeth fixed her husband with a steely look. ‘My son fell into the lake and now he’s down with a cold Drake. All while his father was supposed to be watching him. How can I just leave like this?’

Drake winced. His blunder was still fresh in his mind and it didn’t help that Elizabeth had been kept up all night looking after Cameron the night before her trip to Italy. ‘I’ll keep my eyes on him every second of the day. He won’t even sneeze without me knowing it.’ He cringed internally, realising his mistake too late.

‘He shouldn’t even be sneezing at all,’ his wife shot back, letting him know by her tone that he was not going to live this down for a very, very long time. ‘I can’t believe you would be so irresponsible Drake! How could you let this happen to our son? He could have drowned. The current could have been stronger, the water could have been deeper. One false move and he might have died!’

‘But he didn’t okay?!’ Drake cut in. ‘He didn’t! I jumped in right after him and got him out right away. He’s fine.'

Elizabeth stared at him. ‘Yeah sure he’s fine this time but what about next time? How can I trust you after this?’

He hung his head in shame. ‘I know. But I promise I’ll-‘

‘I can’t leave like this. They’ll have to manage without me,’ Elizabeth wasn’t hearing any of it as she riffled through her bag for her phone.

’No! Elizabeth don’t,’ Drake lunged for the device.

She had been preparing for this trip for the last month to negotiate certain tax reforms with on imports and if she missed this trip it would be a major setback to Liam’s overall development scheme for Cordonia.

‘You need to go to this. You’ve been preparing for so long and its just a couple of days. We’ll be fine. Cam will be fine. And I’ll-‘

‘You will go to work!’ She replied sharply, holding up a threatening finger. ‘And leave my poor kids alone. Nita’s all better and she’s medically trained so she can look after Cam. All you need to do is take Avery to her speech therapy appointment and pick up Darcy from soccer training. Do I make myself crystal clear?’

Drake nodded solemnly and when Elizabeth deduced that he looked suitably apologetic, she held her hand out.

‘Gimme my phone and get out of my way. I’ve got a plane to catch.’

True to his word, Drake marched himself to the palace and resigned himself to a whole day of paperwork that had piled up over the week. He was about two-thirds through the enormous stack when his phone began to ring. It was Nita.

‘Your Grace, its time for Cameron to take his medication but the Her Grace didn’t mention where she’d kept it. I looked all over but I couldn’t find it.’

He slapped a hand to his forehead. ’Shit sorry Nita. I should have remembered I gave him the last dose before I left this morning. I’ll pick some up and come home now.’

‘Its fine Your Grace I can pick some up myself,’ the nanny began to say but was cut off by the sound of Cameron wailing in the background.

Drake’s heart sank a little at the sound, knowing that the little boy was sick because of him. ‘Its fine,’ he rectified. ‘I’m pretty much done here anyway, I’m coming now.’

Clicking off the call, he shoved the rest of his papers into his briefcase and was out the door in seconds.

Cameron’s pained cries reached his ears the moment Drake walked through the door with the medicine. Rushing into the kitchen, he found his son mid-tantrum in the arms of his nanny. Unbidden he immediately opened the medicine and measured out the right dose.

‘Oh Your Grace, thank goodness,’ Nita gasped, taking the syringe from him and guiding it to Cameron’s mouth. The screaming toddler refused to take the syringe, instead spraying it all over his matronly nanny.

Drake reached for the syringe. ‘Here, let me try.’

Nita gratefully passed Cameron over before ducking out. Drake cuddled his son, running a hand down his small back as he tried to reciprocate the soothing noises Elizabeth usually made. And it worked. In a few moments, the two-year-old’s cries had been reduced to quiet sobs and Drake kissed his sweaty forehead.

‘Its alright little man. Daddy’s got you. You just missed your dad thats all. Now lets try this again,’ he suggested, raising the refilled syringe to his son’s mouth.

Not long after the medicine had been administered, Cameron was asleep and Drake bent over the cot, poised to place him inside when his son gave out a small whine in his sleep, clutching his shirt, unwilling to let go of him. He sighed and settled onto the couch, Cam on his chest and his computer on his lap in the hope of getting through some of that paperwork.

‘Daddy, Daddy wake up. Nita said its time fer my appoime.’

‘Huh?’ Drake glanced around still in a daze not realising he’d nodded off himself until his daughter was shaking him awake gently. Cameron had disappeared, probably with his nanny in the kitchen by the sounds of it. Glancing at his watch, he shot up.

‘Dammit Avery we’re late!’

Fifteen minutes later, Drake was rushing through the halls of the clinic, painfully aware that he was at least fifteen minutes late. ‘Avery Walker. She’d here for her usual appointment with Dr Chang,’ he told the receptionist as his heart hammered in his chest from the exertion from running.

‘Dr Chang is on paternity leave but there’s a slot with Dr Windsor our newest speech pathologist available if you want?’ The young man informed him.

‘Yeah let's go with that,’ Drake answered in relief, his life momentarily flashing before his eyes at the thought of how mad Elizabeth would have been if he managed to stuff this up too. He had barely dropped into the chair when-

‘Avery? Avery Walker?’

Drake picked his head up to see an attractive brunette with a clipboard entering the small waiting room, scanning the room until her gaze landed on him.

‘Ahh Duke Drake Walker I believe?’ She approached them with a pleasant smile on her face, her intelligent brown eyes sweeping over him appreciatively.

‘Um yeah,’ he mumbled, confused.

