missam

[missam]

Mafia in undertale

Doopal is my mafia OC. These are doodles that I drew personally. There are so many images, so I'm going to upload them more as a reblog

[missam]

Alastor saving a fem!reader (again)

・❥ Two odd visitors and a mugging. Can’t you stay out of trouble?

| Part 1 | Part 2 |

x: he’s back!! a little longer this time, 8k words. enjoy!

That evening after meeting Alastor, you sat at your friend’s dining table, your mind racing.

Your finger aimlessly twisted that gold ring he had magically placed on your digit, as you explained what happened. The creep harassing you, Alastor swooping in to save you. All of it laid out for your friend to digest. Which she wasn’t taking it very well.

“I mean, I'm glad that demon helped you out of that, but you should have gotten away as soon as possible! Haven’t you heard what he’s done, what kind of deals people have made with him?”

You sighed, feeling a bit frustrated with your friend's skepticism. "Look, I get it, you're worried. But Alastor isn't what everyone makes him out to be. He helped me when I needed it most. Besides, who are we to judge someone solely based on rumors?"

Your friend leaned forward, her eyes fixed on the ring adorning your finger. "What about that? What if it's some sort of trap he set for you?"

You instinctively pulled your hand back, a protective gesture. "Don't be ridiculous. Alastor wouldn't do something like that. He's... different."

"Different? More like dangerous," she countered, reaching out to grab your hand. "Come on, let me see that ring. We can take it to someone to see if it’s been magically altered."

Dangerous? He saved you from someone dangerous! Yes, he was a demon. A sinner, who probably did some bad things, and most likely continues to do bad things. Except, for the fact he didn’t leave you, a defenseless nobody, to be taken off and.. you couldn’t even think about it. 

You jerked your hand away from her hand, the ring glinting in the lamplight. "There’s nothing wrong with the ring, you’re just being paranoid. It’s.. comforting, actually."

Your friend sighed, frustration evident in her voice. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. Please, at least consider what I'm saying."

You softened, realizing she was only looking out for you. "I appreciate your concern, I really do. But I’m not a child, I can make my own decisions."

Your friend relented after a moment, sinking back into her chair. She nodded slowly, agreeing with your statement.

At that moment, your friend’s husband had entered the room. A large pot of steaming foodstuff in his oven-mitt protected hands as he walked. 

“I hope you guys are hungry!” He said cheerfully, the tension in the room easing with his upbeat demeanor. You quite liked him, he had some good jokes and cared about those around him.

You smile gratefully, welcoming the distraction from the intense conversation. “Absolutely starving,” you reply, grateful for the opportunity to shift the focus to something more light-hearted.

Your friend’s husband sets the pot on the table, filling the room with the delightful aroma of home-cooked food. “Well, dig in!” he encourages, serving everyone generous portions.

As you take a bite, the flavors dance on your palate, and your eyes light up as you eat. 

“What is this?” You turn to her husband, who looked up from his bowl, face stuffed with food.

“Crawfish Étouffée! A popular dish from New Orleans, back on Earth. Do you like it?”

You nodded vigorously. Is this what Jambalaya tastes like? If so, you really needed to try it. Maybe, you’d see Alastor again, and he could give you that recipe he had mentioned? 

As your thoughts drifted back to the red demon, your finger began to twist the ring around your digit once more. Why did it bring you such comfort? You had no idea. 

Sometimes, if you put your hand to your face, you could smell faint traces of his scent, that you had first memorized when you walked side by side with him. It smelled like an old cologne, something that you couldn’t quite recognize from your days. Maybe, it was back when he was alive? 

Lemony, hay-like and grassy. A whiff of licorice. Something peppery too? You couldn’t quite place it. But every deep inhale sent you into a lull. A trance, almost.

Your finger still mindlessly caressed the golden band a while later, during the early hours of the morning. You had been sweeping the front doors to the formalwear store you worked at, tidying up before it would be opened for customers. 

It wasn’t until you heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, did you get pulled back into reality.

“Pardon me, miss. Are you guys open?” 

Turning around to address the voice, you find no one. It wasn’t until you looked down did you see the demon man. He resembled that of an imp. Dark red skin with thin, striped horns that peaked out of the top of his head. 

He wore a white turtleneck, with long white hair that curled around his chin. His eyes were unreadable, hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. They were Ray-Burn glasses. You could immediately tell from the bridge, which were curved to resemble a half-circle rather than an oval. 

You also knew how high-end that brand was, and it wasn’t easy getting a pair either. The wait for those was no joke. And, this style was from their newest collection, which meant that he had to be of some importance to get one so soon.

His posture also struck you as odd, especially for an imp. He stood tall, shoulders back, head held high. Despite being a part of one of the lowest social classes in Hell, the demon regarded everyone and everything around him with an air of confidence and assertiveness. 

It was also odd that he was wearing sunglasses so early in the morning, there wasn’t really much light to need protection from. Maybe he had some bat genetics in him?

You smiled at him, but shook your head. “I’m sorry, sir. We’re closed right now. You’ll have to come back later.”

The imp visibility deflated at your words, a frown etched on his face. You could see his eyes through the shades just enough to show them flicking down the streets. 

“Oh, okay. That’s fine, I guess. Thanks, I'll just.. have to figure something else out.” 

He backed away, as he scanned the nearby stores again. He muttered to himself, too quiet for you to hear, but his tone sounded scolding. As if he was berating himself. The demon bit his lip, as if he was contemplating something.

A pang of sympathy hit you, as you watched him become more anguished. It seemed like he really needed whatever was inside, and you didn’t have a reason to deny him business other than to follow the official hours of operation. 

Placing the broom against the brick wall, you pulled out a set of keys. The demon turned slightly as he heard its jingle, and you met his shaded gaze. 

“There isn’t really anything else I need to do before opening though, so I suppose it’s not a big issue letting you inside.”

The imp perked, a smile blooming on his lips at your words. You bent to turn the lock with a click. Pulling the door handle, you pulled it behind you, allowing the demon to follow you inside.

“That is so kind of you! Truly, you don’t get to meet many kind and considerate people in this place.”

Well, it was Hell. Being friendly to strangers was not a common occurrence. You just weren’t one of the, well, bad ones. Sure, you had some flaws, you weren’t a resident for no reason. But, you prided yourself in having a reasonable moral code.

“Don’t worry, I know what I need. I’ll be quick!” The imp promised, as he passed through the entryway. The large room was dark, besides the morning light casting through the windows.

You flicked on the lights, and the overhead lamps lit the interior of the store. There were mannequins lining the dark-blue walls, styled in different tuxedos and dress shirts. Next to them were rows of shelves, each specific to a type of garment. There were dress pants, vests, shoes, and smaller accessories like ties and belts. 

As you walked behind the black-granite countertop, the imp had hurried over to a mannequin facing out of a glass display. He reached down near its feet, a small shelf lifted from the floor. A pile of red suits was neatly tucked next to the display. 

Gingerly, he lifted to the top piece, examining it thoroughly. After a few moments, he brought it closer to his chest, before turning to you. Your hands tapped against the display of the digital cash register, readying it for service.

You looked up just as he placed the garment on the counter, your eyes scanning the suit. Strange, he was still wearing those shades. You simply smiled at him, before pulling the item closer to you. Carefully, you unfolded it, examining its form.

It was a beautiful red tuxedo, with golden lapels. Dark-red buttons, with white cuffs. It was a women’s suit, which was rare for you to see, since the store mostly marketed towards men. 

“What a wonderful piece!” You exclaimed, your tone dripping with customer-satisfying professionalism. “Getting this for a special someone?” 

The imp nodded. “For my daughter. She runs a hotel a few blocks away, up the hill. The Hazbin Hotel, if you've heard of it? She needed a new suit, and this was the perfect fit.”

The hotel that was supposed to help sinners with redemption? You’ve heard bits and pieces, mostly when you watched that disastrous interview with Katie Killjoy. You couldn’t recall who ran it, though.

“A little, but you sure do have an eye for style!” You nodded, grabbing the small tag from the sleeve to input the information into the register.

“Well, it was my sweetheart who picked it out first,” the imp gushed, “I can’t take all the credit, I'm not good at these sorts of things, anyway.”

“Do they have a background in fashion?” 

“No, they’re an artist,” the demon beamed, his voice growing softer as he spoke of his lover, “I can promise, you’ve never seen a real painting until you’ve seen theirs. If it were my way, I'd fill every billboard with them, instead of those.. repulsive pornography ads they have downtown.” 

The imp held a look of pride and admiration as he spoke, obviously having full confidence in his claim. You pulled up the item on your screen, and read him the price. It was not a cheap suit, but the demon had no reaction to the total and simply pulled out his wallet. 

“Is business running smoothly at the hotel? Do you guys get a lot of guests?”

The imp contemplated for a moment, before pulling out a large sum of money, placing it gently on the counter. You reached for it, before licking your finger and counting through the bills.

“Not entirely. It just opened recently, and, with the demons it caters to? Hah, there’s not many around here with the mindset of redemption. But, I'm going to be helping her out, supporting her with the work.” 

What a nice father, helping his daughter out like that. If only someone like that had helped you when you were younger, maybe you would be stu-

“Especially when it comes to keeping an eye on some of the.. colorful characters she calls staff. Like that Radio Demon.” As the imp spoke, you could hear the disdain in his tone, as he uttered that name. Your head shot up from the bills in your hand at his words.

Radio demon? Alastor? Alastor was working at the Hazbin Hotel? 

“As in, the tall red guy with deer antlers? Carries a staff around with a microphone on it?” You questioned him, excitement lacing your voice.

“Yes. Do you know him? Word of advice, stay away from that demon. He’s nothing but a self-serving, pompous show-off.” 

That couldn’t be true, could it?

Quickly, you placed the bills into the cash register, pulling out change to hand to the imp. As he took the money in your hand, you found it right to defend Alastor.

“He helped me out of a tough spot awhile ago, practically saved my life, actually.” 

The demon regarded you for a moment, eyebrows raised as he took in your words. He didn’t argue, seemingly trying to leave as fast as possible. Back to the hotel presumably. “Hmph. Well, just be careful, you never know with demons like him.”

You were about to wish him farewell and turn away, before his hand lifted once more. Looking down, he held another stack of money in his hands, you could faintly read ‘100’ on one of the bills alone.

“For your kindness,” the demon stated simply, giving you a wink, “I enjoyed our short chat, there’s not many people down here I'm interested in talking to. Go treat yourself.” 

Your eyes widened at his words. How did he have so much money he could just.. give it away?! You almost wanted to reject his offering. But, money was money, so you took them from his grip. 

“I-I don’t know what to say, but thank you! This is very generous of you.” 

He only shrugged, sending you a charming smile. “I am indeed a very generous person. Just don’t spend it on drugs, or anything like that.”

As you handed him the small pink bag, his shaded gaze landed on the ring on your finger, and he leaned in just an inch to get a closer look.

“Boy, that is a fine piece of jewelry you’ve got there! Very nice, was it from a lover? It really makes a statement! Just curious.. do you by any chance know where you got it from?”

You tilted your head, wondering why he wanted to know, was he planning on getting one himself? You just shook your head, you couldn’t really tell him it magically poofed onto your finger by the same demon he held negative feelings for. 

He nodded, muttering something like ‘that’s fine’, before pivoting away from you towards the door. 

“Adios!” He called, a hand in the air in farewell as he strolled to the exit. The bell above the door jingled as it closed behind him, and you saw him step near the curb, away from your view. 

Suddenly, a flash of gold illuminated the small window on the door. Crossing the room, you peeked out the large display window. There was no one on the street, even when you cranked your head to both sides of the street. It’s like he just.. vanished. Strange.

You flipped the large sign on the window from ‘Closed’ to ‘Open’ before returning behind the counter. Your fingers still holding the money he gave you, your mind elsewhere as you waited for the day to begin. 

Your thoughts were still on that encounter when the assistant manager walked up to you a few hours later. He was a rather short, plump man with small horns protruding from his head. His skin was a pale blue, his figure resembling that of an ox. Alan was his name. 

You weren’t very fond of him, he always threw flirtatious comments and jokes at you. Always insisting to join you behind the counter, or lean right over your shoulder when you worked. He reminded you too much of that creep from the streets, which made you uncomfortable.

What was up with you always attracting the questionable suitors? Maybe your friend at the cafe was right, you weren’t going to find ‘The One,’ you’d just have to settle for less.

Alan would always try and pry into your personal life, asking if you had a lover, or kids. You’d simply change the conversation as smoothly as possible. If you told him we’re single, he’d no doubt try and court you. Which made you nervous, he didn’t seem like someone who could take a rejection. 

You weren’t able to say, ‘why yes, I have a hubby of my own!’ because you never had proof. Without a ring, and the rest of your co-workers aware of your singlehood, you knew lying to him would have consequences.

Not to mention, he was your boss. He had power, and unless you wanted to end up homeless on the street, you had to keep a friendly facade with him. 

Luckily, he wasn’t around much. Except today your manager had meetings out of town, and he was the substitute. So, for now, you were stuck with him.

“Hey, you still know how to use that sewing machine in the back, right?” He asked you after you had finished assisting a customer near the large display window.

You nodded, curious about his question. In truth, being a tailor sounded much better than working for customer service. You had spent late nights slowly practicing the craft, on that ancient sewing machine in your basement. Maybe, you’d use that money the imp gave you to buy a new one.

“Well, Darlene just called in, which means I got no one as my seamstress. We’ve got a few pieces in need of mending, you think you can handle that?”

“Oh, sure! I can do that, no problem.”

It was then you heard the bell above the front entrance jingle slightly and the creak as the door opened, which caused you to turn sharply to greet the newcomer. Except.. there was no one there.

That was strange. There were other customers milling about, but you were standing in a position that made it impossible to miss anyone exiting the building. 

“Must be having strong winds or something.” Alan remarked, and you turned back to him. As you moved, you noticed the corner next to the doorway was more shaded than usual. As if a large black shadow had taken residence there. Perhaps an overhead light went out? You’d have to check on that later. 

“Anyway, I wanted to ask you something,” Alan started, a flirtatious smile on his lips as he lowered his voice, “I’ve got VIP access to a new club that just opened a few blocks down. I was thinking you and I could get some drinks and have a little fun, whatcha say?” 

You groaned internally. Not this again. How were you going to say no this time? 

“Well, I mean, um- you see the thing is…”

Your eyes went down to the ring on your digit, that little A shimmering in the light. Maybe, you could use this.

“… I’m already taken!” You exclaim, your hand shooting up to give Alan a front row seat at the prize on your person. 

“You are?” He asked incredulously.

“Mhm!” You nod your head vigorously. “As you can see, this is my wedding ring. I eloped not too long ago, hence why it’s not common knowledge.” 

Hopefully, he would buy your lie.

Alan stood there, his eyes flicking from you to the ring. Was he going to try and fight your claim? It seemed like he wanted to. Before you even gave him the chance to, you whipped towards the door being the counter to start mending.

You had only used the machine in the back a handful of times, but you were trying to become more familiar with it. Nodding, you quickly slipped into the back room. The hum of the old sewing machine greeted you like an old friend as you fired it up and began to mend the pieces in need of repair.

The rhythmic clacking of the needle against fabric filled the air as you lost yourself in the task at hand, the radio beside you playing soft old-timey melodies in the background. You continued this calm pace for a few hours, thankful to be away from Alan and the bustling state of the store.

Until a familiar static-laced voice broke through the music. 

“Hello, sir! My, what a hellish morning it is!” 

Your foot instantly moved off the pedal nestled under the table, the vibrations from the machine ceasing as it stilled. You strained your ears, is that who you thought it was?

“Oh, why hello there! How can I assist you today?” You heard the loud, boisterous voice of Alan as he welcomed the newcomer. Quickly, you left your seat, and peaked through the small crack in the doorway. 

Your breath quickened as your eyes landed on the tall, red demon. Alastor. How did he get in here? You didn’t hear the loud bell jingle at his entrance.

He sported his usual red coat, with his staff resting lazily in his grip as he stood before the demon. He had a large smile on his face, but his eyes spoke differently. He looked absolutely bored, disinterested in the man before him and his surroundings.

“I’m simply here to adjust some wear-and-tear on my suit,” he remarked, “as you can see, my sleeve has taken quite the nasty wound.”

He lifted up his arm, displaying a tiny piece of missing fabric from the cuff. It was a clean slice, as if someone had taken a knife and barely nicked it. Nasty wasn’t exactly how you’d describe it, more like itty bitty. 

“If I may..” Alan leaned in slightly, reaching out to inspect the tear. 

Alastor only pulled his arm back, rejecting the gesture with a subtle yet firm movement.

“I prefer to handle my own attire, thank you,” Alastor stated, his voice carrying a hint of disdain as he withdrew his sleeve from Alan’s reach. His smile widened further, as he stared at the demon. 

Your boss recoiled slightly, taken aback by Alastor’s abrupt refusal. “Oh, of course. My apologies,” he stammered, attempting to regain her composure, “but not to worry, sir! We’ve got fabrics that match and a seamstress to do the work. Let me go grab her for you, I'll be right back!”

You saw Alan turn in your direction, and you backed away from the door. Your heart raced as you realized you were going to actually be face to face with Alastor again. How would he react to your presence?

You shot into your seat, spinning around towards the machine. You stepped on the pedal, and the machine hummed to life once more. The door opened, and Alan poked his head in.

“Hey, there’s a customer who needs some assistance. Get out here.”

His head disappeared from view, leaving you alone once more. Exhaling a large breath to ease your nerves, you rose from your seat. Quickly, you walked over to the door and gripped the handle tightly. Another deep breath, and you pulled it open gingerly before taking a step outside. 

Your boss was back beside Alastor, who towered over the man. As you slowly entered the room, Alastor’s eyes moved to you. They lit up with interest, the smile seeming to shrink slightly. The crooked edges on his smile softened too, appearing more genuine as he regarded you.

“Ah, there you are, my dear! I was hoping to find you here.” Alastor called to you. He stepped right past Alan, completely ignoring his presence as he strode up to you. 

As he closed the distance, you became awfully aware of how fast your heart was beating inside your chest. That smell of lemons and licorice hit your nose as he stood before you, and it eased your nerves as you took a quick inhale of breath. 

He turned, allowing Alan to see both of your faces as he slowly reached out to take your hand. His thumb gently grazed against the gold band and it spun slightly. Your breath hitched at his touch.

“It is so nice to be able to visit my dear wife at her place of work,” Alastor started, his gaze shooting to Alan as he spoke, “and, to meet her lovely coworkers! A pleasure indeed.” 

Did he hear you telling Alan about your ring? He couldn’t have, but there seemed to be no other reason for him to bring up the whole marriage farce.

Alastor turned back to you, finger still softly caressing your hand as he turned his attention to his sleeve. 

“It appears I’ve gotten into another miscommunication with an overly confident adversary, similar to what I spoke to you about before. Would you care to assist me, my love?” 

Your eyes momentarily snapped to Alan, who had turned a paler shade as he watched Alastor’s actions. Now, he was finally seeing who your ‘husband’ was. It appeared to be quite a shocker for the demon.

Your gaze flicked back to Alastor, who stood next to you. That grin of his hiding whatever emotions he was feeling as he slowly released your grip, indicating for you to lead him away.

“Thank you for coming to visit, Alastor. I can stitch that up for you, you’ll just need to let me take it for a bit.” You smiled at him, doing your best to play the part with professionality. What, were you supposed to just start calling him pet names like ‘honey’ and ‘babe’?

“I think I'd prefer keeping it on.” Alastor said curtly, adjusting his collar.

He wanted to still be wearing it while you fixed it? That meant you couldn’t use the sewing machine, without risking injury to him. 

“… I suppose you can just follow me, then.” You replied, turning away as you beckoned him towards the back room. 

Alan didn’t follow the two of you, maybe Alastor’s comments threw him off. You hoped they did, you had enough of that guy for one day. 

You opened the dark gray door, pulling it wide so Alastor could follow behind. The back room was a cozy nook from the busy establishment, half of it transformed into a makeshift tailoring nook. A small step stool nestled among tall mirrors allowed a multi-angle look for customers getting a fitting.

Rolls of fabric lined orderly shelves nearby, accompanied by an array of sewing essentials. In the corner, a small table and chair housed the ancient sewing machine. You walked forward, before realizing 

“Oh, i’m sorry, I don’t have another chair. Let me go get one!” You pivoted to go find a spare, but Alastor only lifted his hand in a sweeping motion, brushing off your attempt.

“Not to worry, my dear! I’ve got it under control.”

He reached a hand forward, gripping the air like he was grabbing the top of the backrest of a chair. He tugged at the air, and a plume of green smoke wafted from his fingertips as he pulled a wooden chair from the smoke.

You stared, mesmerized as he dragged it next to your seat. He gingerly lowered himself, and plopped into the chair. That had to be powerful magic, for him to be able to produce such an object easily from thin air. Just like he did with the seasoning.

Quickly, you gathered the necessary essentials to begin fixing his garment. A couple of needles, some dark red thread, and multiple fabrics that you seemed the closest to his suit’s color. 

While you collected the items in a small bin, Alastor sat comfortably behind you. His nails clicking against his cane rhythmically as the music from the radio filled the room. 

He hummed softly along to the melody, obviously familiar with the tune playing. You had heard it before, a classic rendition of ‘Once In A While’ by Lennie Hayton. It was a softer tune, and an orchestral piece that allowed you to drift into a comfortable lull. 

As you carried the bin back to your seat, you nestled in beside him. There was a small distance between the two of you, your knees a few inches from grazing each other.

“May I?” You asked, holding out your hand to take his sleeve. You thought Alastor was going to react negatively to the gesture, like he did with Alan. Instead, he carefully reached out his arm, allowing you to pull his sleeve down to the surface of the table. 

