#titbit for today | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gatheredfates · 16 days

Text

SEA'S COMMUNITY COMPENDIUM UPDATE

We have a massive one today! Huge thanks to a close friend of mine who sent me every single bookmark of xiv resources she had. 💖

Additionally, a good handful of these resources were sourced from a list originally created by @rinhkitty, which you can find here. I have tried to include the more recent/active of the lot, so it's not a one-for-one. Thank them for a lot of the large scale resources you'll find below! ✨

As of 04/12, I have added the following resources (in no particular order) to Sea's Community Compendium for FFXIV Creatives:

LARGE SCALE

GARLAND TOOLS — Contains XIV resources such as Garland Data, everything database, crafting lists and equipment calculators; Garland Bell, gathering timers, collectable resources and hunt windows; and FFXIV Fisher, daily fishing windows, bait paths and catch checklist. Maintained by Clorifex Ezalor of Zalera.

TEAMCRAFT — Create crafting lists and collaborate with others, set gathering alarms, simulate crafting rotations, and more!

CAT BECAME HUNGRY - FFXIV ANGLER — Contains everything and anything to know about fishing including specific fish guides, location, baits, aquarium fish and more!

FFXIV - CRAFTING AS A SERVICE — Crafting information and planning for FFXIV!

FFXIV GARDENING — The FFXIV Gardening Database is a collection of everything related to gardening in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. It was created to organize and visualize the results obtained from crossbreeding.

SIGHTSEEING LOG HELPER — This tool will help those trying to complete their pesky Sightseeing Log by letting them know upcoming weather patterns for each zone!

EUREKA TRACKER — For everything and anything to do with Eureka mobs, tracking and weather patterns.

FFLOGOS — for tracking of items/actions related to Eureka.

FFXIVSQUADRON — A comprehensive tool that helps you assess the success rate of various squadron missions.

FFXIV CHOCOBO COLOUR CALCULATOR — Will calculate what chocobo feed you will need to get from your current colour to your desired colour. *rng not included.

FFXIV HOUSING — A site specialising in the documentation of all housing items available in game.

HOUSING SNAP — A compilation of player-made housing designs. Can be used for inspiration or places to visit!

MISC

NPC CHAT BUBBLES — Would you like more NPC chat bubbles for edits? Say no more! Created by @alexoisxiv.

OLD TUMBLR LAYOUT BY PIXIEL — While not XIV specific I know a lot of people aren't fans of the new Tumblr layout, so this is a fix that will revert it to an as close as possible approximation of the new one. I won't tag the creator as I don't think they're in the xiv community, but it's run by @/pixiel!

HOW TO CURSE LIKE AN ISHGARDIAN — Do you want to make the church blush? Do you want to incur the wrath of Halone? @stars-and-clouds has compiled a list of appropriate curses/swear words for you!

FINAL FANTASY XIV SIDEQUEST GUIDE - HEAVENSWARD EDITION — maintained by @chatty-moogle, this guide explores interesting sidequests in Heavensward that will give you more information about the lore, titbits about locals and other interesting information!

TRUST BANNERS FOR XIV — If you have ever wondered how people mimic the Trust banners used in XIV, look no further! @locke-rinannis has a template for you.

MAKING USE OF RECOMMENDATIONS — created by @autumnslance, this guide will help you make your recommendations tab useful rather than annoying.

BOTANICA EORZEA — A guide to the flora of Eitherys and her reflections, including fungi and seedkin. For reference in writing and roleplaying. Maintained by @tinolqa.

GPOSE TIPS — A tutorial on how to achieve clarity and detail in your XIV screenshots! Created by @aryalaenkha.

UI MACRO MENUS — A guide on how to use macros to create small UI menus for XIV. Written by @diskwrite-ffxiv.

TYPHON GATE RESEARCH — Created by @mcstronghuge, these are the statistically best places for your character to stand for the Typhon Gate!

CHANGELOG

HYDAELYN HEALTH HAVEN has been removed at the request of the owner.

Moved THE BALANCE higher on the list to reflect alphabetical sorting, excluding names that start with The.

Misc formatting as needed.

Added some additional clarification around large-scale discords/spaces; in particular: Large-scale community discords such as the XIV Reddit Discord, Hunts, GPOSE promotions and broad-space roleplay servers that harbour a large number of people and are publicly available to all. These may not have an RP focus but will assist in other aspects of the game. Also includes well-known tools/resources that are utilised by large groups of people and assist in gameplay elements.

Added a quick-jump menu to the bottom of each of the table of contents menus to assist in navigation.

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here, send me an ask with the relevant information contained on the Compendium, or join my Discord at SEAFLOOR (21+ only)!

I am sure there's probably a couple of things I have missed or links/formatting that might be broken. Please don't hesitate to let me know if anything is out of place. I'm going to take a break now. I'm pretty sure that's the biggest edit that's ever going to occur on this document!

#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #crystal rp #crystal roleplay #｡･ﾟﾟ･ — sea's community compendium #｡･ﾟﾟ･ — sea speaks

149 notes · View notes

piratefishmama · 10 months

Text

Fake it 'till you make it | Part 2

Steve went on his own. Dustin tried to call shotgun, tried saying he’d back Steve up cause his friend could be ‘jumpy’, but no. Steve had to do this on his own, because Dustin didn’t know. He could have told the little shrimp, he really could have, so far he’d come out to three people, and it’d gone surprisingly well, Robin not so surprising but his parents?

Damn. He’d have put his entire life savings on that going the other way.

The risk with Dustin, however, was his mother. Don’t get him wrong, Claudia was lovely, she always had a spot saved for him at the dinner table when his parents weren’t in town, she always greeted him with warmth and kindness, he didn’t have a single complaint about Claudia Henderson. He also unfortunately had no idea how she’d take a coming out if Dustin let it slip. The kid was talkative.

He couldn’t imagine no longer being able to see Dustin because his mother found out he wasn’t as straight as everyone thought. Couldn’t imagine the truth of life in a small rural ‘god fearing’ town, thrown in his face so cruelly, that people were small minded and based all their opinions on what everyone else was doing.

Especially when everyone else seemed to be following the bullshit the Church spewed.

Dustin would be safe, he trusted Dustin. But he simply couldn’t risk how talkative he was.

So he went on his own. Robin was working, he couldn’t kidnap Robin, Keith would kill them. Or at the very least dock their pay a little and glower. This, unfortunately, created one little problem that quickly presented itself when Steve found himself sat at a visible booth at Benny’s watching for anyone entering that door.

He didn’t know who Dustin’s ‘friend’ was, and Dustin’s friend didn’t know who he was, because Dustin had so wisely decided to not reveal that titbit of information over the phone.

All he knew, was that this friend was a guy and that he’d probably be there soon. So, disaster in the making, basically. He’d been there for five minutes, it’d been ten since the phone call, and so far three men had walked in.

All of them old older, it was early, Benny did early bird specials for the older folks in Hawkins, but he still looked up every time the door opened, looking for someone who might not belong, someone who stood out from the oldies, someone who—

Holy shit. Steve immediately ducked his head. Eddie Goddamn Munson. Eddie Munson in all his leather, chains, and curly haired glory walked in with his head on a swivel, eyes scanning the diner for someone who looked out of place, someone who’s identity he also wasn’t aware of. Steve could ditch.

He could ditch without hesitation, Eddie knew him, Steve could get the hell out of dodge, take the back door, and just run for the hills, suffer the inevitable cringe fest that was going to be the week away, take it like a champ. Maybe get a brief fling with someone he would never want to settle down with, or…

He peeked through his arms, Eddie was still looking, he was checking his watch, a little frown on his brow, what were the odds, honestly, that it was Eddie?

Knowing Dustin and his stupid DnD game? Pretty fuckin high that’s what the odds were. Eddie lived for that shit, it was a direct connection. He was going to kill that little snot. Maybe… if it didn’t work out. Because he wasn’t going to be a coward.

He was going to face his uncertainties like a badass. He was going to rise from his seat, and cross the very short distance, aaaand “Hey Munson, that you?” Be totally cool, completely ignore Benny’s curious eyes from behind his little judgement window, the window where he stood in the safety of his kitchen judging everyone who dared be weird in his diner.

“Not today Buckaroo, I’m busy” oh yeah he looked super busy.

“Cool, cool, super cool, you… come for the early bird specials often then?” Ohhhh he’d perfected the deadpan stare. He had that shit down. How did eyes that pretty so cut so deep? “Heh, sorry, look man I—I don’t mean any trouble, I was just—”

“M’not carrying shit, Harrington, the hell you want with that stuff this early anyway?” Stuff? Steve frowned a little, before visibly realising what Eddie was getting at, it looked like a genuine lightbulb went off behind his eyes. He knew because that little frown was broken by Eddie raising one eyebrow in curiosity.

“That’s not what I—shit, okay. Do over. Do you know Dustin? Dustin Henderson? Lil guy, bout yay high, curly hair, ridiculous meddler, no collar bones?” The frown was back, accompanied by the squinty eyes of suspicion. He knew Dustin, he had to know Dustin, it had to be Eddie, it had to be, nobody else had come in!

“I know the little shrimp, yeah, one of my little lost sheep, how do you know Dustin?” Holy shit it had to be him. Why else would the notoriously tardy Eddie Munson be up that early on a Sunday?

“Babysitting.” Eddie’s ever so expressive face seemed to slacken in surprise, Steve didn’t give him a chance to ask further as to why a rich guy like him had to babysit. He did it for free, he liked the little fuckers, explanation unnecessary. “You uh… wouldn’t happen to have uhm… gotten a call from him… about twenty minutes ago, would you?”

It took Eddie a minute. A little frown here, a squint there, a slight tilt of his body as he looked Steve up and down, not in a ‘you’re so hot oh my god’ way more in a ‘what the actual fuck’ kind of way.

Steve felt seen in the worst possible way, wanted to abort mission, just run away, that was a judgy bitch stare and he knew it, he’d COINED that stare, he was the master of it, and suddenly it was on him and he felt smaller than Dustin back in ‘83 with his baby squishy cheeks, and then— “Nope.” Eddie turned on his heel, ringed fingers waving in refusal, “nope, nope, nope—"

Steve should have let him go. Should have just chalked it up to Dustin having the worst friends ever outside of himself, Lucas, Will, Max, Jane, and maybe Mike. Maybe. On a semi-good day cause full good days didn’t exist with Mike.

But instead he was grabbing Eddie’s elbow and babbling “Wait-wait-wait, oh my god Eddie, please just wait, please” like some kind of moron. “You did right? It’s you?”

Eddie looked back and down at his own elbow, brows drawn tight in a frown, Steve let him go. Not out of fear just… slight intimidation. Eddie was scrappy! He was a biter and Steve didn’t wanna have to get a rabies shot.

“Fine, yeah I got a call, would have told him to shove his job up his ass if he’d have told me who it was for though, Steve.” Oof.

“Fair, that’s fair, can you just… maybe sit down and let me explain though? I’ll buy you breakfast!” Benny’s eyes hadn’t moved from them for the entire interaction, and he was feeling rightfully judged by it. Rich boy causing all that fuss and not one order of food. The audacity.

“Hmph, fine, but only because I haven’t had breakfast yet.” He pushed past Steve just to walk to the counter “Hey Benny! Can I get a full stack of pancakes and a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows? On his tab.” Eddie motioned to Steve over his shoulder with his thumb

“Sure thing, kid. An what do you want, Harrington?”

“Uh… breakfast bagel, eggs sunny side up with a uh… another coffee please.” He’d already had breakfast, but he was a big dude! And Dustin always claimed Second Breakfast was like… an acceptable thing. “Thanks Benny” the tank of a man nodded his head and got to cooking without further word. “I was uh, sat over here” Steve motioned to the booth he’d been in, which Eddie seemed to mull over for a moment, before deciding he was going to sit in a completely different booth. “Alright.”

Power move. Steve could respect that. He sat down opposite him. “Talk, Harrington.”

“You… don’t wanna eat first?”

“I’m not sittin here in awkward silence with the King of Hawkins High, waiting for food when I could be hearing the details, eating, then bailing. The longer I’m here with you the more chance some asshole has of seeing me here with you. Now speak.” Ouch… but again, fair.

He’d been a shit in high school, older students had not gotten a free pass from it either. He was trying now though! Trying to be better. Robin helped, but she also fuelled his bitchy side way more than Carol and Tommy ever did. The kids helped the most, they humbled him. Brainy little fuckers.

“Right… okay. So. My parents have gotten it into their minds that I should be in some kind of long term relationship by now, so they’ve been throwing people at me, constantly, people I wouldn’t date even if you paid me to date them. There’s this thing coming up, a week away with them in a chalet, an I’m positive they’re going to bring someone to try and set me up with them, I’m certain of it, an I’d be stuck with this person for a whole damn week suffering.” It was an actual real fear, he couldn’t handle that, he’d simply evaporate, he’d perish, he’d spontaneously pop out of existence, poof, bye. “So… the job is basically to come with and pretend like we’re dating so they get off my back.”

“I think you’re missing a very important detail here, Steve.” Eddie tilted his head to the left, his smile almost cruel, Steve chose to ignore it. Eddie had his right to be defensive. “I’m a guy”

“Not important at all. They’ve been throwing men at me too.” Thank god Eddie wasn’t drinking anything because it’d have been all over the table.

He damn near choked on his own saliva, choking out a shocked “W-What?”

“I’m… I’m—” He looked around him, at the old people enjoying their meals, at Benny inconspicuously cooking behind his judgement window, risking glances through the open space every now and then to make sure his patrons weren’t causing shit or trying to dine and ditch. Old people were slow, but they could be crafty. Only when he was certain that nobody was listening, did he take a breath and let out “I’m… bi. Bisexual. And they know. But instead of being all ‘aaaaah get out of my hooouse’ they’re just… throwing guys at me instead, it’s torture. Painfully awkward torture I feel like I’m going to cringe myself to death.”

