Is this the same child?

♡. WHEN CROWLEY DECIDES that the boy's need a dosage of learning to prepare for the 'future' and sets everyone up in pairs to take care of a fake baby that mimics a real one. @ ; Gender neutral reader / Crack (In some parts) / Fluff ## heartslabyul + pomefiore + octavinelle / scarabia + savanaclaw + diasomnia

. ACE TRAPPOLA ; “Why does this gremlin look like us?” he asks nonchalantly, waving his hands towards the baby. The child looked way too real to be fake, though Crowley had informed everyone beforehand that the child was in fact fake, and was made to take after its caretakers.. They seemed real.. And you wouldn’t put it past Crowley to kidnap a couple thousand kids, I mean he technically did the same to you.. So it can’t be that uncommon.. Plus it would save him some cash if he actually did that. 

The baby was asleep when it first came into your possession. You swear you saw Ace lose his sanity a tad bit when it first cried, that should have been a red flag.. Alongside his literal meltdown when he was confused as to what he should do, you watched and humored his worries, by putting needless concern and teasing him. You swear you saw him take a breath of pure relief when the child stopped crying and began drinking its milk. 

The child indefinitely had insomnia because it just wouldn’t fucking let you two sleep.. At all.. Ace wanted to commit a crime, he thought it would be peaceful having a month off classes.. And since the child was fake it would all end well, Right? Wrong. The baby was artificially designed to look exactly like the two of you, which was bad because you couldn’t help but grow attached to it.. And that wasn’t the worst part, It acted like a real child.. and functioned like one too. You were now 99% sure Crowley kidnapped a bunch of orphaned newborns and put a sort of disguise spell on it.

The two of you even named the kid.. Well Ace just continued to call it a little gremlin, and you ended up joining him. It was much easier, and well.. The child was a gremlin.. The child was growing fast, and it was torture. It would pull your hair, tamper with Ace’s make-up. Fuck with your supplies and tools, and was genuine hell to work with. But that’s not to say the child was all bad, it was cute. And the three of you grew quite close together. 

When it was time for your Little gremlin to go, the two of you were completely heartbroken. Over the past month, the two of you grew closer together as a pair, hell Ace even confessed. It was sweet, and now you little gremlin had to leave you both. “WE’LL MISS YOU” you yelled as Crowley took the kid away from you both, sure Crowley was an excellent matchmaker for the two of you but what the fuck?!?

. DEUCE SPADE ; Deuce grew up with care and was surprisingly well trained in the art of taking care of a child, the moment the baby was given to you, it started crying. Yet Deice was fully prepared for this event in advance, it was actually a rather adorable sight. However, you didn't get to view the full scene, as Deuce ushered you away to get your supplies for the baby. 

You heard that the Child was supposedly supposed to take after the two of you, yet a part of you doubted the fact but when Deuce pointed out the similarities you began taking notice of it as well.

Was Deuce an expert child specialist, you weren’t quite sure… But he was exceptionally good at taking care of the little demon that was now in both of your possession. The first few hours went by pretty fine, since Deuce was quite skilled in taking care of children.. You were actually quite shocked when he asked you for help, but the scene was worth it. 

The three of you would play together, go on picnics, and do a bunch more fun stuff; which led to the three of you quickly growing attached together, he even gave the little demon with legs a name. Everything about this experience was fun and enjoyable, and you couldn’t help but grow used to it. Though it was quite odd, the little demon seemed to have quite a lot of patience for a child, you don’t think that was normal. You even asked Deuce about it; he then explained to you how throughout his earlier years, he had been a remarkably calm child to deal with..

When it came time for the two of you to give up your precious child, you swore you could see Deuce shed a tear. And you were quite sure that Crowley purposefully, meticulously planned this event; since he handled taking your demon away from you and turning the device off, much slowly, then the others. 

. RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS ; Riddle was not ready for this— One normal school day with peace dear heavens.. Mercy on his soul. (Something yuu should be saying but ok Riddle be dramatic mr mommy issues 🙄) Immediately hands the kid over to you, he does not trust himself. And that’s a lot coming out from Riddle the housewarden of Heartslabyul—Himself..

He’s trying.. He truly is.. He’s putting in his best effort.. But his mother didn’t raise him right and he sure as hell is worried that he’ll make a slight mistake in parenting.. Even if the ordeal is fake.. He is 100% inclined to pretend this is in fact real? Why because that monstrosity of a child looks like the both of you and takes after him mostly and that is creepily burdening, almost like Crowley planned this thoughtfully like a well planned, carefully coordinated villain but that cant be it because he slacks in every other fucking field there is. (And Riddle also wants an A) 

Ever had a nagging housewife of your own? No.. well be prepared to have one, because Riddle expects you to get off that high couch and get your fine ass down on the carpet, you both shall dedicate all your time to the baby that obviously took a lot out of him, like imagine waking up and getting handed your child first thing in the morning? Truly the gift of life is so unbearable. WHY ARE YOU STILL ON THE COUCH.

‘Y/n L/n if you do not come out of the goddamn bathroom and join us for this fucking playdate, I will destroy your fucking phone — sincerely Riddle’

Most definitely sends you paragraphs and paragraphs worth of texts and etc, starts acting like a nagging husband. You can’t even tell what's real or not anymore, bro you have to leave your friends with a “I gotta check on my wife” type of goodbye. (He’s not as controlling as he sounds I swear, you both are having fun but he can be.. extra.)

. TREY CLOVER ; Trey and you had actually recently started acting on both your feelings, not necessarily confessed but the two of you were definitely having this flirting session. Like edging into dating but you both haven’t really decided to make things official yet. And as of current times, Trey was giving you some freshly baked cookies catered to your tastes. He loves expressing his feelings through baked goods, giving you sweets, etc as a means to express himself.. And it was at this moment did Crowley end up announcing his stupid bogus plan and idea.. That he most definitely was serious about.

Trey had always given a responsible vibe to you, he just had this aura that radiated.. well.. you couldn't explain it. But you were quite sure that he'd be good with kids... and you were right. Though he did look kind of nervous and worried, he pulled through quite quickly though. He carried the child with shaky arms, and you could swear he was glaring daggers into Crowley. 

The entire class was filled with baby noises and a bunch load of struggling teenage men's voices. It was a funny sight to any normal civilian, and it would be to you too.. If you weren’t suffering the same fate as all the boys in the class. Trey thankfully got a clean pacifier and shut the thing up..

. CATER DIAMOND ; Cater was well.. Um shocked? Taken aback.. Conflicted.. It was hard to tell.. He seemed to have been going through what appears to be the five stages of literal grief in front of you as if it was normal. You were grateful Crowley handed the ‘thing’ to you and not Cater because you doubt in his state, he’d be able to carry the child let alone take care of it.

The three of you were in Cater’s room, and the child sucked on its pacifier as you sat on the edge of the bed; with the kid on your lap, witnessing Cater’s emotional breakdown live. 

“I’m not ready for kids.. I can’t even take care of myself.. nOw KiDs?!/1!/1/!?1//1//1/??!” he babbled on and on, with light curses, and more. 

You raised your hand and explained “Cater you do know.. That this is a project right?” 

“WHEN DID YOU TWO GET HERE?”

. EPEL FELMIER ; Surprisingly skilled in taking care of the little girl you both were given to by the demon that is Crowley, having mainly female figures in his life has presented Epel with outstanding qualities in taking care of children. It was a shocker really, how he was so considerate and able to tell what the child needed. Contrary to his act and front of being manly and his need to prove himself at any given moment, Epel could be so utterly soft and adorable when it came to children. It also didn’t help that the kid looked exactly like a mixture of you both. 

Epel actually shared multiple stories about his time back home, how some of his grandmother's friends would come over and let him babysit their nephews, children, or even grandchildren. They claimed that he had excellent skills when it came to taking care of children, they also teased him alot, claiming that he’d make a great husband in the future. (But he’ll leave that part out in the stories) 

The stories truly explained why he seemed to be so great at taking care of kids. He even taught you some tricks and tricks on how to calm down a kid, some things that maybe you didn’t even know— which made everything all the more interesting. 

“I say we name her Applejack”

“We changed her diaper—gave her food, hell we even read stories and played with her.. Why isn’t she sleeping!” you exclaimed, exceptionally tired as your 5am alarm to check on the baby went off. You sighed, leaning into the armchair on your third cup of coffee that night, this experience is making you dread the idea of kids as a whole.. Why were they so difficult? “Did you give her her pacifier? Also stop drinking coffee dear, have water instead” Epel hands you a cup of water, as you let out a dramatic sigh and then you went on to explain how she keeps on spitting out her pacifier. 

“Let me try; you go and get some rest… you could use it.. !”

. VIL SCHOENHEIT ; Vil Schoenheit was the partner that Crowley had chosen for you, for what reason.. you do not want to know. All you know is that Crewel was yelling at him afterwards, and you only presume he was against the idea just as much as you.. Vil was smart.. But god forbid you work in a group project with the housewarden of Pomefiore.. And unlike before.. This time it was only the two of you.. With an unknown third party who is a literal child. 

I mean— you predicted this much.. Vil had flawless skills in almost everything you’ve so far seen him doing.. Well except that tiny winy (penis) small little conflict with Neige. Thankfully, no problems have so far appeared (in deez nuts) while the two of you were parenting.. And raising.. This.. ‘thing’... you both didn’t name it, and Vil kept calling it little potato. 

You swear Vil was being ultra sus with his lowkey perfect parenting but then he truly came undone (do you get it.. But like… do you get it?) and you for realzies found him tot’s bragging and flexing to a very tired Epel and Rook about his kid. Which is lowkey for realzies not his kid, but you know.

. ROOK HUNT ; It was your first time witnessing Rook actually grow nervous, and at Crowley's announcement no less… Were you expecting anything out of the ordinary today? Not really.. But where Crowley exists there can never be peace. But it was slightly worth it though, watching Rook have an internal meltdown as he held the ‘fake’ child with care. 

It was hilarious, he was stunned, his month hung open and his face was basically a reenactment of: ‘0’, except he was sweating a shit ton as well.. “Rook, do you need me to take the child for now?” Rook immediately snapped out of his trance on queue as he turned away from you. 

Rook, despite being beyond confused and struggling a shit ton to present himself as a normal parent, refused to let you take any of the major workload. It was sweet, but on the first day you vividly remember wearing a suit and greeting the literal baby as if it was a job interview, like “Yes I’ve come to addition for the role of your father little fake ‘child’”

To be honest you weren't quite sure if you could trust him to be in charge of the child..

. AZUL ASHENGROTTO ; Crowley handed the little infant to Azul… Azul. He’s panicking, he’s nervous; his hands get sweaty and shaky, he’s not used to carrying children.. or more so babies.. even if they’re fake.. ‘It’ still behaves and acts like a child, and not to mention how it looks like the carbon copy of you two, is Crowley trying to traumatize the whole of NRC? ‘Well ‘it's’ quite adorable’. 

You quickly and carefully remove the child from Azuls arms, refusing to give it back to him till he’s completely calmed down, he seems rather… taken aback by the entire thing.. Which rightfully so, imagine your headmaster just randomly handing you a child which he claims is fake, that looks and behaves like your partner? It would’ve traumatized anyone really, you’ve just grown rather immune to Crowley’s bullshit. 

Azul was surprisingly good at taking care of the child when needed, he was well coordinated and thoughtful.. He was very responsible and quickly memorized the necessary rules and actions he must do as a child caretaker, you were quite weirded out by the sheer dedication he had.. But Azul is quite the overachiever so it came as no surprise to you. 

The three of you would huddle together and play games with the child in the evening and then read story books together at night, it was fun.. And you even enjoyed your time with the housewarden, his effort was well appreciated as he handled all your little sea shell’s temper tantrums and meltdowns well. You didn’t have to put much of an effort, really. But you did regardless, since.. Well, the child looked so like you it would be weird not too.. It just felt wrong. 

Before you knew it, you two started acting like a divorce couple (Who obviously are still in love) trying to impress their kids and gain more attention from the other. (Floyd wins this game, he keeps stealing you kid.)

. JADE LEECH ; Jade was amused by Crowley's assignment. Questions as to how Crowley had gotten his hands on so many con children that could perfectly impersonate two different students filled his head; while you remained purely horrified by the fact of partnering up with Jade… ‘Does he even know how to manage a child?.. probably…? I mean Floyd most definitely didn’t live on his own.. He would have probably been in jail if he was living alone’

Contrary to your worries Jade had presented himself as a great help to you, he offered to bring the materials you required and more. He even helped set up his dorm room to be more baby proof, and though Floyd’s visits did often bother you and kid… he worked out solutions and helped everything stay in order. 

Hell he even tried recommending a lot of family games and etc, though you had to most graciously decline his offer for a family hiking trip… for mushrooms… (You also had to decline his offer for mushroom flavored baby food)

. FLOYD LEECH ; Floyd surprisingly was very calm.. I mean the two of you were paired not because Crowley chose so, he just grabbed you and your poor fate was decided.. And then the process of manufacturing the realistic dolls went on for a week, you were 100% sure it wasn’t dolls but in fact real babies with dyed hair or a spell on them of sorts, and Crowley just spent the week planning a heist to kidnap the babies. 

Floyd was a surprisingly good parent, not perfect by any means but only Crowley would imagine that a fancy Schmancy college filled with (mostly) privileged wealthy boys would be able to take care of a bunch of kids (Newborn/infants at that).. Hell you heard some rumors that some people got twins and even quadruplets.. (Which added to your baby heist theory)  

Floyd held the bottle to the little eel’s mouth and watched the ‘thing’ drink (you two haven’t gotten a name for it, so you both just call it little eel or eely), while carefully listening to your baby heist theory; providing nods and a bunch of “uh huhs” and “mhms” in response, as you went in tremendous detail with your little white board. 

Also Floyd most definitely flexes his little demon to Jade and disturbs his time with his kid, “Look at my kid, it’s so incredible” energy.(Soccer mom but dad version vibes)

© cupids-chamber, do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work without prior permission and or confirmation.

Chapter 45 was so great! ✨️

The dynamic between Sukuna and Yuuji in TPG is so special to me.💖 I love the way you write it so much!✨️ Sukuna caring for Yuuji but being unable to show it to him (or anyone). The fact that he gave him a nice dream (that Yuuji probably saw as a taunt, some kind of "You'll never be this happy again" if he even figured out it's from Sukuna at all).

Yuuji trying to hide how much he suffers from his family (poor baby😔) is so sad yet so in character.

I love how Nanami tries to understand Sukuna and talks to him in order to help Yuuji. Like, it's not easy, Sukuna has the attitude of a feral cat that thinks it's God. Every single conversation he's a part of is painful for everyone involved (including himself), but Nanami still tries despite it all.

"I'll make the world hate me more than I hate myself." Sukuna is so lucky (or unlucky) that Nanami did not figure that one out.

"Have you ever considered that not caring is indeed possible, just not for you?" Nanami called him out so hard with this one.

Kenjaku get hit in the head with a brick challenge. I can't imagine being over 1000 years old and spending my time stalking a random family in order to ruin their lives and also to keep ruining the life of some dude (Sukuna). There is being a hater and there is whatever Kenjaku has going on.

Choso!✨️ The fact that he woke up and asked about his brothers before anything else is so cute and also so devastating at the same time (having no identity outside of being the oldest brother who must protect the younger ones must be tough) (but also how could he even have an identity outside of that, he was stuck in a tube in some basement).

Poor guy is not even 1 second old and is already experiencing gaslighting😔.

Uraume!🎉 Not here yet, but they're mentioned at least. "I love a bitch with a real frozen heart." Once Uraume appears is anyone gonna make a connection between the ice gremlin and every time Sukuna mentioned his love for the cold/ice? Because he does that in almost every chapter since he appeared. He said he loves them. King of not being subtle at all✨️.

I can't believe Yuki and Toji were this close to making it official only for Kenjaku to drop the "both of your ex wives died". Wow.

Yuki!💖 I love her so much! Her desire to be seen by Maki and Gojo as a mom, wanting to be called "mom" by them... It's very sweet, but also devastating knowing how much it hurts that both of them didn't tell her about Maki not being Toji's daughter.

The fact that Choso just approaches her and is like "prepare to die", but then has to remember why he is supposed to kill her💀. He is so funny without meaning to.

"This is for Riko." Wow, Kenjaku really went there. This is so unnecessarily cruel. He can act all he wants like his goal is to prove a philosophical point, but his actions are waaay past that. Tormenting Kuroi while wearing Riko's face, gloating to Wasuke, this whole thing just now... He must enjoy it to a certain extent, even if he doesn't want to admit it.