You tried very hard not to touch his skin, as you adjusted the tear on his cuff to face you. Grabbing a few pieces of fabric, you began to hold them next to his sleeve, attempting to find the perfect match.

“So, what happened this time? Surely, not that snake demon from before.” You spoke, trying to spark conversation with your ‘husband’.

“Ha, I’m glad you do remember our last conversation! I was worried you'd forgotten as the days went by.” Alastor started, sinking deeper into his seat. He placed his cane against the table, 

‘Of course, I'd remember,’ you thought, ‘I can’t get you out of my head, no matter how I try.’

“I had found myself in a rather lively discussion with a particularly vexing imp. Tiny thing, but full of mischief and malice. Managed to get itself tangled in my grip during our little altercation.” He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “I must say, it put up quite the fight for something no larger than a rat. But fear not, I emerged victorious, albeit with a few battle scars.” 

Alastor gestured towards the tear on his sleeve, his eyes sparkling with amusement. You smiled at his words, a small chuckle coming from your throat as you pulled another piece of fabric to his cuff.

Finally, you found the color that matched his attire, and you carefully began cutting a large piece from the roll. 

“I’m going to have to hand sew your tear, is that okay?”

“Of course, my dear! Just try not to poke me, hm?” 

You nodded with a smile, before plucking the small needle from the table. 

With nimble fingers, you carefully align the edges of the fabric, pinching them together to ensure a snug fit. Holding the needle firmly between your thumb and forefinger, you begin to weave the thread in and out with practiced precision, creating neat, tiny stitches along the seam.

“I have been meaning to ask, how did the seasoning I gave you fare?” Alastor spoke, his eyes filled with intrigue as he waited for your response.

“Oh! It was fantastic!” You beamed, your mouth watering slightly as you recalled the wonderful dinner from that night. “They made Crawfish Étouffée, and it was very delicious.” 

“Ah! Yes, that dish was a staple back in New Orleans, when I was alive. Folks would gather all over to get a taste of my mother’s own twist on the delicacy. She was quite the cook, and her skill never faltered.” 

As you listened, you realized his voice softened quite more when he spoke of his mother. That static in his tone seemed to disperse as he mentioned her, and you caught a glimpse of his true voice behind that radio overlay. 

“Well, now that I've gotten a glimpse into such an art. I really am interested in trying your Jambalaya.” You spoke genuinely, your fingers still delicately lacing the thread across his sleeve. 

“I am pleased to hear that,” Alastor hummed, “I’ll have to bring you a sample the next time I'm in the area.”

Silence filled the room, other than the music that wafted from the radio’s speaker. You continued to adjust and stitch together his sleeve, very close to finishing the mending work. 

Even though there were no words spoken between the two of you, the silence was not awkward at all. The two of you simply sat comfortably in each other's presence.

Behind you, the slight crack in the door allowed you to hear the loud voice of Alan, as he spoke to another customer. Alastor’s ears twitched slightly as he heard the demon speaking, his body tensing momentarily.

“Has that wretch been bothering you often?” Alastor spoke after a moment, the static in his voice growing thicker as he spoke of Alan. His claws slightly dug into the table, a faint trail embedded in the wood.

“Well, he doesn't treat me like that succubus did. But, he does not drop the subject of us becoming romantically involved. It gets.. uncomfortable, I guess.”

You sighed as the words slipped from your tongue, a frown forming on your lips as you thought of his many attempts to swoon you. Alastor’s head tilted at your words, that smile cracked even wider as you continued to carefully slip the needle through the fabric. 

“Would you like me to ĐɆVØɄⱤ Ⱨł₴ ₴ØɄⱠ?” 

You jerked your head up at his words, surprise etched on your face as you turned to him. His voice had changed, the last bit of his sentence distorting into pure static, and you almost didn’t catch his words.

The room crackled with energy, causing your hair to practically stand on end. It was chilling, and you shivered subconsciously at the feeling. The room seemed to darken as Alastor stared at you, his pupils shrinking to resemble radio dials.

“Excuse me?” You questioned, your tone never faltering from its original octane. Which surprised you, since this powerful demon was looking at you with such murderous intent.

‘It’s not you he wants to murder.’ the voice in your head whispered. Which made your heart flutter, was Alastor wanting to kill for you? That was.. unconventionally sweet. 

Is that what he did to the succubus the other night when you weren’t looking? 

“If the little oaf can’t keep his words to himself, then there is no place for him to continue to sour your mood.” Alastor explained, his eyes taking their original form slowly as he spoke, and the distortion in his tone subsided.

The shadow festering around you slowly shrank away from your seat, illuminating the room once more. That cold feeling that gripped at your shoulders vanished. 

It wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling that left you, even if it smelled of darkness and destruction. It felt almost.. comforting to you. Like the shadow was pulling you into a protective hug, the chill cooling your heated skin into a soothing embrace. 

You only shook your head, “He doesn’t need to die for something like that. And, he’s my boss. Without him, the store wouldn’t run as well.”

Alastor only huffed, leaning back into his seat. His claws left the table, and were instead enclosed into a fist, as he rested his chin atop of it. 

“At least the poor bloke ceased in his courting when he realized another had already taken that place.” He shrugged, his eyes glancing down to the gold ring on your hand.

You halted, the needle hanging in the air mid-stitch. How did he know about you and Alan’s conversation? More importantly, what were his feelings about you still wearing the piece of jewelry? 

“Oh, right. Yes, I’m sorry for still wearing it, I know it was just for that moment and it was stupid for me to think I could keep it-”

“Nonsense! Do not fret, my dear.” Alastor interjected, brushing off your worry. “Think of it as a small gift to rectify the situation you were forced into that night.” 

A gift? He wanted you to keep the ring? 

“You could even go as far as to perceive it as a good luck charm, ha-ha. Trouble seems to never escape you, and if this ring can even give you an ounce of protection, why not keep it on to ensure nothing like that night happens again?”

You smiled at him, your eyebrows raised as you listened to his words. A tiny ring, protecting you? You doubted it.

“Well, thank you, Alastor. It is really nice to know someone cares in that way.” 

Alastor hummed softly in response, his toothy grin softening into a lipped smile as he turned his attention back to the music playing softly. 

The thread tightened snuggly between the two fabrics as you finished the final stitch, your other hand reaching to the small scissors next to you. Carefully, you snipped the thread as close to the sleeve as possible, and you leaned back to take a look at your work.

It looked perfect, like the garment had never taken a hit in the first place. Alastor pulled his arm back slightly, turning it over to inspect it thoughtfully.

“I must say, you have such talent with a needle and thread! When you told me you worked as a door girl, I never expected knowledge of tailoring to be in your resume as well!” 

Your cheeks heated as his compliment, and you began to slowly stand from the seat. For a moment, you wished there was something else wrong with his coat that you could fit. If only to keep him here a little longer.

What a selfish thought. You silently reprimanded yourself for such thinking, Alastor had no doubt better things to do than sit here and chit chat with a powerless nobody like you.

Alastor also left his chair, and he adjusted his collar. He gripped his cane, straightening his posture as he turned to you. 

“It seems every time we’re together, our conversations are never dull. Thank you for assisting me, I’d love to continue our talks but it appears I have other business to attend to.” 

“Back at the hotel?” You asked, as you walked with him to the doorway.

Alastor stopped in his tracks, his eyes widened slightly at your words. He tilted his head at you. “Forgive me, my dear, but I do not remember telling you such a thing. Where did you hear that from?”

Fuck. He never had told you about his place of work, and you writhed slightly under his stare as you tried to come up with an explanation.

“Oh, it’s just an imp had come in this morning, buying a tuxedo for his daughter. He said she ran the Hazbin Hotel. He also said you worked at the hotel too.”

‘And he doesn’t seem to like you.’ you added silently.

Alastor’s grip around his cane tightened, and his smile widened as he thought for a moment. A small chuckle escaped his lips, it sounded dark.

“Are you sure it was an imp, my dear?” He asked slowly.

You nodded, recalling the conversation. “Yes, short with white hair and red skin. Sunglasses too, weirdly. He was quite nice, actually. He gave me some money for helping him, nobody has ever done that for me.” 

“Ha! What a kind soul he must be. Did he say anything else to you, by chance?”

You shook your head, “no, not really.”

“A surprise, really. That imp has a knack for using his charm to bend others to his whim. I'm sure that gesture of his was nothing more than to sweep you off your feet for his antics. I’d keep your distance from demons like him, if I were you.”

Was Alastor.. jealous? He couldn't be. But, it seemed like the feelings between the two were mutual with the way he spoke with disdain. 

The imp seemed like he had someone he cared deeply for, anyway. You were sure his gesture wasn’t anything more than kindness. Although, you didn’t think Alastor would believe you if you told him.

“But, as you previously mentioned, yes,” Alastor changed the conversation, for his sake it seemed, “I do reside at the hotel in exchange for my services. Redeeming sinners is no easy feat, it needs special hands to mold such a dream into reality.”

“Well, I'm sure you’re doing a great job.” You spoke, doing your best to voice your support for him.

Alastor smiled at you, before nodding in agreement. He pulled the door open, and stepped through the doorway. You followed him, stopping at the threshold as he turned back to you. 

He lowered himself slightly, a small curtsy in your direction. As he lifted himself, he leaned closer to you.

“Until we meet again, my wife.” He spoke loudly, most likely for the others in the vicinity to hear. His voice was like honey to your ears as that faint hiss of static dispersed from his tone when his lips settled on wife.

You really did like his voice, and hopefully, you’d hear what it really sounded like more often. His eyes settled on you for a moment longer, as if he wanted to say more. He didn’t, instead turning towards the register across the room.

Leaning against the doorway, you watched Alastor stroll to the cash register. Alan stood behind the counter, and he seemed to shrink slightly under the taller demon’s gaze.

The sharp edges of Alastor’s smile returned as he watched the demon quickly ready the digital display for check-out. His pupils dilating slightly, eyes narrowed as he waited.

You had watched him leave the store, watched him stroll down the street without a glance at anyone else. That mild boredom taking over his features, like it had when he had first arrived.

For the rest of your shift, as you sewed buttons back into place or trimmed stray threads that stuck out of garments, your thoughts continued to stray to events earlier in the day. To that imp, to the ring on your finger, to Alastor and those fluffy little ears on his head.

You were still deep in thought when you clocked out, your feet carrying you out the door as your path led you to the bus stop a few blocks down.

It was a small blue sign, with the symbol of a bus engraved into it. There was no one around, the empty streets quiet as you plopped onto the bench to wait.

Your hands reached into your bag, pulling out your phone from its pocket. You scrolled through your notifications, before clicking on a message from one of your friends.

You were so deep into the screen in front of you, that you didn’t hear the quiet footsteps approach the bench. You didn’t see the knife pointed directly at your face, or the masked man who’s gaze traveled down your form. 

“Hey, you!” A voice coated with malice addressed you.

Your head shot up, and you reeled back at the large knife right in front of your nose. Your heartbeat quickened as you scrambled off the bench, the man only keeping pace with you as you backed away.

“You seem like a nice young lady, and I’d hate to ruin that pretty face of yours. Just give me everything you’ve got, and we can go our separate ways.” 

“I don’t really have anything for you to take!” You said breathlessly, your hands shaking as you pulled miniscule items from your bag. He only ripped the entire thing from your grip, throwing it behind him. 

“What about money? Hand everything over, sweet cheeks.”

You grimaced, before pulling the stack of bills the imp had given you from your person. He ripped them from your grip, before stuffing the money down his pocket.

“That’s all I have, I promise! Please let me go.” You begged, your back hitting the wall of an abandoned building behind you.

You prayed for someone to come to your rescue. Alastor graced your mind, that he’d swoop in to save you once more to save you. He was right, trouble never seemed to leave you.

This time, you’d let him tear this guy apart.

“What about jewelry, huh? I see that ring on your finger, it must cost quite a pretty penny.” The thug sleazed.

Instinctively, you brought your hand to your chest, trying to shield the band from his stare. The demon only closed the distance between the two of you, his mask grazing against your chin as he abruptly yanked you forward.

“Don't fight me, you bitch! Just give it to me, don’t make this difficult.”

His rough hand encircled around your wrist. It was harsh against your skin, and you winced in pain.

“Let go of me! I’ve already given you enough, just leave me alone!” You screamed, hoping someone would come to your aid.

He raked his hand down your finger, the ring slowly moving down your digit as he tried to dislodge it.

It was a snug fit against your skin, and it took him a few moments for him to begin pulling it off your finger. Tears pricked at your eyes as adrenaline pumped through your veins, but you dared not to move with the knife slightly pressing into your side.

Another tug, and the ring grazed over your nail as it was pulled harshly. It wasn’t able to make it past before something strange happened. 

The ring ignited in a green flame, and the thug’s hand shot away as he yelled in pain. It licked at the tip of your finger, but you felt no heat from its touch. 

You barely had time to blink, or scream before the ring exploded. It burst into a large cloud of green smoke that engulfed your figure. Shielding you from your surroundings. Energy crackled in the air, paired with a chill that made your breath visible as you gasped.

It felt like someone had reached out and gripped at the collar of your top, and you felt a much gentler tug and you were pulled backwards.

The smoke seemed to vanish, and you were drenched into darkness. You felt your feet lift off the ground, as if you were floating.

The problem, you had no idea where you were. Your heart felt like it was going to burst as you squeezed your eyes shut. It felt like hours went by, but in truth, it was only a matter of a few seconds that darkness surrounded you.

Just as quickly as it started, it ended, and your closed eyelids were hit with a ray of light. There were voices surrounding you as your feet touched on solid ground, the floor softer this time, like carpet.

The chatter stopped abruptly as you settled in place, and for a moment you felt like curling into a ball and hiding from whatever scene you had been thrusted into.

“Ah, there you are!” A familiar voice exclaimed next to you, static dripping from their words. “I was wondering how long it would be until you showed up!” 

Wait a second, was that Alastor speaking? Was he responsible for whatever the hell just happened?

Your eyes slowly opened, revealing a large room covered in dark red wallpaper that cracked with age. Gold framed the edges, and lights mounted on the walls illuminated a few paintings that filled the empty space.

It looked like a lobby. Couches nestled in a corner around a small box tv. Next to that was a small bar, bottles of liquor stacked on shelves behind the counter. 

Your eyes trailed away, before they landed on a small group of demons in front of you. Your breath quickened in fear, as you quickly scanned over their figures. 

There was a woman in a red tuxedo, her mouth slightly parted in surprise. Long platinum-blonde hair tied into a neat ponytail as it traveled down her back. Beside her, a tall snake held a hand to his chest as he leaned back slightly, as if he was more afraid of you than you were of him. 

There were a few others too, but your mind was racing so fast you weren’t able to get a settle on their frames before you eyes were bouncing around for an exit.

It wasn’t until you felt someone’s arm snake around your elbow did you whip your head to the side, Alastor’s large smile greeting you as he laced his arm with yours in comfort, no doubt noticing the way your knees were about to buckle. 

“Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel, my dear!” He exclaimed, as if your arrival was expected and totally-not-strange whatsoever. His eyes were soft, doing his best to calm you with his familiar presence. You opened your mouth to speak, even though you weren’t sure exactly what to say.

“Who the fuck is that?” The fuzzy, pink spider demon piped up from the shocked onlookers. A pair of hands on his hips as he regarded you with confusion. 

Your lips upturned into a faint smile, and you lifted your hand for a half-hearted wave.

“Um, hi..?” 

I hope you enjoyed part 2! Sorry for that cliff hanger 😭 i hate doing that but had to end it somewhere haha

and.. hold up yall…

for real?! i did not expect this my first month on this app, nor at all really 😍 what started as “just this one luci one-shot..” became so much more!

Thank you all for the support and love you’ve given me, lowkey itching to buy a computer just for writing (yes, all my fics have been written with sore thumbs haha)

HUGE thanks to @spoiled-slutt for being my beta reader and helping me brainstorm ideas for this part! They’ve been an amazing help, and you should definitely check out their works if they interest you! <3

have a great day, my swans! 🦢

—

taglist:

@the-tortured-poet @anonymousewrites @coleisyn @froggybich @chewbrry @watchinthestarz @mechanicalmari @luxmessorem @plapperlapapp @wonderlife974 @kottenox @cherry-cola-100 @the-shark-named-sharon @rae-pottah @just-trash-yeah-thats-it @corpsebridenightamare @pweewee @nijiru @ourfinalisation @anuttellaa @nonetheartist @bunnypeew @cryptidghostgirl @hxzbinwrites

[missam]

My Darling, My Honey

Alastor X Fem!Reader (Part 11)

Have a nice big chapter/part for the weekend! :D

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11

Part 11:

Did.. did Charlie just say... Alastor?

You felt someone poke your face, multiple times, all at once, "Hey, Hey, miss bandage face, you good?"

You blink rapidly, being pulled out of your stupor and laugh awkwardly, "Ah haha, uh yeah. Yup, I'm good... Haha, thanks Angel.."

Angel just squints at you, not convinced of your act at all but just sighs and says, "Alright, whatever you say, weirdo.." and then returns back to chatting with Husk.

Vaggie, who was sitting next to you struck up a conversation, "Are you really sure you're okay to be up and around already? You look like you saw a ghost or something."

You briefly glanced at the radio that was sitting on the mantle on the wall before returning your attention to Vaggie, "Yeah, being up was much better than sitting doing nothing, I thought I was going to waste away if I didn't do something."

Vaggie sighs and nods her head, "I know the feeling."

"And.. I swear I thought I heard Charlie mention the name Al-"

"Alastor! You're back! We have a new guest staying at the hotel! Come say hi!" Charlie shot out of her seat as soon as she saw Alastor's shadows start to manifest, signaling his return.

You felt your blood run cold as your suspicions were confirmed. Yes, she just said Alastor. How common could that name be down here? This is just a coincidence, surely- Of all names!

"My, my dear Charlie, you seem quite excited! I haven't seen you bouncing off the walls like this in ages!" Alastor chuckles as he allows Charlie to practically drag him over by the wrist to the group.

He sounds like a radio host...

Your breath starts to quicken as Charlie guides him over to you, his aura feels so oppressive, unlike any Overlord you had ever met before... But what made your hair really stand on the back of your neck was the static noise that filled the air as he got closer. You felt your eyes shake and your gut sink in your stomach.

What was this feeling?

You gulp and look up, eyes wide, looking like a deer in headlights as you make eye contact with this "Alastor".

"Go on! Introduce yourself!" You felt Charlie nudge you excitedly, in an attempt to nudge you out of your frozen state.

On his face, a large, creepy grin/smile- (if you could even call it that) grew even larger on his face - a feat you didn't even know was possible. You felt like you should be scared but then... It dawned on you.

That feeling in your gut dissipated instantly and it felt like a weight got suddenly lifted off your chest.

This was Alastor. This was your Alastor.

Tears start rolling down your face uncontrollably as your body is racked with sobs.

"Heyyy! Hey! It's okay, (y/n)! I know Al can be a wee bit intimidating sometimes but I promise he's not a bad guy! Well... mostly.. haha..." Charlie trails off with a nervous chuckle as she scrambles around the lobby to find you some tissues to dry your tears.

Upon hearing your name said out loud, a loud record scratch filled the air.

"Haha... ha...Charlie, dearest! My, you'd think the years are catching up to me! Was that some sort of joke? Why, I didn't know you wanted to become a comedian! Did you say.. (y/n)? That must be a mistake. I've only ever known one person by that name and they surely couldn't have ended up in Hell of all places!" Alastor chuckles, the laugh track coming from his staff warping as he hovers over Charlie with an intimidating aura- thinking she was playing some sort of sick joke on him.

Charlie whips around to see Alastor up in her face and then she scrambles back, "Woah! What? Alastor! Gods, no, why would I joke about our new guest? That would go against everything i'm trying to do here!"

Alastor's gaze darts over to you, "You see, I think this '(y/n)' and I need to have a chat..." His eyes narrow as he makes quotation marks with his fingers as he says your name.

He walks towards you and grabs your wrist with force, finger like claws starting to dig into your arm- despite protest from Charlie and Vaggie to let you go- to stop harassing their new guest because you were still quite injured and fragile. Even Angel and Husk got up from their seats at the bar after hearing the commotion in the lounge and started yelling at him to stop hurting you because it was very apparent that you were in pain with how rough he was handling you.

Then, with a snap, he teleports you and himself up to his radio tower- away from all the commotion.

Alastor slams the door shut with a fury that you've never seen before, and locks it to make sure you won't even try to make a feeble attempt at an escape.

He was powerful. Alastor knew he didn't really need to lock the door because with his power, he could vaporize you before you even thought of making a dash for the door. He did it as an intimidation tactic because he knew the fear it instilled in his prey.

Now, walking towards you, he pointed his staff at your chest, and leaned in close to your face. Strange static and symbols fill the air as he and his antlers grow in size, towering over you.

"Now... who are you really? You get one chance to make a feeble excuse before I kill you and broadcast your screams for all of Hell to hear, for making a mockery of my dear (y/n) by taking the name of my beloved and masquerading around Hell- thinking you can show up here like this to try and mess with ME- tHe RaDiO DEMON."

You see dark shadows and tentacle-like masses appear, and you stumble backward until your back hits a wall, never breaking eye contact with him- your lip quivering in fear.

"I.. But- It... is me...hun... I missed you so much..." You whisper with a somber smile that's quickly warped into an ugly crying face. The unrelenting tears keep rolling down your face, and your left hand reaches up towards his even more demonically altered form that towers over you in a desperate attempt to get him to recognize you.

Before you can touch his face, one of his hands snatches your wrist and pulls it closer to himself to examine the sparkle that caught his eye as you started to reach out to him, roughly jostling you and lifting you up in the air by your wrist as a result.

You wince briefly at the pain in your wrist and shoulder joints as he examines your hand when you remember you were wearing your ring. You never took it off all these years.