“You’re…”

“I know, I know, haha King Steve, secretly a freak of nature, a queer hiding in plain sight.” He’d heard the hatred spat at people like him, he’d been one of the people spitting hate once upon a time, before he’d grown, before he’d learned. Before he’d understood himself. It was terrifying, knowing how awful it could be if it got out “please don’t tell anyone okay? I’m… I’m putting a lot of faith in you here and that’s terrifying… I just… Dustin vouches for you… an I know you have every right to get back at me for Highschool but—”

“N-no… no I—I wouldn’t… I’d never. That’s… shit, Harrington, no… highschool shit? That shit is in a whole different category, I’ll get you back for that in some way but… not like that… never like that." He could breathe easily, even if Eddie vowed to get him back some other way, it wouldnt be that way. "So… what do you want me to do, freak em out? Go nuts? Sacrifice a chicken in the lounge? Shout a hail Satan prayer in the attic? Usually that does the trick to get parents to stop trying to set their kids up, more often than not gets em banned from dating entirely, give you a break—”

“W-What? No… no I—listen, my parents don’t stick around for long after these holidays, they’re usually gone within a couple of weeks on some business trip, dads off trying to restructure the company values or some shit to include people like me, which is cool cause he didn’t even know about me when he started that I—I didn’t know he was doing that… but that takes time, an mom’s going with him cause she doesn’t trust him to work out the legal shit on his own.” Benny chose that moment to venture to their table to place two mugs down on the surface, then silently returned to his task of plating food “I need to convince them that we’re dating… for real, and have them go off on their own believing that we’re still dating so they leave me alone… at least until they come back in god only knows how many months’ time and I can tell them we split up. Is… is that something you can do?”

Eddie took a long sip of his hot chocolate, a little splodge of cream lingering on the tip of his nose when he put the mug down that Steve almost reached over to wipe away, almost, so close. “…Usually I’m more of a freak em out kind of date, a one night done send em running for the hills kind of thing, you’re saying this is a week?” Eddie wiped his own nose clean, stuck the finger in his mouth. Steve chose to focus on his own mug.

“Mmhm, in a chalet in Canada for a week, all paid for, it’s basically a free holiday… that I’ll pay you for, whatever your usual rate is for this kind of thing, I’ll even double it… I just… I’m really hoping you say yes.”

Plates were finally delivered to the table by Benny with a friendly “eat up, boys” said in passing. Eddie drizzled syrup on his stack, then cut into it and shoved a whole layered chunk into his mouth in silence, clearly processing everything.

He chewed in silent thought, weighing the pros, the cons, the potential cash haul from such a job… the shit he might have to do… the lines they might have to cross, the revelations Steve might have about him… then remembered Steve claiming to be Bisexual and realising that part might not be all that scary.

What a wild Sunday.

“Alright…” he finally answered after swallowing his bite. “It’s fifty bucks a date though, Harrington, if I’m generous an switch that to a night to accomodate such a batshit scheme, doubled like you said is a hundred bucks per night, that’s—”

“Money’s not an issue.” Not for a Harrington. Even if he worked minimum wage, he’d get that money somehow.

“Well shit… Alright then, big guy. I guess i’m hired.”

Part 4

#PirateWrites #FakeItTillYouMakeItFiclet #Steddie #No Upside Down AU #FAKE DATE AQUIRED

1K notes · View notes

jamie-leah · 3 months

Text

Lifeline

Bucky x Reader Fic

Oneshot? Series? You tell me...

Summary: You have a past that you're running from and maybe Bucky can be the lifeline you had no idea you were searching for.

Word Count: 1,809

Warnings: Mentions of physical abusive, Abusive relationship, descriptions of panic attack, rusty writing, fluff

A/N: Thought I would dip my toe back in the water, see how you're all doing? Feel free to tell me if you want more and feel free to make requests. I need to get back into the swing of things!

Next Part--->

Masterlist of Masterlists

It’s been two months, and he still hasn’t found you yet. Despite the nightmares and the hypervigilance, you would call that a win. It’s the longest he’s gone without finding you. Maybe he’s given up? But deep down you know that isn’t the case. You humiliated him when you ran, left in the middle of the night without a word to anyone. There would be questions from the neighbours, friends and family. He would never let a slight like that go, and you know it.

The bell dings above the door in the diner you’ve been working at since you arrived in New York. It brings you out of your head and into the present, to see Bucky walk through the door. You hadn’t realised that it was that time in your shift, looking over to the clock to confirm that it was in fact nine at night.

You give him a smile. A small one, but the most genuine you’ve been able to manage since running from your ex almost a year ago now. He returns a full watt smile of his own. A smile you never see him give to anyone else, but you don’t look too deeply into that considering you’ve never seen him outside of this diner.

He sits at the bar upfront to the counter where you already have his black coffee waiting, “you fancy any food? Kitchen is closing soon”, you ask.

“I’ll take a plate of fries if there’s any going?”, his voice sending a tiny shiver down your spine that makes your toes curl ever so slightly. You are aware of this growing attraction you have to him since he started to come in here regularly a week after you started. And you hadn’t thought about anyone like that since...well since you started your relationship with Andrew around seven years ago.

Bucky never said much the first few times he came in. He would just nurse a few cups of coffee at night and then leave but after two weeks like that he caught you on a particularly rough day. You were in the middle of a panic attack when he jumped into action and calmed you down and stared anyone down who might have looked or said anything.

Since then, the damn broke and while you may have not told him about your ex, you both shared some personal titbits that would probably qualify you as friends rather than acquaintances. And ever since that time you told him you hadn’t had time for a break or a bite to eat, he orders fries and makes you share with him. He feigns that the portions are too big, and he needs your help to finish them off, but you know better. You don’t say otherwise, you’re grateful either way.

When you place the fries in front of him, he asks, “busy tonight?”

You shake your head as you pop a fry into your mouth, “not really. It’s always quiet on a Tuesday. How was your day? Save anyone today?”

Bucky rolls his eyes at you. You had no idea who he was when he first came in. And Bucky still had to spell out who he was and why people stared at him in the diner. You were vaguely aware of superheroes, but Andrew kept you rather sheltered so you never knew who they were or the politics of them all.

Bucky grabs the ketchup and squirts some on your side of the plate and some on his, “no missions today. You know I’m gone for a while when I am.”

You sigh, because yes you do know he’s gone for a while when he has missions and its usually the longest days or sometimes weeks without him coming in every day.

You shrug, “I don’t know, there was that time you saved someone from a car explosion on your way here.”

You smirk as he groans at the mention of his heroics, “that was one time! I can’t believe that even showed on the news.”

You throw a fry at his face, “I can’t believe I had to find out from the news! You didn’t say a word the entire time you sat here.”

You laugh as you see a familiar blush creep up from his neck and blooms on his sharp cheeks, “I didn’t think it was a big deal”, he mumbles out.

Someone walks in through the door, the familiar bell ringing. You walk from behind the counter as they take a seat at a booth. You squeeze Bucky’s shoulder as you pass by and murmur, “everything you do is a big deal to me.”

You don’t wait for his reply or even a reaction as you head over to the couple talking quietly. You take their order and head over to the back and shout through to Kevin, “hey Kev, you got time for one more food order?”

He pokes his head from the back, “sure thing”

You pass him the slip and turn back to Bucky about to say something when a smash comes from the kitchen. You duck. No time to think, your body reacts on instinct, preparing for the worst while try to dodge the inevitable violence that is always directed at you.

You stay crouched on the floor frozen in place, trapped in your mind at a time when you burned dinner for Andrew, and he threw places and cups all around the kitchen. Curled up on the floor, arms over your head trying to stop any shards from catching your face. You had to pick a few from your arms when he finally calmed down and left to go to the bar.

Warm hands reach out to hold your face steady. You didn’t know your body was shaking until those hands held your face. So gentle in their touch you know they can’t be Andrew’s. You peek your eyes open and see beautiful, plump lips moving, forming shapes that should come out as words, but you don’t hear anything. Just rushing in your ears.

It isn’t until your eyes glide up to the steel blue of Bucky’s that you let the air back into your lungs, the roaring subsiding until you hear his quiet murmurs, “you’re here, you’re safe with me. Come back to me.”

Bucky feels you return to yourself more as your eyes dart around and your hands come to grip his tightly which are still holding your face. You manage a strangled, “I’m sorry” before your throat closes again.

Bucky shakes his head, “nothing to apologise for.”

When your whole body stops shaking, Bucky guides you back to a standing position. You glance over the counter, and no one is looking. They had no idea that your whole world suddenly came to a stop. No idea that you practically broke down over a broken plate in the kitchen.

Bucky pulls your gaze back to his, “you with me?”

You nod slowly, still not trusting your voice.

Kevin puts the plates of food down on in the window without even looking before heading back to the kitchen. You reach out, your hands still shaking to take the plates but Bucky captures your hands with his. He links them for a few moments before placing them back at your sides. He takes the plates and heads over to the table you took the order from and delivers them with the fakest smile you’ve ever seen on his face.

His false cheeriness is what starts to bring you back to yourself as you raise your eyebrows at his return, “why don’t you ever greet me like that?”

He laughs, his head tipping back as he takes his seat again, “because you’re special.”

“That’s what you say to all the girls”, you reply.

And just like that the incident is gone. Not forgotten though, you don’t miss the way Bucky watches you more closely, the corners of his mouth set slightly lower now that he’s reminded of how broken you really are. He doesn’t ask, and you’re grateful for that. You’re not ready to talk about the monster that you try pretending doesn’t exist. But you never forget either.

Bucky stays with you for the rest of your shift. He stands behind you like a bodyguard as you lock up the diner at one in the morning, just when the clubs really start getting busy. He makes a point to walk you all the way back to your apartment building and you don’t miss the frown he always gives it.

You bump his arm with your shoulder, “it's not as bad as it looks, you know.”

His face scrunches up, “if you say so. Still don’t like the thought of leaving you here though.”

You bump into him again with a small smile, “careful Buck, some people might think you’ve gone soft.”

You see his mouth twitch upwards as he replies, “only for some people.”

You stare into the eyes that are staring back at you. You can feel them trying to tell you something, but you can’t quite understand. Or maybe you don’t want to because it doesn’t make sense. Someone like you doesn’t get to be happy, someone like you doesn’t get someone like him. You’ve never been that lucky.

A horn blare down the street, as people whoop from the windows. It breaks the spell as you both turn to look with a small chuckle.

“I better get inside, I’m beat.” You tell him as you point to your building.

Bucky clears his throat, “Uh, yeah, definitely. I might be gone for a couple of days. A few things I need to take care of but I’m back on your day off...fancy hanging out?”

The question almost trails off, but his stare remains intense. It dries up your throat as you open it and close it like a fish for a few moments.

“It’s okay if you had plans, I just thought it might be nice to do something outside the diner and-”

“I’d love to.”

“And I was thinking we could- wait, really?” He looks to you as if he’s waiting for the punchline and it makes your heart ache.

You give him a warm smile, “I’d love to do something. Despite being here for a few months, I haven’t seen much of New York so will be nice to get out with someone that knows it well.”

His face splits in two to let out a huge smile, “Okay...okay, I’ll text you when I’m back?”

You give him a nod and a shy smile, “yeah, sounds good. Goodnight Bucky.”

His smile is so wide you don’t think he’ll be able to get any words out, so you turn and walk into your building, only glancing back once the elevator doors open to see him still stood there, smiling.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes #bucky x you #bucky fanfic #james bucky buchanan barnes #the winter soldier #bucky #bucky x y/n #bucky x female reader #bucky masterlist #bucky fic #bucky fluff #bucky fandom

151 notes · View notes

angellayercake · 1 year

Text

But first, let me send a selfie!

Papa Emeritus IV x Reader

A little present for @gothdaddyissues 😊 I'm glad it has done its job ghestie!!

His phone vibrated jarringly in the otherwise quiet room. Touring did not mean a break from paperwork so instead of luxuriating in the high of another successful ritual he was using the adrenaline rush to work through yet another pile of documents that needed his attention. He spared a glance for his reflection having repurposed the hotel room's vanity as his desk.

He had washed off his paint hours ago when he first got back as it began to crack and flake post performance, but remnants of the black stubbornly settled in the ever deepening wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. He looked about as tired as he felt. He had worked so hard to become Papa he didn’t like to have these thoughts but there was somewhere else he would much rather be right now. Or more accurately someone he would rather be with. He tried to suppress a sigh as he thought of you but his heart clenched. He yearned to see you, to speak with you but he wasn’t entirely sure if that would be welcome.

The phone buzzed once again halting his train of thought and looking down at his progress he decided he had earned a break. He reached for his phone, tapping the screen awkwardly to wake it up expecting to see more orders from Sister Imperator but as the screen lights up it is your name he sees and he can't stop the smile that grows across his face. A picture message, from you. It’s as though you had sensed his thoughts.

He clicked on the picture waiting for it to load and when it did it took his breath away. On the surface it was just a simple selfie but you looked radiant, smiling out of the phone at him, that look in your eyes the one that always made him hope that perhaps you felt the same way that he did. It was the exact thing he had needed. A reminder of why he worked as hard as he did to build a future for the Church and the Clergy but also to secure his own future, so he could avoid the fate of his predecessors and live out the rest of his days with you at his side.

He starts to type frantically needing to share his thoughts with you but after correcting his fifth typo he growls at his useless fingers and slows down typing carefully with one finger. He needed to let you know exactly how he felt.

You sat at your desk trying not to let the anxiety creep into your thoughts. This was the first time Copia had been away for an extended period since you began, well, whatever it was you were to each other. The way he looked at you sometimes you thought he must feel the same as you but neither of you had had the courage to broach the topic and now he was gone, for months he would be on tour. You messaged back and forth frequently but it didn’t stop you missing him.