The young woman’s smile grew and Drake noticed a pair of dimples appearing. ‘I’m Dr Crystal Windsor. I’ll be running Avery’s speech session today.’

‘Nice to meet you.’ He had not been expecting a ‘Dr Windsor’ to be so young. Or attractive for that matter...

‘And I’m Avewy!’ His daughter chimed in, saving him from his awkwardness.

Dr Windsor laughed, a sound like tinkling crystal, befitting her name. ‘Of course you are. Now lets see how you’ve been going hmm?’

The young speech pathologist seemed to elicit the best responses from his daughter and Drake was quite impressed with Avery’s improvement in that hour long session alone.

‘Now make sure you practice those ‘puh!’ sounds Avery,’ Dr Windsor reminded her as the session grew to a close before turning to Drake, her lips curving up into a smile automatically, dimples on full display. ‘Your daughter has made impressive progress with that cleft lip. Better than most kids her age with that same condition. Regular practice of her sounds and phonetically sounding out words should see this improvement continue.'

Drake nodded studiously as he helped Avery with her jacket. ‘Thanks doc.’

‘Please,’ she placed a soft hand on his arm, her dark eyes dancing a little as they found his. ‘Its just Crystal. Here's my card. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything at all.’

Catching her obvious message, Drake reached out and took the small piece of paper she handed him, nodding in thanks. ‘Thanks, I’m sure my wife will be in touch if we do.’ He didn’t wait to see her face fall a little and caught his daughter’s hand. ‘C’mon Avie lets go get your sister.'

‘How was training squirt?’ Drake called his daughter as she climbed into the car from the soccer pitch, receiving only a slam of the door in response. ‘That bad huh?’

Darcy didn’t respond, a dark look over her face and he decided not to push. Later in the night after dinner, Drake tried again, knocking on the door to her room.

‘Darce, what’s up?’

‘I don’t wanna talk about it,’ came the response.

He tried again. ‘Come on squirt, you know you can talk to me about anything.’

‘Go away!'

Drake sighed, wishing Elizabeth was here. She was better at handling things like this. He was just about to walk away when something occurred to him. ‘Okay you don’t have to talk to me but at least come watch a movie with us?’

‘But its a school night..’ His daughter’s hesitant voice came through the door.

The corner of his lips perked up. ‘I won’t tell if you won’t.. And we could watch Khoobsurat…'

There was silence on the other side of the door as Drake tempted her with her favourite Bollywood movie. Moments later it swung open.

‘The whole movie?’

‘Every second,’ he replied with a wink.

By the time the main protagonist, Millie had managed to knock over the antique suit of armour, Darcy was laughing out loud with her brother and sister. Despite the obvious language barrier, Drake loved to watch them laugh at Millie’s silly antics and he couldn’t help but see some of his and Liz’s relationship in the plot: The annoyingly optimistic stranger who basically irritated the dark broody prince into loving her and changing his entire outlook on life. Now that sounded familiar didn’t it?

Drake certainly wasn’t a prince but he was grateful to have his very own Millie and for the three beautiful children they had made together.

Friday

A loud drumming on the windows woke Drake up from his sleep and he glanced around in momentary confusion until it occurred to him that it was raining, storming in fact. Glancing down, his heart melted at the sight of Cameron sleeping on his chest with the two girls curled up on either side of him.

If only Elizabeth were here too, the scene would be perfect, he mused, lifting his arm lazily to check his watch. Precisely two minutes until Darcy had to be at school. Drake shifted, too comfortable to move. Ehh.. she can have the day off...

The rain was still pouring down just as hard when Drake placed a soccer ball at Darcy’s feet in the ballroom of the Atlantean manor. All of the kids had been fed and changed for the day and Drake had just managed to spring the truth from his daughter that she’d been embarrassed when one of the boys on her team - the goalie - had told her she’d never make the team next year because she ‘kicked like a girl’.

A bolt of fury shot through him but it was her pleading look that had kept him firmly in his chair. Drake was particularly mad because he knew how much Darcy loved soccer and how good she’d been getting recently in their practice sessions. He didn’t have the heart to see her give up just because some boy told her she wasn’t good enough..

‘I told you Dad. I’m not playing soccer.’ She told him stubbornly, crossing her arms. They were currently standing in the empty ballroom in the manor where Drake was setting up makeshift goal posts on either end.

‘I know I know. Just kick the ball squirt.’ Darcy gave it a half hearted nudge causing him to shake his head.

‘C’mon Darce I know you can be better than that. Try again.’ He took a few paces backwards. ‘Pretend I’m Brian. Kick the ball and try and get it past me.’

Darcy hesitated and gave the ball a sharper tap.

‘Darcy... I know you can do better than that,’ Drake cajoled. They repeated the exercise again with only marginally better results.

‘No I can’t!’ His daughter yelled, hot tears pouring down her face. ‘I’ll never be able to get past him.’

‘Not like that you’re not. Come here squirt.’ He motioned for Darcy to come closer and knelt down to get a better view of her face. ‘I’m going to tell you what my dad said to me when I was your age. He told me, If you want something, its up to you to go get it. It's not always going to be easy, nothing worth having ever is. You’re going to have people like Brian tell you that you’re too small or you can’t kick hard enough. You gotta keep pushing Darce. Keep trying again and again because thats you prove them wrong. Besides I know you’d love to see him take a ball to the face next week right?’