You could hear his breath hitch just ever so slightly over the static as he gently put you down and let your feet touch the floor again.

Alastor realized that the ring on your left ring finger was the exact one he had gotten for you- the one he put on your ring finger right before he buried you right the night you were brutally assaulted and murdered back when he was alive.

He slowly morphed back into his "normal" form. (Normal for Hell, that is, this was an entirely new look for him from what you remembered when he was alive).

The shock dawning on him that it really was you was apparent as he took a few steps back, still holding your hand. He looked at you in disbelief, the look of pure shock was just like how you had looked at him initially in the lobby.

Then suddenly, he pulled you into a warm embrace, "My dearest... I am so sorry for hurting you. My darling... whatever are you doing here? Someone like you doesn't belong here!"

Now, holding your face in both of his hands, he wiped your tears with the most gentle expression on his face, a stark contrast from the nightmarish demonic one just a moment ago. and you could almost swear you could see the slightest traces of a misty look in his eyes as he held you.

His claw-like fingers slightly dug into your face, but not enough to hurt, as he examined your new appearance, his gaze turning from soft into a hardened expression once again. Almost snarling, he began to ask you again, "Tell me, darling, tell me the name of the gods forsaken angel bastard that cast you down from Heaven. I will find a way to make them pay. I'll make them ALL pay for this... NO ONE will ever harm you again..." The strange symbols and glitchy auras were threatening to come out again.

You sniffled, still trying to calm down your tears, which immediately made him halt in his tracks and turn his attention back to you at this moment.

You looked at the ground, and you knew you couldn't avoid this conversation forever, "Hun... I... Before we met... there was something I never told you-" Before you could finish, you felt your legs start to wobble underneath you- the adrenaline was starting to fade and you were starting to feel some of the pain from your previous injuries come back to you.

"Please, my love, take a seat first." He guided you to a set of a table and two chairs. Ever the gentleman, he pulled your chair out for you and helped made sure you were alright before he sat down across the table from you.

You put your hands on the table, a signal he immediately picked up on as a sign to envelop your hands in his. You looked at him in the eyes with a look of shame that scrunched up your face as you prepared to tell him the truth, "Alastor, hun... I never went to Heaven..."

You swore you heard another record scratch before a quiet hum of static filled the air again. Alastor chuckled, "Oh my dear, never lost your sense of humor, I see!"

A look of even deeper shame washes over your face as you break eye contact with him and stare at his hands that held your's on the table, "It's true. Alastor..." You sigh deeply, feeling an aching pain in your chest, not only from your injuries but also from the mental anguish you were dealing with as you shakily begin to explain everything about your past. Your shitty family and messed-up inlaws. Your narcissistic, unloving, and abusive ex-husband that you killed.

You painstakingly revealed every single minute detail. You told him everything.

Tag List:

@mysticwitchcraftco @lil-bexie @lonely-burger @cherry-cola-100 @angelxx7 @mariaclarade-la-cruz1 @avitute @justhellacesome @mcrtrashfan @spookysisters

[missam]

Ch. 3 - Terms and Conditions

This is The Boyfriend Contract series, Chapter 3. Inspired by The Love Hypothesis and The Business Proposal. Azul Ashengrotto x fem! Yuu (reader). You can view this on ao3.

Ch. 2 | Next chapter

Terms and conditions, in contracts, refer to the contractual rights and obligations of a party to any contract. Also known as that long list of word vomit you skip when downloading a new game or app— but when it comes to Azul Ashengrotto, one must lay down some sort of groundwork.

A lot of unexpected things happen in Yuu’s life. A good example is suddenly waking up in a new world after accidentally falling into a nearby river upon seeing a carriage pop up behind her.

Not a fun story.

Aside from that, one of the most unexpected things she had done her whole life was what she was doing right now.

Standing in front of Azul’s office.

Floyd willingly escorted her there but left as soon as they reached the door. He gave her a toothy grin, wishing her luck before leaving her alone. Weirdo. But then again, that word alone wasn’t enough to describe Floyd Leech.

(As a magicless student, Yuu was at the very very bottom of the chain. This made her a consistent target of whoever felt like messing with her, fellow freshmen or upperclassmen. Today, however, people seemed too intimidated to do or say shit to her face, and she was sure that it was thanks to a certain rumor that spread like wildfire throughout the school.

During a joint class with a second-year class in Potionology, some students stopped stealing her vials and ingredients when she wasn’t looking, and none of them tried to put the chemicals she needed on higher, unreachable, shelves (which was a common prank they liked to pull on her, all thanks to her five-foot-three ass).

In Gym class, when one of her classmates accidentally hit her with a soccer ball, he apologized so profusely that Yuu almost felt guilty for getting hit.

In Sam’s store during a free period, when she wanted to get the last pack of her favorite Gummy worms, the student who took it from right under her nose had generously given it to her when he realized who she was.

And during lunch, no one dared to cut in front of her when she lined up, they wouldn’t touch Grim or her friends either.

“Damn, seems like being friends with a housewarden’s girlfriend comes with some perks,” Ace grinned as he took a bite of his lunch. He managed to snag one of the good items on the menu before they sold out, all because those in the line with them were too afraid to mess with Yuu.

“Guess Yuu dating Azul isn’t so bad after all,” the ginger boy added.

She felt a little guilty exploiting a huge misunderstanding, but this was Night Raven College. She will take what she could get.

And maybe… just maybe… this would help her out.)

She took a deep breath and flexed her fingers before knocking on the door.

“Who is it?” Azul’s voice, muffled by the door, called out.

“Um, it’s me. Are you busy?”

She heard a little bit of shuffling from the other side before hearing him say: “No, not too much. Come in.”

She took another breath before twisting the doorknob. He was seated behind his desk, and from the looks of it, he must have been working on some documents. He had a small stack of them on his left, indicating that they were done with, and on his right was a sheaf of papers.

“Take a seat,” he gestured to one of the couches before standing up to sit in front of her. “I take it you came here to talk about last time?”

Straight to the point, but then again, she wasn’t planning on stalling either.

“Uh, yeah. I thought about it for a bit, and…and it might actually be a good idea.”

For several reasons, the contract would get a lot of people off her back, persistent admirers, and bullies. Her friends didn’t seem to be as strongly against it as they had been during the weekend, and if they had their suspicions, they kept it to themselves.

Whatever happened during the weekend, Ace simply said that he and the others were willing to accept whatever she had with Azul as long as he wasn’t holding her hostage with a contract. They didn’t press for an explanation either, only saying that she could tell them and the others when she felt ready.

They may be troublemakers in their own right, but she loved these boys to death.

Azul had a small smile on his face, very professional, but it had a little something in it that Yuu couldn’t pinpoint, “Very well. Shall we get to the details?”

He stood up momentarily to pick up a sheaf of papers from his desk before settling back into his seat. He placed a piece of paper in front of her— the first page of their contract.

“I’ve written down the basic terms and conditions of our agreement after you left,” he said.

She tilted her head, “Did you already expect me to say yes?”

“To be honest, not really. But my foresight allows me to be prepared for any eventuality,” his face had its usual modest expression, it was as if he wouldn’t care at all if she decided to discard the whole fake dating idea.

To be fair, since it was Azul she was dealing with, she was sure he would have found another way to get the deal he wanted one way or another.

She picked up the paper and read it carefully. After dealing with his contract in the past, she learned to read all her contracts properly despite how long they might be. She made sure to look for fine prints that she might miss, just to be safe.

Once she was sure that the conditions were written correctly with no elaborate wording that may cause misunderstandings, she nodded and placed the paper back down.

“Is it sufficient for you?” He asked, “If you wish to add more to our terms, you may do so, but keep in mind that I might have to make some changes of my own as well, you know, to keep the balance.”

“The conditions are fine. However, I would like to set some ground rules, my own terms, if you will. I hope that’s acceptable.”

There was a hint of a smirk on his face, “You seem to have thought this through more than I expected you to.”

She shrugged, “it’s standard protocol when it comes to fake-dating relationships.”

He raised a brow, “standard protocol?”

“Mhm.”

“Have you done something like this before?”

“The contracts or the fake-dating?”

“The latter.”

“Nope. I just know the trope.”

He blinked, “The what..?”

She ignored his confusion and shook her head, “Okay, first of all, you will not use our agreement as an incentive to lure my friends into a contract.”

He sighed, “I suppose I expected that. You’re strangely attached to those boys.”

“You’d know how it feels if you had people you consider precious to you, outside of business that is,” she said, waving his remark off. That seemed to shut him up. “Anyway. Second, before making any relationship-related decisions, you will always, and I mean always tell me first before deciding anything. Ask for my consent, and I’ll ask you for yours.”

“Deal.”

“Third rule,” she braced herself, “no sex.”

His eyes widened as he stared at her with parted lips. He didn’t move, not even a single inch save for the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His reaction made her heart sink to her stomach, was he… was he expecting to…with her… at some point…? Was it…? Did he…?

Panic rose in her heart as she tried to stand up, “Um, I’m sorry, if you were expecting us to, uh, you know, then I’m afraid I can’t—“

“No!” Life returned to him in an instant, “No, no it’s nothing like that. I was just... surprised. I didn’t think it would be important enough to bring it up.”

Oh… then maybe she was the weirdo here.

“S-Sorry… I was just—“

He shook his head, “No, it’s alright. You’re straightforward. I wouldn’t want to do anything that made you uncomfortable. Terms like that are important for setting up mutual agreements after all…” he coughed into a gloved fist. “You just surprised me, apologies.”

His awkward movements weren’t hard to miss, the professional persona he had built up in front of her crumbled, and all that was left was an awkward 17-year-old boy.

He then nodded firmly, “Okay, no sex.”

And, well, it is awkward, because she’s sitting in his office alone with him, talking about sex. Of all things.

“Yes, no sex,” she repeated.

Okay. Don’t think about it. Back to the rules.

“Anyway, uh fourth rule— or whatever. It’s not really a rule, but you can hold me accountable for it: during the duration of our agreement, I won’t date anyone else. Like real real dating. You know, to make it believable. I don’t do real dating anyway.”

He simply stared at her.

“Uh! But you can date others if you’d like!” She hastily added, “Just— just not on campus or anywhere anyone can see, you know. It’ll look…kind of stupid.” I’ll look kind of stupid.

He shook his head, “No, it’s fine. I don’t exactly have the time for romantic relationships anyway. I won’t date anyone either.”

“Okay, cool cool.”

“Anything else?”

“One last rule,” and the most important one.

He nodded, staying silent to let her continue.

“We must never fall in love with each other.”

Something changed within Azul when those words left her mouth. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was, but even though the only thing that changed outwardly was the way his eyes widened a fraction, something with his atmosphere, his being, wavered.

It’s like the way the music changes-- when the vibe of the song changes the atmosphere. It’s the way the air shifts when you realize the rain is about to fall, the way it goes from hot to damp.

It’s weird, but it’s there.

“Pardon?” He finally spoke.

“I know it sounds weird, but… well, I feel like it’s necessary to say it, as unlikely as it is to happen,” she replied.

It wasn’t as though Azul was unattractive, the complete opposite actually. She knew that in the future, he’d find someone for him, but they were in the present. Right here, right now.

Right now isn’t the time for her to fall in love, not when she has to go home.

Right here isn’t the time for him to fall in love, he has big ambitions and she knew that he wasn’t going to allow anything to stop him.

Right here, right now, isn’t the time for the both of them.

“Don’t fall in love with me, and I won’t fall in love with you,” she said. “If any of us starts feeling anything akin to love for each other, we must terminate the contract immediately.”

“Understandable,” he said, pushing up his glasses. They reflected the light well enough that she couldn’t see his eyes for a moment. “No falling in love.”

“No falling in love,” she nodded.

“Are those all?” He asked.

“Yup! All five of my terms. Well, if you can even call them that… uh, is there anything else you want to add?”

“No. I’ve already put down what I wanted, which is everything you’ve initially read.”

“And you’ll consider my terms and conditions?”

“There’s no consideration needed. A contract is a contract, therefore I must obey everything we agreed on.”

“You’re…weirdly compliant with this.”

“It’s a mutual contract, is it not?” He said questioningly, “While I don’t need to use my signature spell, a contract is a contract.”

And he stays true to them… 

“Alright! Then I must keep up my end of the bargain. So how should we go about this? Should we start getting coffee together or something?”

“Coffee? Like coffee dates?” He asked.

“Oh? So you’re familiar with them? Have you ever had a coffee date, Azul?” She asked teasingly.

He frowned, “You know full well I haven’t.”

“I know. I was kidding,” she giggled, “it’s nothing to be ashamed of either. Well, unless you were me on my first date.”

He raised a brow, looking rather interested, “Oh? Sounds like a nice conversation topic--" he smirked, "--for a date."

“Well too bad, there are other more interesting topics,” she rolled her eyes, “when are you free? Since you’re a housewarden, your mornings must be packed.”

“We can have coffee and breakfast together in the cafeteria on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Occasionally Fridays too, but I will have to contact you on that every now and then,” he explained.

“Tuesdays and Thursdays then,” she said with a smile, "And maybe Fridays."

“Is that a deal?” He extended his hand.

With a deep breath, Yuu took his hand. His fingers wrapped around hers like tendrils, and he shook them, firmly and gently.

She noticed they were warm, big, and...... gloveless.

“It’s a deal.”

[missam]

Daddy's baby

Balam was happily letting a tiny Clara climb all over him like he was some kind of mountain as he read a book to a sleepy little Alice and Iruma. Both boys snuggled together on his lap. Honestly, you were trying desperately not to squeal.

How was it again that this demon was single before you came along? He should have had five, if not six, little ones of his own with another on the way at this point. And that was at least!

By all accounts, he should have had a harem at this point! Demons were blind! You huffed as you watched him carefully tucking in the two boys while he carefully held a now squirming Clara.

A baby Jazz sat in your lap coloring, and you cooed happily over his scribbles. How was it that 4 out of your 13 children had been reduced to toddlers? Funny story...

Jazz was working on a project with his battler, something about making anti-aging potions. And of course, that's when your chaotic jellybean comes running in with her two precious soul mates behind her, trying to do damage control. Long story short, something gets knocked into the concoction, and it explodes.

Causing you and several other teachers to rush into the room. Your first instinct is to make sure each of your kids is alright. But really, the moment you spotted tiny hands reaching for you, your brain broke.

You couldn't help but snuggle and use baby talk. Really, it should be illegal for your kids to be so adorable. You and Sullivan took many pictures that first hour before you came to your senses about returning them to their original state.

You gave Dali-San the task of figuring that out as you would have your hands full. Balam had been terrified at first, thinking he'd hurt one of them accidentally, but both Clara and Iruma got him past those thoughts rather quickly as they reached out and tugged or held onto the large gargoyle.

Which required more pictures as you took the kids home for the day. It actually wasn't that bad. Sure, they got into things, and yes, you would definitely have a mess for later, but overall you loved it.

You glanced over to see Clara and Balam now rolling alone the floor. Your little jellybean laughing as she wore herself out trying and failing to get out of her kind teachers hold. You giggled.

Jazz had slipped off your lap and crept over to the playing duo. You watched as his tail waved back and forth rather lazily as he got a closer look. You blinked in shock.

Before you knew it, your little Jazzy had thrown himself at Balam as well. Luckily, the older demon had been paying attention and caught him by the back of his shirt. You letbout a sigh of relief.

Balam set Clara down and now played with the laughing little imp. "Baby, don't jump on, Daddy." You teased without thinking. You blushed. Both Jazz and shichiro are looking at you.

You heard a clatter and groaned. Clara had escaped the room again. You rushed out to do damage control. Secretly glad for a distraction.

... You take that back. Where in Hell did your little chaotic imp find glitter? Was she able to use her bloodline ability this young? Opera was going to kill you for the carpet.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Jazz stared up at the large demon, still holding him. His tail flicked in curiosity. "Baby?" He points to himself. Balam nodded, and a soft rumble left his chest.

"Baby," He confirmed, ruffling the little demons hair. Jazz's tail now waved happily as he beamed and pointed at himself again. "Daddy's baby!"

His heart pounded, and his cheeks turned red. But who could blame him? That was just so cute! Jazz tilted his head and pouted. "Daddy's baby?" This time as a question.

He pulled the little one closer and cooed, almost trilling. "Daddy's baby." He repeated firmly, so there wasn't doubt. The laughter that escaped the small child had him feeling like he was on cloud 9 all day.

[missam]

Pretty Blue Eyes

Pairing: Azul Ashengrotto x F!Reader

Summary: Reader gets transported to another world. Amidst the confusion, you keep thinking about a certain person with pretty blue eyes.

Word Count: 2.7K

Notes:

Reader is NOT Yuu.

A/N: My mind keeps singing "They Don't Know" by Ariana Grande (from The Trolls movie) and I wanted to insert it in a fic so there! You can check out the song and/or movie, they're both great! Feel free to sing-along if you know the song :D

I woke up with all this sunlight~

Ain't got time to listen to any shade~

You sang to yourself as you strolled along the the shoreline of the beach. It was past noon, with the rays of the sun casting a bright light and the sea shimmering with the waves.

Wind in my pony, top-down, alright~

Ain't got time to let them darken my day~

You felt the breeze cool your body against the heat of the sun, and your hair dancing with the wind, as you continued singing your heart away.

So light the fireworks~

Sing like no one's heard~

Dance, it's us against the world~

The weather was great. No important matters to attend to. It was just you and the serenity of the beach. It was a perfect day. You were enjoying your moment of peace when a group of birds flew by. You reached your hand up, as if it would make you sprout wings and take flight. Yet, it did not happen, for it was nothing more than wishful thinking. You laughed at your own thoughts as you lowered your hand and continued to stare into the ocean, letting out another sigh.

Soon, the sun began to set. You soaked in the view as the vibrant sky changed to a mix of yellow and red, before turning into darker shade of blue and black. And as the heavens glittered with stars, you realized it was time to go. To head back to your reality.

You started to walk away when you stopped, feeling compelled to look back. As if you'd never see the familiar scene again. And so you did. Everything seemed the same for a night view of the beach, except for that one particular star in the sky that shone the brightest you've ever seen. It was really pretty, like the one from your old storybook. Like a wishing star.

Thinking you've got nothing to lose, you then closed your eyes and held your hands in a prayer, before whispering, "I wish to find true love and happiness."

There's nothing wrong with this, right?

You let a few seconds pass, as if expecting for a change, when you heard the trudging of hooves, and.. neighing? Were there horses around?

The sound grew louder and when you opened your eyes, you came face to face with a pair of black horses pulling on a black, intricate carriage.

And suddenly, the darkness consumed you.

You felt your consciousness adrift, your body between a state of asleep and awake.

Where.. am I? I was.. just at the beach. The sun had set, the stars.. that was the brightest star I've ever seen. And then.. I wished for something.. and then.. horses. I remember the black horses.. the carriage..

You were trying to make sense of what was happening when you heard muffled voices. Your mind was still hazy and you could only make out a few words.

"....help... fire..."

Fire..? Why is there fire??

"Off with your head!!"

Wait, someone's... going to have their head cut off?! Just what is happening here?!

Your eyes flew open as the upper half of your body jerked forward.

"Ow!" You groaned in pain and rubbed the spot where you hit your head. "Was that a wall or something? And why is it so dark here? I can't see anything."

You tried palpating around your surroundings. In front of you was some sort of hard, barrier. To both of your sides, you feel.. another wall? But it's soft compared to the one in front. They felt like cushions. Same with the backside where your body currently rested. It seemed you were in a confined space. And it was pitch black.

Oh my gosh. Was I... kidnapped?!

The fearful thought gave you shivers. There were people outside, were they your kidnappers? They seem to be arguing amongst themselves. You were contemplating on what to do when you heard a familiar voice.

"It isn't mine! I've never seen that creature before in my life!"

Yuu?! If Yuu is here, then that means..

"YUU!!" You screamed with all your might and bashed your hands against whatever trapped you to make some noise, hoping to be heard. "YUU, IT'S ME, Y/N! I'M TRAPPED!! PLEASE HELP ME!!"

"Y/N?! Y/N, where are you?!" Your friend Yuu asked worriedly, searching around for you.

You felt relieved that they heard you. There were other voices in the background, but it didn't matter. What mattered was your friend was there.

"I'm here! Wherever here is!" You continued to shout and make noises, thrashing against the material. "Are you okay there outside? I don't know what's hap-" You tried to use your whole body to push against the barricade when it burst open, flooding the darkness that enclosed you with light, and making you.. fall?!

Was I off the ground?!

The sudden brightness made you shut your eyes close as you screamed at the fear of crashing onto the ground. But it never came.

Something was holding you. Or.. was it someone?

You opened your eyes slowly, before widening in surprise. A handsome face greeted you, framed by short, light gray hair and some strands twirling on his left side. A beauty mark rested near his lip, also on the left side. But what really caught you in surprise were behind a pair of glasses perched on his nose - his eyes. You gaze at the most mesmerizing shade of blue eyes you have ever seen. Eyes that mirrored his soul, showing and hiding so many emotions. It was like the ocean. Turbulent and serene at the same time. One you wouldn't mind drowning yourself into.

Suddenly, there was a click. A zing.

Thump. Thump.

A feeling came up. And everything felt like it was meant to be. Your heart throbbed so fast. Your face flushed with warmth and tinged pink. Your mind in sync with your heart, singing..

I woke up to pretty blue eyes~

Such a lovely, gorgeous ocean shade~

It felt like you were in a bubble space. Only the two of you existed. Full of warmth. Heart-tingling. So magic-

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Even his voice is so cool and suave.

"Oh- Ah! Uhmm.. yes?" Your nerves were getting the best of you.

"You're.. not sure?" He raised an eyebrow at your response.