He would send you silly photos, of the ghouls' antics, tasty food he was sampling on his journey’s and interesting landmarks. You had started sending him little titbits from the Abbey gossip circles as well updates on his little rat friends. You had taken to looking after them in his absence. But something had been missing since he had been away. You had been building up to something before he left you were sure but you feared the distance wasn’t making his heart fonder at least and you were slipping into a more platonic relationship. Which wasn’t terrible you supposed but it wasn’t what your heart truly wanted. Not with him.

And this all brought you to where you were today. A fresh haircut, make up done perfectly, new outfit. All in an attempt to cheer yourself up. You felt silly feeling insecure even though you know you look good. You didn’t need his approval and yet you craved the reassurance of his admiration. You could almost hear him voice his awkward stumbling compliments if you concentrated hard enough.

All this had brought you to the decision to send him a picture, a selfie, you tried not to roll your eyes at yourself. Objectively you knew you looked good, great even. You were doing him a favour letting him experience you looking this good! Off the back of your internal pep talk you had hit send and now you just had to wait. I would be late where he was but you hoped he would still be up otherwise you had just set yourself up for an agonising wait.

You tried to put your phone to one side and concentrate on your reading but within thirty seconds it was back in your hand. Right, two ticks. It has been delivered but he hasn’t seen it yet. You stare at the little symbols willing them to change colour. You shake your head putting the phone back down on your desk. You would just leave it open on the screen but you were not going to just sit staring at it indefinitely! But you can’t stop your eyes flicking back and forth every couple of seconds until you give up trying to read completely.

You drop your head into your hands and try to get a grip. You are a grown up not a teenager you need to snap out of it. You can’t spend the rest of the day like this. He could be asleep or too busy to look at his phone and you can’t mope about waiting for a response. You stare yourself down in the mirror above your desk, take a deep breath and that settles it. You will put your phone away and get on with your day, but when you glance at your phone the ticks have changed colour and your heart jumps into your mouth.

It doesn’t take long for the equally anticipated and dreaded dots to appear and you almost stop breathing. Then they disappear, then reappear. Gone and then back. Over and over again. You couldn’t look away from your phone if you tried.

Finally, finally a message pops up. Just two words.

‘Amore mio …’

And then nothing, then more dots, then nothing. Your heart feels like it is going to beat out of your chest. Did he mean it? Was it a mistake? What is he doing? What is he thinking? You are frozen in place, mind whirring away as you wait for something, anything.

Your phone begins to ring and you drop it in shock. It clatters onto the floor below your desk and you scramble after it not wanting to miss this call. You pick it up with shaky hands and manage to answer before it rings out bringing it up to your ear slowly almost dreading what you were about to hear. He has started speaking before you have even fully lifted the phone but you can hear him already speaking distant and tinny though it is.

‘Oh amore you couldn't know how refreshing it is to see your beautiful face! Thank you! You couldn't know how much I needed to see you today and yet here you are gifting me the chance to look upon you. You have changed your hair no? I am sure there is something different as I spend so much time conjuring my memories of you when we are parted I would notice this. And your makeup, it is perfetta, you take my breath away. And a new dress too? Si I would remember having seen you like this I know it …’ He continues on and on saying such beautiful things, more than you could have ever hoped for. Your eyes brim with happy tears as you interrupt him.

‘Copia?’ You needed to tell him you had never been more certain of anything.

‘Si?’ He whispers back, probably because he has yet to catch his breath from his beautiful, unending compliments.

‘I love you.’

‘I love you too.’

On opposite sides of the world you stare into your reflections as if the other was before you. Both feeling better after your affirmations of love over a simple selfie.

#the band ghost fanfiction #papa emeritus iv x reader #the band ghost fic #cardinal copia x reader #my writing #i found the title funny ok!!

299 notes · View notes

2ofswords · 1 year

Text

Okay, we all know about Jean’s really dumb “disguise” as G. Bevy and how silly it is. But today I found this little titbit of trivia and it kinda... blew my mind:

“Next to that Revacholian radio-personality Guillaume Bevy stands in front of a run down drug den. He’s a permanent fixture on Channel 8, reporting on real life crime and ruining cop’s days...”

Holy shit..... there is so much to unpack here!

So you are telling me, that the C-Wing SOMEHOW got in touch with this celebrity reporter, who was for SOME reason joining their already pretty shitty team. Probably to get a good story out of it I assume?? Because WHY THE FUCK would this radio celebrity do it otherwise???. And Harry fucking du Bois managed to get THIS GUY to quit because of WORK ETHICS??? He acted so crazy that the guy, whose LITERALL JOB it is to investigate TRUE CRIME to fuck of because shit was getting too insane????

And then Jean impersonates him????? Like... has a wig of this guy at the ready to parody his ass?? And Jean was obviously totally ready to make fun of that guy! I mean, Harry instinctively recalls how his main thing was “ruining cop’s days”, which is very commendable but also sounds like a... hard guy to work with in a task force. So Harry getting him out was both a testament to him being the fucking worst human being ever but at the same time a monumental achievement (and everybody clapped!)

And then Jean impersonates him as a disguise WHILE HE INVESTIGATES A FELLOW COP!!!! Just like G. Bevy would!!!! Holy shit! The irony of it all!

Gotta give it to Jean, I would be upset about Harry wiping his memory too. That joke is hilarious, it has layers!

#Disco Elysium

348 notes · View notes

tbgblr2 · 5 months

Text

Cruising to new life - part 6

As we rose on the third day of the cruise, we managed to catch the sunrise. Just sitting on our room balcony, watching the sky get lighter and lighter was magical. I sat with Jodie hand in hand, snuggled up in our dressing gowns just relaxing and enjoying the moment.

“You know what we didn’t do?” Jodie broke the silence.

“Whats that?” I answered.

“We didn’t book my spa appointment, with everything that happened the other day.”

With that, we resolved that we would sort that out today – likelihood is that with essentially spa appointments free of charge, we may have been too late and missed the boat (I know, sorry, bad choice of words) on it… but we kept our fingers crossed.

As we retreated back into the room to get dressed for the day, Jodie settled on a bikini and a cover up, announcing that today was going to be all about warming her bump under the sun and drinking as many fake ass margaritas as she could handle.

I laughed at her announcement. We had noticed that the bars actually seemed to have a healthy stock of non-alcoholic cocktail recipes on board. We weren’t sure if we could find a margarita exactly, but we were sure we could find something slushy that could do in a pinch.

I settled on a tee shirt and shorts, and with that, we set off for breakfast, already having been awake for a couple of hours, we were both starving. Breakfast itself was quiet – it was still early, and we were thankful we had beaten the rush. As much as were looking forward to meeting our little munchkin that was growing inside my wife’s belly, we had learned long ago that big groups of families with lots of small kids all yelling and screaming in unison was not really something we enjoyed. I’m dreading this little kiddie’s future birthday parties!

We made quick work of our breakfast, and continued up to the family pool area. We had around an hour before the spa opened, so settled back into a sun lounger and caught the morning sun as it rose higher and higher in the sky. Just as I thought I was dozing off, I heard a buzzing next to me. Jodie grabbed her phone and tapped on the screen. “Time to go!” she announced. I realised that she had actually set a timer to get us to the spa as early as possible – she was certainly a woman on a mission.

After giving her a hand up, we left a towel on the lounger in hopes that it would deter anyone from using them by the time we got back – we had found some very nice spots – and headed back down to deck 5. A member of the spa staff greeted us at the door, holding it open as we walked in. The reception area was nicely decorated, plenty of wood and plants – I suppose it was the norm for this sort of thing – celebrating nature, life and all that type of jazz.

Jodie asked about a possibility of a massage, and the receptionist looked through, advising her that all appointments had been booked for this week so far, and she could get a spot next week. She looked a bit dejected, but accepted that at least she was going to get her massage – just had to hope that she hadn’t given birth before then!

The staff were all smiles as they said that they could easily convert a maternity massage to a sports massage if I wanted to take your place should that happen. I honestly think that Jodie’s eyes were staring daggers at the lady as she announced that little titbit of information.

Suddenly the phone rang. The lady excused herself and picked up the phone. After a series of discussions, she announced that one of the other guests had actually cancelled for a session which was due to start in 30 minutes, so she could take that one instead.

I had never seen my wife smile so much. She was elated when she saw the pregnancy test, when she saw the baby for the first time on the ultrasound, and hell, even when we got married, but I seriously think that her smile could have gone from ear to ear at that announcement.

We were booked in, and filled in the questionnaire they handed us about any issues that she may have been having, that sort of thing. We said our goodbyes as she went off for her massage, but as she waddled off down the corridor to meet her massage therapist, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye.

“Is that available for after her massage by any chance?” I asked, pointing at an entry on the board of the spa area. A quick tap on the computer had confirmed that indeed it was – so I booked a 30 minute slot for myself and Jodie for after her massage.

The receptionist beamed “please come here a few minutes ahead of schedule sir and we will send your wife straight over after she is done with her massage.” I thanked the lady and headed back to deck 10 to enjoy the rising sun.

Jodie entered the treatment room to find a seat and a bed. The seat was a little unusual though – it was intended that you would straddle it – there was a hole for the belly and the head – it was so your back could be exposed without needing to lie down. The therapist explained that she would be in that for the first 30 minutes, getting her back and shoulders done, then she would move to the bed for a more traditional maternity massage, lying on her side with a pillow to support her bump.

After a quick check if she would need to be naked – indeed she would need to be – the therapist left the room so she could undress. She bundled up the coverup, and her bikini top and bottoms into the corner of the room, and looked at the chair. It had a paper cover at the bottom where you sat on for hygiene purposes, so she swung her legs over and pulling her weight over on a positioned grab rail next to the chair, slotted her belly into the hole on the padded rest. She tentatively leaned forward so her head was resting in the hole designed for it, the cushioned padding feeling warm to the touch. Between the hole in the back of the chair for her bump, and the slightly tilted forward position it left her head, she was surprised how comfortable it was – her breasts weren’t squashed up against the back of the chair or anything.

There was a knock at the door and a few moments later the therapist entered, smiling that Jodie had managed to get herself situated on the chair by herself. The therapist put on some relaxing music, poured oils onto her hands and told Jodie to relax, as she started moving her hands up and down her back, finding knots and tense areas all the way down her spine as Jodie could do nothing else but groan in appreciation.

For the next 30 minutes, Jodie was lost in her own little trance. The massage therapist moved up and down her back, squeezing and massaging her shoulders and the back of her neck, and then returning to her back once again. Jodie may have even fell asleep at one point, as she felt as soon as she had started, the 30 minutes were up, and the massage therapist was asking her to move over to the bed.

Jodie groaned – partly through enjoying the service so far, and partly as she really didn’t want to move from the comfortable position she was in, but taking the massage therapists hands, she managed to swing her leg back over the chair and wobbly stand on her own 2 feet. Steadying herself for a second, she waddled over to the bed across the room.

The massage therapist advised that she should lay down on the side of her choice, and she would need to move over to the other side after a few minutes – no lying on her back with a bump by all accounts. She chose to lay facing right at first, with the massage therapist laying a blanket over her and tucking it into place so she was fully covered with her head exposed.

The therapist moved over and sat down so she was at eye level with Jodie as she started to massage her face and temple. Jodie admitted it felt strange getting only half of her face massaged, but appreciated the fact that she would have had to lie with her belly to her side – she knew fine well how uncomfortable it was having the full weight of her baby pressing straight down on her insides if she was lying directly on her back.

The therapist moved down to massage her arm and hand on the exposed side, digging her thumbs in the appropriate places on Jodie’s palms to once more have her elicit a groan of appreciation.

Next to be massaged was her belly, though the therapist only used a light touch and didn’t apply any significant pressure, but it was clear that the baby within was enjoying it as much as the mother was, as bumps and pokes continued for minutes after the therapist had left the area, much to the amusement of both ladies.

Finally she moved down to Jodie’s hips and legs, as she massaged her thighs, once more using both hands to press her thumbs into Jodie’s skin, and whilst it was painful for a fraction of a second, the aches soon melted away under the expert touch of the masseuse.

As she moved further down the legs to Jodie’s ankles she managed to ask if that was safe – she’d heard things about ankle massage promoting the onset of labour. The masseuse gave a small laugh but reassured her that it was indeed safe, though once she was actually in labour, it had been suggested that massaging the feet and ankles helped relieve pain during contractions – so to perhaps keep that in mind when the time came.

Jodie managed a quick word of thanks as the ministrations of the masseuse send her lulling back into a blissful doze, thumbs of the masseuse digging into the soles of her feet and rubbing around her heels and ankles – the natural swelling in those areas deserving a lot more attention to relieve the aches and pains of carrying all the additional baby weight.

She was asked to sit up and re-position herself on her other side where it started all over again – face, arms, hands, belly, hips, legs and finally feet. At the end Jodie didn’t even know which way was up and down.

Jodie was given a hand up by the masseuse, who grabbed a clean dressing gown from the shelf next to her and wrapped it around Jodie in order to preserve her modesty as she sat back down again on the bed.

“Now drink plenty of water” she advised Jodie who nodded in turn, managing a dozy sounding confirmation by way of response. She was drifting on cloud nine right now, her entire body feeling ache free and loose. “I understand your husband has arranged a special surprise for you after your massage was finished, so if you’re OK with that, I’ll lead you to where he is waiting rather than to reception?”

Jodie’s attention jumped at that news. She wondered what was planned. Taking a tentative step up from the bed, she grabbed her clothes and followed the masseuse out of the treatment room and down the corridor. As they came to a door, Jodie noticed a sign saying ‘Rasul’ on the door. The masseuse keyed in a code and the two of them walked into a changing room of sorts, evidence of 1 set of clothing was hung up on the pegs, which Jodie recognised as being what I had been wearing earlier in the day – all of what I had been wearing.