That made her giggle and when Drake was satisfied that she looked suitably cheered up, got to his feet and gestured for her to try again. This time her shot was much better and they continued to practice, Drake giving her tips here and there while Cameron and Avery cheered her from the sidelines.

Face set in determination, the tip of her tongue protruding a little from her pursed lips, Darcy wound up and with almighty kick sent the ball sailing high into the air in the direction of the goalposts. Her shot however went higher than anyone expected, grazed the old crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Everyone was frozen as they watched it swung wildly and a few shards came tinkling down.

Drake laughed uneasily. ‘I think you’ve convinced the chandelier Darce. But for safety’s sake I think we better take this outside next time.' His daughter nodded in agreement but he couldn’t hide the sense of pride that filled him.

Like father, like daughter right?

An hour later, Drake collapsed on the grass, all three kids following suit, landing on his chest as they panted hard to catch their breath.

‘I don’t know about you kids but I’m ready for a nap.’

‘Daddy nooooo!’ Avery whined. ‘We haven played puzzles yet or done hair or painted nails!’

‘Vroom, vroom,’ Cameron put in, slamming his toy car into his father’s side decisively.

‘Ouch okay, okay,’ he conceded then looked at their collective muddy clothes. ‘Lets get you guys cleaned up first.’

On the doorstep of her home, Elizabeth Walker was digging through the contents of her bag looking for her keys when something tickled her ears. Is that... Darcy? She frowned, checking her watch. She should still be at school. Sure enough her daughter’s laugh reached her ears followed by the deeper sound of her husband.

Finally managing to getting the door open, she wandered into the house following the sounds and her eyes widened at the sight she found. Their lounge room had been transformed into a pillow fort palace, couch cushions and blankets strewn across the space. Darcy was laughing and jogging around the room closely pursed by Avery and Cameron who were currently straddled across on the back of their father who was on his hands and knees, rearing like a horse.

At the sight of her husband, Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open. Never in their ten years of marriage did she ever think she’d see the day when Drake Walker had sparkly pink hair clips and elastics in his hair, holding his brown locks up in haphazard waterspout. Looking down she realised that his nails had also been painted metallic purple.

‘Mummy’s home!’ Avery’s joyful announcement broke her out of her trance and all four heads turned to look at her. In a second, the kids had leaped off their father’s back and came rushing at her, wrapping their pudgy arms around her legs.

‘Hey darlings,’ she planted kissed on their heads before addressing her eldest. 'Darcy! What are you doing here? Are you supposed to be at school?'

‘Dad gave me the day off!’ Her daughter beamed enthusiastically. 'And we practiced soccer in the ballroom!’

‘You did what now?’

‘It was so cool Mum! You should have seen me kick! The ball went like woah then the chandelier went like..’ Darcy mimed the ball’s trajectory complete with a sound that sounded suspiciously like broken glass. ‘Then it went right into the goal!'

‘I’m sure everything is completely intact and nothings broken,’ Elizabeth replied dryly, raised a deliberate eyebrow at her husband.

Drake merely shrugged, kissing his wife on the cheek. ‘What can I say? She’s a Walker.’

After the kids were safely in bed, Elizabeth plopped down onto the couch beside her husband who handed her a glass of whiskey from which she took an appreciative sip.

‘Would I be right to say that you didn’t go into work at all this week Drake?’

‘That’s not true,’ he replied sheepishly. ‘I went in for a little bit.’

‘Oh Drake, what am I going to do with you?’ She shook her head lightly.

‘Let me stay home more often maybe?’ His dark eyes twinkled at her.

Elizabeth cuddled in closer to his side and his arm came around her. ‘I’m glad you had a good time with the kids…. How was Avery’s speech session?’

‘Yeah it was good. She and he's like it was good but they gave her a different speech therapist this time..'

Beside him, Drake felt Elizabeth’s body stiffen just a little. 'Crystal Windsor right? The one with the dimples?’

‘Yeah thats her.'

Elizabeth shifted out of his embrace to reach for the bottle of whiskey. 'What did you think of her?'

'She's nice I guess... Good with Avery. Don't think I've seen her respond so well before. Why?’ He asked, quizzically.

’No reason,’ she replied, taking a deep draught.

Realisation sparked in him and he leaned forward. ‘Richmond... are you... jealous?'

'No.. Why would I be jealous?’ She laughed shakily, caught off guard by the use of her maiden name.

Drake raised an eyebrow and watched his wife’s dark skin flush a little shade of pink from behind her glass. ‘You so are.’

‘Am not!’

‘I’ve been married to you for a decade Liz. I know your tells.’ ‘

Fine,’ his wife conceded. ‘It just… Its been 10 years and…'

‘And..?’

‘Nothing I’m just being immature,’ she replied.

‘Liz,’ he tipped her head to look at him. ‘If its bothering you I wanna know.’

‘I was just thinking about Thursday and how I yelled at you about Cam… I’m.. I’m afraid you’ll lose interest,’ she admitted, eyes sliding down from his. ‘In me... Say we were having this really big ongoing fight, like a build up of things that finally exploded… What’s to stop you from running off with someone like Crystal Windsor… I know I’m not-‘

‘I’m going to stop you right there,’ Drake interrupted. ‘Every couple goes through a few rough patches here and there and believe me I deserved it yesterday but that’s no reason to throw in the towel just like that. We love each other and we’re willing to fight for us no matter what’s thrown at us. I told you: you’re my wife, my family, my whole world. You’ve given me three beautiful children. I have no reason to want anyone else but you.’