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean.. uhmm.. yes! Yes, I'm alright! Positive! I'm sure! I'm fine!" You fumbled with your words.

Oh my gosh. I just keep embarrassing myself.

He let out a chuckle, clearly amused with your answer. "If you say so. Do you think you can stand? Shall I let you down, now?" The young man was still holding you in his arms.

"Oh! Yes, yes of course," you said, still feeling flustered.

He slowly set you down on the ground, checking if you could stand by yourself, before letting go.

"Uhmm.. thank you, by the way," you said softly with a gentle smile.

"Well, I couldn't just let you fall to the ground so I just did what any gentleman would," he said modestly. You opened your mouth, wanting to speak more with him, when a voice interjected.

"Y/N!!"

You turned your head immediately to where the voice came from, and saw your friend rushing to you, stopping at your side.

"Yuu! You're here!" You stepped towards your friend and gave him a quick hug. "You're okay!"

"I should be the one saying that! You falling out from up there gave me quite a scare, you know? I'm glad you're alright, though," he sighed, relieved.

"Well, this is most unusual!" A man wearing a half-mask that appears to be a raven came to view. "First, a magicless person was summoned here. Then, a beast unceremoniously strutted in, spewing fire everywhere, and now, though I do not mean to be rude but, a young female? To Night Raven College?"

What's with the stress on female? Also, Night Raven College? So, this was actually a school?

"Might I ask if you remember anything prior to arriving here?" He carried on.

You briefly described what you recalled. One minute you were at the beach. The next, you saw the horses with the black carriage. And then you awoke.. here.

To pretty blue eyes.

"And seeing as you two are well acquainted, I assume you come from the same world as this young man?" He said referring to your friend Yuu.

You nodded at his question.

"So now, we have not one, but two magicless people summoned by the dark mirror! This is quite a predicament. Throughout all the years I facilitated this school as Headmaster, the mirror has never erred. Not once!"

"She is different," a deep voice boomed, coming from the strange mirror at the center of the room. "I sense an aura. But it is... ever changing. She is suitable, and at the same time, not suitable, to any dorm. She is.. unique."

"Are you saying she possesses magic?" The person with the mask inquired, to which the magic mirror agreed to.

What? Magic?

"I'm sorry. I'm confused. What magic are you exactly talking about? Like, in the movies? In TV shows?" You said bewildered.

The Headmaster closed his eyes, face held by his fingers in a thinking pose. "Hmmm.. This will be a long discussion. But fret not!" He opened his eyes and mustered a smile. "Since I am such a kind-hearted and generous Headmaster, the three of us shall figure this out! In the meantime, Housewardens! Please escort your new students to your respective dorms."

You hear a number of responses before people started dispersing out of the room by faction. Your eye caught sight of your mysterious savior leading his group of students.

So he's a Housewarden? I don't know what that is exactly, but he seems to be like a leader of some sort? Well, he does have that charismatic and powerful aura. He must be very impressive to get that position.

...oh my gosh. I just embarrassed myself in front of someone like him. I didn't even give him a proper thank you! I should find him later.

You felt a hand on your shoulder, shaking you out of your thoughts. "Y/N? Are you okay? You look pretty dazed."

"Oh! Hehe. I'm fine, sorry for zoning out. I was just.. thinking! A bit overwhelmed, I guess," you reasoned out, chuckling nervously.

The masked person, who you now know as Headmaster Crowley, then led you and your companion somewhere else to discuss about your current situation. As you followed in their steps, your mind keeps reeling back to a certain someone.

Just a peek. Maybe he's still there?

You looked back. And sure enough, he was still there. Gazing back at you.

And the feeling was there again.

Thump. Thump.

"Y/N, come on. You might get lost."

You teared your eyes off of your captivating savior with the blue eyes, the warmth settling on your cheeks again. "Coming!" You said as you jogged after Yuu to catch up to his pace, mind still preoccupied.

Do I.. was that.. love at first sight?! No, it couldn't be, right? A crush, maybe? So.. does that make it a.. crush at first sight?

You definitely had a lot to think about. So much for a perfect day.

Somewhere else, after dormitory orientation..

"Hehehe~ You seem to be lost in your thoughts, Azul. Whatchu thinking about? Or rather, who are you thinking about? Is it the pretty girl? Are you that interested in her? Do you like her that much~? You do keep looking back at her," Remarked teasingly by a tall, teal-haired person with a black strand on his right side, who was sitting in a chill, laid-back manner.

"What are you talking about? I was thinking about tomorrow's agenda. And.. I was only making sure she was alright. I'm sure she must still be in shock, especially coming in from another world. As Housewarden of Octavinelle, I was just being a gracious man. That's all," The boy with the blue eyes, named Azul, rebutted. Lips frowning in annoyance, as he put down his paperwork to glare at the person.

"Azul is right. As Housewarden of the dorm founded on the spirit of benevolence, I am sure he was just aiding the lovely girl," said another teal-haired person, the black strand located on his left side. "Though, I can't say the same for his.. love at first sight moment." A teasing grin etched on his face.

"Not you too, Jade!" Azul said agitated, shifting his glare to the other person standing by his desk. However, Azul couldn't hide the reddening on the tips of his ears.

"Hahahaha! Look at him Jade!" Floyd laughed, as did his look-alike. The two obviously entertained.

"Enough of this! We should focus on other matters," Azul declared. "It's only the begining of the school year, but we have a lot of work to do." Azul's tone of voice changed, from flustered and annoyed, to one with brimming with power, smirking with confidence. His cerulean eyes, ever so sharp and calculating, darkened a shade with greed. "You know what to do."

The twins gave a menacing grin before responding, "Yes, boss."

You finally get to rest after the whole fiasco of being transported to another world called Twisted Wonderland. Yuu was sleeping in another room together with Grim, the beast that blew fire at the ceremony earlier (who was now your friend), leaving you alone with your thoughts.

So we're in Night Raven College, an all-boy's school for the magically gifted. Apparently, I have magic as said by the Dark Mirror, though I don't feel like I do. Then there are seven unique dorms, each with their own Housewarden.

...and pretty blue eyes is Housewarden here.

Thump. Thump.

You keep replaying the scene in your head.

I woke up to pretty blue eyes~

Such a lovely, gorgeous ocean shade~

The way his blue eyes looked at you, and only you.

Strong arms that held me so I'm alright~

Holding me close, so I don't go away~

The feeling of his arms holding you firmly so you don't fall down.

So light, the fireworks~

Sing, 'cause I met you~

Dance, 'cause I'm here in your world~

...

You covered your face with pillow, squealing.

Kyaaaaaa!! Stop it!! I'm supposed to be sleeping right now!!

"But I didn't even get his name," you sighed. "So that's why I'm going to look for him tomorrow! Assuming we're still stuck here."

And somehow, with pretty blue eyes around, you didn't mind being stuck here.

Maybe..

I don't mind staying here with you.

Azul lied on his bed with his eyes closed, yet his mind was awake. He couldn't sleep. He tried to think of anything else. School. The lounge. His schemes. Anything else, but you. Because he couldn't get you out of his head.

When Azul saw your body falling, he should have used magic to stop you. It was simple spell, nothing he couldn't handle. But instead, his body moved so fast his brain couldn't react fast enough, before catching you with his own arms. And when you opened your eyes, something inside of him.. clicked. Like a zing.

Thump. Thump.

Azul felt like he did the right choice. He did the right thing. And it felt so right to hold you close in his arms. Staring at your beautiful pair of eyes.

The most gorgeous, definitely. Azul thought.

Your eyes held so many wonders. So many beautiful things. He wants to know everything there is about you. Then he recalled your melodic voice muttering the words..

"...pretty blue eyes~"

He was lucky he was wearing his hood. Otherwise, the entire school might have seen the blush adorning his cheeks and ears. Azul sighs in frustration. Just remembering it was enough to get him flustered.

Thump. Thump.

Azul scolded himself. Focus! I need to sleep!

It was a troublesome opening ceremony. Very different from how he envisioned his first ceremony as Housewarden. The Dark Mirror summoning a magicless human from another world. The gray cat with blue flames that came out of nowhere. And then, there was you.

You, who he has yet to unravel.

The one they called Y/N.

"Y/N, huh?"

Your name easily came out of Azul's lips. So smooth and sweet, like honey.

...such a pretty name.

Azul pauses, pondering for a moment, before the corner of his lips moved upward diagonally, a smile visible on his face.

I guess I wouldn't mind having you around.

[missam]

My Minotaur Husband cover reveal!! (Created by @authorashraven!)

This is a super steamy, fluffy book about a human woman and the minotaur who adopts her. He'll keep her safe from monsters who want to eat her, and stretch her out to fit his enormous cock. ❤️

Join us over on Patreon to get new chapters and NSFW art!

[missam]

Accidentally Courting an Eel Ⅱ

author note: part 2 part 2!! You guys seemed to really love this and that makes me so happy! I’ll admit, I really, really enjoyed writing part 2, and that’s probably why it turned out longer than the first part x-x less cameos this time, but lots of Jade and this time its Azul being the only voice of reason. Hope you enjoy!!

characters: Floyd Leech x F!Reader

“Ne… Do you think Y/N likes me?”

The VIP room was quiet apart from the scratching of Azul’s pen and the soft clinking of teacups as Jade prepared a pot of black tea. Floyd laid back on one of the plush VIP room couches, his legs hanging over the arm as he dangled his earring in front of his face, gazing at it as it swayed gently. Azul’s pen didn’t stop, continuing to scrawl across the documents in front of him, whilst a ghost of a smile played on Jade’s lips as he brewed the tea leaves to perfection.

“You two had a fight not even a week ago, why would you think she likes you?” Azul queried, a small frown marring his features, but he did not take his eyes off the documents he was labouring over. Floyd’s hand closed around his earring, and he rolled over, his chin resting against the couch arm as he looked over at Azul, a pout beginning to form on his lips.

“But she bit me.” Floyd pointed out and Azul raised an eyebrow, finally looking up from his documents. “But she isn’t a merfolk, Floyd. She wouldn’t have any idea what that might mean.” Azul countered, sighing at the ridiculousness of this conversation. Floyd’s face fell, his lips turning downward slightly at the corner at Azul’s words. Jade noticed this, elegantly making his way over to Azul’s desk and setting a teacup down with a flourish. “But she still bit him. Such actions carry connotations, bold ones at that. Of course Floyd would feel a certain… Way.” Jade stated, folding his hands in front of him as he stood beside Azul’s desk. Azul’s pen dropped onto the desk with a clatter, and he looked up at Jade incredulously, “are you serious?!”

“And she so kindly repaired Floyd’s earring, without us having to persuade her to do so or claim fair compensation. She looked so pleased with herself too. And I need not remind you just how important gifting jewellery is to merfolk?” Jade smiled serenely, ever happy to be stirring the pot whilst Azul shot him a dirty look.

Floyd’s legs kicked restlessly behind him, his face blank for a few moments before a wide grin spread across his face, sharp teeth glinting as he jumped up off of the couch, a short wild laugh leaving his lips before he dashed out of the VIP room with a spring in his step. Azul sighed as the VIP room door slammed shut, convinced that he was going to have to replace it one of these days due to Floyd’s recklessness, and Jade let out a muffled chuckle that he hid behind his hand.

“Why did you do that?” Azul huffed, picking up his pen and getting back to work, the sound of pen on paper once again filling the room.

“Whatever do you mean?” Jade responded innocently, his composed smile never budging despite the sly glint in his eyes.

“If it ends in tears, I don’t want to hear a peep about it. And this better not disturb business at the Lounge, otherwise you will be the one picking up the overtime.” Azul warned, and Jade’s smile lifted, his teeth starting to peek through.

“Of course. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Life had mostly gone back to normal after your fight with Floyd.

You were finally free of what seemed like the never-ending punishment from Crewel. As expected, Floyd was nowhere to be seen during your three-day stint in the botanical garden, tending to the regrowth of the ingredients that had gotten caught in the crossfire of your and Floyd’s dispute. It wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be, with you mostly watering the plants, your biggest obstacle having to move housewarden Kingscholar from his napping spot so you could water the plants there (nothing a discreet threat with the watering hose couldn’t fix).

You had also finally submitted your potionology assignment, your partner generously distilling another vial of ginger root so that you could brew the energy boosting potion and not suffer any more of Crewel’s wrath for submitting a late assignment. Considering how insistent that your lab partner was about replacing the ginger root, you can only imagine it was a result of him seeing you taking on Floyd Leech without even batting an eyelid.

Either way, things had all sorted themselves out and your day-to-day school life fell back into place like normal. Well, apart from one difference. Floyd Leech.

He was bothering you. Every day. Without. Fail.

At first, he began randomly attacking you. But there was none of the vicious aggression that usually accompanied a fight, it was more like… Excitable and rough play fighting. And he bites too, incessantly, your arms and hands often littered in his very distinct teeth marks. He’d pop out of nowhere and some days, it was just about all you could do to fend him off, being how you were trying to lay low in order to keep your head, lest housewarden Riddle finally get sick of you and cut you down to size. Floyd seemed to delight in when he managed to make you jump, or when you smacked him with your textbooks in an attempt to ward him away. To make things more odd, after you’d got into a small altercation with another student, Floyd had sought you out that same afternoon. You don’t even know how he had even heard about the incident, having not been a physical one which was diffused rather quickly. With a surprisingly pouty expression, he’d gripped you by the shoulders, not budging an inch even as you tried your best to detach him.

“Ne, don’t go bitin’ other guys, okay?”  

Floyd’s random offensives lasted every day for about a week before he began to change tact.

Soon, you’d notice things going missing. Not anything important, but enough to be small, irritating inconveniences. For example, you’d reach into your stationery case for a pencil to find it missing, only to find it tucked behind Floyd’s ear casually as he strolled down the corridor. On one particularly troublesome occasion, Floyd brazenly slipped his hand into your pocket and took your phone, pouting on discovery that it was locked via face ID and yet still managing to somehow line up your phone screen perfectly to get it to unlock. He cackled as he held it out of reach, not reacting no matter how much you stomped on his shoes and tugged at his arms. You were one step away from climbing him like the bean pole he resembles when he finally gave it back, grinning like a Cheshire cat. You didn’t find out until later when a message from a “Moryay!” popped up with the most ridiculous meme and string of emojis did you realise that Floyd had added his number to your phone and made you follow him on all his social media accounts.

After that, you changed your phone lock to passcode only.

But perhaps the most bizarre moment that came out of Floyd’s sudden obsession with you was the nickname he had dubbed you.

“P-pea?!” You spluttered, looking at Floyd with a mix of shock and disbelief.

Floyd gave you his typical toothy grin, leaning forward with his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, pea puffer,” Floyd drawled, looking absolutely delighted with himself, “Y’know, pea puffers are real tiny. They look all cute and unassuming, but they are real aggressive and fight other fish all the time, just like you.” You gaped at this comparison, and that only seemed to please him more, remarking how you really looked like a fish now.

“I’d rather you went back to calling me guppy. Please.” You complained, a hand resting on your hip as you looked upon Floyd, unimpressed.

“No way, pea puffer. You’re much more special than the rest of these lil guppies.”

It had been weeks, but Floyd was still seeking you out non-stop. Your friends, whilst sympathetic, had begun to avoid you by proxy, trying not to get caught in the crossfire. You were at a loss about why he was so obsessed with you lately, or about what you could do to get him off your back.

“Well, that’s just Floyd Leech,” your friend responded with a shrug as you vented to her on your walk between classes, “if someone interests him, he’ll be all over them. But as soon as he finds them boring, he drops them as quick as he picked them up. That’s just how he is. Although I’ve never seen him bite people like that before.” Your friend commented, eyes briefly glancing down at your bare wrist. You grumbled and quickly rolled down your blazer sleeves, concealing the unique pinprick bite marks. Your friend shrugged again, as if that was the be all and end all of the situation. “What? So I’m just supposed to wait until he finds someone else on campus interesting enough for him to bother?” You huffed in exasperation, and your friend shot you a sympathetic side eye. “Well, I think the best thing you can do if lay low for a little while. Well…” A small smile curved your friends lips up, “as low as you can manage, I guess.” You shot her a half-hearted glare and she laughed, “the point is, if Floyd doesn’t see you for a while, maybe he’ll move on and start terrorising someone else.” The two of you entered the history of magic classroom and took your seats, and there was nothing like an incredibly slow, boring history class to ponder what your friend said and what you should do next, and if it was even possible for you to lay low enough to avoid Floyd for that long.

Having carefully formulated your plan under professor Trein’s nose, you sprung Operation Avoid The Leech into action. In the mornings, you would hurry to your classes, keeping your head down and under the cover of the bustling student body. At lunch, you’d rush to the cafeteria, pick up whatever sandwich was closest you could grab and then you’d dash out of there, eating your lunch in a discreet spot. After afternoon classes, you went straight back to your dorm with no detours, holing yourself up in your room. You managed to tell your club president a convincing enough excuse as to why you would not be attending club activities for the foreseeable future, internally thanking your scrappy reputation for making whatever punishment your club president thought you had gotten yourself into now so much more believable.

Your new routine had some unexpected benefits, with housewarden Riddle often praising your new behaviour, believing that you had turned over a new leaf and you were starting out on your journey to become one of Heartslabyul’s model students. But there was a very specific downside to your new no frills routine.

You were so, so bored.

The irony wasn’t lost on you that whilst you were waiting for Floyd to get bored of you, you were the one who was hopelessly bored, moping around in your room most of the time. There was only so far studying could take you, and looking through your social media only made you feel worse, seeing all of your friend’s stories and posts of how they were spending their precious freedom just making you feel more miserable. You huffed a huge sigh as you threw yourself down on your bed, hugging one of your pillows as you stared aimlessly at the ceiling. Hopefully, just a few more weeks to go…

Floyd huffed a sigh, slumped across the Mostro Lounge bar, head in his arms as he stared aimlessly gleaming, polished surface of the counter. Jade stood behind the bar, diligently polished glasses as he stared at his twin with a knowing smile. Service at the Mostro Lounge had ended an hour ago, with Azul holing himself up in the VIP room to pour over the day’s sales figures, giving Floyd the perfect opportunity to mope.

“Is something the matter, Floyd? You’re rather sullen today.” Jade commented, knowing full well what the problem was but decided to prod his brother regardless, curious as to what reaction it would elicit. Floyd remained silent, his finger tracing mindless shapes against the countertop. The lounge was silent apart from the occasional clink as Jade set back a perfectly polished glass and began work on the next. Finally, Floyd spoke up.

“Pea puffer is avoiding me…” Floyd mumbled, not raising his eyes up from the counter. Jade’s head tilted slightly in interest, yet he still didn’t stop polishing the glass in his hand. “Pea puffer?” Jade questioned, his curiosity even further piqued, “You mean the small, combative— Ahh.” An amused smile lifted up Jade’s lips at this new piece of information. So Floyd had upgraded you from the sea of guppies to a personal nickname, quite the honour.

“What makes you believe Y/N is avoiding you?” Jade asked, placing the glass he was polishing on the counter and folding his hands neatly on the counter, focusing his full attention on Floyd now. Slowly, Floyd sat up from the counter, resting his chin on his fist as he continued to sulk. “I haven’t seen her in weeks. She’s never in the cafeteria at lunch, I even went to her club but she wasn’t there either. The club prez said she told him she couldn’t attend for a while…”

“I see...” Jade hummed as he mulled this information over, “have you been to the Heartslabyul dorm to check on her?” Floyd’s pout turned into a frown, his mood starting to turn. “Goldfishie banned me from stepping foot in Heartslabyul after the last time.” Jade’s lips turned upwards as he remembered the last time, but he soon turned his mind back to the problem at hand. “I see. This is quite the mystery.”

Floyd didn’t respond, instead staring dejectedly at the glass in front of him. “… I thought she liked me,” Floyd finally broke the silence, “she was the one who started courting me… She bit me, and she fixed my earring!” Frustration began to seep into Floyd’s voice, his eyes narrowing on the glass, “y’know, she was even opening her mouth a lot recently, real wide. Sure, she sometimes covered it with her hand, but…” Floyd’s voice trailed off and he fell back into gazing dejectedly at the glass, until a slender hand reached out and plucked it from the table, back to being polished in Jade’s careful hands.

“Hmm… Perhaps it is time that you let Y/N know that you are courting her back?” Jade mused, and Floyd huffed, his hand falling down onto the counter with a dull thud. “I have! I bit her back! I leave ‘em all up her arms, so she knows how into her I am. And I take her stuff and wear it, so all the other guppies know, y’know?” Floyd reasoned, and Jade nodded slowly, the glass clinking as he slides it back into its place, beautifully gleaming. “I know, but I fear Azul may have been right. Perhaps she does not know.” Jade countered, and Floyd looked up at his twin then, waiting for him to continue. “It seems that land dwellers have more… Fragile courting customs than us merfolk do. It may help to be more direct.” Jade concluded, carefully watching his twin to gauge his reaction to this idea. Floyd stared blankly at Jade, and Jade knew his twin enough to know a dark cloud was starting to form over Floyd’s mood again. On cue, Floyd slumped against the counter again, a whine of annoyance slipping past his lips. “Human customs are annoying,” Floyd continued to whine, burying his face into his arm, “how am I supposed to tell her if she keeps avoiding me?”