Poor Kashimo being stuck in that horrible work environment.😔 All they wanted was to fight Sukuna, but now they are discovering feelings and have to deal with Kenjaku on a daily basis.

✨️💖✨️

HIII I AM SO HAPPY YOU LIKED IT 💞 god yeah yuuji and sukuna are SO devastating huh. it's like watching a tragedy play out every time they interact. yuuji tries to hide how much he suffers, while sukuna disguises his suffering as cruelty and malice, and the one person to whom he occassionally shows the truth both doesn't believe him and doesn't care. nanami's curious, but it's closer to morbid curiosity -- like driving past a burning car on the highway and looking to see who's dying inside, even though you know it'll upset you. those three all make me so insane.

I AGREE, FUCK KENJAKU MAN. he's so cruel and for what?? it's such casual cruelty too, which makes it so much worse.

chosoooo! he has arrived!! but at what cost lol. he cares so much about his brothers and has constructed his identity solely around that. which is a major theme of the upcoming fight!!

URAUMEEEE<3 im glad you caught the reference lol. sukuna is so fucking funny, bro is not being subtle at all with his love declaration yet no one has a clue wtf he's talking about, like always. the most undersharing oversharer in the history of time.

tojiyuki omg ikr ;__; so close and yet so far. stay tuned for more developments with them!!

Pink's ARC-V Highlights - Volume 2: Beware The Blue

Warning: Very Long Post, Contains Spoilers

Okay, uh, I lied. I'm not only here to talk about theories and potential foreshadowing. This series also serves as a quick recap of all ARC-V episodes and the cool moments in them -regardless of relevance to the plot- sprinkled with a generous drizzle of ramblings from yours truly.

If all goes well, you can expect fairly consistent updates, where I cover a few episodes every time. This one, for example, will go over Episodes 3 to 7, since those are the ones I managed to watch this week.

(I. hate. midyear finals.)

If that still piques your interest, then I hope you enjoy the read!

(And yes, I know Yuuto is purple, but purple is technically a shade of blue so the rhyme still works-)

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1) Episodes 3 & 4, OR: The obligatory "No card is useless!" Duel.

We pick up where we left off with the You Show crew, and the mishaps of Learning How To Pendulum At The Unholy Hour of 3 A.M. I must applaud the sheer lack of braincells between Gongenzaka and Yuuya, because wow, I can't believe they both forgot that Duel Replays are a thing.

(This is why only Yuzu has a 60%+ winrate.)

Fast forward through school-flavored pain, and we now introduce everyone's favorite banana peel...

... whom I highkey want to punt off a cliff.

Look, I love Sawatari. I really do. But good Lord, I forgot just how insufferable he was this far back in the show. I had to refrain from punching my screen several times through the back half of Episode 3, because Shingo, you idiot, who the fuck told you it was fine to put 8-year-old children in mortal danger for a bunch of shiny new cards??

Suffice to say, it took me a good while to actually like him after this atrocious first impression... but hey, at least he gets humbled with style!

As far as early-game Duels go, this one is actually not half bad. The "weak card wins you the game" trope is a bit cliché, but Yuuya gets props for turning it into a pretty light show with Kaleidoscorp and Block Spider, and then using said pretty light show to win the game in one turn.

Another thing is that this Duel introduces Action Traps! Gosh, I would have loved to see more of those later down the line. The concept is pretty neat, and the negative effects create an interesting risk, where a Duelist has to stop and think if they really need to grab an Action card, regardless of the potential ramifications of it being a Trap.

Oh, and did I mention that Sawatari gets roasted to oblivion before the final direct attack? Because he does. Yuuya went above and beyond to make this as entertaining as possible to his friends, and as humiliating as possible for Shingo... for which I ultimately have to thank him, because that's the spark that eventually turned Sawatari into the flashy dork we all know and love.

... And because he deserved an asskicking at the time. Sora did well knocking him out, actually.

..

..

Speaking of which—

__________________________________

2) Episodes 5 & 6, OR: That one time we adopted a war criminal.

I actually kinda like these two episodes. They're nothing particularly special if you look back (well, unless you're subscribed to the theory that the stadium in the first minute or so is the same one from Leo's flashback in Episode 126), but hey, at least we get to "properly" know our beloved sugar gremlin!

God, I love Sora. He's actually pretty terrible at disguising his position as a spy- like wow, he keeps outing himself as suspicious every time he makes a snide comment, even without the context of who he actually is. I think he could only afford to slip up so much because no one could ever guess that he came from a world-invading organization in a reality parallel to their own.

... And also because everyone thought of him as a mere child with a bit of a quirky, mischievous streak. I mean, who can ever think ill of such a sweet little guy?

(Yuuya can, but that's because Sora was annoying him on purpose lmao. It's good that he wasn't fooled by the cutesy act, though; that means he could read Sora better than most, despite his deflection and the constant switching between cutie pie and smug bastard.)

As for the Duel, it isn't much to talk about. The first few Duels are usually for exposition and showing mechanics, and in this case, we just see what happens when a Pendulum monster gets destroyed.

Short answer: It goes to the Extra Deck instead of the GY.

Long asnwer: Yuuya goes through a minor existential crisis, because his mishmash of a strategy comes crashing down the moment Odd-Eyes is out of the equation. How does he deal with that, you ask? Hysterical laughter, that's how.

(Goddammit ARC-V, isn't it far too early to make me question the protagonist's sanity?

... actually, don't answer that.)

Aaaaaaaaanyway, we also get to see the reintroduction of Fusion summoning!

(Look at this cool animation. So clean. So awesome.)

Fluffals are actually a very good Deck to showcase the different levels of complexity of the mechanic, and they get bonus points for the contrast between the cutesy plushies and... whatever animatronic shit the Frightfurs have going on. I am now reminded of how glad I was to see the older summoning methods getting a neat glow-up, especially after ZEXAL booted them out of existence in favor of focusing on Xyz.

(And on that note, I feel the need to stress that it's Xyz, not XYZ. Please. It's been twelve years. Stop confusing the game mechanic with the Union cards, people.)

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3) Episode 7, OR: The one I actually wanted to talk about all along.

Oh this. This. This is where the plot finally starts to move forward. Nothing against the previous episodes, but I did say before they're mostly there for exposition, and that, by nature, is bound to be a little boring.

Unlike here.

I'd like to start by talking about Yuzu, because we have to admit: this is the first time she's relevant to the story as herself, not as Yuuya's friend or as a student at You Show. And boy, does she make it count.

She busts Sawatari on her own, and literally calls him a hundredth-rate Duelist. To his face. In front of his lackeys. Yuzu was ready to take him on, even when she was alone and locked in the warehouse (again, Shingo, what the fuck??), and I'm fairly certain she could've backed up her words given the chance...

Except, well, she wasn't given the chance.

I'm actually willing to let this one slide, because Yoot's interference doesn't invalidate Yuzu's ability to handle this by herself. I see it more as a precaution on his part, and also a chance to learn more about LDS and Academia that he simply couldn't pass up.

There's also the likely possibility that he genuinely didn't know how Duels worked here, and couldn't risk Yuzu getting hurt if he could help it. It's clear that Yuuto was aware she wasn't Ruri at this point (wow, good job man, you're not as colorblind as everyone else), but still didn't wish to involve an innocent bystander in conflict... which actually makes sense, considering his moral code.

And besides, the Duel was still pretty cool! There's something inherently awesome about setting a full backrow board on Turn 1, and the first time I saw it, I was absolutely shooketh.

(Also, there was a copy of Mystical Space Typhoon among the set cards. Something tells me that Yuuto knows it doesn't negate, and that is definitely praiseworthy, because it means that he actually reads the damn cards.)

Even Sawatari gets kudos for Monarch representation. And also for showing us that Prismatic foil and different rarities do exist in-universe, just like in GX. It makes me wonder why most Duelists don't use them, buuut I guess that was just a throwaway detail that they used to highlight Shingo's spoiled rich brat disposition.

ANYWAYS, moving on to more important matters!

Like dark matter. Which exists in space. Which is the theme of many Xyz cards. Among which there is one Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon.

(HAIL THE T-POSE ALTERNATE ARTWORK!!)

Don't let the lesser requirement of 1 Overlay Unit fool you; the anime version is still worse than the one we got in the game... though it does, at least, have better OTK abilities against non-Xyz bosses.

I still laugh at the fact that it left Sawatari with exactly 100 LP. Poor guy probably thought he could pull a protagonist comeback, but alas, he forgot that he is not the protagonist...

Well, at least he gets a shot at the role in Episode 139, but we're a few ways away from that right now.

And speaking of stuff that we're a few ways away from...

*shakes Yuuto* Did you just- DID YOU JUST FUCKING NAMEDROP ACADEMIA???

I don't remember this at all. I thought he just asked about the significance of the LDS pin and left. What the hell? Why does none of the characters talk about it then? Not Sawatari, not his goons, not even Yuzu? What??

This is really, really weird. I may have to look into it a little more later on, but for now, we return to a bewildered Yuzu... and her absolute party pooper of a plot device.

Yes. You know the one.

(FuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufUCKYOU)

This stupid bracelet and the subsequent events following its activation bring us to a point of great frustration that I would like to touch upon, that being the cast's crippling inability to tell the counterparts apart from each other. Brace yourselves, Duelists; this might be a bit of a long tangent.

*inhales*

Okay, look, there are two sides to this issue; one that can be excused in more than one instance, and one that makes zero sense, no matter how you spin it.

The excusable side is the visual confusion. I understand Yuzu's shock at the situation as a whole, not helped at all by this odd fellow who strongly resembles her best friend.

(And before you say Yuuto doesn't resemble Yuuya for shit, yes he does, if only because the goggles' band is holding his bangs down.)

One must also remember they were locked in a now-wrecked warehouse, so the lighting conditions are bound to be rather bad, and it might be difficult to see clearly as a result. With all that in mind, I can forgive Yuzu for confusing their looks.

The inexcusable side, however, is the auditory confusion. The counterparts -every single one of them- don't sound the least bit similar to each other, even in the English dub.

They could look straight up identical for all it matters, but their voices are so wildly distinct I cannot begin to fathom how anyone can ever confuse them. You could technically make a case for excluding Yuuri and Yuuya since the sole difference between them is voice tone (at least in the sub), but the former is not a subject of comparison right now, and Yuuto's voice is far cry from the latter.

In conclusion of these two factors, I only have one thing to say:

... This is stupid.

This is so, so stupid.

It's so fucking stupid it's not even funny, but it is what it is, and as with every single time anyone talks about this issue, we'll just have to roll with it and be glad when a character doesn't take the bait.

*sigh*

__________________________________

Well, this should be everything for now, and *checks post length*.... holy shit I didn't think it'd slip from me this much. If you somehow managed to reach the end without dozing off midway through, then you deserve a cookie.

Thanks for reading, and see you soon, Duelists!

vee for the ask game c:

1) First impression:

In Yesterday’s Lie, I though Vee was pretty likable, as a traumatized, sweet kid who was just looking for somewhere to belong and be happy in, like Luz, except that she’s also had an awful life as a literal scientific experiment, so…honestly, it’s a miracle that she’s got a kind personality at all. I was glad that Camila wasn’t going to be miserable and daughter-less now that the basilisk was around, too.

I didn’t really care much about her besides “yeah, she’s cool” but I did like that she wasn’t just “pure and nice” and had some flawed thinking due to her abusive background, like her half-resenting Luz for “running away” even when she had a Camila as a mom, when we know it’s not like that and that Luz’s life wasn’t as good as she thinks, but it’s not like Vee could get that. That’s something that I was interested in the show exploring, but I’ll save that part for later.

2) Impression now:

Well…my opinion on her hasn’t really changed, actually. I do think her role in Thanks To Them was wasted potential, as the aforementioned flawed thinking, status as an Emperor Belos experiment, being a shapeshifter who is hiding her species from her human friends because she’s worried they’ll leave her having to face Luz coming back, and distrust of the Isles, Vee could have had such a cool dynamic exploration with the Hex Squad (especially Luz and Hunter) but it just…never happened. Yet another victim of The Great Shortening, I’m afraid.

I do like some things about her in Thanks To Them, though! Her disguise changing from Luz to a human version of herself is very good for Vee, as it shows she’s becoming healthier and more confident. I like that she didn’t force herself to go back to the place she was literally abused in, and I enjoyed her interactions with the Hex Squad & Camila. Plus, her crush on Marsha is so cute! Especially because I know they’d find the fact that she’s (in their pov) an eldrich abomination pretty awesome, so I hope that in an epilogue moment, it’s mentioned that the basilisk told them and they started dating.

3) Favorite moment:

Five’s Dark History. The clip cut off, unfortunately, but it includes everything up until her capture. I also love how baffled she was at Jacob’s mats conspiracy theory. “You…don’t actually know anything about us, do you? (‘-_- )” took me out.

4) Idea for a story:

As I’ve mentioned before, anything exploring her potential post-King’s Tide, but most importantly, her dynamic with Luz, including her complicated feelings towards that girl. Hopefully getting her to understand that, while she had an awful experience and she shouldn’t be forced to go to the Boiling Isles, it’s possible for others to find solace and hope in that place more than they ever had before, and that just because Luz “had it better” than her, it doesn’t mean that the girl wasn’t hurt, too. This could also be done with Hunter, which is interesting too, but I’ve already seen that explored whereas with this dynamic there’s zero content like this. Nada!

5) Unpopular opinion:

Although her being the brain cell is great, this group cancels out their sense of reason whenever they’re all together. She will awaken her gremlin side. In the Hex Squad, no one can stay as the voice of reason for long.

6) Favorite relationship:

Vee and Camila, in-canon! *gestures to Yesterday’s Lie* I hope, maybe in an epilogue, it’s mentioned that Camila legally adopts Vee. They wouldn’t get a scene like King & Eda due to shortening and not being main characters, but just a mention will do! She’s her daughter, too, after all.

7) Favorite head cannon:

She’s got Some Gender going on. I don’t know what it is, but I do know that someday, in her late teen years, this basilisk is going through a gender crisis. Camila already has two “Unclear What But Definitely Not Cis” children, Luz and Hunter, so Vee can’t get left out!

So I'm finally getting around to slowly but surely catching up with season 4 of Miraculous *dodges trash and hate* and I get to the episode"Gabriel Agreste" and I wanted to point out a few things:

1)Adrien and Nathalie mother son dynamic, SUPER CUTE

B] Props to Nathalie for not only working while sick, but she's also doing overtime by having her work LITERALLY in bed with her.

3) If I wasnt before Im definitely convinced that Chloe is pure evil. *shields self from Chloe hate* Now there are many cases of a cartoon bully just terrorizing the hell out of the protagonist but this girl has gone into hiding in the rafters and stalking her "mortal enemy" just to embarrass her and hopes that her best friend will take her back... I'm not saying that's the worst thing and the most dedicated thing a bully has ever done but it's up there

D] Felix is a little Gremlin lol. I can't decide if I like his Evil Personality or fear his masterful brain but I will give him a pat on the back for being incredibly observant and was able to see through disguises. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't already know that Marinette was Ladybug, he gets a half pass 'cause he loves his mom and aunt (that was a genuine smile when he saw her portrait)

5)Happy Pride to MarcNath, JulieRose and ChloBrina ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

F] I am glad Marinette is getting more supporters for her sick obsession; yes unfortunately it is an obsession. She knows the boys schedule inside and out, she's Collective hair follicles and have literally traveled around the world just to see him. Call it what you will "High School Crush", "First Love" whatever it's a little bit of obsessive to be honest. We've all been there, let's move on.

7) My girl Kagami still be salty but understandably so, but now I can't understand what she's more upset about; the whole breakup situation or him still not realizing Marinette has feelings for him? She is sweet for saving Adrien and pushing him out of the way, she's good at that lol

H] I love how Natalie was giving orders a lot in this episode, I'm just sitting there thinking, "well duh stupid, it was her miraculous of course she knows how to use it!

9) And lastly when I heard Gabriel Agreste say, "dual Metamorphoses" and " reverse morphoses" the first thing I thought of was that one meme...

And I'm like, "its 'unify', 'divide' bitch!"

Why not date Astar, Zolrath, Silas and (Awakened) Talene. (Do you get different vibes from Awakened Versions or are they still the same character to you?)

Well the awakened heroes are still the same people, just further through their development. I will say, I do like the change to Talene's motivations and how she moved from blindly pursuing revenge and accidentally saving people to genuinely caring about others and using her own power mainly for their protection. Her battle with Framton wasn't about winning or losing as it ended in pretty much a draw (Framton may have retreated but only after killing Talene first so I do not count this as his loss). Instead, it was about Talene realizing what is truly important in life and growing as a person. Unrelated, but this is also why the story of A!Ezizh felt so bland. There's no internal change in him at all, he just developed a new strategy of doing the same old.