‘Drake..’ Elizabeth started to reply but he cut her off with a finger to her lips, his dark eyes carrying a spark of heat that ignited a fire in her belly.

‘Our three little tots may be heavy sleepers,’ he gently guided her back down to the couch, hands slipping under her clothes. ‘But you better be quiet coz I’m gonna prove to you that you’re the only woman in the world for me.’

Elizabeth couldn’t help but capture his lips in a deep passionate kiss that left her breathless. She was lost in the sensation of his lips on her neck and fingers tracing their way towards her centre until something occurred to her.

'Drake wait,’ she groaned.

He lifted his head in alarm. 'What is it? Too much?'

Elizabeth shook her head and looked right into his eyes. 'Next time you play hooky from work, I want in.'

Drake’s mischievous smile was the last thing she saw before she gave into the ecstasy. 'You got it baby.'

#SEE I CAN WRITE HAPPY #IM NOT THAT MEAN #only fluff here #did you catch my AB reference #drake walker #elizabeth richmond #drake x mc #drake x elizabeth #The Royal Romance #trr #choices #playchoices #choices fandom #choices fanfiction #long post #i put a cut in

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brettyimages · 5 years

Note

Never gonna give you up, I want candy, You spin me round and Living on a prayer please? :)

thank you for asking! These are such lovely nostalgic questions and I gave some of them really long answers so sorry about that

never gonna give you up: how old were you when you joined the internet?So I remember feeling like we were one of the last families in my class at school to get a computer and at first it was definitely just a MS Paint and Word document machine. My first memories of the internet are of things like Busted’s websites and playing online dress-up games and that sort of thing, which would make me about 9 maybe? My granny had a computer and an internet connection before we did though so it was probably a year or two later, when I started high school, that I started spending all my time on Green Day forums and MSN Messenger and MySpace/Bebo.

i want candy: chocolate or sweets?Chocolate, although pick’n’mix does still fill me with nostalgic joy

you spin me round (like a record): favourite modern cover of an older song?I have lots of favourite covers but because I don’t listen to a lot of ‘modern’ music I guess that narrows it down. Here’s some:- Come As You Are by Prep School- Only You by The 1975- New York New York by Digital Daggers- Chelsea Hotel No 2 and Summer Wine and The Happiest Girl In The USA by Lana Del Rey

living on a prayer: which was the song of your childhood?This is a really broad question because I’ve always gone through really intense phases and I can’t define my whole childhood with just one song! So again, here’s a few:- Somebody Put Something In My Drink - Ramones: I remember this and Lou Reed songs on a cassette my dad played in the car when I was little and I liked this but was frightened by Lou- Viva Forever by Spice Girls: this was the first single I ever owned, I convinced my grandparents to buy it for me in the supermarket when I was 4- Pure & Simple by Hear’Say: embarrassing but they’re probably the first band I was ever obsessed with? They were the first of those reality TV pop contest shows and I got really into following them even though I don’t remember actually watching from week to week- She’s In Fashion by Suede: this is mostly just to make me sound cooler after the last couple of choices but I got a CD free with some pop magazine when I was 6 and it has every late 90s boyband you can think of on it, some Eurodance tunes, and then, inexplicably in the middle, Suede. I accumulated quite a few of these free CDs and got rid of a lot of them when I realised I didn’t really care for any of the songs but I kept this one because I liked this one weird song by this band who, for all I knew, might never have had another hit, and I’m glad I did- What I Go To School For by Busted: they were my next big obsession and my gateway band for rock and alternative music growing up. I had this as a cassingle and my poor grandparents who had a tape player in their car had to endure it on repeat for a whole holiday- Complicated by Avril Lavigne: like the above, but this time instead of cute boys pulling faces in school uniforms, it was a girl in a tie with a skateboard and 9 year old me thought she was cool as fuck. She’s also the first person I ever went to see in concert so she’s important- Come With Me by Special D: not a rock song at all but a really tacky early-00s dance song. It was probably a weird thing for me to be into as it doesn’t sit comfortably with the above two, but my best friend and I were in love with this song. I used to go to her house for tea once a week when we were 10 and we’d eat pasta and draw and watch movies meant for girls much older than us. She inhabited a world of hairspray and lipgloss sets and we used to take shots of water and pretend we were dancing on the bar like we were in Coyote Ugly. When we got to high school we emerged as completely different people and I left all of that weird trashy pre-teen glamour behind forever- American Idiot by Green Day: probably my last big obsession before I entered my teens. American Idiot came out just as I started high school and they really helped to define the friends I made and the person I became for that first couple of years and beyond.

#journal #please enjoy my playlist #that all went a little Coal Black Mornings at the end but I just finished listening to the audiobook #moodcobain #Messages

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norowareshimono · 6 years

Text

Gray Log’s Monochrome Gallery: Hoshino’s Chapter Covers Selection

Other DGM translations

Presenting the chapter covers that Hoshino herself has selected with her commentary! It includes the her personal Top 3 too!

First place:

Chapter 167 “Hint”

I like the balance of the whole picture and how it combines scariness and cuteness. You can feel the bond between them, but at the same time something feels off. Moreover, I think I did a good job at giving it a meaningful air.

Second place:

Chapter 193 “Friend”

My second favorite.

I drew this cover just after the last scene of the chapter, the one where Kanda destroys the rampaging Alma, and I remember being overcome with emotion. Alma had become very dear to me by then, so I wanted to give him one of his lovely expressions for last.