Jade looked down at his brother, finding himself a little amused by his uncharacteristically lovesick behaviour. In all the years they had been together, he had never seen Floyd act this way over someone before. How curious. “It’s quite simple, Floyd. You simply need to lure her out.” A cunning smile spread across Jade’s lips, and Floyd perked up slightly, once again turning his attention back to his brother. “I have a plan…” Jade affirmed, leaning forwards and beginning to conspire with his dispirited twin…

It had been two weeks since you had begun Operation Avoid The Leech and to put it bluntly, it was the most boring two weeks of your life. But things were finally starting to look up. Your friends had begun to report to you that Floyd seemed to have calmed down a lot this past week, no longer constantly peppering them with questions about your whereabouts or attempting to hunt you down during breaks or after class. And yesterday, to add the final cherry on top, you received news that a random Scarabia student had caught Floyd’s interest, and he had apparently been chasing them around instead. You were still feeling a little cautious, wondering if you should leave it a few more days before deciding it was safe enough to venture out again. You were on the fence about what to do, but then a friend sent you a message, asking if you wanted to go to a trendy new café that had opened in town. With her assurance that she hadn’t seen Floyd at all that day, and it was very doubtful that you’d run into him in town. Persuaded that everything was fine, and you were finally off the hook, you eagerly agreed to meet her by the clocktower after class.

Classes flew by, and before you knew it you were waiting at the clocktower for your friend to arrive. Your mood was sky high and it was a beautiful day, you couldn’t think of a better day to go into town and celebrate your new freedom. You leaned against one of the pillars, scrolling aimlessly through your social media as you waited for your friend to show. You found yourself getting distracted, doom scrolling through videos on Magicam, and when you finally noticed the time, it was ten minutes after your friend was supposed to meet you. You frowned down at your phone, seeing no messages to say that she was running late. You looked up from your phone, confusion etched on your face as you looked around the courtyard that enclosed the clocktower, wondering if she had somehow missed you. In fact, you were about to message her to check that everything was alright, when you saw a flash of teal walking down the path towards main street. You felt a surge of dread when the figure turned to lock eyes with you and offer his signature insincere smile.

Jade Leech.

Suddenly it all clicked into place.

“Oh fuck.” You muttered to yourself, and you swear you could see Jade’s sharp teeth poking out from under his lips. At that moment, your phone pinged in your hand and a message from your friend popped up, and your feeling of dread only intensified as you read the pop-up notification.

‘I’m so sorry’ was what your friend had sent to you, but you hardly had a chance to dwell on it when you heard the familiar laugh that sent a chill down your spine. Without a second thought, you bolted.

You could hear Floyd Leech’s maniacal laughter behind you as ran around the clocktower, ducking for cover as you internally spat every curse word you knew, trying to figure out what your next move would be. Floyd’s laughter died down into silence, but you weren’t stupid enough to believe that he’d left, pressing yourself against the clocktower and peeking around the corner. The coast seemed to be clear, but now you had to weigh up whether you could outrun Floyd. The outlook was looking dismal. A small body of water cut off one side, but you wondered if you could maybe duck through the trees near Sam’s shop and make a run for the hall of mirrors. The hall of mirrors wasn’t that far from the clocktower, but that all relied on Floyd not chasing after you. You peaked around the corner again, still not seeing Floyd, and you were about to make a break for it when, out of the corner of your eye, you saw a shadow loom over you. Before you could react, Floyd slammed his hand down just above your head, surprising you enough for you to let out a yelp of surprise as he boxed you in against the clocktower with a wide toothed smile and an excited glow in his eyes.

“Found you.”

Floyd leaned his arm against the clocktower, leaning over you as he continued to grin down at you, looking incredibly proud of himself. You looked up at him in disbelief, not much room for you to move with your back pressed against the clocktower and Floyd looming in front of you, effectively crowding you in between his arms. It was rare that you found yourself speechless, your mind spinning as you tried to figure out exactly what you could do in this situation, if at all anything. So instead of overthinking it, you did what you do best.

You attacked.

“Floyd Leech! What did you do to my friend?!” You hissed at him, puncturing every word with a swing of your bag into his stomach. Floyd grunted as the first swing hit him, but then he laughed, letting you hit him a couple of times before he grabbed your bag mid swing, stopping your assault. “I didn’t do anything to your little friend, pea puffer.” Floyd drawled, looking amused when you shot him an indignant look back at him.

“Then why isn’t she here? Are you bullying my friends?” You retorted, trying to tug your bag out of his grip so you could whack him again, but his hand didn’t even budge, like his grip was made of iron. Annoying. Instead, he decided to yank your bag himself, catching you by surprise and making you tumble into his chest. “I ain’t bullyin’ your friends, little pea puffer,” Floyd whispered into your ear, “ain’t it obvious? Your friend sold you out.”

You let out a disgruntled sound as you pushed Floyd, taking a step back and glaring at him. Floyd retained your bag, looping it over his shoulder with a cheeky grin. “Ya see, your friend owed Azul a favour, an’ me and Jade decided we could help her out… If she helped us out.” His tongue poked out of his mouth as he grinned down at you, “you’re too trustin’, pea puffer, it’s cute.” You folded your arms over your chest, glaring at him. You were about to open your mouth to retaliate, but before you could, Floyd suddenly lunged forward and lifted you into his arms, marching off with you without a word, if you didn’t count his trademark giggle.

“Floyd! Put me down!” You shouted, pushing at his shoulders, your legs flailing in protest. Floyd didn’t respond as he walked around the clocktower, and you twisted, trying to get out of his grip. “Stop squirming, pea puffer. You’ll make me drop you.” Floyd complained, even if his grip around your waist didn’t budge an inch as he held you. “Alley-oop!” Floyd cried joyfully as he launched his long leg out, kicking open the door leading into the clocktower with a deafening slam. “Floyd! The clocktower is off limits, are you trying to get us another detention?” You snapped, your eyes wide with alarm. “Relax, pea puffer. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.” Floyd drawled casually, and you huffed. “Easy for you to say, you didn’t even turn up to our last detention!”

Floyd turned his head and grinned at you, and you had to lean back, not realising how close together your faces were. “Then I’ll come to the next one. Now hold on tight!” Floyd grinned, all sharp teeth and mischief, and you barely had a chance to process his words and why you’d need to hold on before he started dashing up the clocktower stairs. You were unable to fight the undignified squeak that ripped past your lips as you clung onto Floyd like your life depended on it, his laughter echoing off of the high walls of the clocktower as he bounded up the stairs. You thought it would never end, but finally a room opened up and Floyd ducked into it, finally setting you back on your feet. “Ta-da~!” Floyd announced, swinging his arms out. The room was small, small enough that Floyd couldn’t even stand at his full height, lest he bump his head on the low ceiling. The true centrepiece of the room was the curved window that looked out onto main street, and you could see all the way to the sports field. A ledge sat below the window, and Floyd took no time to make himself comfortable on it, waving you over.

“Isn’t it cool, pea puffer? I like to come here sometimes, when I just wanna chill without anyone harshin’ my vibe.” Floyd grinned, setting your bag on the ledge and to your surprise, he opened it up and started rifling through it. “Hey!” You scolded, rushing over to stop him as he began to rifle up through your stationery case. “Ne, don’t you have anything fun I can have?” Floyd asked as he pulled one of your pens out, not seeming at all phased when you slapped at his hands, trying to get him out of your things. “If you want something fun, get your own!” You huffed, pulling your stationery case and bag out of his hand and shoving it behind you, out of his reach. You tried to reach for the pen, but he held it out of your reach, his previous sunny expression falling into a pout. “That’s not the point, pea puffer. It has to be something of yours.” Floyd complained and you raised an eyebrow at him, completely lost as to his reasoning behind this.

Floyd’s expression went blank as he stared at you, and if felt like the two of you were locked in a staring contest for hours before he finally decided to speak again. “Ne, you just don’t get it, do you pea puffer?” Floyd asked, his eyebrows drawing down slightly as he continued to stare at you. You suddenly felt like you were under a microscope, shifting uncomfortably on the ledge. “What’s there to get?” You remarked, although you had the odd feeling that you should tread carefully, considering how uncharacteristically serious his face looked, “aren’t you just messing with me because you’re bored?”

Floyd pulled a face at your words. “Jade was right. You really don’t know.” Floyd huffed, before leaning forward and grabbing hold of your wrist, rolling your blazer sleeve up to your elbow with unexpected gentleness, revealing your bare arm. The bite marks Floyd had made had mostly faded by now, and he pulled another face, unhappy with this but pushing on with the conversation anyway. “You bit me, so I bit you.” Floyd stated, looking at your face and seeming to study it for your reaction. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t baffled. “Yeah… So?” You responded, and Floyd’s brow downturned just a little bit more at that.

“And you fixed my earring.”

“Yes…?”

You could see Floyd’s teeth clench together, an annoyed breath huffing out of his nose as he dropped your wrist, raising that hand to grip at his shoulder. He stared at you, brow furrowed and you were truly at a loss for what you had done wrong. You could only stare back at him, eyebrows raised as you waited for him to divulge what exactly you didn’t get.

“Those are all merfolk mating customs.” Floyd finally said flatly, and you felt yourself freeze.

“… Excuse me?” You managed to squeak out, not even feeling embarrassed about how your voice sounded as you stared at Floyd in disbelief. Floyd continued to study your expression; his lips pressed together in a firm line.

“Listen up, pea puffer. You bit me in the potions lab, and that made me think you liked me. Merfolk bite each other when they’re interested, y’know? And when I was mullin’ it over, you came runnin’ after me, holdin’ out my earring that you’d fixed with that pretty smile on your face. You were very persistent in letting me know you were interested.” Floyd explained, looking at you pointedly.

“Wait, wait, wait!” You spluttered, “what does giving your earring back prove? And I bit you when we were fighting!” Floyd just shook his head, letting his hand drop into his lap. “Giving jewellery is like, the top merfolk courting custom,” Floyd said with a shrug, “fixin’ someone’s broken jewellery is just as close. It doesn’t matter how it happened. Plus, merfolk fight all the time. Especially when they like each other, its just natural.”

You stared open mouthed at Floyd as you processed his words. Floyd thought you had a crush on him, because you bit him and fixed his earring?! You were stunned silent, feeling your cheeks heat up slightly at the implication. If Floyd noticed, he didn’t mention it, continuing with his explanation.

“So that’s why I started bitin’ you back. It shows that I like you back and it lets all those guppies know it too,” Floyd’s gaze fell back to your arm again, and now it really made sense why he had pulled a face earlier when he saw his bite marks all but gone, “it’s also why I started borrowin’ your things and keepin’ them on me, so that all the guppies would see that I’m unavailable.” Floyd finished, looking at you expectantly. You simply stared back at him, rendered speechless by Floyd Leech for the umpteenth time that day. Floyd began to frown again at your bewildered expression, and he leaned towards you as he spoke next.

“D’ya get it, pea puffer? I like you.”

Floyd’s rather straightforward, unabashed confession is what snapped you out of daze, and you felt your cheeks grow hot, a red hue painting them. You’d look at home with the roses in the Heartslabyul gardens. You fumbled for some words, your lips moving but nothing coming out as you found yourself awkwardly flustered. A smile started to curve up Floyd’s lips as he saw just how flustered you were becoming, and he leaned closer still, his nose almost close enough to touch yours.

“Ne, pea puffer, d’ya like me back?”

If your cheeks could have grown any redder, they would have. At this point, someone might as well have dug a hole in the Heartslabyul gardens and planted you there, your face putting the roses to shame. “Y-you haven’t even taken me on a date!” You stuttered out, cringing at your own weak defence, only for Floyd to lean back and gesture at the room you were both in.

“Whad’dya mean? We’re on a date right now.” Floyd shot back nonchalantly, and you almost choked on your own tongue.

“This was entrapment! Some would even dare to call it kidnapping!” You retorted, finally starting to shake the daze that his explanation and confession had put you in, “usually, when you like someone, you ask them out on a date.”

Floyd’s grin became toothy, and that’s when you knew you’d really put your foot in it. “D’ya want me to ask you on a date, pea puffer?” There was a shine in his eyes, and he seemed excited about the idea, but also sincere. You felt your cheeks heat up again and you looked away, suddenly finding the spelldrive players on the sports field very interesting. “T-that’s not what I said.”

Regardless of your complete obliviousness to merfolk mating customs and what you had apparently started, Floyd seemed very satisfied with the outcome of the conversation. He scooted closer to you, his knee brushing against yours as he leaned in very close, his lips hovering above yours for a painfully long moment before he decided to detour and press a surprisingly soft kiss to your forehead, his wild toothy grin as he pulled away a complete contradiction to this gentle gesture. “Buckle up, pea puffer, ‘cause now I’m courting you. Aha~!”

Just what had you gotten yourself into?!

Taglist:

@musclefanatica @lanxianschoenheit @red-viewe @d1gital-data @susvale @pzlqpibz @saturnsapothecary @the-unhinged-raccoon @mochiclouds @nooneknows8976 @01paige01 @honeyhivess

[missam]

Accidentally Courting an Eel Ⅰ

author note: oooops I was supposed to post this days ago but then it somehow ended up being almost 5k words?? And this is only part 1?? Sorry sorry, I hope you enjoy it! A lot of chaos here, the only one who shows any kind of sense is Ruggie, we love you king! also many character cameos as well! i hope i did them justice

warnings: Cursing, violence, reader is quite a feisty and angry person tbh

characters: Floyd Leech x F!Reader

Your world had been turned upside down when you had returned from summer break. Intent to start your second year, you instead went to your first day of the semester only to find out that your mage school was closing and being absorbed by another school. In a whirlwind, you found yourself in the prestigious Night Raven College opening ceremony, being placed in a dormitory posthaste (you found yourself sorted into Heartslabyul, your new housewarden seemed absolutely unhinged) and then expected to continue in as normal. You had no idea why your academy closed, or why such a prestigious college was so willing to absorb an indie mage academy with a small student cohort and an obscure reputation, and those questions were never answered. Life just kind of… Went on.

Whilst the arrival of new students at the start of a new academic year wasn’t strange, it was entirely unusual to receive sophomore and senior students with the incoming batch of freshmen, so there was a lot of excitement that followed the first couple of weeks that you and the rest of your previous cohort had at Night Raven College. Lots of eyes on you, sizing you up and trying to get an idea of what you were worth… And for you, that meant a few fights.

You were known in your previous academy as being quite fiery, not hesitating to throw hands if you needed to, despite being on the shorter side compared to your peers. You were a scrapper, and a dirty one at that, more than willing to bite, scratch and pull hair if it meant that you could get the upper hand. It had gotten to the point that you began wearing shorts underneath your skirt, so that you had more freedom of movement if you needed to kick someone where the sun didn’t shine. You had the most spats with the Savanaclaw dorm, growing sick of being shoulder bumped and generally harassed by the predominantly beastman dorm. After the first couple of fights and during your next, you’d found yourself thrown over the shoulder of the Savanaclaw housewarden, Kingscholar, and extracted from the situation. You received a rather stern lecture on how you needed to stop getting into fights with his boys (which you gave him a few choice words right back) but after that, you seemed to find yourself getting bothered a lot less by the Savanaclaw students. And to be honest, a lecture from Kingscholar was miles more bearable than a lecture from housewarden Rosehearts. There were only so many apology essays you could write, after all.

After a few weeks, the novelty of having new students wore off and you were able to carry on with your school life without much issue. Sure, you got into a few fights here and there occasionally, but nothing too major, enough for you to skate under the detection of housewarden Rosehearts. After all, nothing was worse than sitting through a Rosehearts lecture. Weeks blended into months, and soon you were far into your first semester, and had rather gotten used to life at Night Raven College. You’d even managed to build some sort of rapport with your housewarden, who was less on your back now that your constant fighting had calmed down.

You found yourself sighing as you made your way to the potions lab, leafing through your notes on the way. Professor Crewel had set up and assignment and paired everyone off and to be honest, the assignment had been a complete nightmare. Together, you and your partner were supposed to brew an energy boosting potion, but you had to figure out the ingredients and brewing method with only a few hints and clues along the way. Crewel refused to give further instruction apart from surveying the ingredients selected by students, to ensure no dangerous mishaps could occur, stating with a slap of his whip that the whole point of the assignment was for students to study the potion and ingredients available to them to create the potion. Unfortunately for you, your partner for this assignment didn’t have the best grade in potionology, and considering that this assignment was graded, anything short of a good pass would have housewarden Rosehearts chasing you around the dorm demanding an explanation. Thankfully, you seemed close to finishing the assignment, the ginger root you required as your last ingredient finally having finished distilling. You were on your way to the potion lab after classes now to meet with your partner to finish brewing the potion and finally be free of the assignment that had been weighing around your neck for the last few weeks.

Or so you thought.

When you entered the lab, your lab partner was waiting there as expected, but you knew at first glance that something was up. The closer you got to him, the paler you noticed his face was, and you couldn’t help raising your brow as you stopped beside him. “What’s up?” You queried, placing your notes on the desk and putting down your bag by your chair. A few other students were milling around the potions lab, trying to finish their own assignments, one of them being Ruggie, a Savanaclaw student you usually saw running around after Kingscholar. He looked rather sheepish, his ears twitching as he stared hard at his own assignment. Your eyes fell back to your lab partner, who still looked like he would rather sink through the floor than be in the lab at that moment. “Well? Are you ready to finish the assignment? The ginger root should have distilled now so all we need to do is brew—”

“Um… About the ginger root…” Your lab partner began in a small voice, and you could see sweat beginning to bead on his forehead, “I think we are going to have to distil it again…” You blinked and stared blankly at your lab partner, as if he had suddenly grown an extra limb. “Distil it again? It took us 2 days to distil the first vial! What happened to the one we distilled?” You asked, frustration clear in your tone and mounting fast. If your lab partner wanted to sink through the floor before, now he wanted the ground to just open and swallow him whole. His eyes darted around nervously and he leaned forwards, closing the gap between you so he could whisper to you, “someone… Took it.”

You stared incredulously at him, “do you know who?” Your partner nodded; his eyes glued to the floor. “Then just take it back!” You hissed, at a loss at why your lab partner didn’t just retrieve your ginger root and resolve the situation, but his eyes shot up at your words and he looked terrified at the suggestion. “N-no way!” He stuttered, his face somehow becoming paler, “look, lets just wait a few days. I’ll distil another vial, I’ll do all the work—”

“Who took it?” You demanded flatly.

“Just forget about it, we still have time—”

“Who. Took. It.” You repeated sharply, your eyes narrowing into a glare on your lab partner. He swallowed thickly, and he discreetly nodded his head in the direction of the culprit. Your eyes left your lab partner and settled on the culprit, and you crossed your arms over your chest. “Look,” your lab partner started, moving to put a hand on your arm, “Just leave it, whatever you’re thinking, it’s not a good idea—”

“Wait here.”

You brushed off your lab partner’s hand as you began walking over to the culprit, who had his back to you as he leafed through the ingredients in the potionology inventory. He was tall, towering over you even when you weren’t that close to him yet, with teal coloured hair and roughly put together uniform. You could spy what you assumed to be your vial of ginger root tucked into the crook of his hand as he thumbed through the rest of the jars and bottles on the shelf, clearly looking for ingredients to complete his own assignment. And apparently, he had decided that your ginger root was his for the taking.

“Oi. Give back my ginger root.” You demanded, glaring at the back of the culprit’s head.

“Ahh~? Get lost, guppy. I’m workin’ here.” The culprit drawled back, not even bothering to look back at you as he continued to flip through ingredients, not a care in the world.

“Yeah? Well, you’ll be working on your ass if you don’t give me back my ginger root.” You retorted, folding your arms across your chest as you continued to glare. That seemed to get his attention, as he turned around to face you. His eyes seemed to light up when he caught sight of you, a wild grin spreading across his lips, showcasing his freakishly sharp teeth. Yikes.

“Ahaa~ You’re real tiny, little guppy. Hey, why don’t you come get your ginger root back?” He challenged, a glint in his eyes that immediately told you that this guy was going to mess with you. You tried to reach for the vial, but he quickly snatched it away, dangling it high in the air over your head with a spiteful grin. “Ah, ah, ah guppy, you’ll have to try harder than that. C’mon, jump for it.”

You clicked your tongue, feeling your blood boiling at his attitude. You stood on the tips of your toes, and even then, you were barely closer to his face. “None of us will have ginger root when I shove that vial so far down your throat no one will have to hear your annoying voice again.” You hissed at him lowly, your lips twisted up in an annoyed snarl. All amusement and mocking sank out of his face as his own face darkened, his pupils shrinking as he now began to glare at you. “You got alotta nerve, guppy. Who do you think you’re talking to?”

The two of you glared at each other, and he leaned forward with menacing intent, “Maybe I should do you a favour and squeeze some sense into ya.” He said, all previous drawl lost from his tone as he threatened you now. You scoffed, having had more than enough of this guy. You quickly reached forward and yanked that stupid black lock of hair that hung down his face, catching him by surprise and using that opportunity to push him back, making him collide into the ingredients shelf, the jars and vials rattling precariously from the impact. You tried to reach for vial of ginger root, that now also balanced dangerously in his hand, but before you could reach it, his arms suddenly locked around your middle, lifting you off the ground and squeezing. You felt your ribs begin to protest as he crushed you, and you hissed in pain, your legs kicking violently at whatever you could in an attempt to get free. You could vaguely hear the sound of smashing glass, but you couldn’t focus on that. Now when he was staring down at you, a smug smile spreading across his lips as he watched you struggle. It made you seethe. You twisted and kicked, and somehow managed to free your left arm. Striking before he could restrain you again, you took your chance and seized hold of his earring and yanked. You heard him grunt as the earring came away in your hand, but it still wasn’t enough for him to let you go, so you turned your head and sank your teeth into his arm. He froze when you did that, his hands slackening enough that you slipped out of his grasp altogether, your feet hitting the floor quicker than you expected, almost making you fall backwards. You steadied yourself, readying a follow up attack when he was still stunned frozen after you bit him, only to feel yourself yanked backwards at the waist and thrown over someone’s shoulder, moving at such a nimble speed that the ginger root stealing culprit was soon leaving your sight as you were whisked out of the potions lab.