The masseuse picked up the loose threads that were going through Jodie’s mind. “Please, when you are ready, you may lay your clothing down here, and take off your robe. Feel free to join your husband in the next room. I will lock the door behind me. Enjoy.” She smiled as she turned and walked out, the door lock clicking into place.

Jodie laid the bundle of clothes she was carrying down onto a seat in the corner of the room and opened the robe, hanging it up on a peg next to my own clothes. Taking sight of the door into the next room, she turned the handle and opened it to find me sitting there, stark naked.

“Come in babe.” I offered with a beaming smile on my face, my gorgeous wife silhouetted by the doorway. I stood up and walked over, cock swaying as I stepped across the room, watching her eyes home in on it and the smile light up on her face.

I took her hand and lead her over to the area I was sitting in – a long multi person bench which was covered in the same ceramic tiles as the rest of the room was decorated in. On top of this bench area were several cushions which were wrapped in a plastic or fake leather style covering which kept them waterproof and easy to wipe down.

“I know you shouldn’t be spending too long on your feet after having your entire body massaged to extreme levels, so please take a seat.” She did as I asked and settled herself down onto the cushion. “I read something about these being offered on the brochure and I knew we had to try it… a mud rasul. Basically what we do is cover each other in these pots of mud…” she noticed the pots now that I was pointing to “… and from there we have fun whilst it dries and moisturises your skin. Then we wash it off.”

“Oh really. What sort of fun do we have whilst its drying?” she asked, her mind already working to consider what I could offer.

“What sort of fun do you think 2 adults could have in the privacy of a locked room and 30 minutes to ourselves?” I answered, my own voice sounding mischievous.

“I can think of a few things you are really good at doing…” she purred at this point, relaxing into the seat as I grabbed the pot of mud and scooped out a large handful, smearing it on her belly. We took it in turns grabbing handfuls of mud from the pot and smearing it over each other’s body, our hands becoming a slippy mess as we smeared ourselves head to toe – well at least Jodie was smeared head to toe – I had to make do with whatever she could reach from her sitting position, but I had plenty of it covered in key spots – including 2 rather interesting hand prints on my butt as she slapped and grabbed.

As soon as we were covered in mud, we moved into rubbing each other and kissing, my hands finding her breasts, making patterns in the mud and playing with her nipples as she begged me to use my hands elsewhere. I did as I was asked, washing the mud off my hands with the jet of water available to one side as she parted her legs, her pussy lips a bright pink spot in the middle of a sea of brown mud.

My two fingers slipped in effortlessly, she was wet and waiting for me. I was grinning as I inserted them, offering “I didn’t know that the massage was that good.” She didn’t respond, just moaned loud as my fingers pushed in deeper, suddenly stopping and hooking them up to rub against her insides, dangerously close to her arousal zone. She was pleading at me with her eyes as I twitched my fingers back and forth, her head lolling backwards as she could do nothing else but moan again in obvious appreciation.

I spent a few minutes teasing the area as her hands roamed my body, eventually jump-grabbing her hands to my hair and pulling hard as her orgasm took over. She was quivering in my hands as I moved my fingers slowly back and forth, each movement setting her off again. She managed to tell me not to stop as I kept on doing the same for a good 30 seconds, she was eventually a panting wreck, managing a weak call for me to stop as she couldn’t take it anymore.

I hadn’t had my fill though. I got her to hold her legs back in a pseudo pushing pose, as I wrapped my arms around behind her breasts, grasping my hands together behind her, tipping her back as I supported her. She was hesitant at first, her only contact with the seat at this point was her ass and she was very concerned with slipping off, but as I thrust into her, her eyes rolled back into her head and any anxiety about moving was lost as I pressed her deeper and deeper into the seat with each thrust.

She pulled on her knees as she felt the next orgasm build, separating her legs more and giving me another fraction of an inch to go deeper, our mud-covered bodies slapping together with slick, gloopy sounds as I trusted back and forth. We had the idea that we were in a semi-public place in the back of our minds, even though the door was locked, but that made it all the more thrilling in the moment. She lost any inhibition as she approached her second orgasm of the session, her breathy moans changing to vocal yells as the feelings inside her reached higher and higher peaks of excitement. Jodie’s enjoyment fuelled me as I reached my climax, my own gasping moans joining hers as she felt the surge of liquid shoot from me and my twitching cock move inside her as it deposited spurt after spurt.

I let her lower her legs down and helped keep her upright as she managed to shakily put them on the ground, both of our breaths coming in panting gasps, exertion from the recent surge of activity enough to leave us out of breath. My own hands were shaky and my arms aching as I grabbed the shower head to the side and suggested we should get cleaned up.

I’d dare say we had as much fun washing off the mud as we had putting it on. The water was warmed to body temperature so it wasn’t unnecessarily too hot or cold, just our hands rubbing against each other. We finished with moving back into the changing room next door, into the shower in the changing room, where we finally found one on the ship which could accommodate both of us and the bump comfortably. Keeping an eye on the clock – 25 minutes of our 30 minute session had passed – we spent the next few minutes towelling each other down, enjoying the soft feel of the exquisite towels that were provided against our skins. I gave Jodie a hand to get back into her bikini and cover up, taking a moment to pull on my own shorts and tee shirt as I pushed the robe she had entered the room with into the wash basket. As we unlocked the door and caught sight of one of the ladies from the spa, she smiled.

“I hope you’re both nice and relaxed now, and I really hope you enjoyed our rasul room. Its unusual to have on a ship, but Mr LeGrand was very insistent that it should be included when the ship was designed.”

“If I see him, ill tell him thanks, it was wonderful.” I replied, my hand gravitating towards Jodie’s back as we waved goodbye to the staff, left the room and headed back up to the pool deck.

We were fully expecting that our reserved beds would have been taken by others since the day was now getting close to lunchtime, but to our surprise, both beds were free. Jodie settled down and sent me off to get her a water – all the exertion taking it out of her, along with the recommendation form the masseuse fresh in her mind. By the time I got back, she was asleep on the sun lounger.

#fpreg #birth kink #birth #pregnancy #labor kink

32 notes · View notes

beewolfwrites · 1 year

Text

The Oar in the Sand: Chapter Twenty-Two - The Beginning of the End

Just another update from me! Sorry if this is a messy chapter, I’m literally so tired today :(

But I really hope you enjoy!

___________________________________________________

The silence draped over the prison like fallout. The obsessive whispers of Yaba and Kotoko fell on deaf ears, and I barely even registered Chishiya’s footsteps as he walked away from the cell. Ippei’s cell. Or at least, his remains.

Ippei never did see the sunrise. He never saw the dawn sliding over the city. He would lie in an unmarked grave, having passed away in an everlasting nighttime - a constant nightmare. And that thought alone was too much to bear.

The sunrise spilled into my cell through a window on the back wall that I hadn’t been able to see until now. Sitting on the floor of my cell, fists clenched around my collar, I knew that this was it.

The beginning of the end.

My head spun as I tried to stand. The darkness, the exhaustion, the solitude… it was in my bones, wearing me down from the inside. But if I ended this game right here, I would be finally be able to feel the dawn on my face, not through the windowpanes, but outside in the summer breeze. I would be able to do what Ippei couldn’t. And now that he was gone, everything had changed.

Chishiya doesn’t have a partner anymore.

There was a deep seated anger raging within me. However, even if I wanted to scream and spit in his face, I also wanted him to live. But I was helpless in this cell. I couldn’t do much for him unless he came to me first, and Chishiya was far too proud for that. The only reassurance I had was that Chishiya had a knack for surviving no matter what.

Knowing him, he’ll come up with a strategy. He always does.

But, it wasn’t Chishiya whom I hated more than anything - it was the Jack of Hearts. For ruining us, for destroying so many lives, for creating a game this cruel, this inhumane.

I can’t wait to see him fall.

I paced and paced around my cell, mulling things over and staving off sleep, only to freeze when I noticed a dark shape in the mesh window of the door. A face. But not the one I was expecting.

‘Enji,’ I said.

It was strange seeing him here. Banda must have been in a secret meeting with Yaba, otherwise Enji would never have strayed near. He was pressed right up against the door. You,’ he whispered. ‘Who are you.’

‘You already know my name.’

He ignored the comment. ‘Tell me, are you a citizen or a player?’

‘And why do you need to know?’

‘I need to know if you’re the Jack.’

I stepped closer until I could see every line that marred his skin. ‘I think we both know that I’m not.’

He scoffed, and I had never hated someone more. ‘You seem confident for someone who’ll die by the next round.’

I merely smiled at him. ‘That’s because I am confident.’

It was only when he tilted his head that I saw it. A slight blue sheen, lurking just beneath the locks of hair covering his face. I wouldn’t have noticed it if not for the daylight. His left eye was obviously a prosthetic, which would explain why he kept it covered. But prosthetic eyes didn’t usually have a sheen to them. Not unless they were electronic.

Is that how?

What a disgusting tactic.

It seemed that Enji hadn’t noticed me staring. ‘You can’t win this game,’ he said. ‘Even if you’re the last player standing, the Jack will always win.’

‘I wouldn’t be too sure of that.’

I stared him in his prosthetic eye — a move which he seemed to dislike as he backed away from the window, grumbling something under his breath before leaving for the guardroom. In a way, I was glad he paid me a visit. It would only make winning the game that little bit easier.

And more satisfying.

Stewing in my cell, I mentally prepared myself for Banda’s final visit. With only six players left, this would be the last round: Round Thirteen. And there was only one titbit of information that I had left to offer.

I splashed some water on my face, more impatient than ever to end this constant silence. Now that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, I was itching to get there, whatever it took. And so, when Banda finally rolled around to my cell, appearing in the window just as Enji had earlier, I snapped at him.

‘What took you so long?’

Banda smiled calmly. ‘You’re too impatient.’

‘We can’t waste time,’ I insisted. ‘The Jack will have already started making his move.’

‘Then tell me who the Jack is,’ he said.

Not so fast.

As always, I moved my hair out of the way to expose the back of my collar. ‘You’ll have to tell me my suit first.’

He sighed, impatient. ‘You’re a Diamond.’

‘Thank you,’ I said, letting my hair fall back into place. If I wanted to end this game, I had to make this exchange count. ‘Have you swapped suits with Enji yet?’

‘No. He’s still down in the cafeteria with that guy, Chishiya.’

My breath hitched.

Chishiya’s down there with him?

If I had to hazard a guess, Chishiya would be trying to convince Enji to tell him his suit. In that case, Enji would most definitely tell him wrong one to throw Chishiya off and eliminate him.

‘So Enji is the Jack of Hearts…’ Banda mused, breaking me out of my reverie. He must have figured it out from my expression. ‘That does explain the cookies,’ he added.

I tried to explain everything clearly, even if I wasn’t sure whether I was making sense. ‘He’s going to tell you the wrong suit. And he’ll tell Kotoko the wrong suit and ask her to lie to Yaba. Right now, he’s down there probably lying to Chishiya too. He must be banking on me being the only one left, and losing by default. His plan is to be the last man standing.’

‘I see.’ Banda nodded slowly. ‘I suppose I’ll just have to lie to him.’

I shook my head. ‘It won’t work,’ I told him. ‘Enji’s eye is a prosthetic, the one he keeps covered. But it’s not a normal prosthetic. I can’t prove it, but I have a feeling he’s using it to check his suit.’

Banda looked thoroughly unconvinced. ‘And how exactly would you know this?’

‘He came here before, when you were meeting with Yaba. I saw his eye, and it was strange. Prosthetics are normally made of glass, but this one had a sheen to it, like a cat’s eye. It was electronic. I think it could be linked to his collar.’

‘The rules said that—’

‘The rules said that players can’t use reflective objects to cheat,’ I clarified. ‘They didn’t say anything about the Jack.’

‘In other words, Enji can’t lose,’ Banda surmised.

Now that I thought about it properly, it was so obvious. He had given himself away right from the start — a true One-Eyed Jack.

‘Well this is interesting.’ Banda muttered, thinking deeply. ‘So lying to him won’t actually work. I suppose I’ll have to make him want to choose the wrong suit.’

Huh? Why would he purposely choose the wrong suit?

‘That makes no sense,’ I said. ‘He wouldn’t do that.’

Banda smiled darkly, but it didn’t reach his dead eyes. ‘I can be very convincing when I want to be.’ He stepped away from the window, looking into the guardroom. ‘Enji will be back any time now. The next time we meet, the game will be over.’

With that, he left. Once again, all I could do was wait. I had given him the information he needed, and for the time being, there was nothing I could do directly. It was clear that Banda had something in store for Enji, something to convince him to intentionally lie, but as for what? It was beyond me. All I wanted was to get out of this damn cell.

How long was left? Fifteen minutes? Twenty? I couldn’t sit still in my cell, knowing that it was all out of my control now. It was also worrying me a little that Chishiya hadn’t stopped by once. I couldn’t help but wonder whether he really was too proud to stop by my cell and ask for his suit, or if he was angry at me for ignoring his advice?

I don’t know how long I waited before the same, calm feminine voice chimed out.

‘THE HOUR IS ALMOST OVER. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE CELLS.’

This is it.

The moment Enji’s tower would come crumbling down around him. Even if I didn’t want to, I had to trust in Banda. None of us could leave the venue until Enji was dead, and so long as he had that prosthetic eye, he couldn’t die.

I just hope he knows what he’s doing.

One by one, they all filed into the cell block. First Chishiya, followed by Banda and Enji. Judging by the murmurs I could hear from downstairs, Yaba and Kotoko were on the floor just below us.

‘IT IS TIME TO MAKE YOUR GUESS. EVERYONE, PLEASE ENTER A CELL. ONE PERSON PER CELL, PLEASE.’

Without speaking, everyone turned into their individual cells. But what took me by surprise was seeing Chishiya choose a different cell this time. He was no longer directly opposite me, but several doors down instead.

He doesn’t want anything to do with me… that must be it.