Anyway, back to the post.

Astar – I'm not even gonna pretend to be objective here, even if she was and looked my age, I find her incredibly annoying. She's irresponsible but not in a cute childish way, but in an annoying "ignore the consequences and they don't exist" way. I hate her attitude, I hate how clingy she became to Talene, I hate her voice, I hate that she uses her "friend" to dribble when her team wins a fight... yeah, I just really dislike this whole character trope.

Zolrath – The worst part is that I am extremely easy to take advantage of and he is extremely smart. I could write a whole essay about all the red flags this guy gives and still fall for his sweet lies – and he's not even attractive! He's a manipulative bastard who screws people over for his own sick amusement. He made us commit literal genocide for no reason while disguising it as though he was doing us a favor! I hate how easily his compliments and ESPECIALLY "Dear mortal" had me mildly flustered.

Silas – Something tells me this man doesn't shower... Canon-wise though, he should NOT be anywhere near medical supplies. His augmentation blades are scary as they are but the way he holds them is a safety hazard. Not to mention he needed Niru to tell him where the brain was in a human. AND he might just up and put me under one day simply to "improve" me. Something worth mentioning here is also that the Graveborn living in Bantus are essentially a hivemind and idk, the concept is just really creepy to me.

Talene – Before her awakening, I would have pointed out her revenge drive but after it, there's actually not that much, huh... She's definitely still full of herself and not great at accepting help (pretty decent at offering it though). Astar is a step down for me though and you just know the little gremlin is probably still stalking Talene around. Also, she needs therapy. Until she gets that, she might want to stay out of the dating sphere.

WIP CELESTIAL DANCE

CHAPTER 3

The Week of the Fire

Monday

Moon sat criss-cross on the edge of the daycare balcony. He was savoring the quiet stillness of the normally loud, cavernous room. Even the peppy music that played on a practically incessant loop(Unlike Moon, Sun loved it; bopping, skipping, and twirling along to the beat at random intervals) all day long was currently silent.

The daytime lights and music would automatically power on in the Pizzaplex in two more hours. Once the bright fluorescent lights flooded the Superstar Daycare it would be Sun’s turn to take over. He would wake Y/N up shortly after, ignoring Moon’s grumbles in their head. It’s time for their shift to start, Sun would say. Sunshine’ll get in trouble if we don’t wake 'em up. Besides, I promised! And a promise is a promise!  Then the two of them would get to work right away, setting up a bevy of activities for the coming day with the kids. Until then, Moon could savor the soft stillness of these pre-dawn hours.

They were sleeping soundly in the room behind him, soft breathing a now familiar comfort to him. He kept an ear out for any changes in their breathing patterns. He remembered the frequent nightmares Y/N used to have when they first started sleeping over with them. He or Sun would comfort them, rubbing slow, rhythmic circles on their back and listening patiently as they poured their heart out through hiccuping tears. Learning when to be silent and listen versus when to offer advice or comfort had been a tricky line to tread at first, but the boys thought they were getting the hang of it.

He noted with no small amount of satisfaction that the nightmares were slowly growing less frequent. The Moondrop gummies helped on the roughest of nights just so they could get some long overdue rest. Their poor Y/N. Watching them work themselves to the point of exhaustion drove the feral self-care gremlin crazy. Sleep was important for human brains, whether they agreed with him or not. One day (and it was completely burned in his mind) the tenacious human had even stated that they wish they never had to sleep because it was such a waste of time. As he’d looked at them in confused horror they’d had the absolute gall to burst out into fits of laughter. The sound of those giggles melted his heart. The retort he was going to make died in his voicebox at that laughter. “You’re lucky you’re so cute, you exhausted little imp,” he’d cooed, reaching out a clawed hand to brush their hair back from their face. His reward had been a playful eyeroll and a kiss. 

Needless to say and to his frequent exasperation, they usually resisted any of his completely very well disguised attempts at luring them to sleep, but last night had been a pleasant change of pace. They had agreed to rest so long as he’d send them off to slumberland with several lullabies. Most people seemed to dislike his singing, but for some reason that he couldn’t even begin to fathom, his sweet Starlight enjoyed listening to his raspy timbre. He was more than happy to oblige.

Moon’s thoughts meandered back to the present. The glow in the dark stars shone down from the ceiling. He gazed at them intently now, dreamily if not also with a tinge of bittersweetness. He wondered if the real stars shone more brightly away from the city. He had spent countless nights reading about space, the stars and celestial bodies, had memorized all the seasonal charts, the numerous constellations and their stories. He had snuck up to the rooftop numerous times on his nightly rounds, guided by a desperate hope to see the wonders of the real night sky. Every time though, the innumerable lights of the large mall he lived in and the surrounding city would drown out all but his namesake itself.

One time, during a city wide blackout, he had rushed as quickly as he could to the top of the building, bells jingling with every movement. According to what he’d read, you could even see the milky way itself during a blackout like this. He couldn’t help the excitement that bubbled in his chest! He practically leapt through the door. However, even then the sky had been too cloudy to see anything. Not even his fellow moon had been up there for him that night. Disappointment had been like a punch to the gut. The misfortune of it all had him kicking the brick ledge of the rooftop. Of course, this only resulted in him needing to get the resulting dent in his foot plunged out at a particularly embarrassing visit to Parts & Service the next day.

Thankfully, there were plenty of other evenings in which the moon at least would loom overhead, bright and unwavering. A friend for times when nobody else was. During those precious nights when it was at its fullest and brightest, he would stay up there for as long as he dared. He’d contemplate how vast and unknowable the world outside of the Pizzaplex truly was to him before continuing his patrol.

He just knew in his gut that the artificial stars he saw every day were a poor facsimile of the real thing. They didn’t follow any of the same patterns as the real stars he had studied. They were lifeless. A few of them had also needed their light bulbs changed for quite a while now. ((No matter how many times any of you asked, new bulbs never seemed to make it into the monthly supply budget. Y/N had scoffed angrily last Tuesday when the supply truck came, their cheeks flushed as they and Sun helped unload the boxes. “No lightbulbs but they’re sure gonna drown us in Faz-napkins,” they’d retorted in indignation.))

A few months ago, his Starlight had caught him looking at the glowing stars from the balcony and wrapped their arms around his shoulders from behind. Their soft warmth made him sigh contentedly, practically melting backwards into the welcome embrace. He'd confided in them then, and they'd suggested that he could make up his own constellations. He'd balked at first, stubbornly refusing.

Now here he was, trying to ruminate in peace but once more being interrupted. This time, by Sun's upbeat chirping in his head, Heyhehey look back over to the left! Look! Do you see the anteater?

Moon sighed, looking in that direction but not seeing whatever the Sun was. No, I don't. I just see cheap plastic.

Oh come on you big grump! Sun goaded. Actually look! Those three could be the long snout thing and those could be the body! Moon hmmm-d thoughtfully, starting to see it but not sure if he was ready to admit that. As usual, Sun was completely undeterred. In fact, the Sun seemed to really be hitting his stride with this new game of pretend. An-and just above the desk there is a starfish! A star starfish! Isn't that cool?! Ah!! And above it could be a tree! Oh man I never realized how many shapes we could make with these things! That looks like an ice cream cone over there! I'm glad Y/N suggested this there's so many possibilities! They get some nifty ideas! The kids are gonna love this too! Oh oh oh an-

Sun. Moon tries to get his attention but Sun continues on. Now he’s forming stories for the different constellations he’s invented. “Sun.” Moon whispers outloud, but it still falls upon deaf ears. He shakes his head, but there’s a small smile on his face. “Sun.” That one worked. His mindspace becomes quiet once more. The silence is expectant; Sun wondering what Moon was going to say next.

Moon hesitates, but only briefly. A part of him still wanted to ruminate in silence, but he had to admit that the new stories being woven before his eyes on the walls of their home was a pleasing way to pass the time. Y/N was right; this was helping him feel better. Also, his Sunny counterpart seemed to always have a knack for getting under his skin (ha) and grabbing his attention. This is great. You’re a good storyteller.

He could practically see Sun puffing his metal chest out in pride at the praise, and the thought made him smile. He was going to make his own contribution to the growing tales of constellations when he felt a sharp pain in his head. He let out a low hiss of pain and rubbed at the back of his head. It almost felt like an electric shock. Sun asked him if he was okay, and he nodded, mentally waving off his concerned other half. 

The next two hours passed by peacefully. The Sun and the Moon managed to weave together some mighty impressive tales. Before long, there was an electrical humming sound as the daytime lights powered on. It was time for the Sun to rise and children to start trickling in.

–

Four hours later, it was naptime. Moon gently guided the children to their sleeping areas and made sure everybody was tucked in. A bedtime story was read. Something about saying goodnight to bunnies and moons and red balloons. A classic. They all fell asleep quickly, tired out from the games Y/N and Sun played with them earlier.

Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he joined his human love up at the security desk. They were eating lunch, and the way their face lit up when they saw him made his circuits buzz. He climbed up onto the desk and silently crouched in front of them.

They swallowed a bite of food and wrinkled their nose up at his hunched form. “You’re like a giant cat; do you know that?” they quipped playfully. As if to emphasize their point Y/N reached up with their free hand to gently pet his the sides of his face.

The mechanical purr that escaped was involuntary. He grabbed their hand and nuzzled into it. Moon smiled, all sharp teeth and glowing eyes. “Meow.” The amused snort he got in return made his smile grow, but then…

But then Y/N’s face suddenly looked…off to him. A feeling reminiscent of the uncanny valley effect shot through him and he bristled uncomfortably. He frowned and backed off of the desk. A paranoid thought slithered in. Was this some kind of imposter pretending to be his Starlight? “What-” Just as suddenly, everything snapped back to normal. The discomfort remained though, now accompanied with confusion.

Y/N looked just as bewildered as he felt. “Hey. Uh, you okay Moony? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost or something.”

He mentally shook himself. “I'm fine, yes.” He paused, head doing a full rotation as he pondered what just happened. His fingers twitched restlessly.

Y/N's brow bunched in concern.  “Do you want a moment? I can watch the kids for naptime. You could play that new game of yours?” Y/N suggested, which just made Moon furrow his brow in confusion.

“Game..?” His head tilted to the side curiously.

Y/N frowned. “Yeah, the arcade game you brought to your room? Yesterday you said you got a new high score.” The worried look on their face felt too much like pity, and he found himself aggravated by it. The old insecure feeling took him aback. He hadn't felt like that around his Starlight in a long time. Maybe he really did need a break.

Moon stared at them for a moment before slapping his forehead dramatically. He didn't want them to worry “Oh! Yes! Sorry, Starlight, I think I must not have received a good charge last night. Good idea.” He leaned across the desk easily and gave Y/N a kiss. The worried lines of their face smoothed out, but only slightly. "I love you," he murmured, and when they repeated it back to him he grinned. He called the hook to his back and quickly made his way back up to the room before they could question him further. Something felt wrong today. He couldn’t remember any such game. He needed to investigate this. Quickly, he crawled through the tunnel into the bedroom he shared with both Sun, and now also Y/N more often than not.

atsumu: 1, kevin: 0 ; miya atsumu

↳ pairing: miya atsumu x professional women’s volleyball player!reader

↳ synopsis: miya atsumu realises that he’s tired of keeping your relationship “low-key” with a little help from an overzealous fanboy.

↳ genre(s): fluff, humour!!

↳ warning(s): profanity

↳ length: 1.5k words

↳ a/n: surprise!!! lol i have way too many wips rn especially with requests but i wrote this as a little break from all the angst and stuff hence the cheesiness ☺️ enjoy!!

Miya Atsumu was caught in a kerfuffle.

Earlier that day, the twenty-three-year-old setter for the MSBY Black Jackals made the executive decision to come to watch you–– his Mario Kart player number two, his houseplant co-parent, the air-guitarist to his air-drummer, the Karaoke Night pink-lyric-singer to his blue–– kick some volleyball ass in the V. League Division 1 Women's Volleyball Tournament finals. 

The problem?

You played wing spiker for the Schweiden Falkes. 

There was nothing problematic about being a wing spiker on a Division One volleyball team. What was problematic, however, was that the Schweiden Falkes was the sister team of the Black Jackals’ sworn enemy, the Schweiden Adlers. To rub more salt in the wound, the Adlers had won every single game against the Jackals since Atsumu joined (not that they hadn’t prior to his arrival). And to make matters even worse, as one of the nation’s most sought-after athletes, he had to “appeal to both investors and the general population”. Miya Atsumu was supposed to be a marketable bachelor. And he was not.

Miya Atsumu was also not supposed to be at the finals of the women’s volleyball tournament. 

That was the biggest problem of them all. So maybe, actually, Miya Atsumu was mildly ensnared in a few kerfuffles.

The two of you had agreed to keep your relationship low-key from the start and were nearing two years of private, domestic bliss. Questions about each other in interviews were responded to with short and nondescript replies. Outings in public were conducted without physical contact. And despite how Twitter was almost a diary to Atsumu, he’d never once tweeted your name in his life. But as dull as your relationship seemed in public, the two of you were a different story in private. In private, he would find any way to touch you–– a hand in your back pocket, your legs draped atop his thighs, soft lips trailing up from the neck to each other. In private, sweet nothings were proclaimed and not whispered, laughter bubbled like a stream that never ran dry, and Atsumu said your name over and over again like it was habit.

But that didn’t change the fact that, right now, Miya Atsumu was not supposed to be in the nosebleeds of the Sendai City Gymnasium, even if he was hundreds of meters away from the nearest camera.

All the bigger kerfuffles fell quickly to the back of his mind, however, when a smaller and more irritating one presented itself to him. 

A snotty voice declared one row behind Atsumu’s hooded head, “Oi, you’re in the way of the view, jerk.”

Normally, Atsumu would have turned around with an equally cocky sneer on his chiselled features, “the fuck did you just call me?” locked and loaded behind clenched teeth. But when he turned around ready to deliver that exact line, he saw through his black shades that the owner of said snotty voice was none other than a scrawny prepubescent boy.

And that boy (along with the two equally snot-faced twerps beside him) was wearing your jersey number. Suddenly, all the irritation left Atsumu’s face. Was this your little fan club? A wicked cackle threatened to leap out his mouth. They were so annoying. But also, he mused, kinda cute.

“Was I?” he asked with an innocent expression on his face. It was the same one he used when Osamu would accuse him of stealing his clothes (he totally had), or when you would accuse him of eating the last slice of cake in the fridge (he totally did). “I hadn’t realised.” He really hadn’t. He just wanted to milk this for as long as he could.

“Yeah, you were.” The kid crossed his arms, glaring down at the shady guy one row below. “I can’t see the game anymore.”

“Oops–– my bad.”

“Shut up, Kevin, you were watching Y/N!” one of the brats exclaimed, punching Kevin’s shoulder.

Oh? “Yer a fan of Y/N, hmmm?”

“She’s pretty,” Kevin said immediately, shrugging. He just said it out loud like that? So easily? With a subtle wince, Atsumu thought back to the ridiculously long time before he’d admitted his ‘smidge of a crush’ on you. Yeah, unlike you, stupid. “I’m gonna marry her someday.”

At that, Atsumu’s competitive streak jolted awake. He felt himself sober up a little. Not if I marry her first, you little shit.

Bidding the trio goodbye with a bright grin, he turned around and strolled out of the stands. But he didn’t stop there. He stepped into the elevator and rode it straight down to ground level, sailed through the athlete’s entrance with a swipe of his card, and jogged his way to the side of your team bench, making it just in time to see you spike the setpoint past one of their player’s outstretched arms. 

It landed straight on the baseline.

The roar of the stadium scattered into hushed whispers. No one moved. “In,” Atsumu growled under his breath, tapping his feet against the floor. “In in in in in––” He clenched his hands into fists. If they don’t count that as in… 

Finally, the line judge pointed her arms down. The referee nodded.

And all around him, the crowd erupted into cheers.

As confetti fell from above and the Falkes’ victory song began to play, you ran from the court and into a celebratory team hug, screaming ecstatically in each other’s faces. Atsumu, beaming, ducked out of view, not wanting to steal that glorious feeling of a victory hard-earned from you or your teammates. But when the cheering died down, when the hug dispersed, when the television crews started slithering in your direction, he returned to his position behind the bench. And suddenly regretted all the decisions that had led him to that very spot.