However, drawing him smiling was difficult to do. Regarding the letters saying “friend” behind Alma, they are supposed to be made with “blood.” Had this been a color page, I would have probably painted them in a black to red gradation, instead of pure black.

I’m sure this Alma is turning towards Yuu, a smile coming to his lips.

Third place:

Chapter 105 “A Stage in Rouge”

I adore Krory and Eliade’s tragic love.

It’s a pitiful one, but I love it (laugh) and I think this cover was able to express it well. I think it’s a shame that, due to time constraints, the rose garden in the background ended up looking so rough, but there is something in how you can only see Eliade’s shoulder that’s really sad and painful. The situation, with Krokins holding an umbrella, is cute too, to the point I feel like praising past me (laugh).

The Nominees:

Chapter 2 “Full Moon Night”

The current me wouldn’t ever come up with a composition like this, would I? There is something nostalgic in realizing that I once came up with these kinds of ideas. The resemblance to the movie “Nightmare before Christmas”, the likening of the end of the curtain to a city, the roses blooming from what appears to be a pool of blood… The me back then had some spooky yet cute ideas, didn’t she?

Chapter 43 “Laughter”

Of all the Tyki I’ve drawn, I think this one is the most handsome (laugh). Often, whenever I forget how to draw him, I give a look at this cover (laugh). It’s a refreshing image, very much like him. I like the simple background too.

Chapter 59 “White Heartbeats”

Miranda sitting with her legs crossed is a sort of refreshing sight, isn’t it? (laugh) The second uniform fits Miranda really well, so I’m glad I got to draw a full body picture of her.

Chapter 60 “The Path of Oath”

A back view of Allen and Tim, which sort of parallels the Mana and Allen cover that took first place. You ought to look at Tim’s shapely, terse butt! The tight line between its legs is especially cute!

Chapter 62 “Battle Plan”

This cover was drawn with just a pencil. It illustrates nicely the pencil’s characteristic softness, or so I think. After seeing this, I felt like drawing my manuscripts using a pencil (laugh). However, erasing the sketch seems like it would be a problem…

Chapter 85 “To Portray ‘Love’ in that Play”*

I like this one because of how well it fits the chapter’s title and how good is this composition for a cover. I was able to portray the uncanniness in Allen’s Innocence in it. It’s a good depiction in more than one sense, so I like it.

* Translator Note: I’m not 100% sure about this one, but I think this title may have a double meaning. The first, as seen above, being “to portray ‘love’ in that play” and the second “to portray ‘myself’ in that play.” アイ (pronounced ai) is in katakana, a strange choice if you were talking only about 愛 (also ai, meaning love). The only other option that makes sense in context is the English “I”, which is also written as アイ in katakana. Both are very fitting, so I think this was intentional.

Chapter 99 “Debt Crisis”

I was in a real hurry when I drew this one. I can clearly remember myself drawing in a rush with the calligraphy pen. The detailed parts, like the buttons or the hair, were made using a normal pen, but everything else was drawn with the calligraphy one.

Chapter 103 “An Unruly Child”

I like a lot of covers depicting Krory, don’t I? It’s the same pose I gave Allen in chapter 14, but it’s a good fit for Krory as well. I like it. The gentleman look is a good match for Krory, don’t you think? He’s tall too, and that gives him the air of a fashion model.

Chapter 119 “La + vi”

If you were to use only objects, I think this picture would be the only possible metaphor for Lavi’s character. The small objects within the coffin are all the things he has recorded in his travels. This represents that Lavi is empty inside, that he’s filled only with information. There is also a reason for the birdcage to be empty, but that’s still a secret!

I was able to cram a lot of information about Lavi in this one page, so I’m quite fond of it.

Chapter 123 “Voice of Darkness”*

I drew this as my idea of how Allen’s “Crown Clown” would look if it took human form.

* Translator Note: The furigana says こえ, voice, but the kanji is 吟, which means “recital” or “lament.”

Chapter 124 “Black Carnival”

This cover doubles as a panel of the manga, but I drew it so Allen and Tyki were the picture of “eeriness” and “fear.”

Chapter 130 “Eyes of Hatred”

I’m satisfied with how I drew Allen’s eyes here. Back then, that made me so happy. The smoke trail and the frills in Cross’ hand are lovely and well done too.

Chapter 132 “The Musician!!?”

After lots of worrying about this cover, I thought "let's include every element associated with Allen!" and this is how it turned out. This page took an unusual amount of time.

Chapter 138 “But Time Goes On”

Drawing this cover was fun. In Allen’s drawers there are only sweets (rations) and detailed debt accounts (laugh). The room is so small there isn’t enough space for two beds, that’s why Link is waking up an a futon.

Chapter 195 “Ripple”

I managed to draw a good pose here. There is no other character in DGM that could pull this off (laugh). At the time, my assistants thought that the flashing light over his head was hilarious (laugh), but I wanted to add it for the symbolism!

Chapter 198 “The Truth of the Barren Flowers” & Chapter 190 “The Garden of Barren Flowers”

After drawing this, I was filled with satisfaction. This cover marks the first appearance of Alma in a cover without a smile, I think. It’s an image of Kanda and Alma once they learnt the truth of the “Second Exorcist Project.” My goal was to liken them to lotus flowers, and I think I was able to convey that idea here. The cover, title included, forms a set with the one for chapter 190. They are standing outside the lotus at first, all to get inside at the end. The idea was to use these two pages to represent the beginning and the end.