I couldn’t think about him right now. He was clearly too stubborn to act as my backup and confirm my suit. But it didn’t matter. I had to trust that Banda was telling the truth. He had yet to lie, and if he wanted me dead, I would’ve been splattered across the walls by now. I stepped away from the door, my heart erratic with anticipation.

‘PLEASE MAKE YOUR GUESS.’

Please let it be the truth.

‘ダイヤ,’ I said. Diamond.

I didn’t know what I expected to happen, but there was nothing. No noise. No shouts. No explosions.

‘Is that it—?’

A wet bang echoed through the block, coming directly from below. My heart shuddered as I listened for any signs of life. Yaba or Kotoko - it could have been either of them. Our success depended on it.

But which one?

There was a whirring noise as the lock clicked and buzzer sounded. And even then… none of the cell doors opened. I crept closer to the window, trying to see what was going on.

Chishiya couldn’t have… he couldn’t!

Finally, there was a creak as a cell door slowly opened. I took a sharp breath, hoping to see blond hair and a familiar smirk. However, it was not Chishiya, but Enji who stepped out. He took one look around the empty block.

‘I won,’ he murmured.

Slowly, his face cracked into a grin. A small chuckle escaped his lips, building and building until he was laughing like a madman basking in his victory. He spun, eyes glinting as he spotted me, stricken behind my door.

‘I told you, didn’t I? The Jack will always win.’ He stepped closer, oozing with a confidence he had hidden so well. ‘And now, since just just the two of us, you’ll die by default. Just as I said you would.’

The world came crashing down around me, and I was stunned into silence, unable to believe what I was seeing. Was this really the end of the road? Not for him. But for all of us. For me. It wasn’t quite how I thought I would go.

I closed my eyes as they welled with unshed tears.

I’m sorry…

A door creaked open. And within seconds, the world righted itself.

‘Just as I thought, you’re the Jack of Hearts.’

That familiar voice… that smirk… he had the nerve to walk out of his cell with his hands in his pockets, as though he hadn’t just cheated death as his own game. My heart swelled with relief, hurt, anger.

Enji was frozen in place. ‘How?’

Overconfident as usual, Chishiya didn’t hold back. ‘I saw when you and that murderer, Banda, paired up. Even if you were impressed by what Banda said, there’s no way anyone could be so accepting of a stranger that quickly.’ His eyes slid over to mine. ‘You certainly weren’t with her.’

A part of me wondered whether Chishiya had wanted me to pair with them just for that purpose. And if so, it only fuelled the anger burning within me, being used as a tool to aid his strategies. But there was something else he said that gave me pause; he had called Banda a murderer.

Is that what he meant earlier, when he said that he was dangerous?

I had never heard of a murderer named Banda Sunato. But then, I hadn’t been able to understand Japanese newspapers.

There was a clang of metal as another cell door opened, and speaking of the devil, Banda’s smooth voice sounded through the cell block. ‘There aren’t many people who’d approach someone like me,’ he said. ‘And if you tried to kill me, then you’re either scheming, you’re just a plain idiot, a psychopath or a sociopath.’

Enji’s hands began to shake. ‘You… why did you?’

‘To find out which one you were, I decided to play along. You thought that you could control me.’ Banda took calm, measured steps towards Enji, who didn’t dare move. ‘You were also confident that you were superior to everyone else. It’s why you treated our third group member like dirt.’

’The more important your position is,’ Chishiya interjected, ‘the more your confidence manifests itself. Just like the Jack of Hearts.’

Enji’s shook his head. ‘Sorry, but it’s not me,’ he insisted, and pointed at Banda. ‘Banda is the Jack.’

The accusation was lost as footsteps sounded from the stairwell, the echo drawing everyone’s attention. From within my cell, I tried to angle my head against the window so that I could see better.

‘It’s such a shame…’ Yaba’s voice rang out from the stairwell as he casually emerged into the block. ‘But it’s not Banda.’

Yaba strolled towards us, suit sharper than ever despite the situation at hand. Enji’s face flashed with confusion, and it was so wonderful to see.

Your plan didn’t work…

‘You were in cahoots with Kotoko,’ Yaba said. ‘I told Kotoko her real suit, but she still died. It means somebody else was controlling her.’

‘Then—’ Enji frantically doubled back, pointing at Chishiya. ‘Then that guy must be the Jack!’

Calm as ever, Chishiya strolled towards my cell. I watched through the grate as he removed whatever was jamming the lock and opened my cell door. It was like taking a breath of fresh air, as I finally stepped out. The cell block seemed huge after being stuck in such a cramped space, the concrete ceilings stretching on forever. I had to lean against the wall to keep up my strength, but it didn’t matter. Anything was better than being in that cave.

‘What did you just do?’ Enji spluttered.

‘I noticed it earlier in the cafeteria,’ Chishiya replied, then tilted his head towards me, ‘but I wasn’t the only one.’

‘スナック,’ I said, trying to remember my grammar once more. The snacks. ‘あなたと琴子はおやつを使ってコミュニケーションをとっていた’ You and Kotoko used the snacks to communicate.

‘That’s ridiculous,’ Enji sneered. ‘What kind of theory is that?’

‘それらのクッキー’, I continued. Those cookies. ‘四つの色があった. 四つの味.’ There were four colours. Four flavours.

‘And four suits,’ Chishiya concluded, as I struggled to find the right words. As I spoke once more, he began to translate for me.

‘Every time I ran into Kotoko,’ I explained, ‘she was alone in the cafeteria. I noticed that you and her would get the same kinds of snacks. Whenever I joked about it to you, you would get mad at me. I didn’t realise why at the time, but I figured it out pretty quickly. Both of you pretended that you were being controlled, when in fact you were using the snacks to confirm that your suits were correct.’

Yaba made a noise of agreement. ‘You told Kotoko to lie to me about my suit. I really did trust her, except at the end.’

Enji’s eyes flitted between the four of us, his breaths coming more and more unsteadily with every passing second. ‘When did you guys all start working together?’

‘In the opening announcement for this game,’ Yaba said, ‘they said that it’s a test of how much you trust others.’ He began to walk slowly toward Banda. ‘We simply followed that advice. The best way to build trust isn’t through persuasion, manipulation, or even domination… nor is it through brainwashing or manipulation, deception, fear.’ He stopped at Banda’s side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. ‘It’s equality.’

Enji’s jaw turned slack as he realised what he was faced with. ‘No… no, that can’t be!’ He spun on his heel and pointed at me. ‘You weren’t working with any of them. You could still be the Jack!’

‘すでにそれを試しました,’ I muttered. You already tried that once.

His eyes burned into mine. ‘Who the hell are you?’

Chishiya stepped closer towards me. ‘She’s my partner.’

I scowled, and moved further away.

Like hell you are.

From behind Enji, I saw Banda’s eyes narrow with realisation. I had always been unsure of whether he would figure out that Chishiya was confirming the suits he gave me. But if his expression was anything to go by, Banda had no idea.

‘What?’ Enji cried out. ‘You two…’ His eyes darted between Chishiya and I. ‘It’s still possible that one of you is the Jack of Hearts! Maybe I did try to deceive you guys, but you can’t assume I’m the Jack based on that!’

‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ Chishiya interjected smoothly. ‘If those two were so sure that you’re the Jack, then why didn’t Banda lie to you in the last round and try to kill you? They must have formed some kind of deal’ He circled around Enji, uttering his next words with a knowing smirk. ‘Maybe they’re going to get some information out of you.’

Banda and Yaba stalked towards Enji, and now I knew what Banda had planned. What he had said earlier finally clicked in the worst way possible…

“I can be very convincing when I want to be.”

So that was Banda’s true nature. I swallowed, shivers running all along my skin. They were going to torture him until he gave up and lied about his suit.

‘You can’t!’ Enji cried, as Banda took him by the arm, Yaba grabbing the other. ‘You can’t do this!’

I stood straighter as I stared Enji down. ‘他に選択肢はない,’ I said. There’s no other option. I frowned at that stupid flop of hair covering half his face. ‘その目… 首輪につながっているね.’ That eye of yours… it’s linked to your collar, isn’t it?

Enji’s face crumpled as he realised that I had seen right through his rigged game. He thrashed wildly against the two restraining him. But it was useless as Yaba and Banda dragged him into a cell. It felt good, in a messed up way. I thought of Ippei, of the older woman, Headband, Glasses, all the lives that were wasted in this place. This prison smelled like death. But now, the dawn had risen.

Yaba and Banda closed the cell door behind them, and I stepped forward, trying to see what they were doing to him. However, before I could get any closer, Chishiya’s hand wrapped around my arm. I shook him off instantly, pulling away as though his touch had burned me.

‘Don’t,’ I said quietly. ‘Just don’t.’

Chishiya’s mouth tilted into a half-smile. ‘Don’t what? Save your life?’

‘What do you mea—?’

The cell door opened once more, revealing Banda. He was holding a straight razor in one hand, and his eyes shifted between me and Chishiya. Something didn’t feel right. There was a strange smile on his face, as though he was laughing at a private joke.

‘What?’ I asked him. ‘Aren’t you going to finish off Enji so we can leave by the next round?’

Banda inspected the razor in his hand. ‘I have plenty of time to enjoy Enji,’ he said. ‘But you’re finally out of that cell.’

The razor glinted, clean and beautiful in its danger. And all at once, I came to an understanding. The reason why Banda had wanted me alive.

Banda Sunato, the murderer…

‘It’s a shame that you two were secretly partners all this time,’ he murmured. ‘But I can still make this work.’

The world slowed as Banda strode towards me, gripping the razor blade in one hand. My body wouldn’t move. It couldn’t. And all I could see was that razor and those dead, dead eyes, suddenly filled with a darkness I hadn’t noticed before.

Banda is…

The crack of a gunshot ricocheted through the cell block. I leapt out of the way, as did Banda, and I stumbled to the ground with my palms pressed to my ears. The sound burst through my head, echoing and echoing until I realised that my ears were ringing.

And then I raised my head, finally noticing the pistol in Chishiya’s outstretched hand.

#alice in borderland #Imawa no Kuni no Arisu #aib #chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #Chishiya x reader #chishiya x oc

99 notes · View notes

tench · 19 days

Text

Today's relatable titbit is me, in the shower, thinking that I should have taken the painkillers before getting into it because waiting for me to finish showering is too long of a time

#personal

9 notes · View notes

thegreatlibraryfangirl · 3 months

Text

Time to ramble about Khalila's temper. Because she really, really has one, and I think we all forget that sometimes. But if you actually pay attention, you can see that she's got a very quick, very hot temper, which, if she allows it, blossoms into violence.

The key there of course is if she allows it - most of the time she brings that flash under control again because violence isn't the right option. She appears to be very good at that emotional control, but less so at avoiding the initial reaction. Her anger is used as a tool, mostly, but the fact that it's there at all is often overlooked.

Let's go through some book quotes! (Non-exhaustive)

1. Ink and Bone

He made his countermoves, and almost laughed when her expression turned thunderously dark. Had she been Glain's size and temperament, he'd have been right worried, but on Khalila, thwarted ambition looked about as intimidating as a puppy's snarl. "I shouldn't have played fair and warned you, I suppose." "Not if you plan to win," he said. "I do like winning." She smiled, her fit of pique gone in an instant.

Here's Jess hilarious underestimating of Khalila, who later on in this same book will shoot a Burner at point-blank range. But here also is Khalila's temper. All they're doing is playing Go, and she's just realised that she's going to lose. Thwarted ambition and fit of pique indeed. She masters it almost immediately, and rightly so, but the fact that it flares so strongly here for such a minor event is telling, I think.

2. Paper and Fire

Here, we start to see what happens when Khalila doesn't restrain her rage, when she deems it acceptable to react. Hint: it involves violence and death threats.

Just, tbh, the entire bit where she attacks Jess because he won't go after Dario, but here are the highlights:

"And if you ever lay hands on me again, I will kill you, Jess Brightwell! ... Her face was set and terrible, her eyes like dark pits ... "Then let us run," she said, in a voice drained of anything but anger.

To quote myself from this post, emphasis today's:

This is essentially Khalila losing her temper. No-one will help her save Dario, which she takes as a moral failing, and then Jess tries to physically stop her. [...] So she hits him and she shouts that it’s all HIS fault, and then once she’s finished with that she shrugs him off with one well-placed knee. And a death threat.

Next, we have a titbit from the end of P&F when they are in the Iron Tower. This is an immediate reaction to Keria touching Morgan.

Khalila stood up. It was a swift, controlled motion, and although it wasn't threatening, there was a cold look in her eyes that made the Obscurist's focus shift. [...] "if you touch Morgan again, if you try to take her away and lock her up, then you'll have to kill me. I won't make it easy."

She is controlling herself here, because she knows that physically reacting isn't the play right now, but she is ANGRY and broadcasting it. Sadly we don't get to see her simmer down from this, damn Jess.

3. Ash and Quill

Obviously, we have the best scene of all for Khalila beating the shit out of someone because she knows they deserve it

(If you're not as obsessed as me, this is from the scene when they're first imprisoned in Philly, where they're all being frisked and a guard rips off Khalila's headscarf)

Khalila turned whip-fast to grab the man's wrist and extended and twisted his whole arm. She continue the spin and pressed her palm hard into the back of his elbow, reversing it to the breaking point and held him there as he cried out. [...] Her voice was steady but Jess could see her face. She was still angry.

This is a beautiful and amazing scene but it's not quite as useful for my points as some of the others, because the fury is perfectly understandable here (i.e. not quick/sensitive reaction) and she doesn't bother to calm herself down again afterwards. Though actually I suppose that is in and of itself interesting, that Jess notes some time late that she's still angry, maybe indicating that he hadn't expected it.