Admittedly, Atsumu hadn’t considered the possibility that you wouldn’t want him at your game, but now, standing just metres away from you, he did. His hands suddenly felt very cold and equally moist.

As if on cue, your teary gaze landed on his figure. Your eyes were narrowed in what seemed like a warning. (Really, you were just trying to see better through your tears.)

Oh, no.

Atsumu spun around to make a run for it. At that moment, however, one of the coach’s assistants who’d been sent away to run an errand returned, barrelling through the same door he was heading towards. 

Colliding in a spectacularly embarrassing fashion, Atsumu’s sunglasses flew from his face and his hood blew off from the force of the impact. Disguise in tatters, he could only turn around sheepishly around his hands stretched out, palms up like a magician at the end of a trick.

“Surprise?”

Maybe it was the rush of victory still fresh in your bloodstream or maybe it was simply your brain going haywire, but with complete disregard for you and Atsumu’s original agreement, you ran towards him and leaped into his arms.

“Woah,” he wheezed, instinctively pulling you closer into his chest. “Was not expectin’ that.”

“You’re so stupid,” you murmured, nuzzling your face into his neck. “What are you up to, ‘Tsumu?”

“Unkerfufflin’ myself,” was all he said before gently setting you down. His eyes darted over to the place where Kevin and his gremlins had been and, when he realised that spotting them from here would be useless, lazily flapped a hand in their general direction.

“Some brat said he was gonna marry ya,” Atsumu explained after seeing your brows crease. “I felt I had the duty to save ya from that disaster.”

“By?”

Atsumu blanked. “Er, I, uh, hadn’t thought of that part, actually. I didn’t think you’d be happy to see me here, y’know, considerin’ our agreement and that look on yer face ya had earlie––”

Rolling your eyes, you yanked on his hood, bringing his lips down to yours. His arms snaked around your waist as he deepened the kiss–– he couldn’t help it, it was a knee-jerk reaction by now–– without so much as a second's consideration for the reporters that had swarmed around you like ants to honey. 

You pulled away just a few beats later, both breathless.

“What was that for?” he asked with his forehead pressed against yours. Despite being doused in the blinding flash of cameras and deafened by the barrage of questions shot in your direction, the two of you continued to speak as if you were in your own little world.

“You were about to word-vomit on camera and give Osamu a lifetime’s supply of blackmail,” you replied, giggling. “I thought I’d save you from that disaster.”

Hearing his words come out from your mouth, Atsumu’s eyes waned into little moons. “Consider me saved, doll.”

The noise around you grew louder. You sighed, knowing that the two of you would have a lot to deal with later. As if reading your mind, Atsumu intertwined your hands. I got you. And the unease receded. You’d figure it out together.

“Y/N! Y/N! Are you pregnant?”

“Y/N! Atsumu! When are you two getting married?”

“Can you tell us anything about that steamy kiss?!”

A shit-eating grin crawled onto Atsumu’s face as he grabbed the microphone from that last reporter. “Gladly,” he said, looking into the camera.

“How’s that for bein’ in yer way, Kevin?”

And for the next few hours that the world spent having a meltdown over Kevin’s identity, you and Atsumu remained blissfully tucked away in the comfort of your apartment, playing Mario Kart, baking celebratory cookies to the High School Musical soundtrack, falling asleep to the sound of each other’s heartbeats.

Wash Day Delight Pt. 4

Rating:  General Audiences

WARNINGS:  None

Fandom:  Undertale (Video Game)

Relationships:  Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Papyrus (Undertale) & Reader,  Papyrus (Underfell) & Reader, Papyrus (FSG) & Reader, Papyrus (Swapfell) & Reader

Characters:  Papyrus (Undertale), Reader, Edge (UF Pap), and Mentions of Other AU Skeletons

Additional Tags:  Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), reader is poc, Reader has curly hair,  Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Friendship, Wholesome, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, I'm Bad At Summaries, Not Beta Read, Romance if you squint, Subtext, Let Papyrus be Sassy, Edge Is The Unwilling Dad Friend, Idiots in Love, Fluff and Humor, Slice of Life, Teasing Edge Is Fun, Papy is Best Boi

*Split this chapter into two. Will be posting both today. Morning thoughts and Papy has a great idea! Tried avoiding using y/n as much as I could, but had to this chapter.

PREVIOUS || FIRST || NEXT

She would say morning came too quickly, but in all honesty, this was technically her second time waking up that morning.  Somehow, in spite of the tireless workout she had been put through the night before, she had woken up at the usual time right before her alarm--that was NOT set cause she turned that off with plans to sleep in today--would have gone off.  She’d spared a single, groggy glance at her phone’s clock.  The notifications lining the screen not even registering in her mind.  No, she’d get her well earned sleep in had been and without further adieu, she had put the phone back down, rolled over, and snuggled back in for another few hours of sleep.  

    That had been earlier.  Now, she blinked awake as light from the mid-morning sun sneaked through the slim openings of the curtains just behind her bed.  Blearily, her eyes followed the rays path across her form, her bed, and eventually over the floor where it seemed to highlight her shed clothes along with the open bathroom.  Right… she had forgotten to brush her teeth in her haste to sleep.  Rolling her tongue and opening and closing her mouth, she winced as she felt her cheek move against the now very cold wet spot on her pillow.  Well, at least that second round of sleep was apparently heavy and content.  

“Eugth…” Not that it made waking up in your drool anymore pleasant.  Trying to sit up resulted in even more groans as her muscles protested.  Yup, there were those core muscles that had been oddly silent yesterday acting up today.  Her arm she had tried to push up on had not been too much trouble, but her shoulder had twinged and she had gone back down.  She had managed to at least roll on her back and away from the drool pool though.  Positives.  Focus on the positives.  For a few moments, she just let herself completely relax into the mattress and pillows, just breathing--in and out, slow and even, again and again until all her tension dispersed. 

“They really did me in,” she mumbled as she began to roll her wrists, “But I’ve got too much to get done to be lyin’ around here all day feelin’ miserable.”  Too much considering her now very awake mind realized she had forgotten to wrap her hair, but thankfully she had splurged on satin sheets and pillowcases, so it shouldn’t be too bad.  Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, she didn’t get her wrap sweaty… “Still gonna wash it.”  By now, she had started stretching and working her shoulders with careful, slow rolls and reaches.  The more she moves, the more she’ll loosen up and actually be able to function.  She just couldn’t overdue it.

As she moved onto her legs, she couldn’t stifle a little moan of discomfort as she lifted one limb at time to carefully draw her knee in towards her stomach before extending again.  It took time, but eventually she was able to push herself up into a sitting position.  Muscles in her back, abdomen, and surprising what felt like her butt that she hadn’t been aware of protested, but a few more deep breathes calmed them.  Seeing her phone laying on the sheets near her, she guessed earlier that morning she hadn’t bothered to put the phone back where it went exactly, but current her was very thankful for her sleepy self’s carelessness.

Picking up the device, she decided to take a moment to rest before continuing her war against her body.  Besides, she could remember that she had messages to reply to.  Tapping the screen, she input her pattern and tapped on the messages app.  The first one she opened was Coffee’s.  “Oooh,” she cooed as she looked over the drawing once again with fresh eyes.  Last night, she remembered thinking the hairstyle was cute, but now she could see the little details he included, like his choice of including a custom undercut design.  Could her barber achieve that?  She’d have to ask, but for now.

(to JavaBoi)

Flooffie:  Good morning! 

Flooffie:  Sorry about not replying last night

Flooffie:  This hairstyle is so cute

Flooffie:  And the undercut design is SICK!

Flooffie:  In a good way 

Flooffie:  I’d love to wear it, but I’ll have to check in with my barber about the undercut.

She waited a moment to see if he’d answer, but no little dots popped up so she guessed he was possibly still sleeping or he was busy.  Most likely the former.  Leaving that conversation, she sent a quick message to her barber asking how complicated a design he would be willing to do on an undercut.  She hadn’t expected an answer, but no sooner had she went to click the back button, his answer popped up.  His answer surmised that he had done more complicated pieces, but it all depends on the design.  “Makes sense…” she mumbled before forwarding the doodle to him.   It took him a moment longer to reply this time, but his answer had her beaming: “Sure, just get a better reference.  Bigger too.” 

(to JavaBoi)

Flooffie:  I feel like I’m spamming you.  Sorry!

Flooffie: But I got with my barber and he said he could do it

Flooffie:  Just he needs a better ref

Flooffie:  Could you draw it bigger?  

Flooffie:  I’ll treat you!

        She included some pleading and heart emojis for good measure, even though she was sure he wouldn’t mind one bit.  Moving on, she opened up a certain someone’s convo, eager to see how he reacted to her last text.  A little laugh bubbled past her smile as she saw his reply, full of exclamation marks and a little pause between two of the replies.

(11:33 PM) Papaya:  ….

(11:40 PM) Papaya:  !!!!!!!

Papaya:  TOUCHE! ALTHOUGH I HAD TO GOOGLE WHAT YOU HAD MEANT

Papaya:  MY SKILLS AT PICKING UP THESE IDIOMS IS IMPROVING

Papaya:  WHO CAME UP WITH THESE THINGS?  WHY? WHY NOT JUST SAY WHAT YOU MEAN?!

(11:45 PM) Papaya:  YOUR LACK OF RESPONSE MUST MEAN YOU HAVE FINALLY GONE TO  BED

Papaya:  GOOD

(12:01 AM) Papaya:  SWEET DREAMS, (Y/N)

    Her amusement at how Papyrus could continue a conversation with no one there was overshadowed by the warmth the last text brought.  It was such a simple little thing.  It’s not like he had even called her a pet name, but it still had her flushing and turning her face away from the phone like that would somehow ease the heat.  Maybe it was because she could see the timestamp and knew he had taken the time to pick up the phone again after setting it down for a while just to send that message.  Was it narcissistic to think she was his last thought before he fell asleep?  “It’s too early to be this flustered!” she whined, the fingers of her free hand playing with ends of one of her braids, “All over a text that might not have any deeper meaning…”     

    After her little grumble, she did her best to ignore the sting the words brought.  One more deep breath, she turned back to her phone and the texts, allowing a small smile.  There was no sense in making herself miserable.  It was still a dear friend thinking of her after all.  

    (to Papaya)

Flooffie:  Morning Papi!  Hope you had sweet dreams as well

        Before she could start her next message, she saw those little dots pop up and chuckled.  Of Course he was up already.  

Papaya:   GOOD MORNING!

Papaya:   I DO NOT REMEMBER MY DREAMS, BUT I’M SURE THEY WERE GREAT!

Flooffie:  Just like you, eh?

Papaya:   OFCOURSE!

Papaya:   UM… HOW ARE YOU FEELING THIS MORNING?

Papaya:   NOT TOO SORE I HOPE

    She snorted at that before replying.

Floofie:   Like I got hit by a 18 wheeler in the fast lane and somehow survived to regret it.

Papaya:   ….

Papaya:   APOLOGIES

Papaya:   BUT ARE YOU COMPARING YOUR PAIN TO GETTING HIT BY A SEMI?!

        She could just feel his panic and knew he would start fretting through the text.  She felt just a little guilty laughing at his reaction.  Thankfully, it wasn’t too difficult to calm him down and assure him she was simply exaggerating.  No, he didn’t need to take her to the hospital.  No, he had not broken her.  At Least as far as she knew he hadn’t.  

Throughout, she had slowly worked her way to the edge of the bed and now sat with her legs hanging off.  In between texts with Papyrus, he opened a few of the others.  One was Edge checking in with a reminder that she shouldn’t over exert herself.  She went to send a little thumbs up, but paused and instead juggled between two responses.  Which would mess with him more?  Biting her bottom lip, she finally settled on one and quickly sent it:  “Yes, Daddy~”.  Knowing Edge, he was up, but wouldn’t look at the message until he had a moment, so she closed the convo.  She could see the damage later.

More puns and jokes which she graced with appropriate responses: groans at the especially bad ones and chuckles at the ones that were actually clever.  She of course made her approval known with quick little texts and gifs; the bad ones received the same treatment.  None of it was mean and to tell the truth, it only fanned the flames for these gremlins as she had learned.  They seemed determined to dig up the worst puns they could manage.  By the time, she finished replying, she had made it to the bathroom and was finally taking care of her dental hygiene.  

Her phone now dinged instead of buzzing with each new text.  Most of which were from Papyrus she assumed.  Toothbrush in her mouth, she picked up her phone and opened the texting app again as she resumed brushing with her other hand.  She had been correct.  A line of texts from her friend popped up on the screen and they ranged from bringing up his question about idioms from last night to checking in that she was actually taking the time to rest.  She thanked the stars that her phone wasn’t on the larger side as it allowed her to hold and type with one hand.  

Flooffie:  Decided to make today wash day since people are INSISTING I rest.  Was due for one anyway.

Papaya:   WASH DAY?  YOU HAVE A DAY DEDICATED TO WASHING?

Papaya:   I THOUGHT HUMANS PRUNE IF THEY ARE IN WATER TOO LONG?

She let him get out all his ponderings and ramblings, which took a good minute, before she finally jumped in.  Although she’d love to convince him it was a secret, sacred holiday and ritual that humans have to partake in a few days a year for… reasons, she fought down her inner prankster and cursed Cash for his influence on her.  

Flooffie:  It’s nothing elaborate… kinda?

Flooffie:  It’s just that people like me tend to have a lot of hair and it takes time to properly care for it.

Flooffie:  So, we make a day of it.  Chill and relax, pamper ourselves, etc

She was a bit surprised he hadn’t replied immediately and had actually finished with her dental routine by the time he finally texted back.  

Papaya:  SO IT IS A DAY DEDICATED TO YOUR HAIR?!

Oh, she hadn’t seen this much enthusiasm from him for her hair in a good bit.  As his texts came through, she felt touched he wanted to learn more and she was happy to inform him, best she could over text anyway.  There was another long pause in between his text.  Just long enough for her to reach for her shower handle as she decided to finally take a shower and get started on her day.  Her phone dinged and Papyrus changed all her plans.

Papaya:  WHY DON’T YOU HAVE YOUR WASH DAY AT OUR HOUSE?!!

Any coincidence you uhhhhh have pokemon teams for the boys?

I uh. Have actually made trainer cards for the boys xD, so its so hilarious that you'd ask that. They aren't perfect, but I'll put them under the cut, and explain them a bit.

Sooga!

First on his team is ninjask. Small, lightning fast, ninjask just seemed like a pokemon he usually sends into the fray.

Duoblade. I mean, duel swords, duel sword pokemon, pretty obvious. And yes, he has wielded them in combat.

Mega evolution Scissor. Red, fast, scary looking, pray you don't have to fight this fucking thing.

Flapple. Kohga gave him an applin and ergo, this pokemon is VERY precious to him (you guys know pokemon lore, this shit hella adorable).

Unknown Sooga. Unknown and yiga have one thing in common; numbers. Every clan member has one, and they're usually 'Y's. His is 'S' because he's special.

Meinshao. Pretty pokemon with pretty hair that WILL fuck your shit up. Plus, soft.

Kohga!;

Kohga’s team ABSOLUTELY needs some explanation, because it probably doesn't make sense;

Tropius. It has BANANAS. Of fucking course he owns one. MANY yiga own one actually, Kohga’s is just the most spoiled (and is rumored to have the sweetest fruit).

Shuckle. This thing makes fucking fruit juices, and is SUCH an underrated powerhouse. Don't fuckle with the shuckle.

Mudsdale. Big ol horsey that definitely gets too many sugar cubes.

You ever wonder why the yiga are just fucking loaded with gems and shit? That's because of sabeleye. Kohga’s is the only one that mega evolves, and is SUCH a goddamn gremlin.

Appletun. Sooga gave him an applin, and Kohga raised this thing with so much fucking love, it's as sweet as a...peach. Yeah, peach.

K unknown. Strongest unknown in the clan. Not saying much, but still.

Common foot soldier!;

It's rare to see a foot soldier with such a full team, but these are the ones you're most likely to see. There's variations here and there, but these are pokemon given to them/easy to obtain.

Purloin/rattata are the quick lil thieves that the Yiga tend to favor.

Zorua/kecleon are used for camouflage/disguises. Kecleon are more common, but zorua are favored for their cute faces.

Zubat; very plentiful, and their poison/confusion attacks make for a pain in the ass enemy.

Tropius;BANANA.