Chapter 208 “We, Who Live Lost”

Those who depart and those who return. This image left a huge impression in me, as it was the first time I drew something with that kind of concept. It was really fun to do. Johnny’s pose is absolutely uncool, yet for some reason it makes me want to cheer for him. I like that about it.

Chapter 209 “In Search of A.W. – Travelling Companions”

I like this Reever. I want you, readers, to imagine who is in the photo he is looking at. Ehehe. What’s bringing out that smile?

Chapter 214 “In Search of A.W. – Awakening”

This was my first time drawing a full body picture of Nea. Just as the theme of “Kanda and company = lotus flowers” exists, the same goes for “Nea and company = the wind.” If you can perceive that more or less in this scene, that’ll make me happy.

#dgm #d gray man #d.gray man #d.gray-man #dgnetwork #dgm translations #gray log

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calmcal · 6 years

Text

the arcade fiasco

adventures in babysitting series { 002 out of ??? }

masterlist

Summary: you and steve fall into a babysitting job for mike, dustin, lucas, max, will and eleven. but things never seem to be easy. prepare to have adventures no babysitter would ever dream of doing.

Paring: steve harrington X insert reader { female }

Requested: no

Word count: 3.2 k

Warnings: language

Author Note: your girl is back with the second installment of this series and it feels v good. and also you guys are legit faves, you make me feel so good about this series.

also if you want to be tagged in this series all you have to do is ask, and you shall receive :) let me know what you think !

the arcade was brightly lit, the neon lights from the games lit the room with vibrancy. there was noise coming from everywhere, weather it be music, or game sound effects or just random chatter from the people in the arcade.

there was a thick stench of greasy foods and plastic, and the smell made you feel nostalgic of times where things weren’t so crazy, when you would find yourself in this very arcade with your group of friends, playing rounds of pac man and donkey kong while eating greasy fries with cheese.

now you were here as an unofficial baby sitter with steve harrington, your life had totally flipped upside-down, pun intended.

your sneaker clad feet walked almost soundlessly as you followed closing behind steve to a bright yellow neon sign in the shape of pac-man.

“ready to lose y/l/n?” steve asked with a shit eating grin. his tone was heavily laced with humor.

you let out a laugh, shaking your head. “you already lost once taday harrington, and you really prepared to take another?” you retorted with a pointed look, referring to the small argument that happened in the car.

“those kids don’t know how great of a babysitter I am” steve boasted as he puffed out his chest with pride.

“okay sure, if that helps you sleep at night” you teased poking at his chest, deflating him like a balloon, that made you smile.

“just for that, I am totally going to kick your ass” steve pointed a finger at you, smiling.

you and steve huddled around the small game, the darkly lit screen casting a yellow glow on your face. steve rummaged through his pockets to pull out a silver coin and pushing it into the coin slot of the machine, a whirlwind of noise emitting from the machine.

suddenly everything on the screen came to life, and the game was ready to be played. you wanted as steve pressed on the buttons harshly, his eyes glues to the screen, watching everything moving item.

your eyes drifted away from the screen to look at his face. there were creases on his forehead, brows furrowed in concentration. his teeth biting down harshly on his bottom lip. this made a shiver run down your spine, the redness spreading on his lips, and in that moment you wanted to kiss him. you tried to shake the feeling away, but you couldn’t help it, he just looked to good not to notice. you felt your cheeks warming as you continued to stare at him, stray stands of brown hair falling over his eyes, it was a heart warming sight.

there was a commotion that made you tear your eyes away from steve to see dustin, lucas and max standing in front of a freckly boy wearing a purple pinstripe uniform that belonged to the arcade. from where you were standing, you couldn’t see lucas or dustin’s face, but you could clearly see the workers face.

it was bright red with anger as he spoke at a rapid pace, you couldn’t hear what he was saying, but you knew it wasn’t pleasant.

“hey” you said tearing your gaze away from the commotion to look back at steve.

“huh” he moved his head back enough to hear you speak, but his eyes staying glued to the screen, fingers moving at an even faster rate.

“I’ll uh be right back, I need to fix a situation” you said simple, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear.

“can’t take the heat of my pac-man skills” steve snickered.

you rolled your eyes. “no, your pac-man skill are mediocre at best” you shrugged your shoulders, playfulness oozing from your words.

steve scoffed and motioned you away with a wave of his hand, before continuing his button pressing.

you giggle in response before turning of the heels of your feet. dustin and lucas were still being yelled at by this worker, it was drawing the gazes of strangers around them, although you were sure they didn’t mind.

you cleared your throat loudly when you stood being the two boys, making the freckled boy stop in his wake, his words pausing. lucas and dustin turned their heads to see you standing behind them, they had wide smiles on their lips now.

“is there a problem?” you asked in a sweet tone, placing a hand on each of the boys shoulders.

the words straightened his posture, his hand that was pointing an accusing finger, fell to his side. his face was still bright red with anger, and sent you an annoyed look.

“these shitheads were flinging quarters at me” he said in an accusing tone.

you spared a look at the two boys, who were already looking at you with sheepish smiles. your lips twitched at the ends, there was a smile forming on your face. you covered the twitch with a cough and sternly looked at the worker.

“and you knew it was them, i mean there are plenty of people in this arcade” you said, stating the obvious.

now you knew dustin and lucas and been the culprits, you didn’t have to see it to know, you just knew them to well. the freckled boy looked shocked at your answer, you had just blatantly said that they wren’t the ones who did it, as if he didn’t see it with his own eyes.