A quick second quote here, from after Rafa's death:

Khalila swallowed hard, and for a moment there was a shine of tears in her eyes, but then it was gone, as if it had evaporated under the intense heat of the anger she was banking inside. [...] "I can't think of a time I've needed [prayers] so much." A&Q

This is useful for a) suggesting that prayer helps her to regulate herself, and b) assuming that Jess isn't flat-out guessing here, she is externally showing her internal rage. Obviously again, it's an understandable one, but interesting that anger is her overriding reaction here rather than grief, fear, guilt or anything else.

4. Smoke and Iron

"No!" Khalila shook off Glain's restraining hand. "No, it isn't all right. They hurt him. There was blood-[...] There was a great deal of blood, and I want to go find him! Let me go find him!" "Khalila." Santi put his hands on her shoulders, and Wolfe saw the tense fury drain out of her.

Here, we have her 'righteously' losing her temper again and physically reacting. Yes, I am calling something as minor as shaking off Glain's hand as a physical anger response, fight me. But she masters it almost immediately, as soon as it becomes apparent that it won't be useful anymore. (Note, this very much mirrors that P&F scene with equally missing Dario, where she hits Jess but doesn't attack Wolfe. She knows taking out her feelings on the dads won't get her anywhere.)

5. Sword and Pen

I am actually, shocker, not going to address her verbally castrating Dario as the Pharaoh. I have a lot to say about that scene lol, but in Khalila mind she is completely in the right, so can be outwardly angry, and in control, so doesn't need to physically react.

Instead I'm going to use my probably second favourite example of her temper in the whole series, because it's the only time we get the process I'm talking about from her PoV.

"I can hardly blame them, to be honest. There’s panic in the city. They have families to look after. As do I, but my first duty is still here.” Khalila started to fire back a hot reply, but then took a beat to consider. There was no point in being angry; the woman’s point was well made.

Now, in Khalila's defense she's under horrific stress here. But this is just a conversation with a Library cook, who's pointed out that her coworkers might value their safety over making sure the ambassadors get wined and dined. And Khalila's first response is anger, that she shuts down once she realises she's being unreasonable.

Anyway, so, yeah, some examples of Khalila the hothead!

#the great library #khalila seif #long post

10 notes · View notes

12daysofmystrade · 4 months

Text

Mystrade & Friends Advent Calendar - Day 8

Today, AbAbsurdo @aworldofgoldfish has written a lovely story, something soft and romantic... It feels like dancing a slow to the gentle tones of Sinatra <3

Pairing: Mystrade

Summary: It's the small things. It's always the small things. Mycroft sees his ideas of what makes his life good change as he realises that small unimportant titbits turn big and significant when spent with Greg. After all, they are the things he can change and enjoy with the man he loves.

Read Silver Light on AO3 now! Don't forget to leave gifts for the author in the form of kudos and kind comments! Let's spread some love this December!

#mystrade #mystrade advent calendar #12 days of mystrade #advent calendar #12daysofmystrade #sherlock bbc #bbc sherlock

9 notes · View notes

tsarinatorment · 2 years

Note

oo now im interested in that apollo is chb'd patron thing would you care to elaborate on that??

@stereden also asked this! There's not so much canon for this as some of the other things I've talked about but there's still a few things to say on the topic, and not only am I going to talk about him being the patron, I'm going to talk about how that works with the things that happen with CHB during the PJO series, and of course because we're talking about Apollo, there's the odd little titbit from TOA that makes its way into this, too.

A lot of this will be extrapolation, but I've done my best to keep more floating headcanons out of it, so this should at least all stem convincingly from canon.

I'm going to address two things under this umbrella, because I think they're related and also because I find them fascinating: Apollo as the patron god of CHB, and Apollo's loss of jurisdiction over CHB by the events of canon.

So, Apollo and the patronage of CHB. While Camp Half-Blood Confidential is pretty goofy and daft in tone, it gives us a few important little nuggets of information regarding the founding of the camp, namely that it was Apollo's idea - or at the very least, Apollo foresaw that it would happen/needed to happen.

As it turned out, giving Apollo a centaur-back ride was the smartest thing I ever did. Unlike others of my kind, I didn’t belong to a specific tribe. I was a loner…and, sometimes, lonely. We bonded during that ride. I found that Apollo could be quite charming one-on-one, when he wasn’t trying to impress his adoring throngs of fans. When we got back to the cave, he said something that changed my life. “Uncle Chiron, I’ve decided to teach you some stuff.” Perhaps he found the idea amusing: a nephew teaching his uncle. Or maybe, being the god of prophecy, he suspected I had an important role to play in the future of Olympus. Whatever the reason, he chose to share his knowledge with me. At first, he showed me simple things, like how to nock an arrow—“Aim the pointy end away from your body”—and how to bandage a gushing battle wound. He taught me to make a lyre, play a number of hits like “Stairway to Olympus” and “Burnt-Offering Smoke on the Water,” and even compose my own lyrics. Once, in an effort to refine my poetry skills, he sent me on a quest to find a rhyme for arugula so that he could finish an ode to a mixed-green salad. The best I could do was pergola. Apollo called my effort an “ode fail”—the ancient precursor to today’s “epic fail”—but he continued to work with me. The lessons went on for a year. Then one day, Apollo showed up at the doorway of my cave with a half-dozen young demigods. “You know all that stuff I taught you?” he asked me. “It’s time to pay it forward! I’d like you to meet Achilles, Aeneas, Jason, Atalanta, Asclepius, and Percy—” “It’s Perseus, sir,” said one of the young men. “Whatever!” Apollo grinned with delight. “Chiron, teach them everything I showed you. Y’all have fun!” Then he vanished.

I have high doubts that this is exactly how it went down - I don't think those six demigods were all direct contemporaries of each other, mythologically, for starters - but they were all trained by Chiron and it makes sense for Apollo to be the one to introduce them, especially as he's the one that trained Chiron in the first place, and paying things forward is not a new or novel idea, especially when it comes to knowledge (after all, that's how teaching works even now - kids learn things, grow up, the next generation of kids start learning from them. That's just how humanity works).

From here, of course CHB continues to expand until it's the camp we know and love today. Chiron details this out for us (again, I don't believe the actual way he tells it, but the basic facts if not the very fictionised retelling seem solid). I won't copy out all of that, but I will make note of Apollo's direct involvement within the expansion, that that's the addition of the satyrs:

The satyrs arrived en masse with this note from Apollo: I predict that in the future, demigods won’t be able to find Camp Half-Blood on their own. The world will simply be too large, too populous, and too dangerous. When that time comes, send satyrs to track down your prospective students. Satyrs can find anything. They recently located a herd of cattle Hermes stole from me that even I couldn’t find. Trust me: you need seekers, and they’re the goats for the job.

Apollo is the one that's actively looking out for future demigods and their safety here. It's understandable that he's the one that knew it would be needed, because of his foresight and prophecy powers, but the fact that he acts on it so early, making sure the Camp is fully equipped to handle it with the satyrs long before they'll be needed, shows that side of him that he tends to not advertise in modern times - the side that wants to look after and protect the demigods.

That's two of the most important parts of CHB - its existence, and the satyr protector-guides - both directly attributed to Apollo himself, tying him more firmly than any other god to the camp. With this in mind, who else could possibly be the patron of the camp, if not for the god of knowledge whose own teachings are being passed down, and who actively worked to ensure the safety of future demigods?

The third thing is not explicitly Apollo, but considering the pattern it seems most likely, and that's the defences around CHB, back pre-Thalia's tree.

You see, I knew that so many demigods living in one place was like an all-you-can-kill buffet for monsters. Yet I had convinced myself that our campers needed no other protection than the skills we taught them. My pride had nearly been our destruction, but I learned my lesson. I immediately sent an Iris-message to Olympus asking for help. The gods heard our plea. The next day, a magical border settled over and around the grounds—a barrier that would both conceal the camp from unfriendly eyes and repel future attacks.

It's just the general "the gods" mentioned here, but considering that Apollo is the most involved god so far in the camp, if he isn't the one that did this himself (unlikely), he's certainly one of the gods that was involved in making sure this protection happened.

Another minor little detail to note is in the symbolism of the battle that occurs which prompts Chiron to request for aid here. To summarise for those who haven't read this story, the campers are nearly defeated, and it's only last-minute reinforcements from past campers that saves the day:

Then, just as rosy-fingered dawn peeked over the horizon, a new battle cry sounded in the distance. Former campers who had learned of our desperate plight now came charging to our aid.

The reinforcements came at dawn. Yes, I know that's a favourite trope in media (see the very memorable Battle for Helm's Deep in The Two Towers), but that doesn't make it any less fitting here - the camp was saved at dawn, which is the time when Apollo takes to the sky (and yes, by this time chronologically, Helios has already faded and Apollo is the god of the sun, according to Chiron's description of their first meeting:

“Ah…yes, Lord Apollo.” I tried to control the twitching in my withers. “Very weird indeed.” I noticed the sky was darkening even though it was only noon. “Not to be critical, O Great One, but shouldn’t you be driving the sun chariot right now?” He shrugged. “Actually, I put it in park for a few minutes because Artemis is up there doing her lunar-eclipse thing.” He scratched his fashionably stubbled chin. “Or is it solar? I can never keep them straight.”

It's likely that this isn't long after Apollo took on the role, although of course he could have just been goofing around with the lunar-solar mix-up, but he is still, in this narrative, the god of the sun by this point).

The implication here is very much that Apollo's the one who called the older demigods to help (presumably the Ancient Laws are in effect at this point - in fact, that may even be why Apollo had to pass on the responsibility of teaching to Chiron in the first place, with the advent of the no interference Laws) which again adds some credence to the idea that he's also one of the gods, if not the god, who supplied the original defensive barrier for CHB.

So, that's Apollo's involvement in the original CHB, way back when, and I don't think it can really be argued any other way than that at this point, at least, he was the patron god of the camp.

But what about modern times?

Modern times gets more confusing. I still believe that Apollo is, on a technicality, the patron of the camp, but in practicality he no longer seems to have any jurisdiction over it.

He still keeps an eye on the camp - no matter how he tries to throw us off the scent in TOA, there are some slip-ups in his narration that give us a glimpse of the god who is not at all distant from camp emotionally, even if he's physically forced to be.

Over the centuries, I’d had many conversations with demigods who wanted to know more about their absentee godly parents. Those talks rarely went well.

From this it's clear that he does spend time with the demigods at camp, historically (although not recently, which I suspect has a lot to do with Dionysus' forced presence, either because Apollo fears being reported to Zeus, or because there's a rule about only one Olympian god near the camp at a time). He cares about them and goes out of his way to reassure them - all of them, not just his own children.

He also remembers names. There are twenty two campers present during THO, including Meg, and during Apollo's narration we are given the names of every single one. The facts he gives us are precise, and the fact that he is able to perfectly recall every name after being introduced once (especially when we contrast this with Dionysus' refusal to get most demigod names right even if he's known them for a decade) implies a strong level of care. And no, this is not just because it's in winter and therefore Rick had a small enough cast number that he could afford to name them all - in TTC there is a similar number of demigods in the camp, yet Percy, who lives with these people for several months of the year, never gives us names. In fact, we learn in BOTL that Percy doesn't bother to learn some of the camper names at all. This is Apollo caring about these children.

“Let me guess,” I said. “Connor and Travis Stoll are the pranksters?” From a nearby basket, Chiron grabbed a flannel blanket and spread it over his fake legs, though the ruby shoes still peeked out at the bottom. “Actually, Travis went off to college last autumn, which has mellowed Connor quite a bit.”

Not only does he know their names, he also knows their habits and personalities. That's not just a basic level of reading names off a roll list, that's Apollo being actively aware of the children at camp as individuals.

It's also shown less implicitly through his conversations with Chiron in THO. Chiron knows that Apollo cares about the campers - he opens their first conversation with this:

My old friend smiled, though his eyes were stormy and distracted. “Apollo, it’s good you are here. We need to talk about the disappearances.”

Literally Chiron's first thing is to bring up missing campers, because he knows Apollo will care about this - and Apollo does! It isn't Chiron who continues this topic of conversation, it's actually Apollo who keeps trying to bring the topic back around while Chiron talks about Python and Delphi and prophecies:

“Chiron,” I said, “this is Meg McCaffrey, my new master and wellspring of aggravation. You were saying something about disappearances?”

“Disappearances,” I prompted. “What has disappeared?”

“The disappearances, yes.” I wiped drops of tea from my pants and tried to ignore Meg’s snickering. “Tell me about those.”

He asks about it three times before Chiron finally gives him the information he's after - it's actually the thing he's most insistent about focusing on in the whole conversation (he keeps trying to dodge the discussion of Python and Delphi) - and even after that it's the one he keeps asking more questions on, trying to get more and more information. Apollo never says so in as many words, but it's clear that he's very worried about the missing campers (a façade he more or less manages to cling to until his own children are added to the number, at which point the façade collapses entirely and we see Apollo in full worry mode over the children).

So the question is, if Apollo is the patron god of Camp Half-Blood (and let's not forget his domain of protector of the young, here!), why did we never see him in this capacity during PJO?

Quite frankly, it's obvious that he can't. It's impossible that, if Apollo had any say over the matter at all, he would have allowed the sacking of Chiron in SOM. He also sends no visible aid during BOTL, but the Daedalus thing is interesting... But let's start from the top.

Apollo has lost jurisdiction over CHB by the time PJO begins. I would argue that this is a relatively recent development - there are conflicting canon statements regarding how long Dionysus has been at CHB (in TON, Apollo says he's been there for half a century but then later we get confirmation that Dionysus' punishment is far from over, yet in PJO his sentence was cut in half down to fifty years - my personal guess is that Dionysus has been there for around 15 years or so as of TLT, long enough that all the current campers have known him, but as his only known children are fifteen or older in TLT (Castor and Pollux are seventeen in BOTL, two years later, Dakota is a similar age to them) the implication is that he hasn't had any children since his punishment began, otherwise why the lack - considering his far from PG domains, Dionysus is a god I'd ordinarily expect to have a lot of children). However, Dionysus' tenure as Director of CHB likely prevents Apollo from getting too close to the camp for any length of time, as I mentioned earlier.