“Put me down!” You seethed, trying to lean up in your captor’s grasp, your hand pressing into their shoulder. “Ruggie?! What do you think you’re doing? Put me down right now!” Ruggie ignored your complaints, running through the corridor with surprising ease despite you being on his shoulder, zipping through winding corridors like this wasn’t his first time.

“No can do. If Leona found out you’d been fighting again and I was there and didn’t do anything, he’d have my tail.” Ruggie grumbled, his ears going flat at the thought, “and with Floyd Leech of all people! I mean this respectfully but, Y/N are you nuts? You gotta have a death wish.” Ruggie continued to spout off about how you had not perception of threat or danger, just throwing your hands left, right and centre without any care for who you were dealing with. You scrunched up your face, a lecture from Ruggie not on your bingo card for the year, that’s for sure.

“Who is Floyd Leech?” You grumbled sourly, starting to feel a little dizzy from a combination of the blood rushing to your head and how quickly Ruggie sped through the corridors. Ruggie shook his head, glancing up at you incredulously. “Floyd Leech is the guy you just rammed into the potions inventory, and probably in every student in this school’s top 10 guys not to mess with ranking. High up too, I imagine.” Ruggie commented dryly, his speed slowing to a slow jog as he seemed to near to the destination you had in mind. “Crewel is going to kill you by the way, if Floyd doesn’t first. You absolutely totalled his potionology inventory for that lab.”

You groaned at that, the consequences of your actions starting to rear their ugly head. Either way, housewarden Rosehearts would have your head, if there was anything left of it after Crewel was done with you. You didn’t get a chance to wallow, as Ruggie slowed to a stop and gently lowered you off of his shoulder. You looked around, only to notice you were standing outside of the infirmary. “Why did you bring me here? I’m fine.” You questioned, only for Ruggie to give you another stunned look, his tail flickering anxiously behind him.

“What? Y/N… Uh… Your legs are kinda…” Ruggie trailed off and you looked down, your eyes widening as you saw an array of cuts down your bare legs, dripping blood down to your socks. “Oh… Oops.” You muttered, looking a little sheepish. Ruggie scratched behind his ear, looking slightly awkward himself. “Yeah… You should probably get those checked out…”

You sighed as you turned to the infirmary door, a small grimace on your lips. “Thanks, Ruggie… Feel free to tell housewarden Kingscholar that you saved the day.” That seemed to brighten the mood a little bit, Ruggie’s characteristic smile starting to come back to his face. “You bet I will, shishishi…” With that, he scurried off, leaving you to enter the infirmary alone. As you were about to push the door open, you noticed the something in your hand, opening it to reveal a teal earring clutched in your fist. You sighed again, having completely forgotten in the heat of the moment that you’d torn that out of Floyd’s ear. Not knowing how to deal with it, you slid it into your skirt pocket and entered the infirmary.

You sighed as you trudged back to your dorm room, rubbing your head with a tired expression. You’d barely finished having the cuts on your legs checked for glass and cleaned when Professor Crewel had come marching into the infirmary to tear you a new one. You swear your ears were still ringing from the crack of his whip, knowing you’d be hearing it in your nightmares for the next couple of days at the least. You’d been instructed to attend the potionology lab after classes tomorrow to clean up the mess you’d made, and for whatever other punishment Crewel deemed necessary for however many days he deemed. You fully expected to get chewed out by Crewel even more tomorrow when you attended your detention, but that was something to dread tomorrow.

You’d survived your encounter with Floyd Leech largely unharmed, luckily the cuts on your legs not having any glass stuck in them and shallow enough that they’d likely heal in a couple of days, easily bandaged up to keep them clean. Your ribs, however, were bruised and hurt like a bitch, but again, it could have been worse. Surprisingly, another thing that could be worse was the reaction from Housewarden Riddle once you had gotten back to the dorm. He was waiting for you by the doors to be dorm, and you expected to lose your head immediately. Instead, you sat through a two-and-a-half-hour lecture about how unacceptable your behaviour was and how he expected you to apologise to Crewel sincerely posthaste, as well as demanding you write a 2000 word apology essay. But oddly enough, Riddle seemed more irked that it was Floyd Leech that you had gotten into a fight with, warning you to keep clear of him if you valued your education.

Floyd Leech this, Floyd leech that. All everyone talked about was Floyd damn Leech, like he was some sort of terror on campus. Although you had to admit, if he managed to even rile Riddle up to that extent, maybe there was something about him.

Either way, you didn’t really care. The adrenaline from the fight had worn off an hour ago, and you were beyond exhausted. You pushed open the door to your dorm room and flopped face down onto your bed, ready to pass out into oblivion, only to feel a stabbing pain in your thigh. You groaned dramatically and rolled onto your back, patting at the bed to try and find the source of your irritation. Finding nothing, you patted at your thigh, slipping your hand into your pocket and feeling something jingle. With a quizzical hum, you pulled out a set of teal jewels, squinting at it in confusion, before it finally clicked.

Floyd Leech’s earring.

You held it up to the light, watching the light shine off of the three jewels that dangled from the simple golden stud. It was quite pretty, actually. As you continue to gaze at the earring as it dangled between your fingers, you noticed that the chain that attached the teal jewels to the stud were slightly damaged. You sat up, bringing the earring closer to your face to inspect it. Huh, it must have gotten damaged when you had pulled it out of Floyd’s ear… You turned the earring around in your hand, giving it another look over whilst you mulled over what you should do. Standing, you made your way to your desk, turning on the desk lamp and laying the earring carefully on the desk, you got to work…

“I don’t want to see a single shard of glass on that floor. Do you understand, pup?”

“Yes sir.” You muttered dejectedly, beginning to sweep up the mounds of glass that littered the battered potions inventory. You had to admit, you and Floyd had done a number on it, the floor chaotic with smashed glass and spilt ingredients, plant leaves mushed together from being trodden underfoot and staining the tiles of the lab. You sighed quietly under your breath, knowing that it was going to take a long time to clean all of this up.

As you cleaned, your eyes kept flickering to the door. You weren’t the only one who was supposed to be cleaning up this mess. Floyd was supposed to be here too. However, he had yet to turn up, so the lion’s share of the work was currently left to you. Crewel sat at his desk, grading alchemy papers whilst keeping an eye on your progress, probably to heckle you if your progress slowed. Your ribs still throbbed dully, protesting every time you bent at the waist to retrieve a particularly hefty chunk of glass, Crewel peering over at you occasionally to make sure you didn’t cut yourself any more than you already were. You could only hope you could get this done quickly so you could leave.

After what felt like hours, you had finally cleaned all the glass and ingredients off the floor, the process taking longer than you anticipated after Crewel insisted that you disposed of the spoiled ingredients properly, and then scolding you for yipping and giving you an impromptu lecture on correct ingredient disposal methods. You were about to pull of your gloves when Crewel once again appeared in front of you, a large cardboard box in his arms that he placed on a nearby desk.

“You’re not finished yet, pup. I expect you to arrange the new ingredients onto the shelves in proper order.” Crewel instructed, and you felt yourself grimace before you could stop yourself.

“Do I have to? Can’t Floyd do it? I cleaned up the entire floor!” You complained, deciding to push your luck anyway. Crewel looked around the room, an eyebrow raised before his eyes fell back on you.

“Do you see Leech anywhere?” Crewel said, and you could tell by his tone that you’d already lost. Why did he have to be so sassy?!

“… No.” You mumbled, cringing as you heard the thwapping of Crewel’s whip against his gloved palm.

“Exactly, now get to work. You can go once I approve the finished inventory.” Crewel ordered, making his way back to his desk whilst you rummaged through the cardboard box of fresh ingredients, a hard done by pout on your face. “Yes sir…”

“Good girl.”

Your entire body felt stiff the next morning, your joints cracking as you stretched with a groan. Floyd had never turned up in the end, leaving you to clean up the entire inventory and restock it, which was no easy task with Crewel’s finicky tastes. It took numerous attempts and lectures on the importance of ingredient storage before Crewel was finally happy enough to grant you freedom, only to miserably crush your spirit by informing you that he expected you to attend to the regrowth of replacement ingredients in the botanical garden for the next 3 days. Lucky you.

The only saving grace was that your initial sentence in the botanical garden had been reduced as a result of Floyd not turning up at all when you were supposed to clean the potionology lab. By the sound of it, Crewel was going to be ensuring that he served his detention in the botanical garden.

You found yourself slightly irritated that Floyd hadn’t turned up to your joint detention. Not only because it meant you had to spend hours cleaning up a mess that arguably wasn’t entirely your fault, but also because you had planned to give him back his earring. You had stayed up late into the night fixing the earring, fairly satisfied with yourself for making it look as good as new. You planned to hunt him down today to give it back to him, no matter what, if only because walking around with it in your pocket made you feel like it was going to inevitably get broken again.

Your fight with Floyd had spread around campus like wildfire, and you had people you didn’t even know commenting on how hardcore you were for going up against Floyd Leech without batting an eyelid. You’d also heard that since the fight, Floyd had been in a foul mood, and it was fifty fifty between students complimenting you and blaming you for being the unfortunate victim of Floyd’s new vile mood.

Either way, Floyd’s mood was not enough to deter you from finding him to return his earring. However, you couldn’t find him in the morning on the way to classes, and you didn’t see him at lunch either. You were wondering if you were going to have to go all the way to the Octavinelle dorm after classes, not really looking forward to that thought and beginning to think about whether this was all really worth it. Maybe you should just flag down a random Octavinelle student and give them the earring and just hope it made its way back to Floyd.

As you were pondering as you walked to your club, you saw a flash of teal at the end of the corridor, looking up quickly to see the retreating figures of a light grey-haired student along with two taller, teal haired students, one with a pretty unmistakable slouch with his hands in his pockets. A-ha!

“Oi! Floyd Leech!” You called, starting to break out into a light jog in case he didn’t stop and turn around. Luck was somewhat on your side, as all three of the students stopped and turned their attention to you, and you vaguely recognised one as the housewarden for Octavinelle. He was currently eyeing you up, meanwhile the teal haired student who wasn’t Floyd was giving you a smile that, whilst coming off polite at face value, reeked of mocking. You ignored them both, slowing to a stop in front of Floyd and boy, the other students were right. He looked like he was in a terrible mood, his eyes narrowed on you like he was about to start another fight.

“What do you want, guppy? I’m busy.” He drawled; his eyebrows furrowed as he frowned down at you. You scoffed at that, shooting your own frown back at him reproachfully. “I was really busy yesterday when someone didn’t turn up to their detention and I had to clean and rearrange the entire potionology inventory by myself.” You shot back at him, narrowing your eyes at him and watching him just stare back at you disinterestedly.

“Anyway, that’s not why I’m here. Here.” You fished into your pocket carefully and brought out the teal earring, dangling it carefully between your fingers. If you weren’t so distracted trying to get the earring out of your skirt pocket as gently as possible, you would have seen the flicker of surprise that went across Jade’s expression, or how Azul pushed up his glasses in an attempt to mask his own surprise. “I didn’t realise I still had it on me when I left the potions lab, to be honest. It got a little damaged during the fight, but I managed to fix it so good I bet you can’t even notice!” You weren’t even aware of the proud little beam that was on your face as you spoke of your repair job, or how all three of them stared at you in a veiled mix of surprise, confusion, and awe.

You held the earring out to Floyd for him to take, which he did, all previous traces of irritation washed from his face now as he held his earring in his palm. A silence had fell between you and considering that the situation was already awkward enough as it is, you decided to excuse yourself. “Well, that was all I wanted. I’ll be leaving.” You didn’t wait for any of them to respond, and none of them did as you walked past them and continued on your way to your club activities.

So happy you were to finally have that interaction over with and not have to worry about re-damaging the delicate earring that had made its home in your pocket over the last couple of days, you didn’t notice how Floyd Leech stared wistfully at your retreating back, said earring cradled carefully in his bare palm…

[missam]

oop i wrote it

cw: sukuna. implied cannibalism.

-

A thumb roughly presses down on your bottom lip. “Open.”

You wordlessly obey, tentatively opening your mouth as Sukuna watches you, all four eyes trained on your face with an intensity that has sweat gathering at your temples.

There’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. In this large banquet hall filled to the brim with food (offerings from the terrified villagers he didn’t kill hours earlier on a whim), there is only you and him. Two hands gripping you by the waist, holding you in place on his lap, while another hand on your face commands you to open. The last hand is splayed across your back, the thin layer of the kosode Uraume had forced you into (the clothes you had taken to wearing too undignified, too unsightly for Sukuna’s gaze) barely offering any coverage.

You think it had been on purpose. If Sukuna kills you now, all the better for him. An eyesore like you who had appeared out of nowhere, tumbling out of the sky like a bird whose wings had been plucked, right into the middle of a massacre.

“After all that nonsensical squawking earlier,” he starts, his voice a deep rumble against your frame. “Suddenly so silent?”

He seems to find it funny when you don’t (can’t) respond, chuckling at his own joke when his thumb slips into your mouth, pressing down onto your tongue, and forcing your mouth even wider for his open scrutiny. 

You stay silent, mind racing with all potential avenues of choice, whether it’s remark on the lovely weather (it was raining earlier, but you figure the rain would appeal to Sukuna more than the sun, right?) or talk about how funny it was to see Uraume in the kitchen barking out orders to prepare the banquet all around you. There’s no possible way this could all be meant for just one person. You’ve never seen so much fish and meats and vegetables and fruits, and considering you know what a modern day supermarket is, it seems excessive. All this from an already starving village? 

Or you could just keep silent. Which seems to be the best option seeing as his thumb is in your mouth. You wonder, for what seems to be the hundredth time since you’ve landed in an entirely different era, if Sukuna is going to kill you for the perceived slight of drooling all over one of his hands. You'd say he doesn’t seem to particularly mind (in your opinion, anyway. But what do you know.)

You make a noise in your throat, muffled, and Sukuna blinks, as if he had forgotten you were a living breathing person. Two eyes slide to you, meeting your gaze as you compose yourself.

His thumb relents, just enough that you can still feel him hovering. But you can speak. You figure it’s his way of telling you that you can speak without the possible threat of mutilation. Actually scratch that. The threat is always there. Ever present. If you had learned anything, it was that all it took was a simple thought to be acted on, and the lift of a finger. 

“The food!” you exclaim (the best you can), all your anxious pent up energy making you seem eager. “It’ll…” you swallow, “get cold!”

So please just let me leave, you internally beg, to the Buddha, to your annoying kouhai Gojo, or whatever deity is looking down on you and laughing at this entire predicament they’ve placed you in. Please just let me leave.

The hand retreats from your mouth. You don’t dare breathe a sigh of relief, not when three hands are still holding you.

Then to your great surprise, Sukuna smiles, baring teeth, greatly amused, and the stretch of his lips reaches all of his eyes. 

You are equal parts confused and terrified, waiting for the punchline to drop like the axe of a guillotine over your neck. 

“Tell me,” he purrs, two hands bringing you close. Until you can trace every single line of the monstrous inhuman right side of his face and every marking. “Have you ever tasted human flesh?”

Human…flesh…?

You hold your smile the best you can, but Sukuna must be able to smell your apprehension because there’s a glint of sadistic amusement in his eyes. “I…have…not…”

“Uraume is a fine cook,” he replies, turning his head towards the tables of food surrounding you, and your stomach plummets as understanding dawns on you. “To prepare human flesh for consumption is a difficult task, and yet he has not disappointed me once.”

You slowly look to the table closest to you, examining what you had previously assumed to be fowl. It’s charred, the same color as roasted meat, but upon closer inspection the shape resembles…

It looks like…a…limb.

A…human…limb.

You bite your tongue to keep your smile from faltering. He’s watching you now, a sharp eyed predator who has scented blood. If you show anything resembling fear, you know for sure he’ll kill you without a second thought.

He’s going to eat you. That has to be why he brought you here. He’s going to dismember you and then give you to Uraume who will gladly season and roast you like a pig.

You wonder if you should just give up and accept your fate now. You’ll die here, a thousand years into the past, alone, and nobody will have even known what happened to you.

They’ll think you disappeared, that you deserted, and they’ll only be half right.

You can’t let it end like this. You won’t let it end like this. The first thing a jujustu sorcerer learns is that hopes and dreams are dangerous. Regrets even more.

When you die, you won’t regret a single damn thing.

That’s why you can’t die here.

You straighten, forcing yourself to relax despite the anxiety churning in your gut. “Are you going to eat me?” You ask him pleasantly, lips curved.

“You would offer yourself so easily?” You see the unpleasant set of his lips, the dismissive tone of his words, and feel a cold sweat envelope your body. The sheer power of him would have you buckling to your knees had you been standing. You’ve lost his favor, and the only thing awaiting you unless you act now is death.

“I would not,” you say, momentarily glancing down in a demure move. “I would offer you something else though.” A pause. You wrap your arms around his shoulders, drawing yourself closer, meeting his gaze straight on. “I’m sure I can interest you in it.”

[missam]

Muscle Memory Part Two (Azul Ashengrotto and Reader)

Warnings: Exploration of merfolk culture, elaboration on certain aspects of canon lore, etc. 

@lottieinlimbo Request: Hi Devin!!! Congratulations on the 750 followers :D!! Your writing is incredible, you have more than earned your success!!!! I’m here to steal the final request slot! There were a lot of cool prompts that would have been fascinating with multiple characters, it was hard to choose! But I’m thinking “why did you help me?” With Azul could be really fun, maybe something platonic? I’m really excited to see what you do with this, congrats again on 750 followers!!

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After a long day of getting splashed and almost getting dragged off the boardwalk by overly anxious mers, you were grateful when they finally transformed back into their normal selves. While ingesting the potion was quick and painful, the process to return was gradual and felt more like sharp tingles that flowed and ebbed depending on the location and intensity of the pain. Before you had transferred to this new location, a colleague of yours who was a mer, confirmed that it was a near universal experience that taking the transformation potions daily upon the first week followed by the natural regression into their former selves after such a low dose was more effective at retaining students rather than having them take the full dose that would last seven days.

It helped strengthen their ability to overcome the pain and helped them adjust by allowing them to take breaks after working their human legs. There were actually a few studies done on it, but since the population of merfolk who wanted to live on the surface was so few, it wasn't a conclusive study. For all you knew, it was more of a placebo effect.

After saying goodbye to your students, you picked up the equipment, the cooler, and the clipboard with the roster so that you could return it to the government facility. Inside, your supervisor and your fellow intern were comparing notes and commiserating at some of the antics that you had been slightly privy to. It wasn't often, but sometimes you were called to step in if one of the mers were acting unruly or if someone needed medical attention. Thankfully, you didn't need to call for help—your batch of merfolk were surprisingly well behaved—but the other intern was unfortunate enough to have landed himself not one but two gleeful troublemakers.

"I thought eel merfolk were supposed to be shy," Soren muttered as he wrote down some notes into his log. His pen blotted a little on his notes, which made him curse a little into his open palm before he produced correction fluid to cover up his mistake. "But, somehow, I manage to land not only the most brash mer I have ever seen, but also one who happens to be the most suicidal!"

You laughed a little to yourself as you joined them at the table.

"He is still a child, Mr. Andersen," your supervisor scolded. "And not only that, but he is also a child granted the opportunity to experience life on land. You've read his profile, he's due to attend Night Raven College if his magical proficiency and grades are any indication."

"Are you sure it's not the fat stacks in his parents' back account?"

You punched Soren's shoulder playfully. "I don't think paper money can handle the moisture," you laughed. "More like tall towers of gold!"

Your supervisor rolled her eyes at the both of you before she gestured at the paperwork that littered the table. "Make sure to clean up and organize the documents for tomorrow's session. The second day is usually better, but it's also the day when we get the most dropouts."

"You think that the Leech twins will drop out?"

"Mr. Andersen!"

You didn't know Soren too well, only that he was from the Land of Pyroxene and had spent most of his adolescent years in the City of Flowers before attending Noble Bell College. Although a proficient mage in his own right, he decided to dip his toes into a field that not many would have imagined him entering. 

Years ago, he had told you, he thought that he was going to be an archivist for magical artifacts. However, he fell in love with the many canals and underwater routes that flowed in and out of the City of Flowers. One thing led to another and eventually, he had immersed himself into learning more about merfolk culture and how they acclimated to living on land. Given his background in magical artifacts and history, he was a heavy proponent of the research and experimentation of using talismans or charmed objects to make the transformation both instantaneous and painless. Unfortunately, such an invention was still out of reach for various reasons, but he was confident that one day, accessibility for merfolk would be greatly increased.

Until then, he had to satisfy himself with this internship.

"Do you think any of yours would drop out," he asked to continue the conversation once your superior had headed out. He tapped on his notes, a furrow in his brow before circling something in red ink. "I think all of mine are willing to stay the whole period, but I can't say for certain they'll actually live the rest of their lives on land."

"Hmmm…” You thought for a moment. “One of my classic mers looked a little too weirded out after my cecaelia transformed. He actually handled it well, but she looked like she was about to turn tail and swim away."

Soren nodded, lost in thought. "Shame. It's rare that we get a one hundred percent attendance rate."

"True, but for those who do stay, we definitely get high ratings on how well they adjust and adapt to life on land."

After at least half an hour of chatting and locking up the lab, the both of you proceeded to your assigned dorm rooms. The initiative for acclimating merfolk to land life was fairly small, which meant that the community was fairly well knit and cohesive. Sure, there were times when a new intern or a transferee would cause some friction, but it wasn't all too often.

You passed a few other interns (some of whom were hard at work monitoring and working out the correct dosages for the merfolk) and a security guard (he tipped his hat to you in greeting after you presented your badge) before entering. Inside, you had your classic dorm room layout. 