“I-I-I saw them do it!” he spoke a little louder now, clearly angered by your response.

“maybe, just maybe you’re seeing things” you said, shrugging your shoulders.

“i am not seeing things!” he continued to shout at you. “these little dicks were throwing their money at me!”

“okay firstly” you gave to boy a harsh glare, and he slunk back slightly. “they aren’t dicks, they are kids so don’t think it’s okay to call them that and secondly” you paused for a moment as the freckled boy tried interrupt. “do not interrupt me, secondly you should be happy they were throwing money at you there are worse things”

“wh- what the hell” were the few words that slipped from his lips.

“I mean she’s right” lucas said nodded his head, speaking for the first time since you arrived.

“yeah, we were contemplating throwing some cheese fries instead, but then that’s kind of a stick mess, so we kept throwing quarters at you instead” dustin smiled cheekly.

his reasoning didn’t seem to help the situation, it only angered the worker further.

“okay so they threw so quarters at you, big deal, pick ‘em up and keep them” you said, sure you would be annoyed if you were to one being pelted with coins, but this guy was being kind of ridiculous in his yelling. they were kids throwing money, not killing his pet.

“who even are you anyway?” the worker spat the question at with.

“okay michael” you said in a sarcastic tone, reading the fine print of his name tag. “i’m there babysitter” you said with certainty.

“oh you’re a great babysitter” michael spat at you.

“oh thanks for noticing” you retorted as sarcastically as possible, you were now pushing his buttons, you could clearly see it.

“as fun as this has been, we’re gonna go” you started to back yourself and the boys out of the heated argument, but it seemed michael was’t going to let any of you go that easy.

“no these kids are going to pay for what they did” michael said sternly, stepping forward and taking a hold of your wrist.

your hands were still placed on the boys shoulder, so when michael grabbed you, your hand tightened against lucas’ shoulder as a chain reaction. lucas flinched as the sudden tightening of your grip, and you winced, letting your hand drop, sending him a small smile.

“let me go” you said calmly as you tried to pull your wrist from his tight grip.

you underestimated his strength as his grip tightened even more. you moved you other hand from dustins shoulder and moved a step in front of the boy younger boys, protecting them from this jerkwad.

“they don’t have to pay for anything, stop being a shithead” you spat harshly at michael.

michael scoffed loudly “yeah they do, so pay up bitch” michael replied.

your eyes squinted in a tight glare, he was really trying you, his beady eyes were staring you down harshly, his lips were pulling into a snarl. you could compare him to a rapid dog, but you held your comment back.

“let me go asshole” you sternly said and he didn’t waver from his stance.

you eyes strayed away from his freckled face to your surroundings, there were people scattered everywhere in the arcade, some were looking in your direction with concerned looks, others were glued to their respective games and the rest were completely oblivious what was happening around them. there was a small group was young girls who were making their way towards you, the closets one to you help a large Styrofoam cup of soda.

you made quick thinking as she was close enough to you. “I asked nicely before, but you ignored me so . . .” you didn’t finish your sentence as you reached out to take the cup fro the girls hand and throwing the red dark liquid in michale’s face.

he spluttered as the dark liquid covered his face, his eyes screwed shut and his tight grip on your wrist released. you let the cup fall from your hands and it fell to the ground silently. there was a satisfied smile on your lisp as you watched michael try to wipe the sticky liquid away from his eyes.

“you bitch” michael spat.

“yeah well I you should have listened to me the first time” you rested her hand on your hips as you stared at him.

“hey y/n where- what the hell happened!” steve came up from behind you, shocked at the state of michael, drenched in soda, red faced and furious.

“these stupid kids were pegging quarters at me, and your bitch friend dumped soda on me” michael exposed the lot of you before you could even open your mouth.

you looked at steve and watched as his shell shocked reaction wore off and he looked like he wanted to laugh.

“yeah well you know- i mean- it’s- you know what lets go” steve stumbled over his words until he came to the decision to take you by the arm and pull you towards the exit. “mike, will, el and max we’re leaving now!” steve shouted through the arcade.

dustin and lucas were hot on your tail, they were then joined by mas, el, will and mike.

“hey get back here!” michael shouted loudly and angrily.

“run, run!” you shouted as you motioned the kids in front of you, hurrying them out of the arcade.

“that was so cool!” dustin shouted with a wide smile as you all ran towards your car.

“what the heck happened in there?” mike asked in confusion.

lucas and dustin shared a ecstatic glance before launching into the story of what happened the everyone who didn’t see. the group of eight stood around your car as you unlocked the car, everyone climbing in and settling.

“it was so cool!” lucas grinned widely at the end of the story. “I totally think y/n is the better babysitter now” he continued.

you smiled slightly at his excitement but you felt a little jumpy, your wrist felt sore and you were almost certain that you were going to have a bruise tomorrow. you put the key in the ignition and the car roared to life, and soft music floated through the radio.

“so uh this babysitting adventured was chaotic” steve commented leaning back in his chair, turning his head to loom at you.

you didn’t look at him, keeping your eyes glues to the road ahead of you as you pulled out of the car park.

“yeah” you mumbled under your breath.

“and i didn’t even get to beat you at pac-man with my clearly superior skills” he continued on in a distracting manner, cracking his knuckled loudly.

“okay quit it grub” you laughed swatting his hands to stop him from making the weird sound again.

steve smiled in satisfaction, you weren’t sure if it was because if antics annoyed you or because he made you laugh, but you didn’t mind either way.