The biggest thing, though, and what I think was the final nail in the waning coffin of his jurisdiction, was Thalia's death. This is when Zeus put a very large, aggressive stamp on CHB - his daughter is the one guarding the camp now, through Zeus' own actions. By doing this, Zeus has completely muscled Apollo out, and we know that Apollo can't (and is too afraid to try to) challenge Zeus.

So, why would Zeus be so determined to claim CHB as his, and kick Apollo out? There's a few reasons. One is his ever-present paranoia. CHB is a major part of modern day demigod society - barring CJ, which is Mars' and the Roman equivalent, it is the most major part. The amount of power and influence it gives Apollo to have it under his control is huge, and we know Zeus fears Apollo overthrowing him (this is also why cabin eleven is the cabin for the unclaimed demigods - while the logic that Hermes is the god of travellers does hold water, as the camp patron and protector of the young, it would actually make far more sense for them to go to cabin seven. The only reason I can see why it wouldn't, in-universe (meta-wise it's clearly to build the Percy-Luke rapport in TLT to give the betrayal the oomph it needed), is if the other gods refused to let that happen. Considering they all seem fine with leaving their kids languishing in Hermes' cabin, they probably don't really care which cabin it is, as long as it's not their own - Zeus is the only one who has reason to protest against it being Apollo, and he has the clout to make sure he's obeyed on this).

Well, I say one reason is his paranoia; really, a lot of this is based on Zeus' paranoia, because all his interactions with Apollo are steeped in this throughout the series. Another aspect of his paranoia is the Great Prophecy - he wants his own child to be the Hero, but when Thalia dies, he's left in the horrid realisation that it might not be his child; Jason is still very young (and also a son of Jupiter and therefore Roman, and the Romans don't even have this prophecy), and if he's broken the Oath, there's a high chance at least one of his brothers has (whether or not he knows about Percy's existence this early is debatable, but from the way the accusations at theft were immediately levelled at Poseidon before Percy even knew he was a demigod, it's likely that the Olympians were aware of Percy's existence at least a little before the events of TLT). A child of Hades would be a problem, but Hades' kids aren't popular so he might see them as less of a concern/easier to get rid of (Hades also doesn't seem to like sending his children to camp - he explicitly refused to send Bianca and Nico to CHB). A child of Poseidon, however?

Remember that Poseidon and Apollo have historically worked together to oppose Zeus. A child of Poseidon central to a great prophecy in a camp that's under Apollo's jurisdiction is, to Zeus, a terrifying combination and one he won't want at all, so he uses Thalia to wrest the control of camp away from Apollo. Now Zeus is the one in control, and we know Zeus doesn't like giving control back. (And remember that in TLT the Apollo cabin back Poseidon... against Zeus; that can't have pleased him in the slightest!)

Of course, there's also the same power basis in his favour - he doesn't want Apollo to have that power, but he does want it for himself. The gods have all been waning compared to their original selves, and their powers are far weaker. During PJO, all of the gods are, if not pathetic, clearly weakened. It's only at the end that we see Poseidon and Hades regain their strength (the same way we see Apollo regain his in TON), while Zeus continues to wane.

So, what does Apollo do about this? He can't fight back against Zeus - TOA is a spectacular example of what happens if Zeus even thinks he's rebelling - but while the functionality has been stripped, he is still the patron of the camp, and also the protector of the young. Apollo doesn't sit back and do nothing.

First of all are the dreams - we know Percy gets a lot of demigod dreams, we know Zoe gets a dream while in CHB, we know Apollo kids get dreams, we can infer that Chiron probably also gets dreams (I'll get to this in a sec), and also that he knows about the dreams (once again, see @fearlessinger's discussion of our theory on Apollo and the Demigod Dreams).

Secondly, there's Octavian.

Now, it took me a while to try and rationalise Apollo's apparent desire to work with Octavian, especially considering the way it ends up with Octavian trying to kill the Greeks (who are under Apollo's patronage - this, at least, must have been a misunderstanding because there's no way Apollo ever approved that), but when I sat back and looked at how powerless Apollo is in PJO, it makes sense.

Firstly, there's his inability to help Artemis directly during TTC. As this is a gods and titans problem, primarily, the Ancient Laws shouldn't actually prevent him from doing this - the only thing that could be clouding Apollo's sight and keeping him out are the Fates themselves - but Apollo is still unable to do more than effectively send children to their deaths (Zoe is admittedly not a child, but Bianca is, and Apollo is the one who got them most of the way to the desert in TTC, although he isn't the one to actually drop them there).

Secondly, there's the mess that is CHB. Chiron is sacked and Tantalus (someone who kills children) is hired in his place (do I like the idea of Tantalus' punishment extending outside of the Fields of Punishment being Apollo's doing as a way to make sure the kids stay protected? Yes, I do - but there's no actual canon for this although Tantalus finally getting his hands on food right at the end, when Thalia is restored and the power in the tree is now purely Zeus', is a very stretchy potential link to the last vestiges of Apollo's influence in any capacity being broken off). This is all around Bad News for CHB and nothing Apollo could possibly have approved of. Then in BOTL the camp is literally attacked and children die (including one of his own).

Daedalus is suspicious as heck the whole time, and Chiron is clearly very suspicious of him - and yet, he does nothing (even though Daedalus was posing as a Roman adult demigod and it highly amuses me to think of the panic Chiron must have been in about one of the smarter kids asking the right/wrong questions). I was discussing this with fsinger the other day and the conclusion we came to is that Apollo may have been the one to assure Chiron that Daedalus had not - yet - joined with Kronos and was therefore safe to have around the kids. After the mess of Tantalus, Apollo would no doubt be keeping a very close eye on who was being allowed near the kids, after all (and as he can't directly interfere, the most likely method of imparting this information would be via dreams).

The fact that Apollo has been dragged off monster hunting by Artemis on Zeus' orders, thereby keeping him away from camp at the time when they need godly protection the most also plays a significant role here (Dionysus, too, was elsewhere on Zeus' orders, which makes one side-eye Zeus very heavily at this point).

Overall, Apollo has lost a lot of power in recent years, and he's desperate to regain at least enough to be able to protect Artemis and CHB again - power which he would get if the Romans started worshiping him higher, because the gods are clearly fuelled by belief (notably, at the end of TON, Apollo has regained his belief in himself, which is even more powerful than belief from others, and makes me wonder if he could now regain his jurisdiction over CHB back from Zeus). This neatly ties in the Octavian side of things in HOO.

So, in conclusion: Apollo is the reason CHB exists, he's been consistently shown to care about the demigods right from its inception to the modern day and protects them as much as he is able to, which makes him the clear choice for patron of the camp. However, Zeus' paranoia has prompted him to muscle Apollo out of any practical patronage (although he is, technically, still the patron even if he can no longer act on it), leaving Apollo desperate to regain the patronage and protect the demigods however he can without directly defying Zeus.

#Anonymous #stereden #pjo apollo #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #heroes of olympus #hoo #trials of apollo #toa #riordanverse #rrverse #pjo chiron #pjo zeus #pjo octavian #chb #camp half-blood #tsari analyses things

376 notes · View notes

bird-inacage · 2 years

Photo

Love in the Air: Sky x Prapai Crumbs (Episode 6)

Poor Prapai just can’t catch a break. He finally finds Rain alone and is about to ask the golden question ‘can I pretty please ask about your absolute adorable hottie of a friend who came along with you last time? -because I haven’t been able to get him off my mind and I’m going stir-crazy if I don’t find out soon’. But lo and behold, we and he cannot have nice things because (of course) he’s rudely interrupted, and we’ll all have to collectively hold our breaths until Episode 8 to get the answer. They are unashamedly dangling Prapaisky in front of us like a carrot.

We do however learn two other interesting titbits of information.

Prapai introduces himself as P’pai to Rain. What do we think Sky will refer to him as? My hunch is that our sassy Sky may forgo convention and purposely assign an aptly irritating nickname for him to get a rise. At least at first.

Secondly, Prapai is currently the number one racer within their circuit. In which case that shit-eating grin is well-deserved (for more than one reason).

Little Behind the Scenes gem below ‘I wish Sky was here, he isn’t here today’.

#LITA #love in the air #love in the air series #prapaisky #sky x prapai #prapai x sky #fortpeat #fort thitipong #peat wasuthorn #love in the air episode 6 #in which our cheeky little shit gets some airtime (finally)#he looks so serious when he's asking about his beloved sky #you are valid in your frustrations sir

124 notes · View notes

mournstera · 5 hours

Text

Titbits and updates

hopefully today I will be finishing updating all my themes with:

proper styling for audio posts

as well as removing pseudo-element (icons) from permalink pages.

The reason is phosphor icons keep changing their codes, and I'm sick of keeping up with them. Instead of arrows and hearts, avatars will take its place in themes where they weren't.

#code updates

3 notes · View notes

razputin-vodello-au-archive · 1 year

Note

Prompt: the "welcome to the family" dinner with Norma and frazie

Norma ran her hand through her hair for the sixth time in half the number of minutes. “Does my hair look okay?” She fiddled with her sweater. “How about my outfit?”

Frazie giggled and grabbed Norma’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Norma, Mia Topina, you’re being way too nervous for this.”

“It’s dinner with your parents, Kitten.” Norma retorted with a grimace. “I have a right to be nervous.”

“Norma, you’ve known me and the other Aquatos for almost a year now. “It’s not like we never had dinner together before.”

“I know, it’s just …when your dad came over the other day to invite me, I sensed …something about him. “

Frazie tilted her head. “Like what?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t read his mind.” Norma said with a shrug and a very matter-of-fact tone in her voice. “But he felt …giddy when I accepted. I think your family is up to something.”

Frazie giggled. “Oh, I know they’re up to something.”

Norma gave her girlfriend a suspicious look. “And you know this …?”

“Because they didn’t tell me anything.” Frazie answered with a big grin, which made Norma roll her eyes.

“And you really know nothing about what is gonna happen?”

“Norma, darling, love of my life, in all the time that you have known me, have I ever kept a surprise my family, or our friends had for you for myself?”

Norma grinned. “Not really. You either acted really weird which would make me suspicious and got to the bottom of things …or you just plainly told me.”

Frazie barked out a laugh, a heavenly sound to Norma, and threw her arm around her girlfriend. “And they didn’t tell me about today’s dinner at all, so …they are up to something.” She planted a kiss on Norma’s cheek. “But don’t worry, I’ll be there to protect you.”

“I know you will.” Norma replied, wrapping an arm around Frazie’s waist.

If you were a friend – or even better: a girl-or boyfriend of an Aquato – you always get the warmest welcome from the Aquato parents, but when Donatella pulled in Norma for a hug, the latter could sense …something from the prima ballerina. A sense of …excitement and anticipation. And she noticed that Frazie had sensed it as well. Ever since they’ve gotten together, their bond has gotten closer and closer, and Norma was convinced they were connected in more ways than one.

Like any other time that Norma went over to the Aquatos to share dinner, her knowledge of foreign culinary differences was put to the test. she wouldn’t even try to pronounce any of the dishes that were served to her. The one thing she knew about it …it was delicious and made with a lot of love. And maybe a bit too much salt, but she wisely kept that little titbit to herself, as not to insult her host.

But as time progressed, Norma was more and more than convinced that something was gonna happen and she didn’t need to have her Psychic powers to confirm her suspicions. Augustus and Donatella kept throwing each other these little smiles. Dion kept glancing at her and Frazie, having this weird little smirk on his lips. And then there was the fact that the youngest Aquato kids couldn’t keep giggling.

Eventually, Frazie let out a loud sigh. “Okay, I’ve reached a limit. What are you guys’ planning don’t try to pretend you’re not, because you guys are so obvious.”

Norma couldn’t help but to smirk at her girlfriend.

Donatella giggled. “Can’t get anything past you, eh, Francesca?” The latter blushed when Norma giggled at the use of her full name.

Augustus chuckled. “Well, we wanted to wait until after dinner, but this seems as good a time as any.” He turned to his wife and nodded. Donatella stood up, walked over to her and her husband’s tent for a short moment and soon emerged again, holding a small package, which she handed over to Norma.

Norma gave the package a long look, tilting it from side to side. “What’s this?”

Mirtala jumped on her chair. “It’s a gift. Open it! Open it!”

Dion pushed his littlest sister back on her seat. “Sit down before you crash the table again.”

The bespectacled psychic ripped the paper open …and gasped when she saw what was in it. Next to her, Frazie made a similar sound and Norma could feel combination of surprised happiness and warmth radiate from her girlfriend. Inside lay a beautiful silver-colored bracelet, decorated with inlayed gemstones.

“Is …is this real?” Norma asked softly, letting her fingers run over the material.

Augustus let out a chuckle. “Unfortunately, the whole thing is a replica, but it belonged to my family for a long, long time. My grandmother gave this to my mother when she was a child, and then she gave it to Nona when she moved to the States. She has kept it after Ford …you know.”

“Why are you giving it to me?” Norma asked. “This seems like too sentimental a gift to give away.”

“Nona gifted it to me a long, long time ago.” Donatella folded her hands on the table and gave Norma a warm smile. When me and Auggie had been dating for a year, she took me aside and slipped that bracelet on my wrist. And I had the same reaction as you, Norma. I was wondering why she would give me this, especially if it was so special for her and her family.”

“So, what did she say?” Norma asked.

Donatella gave a warm smile, stood up and made her way around the table towards Norma. “She said that ‘while she hadn’t been sure about me when Augustus and me started dating, I had certainly shown time and time again that her son had chosen the right person to be with. With the bracelet, she wanted to officially welcome me in the family.”