PSA - Cute and Tiny Muses w/Marvel Verses

{out of breath} Get ready for a shameless plug for three of my other muses, two OCs and a canon, all of which are teeny, adorable, and able to be integrated with Marvel settings and characters. I would LOVE... to have any of these guys join the Avengers, end up at the Avengers training facility or SHIELD or Stark Tower or whatever, and/or be randomly encountered on a missing or outing of some kind. If any of these muses sound interesting to you, feel free to send them Marvel-related asks, tag them in starters, or message me/drop by their inboxes for more info or plotting as needed. Here are my babies, submitted for you consideration:

@xleafyheartx​ - Jix, a fandomless leafling OC

Jix is a leafling, which is a dimunitive type of tree fae. Think... the treants of Dungeons & Dragons or the Ents of Tolkien lore, but tiny. Height and appearance vary by species, but Jix is an oaken leafling, so he resembles a miniature oak tree and is about a foot tall. His FC is Pickett of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but here is a fanart a lovely person drew of him that better shows what he looks like. He is 25 years old, an adult for his species, friendly, outgoing, and very, very talkative. English is not his first language, but he tries his best. Jix is a personable and positive little guy who has a berry addiction (he calls them “tasty littles”) and makes it a point to try to make friends with everyone he meets. Although he looks like a little tree, he is a magical creature, his body being half plant, half animal. He can be found anywhere, really, as he wanders around looking for food and friends. He’s always on the hunt for fruits! He is very developed, as I have been writing him for about 15 years now, and is my favorite muse I have ever written in any medium anywhere.

@mogwaicutiepie​ - Gizmo, of Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch

I feel like Gremlins is well known, but for those who don’t know, Gizmo is a mogwai, an alien species transplanted to earth a long time ago. They’re strange creatures, and are better known for their metamorphosed forms, the mean prankster gremlins. However, Gizmo is a behavioral anomaly. He’s kind, good, helpful, and brave. There are three rules everyone must follow when owning/interacting with a mogwai: 1) Never get them wet! They can’t even have water to bathe or drink. It causes them to immediately reproduce into new mogwai in minutes; 2) Keep them out of sunlight! Mogwai are terrified of all bright lights, but sunlight will kill them in minutes; and 3) Never feed them after midnight! This will result in the mogwai pupating, and they will eventually hatch into dangerous gremlins! Gizmo knows these rules and manages himself as best he can, but he is small, only about 1 ft. tall, as opposed to 3ft.-tall gremlins, so he does need some help from humans sometimes. He’s sweet and cute and nice as long as he’s treated well, but if not, he will cry or complain. He loves race cars and sweet foods. Oh, and “woof-woofs,” what he calls dogs. Here is a bigger picture of Gizmo.

@strychthia​ - Strychthia, a fandomless grassling OC

Strychthia is heavily inspired by a nameless and sparsely developed fairy in the fantasy/horror movie anthology The 4bidden Fables. A sister group of species to leaflings, she is an insectoid/skykin version instead of Jix’s tree version. She’s tiny, only about 6-7 inches tall, and is a six-legged grasshopper species of grassling, so her legs, body, and face resemble those of grasshoppers. Strychthia is a shy yet intelligent and contemplative sort. She considers humanoid beings to be absolutely beautiful aesthetically. Always having thought herself ugly, she strove for beauty by pulling her legs into two groups to look bipedal, making a cloak, making “hair” out of strings and fibers, and carving a little mask for herself. She is never without these items, and you will have to earn her trust (or scare her enough by threatening her) before she will show you her true face and body. Cast out by her own kind for revering the humans that have destroyed their habitats, she is on her own now, and can be found exploring human buildings and vehicles out of sheer curiosity. She doesn’t speak very much, preferring to gesture instead, but if she trusts you she will. Like Jix, she also adores berries as food. Here are pictures of Strychthia with and without her humanoid disguise.

And there you have it! All of these muses may look cute and adorable, but they are all adults and are capable of understanding and navigating serious and heavy subject matter, so don’t be afraid to throw whatever you want at them. They’re often mistaken for children or PG-rated muses because of their size and cuteness, so I always mention that they can get into the thick of drama and horror as well as any of my muses if need be. If you’re interested in interacting with or learning more about any of my babies, send them all the things or hmu in messages! They are all scheduled for Thursdays on my rp blog schedule, just to let you know. =D

*says to myself that I’m pretty set with the cast I have now*

...

*decides to introduce four more new characters anyway*

-Weeeeell, what are ya gonna do? lol Had a few of these guys on the backburner for these past few weeks actually, but didn’t get around to finalizing their designs much until after a bit of tweaking and suggestions from my Discord buddies ^^. Boa doesn’t belong to me though, but was given to be allowed to use in my verse by my gf ❤️

More info about their characters can be found below~

-Bokowla "Boa" Zatanabi is a rare voodoo mage who was originally born in the town of Laveras, but migrated to the jungle regions of Greneval to practice her rather eerie, mystic magic. Some may see her as rather kooky and out-of-place since voodoo magic isn't considered to be much of dark magic but rather old school witchcraft that others didn't think really "worked" anymore. Though she has proven this theory wrong to when she would put her abilities into actual battle, earning her a better reputation as a true force to be reckoned with. Among her traveling journeys around the areas of Terra, she stepped foot into the very populous area of Gray City, unfamiliar with most of the modern day activities and architecture since she was inhabited in the wild for a long while. Though one fateful day she met a particular poison mage who too felt out of touch for being rather "venomous" to the outer crowd, thus forming a one in a million kinship that's stuck close to this day~. -Kurtana "Tawnie" Shelrovet is Kaz's very own twin sister, and an up-and-coming supermodel for her mother's Shelrovet Dreams mining company in terms of showing off the company's personalized jewelry at fashion shows. As much as Ana was disliked around school for her sickeningly sweet & annoying antics... it was actually Tawnie herself who was more of the "alpha" queen bee of the school. Preferring only the best in life for herself, looking down on those who didn't have as much, and not really having much of a care if she hurt someone's feelings... she basically rivaled her brother in how much she had her peers wrapped around her finger. So much so, that Tawnie and Kaz actually tended to clash more than genuinely get along, even if they are twins... which could seem to explain why Tawnie had no qualms about going out with Kain Grayle (Kaz's biggest enemy), even if it made others around her like Kaz and even Kain's friends upset (since they felt like him dating her was making him lose sight of their friendship in favor of the popular crowd). In time, however, their relationship eventually drew to a close for reasons currently unknown (and if asked about it, Kain tends to get too tense/quiet to give a direct answer)... but for now all that's on Tawnie's mind is making sure her status as a beauty queen is kept up no matter what. When she's not busy working, Tawnie can be found "sharpening up" on her skills as a Metal mage, being able to create silvery shards of metal to shoot at her opponents (almost like porcupine quills).   -Cable Byzantine is one of Kaz's close school buddies, and is currently the "heir" to his family's underground mafia (disguised on the surface as just a glamorous automobile-company to the public eye). From the time he was born, Cable was drilled into his head about maintaining his family's "destiny" by that of his father... leaving him little room to feel much genuine family affection as the boy was put on a strict training schedule since early childhood. It wasn't until his St. Ravilda years did he finally start to feel a sense of freedom and rebellion... encouraged mostly by Kaz who felt like Cable can be much more than just some "cold robot" that his father turned him into. This mindset stayed with Cable even after graduating and moving back home... where coincidentally, his father just so happened to have suddenly passed on as his mother, Krimzen, now took over as the new "head" of their family's business. To this day, Cable never questioned of the circumstances of what actually happened to his dad (given how much he resented him deep down), and instead he now busies himself having his own form of "entertainment" in the form of taking part in underground MMA matches. Using moreso some "dirty" tactics" to keep on winning, part of Cable wishes to find some new way to vent out his frustrations instead of just "wasting" them on some puny human fighters. In terms of his own magical abilities, Cable is a type of Strength Mage with an ability to summon a sharp chain-like weapon for use of ensnaring/slashing against his foes. -Jinger "J.J." Depyro is one of Kaz's other school buddies, being an aspiring popstar who's currently made most of his living by advertising himself as the "main attraction" of Gray City's theme park. Don't be fooled by his sweet & innocent looks... for in truth, J.J. is actually just about as conniving as Kaz is... having no qualms about having "sold out" some of the lil secrets/gossip he heard around the school for his best friend's amusement. All of which was behavior that could be traced back to his early days as a rogue orphan at the St. Aurelia temple; while his "cute" looks were usually able to impress a few potential families, for some reason it never seemed like enough for anyone to ever officially adopt him. By the time he enrolled in St. Ravilda's, J.J. barely had much of a "family" to go back home to... so much that he basically lived full-time at the school and just went with one of his friends during certain vacation periods. He'd do anything to impress his friends and keep them close... so much that he just didn't really care anymore if others got their own "feelings" hurt from their bullying antics. Once he graduated from the school, J.J. was at first reluctant to fully leave since he didn't know where else to go compared to Kaz and Cable's ventures... but one day he was able to impress some local talent agents with one of his dancing displays that they offered him a job at the Gray City theme park, "Starlit Shores". There, J.J. would use his natural Firework Mage abilities to better "spark up" himself on stage to wow his audience... reveling in all their showers of praise and attention he's long since been missing. When off the clock from his "cutesy" popstar life though, he'll still switch back to the wicked lil gremlin once he gets some phone calls and visits from his friends. Now that they've all reconnected by this point... who knows what kind of trouble they can get up to now~?

The Emancipation of Ginny ~ 5

summary: shawn and ginny could’ve ruined everything six months ago, and sticking together despite their past could make or break them now as ginny stays on as his personal assistant. but what happens on tour doesn’t stay on tour.

warnings: Language, opulence, the island of Ibiza which tbh should come with a warning label

WC: 5.5k

Andrew sighs, loud and dramatic through his nose so he looks like an adorable little aggravated dragon. Ginny pats his shoulder with a sympathetic smile.

“It’s gonna be fine, love. I promise no one…” She pauses, considering what exactly she’s willing to promise to her boss, “...Will get arrested.”

Andrew grunts and it’s almost pained-sounding. Their gazes are drawn by a loud whooping and laughing from the group of men behind them. Ginny peeks over Andrew’s shoulder at the already rowdy squadron of bachelor party-bound men with a whisper of a conspiratorial grin. It rights into a confident, optimistic, responsible smile when Andrew looks back at her.

“It’s fine. It’s fine, I trust you, it’s two days, it’ll be fine.”

Ginny’s brows lift. “Are you trying to convince yourself or me?”

Andrew huffs again and Ginny can see him start to scroll through the list of reasons building in his head that maybe he really should skip those meetings in LA and just go with them and --

“Andrew, it’s two days,” Ginny assures him. Andrew seems to settle again. He and Ginny exchange a hug and with a few calls of ‘good luck’ and ‘no felonies’ to the guys, he’s out the automatic doors of the private terminal at Toronto Pearson.

Shawn is the first to notice Ginny’s unoccupied. He turns from the group and smirks at her. She wiggles her eyebrows and glides over to him.

“You ready, mate?” she teases, looping her arms behind her back.

Shawn laughs. “Definitely not.”

Ginny giggles along. “Smart boy. I didn’t plan this stag do with the intention of us making it out alive.”

Shawn makes only half an attempt to disguise the awe on his face as she skips away to wrangle everyone.

Shawn’s wedding gift to Josiah is the bachelor party of the century, and Ginny’s gift is to plan it. He told her to use his black card and when she asked about a budget he just shrugged weakly.

“Go nuts, Gin.”

That was his first mistake.

The second, he’s thinking, while he watches her strong-arm the already tipsy band of six twenty-something guys to their chartered jet, is not backing out when Josiah insisted Ginny come along.

She tried to demure her way out of it, insisting it was her gift to him, that she was perfectly fine planning it and not coming along, but Josiah dug his heels in.

“Honestly, Gin, if you don’t come, Shawn’s going to be the default responsible one.”

At that, Ginny blinked in horror and agreed.

It’s not that Shawn doesn’t want to hang out with Ginny, obviously. He’s just… it’s a weekend in Ibiza on private jets in fancy villas drinking and dancing and wearing very few clothes. It just might be tricky.

Tricky. An understatement, he thinks with a wince.

He finds himself chanting in his head the same words Andrew was muttering to himself only moments before. They’re drowned out by the music already playing on Geoff’s Bluetooth speaker as he steps onto the plane, the last of the group.

They’re spread out among the seats as the stewardess, thankfully already chuckling at them instead of looking annoyed and full of dread, takes drink orders. Shawn smiles at her when she walks past and murmurs for a beer with a quiet “thank you” that has her blushing and heading for the galley with her head ducked.

He turns back to see Ginny holding court. She’s gripping two seats, standing in the center of the aisle, laughing at something Josiah said and grinning wickedly. When she whistles through her fingers, she gets the attention she wants easily. The bleary eyes of the boys settle on her and their mouths seal shut. She relishes their reverent silence before she speaks.

“Gentlemen,” she begins in her silky West London brogue, “We’ve gathered this weekend for a very special occasion. Our good friend Josiah,” She pauses to allow for raucous applause and shrieking, “Has met the love of his sweet little life, Sami.”

“SAMIIIIIII!!!!!” Chris, one of Josiah’s hometown buddies, cries from the far end of the plane, beer in hand. The boys laugh and lift their various beverages in a toast to the bride-to-be.

“And to celebrate this glorious union,” Ginny continues, hamming it up for her audience, “We retreat to the one place on earth more suited to a stag do than Sin City -- the island of Ibiza.”

They’re eating up her theatrics, Shawn included. He howls along with the rest of them, drumming the flat of his hand on the leather seat in front of him. He feels a surge of adrenaline. They were already excited, but Ginny’s ringleader speech has got them fucking wired.

“So, boys,” She lifts her bottle with a quirk of an eyebrow, “Here’s to Josiah, may we keep him alive to see his wedding day.”

The group laughs and gathers to knock their bottles in cheers. Josiah, being Josiah, manages to clink his bottle in one hand while taking a picture with the other. He stows his phone and commands the group’s attention before they stray.

“And to Ginny for planning it!” he barks, swinging an arm around her neck to drag her onto the couch next to him, planting a kiss on her temple. The boys cheer again, seeming to never tire of a reason to scream about something.

Ginny stays where she is and Shawn feels her distance. He inches closer, shifting from seat to seat in what he hopes is a somewhat subtle way until he’s buckling into the seat beside hers with a sheepish grin.

“Hey, you,” she greets, pleased to see him. Shawn beams back. Sometimes Ginny’s attention feels like the sun -- warm, life-giving, essential. When he doesn’t have it, he craves it like a junkie.

He sits back in his seat and watches the runway past her curls as they begin to taxi.

“Thanks again for doing this,” he murmurs earnestly. It feels especially intimate over the bounce of “Careless” by Dusky on the speakers. Ginny turns her head from the window. She flashes that dangerous smile again that makes him shift in his seat.

“Don’t say that until see your next credit card statement.” She clinks the neck of her bottle against his. Shawn rolls his eyes and forces himself to look away from her.

+

If the flight is any indication as to the way the rest of this weekend is going, Ginny will have her hands full.

Getting them drunk on the plane was a strategy. The flight was long enough for them to get drunk and sober up again, long enough for her to observe their drunken behavior in a closed, controlled environment. She had to study up.

Chris is a sleepy drunk, he should be easy enough. Jack is a happy, loud, laughing drunk. Gabe is somehow both sleepy and loud all at once.

Geoff, Shawn and Josiah are no mystery, though. Geoff is rowdy, the troublemaker. Josiah is affectionate and happy and… sloppy. Shawn?

Shawn’s a tricky drunk.

It makes sense. He’s such a good boy most of the time. He gets told to be places all day every day. He’s nice to everyone all the time. He’s under insane pressure and refuses to crack. So when he’s got some whiskey in his system, he’s like an easily distracted giant Pomeranian puppy with too much energy. He bounces around, dances, laughs, bolts away from the group on his long, powerful legs just to be obnoxious. He’s a pain in the ass right until he crashes and then? Then he’s impossible.

At least on the plane when he crashes, they don’t have anywhere to be. Ginny remembers once before they got together that he once crashed in the cab heading back to a hotel in Madrid and Ginny had to physically drag him, mumbling and mostly asleep, out of the car. He’s a heavy nightmare when he crashes.

Ginny is a mom drunk. She can seem like she’s trashed, having as much fun as everyone else, getting just as rowdy and wild, but the moment someone responsible is needed, she snaps into sobriety so fast it’s like she never had a drink at all. It’s handy with people like Hannah and Shawn, both of whom will whine at her to “drink more! Catch up!” if they feel insecure about being drunker than she is. Plus, both Hannah and Shawn get tricky at the most inconvenient times.