On one side hugging the wall, there lay your bed with hastily made covers and a few clothes strewn at the foot of it. There was a small desk with a chair parked in front of it, and a window with a view overlooking the ocean. You were assigned to the third floor, a fact that you flaunted to your friends and colleagues just to mess with them. It was perfect: you could see how the full moon lit up the sky and if you waited for the right moment, you could see some bioluminescent creatures light up the water around them. During your first week, you had sent photos and videos of the phenomena to your parents, both of them delighted that you were having a grand time at your internship.

Tonight, however, you were tired.

While you did not have to call for help, you did have to jump into the water to soothe one of your classic mers. She was far from a predator, which was apparent from her whispery soft voice and the way she hugged herself despite your efforts to tell her that it was best to either hold onto the boardwalk for balance or to spread out her arms for proper wading.

Instead, she gave a low keen that had your heart clenching in your chest. You wanted to pat her head and rub at her scalp to soothe her, but protocols dictated not too much skin to skin contact. There were too many incidents when certain people in positions of power took things too far when manhandling their charges. (There was a scandal a few years ago which resulted in cold relations between the land dwellers and the children of the sea before reparations were settled between the two parties). To make up for the lack of comforting contact, you gave her a floating paddle, to which she awkwardly cuddled it close to her chest while tears ran down her smooth skin.

The angler fish and the other classic mer took to the pain and the loss of their tails and fins with just as much grace as the cecaelia, but they were quicker to use their legs and arms. Within half an hour of coaching and practice, both the angler and the classic were able to tread water and even swim like a human! It wasn't unheard of—there were even stories of mers who drank the potion, crawled onto the boardwalk and started walking as if they had been doing it since they were born—but you were surprised to see such rapid growth under your care.

(You made sure to take special note of this and the time taken from your heavy duty waterproof watch).

You let the angler fish play with the classic mer (both of them didn't look like they were going to antagonize each other, but you made sure to keep an eye out just in case playful nips became gaping bites) before you turned your attention to the cecaelia and the other classic.

The classic mer kept her head down low, tears still dripping down her cheeks, but you gently reminded her that the pain would go away if she moved her newfound legs for a little bit.

"Just a little bit," you cooed. You climbed back onto the boardwalk (you were soaked to the bone and wet from the angler fish mer trying to play with you) and sat down so that your shins and feet were submerged in the water. Kicking your feet made little splashing noises; you were pleased when you saw that in between the sniffles, she was trying not to laugh at how the water felt on her skin.

However, try as you might, she refused to move her legs and continued to cry even with your kind words caressing her ears.

"It's okay—" Quickly, you tried to remember the list of names upon your roster. Not Azul... Not Pacifica... Oh! Her name was Adria! "—Adria. The potion will wear off soon. Do you want to float while I help the other student?"

Adria shot you a terrified look, the tears in her eyes spilling like a fountain over her cherubic cheeks. She glanced at the cecaelia—who, up until that point, had chosen to float by hanging off the pool noodle in the most rigid way possible—before fearfully nodding in your direction.

You frowned. Had the cecaelia bullied the classic mer earlier when you were tending to the angler fish and his playmate?

Not wanting to jump to conclusions, you advised Adria to stay close to the boardwalk and to keep the buoyancy paddle close to her chest. She was welcome to keep trying, but something deep inside of you knew that she would be dropping out as soon as the transformation potion wore off.

Now that your attention was no longer split between the other mers, you focused on the cecaelia.

Shelly was a bit of an oddball, even according to others of her own kind. Back on the beaches of the Land of the Red Dragon, she would chance capture or sightings from the locals by wading up the shore and proceeding to walk along the sandy beach. The dryness of land and the harsh feeling of pebbles and rocks upon her suckers caused irritations at best and bleeding at worst, but she proudly told you that it was practice for the real thing. In fact, that was one of the reasons why she was so close to the beach in broad daylight during your first meeting. She had been scouting for a good place to practice, even if she didn't have proper human legs yet.

For most cecaelia and other species of mer that had to give up multiple appendages, the loss was almost too much. Most dropouts were octopus and squid based merfolk, which was a shame considering you knew that most depictions of sea dwellers were heavily skewed in the classical mers' favor.

Shelly was able to breeze through her lessons within two weeks of her land boot camp experience.

(Well… not without plenty of help and assistance from you. The land boot camp she had gone to was not as pleasant an experience as it was now). 

You wondered if this cecaelia would do the same.

First of all, however—

"Right arm and spread your fingers, please."

You had to make sure that all of his limbs were in working order and could respond on command.

And so, for the better part of at least an hour, you helped the cecaelia master all four of his limbs. His customary human arms were the easiest to obey him, you found. That was good, that meant that any and all problems had to do with his lower half being downsized into two working legs. After making sure that he could grasp onto the boardwalk of his own accord, rotate his arms to show off his full range of motion, and even write his name upon one of your notes, you deemed it safe enough to start working his legs.

This was trickier. It seemed like the cecaelia was firing off too many commands at once, but they weren't being well received by the lower half of his body. His legs would twitch one way instead of another or maybe he would overshoot and end up losing balance upon his pool noodle.

Shelley explained it to you once when you were stuck in the same dormitory and she was busy penning down her thesis.

"All of my arms have brains in them, you know that right?" You kind of had to know that. Your mother would bury herself alive if she found out that the most basic of octopus facts had never pierced your skull. "Well, when most of your body have a mind of their own and that disappears, the lone brain that gets left behind has to overcompensate, but then you end up sending mixed signals or canceling demands that were never completed in the first place."

"Like... a computer overloading on too many open applications so you have to use task manager to end them?"

"Kind of." She canted her head to the side in thought. "You know what? Yeah, you're right."

"So how did you stop overcompensating?"

"By relaxing."

Easier said than done.

There wasn't a lot of overlap between land and merfolk culture, especially in regards to the expression of feelings, but you had the feeling that the cecaelia was trying too hard to appear confident. His eyes were bright and determined, but beneath that steely veneer, you could detect the same sort of tension that you had previously associated with the other tearful mer. However, despite the similarities, you found that the cecaelia was more likely to attend the entire boot camp.

"Azul." His name sounded foreign on your tongue, but you kept your hesitance to yourself. At the sound of his name, he straightened upon the pool noodle and regarded you with a distant expression. "What do you like to do for fun?"

You tried not to laugh at the naked expression on his face. For all of how he seemed to hold himself up with a rigidity you would normally associate with your haughty superiors, the young cecaelia looked absurdly adorable when he tried to process your question. His mouth went agape and his eyes had widened in comical surprise.

"Fun?" He spluttered out. The grip he had on his pool noodle wavered, causing him to thrash a little on the water. Out of instinct, you gave him a steadying hand upon his shoulder. It was a slight touch, well within regulation, but Azul stared at you with an indiscernible expression on his face that you didn't have the heart to interpret.

(There was another reason why this government initiative was so discreet and small compared to other well known government plans: land dwellers were often let go and blacklisted if something untoward happened. Given his age, if he said something...)

You kept a professional smile on your face before you nodded down at your legs.

"When I was younger, I liked to chase my friend around. Both of us liked to swim in the water, but we ended up splashing each other more often than not." You peered at him, true curiosity brimming in your eyes. "You're from the twilight levels of the Coral Sea, right? How often have you gone to the surface?"

Suspicion lined the tension in his shoulders and darkened the brightness of his eyes.

"You're not going to get into trouble," you murmured, "it's not like I have the power to turn you into the authorities. It's just that I've taught a lot of merfolk over the past few years, and a number of them liked to sneak up to the surface to have fun."

A number of them had also been delinquents, often choosing to skip school just so they could splash water along the decks of small cruise ships or to wreak havoc upon the local fisherman. Out of respect for your past students, you refrained from saying that last bit.

Besides, something told you Azul didn't look like he was a troublemaker.

"Well..." Azul looked like he was weighing his options, probably scrutinizing you for any sort of underhanded behavior. You let him take his time. With more rest, you hoped that he would muster enough energy and bravery to start kicking his legs. "A few associates and I would explore sunken shipwrecks... but there were also nights when we would swim up to the surface and watch the fireworks show."

"Associates? Not friends?" You couldn't help but tease him. He glared at you and you watched as his eyes seemed to drift past your figure and towards another group of merfolk that was spearheaded by your fellow intern. Before you could inquire as to what held his interest, he turned towards you again, only to haughtily huff at you. "Okay, associates."

Were all fifteen year olds this edgy?

"Indeed." He sniffed, clearly done with this conversation.

"Well, have you splashed each other once you guys breached the surface?"

A scandalized look this time, that bordered on incredulous.

"Watching the fireworks was purely for educational purposes and—"

You didn't want to give him the look, but you had no choice.

With the full force of your irritation, you gave him one of the most deadpan stares ever. Even the most vicious of predators hailing from the abyssopelagic zone would have been stunned at the pure power behind your stare.

"A little bit." He muttered more to himself than to you. 

You would think from the solemnity in his voice that he was talking about a funeral. Still, you nodded your head and smiled with what you hoped was encouragement.

"Do you remember how you splashed each other?"

He looked at you and you decided to amend your approach.

He didn't want to be babied; that was understandable.

"Well, I want you to utilize those memories of splashing each other so that you can start kicking your feet. You used all ten of your limbs, right?"

"Not at first," Azul conceded. "Eventually."

"Good." Without missing a beat, you sank into the water with practiced aplomb, much to the surprise of your student. He gasped, a sound that he tried to stifle, but you were too close to hear it. "Splash me."

"P-pardon?"

"Come on! You need to exercise and gain control of all four of your limbs. Splash me."

At his continued hesitance, you splashed him with both arms before returning to wading in the water.

Surprise was quickly replaced with irritated determination. Before you knew it, you found a tidal wave of water heading in your direction.

Not bad, you couldn't help but think as you dove beneath the waves.

But he still needed to use his legs.

It took some time, but later on, you saw that he was wading in the water; his movements were a little jerky, but sure enough to signal that he was consciously controlling his legs.

It was strange seeing a cecaelia beaming at himself as he allowed his arms to splay out gently in the water as his newfound human legs tread the water underneath. For a moment, as you murmured congratulations to him, you saw Shelley in his place. Once upon a time, she had also been a young, aspiring cecaelia who had also been in the same boat as Azul. The only difference was, when she showed you how well she adapted to her legs, she lunged and tackled you into the water without a care for your need of oxygen. 

The cecaelia in front of you had no intention of doing that, but the hope within his eyes mirrored that of your best friend’s.  

For a moment, as you lounged within the dorm room, your head still swimming with the possibilities and opportunities that would surely arise come tomorrow, you watched as bioluminescent algae sparkled and glowed to life as small waves began to wrack the beach. If you paid attention, you could see that there was a large mass disturbing the glowing algae, but you chalked it up to either a fish or one of your students fooling around. 

You took a glance at your clock and cursed to yourself. 

Tomorrow was going to be an even longer day.

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Tagging: @missam

[PART ONE] [PART TWO HERE] [PART THREE] [PART FOUR]

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[missam]

Loving this! Would love to be tagged if at all possible when new ones comes out

Muscle Memory (Azul Ashengrotto and Reader)

Warnings: Exploration of merfolk culture, elaboration on certain aspects of canon lore, etc. 

@lottieinlimbo Request: Hi Devin!!! Congratulations on the 750 followers :D!! Your writing is incredible, you have more than earned your success!!!! I’m here to steal the final request slot! There were a lot of cool prompts that would have been fascinating with multiple characters, it was hard to choose! But I’m thinking “why did you help me?” With Azul could be really fun, maybe something platonic? I’m really excited to see what you do with this, congrats again on 750 followers!!

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Once upon a time, you desperately wanted to be a child of the sea. 

It was a stupid thing to want, you know that now that you’re older, but as a child of a fisherman and a marine biologist, you grew up immersed in the sea. Swimming came as naturally as breathing and there were days when you refused to get out of the water. Your mother would spend hours either cataloging and tending to the wildlife off the shore or lecturing students at your local university. Your father, on the other hand, would board a boat with a few other fishermen and cast his net along the side of their boats, eager to catch fresh fish for dinner and to sell at the local market. 

If it were not for the legs that burned under the unforgiving sun, you would have been one of the merfolk. You told your mother so, and she laughed as she hastily scribbled annotations on a particularly bright student’s thesis. It wasn’t a demeaning laugh, it was more like a sound that sought to appease a precocious child like yourself. 

“If you were from the sea,” your mother had crooned in your ear, “then I wouldn’t be able to do this, would I?” 

She would tuck you deep into her chest before blowing raspberries into your cheek and tousling your hair.

“If you were a mer,” your father had told you, “I would cast nets out everyday so I can take you back home with me.” 

He would then throw you into the middle of your bed before gathering the covers and pulling the corners together to make it seem as if you were caught in a net. 

You couldn’t be a child of the sea, and even your young, naive mind knew that, so you latched onto the next best thing. 

Talking about them. 

Both your mother and father, having spent most of their childhood, adolescence, and adulthood living in and around the sea, had tales to tell of meeting merfolk. People who lived on the mainland, you found, had very few encounters with the children of the sea. Sevens, they even said that it was actually more likely for them to meet one of the fair folk visiting from Briar Valley. Your parents and quite a number of the locals had often talked to the children of the sea who inhabited the waters a few miles from the coast, but some of the small fry would frequent the shallow waters, often risking getting beached on shore. 

One of your first few encounters with merfolk happened when you were only six years old. You had long since learned how to swim (you learned when you were only nine months and since then, you begged your father to take you out to the beach whenever possible), but you were never left unsupervised. On this particular day, both your parents were free from their duties and had set up a little picnic spot quite away from the tide.

You had recently eaten a snack and because your parents were superstitious, said that you couldn't go swimming until at least thirty minutes had passed. You were six and you had no true grasp of consequences outside of your parents sternly talking to you or taking away privileges as punishment. Because of that, you were toeing the line between the water and hopping in between the craggy rocks that littered the area. You had been forced to wear special swim shoes to keep your feet safe, but even with your short sighted nature, cuts on your feet and punishment from your parents didn't make the idea of disobedience all that appealing.

You skipped down the share, sometimes slipping and tripping into the water, but you always laughed to yourself and waved back at your parents every once in a while. They kept a wary eye on you, but continued to converse in that way only adults could understand and children didn't feel like grasping.

Eventually, you wandered far enough that you couldn't see or even hear your parents anymore. That may have frightened any other child, but you grew up with the sea practically in your backyard and you were taught how to self-rescue since before you could learn how to walk.

You were safe and to a certain extent, your parents trusted you.

As you waded in and out of the water that only reached your ankles, you caught sight of a boulder jutting out of the water. It was several feet away from you, away from the remnants from the stolid presence of the beach and trespassing into the heart of the sea. Normally, with how high the tide can get, the boulder would be submerged, but today, you could see how craggy and sharp it really looked.

So, it startled you when you saw a ruddy face jut out from the other side of the boulder, lock eyes with you for a second, before shrieking and backing away.

Friend?

Was it a friend?

At that moment, you weren't thinking about your parents, if enough time had passed, or if you would look stupid with your shoes still on. When you locked eyes with a child your own age, you could only hope that they would be your friend.

You ran into the water, quickly started swimming once you were deep enough, and swam towards the other side of the boulder.

Would the child still be there?

You swam onto the other side of the boulder until you saw the child, except there was—

"You have a tail!" You could barely hold onto your excitement. It was only due to societal convention that you didn't start tugging and prodding at the brilliant appendage that dangled and swished in front of you.

"And you have legs."

You looked up to find a face both like and unlike your own.

"And it's not just a tail! I've got eight of them!" The child splashed you with one powerful swish of her tails. “And they’re called arms!”

And that's how you met your first friend from the sea.

Shelley was a native from the sea bordering the Land of the Red Dragon. Her family used to live in those warm waters until they decided to migrate towards your stretch of ocean. You were young, so you didn't quite understand what she was talking about when she mentioned migratory patterns, politics, or whatever, but you did latch onto the fact that she was lonely and had a hard time making friends.

So you offered to be her friend.

"With a human?" Shelley scoffed.

Well, sixteen years later and she was still splashing you. Both of you grew up together, often sharing aspirations and dreams with each other. Like the mermaid princess, she dreamed of going up on land and walking on her own pair of legs. It took a while, but she managed to get into an exclusive land boot camp that occurred on another island (you pouted when she told you) and was later given a regular supply of transformation potions once she was old enough to enroll into university. 

And that’s when you realized that the both of you could still work together.

You see, over the years, you began to realize that your love of merfolk wasn’t just because you wanted to befriend them, but you also wanted to get to know their culture better. Like the fae, children of the sea were notorious for keeping close to themselves, especially those who spent their formative years in the bathypelagic zones. What most land dwellers knew about their aquatic neighbors were either from the outdated accounts from the famed mermaid princess or the very few merfolk who decided to breach the surface. Most governments wanted to bridge the gap between the vastly different cultures, which meant that they often recruited both merfolk and land dwellers to facilitate and improve upon the land boot camps that were initially started by the very first royal who deemed it worthy to live on land. 

You broached the topic cautiously to Shelley when you had been busy helping her walk across the beach after a session at her land boot camp. 

It took some convincing, but the both of you decided that you would work together: one day, you would be a physical therapist to help merfolk walk upon land and Shelley would teach classes to acclimate them to land culture. 

This year, you were supposed to help merfolk native to the Coral Sea stand and walk for the first time. 

This land boot camp you had relocated to was situated on one of the small islands under the Land of Dawning’s jurisdiction. The facility was small and private, owing to the fact that it was still a government project and no one wanted to be ogled at by civilians, especially when they were learning how to be human for the first time. 

This batch of merfolk were from the mesopelagic or twilight zone of the ocean, second to the sunny euphotic zone. You had your fair share of merfolk from across all three main zones, but most participants originated from the upper layer, owing to the fact that there was an increase in land dwellers to merfolk interactions. So, it wasn’t a surprise to find less than a dozen merfolk swimming playfully in the water or waiting patiently upon rocks. 

After taking the transformation potion (each of them tailored to the specific type of sea dweller because it would be a disaster and a half giving one of the classical looking mers the dosage that would better benefit a mer modeled after an angler fish or a cecaelia), all of them would be given the chance to stand up and walk within the water. 

Years ago, when the mermaid princess made her way ashore, it was only through willpower alone that she could heave herself off the sandy beach and trudge her way into her beloved’s castle. Today’s research declared that it was better to treat merfolk with hydrotherapy first by giving them exercises that would acclimate them to using the right muscles and granting them muscle memory that would later aid them in land. The water helped with the sudden pull of gravity while also maintaining a sense of familiarity so as to not cause them undue stress. 

(It was also for the same reason it was strictly forbidden that government workers such as your supervisor and by extension, yourself, were not allowed to teach the merfolk how to walk in a pool. The chlorine contact would not cause them undue harm since they now had human skin, but mers were notoriously sensitive to dryness and that wouldn’t exactly be the best impression to make when fostering better relations across races). 

The same was said for clothing. 

Get the merfolk accustomed to walking first and then clothes. 

It was best to get them hurtling one obstacle after another instead of tackling everything human-related at once. After at least one week of hydrotherapy and lessons on human etiquette, the second week would introduce clothing and walking on land. The third week would be full time human-ing, which meant a stronger dose of transformation potion that would last three days before a refill was needed. Finally, during the fourth week, they would be given the full transformation potion and a trip to the mainland where they would tour and interact with the locals as opposed to government agents. 

A month shouldn’t be enough time to get merfolk acquainted on land, but the newcomers from the twilight zone were hardy and could take a stronger beating than their neighbors in the higher zones. They already had strong muscles and coordination; they needed only guidance and direction on how to move those muscles properly in a new body. 

And so, after you reviewed your roster of attendees, you wore a wetsuit, slathered on sunscreen in copious amounts to stave off the harmful rays of the sun, and then ventured away from the facility on land. Upon first glance, you realized that most of them were young, but you saw that there were at least two middle aged adults and one elderly mer who congregated closer to the front of their younger comrades. Carefully, you studied them; how they moved, how their tails would ripple in the sunlight, and how some of them had teeth made for slicing. 

A mixed bag of both predator and prey. 

You would have to keep an eye out for any bullying. 

Once your supervisor was in position and began detailing the history of the government facility, you carefully tuned her out, content to dig out the tray full of transformation potions from the cooler that one of the other interns had brought out of the lab. Inside, vials of cerulean and silver gleamed within the confines of pale lavender vials. To each of the stoppers, a nametag and species of merfolk was affixed. Indeed, if you remembered correctly, the concentrations of cerulean and silver allowed a brief glimpse of what the potion could do: silver to bind appendages together, turn gills into scarred skin, transform beautiful scales and hides into varying shades of brown and tan; cerulean, to split tails in two, strengthen the bones, and allow for greater lung capacity. 

Depending on the type of mer, maybe they needed more of the components that made up cerulean to cut their legs into two. Or maybe they were a species of mer that took after squids or octopi; they needed more silver. 

All of the vials were encased in a thin layer of frost: optimal temperature for quick results. 

In another cooler, there were another set of vials. For these, all of the dosages were equal. 

Pain medication in case some of the merfolk would not be able to take the pain of sloughing away their old bodies for a new one. 

(It was rarer for the merfolk native to the deeper zones to ask for the pain medications, but you had seen it happen once or twice. Knowing them, however, and knowing that there were at least a ratio of three predators to one prey, it would be best for everyone involved that no one took the medication). 

And underneath the set of pain medication, there was also another tray filled with potions meant for emergencies, but you chose not to dwell on unpleasant possibilities. 

Finally, you heard your supervisor call for you and gesture for you to walk across the boardwalk and call out the names of the attendees. Like any roster, it was labeled in alphabetical order. A’s to B’s to C’s and so on. No surprise there. 

However, what caught your attention was that the first A on your roster (the only A, actually), belonged to a young male mer. He kept most of his body underwater with only the top of his head and eyes peeking out, but at your behest, he reluctantly began to climb out. It wasn’t until you caught sight of his multiple appendages attached to the bottom of his torso that you realized that you may know his type of species.