“so uh throwing a drink, nice touch” he laughed.

“now you know not to mess with me harrington” you threw back as you spared him a look.

“you wouldn’t” he gasped in fake shock.

“yeah yeah I totally would” you nodded along with your words.

steve laughed at you, and the sound of the kids chattering became the only sound between you as you drove along the road.

“hey y/n!” max called from the back seat.

you looked in the rear view mirror and hummed in response, waiting for her to speak again.

“next time you decide to throw a drink on another jerkwad, let me know so I can watch” max smiled sweetly, and everyone in the car erupted in laughter.

“you got it mad max”

you drove everyone back to dustins house, where all six kids hopped out of the car. each one thanked you for driving them, while dustin thank you for ‘the great entertainment you provided’

when everyone had piled into the house, that’s when you deemed it okay to start driving steve back home.

“so what shall we call this babysitting adventures miss y/n?” steve asked as you drove.

“are we going to give all our babysitting things a mission name?” you asked in return.

“um yes, mission names are crucial” steve said as if pointing out the obvious.

“you hand out with dustin to much” you teased.

“okay no, he hangs out with me” steve reversed your statement with a smug grin.

“sure” you said with a smile.

“you know what, lets call this adventures in babysitting ‘the arcade fiasco’” steve suggested with a proud smile.

“oh did you come up with that one on your own?” you asked in a teasing tone.

“‘did you make that one on you own’ yes i did thank you very much, and it’s great, much like everything else i do” he mocked you with a wide lipped grin on his face, he looked proud to have come up with such a name.

you did say anything in response, you only shook your head as bubbles of laughter emitted from your parted lips.

steve stopped talking as he watched you from the passenger seat, his eyes were looking at your wrist. the normally clear skin was rubbed red raw from michael’s tight grip, you shifted under his careful gaze, trying to take the attention away from the red skin.

“did he do that?” steve asked in a soft voice as he pointed to your wrist.

“mhm but it’s okay” you said quickly, trying to divert the situation, you didn’t want to talk about what that jerk did, because you gave him his karma.

steve didn’t say anything, but he reached out to take young much smalled hand in his large calloused one, his fingers touched the red skin lightly, making you wince softly.

“sorry” he mumbled under his breath.

the one hand you had resting on the steering wheel tightened, your knuckles turning a faded white. “it’s okay steve, I've had worse injuries, you know that” you said, and it was true, you can’t fight a demogorgon and come out unharmed.

“I know” he replied, but his hand stayed wrapped around yours, fingers linking with your own.

your heart thumped loudly in your chest as you spared a look at your intertwined hands. his large pale hands almost engulfed your smaller hand, the feeling of his calloused skin scraping against you smooth palms made shivers shoot up and down your arm. it was a nice feeling, having him hold your hand, not that you would say it out loud.

you could see steve’s large house further down the road, and it made your heart plummet to your stomach, you didn’t him to go, not yet.

“thanks for coming, even after originally saying no” you said as you pulled into the driveway.

“yeah, i’m glad you asked me cause then I never would have seen you own that arcade guy, which was completely awesome by the way” steve sent you a charming smile that almost made you swoon, almost.

“just being the better babysitter” you flexed the statement out, which made steve scowl.

“and you didn’t even get to be a sore looser after being left in the dust of my out of this world pac-man skills” steve boasted.

“well i’m not sure i’ll ever be allowed back there, but i’ll owe you a pac-man game” you giggled.

you were certain you would be banned from the arcade for a while, throwing a drink in someones face could warrant that, even if they were a huge dick who deserved it.

“maybe not a pac-man game then” steve chuckled. “how about lunch, tomorrow?” steve asked, a sheepish smile on his lips.

you froze in your spot, the smile you had on your lips seemed to slip away as shock encased your features. was steve freaking harrington asking you on a date? did you hear him correctly? were you dreaming?

“w-what like a-a date?” you fumbled over your words as you tired to ease the string of words out of your mouth into a sentence that he could comprehend.

steve chuckled at your stumbling, it made your cheeks warm. “yeah a date” he nodded.

there was a lump forming in the back of your throat, your stomach was full of fluttering butterflies, you were sure your face was a deep red by now. your lips slowly pulled into a wide grin, there wasn’t any chance that you were going to be able to hide your cheer excitement. your eyes scanned over steve’s face, his dazzling brown eyes watching you and your every move, waiting for an answer. and a sheepish grin on his lips at the mere sight of your flustered cheeks.

“uh yeah okay, lunch tomorrow” you finally agreed, the words coming out rushed and laced with excitement.

“great, i’ll pick you up at eleven?” steve asked, his hand detangeling from yours leaving your palm cold.

“yep” was the only thing that came out of your mouth.

steve chuckled. “okay, see you tomorrow” steve said as he pushed open the car door.

you wanted from your spot in the drives seat as steve walked to the frontdoor of his house, turning back once to wave you goodbye, his ever so charming smile making your heart flutter, before you disappeared behind the hard wood.

once he was out of sight and ear shot you let out a happy scream. this was totally amazing. who knew a adventures in babysitting would lead to a date.

adventures in babysitting tag list: @electra-mesmeric @panic-at-space-camp @galaxy-moon @leaningtowerof-not-pisa @em-ughhh @yojakey-d @queenlalybug

#steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington au #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington and reader #steve harrington self incert imagine #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things fic #adventured in babysitting #actuallyremus

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