Just before the crash, Ginny feels it in the air and passes out water bottles and aspirin. No hangovers on day one, she won’t allow it. She plants herself in her seat next to Shawn looking very self-satisfied as she turns down the music. She props her feet up on the edge of Josiah’s seat while he naps, head tilted, long, silky hair billowing with each of his heavy, gin-soaked breaths.

Shawn looks up from her warm brown legs and smiles drowsily. She mimes sipping water and he obeys, his tricky Gremlin side stowed for the time being.

“Were you the mom friend for Hannah’s bachelorette party?” he slurs.

Ginny tilts her head at his voice and laughs. “I was.”

Shawn grumbles under his breath and starts peeling at the wrapper on his bottle. Ginny lifts her eyebrows and hums. He sighs.

“You should let loose more, Gin. Let someone else be repson-- I mean… respond… responsible.”

He’s so cute. Ginny wants to lean over and squeeze his ruddy cheeks. She giggles, flexes and points her feet in flower printed Keds. Her legs are so long. Have they always been that long? He drunkenly wonders.

“Oh yeah? And who would you nominate in my place, then? Geoff?”

Shawn snorts and knocks his knees together, swinging them back and forth so they bump into hers.

“No. Geoff would kill us all.”

They share a glance at Geoff whose face is smashed into a pillow propped up against a window. His arms are crossed. They snicker in unison until Shawn looks back at Ginny. He tilts his head back and sighs dramatically.

“I could be resp--”

“You can’t even pronounce responsible, love.”

Shawn’s smile is slow-spreading and so sexy Ginny’s thighs press together. God, her legs are looooooooon--

Wait.

“You haven’t called me ‘love’ since before we broke up.”

Ginny’s head jerks at the rapid change of subject. She blinks quickly. “What?”

“You used to call me ‘love,’” he explains with another sigh, like slowing down to catch her up is totally cramping his style, “All the time. Even before we were together. And when we broke up you stopped.”

Ginny’s lips come together as if sucked in by the corners. Shawn studies them, imagining if he pressed a napkin against them he’d come away with a perfect lip print. He remembers her lipstick is long wearing and huffs.

“I won’t call you that then,” she replies breezily, reaching for her water bottle.

“‘S fine,” Shawn says with a shrug, knocking his knees back and forth again, slumping down further in his seat, “I don’t mind.”

Ginny’s face softens. She takes a slug from her water bottle and picks at her own label. They’re quiet for a few seconds. Ginny looks over, inhales to speak, but the words stop in her throat when she sees him asleep, pouty lips parted, head hanging heavy against his shoulder. She blinks slowly and sinks her teeth into her lower lip. She presses her finger into the recline button on his armrest that sends him slowly, gently into a more comfortable position. He settles in, smacks his lips and wriggles until he’s comfortable. Ginny sips more water to feel like her heart isn’t exploding out of her chest.

She’s mostly successful in keeping the hangovers at bay by the time they land. Due to her excellent planning, the massive dark-windowed SUV is waiting for them on the tarmac. The boys’ praise is slightly less enthusiastic than pre-flight, chalked up to the fact that they’re still recovering from their mile high party.

It’s another story when they pull up to the villa.

Climbing past expansive Spanish style chateaus and gaudy marvels of architecture, they arrive outside a two-level modern mansion planted on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. It’s gleaming white against the battling blues of sky and sea, dotted with massive windows, floor-to-ceiling on the side of the house that faces the infinity pool, which seems to spill straight into the water below.

The praise is ebullient as they roam the house -- “look at this fucking fridge though!” “Is that an infinity pool?!” “Fuck, we’re never fucking leaving!”

Shawn watches with pride that he supposes isn’t really his to feel when Josiah sweeps Ginny into a swinging hug on the deck overlooking the pool. When they separate, Ginny looks to Shawn automatically and his heart gives a squeeze, like she’s waiting for his approval.

He grins and holds out an arm. She hurries up the stairs to tuck herself under it, wrapping her arm around his waist as they look out at the idiots gleefully throwing themselves fully clothed into the 82-degree pool.

“You’re fucking amazing, you know that right?” Shawn offers, quietly enough that it’s just hers. She chews on her lips and cocks her head like a bashful puppy.

“He deserves a kickass stag,” she replies, like anyone would’ve and could’ve done this. Shawn squeezes the arm around her shoulders.

“And you deserve a goddamn crown for this.”

He swipes his thumb affectionately over the skin of her bare shoulder just once before letting her go, running to launch himself, $250 jeans, Chelsea boots and all, into the deep end, jackknife style.

Ginny squeals, laughing heartily with the rest of the guys as he pops back up, shaking his head like a wet labradoodle. This time it’s his turn to look back to her for approval. She lifts her arms over her head to clap. He preens, splashing around, insisting she jump after him.

It doesn’t take much coaxing for Ginny to kick off her Keds and send herself after the screaming boys by way of the best cannonball any of them has ever seen. She emerges into a wall of rowdy boy voices over the pounding of “One Kiss.” She floats on her back, closing her eyes at the almost throbbing cornflower shade of the sky, not feeling Shawn’s eyes from a few feet away.

+

The night, as is everything else, is pre-planned perfectly. After a few hours of romping in the pool, hitting a joint rather inexpertly rolled by Chris, they retreat to their rooms to nap. Ginny wakes up around 8pm to Shawn plucking at his guitar quietly, wandering around the house like a traveling minstrel.

Dinner is a truly terrifying amount of pizza ordered to the house eaten in the outdoor lounge with the day’s football highlights (in Spanish, of course) on the TV. Ginny mutters bitterly, as is customary, about Arsenal’s “chronic full back problem” through tiny bites of pizza and huge slugs of Stella.

By around 11, pizza and beer are put aside for harder stuff. Some switch to liquor, some carry on with weed, everyone gets ready for their first night out.

Shawn, in signature black skinnies, Chelsea boots and a silky black button up, finished his hair routine earlier than expected and wanders the west end of the house aimlessly, pretending to study the odd modern art and furniture. He’s fiddling with his necklace and second guessing his bracelet choice when he hears her voice.

Shawn follows the lilting sound of it singing The Temptations down a hallway he doesn’t even think he’s found yet because god, this place is huge, like he’s Prince Philip searching for Aurora in the forest. He finds her door and knocks twice with a light rap of his knuckles.

“Come in!”

Shawn lets himself in and gravitates to her, glowing in the slightly orange light of her bathroom. With a tube of MAC lipstick and her vape pen in one hand, Ginny is hovering about two inches from the mirror, her finger poking at her eye.

“Hiya,” she hums, wincing when she makes a jab that misses its target. He wrinkles his nose and steps closer.

“What are you doing?”

Ginny recedes from the mirror and blinks, moving her finger. There’s an uneven patch of gold leaf clinging partly to the inner corner, partly to her finger. Shawn chuckles. She pouts.

“Looked easy on YouTube…” she defends weakly, leaning back in to the mirror, closing one heavily mascara-ed eye to focus on fixing the other. Shawn watches her prod a few more times before he steps in with a clearing of his throat.

“Kay, let me try?”

He’s tugging on her arm and leaning in before she can answer. She flutters both eyes shut and feels the gentle pressure of his fingertip in the corner of her eye, adjusting gently until he’s satisfied.

“There.”

Ginny looks up. His smile is placid, his cheeks are pink. She blinks quickly and checks the mirror. He matched the other eye perfectly. She grins.

“For that you’ve earned a hit of this.” She offers the vape pen with a wink. Shawn accepts it, inhaling deeply, holding the vapor in for a few seconds and releasing it slowly behind her as she swipes on her lipstick.

He likes watching her get ready, always has. He used to be a bigger pain in the ass, standing behind her, sucking on her earlobe while she was trying to apply eyeliner or something. These days he stands back and watches her work.

While she’s distracted by carefully outlining the plump curves of her lips, he can check her out subtly. She’s in a deep maroon crop top and clingy skirt set that makes her deep caramel skin seem to shimmer. She smells like her coconut body oil, the only kind of fragrance she ever wears. Her curls are springy and bright. She’s unabashedly tall in strappy platforms that have her at his height even without her hair.

She’s fucking radiant. He won’t say a word about it.

She pulls back from the mirror for a look. She’s abandoned her signature red matte lipstain tonight for a dark burgundy shade that matches her outfit and sports a glossier finish. It makes him lick his lips and try not to wish he was licking hers. He tells himself it’s the weed talking. He takes another hit from her pen.

“Gonna share, Mendes?” she prompts.

You? Never.

Yep, the weed is going to his head. He hands off the pen willingly and watches her lipstick leave a splotch of her behind before she tucks it into her little clutch and leads him outside.

He’s got to shake this. He’s been so good about not indulging in his feelings, all of them, any of them, that pertained to her. Up until this weekend. They’ve had six months of good, solid recovery time since the break up. With the way his mind is babbling at him right now, it’s like it wants him to fuck all that up. He can’t let that happen.

At least not until he knows he’s ready for her.

He accepts the swig of scotch from the flask Geoff offers him as they’re piling into the car to take them to their first stop, Pacha.

A flash of Shawn’s smile is all it takes to get them ushered quickly to their reserved table in the VIP section behind the DJ booth. Once again, the boys look impressed, so Ginny sits smugly with her legs crossed, gazing around the club. It’s high season in Ibiza -- Pacha will be filled to capacity all night with a line snaking around the block until they close at 6am. They won’t stay that long, they have another table waiting for them at Amnesia, a 15 minute drive inland.

This is not Ginny’s first tangle with the White Isle. She’s been flying out for weekends here and there since she was 17. Ibiza has long been a favorite of Ginny’s and Hannah’s, but Ginny has never experienced it like this. Like everything else that comes with Shawn, it’s a step above. The table is already littered with booze. A very attentive and attractive waitress makes herself available immediately. She watches Shawn grin up at her politely and order a whiskey ginger, and then looks to the waitress to watch her shoulders drop, her smile spread and her giggle rise up in her throat. Ginny tries not to roll her eyes.

“Take it easy, Mendes, the megawatt smile is a lot for the uninitiated to take.”

Shawn’s at the part of the night where he smirks at her instead of blushing and insisting he’s just being polite, that he doesn’t know what she could possibly mean by that. He sits back in his chair and bites at the inside of his lip.

“Uninitiated? What does the initiation involve?”

Ginny plays along, leaning across to him as she thinks. He watches her eyes turn up to the light rigging in the ceiling and lets himself indulge in admiring her.

“Well first comes the superstar smile. Once you can handle that without your knees turning jello-y, you come up against the gentle Canadian boy modesty and the ‘eh’s and ‘a-boats’ that come with it,” She pauses to watch Shawn tip his head back and laugh hard, “And the trifecta. That laugh that makes me want to put on a performance and make you laugh all day long. I’d raise hell for that laugh.”

The silence that follows is as charged as the room around them that they ignore. They stare at each other in a way they haven’t in months. Neither looks away while they try to understand the moment, and even more so, try to make it last because neither of them knows when they’ll get the chance to look at each other this way without the possibility of getting caught by the people that constantly surround them.

Ginny breaks first, being the more sober of the two. She clears her throat and tucks a hand through her hair, scrunching some curls back into place. Shawn keeps watching.

The chance of being caught by friends or fans is very low. First of all, their friends have scattered to explore the pulsing club, scouting for girls or for other celebrities. Secondly, Shawn is not nearly the most interesting famous person in the room tonight. On their way into the VIP section, Ginny spotted at least half the cast of The Only Way is Essex plus Martin Garrix plus Paris Hilton and their corresponding crews, all of whom attract more attention than the sweet Canadian kid who doesn’t get tricky until at least three drinks in.

Ginny stops Shawn just short of “tricky” and gathers the boys into the car again to skip off to Amnesia. They stick together this time, tucked away in another VIP booth that feels more private than the first. Ginny is bouncing Euro coins off the table and landing them in her friends’ drinks with a wild gleam in her eye. When she catches him watching her, she slips him a coin of his own with a wink.

The coin corresponds with drink number four. Shawn gets creative, positioning a coin on one end of a spoon and smacking the other to aim it at his friends’ foreheads. When he gets Chris in the eye, Ginny takes the coin back, plucks it out of Shawn’s scrabbling fingers as he apologizes profusely.

David Guetta goes on at 3am for a special set and gets the rest of the guys off their asses to dance. Shawn, even at his trickiest, doesn’t get on the dance floor. Ginny usually can be persuaded, but tonight, she hangs back with him, her chin propped on the table as she flips the coin against the surface by pressing onto the edge with her thumbnail.

She’s mouthing the words to “Titanium” but her chin is flat to the table so her head bobs oddly as she opens and closes her mouth. In his drunken state, Shawn is mesmerized. The motion of it, rather inconveniently, reminds Shawn of other times when he watched her head bob rhythmically like that.

“Hey, do you remember the last time we had sex?”

Ginny looks up, looking less startled than he imagines they would if they were both sober. She pulls her brows together and looks thoughtful.

“I think so. The first night in Tokyo.”

Of course she remembers. She’s Ginny. She remembers everything.

Shawn turns his head down guiltily to his lap. “I don’t really remember.”

Ginny smiles at her secret. She presses the pad of her thumb into the coin and decides to ignore potential consequences of getting into this with him.

“We were unpacking in Tokyo. You couldn’t keep your hands off me,” she relays with a smirk. He doesn’t argue. That sounds like him.

“You were mumbling something into my neck about the schedule for the next few days but you pushed your hand into my leggings at the same time. I kissed you and told you we can either talk schedule or fuck, but we couldn’t do both at once.”

Shawn grins at the memory she’s dug out of his subconscious. “I picked fuck.”

“You certainly did.”

Ginny doesn’t choose to elaborate further about the way he grunted with each heavy stroke into her body, that he felt like he was chasing something down inside her and she was willing and eager to let him try. Ginny lowers her gaze, thinking now that whatever it was, he didn’t find it.

“Sometimes with stuff like that you wish you knew it was the last time,” Shawn muses.

Ginny swallows awkwardly against the table and lifts her head. She props up her elbows and knows her brain will shift to overanalysis when she’s sober about the fact that he basically just admitted that he wasn’t planning for very long to end things with her. There’s a lot to unpack there.

“You remember the last time we kissed?” he prods. She looks up again. She shakes her head.

“Me neither,” Shawn breathes, “You deserved more from me.”

Her eyes flutter shut. She doesn’t know why he’s talking like this and she doesn’t know why she’s not stopping him.

Her eyes startle open again when she feels his fingers link with hers across the table. She looks down at them because it’s safer than looking at him.

“Let me give you something good, Gin.”

She’s nodding before he even says her name. When she looks up, he’s leaning halfway over their table, scooping his hand under her chin to press his lips to hers. Despite his intoxication, he’s smooth and slow and molten hot, murmuring gently into her mouth before he sucks on her lower lip and releases her.

“Oh god, yes,” Ginny moans, reaching up to yank him back in by his collar for more.

Shawn’s lips are wet and swollen; he’s been chewing on them all night. They’re both drunkenly panting into the kiss, it’s not a particularly sexy kiss to witness, but to them, it’s everything they’ve been craving since they let each other go last year.

Shawn grunts when he tries to get closer and feels the edge of the table jut into his ribs. He pries himself away long enough to scurry around it and climb into the booth next to her, throwing an arm around her shoulder and sucking her back in.

If they don’t think about it, it’s not bad. This does not have to be a disaster. This can be just a bachelor weekend thing, the equivalent of them hooking up with strangers, only it’s safer because Shawn runs a risk any time he takes home someone who could open her mouth and blab about it on the internet. This way, with Ginny, he’s safe.

Plus, they’re just making out. No way this leads to fucking. I mean, it could. And maybe that wouldn’t be so bad either. Not unrecoverable, at least. It’s just fucking. It’s a biological imperative. And after all, who are Ginny and Shawn to turn their noses up at biology?

Shawn sucks at her tongue and makes her moan into his mouth like a porn star. She actually feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up from where she’s raking her fingers through his curls.

“Goddamn, we leave you alone for ten minutes and you’re trying to swallow each other in public,” Geoff groans from over Shawn’s shoulder. Shawn’s closed eyes squeeze and he pulls away to Ginny’s cheek. When he collects himself, he turns his head to glare at Geoff.

“What do you want?”

Geoff looks delighted to have interrupted. He nods back to Gabe and Jack who have one of Josiah’s arms over each shoulder.

“Time to go. Groom to be’s had it.”

Shawn looks back to Ginny who, in true Ginny form, already has her phone out texting the car service to meet them in the VIP pickup area.

They stay close, though. Ginny hands him a napkin to swipe at the purple lipstick all over the lower half of his face, but she doesn’t drift. While they wait for the car, she even lets him kiss her again, and it’s less frantic and hungry than in the club. It feels more like it did when they didn’t know which kiss would be their last. Shawn likes it better this way.