A cecaelia.

Out of habit, you counted all eight of his arms—exactly like Shelley!—but you must have been so entranced at the idea of working with another cecaelia because the boy made an irritated grunting noise as he narrowed his eyes at you. 

You apologized, slightly bemused by his impatience before giving him the vial that corresponded to his name. You murmured the instructions that he should wait until everyone else received their dose before ingesting it. At that, the cecaelia nodded, resolute and determined in his very reaction, before he ducked below the surface of the water and swam far away from the boardwalk. 

After that brief encounter, you continued down the list of names and made sure not to spend too much time mentally cataloging the types of merfolk who were supposed to be your students. There were at least two “classical” merfolk (very human at the torso with a nondescript, but shimmering tail at the bottom), but the rest were clearly descended from various species. You could see an angler fish, a squid, and even twin eels!

Twins!

If you remembered correctly, twins were very rare within the ocean, especially the deeper you went. The fact that there were two adolescent mers who were born at the same time and still lived despite the cruel nature of the ocean, could only spell good luck. Goodness, it didn’t even matter if they were predatory merfolk! You were sure they would be a delight to have under your tutelage. 

Finally, after each of the merfolk had received their government mandated potions, your supervisor called you and the other intern to stand in five feet intervals along the boardwalk. You were at the very end of the boardwalk and you were assigned to the first four merfolk along your roster. It was, of course, the cecaelia, but there were also two classical merfolk and an angler fish. The classical merfolk huddled together, giggling as they asked you questions about how long it normally took humans to learn how to walk. Meanwhile, the two other deep sea merfolk were content to keep to themselves, but you noted that the cecaelia was hanging onto your every word. 

Now that everyone was in position, your supervisor announced that in each group, only one mer would go at a time. This was to prevent them from drowning all at the same time. 

“Okay then!” You clapped your hands to gain all of your students’ attention. “Does anyone want to volunteer? Or would you rather go by alphabetical order?”

During your time as an intern, you were more accustomed to the merfolk who hailed from the euphotic zone. More often than not, the attendees were classical mers who were already aware of land dweller cultures and it showed—they were open and friendly, often clamoring and climbing over each other to be the first. For this particular group, you were disappointed, but not at all surprised to see that your chattier students had instantly quieted and looked to each other in apprehension. Meanwhile, the cecaelia and the angler fish mers looked like they were planning on completely submerging themselves. 

You took a deep breath before coming to a decision. 

“Mr. Azul… Ashengrotto?” You nodded at the cecaelia, watching as his face seemed to grow from a light lavender gray to a light flushed blue. Nodding at him, you sat upon the boardwalk and beckoned him forward with a kind smile and a wave. “Come here. For safety purposes, I’ll ask that after you drink the transformation potion, you hold onto me or the boardwalk. It will be painful, but the shock will pass once you start kicking your legs. Do you understand?”

The cecaelia, still having yet to speak in your presence, nodded his head. 

“Do you remember the demonstration on how to tread water?”

The cecaelia furrowed his brows, perhaps remembering how both your supervisor and fellow intern had jumped into the water earlier that day. They had hung onto the wood of the boardwalk while also slightly kicking underwater to keep themselves upright. Then, they gestured for you to sit to also demonstrate for some of the more nervous mers how to hold onto your arms or legs if they needed someone to further stabilize their movement and offer comfort.

With a decisive nod, he said, "Yes, I do. May I start?"

You said a few more things that were included in protocol just so the entire group under your watch understood the consequences for not taking the exercises seriously, to comply with legal regulations, and to allow each of the mers time to relax and understand that you knew what you were doing. Finally, after about five more minutes, you nodded to the cecaelia.

In your experience, taking any sort of potion was best done by downing the entire thing. It was recommended that the merfolk don't take pauses or take small sips. Transformation was already a tricky process, it would become all the more complicated if you delivered only a small dose of the potion to your body only to take a break for too long and have certain body parts rearranging themselves without the proper dosage. Thankfully, the young mer looked to be the studious type, and above all else, cautious, because once he unstoppered the vial, he returned the seal to you and knocked back the potion as if he were thirsty.

Within seconds, his face contorted in pain and his body began to thrash as his skin began receding from the shimmering lilac and gray undertones to an almost sickly pale coloring. You had assigned spotters earlier in case the mer undertaking the potion were too wracked with pain to come to their senses, so that meant that the angler fish began to restrain the cecaelia while your other students brought both of his hands up to the boardwalk. Under your keen eye, you could see that the skin above his knuckles were bone white and that face was flushing dark blue. You took note of that: scientists were always trying to improve upon the efficacy of their potions, cosmetics being one of the criteria that was often underrepresented.

"Breathe." You kept your voice steady. "Like the breathing exercises," you reminded him. "In through your nose and out through your mouth. Slow and steady."

His thrashing continued, albeit at a more subdued pace. The angler fish and the classical mers watched patiently, but you could see that all of them were transfixed by the sight of their comrade overcoming the pain. Usually, at this point, you would often pinpoint the exact moment a mer would decide to give up and discontinue the program. It was unfortunate, but not everyone was suited to the surface.

If your suspicions were correct, one of the classic mers looked like she was about to be sick while the other two merfolk were eyeing their vials with a scrutinizing gaze.

After giving them a warning glance, to which all of them merely nodded, you focused once more on the cecaelia. His breathing had regulated and the grip he had on the boardwalk was less desperate and more out of desire to seek stability.

You bent down low, murmuring to him so as to not startle him out of how much of a good job he was doing. "Most cecaelia have a hard time adjusting to losing six of their limbs. Can you raise your right arm—" You gestured to your own arm to inform him you meant the human appendage and not what most humans would mistakenly call a tentacle. "—and spread your fingers wide?"

The cecaelia's eyes widened, his lips wobbling. Out of breath and clearly out of his element, he experimentally tried to move... something, but his mind must have been too frazzled other than to cast his gaze downward, clearly at a loss. That was okay. Shelley had felt the same. Both the pain and the shock of losing so much oneself within seconds was hard, but it was even harder trying to control and relearn how to move and be at peace with what you had left.

Another note that you would have to make in the margin of your roster. The cecaelia would need time to adjust. Within a month, that was more than fine. All of the merfolk were permitted time out of their busy schedules to practice and train their muscles.

Reaching behind you, you picked up one of the floating devices that were assigned to you. There were a series of life jackets, buoyancy paddles, and pool noodles. Some mers wanted to get acclimated to wearing human clothing (so they chose the life jackets), others wanted something that was not restraining and had the familiarity of floating driftwood (hence the paddles and noodles).

"Would you like a life jacket?"

Bright blue eyes the color of the calm ocean glared dangerously at you. Had you not had your fair share of predatory mer, you would have found yourself almost scared. However, you could understand the feeling of getting one's pride crushed, even if it was the first time gaining legs. Still, though, such anger seemed simultaneously out of place, yet right at home, on his pale face.

"One of those, please." He concentrated on his right arm, but after realizing that he was still somewhat stuck in his current mindset and still working out the connections, he glanced at the noodles that you kept at your side.

It took some maneuvering and some help from the angler fish (you saw that the cecaelia had a hard time being so close to a predator when he was now human), but you managed to get the pool noodle under his arms so that he could float without any more aid.

Satisfied that he wouldn't recklessly flip over and risk drowning himself, you called out the second name on your list.

It was going to be one long session.

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[PART ONE] [PART TWO] [PART THREE] [PART FOUR]

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TWISTED WONDERLAND MASTERLIST

[missam]

I humbly ask for an Azul x reader where octo-boy gets turned into an octopus (idk alchemy accident?) He’s immediately insecure and tries to hide from Y/N but they find him and immediately start doting on him and stuff and accidentally confesses to him and gives him a lil peck. And then he turns back in y/n’s arms bc true love’s kiss!

Bonus points if Azul also had a crush on y/n but was too scared to make a move and this is what breaks the ice.

This is so cute. I thought it worked better as a full scenario in stead of bullet points, so I hope you enjoy!

"Floyd... What have you got there?"

If the look on Floyd's face wasn't enough to get you worried, the lidded clay pot he carried in both hands definitely was. Especially since you could hear the slosh of liquid moving with each step coming from within.

"Shrimpyyyyyy!~ Wanna see something hilarious?" His toothy grin split his face in obvious, unrestrained delight as he shifted one hand to rest upon the lid on top. "There was a little 'situation' in Potionology today, and Azul's looking extra squishy and delicious! Take a peek." He moved to take the lid off, only for a pair of small purple tentacles to reach desperately from within, grasping at the edges of the lid and trying to wrestle it from Floyd's grip. Finally Floyd was able to pry it from the tiny arms, tipping the pot towards you to reveal the contents within.

Scrunched into the bottom of the pot, facing the wall, was a small purple octopus. It had folded itself up quite nicely within, arms tucked neatly beneath the mass of its soft, squishy body. When it finally turned around it looked up at Floyd with an all-too-familiar piercing glare.

"A-Azul? Oh my god. How did this happen? Are you okay?" You rested a hand on the rim of the pot to peer closer, which only served to have Azul squishing his little body even further against the bottom, rippling as his skin color changed to match that of the clay.

"He can't talk, Shrimpy. He's an octopus, remember?" Floyd shifted the pot towards you until you had no choice but to take it into your arms, peering down at the pouting Azul within. "I was supposed to take him to the headmage or somethin', but I've got shit to do. You can watch him, can'tcha? Sure you can!"

"Floyd, I don't think he wants me to-"

"Thaaaaanks, Shrimpy! Catcha later. Oh!" He elaned over the pot and grinned into it. "You're welcome, boss.~"

And with that Floyd practically skipped away, leaving you standing in the middle of the hallway with the pot cradled in your arms. Finally rising to the top of the water, Azul poked a small, slimy head out to peer over the edge and glare at him as he went. Then, almost sheepishly, he turned to glance at you.

"I'm sorry, Azul. I can help you find the headmaster if you want."

He nodded, though it was hard to tell if that was a nod or just the bob of him floating in the water, before quietly sinking to the bottom of the pot. Even without words, you could tell that Azul wasn't exactly happy about being seen like this.

"If it's any consolation, I still think you look pretty cute." There wasn't really much you could do about it by yourself, magicless as you were, but it wouldn't hurt to try and lift his mood a little bit. And judging by the way he jolted back up to the surface, staring at you with remarkably human shock, you guessed it was probably working.

"I mean it! You look so cute!" You couldn't help but smile as you reached a hand into the pot. To your delight Azul didn't flinch away again, letting you run your fingertip over the top of his vaguely slimy head. "I won't judge you, you know. Whether you're a man or an octopus or something in between, I like you just the way you are, Azul."

His skin rippled again, entire body turning a bright pink against the dark water. Could octopi blush? Was this a blush? Even if you could ask him, it's not like he'd tell you. So instead you shifted the pot to your other arm, pressing a kiss to the fingertips of your dry hand and reaching in to push it against Azul's head.

"Let's go find Crowley, okay? Maybe he can-"

POOF!

A cloud of mulberry-colored smoke erupted from the opening of the pot, engulfing you in its wake. It smelled like sunshine and salty sea air, and when it cleared you saw Azul, soaking wet in his uniform but very much human, standing across from you with his hands also cradling the octopus pot. His face was a brilliant shade of pink, eyeglasses askew and staring at you like you'd just been the one to transform before his very eyes, and not the other way around.

"Ah- You- You said- and then you did- and it worked?" He'd completely lost his usual countenance and charm, barely able to stammer through a sentence and not taking his eyes off you for a moment in a way that began to make you feel just as flushed. "It worked..."

"Are you, uh, feeling better?" It was hard not to feel awkward with the way you had just been coddling him a few moments prior.

"Yes, well, ah... Yes. Thank you." He seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in, moving to adjust his glasses and wring some loose saltwater from the corner of his jacket. "Though the dry cleaning bill will be dreadful, I'm sure."

You couldn't help but chuckle. "So what happened in potions today anyway? Floyd didn't exactly spell it out for me."

"Professor Crewel had us studying transfiguration curses and their effectiveness in potion dispersal, and things had been going quite well until Kalim started 'experimenting.'"

"Sounds like him."

"Without Jamil to stop him he's quite a force of terror in his own right, isn't he? So Crewel instructed Floyd to come and fetch me, since the curse could only be broken by-" Mid sentence he suddenly clammed up, the blush that was seeming to disperse returning in full force as he suddenly found himself incredibly interested with the water remaining in the octopus pot.

"What? By what?" You pressed, leaning in closer. He swallowed hard, turning his gaze back up towards you.

"By true love's...kiss."

Oh.

OH!

"OH! Well, I, um, that's uh... That's good! Good that Floyd found me then I guess, heh!" You began to ramble before you could stop yourself, no longer able to look Azul in the eye. "Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable or anything, you don't need to like- reciprocate if you don't want to I just, y'know I think you're... Cool. And smart. And handsome. And... stuff."

"Oh."

"...Yeah."

"I wouldn't say... Rather, I'm not... I wouldn't go so far as to say it made me uncomfortable. Not... Not that in the slightest."

Your heart stuttered in your rib cage.

"Rather, as we've become acquainted I seem to find myself rather.. fond of you. Despite everything." The two of you finally made eye contact again, a determined glint in Azul's eyes despite the rosy color of his cheeks. "So if our interests align I see no reason why we couldn't come to a... mutually beneficial arrangement."

"Is that..." You bit your lower lip to hide a laugh. "Is that your way of asking me out?"

"Well, yes. Are you, are you not interested? I assure you though my aquatic form may be a touch off putting that if it concerns you I won't-!"

"What?! No! No no no, didn't you hear me? I like you just the way you are, Azul! Every way you are. I just... I thought it was cute, trying to ask me out with your contract lingo. You're adorable."

Though his brows furrowed and his cheeks flushed, you could tell from the way his lip wobbled that Azul was doing his best not to smile. "I'm meant to be intimidating, you know. I've spent quite a bit of effort building that image. Adorable seems a bit... soft."

You beamed. "You'd better get used to it, cause you're gonna be hearing it a lot!"

[missam]

Imagine

Their crush angrily asking them how dare they be so fucking handsome, like, you own a mirror and think you're unattractive? Hello 911 a crime has been committed, get here asap!

Their crush just giving words of adoration/affirmative in both regards to their appearance and personality because they can't see what their crush sees, so someone's gotta do it! 😍

It's a bonus if they get really flustered where they can't speak

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader

[missam]

Really Tumblr Team?

Who’s “great” idea was it to make the site look more squished and cluttered?

Don’t fix what’s not broken, it’s ugly now

#new tumblr #tumblr

[missam]

Without Saying (Floyd and Ruggie x Yuu)

"Oh can I help you? You seem to be lost." You attempt to cheerfully ask the vaguely familiar looking person in front of you. As if he is deliberately trying to rub salt in your wounds, Crowley ignored your request to leave campus for NRC parents day and is instead making you and Grim run errands. The person in front of you, blissfully ignorant to your inner turmoil perks up at your attention.

"Forgive me for asking, but are you the magicless prefect?" You and Grim exchange a confused glance. "You've got to be right?" They're practically glowing with how happy they are to see you. " Oh I'm sorry, I've just heard so much about you!" Wait, what?

notes: they/them pronouns used for Yuu, feral ariel (Floyd) vs light angst again (Ruggie). If you liked this please check out the previous parts here and here, as well as my master list here.

Floyd

Under normal circumstances, a quiet Floyd was a suspicious Floyd but today- well today it was just odd. He doesn't look bored per se, just idle standing next to a very tall woman with similarly colored hair who is slowly, carefully, with extreme focus examining every inch of what you think is a novelty piggy bank shaped like the school's wishing well.

"Are you done yet Mamma?" Floyd sounds like he is being careful not to yawn.

"Hush now Floydie," she doesn't even blink, that's how tight her focus is, "Mamma is concentrating." Mrs. Leech's lips are tightly pursed while Floyd mutters something about going to get some candy and slinks off while you question if getting involved in this conversation is part of your job description or even smart. Unfortunately for you by the time you look back up from your clipboard Mrs. Leech has moved directly in front of your face in complete silence. "Human-" you go to scream but she silences you with a look you can't tell is from magic or practice raising the twins "Human can you help me with something?" She doesn't even wait for you to agree before holding up the piggy bank. "What exactly is the purpose of this object?"

"That?" You are surprised your voice doesn't give out entirely as she vigorously nods. "The piggy bank?"

"I see, I see." She nods sagely, immediately whipping around to where she evidently thought her son still was, shrugging undeterred as she decides to simply yell. "FLOYD! IT'S CALLED A PIGGY BANK."

"That's nice Mamma." Calls Floyd, oddly coming off as polite and rational from somewhere deep within the Mystery Shop. " But like what does it do?"

"EXCELLENT QUESTION! Say human what does it do?" You are deeply tempted to say that this woman cannot be serious but you don't really want to find out. You draw yourself up to your full height and nod.

"You put coins in it." Mrs. Leech blinks, a bit taken aback.

"Wait really?" Bravely, with a reasonable fear of being bitten, you reach over and gently lift up the top of the wishing well to show her the coin slot.

"I'm pretty sure this one plays a song when you put a coin in too." You explain.

"But it's so tiny?" She marvels, repeatedly opening and shutting the top of the bank. "How're you supposed to keep your money safe if it's so fragile? But then again I do keep most of mine with my husband..."

"Uhm it's supposed to be a fun gift for little kids." It occurs to you that she might find that offensive since it did look like she was buying it for herself. "To teach them about saving money, at least where I'm from anyway."

"Oh how cute. That settles it, I am definitely getting this." As if sensing that it is check out time Floyd shuffles over and immediately perks up.

"Little Shrimpy! Were you the one helping my mom?" He seems really happy, causing you to breathe a light sigh of relief. Mrs. Leech looks confused, zeroing in on you with the same concentration from earlier.

"Yeah. Trying to anyway." You nervously say; Mrs. Leech's attention turns to her son.

"Aww, how cute. You fishin' for a favor shrimpy?" Normally you would play along with his teasing, but your eyes dart awkwardly to Mrs. Leech whose attention is back on you, then the piggy bank, then you then her son, then you agai-

"Not really, I'm just trying to do my job." You awkwardly laugh and Floyd pouts.

"Spring or Summer?" Mrs. Leech asks cheerfully. To your surprise she has somehow managed to snatch up a second piggy bank within the .2 seconds since you took her attention off her.

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh just wondering that's all." She has a very serene smile on her face. Almost too serene. Like you just somehow signed away your soul because you didn't read some fine print. "I'm more partial to Spring myself." You try to look to Floyd for some context but for some reason, he's refusing to make eye contact. Weird.

Ruggie

"Thank you dear." The elderly beastwoman breathes a sigh of relief as you help her settle onto a bench next to the Coliseum. "Goodness, Ruggie warned me this place was big but I didn't realize just how serious he was." You nod, unscrewing the cap on one of the water bottles you brought with you for the old lady. She takes it thankfully and you breathe a gentle sigh of relief, not that Granny Bucchi had been anything more than a bit winded when you found her, but it was still worrying to see an old woman bent over like that. "I really should have just waited for him."

"Didn't he promise to meet you at the mirror chamber?" You ask, trying not to sound too judgmental. You find it hard to believe someone who spoke as fondly of his grandmother at Ruggie wouldn't want to escort her around, Granny Bucchi looks at you sheepishly sort of confirming that.

"He doesn't actually know that I'm here just yet, I wanted to surprise him." She tries to pass you back the water back but you shake your head. The two of you lapse into a comfortable silence, the sort you only ever get while relaxing with a cup of tea, or in this case a nice old lady who is genuinely enjoying the campus scenery. It's so nice Grim curls himself up into your lap for a little nap. Granny Bucchi scratches just the right place behind his ears to convince the "not a cat" to let out a very cat like purr.

"Did you send him a message to let him know your here?" You whisper, trying not to wake your baby. "If not I can send him one." She lets out a small laugh, similar in sound to her grandson's but still very much her somehow.

"Oh I am sure he'd be half way here already if he knew I had you to myself. Who knows what sort of ideas I could be putting in that head of yours." She winks and takes out her phone, squinting at the keys trying to piece together a message. "You should still send him one though, you'll probably be faster than me."

"Do you mind if I take a picture?" You ask sheepishly. "You know so Ruggie knows you're ok." Lies you just want a picture of you with Granny Bucchi. Sure, to Twisted Wonderland she is just some lady, but she is easily celebrity tier to you with how much glowing praise Ruggie heaps on her.

"Oh please do!" To your surprise she seems genuinely excited and strikes a little pose. What a natural, Vil has nothing on this woman. Not that you are going to say that out loud because you don't have a death wish. You happily text Ruggie as Granny Bucchi looks on fondly. "Do you like taking pictures?" Her voice is much softer than it has been in the admittedly little conversation you have had. "Ruggie sends me a lot of the ones you've given him from your ghost camera, I keep trying to ask him if you're planning on being a photographer in the future but he always dodges the question." She's clearly curious and you can't blame her, you just aren't sure how to answer.

"The future is a bit complicated for me." Is what you settle on, really hoping it doesn't loose you points.

"Oh you don't need to feel bad about that." Her eyes are filled with warmth and affection that you haven't felt in a long time, it's enough to make you want to cry. "Technically the future is complicated for everyone, some of us just muscle through it better than others. Case in point." Granny hauls her self up and nudges you to turn around. Ruggie is staring at both of you with a strange look in his eyes, but when he makes eye contact with you he shakes himself out of whatever mood that was and jogs up to meet you both.

It would be nice, you think, if you could do this again.

[missam]

Head empty only Malleus realizing that the difference in physical aging between fae and humans makes you insecure so he offers to cast a glamour spell but instead of making you look younger, Malleus makes himself look older like you two are actually growing old together.