“Mom …” Frazie’s eyes turned big, and Norma felt her mouth go dry.

Donatella stopped in front of Norma and Frazie, planting a hand on their shoulders. “When Frazie told me she had feelings for you, Norma, I was …happy for her, but somewhat …apprehensive. She never had a partner before, and I didn’t want to see her heart break. And after you and her started officially dating, I kept a close eye on the two of you. I wanted to be sure.”

She planted a hand on Norma’s cheek. “But you have shown me time and time again that Frazie chose the right person to be with. In this last year, I have seen Frazie grow in more ways than one, and I am certain that you had a part to play in that. So, for that …” Donatella took the bracelet out of Norma’s hand and slipped it on her wrist. “Welcome to the family, Norma Natividad. We are so happy to have you here.”

The whole table started applauding, minus Frazie, who was just starting at Norma with a big smile on her face.

Norma felt her eyes water. “I ...I don’t know what to say. I …thank you.”

Donatella wrapped her arms around Norma and pulled her into a hug. “That’s more than enough.” Frazie quickly joined into the hug.

A comfortable silence fell over the scene.

Until Queepie broke it.

“So, does this mean that Frazie and Norma are going to marry anytime soon?”

And everyone broke into loud laughter.

#fanfiction prompt #prompt #psychonauts 2 #psychonauts #razputin vodello au #norma natividad #frazie aquato #donatella aquato #augustus aquato #dion aquato #queepie aquato #mirtala aquato

18 notes · View notes

bridgertonbabe · 2 years

Note

hi shinnie bestie i'm american and it's kind of a rough time to be an american rn esp today and i just wanted to let you know that your benophie fics light up my day a lot so ty! 💕☺️ (and if you happen to want to include a little drabble with anything benophie related that I would also appreciate)

Omg thank you so much! I'm sorry for the awful time you're going through atm with recent events 💕 but perhaps I can give you a little something to cheer you up! 🤗

I hope @newtonsheffield doesn't mind but I was inspired by her Dentist AU titbits featuring Kate as the dentist Anthony has a major crush on and keeps making up excuses just to see her. This little drabble is what happens when Anthony books an appointment on Benedict's behalf to have a check-up and when Benedict sees Kate's cute blonde assistant, he begins to understand the appeal of Anthony's constant visits...

“Ben!”

Benedict frowned the second he had stepped into the dentist surgery, the door not fully closed behind him, as his eyes landed on his older brother. Anthony slapped down the magazine he had been flipping through and jumped to his feet.

“Cutting it pretty fine, aren’t you?” Anthony shook his head as he strolled over to the reception desk and leaned over it. “Posy; Benedict Bridgerton’s here for his half eleven appointment.” He informed the receptionist.

“Yes, thank you, Anthony.” Posy huffed and rolled her eyes as she clicked at her computer screen. “You can both take a seat until you’re called.”

Anthony then strutted back to his seat and patted at the one beside him for his brother to sit. Still puzzled, Benedict joined his brother and fixed him with a quizzical stare.

“What?” Anthony hummed.

Benedict stared at him long and hard for a few seconds. “Well, Ant; this would be the part where you tell me what the hell you’re doing here.”

Anthony pulled a frown back in equal measure. “I’m here for moral support.”

“Moral support?” Benedict scoffed. “I’m thirty years old - I don’t need to be accompanied to the dentist for fucking moral support!”

“Funny, I seem to remember you bawling your eyes out the last time we went to the dentist.” Anthony raised his brow.

“The last bloody time we went to the dentist together was when we were kids - and I only cried because they got a massive injection out. Which I had every right to cry over, by the way!” Benedict hissed at him. “Now will you go? I’m more than capable of having a check-up by myself!”

“Well considering I’m the one who had to book this for you, I think I’m well within my right to stay and make sure everything’s okay.”

Benedict stared incredulously as Anthony picked up a magazine and nonchalantly began leafing through the pages.

“I didn’t ask you to book this bloody appointment for me!” Benedict rebuked. “You made the booking without even telling me and then ordered me here last week!”

“You’re welcome.” Anthony bit out petulantly.

“I never even asked you to book this for me! I can book my own damn appointments!” he argued but Anthony snorted. Benedict then leaned in closer to his brother. “Don’t think I don’t know the game you’re playing here. I know you’ve suddenly booked check-ups for every last member of the family - not to mention the multiples trips you’ve made here in the last six weeks!” Anthony clocked his head at this, and despite his composure Benedict could see the slight alarm in his eyes that someone was onto him. “Contrary to all of our teasing, some of us do check the shared Google calendar. Now tell me, brother; what’s the real reason behind your constant trips here?”

Anthony looked him in the eye for a moment, during which Benedict sensed a glimmer of defeat, but then his older brother tsked and returned his attention back to the magazine in hand. “Oral hygiene is a very serious matter, Ben. I’m merely being due diligent in ensuring every last Bridgerton tooth is in tip-top condition.”

Benedict was aghast. “This is all because of due diligence for oral hygiene?! And you’re saying phrases like tip-top? What the hell has gotten into you?”

“Benedict Bridgerton?” The receptionist called out. “Dr. Sharma’s ready to see you now.”

“We’re coming!” Anthony answered eagerly, dumping the magazine back on the table, and bouncing to his feet. “I’ll show him the way, Posy.”

“Of course you will.” The receptionist sighed.

“Come along now, brother. We don’t want to keep the good dentist waiting!” Anthony beckoned before he began striding down a corridor.

Benedict simply stared on after him, flabbergasted with his brother’s strange behaviour. He glanced to Posy, who shook her head despairingly, before trailing on after Anthony.

When Benedict caught up with his brother, Anthony practically shoved him into the room, before brightly greeting the dentist; and all at once, Benedict knew the reason why Anthony had become a near-permanent occupant of this dental practice.

Anthony Bridgerton was smitten with Dr. Sharma, who lazily greeted him by name just from hearing his voice. His brother was so clearly besotted with the beautiful long-legged dentist that he was oblivious to Benedict staring into the back of his head, patiently waiting for Anthony to notice so he could begin teasing him. Anthony only seemed to remember his own brother was in the room when Kate side-stepped him to greet her patient and offer him a seat in the dental chair.

As Benedict settled back in the chair, he raised a brow at Anthony, who was wittering away to Dr. Sharma and regarding her like a schoolboy desperate to answer a teacher’s question.

“Jesus Christ.”

Benedict turned his head to the door upon someone muttering the very same thing he was thinking. In an instant, Benedict dropped all intention to tease his brother for his multiple visits to this specific dentist, not now his interest had been sparked by the very pretty dental assistant in the doorway.

“Ah, there you are Sophie.” Dr. Sharma greeted, interrupting whatever Anthony had been blathering onto her about. “Anthony’s very kindly brought in the last of his siblings.”

“So now we’ve got a Bridgerton full house.” Sophie remarked airily, shooting Anthony a withering gaze that went unnoticed by the man himself. “I daresay the whole practice could be run with just your family as clients.”

“It has been said before that we have more family members than the population of a micronation.” Benedict chimed in.

It was then that Sophie’s gaze landed on his, and her green eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Sophie, this is Benedict.” Dr. Sharma introduced as her assistant began getting the instruments ready. “I believe Mama Bridgerton said he’s the most handsome of her sons, didn’t she?”

“No.” Anthony suddenly blurted out in a whiny voice, and Benedict had to choke back the snort of laughter in his throat from how much his brother resembled a child in that very moment. “He is not.”

“Hm, I guess it’s up to interpretation.” Dr. Sharma hummed to herself, and shared a knowing look with Benedict. “Personally I find Gregory quite handsome.” She smirked, aware of how much she was riling up Anthony; a grown man of thirty-two years. “What would you say, Soph?”

“Gregory does have those adorable dimples.” Sophie replied and turned back to Benedict and the dentist. “Though I can see why Mama Bridgerton was hyping our patient up to us.” She said, her eyes twinkling as she met Benedict’s hopeful gaze.

“To you.” Benedict could have sworn he heard Dr. Sharma mutter underneath her breath.

“I guess the important takeaway here is that you’re ranking Colin as the least handsome, which is something I’m glad we can all universally agree on.” Benedict quipped, and he felt smug when Sophie giggled in response.

“So, just a routine check-up we’re in for today?” Dr. Sharma enquired as she wheeled her chair over to Benedict.

“That and he’s got this real crooked grin.” Anthony interjected. “Women say it’s handsome but personally I think he’s treading the line between charmingly crooked and repulsively crooked.”

Benedict, Dr. Sharma, and Sophie all stared at him in light of his comment, with his brother in particular shooting him an offended look.

“What the fuck?!” Benedict mouthed at him. The second they stepped foot back outside of the practice, he was going to beat his brother to a bloody pulp.

“Jeez, tell us how you really feel.” Sophie tutted sardonically.

“I’m sure your brother’s teeth aren’t repulsively crooked, Anthony.” Dr. Sharma said in a reprimanding tone, and Benedict felt some retribution by the falling of Anthony’s face.

As the check-up got underway, Benedict couldn’t help but feel rattled by his own brother’s rude comment. He’d never thought much about his smile or the state of his teeth, but after such a harsh remark he was suddenly very self-conscious, particularly when there was a very pretty dental assistant helping Dr. Sharma inspect his mouth.

Despite being scolded, Anthony continued to chat to the dentist, asking after her mother, Mary, and her sister, Edwina. It quickly became apparent to Benedict just how familiar Anthony was with the dentist as he asked more and more personal questions that normal patients wouldn’t know about. It also explained both Sophie and the receptionist’s withering regard for Anthony, and Benedict couldn’t blame them if he was always like this around Dr. Sharma.

At one point the dentist suggested to Sophie that she put some music on. As Anthony continued wittering away to Dr. Sharma, Benedict felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. “This one’s for you.” Sophie murmured to him as the music began playing.

Benedict listened and despite the fact his teeth were being inspected, a smile pulled on his face at the song Sophie had chosen. He remembered one summer several years ago when Eloise had this song on repeat as she and Penelope danced about in her room. I Love Your Smile by Shanice was always an upbeat and feel-good song; but the way it had now been dedicated to him by the beautiful blonde dental assistant cemented it as a song he’d hold dear to his heart forever more.

His check-up came to an end in time with the song and before he rinsed he gave Sophie a nod of appreciation for cheering him up. He was then informed by Dr. Sharma that he did not in fact have crooked teeth in a pointed tone that he knew was meant for his brother. Benedict thanked the dentist and Sophie offered to escort him out.

“I don’t know many thirty year old men who have to be accompanied to a dentist’s appointment.” Sophie remarked as they headed back to reception.

“I didn’t have much choice in the matter.” Benedict groaned. “Believe me, I’m more than capable of having a dental check-up without my older brother tagging along.”

“Oh, I know that. You think the rest of your siblings and your mother weren’t all giving Anthony the stink-eye when he insisted on joining them in the room?” she smirked. “In fact, I’m quite surprised your brother-in-law didn’t challenge him to a duel when Anthony started claiming he never wore his mouthguard when he goes boxing.”

Benedict couldn’t help but snicker at this - it was the first he was hearing of poor Simon being dragged along into all this.

“I can only apologise for Anthony.” Benedict said once they were in the reception area. “I can see why he’s doing this but I don’t quite understand why he’s acting the way that he is.”

“Probably because he doesn’t have the balls to actually ask Kate out.” Posy snorted from her desk.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Benedict sighed, exchanging a grin with the receptionist before returning his attention back to Sophie and his mouth softened into a lazier smile.

“It was nice to meet you, Benedict.” She smiled up at him and pushed a lock of golden curly hair behind her ear.

“You too, Sophie.” He beamed back.

As he paid for his check-up, Sophie rounded the desk where Posy sat and began looking over a clipboard, and then Anthony rejoined him.

“You ready?” his brother asked sulkily - clearly this visit hadn’t been to his liking.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Benedict nodded and they headed for the door. “You know,” Benedict said, his head occupied with Sophie’s bright green eyes, “if you like, I could feign a phantom toothache or something.” He shrugged.

Anthony came to a stop and his face lit up immediately. “Are you serious?”

“Sure.” Benedict smiled and shot a look over his shoulder as Sophie chatted to Posy.

“Brilliant!” Anthony patted him on the back. “So I was thinking; what if we got Simon to punch you?” And instantly Benedict’s smile dropped.

“You’re kidding... right?”

“We get him to punch you right in the mouth and rush you in here for an emergency appointment - and if we’re lucky and he’s done some actual damage then we’d have multiple appointments to come back in for -”

Benedict was no longer listening to his brother as Anthony manically formulated his hare-brained scheme. He was confident Simon would much rather punch Anthony in the mouth, but more importantly than that, Benedict had a better way to go about getting what he wanted.

“Could you hang on one sec?” Benedict asked and gave his brother a pat on the shoulder. He then turned and headed back to the reception desk where Sophie was just turning to leave. “Sophie?” he called out.

She looked up in surprise but a dazzling smile greeted him as he approached.

“Did you forget something?” she asked.

“I did - your number.” He replied and shot her a crooked grin.

Sophie’s cheeks instantly turned pink while Posy looked between them with utter glee.

“I’d really like to take you out to dinner, if you’d let me.” He continued. “And I promise there’s no chance of my brother tagging along, if that’s a deciding factor.”

The smile on her face grew from ear to ear as she wordlessly accepted the appointment card Posy handed to her, and wrote down her digits without her eyes leaving his. She then passed it over to him with a wink.

“I get off at five if you want to take me for a drink.” She suggested.

“It’s a date.” He beamed back before sauntering back triumphantly to his dumbstruck brother. “You’re on your own.” He said in passing, giving Anthony a pat on the back, and strolling outside.

#requests #bridgerton drabble #molly's dentist au #benophie #benedict x sophie #kanthony #benedict bridgerton #sophie beckett #kate sharma #anthony bridgerton

100 notes · View notes