They continue kissing in the car, ignoring the barfing noises the other guys mime to drown out the wet sucking noises of their lips. They kiss at the front entrance while Ginny hands Jack the keys to the villa. They kiss while they walk down the hall all the way up to where Ginny presses Shawn into his door and nips at his lower lip to feel him growl one more time.

She slides her long fingered hands up his chest and pushes away. Her bleary eyes meet his. He looks half fucked, lips almost comically swollen and again smeared heavily with her lipstick that he’s licking at like it’s melting ice cream, eyes glassy, hair a wreck. He looks like a caricature of someone who’s been necking for 45 minutes.

Ginny takes a deep breath and nods once, all business. “Goodnight, Shawn.”

She twists his door handle and lets him stumble backwards inside enough for her to close it behind him and disappear, clomping away in her loud shoes to her own room.

+

Ginny wakes with a start at the sound of a splash from the pool. Her shoulders clench, her back tenses, her fingers tighten around their grip on the pillow she’s smashed her face into. Her heart sprints for a minute until she recognizes she is, in fact, alone.

She pushes up on her hands, sniffs and sighs. She’s stark naked, having shed her clothes in a haphazard line from door to bed. When she opens her eyes, she winces at the sight of her pillow, which looks like her face melted into it -- patches of foundation, mascara and lipstick dotted with two bits of gold leaf right where her eyes would’ve been.

Thank god she went to bed alone. It is her only mercy from the night before.

She stumbles into the shower and scrubs at what remains of her face. Tequila leaks out of her pores. She throws on a red cotton romper that skims the swell of her ass and goes outside to find the boys and hydrate.

Half are lazing in the pool playing more EDM that for some reason sounds a lot less appealing than it did yesterday, half are sitting under the cover of the outdoor lounge. Someone made bloody marys. Someone ordered breakfast burritos. Ginny grabs a water bottle and makes a beeline for Shawn, splayed on a couch in a t-shirt and boxers with his guitar in his lap.

“We are morons,” she announces on her approach, flopping down across from him, propping her feet up and taking a sip.

“Fucking idiots,” he agrees without looking up at her, bobbing his head as he riddles out a melody.

“We’re ok, though, right? No feelings hurt?” she checks, ignoring the wailing voice in her head that reminds her of her own stupid feelings.

Shawn does look up now, an easy smile on his lips, smooth from practice, a smile that doesn’t hint at all at the crying of the voice in his own head. “All good. No worries, Gin.”

The day is lazy. There’s napping, smoking, football and more bad takeout. Night two is at Ushuaia and it goes unspoken that Ginny and Shawn are to stay sober and, more importantly, away from each other.

They’re successful. Ginny shimmies in body glitter and a rusty orange bikini. Shawn is in a tank top and skinny jeans again and the body glitter he borrows is his idea, not hers, and he doesn’t ask her to help him put it on. They stay ten feet from each other all night, spinning like tops, trying not to be the one who falls down first.

Please help cure my Ibiza hangover and buy me a Ko-fi (link on main page)!

Taglist:  @smallerinfinities @the-claire-bitch-project @achinglyshawn @infiniteshawn @stillinskislydia @singanddreamanyway @alone-in-madness @abigfatmess @shawnitsmutual @awkwardfangirl2014 @september-lace @grittyisathot @sinplisticshawn @mutuallynotmutual @rollingxstone @yslsaint @randi-eve

Love Me a Little

Tim felt humiliated. He had never felt so vulnerable in his life, and with Dick, no less. He should have seen this coming, he should have dodged that bolt of magic, he should have moved faster, should've, would've, could've- But hindsight did nothing for the fact that he was now a tiny baby who was having his suitably tiny butt powdered by Dick Grayson, Mother Extraordinaire. “All done!” Dick crowed, administering a final, powdery, pat on his tush. “Don't you feel fresh now, Timmy?” Tim did feel as fresh as the morning dew, but he wasn't going to let Dick have the satisfaction of knowing that. Instead, he mewled plaintively, reaching out for the void to engulf him. By sheer happenstance, the direction in which he stretched was exactly where Jason was passing by after his nap. “Do you want to go to Jay?” Dick asked, bouncing him. “Jason, Timmy wants his big brother!” Jason blinked sleepily at his brothers and itched himself slowly, deliberately, before snagging Tim in one arm. “Hey, TimTam,” Jason yawned. “Don't you look all fresh and nice. Did Dickface give you a bath?” Tim squirmed uncomfortably, loath to relive the torturous memories of Bathtime. He let out a warbling wail, and looked angrily at Jason, who proceeded to mess up Dick’s hard work by blowing raspberries in Tim’s tummy, eliciting squeals from the unhappy yet tickled baby. “Hey, he likes it,” Jason said, completely misinterpreting Tim’s tortured noises for happiness. “Tim, who's your favourite brother?” Tim lunged towards Dick, making grabby hands at his saviour, who swept Tim out of the tickle monster’s arms. “Traitor,” Jason said good-naturedly. “It's lucky that he won't remember all of this when he turns back, huh?” “Oh, for sure,” Dick agreed. “Can you imagine him remembering all of this, or understanding us?” “Pfft,” Jason muffled a laugh, “I'm pretty sure he'd run away first.” “Yeah, it's pretty funny, huh?” Tim glared at his chortling brothers, and wondered if the League of Assassins was still recruiting. ----------- Tim dozed off as Dick and Jason carried him around the house, waking only when he felt a scratchy material on his face. Did those two numbskulls put him on the carpet!? Tim blinked awake, only to realize that the scratchy feeling was not from the carpet, but from where he was smushed against Bruce’s bare, hairy, chest, as the man lounged in front of the television where he was having his bi-monthly existential crisis. Said crisis usually consisted of asking questions such as am I really making a difference? Would my parents approve of my lifestyle? Why won't my children ever hug me? Why does Dick hug me so much? The answers to which were, in order, yes, I can't speak for the dead, because you're unapproachable, and because Dick has made it his personal mission in life to hug everything into submission, and frankly, his success rate is startlingly high. Currently, Bruce was cradling Tim and a bowl of popcorn (plain) against his bare chest and stomach, respectively, as the television blared news about Superman’s latest feat of hunkyness - rescuing a kitten from a tree - while Tim was having a mental freakout about lying next to Bruce’s nipple. Bruce came out of his stupor as Tim stirred awake and regarded his now infant son carefully. “I miss this,” Bruce said after a while. “You don't remember this, but you used to be here all the time when you were a baby. Perks of being the bachelor neighbor, I got to babysit you a lot. We used to do this a lot, too,” he admitted, gesturing at himself and the television, as Tim listened, enraptured. “My existential crises were different though. They were more centered around starting out as Batman and if I was really gay. I'm bisexual,” Bruce reaffirmed. Tim giggled, and Bruce smirked. “Yes, it seems so frivolous now, doesn't it? But when I was in my twenties, Superman’s pectorals haunted my dreams. Now, he haunts me in real life with his stupidity and talking and emotions, ugh.” Tim looked around guiltily, thinking back on all the times he had imagined Conner’s pecs bouncing. “Why am I talking about Clark?” Bruce interrupted himself. “Stupid Clark. This is father-son bonding time,” Bruce said, addressing Tim seriously. “As I was saying, you were here all the time. You said your first word here, you know. It was ‘bat’.” Bruce paused before continuing, “I should have known. I should have adopted you then. Maybe we would have had more time together, and you wouldn't have left home,” he said softly. Tim mashed his face into Bruce’s chest to convey his feelings, which Bruce seemed to understand. “You were my baby for the longest time, and I couldn't accept that you were going to leave. I keep losing kids and I don't know why,” he complained softly. “Dick went to crummy Blüdhaven, Jason died, came back, and hates me, Cassandra is in Hong freaking Kong, and Damian keeps calling me ‘Father’ like I don't know. Is ‘daddy’ too difficult a word? And you left and got a stupid flat in a stupid apartment complex,” Bruce grumbled. After a stretch of comfortable silence, Bruce hiked Tim up higher and looked him dead in the eye. “But I have you now, and I'm going to make the most of it. Prepare for hugs, Timothy my boy,” Bruce said, before cuddling Tim. Tim squeaked in shock, and made valiant attempts to avoid the Batman’s nipple, but appreciated the frank affection that was so rarely found in the house that did not come from Dick. ---------- “Your first word was not ‘bat’, as Master Bruce likes to think,” Alfred informed Timothy as he fed him tiny spoonfuls of applesauce. “It was ‘butt’. But Master Bruce does like his denial, doesn't he?” Tim clapped his hands gleefully, overjoyed that his first word had been said to cause someone affront. ---------- Just when he thought that everyone had had their fill of him as a baby, Damian showed up, looming ominously over Tim’s crib. Tim squeaked in horror at the purpose clear in Daman’s poisonous, green, eyes, and made to crawl away, but was held fast by the evil little gnome. “There is the possibility that this spell may not be reversible,” Damian muttered. “In that case, you will have to grow up all over again. This has been a blessing in disguise, the fates having given me the chance to forge a new relationship with you.” Tim cocked has tiny head, touched that Damian wanted to build on their relationship. “When I take the mantle of Batman, you shall be my new Robin!” Tim gawked as Damian went on to outline grandiose plans of how he and Tim would usher in an age of peace (he should have known not to let Damian read Orwellian Classics), and how with proper training, Tim would love his new elder brother and Batman. “...I shall have a high collar with my version of the cape and cowl. It offers more protection for my neck. For you, I shall keep the classic colour scheme, but we will be adding darker undertones. Here, try this on-” Tim was shocked when Damian pulled out a very small replica of the Robin costume of his imagining, and attempted to put Tim in it. Tim flailed, unwilling to indulge Damian’s fantasies of being his big brother, but failed, and was forced to look at his reflection in the mirror dressed in a modified Robin onesie. “There, see? Elegant and effective, offering brilliant range of movement and optimal protection. You will thank me for this later, Drake. In fact,” Damian paused, smirking, “you will love me, for I shall be the big brother that you never had.” Tim wailed at the thought, which brought Dick into the room. “Ooh, Bruce, look! Dami’s playing dress up with Timmy! They're so cute! And look at that!” Dick cried, pointing at Tim’s costume. “Did you make that, Dami?” Damian nodded happily. “It is for when I make Drake the Robin to my Batman.” “That's very sweet, Damian,” Bruce remarked. “I'm glad that you love your brother enough to make him Robin. I'm very proud of you.” “Thank you Father,” Damian said, preening. “You'll be a great big brother, Dami,” Dick cooed adoringly. “I know,” Damian remarked. “And with time, Drake will know it too.” Tim gulped, and willed the magic to fade faster from his body, if only to pound his little creep of a brother into the dirt for forcing him to play a role in his dystopian fantasies. ----------- “I'm sorry!” “Hmph.” “Timmy, I'm soooo soooorrrry!” “Hngh.” Jason buried his face in his hands as Dick continued to grovel. “Timmy, please! We didn't know that you could remember everything!” “You made me take bubble baths, Dick,” Tim reminded him sourly. “You made me dress up like a pumpkin, and then you took pictures! You powdered my butt. You touched my BUTT.” Dick slunk to the floor in horror while Jason gagged, prompting Tim to round on him. “And you! You put your entire uggo face in my stomach! You gave me raspberries! The gun-toting, feared anti-hero of Gotham, the Red Hood, gave me tiny tummy kisses!” Tim shrieked, pointing at a withering Jason, who promptly joined Dick in a pile of shame on the floor. In the chaos, Damian attempted to escape unnoticed, but was out of luck. “Don't think you're going to get away, you little creep,” Tim growled, snagging Damian by the waist. “‘You will learn to love me!?’ ‘I will show you what it means to be my Robin?’ What the hell, you little gremlin!?” “You should be honored, Drake!” Damian cried, attempting to scratch Tim’s eyes out. “I was going to make you into my perfect Robin!” “Oh my Gotham, that was creepy as fuck,” Jason mumbled quietly. “Dick, your little demon baby is a freaking creep.” “I was going to make you the best version of yourself, Drake!” “Dami,” Dick sighed, “you should love your brother in whatever form he is in. Tim loves you just as you are, don't you Timmy?” “I'd love him more if he was a hamster.” “Tim!” Unbeknownst to everyone, Bruce watched his children bicker from the safety of his room, and smiled at having his boys under one roof, together. Just as it should be. ---------

The Devil’s due

Sarah (Arcana OC) X Julian (Arcana) Follows the main plot story, with changes. 4.3k words. ________________________________________________________________

Chapter 6 : Infiltration

The walk to the palace was… ho boy.

The entire way Julian's dramatic nature was put to work as he effortlessly slipped into the 'role' of Asra. Though the way he kept glancing over at Sarah for approval made her little brain click it's gears.

First dropping her off at Asra's shop… now trying to confirm his acting behaviour with her, as if she'd know Asra's mannerisms. He clearly expected them to have a history. Was it because they were both magicians? Or did he know something she didn't. It was impossible to tell without asking. But with the palace gates looming overhead already she hadn't the time for this ongoing mystery.

Suddenly realising that Asra, the real Asra, could possibly already be in castle grounds made the fine hairs along the back of her neck stand on end. That would be quite the disastrous occurrence. But it's too late to be turning back now. His pace is far quicker than both ladies little legs. Leaving them panting and sweaty by the time the trio reaches the bridge. "How do you suppose he'd be feeling in this moment? Like a Lamb, entering the den of wolves… or maybe, a wolf. Entering the den of…. Vipers. Hmm. Vipers he wouldn't mind, he and Faust would fit right in."

"I don't-" Her words are ended by the sharp screech of marble on heels as Julian, as Asra, halts himself. Looking suddenly sceptical and nervous. 

"Faust….. that's the snake's name isn't it?" His expression twists and turns as she nods slowly. Not entirely certain on the answer but the name certainly rang the right bells. He grumbles, rubbing at his temples in irritation as his browline pinches together. "I...I remember that shake, she nearly... squeezed the life out of me once." Who, Faust? But she looked so sweet from what Sarah could remember.

He's very clearly stalling. Keeping a slight distance from her with constant searching glances her way. Like he was looking for something under her thinly veiled exterior motives. Like she was the hard one to understand, not himself. She already knows this spell isn't one of her best and, as much as she wanted to reassure him, they really needed to do this as fast and clean as they could. At least by now he seems remarkably sober compared to before.

“So it’s safe to say he would be surprised. When he’s surprised, is he more of a…” His gaze narrows and mouth hangs open, staring off at nothing. “This? Or more like this?” Sarah struggles to keep a straight face. Watching his wide eyes swing to her, looking very shaken. It’s impressively done, but knowing he’s trying so hard was making her giggle quietly into her palm. “More like that- ” she snickers, having to turn away and rub at her freckled cheeks to get them to relax again. If she blew his cover she’d feel awful, it’s time to get serious… but not too serious. Just slightly serious. Like... casual business. Yes, this is exactly what today is, casual business.

Noticing their struggling charade, Portia takes a step or two ahead, walking backwards in front of them. “Hey Ilya, I know this is gonna be a challenge but… try not to talk too much, okay?” It was a suggestion but it certainly sounded more like a very gentle threat coming from Portia. Sarah always had the feeling this quaint sweet servant act of hers was hiding a lot of sneaky but lovable gremlin behaviour.

“Oh, no naturally, Asra doesn’t talk much.” Julian coughed, trying to hide his face by turning away, “believe me, it’s hard to maintain such an aura of mystery once you open your mouth.” 

Portia’s hands poised themselves in front of herself again, looking him directly in the face with just the faintest of a smile. “Hmm. Maybe he was just quiet around you? You’ve got a real bad habit of doing the talking for everyone, Ilyushka.”

The awkwardness in the air had been broken and already Sarah could feel her spirits rising back up with confidence. Things were going to be okay. They could recover from a slip-up even if it did happen. Which with any luck it won’t. The ever-growing silhouette of the palace grounds had reached their peak. Portia takes in a long inhale and holds it, squaring herself out… only releasing as she roughly pushes forward against the gigantic main doors. There's a grinding churning sound as they open, like stone against stone, as everyone piles in before they close once more. Settling with a heavy ‘shhhunk’. Her figure goes loose for a minute, looking around in short searching head movements. “That’s weird… where is everybody?” It looks pretty deserted. Not even a guard behind the main doors? A relief for Portia maybe but seemingly not Sarah or Julian who look around sceptically. “So, uh, where can I take you first, oh great magicians?” she chirps sweetly, slipping straight back into her role as Nadia’s trusted servant. Speaking loud and clear as she would any other day.

Julian's eyes immediately narrows. A teasingly sly twinkle in them. "The bedroom, of course." Pausing a sufficient amount of time for Sarah's entire face to redden before continuing the point of his request. Seemingly happy with himself for garnering such a reaction. "Bring us to the room where the dark deed was done." His dramatic flare made Portia momentarily scowl while Sarah tried to forcefully wipe the darkened colour from her cheeks. Lucio's bedroom, he was talking about Lucio's bedroom, you stupid dipshit. The scene of the crime, obviously.

The halls are uncomfortably empty. While Portia and Sarah's cute little shoes were both quiet on the cold floor Julian's boots clattered with each step. Rather unfitting of his Asra illusion. The sound echoing endlessly through the halls. To Sarah's growing nerves each step sounded louder than the last and her mouth ran agonisingly dry. 

Approaching the stairs it seemed something important was missing. It wasn't until the trio reached the top that Sarah remembered the usually so vigilant figures that guarded the wing. Lucio's hounds… neither of them were there, only adding to the uneasy emptiness of the palace. Her sudden curious searches had obviously attracted Julian's attention, as he too now seemed to have lost some nerve. "Looking for something?"

His words were carried so eagerly by the still air, forcing Sarah to take an unknowingly held breath and frown. Squaring her shoulders and pushing the anxiousness aside. "No. We're ok." They couldn't go getting worked up over nothing now, not after it all working to their favour. She should be relieved, not nervous. 

On breaching the hallway of Lucio's wing Julian seems to shiver, brushing his shoulder off while glaring at the almost ashen coloured walls in vague unease. "Did you say that no one ever comes to these rooms anymore?"

Portia's tightly tied hair flopped from side to side messing as she shook her head. Eyeing the walls with the same expression of turmoil as her brother. "Nope. Never, in the years I've been here… nobody, if they don't have to. And when they do… Lets just say there are a lot of stories floating around downstairs. People have heard things. Seen things."

Yes… now that she was no stranger to. The ghostly visage of something white and needlessly angry plagued the back of Sarah's mind. She had seen it once or twice, both times having been lured to the malevolent apparition by the same dogs she knew regularly guarded the stairway. A wispy almost drowned moan ripples it's way over the rafters as they reach the bedroom door. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Julian bristle from head to toe at the sound.

The door is… already unlocked. Portia leaning onto it with utmost caution. A heavy scent of dust and ageless preservation filling the air. The door, already ajar, is suddenly flung open. Accompanied by a sharp, floor shaking, crash.

The room is buzzing with activity! Positively alive with motion as servants scramble left and right to clean every surface in sight. The many years of layered dust, ash, and grime being scrubbed at and scraped away. Long curled smoke stains twirled up the back wall where the bed is. And standing beside the bed, with wide eyes and a commanding presence, is Countess Satrinava.

Her richly coloured pink-purple hair seems to bounce the light of the room away from her. Her finely defined jaw sets slightly as she glances from Portia up to Sarah and Julian with a flash of recognition. At once her surprise, which had been well hidden, was completely swept away. Replacing it was a calm and dignified half-lidded gaze. Enough to make Julian swallow as she spoke. "Portia, there you are. Hello, Sarah, Asra" she nodded just ever so slightly. The still-shocked trio nodding back in kind. "At last, we are tending to the ruin of this room. There have been a number of curious accidents."

Her eyes settle on Julian, still under disguise, and seem to deepen immeasurably. Though she cannot look to check, Sarah can feel Julian clam up and already knows he's choking on the sudden pressure. "I see you are back already. How went the search? I have trust in your reputable skills as a magician that it went smoothly?" Nadia asks who she thinks is Asra. 

"Right, I am the majulian- magician here to… I ran into my apprentice, here, on the way out and she requested my help. To help you." He stammered, his entire face turning tense and caught off-guard. Nadia takes a calculated step in their direction. 

Having recovered from not only the renovation shock but Julian's awful fibbing Sarah quickly jumps in with a smile. "I do apologise about not telling you sooner, Countess. Asra and I have been working together for a while." She smiles a sickly sweet smile, taking Julian's trembling hand in her own to hide his shiver.

Of course! Miss Nadia had already met Asra this morning! Else Portia would have had no way of finding her at the shop. His hand squeezed hers tightly, to the point of almost suffocating it, but she simply smiled as he opened his mouth again. "Yes, I, we, paired up while I was on a, uh, quest tooooo open my third ear. So I can better hear the spirits. Important for this investigation." Currently, the only thoughts going through either of their minds, looked a little something like-

'Oh my god, please stop talking, you're making it so much worse.' 

But, to everyone's luck, it seemed the Countesses mind was preoccupied with other things. Gazing longingly over at a far wall. "I do wish we would have had more time this morning to talk, you look so different now, but you are indeed a stranger to me. Or do my eyes deceive me… it is terribly dim. Perhaps if that lamp was lit?"

Sarah's tongue felt like it caught in a vice as she bit down on it nervously. Was… was her disguise spell leaking? Or was she remembering Asra's appearance wrong? The questions made her nauseous as she followed the Countesses slender delicate finger. Up the wall to an old not yet cleaned sconce dripping with cobwebs. Hung high up, far out of reach, at least out of reach to light by hand. 

She can hear Julian's throat Bob as he swallows hard once again. Her fingers tingling as she slyly puts her free hand behind her back. "Uh, lamp, what lamp?" He blurts hurriedly, pretending not to see it, only to receive a gentle tug at the hand.

Sarah looks to him with confidence swimming in her visible eye, the other hidden under long curls of hair. "That lamp." She gestures, squeezing his hand just enough to see the lightbulb in his head light up. As if rehearsed Julian's free hand flourishes in a quick nonsense gesture, a good visual distraction to Sarah's actual act of magic, as she tries to stare down the lamp.

A coil builds between herself and the target before it snaps. The sconce roaring to life but not before showering the Count's portrait below with lively sparks. A surprised "Oh my" escapes Nadia as Portia scurries for a nearby ladder.

"It's fine milady I got it!" Springing over to the portrait to deal with the smouldering sparks while they threaten to set the portrait alight. Julian allowing himself an expressive wince as all eyes are on the portrait as if awaiting the reveal of the damage. The loyal servant padding the portrait's face down with a heavy rag.

The slight chaos keeps everyone's attention. Everyone except Sarah. Something figuratively grips at the base of her neck and forces her eyes to wander from the scene. A shape, giving off malicious intent, is forming slowly out of drifting white smoke. Far off in the most decrepit, darkest, corner of the room. She feels herself stiffen; the grip she had on Julian's hand tightening very suddenly along with her chest. Though he doesn't turn in time to see what she sees, the vaguely shaped white trail suddenly rushing forward at great speed. Ramming into Portia's ladder

"My goodness, Portia!" Yelps the Countess as the ladder is wrenched out from beneath the redheads feet. Falling very abruptly down into Nadia's awaiting arms.

Julian stares for a moment, bewildered, before clearing his throat. "Ahem, so quick! That was a feat of amazing foresight, Countess. Almost as if you saw the future. You may have... abilities. In uh, in magic." Nadia's expression wavers from concern for Portia to curiosity about the disguised doctor. Gently lowering her most trusted companion safely to the floor before giving him a look Sarah did not much care for.

"I wonder. Perhaps when I am through here, I shall join you both in investigating." She hummed, eyeing them both as Portia jumped back into the fray.

"In the library! Investigating the library!" She looked as though she was more concerned about the conversation than what had just transpired only a moment ago. Bringing Nadia's cherry-red eyes back to her in turn.

"Ah yes, a perfect place to start. I believe you keep the keys." Her tone, unlike with almost everyone else, was always much softer when addressing Portia. There was no denying the two had a very cute chemistry between them. Viewing Portia through rose tinted glasses, not seeing her behaviour as suspicious as the 'two' magicians.

Portia's cheeks seem to glitter and spark as she recognises her own genius. An opportunity to keep the Countess busy while Julian and Sarah do their research with minimal interruptions. It would take a little bit of work, but nothing she couldn't handle. "I uh, yes, I… ahem. Follow me." As she motions to the hall door and pushes it heartily open all three followers trail through. Now slightly behind the Countess the Asra facade is dropped if only for a very brief moment. His face cracking into a wide stupid grin. Half-lidded confident eyes and bared teeth that nobody could replicate if they tried for a million years…

____________________________________

The journey is short but it quickly feels like an eternity. The slightly strained look to Sarah's squinted eye giving Julian an uncomfortable feeling. She was starting to slip. The facade, the disguise, let loose a long curl of Julian's natural hair colour before she sucked roughly in through her teeth and returned it to white. Swallowing on occasion, trying not to bring attention to herself, she waited until the library doors were ahead of them to allow herself a quick flexing of her fingers. Quietly gripping onto the air and letting it go over and over to keep her magic in line.

The loud 'ka-klunk' of the library doors is quickly followed by a relieved exhale as the glamour vanishes. Returning Julian to his rightful appearance as himself in a dazzling warping of reality. Much like a stone being thrown Into a pond, his Asra disguise rippling in the air before dissipating. Leaving only the doctor's surprised expression. " Well, that could have gone worse. I may not know magic, but there's definitely something going on here. Something beyond my knowledge." He admits quietly, pacing back and forth before striking a confident air. Straight back to being himself. "Luckily for us, we're at the library. Let's see what we can learn."

As he immediately strides into action, bee-lining for the shelves, Sarah takes a moment to steady herself. A spell as simple as a disguise glamour shouldn't be so taxing, yet for the short period it was on him she feels utterly drained. Trying not to let it show as she heads for an opposing bookcase and begins to lead over the titles. Despite it being a place she would assume the Countess to frequent often the library feels almost… forgotten. A lot of the shelves are coated in a thin dusty veil that makes her nose tickle. One or two even carrying the faint scent of dampness.

Ah the library. She had been here before. Not long into staying at the palace, Portia had introduced her to the wonders of the library and it's many many books. There were many shelves and countless topics, from horse care to mythological theories, though very few had been touched in years. The rare couple she had interacted with stuck out like sore thumbs as each one lacked it's dusty coating and looked well maintained.

Taking a second to glance away from the shelves Sarah found herself just standing there. Watching Julian's fingers flutter over the books spines. Unwittingly she takes a step away from her own search to follow his, just a few paces behind. His creased brow and confident walk. There was something leading him through the shelves; an air of repetition as if it had happened a dozen times before. Picking up a few books without needing to read the entire way through their titles and slinging them into a cradled arm.

"All these books, and I kept going back to the same old… Just around that corner. I had a desk." He grumbles, seeming to follow an already established path. "It's coming back to me… it's close, at the back of my mind. I can just taste it." So thoroughly focused on where he was headed he hasn't yet noticed how curious his smaller companion must be. Turning a hard crimson once spotting her trailing behind him with a bright sparkle in her eye; like a lost dog trailing a stranger with a basket of bread. "You're… mad at me?" He asks curiously, much to her surprise.

"N-no! No of course not." She assures with a winded breath, still recovering from such a long usage of her magic. 

But it doesn't seem to help much, a heavy sigh shaking up his broad chest. Staring past her. "You're not, huh?" He mumbles, seeming to already be beating something up in his frantic brain. "You know, Sarah, they do say there's such a thing as being too forgiving."

Her eyebrows fly up, not expecting the sudden almost disappointment in his statement before huffing childishly and crossing her arms. "I know you'd rather I punish you, but I don't want to. You've been doing that to yourself enough, I'll have no part in it."

Obviously also not expecting such a reply the red colour to Julian's face stays persistent as he stares at her with a slightly open mouth. Though it's quickly eclipsed by his single showing eye going wide. A sharp inhale cutting the conversation as he briskly shuffles, books in hand, past her to a large desk.

Ah… she knew that desk. After all spending time in the library means getting to snoop around undisturbed. That and she was originally hired to catch Dr.Devorak, not help him. The desk was cluttered and had a special almost unnoticeable 'normal' look to it. Unassuming would be the right word. It sat patiently and politely waiting for it's master to return with a dried up ink and quill on the side. Several notes scrapped to one side. "There it is, that's my desk." Everything must have fallen away for him as he leafs over the documents and pillages the drawers. Very clearly looking for something in particular.

Sarah manages to catch a few scraps as they fall off the desktop, placing them back on while giving each one a quick look-over with a fond smile. She had struggled to read these before, and still does now. The handwriting managed to shift from calm and cursive to loud incomprehensible scribbles. His wordless muttering is almost hard to hear over the rustling of old paper.

Though… she finds herself managing to deafen both intrusive noises. A note in her hand completely enveloping her attention. It wouldn't have stood out if it wasn't for the large drawing slapped onto the middle of the page. An ominously shaped beetle. There was no colour and yet an overwhelming sense of 'red' came to mind, enough so that she hadn't noticed Julian stiffen and still as he plucked something from an underside drawer.

His hand shakes, holding it tightly. A dark metal key with an almost slick texture. Like it was oily all over save for a large red stone in the eye. "Ah ha!" His abrupt and sharp bark jolts Sarah's shoulders. Bringing her hastily back to reality as the taste of foreboding remained in her mouth. "This is it. This is what was calling to me." He shook his head, long untamed locks of hair feathering out from the movement. "Don't ask me how I know, but I know. It's not any of these old scrawlings. It's this!" 

He throws the key up in the air, snatching it back on the way down and shoving it into his coat pocket with a scheming glint to his silver eye. Catching Sarah off guard as he grabs her by the shoulders and swiftly pubs her with an adoring grin. "I'm one step closer. If it wasn't for you, dear Sarah, I'd still be two behind." He growls, sweeping her from the spot victoriously into his arms, only stopping when his nose is only an inch from hers…

An ear splitting cacophonous screech from the large stained glass window causing every bone in their bodies to buzz. Immediately springing to move, Julian pushes Sarah hastily into the nearest dark corner. His arms lightly quivering; she can see his throat bob uncomfortably as he stares at the window. Taking a slow and steadying breath, both of their faces flush as his chest presses up against her own. He looks… pretty embarrassed. Still a little jumpy. 

"Just a bird. Sorry…" Sarah can feel herself shudder as his eyes travel down to meet every place they'd sandwiched together. Biting his lip with a grumble. "About everything. I'm sorry." His head drops with a look of askance. Closing his eyes as if looking at her would be too much to bear. "I don't know what I was thinking, rejecting you like I did. Temporary madness. It perhaps goes without saying that I find you… very, very attractive." The words make her mouth run dry. Trying discreetly to swallow. "Whether I'm destined to hang or not. And by some miracle, you see something attractive in me, too." He pauses only for a moment to bite at his lip before sneering. "But to what end? I pace, I drink, I tear my hair out. And still I don't know what to do. Sarah. What do you want me to do?" 

He whines unhappily. The tired dark-circled eye alight and aflame with a passion she'd not seen in anyone before. The question, the whole speech, was overwhelming her in ways she didn't want to admit. Was it… fear? It couldn't be. She DID find him attractive and she DID want him to be proven innocent… the shaking of her arms and stiff dryness of her throat finally started to dissipate as she managed to breathe after what felt like an eternity.

She reaches up gingerly, placing one hand on either side of his pale face, entangling his hair in her fingers. Bringing his head down far enough to press her forehead up against his. The gesture easing Julian down from whatever coiled up state he'd gotten himself into. The library disappeared, giving way to a looming sense of calm. She could feel his grip on her shoulders slowly melt as he moved to wrap his arms around her head, tightening a softened hug as she swayed with him for a few moments. Sarah hummed quietly, finally breaking the illusion of comfort by pushing him back enough to stare up at his face with a ballsy smirk. "...Try to be quiet. We're in a library." 

It worked, Julian looking abashed and finally loosening from his jumbled up position.

"So it is." He clears his throat, detangling his lanky arms and legs from the mad scramble he's forced them into. Patting the pocket with the key as if to check it was still there. "This key is coming with me. The key to everything, maybe. Now all I have to do is find whatever it opens..." He huffed, seemingly having moved on from their little 'moment.'

Sarah, too, was quickly forced out of her smug aura once distant sound broke the tension. Coming from behind the library doors. The two of them giving it a wary glare as general sound refined into what was clearly a set of voices. "AH! Milady! Finished up so soon?! That's a surprise!" Came Portia's comically loud and exaggerated shouts from behind the barrier. Nadia's composed and melodious tones waver through the library, but exactly what she says is too quiet to decipher.

In a sudden jump Julian tensed and responded like he had done the bird. Only now with a more serious intensity. Snatching Sarah's already held out hand on the way past as they scrambled to stash away amongst the awaiting arms of the library's shadows.